Crony Contracts And A Fall From Grace

A cabinet star fell from grace, and the trail is as revealing as the headline. We break down how a $220 million advertising blitz that featured the secretary became the center of a contracting storm no-bid justifications, a vendor created days before an award, and a subcontractor linked to past campaign work. The Hill hearings were blistering, bipartisan, and precise, pressing on who approved the spend, whether the process was truly competitive, and why public messaging looked so much like a personal brand campaign. By the time the cameras cooled, the verdict from the White House was final: fired and shifted into a lesser diplomatic role.

From there, we zoom out to what this saga teaches about Washington’s math. Power is rented, not owned. When controversy outweighs usefulness, even friends keep their distance. We explore how institutions reward loyalty until they don’t, how procurement rules are meant to guard taxpayers but bend under pressure, and why transparency around vendors and subcontractors is the only antidote to suspicion. The story isn’t just about one official; it’s a case study in how optics, money, and process collide in the capital.

We also trace a quieter, more unsettling echo: the way America keeps circling back to the same foreign policy instincts it claims to resist. Campaigns promise restraint; governing reintroduces briefings, donors, and doctrines that pull leaders toward escalation. The lessons of Iraq costs, instability, and broken trust should be guardrails. Instead, they’re too often footnotes. If ads can blur public interest with personal image, war talk can blur security with ambition. The fix isn’t a savior; it’s a system built on disclosure, conflict checks, and real accountability.

Listen for the receipts, stay for the pattern recognition, and decide what accountability should look like now. If this breakdown resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who loves politics without the spin, and leave a review telling us where you stand.

Transcript

Opening And The Firing Bombshell

SPEAKER_09 0:46

Welcome to the Darome McLean Show. I'm your host, Darrell McLean, independent media that won't reinforce tribalism. We have one planet, nobody is leaving, so let us reason together. Ding dong, the witch is dead, as they say. Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead. Christy Nome has been fired by Donald Trump. This is actually one of the first major firings of this administration. This one has been less chaotic as the first one, and I'm gonna give you some information why.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

I believe you have a policy, Madam Secretary, that you have to approve all contracts at your department over a hundred million dollars.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Uh no, sir. I have a policy in place that I review contracts. My deputy chiefs have the ability to review anything under 5 million, above that. I I evaluate and look at. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

And you do that, I understand, to try to to curb uh waste and abuse of taxpayer money. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Yes, sir. In fact, it's been extremely effective. We've uh saved the taxpayers over$13.2 billion just by evaluating contracts, negotiating lower ones, and canceling ones that aren't necessary to do our duties.

The $220M Ads And Alleged Cronyism

SPEAKER_01 2:00

How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, uh, with the fact that you have uh spent$220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Um Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them and they'd not get the chance to come back to America the right way. Um that has been extremely effective. Ask you to run these advertisements, is that right? We had that conversation, yes, before I was uh put in this position and sworn in and confirmed, and since then as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Did you um did you bid out those those service contracts? Yes, they did. They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the department chose who would uh do those advertising commercials.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

And the people that you ended up picking um were people who had formerly done your political work back in South Dakota, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

No, that's not correct, sir. I think no, it's not, sir. Uh we the individuals who uh I believe the careers who they chose uh were two different media firms um there's been conversation about their subconscious of course Senator Kennedy is uh absolutely correct.

SPEAKER_09 3:41

She is lying. It was a firm that when I looked at the research was created the exact same week that she picked them, and they were her former staffers and friends, etc. This was what we used to call back in the day crony capitalism. The technical term would also be they are supposed to do these contracts wherever they bid on him, but this would be considered a no-bid contract because she gave the system by making sure her friends got the contract. A company that had only been in existence for one week got the contract because she told them about it. They crew popped up really quickly, probably through some uh you know, cook company that specializes in making companies pop into existence really fast, that does happen a lot. And they got the contract even though they had done no previous work.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Subcontractors, but we have no legal authority to look into subcontractors on work like that.

SPEAKER_09 4:41

Oh, she's right on that. They have no legal authority, so they just did what's illegal. I mean, do you think that a United States president is a is above doing what is illegal? Thank you. Thank you for your attending to this matter.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

And you're saying that you're testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time, so I'm understanding.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Uh we had conversations about making sure that we were telling people No ma'am, I'm asking you, uh sorry to interrupt.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

But the president approved ahead of time you spending$220 million running TV ads across the country in which you fe are featured prominently. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

We went through the legal processes, did it correctly? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

He did.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Yes. Okay. Um one thing, Senator, I think would be helpful to know is how effective that communications has been.

Was It Competitive Or A No‑Bid

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Um I mean, I I I personally just I mean to me it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot. And it it it it and I just I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to believe. You know, and the president, as I do, that he said, Mr. President, here's some ads I've cut, and I'm gonna spend$220 million running them, that he would have agreed to that. I don't think Russ Vogue uh at OMB would have agreed to that. I I it's something we have to defend. I'm on the appropriations committee. Um I I mean uh my my research shows that you did not bid them out, that you you pick in fact one of the people you picked, the strategy group, I'm sorry, Safe America Media was a company that formed eleven days before you picked them, and that the strategy group got most of the money, and the head of that is married to your former spokesperson. I'm I'm I'm well we all have friends who are qualified. I'm not quibling with that. I I'm just it troubles me.

SPEAKER_09 7:01

Quarter and uh and bear in mind now, uh this this is her Christy Noam being grilled by John Kennedy, who's a Republican, but he's a conservative Republican and saying, like, look, what you what you are engaged in is what if a Democrat was doing it, we'd say that it was fraud. And it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Uh a fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money when when we're scratching for every penny and we're fighting over recession packages. Um uh I I just can't agree with Madam Secretary. Are you still running those ads?

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Senator, I did not have anything to do with picking those contractors. I know politicals at the Department of Homeland Security didn't understand. Are you still running everything? I think the ads are due to end here in March, I think within a week or two. I'm not sure of the update. Uh the one that is running is focusing on angel families. Have you seen that? It is the one that's talking about this is our why, this is why we work every day.

Subcontractors, Ties, And Denials

SPEAKER_10 8:08

It's for the angel families and their victims that need to let me ask you about a different subject, and that is the waste of resources at your agency, the the continued allegations of um favoritism and contracting, uh, and and let me in particular focus on the$220 million ad campaign, many of which feature you very prominently. An ad campaign that is more expensive than the whole budget for um one fight after another or any any Hollywood blockbuster film. So let me ask you you said that the president approved this, this vast expenditure on a media campaign that largely profiles you. How do you know that? Did he approve it to you personally?

