Rob Bernstein (4:05)

Are the Kurds the world's biggest bunch of suckers? Why do they keep getting involved in this stuff? They're like. The ugly stepsister thinks they're gonna also get Dad's attention.

Dave Smith (4:16)

Well, because the Kurds are like. Well, first of all, they're. They're Commies, by the way, which never seems to get brought up. Like, no one ever mentions that they're all a bunch of communists. They're also the whole reason why we had to fight the whole Cold War and that whole. Anyway, yes, well, that's. Forget that. But I think. You know, I don't know. I mean, I think essentially they're mercenaries. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, hey, listen, they're a Strong fighting force. And so they're like, hey, we'll do that. But also they have beef with all because the Kurds are kind of spread out. You know, like there's like a little bit in Iran and, and a bit in Syria, a bunch in Iran.

Rob Bernstein (4:49)

Like a people without a land.

Dave Smith (4:51)

They're a diaspora people. Yes, that's right, Rob. They are a people without a land. And unfortunately, there's no land without people. And by the way, it doesn't really matter if there were people there or not, Rob. That's just a nice story we tell ourselves. But so essentially they never got a Kurdistan, right? They never got their own regime. And so there's always kind of this carrot to dangle out in front of them of like, you fight with the big empires and there'll be something in it for you. And well, every time so far, what's been in it for them is slaughter. But anyway, this is, but this time is different, Rob. We've already been very clear about that. This is totally different. Anyway, this whole thing, look, it's such a mess already. The latest reporting that I'm seeing now is they're. They're saying over a thousand civilians have been killed in Iran. The US And Israel has been lighting Tehran up. You know, this, this war that. Well, look, I mean, liberating. Yes, I'm sorry, Rob. It's just very. I said this war, again, it's not a war. Not a war. It is a war on their side, but it's not a war on our side. But this, this event, you know, was because the Iranian. Well, it was all because the Iran, the Iranian regime was killing the Iranian people. And so we have to go over there and, and liberate them. Not the thousand that we killed. Like, obviously they don't get to be liberated and I'm sure for like their family members, that's, you know, that sucks. But the rest of them are going to be liberated. That's the whole point of this, was that they were killing their protesters. We have to liberate them. I mean, also, we don't care who comes next and we have no for who comes next, but it's all about liberating them. Well, really, the war, again, I'm sorry, not a war, but really this thing, it's about their nuclear program, which we obliterated six months ago. Well, but it could come back in five years. And anyway, I'm sorry, this is a lot. It's very difficult to keep up with. One thing I do know for sure, Rob, is that I Was. I was attacked. Attacked recently by little Ben Shapiro. Little Ben came at me. This was quite fun. Ben Shapiro did an entire show yesterday on how what awful people. All of us who oppose this war are. How terrible. What awful people. And he went through the list of a bunch of us and it had, it was trash. And Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson. He took some shots at Piers Morgan and then had a nice little segment on me and man, I mean, what

Rob Bernstein (7:35)

Ted Cruz would call the fringe of the right wing.

Dave Smith (7:38)

Yes, the fringe. The fringe of the right wing, meaning all of the most influential figures. It really is just the, the tactics are again, stunningly like they. It's unbelievable how much they resemble all the worst just lefty fucking tactics. Right? It's, it's Brian Stelter telling you that Joe Rogan is this fringe figure who's, you know, must want people to die and that's why he doesn't support lockdowns or something like that. It's the exact same thing. I actually thought that was quite funny the other day with the Piers Morgan episode in question here. Um, but at one point Ben Ferguson said that Tucker Carlson was fringe and like I think the entire panel just laughed at him. But it was just, we all just literally. I mean it was like a genuine like gut laugh reaction. Yes, yes, Tucker Carlson represents a real fringe. No public support amongst the right wing, but Ben Ferguson is. It's probably 600 listeners an episode of his show. He really has his finger on the pulse. Well, anyway, here is angry little Ben Shapiro coming after me. Let's, let's play it and let's give

Ben Shapiro (8:55)

our thoughts he had on Dave Smith. Apparently his job is never to tell jokes but. But to instead give poorly informed foreign policy takes and also to hate America. Here we go.

Dave Smith (9:05)

The IDF is the worst terrorist organization in the region. Let's get real. The United States of America is arguably the worst terrorist organization in the world. If you want to look over the last 25 years how many innocent civilians we have slaughtered. You're getting us. You're getting us into the neocon. Yeah, that's right. You're getting us into the neocon seventh war.

Ben Shapiro (9:24)

Ben Ferguson rightly notes at that point that he might want to take down the American flag behind him. That is right. It doesn't matter. It turns out how many times you appear on Joe Rogan's show or how many times you hide behind your title of comedian who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for fewest jokes told, or how many times you spew puerile analogies that demonstrate nothing but unbelievable willful ignorance of the nature.

Dave Smith (9:44)

Oh, an unbelievable willful ignorance. All right, so this is, so, it's really funny that, you know, this is just the way Ben Shapiro is. He jumps, he jumps on whenever he thinks there's a weakness. Like he, he, you know, this guy must be watching my. Because anytime he thinks that there's something like, oh, I got him on this one. And so this is his game. Literally. Ben Ferguson. That, that was his response, as Ben Shapiro pointed out and said, good job. His response was, you might want to take that American flag down behind you if you're going to say America is the biggest terrorist organization in the world. And, and it was. I, I mean, I responded by saying, yeah, that's the dumbest response I've ever heard. The entire comment section of Pierce Mortgage is just talking about how dumb Ben Ferguson is. And Ben Shapiro thought this was the thing to jump on. Like, you hate America. Really, Rob? This is the fight he wants to have is that what if you oppose the wars, therefore you hate your grandma. That. What can you even say to this, Rob? Hasn't this just already been taken apart a million times?

Rob Bernstein (10:51)

I don't think we dedicated our lives to this show and following these topics out of a hatred for America. I think it's a desperate call to try and make it a little bit better and more of what we think the founding fathers actually had in mind for a free country.

