← Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
88% of Americans Don’t Support Ground Troops.
00:49:58
In episode 480 of Independent Americans, host Paul Rieckhoff delivers a hard‑hitting solo briefing on Trump’s increasingly unpopular forever war in Iran, exposing how the Pentagon is quietly preparing for U.S. boots on the ground despite overwhelming public opposition and a distracted Congress. He connects that escalation abroad to urgent threats at home—from sophisticated drone swarms that temporarily shut down operations at nuclear‑linked and fighter bases like Barksdale and Langley, to an IED plot at MacDill Air Force Base—arguing that America is dangerously unprepared for modern warfare on its own soil.
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- [00:00]
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- [02:07]
Paul Rykoff
But he's already got his eyes on Cuba, maybe Columbia. So now, right now you should be saying your prayers for our troops and our military families and for our country. Because Trump's forever war is rolling on and we are less safe by the day. Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to episode 480. I am your host Paul Rykoff and it is Tuesday March 31st, the last day of March, almost April. We made it. And I am coming to you from New York City, USA, and the weather here is amazing. Hooray. 77 and sunny. It's a little bit weird, actually. Of course, Thursday it'll be down to 50 because 2026 is going up and down. And March came in like a lion and it's going out like a lion. Today's Artist of the day, the artist I introduced to my boys as a new artist every day is Wolf Mother. Wolf Mother. Just great title for a band to begin with. I'm always partial toward anything with a wolf in it because of the American gray wolf. But they're an Australian hard rock band from Sydney, and they've got a classic rock song that, if you don't know it, is called Joker and a Thief. I think that's appropriate because this president and his crew are both. They're jokers and they're thieves. And we're going to blast through this episode like the sunshine that's hitting much of this country on this last day of March. We're going out like a lion and I'm going to bring you the five eyes that I bring you in every single show you independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. No guests today, just me to take you through the final days of March Madness and, of course, help you stay vigilant. All right, we missed Manosphere Monday yesterday, but I'm going to hit on some of those topics today as we try to give you positive leaders who can lead for our children to be positive examples of male leadership and tackle some of the crap we see coming out of the White House and other places. We haven't done a full show since last week, so we got a lot to catch up on. And first off, March Madness. I mean, that was amazing. If you didn't see the tournament over the weekend, it was full of great games and it was also a great opportunity to try to ignore Trump for just a couple of hours. I also finished coaching both of my son's recreational basketball leagues. So congratulations to our spurs, our fiery spurs, my little guys, and our undefeated Thunder, who completed a perfect season and did amazingly well. And most importantly, I think it's the purest and funnest and maybe the hardest form of game to coach because basketball is just full of great energy. The kids are in the gym and the place is rocking.
- [05:14]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
And.
- [05:15]
Paul Rykoff
And the same was true at March Madness all weekend. Unfortunately, my St. John's Johnny's are out, which was a real disappointment. They gave Duke a Great run for their money. A hell of an effort and a season by St. John's and what a game, but just not enough. Too much loss of composure down the stretch, in my view. Not enough of the ball in Zuby's hands. And Duke was too good and too tough until they got knocked out. But much respect to Rick Pitino and his team. We need examples of team and unity and great leaders. And I think that although the St. John's Johnny's are not going forward, they and basketball in New York City are back. So hats off to them and everyone around March Madness. We got a great Final Four coming up. I'll get to that in a minute. Also this weekend, the no Kings protest happened all across America. You heard some of my coverage. If you heard the last two episodes. I was out in the streets in New York City and it was inspiring. It was diverse. It was super creative. People came with so much creativity in their signs and their outfits and. And it was actually really cold here in New York. But all across America, I thought we saw some great American creativity and humor and people of all backgrounds coming together. I mentioned this on television, but I want to reiterate. I saw more veterans out there than I've ever seen before at a protest. This is the first one I actually formally participated in. I was proud to march with some friends and family, took the kids out there and we left with a really positive feeling. And it was really well organized, very safe. Also, big shout out to all of our first responders. Our law enforcement in New York and all around the country, they kept them safe. There were undoubtedly threats happening that maybe we'll never know about, but our law enforcement helped us stay safe and helped those protests happen, which are going to grow definitely in the weeks to come. We're going to get more on that coming up. But it was my first one and it was inspiring, unifying, and sobering. And I want to play you one clip that I think boiled down what it's all about. Please hit that clip, Chris.
- [07:12]
Ruth (Interviewee)
I thought, this is wonderful. I think this one is even better
- [07:16]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
than the first one. You grew up in the 60s.
- [07:20]
Ruth (Interviewee)
I grew up almost 93 years old, so I grew up in the 40s and the 50s.
- [07:30]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
I'm 82.
- [07:31]
Ruth (Interviewee)
You're 82. Keep it up. I say in my life time, I was born in 1933. There's been war all along. I've never known a time when there wasn't war somewhere, which is a shame. And before I go, I'd like to see it all ended what's your first name?
