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Dave Smith
What's up? 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. How are you, sir?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
I'm doing well. How are you, Mr. Smith?
Dave Smith
Doing well. Doing, doing well. Hanging in there. As I said. Virus running through, through my house, but, but doing okay. I'll be okay. By this weekend, which is a big one. We'll be out in Denver at Denver Comedy Works, one of if not the best comedy club in the country. Love that place. Uh, so looking forward to that. Comicdavesmith.com come on out. And uh, Thursday night we're at the, uh, we're at the Comedy Works South Thursday night and then we're at the Comedy Works downtown Friday and Saturday. And then you got some other shows out that. You got one more out there, Rob.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yes. Sunday I'm running my FBI presentations. Come out for that. And then next weekend, Raleigh, North Carolina, Hampstead, North Carolina. And then Myrtle beach on Sunday and a lot more Porch Tour dates coming at you. You can find them all@pinch tour.com adding more soon.
Dave Smith
Very good, Very good. All right, so let's, let's get into it. I mean the, the talk, obviously the big deal. The big deal, the memorandum of understanding which will purportedly cease hostilities in this, in this current war, this US Israeli war against Iran. And the deal has not. Well, it hasn't been released yet. But Rob, you know, listen, Donald Trump is, he's been shooting from the hip this entire war. You know that he's been telling you what's going on. He's been giving you the latest and he is telling you right now the deal is going to be great. And you can see it tba. How are you feeling?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
I want to see the fucking thing. It's just annoying. It's just annoying. We got to spend a whole week after all this. Hey, war's over, war's over, war's over. And then you finally go, we're signing the deal. Oh, wait, we're going to re sign it. You got the initial digital signing. We're not actually signing it till Friday. And here's none of the details about what's in it, but everything you hear is fake news because this is an excellent deal. So just let us see the thing.
Dave Smith
Well, it's from everything, I'll say this right, from everything that we've talked about since this war has started, everything that I've read about this, I think we've had a pretty good track record of like, kind of where we've been on this whole thing and for most importantly of all, why we oppose doing this to begin with. But like, everything I've seen in the war, everything that's been hinted about this deal, everything that's been leaked about this deal, and all of the reactions by the people, you know, the, the various different camps kind of tells you that this is. I mean, this is almost a surrender. And not a surrender in the sense that you're surrendering your own country, but in terms of the war itself, it's basically Donald Trump giving up, not getting anything and calling it quits and giving them everything. Not, maybe not everything, but a whole lot that seems to be pretty clear. And it's kind of the only thing that's consistent throughout. And if that is the case, which overwhelmingly it seems to be, it is. This is what I've been thinking about the last day since we stopped recording is that you're like, well, this really, dude, it's. This sets up quite an interesting dynamic. If this really is just Donald Trump going, I'm pushed so far that, like, we're out. We got to get out of this thing. And he's going all in on. We're giving them all this. I'll spin it as a win, but we're giving them everything we're giving up without getting any of the war aims. Because, man, then you're telling me, Rob, we have. This is going to be released maybe today, maybe tomorrow. It's supposed to be the official signing on, on Friday. Then there's 60 days. So this is going to like, set up a little period of time here where it is the Israel lobby's desperate attempt to reassert itself and get A grip back on this thing. And that is just going to be very interesting. I mean, I'm expect like propaganda to ramp up, expect military provocations and escalations from Israel to ramp up. It's going to be quite a showdown here if Donald Trump really is trying to take this off ramp.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
It looks like none of the details have been worked out. It's still unclear, I guess it's signed, but needs to be re signed on Friday. And there's still, you know, points of disagreement apparently between the two sides is what we're hearing from the Iranians is just Iranian propaganda and not what's actually going to be in the agreement. I don't know why the Iranians need a lie for three days if we're going to see it in four and find out it's not true. But it doesn't seem like a lot's been worked out. Doesn't seem like the nuclear thing at all has been worked out. Which that already, you know, before Trump was saying we gotta take care of this all at once. There's too much pressure on them. We're not letting them off the hook on that to postpone that. So that's an Iranian victory alone of, hey, we'll deal with the nuclear thing later. But just the amount that's left on the table right now is essentially Donald Trump is basically just walking away, potentially handing over money to the Iranians or doing that through another party to pretend like it's not. It's hilarious the way they're going, not 1 cent of taxpayer dollars. So kind of like the Obama deal. Are you describing exactly what the JCPOA was of? Because you were criticizing that just three days ago. The other things you got left on the table is so you haven't worked out the Iranian nuclear deal at all. You're dealing with that in 60 days. And then what happens if Israel continues its action in Lebanon and then Iran goes, we don't have a deal here and start striking at Lebanon, are we just going back in? Or if in 60 days they don't agree to zero nuclear enrichment, are we going back in? So it seems like Donald Trump is figuring out how to basically extend the cease fire and walk away. As to whether or not that's a permanent arrangement, I guess is really up in the air.
Dave Smith
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Natalie
this
Dave Smith
dumb thing, which I'm very much rooting for. But if in that time Israel keeps bombing Beirut and then Iran responds, what is the US Going to do in that case? Because it seems like that's what's going to happen. Does anyone really think Israel is going to stop? They're openly saying they're not going to stop. So that's, that's a huge question. And I got to say, you know, Rob, there was something you said on yesterday's show that did get me kind of thinking when you were talking about how, like, well, look, we're kind of going to get tested in a way to see how much blackmail they got on Donald Trump or if they got anything, or maybe it's none of that and he's just a boomer and he's just been pressured by these money interests. But, you know, we've long speculated how exactly Israel gets to exert its will over our government so much. But we don't really know what the answer to that is. And, man, that's really being tested right now. Like if, you know, it's almost like we're watching this movie and we've got some ideas about what the plot's going to end up being. But if we just go based off of what we know, you are looking at this and going like, well, like American public opinion on Israel has shifted like 50 points over the last few years. We're $40 trillion in debt. Our president's now trying to get out of this conflict. Does he get back into another conflict that's crazy unpopular because of the. Solely for this foreign country. I don't know, Rob. I guess what I'm saying is that we're really going to test the limits of what amount of control they have. Because even with a lot of control, you'd think they might push it to a limit where someone just goes. And if ever they were pushed to a limit, like, it seems like this would be it. This would be the moment where you'd go, no, I'm sorry, even if you got me, you know, whatever, on camera, doing the worst thing you could think of, like, whatever show it, I'm done. You know, not saying that's the case, but, you know, you could just imagine how if, even if someone had blackmail on you, there might be a limit to which they could push that. Whatever control Israel has over the Trump administration, man, if he's going all in on trying to get out of this thing, Rob, it's, it's got to be something pretty juicy if they actually suck him back in.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yeah, well. And it does seem to be really appearing the extent by which they were hoping to drag him into the exact quagmire that they said that they weren't. And how disappointed some of the hardliners are that Donald Trump didn't have the stones for a ground war. And it's like, guys, what does the ground war even look like? Do you think you're initiating a draft and actually doing a World War II style overthrow of a government? Did you think the American people were going to back that? How did you think that was going to play out? And it's almost incredible that that expectation was there and that there wasn't more of a plan than try and sucker Donald Trump into a situation where there's no choice but to initiate a ground, where it doesn't seem like there was any other pathway to victory here. And now they're upset that they lied him into what could have been a bigger quagmire. And you realized, oh, I got suckered here and I can't win this thing.
