Matt Binder (4:21)

So it couldn't even if we want.

Emma Vigeland (4:22)

Oh, really? Okay, soon we will soon we will build up the, the speculation here. Well, let's just start with this. We're going to be talking about, I think, you know, some, the two other really major stories with our next guest, the disappearing of pro Palestine demonstrators, the mass escalation of the genocide in Gaza. We'll talk about with Noah. And of course, the, the attacks on immigrants is relevant with our second guess as well. So we'll start here with, you know, honestly, this story, Signal Gate that they're calling it, I hate putting gate at the end of everything, but it's a shorthand. I think this story has a bit of a shelf life because it's of how sloppy they are, how just like they're just this frat house group chat coordinating bomb bombing campaigns. It's just absurd. And also it's the fact that they keep emphasizing how this is about meritocracy, this administration. No more dei, no more preferential treatment for people who are not deserving of their jobs, who don't do a good job. They're just being hired because they're black or they're gay or they're Latino. No, we're just appointing the most qualified people, you know, like a FOX News weekend host to be the secretary of defense who decides to eagerly participate in a group chat in which they share war plans on a commercially available texting app, Signal.

Matt Binder (6:02)

Well, I mean, that's significant less because Signal isn't sort of secure more in that the devices that you can get Signal on can't be secured the way that actual devices that are meant to be like what they say, the skiff for those sorts of fancy things, which also makes it easier to track for the sort of government accountability requirements that sort of. They wanted to lock Hillary Clinton up for clouding in 2016.

Emma Vigeland (6:29)

Yeah, exactly. And so, I mean, they're presumably using their private phone numbers, of course, because Signal is banned. Politico reported a few days ago that Signal is banned from government phones. And then Der Spiegel, this German paper, found their personal phone numbers on the Internet with, like, ease, meaning that any hacker, anybody, a foreign government, whatever, if they have their phone number, they can presumably install spyware remotely and intercept these communications, even with the encryption protection from Signal. So.

Matt Binder (7:08)

Because what would happen is, like you said, put a bug on the device, and it just tracks every sort of keystroke and the display.

Emma Vigeland (7:14)

Exactly, exactly. So this is a major problem. But. And there seems to be no denying it, they've been caught lying in 4K. But Trump will try.

Matt Binder (7:27)

Should Secretary Hegseth consider his position over the signal.

Mike Waltz (7:31)

Hegseth is doing a great job. He had nothing to do with this.

Emma Vigeland (7:35)

What?

Mike Waltz (7:36)

How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do. Look, look, it's all a witch hunt. Here we are talking about some of the greatest business deals ever made. The greatest companies in the world are moving into the United States, and you want to ask about whether or not Signal works. I don't know that Signal works. I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you. And I think that's what we have to. Because you use Signal and we use signal, and everybody uses Signal. But it could be a defective platform, and we're going to have to find that.

Emma Vigeland (8:04)

What does that mean, a defective platform? How is that possible?

Matt Binder (8:09)

That proves our point, though, sir.

Emma Vigeland (8:11)

Yeah. Why are you using it? You need to be using the government, like heavily secure computer systems to be making these kinds of decisions and to be communicating in this way. What do you mean? Hegseth has nothing to do with it. He was one of the most eager participants in this group chat.

Matt Binder (8:32)

Hexith is actually probably the most in hot water because he's the one sharing, for instance, the exact time an F18, the sort of flight bomber group would take off down to the minute.

Emma Vigeland (8:45)

Well, I.

Matt Binder (8:46)

After saying. And then saying, actually there was nothing. Nothing classified in what I said there.

Emma Vigeland (8:51)

And then, which prompted Goldberg to release okay, Bet.

Matt Binder (8:54)

And it seems like that. And nobody buys that. We'll play this in the fun app, but even Steven Crowder doesn't buy it.

Emma Vigeland (9:00)

Yeah. And here's Hegseth, you know, thinking that he's got something here where he. He had said. And we played that where he broke the fourth wall and said, there are no war plans being shared in.

Domingo Garcia (9:13)

This was texting war plans.

Emma Vigeland (9:17)

Nobody was texting war plans. Okay. Even though they were very specific coordinates, specifics about the jets, launch points, targets.

Matt Binder (9:27)

Exact timing to the minute here's hags.

Emma Vigeland (9:31)

That trying to deny that those were war plans.

Domingo Garcia (9:35)

Just what we're here to do. Nobody's texting war plans. This morning, out came something that doesn't look like war plans. And as a matter of fact, they even changed the title to Attack plans because they know it's not war plans. There's no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information jargon. Who sees war plans? I see them every single day. I looked at them this morning. I looked at attack plans this morning. You know, who does what?

Noah Colwyn (10:12)

We're here.

Emma Vigeland (10:14)

Nobody was saying that that girl was passed out when I tried to have sex with her. Nobody saw her take that drink. Whatever.

Matt Binder (10:26)

Nobody saw me slip anything into that drink. This is semantics. And this is really what's amazing is this is the Trump administration pushing their base to the limits of how much can you just deny basic reality.

Emma Vigeland (10:41)

Yes.

Matt Binder (10:42)

And not take anything serious and just expect everyone to go along with it. And it's actually kind of pushing the limit here.