- [07:51]
Paul Rykoff
Ruth. So that's ruth. Ruth is 93. Ruth is a voice of conscience. Listen to Ruth, be like Ruth. And especially now, stay vigilant. All right, let's get into it. There's a lot going on. Gas has hit $4 a gallon, and that's hitting everybody all across the country. But there is one top topic that I think must go to the front of the pack as we end march like a lion. This is our top topic, and it's gotta be what we've been talking about on this show for weeks and even months. Boots on the ground, they call it. Boots on the ground, ground operations, putting troops in harm's way on land in Iran. Whatever you call it, it is overwhelmingly unpopular. There's a new AP poll that says only 12% of Americans support deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight in Iran. 12%. That means 88%. A whopping 88% do not. And that number's only going to go up, as I've said many times before. And on the Colbert Report, which continues to go viral, that clip, I said, you must first commit the country, then commit the troops. Every time an American president gets it backward, it's a disaster. And Iran is shaping up to be a disaster. There's few things that a president can do that are worse than launching our troops into an unpopular war, especially one this unpopular worldwide, because the lack of popularity has our enemies celebrating. But the pieces are all now in place for boots on the ground and for tens and thousands, tens of thousands of America's sons and daughters to be in those boots. Our friend Dan Lamoth at the Washington Post and others have been covering this. There is new information that the Pentagon has been preparing for weeks for ground operations. And this new phase would obviously escalate things across the region. Hundreds of U.S. special Operations personnel, including Navy Seals, Air and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East. That goes along with Marines, army paratroopers from the 82nd, and much more. And Jennifer Jacobs at CBS says Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying US Ground forces into Iran. So here's the bottom line. More pieces are in place for ground operations in Iraq. Trump has now all the options at the ready. The hammer is cocked. And it doesn't matter to him that only 12% of the country supports it or that his Iran war has already become a sucking chest wound for our military, for our economy, and for our global alliances. He's all gas, no brakes. And of course, Congress isn't doing shit to stop it. Outrage and sadness is not a plan. By the way, Democrats and Hegseth press charades continue to be full of fire and threats and attacks on the press and references to how much Jesus supports all this, even driving up oil profits in Iran are probably going to be credited to some grand plan by Jesus. But it's all part of their masterful plan that I guess we just don't understand because we're all just too stupid or liberal. But he's already got his eyes on Cuba, maybe Colombia. So now, right now you should be saying your prayers for our troops and our military families and for our country because Trump's forever war is rolling on and we are less safe by the day. And with such a lack of popularity around the world and here at home, our enemies are celebrating. Our enemies are celebrating. All right. They're also celebrating because the Pentagon is now looking for vendors to to supply them with pre made bunkers within 30 days. Jeff Skogel at Task and Purpose and Patty Nyberg have this story. I recommend you follow Jeff Schogel or Skogel wherever you are. They issued a request on Monday for companies to submit possible Delivery timelines for 3 days, 15 days and 30 days about the highest threat level that the bunkers could withstand. So we're a month into this war and now they want bunkers to protect the troops. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is what we often said when I was in the Army. What the fuck? Speaking of what the fuck. There is much more stupid around the military and new and creative ways to waste money. There was a post this weekend from Kid Rock with him in a video on the back of his mansion over his pool saluting a military army helicopter. And he wrote this is a level of respect that shit for brains Governor of California will never know. God bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her. Now Andreess Alley at Reuters said the US official confirmed that this indeed happened and that the army is investigating how it happened. And this is absolutely unprecedented. Unacceptable. A politicization there's a tough one, but I bet you I can say it better than Kid Rock. Politicization of our troops and military continues. And it continues utterly checked entirely unchecked by Congress. But good news, the army actually checked itself. There's breaking news today from NBC that the army has suspended the aircraft flying the helicopters by Kid Rock's house over the weekend. Seems appropriate. Can they please suspend Hegseth too? Because they are preparing the battle space for boots on the ground in Iran they are waging a political war here at home. And very importantly, they are prepping the target of public opinion for boots on the ground. They're using their conservative media ecosphere, they're using Truth Social, and they're using right wing supporters like talk show host Mark Levine. Check this out.
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Mark Levine
The President is. The President has to. People are bringing information to him and, and he has to worry about all these things. Now, one other thing. Troops on the ground. He said no troops on the ground. I don't remember that in any campaign speech either. But why would we need troops on the ground? Well, there's a lot of reasons. And we wouldn't need 300,000 of them. It's this uranium too. We've got to get the uranium. If it cannot be destroyed, if it cannot be altered, we gotta get it now.
- [14:23]
Paul Rykoff
It doesn't matter to Trump that an overwhelming majority of the country is against this. All signs point to this being a go. So place your bets in the poly market. Now, if you work in the White House, you probably already have, which is disgraceful. But say your prayers for.
