Latest / Palafox Media Network / Guardians of the Republic: How Trump’s War Posturing Threatens Our Economy and Global Stability
Transcript
- Jonathan Cole: Good evening everyone and welcome to another episode of the guardians of the republic. Joining me as usual is ⁓ Tony Hughes. are you tonight Tony? Tony Hughes: I'm great, Jonathan. How are you doing? Jonathan Cole: I'm doing swell. seven days have transpired, so what lunacy awaits us now? I'll you pick a topic. Tony Hughes: Good to be here. Well, it doesn't seem to be as crazy. Well, it's not as crazy, I guess as it was last week. So maybe the war's winding down. I that... We're still a lot to talk about always is, but probably the most interesting thing to me that happened this past week was Trump kind of tacoing again as far as the war was concerned with oil prices skyrocketing and really the bond market kind of melted down on Friday. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: A of people, there wasn't an awful lot of coverage on it because people don't really understand what the bond market is doing, but 10-year treasury jumped up over 4.5 % again. It almost as high as it was after Liberation Day back in of last year. And you might recall that where that the Trump Always Chickens Out ⁓ acronym came was really Jonathan Cole: Okay. Tony Hughes: when the bond market, the credit market's almost locked up. There were people selling out of American bonds like crazy. the liquidity in that market started to dry up. It was really driving interest rates up. And when Trump, that was the first time Trump backed off of those insane tariffs that he came over. He had the chart up that, you he some weird formula that ⁓ he had up with that didn't make any sense. once people realized that it didn't make any sense, ⁓ they were just arbitrary numbers, and then the market started melting down. For people that don't ⁓ realize, 10-year treasury is really... Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: is really the rate that most investors follow to price 30-year conventional mortgage loans. when that 10-year treasury starts to increase, going to see the 30-year conventional mortgage rate creep up as well. And what's is that investors who are supplying the money for these mortgages start getting worried about inflation. And inflation is the worst enemy of a bond holder. You you invest money, you buy a 30 year bond, even if that's a 30 year, or you buy a 30 year mortgage, or you invest in a 30 year mortgage, usually Fannie Mae bonds. You buy that mortgage, now, Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: The mortgage typically does not last 34 years. By the time, people sell their houses, they move, they refinance. ⁓ speaking, ⁓ mortgages have ⁓ 10 years as the average rate. That's why they kind of track that 10 year treasury it is a risk-free interest rate because it is the United States government debt. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: And, when you see those rates start going up and up and up, that means mortgage rates are going up and up and up. And that fear, it's that expectation of inflation that drives rate. And of course whole thing with Trump this last term affordability. ⁓ And he's been pounding Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, lower interest rates. Well, here's a perfect example of it's not really up to Jerome Powell. Jonathan Cole: Thank Tony Hughes: The market, the investors drive interest rates and it's their expectations is how they price it. when Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: Okay, so now they see gasoline going up, diesel's over $5 a gallon. We're right here at planting season, which means farmers are out there with their tractors plowing up the ground. They're using their seed drills to plant crops. There's a lot of diesel fuel that they have to buy. And even though they're buying off-road diesel, you know, that saves them about 60 or 70 cents a gallon. So there's still $4.50 a gallon for off-road diesel that they're paying. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: This is bread, is cattle, this is pork, this is chickens, this is corn. This is the corn that goes into ethanol that's supposed to try to keep your gas prices low. these inflationary expectations are exploding. In fact, Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: whereas the market had been predicting to two more rate cuts this year ⁓ the Fed, all of a sudden this thinking turned around and they started thinking, well, you the Fed may have to increase rates this to stave off inflation. Well, that's the last thing President Trump wants to see, especially as he's facing the midterms, the last thing. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Right. Right. Tony Hughes: and he doesn't have a plan for the Strait of Hormuz. mean, it's painfully obvious. can dominate Iran militarily. There's no question, there never was any question about that. But it only takes one a fire in the Strait of Hormuz. It only takes one cargo ship sunk in the Strait of Hormuz. ⁓ One one fast boat, one autonomous... Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: floating torpedo, boat, whatever they have out there. it's just impossible, virtually to eliminate ⁓ all to the Strait of Hormuz. And the that trading oil futures see that, and they're that into oil future contracts. mean the... Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: Oil futures contracts right now don't show any really significant price relief until February or March of next year. Prices coming down, sure, from $100 a barrel, but not back down to 60 where it was before the hostility started. So when Trump saw the credit market start to lock up again, and he saw that 10-year creep back over 4.5%, with reminiscing back to how it was after Liberation Day. Now all of a sudden, well, we're talking, we're gonna delay the on the power plants, which probably, could argue that's a war crime anyway. I kind of and said that Trump's taking a page out of Putin's playbook in Ukraine to start attacking power plants. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: because this mostly affects the population. There may be, obviously there's some military probably getting some use out of it, but... 99 % probably going to the population of Iran and you're making life difficult for them and that's exactly winning over hearts and minds if what you're trying to do. ⁓ But he announced that we're talking, we're gonna cut a deal, they wanna cut a deal and then the markets relaxed Monday was a good day. We saw a big bounce in the stock market yesterday. Jonathan Cole: Right. Yeah. Tony Hughes: kind of pretty much a level day to day for all practical purposes. We'll see where it goes. But telling you, Trump does not listen to anybody else in whole wide world except for the credit market. He listens to that credit market. Thank God he doesn't to Congress, doesn't listen to the Supreme Court, but he listens to credit markets. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. Yeah, that's, I'm not thinking too that as. It's something he's done many times before. How do we term it? I call it the fade, but a lot of times he goes gung ho into some stupid activity and it doesn't work out. And then he kind of just ignores it and lets it kind of play out and then hope you forget about it in three months. And I think that's what's happened with our end. I think you just want you around midterms forget we ever did this, you know, no more attacks, maybe a little posturing, but you Tony Hughes: Yeah. Jonathan Cole: This didn't work out when it let's just not say anything now and people forget because I don't still don't see an end game plan I Don't see you know the Iranians said we don't know he's talking about we're not we're not talking but now the Iranians are threatening to attack our financial sector, you know through cyber attacks, so Where in the world there, you know again he never considers repercussions Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: He just acts because it looks... Tony Hughes: Look, let me tell we not understand the Islamic culture. ⁓ mean, just, especially the radical Islamic culture. We just don't understand it. ⁓ And Trump, Trump expects people to think logically. You know, been so critical of Ukraine. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: up to point of blaming Zelensky for the war because why would you even fight back? Russia is larger than you are. Why did you even put up a, I mean, he's basically, he's essentially said that. In fact, he has actually said that. Why did you, why did you even put up a fight? You you can't beat Russia. He has that same mentality about Iran. Why would Iran fight? Iran knows they're going to get beat. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Tony Hughes: I really believe at my core that Trump believed that Iran was just going to capitulate as as we attacked. Iran going to throw their hands up and surrender and say, whatever you want, Donald, it's all yours. Here's our oil. Here's the straight. Here's the material, whatever, there's still any left. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: I think that was the plan. think the plan was capitulation within two weeks. And they haven't. still, they're still, I now they're way degraded. There's no question that they do not have anywhere near the military strength that they had before. But as you and I have talked about, Jonathan, before, When it comes to people getting on the streets to protest, to overthrow their government, all it takes is a couple of guys with AK-47s to cut down those protesters and they're all going to go home. And you can't bomb your way out of that. So ⁓ the problem that Trump has got. And I think one reason why he's just to proclaim victory. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. No. Tony Hughes: like you say, and hope that everybody forgets about it. Jonathan Cole: right there's a in one of my favorite movies kind of encapsulates what you said earlier Lawrence of Arabia when Alec Guinness was playing the the one of the first king Salads And he's got all these British generals and diplomats there, and all these great plans. And now they're taking the Middle East away from the Turks. And he's like, we'll unite all of the Arabs under banner. And he just looks at me like, who are the Arabs? It's back then, East was nothing but tribes. Even though they loved Lawrence, got into Damascus, and they just had this huge fight. One had the waterworks, and went and bit out fire. Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Jonathan Cole: other you know it was like Yeah, we don't understand after ⁓ a hundred years. We don't understand the air of mine Then we it and never You know it was like Vietnam too, we didn't understand how their minds work. We thought bread and butter would win them over and putting them in a strategic hamlet and protecting them from the Viet Cong. And all they really wanted to do is grow rice and hopefully have to be older than 40 and we'd never get it. Tony Hughes: Yeah. But think about Trump's rhetoric just two weeks ago about the strait, about Iran's military, surrender. ⁓ surrender. I I don't know what that means to begin with. I know what it meant for the Civil War, that meant that you lay your arms down and the United States all comes back together again. Jonathan Cole: you Tony Hughes: that you're now under the control that the southern states were back under the control of the federal government in Washington DC. What does unconditional surrender by Iran mean? Well, we're not talking about unconditional surrender now. mean, Trump yesterday said, joint control of the straight. And in fact, it was a question that Caitlin Collins from CNN asked him. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: think he was getting on the airplane when he was leaving Memphis yesterday. she said, well, what does that mean? Who would be controlling? He said, well, maybe me. And he says, how about that? You and Iran? And he said, yeah, well, me and the Al-Tala, it is. And I happen to think, did he just give away some information there? Because if you're talking to Jonathan Cole: you Tony Hughes: as he put it, the right people Iran to cut this deal on a surrender. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: Wouldn't the Ayatollah have to be part of that? I mean, he's the supreme leader. I mean... Jonathan Cole: I don't know, the president of South Vietnam was a part of the Paris Peace Accords that supposedly ended the Vietnam War, you know. Tony Hughes: Yeah, but you know, South Vietnam, not a random, I I totally kind of ran everything and, and oh, and today, today Trump said, well, it kind of is regime change. Well, maybe we don't know, but of course we don't know who's running it. We know that they're still putting up a fight. We know they're still in control of the straight, but you can't call it regime change. Jonathan Cole: ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: if it's just a personnel change, if it's still the same regime and they still have the ideology of that radical, violent Islamic culture, death to America, death to Israel that they've had since 1979, it's not regime change just because there's somebody new in the seat. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Well, to the last time we got an unconditional surrender, W landed on a carrier under Banner Mission Accomplished, but you know what? 15 years later, we're still there and taking casualties. That's what scares me the most about Iran is... Tony Hughes: Yeah, yeah. No, the last time we had unconditional surrender was against Japan and Germany. Jonathan Cole: Well, they claimed that was Iraq, but didn't prove true. ⁓ Tony Hughes: I mean... No, it wasn't Iraq. wasn't Iraq. mean, Iraq just fell, Iraq fell, well, it was surrender to the United States, but then Iraq fell into a civil, they fell into a civil war. Afghanistan into a civil war. And Iran, dot, dot, know, coming attractions. can it not be a civil war? mean, it, Jonathan Cole: The government and the military surrendered. Right. Yeah. Tony Hughes: Either the guys with the guns are going to stay in control, which is the current regime, or somehow the less extremist folks in Iran are going to get weapons so they can at least protect themselves if not actually physically overthrow what's left of that government. I think there's a lot yet to happen in Iran. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. Tony Hughes: You know, I lived these Middle East wars, the bulk of my adult life. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: And I got news for you. Just because our military has accomplished their military objectives does not mean that the war is over. We've got a Marine Expeditionary Unit, 2,200 Marines with equipment headed there right now. today authorized or the ⁓ 82nd to go somewhere over there. So we're going have some boots on the ground. I got news for you. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: No. Yeah. But Iran is also different from Iraq, in that Iraq was more of a secular state. fact, with Saddam Hussein and most of them being part of the Ba'ath coalition, he didn't like the That was why I knew ⁓ was bullshit. Then like, he's not supporting terrorism. He's killing those people in his country. He doesn't like them. Tony Hughes: and end. ⁓ absolutely, yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, Iran and Iraq had been what, a 10 year war before we went into Iraq? So yeah, he fought Iran. Jonathan Cole: Iran is the accuracy there. Uh-huh. Yep. But Iran is a theocracy and it's, believe wholeheartedly in, again, if want to kill Iranians, that's what they want. Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: They want to go see all of the 70 virgins they want to take out as many infidels as possible on the way out. So you're not really accomplishing anything except that Iran has a much larger population than Iraq. And fundamentalists from other countries will flood in there to assist. keep, people forgetting the people that attacked us on 9-11 were Saudis. They weren't Iraq. They weren't Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. you Yep. Jonathan Cole: egyptian ourselves ⁓ same with you know Tony Hughes: Yeah. Jonathan Cole: and iraq you know and afghanistan lot of those people work from those countries they were fundamentalist again whether countries come like mercenaries but it's common cause so if you've got a country that already has millions of fundamentalist in it and then a few more million come in and put boots on the ground it's afghanistan times fifty you know we won't be to send our troops out in public because the Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yep. Jonathan Cole: bombs, the anti-personnel, you know, they'll, heck, they'll strap a dynamite on a little kid and run him in the middle of a crowd, you know, it's... Tony Hughes: Well there's a reason why after 9-11 we called it the global war on terror because it was a global war. It was everywhere. was in the Philippines. I mean it was was it was North Central Africa, the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia. It's literally been everywhere. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. Tony Hughes: I think, you know, obviously, there's no question, Iran is a big reason for that. They help funnel, they help finance some of this. But ⁓ don't that once Iran is gone, it's just going to be over with. I mean, it's nice to think it, nice to think it, but we got to see if Iran goes away first. I think that's I just, I do not feel comfortable. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: that has thought I think that the military thought it through. Jonathan Cole: I don't think he has. Tony Hughes: if do believe the reports have come out that the obviously anonymous sources, but supposedly the military had lot of misgivings about going into Iran because of the history the military knows. mean, the military absolutely knows you cannot have regime change unless you have people on the street. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: you have to take it from 30,000 feet down to six feet. And if you're have a regime change. I thought this afternoon and... I don't know, John. I don't know how I would feel. How would you feel if you knew that it did not matter what came out of your mouth, no matter how big of a lie it was, that the 99 % of your supporters were going to believe every word of it? Even if you said something completely opposite three days earlier, it wouldn't matter. You have such control over the minds of people. Jonathan Cole: and Tony Hughes: that your supporters, ⁓ matter what you said, 99 is going to slurp it like Kool-Aid. I don't know I would feel about that. mean, it's just like, that's ⁓ just like too power for one man to have. But that's... ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Well. Well, that thing is, you remember an old movie from the ⁓ called, ⁓ the Crowd? The Andy Griffith? Tony Hughes: I've heard of it, I don't remember anything about it. I think I have heard of it. Jonathan Cole: So it was very ahead of its time movie. Griffith is this hick that they kind of find out in the middle of nowhere. Patricia Neal is ⁓ a producer and they thought it'd be great to bring him in and kind of be the bumpkin having a little variety talk show on the radio and then TV. And then he turns into this mega star and it creates almost a cult. And I mean, literally like people are. talking about running him for Senate and future president and tradition Neil knows I've created this monster and finally the end of the movie she Breaks into this the studio's control room and turns the mic back on While he thinks he's offstage talking about how stupid his followers are and how you know and been him up And that's the tip he loses all I've been waiting for that Tony Hughes: Mm-hmm. Yep. Jonathan Cole: in a crowd moment for over 10 years and even if Trump were to like you're all morons and fools they just they do that you know it that's how bad it is it you're correct it's that disconnect Tony Hughes: Yeah. Because where you're moron Donald Trump, where you're a fool President Trump, we love you. Jonathan Cole: Exactly. You know, and then so they will come up with any way to spend anything he does or say it's that leads into one of the other things I want to bring up because it happened like the day after last podcast, but Joe Kent resigned said there no imminent threat. And you know that he was the guy that Trump should have relied on to make that assessment. And he didn't he went against it and then immediately all the Trump worshippers went on the attack where Joe Kent used to be kind of an icon. Now he's the prior just like so many others that did come out said there was no imminent threat. You know and at what. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Well, Jonathan, know day after Kent ⁓ resigned, Gabbard went to Congress and testified and presented her periodic testimony. And in her written like the seventh on the page of her written remarks, it said, Iran's nuclear capability is not an imminent threat to the United States. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. So ⁓ Tony Hughes: She forgot read that part in her oral that was kind of interesting. She said she cut her remarks down because she thought it was gonna run long. That was pretty important. That's a pretty important spot to eliminate, but of course they explained it away. Well, it's not really the director national intelligence's job to determine what is ⁓ imminent. You so. Jonathan Cole: Right. I guess only Donald Trump's club had to make that decision. Tony Hughes: And apparently we all have. And exactly, exactly. You know, the dictionary definition of imminent irrelevant. ⁓ whatever it is, whatever the president says it is. Anyway, I didn't mean to cut you off, but. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah, and even, no, no, and it's, know, it's back to that chicken and egg thing that still they can't explain as well. You said you wiped out their nuclear capabilities last year. So how are they all of a sudden capable of having a threat? Okay, yeah, yeah, exactly. Tony Hughes: No, it was obliterated. It was obliterated. That's another word. That's another definition we struggle with. ⁓ In it and obliterate. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Yeah, exactly. immediately they spun it again. Well, no, we did, but ⁓ must have had other laboratories and they were working another place. that's not what you told us last year. What's that? ⁓ well, of course, which is funny because... Tony Hughes: Guess what we haven't talked about in three weeks though? Epstein. Jonathan Cole: overseas those investigations are taking on more steam now prince andrew's daughters are implication and they're widening the investigation in fact they've actually had some of their privileges taken away so ⁓ Tony Hughes: Wow Jonathan Cole: And you know, there's an issue with the, what is it, the royal family of Norway or Denmark? can't remember which. Same thing, and there's a princess over there and she's having honors and privileges taken away. So every country on earth is taking this seriously except... Maga World. ⁓ And how can you just not come to conclusion that it's happening because they're protecting one person? Tony Hughes: Yep. know, did you ever see the movie Wag the Dog? Such a great movie. And it's just, it's like we're living it now. Of course, it was really kind of made to sort of make fun of Bill Clinton and his... Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: you know, all the issues he had he was in office. But, I mean, we're right there again. mean, ⁓ you see a remake of Wag the Dog with a character of Trump as the president and saying, okay, he's got Epstein and he's got his other scandals. And it's let's get a good war. Of course, in this case, it's a hot war. You it's not a fake war like Wag the Dog was. ⁓ This is honest god war now. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. There was another movie too that time period. was more of a comedy, but I think it was the last movie John Candy made before he passed, but it was called Canadian Bacon. Alan Alda was the president and their whole point was to cover up a multitude of sins. Let's declare war on Canada. And not really literally, but like, you know, they denigrating Canadians and don't eat Canadian bacon and all that stuff. Tony Hughes: yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: They had this TV ad that showed like all these, they're in your midst and it showed all these Canadian actors and like musicians like Rush and everything. Canadian, Maple Syrup was oozing down the screen as ⁓ ⁓ it was an eminent thread. I think that's the way they put it. And John Candy and Rhea Pearlman and someone else thwarted the whole thing in I mean, it was kind of... Tony Hughes: Hahaha Jonathan Cole: Kind of, it was a comedy, but it didn't really miss the mark too much. And of course, Trump's... ⁓ Tony Hughes: And our biggest enemies now, our biggest enemy now in the trade wars is Canada and Great Britain. So there you go. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yep who neither of which are going to lend us a hand in this Iranian mess that we started ⁓ Tony Hughes: I think Great Britain finally started letting us use their bases for at least our ⁓ aircraft. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: well i think that's because launched a missile into dego garcia which is a joint base britain kind of attacked and you know the history since world war two the u.s. says jump great britain says how high you know since that's they've been of growing a little more backbone recently but i think i'll go so far it's just Tony Hughes: Yep. Jonathan Cole: never ends the part Robert Mueller passes away and what does ⁓ the orange hit on Twitter while he's sitting on his toilet at three o'clock at night? ⁓ he's dead then the immediate hypocrisy of that was all of the attacks they put on anybody that said anything about Charlie Kirk, you know, God guys make up your mind Tony Hughes: Hahaha! Good, I'm glad he's Glad he's dead. Did you happen to hear the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett Sunday? He was on Meet the Press and I can't remember the lady's name. I know she has dark hair and maybe Hispanic type features, but she's the moderator and I can't call her name right now. She's good though. And she was pressing him on what Trump said. Jonathan Cole: He's been on there a lot lately. Yeah. Tony Hughes: Bessette's defense of Trump was, even though, I mean, Robert actually, in opinion, helped Trump. I mean, he did not find ⁓ any direct of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He did not bring, he did not indict Trump. He didn't invite any of Trump's closest people. They did find, they indict some Russians for trying to influence the election. But, and of course, Mueller was old. He was infirm when he took this job, but he probably shouldn't have taken it. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: but he was asked to. He certainly had a wonderful history as far as being a combat-directed Marine, which means he volunteered to go to Vietnam. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: Bronestar, Valor, Purple Heart. ⁓ The FBI director appointed by George Bush right just before 9-11, led the FBI for 10 years for Bush's term and into Clinton's term by all reports did a fantastic job of the FBI. ⁓ When he came to Congress to defend his report, it was clear that he did not have the full, he wasn't having a good day. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. Tony Hughes: As an old guy, he was not having a good day. He was not sharp. He was not on it. ⁓ was ⁓ of a sad conclusion to his career public service. you even, and got I had 42 year in banking. I've got enemies. ⁓ made people mad. wanted loans that we turned and... Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: I mean, that's just kind of goes, I think anybody that's ever accomplished anything in life made some enemies along the way. sleep well at night because I know that even somebody may not like me now, at least in my heart, I did the right thing. It might not have been what they wanted me to do, but I did what I thought was right. My conscience is clear. If I find out they're dead one day, I'm not gonna say a word. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: You know, I may blast somebody today if they're still alive because they can defend themselves. But you know, after you're dead, after enemy is dead, they can't defend themselves anymore. They can't give their side of the story anymore. So if you're happy that they're dead, which I think is kind of sick, but if you are happy, I'm glad he's dead, just keep it to yourself. Jonathan Cole: Okay. now. Hehehe. Tony Hughes: You know, you don't have to go on social and tell the Hawaiian world how happy you are that one of your enemies died. And I go back to Trump's remarks at Charlie Kirk's funeral, which I mean, I'm not, I was not a fan of Charlie Clark. I think I've discussed him before. ⁓ But, and I felt like his funeral was not a religious. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Right. Hmm. you Tony Hughes: service at all. was a campaign. was a, I mean, they turned it into a political forum. Trump even said, you know, the one thing I disagree with, Charlie Clark, Charlie Clark ⁓ to love his enemies. I my enemies. I hate enemies, quote unquote. And, you know, this of walks into what we're doing right now with DHS funding and the save act. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. you Tony Hughes: you don't mind going down that path with me just for a minute, but, ⁓ know, I saw John Kennedy, Senator from Louisiana, yesterday on the Will show, saying, you know, Ted Cruz and I came up with solution. We go ahead fund everything in DHS. Jonathan Cole: ⁓ yeah. Tony Hughes: accept ICE and border patrol just like the Democrats want. Let's get this, let's get, we can have the TSA agents paid by the end of the week. And then we come back and we fund ICE Border Patrol with reconciliation because you don't have to have 60 votes that way. You do it just like they did the big beautiful bill. It's a budget maneuver ⁓ they can legitimately get around the filibuster if they go into reconciliation. And they went to John Thune. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: John Thune agreed. John Thune took it to the president and the president quashed it and said, quote, I don't want to make a deal with the Democrats. So it's political. This whole business about TSA and the Democrats have tried to Jonathan Cole: You Tony Hughes: They've tried to put legislation on the floor several times to say, let's fund TSA, let's fund the cybersecurity, let's fund the Coast Guard. We just don't want to fund ICE, we don't want to fund Border Patrol until we work out these issues with how ICE has been operating. And they can't get it to the floor because Trump says no. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: And Kennedy was actually very defeated he was talking to Will Cain to say, you know, I don't know whether the president, you know, the president might veto it. I don't know. But at least could, at least we could do something to try to bring a compromise together and then we can still get what we We can still get what we want. It just takes an extra step. Trump wouldn't do it. Then this morning I heard, well, Trump will do it. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: And then about three o'clock this afternoon, heard, think I actually saw a truth social post from Trump that says, not making a deal with the Democrats. So Trump said no, then said yes, then he said no again. ⁓ And still happening. Because see what Trump wanted to do, I think what Trump then wanted to do was, he wants to the Save Act, Jonathan Cole: Taco Tuesday. Taco Tuesday. I know. Tony Hughes: transsexual surgery. Yeah. He's got like 10 things he wants to throw into this DHS funding issue. ⁓ then he wants to try to do it all through reconciliation. And I don't, and I don't push, I don't pretend to know how you do that. I mean, I understand reconciliation, a budget issue. Jonathan Cole: That's right. Yeah. Tony Hughes: how we're just gonna have just a budget, but how you actually get honest to God legislation passed where you're actually making laws, the reconciliation doesn't sound right to me, but I don't know. I don't know the rules of the Senate that well, but. Jonathan Cole: Right. That's a... never been able to figure all that out. Tony Hughes: So it's still, at least as of tonight 8.41 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, the TSA still unresolved. ⁓ And even there's support with Republicans in the Senate to fix it, and there's support with the Democrats in Senate to fix it, the President does not want to deal with it. He does not want to cut a deal. Jonathan Cole: Well... But have you seen, Trump's of solving this issue is saying, I'm going send in ICE agents to take place of TSA agents in airports. Now, not only does that scary, but multiple news sources and pundits posted fact that That's actually a paragraph in project 2025 TSA are unionized. agents not. The grand and it's spelled out right in that book that everybody swears Trump doesn't approve of, but ⁓ he's got Miller implementing it step by step, is privatization of And so how's the best way to do that? Tony Hughes: ⁓ really? Jonathan Cole: is bring in all these ICE agents who aren't union, turn them over to a corporation on a Trump's cronies owner. Maybe, knows, Junior own it. But then Trump his own private personal militia, really. Kind of what DeSantis did in Florida. ⁓ I know, I mean, well, TSA still is answerable for of different reasons. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Well, Ken already has that with TSA already. I'm sorry, with ice. He still it already with ice, I think. Jonathan Cole: But I mean, if he's going to interject him into other facets of life, it's just insane. the thing is, I had this conversation at an ad nauseum with Republicans going into 2024 and about Project 2025. like, oh, well, he doesn't agree with that. He said he had nothing to do with that. That's not what we're seeing, which we knew was going to happen. Tony Hughes: I have to confess, I have a good friend who is a very liberal Democrat, sent me this stuff about Project 2025 about six months before the president's election. And I looked into it and I wrote her back and said, this is the most ridiculous stuff I've ever seen in my entire life. There's just no way that this is, that any of this is gonna be implemented. Boy, was I wrong. I was. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. of your Tony Hughes: I was, as I would say, I'm butt face wrong. yeah, they've, they've, they've, they're almost checking off the list of project 2025. Jonathan Cole: And I Don't know I think there's one of the watchdog groups as I'm at Almost two-thirds complete and some of the last stuff's pretty scary. Well, and even that came up last week Tony Hughes: Yeah. Jonathan Cole: One of the project 2025 people besides Stephen Miller was highlighting the whole woman's place is in the home, barefoot and pregnant. She doesn't need to vote. And so what we just talking about with the SAVE Act is that if your maiden ⁓ name your birth certificate doesn't match your name on your driver's license, you can't vote. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: And thing that's scary about it is we know who Donald Trump is, but to know that there are forces out there who are trying to manipulate our republic and turn it into something different, that's what's And of course, when you've got someone like Trump who has an army of sink offense that is beck and call, it gets scarier. So... Tony Hughes: And then you get back to it doesn't matter what you say or how many times you change positions, they're gonna believe 100 % of what you say no matter what. And that's the scary, because when the public loses their ability to critically think about things and to independently make up their mind. Yeah, I used to. Jonathan Cole: Exactly. Exactly. Tony Hughes: way back when, years ago when Fox News was really coming on strong and being heavily watched by people and their motto was, we report, decide. ⁓ to extent, they did try to ⁓ show sides of the story without taking a side. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: Boy, that went out the window. That's been out the window for probably three years now. they have well, they probably had, probably through Trump's first term, honestly. They have been someone to bag for Trump, even though Trump gets mad at them. And when Trump gets mad at them, they see viewership leave because they know the only people that watch it regularly are MAGA people. ⁓ ⁓ they're, and watch them because I'm just trying to say, cause I, you know, Jonathan Cole: ⁓ it's been longer than that, Yeah. Yep. Tony Hughes: Know your enemy? know, is the enemy. MAGA is enemy of the Republican Party. I see them as the enemy of the, I see as an existential threat to the Republican Party because I'm not sure the Republican Party's gonna recover from MAGA when it's all said and done. ⁓ So I listen. I watch CNN, watch MSNOW, I watch NBC, I watch ABC, I watch CBS, I watch Fox. Jonathan Cole: Well, I mean... ⁓ Tony Hughes: I want to see because the truth lies in the middle there somewhere ⁓ ⁓ and and let me tell you if if all you do is listen to Fox you're getting about a third of the truth trust me and if you look and honestly Jonathan Cole: Yeah, that's my motto. if they're Tony Hughes: Probably the most balanced I've seen now lately, to me at least, is CNN. mean, CNN, they will have Scott Jennings on with Abby Phillip at the 9 o'clock show, who is... mean, Scott's about as dyed-in-the-wool, maggy guy as you possibly can, although he does occasionally with Trump. They asked him last night about the comments about Robert Mueller, and what Scott said. Look, if you can't say something good, just don't say anything at all. ⁓ I wish the president had not said anything at all. I think we all do, but at the same time, Jonathan Cole: Exactly. Yeah. See you then. Tony Hughes: We're not surprised with what he says, especially when he goes, he is so petty. I in fact on the same show, I forgot guy's name. He was the chief of staff for DHS in Trump's first And he, he told a story when McCain passed away. And whoever the head of DHS at the time was off on a trip to Arizona someplace, obviously his chief of staff was with him. And today, like a day after McCain passed, wait a he was a sitting Senator, POW, served in the shot down, ⁓ POW for many years. Jonathan Cole: One of the first Tony Hughes: kind of a national war hero, had chance, because his dad was a very high ranking admiral at the time, had the chance to get out and go home early. Because North Vietnam was gonna let him out just to try to favor with the American, and he said no. You know, turn nobody else loose, but you're not me loose. So you had to give McCain some props. But McCain did not vote with Trump on the Obamacare. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Tony Hughes: And so Trump hated them after that. ⁓ two days after McCain has passed away and all the flags across the nation are at half mass, Trump calls up and says, put them back up. And ⁓ tradition is that they stay at half mass through the funeral. ⁓ the funeral is not going to be for like another week. Jonathan Cole: Right. Yeah. Tony Hughes: And said, that told me everything I needed to know about Donald Trump that day. What a, what a small petty person he is. And even in death, he's trying, he's got to try to stick it to somebody that he thinks wronged him at some point in time. ⁓ ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Exactly. And yeah, I've never had nothing but respect for John McCain. it, I voted Obama, but I wouldn't have been devastated if had won. Same with Mitt I could have lived with either one of them. But the thing I remember most about John McCain is a man of honor. ⁓ He was in of these forums and these people standing and going off about Obama and how immorally was and the birther thing and everything. And he'd say, no, stop right there. We're not going to do that. He's a God-fearing, good man. We're not going to do that. We're going to talk about other things. And eight years later, we get Trump. Tony Hughes: Yeah. You know, Jonathan. Yeah, you know, Jonathan, the, you know, the Northwest Florida area is where you live now is so blessed to have so many wonderful retired military people living there. And of the most famous was Bud Day. ⁓ Bud was longest serving POW, you know, in our nation's history. One of the most highly decorated military people ever. Jonathan Cole: Right. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Yep. Tony Hughes: Medal of Honor ⁓ awarded his service to the nation while in the POW and was John McCain's cellmate. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Yep. Yep. Tony Hughes: When John McCain came into captivity, he was busted all to pieces from being, from the ejection and also being beaten mercilessly by his captors and Bud Day nursed him back to health. And I was honored to get to know Bud Day pretty well, become a friend of his. Bud Day had nothing but good things to say about John McCain. Didn't always agree with his politics, but he knew the character of the man. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Right. Yeah. Tony Hughes: And when Bud Day passed away, John McCain was on the plane immediately. was their attendance. One of the largest funerals ever in the history of Northwest Florida, they had it at the convention center down on the island. they did a huge vehicle convoy funeral procession to Barrancas and Pensacola to bury him. it I was at funeral, the convention center was packed out with people. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Exactly. to Donald Trump, he was a loser. People that get captured are losers. I don't want to... Yeah, it's... don't know. It's beyond reason. Tony Hughes: So it was, but he thought the world of John became. Yup. Yeah, prefer ⁓ people that don't get called. And that quote was passed on by General John Kelly, who lost a son in Afghanistan. A Marine General his own right, who was Trump's chief of staff, and a Gold father who lost his son in combat in Afghanistan. ⁓ So, you know, was not taken lightly. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Right. No. So, and you just, no end to where this is going, but so it's getting about time to wind up, but I couldn't, I wanted to change subject a little bit. So we're not gonna talk about Donald Trump. I wanna read his paragraph from the news story and then put it in perspective. So it's. ⁓ Tony Hughes: All right. Jonathan Cole: Dayton James Weber, 27, is accused of fatally shooting the front seat passenger of his vehicle during an argument in La Plata, Maryland on Sunday and then fleeing to Virginia according to Charles County Sheriff's Office. So you ask, what's the... That happens every day. Well, let's put this perspective. Dayton James Weber is also a cornhole champion. He's also quadruple amputee. has no hands, no feet. How do you play? Well, we saw a picture how he does cornhole, but how do you drive a car and how do you fire a pistol? It's... And story gives no explanation about ⁓ how this happened, you see the picture, he's got stumps, you know, where he's throwing a cornhole bag with a... Tony Hughes: Yeah, I have questions. Yeah, you know, you sent that article, you sent that article to me and I just, I just shook my head reading it. There were two guys in the back seat and after he shot the dude, he asked the two guys to help him dispose of the body and they refused to. And they got out of the car and found the cops. I know everybody, I know everyone's, you know, presumed innocent, but. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. How do you drive a car when you're quadruple amputee? Yes. Tony Hughes: I want to know how you pulled the trigger. mean, what kind of, what kind of a set did you have that you could still hold a weapon and fire a weapon? I mean, and for those that look like the picture, basically amputated the elbows. So he was like this, you know, we saw him holding a bean bag for corn on, he was like this holding it. Well, how are you going to hold a gun like that? Jonathan Cole: Yes. And pull the trigger. Tony Hughes: And you don't have toes, you don't have toes or your feet to pull the trigger. So how do you hold it? How do you fire it? got questions. So. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: I don't know, you sometimes things you see in the news just kind of like grab your attention. as soon as I, just the headline alone, quadruple amputee, cornhole champion facing murder charges and fatal shooting. And I'm like, what? So I read it and it's like, is this the onion? I mean, is this, but it's apparently it's legit, but I'm just. Tony Hughes: That was weird. Ha Yeah, is that real? Well, don't mean to make light obvious that somebody died there, but I've questions. I've got questions how that all happened. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: No, I've got it. I've got, you know, like I said, and I read the entire article and they give no implication of how he pulled that off. I'm still wondering how he drove a car or how he pulled the body out, dumped it in the yard. Tony Hughes: I tell you what, Jonathan, if that trial wants... I tell you what, if that trial wants it on Court TV, I'm gonna watch it. Because have questions. Jonathan Cole: So I'm wondering if this is the most ludicrous frame job I've ever perpetrated or so. Tony Hughes: Maybe, well, but I mean, they had to have something, I mean, if it was the two guys in the back, surely the cops who were actually there were gonna have the same questions we have. How did you do that? Because that's gonna be, I mean, if I was his defense attorney, that's gonna be the first reasonable doubt. like, my guy got no hands and got no feet. He can't hold a gun, he can't fire a weapon. So how could he shoot him? Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Officer, were you able to obtain any powder burns? know, it's... Every ⁓ I go down, I get this comic puzzle. And of course, like you said, someone died. It's not comic, but it's... This makes no sense. mean, it's... I'm gonna keep my eyes on this one. Yeah, so maybe by next we'll have an answer or something. Tony Hughes: I got questions. I got questions. We're gonna keep our eyes on that one for sure. Yeah. hey, before we sign up for the night, it's special election in Florida for the Florida legislature. And good news your party. They flipped a representative seat and a Senate seat that had been held by Republicans. ⁓ And one of the seats in the House, Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Tony Hughes: is the same district that Mar-a-Lago is in. both these districts, as heard the reporting, Trump won both districts in the President's election by substantial margins, and a Democrat has now flipped that seat. So more bad for Republicans headed into the midterms as I see it. Jonathan Cole: Right. Well, yeah, but I mean, the grand scheme, ⁓ still a super majority of both houses of the Florida legislature, but... Tony Hughes: ⁓ yeah, ⁓ it, if I am Republican, if I was in leadership, if I was trying to get my, if I was trying to make sure that we kept a majority in the House, a majority in the Senate, I should be paying attention to shockwaves that are coming. Jonathan Cole: Bye. Well, I think they do. Tony Hughes: because when you start flipping suites, you're districts and flipping seats that Republicans have held for many years. Now this one in the Florida House in the ⁓ Mar-a-Lago ⁓ that has been held by Democrat, but it's been since 2010. So 16 years. again, Trump won, Trump won the district and the presidential that's where Mar-a-Lago is. And, it, although it was tight, but it was still a win for the Democrats. it's. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah, well I think that Republican leadership knows that's a problem. The problem is how do you get your party leader act accordingly? They control him. it's, the piece news the other day is, Taurico is ahead of Paxton and the other guy outside of the margin of error in Texas right now. Tony Hughes: Yeah, it's another interesting thing that Trump has yet to endorse either Cornyn or Paxton in that Senate race. they're having to raise the money and spend the money to fight each other. And that's what Trump was supposedly trying to avoid. ⁓ And Cornyn is just doing everything he possibly can to kiss up to Trump to get his endorsement. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Right. Tony Hughes: You know, I know John Corrin, I've been a couple of times, he was really good friends with Alex Sanchez, who was the head of the Florida Bankers Association. obviously do a lot of lobbying. When I was in the banking world, we did a lot of lobbying in DC. Florida is the fifth largest state in the country. Banking is important to Florida and on the stage. And Alex and Corrin just of struck up friendship that's lasted for 20 plus years. we had leadership dinners for him and he would come down and speak to us and we would always ⁓ visit him while we were in DC. He's a nice guy, he's really gotten old though, but you can just sense the desperation of him to hold on to power and hold on that seat for at least one more term and it's really kind of sad. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: what he's had to give up because I do, I've always considered him to be one of the more moderate Republicans in the Senate, he is kissing Trump's ass right now trying get that endorsement, but Trump still won't endorse and... ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Well, you've got Paxton too, who was impeached by a super majority Republican legislature ⁓ barely convicted. ⁓ He's a party leader now in that state. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Yep. Yeah. Well, Democrats are putting all that money behind Telerico the Republicans are having to spend money to fight each other. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Well, think too, Taylorico's pushing some buttons most haven't pushed in Texas in a long time. So he's a moderate, he's a pastor, he's ⁓ a articulate speaker. You know, he's everything most of the other candidates haven't been. So right now he's six to eight points ahead of either one Texas. And it's ⁓ but still it is. you know, there've been ⁓ a of special, most of the special elections this year have gone blue. There and you know, one or two more. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Interesting interesting See you. Jonathan Cole: congressional special elections and Republicans would lose their majority in the House because they've seated three Democrats since the last election. In fact, they tried. Tony Hughes: Yeah, I want to say that think the majority is only one right now. So. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: I think so, because for a long time Johnson wouldn't swear in the lady that won in Arizona and finally had to. So yeah, one more special election lost depending on how look at it. And a tie ⁓ vote. And it's not like the Senate where you have a tiebreaker called the vice president. It's just tie vote. You ⁓ just hope stayed home sick that day. ⁓ Tony Hughes: Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Exactly. Jonathan Cole: That, if, if when we talk about then the theme of this show is the to our Republic that Trump and his cronies represent, the most obvious first chance to hopefully thwart that is a blue wave in November. mean, Republicans might not want to hear that, but if you don't like Trump, that's probably their best bet. You can maybe get rid of him and then try to win it back two years from now. ⁓ but Tony Hughes: Well. Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: You know, at the moment, he's got to have some restrictor plates and brakes and Johnson and Thune are not providing those right now. So, Tony Hughes: One last thing before we sign off, I've been beating my chest over this ⁓ abomination known as Christian nationalism. And we saw it raise its ugly head again with Donald Trump yesterday. He's in about the Save America Act. ⁓ so tweeted or true socialed, whatever you're supposed to call it, that Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: He doesn't want the Senate to go into recess. He wants them to stay in town so they can pass the Save America Act. it's supposed to be two week Easter break. They're supposed to go home, the end of this week, have week with their constituents, go to church with their families on Sunday to the that they're Christians and believe that faith. But that's whole point of that Easter break in the Congress. Trump wants them stay there to pass the Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: America Act and said, he in his little tweet, do it for Jesus. And I'm okay, well, okay, well that's Christian nationalism. We've now wrapped voter ID ⁓ slash voter around the axle of Christianity. we're now telling people, don't Easter. Don't go to your homes. Don't go to your families. Don't celebrate what is arguably, I mean, to me as a Christian, ⁓ Easter a bigger deal than Christmas. mean, Christmas is a big deal, but Christmas has so secular because of Santa Claus and whatnot. And Easter bunny is ⁓ pretty secular but the resurrection of a... Jonathan Cole: Obviously. Tony Hughes: Christ conquering death, showing his power. Jonathan Cole: Yeah, that's mission accomplished. Tony Hughes: I mean that is the hope, that is the hope, that is the faith, that is the bedrock of the Christian faith. And you just can't denigrate that. me, that is the holiest. We talked earlier before we started working tonight about why is the Sabbath for the Christians and Saturday is the Sabbath for the Jews. Well, because that's the Jewish calendar, but Sunday was the day of resurrection. That's why Christians celebrate. Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: as their Sabbath ⁓ every Sunday is arguably an Easter. That's the way it's supposed to be at least. ⁓ And just help but think that bright neon flashing light, Christian nationalism, you you're not a Christian unless you believe in Donald Trump. Unless you're pushing Trump's agenda, know, Jesus is happy with you. Jonathan Cole: Right. Hmm. Exactly. Tony Hughes: And pardon my French, but that's just total bullshit. Jesus doesn't need Donald Trump. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Well, I think, know, comes more about, I think of the Hoosier, Akop or Tommy, but like, at what point does, in the MAGA world, does Trump morph into the Messiah? We don't need Jesus, you know, we got Trump. Tony Hughes: Ha Yeah, well didn't he put an AI picture of himself as Christ out on Truth Social a few months ago? So yeah, he didn't care. ⁓ no, was the Pope. had himself as the Pope. That's what it was. Same, yeah. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah, no. As long as it... Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's, you know, they had the hot mic moment last week where he told a fundraising group, supposedly, be thought by and closed doors. But he said the only we're going to win midterms is if the SAVAC passes. So that's what that's about. And I saw commentators talking about that, like even going back years ago for years. Republicans have a better chance of winning when there's lower turnout. But if you keep even more people from voting, especially women, Americans, Hispanics, everybody except white. Christian men, your chances of winning go up exponentially. that's, and you still can't get MAGA people to wrap their heads around. They don't read the act. just, oh, all you need is a voter ID. Why do you have a problem with a voter ID? Read the name of bill. Tony Hughes: Yeah, you know, I had a good friend, he's a MAGA guy, and even I have been kind of putting on this on my personal Facebook page for several weeks now. I mean, he basically just kind of bowed up on me and said, look, all they gotta have is real ID. It's like, no, go back and read the act. Go ask ChatGPT, don't trust me, go research it yourself. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: your real ID it states on driver's license on your state issued ID card US citizen. does not count because there are a gazillion green card holders that are permanent residents of this country but are not citizens that have real ID. You you can get a real ID and not be a US citizen. So no real ID does not count. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yep. Tony Hughes: Nowhere in the proposed legislation does it say real ID counts. Now it'll account for ID to vote. not count as proof of citizenship when you register to vote or if you change your registration in ⁓ way, change of address, change of name, you have to prove citizenship every ⁓ unless keep Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Yeah. Tony Hughes: up with it. If state keeps up with it, fine. Yeah, I had another friend reposted that may or may not be true. I don't know. But it like, was somebody that I just wanted to see how hard it was. So I ⁓ ordered a copy my birth certificate, my marriage license, my social security card, you know, and they listed five or six things. They got it all in in two weeks. was express mail. It cost total of $20. Well, fine. Good for you. You know, you're probably an intelligent person. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: But if you have struggled, if you struggle to read, which a lot of people do still in this country, if you're a lower income, you may not have $20. My response was whether it's $2, $20 or $200 or $2,000, it should not cost you $1. It should not cost you one penny to vote in this country because voting is a right. Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right. We got rid of the poll tax. Tony Hughes: It is a constitutionally guaranteed right. A driver's license, driving is a privilege. You're not automatically guaranteed you're gonna drive. You gotta pass a test. gotta keep the points off your license. You can't speed, can't ⁓ drunk. There are lots of things you can do to get your license taken away. Can't get your right to vote taken away unless you're killing it a felony. ⁓ so that move, Jonathan Cole: Right. Tony Hughes: Mostly renters, mostly lower income because more renters are lower income. They're the ones that move more often than homeowners do. Women, obviously, these are areas that Trump does not strongly poll with. And I'm telling you, anything that is a hassle to someone voting, we need it to not have. I mean, it... Jonathan Cole: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, that kind of goes to some experiences I've had on the Democratic side. I've seen it firsthand in the San Diego County, because there aren't many in Santa Rosa. every two years, months before the election, there's a huge drive to one. make sure African American voters didn't get purged off the rolls and to get them the voter records. And they ⁓ house to house on most churches help, but they find African Americans that don't even have. driver's license or even one of those ID cards you can get from the state because they hardly ever go out they just A lot of them have medical issues and things or they just don't trust the government They don't think their votes gonna count and so there's a lot of people that just don't so they're not gonna go through these hoops. So yeah And you know a lot of them don't have birth certificates Some of them were born at home and it was never registered. It was a lot of, you know, we talk about right by privilege, but it is a real thing in a lot of ways and I've seen it, especially in this case. You can disenfranchise a lot of African American voters with this or even not allow new ones to even be able to register. ⁓ a contrived plan is also the SAVE Act is. Tony Hughes: We love the world. Well, my argument was it's against the law to commit voter fraud to begin with. It's against state law. It's already against federal law. Federal law already says you must be a citizen to vote. Now, we've always just allowed someone to that they're a citizen under the threat perjury. I mean, you're taking an oath. You're swearing you're a citizen. So if you're lying, you committed perjury. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. anything. Tony Hughes: That is a federal offense. It's a federal law. can't our Justice Department, if fraud, if illegals voting is a massive problem, so huge we have to have this, we have to pass a new law to enforce an old law, ⁓ which is of what it boils down to. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Right. Tony Hughes: Why can't we just sit Pam Bondi on it? Sit Cash Patel on it? Hey, there's millions of people. One friend said, there's 21 million illegals that voted in last election. That's like, where did you get that from? He said, well, I saw Chuck Schumer say this was going to disenfranchise 21 million voters. It's like, no, he's talking about something completely different. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Tony Hughes: He's talking about people that have had to change their name, have had to change their address, and the hassle they're gonna have to go through to prove that they're a citizen by getting copies of birth certificates. Only half the American citizens of voting age in this country have passports. So, otherwise, they've gotta go get a birth certificate. And it has to be a certified copy. Can't just be a photographic copy. Got to be a certified copy of the... Look, I have no earthy idea where my birth certificate is. I'm sure it was in some of my mom's stuff. And it's probably not a problem when you're 18, because you're probably, at least, your mom's probably usually alive. And the moms are always the ones that keep up with that stuff with their kids, right? But when you're 60 years old, do you still have your birth certificate? Jonathan Cole: Right. Right. Yep. Tony Hughes: I haven't had to have mine in a hundred years. I don't think I had to have it from my, maybe I had to have it my passport. I don't know, I've had my passport for so long, I don't remember now, maybe I did. Well, that's probably the last time I saw my verses of it then. So. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Usually you have to passport. but ⁓ Yeah, and you know, I just went jumping through hoops with all of that stuff to get where the expedited through TSA, you know, so I don't have to do. When I got it now, I go through the short line instead of the longer line, but it's what I had to, you know, it was a passport, driver's license and birth certificate, and it was a process. Tony Hughes: You're good luck with that. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: But anyhow, the whole point was that the only, obviously, I don't know how long it would take to get through the expedited line because TSA is short funded. it's an obvious attempt, if you're willing to look objectively to alter the course of elections in favor of one party. Don't know how to put it, ⁓ Tony Hughes: Well, if I was the Democrats, honestly, I would just slip, I would sit back and say, hey, we're not gonna vote for it, but we're also not gonna propose, we're not gonna fight it either. Hey, Republicans, this is Hobby Lobby. You break it, you own it. So, you alienate these millions of voters like that. You know, of course, I guess that they're not voting unless the Democrats can mobilize them. They get them pissed off about it and they can mobilize them. Jonathan Cole: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Tony Hughes: ⁓ and turn them into voters. But I think they do. Yeah, Trump wants it all before the midterms. So I see how the states, can you imagine how many requests for birth certificates might come in between now and the Just people trying to get their birth certificates so they can prove their registration? ⁓ It was ⁓ swamped. Jonathan Cole: but then you have a short window of time to do it, so. I would tip my daughter dirty days to get hers for a passport. So because we're taking on a cruise in two months and it was yes, it's Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. And that's just normal. Just imagine if all of a sudden you had 20 million people trying to get it all of a sudden. Jonathan Cole: I think it needs to be challenged on the grounds of the 1965 Voting Act. ⁓ ⁓ away with poll tax, we did away with literacy tests, we did away with all this segregationist roadblocks to voting. Tony Hughes: Yeah. Well, that's Jim Crow. This is, this is, this is, this this is a throw, this is nothing but a throwback to Jim Crow. Throwback to Jim Crow. Jonathan Cole: because There's no matter what what you want to say and you can try it out all of the Byron Donald's and the the others out there that are Republicans But the of African Americans still vote Democratic It's so do you do you offset that? You you keep it where they can't vote. I mean although and to be honest not a good turnout crowd anyway. did for, in some instances, it was kind of odd. More Americans turned out to vote for Joe Biden than vote for Kamala Harris. Real fact, you know. Tony Hughes: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: A lot of that, I'm not trying to typecast, but there is a strong misogynist factor with a lot of African-American men. I mean with everybody, it's... they'd said in the polling they weren't going to vote for the woman. Didn't matter if she was black. But they voted for Joe Biden because they knew that he had their back. ⁓ They voted for Obama because he was the male, but it's... Tony Hughes: ⁓ yeah. Yeah. too. Jonathan Cole: It's not a great turnout demographic. It never has been. Tony Hughes: Well, Conway had a hard time putting two sentences together, two that made sense. She was pretty famous for the word salad. of like Pete Hedgeseth. ⁓ Jonathan Cole: Yeah, Yeah, but it's, know, it's most African friends will look at me and say, I don't vote. I don't believe in it because I don't think my vote counts. So that's a very common theme. I hate that, but I can't really in some way, I can't really dissuade them either. So it's, you know, it does count. Well, I mean, that was really what turned Tony Hughes: You Well it counts. Well it counts. Jonathan Cole: 2020 Biden was all those people that felt Donald Trump, what harm can he do in four years? They came to that realization and they turned out. You know, they talked about all these. voter fraud in Michigan and all these urban areas. It wasn't that, was like, I gotta get my vote out and vote this clown out. ⁓ But then after four years of not having him, they forgot and they didn't turn out for it's a shame, but it is what it is. you know, it's... Tony Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Cole: If read the save back, do you realize this diffs disenfranchising women and minorities? Plain and simple it just is what it is So so we everyone tuning in tonight as usual ⁓ We you know, leave your like like our page Tony Hughes: Yep, it's true. No question about it. question. Mm-hmm. Jonathan Cole: Let us know what you think, but next week we'll do it all over again. I'm we'll have plenty more to talk about then. ⁓ I do. Tony Hughes: Always did. Jonathan Cole: and in your comments any you want discussed. We're more than happy to do that. So I'm going bid everyone good night. Good night, Tony, as always. Appreciate you jumping in. See you next week. And ⁓ everyone, thank you from the guardians the republic. Thanks. Tony Hughes: Good night, see you next week. All right. Take care.