
Iran is the worst ceasefire in history — announced, broken, and now on “life support” — and two-thirds of the country wants no part of this forever war. Paul Rieckhoff opens Episode 519 with a no-BS read on what happens when an administration runs all gas, no brakes into a third month of bombing: gas prices stay punishingly high, the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, and the Chinese sit back and smile as 41% of our Navy is tied down outside Iran. Now Trump is heading to Beijing for a trade fight with Xi, with Tim Cook and possibly Elon Musk in tow, while Taiwan quietly slides onto the table.
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Paul Rykoff
The war continues to have very, very low popularity, the lowest of any recent war, and it's not getting any better. It's across partisan lines, especially as gas prices continue to skyrocket and stay high, crippling especially the working class all across the country. And here's the bottom line. It doesn't look like it's. Welcome to independent Americans. Welcome to episode five, One Niner. I'm your host, Paul Reikoff, and it is Monday, May 11th. A whole new week is here. I hope you had a good weekend. I am coming to you from New York City, usa, and the weather is overcast again. It's gloomy again. It's just this has been a wild April and May of weather and of politics and of news and everything else, but we're still going to push through it on what is another Manosphere Monday. All right, Manosphere Monday is all about countering the radioactive, nasty, disgusting versions of manhood and masculinity and leadership you see in and lots of other podcasts and trying to bring you light to contrast to heat. Bring you artists that can enlighten you and inspire you. And today's artist is one to do that and then some. It's a man who has his own eye. It's Ice motherfucking Tea. Ice T, because he has a great song called Freedom of Speech. And I think it's a time to remember that Ice T is a guy who's been pushing the boundaries of free speech for many, many decades. His real name, you may not know, is Tracy Lauren Merrow, known professionally as Ice T. Started out in the 80s. His debut album was Rhyme Pays, and then he had the big album power in 1988, which was certified platinum. Lots of other stuff, including a breakout collaboration called Body count in the 90s, 1990 to be exact. With the song Body Count, which broke through, it was one of the first to meld hip hop and heavy metal. You may not know that actually Ice T was in the army for a little while. That's when he got interested in hip hop. He left the army at the rank of PFC First Class after serving two years and two months. He did get an honorable discharge because he was a single dad. And there's a whole backstory. I welcome Ice T to come on this show to tell us about it. But in that song Body Count, there's a line when he says, goddamn, what a brother gotta do to get a message to the red, white and blue what I gotta die before you realize I was a brother with open eyes. The world's insane While you drink champagne and I'm living in black rain Try to ban the AK I got tens of them stashed with a case of hand grenades. Well, folks, it is time to open eyes of the red, white and blue, especially in times like this because the body count is real, especially in the Middle east as the bombs continue to drop on this manosphere. Monday, we're going to get into that and much more. And I'm going to bring you, in addition to Ice T, the Five Eyes, I bring you in every single show. Independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. No guests today, just me. Quick fire through the Monday madness to help you stay vigilant. All right. I hope you had a good weekend again. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers.
Chris Rosenthal
Thank you.
Paul Rykoff
It was a big weekend here in New York City celebrating my amazing wife Lori and my mother in law and my sister in law and everybody in our orbit. Also, big weekend for the boys. We had a football game for each of them and then a baseball game for each of them. And it's fun this time of year because things are pretty clicking and the weather's getting a little bit better. But a lot of new things are starting to bloom in May. And despite all the controversy and all the division, I'm going to continue to try to help you bloom. New ideas, including a new independent Americans website. Big shout out to Chris Rosenthal, our fearless creative director and producer who also had a birthday over the weekend. Everybody, send Chris Rosenthal a little bit of happy birthday, love. But he has designed a great new upgrade of our website. Check it out at IndependentAmericans US. And we got a new product for you, a new morning newsletter that we're calling TMI the Morning Independent. Go to IndependentAmericans US Register every morning. You will get the latest episode and news headlines from around. News, politics and national security. We will bring you an independent perspective that you need. You get a lot of other newsletters out there. Some of them are good, some of them are crap. We're going to give you tmi, the Morning Independent. Too much information every single morning in your inbox. Check it out and it'll help you stay on top of all the news that's happening, including what is today's top topic. All right. Shaking off the cobwebs on a Monday, like everybody is. But the number one story is still Iran. Every week we go into the weekend hoping that there will be a peace deal or some kind of a change. Every Monday we come back and there's not. We're in the Third month of this war. Trump has said that the list of demands from Iran were, quote, unacceptable. This as gas prices and oil prices continue to go skyrocketing because it looks like another promised deal from Trump is nothing but hot air and fizzle. This is becoming the thing. I mean, this is the worst ceasefire in history because they announce a ceasefire and keep shooting at each other. It's the worst peace deal because it hasn't happened. It's maybe a Putin like peace deal where he promises peace and continues to bomb, but the reality is that Trump's looking for an off ramp and he can't find one. So he's spinning, he's vacillating, he's fumbling, and he's still not shutting his mouth. So check out this clip from the White House just today, for the time being, the ceasefire remains in place.
