Fixing Bill Maher

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Fixing Bill Maher"

Part Of The Problem
Host: Dave Smith (with Robbie "the Fire" Bernstein)
Date: December 9, 2025
Main Theme:
Dave Smith analyzes a viral argument between Bill Maher and Anna Kasparian regarding Middle Eastern politics, Western values, and U.S. interventionism, then pivots to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s controversial resignation and recent comments, and closes with a critique of Rachel Maddow’s ongoing Russia collusion narrative.

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Main Episode Themes & Purpose

• Breakdown and critique of the Bill Maher vs. Anna Kasparian debate around Islam, Middle Eastern dress codes, and the effect of U.S. intervention.
• Analysis of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation, her comments on Trump, and broader implications for political courage.
• Exposure of persistent Russiagate rhetoric via Rachel Maddow’s latest mainstream appearance and debunking of its logic.
• Throughout, Dave and Robbie emphasize libertarian skepticism of intervention, hypocrisy, and media narratives.

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1. Bill Maher & Anna Kasparian: Debating the Middle East and "Western Values"

Clip Discussion (03:49–06:08)

• Setup: Anna Kasparian, on Maher’s "Club Random," is challenged to name a Middle Eastern city where she’d feel safe wearing a revealing dress, with the debate quickly derailing into blame for the region's instability.
• Dave’s Take:
  • Both Maher and Kasparian are “talking past each other,” stuck in binary frameworks—Maher reducing complexities to “Islam = bad,” and Kasparian laying all problems at the feet of Western intervention (06:08).
  • Dave acknowledges, “I actually don't think it's completely accurate that...there are no Muslim cities anywhere where you could wear this dress...” but calls the argument a distraction from substantive policy discussions (06:27–07:07).

Key Quotes

• Dave: "Anna would be coming from a stronger position if she just admitted, oh, yeah, I probably wouldn’t be able to wear this dress in a lot of parts of the Muslim world. And I don’t agree with that. I think that’s wrong... However, I’m not going to lecture everybody else about what they’re wrong about when what we’re wrong about is genocide." (08:23)

• Robbie: "She could have just said, 'Yeah, I wouldn’t want to move there... but that doesn't mean we should bomb them and make their regions worse, pretending that there will then be democracy.'" (09:35)

Context & Critique

• Dave’s Larger Point:
  • Debates about personal freedoms in the Middle East are weaponized to justify or distract from U.S./Israeli policies.
  • He criticizes both “Team Islam is worse” and “America’s at fault for everything” as simplifications: “Obviously neither one of those positions is correct.” (07:07–08:23)
  • Policy questions should focus on present U.S. involvement and damage, not “dress code hypotheticals.” (10:01–11:27)

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2. Deeper Philosophical & Policy Critiques

“Clash of Civilizations” & The Israel Standard (17:08–21:06)

• Scott Horton’s Perspective (via Dave): “The worst part about Somalia is America’s war there. And the worst part about Iraq and Libya and Syria and Yemen, the worst part about all those countries were America’s war there.” (14:04, paraphrasing Horton)
• On Western Values and Israel:
  • Dave questions using “Western values” as a criterion for U.S. aid: “If the standard is Western civilization, then forgive me, because you’re opening up a standard which allows me to criticize Israel when they clearly violate the fundamental foundational pillars of Western civilization.” (21:06)

Notable Quotes

• Dave: “Are we going to give large sums of US money to other areas that will allow women to wear dresses in public? Is that, like, chief Western value?” (17:54 Robbie)
• Dave: “We don’t militarily occupy our neighbors... If the standard is Western civilization, then forgive me, because you’re opening up a standard which allows me to criticize Israel.” (21:06)

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3. Bill Maher’s Blindspots and Dave’s Challenge

• Dave’s Critique & Invitation:
  • He admires Maher’s past influence but wishes he’d apply the same skepticism toward Israeli and U.S. policy.
  • “Why not…Bill Maher should have me on the podcast...I believe I can change him...I think I could convince him that I’m right about this.” (21:06–22:25)

Memorable Moment

• Dave, re: Western culture/feminism: “By almost any standard, the whole, like, gender equality thing has not worked out that well...If it’s hard, sometimes it’s hard to, like, boil down, like, terms like, even basic little things…But as far as human existence goes, it’s probably hard to find a more foundational, like, version of better than: Are you reproducing?” (23:22–27:20)

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4. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Resignation: Contradictions and Critiques

Segment Start: 27:20

Summary of Events

• Greene resigns after a public spat with Trump, citing mistreatment and a sense of being “abused” by the system and Trump personally (31:48–33:22).

Key Quotes & Analysis

• Greene: “I said in my statement, I will be no one's battered wife. And I meant it and I won't allow the system to abuse me anymore.” (32:24)
• Dave: “Her answer about being run out was incoherent. She goes, I’m not anybody’s battered wife. And then in the next sentence, she’s going, I was so abused. Literally, her words. It’s like, if you were so abused, then...you are the guy who's getting bullied out of his lunch money.” (35:50–37:12)
• Robbie: “She’d be better off just saying the system’s so corrupt. I’m just not participating in this thing anymore...But the fact that she’s speaking to, you know, Donald Trump called me a traitor for exposing this and then took these actions...God bless that she hasn’t been fully silenced." (37:21)

On Congressional Cowardice and Trump

• Leslie Stahl: "Is there in that support fear? Does the support come about because they're afraid that they'll get death threats?"
  • Greene: "I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty truth social post on them." (39:12)
  • Dave: “[If] everyone’s intimidated about Donald Trump because they’re afraid to get the treatment that I got, well, the fact that you’re running away doesn’t really seem to be helping that at all.” (41:21)

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5. Greene’s Revelations on Epstein Files (43:42–49:12)

• Greene claims Trump resisted release of Epstein files to protect powerful people:
  • Greene: "He said that it [releasing names] was going to hurt people...These women deserve to be heard." (44:01)
• Dave’s Reaction:
  • “This is just so damning because we all know this is true...” (45:25)
  • On Trump’s rationale: “You’re saying that the cost of the American people not finding out about the nature of their own goddamn government and the cost of these girls getting justice — that’s just a price we’ll have to pay to make sure that we protect these powerful men. That’s a pretty difficult sell.” (47:45)

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6. Rachel Maddow, Russia, and Media Propaganda

Segment Start: 53:22

• Rachel Maddow, on Colbert, revives claims Trump is a Putin asset:
  • "I don’t know what Putin has on him, but he works for Putin and it’s an embarrassment to this country." (54:06)
• Dave’s Dismantling:
  • Points out Trump’s real-world actions—arming Ukraine, opposing Nord Stream 2, bombing Iran—were not pro-Putin at all (55:10–55:28).
• Calls Maddow’s narrative kooky conspiracy:
  • “If Alex Jones had said that Barack Obama was working for the Chinese...that’s Rachel Maddow, and she still defends it to this day.” (65:09)
• Robbie’s Commentary:
  • “It’s the same nonsense as it was four or five years ago...Being pragmatic means you’re on Putin’s side, but actually, they’re just admitting U.S. policy failed.” (58:30)

