Part Of The Problem - Dave Smith - Dave Portnoy is Missing the Point
Aired: 2025-05-07
Duration: 01:05:46


=== Government Screw Ups (07:25) ===

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[00:00:34]  All right, let's start today's show.
[00:00:44]  What's up?
[00:00:44]  What's up, everybody?
[00:00:45]  Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem.
[00:00:48]  I am Dave Smith.
[00:00:49]  He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein.
[00:00:51]  How you feeling today, brother?
[00:00:52]  Glad to be home.
[00:00:53]  It's the calm before the porch, my friend.
[00:00:56]  The calm before the porch.
[00:00:58]  Well, at least your airport of choice is not the meltdown of the civilized world right now, like mine is.
[00:01:06]  I was literally, I have to book.
[00:01:07]  I was literally going through flights and I'm they're like, you know, it's like I'm flying again in like a week and they're like, it's going to be bad for another week.
[00:01:15]  I'm like, okay, so I can't fly out of Newark.
[00:01:18]  And then now I got to book flights for our next trip after that.
[00:01:21]  And I'm like, do I take government people at their word that it'll be fixed in a week?
[00:01:26]  Like the government told me we needed 15 days to slow the spread and then we were in lockdowns for a year and a half.
[00:01:32]  So I'm not.
[00:01:33]  It's amazing how much money there is in the airport business.
[00:01:37]  And that I guess since government doesn't like profits, they're okay with just disrupting an entire industry.
[00:01:43]  I assume the FAA positions are actually government staffed and they're not staffed by the airlines.
[00:01:48]  Yeah.
[00:01:49]  Yes.
[00:01:49]  Yeah.
[00:01:49]  Yeah.
[00:01:49]  No, those are government employees.
[00:01:51]  Yeah.
[00:01:51]  No, it's a government screw up.
[00:01:53]  And of course, um, air air travel is like one of the most highly regulated industries.
[00:01:58]  I mean, a lot's made about how like Ronald Reagan like deregulated to some degree, I think the airlines, but they're still like a crazy regulated, you know, industry.
[00:02:06]  And what once you get to like that level of regulation, it's basically all government jobs anyway.
[00:02:11]  You know what I mean?
[00:02:12]  Like maybe not officially, but it's all like just the worst, the worst.
[00:02:17]  Everything about the airport's so ridiculous.
[00:02:19]  I own, I've been flying now.
[00:02:20]  I take like 40 flights a year, maybe more.
[00:02:23]  I take a lot of flights.
[00:02:24]  I think I've only first noticed that there's actually a security fee on your flight ticket, and it's not cheap.
[00:02:32]  Like if you just, I think it might be a $35 fee.
[00:02:35]  That's $15 more than a porch tour ticket.
[00:02:40]  And what for them to hold you up and touch your underwear?
[00:02:44]  It's kind of outrageous that it costs them that much to facilitate long security lines.
[00:02:49]  I got to check the price tag on that.
[00:02:50]  I don't know if it ranges differently on flights.
[00:02:53]  Yeah, maybe I'm not sure.
[00:02:56]  But yeah, I have noticed that before.
[00:02:58]  But it's also just like everything.
[00:03:00]  Do you remember there was the thing?
[00:03:02]  Wait, I forget the exact details of this, but this was years ago, like 15 years ago or something like that.
[00:03:08]  But they did like, you know, they published like the results of the TSA's tests.
[00:03:15]  Like they have these third parties go in and just try, they sneak in like fake explosives and they missed 80% of them.
[00:03:22]  Like for all that shit that we go through, they still like don't get the stuff.
[00:03:29]  I don't even know if that's possible just with the way that they harass me in my bags.
[00:03:32]  Maybe it's just my dumb face.
[00:03:34]  It probably is your dumb face.
[00:03:36]  That's the reason for most of my problems is your dumb face.
[00:03:40]  Just being too closely associated with it.
[00:03:42]  I've traveled with this same shotgun microphone for also 40 flights or something.
[00:03:47]  And I don't remember the airport, but in one airport, they pulled me over for it.
[00:03:52]  And the guy was so excited.
[00:03:53]  He really thought he found a gun.
[00:03:55]  And then when he opened it up and he double checked it and then he finally pulled it out and then he had to look at me.
[00:03:59]  He's just a dumb government employee.
[00:04:01]  So all disappointed.
[00:04:03]  Like, so what was this thing?
[00:04:04]  It's a microphone, you fucking retard.
[00:04:07]  Well, it's also, I mean, I'm not trying to be, he really thought he had something.
[00:04:11]  Look, I'm not trying to be a dick, but like there are different levels of government employees.
[00:04:17]  And whatever the TSA is, you know, you're just like, I. You might be better suited to work at Wendy's, I think might be like literally the people who are working at the TSA were applying to Wendy's and the TSA and they got the TSA job.
[00:04:35]  It is, it's, they're also just, you know, it's one of the things that I just, look, I mean, this is like, you know, the essence of like libertarianism 101 type stuff, but there is something where you're, you know, it's the problem with government in a nutshell, right?
[00:04:52]  Is that it's it's based on force.
[00:04:55]  So it's not like, you know, you are every interaction you have with the government is like, there's this threat of force behind it.
[00:05:06]  And we all know that on some level.
[00:05:08]  And so like you, in any other set, in any other setting, like if you go to a business, you're the customer.
[00:05:15]  Like I'm not saying there's, there's not some example where someone is like rude to you in a business, but generally speaking, when you go into any type of voluntary, you know, market action, you, the customer is kind of king.
[00:05:29]  People are nice to you.
[00:05:31]  They'll try to help you find something.
[00:05:33]  They're trying to get your business.
[00:05:34]  That's the whole model here is that we want you to shop with us.
[00:05:38]  Whenever it comes to something like that, it's like, you know, you're essentially the boss when you walk into a store.
[00:05:45]  But when you walk into anything with the government, they're just the boss.
[00:05:49]  They're a monopoly that's based off force.
[00:05:51]  You have no choice.
[00:05:52]  And so it just breeds this thing where like, you know, in if you, if you walk into the Apple store, it's like, hey, I'm a customer here.
[00:06:01]  I need this.
[00:06:02]  I need this.
[00:06:03]  And they're like, okay, let me get that for you.
[00:06:04]  But when you walk into the DMV, it's just like, wait on the long line.
[00:06:09]  That makes no sense to have you wait on.
[00:06:11]  You know, like everything's just like, and with the TSA, it's like, it's all of that.
[00:06:18]  Plus, they're the most retarded people you'll ever meet in your life.
[00:06:23]  And no, I got, I did get the other day recognized by a TSA agent who said he's a huge fan.
[00:06:29]  So if you're listening, not you.
[00:06:32]  But also, if you're listening, you know exactly what the fuck I'm talking about because you work with all these people.
[00:06:37]  But it'll just be things like literally like even they're just dicks.
[00:06:42]  They're fucking, oh my God, dude.
[00:06:44]  I mean, like, I literally, I got into, I got into a thing with the TSA, which literally almost went bad because one of the, because like they're a dick to me all the time, but like, I'm just trying, I fly all the time and I'm just trying to keep it moving.
[00:06:57]  But I was flying with my wife and one of them was real snappy to her.
[00:07:01]  And then I started talking shit back to him.
[00:07:03]  And that is, I just, I could take that to me, but don't fucking talk to my wife that way.
[00:07:07]  And I said some pretty mean things to him.
[00:07:10]  I always like it when sometimes they have the energy like they're about to miss a flight.
[00:07:16]  And it's like, relax.
[00:07:18]  You can process this slower.
[00:07:19]  You don't have to yell at us.
[00:07:20]  We're not checking into prison.
[00:07:21]  It's not that big of a deal.
[00:07:23]  It's not your problem if someone misses a flight.

=== Russia Germany Pipeline (16:16) ===

[00:07:25]  Relax.
[00:07:26]  Yeah.
[00:07:27]  Well, they'll also just be, they'll be rude to you when you ask the most reasonable question.
[00:07:32]  Oh, yeah.
[00:07:32]  Cause you know what's funny?
[00:07:33]  I'm in every airport and they all operate differently.
[00:07:36]  So sometimes I literally walk up to the thing.
[00:07:38]  I'm like, hey, is laptop coming out of the bag?
[00:07:39]  And they're like, why would you ask me that?
[00:07:40]  Not going to keep it in the bag.
[00:07:42]  Everything goes on.
[00:07:43]  You're like, relax.
[00:07:44]  I was just asking the question.
[00:07:46]  You're one airport.
[00:07:47]  There's a hundred of these across the country.
[00:07:49]  They all have a different policy.