Chris
It's unbelievably weak. I would say. I would call it the weakest right now after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn't even finish reading it. I said, I'm not going to waste my time reading it. I would say it's one of the weakest right now. It's on life support. They understand. These are all medical people. Dr. Oz, life support is not a good thing. Do you agree?
Chris Rosenthal
Bad prognostic.
Chris
I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.
Paul Rykoff
All right? He says that the peace deal is on life support, which means more war, which is not something that two thirds of the country wants. The war continues to have very, very low popularity, the lowest of any recent war. And it's not getting any better. It's across partisan lines, especially as gas prices continue to skyrocket and stay high, crippling especially the working class all across the country. And here's the bottom line. It doesn't look like it's ending. It doesn't look like the Strait of Hormuz is open, and it doesn't look like your gas prices are going down. So it looks like another week of instability, another week of empty promises, another week of false peace, and another week to stay vigilant. All right? The big winner in all of this, as Trump continues to drain our military, continues to drain our economy, as the sucking chest wound that is Iran continues to develop. There's one group of people that are celebrating, it's the Chinese. And Trump is headed there this week. He says he's locked and loaded for a fight. There's going to be a trade showdown. And it's building toward who knows what. This week, it will be a big show. Trump will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week. It looks like he'll be taking along Tim Cook of Apple, potentially Elon Musk and others. But here's what you need to know. Our economy is not looking good. Gas prices are not looking good. The price of milk, the price of gas, the price of oil, the price of eggs, the price of everything is high. And a trade war with China is probably not likely to help it. I've said this before. It's like Trump sits around every week and says, hmm, things are pretty shitty. How can I make them shittier? I know, let's send ICE into Minneapolis. I know. Let's start a new war in Iran. I know. Let's pick another fight with the Chinese. Taiwan will, of course, be on the table. And it's important to remember that now that we've got 41% of our Navy outside of Iran and countless numbers of our arsenal depleted, the Chinese have never been in a better position when it comes to Taiwan. So watch this space. I know it's a lot flying at you for a Monday, but it's another reason to stay vigilant. All right? We've been focused a lot on Iran, as we should, and a lot on international issues, as we should, because Trump continues to be all gas, no breaks, nothing is stopping it. But ICE continues to run rampant across America. We can't forget about that. We can't lose sight of what ICE continues to do. That, in my view, is unlawful, unauthorized, very unpopular, and deeply un American. Every day there's more bad shit. And don't believe the government. Believe your eyes, because this is the group that was gassing kids in Portland and busting into houses without warrants. And don't forget that they're still out there doing dastardly shit. Play this clip, please, Chris from New York City.
Christine Johnson
ICE takedown caught on camera, a Bronx man left bleeding and kneading stitches. But his family says agents got the wrong guy. Good evening to you. I'm Christine Johnson, and we begin tonight here at 11 telling you that that man was released from custody but is still in pain. And his family is left shaken up by what they call an ICE mix up.
