Dennis Prager Show - Peter Schweizer Exposes Joe Biden
Aired: 2020-10-21
Duration: 05:53


=== Why We Fear Concentrated Power (02:20) ===

[00:00:00]  Because this is what makes our country great.
[00:00:03]  The fact that the American people care about these things.
[00:00:07]  They care about corruption and cronyism.
[00:00:10]  It's important to them because they expect and want their leaders to avoid it.
[00:00:16]  You don't know this, but you said something, and I didn't interrupt you.
[00:00:21]  I was tempted, but I didn't.
[00:00:24]  Because, I don't know if you...
[00:00:27]  Ever saw the Groucho Marx show, but when the guest would say the magic word, the bird would come down with a $100 bill.
[00:00:37]  You said the magic word when you said that human nature, I don't know, I don't remember the word you used, corrupt or whatever, you'd fallen.
[00:00:47]  Fallen nature, the fallen nature.
[00:00:49]  Yes, the fallen nature, yes.
[00:00:50]  This is the dividing line at the...
[00:00:56]  If you dig and dig and dig to find the difference between left and right, that is the dividing line.
[00:01:04]  We know what human nature is like.
[00:01:08]  They don't.
[00:01:10]  Therefore, we fear, as you put it, the concentration of power among very, very troubled natured human beings.
[00:01:19]  Why would I trust people with human nature?
[00:01:24]  With massive power.
[00:01:27]  And that comes from, forgive me, just one more point, because you said another thing, which brought another bird on the Groucho Marx show, about you're a man of faith.
[00:01:38]  So am I. And we are not the identical faith, however...
[00:01:43]  We both have the same basis, which is this understanding of human nature that religious Jews and Christians understand and therefore have different politics.
[00:01:54]  That's the whole point.
[00:01:58]  Yes, I agree.
[00:02:00]  I mean the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches us that we should not trust people with concentrated power.

=== Concentrated Power Risks (03:31) ===

[00:02:09]  We know that sometimes in history, you're at war.
[00:02:12]  Maybe President Lincoln needs added powers to preserve the republic.
[00:02:17]  But in general, you do not want to concentrate power.
[00:02:20]  And it really, you know, I have friends that are obviously on the political left.
[00:02:25]  And, you know, it doesn't make sense to me, the fact that in some senses, they're distrustful of power for certain people.
[00:02:34]  So, for example, I have friends that were very troubled, and I shared some of those concerns about the fact that the National Security Agency and other entities were engaged in surveillance in the United States.
[00:02:47]  That was a big issue during the Bush administration, you remember.
[00:02:51]  I talk to those individuals now who are in favor of a government takeover in healthcare, and I ask them, seriously, you're worried about the government monitoring your communications, but you're not worried about the government having access to your entire medical history?
[00:03:07]  And it's a paradox.
[00:03:08]  I think that if you understand that concentrated power is something to be feared and to be concerned about, that leaders...
[00:03:18]  Can be sacrificial at times, but they can also be enormously self-serving.
[00:03:23]  You are suspicious of concentrations of power, and that, I think, is the bottom line for me when it comes to corruption.
[00:03:30]  The ultimate remedy for corruption.
[00:03:33]  You're not going to find corrupt...
[00:03:38]  What you can do is make sure that we have a balance of power, a check of power, divided power in the sense of the branches of government, and don't allow our leaders to have concentrated power.
[00:03:51]  And when you look at the political parties today, there's a huge divide on that question, whether government should be given more authority in our lives or less.
[00:04:00]  When they say Trump is a dictator, I wrote in my column, which comes out as it happens, on Tuesdays.
[00:04:07]  So my column is out today, and it's a list of left-wing lies in which the society is drowning.
[00:04:13]  One is Trump is a dictator.
[00:04:14]  And I point out, it's almost inconceivable that a Republican or a conservative would be a dictator.
[00:04:22]  Their whole platform is less government.
[00:04:27]  Yes, that's exactly right.
[00:04:29]  I mean, look, if you wanted to be a dictator's president of the United States, first thing you'd want to do is have government takeover of healthcare.
[00:04:35]  Yes.
[00:04:36]  Because then you could use the levers of government to punish your enemies and help your friends.
[00:04:43]  The other thing you'd want to have is the mass confiscation of firearms.
[00:04:47]  I mean, throughout history, whether it's Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, or Mao, you don't want individuals owning...
[00:04:53]  I mean, so just from a policy level, The notion that Trump is somehow a dictator makes absolutely no sense.
[00:05:06]  I've got to get to the latest revelations with regard to the Biden family and of course the email server.
[00:05:15]  So I'll keep you on if that's okay with you.
[00:05:18]  I just want to remind everybody that Peter Schweizer's book, Profiles in Corruption, is compelling reading.

=== 65-35 Ratio Question (00:32) ===

[00:05:26]  And I read it.
[00:05:28]  We'll do maybe Kamala Harris another time.
[00:05:33]  But before the break, I have one very quick question.
[00:05:38]  What is the ratio of corruption on the left in politics to corruption on the right?
[00:05:46]  Hard question to answer.
[00:05:47]  I would say it's probably 65-35, but it takes different forms.
[00:05:53]  Okay, all right.