3612 - Iran Quagmire at Inflection Point and Other News of the Day

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3612 – Iran Quagmire at Inflection Point and Other News of the Day
Date: March 31, 2026
Hosts: Sam Seder, Michael Brooks, Matt Lech

Episode Overview

This episode centers on rapidly escalating U.S. involvement in Iran, the political and legal machinations behind it, and related domestic issues. The hosts critically analyze the implications of the possible U.S. ground invasion of Carg Island, the Supreme Court’s ruling on conversion therapy bans, controversial new Israeli legislation, and a string of consequential policy decisions. Throughout, there's a distinctive blend of irreverent humor, sharp outrage, and deep skepticism about U.S. foreign policy motives and right-wing rhetoric.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. Supreme Court Strikes Down Colorado Ban on Conversion Therapy

[07:37–15:01]

• What Happened: The Supreme Court, in an 8–1 decision, struck down Colorado’s ban on gay conversion therapy for minors, citing overly broad statutory language and First Amendment concerns.
• Critical Reactions:
  • Sam Seder: Expresses confusion at liberal justices (Kagan, Sotomayor) joining the majority. "It is absurd. Why wouldn't you be able to just sort of… be licensed to, you know, I don't know…" [13:45]
  • Michael Brooks: Condemns conversion therapy as “child abuse,” and connects the ruling to wider rollback of LGBTQ rights:
    "Literally more kids are going to die, more adults are going to die. They are being erased in our public spaces and they're going to… This is going to hurt people's mental health indelibly." [11:26]
• Broader Context: The hosts link the ruling to similar anti-trans regulations, noting a rightward arc and the necessity for ongoing vigilance to defend queer rights.

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2. War with Iran: Decision Point and Political Gamesmanship

[23:20–44:46]

• Background: The Biden administration has massed thousands of paratroopers near Iran, with conflicting signals about a potential strike or invasion of Carg Island and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Media reports suggest President Trump may want to "end" the campaign, but skepticism abound.
• Analysis & Concerns:
  • Sam Seder: Skeptical of Trump’s hints at de-escalation: "I think this could be… Trump floating a test balloon and seeing: who’s gonna come out and say, dude, you’re going to look like a coward if you cut and run. But I suspect it’s more about trying to get the stock market back up." [23:49]
  • Michael Brooks: Highlights childishness and recklessness of Trump’s approach:
    "Listen to how childish all of this is. He wants to go in and take the oil wherever we're going... Oh, so people are gonna have a little ladle in the town square and put it into their cars." [25:10]
  • Matt Lech: Points out the folly of seizing Carg Island: "We’re not going to take Carg Island … you’ll get a bunch of troops killed. They’ll be sitting ducks." [24:58]
• Military Buildup: Reports of further deployments and allusions to US allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE) pushing for continued strikes, though European support appears cold.
• Motivations & Critique: The conversation repeatedly underscores the blurred lines between military adventurism, resource exploitation, and domestic political calculus.

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3. Pete Hegseth and the Religious Framing of U.S. Military Policy

[27:14–41:14]

• Pete Hegseth’s Briefings:
  • Romanticizes war, downplays casualties, and invokes religious rhetoric:
    "May God watch over all of them each day and each night… In the name of Jesus Christ and amen, Mr. Chairman." [40:27]
• Host Reactions:
  • Sam Seder: Critiques the overt Christian nationalist overlay: "You know, I feel like what we’re missing is him taking a cross out of a fire… anointing somebody through the blood of Christ in the Pentagon pool room." [41:14]
  • Michael Brooks: Bluntly connects religious justification to material interests:
    "May Jesus Christ protect our men and women that we're sending to the Middle east to fight for Israel in Jesus Christ's name. Amen." [41:35]

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4. Geo-Political Fallout: Global Power Shifts and U.S. Isolation

[37:04–44:44]

• China & Russia’s Gain: The hosts note that U.S. adventurism strengthens adversaries by fueling global instability and high oil prices:
  • "Russia and China are the two biggest beneficiaries of what has happened here… China just has to sit back and have them look like the more stable partner, not look like, be the more stable partner." [38:13]
• European & Gulf Reaction: European reluctance to militarily support the U.S.; Gulf states nervous about instability; suspicion about true intentions of regional allies.

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5. The Israeli Death Penalty Law

[59:16–64:17]

• What Happened: The Knesset passes a law enabling the death penalty for Palestinians convicted under military law, with a much lower threshold and rapid execution timetable.
• Critical Reaction:
  • Sam Seder: Explains the discriminatory application.
  • Michael Brooks:
    "It makes this distinction between military and civilian court. And you would not be shocked to find out that in military courts it's primarily Palestinians that are tried… want to know what the conviction rate is for Palestinians in Israeli military court? 99%." [59:50]
  • Matt Lech: Connects the law’s language to routine dehumanization of Palestinians and normalization of extrajudicial measures.
• Notable Moment: Lawmakers celebrating passage with religious invocations and literal noose-shaped lapel pins.

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6. The Conservative Information Ecosystem & Right-Wing Scapegoating

[51:19–54:19]

• Coverage of Trump’s Agency: Laura Ingraham floats the idea that Trump may not understand the risks, setting up a possible "fall guy" for any disaster.
• Dynamic at Play: Hosts describe the right’s tendency to ascribe both omnipotence and naiveté to Trump—simultaneously hyper-competent and a victim of bad advisors.
• Media Intrigue: The intra-conservative blame-shifting, especially directed toward figures like Pete Hegseth, reveals cracks in the right-wing coalition.

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7. Political Scandal: Kristi Noem’s "Leaked" Photos and Fallout

[56:01–59:07, 71:00–73:21]

• Story: The hosts lampoon the apparent leak of compromising photos of Kristi Noem’s husband, speculating about motivations (possibly Noem herself, as an exit strategy from her marriage and political career).
• Humor and Analysis: Segment is handled with characteristic Majority Report irreverence, mocking the performative moralizing of Republican politicians and reminding listeners that, if not for hypocrisy and cruelty, such stories wouldn’t be of interest.

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8. Further Notes: U.S. Domestic Political Developments

[Intro & 05:57]

• The show briefly covers:
  • The revocation of Endangered Species Act protections for oil drilling
  • SBA loan rules tightening for legal immigrant non-citizens
  • Washington State’s new millionaire’s tax
  • Free childcare for NYC city workers
    These are referenced quickly at the top as part of the daily headlines, with most attention given to national security and foreign affairs.

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Notable Quotes by Timestamp

• "Literally more kids are going to die, more adults are going to die. They are being erased in our public spaces…"
  — Michael Brooks on conversion therapy ruling [11:26]
• "Listen to how childish all of this is. He wants to go in and take the oil wherever we're going..."
  — Michael Brooks [25:10]
• "You know, I feel like what we’re missing is him taking a cross out of a fire and brandishing…"
  — Sam Seder on Pete Hegseth’s rhetoric [41:14]
• "Russia and China are the two biggest beneficiaries of what has happened here…"
  — Michael Brooks [38:13]
• "It makes this distinction between military and civilian court. And you would not be shocked to find out that in military courts it's primarily Palestinians that are tried. …99% conviction rate…"
  — Michael Brooks [59:50]

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Timeline of Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 07:37–15:01| Supreme Court & LGBTQ Rights | | 23:20–44:46| Iran Crisis, Trump’s Calculations, and Military Buildup | | 27:14–41:14| Pete Hegseth, Religious Rhetoric, and War Propaganda | | 37:04–44:44| Global Fallout: Europe, Gulf States, China, Russia | | 51:19–54:19| Media Blame Shifting: Ingraham and Trump’s Agency | | 56:01–59:07| Kristi Noem Scandal | | 59:16–64:17| Israeli Death Penalty Law | | 71:00–73:21| More on Kristi Noem and right-wing media machinations |

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Closing Reflections and Next Steps

The hosts express deep concern about U.S. and Israeli policy shifts, the Supreme Court’s right-wing drift, and the enabling role of media in obscuring the real consequences of war. They hint at future legal analysis (esp. SCOTUS immigration case), and urge continued activism and support for anti-war, pro-justice perspectives.

