Latest / International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better / Trump, the “Peacemaker” Denied: Nobel Politics, Venezuela’s Regime Games, and the Western Fear Machine

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Trump, the “Peacemaker” Denied: Nobel Politics, Venezuela’s Regime Games, and the Western Fear Machine · International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better

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  Bring you some incredibly awesome political talk on
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  damn radio Hello, good evening.
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  Welcome This is international flavor brought to you
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  estate of the art studio on international flavor
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  damn radio.com or Samuel t at international
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  flavor.com You can phone in should you
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  feel the desire five seven three seven four
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  six eight zero two zero And I uh
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  I'm not exactly sure where to start.
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  I believe i'm going to start with the
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  old nobel prize debacle the usual, uh, the
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  usual suspects all involved the only people that
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  ever get that thing are liberals and This
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  year was no different.
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  Um, there was a lot of talk about
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  whether trump would get it technically he Wasn't
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  really I don't want to say he wasn't
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  eligible because they twist the rules if they
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  wish to give it You know to the
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  obamas of the world, but they won't twist
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  twist them for people like A person like
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  trump i'm not saying that he should have
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  got it.
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  I don't know how I feel about that.
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  Um although there's plenty that he has Uh
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  that he argues that he has done and
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  plenty that he That he has done, but
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  I read a very interesting article on it
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  that I thought uh fairly well described not
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  exactly my thoughts because they're not but uh
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  the the reasons why and and there's plenty
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  of more but this one has a a
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  pretty good basis of of Of why it
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  is that trump didn't didn't get it.
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  Now.
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  The person who did get it was a
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  uh A venezuelan her name is maria.
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  Corina Macadu macado i'm not sure the stress
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  on that.
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  Sorry about that And I didn't have time
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  to look it up and find out if
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  what it is and I don't speak spanish,
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  which I believe is what they speak there
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  and so uh I couldn't really tell you
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  if that's the way it's supposed to be
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  but she's been funded by NGOs and outsiders
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  down there in venezuela for a long time
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  and so the regime change is the Basis
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  for all of this, you know that and
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  I believe the old trumpsters, uh, you know
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  Helping them along in that regard right now
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  If you've listened to me over the last
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  week or so, you've heard me condemn what
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  they're doing blowing up ships in the um
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  in the mediterranean, I think it's uh I'm,
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  sorry in the caribbean and uh, I I
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  think it's just wrong um what they are
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  doing, um Blowing people up without having any
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  sort of arrest and hearing if you're really
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  all that powerful You think you can't stop
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  a speedboat in international waters Arresting people prove
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  to me that you got some stuff.
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  So I think mistakes are being made there
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  and I don't like it.
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  So maybe maybe it's you know, you can
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  claim war against uh Terrorizers as matt calls
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  them my brother or you can uh, uh
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  You know feel free to blow up a
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  drug dealer that you know as a drug
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  dealer And maybe no harm should come to
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  you.
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  So supply suppose Uh, let's let's change up
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  the fact pattern just a little bit because
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  that's what lawyers and ex-lawyers Do is
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  they they speak?
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  uh rhetorically they speak, uh Uh Socratically and
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  they they give you things to think about
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  well, here's something to think about suppose that
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  I had elon musk or donald trump amounts
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  of money and a relative of mine was
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  killed by uh Drugs that I knew and
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  I was able to prove even to myself
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  Just you know, I had I hired some
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  investigators.
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  They found out who uh Transported these drugs
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  and then we found out that this Person
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  was again going to be running drugs in
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  his boat across the caribbean From venezuela to
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  miami and he was going to be in
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  his boat again and we chose uh, you
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  know, I chose to uh You know target
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  and blow up and hire my own Uh
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  laser like uh, uh, austin powers is a
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  alter ego Uh, what was his name?
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  Anyway?
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  the uh Dr. Evil, um would would blow
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  them up and suppose suppose that I as
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  the rich, uh person decided Well, there it
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  is.
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  There's that same boat.
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  They're bringing it in.
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  I'm my you know, somebody delivered drugs to
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  my son Boom, I blew him up Have
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  I committed a crime?
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  Or is that something justifiable?
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  Um, obviously it's fairly facetiously and no you'd
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  never get away with that as a private
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  person and uh, but if you just say
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  and and by the way, the only reason
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  I take this position is because there are
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  alternative ways that aren't so Uh without any
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  sort of Uh, I don't want to call
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  it due process because it's not that but
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  at least you ought to be able to
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  charge somebody And charged him with the crime
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  Prove that they are, you know, what's wrong
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  with proving it?
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  So I have a little trouble with what's
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  going on, especially in venezuela, especially now but
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  there was a a good article about um
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  the nobel nobel prize And it's called The
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  nobel that wasn't trump's why oslo chose a
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  venezuelan rebel over a peacemaker, they're calling donald
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  trump a peacemaker and it's a rather lengthy
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  article, but it's worthy of the uh, it's
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  worthy of Of the background because it has
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  a lot of good quotes in it from
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  a lot of decent people Uh, but it
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  is rather lengthy it is uh written by
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  a guy named uh, georgi Berezovsky and he's
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  from vladikavkaz And uh, that's a russian, um
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  city and I've been there.
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  It was very very nice to be there.
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  I liked it.
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  Um, so here here is the uh story
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  The 2025 nobel peace prize has gone to
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  maria carina Macado one of the most prominent
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  faces of venezuela's opposition party The committee's language
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  is familiar talking about rights peaceful transitions But
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  the story behind it is not macado's record
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  blends volunteer election networks With long-running fights
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  over foreign funding all us by the way
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  her name Has appeared in cases tied to
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  efforts to unseat the government regime change people
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  charges, she rejects And a country that remains
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  split over where legitimate politics end and regime
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  change begins The award lifts a domestic struggle
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  onto a global stage and puts it into
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  a fresh context For much of the year
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  chatter about a nobel for trump hung in
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  the air And the very idea of what
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  counts as peacemaking is once again up for
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  debate far beyond caracas from Maria, carina macado
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  is an engineer by training and one of
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  the most recognizable figures in venezuela's Opposition over
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  the past two decades.
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  She was born in caracas to a family
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  linked to the industrial group Civenza, she studied
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  at the Andres bello catholic university And later
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  at venezuela's leading management school.
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  Iesa Early exposure to the family business and
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  an affinity for market-friendly ideas shaped her
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  public profile emphasis on entrepreneurship privatization and integration
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  with global markets in 2002 she founded Sumathe
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  or sumate.
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  I don't know how they say it a
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  civic platform that built volunteer networks to train
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  election observers And run parallel vote counts So
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  she was running She was counting votes similar
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  She was counting votes Against the standard procedure
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  to see if they were accurate That's when
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  the first major controversy took hold Authorities alleged
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  the group received funding from u.s. Based
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  Organizers gee there's a surprise you get outside
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  money from the u.s. To prove that
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  the elections are bs and that we've done
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  that for years Her supporters counter that the
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  money supported legitimate civic initiatives So we should
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  be able to take money from u.s.
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  You know, the u.s. Isn't expecting a
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  particular Particular result though.
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  Are they right from them then on every
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  move?
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  She made in politics was viewed through the
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  lens of where to draw the line on
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  outside assistance that same year Brought Venezuela's most
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  dramatic recent upheaval the ouster of President Hugo
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  Chavez and the Carmona decree which proclaimed a
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  provisional Government there was effort number one, right?
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  Makado's name surfaced in debates over who back
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  to this decree She denied Participating the legal
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  and historical arguments have never been fully settled
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  but the episode fixed an image of Makado
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  as a politician whom opponents associate with the
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  idea of regime change a long stretch of
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  investigations and restrictions followed between 2003 and 2005
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  She was examined for alleged illegal foreign funding
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  by local prosecutors and this funding came from
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  NGOs travel bans appeared periodically for her in
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  2014 amid street protests she became one of
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  the most prominent voices Criticizing the government and
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  in official rhetoric was linked to cases alleging
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  a plot and even an attempt on President
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  Nicolas Maduro's life Makado rejected the accusations as
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  politically motivated The upshot was that she had
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  a prolonged ban unholding public office by the
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  mid 2010s she had consolidated her own Political
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  vehicle called Vente Venezuela, which means come Venezuela
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  in public.
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  She argues for Deregulation anti-corruption privatization and
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  open investment along with a peaceful transition Through
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  elections and international monitoring critics read This is
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  an effort to normalize external pressure mostly from
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  the u.s Supporters said it was the
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  only path back to some sort of competitive
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  rules Her biggest surge came in 2023 when
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  she won Opposition primaries by a pretty wide
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  margin the ban on her being able to
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  run However, it still remained in force her
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  team faced inspections and arrests in early 2024
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  the opposite opposition her opposition shifted to a
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  substitute candidate named Emando Edmundo Gonzalez, who's a
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  career diplomat?
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  Registration was marred by technical snags and the
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  media argued over whether the campaign conditions were
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  even-handed when the votes were counted the
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  incumbent held on several foreign governments declined to
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  recognize the result Hmm surprise surprise sounds like
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  regime change to me inside Venezuela the post
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  election map had barely moved to some Makado
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  Embodies systemic change to others.
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  She is a politician whose methods and ties
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  stray beyond acceptable bounds after the 2024 vote
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  Makado largely disappeared from public events her statements
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  are now given via video with her whereabouts
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  Undisclosed the phrase underground network has taken hold
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  in media shorthand Supporters saw a movement operating
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  under pressure Opponents argue it was a continuation
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  of street tactics and external lobbying against authorities
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  against that backdrop the Nobel Peace Prize prize
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  elevates Makado's biography to the international stage and
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  carries a long-running National argument over the
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  limits of political struggle to a much wider
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  audience So why did Oslo choose her?
