WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.440 Our dear Agent Squires here, producer extraordinary at power Talk, 2 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:09.439 likes to use the saying I'm just a simple country 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:13.839 boy out here trying to make a living, but and 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.559 then proceeds to give his opinion on whatever the topic 5 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:21.480 at hand is, which I think is an admirable bit 6 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:27.800 of existential epistemic humility on the part of our good 7 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.960 Agent Squires. And I think I will adopt such an attitude. 8 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:34.600 Just because you have a microphone in your face doesn't 9 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.119 mean you have any idea about what you're talking about. 10 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:42.359 I know some things about many things. I know a 11 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.200 little bit about law, I know a little bit about 12 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:49.799 social conservative issues. I know a little bit about Fresno 13 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.280 news politics, things like that. I'll admit I don't really 14 00:00:54.280 --> 00:01:00.159 know much about international geopolitics, and I will echo, oh, 15 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.240 the sentiment of Agent Squares, I'm just simple country boy 16 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:05.640 out here trying to make a living. I guess I 17 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:08.680 would say I'm just simple suburban boy out here trying 18 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:15.719 to make a living. And with that declaration that I 19 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.640 know nothing, I want to talk a little bit about 20 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:27.319 the raging debates about Ukraine and the Trump administration's sort 21 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:34.480 of posture as far as negotiations and negotiating a settlement 22 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.200 in Ukraine, where maybe this is a problem of me 23 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:44.239 subscribing to National Review, which I do. I find that 24 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:49.280 they are a useful source of news and information and opinion, 25 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:58.280 which basically I think it's good fodder for this show. 26 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.239 I'm not saying it's good fodder for every show, but 27 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.159 I find it's kind of good fodder for this show. 28 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:04.359 And let's my show be a little bit distinct as 29 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.040 far as the kinds of things I talk about. But 30 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.520 they're all very upset. They're all very upset. All these 31 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.879 writers at National Review, well most of them other than 32 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.639 Michael Brendan Doherty, whom I'd really recommend to all of you. 33 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.639 They're all very upset about the way that Trump has 34 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:27.240 been talking about Ukraine and Russia. That Trump has said 35 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:34.879 basically if basically a little bit of victim blaming. They're 36 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.479 arguing with Ukraine. Trump saying that, you know, if if 37 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:44.479 if we hadn't had discussions about NATO expanding, we wouldn't 38 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.000 be in this. If I were president in twenty twenty one, 39 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.000 twenty twenty two, Russia would never have invaded. He's called 40 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.080 the president of Ukraine a dictator or something like a 41 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:59.039 dictator because Lensky has not had elections. They're they're they're 42 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:04.080 delayed on having a lot elections. And the retort is, well, 43 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.439 how can they have elections when so much of the 44 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.800 country is under attack and they're in the middle of war. 45 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:11.360 I don't know, we had an election in the middle 46 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.479 of a civil war once, so I don't know what 47 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:19.199 their excuse is. And the idea that we're doing all 48 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.120 this quote for the defense of democracy, and meanwhile the 49 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.960 democracy that we're defending is not allowing democratic elections to 50 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:32.960 take place. It kind of strains credulity a little bit. Also, 51 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.400 you have the testimony for Marco Rubio and JD. Vance 52 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.280 that Zelensky is sort of talking out of both sides 53 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:42.280 of his mouth, says one thing to them in private 54 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.080 during negotiations, and runs to the pres and says other 55 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.639 kinds of things, which really ticked off Rubio in Advance. 56 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.960 But the whole posture seems to be President Trump is 57 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:01.840 being too mean in and how he talks about Ukraine, 58 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:06.840 how he talks about them. The money is still flowing, 59 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:10.719 but he's being too mean, and how he talks about Ukraine, 60 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.599 and that the idea that he's going to have some 61 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.360 settlement with Russia, gaining territory, He's going to make all 62 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.079 these concessions to the Russians is terrible. The general thought 63 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.920 is it's terrible that Trump is going to make so 64 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:27.199 many concessions to Russia in this deal. Why is he 65 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.639 talking to the Russians first rather than with the Ukraine? 66 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:37.439 All Right? I just feel like so much of it 67 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:45.240 is criticizing the sizzle rather than the stake Trump wants 68 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:52.319 the war to end. I've looked at maps of basically 69 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:54.560 there are only three maps that you need to look 70 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:58.639 at as far as the progress of the war in Ukraine. 