WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.240 Morning. Can you hear me? 2 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:03.680 Yeah, you're really loud. 3 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.839 Too hot, too hot. I will adjust. 4 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:10.080 I will adjust that. 5 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:16.480 Ask not what your country can do for you, Ask 6 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:18.480 what you can do for your country. 7 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:23.039 Mister garbachow, tear down this wall. 8 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.480 It's the Ricorship Podcast with Stephen Hayward and John You 9 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.000 sitting in for Charlie. I'm James Lylyas. Today we talked 10 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.159 to Matt Connnetti about a new edition of his book 11 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.159 End what twenty five is all about? So let's Saffrasel's 12 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:36.679 a podcast. 13 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:39.560 Has your Attorney general told you this was a hoax? 14 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:40.079 One evidence? 15 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.640 Jerry Jeneral, No, I know it's a hoax. 16 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.399 It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats 17 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:47.159 for four years. 18 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.640 You had Christopher Ray and these characters and call me before. 19 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:56.399 Him, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into. 20 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.759 The net and so they try and do the Democrats work. 21 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.320 Welcome everybody, It's the Ricochet Podcast, number seven hundred and 22 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.760 forty nine. Hey you, why don't you go to ricochet 23 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:08.319 dot com. Join up and be part of the most 24 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.719 stimulating conversation and community you'll find on the web. I'm 25 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.680 James Lilyx in Minneapolis. Stephen Hayward is in California, and 26 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:17.680 also in California, sitting in for Charles C. W. Cook, or, 27 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.200 for all I know, permanently replacing him by some sort 28 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:24.200 of palace Who is John Woo Coo Woo you? 29 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.159 And a name is you? When when you bow down 30 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.640 before your robot over lord, you better get their names right? 31 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:36.120 You got that straight? Well, gentlemen, I hope your next 32 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:38.400 are okay and haven't been whiplashed too much. But apparently 33 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.200 we have another Epstein twist story which I have been 34 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:48.079 sort of minimally following because I don't know what to think. 35 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:52.079 I have had many opinions and they have drained away 36 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:54.000 in importance over the years. But why don't you tell 37 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:56.480 me exactly where we are now? A letter was released, 38 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:58.760 supposedly in a well supposed letter by Drumm and the 39 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:05.400 Wall Street Journal, threats of suits, threats of consequences. Trump 40 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:10.599 says it's fake and now we're going to release the files. 41 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.319 I say that with hesitation because by the time somebody 42 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.960 listens to this, they may discovered there's no files whatsoever. 43 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:20.039 They've been burned, and they have been sent into a 44 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:20.599 pit in the year. 45 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:21.199 I don't know. 46 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:22.039 So where are we now? 47 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.319 Well, all I was going to say is what I've 48 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:26.080 said before, is that I don't think there's any There 49 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:28.439 was never any list, or at least not a list 50 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.759 kept by Epstein, and any reconstructed list is probably unusable. 51 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.199 I suspect we've reached the Keystone Cops phase of the investigation. 52 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:37.960 There's just all kinds of problems with it. And I'm 53 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.719 more interested in the Richard Epstein files, which could be 54 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:41.319 even more. 55 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:42.680 Tedious in some ways. 56 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:46.080 But I don't know. This is now just a giant distraction. 57 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:51.120 And this new wrinkle of Trump sending a birthday greeting 58 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:54.319 to Epstein twenty two years ago, is that right? Something 59 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:57.960 like that? And Trump is now apparently this morning the 60 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.759 news is out He's going to sue the Wall Street 61 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.120 Churn for publishing what he says is made up. And 62 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.560 I don't know. There is this great debate going on 63 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.759 on Twitter about whether there's a certain word Trump used 64 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.639 in the letter that someone said no, Trump would never 65 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.199 use that word. I forget what it is now, But 66 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.680 then someone found video I'm using a you know, a 67 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:17.520 slightly recondite term. I can't believe I can't remember it. 68 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.319 But so we're now down to the you know, parsing 69 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.800 out what words are in Trump's vocabulary from twenty two 70 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:24.520 years ago. And so it's silly season. 71 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:28.879 You're saying it's a distraction, John distraction. Who's being distracted? 72 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:29.840 Are you distracted? 73 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:35.120 I'm terribly distracted, as it seems America and our political system. 