Emma, this

is, I think, it's a phenomenal point.

And I think this is the thing that we can be excited about, is that what we saw last night was certainly a repudiation of the Republicans, yes, but also a repudiation of the Democratic Party strategy, at least in our lifetime, which has been, yes, this mobilization strategy.

This was a bold win.

This was a bold win.

Who knows what's going to happen in Mississippi? The fact we're talking about Mississippi right now shows that there's always been value in trying to win elections, to try to get people, you know, to support candidates and to not just say like, oh, well, this is the group that will support us and this is the group that won and we'll just kind of let it be.

That's stupid.

He's just doing his

Can you just do me a favor and unpack all of this for my listeners?

Yeah, I mean, basically what happened was, you know, that that that Supreme Court decision that happened in late June and Kavanaugh.

What? He was it was what he wrote was actually more dicta than anything else.

And and he said, look, I think this is unconstitutional, but it already exists.

And in what is sort of a bizarre sort of formulation.

But even though it's unconstitutional, it's going to expire in a month.

So we won't do anything about it, et cetera, et cetera.

Because if these memos are the smoking gun that they appear to be, why has there not been more vigorous action to move against Trump already? My question, what are we waiting for?

Caps, where confidence begins.

You know, I mean, like you point to that 2010 video where, you know, we were still talking about budget deficit, but I also did another one where they were protesting the ground zero, you know, mosque, which wasn't a mosque at all.

And it wasn't a ground zero.

I actually sort of went down from my apartment to, to, to show it.

But yeah, This was there then.

And in fact, in like 06, my producer from the majority report on Air America and I wrote a book called FUBAR, which you could probably get on eBay for 83 cents.

You might be overpaying a little bit at this point, but the whole thing was about, this is not your father's Republican party.

But he understood, as you say, that that is where the base was in a way that Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, whatever it was, who were the people running, didn't understand.

[laughs]

... to transcend.

Um, uh, those numbers, I would add that, uh, Francesca Hong, um, uh, got the second-largest amount of votes in a Democratic primary, uh, in, uh, the, the 20th century, uh, the first of course being, uh, Crowley last night.

So I mean, the, the turnout was incredible.

And I think the idea that this is somehow a resurgence of moderates, look, this is a, a, a very, uh, contested state.

Um, the past three or four elections short of, uh, Obama, uh, were decided by 30,000 votes, um, in Biden's favor one time, in Trump's a couple of times.

Um, and so I think the, uh, the electorate's very sensitive to the idea of who can win, and I think that narrative, uh, took hold, uh, where voters became more pundits than they did voting for what they necessarily wanted.

Mm.

I can tell you that.

Uh, maybe not quite as wealthy, but, uh, certainly of that sensibility.

What they're talking about, I think, is they are conflating Zionism with Judaism.

And I, I, I- I have a lot of theories as to why that happens.

I mean, y- you and I, uh, I think I'm a little older than you, but, um, we grew up...

I mean, let's put it this way.

The Holocaust, when I was, uh, my son is, uh, 13.

Yeah.

But he meant he hates the inflation, Sam

... yeah, but deep down, he hates it.

Um, but, uh, uh, o- uh, one, you could argue that just Trump is just not capable of articulating what he means at various times because he's slowly sort of degrading, his mental capacity is degrading.

I actually think what that was, and he said the same thing, he said a similar thing about the midterms, like, "I don't care about the midterms." I think Trump was trying to signal to the Iranians, "I'm not phased by this inflation at all.

In fact, I love it." And the irony is, I don't know if you saw the reporting by Jeremy Scahill at, at Drop Site, the Iranians were, had brought in, like, their top psychiatrists in the country to figure out how they should deal with Trump, and Trump's out there literally functioning like...

I have a, I have a 12- I have a 13-year-old who is more sophisticated in their negotiations than Don Trump is.

Like, I mean, the idea that we're, that the Iranians are like, "Oh, well, Trump said he loves inflation, so he must not be, uh, concerned about any of the, the stuff," and b- I think that's what happened.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah

... he's...

Not 25 percentage points, but maybe 10, 15 percentage points, but, uh, since he's gotten in office.

And there's also, like, even from an intangible standpoint, the, there's a...

He's, he's worked on, like, creating a spirit about the city and about what government can do, and I think to a large extent that's very threatening because, you know, part of the reason why a, a corporate wing of the Democratic Party wants to get out there and say, "There are certain things you can't do.

You just can't do them.

Well, I would love to, but we can't do them." And to see, uh, Mamdani have this success, they said he's never gonna get the money for, uh, for, uh, universal childcare.

... how welcome they are in that tent.

we were Israel, we shouldn't be funding Israel.

I just think that there's no circumstance where we should be funding You know, apartheid state almost undersells it at this point.

And there's just no circumstance where we should be doing that.

