You Cannot Fill Your Tank With Optimism

The fastest way to feel a war is not a headline, it’s the receipt at the pump and the total at the grocery store. We break down how the Strait of Hormuz closure turns geopolitics into a direct energy shock, why a drop in energy supply can translate into a brutal drop in GDP, and how “temporary disruption” becomes permanent pressure for working people trying to make the math work week to week.

From there, we zoom out to the global board: China’s unusually active backchannel diplomacy, the question of who can actually withstand a prolonged trade and shipping breakdown, and why talk of a shiny robotics future doesn’t solve the basic constraint of fuel, transport, and food inputs. We also dig into the political story being sold at home, contrasting data-driven warnings with pundit-level certainty, and asking what happens when optimism is used as a substitute for analysis.

We then move into the latest on the Iran deal rumors and fallout: Trump’s comments at the G7, the Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah pressure points, the disputed “memo of understanding,” and the reported scale of reconstruction funding and sanctions relief. To close, we revisit the Iran nuclear deal debate through a Bill Maher clip and Susan Rice’s fact-based defense of inspections, enforcement, and what changed after the US withdrawal.

If you want more clear-eyed coverage of the Iran war, oil markets, global recession risk, and the media narratives shaping public consent, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review.

Transcript

SPEAKER_14 0:01

Welcome to the Ron Same show. Independent media will not reinforce travelism yet. What claim? Nobody is leaving. Let us reason together. Those who do not know history is doomed to repeat it. Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. That is our quote for the day. Let's get into the episode.

SPEAKER_06 0:21

Yes, the United States began this. What country has invaded America? How many in the country has America invaded? Please stop reading Hollywood scripts and reading the book. Forgot about that one, right? Didn't forget I said country. You guys have got a Hollywood version of your own history. Nobody takes you seriously

Welcome And A History Challenge

SPEAKER_06 0:47

anymore.

SPEAKER_11 0:48

Your gas went up 22 cents in one week. Goldman Sachs says this war is killing 10,000 American jobs every single month. And the White House just called it a temporary disruption. Temporary. Tell that to the truck driver who cannot cover his fuel costs this week. Tell that to the family, staring at a grocery bill that jumped overnight because fertilizer runs on the same energy supply that just got shut down in the Strait of Hormuz. And while all of that is happening in real time, Stephen Moore sat in that studio and told the panel that Trumpenomics is working, that this is the greatest productivity revolution in the history of civilization. That blind people are going to see, and cancer is going to be cured. Meanwhile, Steve Keane and Professor Jiang, two economists who actually read the data, are sitting right next to him saying a 10% fall in energy means a 10% fall in GDP. That is not a recession. That is Great Depression math. And the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway 20% of the world's oil flows through, has been closed since March 4th. One of these men is lying to your face. And I'm going to show you exactly which one. I am Silas Miller. This is the Silas Wire. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_16 2:09

China really gets more energy through the strait than anybody else in the world, and therefore has a bigger vested interest, you would think, in getting it reopened as soon as possible. Why is China kind of sending this out?

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Well, China is not sending us out. We have the ceasefire in place because China did a lot of backdoor negoti uh diplomacy in order to pressure the Iranians to attempt a ceasefire. Um this is out of character for China. China does not like to involve itself in other nations' affairs. And so I think without Chinese pressure, we would not have the RRTC agreeing to the ceasefire in the first place. Um the issue is that the United States

Hormuz Closure And Great Depression Math

SPEAKER_03 2:55

continues to be unreasonable in negotiations with the Iranians. The Iranians have done a lot in order to try to accommodate the Americans. But you know, when JD Vance went to Pakistan for the first time to negotiate with Iranians, basically uh it was a very heavy-handed uh ultimatum to the Iranians. And after that, I think that the uh Iranians recognize that there really is no hope in negotiating with the Americans. The Americans want to escalate. Why the Americans want to escalate, um, we don't know, but we can expect that um over the next few weeks the escalation will increase. You know, Trump has talked about using uh US naval ships to escort all tankers through the Trevor Homoose. This is clearly a provocation, and we might have a Gulf of Token incident uh which will allow Trump to justify uh a ground invasion.

SPEAKER_16 3:50

Right, and and a ground invasion, Steve Keen, would be to me just pouring fuel onto what is already a burning fire of mayhem over there, which I think could be horrendous for the United States.

