← Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Snowpocalypse Hits. USA Hockey Wins Gold. Kash Patel is a Ridiculous Poser.
00:29:00
A solo Monday dispatch from Tampa: Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the post-Olympics glow, calls out Kash Patel's $75K taxpayer-funded locker room photo-op, and issues an urgent warning — 40–50% of U.S. deployable air power is now massed near Iran, and nothing is stopping Trump from using it. Plus a major veterans WIN on VA disability benefits, ICE violence in Santa Barbara, and a preview of tomorrow's interview with independent Michigan governor candidate Mike Duggan.
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Look at him, eating whatever he wants,
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Paul Rykoff
never gaining a pound.
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Well, I'm stuck with the boring special and can't lose an ounce.
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Paul Rykoff
How's your lunch, man? Amazing.
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Yours?
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So good.
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Paul Rykoff
Oh, I'm so happy for you. Cool, buddy.
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Paul Rykoff
No, Definitely.
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Paul Rykoff
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Paul Rykoff
Billions.
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Paul Rykoff
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Paul Rykoff
He said I can do anything I want to do to them. I am allowed to destroy the country. He thinks he's a destroyer of countries. He thinks he's a destroyer of worlds. He thinks he can do anything he wants. And this is really what he thinks and this is how he acts. And Iran right now, as I record this on Monday and likely going into the State of the Union is next on the list.
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Guest or Voice Actor
Foreign.
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Paul Rykoff
Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to episode 447. I am your host, Paul Rykoff, and I am coming to you still from Tampa Bay, Florida. Because I'm stuck here like millions of other people. My flight has been canceled, the airports are shut down, and I am stuck here. Of course, there's worse places to be stuck than Tampa, Florida. I might be here forever. Maybe I'll run for governor against DeSantis and clean this whole place up. But it is a chili for Florida. 54 degrees and sunny, chilly down here, but apocalyptically full of snow everywhere else. It is Monday, February 23rd, and as I told you in the past, I'm going to pick a different artist every week to introduce my boys to. And to kick off this week, I'm picking the great Dean Martin. Dean Martin, who of course sang Let It Snow. He was the king of cool. He also did Ain't that a Kick in the head, which is what our politics feels like every day. And everybody loves somebody, which is always true. And a good reminder, no guests today. A quick Monday episode to rip through what you may have missed over the weekend in the last couple of hours to start our week. And I will bring you the five eyes that I bring you in every show, whether you're somewhere warm and sunny or you're digging out under the snowpocalypse, I am going to bring you the independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact that you come to depend on from independent Americans. And I'm going to give you all that I can, whether you're in the sun or you're in the snow, to help you stay vigilant. All right, a lot happening as we go into a big Monday. And of course the number one top topic is the snowpocalypse. I mean, this is. This is nuts. A high impact bomb cyclone. 30 million people are under blizzard warnings. There's over 30 inches of snow in many places. Record snow falls in Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, and some places the snow is still falling. Most of the Northeast is shut down. 10,000 flights have been canceled. And here's what I'm going to say. Let's make the most of it, America. I mean, you know, there is tons of danger and there is tons of peril that we have to navigate, but let's try to make the most of it and let's use it as an opportunity to look out for each other. It's a time to celebrate our first responders. A time for politicians to really show what they're made of. Whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, a snowstorm will show you which politicians can meet the moment and which ones cannot. And for our teachers, at least in New York and other places, you got a much needed one more day of extra break and not that remote shit, which I think should be banned, but a full and complete snow day. So let's make the most of it, America. It might be another day. Let's look out for our neighbors and let's all try to use a snow day especially to stay vigilant. All right, The Other top story that I want to dig into, hopefully you caught a lot of it. But the USA had a great