Republicans Run From Hegseth. Lawler Breaks Rank. Pentagon Purge Continues. The Question Slotkin Asked That Nobody's Answering. Media Blitz Pod.

0:00This is Belie, one network, every topic, everywhere. I mean, I don't know how else to explain it. I mean, it's cowardice, it's a lack of patriotism, it's a lack of honor, it's a lack of integrity. They're failing in their duties that they're appointed or elected to do. I think there's a lot of people covering their own butts. I think there's a lot of people covering their own butts. I think there's a lot of people covering their own butts. I think there's a lot of people covering their own butts. Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to Football season. We just finished an awesome practice. And we are now just under one week away from the 25th anniversary of 9-11, which happened right over there. This is my banana, it's a may have to practice. We're continuing to bring you light to contrast the heat,

1:02national security perspective in particular, lots of traffic, but lots of positive energy to combat the noise, light to contrast the heat, and a brand new episode coming up right now, a media episode I've been all over the place, and this is another one to help you stay vigilant, to help you understand the moment I sat down with Nicole Wallace from my weekly National Security and Politics hit, and we got into the stakes of what's happening with Pete Heggs set, the stakes of what's happening with the USS Lincoln and the stakes of what's happening, now that Army Secretary Driscoll is gone. So I'm gonna keep bringing you special episodes. I hope this gives you some illumination as you head into a labor day weekend, where you can hopefully catch your breath, before we come back after Labor Day for the 25th anniversary of 9-11, and whatever chaos comes at us. But please keep spreading the word about independent Americans, subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, all the things, leave us five stars, and until next time,

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4:12to that. That's what happens when you have bad people gifting bad advice to a guy who's not a terribly smart decision maker. And that is that that is going to cause a lot of pushback. This is why the Republicans are back on their heels politically because bad decisions are being made. And the American people are really fed up about it. But you asked a slightly different question. I'm going to say that one of the things that we need to do, if and when we get the majority of the Congress, is to say, we need to rebuild these institutions. In my own world, the intelligence world, people were fired who were probably unreproducible. They had skills in mathematics or in comb breaking or in language skills. People that got fired just because they didn't sort of mean, because they did their jobs. And so a big chunk of what we need to do in the coming years is rebuild with competent people with a real meritocracy, the elements of the federal government. Huh. You and I have been talking about this for almost two years. Really? Nine years. Yeah. He is the Secretary of War, culture war.

5:12This is what he was brought in to do. This is why he was nominated first. He is ripping through the Pentagon with a chainsaw. He's gone through the fat, passed the muscle. He's into bone now. He's on plan. This is what he was put there to do. And I think Frank's wake up call piece is very, very important because this is a time for senior leaders to break glass. Driscoll leaving is very important. A lot of us hope that headset would be gone and Driscoll would be in his place. But the opposite is happening. Now Driscoll is out. He was a conscience. He was a circuit breaker. Driscoll needs to speak out. General Donahue didn't speak out. CQ Brown didn't really speak out. Driscoll and hopefully all of them can speak out now ahead of what Frank is forecasting could happen because it's about our national security. And we continue to have a war that's never ending potentially. New wars. But this is what headset is supposed to do according to plan. He's ahead of plan. I think your question for the congressman was right. What are you going to do to stop him? If you're not removing him, he's going to continue on plan until something stops him. You know, I was thinking about this. I had a little bit of time off and I was thinking about when we look back at this time, one

6:16of the things people try to understand is how did he destroy the military? Nobody did anything. And I wonder what it says to you that Republicans who are tethered to political dead weight in Trump and Hexas. The only thing more popular than Trump is Hexas war in Iran. Why do you think they don't break rank with him? Cowardists. They're putting themselves ahead of their questions. They're going to lose their seats anyway. I mean, I don't know how else to explain it. I mean, it's cowardice. It's a lack of patriotism. It's a lack of honor. It's a lack of integrity. They're failing in their duties at their appointed or elected to do. I think there's a lot of people covering their own butts. I mean, they're thinking they can weight it out. And a lot of folks in the military and politics are not afraid to die, but they're afraid to lose their career and they're afraid to lose their pension. And I think Frank's right. I think some folks think they can treat this like a normal time and maybe things will be different after the election. But he could be in Cuba by then. I mean, he is all gas, no brakes. He's been that way for two years. And Hexas is the tip of the sphere.

