WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.919 So there's this whole little mini news cycle going on 2 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:07.559 right now. It seems to already be losing oxygen. This 3 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:12.320 claim from a writer in the Atlantic that Trump once 4 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:20.000 vented that he said one time he wishes he had 5 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:25.600 generals like Adolf Hitler had, that you want generals who 6 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:34.159 will be loyal to him. Now, this quote seems poorly sourced. 7 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.320 A lot of these sort of random one off quotes 8 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.280 from Trump allegedly saying nasty things about the American military. 9 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:51.719 I kind of view them with skepticism, a mixture of 10 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.200 somewhere between skepticism too. That's unsavory, But I don't know 11 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.000 that I fundamentally care to just flat out who cares. 12 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.159 And this one in particular, I find to be sort 13 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:09.719 of a non story, but it highlights things that were 14 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:18.959 actually genuine problems during the Trump administration, where I think 15 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.599 we have this assumption and conservatives can lean into this 16 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:26.640 assumption that the top military brass. You know, conservatives respect 17 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:31.400 the military. We like the military. We want to respect 18 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.319 people who are generals and admirals. We like them, you know, 19 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:37.920 we read Tom Clancy books. We think those guys are cool, 20 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:44.640 and many of them are quite cool. But it was 21 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:50.400 also true that there are a lot of problems during 22 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.920 the Trump administration of these people ignoring Trump because they 23 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:05.519 disagreed with him on policy. So there were whole stories 24 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:13.800 from the Trump years about diplomatic and military personnel just 25 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:15.960 ignoring Trump's wishes. There were a lot of you know, 26 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:20.439 as admirable a person as James Mattis was, there were 27 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:25.360 several stories about him just kind of ignoring Trump's orders, 28 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:33.599 giving Trump defense officials limited options for what they could 29 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:40.000 do in response to something where Mattis had sort of 30 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.599 his own opinions and disagreed with Trump and with other 31 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:47.199 Trump's subordinates like hr McMaster who was serving as Trump's 32 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:53.840 National Defense advisor John Bolton, and other times where Mattis 33 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:55.759 just kind of flat out didn't do what Trump told 34 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:00.280 him to do for reasons that seemed to have more 35 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:06.159 to do with policy than anything else. Here's a whole 36 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:08.960 story from twenty twenty. It was published in a couple 37 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.039 of different places. This was in The New York Post, 38 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:17.719 written by Ebony Bowden. Retiring diplomat says defense officials misled 39 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:23.599 Trump on troop count in Syria. US defense officials routinely 40 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:27.759 misled President Trump into believing the American troop count in 41 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.159 Syria was a lot lower than it actually was is, 42 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.759 a retiring US diplomat said in a bombshell interview this week. 43 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.439 We were always playing shell games to not make clear 44 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:42.000 to our leadership how many troops we had there, James Jeffrey, 45 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:45.280 US Special Representative for Syria Engagement said in an interview 46 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.759 with Defense One, which is sort of military focused publication. 47 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:54.479 In October of twenty nineteen, Trump ordered the withdrawal of 48 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:58.599 US troops from northern Syria, a decision controversial among lawmakers, 49 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:02.599 defense officials, and dippls. Pentagon officials convinced the President to 50 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:05.199 leave approximately two hundred troops behind to protect oil fields 51 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.199 in the country's east there were at risk of falling 52 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:09.719 under ISIS control. Jeffrey said. However, the real number of 53 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.599 troops in northeast Syria is a lot more than the 54 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.879 two hundred Trump agreed to leave behind, Jeffrey said, with 55 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:20.319 some officials putting the numbers high as nine hundred. What 56 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:24.160 Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal, Jeffrey told 57 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:27.720 the publication. When the situation northeast Syria had been fairly 58 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:30.399 stable after we defeated. Isis Trump was inclined to pull out, 59 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:33.120 He went on in each case, we then decided to 60 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.319 come up with five better arguments for why we needed 61 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.360 to stay, and we succeeded both times. That's the story. 