Donald Trump
Yep.
Dave Smith
And it's, I will say, man, it's, it's one of the things like every, every indication, as I said earlier, is that like, oh, wow, Donald Trump, this is a US Loss. Like, this is Donald Trump accepting defeat in this war. And, man, as you know, you've seen, the Israeli hardliners are really upset by this. Did you see Mark Levin was freaking out because it was reported that Netanyahu has no idea what's in the deal? And he's like, how can we do this without telling our great friends and allies? You're telling me we work with the terrorists and keep in the dark the heroes or whatever. And it is something, right, Rob? Like, just as you said that, what made me think of this is you go like, okay, so you guys, we worked out a deal with Israel which was to launch this war, and that turned out to be all wrong. So, yeah, now we're going to work out a deal to end this thing. Maybe we do keep them out of that, Bart. Anyway, I thought, hmm. I'm debating who to go to for. You know, just since we were on that topic, let's go to John Podhoritz.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
I do want to say I'm loving. I don't know if loving is the right word, but, like, in the New York Post and in other publications, I'm starting to see, hey, we abandoned the Iranian people again. And it's amazing that they're playing that card. They could care less about the Iranian people, but now that Donald Trump wants to leave, they're back to, well, what about the Iranian people? You mean the same people you were hoping he would bomb to oblivion two weeks ago? The same people who you're like, oh, why doesn't he have the stones just to obliterate the country, dude, it's such a good point.
Dave Smith
I'm so glad you brought that up, because as you mentioned it, I have seen several people. All of a sudden, now we're back to, oh, but you're going to abandon the people. You told the people to rise up. We thought you were going to liberate the people. What about the promise to that? You guys cheered this madman on as he said he was going to wipe away those people's civilization. So sit down. Best thing that could happen for those people is we end this.
Donald Trump
Yeah.
Dave Smith
Natalie, it's the second video that says, yeah, who could have predicted this? Let's play. Here's John Potters. By the way, for people who don't, I have to remind everyone, because no one except people like me knows who this is, but this is John Pod Horiz, who is Norman Pod Horizon's son, legendary neoconservative, one of the most influential, like, right. Right behind Irving Crystal and. And those guys. His father, Norman Pothorts, was one of the most influential neoconservatives, and they both. I don't know if they founded Commentary magazine, but they were both over there for a long time. Anyway, this is the same guy who
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
was saying the Jews took out Thomas Massie that we criticized that video recently.
Dave Smith
Oh, yes, yeah, yes. He's the one who said all the Jewish money should flow in to take out Thomas Massie.
J.D. Vance
Yes.
Dave Smith
And of course, he's been a cheerleader for war in Iran for, I don't know, 30 years. But anyway, here he is now on Trump's side.
John Podhoretz
I honestly don't know if it could be worse because if this war ends the way I fear it's going to, America is going to be in a strategically, tactically and militarily worse position than it was under Biden. And before Trump came back into power, that is to say, he made a choice to, to test America's resolve, America's ability to win war, to exert its will, to change the nature of the map. And he has choked, he has chickened out, he has bled himself dry. And better that we shouldn't have done it in the first place because we have 25 years left. We have 75 years left for a second.
Dave Smith
We have, there's. Listen, man, there's something interesting about this critique John Potharts has of Donald Trump. And as you listen to this, Rob, I bet even you'll say he's not entirely wrong. There's something reason, there's something reasonable about what he's saying, but of course, there's also something truly disgusting about what he's saying and what he's advocating for. Like the obvious conclusion of this is that, yeah, that's why you shouldn't have launched this war. That's why this was a, a, not just a mistake, but a goddamn, you know, just a, a catastrophic mistake. I mean, this thing already, if we end here, essentially the point he's getting to is that this is worse. Well, no kidding, this is worse, Rob. I mean, how much? Listen, but again, there's that those 168 school girls that got killed that everyone makes a big deal about, but there's probably at least a couple thousand Iranians who have died from this thing. Or no, several thousand people in Lebanon have died. And I know some Israelis have died, like 13 to 15 US soldiers have died, a couple hundred wounded. At this point, we've probably spent just like a hundred billion dollars on just military munitions and movements. The damage to our bases and everything, like that's probably another 100, $200 billion. The damage to the global economy is probably in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Like this thing is a big God damn catastrophe, all for nothing. So, yeah, it's bad. But the thing is there's just something about, and I'm Sure. I don't know, Rob. There's something about looking at John Pod Horowitz call somebody, call Donald Trump a chicken. And like, I don't know, Rob. There's, there's something about when men like John Podharetz use this kind of, like, bravado language, talking about war, that really just sickens me. Like, what do you. What chicken? Like what? But you're the tough guy or something like that. Like, what do you. I don't know. I just hate when people use this kind of like, oh, you're a chicken. I'm, I'm, I support the brave position. And the brave position is advocating for a fight that other men fight in while I sit off here to the side. There's just nothing brave about that. You don't get to call other people chicken for recognizing that it's going to be a catastrophe to continue. God, I hate, I hate to be defending Donald Trump at all. But from this, I kind of will. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Quince. I love this company. I wear a bunch of their stuff. I love Quince. I've ordered several articles of clothes from them that I very much enjoy and I wear regularly. You've probably seen me in some of their stuff on the podcast and they've got great stuff, stuff for summer. Quinn says 100% European linen pants and shirts are breathable, easy to throw on and the summer upgrade your rotation needs. And they're starting at just $34. Their tees are soft enough to live in all day and the lightweight cotton sweaters are exactly what you want when summer nights cool down. They got a bunch of great stuff to wear for the summer. I love this company. As I said, I have ordered a lot of stuff from them and I really enjoy it. I wear a bunch of their hoodies. I got some of their shirts. I got one, a pair of linen pants from them. They got a bunch of stuff for the summer. What I love about quints is it's stuff that you're going to look good in. It's nice and casual, but you're going to look good. And it's stuff that really doesn't break the bank. So make your summer wardrobe easier by going to Quince.com PotP for free shipping on your orders and 365 day returns now available in Canada as well. That's Q-U-I-N C E.com PotP for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com PotPour all right, let's get back into the show.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