74 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.800 I have to say, I enjoy reading about this, just. 75 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:41.360 In the way you might like reading about how your 76 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.520 former employer the workplace is all screwed up. Now, I 77 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.759 guess I used to work at the Justice Department. And 78 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.960 first idea of people like Cash Pattel and Dan Bongino, 79 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.479 who are wonderfully entertaining TV and radio and podcast hosts 80 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:59.280 actually in charge of the FBI. FIRSTUS shocking. Then they 81 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:02.039 made part of it careers by saying that the government 82 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:05.280 had somehow covered up or conspired to kill this Jeffrey 83 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.400 Epstein fellow. And then they get into the FBI and 84 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.879 then they say there's no evidence of that, and then 85 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:14.919 all their fellow travelers are now piling on them. The third, 86 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:19.040 I gotta say, there's no way that President Trump can 87 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:22.120 order the release of the Epstein files. Someone you shouldn't 88 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:24.879 release anything in the Epstein files. And if you've ever 89 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:29.000 seen a raw law enforcement file, you know, to prepare 90 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.720 for prosecutions, could be filled with gossip in you window, 91 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:36.759 people you know, getting back at other people, lies, mistruths. 92 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:43.519 It's almost like the transcript of a podcast. Then, so 93 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:45.959 the purpose of this is you don't release that in 94 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.680 the public because you're going to besmirch the reputations of 95 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.519 all kinds of people. Usually the only way the justice 96 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:55.079 departments should be speaking is when they indict someone, and 97 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:58.240 the indictment speaks for itself. You don't go around releasing 98 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:00.839 all the gossip and rumors. You come cross. Second point 99 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.639 I'll stop here is the really sensitive material has been 100 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:06.759 sealed by a grand because it was presented to a 101 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:07.879 grand jury for indictment. 102 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.160 It has been sealed by a federal judge. The President 103 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:12.240 can't order it released. 104 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.040 The only people can release it would be the judge 105 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.600 or Congress would have to change the law about how 106 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.120 we keep those things secret. Congress isn't going to do that. 107 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.399 So I don't think we're really going to know unless 108 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.439 people who are in the files themselves go to the 109 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.720 judge and say I want my name to be released. 110 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.639 I want to prove my innocence. Perhaps that's only where 111 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:33.959 we're gonna get it. 112 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:38.720 Highly unlikely, highly unlikely that's going to happen. I can't 113 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.759 see anybody. I mean, I can see somebody volunteering to 114 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.800 be on a cold Play JumboTron with their mistress before 115 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:45.199 I can. 116 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:49.839 Well, any way, that just sounds like another cabinet interview 117 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:50.800 with President Trump. 118 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:54.600 Well again, you know my whole I don't know what 119 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:56.319 we're supposed to find out from these things. I think 120 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:00.800 what a lot of people. There's sort of nations and 121 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.240 numbers of q about this, because there's a lot of 122 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.160 people who have gone down to the Epstein file as 123 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.160 part of the proof that there's this large satanic conspiracy 124 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.680 of trading children around. And I have no idea that 125 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.720 I have no doubt that there are people in Washington, 126 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.639 d C. In power and finance everywhere who have absolutely 127 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.639 appalling records of behavior when it comes to the youth 128 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.720 of America or other countries. But whether or not that 129 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:30.639 there's some actual, you know, Pizzagate style thing going on here, 130 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.720 I don't think so. Anyway, that's just my naive belief 131 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:39.000 sitting here thousands of miles from anything important. Moving right along, 132 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:43.439 we've got McMahon versus New York. This is interesting, John, 133 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:45.399 You being the legal guy, why don't you tell us 134 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:46.199 what this one's all about. 135 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:50.000 So McMahon versus New York, this is the case about 136 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:54.879 just recently decided by the Supreme Court about whether the 137 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:59.199 president can continue to go forward with his reductions in force. 138 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:05.439 This is at the Department of Education and how to 139 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.759 explain it. So the Supreme Court did not issue an opinion. 140 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.360 The only opinion we saw were from the dissenters. This 141 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.920 was just to lift a district court's ban on carrying 142 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.519 out the reductions in force. So this is really the 143 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.040 Supreme Court saying, hey, you chriald judges. There's a thousand 144 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.800 of them. Hey you guys, did you not read our 145 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.199 opinion from two weeks ago in the nationwide Injunctions case? 146 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.879 Do we need to spell it out for you? Let 147 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.040 us repeat ourselves. 148 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:37.040 A district judge cannot stop the entire federal government from 149 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:41.040 carrying out its policies unless it goes to the US 150 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.480 Supreme Court. That's all this case says. It's actually not 151 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.240 a review on whether President Trump ultimately will win. I 152 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.839 think that's going to go back up to the Supreme Court. 