In short
The hosts discuss whether the U.S.-Iran “war” in the Persian Gulf is truly ending, focusing on Trump’s claim that Operation Epic Fury is over while the blockade, threats to resume strikes, and negotiations remain unresolved. They also argue Iran may be shifting to permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz via a new “Persian Gulf Strait Authority,” and they critique U.S. messaging about “defensive” operations and war powers.
Guests
No guests appear in the transcript. The episode features hosts Dave Smith and Robbie “Rob” the Fire Bernstein, plus referenced media clips/interviews with Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth.
Key claims
Trump says the blockade will end if Iran agrees to “what has been agreed to,” otherwise bombing resumes at higher intensity; Rubio claims the objectives of Epic Fury are achieved and the goal is reopening the straits “back to the way it was”; both argue operations are “defensive.” The hosts claim war aims (enrichment limits, regime change, stopping Hezbollah support) are not achieved, and that Rubio/Hegseth are trying to evade War Powers constraints.
Notable examples
Trump’s Truth Social post; Rubio press conference quotes about secondary sanctions and reopening Hormuz; Rubio/Hegseth statements about “no shooting unless we’re shot at first”; Al Jazeera reporting on Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority; questions to Hegseth about Trump’s unconditional surrender pledge and Israel’s stated intent not to cease combat.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOUpcoming Shows and Tour
0:06 to 0:28
The hosts discuss their upcoming comedy shows and tour dates.
“Did you know riders who switch and save with Progressive save nearly$200 per year?”
Upcoming Shows and Tour
1:30 to 1:58
The hosts discuss their upcoming comedy shows and tour dates.
“Here's the next few Bridgeport, Connecticut, Astoria, New York, uh, old Sabre, Connecticut, doing a show in Washington, DC bird at New York, Detroit, trying to line up a Pittsburgh or Cleveland.”
War Update: Trump's Announcement
1:58 to 3:10
Discussion on Donald Trump's announcement regarding the state of the war.
“which we've been focusing on, of course, for weeks now.”
Analyzing Trump's Tweets
3:10 to 4:39
The hosts analyze Trump's tweets and their implications for the war.
“I think it was less than, it was like 30 hours of Operation Freedom.”
Iran's Position and Negotiations
4:39 to 6:40
Discussion on Iran's willingness to negotiate and U.S. concessions.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter, Donald J.”
Concessions and War Goals
6:40 to 8:00
Debate over the concessions made by the U.S. and the original war goals.
“Or I guess you could claim they tore it up after the 12-day war because they were still in it with Russia and the Europeans.”
The New Status Quo in the Middle East
8:00 to 10:59
Exploration of the new dynamics in the Middle East following Trump's actions.
“heavy on the cautious here but donald trump is signaling that essentially right now that like he's not going to admit it but yeah we're making a lot of concessions here right the whole thing is concessions.”
The New Status Quo in the Middle East
13:13 to 14:22
Exploration of the new dynamics in the Middle East following Trump's actions.
“You know, when people think about health, most people think about supplements or diets or workouts, but they ignore the most important basic thing, and that is water.”
The Complexity of U.S.-Israel Relations
14:23 to 16:00
Discussing the U.S. relationship with Israel and implications for policy.
“Well, the crazy thing is that even when you say it requires us telling Israel to knock it off.”
Media Perceptions of Political Performance
16:01 to 17:45
Analyzing media coverage of Marco Rubio's recent press conference performance.
“I will say, by the way, it's being spun in the media that Marco Rubio did a phenomenal job in this press conference that he like took on.”
Show all 23 chapters
The Goal of War and Consequences
17:46 to 19:30
Exploring the misguided goals of war and their implications on strategy.
“That's what we have to get back to, and that's the goal here.”
War Powers and Governance
19:31 to 22:48
Debating the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution and presidential authority.
“On the war, if the fighting were to resume, because you've said that Operation Epic Fury is over, the president also said that the U.S.”
War Powers and Governance
23:02 to 24:05
Debating the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution and presidential authority.
“They have created an alternative to the broken health insurance model.”
Navigating War Powers Legislation
24:26 to 28:05
Examining the implications of war powers legislation in light of current conflicts.
“I mean, I wouldn't put that kind of lunacy past Donald Trump, but whatever's going on here, this is a cartoonish way of trying to get around the War Power Resolutions Act, which is also just ridiculous.”
Understanding War Powers and the Constitution
28:05 to 29:19
Explore the constitutional limitations on presidential war powers and the implications of the War Powers Act.
“clearly says, which is that only Congress can declare wars.”
The Flaws in Current War Justifications
29:20 to 31:34
Discuss the inconsistencies and failures in the justifications for current military actions.
“Now, this is not the position of me, not the position of the President of the United States now.”
Marco Rubio's Perspective on Defensive Operations
31:35 to 35:59
Analyze Marco Rubio's statements on the supposed defensive nature of military operations and the contradictions therein.
“which plays well into what you were just saying, Rob.”
Marco Rubio's Perspective on Defensive Operations
37:40 to 39:05
Analyze Marco Rubio's statements on the supposed defensive nature of military operations and the contradictions therein.
“Owning a handgun for self-defense comes with serious responsibility.”
The Hypothetical Threat of a Nuclear-Armed Iran
39:19 to 42:00
Discuss the fears surrounding a nuclear-armed Iran and the implications for U.S. foreign policy.
“And there was no indication that they were anywhere near getting a nuclear weapon.”
Trump's War Strategy and Capitulation
42:00 to 46:00
Analyzing Donald Trump's inconsistent war tactics and demands from Iran.
“Maybe they do it a little later or maybe just like when the mood is right.”
Israel's Role in the Conflict
46:00 to 51:14
Discussing Israel's ongoing military objectives and impact on U.S. policy.
“Like, I don't think if this, if this wraps up even now, I don't think you're going to see Donald Trump, like have a big bounce back in the polls or put his coalition back together.”
The Dynamics of U.S.-Israel Relations
52:22 to 56:00
Exploring the complex dynamics between U.S. interests and Israeli objectives.
“So your claim is that Israel is the puppet master and America is just the puppet.”
The Current State of the War and Trump's Position
56:00 to 1:01:22
Discussion on the dynamics of the war and Trump's potential pivot towards peace.
