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The Majority Report with Sam Seder
3582 - CBS Censors Colbert's Talarico Interview; Breaking Trump's Cuba Siege w/ David Adler
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- [00:01]
Emma Vigeland
Hey, folks, this President's Day, skip the endless mattress sales and celebrate with something homegrown, expertly cultivated, slow cured, farm fresh hemp flower from our friends over at Sunset Lake Sebede. We love Sunset Lake Sebede. I have one, two, three products literally sitting right there on my desk right now, including these relaxed gummies, which are phenomenal. They've got Ashwanga in it. Sometimes I'll pop one of these before I head home on my commute. I've got the lotion here too, which is essential in the winter months. But they've got Smalls, they've got Keefe, they've got pre rolls, they've got everything. They've got stuff with a little bit of THC in it. And as we've talked about before, Sunset Lake is a company that you can feel very proud about supporting. They have partnered with us in the past on things like strike relief funds and refugee resettlement, carceral reform, among others. So Sunset Lake lives by its values. And to honor the occasion, for this week's sale, Sunset Lake is releasing three brand new flower strains. Lifter, a sativa dominant strain that's good for all day use. Suver Haze, perfect for staying relaxed, focused and productive during the day. And Sour Lifter, which is a mellow, funky take on the best selling lifter strain. And here's the best part. You can try these new strains plus all of their hemp flower pre rolls and vape carts. For 30% off, just use code flower power all one word at checkout, 30% off with code flowerpower at checkout. Head over to sunsetlakesetbaedet.com and use code flower power to save 30% on all Sebede smokables. This sale ends February 23rd at 11:59pm Eastern. See their site for additional terms and conditions. And now time for the show. It is Tuesday, February 17, 2026. My name is Emma Vigeland in for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, David Adler of Progressive International will be with us to talk about Trump's siege on Cuba and the aid flotilla being organized to break it. Also on the program, rest in power. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, champion of multiracial coalition politics and a fierce opponent of militarism and inequality. Dead at 84, two people killed, three injured during a shooting at a Rhode island high school hockey game on Capitol Hill. The DHS Funding standoff continues, so Republicans turn to disenfranchising voters. Majority Leader Thune promises a vote on the SAVE Act. House Republicans sponsor an amendment that would give Congress the power power to block presidential pardons. Interesting faces a steep climb in the Senate, but that Republicans are breaking with Trump. It's something a Bush appointed federal judge orders the Trump administration to restore the slavery exhibits that the National Park Service removed at his direction. Minnesota law enforcement once again says the FBI is refusing to share any evidence on the killing of Alex Preddy.
- [04:15]
Matt
The FBI won't do that. Gonna reform.
- [04:18]
Emma Vigeland
ICE body cams will do the trick. A two month old baby detained at the Dilley concentration camp in Texas has been choking on their own vomit and has not been able to get medical care. CBS censors Colbert's interview with James Talarico the night before Texas's early voting begins, which is today. Tom Pritzker steps down as Hyatt's chairman due to Epstein connections. Trump refuses to rule out regime change in Cuba as he starves the population. Population. Good luck with that. We've only been trying for 60, 70 years. And lastly, at least 60 people killed in Sudan remains one of the bloodiest conflicts horror shows on the planet right now. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the show everybody. It's an em Majority Report Tuesday, Newsday, Tuesday. I guess my camera is being a little bit funky here, but hopefully it corrects itself in just a second. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the show. Do you think that we can keep going?
- [05:42]
Matt
Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on, but hopefully it's just Internet weather.
- [05:47]
Emma Vigeland
Okay. All right, let's hope that that's the case. Prince Harry Enten said, I remember you talking about Jack Schlossberg's performance at that forum yesterday. While yes, his views were dry and it was a bit awkward to watch, it's important to remember that less than two months ago his sister died. So emotionally he might be in a complicated place right now.
- [06:05]
Matt
You shouldn't be in the race though.
- [06:06]
Emma Vigeland
Then don't be in the race. Yeah, I think that's the question. But yes, that is a very, very horrible story. It was horrible to read. But you know, we're talking about Congress, we're talking about fighting fascism, we're talking about defeating Zionism and white supremacy and taxing the rich. And so we can't play with people's, you know, individual issues right now.
- [06:28]
Matt
Their individual heroic story. Exactly like they're like again. And also a lot of people have horrible circumstances going on in their lives. Yeah, like, you know, I'm sure, like, some people on that stage next to him had some pretty horrible things happen as well recently in their lives. I don't know.
- [06:45]
Emma Vigeland
Yeah, I mean, I think. I think that's the point. Yes. Hopefully. We're back with the camera. Should I go? Okay, I'm good. So, as I mentioned in Washington, the fight over DHS funding continues. The only demand that is being reported that the White House is open to listening to is the body camera one, of course, the one that ICE kind of secretly wants. So that fight is still ongoing. However, in Texas, early voting in both Senate primaries begins today. The official primary is on March 3rd. On the Republican side, you have the incumbent, Senator John Cornyn, facing off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and also this other candidate, Wesley Hunt. But Cornyn's in Senate leadership. I mean, he's as a part of the elected Republican establishment as much so as much a part of that establishment as it gets. He has a major advantage in fundraising. Ken Paxton is a name you'll be familiar with, in part because he was recently impeached by the Republican Texas House, and then the state Senate ended up acquitting him for a litany of bribery and corruption charges. He's just a sketchy character. He tried to help Trump. Trump overturned the 2020 election. Trump was asked about an endorsement on Air Force One about this, and he said, I still haven't made a decision. As I mentioned, early voting begins today. I think at one point, a few days ago, he said, I endorse all of them. Ken Paxton's got to be like, dude, I'm one of the many, like, criminal acts that I engage in. Was trying to help you overturn the election, and you're not going to endorse me?
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David Adler
Don't care.
- [08:42]
Emma Vigeland
Yes. Sorry. What's in it for me?
- [08:43]
Matt
A little bit thirsty. Do that.
- [08:45]
Emma Vigeland
Yeah. You want. You need to leave me wanting more. Stop trying so hard. Republican groups have just been pouring in money on on behalf of Cornyn. I would be shocked if. If Cornyn doesn't pull through in the primary. But Republicans remain immensely concerned about this race. So much so that, as we talked about in January, Notice reported that the National Republican Senate Committee was, like, amplifying these dubious polls about Jasmine Crockett being a good candidate in Texas, then was sending them around and sending out texts and mailers and calls to Democratic voters urging them to call Jasmine Crockett to encourage her to run. And it ended up working. And so they feel that Crockett would be an easier general election candidate against a guy like Cornyn. And you know, this race is gonna be really, really important because one, of course, the Senate and the balance of power is at stake. But also because I really do think that Greg Abbott, the Republicans in the state of Texas, they have aligned incentives with Donald Trump with voter suppression. And we'll be talking about the SAVE act in just a second. But you think that this Republican governor isn't going to be on board with ICE or the National Guard terrorizing people at polling stations in the state of Texas in November in a heavily Latino state where the, what we're seeing since Trump won in 2024 is a massive swing of that demographic double digit swings back to the Democrats. You think that the Republican governor isn't going to be welcoming Trump, trying to engage in voter suppression and using an intimidation tactic that's racialized, having ICE go there and try to intimidate people. They're rounding up US Citizens, people who are going to these polling locations. They're going to be, they're eligible to vote. We'll talk about the myth of voter fraud again after this. But it still is an intimidation tactic because say you have family members that are undocumented, for example, or say that you just are Latino or brat or brown, you could be rounded up by ice. They're not discriminating based on your citizenship status. They're making these determinations based on your race. So that is down the line and something that we need to be keeping an eye on here for sure. But in terms of this primary race, last night Stephen Colbert went on air once again accusing the Trump administration of censorship. I would just say exposing their censorship because cbs, with their new ownership, the pro maga Zionist Ellison Nepo kid who has been acquiescing to the Trump administration since this purchase went through, apparently agreed to take this interview with James Talarico off the air last night, told Colbert that he couldn't air this interview. Here he is explaining what his side of the story is and his dealings with Trump's FCC and Brendan Carr.