SPEAKER_02 10:49

This media campaign was critical in telling the world and this country that we are enforcing the laws of the United States of America that if you're in a country illegally, then you should leave now if you want the chance to come back.

SPEAKER_09 11:01

Okay, guys, uh I'm gonna um break the news to you. Just so we know. Um I did speed this up a bit just now. Uh so you're listening when you the show originally started, you're listening to it at the original speed, one point oh percent speed. And now I moved it to 1.25. So you because of that, at this portion, you can go back into your apps and put it up to 1.0 at this point, so it'll be playing for you at normal speed. Alright, because now it is because of the length of the supercut that I made, it's gonna uh I I sped it up so I it doesn't take a more time. The supercut by itself is 22 minutes and 27 seconds, and I'm not interested in sitting here for 22 minutes and listening to Christy no lie. Uh so I sped it up a bit. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

Back to the United States someday in the future. If you don't, you will be detained and we'll be removed and never get the chance to come back. It's been extremely effective in sending the message.

Speeding Up The Supercut

SPEAKER_10 12:09

How do you know the president approved of this$220 million contract?

SPEAKER_02 12:12

We had conversations and worked with OMB to make sure that the funding was there.

SPEAKER_10 12:17

I just want to clarify. So you had conversations directly with the president where he approved this$220 million ad campaign that significantly features you.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Uh Sir, this campaign was talking about making sure that people knew that our laws were being enforced. Can you go through the process? It was a competitive bid campaign. I had nothing of choosing.

SPEAKER_10 12:33

Excuse me. So the president approved this expenditure.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Sir, I've been explaining this to you how it when it was a competitive process. Well, the career officials said the department of the company.

SPEAKER_10 12:41

You don't want to confirm the president's role in this, and I can understand why. But you say it was a competitive process, and yet this contract went to a company that didn't exist two weeks before they got the contract. Sir, I can't speak to that. I don't know what the name of that company is. You said you can't speak to it, but let me ask you this. Are you saying it's just a coincidence? It's just a happy circumstance, it's just a fortuitous event that 143 million of that went to a subcontractor that you worked with extensively as governor in South Dakota or during your campaign, that that is just coincidental?

Pressing On Presidential Approval

SPEAKER_02 13:10

The same process was followed for this media contract and any other media contract that's happened. I have nothing to do and no political hands. I think that's a good idea. And we don't have a legal process for weighing in that subcontractor. It doesn't exist. You're trying to say that this was a political decision and it absolutely is not.

SPEAKER_10 13:32

I'm just asking you. So it's just a coincidence that a$143 million sub contract went to the husband of your press person, also someone that Corey Lewandowski, one of your special government employees, worked with extensively. So that was all a coincidence, right? Because you had no knowledge of this, no involvement.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

So taxpayers should just assume on who subcontractors are.

SPEAKER_09 14:00

And that's the funny thing. She keeps clinging to this little word. There's not a legal process as if you can't just pick up the damn phone and and say as if your friends don't tell you I'm I'm making a company. It's just so dumb. That in order to believe this what she's saying, you'd have to just you have to believe everything. It's like in us not knowing that Bill Gates got his big first break in government contracting because his mother was on a board of a company that oversaw the company that her son was working for. So her his mother was inside of the government because her son was making a company. She made sure her son got the contract. Here we have Bill Gates. This stuff happens all the time. Like I said, back in the day, we used to call this crony capitalist. Uh in in the South, in Florida, we call this the good old boy system. And that's what it is. It's a big club. Christy Gnome was trying to get in it, and she got called. She done got called.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

It goes out for a competitive bid. And only career employees at DHS were in on the choosing of those.

SPEAKER_10 15:24

They were not a part of the chicken. Can you state for the record that none of you that I just described had any role, played any part, made any communication with any government agency that was involved in deciding who would get that contract?

SPEAKER_02 15:35

To the best of my knowledge, none of us were involved in deciding who got those contracts for the government.

SPEAKER_10 15:39

Were any of you involved in advocating, communicating, or expressing a preference? To my knowledge. Excuse me. Let me just finish a question. Were any of you involved in any way in communicating, expressing a preference in any form, manner, verbal, written, with any government agency that was involved in the contracting process?

SPEAKER_02 15:54

The same process was followed for that contract that is for all media contracts that have gone forward. To my knowledge, there was no involvement whatsoever of anybody that is on the political appointee side of this um position and that media contract.

Safe America Timeline Exposed

SPEAKER_13 16:04

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. I want to move on to the use of department resources. Senator Kenny asked a number of questions about this contract. So now this is a million dollars. Senator Schiff asked about it as well, and I do too. I don't want to at the question what the purpose was, but how the award was made. This is$220 million. It was an advertising campaign, as I understand, that featured you and you want a horse at Mount Rushmore. The contract was a no-bid contract. Do you acknowledge that?

SPEAKER_02 16:34

I wasn't involved with this contracting process, so my understanding is I said there was any companies that competed for this contract. The answer to that is yes or no. I don't believe it was. I believe other companies competed for this because there were two different vendors that were chosen.

SPEAKER_13 16:46

I have here a document from USspending.gov. And this document specifically states the justification for no bid contract that goes to Safe America Media and people who think those are the two entities that did the campaign, correct?

SPEAKER_02 17:02

I I believe it is. I wasn't a part of this contract. Let's process it.

SPEAKER_13 17:05

Let's get serious here. Yes. Okay. Make the Safe America was run, incorporated 11 days or seven days by my count before they got an award of$143 million. Do you have any dispute with that?

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Are you talking about the subcontractor on that contract? Because we have America. Senator, I wasn't a part of this decision. This was we followed the same processes that have been our policies and how these are this was conducted appropriately.

SPEAKER_13 17:33

I will go through this and then you can answer. I don't want us to be talking over each other. Safe America was incorporated 11 days or seven days by my account before they got a$143 million contract. Now, as a administrator who has fiscal responsibility over a huge budget, do you realistically think that a company that was created 11 days before they got$143 million is in a position to execute on a$143 million contract?

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Sorry, I can't speak to their business model. I will tell you that since I've been at the department, I have reviewed over 10,000 contracts. I have saved the taxpayers and over$13 billion by renegotiating contracts and one recession.