“It's asking a new question of at this moment, it looks like he's looking to end the war and Israel doesn't want that.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Support for this podcast comes from Progressive, America's number one motorcycle insurer. Did you know riders who switch and save with Progressive save nearly$200 per year? That's a whole new pair of riding gloves and more. Quote today. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of$197 by new customers surveyed who save with Progressive between October 2024 and September 2025. Potential savings will vary. Every day as a small business owner feels like solving a puzzle. One moment you're cruising along and the next, there's a shipping snag that has you scrambling.
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1:08What's up, everybody? What's up? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith. He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein. And we are on our way out tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, we're headed out to Phoenix, Arizona, doing shows there all weekend. One show tomorrow night and then two shows Friday, two shows Saturday. So really looking forward to this. Yep. And I got a lot of porches coming up. Here's the next few Bridgeport, Connecticut, Astoria, New York, uh, old Sabre, Connecticut, doing a show in Washington, DC bird at New York, Detroit, trying to line up a Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
1:41Hit me up. If you got those porches, finalist dates are Rob Bernstein, commie.com excited to be back on the road, crisscrossing the country and playing people's lawns. There you go. There you go. It's always a little bit better in porch season than it is out of porch season. All right. So let's get into the, latest with this war, which we've been focusing on, of course, for weeks now. So, Rob, it's over. The war is over. This is, we have, with the Donald Trump administration, the propaganda for this war has long since reached your fucking with me level. You know what I mean? It's just like, you're just fucking with me, right?
2:23So, Donald Trump announced the end of the war. Now, clearly, Rob, this will be Donald Trump will get credit for ending a war. But of course, for legal reasons, we can't refer to it as a war. So it's not a war, but Donald Trump gets credit for ending it, I'm sure. So Donald Trump, try to catch up here, Rob. So 24 hours ago, we were talking about Operation Freedom, which Donald Trump launched in the Persian Gulf. an escalation of sorts on the blockade of the blockade. It didn't work. I think they got two ships through and then two more got shot at and turned away. And then he just called the whole thing off.
3:09He just ended it. It was one day. I think it was less than, it was like 30 hours of Operation Freedom. Go ahead. I think you're missing a step of declaring victory of the Straits are now open because we've created this security corridor or some sort of blanket above everyone going through. So there was a full day of, we didn't need to negotiate with Iran because we figured out the straight problem. Yes, that's, that's right. That's right. We figured it out. It was a complete success and therefore we're calling it off right away. And so, so anyway, Donald Trump took to truth social. There was also a big Axios piece that just came out.
3:49And then there was a New York post piece that kind of contradicted it. But we got a bunch here from Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth both talked to the media today, which was quite something to watch. So I want to get to that in a second. But let's just read the Donald Trump tweet first. So Donald Trump posts on Truth Social this morning. Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, The already legendary epic fury will be at an end, and the highly effective blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be open to all, including Iran. If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be sadly at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.
4:41Thank you for your attention to this matter, Donald J. Trump. So in other words, it's over, and we won. We don't have a deal. And if they don't agree to this deal, we're going to hit them harder than ever before. So I'm just saying, Rob, from the outset, if I was to be a little bit of a skeptic, this sounds a lot like every single day of the war. It sounds a lot like what it's been the entire time. Well, it does sound like there's one big change, which is that America is finally willing to agree to Iranian enrichment. And so it sounds like we're are, in fact, going back to the JCPOA of I think it's three point four percent.
5:22And now that's looking like it might extend as far as 15 years. So essentially, it sounds like the Iranians actually got a concession from America. The big variables on the table now are whether or not I guess Iran is going to actually control the Hormuz. And then we've got another really big variable, which is Iran will not do this unless Israel stops taking action in Lebanon, which really brings us to the same exact point of are we willing to break up with Israel who's going wait what do you mean you're working out a deal we were getting ready for more targeted strikes in Iran and we were looking to gear up so well look as far as what you're saying about even Iran being willing to negotiate to go back down to JCPOA levels this is totally unconfirmed and like Iran has essentially said and and again keep in mind these are all indirect negotiations that are happening right now.
6:15Okay. So it's not, the Iranians are not talking to the Americans. The Iranians are talking to Pakistan. Pakistan's talking to the Americans. Iran has essentially been saying, which is what they've been saying for a while, that they're willing to do a nuclear agreement as they've always been willing to do. Like they're willing to entertain the idea of some type of JCPOA type deal, which they were not the ones, they were the ones who agreed to it and they were not the ones who tore it up. Or I guess you could claim they tore it up after the 12-day war because they were still in it with Russia and the Europeans.
6:44But it was America, obviously, and Donald Trump who did that. They've been saying they'll be willing to negotiate that after we figure out a ceasefire to this war, after we figure out negotiating like an end to this. So it's like it's not clear at all what could be gained in those future negotiations. But as of right now, Donald Trump is just floating out that they've made some other promises. Like this is what the tweet is saying, right, is that assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to. Now, this is obviously incredibly vague. Donald Trump, it's it's crazy in the middle of a war for him to not even lay out what the war goals are.
7:28Every war goal he's laid out so far has not been achieved, but he's saying they're going to give something. The Iranian government is coming out and saying we're not making major concessions like that. Now, to be clear, I'm pointing out that's a big U.S. concession though oh yes no question if look there's there's no way this isn't ending with major major concessions i want to be clear almost to get ahead of this though i am as ridiculous as this whole war has been this is not such a bad day like i am cautiously optimistic heavy heavy heavy on the cautious here but donald trump is signaling that essentially right now that like he's not going to admit it but yeah we're making a lot of concessions here right the whole thing is concessions.
8:10The whole thing is concessions. The starting point of this was that it's a regime change war and that he demanded unconditional total surrender. So once you start from there, whatever potential deal he's trying to work out now is a gigantic concession from there. But also, yes, it does not seem that any of the war goals are going to be created. Now, one of the things that's interesting here. Okay. Sorry, go ahead. Yeah. It just, it kind of sounds to me like Donald Trump won the war. Um, and now he's losing the mini war and having to grant too many concessions, but the actual war was already won just, uh, just to keep the story clear here.
8:49And it never was a war just in case anyone's interested. It also wasn't a war, but it's been a war for 47 years. There's a lot of moving pieces here. Okay. You got to, but so to be clear, so yesterday, this is after we stopped recording. Now, both of these things happened yesterday, Donald Trump, just to be clear, so Donald Trump launches this Operation Freedom in the Persian Gulf. Iran responds by attacking a bunch of ships and attacking the UAE. Donald Trump calls it quits. Like it's on paper here. It just looks like one more Donald Trump bluff, bluff called. He backs off. the same day that Donald Trump backs off, Iran created the Persian Gulf Strait Authority.
