Latest / The Stan R. Mitchell Show / The 1-16-25 edition of The View from the Front podcast.

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The 1-16-25 edition of The View from the Front podcast. · The Stan R. Mitchell Show

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, welcome to the view from the front
0:12
SPEAKER_00: What is going on, everyone?
0:14
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: As you can probably tell,
0:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm fighting off the last of a cold,
0:19
SPEAKER_00: so my voice isn't perfect,
0:21
but I've got cough drops and plenty of energy and motivation to
0:25
try to get through
0:25
this because we do have quite a bit of news I want to make sure
0:28
I squeeze in this week.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for joining us, especially you new listeners.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Again, we had a bunch of sign-ups.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Really, really appreciate that.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that you are here.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: And as always, there are timestamps in the episode notes.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to jump to a part of the show,
0:46
SPEAKER_00: don't want to listen to the whole thing,
0:47
SPEAKER_00: that's what they're there for.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: I seem to have a mixed audience.
0:51
Seems like some people want longer episodes so they can listen
0:55
to it while they're
0:55
SPEAKER_00: exercising or,
0:57
SPEAKER_00: you know,
0:57
SPEAKER_00: run into the grocery store.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: And then about half of the...
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Audience seems to want shorter episodes, so I just do the best I can.
1:05
And hopefully those timestamps give you that option if you are
1:08
short of time.
1:10
You can get to what you want,
1:11
to the meat of whatever subject matter you care about.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the Pete Hegseth nomination.
1:19
Hegseth is,
1:20
of course,
1:21
President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary.
1:25
And I've thought for a couple of days about how I was going to
1:27
cover this.
1:28
It seemed pretty controversial in some of the hearings and the
1:31
questions back and forth.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: If you listen to people on the right, he hit a home run, a grand slam.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: He destroyed the Democrats who asked him tough questions.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: If you ask those on the left,
1:44
SPEAKER_00: he faced brutal questions,
1:46
SPEAKER_00: couldn't answer stuff,
1:47
SPEAKER_00: blah,
1:47
SPEAKER_00: blah,
1:47
SPEAKER_00: blah.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: It's like...
1:49
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy how,
1:52
SPEAKER_00: as a country,
1:53
we can all watch the same thing and get two completely
1:57
different descriptions of
1:59
SPEAKER_00: the same event.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: It isn't like a white truck ran into a red barrel.
2:04
You've got one side that'll say it's like a yellow truck that
2:07
ran into a green barrel.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, how does anyone see any of this?
2:11
SPEAKER_00: And so I thought for a couple of days,
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SPEAKER_00: like,
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SPEAKER_00: do I play some clips back and forth,
2:15
SPEAKER_00: share some of the best ones that he did,
2:16
SPEAKER_00: share some of the best ones that the,
2:18
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: the Democrats hit him with.
2:21
But then I came to the conclusion that you can find that stuff
2:23
online easily.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: You've probably already seen it.
2:26
Even TikTok is flooded with depending on if your stream is for
2:30
conservative news or
2:32
SPEAKER_00: liberal news.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: I was getting them from both angles.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: So the clips are out there.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: They're viral.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: They're everywhere.
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SPEAKER_00: And I thought, you know, there's no point in going through them again.
2:41
And after thinking on it for a couple of days,
2:43
I've come to this idea that,
2:44
you know...
2:46
SPEAKER_00: I've almost got like this holding pattern in my mind.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: And we can talk about Pete Hegseth.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: And,
2:56
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: if you listen to the Democrats,
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SPEAKER_00: they attack his character,
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SPEAKER_00: some of his past mistakes.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: He,
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SPEAKER_00: on the other hand,
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SPEAKER_00: says,
3:02
SPEAKER_00: you know,
3:02
SPEAKER_00: that he's a reformed person,
3:04
SPEAKER_00: that,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: he's found his faith and that,
3:09
SPEAKER_00: you know,
3:09
SPEAKER_00: he's going to do a good job.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: That's his argument.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: And I've just kind of come to this process in my mind where it's like,
3:15
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: the reality is half the country's freaked out.
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SPEAKER_00: Half the country is happy about this change in the presidency.
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SPEAKER_00: And the reality is we're all in this together.
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SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the majority have spoken.
3:28
Now,
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I want to mention a couple things from Pete Hexas' opening statement.
3:32
Now,
3:32
he's,
3:33
in the past,
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made some controversial remarks about women serving.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: In his opening statement,
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SPEAKER_00: he made very clear that he pledges to serve well everyone,
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SPEAKER_00: including men and women,
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SPEAKER_00: obviously.
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He said in that opening statement that he thanked everyone for
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having his back and
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SPEAKER_00: that he pledges to do the same for you,
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SPEAKER_00: all of you.