Dave Smith (11:07)

Yeah, I'd say so. And it almost like makes you wonder in some way, like, well, let's just say, okay, so Ben Shapiro doesn't, you know, agree with my, you know, assessment here. Well, what if they were, what if the US Federal government, let's say they just became your definition of terrorist. Let's say they started blowing up Israeli kids and school buses and doing suicide bombs or something like that. Would it still make you hate your country to point that out, to be against it? Yeah, I'm saying like, if the logic of what he's saying is true, then it should be true no matter what the government does. Right. So you could disagree with the claim, but to imply that it means you hate your country is. And I mean this, it's the like an 80 IQ argument. I mean, Ben Shapiro is not, doesn't have an 80 IQ. But his argument, he's presuming you do in order to believe this line of shit. Like, look, and I mean this is again, like a pretty basic conservative view that conservatives should be under. Able to understand. I'm not saying Ben Shapiro is a Conservative, but he claims to be one. I think of him more as a foreign spy, but I mean, it really is something. Rob, of all the things. Ben Shapiro, you don't love your country. Everybody who loves America supports Jonathan Pollard. Ben Shapiro, telling me about patriotism, the guy who's on record saying the greatest guarantor of his support for America is the existence of Israel. Talk to other people about their patriotism. But of course, anyway, the basic conservative idea, you know, the. As Frederick Bastiat pointed out many years ago, there is a difference between society and the state. There is a difference between our political class, the warfare machine, the military industrial complex and the mountain that I live on and the land and the people and the culture. And so the idea that you, if you hate a war or if you just recognize the fundamental reality, which is that if you want, if you, look, if you're going to give me like a coherent definition for terrorism, let's say something like intentionally targeting civilians to cause a political change or something like that. Explain to me how, explain to me how the US over the last 25 years has invaded, bombed, toppled the governments of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and now Iran. The total death count from all of that is in the millions. Well, north of 4 million. Tell me where you're getting those numbers from the Ayatolla. Tell me where you're getting those numbers from Hamas. So, you know, you can make the argument again. He's going to get into this a little bit more here, but the idea that calling that out means you hate your country is, again, it's just, it's George W. Retarded is the dumbest argument ever. Like, I mean, again, I'm not even saying, like, look, dude, again, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I could tell you when something's just too stupid for any of us to treat it seriously. And that's what this is. Again, just the lowest hanging fruit of political argumentation. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Fume. I love the Fume. I've, I've had it and used it for many years now. They're a longtime sponsor of the show. Fume is a flavored air device designed to help people quit vaping and smoking by breaking the hand to mouth pattern. It's simple, natural, and honestly, kind of genius. There's no nicotine, no batteries, no vapor. Just a weighted, twisty, fidget, friendly tool that gives your hands something better to reach for when your cravings show up. So it's just. It's a thing you can fidget with. You. You breathe in flavored air. You can fidget with it. It's really good for people who are trying to get off vaping and trying to get off cigarettes. It's helped lots of people. I know several different people who quit vaping using fume. There's over 700,000 people who have benefited from the product. And, hey, it's a new year still, kind of, and we're all trying to develop better habits. So go check out Fume and make sure to use the promo code problem. You'll get a free gift when you pick up the Journey pack today@trifume.com that's T R Y F U M.com promo code problem to claim your free gift today. All right, let's get back into the show.

Rob Bernstein (15:59)

I also, I don't love the version of this country that will tell me I got to stay in my home because of some virus and then some guy can run and campaign on no wars and then get shot at and then suddenly become the world's biggest supporter of Israel and have all the wars. And then I can criticize it out of a love for this country and a desire to see it improve and not just have everyone clap and applaud this unnecessary risk in this disastrous war.

Dave Smith (16:26)

Yeah, no, that's right. And again, just to attack the logic of what Ben Shapiro is saying here, let's just say that AOC or Tucker Carlson or whoever became president, you know what I mean? Like, let's just say that happened, and then their policy was to switch sides here. We're not going to attack Iran. We're going to back Iran in their attack against Israel. We're going to start bombing military targets in Tel Aviv, which, by the way, as the IDF has admitted, Rob, are embedded amongst civilian areas. So, I mean, there'll be collateral damage there. But call that out.

Ben Shapiro (17:05)

People know.

Rob Bernstein (17:06)

We'll warn, let everyone know they're out of Tel Aviv.

Dave Smith (17:08)

No, we are going to put a full blockade around the country so they won't be able to leave the country. But. And then also we're going to start bombing the sites where we tell civilians to go after the pamphlets, tell them to leave. But would Ben Shapiro have a problem with that? Would it be. Would it. Would that mean you hate your America if you were to criticize that? Yeah, that's right. You don't actually believe any of this. You. The only one true belief that Ben Shapiro has is that he supports Israel it's the only real belief. No, all of this is just fake. He's lying. He knows he's lying. We know he knows he's lying. All right, let's go.

Rob Bernstein (17:45)

I know.

Dave Smith (17:46)

Sorry, sorry. Go ahead.

Rob Bernstein (17:47)

So not on topic, but I laugh because he, he was trying to make his joke that you don't tell jokes, and then he put up a Guinness that's on. That doesn't correlate to his joke. And I was just laughing at how bad a comedy is because he was like, guinness Book of Records for world's biggest dumbass. And it, or whatever it was, but it should have said Guinness World Records for comedian who told least amount of jokes that would have aligned with what you were saying.

Dave Smith (18:14)

It's a, it's amazing how many people when, because this is the thing they try to attack me for is like, say you're not even funny. You don't even tell jokes or something like that. And then they show you what they think is funny and you're like, all right, I'm okay with your assessment. Again, I don't even know. Again, this is all just too dumb to respond to. But it's like, yeah, guys, I'm a stand up comedian. I also do political commentary. What all that any of you guys are saying is you're going, your political commentary isn't very funny. Like, okay, sure, like whatever you want to say. Like, fine, okay. Like, I don't know what to tell you. I just, I don't know. I don't know. I've been doing comedy for 20 years. I don't care what random people who hate my politics opinion of my comedy is. I, I know where I'm at as a stand up and people who to the shows and come see us, they, they know what's up. So, like, I don't. Whatever. This is just also dumb. But yeah, it is pretty funny that he did the graphic that didn't even work with the joke. He's not. The thing about Ben Shapiro is he's

Ben Shapiro (19:16)

not actually that bright.