Most Memorable Rant

• Dave: “Donald Trump is a million things...He’s not a spy for Vladimir Putin. This is the kookiest thing ever. I’m sorry. This is objectively kookier than anything the kookiest conspiracy theorist ever said.” (65:09)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Dave Smith:
  • "What’s actually on the table...is you could vote yes or no...to send another $10 billion to Israel in weapons so they can continue this war." (11:27)
  • "Bill Maher, I believe I can change him. I believe I can convince him I’m right about this." (22:25)
• Scott Horton (via Dave):
  • "We’re gonna lecture them for stoning a woman to death, when we’ll drop a hellfire missile on her car? Like, what position are we?" (14:04)
• Marjorie Taylor Greene (on Epstein files):
  • "He said that it was going to hurt people...and I asked, 'You have all kinds of people come in the White House. Have these women come in the White House. These women deserve to be heard.'" (44:01)
• Rachel Maddow:
  • "He works for Putin and it's an embarrassment to this country." (54:06)
• Dave Smith:
  • "If Putin has hijacked our foreign policy, why do we have sanctions against Vladimir Putin if he's the one really running the whole show?" (65:58)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Bill Maher/Anna Kasparian clip & analysis: 03:49–13:59
• Clash of civilizations discussion / U.S. policy hypocrisy: 14:04–23:22
• MTG resignation & Trump critique: 27:20–38:57
• MTG on Epstein files: 43:42–49:12
• Rachel Maddow’s Russiagate on Colbert / Dave’s debunking: 53:22–66:13

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Overall Tone & Language

• Direct, skeptical, and irreverent.
• Dave and Robbie balance serious critique with sarcasm and dark humor, often directly referencing their libertarian framework and frustration with mainstream narratives. They repeatedly call out hypocrisy, distraction tactics, and the lack of substantive policy debate in media and politics.

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This summary covers all the major topics, key quotes, and memorable moments. Listening to the full episode is recommended for additional context and the flavor of Dave and Robbie’s lively banter.

Transcript

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What's up, everybody? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith. He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein. It is Monday, December 8th. We're starting a. There's a lot going on. How you feeling, Rob?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I'm doing well. And everyone grab your Denver tickets because what's nice about small rooms is you can sell them out so they'll be sold out. And I'm, I'm increasing p ticket prices too this week. So grab them while you can, all right?

[Dave Smith]

Hell yeah. Go see Robbie the Fire Bernstein out in Denver, one of the best comedy towns in this, in this country of ours. And then, oh yeah, there you go.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I got two gigs. Just go to my website, robbernstein comedy.com. check out the run your mouth podcast. Do all those things like subscribe, send me money, nudes, whatever you want. Just be gracious. It's the holiday season.

[Dave Smith]

That is true. That is. That was a good pitch there, Rob. Very. I like you threw in the holiday guilt trip at the end for your nudes. And then don't forget, I, I, I'm off the road for the rest of the year. But January we will be in Philadelphia. I know we got a bunch of gigs coming up and uh, we got Key west, we got Portland, Oregon, comicdavesmith.com. uh, me and Rob will be, uh, traveling all over the country next year bringing our comedy to this sad, sad world. Okay, so for, for today, I did want to and by if, if you guys are in the live chat, if you want to get questions in, we'll try to answer a couple there. If you want to be a part of the live chat, you got to sign up [e-mail] but there's a, a few things that I wanted to talk about. I did want to open the show with this clip that I saw. So Bill Maher had Anna Kasparian from the Young Turks on his podcast Club Random, I believe is the, the name of his podcast. And it was. They, they got into this argument, which I, I have not watched the whole thing, but I did see this clip when I heard she was on the show. Immediately you were like, oh, well, I bet they're going to fight about Israel and, and wars in the Middle east and stuff like that. And then you assume probably they'll, like, agree about, like, the excesses of wokeism or, or, you know, the new leftism or something like that. But there was a, there's one clip that I saw going around, and I just thought it kind of touched on a dynamic that's very interesting. It was interesting. And look, if I'm being completely honest, a little bit frustrating for me to watch it because there's like, it's almost like, look, I really like, for the. I really like Anna Kasparian, and I, I, I hold Bill Maher in high regard in, in many ways for, you know, the influence he's had on me. But, you know, you're watching like, a liberal Zionist and a leftist anti Zionist, like, debate the issue. And, you know, from our perspective, I'm just like, you guys are all getting it wrong, so why don't we jump in here and kind of correct the record? And to be fair, Anna is much more on the right side of the broader issue. I, I personally believe. But anyway, let's play this clip, and let's, let's give our thoughts on it.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

If you had to live in the Middle east, so tomorrow, and you got to go live in the Middle east, where would you live? You can pick one city, any city you can, you know, as far away as, say, Pakistan. You could live in Karachi. You could live in Cairo. You could live in Amman, Jordan. You seem to love Lebanon. I mean, Beirut's nice when the bombing's not happening and the assassinations have stopped. Or you could live in Syria. I hear that's wonderful. In the summer.

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Or, well, we now have Al Qaeda terrorists leading Syria.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

Or the Houthis, I'm sure would make room for you. Tel Aviv or the West Bank. Ramallah. Ramallah, I think, is wonderful for, like, a little in the fall. It gets lovely. Where would you live? What city would you live in? What do you think would be comfortable in that dress?

[VRBO Advertiser]

I'm sure it would not be comfortable in this dress in any of the various Middle Eastern countries that have been destabilized by.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

You're not really blaming it on Whitey.

[Dave Smith]

Listen, are you.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

You're blaming Islam on whitey?

[VRBO Advertiser]

I'm not blaming Islam on whitey.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

But what you're saying we destabilize. That's why you can't wear that.

[VRBO Advertiser]

Did we not. Did we destabilize? We were stopping terrorist organizations in Syria during the Syrian civil war starting under the Obama administration. Did that not destabilize Syria?

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

No. What's destabilized?

[VRBO Advertiser]

There's a literal.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

We're talking about your dress. Why?

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It looks good. I know it looks good.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

You're saying you can't wear that dress in Syria because of whitey destabilizing?

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I didn't say that.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

Okay, that's what it sounds. Okay, great. That's what it sounded like.

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It did destabilize. Very.

Soon.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

I went, asked about the dress, and you went right to destabilize. So is that why you couldn't wear that dress? Why couldn't you wear that dress? Why couldn't you wear that?

[VRBO Advertiser]

You want me to talk about jihadism and Islam, but, like, why won't you listen?

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

Why won't you?

[VRBO Advertiser]

I mean, I won't.

[Dave Smith]

Why?

[VRBO Advertiser]

I don't believe in jihadism, which is why I'm furious. It's not just.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

It's not just.

[VRBO Advertiser]

The United States just had. But it's not terrorists in the White House.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

Jihadism that is preventing you from wearing that dress there. Are you saying every Muslim is a jihad? I don't think they are. Okay. Why can't you wear that dress?

[VRBO Advertiser]

Let's focus for a second.

[Anna Kasparian (clip)]

No, you won't. You won't answer this question.

[Dave Smith]

All right, so, Rob, I seeing this, I bet you could guess what just frustrates me about all of this, right? Which is that it's like they're just both. First of all, they're both talking past each other. And then second of all, it's like, I don't know, dude. I don't exactly know how to say this right? But.

Okay, first of all, Bill and I just honestly don't know enough to know this for 100% sure. But, like, I do know enough to go, Bill Maher's not as correct as he thinks he is. Like, there are, like, I don't know, but, like, I've seen. I've seen pictures of girls in Tehran wearing miniskirts. Now they're doing it, like, in defiance of their government. And I'm not denying that, like, Iran's government could crack down on that at some moment and not do it. But, like, I actually don't think it's completely accurate that, like, There are no Muslim cities anywhere where you could wear this dress. But regardless of any of that, the dynamic is that.