SPEAKER_13 18:09

Mr. Chairman, I don't want the filibuster. All right? And I want my time back. I'm asking you to deny her to filibuster. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'll go through this. This is on the U.S. government website that says that contract for$143 million was a no-bid contract. Public documentation says the contract of$143 million went to the Safe America company created 11 days before they got an award. That company then subcontracted with the strategy group, and you are familiar with many of the principles in the strategy group, correct?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

I I know one of them.

SPEAKER_13 19:15

Mr. Yoho. Yes. And let me show you a photograph. That's Mr. Yoho standing next to you, correct? Yes. Now, Mr. Yoho is also the husband of your former uh spokesperson. Is that correct? Correct. Trisha McLaughlin? Yes. So your former secretary, your former assistant secretary and her husband are the ones that got the subcontract from Safe America. Or from stri from the from Safe America. That's what the record shows. Any dispute about that?

SPEAKER_02 19:43

No, except there was no politicals, myself or anyone else besides career employees who are a part of that process for putting out those contracts and choosing those vendors.

SPEAKER_13 19:52

But what you have is the Republican operative.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

We're trying to insinuate that that's not a good idea.

Photos, Relationships, And Money Flows

SPEAKER_13 19:58

The fact is You're saying that I weighed in on this contracting process and I did not. Mr. Chairman? The fact is that Mr. Yoho was married to your assistant secretary, is married, correct? Yes, they are still married. All right. And Mr. Yoho also ran an ad campaign for you in your gubernatorial campaign, correct?

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_13 20:15

And he also attended your inauguration. Yes. And Mr. Yoho received eight and a half million dollars for his company did from the taxpayers of South Dakota when you ran an ad promotion showing you doing various jobs like a plumber and a dentist, correct?

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Again, that was um done according to the law and processes of the state of South Democrats.

SPEAKER_13 20:31

I understand, but this is a person that worked on your campaign. This is a person that worked on your uh media plan in uh South Dakota when you were governor, and this is a person who also worked on your memoir. Is that is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 20:43

On my memoir?

SPEAKER_13 20:43

And he worked with Mr. Lewandowski. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 20:47

I don't know, sir. I don't know about the business service. Mr.

SPEAKER_13 20:49

Lewandowski is just your special advisor.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Special government employee for the white board.

SPEAKER_13 20:53

And Mr. Lewandowski brought Mr. Yoho into your camp. They had worked on the Louisiana governor's campaign, correct?

SPEAKER_02 20:59

No, I knew Ben Yoho before that.

SPEAKER_13 21:01

All right. So the person that you knew, Mr. Yoho, the husband of your assistant secretary, is the person in the company that got the subcontract 11 days after this original company, Safe America was found. That's the record. So I have a question. Did Mr. Lewandowski receive any compensation directly or indirectly from Safe America or from the strategy group?

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Senator, I don't have any information to that. I can't speak to that.

SPEAKER_13 21:29

Would that be of interest for you to find out? Sure. Well, so will you ask Mr. Lewandowski did he get any compensation directly or indirectly from these contracts? Are you asking me to go ask you? Yes, I am. Ask your special government advisor.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

I can do that.

SPEAKER_10 21:46

And you'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_10 21:48

We will want that. Let me ask you about a different subject, and that is the waste of resources at your age. Many of which feature you very prominently. An ad campaign that is more expensive than the whole budget for one fight after another or any any Hollywood blockbuster film. So let me ask you: you said that the president approved this, this vast expenditure on a media campaign that largely profiles you. How do you know that? Did he approve it to you personally?

SPEAKER_02 22:28

This media campaign was critical in telling the world and this country that we are enforcing the laws of the United States which is a good thing. But if you're in your country illegally, then you should leave Kennedy's question. Now if you want the chance to come back to the United States someday in the future, if you don't, you will be detained and will be removed and never get the chance to come back. It's been extremely effective in sending the president. We had conversations and worked with OMB to make sure that the funding was there.

SPEAKER_10 22:53

I just want to clarify. So you had conversations directly with the president where he approved this$220 million ad campaign that significantly features you.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

It was a competitive campaign. I had nothing of choosing.

SPEAKER_10 23:08

Excuse me. So the president approved this expenditure.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Sir, I've been explaining this to you how it when it was a competitive process.

Bipartisan Scrutiny Intensifies

SPEAKER_10 23:15

You don't want to confirm the president's role in this, and I can understand why. But you say it was a competitive process, and yet this contract went to a company that didn't exist two weeks before they got the contract. Sir, I can't speak to that. I don't know the name of that company. You say you can't speak to it, but let me ask you this. Are you saying it's just a coincidence? It's just a happy circumstance, it's just a fortuitous event that 143 million of that went to a subcontractor that you worked with extensively as governor in South Dakota or during your campaign, that that is just coincidental?

SPEAKER_02 23:43

The same process was followed for this media contract and any other media contract that's happened. I have nothing to do with no political heading. And we don't have a legal process for winning it on subcontractors. It doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_10 24:11

Also someone that Cory Lewandowski, one of your special government employees, worked with extensively. So that was all a coincidence, right? Because you had no knowledge of this, no deployment.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

We don't weigh it on who subcontractors are. There's not a legal process for us to determine what subcontractors are a part of a contract. It goes out for a competitive bit. And only career employees at DHS were in on the choosing of those meetings.

SPEAKER_10 24:35

That neither you nor Mr. Lewandowski nor your press secretary married to the Hudson. They were not a part of the street.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

To the best of my knowledge, none of us were involved in deciding who got those contracts.

SPEAKER_10 24:55

Were any of you involved in advocating, communicating, or expressing a preference in any way with the government? I mean it's for discussion. Were any of you involved in any way in communicating, expressing a preference in any form, manner, verbal, written, with any government agency that was involved in the contract?

SPEAKER_02 25:09

The same process was followed for that contract that is for all media contracts that have gone forward, to my knowledge. There was no involvement whatsoever of anybody that is on the political appointee side of this um position and that media contract. Thank you, Mr.

SPEAKER_10 25:20

Chairman. I yield back.