Dave Smith (19:17)

I know he's not as dumb as the points he's making here, but he's not a very bright guy. All right, here, let's keep playing.

Ben Shapiro (19:25)

I'm sorry, but you hate the country if you say America is the worst terrorist organization in the world. You just do. To make that argument, you have to deliberately obscure the difference between actual terrorists who actually are seeking deliberately to kill innocent people in the name of politics, not collateral damage. Deliberately seeking to kill innocent people.

Dave Smith (19:42)

Just pause.

Ben Shapiro (19:43)

And nation states.

Dave Smith (19:45)

I mean, look dude, this is again, you could just say this. He has to just, he can't actually, if you notice, Rob, he can't actually engage in the argument. He has to just say. There's no argument. You just do you just hate America. If you're going to say we are terrorists and you can't distinguish between the real terrorists, ok, the real terrorists intentionally kill civilians. So this is the argument we're getting ready. Actually, you know what, Just back up a couple seconds here and let's play this. Let's let him finish his point because we'll respond to this for the millionth time. But here, let's play it.

Ben Shapiro (20:16)

Terrorists who actually are seeking deliberately to kill innocent people in the name of politics, not collateral damage. Deliberately seeking to kill innocent people and nation states who are seeking to avoid civilian casualties, often while fighting those actual terrorists, which of course is the point for people who hate America.

Dave Smith (20:33)

Okay, pause it here because then I will. And then bring it back a few seconds for the next point. So he said, oh my God, if you're conflating the, the terrorists who intentionally kill civilians with the nation states that, that have collateral damage, but go do everything they can to not kill innocent civilians. Okay, well, let's examine that a little bit. They don't do everything they can, right? Because like one, one thing would be to not drop bombs on people. So that's one thing at least they don't do to avoid it. Right? The thing that kills the civilians, they don't do that. So you can't really say they do everything to avoid killing civilians. So let's go, let's go to this word deliberate. What, what exactly does that mean? I mean, look, as I know, they always, they always want to come up with a euphemism or a social construct. So it's not intentionally killing civilians, it's collateral damage. Okay, it's just a term you made up. It's just a euphemism. They'll come up with some construction, some social construct about, you know, the rules, war or international law. Not that they follow any of that, but they'll, they'll invoke it when it's convenient. This in Iran right now, this is, was a war of choice. That is, that is not debatable. That is objectively what this war was. The Pentagon has already confirmed there was no imminent attack coming. We didn't, we chose to go to war with them. Even many different figures, the war hawks in the Congress, in the administration have acknowledged that, like, oh, we did obliterate their nuclear program. But we were worried that they would rebuild it at some point off in the future, that this was a war of choice. There's about a thousand civilians dead right now, is what's being reported. Obviously the number will be higher than that, much higher, depending on how long this war goes. All those people would still be alive if you hadn't decided to do that. To engage in a war of choice. That's deliberate, dude. That's intentional. You can come up with whatever you know, excuse you want to, but you took in action knowing it would result in innocent people dying that you didn't need to take. And now those people are dead. And you know, if you, as we've said like a million times on the show, but if there was a, a bad guy, even a murderer, a killer in a civilian area somewhere, and you, you, you know, outside of war, like in a domestic dispute, you dropped a hellfire missile on their house, you would be charged with murder in the first degree. For all of the innocent people who died there, this, this idea of it's collateral damage, it wasn't intentional. This is just a complete fiction that psychopaths like you make up. When you want to promote another war, is it. Call it whatever you want to. This is, it's the exact same thing. It is murder in the first degree. You are intentionally killing civilians. That's what you're doing. And for those people on the ground, for those 4 million plus people who died in the global war on terrorism, those were, those were real people. Every much as Ben, every bit as much as Ben Shapiro is a real person and the, the father who pulled his kid out of the rubble is every bit as much. It's the exact same thing on a human level. If Ben Shapiro was pulling his kids out of there, or I was pulling my kids out of there. And so you could try to pretend there's this huge moral distinction because when Israel and America does it with their military, therefore it's okay, but like, there's just not. And you know, when, when Iran is, is launching missiles back at Israel and killing a bunch of people, that's, I'm sure Ben Shapiro does not go, ah, they were just collateral damage. That doesn't count. Pure bullshit.

Rob Bernstein (24:32)

Speaking of the semantics of this stuff, in Afghanistan, we aligned ourselves with opium dealers and child rapists. Yep, that's a very moral army. And making a calculation for how to be victorious over there, we decided to align ourselves with child rapists also.

Dave Smith (24:49)

Like, you know, even within Ben Shapiro's own worldview here it, he's really Got to ignore a whole bunch of shit. Like you could sit here and say, oh, you know, the, like Israel is the most moral army in the world or, oh, it's just collateral damage or something. Like, what about all the doctors reports of toddlers being shot in the head, shot in the groin. I mean, I'm sorry again, as I'm repeating myself, but you know, we made this point a million times on the show. But look, there, there are examples of things like we covered on this show when, when they claimed that Hamas, they, by the way, they ended up retrieving all of this. But when they claimed Hamas was slow rolling the remains of the dead hostages and so they just halved the food coming into Gaza, they just punish the civilian population on behalf of what a, A, you know, a gang in that case was doing. And same thing here in Iran. You are intentionally punishing the civilian population for the crimes of their government. In Iran, by the way, a not democratic government. So it's not even like you could go with the Osama bin Laden rationalization that therefore you're guilty because you voted this government in or something like that. So again, this is, this is dumb low iq, like posturing that he's doing here, but he can't really take on the argument. He's got nothing. Anyway, let's keep playing.

Ben Shapiro (26:17)

Kill innocent people and nation states who are seeking to avoid civilian casualties, often while fighting those actual terrorists. Which of course is the point for people who hate America. To reduce America to the level of its enemies in order to uphold those enemies. That is the goal. Now I know the day.

