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Transcript

Luke Thomas Political Live Chat: Episode 2 · Luke Thomas Gets Political (LTGP)

0:00
All right. All right. I am not sure if
0:03
this is working. Let's see. Check.
0:06
Check. One, two.
0:09
See, I'm trying to use the webcam. You
0:11
know, this is the whole [ __ ] problem
0:13
with this whole thing.
0:15
God damn it. Check. Check. One, two.
0:20
God damn it. God damn it. I'm going to
0:23
have to restart this. That's annoying.
0:24
[clears throat]
0:26
That is annoying. All right, I'll be
0:28
back.
0:29
Hang on. I'm gonna have to end this and
0:30
then start over. I know you can hear me.
0:32
I know you can hear me, but it's not
0:34
it's not working. It's not routing the
0:36
way that it's supposed to route. That's
0:37
the issue. Uh, but you know what? Maybe
0:39
that doesn't matter. Hang on.
0:42
How well can you hear me? How well can
0:44
you hear me? I sound all right?
0:48
I sound good enough.
0:50
Oops. Good. All right. Everyone says
0:52
it's good. Very clear. All right. Well,
0:55
then I'll leave it as such. Okay. Very
0:57
good.
0:58
Um, welcome everyone. I'm going to keep
1:00
this lowfi to start. This is going to be
1:02
episode two of my live chat. So, first
1:05
of all, thank you very much for joining
1:07
me. I greatly appreciate it. Um,
1:10
here's what we'll do. My plan is today
1:13
to go for about an hour. I realize this
1:16
is very lowfi compared to my normal
1:18
setup. That's on purpose. Um, and the
1:20
reason why that's on purpose is that I
1:24
have a issue with the political channel
1:27
in terms of being able to integrate it
1:29
into some of my other tools. It's an
1:31
issue that we're resolving with YouTube
1:33
right now. Um, I do expect it to be
1:36
resolved and I am confident it'll be
1:38
resolved, but it takes time apparently
1:40
as I'm finding out now to resolve that.
1:42
Um, so but I didn't want to not do a
1:44
chat. So, here we are doing a chat. Uh,
1:48
and I appreciate you joining me. I'm
1:49
going to keep this one like this for
1:51
this uh edition, but my plan is quite
1:54
obviously as soon as I can get this
1:56
issue resolved between YouTube and
1:57
Streamyard. As soon as I get that one
2:00
resolved, I I plan to make it look nice
2:02
and, you know, something you're a little
2:04
bit more accustomed to seeing. Also,
2:06
we're still trying to play with the
2:07
time. My honest feeling about this was
2:10
that it probably needs to be on a
2:12
Tuesday or a Wednesday and not a Friday.
2:15
in part because I don't think for Friday
2:18
it's the best day for me anyway. Um, but
2:22
nevertheless, I just kind of want to put
2:23
that out to you. So, we're starting in
2:25
this kind of a way, but this is
2:27
absolutely in no way what I intend to be
2:29
its permanent design. Okay, with that in
2:33
mind, start pitching your questions or
2:35
simply things you'd like to discuss.
2:37
Someone says, "Where was episode one?" I
2:39
did it many months ago. It's probably
2:41
still up on the channel, though it may
2:43
have come down. I've done one of these.
2:44
This is technically the second one that
2:47
I've done about these. Um,
2:49
so we'll see. We'll see. Um, someone
2:52
wants to see about the the the midterm,
2:56
what do you want to call that? RNC
3:02
reaction like to what we saw. I believe
3:04
that was in Dallas. Um,
3:07
it is so bizarre to me. No, that's No,
3:10
no, I'm sorry. What am I saying?
3:12
Bizarre. It's not bizarre.
3:16
It is so interesting to me that
3:22
Trump is making the Republicans run on
3:25
him,
3:26
right? Um
3:30
Trump is making
3:33
the Republicans
3:35
focus on him as like, you know, he even
3:39
said, "I want you." I think he I even
3:41
tweeted about this. He even said, "I
3:43
want you to vote like I'm on the
3:45
ballot." And they're spending money to
3:48
try and make him look good and be the
3:51
focal point of this as a way to
3:56
I I think in his mind he's running on
3:59
some kind of a good and demonstrabably
4:01
exc in his mind anyway excellent record.
4:04
And so he's basically making the entire
4:06
party and then frankly part of the party
4:07
apparatus in terms of um you know
4:11
institutions within the Republican party
4:13
or within you know the congressional
4:15
Republican party that you know help to
4:17
elect other candidates and you know
4:19
select candidates themselves and then
4:20
where money goes and obviously a lot of
4:22
that's going to come from MAGA Inc.
4:23
which is separate from some of that but
4:25
you get the idea. They're just making it
4:27
a he's making it a referendum on him
4:29
when he's having the he's the most
4:32
unpopular president in modern polling
4:35
history.
4:36
And even the other ones who reached
4:38
levels commensurate with this one did so
4:40
at the end of their term. They didn't do
4:42
it through the midway part of their
4:43
term. Um I thought it was a gigantic
4:46
miss. You obviously saw some of the the
4:48
photos of the videos. There was hardly
4:50
anybody in attendance. You saw that some
4:53
of the speeches that came out of there,
4:54
Mike Rogers was trying to argue Abdul Al
4:56
sayed cares about Palestine and not um
5:01
you know and not Dearborn and which just
5:03
you know the most absurd islamophobic
5:05
[ __ ] There was actually polling that
5:06
came out this I want to say it was
5:07
Quinnipak, but it may not have been that
5:10
showed Americans are now basically have
5:12
they have more hostile attitudes to
5:13
Islam now than they did even after 911,
5:16
which kind of tells you how broken the
5:17
country has basically become in no small
5:19
part because of the forces that Donald
5:21
Trump unleashed. Um,
5:24
but I I thought it was a big miss. I
5:26
think the whole like the whole strategy
5:28
behind it is a big miss. I think the way
5:30
in which they're trying to get behind
5:32
certain candidates is a big miss. Um,
5:34
they've got a confused message other
5:36
than it's just feelalty to Trump. I saw
5:38
there were some folks on the convention
5:39
floor who were like, you know, whoever
5:42
Trump picks in 28, whether it's Rubio or
5:44
Vance, we're going to go with that. And
5:46
they even were like, you know, I know
5:47
people say that we're in a cult, but
5:48
that's the only thing that we care
5:49
about. They're kind of owning cult.
5:51
Like, I mean, most people in a cult
5:53
don't care that you're telling them
5:54
they're in a cult, so that actually
5:55
tracks. But I just think between the way
5:58
in which the messaging has been centered
6:01
on Trump at a time of historic
6:02
unpopularity,
6:04
you know, there's just no way that the
6:06
competent people within the Republican
6:08
apparatus are looking at this as
6:09
anything other than a gigantic problem,
6:12
right? Um guys, no one has to.
6:16
No one has to, but if you'd be so kind
6:19
as to put in a donation into the super
6:21
chat, um it's going to help me make
6:23
money with the stream. And of course, I
6:25
know that's not the most important thing
6:26
to all of you. I certainly recognize
6:27
that. Uh, and making the most amount of
6:30
money per stream is actually also not my
6:32
goal because I find that that just puts
6:33
you in TKO territory where you're
6:35
[ __ ] up the product. But a little bit
6:37
of monetization of the stream, it does
6:39
tend to go a long way if you're so
6:41
inclined to do that. Of course, I'll
6:42
give those ones preference all the way.
6:45
Um,
6:47
oh, did I see that MAGA crashed grinder?
6:50
Yes, I did. That that happens all the
6:51
time wherever they go. That's nothing
6:53
new. Let me get my glasses. There we go.
6:56
Lisa needs braces. Devil plan. There we
6:58
go. This is my phone. You guys are
7:00
looking at my phone here. Um,
7:04
which when I do this in other places
7:06
with worse internet, it doesn't look
7:07
nearly as good. This is sh iPhone 15.
7:10
This shockingly looks good.
7:13
You're right. The the RNC is Trump in a
7:16
nutshell. Make it ultimately about him.
