Thursday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben - 6/11/2026

30:59What everyone's saying is, yeah, Iran's never going to agree to that. And I think I've said this to you before, which is I despise, absolutely despise this regime. I truly think that Trump will go down in history as, frankly, one of the most despicable humans to have ever lived. One of the biggest cancers on planet Earth in world history. And I'm not trying to be hyperbolic. I feel that way. I really am rooting for a deal because there has to be an exit.

31:46Ben Meiselas:There has to be a way out here. I've always been rooting for diplomacy. And despite the fact that I hate this guy and I hate everybody, the Hegs, these are the worst, scummiest humans. Okay. I'm still an American. I'm still a member of the world. I'm a world citizen. I'm an American citizen, right? And I just, I know that any longer, people are breaking, people are broken right now when it comes to affording anything. And this path is not, it has not been sustainable already. It's not sustainable every day that goes on. And I really, you know, and this is where I think when you want something to happen, sometimes your mind and your heart hopes that there's, all right, can there really just be a deal?

32:58Ben Meiselas:And then you can get sucked into all of the fraud that takes place. But it's like, if we can get the hell out of there, have the Strait of Hormuz opened again. if there's a reasonable deal that'll probably look like the JCPOA again, I think that we should be very critical about why the hell we got into this in the first place. And I think we really need to reevaluate, I think before, we need to really reevaluate and reflect on what the hell is happening with Israel. It's not, you know, there's, we have to, we have to all acknowledge the genocide taking place in Palestine right now. We have to all work to make sure that it is American policy to stop this genocide, and it should be disqualifying for anybody who doesn't call it a genocide and who doesn't work to end the genocide and who doesn't work for a Palestinian state.

34:05And we should not be supporting anybody in Israel ever if they don't share that goal. Just cut them off. Just cut it off. It's not a nuanced answer. It's not a, you know, the Smutrichs, the Ben Gavirs, the Netanyahu's. Frankly, even if you like Israel, what they've done to the country, especially in the world perception, is virtually irreparable, caused by their bloodlust and their desire for genocide. It's sick. and when we look at what's happening in Lebanon and Beirut,

34:53Ben Meiselas:you have to be a human being and you have to recognize that what also is happening in Gaza is happening there in Beirut and they're blowing up Tyre and Daya and these incredible areas in Lebanon and Beirut. Bombing any area would be terrible, let me be clear. blowing up all of these buildings. Hey, we're going after Hezbollah. Okay, you're going to have to blow up the whole building and the whole block and kill the medics and the little girls and the little children. No, it's not acceptable. And we got dragged into this war and other wars because of the behavior of Netanyahu and Israel. That's just the reality of the situation.

35:36Ben Meiselas:It's not really a debate. It's not really a debate. We know from our intelligence community, Iran did not pose an imminent threat, just enough. And I know Israel saying that we're not associated with this deal or we're not doing it. Well, then you know what? Then you got to stand firm against them. And you got to say, you're cut off. I mean, we should have said this a while ago. If you're going to inflame this region with more of this shit, with more of this genocide, you're cut off. You're done. You're done. I know Trump is very much beholden to Miriam Adelson, and to other large Israeli donors.

36:19I know Jared Kushner is part of moving. The whole Abraham Accord concept was pushed there. But this is not a workable arrangement for the United States. It's an understatement. And it's not a workable arrangement in the region.

36:42Ben Meiselas:And so this is where I say leaders have to lead. And if Netanyahu's plan is, well, we're going to not support this deal, which is what they're saying, and we're going to go out and we're going to start invading Lebanon and this and that, you got to stand up to that. At a minimum, at a minimum, you know, you've got to stand up to that, which is the reality. And so I'm very, I'm very kind of just contemplative about all of the, all of this. And I want us all to reflect, and I know you all know this, but why elections matter so much. Why putting incompetent, bankrupting losers into power who don't have – I talk a lot about moral character and leadership and empathy and values before I even get into politics.

37:53Ben Meiselas:I talk about those things because that to me is frankly more important than politics. Because the politics should fall into place when you show me what your moral character is. When you show me who you are, what values you represent, how you treat others. And by the way, part of that to me allows for redemption. I don't want to act like some holier-than-thou person. When there's valid, authentic redemption, I can understand that people who have done bad things in the past, if they truly change and acknowledge what they've done in the past. Truly, not as like, oh, yeah, I acknowledge it just as a political talking point.