Dave Smith (26:35)

Just pause it here. Here, rewind a little bit to get to his next point. That's, that's what he's got, dude. Yeah, guys, what a, what a devastating argument. Turns out, guys, I know a lot of you may have thought like, I like was convinced by Ron Paul and then read a lot of libertarian books and I felt like they made better arguments and some of have thought that like, well, I mean, the global war on terrorism cost the country $8 trillion and killed millions of people and left tens of thousands of our bravest young boys blowing their brains out and the country more weakened and divided than ever before. Maybe you thought that's why I opposed these wars, for all the death and destruction and debt and what it does to our country. Turns out, guys, I'm sorry Ben Shapiro called me out. So I got to admit, it turns out I just hate your grandma and everything good about this country. And I just love Hamas and the Ayatollah and my whole goal here has just been to weaken this country until finally the Ayatollah can take over the world or something like that. That's. This is what these guys are left with. And don't get me wrong, because, like, I will at times impugn the motives of my, you know, enemies. And I think sometimes it is appropriate. Like, Ben Shapiro is a foreign spy who only care about supporting a foreign government. But, like, I got arguments with my too, Like, I'll take on. When we play a video like this, I will also take on his point and, and tear it to shreds. You notice he has nothing but this. You hate America. It's literally, if you remember, there used. I think it was Family Guy who did an impression of Shawn Hannity, like back during the. The war on terrorism early days. And that was the impression. Was it just someone would go, you know, I really don't think this war is wise. And he'd go, you hate America. Like, it's. That's Benjamin. That's what Ben Shapiro's got. It's a, A caricature of an idiot Warhawk. All right, here, let's. And by the way, but hold on, even before I go back to this, like, if you're gonna start talking about motives here, even if you believed, like, even if you believe this was a wise war or a war that fucking we ought to fight, and you'd be sitting there and you'd be like, look, there's all these critics of the global war on terrorism. And I do have to admit that they've gotten it right six times in a row. You know, all of these wars have been unmitigated disasters. Ben Shapiro is somebody who cheer. Led the war in Iraq, right? Like he cheerleaded a thing that turned into a catastrophe where over a million people died and $2 trillion were blown and all this stuff, you, you'd think at least if he was even pretending to be honest, he'd have to go, okay, look, now I understand why some people might be skeptical about this. I got it really, really wrong in the past, but I think I'm right this time, you know, but the fact is that he cheerleads this war on too. You know, did you see, Rob the other day, Lindsey Graham. Because now Israel has started bombing Lebanon as well. Lindsey Graham pleaded with the president to get in on that war to start bombing Lebanon as well.

Rob Bernstein (29:50)

It's a two for one sale. If you're already having one war, why not have two wars?

Dave Smith (29:54)

Do you think, Listen, do you think the Israeli Government officials are talking about how Turkey is the new Iran. They're already, they already got their eyes on what the next conflict is going to be. And where's Ben Shapiro going to be on. On those? He'll support every one of them. Support every one of them. You know, I swear we don't really talk this way. I know Tucker Carlson does. I said this the other day, but after a while, because, you know, Tucker's like a Christian, we're a bit different, you know, culturally. We're both two Jewish guys. And so there's just a little bit of a different, I don't know, like, cultural dynamic there. But when you see these guys champion the war in Iraq, champion the war in Afghanistan, champion the war in Libya, champion the war in Syria, all of them turn into goddamn disasters. Now they champion the war in Iran. It's already turning into a disaster. Now they're ready for the next one and the next one and the next one. At a certain point, I think the only accurate way to describe it is how Tucker. What Tucker Carlson said, which is that you people worship death. Like, I mean, like, if you want to, you're going to attack my motive. My motives are I just hate America. Like, okay, fine, but I'm actually basing this on your track record. I just think you're satanic. You're like a demonic level of evil. You just will always promote and, and worship and advocate for mass murder campaigns when they don't have to happen. And then you'll come around demonizing anybody who's against them. But the thing about it is, Ben Shapiro is like, you're a tiny Jew. No one's scared of you, dude, so keep talking shit, that's fine. But if you want to talk about my motives, fine, let's, let's talk about yours. You're a foreign spy who worships death.

Ben Shapiro (31:34)

All right, let's keep playing to uphold those enemies. That is the goal. Now, I know that Dave Smith is super duper excited that his name was mentioned here and he's sitting there shouting at his TV screen in his basement. Debate me, bro. To which I answer, nah, I don't debate with trolls who claim that America is the biggest terrorist state in the world, because that is idiotic. I didn't debate the Lyndon LaRouche followers who sat in Harvard Square carrying anti war cardboard signs.

Dave Smith (32:00)

