Speaker 1: He's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBSY, Boston's Me Radio.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Al Griffin. Today is on June
Speaker 2: nineteenth on the calendar, but as a holiday, it is
Speaker 2: on Juneteenth. And I know that many of you today
Speaker 2: did not have to work, but I suspect that there's
Speaker 2: still a good portion of my audience that doesn't understand
Speaker 2: fully what the purpose of this holiday is and what
Speaker 2: it commemorates. And so we've asked Sandra mccroome, she's associated
Speaker 2: with Children's Services of Roxbury, to join us for a
Speaker 2: few minutes and just talk about the significance of this holiday,
Speaker 2: which has only been a holiday, a federal holiday for
Speaker 2: a few years. Sandra, welcome to night said, how are
Speaker 2: you this evening.
Speaker 3: Mister Ray.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. By the way, I'm just simply Dan.
Speaker 2: Mister Ray was my father, so you called me Dan.
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I know a little bit about Juneteenth, and I know
Speaker 2: that the story of Galveston, Texas and all of that,
Speaker 2: but I thought you could fill in it a little
Speaker 2: bit because I'm sure there are people in my audience
Speaker 2: who realize this a holiday but they're a little bit
Speaker 2: confused by what Juneteenth represents and why it's important.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's important because it is part of the American story. So,
Speaker 4: as you mentioned, in Galveston, Texas in eighteen sixty five,
Speaker 4: there were two hundred and fifty people who were still enslaved,
Speaker 4: which was after the Emancipation Proclamation. It was two and
Speaker 4: a half years after the rest of the country had
Speaker 4: freed their slaves.
Speaker 2: But it also and also I think it's important to mention,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure you know as well as I do,
Speaker 2: that it was two years a rather two months after
Speaker 2: the end of the Civil War.
Speaker 4: That is correct, That is correct, and so this history
Speaker 4: is important. I would say it really is a second
Speaker 4: Independence Day for this country, because until we truly are
Speaker 4: all free, none of us are really free. And I
Speaker 4: think it represents freedom and opportunity. This holiday represents what
Speaker 4: the Constitution has promised all of us, which is, you know,
Speaker 4: this country made a declaration that we all are have
Speaker 4: the right to unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the
Speaker 4: pursuit of happiness. And these enslaved black people were denied
Speaker 4: that and even after they were freed, as you know,
Speaker 4: this country still struggles with what is freedom? Who belongs
Speaker 4: in this country? What rights do each of us have?
Speaker 4: And I would say there's some populations where rights don't
Speaker 4: feel like they are ours to have.
Speaker 2: Well, as I say, you know, quoting for the Declaration
Speaker 2: of Independence, which goes back to two hundred and forty
Speaker 2: nine years ago this fourth of July, we hold these
Speaker 2: truth to be self evident. That all men are created equal,
Speaker 2: and of course they use the word men there to
Speaker 2: talk that was really being used in that time of
Speaker 2: the eighteenth century. All people are created equal, that they're
Speaker 2: endowed by their creator, which obviously is reference to God,
Speaker 2: with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty,
Speaker 2: and the pursuit of happiness. And that that is from
Speaker 2: the Declaration of Independence. And it's an acknowledgment that that
Speaker 2: it's it's a higher power that that provides us, uh,
Speaker 2: that that endows us with those rights, and that government
Speaker 2: of any sort should never never take them away. And uh.
Speaker 2: And obviously, slavery, in my opinion in this country was
Speaker 2: what I I call it the nation's original sin. That's
Speaker 2: how I feel about it. And I think others have
Speaker 2: have have picked up on that idea, and I think
Speaker 2: President Obama always talked about trying to continue to create
Speaker 2: the more perfect union and that it's it's you know,
Speaker 2: there are there are things that can be done going forward.
Speaker 2: You know, we we we're we're moving in the right direction,
Speaker 2: but there still maybe are some uh some some things
Speaker 2: we have to still accomplish. And I think that the
Speaker 2: Juneteenth Uh. You know again, I I I'm not as
Speaker 2: familiar as you are with the history. I got to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, I'm fairly well read. Before this
Speaker 2: became a holiday, I was unaware of the fact that, uh,
Speaker 2: there were people who were still enslaved after uh, you know,
Speaker 2: general surrendered, you know, uh, And and I don't know
Speaker 2: why that was not well known. I saw an interesting
Speaker 2: piece today in which I guess there was a Union
Speaker 2: general who brought word to Galveston, Texas. Uh, I think
Speaker 2: it was. It was a piece I watched on CNN
Speaker 2: this morning which I had never never seen before, and
Speaker 2: the the great great great granddaughter of that general was
Speaker 2: met up with a woman whose great great grandfather was
Speaker 2: one of the people who learned two months after the
Speaker 2: Civil War that indeed the North had won and that
Speaker 2: slavery was was no longer, uh a de jour legal.