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SPEAKER_00: He puts that in italicized to make it very clear.
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SPEAKER_00: He also mentioned that he was selected by President-elect Trump.
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SPEAKER_00: to be a change agent.
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SPEAKER_00: So that's what his goal is to be.
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SPEAKER_00: He plans to,
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SPEAKER_00: the three main points,
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SPEAKER_00: restore the warrior ethos,
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SPEAKER_00: rebuild our military,
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SPEAKER_00: and then reestablish deterrence.
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SPEAKER_00: Interestingly,
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SPEAKER_00: in that third point,
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SPEAKER_00: he mentions that,
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SPEAKER_00: second,
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we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression
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in the Indo-Pacific
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SPEAKER_00: From the communist Chinese.
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SPEAKER_00: Those were his words.
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SPEAKER_00: So those are very strong words right there.
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SPEAKER_00: I know there's been some discussion that,
4:43
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: some on the right say,
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SPEAKER_00: well,
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SPEAKER_00: Elon has ties to China.
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Maybe there'll be tariffs,
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but maybe,
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you know,
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maybe Trump isn't as concerned about Taiwan.
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SPEAKER_00: But literally, page two of the letter from Pete Hegseth says...
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We will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression
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in the Indo-Pacific
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SPEAKER_00: from the communist Chinese.
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SPEAKER_00: So that's a pretty strong statement there regarding that.
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SPEAKER_00: He's also,
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SPEAKER_00: at the end of the letter,
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said that he pledges to be a faithful partner to the committee
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and to Congress,
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SPEAKER_00: that he will take input,
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SPEAKER_00: that he will respect oversight.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: He said, quote,
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the health and well-being of our troops,
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and a strong and secure America.
5:31
Now,
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you could be cynic and say,
5:33
well,
5:33
of course he says that in the letter.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: But to me, like I said, I've just come to this view that...
5:41
SPEAKER_00: You know,
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SPEAKER_00: the country has spoken,
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SPEAKER_00: and whether we like it or not,
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SPEAKER_00: the country,
5:47
SPEAKER_00: we vote,
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SPEAKER_00: we pick our leaders,
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SPEAKER_00: and those leaders have been picked,
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SPEAKER_00: and President-elect Trump deserves to,
5:54
SPEAKER_00: within reason,
5:55
SPEAKER_00: mostly get the people he has selected.
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SPEAKER_00: He will be judged on how he performs and how his staff under him perform.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, I know that those on the left say PXF is vastly unqualified, but
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I know those on the right say,
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well,
6:11
we don't need the same thing we've had in the past.
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SPEAKER_00: And we could debate that for hours.
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SPEAKER_00: But really, it comes down to the country has spoken.
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SPEAKER_00: He has been selected.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he does.
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SPEAKER_00: And so that's just where I've come down on it.
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SPEAKER_00: I look at it too,
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SPEAKER_00: even from almost a military point of view,
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SPEAKER_00: where they used to have that saying,
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SPEAKER_00: you don't want to fire too soon,
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SPEAKER_00: wait until you see the whites of their eyes.
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SPEAKER_00: And to me, a lot of these attacks on him and some of these nominees...
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SPEAKER_00: You know,
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SPEAKER_00: the reality is that those on the left did their best to warn America,
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SPEAKER_00: or you could say frighten or scare America,
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SPEAKER_00: that don't put Trump back in.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't let him get these picks.
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SPEAKER_00: But the reality is, is it didn't work.
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SPEAKER_00: And so a slight majority favored re-electing President-elect Trump.
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SPEAKER_00: He's in.
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SPEAKER_00: These are his people.
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SPEAKER_00: And as I was saying about the whites of the eye, to me, it's like...
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I could spend two hours talking about his book,
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his hypotheticals,
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the worst case scenarios.
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SPEAKER_00: Even on his religious conversion,
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SPEAKER_00: there was an article in PBS about how his controversial religious views,
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SPEAKER_00: and there are Christians debating,
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SPEAKER_00: is he some type of Christian nationalist who wants crusades again,
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SPEAKER_00: or what do these tattoos mean?
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SPEAKER_00: And then there's the flip side, oh, they don't mean anything.
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SPEAKER_00: You can spend forever just arguing about this,
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SPEAKER_00: but in the end,
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SPEAKER_00: it does appear that he probably will be appointed,
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SPEAKER_00: and so I plan to cover him as fairly as possible,
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SPEAKER_00: and I hope that as a Christian,
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SPEAKER_00: I'm called to pray for our leaders today.
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SPEAKER_00: And so I will be praying that he does as good as possible.
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And we just hope that he follows the Constitution and that he
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serves honorably.