Something about kind of like, leftist worldview, and I think this is because they're somewhat fundamentally collectivist. Is that they. You can't just go like, look, is it true that American intervention and destabilizing of the Middle east has made these problems worse in a lot of areas? Undeniably. I don't know. Like, I don't know if Anna would have felt comfortable wearing that dress in Damascus, but she would have felt a lot more comfortable wearing that dress in Damascus 15 years ago than she would today, because we made the situation much worse. So, like, there's that element to it. But also, guys, you don't have to pretend there's no problems in the Muslim world or take full responsibility for the problems in the Muslim world and say that. That everything is all America's fault or anything like that to just go, hey, man. But that's not really the relevant question here. The relevant question here is, what are we doing in this situation? Are we making it much worse than it otherwise would be? Yes or no. And so there's like, this. The thing that's frustrating is that. And then I'll. I'll stop and let you go before I say any more on this. But it's like, there's this dynamic where.

People on. On Bill Maher's side, the people who are really trying to defend Israel and critique Islam, they fall back to all of these broader critiques of. Of Islam as a distraction from the critique of, like, yeah, but what about our. What our own government has done and the governments that you are defending and supporting? What about what they've done in this region as well? And then there's a tendency on a. On the part of, like, the leftists who agree with me about all the terrible shit that America and Israel's done to the Muslim world, who then feel they have a need to pretend that there are no problems in the Muslim world, that outside of. Of what we believe it. You know what I'm saying? And, like, it's like. But obviously neither one of those positions is correct. And I think Anna would be coming from a stronger position here if she just admit, oh, yeah, I probably wouldn't be able to wear this dress in a lot of parts of the Muslim world. And I don't. I don't agree with that. I think that's wrong. However, I'm not going to lecture everybody else about what they're wrong about when what we're Wrong about is genocide. Like, just. You just bite the bullet. It's okay. You can admit that there also are problems with other people. Anyway, your thoughts, Rob?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I think that's fair that she could have just said, yeah, I wouldn't want to move there and be wearing this dress. But that doesn't mean that we should bomb them and make their regions worse, pretending that there will then be democracy. And with that said, I'm sure the destabilization of the region has made areas like, I don't know, Iran, 1960s. Didn't people just dress, however, or like, Egypt before the Muslim Brotherhood? I mean, I don't know. What. What was that like? Think you can just go to Dubai and hang out now?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Like, you know, exactly. Again, like, I really. I don't know how much do these governments crack down on their own people? I mean, I think tourists could probably go to Dubai or go, you know what I mean, to like, major cities over there and have no problem doing whatever they want to. Can the locals really dress however they want to? I don't know exact. But again, the point is that that's just a distraction. That's not the main issue right now. Like, when we're talking about this in politics, we're talking about policy, what policy we wish to see our government implementing. And the, you know, it's like the thing, I guess, that's frustrating to me, right? Is that the Bill Maher argument? You're almost. It's like, hey, look, dude, what's actually on the table and what's being, like, say, debated would be issues of like, should we have fought the terror wars? Should we be so intervened in this part of. Should we intervene so much in this part of the world? Should we be supporting Israel as they destroy the Gaza Strip? Is Israel justified in what they're doing? Like, all of these, you know, should we have the former leader of Al Qaeda to the. Or the former Amir of Al Qaeda in Syria to the White House? Should, like, these are the questions. Has there ever been a debate, Rob, where anyone was going, hey, like, hey, Rob, should we.

Repeal the Enlightenment and reject all of Western civilization and instead embrace Muslim theocracy? Like, is anybody having that debate? Like, what? Yes, obviously there are things they do in that part of the world that are not what in all in our tradition that are not in. That do not reflect our values as a society? You know, like, okay, yes, there's a lot of that, but that's not what the debate's over. Nobody's saying like, like, in other words, it's on the table. If we have another bill coming up in Congress to send another $10 billion to Israel in weapons so they can continue this war. The, the option on the table is you could vote yes or no for that. Right? Like, that's what our congressman can do. Nobody is suggesting anywhere in the realm of possibilities is that, you know, instead of her residence in Los Angeles, an Esparian might have to go to Kuwait and live her life. That, like, that's just not on the table. And so, like, it's fine to have conversations about that, but what ends up happening is that they try to have conversations about that. So we're not talking about this very real latest proposal and policy that's going into action, which is actually what the fight is about, if that makes sense. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is the Wellness company. Did you know that about 80% of the world's Ivermectin supply comes from Asia, but not at the wellness company. Introducing American made Ivermectin. Safe, trusted, tested and produced locally in Florida. Ivermectin has been prescribed globally for more than 30 years. It even earned a Nobel prize in medicine for its proven ability to eliminate parasites. And research has indicated that this drug can help with things from rosacea, arthritis, even cancer. Most pharmacies charge $5 a tablet for 12 milligrams or less, but the Wellness company is offering a higher 18 milligram dose for just $3.50 a tablet. So you'll get a six month supply of 84 tablets at an unbeatable price. And you'll be supporting American medicine rather than China's supply chain. So get your US Made Ivermectin today at TWC Health slash problem. Use the promo code problem to save $30 off plus free shipping. That's TWC Health slash problem promo code problem for $30 off plus free shipping. Let's get back into the show.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Yep. She should have just said yes and see where Bill Maher was going with it. Sure, dude.

[Dave Smith]

There, there's a, there's this great clip that Scott Horton had. I think The Mises Caucus YouTube page put it up as a clip a while ago. But like, where he, where he laid it out very well, where he was basically just going, he went through all the problems in the Middle east because he was like on a panel where people were talking about that and they're like, you know, the Muslims are whatever. It's A clash of civilizations. And these are how par. And so he just goes through the list. I forget the exact list, but it was something like. He was like. He goes, oh, my God. He goes, there's all types of problems in the Muslim world. He was like, do you know, like. Like the. There's female genital mutilation in Kurdistan. And then there's like. He goes, the freedom of religion in Pakistan is like a disgrace. They execute people for leaving the Muslim faith. And in Saudi Arabia, they prosecute people for witchcraft. You know what I mean? Like, they have culture police. They cut off hands of people who steal. And he goes. And that's the country we prop up. Our biggest trading partner in the region, Saudi Arabia, does all this, you know, and he goes through. And then at the end of it, he's like, but here's the thing. The worst part about Somalia is America's war there. And the worst part about Iraq and Libya and Syria and Yemen, the worst part about all those countries were America's war there. And so what do we say? You're going to sit here. And I think his. His exact words were something like. He goes, we're gonna lecture them for stoning a woman to death. When will drop a hellfire missile on her car? Like, what position are we? So essentially, like, even if you wanted to be judgmental of Muslim culture or Muslim societies, look at the position you're in now. Bill Maher, who the hell are you to lecture anybody? Because you support what Israel's doing in Gaza, which is a thousand times worse than any of that shit. That's a thousand times worse than, like, saying a woman's gotta put on a longer dress. So what are you talking about here? And then the thing is, for the other side, you just don't have to, like, Like I say, you don't have to pretend that all of this is America's fault or all of this is Israel's fault. And you can also admit that, like, yeah, you know, that's if. If the. If the thing is. Hey. Which essentially is what Bill Maher's point is, right? If the thing is, you want to go, hey, we're over here on this side of the enlightenment, and you guys are over here on the wrong side of the enlightenment. And, like, you guys need to come over to this side of the enlightenment. That in a vacuum, Rob, would be a totally reasonable position to have, right? But then the thing is, if you're sitting there saying that, and then I keep bombing you back into the Stone Age and propping up the most radical Islamist factions within each one of these fights, then not in a vacuum. I'm an asshole to sit over here and say, hey, just get over onto this side of the Stone Age. It's like. It's like lecturing like slaves for having a bad culture or something like that. Well, like, well, why don't you free them and then give them a chance to start building something?

God damn it. Sorry, go ahead.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

No, it checks out to me, and I would have loved it if she just said yes to see what is Bill Maher's argument. So is it that we need to be supporting Israel because they're the only democracy in the region, of which I guess you can go there and wear dresses like that, which you can, assuming you're not, I guess, from Palestine, and you can get in. But if you're an American, I guess you want to go over there and wear a. Wear a dress. You can go wear a dress in.