Olympics. And it wasn't a completely fantastic, flawless Olympics, but I think it was a good Olympics for one main reason. We showed a powerful alternative face of America to the world. Whether it was Alyssa Liu, the medal winning, the gold medal winning figure skater, the women's hockey team, the men's hockey team, which I'll talk more about in a second. All of our athletes, for the most part, showed the great American resilience and grit and positivity and hopefulness. I always remember that I lived with a Swiss guy for many years in New York when I had four roommates and he used to tell me, you can always see the Americans on a playing field because they always believe they can win. And that's the true spirit of America and we need that now more than ever. Yes, it was steeped in politics and I'm going to talk about that in a second. But these young men and women performed tremendously and made us proud. Whether they won a medal or not, they represented this country. And so many of them spoke out in the face of controversy, in the face of a president who might name check them. They spoke out and spoke from their hearts and they recommended and they represented the best of what this country is all about. Want to shout out Alyssa Lu, of course, who I think was so unique and so inspiring. Gonna talk about her more later in the show. The women's hockey team women, which was dominant. And as I've said before, I want to reiterate, we have the best women athletes on the planet, the best women leaders on the planet, and we got to show it. And of course, the men's hockey gold in an overtime thriller that will go down for the ages. Man, if you didn't wake up at 8 o' clock in the morning and watch that in east coast time, you missed it because it was absolutely incredible. Way to go, boys. And Hellebuck the goalie was absolutely exceptional and might be able to run for president right now. If he does, I hope it's as an independent, not as a Republican or a Democrat. But Halibuk for president is going to be on some T shirts today. Now, it was an Olympics bowl of American victory and pride, but it was also full of American politics and Trump related drama. Last week I talked about how JD Vance decided to inject himself into the Olympics. He continues to do that, taking a shot at Eileen Gu, the great acrobatic skier. He's taken shots at others and of course, he brought ice with him. We which brought protests from across Italy. As a reminder, if you don't know, Milan was an epicenter of fascism Pre World War II. I spent some time in Milan one summer and learned the history. So the people of Milan know what authoritarianism looks like and is part of why they push back so hard on ice. And most reasonable Americans are pushing back and people around the world are pushing back on something else. Cash Patel, the FBI director spent over $75,000 in taxpayer money to do the greatest boondoggle we've ever seen in a cab. Secretary or really an American leader, Cash Patel decided to fly to the Olympics and be there to cheer on the team instead of looking for Savannah Guthrie's mom or handling security at Mar a Lago when someone was shot and killed there. A 21 year old tried to breach the fence and was shot and killed. No. Kash Patel thinks that being FBI director is about one boondoggle after another. And he is the most boondogliest member of the most boondogliest cabinet we have ever seen and continues to act like he always does without shame. He's always out for self. And if he really cared about the US Hockey team, the FBI, or America, he just would have kept his radical and corrupt ass home. I mean, he actually went into the locker room and chugged beers with the team. I mean, he is a ridiculous poser. He's like that kid who sneaks into the locker room in high school, wants to be cool. He. He's ridiculous. He is a ridiculous poser who has no place being in the locker room because it's not about you, dude. By being there, you detracted from the gold medal win that these guys pulled off. The most extraordinary one we've seen since 1980. By being there, you have injected politics. Now, look, the president, of course, has a right to make a phone call, which he did. He made a phone call to the guys. He of course, kind of shit on the women's team, said he had to invite them as well or he would be impeached, which is typical for his misogynistic rape itself. But, you know, it's normal for the President to call and congratulate. I have no problem with that. I have no problem even with him inviting them to the State of the Union, which he has also done. And he will, of course politicize them and claim they're all MAGA Republicans. But the more important part is that Cash Patel is not there to have fun. His job is not to fly to Milan on a government vehicle with government security and inject himself and his politics into what is one of the most amazing gold medal victories in my lifetime. But I think it's a really important reflection of who he is. He is a ridiculous poser. Just like in his FBI job, he's posing in that job. As much as he is a member of the hockey team, he's not