Speaker 2: You know there there obviously there were there many steps
Speaker 2: that were taken after the Civil War in terms of
Speaker 2: emancipation and you know, Fourteenth Amendment and things like that
Speaker 2: and proud versus Board of Education and on and on
Speaker 2: and on. But it's a day that should be remembered.
Speaker 2: And that's what Juneteenth is all about. What did you
Speaker 2: do today, I said, you were. You were involved in
Speaker 2: some ceremonies today.
Speaker 4: I was around the city a bit, and I mostly
Speaker 4: spent the day with friends and family. I mean, this
Speaker 4: is a time for us to gather. I have been
Speaker 4: at events all week. I was at the Embrace event
Speaker 4: last night at the museum, I mean the African American
Speaker 4: Museum right on Huntington, AB and we had a you know,
Speaker 4: it's this time of the year, and as you said,
Speaker 4: it's very memory and I think this should prompt all
Speaker 4: of us to think about our history. And I think
Speaker 4: that the fact that so many people did not know
Speaker 4: this history is not completely surprising because even now, unfortunately
Speaker 4: with book bands and libraries being told that they can't
Speaker 4: even lend out certain books, and the attack on diversity, equity,
Speaker 4: and inclusion are all symptomatic of that original sin you
Speaker 4: talked about. These are all symptoms that I think try
Speaker 4: to suppress a painful part of our history, but it
Speaker 4: is nonetheless American history. And until or unless we recognize
Speaker 4: holidays like Juneteenth, it would be difficult and will be
Speaker 4: difficult for all of us to have a conversation to
Speaker 4: recognize our collective humanity and that together we truly are stronger,
Speaker 4: and that together, I think is the only way to
Speaker 4: fulfill this nation's promise to its citizens. And in these
Speaker 4: challenging times, I see Juneteenth as a time to reflect,
Speaker 4: a time for community to come together, at a time
Speaker 4: for joy and optimism what seems to be so lacking
Speaker 4: in the world right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's funny when when you talk about
Speaker 2: you know, book bands and all of that. I follow
Speaker 2: that stuff pretty closely. And I know that there's some
Speaker 2: books that are being taken out of children's areas and
Speaker 2: put into older kids areas. And I think that there's
Speaker 2: a good conversation about what age certain children, you know,
Speaker 2: what age children are going to be exposed to what
Speaker 2: I would consider and probably would you would consider to
Speaker 2: be adult themes. But I'm not somebody who's in favor
Speaker 2: in any way, shape or form of book bands. And
Speaker 2: I still don't know of any book bands that are
Speaker 2: being that in the traditional sense that when I was younger,
Speaker 2: Catcher in the Rye and books like that were were
Speaker 2: banned in some areas, and the old phrase of banned
Speaker 2: in Boston. I think we need to be careful on that.
Speaker 3: And uh, and.
Speaker 2: So you know, and I and I also think that
Speaker 2: one of the things that that I think is important.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if you would agree, we probably
Speaker 2: see things a little differently in some respects, although I
Speaker 2: think we see a lot of things similarly. It's it's
Speaker 2: interesting that in this past election, uh, that minority voters
Speaker 2: actually Donald Trump, for whatever criticisms people want to level
Speaker 2: at him, expanded the Republican votes amongst minority voters. And
Speaker 2: and I think that that tends to be a good thing,
Speaker 2: because I think that when we vote less as a block,
Speaker 2: I mean, I remember, you know, dealing and hearing of
Speaker 2: the segregationist governors of the South, Fulbright and all of
Speaker 2: Sine Mattos and those people where Federick troops had to
Speaker 2: be involved to allow children to go to school or
Speaker 2: allow James Meredith to go to the University of Mississippi.