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  in Announcing the decision the Nobel Committee said
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  it was honoring her for her tireless work
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  promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela
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  and for her struggle to achieve a just
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  and peaceful transition from dictatorship to Democracy, this
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  language is familiar rights democracy peaceful transitions But
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  the context is not Makado's record blends civic
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  mobilization and volunteer networks with long-running controversies
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  over foreign meaning Western funding Her name has
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  appeared in cases tied to efforts to unseat
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  the government allegations she rejected and Venezuela Venezuela
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  remains deeply divided over what counts as a
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  legitimate political struggle Those contradictions Make the award
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  particularly charged within Venezuela the same actions that
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  Oslo calls peaceful resistance have been framed by
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  officials as destabilization efforts supported from abroad For
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  Makado and her allies to prize validates years
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  of activism under pressure for the government It
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  confirms its long-held view that Western institutions
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  reward Political opposition as long as it's disguised
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  as promotion of democracy Disguised as yeah, they
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  just changed the regime She'd still be a
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  dictator is the point the decision also fits
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  a much larger pattern By awarding Makado the
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  Nobel Peace Committee effectively reintroduced Venezuela into the
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  global political Conversation not as an energy supplier
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  or a sanctions case But as a test
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  of how the world now interprets democracy what
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  Oslo calls peaceful Transition others see as a
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  strategy of regime change that tension is what
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  makes this year's prize Less about peace and
• 17:05
  more about the politics defining it the Nobel
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  Announcement also landed him in one of the
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  most charged moments in u.s. Venezuela relations
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  in years since early 25 Washington has tightened
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  its posture towards Caracas reviving energy sanctions that
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  had been partially lifted after the 2023 Barbados
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  agreements and Signaling a renewed focus on transnational
• 17:35
  crime networks in the Caribbean in practice that
• 17:40
  meant more joint naval patrols renewed intelligence activity
• 17:44
  and a sharper tone linking Venezuela to the
• 17:48
  regional drug trade an Accusation Caracas dismisses as
• 17:53
  a pretext for pressure.
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  That's you know bombing and killing people Bombing
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  a boat because you allege that they have
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  drugs on board.
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  I don't think is is a very I
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  don't think that should give you access to
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  a global a Nobel Peace Prize nonsense at
• 18:15
  the same time Biden-era approach of limited
• 18:19
  engagement has given away to in a more
• 18:21
  assertive line under Trump's second administration This new
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  White House framed its strategy as a war
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  on narcotics and a push to restore regional
• 18:33
  stability in Venezuela and across Latin America many
• 18:38
  view it as an attempt to reassert influence
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  of the u.s. In a region increasingly
• 18:44
  connected to Russia China and Iran Notably Maria,
• 18:50
  Mikado publicly voiced support for Washington's decision to
• 18:54
  combat Venezuelan drug cartels through military means She's
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  all for blowing them up without Without any
• 19:03
  proof of any sort her statement drew wide
• 19:07
  attention as it aligned her stance with the
• 19:10
  u.s. administration's tougher regional policy and blurred
• 19:15
  the boundary between domestic opposition and foreign strategy
• 19:20
  Against that backdrop the Nobel Prize for Mikado
• 19:24
  carried an extra layer of meaning for Western
• 19:28
  capitals It looked like moral recognition of a
• 19:32
  dissident whose cause aligned with the language of
• 19:35
  democracy in Caracas it was seen as a
• 19:38
  political signal a gesture of support for Opposition
• 19:42
  at a time when Washington's pressure is already
• 19:46
  mounting for much of the year Washington has
• 19:50
  buzzed with the talk of a Nobel for
• 19:53
  Trump the president didn't hide his own ambition
• 19:56
  He wanted to go down in history as
• 19:58
  a peacemaker after returning to the White House
• 20:01
  He made foreign policy a centerpiece of his
• 20:05
  second term Launching a flurry of initiatives aimed
• 20:09
  at cooling global flashpoints and projecting renewed American
• 20:15
  presence abroad Supporters point to a record low
• 20:22
  Modern a record geez a Record few modern
• 20:27
  leaders can match the Abraham Accords Signed during
• 20:31
  his first term had already redefined Israel's ties
• 20:34
  with its neighbors and served as the basis
• 20:36
  for his 2024 nomination for the Nobel by
• 20:41
  Congresswoman Claudia Tenney by late 2025 Trump's team
• 20:47
  listed seven cases where u.s. Diplomacy has
• 20:51
  helped halt or de-escalate conflict Cambodia and
• 20:56
  Thailand where Washington pressed for a ceasefire after
• 21:00
  deadly border clashes Kosovo and Serbia with the
• 21:04
  2020 economic normalization deal Congo and Rwanda where
• 21:09
  u.s. And Qatari mediation provided a Fragile
• 21:14
  truce India and Pakistan after weeks of artillery
• 21:18
  fire in Kashmir Israel and Iran following a
• 21:22
  12-day Confrontation that ended in a ceasefire
• 21:26
  backed by American strikes on Iranian sites Egypt
• 21:31
  and Ethiopia Over the Nile Dam dispute that
• 21:34
  once saw Washington in a median once again
• 21:37
  saw Washington in a mediation role Armenia and
• 21:41
  Azerbaijan whose leaders signed a u.s. Brokered
• 21:44
  peace declaration at the White House Some of
• 21:48
  these efforts remain works in progress Others have
• 21:53
  already reshaped regional dynamics but together they reflect
• 21:57
  the administration's broader push to replace distant management
• 22:02
  with hands-on engagement a return to a
• 22:06
  sort of deal-making diplomacy Procedurally though Trump's
• 22:11
  is Trump's chances have always been slim The
• 22:15
  Nobel deadline falls on January 31st Just 11
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  days after he was inaugurated meaning most of
• 22:23
  his 2025 achievements were technically ineligible That didn't
• 22:29
  stop his backers several world leaders and families
• 22:33
  of Israeli hostages publicly endorsed his nomination Fueling
• 22:39
  speculation that the Nobel Committee might finally reward
• 22:42
  an American president who claimed to have stopped
• 22:46
  the wars When the announcement finally did come
• 22:50
  as to who won the Nobel Washington's response
• 22:53
  was swift.
• 22:54
  The first official wrote from the White House
• 22:56
  communications director Stephen Ching who wrote on X
• 23:03
  President Trump will continue making peace deals Ending
• 23:07
  wars and saving lives the Nobel Committee proved
• 23:11
  that what they place politics over peace The
• 23:16
  statement captured the mood inside the administration Disappointment
• 23:20
  mixed with resolve and the sense that the
• 23:23
  award was meant to send a political message
• 23:26
  rather than recognize concrete results Asked about the
• 23:31
  decision during a press conference in Tajikistan Russian
• 23:35
  President Vladimir Putin took a more measured view
• 23:40
  Whether the current US president deserves the Nobel
• 23:44
  Prize I don't know he said but he
• 23:47
  really does a lot to resolve long-standing
• 23:50
  crises that have dragged on for years or
• 23:53
  even decades Putin added that the Nobel Committee
• 23:57
  had previously given the Peace Prize to people
• 24:00
  who had done nothing for peace a remark
• 24:04
  that many interpreted as both an acknowledgement of
• 24:07
  Trump's efforts and a critique of the committee's
• 24:11
  politics for Trump the moment underscored an old
• 24:15
  paradox even as he cast himself as a
• 24:18
  peacemaker the global Establishment still views peace through
• 24:23
  a different lens and in the year of
• 24:26
  Maria Mercado the Nobel Committee once again Showed
• 24:31
  whose vision of peace it finds worthy of
• 24:35
  celebration for many observers the decision in Oslo
• 24:39
  was less about Venezuela than about the ongoing
• 24:43
  tug-of-war between Donald Trump and the
• 24:46
  liberal establishment Trump represents the opposite of what
• 24:51
  the Nobel Committee traditionally rewards Says Fyodor Lukyanov
• 24:57
  the editor-in-chief of Russia's global affairs.
• 25:00
  He stands for a more forceful conservative approach
• 25:04
  to international politics not the liberal liberal liberal
• 25:09
  Internationalism Oslo prefers and he wanted the prize
• 25:13
  to openly there is an unwritten rule the
• 25:16
  more you Campaign for it the less likely
• 25:19
  you are to get it That's probably true
• 25:23
  political analyst and Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky called it
• 25:28
  naive to assume that Trump could ever get
• 25:32
  the Nobel Peace Prize It's a thoroughly globalist
• 25:35
  award one that has always gone to liberals.
• 25:38
  He said according to Drobnitsky the symbolism is
• 25:43
  unmistakable during his first term Trump recognized Juan
• 25:49
  Guido as the head of Venezuela's opera Opposition
• 25:53
  while Maria Karina Mercado has always been closer
• 25:56
  to the Democratic Party US Democratic Party so
• 26:01
  by giving her the prize they managed to
• 26:03
  jab Trump twice Denying it to him and
• 26:07
  handing it to a liberal instead He added
• 26:10
  that the Peace Prize long ago turned into
• 26:13
  a political reward for loyalty to the global
• 26:17
  liberal order Exactly what Trump has spent his
• 26:21
  career?
• 26:22
  challenging Americanist Raphael or dick or do Kanyan
• 26:28
  voiced a similar view arguing that Globalist elite
• 26:33
  have simply struck back at Trump the whole
• 26:37
  decision Reflects the same old conflict between Trump
• 26:41
  and the globalists They despise each other and
• 26:45
  they take every chance to settle scores That's
• 26:48
  what happened this time the prize went to
• 26:50
  a candidate favored by the Democratic Party He
• 26:54
  called it ironic if not absurd then an
• 26:57
  award meant to honor Peacemaking was given to
• 27:00
  a politician accused of trying to overthrow a
• 27:03
  constitutional government elected by Venezuelan people I Agree
• 27:08
  yet other analysts offer a more nuanced reading
• 27:11
  Anastasia Gafarova deputy director for the Center of
• 27:15
  political information Described the Nobel Committee's choice as
• 27:19
  an attempt at compromise rather than confrontation Despite
• 27:23
  tension between Washington and Caracas Makoto in many
• 27:27
  ways stands on the same side as Trump
• 27:29
  She's seen positively by figures like Secretary of
• 27:33
  State Marco Rubio and all of them share
• 27:36
  a goal of opposing Nicholas Maduro's regime so
• 27:40
  this may not have been a snub at
• 27:42
  Trump.
• 27:42
  It's more of a bally balancing act Gafarova
• 27:47
  added that Makoto's image appeals both to liberal
• 27:50
  internationalists and to Trump's inner circle on Venezuela
• 27:55
  making her a convenient figure for consensus still
• 28:01
  she noted I wouldn't rule out an Emotional
• 28:06
  reaction from the president for Trump it must
• 28:09
  sting one points alone I'm sorry on points
• 28:13
  alone.