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Stephen Colbert
You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That's Texas State Representative James Talarico. He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers who called us directly that we could not have him on the broadcast. Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this. You've probably heard, so you might have heard of this thing called the Equal Time Rule. It's an old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television. Television, not cable or streaming. That says if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidate's opponents on as well. It's the FCC's most time honored rule. Right after no nipples at the Super Bowl. There's long been an exception for this rule, an exception for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians. Now that's crucial. How else were voters supposed to know back in 92 that Bill Clinton sucked at saxophone? But on January 21st of this year, a letter was released by FCC chairman and smug bowling pin Brendon Carr. In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were motivated by partisan purposes. Well, sir, you're chairman of the fcc, so fccu.
- [14:09]
Emma Vigeland
All right, we got the picture. So that's how he, he opened the show. I mean, why would Colbert, why would Colbert have any Fs to give at this point? He's off the air, what, in May, June. That's when his show is set to cancel and, or to go off the air. And let's remind people the reason that he was canceled in the first place was because they wanted this merger to go through. That was one of the conditions because Trump didn't like the content of his speech. And as you know, frankly, anodyne as I find his criticisms of Republicans to be, that doesn't really necessarily matter. It's the precedent that it sets. And I mean, I don't know if Talarico could have asked for a better outcome. By the way, like, if he went on Colbert and this interview aired on tv, it would not even be much of a story. He gets like press attention as being an opponent of this authoritarian, deeply unpopular president. Two weeks or so before the, two or three weeks before the election is and the day early voting starts. Talarico's got to be pretty happy here.
- [15:27]
Matt
Yeah, it's a crazy gift for him to activate Democrats at a national level to pay attention to him and on a state level to make it clear who the Republicans are afraid of. I think it's pretty obvious.
- [15:40]
Emma Vigeland
It's kind of the definition of the Streisand effect. The fascists are just not good at this part of it. And so that's why they're gonna do more of what I'm warning about the authoritarian stuff. It's all they have is more mechanisms of control because they can't bully their way into what they want.
- [15:59]
Matt
And I'll say, like CVS again, what's the point of being owned by billionaires if you can't stand up to things like that? There's a willingness to the lawyer side of CBS saying, oh yeah, I guess we can't do that. You could fight it. Instead of going to Stephen and say you can't have him on, you could say, actually, we'll see you in court, Trump. But they're owned by people who actually agree with Trump on a whole lot of things.
- [16:27]
Emma Vigeland
And let's turn here now though, to the SAVE Act. Aaron Reichland Melnick, I saw he posted this on Twitter. Just a piece of the text of the SAVE act, which I hadn't seen before. Just to underscore how poorly written this piece of legislation is. It had a provision in it that said military members can use if they want to prove that they can vote, a document that's both a record of service and shows that you were born in the U.S. brian, our veteran correspondent.
- [17:05]
David Adler
DD214D214 and your birth certificate.
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Emma Vigeland
Yeah, okay, but those are two separate documents. The text of the legislation seems to like claim that there is one document that can provide both forms of proof it doesn't exist is basically the point that has been made. Just how sloppily it's being written.
- [17:26]
David Adler
Yeah.
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Emma Vigeland
Like for people that, you know, aren't aware right now, the Republican Party, it's been bubbling for a while. They were trying to include it in the appropriations negotiations that were happening some weeks ago. Thankfully, that was not tacked on to any of the appropriations bills because this is an immensely terrifying piece of legislation for democracy and for the future of voting in this country. Look, people who follow Congress say it's a tough going to be an uphill climb for the SAVE act to pass. But that doesn't really give me too much comfort here when I. When you understand how much the Republican Party has been trying to restrict voting.
- [18:19]
Matt
They'Ll never overturn Roe versus Wade.
- [18:21]
Emma Vigeland
Exactly right. Exactly right. And so the SAVE act is this mass disenfranchisement bill essentially that says that you have to have a passport or, or real ID and all of these different forms of identification to vote in the United States to prevent the scourge of non citizens voting in our elections.
- [18:48]
Matt
Not a real thing. That happens.
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Emma Vigeland
Not a real thing. The Heritage Foundation's own data looked at this and you know what they found? Since 1982, there have been under 100 cases, under 199 cases nationwide of non citizens voting.
- [19:10]
Matt
Have any of those given gotten close to impacting the outcome of an election? I'll answer that. No.
- [19:16]
Emma Vigeland
No. Well, wasn't. Wasn't there that Kevin Costner movie where he's this final in America that decides.
- [19:22]
Matt
The election and it turns out he's undocumented? That'd be a great twist to that movie.
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Emma Vigeland
I know that conservatives have a really hard time differentiating movies from reality or understanding art. I mean, that's kind of a part of the who problem. But no, that movie was not a real thing that that occurred. But in 2024, there was apparently one documented case of a non citizen voting. And in that scenario, the Kevin Costner movie would determine the election and it would really be important to know his citizenship status.
- [19:52]
Matt
This is important because the reason our cities are being occupied by these alcoholic Nazis is because the Republicans have this theory that the reason Democrats win elections and have won most of the popular votes in my lifetime is because there's illegals floating the polls on election day. It is a hysterical Nazi type lie. And it's again led to the occupation of our cities.
- [20:17]
Emma Vigeland
That originated from an anti Semitic white nationalist conspiracy theory, the Great Replacement Theory. The Great Replacement Theory has been embraced by the Republican Party. In 2015, 2016, when Trump was running and was giving lip service to this notion, we were told by conservatives that it was outrageous that we would even claim that they would embrace what Klan members have spoken about. That they feel that the Jewish population are the puppet masters that are orchestrating the mass migration of black and brown people into this country to replace white people in voting, but also in society, to change the contours of society. That is now wholly embraced by the Republican Party. I mean, particularly the final 2/3 of that conspiracy theory. If you ask after a few drinks with some of these guys, they'll say that first third. But they're more focused on the brown people element.
- [21:19]
Matt
I mean, that's basically what Marco Rubio was talking about at the Security conference.
- [21:22]
Emma Vigeland
Yeah, basically it just was. And so it's not a thing. Noncitizens voting, it's so infinitesimal that it's talking about it. You know, it's barely worth it. And there's already a law on the books on this front. In 1996, they passed this law, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility act that prohibited non citizens from voting in federal elections. It's against the law. It doesn't happen. And our existing protections are more than sufficient. To prevent it from happening. But what's also horrifying, though, is that the SAVE act, in its. The way it's written, also embeds the Department of Homeland Security, which we need to be talking about abolishing. In addition to its child ice, it embeds DHS into the systems of verifying voter eligibility. So the ICE Gestapo organization is. Under this piece of legislation, would take an even greater role in cross checking voter rolls across the country. The existing problems with DHS would be even more pronounced in this scenario because, as we mentioned, DHS is outside of the Department of Justice. It's a national security agency that is not confined by our domestic laws being applied to verifying people's voting data. This should scare everybody.
- [23:04]
Matt
Yeah. Or destroying it in an opportune way, like they can't be trusted. Look at what they're doing with the Epstein files. And now you're gonna put them in charge of the voting rolls. It's. That's really what this is about. It is the whole thing about, look at the scary immigrant might do this. That's just for them to get their guns out and be able to be in control of things.
