WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.700 Welcome to the deep dive if the last what 48 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:06.360 hours felt like drinking from a fire hose Well 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:09.099 fire hose is putting it like a fire hose spraying 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:13.439 political drama policy shifts and a lot of just 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.219 frankly head -scratching stunts You are not alone. 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:19.820 Absolutely not We've been immersed in our stack 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:22.260 of sources, pulling together media analysis, 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.500 some internal critiques from inside Congress, 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:27.219 and even a few off -the -record notes from operatives. 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:30.960 And a picture is definitely emerging. It is. 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:34.140 And our mission today is to treat this rapid 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:36.820 succession of events, not as isolated headlines, 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.280 but as pieces of a single kind of frantic strategic 00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:42.659 puzzle. Right. We need to analyze the intent 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.560 behind the big national address, the executive 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.420 actions that followed, and all the political 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:49.130 spectacle to really understand how this administration 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:51.369 is trying to shift the narrative. And maybe distract 00:00:51.369 --> 00:00:53.070 from some difficult issues. And how it's all 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:55.829 impacting the the already complicated dance of 00:00:55.829 --> 00:00:58.250 congressional gridlock. Okay let's unpack this 00:00:58.250 --> 00:01:01.210 dizzying timeline because the pace is just intense. 00:01:01.789 --> 00:01:03.590 We're gonna start by breaking down the reaction 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:06.189 to the national address. The internal skepticism 00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:09.099 too. Yes. Then we'll move into the bizarre world 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:11.840 of political stunts, specifically the financial 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.739 and cultural missteps, before diving into the 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:17.500 immediate, tangible policy fallout that derailed 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:20.780 a massive spending bill. So starting with the 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:23.340 big speech delivered earlier this week, the general 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:25.459 consensus from across the media, I'm talking 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:29.480 CNN, the New York Times, The Hill, it was surprisingly 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.519 unified. It really was. Almost universally described 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.099 as a, quote, characteristic factual mess. And, 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:38.560 well, Little more than a standard campaign speech. 00:01:38.739 --> 00:01:40.659 Yeah, the unity in the outside critique is, I 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:42.459 think, one of the most interesting data points 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:45.780 we have. The common themes were a combative tone. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.560 Directed at the media, as usual. Right. And a 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.599 highly selective and often pretty misleading 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:53.260 use of statistics to back up his claims. We saw 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:55.439 all the familiar stuff. Tariffs are the answer 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.700 to everything. And every affordability issue 00:01:57.700 --> 00:01:59.900 is the opposition's fault. I noticed the New 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:02.299 York Times specifically called out a major political 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:04.799 risk here, didn't they? They did. The risk of 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:08.180 arguing with voters about how they feel. Exactly. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:10.020 I mean when people are paying high prices at 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:12.719 the grocery store, just telling them the economy 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:15.800 is fantastic doesn't, you know, it doesn't change 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:18.659 their reality. It risks making you seem completely 00:02:18.659 --> 00:02:21.669 out of touch. Totally. This speech was clearly 00:02:21.669 --> 00:02:24.270 aimed at reinforcing the base, not expanding 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:26.610 it. And we can kind of infer that from a really 00:02:26.610 --> 00:02:28.509 telling piece of evidence we found. The friendly 00:02:28.509 --> 00:02:30.449 outlets. Yeah, traditional friendly outlets. 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:34.210 Fox, Breitbart, they didn't run their usual takeaways 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:36.830 pieces right after the address. In that world, 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:39.430 silence is often the loudest critique. It is. 00:02:39.550 --> 00:02:41.430 They only run those pieces when they can pull 00:02:41.430 --> 00:02:45.409 out a list of genuinely positive new policy moves. 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:48.590 Their silence suggests the speech just, well, 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:50.569 I didn't deliver the goods they needed. And that 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:53.229 lack of enthusiasm is backed up by some truly 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:56.169 harsh internal sources. You know, aides might 00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:58.509 have offered some praise, but outside that bubble, 00:02:58.610 --> 00:03:00.610 the feedback was scathing. We have those off 00:03:00.610 --> 00:03:02.949 the record quotes. Yes, from seasoned Republican 00:03:02.949 --> 00:03:06.169 operatives just lament lamenting that the, quote, 00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:09.750 execution was abysmal. And the pollster, with 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:11.849 errors, he went on the record. What did he say? 