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Tone and Style

The episode mixes gallows humor, barely concealed outrage, and a satirical take on political theatre. Language is informal, sharp, and often biting, with each host contributing unique rhetorical flair.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This packed episode offers bracing context and real-time analysis of explosive legal, geopolitical, and cultural news. Expect equal doses of policy detail, righteous anger, and irreverent asides. If you want to understand the stakes—and the absurdity—of current events, this is essential listening.

Transcript

[Sam Cedar]

Passover's coming tomorrow night and I'm hosting a couple of seders actually, as is my namesake. And I also, I have a little confession to make. I keep Passover. I don't have bread. I don't have, I don't have yeast. I follow all the rules except for when it comes to wine because I cannot drink the Manischewitz and it is not tasty. And so I have, I've made myself a special dispensation on Passover to actually have high quality wine. And I know exactly where my wine's coming from this year. Naked Wines, they provided all the wine for my Thanksgiving meal last fall. That was. And what Naked Wines is, is a wine club that directly connects you to the world's most best independent winemakers. So you can get world class wine delivered straight to your door. You can use our code Majority and the code and the [e-mail] and get $100 off your first order. That's six bottles of wine for just 39.99. I've enjoyed a Petit Syrah on. Did I say that right? From Naked Wines and some in a Pinot Noir. There's a whole bunch of reds that I've had from Naked Wine that I love. Not a big white wine drinker, but they got great white wines as well. And of course, all of these wines were approved by my sister, which is a big deal because she is, she is a big wine snob. She worked, she worked in that business for a while. And the key to this is that Naked Wines brings you these high quality wines at a fraction of the cost because they go straight from the winery and they save you up to 60% less than what you would pay in a store. They cut out extra costs like middleman markups. Winemakers can pass those savings on to you without skimping on quality. For me, it makes it really easy because I don't know, I'm not a huge wine connoisseur as it were, so I don't have to go into the wine store and pretend like I know what I'm talking about and like ask about the body and etc, etc, Instead, I know that Naked Wines has great wines and it makes it much easier for me. They've been around for over 15 years. They back 90 independent winemakers around the world to make the wine you love to drink. Get the best wine at the best price. With Naked Wines, now's the time to join the Naked Wines community. Head to nakedwines.com majority, click enter voucher and put in our code majority for both the code and the password. For $100 off your first order, that's 6 bottles of wine for 39.99 with shipping included, that's $100 off your first 6 bottles. @nakedwines.com Majority use the code and the password majority for 6 bottles of wine for 39. 99. We will put that info in the podcast and YouTube descriptions and at Majority FM. And now time for the show. It is Tuesday, March 31, 2026. My name is Sam Ceder. 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, Trump supposedly willing to give up on the Strait of Hormuz. On the other hand, thousand more, thousands more U.S. paratroopers enter the region. Israel makes it clear they have plans to Occupy southern Lebanon. U.S. supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on gay conversion therapy for kids. Pete Hegseth broker was looking into defense investments on the eve of the Iran war. Fortunately for him, he couldn't buy the ones he wanted to because they're down 12%. Israel passes a death penalty law that de facto targets Palestinians only. Small business association no longer will provide loans to legal immigrant non citizens in this country because we want them to be hard working and contribute to society. Trump revoking Endangered Species act for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Maybe not coincidentally, Trump's approval at a new low. Washington State adapts. Adopts a new tax on income over $1 million annually. And Zoram Hamdani announces free childcare for city workers. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

[Michael Brooks]

It is Newsday Tuesday.

[Sam Cedar]

You all right? You seem like you're.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah, I'm okay. I just had a little bit of a lump in my throat for a sec. Something caught in my throat, but I thought I still got the, the words out.

[Sam Cedar]

You did, but you look like you were struggling. Obsolete. Our own creation. Indeed. Indeed you did.

[Michael Brooks]

So I'm blackout Alex Jones in that scenario.

[Sam Cedar]

It's just, it's really more of the subtext. It's more the subtext.

[Matt Lech]

Off to a good start.

[Sam Cedar]

We'll get into this stuff about the war increasingly and we'll talk more about this in a moment. But increasingly. I think this weekend is going to be, is going to mark either the end or just the beginning for this. I mean, I think it's, it's probably the die is already cast, I suspect. But we'll talk more about that in a moment. In the meantime, the Supreme Court, in an eight to one vote, their decision, I should say, has struck down a Colorado law, one of about 21, I think, in 21 states around the country that banned conversion therapy. This is a, it's not a therapy.

[Michael Brooks]

It's child abuse.

[Sam Cedar]

It is, it is child abuse abuse in the, in the form of, of, of therapy. It's all obviously religious based. And the state of Colorado in 2019 banned licensed mental health professionals. I also just, I mean I really, I am having trouble fully understanding this case and certainly why Kagan and I can't remember, Sotomayor voted in favor of this. Ostensibly it's a first amendment case, but it banned licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy, which is something like. This is actually a clip from one of the early conversion therapies. I kid you not. They did a. You know, this goes all the way back to the aughts when this was becoming very big where you teach kids, in this case it's an adult, but where you teach kids that if they think they're gay, what they need to do is actively suppress those ideas so they can butch up. And the data is pretty clear on this. Youth who are subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide than their peers because it's abuse. This sounds funny. This is a grown adult taking a tennis racket and smacking it on a couch. The progenitors of conversion gay conversion therapy, not necessarily for children, but for adults, were, I think a couple of referred to themselves as ex gays. They ultimately became ex, ex gays as they realized like, I'm gay and I'm not going to be able to not be gay and then renounced what they had started in a, like ex gay

[Michael Brooks]

groups essentially pretty unconscionable how Kagan and Sotomayor are ruled here. Ketanji Brown Jackson is the lone descent. This is basically when you see this in conjunction with the revocation of people's trans people's gender identity on certain government documents and when you see things like how in federal prisons the Trump administration is already kind of banning gender affirming care, which basically forces trans inmates to convert back or pushes them back into dysphoria, also really endangers them in certain prisons and the efforts to ban trans people from public spaces. This is just a larger effort to use the power of the state to force people into the closet, whether they're trans, gay, non, binary, bi, what have you. So for all this talk about how the moral arc of History bends towards justice. It's actually completely false. You have to be vigilant all the time to protect people's rights. Trans people and gay people are obviously interlinked. This is in, this is evidenced by this case and the people that thought that we could throw trans people under the bus on our way to some sort of, I don't know, vaguely defined electoral victory have blood on their hands with this kind of decision, literally more kids are going to die, more adults are going to die. They are being erased in our public spaces and they're going to. This is going to hurt people's mental health indelibly.

[Sam Cedar]

And it should be clear here because someone's writing this on im. The court basically found because the plaintiff was not actually practicing conversion therapy, the court simply found that the, the statute written in Colorado was too broad and theoretically prevented this non conversion therapy therapist, who is a Christian therapist from supposedly just talking about conversion or not being gay. So there's a lot of room here. I will also add, so it's going back down to the lower court. So we'll see from there. We'll also add that you can, it's basically just narrowing what the state can regulate in terms of conversion therapy. Now ultimately I have a feeling they're going to go for the full hog. You can also continued to sue one of these conversion therapists for fraud.