Here, let's pause it. I know you. You only debate 19 year olds confused about their gender. I'm a bridge too far. That's what it is. Like, dude, you're better off Just not mentioning me, dude, like, what type of pussy ass segment is this? I know Dave's in his basement right now screaming at his tv. I was, okay, like, I, I own a nice house, but okay, Ben, like, I don't know, I was screaming. No, I, I was laughing. I had a big smile on my face. I was excited to respond to this. Sure. No, you won't debate me, Ben. And we all know why you won't debate me, because I will kick your in. And here's the thing, Rob and I, I posted about this on, on Twitter yesterday. It was trending today. But the thing is, Ben, like, no one really cares. Don't really care if you want to do the debate or not. I'm not seething. Oh, debate me, bro. It's like, I mean, I would debate you. I, I'll debate you this afternoon if you want to, because sure, it'll be a huge show, it's easy work and I'll embarrass you. Like, okay, not even because I'm smarter, because I'm a better debater or anything. It's just that you're a complete liar and you have no argument on your side, so of course I would do that. But no one really, like, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't really have to happen. And this is what I said on Pierce the other day too, that you guys have already lost the debate. Ben Shapiro lost it by default by being too much of a coward to debate and not me. I'm saying he wouldn't debate. Any competent critic of Israel or the warfare state won't do it. He branded himself as the free speech debate guy. I'll go in there. Oh, you give me the meanest 20 year old chick who thinks she's a dude Ben Shapiro will debate. But oh no, a guy who's a Ron Paul guy, that's too far. That's way too out there. He'll debate a Maoist, an abortionist, any type of, you know, as long as they're a kid, they'll debate any of them. But yeah, no, he won't debate a non interventionist right winger. Of course not, because he's getting his shit kicked in. And to sit here and make any other, you know, excuse for it, it's like, no, dude, like you're, you went years intentionally not saying my name because you didn't want to give me any attention, right? And then after a certain point, I just got big enough and relevant enough that you were like, well, that doesn't really work anymore. So now you'll say my name, you'll do these segments on me, and then you'll announce at the end that, no, I won't debate you. Like, yeah, of course you won't. Like, I don't know, you're a fraidy cat. That's okay. But what are you going to do? Of course you can't debate. What are you going to debate? That I hate America? Is that. Is this what you're going to bring to the debate stage? His real motives are to destroy America and hand it over to the ayatollah. I mean, like, maybe if the audience was fox news watching 90 year olds, they'd be moved by that shit. But no one, no one who's not a boomer is. Is even slightly moved by. By this. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is massive Chips. You don't have to overhaul your whole life in 2026. Start with simple swaps, like upgrading the snacks in your pantry to ones with real ingredients, like Masa. It's the easiest way to eat clean without feeling like you're on a diet. Massive chips contain just three ingredients. That's it. No seed oils, no mystery chemicals, just real food. These chips don't only avoid all of the bad stuff. They taste incredible. Snacking on massive chips is nothing like eating regular chips. With Masa, you feel satiated, light, energetic. No crash, bloat, or sluggish feeling afterward. And because these chips are made with real food, they're more satiating, so you don't find yourself uncontrollably binging and still feeling hungry afterward. Also, if you love Masa, give Vandy Crisps a try. Vandy is Massa's sister company. They make the most delicious potato chips. So Massa makes the. The tortilla chips, Vandy makes the potato chips. They're both delicious. We keep both of them in my house. My kids love them. I love them. And if you're ready to give Massa a try yourself, find out what all the hubbub's about, go to Massachips.com Dave and use the promo code Dave for 25% off your first order. That's Masa Chips.com Dave promo code Dave for 25% off YOUR first order. All right, let's get back into the show. I don't know anything to say, Rob. You want to do a mock debate? You could play Ben Shapiro.

Rob Bernstein (36:33)

I would love to. I could definitely fill that role. Because you are a hater of America and we all know that you just want to see this country fall. That's what you mean.

Dave Smith (36:42)

There you go. All right, here, let's, let's keep playing

Ben Shapiro (36:46)

back in the day. And I feel no necessity to debate debate a completely intellectually dishonest interlocutor who spends his days cribbing Noam Chomsky and then immediately retreats to his pose of ignorant comedian every time he is confronted with a fact. Dave Smith is the kind Donald Trump should be.

Rob Bernstein (37:04)

We quote a lot of Noam Chomsky here.

Dave Smith (37:07)

Now.

Rob Bernstein (37:07)

He picks up on that theme in the show.

Dave Smith (37:09)

I mean, I've read, I've read a bunch of Noam Chomsky books. There's some really good ones that I think are, are worth reading. But what does crib me? I don't even know what he means in that. But anyway, yeah, I mean, no, he's just gotta, again, for his really dumb old audience, he's gotta almost make it like, oh, he's a leftist. Yeah, that's. We're a bunch of Chomskyites here on the podcast. Because he doesn't want to say like, like he's a Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan guy. He doesn't want to say, oh, he has the foreign policy of George Washington or something like that. You know what I mean? Because then that would be like, oh, that sounds kind of reasonable. There's Noam Chomsky, okay. And by the way, it, politically speaking, in many ways, Ben Shapiro is much closer to Noam Chomsky than we are. Certainly domestically on foreign policy, I guess we agree with them more than, than Shapiro does. But yeah, again, just like really, really low level non arguments.

Rob Bernstein (38:06)

You see, here's Dave denying facts. You're watching it live. As he denies the facts that he reflects Noam Chomsky.

Dave Smith (38:12)

It's just, oh, look, I mean, even saying like, oh, I'm so intellectually dishonest or I'm a troll or something like this, like, well, all right, I mean, just none of that actually applies to me. None of this actually applies. And the all I really. And look, there's obviously there's a lot of people who could disagree with me. There's a lot of people who could not like me. Lots of reasons. I've got a lot of flaws and so that's one thing. But I just can't imagine anyone who actually knows who I am being moved by this. Because just none of this is a description of me. Like I'm, I might be wrong, but I'm not being intellectually dishonest. I believe the shit that I believe and pretty much anybody who consumes my stuff, I think would know that. I think that's something you can kind of read on people. Like, I might be wrong, but I'm not lying to you. I believe this. And the. You know, he uses being a comedian as a shield. Like, no, I don't. No, I don't. Like, I. I don't know which. When have I ever, like, in a debate, been like, I'm just a comedian. Oh, you got me. Well, I'm just a comedian. Like, I don't do that. And so it's all just made up. I don't know. Just. You just. You have no real argument, so you just start making up up. That's your go to. All right, let's keep playing.

Ben Shapiro (39:32)

Be in jail for life as a war criminal. Legitimizes every single scurrilous figure on the Internet, from Nick Fuentes to Candace Owens, and then demands that everyone treat him as though he is some sort of honest, worthy intellectual opponent. He's not.

Dave Smith (39:44)

All right, just.

Ben Shapiro (39:45)

You would like to hear a complete dispute?