This would have been incredible strategic analysis three months ago before we started this war. And in fact, you could have heard this exact strategic analysis right here, where, hey, since we're not actually going to commit to a ground war, you're just going to end up in a worse situation and you're actually going to make it more likely for Iran to go nuclear. And you're actually going to showcase to American allies, hey, we do not have the strength to just bully people. And, hey, targeted strikes don't just work. So kudos to this guy on his brilliant political analysis. Three months too late, in the most Weasley fashion, because, yeah, if we weren't fully committed, we shouldn't have done this. And guess what? Being fully committed would also be worse amidst the options now. Walking away is better than moving forward. And you're right, he shouldn't have taken the half measures if he wasn't fully committed. But going further, deeper into this mess is not the better solution. And it's three months too late. It's exactly what we were saying at the beginning of this war. So thank you for affirming us, for being right. And you should go talk to your entire clan of losers and liars who tried to make this into a bigger mess. You know what you guys tried to do.
Dave Smith
And there will be. There will be. That's right. That's right. And there will be this small contingency of hawks who are gonna argue, assuming this whole thing doesn't fall apart and we end up back in a wider war, which is also possible. But give it, assuming it doesn't, these guys are going to argue that we just didn't finish the job. We just didn't go far enough. And I don't think this argument is going to work on just about anyone. But in case it is, we're going to, you know, do our best to tear it apart, but it's just not the case. And in the same way that, you know, it's like the, as I described it weeks ago, the sunk cost fallacy of war. Like, if you've invested $20,000 with your buddy and then you find out your buddy's running a Ponzi scheme, you don't go, well, dude, we got to finish the job. You know, we can't stop now. You got to go. Or if you stop now, you spent that $20,000 for nothing. It's like, yes, you did spend that for nothing. And also, don't give him any more Also, don't do this anymore. This is a bad investment anyway. Here, let's keep playing some more pots.
John Podhoretz
75 years left of the century, Trump, the crazy lunatic psychotic who doesn't care about lives and will do anything and do anything, could not bear the idea of putting a boot on the ground anywhere in Iran and could not bear the idea of a single American possibly being taken hostage, which I understand. I'm not saying that either of those is a good thing. But if you're gonna go to war, you have to put boots on the ground. If you're going to go to war, you have to understand that there are sacrifices, that not only is the military, which is a volunteer milit. Everyone in the military.
Dave Smith
Oh, it's a volunteer military, Rob. They all volunteered. So there's no moral issue with getting them killed. I mean, after all, they all volunteered. They chose this, like. Yeah, but I think they kind of chose this with the pretty firm contract that you're only going to put their lives in danger if you absolutely need to. Not off a whim, not just because you choose to. But look, I mean, what can you say here? It is true in a way, right, Rob? Like he's got a point. There is something, and this is part of the reason, it's not the only reason, but it's part of the reason why we oppose wars of choice. Getting into wars that you don't have to, in other words. And the reason you oppose that is because you don't. The truth is you don't really have to be fighting this war. You're choosing to in that situation. You typically don't have. You know, part of the reason why the old adage is that occupations never work or something like that is because, you know, people who are fighting for their own homes are fighting for more. It's a must win for them. It's not a war of choice. It's a war of necessity for them. And particular particularly when you launch a war of choice in a country that's incredibly war weary, that has no appetite for war, with an administration that doesn't even have that large of an appetite for war. And you're kind of, you are kind of half assing it to some attempt to some degree. There's something about war where you're always pretending that it, that it's necessary. But these wars aren't necessary. You know, there's something about it. In the same way, Rob, if you remember during the war in Ukraine, they would always kind of pretend that like somehow this is a must win for Europe for the way if. And that's why they would have to do this. Like, they'll reconstitute the Soviet Union, he'll take over Poland next, he'll take over all of Europe. Because you got to feel like this is a must win when the truth is just that. Like, it's not. Look, Ukraine lost the war. We're all still fine. It wasn't a must win. He's not taking Poland, he's not reconstituting the Soviet Union. Like, none of that actually ended up happening. Likewise when Donald Trump is just half assing and pretending like, I'm going to launch a war, but of course I'm not going to send ground troops. Yeah, it's true, you can only do so much. But again, Rob, to your point, we already knew from the very beginning that there was no appetite for ground troops. And the other thing here is like, why not? Why is there not? I mean, it sure is nice that John Podhoretz is comfortable with more US Soldiers dying, but the country is not. We're not prepared to make that sacrifice for Israel. And, you know, it's like there is something about the cavalier attitude to which he talks about, like, just have some courage, have some courage and get somebody else's kids killed. Any thoughts, Rob?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Well, you know, this war, not only was it sold on lies, it wasn't sold on coherent or good lies. And so if you're intelligent, you can just forecast at the outset of this thing, hey, can I actually pull off a full war? Do I have the, do I have the country afraid of this threat in a way that people are gonna be willing to sacrifice their lives and they're so fearful of this enemy that they're gonna go fight and people are gonna volunteer to be in the military and we could have told you no. And so if you know that up front, then don't launch the half measures. And so for people who, I'm sure he was one of them, who was advocating for this war and hoping that the half measures would create a bigger mess that would force Donald Trump to do a full scale war that he didn't need to do or wanted to do and the country didn't want, yeah, you didn't get your way. And that's why this was a mistake. This was bad strategy. You could have forecasted all of this and you were very hopeful with other people's lives on behalf of Israel. And now you're turning around and going, oh, Donald Trump, he's a big old chicken. He just didn't finish the job. Okay. You know, you should have been able to forecast this, and you should have known that this was a mistake. And that's why more people should listen to us. We said it right at the beginning.