SPEAKER_06 4:05

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think the soldiers on the ships are having much the same reactions. We don't know whether the new the nuclear uh aircraft carriers taken out by Iranian attacks or by sailors stuffing their own clothing into the sewerage system to block it and force it out of the conflict. Those are our two choices. You have probably the least willing American military in the history of America's military incursions, supposed to go up against a country of 90 million people who know they're face an existential risk. It's absolutely ludicrous to be talking about ground troops going into that part of the world. And I've had, you know, I'm not an expert in military matters either. We've all acknowledged that. But from what I've got from reports of people who I know are experts in that area, on the left say Americans have Star Wars-style weapons to use against the Iranians, and this is going to be a slaughter of those American troops. And then I've gone, I completely agree. This has probably been set up as another false flag, which America should be famous for. The Gulf of Tom King, which dragged them into the Vietnam conflict in the first place, was put across as an attacker by American ships in international waters, was actually an American attack within Vietnamese waters. Uh all this stuff. America sets up these wars and then loses them.

SPEAKER_16 5:22

You described Donald Trump as an anarchist who behaves like a mafia boss uh with no idea of consequences. And you sent this message to world leaders get rid of Trump, stop this. America has to concede defeat and step back to give us a chance to rebuild the world's physical infrastructure before global famine sets in. You added it's a clusterfuck coming out of America. If you're going to see regime change to stop this war, forget about seeing it in Iran. You need to see it in America. I mean, that's that's strong rhetorical stuff there. Um just explain what you what you're getting at.

SPEAKER_06 6:00

Well, first of all, I mean I mean my perspective on Trump comes from having a personal relationship with somebody with narcissistic personality disorder. And everything, I mean the one advantage of that relationship in the long term was that I understood Donald Trump, I think. And that is that he simply wants to make himself the center of attention. And it doesn't matter how you do it, you make a center of attention by giving a nice stance or by invading another country. He just wants to be the center of attention. I think that's why he fell for Netanyahu's provocation, which 40 years of previous American uh presidents have resisted and went in in the belief that it was over in a in a couple of days. I mean, all the talk about, you know, we've got to get Iran to be reasonable, Iran, Iranian regime, yada, yada, yada. The very first thing the Americans did was assassinate the top leadership of the country, including the father and and I believe the wife of the new leader. Um you want to be taken seriously as somebody to negotiate with. That just tells you don't negotiate, defeat them on the ground. And just like Vietnam was a war where they brought an enormous firepower and lost to a girl or army, this is bringing in enormous firepower and taking against a political system which has devoted, broken itself into 31 and like heads of a hydra so that you can't take it out collectively. So all America's tactics have backfired so far. They'll continue backfiring. The only way out is for Donald Trump to declare victory while conceding defeat.

SPEAKER_16 7:27

Stephen Moore, I mean, I can't imagine a scenario where Donald Trump uh tries to get out of this without at least presenting a case for total victory. That's his nature. Um, but in terms of this war and the impact it's had on his legacy, how was the tariff war doing before all this? In other words, the the the trumponics, which he launched with a huge gusto, you know, a kind of year ago, how is how was that playing out, do you think, globally before this? In other words, you know, was was his economic strategy, do you think, working? And has has this put everything back, or was it not really working? And was this adding to the general sense of of chaos?

SPEAKER_07 8:13

Well, um, first of all, I just have to say, I mean, come on, uh it seems like you all can't determine who's the good guy here and here's the evil. And I by the way, I'm not the bad villains. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's my point. If you actually think that we're the bad guys in the area, is the good guys. You have a personal personality sort of myself. Sorry. And it really is amazing that you think that we're the villains here, and that the this is a regime, and by the way, again, I'm not even I wasn't even necessarily in favor of this incursion in the first place, but come on, this is a regime that was killing thousands, thousands, murdering their own people. This was a regime that's building a nuclear weapon. How are we the bad guys by trying to save lives? And I do think, look, I think to Trump's credit, he really did he did view this as a humanitarian mission to save lives that were being slaughtered. Now, in terms of our economy, look, we you know, we've had now five and a half years of Trump's presidency with an incredibly strong economy. Trump economics has worked. If it hadn't been for COVID, Trump would have been re-elected with a 40 state re-election last flight. The economy was very strong going into 2026. And it's true that the Iran situation has really changed that picture dramatically, which is why Trump really needs to bring this to an end uh as quickly as possible. But by the way, I'm not I'm not just attacking Steve. I think there are a lot of foreign leaders too who can't seem to figure out who's the good guy and who's the bad guy here. That's really troubly to America.

