Latest / The Stan R. Mitchell Show / The 7-25-24 edition of The View from the Front podcast.

Transcript

The 7-25-24 edition of The View from the Front podcast. · The Stan R. Mitchell Show

0:00
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0:09
SPEAKER_00: What is going on, guys?
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to this week's edition of The View from the Front.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: As you know,
0:15
SPEAKER_00: my name is Stan,
0:17
SPEAKER_00: and each week I cover the news in as a sophisticated and balanced manner as possible.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: And you know my overarching goal is always to unify our country.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: I obviously try to share this news in as a respectful and calm manner,
0:32
SPEAKER_00: not trying to raise anyone's blood pressure out there,
0:36
SPEAKER_00: and...
0:38
SPEAKER_00: If it's the first time you ever listened,
0:40
SPEAKER_00: I always end up wrapping up each episode by adding in some motivation and wisdom at
0:45
SPEAKER_00: the end of the show.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: Because who doesn't need that, right?
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Of course, I always support our military and I believe in defending democracy.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: So let's get to this week's show.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: We got a ton of news, including in a moment, I'll talk about that pier that was off of Gaza.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Was that mission that has ended, was it a success or not?
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I'll explain.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about an American reporter who's been sentenced to 16 years of prison inside Russia.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: I will cover that as well.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about some Ukraine news.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Definitely haven't seen much of that in the news lately.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: I'll share the latest there.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Then we're going to go in depth about China a bit.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: I really want to share some details on what's happening between the Philippines and
1:31
SPEAKER_00: China and how that's dragging the United States into what is a very dangerous situation.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: It's a potential hotspot.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll move on.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Stay on China but move to the Middle East.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: China has actually brokered a deal that it's trying to brag about that involves the Palestinians,
1:54
SPEAKER_00: that involves Hamas and Fatah.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk about that for just a bit.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: And then we will get into the motivation and wisdom section.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: So we've got a ton of news.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Definitely can't wait to get into all of that with you guys.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: So I hope you stick around through the show.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I think you'll learn a lot, you'll be smarter, and I think you'll enjoy it.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Before we get into all of that news,
2:15
SPEAKER_00: of course,
2:16
SPEAKER_00: I have to talk about just for about two minutes,
2:19
SPEAKER_00: American politics.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: There's clearly been a lot happening there.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: If you've been living in a cave or been hiking on some mountain without Wi-Fi or news,
2:31
SPEAKER_00: President Biden has decided not to seek the nomination a second time for president.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: His vice president, Kamala Harris, and in very short order, the Democratic Party rallied around her.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Big name after big name that might have challenged her for the nomination decided to endorse her instead.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: And so in a very short time, in less than 36 hours, in fact, $100 million was raised.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: There was 1.1 million unique donors.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: 62% of them were first-time donors.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: So this was a big deal.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: It's been almost like a sea shift.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: And I think many people are now, again, optimistic that the Democratic Party can win in November.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: I will still always believe that President Biden could have been re-elected,
3:31
SPEAKER_00: but I know that is a controversial view.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: But that is where I stood as far as I think it would have come down to policies.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is that so many people,
3:43
SPEAKER_00: whether it's on assault rifles and background checks or access to women's
3:51
SPEAKER_00: reproductive rights and...
3:54
SPEAKER_00: support to Ukraine just on issue after issue I feel like President Trump is on the
4:01
SPEAKER_00: lesser popular side so I still think President Biden could have pulled it out but
4:05
SPEAKER_00: the reality was his outings had not been that great the donor money was drying up
4:13
SPEAKER_00: and he did a very just an incredible selfless act by deciding to not seek the
4:21
SPEAKER_00: nomination again and it's
4:23
SPEAKER_00: an admirable decision.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: It's one that I don't think many leaders that any of us could name or that any of
4:29
SPEAKER_00: us know would have made.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: So I think he does deserve credit for deciding that he would not do the selfish thing.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: And I know all of us, we all believe in ourselves.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure even he believed he could win.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: But he decided to step down.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: So that's the big political news,
4:49
SPEAKER_00: which I'm sure all of you already knew,
4:51
SPEAKER_00: so I didn't want to spend too long on that at all.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: So let's move from that to all of that news that I mentioned earlier.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Let's move to the topic of the pier,
5:02
SPEAKER_00: the military pier that we had off the coast of Gaza,
5:06
SPEAKER_00: which was used to move in humanitarian aid.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: That mission, as you may have seen, it made some news stations, has ended.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: That was a...
5:16
SPEAKER_00: Decently expensive operation, $230 million for the creation of the temporary pier.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: As you recall,
5:23
SPEAKER_00: there were several times where weather made the military have to disassemble it,
5:29
SPEAKER_00: so there were times where it looked less than perfectly successful.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: CNN,
5:36
SPEAKER_00: actually,
5:37
SPEAKER_00: in one of its articles said that the temporary peer operation had been,
5:42
SPEAKER_00: quote,
5:43
SPEAKER_00: plagued with problems since its inception.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: So I could probably spend a few minutes and rip it and tell you all the reasons why
5:52
SPEAKER_00: we shouldn't have done it or this or that,
5:54
SPEAKER_00: but I've got kind of a different perspective on it.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: First of all,
5:58
SPEAKER_00: there were a lot of analysts who said when we were deciding to put this pier in
6:04
SPEAKER_00: place that there would be casualties,
6:07
SPEAKER_00: American casualties,
6:08
SPEAKER_00: from the fighting that was happening between Israel and the members of Hamas.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: And so there was fear of casualties.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: There was also fear of mission creep,
6:22
SPEAKER_00: and even I thought that was a possibility,
6:24
SPEAKER_00: that maybe military convoys would have to start having to protect some of this,
6:29
SPEAKER_00: some of the humanitarian supplies.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: So mission creep, I think, was a decent fear.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is there were no American casualties,
6:39
SPEAKER_00: there was no mission creep,
6:41
SPEAKER_00: and the pier is being disassembled and moved away.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: So on the plus side, it did move in quite a bit of aid there.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: How much, you ask?
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Well, the temporary pier allowed the successful delivery of almost 20 million pounds of U.S.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: aid.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's actually a record.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: It's the highest volume of humanitarian assistance that the U.S.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: military has ever delivered into the Middle East.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: So...
7:15
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to be critical that there were times they had to disassemble the pier due
7:20
SPEAKER_00: to rough seas and bad weather,
7:22
SPEAKER_00: but the reality is that this pier did work.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: Now, there were three casualties from non-combatant stuff.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: It's obviously a little bit dangerous to be on a moving pier.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Two were very minor injuries, but one member of the military was transported to a local hospital, so...
7:42
SPEAKER_00: The price of freedom is obviously never free.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is, again, no casualties from enemy fire, no mission creep.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think if we're honest, the humanitarian situation inside Gaza was horrific.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: And I think you have to give credit to a country that says we're going to try to do
8:05
SPEAKER_00: something about that.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: And so the United States did something about that.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: We used our powers for good to help people who were starving and in need.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: So on the one hand, we could try to be critical.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm typically not a critical person.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm an optimist.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: I like to see the good in people and in countries when I can.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: And so I see the good in this.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: We sent in a lot of aid.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: The remaining aid will be sent.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: There is about 5 million pounds that will also be sent in through a port now that
8:41
SPEAKER_00: they're going to close down this pier area.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, 25 million pounds of food is nothing to make fun of.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: That's a pretty significant amount of aid.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: And again, no mission creep, no casualties.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: So we tried to do good.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: We did good.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: And there's the added plus that the military got to flex its operational
9:05
SPEAKER_00: capabilities in real-time conditions,
9:08
SPEAKER_00: including they did have to put up some defensive equipment
9:12
SPEAKER_00: Perimeter top stuff because there was a real threat of enemy attack and so they had
9:17
SPEAKER_00: some aerial defense Anti-air units put in some of the sea whiz which is the six
9:24
SPEAKER_00: barreled anti-air cannon that is normally on Naval ships they put some of those
9:30
SPEAKER_00: there in case Hamas or in case Hamas tried to use drones and
9:34
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure there were some ground defense top elements there that we probably
9:39
SPEAKER_00: don't know about and we'll never know about.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: But to me, it was a fairly successful mission in a dangerous area.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: So...