Dave Smith
There you go here. Let's keep playing.
John Podhoretz
Military has volunteered to put their lives on the lines for their country and that the country itself may have to sacrifice in the form of wildly higher oil prices. If you think that the American national interest has to be engaged in this process, and if you go into the process and you lose it and it's a complete war of choice, you have made things worse. The situation is worse. It's worse than it was on the 28th of February. And to get to the point that. That Seth was going to. Which is why I'm so crazy passionate about this when we were talking about this in January, unlike you usually are,
Shannon Maldonado
you're just crazy passionate about.
John Podhoretz
No, no, I'm out of my. I'm out of my mind here. I like. I don't. I haven't felt like this in a long time. Actually, we said in early January, the problem with the American response to the Iranian uprising is that there is a history of America with populations under totalitarian rule rising up, and then those populations getting the idea that we were going to be the cavalry and ride in and help them and save them and help them win from Hungary to Prague and onward, and that under those conditions, there were tragic consequences to those uprisings where they were crushed and tens of thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands of people jailed and all of that because they got the wrong idea from us. And at least DWIGHT Eisenhower in 1956 didn't say to the Hungarian people, help is on the way, djt, you know, we're coming to save you. He said it. I didn't say it. You didn't say it. This is why I keep saying, he chose this path. We were not forced into this path. It wasn't even anything like Kuwait, was it? Even the war. We had to go to war in 1990 against Iran, Iraq, because Iraq had swallowed a neighboring country. And Justice Seth says, we can't allow a waterway to be closed and have a world that functions properly. If we sat there while one country swallowed up another and announced that it was its province and didn't do something, the world would collapse into chaos because people would be. Countries would be trying to do this all over the place. And 52 countries said, no, no, you cannot do that. That wasn't a war of choice. This Trump decided to do. I was happy he chose it. But I'm under no possible illusions that this was something that needed to be done. So if twere done, twere better. Twere done quickly and had to be won. You couldn't lose. You couldn't do this and lose. And he is losing. And you may not think that the deal is gonna go through and you may wanna see the memorandum of understanding. But then I see JD Vance on C morning saying the following, asked by cbs, the Iranians are saying they're going to have access to a 300 billion dollar reconstruction fund. Is that true or false? And this is, this is not quote.
Dave Smith
Okay, pause it here. He's upset that J.D. van said here. You can close it because we'll play the JD Vance clip in a sec. But anyway, the reason, I understand that was a bit long there, but there's a few things that are just so fascinating in all this. I mean, number one, man, did I tell you the lobby was going to turn on Donald Trump over this? I mean this is. If you don't finish this for them, you're not useful anymore. They got no sense of honor or loyalty or hey, you tried for us or something. That's not how it works. They're, they're going to be pretty brutal. But number two here is that there is just this, well, look, part of this he's kind of right in a way. Like there's, there is truth to what he's saying. Like, hey, yeah, you went all in on this dude. You can't do this and then lose. So okay, there. But then you also, you get a glimpse into like the truly psychotic neoconservative worldview. And this is why so many of
Shannon Maldonado
us,
Dave Smith
you know, are just, just hate the neocons so much. Because they're just literally, they're like agents of destruction. I mean, they're as bad, they're as bad as any jihadist that you could imagine. I don't care if they, you know, whatever, you know, they, if they, if they went to college and they wear suits and ties. I mean, they just advocate for death and destruction all the time. By the way, Rob, this was always what they would say about the war in Iraq. This is all, we just should have surged more. And the problem is that we didn't surge more. The problem is we didn't have enough will. The problem with, with Syria was that we didn't flood more weapons in. The problem with it was always like, we could have done it, but we just fell short. They still to this day, David Worms are Talks about how if we had installed a Hashemite king, it would have worked in Iraq. And so it was the right move. We just didn't, you know, the liberals got all weak in the knees and didn't follow through. But what they just can't acknowledge is the obvious reality. You know, it's like, like he's saying, hey, I was with Donald Trump launching this war, but you can't stop short of winning. But the obvious reality is that you can't win. How about that? Maybe you just couldn't win. Maybe we didn't have the ability to do this. What is he really talking about here? Invade Iran? Boots on the ground? How many boots you think we're going to need? Like the entire military? You know, I just, I, I don't. There's the, the bottom line here. And he's going, oh, they got access to this $300 billion. It's like, yeah. I mean, it looks like the only way Donald Trump could even bring them to the negotiating table was to basically say, I'll give you all this money. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is crowd health. I've been telling you about crowd health for many years. I love this company. Thrilled to have them as a longtime sponsor. And now they've even better with the Black Swan membership, the no BS alternative for people who want control over their care, their costs and their lives. For just $85 a month, you get a dedicated team of expert bill negotiators fighting for you, access to low cost prescriptions and lab testing, and a hand curated network of high quality, affordable doctors vetted by crowd health. So there's no insurance companies, no restrictive networks, no bureaucrats deciding what you can and can't do, just you in charge. And if a old Black Swan event hits, you handle the first $15,000 and the crowd steps up to help cover the rest. It's healthcare the way it should be, closer to the freedom we had before Obamacare turned it into a bureaucratic nightmare. So this summer, stop renting your health from the system, Take your power back and enjoy the season with real peace of mind. If you're ready to make the switch, head over to JoinCrowdHealth.com and use the promo code POTP to get your first three months for less than $85. That's right. Ring in the summer with healthcare that puts you first. Join CrowdHealth.com promo code POTP for less than $85 a month. All right, let's get back into the show. Any thoughts, Rob?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yeah, I agree with him once again where he says that this was a war of choice. And so if he was actually an intelligent individual at the outset of this war, he should have said, hey, listen, this is a war of choice, and if we're going to fight it, we need to win it. And the only way to do that is with boots on the ground. And I don't think the country's willing or able to make that sacrifice right now. So it's a mistake, and we're better off with the deterrent threat of what us engaging with them might look like, and that will give us more leverage. And that's what he should have said. But apparently he supported the war at the outset because he wasn't smart enough to forecast, hey, we don't actually. The country does not believe enough of these lies that they're willing to actually back this war. And so therefore, it's a bad an. You know what I mean? You guys are just bad at this. I mean, if that's actually your worldview and your strategy of this was a war of choice and if we fight it, we have to win it, then you and the other neocons should have spoken out against this three months ago and been smart enough to know, oh, we're not actually going to have a full ground invasion. This is bad strategy. But you guys didn't say that. Instead, you went with the Israeli talking points and you hoped that you would pull us into a full mess, and now you're upset that you didn't get it.
