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Trump Won't Let Go, Greenland on the Table, Prison Neglect , and More!

Main Discussion Topics

Trump's Ban on Institutional Home Buyers

Trump announces steps to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes
Framed as affordability measure with slogan "People live in homes, not corporations"
Both hosts condemn the policy as fascism and left-wing intervention

Michael characterized the response from Trump supporters: "I'm sure that some of our friends will continue to tell us that this left wing garbage is necessary to defeat the left because, that remember, that's what's important is to defeat the left. And it's not left for Trump to control money from oil proceeds. It's not left for Trump to buy stakes in corporations on behalf of the government. It's not left for Trump to do shit like this, to protect the little guy. None of that's the left. We must fight the left and Trump is the guy to do it."

Mark explained the flawed reasoning behind the policy: "People have a constitutional aversion to the fact that a large company buys a large number of homes and they think they keep those homes, hold onto them, drive up prices, and they think it creates a kind of monopoly and worse shortages. That is in fact not the case."

Trump's Self-Aggrandizing NATO Post

Trump posts claiming he "respectfully got them to 5% GDP" and "they pay immediately"
Claims "without my involvement, Russia would have all of Ukraine right now"
States he "single handedly ended eight wars"
Complains about not receiving Nobel Peace Prize
Posts signed "President Donald J. Trump"

Mark read the entire post and commented: "Can you believe this? Probably the entire reason for his involvement in Venezuela right now. And the reason he's cutting Machado out of the entire Democratic process is because he is still miffed about the fucking Nobel Peace Prize."

Michael connected this to broader MAGA psychology: "I genuinely think a lot of the MAGA people feel so marginalized and beat up and condescended to by the left, that that emotional thing is still carrying over despite all of the evidence that should be showing them. This guy is not in their corner at all. He's in his own corner. He's aggrandizing himself. He doesn't give a fuck about you. You're a tool, you're something he can use to further his agenda."

ICE Shooting of Renee Nicole Good

Minnesota woman shot three times in the face by ICE agent
Department of Homeland Security claims she weaponized her vehicle
Multiple video angles show contradictory evidence
DHS labels her a "domestic terrorist" and "professional agitator"

Mark described what the videos showed: "Every angle that I saw, the man was not trapped on the hood of her car or in front of her bumper. In fact, what I saw was a man move to the side of the car completely out of harm's way and fire his weapon through the window and the driver's side window at the woman. So he was completely clear of being injured by her, and I didn't see her moving fast either."

Background on the victim according to Mark's research: "Good was a mother of three, including a 6-year-old son now orphaned after her second husband's death in 2023. Originally from Colorado Spring, she moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri in the past year. She was a US citizen with no criminal history beyond a traffic ticket. Previously she worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union, but had been a stay at home mom in recent years. She held a degree in English with a focus on creative writing from Old Dominion University. Graduating in 2020 was an award-winning poet. Played guitar as a hobby and was described by family as a devoted Christian who was compassionate, kind, loving, forgiving, and affectionate."

Michael urged caution in rushing to judgment: "There's this rush to judgment about things that occurs that is not good. When something like this happens and people are all over social media, this is murder, she's a terrorist, you know, whatever. I think that's not good. I think we need to wait to find things out sometimes."

However, Michael was clear about one thing: "The idea that she's a domestic terrorist, when the government keeps calling everybody they don't like terrorists, we need to be concerned because whatever this woman was, regardless of her culpability, regardless of who was right or wrong, she's not a domestic terrorist."

Mark noted the broader implications: "ICE is not winning friends and influencing. ICE is ushering in a whole new generation of policing and immunity of the police of the policing world from the Constitution. If anything, just for that reason alone, I think if I were king, I would abolish ice instantaneously."

Michael identified the systemic problem: "This is what, ultimately, this is one of the dangers when you start militarizing the cities. When you start sending agents in to gather people up, you create extremely volatile situations."