Speaker 2: It's funny that the segregationists of the South were arguing
Speaker 2: states rights back in those days and the ninth and
Speaker 2: tenth Amendment, And as a lawyer, I'm very familiar with
Speaker 2: those arguments, and some of those arguments are now being
Speaker 2: now being used in the current day on the other
Speaker 2: side of the aisles. So I just think we need
Speaker 2: to be more more tolerant of everyone's viewpoints, and that's
Speaker 2: what we try to do on night side, Sandra is
Speaker 2: give everyone an opportunity to speak and uh and have
Speaker 2: a conversation. And you I appreciate you having taken the
Speaker 2: time tonight to to bring some perspective to this story
Speaker 2: and the and the meaning of this day, uh and
Speaker 2: its importance and and I very much appreciate you. I
Speaker 2: know it's been the end of a long day for you,
Speaker 2: and I guess you were you were in a flag
Speaker 2: racing today. I believe in the press release that I received,
Speaker 2: I was referring to it the delaway Thomas Lewis, Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you've had a busy day. So thanks so much
Speaker 2: for being with us, and we'll have you back. You
Speaker 2: were with the the Children's Services of Roxbury give assist
Speaker 2: a quick explainer of of what that does and how
Speaker 2: people can help it if they'd like to be of
Speaker 2: some assistance.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I appreciate you you saying that. I'm the president
Speaker 4: and CEO at Children's Services of Roxbury and we're one
Speaker 4: of the largest black led nonprofits in the Commonwealth. We
Speaker 4: serve six thousand children and their families a year, everything
Speaker 4: from early education and care, foster care. We house about
Speaker 4: a thousand families every year through our emergency shelter program,
Speaker 4: and we have behavioral health services, so as you know,
Speaker 4: so many people are struggling with mental health and we've
Speaker 4: been providing that service for almost two decades now to
Speaker 4: the youngest of our children and supporting their families. And
Speaker 4: I think I thank you so much for your open conversations,
Speaker 4: for your deep dive on a lot of topics that
Speaker 4: others steer away from. And I really appreciate the time
Speaker 4: today and I just have to shout out my staff.
Speaker 4: Without them, you know, so many children and families would
Speaker 4: not have the service is that they so desperately need.
Speaker 4: And we really appreciate again your thoughtfulness, your energy and
Speaker 4: the deep conversations that happens on this show.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much, Sandraw, We'll have you back
Speaker 2: and again best. I'll like thank you for the work
Speaker 2: you do with Children's Services of Roxbury. Appreciate your time today.
Speaker 2: And Happy Juneteenth, Hey, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Happy Juneteenth to you as well.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks so much. We will take a quick
Speaker 2: break here. I've enjoyed that conversation. I hope you did
Speaker 2: as well, and we learned a little bit more about
Speaker 2: the importance of today. And when we get back, we're
Speaker 2: going to talk about the importance of a decision that
Speaker 2: the President of the United States is about to make.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm talking about, Iran. We'll be back
Speaker 2: on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray.
Speaker 5: Hey, Dan Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 1: You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Basy Bustin's
Speaker 1: News Radio.
Speaker 2: Very quickly is we only get a couple of minutes
Speaker 2: before the news here, and if you'd like to get
Speaker 2: on board six seven two five four to ten thirty
Speaker 2: six seven, nine thirty, imagine the enormity of the decision
Speaker 2: that is facing Donald Trump. Uh, he ran for president.
Speaker 2: There were a lot of issues that I'm sure he
Speaker 2: could have anticipated border and all of that. But the
Speaker 2: most I think consequential decision that he is ever going
Speaker 2: to face in his presidency is what to do with Iran.
Speaker 2: Now it is clear that he is hesitant to do
Speaker 2: what some are asking him to do, which is to
Speaker 2: drop what's called bunker busting bombs, thirty thousand pound weapons
Speaker 2: to penetrate deep into the Iranian territory where their nuclear
Speaker 2: activity nuclear operations, since nuclear reactors are basically at work
Speaker 2: three hundred feet underground in a mountain range. Today, the
Speaker 2: President said that he's going to wait for a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks. I think he is. He's not looking forward
Speaker 2: to doing this, but I think he's getting tremendous pressure
Speaker 2: from Benjamin Ettnyah, who because Israel, Israel wants to eliminate
Speaker 2: the nuclear threat, and the president clearly, when you listen
Speaker 2: to what he said about Iran, just listen, this is
Speaker 2: forty seconds. It gives you, I think, a pretty clear
Speaker 2: insight into what Trump is prepared to do if necessary.
Speaker 2: Cut three A please Noah, But.
Speaker 6: Is there anybody here that said it would be okay
Speaker 6: to have a hostile.
Speaker 7: Very You know, he zealous, really.
Speaker 6: But to have a hostile country have a nuclear weapon
Speaker 6: that could destroy twenty five miles, but much more than
Speaker 6: that can destroy other nations just by the breeze blowing
Speaker 6: the dust. You know that dust blows to other nations
Speaker 6: and they get to Essamaria.
Speaker 7: This is just not a threat you can have. And
Speaker 7: we've been threatened by Iran for many years.
Speaker 6: And if you go back and look at my history,
Speaker 6: if you go back fifteen years, are saying we cannot
Speaker 6: let Iran get a nuclear Well, but I've been saying
Speaker 6: it for a long time.