Donald Trump
Yep.
Dave Smith
Yeah. You're upset that you just got a little catastrophe and not a bigger one. All right, let's. Let's go to. All right, I guess we should go to Trump next, because Donald Trump did speak to the press today.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Best deal, greatest deal. Never gonna get a bomb. Everything's amazing. You'll find out in a couple days.
Dave Smith
It is. It really is something here. Let's go to the people.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Can't handle that much good news all at once. I gotta wait a week before I give it to you.
Dave Smith
Without me, there would be no Israel. Natalie, let's go to that. That clip here of Trump today in the White House.
J.D. Vance
Are you frustrated with Netanyahu, sir?
Donald Trump
No. We had a great relationship. We're talking about.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
He makes the sweetest love to my butt.
Donald Trump
Details. I didn't like that he did an
Dave Smith
attack based on a. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You know what, Natalie? You know, pause this for a second. I'm sorry. I Said the, the what? Wrong one. Let's, let's go to the. Why not release the text first and then we'll do the, the Netanyahu one. But I went ahead. It's the other. Yeah, this is the one I wanted to play first because this was really fun.
J.D. Vance
The text of the document.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Why not, why not release the topic?
Donald Trump
I will. Well, because I, I'd like to get a formal setting first before we do that, but I have no problem with that. It's good documentation. Here's what it says. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. That's what it says. It won't have one to buy, to develop. They will not have a nuclear weapon. And I would say that's about 99.9% of what I wanted because we couldn't let that happen. You couldn't let that happen. And they won't have a nuclear weapon. Now, in addition to that, the strait is going to be open toll free and it's toll free beyond the 60 days. It's not. Somebody said, oh, it's toll free for. No, no, it's toll free, period. When it opens permanently, it'll be toll free. I want to congratulate our navy because the naval blockade was unbelievable. But I will actually, I'll not only release it, I'll probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word it. So that the press covers it accurately because it's, it's a very important document.
Dave Smith
It's very important document, Rob. Then you will see it at a time to be announced.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
You gave Iran everything they wanted. They might not even sign it. So I don't want to read it to you before they say no.
Dave Smith
I mean, dude. He says, and then just to fall back on, I'll tell you what it says. It says that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. And that's 99.7% of what I wanted. It's like, okay, that's what the JCPOA says. That's literally the start to the jcpoa. It's also what the Non Proliferation Treaty, what you sign on to. But okay, so that's 99.7% of what he wanted. In addition to that, he gets the Strait of Hormuz open. Like, so what you got is what we had before the war. That's what it's not even. He's not even like, okay, Rob, right now there's some questions about what the Iranians are claiming versus what they actually get, right? Because the Iranians claim they get that 12 billion right up front. And like guaranteed access to the 300 billion. So we'll see what happens with all that. Donald Trump isn't even claiming anything else. What he's claiming, we get that is what we had before the war. That's what he's claiming. He's not even making any claims like that, you know, directly about anything else. And as you notice there, he doesn't go to enriched uranium or proxies or missiles or regime change or any of that. He doesn't have that to brag about, which really is something.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
A lot of work and a lot of news coverage to end up in the exact same place as kind of the Donald Trump way policy. There's been a bunch of them. This is Donald Trump, as much media attention as you can get to end up just spending some money and ending up in the exact same place or a little worse.
Dave Smith
The worst one. This is the worst one of them all, though, man. This is. You're right, it follows that same Donald Trump template, but this is the worst version of all of them here. Okay, let's go to the Netanyahu one, because this was an interesting clip here, Rob, because of course, this is the big question now going forward. It's as we've seen already with the Pod Hearts video, as we've seen with Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro, as we've seen with Netanyahu and Ben Gavir and the, the next 60 days or, or plus 64 days or whatever, this is going to be about the Israel lobby versus the Trump administration. Now things have changed and we're going to see who can get their way anyway here. Let's play the clip. Trump's asked about his relationship with Bibi. Are you frustrated with Netanyahu, sir?
Donald Trump
No, we had a great relationship. We're talking about some end details. I didn't like that he did an attack based on a, you know, there's a very minor little thing with some drones that were released and he ends up doing a very. I saw that attack. I saw where that bomb went. Did you see what happened? That was not. That was a vicious. That was too much. You know, you can do too much also. But we've had a very effective relationship. Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did. I've had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon. Lebanon used to be a great country. It was a country where you had professors, doctors, lawyers, the great intellect was in Lebanon. Now it's just. It's terrible. I would say, of all countries, they've been treated the worst and they can't defend themselves, and they have Hezbollah, which is a problem for them. So, no, I'm not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster. It just goes on forever. And when that happens, it throws a negative light on the big deal, and that's the deal with Iran. So when you ask me about Bibi, an unbelievable relationship, but Israel would have been blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved.
Dave Smith
So there you go, Rob. An unbelievable relationship, but you'd be dead without me. And, yeah, Donald Trump somewhat critical of the way that Bibi Netanyahu has been conducting the war in Lebanon. Yeah, I don't know. Any thoughts?
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Well, you got to love the endless counterfactuals. You guys already owe me your life. Quit complaining. You'd be dead if I hadn't done it. Same with our country. Our country in Europe, everyone would be. The Iranians could have killed everybody, but only because Donald Trump's targeted strikes and I guess them fearing him and wanting to restrain themselves, are we alive? And honestly, the fact that we ever criticize Donald Trump, with all these counterfactuals on the table, it's on us. We should just realize that we'd all be dead right now. You know, Covid would have killed us, too, if he hadn't gotten that, that, that vaccine out. It's just pure counterfactuals, I guess. If you want to throw up claims without any evidence to support them whatsoever, then, yes, Donald Trump has already already saved us. And so we should be more gracious for what he's done, even if we can't see it or understand it. Almost like God, in a way.