- [23:22]
Emma Vigeland
And here is Chip Roy. Representative Chip Roy, Republican. Was he the guy that was the lone vote that didn't want to release the Epstein files? It might be him. He might be one of those cranks. Who was that lone vote? I'm sorry, I'm grinding us to the halt here, but. All right. Clay Higgins. It wasn't him. Dang it. All right, well, Chip Roy, here he is explaining how the SAVE Act. Don't worry about it. It's not going to disenfranchise women. Because we should mention that there was an analysis done that nearly 70 million American women have taken their spouse's name and they don't have a birth certificate, which is one of the requirements here. That would reflect their current legal name. And so this is what Chip Roy says should, like, should be the perspective on that massive bureaucratic problem that they're creating, let alone the disenfranchisement problem.
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Chip Roy
A lot of people are asking questions. They're saying, well, that's going to prevent women who've got complications with name changes. Hold on. We actually allow a fail safe that you go and you can sign an affidavit that says, this is my driver's license. My name is Sarah Jones on my driver's license. Here's my birth certificate. Sarah Smith. I certify under penalty of perjury that I. That I'm the same person. And we allow that, and we allow states to make other mechanisms under their laws to make sure that they match it. So just requiring a process, that is.
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David Adler
All that would be required of a married woman. Because that is a major talking point coming from Democrats and across the mainstream media that you are disenfranchising some 69 million married women.
- [25:08]
Emma Vigeland
Yeah, that's all that'll count. How about the men in this country? Do they have to do it? How about white men? I mean, like, you know, when the Trump administration, when they, you know, he's obsessed with the Gilded Age, he's obsessed with the Monroe Doctrine. He's obsessed with. With. With that period of history. What was the president that he was all over?
- [25:32]
Matt
McKinley.
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Emma Vigeland
McKinley. They are nostalgic for pre suffrage days, for pre civil rights legislation days for Jim. They are nostalgic for Jim Crow.
- [25:48]
Matt
Peter Thiel said all this.
- [25:50]
Emma Vigeland
They are nostalgic for the poll tax system. They want to make it harder for women to vote. And they're pretending like, gosh, all you got to do is just go sign an affidavit. All you have to do is sign an affidavit and jump through all of these hoops and this population. We're not gonna. We're gonna create a legitimately additional barrier for nearly 70 million American Americans in this country and then tell you it's not that big of a deal that you have to go through this extra step that your husband doesn't have to.
- [26:19]
Matt
Go through, hassling people on a mass scale, which, you know, on the individual level, you can say, well, can I go get a real id? Can I go get this or that? It's annoying to do it on an individual level. You may think, yes, I can do that. Right. These people know, stop being a baby about this and thinking about just being so impressed that you can handle your own business. They know on a mass level that this will disenfranchise lots and lots of people that won't go through that hassle because their life is too occupied. And so those people get disenfranchised. Those people will skew to be less wealthy and more under the heel of this economic system, because they just know that rich people have the time to go sort this stuff out or the money.
- [27:00]
Emma Vigeland
I mean, the real IDs and passports cost money. Real IDs and passports cost money. Because we decided as a society we could just give them for free. We could absolutely. You could just apply. You could get them for free. But. But no, we've tiered this. This is. This Is a part of creating different barriers to, to, to voting. This is. Let's play a clip. I think that there's a great example.
- [27:26]
David Adler
Here of an analogy, a metaphor, however.
- [27:29]
Emma Vigeland
You want to, however you want to say it, of the Republicans plan for how they want voting to look like in this country. I give you Nathan Fielder as well. Oh, wait, no, no, go second. Go there. A little bit further.
- [27:53]
David Adler
Right at the start of that. Right there.
- [27:55]
Emma Vigeland
Okay.
- [28:01]
David Adler
Oh, okay.
- [28:06]
Matt
That'S not good.
- [28:10]
David Adler
Yeah.
- [28:11]
Emma Vigeland
The customer may have been deter. Wait, show that, show this part.
- [28:15]
Chip Roy
Determined.
- [28:15]
Emma Vigeland
But once he came face to face.
- [28:17]
Sam Cedar
With our alligator, it was all over.
- [28:19]
Emma Vigeland
I, I'm sorry.
- [28:20]
Sam Cedar
I mean, I feel bad because that's a dollar we're losing as well.
- [28:22]
Emma Vigeland
You know, my plan didn't fully launch into that timestamp was wrong. We're fine. We're fine. That is Nathan for you. When he gives the business an idea. It's all right. Brian. Brian doesn't like when a joke set up. It doesn't go that well. Shocks your conscience. But that, that was Nathan for you when it, he was like that, gave an idea for the business. If you want to sell a discounted tv, you can offer lowest, the lowest price as possible. But people have to dress up in a tuxedo, go through a trapdoor, face an alligator to get to the tv. There you go.
- [29:00]
David Adler
Just turning voting into a trip to the dmv.
- [29:02]
Emma Vigeland
Yep.
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Matt
Is what it is.
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Emma Vigeland
Which they Republicans love to use as an example of why government doesn't work. And in reality, the dmv. Yeah, it's annoying, but it works. It works.
- [29:15]
David Adler
But I still have a California ID because.
- [29:19]
Emma Vigeland
Well, there you go.
- [29:21]
Matt
Make me go to there to have to vote.
- [29:24]
Emma Vigeland
Right.
- [29:24]
Matt
I hate that they hate the DMV so much they make you go there to vote.
- [29:28]
Emma Vigeland
Exactly.
- [29:28]
Matt
Before you vote.
- [29:29]
Emma Vigeland
Exactly. In a moment we're going to be talking to David Adler about the Cuba siege and the flotilla that these progressive advocacy groups, among them Progressive International, are putting together to break that siege. But first, a word from our sponsors here. We all set health goals, we want to lose weight, we want to exercise more, we want to eat better. But without a plan, sometimes those goals fade. That is where Prolon comes in. It's a five day fasting mimicking diet that gives you a science backed, structured approach to stay on track. Unlike Quick Fix's cleanses and detoxes, it resets at the cellular level, delivering benefits that stick with you long after five days. I remember Sam did this at the office and he was like really, really worried leading into it that he was gonna have an issue being cranky or with energy. And then every day of it he was like, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. You know, I'm doing great. And so he sam, worrying about being.
- [30:36]
David Adler
Cranky is really funny.
- [30:38]
Emma Vigeland
I mean, I could say, dude, that's just your natural state. But he was, I mean, all about it. And Prolon, it's this plant based nutrition program. It does have soups, snacks and beverages, so it's not the fasting that you're thinking of. It helps nourish the body, but it keeps it in a fasting state, triggering cellular rejuvenation and renewal. It was developed over decades with USC's longevity institute and it's backed by the top US medical centers. Prolon has been shown to support biological age reduction, metabolic health, skin appearance, fat loss with muscle production, energy, and a healthier relationship with food. With Prolon you get everything you need prepackaged so it's ready to go. Each order of Prolon's five day program comes with five boxes labeled by day so you know exactly what to eat, no prep or planning required. When I'm craving a real reset, Prolon works for me. It's convenient, backed by science and it works. Ready for your own reset. For a limited time, Prolon is offering the majority report audience 15% off statewide plus or sitewide, I should say plus, a $40 bonus gift. When you subscribe to their five day program, just visit prolonlife.com majority that's P R O L O N life.com majority to claim your 15% discount and your bonus gift. Prolonlife.com majority links down below in the video and episode descriptions. And lastly, did you know Fast Growing Trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over 2 million happy customers. I'm one of them. I got a plant in my apartment from Fast Growing Trees and it is just a great site and they have all the plants that your yard or your home needs. They've got fruit trees, privacy trees, shrubs, houseplants, flowering trees, all growing with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but it's anywhere that you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else. So on the site you can browse. They have stuff that your local nursery is not going to have most likely so you can check it out and it's really easy to look at all the descriptions of the plants. You just click, you order grow and healthy thriving plants are delivered to your door and it gives you whatever you're looking for. You can find options on the site that fit your climate, your space and your lifestyle. Their alive and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required, just quality plants that you can count on. Plus get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants and learn how to care for them every step of the way. I love my plant. It survived my move. Thanks Fast Growing Trees and it's you could filter it also for safety for pets, for my cats and fast growing trees made it incredibly easy. It can be really overwhelming and inconvenient to especially I don't have a car. This plant is bigger for me to lug it from a nursery. Fast Growing Trees solved that for me. Right now they have great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants and Our audience gets 20% off your first purchase when using the code Majority at checkout. That's an additional 20% off. Better plants and better growing at fast growingtrees.com using the code majority at checkout fast growingtrees.com code majority now's the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use Majority to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Link down below in the video and episode descriptions and at Majority fm. Quick break. When we come back, we'll be joined by David Adler.
