Loading summary
Dave Smith
Hey, guys. Today's show is brought to you by Yokratom.com Home of the $60 kilo. Longtime sponsors of the Part of the problem podcast. Many years now, they've been on board. If you are over the age of 21 and you enjoy Kratom, make sure to get it from yocratum.com. you can't beat that price anywhere. $60 for a kilo. Only@ Yokratum.com all right, let's start today's show. What's up? What's up, gang? Hope everybody's doing well. Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I'm Dave Smith. He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein. We're. Thank you for joining us at a, you know, a little bit earlier than normal. Yeah. How are you doing today, Rob?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
I am doing well. And you got a busy day. You got all sorts of shows lined up.
Dave Smith
I do. Well, I was, I filled in for Segar and Jetty this morning on Breaking Points. Co hosted it, man. With Crystal Ball.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yeah, he had a full day.
Dave Smith
I, I did that first thing in the morning. They're a morning show, which. But you know, I, I'm, I'm all up early anyway, so these days I'm, I'm not naturally a morning person, but these kids, they really force you to be. But it was a lot of fun. I think that should be, as you guys are listening now, that should be up. They usually, they put it up, I think on their site first, like, much like kind of the way we do it, they put it up on their site and then it's out on YouTube later. But it was really fun. I really, really enjoyed it. So yeah, go check that out. And then of course, tomorrow is the big debate. So I will be debating at the Soho Forum. I'm making my return to the Soho Forum, which was my, you know, kind of feels like a homecoming. I miss, I miss those guys. So looking forward to that. Of course, Robbie the Fire Bernstein will be there opening up the show with some comedy. So some comedy, a debate and then an after party over at Gene abstinence place. So looking forward to that.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
And then dates everybody. Check out the run your mouth podcast. And of course port.com this weekend in D.C. jersey in Virginia Beach. Come hang out. And then next weekend a bunch of Texas dates. And if you go to port store.com I'm everywhere this summer. You name a city, I'm probably visiting it. So go to portstore.com and grab those tickets.
Dave Smith
Hell yeah. Go see. And I have consistently heard nothing but great things about the porch tour, so make sure you go on out to one of those if they're near you. And then of course, me and Rob will also be on tour together. Comicdabesmith.com for all of those ticket links. Our next stop is Salt Lake City in Utah, partying with the Mormons where they, they, they mess with your. Don't they mess with the beer there or something like that. Right, Rob? Doesn't the beer have less alcohol in it?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yep, they have lower DUI limits and their typical beers like a Budweiser's 5% and there it's like 4.2 or something stupid like that.
Dave Smith
It's. You're just making me drink more beer, Utah.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
It's not, I think, I think you can get normal beers, but it's like your typical Budweiser, your typical Miller Light. All of that's been downgraded just a little bit for no reason.
Dave Smith
I was talking to a guy are.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Popping pills anyway, so how's that working out for you?
Dave Smith
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's all ridiculous. But the year. Yeah, listen, we like the Mormons, but it's this, the alcohol thing we really got to talk about. As I was talking to this guy who owns like a couple dispensaries out here in, in Jersey and I thought, I don't know, it was interesting he was telling me that. So I didn't know this, but evidently in like in New York you can sell edibles that like whatever dosage, you know, you can get like 10 milligrams or 50 milligrams or 100 milligrams or whatever the THC count. And it is, but in Jersey it's legal. You can have the businesses, but you can only sell 10 milligram edibles. You can't sell any more than that. And so I, you know, he was telling me this is like the rule in Jersey that of course my, I thought, kind of obvious follow up question. I was like, but can't people just eat more of the gummies? And he was like, oh yeah, no, that's what everybody does. And then it was just like a great little example of like government rules and how stupid they are. But so he goes, he goes, my father is on, is on chemo. He goes, and the gummies really help him. Like they really help with his appetite and his sleep and just like not feeling so shitty. And he goes, but he's also diabetic and now he's got to eat five of these gummies instead of One of them. So he's still doing it. He's still eating the 50 milligrams. So anyway, I don't know, it's just like, for some reason it reminded me of that with the lowering the alcohol level in beer. Like, it's like, is someone who has a problem just gonna be like, ah, too bad? I really, I really would have liked a little bit more alcohol, but I. They only put so much beer. He's just gonna have another beer. You're just making them. You're just making people fatter. That's what all of this does. It just makes people fatter and equally as impaired as they otherwise would be. But, you know, government's bad at everything. Okay, so for today's episode, I did think it made sense to get into this. You know, it's. We, I, I guess I've been doing more like response episodes lately than, than we typically do, but I do think they're kind of necessary and they seem to get very good. So, you know, whatever. I don't know if this one's going to be quite as, as juicy as some of the other characters, but Mark Levin did go off partially on me. I think it was more on Tucker Carlson, but, you know, Jewish anti Semites. Yes, it's a real problem. Jewish. I am the Jewish face of anti Semitism or whatever. I've taken the Larry Elders title and morphed it a little bit, but it's kind of hard. Number one. I mean, the, the. I'm responding to people who are influential people and they're talking about issues that are, you know, the, the issues that we talk about. And I guess just because over the last, you know, month, my, my profile has been a, a bit higher than it ever has before. It's just been more often the case that I personally am involved in this, but, but it's really not, you know, and I mean, this, it's really, it's not about me. It's about the what matters. It's about the argument that's being made here. And it has been, it's just, it's been interesting. You know, I was a guy who became, you know, obsessed with politics about 20 years ago. And you know, it's, it's a. I've seen some people say over the last month or so that, you know, people be like, this Dave Smith guy came out of nowhere. Which is, I'm sure, true from their perspective, but it is a little bit different from my perspective. Like 20 years doesn't feel like out of nowhere. But if you could try to imagine it from my perspective. It's kind of, it's a little bizarre when you've got these people who were like huge figures now coming after me, you know, all these years later. Like, it's a little surreal, but it, it's also been, you know, I, I think I've, I've talked about this dynamic in the past and I really felt it when I, when I debated Dennis Prager when, when I remember going into that debate and you