Loving the Nation, Not the Empire ｜ 7⧸20⧸23
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
157.46709
Summary
The White House held a presidential candidate forum in Iowa, and Mike Pence won the gold medal for self-immolation. He was the only candidate to respond to a question from Tucker Carlson, the host of Fox News' "Huckabee" and host of the popular conservative show Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
00:00:10.720
Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
00:00:25.260
Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
00:00:30.740
Last week, the Blaze teamed up with the Family Leadership Summit
00:00:33.580
to put on a forum in Iowa for Republican presidential candidates.
00:00:37.660
Usually these events are shallow, bordering on useless,
00:00:40.760
as candidates scramble to secure 30-second soundbites
00:00:43.680
while answering the very carefully curated questions provided by mainstream media.
00:00:54.040
Each of the candidates that attended spent roughly half an hour
00:00:56.520
in one-on-one conversations with Tucker Carlson.
00:00:59.000
Carlson, recently freed from any remaining shackles by his departure from Fox News,
00:01:04.440
has his finger on the pulse of the Republican base.
00:01:07.600
Questions were measured and fair, but they were also tied strongly to the interests of
00:01:11.480
the average GOP voter rather than the priorities of the Washington elite.
00:01:15.160
Carlson was affable but relentless, and as a result, several candidates destroyed their campaigns live on air.
00:01:21.440
Many of the candidates were simply unable to separate the needs of the American people
00:01:26.680
from the geopolitical aspirations of the ruling class and their global empire,
00:01:30.860
and this inability to understand the priorities of the base consistently led several candidates to ruin.
00:01:36.460
The nation is not in a great place, and the average American is starting to suspect
00:01:41.900
that the future their children inherit will be less free and less prosperous.
00:01:46.240
The basic life milestones of the past, like getting married, owning a home,
00:01:51.460
having children, and providing for a family on one income, now seem like incredible luxuries.
00:01:58.120
Deaths of despair skyrocket as increasingly irreligious and isolated Americans seek the solace
00:02:03.620
of the fentanyl that pours across the nation's border.
00:02:06.200
Along with illegal immigrants corporations will exploit as cheap labor to depress the wages of citizens.
00:02:13.000
Major American cities have become dangerous and filled with the kind of squalor
00:02:16.420
that often makes them indistinguishable from a third world slum.
00:02:20.160
The Republican base sees the degradation of their once great nation
00:02:24.180
and seeks the kind of leadership that can restore the homeland and build a brighter future.
00:02:29.180
But instead they receive endless platitudes about the importance of supporting foreign countries
00:02:33.920
they will never see and foreign peoples they will never meet.
00:02:38.280
Voters grow sick and tired of candidates who prattle on endlessly about secure borders
00:02:43.100
for Ukraine or Israel but show no urgency when it comes to protecting the people of the United States.
00:02:49.200
So you've always been picky about your produce.
00:02:51.780
But now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian.
00:02:56.860
At Sobeez, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first.
00:03:01.100
Restrictions apply. See in-store or online for details.
00:03:03.920
While several candidates likely scuttled their campaign live on stage with Tucker Carlson,
00:03:12.360
former Vice President Mike Pence took the gold medal for self-immolation.
00:03:17.020
Pence expressed warm affection for the Ukrainians who thanked him for the missiles
00:03:21.400
and other military equipment the U.S. government had provided them.
00:03:25.000
He spoke passionately about providing additional funding and military hardware like tanks to the Ukrainian forces.
00:03:31.180
But when Carlson pointed out the deteriorating conditions of American cities
00:03:36.000
and questioned whether the money could be spent better at home,
00:03:48.140
Pence would go on to assert that anybody who says that we can't be the leaders of the free world
00:03:52.880
and solve our own problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth.
00:03:58.680
You see, it's not disconnected Washington elites who are out of touch.
00:04:03.040
It is the ordinary American who is insufficiently patriotic.
00:04:07.420
Pence was asked to prioritize the security and prosperity of American families and communities
00:04:12.600
over a foreign nation, and his response was to recoil in disgust.
00:04:18.220
What Americans want, what the GOP base in particular truly desires,
00:04:23.080
is a president who looks at them the way that Mike Pence looks at a random Ukrainian.
00:04:28.080
Someone who holds the same level of care and admiration for the people of the American Rust Belt
00:04:34.620
as Pence has for those fighting in Eastern Europe.