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Props to all those who took part in that.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: They definitely deserve credit.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And again, I think this is one of those deals where we did a good job not allowing Mission Creep in.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Mission Creep is one of the most dangerous things.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: You guys have heard me go on rants about the...
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Best example,
10:07
SPEAKER_00: well,
10:07
SPEAKER_00: you could go back to Vietnam when we went from advising to sending in hundreds of
10:12
SPEAKER_00: thousands of troops,
10:13
SPEAKER_00: half a million at a time.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: But another good example was Afghanistan,
10:18
SPEAKER_00: where we successfully used special forces in a very small footprint with local fighters,
10:25
SPEAKER_00: the Northern Alliance.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: And we toppled the Taliban,
10:29
SPEAKER_00: but then mission creep led us to send in way more troops,
10:34
SPEAKER_00: way more elements,
10:35
SPEAKER_00: because we wanted to try to create a democracy in one of the most illiterate,
10:41
SPEAKER_00: poorest countries in the world.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: You could say that was an amazing, ambitious thing, but that was mission creep.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: And it went from, we took what was a very successful mission,
10:55
SPEAKER_00: and we expanded it too far,
10:57
SPEAKER_00: we attempted too much,
10:59
SPEAKER_00: and we spilled a lot of blood and resources inside Afghanistan for something that
11:04
SPEAKER_00: eventually we just withdrew from.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: So, again, when we do things right, when we don't have mission creep, you have to...
11:13
SPEAKER_00: recognize that that's impressive,
11:16
SPEAKER_00: and so I give great credit to those who helped push the brakes to keep any mission
11:21
SPEAKER_00: creep from happening in what is a very dangerous part of the world.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: And you only have to go back to the 1980s and the Beirut bombing when almost 300
11:30
SPEAKER_00: Marines were killed with a truck bomb from 1st Battalion
11:36
SPEAKER_00: 8th Marines which was the actual battalion I served in in the 90s so I'm very
11:41
SPEAKER_00: familiar with that history and I was very concerned about Mission Creep when this
11:45
SPEAKER_00: was initially announced way back earlier in this year.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: moving along in what is some truly sad news the reporter for the wall street
11:56
SPEAKER_00: journal who's been imprisoned in russia his name's evan gershkovich has been
12:04
SPEAKER_00: wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison 16 years
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And I could go into the details, but it's a typical Russian sham trial.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: You can find lots of American figures who commented on this.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: I'll just quote former Congressman Adam Schiff,
12:24
SPEAKER_00: who's now running for Senate in California,
12:28
SPEAKER_00: but he's on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: He said that...
12:34
SPEAKER_00: He called them sham charges,
12:36
SPEAKER_00: and he said they presented no public evidence at all and jailed an American
12:40
SPEAKER_00: reporter in an egregious violation of international law.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: He said Evan must be freed and Putin's crimes condemned.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something that we can all agree with.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: It is terrible what has happened here.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure that he will,
13:01
SPEAKER_00: or I almost hope,
13:02
SPEAKER_00: but I get really torn,
13:04
SPEAKER_00: but I assume Putin will use him as a bargaining chip to get someone released from
13:09
SPEAKER_00: America who is rightfully detained.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps some spy or someone like that, but...
13:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure who we have that Russia wants.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: And so part of me fears that Evan Gershkovich could end up in prison in Russia for a very long time.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: And he's been there for a long time already.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I think it's been well over a year.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: So it's really sad to have to share that he's now been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that Russian prisons are not a fun place to be.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: So this is just a horrific human tragedy.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: Let's move to some Ukraine news.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: And the best news about Ukraine right now is that there isn't much news.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: And as my dad used to say, no news is good news.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for watching.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And so that's great news for a country that's been battered by air attacks and everything else.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: But again,
14:26
SPEAKER_00: Max Boot did a bit of a write-up about a week ago,
14:31
SPEAKER_00: and he mentioned that the situation,
14:34
SPEAKER_00: he quoted an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
14:38
SPEAKER_00: he quoted Michael Kaufman,
14:40
SPEAKER_00: who said,
14:40
SPEAKER_00: "...Ukraine faces difficult months of fighting ahead,
14:43
SPEAKER_00: but the situation at the front is better than it was this spring."
14:48
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what everyone has kind of felt who's kept up with the Ukraine war,
14:51
SPEAKER_00: that things have really stabilized.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: We've gotten much of the military aid there.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: And then Max Boot went on to write a bit about how the real threat was from missile
15:04
SPEAKER_00: strikes and drone attacks from the air,
15:08
SPEAKER_00: that Ukraine was running low on ammunition for Legacy or the old Soviet air defense systems.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: And,
15:16
SPEAKER_00: of course,
15:18
SPEAKER_00: as we've talked about extensively for the past few weeks,
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Russia was very successful in almost decapitating the Ukrainian energy grid.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: And Max Boot said that Ukrainian officials have now said that 9 of the 18 gigawatts
15:39
SPEAKER_00: that the country needs
15:41
SPEAKER_00: for peak consumption in the winter have been taken offline by Russian strikes.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Again, 9 of 18.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: So they basically knocked out about half of the power in Ukraine.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Now,
15:54
SPEAKER_00: there are ways to counter that,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: such as generators,
15:57
SPEAKER_00: which more and more generators have been being sent into Ukraine for hospitals and
16:01
SPEAKER_00: other places.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: But still, it gets very cold in Ukraine, and they're already planning for the winter.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: Now,
16:07
SPEAKER_00: to counter that,
16:08
SPEAKER_00: the good news,
16:10
SPEAKER_00: we talked about this a couple of weeks ago,
16:12
SPEAKER_00: but all of those new air defense systems,
16:15
SPEAKER_00: we're talking dozens of them,
16:16
SPEAKER_00: were announced at NATO Summit.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Many of those should have already been arriving or in place as we speak,
16:26
SPEAKER_00: and I think that's why we haven't heard much about big attacks inside Ukraine lately.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: I think that the air defenses have stiffened, but Max Boot did go on to talk that...
16:36
SPEAKER_00: There is conversations happening that perhaps Israel can contribute some of its own
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Patriot batteries to Ukraine,
16:45
SPEAKER_00: potentially as many as eight of them.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: And he also put the teaser in, as we talk about so often, that F-16s...
16:53
SPEAKER_00: from the Netherlands and Denmark should be arriving relatively soon,
16:58
SPEAKER_00: all of which will help keep those Russian bombers from using glide bombs,
17:03
SPEAKER_00: which are one of the most deadliest weapons that Russia has.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: That should help push those away.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: So,
17:10
SPEAKER_00: I am just so happy that there is almost no Ukraine news to share because that poor
17:17
SPEAKER_00: country for the past two years...
17:19
SPEAKER_00: has gone through so much,
17:21
SPEAKER_00: and I'm just so happy that things appear to be stabilizing,
17:26
SPEAKER_00: and I don't have much to share about Ukraine this week,
17:29
SPEAKER_00: and I am just delighted to be able to say that.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Let's move from Ukraine to China.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: One important story I want to cover this week is a bit of a follow up and a little
17:42
SPEAKER_00: bit of a deep dive on the situation between China and the Philippines.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Now, as a reminder, I've been covering this throughout the year, but if you're a newer listener,
17:53
SPEAKER_00: This hasn't really made the news much in America,
17:58
SPEAKER_00: but there have been some serious tensions happening between China and the Philippines,
18:03
SPEAKER_00: which is a longtime U.S.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: ally, and these tensions involve the United States.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: Again, the Philippines...