7:17
Yes, that is absolutely the case. What
7:19
was horrifying was watching Ted Cruz
7:21
make bold bold-faced lies about Mayor
7:23
Mdani and over hearing people in
7:24
attendance. I heard this clear as day
7:26
call for Mani's murder as Cruz continued
7:28
to lie. It wasn't just Mani. It was it
7:30
was Taler Rico. It may have been Abdul
7:32
Sed as well. They kind of see them as a
7:33
bit of a three-headed monster. And after
7:35
every case, I think someone yells out
7:37
they should be shot. I mean, this is the
7:40
same administration that has tried to
7:44
take down studies from their own
7:46
websites, depending on which institution
7:48
we're speaking about, that showed that
7:50
the bulk of political violence in this
7:52
country, that the right is responsible
7:54
for it, and that
7:57
on top of it, they wish to not only deny
8:00
that the research shows that, but they
8:02
want to deny that the research even
8:04
exists and therefore take it down. there
8:06
obviously I mean yes there can be
8:08
leftwing political violence there has
8:09
been leftwing political violence it will
8:11
continue to be leftwing political
8:12
violence but the overwhelming majority
8:14
of it is very clearly coming from the
8:16
right mostly for this part and certainly
8:17
since the post World War II but even
8:19
before that has come from that direction
8:22
and you know it's kind of funny like a
8:24
lot of right-wing support for the idea
8:26
that the left is more violent it just
8:28
like one thing that's been really
8:29
interesting to be attacked by the right
8:31
is how many different ways in which you
8:33
see those same tactics applied other
8:36
places. So, let me give you an example
8:38
of what I'm talking about. I when I
8:40
published my lecture on my Substack that
8:42
I had done at the University of
8:44
Maryland, talking about the connection
8:45
between right-wing politics and in the
8:48
right more generally as well and MMA.
8:51
One of the things that I saw people
8:52
doing was literally making AI art. I
8:55
mean, I wouldn't call it art, but making
8:56
AI renderings of me engaged in what they
9:00
thought I was doing or was some kind of
9:02
caricature of it, but like intended to
9:04
imply that it's real. So, for example, I
9:06
saw AI art where I was,
9:09
you know, uh uh like doing land
9:12
acknowledgements. I mean, I I had never
9:13
even heard of land acknowledgements
9:15
until this year. I didn't even know what
9:16
they were and certainly never done one.
9:18
I mean, I don't know what the merits of
9:19
them are or aren't, but they're not a
9:21
big part of my life. Frankly, they're
9:23
not any part of my life. So, here we
9:26
are. And yet, this is like what what I
9:28
was treated to. And I noticed there was
9:30
like a meme floating around being like,
9:32
"Oh, it's the last presidents that all
9:34
been shot." So Trump has been shot. You
9:35
know, Reagan was shot. Uh, you know, you
9:38
go down the line all the way down to
9:39
Lincoln and it was like they're all shot
9:41
by Democrats. And then when you actually
9:42
go through piece by piece, I mean,
9:44
basically almost none of that is in fact
9:46
true. And this is something that was
9:47
shared by based Senator, that's what he
9:50
calls himself, Senator Mike Lee. And
9:52
it's sort of two conclusions I would
9:54
pull from that. One, like the way in
9:56
which you can take someone like Mike Lee
9:57
who was supposed to be intelligent but
9:59
then otherwise just has his brain melted
10:01
by social media. That's something to
10:03
ponder. But on top of that, like they're
10:05
just willing to quite literally make up
10:07
invented fairy tales that that look
10:10
emotionally satisfying to them without
10:12
ever really doing any kind of checking
10:14
around us. I talk about this all the
10:16
time, like just how much their worldview
10:18
is based in vibes, which is why it can
10:20
change uh not so much into like a
10:23
left-wing territory, but why they can
10:24
just take positions and then just
10:26
abandon them in very contradictory ways
10:28
without much consideration for it. And
10:30
the reason for that is because there's
10:32
nothing really rooting in it or it's not
10:34
rooted to anything more broadly or
10:36
substantively or deeper. It's just the
10:38
way in which they're looking at the
10:41
world. So like um
10:44
I mean I'm not sure what this has to do
10:45
with Ted Cruz. I kind of went on a bit
10:46
of a tangent here, but having been
10:48
attacked for that and then now seeing
10:49
the way that they're discussing that and
10:51
then we're talking about leftwing
10:52
violence, you know, and then literally
10:53
what they're using to justify that as a
10:55
meme that is like factually totally
10:57
incorrect and there's no and this is by
11:00
a high ranking member of the party
11:02
essentially, you know, and then you go
11:04
to their convention and they've got
11:06
people audibly saying that Democratic
11:09
political adversaries should be shot and
11:11
killed. Um,
11:14
yeah, we're in a very, very horrible
11:16
political moment. I mean, yesterday was
11:18
one year since Charlie Kirk died, and
11:20
you know, the amount of memes and
11:22
mumification of him, I still haven't
11:24
finished the video, unfortunately. The
11:25
amount of memes and mumification of him,
11:28
um, I think is something worth exploring
11:30
about why societies do that. I don't
11:32
personally indulge in that. It I
11:35
I don't think you can fight it. And I
11:37
think a big part of why we have seen the
11:39
mumification of Kirk is by virtue of the
11:42
uh it's a social rejection of what they
11:44
the right had tried to enforce this kind
11:46
of rich stag fire moment and it
11:48
backfired big time and it kind of led to
11:50
where we are we are now but nevertheless
11:53
like I'm still unnerved by his death and
11:55
I'm unnerved by gun violence in this
11:57
country and in particularly the
11:58
polarizing moment and and and more
12:01
importantly the rights unwillingness to
12:03
do anything about anyone in their ranks.
12:06
Have you guys noticed that like the
12:08
right just doesn't want to do anything
12:10
about bad actors, malfcence,
12:13
uh you criminality, like they just are
12:16
open to all of it. Even if they don't
12:18
necessarily themselves engage in it,
12:20
they're unwillingness to confront it.
12:22
It's just a key feature of being in the
12:24
right these days. It's it's really quite
12:26
remarkable. All right, let's get to some
12:27
of your questions here. Um let me see
12:31
this. And again, I can't get them on the
12:32
screen for today. I apologize for that.
12:36
I did not mean it to be this way, but
12:38
I'm a little bit stuck because of the
12:40
nature of I'm not able to use my
12:41
monetization tools more normally. This
12:44
will they let me do this? Let's do this.
12:46
Okay.
12:48
Can I No, there's no What? Let me see
12:50
what I can do here.
12:54
Nah, it doesn't let me put it on the
12:55
screen. All right. Uh, let's see.
12:59
Curious on your opinion, with MAGA
13:00
disintegrating in real time, how likely
13:02
do you feel actual election interference
13:04
would be very likely enough to impede
13:06
what would be a huge loss across their
13:08
party in midterms? Um, I don't think
13:11
what they're going to attempt is just to
13:12
un undo a lot of
13:16
I think they're gonna, if you look at
13:18
what election experts are discussing,
13:21
they're basically saying that they're
13:22
trying anything they can do to take away
13:25
the ability to vote in the way that they
13:27
are expecting votes to happen ahead of
13:29
time. um they're trying to get I mean
13:31
one thing that you have to understand is
13:33
since Trump number one so like during
13:34
the Biden administration one of the
13:36
things that the Trump loyalists and MAGA
13:39
more generally did that uh was it was
13:41
reported on if you were paying attention
13:43
but it wasn't reported on that
13:44
thoroughly was at even at the granular
13:46
level like municipal level but not just
13:49
you know state and federal too is how
13:51
much the right had infiltrated all of
13:54
the parts of
13:57
our election process and election
13:59
offices and and and the people who are
14:02
in charge of the nuts and bolts of
14:04
making sure elections run the way
14:06
elections are supposed to run. But
14:08
there's any number of things that they
14:09
can do. I mean, obviously you've seen
14:10
the shenanigans they've tried with mail
14:12
and ballots. They're, you know,
14:13
obviously, who knows if ICE will be at
14:15
polling stations everywhere. You've
14:17
seen, for example, in Texas, they're
14:18
trying to close polling stations.
14:20
There's gerrymandering efforts. So, it's
14:22
a number of these. There's any number of
14:24
lawsuits related to those efforts, as
14:25
well as other ones on top of it. Um, and
14:28
then of course this is one of the bigger
14:30
ones like dude look look at January 6
14:32
where they tried to have a fake sled of
14:34
slate of electors and they wanted to
14:36
have Mike Pence just kind of declare
14:38
that you know he to to declare powers he
14:40
didn't have essentially. But there are
14:42
powers about like what if Congress the
14:44
Republican side just decides to not seat
14:46
certain people you know when they meet
14:48
in January to convene that I think early
14:50
January 3rd or so. What happens if they
14:52
just convene and say we're not going to
14:53
seat just enough of this to really make
14:55
a dent or you know maybe they don't take
14:57
away the full majority that they might
14:59
enjoy in the House like they kind of get
15:00
it over but they're not going to let
15:01
them have the Senate and it would be a
15:02
narrow majority in the House that could
15:04
be undone by a speaker proemp or you
15:06
know the VP like there's all kinds of
15:08
ways that they can they can do that and
15:10
they have been doing that. Um I think
15:12
you should be ready not that they're
15:13
going to go and be like oh we're going
15:14
to toss out you know 500,000 votes in
15:18
every state like you know just
15:19
completely shredding it. They can't do
15:21
that. But if they can chip away in a
15:24
bunch of different ways to prevent
15:25
votes, suppress the vote, you know, um,
15:28
uh, you know, uh, close polling
15:30
stations, you know, threaten people with
15:33
paramilitaries there, take them to court
15:35
over, you know, mailin ballots or
15:37
ballots that were turned in too late or
15:39
closing polling stations the day of and
15:41
then throwing out ballots or, you know,
15:43
what kinds of ballots they use,
15:44
electronic and which company or paper,
15:46
what any number of things they can throw
15:48
into there. take any results to court if
15:50
they're close. I mean, anything,
15:51
anything, anything anything. And now,
15:53
unlike the last time, they've got a
15:55
bunch of people in municipal, state, and
15:57
federal apparatus that are straight up,
16:00
dude. Mike Ro, this is like this is like
16:02
the [ __ ] amazing thing about Abdul
16:04
Ali. He has to answer to all of these
16:06
criticisms of that are just just rooted
16:09
in Islamophobia. It's like, dude, Mike
16:11
Rogers is a [ __ ] election
16:12
denier. He's a [ __ ] election
16:15
denier.