[Dave Smith]

Israel if you're a Jewish American. I believe it's your natural right, according to Zionism, to go wear a dress in Israel. It's not if your grandmother grew up in Israel and was ethnically cleansed into Gaza, you have no right to go to Israel. But if you're like a Jewish girl from Brooklyn, you have the natural right to go wear a dress in Israel.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I believe it's kind of an odd American policy. So are we going to give large sums of U.S. money to other areas that will allow women to wear dresses in public? Is that, like, chief Western value? And how much money are we supposed to spend on the cause of propping up governments that allow women to wear dresses? Why is that? Like, is that the most important foreign policy? Or is he defending the wars? That all these other regions, they're bad, so we gotta go and make them worse to punish them for not allowing women to wear dresses. So she should have just said yes, and then it would have been fun to see what exactly Bill Maher is advocating for on the basis of where women can wear dresses?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, right. Well, it's. It's what it always seems to be is like they're kind of like, working backward from their conclusion. So it's like, well, we support Israel and we don't support the. The Muslims. Okay, well, what's better about Israel than the Muslim countries I go to? Well, okay, gays can get married. Women can wear mini skirts. There's what, you know, like, whatever. The thing is, it's like, yeah, but that. Was that ever. What the fight was over? I mean, like, it's just, you know, okay. And then if you. If you're gonna say. Which essentially is Bill Maher's argument, Rob, like, what you said, that is his argument. It's like they're on Team Western Civilization, so we should team Israel. Like, this is a class of civilizations and let. We prefer. Well, okay. That even if you want to accept that logic. I mean, I don't. I don't accept that it's a given that, like, if a civilization is more like us, therefore we should be giving them billions of dollars or weapons or something like that. But, like, if you want to say that about Israel, you go, well, they're on board with this whole Western civilization thing. You go, okay. But then you'd also have to say, what is this whole Western civilization thing? Like, really describe for me what they're on board with. Like, is it really, like. Like, gay people can get married or something like that? Which I don't even know. Can gay people get married in Israel? I actually thought they were pretty strict on that. But there's certainly lots of, like, gay bars and stuff like that in Israel. It's like, okay, so is that. Is that the deal now, that we. That means, you know, and, like, I don't know. How far would you take that? Like, I. But. But if you're saying that it's like, okay, but then at the same time, you'd also have to go, look, being a Jewish state isn't exactly in line with Western values, right? That's not like American values. We don't have any. It's not like we're a Christian state and they're a Jewish state. Like, we don't do that. We have a separation of church and state. We don't, like, identify as, like, one. And we certainly wouldn't ever, like, with a minority who's not of. Who's not Jewish in Israel. Like, we wouldn't just go, oh, we're a white country because there's more of us than the black people. And if they don't like being in a white country, that's too bad. Like, we're not like that. We also don't. We don't militarily occupy our neighbors. We also don't. You know what I'm saying? So, like, there's. If the standard is Western civilization, then forgive me, because you're opening up a standard which allows me to criticize Israel when they clearly violate the fundamental foundational pillars of Western civilization.

But again, that's not really the point. Look, I'll say this, dude, Bill Maher. I saw a clip where he said like, I think it was a few weeks ago or something like that where he said, he was like, look, I'm, I'm down to have people on my podcast who I disagree with on this. And he said, I think he said at one point, like, not Nick Fuentes, I wouldn't have him on or something. So that there's the line. So I don't know, the line is somewhere between Anna Casparian is okay. Nick Fuentes is not okay. Let's, let's test it with me. Why don't. Bill Maher should have me on the podcast and not even the show. I don't want to do real time. I want to do the Club random. I want to talk to Bill Maher because. Or he could come on this show because I rob, I believe I can change him. I believe I can change. I think I could, I could convince him that I'm right about this. Bill, as I've told you this before, Bill Maher had a huge impact on me. I found Bill maher in the 90s. I loved politically Incorrect. I thought being like the, the political talking comedian, I thought it was like the goddamn coolest thing in the world had a huge impact on why I ultimately became this thing. I would love to sit down and actually like discuss this with him because.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I know, I think you can actually convince him that it's not a western value to have people of other religions on the other side of walls and not allowed into your society so that you can bomb them. I mean, are you able to make that argument, Dave?

[Dave Smith]

I think I could get through them, bro. Really think I could. By the way, here, just to get in more trouble here, let me say something that'll put me in the Nick Fuentes category. So Bill Maher won't ever have me on. But I, I do think there's something particularly funny just in the current moment. And again, let me preface this by saying I am not suggesting that we should live in a culture where Anna Kasparian can't wear a revealing dress somewhere. Okay, that's not what I'm saying. But isn't it a funny thing just like in the current moment that we're living in? And I gotta say, I think because Bill Maher, and I really don't mean this to be like too insulting, but just as a matter of description, Bill Maher is like a 70 year old childless multi millionaire. And that just is a different place to be in, in life. But like for the moment, we're living in Right now, right, rob, you have.

Second wave feminism sweep in the, in the 60s, in the 70s, women in large droves went into the workforce, right? We now look around 40 years later, 50 years later, and almost no Western, like, white country has a sustainable birth rate. Like, literally, like, we're being bred out of existence because we're not having enough kids. Kids are being raised in broken homes all over the place. People are having kids later in life. Less people are having kids at all in life. There's more broken families than ever before. There's also, like, kind of all types of, like, cultural degeneracy that's just been sweeping the Western world. And it's interesting in that dynamic for your biggest, you know, like, complaint about another society being that, like, they keep their women in line over there. It's just a little. It's just, I don't know, like, I'm not saying what. However you feel about that and have. And personally, obviously, I'm American. I'm not, like, advocating for some other bot. I can't really imagine even living in a world where, like, a woman. It's just. It does ring with a little bit of, like, you're almost. It's almost like you're going, like, with. With like. Bill Maher's argument is like, they don't even. They don't even trans their boys over there. They don't even. Can you believe that, Rob? These Muslims, they don't even cut the penises off their sons and turn them into daughters. So that's how crazy it is. In fact, actually, I think they do do that, but the, that's not the point. The point is just like, it is a little bit weird when you look at kind of like by almost any. By almost any standard, the whole, like, gender equality thing has not worked out that well. I, I don't. I don't say that as somebody who, like, wanted to come to that conclusion as much as it is just, like, empirically look at it, dude. If you, you know, if it's hard, sometimes it's hard to, like, boil down, like, terms like, even basic little things. Like, if you say this worked out better, you're like, well, what do you mean by better? What is the measure of that? What. But, but as far as human existence goes, it's. It's probably hard to find a more foundational, like, version of better than. Are you reproducing? Like, I mean, that's how the thing keeps going, right, is if we keep having more. Not saying every single person has to have kids, but like, enough of us do that. There's more people in the future. And when you're like, I don't know, it's just kind of hard to look at that and then go like, oh, yeah, this has worked out very well. Just a thought. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Body Brain Coffee, the delicious coffee that naturally boosts your testosterone. I've been drinking this stuff every day, and I feel great. Of course, it is the brainchild of my dear friend Louis J. Gomez, who has supported me and this show for years and years and years. So if you want to get some great coffee and naturally boost your testosterone, feel better, feel more like a man. And also just have a good cup of Joe. Make sure to go check out Body Brain Coffee. Guys, as I've told you, we want to blow this thing up. It's been going great. People are really loving it, and I genuinely drink this stuff every day. I think it's absolutely delicious, and it really makes me feel better. So I highly recommend you check it out. Bodybraincoffee.com is the website. The promo code is Dave20 for 20% off your order. It is very important that we help Louis J. Gomez, who is largely responsible for me ever doing podcasting to begin with. If you love this show, you must love him. It is very important that we blow this product up. It is also very important that he knows it was me who did all of it, which is why you must use the promo code Dave20 when you go to bodybraincoffee.com all right, let's get back into the show.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I got no comments on procreating.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, there you go. No, don't worry. We'll. We'll get you doing it. Okay, let's. Let's move on to some of the Marjorie Taylor Greene stuff, because I did find this to be very interesting. Rob. So Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, you know, we talked about a bit on the show, a very weird situation that we were kind of speculating about. Marjorie Taylor Greene wins this huge fight with the president, and then upon winning, it, announces that she's resigning. What did you. We could get into some of these clips, but is there any. Any takeaway that you had from watching that interview?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Well, I had said it seemed that clearly she was threatened in some way. My speculations was that it was more from the deep state and that if she was going away, it was most likely to be quiet, and she is not. She is full on spicy, going rogue, being like, all right, listen, I'm not gonna stay in Congress so that you guys can keep giving me shit, but I will continue running my mouth and saying all the horrors of this Donald Trump administration. So I was rather surprised.