And and I think he was a great messenger for that, in part because of like, you know, he like I say, this is a guy who saved the life of a sitting senator.

He wouldn't leave Gaza until his entire team was able to leave.

Um, cause they were also, uh, uh, you know, stuck there and not being allowed to depart.

And I think in part, maybe because they were afraid that he would come back and bear witness.

Collins is hoovering up the Israeli lobby money.

They did, they did cancel it

... $5 billion from Protection Assistance and Solutions.

They cut, um, $2 billion from HIV AIDS.

They cut $672 million, um, or I should say $300 million from malaria.

They cut, um, $200 million from basic education.

They cut $200 million, approximate, it's a little bit more-

So by ch-

But you would have to argue that there is enough of a margin, uh, for those people to acquire the, um, the foods that you're talking about without any other subsidies, just that the market forces there are gonna do it so that these, um, small bodegas that may exist in these food deserts, for instance, they're gonna, they're gonna buy the fresh, uh, fruit and produce-

Mm-hmm

...

I should say, uh, yeah, 30 to 35, yeah, percent of Americans who will not abandon a Republican president.

He doesn't seem to care in many respects.

I think, you know, that's because, like, I think he has made just so much money.

There has been so much, uh, corruption and graft, and, and, and I continue to believe that as much as his stupidity and his, uh, inability to do anything other than the last person tells him, with Iran, I, I c- I am quite convinced there has to be a monetary renumeration for him in some way about this.

I don't know, you know, I don't know what that would be, but it, it just seems to me to be the case.

Roundup

Yeah.

So, you know, it was surprising to me that Noem was, uh, booted because they don't really seem to feel political pressure in the same way that any other administration does because everybody just closes ranks.

And, you know, that's why we're invading a country, possibly, uh, we're certainly bombing a country involved in a huge war with f- 40% of the g- the country supports it, uh, tops, and doesn't seem to be influencing Trump, uh, at all, and so it, it...

But it's fascinating.

The corruption is just...

I don't think that we can fully grasp the depth of the corruption.

It's so transactional and naked.

Yeah.

honestly

like um and Listen, if anybody knows my ex-wife, don't tell her I'm on the show.

That's fair.

Anybody who's listening.

Yeah.

No one's listening, by the way.

But I think I watched it.

Yes.

Exactly.

What is this, uh, lawyer is a woman, and, you know, that's, that was the story of reconstruction, right? Like the, the way that they, uh...

The idea was like how can we convince...

And there was, there was some sector of the white population that, that, that, that didn't bite on this, like some of the po- you know, uh, populist, um, uh, didn't bite as hard as others.

Like how can we convince these poor white people, um, that there's a problem with Black people actually taking political power? And, you know, we will stoke the fact that like, okay, you're poor, but at least you used to be higher in the pecking order than Black people.

And it, it, it is...

W-We're watching the fallout of like these liberation movements that happened in the '70s and the '80s, you know, and really come to fruition in the '90s and, uh, in, in the aughts.

[laughs]

He actually confuses me more.

Uh, it i-it is amazing the various, uh, the arrays of like sort of explanations of what's going on.

I think Hegseth, uh, today or yesterday said this is not a regime change, um, uh, plan, but, uh, the, the regime has changed, and it, and it really hasn't.

I mean, the idea that there wasn't...

Well, first off, I mean, i-in just...

I'm sure you've had the same experience in interviewing people who know something about Iran.

Uh, this is not a, uh, a regime that exists, uh, solely based upon one person, certainly not an 86-year-old man.

Go ahead Sam, you have the floor.

Yeah.

And, um, a- and, and for their movement, this is, uh, sort of lower-hanging fruit as they sort of like build up.

And that's...

A- and, and again, that's, that's what we're witnessing here.

Um, they're going after the press, again, explicitly, I think, or specifically because the First Amendment is such a bedrock principle.

And if you begin to weaken this...

I'm also convinced that what is sort of, um, subtextual here is their, um, uh-... they're pushing of, of, of the NSPM-7, which is the National Security Presidential Memorandum, um, entitled Countering D- uh, Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.

Don't look here, look over here.

Attack

... and, and you know, it wasn't until the '80s, and, and I, and I wasn't aware of it until, like, you know, the, into the aughts, uh, or maybe the late '90s, that there was a moment in Israeli history which was akin to the moment in our history about the Reconstruction.

So you had something called the Dunning School in this country that taught that the Reconstruction failed because Black people were unable to, uh, be politicians and, uh, have a political class.

And then, uh, Eric Foner comes around and, uh, a new breed of historians who look back and go, "That's not what happened.

There were pogroms." [laughs] Like, you had murders of politicians in South Carolina and people driven out and, uh, you know, O- Oklahoma, I mean, you know, Tulsa massacres and et cetera, et cetera.

Well, there's a similar thing in Israeli history.

