What happened in Venezuela, why it matters, and why part of America is furious instead of celebrating.
In this episode of Stay in the Fray Podcast, Ryan breaks down the stunning liberation of Venezuela from Maduro, shares real reactions from Venezuelans worldwide, and demolishes the narratives from politicians and media who reacted with outrage, not reality.
Expect raw takes on the politics, the protests, and the misinformation — plus a serious look at international law, power, and responsibility.
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00:00:01
Yeah, come celebrate with us. We love everybody because you
00:00:05
America has loved us so much. Remember, these are the people
00:00:19
who actually did eat out of the garbage and had families
00:00:22
disappear. Just a quick reminder.
00:00:30
I'm going to move on from the street clowns to the clowns who
00:00:33
actually hold office, which is scarier because this is where
00:00:36
the dishonesty really kicks in. And here we are, had to do it.
00:00:41
My favorite whipping gal AOC roll this clip.
00:00:44
Yeah. So I think that that this is
00:00:47
absolutely a complex issue. I think it's important that that
00:00:51
we approach this very carefully. One I am.
00:00:54
Thanks very much for joining me. Donald Trump has once again
00:00:59
shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of
00:01:02
law. Welcome to Stay in the Fray
00:01:13
podcast. I'm your host, Ryan.
00:01:15
This is where headlines get hit hard, hypocracy gets shredded,
00:01:19
and the absurd are laughed at. If you want comfort, this isn't
00:01:23
your place. If you want blunt and
00:01:25
unfiltered, I'm your guy. Join me in the fray.
00:01:29
All you had to do was just listen up.
00:01:33
All right, guys, happy new year. First show of the new year close
00:01:38
to the end of season 6. I didn't coordinate it right at
00:01:42
the new year, but we'll get that rolling.
00:01:44
Season 7 on the way. Small changes, but more of the
00:01:47
same. So let's keep spreading the
00:01:49
word. Everybody had a safe holidays,
00:01:51
New Year's and Christmas. And hope that you didn't scream
00:01:54
too much with your family about all this bullshit, all these
00:01:57
politics. Based on what I've seen out
00:02:00
there, it might be unavoidable. So hopefully it was good enough.
00:02:05
Fortunately, my family is mostly sane, so we all tend to agree
00:02:08
with politics. But we're going to go right into
00:02:10
the Venezuela thing. I mean, we have to do it, right?
00:02:14
It's just, I, I, I'm going to lose it.
00:02:16
I may lose it. So bear with me.
00:02:18
And in fact, for entertainment purposes, you may hang with me
00:02:21
for that. But what happened with Venezuela
00:02:24
right now may be one of the most insane reactions that I've ever
00:02:28
seen from the American left. And that says a lot.
00:02:31
I'm not even mad, like in a normal mad way.
00:02:36
I'm just like, hands on my head, pacing the room, laughing
00:02:41
almost, because this can't be real.
00:02:43
That type of confused, that kind of anger.
00:02:47
So here's the deal. Something genuinely historic
00:02:50
happened, something objectively good, something that ended real
00:02:55
suffering for real people. And almost immediately, like
00:02:59
clockwork, the left decided to completely lose their shit over
00:03:03
it again. Same script, new morning topic,
00:03:06
narrative memos. I'm watching this unfold and
00:03:09
doing two things at once. I'm laughing sadly and I'm just
00:03:13
shaking my head in disgust because while Venezuelans all
00:03:17
over the world are celebrating freedom, American activists are
00:03:23
out in the streets defending the dictator.
00:03:26
I'm not exaggerating at all, not being dramatic.
00:03:29
I'm not paraphrasing. They are literally protesting
00:03:33
against the liberation of Venezuela.
00:03:36
You can't even parody this stuff anymore.
00:03:40
I mean, I'll certainly try, but Oh my God, we can only just
00:03:44
document it now and hope to keep adding to the list so that we
00:03:47
don't ever forget that these people are doing this.
00:03:50
I'm going to break all this shit down fairly quickly.
00:03:54
We need to look at a few things. Anything you need to know about
00:03:57
this, I'm going to fill you in and, and, and give you a couple
00:04:00
of different perspectives. Believe it or not, I may
00:04:02
surprise you. So hang with me.
00:04:04
Even if you don't agree with my sarcasm to this point, It's it's
00:04:09
all you need to know. It's pretty simple actually.