71 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:03.360 So there's the map of how far the Russians had 72 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:07.639 advanced within the first six months, and there's a lot 73 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:10.759 of territory that they'd taken, territory sort of in the 74 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.360 southeast of Ukraine, and then at a bunch of chunks 75 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:18.759 of territory sort of in the northeast of Ukraine. Within 76 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.560 six months of that, the Ukrainians, with a lot of 77 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:27.839 American funding, pushed the Russians back. Most of the games 78 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:30.560 the Russians made in the northeast were pushed back. The 79 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:33.639 Russians were driven back in the northeast, and the Russians 80 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:39.040 had only really taken a lot of territory in the southeast. 81 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:46.360 Two years later, there's no difference, there's no change. Basically, 82 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.199 the map as it exists now is more or less 83 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:51.439 the same as the map at the start of twenty 84 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:53.959 twenty three. The Russians have taken a big chunk of 85 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:59.800 land in the southeast of Ukraine. So we've had two 86 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.199 years of fighting, two years of the United States pouring 87 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:08.399 in money, and we're now at the point where America 88 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.079 is given a total of about two hundred billion dollars 89 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:14.079 to Ukraine, which I remember the first time, Oh, fifty 90 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:17.120 billion dollars just to help the Ukrainians completely doestimate the 91 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.240 Russian military. That's a great deal. And then it was, oh, 92 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:23.439 one hundred billion dollars to help the Ukrainian military doestimate Russia. 93 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.720 That's a good deal. You know, fifty billion here, fifty billion. 94 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:33.160 They're eventually you're talking about a lot of money. Basically, 95 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.199 the war just is at a stalemate. The Ukrainians clearly 96 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:42.680 can't get the funding or the man power. Really, it's 97 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.680 a man power situation. Ukraine only has so many men. 98 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:51.720 Russia has way more. Ukraine can only get so much money, 99 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:57.720 so much manpower. They're not going to drive the Russians 100 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:03.319 completely out. They're just not gonna. Short of the United 101 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:10.160 States coming in, putting boots on the ground and starting 102 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:15.560 a major offensive against a major world power, a major 103 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:22.920 geopolitical foe, it ain't gonna happen. So the Trump administration 104 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:27.279 is realizing, well, we don't want to keep funding this indefinitely. 105 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.199 This seems like a horrible situation just on it from 106 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:32.279 a humanitarian perspective, and the way Trump talks about it, 107 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:34.240 he says, I think this war is terrible. I think 108 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.759 this is terrible from a humanitarian perspective. I want there 109 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.519 to be peace. Well, you're not gonna conclude a peace 110 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:49.120 by talking about what a terrible monster Vladimir Putin is. 111 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:53.600 Is he a terrible monster? Yes? And by the way, 112 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:55.920 he has a Secretary of State who said it repeatedly. 113 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:01.600 Trump has been far less eager to say, just out 114 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:05.720 loud that Vladimir Putin is a terrible guy. But clearly 115 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:10.519 he wants this to stop. Now. Can you criticize Trump 116 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.439 for his rhetorical choices? Why are you so harsh on Zelensky? 117 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:19.079 But you treat Putin with kid gloves. Well, appeasing Putin 118 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:22.600 in order to conclude a piece might be a slightly 119 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.560 more important thing. Maybe you disagree with the strategy, but 120 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:33.639 the notion, I mean, yes, just Trump is a consistent 121 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.840 criticism that Trump is consistently pretty nice publicly to Putin. Yeah, 122 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:42.360 but it's also the case that Putin clearly respected Trump 123 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:45.639 is more of a threat. I don't think it's coincidence 124 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:48.759 that Putin waits until Joe Biden's in office before he 125 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:53.960 starts a military offensive. He didn't try anything when Trump 126 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:59.960 was in office. Trump took a different, more tough posture 127 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:04.519 or where I think countries were afraid to tangle with him. 128 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.799 Why is he having this? Why is he having negotiations 129 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:12.320 first with Putin rather than with Zelencia. Well, let's be real, 130 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:19.120 Ukraine is our proxy. The only reason they've had any 131 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:21.559 ability to stay in this war is because we funded them. 132 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.879 I'm sorry. Do you think of bilateral negotiations are going 133 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.039 to happen between Zelenski and Putin? No, They're gonna happen 134 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.720 between the United States and Putin. That's how it's gonna happen. 