[Michael Brooks]

But, but, but why are conversion therapists allowed to practice conversion therapy under a medical license if we have all of the guidelines from these medical associations showing conversion therapy is torture?

[Sam Cedar]

I mean it's, it's absurd. Why wouldn't you be able to just sort of like be licensed to, you know, I don't know.

[Matt Lech]

It's like alternative medicine.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes, it is alternative medicine. I mean, and like the alternative medicine during COVID It's gonna result in people dying. This is where the state should have a heavier hand here. This libertarian healthcare bent is killing people. And I know it's.

[Sam Cedar]

The amazing thing is that I know it's justification, any justification of limiting affirming health care. Like, you know, it seems like you're on both sides of that issue as the Supreme Court.

[Michael Brooks]

Right.

[Sam Cedar]

States can't provide gender affirming health care, but they can or they're incapable of preventing. I mean.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah.

[Sam Cedar]

What is some other form of like essentially of conversion therapy? I mean it's fascinating.

[Michael Brooks]

It's abuse. So some of these healthcare practitioners can abuse children, abuse people and children too in some of these instances, but they can't provide them with the care that they need. So.

[Sam Cedar]

We're going to be talking. We will follow up on this course, on this case. As we go further today, or I should say tomorrow, there's going to be oral arguments on, on naturalized citizens. Whether this obvious part of the Constitution is invalid because we don't like immigrants anymore essentially, I guess is the nature of the case. So we'll have somebody on to talk about both those cases and I believe there's one or two other rulings the Supreme Court's going to issue today. All of their cases that they've heard this year will be issued with or the results will be issued within the next really two and a half months or so. So we'll have somebody on soon to talk about that legal expert. In the meantime, a couple of words from our sponsors before we talk about the latest in Iran. And again, I think we are a couple of days away from finding out if we're going to actually put boots on the ground, as it were. Today's sponsor is Babel. Why do most of us want to learn a new language? 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Head to selectquote.com majority a licensed insurance agent will call you right away with the right policy for your life and your budget. For me, I got term policies one for one when Milo was born for 30 years and then one when Saul was born for 20 years. So I'm locked up through their college. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at selectquote.com/majority. Save more than 50% on term life insurance. That's selectquote.com majority today to get started. That's Select Majority. They shop, you save. We'll put the links in the podcast and YouTube description. Right now there are thousands of paratroopers either in the region or probably a day or two away from Iran. There is a story in the Washington, excuse me, in the Wall Street Journal that supposedly, and I'm very skeptical of this, Trump has told aides that he's willing to end the US Military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

[Michael Brooks]

So your skepticism is in which direction? Is this another ruse to get the Iranians to drop their guards so that we can bomb them? Or are you seeing this as him actually trying to get an off ramp here because he's supposedly bored with his criminal war in Iran after we killed,

[Sam Cedar]

I think people, I think it would be more. I don't think Iran is going to stand down. I think they don't, they're not going to believe anything. I think it could be the, the, the latter. Like I could, I think this could be, you know, Trump like floating a test balloon and seeing like, who's going to come out and say, dude, you're going to look like a coward if you cut and run. But I suspect it's More about trying to get the stock market back up. Keep it up. One more good week for it into the weekend. It is a four day weekend, I think it is, in terms of the stock market. At least the three. Right. Because you got Easter coming.

[Guest Host]

Yep.

[Sam Cedar]

And I suspect if we're going to do a ground invasion, it's going to happen over the weekend. And it could be just, you know, Trump thinks like, okay, all we need to do is go and take Carg Island. We'll take Carg island and then we're done.

[Michael Brooks]

Cool.

[Sam Cedar]

And whatever that means. Which sounds.

[Matt Lech]

We're not going to take Carg Island. I mean, look, I would be surprised if we can take that island because you'll get a bunch of troops killed. They'll be sitting ducks. I don't understand that claim. We'll blow it to smithereens. Maybe.

[Michael Brooks]

But listen to how childish all of this is. He wants to go in and take the oil wherever we're going. And like you said about Venezuela. Oh, so people are gonna have a little ladle in the town square and put it into their cars. The report from yesterday that he wants U.S. troops to go in and steal the uranium. Oh, cool. I could just put it in some backpacks.

[Sam Cedar]

Oh, no.

[Michael Brooks]

And head out.

[Sam Cedar]

This is the way you do it. Yeah.

[Michael Brooks]

And now he just has this.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah, you just gotta play the right music.

[Michael Brooks]

Play the right music. He has this old school view of like, let's we'll take car guy. And that will be some sort of visual victory for him, regardless of the fact that he's probably changed the global economy indelibly for the rest of time.

[Sam Cedar]

So Trump's desire to end the war quickly is at odds with other moves he's planning to make. This weekend, the USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit entered the region. Trump has also ordered elements of. The 82nd Airborne is considering sending another 10,000 ground troops to the Middle East. It's unclear to me whether or not they, they, they are actually there. There's other reporting that says thousands of US army paratroopers arrive in the Middle east as a buildup intensifies. This story says that thousands of soldiers from the US army elite 82nd Abortion arrived in the Middle east on Monday. So, like, it is unclear. There's a lot of different stories that are being floated out there.

[Michael Brooks]

But I do think the theory about this happening over the weekend is probably the most salient because it fits with everything that we've seen in terms of the patterns of how Trump has operated in this conflict. He's obsessed with the way that the. The market is responding. And he likes to. There you have Christian nationalists like Pete Hegseth leading this operation where I can guarantee you that they're gonna have some sort of goofy ass Christian nationalist Easter themed operational name for their invasion if it happens over the weekend.

[Sam Cedar]

Operation Find the Egg. Here is Pete Hegseth. Should we start with five? Let's start with four. Here he is. Where he's talking about. I mean here, here's Hegseth talking about like, you know, how the troops want to die. Romantic.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes.

[Sam Cedar]

This endeavor is. And how they're chomping at the bit.

[Pete Hegseth]

I did the same with his boss, a colonel with a heart the size of Texas and a beautiful deployment mustache to match.

[Michael Brooks]

Nice.

[Pete Hegseth]

I witnessed lethality. I met a junior airman as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac who when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face because I'm taller than her. More bombs, sir. And bigger bombs. We will happily oblige her.

[Michael Brooks]

Accidentally in love. That's the Roma rom com happening for war crimes, supposedly.

[Sam Cedar]

According to the ap Gulf allies of the United States, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE are urging Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran has not been weakened enough by the month long US Bombing. US Led bombing campaign. You don't see any stories of Israel encouraging Trump to continue to bomb Iran? I suspect that they are. It would be odd if they weren't. They're certainly also attacking Iran and specifically their, their infrastructure in such a way that Israel of course, would love to debilitate Iran moving forward. We no longer talk about, you know, freeing the Iranian people. You don't hear as much. I mean, that's sort of, well, these

[Michael Brooks]

are the objectives, right? Regime change. No regime still intact. Although Trump says we did do regime changes. We killed the dead.

[Matt Lech]

Who was going to die pretty soon anyway.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah, six year old man right then. Did the Iranian people take to the streets like we were told?

[Matt Lech]

No.

[Michael Brooks]

I mean, they're killing some protesters, but not like because of the Israel, like the bombing campaign. They're not saying, ye go Israel. Also, did we destroy their nuclear program that we already supposedly destroyed?

[Sam Cedar]

Well, we're about to.

[Michael Brooks]

Or the Strait of Hormuz when we take it. That's not under our control. So none of the objectives that he threw out there have been achieved.