• 28:14
  He's once again behind Obama in Obama For
• 28:18
  doing absolutely nothing I mean Jesus he goes
• 28:21
  into office and suddenly he gets a Nobel
• 28:23
  Peace Prize for what he didn't do a
• 28:25
  damn thing For the Nobel Committee Makoto's name
• 28:31
  will likely stand behind those of activists and
• 28:35
  reformers who defied authoritarian systems for Washington and
• 28:40
  Caracas However the meaning of her award reaches
• 28:43
  far beyond that frame to her supporters It's
• 28:47
  validation a sign that Venezuela's Democratic struggle has
• 28:51
  finally broken through the fog of international fatigue
• 28:55
  To her critics.
• 28:57
  It's another example of Western institutions Rewarding political
• 29:01
  alignment under the banner of human rights both
• 29:05
  readings may be true at the same time
• 29:08
  Trump Trump's shadow looms over this story his
• 29:13
  claim to the title of peacemaker has turned
• 29:16
  the Peace Prize itself into a political mirror
• 29:19
  a Reflection of who gets to define peace
• 29:21
  and on whose terms according to Fyodor Lukyanov
• 29:25
  Trump's prospect X my not Geez may not
• 29:30
  be gone for good The door isn't completely
• 29:33
  closed for his achievements real or perceived He
• 29:38
  could very well be nominated next year and
• 29:40
  the Nobel Committee will have a chance to
• 29:43
  weigh everything once more still Lukyanov notes There's
• 29:47
  an ideological obstacle the Peace Prize in practice
• 29:51
  has come to reward what could be called
• 29:54
  liberal Internationalism that wasn't what Alfred Nobel Nobel
• 29:59
  originally envisioned But over time it's been interpreted
• 30:03
  that way from this Standpoint Trump is an
• 30:07
  antihero the very opposite of that approach But
• 30:11
  if one returns to the older more classical
• 30:14
  notion of peacemaking Ending wars by whatever means
• 30:18
  available Then Trump definitely fits the bill in
• 30:22
  that sense He could win if the committee
• 30:24
  began to think the way it did a
• 30:27
  century ago And I thought that was a
• 30:30
  very well written article, which is why I
• 30:33
  wanted to Provide it to you.
• 30:36
  I suppose for me if you go to
• 30:38
  my point of view on all of this,
• 30:41
  it's just Irritating to me that that these
• 30:51
  things are going to be about Not peace,
• 30:58
  you know what I mean?
• 30:59
  This is not this is not about peace
• 31:02
  the because this Fight against this drug war
• 31:09
  is Nonsensical how do you call blowing up
• 31:16
  boats coming across a piece?
• 31:18
  I'm actually and you've heard me say it
• 31:20
  I'm actually anti what Trump and company are
• 31:23
  doing on this end and and I'm just
• 31:26
  against it Can you justify it sure you
• 31:29
  can justify it you you can say that,
• 31:31
  you know I mean Obama killed civilians, you
• 31:35
  know, and he killed Americans abroad You know
• 31:38
  that he didn't like and you know I'm
• 31:40
  sure that you can go back and find
• 31:43
  examples of horror stories that every President is
• 31:47
  done in the last well in my lifetime
• 31:49
  at least you can have a look at
• 31:52
  it and and Disagree with what they have
• 31:56
  done and there's there's truly nothing really wrong
• 32:00
  with that I'm not so sure that Trump
• 32:04
  wasn't a better candidate Anyway, I Mean even
• 32:10
  if you take the prize politics, you know
• 32:14
  Message that it always goes to some sort
• 32:18
  of liberal globalist type or regime change based
• 32:23
  on the Western model of Claiming that that
• 32:27
  this lady's gonna provide, you know Should regime
• 32:30
  change put this lady in power somehow or
• 32:33
  one of her Cohorts in power somehow that
• 32:37
  somehow in Venezuela, you're gonna get democracy overnight
• 32:40
  is probably you know a fool's errand or
• 32:45
  a fool's interpretation of What they think will
• 32:49
  happen sure as hell won't be democracy overnight
• 32:52
  Especially if it's just regime change and if
• 32:55
  she was involved in regime change Then it's
• 32:59
  the same equation if if Trump and company
• 33:02
  are trying to overthrow Maduro, which has come
• 33:05
  out pretty much In that in that respect
• 33:10
  over the last couple of weeks, you know
• 33:12
  They want to take out Maduro to take
• 33:15
  the oil and to embed somebody far more
• 33:19
  pro Western In Venezuela They would love to
• 33:24
  do that and it may be this Maduro
• 33:27
  or some era that or not Maduro Makado
• 33:30
  or somebody backed by her, you know through
• 33:33
  all of this, but it's NGO funding.
• 33:35
  It's the same regime change rhetoric from my
• 33:39
  point of view as has been done in
• 33:41
  Moldova has been done and Lots of Eastern
• 33:44
  European countries and they just the u.s.
• 33:47
  Just that's that's our playbook It's the exact
• 33:51
  same playbook only now we're trying to force
• 33:54
  it into Western Hemisphere in order to Force
• 34:00
  regime change Against somebody so that we can
• 34:03
  take their resources and money just like we
• 34:06
  did in Ukraine just like we're doing in
• 34:09
  Moldova and everywhere else that well, we're trying
• 34:13
  to do it in Georgia, too well, we
• 34:15
  try to Make it more difficult for Russia
• 34:22
  and You know, I gave you that theory
• 34:25
  the other day when we were talking last
• 34:27
  Wednesday on the last show that I did
• 34:29
  for last week it was The same thing
• 34:34
  if you can if you can create trouble
• 34:37
  and change a regime and make Georgia a
• 34:41
  NATO a NATO candidate, which what they were
• 34:45
  they've been trying to do forever That puts
• 34:49
  pressure on Russia just like the same thing
• 34:52
  with Venezuela if you can take over their
• 34:55
  oil and you get some Western Western I
• 35:00
  don't know what Western focused leader like this
• 35:04
  Makado then Perhaps you can get Western companies
• 35:08
  in there to manage all of the oil
• 35:11
  instead of somebody else and that puts more
• 35:15
  pressure on Russia because then the u.s.
• 35:18
  Would control the flow of that oil from
• 35:20
  Venezuela.
• 35:21
  And so there's a lot of Eastern folks
• 35:25
  that are against that and I'm you know,
• 35:27
  I'd like to know what China's Focus on
• 35:33
  this would be and I looked for it
• 35:34
  a little bit, but I didn't really get
• 35:36
  anywhere on finding a Good answer, you know,
• 35:42
  I do know that there's plenty of focus
• 35:45
  on South America from China from the Shanghai
• 35:50
  cooperation organization and from bricks that that it
• 35:55
  is there and there's plenty to To To
• 35:59
  make it that way There was one more
• 36:03
  that was kind of a this one's not
• 36:04
  as long.
• 36:05
  It's an article No men in dresses.
• 36:10
  This one was was From October the 7th.
• 36:14
  So it's it's a little bit on the
• 36:16
  on the well It's not really old but
• 36:19
  and maybe you've you've seen it before I
• 36:23
  don't know but No men in dresses Trump
• 36:26
  begins a purge of America's generals and This
• 36:34
  was This is a foreign take on the
• 36:40
  Speeches in Quantico by the by the president
• 36:44
  mostly the president, but I they talk a
• 36:46
  little bit about Hegseth as well A guy's
• 36:51
  name who wrote this is a guy named
• 36:54
  Vitaly room shin and he's a political analyst
• 36:58
  Kick out men in dresses fire fat generals
• 37:02
  shave off the beards scrap stealth ships their
• 37:05
  ugliest in Trump called them and bring back
• 37:09
  battleships heavy and proud That in essence was
• 37:14
  the message at Marine Corps base Quantico on
• 37:17
  September 30 where Donald Trump and his defense
• 37:20
  secretary Pete Hegseth gathered nearly 900 generals and
• 37:25
  admirals for what looked at first like theater
• 37:28
  You may turn out to be the beginning
• 37:31
  of a profound military revolution The generals were
• 37:36
  summoned suddenly with no agenda Anxiety spread through
• 37:41
  the ranks what followed was equal parts spectacle
• 37:45
  and purge Trump mocked the feminization of the
• 37:49
  armed forces scolded brass for their aesthetics and
• 37:52
  even complained in jest and grievance that the
• 37:56
  Nobel Company still hadn't recognized him Hegseth an
• 38:01
  outsider to military Establishment lectured officers on fitness
• 38:06
  and discipline sounding more like a high school
• 38:09
  coach than a Pentagon chief I kind of
• 38:13
  I can see that I listened to his
• 38:16
  his His speech and it was kind of
• 38:22
  that way But behind the absurdity was something
• 38:25
  more deliberate Trump made it clear He would
• 38:28
  fire anyone who crossed him if you don't
• 38:31
  like it you can leave He told the
• 38:34
  assembled officers, but you will lose your rank
• 38:37
  and your future I thought that was a
• 38:39
  good line.
• 38:39
  Actually then came the shock line American cities
• 38:43
  like Chicago He said could become training grounds
• 38:47
  for the army to fight against crime could
• 38:50
  be treated like war itself This is not
• 38:54
  just populist performance.
• 38:56
  It's a declaration of intent Trump wants to
• 38:59
  transform the US military into a force personally
• 39:03
  loyal to him Something he failed to do
• 39:06
  in his first term Then his plans were
• 39:09
  thwarted by a disobedient general staff that challenged
• 39:13
  him on everything from Afghanistan to NATO Some
• 39:16
  like General Mark Milley even made secret calls
• 39:19
  to China to reassure Beijing They would not
• 39:23
  execute Trump's orders Remember that that was a
• 39:26
  that was a scam then 2025 the president
• 39:29
  is determined not to repeat that Humiliation his
• 39:33
  choice of Hegseth untested and experienced, but loyal
• 39:37
  is no accident since January 15 senior officers
• 39:41
  have been dismissed for public disagreement with the
• 39:45
  new administration The message is clear dissent equals
• 39:49
  dismissal.