18:11
SPEAKER_00: They are an ally of the United States.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: If they were to be attacked in any way by China, we are obligated by treaty to defend the Philippines.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: So this is a real flashpoint out there in the foreign policy circles that most
18:27
SPEAKER_00: people in America aren't aware of,
18:30
SPEAKER_00: especially with all the other news happening in America and then on top of that the
18:34
SPEAKER_00: situation in Ukraine.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: This has been a situation that's been going on for a good six to nine months with
18:40
SPEAKER_00: some varying levels of intensity.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Thankfully,
18:44
SPEAKER_00: slightly receding for the moment,
18:46
SPEAKER_00: but there have been Philippine sailors who have been wounded by some of the actions
18:51
SPEAKER_00: of the Chinese.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: In fact, there have been military officials in the Philippines who said it came real close to being a...
18:59
SPEAKER_00: what they would call an active war.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: So this is a serious situation, and that's why I want to dive into this.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk a bit about why China is doing what it's doing.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk a bit about where they're maneuvering and positionally,
19:15
SPEAKER_00: almost metaphorically,
19:17
SPEAKER_00: fighting over.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: And I want to explain why it matters to America and why we care about a small little part of the Pacific.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: All good stuff,
19:28
SPEAKER_00: but I've been meaning to do this for a while,
19:30
SPEAKER_00: and tonight,
19:33
SPEAKER_00: this week,
19:34
SPEAKER_00: we've got time to do it,
19:35
SPEAKER_00: and I want to do it.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: So I think if you can be patient for just a moment, I can set this up, and you're going to learn a lot.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: And when your friends ask you,
19:42
SPEAKER_00: why do we care about this,
19:43
SPEAKER_00: why do we care about that,
19:44
SPEAKER_00: you're going to be able to tell them why we care,
19:48
SPEAKER_00: why they should care,
19:50
SPEAKER_00: why it matters.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: So let's set this up just a bit.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: How has China wounded personnel from the Philippines?
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, what happens is there's a small ship, small island, ever how you want to term it.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: I'll describe that a bit more in just a moment.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: But there's a military position that the Philippines have to obviously send logistics out to.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: They have to send out food and fuel.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: And China doesn't want them doing this.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: I'll explain why China doesn't in just a second.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: But every time the Philippines has been sending out ships to basically provide
20:29
SPEAKER_00: logistics to this area,
20:31
SPEAKER_00: there have been Chinese Coast Guard ships
20:35
SPEAKER_00: blocking the positions.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: They would pull right in front of these ships.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: They would spray it with heavy water cannons.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: And you almost have to see a video from YouTube to understand how powerful these things are.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: They damage radars.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: They damage parts of the ships.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Every piece of glass they hit, it literally blasts in.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: The glass, it's like it doesn't even exist.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: It just explodes in.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: Glass flies everywhere.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: It wounds sailors.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: So these are very powerful water cannons.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: You would not want to be hit by one of these, I promise you.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: And so China uses these because China can say, hey, we're not firing weapons or anything.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: We're just, you know, it's just water cannons, just fire hoses, no big deal.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: Until you see how far these things fire.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: I mean, these are very specifically designed water cannons that...
21:26
SPEAKER_00: I doubt even the U.S.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: has anything like this.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: They're designed for a single reason,
21:30
SPEAKER_00: which is a great way to harass other ships without technically having fired a shot
21:36
SPEAKER_00: or committed any kind of act of war.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: So they're very well designed.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Actually,
21:42
SPEAKER_00: it's so hard to get across how effective these water cannons are that I just put
21:47
SPEAKER_00: into the episode notes a couple of YouTube videos,
21:51
SPEAKER_00: both of them like 20-30 seconds long.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: It gives you a better idea of how the Chinese are operating with their ships and
21:58
SPEAKER_00: also the incredible range of these water cannons.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: and in one of them you can see how these philippine sailors aren't too nervous at
22:05
SPEAKER_00: first and then suddenly the angle of the water spray is directed down some and
22:13
SPEAKER_00: these really thick glass i mean this isn't like car glass this is you know
22:19
SPEAKER_00: glass that's designed to help you know prevent typhoon level top winds that
22:25
SPEAKER_00: typically can handle that these hundred plus mile per hour water cannons hit this
22:30
SPEAKER_00: glass and blast it through it's it's like your fingers tearing through a piece of
22:36
SPEAKER_00: white loaf bread there's almost no resistance from the glass
22:40
SPEAKER_00: completely shatters and flies in.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: And you can tell that people clearly get hurt by these glass and these high-powered water cannons.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, you can see it in the videos.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: So the good news is, you guys know I like to tamp down stuff.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't like to scare people.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: The good news is there's been a sort of agreement signed that will allow resupply
23:02
SPEAKER_00: that has reduced tensions in the short term because it was beginning to get dangerous.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: including the U.S.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: moving some additional weaponry to the area to remind China that,
23:12
SPEAKER_00: hey,
23:13
SPEAKER_00: we are ready to respond if it comes down to this.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: And I think that helped convince China.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: So the good news is, again, it's kind of tamped down.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: I've mentioned that in a previous episode.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: That's the good news.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is, is this is a sticking point.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: It's a situation that's not going away.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And so while we have a moment without a ton of stress or tension in that region,
23:40
SPEAKER_00: let's look at what is going on there.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: What is the background of it?
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Who's right?
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Who's wrong?
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Is there any kind of resolution?
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And I'll give away the last answer on the front end.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: There's not.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: And you'll see as we talk about this,
23:54
SPEAKER_00: That this is a touchy situation.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like Israel and Palestine.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be difficult to navigate these waters.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: I guess no pun intended, but I want to get into that just a bit.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: And I partly want to get into it because there's a reason that the Philippines are
24:15
SPEAKER_00: holding the line here.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason the U.S.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: is helping the Philippines hold the line here.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: This is all about territorial ambitions by China, and you can only...
24:26
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can only allow them to redraw the lines against international law so many times.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: They're going to keep pushing.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: And so many of the allies in the South China Sea and that part of the Pacific have
24:40
SPEAKER_00: decided to come together and say,
24:41
SPEAKER_00: no,
24:42
SPEAKER_00: we're no longer letting our neighbors move our fence line in,
24:46
SPEAKER_00: move it in,
24:47
SPEAKER_00: take more of our land,
24:48
SPEAKER_00: take more of our economic exclusive areas.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: We can't let this happen.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: We can't let them fish in our areas.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: We can't give up the vast amount of oil deposits and other things that are there.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: We can't.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what's happening, and that's why the Philippines is standing strong.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to get into that just a bit.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: Part of what made me decide to talk about this in today's episode was a recent
25:14
SPEAKER_00: press release from the Department of Defense about a week ago.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: And,
25:18
SPEAKER_00: you know,
25:19
SPEAKER_00: it was kind of headlined pretty generically and just said,
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Defense official says U.S.-Philippines alliance is making remarkable progress.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: So you read through about half of it and then buried toward the end was some pretty strong language.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: These comments came from Eli Ratner,
25:40
SPEAKER_00: the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: And in these comments were a couple of things that I wanted to point out and then
25:50
SPEAKER_00: we'll get a little deeper into the weeds.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: That...