SPEAKER_06 9:43

I was facing being conscripted to fight for freedom in Vietnam. And the one thing that's threw me is why am I being conscripted to fight for freedom? Okay. You go into Vietnam, you attack it, the whole thing is about going to stop the communist invasion of Southeast Asia. Who was the first country Vietnam has a war with? China, the first and last war. But that took that completely against what you thought was going to happen. Afghanistan, Iraq.

Ceasefire Claims And Escalation Fears

SPEAKER_06 10:08

Well, you should be against this one as well. Grow up. Okay, if you can't realize that.

SPEAKER_07 10:20

Yes, the United States began this.

SPEAKER_06 10:23

What country has invaded America? How many countries has America invaded? Please stop reading Hollywood scripts and read Europe.

SPEAKER_07 10:32

I seem to think uh the 9-11 was an attack on America. Maybe you don't agree with that, but yes, okay.

SPEAKER_06 10:39

That's one which country is this before. Oops, you forgot about that one, right? No, I did I didn't forget. I said country. And no country that that that was a rogue, and the the rogues came from Saudi Arabia, not from the bloody country you related in the results of it. You guys have got a Hollywood version of your own history. There's a joke from the outside. Nobody takes you seriously anymore.

SPEAKER_07 11:00

Okay, no, before the evil empire, why isn't every immigrant in the world wants to come to the United States?

SPEAKER_06 11:05

Nobody wants to go there now, mate. You should be at the border on.

SPEAKER_07 11:12

We have millions of people who are signing up to get Jesus to come to the United States. They don't want to go to any other country.

SPEAKER_14 11:17

So I forgot, I want to say this guy's name is Stephen Moore. He's a goddamn idiot. A goddamn smiling, red-faced fucking idiot. He just heard about all the bombings, and then he laughs and says, Why do people want to come to the United States? Well, because the United States is bombing the shit out of everybody else. Duh. Duh. Because the United States is bombing everybody else except the remote. So we are the only game in town. Duh. Go look it up. How many bases does China have in the United States? Okay. How many bases does Vietnam have in the United States? How many bases does Russia have in the United States? How many bases do Romanians do the Romanians have in the United States? How many bases do the Ukrainians have in the United States? How many bases do the Canadians have in the ISA? How many bases do the French have in the ISA? How many bases do the Saudi Arabians have in the ISA? How many bases do the Koreans have in the United States? Now while you ponder those very easy questions because you know none. No that the last time I checked, we had over eight hundred and fifty bases around the world. People are fleeing and coming here because we are bombing everything there, and we are making the world so unsustainable that they have no other choice but to come here. That is an elementary. Elementary. Some people like Steven get under my skin because they want to be taken seriously. And then it's like, well, they have to laugh at these serious situations because they know that it's our fault. This idiot wants is is uh they want to be maybe take him seriously as an economics uh person as an economics advisor. But he does not even know that the people who attacked 9-11 were were uh hijackers. I want to say 18 hijackers and 19 hijackers not the entire country of Saudi Arabia. If you ask somebody who is not intelligent that he's like to pretend he uh he is, they'll say the Muslims did it. Also, not a country. People like this are a damn embarrassment. And it and and oh just I I hope for their sake there's not a God when they die.

SPEAKER_16 14:08

Look, from my from my point of view, I I let maybe crystal, China's moved beyond cheap labor to advanced automation. Um Steve Keene has note uh has noted uh that if global trade stops, China has the internal infrastructure to survive, whereas the West has outsourced its survival. Is that do you do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_03 14:29

Yeah, I mean, if you just look at the past couple months, China has been much more resilient and much more able to adapt to a new economic circumstance than other uh countries in Southeast uh Asia, especially the Philippines and Thailand, and Japan's also a lot of stress stress as well. So it seems that the Chinese government has been preparing uh for this eventuality for a long, long time. They've been very strategic, they've been very uh very long-term in their thinking. The issue is that the long-term strategic scenario does not favor China because China is still an economy that depends on exports. And if there are these wars raging around the world, that's gonna be very hard for China to export its manufactured goods to the rest of the world. The second issue is that China consumes a lot of resources. Yes, I do understand that China has renewables, and I do know that China has a lot of inventory and stockpiles, but eventually all this is gonna run out. So, from a long-term strategic perspective, China is not as um as well adapted to a change as, say, maybe Russia or the United States?

SPEAKER_16 15:35

Will what's happened here with Iran, and actually to a lesser degree, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has also been now, you know, we're four years in now, and it's it's becoming a real quogbire, um, will what's happened deter China from uh invading Taiwan, for example?