9:41There's a new body that Iran just erected, this government that doesn't exist with its, you know, navy that can't shoot at anything, military that can't do anything, but can also shoot at ships and can also bomb other countries. They just announced, this is from Al Jazeera's reporting, Iran's establishment of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority on Tuesday, a new body to regulate and organize the passage of vessels, whether military or commercial, seeks to permanently alter the status of the strait. So Iran seems to be setting up for we run the strait. Like, That's the new status quo. Again, if this is the case, Rob, and we're.
10:26It's Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, who's now also saying this war is over, are as of right now, they're they're not even saying we have a deal. They're saying we're hoping to put together a memo that can lead to negotiations that could potentially lead to a deal. So we're far from the deal. By the way, Rob, the New York Post spoke with Donald Trump and they asked him, should we be getting ready to send a reporter over to Islamabad to for negotiations? And he goes, no, no, it's it's just too far. He's been saying lately. No, it's just too much. We're not there yet. So he goes, we're not there yet, meaning we're not we're not there.
11:08They are meaning face to face negotiations. We're not even at negotiations yet, according to the president. So then, if we're at the end of Epic Fury, as they're claiming, at least as of right now, Rob, we haven't even begun face-to-face negotiations. We're not there yet. So we have Iran is setting up a new authority to be in control of the Strait of Hormuz. We have not gotten their enriched uranium. The regime has not fallen. The people have not taken over their government. They have not stopped supporting Hezbollah. In fact, as you pointed out, a guarantee of non-aggression for Hezbollah is on the table here.
11:44according to all parties including trump uh and so what can you say about this rob i mean how the hell do you spin this the literally the only spin that i've seen coming from from uh people defending this is that like well it's not a forever war see donald trump's getting out of it And you're like, look, that much isn't even clear yet. But OK, that's not how you judge. You know, you don't just judge things based off other catastrophes. And if it's not quite as long or bad, then it's good. This this whole thing has been in in many ways the dumbest of all the terror wars. Well, I guess the question now is going to be for everyone who supported this war and thought that Israel was our number one partner.
12:37are they going to actually be okay with Donald Trump applying pressure on Israel to have to show restraint in combating its neighbors, combating Lebanon, combating Iran, and to tell them, hey, the Iranians aren't that bad. I worked out a deal with them. Knock it off. The people that were really into this war, if it turns out not to be an endless war and not a regime change war, are they going to actually support Donald Trump's actions when it includes having to tell Israel to knock it off. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, and that is Cove Pure. You know, when people think about health, most people think about supplements or diets or workouts, but they ignore the most important basic thing, and that is water.
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14:02So this year, make a plan for your health that sticks with clean water. Right now, you can get$200 off for a limited time if you use my link, covepure.com slash problem. That's C-O-V-E-P-U-R-E dot com slash problem to get$200 off, but again, for a limited time only. All right, let's get back on the show. Well, the crazy thing is that even when you say it requires us telling Israel to knock it off. Like even when we say, which I've said the same thing, I'm sure we all have. But even when you claim that like this requires us to get Israeli restraint, it's such a, there's like a weird conceit in that argument because it's like, it doesn't even require us to do that.
14:47It's almost the only reason we think it requires us to get Israel to restrain itself is because it's a given that we're joined at the hip with Israel and we're going to always be doing it with them if they're ever doing it. Whereas like we could just say, oh, we're leaving. We're done. Israel, if you want to start this back up, you're on your own. That's all it takes. Israel can't do any of this shit without us. You know, like this is what's always so infuriating about it. It's like, even when you had like American neoconservative figures, like, you know, you know, Richard Pearl and David Worms or whoever, who are talking to Benjamin Netanyahu about whether or not we should do regime change in Iraq.
15:32And you're like, dude, Israel in the 1990s was not prepared to go overthrow the regime in Iraq. So who are we talking about here, guys? Oh, yeah, we're talking about the people who did end up overthrowing the regime in Iraq. Us. That's who we're talking about. We just have to stop doing it. There's no there's no like iron law of physics that says if we leave the region, we still have to fund an arm and protect Israel if they want to continue these aggressions. All right, let's get let's get into some of these clips here. I will say, by the way, it's being spun in the media that Marco Rubio did a phenomenal job in this press conference that he like took on.
16:14He sits in for the press secretary and takes on all these reporters. he was he was ridiculous he was just absolutely ridiculous the whole time the media I've seen a bunch of them say Marco Rubio really shines in press yeah all the same people who thought Beto O 'Rourke had all the charisma in the world that Michael Avenatti had the it factor you remember when they used to celebrate both both in 2020 and in 2024 but you remember in 2020 or I guess this would be in 2019 at the very beginning of the primary season you remember the media was like adoring Kamala Harris. And they were like, she's just got this magnetism and this charisma.
16:50She's got the it factor. And then like, just the American people saw her and everyone was like, no one, no one supports her. Like, it was like, we're, we're dividing up between Bernie, Elizabeth, Warren, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar. Nobody wants this. Maybe some people wanted Pete Buttigieg. No one wanted Kamala Harris. Anyway, they just lie. And then of course, in 24, she's a rock star. She's got the Obama-like energy, remember they tried to say for a few weeks there. Anyway, now they're saying that Marco Rubio did great. Let's take a look at some of Marco Rubio's press conference from today. The actor that enables Iran's sanctions evasion is going to face secondary sanctions exposure and a loss of access to the U.S.
17:31financial system. As President Trump has said, and the facts clearly bear out, the United States of America holds all the cards. There is no scenario here in which if they decide to join a ladder of escalation, they wind up getting the last say. But our preference is for these straits to be opened to the way they're supposed to be open, back to the way it was. Anyone can use it. No mines in the water. Nobody paying tolls. That's what we have to get back to, and that's the goal here. Every day the conflict continues, however. Our leverage on Iran will continue to increase, and their position will continue to weaken, especially as the blockade really begins.
18:07dude if you this is a pretty good rule of thumb in life rob if you ever do anything you ever do something and then after you do that thing you go okay the goal here is to get back to exactly what the state of things were before i did that thing then that was a bad idea this is foolproof dude this applies to any situation where you say the goal here is to get back to what we had before we launched this war so as he announces in his own words says epic fury is over as he announces the end of the war there is now only one war goal which is to get back to where we were before we had this war and it sounds like every dude who's ever gone into a casino and he's chasing getting back to you back to break even.