153 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:53.759 But in the meantime, the Court said, no single judge 154 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.439 in Boston or New York or Maryland is going to 155 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:59.920 sit there and sort of sit and be the onwoodsman 156 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.920 or the micromanager of the executive branch. Now, the important 157 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:09.199 thing that people didn't observe in the news reports is 158 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.879 that the government promised that it would not shut down 159 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.920 the Education Department unless Congress said so, And in fact, 160 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.600 it's said in its pleadings to the court, we're only 161 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.240 getting rid of the fat We're not going to fire 162 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.240 anyone who's essential for the core operations of the Department 163 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:27.160 of Education. We understand that when it comes down to 164 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:30.680 shuttering the place, only Congress can do that. And so 165 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.360 all these claims in the media of you know, out 166 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.000 of control president defining congressional orders, shutting down agencies left 167 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.720 and right, it's just not true. It's just not true. 168 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.960 Even the Trump administration is court papers says, we understand 169 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.240 Congress is preeminent. We're just getting rid of people who 170 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:49.159 are not necessary for the core functionings of the department 171 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.840 and try to save money for the taxpayer. 172 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.559 Stephen We've been told that the State Department is now 173 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.440 non functional, that war will break out everywhere because because 174 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.919 they went through with the with a meat cleaver, with 175 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:04.879 a wood chipper and just absolutely cleaned out the place. 176 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:07.039 Is that what happened? 177 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.440 Of course not I don't have the headcount numbers in 178 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.440 front of me, but the State Department's total headcount has 179 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:16.440 gone up by something like ten thousand people over the 180 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.519 last fifteen years. And so this twelve hundred thirteen hundred 181 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.840 laid off last week is a reduction force of less 182 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.720 than two percent. But beyond all that, what do all 183 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.080 these people do? Mostly bad stuff? And I've been ranting 184 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.039 for quite a while now about three particular places. We 185 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.799 spent over a billion dollars to build an embassy compound 186 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.080 in Bagdad. It's the largest US embassy compound in the world, 187 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.200 has a very nice reflecting pool by the way, and 188 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:45.320 some nice architecture. And we spent seven hundred million dollars 189 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.159 on a huge embassy compound in Kabul, Afghanistan that's now 190 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.200 the largest office building for the Taliban. And we're also 191 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.279 in the process of building, or may have finished, a 192 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:59.440 billion dollar embassy compound in Beirut. Now I'll just submit 193 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:01.960 to you that the Israelis did more for the progress 194 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:05.440 and improvement of Lebanon by taking out Hesbola than a 195 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.159 billion dollar State Department footprint in Beirut is ever going 196 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.159 to do. Why these huge, expensive palaces and the huge 197 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.840 staffs that go with them, Well, because of. 198 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:17.039 Still fair to be fair staved in Beirut. You're going 199 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.679 to want the walls to be about fourteen feet thick, 200 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:20.519 so I think. 201 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:23.519 That's cost Well, yes, but you're going to put hundreds 202 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:24.919 of people in it. And I bet we could do 203 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:27.799 our essential business with maybe fifty people or one hundred 204 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:30.639 people and still have adequate security. You don't need to 205 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.639 spend that kind of money. You only spend that kind 206 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:34.799 of money if you have this grandiose presumption that you 207 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:36.799 are there to run the country and run the world. 208 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.080 Why do we want to have a big footprint in 209 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.960 Kabul Afghanistan, even if we're going to keep some military 210 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:45.080 force there, which we didn't. It just you know, the 211 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:48.039 shocking waste of all this and presumption of it is 212 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.039 to my mind unconscionable. And I think Trump didn't fire 213 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:53.840 enough people from the State Department. I think that you 214 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:59.559 get rid of another ten percent. Oh, Steve, yes, I know, 215 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:03.639 I'm they can all go to work for NPR. 216 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:08.759 Haha, which brings us to the great cries and lamentations. 217 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.240 As I was reading my local subreit about Minnesota and 218 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.799 they caught an old lady who lives in the Sticks, 219 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.159 who loves the polka show that they run, and now 220 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.639 she's not going to have her polka show anymore. I 221 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.240 feel for her. I remember the days when AM radio 222 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.120 was absolutely full of poker when you drove around the 223 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.799 rural parts of the state. But A, it's possible that 224 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:32.080 locals may pick up the slack if they wish, and 225 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.159 B it's possible that she has access to something called 226 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:38.799 the Internet, where one can find in abundance poka of 227 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:42.799 all manner, sort, shape, and variety. We've been told that 228 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:45.440 the cuts are going to destroy in PR and PBS, 229 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.120 but A, no, they're not. And B the whole notion 230 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:53.879 of state media in the first place ought to seem 231 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.679 a little un American to people. But we've been living 232 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.960 so long with the holy ghost. The whole presence of 233 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:06.000 PBS and NPR held up as a model, an absolute, 234 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:13.279 shining beacon of non partial, essential cultural commission that without 235 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:15.279 it there would be no Masterpiece Theater, there would be 236 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:17.200 no Sesame Street Therapy. Now that'd be a bit true 237 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:18.799 at one time in the past, but it isn't anymore. 