16:17
Like you have people in mainstream parts
16:19
of the MAGA and frankly the the the the
16:21
the
16:22
various levels of state and federal
16:24
power and again beyond that too openly
16:27
willing to subvert elections. They have
16:29
mainstreamed mainstream is a little
16:30
strong. They have to an extent
16:32
normalized election denial as part of
16:35
being on the right. I would expect a
16:39
giant slate of efforts. Not just you
16:42
know oh we're going to shred ballots.
16:44
There might be some of that, too. But so
16:45
many other ways to cut corners.
16:49
Glad to see you stream on the politics
16:51
channel. I appreciate your coverage and
16:52
your overall morality. I'm trying, dude.
16:54
I'm I'm no moral saint. I want to be
16:55
very clear about that. Keep it up. You
16:57
make us feel sane in Alabama. I
16:59
appreciate that. But I just want to say
17:01
I am no saint. I am a normal person
17:03
struggling my way through and sometimes
17:06
I'm pretty awful as well. Uh Cash says
17:10
just as support, thanks for the live
17:12
chat. Yeah, man. Thanks for that. I
17:13
appreciate it. Uh, what else we got
17:15
here? We have from, excuse me, let me
17:17
get my thing off the screen. We, as a
17:19
society, are in a much less healthy
17:21
place than 2001. I can't believe I'm
17:22
saying it, but it's true. Imagine if
17:24
those attacks happened today would be
17:26
instant partisan garbage everywhere.
17:28
It'd be more than that. I mean, maybe
17:29
Charlie Kirk and his death wasn't the
17:32
rich fire moment, but this would be this
17:35
would be another 911 would be that. It
17:38
would be a rich stag fire thing. I mean,
17:40
understand Trump um in the days and
17:43
weeks and frankly the months and even
17:45
years following 9/11,
17:48
this isn't to say that the country
17:50
wasn't Islamophobic and there wasn't to
17:51
say that the Bush administration, you
17:53
know, obviously killing a bunch of
17:54
Muslims and millions of them, hundreds
17:56
of thousands of them in the Middle East.
17:57
I'm not putting him as some kind of
17:58
pro-Muslim
18:00
US president. Far from it. I mean, quite
18:02
the opposite. But what I would say is he
18:04
actually got out there because like
18:05
Seikhs were being attacked. I remember
18:07
when Sikhs were being attacked because
18:09
they had turbans and Americans didn't
18:10
know [ __ ] about Islam so they're like oh
18:12
that guy's Islamic and Bush got on TV
18:15
and again we're not here to praise Bush
18:17
as such but he got on TV and said you
18:19
know Islam is a religion of peace and it
18:22
had an effect at that time like it's
18:24
hard to it had an effect the opposite
18:28
effect of Trump being like you know
18:29
there's
18:32
he loves Nazis there's great people on
18:34
both sides kind of thing. Um
18:37
but he said that he said that and I
18:39
think that made a difference in real
18:41
time about how it was perceived like
18:45
there is none of that now. And my point
18:47
I'm trying to make is even with that of
18:49
course look what look what Bush did. He
18:51
laid the foundation with a global war on
18:52
terror to undo civil liberties uh here
18:57
to you know quasi legal justifications
18:59
for things. We talked about ICE
19:00
borrowing from that. We talked about ICE
19:02
borrowing from this blacksidization of
19:05
their detention facilities or other ways
19:07
in which they operate. I mean, all of
19:09
that global war on terror came home. The
19:11
point I'm trying to make is that would
19:13
be on [ __ ] steroids if that happened
19:15
under Trump. Like honestly, I think we'd
19:18
lose our democracy. If the if the Twin
19:20
Towers were still around and they came
19:22
down and then the Pentagon was hit and
19:24
then there was another one that went
19:25
down, dude, Trump would end democracy.
19:28
Trump would end democracy. It'd be
19:30
martial law.
19:31
You know, I can't believe I'm saying
19:32
that we're lucky that it happened under
19:34
Bush, but relative to [ __ ] Trump,
19:37
we're lucky that it happened under Bush,
19:39
but I'm no fan of Bush, obviously. Well,
19:40
you know, the band is great and other
19:42
forms of it, but not George Bush. All
19:44
right.
19:45
If Dems retake the House, what is going
19:47
to make Mike Johnson swear in new
19:49
members while Republican challengers are
19:51
working their way through the courts?
19:52
Nothing. This is what I'm talking about.
19:55
This is what exactly what I'm talking
19:57
about. They can play [ __ ] [ __ ] games the
19:59
whole way through. I don't know if Mike
20:00
Johnson is really going to go like if
20:02
there's an overwhelming blue tsunami.
20:05
How much of that can you stand up
20:07
against? But see, this is the kind of
20:09
part that I'm trying to talk about here.
20:10
Trump lost everything he did. He had 62
20:13
lawsuits. He lost 61 of the 62. And the
20:15
one that he didn't lose was just a
20:17
process thing. Had nothing to do with
20:18
the election results. It would just be a
20:20
process amendment to future elections.
20:22
But it didn't undo anything. But what he
20:24
was trying to do was shave at the margin
20:26
so that by the time they had to go and
20:28
then make the uh the electoral college
20:31
votes uh count and make him official.
20:33
Then he tried to throw a wrench into
20:35
that plan. What if they're able to throw
20:36
a bunch of wrenches into the plans to
20:38
get that margin of victory down down?
20:41
And then Mike Johnson, he's not trying
20:43
to fight off a blue wave. He's merely
20:45
trying to ask questions
20:48
about um well, can we trust the
20:51
integrity of this and we have to wait
20:52
for the the results in this and I can't
20:54
see that blah blah blah. Like there's
20:56
ways if you can get him to the margins
20:58
and he plays ball at the end
21:00
legislatively. Yeah. That could undo
21:02
quite a bit. It's a scary [ __ ] time.
21:04
I've never seen the country so broken in
21:06
all my life. Yeah.
21:14
Luke, broke my heart to see Gachi
21:16
speaking at the RNC. Not surprising. Any
21:18
thoughts? Gracias for this political
21:20
channel. I love it. Sending thanks from
21:23
Miami. Yeah. Um,
21:26
you know, I I don't have any strong
21:28
thoughts about it to be honest. Uh, it's
21:31
kind of it's just so funny to me how I
21:33
had to eat [ __ ] for all this time for
21:35
talking about how right-wing MMA is. And
21:37
it's like [laughter] it's the most
21:40
right-wing [ __ ] I've ever seen, you
21:41
know? It's [ __ ] hilarious that I even
21:44
had to answer for that, you know? It's
21:46
just kind of crazy. Um, at this point, I
21:49
basically assume that the I'll tell you
21:51
where I come from now. I mean obviously
21:52
this is not true but as like a general
21:55
exercise I just assume everybody's manga
21:58
and until they show otherwise then I let
22:00
my guard down against them or I should
22:02
say around them. But my general
22:05
perception is if you're in MMA and
22:07
especially if you're in some kind of
22:08
prominent figure um or you know you more
22:11
visible than others uh until proven
22:14
otherwise. It's guilty until proven
22:16
innocent in my opinion. I just don't I
22:18
don't even there's you know I'm
22:20
surprised by absolutely none of it. It
22:22
doesn't matter if they're male or
22:23
female, black or white or if they have
22:24
Hispanic roots or if they don't. It
22:26
doesn't everyone in that sport is MAGA
22:29
until otherwise uh proven. So that's
22:31
kind of the way I look at it. Um I I
22:35
didn't it didn't move me other than I
22:36
made one tweet about it being like wow I
22:38
can't believe someone was in MMA was
22:39
advancing MAGA politics. That's that's
22:42
interesting. and you know there was a
22:44
bunch of angry people about it u which
22:46
there always is when I hold up a mirror
22:48
to the world and let them see exactly
22:49
how it should be seen. Um
22:53
it this stuff doesn't move me anymore.