- [34:47]
David Adler
It.
- [35:30]
Emma Vigeland
We are back and we are joined now by David Adler, political economist and general coordinator of Progressive International, here to discuss the Nuestra America flotilla that you are a part of organizing. David, welcome back to the show.
- [35:46]
David Adler
Thanks again for having me. Always a pleasure to be with you, Emma.
- [35:49]
Emma Vigeland
Of course. I mean I don't think that we spoke since you got back, by the way, from your experience with the Gaza Samud Flotilla. Before we talk about Cuba, just, just, just speak a little bit about your experience. I know you faced some incredibly harsh treatment as a Jewish American and as somebody who was was bringing aid to Gaza when you were in Israeli detention. Just just what you'd like our audience to know about that experience.
- [36:22]
David Adler
Yeah, I think it's also important to contextualize the last mission then the largest in history to traverse the Mediterranean Sea carrying critical humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. With the important note that an even bigger mission, more than twice the size of the one that we led in October, will be setting sail at the end of March, again seeking to break the siege of Gaza, but with a mission even more ambitious, which is to rebuild Gaza, to sort of say, you know, we're not going to let the so called Gaza Peace Board and Jared Kushner's vision of real estate development on some Gaza Riviera be the one that determines the future Palestine. On the contrary, we're going to be bringing all the doctors and teachers and builders that can contribute to a more popular effort around reconstruction. So, very excited to be playing a small part in the preparation of the next global Sumud flotilla. And with respect to, you know, my own experience in Quetziot at the hands of Ben GVIR and his goons, you know, it was a pretty terrifying at times. And certainly I witnessed things there that I wish I hadn't. Just a fraction of what we know are Palestinian brothers and sisters in the same concentration camp were suffering in Katzio to the Negev desert. But it's important for me, I think, to remember that that initiative, that form of direct action, that form of popular diplomacy, you know, the time that we were sailing back in October, it was the same time as the United nations witnessing the inaction, whether unwilling or incapable, of mounting a collective response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I was really inspired to be part of this very beautiful popular act of popular diplomacy, taking matters into our own hands to respond to that humanitarian crisis. And so a similar logic as we're going to discuss, I think, applies to the case of Cuba, where once again, in a more direct way, whereas Gaza was indirect in terms of U.S. participation through sales of weapons and diplomatic cover for Israel to lead that assault on Gaza, now we really have our hand on the throat of the Cuban people. And once again, I think it's the responsibility of U.S. american citizens in particular, but also friends and allies across the world, those who believe in international law, those who believe in human rights, to stand up once again and, and plant a flag that says, you know, we're not going to normalize these violations of international law, these tactics of siege with risk contagion into the international system much further than just our hemisphere.
- [38:58]
Emma Vigeland
And I mean, I do think that that flotilla was one of the most successful acts of civil disobedience that I feel like either of us probably lived through. So I'm just incredible that you were able to be a part of it. And of course, thank you for your bravery on this and all of your organizing. When you talk about the tactics of siege, I think that brings us nicely to our conversation here around Cuba because we're going to just. Let's play this clip of Trump here. He was on Air Force One yesterday, he was asked about Cuba. He says that they're talking to Cuba, and he claims that there's an embargo. And I want to respond to that. On the other side of this clip.
- [39:46]
Sam Cedar
You'Re warning Cuba to make a deal. What does that deal look like? What do you want them to do?
- [39:51]
Donald Trump
Cuba is right now a failed nation, and they don't even have jet fuel to get for airplanes to take off. They're clogging up their Runway. We're talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now. And they should absolutely make a deal because it's a humanity. It's really a humanitarian threat. And we have a lot of great Cuban Americans, and they're going to be very happy when they're going to be able to go back and say hello to their relatives and do things that they should have been allowed to do for a long time. I'm very interested in the people that are here that were treated so badly by Castro and the Cuban authorities. They have been treated horribly. So we'll see how it all turns out. But Cuba and us, we are talking. In the meantime, there's an embargo. There's no oil, there's no money, there's.
- [40:39]
Sam Cedar
No anything if a deal isn't made.
- [40:42]
Emma Vigeland
Now, keep going.
- [40:43]
Sam Cedar
Consider an operation like the one in Venezuela.
- [40:46]
Donald Trump
I don't want to answer that. Why would I answer that if I. If I was, it wouldn't be a very tough operation, as you could figure, but I don't think that'll be necessary.
- [40:57]
Emma Vigeland
Wouldn't be a very tough operation. Well, tell that to the CIA and to United States intelligence since the 1950s, who tried to assassinate Castro, what, dozens, if not hundreds of times, and failed over and over again. You know, when he talks about it being a failed country. No, it's a failure for United States intelligence and capital. It's a thumb in their eye, because the United States has already had an embargo on Cuba for over 60 years. This is not an embargo. An embargo, a trade embargo, has been the policy of the United States, much to my chagrin, even though, like when, if you're looking just at American power, it would probably benefit us more than it would hurt us to have a more chilled relationship, or maybe not chilled, that's the wrong word, but to chill tensions with Cuba, to have a warmer relationship with Cuba because they're right off of our coast and engage in trade. But instead, what the Trump administration and Marco Rubio are engaging in, and Trump gave away the game saying the people that are here. He's referring to the far right Cuban diaspora, which Marco Rubio is very much a part of and represents here. This is not an embargo. This is a siege and it's a revenge. They're starving people in this country right now over decades old humiliations to the United States intelligence and power and capital here in this country. And there doesn't seem to be any discernible foreign policy objective except as a gift to the far right Cuban diaspora.
- [42:39]
Chip Roy
Yeah.