18:59Yeah. Yeah. Literally. Right. The goal is just to get back to where I was when I walked into this casino. Um, there were at least in that, in that example, maybe you had some fun, you know, I mean, I'm maybe Pete Hegseth had some fun in this one too, but you know, a lot of people died while he was having fun. Um, yeah, I, it's just too wild to even imagine that you could be up there saying the goal now is just that, is just the straight up hermos, not only something else. Let's go to this next Marco Rubio clip. On the war, if the fighting were to resume, because you've said that Operation Epic Fury is over, the president also said that the U.S.
19:42would bomb them off the face of the earth if they tried to go after U.S. ships. So if the fighting resumes, are you saying that it would resume under Project Freedom? And I ask as it relates to the war powers, Yeah, look, the operation at Big Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. I'm not going to, you know, we're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What the president would prefer is a deal. He would prefer to sit down, work out a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that touches on all the key topics that have to be addressed, a full opening of the straits so the world can get back to normal.
20:17And he preferred that that be negotiated through the route that Steve and Jared have been working and that all of us have been supporting. That's the route he prefers. That is so far not the route that Iran has chosen. And so the result has been that the United States has to do something about the fact that we're the only nation on earth that can do anything to open up a lane within the Straits of Hormuz to get product and to rescue these people that are trapped in there. And that's what we're undergoing now. What that may lead to in the future is speculative. I'm not going to speculate about what it would take or what it would do.
20:43But look, the message to Iran, these guys are facing, they are facing real catastrophic destruction to their economy, generational destruction to their economy generational destruction to the wealth of their country imposed on themselves by the by the actions that they're taking they should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going does the white house believe that these votes coming up in congress are can we just can we address what's been said so far i mean they're just i swear they're just they're fucking with me like i don't know what else to say we're going mc hammer on them is that that's gonna like he just unironically he was serious when he said it too.
21:18Like it was just in the middle of like, yo, dude, I'm going to hit you with this 1987 slang. Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Rob. What did you want to address first? I mean, the idea is so the war's over. We haven't left and the terms aren't agreed to. And I can't speculate about whether or not we're going to have to go back to fighting because we can't agree on these terms. And we still have something that we need to fight with them over because we can't have the straits closed. So it sounds to me like the war is not over. they literally are just announcing this is the end of the war without anything attached to it anything happened including leaving the war is over so what's different about today than yesterday nothing in their own words the issues are still the straight and the right okay you don't have an agreement you're saying we hope to get a memo that can serve as the structure for the agreement.
22:16But right now we can't. America is the only country that can open a lane in the Strait of Hormuz, which, again, completely contradicts what the president said a couple of weeks ago, which is that this is the hard parts done. Remember the hard parts done. This is the easy part. Everyone else should be doing this. Now, Marco Rubio says we're the only ones who can do this. Iran is setting up permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz. It seems the parties are no closer to an agreement and the threat is still, if they don't completely capitulate, we're going back to escalation. Where is, I mean, like, it's amazing that he can even say this to a room full of reporters.
22:57All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is CrowdHealth. CrowdHealth is a company I've been telling you guys about for years. I love the company. I really believe in what they're doing. They have created an alternative to the broken health insurance model. So instead of getting health insurance, consider CrowdHealth as an alternative to take care of your healthcare needs. For example, they just a few months ago introduced the Black Swan membership. This is kind of like the healthcare options we used to have before Obamacare came in and made it a bureaucratic nightmare and ruined all of it.
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24:15Remember, CrowdHealth is not insurance. Opt out. Take your power back. This is how we win. Visit joincrowdhealth.com and use the promo code POTP today. All right. Let's get back into the show. Anyway. there's also uh to me there's also a subtle admission because essentially they're saying that they're and the whole thing's lunacy if we're gonna have a war congress needs to declare it and the fact that uh whatever this war powers resolution act is i almost agree with the president that it's not constitutional because it almost seems to be an admission of the fact that the president uh can do action unless there's a resolution against it doesn't make sense so i actually kind of agree with donald trump that it isn't constitutional donald trump though seems to For very different reasons, though, Rob.
24:59Donald Trump seems to be acknowledging, though, that the War Powers Resolution does have an impact, and he's not violating it because he's not currently in a war because the war that he was engaged in is over, which would sound like that if he went back to war, you would actually need to have a War Powers Resolution that approved it, which is now why they're walking the line. And I guess they're going to pull some weasel move of, well, it's a new war, so there's a new clock, and maybe every 60 days they'll pull that move or they take one day off from strikes and go, no, that was the end of that war.
25:30And now we're in a new war. I mean, I wouldn't put that kind of lunacy past Donald Trump, but whatever's going on here, this is a cartoonish way of trying to get around the War Power Resolutions Act, which is also just ridiculous. It shouldn't exist. So the War Powers Act is debatably unconstitutional. In fact, Murray Rothbard wrote a lot about this when it was first passed, I believe in the 70s. And yeah, because essentially, right, the constitution's very clear that you need a declaration from Congress. Only Congress can declare war. And so now the president does have authority to thwart an invasion, to deal with an imminent attack without authorization from Congress, but that's it.
26:20And so the idea that it was ever constitutional to say you can just launch wars of aggression and wars of choice like that the president has the authority to do that. It clearly is not granted that authority in the Constitution. But what they are trying to claim here is that the the War Powers Act itself is unconstitutional. Now, look, they're saying it's unconstitutional because the president has the right to do this. And he's pointing out that it's consensus amongst all the presidents that they have the right to start wars without a declaration from Congress. And like that is true, but that doesn't matter.
26:55It's just an indictment of all of the presidents. Now, for Marco Rubio to sit here and say that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. OK, well, even if you feel that way, here's the thing. The goddamn executive branch doesn't get to determine that. If Congress writes a law and it's unconstitutional, if your beef is with unconstitutionality, well, then that is the Supreme Court's job to overturn that and to say that that's that that's overstepped. There's the president simply does not have the right to say that a law that's been passed and signed into law by a president just isn't the law anymore.