Speaker 7: I mean it more now than I've ever mentioned.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that is the mindset of President Trump. But
Speaker 2: it's a consequential decision because as many are suggesting, Okay,
Speaker 2: you have to fly as a D two bombers from
Speaker 2: Missouri to Iran. You have to deliver this ordinance with
Speaker 2: incredible precision. And I think it's more than just one payload,
Speaker 2: several payloads. I suspect that he's waiting to make sure
Speaker 2: that the Iranian ear defense system is crippled and incapacitated,
Speaker 2: and certainly I think Israel has done a pretty good
Speaker 2: job of that. The choices he has are bad or worse.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a bad choice to have to blow
Speaker 2: up the nuclear weaponry of a nation like Iran, you
Speaker 2: have no idea what the implications are. As often some
Speaker 2: people refer to it as quote, what happens the day after,
Speaker 2: assuming you're successful, which is a big assumption. If you're unsuccessful,
Speaker 2: then you get a real problem. But I think he's
Speaker 2: taking two weeks to buy some time to think about it.
Speaker 2: I think that at the end of the day, if
Speaker 2: Iran does not wave the white flag and capitulate, it
Speaker 2: will happen, and it is the most consequential decision that
Speaker 2: a president will be able to make. Harry Truman had
Speaker 2: to make the decision in terms of dropping nuclear weapons
Speaker 2: on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in nineteen forty five. Very controversial
Speaker 2: decisions even at the time, but in retrospect, I think
Speaker 2: Truman is remembered as a great president as a result
Speaker 2: of dealing with those very difficult decisions. So i'm whether
Speaker 2: you're a Trump supporter or a Trump critic, you have
Speaker 2: to have a little sympathy for the decision that he faces.
Speaker 2: And I'm going to open up the phone lines during
Speaker 2: the newscast here and we'll be back in about three
Speaker 2: or four minutes with your phone call six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven, nine, three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: What are the implications should he do it or should
Speaker 2: he not do it? And if he does it, how
Speaker 2: do we control whatever the reaction might be. If he
Speaker 2: chooses not to do it, what are the implications of
Speaker 2: that decision? A decision to act or not to act
Speaker 2: are equally significant. And I think he's buying time and
Speaker 2: hoping that the mullas the theocracy of Iran, will come
Speaker 2: to their senses and realize that that game is up
Speaker 2: and they indeed cannot cannot have a nuclear weapon because
Speaker 2: if they have a nuclear weapon and a delivery system,
Speaker 2: goodbye to Israel, goodbye to other nations in the Middle
Speaker 2: East who also are considered by Iran to be enemies,
Speaker 2: and maybe goodbye to the United States. This is a
Speaker 2: big time decision. I would not like to have to
Speaker 2: make that decision, but he campaign for it. It's on
Speaker 2: his plate. We'll be back after the news at the
Speaker 2: bottom of the hour. My name is Dan Ray. This
Speaker 2: is Nightside. Your comments very much appreciated.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray unveil you bes Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1: You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WAZ Boston's
Speaker 1: news Radio.
Speaker 2: So we are talking about the decision that faces President
Speaker 2: Donald Trump. And each president has these moments during their
Speaker 2: presidency which defined the presidency. I think this is one
Speaker 2: of them. Let me go to my friend Rashid in Dorchester. Hey, Rashid, welcome,
Speaker 2: Thanks for holding on through the news. You are next
Speaker 2: on Nightside. Oh I missed the button, Rashid, my mistake.
Speaker 2: Why is this not working for me? Where are we
Speaker 2: going here? Rashid? Are you there?
Speaker 8: Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2: I can hear you now? Yeah, but I'm not sure
Speaker 2: what's going on? Go right ahead?
Speaker 8: Okay. So President Trump ran on a campaign of no
Speaker 8: more foreign wars. Correct, And the issue with the Iran
Speaker 8: War that a lot of people understand is the Iran
Speaker 8: war would not only destroy our economy, but we're going
Speaker 8: to lose a lot of our service members in that war.
Speaker 8: Iran is a very formidable nation. They have a very
Speaker 8: formidable army, and I think that if people haven't been
Speaker 8: paying attention, we went to war against the Taliban and
Speaker 8: al Qaida, and they had insignificant resources and we lost
Speaker 8: to them. So you know, it's it's the American people
Speaker 8: don't have a tasteful war. People who are in my
Speaker 8: age group, I'll be thirty on the thirtieth of this month,
Speaker 8: we don't We've been at war.
Speaker 5: In our lives.
Speaker 8: We don't want it. But I think the other issue
Speaker 8: is that, you know, some people say, Okay, we're going
Speaker 8: to just bomb for go with bunker busting bombs. And
Speaker 8: what people don't realize is that the Iranians have the
Speaker 8: capabilities to build nuclear weapons, whether they will build it
Speaker 8: at Ford or somewhere else, they have the expertise, they
Speaker 8: know how to do it. And what people don't realize
Speaker 8: is the minute that the United States gets involved, were
Speaker 8: Iran ballistic missiles are going to kill a lot of
Speaker 8: our service members in Middle Eastern bases. It's just not
Speaker 8: a good situation. And I think that, you know, I
Speaker 8: was a supporter of Steve Whitkoff and President Trump's efforts
Speaker 8: to to try diplomacy. I think I read something recently
Speaker 8: that the Iranian FloraNT Minister is in contact with Steve Woodcoff.
