The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz - July 02, 2020


Episode 38 - Standing Against Forever Wars. Heartbreaking Death in CHOP. Dems Addicted to Impeachment.


Episode Stats


Length

20 minutes

Words per minute

158.00656

Word count

3,198

Sentence count

184

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The House Armed Services Committee votes on an amendment that could have limited the President's ability to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Hot Takes is a podcast by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GA) on hot takes from the world of politics and current events.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Welcome to Hot Takes, I'm Congressman Matt Gaetz.
00:00:18.600 Let's talk about the news.
00:00:19.760 The House Armed Services Committee, with a unanimous bipartisan vote, has moved along
00:00:26.420 the National Defense Authorization Act.
00:00:28.340 There were a few key moments that I want to discuss, and the first has to do with Afghanistan.
00:00:34.840 So, Jason Crow, one of the Democrat impeachment managers, also former Army Ranger, also on
00:00:41.700 the Armed Services Committee from the state of Colorado, teams up with Liz Cheney, the
00:00:46.840 third-ranking Republican in the House, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House,
00:00:51.740 and they have an amendment to restrict the ability of the administration to remove troops
00:00:58.080 from Afghanistan.
00:00:59.080 Now, they say it's something different.
00:01:01.080 They say, oh, no, it's just the requirement for a plan and a discussion.
00:01:05.740 But essentially, it is a hurdle.
00:01:07.740 It is a barrier to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
00:01:12.840 And it's just quite something how Crow leads into the amendment.
00:01:16.580 Here is the beginning of his explanation of the amendment.
00:01:19.240 Many of you know that I've been one of the more outspoken members of Congress and of this
00:01:23.460 committee on the need to end our endless wars overseas, including the war in Afghanistan, which after 19 years, thousands of lives, not just American, but Afghan lives and Iraqi lives and others, trillions of dollars spent.
00:01:42.200 We cannot continue on this path and, at the same time, meet our domestic needs and also pivot and meet the threats of Russia and China and great power competition.
00:01:55.200 I will continue to work with all of you and be at the forefront of efforts to reassert Congress's role in war powers and recapturing our authorities under the AUMF and working towards ending what have become our endless wars.
00:02:13.260 And so it sounds like me on the podcast talking about the need to wind down these wars that seem to last far beyond their utility or return on the investment of lives and money and impact to our societies.
00:02:29.260 When we see our bravest Americans coming back in caskets, coming back injured in the body and mind, and then carrying those impacts within their communities and within their families.
00:02:40.080 Frankly, I don't think that continued hostilities in Afghanistan are worth the cost to our country in lives or in or in treasure.
00:02:52.380 So Crow, after that introduction, goes into this this explanation in defense of the amendment.
00:02:57.900 But like in every issue, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.
00:03:04.220 There are tens of thousands of Afghan forces, men and women, who do the same, who have relied on our commitment and are not quite ready to stand on their own.
00:03:14.800 And there are women and children and vulnerable tribal minorities that rely on our security, without which there would be massive humanitarian crisis.
00:03:25.460 I took a very different view. Here's my debate.
00:03:28.420 The gentleman said there's always a right way and a wrong way to leave.
00:03:32.100 I would say that a great nation does not force the next generation to fight their wars.
00:03:38.760 And that's what we've done in Afghanistan.
00:03:40.660 I think the best day to have not had the war in Afghanistan was when we started it. 0.99
00:03:44.820 And the next best day is tomorrow.
00:03:47.200 I don't think there's ever a bad day to end the war in Afghanistan.
00:03:50.980 Our generation is weary of this and tired of this.
00:03:53.800 And what this amendment does is it puts additional barriers in front of the administration as they would try to leverage or withdraw and get the best conditions we can.
00:04:03.320 And certainly, Afghanistan is a dangerous place. 1.00
00:04:06.740 The gentleman from Colorado said, well, you know, we might be able to prevent an Afghan civil war.
00:04:12.040 It is not my expectation that we are preventing a whole lot of violence there now.
00:04:16.440 You see the extent to which the administrative districts that the Afghan government is controlling is declining.
00:04:21.920 So Crowe ultimately wins this amendment vote.
00:04:25.140 But it's my expectation that we will vote on this question again on the floor of the House of Representatives,
00:04:30.320 where I think you have more America first conservatives and more progressives, frankly,
00:04:37.080 like Ro Khanna of California, who will be willing to team up together.