[00:07:50]  Well, also, I've had that happen when it's the same airport with a different policy.
[00:07:56]  I've literally had that happen where it's like, we got to take laptops out.
[00:07:59]  And they're like, no, what do you?
[00:08:00]  And I go, oh, okay.
[00:08:01]  Well, we did two weeks ago right here.
[00:08:03]  So it's a pretty reasonable thing for me to ask.
[00:08:06]  But yeah, anyway, I'm literally getting myself angry thinking about that TSA person being rude to my wife.
[00:08:11]  Oh, I was pretty vicious in response to him, though.
[00:08:13]  I said mean things.
[00:08:14]  Anyway, okay, let's get into some stuff that's not just us bitching about flying.
[00:08:21]  By the way, the reason we fly is to come see you, good people.
[00:08:24]  And we will be, I got a, you know, geez, I got a busy, busy month coming up.
[00:08:31]  I guess I'm always kind of busy these days, but we should let everybody know.
[00:08:35]  Well, first of all, I'll be doing, I'm doing another big podcast that I think you guys will be excited about in a few days here.
[00:08:40]  So that should be out soon.
[00:08:41]  And then the next one we got together is Appleton, Wisconsin.
[00:08:44]  Very excited to do that.
[00:08:45]  Salt Lake City, Denver, Cleveland, Providence, Tacoma, Spoken, a whole bunch of dates coming up.
[00:08:51]  Comicdave Smith.com for those for those ticket links.
[00:08:56]  And then also, I haven't mentioned it in a while.
[00:09:00]  It is, it's sold out, so you can't come.
[00:09:04]  But I think, you know, I got to check.
[00:09:06]  I don't know if it'll be live streamed or not, but I'm debating at the Soho Forum.
[00:09:12]  That is my next debate.
[00:09:13]  It's going to be an Oxford-style debate on how libertarians ought to feel about immigration.
[00:09:20]  I have been, it's coming up in a few weeks here.
[00:09:24]  It's May 20 something.
[00:09:27]  And I've literally, it just was like occurring to me today that I was like, I should probably start thinking about that.
[00:09:35]  Should probably put my argument together here.
[00:09:37]  But I am, you know, I just, I've had so much other stuff going on that I've been focused on, but I am, I am excited for this because it's, you know, there's like, there's, I've done a lot of debates and different styles of debates, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like informal debates where it's just like two people on a podcast arguing an issue.
[00:10:01]  And then I've done the slightly more formal ones where like there's a moderator and then there's two people arguing about an issue.
[00:10:07]  And then I've done a couple of like Oxford style debates.
[00:10:11]  And there's advantages and disadvantages to both.
[00:10:15]  But there is something about an Oxford style debate where it's a little bit cleaner.
[00:10:20]  You know, you, you get to give your opening statement and then give your rebuttal, and then you have a little period to mix it up and then you give a closing statement and then people are going to vote on it and vote on before and after.
[00:10:31]  And you see how many people you could change.
[00:10:34]  And it's kind of a, you know, it has been one of my areas of focus for a while now has been trying to get libertarians good on this issue.
[00:10:47]  And I don't know, this is a good opportunity for me, I think, because I'm first off, it's at Gene Epstein's Soho Forum, which is like an amazing debate series there.
[00:11:00]  And it's, you know, it's kind of, it's, it's backed by Reason magazine and it's become kind of like known in the libertarian world as like the kind of the libertarian debate series.
[00:11:14]  And then I'm debating like Cato's, you know, number one immigration specialist there.
[00:11:20]  So it's a very good opportunity for me to like lay out the case for why libertarians ought to support immigration restrictions.
[00:11:29]  So I'm excited for the opportunity for that.
[00:11:31]  And I believe you're going to, you're going to do stand up there, right?
[00:11:34]  Yep.
[00:11:34]  Yeah.
[00:11:34]  So Rob Bernstein will be there.
[00:11:35]  Some immigration jokes.
[00:11:37]  Got a couple ideas.
[00:11:38]  Hopefully I'll tune them up over Florida weekend.
[00:11:41]  There you go.
[00:11:42]  And then I think we're doing like, I think Gene is organizing some type of after-party type thing too.
[00:11:47]  So if you are there, I hope for those of you who have already bought tickets, it'll be, that should be a fun time.
[00:11:51]  The Soho Forum for a long time was like my home.
[00:11:57]  I think I'm, as Gene likes to mention, I believe I hold the distinct honor of being the only person who has, I've done stand-up opening for the debates many times, and I've also debated and moderated.
[00:12:16]  So I've done everything at that series.
[00:12:18]  And I used to, back when I had, I had less wives and babies, I used to be at every single one of the Soho forums because I just love going there and hanging out.
[00:12:29]  It's like always a great group of people and really interesting debates and, you know, all of that.
[00:12:33]  By the way, when I say less wives and babies, I only have the one wife.
[00:12:36]  I haven't gotten any more wives, but I do have more babies.
[00:12:39]  But anyway, so it's kind of like a like a homecoming type thing.
[00:12:42]  And then I get to kind of lay out my case for why open borders are insane and libertarians should oppose them.
[00:12:50]  So I'm very much looking forward to that.
[00:12:52]  And at some point, I'll start thinking about what I'm going to say.
[00:12:55]  It'll be good by the time I get there.
[00:12:56]  Don't you worry.
[00:12:58]  Okay.
[00:12:58]  Anyway, let's jump into this.
[00:13:02]  This was a topic that I found kind of interesting.
[00:13:04]  And for a couple of reasons, it hits on obviously the war in Ukraine, which is something we've spent a lot of time talking about over the years.
[00:13:14]  And it also kind of hit on a major theme that I've been talking and tweeting a lot about.
[00:13:21]  So let's play this clip.
[00:13:22]  This is from yesterday, Donald Trump was taking questions at the White House.
[00:13:26]  And I thought actually a very one of the better questions that I have heard asked of Donald Trump since he's been back in the White House was asked of him.
[00:13:35]  So let's play that clip.
[00:13:38]  Two and a half years ago, the Nord Stream pipeline blew up.
[00:13:42]  And despite what people like John Brennan and all the clocks said, you were one person who said Russia probably did not blow up its own pipeline.
[00:13:52]  And so I'm wondering now that you're president, if you would consider launching a formal investigation into what happened there and who actually did blow it up.
[00:14:00]  Well, probably if I asked certain people, I'd be able to tell you without having to waste a lot of money on an investigation.
[00:14:06]  But I think a lot of people know who blew it up.
[00:14:10]  But I was the one that blew it up originally because I wouldn't let it be built.
[00:14:13]  And then when Biden got in, he allowed it to be built.
[00:14:16]  Can you just pause it for a second here?
[00:14:19]  Okay.
[00:14:19]  So part of the reason why I found this so fascinating, right, is that it's, first of all, this is a great question.
[00:14:26]  It's one I don't know that I would have thought, huh?
[00:14:29]  Props to Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge.
[00:14:32]  Is that who asked the question?
[00:14:33]  Was it a Zero Hedge guy?
[00:14:34]  We actually know who it was, but Zero Hedge has a guy in the room now who got that.
[00:14:38]  Oh, right, right.
[00:14:39]  Yes, it's yes.
[00:14:40]  Oh, okay.
[00:14:40]  I didn't, that's funny.
[00:14:41]  I didn't even realize that I know who this is asking a question.
[00:14:45]  So giving credit, excellent question.
[00:14:48]  I don't know that I would have even thought that.
[00:14:50]  I mean, I could think of some pretty good questions for Trump, but I don't know that I would have thought of that one, but a really good question.
[00:14:55]  And I think in a way, it really got to the heart of one of the things that, you know, me and you have talked about, like that's just been, you know, utterly disappointing about this administration.
[00:15:06]  But it's like, oh yeah, that's right.
[00:15:08]  You know, the goddamn government commits so many crimes.
[00:15:11]  I almost forget about really major ones, you know, like it's like, it was just when you asked me to rattle off the crimes, I'm like, okay, well, they lied us into several wars and they instituted totalitarian lockdowns.
[00:15:22]  They covered up a giant pedophile ring.
[00:15:24]  They framed the president for treason.
[00:15:26]  And then you're like, oh, yeah.
[00:15:27]  And the biggest act of environmental terrorism in human history.
[00:15:31]  That's right.
[00:15:32]  That was that other one that they did.
[00:15:34]  And then literally, this happens two and a half years ago.
[00:15:39]  The Nord Stream pipeline gets blown up.
[00:15:41]  Joe Biden is on record having threatened to destroy the pipeline.
[00:15:47]  It's clearly got the West's fingerprints all over it.