Speaker 8: But diplomacy works. I think that the best thing that
Speaker 8: we could do is have a deal where Iran does
Speaker 8: not develop a new nuclear weapon, and perhaps we have
Speaker 8: economic relationships with them that they would rely on, so
Speaker 8: it would just say, Okay, we're not going to fund
Speaker 8: the proxies, We're not going to go to war with Israel.
Speaker 8: We're gonna relax because now we're integrated back into the
Speaker 8: global system. So that's just my point.
Speaker 2: So my question to you is do you trust do
Speaker 2: you trust the theocuacy in to run?
Speaker 8: I don't trust anybody. I think that I as an
Speaker 8: American and we should only trust ourselves. But again, I
Speaker 8: think President Trump is going to end up going to
Speaker 8: war if Iran, and it's going to have devastating consequences,
Speaker 8: and it's quite unfortunate that, you know, we couldn't have peace.
Speaker 8: Like I'm a person that you know, I would love
Speaker 8: to see our military active in Mexico where they're sending
Speaker 8: in fetanol that's killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. You know,
Speaker 8: I would like to see our military participate in things
Speaker 8: that kind of, in my opinion, directly benefit our country more.
Speaker 8: But you know, I think that unfortunately, with the pressures
Speaker 8: that he has, he's gonna have to do it, and
Speaker 8: it's just gonna have devastating results. I mean, they make
Speaker 8: drones in Iran for twenty thousand dollars, and we spent
Speaker 8: like four million dollars to create things to shoot those
Speaker 8: drones down. Like anybody could do the math. It's gonna
Speaker 8: economically ruin US.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting Raside, because you have been a
Speaker 2: strong Donald Trump supporters. It's interesting that so that that
Speaker 2: you've arrived at that conclusion. And I think, I thank
Speaker 2: you for the call. That's a really interesting perspective. Thank you, Dan,
Speaker 2: Thanks talk soon, Rashid. I have a great one six, one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four to ten thirty. One line there and two lines.
Speaker 2: This is a tip if you want to get in
Speaker 2: six one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. Will is
Speaker 2: down in Long Island will love to know what you're
Speaker 2: thinking about this. How are you will?
Speaker 3: Oh? Then it puts a knot in my stomach. But
Speaker 3: the bottom line is this is something that should have
Speaker 3: been dealt with a long time ago. This is a
Speaker 3: mistake that we made going back all the way to
Speaker 3: the nineteen fifties, and it has been a disaster ever since,
Speaker 3: not just for the United States, but for friends in
Speaker 3: the Middle East, for countries that aren't even friends in
Speaker 3: the Middle East, for Iranians probably most of all. Right,
Speaker 3: I mean, the nineteen fifty three coup that we supported
Speaker 3: has destroyed Iran, and the young people of Iran don't
Speaker 3: want it. And you know, you ask, do you trust
Speaker 3: the regime in Iran? If the Iranians don't trust the
Speaker 3: regime in Iran, I certainly don't trust the regime in Iran. Right.
Speaker 3: I'm not a proponent of war. I'm certainly not a
Speaker 3: proponent of backing this militia and this group of rebels
Speaker 3: and then you know, ten twenty years later, they're shooting
Speaker 3: your bullets back at you. We've seen that happen multiple
Speaker 3: times in that region. I agree with Rashid that we
Speaker 3: should be a military action on our borders against the
Speaker 3: cartels in Mexico. Of Mexico can't handle it. It's national
Speaker 3: security issue for the United States. But this is something
Speaker 3: that this is We talked about this before. We talked
Speaker 3: about this when he said there was going to be consequences,
Speaker 3: and we knew that he was talking about Iran. Now
Speaker 3: you set it on his plate. Even if he bombs
Speaker 3: for doh, that does not mean that it will have
Speaker 3: any significant impact. We don't even know if it will
Speaker 3: reach or destroy that nuclear facility, right. I do disagree
Speaker 3: with Rashid. I think that their military is over. I
Speaker 3: think that if we went to real war with Iran
Speaker 3: we would do there would be a devastating impact on
Speaker 3: Iran before we put one soldier on the ground in Iran.
Speaker 3: By all estimates, half of their ballistic missiles have already
Speaker 3: been fired at Israel. And that's half of the ballistic
Speaker 3: missiles that they could reach Israel with right. The Charrette
Speaker 3: can't reach us with anything right, So obviously they'd be
Speaker 3: firing at bases and soldiers that we have on the
Speaker 3: ground over there. I also disagree with the United States
Speaker 3: to not beat the Taliban. We easily ousted the Taliban
Speaker 3: for twenty years until we decided when we left, and
Speaker 3: in such a disgraceful way. Jesus couldn't have stopped the
Speaker 3: Taliban from taking that over when we left, Okay, because
Speaker 3: they just never got prepared in those twenty years. However,
Speaker 3: we didn't have to be there to make it.