00:04:41.860 I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez once called it the horseshoe caucus, 0.99
00:04:45.760 because we're both so far away from the middle that sometimes we can we can link up on issues like the restitution of congressional war powers and the end to these types of forever wars.
00:05:00.420 The war in Yemen also was discussed.
00:05:03.760 My colleague Ro Khanna presenting this amendment.
00:05:06.320 This amendment would simply say that there can be no logistical support for the Saudis in their bombing campaign on Yemen.
00:05:14.520 It's important to understand that thanks to Representative Slotkin and others,
00:05:18.520 the issue is not restricting intelligence sharing.
00:05:23.720 We have tried to work to make sure the language doesn't compromise other security interests.
00:05:29.040 It is simply focused on logistical support of the Saudis in the Yemen bombing campaign.
00:05:36.080 And the committee voting for this now would send a tremendous message from the United States Congress that this war needs to end.
00:05:44.820 It would be an affirmation of Martin Griffith and the peace process and a continuation of the work that we have done with passing the war powers resolution
00:05:53.380 and consistent, frankly, with the administration's suspension of refueling.
00:05:57.780 There were a number of Republicans who spoke against the Kana Yemen amendment.
00:06:02.140 One of them was Michael Waltz of Florida.
00:06:04.740 And here's what he had to say.
00:06:05.860 My colleague and friend from Florida, Mr. Gates, talked about the possible disconnect of arguing against this amendment,
00:06:18.200 but for Mr. Crows when it comes to Afghanistan.
00:06:20.840 I think, in fact, there's some real consistency.
00:06:23.200 This is about American leadership.
00:06:24.640 It's not perfect, but it is a force for good, and it has guaranteed the longest period of global prosperity since World War II.
00:06:35.300 And, yes, this is not new for the progressive left and the libertarian right to come together on these issues.
00:06:40.900 Just read the history of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and what he had to deal with for America to lead in World War II with the socialist left and the libertarian right then.
00:06:51.480 So this is not a new argument that America must lead, and this is just another incident.
00:06:56.840 I never quite described myself as a libertarian.
00:06:59.600 I think I'm a libertarian populist.
00:07:01.820 But either way, it is, I think, appropriate to question whether or not it is our country's best expression of leadership to be mired away in these wars in, like, Yemen and Afghanistan.
00:07:15.500 Most people in the United States probably couldn't pick out Yemen and Afghanistan on a map and were becoming unfocused from the conflict that we have with China because we're fooling around in these places where we are very unlikely to create some liberal democracy rather than inflame additional sectarian violence and bloodshed and resentment and breeding grounds for more terrorists with failed states.
00:07:44.500 And so this was my response to Mr. Walsh.
00:07:47.580 Mr. Chairman, many of my Republican colleagues speaking in opposition to this amendment have referenced the need to counter al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula.
00:07:56.660 I strongly agree with that sentiment, being that it was AQAP that inspired the murder of my constituents in Pensacola. 0.97
00:08:03.560 It is also why I can support this amendment because lines 7 through 10 of the amendment permit any and all activities that we would engage in against AQAP.
00:08:11.500 So it seems like a bit misplaced debate.
00:08:14.520 There was a lot of conversation from my colleagues about, like, the need for us to be obligated to secure Saudi Arabia's southern border.
00:08:21.740 I wish we had that much passion and interest in securing our own southern border.
00:08:26.000 To me, that would seemingly be a more consistent application of our principles.
00:08:30.480 And it seems odd to bang our chests about American leadership while referencing Afghanistan and Yemen.
00:08:35.760 If what we get from American leadership is involvement in one of the most brutal, horrific civil wars in Yemen and then a multi-decade war in Afghanistan,
00:08:48.440 one asks the question if that leadership is being properly husbanded for the benefit of our country.
00:08:53.360 There is an opportunity for the president under any circumstance to respond to terrorism, to threats against our forces,
00:09:01.500 as my Republican colleagues have referenced, attacks against our interests and against our allies.
00:09:06.840 We would still have the ability under the language of the amendment to fully respond to those things.
00:09:11.300 But what we do not need is excessive entanglement from the United States in some civil war where we're trying to build some democracy out of sand and blood.
00:09:21.080 And that is what we have done for far too long in the Middle East.
00:09:24.620 We have done great work in this legislation to raise our gaze to combat the real threat that we face, which is China. 0.99
00:09:32.360 And continuing to obsess about our Middle Eastern conquests just does not rise to the level of a great body or a great nation.
00:09:41.960 You see, I think enough of American leadership.