• 39:50
  Well I'm gonna stop right here for just
• 39:53
  a second because having served in the military
• 39:57
  If You come out as a military Commander
• 40:03
  or as anybody else and say that you
• 40:06
  are against what you're doing.
• 40:08
  That is not your place You are not
• 40:10
  permitted to disagree publicly with the commander-in
• 40:15
  -chief you can't do it and If you're
• 40:17
  a sergeant you disagreed with the command and
• 40:20
  said oh geez these guys are morons I
• 40:22
  can't you know I'm not gonna do what
• 40:24
  they say or I object to what they
• 40:26
  say or there ought to be something different
• 40:28
  Same things gonna happen to you.
• 40:30
  You're gonna get court-martialed.
• 40:32
  You have to follow the direction from above
• 40:35
  period so I don't see what the big
• 40:38
  deal is if Obama wanted to or Biden
• 40:43
  or whoever the Democrats wanted to honor admirals
• 40:46
  and dresses Fine you know I'm totally against
• 40:50
  that and I can say any time I
• 40:52
  want to you know I don't want to
• 40:54
  see in a male admiral wearing a dress.
• 40:56
  It's that's BS.
• 40:58
  I don't want to see it You can
• 41:00
  do that, but you don't get a claim.
• 41:03
  You're a woman and And and wear a
• 41:06
  dress when you're a man.
• 41:07
  It looks ridiculous, and and it's foolish That
• 41:11
  stuff needs to be kept out of the
• 41:14
  military you cannot You Let me ask you
• 41:19
  a question and and again Socratic method here
• 41:22
  think about this when you go to war
• 41:25
  Women have never been allowed in combat roles
• 41:28
  and that may have changed over the years
• 41:30
  I don't remember what the current stance is
• 41:32
  but but this is how I would take
• 41:34
  it back then if a woman Can't be
• 41:39
  put on the front lines Don't you think
• 41:43
  that there would be I mean assume that
• 41:46
  there's a certain percentage of cowards in the
• 41:49
  military or those who don't really want to
• 41:51
  be in a position to risk their lives
• 41:53
  they join the military for something other than
• 41:56
  going to war and didn't think they'd ever
• 41:58
  have to go to war and Then when
• 42:00
  time comes to go to war all the
• 42:02
  ones that are that are Don't want to
• 42:06
  agnostic or anti They then just claim that
• 42:12
  you're a woman and they can't be put
• 42:13
  you can't be put on the front line
• 42:14
  I mean I Don't the rules are just
• 42:19
  different and it's nonsense the the whole thing
• 42:22
  is nonsense And I don't know the right
• 42:25
  answer I wish I did, but I don't
• 42:27
  but I think the right answer is to
• 42:30
  is more on the traditional level of what
• 42:33
  it ought to be instead of Instead of
• 42:35
  saying that geez why don't we put this
• 42:37
  admiral in a dress and let him command
• 42:40
  a battleship?
• 42:42
  nonsense And if the battleship is going to
• 42:46
  war and you're gonna be on the front
• 42:48
  line It did does he still have to
• 42:51
  have to go there?
• 42:53
  I?
• 42:54
  Don't know the current rules of that so
• 42:55
  I probably shouldn't have gotten into that topic,
• 42:58
  but it's still BS and So at any
• 43:02
  rate the the last line was dissent equals
• 43:05
  dismissal Trump's reason reasoning is political as much
• 43:09
  as military his America is turning inward And
• 43:13
  he wants an army that reflects that shift
• 43:16
  the forthcoming defense strategy now being drafted reportedly
• 43:21
  calls for a large-scale redeployment of US
• 43:25
  forces Shuddering far-flung commands I agree with
• 43:29
  that completely Pulling troops out of Europe in
• 43:33
  the Middle East.
• 43:33
  I agree with that completely and Concentrating on
• 43:37
  homeland defense.
• 43:38
  I also agree with that completely The more
• 43:42
  startling implication is domestic Trump appears ready to
• 43:46
  use the armed forces to tackle internal crises
• 43:49
  from crime to political unrest under the guise
• 43:53
  of law and order The regular army not
• 43:57
  just a National Guard could supplement or even
• 44:01
  supplant the National Guard in enforcing federal authority
• 44:05
  This is a dangerous precedent I agree with
• 44:09
  that, but a politically potent one in Trump
• 44:13
  logic the United States itself Has become a
• 44:16
  battlefield its cities are overrun its institutions are
• 44:20
  infiltrated Infiltrated by leftist rot to restore strength
• 44:26
  the army must once again embody old style
• 44:30
  virtues discipline masculinity Hierarchy and patriotism.
• 44:36
  This is not merely about aesthetics or nostalgia
• 44:39
  It's about constructing a new civic religion one
• 44:44
  that merges militarism with nationalism Trump's Ministry of
• 44:49
  War as he now calls it will not
• 44:52
  just defend America.
• 44:53
  It will define it If the reforms do
• 44:57
  go ahead, they will mark the most radical
• 45:00
  re-imaging of the US military since World
• 45:04
  War two The generals who resist have already
• 45:08
  been told to take off their epaulets Those
• 45:12
  who remain must embrace an ideological makeover as
• 45:17
  much as a structural one well, I agree
• 45:19
  with that and You know, I think that
• 45:23
  is absolutely True for Russia and the wider
• 45:28
  world this moment matters Moscow's current military planning
• 45:33
  still assumes that the United States is the
• 45:36
  main external threat but if Washington truly Reorients
• 45:41
  inward if it abandons global policing roles and
• 45:45
  retreats from Europe The strategic map will shift
• 45:49
  for now though The meaning of Trump's Quantico
• 45:52
  address remains double-edged on one hand It
• 45:56
  looks like showbiz on the other It could
• 45:58
  be the opening act of something far more
• 46:01
  serious an attempt to turn America's military into
• 46:05
  a tool of domestic politics and ideological Conformity
• 46:10
  in that sense Trump's speech was not as
• 46:13
  incoherent as it seemed Beneath the bombast he
• 46:17
  outlined a vision of an America that fights
• 46:20
  less abroad But prepares constantly for war at
• 46:24
  home against crime disorder and dissent It is
• 46:28
  a dangerous idea But one that resonates deeply
• 46:31
  with Trump supporters the belief that strength not
• 46:35
  Diplomacy ensures peace that loyalty not competence holds
• 46:40
  Institutions together for the rest of the world,
• 46:44
  especially for Russia It may also signal a
• 46:47
  strange kind of opportunity if the United States
• 46:51
  chooses to turn its sword inward Others will
• 46:54
  have more room to act abroad But make
• 46:59
  no mistake when the most powerful army on
• 47:02
  the earth Starts purging its generals and turning
• 47:06
  its gaze homeward history rarely unfolds quietly I
• 47:13
  like that story Or that that article as
• 47:17
  I said, it was by Vitaly room shin
• 47:20
  and it was a good one There was
• 47:26
  one more that I wanted to share about
• 47:30
  About Why Western Europe?
• 47:34
  needs Russia as a permanent boogeyman and This
• 47:40
  was a person a person spoke at the
• 47:44
  Valdai Club his name is Timofei Bordachov, and
• 47:48
  he's the program director there and He basically
• 47:52
  has an article about creating or maintaining as
• 47:56
  usual Russia as the boogeyman if you're in
• 48:00
  The West, you know, especially Western Europe the
• 48:04
  West has mastered one art above all others
• 48:07
  manufacturing fear That's what caught my attention when
• 48:11
  I first started reading see whether I was
• 48:14
  going to read the article or not because
• 48:16
  I Agree with that sentiment.
• 48:19
  They are fear mongers where once it was
• 48:22
  pandemics or migrants now The supposed threat from
• 48:26
  Russia is Europe's new epidemic by conjuring external
• 48:30
  danger Western elites distract from their own economic
• 48:35
  failings and keep their voters in line In
• 48:39
  recent weeks authorities in Denmark Sweden Norway Germany
• 48:43
  in the Netherlands have reported Suspicious flying objects
• 48:48
  near airports and military bases, by the way
• 48:51
  They've outlawed it and taken a bunch of
• 48:53
  people into custody that have nothing to do
• 48:56
  with Russia But they're still passing around that
• 48:59
  Russia is the one You know that the
• 49:02
  the fight needs to be about Russia.
• 49:04
  Well, it could be Russia It's not but
• 49:07
  that because they cut they've arrested a bunch
• 49:09
  of other people locals that are creating problems
• 49:12
  and the the ones in Poland were all
• 49:15
  by Ukraine and Not didn't have anything to
• 49:18
  do with the Russian stuff and so but
• 49:20
  they're still pumping this Russia Russia Russia narrative
• 49:26
  Let's see Near airports and military bases fighter
• 49:32
  jets scrambled airport shut down balloons were mistaken
• 49:36
  for hostile drones and each Incident presented as
• 49:41
  if Europe stood on the brink of invasion
• 49:43
  The origins of these drones remain unclear but
• 49:47
  accusations flew instantly in one direction Toward Russia
• 49:52
  the reflex has become a habit each unexplained
• 49:56
  event No matter how trivial is inflated into
• 49:59
  a new pandemic of fear with Moscow as
• 50:03
  the culprit the immediate response is transparent to
• 50:09
  convince Washington that Europe faces imminent attack as
• 50:13
  therefore secure continued American support But beneath this
• 50:18
  is something quite a bit deeper in today's
• 50:21
  West Fear has become the primary currency of
• 50:26
  politics for at least 10 years Western European
• 50:30
  allies have perfected the trick of redirecting public
• 50:35
  discontent by inflating both real and imagined threats
• 50:40
  Migrants viruses Russia China the names change But
• 50:44
  the method endures the media allows authorities to
• 50:47
  spin any challenge into an existential emergency shifting
• 50:53
  public attention away from economic stagnation the migration
• 50:58
  panic of 2015 was the template Supposed hordes
• 51:03
  from Africa and the Middle East were cast
• 51:06
  as a mortal threat to Europe So frightening
• 51:09
  the government's reimposed border control Long absent under
• 51:14
  the Schengen system the eurozone debt crisis, which
• 51:18
  had exposed the EU's structural economic weakness faded
• 51:22
  conveniently from view Then came kovat 19 within
• 51:29
  weeks European governments had instilled perfect terror on
• 51:35
  their citizens who accepted sweeping restrictions on their
• 51:39
  freedoms and forgot their economic grievances it was
• 51:43
  from the standpoint of the elites an extraordinary
• 51:46
  success in 2022 Russia's military operation in Ukraine
• 51:51
  Provided the greatest gift of all this was
• 51:54
  not because the EU had the means or
• 51:57
  will to militarize it Doesn't but the conflict
• 52:00
  handed ruling circles a ready-made focus for
• 52:05
  public anger Everything could be blamed on Moscow
• 52:10
  inflation stagnation Insecurity fear of Russia has become
• 52:15
  the latest pandemic and it's a very reliable
• 52:18
  one The results are visible at the ballot
• 52:21
  box in recent elections across Germany France in
• 52:24
  the UK Voters responded not to visions of
• 52:27
  growth or reform but to narratives of danger
• 52:30
  European elites helpless in the face of economic
• 52:33
  challenges Nonetheless managed to secure the votes of
• 52:37
  two-thirds of their electorate by manipulating fear
• 52:42
  It is the opposite of the satire and
• 52:44
  don't look up.