know, I, I debated a bunch of people on Israel already at the point, but I debated like Laura Loomer and Austin Peterson and these people who were like, they just don't really know anything. They're, they're not, they're not readers, you know, and they're like, was just kind of like my, my depth of knowledge in the issue just far surpassed theirs. And, and that's just very clear to anyone who watches the debate. And when I was debating Dennis Prager, I just kind of felt this pressure. Like, I was like, this guy, I've been watching this guy on TV since I was a kid. I remember watching him on Politically Incorrect, Bill Maher's old show. I must have been like 16 years old or something like that. The guy has been doing a radio show since I was born. Like, he's my entire life and this is his number one issue. As I remember feeling this pressure going into the debate, like, okay, I gotta really, I better be on point. I'm, I'm debating a guy who's been doing this my entire life and I'm debating him on his number one issue, you know, and then like right as the debate started, it was during his opening statement, I was just like, oh. And I had this realization and then I was just calm for the rest of the thing. And the realization was just simply that he had nothing. Like, I just couldn't even believe it. It was like, oh, he actually, he has nothing. He has no argument to protect, to present. And of course, the same has been true in all the big debates since then. I'm just kind of blown away by how much, oh, they don't actually have an argument. And that was kind of how I felt as, as this happened. But anyway, Mark Levin, I guess, still has a radio show and I'm sure there are, there are a decent amount of 80 year olds who still listen to it, but I don't know. You've, I'm sure, known who Mark Levin is over the years, Rob. Right.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
So I used to very occasionally listen to Mark Levin on the radio. And I, I mean, very occasionally we're talking about in the years where I was not following politics, but every once in a while I'd be bored on the radio. Happened to be in the car, I think at 7pm and the first 10 minutes of Mark Levin before he started taking calls, he had something interesting to say. It was usually rooted in his constitutional analysis. And I just thought his voice was hilarious. Like if I was doing a cartoon where you're supposed to turn on the radio and hear someone screaming about war, he's, that's the voice I would cast. And it was always a constant and Mr. President, it's an outrage.
Dave Smith
And.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
That'S just the voice that should be coming out of your radio pitching to you that the President's ruining the country and we need to be fighting a war.
Dave Smith
It's like if you had to draw a picture of who that guy should be and create a voice of who it would be. That voice. Anyway. Mark Levin has been a long time right wing radio talk radio host, has a show on Fox News kind of. He's one of the biggest, you know, right wing radio guys. And for a long time, obviously Rush Limbaugh was always the biggest and him and Hannity I think were fighting it out for like the number two spot in right wing radio for a long time. But for a long time this is kind of forgotten now, but right wing radio was the, the only game in town for critics of liberals. And then obviously Fox News blew up, but that was, it was kind of like the, you know, these, these terms, they kind of sound like dinosaur artifacts or something now, but like, you know, the, the liberal media and so the, which was true, but it wasn't just the news. It was everything. Like all, all TV and movies were made in New York or la. And so they always inherently just reflected a kind of cultural political bias. You know, if you like grew up around my age, like I'm 42. When you grew up, the, the, even the big shows, like things outside of, of politics but like Seinfeld or Friends or, or something like that, it was all, all of the characters. There was no, there was no religious person. No one ever believed in God. There was never a thing. No one went to church, no one went to temple. Like they, they all had sex out of wedlock. They all, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was just like culturally speaking it was not a conservative world. It was a very secular liberal world. And so right wing radio became kind of like the thing that they had that was, that was one of their very few outlets. And so he was one of the big guys in that and is still around. I don't know. I, I don't know like what his ratings are these days, but it's not, I'm sure what it used to be. But anyway, he's a part of that kind of neocon warhawk. He, he's a George W. Bush conservative and of course staunchly pro Israel and shockingly not a huge fan of me. Never saw that coming. Okay, anyway, let's, let's get into this and, and respond to a little bit of our. Our boy here, Mark Leben.
Mark Levin
Now broadcasting from the underground command post deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker somewhere.
Dave Smith
Under the brick and of a nondescript building.
Mark Levin
We've once again made contact with our leader, Mark Love.
Dave Smith
All right, can you pause it already for a second? I didn't even realize this is in here, man. How much did podcasts just expose how stupid radio is? Isn't it just dumb? You know, you really don't need any of that.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
I remember that intro from 20 years ago. That's funny that it's still going.
Dave Smith
Is that is something. It's always why. Why was there in radio? First of all, I, I know like I've done radio a lot over the years, like at studios and stuff. And it is. First of all, it's always, it's so short. There's commercials all the time. You just talk for like a few minutes and then they're like, okay, take a break. And then there's always this like we're back at the kids in the cat. Like why, why? You're just cutting into our time. No one tunes in to listen to that. Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't do this. Let's, let's keep playing America.
Mark Levin
Mark Levin here. Our number 8773-8138-1187-7381-3811. I want to than greatest audience of all audiences. Now I'm here five days a week, three hours a day. Mr. Producer. Five days a week, three hours a Day. And that's just on radio. So a schmuck picks a fight with me, doesn't call me. He's got this sidekick sort of a. I don't even know who this guy Smith is. Was his guest. He's not like an Ed McMahon figure or something. I don't know why all these big time smart hosts always have to have a sidekick or somebody or a guest. Guess that's what they need. Neoconservatives. Ladies and gentlemen, as I was briefly stating, these were mostly. It is sort of a nebulous term or was. But you can see it would be like the Weekly Standard where Chatsworth Osborne Jr actually worked with his good friend Bill Kristol. Didn't they find text or something where he called Trump a dumb F. To Mr. Something like that. If I'm wrong, Chad Spurn, you can put a footnote on that one. But he thinks he runs foreign policy in America. Anybody who disagrees with him has to be smeared. And he brings in these brilliant experts who REWRITE World War II and the Holocaust, economists who know history, then apparently comedians who nobody's ever heard of. Certainly I haven't. But that's okay. That's his gig. He can do whatever he wants.
Dave Smith
All right, let's pause it already for a second.
Mark Levin
I don't even know.