SPEAKER_03 15:57

I I think that given the current geopolitical outlook and given the fact that this situation in Iran is only going to escalate and this may have crippled effects throughout the world, um, I think that China is going to be much more cautious in its um uh approach. In fact, we may see that China begins to uh become much more isolationist over the years.

SPEAKER_16 16:21

Professor Zhang, just finally, uh are we heading for a global recession, do you think?

SPEAKER_03 16:27

I think that we are heading towards a global depression, and this is a process that could take decades. We are in a new normal. Uh we are on we are in the undiscovered country. We are we are the level of destruction, the level of pain and suffering that we are moving towards is unimaginable.

SPEAKER_07 16:46

So can I can I answer that question? Yes. Look, we are entering the greatest period of um productive of the greatest productivity revolution in the history of civilization. Nothing we'll over the next 10 years, we'll never see anything like what is coming with respect to um the this incredible robotics revolution. So that's gonna raise living standards.

SPEAKER_16 17:12

This is like the theory, because the big surely the big question with that is if the future is robotic, then aren't humans just gonna get screwed in the process?

SPEAKER_07 17:23

No, but it's like saying, well, gee, isn't, you know, uh uh a machine gonna, you know, make people poor. No, economic progress and productivity makes people richer, not poorer. And so we're gonna see um amazing, and by the way, not just in the area of production, because you know, literally in the next 10 years, we'll have technology uh through the uh blind people won't be able to see people in wheelchairs, we'll be able to rise up and walk, we'll be able to cure cancer. I mean, this is an incredible future we're facing. Uh, and it's going to not just be good for our health, but our wealth as well.

SPEAKER_16 17:57

Okay, so we have two options, Steve Keene, finally. One is a global, a global depression over the next few decades. The other one is a global explosion of foreign joy and success and triumph.

SPEAKER_06 18:10

So, what do you say? Remember the old movies. Remember the old moving sliding doors. Okay. Yes. You make it through the train, you don't make it through the train. Well, I think we're in a sliding doors moment.

SPEAKER_11 18:21

Stephen Moore sat in that studio and called this war a humanitarian mission. So let me give you the humanitarian price tag. According to Pentagon briefings to Congress, Operation Epic Fury cost $11.3 billion in its first six days alone. $1 billion a day. And Harvard public policy professor Linda Bilmaz, who accurately predicted the true cost of the Iraq war being four times the official estimate, said on the record in April of 2026. I am certain we will reach $1 trillion for the Iran War. One trillion dollars borrowed against your future, against your kids' future. While the White House called it a temporary disruption. And here is what that money is doing to your life right now, not in 10 years. Right now. According to the International Energy Agency, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. Brent crude surged past $120 a barrel. Gulf states collectively lost 6.7 million barrels per day of production by March 10th, and gas prices in the United States jumped nearly 27 cents in a single week. The fastest weekly increase since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That is not a geopolitical data point. That is the guy driving to work at 5.30 in the morning, doing the math in his head at the pump, and coming up short. And here is what makes Stephen Moore's argument the most dishonest thing said in that entire debate. This war was launched without a formal declaration of war by Congress,

Is America The Villain Debate

SPEAKER_11 20:06

violating Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which grants the war power exclusively to Congress. The House voted 215 to 208 to limit Trump's war powers 100 days in. $1 billion a day, no congressional authorization. And the White House asked for $1.5 trillion added to the military budget for 2027, the largest proposed expansion of military spending since World War II. Steve Keene's math is not radical, it is arithmetic. A 10% fall in energy means a 10% fall in GDP. That is as big a downturn as the Great Depression. And Professor Jiang's point about China, that it has been quietly building energy self-sufficiency and internal infrastructure, while America has been spending 30 years bombing countries into rubble. That is not anti-American. That is a report card. America spent $8 trillion on the post-9-11 wars, lost every single one. And the same people who architected those losses are now calling Steve Keene delusional for reading the bill out loud. Stephen Moore can talk about the robotics revolution all he wants. But you cannot eat a robot, and you cannot fill your tank with optimism. I am Silas Miller. The wire does not go dark.