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:14.590 I don't think it will persuade anyone who wasn't 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:17.590 already persuaded. Wow. It was a very predictable 00:03:17.590 --> 00:03:20.590 script. So predictable, in fact, that one of 00:03:20.590 --> 00:03:24.789 our listeners, JL in Los Angeles, sent us a Trump 00:03:24.789 --> 00:03:27.909 addresses the nation bingo card. I saw that. 00:03:28.009 --> 00:03:31.349 It had squares like blames Biden says economy 00:03:31.349 --> 00:03:33.949 will boom. And of course, fake news media. You 00:03:33.949 --> 00:03:35.590 could have definitely played along. You could 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:38.650 have won. But there was one element that sounded 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:41.550 genuinely new. that was meant to make a splash. 00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:43.930 That was the warrior dividends. Right. Those 00:03:43.930 --> 00:03:47.449 substantial checks promised to active duty soldiers 00:03:47.449 --> 00:03:50.750 initially implied they'd be paid for by tariff 00:03:50.750 --> 00:03:52.610 revenue. Which is where our deep dive really 00:03:52.610 --> 00:03:55.110 matters because the reality is a lot more complicated 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:57.849 than that headline. It sounded like new found 00:03:57.849 --> 00:04:00.509 money for the troops. But when you look at the 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:03.210 funding source it was not new tariff revenue 00:04:03.210 --> 00:04:05.400 at all. Wait, really? So where did the money 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:08.560 come from, then? It was based on a $2 .9 billion 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:10.979 provision that was already tucked inside the 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:13.500 Build Back Better, the BBB bill. The BBB bill. 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:16.759 Yep. That money was originally allocated to give 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:19.259 soldiers monthly housing assistance spread out 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:22.459 over two years. So this wasn't a major new investment. 00:04:22.620 --> 00:04:25.699 It was just repackaged existing funds. Precisely. 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.379 The administration just accelerated the payments, 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.319 condensing two years of housing assistance into 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:37.230 a single cutesy $1 ,776 check. The patriotic 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.509 number reference, of course. Of course. This 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:41.750 is high -risk political theater. The soldiers 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:44.129 were going to get this money anyway. The long 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:47.050 -term gain is minimal, but the risk is huge. 00:04:47.490 --> 00:04:50.430 It looks like desperation, and it risks soldiers 00:04:50.430 --> 00:04:52.209 feeling like they're being used as political 00:04:52.209 --> 00:04:54.430 pawns. Especially when they realize the credit 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:56.670 is being claimed for money that was already theirs. 00:04:56.810 --> 00:04:59.050 Exactly. It's an unsustainable funding trick 00:04:59.050 --> 00:05:01.600 designed for a single news cycle. And that brings 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.899 us right to the next series of actions. I mean, 00:05:04.100 --> 00:05:06.300 the speech itself was hastily announced, delivered 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:08.360 against the backdrop of a major football game. 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:12.240 It just screams. Panic. Yeah, an administration 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.220 trying to generate news and burnish popularity 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:18.220 to distract from other problems. Like the health 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:21.639 care gridlock. And this frantic attempt to distract 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.600 leads us directly into maybe the most bizarre 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:30.019 piece of political theater. The Freedom 250 celebration. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:32.839 Yes, America's 250th birthday next year. And 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:35.000 the centerpiece they announced was the Patriot 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.259 Games. The Patriot Games. The four -day athletic 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:39.639 competition, right. One young man, one young 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.060 woman from each state and territory. And the 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:46.180 key quote everyone jumped on was the reassurance. 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:48.399 The very specific reassurance. I promise there 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.980 will be no men playing in women's sports. Yes, 00:05:51.339 --> 00:05:53.500 that quote clearly signals who this was for. 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:55.980 But let's look at the critiques that immediately 00:05:55.980 --> 00:05:58.339 popped up in our sources. First, there's the 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:00.660 militarization angle. Calling a high school track 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:03.680 meet the Patriot games is just jarring. It is. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.860 And then there are the organizational flaws, 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.560 which were immediate and severe. Logistically, 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:11.399 trying to accommodate over 50 people of each 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:14.920 gender in just four days is a nightmare. But 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.060 the selection method is the real problem. Because 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:20.209 it's one boy and one girl per state. Right. You 00:06:20.209 --> 00:06:22.910 inherently disadvantage smaller states. As the 00:06:22.910 --> 00:06:25.110 analysis pointed out, you're giving huge states 00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:28.069 like California and Texas the same representation 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:31.990 as Alaska or Wyoming. It's the opposite of how 00:06:31.990 --> 00:06:34.110 almost every national competition or, you know, 00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:36.069 the Senate is structured. It makes the whole 00:06:36.069 --> 00:06:37.990 thing feel arbitrary and poorly thought out. 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:41.910 It does. But the truly crushing blow, the one 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:44.509 that just took over social media instantly, was 00:06:44.509 --> 00:06:47.589 the massive pop culture cluelessness. The Hunger 00:06:47.589 --> 00:06:49.870 Games. The moment Patriot Games was uttered, 00:06:50.329 --> 00:06:53.089 the internet just exploded with references to 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:55.310 the Hunger Games. Which is just a failure of 00:06:55.310 --> 00:06:58.199 basic media literacy. For anyone unfamiliar, 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:00.920 The Hunger Games is a dystopian series about 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.199 a fascist government. The Capitol. That uses 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.819 an athletic competition where one boy and one 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:08.220 girl are chosen from each district to distract 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:10.439 the impoverished masses from their oppressions. 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:12.579 And story ends with the violent collapse of that 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:14.939 government. Exactly. So we saw governors like 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:17.939 J .B. Pritzker and Gavin Newsom posting mocking 00:07:17.939 --> 00:07:20.639 memes and screenshots immediately. You can't 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:22.839 buy that kind of self -sabotage, can you? You 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:25.560 really can't. The political implication is just 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:28.120 devastating. because there are only two possibilities 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:30.480 here. Either they're completely clueless and 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.540 didn't know the series, which makes them look 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:36.060 out of touch, or they're utterly stupid because 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:39.060 they knew the series but completely failed to 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.980 grasp the central point that the games are a 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:44.740 tool of fascist control. Either way, the attempt 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:48.480 to burnish popularity backfires spectacularly. 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:50.839 Speaking of looking out of touch, let's shift 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:53.959 to actions that are clearly intended just to 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:56.120 boost personal image, regardless of any political 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.519 or even legal effectiveness. Right. Starting 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:00.899 with White House decor changes. A continuation 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:03.500 of the existing walk of fame, which I have to 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:05.819 remind you, already included a frame for Joe 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:08.519 Biden with a photo of an auto pin signing a bill. 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:11.300 So the latest move is adding these custom bronze 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:13.819 plaques under presidential photos. And the sources 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:16.500 suggest, and the style certainly supports it, 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:18.899 that the politician probably wrote the text for 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:21.279 these plaques himself. The random capitalizations 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.639 are a dead giveaway. And the fast and loose relationship 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.839 with facts. Oh, the content is extraordinary. 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:30.600 The two plaques that are now sitting under President 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:35.360 Joe Biden's photo are less history and more campaign 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.250 ad. a very aggressive campaign ad. The first 00:08:38.250 --> 00:08:41.929 plaque claims Sleepy Joe Biden was by far the 00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:44.350 worst president in American history and that 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:47.049 he was the result of the most corrupt election 00:08:47.049 --> 00:08:50.590 ever seen. It also claims he let 21 million people 00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:52.750 from all over the world pour into the United 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.710 States, including from prisons, jails, mental 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:59.029 institutions and insane asylums. Yes. Wow. And 00:08:59.029 --> 00:09:01.169 the second one is equally aggressive. It says 00:09:01.169 --> 00:09:03.669 Biden's debate laws forced him to withdraw in 00:09:03.669 --> 00:09:06.279 disgrace. And the aesthetic critique we mentioned, 00:09:06.659 --> 00:09:08.539 it's relevant here because the design is so poor, 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:10.659 it undercuts any sense of historical gravity 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:12.440 they might have been going for. It certainly 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.519 does, and it raises that question of political 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:18.539 efficacy. Does this public, aggressive, really 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:20.960 personal display, does it impress anyone who 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.299 wasn't already a hardcore supporter? To fence 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:26.870 sitters, it must just look... It feeds the narrative 00:09:26.870 --> 00:09:28.909 that this is the act of a politician who's either 00:09:28.909 --> 00:09:31.389 losing his marbles or just being extremely small. 