00:04:12
So let's let's get going. This is Stay in the Fray
00:04:16
podcast. It's January 5th.
00:04:19
Apparently I'm a little rusty. 2026, let's roll.
00:04:23
So let's reset reality for a second because how social media
00:04:27
is already doing so social media is already doing that thing
00:04:30
where facts get steamrolled by vibes.
00:04:35
Here's what actually happened. The Maduro regime, Nicolas
00:04:39
Maduro in Venezuela is over. He was captured, the
00:04:44
dictatorship collapsed immediately.
00:04:48
China wanted them released. Russia wanted them released.
00:04:52
Every anti American bad actor on the planet suddenly found
00:04:56
religion and started crying about international law.
00:04:59
Shocking. It's almost like this guy was
00:05:03
very useful to America's enemies.
00:05:06
And that right there should tell you something already.
00:05:09
Because when the people who hate the United States the most are
00:05:12
all on the same side and they're furious, we're probably doing
00:05:16
something right now before someone in the back starts
00:05:18
yelling. But oil, it's about the oil.
00:05:21
Like it's 2003 again. Let's kill that lie real quick.
00:05:25
the United States, it does not need Venezuelan oil.
00:05:29
We are energy independent now. We have been a net exporter of
00:05:35
oil for years. We produce roughly 13 million
00:05:40
barrels a day, more than any country on earth.
00:05:44
We don't need their fucking oil. We're not invading Venezuela for
00:05:48
oil. Did you hear that?
00:05:50
The talking point of this oil conquest is old, it's lazy, and
00:05:55
it's just wrong. Here's the fun part.
00:05:58
Venezuela doesn't even have the same oil production that people
00:06:01
think it has anymore. Before this regime, they were
00:06:03
producing over 3 barrels a day.
00:06:06
Under Maduro, that collapsed into well under a million
00:06:10
barrels a day. Mismanagement, corruption,
00:06:13
sanctions, total economic failure.
00:06:16
So no, this was not an oil grab. And yes, of course we don't love
00:06:21
that Venezuela deals oil to China and other hostile regimes,
00:06:26
but that's still not the reason. This was about national security
00:06:32
for two nations. This was about fentanyl into our
00:06:35
country. This was about drug networks.
00:06:38
This was about criminal pipelines dispersing into our
00:06:41
country. This was about stopping a regime
00:06:44
that actively contributed to chaos spilling across our
00:06:48
borders. That's not imperialism.
00:06:50
That's self-defense. And the Monroe Doctrine gives
00:06:53
Trump every ounce of a unilateral authority to act in
00:06:57
response to those things. He does not need congressional
00:07:02
approval. Stop saying that.
00:07:06
Thank you. This wasn't some random act of
00:07:09
chaos. This wasn't America getting
00:07:11
bored and bombing something. Contrary to what some of you
00:07:13
would like to think, this was a targeted operation that removed
00:07:18
a brutal dictator who, in addition to the drugs and
00:07:21
criminals pouring into our country, destroyed his own
00:07:24
country, starved his people, jailed dissidents, and forced
00:07:28
millions to flee. And before the other crowd jumps
00:07:32
in screaming, well, Trump said he wouldn't get us into any
00:07:34
wars. Stop.
00:07:37
This isn't a war. For starters, I don't see
00:07:40
anybody fighting back. There's no, there's no poisoning
00:07:44
army, there's no battlefield, there's no sustained conflict.
00:07:48
Second, precision strikes are not war.
00:07:52
This wasn't Iraq, this wasn't Afghanistan, this wasn't boots
00:07:55
on the ground for 20 years with no objective.
00:07:58
This was a targeted operation to remove a threat and it worked.
00:08:03
If your definition of war is any time the US uses force at all,
00:08:09
then congratulations, you've made self-defense impossible.
00:08:13
Trump did not start a war, he ended a regime and in doing so
00:08:18
protected our borders and all of us inside of them.
00:08:21
That is a big difference. And the people who actually
00:08:24
lived under that regime, they're not confused about how to feel.
00:08:28
Has anyone actually thought about them?
00:08:30
They didn't need a committee meeting.
00:08:32
They didn't wait for CNN to tell them what the correct emotion
00:08:35
was. They celebrated.