62 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.079 According to the Washington Post report published last October, Pentagon officials, 63 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.680 unhappy with the withdrawal appealed to Trump's interest in oil 64 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:52.439 to convince him not to withdraw troops. Blah blah blah, 65 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:54.560 they can just keep going. So that they were like 66 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:00.079 lying to Trump about the number of troops there. So 67 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:04.279 here you have Trump wanting to do certain kinds of 68 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.879 military and foreign policy and generals in his orbit. And 69 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.319 the other thing was Trump appointed all these generals to 70 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.120 all these different positions, is chief of Staff and Defense 71 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:18.199 secretary and this and that and the other, and a 72 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:24.600 bunch of them were conniving snakes who and you know, 73 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:29.639 it's hard to be, you know, too critical of James Mattis, 74 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:34.639 this incredibly distinguished military career, But the reality is he 75 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:39.000 was not really obeying what Trump told him to do. 76 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.720 In various instances, he was kind of not really doing 77 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.800 what Trump was asking him. And then he eventually resigned 78 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.240 after Trump and after Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria. 79 00:05:55.399 --> 00:06:00.639 So for Trump to say he wants jenerals who are 80 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:06.600 loyal to him, I don't think in a vacuum, I 81 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:11.439 don't think that that's some awful thing. I think it's 82 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.920 actually far more problematic that you had generals sort of 83 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:20.800 blowing the president off or like lying to the administration 84 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:24.600 about the troop numbers. I think that's actually a far 85 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.639 more problematic thing than Donald Trump saying, Hey, I want 86 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.519 generals who are loyal to me. Why would Donald Trump 87 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.800 want generals loyal to him? Allow me to direct you 88 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.040 to this little document that this legal document that has 89 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.680 something to say about this question of the president and 90 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:47.360 the level of control he's supposed to influence over the military. 91 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:57.720 It's called the United States Constitution. Specifically Article two. Article 92 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.319 two is about the powers of the President of the 93 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:06.040 executive branch. Allow me to direct your attention to Article two, 94 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:12.959 Section two. The President shall be Commander in chief of 95 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.839 the Army and Navy of the United States and of 96 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.040 the militia of the several States, when called into the 97 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:26.920 actual service of the United States. That's it. That's he's 98 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:32.480 the commander in chief. He directs the Army and the Navy. 99 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.000 He directs the military, He is in charge of it, 100 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.000 he oversees it, not the Secretary of Defense, not anyone 101 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:45.040 that Constitutionally, it doesn't legally, it doesn't even make sense 102 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:49.399 for anyone else to have the authority to not do 103 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.759 what the President tells him with regards to the military, 104 00:07:52.839 --> 00:08:01.399 short of something that's flat out illegal. And so I 105 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:06.639 could see Trump in a moment of peaque venting that 106 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:10.720 Jesus for Hitler as generals did what they told him. Now, 107 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.920 it's an unsavory comparison, but you know, we're talking about 108 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.040 some private conversation. Look how many times have I, maybe 109 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.720 in private conversation, said something stupid that I wouldn't necessarily 110 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:26.600 want printed in a newspaper. Here's Trump. Did he actually 111 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.560 say it or not? It seems highly disputable. But even 112 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:31.879 the general principle of what he's saying I don't think 113 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:36.799 is wrong. Yes, his generals should be loyal to him 114 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.679 if he is president of the United States, because that's 115 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:46.519 the oath to obey the Constitution, the oath that officers 116 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:52.559 of the United States swear to follow the Constitution, and 117 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:55.279 right there in Article two, Section two, one of those 118 00:08:55.559 --> 00:09:00.120 provisions of the Constitution, is the commander in chief of 119 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.759 the military being the president, the president being the one 120 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:10.919 who directs the military. So I find this whole controversy 121 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:16.639 to be ridiculous. Now, is it crazy to think Trump 122 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.200 might have said it? Again, I don't think it's actually 123 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.039 that crazy to think he might have said it. I'm 124 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.200 guessing he would have had it with the proviso of 125 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:26.480 I mean, you know, not to the extent of me, 126 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:28.720 like ordering them to do the Holocaust and them doing 127 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.320 a Holocaust or something, but the general principle being I 128 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.000 would like my generals to do what I tell them 129 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:44.240 to do and not lie to me, which clearly happened 130 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.399 several times during Trump's first term. And it's not like 131 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:53.080 we saw in the Biden administration, where a lot of 132 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:56.480 these guys kept their jobs. But like Mark Milly and 133 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.879 a lot of people in the Joint chiefs who have 134 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:06.039 shown themselves to be incompetent boobs in various other respects. 