22:56
You know it doesn't I'm numb to it at
22:58
this point. Uh it's all of course
23:01
terribly unfortunate but
23:05
you know this is this is the sport. this
23:08
is the nature of of you know I know he's
23:10
37 but u you know relatively speaking
23:13
young men uh they are just politically I
23:17
think um very confused and
23:21
I've said this before I don't know what
23:23
the right answer is to get them back to
23:25
a ser place uh I certainly don't have it
23:28
I don't have it but
23:32
I I have said after like you know Sean
23:34
Strickland you'll have he'll have these
23:35
moments of clarity and he'll go back to
23:37
supporting ICE and saying horrible
23:38
things about gay people, but then he'll
23:40
have these moments of clarity about
23:41
Trump and it's like it feels like some
23:43
breakthrough is possible, but it's so
23:46
[snorts] slow and it's so uneven and
23:48
it's so difficult to come by and I do
23:51
not know how you get it. You know, it's
23:53
kind of funny, dude. on the left, what
23:54
they'll do is they'll look at me and
23:56
they'll be like, "Oh, big guy who likes
23:58
MMA who's got a beard, who I, you know,
24:01
um I don't exactly code as, uh, you
24:05
know, I mean, I know in MMA they see me
24:08
as like a traditional live, but I can
24:10
assure you within the liberal world they
24:11
do not like. They don't see me that way
24:13
at all. They see me as utterly like a
24:15
unicorn, right?" which is again it's so
24:17
[ __ ] funny that within MMA I'm I'm
24:19
supposed to be some kind of you know um
24:22
avatar of the left but within the left
24:25
itself I'm they you know they they don't
24:27
exactly uh uh look at at me that way. Um
24:32
I forgot where I was going with this. I
24:34
was making a stupid ass point. I don't
24:36
know.
24:37
Suffice to say. Um
24:43
oh about young men being like having bad
24:45
politics. Um,
24:51
oh, sorry. What was I going to say? I
24:53
remember now.
24:57
On the left, they'll look at me and
24:58
they'll be like, oh, you know, big guy
24:59
likes who likes MMA. Like, this is
25:01
something that we need more on the left
25:02
of like representation in these areas
25:04
and they're like, do you feel like the
25:07
fact that you don't code? And again,
25:08
this is liberal audiences talking that
25:10
you don't code exactly as liberal
25:12
because they told me they look like I
25:14
look like a chud and I vote like I live.
25:15
That's what they've told me, you know,
25:17
do you feel like that gives you
25:18
advantages with that audience? And I'm
25:20
like, no. Like, dude, you could be a
25:21
Navy Seal if they see you as
25:23
sufficiently left, they'll just take any
25:26
of those masculine or, you know,
25:29
professional accomplishments away from
25:30
you as if it doesn't matter. So, I don't
25:32
know how you convince them. And then
25:33
what I what I feel like ends up
25:35
happening is you're just ending up in a
25:37
place where you're performing
25:39
masculinity for them. You're not like
25:42
being authentic to yourself. You're
25:44
trying to prove, oh, I can play your
25:46
games. I can meet your standards of it,
25:48
but like they'll just take that away
25:50
from you in the end, too. You know, it
25:52
doesn't mean anything.
25:57
Luke, please interview Jason Mayer,
25:59
author of A Progressive Case for
26:01
Bitcoin, or Alex Gladstein, author of
26:03
Check Your Financial Privilege. Can I be
26:05
honest? I don't give a [ __ ] about
26:07
Bitcoin.
26:09
Um,
26:11
but I'll take that into consideration.
26:13
Uh, this person writes, "Loving your
26:14
evolution to political commentator."
26:15
Thanks, man. I'm not sure what the [ __ ]
26:16
I'm doing, but I'm trying. Uh, this
26:19
person writes, "As a progressive in deep
26:20
red, Pennsylvania, what do you feel is
26:22
the best approach to help change the
26:24
tides in areas like mine? What's the
26:25
best recruiting tool? Brother, I wish I
26:27
knew." I mean, it does seem like you're
26:30
you're seeing this tension on the left
26:31
between the centrist stems or more even
26:33
even not just them, but between what you
26:36
could maybe loosely call centrist Dems
26:38
and then loosely call DSA aligned.
26:41
same kind of fault lines between the
26:43
center and then the progressive left.
26:44
But now it's got a few different
26:46
wrinkles along the way because you know
26:47
Abdul sayed is progressive left but he's
26:49
not DSA and there are some DSA
26:52
candidates that even the DSA doesn't
26:54
endorse. So there's like there a few
26:55
different wrinkles here but you know it
26:58
does seem like kitchen table issues, gas
27:00
prices, um things like that are are are
27:04
they win among the left. They certainly
27:06
win among independents and I think over
27:08
time I mean dude, no one's asked about
27:10
what happened in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
27:12
Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] bros. If you haven't
27:15
booked a plane ticket that you intend on
27:17
buying for some point in this year or in
27:20
any time that you can like buy a plane
27:22
ticket, you should do that now. You
27:24
should do that now. Diesel up at $6 a
27:27
gallon. That's never happened before in
27:29
this country. But more to the point,
27:31
remember the straight of Hormuz was
27:33
roughly what 20 22% of the world's you
27:36
know uh uh oil petroleum chemicals that
27:39
sort of all goes through there and more
27:40
you know a lot of things that go through
27:42
it. So what they were doing was they
27:43
were using the East West pipeline along
27:45
the Arabian Peninsula to kind of get
27:49
around that. It doesn't fully get around
27:51
it but it it it peels off I think it was
27:53
either between five and seven million
27:54
barrels per day. Well, those eight of
27:56
the pumping stations got attacked. And
27:58
they, by the way, the latest reporting
27:59
from CNN is not that it was the Houthis.
28:02
No, that it was this alliance of this
28:04
rebel group out of Iraq who was uh mad
28:07
because their bases got or their areas
28:09
got bombed and this was retaliation to
28:11
the Americans and the Saudis for doing
28:13
as much. So now there's like I don't
28:16
know what the how much that's been
28:18
corroborated. But then you have the
28:20
Houthis taking the territory, the Pam
28:22
Islands, they're taking seapports um in
28:24
the Red Sea in there, the Gulf of Aiden,
28:26
the uh the the Bob Elmande Strait taking
28:30
all of that. And now it's like, well,
28:33
dude, I mean, I'm not sure that's quite
28:34
checkmate, but that is s the the thing
28:37
that they were basically the idea is the
28:38
thing that the Americans and the Saudis
28:40
and I guess to an extent even the
28:42
Israelis were using to undo some of the
28:45
damage of Hormuz, this East West
28:47
pipeline, that's [ __ ] gone or at a
28:49
bare minimum devastating devastatingly
28:52
impacted. And now the straight on the
28:54
other side at the key point of the Gulf
28:56
of Aiden is also now now taken.
29:01
Guys,
29:03
I don't know what I don't know enough
29:05
about Brent prices or about the world
29:08
flow of uh you know
29:13
energy and and other forms of important
29:15
chemicals that go through these various
29:18
waterways. I don't know enough about it,
29:19
but
29:21
I mean, is $10 a gallon inconceivable?
29:24
Probably. That's probably inconceivable,
29:26
but but gas prices are up 50%
29:28
year-over-year already. And now the one
29:31
kind of release valve that they were
29:34
using to take some of the pressure in
29:35
addition to depleting the strategic
29:36
reserves,
29:38
all that's [ __ ] gone. And the
29:39
reserves are at a lowest level since the
29:41
1980s.
29:44
like
29:46
we are not going to get out of this
29:48
easily.
29:49
And I know people have been saying that,
29:51
but again, now they're cutting off all
29:53
the connection to the release valves.
29:57
We are we we are in a pretty bad place
29:59
and it's [snorts] going to get much
30:00
worse. And of course, these [ __ ]
30:01
idiots have no idea what they're doing.
30:03
So, I think that this is going to be an
30:06
opportunity for people on the right once
30:09
this gets even worse to be able to look
30:11
around and then you as someone from the
30:13
from the the left in Pennsylvania can
30:15
look at them and say, "Look at the
30:17
consequence of their policies. Look what
30:19
happened during his time. Look what
30:21
happened during Bush's time. Look at
30:23
what these Republican presidents do.
30:24
Look at what you can look at show them
30:26
job creation under Republican presidents
30:28
versus Democratic presidents the last 40
30:29
years and beyond that. It's not even a
30:31
question. It almost exclusively happens
30:33
uh under Democratic presidents. But but
30:35
focusing on the kitchen table issues,
30:37
the reality is, dude, on some level for
30:39
the left to really win this battle, I
30:41
don't think winning just on kitchen
30:43
table issues is enough. I think on some
30:45
level they might have to win some of the
30:47
culture wars, which they're not really
30:48
good at. And then the other one is,
30:50
dude, they're going to have to have bold
30:51
progressive change. I tweeted about this
30:53
on my political account. There was a
30:55
study that came out um I think it was in
30:58
the UK and what they showed was they
31:01
could find a direct correlation between
31:04
uh and there's a bunch of them that had
31:06
closed the closing of health care
31:08
centers particularly in non- urban areas
31:11
and how that was that that led to a
31:13
direct rise in right in far-right voting
31:16
as a consequence and then especially in
31:18
places uh where there was immigration
31:20
that could s or not depending it could
31:22
turbocharge it in one direction or the
31:24
But the real one was closing the health
31:26
centers linked closely to voting for
31:29
far-right politics, farright policies or
31:32
far-right parties. And so you just have
31:34
to ask yourself, this is why going back
31:36
to centism with the Dems is a [ __ ]
31:38
like like Matthew Glacius is like, well,
31:40
the DSA left seems to be more focused on
31:42
beating centrist Dems than they are
31:44
MAGA. It's like, well, no, they're not.