00:08:37
They wept with joy, which makes what came next even more
00:08:41
telling. Now, before we get to the
00:08:42
American outrage class, before we get to the blue haired
00:08:46
meltdowns and the fake protests, let's do something radical.
00:08:51
Let's listen to how actual Venezuelans themselves feel.
00:08:56
Because if anyone gets to have an opinion today, it's the
00:08:58
people who actually lived through this.
00:09:01
Let's start here. Roll this clip.
00:09:05
Yeah. Come celebrate with us.
00:09:08
We love everybody because you, America has loved us so much, so
00:09:13
much. Thank you, America.
00:09:14
Edgar, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing
00:09:17
those sentiments guys. This is simple to the point.
00:09:20
That young man didn't read a policy memo.
00:09:23
He didn't attend a protest planning meeting.
00:09:26
He didn't get his opinion from some podcast hosts in Brooklyn.
00:09:29
He lived it. And he's thanking America out
00:09:32
loud. He's saying he loves America on
00:09:35
camera with no irony. Now here's another.
00:09:38
Let's watch this one. Can you hear that?
00:10:06
That's the top of a high rise building over over the city that
00:10:10
sound. It's not propaganda.
00:10:13
That's relief. It's a city exhaling after years
00:10:17
of fear, hunger and repression. You don't fake that.
00:10:22
You don't stage that. You don't manufacture consent
00:10:25
for that. That was just a quick example of
00:10:29
an entire city celebrating over what Donald Trump did.
00:10:35
Now let's go to another one. Check this out.
00:11:05
I mean, statues really don't come down quietly, they come
00:11:09
down when people have been waiting a long time to do it.
00:11:14
And it wasn't just a few people. That statue didn't fall because
00:11:18
of ex Twitter post. It felt because of pain.
00:11:23
And just in case someone wants to say, well that's just one
00:11:26
statue at one place, cool, let's zoom out.
00:11:30
Play this one. 10s of millions of Venezuelans
00:12:10
in different countries, Spain, Argentina, Chile and here in the
00:12:15
US all over the world, different continents, same reaction, joy,
00:12:22
relief, people crying, people hugging strangers.
00:12:27
That's not politics. That is freedom.
00:12:30
I want to pause here for a second because this whole thing
00:12:33
hit me personally. And so I'm I'm extra fired up.
00:12:36
I have a Venezuelan friend, somebody very important to me
00:12:40
and my family, and she fled the Maduro regime years ago.
00:12:44
When this happened the other day when the Maduro regime was
00:12:49
ousted, she was joyful, crying, glued to the TV all day, not
00:12:55
tweeting, not arguing, crying. It's a picture of Maduro
00:13:02
captured and on top of it, she put.
00:13:05
I never thought I'd live to see this day.
00:13:07
I am so grateful to be alive to witness history.
00:13:11
What broke families, destroyed a country and forced us to leave
00:13:14
everything behind is finally falling.
00:13:17
My heart cries with happiness. Today we celebrate thank you God
00:13:22
with a bunch of cry emojis. This is a person very dear to
00:13:28
us. I'm going to listen to her.
00:13:32
What she ran from is finally over.
00:13:34
And I want you to remember that feeling.
00:13:36
It's just a moment. You'll see the absurdity from
00:13:39
the people who don't know shit about this.
00:13:40
People who never lived it, never felt it.
00:13:42
Now that we've seen what actual Venezuelans think, let's check
00:13:47
on the American activist class. Because while an entire country
00:13:51
is celebrating freedom, these people woke up, grabbed their
00:13:55
signs and said, yeah, I don't, I don't think I like this.
00:13:59
It's like they're on off. Switch was turned on by the woke
00:14:02
puppet masters. So here they come.
00:14:07
Let's get ready to laugh and cringe.
00:14:11
Look at this one. It's not a movement, that's a
00:14:43
group text that went unanswered. So why do they all look alike?
00:14:46
They grow with the bright green hair and they just look alike.
00:14:50
They're just, there's no enthusiasm, nothing.
00:14:52
That's 100 people Max marching Portland, I believe, and they're
00:14:57
doing it in defense of a dictator.
00:15:02
I mean, you almost have to give props to the level of delusion.
00:15:06
Compare that to the previous clip about the celebrations
00:15:10
around the world. The same thing here.
00:15:12
Let's check. Let's check this one out.