135 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.039 So I and a lot of these guys who are 136 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.080 far more interested in DEEI and various kinds of liberal 137 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.919 buzzwords that probably were helpful to them in their ascent 138 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:26.320 to the top of the military heap than actual fighting 139 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:33.200 and killing. So I guess I just find the whole. 140 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:38.600 The whole sort of mini controversy, which I think this 141 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:44.519 was their grand October surprise. Was some quote that some 142 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:48.480 poorly sourced quote from several years ago that John Kelly's 143 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:50.679 kind of saying Trump one time said, I wish I 144 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:53.600 had generals as loyal to me as Hitler as Hitler's 145 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:55.879 generals were, which, by the way, I'm not sure if 146 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:59.879 Hitler's generals were that loyal to him even, I mean 147 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:04.639 pretty sure didn't one of them try to assassinate him anyway? 148 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:09.480 The guy with one eye, the guy with one eye 149 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:11.480 that Tom Cruise played in that one movie. Yeah, I 150 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:15.360 think he tried to assassinate him anyway. That this is 151 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.120 the Great October Surprise, which I feel like is not 152 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:24.240 having any effects whatsoever. Everyone knows Trump says crazy things, 153 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:29.919 nobody cares at this point, Like I think my wife 154 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.480 and I have been laughing, We're like, gosh, after ten 155 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:36.080 years or whatever, the Trump's been in kind of public life, 156 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.519 like they've just run out of things to throw at 157 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:43.399 him when it comes to like October Surprise esque allegations 158 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.399 or whatever. I mean, I feel like they've got nothing left. 159 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:55.919 There's nothing, no more bullets left in the chamber. But 160 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.039 I think it does shed light on, you know, how 161 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.200 is this Trump and Minute stration going to be staffed 162 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:08.919 when it comes to the military and diplomatic side. On 163 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.360 the diplomatic side, Trump got impeached the first time, I 164 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:17.039 think on incredibly specious grounds. Why In large part, I mean, 165 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.679 the underlying reason for it was a bunch of people 166 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:27.480 within the foreign policy and defense blob who were terrified 167 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:30.919 at the idea that Trump might not give the Ukrainians 168 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:35.759 all the weaponry that they thought they needed. And they 169 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.639 were so angry and upset about that that people leaked 170 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:45.360 confidential discussions Donald Trump had with foreign leaders, with no 171 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:48.840 one having the consideration of, like, hey, don't you think 172 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.679 it's a bad thing for the United States in general 173 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:57.600 if we have executive branch officials leaking private conversations that 174 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.799 the President of the United States is having with the 175 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:05.440 president of another foreign country. I mean the guy Alexander Vinman, 176 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:07.879 the guy who started the whole and then turned into 177 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:11.440 just a flat out left wing activist who started the 178 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:19.360 whole Trump Ukraine impeachment thing. The thing in retrospect, I 179 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.440 think the whole thing was a joke. I think Trump 180 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:26.159 was actually one hundred percent within his rights to say 181 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.799 to the President of Ukraine, Hey, maybe you should investigate 182 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:33.039 this Hunter Biden thing, because clearly Hunter is guilty as 183 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.120 sin or at the very least, there is a lot 184 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.279 of smoke there and seems highly likely that there's fire. 185 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:50.000 I just find so. Basically, though, the Trump administration the 186 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.360 first time around was staffed by just an absolute snake 187 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:59.559 pit of people who in the foreign policy side and 188 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.679 the deploy almacy saw the State Department people who did 189 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:06.360 not want to do the things Trump wanted to do. 190 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:13.759 Appointing John Bolton was a disastrously dumb idea on Trump's part. 191 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.159 Bolton never saw a country he didn't want to invade, 192 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:20.120 and Trump didn't want to invade any countries. That's why 193 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.240 Bolton only lasted a short time and then immediately got fired. 