Main Discussion Topics

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Trump's Media License Threat

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• Trump's threat to revoke media licenses violates First Amendment

• Comparison to FDR's use of FCC to pressure radio stations supporting New Deal

• Analysis of using regulatory power as political weapon

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Mark read a Truth Social post where Trump wrote: "Despite very high popularity, and according to many, among the greatest eight months in presidential history, ABC and NBC, fake news. Two of the worst and most biased networks in history gave me a 97% bad stories. And if that is the case, they are simply an arm of the Democrat party and should, according to many, have their licenses revoked by the FCC."

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Mark responded: "This is scary. This is scary, man... Now, not pulling the licenses of legitimate news agencies. That's not a threat to democracy, throwing the presidential power around and the power of the FCC to actually censor, in other words, do something that is constitutionally forbidden against the press. That's not a threat to democracy. It's the fact that these news agencies don't report positively on Trump."

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Constitutional Violations and Executive Overreach

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• Discussion of Trump floating third-term possibility through JD Vance succession scheme

• Analysis of Republican enablement since January 6th

• Critique of imperial presidency expansion

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Mark drew historical parallels: "Let's not forget that the FCC was created by Roosevelt as a means of manipulating the people who own the airways into supporting the New Deal. And he used the FCC liberally to cudgel people into submission so that he could pass his New Deal and radio stations that spoke out against the New Deal, well, they didn't get their licenses until they actually supported what the Imperial President was doing."

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Michael expressed concern about Trump's broader pattern: "He's actually worse than what I thought he would be. Like I thought a lot of it was just bluster and bullshit, which is what he does a lot of. But he's actually doing some of this stuff... This is a guy who's clearly, in my view, like somebody who's studied psychology a lot, it's clearly he has narcissistic personality disorder."

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Criminal Justice and Due Process Debate

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• Trump's plan to end cashless bail in DC and pressure for nationwide implementation

• Extensive debate between Mark and Michael on bail system

• Michael argues judges shouldn't determine danger without jury trial

• Mark raises concerns about repeat violent offenders

• Discussion of constitutional due process requirements

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Mark raised concerns about repeat offenders, leading to this exchange about judicial discretion versus jury rights: "You don't think a judge can make that assessment, a reasonable assessment?" Michael responded: "No, I think that... you're talking about having the police arrest somebody and having a judge determine without a trial that that person is too dangerous to be on the street. He hasn't been convicted."

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Michael further argued: "I think that the idea that he wants to ban this nationwide is a serious violation of the Constitution, specifically the 10th Amendment... The purpose of bail ought to be to make sure that people go to court, not to keep people who have not been convicted of anything off the street."

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National Guard Deployment

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• National Guard deployment in DC costing $1 million per day for 400 arrests

• Plans to expand militarized policing to Baltimore, potentially Chicago and New York

• Constitutional concerns about federalizing local law enforcement

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Mark noted the costs and expansion plans: "The cost of these 400 arrests that have occurred since the National Guard has been there making Washington safe again has been about a million dollars a day. A million dollars a day, Michael, to make 400 arrests... But apparently the president believes that federalizing the police force and sending the National Guard into Washington DC has limited crime there to such a degree that it is now a success, a success enough to bring to other cities. And he is talking about bringing it to Baltimore, Maryland."

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Ghislaine Maxwell Interview Controversy

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• Maxwell had "several hours conference" with Trump's former personal attorney

• She reportedly cleared Trump, Clinton, Dershowitz, and other powerful figures

• Maxwell transferred to minimum security prison after interview

• Discussion of potential Trump pardon despite her being convicted sex offender

• Clear conflict of interest noted by both Mark and Michael

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Mark outlined the suspicious circumstances: "She's had several hours conference with Trump's former personal attorney that has revealed, of course, that Trump was never seen doing anything inappropriate when around Epstein... Now Michael, isn't it a little fishy that his own personal attorney interviews this person under the guise of the Justice Department, and that shortly after this interview, she gets transferred to a minimum security prison. And do you think she may be pardoned later on?"