Emma Vigeland (10:52)

I mean, you got. Right. Crowder, Dave Portnoy coming out and criticizing that. It's just like.

Matt Binder (10:59)

Because here's the thing. I can speak for the Houthis if that's not. If you want to just publicize whenever F18 jets are taking off, I think the Houthis would probably be interested in that kind of information.

Emma Vigeland (11:11)

Right, right. And it's just like the whole. I think that the. The way this new story has unfolded with their denials, the obvious lying, and then we have the actual screenshots showing obvious war plans, attack plans, whatever, clearly classified, and they're still saying to our faces that that's not what's happening. So, again, I really do think that the Democratic Party is going to try to find an off ramp to this anti oligarchy, anti billionaire energy that Bernie Sanders and AOC are harnessing and other politicians like Tim Walls, et cetera, right now with their tour around the country. And so we have to be mindful of that. Right. Because I don't think that we should go down a national security road to critique this administration. But that's why this story, I think, is more than that. It's about their incompetence. It's about their contempt for really governing in a way that keeps the people in mind, keeps our safety in mind. And that goes all the way. You can extend it to Doge and the fact that they just let an unelected billionaire rifle through our most sensitive personal information in the treasury, our health records. Our financial records, our bank statements, our Social Security numbers, just giving it access to this guy. It's the same thing here. Just signal war plans app I downloaded on the app store.

Matt Binder (12:40)

All caps at 14, 15 strike drones on target parentheses. This is when the first bombs will definitely.

Emma Vigeland (12:51)

I mean, come on, come on.

Matt Binder (12:55)

I see war plants every day. That's not war plans. Okay.

Emma Vigeland (12:58)

And if Waltz is the sacrificial lamb, just know that it's because, well, both Waltz and Hegseth are total clowns and both in any merit based administration, both of them would be forced to resign. But Trump is going to keep Hegseth around. I'm telling you guys right now because, and I think, Matt, you maybe made this point first. Blackmail is a very valuable resource for a guy like Donald Trump. We see it with Eric Adams and what he was trying to do to get him to enforce his immigration policies. Hegseth is a black male rich subject. We know this from again, the allegations and police report that we have repeatedly reference the other instances of his excessive drinking leading to some questionable decision making. And I also think that's the case with RFK Jr. Who has many skeletons in his closet as well. Trump sees this as a way to control people so that I don't. I think that Waltz, if anybody resigns, it'll be Waltz. But know that like why Hegseth is. Is being kept around and it's because he's so controllable. And that comes off in those, in those messages. How wishy washy he is. The only person raising any concerns is J.D. vance. And that's because his ass is worried about 2028 where he thinks he's going to be president. So total clowns and sycophants. And that's exactly what Trump wants.

Matt Binder (14:30)

Yep. Also all done. Because the sort of threats to shipping that the Houthis represent, the missiles they're firing at Israel because they're doing a genocide.

Emma Vigeland (14:41)

Right.

Matt Binder (14:41)

And Israel should stop doing that. And we cannot have all the shipping that we want.

Emma Vigeland (14:45)

Yeah. And pretty sure, like, I mean, as we call them, you know, terrorists, which it just becomes like the word has less and less meaning every time it's used by either the United States and Israel.

Kristi Noem (14:56)

Real.

Emma Vigeland (14:56)

It's just basically resistance to this, this genocide in many ways. But like it's kind of a tale as old as time. As if, like when, when there's a country that is acting in a way in your region that you disagree with, that you disrupt commerce and travel through the seas that are off your shores. Like, this is the Kind of thing that is done, has been done throughout history in warfare. And we're acting like this is this terroristic threat to the rest of us.

Matt Binder (15:23)

No, it's just barbarians doing barbarian things. It's like. Well, right, if your contention is that if Israel was being perfect neighbors to the Palestinians, the Houthis would still be doing that, well, their justification would be a lot thinner. So maybe take away one of the main justifications they have, which is an exceedingly righteous one at this moment, which they don't.

Emma Vigeland (15:42)

They know that that's not the case because when there was the temporary ceasefire, you know what happened? The blockade stopped. So the Houthis are well within their rights to do this. And they are, I would guess, getting more popular support within Yemen for doing this. Because by the way, the United States empire not looked favorably upon by the citizens who are constantly being bombed. And we killed almost a million people in Iraq. You think they love us over there or do they just hate us for our freedom?

Matt Binder (16:09)

Yeah, it has nothing to do with the Saudis and the relationship there, that sort of stuff.

Emma Vigeland (16:14)

They're just, they're just, they just hate.

Matt Binder (16:16)

Us for our freedom.