The Knife Fight Of Politics

Fired And Reassigned To Envoy Role

The Fragility Of Power

Winds Of Influence And Silence

Character After The Spotlight Fades

Pivot To Foreign Policy And Costs

SPEAKER_09 25:22

So of course, there there were more was a lot more. Um it was brutal. Hours and hours of testimony. Um Court Booker uh went after her really aggressively. Uh uh on the Democratic side. Uh you heard Senator John Kennedy go after her very aggressively, and and it was because what she was saying was verifiably false. You could you could look at the stitch, the stitch and the stank of what she had done, and her tried to say that she did not do it, etc. It just it was it was a ship too far. It was a ship too far. And everybody knew it. Everybody knew it, and um this is this was what made it uh so bad for her. She involved her the president. Because one thing that I will say about this is that um the president is not like you trying to involve him in your nonsense. He he's got his own own grips to run. And and and that's just that. So and and and this is what we have to tell you about politics in America. It's it's not it's not the church, it's not a church picnic. It's it is not Sunday school, it is not a polite conversation over sweet tea. Politics is a knife fight in a phone booth. And so this week the blade came out for Christy Gnome because she got in over her skis. The former governor of South Dakota, who rode into Washington, you know, like a rodeo queen of culture wars, got fired as a Secretary of Homeland Security, not resigned, not stepping away to spend more time with her family fired. And that is a big deal because in modern presidential politics, cabinet members usually don't get tossed overboard unless something has gone very, very, very wrong. And under Christy Gnome's watch, I would argue plenty went wrong. There were controversies piling up like dirt laundry, and in in in a in a in a college dorm room, and it got it the funk got too bad. So, first came the deadly enforcement operations tied to the Department of Homeland Security that triggered a national outrage. This led to two American citizens being murdered during federal actions, and the explanations coming from Washington were were um let's just say less than comforting. Then there was this$22 million government ad campaign that looked less like public information and more like a commercial starring Christy Gnome herself, complete with dramatic imagery and messaging that made lawmakers on both sides of the aisle start asking those very uncomfortable questions. Republicans started grumbling, Democrats started sharpening knives, and then the hearings on Capitol Hill, they were not pretty. So eventually the message came down from the president of the United States, one Donald John Trump. You're done. President Trump removed her from the Department of Homeland Security and nominated somebody else, Senator Mullen, to replace her. But here's the Washington thing that is um something that Washington does that I do as a somebody who's from the South, the best part of the South, in the bottom of the map, Jacksonville, Florida. So here's something that Washington does that I find strange. I find it a strange little Washington dance. I'll call it the Washington two-step. She wasn't exactly sent home. Instead, she was reassigned to a newly created diplomatic job called the Special Envoy for the Shield of Americas. In other words, not quite exile, but definitely a step down from running the entire Department of Homeland Security. That whole sham apparatus. Now, listen to me carefully, because this moment tells us something about power in Washington. The same political machine that builds stars can unbuild them overnight. And that should teach us about propaganda, but I'll get to that on another episode. One minute, you're the face of immigration enforcement riding horses in a campaign ad, speaking at rallies, and the next minute your badge is being taken off and you're being escorted out of a building, you've lost your desk, and that's politics, that's power. And you have to understand that's not loyalty because no loyalty lasts forever in Washington, and no position is permanent. And the administration, left or right, all of them eventually learns the same lesson. When controversy becomes heavier than usefulness, there's the door, the doors open, somebody gets kicked out, and Christina it was Christy No's turn. And the biggest mistake that she made is instead of saying I did it, she tried to shift the plane and say, not only did I do it, the president knew about it, but she did it even worse. She never even said she did it. She kept saying, I don't know anything about it. I didn't know I didn't know about the decisions. I'm the I'm I know I'm the head of the Department of Homeland Security. And be and and it it begat so obvious that obviously you knew everybody on your staff was was getting money from it. The person that they are alleging that you were having an affair with, uh Lewandowski, if you if we didn't see the video, every time they kept saying special blah blah blah advisor, and they brought up Lewandowski, that they were doing it in air quotes because they were basically insinuating that she's cheating on her husband. And what made this so ridiculously sad is the poor husband is sitting right behind her as they basically keep asking her over and over again in other parts of the hearing, was she having an affair? And she never flat out said no. Which could have been like the most easiest question. Hey, you you banging him? Yeah, yeah, nay. So, um, that's that. And and and and I and you know, when you get to somebody like me, um, who wears a lot of different hats. Therapist, counselor, a philosopher, pastor, weird person, um, I I think about everything in this large, large way of how we have to think about life. So it's not just about Christianome. I wanna I wanna take this to to add some philosophy to this because I mean why not? And and this is gonna be what what I'll just say, because I try to synthesize everything, is is about the fragility of power. Anybody that knows me knows I'm I'm I'm interested in power dynamics. And and there's a whole lesson that history teaches here, and it's a lesson that history does teach us again and again, but human beings never seem to quite learn it, and that is power is in a rented space. Um it's in a rented house, nobody owns it. Not kings, not presidents, not governors, not cabinet secretaries. You rent it for a little while, and eventually the landlord comes knocking. And this week it just came for Christy Nome. For a moment in American politics, she looks almost unstoppable. Governor of South Dakota, rising star in Republican politics, irregular presence on television, a name spread uh uh that was starting to be spread all over as a future vice presidential pick, maybe even something more someday. In politics, momentum can easily make destiny. But destiny has a funny way of reminding us that it is not impressed with our resumes. One day you are riding high, speaking at rallies, shaping national policy from the top levels of government, and the next day your office doors are closed behind you for the last time. Now, listen, this is not about Christy. No, we already talked about that, it was embarrassing, etc. This is about the nature of power itself, because the strange thing about power is that it always convinces the person that's holding the power that they are going to be in charge forever. Pharaoh probably thought that. Nebuchadnezzar probably thought that. Caesar probably thought that, and somewhere along the way, every politician in Washington, DC starts to believe that same quiet lie. They are permanent. But power is not permanent for specific individuals. Power is like wind. It fills your cells for a season, and then it leaves you and shifts on to somebody else. Sometimes that shift comes because of a scandal, sometimes because of political calculations, sometimes because of the coalition that lifted you up decides it has found a better champion than you, but eventually the wind is going to change. And when it does, the same city that once applauded you suddenly grows very quiet. And in DC, which I used to live, that I did love and can't wait to go back, Washington is very famous for that silence. The phone will stop ringing, the invitations will disappear, the cameras will point somewhere else, and suddenly you discover that the political stage is just like the arts. It's just like the theater itself. It has a trapdoor, and they press a button, and boom, you disappear. And here's the deeper truth of this. There is not just uh something that affects politics. That's the hard part of it. That this is not just a political lesson, it's a human lesson because every one of us in our own way wrestles with the same type of illusion. We think the moments we're in right now is the moment that will last forever. The job, the certification, the influence, the title, the applause, the likes. But you know, in order for us to be serious people, we have to look at our history, and history whispers something very different. It whispers that the same warning that the good book of Ecclesiastes gives, meaningless. Meaningless, meaningless. In the end, everything is going to be a vapor. Our modern language is all temporary. Today you are a superstar. Today you're the most brilliant person in the room. Today you're the headline, and tomorrow you will be a footnote. Today you sit at the table of power weaving it, thinking you can control it, and tomorrow someone else pulls out the chair, and that is the rent of history. Empires rise and empires fall. So just like empires' political careers flare up like fireworks, and then they fade into the darkness. So when we see moments like this for Christine, when we see a rising political star settling fine the ground shifting beneath their feet, it should remind us of something important. Humility is not just a virtue, it's something we should carry as a survival kit. Because the people who remember that power is temporary tend to carry it more wisely. They speak more carefully, they walk a little slower. They remember that the crowd that is cheering you today will not be cheering you tomorrow. And at worst, they'll be booing you tomorrow. And they remember something else too. When the light finally goes out and you have to go off the stage of politics, when the office is empty and nobody has showed up for your party, when the title is gone, what remains is your character. Not the office, not the applause, just who you are. Just a person. And that, my friends, is the real test of power. Because sooner or later every throne becomes a chair. And every chair eventually becomes just another seat in the crowd. History has a way of humbling all of us. The only question is whether we learn the lesson before the win starts to change. I'll be right back with more than the Darrell McLean show. We got uh some some wild commentary to get into here.