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Ratner said that China's claim on this area that we're going to discuss has no more
25:59
SPEAKER_00: credibility today than it did when the Arbitral Tribunal issued its unanimous
26:07
SPEAKER_00: ruling in 2016.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: And so what he's talking about is that back in 2016,
26:14
SPEAKER_00: the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague released a ruling.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Philippines and China had been arguing this.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: in court for about three years since 2013 about the South China Sea,
26:30
SPEAKER_00: which China was trying to claim 90% of it.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: And there were several countries saying, no, that's not the case.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: And so this eventually got to court.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: The Philippines argued,
26:43
SPEAKER_00: and they had plenty of documentation,
26:46
SPEAKER_00: that China was using various tactics,
26:49
SPEAKER_00: including using its military,
26:52
SPEAKER_00: its coast guard,
26:53
SPEAKER_00: and maritime militia to harass foreign ships,
26:58
SPEAKER_00: that China was exploring and extracting resources in disputed areas,
27:03
SPEAKER_00: and that beginning in 2013,
27:05
SPEAKER_00: that China was constructing artificial islands and basing military and civilian
27:11
SPEAKER_00: assets there.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: So this ends up going to court, it's investigated, and it's ruled that China has no claim to this area.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: That's what the International Court decided.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: But as you know, China doesn't necessarily always listen to the international court.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: So China has pretty much ignored it ever since that ruling in 2016.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: By the way, if you want to know more about that ruling, I have a link to that in the episode notes.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: You can quickly scan it.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: It's a PDF, plenty of graphics.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: It's not even that long, only nine pages long.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Lots of great stuff in it.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: By the way,
27:49
SPEAKER_00: I promise in a moment I'm going to be fair to China and I'm going to share their
27:54
SPEAKER_00: side of all this.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: I know so far it's been pretty one-sided in this eight, nine minutes of reporting on this issue.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to share their side in just a bit.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: But let me just share one more thing that was said by Eli Ratner in that pretty
28:11
SPEAKER_00: bland press release toward the bottom.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: Buried in it was some pretty strong words.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: Ratner went on to say the kind of revisionism and coercion we've seen from China in
28:25
SPEAKER_00: that area is both destabilizing and dangerous.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: He went on to say,
28:32
SPEAKER_00: compliment and commend the leader of the Philippines,
28:37
SPEAKER_00: President Marcos,
28:38
SPEAKER_00: for the strong and remarkable leadership,
28:41
SPEAKER_00: as Ratner called it,
28:43
SPEAKER_00: to protect and defend the rights of the Philippines under international law.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: And he ends with these words,
28:53
SPEAKER_00: The United States has acted in support of the Philippines and made clear that our
28:57
SPEAKER_00: alliance commitments are ironclad and that all nations should be able to fly,
29:05
SPEAKER_00: sail,
29:05
SPEAKER_00: and operate
29:07
SPEAKER_00: wherever international law allows.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: So, that was the comments from the United States.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: And,
29:14
SPEAKER_00: of course,
29:15
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines,
29:15
SPEAKER_00: they're working alongside Japan,
29:18
SPEAKER_00: South Korea,
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Australia,
29:20
SPEAKER_00: New Zealand,
29:21
SPEAKER_00: and a few other nations in the region in some various military exercise as a part
29:26
SPEAKER_00: of their own alliances because a lot of countries in the Pacific,
29:30
SPEAKER_00: as I've said so many times,
29:32
SPEAKER_00: are concerned about
29:34
SPEAKER_00: about China's expansionist bullying tactics.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: So these regional partners are increasingly working together.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: So when you hear someone say, oh, America shouldn't have to be the cop, or why is it just America?
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's not just America.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of countries working in very large and varied coalitions trying to
29:55
SPEAKER_00: prevent China from acting as it is in the behavior that it's been acting.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: so let's get the chinese perspective i know that this has been pretty one-sided up
30:07
SPEAKER_00: to this point and so i wanted to find what is china's argument in this why can they
30:13
SPEAKER_00: not see how damaging this is it's affecting western companies wanting to invest and
30:19
SPEAKER_00: stay inside china it's increasingly pulling together this very large coalition of
30:25
SPEAKER_00: various countries
30:27
SPEAKER_00: that don't want to be bullied by China.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: Why can't they see what's happening?
30:31
SPEAKER_00: Why are they doing this?
30:33
SPEAKER_00: And I happened to find a recent great article from the Washington Post which explored why that is.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Why China is ignoring this 2016 ruling by the UN Convention.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: Why are they doing this?
30:49
SPEAKER_00: The courts overwhelmingly are siding with the Philippines.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Why does China disagree?
30:56
SPEAKER_00: And so the Washington Post actually dug into this some, and here's how Chana sees it.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: From the American perspective and from the Philippines, they see this area that we're discussing.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: By the way, it's called the Second Thomas Shoal.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Don't expect you to know that.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: It's basically a series of reefs and very low islands that have typically mostly been uninhabited.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: So China sees...
31:28
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines as having pushed out too far into this area and even though it's
31:34
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines economic zone the Chinese see it as the Philippines have been more
31:42
SPEAKER_00: aggressive and let me explain what China sees
31:47
SPEAKER_00: Now,
31:47
SPEAKER_00: as I said earlier,
31:49
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines went to court because of China's actions beginning in 2013,
31:54
SPEAKER_00: and I said it was resolved in 2016.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, China looks further back, and China is mad because way back in 1999, so almost 25 years ago,
32:05
SPEAKER_00: The Philippines,
32:07
SPEAKER_00: they grounded this really old ship called the Sierra Madre on a half-submerged reef
32:15
SPEAKER_00: known as the Second Thomas Shoal.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: Now, it's part of the Spratly Islands chain.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: You might have heard that in the news, maybe.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: But they did this to help lay claim to the islands.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: And on this ship, they keep a small naval outpost.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: for a small group of troops,
32:33
SPEAKER_00: and of course this helps serve as part of the extension of Philippine sovereignty.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: in the area.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: So the Philippines regularly resupplies these troops with a little bit of food, water, fuel.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: There are some Philippine Marines posted there.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what this goes back.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: So the Chinese say,
32:54
SPEAKER_00: hey,
32:55
SPEAKER_00: back in 1999,
32:56
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines grounded this ship on a half-submerged reef called the 2nd Thomas Shoal.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: This ship called the Sierra Madre has been getting resupplied.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: So the Chinese say, hey, the Philippines are the one who started this whole mess.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: The Washington Post quotes someone speaking for China that said,
33:16
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines illegally occupied these islands and reefs,
33:22
SPEAKER_00: and then they tried to rationalize it,
33:26
SPEAKER_00: and then they tried to win international recognition.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: And so,
33:30
SPEAKER_00: therefore,
33:31
SPEAKER_00: China sees the Philippines as having escalated this,
33:35
SPEAKER_00: as having created this problem back in 1999.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: So, again, China blames the Philippines going back to 1999.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: The Philippines say, hey, we have this court ruling from 2016 that ruled in our favor.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, China is wrong.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: one thing the washington post did really well and i have to commend them on this is
33:59
SPEAKER_00: they dug into a little bit more of the weeds on why this is all coming to a head
34:04
SPEAKER_00: now and so the reporters for the washington post that worked on this story
34:11
SPEAKER_00: talk about how the Philippines have apparently conducted some secret missions to
34:16
SPEAKER_00: extend the life of the ship by sending construction materials to it in recent months.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: Of course,
34:23
SPEAKER_00: this has infuriated China because they want this ship to be abandoned,
34:28
SPEAKER_00: and that is what is causing some of these issues.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: It's a little more complicated by the fact that China says that the Philippines
34:39
SPEAKER_00: have become more hostile under its current president,
34:42
SPEAKER_00: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: Marcos took office two years ago,
34:48
SPEAKER_00: but China says that the predecessor to Marcos,
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Rodrigo Duterte,
34:54
SPEAKER_00: so China says that there were gentleman's agreements between
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Under Duterte,
35:00
SPEAKER_00: which pledged not to bring construction materials without Beijing's approval or inspection.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: But the current president, Marcos, says that no such gentleman agreements exist.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: And even if they did, he's a different president.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: So they are trying to say, hey, that doesn't matter.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: Two final things.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: that the Washington Post reports from China's perspective,
35:27
SPEAKER_00: that I think it's important that we get our arms around here in the United States.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: First of all,
35:32
SPEAKER_00: China says that it has claimed this area for centuries,
35:37
SPEAKER_00: and so they don't see this as an expansion.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: They see this as defending the honor of their country,
35:44
SPEAKER_00: the reputation of their country,
35:47
SPEAKER_00: the obligation to safeguard its sovereignty over
35:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's how China sees it.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: They see this as their area,
35:53
SPEAKER_00: not the Philippines,
35:55
SPEAKER_00: and China doesn't care what the international court decided.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: And they also have a second goal,
36:01
SPEAKER_00: according to some analysts that were quoted in this Washington Post article,
36:05
SPEAKER_00: which is that
36:07
SPEAKER_00: And this is me putting my own words in this first part.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: I think China realizes, to anyone in America hearing this, this all sounds so ridiculous.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: That we're talking about a grounded ship from World War II that's really old and dilapidated,
36:20
SPEAKER_00: needs to be repaired.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: Some reefs and islands that barely seem to matter.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: So it's hard to sell why you should defend this,
36:29
SPEAKER_00: and it's almost as if China has picked up on how absurd this seems.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: And so what China is trying to do,
36:36
SPEAKER_00: according to some analysts,
36:38
SPEAKER_00: and they've quoted a non-resident scholar in a Singapore-based university,
36:44
SPEAKER_00: but...