00:15:40
Buying in Washington condemns the US bombings of Venezuela and
00:15:45
the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro and First Lady
00:15:49
Celia Flores. Under the absurd pretense of
00:15:53
narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy
00:15:58
and weapons charges, the US has shamelessly made it clear that
00:16:07
it intends to set up a puppet regime and to tap Venezuelans
00:16:12
vast reserves of oil. Well I've already discounted the
00:16:16
oil thing. Just a bunch of morons that
00:16:18
don't know what they're talking about.
00:16:20
They all look the same too. The the charges aren't really
00:16:24
alleged. I mean pretty much happened.
00:16:27
The drugs and all the narco terrorism, you know, tiny crowd
00:16:32
again, I'm there are only 6 people.
00:16:34
They're like yay but they have big feelings. 0 connection to
00:16:39
reality. These people didn't flee
00:16:42
Venezuela, they didn't miss meals, they didn't eat out of
00:16:45
the garbage cans. They didn't watch family members
00:16:48
disappear. But boy do they have opinions.
00:16:51
Remember, these are the people who actually did eat out of the
00:16:54
garbage and had families disappear.
00:16:56
Just a quick reminder. Can't even see where the crowd
00:17:19
ends. It's it's so enormous.
00:17:22
One of these things is not quite like the other one is a bunch of
00:17:27
blue haired septum ring activists clapping with like 50
00:17:32
people, and one of them is that I just thought I'd remind you I
00:17:37
can't see the celebrations of joy enough.
00:17:39
Oh man, and this is the absolute gem.
00:17:42
Couldn't pass it up, but let me go ahead and show you this real
00:17:45
quick. Roll this one guys.
00:17:47
With me, all hands off Venezuela.
00:17:52
Hands off Venezuela Great President Madalu La Lucha Sega.
00:18:11
Of course, this is the coalition that decided they are the moral
00:18:16
authority on Latin American liberation.
00:18:19
But sure, I'll reserve comments about that dude's dress for a
00:18:23
later episode. Here's this ongoing, really,
00:18:27
really annoying part of all this.
00:18:29
These protests didn't happen organically.
00:18:32
They didn't wake up sad for Venezuelans.
00:18:34
They woke up and they checked what the approved narrative was,
00:18:39
Trump bad, intervention bad. And then they acted accordingly.
00:18:43
No curiosity, no humility, no hey, maybe we should listen to
00:18:48
the people involved. Just reflexive outrage.
00:18:52
They didn't even wait to see how Venezuelans felt, which tells
00:18:56
you everything. And look, if you're
00:18:59
uncomfortable with the idea of using force for regime change
00:19:03
and for all the reasons I stated earlier, OK, then fine.
00:19:07
That is a real conversation worth having.
00:19:10
In fact, I just had a very, very long conversation about that
00:19:14
very thing. We can talk about international
00:19:16
law. We can talk about precedent.
00:19:18
We can talk about where the line should be in this.
00:19:22
But that's not what this was. These people were in the streets
00:19:25
before the sun was up. Not to think, not to weigh it,
00:19:29
not to discuss, but to react. And that difference matters.
00:19:34
I'm going to move on from the street clowns to the clowns who
00:19:37
actually hold office. Which is scarier because this is
00:19:41
where the dishonesty really kicks in.
00:19:45
And here we are. Had to do it.
00:19:48
My favorite whipping gal AOC. Roll this clip as.
00:19:52
A democratic socialist, I'm wondering if what are your
00:19:55
thoughts on the Venezuelan crisis that's happening right
00:19:57
now and if you would denounce the Maduro?
00:20:00
Regime, yeah. So I think that that this is
00:20:03
absolutely a complex issue. I think it's important that that
00:20:07
we approach this very carefully. One, I am, I'm myself, just like
00:20:13
anyone else, who is absolutely concerned with the humanitarian
00:20:16
crises that's happening. And I think it's important that
00:20:19
any solution that we have centres the Venezuelan people
00:20:22
and centres the democracy of Venezuelan people first.
00:20:25
I am very concerned about US interventionism in Venezuela and
00:20:29
I oppose it. OK, so she cares about the
00:20:34
democracy of the Venezuelan people and we give them back
00:20:38
democracy, but she doesn't like that we gave them back
00:20:41
democracy. I'm confused.
00:20:43
AOC, do you notice what's missing?