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SPEAKER_00: That's all we can do at this point.
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SPEAKER_00: So don't want to say too much about that.
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SPEAKER_00: That's kind of my views there.
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SPEAKER_00: I think...
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SPEAKER_00: Again, as I said earlier, we're, in my opinion, in a holding pattern.
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SPEAKER_00: President Trump takes office next week.
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SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to an article in there,
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SPEAKER_00: everything you need to know about the Inauguration Day,
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SPEAKER_00: if you want to read on that.
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SPEAKER_00: But until that happens, even the peace in the Middle East...
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SPEAKER_00: There was a deal that was announced,
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SPEAKER_00: and Israel and Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire,
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SPEAKER_00: and President Biden's taking credit for it,
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SPEAKER_00: saying this is the deal I've been working on for months.
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And then President-elect Trump said it's only happening because
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he's got elected,
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SPEAKER_00: so they're literally fighting over who gets credit for this.
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SPEAKER_00: You can make an argument for both sides on that.
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SPEAKER_00: I could literally make an argument for both sides on that.
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But again,
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I just don't see the point in wasting the breath on arguing
9:05
about this or that.
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SPEAKER_00: We're America.
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SPEAKER_00: There are hostages there who need to be released.
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SPEAKER_00: I think most people want a ceasefire and for the war to end.
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SPEAKER_00: So why don't – I just believe we need to try to start coming together,
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SPEAKER_00: and the debate – we've had our election.
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SPEAKER_00: There's going to be a change in administration.
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SPEAKER_00: That's how this country works.
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And we judge President-elect Trump and his nominees based on
9:34
how they perform and act.
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SPEAKER_00: And same thing with tariffs and whatever happens with immigration –
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If the prices go up,
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then President-elect Trump is going to be judged on those
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higher prices.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's what happened to President Biden.
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SPEAKER_00: Same thing with immigration.
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SPEAKER_00: If he doesn't fix immigration, he'll be judged on that.
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SPEAKER_00: If he overplays his hand on it, he'll be judged on that.
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SPEAKER_00: Let the man, you know, he ran for the job.
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SPEAKER_00: He was picked for the job.
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SPEAKER_00: He's got the job.
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SPEAKER_00: That's how I see it.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay,
10:08
SPEAKER_00: moving along,
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SPEAKER_00: and I just listened to that first segment,
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SPEAKER_00: and I sound horrible,
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SPEAKER_00: and I don't expect hardly anyone to listen to this.
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SPEAKER_00: So if you're going to gut it out with me,
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SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it,
10:17
SPEAKER_00: but I'm also going to burn through it because my voice is getting weaker,
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SPEAKER_00: and I sound terrible.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: So, moving to some Ukraine news.
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Great news for Ukraine,
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for those who've really been in the weeds keeping up with it.
10:30
President Zelensky has decided to stop the creation of new
10:36
brigades and instead
10:39
will start directing reinforcements to already experienced and
10:43
combat-ready units.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, this has been something that's in the weeds a bit, but...
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Business Insider had a big article first part of January on
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January 5th where an
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SPEAKER_00: analyst was quoted,
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and a lot of people who've been following the war have talked
10:59
about that they've
11:00
been forming these new units in the rear and maybe training in
11:04
Germany or France or
11:05
SPEAKER_00: maybe even part of Ukraine.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: So they'll form up a new unit.
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SPEAKER_00: They give them new gear.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: But they're mostly like raw recruits.
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SPEAKER_00: They're barely trained.
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SPEAKER_00: They're inexperienced.
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SPEAKER_00: They get thrown into combat,
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SPEAKER_00: and they make lots of mistakes,
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SPEAKER_00: and they take casualties that they probably shouldn't have taken.
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SPEAKER_00: So as really good units on the front line have been just bled out,
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SPEAKER_00: a lot of people have been saying,
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SPEAKER_00: hey,
11:26
SPEAKER_00: if you just put some fresh troops in there,
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SPEAKER_00: there are very experienced officers and sergeants on the line.
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SPEAKER_00: Move some troops there.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the best solution,
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SPEAKER_00: and after maybe too long,
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SPEAKER_00: according to a lot of people,
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SPEAKER_00: but Ukraine has finally decided to listen,
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SPEAKER_00: and they are going to start doing that.
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SPEAKER_00: Just to share one comment I saw,
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SPEAKER_00: one person said,
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I understand the political need to show the West that the
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Ukrainian army is growing,
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SPEAKER_00: but this should have been done more than a year ago.
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SPEAKER_00: Rookies benefit from the experience of veterans,
12:02
SPEAKER_00: rotation is easier,
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SPEAKER_00: and seasoned units have enough manpower.