Paul Rykoff
So ICE pulled a gun on a teenager here in New York City. They beat him up. Then they realized they got the wrong guy, and like other cases involving citizens, they dumped him in a random location far from his home, but busted up and injured. This is happening in America. And it's still happening. Make no mistake, it continues to happen, maybe happening more often and more widespread, further below the radar, because Iran continues to suck the oxygen out of everything else. But ICE is detaining citizens and cops and veterans and kids and kicking puppies. And this is where we are, America. We are still here. Even though Kristi Noem is gone and Mark Wayne Mullen is now in place, we are still here. And if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. They continue to rip and tear our country apart. They continue to violate the Constitution. They continue to operate in a deeply unpopular and un American way. And it's why we need to shut them down. Chris, play that ICE song that many of you have found to be quite inspiring. ICE get the fuck out.
Chris Rosenthal
Play I See E G T F O every Everybody knows that ICE got to go I C E G T F every Everybody knows that ICE got to know I C E G T F O every Everybody knows that down at the border Shit is disorder Kitty concentration camps out can you support them? Kids getting slaughtered locked up with no water these folks are getting treated worse than cattle for the slaughter Send them
Paul Rykoff
back to hell Everybody knows that ICE got to go I think this is widespread and continues to be more popular by the day. But make no mistake that this is happening. But there are other things that are happening that are way off the radar and some that are deeply below the radar. And one story I want to bring to your attention is the fact that being in the army is dangerous. Being in the American military in any way is dangerous. And CBS is reporting now over the weekend, you probably missed it, that the body of an American soldier who went missing while training in Morocco has been recovered. They announced this on Sunday. First Lieutenant Lamont Key, Jr. Was one of two service members who disappeared just over a week ago off the waters of Morocco's south coast. There was a training area there. It looked like they may have been involved in some training and they got lost in the water. The search efforts involved over a thousand people, Moroccan military and civil personnel. But I want to just take a minute to recognize and remember this service member, First Lieutenant Lamont Key. He was taking a part in what's called African lion, an annual training exercise that happens over there. He may have what looks like one. One soldier went into the water and another one jumped in to rescue them, was hit by a wave. The two were unsuccessful, and the search goes on for the other missing soldier. As always, I will tell you to support our friends at Tragedy Assistance program for survivors linked in. The show notes they are there for the families of this young lieutenant and his kids, if he has them, and for the family members and service members of all of our fallen and many who were lost to suicide and also to cancer. Memorial Day is just a couple weeks away and it's an important reminder of how much folks continue to give up, not just in places like Iran, but in other places that are far below the radar. Our troops should always have our support, no matter how you feel about the president. And it's another way we can all stay vigilant. All right. Trump continues to disrupt the world. I was on Piers Morgan Uncensored today, first time I think I've ever been on that show to talk about Iran. Check it out. It's on our YouTube page where you can also hear the ICE GTFO song and all of our recent songs. They're all listed on our YouTube page. But Trump is continuing to go all gas, no breaks around the world. He's continuing to wage war against the free press and he's waging war against your health. And viruses are still out there. This has gotten some coverage, probably not enough. But the American passengers exposed to the hantavirus on the cruise ship are now in the US there's 17 of them from a cruise ship that have now arrived in Nebraska, where we have a quarantine center. If you didn't know this, it's the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. It's the country's only federal funded quarantine center, which seems like a problem. Maybe we should have more than one. After, after Covid passengers are going to be observed around the, around the clock by folks from the CDC and the center for Disease Control Prevention, which has also been in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and RFK Jr. It's a rare family of viruses. Folks are saying there's a very limited risk for the public. That's what the CDC says. Right now the risk to the American public remains extremely low. But remember who's in charge here, folks. Trump was in charge last time there was a global pandemic. And now RFK Jr. Is in charge, the guy who likes to cut penises off of raccoons on the side of the road. This is our health expert who's going to take this on. Play this clip, folks.
Chris
Supervised, given plans for going home. We have this under control and we're
Chris Rosenthal
not worried about it. But the CDC took four days after the WHO issued its, you know, alert. Why was it, why, why did it take the US Four days to issue an alert?
Chris
It's not true. We. As soon as we determined that the virus was out there, we issued an alert. The alert means nothing. They acted very quickly. I saw the alert, too. I. Yeah, give me. Give me a. Very, very quickly. And it looks like. And, you know, can't bet anybody's life on it, but it looks like it's just a disease that we've had around in a very small way for a long time. Not a good one to catch.