Just in terms of giving her credit. She seemed like such a fighter that if she was stepping down after winning, the only reason why that made sense was that she was threatened. And now it's surprising to me that she's continuing to be combative on the way out. I would've thought that she was going silently.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, it makes no sense to me. And her. Her answer is just, like, insufficient. Like, you're like, so. Because I got to say, like, I don't know, man. If you. If you run.

For office and you get elected, you are kind of obligated to serve out your term. Like, now, I'm not saying that, like, nothing could come up. You know, you could. There could be a health issue or a family issue. There could be something where you have to. But, like, to just kind of go, I'm not gonna take it anymore, is like, well, but you're. You're telling me there's this tremendous corruption. You were just helping the fight to expose this corruption. Don't you kind of owe it to your constituency to, like, see this thing through? It just. None of it makes sense to me. And then I do. I gotta say, it does make you wonder, Rob, with the, like, the timing. They said it was, like, just for when she got her pension or something like that. And, like, look, I'm not trying to be shitty because Marjorie Taylor Greene has real. Look, being completely honest, she's somebody who I never took particularly seriously for various reasons. But I will give her credit for being on the right side of a lot of really important issues and actually fighting for those issues. But it does to me, it's hard in a situation like this because, you know, I'm not trying to speculate about people's motives too much. It's impossible to never do that. But in a situation like this where it's like, it just doesn't make any sense, it's hard to not go, like, oh, so are you just going to go make, like, millions of dollars being, like, a podcast or something like that? Is that kind of. You know what I mean? Or, like, whatever. Like, is it just. There's, hey, you got the pension there. Now let's go find a lucrative position, like, kind of being that America First Lady. I don't know. But anyway, regardless of that, there were some interesting things she said.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I mean, she clearly picked an end date. That includes allowing her to get her pension. With that said, I think she has family money from construction business that went up tremendously in value. The numbers come in my head. It's something between 25 and $50 million. And she's also made like $20 million in the stock market since she's in office. I think her pension is only like, I think the total value of it's like $250,000. Like, it's maybe 20k a year now. I don't know if that doesn't, that's not much.

[Pacific Life Announcer]

Yeah.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I don't know if, like, the health. I might not be right about all these numbers. The health benefits might be convenient enough that you stay on, like, whatever the congressional, like, health benefits are for life. That it just, that's where you get.

[Dave Smith]

The good, the congressional health benefits. They give you, like, fetuses to eat in the morning and stuff like that. Yeah.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

And you also just don't have to deal with getting healthy care. I don't know if that's, if you have that for life for single terms in Congress. But the actual. She clearly did stick around for the pension, but the dollar tag is almost not worth the criticism.

[Dave Smith]

Right. Right.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

At that level of wealth. So I don't, I don't understand that decision either.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. All right, well, look, let's get into some of these clips. Marjorie Taylor Greene on 60 Minutes.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

It wasn't a decision that I came to lightly, but it was a very important decision for myself and also for my family.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

It was sudden.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

It was sudden, but a lot of things changed. I stood for women who were raped when they were 14 years old. And the president that I fought for for five years called me a traitor for that. And so that changed the landscape of things.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

So I'm going to ask you straight out. Did you surrender? Did Donald Trump run you out of town?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

No, not at all. Actually, Leslie, it's more like this is. I said in my statement, I will be no one's battered wife. And I meant it and I won't allow the system to abuse me anymore.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

You really feel abused? You know, he did come after you pretty hard. He called you a lunatic. I'm quoting. He said, all she does is complain, complain, complain in caps. And then he called you a traitor. So he hit you, Whacked you?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

Yes. He did this in the same time span where President Trump brought in the Al Qaeda leader that was wanted by the US Government who is now the president of Syria. Then within a week, he brought in the crown Prince mbs, who murdered an American journalist, and then he brought in the newly elected Democrat socialist mayor of New York. That was the time span that he called me a traitor.

[Dave Smith]

All right, so there's a few things there. Number one, I think that was about as effective and a scathing attack on Donald Trump from the right that I've ever seen. Just like in a little short clip there that, like, holy. Because, like, there was this dude, her line about just saying on its face that I was standing up for the victims of rape, some of whom were 14 when they were raped, and my president called me a traitor for it. Like, dude, put that on a bumper sticker somewhere, man. Like, that is just. That is the, like, perhaps the most effective, like, right wing critique of Donald Trump I've ever seen. And then her adding in the thing at the end about how, like, she's having, like, I think it actually, and I hate socialism as much as anyone. It was a little unfair to lump mom Donnie in with those other guys, if we're being completely honest. Like, yes, he's running on some very left wing populist positions in New York City, but, like, he's an elected mayor of the biggest city in the country. It's a little. But yes, Donald Trump hosted the Amir of Al Qaeda in Syria at the goddamn White House. I mean, talk about, like, you know, listen, I'm someone who, I don't think we ever should have fought any of the terror wars. I also wouldn't, like, exactly spit on every soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice by hosting Al Qaeda in the White House. But. And the, you know, the point about the Saudis is a fair point too. But so all of that, like, scathing critique. But then, Rob, I also got to say the other point in there, and this is the thing that, like, doesn't add up. She and, and this thing would be so much more effective if there wasn't that element in there. But this. Her answer about being run out was incoherent. She goes, I'm not anybody's battered wife. And then in the next sentence, she's going, I was so abused. Literally, her words. It's like, if you were so abused, then you, your own analogy is that you're a battered wife. And if you're leaving because of the abuse, then how do you not say that he abused you and ran you out? Like, I, I just don't. This is the thing, right? And I guess maybe we could transition back into, you know, this or not transition back into, but like, just playing off of the thing. I. We were talking about, with feminism or whatever, there is this strange dynamic sometimes where, like, I know this personally. Like, men.

You know, like, it's a little bit different, like, the way we argue with women versus the way we argue with men. With, like, when you're arguing with a man, you kind of don't feel any need to, like, hold back sometimes. Whereas with a woman, you're like, oh, I don't want to be, like, mean to her or something like that. And I almost feel a sense of that with Marjorie Taylor Greene. But, like, I don't know, dude. Like, once you start when. When you run for elected office and you win elected office, and then you're. It's like, okay, well, now we gotta. We gotta treat everybody the same way. And so essentially, if your brand is that, like, I'm this fighter, but then you're saying what you took, what you got insulted by the president, and so you're leaving over that. It really does to me undercut the, like, I'm a fighter thing. I don't know any thoughts?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

You're right. It's just. It's completely inconsistent, and it's not a great. It's just not a cohesive story for why you're stepping down. I got bullied out of it, but I'm not going to play the bully victim. But then you left, so you've kind of. You kind of folded. So it doesn't. It doesn't add up. But then also the fact.