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So putting more people there would give more manpower to these
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seasoned units.
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SPEAKER_00: They have some top-notch units that have been in heavy combat for years.
12:17
off and on for like two years so it's like why not put new men
12:20
there let the old
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men rub off on them so to speak and i probably shouldn't just
12:24
say men because there
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are women all along the front line as well and just behind the
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front line so i'm
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SPEAKER_00: not trying to make some kind of statement there on that
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, moving along.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: The Biden administration,
12:38
SPEAKER_00: I guess better late than never,
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has imposed harsh sanctions on the Russian oil industry just
12:44
this past week.
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SPEAKER_00: This is done to help cut off funding for the Ukraine war effort.
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SPEAKER_00: And I've got several stories in the episode notes.
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SPEAKER_00: This appears to be really taking an effect.
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SPEAKER_00: In fact,
12:56
SPEAKER_00: one story said that there were 65 oil tankers,
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SPEAKER_00: which were part of this shadow fleet,
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SPEAKER_00: which we've talked about.
13:02
in a previous episode that they've been used to drag an anchor
13:05
and break lines,
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SPEAKER_00: fiber optic lines,
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SPEAKER_00: internet cables.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, they've targeted these ships.
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And since this happened,
13:13
one article said 65 oil tankers have dropped anchor.
13:17
Basically,
13:17
these ships can no longer deliver oil because of these sanctions.
13:23
One story said that China refuses to let three sanctioned
13:27
tankers carrying Russian oil...
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SPEAKER_00: Dock in its ports.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: Another one.
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SPEAKER_00: This is from Reuters.
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SPEAKER_00: Dozens of oil tankers drop anchor after latest U.S.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: sanctions bite.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Newsweek had an article.
13:40
Putin's shadow fleets sanctions hit tankers are stranded off
13:46
China's coast.
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SPEAKER_00: So, it really appears to be having a heck of an effect.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: So, I'm not sure what's so different about these sanctions.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they're targeted better.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: But...
13:57
SPEAKER_00: So far at least,
13:58
this really could take a bite into the Russian war budget that
14:04
they've been using
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SPEAKER_00: to fund their operations in Ukraine.
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SPEAKER_00: So it seems like a good thing that has happened here.
14:10
And maybe it also gives President-elect Donald Trump more
14:13
leverage when they begin
14:15
SPEAKER_00: to do the negotiations on how to potentially end the war.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Moving to the next topic,
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SPEAKER_00: I wanted to talk about that...
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I've said this analogy before that Ukraine and Russia are
14:26
fighting right now.
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SPEAKER_00: It's like two heavyweight fighters just trading body blows.
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SPEAKER_00: But there were a couple of big stories where...
14:35
Ukraine has,
14:37
CNN used this headline,
14:38
Ukraine strikes Russia in major drone and missile attack.
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And there were quite a few stories about this from a couple of
14:44
days ago where they
14:46
SPEAKER_00: used a lot of drones and missiles.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: They damaged factories.
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SPEAKER_00: There's a summary I've got in the episode notes.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: They hit an oil refinery in Saratov.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: They hit an oil depot in Ingalls.
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SPEAKER_00: They hit a chemical plant in Bryonsk.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: They hit just a couple other.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: They hit the gas tank in Kazan.
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SPEAKER_00: Like, there's just a lot of things they hit.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: It was a very well-planned attack.
15:10
But then Russia turned around and countered the very next day
15:15
with a very large attack.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: They seem to do these size attacks maybe once every week or two.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: They store up their number of drones and cruise missiles and all.
15:26
And so they launched a big one of almost 100 plus,
15:29
43 missiles,
15:29
74 drones.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: It forced Ukraine to shut down its power grid.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: They were targeting that.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, both sides are just decimating each other with these attacks.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure both countries have to be feeling just weary of this war.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: So I just wanted to briefly mention that.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: It's too big of a news not to share.
15:54
The next topic I want to talk about is there's been some
15:57
frontline reporting that
15:58
has emerged on how North Korean troops are actually doing in
16:02
the Kursk region.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to share that.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Now,
16:05
SPEAKER_00: this is from a single source,
16:06
but it seemed to be pretty backed up by most of the people
16:08
who've been following
16:10
SPEAKER_00: the war.
