And so as dangerous as this moment is, it's quite gratifying to see the emperor's clothes ripped off so violently, don't you think?

Yeah, I mean, I, the, you know, his idea of, of making a deal was just this thought that everyone had a price, and it is gratifying to see that some people don't have a price.

And, uh, a- and also just to see that, um, that the lies aren't working anymore.

I mean, I don't think that, you know, he's, his promise to give people $5,000 if the Republicans win, which is just so deeply corrupt that it just, it b- you know, blows my head off.

But it, that is not really working, and, uh, and the, at least the polls don't seem to show any movement based on that, you know? And he's, like, sending, like, $90 checks to, uh, Medicare people and, and I mean, he's trying to bribe us with our own money, and it doesn't s- really seem to be working.

I, I just feel like, I think that it is, yeah, finally after a, a decade, you're, you're starting to see a little more feistiness out of some people in the major press.

The, but there's still not much, and, and, and I don't think I'll ever forget that White House Correspondents' Dinner, which was just a, you know, capitulation to a dictator and just shockingly horrible.

Both of those are just imploding in his face, and that, to me, is a sign of someone who's really losing those powers.

And so as dangerous as this moment is, it's quite gratifying to see the emperor's clothes ripped off so violently, don't you think?

Yeah, I mean, I, the, you know, his idea of, of making a deal was just this thought that everyone had a price.

And it is gratifying to see that some people don't have a price.

And, uh, a- and also just to see that, um, that the lies aren't working anymore.

I mean, I don't think that, you know, he's, his promise to give people $5,000 if the Republicans win, which is just so deeply corrupt that it just, it b- you know, blows my head off.

But it, that is not really working, and, uh, and the, at least the polls don't seem to show any movement based on that.

You know, and he's, like, sending, like, $90 checks to, uh, Medicare people and, and I mean, he's trying to bribe us with our own money, and it doesn't s- really seem to be working.

Both of those are just imploding in his face, and that to me is a sign of someone who's really losing those powers.

We're still here." And they're beginning to fight back, and I kinda like that.

Well, I like it, and, a- and if you look at the branches of government, you know, Congress has been useless.

In, in fact, Mike Johnson and, you know, John Thune have guaranteed that Congress was useless.

That was their goal.

That's their goal, to make Congress useless, because then it further empowers the executive.

But the judiciary, especially at the federal district court level, has done a great job.

I mean, they're way better than any other branch or facet of government in pushing back against authoritarianism.

Yeah

What do you think?

Yeah, I mean, I, I think so, and, um, I mean, the main theme o- of what I was writing was that, that Trump is behaving like a king with the power to decide life or death for people without asking anyone's permission or explaining himself in any way, which is n- you know, not the way that a president operates.

That's the way a king in ancient times operated.

And, uh, the...

K- kind of the sad thing is that, uh, all of these, his abuses aren't equally felt by the public.

Uh, you know, I think that at this point in time, you know, the Iran...

Uh, the war in Iran is still pretty distant to people.

Where do you see it, uh, unfolding in the end?

What do you think?

Yeah, I mean, I, I think so.

And, um, I mean, the main theme o- of what I was writing was that, that Trump is behaving like a king with the power to decide life or death for people without asking anyone's permission or explaining himself in any way, which is n- you know, not the way that a president operates.

That's the way a king in ancient times operated.

And, uh, the, kinda the sad thing is that, uh, all of these, his abuses aren't equally felt by the public.

Uh, you know, I think that at this point in time, you know, the Iran, uh, the war in Iran is still pretty distant to people.

Now, once we start having identification of these Americans who are killed, and once, you know, the, all the, you know, we had, like, three planes shot down accidentally today, so there's gonna be a, there could, there's going to be a big mess when you create a big war.

Where do you see it, uh, unfolding in the end?

It's- it's really alarming.

Right, and it's- well, it is really giving over your own rationality to somebody else.

You know, there was another congressman who said, "Well, he wrote The Art of the Deal, he knows how to make a deal." Well, obviously he's done a- he's really made a mess of the whole tariff thing so far.

So just deciding that he- that he- somebody ghostwrote a book for him a couple decades ago really is not an, uh, reason to crash our economy.

So I mean, the way- I- I think that to a large extent, support for Trump has been a call on people to put aside their- their- what they believe in, or their demand for facts to support their beliefs, and instead made an emotional appeal to people to just go with the cult leader, just- just- just accept what he says, because he's- You know, a- and- and Gregg, you also see this with the- the NATO guy.

The guy who's in charge of NATO realized that the- rea- realizes that the way to appeal to Trump's ego is to call him daddy.

You know? And to say- and to- and to act like, "Well, he's- he- he knows best- better for- than we do about how to take care of all of us." You know? And- and so you get this- so an- and, you know, the NATO guy doesn't believe that a- a bit.

I think you have this sort of weirdly proportional effect where the m- worse things get for Trump, whether in the polling and, and out in the country and on these all, all these other issues, the more the adulation from all these different voices kind of swells and tries to, to prop him up.