00:04:37.400
A president who is as passionate about the border security of America
00:04:42.580
as Pence is about the territorial sovereignty of nations like Israel or Ukraine.
00:04:47.880
A president who is willing to commit funds to building a wall
00:04:51.920
and making American cities safe before writing blank checks to foreign governments.
00:04:57.640
Simply put, Americans are desperate for a president who puts America first.
00:05:02.720
National security matters, and projecting power is critical to the maintenance of an empire.
00:05:10.200
Some conservatives might find the characterization of America as an empire shocking,
00:05:17.320
When your nation has military bases on every continent,
00:05:20.800
when it heads military alliances that dictate geopolitics in every region of the globe,
00:05:26.400
when it operates a vast trade network that has an economic impact on a majority of nations,
00:05:33.980
Admitting this fact might be awkward for a nation that traces its founding to a rebellion
00:05:38.920
against and separation from the British Empire,
00:05:42.660
but ignoring the obvious truth does us no favors.
00:05:46.180
America is in the business of maintaining and operating an empire.
00:05:50.580
Its leaders are fully aware of this fact, and they set their priorities accordingly.
00:05:55.060
If you want to understand why the interests of so many GOP candidates are widely divergent
00:06:02.120
from the interests of their base, this is a key factor.
00:06:06.460
Empires get a bad reputation, but they're an ancient form of human political organization
00:06:11.520
seen throughout history which, at least at their beginning,
00:06:15.000
usually increases the quality of life and level of security for their founding populations.
00:06:19.840
Empires are attractive because they are profitable and expand the geopolitical influence of those
00:06:26.580
that operate them, increasing both economic and military power.
00:06:31.440
This means that the incentive to transform the nation into an empire is always high,
00:06:36.740
and in some ways a society expanding beyond its natural borders
00:06:40.440
is simply part of the natural life cycle of great civilizations.
00:06:44.000
There's a good argument to be made that someone will always occupy the position of regional
00:06:50.720
or global primacy, so your civilization might as well benefit from claiming the top spot.
00:07:02.240
While the initial benefits of empire are well documented, so is their historical cycle of decay.
00:07:08.920
While the empire is initially operated for the benefit of the founding civilization,
00:07:13.600
the elites of the society quickly realized that the opportunity for personal enrichment lies in the provinces.
00:07:21.360
In ancient Rome, the downfall of the republic was closely tied to endless wars of expansion
00:07:26.540
which brought in a vast underclass of slaves that replaced the labor of the native Roman population
00:07:32.820
while increasing the wealth of elite patricians.
00:07:37.880
Eventually, those with no connection or loyalty to the founding homeland are elevated to positions of leadership
00:07:45.640
and the empire is operated strictly for the benefit of its ruling class instead of the original nation.
00:07:52.160
Later emperors would move the capital of the empire far away from Rome,
00:07:56.600
not even bothering to visit the city for which the empire was named.
00:08:00.380
It is difficult and dangerous for nations to walk away from the game of empire,
00:08:06.300
but at some point it may become necessary for the well-being of their citizens.
00:08:10.780
There is a reason that American elites are constantly in search of a new military conflict
00:08:16.140
which they can label vital to national security.
00:08:20.060
Constant military expenditure and expansion is critical if the empire is to remain profitable to our ruling elite,
00:08:26.560
but eventually the cost to the homeland comes due.
00:08:30.840
The United States will always have some level of legitimate interest in projecting power abroad,
00:08:37.480
but the well-being of its citizens must once again become paramount.
00:08:43.040
Americans want leaders who can put aside their own enrichment
00:08:46.480
and the priorities of geopolitical dominance for the good of the people.
00:08:50.380
They want someone who loves the American nation more than the global American empire.
00:09:01.300
If you'd like to get these broadcasts as podcasts,
00:09:15.700
make sure that you subscribe to The Oren McIntyre Show on your favorite podcast platform,
00:09:20.060
and when you do, please leave that rating or review.
00:09:24.460
If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, or Substack, or Gab,
00:09:28.600
if you'd like to watch these videos on Rumble or Odyssey,
00:09:31.640
the links to do that are down below in the description.
00:09:34.720
And of course, you can watch all of my shows and read all of my columns over at The Blaze.
00:09:40.160
Thanks for watching, guys, and as always, I'll talk to you next time.