SPEAKER_09 21:42

Indeed, we do a lot of updates for you about what we know with regard to the Iran deal. Trump making some interesting comments today about how Syria should actually be in charge of taking care of Hezbollah, not Israel. Uh Netanyahu resisting, pulling out of Lebanon. So a lot to get to there. Is going to join us to break down his understanding of the deal and how it came together and also the uh deportation threats against him, which have been quite significant. Um, we also are gonna take a look at some new AI stories, Anthropics Dario Amade with some very terrifying and eyebrow raising comments, also a major walkout from another graduation ceremony. This one, the CEO of Google, was speaking. So that is uh quite a significant development there. We're taking a look also at the oil markets. Let's say that the deal signing happens this Friday, that they in 60 days even are able to come to some sort of agreement. Obviously, a lot of these things have, you know, a lot of question marks around them. But even given the best case scenario, how long will it take for the oil markets to get back to normal? We've got some numbers and some data there to show you. We're also taking a look at the polls this morning and a very interesting clip of a MAGA grandma who says that the Trump economy is giving her literal panic attacks. Um, so a lot to get to this morning. And for the premium subscribers, we'll also have the AMA live after we record the show.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

That's right. If you want to watch it, breakingpoint.com, you can sign up and become a premium subscriber today. Everybody who's been supporting the show, thank you. We had a huge day yesterday, actually. So seriously, thank you to all of these viewers. Many of the new viewers who are here, go ahead and check out our premium service. If you're just watching this on YouTube, please hit subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you're listening to the podcast, share an episode with a friend. But let's go ahead and start with Iran. So, right now, what we are seeing is extraordinary uh new comments uh from President Trump, who is abroad attending the G7. There's a lot of different bilateral meetings. One was with Zelensky. This one was with the Emir of Qatar, where he appears to say and to shunt Israel under the bus in Lebanon, though, of course, Bibi Netanyahu is resisting. We'll show you that here in just a little bit. But here are his comments where he says that if Israel can't handle Hezbollah, maybe Al-Qaeda in Syria can. Let's take a listen.

SPEAKER_10 23:54

You know, he's he's pulled that country together amazingly quickly. He's very capable. And he's been very good for me. He's protected everything that I've asked for. He's done. And if Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, he'll do the job. Syria will do the job.

SPEAKER_04 24:14

He'll do the job. Syria will do the job. So we're gonna ask uh Al-Qaeda to take on Hezola. Interesting. Uh let's go to the next one. This is from Trey Yinks. He compiled all of Trump's comments throughout the day here on Israel and Hezbollah. He says, Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long. Too many people are being killed. You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody. There are a lot of people in those apartment houses. They're not all Hezbollah. I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezola on Israel striking Hezbollah in Beirut. I did not like that. I let them know that. Says the attack was, quote, too much. If Israel can't do the job, he'll do the job. Syria will do the job. BB has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon. I am not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves in Lebanon and Hezbollah. Israel would have blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved. So uh that is uh interesting to say the least. And remember, Hezbollah and Hezbollah and Lebanon remain the keystone to this entire thing. The Iranians say it's in the memorandum of understanding. The Trump administration briefed a bunch of reporter uh reporters yesterday. They say it's not in the memorandum of understanding. And yet there is still full-scale freakout, because we have no idea what's in that memorandum of understanding. Has it been released according to the vice president? It is, quote, a page and a half. The JCPOA for reference was I think 159 pages uh after it was released. But what we do know is that many of the key details, which we brought you all yesterday, which were reported by the Iranian side about what's in it for them, including a $300 billion reconstruction fund, do now appear to be confirmed by the vice president who was on television yesterday. Let's take a listen.

SPEAKER_13 25:59

The Iranians are saying that they're gonna have access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund. True or false.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Well, and that that's the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their envy obligation. I think that one of the things you're gonna see at, and people have to be skeptical of this, is that the hardliners in the Iranian system will overemphasize the benefits that Iran gets while underemphasizing all the things that they have to concede and all the things they have to provide in order to get these benefits. So we absolutely are open to the Gulf Coast countries investing in the reconstruction of Iran, but only if Iran ends their nuclear program, ends their enriched stockpile of material, and is really open to

China’s Strategy And Global Depression Talk

SPEAKER_02 26:47

an inspections and enforcement regime that gives the American people confidence they're never gonna have a nuclear weapon. So I I think I think the dance you're gonna see, Ed, which is gonna be interesting, is the Iranian media, especially the hardline media, they're gonna talk a lot about what they get without talking about what they give. It's important for all of us to correct that record.