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27:31I mean, we'll still do it because it's kind of nice and we want to have a good relationship with Congress. But like we don't recognize that as actually being constitutionally binding that that. That is insane, an insane violation of the Constitution. The president doesn't have a right to do that. They have a right to just decide which laws he believes are really constitutional in their heart or not. But look, the idea, again, that anybody like, look, you may have different arguments about interpretations of the Constitution or interpretations of any old text. But the idea that the Constitution says that the president can just launch a war where there's clearly no imminent threat, there's clearly been no attack, that the president can just launch a war at his own discretion like this, clearly not what the Constitution very clearly says, which is that only Congress can declare wars.
28:24There was a reason why they made it that way. They didn't want to give war making power to the king because then you're a king. It doesn't really matter what other constraints they have on you. If you can just launch a war whenever you want to, you've got ultimate power in every situation. um okay let's go well i guess uh i guess the move now is you declare the war over you still engage in a blockade uh pretend that that's not a military activity and then i guess if iran escalates you go look there's an imminent threat and i don't need a wartime resolution act well it's funny you should say that let's go uh to this next clip uh we got more time in this one you want to play the rest of this one oh yeah sure sure look guys i love talking about this talk about the War Powers Act.
29:09Okay, I love it. I was hoping somebody would ask. All right, hold on, hold on. No, no, you don't let me answer. I gotta answer the question. Okay, and I love it. I'll tell you why I love it. Because even as a senator, I said something. The War Powers Act is unconstitutional, 100%. Now, this is not the position of me, not the position of the President of the United States now. This is the position of every single president that has occupied this position since the day that law passed. It's completely unconstitutional. Now, we comply with it in terms of like notification because we want to preserve good relations with Congress.
29:38Right. And we do that. But even as a senator, I would say that the War Powers Act is 100 percent unconstitutional. And look, I know some of you, you can take this off, honestly, because I already responded to this part. But that's yeah, essentially, he's just saying what the part that I was getting ahead of there. I've I can't remember which part I saw earlier and which part we played already on the show. But anyway, it's just an absolutely ridiculous argument. I mean, they are really, I don't know that I've ever quite seen anything like this war. In fact, I'll say I've never seen anything like this war where the, you know, even with previous, like, you know, I don't know, with the terror wars in Syria, they had a little They had a story that Assad was slaughtering his own people.
30:30You know, in Libya, they said he was about to go genocidal. And that's why we had to take him out. This war is just like every piece of propaganda has just fallen flat on its face. It is unbelievable. I've just never seen anything like this. Again, whatever you say about the Joe Biden war propaganda in Ukraine or the Israeli war propaganda in Gaza or the whatever. Iraq, Afghanistan, any of those. It wasn't like, yo, you are completely contradicting the thing you said yesterday. You weren't like, you know, they at least like when George W. Bush was was saying like when he was bragging about the elections in Iraq, at least he could point to the elections in Iraq.
31:16They were holding elections, you know, like it wasn't it wasn't this. It wasn't like you've achieved none of the war aims and created this new problem. And you're And you haven't solved the new problem. And you're going, this was an unbelievable success, dude. This was crazy. It's just, it's wild. All right, let's go to the next Marco Rubio clip, which plays well into what you were just saying, Rob. This president under President Trump, the United States will help our friends. We're going to stand up to rogue regimes like the one in Tehran. And we're going to be unashamed to use our power and our abilities to project military power in the service of our national interests above all else.
31:54Now, what's really important for you to report and for everyone to understand is this is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation. And what that means is very simple. There's no shooting unless we're shot at first. We're not attacking them. But if they're attacking us or they're attacking a ship, you need to respond to that. You're not going to let some fast boat come up on the ship and shoot it up. We're going to respond to it. And we've been successful at it. I don't know what the exact number is, but I know a number of those fast boats have now been targeted. and will continue to be if they pose a threat to our forces.
32:23We'll shoot down drones. We'll shoot down missiles. But it's defensive in nature. This is defensive. So if you hear stories about attacks and launching of firing back and forth, it's not back and forth. We are only responding if attacked first. This is a defensive operation. And that's what's occurring here.
32:41There you go, Rob. I guess if you just say it enough, then it's got to be true, right? This is a defense. Every time there's a shootout, it's aggression on their part. We're just there defensively after we launched a war of aggression, bombed the country thousands of times, killed thousands of people, including at least 168 little girls. And then we and then we put up an illegal naval blockade of the Persian Gulf. But it's defensive. So, you know, any any time you're reading in the newspaper, this is what you guys got to understand. anytime you're reading in the newspaper about all these people were killing just know just know that that was always defensive no matter what that's your starting point well uh from what i understand uh we're no longer in the war but when we were in the war uh which of course wasn't a war but when we were engaged in that and we were engaged in offensive strikes it was because iran was actually an imminent nuclear threat which means that that was defensive as well and so if anything i think the uh administration's taking a weaker strategy to being defensive because the best defense is a good offense and we've got the best equipment in the world and now we're just not doing everything we can to keep iran from going nuclear yeah man man they really this is quite a web they are trying to weave um okay let's let's go to the next clip this one i just couldn't i couldn't resist i posted about this on twitter earlier but this one is too i mean to me this summed up the whole thing This is essentially like a perfect microcosm of this war and this administration's take on it.
34:20Let's listen again. This is this, by the way, this clip, just to be clear, this was shared by the Department of State in the United States of America. They put this out like, boom, here's the official party line. Here is the Secretary of State National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio. And I love that it opens up with the now Lucy pose.
34:43everybody needs to think about it this way if iran had a nuclear weapon and they decided to close the straits and make our gas prices like nine dollars a gallon or eight dollars a gallon we wouldn't be able to do anything about it because they have a nuclear weapon and a nuclear armed iran could do whatever the hell they want with the straits and there's nothing anyone would be able to do about it um and that's one of the many reasons apart from like the massive loss of life in a nuclear strike why iran can never have a nuclear weapon everybody needs to think about it this way all right so just actually let's process that for a second let's all together okay if iran had a nuclear weapon now they don't but let's just say they did let's say iran did have a nuclear weapon well then mike my gosh rob they could close the strait of her moose and there'd be nothing we could do about it which i know some of you might hear that and go, that sounds an awful lot like what they're doing right now.
35:39That is what's happening. So you're saying that that's the additional threat is that if they had a nuclear weapon, then we'd be right where we are right now. Well, good thing they don't have a nuclear weapon. You know, you're claiming that Iran having a nuclear weapon would bring us to the point we are now. But the only thing in reality that brought us to the point we are now was launching this idiotic war against them. What can you say about this, Rob? Also, by the way, another weird admission in there that totally contradicts the official party line, or at least what the commander in chief has been saying, is that he goes, if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, it sends our gas prices up to$9 a gallon.