Emma Vigeland (16:17)

They're just that. They just, they're, they're barely human. I mean, that's why we can bomb them. Sarcasm. With that said, here is a word from some of our sponsors. Fast Growing Trees. Did you know Fast Growing Trees is the biggest online nursery in the United States with more than 10,000 different kinds of plants and over 2 million happy customers in the U.S. i have a potted plant in my apartment from them that, I mean, despite my best efforts, has lasted over a year. Sam has gotten various trees from Fast Growing Trees. He has a real green thumb. And Johnny Appleseed, certainly Sammy Appleseed, many people are saying. And so, you know, it's just like a great service. And especially as we're coming up on springtime, having just some greenery, even if you're in a small space like I am in my apartment, it just makes the space feel more alive. And taking care of it, I don't know, is gratifying to me. But you can also grow lemons, avocados, olives, fig trees inside your home on top of a wide variety of houseplants that are available. The experts at Fast Growing Trees curate thousands of plants so you can find the perfect fit for your specific climate, location and needs. You don't have to drive around to nurseries and big gardening centers. Fast Growing Trees makes it easy to order online. Your plants are shipped to your door in one to two days. Whether you're looking to add some privacy, shade or natural beauty to your yard, Fast growing trees has in house experts ready to help you make the right selection. With growing and care advice available 24, 7, you can talk to a plant expert about your soil type, landscape design, how to take care of your plants and everything else you need. No green thumb required. This spring they have the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an additional 15% off their first purchase when using the code majority at checkout. That's an additional 15% off at fast growing trees.com using the code majority at checkout. Fast growing trees.com code majority offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. And lastly, Delete Me. Delete Me is a sponsor that I use before I even joined the show, before it was a sponsor of the show. Obviously. Delete Me is really important to delete, you know, your personal information off the web because I gotta say, you know, there are some conservatives that really like to go at you and find you and we have some colleagues that have dealt with certain situations. Obsessive types. Yep, obsessive types. Delete Me. I, you know, feel much safer using their service. They make it quick, easy and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everybody vulnerable. Deleteme does all the hard work of wiping you and your family's personal information from data broker websites. And they're constantly culling the data too. So it's always working. It's not a one time thing. And you can feel safe knowing that they're catching this data on the Internet. Delete Me knows your privacy is worth protecting. Sign up and provide Delete Me with exactly what information you want deleted. And their experts take it from there. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for our listeners today. Get 20% off your delete me plan by texting majority to 64,000. The only way to get 20% off is to text majority to 64,000. That's majority to 64000 message and data rates may apply. All right, quick break and when we come back, Noah, Colin will be join it. We are back and we are joined now by Noah Colwyn, writer, host of the excellent Blowback podcast, friend of the show. Noah, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

Noah Colwyn (21:12)

Thanks for having me.

Emma Vigeland (21:13)

So let's start here. I mean you were Arrested around two weeks ago at a Jewish Voice for Peace demonstration at Trump Tower in New York. You were protesting the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil and obviously just the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Tell us a bit about that experience.

Noah Colwyn (21:31)

Sure, sure. So I'm a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, and a call went out to organize a group of people who would be willing to risk arrest in Trump Tower. The idea was to call attention to the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil at that point, sort of imminent breaking of the ceasefire. The conditions have been trending toward violence for some time, or increased violence. And of course, the escalator that we were all. Something like 100 of us were arrested next to is where Trump announced his candidacy in 2015. And I don't know if you've ever been to that level of Trump Tower. I hadn't, which was interesting. But there's. It looks like a thing in a mall, just with more crappy gold stuff. There was a big picture of Fred Trump staring at me as I was getting cuffed, and I thought that was pretty funny.

Emma Vigeland (22:31)

Here's your arrest photo.

Noah Colwyn (22:32)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Badass.

Emma Vigeland (22:35)

Look at that.

Noah Colwyn (22:37)

Credit to the wonderful journalist William Turton, who is a great substack for taking that. Yeah, I mean, it was. It was a really tremendous action, you know, for. For just being able to generate that kind of attention and sort of show that there are lots of Jews and lots of other people in this country, allies as well, who say no to genocide, who say no to the unspeakable crimes done in the name of Jews all over the world. And, you know, this extends from the genocide underway in Gaza, the sort of waves of settler violence and expulsion now consuming the west bank that affected one of the directors. I mean, they lynched and absconded with and only returned later. One of the directors of no other land, like day before yesterday, you know, to the current sort of ICE Capades, I guess, against all of these people who have committed no crime other than to be on visas in this country or green cards and to have expressed constitutionally protected political opinions. You know, we have. I mean, I've. You know, just to run through it at this point. There's a Yunso Chung, the Columbia student who is the New York Times said was being hunted.

Emma Vigeland (24:06)

Yeah.

Noah Colwyn (24:07)

By ICE at the moment. And who successfully filed a suit barring. Barring that outcome. But who knows if the Trump government will listen to it. Ramesa Oz Turk, the Tufts University graduate student who was. I mean, there's. The footage is everywhere now, but we'll.

Emma Vigeland (24:23)

Play that In a sec. Yeah, yeah.

Noah Colwyn (24:25)

Daniel Boguslaw had footage that I saw that was repulsive. Right. Alireza Daruti, who was the Georgetown University fellow who, again, has also been picked up. And, sorry, that's Badr Khansori. And then Alireza Daruti is the graduate student at University of Alabama who was also just arrested. And the deed end is escalated for deportation. And details in all cases are. In. Most of these cases now are difficult to come by. And all of this is, of course, in addition to the, you know, the proceedings still underway to get Mahmoud Khalil out of the country, in which all of you know, all of their appeals and ongoing litigation for all of these. But it's a really staggering wave of repression that the country has not seen since the McCarthy era.