Dave Smith
Do you get. You get my point about how shocking it is, how they all have nothing? Like, just, what is this? It's just unbelievable to me to watch. It's like all. Is that. Yeah, yeah, I get it. No, I know. Listen, I think it's ridiculous, too. I know it's ridiculous that I'm just some comedian who you've never heard of, and yet I'm better at this than all of you. It's insane. I also think it's crazy. Now that we're over that, can you take on anything. I said, can you take on one argument. Why is it necessary every time for this constant poisoning of the well, I don't even know who this guy is. And then he has the nerve to start this off by saying, anyone who disagrees with you on foreign policy needs to be smeared. Well, what exactly are you doing? What is this? What is it necessary to open up with a. I guess a comedian knows about history and I don't even know his name. I don't even know who he is. Like, okay, all right. It's like they all. They all have to pretend to not be able to remember the simplest name in the world. Like, every one of them. Not one of you can get Dave, right? Like, not one of you to figure out Dave. It's a biblical name. Mark Levin. It's a pretty common one. The last one is like, my last name is a little bit tricky. It's hard to pronounce, but it is just so. It isn't. It kind of like, I. I don't know. It's very. It's revealing in a sense. I mean, I've had so many of them now who have. Have done this they all, by the way, they're all smearing me simply because I disagree with them on foreign policy. That is the bottom. If I didn't. Let's get real here. Mark Levin, Mr. Constitutional Conservative. If I saw eye to eye with you on war, you'd have nothing but great things to say about me. That's the truth. Was, you know, it's, it's the, whatever, it's this like dumb most pathetic game. And it's, it is like there's something that's, there's like an irony or something where I'm the comedian podcaster, right? So like you're essentially the whole point, what is always the point is like we're the professional people who talk about wars and cheerlead all of them. You're just some comedian podcaster. The argument being like that we're the serious professional people. You're like the, the class clown type character. And yet every single time I'm attempting to present arguments backed up by historical facts with sources and they are playing mean girl games like it's fucking, it's the gayest shit I've ever seen in my life. Like they argue like 16 year old girls. I just couldn't imagine ever showing up to any type of political debate or takedown or whatever you want to call this. And starting with no one even knows yet. We don't even know your name. I don't even know your name. What is it? Some comedian guy? I mean, who even needs a sidekick? Why can't you just do it yourself? It's like sidekick. It's, it was an interview. Interview. Is this like some, this is some novel like idea? I don't know. Anyway, Robert. What, I'm sorry if there's not much substance here, but what can I, what did he give me to contend with? But isn't it just something. It's just interesting how it always goes the same way.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
And if you got three hours to fill with no sidekick, you can always replace it with long pauses.
Dave Smith
Yeah. Also, you don't, by the way, you don't have three hours to fill. That's the other comment I was making at the beginning of that. You don't have three hours to fill. You have commercials, then it comes in. You have that, that, you know, sound graphic thing.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Then you say two hours of calls. It's, it's literally 30 minutes of Mark Levin up front, if even. And by the way, I forgot about Kyle Mark Levin. I only like, I only like yelly Mark Levin when he's. Oh yeah, this is, this is the calm Mark Levin. That's not my impression.
Dave Smith
It always. That's. That's right. It always, it's, it's one or the other. He goes two speeds, you know, slow you down or jerk fast. But he's. Yeah, it's like you don't talk for three hours. You, you probably spend 20 minutes saying the phone number. You know, they do that constantly in radio. They have to keep telling you the number over and over and over again. So anyway, whatever. And as you've already demonstrated, you fill a lot it with fluff and zero substance. But okay, let's keep playing.
Mark Levin
Oh, his platform, is it subscription rich? I don't know. It is. So he needs to have hits. He needs subscribers. That's all well and good. I believe in capitalism too. But that said reading is fundamental. We have this site Mediaite, which is really a low life bunch of morons and quote me on that, will you, for once. Mediate low love bunch of morons, pre pubescent, low IQ individuals who actually don't produce any substance but take the words of other people, slap headlines on them and in many cases twist them out of context. So the other day they said, I called one more time the envoy.
Dave Smith
But let's pause it right here because he's about to get into it. Obviously me, and, me and Tucker talked about his comments about Witkoff on the show. But I, I will say this. I just, I found this to be hilarious what he's saying about Mediate. And I don't, I'm not like a very regular, you know, a few times I've clicked on their videos and you know, like they're, they're one of the sites that's out there. He's right that they're an aggregate. Like they just take content from other things and then run like it's not really story, they're just kind of like story. Tucker Carlson said this on his podcast and you're like, you could just go to the podcast, like you don't really need it, but that's their, their business model. Without any comment on that business model. I just found it hilarious that Mediate ran this. Like, I thought that was the ultimate like response. Media just did it again with this content. It's like no matter how much you try to fight them, they're like, ah, great article right there. So just post this video. This is why I saw it was from Mediaite or you sent it to me, Rob, actually at first, but, but it was a Mediate link anyway. I just thought that was kind of funny. Okay, let's get into the, the substance here.
Mark Levin
Twist them out of context. So the other day they said I called the envoy a traitor in the title. And then in a body of the piece they said he called the. Essentially, he essentially called him a traitor. I never called him a traitor. I know how to say traitor. I know how to write traitor. So incomes Chatworth, Osborne Jr. And hold on, I gotta find exactly what I wrote here. I should ask him because he wrote it down. He thought it was so important. Oh, speaking of the envoy who talked about the neocon element, and I'm guessing he used that phrase because he has no idea what it means. You see, all the neoconservatives are dead. They were old time Democrats who banded the Democrat party and were hawks when it came to foreign policy. And many of them were quite brilliant. Scoop Jackson, Patrick Moynihan, Jean Kirkpatrick, and as I said, Chatsworth. Osborne Jr. Was of that ilk, or part of that ilk as a senior writer, maybe even an editor at the non existent now Crystal magazine, Fox News. Mark Levin ripped Witkoff, you see. Called him a traitor. Never called him a traitor. In fact, I never would call him a traitor. But he posts this and then I posted this. By the way, neocon is a pejorative for Jew. Unbelievable. You see, all the neocons are gone. So why do they keep using the word neoconserved? Notice they don't use hawk interventionist neocon. Why do they keep saying neocon? Because many of the neoconservatives were old time left wing Democrat Jews.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Can we just pause here for a second?