36:45
SPEAKER_00: that China realizes that if they are able to grab this Shoal,
36:52
SPEAKER_00: the second Thomas Shoal,
36:54
SPEAKER_00: which no one in America knows about,
36:56
SPEAKER_00: that it will do a couple of things.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: It will show that the United States failed to directly intervene and help the
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Philippines retain its occupation of the Shoal,
37:07
SPEAKER_00: and that it will further damage the credibility of U.S.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: security commitments to its allies in the region,
37:15
SPEAKER_00: that would be damaged and so therefore china sees this as a worthy hot spot to try
37:23
SPEAKER_00: to push on back to the american perspective you might say oh come on stan it's just
37:29
SPEAKER_00: some reefs in an old ship like why
37:34
SPEAKER_00: Why should we care?
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Why are we letting all this tension happen?
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Why is something so insignificant that it could lead to a flashpoint and possible regional war or worse?
37:46
SPEAKER_00: Why?
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, I would make a couple of points to that.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: One...
37:50
SPEAKER_00: is the second point that the Chinese realize is that we have a treaty agreement.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: So if we don't stand with the Philippines on this, then what is our word worth?
38:02
SPEAKER_00: And I know there have been numerous times in American history,
38:05
SPEAKER_00: and even in the past 20 years,
38:07
SPEAKER_00: where we have not stood by some of the things we promised or said.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: But this is a treaty agreement that goes back 50 years.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: So this is a pretty big deal, the one we have with the Philippines.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: So that's the first thing.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: The second point I would make on why it's worth trying to hold the ground here is that,
38:26
SPEAKER_00: you know,
38:26
SPEAKER_00: have you ever dealt with a bully in real life?
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Like, one at work.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even talking about one in, like, elementary school.
38:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying a typical pushy bully.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: If you have, you know that...
38:40
SPEAKER_00: No matter what the issue is, you've got to at some point stand your ground.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: And so I would make the point that if we let this go, this is just the first spot of many.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: That China will continue to push on and continue to expand and continue to try to
39:02
SPEAKER_00: sell to their people and to their allies that America is weak.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: We won't actually be there for the Philippines.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: We may not even be there for Australia or however far they push that argument.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: We may not be there for South Korea or for Japan.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: or for Vietnam,
39:18
SPEAKER_00: Thailand,
39:19
SPEAKER_00: or all of those countries over there that we say we're going to be near,
39:23
SPEAKER_00: be with,
39:24
SPEAKER_00: be standing shoulder to shoulder with.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: China looks at this as, this is the place where we can make America look weak.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: We know America is politically divided.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: It's a great time to do so.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: This is an argument.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: It's taken me 20-something minutes to even lay it out well.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: No, no, very few Americans can keep up with this or understand it.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: Many Americans are tired and are great levels of division and just want to bring
39:53
SPEAKER_00: all their troops home and not care about anybody.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: And so that's how China's looking at it.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: And I think, like I said, from the American perspective, if it's not this, then it's something else.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: It's...
40:05
SPEAKER_00: them trying to take part of Taiwan.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: It's them trying to do something else as they push around, you know, they're pushing around Vietnam.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: There's other countries.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: And so, it's almost like at some point, you've got to draw the line.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure if I had interviewed some analyst...
40:20
SPEAKER_00: I can guarantee you that there have been things in the past five to ten years that
40:26
SPEAKER_00: China has already expanded on and kind of pushed America back,
40:32
SPEAKER_00: kind of pushed back boundaries or normal things that in the past they would have
40:36
SPEAKER_00: never done before.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you there are things that if I'd spent just a few minutes researching,
40:40
SPEAKER_00: it's probably already happened.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: But for whatever reason,
40:44
SPEAKER_00: this is one of the lines in the sand where both the Philippines and America have
40:50
SPEAKER_00: said enough.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: We're right here as we're drawing the line.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: We have the international court on our side.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: We're going to draw the line.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: You can say that's right.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: You can say that's wrong.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: But I would again emphasize that it is the Philippines leading this.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: This is their decision.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who saw what China was doing.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: They saw the threat.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who grounded the ship there.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who said we got to defend our economic activity zone.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: And so they are on the ground and they see things that we certainly don't see over here in the West.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I just defer to their thinking on this as much almost as I do to American leadership.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: But again,
41:37
SPEAKER_00: if you talk to people in the Defense Department,
41:39
SPEAKER_00: if you talk to leaders in Congress who are well-read on this stuff,
41:44
SPEAKER_00: All of them have said that we have to pivot and focus on China and the threat that China poses.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: So that's the direction that we're in if we're going to remain engaged in the world.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: And as I've laid out in so many previous articles, so much of our trade, our shipping, etc.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: comes through and from the Pacific and those Asian countries themselves.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: So this is also about you buying inexpensive t-shirts and many other goods that are
42:17
SPEAKER_00: made from countries in Asia at very low cost.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Whether that's right or wrong, that's a whole other podcast.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: But there's a lot at stake.
42:27
SPEAKER_00: And so that's hopefully a bit of a deep dive on a complicated subject that maybe
42:33
SPEAKER_00: now you understand a little bit better.
42:37
SPEAKER_00: One footnote,
42:37
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember if I said this earlier,
42:39
SPEAKER_00: but I do have a GIF link to that Washington Post article.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: If you want to go in and see maps,
42:45
SPEAKER_00: it'll really help open your eyes,
42:47
SPEAKER_00: especially when you see how far these islands are from China.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: It's staggering what China is trying to claim.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: And as you know,
42:57
SPEAKER_00: if you've read much about it,
42:59
SPEAKER_00: anytime China expands into these areas,
43:02
SPEAKER_00: they quickly dredge,
43:04
SPEAKER_00: bring in concrete...
43:06
SPEAKER_00: So it's like every inch, every mile they take in the Pacific, they extend their reach.
43:13
SPEAKER_00: Then they bring in air defenses.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they build airfields.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: They really are militarizing as much of the Pacific as they can.
43:23
SPEAKER_00: Before we move on,
43:25
SPEAKER_00: there's one other China story that I do have to get in,
43:28
SPEAKER_00: although I'll be honest,
43:29
SPEAKER_00: it's hard for me to know how important or unimportant this story is.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: Part of me says very important, part of me says not important at all.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: So, what am I talking about?