- [14:40]
Alex Kanchwitz
Hi, this is Alex Kanchwitz. I'm the host of Big Technology Podcast, a longtime reporter and an on air contributor to cnbc. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech and outsiders trying to influence it, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, in meetings with your colleagues and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology Podcast wherever
- [15:13]
Paul Rykoff
you get your podcasts, troops and families. Because Trump's forever war keeps rolling on and around the war and around these issues, even when the sun is out, even when spring break is here. We now, especially with America's sons and daughters in harm's way, it's gut check time. And we need to stay vigilant, especially because the world is not on board. Italy has said no to airspace used for the US Planes. Spain has now closed its airspace to US Planes involved in the war. And America is more isolated by the day, which has our enemies celebrating. But meanwhile, the threat at home continues to rise. Let me ask you a question, especially those of you who are regulars on this show. What is the biggest threat for American troops abroad and for us here at home? Think about it. If you regularly watch or listen to this show, you know the answer. Drones. Drones. Drones. Drones. 60 minutes had a big piece on drones featuring my friend Will McNulty that you should check out. But drones are the most important and rising threat in our new normal. And here is the very latest, very real, very dangerous example that you need to know about. Tom Shutgaard posted about this. He's an adjunct senior fellow at cnas. And I agree with Tom in saying this should be a top story in America, because it's not. Our enemies are celebrating. But check this out. Apparently a bunch of sophisticated drones flew over Louisiana's Barksdale bomber base. This should be a top story, but it's not. It's the first time a US Air base was temporarily put out of operation in wartime. Something that hasn't happened since World War II. So apparently waves of drones went over an Air Force base in America at Barksdale Air Force Base. And to give you some background here, each wave forced the Air Force to halt operations and send personnel into shelters. Barksdale is the command hub of the US Air Force Global Strike Command. They have B52s based there. It's also a base that's a part of America's nuke triad. It shelters long range cruise missiles and will soon house a new long range standoff. Cruise missile shelters and storage facilities for the new site are under construction. Now, the drone wave lasted for four hours. Each day, multiple days and an extraordinary long amount of time for them to be loitering over a base. Now, it's not known if the drones were fixed wing or quadcopter types or how they were powered, but each wave had 12 to 15 drones. The drones flew with their lights on, intentionally making them visible. Now here's an important note. Barksdale Air Force Base does not have air defenses and it doesn't have fighter jets that can take them down. It does have some electronic countermeasures that were designed to disable GPS and the data links between the drones and the remote operators. But the electronic countermeasures failed to work. Now, we've talked about this a lot, but the drones have become a very useful tool for potential adversaries. China being the best equipped to produce the kind of drone that flew over Barksdale. And from what some observe, the drone design surpasses almost anything in the US Arsenal. And they have extraordinary range. They can get through jamming and they had no signal characteristics. Even more provocatively, this is. Did you even hear about this? Most folks have it. The drones use various egress and ingress routes and operate in dispersed pattern, making their traceability via triangulating on Signals virtually impossible. Now, there's been a lot of concern about Russia feeding intelligence to Iran while Epic Fury or the thing in Iran is underway. But drone swarms over Barksdale Air Force Base, which is what happened, suggests that China might be feeding the information to Iran as well as sending them weapons. So some are assuming that the drones came from China or were operated by Chinese or Chinese proxies. So aside from Barksday, other drone incidents focused on U.S. strategic leadership assets. Let me tell you about them. Between December 23 and 2025, someone launched 17 nights of drone swarms over Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. One result of the swarms is that an F22 stealth jet had to be relocated because they were under the threat. There were reports of drones using the attack that were 20ft long and flew at over 100 miles an hour. This is what we should expect to see more of. And this is another reason around drones, especially to stay vigilant. Now, the threat at home is not limited to drones. Here's something else we should expect to see more of. Kash Patel, the FBI director who's a disgrace but occasionally puts out information that you need to know, reported that an IED, an improvised explosive device, was placed at MacDill Air Force Base, home of CENTCOM, U.S. special Operations Command. A brother and sister have been indicted. One is in custody for accessory and evidence tampering, and the primary suspect is charged with explosives offenses and is currently in China. So a brother and sister indicted in a plot at a Florida base tied to the war with a suspect in China. This is the rising threat that we have at home. And this is what you need to know. We're not ready, America. We're not ready at all for drone attacks, for attacks on U.S. soil, for attacks on U.S. forces. If we were, they wouldn't be asking for bunkers. Now. We are extremely vulnerable. We are no safer at home, and our enemies are celebrating. All right, this is a day where we're covering a lot. So I think there should be two top topics. And here's the other one I've talked about on the show a lot. Trump does not want to give up power. He does not want free and fair elections in the fall. He doesn't want to step down at the end of his term. And Steve Bannon, the political strategist, Trump's political strategist, Trump's Karl Rove has been telegraphing this for years now, and he did it again yesterday. Check this out. Play that clip, Chris.
- [21:15]
Steve Bannon
I haven't said we're going to amend the Constitution. We're working on five or six different alternatives that President Trump could run again and be president. And quite frankly, I think four or five of them are going to work. And I continue to say, as I told Bill Maher on the afternoon of January 20th of 2029, Donald Trump's going to be president for his third term.
- [21:33]
Paul Rykoff
Let me reiterate this. He says, I continue to say that on the afternoon of January 20, 2029, Donald Trump is going to be president for his third term. His third term. They are talking about it out loud, just like they said he wouldn't leave office after January 6th. And you should believe them and you should believe that he'll use ICE and the military, because the try at least the most important story in the world is still and until further notice, that Donald Trump can do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen. And check this clip out from his latest rambling. Just yesterday as a leader and we
- [22:11]
Donald Trump
had a deal, we had, I was going there and I didn't want to go during the war. I said, look, you know, we have a thing called a war or as they would rather say, a military operation. This for legal reasons. I say military because as a military operation, I don't need any approvals. As a warrior, you're supposed to get approval from Congress, something like that. So I call it a military operation.