7:17And it's not just about the Pentagon. It's about a overall culture war and the Pentagon as an instrument for that. They've got the Pentagon now and they're turning it across our culture in ways that are very, very powerful and they're not going to stop until they're stopped. So for the Republicans and for the Democrats, what are you going to do to stop? And if you haven't called for his resignation, if you haven't called for him to be removed, I don't know what else is a higher priority. Because this is our number one priority, especially as we enter the 25th anniversary of 9-11, we're all going to be reminded of how high the stakes are. And Hexas is the guy with his hands on the wheel and he's driving us off a cliff. I would say the rationalization though is the longest story of what feels like the longest chapter in American politics, the Trump story, the rationalization that people like a termic master made, if I leave someone worse, will take my spot. That lots of people have made is something we've seen. And it's also a hallmark of abusive relationships. I mean, that is not a way to run the United States military. Yeah, I think Frank and I are probably in heated agreement here.

8:19I mean, moral courage is the right way to be more specific about it. But I think there's something bigger here. Like my generation mostly joined and went in after 9-11. We have seen two decades of failure and refusals of people to speak up and the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq stopped the war in Iran. We're tired of all of this. And that's part of what Hexas and Trump have been able to manipulate into this purge of the Pentagon because a lot of the country is disappointed with failure and with disappointment. But I think when it comes to Lincoln, it specifies something really important, which is truth. Like the Lincoln reveal that you can't trust them to tell the truth. Frank's right, like the single folks are going to be really happy. The married folks want to get home. Like they have to stop in Thailand in part because they probably can't make it safely all the way back to San Diego. They have to stop and retrofit and fix that ship. In part, because so many of our military assets have been blasted by the Iranians, which is another part of what they haven't been transparent about. And then it comes to the wounded and casualties. They haven't been transparent about that. So when we come back to Hexas, I think we have to focus on the fact that he's not being

9:20honest with the public. He's not being honest with military families. And he's probably not even being honest with Trump. And that might be the straw that breaks the camel's back with him after this discussion with Driscoll. But I'm going to keep saying it. We need someone to break glass. Driscoll, Donnie Hughes, somebody has got to be the first to break that seal and speak out. So other, especially recently retired or removed folks, will have the courage, moral courage to step forward and speak out to. Paul, what is your sense of how close some people might be? I mean, I would guess that Republicans who are not the tip of the spear, but the scraggly tail on the courage front are hearing from people inside the military before they go out and say things like the clips that I played at the beginning. I think there's smell in the politics after being home in August. I think you had representative Michael Lolleron, who is on MSN, MSN now. He's speaking out against Hegsett. That's a change. He's also in a dog fight against an army veteran who is a Democrat for a sea. I think that is a real indicator of where Republicans might be, especially if they're

10:23in real elections. Hegsett is very unpopular. The war in Iran is exceptionally unpopular. And I think... Hegsett is the only person, I think, who's individually more unpopular than Trump, who's historically unpopular. And I think after being home, some of the Republicans are going to smell the coffee on that, but I think more importantly, the ones that are in tight re-election campaigns are going to start to run away from him faster than they're running away from data centers. But I want to go back to something also that Frank mentioned that you and I have talked about. I think it might have been Senator Slotkin. In Hegsett's confirmation hearings, they asked him if he would put the military against American civilians. He refused to rule it out. He refused to answer it. And now we're at that moment. We're 60 days out. That day is coming. Hegsett told you what he was going to do. And the rest of the members of Congress are going to do about that now if it comes to bear in the next two months.

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