Dave Smith
Sure.
Mark Levin
Chatsworth knows it.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
You see, this to me is I move. All right, I'm going to be the gauge you on this one. And all right, this to me is dangerous for Jews because when you say a neocon, you're concerned. You're criticizing the idea of pro war individuals. And now you could probably get into the history better than I can of who were the neocons and the damage that they've done to this country. I'm not as intelligent, I don't know the history. You say the word neocon and I'm thinking of the largely conservative individuals who are always looking for and preaching for war. There is no affiliation to Jewish people. When I hear that word. That's not what people are criticizing. If they wanted to criticize, hey, there's an issue with Jewish people, then they're jumping into anti Semitism. And now you're saying Jews and that's not even necessarily an affiliation with war, you could say all of these Jews who are pitching war. When you say the word neocon, you're conveying one thing which is I am actually just calling them the title of the group of people that are very pro war and advocate for war. And that almost became an insult to people of, oh, you're just a neocon. Because they were so wrong and they led us to so many disastrous wars that it almost becomes embarrassing to have the title neocon because now you're easily dismissed and being within this category that was so drastically wrong on so many things and just likes war. But when you say the word neocon, it has zero affiliation with Jewish people until someone like Mark Levin steps in and goes, oh, the Jews are so highly affiliated with being pro war in this country. Then when you say neocon, you're actually trying to. No one had this affiliation until I'm hearing it introduced here. And now you're actually actively affiliating Jewish ideas and Jewish people with the horrible war machine of our country that people are actually trying to criticize.
Dave Smith
Right, well, okay, so that. I think that's exactly right. I also. He's also just wrong when he says all the neocons are dead anti Semitism thing.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
He's trying to hide behind. Yes. He's trying to hide behind not having an argument for his ideas and instead dismissing people that want to criticize the actual ideas of being pro war as, oh, you're just being anti Semitic or you're just being anti Jew, which then allows him to not actually have an argument over the issues that he's probably wrong about but would like to preach to you.
Dave Smith
Right, exactly. So the. Just to be clear here, because it's. This is something that's quite funny about it. Right? Like this was, you know, in, in my debate with Douglas Murray, as as many of you saw, at one point I, I said something about neoconservatives and he said, ah, the N word. And then went on like, he wrote a book called Neoconservatism why We Need It. So this is not, you know how there are like terms, like, I never liked this one, I never used it. But do you remember the Branch Covidians was a term that people used. It was a term for the COVID Insane lockdown. The reason I didn't like the term because like the Branch Davidians weren't the bad guys in that story. So I didn't like, you know what I'm saying? Like, they were. The bad guys were the ATF and the FBI, not the Davidians anyway. But you'd kind of come up with a term for like say the people who wanted to lock down the country. And then you use that as a pejorative because they were wrong about everything. And it had a disastrous consequence when their policy was implemented. This is something different. This is their term, this is what they called themselves. They self identified as neo conservatives, okay? And they wrote, they wrote books and books and books and articles and they had think tanks and this is what they called themselves. Now when he says the old neocons, the neocons are all dead. No, the first generation of them are dead. Those guys really did not get much political power. Almost all of the neoconservatives are still alive. Now it is true that like for example, like Irving Kristol is dead, but Bill Kristol is still alive. Norman Podhartz is dead, but John Podharts is still alive. And calling Thomas Massie anti Semitic filth for saying we're $36 trillion in debt, we can't afford to fund Israel's war. So there's. But look, it is true that somewhere along the line neoconservative just kind of became a pejorative for warhawks. It's kind of, maybe there's a comparison there, but it's kind of like the word woke now. Woke and the term social justice warrior. These were self descriptors at first. Like the people who were woke called themselves woke. Then it became a pejorative. These days if you hear the term woke used, you're almost always hearing it as an insult towards somebody. But okay, you don't get to just say the word is offensive when you embraced the word. Like I'm sorry, this is too goofy. And so, okay, there were a lot of self described neoconservatives. They were not all Jewish, although disproportionately there were a lot of Jews involved, but there were people like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and there were always people in the group who were not Jewish. But they agreed with their views on foreign policy, which as Mark Levin said, were extremely hawkish. Now that what happened is that the neoconservatives, the self described neoconservatives, they hijacked u. S. Foreign policy in the George W. Bush administration. So they were really the ones calling the shots right after 9, 11. And it's the greatest tragedy of the 21st century that they were in positions of power at this time and they're the ones who launched the war on terrorism. And this now they. It is true that of the Self described neoconservatives. The a lot of them are no longer in power now. Some of them are not that far from being out of power. Of course, the architect of the entire catastrophe in Ukraine was Victoria Nuland, who was hired by Dick Cheney and then promoted by Hillary Clinton. And she, this is the wife of Robert Kagan, who was a Project for a New American Century, self described neoconservative. So no, it's not like, oh, this is ancient history. None of them have been around. They're all dead. That's just a lie. But it is true that essentially while, while Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and a lot the guys from the Project for a New American Century, with the exception of Robert Kagan's wife, who was just in power until Donald Trump came back in, it's true most of them aren't in power anymore. But the policy continued nonetheless. And somewhere along the line, neocon became a pejorative for the guys trying to get us into the next stupid war. But this term was applied, and look, you could argue like this term was applied to people who don't self describe as neocons, but it was applied to people like John McCain or Lindsey Graham who were not self identified neocons but had foreign policy that was indistinguishable from the neoconservatives. By the way, both John McCain and Lindsey Graham, not Jewish, but people still throw the term out at them because they're stupid war hawks. There's like, it's just, it's ridiculous to say that this term is off limits because now, which is what essentially all of them are doing, right, is that they all, they like the neocon agenda, but they know that the term neocon is kind of associated with catastrophe. And so they're like, hey, stop using that word that we used to use. Like people like Mark Levin, right, defended the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'm sure was critical. I mean, I don't know enough about him, but I'm sure was critical of Obama for not being harsher or for not being more of a hawk. And you know, it's like, okay, but like, no, I'm sorry, because essentially what they're saying here on top of like your point is, is completely right, Rob. But on top of just this thing where you're making it a Jewish thing when it's not, or not entirely, at least, it's also a desperate attempt to get away from your own track record, you know, to be like, no, no, we don't talk about that anymore. You're not allowed to have a word that you use to dismiss all of us based off of our history of disaster. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Monetary Metals. I've been telling you about this company for a while. They're a great company run by great people, and they are revolutionizing the precious metals space. Many of you know gold has hit historic highs over the last year, and many people are excited about that. Of course, people own precious metals for. For different reasons. One of the major reasons is as a hedge against inflation. But a lot of people are doing it all wrong. You're either holding your gold at home and it's collecting dust, or you're paying storage fees to have it professionally stored for you. Now, because of monetary Metals, there's a different, superior option, which is you can put your precious metals to work. Work for you. So not only are you owning gold or silver, but you're owning gold and silver that generates interest paid in additional ounces. So your total amount of gold is growing or your total amount of silver is growing. If that sounds like something you're interested in, go check out monetary metals@moneline-metals.com. that's monetary-metals.com. all right, let's get back into the show. That's. You know, the. The funny thing is that none of them even have a response to that. You know, they. They sit there and say what they will about, I'm just a comedian or I don't know what I'm talking. It's like, okay, all. All that stuff, fine. You could pretend to not know my name. I don't really give a. You know, as Mark Levin said at one point, there he goes, I like capitalism. You know, he kind of threw this weird little insult at Tucker. Oh, he has a subscription model. I guess that means he needs subscribers. Like. Yeah, and you have a radio show. You need listeners. What are you talking about? We're all in the same business. But if you are a capitalism guy, that means that, you know, kind of the market gets to determine whose voice ought to be heard. So I don't really give a if you know my name or not, because I'm winning in the marketplace. Like, who cares what you think? The. What matters is the argument. And the fact is that the war on terrorism cost the American taxpayer $8 trillion. It destabilized our country. It has led to the worst tribal, political, cultural, and racial divides of my lifetime. It slaughtered around. I think the estimates are around 4 million people were killed in the wars. It destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen. It has resulted in thousands of our, our brave young soldiers being killed in action. Tens of thousands of them have been injured in action. Tens of thousands of them have committed suicide in the wake of the wars. And there's not one theater in where all of these wars have happened that you could say is better off now than it was before. That's their legacy. And you might notice none of them have a response to that. Not. Not a single one of them. When I said it to Douglas Murray, he said, okay, that is a fair point. It's got no response to that. And that's why they rely on smearing anybody who opposes them. Because that. Forget all the other stuff.
Mark Levin
Stuff.
Dave Smith
This was your track record. You were for these policies. These policies were enacted. This is the result. And part of the result is now the term neocon means evil, psychotic, blood soaked monster warhawk who ruins everything he touches. Deal with it. We're not going to stop calling you that. Okay, all right, let's keep playing.
Mark Levin
I know it. And many of the people that use that phrase either don't know what they're talking about, but in the magazines and on the Internet, they know it. So they're not going to say the Jews are dragging us into a war. They'll say Israel is, Netanyahu is. They're not going to say the Jews this and the Jew. So they use neocon. Chatsworth is smart enough to know what he's doing.
Dave Smith
Let's pause it for a second. You. So your, your criticism is that they're more precise and that they don't, that they don't just blame all Jews. That's your. No, a lot of people out there do say the Jews are just dragging us into all of these wars. Those are the ones who are Jew haters. Okay. Other people who are more precise and more accurate say, hey, these people are dragging us into a war. Like, did, did they not drag us into a war? Have we not been dragged into wars in the last 25 years? Okay, there were people who were making decisions in positions of power. And no, it's not just Jews. There's lots of non Jews in that group as well. And so your beef with us is that we're using a more precise term that also incorporates the non Jewish warhawks into this. What? Yes. Yes. The Israeli government and the neoconservatives have been hell bent on dragging America into war and they've been largely successful in that effort. Them's the facts. Mark Levin. Sorry, I know, there's supposed to be. There's supposed to be this, you know, like, unwritten agreement that we're never supposed to talk about the warfare state, but we're never supposed to, like, mention that. That, that's a fact in American political life. Also, we're never. I don't know, we're all supposed to be constitutional conservatives who don't mention that the Congress hasn't declared a war since World War II. But that doesn't. With you at all, Mark Levin, being in. Being in a state of forever war, all of them being undeclared wars. That, that never. You never read something from the founders that indicated maybe this was not the original intent of Article 1, Section 8, and give me a fucking break. So anyway, yeah, so you're. You're an anti. You're anti Semitic for saying the neocons drag us into war because you really want to say the Jews drag us into war, but you don't. I don't know. What can you say about this? It's too ridiculous. It's like me being like, you know, the Bloods and the Crips sure have killed a lot of people in Chicago. And then someone going, that's a pejorative for black people. So you really want to say black people are killing. Killing a bunch of people in Chicago, but you just keep saying the Bloods and Crips goes, no, that's. So I'm not being racist. I'm being specific. Can you defend the actions of the Bloods and the Crips? No. Let me tell you something. It's easier than defending the actions of the neocons killed a lot less people. All right, let's keep playing.
Mark Levin
He may have transitioned into what he's become today, but he knows what he's doing. I know what he's doing. Now, when I wrote this, by the way, neocon is pejorative for Jew. Unbelievable. Mr. Deuce. Does that say I called the envoy an anti Semite? You're either stupid or diabolical to suggest that. I did take your pick.
Dave Smith
Okay.
Mark Levin
I'm no fan of the other way.