- [42:40]
David Adler
So let's talk about the layers of US Policy when it comes to the strangulation of the island of Cuba and the asphyxiation of its people. I agree with you. Calling this an embargo seems to be a criminal understatement of the siege that we are now laying against Cuba. And Trump is quite forthright about saying we are the ones who are inflaming a humanitarian crisis and we're the ones who are advancing the logic that was once set out in black and white on a 1960 State Department cable that's explicitly said the goal of US policy towards Cuba in the case of Castro's victory is to prevent the arrival of any cash or money to inflame hunger and desperation on the island to and to inflict a form of social uprising that can lead to the fall of a government that the United States perceived to be somewhat adversarial to its prior interest in the Bautista regime, from which Marco Rubio's family originally fled, that was known for its brutality, known for its criminality, and known for its immiseration of the Cuban people, leaving them in forms of poverty and commiseration for many years. But this is a multilayered siege. So, first of all, if you go online and you have the misfortune, as I often do, of engaging with that far right Cuban diaspora, the line that often emerges, their narrative, which is one that Marco Rubio has made in Congress under oath, is that there is no blockade, there is no embargo, that everyone is free to trade with Cuba. The United States decides its relationship to the Cuban people, or its relationship with the Cuban government, so to speak, that, you know, we determine them to be some kind of threat to our national interests and national security. But really, there's no embargo. That's just a term that the Cuban socialist government uses as a way of excusing its own failures and mismanagement of the island. So, first of all, we're looking at a huge admission that I think is going to embarrass not just Marco Rubio, but that whole community in Miami where he's explicitly saying we do have an embargo and we do have the overwhelming capacity in terms of our control over the international systems of trade, in particular over the international system of finance, to keep Cuba completely isolated out of that system. So let's talk about those layers. There's the original blockade that's, as you say, been going on for longer than 60 years, which basically not only prevents countries, not only prevents US Companies from engaging in commerce with Cuba, but also prevents third party countries from engaging with Cuba. That's not a Republican policy, it's also a Democrat policy. I believe it was Obama who sanctioned Paribas for one of the largest fines in history of US Kind of economic statecraft, really, for daring to engage with financial services with the island of Cuba. So this is a long standing bipartisan legal framework that is built in Congress that can even be undone by an executive order. That's how deeply established, interwoven into a bipartisan view of our moral and political obligation to oversee the immiseration of the Cuban people. That's the blockade. Then you've got what's called a state sponsor of terrorism list. So Donald Trump's a big fan. He's did it in Trump won his final week in office, and he's done it again in Trump too, of putting Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism. What kind of terrorism, we don't really know. The justifications are extremely superficial and very difficult to believe. But effectively, this is one of our strongest forms of financial strangulation that bars Cuba and its people from participating in the international financial system, not just accessing financial developmental aid, for example, loans from the imf, grants from the World bank we're talking about for any major financial institution or even wire service like PayPal, for example, of engaging with transfers on the island. So that's the ssot. Joe Biden was generous enough to take Cuba off the SSOT list in his last week in office, only for Trump to put it back on the week after. So a lot of the blame for the present conjuncture with Cuba should be laid at the feet of the Biden administration, should be at the feet of his State Department, of Jake Sullivan and Tony Blinken in particular, who failed to restore the diplomatic relations that Cuba managed to establish with Barack Obama at a time that, as you say, with this thaw, oversaw a really golden period in Cuba when tourism was taking off, when there was really healthy relations between the two countries. But it was Joe Biden, who was really convinced by Marco Rubio, then head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that he could be the president that liberated Cuba finally from the grips of castriesta socialism. Now, you know, Marco Rubio is in pole position. He's leading out this clan of Gusano psychopaths who really are leading under the refrain of the beatings will continue until morale improves with respect to the Cuban people. We're going to make you poor. We're going to kill babies, we're going to kill mothers, we're going to kill grandmothers and grandfathers in order to secure their freedom. And that white Orwellian logic is the dominant one. And as you say, it's really dispiriting that we're not seeing a more forthright response, not just on the hill, but in the international community. And the failure to recognize that that tactic of siege, once normalized in Gaza, has been exported to Cuba and brics contagion to the rest of the world. And so those are really the stakes of what we're up against in Cuba. And I think we're a bit slow, a lot of people to come online to what a siege really means. It doesn't just mean, you know, one life at risk or another. It means the rapid collapse of critical infrastructure that sustains the island. Homes and hospitals and schools, basic medicines, you know, if there's no electricity, you can't store blood, you can't store important medicine, you can't move people from point A to point B. This is an unfathomable situation, I think for any so called first world country. And until we switch on to those humanitarian consequences, we're going to be very slow. Slow to realize that what we're doing right now is a historic war crime that will never be forgotten by the world at large.
- [48:47]
Emma Vigeland
So much there. Just an observation thinking about how both Biden and Trump 2.0 their foreign policies have been so retrograde, but in a bit in different ways. One, you have Trump talking about the Don Roe Doctrine, but really returning to a Cold War kind of era, hawkishness towards Cuba that makes very little sense in our current context politically. And when I say that there's no discernible foreign policy objective outside of just giving the Cuban diaspora what it wants in terms of immiseration, I just, I have a hard time seeing it except perhaps as a show of force for the rest of Latin America. But with Biden, you know, he was trying to fortify NATO and revolution, revamp the kind of like, you know, crumbling system of alliances that may have outlived its, its usefulness from the post World War II era. And both of these kinds of visions lack dynamism, lack a connection to reality, let alone, you know, I mean specifically the Trump admin tromps is so anti human and anti humanity and both are committed to the genocide in Gaza. But when you talk about the tactics of siege, I'm wondering if you could explain that to our audience because people may not be familiar with these tactics and if you could also expand on Cuba versus Gaza with this tactic because obviously a key difference is that Gaza is 141 square miles. There's also an occupation genocidal force within the Gaza Strip that makes the siege on Gaza even more acute but also more easily controlled by the Israelis with Cuba. Okay, this is a siege, but they are still a sovereign nation without say, you know, US occupation forces on the ground there, of course, that we know of, there may be some CIA agents or assets or whatever, but you understand what I'm saying?
- [51:00]
David Adler
I do. And with all due respect, the US is currently occupying Cuba. We run a massive detention and prison camp on the far end of Cuba that we call Guantanamo Bay. Another thing that Obama failed to fail to close and that Joe Biden also failed to close. There is an active occupation of Cuban territory. And as we approach the two year, the anniversary February of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, I wouldn't take for granted that that facility is not being used actively for more forward based operations. And I think this has to do. You know, Cuba is a sovereign nation and has expressed that sovereignty in glorious forms. Whether it's supporting anti apartheid struggles on the African continent, to sending medical brigades to impoverished parts of the world to provide critical medical services in places that oftentimes existing systems of public health can reach. But the United States, because of our hegemonic control of international systems of finance and trade, wields a very, very heavy stick of so called secondary sanctions. So when we say there's no fuel that will reach Cuba, we're not just saying that we won't allow our companies, Chevron or Exxon, to engage in fuel trades with Cuba. We're saying that any third nation that chooses on the basis of its sovereignty to engage in a fuel exchange with Cuba, we will initiate massive terrorists against that country. This is what's played out in the case of Mexico. Mexico has sustained a long, you know, cross partisan history of solidarity and support and cooperation with Cuba. They've always opposed the blockade. It doesn't matter if it's been a right wing government or A left wing government in power in Mexico. They've always been, you know, obviously that's where, you know, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara once led the historic Grandma mission that led to the Cuban Revolution in 59. But there's always been that history of a friendship, a partnership with economic cooperation. And the US bore down so hard on the government of Claudia Chambom that they had to retract themselves their own fuel shipments to Cuba. And then the US has issued similar threats to other oil producing countries that could provide for the energy needs of Cuba. And that giant stick of secondary sanctions is something that few U.S. americans understand. What we do understand that way in which we basically criminalize solidarity efforts from any third country. So it's not just about Cuban sovereignty and the ways it's constrained by the US encirclement of the island in the Caribbean Sea. This is also closely related to the kind of war games and we played out in the Caribbean before the coup in Venezuela, before we sort of decapitated the Bolivarian government and captured its president and first lady in Caracas. Right. So we moved our navy into this region and we used places like the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago as forward basis for US power in the region. So this is not simply a question of trading sovereignties or these countries having their ability to negotiate kind of openly or evenly or fairly with Cuba is about the US dictating the terms beneath that banner of the Don Row doctrine, as you put it, Emma, of how countries are going to negotiate with Cuba. What's so remarkable and what's so important to emphasize is that Cuba is not Venezuela. It's exactly like you mentioned. There's no oil for Trump to sort of take over on behalf of US oil corporations. There's no natural resources like you know, lithium or gold for us to capture. This is an old school resuscitation of a Cold War logic of anti communism. And I think that the parallel as to take to your second point with, with, with Gaza, beyond simply the territorial occupation that I was mentioning at the outset is, is also political. You know, AIPAC is a parasite on the body politic of US democracy that is basically advancing a particular in a particularly genocidal set of ideas and policies and weaseling those into U.S. policy in ways that don't correspond to public opinion. And I don't think that the community that Marco Rubio represents, this far right reactionary community of so called Cuban Americans who live in Miami is any less parasitic. The US public is overwhelmingly against intervention in Cuba. They don't understand or even know that we have led this ramped up blockade, then SSOT and now this outright siege. If they did know and when they do know, in the public opinion polls that we've personally conducted in recent years, they're overwhelmingly against when they understand that our blockade, for example, led to so many unnecessary deaths during COVID 19, not just on the island, but the prevention of the diffusion and export of critical vaccine technology by Cuba to other parts of the world that could have saved literally millions of lives just because of the imperial arrogance of our blockade. The United States public is overwhelming against these policies and it's high time that we kick the tail that's wagging the dog, so to speak, and say we're not going to have these psychopathic floridians control our U.S. foreign policy for, as you say, Emma, no discernible foreign policy objective beyond adding another star onto our flag.