[Sam Cedar]

And I think the thing that we have to sort of contemplate is, is the idea that there are people who are encouraging Trump to do this. And there are people who are trying to discourage Trump from doing this. I think for many people who are in that, you know, milieu, there's also this. Well, you've already broken it. It's already broken. Iran is now going to charge a tax on the Strait of Hormuz that is going to keep oil up at a certain. And unfortunately, you know, the, the difference between oil being over $100 a barrel now for producers is that for those who are able to produce and get their oil to the market, it's all just profit. If the oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz actually ends up like basically providing a tax, it's going to inhibit other regions of the world. And I imagine it's, I don't know if it's going to have the same sort of like inflationary push on all of the oil sales. It's unclear. But with that said, Trump may be buying the story that looks you drop 2,500 paratroopers on carg island, you secure it, you'll have shut down Iran's capacity to sell their own oil, which I've seen arguments that they can sell 80% of their oil through other means. They don't need Carg island in the same way. It'll be more expensive and more difficult, but that still be able to do it.

[Matt Lech]

They'll just turn off the pipe that pumps it to Carg Island.

[Sam Cedar]

And the idea of once Trump commits to any boots on the ground in Carg island, if you are in favor of this war just continuing, maybe you're like a guy like Scott Bessant who has like high stakes in lng. Maybe you are a guy like Pete Hegseth who is like, this is my moment to shine. Maybe you are Lindsey Graham and just a general neocon psychopath. Maybe, maybe you're Saudi Arabia and the uae, maybe you're Israel. You know that the way you do this is not by getting Trump to commit to a 15 year long war. You get him to commit to baby steps that make it that much harder for him to dig himself out, because that's where we are today.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah, and the Carg island thing, I mean, the US Media is complicit right now in covering up the damage both that Iran inflicted in terms of like hitting Israeli sites, it appears, but also this major thing where they destroyed this US Aircraft on the Saudi base which is going to cost $700 million to replace, and this is a radar aircraft that helps them monitor the airspace in the area. So we now like there's no replacement for that coming around. And, and now Trump wants to put. Put US Troops as sitting ducks on Carg island right off the coast of Iran when we don't necessarily have the air power to monitor the situation. And they have drones that are cheap as hell that can go up and shoot down anything. It is so deeply disrespectful to, like, the, The. The men and women that are in the service. It's just unbelievable because there's. They are setting themselves up to really be killed and hurt. Here.

[Sam Cedar]

Here's Hegseth. You know, again, all of these things, all of these statements could sort of, like, cut either way. Trump sending paratroopers to Carg island and then saying, like, okay, we're done now. Maybe that's what he thinks he can do if he gets the other countries to do as Pete Hegseth is calling. I mean, like, it doesn't sound like a lot of that. Anybody's willing to be the first country to join the United States in this sort of, like, quagmire.

[Pete Hegseth]

I think the president was clear this morning in his truth that there are countries around the world who ought be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. It's not just the United States Navy. Why, last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well. So he's pointing out this is an international waterway that we use less than most. In fact, dramatically less than most. So the world ought pay attention to be prepared to stand up. President Trump's been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran. It's not just our.

[Michael Brooks]

Can you pause it? I'm sorry.

[Pete Hegseth]

We have done the lion's.

[Michael Brooks]

Well, I guess we have a second. Keep going.

[Pete Hegseth]

Preparation to ensure that that strait will be. Will be open, which is an outcome the president's been very clear on.

[Matt Lech]

Do you want to give us a timeline on that?

[Michael Brooks]

So we did this war in Iran out of love for our friends in Europe, apparently, because we don't really use the strait that much. So when we started on behalf, you know, with Israel's. On Israel's behalf as well, started this war against Iran. We were doing it not because it was in the Israeli interests or because Trump was. Was high on his own supply after Venezuela. We did it for you, Europe, and we didn't consult you on it. But now you still should commit your troops to help the US Navy, which is supposedly so powerful that it can do it alone, we're the decider. Trump alone will decide how this war ends. But also, please, Europe, can you help us out? Can you help us out? And can you send your troops in first so we don't face the political blowback for the war that we started? When US Troops get killed, it's insane. It's insane.

[Sam Cedar]

It now actually occurs to me that the reason why Trump is leaking this thing about the Strait of Hormuz is probably to try and convince Europeans to jump in. He can say it doesn't. I don't really care. It will raise the price of oil. It will create a floor essentially for oil because it's adding a fixed cost to every barrel that leaves the Strait of Hormuz. And that, of course, will raise the price of oil everywhere. It might make it easier, in my estimation, for, you know, President AOC in 2029, to encourage a return to and more support for sustainable energy because of the price of oil.

[Matt Lech]

So Trump new the green Trump deal.

[Sam Cedar]

That's what I'm doing. I just don't see the Europeans. I just don't see anybody else coming into this situation. I've, I've started to. I think Twos had something, Adam Toos had something about, like, here are five steps that China can do to ascend essentially to the world leader. That's what this should be about.

[Matt Lech]

Everyone is mad at us, literally. Our partners in the Gulf, Europe and Iran, they should all work together, cut us out. And I say that as Americans. Pretty weird to say we're the problem. Y' all should figure it out and work diplomacy without us. And because this is ridiculous.

[Michael Brooks]

Just like Taylor Swift said, hey, enough. But I'm very skeptical about, like in the Western press, these Gulf states saying, you know, we're behind you, President Trump, you. Like, this is what we're in favor of. Cuz I don't think they want this level of instability.

[Matt Lech]

Well, their problem now is you started this. And if Trump leaves, you've put Iran in a much stronger position than they

[Sam Cedar]

were before the start of the war. Because Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is going to be paying those, you know, like it's their shift to Iran. Yes, thanks for that war.

[Michael Brooks]

Right. And. But the Europeans, like, they're going to have, they're going to probably now be engaging in direct talks with the Iranians at this point. Like, this is strength one. Russia is the biggest. Russia and China are the two biggest beneficiaries of what has happened here with both Russia and Putin jacking up oil prices because there's this Scarcity. So he's been selling it at a premium. In addition to the US Seemingly maybe taking away military resources from Ukraine for this war in Iran. So Putin's loving it. China just has to sit back and have them look like the more stable partner, not look like, be the more stable partner. And Europe is going to say, like, perhaps this military alliance with this belligerent superpower has outlived its usefulness. The economy of the world is moving beyond us, and China is now has advanced in green energy, advanced in AI, advanced in their infrastructure. This is the kind of technology they should be buying from as well.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah, the, the problem, though, that you're not thinking about is China has to go back to all of their, like, 5 year and 10 year plans and white out the number 5 and 10 and 20 and then make it more like 2 and 4. And I mean, it really is unexplicable as to what motivated Trump to do this. And I don't think that we can discount stupidity. And in, you know, as a, as a reason, there's a lot of other reasons. Here's Pete Hagseth. Just to close the loop, this is number six. Yeah, here's Pete Hagseth, just finishing up the briefing. As you would. You know, it's Pentagon briefing. And so this is the way that you basically end these things when you are engaged in a jihad or holy war. Yeah, yeah, holy war.

[Pete Hegseth]

Standing here this morning in this briefing room, in my mind's eye, I'm actually looking out at the groups I met this weekend. The pilots, the logisticians, the intel analysts, the targeters, the sustainers, the flight crews, the air defenders, the base security, those maintainers who we walked up at sunset with the chill in the air on the flight. May God watch over all of them each day and each night. May his almighty and eternal arms of providence stretch over them and protect them and bring them peace. In the name of Jesus Christ and amen, Mr. Chairman.