[Dave Smith]

Not gonna rob. I'm not gonna sit here and let you bully me, but here is my lunch money. If you want it, like, you could take it and go get lunch with it and whatever. I'm not gonna fight you for it. But, like, I'm not gonna be the guy who just gets bullied into giving up his money. So here it is. Like, it's that. What is this? Well, no, then you are the guy who's getting bullied out of his lunch money. What do you want me to say? Sorry?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

She'd be better off just saying the system's so corrupt. I'm just not participating in this thing anymore. I did my best to try and fix it.

[Dave Smith]

I got the epst. That was the thing I wanted to do. That's it.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

But, yeah, this was the victim, and there's nothing more that I can do. But I will continue to speak to truth and living a prosperous and fulfilling life with my family. But the fact that she's speaking to, you know, Donald Trump called me a traitor for exposing this and then took these actions So I, it's shocking to me that she's going out swinging after stepping down, but I guess God bless that she hasn't been fully silenced.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, I just don't. There's something else to this story that we're missing here. Like, so there's just something isn't adding up and I don't know what it is, but it is. But also I gotta go. It's like, look, like if you, the thing is like, it's like an if then statement. Okay? So if you are this courageous fighter and if you rallied for the President of the United States of America and you supported him and you helped get this guy elected and then once in there you stood up for a 14 year old who was raped and he called you a traitor for it, then like if all of that, then isn't the conclusion that you're not going anywhere and you're going to say that every single day until every American has heard that statement, until every American has heard I stood up for a 14 year old girl who was a victim of rape and my president called me a traitor for it. Every day I'm going to say that for the rest of my, you know, term. Just seems like the obvious conclusion if what you're saying is true. All right, let's go, let's go to the next clip.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

I'm going to ask you about this almost solid support he has among Republicans in Congress. Is there in that support fear? Does the support come about because they're afraid that they'll get death threats?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty truth social post on them.

[Dave Smith]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

And they're watching what happened to you?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

Behind the scenes, do they talk differently?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

How?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

Oh, it would shock people.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

Well, let's shock people.

[Pacific Life Announcer]

Okay.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

I watch many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024, they all started.

Excuse my language, Leslie, kissing his ass and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

I'm going to ask you about.

[Dave Smith]

So I thought was an interesting, an interesting little moment there. Of course, this is something that we all kind of know, right. Everybody knows that the entire political establishment had nothing but contempt for Donald Trump. And once he won, you know, they all came over to kiss. I mean, we all, all you'd have to see, right, is, is Mitt Romney's speech in the 2016 primary when he said we could, we could find any other candidate, but not Donald Trump. Which really was a historic moment, like the previous Republican nominee coming out and saying, we cannot support this nominee. And then his entire voting base going, we don't care what you say. We're supporting him. And then he talked about how Donald Trump was a unique threat to democracy and how he was a Hitlerian figure promoting fascism. And then as soon as he won the election, he went to go meet with them to try to beg for the Secretary of State job. You know, so, like, we know they're all like that. I guess, though, once again, the thing that's just kind of hard to ignore here is that if Marjorie Taylor Greene is saying that everybody's intimidated about Donald Trump because they're afraid to get the treatment that I got, well, the fact that you're running away doesn't really seem to be helping that at all. Like, you're. It's kind of hard. Back to the bully analogy, because, you know, I said lunch money, because that's essentially what Trump is, is a bully.

But then, you know, like, if you brand him a bully and you brand yourself a fighter, it's kind of hard to be like, oh, look, he's bullying all these other people. All these people are scared. And it's like, oh, but you're. You're leaving over it. So, like, if you're saying you're leaving because you can't take the abuse anymore, then I guess it kind of makes sense that the other people don't want this abuse that would make them leave. Right? All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Brunt Workwear. Choosing work boots used to mean sacrificing comfort or durability. If they felt good, they didn't last, and if they lasted, they wrecked your feet. But Brunt has changed the entire game. They have created the most comfortable work boot you will ever put on, and it's as durable as any work boot you've ever had before. They just sent me a pair of these things. Seriously, I mean, you. They feel like a pair of sneakers that you've already broken in could not be more comfortable. I got a big property here, and it snows a lot, so I needed a good pair of work boots to just take care of snowplowing and all that stuff. And Brunt, incredibly comfortable. I highly recommend them. And on top of that, they just look like awesome boots, too. So they look great, they feel great, and they get the job done. Now our listeners can also get 10 off their entire order when they use the promo code problem at checkout, the website is bruntworkware.com and once again, that promo code is problem for $10 off your entire order. And when you do order, make sure to let them know that you heard about them right here on part of the problem. All right, let's get back into the show.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

It would be fun and more scandalous if she went full crazy and was like, dude, I've hung out with Mike Johnson, and he thinks Trump's the world's biggest idiot, but he's stuck with him. The reality is you're really just describing having a boss at a job that that's the way it is, is you gotta play nice publicly, you gotta praise the guy, and then you get together at a company meeting and you're like, fuck this guy. That's called every job that's ever existed in the history of jobs. But it would be fun and more scandalous if she named names and actually ratted people out for statements they've made at parties about Donald Trump.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, no, I don't. I don't.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

But she still might. This lady's full crazy, and she's still got her fighter spirit, so we'll see what other kind of crazy shit she says when she leaves.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, no, I do. I do agree with that. All right, here, let's play the next clip. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. Here. Yep, there you go.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

You're right, Natalie, about the Epstein files. And he was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files. I fully believe that those women deserve everything they're asking. They're asking for all of it to come out. They deserve it. And he was furious with me.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

What did he say?

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

He said that it was going to hurt people. I had asked him, these women are the ones that were hurt. They were raped at 14. They were raped at 16. I watched them stand in front of the press trembling, their bodies shaking as they were telling their stories, many of them for the first time. And I had told him, I said, you know, you have all kinds of people come in the White House. Have these women come in the White House. These. These women deserve to be heard.

[Leslie Stahl (60 Minutes interviewer)]

He said to you, people hurt.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene]

People will get hurt. I don't know what that means. I don't know.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, sorry, sorry. I thought that was starting over. Yeah, okay. But that's. I think we got the gist of that clip. I don't know. Rob, your. Your thoughts on that?

[Pacific Life Announcer]

Dark.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I mean, clearly very dark. But in terms of going out swinging. Relaying that Donald Trump specifically said, we can't give truth and transparency to the American people and we can't delve into this topic because people will get hurt, really does put some pressure on Donald Trump. What do you mean? So who are you covering up for? Who are these individuals who were involved in this racket that you have concerns for their safety or that they will be hurt? And by hurt, I think you just mean exposed. And why do we want people who engaged in these crimes not to be exposed?

[Dave Smith]

Well, the thing about this that's really so devastating for Donald Trump and it really is like, don't get me wrong, obviously voters vote over kitchen table issues more than anything else. And like, you know, price inflation or unaffordability or whatever it's being called these days are like the major moving. But this is why this, this Epstein thing has been such a disaster for the administration, man. It just like, can't be overstated. And at every, at every turn that Donald Trump and his administration were trying to, to silence this story, they always just came up with one bullshit excuse after the other. I mean, remember, Rob, it was the floods in Houston at one point where why Donald Trump shouldn't be asked about this. And then it was that the client list didn't exist or the rather that the files didn't exist. And then it was that the whole thing was a democratic hoax. And then. But like, Donald Trump is never actually level, even though everyone knows this is the case. It's either him or other people he's trying to protect. But he's never come out and said, hey, the reason we can't release these files is because all these people will be ruined over it. And then ultimately, of course, he caved and did support releasing the files. So we'll see what happens with that. But like, that. This is just so damning because we all know this is true. Or like, at least we also, like, I. Does anyone really think Marjorie Taylor Greene is lying here? I guarantee that Donald Trump, I can't guarantee, but I think she's, I suspect she's telling the truth and that Donald Trump did say, like, yeah, look, man, there's like. And I think that's right, that there's a whole bunch of fucking really powerful, really connected people who might be hurt by this. But again, I guess the point which we've said before is that if you're going to make that argument, you'd go like, okay, so in the most charitable interpretation of that, let's say, hey, there were a lot of people who didn't do anything wrong. You know, they didn't rape underage girls or anything like that. They were just at Epstein's island or they just did business with Jeffrey Epstein or they just did this or something like that.