qualified to do either one of those things. But it's important to call them out and for him to say, you know, I support the Americans. This is what I do. We all support the team, but we're all not going into the locker room and chugging beers and snatching the cameras away from Halibuk and the other guys who just won this thing. It's not about you, dude. And that's what I encourage you to call them out on. It's not just him. It's Hegseth, it's Kennedy. It's all of them. It's not about you. It's supposed to be, especially in the Olympics, about us. So as this continues to unfold and as the teams get invited to the White House and as Cash Patel thinks he's some kind of mascot for the team, we all, especially now, need to stay vigilant. All right, look, they suck and they contaminate everything. And they'll do it again by drafting off the success of the hockey team, by inviting them to the State of the Union tomorrow. But there's something else that I want to. I want to highlight. The Daily Beast noted that Kash Patel's assistant public affairs director insisted that the FBI director was not in Italy for the Winter Olympics. Now, his political affairs director, public affairs, said he was not in Italy for the Olympics. He's not there. How dare you say that he's not there. Of course he is. And of course they lie all the time. They lie all the time. Only occasionally do they get caught because they're all gas, no brakes. They're middle fingers to the whole world. They know the Democrats can't stop them and they're doing whatever they want. But at least there was some good news for our democracy over the last couple of days. There was, of course, breaking news over the last few days that the Supreme Court has struck down President Trump's sweeping tariffs, upending the central part of his economic agenda. It was a huge loss for him. Good news for democracy, probably good news for our economy. But yet again, the courts prove to be the only thing that is slowing Trump down. But they won't stop him on Iran, and they Won't stop him on any other number of countries that he wants to hit next. And the most important story in the world is still that Trump can do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen. And nothing is stopping him. So in addition to the snowpocalypse and the Olympics, there is something below the radar that must command your attention on this chaotic and snow filled Monday. Okay, I've long said on this show and in media that Trump thinks he can do anything he wants. And he's not wrong. He pretty much can do whatever he wants and he actually said it. Check out this clip from last week.
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Guest or Voice Actor
Can't charge a dollar. I would have used one penny, but we don't make the pennies anymore. We save money. Can't charge $1 to any country under IPA. Not $1, I assume to protect other countries. This must have been done to protect those other countries, certainly not the United States of America, which they should be interested in protecting. That's what they're supposed to do, be protecting. But I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade, I can destroy the country. I'm even allowed to impose a foreign country destroying embargo. I can embargo. I can do anything I want, but I can't charge $1 because that's not what it says and that's not the way it even reads. I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can't charge any money. So I'm allowed to destroy the country, but I can't charge them a little fee. I could give them a little 22 cent fee, but I cannot charge under any circumstances. I cannot charge them anything.
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Paul Rykoff
He said I can do anything I want to do to them. I am allowed to destroy the country. He thinks he's a destroyer of countries. He thinks he's a destroyer of worlds. He thinks he can do anything he wants and this is really what he thinks and this is how he acts. And Iran right now, as I record this on Monday and likely going into the State of the Union is next on the list. Professor Robert A. Pape posted something that I want to share with you. It was a graphic showing that this represents 40 to 50% of the deployable US air power in the world. That's how much of our air power is currently near and around Iran right now. Think of air power on the, on the magnitude of the 1991 and 2003 Iraq war and growing. Never has the US deployed this much force against a potential enemy and not launched a strike. We've got C17s, we've got tankers, we've got battleships, we've got nuke subs, we've got two carriers and much more. And as I've long said on this show, just like I did on Venezuela, the table has been set and Trump is all gas, no brakes again, because he can do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen and nothing is stopping him when Congress fails again and again and again to exercise its power to stop it, and he refuses to abide by any guardrails or norms. We're now thrust into a world where the fully unchecked authoritarian with unprecedented power. This is the worst case.