00:20:47
There's no mention of Venezuelans, no mention of
00:20:50
statues coming down, no mention of millions of people who fled
00:20:53
the regime who are celebrating right now.
00:20:55
Just the same tired buzzwords. This new one, interventionism.
00:21:00
That word does a lot of work for them.
00:21:02
It lets them avoid saying whether the outcome was good or
00:21:05
bad. It lets them pretend that people
00:21:08
don't exist. It lets them posture without
00:21:12
taking any responsibility. It's not an argument, it is a
00:21:16
deflection. What is wrong with looking at
00:21:19
outcome? It's another discussion to be
00:21:21
had. Sure, but they don't like to
00:21:23
talk about reality and what those outcomes do.
00:21:26
AOCI do not know what I'm going to do with you, but now I I
00:21:33
can't even believe this dude. I am so I just can't believe
00:21:36
he's just is just still saying the same bullshit from three
00:21:40
homes. He has beachfront property and
00:21:42
he's taking private jets, but the world's going to end with
00:21:46
climate it. Of course we're talking about
00:21:49
Bernie Sanders. This may be one of the most
00:21:52
dishonest, lumped together group of things that he said in a long
00:21:58
time, and that's saying something.
00:22:00
So let's play this first one and take a look.
00:22:04
Thanks very much for joining me. Donald Trump has once again
00:22:08
shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of
00:22:12
law. Let's be clear.
00:22:14
The President of the United States does not have the right
00:22:18
to unilaterally take this country into war, even against
00:22:22
the corrupt and brutal dictator like Maduro. the United States
00:22:26
does not have the right, as Trump stated this morning, to
00:22:30
run Venezuela. Congress must immediately pass a
00:22:34
War Powers Resolution to end this illegal military operation
00:22:39
and reassert its constitutional responsibilities.
00:22:44
Right, Bernie? Oh my goodness.
00:22:47
So Bernie starts by saying that Trump is proving again that he's
00:22:51
against the Constitution. That is a lie, flat out.
00:22:56
The President of the United States can act unilaterally in
00:23:00
situations like this. He has the authority.
00:23:04
He's had the authority for decades.
00:23:07
This wasn't Congress being bypassed.
00:23:09
This wasn't unconstitutional. This wasn't some rogue action.
00:23:14
Bernie knows this. Then he calls it an illegal war.
00:23:18
Again, lie. First off, this is not a war.
00:23:22
I think I already covered this. There's no opposing army
00:23:26
fighting us. There is no sustained conflict.
00:23:28
There are no boots on the ground.
00:23:29
There's no battlefield. I've already said all this, but
00:23:33
apparently I'm giving lessons to sitting politicians, no matter
00:23:37
how senile they are. This action was a targeted,
00:23:41
precise operation to capture a dictator.
00:23:45
Words matter, and Bernie's intentionally misusing them.
00:23:49
Not because he's confused. Maybe he is, but because scaring
00:23:55
people is easier than telling the truth, now is where it gets
00:23:58
almost in comedy. I mean, this is this is pure
00:24:01
comedy. Play this one guys.
00:24:05
This is the horrific logic of force that Putin used to justify
00:24:10
his brutal attack on Ukraine. Trump and his administration
00:24:15
have made it clear that they want to revive the Monroe
00:24:18
Doctrine, a belief that claims that the United States has the
00:24:22
right to dominate the affairs of the hemisphere.
00:24:25
Oh my God, Bernie's comparing Trump's action in Venezuela to
00:24:31
Putin invading Ukraine. I'm sorry, what is this satire?
00:24:38
Is is Bernie absolutely lost his mind.
00:24:42
Putin didn't capture Zelensky because Zelensky was a brutal
00:24:45
dictator starving his own people.
00:24:47
Putin didn't conduct precise operation to remove 2
00:24:50
individuals. Putin launched a massive
00:24:53
invasion, killed millions, flattened cities, and did it
00:24:57
over a land grab. And by the way, Putin supports
00:25:01
Maduro. So Bernie is literally comparing
00:25:04
A liberation operation to a genocidal invasion and he's
00:25:09
calling them the same thing? That is not analysis, that's
00:25:14
propaganda. How can anybody not see that?
00:25:18
I just can't believe Bernie then says Trump wants to revive the
00:25:22
Monroe Doctrine. Revive it.