But the problem is that if you're saying that that is why we have to not release the Epstein files, then what you're saying is that the cost of protecting rich, influential people who might be very embarrassed, the cost of that is so great that we're willing to pay the much smaller cost of not getting justice for these girls who were victims and not getting transparency for the American people to learn something about what the hell was going on here. And it's like, it's a very clear cut case of like competing principles. I mean, perhaps there's a way to do it where you didn't reveal people or something like that. But like, if that is the case, that that's the cause, like Donald Trump saying, that's why we don't release these files. Well, there's two things with that. Number one, you're. You're saying that the cost of the American people not finding out about the nature of their own goddamn government and the cost of these girls getting justice, that's just a price we'll have to pay to make sure that we protect these powerful men. That's a pretty difficult sell. Then the other thing is that, like, if that's the case, then you're admitting that you just lied through your fucking teeth to your entire base, to your entire base, you were really protecting powerful men and so you told them it was a democratic hoax, just like Russia Gate. How unforgivable is that, Rob?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Now I kind of see this as a kitchen table issue and I'll tell you why. I get what you're saying. Listen, if magically the economy was absolutely booming and everything was completely wonderful and great, it could be.

[Dave Smith]

Well, it is. I mean, you heard.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Yeah, it could be that the American people would ignore the Epstein storyline. What makes it a kitchen table issue is people are just kind of inherently aware that we have a corrupt system and it's keeping them down.

[Dave Smith]

And that's why we have these kitchen table issues. Yeah, I get your point. Yeah.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

And so the Epstein storyline, it really just kind of fits in because it's like, well, what is this power apparatus that is being protected and why is it being protected? And it's kind of all one in the same where it's just like people are aware of the fact, like this is a system to support the elites at Our expense and the Epstein's kind of like the trophy on that mantle of like how did you guys get away with this one?

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, no, I get what you're saying. No, it's a very good point. Yeah. Because it kind of like there is something right where people do want and they're correct too. But on some gut level, yeah, people do connect the corruption in Washington to why they have all these fucking problems to, to begin with. It is.

It'S unbelievable how spectacularly they just failed on this issue. This show is brought to you by Better Help. As many of you know, at this point, Better Help is the easiest way to do therapy. It's therapy for our generation. It's all convenient. It's entirely online. They have quality therapists who work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. Fill out a short questionnaire and it helps identify your needs and preferences and their 10 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. But if you aren't happy with your match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time. It's completely flexible. As I mentioned, it's all online and you can pause at any time. They have over 30,000 licensed therapists making BetterHelp the world's largest online therapy platform. They've served over 5 million people globally. So if you're considering therapy, give Better help a try. Visit [e-mail] problem that's B T R H lp.com problem to get 10% off your first month betterhelp.com problem all right, let's get back into the show. Really is something. Well, Marjorie Taylor Greene, look, obviously, by the way, someone I saw someone in the chat asked if, if I would have Marjorie Taylor Greene on the show. Absolutely would love to have her on the show and look like I'd. Even if I did have her on the show, I'd probably want to ask some of the questions that I had here to ask. But I will say, hey, she was on the right side of a lot of very important issues and this one in particular. Got to give her credit for that. I mean she went out fighting this fight and she did win it. It's very, it's, it's, it's, it's weird to see her leaving right after winning such a big fight against the president. But good for her for fighting it and good for her for winning. We'll see. We'll see what we actually end up getting out of these documents, Rob, or how, how heavily redacted they are. I mean, I don't know. They just, President Trump just signed into law a bill to release the files that he said didn't exist. So I don't know. I don't think I've quite seen that before. So, you know, and I've seen a lot of stuff. Anyway, speaking of, you know, I mentioned that, that Donald Trump tried to make the, the Epstein files into another Russiagate democratic hoax or something like that. But speaking of Russiagate, I'm sure you saw, Rob, that Rachel Maddow was just on Stephen Colbert's show a few days ago and this I was actually surprised by now, I don't keep up with what's going on with Rachel Maddow because I just don't hate myself that much. But I, I actually could not believe this. I had figured that they had all dropped this at this point. But anyway, let's just play this clip. Here is Rachel Maddow on Stephen Colbert show.

[Rachel Maddow]

I mean, literally, they wrote the plan for what they want Ukraine to do, and the White House put it on its letterhead and said, here it is, you better do it. And you know, Russia is a podunk country. They're a huge landmass, largest, largest physical country in the world. They've got an economy like the size of Italy, right? They've got a kleptocratic, sclerotic government run by a guy who's never going to leave until he dies. The idea that we work for him, that we work for them is so humiliating and is such an abject failure on the part of Trump in terms of his weakness. I don't know what Putin has on him, but he works for Putin and it's an embarrassment to this country.

I mean, literally, they, I mean, it.

[Dave Smith]

Is unbelievable that.

Like, there, what's an embarrassment to this country is that people like Rachel Maddow are seen in public. And the, you know, again, this whole he works for Vladimir Putin, like, first of all, you just, you just have to either know nothing about anything or you have to be relying on the fact that your audience knows nothing about anything thing. This is the only way, the only way that you could ever even get away with. Let's just, like, if you just go over like the, that Donald Trump works for Vladimir Putin, like, just to be clear here, Rob, okay, Donald Trump is. He's going into his sixth year as being President of the United States of America, right? This was where he's completing about to complete in, in a month, his fifth year of being president.

In the five years that Donald Trump has been president. Let's see here, Rob. He, he tore up the INF treaty. Did Vladimir Putin want that? No, no, he didn't. He sent huge weapons packages into Ukraine.

To Zelinsky's government. Was that you think, is that working for Putin, Rob? Well, okay, let's, let's, let's keep going this year. Okay, he, he bombed Iran. Is that working for Putin? No, that's not what Putin wanted him to do. He's, he, he's supported Israel. Is that what Vladimir Putin wants? No. Like you could go through the list all day long of the things Donald Trump's done that were clearly exactly the opposite of what Vladimir Putin wanted. But what is the one talking point that she has here, Rob, is that that he took exactly what Vladimir Putin wanted and put that on as the peace deal. Okay, look, there is some truth to that, but Rob, why is that? Because Putin won the war. Putin's in the position to dictate the terms. Putin is clearly going to win. Donald Trump wants the war to be over. The only way to get it over at this point is to get Vladimir Putin to agree to end the thing. And how the hell do you do that if you don't give him what he wants? Like, that's the dynamic here. It in no way proves she's trying to take that one point and then go see, this proves me right about all the bullshit I was wrong about for the last goddamn eight years. She's trying to pretend that she got it right because he wants to end this war. No, the fact is that by the Biden administration.