SPEAKER_04 27:06

Correcting the record by confirming that the report is true. I mean, yeah, listen, you spin in however you need. I don't care. All right, $300 billion around what we destroyed in the country. The bottom line is no sanctions, and you allow the money to flow, whether it's from America or a you know mysterious bank in Swiss. Who was laying that out yesterday on the show about these Swiss banks that Qatar controls but doesn't really control and will transfer it? I don't give a shit which way you do it. All right, but the clear, honest truth is that when you lose a war, yeah, sometimes you gotta pay the Piper. And that's the truth. And the Israeli lobby in Washington is losing it over this. They should. Guess what? Iran's entire GDP in 2024 was 446 billion. So this is 300 billion in reconstruction funds, in addition to sanctions relief, in addition to making sure uh to requiring like intra-gulf investment and basically de facto normalization of all of these countries' relations with Iran. And on top of that, for nuclear enrichment, that remains the biggest sticking point. And don't get me wrong, there's still gonna be a ton of fights to be had in the interim 60 days. But to have that on the table for Iran, I understand now why they took the deal. But yeah, I mean, they demanded genuine, like they've demanded full-on reparations. We all thought that was a joke. It's not, uh, it's not been confirmed here by the vice president. But this is the reality. This is the reality we have to grapple with. I'm fine with it. We should never have been here in the first place. Israel war lobby, you got what you deserve. I don't know what else to say.

SPEAKER_09 28:41

And not only those one-time funds and the sanctions relief, obviously, but also an income in perpetuity or not a toll, but a fee to transit the Strait of Hormuz is what looks like is going to be uh contemplated here. You know, going back to the piece about Lebanon and Israel and how central this is and these, you know, disputed characterizations of what is in the memo of understanding, et cetera, uh, UMWatch Media says that they got their hands on the first page of the Memo of Understanding. And Ryan tweeted this out, paragraph one of the MOU, according to UMwatch Media, says Iran and the US, quote, and their allies in the current war, obviously that will include Israel, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. So perhaps that language is where there could be, you know, I look at that and I say, okay, that means you have to withdraw from Lebanon. Um, but perhaps the Israelis look at that and say, well, you know, we can ensure the territorial integrity, but still keep our troops occupying on the ground in Lebanon. Um, in any case, paragraph one is further described as elaborating how, quote, the final deal, the comprehensive agreement, the vision to be signed within 60 days of the initiation of Talks on June 19th will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

SPEAKER_14 30:25

Um, real time with Bill Maher about three weeks ago. He happened to have Susan Rice on the show. And uh he tried his normal talking points and it did not work.

SPEAKER_05 30:36

So as you all know, Bill Maher is a little simp for Israel. He's also a little simp for Benjamin and Yahoo. And um, he is just a rabid Zionist and rabid Israel supporter to the point where he pretends like there wasn't a genocide in Gaza. He acts like Israel did virtually nothing wrong in Gaza. He acts like what they're doing in the West Bank is completely fine. Um, he is really as loathsome as they come on this particular issue. Well, this mindset also bleeds over into his feelings on the Iran war. He's tried to split the difference and say, like, look, uh, I support what Trump is doing because Iran is the core of every problem in the in the Middle East, but the other day he also tried to come out and say, Well, it didn't really work, so you should just get out of there. But um, he has on an Obama administration official here, Susan Rice. Now, I'm not a huge fan

War Costs And Constitutional War Powers

SPEAKER_05 31:26

of Susan Rice, but in this instance, she's representing the Obama administration perspective on Iran, which happened to be completely and utterly correct and completely vindicated, right? So um listen to this because Susan Rice absolutely fact mogs the shit out of Bill Maher and humiliates him in front of his own audience for his total ignorance on this topic that he has strong feelings on, but clearly doesn't know the first fucking thing about it. Because he's trying to argue that, like, you know, the Iran deal was uh a failure and that Iran was about to have nukes and then Net Yahoo was right and Trump is right to do the war, and he just fucking hits a brick wall of truth and fails miserably. Listen to this.

SPEAKER_12 32:07

Let me explain what we did and why I think it was the right thing, and why I think unfortunately we're really on the wrong course right now. First of all, Iran, as you said, absolutely correctly, poses threats on multiple dimensions. It's missile program, it's support for proxies in the region, it's human rights violations.

SPEAKER_05 32:25

But the way it poses By the way, Rich talking about Iran's human rights violations as we are shoving innocent immigrants into concentration camps and they're getting tortured and graped. And Israel is doing a genocide and fucking shooting children in the face and having a right to grape protests. And we're going to talk about Iran's human rights violations. So this first part of the Iran fear-mongering, I don't like, but hold because it gets much better.