Speaker 2: We also backed a government in Afghanistan that decided to
Speaker 2: take the money, literally take the money and run.
Speaker 3: Right, and you know, the Iranian regimes linked to terrorism
Speaker 3: are so vast they hardly need to be stated.
Speaker 2: So so yeah, okay, So what I'm trying, what I'm
Speaker 2: trying to get at is President calls you in the
Speaker 2: office and says, well heard you the other night on
Speaker 2: Night's Side with Dan Ray. I got to make this decision.
Speaker 2: Do I go for it or do I just keep
Speaker 2: threatening them? Uh?
Speaker 3: You know, and I'm going to go out on a
Speaker 3: horrible limb and I'm going to say I don't envy you,
Speaker 3: but unfortunately the powers of the universe have decided to
Speaker 3: put this ball in your lap at this time because
Speaker 3: I think you're the only president that we've had in
Speaker 3: a long time that can handle this. And I think
Speaker 3: that striking Iran. And I hate to say this, but
Speaker 3: try this.
Speaker 5: This.
Speaker 3: Out of all of these countries we have attacked, this
Speaker 3: is the one that we should attack this. This is
Speaker 3: the one that needs a regime change. I'm not saying
Speaker 3: go in there and do nation building and try to.
Speaker 2: Do I know I understand that the problem with that,
Speaker 2: and again I'm just playing a little Devil's advocate with you.
Speaker 2: Will you know me well enough to know my understanding
Speaker 2: is that the popularity of the Mullah's, the government of Iran,
Speaker 2: the theocracy is about fifteen percent. But the problem is
Speaker 2: that the fifteen percent have all the weapons and all
Speaker 2: the guns, and the eighty five percent who would rise up,
Speaker 2: they don't have any weapons. They don't have anything that
Speaker 2: they can use other than sticks and stones, and that
Speaker 2: gives a decided advantage to the government, the minority government.
Speaker 3: But let's look at one of the real reasons why
Speaker 3: war in Iran and toppling the Iranian regime or damaging
Speaker 3: as much as you can is important. I don't want
Speaker 3: to get caught in the WMD. We said they were
Speaker 3: one day from a boma and we find out they
Speaker 3: were years from a bomb, and we wind up with
Speaker 3: another Iraq situation where we looked like idiots with egg
Speaker 3: on our face. Okay, he has to make the point
Speaker 3: that we have no reason not to believe our intelligence
Speaker 3: or Israeli intelligence, that they are extremely close to this bomb.
Speaker 2: I would trust Israeli intelligence, would I know it's in
Speaker 2: their interest to have us in the fight, but I
Speaker 2: would trust their intelligence.
Speaker 3: Right. But I would also point out the ancillary points, Okay,
Speaker 3: that this is a nation that has been responsible for
Speaker 3: attacking and killing American soldiers, their manifesto. They chant death
Speaker 3: to America in their parliament. Their manifesto is to wipe
Speaker 3: out Israel and the United States. They want to kill us.
Speaker 3: Now's the time where we have a prime opportunity to
Speaker 3: attack and maybe make some change. And the biggest thing
Speaker 3: of all, they have no friends there really, And Russia
Speaker 3: and China really want a strong Iran because they want
Speaker 3: all their influences the Middle East, and they also want
Speaker 3: their oil. The same mistake we made in nineteen fifty
Speaker 3: three for their oil is the same thing that China
Speaker 3: and Russia are betting on to have a strong Iran.
Speaker 3: They want the stabilization in that region. And I don't
Speaker 3: know how much longer the Saudis are going to allow
Speaker 3: you to fire missiles over the country, so I think
Speaker 3: that we'll have You know, he should be talking to
Speaker 3: some other Middle Eastern actors, like the Saudis and other
Speaker 3: people and see if we could get some type of
Speaker 3: coalition on our side. But the real prize here is
Speaker 3: not just to stop their nuclear program, but to stop
Speaker 3: the regime of Iran from getting any stronger and possibly
Speaker 3: set up a time where the regime can be toppled
Speaker 3: and be taken over by maybe someone else that disagrees
Speaker 3: with us, hopefully democratic. But even if they disagree with us,
Speaker 3: but not them, not.
Speaker 2: Any and not people who are ready to to to die,
Speaker 2: to die for their their beliefs and go off and
Speaker 2: meet the virgins.