00:09:44.840 I think so highly of American leadership that I wouldn't waste it in places that are not worthy of our best.
00:09:54.840 Impeachment is apparently like political crack.
00:09:58.320 The Democrats just can't stop taking it.
00:10:01.500 I mentioned on the podcast some days ago that there would be a new strategy to impeach Attorney General Bill Barr.
00:10:09.220 It wasn't enough for him to impeach the president and distract the country and lose.
00:10:14.820 Now they have to sort of get the band back together to impeach Bill Barr.
00:10:19.200 And lo and behold, we've seen this week Steve Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee from Tennessee, one of the frequent critics of the president.
00:10:27.580 This is the guy who brought in the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket.
00:10:31.580 And he has filed an impeachment resolution against Bill Barr.
00:10:35.160 So if you listen to the podcast, this comes as no surprise.
00:10:38.840 You already knew it.
00:10:39.460 We already told you.
00:10:40.720 But they're getting the band back together.
00:10:43.220 And we'll be there to defend our great attorney general.
00:10:47.580 There's a lot going on over at Fox News these days.
00:10:50.360 One of their more prominent and highly rated personalities on the news side, Ed Henry, was fired as the consequence of sexual harassment allegations from years ago that Fox News just recently investigated.
00:11:03.200 I mean, Ed had just been subbed in for Bill Hemmer on the America's Newsroom show as Bill Hemmer took over for Shepard Smith during the 3 p.m. hour.
00:11:14.160 And what I'll always remember about Ed is that when his sister needed a liver transplant, the guy went under the knife and under just a tremendous amount of sacrifice and commitment.
00:11:29.320 You know, I saw the weight he lost and how he had to sort of build back from that.
00:11:33.060 But obviously, you know, without knowing the allegations or the facts, we're not going to opine on the truth or falsity of any of that.
00:11:39.880 But no more Ed Henry on Fox News.
00:11:41.780 One thing that I think the network is likely celebrating is the ascent of Tucker Carlson.
00:11:47.820 Right now, number one in cable, the king of cable, number one show.
00:11:52.760 And while Tucker's lost a few advertisers because of corporate America, I think, dipping and diving the wrong way on all this cultural wokeness,
00:12:02.400 I think you'll always find advertisers if you got the number one show.
00:12:05.880 So congratulations to Tucker.
00:12:07.360 But the number one moment on television last night undeniably belonged to Sean Hannity.
00:12:14.220 Just an incredibly powerful emotional interview with the family of Lorenzo Anderson.
00:12:20.900 Lorenzo, Horace Lorenzo Anderson.
00:12:23.640 19-year-old Horace Lorenzo Anderson was killed in Seattle's CHOP in the CHAZ.
00:12:29.800 And, you know, we've talked a lot about the damage that comes when you're not able to get, you know, health services, police services, emergency services to people.
00:12:42.500 But this is just the personal story that tears at your heartstrings.
00:12:46.060 Man, this, I mean, it's incredible.
00:12:48.900 You know, my son's 19, you know, I mean, they should have been, did something about this a long time ago.
00:12:57.360 And I don't, you know, like I say, I'm not, I understand Black Lives Matter and everything was going on and everything, but that's not my movement right now.
00:13:05.900 My movement is let them know that was my son.
00:13:08.540 That's right.
00:13:08.920 You know what I'm saying?
00:13:10.120 Horace Lorenzo Anderson was my son.
00:13:12.720 I don't know.
00:13:13.920 I'm not, I'm not with all this, whatever's going on.
00:13:16.740 Politics or none of that?
00:13:17.700 None of that.
00:13:18.400 I don't know nothing about that.
00:13:19.600 I don't even know nothing about that.
00:13:20.700 All I know is this is my son and I love him and I've been having him.
00:13:25.040 Man, it's been my son and this is incredible.
00:13:27.600 And I don't know, that should have been gone a long time ago.
00:13:30.700 Somebody should have came, knocked on my door and still to this day should have been like, come to talk to me and let me know about my son.
00:13:36.780 To this day, I really, I don't know nothing.
00:13:40.000 I'm just still sitting here.
00:13:41.120 I haven't heard nothing from nobody.
00:13:42.740 Ain't nobody contacted me.
00:13:44.500 You haven't heard from the mayor?
00:13:45.920 You haven't heard from the mayor?
00:13:47.420 You haven't heard from the governor?
00:13:48.800 You didn't hear from anybody?
00:13:49.740 I haven't heard from the mayor.
00:13:51.240 I haven't heard from the police department.
00:13:52.680 I just now recently, just because we went on TV, they reach out to me and let me know what they're, what they're doing now.
00:13:59.200 It appears now the government is responding to the Chaz and it is being dismantled. 0.98
00:14:05.480 And we hope that there'll be no more death, that there'll be no more deprivation of just the basic extensions of society to the people who live in this area.
00:14:16.760 And that this will not be a trend that will spread across our great country.