194 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:29.600 I hope the Trump administration the next time around, if 195 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:32.360 he wins, which is still I feel like it's about 196 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:37.000 a fifty to fifty proposition, if he wins, that he 197 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:41.759 can staff this his administration with competent people who actually 198 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:44.799 like agree with his foreign policy, which for the most part, 199 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.600 I looking at the end result, I think I really 200 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:51.480 liked what happened in foreign policy during the Trump years 201 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:59.000 for the most part. So I find again I find 202 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.360 this argument, Oh, Trump once general's loyal to him like 203 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.919 Hitler's generals. I find that whole. I think it's a 204 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.320 silly story. Oh, it comes out just happens to come 205 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:11.480 out the October, you know, two weeks before the election 206 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.720 or whatever. Not buying it. And also from a constitutional 207 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:18.600 point of view, I think his generals should be loyal 208 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.679 to him up to the point of doing something that's 209 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.840 flat out illegal. Yes, they should be loyal to him 210 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:29.960 and should do what he tells them to do when 211 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.639 we return. How this idea of the executive branch being 212 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:38.320 completely run by the president is not actually the fascist 213 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.960 threat to democracy that people think it is. Next on 214 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:48.200 the John Girardi Show, beyond this little mini panic that 215 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.000 liberals are trying, this is just you know, the October surprise, 216 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.360 the attempt to throw spaghetti against the wall and see 217 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:59.919 if it sticks. With this alleged again, this alleged claim 218 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.679 that Trump one time in private said I wish my 219 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:06.919 generals were as loyal to me as Hitler's generals, which 220 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.679 is both I think historically kind of laughable. I think 221 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.519 one of Hitler's generals tried to kill him. And also, 222 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:19.759 like stepping back from the unsavoriness of any comparison with Hitler, 223 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.200 is not necessarily a wrong thing for a president to 224 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.919 want generals to be loyal to him. I mean, short 225 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:33.759 of doing something illegal, generals are supposed to obey the 226 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.840 president of the United States. He's the commander in chief, 227 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:42.120 not the generals. Okay, the general's job is to do 228 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.480 what the commander in chief tells them to do. Again, 229 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:53.279 short of something illegal, generals should be loyal to the 230 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:57.799 president in that respect. Now, loyalty to like an individual 231 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.799 personality is maybe not really the spirit of it. But again, 232 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.759 we're talking about some quote poorly sourced in private from 233 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.599 several years ago that John Kelly kind of remembers Trump saying, 234 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.759 without the full context of exactly what did Trump mean 235 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:16.759 blah blah blah blah blah. Also in the context of 236 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:20.039 a bunch of generals around Trump who blew him off 237 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.799 and kind of flat out did disobey him. There were 238 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:28.680 stories after the fact that basically diplomatic officials and military 239 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:32.400 folks were lying to the president about troop counts in Syria. 240 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:40.640 It's this like, yeah, like there were demonstrated instances where 241 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:45.359 Trump's generals or the generals that he appointed to different posts, 242 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:48.319 like the Secretary Defense bl blah blah blah, blew him 243 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:52.400 off and didn't do what he wanted. This leads me 244 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.559 to there have been a number of stories about how 245 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.480 terrifying it is that Trump wants to institute various kinds 246 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.720 of plans to give him greater latitude to fire executive 247 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:10.359 branch officials. Executive branch employees basically to reschedule if you will, 248 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:14.680 the federal employees who work within the various executive branch departments, 249 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.920 the EPA, the FDA, the DOJ, this that, but all 250 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:23.480 the alphabet soup of all the federal executives, all the 251 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.079 different federal agencies that are under the authority of the 252 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:34.880 executive branch. Basically at the moment, it's sort of divided 253 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:41.880 into career employees and political appointees. So let's take the 254 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.079 Department of Health and Human Services. A lot of people 255 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.400 who work at the Department of Health and Human Services 256 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:52.720 are career employees. They stay in their job and it 257 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.119 doesn't necessarily depend on who is president. They oversee certain things. 258 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.279 They help with drafting regulations, They do this, that and 259 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:03.039 the other. Then there are the political appointees. These are 260 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.720 the people at the top who oversee things, who take 261 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:11.720 guidance from the administration ultimately from the president, and set policy. 262 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:17.559 The political appointees come and go with different presidential administrations. 263 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:21.359 If a Republican administration comes in, all the Democrats leave. 264 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:26.880 Democrat administration comes in, all the Republican appointees leave. Republicans 265 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.160 have noted, particularly in the first Trump term, how a 266 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.279 lot of the career employees, who are protected in various 267 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.400 ways under federal law and federal regulations from being fired. 