Emma Vigeland (25:16)

Yes, it absolutely is. Let's. Let's. I want to ask if you can expand on the historical parallels to the McCarthy era in just a second, but since we're on this subject, this footage of Tufts student Renesa Osterk basically being taken by DHS agents, I guess that's who they are. They could be ice, dhs, we don't know. They're in plain clothes, just like that, you know, Marvel freak that arrested Mahmoud Khalil. That footage shows that they're basically dressed as civilians. You don't need to go far to find historical parallels for secret police dressed as civilians. The Gestapo also operated in this way. And here's this footage, and you can hear her kind of screaming in terror. This is Boguslaw, who has this footage, who's been doing some great work, Daniel Boguslaw. And according to her lawyer, she's now been flown to that Louisiana ICE facility where Khalil was taken. They're also guys covering your faces. They're all. Yeah, they're. They're faces. I take those masks off. Yeah. A reminder that in Nassau county, just a kidnapping. Sorry, this guy's narrating, too. But I'll. I'll talk about this when the video's over. Yeah, you don't look like it. Why are you hiding your faces? Why are you hiding your faces? Can I see some faces here? How do I know this is the police?

Noah Colwyn (27:26)

Seems like bullshit to me. Certainly looks like it.

Emma Vigeland (27:31)

All right, so there it is. That's the footage of her being taken. And what I was, you know, for the podcast audience, what I was saying a little bit there, as you can hear the person taking the video narrating it, but in Nassau County, New York, they just banned face masks because they said that it's hiding the faces of pro Palestine demonstrators. They did this last year. But, you know, if you're working on behalf of the federal government and you're supposed to be identifying yourself now, it's all cool. You can hide your face basically from people that are trying to record you picking up and disappearing somebody for political speech. Just your reaction, Noah?

Noah Colwyn (28:16)

Yeah, I think, you know, you asked me before the break about parallels to the McCarthy era, and I think that something there that is sort of worth like expressing was that in that day, obviously at the height of the Cold War, in the middle of the Korean War, you know, a few years after a Democratic president had just passed through a Federal Service and Federal employee Loyalty Oath act, you know, this, there was all of this anti communist fervor and they went and sought to denaturalize and deport citizens for their political beliefs, for their political associations. And I think that in this way, obviously the people being targeted are not citizens and that's part of why they're being targeted, because there is a perceived legal vulnerability that these people have in, you know, obviously what I think by any sensible standard is constitutionally protected activity. But because they're not citizens, they don't enjoy those protections. And so in a lot of ways it's actually a real intensification, you know, using sort of built on top of the crazy anti immigrant apparatus that we've constructed since, you know, creating the Department of Homeland Security. This really onerous and crazy architecture is now being wielded in this like, very politicized way.

Emma Vigeland (29:41)

And can you talk a little bit more about that? Because the Department of Homeland Security, ice, I mean, you and I are both older than those agencies and I'm very slowly, because I'm just, you know, reading a few different things. But I'm reading Richard Speck, Richard Beck's book Homeland, and I've been citing it where he basically, he does make this argument that the Trump administration, in the moment that we're in, is a culmination of the war on terror and frankly, the erosion of our rights under that and the expansion of the surveillance state, which has also been contracted out to the likes of Peter Thiel and other people that are big power players within this administration. It feels like we are at that kind of point where ice, DHS, etc. Is being weaponized by him in this very explicitly political way that couldn't have happened if there wasn't kind of a bipartisan support for this apparatus in the wake of 9 11.

Noah Colwyn (30:46)

Absolutely. I think in general, the idea, you know, the idea is obviously not to say that like, well, because of 9 11, we now have deportations like this. It's not quite, you know, there's, there's a lot of things that have happened and a lot of it takes like a, you know, this is a radical political, social development. You know, it's, it's not. But what I think Richard Beck is correct to emphasize in his very good book is the idea that like the war on terror was a shot in the arm that built the institutions and that used the currents of popular consent derived in those, you know, early 2000s years to build. Yeah, again, these institutions that were novel and that have in a matter of, you know, 20 years insinuated themselves into really, you know, the critical spaces of our, of our, of our lives, of our society. I think it's, you know, there's equality to me of this that is especially heinous because of course, you know, this is, what we're describing is like one piece of a repression that was obviously meted out around the whole globe. And the war on terror was a global war on terror. But you know, it's like, it's not to say that, like to, to use this to obscure that, but just to say that this is, you know, one part of this like, larger like story all over the world, waves of repression and governments that we've armed and that we've developed military relationships and so on with that have helped make the world the way that it is that has produced the slaughter in Gaza, for example. You know, I think something that people maybe forget perhaps is that Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the star witnesses before Congress testifying on behalf of the Iraq war.

Emma Vigeland (32:42)

Yeah. And you know, a moment, 9, 11, when he said how good this is going to be for us and he smiled and then immediately took it back.