SPEAKER_12 33:01

Is if it were able to acquire a nuclear weapon or weapons plural. And so back in 2013, uh, we began to try an effort without using force, but using economic pressure and sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table. And after two years of negotiations, resulted in a nuclear deal that prevented Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

SPEAKER_15 33:27

Based on inspections.

SPEAKER_12 33:29

Based on not just inspections, based on taking 97, 98 percent of their fissile material out of the country, shutting down their plutonium reactor, making it impossible for them to put in place the most highly sophisticated centrifuge. And you know they weren't cheating? We know that we know it for two reasons, two ways. One, uh, the intelligence community of the United States and even Israel validated that up until 2018 when uh the prior president pulled out.

SPEAKER_15 33:57

Not Israel.

SPEAKER_12 33:58

Yes. And secondly, that they were not cheating on the Iran nuclear deal. That's not right. And secondly, the IAEA had the International Atomic Energy Agency, had 24-7 intrusive inspections in all of Iran's nuclear facilities. So when the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal, the deal was being implemented fully. But even if you don't buy that.

SPEAKER_15 34:24

Why wasn't that why if Netanyahu thought they weren't cheating, why was he so adamant to get out of the deal?

SPEAKER_05 34:29

Because he's a fucking liar, Bill. He's a liar, you idiot, you dipshit, you moron. You still haven't figured out that Israel is interested only in the greater Israel project. They want to expand their borders. They want all of the West Bank, they want all of Gaza, they want probably all of Syria, they want parts of Egypt, they want Jordan, they want, they want to expand their borders. The reason why Iran needs to be destroyed in order for them to do that is they're the only regional actor with the power to push back against them. Iran funds Hezbollah, Iran funds Hamas, it funds resistance to Israel, it is opposed to Israel. They are blocking Israel from creating their greater Israel, uh their greater Israel plan, from implementing their greater Israel plan. Okay? That's what's going on here. So what does Netanyahu do? He can't just say that. He can't just say, we're a settler colonial project and we're interested in doing expansionism and stealing more and more sovereign territory from innocent people in innocent countries. They can't say that. So what you do is you lie. And you feel, oh, they're lying. They actually have a nuclear weapon or they're very close to a nuclear weapon. He's been saying that since fucking like 1980 something, bro. He's been on TV, he's been saying it for sure. There's uh, you know, uh compilations going back to at least the 1990s. Oh, they're a month away from a nuke, they're uh two months away from a nuke, they're a couple weeks away from a nuke. He's been saying this forever, he's been lying every single step of the way. So you can't say we want to steal the land. So you say they have a nuke, and the implication is they're about to use it. He's implied or outright said that they're gonna nuke uh Israel or they're gonna nuke the US. Lie, lie, lie, la, lie, la, lie, la, lie to try to make the US go in there and do his dirty work and overthrow the Iranian government and make it so that Iran is a failed state. So you have, you know, warring factions in the streets and warlords running the country, and you turn it into fucking Libya where there's open slave markets. This way they can dominate the region. That's the idea. And here he is going, but but Netanyahu, why would Netanyahu say this? Because he's fucking lying, you dumb fuck. You dumb old fuck.

SPEAKER_12 36:30

Even if you don't buy that.

SPEAKER_15 36:31

Why wasn't Netwhy if if Netanyahu thought they weren't cheating, why was he so adamant to get out of the deal?

SPEAKER_12 36:37

Because this is the right question. It gets back to your original point. It wasn't just about nuclear in the minds of the Israelis.

SPEAKER_05 36:44

Oh, so now you even have the Obama administration officials who were right on this issue and solved this issue. Even they're now coming out and saying, This had nothing to do with nuclear stuff, did it? Because we solved that. If you cared about Iran becoming nuclear, then this deal quite literally just factually, empirically, objectively solved it. Where uh we had the IAEA go in there all the time, make sure they weren't enriching past a certain point. They can only use enrich for power for their power grid and for scientific research. And it was it it was locked down, it was done, it was over, it was a wrap, it was taken off the table as an issue. They followed the deal over a dozen times, verified by the IAEA. Every time they went in there, they said they're following a deal. And what happened? Trump got in there in 2018 and he ripped up the deal that they were following and they were abiding by. He ripped up the deal and he spit in their eye. Well, if you're them, you'd be crazy not to build nukes then, right? Because what what the US and Israel are showing is you're hostile. You're not actually interested in peace. You say we're not interested in peace, you're not actually interested in peace. Because we're doing what you want vis-a-vis nuclear, and it's not enough for you, right? And so when even the Obama officials are admitting, like, yeah, the aggressor here is Netanyahu. He's the aggressor. Israel is the aggressor, that has nothing to do with nuclear.