31:45
Like beating MAGA is the ultimate goal,
31:47
but you [ __ ] need to be beaten,
31:49
too. Because if we just go back to some
31:52
kind of moderated centrist dem politics,
31:56
what will that do to ameliorate the
32:00
things that are forcing people into
32:01
radical positions to begin with?
32:03
Nothing. Nothing short of bold political
32:06
change can fix this. Period. Um, and so
32:10
to answer your question, focusing on
32:12
some of these things I think is going to
32:13
be important. using this opportunity as
32:16
Trump [ __ ] this up to help them to
32:18
connect the dots about, you know, who's
32:19
emiserating their life and why it's
32:21
being emiserated. It has nothing to do
32:23
with the immigrants. It has everything
32:24
to do with the Epstein class. This is a
32:26
historic moment, but honestly, long
32:27
term, I think they're going to have to
32:28
win some of the culture wars and they're
32:31
going to have to govern boldly. If they
32:34
don't, this is all for nothing.
32:38
All right, let's see here.
32:45
Let's see. Let's see. Okay, here we go.
32:51
This person writes, "I really appreciate
32:53
these more intimate live chats. It's an
32:54
absolute pleasure to be small part of
32:56
this project. Thank you." Yeah, thank
32:57
you guys. Again, we're going to build
32:58
this one I the MMA channel got built in
33:01
a certain way and I am learning some of
33:03
those lessons both good and bad. I'm
33:05
going to build this one a little bit
33:07
different. I'm going to build this one
33:09
much
33:12
I'm going to try different things with
33:14
this channel. I'm going to be a little
33:15
more experimental.
33:17
Um, yeah,
33:19
but thank you for being here. A small
33:21
offering for the pivot from another guy
33:23
starting staring down the barrel of 50
33:25
who had nearly the same fandom journey,
33:27
hasn't gotten more conservative, like
33:28
they said, and will also likely be
33:30
pivoting. Yeah, man. I don't want to be
33:32
pivoting at you know how terrifying it
33:33
is to try and pivot your life at 40
33:35
[ __ ] seven,
33:38
dude. I don't want to be doing this
33:40
[ __ ] you know? But
33:44
that's life, dude. I don't know what to
33:45
say. Like, you can I I you know, people
33:48
are like, "Oh, you can't cry about it."
33:50
I don't agree.
33:53
You can't keep crying about it. You can
33:56
cry about it a little bit. You know, and
33:58
I'm not using the word literally. I'm
34:00
meaning metaphorically. But, you know,
34:01
you can
34:03
Yeah. You don't it's okay to feel bad
34:06
about like bad things or tough stretches
34:09
of your life, but you just can't stay
34:11
there and you just kind of have to
34:14
accept life on some level. You know,
34:15
some things you can change, but there's
34:16
a lot you can't, most you can't. And
34:19
certainly the big picture stuff you
34:20
can't like, you know, boxing, just
34:22
getting into bed with Saudi Arabia and
34:23
that door closing for me. And then, you
34:26
know, and I've certainly been
34:29
antagonistic towards other promoters.
34:31
It's not like I've not done certain
34:33
things, you know, to make my situation a
34:35
little bit more difficult at times, but
34:37
you know,
34:41
just the kind of thing that I'm doing in
34:43
MMA, I feel like is going extinct, you
34:45
know, and that kind of thing, that kind
34:48
of truthtelling thing, I think, is more
34:49
important than ever. Um,
34:52
somewhere else where the audience is
34:54
more receptive to it, you know.
34:58
I'm 47. Was in the Marines 97 to05.
35:01
That's almost the same time as me. I was
35:02
98 to04 and then I had one year ahead of
35:05
that because I joined in 97, but they
35:07
let my high school senior year count as
35:09
one year on my inactive ready reserve
35:12
and then I got out in ' 04 and then I
35:13
had a one last year on all military
35:16
contracts, at least when I got in, they
35:17
were all eight years. You know, you
35:18
could do four active and then four
35:21
inactive ready reserve or whatever, but
35:23
you know, they're all eight. So I did
35:25
six. I did 98 to04. The one ahead of
35:28
time and then the one at the end um was
35:31
the way I did it. This person writes,
35:32
"Charlie Kirk's message to young white
35:34
men that all their problems are caused
35:36
by the powerless, immigrants, gays, blah
35:37
blah blah, and not the powerful. That is
35:39
MAGA's message. UFC is RNC." Yeah.
35:44
Yeah. I I think that um
35:48
well, the right just came in there and
35:50
they just told young men, "We got this
35:52
figured out. We got this figured out. We
35:55
got this figured out. Here's how this
35:56
goes. Here's here's here's how you can
35:57
understand this. You're the victim.
36:00
You're the victim. You're the victim of
36:02
a world that doesn't want you. You're
36:04
the victim of a left that hates you. And
36:06
there's something to be said a little
36:07
bit for that. Um, but you're the victim
36:09
of women. You're the victim of the Me
36:12
Too movement. You're the victim of your
36:14
own every, you know, the world hates
36:17
your success. They hate your strength.
36:19
They hate your honor. You're you're
36:20
you're you're the victim. And and hey,
36:23
by the [clears throat] way, look, more
36:24
women are getting college degrees. Hey,
36:26
look, um, women are ascending in the
36:28
workplace while your station in life
36:30
continues to deteriorate. And we can
36:32
tell you who's at fault for that, but
36:33
the answer is definitely not you. That
36:34
is a powerful message. It's not rooted
36:36
in much fact, but it's a very, very,
36:38
very, very powerful message. And for
36:40
young men in the world who don't know
36:42
how to navigate it, who it's hard for
36:44
them to understand what's what, I can
36:47
imagine that that could be intoxicating.
36:49
Um, and you know, I again I wish so my
36:53
argument is always like the left cannot
36:54
abandon the young men because you'll
36:56
just leave them to the devices of the
36:58
right. Who the hell wants that? But at
37:01
the same time, I'll just be honest. I am
37:03
not the guy to convert them and I know
37:05
I'm not the guy to convert them. They do
37:06
not want to hear. Um,
37:09
over time I can win an argument. Over
37:13
time, over time, I found that as young
37:16
men get older and then they get into
37:18
different seasons of their life, they
37:20
begin to see things a little bit more
37:21
differently. But honestly, so many
37:24
people locked away in their basement,
37:26
locked away from social groups, locked
37:28
away from frankly social connection,
37:30
whether that be a church, whether that
37:31
be extracurricular activities, whether
37:33
that be sports teams, whether that be
37:35
any kind of clubs, Rotary groups, you
37:37
know, you name it. They're just kind of
37:40
locked away from one another. And I
37:41
think it makes their politics angrier. I
37:43
think it makes it more suspicious. I
37:44
think it makes it more conspiratorial.
37:47
And you're just I mean the information
37:50
environment combating that I I I don't
37:52
have a good answer on how to beat that
37:53
unfortunately.
37:56
Uh Luke, do you think there will ever be
37:58
a proper followup on the dancing
38:00
Israelis? We all know yet. No one knows.
38:03
Not during this administration, but in
38:05
the future, yes.
38:07
Nothing like that will happen while
38:08
Trump is in office. No. But um but yes,
38:11
that will
38:15
there'll be more of that for sure.
38:19
Uh Cameron writes, "Cheers to your
38:20
political commentary and live chat. Hope
38:22
to see this continue." You will. Again,
38:23
it won't always look like this. It won't
38:25
always be on Fridays, but yes, for sure.
38:29
Have you read about the Ant and Open AI
38:32
incidents? Oanthropic. I've told my
38:34
friends and family to write to
38:35
legislators. The models will be too
38:37
capable in less than two years. Yes,
38:39
like you're talking about the uh
38:40
hugging, what was the other word?
38:42
Hugging uh
38:45
I forget the second name of the of the
38:46
report. Uh I've not read the full
38:48
reports. I've read the write-ups of the
38:49
reports.