Noah Colwyn (32:50)

Oh yeah, well, he, he's, he has, I mean, he's, he's, he's gotten a lot better about not ever doing stuff like that in public anymore. He's a pretty smooth character. But the moment I will, you know, he, you know, he's, he argues, he just, he, he goes before Congress and he endorses the cause full throatedly and casts himself as an expert on terror. And we sort of live in the world. Live in a world in part sculpted very determinedly by people who think that way. I think one other element that I would kind of add to this though, you know, just from firsthand experience, of course, is also the physical relationships, obviously. Institutions, hiring people. Yeah, that's physical. Trust me. It Feels practically proctological if you go on a flight these days. Am I right? But there is. I do think, you know, it's not a joke. It's not a Twitter meme that, like, the. The equipment and the. The actual means of policing as a result of these last 25 years have also developed in a really. How to put it? Like, they've also developed in this, you know, really pervasive and crazy and astonishing way. When I was at Columbia the night that they raided and cleared out hin Hall, Hamilton hall, in 1968, which was occupied by activists, then this really brutal police raid, they sent this gigantic black truck. I mean, it looked like something out of, like, a Verhoeven movie or like the truck or the vehicle from Aliens. Like, it was astonishing. And they, you know, and this is to root out a bunch of kids, a bunch of students, right inside a building, and they raise this ladder and they all go up with stuff. And, you know, I mean, like, a gun went off apparently in there. They, you know, like, I. I heard a story about a student being thrown down, being, you know, one student just thrown downstairs. I mean, it's truly, you know, it was vicious and it was, you know, with this, like, piece of equipment that is, I guess, part of why, like, you know, is, like, is. Is itself like a something that just would not have existed in a pre war on terror era, or at least I think its deployment would have been sort of less common and less obvious. I mean, hell, the Strategic Resources Group that handles all of these, you know, that arrested me and is also a major part of containing protest is itself like a creation of this era. The NYPD's Muslim surveillance squad.

Emma Vigeland (35:25)

Yep.

Noah Colwyn (35:26)

That operated for many years and I'm sure still operates in some form despite being under legal sanctions.

Emma Vigeland (35:32)

Yeah. It's also. You can talk about police brutality and the militarization of our police force as a continuation of that as well, because they, you know, there was a lot of defense contractors that got rich, and they couldn't even use all of the equipment that they made. And so what? Where does the leftover war on Terror equipment go? Well, it goes to your local police force, and when they have the toys, they're going to use them. And so I think it's not an easy narrative to fully wrap your head around, but the reason we're here, we can go back and trace it. And it's very much what you describe when you talk about the protests in Colombia back, I guess, a year ago now, and how Colombia is at the center of Basically, this capitulation to Donald Trump, how after the genocide began, they banned two student activist groups, including Jewish Voices for Peace, on their campus with claims of anti Semitism, I am just baffled, and it's naive. But when I read these newspaper articles where they vaguely talk about how Jewish students feel unsafe on campus, and they're referring to Zionist students who are excluded from the protests because they're there to stir shit up Jew. Jews are disproportionately represented in these demonstrations. Based on just like my experience of going to protests, there are a lot of Jewish people who want to say, this is not in our name, and it doesn't get reflected in the news coverage whatsoever. And my guess is just like in terms of the percentage of the population, and if you looked at the percentage of people who are doing these demonstrations, Jews would be overrepresented in all of them. But that doesn't get reflected in the media coverage of this whatsoever.

Noah Colwyn (37:29)

Yeah, I think the idea is that they want to cast Jews and Muslims as monoliths and to create simple us and them narratives that are, you know, reinforce what tend to be the frame, the. The by the frames, the biases through, you know, that shape how the people who tell these kinds of stories and the people who will power view this. Because I think that that's. That's more or less how I do feel that there is like, you know, like you're. It's, you know, like there are plenty of people I meet who are they? Like, wait, a Jewish guy who's pro Palestine.

Emma Vigeland (38:08)

Right.

Noah Colwyn (38:08)

And I get it, you know, like, it's. It's like the world we inhabit, unfortunately, like a major task of our time is, you know, to be anti essentialist, to say that, no, not everybody who is a certain thing necessarily thinks a certain way, who is of a certain background. I think where it's. With Columbia, what makes it difficult is that the organized Jewish community at Columbia and the influential trustees and donors, the people who actually hold power at Columbia and in student life, evidently they want to actively make criticism of Israel the same thing as antisemitism in life, in law, in code of conduct. And that's their mission. And it's obviously one that I fight with every fiber of my being, but that's what they want. And I don't necessarily feel that there is like a. I don't necessarily feel that what has happened at Columbia, for example, was, you know, that like, you know, like I understand. And in a larger sense, it is totally true. Columbia capitulated, Columbia failed its students it failed its community. It failed at its mission of being an institution of higher learning, a university, if that word is to mean anything. But it also sought to be an active collaborator of the Trump administration, as, you know, with these people with power, chose it chose to be an active enforcer of this, to sustain this conflation, because that's what they want to believe. And a huge and not insignificant part of shaping that effort has been the major American Jewish establishment. And I think that it's going to have to be like, you know, the task of Jews like myself and, you know, for people everywhere to sort of convey and help understand that the establishment does not necessarily reflect how all Jews feel. It doesn't mean that Jews are a certain way. And moreover, that, in fact, I view this conflation as itself an anti Semitic act, that as the years go on, as Israeli crimes continue and as you know, Colombia tamps down dissent under the name of anti Semitic, you know, student safety and so on, you know, it is a conflation that will sustain and generate anti Semitism. And, yeah, I mean, it's undeniable to me.

Emma Vigeland (40:51)

The Trump administration diving right into this conflation should probably give some people some cues.