135 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.759 It's not gonna happen with Zelenski and Putin? Do we 136 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:41.759 want this war to stop or don't we? I think 137 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.320 that that's the other big question that I have for 138 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.440 some of these critics of the Trump administration's posture. What 139 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:51.960 do you want to happen? What is your preferred outcome? 140 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:59.519 No one can sort of say that Ukrainian victory, what 141 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:03.120 is that? What does Ukrainian victory look like? Not one 142 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.279 Russian boot on one piece of Ukrainian dirt, because that 143 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.120 ain't gonna happen. That's never gonna happen. Short of the 144 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:17.440 United States invading, that's not gonna happen. So what do 145 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.600 you want? Then? What is the end goal? Like if 146 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:22.600 Kamala Harris had won the election, what would we be 147 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:27.120 doing with Ukraine? Not pursuing a peace agreement? Just keep 148 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.039 going on, just keep on chugging, just keep having the 149 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.519 meat grinder of war grinding up more and more and 150 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:38.799 more Ukrainian and Russian men, more and more Ukrainians or 151 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:44.120 Russians making snuff videos with drone footage showing people dying. 152 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:50.799 But you do a Google search for drone attack Ukraine 153 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:53.879 and you'll see a bunch of snuff videos of people dying. 154 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:03.320 It's wild, it's barbara. It's honestly barbaric that all these 155 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:05.960 videos are online just for people to, oh, well, look 156 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:13.480 about Russian getting smoked. So I guess my thought is 157 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:20.200 everyone's everyone on in the foreign policy sort of soft 158 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:26.360 right is like so critical of Trump for everything. He's saying, 159 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.080 how come he how dare he say this about Zelensky. 160 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:34.399 All Zelensky's trying to do is protect his country. All Zelensky. Okay, Yeah, 161 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.360 Zelensky's trying to protect his country. That's fine, that's fair. 162 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:44.559 But Trump can be more realistic with Zelensky, has more 163 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.559 of an ability to be realistic and point out problems 164 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:52.320 and positives and minuses with Zelensky than he does with Russia. 165 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.240 He's not gonna convince Putin to have free and fair elections. 166 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:01.080 He could convince Zelensky too, though, And I think he's saying, hey, 167 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.080 if we're giving all this money for the alleged defensive democracy, 168 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.840 maybe you should have your elections or otherwise, what are 169 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:14.799 we doing here? I mean, that was the whole motive 170 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:19.919 for coming in here in the first place. So I 171 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:25.279 guess I just failed to see the meat and potatoes 172 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:30.519 problem with the way Trump is trying to conclude this piece. First, 173 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:32.279 the fact that he's trying to conclude peace at all, 174 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.840 I think is totally noble and worthwhile clearly nothing is 175 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:41.000 happening in this Ukraine Russian stalemate, and the only thing 176 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:43.639 we get is because well, because America is not funding 177 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:45.759 it enough. How much do you want us to fund it? 178 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:52.120 What's the number? A trillion dollars, two trillion dollars? What 179 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:56.679 is the number that people on this sort of Ukraine 180 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.639 hawk side want. I mean, we can give him all 181 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:01.720 the money in the World's not going to replace manpower. 182 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.039 And at a certain point, I mean, do you actually 183 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.200 want American troops over there? I think that's honestly what 184 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.679 some of these people like. What some of these people want, 185 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:15.519 They just can't say it because they know the American 186 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.960 electorate is like, hell no, we don't want any American 187 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:26.039 troops fighting in Ukraine, no way. So is that the thing? 188 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:30.879 I just don't understand. It seems like every criticism of 189 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:34.159 Trump's posture like, and I'm not saying Trump's infallible or 190 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.639 that Trump is perfect. Yeah, I think it's weird that 191 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.639 he doesn't that he's not willing to say more negative 192 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.279 things about Putin. But on the other hand, I don't know. 193 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:51.080 Putin's a difficult partner to have to negotiate with. Maybe 194 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:52.559 you can't talk about him the way you would talk 195 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.279 about normal people. I guess it's almost like there's this 196 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.840 desire on the part of the pro Ukrainian hawks. Does 197 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.840 iire for some sort of Oh, he needs to be 198 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:08.720 more morally clear that Putin is bad? How much clearer 199 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.080 do we have to be about Putin being bad? When 200 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:17.120 Trump himself, throughout his first administration and still in his 201 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:21.960 second administration, is still providing military funding to the Ukrainians 202 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.159 to fight off the Russians. Oh, but he's not messaging 203 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:29.240 it well enough. He's giving them weapons and military training, 204 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.720 et cetera. Like I guess, I just don't. It's all 205 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:36.679 about sizzle, seemingly, and no one's talking about the steak. 