• 52:46
  Do you remember that film?
• 52:46
  I really love that film if you haven't
• 52:49
  watched it you should it's an end-of
• 52:51
  -the-world film and it's a Pretty good
• 52:54
  one But it does have Leonardo DiCaprio.
• 52:57
  I have brothers and sisters.
• 52:59
  I'll watch that guy too political I don't
• 53:01
  give a crap about any of that I
• 53:03
  watch movies because I like the movie and
• 53:05
  I don't pay any attention to whatever actor
• 53:08
  has whatever politics for the most part in
• 53:13
  the film Don't look up citizens deny that
• 53:16
  an asteroid is plainly visible above them in
• 53:20
  the real West Voters are pressured to look
• 53:22
  only at external danger and never at the
• 53:25
  crisis beneath their own feet inflation inequality Stagnant
• 53:29
  growth the pattern is clear refugees pandemics Moscow
• 53:34
  Beijing The threat always comes from elsewhere never
• 53:38
  from domestic mismanagement and the response is always
• 53:43
  the same Political distraction and more control the
• 53:48
  cycle shows no sign of ending in America
• 53:51
  either by the way if the conflict with
• 53:53
  Russia de-escalates without Catastrophe another fear will
• 53:58
  be found Artificial intelligence is already becoming a
• 54:02
  candidate discussions of AI replacing humans in every
• 54:06
  field are exaggerated but they provide Fertile ground
• 54:11
  for another panic one can already imagine the
• 54:15
  appeals switch off your phones protect your children
• 54:18
  Obey the experts citizens conditioned by years of
• 54:22
  pandemics will likely comply This is not necessarily
• 54:27
  the product of a detailed conspiracy Western societies
• 54:31
  have grown accustomed to panic fear has become
• 54:34
  part of their Psychological defense system a way
• 54:38
  to avoid confronting reality that elections bring no
• 54:42
  real change That's a hell of a reality
• 54:45
  and I kind of agree with it compared
• 54:47
  with the past revolutions wars mass bloodshed Today's
• 54:52
  manipulation of fear might seem benign it avoids
• 54:56
  violence at least for now But it is
• 54:59
  no less corrosive a citizenry trapped in endless
• 55:03
  cycles of panic Cannot think about solutions only
• 55:07
  about survival and ideas suppressed for far for
• 55:11
  too long Have a way of exploding in
• 55:14
  ways the elites cannot predict Western Europe once
• 55:18
  styled itself as a beacon of freedom and
• 55:22
  democracy today it governs through fear of migrants
• 55:27
  of diseases of Russia of Technology itself it
• 55:31
  is a fragile arrangement Masking a deeper decay
• 55:35
  and while it may succeed in the short
• 55:38
  run the long-term Consequences could be far
• 55:42
  more destabilizing than the crises the elites claim
• 55:45
  to ward off I'm glad I shared that
• 55:49
  article with you.
• 55:50
  I think it's quite appropriate you know, there's
• 55:56
  Keeping the Russian boogeyman, you know is always
• 56:01
  Something they like to do You know in
• 56:05
  recent weeks European political leaders And their disputes
• 56:11
  with Russia flare up once more drones in
• 56:15
  Poland I mean you've heard all those stories
• 56:17
  alleged violation of Estonian airspace.
• 56:20
  You've heard all of that calls from European
• 56:24
  Politicians.
• 56:24
  Yeah, if you haven't seen the articles, you
• 56:27
  got to go out and look for him
• 56:28
  because these people are talking about shooting down
• 56:32
  Russian aircraft you know that that Cross a
• 56:37
  line.
• 56:38
  They're talking about extending an umbrella of air
• 56:42
  defense over Ukraine against against Russia all because
• 56:47
  they saw some Drones nobody knows from where
• 56:52
  flying over Denmark It's nonsense.
• 56:56
  It's a you know more and more about
• 56:59
  The Russian threat, you know, they have their
• 57:02
  own insecurity problems in the EU with the
• 57:05
  u.s Especially saying it's gonna reduce its
• 57:09
  profile in Europe and reducing security guarantees The
• 57:13
  blocks governments, you know, they're grasping it the
• 57:18
  same old story Russia Russia Russia The Russian
• 57:23
  threat is imminent and Russia's gonna it's the
• 57:26
  same old myth that has been around in
• 57:29
  Europe for more than 500 years it tells
• 57:33
  people about Western Europe's cowardice and greed than
• 57:36
  about Russia itself to realities there are Washington
• 57:43
  You know Wants to underwrite European defense but
• 57:48
  not so much anymore it's toning down and
• 57:52
  then There's a Talk that direct military aid
• 57:58
  is you know?
• 58:01
  NATO Eastern Europe or all of Europe is
• 58:04
  being scaled back.
• 58:05
  So that's pretty frightening to everybody in Western
• 58:09
  Europe and so those elites in Baltics in
• 58:13
  especially in former Soviet Republic's This could be
• 58:16
  a nightmare for them.
• 58:17
  Their foreign policy is always revolved around provoking
• 58:20
  Russia and getting more Western resources That's what
• 58:24
  it is and EU has no alternative strategy
• 58:28
  of any kind They can't come up with
• 58:31
  any sort of policy.
• 58:32
  That isn't Anti-russia and they can't work
• 58:36
  with Russia.
• 58:37
  They'll never do it.
• 58:38
  It's nonsense I mean, it's ironic really Russia
• 58:41
  doesn't have any interest in punishing smaller neighbors
• 58:46
  Moscow doesn't seek revenge For you know, whatever
• 58:50
  happened after the collapse of Soviet Union They
• 58:53
  don't run revenge upon the Baltics Poland Finland
• 58:57
  even even Ukraine I Don't know but but
• 59:02
  in the West they just continue to hold
• 59:04
  on to this Russian aggression myth and talk
• 59:08
  about where it goes the the Russophobia is
• 59:13
  alive and well and the roots of it
• 59:17
  really Started in the 15th century historians traced
• 59:23
  this to the cowardice of the Baltic barons
• 59:26
  and the Opportunism of German knights in Livonia
• 59:31
  and Prussia in the 1480s Poland's Kings considered
• 59:35
  sending knights south to fight the expanding of
• 59:39
  the Ottoman Empire And so remember I talk
• 59:43
  about this all the time the the Central
• 59:46
  Europe Eastern Europe especially but Central Europe too
• 59:50
  Has always been overrun back and forth by
• 59:54
  all kinds of different activities and in the
• 59:56
  1480s They they were sent Poland wanted to
• 1:00:00
  send knights south to fight the Ottoman Empire
• 1:00:04
  But the plan terrified them for centuries.
• 1:00:07
  They had lived comfortably in the Baltics bullying
• 1:00:11
  the local population and Skirmishing with Russian militias
• 1:00:15
  with little risk facing the Turks was quite
• 1:00:19
  another matter the memory of Necropolis where Ottoman
• 1:00:24
  forces executed nearly all the captured Knights was
• 1:00:28
  still pretty fresh So unwilling to face a
• 1:00:31
  war the Livonian and Prussian Knights launched a
• 1:00:34
  propaganda campaign Their aim was to convince the
• 1:00:38
  rest of Europe that Russia was in danger
• 1:00:40
  was as dangerous as or more Dangerous than
• 1:00:44
  the Turks if this was successful they could
• 1:00:48
  keep their own privileges at home avoid Ottoman
• 1:00:51
  Empire and secure papal approval To treat their
• 1:00:56
  border clashes with Russians as a holy war
• 1:00:59
  and that strategy worked Rome granted indulgence and
• 1:01:04
  support ensured that Knights could stay put while
• 1:01:07
  enjoying the prestige of Crusaders as Historian Marina
• 1:01:12
  best Sud Nova says in 1528 The while
• 1:01:18
  her chronicle the the wonderful story of the
• 1:01:21
  struggle of the Livonian land graves against the
• 1:01:24
  Russians and tutors Provided a finishing touches on
• 1:01:27
  this propaganda the Baltic barons private letters contain
• 1:01:31
  no mention of a Russian threat The danger
• 1:01:34
  was never real on the ground only in
• 1:01:37
  the stories.
• 1:01:38
  They sold to Europe but the myth was
• 1:01:40
  born a Fusion of fear convenience and profit
• 1:01:44
  and over time Western Europe particularly France in
• 1:01:47
  England Absorbed it into a broader Russophobia equal
• 1:01:52
  parts contempt and Anxiety over a vast Empire.
• 1:01:57
  They could not conquer nor ignore So this
• 1:02:02
  has been going on for geez five six
• 1:02:04
  hundred years today's history is repeating itself once
• 1:02:07
  again Russia's neighbors anxious and insecure seek protection
• 1:02:12
  from a distant patron preoccupied with larger challenges
• 1:02:17
  That's us the u.s. Five centuries ago.