43:40
SPEAKER_00: So,
43:41
SPEAKER_00: this news broke on Wednesday that China had held a meeting of Palestinian factions,
43:50
SPEAKER_00: so this includes members of Hamas,
43:53
SPEAKER_00: It includes members of FATA,
43:55
SPEAKER_00: and that they signed a joint statement saying that they would end divisions and
44:03
SPEAKER_00: being bitter rivals,
44:05
SPEAKER_00: and that it was a deal that China claims...
44:09
SPEAKER_00: will call for some unity among them.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: And so the statement,
44:15
SPEAKER_00: the deal that China brokered,
44:17
SPEAKER_00: which happened actually in Beijing,
44:19
SPEAKER_00: so China flew these folks from Fatah and Hamas,
44:23
SPEAKER_00: members of some of the leadership of the Palestinian people,
44:29
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, there's great disagreement on who should be and whether these folks rule by force or what.
44:37
SPEAKER_00: But Fatah and Hamas,
44:39
SPEAKER_00: they were flown to Beijing,
44:42
SPEAKER_00: and China negotiates this deal for the formation of a Palestinian unity government
44:49
SPEAKER_00: that would oversee the West Bank,
44:51
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem,
44:51
SPEAKER_00: and
44:52
SPEAKER_00: and the Gaza Strip,
44:54
SPEAKER_00: and that they would eventually hold elections,
44:56
SPEAKER_00: and the leaders of the factions would meet and draw up a roadmap.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: So,
45:03
SPEAKER_00: obviously,
45:03
SPEAKER_00: the Israeli government rejected and rejects any proposal that gives a governing
45:10
SPEAKER_00: role to Hamas or Fatah-controlled Palestinian authority.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: So there's kind of that.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: But the reason I say this is probably not a big story is that
45:21
SPEAKER_00: It really doesn't matter what is drafted in China.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: But on the flip side, this is one of those stories that...
45:29
SPEAKER_00: Could you have imagined this 10 or 20 years ago?
45:32
SPEAKER_00: This is the kind of thing that the United States has traditionally done.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: The United States has usually been the big peace broker going back to the 90s and
45:43
SPEAKER_00: the 80s and before to the 70s.
45:46
SPEAKER_00: And increasingly, we've seen China try to fulfill that role as a world power...
45:53
SPEAKER_00: that can go into areas where there is conflict and try to negotiate a peace deal.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: So,
46:02
SPEAKER_00: I've got to say,
46:03
SPEAKER_00: to me,
46:03
SPEAKER_00: it's a pretty big story that,
46:06
SPEAKER_00: you know,
46:06
SPEAKER_00: as you know,
46:07
SPEAKER_00: America has faltered on some of its attempts to negotiate much there,
46:12
SPEAKER_00: and China has stepped in as trying to be a mediator itself,
46:16
SPEAKER_00: so...
46:18
SPEAKER_00: To me, it's just a sign of China's growing power and its larger ambitions.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: And,
46:25
SPEAKER_00: you know,
46:26
SPEAKER_00: stepping into the nastiness and the dangers of trying to negotiate a Middle East
46:33
SPEAKER_00: peace is about the most ambitious thing you could try to do as a world power.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: And China just stepped in there and they're trying to do it.
46:41
SPEAKER_00: So not sure how much.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
46:44
SPEAKER_00: this will actually matter,
46:46
SPEAKER_00: but again,
46:47
SPEAKER_00: you have to at least recognize what China is trying to do.
46:53
SPEAKER_00: We're going to take a quick break,
46:55
SPEAKER_00: but when we come back,
46:57
SPEAKER_00: we're going to cover the motivation and wisdom section,
47:00
SPEAKER_00: which I know is like the best part of the show.
47:04
SPEAKER_00: And guys,
47:04
SPEAKER_00: when you listen to this small little commercial I'm about to run,
47:08
SPEAKER_00: if you've ever been on the line about possibly signing up to help support the show,
47:12
SPEAKER_00: I hope you'll think about doing it,
47:14
SPEAKER_00: especially if you've been listening for a while.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: It would definitely do a lot to encourage me.
47:27
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, just a quick reminder.
47:29
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoy the show,
47:30
SPEAKER_00: you've been listening to it for a while,
47:32
SPEAKER_00: and you'd like to support what I'm doing,
47:34
SPEAKER_00: there's a few ways you can do so.
47:37
SPEAKER_00: You can sign up on my Substack page, support the show at $5 per month.
47:41
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47:43
SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to that in the episode notes.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, you can even just send a tip through Venmo.
47:48
SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to that as well.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate all of your all's support.
47:55
¶¶
48:01
SPEAKER_00: Let's get to the best part of the show.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: This is the motivation and wisdom section.
48:07
SPEAKER_00: I share these each week because I know that life is hard and pep talks help.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: I also know that sometimes you can get too close to a situation and not be able to see what's happening.
48:18
SPEAKER_00: So I share some quotes each week that include some motivational ones,
48:24
SPEAKER_00: some that are full of wisdom,
48:26
SPEAKER_00: and I'm hoping that
48:28
SPEAKER_00: Maybe just one of these,
48:30
SPEAKER_00: just one,
48:31
SPEAKER_00: might speak to you and do something to help encourage you and keep you moving
48:36
SPEAKER_00: forward this week.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: Here is the first one.
48:39
SPEAKER_00: It's about consistency, this quote is.
48:43
SPEAKER_00: And the quote reads, No results, keep working.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: Bad results, keep working.
48:51
SPEAKER_00: Great results, keep working.
48:55
SPEAKER_00: consistency is key.
48:57
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up.
48:59
SPEAKER_00: Such a simple one.
49:01
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes just the simple ones are so good.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: No results.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: Keep working.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: Bad results.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: Keep working.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: Great results.
49:09
SPEAKER_00: Keep working.
49:10
SPEAKER_00: Consistency is key and don't give up.
49:15
SPEAKER_00: Such a good one.
49:16
SPEAKER_00: All right, here's the next one.
49:20
SPEAKER_00: This quote is going to blow your mind.
49:23
SPEAKER_00: And I have lived this quote.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: Slow success builds character.
49:32
SPEAKER_00: Fast success builds ego.
49:35
SPEAKER_00: I'll read that one again.
49:37
SPEAKER_00: Slow success builds character.
49:39
SPEAKER_00: Fast success builds ego.
49:43
SPEAKER_00: Dang, that's a good one.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: And I have lived that.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: Back in 2012...
49:51
SPEAKER_00: One of my first books managed to go viral.
49:54
SPEAKER_00: I had three at the time.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: But most of the sales were one book.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: And I made great money, at least by Knoxville standards.
50:03
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, before taxes... Well, I managed to sell enough books in six months to make $100,000.
50:10
SPEAKER_00: And I thought I had made it.
50:14
SPEAKER_00: And so I quit my job.
50:17
SPEAKER_00: And, man, my ego...
50:20
SPEAKER_00: I've always been a pretty humble person,
50:22
SPEAKER_00: but I mean,
50:23
SPEAKER_00: if you make $100K in six months doing what you dream of doing,
50:27
SPEAKER_00: writing books,
50:29
SPEAKER_00: it can go to your head.
50:30
SPEAKER_00: And so,
50:31
SPEAKER_00: anyway,
50:32
SPEAKER_00: the short story of how that ended up going is the sales started to go to slow and
50:37
SPEAKER_00: slow down a little more and slow down a little more.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: And then before long,
50:40
SPEAKER_00: I was basically an unemployed writer who was freaking out trying to write the next
50:45
SPEAKER_00: book in that series.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: And managed to get that out.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: And then a bit after that, I was back in the normal working world.