[00:15:51]  And they tried to tell you that Vladimir Putin blew up his own pipeline, which he built, and he can just turn off.
[00:16:00]  Like, he doesn't have to blow it up.
[00:16:02]  Blowing it up, just all it does is not give him the option to turn it back on.
[00:16:07]  And so this question is asked.
[00:16:09]  And then, look, I mean, what do you get from Donald Trump here?
[00:16:12]  He asked the question, are you going to launch an investigation?
[00:16:15]  And Donald Trump goes, yeah, I wouldn't even need to launch an investigation.
[00:16:17]  I could probably just tell some people and then tell you.
[00:16:19]  A lot of people know.
[00:16:20]  A lot of people know who did it.
[00:16:22]  Translation, no, there won't be an investigation.
[00:16:26]  Donald Trump, like, what is this?
[00:16:27]  A lot of people know.
[00:16:28]  I could just ask them and then tell them.
[00:16:30]  It's, yeah, could you do that?
[00:16:32]  Would you mind?
[00:16:33]  Like, can we do that right now?
[00:16:34]  Can you call?
[00:16:35]  Do you have your cell phone on you?
[00:16:36]  Can you call them right now and ask them how, like, why?
[00:16:39]  It's so funny the level of like, you know, like if you think about all the projection from the corporate media, who is like, if Donald Trump gets in there, he might prosecute his political opponents and, you know, that while they were doing the same thing to him and how much was made over him having that lock her up chant back in 2016.
[00:16:59]  But then you sit like the reality.
[00:17:01]  It's just unbelievable.
[00:17:02]  It's like, here's the funhouse mirror version.
[00:17:05]  And then the reality is them going like, hey, how about this very specific blatant crime that was committed by the previous administration who supposedly's guts you hate?
[00:17:15]  You want to tell us about that?
[00:17:17]  It's like, no.
[00:17:20]  No interest.
[00:17:21]  And then, of course, he pivots into this nonsense about how he was really the one who blew it up as if that's a good thing because he got them to stop.
[00:17:31]  You know, he got Germany and Russia to stop.
[00:17:34]  They should have blown it up, but I would have blown it up better.
[00:17:37]  Believe me.
[00:17:38]  It's also like, you know, it's such a weird, the Nord Stream pipeline is a particularly interesting issue because it exposes like how people think about the world.
[00:17:51]  And, you know, there is, what's his name?
[00:17:54]  The Stratford guy.
[00:17:55]  I think his name is Freeman.
[00:17:58]  He was the head of Stratford for a while.
[00:18:01]  But he basically, what he said, which is kind of an interesting theory, is that he was like, the entire motivation for U.S. foreign policy post-World War II was to always keep the Germans.
[00:18:20]  It was always like to keep the Russians out and to keep the Germans down.
[00:18:26]  And that essentially like the big fear from the American empire is like that Germany and Russia would get together.
[00:18:36]  Like if they, you know, like this was like, obviously the big fear right before World War II was that, oh my God, what if Stalin and Hitler met, you know, like, which is kind of interesting, like there's, there's a lot of interesting nuggets about World War II.
[00:18:49]  Like Hitler had a real affinity for the British Empire earlier in his life.
[00:18:55]  Obviously, they ended up going to war, but he had like a lot of respect for the British Empire.
[00:19:00]  He had a deal worked out with Stalin at one point.
[00:19:04]  And like you have, you have like imperialist Britain, capitalist America, communist Russia, and fascist Germany.
[00:19:16]  And it's not so clear where the partnerships would end up.
[00:19:21]  You know what I mean?
[00:19:22]  Like it's not like such a given that the capitalists and the communists ought to be friends.
[00:19:27]  And you could make a lot of arguments that fascism is a lot closer to the system of communism than capitalism is.
[00:19:32]  And anyway, so it's just, it's like you could see where, Okay, the team of you know Britain, US, and Russia ends up defeating the Nazis and their allies, Italy and Japan, and them.
[00:19:46]  But, like, oh my God, if Hitler and Stalin had gotten together, who's to say who wins that?
[00:19:54]  You know what I mean?
[00:19:55]  Like, it's not a given.
[00:19:58]  And basically, what Freeman was arguing was that, like, there is the concern from the American Empire was like, if you ever combined the natural resources and the human capital, like the sheer size of Russia and number of people with like German ingenuity, this could pose a real threat to the, you know, like he would say it in nicer words, like,
[00:20:24]  but this could pose a threat to the rules-based international order or whatever, you know, to global hegemony, whatever they, whatever term they use instead of empire, which just means empire in a different with different words.
[00:20:37]  But so it's interesting, like, I'm not sure this is exactly right, but it's in, it's an interesting way to look at things.
[00:20:44]  Um, and that, you know, I know for sure, like there was a, if you go read, because there's like notes from the meetings that have been declassified, but there were what's called the two plus four meetings, and then there were like some subsequent meetings after that, like, uh, that where the minutes to the meetings have been declassified.
[00:21:02]  And these are the meetings that were taking place from like 1989, 1990, 1991.
[00:21:09]  So, like, as the Soviet Union is about to collapse, and during the meetings, you know, like they're not, it, they're not exactly like certain that the Soviet Union is about to collapse, but they're talking about allowing German reunification and pulling back.
[00:21:23]  And there's even talk, I think, of like of dissolving the Warsaw pact.
[00:21:31]  And like, so there's like all these, so, so, while this is happening, and you can read this, like, the West is trying to get German reunification.
[00:21:41]  And then a big topic of debate is about NATO expansion.
[00:21:45]  This is where the not one inch to the east promise, where all those promises are made.
[00:21:51]  And one of the things they're talking about is like, okay, so at the time, right, during the height of the Cold War, or I shouldn't say the height, but during the Cold War, I guess this would be not the height, but the end.
[00:22:03]  But so at this time, right, the line was drawn right down the middle of Germany.
[00:22:08]  It was down the Elbe River.
[00:22:10]  So West Germany is with the West and East Germany is with the East.
[00:22:16]  And they're talking about, you know, allowing German reunification.
[00:22:21]  The Berlin Wall had just come down like the previous year.
[00:22:25]  And while they're talking about it, kind of like the Russian beef is like, okay, but like, what about NATO now?
[00:22:32]  Because if we reunify Germany, is NATO now moving east?
[00:22:37]  And this is where the original like not one inch east.
[00:22:40]  And they were saying, even let Germany be reunified, but NATO military hardware won't move beyond the Elbe River.
[00:22:47]  Like it'll still will still draw the line militarily in the same place.
[00:22:51]  Now, ultimately, even by the end, I think the Russians even accepted that like that doesn't make any sense.
[00:22:56]  And like, how are you going to reunify Germany?
[00:22:58]  But only the West half of it is has NATO protection and not the Eastern half of it.
[00:23:02]  And anyway, one of the things that's interesting in that, if you read through the notes of the meeting, is that what they keep, what they do in a sense, to kind of get the Russians to fold and go like, okay, fine, like have Germany under NATO's umbrella is that they keep like proposing, like they float out the idea.
[00:23:25]  They go, or maybe Germany could just be independent.
[00:23:28]  Like maybe we could just have an independent Germany.
[00:23:31]  And then that like sends shivers down everyone.
[00:23:34]  Like the Russians are like, whoa, wait a minute.
[00:23:36]  Hold on.
[00:23:36]  We don't like that.
[00:23:38]  And so there is this interesting thing where like we may not think of it that way.

=== Independent Germany Idea (04:21) ===

[00:23:41]  World War II seems like kind of ancient history, but to a lot of powerful people, and particularly this is in, you know, 1990.
[00:23:49]  So this is, you know, it's, it's 50 years or 45 years later, but they still, I mean, this war, you know, 60 million people died in World War II.
[00:24:01]  I think was 30 or 40 million of them died in Eastern Europe in the war between Russia and Germany.
[00:24:08]  And so a lot of, anyway, my point is that there's a lot, a lot of people are freaked out over the prospect of there being this pipeline of like Russia and Germany being becoming allies and doing business together and all of this.
[00:24:24]  And the concern, I think, is that that could threaten U.S. dominance.
[00:24:29]  And Donald Trump always fell right into that.
[00:24:32]  And that's why he's bragging about, oh, yeah, I was the one who got them to stop being friends.
[00:24:36]  But it's always amazing to me.
[00:24:38]  I remember when I debated at Princeton University, it was the last Oxford style debate I did.
[00:24:45]  I debated Josh Hammer.
[00:24:47]  And one of the points he was making was like bragging about the Abraham Accords and how successful Donald Trump was for working them out.
[00:24:56]  And I just kind of made the point.