Dave Smith
So after all of this, by the way, it talks about. He talks for three hours, it's like, yeah, you take a long time to make a point. And then your point is the most garbage point I've ever heard. I mean, this is. Again, this is why the whole, like, woke. Right Debate and all of that. All I'm saying is, like, forget even whether you like the term or not. I think the, the people lobbing it my way have so discredited the term that it's useless at this point. But like, you do get. This guy might as well be a gender studies major. The way he's arguing. He's. It's, it's literally like it's identical to what the woke left used to do all the time. They used to say these things where they'd be like, they, they talk about like, toxic masculinity or toxic whiteness. There was that book the Case of White Fragility or something like that. And then people would be like, it sounds like you're a racist who hates white people. And they'd be like, where did I say that? When did I say that? No, I didn't say anything about white people. I said whiteness. And you're like, yeah, well, I mean, what? It's the same. So, yes, you'd. Okay, you're right. You're right. Mark Levin, you didn't call Trump's envoy an anti Semite. You said he was using an anti Semitic trope. Right. You said neocon is a pejorative for Jew. So you said he's using a pejorative for Jew. But then to sit there and go, like, only an idiot would have thought I called him an anti Semite is like, oh, shut up, dude. Like, what? What do you think? This is cute. This is the dumbest game I've ever heard. Yes. I, I can't believe people made that mistake in assuming that you called him an anti Semite when you just said he's being an anti Semite. Whatever. It's just too ridiculous.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Shoved blacks out of his store and that's, that's a racist action. Oh, I never said the owner was a racist. I just read the action that he engaged in was racist.
Dave Smith
Yeah, come on. This is just, it's, it's ridiculous. All right, let's keep playing.
Mark Levin
But I never called him a traitor. I know how to say traitor. And I never called him an anti Semite. And this is really precious coming from our friend Chatsworth Osborne Jr. Who's brought in a conga line. A conga line. A miscreants, malcontents, and worse, in my opinion, and I say this as a red blooded American, that a lot of people are getting sick and tired of this game. They're getting turned off by this. The American people do not want the Islamo Nazi regime in Iran to get a nuclear weapon. They don't want them to have missile technology where they can put a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile and hit the United States and the fact that they don't want that doesn't make them a warmonger, a neocon or anything else. It makes them patriotic Americans. That's number one. Number two, I am hoping you are hoping that Donald Trump figures out some kind of deal that nobody else has figured out yet, but he's capable of it it to stop them short of war. But many of us are skeptical.
Dave Smith
Why?
Mark Levin
Because we have a brain. Because we know the Islamo Nazi regime in Tehran is a terrorist regime that has violated every piece of paper it's ever signed. That's why we're at the 11th hour. That's why Donald Trump's having to deal with it. We know what terrorism means as much as we know what neocon means. So if you're trying to stop the Iranian regime which chants day in and day out, death to America, Death to America. Death to America and tries to assassinate our president, you're not a warmonger, you're a peacemaker. That's what you are. You're not a neocon. The neocons are.
Dave Smith
Okay, so I mean, wow. First off, he starts going into the Mark Levin voice that Rob like, so here, now we're getting the real Levin here and holy. It's like once they get, once they get through all the, and actually present their argument, it is just the dumbest Dick Cheney you've ever heard. Like, it's all just so, like, who even believes this hyperbolic nonsense anymore? Iran is going to nuke the United States of America with the nuke that they don't have and the delivery capabilities they do not possess. This is, this is on the level of Saddam Hussein is about to hand WMDs to the terrorists. This is the, the propaganda that got us into Iraq that Saddam Hussein is about to hand this weapon that he doesn't own over to the terrorists who he's not friends with, the Islamo Nazis. It's just po. Pathetic. No Mark Levin, no the American people, the red blooded Americans, including by the way, the military that you need in order to go fight these wars. The American people are sick of war and they do not want to fight another war on behalf of Israel. This is borne out across all the opinion polls and not just the opinion polls, it's the military guys themselves, as I always love to say on the show. But in 2008 and 2012, at the, @ the height of the war on terrorism, the candidate who got more money from active duty military than all other candidates combined was Dr. Ron Paul. Because no, the American people don't go, oh, my God, there's a bunch of Nazis in Iran. We just have to go to war with them. Them. Actually, the American people aren't even thinking about that shit. The American people are thinking about how America has had a rough go of it over the last few years. That's what they're thinking about, the Amer. And by, again, this is borne out in all of the opinion polls. All of the opinion polls, Rob, you know what? We just had a. I don't know if you recall, Rob, we had a presidential election over this last year. There were a bunch of opinion polls. And at the top of the issues, when the issues that people were voting on was, will Iran get a nuke or not? That was the number one. Oh, no, no, no, I'm sorry. It was the economy and immigration. Because people care about their country kind of makes sense. It kind of makes sense. You know, some of us have kids and our kids are growing up in this country, so we care about what's good for this country. You know, I was watching the other day yesterday, I saw a clip of Michael Knowles, Michael, who's over at the Daily Wire, and it's kind of interesting, it's interesting watching the dynamic of Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles because, you know, they're kind of taking the non interventionist approach while still never criticizing Israel because, you know, they got an audience that they got to keep, but then they also got a job that they got to keep. So they're caught in this kind of weird spot. And at one point Michael Knowles is saying, he's like, look, you know, I've heard a lot of people make arguments, but no one's really made a convincing argument to me of why Israel doesn't have a right to go to war over October 7th. Now, leaving that aside, because I think a lot of people, including myself, made pretty damn convincing arguments about why Israel doesn't have a right to do what they're doing. But whatever, that's what he says. And then at a certain, and then at a point in it, it's almost like he just says it without really thinking of the implication. But he goes, he goes, look, I want the war to end tomorrow. Just like as an American, I think it's better in, it's in our interest for the war to end. I mean, it's just causing all types of problems, you know, but still, Israel has a right to do this. And then you're like, you almost like, you're like, oh, wait, hold on. But so you just subtly admitted that even from your point of view, it's in America's interest for the war to stop. So you're telling me we gotta fund and arm a war that is against our interests? Give me a break with this bullshit, Mark Levan. You know why? Listen, man, Mark levin has a. A 40 year head start on me in this game, literally. I bet he's been doing it since I was 2 years old, OK? And he has tens of millions of dollars and he works for billion dollar companies and is syndicated all across the country and in the marketplace. I have not only caught, but beat him due to one simple fact. The American people are not where you are. They're just not not. It's borne out in every single opinion poll that you can find. The American people do not recognize that the Islamo Nazis are our biggest concern. The American people recognize that. Like, you know, people pouring into the country by the millions illegally. That's our big concern. That are losing the purchasing power of our dollar. That's our big concern. Why are we losing all this purchasing power in our dollar? Well, a big part of it is we've spent $10 trillion on maintaining an empire over the last 25 years. Had to print a lot of money to make up for that. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Moink, a great company. They've been a longtime sponsor of this podcast. And I think in, in a lot of ways the country has kind of caught up to where Moink's been for a long time. I don't know about you guys. I do not trust the meat that is at the supermarket. Even the ones that say, you know they're organic or say they're this or that. You just never really know where stuff's coming from. But now you don't have to worry about any of that because you could just go right to mo and then you get your meat directly from family farms. Their business is simple. Moink meat comes from animals raised outdoors where a pig is free to be a pig. Their farmers are given an honest day's pay for an honest day's work and they deliver meat straight to your doorstep at prices you can actually afford. I've been getting this stuff for a while. The meat is absolutely delicious and it's very convenient that they deliver it right to you. Support American family farms and join the Moink movement today@moinkbox.com potp right now and you get free wings for life. These are the best wings you will ever taste for free, but only for A limited time. They've had a lot of giveaways. This is the best one that they've done since they've been sponsoring us. So go check them out@moinkbox.com PotP that's M O I N K B O-X.com PotP and get. Get free wings for life. All right, let's get back into the show. So no Mark Levin. The people are not with you. And I'll say on top of that, the people by and large don't hate Jews. They just hate forever wars. I'll give you the final thoughts on this, Rob, and then I know you.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Do cut out for a call. But I encourage you to keep on going because I feel like Mark Levin, it deserves more trashing here. And you're doing an excellent job.
Dave Smith
Job. All right. Thank you, sir. We will talk to you guys. Make sure. Go check out run your mouth. Go. Go to the porch tour dot com. Okay, let's. Let's keep playing. I'll do another few minutes on this without Rob. Let's. Let's keep playing. You're dead.
Mark Levin
Now. People use neocon. Many people innocently. They don't know what it means. He knows what it means. Am I pointing point to our envoy was. Why are you using word like that? Because you don't even know what it means. As do others. And so the point was to let them know that it's a pejorative.
Dave Smith
What?
Mark Levin
It's a pejorative war. And it's unbelievable that he spews it. And he'll keep spewing it and others will too. But I don't have to pretend I'm Helen Keller that I don't see and I don't hear and neither do you. And neither do you. And there's a whole pattern over there with Chatsworth Osborne Jr. A whole pattern. Now he's free to do what he wants. I believe in free speech. Go ahead, buy a subscription. Do whatever you want. It's perfectly fine by me. But don't screw with me, you little bastard. Like by twisting my words.
Dave Smith
All right, let's.
Mark Levin
You should have picked up the phone.
Dave Smith
Don't. Don't screw with Mark Levin. Or what? Or what, you old soft man? What are you gonna do? Launch the dumbest rant I've ever heard? Listen, Steve Witkoff knows exactly what the term neoconservative means. And more important than that, he knows what it means in common parlance. Like he knows what it means today. What he means is warhawk. Yes, it's a pejorative for Warhawks because Witkoff is trying his best, it seems, to make peace around the world and you know, okay, it's not going perfectly, but actually he's had some very real, very tangible success, saved some human beings lives. Again, as I know this is a running theme on the show at this point, but isn't it interesting how none of them seem to care about that? That. Isn't that so goddamn fascinating that me here as the self hating Jew, Hamas sympathizer or whatever the. I get called on Twitter, I'm the one who's celebrating that 20 hostages got returned over the last few months. 21 when you count the American. But so yes, he knows again, you know, woke it like the, the term woke is what I made the announce. You know, it first started as like a black consciousness term. It started as like black people. The idea was to get woke, to wake up to like this is the systemic oppression and the kind of false narratives that have been created. And then, as is typically the case, it started in the black community and then a bunch of white liberals were like, oh, that's cool, we want it. And so they took it and then they did really, really stupid things with it, like argue that, you know, know, gender is made up and all types of ridiculous stuff. And now it's a pejorative used to smear that. But if anyone were to say to you, they go, you don't even know what the term means. The term means black consciousness. It's like it once did, it doesn't anymore. It's the way words work. You know, language evolves like that. And yes, the term neocon is now just a pejorative for Warhol talk because you guys have lost the argument. That's the truth. You know, there's a real, there's a real irony in the, in the whole, you know, last month this, the, the whole nonsense about like experts and, you know, you've never been, and all, all that ridiculous stuff. It's like, look, I will be the first to admit it's true. It is ridiculous. It is ridiculous. There should be better people. There should be better people. It's just that you guys suck so much that I can fuck all of you up. This is why I wreck these guys every time. They're willing to debate to the point that I don't think too many of them are going to be willing to debate anymore. There's. Someone was trying to say, oh, it was Josie, the redheaded libertarian on Twitter. She was trying to set up a debate on the woke Right. And between me and James Lims, James Lindsay. And I was like, yeah, absolutely, I'll do it. And he was like, no, they're not doing that. And of course not. Why would they? Is none of you guys have lost the argument because your argument is built off lies and blood. That's it. No one's gonna stop using neocon as a pejorative because Mark Levin threatened them. Keep ranting. Keep, keep, keep your dumb rants coming, please. It's just more content. Please keep them coming. Sorry, you guys, it's in. Listen, I've. Say what you will about me, there's far more educated people than me. I've read like everything the neocons have ever written. I, I know all the they wrote in the Project for a New American Century. I know their whole clean break strategy, their whole seven countries in five years strategy. Read everything they've written and you don't get to walk away from that now. Especially people like Mark Levin who supported it from a, from a position of power. You know, there's somebody having a real influence. One of the biggest right wing talk radio show hosts in the country. You supported every one of these catastrophic wars and now that they've all ended in disaster, you got to deal with being called a neocon for it. So neocons. And we're never going to stop saying that word. Okay, that's the show for today. Thank you guys so much for listening. I do appreciate it. I'll see some of you guys out there at the soho Forum tomorrow night. Really looking forward to it. Catch you guys tomorrow. Peace.