- [22:35]
Paul Rykoff
He says it out loud. If you call it a military operation and you don't call it a war, you don't have to get approval from Congress. He doesn't want approval. He doesn't want accountability. He doesn't want any checks. He's all gas, no brakes. And Cuba has always been next, and then possibly Colombia. And he's also saying that out loud. Did you hear this part? He literally says Cuba's next. Meanwhile, Hegseth continues to do very Hegsethian things. At the end of last week, our friend Dan Lamoth marked that this was the first full week since the Israeli American war on Iran that he did zero press conferences all last week. Zero press conferences. The last one was held on March 19, but they were back at doing it today. I'll get to that in a second. But they're back to hiding the ball again. The only real engagement that Hegseth has with the free press is when he attacks them daily. Yeah, the only real engagement Hegseth has is when he blasts the press or when he puts out videos. And also he came back and announced that he had gone to the area around Iran to visit troops and of course, collect a lot of content. But every day he says stuff that should alarm you. Check this out.
- [23:50]
Pete Hegseth
I witnessed lethality. I met a junior airman as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac, who when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs. We will happily oblige her now.
- [24:15]
Paul Rykoff
Our friend Kevin Barron, who was at Defense One and a national security analyst, wrote something smart on X. He said, in my many years of covering SecDev visits to troops downrange, the thing they'd asked for mostly were better Internet, better laundry service, better defect food, gym equipment, paychecks during government shutdowns. Never heard one ask for more bombs. Ever. Yeah, I mean, when I was in Iraq, if the Secretary of defense asked me what I needed, I probably would have said body armor, maybe some good food for my guys, maybe a break. But I don't think I want to ask for bigger bombs. That's why I call bullshit. We should call bullshit. On Hegseth every day. There's also a story from Financial Times that shares that Pete Hegseth broker, his stockbroker, looked to buy defense stocks before the Iran attack. His Morgan Stanley wealth manager approached BlackRock about multi billion, sorry, multimillion dollar investment for the US defense secretary. This should be disqualifying in normal times. This should be congressional investigation. This should be removing him from office. But this is not normal times. And it seems like they just blow past this stuff because Congress can't even keep up. And while meanwhile, the Trump administration's war on the media continues and they're actually keeping score. Check this out.
- [25:31]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
Look.
- [25:32]
Shahed136
President Trump, when he ran for office, he ran directly at the fake news media. So many other politicians and Americans simply gave way to the legacy national media. They let the legacy media set the narrative and President Trump smashed the facade. He said, you don't get to decide what we say, what we think, how we're going to vote. Inside the voting booth, President Trump took on the fake news media. And President Trump is winning. Look at the results so far. PBS defunded, NPR defunded. Joy Reid gone from msnbc. Sleepy eyes. Chuck Todd, gone. Jim Acosta, gone. John Dickerson, gone. Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough CNN is have new ownership as well. So we're not.
- [26:21]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
So this is significant.
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Shahed136
We're not at the point yet, you know, raising the mission accomplished flag. But President Trump is taking on the fake news media and President Trump is winning.
- [26:31]
Paul Rykoff
So that's the FCC chair communicating that he thinks Trump is winning the war on the press. And he's probably not wrong. If you look at how many takedowns he's had, from PBS to NPR to CBS to potentially cnn, this is an area where Trump is winning the war. He might not be winning the war in Iran, but he is winning the war on the media. And he's sending out Hegseth to lead the charge at every single one of these events. And when Hegseth, there's always more. There's always more because he's the acting Secretary of Culture War, continuing on his quest. And he continues to blow through the norms and guardrails that have protected our military and our democracy for generations. Especially and most consistently and most alarmingly around religion. Check this out. So what? To hell with all the other troops that don't follow Jesus? Is that Hegseth's view? I mean, this is just after Ramadan and Eid, it's the day before Passover, and he's invoking Jesus. This is not how religion, politics, and our military are supposed to be. This is what wrong looks like. One man's religious views protected over an entire and very diverse military. And it's every single day from the acting Secretary of Culture War. In normal times, the Secretary of Defense would be run out of Washington over something like this, but these are far from normal times. And it's no wonder so many in the world, and especially in the Middle east, worry that this is a religious war. Our allies are fewer and further in between, and our enemies are celebrating. Yeah, our enemies are celebrating. And our allies are fewer and farther between, and so are Trump supporters. I might have to come up with a song to deal with this. But in the meantime, let's talk about below the radar. And here's the thing that's below the radar that I've covered on this show. I will continue to cover. Trump's base continues to crumble, and I think pretty rapidly. We talked on Friday with Ken Casey from Dropkick Murphy's. If you didn't go back and check that out, it was really fantastic. We also talked a lot of shit about Boston, New York, about baseball. And you gotta look inside how the Dropkick Murphy's are making a difference on so many issues. But there's another piece that's revealing just how deeply the damage is happening across Trump's base. And it was a recent conversation with huge podcaster and former Navy SEAL Sean Ryan having a conversation with Joe Kent, who Just left the administration and is who himself is himself a combat veteran and a Green Beret. Check this out.