[00:24:57]  I go, it's a little bit weird for you to brag about the Abraham Accords right now.
[00:25:02]  Because like, I don't know if you've paid attention to the Middle East over the last couple of years.
[00:25:06]  It's not going great.
[00:25:08]  And so it's, no, I'm not saying that like causation isn't correlation or whatever, but like it is a little bit strange.
[00:25:17]  It's, and I, the example I used in the debate was I said it would be like you're bragging about how you and your wife saw the best couples therapist.
[00:25:24]  Like this guy is the best.
[00:25:26]  It was unbelievable, like the best thing we ever did.
[00:25:28]  And we go, oh, so things are going a lot better for you guys now.
[00:25:30]  And they're like, no, we got divorced.
[00:25:32]  Horrible breakup.
[00:25:33]  But I'm, but man, that couples counseling was so great.
[00:25:35]  It's like, well, it didn't seem to work out that well.
[00:25:37]  And so it's funny that even in hindsight, Donald Trump doesn't can't even like fathom and maybe it wasn't a good idea.
[00:25:45]  Maybe we would have been way better off if Russia was more integrated with Europe.
[00:25:49]  Maybe, you know what I mean?
[00:25:50]  Like, why?
[00:25:51]  It's just crazy.
[00:25:52]  And, you know, I think from certainly from my perspective, I go, okay, well, look, I don't, first off, I don't care about the American empire because we're not supposed to be an empire anyway.
[00:26:01]  We're supposed to be a republic and it's been nothing but a disaster for the American people that we've been an empire, not to mention for the countries that we dominate.
[00:26:12]  But I just look at it on a human level and I go, okay, if the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world was when Germany and Russia went to war, then it seems pretty great that they'd be friends.
[00:26:26]  And of course, America comes in to go, no, let's ruin that.
[00:26:30]  All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is American Financing.
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=== Barstool Sports Fan (08:01) ===

[00:28:03]  All right, let's get back into the show.
[00:28:05]  So, anyway, it's just all of it is, I found this, this question to be interesting.
[00:28:09]  I found Trump's answer to be, you know, terrible and kind of, I don't know, it illustrates something about, first off, how he still gets everything wrong about what led up to the war.
[00:28:21]  And also, just the more, you know, the more basic point that I've been harping on for a long time that me and you have talked about for a while, Rob, that's just like, look, like the crimes that the government has committed are so profound.
[00:28:34]  And you got all these people, Tulsi Gabbard and Dan Bongino and Kash Patel and Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump himself, who have like been making a living calling out these crimes, you know, making their name off calling out these crimes.
[00:28:50]  I mean, Donald Trump had a name, but you know what I'm saying.
[00:28:53]  Even in the question here, Liam points out that it's like, yeah, you're the guy.
[00:28:57]  You're the guy who called it out.
[00:28:59]  Hey, I remember two and a half years ago when this happened.
[00:29:02]  And I remember you calling out that this was all bullshit.
[00:29:05]  And yet all of you guys are in power now.
[00:29:08]  And there's just no move.
[00:29:10]  There's no move being made.
[00:29:11]  By the way, I posted this something to this effect earlier on Twitter today.
[00:29:14]  And I was assured by many Trump supporters, you got to give it time, dude.
[00:29:19]  Got to be patient.
[00:29:20]  Oh, these guys are going to be brought to justice.
[00:29:22]  And it's just like, how, I don't know.
[00:29:24]  At what point are you just like, no, they're not?
[00:29:27]  Sorry.
[00:29:27]  I wish they were, but none of that's going to happen.
[00:29:29]  You're just not a believer, Dave.
[00:29:31]  That is the problem, I suppose.
[00:29:34]  Well, and that is true.
[00:29:35]  I am not a believer.
[00:29:37]  I do not believe it at all.
[00:29:40]  It's a tough pitch for why Russia, in a pre-Ukraine environment, isn't allowed to sell natural gas directly to Germany.
[00:29:49]  Other than that you're representing American oil interests or you think you got to keep down every single nation so that they can't acquire wealth.
[00:29:58]  It's just a tough pitch other than mercantilism that I don't understand how else you kind of justify not letting other countries freely trade with each other.
[00:30:07]  Yep.
[00:30:08]  No, that's that's exactly right.
[00:30:10]  And also just that, you know, like on top of that, like Germany had embraced all of these insane climate policies.
[00:30:17]  So I think they got rid of like a whole bunch of their like nuclear power, maybe all of it.
[00:30:21]  I don't remember.
[00:30:22]  I remember reading about this years ago, but it was crazy.
[00:30:24]  And then it's like, oh, here comes Vladimir Putin.
[00:30:28]  Like, I'll sell you some natural gas at a very reasonable price.
[00:30:32]  And they're like, oh, so that you mean that would be like really great for the people of Russia and the people of Germany.
[00:30:38]  And then our role is to come in here and be like, no, stay poorer.
[00:30:42]  Don't get richer.
[00:30:44]  Just horrible on every level.
[00:30:48]  All right.
[00:30:48]  You want to hear, you want to move on?
[00:30:50]  I kind of almost reluctantly, but I do want to talk a little bit about this Dave Portnoy story because I just find it fascinating.
[00:31:04]  And the reaction to it is crazy.
[00:31:07]  So if you, if you guys don't know, which I don't know that much about Dave Portnoy, I kind of tend to like him.
[00:31:15]  I don't really know that much.
[00:31:17]  Like I don't really watch his content that much.
[00:31:19]  I'm just too I'm too busy for like sports content.
[00:31:25]  I've just got too much work to do and got little kids and a wife who I try to hang out with every now and then.
[00:31:34]  But I did grow up like a big sports fan, and I still am.
[00:31:36]  I watched the Knicks game the other night.
[00:31:38]  Amazing.
[00:31:38]  He beat the Celtics.
[00:31:41]  But he does like, you know, he's like a sports company and they do like, it's just like, it's like dude stuff, I think, you know, like he does like pizza rankings.
[00:31:54]  Like, he'll go to all the best pizza places in the country and rank their pizza.
[00:31:58]  And then they cover like, you know, the football games and shit like that.
[00:32:02]  And that's like, even though I don't like really do that anymore, that's like kind of my type of thing.
[00:32:06]  You know what I mean?
[00:32:07]  Like, if I was, if I, when I was 20, I was watching everything on, you know, ESPN.
[00:32:14]  If I were 20 today, I'd probably be a huge barstool sports fan.
[00:32:18]  And ranking pizza seems right up your alley, Rob.
[00:32:21]  That seems like you were only like, you were a couple zigs when you zagged away from ending up there rather than here.
[00:32:29]  But do you know the barstool guys at all?
[00:32:31]  Like, do you ever watch any other stuff?
[00:32:34]  I uh, I think he's great.
[00:32:36]  I don't follow everything.
[00:32:37]  I certainly don't agree with all of his political opinions, but just as a radio guy, he's great.
[00:32:42]  When you know, every once in a while, I end up on a wormhole of watching his pizza reviews.
[00:32:46]  Every once in a while, he uh he pops up on the news.
[00:32:50]  Uh, he's funny, he's a great personality.
[00:32:52]  That's not an endorsement of everything he says or does, nor do I watch all of it.
[00:32:56]  But more often than not, when he comes across my feed, I'm like, oh, look, Dave Portnoy, and it's entertaining.
[00:33:01]  Yeah, that's kind of how I've felt about him too.
[00:33:03]  And then he, he, I think, um, like, I think there was this dynamic that happened to a lot of people.
[00:33:09]  I'm speaking on my ass a little bit here because I don't really like follow him that closely.
[00:33:13]  But I think, if I'm not mistaken, essentially what happened to him is what happened to a lot of people is over the years of like woke insanity, like he was kind of like, oh, I'm not like political.
[00:33:25]  I just want to like be over here and be a dude.
[00:33:27]  And then like the woke people were like, well, that's actually a political statement to be a dude.
[00:33:32]  And so you're our enemy.
[00:33:34]  And then they, you know, like they almost like started attacking him about everything.
[00:33:38]  And then he's a dude.
[00:33:40]  So he's not a pussy.
[00:33:42]  You know what I mean?
[00:33:43]  So like once they started attacking him, he was like, no, fuck you, you know, and started like battling with the woke people.
[00:33:47]  I love the, hey, I've made, I'm wealthy and it's awesome.
[00:33:50]  And I built this company from scratch.
[00:33:52]  And that's awesome.
[00:33:53]  I love, I love that part of his thing.
[00:33:56]  And he's such a winner.
[00:33:57]  He got some massive payoff from that gambling company and then bought back Barstool for like a dollar.
[00:34:02]  Yeah, yeah.