Paul Rykoff
All right, so RFK says he has it under control and he's not worried about it. Well, I'm worried about it only because he's in charge, and so is Trump. And we've been here before, and Trump is already deflecting blame. Play that clip, please, Chris.
Chris
I don't know how the hell he kept his shot, but he was there telling us about this. Now, the one thing with this one is that it's much harder to catch, and we've had it for a long. It's been around for a long time. People are very familiar with it. So, you know, I hope it's fine. All I can do is everything that a president can do, which is some. Which is actually somewhat limited, but it seems like it is not easy to spread. In fact, it's in certain ways, very hard to spread. It's been. We've lived with it for years, many years, and we think we're in very good shape. We're very careful, and Nebraska has done a fantastic job. They have a. A place there that those doctors are unbelievable.
Paul Rykoff
Nebraska has done a fine job. That's what he says. Well, we're gonna need Nebraska to do more than a fine job. We might have to ask our friend Dan Osborne, who's running for Senate as an independent out in Nebraska, about this one. I wonder how the people of Nebraska feel about it. But nevertheless, we're gonna need the cdc, we're gonna need our health experts, and we're gonna need the best kind of leadership out there today in the press, they also asked him, how do you feel about the handling of the virus? We talked about that. He said, do you regret pulling out of the. And he said they gave us all the wrong information on Covid. They were totally wrong. We're in very good shape. We're very careful. Remember, we pulled out of the World Health Organization just in time for a new virus. And undoubtedly, our enemies are celebrating.
Chris Rosenthal
Our enemies are celebrating.
Paul Rykoff
Our enemies are celebrating because our military continues to be overextended, overused, unregulated Congress continues to fail to stop Trump from doing just about anything. And that includes continued strikes off the coast of Venezuela over the weekend. They hit another one. Yep. And they're becoming more frequent. They hit another alleged drug boat. They're no more acceptable and no more accountable than ever before. They're all gas, no brakes, and nothing is stopping them. On May 8, what they're still calling Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a so called lethal kinetic strike on a designated terrorist organization. Two males were killed and one survived. Now it says no military, US Military forces were harmed. Here's what I want to know. What happened to the one that survived? Where is he? Is he in American custody? Is he going to stand trial? Because as I've long said, if they're bad enough to kill, they should be bad enough to capture. Remember, we never saw the full video of the September 2nd boat strike with the alleged double tap. They never brought back the whole discussion about war crimes. And they continue to strike boats without any authority. And the question you should ask, and this is an important one in Iran, you should ask, where the hell is he? Enriched uranium on Venezuela. You should ask, what'd you do with the guy who lived in your last drug boat strike? This is important stuff, folks. Don't let it fall below the radar and stay vigilant. All right. Ukraine continues to hold the line and epitomize what vigilance is all about. Today is day 1529 of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. And I wanted to share with you something because it was Mother's Day. A lot of us reflected on the heroism and the love and the support and leadership of so many moms, and especially all the moms in Ukraine, many who are serving in the armed forces and those who are not. But there was a video going around across the web and on social media that I wanted to share with you. Chris, play that, please.
Chris
Where is it?
Paul Rykoff
So if you can hear it or see it. This was in Kramatorisk where a mother and her child are hiding among the trees from a Russian FPV drone hunting civilians. They're hiding. It's a mother protecting her kid under a tree hiding from killer Russian drones. This is what Putin is doing and it won't stop until he's gone. Also over the weekend was a scaled back Victory day parade across Russia. In the past, this has been when Putin has rolled out all the big weapons systems to commemorate the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany. But it was really important because it was very much downscaled they had no military hardware on display due to the, quote, current operational situation. Now, that's probably because they're using up a whole lot of their armament and because the Ukrainians are pretty good at drone strikes. But it's also a sign of how the Ukrainians are forcing changes within Russia. Putin continues to say everything's fine, just like Trump does, but you can see that Ukraine, especially in the last few months, is gaining momentum. And now there's talk that Putin may be open to a peace deal and ending the war in Ukraine. The fact that he's even putting this out there is, of course, suspicious and should not be trusted. But I'm sure he'll dangle the idea of a peace deal in front of Trump because they'd love to call this a victory all the way around. Now, I will never root against peace. Maybe there is a world where Putin and Trump and Zelensky can end this war without Putin being gone. I don't think it's likely, but I will root for it, especially as we understand the human cost that continues. But it should be without any concessions from the Ukrainians. The Russians are wrong, Putin is wrong. And anything should end up with Putin dead or in jail. They continue to stand for freedom, and they continue to stay vigilant. All right, in politics, there's a lot going on, as there is every Monday when Congress is in session is going to be a blitzkrieg of legislative and policy work. Before they take a huge break in the summer, it will be an especially huge one because it's an election year. And I just want to say one thing. Trump supporters are crazy. Some of them are just fucking crazy. The things they say out loud are baffling and shocking. Play this clip, please, Chris.