[Sam Cedar]

You know, I feel like what we're missing is him taking a cross out of a fire and brandishing maybe somebody in the, like anointing somebody through the blood of Christ in the Pentagon pool room.

[Michael Brooks]

May Jesus Christ protect our men and women that we're sending to the Middle east to fight for Israel in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

[Sam Cedar]

Yes. There we go.

[Michael Brooks]

Oh, and then, I mean, they're not just killing for Israel, they're also killing for oil.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah.

[Matt Lech]

Oh, and missile companies. Oh, Lockheed Martin's doing great.

[Michael Brooks]

And because Trump wants to look tough in front of Xi Jinping in May.

[Sam Cedar]

I mean, honestly, it's, I don't know that we'll ever know the reality of like what it, what it was, you know, with Iraq. I just remember when, oh gosh, I forgot his name. Now one of the neocons, Wolfowitz, said in front of the Senate, weapons of mass destruction was the thing we could all agree on, but they all had their own set of reasons. You know, Cheney obviously, you know, believe that. I think controlling the oil out of there would be both profitable and a way to minimize China's ascent. That didn't work out so well. And I think, you know, the Fife and Pearl thought like, oh, this is going to be a great opportunity to impose a free market democracy on the area. And there were others, I'm sure who thought like, oh, once we take out Iraq, then we go to Syria, then we go to Iran and Israel will be free to do as it pleases in the area and finally, you know, get rid of the Palestinian people without any hindrances. I mean there is a whole set. Oh, and I think for George W. Bush it was all that and I'm going to avenge my daddy. I'm going to do what my daddy didn't do.

[Michael Brooks]

I mean, you know, there's another way that we could have been competitive with China. Instead of pouring billions and billions of dollars into weapons manufacturers, we could have chosen to reorient our economy in a way that made us competitive technologically and not have all of the value go to specul and to investors. But it could have gone into like the actual industries and we could have been advanced.

[Matt Lech]

But you don't like betting in NFTs.

[Sam Cedar]

I put on number nine here. I mean, I think like this is the thing. It's one thing for you to say that, but I mean, look at Iran for instance.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes. Can you imagine this kind of projection?

[Sam Cedar]

And at the end of the day, I think that if there are people in Iran who now, given everything that's happened, are willing to, to move in a different direction for their country, that would be great. Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars supporting terrorists or weapons had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you'd have a much different country. So we are. That would exist over there. I just don't know how those words come out of your mouth. They're literally talking about more cuts to Medicaid to support this war.

[Matt Lech]

Evil.

[Sam Cedar]

We have just kicked millions of people off of Medicaid to add to the millions who don't have health care coverage. The entire premise, fake premise of his campaign was like, america first. Which ostensibly I think many of them took to heart, meaning, oh, you mean white people. Uber alleys. Instead of like, maybe we should take care of our people before we start going on these excursions.

[Michael Brooks]

I mean, around.

[Sam Cedar]

How does he say this without like

[Michael Brooks]

going like, I think they're project. I think this is like, we can't even probably fathom the amount of projection in the conservative mind. Like, I mean, I don't, I. It's absolutely insane. Iran probably is thinking, no, we should have spent way more money on defense. Like I saw. Trita Parsi was interviewed by CNN and he said that the fatwa, the religious edict that prevented the construction of a nuclear weapon, it's dead. There's no consensus for it anymore within the Iranian government. Why would there be? They've been bombed by two nuclear armed nations, the US and its attack dog colony, Israel. And even when they were abiding by the nuclear agreement, they see that nuclear agreement as like, we were suckers for doing good faith negotiations with the Americans. And then Trump in his first term assassinates Qasem Soleimani out of nowhere. And then I remember going to no war with Iran protest then like in 2017, 2018. And at that time I was like, oh God, we staved that off. His lesson from that was we didn't do enough. And you had people in the mainstream press laundering this freak as anti war because they believed him when he said things like peace through strength, which just means more bombing. And then we can push them into submission. And that's my, that's my foreign policy. I mean, it's so Pollyannish. It's so embarrassing.

[Sam Cedar]

It's also quite clear that

[Matt Lech]

all of

[Sam Cedar]

those people around Trump as somewhat sort of like insane as some of them were, were all mitigating and counterbalances to what he wanted to do. I mean, we read all the reporting. Why can't we use a nuke? Why can't we shoot the protesters?

[Michael Brooks]

Right?

[Sam Cedar]

I mean, on and on and on. And Rex Tiller, what was it?

[Michael Brooks]

Tillerson.

[Sam Cedar]

Tillerson and Mattis and even that scumbag John, his chief of staff. All these names I've tried to purge from my mem. Well, ranks. Priebus. But, but after him, the, the, the army guy. Yeah, Irish guy. I can't remember now.

[Michael Brooks]

Kelly, John.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah, John Kelly. All of them who basically said to Trump, you can't do this. In the deal that I think like Madison Kelly had with each other, where it was like, we're going to prevent him. You know, if he, if he tries to do this, we're going to stop him.

[Michael Brooks]

All of the hexa is in charge now.

[Sam Cedar]

All of this, all of the reporting that said that these people who were on like one end of the spectrum of like driving us to the brink were the voices of reason. And Trump knew better. This time around, I'm only getting the people who will agree with me. There will be no voices in the White House who are going to say, don't do it. I like to hang out with losers, honestly. And that is it. I mean, listen there.

[Michael Brooks]

McMaster and John and Kelly made him feel inadequate.

[Sam Cedar]

The reason. Yeah, McMasters is the other one. And, and the reason why you see billionaires doing stupid stuff is because they've been in a bubble where no one has said no to them. Or like, I'm not sure that doesn't, you know, whatever it is, I don't think that's a good idea. Nobody says no to them. And that's what Trump has built for himself. Nobody around him is saying this is a bad idea, Mr. President. Nobody. Because that, that's why they maintain all of their fiefdoms. The reason why Miller is able to maintain its fiefdom. And we saw that clip of him at that meeting where like the stuff about Iran, he was just like. Because he's an American firster. Right. Like all of what he's doing. Supposedly he's a huge Zionist, though. I mean, he very well may be, but he knows this is going to tank.

[Matt Lech]

He was banging the anti war drum against Kamala pretty hard and he knows

[Sam Cedar]

this is going to tank, but he's not going to say anything because it's the way that he maintains his portfolio. Nobody steps up and says, don't do this, because they know they'll be cut out. And they're all a bunch of fricking losers and they got nowhere else to go. Nowhere else to go.

[Michael Brooks]

Or they could join Kristi Noem in the, the. She. Where is she? In the, the Avenue of the Shield.

[Sam Cedar]

Shield of America.

[Matt Lech]

A Shield of the Americas.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah, I like, like, I like that. That's like Atlantis, basically. Like wherever that, wherever the hell she is, just send her in a tube out to space.

[Sam Cedar]

Well, they're, they, you know, they're smart about this in that they know they gotta give something to people so they don't squeal.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah. Special envoy for the Shield of the Americans.

[Sam Cedar]

You know, whoever it is, you know, they, they jettisoned Donald Trump Junior's ex wife. You know.

[Matt Lech]

Yeah, golden parachute for you.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah. And, and remember, if you don't like the golden parachute, we can cut the parachute strings and you'll fall far and fast. And that's what they're doing. Meanwhile, let's play this clip of Trump.

[Matt Lech]

This is an older clip I found out. This is from January of last year.

[Sam Cedar]

What's that?

[Matt Lech]

Oh, that is him dancing with the song.

[Sam Cedar]

Oh, yeah, I thought we had seen that. Okay. I said he's done that before. Yeah, every president has done that, of course. But here is Laura Ingraham.