SPEAKER_13 38:58

We do not seek war, we do not seek nation building, we do not seek regime change.

SPEAKER_10 39:03

We are going to end the era of nature building. I don't think we should be nation building anymore.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

We will end the era of nature building.

SPEAKER_07 39:15

Is this nation building? I think we have to start to entertain the possibility that Donald Trump has no poor principles. Oh, we talked about what we're making. I'm just saying about the right point. Your basic argument is that you disagree with some of the second that's not all of the natural core strategy or ideology of the core policy.

SPEAKER_06 39:55

So we don't want to appreciate it that Don Trump has a very negative view towards the Japanese terrorists in 1980s, uh or to the Japanese right now, and then the terrorists put on. He views that as a way of enforcing American strength. The other thing I really appreciate is, you know, at the same time as that, those are unhappy crisis. How do you want to look incredible? What is our standing in the world? How would it view that we can be pushed over? The Donald Trump views at the end of the day that if folks fear the United States, we are strong and we are safe. If we are not feared, we are not strong and we are not safe. And the German um control that is more safe.

SPEAKER_07 40:22

And what kind of thing is that we're not going to be able to go to break.

Breaking Points Clip On War Stances

SPEAKER_11 40:29

He's making his entire foreign policy and practically much of his presidency on or on. This could not be more crucial. You've got midterms coming up. I am a mom. Do you know how much oranges and bananas and milk costs? I know my oranges and bananas and milk are buried to the straight of horror moons. I'm not cutting up, I'm buying them on cut up, my watermelon. It is expensive. And while the milk isn't coming through the straight of horror moons, people start to believe that it is. And if it affects, I was at Costco, and two couples were arguing over how coffee, Folger's coffee, is up double. It's almost$22 for a little thing. So people are starting to feel the pressure point, and oil is the next big thing because you know the measurement that we use in the US hit 90% today. 90%. When you hit$90, your gas prices go up. There is no political about it. It's proven and it happens. When people start feeling it, the pressure is on. And that's when international story becomes a game. Stay with us. Up next, Barack Obama goes off on his successor at Jesse Jackson's funeral, including remarks about greed, bigotry, and dividing Americans. We're talking about that.

SPEAKER_09 41:22

So anyway, we I may or may not play that portion. Uh political speeches at funerals um are on par um because of who Jesse Jackson was um to at least my community. I I will say that. A lot of people, they see Jesse Jackson as only a uh political figure, and they don't see the ramifications of somebody like him, who was in the same lane of liberation theology, black liberation theology in particular, um, of Dr. Barton King and him being able to run for president in 1988 as a way that it somewhat showed that there was no limit set to uh a specific group who had been before he ran for president put in a certain box where they were limited. Even though he did not win, the fact that uh I would argue you had him on that debate stage on that debate stage being able to hold his own with some people who are supposed to be the elites and taking them to task as just a country preacher. Uh I I will never forget. If if you have the time and you enjoy it like I enjoy, uh go back and look at those uh primary debates when Jesse Jackson ran for president and look how he wiped the floor at some of those Democrats. And then look at where we are today, and maybe we'll get back. I'm gonna go to something that I may end the show with, uh, because I don't want the shows to go over an hour. But it's gonna be uh somebody who is more successful than me, but I'm older and more good looking. But we do have the same birthday. It's gonna be Sega Angeti and admitting that he was wrong uh about this uh a little war that may be happening now with Iran. And we'll talk about this on the next episode, about why this is very difficult to say whether it's a war and whatnot, but I want you to at least hear this.

SPEAKER_04 43:46

Turning down to hypocrisy, a something very near and dear to my heart these days, looking back a little bit on what did all these people say who are currently in power about war with Iran whenever they had a chance to make their pitch to the American people. So we've super cleaned a few of the people who are currently in power, and some of the things that they said independently compared to what you see on your screens today. So we think much more than people.

Donor Influence And Track Records

SPEAKER_05 44:44

So let the Israelis and the culture of states provide the counterbalance to a reader. America doesn't have to constantly police every region of the world. We should empower people to police their own regions of the world, right? And what we would save a lot of money to do, we'd save a lot of focus, but unfortunately, I think here that she's got this we actually think she kind of likes war. Maybe she feels like she feels like a tough guy about it, and I don't know what it is, and they seem to be supposed to be walking that's into war with Reddit, it's like the dumbest of all possible worlds.

SPEAKER_12 45:05

I think we've got to be a common for six years now, like a foolish next. We know we're here to happen in 2024, gate around the world and intervening people in our best interest when really we just overturn the table and create something worse in almost every single scenario. And let's do almost the numbers of the list that they want, and then we'll tell other countries how we can't currency based on what we did in the market. Okay, so we're gonna have political leaders or general colours.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Yeah, I can't, we're gonna recover these.