• 1:02:20
  The Ottomans consumed Europe's attention today is China
• 1:02:24
  The true strategic rival of the United States
• 1:02:28
  for Eastern Europe elites little has changed They
• 1:02:32
  cannot imagine a political identity without playing the
• 1:02:35
  role of the frontier victim Their economies and
• 1:02:39
  influence are too limited to matter on their
• 1:02:42
  own So they inflate a scepter of a
• 1:02:46
  specter I'm sorry of Russian aggression in order
• 1:02:49
  to remain relevant to Washington and to Brussels
• 1:02:52
  that I believe this That's why I'm sharing
• 1:02:55
  this with you I think this is absolutely
• 1:02:57
  true Russia doesn't want to take over any
• 1:02:59
  of these people never has and They just
• 1:03:02
  want the parts of Ukraine to be treated
• 1:03:05
  fairly and and I if if if Trump
• 1:03:11
  or Zelensky the old Z monster anything focused
• 1:03:15
  on the root causes of this Ukraine war
• 1:03:19
  It would be over if they took care
• 1:03:23
  of those things, you know, you don't get
• 1:03:24
  to have Russophobia You don't get to destroy
• 1:03:27
  your own populace because they happen to speak
• 1:03:29
  another language you don't get to do that
• 1:03:32
  and Quit quit saying we're going to attack
• 1:03:35
  Eastern Europe because everything you do is Like
• 1:03:40
  like tomahawk missiles, you know giving them to
• 1:03:43
  Kiev.
• 1:03:43
  That's nonsense, by the way But when you
• 1:03:47
  do and I have a story on that
• 1:03:49
  I want to get to as well, but
• 1:03:50
  it's this continued Specter of Russian aggression that
• 1:03:54
  is the most relevant to keep Washington and
• 1:03:58
  Brussels pumping the cash into Ukraine Trump and
• 1:04:02
  his team Have said repeatedly that Russia has
• 1:04:06
  no intention of attacking the EU Moscow has
• 1:04:10
  no desire nor need to seize the Baltics
• 1:04:14
  or Poland in the 15th century Ivan the
• 1:04:19
  third was concerned with merchant rights and economic
• 1:04:22
  relations not with conquest for conquest sake Today
• 1:04:26
  Russia's goals are equally pragmatic.
• 1:04:29
  They want stability Sovereignty and fair relations with
• 1:04:33
  their neighbors The contrast with Poland is instructive
• 1:04:38
  in the 15th century Poland agitated for war
• 1:04:41
  with Russia in the 21st century.
• 1:04:43
  It has chosen a more cautious course focusing
• 1:04:47
  on steady economic growth and avoiding Reckless entanglements
• 1:04:51
  unlike the Baltics Warsaw has built Warsaw has
• 1:04:55
  built real weight in European politics that success
• 1:04:59
  has made it a target of Envy in
• 1:05:02
  Berlin Paris and London who would prefer Poland
• 1:05:06
  to be dragged into an open confrontation with
• 1:05:10
  Russia But so far Poland's refusal to adopt
• 1:05:14
  the euro has given it resilience Limiting the
• 1:05:17
  leverage of Germany in France Washington too is
• 1:05:21
  reluctant to risk a European conflict that would
• 1:05:24
  detract from its priorities in the Pacific for
• 1:05:28
  these reasons the direct Scenarios may yet be
• 1:05:32
  avoided the myth of the Russian threat was
• 1:05:36
  not born of Russian ambition, but of broader
• 1:05:40
  at European cowardice and greed Baltic Knights in
• 1:05:44
  the 15th century created the threat to save
• 1:05:48
  themselves from fighting the Turks European elites in
• 1:05:52
  the 21st century perpetuated to cover for their
• 1:05:56
  own weakness and Irrelevance what began as propaganda
• 1:06:00
  in Cologne in?
• 1:06:02
  1508 still shapes Western European discourse, but myths
• 1:06:08
  cannot change reality Russia does not seek conflict
• 1:06:12
  it seeks only to secure its interests just
• 1:06:16
  as Russia did and Ivan the Third's days
• 1:06:19
  the tragedy for the EU is that in
• 1:06:22
  clinging to an invented Danger it blinds itself
• 1:06:27
  to real challenges Mostly economic and in doing
• 1:06:32
  so it risks repeating the same mistakes that
• 1:06:35
  have haunted its politics for half a millennium
• 1:06:39
  and you know I wanted to share that
• 1:06:43
  with you because I think that The politics
• 1:06:50
  and I talked about this when I did
• 1:06:52
  my from my from Lithuania several weeks ago
• 1:06:57
  show that The the threat the discussions that
• 1:07:03
  all Russia's come and Russia's coming you hear
• 1:07:05
  it on the street I mean, it's nonsensical
• 1:07:08
  and People you know there were people there
• 1:07:11
  that did speak or most of them do
• 1:07:13
  speak Russian, but they want to talk about
• 1:07:15
  that that fear of the boogeyman It absolutely
• 1:07:20
  exists in Russia or not in Russia in
• 1:07:24
  Eastern Europe it is alive and Well, let's
• 1:07:34
  see I already shared with you the Nobel
• 1:07:37
  There were two stories by That had to
• 1:07:41
  do with Orban and I Liked both of
• 1:07:46
  these they can one of them Let's see
• 1:07:53
  the Hungarian foreign minister has said that Zelensky
• 1:07:57
  has lost his sense of reality and He
• 1:08:01
  has no power to decide whether his country
• 1:08:03
  will be admitted to the EU Because there's
• 1:08:07
  a veto power is what he's talking about
• 1:08:09
  and he said that Vladimir Zelensky had completely
• 1:08:14
  lost his sense of reality If he thinks
• 1:08:18
  he can decide whether his country will be
• 1:08:20
  admitted to the EU and that was Hungarian
• 1:08:23
  foreign minister Peter Szijjarto Because the EU granted
• 1:08:28
  Kiev candidacy in 2022 and set a 2030
• 1:08:33
  Target For Kiev to become a member, right?
• 1:08:39
  Budapest has consistently opposed the move and said
• 1:08:44
  that it would escalate tensions with Russia and
• 1:08:47
  Saddle the bloc's taxpayers for decades of military
• 1:08:51
  aid Zelensky claimed that Hungary is obstructing his
• 1:08:58
  Ukraine's accession Because Prime Minister Orban is using
• 1:09:02
  criticism of the EU and Ukraine to boost
• 1:09:06
  his electoral prospects and so Zelensky says Ukraine
• 1:09:12
  has become one of the tools with which
• 1:09:16
  Orban can increase his party's popularity and Szijjarto
• 1:09:21
  ridiculed Zelensky's claim Last week, I think the
• 1:09:26
  Ukrainian leader has completely lost his sense of
• 1:09:29
  reality and maybe that explains Why he is
• 1:09:32
  saying such crazy things Said Szijjarto, who becomes
• 1:09:36
  a member is not decided by those who
• 1:09:39
  want in But by those who are already
• 1:09:42
  in and it has to be decided unanimously
• 1:09:46
  So as long as not everyone agrees that
• 1:09:49
  someone should become a member They will not
• 1:09:52
  become a member it is not rocket science
• 1:09:56
  Szijjarto also said that Hungarians have already made
• 1:09:59
  their choice a national referendum in June Showed
• 1:10:03
  more than 2 million voters or 95%
• 1:10:06
  of them reject EU I'm sorry Reject Ukraine
• 1:10:11
  being in the EU and Hungary is not
• 1:10:14
  alone in opposing Ukraine being in the EU
• 1:10:17
  Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said several Polish
• 1:10:22
  officials have raised objections a recent Ibris poll
• 1:10:27
  showed only 35% of polls support Ukraine's
• 1:10:31
  EU bid down from 85% in 2022
• 1:10:35
  a Eurobarometer poll last month found that just
• 1:10:39
  28% of checks Back Ukraine in a
• 1:10:43
  session and more than half the populations of
• 1:10:46
  France and Austria also oppose it and Moscow
• 1:10:52
  has previously been neutral on Kiev being in
• 1:10:55
  the EU Saying Ukraine had a sovereign right
• 1:10:57
  to join if the bloc stayed focused on
• 1:11:00
  economics But it has grown more critical amid
• 1:11:03
  Brussels militarization with officials warning at the EU
• 1:11:07
  Has become no less of a threat to
• 1:11:11
  Russia than NATO and I agree It's almost
• 1:11:15
  a synonymous comment anymore if you talk about
• 1:11:19
  the EU you might as well have it
• 1:11:21
  be synonymous with With NATO and I shared
• 1:11:25
  an article with you.
• 1:11:27
  Oh I think it last week about the
• 1:11:30
  EU trying hard to bend the rules For
• 1:11:33
  Ukraine in Moldova admission, I think I shared
• 1:11:37
  most of it with you before But it
• 1:11:39
  has to do with You know the EU
• 1:11:43
  geniuses adjusting the rules in order to push
• 1:11:47
  ahead to admit Ukraine in Moldova and bypassing
• 1:11:51
  hungry Hungary's veto and that will stall formal
• 1:11:57
  accession talks with Kiev that was out of
• 1:11:59
  Financial Times last week But no negotiation cluster
• 1:12:04
  has been open for Ukraine because Hungary has
• 1:12:07
  repeatedly vetoed the procedural steps required to launch
• 1:12:11
  the first one Budapest consistently opposes Ukraine's EU
• 1:12:16
  membership and they cite kids treatment of ethnic
• 1:12:19
  Hungarians the potential Economic strain that Ukrainian accession
• 1:12:24
  would entail for the entire block quite true
• 1:12:27
  By the way, the Ukraine can't pay for
• 1:12:29
  anything right now That's why they're threatening to
• 1:12:31
  steal half of Russia's money out of that
• 1:12:35
  that they Blocked they've already given Kiev loans
• 1:12:39
  and backed it by interest Saying the Russians
• 1:12:42
  can't earn their own interest of the money.
• 1:12:45
  They're they're they're pushing people further and further
• 1:12:48
  out of Western sanction style Governance, it's it's
• 1:12:54
  really not good What they are doing Sorry
• 1:13:02
  about that had to take a little sip
• 1:13:04
  of my coffee.
