Part Of The Problem — Episode: "Another Stupid War"

Host: Dave Smith
Co-host: Robbie "The Fire" Bernstein
Date: November 30, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Smith and Robbie Bernstein react to the latest escalation in U.S. foreign policy: the Trump administration’s steps toward a possible military confrontation with Venezuela. The hosts dissect the lack of public support, dubious official justifications, and broader context of America’s foreign adventures—probing the underlying motivations, political maneuvering, and media complicity. They also touch on growing public distrust in institutions, judicial overreach in high-profile cases, and the ongoing failures of political and media establishments to address real issues. The tone is cutting, darkly humorous, and strictly libertarian.

Key Discussion Points

The Venezuela War Scare

[01:25 – 19:45]

• Escalation Summary:

  • Donald Trump has announced “shutting down” Venezuelan airspace, implying military action.
  • Key war hawks like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio push ground strikes and regime change.
  • Lack of propaganda campaign—public not sold on threat or even rationale.

• Dave's Scathing Assessment:

  • “The Trump administration actually has us on the precipice of another war that absolutely no one asked for … there is no base for this. The only base … is just people who are going to support Donald Trump no matter what Donald Trump does.” [03:03]
  • Critique of war pretexts: Drug trafficking used as a "pretext for war"; parallels to false pretenses in previous wars.

• Robbie’s Satirical Take:

  • “What’s nice about having a war on this side of the hemisphere is that we can save on the shipping costs and spend more money on the bombs.” [05:33]
  • Suggests the military-industrial complex is seeking a ‘cheaper’ war and easy geopolitical win.

• Motivating Factors:

  • Rubio’s long-time advocacy for regime change in Venezuela.
  • Possible play for oil/resources; U.S.-friendly regime.
  • No lesson learned from decades of U.S. foreign quagmires — “you'd have to unlearn every lesson… over the last 25 years.” [06:51]

• Morality and Public Sentiment:

  • War hawks use moral outrage (drug deaths, democracy) to sell wars, but launching “a war that you don't have to launch” is the greater immorality. [09:39]
  • American people are overwhelmingly against intervention—estimates that 70% oppose a Venezuela war. [19:03]
  • “There is just no popular mandate ... to back Israel’s destruction of Gaza, bomb the Houthis in Yemen, bomb Iran, flirt with a war in Venezuela.” [16:12]

• Strategic Bluster and Political Risk:

  • Trump’s pattern: escalate, then de-escalate, claim a limited ‘victory’ to save face.
  • “He is playing Russian roulette with his political relevancy ... risks dropping 20 points in his approval rating ... I think he knows that.” [19:45]
  • Administration possibly seeking distraction from Epstein fallout and other domestic issues.

The Erosion of Trust in American Institutions

[25:00 – 30:39]

• Judicial Overreach:

  • Audience asks about a Utah judge’s sweeping gag order on witnesses in the Charlie Kirk shooting case.
  • Both hosts express alarm: “That sounds like such a suppression of free speech ... sounds like a pretty big violation … I don't really understand.” [28:42 / 28:57]

• Widespread Distrust:

  • Dave draws parallels to countries under authoritarian regimes: “Nobody trusts a word that Pam Bondi or Cash Patel or Dan Bongino or Donald Trump for that matter says about any of this shit ... There is just this ... my starting point is I don't trust any of you guys.” [26:11]
  • The “communist culture” symptom: outward conformity, inward skepticism—“At a certain point, people are just like, we know the government's full of shit, and that's kind of where America is today.” [27:57]

Revisiting January 6th and “Intelligent Design” Conspiracies

[30:39 – 37:30]

• The Pipe Bomb Mystery:
  • Congressman Thomas Massie brings renewed attention to suspicious elements of the January 6th pipe bomb case.
  • Dave likens the sequence of 2020–2021 events to “intelligent design”—too many coordinated features for it not to be "crafted." [35:19]
  • Frustration with lack of meaningful investigation from the Trump administration, calling out media, politicians, and the justice system.
  • Only a "handful of podcasters and Thomas Massie" are willing to discuss real corruption; “at least we have the only guys telling the truth happen to be the most libertarian members of Congress.” [37:03]

Media Critique – CNN, Nick Fuentes, and Symbolic Outrage

[44:55 – 55:49]