SPEAKER_04 45:41

We need to start with it. I mean, the most obviously actually I wouldn't say various different things too many people. Because okay, I can say this is the closest one. What if you talk about being anyone? I believe that's you would have a button like that. You know, based on the company, we can stuff. Um by the way, we put each other on the screen here where we still features say no more than one. In the situation where the war with the one lunches, it's Then let's take the vice president. I mean, did you hear what he said there? About no, it would not be in our interest. I think he believed, I mean, I used to think he believed, but who the hell knows now. But secondary was that whole thing about Obama who likes-that's literally how Donald Trump and the headset are acting right now. If the headset is literally acting like a movie character, and whenever he's like, we are winning and screaming media for reporting on the deaths of American soldiers, Donald Trump is like Iran is two weeks away from a nuclear weapon. Clearly, he loves the theater of limited military operations, which are now spiraling out of control. It's like, oh my god, I mean, look, again, you know, you could say I told you so, and that's fair, uh, certainly at this point. But I I don't know. I mean, are we just never supposed to believe any politician? Like, they really they I can tell you this, in Tulsi's case, in JD's case, much more limited extent on pain. I had been told by multiple people he actually was scarred by his experiences with Iraq and Afghanistan and had return a lot of stuff on Ukraine, and I said, okay, I believe you, don't believe it anymore. But in a lot of these cases, and it's not just the public officials' names that you would know, I'm talking about deputies and other people all over the National Security Council. I've met these people for years. I knew, I mean, we were at conferences and other things where no Iran war was like an anthem. That was like the one thing where like we're not doing this. And so then, to not only see them in power, but working behind the scenes to execute this, you're like, what the fuck? I mean, is this so it's just all a joke? The whole thing was a joke. Or it's just a couple Trump is in charge, and uh, yeah, I mean, look, I mean, there's a lot of egg on a lot of face, mine included. I gotta tell you, it's been one of the most serially radicalized things that has ever happened. Because I've read many times in books about politicians being liar and narcissists and all that, okay, uh, and so what you what do you do? You have it- I mean, I've lived here for a long time. I have an appropriate level of skepticism. A lot of people who were working in this White House who said that they were against war with Iran took immense, immense like professional hints for being against a lot of the so-called neocometan census. So, what do you conclude by that? You're like, okay, you have a track record, you must believe it. And then they come into power, and it's the opposite. It's it's so crazy. I'll tell you that. You know, on a personal level and on a policy level. I mean, uh, it's it's it's shocking. Like, I never, ever, ever, ever, ever thought of obesity paramour's gonna go. And what did these people defend it?

SPEAKER_00 48:21

Yeah, I mean, I um this is not true when I told you so. It's fair, I deserve it.

Staff Power Versus The Principal

SPEAKER_04 48:26

We I'm being serious, we deserve it. We deserve egg on our faith. If we step on the camera and we step it, we don't think this is going to happen and it happens. We gotta eat shit. That's how the world works. I'm sorry. And for all the people who want to move past it, we can't move past it. We have to sit, we have to grapple with reality. The people we defended, the people we thought were gonna come into power or we're gonna do something, did not do it, okay? Period. End of story. And that is genuinely the greatest professional disappointment of my entire life.

SPEAKER_00 48:46

I think the reason the the reason why I, you know, didn't buy into the peace candidate and all that stuff is because I know Trump is a liar, and many politicians are, too, just taken to an extreme degree, let's say, but I looked at the track record from the first term, where they were very happy towards Iran, you had the maximum pulls out of the Iranian nuclear deal, you have the maximum pressure campaign, you have the assassination of costumes solo money, which in and of itself risked a war with Iran. And so that was the track record I looked at. And then the other piece that I looked at is the who he was getting money from, right? And since Mary Mendelssohn was, you know, such a one of the largest donors, hundred million dollars into his campaign, you know, the combination of the track record and the money, and the fact that, you know, I mean, listen, I don't have a personal relationship with JD Vans, so I just see him as a cynical political operator. All these Tulsian party changer strikes on any number of things. So I didn't take her seriously either. R.K. Jr. and kidding me with a joke. Like obviously he shapeshifted a million times. And so the the reason I'm saying this is just for the future for all of us, as we evaluate, okay, candidates that we like and what they're saying versus what they're likely to do, the things to look at are what's the track record and where's the money come from. Because at the end of the day, those are gonna be the things. And then you layer that a student composed, I'll talk about some other facts that I don't think I fully processed, you know, how that would be in terms of apparently um getting us to this place. Um so that was, you know, that was how I was ultimately looking at it going in. But I have I have tons of empathy for people, especially like regular people who don't follow this stuff day in and day out, who were watching the Biden Harris ticket committed genocide in Gaza, Liz Cheney. Kama's campaign with Liz Cheney, she, you know, went out of her way to do her whole like, you know, most lethal military effort, and I you know, went after transnational gangs or whatever. Like she tried to do the whole like I'm hawkish too posturing. And, you know, and then you got all this piece candidate rhetoric coming from the Trump campaign. Um, it took looking, you know, back at knowing the track record and knowing where the money was coming from. And Trump has to your point cycle, but he was never consistent about what he was gonna do. I can explain this, yeah, because this is important.

SPEAKER_04 50:26

So when you we just talked about Solomon and all this, yeah, here's here was here's the experiment, and this is what I believe. Oh, it's the promise of retard. I'm gonna be honest, okay? Um, literal retard. But what did I come away from the first Trump administration? The people around Trump staff made the decision, right? Basically. So you have John Bolton, Jim Maddox, Jim Kelly, all the sorry, uh John Kelly, yeah, all these people. Okay, so the the promise was, and this was the project, the project was we're gonna replace those people to a better policy. And the idea is Trump is basically like this archetype who gives shit about the ballroom and not much else. And then the staff will run the show. That's what I thought was gonna happen based on the first term, okay? And so what did I know? I knew the people working in the So yeah, money and all of that, I think I've always knew the Israel thing. You can go back and check what I said. I literally said if you're pro-Israel, you should vote for Trump. And if you're pro I was like, if you're pro-Palestine, you should not vote for Trump. Go back and look at what I said October of 2024. I am I we were all very clear on it. But we were we were believed we had a belief in two things Ukraine and definitely Iran. And the reason why was that the new patch of people, the type of people, the vice president included, led a project in the United States Senate and behind the scenes for years specifically against Ukraine and Iran. Yes, I was there, I remember it. And so that there you go. That's the where the belief the belief came from. Well, you did this, this, and this. You took a lot of hits professionally over the years, even picked fights, organized this entire group and staff of people who all told us over the years that you were going to do something, and then you came into office, and now you're doing the opposite, right? And look, let's be also fair in this regard, Trump is a big boy, and uh maybe you just wanted to do it. Maybe these people were against it. I'm not, I don't know. Uh, but at the very least, it's not just that you couldn't stop it, but then you have these people who are out there defending it. And the truth is, is that not only uh have we watched how people are so untethered from what they previously said in the past, but that they're willing to literally go and openly humiliate themselves on television. So do we have like Stephen Miller? I think you were about to toss that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ideology, Zeal, And Iran Escalation