00:09:31.649 --> 00:09:34.769 And the ego cultivation doesn't stop there. We're 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.909 also seeing plans for a massive triumphal arch. 00:09:38.190 --> 00:09:40.269 Modeled after the Arc de Triomphe, which honors 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:42.889 Napoleon. And the attempt to rename a national 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:45.309 monument. Yes, the Kennedy Center. The board 00:09:45.309 --> 00:09:47.990 of directors, which is now entirely populated 00:09:47.990 --> 00:09:50.909 with his supporters, voted unanimously to rename 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:54.009 it the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:56.330 Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. And 00:09:56.330 --> 00:09:58.809 the administration immediately touted that unanimous 00:09:58.809 --> 00:10:01.529 vote as a sign of broad support. But what's the 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:04.049 crucial legal detail here? The key takeaway is 00:10:04.049 --> 00:10:07.110 that the unanimous vote doesn't matter. It's 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:09.269 explicitly illegal under existing U .S. code. 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:11.610 Illegal? The federal law that established the 00:10:11.610 --> 00:10:14.190 Kennedy Center specifically prohibits adding 00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:17.269 memorials or plaques in public areas unless they're 00:10:17.269 --> 00:10:19.590 acknowledging major financial donors. The board 00:10:19.590 --> 00:10:21.870 just didn't have the authority. So we have this 00:10:21.870 --> 00:10:24.570 series of highly public, aggressive, sometimes 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:27.490 legally questionable actions. The checks, the 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:30.269 Hunger Games gaff, the attack plaques, the illegal 00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:33.720 renaming all in a tight window. Precisely. They're 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.100 designed to shift the narrative away from difficult 00:10:36.100 --> 00:10:39.000 topics, like the opposition's inability to agree 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:42.139 on healthcare or the border. The strategy is 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:44.120 change the subject of theatrics, and if that 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:47.340 fails, roll out a reliable scapegoat. Which brings 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:49.620 us to the revival of that scapegoat strategy. 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:52.059 With all the trouble agreeing on subsidies and 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:54.620 the economy, the administration is focusing the 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:57.519 political spotlight somewhere else. And the V2 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.299 .0 scapegoat strategy is targeting trans people 00:11:00.299 --> 00:11:03.840 with two simultaneous moves. On the legislative 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.269 and executive fronts. Right. First, we saw the 00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:09.409 show bill from Representative Marjorie Taylor 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:11.750 Greene to criminalize gender -affirming care 00:11:11.750 --> 00:11:14.409 for minors. With a potential sentence of up to 00:11:14.409 --> 00:11:17.169 10 years in prison. That bill did pass the House, 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:21.350 216 to 211, though it's worth noting four Republicans 00:11:21.350 --> 00:11:23.850 crossed the aisle to vote no and three Democrats 00:11:23.850 --> 00:11:26.799 crossed to vote yes. But it's largely symbolic, 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:29.220 right? It is. It faces huge legal challenges. 00:11:29.299 --> 00:11:30.980 It would have a severe impact on mental health 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.860 and suicide rates for trans youth. And it's almost 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.080 certainly dead on arrival in the Senate. OK, 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:37.919 so what was the second move? The announcement 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.519 by the politician and Robert Kennedy Jr. of a 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:44.000 new executive order, an EXO, threatening to yank 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.559 Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.059 that provide gender -affirming care to minors. 00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:51.039 So what's the practical difference between the 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.419 bill and the EXO? The bill is showmanship for 00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:56.590 the House base. The XO is an administrative threat, 00:11:57.370 --> 00:12:01.090 but the policy impact of the XO is also mostly 00:12:01.090 --> 00:12:04.669 for show. How so? Well, surgery on minors is 00:12:04.669 --> 00:12:07.429 extremely rare, and things like puberty blockers 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:09.470 are usually handled in a doctor's office, not 00:12:09.470 --> 00:12:11.649 a hospital setting that relies heavily on those 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:14.169 federal funds. So if the practical impact on 00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:16.850 that specific care is minimal, what's the actual 00:12:16.850 --> 00:12:19.679 risk here? The risk is the administrative chaos 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.559 it creates. The ACLU has already said they're 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.899 preparing a massive lawsuit. If federal funding 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:27.860 is capriciously yanked, it could impact patients 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:30.000 entitled to that funding for completely unrelated, 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:32.399 life -saving medical issues. So it's designed 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.899 to fire up the base, but it creates genuine legal 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:37.580 and medical instability for no real policy game. 