206 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:40.159 The steak is that this is not a war that 207 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:44.399 the Ukrainians can win, and that if you want to 208 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:46.559 have some sort of resolution to it, guess what, The 209 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.639 Ukrainians are going to have to give up stuff. And 210 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:54.000 it sucks and it's unfair and it's unjust, but you're 211 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.639 dealing with a bad hand and you're trying to make 212 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.159 the best of a bad situation. You've been dealt a 213 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:11.639 terrible hand. Russia unjustly aggressively invaded Ukraine. And I'll admit 214 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:15.279 I think some of the Tucker Carlson arguments about it's 215 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.759 Ukraine's fault that Russia invaded, it's the fault of NATO 216 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.200 that Russia invaded. And I'll say, I mean, okay, Russia 217 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:28.840 didn't want NATO to expand further east towards countries on 218 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:33.440 its doorstep. Maybe there was too much sort of you know, 219 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.799 playing foot see with the idea of Ukraine joining NATO, 220 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.039 that Russia viewed that as a threat to itself, and 221 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:48.840 thus Russia invaded. Okay, that's a reason that Russia invaded. 222 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:53.159 It's not a sufficient reason, it's not a legitimate reason, 223 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:58.759 it's not an excusable reason. No, Russia still shouldn't have 224 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.240 invaded Ukraine. It was an evil thing to do, a murderous, 225 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:06.799 evil thing to do. And also I don't really believe 226 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.960 that NATO was the only reason. The messaging from the 227 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:14.279 Russians is Ukraine is legitimately a part of Russia. Ukraine 228 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.879 has no actual independent cultural existence apart from Russia. It 229 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:24.639 is rightly part of Russia. I mean that they have 230 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:30.120 a bunch of weird imperialistic motives that they have. The 231 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.480 Russians have publicly messaged about it. So I'm not like 232 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.679 in the Tucker Karlson camp of thinking that like Russia's 233 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:41.399 And maybe I might even be overstating the Tucker Carlson position, 234 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.320 But at the same time, I just feel like Trump 235 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.120 is dealing with reality as it is. This is not 236 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.200 a winnable war. It's not a winnable war short of 237 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.000 the United States directly fighting it, and that's a bad idea. Really, 238 00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:59.799 you want the United States involved in a direct military 239 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:04.759 come conflict with a nuclear power, No, thank you. I 240 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:11.480 don't want my little brother, Lieutenant Joe Girardi dying for 241 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:18.440 Eastern Ukraine. Sorry, Like, I just don't know. I just 242 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.359 don't think that is a thing we should do, and 243 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:23.799 it's not something I would have voted for. And by 244 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:27.039 the way, we elected Donald Trump, Okay, we didn't elect 245 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:32.240 I don't know who's some more pro hawkish Ukraine Republican politician. 246 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:34.160 I don't know. This is not the party of the 247 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:38.599 Lindsay Grahams and the whoever's anymore Donald Trump's the president. Clearly, 248 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.559 this is the mandate he has from the American people 249 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:43.880 to conclude that to handle this situation the way he 250 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:45.759 thinks is best to handle it. And he ran on 251 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:48.480 the platform of I want to bring a peace deal 252 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:54.279 to Ukraine. The notion that he's evil, because oh, he's 253 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:59.880 not saying Putin's evil often enough and loudly enough. I 254 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.480 just find to be silly when we return a couple 255 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.160 thoughts on Israel and Palestine, just so I can talk 256 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.039 about as many things I don't really know a lot 257 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.440 about as humanly possible on this show. That's an accent 258 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:16.079 on the John Gardy Show, continuing the theme that I'm 259 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.279 just a simple child of Suburbia out here trying to 260 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:23.960 make a living, riffing off of Agent Squires. I'm just 261 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:25.880 simple country boy out here trying to make a living 262 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:28.680 theme of talking about stuff I don't know a ton about. 