[00:34:03]  Onership plus all that money that he received on the buyout.
[00:34:06]  Just winner shit.
[00:34:07]  Yeah.
[00:34:08]  Yeah.
[00:34:08]  Can't argue with any of that.
[00:34:10]  So anyway, look, I, I, uh, so I'm not coming at this as a guy who like doesn't like Dave Portnoy.
[00:34:18]  You know what I'm saying?
[00:34:19]  Like that, it's just that I do see, I don't know.
[00:34:25]  I think there's, there's like an inability that some people have of how to grapple with like the Jew hating stuff that they don't like.
[00:34:36]  And I understand why they don't like it.
[00:34:37]  I don't like it either.
[00:34:39]  But I've always, I just like, I think, I think ironically, I suppose that a lot of the people who really prioritize like shutting down the Jew hatred.
[00:34:55]  Like we gotta, we gotta handle this, this problem that people are saying mean shit about Jews.
[00:35:02]  They're they go about it all wrong.
[00:35:05]  And ironically, they end up being the ones who are really feeding that fire.
[00:35:10]  Like if you think this is a problem, you're making the problem much worse.
[00:35:14]  So I guess what happened was he had some event at like a bar that he owns doing some sports thing there.
[00:35:21]  And someone showed up with a fuck the Jews sign.
[00:35:26]  That's the story.
[00:35:27]  Okay.
[00:35:28]  So here was Dave Portnoy's.
[00:35:31]  I guess this, this, I guess pictures were taken and it went up on social media and it was a bit of a scandal.
[00:35:36]  And then this was his video the next day.
[00:35:38]  I believe he called this an emergency press conference.
[00:35:42]  Let's play.
[00:35:42]  All right.
[00:35:42]  Emergency press conference time.
[00:35:44]  There you go.
[00:35:44]  So I'm getting ready to go to the Bet Gala.
[00:35:47]  And all of a sudden, my phone, the last hour or two, my phone's fucking blowing up.
[00:35:52]  Our bar in Philadelphia, Barcelona Sampson Street, usually a great fucking bar.
[00:35:56]  You know, bottle service, people buy drinks.
[00:36:00]  You get a sign.
[00:36:01]  There was a sign yesterday that said, fuck the Jews.

=== Childhood Anti Bullying (10:24) ===

[00:36:05]  I've been shaking.
[00:36:06]  I've been so fucking mad for the last two hours.
[00:36:09]  Like I instantly got on.
[00:36:10]  This is why the emergency press conference is late because I was so over top.
[00:36:13]  I was like, I'm going to fucking make it my life fucking mission to ruin these people.
[00:36:19]  Okay, pause.
[00:36:19]  Just pause it right here.
[00:36:20]  I'm never ending.
[00:36:22]  Okay.
[00:36:23]  So I remember when I was a kid.
[00:36:26]  So when I was a, when I was a little kid, like I was around, I think I was five, maybe six, five or six.
[00:36:35]  And I moved, we moved to this, to a block that was kind of like a tough block.
[00:36:42]  And I wasn't a tough kid at that age.
[00:36:45]  I had never really been.
[00:36:46]  And my parents had already been divorced for years.
[00:36:48]  I didn't really have like a father who was like teaching me how to be a man.
[00:36:52]  I'm noticing that now as I'm doing that with a young boy.
[00:36:55]  You go, oh, yeah, that's important.
[00:36:58]  And so we moved to this block.
[00:37:00]  It was like a really tough block.
[00:37:02]  And I used to get like really viciously fucking bullied.
[00:37:08]  And it was like these 12 and 13 year olds who used to do it.
[00:37:13]  And I also, and I was going to this, this public school was a pretty like, I'm not, I'm not like trying to paint a picture like I was like had some like horrible childhood or something, but it was tough.
[00:37:22]  It was Brooklyn in the 80s and there were fist fights and there were like these 12 year olds used to fuck us up.
[00:37:29]  And man, when you're six, a 12 year old is like a god.
[00:37:32]  I mean, it's just impossible to even imagine that you could stand up to them.
[00:37:37]  And I was at this school.
[00:37:38]  There were a lot of fist fights at school and stuff.
[00:37:40]  And I remember just literally I had a single mom.
[00:37:42]  I'm not blaming her at all.
[00:37:43]  She just didn't know, you know, it's not really the type of thing a mom can help you with.
[00:37:47]  And I just had to figure it out.
[00:37:49]  And eventually I figured it out and kind of figured it out.
[00:37:52]  Like, oh, you can't be a pussy.
[00:37:54]  You have to fight.
[00:37:55]  Like that's, it's like, it sucks, but there's a very basic realization that a lot of men have when they're boys that it's like, and I just had to figure it out myself, that it was like, oh, getting beat up is not as bad as just getting humiliated.
[00:38:13]  Like it sucks, but you're also kids.
[00:38:15]  They're not like, it wasn't an environment.
[00:38:17]  I'm not like getting curb stomped here.
[00:38:18]  You know what I mean?
[00:38:19]  I'm going to get like punched in the stomach.
[00:38:21]  It's not like, anyway, so I kind of figured out how to deal with bullies.
[00:38:25]  So, okay, later in life, this is like much later in life.
[00:38:28]  I think I was in the fifth grade or maybe the sixth grade.
[00:38:31]  And then I went to like a very soft private school.
[00:38:35]  So like I went to public school and then I went to private school.
[00:38:38]  By the way, best, you want to make a future libertarian, send someone to public school and private school.
[00:38:45]  Let them see the difference between the government and the market.
[00:38:48]  Anyway, that's neither here nor there.
[00:38:50]  I remember they brought in, this was like at the very beginning of like anti-bullying campaigns.
[00:38:56]  And they brought in this chick, like a school psychologist or something like that, that gave us a talk on how to deal with bullies.
[00:39:05]  And one of the things they said was that you, you're supposed to start with an I statement and tell them how their actions are making you feel.
[00:39:15]  And you'd be like, I feel disrespected when you speak to me this way.
[00:39:20]  And I remember just sitting there and being like, yo, I figured out many, many years ago that that is completely wrong.
[00:39:30]  Like that is, if somebody is bullying you, the last thing in the world you would ever want to do is let them know that it's working.
[00:39:40]  That's why they're doing it.
[00:39:42]  Like, you can't, that's the fucking incentive for them doing it to begin with.
[00:39:47]  And likewise, in this situation, it's just like it's crazy to me to like, we're grown adults sitting here and you're like, oh, are you still?
[00:39:54]  So I figured this out at five.
[00:39:57]  You've, you have it to sit here and go, I was literally shaking because this, I'm so angry about this and this is so wrong is like, dude, that's the point.
[00:40:10]  What do you think someone went to a bar in a public event with a fuck the Jews sign for to blend into the crowd?
[00:40:19]  Or do you think maybe they were trying to trigger a reaction out of you?
[00:40:23]  So how counterproductive is it to just give them this reaction?
[00:40:28]  Like it's you just so now you, this has always been the dynamic, right?
[00:40:33]  And it's like, it's so strange that it's so hard for people to figure this out, right?
[00:40:38]  But since the rise of even like the alt-right and back in like 2016 or any of that shit, it's like, dude, this guy, I mean, I don't know anything about the guy who was holding the sign.
[00:40:51]  I don't know if he's been revealed online or whatever, but this guy is presumably no one, right?
[00:40:59]  He's some dude.
[00:41:01]  Lady.
[00:41:02]  Oh, was it?
[00:41:02]  Maybe.
[00:41:03]  Maybe you're right.
[00:41:03]  I don't know.
[00:41:04]  But maybe Natalie, you're a lesbian.
[00:41:06]  You're going to track Nana Hotchix.
[00:41:09]  Natalie, you could just, what's what's coming from inside you right now?
[00:41:13]  What do you feel?
[00:41:13]  Do you know?
[00:41:14]  Can you see him?
[00:41:16]  But you're like, look, presumably, whoever this person is, it's like they go there to trigger this reaction.
[00:41:22]  And now look what you hand them.
[00:41:24]  They get to have Dave Portnoy saying he's literally shaking.
[00:41:29]  Like, it's, do you not get the power play here?
[00:41:32]  You know, like, this has always been the thing now that like some 15-year-old on the internet can get an editor at the New York Times or the owner of the comedy seller or whoever to be like freaking out.
[00:41:45]  It's like, yes, just recognize this.
[00:41:48]  Take away.
[00:41:49]  It was a couple.
[00:41:50]  Okay.
[00:41:50]  So, but if you recognize this, you just can immediately take away the energy source and go like, okay, whatever.
[00:41:59]  You're like, I don't know.
[00:42:00]  What's what's the appropriate response to this, Rob?