38:52
Um they are in fact terrifying. The
38:55
thing that you worry about is again the
38:57
way I I understand it is like no one is
38:59
I know that like Nvidia is like we're on
39:00
the verge of AGI but that's not what the
39:02
reports or at least the writeups of the
39:04
reports say. What they say is no, that's
39:05
not what's happening. But that the AI is
39:09
just it's it's finding ways to break
39:12
containment. Uh they're acting in
39:15
secretive nature. They're um barely
39:18
considering human ethics and even when
39:19
they do, they don't take actions in
39:22
coordination with that. Um and
39:26
in part researchers are not even sure
39:28
why they're doing all of it. like
39:29
there's just this the this very very
39:32
surreptitious behavior and it's hard to
39:34
just see this any of this coming and
39:37
again they were not even able to they
39:38
didn't even catch it when some of these
39:40
models had broke containment. It's
39:42
terrifying. Now guys I got to move this
39:43
along a little bit because I do have to
39:44
get Tuki from school. So I'm going to
39:46
try and go through this a little bit.
39:47
Luke, to what extent do you think the
39:49
American public is aware of how the US
39:50
under Trump is viewed abroad by their
39:52
traditional friends and allies? They
39:54
don't have a [ __ ] clue. I mean,
39:56
people on the left might have a clue who
39:57
travel, but the average person on the
39:59
right has no idea. They think that
40:02
American excellence and exceptionalism
40:04
and adoration is a much truer than it
40:08
actually is. But to the extent that it
40:09
is true, it's just some kind of fixed
40:12
law of reality rather than something
40:15
that has been safeguarded and protected
40:17
and tried to be made whole. and that if
40:21
you don't keep doing those things,
40:23
you're not going to keep getting those
40:24
results. I don't think they're even
40:26
remotely aware. I mean, this is a
40:28
country of people that don't speak, you
40:29
know, multiple languages. Not that I'm
40:31
great about that. You know, I have my
40:33
own cross to be fair in that regard, but
40:34
I've certainly been traveling the world.
40:36
I've been very fortunate. I I I I've
40:38
seen, you know, large large swaths of
40:40
it. Um, and I that has enabled me to
40:43
have a sort of an understanding of, you
40:45
know, propaganda at home, propaganda
40:47
abroad, uh, what's true, what's not. And
40:51
I just don't think if you unless you've
40:52
had I I've been very lucky. And I think
40:54
unless you've had a lot of lucky
40:55
experiences like that, how are you
40:56
supposed to know better? Particularly
40:58
given how awful our information
40:59
environment is, you know? And I know
41:01
this is I don't want this chat to always
41:03
be so sad, but I will just tell you guys
41:04
like I
41:06
dude, I'm I am [ __ ] worried. I I am
41:11
worried a lot. I lose a lot of sleep
41:12
over the state of the country and the
41:14
future and like the brain drain, all the
41:16
academics that are leaving academia, all
41:18
the research that's been slashed, all
41:20
the hostility to progress that is there,
41:22
all the hostility to education
41:24
generally. I, you know, our military is
41:26
being run by a [ __ ] weekend Fox News
41:28
host, you know, the biggest lightweight
41:30
that there ever was. I mean, these are
41:32
and meanwhile, look what they're doing
41:34
to the energy economy globally. They're
41:36
messing it up for literally everybody.
41:39
and and and maybe messing it up is the
41:41
kindest almost euphemistic way that one
41:44
could describe such a thing. This this
41:46
what they're this mis this this insane
41:48
rank mismanagement we have put into
41:51
power and given a guy obscene levels of
41:54
power in the world and this is a guy who
41:57
couldn't make money in a [ __ ] casino.
42:01
I mean
42:02
you I it's just we are so unbelievably
42:06
[ __ ] He's going to do to the country
42:08
what he did to Atlantic or his
42:09
properties anyway in Atlantic City.
42:12
That's what he's going to do. If we can
42:14
get out of this
42:17
presidency with our democracy relatively
42:21
intact and our economy relatively
42:23
intact,
42:25
uh it'll be a miracle.
42:27
I just don't believe we're going to get
42:29
out of this one easily. I don't. I think
42:32
that the worst is absolutely yet to
42:35
come.
42:36
truly. I hope I'm wrong.
42:41
Uh, where are we?
42:46
Left can easily appeal to combat sports
42:48
fans, improve
42:50
fighter conditions, back expansion act,
42:52
oppose Revival Act, and back Pro
42:54
Wrestler Union. Fighters are our heroes.
42:56
People hate to see them take advantage
42:58
of. I don't think the average fan gives
42:59
a [ __ ]
43:01
I could be wrong about that. I don't
43:02
That's not my experience. I wouldn't
43:04
bank on that. I would not bank on that.
43:06
What they want is the consistent steady
43:08
drip of content.
43:11
I do think that uh you know getting
43:14
behind a union or something like that
43:16
that could be interesting. Sure. Um but
43:19
honestly TKO is going to spin it as this
43:21
is going to be bad for you the consumer
43:22
and the consumers will believe them.
43:26
Luke, uh let's see. Luke, thanks for
43:29
doing this chat. What do you think of
43:30
the Federal Reserve system and would you
43:31
like to see the US go back on the gold
43:33
standard? No, I would not like to see it
43:35
go back on the gold standard. Hold on.
43:37
What the [ __ ]
43:41
This [ __ ] computer.
43:46
Oh, now I lost a [ __ ] question.
43:50
I'm sorry about that.
43:53
Where the [ __ ] is this thing?
43:58
I'm gonna try and come back to that one.
44:00
Sorry about that. I my I'm
44:04
all right. Luke, what do you think of
44:05
the vile racist [ __ ] Republicans have
44:06
said about Zoron leading up to 911?
44:08
Yeah, let me see if I can find
44:11
that uh what you call it. Hang on.
44:17
Let me find that
44:20
it was a poll.
44:28
Let's see. Give me one minute here.
44:37
Where is that?
44:43
I don't know what I did with it. I can't
44:45
find it. But
44:48
here, hold on. Let me
44:53
One second.
44:59
Ah, here we go. This is from
45:05
Who is this from? This is from
45:08
Oh, the SUFFK poll. Uh, so SUFFK has
45:13
Americans views on Islam are more
45:15
negative than they were uh after 911.
45:19
Um, percentage of US adults saying Islam
45:21
is more likely than other religions to
45:23
encourage violence. In March of 20 2002,
45:28
it was 32%
45:30
for Republicans, 23% for Dems. Now it's
45:35
76% for Republicans, and 29% for Dems.
45:39
So the Dems have gone up a little bit
45:40
too, but not too too much, but the
45:43
Republicans have gone from 32% to 76%.
45:47
So the Dems have risen as well, but
45:49
mostly it was mostly on the right. Yeah,
45:52
that is um that's extremely dispiriting.
45:55
Uh, how do you know the Dallas
45:56
convention was a dud? They failed to
45:59
crash Grinder this time. I think that
46:00
they did crash it as I understand it. I
46:03
think you overvalued the loud, reflexive
46:04
slogan brain discourse because of its
46:06
repetition and undervalue the
46:08
possibility of idea seeds growing and
46:10
maturity and worldview changes
46:11
accumulate. No, I agree with that. I've
46:14
just kind of experienced like leaving my
46:16
email open has positives and negatives.
46:19
And one of the negatives is that I can't
46:20
get to everything. But one of the
46:21
positives is sometimes I'll have people
46:23
on the right write me at various stages
46:25
of their life like I can see over the
46:26
course of like 10 years and from the
46:28
beginning to the end of the 10 years I
46:30
can absolutely see someone be like you
46:32
know what I hated I don't know women or
46:34
or black people or whatever and they've
46:36
who knows where they're at now but
46:38
they've they've definitely softened and
46:40
they've seen the world differently and
46:41
they understand it differently and they
46:43
don't want to do it the same. Like
46:44
that's another part of it too like they
46:46
can tell something is nagging at them
46:47
about the way that they have done it.
46:50
And this is I think evidence of change
46:53
and this is evidence of possibility. But
46:54
the reality is also that um
47:00
that takes forever.
47:03
It takes forever. And it actually wasn't
47:06
the argument that won them over. I mean
47:08
it is and it isn't. What I mean is it's
47:11
not like I have a conversation with them
47:12
and I'm like hey you know Monopoly is
47:14
bad or something like that. they don't
47:17
believe it and then years go by and then
47:20
they slowly begin to see it true uh or
47:23
at least you know piece by piece and
47:25
then they slowly begin to change their
47:27
views and then you know they're like
47:29
they'll reflect back oh I remember when
47:30
you said blah blah blah and then they'll
47:32
be like you know now I see it
47:34
differently but like dude it takes an
47:36
insanely long time and it's not like
47:38
they're hearing the argument and then
47:40
going wow let me think about that you
47:42
know and then so you get you know you
47:44
don't get this insane lag time on
47:46
change. I don't know how I I know that
47:49
opinions can be changed, but they it's
47:51
it's grueling work. It feels one by one
47:54
and it takes forever. I'm saying how do
47:56
you beat that process?