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Michael highlighted the absurdity: "She's a convicted sex offender who's still in prison trying to get out, has never, as far as I know, expressed any remorse about the situation. Nothing. So she has every incentive in the world to lie, but because it's for their almighty hero, this is absolving. It's so fucking dumb, Mark."

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January 6th vs BLM Riots Analysis

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• Audience member compared January 6th to "Antifa BLM destruction"

• Mark acknowledged BLM riots had greater scale of violence and property damage

• Michael emphasized January 6th's attempt to disrupt constitutional electoral process

• Discussion of different prosecutorial treatment between groups

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Mark acknowledged the scale difference: "Certainly their violence was on a far greater scale. I mean, I think taking over a section of Seattle and literally making it a no-go zone for police is one of the worst things that possibly happened given that there were rapes and murders inside that area, and nobody could go in there to help people... tens of, I don't know exactly what the death toll was, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 human beings were killed in these things and billions of dollars in property damage."

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However, Michael emphasized the constitutional significance: "What happened, like what led up to it, what Trump was trying to do, he literally was trying to slate fake electors to keep himself in office. There was a plan going into it to say that the election was stolen... So in terms of long-term ramifications and the potential damage that could have been caused by it, in my mind, January 6th was way worse."

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Political Tribalism and Constitutional Principles

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• Critique of right-wing echo chambers and selective fact consumption

• Discussion of how political tribes ignore constitutional violations by their side

• Analysis of Trump's narcissistic tendencies

• Concern about erosion of objective political discourse

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Mark concluded with this warning: "The things that he's doing today can be done by a president from the opposite tribe. The way in which he's violating the Constitution today can work against you. And just because your tribe is happy with it today doesn't mean that you're gonna be happy with it tomorrow. So when the Constitution is violated, everyone's rights are violated."

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Book Recommendations

1. "The Manufacture of Madness" by Thomas Szasz

   • Recommended by Michael regarding psychiatric commitment dangers

   • Relates to due process and civil liberties concerns

2. "Lost, Not Stolen" (Constitutional paper)

   • Document analyzing Trump's court cases after 2020 election

   • Michael promised to post links to Twitter and Facebook

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Referenced Articles/Documents

• Truth Social post by Trump about media licenses

• "Lost, Not Stolen" constitutional analysis paper

• Deirdre McCloskey's personal experience with psychiatric commitment

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Notable Quotes

Mark on Constitutional Protection: "The Constitution is your bulwark against authoritarianism. You should cling to it like a life raft, like a lifesaver, because without it, the federal government can run roughshod over you."

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Michael on Trump: "He's actually worse than what I thought he would be. Like I thought a lot of it was just bluster and bullshit, which is what he does a lot of. But he's actually doing some of this stuff."

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Mark on Bipartisan Constitutional Violations: "It seems like both sides have an antipathy for the Constitution. It gets in their way."

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Key Themes

• Constitutional limitations on executive power

• Due process and civil liberties

• Media freedom and government censorship

• Political tribalism vs. principled governance

• Cost-benefit analysis of authoritarian security measures

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Capitalist Thought of the Day​

"We've been talking a lot about due process, folks. We've been talking a lot about the restrictions of the office of the presidency. Due process is important. The jury system is one of the main support systems of due process, folks, and the president has no power to do any of the things that he is doing today. If he were taking his constitutional restraints seriously, he wouldn't be doing them. He would be going through the legislature. He could propose legislature. He could propose changes to the legislature to make changes, but he wouldn't be doing what he is today. An American Capitalist Party would try to right this ship. It would attempt to reassert the proper checks and balances and reassert the command of the Constitution over the people who are supposed to serve the Constitution and you, by mitigating force, folks, that's what an American Capitalist Party candidate would attempt to do... Big government means small individual. Small government means big individual, and we want you to be big individuals in your own life." - Mark