16:11
First thing that the person mentions is Volodymyr Demchenko is
16:17
the name of the gentleman.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: He's actually serving in the Ukrainian military.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to share just some of the thread that he shared on X.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: He said,
16:28
let's start with the fact that the first live prisoners from
16:31
North Korea were taken
16:32
SPEAKER_00: only in the second month.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: This should prove to you that they are utterly hardened types who,
16:38
SPEAKER_00: when wounded,
16:39
SPEAKER_00: follow a single pattern,
16:41
SPEAKER_00: pull the pin,
16:42
SPEAKER_00: put a grenade to their head,
16:44
SPEAKER_00: and good night.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Those,
16:46
SPEAKER_00: quote,
16:46
spineless ones who do not want or cannot do this will be taken
16:50
out by their own,
16:50
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
16:50
So he's saying if they don't surrender or if they don't take
16:55
their own life,
16:56
SPEAKER_00: other North Koreans will shoot them.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: He continues,
17:29
He said the statistics on the small drones they have destroyed
17:32
attest to this fact,
17:34
SPEAKER_00: to this marksmanship.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: He said 10 years of military training is 10 years of military training,
17:39
SPEAKER_00: whether it's in North Korea or in Fort Bragg.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: He mentions that when a drone approaches them,
17:46
the North Korean tactic is one man acts as bait while two
17:50
comrades ambush and
17:51
SPEAKER_00: destroy the drone.
17:54
So basically one man stands still and as the drone either heads
17:57
toward it or hovers
17:58
SPEAKER_00: to drop a grenade or mortar round,
18:01
SPEAKER_00: two other guys engage it and sometimes can shoot it down.
18:06
He talks about that that shows their just impressive bravery
18:11
and courage.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: He said that,
18:14
SPEAKER_00: he goes on to say that,
18:16
SPEAKER_00: you know,
18:16
SPEAKER_00: that they are suffering horrific casualties,
18:19
SPEAKER_00: the North Koreans are,
18:20
SPEAKER_00: but again,
18:21
SPEAKER_00: only two have been captured in like two months.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: And he goes on to warn that,
18:27
SPEAKER_00: you know,
18:27
SPEAKER_00: that in his opinion,
18:29
SPEAKER_00: now this is just a soldier's opinion,
18:30
SPEAKER_00: but that
18:32
There are millions more North Koreans who will be willing to
18:36
fight and that the
18:38
SPEAKER_00: West should brace for,
18:39
SPEAKER_00: you know,
18:40
SPEAKER_00: a challenging reality.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: In fact, his exact words were these.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Stop listening to the experts who comfort you with, quote, good news.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Months ago,
18:51
they said the Koreans would be destroyed in the first week
18:55
because they don't know
18:55
SPEAKER_00: how to fight.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: They do know how to fight, and there are millions of them.
19:00
Unfortunately,
19:00
the side that doesn't know how to fight modern warfare is...
19:03
It says U.S.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it means us or if he means the U.S.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: because he did earlier mention NATO and the West slash U.S.
19:12
But at any rate,
19:14
just some frontline reporting that the North Korean troops are...
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Pretty impressive.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Now,
19:19
SPEAKER_00: I will also say that when they were first sent,
19:21
SPEAKER_00: these are some of the cream of the crop North Korean troops.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: These are their special forces.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: These dudes are some bad dudes.
19:28
I know because I've been to South Korea back in the late 90s,
19:32
the South Korean Marines...
19:36
SPEAKER_00: There was a little bit,
19:38
SPEAKER_00: at least back then,
19:39
there was fear of these North Korean troops who would
19:41
infiltrate the South Korean lines,
19:44
SPEAKER_00: assuming a war happened.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: And they're all really good at martial arts.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: You see the videos.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: They train in cold weather and in cold water with no shirt on.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: They're doing all these breaking of bricks and all this other stuff.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: And I know some of that's...
19:58
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if someone's shooting a real rifle at you,
20:01
SPEAKER_00: but at the same time,
20:02
SPEAKER_00: toughness is something that does matter.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: There is no doubt that they are tough troops.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: You can call them brainwashed, I guess, if you want.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: I know people say Marines are brainwashed.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: I absolutely believe Marines are brainwashed, having been one.
20:20
You can cultivate a man or woman's mind to learn how to
20:26
accomplish the mission at
20:28
SPEAKER_00: any cost,
20:28
SPEAKER_00: and that's something that gets almost beaten into certain folks,
20:33
and so there's no doubt that these are some tough troops from
20:37
North Korea,
20:37
SPEAKER_00: and they're fighting very well,
20:39
SPEAKER_00: but they are taking immensely large amounts of casualties.
20:42
I've even seen that there's possibly been 2,000 to 3,000 of
20:45
them already taken out,
20:46
so...
20:49
They're taking some high casualties,
20:51
but they're also doing these almost human wave attacks.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: They are just through mass having some effect.