Robert Jeffress
And look, three days after this conflict began, I was in the Oval Office with President Trump and a few other faith leaders. And he told us that Iran was within weeks of getting a powerful weapon that would destroy Israel, much of the Middle east, and could bring great harm to America. And he had no choice but to act. And I thanked him then for having the courage to fulfill his God given responsibility to protect our nation. And, you know, the great irony is it looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the Pope has. And I'm glad the President hasn't backed down at all.
Paul Rykoff
So this is extreme pastor Robert Jeffress, who's also been invited to the Pentagon by Hegseth, and he says it looks like the. I'm going to say it Again, it looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches than. Than the Pope. A person really said this out loud. This is how extreme some of the support is, how blinded the support is for Trump. Don't accept it, folks. But speaking of loud and somewhat ridiculous, the promotion has started for the UFC fight that will happen on the White House lawn. There was another UFC fight in New Jersey this weekend. If you watched it, I think the undercard fight was pretty, pretty interesting. The, the final fight with Strickland was a pretty good fight. Ended up in a split decision. I continue to be a UFC fan, but I am not a fan of Dana White and his politics and the merging of the two. But they are now promoting the UFC fight. Check this clip out. Play that one, Chris. Here's what I think is, is really important. The White House is literally open for business. The White House is being used for promoting a for profit sporting event for the ufc. You can't have a better backdrop for the ufc. And the UFC will profit from the White House and from the people's house and from the taxpayers. So the White House is literally open for business. And I'm going to propose something. Every single dime that the UFC makes on this event should go to charity. Every single dime. And how about it goes to Taps, Tragedy Assistance Program for survivors, or any other charity that's working to take care of the folks who died In Iran, the 13 troops that have been killed. I think the money should go to their families to remind people about the human cost of war. It'll be just in time for Memorial Day, and maybe it'll help more Americans stay vigilant. All right, One day Trump will be gone. One day this will end. This chapter will end, but not soon. But I do want to point again to Hungary, which is having the transition of power. They're having a new, more democratic leadership installed, and they're pretty darn happy about it. So check out this clip of the new health minister, Zoltz Hedegis, who was dancing in front of the Budapest Parliament after Peter Magyar was sworn in as prime minister. Play that clip, Chris. A dance of freedom. That's what it is. We'll be dancing here in America one day soon. One day might not be soon, but it will be in the future if we all stay vigilant.
Chris Rosenthal
Stay vigilant.