50:56
SPEAKER_00: And I had no ego at that point.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: And I haven't had any ego since then.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: But the quote is, Slow success builds character.
51:03
SPEAKER_00: Fast success builds ego.
51:06
SPEAKER_00: Also, back to that story, $100K seemed like so much money.
51:10
SPEAKER_00: But I had owned a small business before that.
51:12
SPEAKER_00: We didn't have health insurance.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: We had a roof that needed to be replaced.
51:15
SPEAKER_00: Lots of things, but...
51:17
SPEAKER_00: The thing I learned,
51:18
SPEAKER_00: which was a very painful lesson,
51:21
SPEAKER_00: is that when you make $100,000 in a year and you're self-employed,
51:26
SPEAKER_00: you're going to lose about 30% of it.
51:28
SPEAKER_00: So you're down to $70,000 because you're going to be in a higher tax bracket.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: And if you're like me and you're an idiot and you didn't set enough aside because
51:37
SPEAKER_00: you assumed it would kind of keep at about the same amount or maybe go up because
51:41
SPEAKER_00: you had a,
51:42
SPEAKER_00: quote,
51:42
SPEAKER_00: ego,
51:43
SPEAKER_00: as I just said...
51:45
SPEAKER_00: It makes for a very painful year or two.
51:48
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
51:49
SPEAKER_00: Slow success builds character.
51:51
SPEAKER_00: Fast success builds ego.
51:54
SPEAKER_00: We don't want ego.
51:55
SPEAKER_00: We don't want fast success.
51:57
SPEAKER_00: Going viral can be bad.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: It almost is always bad, I would go so far as to say.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the next quote.
52:04
SPEAKER_00: Don't ruin a good today by thinking about a bad yesterday.
52:11
SPEAKER_00: Let it go.
52:12
SPEAKER_00: And I apologize, guys, that I cannot say the word ruin to save my life.
52:16
SPEAKER_00: It's one of those, I had speech classes when I was in elementary school.
52:21
SPEAKER_00: And part of why I love doing a podcast is I have tried to grow confidence in my voice because I hate it.
52:28
SPEAKER_00: I get nervous, and so this, in a weird way, is like going near the edge on a tall building or heights.
52:36
SPEAKER_00: Every time I podcast,
52:37
SPEAKER_00: I am nervous and anxious,
52:38
SPEAKER_00: and it's addicting,
52:39
SPEAKER_00: and it's scary,
52:40
SPEAKER_00: because I don't even speak well.
52:42
SPEAKER_00: This isn't my strength.
52:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm a better writer, and I cannot say my R's, so I apologize that I'm bad on this quote.
52:49
SPEAKER_00: But the quote is, Don't ruin a good today by thinking about a bad yesterday.
52:56
SPEAKER_00: Let it go.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the next one.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: This is about love, friendship, relationships.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: This quote is,
53:04
SPEAKER_00: I just heard someone say,
53:05
SPEAKER_00: the quote,
53:07
SPEAKER_00: Just because you love me doesn't mean I feel loved by you.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: I felt that.
53:13
SPEAKER_00: It's pretty deep, isn't it?
53:16
SPEAKER_00: Again, I just heard someone say, Just because you love me doesn't mean I feel loved by you.
53:21
SPEAKER_00: I felt that.
53:24
SPEAKER_00: That was the shared quote, so...
53:27
SPEAKER_00: Everyone check yourself.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: Just because you're married,
53:29
SPEAKER_00: just because you tell your kid you love them,
53:31
SPEAKER_00: just because,
53:32
SPEAKER_00: you know,
53:33
SPEAKER_00: whatever it may be.
53:35
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's more than words.
53:36
SPEAKER_00: It's probably actually always more than words, but just because you say it doesn't mean they feel it.
53:41
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you show it.
53:42
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the next one.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: It's about boundaries.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: This quote is you didn't become selfish.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: You became harder to manipulate Don't confuse the two that's such a good one.
53:54
SPEAKER_00: You didn't become selfish became harder to manipulate Don't confuse the two
54:02
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the next one.
54:03
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a similar one about boundaries.
54:06
SPEAKER_00: If you're a giver, remember to learn your limits, because the takers, they don't have any.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: Is that good or what?
54:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, if you're a giver, remember to learn your limits, because the takers don't have any.
54:20
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
54:22
SPEAKER_00: Someone asked me, who hurt you?
54:25
SPEAKER_00: I replied, my own expectations.
54:29
SPEAKER_00: Man, that is... I just hope one of these hits you guys.
54:33
SPEAKER_00: That is so good.
54:35
SPEAKER_00: This is so good.
54:37
SPEAKER_00: Again, the quote is, Someone asked me, Who hurt you?
54:39
SPEAKER_00: I replied, My own expectations.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: I literally had this happen to me in the last couple of weeks.
54:48
SPEAKER_00: We went down a paid subscriber or two,
54:50
SPEAKER_00: and I had these goals in my mind that if I keep growing at this amount,
54:53
SPEAKER_00: blah,
54:53
SPEAKER_00: blah,
54:53
SPEAKER_00: blah...
54:55
SPEAKER_00: and who hurt me no one i hurt myself isn't that crazy our own expectations we hurt
55:01
SPEAKER_00: ourselves why why do we do that i don't know but we do all right here's the next
55:07
SPEAKER_00: one it's about friendships don't worry the right ones won't leave so good don't
55:16
SPEAKER_00: worry the right ones won't leave
55:19
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
55:21
SPEAKER_00: It's about chasing your dreams.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: Do it alone.
55:24
SPEAKER_00: Do it broke.
55:25
SPEAKER_00: Do it tired.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: Do it scared.
55:29
SPEAKER_00: Just do it.
55:30
SPEAKER_00: It's just a little motivation, isn't it?
55:32
SPEAKER_00: Do it alone.
55:33
SPEAKER_00: Do it broke.
55:34
SPEAKER_00: Do it tired.
55:36
SPEAKER_00: Do it scared.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: Just do it.
55:38
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you I have done all of those.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: That's how you got to do it sometimes.
55:43
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you're going to be tired.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: Often you will be scared.
55:47
SPEAKER_00: You still have to do it.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: This next one's a good quote from some Eastern philosophy.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: If you care about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner.
56:03
SPEAKER_00: Again, if you care about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner.
56:10
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
56:12
SPEAKER_00: The only downside of improving yourself, it gets lonely.
56:17
SPEAKER_00: Again, the only downside of improving yourself, it gets lonely.
56:21
SPEAKER_00: And I will say,
56:22
SPEAKER_00: if you ever chase your own dreams,
56:23
SPEAKER_00: there will be some of your friends that they...
56:28
SPEAKER_00: Your success can sometimes drive people away because it takes away their excuses.
56:33
SPEAKER_00: But...
56:34
SPEAKER_00: I would say that that quote's a little negative.
56:36
SPEAKER_00: The only downside of improving yourself is it gets lonely because the plus side is
56:41
SPEAKER_00: you meet more awesome people.
56:43
SPEAKER_00: And so I've managed to meet some cool authors and some other people who have gotten
56:48
SPEAKER_00: past their insecurities and their fears and all the things that hold all of us back.
56:53
SPEAKER_00: And so, yes, it will get lonely at first, but you will meet better.
56:59
SPEAKER_00: I won't say better.
57:00
SPEAKER_00: That sounds mean.
57:01
SPEAKER_00: You will meet people who are a little further in their journey over negativity.
57:07
SPEAKER_00: I'll say that.
57:08
SPEAKER_00: All right, here we go.
57:10
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
57:11
SPEAKER_00: Get better all the time.
57:13
SPEAKER_00: That's how you succeed.
57:15
SPEAKER_00: Again, get better all the time.
57:17
SPEAKER_00: That's how you succeed.
57:19
SPEAKER_00: We're going to do some more.