Dave Smith (39:47)

All right, so. Okay, let's just go through this a little bit again, just making sure. I demand that everybody do treat me as I. What does this mean? I don't demand Ben Shapiro treat me anyway. I don't demand Ben Shapiro debate me. Like, I don't care. You've already lost. I win by default. It doesn't matter if you debate or not or debate anybody. It does nothing but help my argument that you're such a goddamn coward that you refuse to debate anybody. That's fine. I'll take that. So I'm not demanding anyone treat me anyway, but this. Okay, so this claim now is that I. And this is what's. Okay, so I legitimized Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens. Well, what. Like, what. Who. First of all, who am I to legitimize either of those two? You know, when Nick Fuentes came. Came on the show a few months back, that was our. The biggest episode of Part of the Problem ever. It was the most downloaded, most viewed episode we've ever done. I had Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens on in that same month. That was the biggest one by far, as I think, like, over 3 million views total or something like that. I think it was over 3 million. Just between YouTube and Spotify. Anyway, doesn't really seem like I'm legitimizing him. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's a kind of. It's a kind of weird claim to go, you Legitimized a guy like, you know, like, I don't know. And the funny thing is that actually Ben Shapiro created Nick Fuentes. I legitimized him like in the same way. So Ben Shapiro would always this, right? Even in the days when there were some people out there who respected him, this was always who he is. He, he called Ron Paul a vicious anti Semite, said he wishes he could strangle the neck of the Jews. So that about Ron Ball, a guy who's never said the Jews in his entire life. You've never once heard him say the Jews. He just doesn't talk like that. Just the sweetest guy. He called him a vicious anti Semite. So Nick Fuentes was like a kid with like a thousand followers, like 19 or something like that. And he started asking questions about. He's like, hey, why do we support Israel? Why do we give them all this money? Ben Shapiro quote, tweets him and goes, you're an anti Semite, blah, blah, blah. That he happened to with the absolute wrong person. Like, he happened, he happened to just. It's like, it's. It's an amazing, like, origin story or something like that. Like you just happened to. With the kid who was just like the most talented kid in his, you know, of his class. And yeah, now you have to deal with that forever. And, you know, despite my disagreements with Fuentes on, on several issues, he's just, you know, he's not a fucking liar like Ben Shapiro is, and he's much smarter and he's just more interesting to have a conversation with. I didn't legitimize him. He was, he was always like, when we did shows back in the day, he was. Already had a big following on his own. And by the time we did the show this last year, he was fucking huge. Legitimize him. I had. In other words, what Ben Shapiro means is I had a conversation with him. Translation. Remember Conversations? Remember Ben Shapiro's whole brand. It's so important that we have these conversations, open conversations. The left wants to censor, but we want open conversations. Until you have a conversation with someone who's critical of Jews, then all of a sudden you're legitimizing them. Same people used to say about him, Candace Owens. Wait, hold on. I. I legitimized Candace Owens. You know, Rob, the first time Candace Owens had me on her show, it was on this network I cannot remember the name of, was a Wire. I think it came out weekly. The weekly Wire, perhaps. Oh, no, that's right. It was on your Network. Your network. You built billboards of Candace Owens. You paid her millions and millions of dollars, helped helped launch her as a huge phenomenon. Superstar. What the fuck? Wait, she was the number one thing on your network. You guys all ate off her for years. But I legitimized her. That's how she got her. That's how she got her legitimacy was what from me? Because I did. I did her podcast, and I had her on my podcast. Right, okay, that's very convenient. I'm responsible for legitimizing Candace Owens. Says the man who paid for billboards of her to be put up in Nashville. Uncancellable.

Rob Bernstein (44:45)

Maybe he's really playing tribute to your aura. So let's just go with yes.

Dave Smith (44:51)

Yeah, let's just go with it.

Rob Bernstein (44:52)

We're the ones that can bless people in the media landscape.

Dave Smith (44:55)

That's why.

Ben Shapiro (44:56)

Run.

Rob Bernstein (44:56)

Your mouth is as big as it is, everybody.

Dave Smith (44:58)

Yes. There you go. Well, you have been legitimized.

Rob Bernstein (45:03)

I've been legitimized.

Dave Smith (45:05)

I've really tried my best to legitimize you. Again, just. Wow, how pathetic, dude. Like, I don't know, as somebody who also just does shows like this, it is. There's something about watching, like, Ben Shapiro go to work, and you're like, man, if I ever, like, please, Rob, just go upstairs and grab my gun and shoot me in the face if I ever come to a show. And this is what I have. This is the level of argument that I'm presenting. All right, let's keep playing.

Ben Shapiro (45:35)

Dismantling of Dave Smith. I highly recommend Coleman Hughes's interview with Smith over at the Free Press. Just go check that out. Save yourself some time. And by the way, you also hate America. If you claim that the President of the United States is merely a tool of foreign interest without any evidence of whatsoever. Like, none. You are promoting lies directly mirroring those of the Iranian terrorist government in direct contravention of truth and of the Trump administration's own words.

Dave Smith (46:00)

All right, so, yes, no. Anybody who thinks that Israel is pushing us into this war is just imagining that. I mean, sure, you know, all of the fucking leaders have admitted it on record, but, yes, that's just. It's just totally made up that Benjamin Netanyahu has spent 30 years lying to us about the Iranian A nuclear threat. And then, of course, at the end, it's pretty funny. He goes. He goes, go check out the. When Coleman Hughes interviewed him. That'll show you. Goes like, oh, interesting. Ben. Yeah. You won't come do it, but you'll promote somebody else interviewing me. And you're not going to tell him to go watch any of those other debates now, are you? Just the Coleman Hughes one. And let me just say, you know, look, I kind of, I really do try to keep, keep to this, this rule that with, with debates and just interactions in general. I'm not saying I keep this 100, but I try my best to that. Like, anytime I do a debate, it's like, it's what they say. It's like what professional fighters do when they spar. Like, if they just spar with someone, they're just gonna, like, match your energy. So if you just don't try to take their head off, they're not going to try to take your head off. But if you start coming for them, they're gonna. So, like, I try in debates. Like, if you're here to have a good faith exchange, then, like, that's what I'm here to do. Like that. That's what I want to do. If you want to go vicious and start insulting people or whatever, then okay, fine. I mean, I'll, I'll do that too, but I will be cool if you're. And the thing is, like, Coleman Hughes was respectful throughout the whole thing. So I'm not saying anything negative about him. I'm not trying to disrespect him at all. I appreciate that. He's one of the few who have had, like, what I would consider to be at least a reasonably good faith and, you know, conversation. He stuck to the issues. He didn't make it about me personally as Ben Shapiro and everybody. El has to, you know, resort to. Nobody. I'm just saying this is an insult to Coleman. Nobody really thinks that was Coleman dismantling me, except for the people who already agreed with Ben Shapiro going into it. Those guys all want to pretend, like, go watch Colen Hughes destroy him. Everybody else is like, yeah, Coleman did better than most against Dave. He tried to really get on him about some kind of pedantic technicalities. It was kind of petty. And like, overall, he still lost. You know, like, I'm just saying that is, that is the thing, that everybody who didn't already come into it as a die hard Israel supporter is a die hard hater of mine who just wanted that to be the outcome. There's like three points in the debate where I probably could have had a better canned response, and I typically do. I wasn't at my best on that one. But, like, anyway, the fact that they want to pretend, like, oh, go watch, that he was totally Dismantled. He goes, well, doesn't seem to have convinced the all of the people who don't agree with you, you know, and by the way, the people who do agree with you are firmly in the minority at this point. So I don't know, Rob, what can you say? That's what Ben Shapiro had to come at me with.