Podcast Summary: "A Response to Mark Levin"
Part Of The Problem
Host: Dave Smith & Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Release Date: May 21, 2025
In the episode titled "A Response to Mark Levin," hosts Dave Smith and Robbie the Fire Bernstein engage in a heated discussion addressing recent criticisms from Mark Levin, a prominent right-wing radio host. The episode delves into topics such as neoconservatism, media bias, and the impact of perpetual foreign wars on American society. Throughout the discussion, Dave and Robbie defend their libertarian viewpoints while dissecting Levin's rhetoric and strategies.
Dave Smith opens the episode by acknowledging the increasing attention he's receiving, particularly from influential figures like Mark Levin. He states:
"Mark Levin did go off partially on me... Jewish anti Semites. Yes, it's a real problem."
(02:22)
Robbie the Fire Bernstein adds context to Levin's position in the right-wing media landscape:
"Mark Levin has been a long time right wing radio talk radio host... he's one of the biggest, you know, right wing radio guys."
(10:33)
The hosts express surprise and frustration over Levin's personal attacks, emphasizing that the criticism is not rooted in policy disagreements but rather personal smears.
A significant portion of the discussion centers around the term "neocon," which Levin uses pejoratively. Dave Smith elaborates on the misuse of the term:
"He said neocon is a pejorative for Jew... All the neocons are gone. So why do they keep using the word neocon?"
(24:07)
Robbie counters Levin’s conflation of neoconservatism with anti-Semitism:
"When I hear that word [neocon], I'm thinking of the largely conservative individuals who are always looking for and preaching for war... There is no affiliation to Jewish people."
(25:28)
Dave further explains the historical context of neoconservatism, distinguishing it from anti-Semitic ideologies:
"The first generation of them are dead. Those guys really did not get much political power... But calling Thomas Massie anti Semitic filth for saying... he’s just trying to hide behind not having an argument for his ideas."
(27:32)
The hosts critique Mark Levin's rhetorical approach, particularly his use of insults and unfounded accusations. Dave Smith highlights the lack of substantive arguments from Levin:
"He's just gonna have another beer. You're just making people fatter. That's what all of this does."
(05:25)
Robbie echoes the sentiment, mocking Levin's style:
"I remember that intro from 20 years ago. That's funny that it's still going."
(13:28)
Dave continues to dissect Levin's strategy, accusing him of avoiding meaningful debate by resorting to character attacks:
"He’s willing to debate to the point that I don't think too many of them are going to be willing to debate anymore."
(53:25)
Dave Smith shifts the conversation to the broader consequences of neoconservative policies, particularly the endless foreign wars. He cites the immense costs and human toll:
"The war on terrorism cost the American taxpayer $8 trillion. It destabilized our country... It slaughtered around 4 million people were killed in the wars."
(36:00)
Robbie adds that the American public is largely weary of these conflicts:
"The American people don't recognize that the Islamo Nazis are our biggest concern. They recognize that... Immigration and the economy."
(46:24)
They argue that foreign interventions have diverted attention and resources from pressing domestic issues, a point reinforced by polling data indicating that Americans prioritize economic stability and immigration over foreign policy concerns.
Throughout the episode, Dave and Robbie confront the accusations linking their critiques of neoconservatism to anti-Semitism. They clarify that their opposition is directed towards specific policies and ideologies rather than any ethnic or religious group:
"The term neocon is now just a pejorative for warhawks... it is also a desperate attempt to get away from your own track record."
(41:27)
Robbie emphasizes the danger of associating policy critiques with ethnic identities:
"When you say neocon, you're actually trying to... you're actually actively affiliating Jewish ideas and Jewish people with the horrible war machine of our country."
(25:26)
Dave reinforces their stance by distinguishing between neoconservatism and anti-Semitic sentiments:
"And you're telling me we gotta fund and arm a war that is against our interests... The people are not with you."
(38:14)
In wrapping up the episode, Dave Smith reiterates the futility of engaging with hosts like Mark Levin, who he believes lack substantive arguments and rely on personal attacks. He underscores the importance of focusing on meaningful policy discussions rather than getting entangled in media-driven rhetoric. The hosts call for a shift in political discourse towards addressing the real issues affecting American society, free from the distractions of perpetual conflicts and biased media narratives.
Dave Smith:
"The American people are sick of war and they do not want to fight another war on behalf of Israel."
(46:24)
Robbie the Fire Bernstein:
"When I hear that word [neocon], I'm thinking of the largely conservative individuals who are always looking for and preaching for war. There is no affiliation to Jewish people."
(25:28)
Mark Levin (sampled):
"I never called him a traitor. I know how to say traitor. And I never called him an anti Semite."
(42:12)
Critique of Rhetoric: The hosts criticize Mark Levin's approach, emphasizing the lack of substantive debate and the use of personal attacks to undermine opponents.
Neoconservatism Defined: They clarify that neoconservatism pertains to a foreign policy stance favoring intervention, distinct from any ethnic or religious group.
Impact of Foreign Wars: The discussion highlights the financial and human costs of America's perpetual involvement in foreign conflicts, arguing that these wars have hindered domestic progress.
Media Bias: There's a strong emphasis on how media personalities like Levin shape political narratives, often diverting attention from critical issues through sensationalism.
This episode serves as a robust defense of libertarian principles while challenging the prevailing neoconservative narratives in mainstream right-wing media. Dave Smith and Robbie the Fire Bernstein advocate for a more informed and issue-focused political discourse, rejecting personal smears and emphasizing the need for policy-driven conversations.