21:02
In fact,
21:02
I watched a great video the other day of maybe six or eight Ukrainians.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: fighting off about 20 or 30 of them,
21:10
SPEAKER_00: and on the one hand,
21:11
SPEAKER_00: it was a pretty one-sided battle,
21:13
SPEAKER_00: because these are some of Ukraine's better troops.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand,
21:17
SPEAKER_00: the Ukrainians,
21:18
SPEAKER_00: you know,
21:19
SPEAKER_00: ended up having to pull back a bit,
21:20
SPEAKER_00: so it's like,
21:21
SPEAKER_00: I mean...
21:22
SPEAKER_00: They've got numbers right now, so numbers do matter.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: And as I said several weeks ago,
21:28
Ukraine has been pushed back some in that Kursk enclave that
21:32
they pushed north into Russia.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: They've lost about 40% of that ground,
21:35
SPEAKER_00: and even though there was a small counteroffensive a week or so ago,
21:39
that ended up not being anything that really made waves or took
21:45
a lot of ground.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: So, these hard attacks, I guess I saw it well said like this.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: Like,
21:53
SPEAKER_00: on the one hand,
21:53
SPEAKER_00: if you're Vladimir Putin,
21:55
SPEAKER_00: you're furious because you've been trying to take this enclave back for,
22:00
SPEAKER_00: what now,
22:00
SPEAKER_00: six months or so?
22:01
SPEAKER_00: And you still haven't taken it.
22:02
You've only taken about 40% and you are taking horrendous
22:05
casualties in that Kursk region.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand,
22:08
SPEAKER_00: you could flip it and say,
22:09
SPEAKER_00: well,
22:09
I've taken 40% and we're kind of pushing hard and the
22:12
Ukrainians may break it any time.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: So,
22:14
SPEAKER_00: I don't know which of those two is correct.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: They're both correct.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: And we just don't know which way it's going to go.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: But definitely some heavy fighting happening up there.
22:24
Now,
22:25
I had mentioned earlier that we're kind of in a holding pattern
22:27
right now.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: Next week, President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
22:30
One big thing that will be happening that we'll start to begin
22:33
to see next week as
22:34
SPEAKER_00: well is how will Europe respond to a new U.S.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: president?
22:40
SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to mention that Secretary Lloyd Austin,
22:43
SPEAKER_00: the outgoing Secretary of Defense,
22:45
SPEAKER_00: recently had a press release that he put out.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to pull together what they are calling the UDCG,
22:56
SPEAKER_00: which is the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: It's a coalition of 50 nations that regularly meet...
23:06
And he is,
23:07
you know,
23:08
calling them to pull together and continue assisting Ukraine.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: And,
23:14
SPEAKER_00: in fact,
23:14
they are discussing budgets going out to 2027 to help keep
23:21
Ukraine in the fight and
23:23
SPEAKER_00: to also show Russia that nothing's going to change.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: So...
23:27
SPEAKER_00: My bigger point in making this is that together,
23:30
SPEAKER_00: the U.S.,
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Europe,
23:33
SPEAKER_00: going all the way down to Australia,
23:34
SPEAKER_00: a lot of countries have come together,
23:36
SPEAKER_00: more than $126 billion through this group called the UDCG,
23:42
SPEAKER_00: the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: A lot of countries involved,
23:47
and part of me does think that there's a chance Europe's really
23:53
going to pull
23:54
SPEAKER_00: together to continue helping Ukraine.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Partly because many of these European countries don't want to fight.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: They have not shown a lot of spine.
24:06
And the easiest way to avoid having to fight Russia is to let
24:10
Ukraine continue to
24:11
SPEAKER_00: fight using your weapons.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: And so part of me thinks they will.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: On the other side,
24:17
SPEAKER_00: you can make the counter argument,
24:18
SPEAKER_00: which is that a lot of more conservative right wing groups.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: are making inroads in these various countries,
24:26
and you could make the argument that an anti-Ukraine government
24:30
movement is gaining
24:31
SPEAKER_00: some ground in some of these countries.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately,
24:34
SPEAKER_00: they vote,
24:35
SPEAKER_00: and their people will decide,
24:38
SPEAKER_00: and then the cards will fall ever how they fall.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: None of us really know how they'll fall, but...
24:44
My grander point is that next week we begin to see for sure how
24:49
Europe is going to
24:50
SPEAKER_00: respond to the change in the American administration.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: One final news story is,
25:00
SPEAKER_00: and I didn't even provide a link to it,
25:01
SPEAKER_00: you can find links on this,
25:02
SPEAKER_00: but it's kind of buried and it's really in the weeds.
25:05
But there were some stories this week about China buying some
25:08
new landing ships
25:10
SPEAKER_00: that would be used for Taiwan.
25:13
And literally last week there was a very similar story where
25:16
Japan has formally
25:18
announced it's purchasing some landing ships of its own to help
25:22
defend some of its
25:23
SPEAKER_00: outer islands.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: As China's navy has become more and more aggressive.