00:25:25
It never left. This is the Monroe Dr. is not a
00:25:28
belief system like Bernie says. This isn't vibes, it's a
00:25:32
reality. The Monroe Doctrine exists
00:25:35
whether Bernie Sanders likes it or not.
00:25:38
Calling it a belief is like calling gravity an opinion.
00:25:43
And this is the part that really matters.
00:25:46
A sitting US senator with full access to briefings, law and
00:25:51
history is lying to the American people to score political points
00:25:57
in his opposition of Trump. He's not defending Venezuelans.
00:26:01
He's not defending victims, not defending democracy, just fear
00:26:06
mongering because Trump did it. The whole illegal war thing eats
00:26:12
at me. People keep saying it's an
00:26:14
illegal war. They throw around the word
00:26:17
illegal the way that people throw around the word fascist
00:26:20
these days. It just means things I don't
00:26:23
want to like. Here's the hypocrisy part.
00:26:25
These are the same people who cheered intervention when it fit
00:26:28
their narrative. The same people who supported
00:26:30
regime pressure when it was aligned with their ideology.
00:26:36
The same people who never asked Congress before tweeting
00:26:39
outrage, but now, now suddenly the the rule book matters.
00:26:45
Not because they care about law, but because Trump did it.
00:26:50
They shouted no kings in American streets like fools when
00:26:54
there was no king. And now an actual dictator has
00:26:58
been removed. I guess they're OK with kings in
00:27:03
other places. And here's the lie underneath
00:27:08
all of this. They pretend this was about
00:27:10
American power. I've heard this one recently as
00:27:14
well. It wasn't.
00:27:16
It was about Venezuelans getting their country back.
00:27:19
But admitting that would mean something else, that Trump did
00:27:24
something undeniably good. And that's the one thing they
00:27:27
refuse to do. Now let's deal with one of the
00:27:30
dumbest freak outs of this entire thing.
00:27:33
You've probably seen the headline or the clip where Trump
00:27:36
says the US will run Venezuela. I think Bernie mentioned it in
00:27:41
one of his. Cue the panic, Cue the
00:27:44
screeching. Cue the he's colonizing another
00:27:48
country. No, just stop.
00:27:52
This is what happens when people hear words and completely refuse
00:27:57
to actually think about them in context.
00:27:59
What Trump was saying, since I have to clarify for everyone if
00:28:03
you're not, what Trump was saying is that the US will
00:28:07
temporarily oversee stabilization while Venezuela
00:28:11
establishes legitimate leadership.
00:28:15
You know, so the country doesn't fall into chaos, so power
00:28:18
vacuums don't get filled by cartels, militias, or the next
00:28:22
strong man. That's not running a country.
00:28:26
That's helping a country stand back up.
00:28:28
I'm sorry Trump's use that word and said it not to your liking.
00:28:32
But the media doesn't really do context, do they?
00:28:34
They do panic. Instead they take one word,
00:28:37
strip it a meeting and light it on fire.
00:28:39
And the left eats it up. Because again, thinking is
00:28:43
optional when outrage is the goal.
00:28:46
It's all they have left in the playbook.
00:28:48
These are the same people who scream about nation building
00:28:51
when we don't help, and then when we do help, responsibly,
00:28:56
deliberately, with clear intent to transition power, they scream
00:29:01
about imperialism. There's no version of reality
00:29:05
where they're saddest, because this isn't about policy.
00:29:08
It's about posture. And notice what never gets
00:29:10
discussed. No one asks what happens if we
00:29:14
don't help? What happens if we just walk
00:29:17
away, Turn the other cheek? What happens to civilians in the
00:29:21
power vacuum because those questions require adulthood.
00:29:28
Instead, they hear Trump, they hear run, he wants to run the
00:29:31
country, and they shut their brains off.
00:29:34
This is what happens when language replaces thought.
00:29:37
And that is why these people cannot be trusted with serious
00:29:41
decisions, because they don't process consequences, only
00:29:45
slogans. So before I wrap this up, I
00:29:47
really want to address something honestly, and this is where you
00:29:51
might be surprised, is where original debate can exist and
00:29:55
can take place. I'm pretty passionate about my
00:29:58
viewpoints. Obviously I have reason to be,
00:30:01
but I I'm willing to discuss it. I had a long mostly, I think I
00:30:05
mentioned this, a long mostly respectful conversation with my
00:30:09
producer dear friend about this. He's not American and his
00:30:14
concern is 1. I know a lot of people share,
00:30:17
and I am acknowledging that for him, the concern is this.