And really it started in the Obama administration, but the Obama administration embarked on a policy. I mean, okay, look, George W. Bush said we were going to bring Ukraine into, into NATO. Then Barack Obama backed a coup that overthrew the government and put, and put a pro west government in its place. Then of course, Joe Biden, when Vladimir Putin invaded the country, decided to go all in on sanctions and weapons packages and an aid to Ukraine. And all of that failed. And Vladimir Putin won anyway, despite all of it. The failure was on that policy. It was the expansionist policy of the American empire that's failed. Donald Trump is just admitting it. It's like in the same way, like, look, you could blame, you could blame Joe Biden for bungling the withdrawal from Afghanistan, but if you sat there and say Joe Biden gave the Taliban everything they wanted, which was America leaving, it's like, well, no, dude, George W. Bush's war failed. There you get 20 years later, the Taliban's still in power. You failed to overthrow them. Now, however you feel about the logistics of how we pulled out, that obviously was a failure, but like, it's not. Giving them what they want doesn't represent that you work for them. Doesn't mean we work for the Taliban. It just means that they won. That's that. Any thoughts, Rob?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

I mean, this is the same nonsense as it was four or five years ago of if you were at all being pragmatic and you were pointing out that you didn't think that Putin wanted to take over all of Russia or that we were picking an unwinnable fight, those were Russian talking points. And now if you're being pragmatic and saying, hey, it's embarrassing that Biden talked Ukraine into a war for a bunch of people to die for absolutely no reason on what's unwinnable, cuz we're actually not committing all the resources, nor do we want World War Three. You're suddenly taking Putin's side and you're giving Putin a win, which is embarrassing to the United States of America. And it's yes, this is embarrassing to the United States of America that four years ago we made a mistake, we got people killed for no reason, and we picked a fight because we like to pretend that if we just push anybody, they're gonna back down and we're gonna be victorious despite 25 years of failed wars and that basically not happening. I guess we overthrew Iraq and had a disaster afterwards. But I'm just saying they like to live in their delusional reality where we're the United States of America, everyone's gonna get in line and we have to hold to this illusion no matter what the cost is. And if you're not gonna hold to that illusion, well, then you're giving someone else a win. We're just trying to be pragmatic and be like, let's not waste more money, let's not waste more of our resources. Let's have not have more people die for no reason. Yes, Putin won this war, but guess what? Keeping it going. Do you want nuclear war? If you don't want nuclear war, what is the pathway for us actually winning this? Can you, like, explain it to me, Rachel? Oh, what, we're just gonna continue sending stuff over there and they're gonna slowly lose more of the country and more people are gonna die? Why is that less embarrassing?

[Dave Smith]

Right, right. Again, like, no, what's really Happening here is that Donald Trump, despite all of his disastrous failures, is attempting to end a war. And so for that, Rachel Maddow is going to say he's loyal to a foreign power. This is just unbelievable, the like, how she ended up turning into this. But by the way, Rob, if you thought that was bad, she actually goes further. Natalie, let's play this clip before we.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Got more of Stephen Colbert talking to Stephen Colbert.

[Dave Smith]

We do, yes, I know it's hard to keep. Rachel Mattow's the one on the couch.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Thank you.

[Dave Smith]

Here, let's keep playing.

[Rachel Maddow]

It's like the whole Putin and Trump thing, that was so weird for all those years, which a lot of us reported on a lot at the time, got a lot of hassle for it. I'm just saying. It kind of seems like that's now paid off with the Kremlin actually running US Foreign policy through the President's doofus Gulf friend.

And it's hilarious, except for the fact that we're now years into this deadly war in Ukraine where they used to think we were their ally and we were helping them stand up against this tyranny. And now we apparently have been captured by the Kremlin and works of Vladimir Putin. I mean, it really just feels like.

[Dave Smith]

I mean, can you imagine the nerve of this woman, Rob? The nerve of her to just try to do this yada yada, like all these things that were weird that a lot of us were reporting on at the time and we got a lot of flack for and now look at it, we work for Vladimir Putin. Like, hey, Rachel Maddow, be really specific about the weird things you were reporting on at the time. You mean all of the things that got proven wrong, the ridiculous misreporting from Helsinki, the Steele dossier, the Trump Tower meeting, every single thing that fell apart and was a big burger. Because there was. Because you made the wild accusation eight years ago, nine years ago, that Donald Trump was a spy for Vladimir Putin, that Putin had interfered in the election to overthrow it from Hillary Clinton and give it to Donald Trump and that Donald Trump was involved in the conspiracy to overthrow that election. That was the claim. There has been zero evidence ever to back this up. Up. There was no reason to believe it. They made up a bunch of non stories. Every one of them collapsed, every one of them fell apart. And so, and by the way, the flack that she got while she was covering that was, you know, New York Times reporters winning pulser prizes over, you know, the thing. Like it's like, yeah, no, you didn't get flack. You got record high ratings. When the whole thing got exposed, you got flack. I mean, maybe people like me and you were giving her flack the whole time for it, but that's because you were doing propaganda. You had a $30 million federal investigation that came up with nothing. Nothing. No connection, no connection between Donald Trump, no conspiracy at all for him to be connected to. That's what happened when you guys were all every day on MSNBC saying that literally on msnbc, on. Wasn't on Rachel Maddow show, it was on Lawrence o' Donnell show where Brennan, the former CIA chief, said two weeks before the Mueller report was to be finished, said that we were going to see Donald Trump and his family members led off in handcuffs. That's what we were about to see. And then, you know what we saw when the report came out? No, none of that. Found no evidence that Donald Trump committed any crime. And then we got the Durham report. And the Durham report showed us that the FBI lied their asses off, that it was all a big con job to try to frame the president. And then we got the Tulsi Gabbard documents that demonstrate that it was a decision made by the Obama administration that it was the consensus amongst the intelligence community that they're not. That there was no conspiracy. I want to be very clear about this. Not that there wasn't a conspiracy that Donald Trump, Trump was in on this conspiracy with Russia to interfere in the election. The consensus from the intelligence community was that there was no interference. There wasn't even a thing for there to have been a conspiracy about. And of course there wasn't. It's also ridiculous. Donald Trump is a million things, including a war criminal, including a failed president, including a con man. He's a lot of things. He's not a spy for Vladimir Putin. This is the kookiest thing ever. I'm sorry. This is objectively kookier than anything the kookiest conspiracy theorist ever said. It's, it's like, like, like if. If Alex Jones had said that Barack Obama was, like, working for the Chinese or something like that, you'd be like, wait, okay, that's just like, too crazy. That can't be true. That's Rachel Maddow, and she still defends it to this day.

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

Last I checked, Donald Trump is working hard on initiating Putin's agenda in Iraq, Syria and Venezuela because as a Putin asset, he's hoping to institute more American influence in these locations.

[Dave Smith]

Well, just even, like, you'd go, hey, like, so if Putin Putin has hijacked our foreign policy. We work for Putin now. The White House works for the Kremlin. Why? It's like it is on the level of when Ben Shapiro said that the Biden administration worked for Hamas. Like, but I just feel like maybe they wouldn't be bombing them then. You know, Like, I just feel like wouldn't, wouldn't you say, hey, now that Vladimir Putin has captured our foreign policy, at what point do you think he's going to get some sanction relief?

Is that a fair question? Why do we have sanctions against Vladimir Putin if he's the one really running the whole show?

[Robbie the Fire Bernstein]

We can send back all that money that we have, the $300 billion or whatever that was that we is still contested and has McGimmon back.

[Dave Smith]

Right, right. Yeah. Somehow Vladimir Putin. Yeah. It just seems like, like, oh yeah, that's crazy. Vladimir Putin who now runs our foreign policy. You really got to clean up all these anti Putin measures that we've been taking. Or, or the other option is that Rachel Maddow is a idiot. That's the other thing that could be going on here. Anyway, we're going to wrap up our show there, but we will be back tomorrow with a brand new episode. Regular time 1pm tomorrow. Catch you guys then.

[Rachel Maddow]

Peace.

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