38:52Ben Meiselas:I'm open to give second chances. Maybe not third chances, second chances. And not cancel people because they did this or that or the other. But I start with moral character. I start with intelligence, expertise, humility, humble, be humble. Be a good person. Then we can branch out in terms of politics and the moral rot, the corruption, the self-interest, the self-dealing, the idiocracies. You add all of these things together and it's like, here you are. Look, we'll talk, my family is from Mexico, my wife's side, so that's why I'm wearing the Mexico jersey right now. My family's there watching the Mexico game in the background.

39:49Ben Meiselas:but even the way the way this regime is dealing with the world cup heck russia and qatar treated teams fans foreign dignitaries countries athletes and their staff way better than the united states it's qatar and russia it's not a good look for us and it's not the right way to behave. We've got a lot to discuss when we come back from this quick break. We're going to take a short one. Hit subscribe. Help us get to 7 million subscribers. We appreciate you. I appreciate you hanging in there. You really do. I appreciate with all, like this is some PTSD level of triggering. And I know it's not an exaggeration to say that this stuff is psychologically torturing.

40:46Ben Meiselas:I know you're psychologically tortured by this. I know. It's not okay. But we'll stick through it together. We're almost through year two. We'll get through this. But we've got to build a better foundation for how we think about politics beyond Democrat, Republican, Independent. It's important that they align with us. And where a party does, we should support them over the other side. But we have to truly make sure we stand for things. Because if you don't stand for something, you fall for everything. And then you fall into these traps where you're pulled in directions by really bad demagogues and bad people.

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45:04Check it out. Midas Touch is brought to you by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Let's break this down. America started with rebellion against the king claiming divine authority. And the founders didn't replace that with religion. They wrote a secular constitution. No religious test, no state religion. Power comes from the people. That's the foundation. But right now there's a real push to blur that line, pushing religion into schools, into laws and into government itself. And you see it in moments like the America Prayers event on May 17th, where government starts aligning itself with religion in ways that should concern everyone.

45:41That's not moving forward. That's going backward. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is fighting back, protecting the First Amendment because it protects you. Visit ffrf.us slash Midas or text Midas to 511-511 to join or learn more. Go to ffrf.us slash Midas or text M-E-I-D-A-S to 511-511 to learn more or join. Because freedom of religion requires freedom from government-imposed belief. Text Midas to 511-511 today. Text fees may apply. Welcome back to Ben on Breaking News. I'm Ben Mycelis. This is some more breaking news. Hat tip to my brothers for those great ad reads. Those sponsors help the show continue to grow.

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46:52Ben Meiselas:All right. I was touching upon an important topic before the break, which is like leadership, qualities of leadership. And one of the things I like about being a law professor when I'm not doing this, I don't teach in the summer, is trying to teach college students about being a leader. This is not a political message. And how leaders should behave publicly, privately, how leaders should reflect organized thinking, predictable, reliable, well-studied well-researched expert-based where you don't have expertise surround yourself with experts when challenges arise take accountability stand up for what you believe in your values and your principles and if you're unable to do something without your values or principles being compromised, you leave.

48:02Or you do everything you can to force change. And if you can't do it and you're compromised morally based on your ability to lead and you can't rally others, You can't be perpetuating and allowing yourself to be compromised.

48:28And when you draw these bright lines and these boundaries, that makes you, I think, a more capable and competent leader who stands for things and who is able to get things done. Why am I even bringing this up now? I'm not trying to preach. Because I think we see, you know, there's a perfect example in this breaking news of how the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is behaving, right? For the past year and a half, two years, he's been rolling around at the Oval Office, it seemed, almost on a weekly basis. He's been sitting in at major world meetings next to prime ministers, presidents, and princes.

49:13Ben Meiselas:Gianni, Gianni. He loved it. He loved it. He loved it. He loved it. And now when he's seen FIFA being compromised by Trump's racism and ICE and border patrol and everything that Trump has done. I mean, you think about Omar Atan, Somali referee who's been, who had a visa, but because this top African referee is Somalian and Trump hates Somalian people. Trump wouldn't let the Somalian referee into the country. If you're the head of FIFA, you got to support that ref unconditionally, unconditionally. And you got to speak out and say, this is unacceptable. And then you got to draw a bright line and say, if he can't be here, then we're going to boycott you.