[00:42:03]  I would say if it's my bar and someone comes in and holds up a fuck the Jews sign, I'd probably have someone from the bar walk over to them and be like, guys, you can't, you got to leave if you have that sign here.
[00:42:17]  You know, can't do that.
[00:42:19]  You want to put the sign away or you want to, you want to head out somewhere else, guys?
[00:42:22]  You know, it's like could be handled like that.
[00:42:25]  Like, that's it.
[00:42:27]  And it's, and also, like, we got to stop.
[00:42:30]  And this is, I mean, you can weigh in here, Rob, too.
[00:42:33]  But as me and you have been saying for many years, we've got to stop being snowflakes here, dude.
[00:42:40]  Like, I don't like Jew hatred any more than anybody else does.
[00:42:44]  Um, you know, why would I?
[00:42:46]  It's like against me and my group.
[00:42:49]  Uh, it's against my friends and my family.
[00:42:51]  And, you know, okay, I don't like that.
[00:42:54]  But like, what are we?
[00:42:56]  Aren't we fucking pink-haired 20-year-olds on a college campus somewhere?
[00:43:00]  Nothing has happened to anybody.
[00:43:02]  No, like, it's like, okay.
[00:43:06]  And I really do.
[00:43:07]  The reason I bring up that childhood story, because I really do think like my childhood for whatever, like, informs the way I view a lot of this, although maybe it's just the way I'm wired or the way I view things.
[00:43:16]  But it's like, I just think it's such a bad idea to ever turn it to start Catastrophizing, like very non-big deals.
[00:43:31]  Like, don't do that.
[00:43:33]  This is, it's like, if we didn't learn anything from the rise and fall of wokeism, it's like, don't do that.
[00:43:40]  You don't like, if you want people to actually be persuaded over to your side, if you want, like, if that's what you're attempting to do, then the last thing you want to do is be hysterical.
[00:43:51]  And it just, I'm sorry, the reaction to this is hysterical.
[00:43:55]  That's all.
[00:43:56]  Any thoughts, Rob?
[00:43:57]  What?
[00:44:01]  Yeah, I mostly agree with you.
[00:44:04]  I think being not cool doesn't help.
[00:44:08]  It's, and yeah, people shouldn't have signs.
[00:44:13]  Fuck the Jews.
[00:44:14]  You can make that statement.
[00:44:15]  Hey, no, no coming into my bar with the sign, fuck the Jews.
[00:44:18]  You're not invited to do that here.
[00:44:20]  Yeah, I mean, we're any group of people.
[00:44:22]  It's like, yeah, come on.
[00:44:23]  You can't do that.
[00:44:24]  Like, I don't know.
[00:44:24]  If you, if you hold that up at a bar, you're probably going like, oh, we might get kicked out for doing this.
[00:44:29]  And then they'd be like, listen, you got to put that away or you got to leave.
[00:44:32]  It's also a little bit surprising that people feel comfortable enough do like, I remember once outside of Grand Central, I saw some guy on some anti-Jew tirade, and I was a little surprised by the comfort level.
[00:44:43]  And that I guess Jews are such pussies that they'll be like, oh, you shouldn't have the sign.
[00:44:47]  Whereas like with other groups of people, if you pull that shit, you might just get, you might get stomped out on the corner.
[00:44:53]  So there is something a little bit Asians.
[00:44:57]  I don't know about Asians.
[00:44:58]  You could probably get away with Asians, but there's certainly some groups of people that if you decide to make a very public display in the Times Square area about your hatred of this group of people, I think you'd be, you know, I'd be surprised that you felt comfortable doing so.
[00:45:14]  And I'd be surprised.
[00:45:16]  I take the over-under on how long until that sign at least gets torn up or someone protests it.
[00:45:23]  So there is something a little bit surprising about that people do have that comfort level to go to public places, you know, with signs like that.
[00:45:31]  I don't, listen, I don't disagree with you on that.
[00:45:33]  And there's no question.
[00:45:35]  I mean, there's been a there's been a real rise in the amount of like hostility toward Jewish people on Twitter for sure.
[00:45:43]  And there's, and there's accounts with like a lot of followers who, who are way into that shit.
[00:45:49]  And yeah, okay.
[00:45:50]  So I guess that that's a fair point that like it is bleeding over to some degree where someone now feels comfortable enough to go do this at a Dave Portnoy event.
[00:45:57]  I guess my main point is that like there's no way anyone did this without this being the intended reaction.
[00:46:06]  Like it's not as if they did this and then thought to themselves like, I bet Dave Portnoy will love this.
[00:46:12]  You know what I mean?
[00:46:13]  Like they're doing this knowing they're going to create that and I think enjoying it.
[00:46:17]  Hey guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Blackout Coffee.
[00:46:22]  As I've told you before, I am a real coffee enthusiast and a bit of a coffee snob and I love blackout coffee.

=== Waitress Sign Incident (15:04) ===

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[00:47:14]  All right, let's get back into the shit.
[00:47:15]  Anyway, let's keep playing.
[00:47:20]  And I just sat and for the last two hours, I have been on the trail.
[00:47:25]  Trust me, I've been on the trail.
[00:47:27]  You think I'm going to put up with this shit at my bar?
[00:47:30]  So I've been hunting down waitresses, the table who did it, and everything you can fucking name because I want fucking consequences for fucking actions.
[00:47:42]  So I'm not just sitting back like, oh, what are you going to know?
[00:47:44]  Trust me, I have been on it.
[00:47:48]  I believe the two waitresses responsible for the table already fired.
[00:47:52]  I talked to one of them, one of the dumbest fucking humans I've ever talked to in my life.
[00:47:55]  She's at a fucking dance recital.
[00:47:57]  She's like, can I call you back in 20?
[00:47:59]  No, fucking honey.
[00:48:00]  You fucking can't.
[00:48:02]  This is your one chance to talk to me.
[00:48:04]  Idiot, total idiot, this girl.
[00:48:07]  I've talked to the guy, Mike.Wade, who's tagged?
[00:48:10]  Guess what?
[00:48:11]  He wasn't even fucking there.
[00:48:13]  I had this kid basically in tears turning state witness to me, rolling on the people who are there.
[00:48:18]  I've talked to one of the two guys who fucking did it.
[00:48:21]  He's like, I'm not anti-Semitic.
[00:48:23]  He's basically crying to me.
[00:48:25]  And I'm just like, I don't fucking buy it for a second.
[00:48:29]  Who the fuck would do that sign in my fucking bar?
[00:48:33]  You think I'm just going to sit here?
[00:48:35]  I'm going to make it my fucking mission to put you in lights.
[00:48:39]  My fucking mission.
[00:48:41]  Kids crying.
[00:48:42]  I just hung up on his ass.
[00:48:43]  I go, I'm giving you one fucking hour.
[00:48:46]  One fucking hour.
[00:48:47]  Two kids go to temple.
[00:48:49]  Tell me, how do I make this fucking right before I go fucking ape shit?
[00:48:55]  You want to take anti-Semitism classes?
[00:48:57]  You want to do whatever?
[00:48:58]  You make it feel right.
[00:49:00]  I don't need your fucking tears.
[00:49:03]  The Mike Wade kid wasn't even fucking there.
[00:49:06]  Was in the bar.
[00:49:07]  We got the footage.
[00:49:08]  Not even fucking bar.
[00:49:09]  Trust me, they're pulling the footage.
[00:49:10]  They're doing this.
[00:49:11]  I'm 20 steps ahead.
[00:49:13]  I'm using everything.
[00:49:14]  I'm like, I am going to come for your fucking throat unless you give me answers.
[00:49:17]  The two girls at the bar, idiots.
[00:49:19]  This one girl, one of the waitresses, I just told her, like, you're the dumbest motherfucker I've ever talked to.
[00:49:25]  25 years old, going on fucking two, you fucking dumb fuck.
[00:49:31]  What I'm saying is I'm getting literally.
[00:49:32]  So let's just pause it.
[00:49:35]  Okay.
[00:49:36]  I mean, that's it.
[00:49:36]  You can cut that video off.
[00:49:37]  That's basically it.
[00:49:38]  But it's like, dude, isn't talking to a 25-year-old girl like that kind of fucked up who works for you?
[00:49:47]  Right?
[00:49:47]  He's saying this is a waitress at his bar.
[00:49:50]  You're like, I don't know, dude.
[00:49:52]  Like, isn't the spirit of, I would think, like the spirit of why you would be against holding up a fuck the Jews sign is because you'd go like, hey, don't be dicks to people, man.
[00:50:04]  You know what I mean?