In the '80s, a lot of, like, documents were released or, or declassified for t- a small period of time, and there was a, a, a, a, a reinterpretation, a re-understanding of what happened in the founding of, uh, uh, of Israel in 1948.

Mm-hmm.

... with Pete Hegseth bombing fishermen in the Caribbean.

See, here's what's, uh, I find stunning about this story.

This has been going on since September 2nd, and we have heard virtually nothing.

And now, you know, the issue is, and I, uh, I sorta, I mean, I sort of understand this dynamic, I don't wanna be sort of Pollyannaish about this, but the idea that it's only occurring to people now that this is a, uh, crime.

Like, I don't even know if it's a war crime.

People wanna argue it's a war crime because, uh, once you, um, uh, attack a, uh, vessel or the enemy, and, uh, and i- if they're in a boat, and if there's any chance of, of them surviving, you're not supposed to double tap.

But we're not at war with these people.

He still has another year before the midterms.

Yeah.

And a lot of that's gonna melt away.

I think they're...

Look, there's a built-in, um...

There's gonna be a built-in, within the context of the Jewish community, there's gonna be a built-in resistance.

And I think a lot of that frankly comes from fundamentalism.

There are fundamentalist communities in this city, um, who will vote as a very consistent flock.

Yeah.

Can you just do me a favor and unpack all of this for my listeners?

Yeah, I mean, basically what happened was, you know, that Supreme Court decision that happened in late June and Kavanaugh – He was it was what he wrote was actually more dicta than anything else.

And and he said, look, I think this is unconstitutional, but it already exists.

And in what is sort of a bizarre sort of formulation.

But even though it's unconstitutional, it's going to expire in a month.

So we won't do anything about it, et cetera, et cetera.

It was a five four decision.

Because if these memos are the smoking gun that they appear to be, why has there not been more vigorous action to move against Trump already? My question, what are we waiting for?

Right.

...

when you walk out of that meeting, uh, with the president.

And so you get up there, and you don't say, "Well, we're, we're worried about, uh, uh, extensions on, uh, Obamacare, and, uh, rescission and pocket rescission." Nobody knows what that means.

I mean, you and I know what that means, but we do this professionally.

You get up there and you go, "Donald Trump has been cutting services for people illegally.

Donald Trump wants to raise your insurance rates.

Right.

I gotta say, Sam, when it gets bleak out there and when people are being cowards, it just- it is a real shot in the arm to see the South Park people being like, "Absolutely not."

Uh, totally.

And I'll tell you, you really- it's a real shame you didn't keep playing that video.

Um, uh, the- yeah, yeah, I mean, I think the big thing about this is- and, you know, it- it's the case that they got what is classically known in showbiz as, uh, FU money, um, uh, just yesterday, but the- they're standing up to Trump and they're risking- and, you know, in many respects, we don't know what the context of their, uh, their, uh, agreement is with, uh, Paramount.

Um, uh, the- what they're doing, it's- you know, could be somewhat risky and it's showing, um, a lot more courage than we've seen from places like, uh, like you mentioned, like Columbia or, uh, law firms, or, uh, or frankly, uh, Paramount itself, uh, uh, in, in trying to essentially appease Trump so that they get this FCC, uh, green light for this deal.

It's like there's something kind of sanity-fraying about that, I find.

Well, uh, you know, it, th- there are moments where you start to realize, like, this is, w- we're living in a nascent authoritarian state.

You're seeing people being intimidated.

How are they different?

I- I- I am of the mind that Harris would have been better, and I- when I look at voting, for me personally, um, and I- I certainly sort of, like, uh, uh, espouse this, is that it is not a- an act that you do to reflect your morals, that it's completely, um...

It's the utility, it's a tool.

But to say that non-professionals have to make this assessment, she gave zero indication, not even the slightest clue.

Unless y- unless you read (claps hands) deep into the Washington Post on a specific day and knew that Phil Gordon, uh, who had been the person who was responsible for, uh, you know, pushing, um, Obama to the nuke deal, was coming out in some forums, you know, waffling a little bit.

There was zero indication that she was going to do anything different than Donald Trump and so, like, the idea that they would not own this, there were so many opportunities for them to do even the smallest thing.

Allow that, uh, lawmaker from Georgia, the Palestinian, um, American lawmaker from Georgia, to speak at the convention, would have just at least gone far enough that make one tiny indication that there would be anything diff-

To give some of these people just something to hang their hat on, you know? Like, yeah.

Sam?

(laughs) You said tariff was the last word.

That was the only time you word- used the word tariffs.

Look, I am in favor of tariffs when it is part of a specific agenda to build a certain industry, uh, or a certain industry within a certain region.

This is absolute insanity.

First off, they're gonna use this as a potential revenue.

Like he says, it's not gonna replace the income tax, but what they're gonna do is they're gonna use it as an excuse to cut, uh, taxes on wealthy people.

... let's go look at that.