Paul Rykoff
All right. I will continue to bring you independent voices. Coming up later this week on Wednesday, I'll have another independent veteran candidate that you need to meet. If you haven't checked out every Wednesday's episode. Please go back and do that. You can listen anywhere you're listening now on Apple, Podcast, on Spotify or watch us on YouTube. Of course, always subscribe to our substack as well if you haven't, and follow us on social medias. But independent candidates and issues are at the forefront. We are the people's champions. We're not just moving the needle, we are the needle. And you're going to see that more in the days to come. We'll continue to give you updates on open primaries. We'll continue to give you updates on primaries that are closed. And we'll continue to help you stay vigilant all right, Sports Big weekend. I mean, May and June is a really fun time for sports. The WNBA season started. The New York Liberty came out with guns blazing. Baseball is in full swing and really getting fun. And then there's the Stanley cup playoffs and of course the NBA. And if you haven't noticed, my Knicks are on a roll. They blew out the Sixers 144 to 114. I mean this feels kind of weird. We've never had a Knicks team this dominant. I mean, they sweep the Sixers, take a 40 series win and now they can chill for about a week and that's pretty exciting. We've never been in a position like that before. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves and the spurs are tied 2 to 2. If you didn't see it last night, Webayama got ejected by midway through the second quarter and the Timberwolves closed it out. Looks like this is going to be a good series that could go down to the wire. Meanwhile, tonight the Cavs will play the Pistons at home. The Cavs are home and The Pistons have a 21 series lead there. And OKC is looking out, looking to close out the Lakers tonight in Los Angeles. OKC is looking dominant and maybe on a collision course with my Knicks I hope, which is what we can all root for. But the thunder up there 30 and the Lakers are going to try to hang on. The NHL continues to be great. The Canadians won last night 62 over the Buffalo Sabres. Montreal takes a 21 lead there and the Ducks won a close one against the Golden Knights. That series is tied 2 2. And tonight Monday night, the Wild will be home against the avalanche. Colorado has a 21 lead. There also been a fantastic series and this is a wild time in sports and in the world. But there is always reason to be hopeful. There are always helpful help helpers that are running in when others are running out and that's my episode today of something good.
Chris
Something good.
Paul Rykoff
All right. I'm going to show you some footage here and I hope we can show it. If not, I'll describe it. Sometimes YouTube knocks out this footage. Chris can find it somewhere or he can't. But over the weekend, Fox News here in New York reported that there was heart stopping body cam footage of an NYPD police officer rescuing a a sobbing woman dangling off the edge of a Brooklyn high rise skyscraper. It was really harrowing stuff. There's body cam footage. It's out there. At one point, an officer carefully inches toward the woman telling her, we care about you. We don't want to see you hurt yourself. The ESU officers who are tremendous emergency services unit officers, I know many of them shout out to those guys, climbed over the ledge, sat beside her, hide her high above the street and they pulled her back to safety. But it was a harrowing example of how heroic and brave people and how kind people can be. That was especially impactful around Mother's Day. So as we close Mother's Day weekend, I want to keep a little bit of those vibes as we go into a new week and especially salute all the moms and all the brave women that are out there all across our first responders community, across our law enforcement, across our military, across the EMTs and everyone else who over this weekend didn't have Mother's Day off. They were out there helping people. They were out there showing what examples of helpers can be and they were helping us all stay vigilant. All right. We got a big week coming up. As I mentioned, I was on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show today. It was not quite the fireworks that Pierce Morgan has been known for. He has had some big guests lately. He's had President Zelensky on and others. I did not get to engage with Russell Brandt, although I might consider doing that in the future. I hope Piers Morgan will join me on this show coming up sometime soon. Tomorrow I'll be on Ms. Now as Hegseth will be live from Washington. I'll be reacting in real time and I might be on CNN for my weekly installment there with Aaron Burnett. All this is on our YouTube page. You can check out all our recent press hits and all our recent conversations. Again, go to IndependentAmericans US. Check out our new website and sign up for our new newsletter, the tmi, the Morning Independent. Preston Stewart, the great military veteran, a YouTube reporter and advocate, will be on on Thursday to talk about issues there and I'll have more stuff coming up. We hit number 15 on the news podcast charts recently, thanks to support from all of you. So please continue to help us spread the word. You can also get merchandise. Mother's Day is gone. Father's Day's coming. You can get one of these cool cups, T shirts, hats and more. And be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening or watching now. Because America's divided. But we're bringing them together, bit by bit, day by day, show by show, bringing you light to contrast the heat of all the other political shows. You're now among the 45% of Americans and growing who are independent. This is your show. Welcome to all the new folks who are here thanks to my appearance. I'm Piers Morgan. Because we believe that the independent movement is hope for the future around the country and around the world. Country over party people over politics. Light over heat. Challenging the status quo of the parties, of the corporations, and especially of corporate media, fueling a new movement that is growing. Thanks to every new subscriber and every new listener and watcher. That movement is growing and we are bringing the hope that is still, especially now, the oxygen of our democracy. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it far and wide and invite others to declare their independence. Stay vigilant, my friends, as we go into this new week. 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 with a brand new show. Check us out on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Give us a review in honor of your mama or my mama or any of the other mamas that we celebrated this weekend. Again, a happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Happy Manosphere Monday, everyone else. And stay vigilant, America. Stay Vigilant tells me the left and
Chris Rosenthal
right are dreams for those without a clue and when you wait it's time to grow and it's not cool to believe 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 are dead and independent is an attitude an island in the city. And when you wait it's time to
Paul Rykoff
grow Power by Righteous Media.