238 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:23.279 So it's a small cut and it's not going to 239 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:29.440 destroy these things. And I'm not sure why it's as 240 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.159 controversial as it is, unless, of course, James. 241 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:36.679 I love PBS. I love NPR, actually I do. I 242 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.600 really enjoy listening to them. It's just like sitting around 243 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.200 at the Berkeley Faculty Club meetings and it's just like 244 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:46.000 on the radio instead. It's great. But look, I actually 245 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.000 love Masterpiece there. I love all those British TV shows. 246 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:51.919 I love watching all these ways that the British think 247 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.399 of murdering each other. They're so clever at it. They 248 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.799 should be killing more of each other. Every British TV 249 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.679 show seems to be about who done it? Murders but 250 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:05.080 loved like watching I Claudius and Brideshead Revisited. But now, 251 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:07.320 if you get a streaming service and you pay I 252 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.039 think I paid ten dollars a month, I can watch 253 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:14.639 almost every BBC TV show that was ever filmed, you know. 254 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.720 I can watch Steve Hayward's favorite show Doctor Who where 255 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:20.159 the reptilians show up and you can see the floppy 256 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.440 arms have human beings in them, and it's really just 257 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.080 fake clothes they got on it. It's wonder in black and white, 258 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.960 it's wonderful. But you know what, I've never given a dollar, 259 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:32.039 not a single dollar to NPR or PBS, even though 260 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:36.000 they run these you know, campaigns endlessly because the government 261 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:38.080 paid for it. Now you've put me in this terrible 262 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.840 situation where I have to decide where I'm going to 263 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:41.080 give money to keep it going. 264 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:43.879 Yeah, but John, you really are behind the times. I 265 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.440 mean all of the I'll put this way, costume dramas 266 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.840 these days are not appearing first on PBS. You know 267 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:53.200 Bridgerton and you know Rome twenty years ago, they're on HBO. 268 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:55.279 Steve, I don't want you know, you're just watching the 269 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.080 ones that you just watch, the ones that have nudity 270 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:58.559 in them. I mean, come on, you can admit it. 271 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:01.559 Oh no, that was my joke of I never could 272 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:03.519 get into a Game of Thrones because there wasn't enough 273 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.919 sex and violence in it for me. I just I 274 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:07.919 actually did find it boring, I have to say. 275 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:12.120 But yeah, all right, of course I understand exactly what 276 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.080 you mean. When I when I was growing up, PBS 277 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:19.679 was the source for Monty Python on Sunday Night, for 278 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:21.919 the Prisoner, for all of these shows, none of which 279 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.639 they made, none of which they made, but they brought 280 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:26.519 them over and that was fine and well good. I 281 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.279 remember when I was a seed salesman in the South 282 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:30.960 Downe in nineteen seventy nine, I would try to time 283 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.720 my weekends for a city that was big enough to 284 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:36.279 have a PBS reception so I could watch I Claudius. 285 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.480 But that was a very long time ago, and things 286 00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:39.039 have changed. 287 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:42.399 Can I say a quick point of order changing? I mean, 288 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.240 I think this is relevant if I recall this right. 289 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.279 National PBS was offered Monty Python. They said, no, this 290 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:51.759 is too weird. It was a Dallas affiliate that picked 291 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:53.440 it up first, and then it spread from there, so 292 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.519 it was a local station and said, actually we think 293 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.360 this is pretty funny. I think that's how it went. 294 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:00.639 I think I think you're absolutely right, and we've been 295 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.759 told a different story, perhaps because we've been lied to. 296 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.200 Are you being lied to? More friends? Are you being 297 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:07.399 lied to? You know they tell you to defer paying 298 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.279 your taxes by saving it a four oh one k 299 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.919 or an ira because you'll retire in a lower tax bracket. 300 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.600 But if that was true, why are so many retirees 301 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.759 in the highest tax bracket of their lives. 