- [55:57]
Emma Vigeland
I mean, Florida at this point is just a hotbed of intelligence activity. I mean, whether it's certain, you know, like it's basically that the Cuban diaspora down there, I mean, and whatever was going on with Epstein and intelligence connections and the COVID up with, with, with his crimes down there, it's just, it's, it's amazing to kind of see how successful the right has been at, you know, importing the populations on their terms that are going to be more favorable to capitalism or to conservative ideas.
- [56:34]
David Adler
But sure, but you know, but my point is, let them have it. Let them have it. Fine. Those people, they're naturalized U.S. citizens or they're running the soil. Okay, they're Republicans. Let them have it. It's time for Democrats to wake the fuck up. We are never going to win these people to our side. Why are we not being more forthright with our own constituencies about the human costs of this siege? Why are there not more enterprising Democrats who are taking on this cause as some of them began to switch on to the issue in Palestine and say, you know what? Why have we been basically waterboarding our Neighbor Nation for 60 years? Enough. It's time to end the siege. It's time to end the SSOT designation that even the Biden administration recognized was bullshit. It's time to end this blockade and move back to what Barack Obama, that crazy radical socialist, communist Castriesta Chavista Barack Obama was proposing, which was a relationship of social fraternity so that people could go back and forth with their island, send remittances, open businesses, go on cruises and the like. We're not talking about waving the flag of the Cuban revolution, we're talking about engaging in on the basis of what is enshrined in the UN Charter as sovereign equality between nations. And so we have to, you know, not be cowed by what's sort of being spread so maliciously on social media as if anyone who speaks out against this humanitarian crisis or speaks out about the truly, I don't want to use the G word, but lethal consequences of our intervention on the island, we can't be cowed by the so called Cuban voices in Florida who were basically saying we want liberty, so bomb our people. This is not a way that we can govern the world and find peace and purpose in it. And I think that if you're a Democrat, if you are a Democratic voter or you're someone who's elected and who's thinking about this crisis of our place in the world, that it begins with a country that's 90 miles off our coast, that's going to begin with us being able to put forward a proposal that's not based on our domination or even dictating the terms of their own governance, but it's based on an honest evaluation of, as you said Emma, at the beginning, of mutual benefit that can be, you know, a celebration of Cuban culture as well as one of its close relationships and friendships in our own country in the United States.
- [58:53]
Emma Vigeland
Well, I mean for all of our criticisms of Obama, it is very interesting to reflect on his attempts to chill relation. Geez, I keep doing that. To warm relations with Cuba, to thaw them essentially. But also the Iran nuclear deal, which was where you saw AIPAC really, as you mentioned, that it's become, it's so parasitic to American politics, sucking the life out of it. They retrenched at that point when the Obama administration engaged in diplomacy with Iran in a way that the Zionist lobby did not like and was not sufficiently hawkish, who ended up being the leader of the Democrats in the Senate. It's Chuck Schumer right now who was meeting and posing with Maria Corita Machado a few weeks ago and almost giving his show of support for a far right basically United States imperialist puppet in Venezuela that even the Trump administration's own intelligence apparatus says has no credibility in the country. So the rot here is it feels like the Zionist lobby and the AIPAC lobby and the military industrial complex since 2016 they have been tripling their efforts within the Democratic Party and it's had great effects for them. And that and some of the knock on effects include anti communist fervor like with Cuba.
- [60:20]
David Adler
Yeah. And I Think that, you know, we cannot forget how poorly spent those four years the Biden administration were in terms of resetting our relationships in Latin America and in thawing out again that, that, that, that bilateral relationship with Cuba. And I, you know, I worked with Ryan Graham on some important reporting in those days. The Biden administration was lying to the US American public. They said that they were conducting a six month review of SSOT designation, the state sponsored terrorism designation. And then after pending that review, from the outcome of that review, they were going to revisit the issue and take them off the ssot, knowing how cynical it was that Trump literally did it in January 2021 as he's leaving the White House as a final fuck you, as a final way of punishing the Cuban people and servicing a community he thought could be useful to him in a further reelection campaign. And Joe Biden did nothing about that. I mean, the cynicism of that is insane. And then of course, the outright duplicity of saying that we're reviewing an act of collective punishment when they weren't and they got caught out by some progressive Dems who pushed the administration to admit that they were lying. I mean, this is a hugely scandalous thing that we shouldn't forget in terms of our own democratic leadership. But I think it's important to come back to the issue that Cuba is in Venezuela. And, and I think that's important not just for the issue of resource endowments that we talked about before. But you know, every year at the United Nations, 98% of the entire global community votes to condemn the US blockade of Cuba. I'm talking like the far right psychopaths who are in New Delhi. I'm talking about our new friends in Malaysia. I'm talking about, you know, the conservative CDU of Germany, save occasionally for like Zelensky's Ukraine and Netanyahu's Israel. Every year at the UN they condemn the blockade of Cuba. They recognize that it's a criminal violation of international law. They recognize the dangerous precedent it sets for the global community at large. And they recognize the historical contributions that the Cuban people have made to the well being of the world. So I think that it may be the case that this administration is just really high in their own supply. I'm not going to go as far as to say that diplomatically speaking, Havana could be Marco Rubio's Waterloo. But there has to be a line that's drawn in the sand. We have to say enough is enough. These guys think that their adventures in Caracas were so successful that they can just trundle across the world and kill who they want and kidnap who they want. It's very Trumpian, if you can recall a certain video from 2016. Right. And I think that that's being translated now into his foreign policy doctrine.
- [63:06]
Emma Vigeland
Are you accusing the President of being a predator? I mean, David, how could you? How could you?
- [63:12]
David Adler
Well, I think in, I think in some cases, you know, understanding Trumpismo, understanding the composition of his coalition is often very useful in the contradictions or the temporary contradictions or their resolutions towards coherence in the Trump coalition is often a very useful way of making sense of a mysterious foreign policy. You know, sometimes it's the, you know, the Pete Hegseth kind of Langley camp that wants to exercise raw U.S. power and enrich U.S. military corporations. Sometimes it's the New York set of Manhattan wheelers and dealers and real estate developers who want to sort of, you know, are out in it for the money, basically, and looking for a quick buck and want to make deals in that way. And sometimes it's these crusader anti communists in Florida who are really at the wheel. And what's interesting about the clip you played of Trump on Air Force One is he's just handed this to Marco Rubio. I don't think Trump is thinking about, you know, making a deal, and I don't think that even Trump is interested in really exercising US American power in the kind of Langley, Virginia set that I was talking about, because I don't really think he's thinking about some of these operations. So what's going to be interesting to see is how those play out between those three groups.