Dave Smith
I will say, hold on, I'm sending another clip to you, Natalie, here, because I think this was the one. He said some more stuff on the same topic that I wanted to. But, yeah, there is something about it, man, Rob, where, you know, I mean, I guess, right. It's the moral of the the Boy who Cried Wolf story. And it's the reason why a father tells his son that, like, your word is your bond. You got to keep your word. It means something. If you say something to someone, if you say, I'll be here at this time, if you say, I'll give you this, if you give me that, that you stick to it is because, well, on top of it being the right thing, to do. It's. It's also the moral of the Boy who Cried Wolf is that you're gonna need your word someday. You know, someday you might really need people to take you at your word and be careful before you blow that thing out. And I know Donald Trump, you know, his, his fans can always say, like, oh, well, you know, you can't take them literally. I understand that argument. But at the same time, it's like, you get to a point, like right now in negotiations, his word means a lot. It's very important. We're relying on that. And yeah, that's the way he goes. There'd be no Israel. It would be destroyed. It's always.
Progressive Insurance Announcer
I know.
Dave Smith
I remember in the Biden administration when there was no Israel, you know, up until Trump came around, there just wouldn't be in Israel here. Anyway, Natalie, let's play this other clip because I think it had the, the part I was looking for.
Donald Trump
Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed. And you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you. And I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because to be honest with you, I think they do a better job of doing it.
Dave Smith
All right, so just pause it there. Pause it. Okay, so first of all, because this came after the last clip, I thought this was attached to it. But so now here he says, rob, this is Donald Trump goes, and you know, by the way, dude, they're bombing a lot of these apartment buildings. And you don't really need to take down a full apartment building to get one Hezbollah guy. Now, do you like this? I just thought was kind of amazing because you're like, wait a minute, Donald Trump, you think Israel is a little too heavy handed in Lebanon. And you said this thing about how the people of Lebanon have been treated the worst. And you're just like, dude, this is. I don't know, there's just something about the insult after genocide to the people of Gaza who are. Can you imagine being a resident of Gaza and just hearing him talk about this like that? And you're like, did you not. You funded them the whole time that they did this? But how about this, Rob? At the end of it there, he throws to, maybe we'll have Al Qaeda handle it for us.
J.D. Vance
Maybe.
Dave Smith
You know what, dude, this is literally. I'm not making this up. Donald Trump just pivoted from you know, the IDF is a little bit too brutal. We might have to hand this off to Al Qaeda, to somebody who we can trust to fight with a sense of honor. The goddamn Amir of Al Qaeda, who he put in charge of Syria.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Well, to translate what I see is the dynamics. I don't know where this Donald Trump was for the last year. I don't know why Donald Trump was just rolling over for Israel, particularly when Netanyahu had thrown him under the bus in the last election. But then something happened after he was shot at and met with Netanyahu at Mar A Lago. I don't know if it's the donations that came in or he suddenly doesn't care about the blackmail they have on him. I can't tell you what is changing here, but it does appear that Donald Trump is actually ready, willing, and able to suddenly criticize Israel as he tries to get them to back off Lebanon so he can actually walk away from this war. And yes, if he's criticizing the bombing of innocent civilians in Lebanon, then that is a new policy of Donald Trump, that Israel should not be murdering innocent civilians. And what he's channeling to them is, I will raise more of this concern unless you stop doing what you're doing. And, I mean, the shift in policy and tone and treatment of Israel, if Donald Trump wants to turn this hard against him, if they don't get in line, is pretty incredible.
Dave Smith
Bullying. It's pulled. It's pure Donald Trump bullying. Like, it's like if somebody was like, you know, getting mocked for being fat online, Donald Trump will always be like. And, you know, a lot of people are saying he's very fat. No, I don't know. I didn't say that. But, like, he's intentionally bringing it up. He's intentionally letting you know that he can tap into that energy kind of. Yeah, it's.
Donald Trump
It.
Dave Smith
That's right. But it's interesting that he's doing that there. And then it is nothing but, like, a real insult to just go, ah, maybe these, these Al Qaeda guys in Syria, they could handle it better than you guys can. You know, just nothing more than that. But let's play the end of this here, because he does get in a another comment about Syria, which is pretty wild, where
Donald Trump
two hours before we're signing the agreement that there was an attack in Lebanon, in Beirut. It wasn't like in the southern side. And, you know, it was in Beirut. I did not like that. I let them know that I didn't like it. Not at all. But I think that Syria, he's pulled that country together amazingly quickly. He's very capable, and he's been very good for me. He's protected. Everything that I've asked for, he's done. And if Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, he'll do the job. Syria will do the job.
Dave Smith
Yeah. Now, isn't it something, dude, Rob, that here he is, he's bragging about this former Al Qaeda leader Jelani in Syria and what a great job he's doing and how he'll do the job for him. And he gets into there at a different portion, how much one of the things he likes about them is that, like, that he's. They're not friends with Hezbollah. And it really is just something to just go that, like, he's just going through the, like, oh, yeah. How much that regime changed there was. So we could put enemies of Hezbollah in charge of Syria, even if those enemies, Rob, happen to be Al Qaeda, the enemies of the United States of America. But that's not enough. That's not enough for old Bibi. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is in the Cloud. In the cloud is the online dispensary. If you are 21 years of age or older and you're looking for dispensary, you don't have to find a brick and mortar anymore. You can just check out into cloud. They got everything you need, particularly stuff for the summer energy gummies for surviving overloaded summer schedules. THC sodas for staying social without overheating yourself. Extra strength sleep gummies for fully shutting your brain down at night. They've got absolutely everything you need. So once again, if you are over the age of 21, go check them out at. At Inda Shop problem. And that'll get you 30% off your first order. This is the online dispensary. It has everything you need. Again, if you're over the age of 21, you can get 30% off your first order at Ind Cloud with promo code problem at Inda Shop slash problem. That's I N D A dot shop slash problem. Promo code problem for 30% off your first order. All right, let's get back into the show. Anyway, so there was Donald Trump. Let me see here. What was. Oh, I'm almost debating on which one of these I'd want to go to. Okay. Yeah, let's go to the first one I sent you today, Natalie, which was J.D. vance. He was this morning. He was on Fox and Friends. This is the. The quote that Pod Horitz was referencing. And I did think that it was worth playing. So, yeah, let's do that. And then if we have time, we'll go to the Hannity one that you sent Rob, which is great. Here, let's play this one.