57:20
SPEAKER_00: I know tonight's is a little bit longer, but my goodness, it's been a couple of weeks, has it not?
57:27
SPEAKER_00: So we could probably use a little extra love.
57:30
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
57:31
SPEAKER_00: Again, forgive your old self.
57:33
SPEAKER_00: You've changed.
57:33
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
57:35
SPEAKER_00: That is a great, great, great, great quote.
57:52
SPEAKER_00: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
57:58
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
58:03
SPEAKER_00: Next one's a quote from Muhammad Ali, the great boxer.
58:06
SPEAKER_00: His quote is, It's a good one.
58:17
SPEAKER_00: This next one's kind of a positivity type quote.
58:19
SPEAKER_00: Keep going.
58:32
SPEAKER_00: This next one is just a great one.
58:34
SPEAKER_00: I try to read this one to myself quite often because I'm not the most confident
58:38
SPEAKER_00: person and I've been working on myself for a long time.
58:41
SPEAKER_00: Here's the quote.
58:42
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, if you're like insecure like me, this is the perfect quote.
58:48
SPEAKER_00: And I'm always trying to work on this.
58:50
SPEAKER_00: You guys ready for this one?
58:51
SPEAKER_00: The quote is when you speak, always speak with strong confidence.
58:58
SPEAKER_00: Watch the difference it makes.
59:01
SPEAKER_00: Again, when you speak, always speak with strong confidence.
59:04
SPEAKER_00: Watch the difference it makes.
59:08
SPEAKER_00: That was so good.
59:10
SPEAKER_00: Hard to do, but a good one.
59:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what final one?
59:14
SPEAKER_00: A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.
59:20
SPEAKER_00: Again, a goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.
59:27
SPEAKER_00: Now,
59:27
SPEAKER_00: as you guys know,
59:27
SPEAKER_00: I always like to share a few from the Bible or that touch on Jesus,
59:32
SPEAKER_00: just because Christianity and the Bible have become such a source of strength and
59:37
SPEAKER_00: wisdom and calm for me during the past couple of years.
59:40
SPEAKER_00: And I hope by sharing just a few of these,
59:42
SPEAKER_00: it might encourage you to get into the Bible yourself,
59:45
SPEAKER_00: because I really do think it'll help you.
59:47
SPEAKER_00: Here's the first one.
59:49
SPEAKER_00: It's from the book of James, chapter 4, verse 10.
59:53
SPEAKER_00: Again, he who kneels before God can stand against any man.
59:58
SPEAKER_00: Here's the next one.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of about the Bible or Christianity.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_00: It's not necessarily a direct quote.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_00: But someone shared, turn away from things that are pulling you away from Jesus.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_00: And then they said, you cannot beg God to heal you and then stay loyal to what's killing you.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_00: Again, you cannot beg God to heal you and then stay loyal to what's killing you.
1:00:30
SPEAKER_00: This one's also from James chapter 4 verse 7.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_00: Again, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_00: Then we'll do one more from Psalms chapter 40 verses 1 and 2.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_00: That's a great one to end on.
1:01:13
SPEAKER_00: I will read that one one more time.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us this week.
1:01:16
SPEAKER_00: I hope as you go through this week that you act a little nicer on social media and in the world as well.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_00: smile at folks in the grocery store do small acts of kindness and remember that
1:01:43
SPEAKER_00: most americans are good and they will help you in an emergency even if you don't
1:01:47
SPEAKER_00: agree politically as you go through this week i want you to aim to be more
1:01:52
SPEAKER_00: motivated and more disciplined try to improve yourself mentally physically and
1:01:58
SPEAKER_00: spiritually you don't have to set impossible goals on these matters just be a
1:02:03
SPEAKER_00: little more motivated and disciplined than you were the week prior
1:02:07
SPEAKER_00: As I said earlier, I really hope that you spend some time in your Bible this week.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_00: If you have no idea where to read on your own, just start with Psalms or Proverbs.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_00: Read some of those and then start with the New Testament by reading the book of John.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_00: Moving to a final note on the political front,
1:02:27
SPEAKER_00: I'm confident after this episode you're going to hear some bad news this week.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_00: Where you're going to hear something ugly and it's going to remind you of how divided we are.
1:02:36
SPEAKER_00: This is as certain as the law of gravity.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_00: But I'm begging you, please do not give up on this country.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_00: I know it's pretty ugly right now,
1:02:45
SPEAKER_00: and I know we're living in dark times,
1:02:47
SPEAKER_00: but we've made it through nearly 250 years together,
1:02:50
SPEAKER_00: and we're far stronger together than we'll ever be apart.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever believe anyone who tells you differently about that.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_00: Let me wrap up the show by talking about my books and a couple of other newsletters that I do.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: First, a bit about myself and my books.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_00: I am a military vet.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_00: I spent four years in the Marine Corps, all of that time in the infantry.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_00: And yes, that does matter.
1:03:12
SPEAKER_00: After my enlistment, I went to college at the University of Tennessee.
1:03:15
SPEAKER_00: I became a journalist.
1:03:17
SPEAKER_00: I spent more than 10 years in the news business.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_00: Besides all of that, I've also written 12 books.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_00: Those books include a series about a Marine Corps sniper,
1:03:25
SPEAKER_00: several novels about a police detective and a private investigator,
1:03:29
SPEAKER_00: and a few books about war,
1:03:30
SPEAKER_00: such as World War II and Afghanistan.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_00: Basically,
1:03:33
SPEAKER_00: these are all fast-moving books with lots of action and plot twists,
1:03:38
SPEAKER_00: because those are the kind of books I've always enjoyed reading.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_00: You can find all of those books...
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: in the link in the episode notes, or you can look on Amazon by just searching my name, Stan R. Mitchell.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_00: Buying a book,
1:03:51
SPEAKER_00: telling a friend about a book,
1:03:52
SPEAKER_00: or buying one as a gift for someone,
1:03:54
SPEAKER_00: friend or loved one,
1:03:56
SPEAKER_00: is a great way to help support the show.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_00: Now, I always like to end each show by reminding people that you can comment anytime.
1:04:02
SPEAKER_00: I try to monitor those.
1:04:04
SPEAKER_00: You can also reach out privately by email to me at AuthorStanRMitchell at Yahoo.com.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_00: And that's in the episode notes, by the way.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_00: But again, it's AuthorStanRMitchell at Yahoo.com.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_00: Hey, here's one other thing.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_00: This podcast is about defense news, but I also do a political blog.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_00: So if you love my moderate, optimistic views, you might enjoy that.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_00: It's called Thoughts from a Southern Gentleman.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_00: You can find a link to the episode notes to that, or you can just search that on Google.
1:04:34
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for hanging with me this week.
1:04:37
SPEAKER_00: It's truly an honor to talk with each of you and to know that there's a few of you
1:04:40
SPEAKER_00: out there who are listening and who care about our country and our military and all
1:04:45
SPEAKER_00: the issues that we face.
1:04:47
SPEAKER_00: I know there are a lot of scary issues out there,
1:04:49
SPEAKER_00: but we're going to get through them together,
1:04:52
SPEAKER_00: the same way America's gotten through everything before this.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_00: If you can at all this week,
1:04:57
SPEAKER_00: reach out to a friend or anyone who you know is struggling,
1:05:00
SPEAKER_00: whether they are young or old.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_00: Life is truly hard.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_00: We know this.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_00: But the true strength of this country is its people,
1:05:07
SPEAKER_00: and that includes you folks listening to me right now.
1:05:09
SPEAKER_00: So be a leader, be a doer, be a servant to someone.
1:05:14
SPEAKER_00: With all of that being said, I'll catch you all next week.
1:05:17
SPEAKER_00: You have been listening to The View from the Front.
1:05:21
Thank you.