50:08Ben Meiselas:Or we're going to have no refs. Or we want solid, that could lose you money. You have to stand up for people. You know, and Omar Atan, he's been viewed as a hero now in Somalia, across Africa, and frankly, across the world. But you have that, you have the way Donald Trump has been treating lots of African fans and fans from Middle East countries and, you know, where he's denied visas just because of race, ethnicity, the way he didn't allow the Iranian team's officials, managers to be there. And I understand the United States is saying, look, we're in a war, we're in a war. Yeah, but even that, this is not how you treat someone.

51:01If you're a host country, this is not how you act. And if you're going to go to war with the rest of the world, don't be a host country in an event that's supposed to unify.

51:11Ben Meiselas:But now Gianni Infantino's, his new shtick, chill. Just chill. Just relax. Relax. We're not like a government. What can I do? I'm just a soccer league. I'm just a soccer league. Chill, chill, chill. Let me show you first Gianni Infantino. on the expulsion of Omar Artan. Here's what he has to say. Let's play this clip. We don't control everything. We try, we'll discuss, we'll speak, we'll see. Maybe sometimes it's good as well to just, you know, chill, relax. We work on everything. We try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.

52:03Believe me when I tell you, or don't believe me if you don't want, but we try always to find solutions. Always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces and I don't know what. We are a sports organization. We try to do our best with the means that we have to make as much as possible. And in this, and I conclude, we want to unite the world. And if I can ask you one thing, again, if you want to criticize me, criticize me. It's fine. It's okay. But promote the unity of the world.

52:52Ben Meiselas:You promote it. You're in the leadership position. The media is just reporting on what you are doing. If you promote unity and stand up for the Somalian referee and stand up for teams that have members of their country who have been banned under Donald Trump's racist policies, then the media will report on what you're doing. They're not arbitrarily calling this out just because. It's because you have defied the unifying principles of the game. If you look in Mexico, they're having a great time out there. They are greeting people and treating people lovely with no drama. That's what it should be in the US.

53:42Ben Meiselas:And you were linked at the hip with Trump. You gave him a fake peace prize to soothe his ego. And that made you feel good, right? I mean, you got a lot of media. You felt tough. He put you, when he announced some board of peace fake thing, you were seated, you were seating there in a board of peace after giving him a fake peace prize. You were cosplaying that you were like a prime minister or a president. And now when things are happening, I'm just a soccer league. These are the kings and that you sat next to the kings and the princes and the presidents. And now I'm just a soccer league. And there's so many people like that.

54:23Ben Meiselas:Like, think about the energy secretary, Chris Wright, right? He was cross-examined by Democratic Congresswoman Amelia Sykes. And he was asked some very basic questions. And to see a person like that who achieved a degree of success in their private life before

54:50success is symbolic. He's not like really, you know, lots of people would look at his life as an energy executive. That's not the measure of success. I hear you. I agree with you.

55:01Ben Meiselas:But you know what I'm trying to say. To see someone who is supposed to be a leader in their field, then become the energy secretary, and then behave like this. By the way, hat tip to Amelia Seitz, Democratic Congresswoman for her great cross exam. Let's just play a little bit of it. Let's play it. Thank you to the witness for being here. I will say your expertise is energy, and I would hope that you would not invoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King without adequate context, because, quite frankly, that is not your expertise. But since you want to talk about people unqualified and meritocracies.

55:42Let's talk about President Trump. Do you feel like your positions and policy statements are in line with President Trump? Yes, I hope so. Do you love inflation?

55:59I love ending Iran's ability to have a nuclear weapon. I think that's existential. Thank you. That was not my question. Do you love inflation? Yes or no? I love ending Iran's. That is not my question. Do you love inflation? Yes or no? No, I would prefer lower inflation. You prefer low inflation. Do you know that your boss, essentially President Trump, just stated that he loved inflation? He's an entertaining, hyperbolic guy who's done tremendous leadership and unbalanced his driving. So it sounds like you were unaware that President Trump just mentioned that he loved uninflation. And I certainly don't want to get you in trouble with your boss, but it sounds like you don't love inflation, but he does.

56:41But let me ask you this other question. Are you aware that the United States was taking millions of barrels of gasoline from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz? We are preventing the flow of Iranian oil through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the question that I just asked you. Were you aware that the United States has been taking millions of gallons of oil from the Strait of Hormuz? Just not sure taking is the right word. We're preventing the flow of it. Well, thank you. Mr. Chair, if I may, can I play some audio from some comments that President Trump made in the Oval Office? Okay. The numbers were great.