Natalie
It's clear that they respect the Commander in Chief.
J.D. Vance
Yes, they do.
Natalie
And Iran respects our military because of what we've been able to do. Some of the things that we're hearing about the. We haven't seen the text yet, but just what we're hearing, that the deal would end all sanctions and all waivers. I'm hearing that it will be down blending, but not destruction of the nuclear dust. And there is no closing of the nuclear facilities, and they hope that there's no nuclear weapon for the next 15 years. There's also strong language about stopping funding the proxies, but it says in the deal that Iran has to use its best efforts, not stop it completely. There's also the $300 billion in reparations that's going to come from Qatar and some of the Gulf states, and then $24 billion in unfrozen assets. Is any of that true? But if it would be true, would that concern you?
J.D. Vance
Yeah. So most of that is basically Iranian propaganda. And you have to understand what's going on here. Okay, so the Iranians have just had their conventional military destroyed. Their country has totally changed. They have a totally different leadership than they had even three months ago. And so what is happening is that some elements in their society are trying to sell this deal as positively as possible to their domestic audience. Now, that's expected. It's frustrating to me, but that's expected. What is a little unexpected and more frustrating to me is that you see certain people in the American media literally recirculating hardliner talking points from the IRGC instead of telling the truth about what's going on. So, first of all, not a single cent of money goes to.
Dave Smith
Pause it real quick.
J.D. Vance
$300 billion.
Dave Smith
Pause it and just bring it back like five seconds. Rob, isn't it so funny to just criticize people in the media? So essentially, you guys are claiming there's a deal. Iran goes, yeah, there's a deal. And then the Iranians say, what's in the deal? And you say, we can't show you what's in the deal. And then you criticize media figures for reporting on what the Iranians are saying is in the deal. Well, then what else are we supposed to go with? And, you know, if it's Iranian propaganda. You notice he didn't specifically point out what was Iranian propaganda in any of those claims. And so, yeah, anyway, here, it's incredible
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
to me that if in three days the exact details are coming out and all this stuff is true, he's willing to go on this media tour and make claims like this to look like an asshole in three days. I don't understand this administration's willingness to lie to win the news cycle for a 24 hour period as if three days in the future isn't coming.
Dave Smith
Yeah, very strange. All right, let's, let's keep playing
J.D. Vance
line are talking points from the IRGC instead of telling the truth about what's going on. So first of all, not a single cent of American money goes to Iran. Not $300 billion, not $24 billion, not any of the money the dollar figures that I've seen floating around. Number two, this is a firm commitment backed up by verifiable action to never develop or buy a nuclear weapon by the Iranians. Which remember that was the whole point of this entire operation is to ensure not just that Iran wouldn't have a nuclear for the next couple of years, but that they would make that long term commitment. Now here's the important part though is there are benefits to Iran if they perform their end of the obligation. Not money from the United States, but maybe Qatar or the UAE or Saudi Arabia, maybe they want to invest in Iran and build a power plant. The United States, our approach to that is going to be, yeah, you can do that so long as the Iranians are behaving properly, but if they don't behave properly, they don't get.
Dave Smith
All right, so here, you can pause it.
John Podhoretz
There's.
Dave Smith
All right, Rob, so listen, first off, let me just say, because it's almost more important than even the analysis or breaking down what he's saying here because it's so ridiculous and this is just such, it's so childish to even take this like it does. It reminds me of there was this bit that they did on the Office with Will Arnett when he came in and he was interviewing to be. Michael Scott's job was open and he's interviewing for it. And he goes, I have a four point plan that'll double your quarterly profits by next year. And they're like, oh, that's amazing. What is it? He's like, I can't tell you. He goes, I mean, if I told you, then you could just do it without me. So you got to hire me and then I'll do It. And they're like, okay, but you got to give us some of the plan. He's like, hire me and then you'll get the plan. Like, I have a plan. Obviously. It's like, if you won't tell us what the deal is, then you're just sitting here telling. And then you're saying, yeah, but the best part of this deal is that, that Iran only gets this money if there's enforcement. Yeah, but enforcement of what? All you said here is that they can't develop or purchase a nuclear weapon. So if they just do that, you're enforcing that, what they've done this entire time, like, what, what does that mean? You know what I mean? The, the devil's in the details here, and you're not giving us any of it. But Rob, as you, I mean, you pointed out at the very top of the, the show, this, this pathetic change to no, first of all, I've seen these 24 billion dollars, 300 billion dollar figures. None of that. First off, there's no US money is going into that. So I don't know where these figures come from. Yeah, but no one claimed Those figures were US taxpayer dollars. The $24 billion is frozen Iranian assets, and the $300 billion is a reconstruction, you know, fund that they alluded to. And so even if you're saying, if you're saying it's not US Dollars that go there, but this deal does give them access to these dollars. That's the whole point that you hawks have been running with this whole time, that it doesn't matter. Money's fungible. It's money going to the biggest state sponsor of terrorism or whatever. So it's just, it's ridiculous to watch them change this, the standard here, just completely abandon the talking point. I mean, hey, it's good that they're abandoning it. It was to begin with. But at the same time to say, no, it's different because it's not US Dollars, we're just giving them access to money, but only if it's verified that they followed something that we're not going to tell you what it is they need to follow. Like, he didn't say it's tied to them diluting their enriched uranium. He said it's tied to them not getting a nuclear weapon. What does that mean, Rob? Pretty vague.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Yeah. Well, listen, we're going to see what even comes to fruition. And who knows, maybe this deal is better than as being projected or painted, but it feels like we're just back to the Donald Trump standard that When Obama gives them $1.7 billion in their money back, it's the worst disaster ever. And it's a pathway to a bomb. When I give them $12 billion in their money back, well, this was only their money and it's not gonna be used for a bomb. And you can trust that they're never gonna get a bomb. It's just back to the Donald Trump standard. Well, since Donald Trump said it, it's accurate. Same as why I'm so gracious that Europe still exists and that Israel is still on the map. Because Donald Trump said that they wouldn't exist unless previous actions that he'd already taken. So if you're, if you're living your life by the Donald Trump standard, then yeah, I guess the money going over now, when it's through, Donald Trump is not a problem. It was only a problem when Obama did it.