Mark connected it to policy failures: "The prohibition of drugs, the prohibition of free movement of individuals always introduces violence into the equation. Folks, if you want a peaceful world, you should join the American Capitalist Party."

New Federal Food Pyramid

Trump administration releases new dietary guidelines
Inverted pyramid prioritizes proteins, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats
Whole grains deemphasized at bottom
Replaces 2011 MyPlate visual
Moves away from all fat limits, emphasizes fat quality instead
Abandons daily alcohol limits for general "drink less" advice
Advises up to doubling protein intake
Will affect one in four Americans through federal nutrition programs

Michael's response: "I really don't care what they say, what they don't say. I just wish they weren't involved. They don't need to be involved in telling us what to eat. I don't give a shit what they say. I can study for myself and learn myself and make my own choices. And if I wanna fucking Snickers bar, I'm having a Snickers."

Mark identified the corruption: "There's a Doctor Iz on Facebook for anybody who wants to follow him. He's a doctor with a who also has a master's in nutritional health, and he pointed out all of the food lobbies that were engaged in helping to create this food pyramid. Just like the old food pyramid, it's people with government influence and privileges asserting their will and telling us what we should eat. You can't trust this shit when it comes from the government. Go to your doctor, have a personal relationship with a nutritionist. Sort out what works out for your body. Fuck these food pyramids. They've been wrong in the past. They're wrong now. They're ruled by lobbyists for dairy. They're for big meat. All of these organizations that have power, fuck them."

Cartel de los Soles: A Made-Up Terror Organization

DOJ previously described Maduro as head of "Cartel de los Soles"
2020 indictment labeled it a drug cartel and terror organization
New indictment reveals it's actually a figure of speech in Venezuela
Refers to government corruption/patronage system, not an actual cartel
DOJ quietly dropped terror designation and relabeled it as "patronage system"

Michael explained the change: "Evidently, this is a figure of speech in Venezuela. It's not a real cartel. It basically refers to government corruption type thing. It's a word they use for the patronage system down there in Venezuela. And they had been designating this group as a terror organization, but evidently in the new indictment, they've gotten rid of that and they refer to it now as a patronage system."

Mark identified the problem: "What does that do to their accusations that they are part of a narco terrorist regime when this drug cartel is not really a drug cartel. They're gonna have to change the indictments now to something else."

Michael's assessment: "They called the patronage system a cartel because they don't understand that, just 'cause it's called cartel de las soles doesn't mean it's an actual fucking cartel."

Criminal Justice Article Critique

Article by Oliver Lee Bateman advocates return to flogging and caning
Claims 22% of men in prison are sexually assaulted
Argues certain sex offenders have "extraordinarily high recidivism rates"
Proposes voluntary choice between prison or physical punishment

Michael fact-checked the article thoroughly: "He says that 22% of males in prison are sexually assaulted. When I read that, I said, there's no way that's true. So he provides a link. So I went and I looked in the link. The link he provides doesn't even claim what he's claiming. The link says 22% of men in prison are physically assaulted. While I think it was two or 3% are sexually assaulted."

On recidivism claims: "The other thing he says is that particular types of sex offenders, particularly those, um, attracted to that, involve young children, have extraordinarily high recidivism rates. Again, immediate red flag came up for me because I know that it's a myth that sex offenders have higher recidivism rates than other offenders. It shocked me because you always hear that, but when I actually studied criminology and recidivism, I saw no, they actually have relatively low recidivism rates."

Michael's verdict: "When somebody writes an article proclaiming themselves as a sort of an expert, he talks about, you know, he's a legal historian and they get two things like that so wrong. I just basically throw out what they say. But I mean, his idea that you're gonna flog people, dude, just get outta here with that nonsense. It's just stupid."

Pentagon Spending Increase

Department of Defense spending as share of GDP going up
Discussion of costs related to Venezuela occupation
Concerns about long-term military presence

Mark questioned the costs: "I wonder how much money they're spending to occupy Venezuela at the moment, to keep that massive military presence over there. And then God knows what's gonna happen in the future. Nobody knows. He's so far, he's getting in bed with the Commies over there and not even trying to bring democratic governance back to Venezuela again."