- [29:11]
Sean Ryan
You said for the midterms, I mean, you're going to need a lot of hardcore MAGA people to come out, to knock on doors, to do, to do that hardcore work. Because working elections, it's not easy, it's not fun, it's not glamorous. The MAGA base, Trump's base, they're hard working people and they got him across the finish line in 26. A lot of them. Now, it's debatable how much, but a good chunk of them are going to have a really hard time doing that because of the way this last year has gone.
- [29:38]
Donald Trump
Don't come banging on my fucking door.
- [29:40]
Paul Rykoff
I don't want to hear it.
- [29:41]
Donald Trump
I don't want to hear more of those fucking lies.
- [29:44]
Sean Ryan
I hear that from a lot of people.
- [29:46]
Paul Rykoff
Hear that from a lot of people.
- [29:47]
Donald Trump
It's everything, Joe. It's everything.
- [29:52]
Paul Rykoff
So they're fed up. And the collapse of support for Trump from Sean Ryan is hugely impactful and Joe Kent is far from done. And what it's doing is it's puncturing Trump's support among vets especially. But unfortunately, Trump doesn't care about public opinion, even within his base, even with vets. He's all gas, no brakes, nothing is slowing him down. And Cuba is next. And the most important story, of course and always is that he's doing anything he wants and nothing is stopping him even now. And it's not just that Trump is cratering on Iran. His base is crumbling around a lot of the most destructive and unpopular that he's doing. They're just kind of tired of his bullshit. I think everyone is. And today we found out that a federal judge has ordered the construction of Trump's White House ballroom halted, saying that the work must come to a stop, quote, unless and until Congress blesses this project. Blowing up the White House is not exactly something that's gotten him a lot of popularity with traditionalists and folks in his base. Another blow, an executive order that Trump issued last year barring the federal government from funding NPR and and PBS was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday. That's some good news. And then Trump released a two minute video with renderings of his planned presidential library in Miami. It shows a skyscraper and a golden escalator and Air Force One in the lobby. It looks like it's largely generated by AI. It looks a lot like the Freedom Tower here in New York. And in one scene, an enormous American flag on the outside of the tower appears to have 56 stars, so anybody's guess which six stars they think will be added or if they just fucked it up and didn't know how many stars were on the flag. Nevertheless, it's another reason why his support in the base continues to crumble, even in places like cpac, the conservative conference that happened last week. Check this out from Mark Schlapp as he tries to hype up the crowd and it goes horribly wrong. How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?
- [32:00]
Mike Volo
No. That was the wrong answer.
- [32:05]
Paul Rykoff
How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?
- [32:09]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
No.
- [32:11]
Paul Rykoff
Can someone bring some coffee out for the. We've got to keep this House majority. How many of you agree with that? That's at a conservative conference. People have spoken more and more by the day. And we saw that at the protest this weekend all across America. Just wait until next month when the protests continue. And there's more because there's other stuff that I think is just gross that most Americans are not okay with. Like Trump announcing that his signature is going to be added to US Dollars. He's saying that the US Dollars will bear the signature of him and an unprecedented change to the nation's currency that the Treasury Department has said is being made in honor of the 250th anniversary. So he's trying to put his name on our money. He's trying to take our money, too. And it's not helping the markets, by the way. Last week stocks slid to the fifth weekly loss as investors continue to lose patience with what's happening in Iraq. Trump is taking with his base like one seed Duke. Sorry, Duke fans, but not sir. And Trump is still also tanking on immigration and on ice. ICE is awful and increasingly unpopular. Every day we have new examples of why NBA has sorry. NBC has a story of a nine year old boy who begged to be released from Dealey Immigration Processing center so he could attend the state spelling bee. And he's finally been freed. But he was making a plea to a call with Ms. Rachel, the popular kids show host. His real name is Rachel Accuso. He said, I don't want to be here anymore. Nothing is good here. Nine years old, he and his parents are asylum seekers from Colombia and they've been held at the site since early March where they were detained during a routine check in in New Mexico. The family was freed on humanitarian parole Wednesday, about a week after Martin filed a request for release and days after NBC reported on the case. So NBC has to report on the nine year Old who wants to go to the spelling bee for ICE to let them go. ICE is terrible and deeply unpopular and it's cracking through in places beyond politics. Check this out. From the great Charles Barkley. Talking about March Madness and Trump and Ice, there was a story, a feel good story about UConn star Alex Curraban, who is a first generation American who comes from Belarus and Belarusian immigrants. Barclay talks about what's happening in his country in a way that really cracked through. Look, Charles Barkley has always been one of my favorite players, but he's also always smartly picked his spots on issues beyond basketball, and he nailed this one. I think Chuck speaks for most Americans here and he's reached tens of millions of people with that, people who don't follow politics. Charles Barkley is a trusted and powerful conscience for our country. And what I really wish would happen is that he'd go back to Alabama and run against the national and and local disaster and embarrassment that is Tommy Tuberville. Especially if he did it as an independent. I think Chuck Barkley would win and the world would see a much better, much kinder, much more reasonable side of Alabama and America. So what do you say? Draft Chuck. Draft Chuck. Folks. I think we should