• 1:13:05
  It is decaf because it's late at night
• 1:13:09
  Budapest consistently opposes Ukraine membership and they cite
• 1:13:14
  gives treatment of ethnic Hungarians I've shared that
• 1:13:18
  information with you before that they're consistently doing
• 1:13:22
  the same thing to Hungarians and maximizing their
• 1:13:27
  Mobilization efforts in Hungarian regions so that Hungarians
• 1:13:32
  can be put on the front lines fighting
• 1:13:35
  the Russians According to The Financial Times the
• 1:13:42
  European Commission has proposed adjusting its own rules
• 1:13:45
  to sidestep the veto by launching a technical
• 1:13:49
  work in several clusters even without a formal
• 1:13:52
  decision to open negotiation a Negotiation cluster is
• 1:13:57
  a group of related policy areas that a
• 1:13:59
  candidate country must negotiate as part of the
• 1:14:02
  accession process and Brussels back to European Council
• 1:14:06
  President Antonio Costas planned to bypass Budapest veto
• 1:14:11
  by allowing a qualified majority of member states
• 1:14:14
  to open negotiating clusters for Ukraine and Moldova
• 1:14:19
  instead of requiring unanimous approval at each stage,
• 1:14:23
  which is required now and There's another article
• 1:14:28
  and I you know That that talks on
• 1:14:31
  this same topic that the EU cannot override
• 1:14:35
  Hungary's veto said the Germans and The EU
• 1:14:39
  leadership has yet to devise a way to
• 1:14:41
  overcome Hungary's veto And I do Walt said
• 1:14:46
  there deep.
• 1:14:47
  What's the name of that DW?
• 1:14:49
  It's not too wild I think it's dear
• 1:14:51
  to white or something like that But I
• 1:14:53
  can't remember unlike that's the name of publication
• 1:14:56
  unlike most other EU member states Hungary consistently
• 1:15:00
  refuses to provide weapons to Ukraine and Criticizes
• 1:15:05
  the bloc sanctions against Russia Budapest also as
• 1:15:09
  opposed to the prospect of Kiev join the
• 1:15:13
  EU I'm telling you Orban also said that
• 1:15:18
  the potential of a collapse of the EU
• 1:15:23
  is coming the EU is on the verge
• 1:15:26
  of collapse said Orban and will not survive
• 1:15:30
  beyond the next decade without a fundamental structural
• 1:15:35
  overhaul and Disentanglement from Ukraine said Victor Orban
• 1:15:43
  speaking at the annual civic picnic Orban said
• 1:15:47
  the EU has failed to meet its founding
• 1:15:49
  ambition of Becoming a global power and cannot
• 1:15:54
  handle current challenges due to the absence of
• 1:15:57
  a common fiscal policy he describes the block
• 1:16:01
  is entering a phase of chaotic and costly
• 1:16:06
  Disintegration and warned that the 28 2028 to
• 1:16:10
  2035 EU budget could be the last if
• 1:16:14
  nothing changes the EU is currently on The
• 1:16:19
  verge of falling apart and has entered a
• 1:16:22
  state of Fragmentations if it continues like this
• 1:16:26
  it will go down in history as the
• 1:16:28
  depressing end result of a once noble experiment
• 1:16:33
  said Orban he proposed transforming the EU into
• 1:16:38
  Concentric circles, this is interesting the outer ring
• 1:16:42
  would include countries cooperating in military and energy
• 1:16:46
  security the second circle would compromise or Comprise
• 1:16:51
  common market members and the third would contain
• 1:16:54
  those sharing the same currency while the innermost
• 1:16:57
  would include members Seeking deeper political alignment in
• 1:17:02
  Orban's view this would broaden cooperation without Restricting
• 1:17:07
  development an interesting idea this means that we're
• 1:17:11
  in the same car We have the same
• 1:17:14
  gearbox But we want to move at a
• 1:17:16
  different pace if we can switch to this
• 1:17:19
  system the great idea of the European cooperation
• 1:17:22
  can survive Orban accuses Brussels of over reliance
• 1:17:28
  on common debt and of using the Ukraine
• 1:17:31
  debt as a Pretext to continue this policy
• 1:17:35
  as long as the Russia-Ukraine conflict lasts
• 1:17:39
  The EU will remain a lame-duck dependent
• 1:17:43
  on the US for security and unable to
• 1:17:46
  act independently in economic affairs Orban suggested instead
• 1:17:51
  of lobbying in Washington the EU should go
• 1:17:56
  to Moscow to pursue a security agreement with
• 1:17:59
  Russia followed by an economic deal Orban is
• 1:18:05
  not alone in his concerns Analysts from the
• 1:18:09
  International Monetary Fund that genius outfit and other
• 1:18:14
  institutions have warned that the EU risks stagnation
• 1:18:18
  and even collapse due to structural challenges weak
• 1:18:22
  growth poor investment high energy cost and geopolitical
• 1:18:28
  tensions the way to fix it is Get
• 1:18:35
  rid of the Ukraine conflict and stop focusing
• 1:18:38
  on Unprofitable war hopefully the US pays attention
• 1:18:43
  to that and gets to flip out of
• 1:18:46
  it I Think there well there was another
• 1:18:52
  summit that came up, and it was just
• 1:18:55
  last week there was a CIS summit and
• 1:19:00
  again the focus was on the multipolar revolution
• 1:19:04
  and you know The Alliance everyone forgot is
• 1:19:11
  shaping erases future and think about this and
• 1:19:15
  when's the last time you heard of the
• 1:19:18
  CIS It's been some time I mean it's
• 1:19:23
  out there it always has been out there
• 1:19:25
  the CIS is the Commonwealth of independent states
• 1:19:32
  and it basically came out when The
• 1:19:42
  Soviet Union collapsed right and the the Democrat
• 1:19:49
  I'm sorry the the Darn it.
• 1:19:55
  I lost my page here the CIS is
• 1:20:02
  Commonwealth of independent states and And Hang on
• 1:20:07
  a second.
• 1:20:08
  I have to get this typed correctly M
• 1:20:14
  -e-m-b-e-r-s.
• 1:20:16
  I can't type and so I can't do
• 1:20:19
  two things at the same time So the
• 1:20:23
  Commonwealth of independent states is a regional intergovernment
• 1:20:27
  Organization in Eurasia it was formed following the
• 1:20:32
  dissolution of the Soviet Union It has an
• 1:20:36
  estimated population of 246 million people the CIS
• 1:20:41
  encourages cooperation in economic political Military affairs and
• 1:20:47
  it has certain powers relating to coordination of
• 1:20:49
  trade finance lawmaking security the Soviet Union When
• 1:20:57
  it was disintegrating Belarus Russia and Ukraine Signed
• 1:21:01
  the bill of Asia Belovedja Accords on 8
• 1:21:05
  December 1991 and they declared that the Union
• 1:21:09
  had effectively ceased to exist and Proclaimed the
• 1:21:13
  Commonwealth of Independence in its of independent states
• 1:21:17
  in its place on the 20 First of
• 1:21:21
  December the Almaty protocol was signed But Estonia
• 1:21:27
  Latvia and Lithuania chose not to participate Georgia
• 1:21:31
  withdrew from membership in 2008 following a war
• 1:21:34
  with Russia Ukraine ended its participation in 2018
• 1:21:41
  Although it had stopped participating in the organization
• 1:21:44
  in 2014 after Russia there was a Russia
• 1:21:51
  took over Ukraine after the Referendum following the
• 1:21:56
  2022 Russian Activities in Ukraine Moldova also said
• 1:22:06
  it was going to progressively withdraw from the
• 1:22:09
  CIS Eight of the nine CIS member states
• 1:22:13
  participate in what's called the CIS free trade
• 1:22:17
  area three organizations or Oregon really that originated
• 1:22:22
  from the CIS the collective security treaty organization
• 1:22:26
  The Eurasian Economic Union and the Eurasian Customs
• 1:22:31
  Union Are now available Well, there's also a
• 1:22:37
  military thing called the I forget what it's
• 1:22:40
  called Union Union State Eurasian space I can't
• 1:22:46
  remember but there is another Another part of
• 1:22:51
  it, but what's What's interesting is that people
• 1:22:56
  haven't paid much attention to the CIS lately
• 1:23:00
  and last week there was a Summit for
• 1:23:05
  the CIS in Dushanbe The kind of ceremony
• 1:23:11
  that has come to define the Commonwealth of
• 1:23:14
  Independent States summits flags and marble halls delegations
• 1:23:19
  moving quietly between constant consultations Cameras, you know
• 1:23:24
  everywhere as the leaders of the Commonwealth gathered
• 1:23:27
  once again But this time the tone is
• 1:23:31
  different The meeting was more than a routine
• 1:23:35
  round of protocol It reflected shifts in how
• 1:23:37
  the group sees itself not as a post
• 1:23:40
  -soviet leftover But as an emerging instrument of
• 1:23:44
  Eurasian diplomacy more than 30 years after it
• 1:23:47
  was created The CIS is beginning to find
• 1:23:51
  a new purpose they're coordinating trade Infrastructure and
• 1:23:55
  security across a region that stretches far beyond
• 1:23:58
  the boundaries of the former USSR the Dushanbe
• 1:24:03
  summit made that transformation quite visible and it
• 1:24:07
  suggests that Eurasia's political center of gravity might
• 1:24:12
  once again be moving further east Not every
• 1:24:16
  post-soviet capital chose to attend Moldova under
• 1:24:21
  President Maya Sandu left its seat empty and
• 1:24:25
  continues to boycott CIS meetings But they remain
• 1:24:29
  a formal member.
• 1:24:30
  The contradiction is telling Kishinev talks of leaving
• 1:24:35
  but stopped short of withdrawing Aware that cutting
• 1:24:39
  ties would unravel the trade labor and transport
• 1:24:42
  agreement that still connected to the region's economy
• 1:24:47
  Ukraine follows the same pattern though not though
• 1:24:51
  it long ago halted participation in the CIS
• 1:24:54
  Give remains bound by dozens of technical and
• 1:24:57
  humanitarian accords that it has never revoked since
• 1:25:02
  2022 Zelensky's administration has tried to build alternative
• 1:25:05
  frameworks of Cooperation across the post-soviet space
• 1:25:10
  with little success for most regional Governments the
• 1:25:15
  the calculus is stagnant ideological Posturing brings no
• 1:25:22
  dividend while cooperation with the CIS still delivers
• 1:25:26
  tangible benefits in trade Infrastructure and energy the
• 1:25:30
  Dushanbe summit reaffirmed that logic even as some
• 1:25:33
  states Symbolically turn away the gravitational pull of
• 1:25:37
  the shared interests still hold One of the
• 1:25:42
  most clearly watched moments of Dushanbe summit was
• 1:25:46
  the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ilham Alayev
• 1:25:54
  their first meeting since the tragic crash of
• 1:25:58
  an Azov passenger plane in Russian airspace Last
• 1:26:02
  December the incident which occurred near Grozny on
• 1:26:06
  the day of the previous informal Gathering fueled
• 1:26:10
  speculation about tension between Moscow and Baku But
• 1:26:15
  in Dushanbe these doubts were laid to rest
• 1:26:20
  Putin reaffirmed his condolences and stressed that the
• 1:26:24
  investigation into the crash Remains under his personal
• 1:26:28
  supervision.