Michael sarcastically responded: "More spending, what could go wrong? It's wonderful, right? I mean, let's just keep spending, keep driving us further and further into debt and deficit. Don will fix it all because he's fighting the left."

Mark noted the contradiction: "I don't see how he reconciles his claim at owning affordability when he's spending more and more money than I think any president previous to him."

Zohran Mamdani's "Warmth of Collectivism"

NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani's inaugural address proclaims: "we will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism"
Article discusses how Democrats have been running against "rugged individualism" since Hoover coined the term in 1928
Connection to socialist policies and misidentification of capitalism

Michael analyzed the rhetorical strategy: "If you're a leftist, right? And you can identify Hoover as a rugged capitalist, think about how you've moved the goalposts. Because that's capitalism and we wanna go a little left. Well, we gotta get a little bit more regulation. You don't have to really go far. It's also an easy target to say, look at the failures when they're, you know, you're saying capitalism failed when it's really interventionism failed."

On Trump being mislabeled: "They like, they call Trump a capitalist. Trump is not a capitalist, if anything, to quote to great Gene Epstein Trump is a cronyist."

Mark agreed: "He is a cronyist and we say he's a cronyist. We said it from the moment he was elected. What you will see over the next four years is not capitalism."

Fighting the Left with Actual Principles

Extended discussion about proper way to oppose leftist policies
Critique of Republican history from Goldwater through Trump
Analysis of how fighting tactics matter more than tribal allegiance

Michael dismantled the "Republicans fight the left" narrative: "Let me just get, put something clear here. So when I say use Mises Rand Haslet, I'm talking about actually arguing for the constitution. I'm talking about actually arguing for capitalism, actually arguing for morality. That's how they fought them."

He then traced Republican failures: "60 years ago would be 1965. They ran Barry Goldwater, who was okay. Also advocated to use antitrust laws against the unions, which cuts himself off at the knees as an advocate of capitalism. What did the Republicans do next? They nominated Richard Nixon, a liberal Republican who started so many alphabet agencies. You'd think he was the one given the alphabet exercises on Sesame Street."

Continuing through Reagan: "Reagan. I kinda like Reagan. I think he did a lot of good, he was a great communicator. Took on the USSR. But wait a second. He also embraced the religious right. Didn't really push to abolish Medicaid, social security, Medicare, or any of that stuff. Or to privatize the schools."

And to present day: "Trump, who's opposed to nation building? Except for that's what he wants to do in Venezuela. Trump, who's opposed to nation building? Except for, wait a second. Didn't Trump call for nation building in Gaza? Trump the enemy of socialism. But wait, is he gonna get rid of any of the entitlement programs? No. What he's gonna do is buy shares and companies implement tariffs, threaten companies that they better lower their prices or there will be price controls. He's also now putting a stop to corporations being able to buy homes."

Michael's challenge: "Anybody out there who wants to come on and argue about how Trump is the answer to fight the left and how the left is so much worse. I'm here. I will take on all comers. No disrespect, very respectful debates. Here I am, because this is not the way to fight the left."

Venezuela Military Concerns

Question posed about whether US military involvement will require boots on the ground
Concerns about oil field control and occupation
Analysis of Trump getting "in bed with the Commies"

Mark raised concerns about the new Venezuelan leadership: "The woman who is the vice president, who is now president of Venezuela is a horrific human being. If you read a little bit about her history, she was part of the intelligence apparatus. She tapped down dissidents. I mean, she was part and parcel of the torture machine of the Chavez and Maduro regime. She's a bad human being."

Michael suggested sarcastically: "Instead of getting in bed with socialists, perhaps Trump should just stay in bed with Stormy Daniels."

Mark concluded: "I think the world would be a much better place. Melania would be safe for one. The rest of us would be safe because he wouldn't be exercising his micro pen issues on the rest of us."