263 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:30.920 I want to talk a little bit about Israel and Gaza. 264 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:36.559 Just been hitting my just been noodling about it, thinking 265 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:39.680 about it for a little bit here. In the last 266 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.880 few last week or so, it seems that a lot 267 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:48.279 of the world got to a point of being sort 268 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:52.000 of sick and fed up with Gaza, well with Hamas 269 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:57.160 certainly specifically and Gaza as a whole, even like Middle 270 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:03.160 Eastern countries, like they're of fish head. Representatives of the 271 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:08.079 Muslim religion from various countries, like imams and sort of 272 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.599 leaders within Islam from a lot of different countries like 273 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:15.559 Saudi Arabia and other countries looked at Gaza with kind 274 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:22.599 of disgust when Hamas threw in Gaza like this party, 275 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:28.200 this like public ceremony party thing for handing over the 276 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:36.440 bodies of four Israeli hostages whom who had died under 277 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:39.960 their watch. They claim it was from Israeli air strikes. 278 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:46.160 Evidence indicates that Hamas murdered these people, including direct physical 279 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:51.000 evidence from the bodies of some of the bodies that 280 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:56.400 they gave over. Two of these people were babies, like 281 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.079 a four year old and it looked like a three 282 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:04.160 year old and a one year old, babies who autopsy 283 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:08.079 of their bodies showed that they were strangled to death, 284 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:15.599 and then their bodies were they manipulated the bodies to 285 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:17.279 try to make it look like it was something else. 286 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:27.319 It's so personally specifically evil that I can't even think 287 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.279 about it too long, especially having little kids at home 288 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.960 and seeing the pictures and videos of this family that 289 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:38.400 it was like the mom and the two babies, where 290 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:42.480 all three of them kidnapped, and not actually kidnapped apparently 291 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:49.240 by Hamas militants, it was just random citizens, random civilians 292 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.920 I guess from Gaza, who just kind of grabbed them 293 00:20:52.480 --> 00:21:04.519 and kidnapped them. And it's horrific. And it's gotten to 294 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:09.480 a point where I, I don't want to make broad 295 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:16.079 generalizations about a region with like three million people in it, 296 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:23.839 but gosh, I don't know how you actually conclude some 297 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.240 kind of peace with these people. I'm gonna dig more 298 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.319 into it when we return. I'm realizing now I have 299 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.359 more thoughts than this segment allows. More on the Gaza 300 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:36.240 situation after this, This is the John Girardi Show. More 301 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.799 John Girardi meandering on international geopolitics topics that he doesn't 302 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:43.039 know a lot about. All Right, I want to think 303 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:46.880 through this whole Gaza story, especially the story a few 304 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:50.720 weeks ago where we're in this ceasefire that's been concluded 305 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:54.559 between Israel and Gaza. A lot of people thought that 306 00:21:54.599 --> 00:22:00.400 this ceasefire stunk, that it was like something that Biden 307 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.839 team was happy about and the incoming Trump team was 308 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:07.279 happy about. But it was like a fraction of the 309 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:11.680 Israeli hostages were being handed over in exchange for a 310 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:15.319 ton of Hamas terrorists. Seems like it was just a 311 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.960 dog breakfast dog's breakfast of a deal. Trump then made 312 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.640 about a week or two ago some threat that if 313 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.119 all the hostages weren't handed over, that there'd be hell 314 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:27.640 to pay. And I'm not sure what's come of that threat, 315 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.200 but anyway, as part of this cease fire, some Israeli 316 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.119 hostages were handed over, not all of them, not all 317 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:39.279 of them, and in some cases it was just the 318 00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:43.000 bodies of dead Israeli hostages, and Hamas has been cagy 319 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:49.599 about how many people were actually dead. And as I 320 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:51.759 mentioned the last second, they had this ceremony, probably most 321 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:53.559 of you have seen it. I'm a little late to 322 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.799 the game, but it provides I don't know, I think 323 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.839 I've had some time to mold this over. They had 324 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.599 this big ceremony handing over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, 325 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:11.680 a mom for two babies, and one older man whom 326 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.680 they had kidnapped. I don't think was related to the 327 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:19.400 other three. The bodies of the two babies literally like 328 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:20.920 a looked like a three year old and a one 329 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.880 year old or something like that, were found to have 330 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:28.119 been strangled to death and then their corpses to have 331 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:31.480 been desecrated, manipulated basically to try to make it look 332 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.319 like it was something other than strangulation. The body of 333 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:38.240 the woman was not actually the actual body of the woman. 