Dave Smith
I'm telling you though, man, I've been, this is another prediction I've been making this whole time. But I said that even if Donald Trump comes back now, he's still ruined and he's not going to be able to sell this and this is not going to work. I mean, don't get me wrong, Rob, it'll work with like a small enough percentage. But Donald Trump, this is he, he's gonna get beat up on this.
Natalie
Dude.
Dave Smith
Before we leave, I have to play. You said I did not see any of this until you sent it over, Rob. But here was. J.D. vance was on Hannity last night. Let's just go to the, the YouTube video that Rob said in the, in the email, Natalie. But just, let's just go to the second clip. It was 12 minutes, 25 seconds. It's just the two of them. Ev. Even to Hannity's audience, the way they're trying to sell, this is really something.
J.D. Vance
Let's play President always says, Sean, do we trust anyone? No, we don't trust anyone. We do verify and we do extend this hand and say, look, if you guys are willing to change, we're willing to change how we've dealt with you too.
Donald Trump
Let's talk about any place, anywhere, anytime, U.S. inspectors.
Dave Smith
That's that part of the deal.
J.D. Vance
Yeah, that's, that's absolutely something that we are negotiating over. Sean, that's one of the final details that's going to be figured out here is, is if you go back to the original Obama jcpoa, there were a couple of big problems with it. Number one, by the way, is that the Gulf Arabs hated.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
Here.
John Podhoretz
Just pause it.
Dave Smith
Pause it already. For a second powered. It's just everything. I just love that Hannity. I don't know why even Hannity had this in his mind, but he just goes and like, like he almost said it like he was selling the deal. Like he said it in like a WWF, like promo cut. But he goes and also, rob US inspections anytime, anywhere, any place, Intercontinental title on the line, you know, just anywhere. And then J.D. vance just has to hit him with the. Well, that is exactly what is TBA in the second phase of this memorandum. Like, once you get the memorandum, there'll be something in there about how there's a new phase of negotiations and that that is exactly the type of thing we'll be talking about. Yeah. So in other words, no, no, you didn't get that. And look, man, I mean there's a whole lot of interesting stuff here about what, look, there's, I'll say this almost like before maybe we wrap up here, I'll say this and then you can have the last word. Rob but there is something where
Natalie
one
Dave Smith
of the possibilities that's beginning to emerge here, right, Is that the Iranians are describing the deal as something very different than what the Americans are describing it as right now. As we pointed out on the last show and I think was implicit in this show, even what they're describing, forget what they're. The difference is what they agree on is essentially an admission that we lost this war. But there's still now it's possible that the language of the memorandum of understanding is going to be somewhat vague on some of this stuff. Like even as you hear J.D. vance describe it, you're like, this all sounds very vague. What exactly does this mean? And then you're going to be in this area where both sides can claim for the next 60 days that they're not following through. This wasn't really the deal. That wasn't the deal. And so it'll be interesting. Then who knows, Rob, we could get, we may not get this memorandum signed. We might get 30 days into this and Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz again because Israel's bomb in Lebanon or because they say the Americans aren't giving them access to the money or who, you know, so many questions. It's still a big mess. The one thing that's clear is that we never should have launched this goddamn war and we lost it anyway. Final thoughts to you.
Robbie the Fire Bernstein
One more option is the language is vague. And then Donald Trump goes, I tried everything I could to make a deal. We can't reason with them. And then actually bombs them into oblivion. But it was funny watching this interview because by the end Hannity's having a hard time selling it and it's a bitter pill to swallow. And he even concludes with, you know, I'm having a hard time. I always thought that these guys were the worst people ever. And so I hope you guys are right. It's something along those lines. It's basically the way it concludes.
Dave Smith
That is something. All right, listen, we will catch you guys tomorrow. Brand new episode. Thank you for watching. Come on out Denver, Colorado this weekend. Really looking forward to seeing seeing some great people out there. See ya. See you this weekend. Comicdavesmith.com Peace.
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Date: June 17, 2026
Host: Dave Smith (with Robbie “the Fire” Bernstein)
Main Theme:
This episode centers around the US-Israel-Iran conflict and analyzes the soon-to-be-announced Memorandum of Understanding (ceasefire deal), Donald Trump’s handling of the war, disputes within the US-Israel alliance, neoconservative reactions, and the broader implications for US foreign policy and libertarian critique.
Dave Smith and Robbie Bernstein dissect the news of an imminent ceasefire between the US/Israel and Iran. They grapple with the details (or lack thereof) of the proposed deal, what it signals about American power, Trump’s shifting position, and the backlash brewing from pro-Israel hawks and neoconservatives. The conversation critiques the logic and morality of the war, the neocon playbook, and the Libertarian position of non-intervention.
Timestamps: 01:59–07:16
Timestamps: 03:14–07:16
Timestamps: 07:16–13:37
Timestamps: 14:29–24:17
Timestamps: 23:11–24:17
Timestamps: 24:52–33:29
Timestamps: 38:03–42:00
Timestamps: 42:45–47:34
Timestamps: 53:58–60:10
Timestamps: 63:28–end
| Segment | Timestamp | |---------|-----------| | Deal announcement, skepticism explodes | 01:59–07:16 | | Postponed nuclear issue—an Iranian win | 05:41 | | US-Israel rift, power dynamics | 08:30–13:37 | | Neocon backlash (Podhoretz critique) | 17:27–24:17 | | "Sunk cost fallacy" analogy | 23:11 | | The moral bankruptcy of hawks | 24:52–33:29 | | Trump’s press spin on the deal | 39:02–42:00 | | Trump-Netanyahu cracks; Lebanon remarks | 42:45–47:34 | | Trump’s “maybe Al Qaeda handles it” remark | 47:08–48:33 | | JD Vance on Fox—deal details confusion | 53:58–60:10 | | Final vague language, future risks | 63:28–end |
This is a critical episode for understanding not just the Trump administration’s position in the closing days of the “Iran war,” but the cracks within the “special relationship” with Israel, the bankruptcy of neoconservative foreign policy, and the Libertarian critique of war. Dave and Robbie blend humor, cynicism, and informed analysis — all driving home a central libertarian lesson: interventionist wars are disasters, no matter how you try to spin the ending.