[Michael Brooks]

This is interesting because Laura Ingraham, like, you know, I. You wonder if Sean Hannity will be with him till the end, but Laura Ingraham has been demoted at Fox News because of the whole you're getting older lady situation. Probably means Trump's less interested in hearing what she has to say as well.

[Sam Cedar]

I remember having lunch with you and you don't look as good as you. Unlike Dana, you don't look better.

[Michael Brooks]

Dana, but. So she's gonna copy paste a lot of what you're hearing from conservative online influencers, even like Tucker Carlson, where he's approaching criticizing Trump very tepidly. But for the most part, they act like Trump has no agency. He's also incredibly powerful, smart, genius, the only person who can decide. But he's also weak enough to be so easily misled by the folks around him. However, it's important that this is happening on Fox News in primetime.

[Guest Host]

So if we cannot come to some type of peace deal with people who can't be trusted, then what? Well, looks like the US Is going to escalate. President Trump is already warning of widespread further damage, threatening to hit electric generating plants, oil wells, and Kharg island, as he's reportedly considering sending ground troops in to secure the uranium. Now, knowing what little time we have and how quickly this can spiral out of control, we still have a lot of questions. For instance, was the President fully briefed about the risks of all of this from the beginning? And was he then able to take it all in and understand the complexity of this, how complex it could actually get, and further possibilities of casualties or other damage, the difficulty of dealing with these people, or was he told this would be relatively quick in and out? So if we cannot.

[Sam Cedar]

All right, so you see what she's setting up there. I mean, she couldn't help herself. Like, maybe he's too dense to understand what was going on. That was sort of the middle one. But what she's also saying is, like, maybe there's an opportunity to Find a fall guy. Bad information. Oh yeah, that information.

[Michael Brooks]

Remember from last week when Hegseth was thrown under the bus?

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah.

[Michael Brooks]

I'm telling you, that's a seed. He said, some people are saying that we should fire you.

[Sam Cedar]

A very powerful guy came up to me and really, really went into your heart. And I said he's doing a great job. He's doing a great job. But is he.

[Michael Brooks]

But he wouldn't acknowledge that criticism if he wasn't planned. This happened with Kristi Noem and he started ignoring her at the cabinet meetings. And then two months later, what do you know, it would be funny if Laura Ingraham just really hated Pete Hegseth from their time together at Fox News. That's also like decided.

[Sam Cedar]

That is also very possible. I mean look, I think it would be hard for someone like Laura Ingram who takes herself so seriously. I would not be surprised if she's like, I can't believe this frickin complete wastoid moron.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah.

[Sam Cedar]

Is the Secretary of Defense. And she's just waiting. Obviously, you know, she doesn't want to. There's no reason for her to put her neck out for anything at this point.

[Michael Brooks]

But she doesn't seem to be moving her neck at all.

[Sam Cedar]

Well, there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of. I get the sense there has been a lot of injections throughout her face. There's not a lot of this life. Exactly. And stored in a freezer overnight. This is Laura Ingram, excited to see somebody. Hey, how are you? God, you look great. Oh my God. Oh, it's so good to see you. Oh, it's having such a great time. Oh, that was really great. We should, we would be remiss if we don't touch on this. I want to talk about this new law that Israel passed just for a minute. But we should say that we mentioned Kristi Noem and it's not about kink shaming as much as like a lot of people were wondering, I mean Kristi Noem's husband came out and was very supportive of her when she was publicly, I think accused of having an affair with Corey Lewandowski.

[Michael Brooks]

He came out.

[Sam Cedar]

He, he spoke out. He spoke out. Right. Will you find that? I'm quite sure he did well and,

[Michael Brooks]

and, and supported her so much that he said I'll stay behind in South Dakota and you go off to Washington D.C. to achieve your dreams.

[Sam Cedar]

Yes, but he was also, he, he was very specific I think in like, you know, how dare did he test?

[Matt Lech]

So it was a Surprise appearance behind at the Judiciary Committee earlier this month. Yeah.

[Sam Cedar]

Put this up. Didn't he say something?

[Matt Lech]

I'm looking for what he said.

[Sam Cedar]

He was like. You know how he thanked her, calling

[Matt Lech]

it a personal privilege to be allowed to be behind her at that hearing.

[Sam Cedar]

Do we have any. We don't have any video.

[Michael Brooks]

He can only be behind her.

[Sam Cedar]

I honestly, I don't want to kink shame the guy, but it is quite clear that the support did not go both ways because somehow a very private photo of Kristi Noem's husband.

[Matt Lech]

Several, actually.

[Sam Cedar]

Several have been leaked. And I mean, honestly.

[Michael Brooks]

Okay, the nipples on that one are. So did he get one implant in one and not in the other?

[Matt Lech]

He doesn't seem to feel something.

[Michael Brooks]

Right, I get it. But the nipples are not. He aligned. Okay.

[Matt Lech]

He doesn't ever feel the need. There's another one. Doesn't ever feel the need to really line up the nipples.

[Sam Cedar]

That's all right.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah.

[Sam Cedar]

But here's the point. It is quite clear that, like, put it back up. How do they show that there's so many. Okay.

[Michael Brooks]

He's wearing a crop top.

[Sam Cedar]

Well, the point is, like, I don't know. I suspect he didn't post these pictures anywhere. I suspect that they were somehow leaked. And I think what we're seeing. This is my speculation. She is done with him now, like her, she knows her political career has peaked, as it were. She's got all this cash that she and Corey garnered through all of their dealings. This is my prediction, and I'm going out on a limb. And I don't generally do predictions like this, but they're going to break up because she's going to be so offended by the pictures that she was completely aware of beforehand. And that's the way that their relationship was maintained and why he was okay with her having an affair. And then she and Corey are going to get married and then they can't testify against each other. There you go. Put that shit on polymarket right now.

[Michael Brooks]

I like that theory. If they weren't Republicans, we wouldn't make fun of this at all. Like, they could have a lavender marriage and have her have her own thing outside of it and him do his thing and they want to raise their kids together. That rocks.

[Sam Cedar]

But my guess is the reason that. That she is responsible for the leaking of this stuff.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes, that's the guess. I mean, who else would be sending it to the Daily Mail right after she got fired by Trump?

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah, it's. What a coincidence. Or maybe it's Corey because it's love and he wants to hasten the end of this.

[Matt Lech]

Perhaps she won't leave him.

[Sam Cedar]

You keep telling me you're going to leave him. I mean, it's hard to know. All right, meanwhile, let's just do this as well. The Israeli Knesset passed a law yesterday that is a death penalty that is essentially a de facto death penalty only for Palestinians.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes. It makes this distinction between military and civilian court. And you would not be shocked to find out that in military courts it's primarily Palestinians that are tried. Palestinians out of the west bank in particular. And you want to know what the conviction rate is for Palestinians in Israeli military court? 99%.

[Sam Cedar]

Lawmakers voted 62 to 48 in favor of the legislation. After nearly a 12 hour debate. Ben Gvir, Israel's National Security Minister, who was previously convicted of incitement to racism against Arabs and has taken to wearing a noose on his lapel to show his support for the bill. Here he is sharing a some celebratory champagne after this past this fascist comes out and they're literally their lapel pins

[Michael Brooks]

are nooses, almost to look like the hostage pin pins because they're also yellow.

[Sam Cedar]

It specifies that you can run the footage. It specifies that military courts that try Palestinians from the occupied west bank, the default punishment for killing an Israeli citizen in an act of terror would be the death penalty. It also allows convictions based on the majority rather than unanimous rulings by a military courts. So it basically lessens the standard for what where you can impose the death penalty and it requires the executions be carried out within 90 days of the final verdict. So there's no like messing around with appeals to the extent that there's any process for that. In Israeli courts, non military courts which try Israelis, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, the death penalty will apply only in cases where a murder was committed with the intention of, quote, rejecting the existence of the State of Israel.