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Paul Rykoff
scenario. And one that can get much worse fast on Iran, of course, but in other areas as well, because over the weekend there's also now unrest in Mexico. If you haven't seen El Mancho, the feared cartel leader was killed in a military operation by the Mexican government. And now Americans are being urged to shelter in place after a military operation killed the country's most wanted cartel boss. The US Is running a crisis hotline for citizens who are impacted. Now there could be turf wars and narco terrorism across Mexico. There's already unrest. And there's something else which could be an open door for Trump. Whether the Mexican government, the newly elected Mexican government, invites Trump in or he just decides that there's a threat. Mexico has been and will continue to be on his vision board for 2026. I've said this before and I'll say it again, 2025 for Trump was about dominating America. 2026 is about dominating the Western hemisphere. So this week we will see potential activity in Iran. We could see potential activity in Mexico, and we will continue to see activity off the coast of Venezuela. Because over the weekend there was another strike, another boat strike, coming off of another Friday with no Pentagon briefing. And there was a post from Southern Command that said on February 20th, at the discretion of SOUTHCOM Commander Francis J. Donovan, Al Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by what they called designated terrorist organizations. They said that intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco terrorist lines is what they always say. Three male narco terrorists were killed during this action. No military forces were harmed. Again, we have no information about the intelligence that hasn't been shared with Congress. We have no information on who was killed that hasn't been shared with the public. And on Friday, as our friend Dan Lamoth at the Washington Post always notes, another Friday with no Pentagon press briefing. And most members of Congress aren't even commenting on these strikes anymore. Trump's all gas, no brakes and facing no accountability. And the most important story is that he is doing anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen. And nothing is stopping him. And this week especially could be the greatest example of that we've ever seen. So stay vigilant. The same is true when it comes to ice. And there is now new reporting over the weekend that a federal immigration agent shot and killed a US citizen in Texas in March 2020 five months before the Trump administration began its deportation surge in Minnesota that led to the shooting deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Preddy. So there have been other Americans killed and we are just now starting to find out about them. Over the next few years, we will find out about some dastardly and diabolical shit and they must be held accountable. And of course, there's new video almost every single day that shows the depth of their terribleness. And there's a new one that I'm going to play for you here. Hopefully you can hear the sound. Oh, my God. I think we should have water. Anybody have water? But this is ice activity on Carrillo street in Santa Barbara Friday morning. 80 year old Doug Hayes is a local attorney. Stepped in to move a backpack from there. From there, a situation escalated and they throw him down on the ground. Now, here's what's most important. It's totally unnecessary. This is an 80 year old guy. He's clearly old. They don't need to smash him on the ground. No cop could ever get away with that. No soldier could ever get away with that. And we must continue to call them out, continue to record them where you can, and continue to demand accountability, because this is what ICE does. They are a broken culture that cannot be fixed. That's why I think it needs to be defunded and shut down. Because they're beating up old people. They're literally beating up old people and kicking puppies and now more and more, it seems, killing American civilians. And we must all continue to push back. All right, speaking of pushing back, I talked about the radical changes that were trying to be imposed by Doug Collins, the extremist, radical election denier, who is now the VA secretary who's been, I think, the worst VA secretary in history. Well, veterans pushed back hard against the radical changes that they were trying to put into place to reevaluate how disability benefits were assessed. The vfw, the dav, almost every major veterans organization pushed back. And at the end of last week, Doug Collins issued a statement saying, effective immediately, VA is halting enforcement of the interim final rule, evaluative rating, impact of medication. I'm not going to read the rest of it, but he said, under my leadership, VA is ensuring that everyone applying for benefits receives everything they have earned as quickly and conveniently as possible. This includes reducing the backlog of veterans waiting on benefits by more than 60%. Here's where they spend. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But here's the bottom line. The VFW and others spoke out loudly and the VFW posted that their message was heard loud and clear. And they now invite VA Secretary Collins to work with them to create responsible solutions to this issue that will meet veterans needs. Here's what you need to know. They think they can do it in darkness. They think they can do radical things and people won't push back. And when you put them on blast and you shame them and you do it together, especially Veterans Unified, there is movement. We can slow them down, we can stop them, and we can push back and hold the line on our benefits and much more. Because veterans continue to fight for America. We continue to lead the way. And I want to give you another really good example. Trump has plans for a stupid 250 foot arch that he wants to put in Washington. Well, there is a new lawsuit led by three veterans who say that this stupid arch will block the view of Arlington Cemetery. 3 mil. At the Washington Post again continues to do great reporting and had something on this. They said three military veterans and a historic preservationist had sued the Trump administration over his plan for a 250 foot triumphal arch, arguing the new structure would disrupt the experience of visiting Arlington Cemetery. Shout out to Michael Lemon, Sean Burns and John Gunderson, who served in Vietnam and later worked as U.S. diplomats. They said the arch would have struck, quote, the symbolic and inspiring view from the cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial. Now this is obviously true. It is obviously unnecessary, another example of how Trump is making it about him instead of about all of us. So I think veterans should join this lawsuit if you can continue to spread the word, share information about this segment and push back against Trump's ridiculous 250 foot arch, which would of course block the view of Arlington. Arlington is supposed to be in view of the White House and of all Americans as a reminder of the cost of war, something that we need to be reminded of now with pending war in Iran and maybe Mexico and any other number of places. Now especially we need to be reminded. So stay vigilant, folks. All right? I don't want to miss Ukraine. It's a big week in Ukraine. February 24th. This Tuesday will mark the third anniversary the three years of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Three years since the world ceased to exist as we know it. Ukraine has been fighting for years, continuing to fight back. They do it every day and they continue to do that overnight where at least four were killed and 26 were injured. I want to shout out a great account that you should follow on Blue sky and on Twitter called Angry Staffer. Angry Staffer worked in the White House and is a military veteran and covers issues of national security and tweeted something. I posted something on Blue sky that I want to read to you that I think is very, very important. It's something I've covered before now, Angry Staffer says, I've written about this multiple times, but most countries aren't prepared for this kind of war. Talking about Ukraine, I don't think folks understand how much combat has evolved during the Russia Ukrainian war. It's unrecognizable from other modern conflicts. And he cites an article in the LA Times by Frazer Nelson, which is very important. Rishi Sunak, who is the mayor of London, says Zelensky showed him in real time the casualty data from the front in Munich. When they were meeting in munich, he said 80% of Ukrainian kills are from drones. Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers a day. And his conclusion was that Europe is not ready for this kind of war. And he's right. Europe is not ready for that kind of a drone war and neither is America. So we must continue to ramp up our drone production. We must continue to recognize that the new war or the next terrorist attack won't be with box cutters on a plane. It could be a box full of drones that pop out on an American city. And we are definitely not ready. And it's another example of why Ukraine's innovation and leadership and experience is so important. They are the tip of the spear. We need to support them and we need to export their military innovations to our homeland to help us keep safe. It's just another reason we should stand with Ukraine and of course, stay vigilant. All right, we're going to continue to highlight independent candidates. Last week. If you didn't hear my conversation with Mike Turow, the firefighter who is running in Wisconsin for Congress, great conversation on Friday, Go back and check that out. Watch it on YouTube if you haven't watched us there. Remember, we're not moving the needle as independents. We are the needle. And tomorrow I will have an extended conversation with former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is the candidate, the independent candidate for governor of Michigan. And there is new data that we're going to talk to Mike about tomorrow. He is climbing in the Michigan governor's race and is now in a statistical tie with Democratic frontrunner Jocelyn Benson and potential Republican nominee John James. New poll has basically 30, 30, 30among the three of them. The contest is effectively tied and this would be a big boon for the former Detroit mayor. All three of these candidates are from Detroit, but Mike Duggan is surging and he will be on Independent Americans tomorrow. We'll also have a preview on the State