- [64:21]
Emma Vigeland
I know we're going long, but I just, I'm enjoying our conversation. Sorry, David, but it's just like, I mean, it seems like Rubio has said, Delsey Rodriguez, we can control Cuba's oil, I mean, Venezuela's oil flow with a gun to her head. And that's how we can govern essentially indefinitely with Cuba not having this, Venezuela not having the sovereignty. And they're trying to apply the same logic to Cuba, it appears, but I mean, it's just not the same.
- [64:48]
David Adler
With a big difference. Yeah, the big difference, which is that, you know, as Jose Luis and Ryan and Noah Colon have reported recently, Marco Rubio is lying to the president. There are no negotiations between the Cubans and the U.S. americans. And I know this because I, you know, I talk to everyone all the time, and there, there are no ongoing negotiations. Now, that just begs the question, when Marco Rubio says, we're talking to the Cubans. When Trump says we're talking to the Cubans, who's he talking about? Have they already anointed some Gusano in Florida as the new president pro temporary, as the new kind of Viceroy of Havana? I wouldn't be surprised to find out that that's actually the machination, that's actually what's in the works, is some combination of exercising our economic might through the siege, our military might through whatever crazy JSOC Fort Brack initiative they're cooking up right now in a basement in Virginia, and some negotiation, some deal they're cutting for who knows how much money is being transacted in suitcases at Mar a Lago, where someone's designated basically Maria Elvia Salazar, someone's being designated to basically run as Viceroy of Havana and control Cuba as we controlled it in the early 20th century, essentially as a colony of the United States. Now, if all that sounds bad to you, then speak up. If all that sounds bad to you, go to Cuba. Stand with the people of Cuba. Put your body on the line. That's the kind of call that we're making. Bring humanitarian aid, that is people so desperately need. And of course, let's pressure our representatives not to be able to get away with their studied silences with respect to the siege, but to actually make moves around. Let's give them the points. Let's give the points. Let's just call, we want to restore Barack Obama's glorious legacy of warming diplomatic relations with Cuba. Why is that now such a radical proposal? How far has the so called Overton window shifted to the radical right? That even our moderate or progressive leadership is struggling to articulate? A vision that was already rather uncontroversially set out in a handshake between Raul Castro and Barack Obama a decade ago.
- [66:54]
Emma Vigeland
So your call for people to help and to join this flotilla effort, lastly, how can people do so? And we'll put a link down below to whatever you reference here. But what would be, what's your call to action with our audience?
- [67:09]
David Adler
So this week we were overwhelmed with support, enthusiasm and donations. People really wanted to get involved with this flotilla effort, the Nuesta Dominica flotilla, the name coming from a very famous essay by the Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti, who fought, died, but eventually won Cuban independence. Nuestra America, let's take on the bad bunny mantle of thinking about our hemisphere as a place of sovereign equality and cooperation as opposed to US American domination. Now, taking that name, we're convening peoples of the world to join us on this mission. Not only through sea based routes, but also sending humanitarian aid over land that can be loaded into cargo ships, over flights that still remain in operation, through lines in Mexico, for example. I think some Colombian airlines are also taking part. One of the major efforts that the United States undertakes when it seeks out to lead regime change is first they make it, first they go for isolation. So first they try to say, don't go to this place, it's a war zone, there's nothing there. And that's the line that's coming out of the most rancid parts of the Republican Party right now. And let alone establish kind of the relations of friendship and solidarity that might mean at an effective level you oppose forms of intervention that are going to and already are costing lives. So our call to action is very simple. Organize your community, get some critical humanitarian aid. We'll be publishing on our website an FAQ that helps you understand what the Cuban people need most and then plan your delegation. All this is completely legal in the OFAC license of supporting the Cuban people. Plan your trip, stay with a family or find some way to engage with people on the ground and understand their reality. See for yourself. Don't take my word for it of what Cuba is or isn't, but certainly don't take the word for it of those Floridian psychopaths. You know, try to break this siege both literally, but also politically, culturally, socially, and make a major contribution from your respective community towards not just people's consciousness of the kind of crimes that we're committing just next door, but also a contribution to the well being of a family, of a child, of a mother, of a grandmother who is suffering right now the most immediate consequences of the collapse of infrastructure that we are not just overseeing as United States of America, but that our president is celebrating in their face.
- [69:28]
Emma Vigeland
David Adler, thank you so much for your time today. We will put a link down below to the resources that you need to support the flotilla. Thanks so much for coming on the show. Really appreciate your time.
- [69:42]
David Adler
Thanks, Emma.
- [69:44]
Emma Vigeland
With that, folks, we're going to wrap up in a sec. Wanted to just before we go into the fun half, play a little bit of Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson, Rip passed away at 84 years old. Bernie Sanders himself has talked about how this campaign was inspirational for him. Jackson was born in South Carolina. In the 40s he marched in Selma. He was with Martin Luther King Jr. When he was killed, likely with the push from our own government. He was a champion of multiracial coalition politics. You've probably heard about the Rainbow Coalition that Was Jesse Jackson. Go ahead, Matt.
- [70:31]
Matt
Bernie supported Jackson and it's interesting to look at that moment and how Bernie negotiated it and Jackson that. That was a moment, sort of a pre2016 moment where the Democrats could have taken a better path and instead chose a different path. And it's in part why we're here where we are now.
- [70:51]
Emma Vigeland
Exactly right. Jackson ran for president twice. 84, 88. And I didn't realize in 88 he won 13 primaries in caucuses. That's really amazing. It was a very, very conservative time. Obviously, this is Reagan's America in the 80s, but this. He performed the best that any black presidential candidate has, with the exception of Obama in the primary process within the Democratic Party. He spoke out during his life on behalf of Palestinian rights. He was also a key advocate opposing apartheid in South Africa. And he really was a kind of, you know, a trailblazer for black people, for people of color in this country, as a critic of inequality. And his health issues were really significant later in his life, I think he had a difficulty because he had a neurological disorder communicating and moving around. But even still, he. One of the last things he did was he was at that the DNC and you know, as they were shutting out Palestinians from speaking. At the very least, you had Jesse Jackson, who I believe he spoke about the ceasefire, or maybe that was a different thing, or maybe I'm misremembering either way, you know, just to show that the pro Palestine movement didn't start yesterday. Advocates for racial justice have understood what this, what Zionism and Palestinian rights were really about for quite a while. How the fight for equality is also linked with the fight to end militarism. So here's Jesse Jackson with this great clip here with his poem, his famous poem, I Am Somebody, reciting it on Sesame street to children.
- [72:55]
Jesse Jackson
Ready on the stump?
- [72:57]
Matt
Yes.
- [72:57]
Emma Vigeland
Okay, here we go.
- [73:00]
Jesse Jackson
I am, I am somebody. I am, I am somebody. I may be poor, but I am somebody. I may be young, but I am somebody. I may be on welfare, but I am somebody. I may be small, but I am somebody. I may make a mistake, but I am somebody. My clothes are different, my face is different, my hair is different, but I am somebody. I am, I am black, brown, brown, white. I speak a different language, but I must be respected, Protected, protected. Never rejected, never rejected. I am God's child. I am somebody. Give yourself a big hand.
- [74:18]
Emma Vigeland
Love that version. Yeah. So great American who we lost and wonder why the Republicans want to defund PBS and are doing so because of programming like that.
- [74:33]
Matt
Also, speaking to move on from Republicans in the fun half, we'll talk about some Democrats who had a problem with him and who got their way, in effect supported Dukakis in 1988. And when Dukakis ended up getting 111 electoral votes to 426.
- [74:50]
Emma Vigeland
How long is this clip?
- [74:52]
Matt
This is a little bit long.
- [74:53]
Emma Vigeland
Okay. I was like, do you want to just throw it up now? But yeah, so that's a bit of a teaser. Which prominent Democrats still in power was that big of an asshole? We will find out in the fun half. As a reminder, this show relies on your support. If you like this program, if you think the work we do is good and should keep going and you have some money to throw around, shouldn't be.