00:14:19.940 The Russian bounty story continues to be in the news and you see a number of Republicans even attacking the president on the issue.
00:14:30.640 Those are typically the Republicans that hadn't supported him or his vision on foreign policy much anyway.
00:14:37.040 But if you listen to this podcast, you heard the truth about the Russian bounty situation, which is that, of course, there's always a steady amount of mischief that Russia is engaged in when it comes to U.S. presence around the world. 0.69
00:14:51.640 And that the real important question for America to ask is why we were in Afghanistan in the first place.
00:14:58.500 Now, it pains me to admit this, but the best story that is breaking on this Russia bounty situation is actually in thedailybeast.com.
00:15:08.120 And I hate to admit that because the Daily Beast is typically just a left wing opposition research entity that masquerades as a news organization.
00:15:16.420 But nonetheless, there is great reporting by Sami Youssefzai, Adam Ronsley, Christopher Dickey, and Aaron Bonko on – and here the headline is Russian Bounties for Killing Americans Go Back Five Years, Ex-Taliban Claims.
00:15:34.280 And in a very well-sourced piece, they go through these different folks associated with the Taliban talking about the way that they laugh at Americans as they take U.S. dollars from Russians to create mischief and violence against us.
00:15:50.960 And frankly, how their parents and grandparents did the same thing when they took money and arms from the U.S. government to go and kill Russians.
00:16:00.280 So, I mean, in a way, like are we really going to continue to engage in this Afghanistan platform that seems to be cyclical?
00:16:11.900 You have Americans paying the Taliban and the Mujahideen to go and slay the Russians, and now you got Russians paying the very same people to slay Americans. 0.53
00:16:22.200 You know who loses in Afghanistan? The people who want to stay there the longest. 1.00
00:16:25.720 The people who leave are the ones who, you know, and have no ambition to go and like create some modern democracy in Afghanistan or to execute their worldview at all.
00:16:37.160 I mean, I guess Russia was trying to execute their worldview in Afghanistan as well. They failed.
00:16:41.100 So the message to the world might be Afghanistan isn't really going to be anything other than Afghanistan. 0.90
00:16:48.100 And it is unreasonable to believe that the United States, by virtue of some countries' inhospitability to normal life, is thus hospitable for terrorists.
00:17:02.140 And thus we have to go and occupy every cave of the world where some terrorists may hide.
00:17:07.120 You know, I think the better strategy is to make our nation more resilient to the terrorists, and that doesn't mean following them into every cave for 20 years.
00:17:15.840 Nonetheless, the reporting that you get in this Daily Beast piece also, I think, vindicates the Trump claim that, like, there was no unique boost up.
00:17:26.720 There was no accentuated moment that would have, you know, created some special burden on the president to go start some war with Russia.
00:17:36.400 You know, I think that that is what kind of the CNN, mainstream media, New York Times view of this was, that, aha, now we have evidence that the president should have started a war with Russia.
00:17:48.280 Well, if that's the case, then why didn't President Obama start the war with Russia?
00:17:52.340 Because this is a dynamic we've been dealing with in Afghanistan, and it's one of the reasons we need to leave Afghanistan. 1.00
00:17:58.040 I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend.
00:18:04.500 We won't be doing a show tomorrow because my staff is off in celebration of our nation's birthday and just launch into greatness.
00:18:13.560 I hope everyone takes this time to really reflect on how fortunate we are to be Americans and how it imposes an obligation on us of active and patriotic citizenship.
00:18:25.280 One way a lot of folks have been expressing their citizenship lately is by exercising their Second Amendment rights to buy firearms.
00:18:33.760 There were 3.9 million background checks that were conducted last month.
00:18:39.860 That is an indicator of gun sales.
00:18:42.540 And if you look back since March, there have been 8.3 million guns sold.
00:18:48.640 So 2020 is on course to be the biggest year for gun sales in American history.
00:18:54.660 And I think that's because people are seeing what's going on and they're understanding that, you know, this is a country where at our core, we have believed in self-defense, individual defense.
00:19:05.880 And while we have invested as a society into collective defense with police, with so many just ridiculous and absurd attacks on our police, more and more people are realizing that at the end of the day, if you've got to protect your family, you need the means to do so.
00:19:22.260 So we always celebrate when folks are exercising their rights, whether it's to pray or speak or safely assemble or, you know, I don't know, to go out and enjoy a great shooting weekend with some good social distancing with friends and family might be a great thing to do.
00:19:40.480 So have a great Fourth of July, everyone.
00:19:42.100 We'll be back next week with more Hot Takes.
00:19:44.400 We'll be back next week.