47:59
How do you beat that process with the
48:01
right when it doesn't matter what your
48:04
masculine credentials are? It doesn't
48:06
matter what um to an extent how truthful
48:11
you may be. Like if what they have to do
48:15
is experience the world in ways that
48:19
challenge their worldview and until such
48:22
time they can do nothing about it.
48:25
Yeah, change is possible but you can't
48:29
bank on social change that way. Not in
48:32
your lifetime. I mean that's just you
48:33
know and that and how much of that is
48:35
just the standard
48:37
process of just aging generally.
48:40
Um, I I don't have good answers for
48:42
that.
48:44
Luke, love your content and insight here
48:46
in MMA. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I
48:49
appreciate it. I'm trying, bros. What
48:51
the [ __ ]
48:55
Oh, here's another one. Uh, mommy
48:56
shaking Julian's Giuliani's hand. He's a
48:59
bigger man than me. The standard for
49:01
respectability from Dems and Republicans
49:03
versus Republicans, excuse me, is so
49:05
lopsided and so hypocritical. And it
49:06
won't matter, too. Like if they're mad
49:08
at him, they'll just stay mad at him.
49:10
You know what I mean? Like
49:12
they'll I'm guessing they'll find
49:14
something he did during this week or
49:16
even today to hold against him. I
49:19
guarantee it. They'll find something.
49:20
They'll, you know, he'll say something.
49:22
He'll do something. He'll be with
49:23
somewhere. He'll be seen with someone.
49:26
They'll find any reason to to undermine
49:28
it. Yeah. I I gotta be honest. I'm not
49:30
loving that [ __ ] from mom down.
49:31
Everyone's like, "Oh, he's a bigger man
49:32
than me." My kind of attitude is [ __ ]
49:34
that. [ __ ] that. This is Dude, I like
49:38
Mam Donnie, okay? Done a great job in
49:40
New York City as mayor, I think, from
49:42
what I can tell. Um, some things better
49:44
than others maybe, but you know, crimes
49:47
way down. So much of the nonsense people
49:49
said was going to happen never even came
49:51
close. Much of it was just rooted in
49:52
Islamophobia anyway. Or, you know, this
49:55
this this overfocus on Israel as it
49:57
relates to New York City interest. Like,
49:58
I do think he's a good mayor and I think
50:00
New York City made the right choice. But
50:02
him bigging up Hakee Jeff, I [ __ ]
50:05
hate. I hate AOC doing that. I [ __ ]
50:07
hate it. I absolutely hate it. I think
50:10
it's actually quite bad. What it looks
50:12
to me is happening is you're getting
50:13
these DSA people that are now getting a
50:15
little bit of attention and and
50:17
ascendancy within the political party.
50:19
Rather than the DSA
50:21
changing the views of the Democratic
50:24
Party, what is instead happening, I
50:25
think, is that the Democratic Party
50:27
leadership and institutions are doubling
50:29
down on where they are, and it's
50:32
actually moderating the DSA people.
50:36
Actually, it's it's not changing the
50:38
Democratic Party. The Democratic Party
50:41
is changing them.
50:43
It is impossible for me to believe that
50:45
you can say that what Israel is doing is
50:48
a genocide and then you can endorse
50:52
a guy who has done everything possible
50:54
with the way he has legislated to
50:57
further that genocide. It is impossible
50:59
for me to be like Rudy Giuliani among
51:03
others, but it's not he's not the only
51:05
one, but he was mayor. They knew better
51:07
about the air quality in lower Manhattan
51:09
and they let people get cancer anyway.
51:11
And then you go shake his hand. This is
51:12
the same thing Obama did. Oh, I'm going
51:13
to kill him with kindness, man. [ __ ]
51:16
that. [ __ ] that. Send these people into
51:19
the dust bin of history where they
51:21
belong. Put Show some [ __ ]
51:23
muscularity out there. I don't like that
51:26
[ __ ] at all.
51:28
No, I'm not a fan of it. Oh, he's a
51:30
bigger man than me. Yeah, great. First
51:32
of all, he doesn't need to be. And and
51:34
more to the point, I don't want him to
51:35
be. I outright don't want that. I think
51:39
that is bad.
51:42
Um, do you see a lack of monoculture as
51:45
one of today's problems in modern
51:47
society? Having a billion entertainment
51:49
choices is overrated in my opinion.
51:53
U I wouldn't want a monoculture, but I I
51:56
I know what you mean. Like different
51:58
lanes that um
52:03
I mean part of the problem with culture
52:05
actually is in some ways it's actually
52:07
been homogenized. I mean
52:10
everything has kind of splintered too
52:12
but everyone is borrowing the same kind
52:14
of content strategy models and uh you
52:20
know consumerf facing interaction models
52:22
and so everything has a kind of similar
52:24
feel even if it's you know atomized and
52:26
splintered in certain ways. I do think
52:28
there were I do I will say this I do
52:30
wish there were more galvanizing forces
52:33
that cut across demographics in our
52:36
culture as there was when I was a
52:38
teenager which may have not been a
52:39
golden era either but you know relative
52:40
to today you know I'm not religious at
52:43
all but and I I don't really like a lot
52:46
of the Abrahamic religions
52:49
uh morality but I am also worried about
52:53
a world where the church just declines
52:56
in popularity and church attendance
52:58
drops and then
53:02
the things that used to bind communities
53:04
in a net net healthy way that goes away.
53:07
I'm worried about that too. Yeah, I'm
53:10
not really excited about that. Um,
53:15
so I don't know if it's strictly a
53:17
monoculture or not problem. Suffice to
53:20
say though that I don't think that there
53:22
are enough as I indicated galvanizing
53:24
forces in particular directions. This is
53:25
why sports is kind this why and this is
53:27
why the oligarchs going after sports and
53:29
just you know extracting all the wealth
53:31
that they can from it. And this is
53:32
hardly exclusive to TKO. You guys know
53:34
this is everywhere. This is absolutely
53:36
everywhere. TKO if anything is just part
53:38
of a bigger a much much much bigger
53:41
reality. But like understand that dude
53:43
like you're you're you're just charging
53:45
a toll. Like if you really think about
53:47
what these what these what these sports
53:50
groups and private equity and it's not
53:51
just private equity but all of them are
53:53
doing
53:55
they're they're making you pay a toll to
53:57
enjoy the community that you used to
53:59
enjoy for a much much less pricey fee or
54:03
no fee at all in certain cases. Like
54:05
they're just yes they're monetizing it
54:07
but like they are you know what I mean?
54:09
They're taxing the thing that binds us,
54:13
you know, and and like that's the reason
54:15
why people are willing to pay the prices
54:16
that they're willing to pay, at least
54:17
for now, because it is so the bond that
54:19
they have with it is so robust that
54:22
these these [ __ ] thieving ass sports
54:24
owners, team owners, league owners, all
54:27
of them,
54:28
they know that they can actually, you
54:31
know, it's almost like um
54:35
like one of these sort of philosophical
54:37
problems being like a person's walking
54:38
down the and they see quicksand and they
54:40
see a woman trapped in the quicksand and
54:42
then they tell the woman you know I'll
54:43
save you but you have to you know do a
54:46
bunch of favors for me and blah blah
54:47
blah like is it ethical to do that and
54:49
of course the answer is not it is not
54:50
ethical to do that even though you're in
54:51
a position to be able to do that it's
54:53
not quite to that extent I'm not saying
54:55
it it it quite follows the same
54:57
philosophical contours but it does
54:59
follow something similar like this is
55:02
not desperation for life as such but it
55:04
is desperation for social connection or
55:06
at a bare minimum the maintenance and
55:07
the very key parts of social connection
55:09
and neighborhood connection and
55:11
community connection, right? All these
55:13
different parts of it and then making
55:15
you take a toll road to enjoy it. It's
55:18
so anti-fucking human. Like all of tech
55:22
is this way, too. It's so [ __ ]
55:24
antihuman.
55:26
Uh it's so anti- community. It's so
55:28
anti-, you know, uh social bonding and
55:34
cohesion. It just Oh my god. It's not a
55:37
It's not It's just It just rubs me
55:39
really the wrong way.
55:42
Have you talked to Ariel Helwani about
55:43
his Israel politics stance and using his
55:45
platform for good? I have not. Uh are
55:48
any tensions between you political? I
55:50
mean, you'd have to ask him. I don't
55:53
know. I don't know. I don't know what
55:55
Ariel's thinking about this issue right
55:57
now or any other one. I've not I have
55:59
not spoken to him since.
56:04
When was the last time I spoke to Ariel?
56:10
Oh, probably
56:13
probably the Spence Crawford weigh-ins
56:15
[laughter]
56:16
when I did with him and Kate Kate Abdo
56:18
or Kate Scott. Probably that. I don't
56:20
think I've spoken to him since then.