25:29
And so I just wanted to share and mention that both sides
25:32
continue to build up.
25:34
Because the threat from China for Japan and some of those
25:38
countries is very real.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And China continues to move toward what appears to be a build up...
25:46
SPEAKER_00: in an effort to potentially militarily retake Taiwan.
25:51
So if you were in the camp like me that is concerned that China
25:55
might try to take
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan at some point,
25:57
SPEAKER_00: those purchases were very worrisome.
26:00
And there's really only one reason they're buying those and
26:04
producing those types
26:05
SPEAKER_00: of ships if you're China.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: And so that wasn't a good sign.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: But as the U.S.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: has been saying for years,
26:11
SPEAKER_00: The past couple of years, every day, the U.S.
26:14
with its partners in the Indo-Pacific are trying to make China
26:18
think today is not
26:20
SPEAKER_00: the day to invade Taiwan.
26:23
And they just want to keep running that clock out until China
26:26
no longer has the
26:27
SPEAKER_00: ability because the defenses are better and because basically...
26:32
China kind of called the world flat-footed with how
26:35
aggressively it was building
26:36
SPEAKER_00: its military,
26:37
SPEAKER_00: but as the alliances get stronger,
26:39
SPEAKER_00: as they shift the type of weaponry that they are buying,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: as Taiwan gets more serious about its defense,
26:45
SPEAKER_00: etc.,
26:45
SPEAKER_00: there are a number of factors,
26:48
SPEAKER_00: including submarine purchases.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: There's just a lot of things happening at a high level, but...
26:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, the U.S.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: goal is, as it's stated, to deter China.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: And I mentioned earlier the new, probably the new Secretary of Defense.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things they mentioned.
27:05
This is just a military reality going forward that will
27:10
continue for probably years
27:13
SPEAKER_00: unless China changes directions.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Alright, I appreciate everyone hanging with me to this point.
27:19
Let me end by sharing some encouragement for my Christian
27:22
brothers and sisters out there.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: By the way,
27:25
SPEAKER_00: if you're dealing with depression,
27:27
SPEAKER_00: PTSD,
27:28
SPEAKER_00: thoughts of suicide,
27:29
SPEAKER_00: I do have a link I'd like you to check out.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you click that link, it's something I've written up.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: It's about a page long.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: It's a pep talk, if you will.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: And honestly,
27:40
I'll just summarize it by saying I believe you are meant for
27:42
more than you think
27:43
SPEAKER_00: you are and that our country needs you.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: And again, it's in the episode notes.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: It just says PTSD.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Here's the page.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: Click that link.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: But assuming you're not in that camp,
27:55
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage my fellow Christian brothers and sisters out there.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: And I've got a few verses I just want to share.
28:01
The first one this week is make sure that no one pays back one
28:06
wrong act with another.
28:09
Instead,
28:10
always try to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: That's from 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 15.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: Again, make sure that no one pays back one wrong act with another.
28:25
Instead,
28:25
always try to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
28:30
Next one,
28:32
quote from Mike Winger,
28:33
who has some amazing YouTube videos and a podcast.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: He says, "...read the Bible daily.
28:40
Don't worry about having a measurably wonderful experience each
28:44
time you read the Bible."
28:47
Consider it a worthwhile thing to do regardless of how your
28:50
emotions feel at the time.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: You know,
28:53
SPEAKER_00: the same way you ought to treat any worthwhile activity such as,
28:57
SPEAKER_00: you know,
28:57
SPEAKER_00: exercise,
28:58
SPEAKER_00: etc.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: I think it makes a good point there.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I read the Bible and I don't feel like I get much out of it.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: But later, it's like it's somehow it's almost like exercise.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just go to the gym and you don't really feel it.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: But afterward, you're glad you did.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: And it keeps your momentum going.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's do another one.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: This one is, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: That is from Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 and 44.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's go to another one here.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: This one's from Psalms.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: When I'm afraid, I put my trust in you.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: That is Psalms 56, verse 3.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: And let's do just a couple quick final ones.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: The next one's from 1 John 4, verse 19.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: We love because he loved us first.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Again, we love because he loved us first.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: I guess I should say loved us first.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: I think I somehow mixed those two words.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: And then finally is a quote from Charles Spurgeon, a famous theologian.
30:09
The maker of the stars is at the same time the physician for
30:12
broken hearts and wounded spirits.