SPEAKER_12 37:57

In the minds of the Israelis.

SPEAKER_15 38:00

But he was lying when he came to the city.

SPEAKER_12 38:01

No, not lying.

SPEAKER_15 38:02

Well, that's what he said to me.

SPEAKER_12 38:03

Yes, he was.

SPEAKER_15 38:04

He said, uh but we don't agree, we don't believe that they're not cheating.

SPEAKER_12 38:10

And when we had a mechanism in place to prevent them from getting it, he urged President Trump to get out of the deal. They got out of the deal, and what happened? Iran built up his arsenal. Now they have 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, as they should. Up enough for 10 bombs. They have a sophisticated missile program, they now control the Strait of Hour Moose.

SPEAKER_05 38:33

So, in other words, y'all fucked up by pulling out of that fucking deal.

SPEAKER_12 38:36

And they are tanking the global economy as a consequence. And what have we done? We went to

Trump’s G7 Comments On Lebanon

SPEAKER_12 38:42

war, and we have not either dealt with the nuclear program or verifiably dealt with the missile program or the proxy problem.

SPEAKER_05 38:51

So understand, the other thing that pisses me off is this implication from Marr. Oh, well, if they have a nuke, they're obviously gonna offensively use it against us or Israel or both. That's the implication. And that's the thing that I fucking can't stand. And let me be clear, that 100% stems from his Islamophobia and his bigotry. 100%. Because any reasonable person who's objectively looking at the situation will come to the inevitable conclusion that the only reason Iran wants a nuke is to establish deterrence against Western aggression. Let me repeat that. The only reason Iran would want a nuke is to establish deterrence against Western aggression. They would be insane to not have a nuke. Knowing now that Israel and the US will repeatedly, illegally and offensively attack them, and bomb their schools and hospitals and bridges and steel factories and petrochemical plants and everything under the sun. So, if anything, they've been vindicated every step of the way. But here's somebody who knows about the politics of the nuclear agreement and explains it to Bill Maher like he's a baby, and Bill Maher still can't fucking get it through his fat, disgusting head. Um it is insane, bro. And let me be clear about something else, too. If you fancy yourself a Democrat and you were opposed to the Obama deal, then you're really not a Democrat. This is one of those like defining issues. Because now we have an illegal war being waged against Iran, a country that didn't attack us or Israel. They were attacked first. And I'm sorry, but this is not a Democratic position. If you're taking this position, it is a neocon warmonger, right wing, MAGA position. And so, anybody who's in the Democratic Party, and there's a lot of Israel first Democrats in the Democratic Party. Sorry, you're not on the team if you don't agree with Susan Rice here. Bill Maher, you're not on the team. You're a fucking Netanyahu cuckboy. You're an Israel cuck boy. And uh that was the smackdown being laid on Bill Maher on this issue that he knows absolutely nothing about, man. As the Tennessee Holler says, it's genuinely wild to see how ignorant Bill Maher still is on this topic. He has fully swallowed the Trump Name Yahoo line on Iran and seems genuinely shocked to hear the truth. BB was against the Iran deal because it was working. He and his allies wanted war, not peace. That's exactly correct. Hey y'all, do me a favor and like and subscribe. It helps out big time in the algorithm. Click the bell as well for notifications when videos drop. And watch that video on screen right now. You know you want to.

SPEAKER_14 41:08

Oh hush. We like to make fun of our friend Bill Maher here. We've been saying for years that maybe Bill Maher would benefit from reading some Edward Saeed. Of course, he had a TV show when Edward Said was alive, and of you can go see if Edward Said showed up. Uh he had a show when Noam Chomsky was uh Chomsky still alive and but not able to speak. Bill Maher uh definitely never invited him on either. And we can go back to our compilation where Bill Maher invited somebody like Cornell or Glenn Greenwall, etc., on, and we saw what happened. At any rate, we're gonna end the show with that. Thank you for tuning in. I'll see you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

I chased my enemies in clock. I did not stop until they were concluded. I struck them down till they could not get up. They fell beneath my feet. You have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued my enemies under my feet. You placed my foot on their neck. I have destroyed all. They called for hell, but no one came to their rescue. They even carried to the law, but they refused to answer. I found them as finest in the wind. I swept them into the gun like dirt. You gave me victory over my chooses. You appointed me rule over nations. People I don't even know now serves. As soon as they hear of me, they submit.