• CNN Panel Clip:
  • The panel’s argument devolves into virtue-signaling, focusing on whether it’s worse to host Nick Fuentes or to offend establishment sensibilities.
  • Dave: “This conversation is really stupid. ... Nick Fuentes is not stupid ... people can just see through this bullshit. It's all so low IQ and so ego driven.” [54:04]
  • Media’s real output is “telling you that they're a good person,” not meaningful journalism.
  • “They can't adjust to the fact that your sensitive liberal values are just not important to people ... always just symbolic nonsense.” [54:31]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the War with Venezuela

• Dave Smith [03:03]:

  “It's even worse than the war in Iran in terms of, like, they haven't even laid down a propaganda campaign ... they haven't really convinced anyone that it's even possible that Venezuela poses some type of threat to the United States of America.”

• Robbie Bernstein [05:33]:

  “What's nice about having a war on this side of the hemisphere is that we can save on the shipping costs and spend more money on the bombs.”

• Dave Smith [09:39]:

  “What could be more horrifically immoral than launching a war that you don't have to launch? Even flirting with it when nobody can... justify it.”

• Dave Smith [16:12]:

  “There is just no popular mandate to say ... what people really wanted out of Donald Trump was to back Israel's destruction of Gaza, bomb the Houthis in Yemen, bomb Iran, flirt with a war in Venezuela. All of this stuff is just not at all what the American people care about.”

On Distrust in Institutions

• Dave Smith [26:11]:

  “Nobody trusts a word that Pam Bondi or Cash Patel or Dan Bongino or Donald Trump for that matter says about any of this shit.”

• Dave Smith [27:57]:

  "At a certain point, people are just like, we know the government's full of shit, and that's kind of where America is today, Rob. At least that's what it seems like to me.”

On January 6 and Manufactured Events

• Dave Smith [35:19]:

  “When you zoom out and you look at all of the things of 2020, you can almost make some type of... intelligent design argument where you're like, yo, this is like clearly somewhat being crafted.”

• Dave Smith [37:03]:

  “We at least have the only guys telling the truth happen to be the most libertarian members of Congress. Well, at least, at least we have that going for us.”

On Media and Outrage Culture

• Dave Smith [54:04]:

  “Nick Fuentes is not stupid ... The kid is not dumb and this conversation is fucking stupid. And ... part of the reason why he's lapping you guys is because people can just see through this bullshit. It's all ... ego driven ... Self centered slop. Just nonsense. Just like a waste of everybody's time.”

• Dave Smith [54:31]:

  “They can't adjust to the fact that your sensitive liberal values are just not important to people ... always just symbolic nonsense. Tucker had a conversation with Nick Fuentes ... Donald Trump said, grab 'em by the pussy ... they're animated by a story that gets their panties in a bunch and allows them to tell you I'm a good person and that person is not.”

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 01:25 – 06:19: Introduction to Venezuela war scare, Trump’s “airspace” threat, Lindsey Graham’s saber-rattling.
• 06:20 – 13:31: Deeper dive: motivations (Rubio, oil), historical failures, war pretext vs. reality.
• 13:31 – 16:12: Breakdown of moral justifications for war; playing with public sentiment.
• 16:13 – 19:45: Popular opposition, political consequences, potential for escalation vs. limited action.
• 25:00 – 27:57: Explosion of public distrust—Utah gag order, government opacity.
• 30:39 – 37:30: Revisiting January 6th; conspiracy, “intelligent design” of events, libertarian truth-tellers.
• 44:55 – 55:49: CNN’s Nick Fuentes freakout; media vapidity, symbolic outrage, lack of substance.

Tone and Style

• Direct, unsparing, and sardonic; steeped in libertarian skepticism.
• Dave delivers biting criticism and insight; Robby offers satire and streetwise analogy.
• The show maintains a conversational, slightly irreverent atmosphere—heavy on ridicule for the establishment, war hawks, and mainstream media.

For Further Listening

• Rob Bernstein plugs his podcast Run Your Mouth ([55:49]), which features deeper dives into the Venezuela crisis and other current events.

For listeners who missed this episode: The hosts dissected the nascent Venezuela war drive through a libertarian, antiwar lens; exposed the manufactured nature of political consent; and took the media establishment to task for missing the real stories. This conversation offers both critique and darkly comic relief in the face of yet another “stupid war.”