[Matt Lech]

Yeah, I would just keep that in mind when people ask reflexively news anchors, do you agree that Israel has a right to exist? This is a step away from calling people terrorists.

[Michael Brooks]

I mean the many of the opposition members voted for this bill as well,

[Sam Cedar]

a clause that critics say means it will not apply to Jewish Israelis. Judges in these courts will also be able to choose whether to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment.

[Michael Brooks]

So do crimes that further the existence of the State of Israel, AKA meaning maintaining its apartheid state status and Jewish supremacist bent, like say Jewish extremism, that those kinds of acts, well, if you

[Sam Cedar]

murder somebody, I mean if like Ben Gvir murder somebody was to have murdered somebody in carrying out his extremist positions. Presumably a defense to the death penalty. Be like, no, I did it in

[Michael Brooks]

furtherance of the state of Israel, of

[Sam Cedar]

the existence of the state of Israel.

[Michael Brooks]

I mean, that's probably death penalty.

[Sam Cedar]

Your Honor is not available to this guy because, I mean, that.

[Michael Brooks]

That rapist that raped the Palestinian prisoner on camera that all charges were dropped for, and he's now on Israeli TV as a celebrity, showing his face proudly that rape was in furtherance of the existence of the state of Israel. So that shouldn't be a crime either. And it wasn't there.

[Sam Cedar]

You. I just.

[Matt Lech]

I mean, I'm sure Jake Tapper focused on that last night, right? Did he?

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah. Can we just. Can we just play a little of this woman crying with joy as she does it? I. I mean, just a little

[Sam Cedar]

support of the death penalty law. 42, 48 opposed, one abstainer. I heard hereby declare the death penalty law passed in the second and third hearing. Stopping him from popping champagne because we have the book of laws in the state of Israel, who has provided us life and sustained us and brought. And it's disgusting. That's actually a prayer.

[Michael Brooks]

That's a prayer.

[Sam Cedar]

Mm. So gross.

[Michael Brooks]

I have thoughts that I will not

[Matt Lech]

speak, but I'm remembering Molly Crabapple on the show yesterday talking about the hijacking of a religion by insane nationalists. And there you go.

[Sam Cedar]

There you go.

[Michael Brooks]

And my God. Well, maybe we'll get into this later, but I just. I tweeted out this clip of Marjorie Taylor Greene on a fundraising call with Thomas Massie where she explicitly blames, quote, Jewish billionaires for backing his opponent. Not Zionists, Jewish billionaires. We are at this moment here where there are really dominant voices who have been given a lot of credibility, unduly by some people on our side of the aisle as well, but also just because they're saying truths that folks in the Republican Party won't say, although the framing is really problematic. Like, we are on the precipice of, I think, many years of prolonged antisemitism because of this, because there has been an active effort to blame, to conflate Zionism with Judaism. And you have these Christian nationalists who are making media careers out of this, where they blame Jews for the crimes of American empire and absolve Christian Zionists who are essential in this role. We just played that clip of Pete Hegseth with his religious justification for the war in Iran, as the state of Israel is also thrilled about this war in Iran. We are Working in conjunction with Israel. Israel is our outgrowth. It's not Israel that is the genesis of this. But it's really convenient for Republicans like her to absolve themselves of their own religious fundamentalism. And this is supposedly anti establishment. These voices. No, you guys are keeping the entire structure of American foreign policy in place, but you're just throwing Jews and Israel overboard.

[Sam Cedar]

Also, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she could have, she could have stayed in office for the past, you know, since January and had real influence on the future of this war. I mean, that War Powers act needed four Democratic votes. Maybe it would have been harder to get five of those Democrats over. Or maybe if Marjorie Taylor Greene was voting against the war, it would have made it harder for those four Democrats to actually vote because. Wait a second. I don't want to be to the right of Marjorie Taylor Greene on this. Yeah.

[Matt Lech]

Was there a conspiracy behind her leaving?

[Sam Cedar]

She was in a position of, of power that was A, because of her fundraising and whatnot, greater than just about any other Republican lawmaker outside of those in leadership, and B, because of her profile. Could have had real impact.

[Michael Brooks]

Really.

[Sam Cedar]

Like there's probably, I don't know, a dozen people maybe that you could say would have more impact than Marjorie Taylor Greene. I don't know even who they would have been because of how she was situated at a Republican in a moment where there's like a one seat majority. And the idea that she's getting credit for anything is just absurd to me. Yeah, that's what I every time literally walked away from. The power that you had. It is the ultimate in cowardice.

[Michael Brooks]

Yeah.

[Matt Lech]

Yeah.

[Michael Brooks]

And I don't agree with AOC voting against her amendment, but I can understand the trepidation that she had of aligning herself with this unrepentant anti Semite. If we want to compare records on this, as some people are doing online. In March 2024, AOC called it a genocide. Marjorie Taylor Greene waited until summer 2025 to do so. As she was planning her exit, there were only six members that joined that Marjorie Taylor Greene amendment. So if you want to say that AOC's record on this issue is worse than Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Summer Lee and Al Green who voted for it, I'm fine with that. But in terms of like top 10 in Congress, it's pretty, pretty obvious who it is.

[Matt Lech]

I mean, AOC is objectively near the top. And those I think. I wish she wouldn't freelance on issues like that, but it would be nice for all the people that want to use it to hit AOC would lift up people like Tlaib and Omar because I don't really see Marjorie Taylor Greene types doing that.

[Michael Brooks]

And my point is like the idea that it was her and Massie were the two Republicans that were on that. And okay, perhaps those votes are useful at certain points. But the point, like the worldview of Marjorie Taylor Greene, one where there's like no belief in foreign aid, her early votes that were against Israel aid was when it was packaged with Ukraine. And all of her rhetoric on that front at the time was anti Ukraine funding. It's about. She believes in like abdicating responsibility that the United States empire has throughout the world to be an isolationist. And I believe in internationalism and universal human rights. And AOC is a lot closer to that ideology than someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene. And we have lost the plot. If there are people that think that Marjorie Taylor Greene, because she's decided to make a media career out of this, is in some way a more effective anti Zionist voice than aoc, I'm not sure if the brain rot is going to be solved anytime soon.

[Sam Cedar]

On this New York Post has Kristi Noem weighing in on report. The family was blindsided by this, right? I'm sure not the wife though. I got it. Yeah. Oh, I had. Ms. Gnome is devastated. The flam. Oh my God. She definitely leaked these photos. Never guessed the closet he was hiding. I can't. I can't believe it happened. Just as I was being investigated for something. Stealing millions of dollars with my boyfriend. And now I'm not. And now my. My political career is over. I can't believe it. What a coincidence. Citing hundreds of messages purportedly sent by three women from the scene, Gnomes husband enthusiastic praised their heavily augmented and proclaimed he coveted huge, huge ridiculous boobs. He appears to have put balloo in his shirt to mimic comically oversighted lopsided breasts.

[Matt Lech]

So the lopsidedness is part of it for him because he never matched the nipples up in a single one of the.

[Sam Cedar]

Oh, the kids. Okay, the kids are 3129 and 23. So she wanted out of this and this is her exit strategy. You know she's been sitting on.

[Michael Brooks]

Oh yeah, wait, 23. So that means that final kid is out of college. Perfect timing.

[Sam Cedar]

She's been sitting on these photos for a while.

[Matt Lech]

That's why she gets to act the way she questions.