36:23I thought we didn't get our oil from the Strait of Hormuz. I thought this only affected other countries. Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. You guys just can't even keep your fucking lies together. So you can't even think that you're not contradicting the other one. And, you know, the media does a terrible job. You know, I watched most of this whole thing. They really do a terrible job of asking questions, a couple of decent questions, but really overall. But it is almost unfair to expect them to constantly be pointing out, like, but sir, that contradicts everything you just said five seconds ago. Anyway, go ahead.
36:57Well, I think, you know, this goes back to at the beginning of the war, if the intelligence was, hey, you're going to have a hard time engaging in warfare with them because they're going to close the Hermuz Strait. And so what people were pointing to is you can work out a nuclear deal with them, but don't try and take military action because you're going to end up with a closed strait. And now he's basically parroting exactly that back, which is, hey, the straits closing would be a really big problem and would jack up our oil prices. and it's like, yeah, that's why you guys never should have done this.
37:30Yeah, it's just, it really is unbelievable. Unbelievable that they, yeah. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Stopbox. Let's be real. Owning a handgun for self-defense comes with serious responsibility. You need it secure, but also accessible when it matters most. Too often, that means choosing between locking it away or leaving it out vulnerable to kids, guests, or intruders. That's the problem Stopbox USA set out to solve, and they nailed it with the Stopbox Pro. It's a 100 % mechanical, keyless, battery-free lockbox that gives you instant controlled access to your firearm.
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38:47It's hard to explain, but basically if you just practice opening it for a few minutes when you first get it, you're basically just going to get how you open this and you'll be able to get to it quickly. So you get all the benefits of having your firearms secured and also none of the costs of it not being easy to get to. And for a limited time, our listeners can get 10 % off when they head to stopboxusa.com and use the promo code problem. That's stopboxusa.com promo code problem for 10 % off your entire order. All right, let's get back into the show. Okay, so this is the big fear, by the way, of Iran, that they would close the Strait of Hormuz if they got a nuclear weapon, which is like, again, there's no indication that they were closing this strait short of us launching this war.
39:35And there was no indication that they were anywhere near getting a nuclear weapon. This is all just pure theoreticals that have no basis for why we should believe them to be true. uh now i i will say in the um the pete hegseth the the pete hegseth did get a couple good questions asked of him when it was his turn and so i thought those would that would both be worth playing now um so let's go let's go to the first pete hegseth uh clip that we have because this one was was pretty great don't obscure i think a central default that has occurred here and i would like you both to address it. On the first day of this conflict, President Trump addressed the Iranian people directly and said, when we're finished, take over your government.
40:25It'll be yours to take. And then on the seventh day of the conflict, in a Truth Social post, the President said, quote, there will be no deal with Iran except, all caps, exclamation mark, unconditional surrender. What happens to that pledge to the Iranians? And when did the president decide to capitulate on his demand for unconditional surrender? James, I wouldn't – you started out nicely, but you ended exactly where we knew you would end. The president hasn't capitulated on anything. He holds the cards. We remain – we maintain the upper hand, and Project Freedom only strengthens that hand. And so he will ensure that whatever deal is made or whatever end state is reached creates – ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon which is a number one and he's been focused on that and the deal and discussions are centered on that and what the Iranian people take advantage of after the fact is up to them and he's been very clear about that and maybe you do it now maybe it happens later but ultimately he he's also been clear we're not going to entangle this into some nation-building project our objectives are clear they're there they've been pursued from day one hopefully the Iranian people take advantage of that because
41:42That's just I mean, you just can't envy the position that Pete just I mean, talk about just like little kid with his pants down, like, you know, like just caught. You didn't do your homework. You didn't read the book and you got to give a book report on it. It's like, oh, and maybe, you know, the people take their governor. Maybe they do it a little later or maybe just like when the mood is right. And then and then everything works out and it's awesome. and that's what we got all the cards and like you know some good stuff will happen some more good stuff will happen and then we'll get everything we want except literally Donald Trump as I mentioned so did this reporter he did say a week into the war that there will be no deal except complete surrender from the Iranians and now we didn't get a complete surrender now did we and yet Donald Trump is saying he wants to make a deal.
42:40That is by definition, capitulation. And, you know, it is something because all of these guys, I remember particularly when Obama, if you remember, this was what the Israel lobby got Obama to commit to his red line, was that if Assad used chemical weapons, then he would go in and overthrow Bashar al-Assad. and then they all went great we heard what we needed to hear hey look he oh i'm still here oh that was on my end sorry uh they go oh look he's uh he he just did a gas attack or whatever and then obama didn't go in he got too much pushback at least initially he started funding covert uh rebels but uh regardless of that i remember every one of these hawks used to always say you can't have a president throw out a red line and then not follow through because of course they were trying to get him to launch the war but donald trump just throwing out red line after red line and then completely capitulating i guess isn't that doesn't hamper national security anymore that doesn't make for a weak commander-in-chief none of them have an ounce of of consistency or integrity on this issue.
43:56But yeah, it's just, I don't know. It's like, it's very clearly black and white. Donald Trump made all these threats, made all these demands, said this was what the war was about. He's getting none of that. And now he's saying he wants to make a deal. By the way, I want to be clear on this because as I did say this at the beginning and that I'm cautiously optimistic about all of this, this is good. This is a lot better than what it could have been. Now, by the way, I said emphasis on the caution because we still don't know and this still could go back to a hot war any second. But like, it's at least good that they're saying, yeah, end the goddamn war and then pretend some deal is coming.
44:38And then when we don't get any of that deal, make up some other excuse. Honestly, this is the best we can hope for at this point. But at the same time, let's be honest with ourselves. This was just a complete own, like even if we're able to get out of it right now, a complete own goal, just blew a ton of resources, got a bunch of people killed, lost a ton of standing in the world, reshuffled the deck entirely. Who knows what is going to come out of all of this, but none of it's positive for our country. And so anyways, just, it's good that they're moving in this direction, but for Pete, Pete Hegseth to have to go up there and pretend like the guy didn't demand unconditional surrender and get none of it is just stupid.