SPEAKER_00 51:55

I mean, and this is true. I think Stephen Miller is actually an important character, we'll just call it in all of this. But I mean, he was as clear as he could be. The first one he's responding to Jane Fury says, I don't know how I can be more clear. Trump will end and prevent war. In the Middle East, he wants peace. Paris and her neocon cabinet want war and more war. Um, another one, Kamala will send her sons to war. Another one, if young men don't want to be drafted to fight in Kamala's and Cheney's third world war, they better get out and vote for Trump. Another one. Kamala's top military advisor is Liz Cheney. If Kamala wins, Liz and Dick are running foreign policy and they will invade the Middle East, okay? Now, I think another thing is Stephen Miller is extremely influential, extremely influential. They call him the prime minister internally. We got a glimpse early on in those signal conversations when they're debating about the Yemen strike, and Stephen Miller comes in and says the boss wants this, so we're doing it, and it's end of story. No one says a word or Pete, there are no more objections raised. It's that's it, it's a dumb deal. And Stephen Miller is a racist who absolutely hates Muslims. And I think that is a part of the story here, internally, of what's going on. You have not only him, but you know, we're gonna talk with Emily about Pete Hyset, who's like wrote a whole book about how he's itching to do Crusades 2.0 because he wants American Christian warriors to fight against the Muslim hordes. And so that is an important strain of ideology in this administration as well. But there's no doubt that they lied to the American people. We taught we did focus groups with the A of C Trump voters, and I was surprised. You know, I thought Gaza was important, but I was surprised at how many of them brought up war in peace, and not just Gaza. They genuinely believed some of the rhetoric coming from Stephen Miller. And, you know, I mean, it is fair for people who are who are looking at this to have some belief in you've got all of these figures within Trump world saying absolutely nothing, no more war with Iran, we gotta learn the mistakes in the past, blah, blah, blah, to put some creedings in that, even as you know that, you know, Trump is a liar, blah, blah, blah. So it is a disgusting betrayal. It's not that it was not predictable, many people did predict it, saw it coming, etc., but there's that is true, and it is also true that it is an extraordinary betrayal of the American people, and what many people, many people genuinely thought that they were voting for with this administration and look, put E7 up there on the screen.

SPEAKER_04 53:44

They said the route's taken. Now you could say, okay, yeah, I shouldn't have believed it. I just hated the whole thing process. And then we have to say, Oh, they're super anti-war, and I don't believe that is that. Okay, but two things which are actually winnable are Iran and Ukraine. Those are the two things. I was like, I think we can get that based on Trump and everybody else who was coming into the administration. There were some early signs, the speed whitcom stuff, remember? Steve Spire with this rail. That was good, you're good, okay. And then we start to get to where we are. It was pretty obvious by Midnight Hammer that they were totally in control. And from what I've heard, I mean, I'll give her a little bit of credit. She spoke up against COVID war. From what I know, guess what? She got new.

SPEAKER_00 54:09

Basically, do not invite too much for time because she literally sold teachers and said no one just got nothing left. Now she's done.

SPEAKER_04 54:16

I mean she can't just continue to suck up the trunk.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

Only she I mean, if she wants to preserve any shred of dignity souls, whatever, you would have to resign but a shred of dignity of if anybody should come on in it.

SPEAKER_04 54:25

I hope she got a lot of money from those teachers because when the desk has her power and the full family stuff is happening. Uh oh, I'll give a lot of money about to survive some subpoenas. You're gonna be looking at two to three hundred thousand dollars of legal bills. Um, from that kind of so good luck uh to you and to the Africa family. But if you think also about all the others, I'll make a case, right? This is what I always hear behind the scenes. What are they supposed to do? They can't do anything, they don't have any real power. Um bullshit, in my opinion. I'll see you can resign. There are a lot of other people, Pete Hexeth and others, I mean they literally said the opposite in cases. But look, to be fair, there were also clips of them floating around about there where they were very happy, Pete in particular. I chose not to believe it. There are many people who just interviews another, the position maker, like it has changed, it's legitimately different. I mean, Stephen Militants on television today. The Trump doctrine is not expellitionism, America first, not mean America alone, we're all you know are great, powerful military Iran. To be honest, I mean I actually think he was against civil wars previously. I remember talking to the people who knew him. I mean, that's why it's so crazy. But what you have to do now is all about just pleasing Trump. And from that point, Trump, I guess, Trump has literally, in many cases, almost never inserted absolute total control over any real form of possible portfolio. He really was relatively blanketly deal maker, etc. Again, that's why I thought the uh the staff would be highly, highly influential. But clearly on Iran, he was the primary mover here. I don't think he was pushed into this. I just want to be that very clear. He was the person who made the ultimate decision. And then I'm still I'm still trying to figure out that story.

Independent Media And Hypocrisy

SPEAKER_00 55:31

I feel like he also has bought into some of the like messianic hype around him himself.

SPEAKER_04 55:38

Like you said, I mean, he's a gambler who keeps he's like on a hot wall on a crap table, and he keeps getting, but ultimate again, if you read enough history, it's like, oh my god, 20 success, 20 success, 20 success. And he starts to believe all the hype, and then boom, he's climbed to a brick wall, and then you invade Russia. What ends up happening? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

No, I mean it's um, I think he's he talks about his own mortality a lot.

SPEAKER_04 55:55

Yeah, lately.

SPEAKER_00 55:56

He's thinking he apparently does not believe he'll be getting into heaven, um, based on what he's said. I would say if there is a heaven, I think that's probably a pretty accurate assessment. Um, and he's thinking about his legacy. And so, along with, you know, some stupid arch and friggin' ballroom and the drapes, the other thing that he wants to establish as his legacy is like these wars. That's that's what he's decided, that's his way to make his mark on the world. And so um, so here we are. And that's a good transition to talking about some of the, I can't even call them religious undercurrents because at this point, it's such a dominant talking point. And I, for me, as someone who is if like a not a religious person, totally secular person, I don't factor in when I'm thinking about geopolitics that you have these like fanatical religious zealots who are ideologically committed to you know, this like end times ideology, many of whom are in high positions of power here in Israel, and also like Iran is literally a theocracy. And so we wanted to bring in Emily to um, you know, to shed some light on the specifics of what this ideology is and just how influential it is has been in bringing us to this place. Let's get to it.