Matt Binder (40:58)

Shalom, Mahmoud.

Emma Vigeland (40:59)

Shalom.

Noah Colwyn (41:00)

Yeah, well.

Emma Vigeland (41:01)

Oh, yeah, that got me. That got my blood boiling, I think.

Noah Colwyn (41:04)

Yeah, that was tough.

Emma Vigeland (41:05)

That that's what. For people who aren't, you know, hopelessly online, like the three of us here, the White House tweeted Shamu Shalom Mahmoud when they arrested him. And that's like Stephen Miller doing that, by the way, who is a white nationalist. That's clearly coming from him. And you see how Zionism fits in quite nicely with our most far right movements. Because even though Stephen Miller and Trump are deeply anti Semitic, what they admire about Israel is its ethnostate nature. It's the same way you can hear open white supremacists like, praising Israel, like Richard Spencer, because they like that they are enforcing their ethnic purity through violence. And that is their kind of vision for what they want, really, America and other nation states to be like. So I guess for my final question for you, Noah is like, with all of that said and with this administration, you know, they're going to be in power for the next three and a half years. Ish. And hopefully not after that. But we don't know, you know, what are the challenges that are presented in protesting for Palestine under this administration? Because if you are here on a green card or you're here as a student, obviously we know what's. What's Happening. Right. And everybody needs to be wearing masks. Masks, Masks, masks. Face coverings. But, yeah, you know, you're. You're a U.S. citizen. Right. Like, there's different challenges. But what would be your kind of message of how we should be approaching our advocacy for Palestine in this moment?

Noah Colwyn (42:47)

Well, I think, you know, the. When, like, I will say what everybody says, which is get organized. But I will attempt to at least go a little bit further than the mere tweet or Facebook post or IG post and tell you what I mean by that. So this action at Trump Tower, for example, which was able to draw a lot of press attention, probably made him at least a little mad for like, 15 seconds. But again, was, you know, a basis for, you know, some kind of demonstration that a group of people are willing to commit and willing to, you know, devote their bodies for a few hours to, you know, to. To show and to draw attention to what the hell's going on then, you know. What I mean by get organized is that I was reached out to for that by somebody who is connected to jvp, and I'm a part of jvp. Yeah. But, like, you know, somebody had to, like, think, like, oh, he would be a good guy for this. And they did that because, like, they knew I'm, you know, committed and interested, and that's because of things that I'd said and done that showed them that. And, you know, that, like, it was, you know, whether it's the conversations you have with somebody, like, it's the. Your friends that you've known for a while who just, like, know you're a real one, and, you know, you. You should leverage those relationships to try and get close to the action and, you know, and. And to sort of, you know, be. Be conscious of wherever you are, like, who's doing the thing that I most want to be a part of, and if nobody's doing that, who is doing something that I want to be a part of somewhere else? And what can I learn from them? I think, you know, it's. It's. It's understandable to want, like, a really simple roadmap, but I think that, you know, it really does kind of just have to start with, like, finding other people and working with them. People who share your values and who you think, like, have integrity and can do stuff on time and not flake out. You know, it's. It's. It's kind of on that level. And the only thing I would add to that, you know, is in sort of how you initially sort of Frame the question, Emma, which is, you know, like there's a lot of risk ahead. You know, there's always risk. And some of that is pretty low risk. What I did, I think was pretty low risk. But there are things that involve more risk. And I think that people can sort of figure out for themselves, you know, how much risk are they willing to take, how much time are they willing to commit? Because oftentimes I do think that, you know, there's, while there are those of us who for whatever reasons, for whatever abilities or lack thereof or immigration status are not able to participate in this, in this action, you know, the question for somebody to ask themselves as well, there are others who may not be able to give, but what can I.

Emma Vigeland (45:39)

Well said, Noah. Really appreciate you coming on today. And everybody, as always, check out blowback.

Noah Colwyn (45:44)

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Emma Vigeland (45:45)

Yeah, thanks so much. All right, folks, quick break and when we come back, we are going to be joined by Domingo Garcia to talk about the another protest, but an upcoming one this Saturday. Hey, folks, sorry we're having some difficulties connecting with our second guest. So for now we'll, we're going to just do a, we'll do an immigration related story here. So I mentioned this in headlines, but this footage of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has been making the rounds because of how objectively cruel it is. Here she is standing in front of prisoners in El Salvador's maximum security prison, which is housing deportees from the United States using, and you can see here in the freeze frame using these folks.

Unnamed Guest (46:45)

As props here at CCOT today and visiting this facility. And first of all, I want to thank El Salvador and their president for their partnership with the United States of America to bring our terrorists here and to incarcerate them and have consequences for the violence that they have perpetuated in our communities. I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face. First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be released, removed, and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.

Emma Vigeland (47:20)

So the crimes that she's referring to are not specified because she can't specify them. We've seen the data in terms of people who have been grabbed up. There's an increase in detentions for all of these categories, but the most rapid increase is for people who have no criminal record. What they're trying to do is basically classify the entrance into the United States over the border without the proper documentation as a crime in and of itself. But they are also going after green card holders. They are also going after people who have temporary protected status. And now we know this from reporting that there have been people who were detained, their heads shaved, put in underwear like that as a prop for this fascist attempt by the Trump administration, that one of them was a hairdresser who's lgbtq, who had a tattoo. I'm not sure if this is the same man or just somebody else. Another innocent person that they rounded up the tattoo roundups of Real Madrid that had a crown on.