Rob Bernstein (49:09)

Pretty pathetic, weren't you trying to get Coleman to come on this podcast and that just fell through.

Dave Smith (49:14)

I've invited him on several times. He said he would do it. But then the last I, I, he hadn't responded to the last couple times I reached out, but more than happy to, to do a round two with Coleman. And of course, I mean, you know, we argued a bunch of stuff, if I remember correctly. Pretty sure we argued a bunch of stuff about the 12 Day War, which was really aged quite well for me. Not in the way I'd like it to. I would have rather it aged well for him, but it didn't. And anyway, this is, you know, of course, you know, this is all the critics of the 12 Day War have been totally vindicated with this war and now they all want to pretend that's not the case. Look, the bottom line is this, right? Ben Shapiro, he, he, you know, there was an, before he started talking about me, there was part of the segment where he's trashing Pierce Morgan him and he's going, oh, this show is the Jerry Springer of politics. It's, you know what I mean, blah, blah, blah. It's, it's like, oh, they have Dave Smith on. It's so horrible. It's just a food fight. And it's like, look, there is like, yes, obviously Pierce Morgan's show can be a bit of a circus at times. It's also like where the action is happening. It's like what Pierce does is he puts on the, where the actual debate in the country is and he airs that and he lets it go with the really no holds bar kind of environment. And sometimes that can be a bit of a circus, you know, but it's so elitist and superior for Ben Shapiro to go like, oh, this Jerry Springer show, when you have sat on your high horse, you made millions of dollars branding yourself the free speech guy, the debate guy, the anti censorship guy. And you've sat there while this country has been transformed into a pro Palestinian country. Like your number one issue is Israel. Israel is down about 50 points in the polls over the last two years and change two and a half years or so and you did not step up to debate. One critic of Israel. Forget me, leave me out of it. It. There's a whole bunch of them, they're out there just moving the needle, convincing people not to support Israel anymore. And you, not only. You didn't even try, you were too scared. You didn't even try to take on any of them. And you just lost and lost and lost. And people saw that. People noticed that you could come out right now and say, oh, in the, you know, in the, in the 35 public debates that Dave has done in the last two and a half years, go watch this one. I think this guy got him on this one. You know, go watch that. Not pointing to the other 34 that I just like, swept like, like on Dennis Prager's own fucking. People were saying he got smoked in. In that debate. The, the, like, there was literally, with maybe the exception of the Coleman Hughes one, there wasn't one Israel debate that I've done where at least like 80% of the audience had me winning it. He's. He's not going to tell you to go watch my Josh Hammer Oxford style debate at Princeton University, now is he, Rob? He's not going to promote that one. So it's like you're gonna, you're gonna pick the one debate you think I had the worst performance in. I said, go watch that. Which one? Which debate did you have the worst performance? Oh, yeah, you didn't do one. You didn't do a single one against anybody. And so you can do this segment and go, oh, Dave's always challenging me to debate. No, I won't debate. You're beneath me. That might work if you had debated anyone, but when you haven't debated anyone, when you were, or at least you used to be, one of the most influential, like conservative pundits, and the issue you care about saw support evaporate, you'd think maybe you would have stepped up and tried to win people back over, but you were too scared. And people saw that, they notice it. I don't know what else can I say, Rob?

Rob Bernstein (53:35)

Well, he can talk real fast, aggressively on the podcast.

Dave Smith (53:40)

Yeah.

Rob Bernstein (53:41)

You know, stick to what he's good at.

Dave Smith (53:43)

Yeah, no, that's right. I mean, it's like, okay, dude, like you're. Yeah, yeah, you. This is fine. I'm also like, in a way, I'm kind of surprised he did this segment. I mean, if he, you know, again, I wasn't, I wasn't in my basement. I was in. I was in my living room of the house that I own, that my family lives in. But yeah, no, I was, I was excited when I saw that he did this segment. I. I was surprised. And the only reason I was surprised is because it's like. I don't know, dude. It almost felt like, like, like. Do you secretly like me? Are you trying to help? I just feel like this couldn't have just teed it up better for me. Like, I'm going to do a segment on Dave. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to have no arguments whatsoever. I'm going to smear his motives in the most idiotic way, and then I'm going to refuse to debate him. I bet that helps me. Like, okay. I mean, I don't know. In. In some weird way, I almost feel like I should end this with like, a thank you to Ben Shapiro. Like, ah, it's been a stressful week. This goddamn war is a disaster. All these innocent people are dying now. At least we had a fun show for today. Thanks for giving us that. I. I don't know, Rob. Like, it's. It still never ceases to amaze me how much the Hawks just cannot get a narrative together, you know? And there's. There's a dynamic that they have, and it's really similar. I mean, it's, it's like, it's a one to one comparison, but it's the same thing throughout. Kind of like the corporate media, where. And I know this is a dynamic you've talked about a bunch over the years, Rob, but where there's almost like there's this tactic that used to work that doesn't work anymore, and they're just kind of like, well, it's the only one we know. So we're just going to keep doing it. Like, it may have worked to some degree at some point. When, when that was George W. Bush's line after 9, 11, you're either with us or you're with the terrorists. You either support the war or you love Osama bin Laden. Is that working on anyone in 2026? Is anyone going, oh, if you point out that the US Military kills more civilians than any of these other groups and that that's an objective fact, that means you hate America. Is anyone being moved by that? I mean, like, maybe, maybe that plays well with the tiny minority of people who are still supporting BB Netanyahu or something like that, but I have a really tough time imagining that it moves anybody else in that direction. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Crowd Health Another sponsor that I absolutely love. They've been with us for years. Great company, run by great people. They really have created an alternative to the health insurance model which as we all know is incredibly broken and has only been made worse since the government took over more of it. For example, crowd health offers the Black Swan membership. It's the healthcare alternative for those who want autonomy over their care, their costs and their lifestyles. It's just 95 doll a month and for that you get a team of expert bill negotiators. You get access to lowcost prescriptions, lab testing, plus a curated database of high quality lowcost doctors vetted by crowd health. So there's no insurance middleman. It's not like you have networks where you can't see a doctor because they're out of your network like a lot of us have have dealt with before. Now you're in the driver's seat and you might be wondering, well, what if like a major black swan event happens? Well, you cover the first $15,000 and the crowd steps up to help fund the rest. It' kind of like the freedom we used to have before Obamacare turned healthcare into a bureaucratic nightmare. If you're ready to make 2026 the year where your healthcare is on your terms, then go to JoinCrowd Health.com and use the promo code POTP and you'll get your first three months of the Black Swan membership for only $80 a month. That's right, $80 a month. Crowd health is not insurance. Opt out. Take your power back. This is how we win. Visit joincrowdhealth.com and use the promo code POTP today. All right, let's get back into the show.