Speaker 5: You could all die for your belief So don't take
Speaker 5: us all with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean got it? You got it all right? Well,
Speaker 2: thank you much, Matt, talk to you soon. Have a
Speaker 2: great one. One line at six one seven two thirty.
Speaker 2: One line at six one seven nine thirty. We got
Speaker 2: Phil and Bill and Mike, and we got maybe you
Speaker 2: if you want to give us a call. And ladies,
Speaker 2: don't let the men. When we talk war and peace,
Speaker 2: often men dominate. Okay, I want to hear from you.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: If you feel this is strategically important, that's that's a
Speaker 2: point of view that needs to be heard. If you
Speaker 2: feel that that it's better to deal with with someone
Speaker 2: today then next week or next month or next year,
Speaker 2: that's a point of view. If you feel that we
Speaker 2: are seeing history repeat itself, whatever your argument, this is
Speaker 2: where we talk about it on Nightside, coming back right
Speaker 2: after this.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray, Boston's news radio night Side
Speaker 1: with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Let's go to fill up in Danvers, fill your next
Speaker 2: on night Side.
Speaker 5: Your thoughts on Yeah, well, you know, I'm not crazy
Speaker 5: about these foreign entanglement for the most part. I mean,
Speaker 5: we have a lot of issues here, and the guy
Speaker 5: with the broad of the fentanyl, he is correct about that,
Speaker 5: but you know, ironically, I don't know how we feel
Speaker 5: about it. He ended up going into Mexico and doing
Speaker 5: some damage. You know, people complain about that too, But so,
Speaker 5: I mean, ultimately, the Israelis have done great for what
Speaker 5: they can do, and they keep getting these rocket launches
Speaker 5: and one of the missiles have been fired. We're gonna
Speaker 5: probably have to go in. I think he probably said tonight,
Speaker 5: what a week or two?
Speaker 2: I mean he's he stretched it out to two weeks,
Speaker 2: which would be around the fourth of July. Yeah, might
Speaker 2: be quite, might be quite a fireworks show in Iran
Speaker 2: the fourth of July.
Speaker 5: I'm confident that, you know, once you hand it over
Speaker 5: to the military, I think, you know, hey, if we
Speaker 5: can't do it, nobody can.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 5: I'm confident and our guys in.
Speaker 10: The training and hopefully everything goes and everyone's safe when
Speaker 10: they go in the mission, So we'll have to probably
Speaker 10: go in and do some additional strikes to clear the
Speaker 10: path for our bombas and make sure that they protect
Speaker 10: them as best we can and that the ordinance goes
Speaker 10: in correct.
Speaker 5: And uh, you know, I mean some of our bases
Speaker 5: may take fire. I mean, you know, I mean we
Speaker 5: have to you know, hopefully it goes well. You never know.
Speaker 5: I mean, but I and another thing that worries me,
Speaker 5: and I hope if he has to do what he
Speaker 5: addresses the nation and speaks about this. You know, we
Speaker 5: don't know who's in the country, Dan, You know, we
Speaker 5: don't know if they're going to ring the bell. I
Speaker 5: mean you think at this point maybe they would have,
Speaker 5: but you know that we had the poorest border, and
Speaker 5: you know, there could be some bad actors in here.
Speaker 2: Dan, you know, I have no doubt. I don't think
Speaker 2: there's any doubt that there are bad actors in here.
Speaker 2: There's no question about that.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But the question is do we have intelligence to know
Speaker 2: who the bad actors are? And what what are the capacity?
Speaker 2: I mean again, when you say ring the bell, I
Speaker 2: think what you're referring to is something goes through the
Speaker 2: the the Iranian chain of command, and they activate a
Speaker 2: sell here or they activate a sell.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, you know, And and we've never really had
Speaker 5: a bunch of suicide bombers going to public places in
Speaker 5: this country like Israelis have. And I don't think the
Speaker 5: American publicers, you know, they really understand that. You know,
Speaker 5: people feel kind of in the way sheltered here. A
Speaker 5: lot of people don't have passports and not really in depth.
Speaker 2: But we've had we've had over time. We've had you know,
Speaker 2: Major Ndalassan down in Fort Hood in Texas. There have
Speaker 2: been some other examples. There have been some some There
Speaker 2: was the guy who wanted to blow up the plane,
Speaker 2: the shoe bomber, remember the guy trying.
Speaker 5: To learn Yeah, well, yeah, well exactly. We got lucky.
Speaker 2: They care you, I hear you. Well, it's it's going
Speaker 2: to make for some interesting days ahead, that's for sure.
Speaker 5: I mean, but you know it, we're sixty percent there.
Speaker 5: You can't leaven wounded like that. Hopefully they get rid
Speaker 5: of those guys, and whoever takes off, I think the
Speaker 5: damage that has been done to them, maybe somebody in
Speaker 5: the military say, of these guys a week and you know,
Speaker 5: of course, everybody wants their shot to move up right,
Speaker 5: So maybe they'll do something, you know, and and we'll
Speaker 5: see what happens.