Notable Quotes

Mark on MAGA Psychology: "I genuinely think a lot of the MAGA people feel so marginalized and beat up and condescended to by the left, that that emotional thing is still carrying over despite all of the evidence that should be showing them. This guy is not in their corner at all. He's in his own corner. He's aggrandizing himself. He doesn't give a fuck about you. You're a tool, you're something he can use to further his agenda."

Michael on Government Food Guidelines: "I really don't care what they say, what they don't say. I just wish they weren't involved. They don't need to be involved in telling us what to eat. I don't give a shit what they say. I can study for myself and learn myself and make my own choices. And if I wanna fucking Snickers bar, I'm having a Snickers."

Mark on Food Pyramids: "You can't trust this shit when it comes from the government. Go to your doctor, have a personal relationship with a nutritionist. Sort out what works out for your body. Fuck these food pyramids. They've been wrong in the past. They're wrong now. They're ruled by lobbyists for dairy. They're for big meat."

Michael on ICE Victim: "The idea that she's a domestic terrorist, when the government keeps calling everybody they don't like terrorists, we need to be concerned because whatever this woman was, regardless of her culpability, regardless of who was right or wrong, she's not a domestic terrorist."

Mark on ICE and Constitutional Violations: "ICE is ushering in a whole new generation of policing and immunity of the police of the policing world from the Constitution. If anything, just for that reason alone, I think if I were king, I would abolish ICE instantaneously."

Michael on Militarized Policing: "This is what, ultimately, this is one of the dangers when you start militarizing the cities. When you start sending agents in to gather people up, you create extremely volatile situations."

Mark on Violence and Prohibition: "The prohibition of drugs, the prohibition of free movement of individuals always introduces violence into the equation. Folks, if you want a peaceful world, you should join the American Capitalist Party."

Michael on Fighting the Left: "You wanna tell me that's how it was fought 60 years ago, but it really wasn't. It was shown, but it was not picked up by the Republican Party that evidently still support. The way has been shown to fight. It's just that the gutless, cowardly Republicans who are supposed to be taking up the mantle are actually statist socialists like themselves."

Referenced Media/Interviews

Michael's upcoming interview with epidemiologist Newt Witkowski about COVID
Michael's recent debate (referenced throughout)
Article by Oliver Lee Bateman on criminal justice and flogging
Doctor Iz's analysis of food pyramid lobbying on Facebook
Reason magazine article on Cartel de los Soles
2020 and updated DOJ indictments of Maduro

Key Themes

Government overreach in housing markets
Trump's authoritarian tendencies disguised as fighting the left
Militarization of domestic law enforcement
Government incompetence and corruption in policy-making
Proper philosophical defense of capitalism vs. tribal politics
Constitutional violations through executive action
Republican party's failure to advocate for actual capitalism
Dangers of prohibition creating violent enforcement situations

Capitalist Thought of the Day

"When I first got outta prison, I was interviewed by the Ayn Rand Fan Club. When I saw they were called the Ayn Rand Fan Club, I thought they were gonna be actual Objectivists and pro-capitalism. To the contrary, I found out that they were basically Trumpsters, that it was all about let's fight the left. And they told me we have to fight woke. That was their whole thing. And what I told them then, and I'll say it now, is woke is a paper tiger. It's a ridiculous philosophy. CRT is ridiculous, critical race theory, but you have to beat these things with sound philosophy, not with bullshit, not with Donald Trump. So if you actually want to fight the left, then you expose their errors with reason. You demonstrate a rational path forward. You don't just come up with your own interventionist systems, your own socialism, your own fascism, and sing Kumbaya about it. You need to advocate for reason. You need to advocate for free markets, and you need to do so consistently, and that doesn't happen by aligning yourself with an irrational whim-worshiping thug like Donald Trump. Let's advocate actual capitalism. Let's advocate a philosophy of reason, and let's start doing it right now." - Michael