334 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.200 And this is a big deal for the Israelis, and 335 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:49.839 in Jewish practice, like they put a huge priority on 336 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.960 getting the bodies even of dead hostages back for appropriate 337 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:00.079 burial like that they it is a huge priority for 338 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:03.359 the Jews living in Israel, and historically this has been 339 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:08.680 something that the Israelis have done in negotiations with terrorists 340 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:16.240 within the Israel Palestine conflict, of giving up these incredibly 341 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:20.839 lopsided exchanges where the Israelis will give up tons of 342 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:25.039 terrorists whom they've kidnapped and not executed, and in exchange 343 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:27.799 they get a pittance as far as a few hostages 344 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:32.400 back or a few bodies of hostages back. But the Israelis, 345 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:35.039 i guess, feel so strongly that this is such an 346 00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:39.119 important religious priority for them to provide proper burial for 347 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:45.079 the bodies of their own that and it it becomes 348 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.079 sort of a thing. Israel being a democracy and its 349 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.279 political leadership having to be accountable to its people. It's 350 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.400 such an important thing for the people, for the families involved, 351 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.079 that those kinds of exchanges why of happening, including this 352 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:06.160 most recent exchange, this most recent ceasefire that the Trump well, 353 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:09.119 it was sort of during the transition between Biden and 354 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:16.960 Trump that this deal was agreed upon. Now again, the 355 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:20.880 Hamas has this party for the handover or they're filming it. 356 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:25.160 They've got what looks like couple. It looks like maybe 357 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.640 a thousand plus thousand people gathered at this thing. Thousand 358 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:32.319 plus people gathered at this thing, look like nor ordinary citizens, 359 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:41.119 people bringing their children to see this exchange. It's insane. 360 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.279 It's genuinely barbaric, and it makes me wonder a couple 361 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:54.279 of things. First, I think there's often this polite fiction 362 00:25:55.160 --> 00:26:00.400 that we engage in with geopolitics that is some times 363 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:05.000 true but not all the time true. That when the 364 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:09.799 United States is dealing with some foreign adversary or there's 365 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:16.160 some bad actor on the international stage, the polite fiction 366 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:20.519 that we indulge that we indulge in is you know, 367 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:23.240 Iran is doing bad stuff. This is not a criticism 368 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.319 of the noble people of Iran who yearn for freedom 369 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:31.079 under the yoke of oppression. And throughout the history of 370 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.559 the Soviet Union, it was always we stand shoulder to 371 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.960 shoulder with the Russian people who who yearn for freedom 372 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:47.039 under the yoke of Soviet imperialism. And sometimes that's true. 373 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:51.000 I don't think it's true all the time. I don't 374 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:56.119 get the sense that the people in Gaza, maybe even 375 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:04.880 still are that unhappy or that much in disagreement with Hamas. 376 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:09.039 Let's sure. I mean, the the only data point we 377 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:14.599 have for Hamasa's popular support was in granted, it was 378 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:16.359 a long time ago. It was I believe it was 379 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.599 two thousand and two thousand and six or two thousand 380 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:23.599 and eight was the last time Gaza held elections, and 381 00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:28.279 the elections were between Hamas and Fatah. Fatah is the 382 00:27:28.359 --> 00:27:34.480 other kind of Palestinian kind of political party. Political All 383 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.759 these parties have political slash religious elements to them and 384 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.960 then seem to have some kind of security things, real 385 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:46.079 kind of jack of all the Swiss army knives of 386 00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:48.359 political parties. They do a lot more stuff than American 387 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:53.039 political parties do anyway. They had these elections in Gaza, 388 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:59.200 a couple million people living there. Hamas won the election Fatah, 389 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:01.200 which is a little bit more secular. That was like 390 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.160 Yaser Arafat's party, a little bit more secular, a little 391 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:12.359 bit less crazy, a little bit less dogmatic Muslim. Fatah lost, 392 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:18.759 Hamas won. Hamas then proceeds to have a mini little 393 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:23.720 war in Gaza to drive all the Fatah leadership out 394 00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:33.160 by force. Hamas has installed no elections since then, but 395 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:37.519 it doesn't seem like there was much public resistance to 396 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:41.079 what was going on under Hamas. One of the things 397 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:46.160 Israelis did was, hey, if you can provide any lines 398 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.319 of communication were open. Telecommunication lines were open, Messaging was 399 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:53.480 sent from Israel into Hamas. If you have information about hostages, 400 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.079 if you can give them up, we will give you 401 00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:59.079