put him out there, try to get him to run against Tommy Tuberville. Get Colbert to run against Lindsey Graham. Get anybody to run against John Fetterman. We need it. Because there is more insane breaking news around ice. In particular, NBC reported today, ICE agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation's newest Marines. They're going to wait outside of Marine Corps graduation to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented. This is according to the Marine Corps reported this morning from NBC. You got to be fucking kidding me. This is so incredibly dangerous and stupid. If you want to damage recruiting and retention and morale in a time of war, as we send thousands of Marines potentially into Iran, this is how you do it. It's the opposite of supporting the troops and it's deeply, deeply un American. This cannot be tolerated because our enemies are celebrating yet again. Yeah, look, I need to remind everybody that ICE continues to run rampant across America every day. More bad shit. Do not believe the government. Believe your eyes. Because they've done everything from gassing kids in Portland to busting into houses without warrants. They're detaining citizens and cops and veterans and kids and kicking puppies. Remember that. You can't make this shit up. It is a culture of cruelty. And if they can do it to Renee Goode and they can do it to Alex Preddy and they can do it to Liam Ramos and they can do it to the families of Marines. They can do it to you. If you're not angry, you're not paying attention. They are ripping and tearing our country apart every day, more and more by the day. And as a reminder, Steve Bannon and SIS are at the airports to practice checking IDs so they can do the same thing at the elections. ICE needs to be put on trial.
- [37:14]
Mike Volo
This is Mike Volo of Lexicon Valley
- [37:17]
Thumbtack Advertiser
and I'm Bob Garfield. Are you one of those people who sometimes uses words?
- [37:21]
Paul Rykoff
Do you communicate or acquire information with, you know, language? Hey, us too.
- [37:29]
Thumbtack Advertiser
So join us on Lexicon Valley. To true over the history, culture and many mysteries of English, plus some rice cracks.
- [37:37]
Mike Volo
Find us on one of those apps
- [37:40]
Paul Rykoff
where people listen to podcasts. ICE needs to be shut out. Shut down. And most of all, we need to stay vigilant. All right, there's a lot to cover today. I'm gonna have to have a couple sips there of my. Out of my Stephen Colbert cup. I got this from the swag bag. I also got some really nice Tommy John pajama pants and anything that was food related, my kids devour. But we're gonna continue to keep the focus on what matters. And in other parts of the world, let's not forget about Ukraine in Ukraine. Day 1498 of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Think about that. 1400 days of war. And now, as Ukraine continues to gain momentum and strike Russia and help defend the world, Zelensky and Ukraine are being urged by allies to halt Russian oil attacks because they're worried about rising energy prices. So apparently Ukraine's allies, including the U.S. which is not an ally enough, has asked Kyiv to scale back its long range attacks on Russia's oil and gas sector because it's driving up the price of oil. Now, we put so many handcuffs on the Ukrainians across the board and as a result of Trump's war, oil prices in Russia are going up, oil prices in Iran are going up, they're getting a lot richer and they're in a much better economic position. But I think this is ridiculous to ask the Ukrainians to stop attacking their enemies, who continue to attack them and kill civilians every single day. Ukraine needs to have the gloves off. If they had the gloves off and they had American support, this could have been done months ago or years ago. By the way, remember, Trump said he was going to solve this in the first couple of days. Well, it's almost been a year and it's not solved. But despite the president's lack of support for Ukraine, it's so important that all of us Americans who do support Ukraine step up, speak out and stand with Ukraine now more than ever because they need our support. And Ukraine continues to be on the front line of freedom in what could be the emerging front of what may be World War iii. It's not an exaggeration, folks. The scope and scale of warfare that's happening around this country is continuing to spread and engulf more and more countries by the day. Ukraine is on the front line. They need our support and they need us all to, to stay vigilant. All right, let's talk politics for a second. The Republicans continue to be bankrupt, morally lost, failing. Democrats have had a couple of good moments lately, but they still lack a clear leader, they still lack a clear plan, and their popularity continues to struggle. Both of them are about 27% while independents are 45% and rising. As I've often said, we are not just moving the needle, we are the needle. And tomorrow we will have a new leader who is stepping up to meet this moment, a new independent veteran, Green Beret, Rhodes Scholar combat veteran Seth Bodnar, who recently announced he's running as an independent for the Senate seat in Montana, will be joining me on Independent Americans. I am very excited for you all to meet him and for him to share his story. He is a latest addition to this wave of independent veterans who are stepping forward to to answer the call. Check out independentveteransofamerica.org, linked in the show notes always if you want to support or if you want to run. We are recruiting not just to run against folks like Fetterman and Lindsey Graham and for the seat in Montana, but for local school board, for city commissioner, for mayor. Shout out to all of our independent veteran candidates who've run in the last couple of years. We want to get 99 more like Seth Bodnar to meet this moment. And one of them is continuing to fight on. I want to give him a shout out. Lt. Col. Retired Brian Bangs continues to fight forward in South Dakota and he's got some good news. He's been doing a hard fought ground game all throughout the winter, working hard up against unfairly challenging odds, higher stakes than Democrats and Republicans have to face. But Brian Bangs is continuing to trudge on and end March with a win. Check this out.