57:22I don't think we've heard this. I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say it now. Something you didn't know. Do you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran until right now. Mr. Secretary, it seems like you didn't know about this either. So why would the United States be taking out millions of barrels of oil from Iran? Well, it's essential that we prevent oil sales from generating revenue for Iran to spend, to develop nuclear weapons and oppressor people. Mr. Secretary, I understand this might be an uncomfortable line of questioning and you don't want to do it, but you are not answering my question.

58:02So I'm going to ask you again and I'm going to hope that you will answer it honestly. Did you know that the United States was taking millions of gallons of oil from Iran? I'm unaware. So do you think that the president is lying based on the audio that you just heard? And I will send it to you in case you say you didn't hear it. Oh, no, I do not think the president's lying. I think the president's talking casually about our efforts to stop the flow of Iranian oil. Do you think that war is casual? Do you think that it is appropriate to talk casually about war? I think you talk to all different audiences and you talk in all different styles.

58:37But I don't I don't have any serious objection to what he said. You don't have any serious objection for someone talking about war casually. Do you have that objection? There are 13 service people who are dead. There are hundreds more that are injured. But we should be talking about war casually. He treats this war deadly serious, and he has worked tirelessly on this war. Mr. Secretary, you just said that he was speaking casually about this. He speaks 20 hours a day. He speaks 20 hours a day in different styles for different audiences. He is the president of the United States of America. He is the commander of chief who is responsible for 13 service members who have died and hundreds more who are injured.

59:17So you mean to say to me, testifying in front of this committee in the United States House of Representatives, that it is appropriate for the commander of chief to talk about war casually. He speaks candidly, openly and honestly. I think all of America benefits from that. Well, I appreciate your attempt to protect your boss and to keep your job, but let me be very clear with you. It is not appropriate to talk about war casually. He is clearly keeping you in the dark about what he is doing in Iran. And now you are sitting here in this committee, unaware that the president just made an announcement about millions of barrels that they have taken from Iran and stated in that very, very clearly.

1:00:00people don't know, but now we get to know him. But unfortunately, he sent you here and you didn't know it. What is your response to that? I'm very proud to serve with President Trump. He's been tremendous leadership in a time of great stress right now. I'm proud of what he's doing, proud to be part of the team. Well, I would not be proud if my boss sent me up Schitt's Creek and left me here in a committee without adequate information and speaking casually about war. That is a horrible place to be. And I'm so sorry that you have to do that. That is beneath your honor.

1:00:29Ben Meiselas:in a woman's time is retired. I'd also... Yeah, that was surgical right there. And by the way, all Democrats should watch that. All politicians should watch that when they're questioning any witness. We don't want to hear you as the politician speak and give speeches. I'm not even, just so you know, from my editorial perspective, if you think that that's going to help you get press, it isn't. It's going to do the opposite. I don't need to hear you give a speech unless you're a committee ranking member and you give the opening speech. But when you're questioning the witness, question, question, question, reclaim my time, question, question, reclaim my time, question.

1:01:13Like that was every Democrat or any should study that because that's exactly how you need to cross-examine a witness. It's very, very impressive. And then you heard his responses.

1:01:26Ben Meiselas:He's an entertaining, hyperbolic guy. He talks casually. He talks 20 hours a day. What's up with the 20 hours? He doesn't talk 20 hours a day. He sleeps in public. He doesn't talk 20 hours a day. When he talks, he talks nonsense and gibberish, and his sentences are incoherent. They don't form sentence structures. and he's a maniac and he contradicts himself within the same. I'm going to blow him up. I'm going to blow them. I'm going to blow the shit out of them or whatever he says. I'm going to make a deal. I'm going to make a deal. I'm not looking for a hyperbolic, entertaining, casually talking president.

1:02:09Ben Meiselas:I'm looking for a serious individual, sober, serious, circumspect. And I think they hit on something even broader, which is one of the reasons why we got here today in general, which is this going back to values and principles where so much of the media turned into this reality shit show over the past 20 to 30 years. Is it shocking that some reality TV shit show person is able to captivate and entertain the media as he talks casually? That's why we created a different type of media here at the Midas Touch Network that calls out the behavior and says that's not how we should be reporting on things.

1:03:12And in fact, our thesis here as well is by us not chasing that stuff and by calling it out and by focusing on what we do here.