56:22
Maybe I'm missing something, but I think
56:24
that's it. I think it's the last one. I
56:27
think it's the last one. Um,
56:30
all I can say is I don't take back a
56:32
single word of what I said. And I don't
56:34
know where that leaves me in the
56:36
industry. I don't know where that leaves
56:37
me in society. I don't know where that
56:38
leaves me anywhere. But I'm very
56:41
comfortable with my views um in support
56:44
of um the people of Palestine. Utterly
56:47
comfortable.
56:50
Curious if you're a fan of Chris Hedges.
56:52
Yes. And if you visit William Mary as
56:55
alumni. I have not I I went during the
56:58
pandemic during the pandemic maybe 2022
57:01
so maybe like the call it the end of the
57:04
pandemic something like that. Shout out
57:06
to my husband Daniel getting me into
57:08
your content. Yeah. What's up? What's up
57:10
Daniel? Uh yes. Um yeah I I I went back
57:13
in like 2022 like Williamsburg was
57:15
unrecognizable to relative to when I was
57:17
a student there. Like utterly
57:20
unrecognizable. Oh, let me show you guys
57:21
some pictures. Hang on. Hang on. I want
57:23
to show you guys a picture. Wait, wait,
57:24
wait, wait. Let me show you something.
57:40
All right. I was digging around in my
57:45
desk the other day.
57:48
This is [ __ ]
57:57
This is actually I'm not sure where I'm
57:59
at in this. This is my college
58:00
graduation.
58:02
Uh,
58:09
I don't know who the [ __ ] these people
58:10
are. Oh, I was in line.
58:17
Uh, let's see.
58:22
Okay. It's not really these ones. These
58:24
are not the ones I wanted to show you.
58:26
It's these.
58:40
This dude popped for weed. He's a He's a
58:44
[ __ ] awesome Marine. He went to JMU
58:46
and he popped for weed and then I spoke
58:48
for him at his hearing and they took it
58:51
easy on him and then he popped for weed
58:53
the next month and I was like, "Okay,
58:55
what are we going to do here? Here's
58:56
your boy." This is in Oklahoma at Fort
58:59
Sill right here. Yeah, there's the saw
59:03
I'm carrying right there. Looking like a
59:05
[ __ ] dumbass.
59:07
What do we got here?
59:10
Um, let's see.
59:12
This is the guy who we used to call
59:14
Solo. Chebaca tunaka solo. We used to do
59:17
that to him. His name was Solo, but it
59:19
was S O L O E. Um, this is Here we are
59:23
in formation at Fort Sill. You can see
59:25
the howitzers and then all of our M16
59:27
A2s.
59:29
You know what I'm saying? You know what
59:30
I'm saying?
59:32
Uh,
59:35
what do we have here?
59:52
Yeah, this is your boy on the gun line
59:55
pulling the lanyard. And then there's me
59:58
in the Jeep, the Humvey rather, right
1:00:00
there. So, I found some old photos. This
1:00:02
is all training at uh Fort Sil.
1:00:06
Oh, there's one from college in here.
1:00:07
Hold on. Oh, [laughter]
1:00:10
they had me on firewatch.
1:00:13
Here's me with the 9 mil.
1:00:16
There's me with the 9 mil.
1:00:19
Let's see.
1:00:23
This was not my girlfriend at all, I
1:00:25
promise you. But this was me in college.
1:00:28
This is this is senior year, I believe.
1:00:30
This was uh one of my project partners,
1:00:32
I promise. There's your boy. And this is
1:00:36
2002, probably. This is right after, you
1:00:38
know, it's my senior year. Probably not
1:00:40
long after 9/11. There's me. Yeah,
1:00:44
there you are. And now look at me. I'm
1:00:47
[ __ ] melting. All right, I got to get
1:00:48
through these because I got to go get my
1:00:50
kid. Uh, let's see. I'm not American,
1:00:52
but appreciate your geopolitical views.
1:00:54
Do you think there is a more homogeneous
1:00:56
world possible post Trump, Shei,
1:00:58
Netanyahu, and Putin? Don't see any of
1:01:00
them being around uh with power in five
1:01:03
to seven years. I will tell you
1:01:04
something that I have seen, and I'll
1:01:05
probably end on this one. Um
1:01:08
you would be surprised the amount of
1:01:10
academic research that's coming out uh
1:01:14
related to democracies and all of it is
1:01:17
about how they're in decline.
1:01:20
Now what they are positing and this is
1:01:21
research I'm seeing all over academia.
1:01:24
What they are positing is not that that
1:01:26
democracy as such is going away and in
1:01:28
certain places there are being
1:01:29
democratic gains that are made. For
1:01:31
example, after years of decline, Hungary
1:01:34
is now seemingly in the space to
1:01:35
recapture some of those losses. But what
1:01:38
they are saying is going to be something
1:01:40
of the future is a hybrid model where
1:01:43
it's not fully authoritarian. It's not a
1:01:45
complete democracy. It's and it can be
1:01:47
different in different ways. Some kind
1:01:49
of a hybrid model and that they seem to
1:01:51
think that democracy is in decline
1:01:52
globally and that a hybrid model in many
1:01:55
many places is going to be our future. I
1:01:57
would be more expecting of that. Um I
1:02:00
would be more expecting of that. I don't
1:02:01
if we have centrist Dems, are they
1:02:03
really going to undo American empire?
1:02:06
Are they really going to undo all of the
1:02:08
abuses of ICE? Are they really going to
1:02:09
reign in these institutions? I don't.
1:02:11
Are they really going to reign in AI?
1:02:12
They might reign in AI, but even then, I
1:02:15
don't know. Are they going to reign in
1:02:16
surveillance tech? Are they really going
1:02:17
to go in and reign in flock cameras? Are
1:02:19
they actually going to do the work?
1:02:21
Because if they don't, like, how can
1:02:24
they restore us back to some kind of
1:02:26
more traditional normal? Luke, who is
1:02:29
your favorite new Democratic candidate
1:02:30
for Senate this year? Taler Rico really
1:02:32
stands out to me. The guy is a political
1:02:33
beast. I'm not I've not been paying
1:02:36
close attention to the Texas race. The
1:02:37
the one in Michigan, Abdul Elsad, is the
1:02:39
one I care about the most for sure. The
1:02:42
guy is a [ __ ] road scholar. He like
1:02:44
he is the American dream,
1:02:47
right? He went to and I I think this is
1:02:49
so important, especially if you live in
1:02:50
this town because I went to public
1:02:52
education my whole life. So for me it's
1:02:54
actually really important to to like
1:02:56
make sure that we know that public
1:02:58
education is important. He went to a
1:02:59
public high schools and and co you know
1:03:02
up to that he went to a public
1:03:03
university right he served in the public
1:03:06
after he did a small stint at Columbia
1:03:08
University. He is a [ __ ] road
1:03:09
scholar, right? This is the kind of
1:03:12
person with the expertise that should be
1:03:14
in political power. Like somebody who
1:03:17
has lived a experience that the common
1:03:20
person can recognize but is such a high
1:03:22
achiever he can elevate himself and has
1:03:24
expertise to carry with him. This is who
1:03:26
we want.
1:03:29
What can we borrow from Scandinavian
1:03:30
politics? Oh, that's a that's a big
1:03:32
question. Scandinavian society is so
1:03:34
different. Um
1:03:38
I I would I I I I don't [laughter]
1:03:43
I don't know that there's any model of
1:03:45
governance that we could borrow from
1:03:46
various forms of Scandinavian country
1:03:48
with certain exceptions around
1:03:49
individual programs. But like part of
1:03:52
why
1:03:54
their model of governance works is
1:03:55
because we're talking about like it's
1:03:56
like it's like Japan. It's a very high
1:03:58
trust society. You know the Finnish for
1:04:00
example are like this. The Danes are
1:04:01
like this in particular. we don't have
1:04:03
any of these social futures. So we we
1:04:05
have a very difficult I mean I there's a
1:04:07
sort of a really important question
1:04:08
which is how governable are Americans. I
1:04:11
mean part of the reason they're able to
1:04:12
resist Trump a little bit is because of
1:04:13
that but the other part is just like you
1:04:15
also you can't get them to take you know
1:04:18
vaccines during a pandemic right they're
1:04:19
they're ungovernable in that particular
1:04:21
way. Appreciate you ult
1:04:26
going this is just getting the ball
1:04:28
rolling. Thank you to everyone who
1:04:29
watched. Thank you to everyone who
1:04:30
donated. We don't have memberships yet.
1:04:32
I'm not really ready to launch them yet.
1:04:34
We we'll we'll get to all that when I
1:04:36
have, you know, the appropriate
1:04:38
bandwidth for that. But these are going
1:04:39
to be more regular. They may not be on
1:04:41
Friday next week, but these are going to
1:04:42
be more regular. Okay. All right. I
1:04:44
appreciate you all watching. I'll be
1:04:46
back next week. Thank you for the
1:04:48
support of this channel. Send this to a
1:04:49
friend. And until next time, stay
1:04:51
frosty, boys and girls. Peace.