Matt Binder (48:29)

Sorry, a soccer player that had the Real Madrid tattoo.

Emma Vigeland (48:31)

Okay, so two tattooed people. One of them.

Matt Binder (48:34)

There's another third that had an autism awareness tattoo.

Emma Vigeland (48:37)

That's the one that just came out last night. That there was a guy who was picked up. Who. One. One of those people, presumingly in that crowd of chained human beings behind her who had an autism awareness tattoo because I think his brother has autism. And they're classifying that as a gang member. A gang member good enough for Tom.

Matt Binder (49:01)

Homan to ship him to a gulag.

Emma Vigeland (49:03)

And as they laugh at the idea of due process, you know, that's what that process would be, determining whether or not these men have committed crimes. And like, it is evoking images of a concentration camp. And it seems like it's on purpose. I mean, it is one, because as we played earlier, these plainclothes officers that are rounding up people who have demonstrated on behalf of the Palestinian people and against the act of genocide that is Israel is committing with our tax dollars, that is very reminiscent of the Gestapo. Plainclothes secret police rounding up people and disappearing them. They're borrowing from the Nazis in our. And they're basically bragging about it. It is what it is, as they call it. They say it's anti. They're combating anti Semitism. It is McCarthyite Zionists or McCarthyists in the modern day. McCarthyites, whatever you want to say. And anybody who looks at this and thinks, hell, yeah, we got him, you have some soul searching to do. Because when I see this, I think of the worst moments in our history and her basically trying to use this as some sort of, I don't know, justification for further human rights abuses. All right, quick break. And when we come back, I think our guests will be with us momentarily. All right. Second time was not the charm, unfortunately. I wish we could have done this interview, but I guess we're having some technical difficulties, which happens, so doesn't mean that if you're not in, if you're in the Texas area or the Dallas area, it's a huge state that you. Of course, it doesn't mean that. I don't know why I'm framing it that way. Whatever. We're, we're a little frazzled trying to figure out the tech stuff. But if you're in, in the Dallas metro area, if you're, you know, looking to demonstrate for immigration reform and to stand up for immigrants, mega March of 2025 is thus far the biggest, I think, protest that's been organized this calendar year against the Trump administration's efforts to deport people. So check out mega March of 2025. It's a March for immigration reform. A bunch of different groups are involved. And, you know, it's also a way to kind of stand up for the students that are being just taken by the Trump administration. There was an article in the Bulwark that explained what the organizers want. If you're a military veteran, they want you to wear your uniform. If you're a nurse or a doctor, wear your scrubs. If you're a graduate, wear your cap and gown. The point is to show that immigrants are, you know, a part of our everyday life and integral to our social fabric. And they're any, you know, they could be at your doctor's office or they could be fighting for this country as a member of our armed services. So we'll put a link to this in the description.

Matt Binder (52:08)

Yeah, important to show numbers to these sorts of things. And it's also, you know, there is an impression that sort of implied in discussions like say, Sager saying, hey, Trump won the popular vote. It's mass deportation time. People's attitudes towards immigrants had actually been getting better prior to the election, despite both parties basically buying into the complete fear mongering. That said, we need to continue funding the boondoggle on the border that criminalizes people. That, of course, really just does it for the bosses, despite the sort of pro worker drapery that those folks like to do. But we can turn this back. And once people see, once people are realize that there's actually nothing, there's no goodies in it for me. After the mass deportations, there's not going to, all of a sudden my life's not going to get better. I'm not going to all of a sudden retire 10 years earlier. Which is a disgusting calculus, but it's a powerful propagandistic one that the Republicans have used to win elections and even kind of the Democrats buy into A little bit, but showing pro immigrant sentiment and saying like, yes, this is part of our communities. We aren't actually a white enclave surrounded by, you know, it's Noah talking about the sort of Israeli influence on our post 911 terrorism thing. I remember the month after October 7th, Dave Rubin had a guy on coming from Israel saying, you guys need to work on your border because that's what we, that's what we failed to do. You know, we don't need to do that. We need to make these borders less brutal and you know, work about trying to make the world better for everybody, not just, you know, criminalizing people that whose economies we destroyed.

Emma Vigeland (53:53)

Yep. Well said. With that said, we're gonna run, run into the fun half. We're gonna have some fun in the fun half where we will read your IMs and take your calls. The number is 646-39-20. We will open up the phone lines in just a bit on the other side of the fun half music. Matt, what's happening on left Reckoning?

Matt Binder (54:14)

Let's get these two guys.

Emma Vigeland (54:18)

Thank you guys for filling in for me last week.

H (54:21)

Oh, no problem. It was my pleasure. Our pleasure.

Emma Vigeland (54:25)

Well, now that you have, you know, the taste of the power of hosting this, the Thursdays once again. What, what's, what's, what are your plans? You're going to try to take over my slot permanently? Is that the deal?

I (54:41)

I've already gone mad with power. I guess I, it was my first time. It was my first time and I was still playing like co host role to the, you know, indefatigable Matt Bender. But I've already gone mad with power. I've already conquered half of Europe.