1:03:26Ben Meiselas:There's actually a bigger audience over here as well because most of you, most of the people out there don't like that stuff. Just corporate news controlled the tubes. They controlled the pipes. And they got arrogant. And they thought, well, we control it. So that's why people want to hear. People didn't really have another choice. And that's why when we create a new structure, it's not do the gamification stuff. And this person, that person. I don't know. You may like this or not like this about the network. I don't like even covering like the race and like a primary between. I don't like personalities.

1:04:06Ben Meiselas:This personality, that person. It just doesn't appeal to me as much. What appeals to me is the overriding values and principles of being a good person and caring for others and focusing on uplifting people and calling out corruption across the world and exposing authoritarianism. And ultimately, where that aligns with politicians, they can join us on our turf, but I don't want to chase them on their turf. That just doesn't fascinate me. any politician or most politicians will mostly let you down eventually. And so I don't want to get too invested in this personality or that person. This just doesn't excite me as much.

1:04:51Ben Meiselas:And then when you talk about this reality shit show, Trumpian, whatever, I mean, just think about this. You had Hegseth yesterday in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, doing PT with members of the military there. You're the defense secretary. And he's like staging some weird, it looks like some like straight to DVD movie when I used to watch DVDs or straight to Blockbuster. What was the name of the video store in my town? Like movie town, was it called movie town? It was called movie town. They had a little popcorn that you'd go and you'd have a little popcorn in a movie town. I don't know why I'm thinking about that.

1:05:41Ben Meiselas:Straight to DVD movie, straight to tape. Look at Hegseth, Aquantanamo Bay. This is what he said yesterday. Iran would be unwise, movie land. It's movie land. Iran would be unwise to challenge us further. Here, let's watch this. Out in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, ensuring Iran doesn't target shipping. And again, we're prepared there to do what needs to be done. Right now, there are defensive stripes to ensure we protect our people. Again, Iran would be unwise to challenge us further. President Trump is seeking a deal, but not just a deal, a great deal, on behalf of the American people so that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.

1:06:23Ben Meiselas:What the hell is that? I mean, I watch this stuff and I'm like, what the? the hell is that? I mean, it's like literally this guy's a clown. Like it's like a clown. Hoorah. Okay. Ron would be unwise. Look at us. Look at us boys. Look at us boys. Look at us go. Boys, we're going to do some push up boys. Yeah. Yeah. We're just a bunch of dudes, right? Yeah. Okay. You take this to Ron. We're just a bunch of dudes being dudes, man. I'm like, who the F are these freaking losers? These goblins and goons who are running the F are these freaking people? And then, you know, and so going back to my leadership speech, you know, then you've got Rubio and Rubio is like, Donald Trump makes good on his threats and he's threatened to leave the UFC claw in the White House.

1:07:28He'll make good on his throat. Watch what Rubio says. Let's play it. I was there late last night. They were testing the pyrotechnics. I'm not going to give away anything other to say they work. It was good. Secret Service wasn't as excited by the explosions, but everybody else and what they built out there was phenomenal. We'll never see it again. Although the president's threatening to leave it permanently. you heard that, right? He's threatening to leave the general. I just don't know. Maybe, you know, we'll just host weekly fights between people in politics, you know, and settle our scores that way.

1:07:59But all kidding aside, Sunday is an unbelievable, historic, I think never to be repeated until next year experience for the American people to be able to see a sport. This is where I want to close. And I made this point earlier. We were doing a little interview about it. The White House is the people's house. It belongs to the people of the United States. The American 250 celebration belongs to the people of the United States. Except it's not an America 250 celebration. It's not even a Freedom 250 celebration. It's a UFC fight. Parent company Donald Trump has an investment in where Americans would be forced to pay$9 a month to get Paramount Plus if they want to watch it.

1:08:42There's crypto advertisements and beverage advertisements all over the White House right now. And when I was watching that and I saw Rubio, he's like, this is really going to be a historic experience. This is where I want to close. This is going to be a historic experience. This is going to be a historic experience.

1:09:09Ben Meiselas:You don't think if Obama wanted to have a basketball game outside the White House, he could have done it. If Biden wanted to do a boxing fight outside, you don't think he could have done it. It is degrading to the people's house to see the commercial exploitation of some UFC fight politicized violent propaganda outside of the White House with a gigantic claw occupying the people's house that taxpayers are paying for this. Look, I've never really been a big fan of UFC. I have friends who are fans of UFC. I don't enjoy boxing. I don't want the UFC just doesn't do it for me. I don't, you know, there's, there's too many of them.