SPEAKER_09 56:48

Hey, if you like. So look, um, let me let this play because that was breaking points. We we uh one of our sister shows, we support breaking points here, Crystal and Ziger, yada yada yada.

SPEAKER_04 56:59

Yeah, video, hit the like button or leave a comment below. It really helps get the show to more people.

SPEAKER_00 57:02

And if you'd like to get the full show ad-free and in your inbox every morning, you can sign up at breakingpoints.com. That's right, get the full show, help support the future of independent media at breakingpoints.com.

From Neocon Roots To Disillusion

Bush Lessons And Unlearned History

Empire’s Gravity And Repetition

SPEAKER_09 57:09

So I'm one of those um whatever. Turning out here hypocrisy, a whatever the heck you call it, members. Um whatever. I gave the big gave the big books. Uh that's all I could say. I don't know what I don't know what I got. I g I never got the book from them because of COVID. But you know, either way, um I think the analysis there was pretty small what they said then versus what they say now. And when it comes to me, I'm only frustrated in the sense of um what I'll just say is me watching Donald Trump become George Bush. And and and and this is painful for me personally, because I think I've said it on this show several times. I I was a neoconservative because uh I grew up on radio uh Bill O'Reilly, new boards uh dancing. Liberalism did not penetrate my brain. It just didn't. Uh I did not know that that was what was happening when I was growing up, uh that's what was happening. And so when I joined the military, I very much joined with uh the neoconservative perspective. Shortly got that and we uh exploded. It's it's easy to support a war in the abstract, it's harder when your friends are fighting it and a lot of them are dying and not coming back as you sit there in the United States military and you're watching the results of your vote. And ladies and gentlemen, that's where I have to say something. And this is how I'm gonna end. Because what I'm gonna say is gonna make a lot of people uncomfortable here. But the truth has never been polite. And um, I don't think history, at least when it came to me, has never been gentle or has never given me the illusions. What I believe is we are living through one of the strangest uh political transformations of the modern era. A man who rose to power denouncing the failures of Iraq now finds himself walking down the same road that led America into Iraq. And if you've been paying attention, you can feel the day job of it. Back in 2003, and for bear in mind, um I'm scheduled to graduate from high school in 2004, so this is the context that I'm coming to this in. In 2003, George Ben Bush stood before the country and told America that they were invading Iraq, and it was about security, freedom, and defending civilization itself. The language was moral, theological, evil regimes, dangerous weapons, a world that had been reshaped for the sake of peace. There were people in the Bush administration who now admit that they were listening to the dispensationalists, that they were following John MacArthur, etc. And now two decades later, they're watching Donald Trump, the very man who mocked that war, who ridiculed the neoconservatives, and told the American people that a foreign policy establishment had lied to them, start to sound eerily sim eerily similar, eerily familiar to the same regime that he was past. It's not identical. It's history. And history really repeats itself word for word, but it does rise. And the ripped the rim is exactly the same because power has gravity. Every presidential campaign makes their candidate campaign as an outsider who will tame wash it. They promise to resist the machine. Bill Clinton said the Arab big government is over. Remember that? And Donald Trump says, I'm gonna drain the swamp. So they say they'll drain the swamp, they say the air big government over, they say they'll dismantle Empire, they say they'll bring the troops home, and then they sit in that seat of power. And the the intelligence briefings arrive. The generals walk into the room. The allies come from overseas, the think tank starts writing their memos, op ed starts happening, they start reading foreign policy magazine, etc. And slowly, almost invisibly, the chair reshapes the person. Bush entered office talking about humility and foreign policy. He warned against nation building during his 2000 campaign. Then came September 11th. The world changed, and suddenly America was told it had a mission not just to defend itself, but to remake the entire regime of the planet. And the mission became the defining project of a generation. The United States invaded Iraq, trillions of dollars were spent, hundreds of thousands of people died, and an entire region was destabilized and has been destabilized since then. And here's the uncomfortable truth that nobody in Washington likes to say out loud. The people who supported that war were almost entirely never held accountable for being wrong. The Bill Crystals, the David Frums, the Dick Caneys, etc. Bush were never held accountable for being wrong. They actually moved into television studios. They joined think. They wrote books explaining why their failure wasn't actually really failure, it was the fact that American people got tired of troops dying, etc. But the soldiers, you know, the poor people, the taxpayers, you know, the poor people, the families who buried their children, they paid the bill. And that's why the rise of Donald Trump shocked the political establishment because millions of Americans were tired of that type of empire. They were tired of hearing that every war was necessary, every intervention was noble, and every failure was somehow a success in disguise. Trump tapped into a frustration. He stood on that debate stage and said what many politicians were afraid to say. The Iraq war was a disaster. And for a moment, just one moment, it seemed like American politics might actually learn something from the last 20 years. But Washington is a very powerful place. It's like a powerful river, and rivers have currents. If the United States drifts another major conflict in the Middle East, especially one with Iran, then the political irony will be staggering. The moment that rose up is the thing that created the movement that rose up as well. And that movement that rose up was the to reject the Bush doctrine. And damn, damn, damn. Trump is following to the T the Bush doctrine. And he's doing it, and we will have to look back and say it actually never ended. It never ended, and Trump is hyper focused, and he is recreating different slogans, different personalities, same ideology, same trajectory, more than likely, same outcome. And here's the deeper lesson than the one that should have humbled us every ideology in this country. The real problem isn't just the president, it's the system itself. Because whether the president is a Republican, a Democrat, a conservative, a populist, a socialist, a war hawk, a self-progate nationalist, Washington keeps pushing towards the exact same uh uh conclusion. More intervention, more influence, more management of the world, more world police. But a republic was never meant to run like it was an empire. The founders warned about this two hundred plus years ago. They feared standing armies, they feared foreign entanglements, and the seductive idea that America had a divine mission to control all global affairs. Empires promise security, but they deliver exhaustion. They drain the treasury, they expand their surveillance state, they concentrate power in the executive branch and steal it away from the common people normally who reside in the cities and the states. And eventually they forget the difference between defending their nation and policing their nation while they police the planet. So the the thing that I want us to think about today is that the question isn't really about Trump. It's not even about Bush. The question is whether America has the wisdom to recognize a pattern before history repeats itself. Because if we keep walking the same road, we shouldn't be surprised when we arrive at the same destination. And history, my friends, has already shown us what awaits there. The great Einstein has the quote insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And so I ask the audience as we ask America as we ask the president Are we insane? Thank you for tuning in, and I'll see you on the next episode.