• 1:26:29
  He noted that the aircraft had not been
• 1:26:32
  struck by Russian air defense But damaged by
• 1:26:35
  debris from an intercepted object one of several
• 1:26:39
  Ukrainian drones Operating in the area at the
• 1:26:43
  time Russian leaders comments and Alayev's public acknowledgment
• 1:26:48
  of Moscow's transparent handling of the case Signal
• 1:26:51
  that both sides have chosen to treat the
• 1:26:54
  episode not as a political rupture, but as
• 1:26:57
  a shared Tragedy so for months Kiev's media
• 1:27:01
  outlets have tried to exploit this disaster to
• 1:27:05
  drive a wedge between Russia and Azerbaijan and
• 1:27:10
  Azerbaijan's cooperation has grown markedly with Russia in
• 1:27:14
  energy logistics and cultural affairs The meeting in
• 1:27:18
  Dushanbe showed that the relationship not only survived
• 1:27:21
  the shock of the plane attack But emerged
• 1:27:24
  stronger grounded in pragmatism and mutual respect Rather
• 1:27:28
  than fleeting emotions as Putin later put it
• 1:27:32
  The two countries had experienced not a crisis
• 1:27:35
  of relations, but a crisis of emotions the
• 1:27:39
  distinct capture the distinction Captures the essence of
• 1:27:44
  Russia's regional diplomacy steady methodical and resilient under
• 1:27:49
  pressure It's Quite a
• 1:27:58
  positive organization this CIS Dushanbe summit underscores how
• 1:28:07
  far the CIS has moved beyond its original
• 1:28:11
  Boundaries once confined to post-soviet affairs it
• 1:28:15
  is now increasingly serving as a diplomatic Interface
• 1:28:19
  through which Russia connects its Eurasian partners to
• 1:28:22
  the wider world I'm telling you it's a
• 1:28:25
  it's a it is a pretty big deal
• 1:28:28
  The Dushanbe summit made one thing clear the
• 1:28:31
  CIS has entered a new phase of political
• 1:28:34
  maturity it has the Capability to strength regional
• 1:28:40
  agenda coordinate economic development and Even mediate global
• 1:28:46
  tensions the launch of the CIS plus framework
• 1:28:49
  and deepening chives with the Shanghai cooperation organization
• 1:28:53
  They met jointly last time remember and broadening
• 1:28:58
  the dialogue of international security all point to
• 1:29:00
  the same Conclusion the CIS is not looking
• 1:29:04
  backwards.
• 1:29:05
  It's redefining Eurasian cooperation on its own terms
• 1:29:10
  pragmatic Multidimensional and free from external manipulation Well
• 1:29:17
  folks, I think that's gonna be it for
• 1:29:21
  tonight.
• 1:29:22
  I I Think there that there's a couple
• 1:29:26
  more articles.
• 1:29:27
  I wanted to get into but I believe
• 1:29:29
  I will save them for tomorrow Night, I
• 1:29:32
  very much appreciate your participation.
• 1:29:35
  You can always listen to my shows at
• 1:29:39
  International flavor calm and all past podcasts of
• 1:29:44
  everyone on this wonderful station are at demradio
• 1:29:48
  .com forward slash Podcasts, thank you for coming
• 1:29:53
  and have a very good night We don't
• 1:29:58
  play all music only good music weird damn
• 1:30:02
  radio
• 1:30:08
  I
• 1:30:47
  Oh
• 1:32:25
  Oh
• 1:34:28
  Oh Oh
• 1:41:16
  Oh
• 1:41:59
  Oh
• 1:44:37
  Oh
• 1:45:13
  Oh Just
• 1:45:44
  jealous
• 1:46:13
  I
• 1:46:47
  can't Still thinking about, not loving about it
• 1:46:57
  Outside looking in, still talking about, not stepping
• 1:47:02
  around it Maybe I don't wanna take advice
• 1:47:10
  from fools I just figure everything is cool
• 1:47:55
  I don't wanna take advice from fools I
• 1:47:59
  just figure everything is cool I don't wanna
• 1:48:04
  take advice from fools I just figure everything
• 1:48:08
  is cool Where I
• 1:48:10
  come
• 1:48:40
  from isn't all that great My automobile is
• 1:48:44
  a piece of crap My fashion sense is
• 1:48:47
  a little wack And my friends are just
• 1:48:49
  as creepy as me I didn't go to
• 1:48:52
  bullying schools Clippy girls never looked at me
• 1:48:56
  Why should they?
• 1:48:58
  I ain't nobody, got nothing in my pocket
• 1:49:00
  Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be
• 1:49:08
  I'm living in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, where
• 1:49:15
  I can still have a day I'm living
• 1:49:18
  in Beverly Hills Look at all those movie
• 1:49:25
  stars They're all so beautiful and clean When
• 1:49:29
  the housemates rub the floors They get the
• 1:49:32
  spaces in between I wanna live a life
• 1:49:36
  like that I wanna be just like the
• 1:49:39
  king Take my picture by the pool Cause
• 1:49:43
  I'm the next big thing Beverly Hills, that's
• 1:49:48
  where I want to be I'm living in
• 1:49:54
  Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, where I can still
• 1:50:00
  have a day I'm living in Beverly Hills
• 1:50:28
  The truth is, I don't stand a chance
• 1:50:33
  It's something that you're born into And I
• 1:50:37
  just don't belong No I don't, I'm just
• 1:50:40
  a no class beat down fool And I
• 1:50:43
  will always be that way I might as
• 1:50:46
  well enjoy my life and watch the stars
• 1:50:49
  I'm living in Beverly Hills That's where I
• 1:50:54
  want to be I'm living in Beverly Hills
• 1:51:01
  Beverly Hills, where I can still have a
• 1:51:06
  day I'm living in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills
• 1:51:14
  Beverly Hills I'm
• 1:51:29
  living in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills I'm living
• 1:51:32
  in Beverly Hills Damn radio, damn
• 1:51:41
  fun.
• 1:52:24
  And I wonder what it is I should
• 1:52:27
  do.
• 1:52:28
  It's so hard to keep that smile from
• 1:52:30
  my face.
• 1:52:32
  Losing control and I'm all over the place.
• 1:52:37
  Clowns to the left of me.
• 1:52:38
  Jokers to the right.
• 1:52:40
  Here I am, stuck in the middle with
• 1:52:42
  you.
• 1:52:44
  When you started off with nothing, and you're
• 1:52:46
  proud that you're a separate man, and your
• 1:52:52
  family all come calling, slap you on the
• 1:52:55
  back and say, hmm, hmm.
• 1:53:12
  It makes no sense at all.
• 1:53:15
  What I can see, it makes no sense
• 1:53:17
  at all.
• 1:53:19
  Is it cool to go to sleep on
• 1:53:21
  the floor?
• 1:53:23
  You're not a thing that I can take
• 1:53:25
  anymore.
• 1:53:27
  Clowns to the left of me.
• 1:53:29
  Jokers to the right.
• 1:53:31
  Here I am, stuck in the middle with
• 1:53:33
  you.
• 1:53:58
  When you started off with nothing, and you're
• 1:54:00
  proud that you're a separate man, and your
• 1:54:06
  family all come calling, slap you on the
• 1:54:09
  back and say, hmm, hmm.
• 1:54:17
  We're doing
• 1:54:30
  something right.
• 1:54:33
  I'm so scared in case I fall off
• 1:54:35
  my chair.
• 1:54:37
  And I'm wondering how I'll get down the
• 1:54:39
  stairs.
• 1:54:41
  Clowns to the left of me.
• 1:54:43
  Jokers to the right.
• 1:54:45
  Here I am, stuck in the middle with
• 1:54:47
  you.
• 1:54:48
  Yes, I'm stuck in the middle with you.
• 1:54:53
  Stuck in the middle with you.
• 1:54:56
  Here I am, stuck in the middle with
• 1:54:59
  you.
• 1:55:11
  Dry your eyes, my little friend.
• 1:55:15
  Let me take you by the hand.
• 1:55:19
  Pretty getting ready.
• 1:55:21
  Rock steady.
• 1:55:23
  When Johnny strikes up the band, you'll be
• 1:55:28
  rocking in the project, walking down along the
• 1:55:33
  stand.
• 1:55:35
  Pretty getting ready.
• 1:55:38
  Rock steady.
• 1:55:39
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:55:43
  Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:55:47
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:14
  Johnny is my main man.
• 1:56:18
  He's the keeper of the keys.
• 1:56:20
  You put your mind at ease.
• 1:56:22
  He's guaranteed to please.
• 1:56:24
  Backed by popular demand.
• 1:56:29
  Little friend.
• 1:56:32
  Jubilation in the land.
• 1:56:36
  Pretty getting ready.
• 1:56:38
  Rock steady.
• 1:56:39
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:43
  Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:47
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:50
  Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:52
  Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:56:55
  Baby.
• 1:56:57
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:57:01
  Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:57:05
  When Johnny strikes up the band.
• 1:57:08
  Johnny strikes up the beat Johnny strikes up
• 1:57:11
  the beat Here
• 1:57:20
  we go
• 1:57:58
  Crazy feeling like my
• 1:58:09
  feet on the ground Waiting for the sun
• 1:58:12
  to appear I was gonna worry I've been
• 1:58:18
  a bad, bad boy I know you're saying
• 1:59:00
  I can see through my jeans Watch me
• 1:59:03
  disappear I can't even touch the sky Swallowing
• 1:59:09
  colors of the sound I hear Am I
• 1:59:13
  just a crazy guy you care?
• 1:59:16
  I know you're saying sorry It's
• 1:59:27
  something that I am