of the Union and you should stick around and check it out. Be sure to subscribe and share and know that this will be the place for independent candidates especially. And when they tell you independents can't win, you can obviously have them visit my conversation with Jesse Ventura, but also talk to folks and share my conversation with Tim Kelly, the current mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He's an independent mayor Yemi Mobilotti, the independent mayor of Colorado Springs, and Travis Endicott, the mayor of Ridgecrest, California. All those folks have shown that independence can win. And more wins are on the way. So watch this space, folks, and remember that we're not just moving the needle, we are the needle. All right, let's finish with something good. It's Monday and I can't have something good without talking about the Olympics. And I just want to talk about Alyssa Liu. Alyssa Liu, who won the gold in figure skating. You know, US Women's hockey got a great win, but it was a 48 hours that we could be proud of as Americans. And especially Alyssa Lu because of her pure joy. She was kind, she was fun, she was uniquely American. She was a truly all American girl. Her father had to leave China and came to America as a place of refuge. And she has shown incredible strength and leadership and dynamism like so many of our women and our men, of course. But I want to underscore that when I come and think about this Monday and this post Olympic Monday, and I want to talk about something good. Alyssa Liu is the best kind of American voice, the best kind of American we can hope for. And in a time where we need alternative narratives to Donald Trump and Kash Patel, Alyssa Liu is it. And I want to underscore again American women of rock. They had such a tremendous display, including the folks who didn't win, like Lindsey Vonn, who showed what toughness is all about. Turns out she almost lost her leg, had to have multiple surgeries. But Lindsey Vonn shows American women toughness and shows that we can all be stronger in the broken places American women do rock. Just wait until the Summer Olympics in two years in la. That is going to be amazing. All right. As I said, coming up tomorrow, I will have Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan talking about the independent race for governor of Michigan. This is one that he can win, that independents can win. You need to check it out. I'll have other guests coming up throughout the week as well. I am here in Tampa maybe till Friday. I don't know how long I'm going to be here. We're going to try to make the most of it. Going to continue to bring you shows, going to hopefully catch another Yankees spring training game. And I will continue to bring light to contrast to heat. Subscribe wherever you're listening to my voice, get some IA merch at Independent Americans US. You can join our Patreon community, follow us on YouTube and you can join there and contribute to help keep this coming as well. Look out for more quick response pods, especially if Trump decides to hit Iran. I may have something on that. America might be more divided than ever, but at independent Americans, we're working to change that, just like the Olympics did, adding light to contrast the heat of the other political shows. So if you're now among the 45% of Americans who are independent, this is your show. Our independent movement is Hope for the Future. Country over party, people over politics, light over heat. Bringing people together like our amazing American Olympians and fueling a new movement, one that shows that hope is the oxygen of democracy, the kind of hope you saw throughout the two weeks of our Olympics, and the hope that you got to bring to this crazy couple of days of snow. If you're facing that, I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, share it far and wide. Invite others to declare their independence and stay vigilant, my friends, because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. No, you're not alone in your vigilance. We're all vigilant and we're all in this together. And since we are in this together, especially if you're in the snowy areas, check on your neighbors, especially older folks or folks who might need your help. Check on folks and look out for them. Show them what being a part of a community is all about. I'm your host, Paul Rykoff. Thank you for tuning into Independent Americans. It's Monday, but I am off to watch the Yanks. I hope tomorrow try to get a little bit of sun here and talk to my mom, make sure she's okay under two feet of snow. But happy Monday, folks. Happy snow day and stay vigilant, America. I'll see you tomorrow.
- [33:25]
Guest or Voice Actor
He tells me the left and right are dreams for those without a clue
- [33:30]
Paul Rykoff
and when you wake 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
- [33:37]
Guest or Voice Actor
the revolution and the good trouble they can bring he says the red and
- [33:41]
Paul Rykoff
blue I get an independent is an
- [33:43]
Guest or Voice Actor
attitude an island in the sea of rhetoric and acquiral he tells me the
- [33:49]
Paul Rykoff
left and right Our dreams for those without a clue and when you wait it's time to grow Power by Righteous Media
- [34:01]
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