Rob Bernstein (58:05)

Well, I guess quite sadly in this very moment, we've learned that they do not care or have to win over public opinion because they can even get an outsider to come in, dismantle the entire system and figure out how to co opt him or train him to lie through his teeth about issues that he thinks the American people will vote for, such as no new wars and then go exactly the route of what none of us have an interest in. So maybe, maybe they don't even care to lie to us or shape a narrative because they've just learned that they don't have to and they don't care. They literally don't care if we're not behind it.

Dave Smith (58:41)

Yeah, I mean it's, it's unbelievable to watch for, you know, because there are, you know, there's, there's supposed to be so Much partisanship in Washington D.C. right. And obviously the, the one thing the Democrats are motivated by is hating Donald Trump and they think he's Hitler. And there's like, we're supposed to believe that these two parties are enemies and they're really at each other's throats. But every now and then they come together like when they're killing a War Powers Resolution or when they're blocking. Why don't you vote on the war? Sorry, go ahead.

Rob Bernstein (59:20)

Chuck Schumer was upset at Donald Trump that he might actually not engage in this war.

Dave Smith (59:24)

Uh huh. That's right. When he was taunting him that you might. Oh, you're going soft President. What do you do? Right? Yeah, yeah. Oh, they all come together. Think about this man. Think about how disgusting this Congress is with, with a few notable exceptions, but Thomas Massie Rokahana have been really solid it but that they agreed to not have a vote on the war. Now think about this because this is the situation they're in, right? And think about how like. Because this isn't just evil. I mean launching a war of aggression is evil. Killing innocent people when you don't have to is evil. If that's not evil, then what is? But think about this and because there's something that is so like the profound lack of honor that a leader would ever be. Look, I just. Why do they kill the vote? Why do they kill the vote for the War Powers Resolution? Why do they not want to go on record of who's for this war and who's against this war? Here's the thing, okay? It's actually very simple and it's the only explanation for it. They want the war, but they don't want to be on record supporting the war. Right? That's really it.

Ben Shapiro (60:48)

They, they.

Dave Smith (60:49)

Look, if a War Powers Resolution comes up and they vote yes, well then I mean, I guess the president would have 60 days to fight the war right? Before he has to like ask for an extension. I guess 90 days at the most. But it would. 60 days is the, is the law law if they pass the War Powers Resolution. Well, dude, that's not a lot of time. They might need more time than that for the war. So you can't vote for the resolution because then that could shut down the war. And you want the war, but you can't vote against it because you know this thing is going to turn into a calamity and you don't want to be on record having supported a disaster. The thing's already a disaster. The, the, the odds of that like, the best case scenario right now is that Donald Trump just stopped, which is never an impossibility like that might happen because it's Donald Trump and he's totally incoherent. And so maybe at one point he changed his mind. But aside from that, it's like the thing's already a disaster. The odds of this, like turning into, you know, the Shaw's son or something like that taking over are incredibly slim. They all know that they've seen the last six catastrophes. And so they don't want to be on the record having supported the theft thing, but they want us, they want the thing to happen. And that is just on a very basic level, such a profound betrayal of your obligations as a leader. You know, like, hey, if you're gonna, you know, say what you will about the Bush administration, right? This is why they're actually in, in many ways more disgusting criminals than even the Bush administration was, is that they stuck their neck out there. They said it, you know, like Dick Cheney went on record. You know, George W. Bush went on record. Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and all of them, Rumsfeld, all of them, they went on record like, this is, we are for this policy, for this reason. This is what the result of it will be. Now, they were lying about all of it, but in, in some sense then they can be, I mean, publicly hung, you know, like, like in the court of public opinion, they could be convicted. I mean, not that they should have been convicted in real courts, but they weren't. But at least they went out there on the record. These leaders are just cowards. They, they want the war. Like, isn't it, Rob, on some level, isn't the least that you could demand that you're going to support a war of choice, a war of aggression that. That risks catastrophe? Well, then you put your name down. You put your name down that you were a supporter of that. But these cowards chose to just block the, the bill. Thomas Massey did force a debate. He had some great moments in there, said some great stuff. But man, man, the whole rest of that Congress, really, I don't want to say out loud what should happen to him. Last word to you, Rob, and then let's wrap up.

Rob Bernstein (63:46)

Thomas Massey's words in front of Congress yesterday were heroic. And I hope they have an impact and I hope he runs and am amidst the various excellent points that he made of our, our record of tragic wars and unnecessary wars that we've had. Who knows how many people we just radicalized in the actions we took oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Dave Smith (64:10)

Been saying it all. All week. We, we murdered an ayatollah. And we've never, in all the war on terrorism, him, we've never had to deal with a real deal Shiite jihad. That might be what we're looking at now. Great job, guys. Great job. Also that Iran can't arm Hezbollah because that's our problem. There's a big issue for us here in New Jersey. All right, that's our show for today, guys. Catch you next time. Peace.

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