Emma Vigeland (54:58)

I could see that. And in between going around cutting, cutting.

H (55:03)

Ads all week, honestly just in my normal life, I'm just doing ad reads now, just off the cuff. Just I got the taste of an ad read and now I'm doing it all the time.

Emma Vigeland (55:13)

All right, well, yeah, cashing in. And what's happening on your shows, Bender? Anything, anything new?

H (55:19)

Yeah, sure. I did a stream last night basically just taking calls because it was a little while since I did that with listeners and talked about various things going on in the world. So check it out@YouTube.com Matt Bender.

Emma Vigeland (55:31)

Check it out there. Brandon, what's happening on the Discourse?

I (55:35)

Yeah, we have, I mean, well, we were streaming basically four or five times a week now except for this week because I'm off conquering the uk but next week I plan on doing some really fun stuff on the stream as opposed to the not so fun stuff that we normally do. But, yeah, you know. You know, stay abreast. You're going to be surprised. You'll be surprised by how much fun you have.

Emma Vigeland (55:56)

Oh, yeah. All right. And now, left reckoning.

Matt Binder (56:01)

We had G here on talking about Chuck Schumer and that sort of stuff. Sunday show. Patreon.com left Reckoning to get access to the Sunday shows.

Emma Vigeland (56:10)

All right, folks, heading into the fun half. See you on the other side.

Noah Colwyn (56:15)

Okay, Emma, please.

Emma Vigeland (56:16)

Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the Majority report. Wait, whoa.

Noah Colwyn (56:22)

Look, Sampa's unpopular.

Kristi Noem (56:24)

I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show.

Emma Vigeland (56:29)

It is Thursday. Yeah.

Noah Colwyn (56:31)

Thank you. Yes, please, sir.

Kristi Noem (56:34)

I'm going to pause you right there.

Emma Vigeland (56:36)

Wait, what?

Kristi Noem (56:37)

You can't encourage Emma to live like this. And I'll tell you why. Someone's offered a tour. Sushi and poker with the boys. Tour, sushi and poker was offered a tour.

Emma Vigeland (56:49)

Yeah.

Kristi Noem (56:50)

Sushi and poker with boys. Sushi and poker.

Emma Vigeland (56:55)

Tim's upset.

Kristi Noem (56:56)

Twerk, sushi and poker with two boys was offered with twerk Sushi and that's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and bulker with two boys.

Emma Vigeland (57:06)

Right. Twerk, sushi and we're gonna get demonetized.

Kristi Noem (57:10)

I just think that what you did to Tim pool was mean.

Emma Vigeland (57:13)

Free speech.

Kristi Noem (57:14)

That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about him. I think you're responsible.

Emma Vigeland (57:21)

Probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.

Kristi Noem (57:25)

Twerk, sushi and poker with the boys. Oh, my God.

Matt Binder (57:29)

Wow.

Kristi Noem (57:29)

Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Someone's offered with twerk.

Emma Vigeland (57:32)

Yeah.

Kristi Noem (57:33)

Sushi and poker with the boys. Logic. Twerk, sushi, and poker. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a kid. Twerk. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Add this debate 7,000 times, I'm losing my mind.

Matt Binder (57:51)

Some people just don't understand.

Kristi Noem (57:53)

So I'm not trying to be a dick right now, but, like, I absolutely think the us should be combining me with a wife and kids.

Emma Vigeland (58:00)

That's not what we're talking about here, all right?

Kristi Noem (58:05)

It's not a fun job. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Real thing. Willie Walker. That's a real thing. Was that offered in terms. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Real thing. That's a real thing. That's a real. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Rogan has done it again. That's a real thing.

I (58:26)

I think he might be blowing it out proportion.

Kristi Noem (58:28)

Real thing. That's offered. That's a real thing.

Emma Vigeland (58:32)

Let's go, Joey.

Kristi Noem (58:34)

Sushi and poker. Take it easy. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with boys. Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live.

Emma Vigeland (58:48)

YouTube. Sam has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore.

Matt Binder (58:54)

Anymore.

Emma Vigeland (58:54)

It was so much easier when the majority report was just you.

Kristi Noem (58:59)

Let's change the subject.

Emma Vigeland (59:01)

Rangers and Nicks are doing great now. Shut up. Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.

Noah Colwyn (59:06)

That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.

Emma Vigeland (59:09)

This is the pro killing podcast.

Kristi Noem (59:11)

I'm thinking maybe it's time to bury the hatchet.

Emma Vigeland (59:13)

Left his best violet twerk.

Kristi Noem (59:15)

Don't be foolish and don't tweet at me.

Noah Colwyn (59:17)

And don't d the way this. All of these people love it.

Emma Vigeland (59:22)

That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honors thesis about it. Wrote an honest thesis. I guess I should hand the main.

Kristi Noem (59:31)

Mic to you now. You want to write policy?

Emma Vigeland (59:34)

We already fund Israel. Dude. Are you against us?

Kristi Noem (59:37)

That's a tougher question I haven't answered.

Noah Colwyn (59:44)

Incredible theme song.

Emma Vigeland (59:45)

I bumbler.

Noah Colwyn (59:46)

Emma Viand. Absolutely one of my favorite people, actually. Not just in the game like period.