Episode: Iran Peace Deal Crumbles Again. Trump Heads to China. ICE Runs Rampant.
Date: May 11, 2026
Paul Rieckhoff, host of Independent Americans, takes listeners through a turbulent week in politics and global affairs. The episode covers the collapse of the Iran peace deal, President Trump's aggressive posture toward China, the continued actions of ICE within the U.S., and other flashpoints in both domestic and international news. Rieckhoff emphasizes an independent perspective, connecting the dots between rapidly shifting headlines while maintaining a thread of personal reflection and calls to vigilance.
“This is the worst ceasefire in history because they announce a ceasefire and keep shooting at each other... Another promised deal from Trump is nothing but hot air and fizzle.” — Paul Rieckhoff [05:30]
“The ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.” — Trump, quoted by Paul Rieckhoff [06:48]
"It's like Trump sits around every week and says, 'Hmm, things are pretty shitty. How can I make them shittier? I know, let's send ICE into Minneapolis. Let's start a new war in Iran. Let's pick another fight with the Chinese.'" — Paul Rieckhoff [08:18]
"ICE pulled a gun on a teenager here in New York City. They beat him up. Then they realized they got the wrong guy..." — Paul Rieckhoff [10:18]
“Everybody knows that ICE got to go… down at the border, shit is disorder, kitty concentration camps out, can you support them? Kids getting slaughtered, locked up with no water, these folks are getting treated worse than cattle for the slaughter…” — “ICE GTFO” Song [11:24]
"Being in the army is dangerous. Being in the American military in any way is dangerous." — Paul Rieckhoff [12:07]
"I'm worried about it only because he's in charge, and so is Trump. And we've been here before, and Trump is already deflecting blame." — Paul Rieckhoff [16:14]
"If they're bad enough to kill, they should be bad enough to capture." — Paul Rieckhoff [18:04]
"They're hiding. It's a mother protecting her kid under a tree hiding from killer Russian drones. This is what Putin is doing and it won’t stop until he's gone." — Paul Rieckhoff [20:43]
Legislative Frenzy: With election year urgency, Congress is sprinting to pass policies before summer break.
Extreme Trumpism: Features a surprising pro-Trump pastor comparing Trump’s Biblical knowledge to the Pope’s.
"It looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the Pope has." — Robert Jeffress [23:08]
White House “For Sale”: Criticizes the use of the White House as a backdrop to a UFC promotion event, suggesting any profits should go to military family charities.
"We'll be dancing here in America one day soon... if we all stay vigilant." — Paul Rieckhoff [26:56]
"It was a harrowing example of how heroic and brave people and how kind people can be. That was especially impactful around Mother's Day." — Paul Rieckhoff [29:27]
On the Failed Iran Peace Deal:
“Another week of instability, another week of empty promises, another week of false peace, and another week to stay vigilant.” — Paul Rieckhoff [07:02]
On ICE Abuses:
“They continue to rip and tear our country apart. They continue to violate the Constitution.” — Paul Rieckhoff [10:18]
Summing Up Leadership Critiques:
“Trump continues to disrupt the world... all gas, no brakes.” — Paul Rieckhoff [14:48]
On the Need for Vigilance:
"Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. You're not alone in your vigilance. We're all in this together." — Paul Rieckhoff [31:47]
Paul Rieckhoff’s language is direct, irreverent, openly critical—especially regarding Trump, government overreach, and media narratives. He blends humor, music, and personal anecdotes with hard-hitting political commentary, rallying independent listeners while challenging the entrenched party duopoly and urging vigilance.
This episode serves as both a rapid-fire news digest and a battle cry for engagement outside the two-party system. Rieckhoff weaves together stories of political conflict, human cost, heroism, and hope, re-centering the listener on independence, skepticism of power, and solidarity in vigilance.