- [75:18]
Matt
Relying on big tech platforms.
- [75:19]
Emma Vigeland
Yes. Which makes me uneasy every time we do this plug here. Just thinking about how reliant we are, unfortunately, on the medium of YouTube or Twitch or whatever. But with every membership, you make us less reliant on that and it's much more direct the way that you can support us. So join themjorityreport.com Also, folks, if you're in LA or you're in California, you are going to be there March 22nd. Join myself and Francesca Fiorentini at Dynasty Typewriter. It's a matinee show 3:30pm Doors open at 2:30pm the Bituation Room live at Dynasty typewriter. Sunday, March 20th 2nd. I will be there. Special guest to be announced. Matt, what's happening on Left Reckoning?
- [76:07]
Matt
Yeah, right up after the show at 2:30 Eastern today. So just stay watching YouTube or Twitch after this. After the fun half, a few things. Oliver Larkin, who's running for Congress in Florida's 23rd district as a socialist, talk with David Griscom. Nathan Bernard talked to me about the main race and Platner and Mills is fundraising. And I also monologue for 20 minutes about Hillary Clinton and Honduras at the beginning of the episode. So you're gonna want to check that out because, yeah, I have some axes to grind. I don't know if people are surprised by that, but yeah, I Grind1 for 20 minutes talking about Hillary and her not standing up to a coup that was a coup of manuel Zelaya in 2009 that Obama initially said, you know, that coup's not legal. He's still the president. And Hillary said we do not believe, later came out and contradicted Obama saying, we do not believe that was actually developed into a coup. And the reason she said that is because they didn't want to have to do anything as a State Department to respond to a coup. And the country got thrown into sort of a cartel, sort of mafioso state where indigenous and environmental activists were killed. Their public sector was completely stripped bare, Doge style. It's interesting that we have people like that telling us about how to protect our security on an international level. Meanwhile, her husband and daughter are massively implicated in the Epstein conspiracy. So I don't know more on that.
- [77:40]
Emma Vigeland
At 2:30 in the fun half. I mean there's a book to be written and I could have asked David about this but I didn't want to keep him for so long. About Obama's first term foreign policy versus his second term and how much better John Kerry was just in general than Hillary Clinton night and day, night and day and how Obama's best achievements on foreign policy all occurred under John Kerry. And that is the team of, you know, part of why again like we were trying to maybe sell Kamala versus Trump was that was some of the people that she was considering staffing her foreign policy team with. It's still wildly insufficient but you know, when you compare it to Joe Biden and the rot of that whole west exec crew, there's a there, there needs to be an entire overhaul of the brain trust of foreign policy in Washington D.C. and so like you know, we'll have people write in and I guess they have some disagreements with sometimes how Matt Duss frames things. But Matt Duss is really important figure as like a actual person who has the ear of progressives and Democrats, is a foreign policy thinker and he's like a lone wolf in Washington. Everybody else is like vying for a job at Lockheed Martin and advising the rest of the party.
- [79:03]
Matt
It's going to take a lot.
- [79:04]
David Adler
It's going to take a lot effort.
- [79:05]
Matt
And frankly a lot of personnel and a lot of removing of personnel because this is pretty endemic. I mean a lot of Democrats thought Blinken was going to be better. That's true though like even people in the sort of like progressive foreign policy space and they were wrong. And there has to be a recalibration am I and a more aggressive, more boldness frankly in this because these people are bad like to make the decision that we're going to allow a coup government, these coup governments to fall and they're talking about this.
- [79:44]
Emma Vigeland
I mean we need to go into the fun habit. But I'm egging you on and I want to. Yes. And all of this, these points. But we'll talk more in the fun half. Am I forgetting anything? I don't think so. See you in the fun half. Okay, Emma, please. Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the majority report.
- [80:05]
Sam Cedar
Wait, look.
- [80:07]
David Adler
Sam is unpopular.
- [80:08]
Sam Cedar
I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show.
- [80:13]
David Adler
It is Thursday.
- [80:16]
Matt
I think you need to take. What for sale.
- [80:17]
Emma Vigeland
Yes, please.
- [80:18]
Donald Trump
No, no, no.
- [80:19]
Emma Vigeland
I'm.
- [80:19]
Sam Cedar
I'm gonna pause you right there. Wait, what? 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 with boys. Who was offered a tour?
- [80:33]
Emma Vigeland
Yeah.
- [80:34]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and poker with boys.
- [80:36]
Matt
What?
- [80:37]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and poker.
- [80:39]
Emma Vigeland
Tim's upset.
- [80:40]
Chip Roy
Were you?
- [80:41]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and poker with toothpoise. Was offered with twerk. Sushi. And that's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and poker with toothpoise.
- [80:50]
Emma Vigeland
Right.
- [80:51]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and we're gonna get demonetized. I just think that what you did to Tim Pool was mean.
- [80:57]
Emma Vigeland
Free speech.
- [80:58]
Sam Cedar
That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it. I think you're responsible.
- [81:05]
Emma Vigeland
I probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.
- [81:10]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and poker with the boys.
- [81:12]
David Adler
Oh, my God.
- [81:13]
Stephen Colbert
Wow.
- [81:13]
Sam Cedar
Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Who was offered with tour? Sushi and poker with boys.
- [81:19]
David Adler
Logic.
- [81:19]
Sam Cedar
Tour, sushi and poker with boys. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a kid. Tour. I think I'm like a little kid. Think I'm like a little kid. Add this debate 7,000 times. I don't care. I don't care. 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.
- [81:45]
Emma Vigeland
That's not what we're talking about here, all right?
- [81:49]
Sam Cedar
It's not a fun job.
- [81:50]
Chip Roy
Twerk.
- [81:51]
Sam Cedar
That's a real thing. That's real thing. Real thing. Willy Walker. That's a real thing. What's that Offer to work. 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 think he might be blowing it out of proportion. Real thing. That's Poker with the boys. Offer torque. That's a real thing. That's poker.
- [82:16]
David Adler
Let's go. Joey. Twerk.
- [82:18]
Sam Cedar
Sushi and poker with the boy. Take an easy blow to work. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker. Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live YouTube.
- [82:33]
Emma Vigeland
Sam has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Want to do this show anymore?
- [82:38]
Matt
Anymore?
- [82:38]
Emma Vigeland
It was so much easier when the majority report was just you.
- [82:43]
Sam Cedar
Let's change the subject.
- [82:45]
David Adler
Rangers. And Nick's doing great now.
- [82:47]
Matt
Shut up.
- [82:48]
Emma Vigeland
Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.
- [82:50]
David Adler
That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.
- [82:53]
Emma Vigeland
This is a pro killing podcast.
- [82:55]
Sam Cedar
I'm thinking maybe it's time to bury the hatchet.
- [82:57]
Emma Vigeland
Left his best trump.
- [82:58]
David Adler
Violet Twerk.
- [82:59]
Sam Cedar
Don't be foolish and don't tweet at me. And don't the way this all of these people love it.
- [83:06]
Emma Vigeland
That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honors thesis about it.
- [83:13]
Sam Cedar
Is I guess I should hand the.
- [83:15]
Emma Vigeland
Main mic to you now.
- [83:16]
Sam Cedar
You are to the right of the unfortunate policy.
- [83:18]
Emma Vigeland
We already fund Israel. Dude. Are you against us?
- [83:21]
Sam Cedar
That's a tougher question I have an answer to. Incredible theme song.
- [83:29]
Emma Vigeland
Hi bumbler.
- [83:30]
Sam Cedar
Emma Viand.
- [83:31]
David Adler
Absolutely one of my favorite people.
- [83:33]
Matt
Actually.
- [83:33]
David Adler
Not just in the game like.