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Look, you can get 320 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.000 a free report that reveals how you can bank on 321 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:17.039 yourself and enjoy tax free retirement, income, guaranteed growth, and 322 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:20.039 control your money. Just go to bank on Yourself dot 323 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:23.639 com slash ricochet and get your free report. That's bank 324 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:27.200 on yourself dot com slash ricochet. Bank on Yourself dot 325 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.200 com slash ricochet. And we thank bank on Yourself for 326 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.960 sponsoring this the Ricochet Podcast. And now we welcome back 327 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.480 to the podcast. Matthew KANINEITI, director of Domestic Policy Studies 328 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.720 and the inaugural Patrick and Charlie Neil Chair in American 329 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.919 Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute. And of course he's 330 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.240 a columnist at Commentary Magazine and The Free Press, and 331 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:49.840 he's the author of The Right, The one hundred Year 332 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.759 War for American Conservatism. Matt, welcome back. 333 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:53.600 Thanks for having me. 334 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.120 Well, you completed The Right in nineteen or nineteen twenty 335 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.279 two points worth. Sorry feel a little old to I 336 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.200 retired in twenty twenty two, and you, of course were 337 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.960 aware the story was ongoing. I've thought about how the 338 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.079 final chapters your book would look if you were wrapping 339 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:12.640 it up today because right keeps getting redefined underneath us, 340 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:14.240 doesn't it? 341 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.759 It does? And I think a lot about that question. 342 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.200 If I were to update the story to the summer 343 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.640 of twenty twenty five, what would I cover. When the 344 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:27.160 paperback edition of the write came out, it included a 345 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.920 new chapter that I had written and sent to press 346 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.799 right after the midterm elections of twenty twenty two, and 347 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.720 if you recall, that was really the low point of 348 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:43.160 Donald Trump's political strength in the Republican Party. The midterms 349 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.119 had not gone as well for the GOP as they 350 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.680 had expected. A lot of that was because of Trump's 351 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:54.160 endorsing candidates who the electric just didn't really like. Trump 352 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:58.640 announced his presidential campaign, his third presidential campaign for the 353 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:04.319 GOP nomination, shortly after the midterm election, and the event 354 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.920 at Mar A Lago did not go very well. People 355 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.799 weren't really excited by it. All. The energy was on 356 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.440 Ron DeSantis a side. Ron de Santis, who had done 357 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.799 very well in twenty twenty two, seemed to represent the 358 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:23.240 next iteration of Maga Mago, perhaps without Trump's baggage, And 359 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:27.720 within six months of the paperback coming out and me 360 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.640 saying that there was a chance that the Republican Party 361 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:35.480 might move on from Trump. Trump had solidified once again 362 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:38.279 his position as leader of the GOP and leader of 363 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:42.599 this MAGA movement. One was one reason for that was 364 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.240 his just natural political talent. But the second and main 365 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:49.960 reason I think was shortly after the midterm election is 366 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:54.519 when the law fair campaign against Trump began, and then 367 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:57.240 in the spring of twenty twenty three is when the 368 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:00.400 New York indictment came down as well. That had the 369 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.359 effect of rallying the Republican Party to Trump's side, and 370 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:08.839 it has not left him ever since. So that was 371 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:14.240 the main unanticipated event was the revival of Trump, a 372 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:20.000 revival that only accelerated from twenty twenty three through the 373 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:24.720 assassination attempt one year ago, this past week and into today. 374 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:29.799 Yeah, my realization that I know absolutely nothing came to 375 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.319 me when I thought Thissaners was going to just walk 376 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.200 away with it because I thought it was palatable. I 377 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.160 thought that he would cross body like he had this 378 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:39.519 proven record of governance and just died on the vine, 379 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:41.759 and I thought, Okay, that's it. My instinct's I'm never 380 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:43.160 going to trust him again. Stephen. 381 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:47.400 Yeah, So Matt, you're lucky today that we have John 382 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.880 Hu sitting in for Charlie Cook. Because you may not 383 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:53.839 know this, but John's nickname or acronym is og NC, 384 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:58.200 which stands for Original Gangst the Neocon. And that brings 385 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:01.039 me to you guys at Commentary. I do tune into 386 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:03.319 your daily podcast fairly often when I'm home and on 387 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:06.240 a walk on the afternoon, and I've noticed something. I mean, 388 00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:08.240 let's not put too fine a point on it, but 389 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.319 Trump has never been a favorite of John Putt Hart's 390 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.279 an abe and your colleagues. I mean, you're the one 391 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:16.559 person who's always said the nicer things about him. But 392 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:19.319 now suddenly, starting about three weeks ago and maybe more, 393 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:21.519 it seems to me that you guys have signed up 394 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.319 for MAGA. And now is it just because he bombed 395 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:28.039 the forid of Nuclear Side, which you know John said 396 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:29.839 on Twitter a couple of times that's enough for me. 397 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:32.079 He's great, right, But I have to say there's been 398 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:34.720 a real change in tone and looks to me like 399 00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:37.279 it's going to last. And so what say you to 400 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:38.119 that provocation? 401 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:42.000