- [41:41]
Mike Volo
Hey everyone, I'm at the Capitol and Pier today. We're taking a big step forward. I'm Proud to officially submit nearly 4,000 signatures to get on the ballot here in South Dakota. I need to start with one thing. Thank you. Thank you to the thousands of South Dakotans, the Republicans, the Democrats, the Libertarians, and of course, the independents who signed
- [42:01]
Paul Rykoff
and who showed up.
- [42:03]
Mike Volo
We're united in a shared belief that our state deserves better than politics as usual. Because let's be clear, the system is designed to keep independent voices off the ballot. I had to gather more signatures than candidates in both major parties, parties combined. But we proved that when people come together, when they demand a voice, no barrier is too high. This campaign has never been about party bosses or special interests. It's about the people of South Dakota. Today, because of you, we're one step closer to giving regular folks the representation they want and deserve.
- [42:34]
Paul Rykoff
Okay, so this should be enough for him to make the ballot. He has another month to submit more signatures, and there are lots of volunteers all across the state that are helping him out. So if you want to help out, check out Brian Bangs. He was on the show a couple months ago. I'll have him back on there soon. Now, keep in mind, the Republicans didn't have to get as many signatures. They also submitted, and the Democrat candidate is technically qualified, but didn't even get 2000 signatures and has no more time to collect signatures. So the independent has to get more signatures. The Independent gets less financial support. We don't have the apparatus of the big parties. But Brian Bangs is showing what independent leadership looks like, and he is meeting the moment. So check him out. Check out independentveteransamerica.org and stay tuned tomorrow for Seth Bodnar, who will be the latest person to visit me in our Meet the Independent Candidate series. All right, let's talk about culture for a second. If you haven't heard, Savannah Guthrie is back at the Today Show. It's been a gut wrenching couple of weeks for her and for her family. She still believes that her mother's abduction was a kidnapping for ransom. And she had some heartfelt comments where she said she was sorry to her mother. She's so sorry. She felt like you brought this to her bedside. I don't think that's the case. The case is that this is terrible. And it has captured, I think, the hearts of the American public. And it's become like the war. It's not over, folks. They're still looking for Ms. Guthrie. And I think we all need to send our love and support. And also remember that folks in the spotlight are under a unique set of threats, especially folks in the media. But it is an example of how Americans, I think, have been touched by this and I hope can send love and support to Savannah Guthrie and to her mom. Don't give up hope. I'm not giving up hope. If you have any information, contact the FBI. Cash Patel is not exactly on this, but the American people might be. And you never know who can step up and be a helper. All right, uh, let's talk about some other good news in. In culture. Spring break is coming. For some of you, your kids just had spring break or have spring break now. Ours here in New York starts on Thursday. They get over a week off. And there is some very big excitement, at least at our house because a new Super Mario Brothers movie is premiering tomorrow. On April 1, we will get to meet Yoshi, the cuddly pink dinosaur in the pink boots. And this could be one of the biggest movies of the year. They're shooting for $180 million or more domestic domestically and $350 million globally. I was in Times Square for the protest this weekend, and the signs are everywhere. So if you need a break with your kids or without your kids, or if you don't have kids, maybe take a break from. From Trump for two hours, shut off your phone and go check out the Super Mario Brothers. Because we need Luigi, we need Mario, we need Yoshi, we need everybody to meet this moment and help us all stay vigilant.
- [45:29]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
Stay. Stay vigilant. Vigilant. Vigilant. Vigilant. Stay vi.
- [45:35]
Donald Trump
Vigilant.
- [45:36]
Paul Rykoff
All right, sports. I don't want to talk about anything else but March Madness. And I just want to say the final Four is now set and it should be a good one. If you didn't see the game the other night, Yukon stunned Duke in the most amazing finish I think I can remember. Duke number one goes down. Number one, Florida had gone down. So now, Saturday at 6:00pm if you're not tracking, it, will be number two, Yukon against number three, Illinois. Should be a great one. And the other side of the bracket, the two number ones that just kind of chugged along and maybe we're in the shadows of Duke. But number one, Michigan is back at the top against number one, Arizona, which is also back at the top. That will be Saturday at 8:49, hopefully about a four or five hour period where Trump can just shut the hell up and let us enjoy some basketball. Finally, let's talk about something good. All right. This is something good, but a bit crazy. I often have to explain to people some of the weaponry and vehicles and military elements. And in this time of AI and social media, there are some accounts that do a really unique job in communicating things that are otherwise maybe a bit technical, maybe a bit nerdy, maybe a bit hard to understand. So I want to shout out an account I've come across called War Tunes. Yes, wartunes like war and cartoons put together every day, a new weapon, cartoonized. Check this out.
- [46:58]
Shahed136
My name is Shahed136. I cost $20,000 and I'm being used
- [47:02]
Paul Rykoff
to bankrupt the most advanced air defense systems on the planet.
