The system failed and propaganda took it over
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Why could the next Republican president be even more dangerous than Trump?
Today, we're going to take a look beyond the daily Trump circus and check out the machinery being built underneath it and why this danger is not going to disappear when Donald Trump finally does. We also have the United States burning through missile stockpiles all for a war. Trump can't win. and can't even figure out how to end. As Tucker Carlson warns, this could become a nuclear conflict. Meanwhile, measles is surging as Fox News personalities pretend we don't know why. And the White House responds to mounting crises with bizarre propaganda declaring a golden age. nauseating. We're also going to look at what I got wrong about Trump and how the country became used to conduct that once would have ended a presidency and how a Republican who is competent could advance much of the same extreme agenda, war, propaganda, institutional failure.
We're going to look at all of these things today on the program.
The Republican plan for after Trump is a lot worse than you think. And I want to talk about this today because very few people are talking about this. There's this, I think, comforting idea to many that comes up whenever Donald Trump does something especially unhinged. And it's the following idea. If Republicans could just get rid of Trump and replace him with a normal Republican, everything would basically be fine. And there's this idea that if you could, you know, bring back someone like a John McCain or maybe if Mitt Romney decided, oh, I want to go back and run for something that you just put in someone like a McCain or Romney as president, everything basically would be OK because they are far more normal than Donald Trump.
Now, that would be better in some ways. If you put in a conventional Republican, it would be less chaotic. I presume that they would be less obsessed with revenge compared to Trump. They would be less likely to spend every day posting deranged conspiracy theories and AI slop. Fine. And I've even said I would rather go back to when we were arguing about the top tax rate rather than doing election denial, authoritarianism, threatening political opponents, threatening media that you don't like. Of course, I would rather be in that situation. But even that framing is deceptive. And I'll tell you why. All of that talk creates this imaginary Republican Party where they're basically like us, but they want a slightly lower tax rate and a little bit less government spending.
That doesn't exist. OK. And to the extent that I've suggested that accidentally, I'm sorry, because that is not what I mean to imply. Trump did not create the Republican agenda. Trump took the Republican agenda. And he made it louder, uglier and more personal. And if you were to replace Trump with a polished Republican with more discipline and fewer scandals, they might actually be more effective at putting more of this radical agenda into place. Start with elections, for example. The Republican project beyond Trump still includes insane gerrymandering. voter restrictions, partisan election administrators, a judiciary that protects Republican policies. And then Trump adds to that election denial. But the effort to lock in minority power predates Donald Trump significantly.
That doesn't go away when Trump leaves. OK, that's number one elections. Number two, federal government. Trump wants to fill agencies with people that are loyal to him. A normal Republican might talk about efficiency and accountability. The practical result is probably still agencies are weak. Career experts are pushed out and there's very little government oversight. Not that much of a difference from Donald Trump. Topic three, deregulation. Republicans say we've got to cut red tape. What it means is fewer people enforcing labor laws, fewer people enforcing environmental protections, fewer people enforcing civil rights rules and fewer consumer safeguards. Trump will announce it with a ridiculous stunt.
But a competent Republican like a Marco Rubio would do a lot of the same stuff. They would just do it quietly. We then get to the economic agenda.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why could the next Republican president be even more dangerous than Trump?
0:00–5:47
2
How has Trump’s Iran war depleted U.S. missile stockpiles and why does it matter?
5:47–16:20
3
Why didn’t scandals and losses stop Trump – how Republicans adapted around him
16:20–26:55
4
What does Tucker Carlson warn about the escalation of Trump’s Iran war?
26:55–37:27
5
How did Jessica Tarlov expose the rise in measles cases on Fox News?
37:27–47:52
6
What is the White House AI video praising Trump and why is it seen as propaganda?
47:52–55:19
7
Why is Trump under pressure to end the Iran war as missile supplies run low?
55:19–59:42
8
What does Kevin Hassett claim about the economy and how credible is his explanation?
59:42–1:03:07