1:09:53There's like UFC 373, then 374, 375. And I don't, I don't, I don't, it doesn't give me enjoyment watching it. I don't, I don't, the knockouts happen sometimes so quickly that I grapple a lot.

1:10:06Ben Meiselas:I don't, it just, it's not my thing. So, but if you like it, you like it. It's all good. I prefer like a good boxing match if we're going over there, not like basketball and other like watching FIFA, you know, But it doesn't need to happen at the White House. The taxpayers don't need to pay for it. It's not a historic experience. It's weird.

1:10:28And it is, you know, I saw I was a Congress member who's like, what are we going to do, cockfights next?

1:10:36Ben Meiselas:Are we doing cockfights at the White House? What are we doing here? You know, it's not historic. And all the people who were like there and like laughing and normalizing this, until we do it next year. Ha, ha, ha, ha. and then I don't like the pyrotechnics. I'm not going to give it away. You know, what's a historic experience. Let me, I'll tell you what would be a historic experience. If you truly brought peace to the Middle East, that would be historic experience. If you stopped the genocide in Gaza, that would be actually a historic experience. If you stopped the war from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that would be a historic experience.

1:11:14If you were able to create an economy that worked for most of Americans, all of Americans. That would be historic. If you built housing for Americans and people could afford homes again, that would be historic. If you reduced inflation, that would be a historic experience. If you put safeguards on AI and you found ways to not allow the proliferation of these data centers, also recognizing a need for innovation in our country, but protected communities from the exploitation by data centers. That would be a historic experience. If you could achieve, this is, when I think about electing people to be public servants and what I want them to deliver, I don't think, man, you know what I really, really want.

1:12:04What I'm really looking for is a renovation of the Rose Garden into a private club for right-wing oligarchs. And then ideally, we could have a UFC fight with a gigantic claw right there on the leader's birthday that will be put on a streaming service that I have to pay for. and that's really, that's what I look for. We have to take a step back before even getting into this political party

1:12:36Ben Meiselas:or that political party or this or that. And we have to reflect on basic humanity and our existence and what we're here. I know we're so busy. There's so much things going on. we're bombarded with so much information, social media, this thing and that thing. And there's everywhere you look and your iPhones and your Sam this and that and AI revolution and everywhere you look and there's people angry. There's so much that sometimes a demagogue arises and says, I have the fix, I have this, I have that. And we have to go back and recognize that we need to safeguard that. And where we should enjoy entertainment, where we should enjoy sport, where we should enjoy fun and all of these things.

1:13:40Ben Meiselas:And by the way, whether you're religious or not religious, your views and beliefs, we can have those things outside of government. Within government, I want public servants, public for the people, servants. You serve. You take an oath to defend and protect and preserve. and you keep that oath. And I don't need your personal drama, your personal emotions,

1:14:24Ben Meiselas:your anger and weirdness. I don't need that in my face. I want a leader who is able to communicate transparently about the challenges we face, even if they're bad, even if we're heading in a bad direction, even if there are job losses and rising inflation. I want someone to explain to me what the real situation is and how we get out of it and what we're doing to fight it. That's life. Life is. Problems emerge. That's why we have leaders. The leaders aren't supposed to compound the problems. They're supposed to be problem solvers. And I'm not looking to be, I guess in the words of Energy Secretary Wright, entertained by hyperbolic demagogues who speak casually about war.

1:15:19Ben Meiselas:I don't want that. I want people who talk soberly and seriously about the current conditions and who get us out. May that be boring? Yeah. May that be not entertaining? Yeah. May that be challenging and cause debates? Yeah. Well, that may require compromise. Yeah. But that's what I want in the government. I want a bureaucracy that functions. Where there's waste, fraud, and abuse, let's figure it out. Let's find it. All good, but let's not use it as a pretext to cut screw worm detection, Ebola detection, cut critical staff that you then realize, oopsies, seems like we actually need them. No, I want a functioning bureaucracy, functioning agencies, regulations against overreach.

1:16:29Ben Meiselas:Doesn't mean we need excessive regulations, but there's a reason why we have environmental regulations, security law regulations. There's a reason we have these things. And then at the very top, I want a leader who empathizes with the experience of the people. And anybody who wants to step into the arena should have those qualities. And we, the people, should make sure that that's what we're looking for. Not this cosplay, hyperbolic, casual talking, made for reality TV, dystopian nightmare. I'll leave you with that. This has been Ben on Breaking News. Watch The Brothers Show tonight, 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific, and subscribe.

1:17:27Thanks for watching.

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