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:40.279 Now let's move to the most immediate and maybe 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.720 most damaging consequence of this chaotic approach, 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:47.299 the legislative fallout. the complete collapse 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.919 of the appropriations funding package. This happened 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:53.320 because, in the middle of all this spectacle, 00:12:53.899 --> 00:12:56.080 the White House budget director, Russell Vought, 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.740 decided to pick an ideological fight. With a 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:02.879 scientific institution. A key one. Vought announced 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.879 the National Science Foundation, the NSF, would 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:08.620 be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:13.440 Research, or NCRR, in Boulder, Colorado. He explicitly 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.950 called it one of the largest sources of climate 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:18.350 alarmism in the country. And the timing of that 00:13:18.350 --> 00:13:20.789 announcement was just, it was the stick of dynamite 00:13:20.789 --> 00:13:22.629 that blew up the whole legislative process, wasn't 00:13:22.629 --> 00:13:25.070 it? Absolutely. The moment he said that, two 00:13:25.070 --> 00:13:27.750 Colorado senators, Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper, 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:30.769 immediately placed a hold on the entire minibus 00:13:30.769 --> 00:13:33.350 appropriations package. This was a massive spending 00:13:33.350 --> 00:13:36.509 bill. The one meant to fund 85 to 90 percent 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:38.110 of the federal government through September of 00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:41.330 2026. They stopped the deal cold. They sacrificed 00:13:41.330 --> 00:13:43.950 funding the government to protect NCRR. What 00:13:43.950 --> 00:13:46.309 exactly was their demand? They demanded specific 00:13:46.309 --> 00:13:49.149 language be added to the bill to protect NCRR's 00:13:49.149 --> 00:13:52.009 funding. Hickenlooper noted that Vought's action 00:13:52.009 --> 00:13:55.750 put NCIR at risk of a huge 30 to 40 percent cut 00:13:55.750 --> 00:13:58.090 from the NSF. And this wasn't just a partisan 00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:01.250 thing, was it? Not at all. Senator Lisa Murkowski, 00:14:01.490 --> 00:14:03.389 a Republican from Alaska, immediately stepped 00:14:03.389 --> 00:14:06.110 in to say this atmospheric research is a big 00:14:06.110 --> 00:14:08.730 deal for her state. It underscored the bipartisan 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.580 value of the center's work. So an administration 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:14.279 focused on theatrical distractions and ideological 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.720 score settling over a climate center, inadvertently 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.679 derailed a carefully negotiated massive funding 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.840 agreement. One single sudden ideologically motivated 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.860 decision created total gridlock out of what was 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.399 supposed to be a bipartisan breakthrough. So 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.980 if we synthesize this frantic 48 -hour period, 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.580 we see a clear pattern. It's a sequence of highly 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:37.940 visible, often personal, and sometimes legally 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:40.539 questionable actions. The military funds, the 00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:43.620 Patriot games gaffe, the illegal plaques dismantling 00:14:43.620 --> 00:14:46.200 NCIR. All deployed to change the subject, placate 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.039 the base, and shore up the president's image, 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.120 probably fueled by negative internal polling 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:52.700 and swirly economic problems. And the sources 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:55.139 really show the high political risk involved 00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:57.480 in trying to shift the narrative with stunts. 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:00.200 Whether it's the immediate, embarrassing Hunger 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.580 Games gaffe or using existing money for a dramatic 00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:06.860 effect, these actions rarely deliver long -term 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.320 reward. But they carry a significant risk of 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:12.340 immediate negative fallout, especially when legislative 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:15.179 stability is on the line. Definitely. And here's 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:16.720 the provocative thought we want to leave you 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.909 with. We saw how quickly these actions derailed 00:15:19.909 --> 00:15:23.009 a critical appropriations deal, literally throwing 00:15:23.009 --> 00:15:26.110 the government funding process into chaos. Since 00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:28.529 the sources also mentioned the very real possibility 00:15:28.529 --> 00:15:30.970 of the next president just wiping the slate clean 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:33.610 of these vanity monuments and illegal name changes, 00:15:34.129 --> 00:15:36.190 it raises a crucial question. About efficiency. 00:15:36.590 --> 00:15:39.710 Exactly. When major political actions are primarily 00:15:39.710 --> 00:15:42.429 for show, how much necessary political capital 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:44.710 and legislative momentum is sacrificed in the 00:15:44.710 --> 00:15:47.230 process, and what permanent administrative or 00:15:47.230 --> 00:15:49.649 institutional damage beyond just aesthetic changes 00:15:49.649 --> 00:15:50.429 will remain.