268 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:43.160 They can't be fired at will necessarily. They can only 269 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.680 be fired for cause that a lot of the career 270 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.160 employees of the federal government, well, I mean, this is 271 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:52.960 an undisputed fact that the vast majority of them are 272 00:19:53.039 --> 00:20:03.799 huge liberals, and that their presence can hinder stemy thwart 273 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:09.920 Republican priorities. I think one of the greatest examples of 274 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:14.720 this was when during COVID Congress passed the legislation for 275 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:20.000 the PPP loans. They specifically drafted the language to exclude 276 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:24.519 planned parenthood and other big national abortion provider chains from 277 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:29.279 getting PPP loans. They specifically wrote it so that Planned 278 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:33.880 Parenthood wouldn't get the money, and Planned Parenthood still got 279 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:38.279 all the money. Why because the Small Business Administration approved 280 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:44.240 all their applications. So Trump has floated this idea of 281 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:48.000 basically putting these career employees in a different kind of 282 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:53.160 schedule of federal employees to allow the executive branch leadership, 283 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.799 i e. The President to fire more of them and 284 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.720 replace them with people who will do what he wants 285 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:04.160 more effectively. This has been deemed by the left to 286 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.960 be fascism. This is a horror, this is a threat 287 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:17.920 to democracy. No, the president is elected through a part 288 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:24.279 democratic part, sort of giving representation to states part, you know, 289 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:28.240 the electoral college system. It's not pure democracy, but it 290 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:35.440 is a democratic system. The president is elected in a 291 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:41.759 democratic system. The career employees of the federal government should 292 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:46.119 do what he says, because in the constitution, who has 293 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.759 the executive power of the United States. It's not the 294 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:52.000 president sharing it with career employees of the federal government. 295 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:57.119 It's just the president. All of the career employees of 296 00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:04.440 the federal government are using the president's delegated power. Every 297 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.519 single one of them are in an org chart that 298 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:12.680 has at the very top the president. If you're some 299 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:18.359 career flunky working for the Department of hhs', you're under 300 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.839 this manager, who's under this manager, who's under this under secretary, 301 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.000 this under super subsecretary, who's under this secretary, wh's under 302 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.200 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is under 303 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:33.720 the president. That is true of every single executive branch employee. 304 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:37.799 If you're not doing, or if you are slow rolling, 305 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:45.039 or if you are subtly thwarting what the president i e. 306 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:51.119 Your boss wants done, then you shouldn't work there. End 307 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:55.319 of story. Just as a question of kind of constitutional order, 308 00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:59.680 the president should have the ability to ensure that all 309 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.680 of his employees, exercising his authority, are doing what he wants. 310 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:10.920 Executive branch officials thwarting the president, that is the threat 311 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:17.599 to democracy. The president was elected, not this flunky. So 312 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.000 should Trump's generals be loyal to him? They absolutely should, 313 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:23.599 up to the point of doing something illegal. Trump's generals 314 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:28.240 should do what he tells them. Should career officials of 315 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.079 the federal government be loyal to the president, to President 316 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:34.079 Trump if he gets elected, yes, they should up to 317 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.640 the point of doing something illegal. They should do what 318 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:46.359 he tells them, end of story. And if they don't 319 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:48.359 do what he tells them, I think Trump should one 320 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.440 hundred percent of the authority to fire them. As a 321 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.039 question of constitutional order, I think Joe Biden should have 322 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.039 the ability to fire. If there's some right wing nut 323 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:00.440 job working at HHS who's actively thwarting President Biden, makes 324 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:02.480 sense for President Biden to be able to fire him. 325 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:06.839 Obviously I would love that person. But as a question 326 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.119 of constitutional order, the president should direct the executive branch 327 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:15.119 when we return. When we return Kamala Harris the anti 328 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:19.160 Catholic slash other threats to the Democratic Order. Next on 329 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:24.359 the John Girardi Show, jd Vance had an op ed 330 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:29.039 published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I think this is 331 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:35.000 a pretty strategic thing on his slash the Trump administration's 332 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:39.519 part to go after Kamala Harris for what they view 333 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:46.200 as an anti Catholic prejudice. I think it's accurate, and 334 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.799 I could discuss it on my own without jd Vance's. 335 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:54.000 I mean, I've been following Kamala Harris's career with great interest, 336 00:24:54.079 --> 00:25:00.119 and particularly her sort of various forays into anti Catholic activity. 