00:30:23
Where's the line? Who decides what is right and
00:30:27
wrong internationally? Does the country with the most
00:30:31
power make the rules? Those are all fair questions.
00:30:35
This isn't black and white. Pretending it is doesn't help
00:30:39
anyone at all. So here's where I land on that.
00:30:43
Yes, international law matters to a point.
00:30:48
Yes, history gives us reasons to be cautious.
00:30:51
And yes, power can be abused. All true.
00:30:55
Here is what also matters. Victims matter.
00:30:59
Reality matters. Outcomes do matter.
00:31:03
When a brutal dictator starves his people, jails dissidents,
00:31:07
destroys his economy, and sends 1 fleeing for asylum,
00:31:13
that isn't theoretical. That's not academic.
00:31:17
That's not a whiteboard discussion at a university.
00:31:21
That is human suffering. So when people say regime change
00:31:28
is not OK, it is definitely frowned upon, right?
00:31:32
OK. But leaving a regime like that
00:31:34
in place, that's not neutrality. That's a choice.
00:31:39
And when a country like the United States has the ability to
00:31:44
stop the suffering, the ability to protect itself and help
00:31:49
others, pretending that power should never be used is just
00:31:53
another form of moral laziness in my eyes.
00:31:56
This was not about flexing power.
00:32:00
This was about responsibility. Because of power, America makes
00:32:05
sacrifices. America takes risks, and America
00:32:09
definitely absorbs global backlash.
00:32:12
Yes, sometimes that means making hard calls that don't fit neatly
00:32:16
into a rule book written for a world that doesn't really exist
00:32:20
the same way anymore. You don't have to love every
00:32:24
intervention. You don't have to trust every
00:32:26
leader. You don't do trust Trump.
00:32:29
But we should all be able to agree on one basic thing.
00:32:33
Brutal dictators who destroy their countries are bad people.
00:32:37
Celebrating the Venezuelan people their their regaining of
00:32:41
freedom aren't the villains. If that makes you uncomfortable,
00:32:48
fine, fine, but at least wrestle with it.
00:32:51
Honestly. Don't rush to the streets before
00:32:54
the sun comes up with your signs defending the very people others
00:32:59
spent years trying to escape. I hope this episode hit you
00:33:02
hard. Everything keeps hitting me hard
00:33:05
and it's not the news itself, which is one thing, and I think
00:33:08
it's fantastic and I'm very, very, very happy for the
00:33:11
Venezuelan people and to see what happens from here on out.
00:33:15
It's about the reaction to it all.
00:33:17
It's about how we we react and respond to each other about it.
00:33:21
I hope it hit you hard. And it's the perfect model for
00:33:24
how I feel these days. It's the perfect model for what
00:33:27
I do here on this show. I will never understand how so
00:33:31
many people were duped and indoctrinated into hating a man
00:33:37
so much that they're unwilling to think rationally and carry
00:33:43
out discussions rationally. I feel like the villains of the
00:33:47
movie, all the movies, are being defended simply because the good
00:33:52
guys are winning and you hate the director.
00:33:55
It doesn't matter of the movie. Charlie's death, the Minnesota
00:33:59
fraud, deportation of illegals, peace attempt in Gaza and now
00:34:05
ending a horrid nightmare for Venezuelans.
00:34:09
The movie reviews from the left are always in before the films
00:34:12
even end. The bad guy was treated
00:34:15
unfairly. We were told lies about the good
00:34:18
guys, so we definitely hate them and we hate the director.
00:34:23
We don't like the way the plot is going for whatever reason.
00:34:27
I challenge you to to be better. I want to be better as human
00:34:30
beings. Let's try and get back to at
00:34:32
least agreeing on the basic foundation of right and wrong.
00:34:38
I believe that it it exists. So like and follow comment all
00:34:41
the stuff. I know this one was a little
00:34:43
longer, but it's out there right now, so I hope it helped.
00:34:46
I'm going to go and go ahead and touch on all the Minnesota
00:34:48
stuff. The fraud on the next episode.
00:34:51
So stay tuned for that because that's insane as well.
00:34:55
Until then, stay skeptical, stay grounded, stay human, stay in
00:35:03
the fray. Love you guys.