30:14
I think most Christians you talk to will tell you that they
30:18
usually came to God and
30:30
At a low point in their life when they were mourning or
30:33
grieving something.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: And so that's a pretty good little quote right there.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Again,
30:38
SPEAKER_00: the quote is,
30:38
The maker of the stars is at the same time the physician for
30:42
broken hearts and
30:44
SPEAKER_00: wounded spirits.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Now,
30:47
SPEAKER_00: if you've been listening very long,
30:48
SPEAKER_00: you know that I believe that if you want true peace,
30:52
SPEAKER_00: I think you should look to God and the Bible for that.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Not a country, not a party, certainly not a person.
30:58
If you know nothing about the Bible,
31:00
you want to test the waters,
31:01
maybe try it out.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: I have a resource page.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: It talks about what versions.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: It talks about where to read a little from.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: If you have no idea, because I know it's intimidating, check that out.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Also, I do have a podcast that focuses solely on faith.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: It's called The Search for God.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: If you want to know my story,
31:18
SPEAKER_00: if you want to know a little bit more about the basics,
31:20
SPEAKER_00: you can go there.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to that in the episode notes.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: And then I always like to end with a reminder,
31:26
SPEAKER_00: whether you're a Christian or not,
31:28
SPEAKER_00: the quote is,
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Be the reason someone smiles.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness of people.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: I should also mention,
31:39
SPEAKER_00: if you love my moderate,
31:40
SPEAKER_00: optimistic view of politics,
31:42
SPEAKER_00: want to know more about how I see things,
31:43
SPEAKER_00: I do put out a newsletter,
31:45
which will eventually probably become a podcast called
31:47
Political Thoughts from a
31:49
SPEAKER_00: Southern Gentleman.
31:51
They are written from my point of view as a prior Marine and a
31:54
prior Republican
31:55
SPEAKER_00: who's now a moderate.
31:57
And as I say,
31:58
I write,
31:58
Lincoln-like political thoughts full of kindness and hope.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course...
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Same there,
32:04
SPEAKER_00: as I hear,
32:04
SPEAKER_00: as I believe most Americans are good and we need compromise,
32:08
SPEAKER_00: unity,
32:08
SPEAKER_00: and love,
32:09
SPEAKER_00: not mockery or extremes.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: So, got a link to that in the episode notes.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: And then, let's see what else I need to say.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that, you know...
32:21
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people are a little nervous about the upcoming week or so,
32:24
but I believe we're going to get through this the same way the
32:27
country has gone
32:27
SPEAKER_00: through every hard time it's confronted in its past.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get through it by working together,
32:33
SPEAKER_00: by loving and helping our neighbor,
32:35
SPEAKER_00: and by having faith in a tomorrow.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: We have to trust in the resiliency of our fellow citizens,
32:42
SPEAKER_00: in the checks and balances of our institutions,
32:45
SPEAKER_00: and in the momentum and strength of the actual country itself.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And for those people of faith out there like me,
32:52
SPEAKER_00: we need to pray for God's providence and protection.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: And I've said this so many times,
32:58
SPEAKER_00: I even have said it in this episode,
32:59
SPEAKER_00: but most Americans are good.
33:01
They'll help you in a heartbeat whether you're left or right,
33:04
Republican or Democrat.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Love your fellow Americans, please.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: That is the formula.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for joining us this week.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: If you love what I'm doing,
33:14
SPEAKER_00: there are several ways you can support,
33:17
SPEAKER_00: including Venmo,
33:19
SPEAKER_00: PayPal,
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Patreon,
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Substack.
33:21
You can do those for $5 per month,
33:24
or you can do a one-time tip through Venmo or PayPal.
33:27
It's kind of like throwing money in a hat for a performer in a
33:30
town square.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: I got details for that in the episode notes.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: Another great way to support the show.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Check out my books.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: I've written 12 of them.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: I tell people these are Tom Clancy-like books.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: They are military and police thrillers.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: They move fast.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: Lots of twists and turns.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: And I've been fortunate to have sold 70,000 copies.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: So if you're one of those who've picked up a copy, thank you so much.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: And always reach out to me if you'd like.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: My email is in the episode notes.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: It is stanrmitchell2012 at gmail.com.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: stanrmitchell2012 at gmail.com.
34:06
You can send me an email or you can even record a voice memo in
34:10
your phone.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Email it.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: Make sure if you do that, name and city.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: If you have a question,
34:14
SPEAKER_00: you want to provide some feedback,
34:16
SPEAKER_00: just again,
34:16
SPEAKER_00: record a voice memo in your phone.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Email it to stanarmittrell2012 at gmail.
34:23
Please include at least your name and city or your full name if
34:26
you want to get a little famous.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to start trying to play some of those.
34:30
Thanks again for hanging out this week,
34:32
guys,
34:32
especially since my voice sounded horrible.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: With all of that being said, I am out.
34:38
I will catch you guys at the same time,
34:40
at the same place,
34:41
next week,
34:42
Lord willing.