45:23Well, you know, even Pete Hegg said this thinking, but can't say it. Hey, Donald Trump says stupid shit all the time. And we can't apply this kind of standard to Donald Trump because and listen, the way that they're going to spin it is, well, that was Donald Trump's 5D chess and he was making the most extreme demands. But obviously he's always a dealmaker and he was looking for a deal. And it was because of his compassion for the Iranian people that he decided not to bomb them to oblivion and figured out a pathway peacefully to work with them that betters everybody. Oh, doesn't that feel nice?
45:53Yeah. Yeah. It's all they can. It's all they can say, man. I do not. I do not think it's going to fly though. I mean, I just do not think it's going to work. Like, I don't think if this, if this wraps up even now, I don't think you're going to see Donald Trump, like have a big bounce back in the polls or put his coalition back together. I mean, I think this is all really damaged beyond repair, frankly. But, you know, we will see. Again, it's still a big question. Forget even can he get a deal with Iran. Can he just get this ceasefire to hold? Can he get the war to not start back up? That is a big question.
46:28As you mentioned earlier, Rob, there is a whole nother nation involved in this with its own, you know, goals. And we saw last time after Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, of course, it was Israel who kept attacking southern Lebanon. And that kept the war going for a while. And then Donald Trump demanded that they stop. They didn't. They slowed down a little bit, but they didn't completely stop. And then they've already put out some statements about how they're not done with this war. Here we have, this was another good question asked to Pete Hegseth. Here we have this posed to the Secretary of War.
47:14Liam Cosgrove with Zero Hedge. In recent weeks, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of Mossad have stated their intent not to cease combat with the Iranians. Netanyahu put this on Twitter. Israel's head of Mossad said Israel's goals are not finished until the Iranian government collapses. And so they're referring to the government that President Trump has brokered a ceasefire with and is working on a lasting peace in the region with. And so that's something many Americans, especially American farmers, are hoping he does get to a lasting peace. And so if President Trump is successful in that and the Israelis are explicitly stating their intent to continue fighting at a later date, how can you ensure America doesn't get roped back into a war if that comes?
47:57And secondly, with Netanyahu comfortable tweeting something like that out, and also Netanyahu has continued bombing Lebanon despite President Trump explicitly telling it not to. I would say the question is based on the false premise that somehow President Trump is being pulled in by Prime Minister Netanyahu to any of these actions. That's where you're going. Just to be clear, President Trump has led at every step of this based on his view of American interest in America first. And we're grateful that Israelis have been very capable partners at many steps of this. And they may have some objectives at times that are slightly different than ours.
48:28But there's only one hand on the wheel ultimately directing this, whether it's Project Freedom or previously Operation Epic Fury, and it's President Trump. So we're grateful for their input, their insights, the existential nature of the threat they face from an Iranian bomb, the capabilities that they can bring to that. But ultimately, the coordination will happen with the leadership of President Trump. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. All right. Well, so there you have it, Rob. Rob, Israel isn't driving the wheel. You know, they might be in the passenger seat. They're very capable, you know, friends of ours.
49:03But we're the ones who are driving this thing. This is not Israel isn't influencing us to worry about their enemies. This is about America. This is why we must obsessively focus on Hamas and Hezbollah every day, Rob, because they are the threats to us. This has nothing to do. What do you mean? You think this has something to do with Israel and their enemies? No. Hezbollah is a huge problem for the United States, for the middle part of North America. They really have to worry about what militias have power in southern Lebanon. Obviously, just think about it on its face. It's just so ridiculous.
49:38But like, no, listen, Liam's question wasn't based on any premise. Liam's question was based on the premise of what's going on right now. Donald Trump told Israel to stop bombing southern Lebanon. They didn't. They kept it going. You know, Pete Hegseth here admits, we might have some, you know, we're in this war with them, but we may have some slightly different goals. Well, hold on. These aren't slightly different goals. These are diametrically opposed goals. Donald Trump's goal is to get out of this thing, clearly. That's what he wants at this point. He is, all you've seen between Rubio and Trump and all of this, they are desperately trying to get out of this.
50:18Like, please find us a way that we can save face, but end this thing. We can't go up the escalation ladder anymore. Every time they try, they're like, oh, even just now, right? They tried with this with escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranians start bombing the United Arab Emirates. And I'm like, God damn it. All right, we'll call that off. Donald Trump threatens bridge and power plant day. They go, OK, we're taking out desalination plants. He goes, oh, all right, damn it. Can't do that. We're looking for something. So these so Donald Trump wants to make a deal with this regime to get out of this war.
50:58And Israel wants to overthrow this regime. That's not just like, hey, sometimes we have some slightly different goals. This is like you're trying to save the patient and the other guy's trying to murder the patient. You can't work together on that. Then your goals are diametrically opposed. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Ultra, Ultra Pouches. Everybody is raving about them. Ultra Pouches are completely nicotine-free, caffeine-free. They're packed with nootropics that are designed for mental clarity and enhanced focus. So you get the same kick as a nicotine pouch without the side effects like the buzz, the addiction, the crash, the jitters.
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52:21All right, let's get back on the show. And so, yeah, look, again, Rob, as I've made this point a million times, I've made it when I was debating Josh Hammer and when we were responding to Coleman Hughes, where it said, look, they always start with the straw man and they go. So your claim is that Israel is the puppet master and America is just the puppet. And every single thing that Israel wants you to do it, they do. And then like they try to debunk that. And it's like, no, that's not exactly what people are saying. What people are saying is that there's this foreign country. There's this that country has a lobby within our country that is very powerful.
53:01There are different segments of the population that have very serious religious views that they have to be loyal to this foreign country, both Jews and evangelical Christians, as well as some others, I suppose. And then there are people for different, more secular, like, but also quasi-religious, you know, views of the Holocaust or World War II or whatever who feel we must be loyal to this foreign country. Like, that's what we're claiming. It's not that. So, again, my point is that there's a dynamic here. And we don't know exactly how this is going to work. And obviously there's institutions and individuals and a government and a lobby at play here that are going to try to push for these goals that are clearly contrary to the goals that the president has right now.
53:56And so who's going to win that influence fight? I'm not saying it's determined which one it's going to be, but like. If somebody is acting against the interest of the president and in this case, against the interest of our nation, why should we not call that out? Like that is the dynamic here, clearly. So, I mean, like, again, Rob, this is the Overton window on this has moved so much that this isn't even a conspiracy theory. This is the mainstream narrative at this point. This is like according to the New York Times and the Washington Post and the Jerusalem Post. Like this is what happened here.