Speaker 2: But really the other thing is, by way a background
Speaker 2: is and again I think this is important to mention
Speaker 2: is I believe that we have intelligence provided probably by
Speaker 2: the Israelis, that the Iranians we were plotting to take
Speaker 2: out Donald Trump. So you know, they could be there
Speaker 2: could be that could be a factor as well. It's
Speaker 2: I just say this that I'm glad I'm not making
Speaker 2: the decision.
Speaker 5: No, it's tough, you know, you know you read history.
Speaker 5: Harry Truman. I was actually at this house and Independence, Missouri.
Speaker 5: You know, like throw through the house. Oh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5: It looked like nineteen eighty that's when his wife I
Speaker 5: believe passed away or eighty one. The calendar was still
Speaker 5: up in the wall and they only allowed so many
Speaker 5: people today. You couldn't go in the second floor. You
Speaker 5: could walk through. They had the floor supported and there
Speaker 5: was a small group of US ten or twelve.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, the story about Harry Truman and his
Speaker 2: wife Bess was that when he finished up in January
Speaker 2: of nineteen fifty three, he and his wife drove home
Speaker 2: to Missouri. No secret service. No, No, he just drove
Speaker 2: home and this was the guy.
Speaker 5: That hit it with toy penchims.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Codered consider him a pretty good president, that's
Speaker 2: for sure. Yeah, Habit dash or Missouri. Thank you, Bail,
Speaker 2: appreciate your calling. I talked too soon. Next up, Bill
Speaker 2: is down in Pennsylvania. Bill.
Speaker 9: Your thoughts here, Well, Dan, I think that first of all,
Speaker 9: they should have done they should have done something in
Speaker 9: two thousand and nine when the people were in the
Speaker 9: streets and in Iran and there was an opportunity to
Speaker 9: do uh do something there, of course.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 9: Finally, Uh. You know one thing about a good leader.
Speaker 9: A good leader is decisive and and not wishy washy,
Speaker 9: and that's exactly what we got Trump like when he
Speaker 9: took out solo money. But I think I got an
Speaker 9: idea that within two weeks, okay, that after two weeks
Speaker 9: of relentless bombing okay by Israel. And also I think
Speaker 9: they have more uh more commandos in there. I think
Speaker 9: after two weeks they just getting the crap beat out
Speaker 9: of them. I think it might bring him, I might
Speaker 9: bring him to the to the uh the negotiation table.
Speaker 2: I think that's what Trump is is counting on and
Speaker 2: you know it's funny. I should say it's interesting that
Speaker 2: on the tariffs, Trump has extended things. On TikTok, he's
Speaker 2: just he's extended now the TikTok purchase another ninety days.
Speaker 2: He doesn't hesitate to extend things. So it's conceivable that
Speaker 2: two weeks could pass and he might give it another
Speaker 2: two weeks. I don't know. It's a decision, by acting
Speaker 2: or not acting, he makes a decision. That's that's the
Speaker 2: that's the truth here.
Speaker 9: On one other things, Dan, I think if we have
Speaker 9: to go, if they have to use the B two
Speaker 9: s in the monk or Buster, I think that's going
Speaker 9: to be followed up immediately by Israeli commandos at at
Speaker 9: the at the site, and they're going to go in
Speaker 9: and make sure that it is completely leveled. I think
Speaker 9: that they're going to be able to do that with
Speaker 9: maybe a force of maybe maybe fifty to one hundred commandos.
Speaker 9: Israeli commandos, you.
Speaker 2: Think, I think you need a much bigger force than that.
Speaker 2: That that has to be a I'm no military expert,
Speaker 2: but that has to be a really fortified location when
Speaker 2: you think about.
Speaker 9: It, I think that's I think that's part of the
Speaker 9: d we'll see.
Speaker 2: You might be right. You might be right, and I
Speaker 2: and I appreciate that that insight puil of rather bill.
Speaker 2: We'll have to we'll have to see how it transpires.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your call is always. I'm a little tight on time,
Speaker 2: so we're going to let you go, but we will
Speaker 2: thank you very much. It's so far. There's my audience.
Speaker 2: There's not a big appetite for this. Okay, I'm a
Speaker 2: little surprised, but I'm just looking to know what you think.
Speaker 2: That's all I'm thinking. That's all I care. I really
Speaker 2: don't care what I you know, your opinion is your opinion.
Speaker 2: This is a big one. This is a big one,
Speaker 2: and the president has to get it right. Uh. They
Speaker 2: were things that George Bush got very wrong. Uh, and
Speaker 2: I think Donald Trump wants to, well, look, it's in
Speaker 2: his own interest to get this right