- [47:06]
Shahed136
Introduced By Iran in 2020, I'm a suicide drone. I don't come back. I find my target and I fly into it.
- [47:14]
Paul Rykoff
They don't send one of me, they send hundreds. While air defense defenses chase us, the real missiles get through. Yep. Get used to this story about drones, right? That's the drones we've been talking about. A year from now, everyone will know all about drones. But check out War Tunes. They've also got a war tune about the American F35 and the French Rafale M. You can meet the Iranian Fatah ii, a hypersonic missile, or the Iron Dome. It's very different from Super Mario Brothers, but. But it is a way to understand the military components, the weaponry, the costs behind all of these weapons that are now being used as we speak. It's something unusual, it's something a bit strange, but it is something that will help you stay vigilant and help you navigate these times. And it is something good.
- [48:04]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
Something good.
- [48:09]
Paul Rykoff
All right. I hope you think this show is something good. This was a long one today, but we had a lot to get through. I had a lot to say and we've been continuing to pump out the content to meet this moment. We are finishing March like a lion. I want to give a couple shout outs. One, shout out to Loyal Citizen in Portland, Maine for this shirt. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see it. It says union forever. They've got a lot of great Civil War union inspired stuff. They've also got the Great Joshua Chamberlain 20th Maine shirts that I've worn before. Check out loyalcitizenclothing.com Big shout out to everybody at Loyal Citizen up in Maine. I'll also link to it in the show notes. Also coming up, as I mentioned, tomorrow will be Seth Bodnar, Green Beret combat veteran running for the Senate seat in Montana. This could be the biggest Senate race in America. He could be the independent that makes it into the Senate, that wins and becomes a fulcrum for our movement. He is the tip of the spear. I'm excited for you to hear from him and watch him. Coming up tomorrow, Thursday, we will have Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. I will ask him why he's still a Democrat and if he'll be running for president. He's been leading on the Epstein trial, on calls for accountability around the war and much more. And coming up maybe Friday, if not soon, the great actor Jeffrey Wright will be back on the show. If you're new here, you can go back and watch my previous conversations with Jeffrey Wright where he talked about all of his work, his activism, and even talked about his turtles. Yeah, that's what you get at Independent Americans. Always a bit of unexpected news. I'll keep you tracking not just on what's happening now, but what's happening next. And we are daily. You can follow us everywhere on YouTube. Be sure to hit that subscribe button, especially on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. You can also go to IndependentAmericans US and get some merch. Kind of cool, like the loyal citizen stuff and definitely comfortable to help you through what is a a promising spring. You have some gifts for Mother's Day, for Father's Day, for whatever else you got. Easter, Passover, great gifts. IndependentAmericans US. You can also join our Patreon community. Big shout out to all of our patrons and the folks who found us on Substack. We've been blowing up on Substack. Thank you to all of you finding us there and on YouTube. The YouTube growth is really, really important. This is how independent media can push back against the partisan media, the corporate media. This is how we can reach more and more people, also for free. And I want to shout out some of our YouTube members, folks who are chipping in to help this fight, help Support this content. R.L. saunders, 28 Jeannie Whitney, 6783, Vincent Parisi, 5959 Steve Curtis, 90 Marty 837K, Suki Warner, 6409 and TB CV1ME. Some of you sound like weapon systems yourselves, but you are helping us bring this content to more people. Be sure to subscribe and spread the word. If you can help us out and join us on YouTube and subscribe and chip in there, it will go a long way because America is divided, but less and less by the day. And here at Independent Americans, we're working to change that, to bring the light to contrast the heat of all the other political shows. And if you're now among the 45% of Americans who are independent. This is your show. Go back and check out the episodes from the last couple of weeks with Ken Casey, with Admiral Stravides, with General Hertling and others. Because our independent movement is hope for the future. You don't know country over party, people over politics, light over heat. Challenging the status quo. This is a moment for independent media to challenge that status quo and fuel a new movement that spans all across our country and overseas. And our movement is growing. There are a lot of people who are fed up, who are politically homeless. Tell them about this show and welcome them into this movement because we need them and their hope and their support is the oxygen of our democracy. If you enjoyed this episode, share it far and wide. Pick four people, your final four Share it with four people to celebrate the end of March and March Madness and invite others to declare their independence. And stay vigilant, my friends, because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. And no, you're not alone in your vigilance. We're all vigilant and we're all in this together. I'm your host, Paul Rykoff. Thank you for tuning into Independent Americans. I will see you tomorrow. Happy Tuesday. Congrats on making it through the winter of 2026 and through March. Happy April. And stay vigilant, America. Stay vigilant.
- [52:39]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
And when you wake it's time to
- [52:41]
Paul Rykoff
grow and it's not cool to believe
- [52:44]
Chorus or Vocal Interjections
in school but if I can say one thing I've seen the children of the revolution and the good trouble they can bring he says the red and blue identity dependent is an attitude an island in the sea of rhetoric and I can probably go he tells me the left and right Our dreams for those without a clue and when you
- [53:03]
Paul Rykoff
wait it's time to grow Powered by righteous media.