54:34Benjamin Netanyahu pitched. He came and visited like seven times. And then he him and the Mossad chief convinced Donald Trump to launch this war and that they would they would be able to launch a decapitation strike and overthrow the regime quickly. They got him into this. It's his responsibility. He did it. But they persuaded him into this. now he's in and they want the regime gone because that's all they ever cared about um yeah there's a reason why this is a conference ender and that's because uh pete hexett doesn't actually answer the question which comes back to what i said at the beginning of the episode is are you finally going to break up with israel and so the question is if donald trump actually wants to walk away from the war but israel is saying no we're still pushing for regime change and we know that they've already undermined donald trump's efforts because uh when you know he did the ceasefire they continued to bomb uh um uh lebanon lebanon thank you kept thinking libyan i was like i know that's wrong uh they kept bombing uh already done with that yeah they kept bombing lebanon so then what's the plan for restraining israel or how are you gonna be in this peace agreement if the partner that you tend to acquiesce to uh will not engage in it are you finally gonna break up with israel and cut military spending so that they uh knock it off or are you guys just going to get back into warfare to continue to support them?
55:54It's a different question. It's not saying that the United States of America is run by Israel or that Donald Trump has only been engaging in these actions for Israel. It's asking a new question of at this moment, it looks like he's looking to end the war and Israel doesn't want that. So what's the plan? Yep. Now I will say, and of course, this is, this is not a new dynamic. This is something we've been talking about before. And again, all of this is very unclear right now because as as we said there's not really um substantively anything different about today than yesterday we're essentially in the the dynamics are all still there with the threats of escalation still there um and but again so we've talked about this before but if donald trump is really pivoting now best case scenario here is that donald trump really is pivoting to go guys, just give us like a memo that we can roughly agree to some starting points in negotiations, and we'll just stop this whole thing.
56:56We'll accept, you know, even that you have this new board that's running the Persian Gulf or whatever. We're just, we're getting out of this, and we're going to try our best to spin this as some type of victory. So this is the best case scenario. Okay. Let's say Donald Trump is actually doing that, which is still not clear, but he is pivoting toward that. I can guarantee you that Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro and Barry Weiss, like the entire Israel lobby, including all of their media personalities, Alan Dershowitz and all of these, they are going to be undermining President Trump at every turn. They are going to turn on him if he's going to leave this regime in power.
57:35And Donald Trump's not getting any of us back. He's not winning over. He's not re-winning over any of the people who just wanted no new wars. And, and, you know, that represents a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump, not saying it's everyone, but a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump wanted, they liked it when he said no new wars. Um, he's lost them. He's lost independence. He's lost young people. None of them are going to come back over him spinning this as a victory when there clearly is none. And then on top of that now, now that he's gone all in with, I hate Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly and Alex Jones and Candace Owens.
58:13I love Mark Levin. Now Mark Levin's going to turn on him. That's going to be the next phase. And as I've said before, man, does he deserve that? Oh, I mean, this is just, I'm sorry. The country doesn't deserve any of this, But that is not like out of out of a classic poem. You know what I mean? Like just a perfect like end to this story is that, yeah, you threw all of your supporters under the bus for the never Trumper neocon war hawks. And what did you think they were loyal to you? They're loyal to greater Israel. OK, they're they're loyal to Netanyahu's ambitions, not you. And his ambitions are that we overthrow this regime.
58:58And there's only a tiny bit of evidence for that, which is everything Benjamin Netanyahu's ever said for his entire adult life. So that's that's where we are now. And that's going to be I will say, man, that's going to be something that makes the political realities of reaching some grand deal a lot harder. That essentially the only hardcore Trump support now comes from guys like Mark Levin and their dying boomer audience. I don't mean that in a mean way. I just mean literally as you get older, you're dying. And that, you know, that's his base now. That's it. And so what does he do? He tries to make some deal with the Iranians.
59:40So you think you're going to make a deal that keeps this regime in place? That keeps, because look, also, Rob, you got to remember, right, to all of those people, the nuclear thing isn't actually the issue. That has nothing to do with it. Literally nothing to do with it. This is purely I mean, to the extent it has anything to do with that, they essentially they'll say it in their own words. In fact, Benjamin Netanyahu and and Ehud Barak both said to Goldberg at The Atlantic, they both told him that their big concern was that if Iran got nuclear weapons, we couldn't overthrow the regime. There wasn't about nuclear weapons for anything else other than like if they develop them, then we can't overthrow the regime.
1:00:23And then they were worried about like brain drain from Israel or something like that.
1:00:29But, you know, what is it about, Rob? Well, you know already it's about Hezbollah. It's about southern Lebanon. So if we don't get that, which clearly is not even on the table anymore. If you remember in the last round of negotiations before this war, that was one of the things they had snuck in there, too, was no more support for your proxies. No one's even talking like that anymore. They're only talking about the nuclear issue in the Strait of Hormuz at this point. So, OK, if this regime is left standing and they're still friends with Hezbollah, there's no way Mark Levin accepts that. There's no way Ben Shapiro accepts that.
1:01:07They're going to they're going to skewer Donald Trump over this. And we are going to enjoy watching that. I'm going to be rooting Mark Levin on. of course this is all these are all big ifs because by you know tomorrow we could be back to bombing them so big takeaway here's the state of the war it's the same as it was yesterday nothing's actually changed other than the posturing but that is actually a really good sign i'll leave the last word to you on that rob and then we will head over to phoenix arizona yeah i look forward to doing an episode on friday about back to war yeah yeah there you go all right guys listen comic dave smith.com uh for the ticket links and then we also got a bunch more stuff uh coming up so uh uh please uh come see us on the road we will be coming to a city near you sooner or later comic dave smith.com and then of course also you can go see rob uh on the summer porch tour which starts in spring uh these last few years and uh i'm sorry what's the the site for those rob uh rob bernstein comedy.com a lot of dates coming right up uh the recent ones coming up is Bridgeport, Connecticut, Astoria, old Saybrook, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Burdette, New York, Detroit, and then looking to add a Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
1:02:23So if you got a porch, hit me up and you know, come support the porch. All right. Elliot, thank you guys so much for listening. We'll catch you guys next time. Peace.
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From the publisher
Dave Smith brings you the latest in politics! On this episode of Part Of The Problem, Dave and Robbie "the fire" Bernstein discuss the changes in the conflict with Iran, the press conference where Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio discussed recent developments, and more.
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