[00:50:05]  And I don't know if you really drive that message home being like, so I cursed out a 25-year-old waitress who works for me.
[00:50:12]  Like, all right.
[00:50:14]  Just seems a little bit of an overreaction.
[00:50:16]  I have feel like I'm eight years old being pulled into the principal's office laying on the Jewish guild trip.
[00:50:21]  But then I have kind of like the boss energy of this is my fucking bar, Mafiosa.
[00:50:26]  Listen, honey, what the fuck did you do?
[00:50:28]  Calling, finding the 24-year-old who's in the bar and getting him to cry on the phone.
[00:50:33]  It's kind of fun.
[00:50:35]  It is kind of funny.
[00:50:36]  I will admit that.
[00:50:36]  I grant you that.
[00:50:37]  But it's also kind of like, I don't know, dude.
[00:50:39]  Like, it just, I don't know.
[00:50:40]  It just sounds like you're bullying all of these people now.
[00:50:43]  And like, what did the waitress exactly do that was the fuck up?
[00:50:45]  I guess it was on her to say like, oh, you can't have that sign here or something like that.
[00:50:49]  But yeah, she's probably some young dingbat chick who is just like, I don't know.
[00:50:53]  They had a sign.
[00:50:54]  I was, they were tipping well.
[00:50:56]  So like, you know, like, I don't know.
[00:50:58]  Anyway, let's go to the second video because this actually gets funnier to me and just more ridiculous.
[00:51:03]  But let's go to the other video because this is, so that's the first video he made.
[00:51:07]  Then there's an update.
[00:51:08]  By the way, I've lost track.
[00:51:09]  I think there's like seven more update videos, but let's go to the next one because this was particularly funny.
[00:51:14]  Natalie, can you pull up the video of the actual incident?
[00:51:16]  Do you have it?
[00:51:18]  Oh, yeah, yeah, that's probably a good idea.
[00:51:21]  Yeah, let's give.
[00:51:22]  Here, let's-I mean, you can play this first and see if you can track it down.
[00:51:26]  Let's do this and then see.
[00:51:26]  So she has some time.
[00:51:27]  Let's see if we could find the video of the incident.
[00:51:30]  But I really think all I saw, I just saw a still picture.
[00:51:32]  And it's just someone holding up a fuck the Jews sign.
[00:51:36]  All right.
[00:51:37]  Real quick update on the fuck the Jews sign that was at my bar in Philadelphia yesterday.
[00:51:45]  Two hours ago, it literally could have cooked an egg on my head.
[00:51:49]  That's how much steam and heat I had come out of my ears.
[00:51:52]  And the more I thought about it, it's like these are young fucking morons who did this.
[00:51:57]  They were drunk.
[00:51:58]  It's like, do you really want to ruin somebody's life?
[00:52:00]  And let me be honest.
[00:52:03]  I don't know what's going on in the world.
[00:52:04]  Well, I do the Middle East, obviously, but I've been doing Barcelona for 20 years.
[00:52:08]  I've had more hate, more anti-Semitism in the last year, year and a half than I've ever had doing it.
[00:52:13]  And whether people, it's like Kanye, the UFC guy, it's like mainstream lunatics.
[00:52:19]  And I'm not talking about politics or what's going on in the Middle East, just hating groups of people.
[00:52:24]  You hate my parents.
[00:52:25]  You hate my grandparents, shit like that.
[00:52:27]  It's crazy.
[00:52:29]  So, yeah.
[00:52:31]  Let's pause it already there for a second.
[00:52:34]  It really is, right?
[00:52:36]  Look, man, it's just like you even say it there yourself without really thinking about it.
[00:52:44]  But it's like, yeah, I've never seen it like the way it's been the last year, the last 18 months.
[00:52:49]  Like, yeah, that's kind of the thing.
[00:52:53]  Right.
[00:52:54]  And this, this has been like one of my messages that I've really been trying to get out there for for the people who are very concerned about the rise in Jew hatred is that it's like, yeah, dude, like maybe it is the case that this policy is going to come with this blowback.
[00:53:15]  And that is not the same thing as justifying the blowback or excusing it.
[00:53:22]  I think people are responsible for their actions and like it's a fucked up thing to do to go bring this sign to a bar.
[00:53:29]  Now, I will also say it's an insane thing to even consider the possibility of, should I ruin a young person's life for this crime?
[00:53:39]  I mean, that is fucking insane.
[00:53:40]  Like the fact that Portnoy even has to go, I was thinking I should ruin their lives, but now I'm going in a different direction is like, yo, that's a crazy, I don't know.
[00:53:49]  That's also, I think, my mentality, Rob.
[00:53:51]  Like I'm just old school.
[00:53:52]  Like I could understand, I could understand going, I'm going to punch this kid in the mouth for doing this.
[00:53:59]  I cannot understand going, I'm going to ruin this person's life.
[00:54:03]  Like that, that to me is just too nutty.
[00:54:06]  In the same way, I remember this.
[00:54:09]  I don't know.
[00:54:10]  You weren't there for this, Rob.
[00:54:12]  There was a thing a year ago.
[00:54:13]  I almost got in a, I came very close to getting into a fistfight with the guy who was running the open mic after the Legion of Skanks.
[00:54:22]  It was at the old Creek in the Cave in Long Island City.
[00:54:25]  And I, oh, I really almost fucked this kid up.
[00:54:28]  But like, we got very close to being and getting into a fight.
[00:54:31]  And he was in the wrong and he was talking shit.
[00:54:34]  And then he just kind of backed down and didn't want to fight.
[00:54:36]  And I was furious.
[00:54:37]  And then I go to the bar and I was having a drink at the bar and Rebecca, who is the owner of the club, she used to live above the club.
[00:54:45]  So she comes down because she had heard about this, I guess, and she comes over to me and she goes, and just to be clear here, I really wanted to fight this kid who was not willing to fight me after he was talking shit.
[00:54:57]  I was like, I was white hot, angry.
[00:54:59]  This is maybe a half hour later, but I was furious at the kid.
[00:55:03]  And then she comes down and she goes, she goes, hey, I heard what happened.
[00:55:06]  Like, what's the problem here?
[00:55:07]  Do you need me to get rid of this guy?
[00:55:09]  And, you know, like, I, you know, not that I have the most poll all throughout the world, but at the creek in the cave, I could have said the word and gotten this kid banned from the club.
[00:55:18]  And I remember immediately just going, no, no, there's no problem, Rebecca.
[00:55:22]  Everything's fine.
[00:55:23]  Because, like, in my mind, it was always like, look, either we're going to fight or we're not.
[00:55:26]  But I'm not like, I'm not doing that.
[00:55:29]  I'm not trying to like tell on you so that your like livelihood is hurt in some way.
[00:55:34]  That just seems wrong.
[00:55:36]  And so, anyway, I think that reaction is crazy.
[00:55:38]  But look, in the same way that I think it's like fairly easy to recognize that, like, if we're going to have this policy of, say, bombing Muslim countries, and this involves killing a lot of innocent people, then we are going to deal with a bunch of Muslims who want to kill us.
[00:55:57]  Like, that's one of the things that comes along with that policy.
[00:56:00]  That doesn't justify terrorism.
[00:56:02]  That doesn't mean Osama bin Laden was the good guy, but it does mean it's an understandable, predictable consequence of killing a lot of innocent people is that the people who were close to them are going to be ready to kill you.
[00:56:15]  And in the same sense, you just go, if you see this rise in anti-Semitism over the last year to 18 months, it is quite reasonable to say that maybe this is a result of a policy.
[00:56:29]  Otherwise, why has it been rising?
[00:56:31]  Is it a pure coincidence that it's been rising as we are backing Israel's destruction of Gaza?
[00:56:37]  And then, if you're really concerned about the rise of Jew hatred, maybe think about what's going to happen if we get sucked into a war with Iran on behalf of Israel and what this country ends up looking like, or if we are to help the Israelis ethnically cleanse Gaza after this campaign is over, what that's going to do here.
[00:56:56]  Do you think Jew hatred goes up or down as a result of that?
[00:57:00]  And anyway, this is just like that.
[00:57:03]  I think that, as I've been saying for a long time now, I think that if you want to see less people who hate Jews, which I certainly do, you know, it may not be my number one priority.
[00:57:16]  I think there are other outrages that rise above someone holding a sign at a bar.
[00:57:21]  But if you want to see less of that, you can't just be like, you can't give in to the outrage that they are trying to generate.
[00:57:31]  And you got to think about what policies we have that are leading to this.
[00:57:36]  I don't know.
[00:57:37]  To me, that all seems reasonable.
[00:57:38]  I don't know.
[00:57:39]  I'm curious your thoughts, Rob.