[Sam Cedar]

According to the Post, have swirled about the state of the Gnomes marriage in recent years. Primarily concerning the ousted DHS chief relationship with Trump confidant Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski, who's also married. I wonder if we're going to see photos of Lewandowski's wife cross dressing.

[Matt Lech]

She puts a cucumber in her pants.

[Sam Cedar]

Has been by Nome side at high profile events. Even sitting side by side across from Guinea's during a meeting with South Africa. Okay. I don't know what the point of that.

[Matt Lech]

Talking about white genocide.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah. Okay, so Nome is done and then Lewandowski's done and then they're together. They'll get married quickly so that the. If the investigation proceeds, they can't testify against each other and they're probably the most valuable witnesses. They can't be forced to testify against your. Your. That's my guess. That's it, folks. It is time for us to head to the fun half of the program. We started a little bit early, had a little bit of fun. Kristi Noem, and I mean, I feel bad for her husband, frankly. Like, dude, you picked the wrong lady to get involved with. Even if there were no pictures, I'd feel bad for.

[Michael Brooks]

Yes, right, right. I mean, I mean they had a pretty. If, if he was allowing her to just be off with Corey for this long period of time, like as lavender marriages go, that's. All right.

[Matt Lech]

Well, apparently it's not even lavender marriage. He just likes big boobs,

[Sam Cedar]

which is

[Matt Lech]

a little bit of a curveball on that.

[Michael Brooks]

He likes them so much that he wants them himself. Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Cedar]

Well, whatever floats your boat, as it were. Those the ladies of the View, folks, It's your support that makes the show possible. Become a member and support the support the show. You get the free show, free of commercials, you get the fun half. And at the end of this week, right, maybe on Monday of next week, we're going to send out an email to members with an offer of. It's going to be first come, first serve of a free copy of Molly Crabapple's book. I would encourage you, if you can afford it, to buy the book because every pre order of the book and we'll put the link in the podcast and YouTube description every pre order helps it get one step closer to being a New York Times bestseller. And if that happens, it's just going to get a lot more prominence because

[Matt Lech]

Jake Taffer is going to have a.

[Sam Cedar]

Jake Tapper is going to have a real problem. I mean, the, the, the beauty of that book is both that it shows a, it gives another vision on how to sort of like express your Judaism in the context of an ideology you're probably already sympathetic to. But it also shows that there was anti Zionism well before there was Israel and its most prominent. Voices were Jewish.

[Michael Brooks]

Avi Lewis I saw giving an interview about coming from a long tradition of anti Zionist Jews and carrying that tradition forward as well. So that's exciting that he leads the NDP now in Canada.

[Matt Lech]

Be nice to see that conversation on our major airwaves every once in a while.

[Sam Cedar]

Did you say those books, though? You're only doing domestic shipping? Oh, yes. We should say we will pay for your shipping if you're in the United States. If you're in Canada, you're gonna have to pay for your own shipping. If you're in Europe, you're going to have to pay for your own shipping

[Matt Lech]

because you've been taking advantage of us

[Sam Cedar]

for too long in the street. We've been giving you a free ride, all you non Americans. So. And also, don't forget, just coffee, co op, fair trade coffee, hot chocolate. Use your coupon code majority, get 10% off and you can buy the majority report blend. Matt, what's happening in the Matt Leckian media universe?

[Matt Lech]

Yeah, a fun show coming up on Left Reckoning right after the fun half today over on Left Reckoning YouTube channel or on Twitch where we talk about CPAC. Some cognitive dissonance going on intergenerationally about, say, Steve Bannon's presence at CPAC despite being a big Epstein fan, or the Iran war. Also, we talk about Trump being at the investment conference in Miami. At the same time. I'd rather talk to investors than you stupid activist hogs. And something we're going to be talking about in the fun half today is Rob Schneider's glorious return to stand up comedy. That really probably has you a little bit worried, Brian, that there's more competition.

[Sam Cedar]

Brian's been hanging his head all day at the office.

[Matt Lech]

He's been taking notes. He's been talking like Rob Schneider.

[Sam Cedar]

It's just when you run into someone who does it at that level, just makes you wonder why. By the way, you try the fucking stage. Yeah. Poor Brian. Poor, poor Brian. Brian, take the pork pie hat off. It's not gonna. Come on, dude. Can I leave my iridescent blazer on? We'll see you in the fun half. Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's gonna be the same as it looks like in six months. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months from now. But I think around 18 months out. We're going to look back and go like wow. What? What is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on. Hold on for a second. The majority report unpacked. Emma, welcome to the program. Unpack. Matt. Blue. Fun. What is up everyone? Fun. Pat.

[Michael Brooks]

No.

[Matt Lech]

Mickey.

[Michael Brooks]

You did it.

[Sam Cedar]

Fun hat.

[Michael Brooks]

Let's go, Brandon.

[Sam Cedar]

Let's go.

[Pete Hegseth]

Brandon.

[Sam Cedar]

Bradley, you want to say hello? Sorry to disappoint everyone.

[Matt Lech]

I'm just a random guy.

[Sam Cedar]

It's all the boys today.

[Michael Brooks]

Fundamentally false.

[Guest Host]

No.

[Michael Brooks]

I'm sorry. Women.

[Sam Cedar]

Stop talking for a second.

[Michael Brooks]

Let me finish. Where is this coming from? Dude.

[Sam Cedar]

But dude. You want to smoke his 7A?

[Michael Brooks]

Yes.

[Sam Cedar]

Hi, Mickey. You're safe. Yes. Is this me? Is it me? It is you. Is this me?

[Matt Lech]

Hello?

[Sam Cedar]

It's me. I think it is you. Who is you? No sound. Every single friend freaking day. What's on your mind? We can discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism. I'm gonna go snow white. Libertarians.

[Matt Lech]

They're so stupid.

[Sam Cedar]

Though common sense says of course.

[Michael Brooks]

Gobbledygook.

[Sam Cedar]

We nailed him.

[Michael Brooks]

So what's 79 plus 21?

[Sam Cedar]

Challenge man. Positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say 8 5, 7, 2, 1 0. 35, 5011 half. 3, 8, 9, 11.

[Matt Lech]

For instance.

[Michael Brooks]

34. $400. $1900.

[Sam Cedar]

5 4. $3 trillion. Sold. It's a zero sum game.

[Michael Brooks]

Actually. You're making me think less.

[Sam Cedar]

But let me say this. You can call it satire.

[Pete Hegseth]

Sam goes satire.

[Michael Brooks]

On top of it all.

[Sam Cedar]

My favorite part about you is just

[Michael Brooks]

like every day, all day. Like everything you do.

[Sam Cedar]

Without a doubt. Hey buddy. We

[Guest Host]

all right.

[Sam Cedar]

Folks. Folks. Folks.

[Michael Brooks]

It's just the week being weeded out. Obviously.

[Sam Cedar]

Yeah. Sun's out, guns out. I. I don't know.

[Michael Brooks]

But you should know

[Sam Cedar]

people just don't

[Matt Lech]

like to entertain ideas anymore.

[Sam Cedar]

I have a question. Who cares?

[Matt Lech]

O CHAT is enabled. Wow.

[Sam Cedar]

I love it.

[Michael Brooks]

I do love that.

[Sam Cedar]

Gotta jump. Gotta be quick. I gotta jump. I'm losing it, bro. Two o'. Clock. We're already late and the guy's being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulag.

[Michael Brooks]

Outrageous.

[Sam Cedar]

Like, what is wrong with you? Love you. Bye. Love you.

[Michael Brooks]

Bye.

[Sam Cedar]

Bye.