337 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.720 There have been some particularly bizarre recent things. Gretchen Whitmer, 338 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:09.440 who's a top Harris surrogate. It's hard to sort of 339 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.960 blame Harris for this. I'm pretty sure she was not 340 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:17.119 aware this was happening. Whitmer did this bizarre skit with 341 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:19.920 a left wing podcaster who was interviewing her, where Whittmer 342 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:25.920 looked like she was basically she fed this other woman 343 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:29.960 a looked like a tortilla chip or something, but did 344 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:33.599 it in a way that looked very similar to a 345 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:40.480 priest giving someone holy communion. It was this weird, kind 346 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:45.480 of bizarre skit, which Whitmer says, Oh, I didn't at 347 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.240 all intend for that to be offensive to Catholic, sort 348 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:51.279 to mark the Catholic, but Catholic bishops were like, well, 349 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:57.720 that was super weird. Harris then skipped this thing called 350 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:00.759 the Al Smith Dinner, which I've never particularly liked myself. 351 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.720 But the Al Smith Dinner is this big New York 352 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:08.200 City charitable dinner raise money for different kinds of Catholic 353 00:26:08.279 --> 00:26:14.400 aid causes, and traditionally in presidential election years, the two 354 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:18.799 main presidential candidates show up and tell jokes and Harris 355 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:21.440 just didn't go. It's sort of the first time in 356 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:25.759 I think decades that one of the two major presidential 357 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:30.279 party candidates did not go. She sent in some incredibly 358 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:37.920 cringey video and that was it. You know, is that 359 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:40.119 a super anti Catholic thing. I don't know. I think 360 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:42.599 it was more of a campaign thing of Kamala Harris 361 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.079 is not very personable and is not good at telling 362 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:48.000 jokes and is not funny and it's not relatable. And 363 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:50.960 her team basically was like, Eh, let's just skip that, 364 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:58.000 but let's get into her genuine record towards Catholics, because 365 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:02.599 I I think given the states that are at play 366 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:08.880 in the election, what are the battleground states? Pennsylvania huge 367 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:15.000 Catholic population, Wisconsin and Michigan huge Catholic populations, Georgia not 368 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:19.079 so much, North Carolina not so much, Arizona, Nevada large 369 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:23.960 Catholic populations. So and it's no coincidence that JD Vance 370 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:27.960 this op ed is published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 371 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.880 So they need to win Pennsylvany. Pennsylvania is clearly the 372 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.440 most important state in the whole election. If you win Pennsylvania, 373 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.279 I think odds are you're going to win the presidency, 374 00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:42.480 Vance writes. As a US Senator from California, Miss Harris 375 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:45.680 racked up a record of bigotry towards Catholics and Catholic teachings. 376 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.359 In twenty eighteen, she attacked Brian Buscher, a federal District 377 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:54.440 Court judicial nominee, over his membership in the Knights of Columbus, 378 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:56.759 a one hundred and forty two year old Catholic paternal 379 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:01.839 organization dedicated to public service. This was now just commentary. 380 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.200 This was a hilarious thing. So this is when Harris 381 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.559 was a senator. She's on the Senate Judiciary Committee. One 382 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.319 of the big things the Judiciary Committee does is it 383 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:16.599 vets the judges that the President appoints to the various 384 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.759 different federal judicial openings throughout the country. So whether that's 385 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:24.799 a federal district court judge who's you know, trying cases, 386 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:28.279 a federal appellate court judge, so a judge who hears 387 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:31.200 appeals from the district court. So someone on the first Circuit, 388 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:33.400 the second Circuit, the third Circuit in California were under 389 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:36.640 the Ninth Circuit Court of the of Appeals, or someone 390 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:39.920 being appointed to the Supreme Court, the Judiciary committee's job 391 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.359 is to vet them. Harris was on the Judiciary Committee, 392 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:48.599 and this one judge was nominated to be a federal 393 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:50.680 District Court judge. He was a member of the Knights 394 00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:54.279 of Columbus, and the Knights of Columbus, as was saying, 395 00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:58.720 it's a Catholic fraternal organization. The Knights of Columbus don't 396 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:03.680 believe anything other than what the Catholic Church believes, and 397 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.400 she was trying to say that, Oh, here it is. 398 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:07.359 His membership of the Knight in the Knights of Columbus 399 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.240 is very controversial and questionable. The Knights of Columbus have 400 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:16.960 supported lots of political things. Well, no, there's nothing that. 401 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:21.279