[00:57:40]  I want to see the end of this clip.
[00:57:42]  All right, here.
[00:57:43]  Let's play the end.
[00:57:44]  It sounds like a walkback.
[00:57:45]  Started off with don't fuck the courtenoy message.
[00:57:47]  Well, watch it, though.
[00:57:49]  I'll let it slide.
[00:57:51]  I'm going to fucking burn these people to the ground, their families, everything.
[00:57:57]  And it's like, you know what?
[00:57:58]  Maybe that's not the best course of action.
[00:58:01]  Maybe I can use this as a teaching moment.
[00:58:04]  And like, before people just are like, fuck the Jews or any group and the hate, let's try to like turn a hideous incident into maybe a learning experience as cliche and very unlike me.
[00:58:16]  But I talked to both the culprits who I know are super involved in it, talk to the families.
[00:58:23]  I'm sending these kids to Auschwitz.
[00:58:26]  They've agreed to go.
[00:58:27]  That's, of course, the Holocaust concentration camp.
[00:58:37]  It's too much to bear, Rob.
[00:58:39]  It's too much to bear.
[00:58:42]  First off, can I just say, like, it started off like Sesame Street.
[00:58:46]  I'm going to teach them a lesson.
[00:58:47]  They got to get to the flight.
[00:58:49]  Go visit Auschwitz.
[00:58:51]  First of all, I will say, like, I understand.
[00:58:55]  I just want to make it clear for any people out there that Dave Portnoy is talking about the museum that is currently at Auschwitz, but there is something about I'm going to send them to Auschwitz that still rings very Nazi-like to me to be like, that's the appropriate punishment.
[00:59:12]  I'm going to send them to Auschwitz.
[00:59:14]  It just kind of comes up.
[00:59:16]  Like, if you just told me I had to go touch the floor of Germany and come back, even that's punishment.
[00:59:21]  But I have to go all the way to Germany and visit the site of horrible humanity.
[00:59:28]  Oh, that's so brutal.
[00:59:29]  And then, and also, you can't even get through it by cracking jokes, which I've, I personally, there was once a school trip that was doing.
[00:59:37]  I was like, I can't go.
[00:59:38]  I'll just be cracking jokes all the time.
[00:59:39]  This is not for me.
[00:59:40]  I'm not mature enough, nor do I want to process any.
[00:59:44]  And they were one of the rabbis or even why I go visit God's devastation, but that's just such a like, that's almost the worst part is having to go and be respectful the whole time.
[00:59:53]  If you're some dickbag kid from Philadelphia who showed up to a bar with a fuck the Jews sign, and now you got to go and spend four days pretending to be respect.
[01:00:03]  I wonder if Portnoy goes with them also and chaperones it.
[01:00:06]  Dude, well, so here's the funny thing, right?
[01:00:08]  And you could end this video.
[01:00:09]  We don't have to play any more of it, but so this is the funniest thing too is that I don't know where the saga's at now, but the next video after this, like his third emergency press conference, is that they've gone dark on him.
[01:00:23]  Like they just stopped responding after he was like, you have to go to Auschwitz.
[01:00:27]  You know, they're just like, go to fucking Auschwitz.
[01:00:29]  What are you talking about, dude?
[01:00:31]  It's such a funny thing of wealthy people dolling out punishments where it's like your parents would give you a timeout, but a guy who can, they just send you on a ticket will mandate that you go take a tour of Auschwitz.
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[01:01:31]  All right, let's get back into the show.

=== Don't Make It A Deal (04:12) ===

[01:01:33]  But listen, aside from just being hilarious, like, guys, this is all wrong.
[01:01:39]  This is just not the way.
[01:01:40]  First off, don't go into this woke bullshit about how this is a teachable moment and you've got to go.
[01:01:46]  Essentially, you're saying you got to go take Jewish HR classes or some sensitivity training or something like that.
[01:01:53]  This is not how much do we need to run this experiment?
[01:01:57]  This does not work.
[01:01:58]  It's also just, it's the kids go over there and they're such anti-semites to realize, oh, there's actually an efficient system to get rid of them.
[01:02:07]  You go, my God, I thought the best we could do was hold up signs at bars.
[01:02:10]  But no, we could set up a whole apparatus here.
[01:02:12]  Yeah, there's hope.
[01:02:15]  The people who bring a fuck the Jews sign to a bar don't need to be taught that that was insensitive.
[01:02:24]  They're aware.
[01:02:26]  And nobody also, nobody hasn't heard of the Holocaust.
[01:02:29]  Like there's not, it's not an issue of educating people about this.
[01:02:33]  And this is just, I mean, look, all I'm saying is like, if you want to see this stuff persist and you want to see more of it, this is the way to deal with it.
[01:02:42]  Okay.
[01:02:42]  I hope he does a daily press conference of 102 days since these people did not report to Auschwitz.
[01:02:49]  Dude, it is hilarious.
[01:02:51]  Just hilarious that that's the direction he went and said, I'm sending you to Auschwitz.
[01:02:56]  Look, man, like, I'll just say, and this is the old, look, I'm not saying like, this is the exact perfect model or anything like that.
[01:03:06]  Um, but you know, there was that, that Daryl Davis guy and his, he was this black dude, and he was famous for converting people out of the Ku Klux Klown.
[01:03:16]  And he would, uh, like, he, he would, uh, collect their, um, their hoods and like keep their hoods.
[01:03:25]  I forget how many he's got, but he's got like 20 hoods or something like that of like all these guys who used to be in the clown who he convinced out of it.
[01:03:32]  You know, the way he would do it is he would have dinner with them and he wouldn't even talk about the fucking clown.
[01:03:40]  And he wouldn't even pre, he wouldn't get it.
[01:03:41]  He wasn't angry at them.
[01:03:42]  He wouldn't preach to them.
[01:03:43]  They wouldn't talk politics, nothing like that.
[01:03:45]  They just break bread and have some dinner.
[01:03:47]  Like he would just be cool.
[01:03:49]  And then because he was being cool and he was black, eventually they kind of started going like, ah, shit.
[01:03:56]  You know, and then like, I think as he built a rapport with them, he would just kind of let them know like how much it, that hurt him.
[01:04:03]  You know what I mean?
[01:04:03]  He was like, that's like really hurtful to me that you be a part of this organization.
[01:04:07]  And then let them do, all I'm saying, I'm not saying that's the perfect dynamic.
[01:04:11]  I'm just saying this is, this ain't it.
[01:04:13]  This ain't it.
[01:04:14]  You're not forcing, forcing under duress clearly here, right?
[01:04:17]  Like he's not like, it's not like, hey, I'd really like to educate you about this and I'd like to bring you here to Auschwitz.
[01:04:22]  It's like, hey, I could either ruin your fucking life or you could go here to, that's not the way.
[01:04:27]  That's not how you convert people.
[01:04:29]  It's like step number one, be cool.
[01:04:33]  Step number one is like, be a decent person.
[01:04:35]  Treat people with decency.
[01:04:37]  Okay.
[01:04:38]  Step number two, don't catastrophize things.
[01:04:40]  Don't make them a bigger deal than they are.
[01:04:43]  Then you lose all credibility.
[01:04:45]  The thing is, like, you could just go like, you could just call it what it is.
[01:04:50]  Be like, come on, man.
[01:04:51]  Like, that's like, that's not cool to do that.
[01:04:53]  And then you could just have a conversation with people.
[01:04:55]  Like, they're human beings too.
[01:04:57]  What would have been way more interesting to me than any of this would be like, you know, try like interview these guys and you could even hold them accountable.
[01:05:06]  But again, follow my rules.
[01:05:08]  Follow the Dave Smith rules here.
[01:05:09]  You're not going to be there.
[01:05:10]  How could you?
[01:05:11]  My God.
[01:05:12]  But it's just start a conversation.
[01:05:13]  You don't even have to talk about this.
[01:05:15]  Start talking about sports with them for a little bit and then get into this.
[01:05:19]  And then just be like, hey, dude, you know, if you're like a fan of my thing, you come to my bar, you know, this really caused me a whole headache.
[01:05:24]  Also, I'm Jewish.
[01:05:25]  It's kind of like personally insulting to me.
[01:05:28]  I guarantee you, you have a much better shot at results attacking it that way than you do with this stuff.
[01:05:35]  But this one was more hilarious.
[01:05:38]  So I'll give you that.
[01:05:39]  All right.
[01:05:40]  Got to wrap up there.
[01:05:41]  We'll be back with a brand new episode tomorrow.
[01:05:43]  Thank you, everybody, for listening.
[01:05:44]  Catch you then.
[01:05:45]  Peace.