The Stone Zone ｜ 01-13-26
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
10
sentences flagged
Hate speech
17
sentences flagged
Summary
Bob missed a day of work because of laryngitis, and Larry Kudlow filled in for him. Scott Adams, creator of the iconic Dilbert cartoon, and one of America s most influential cultural commentators, dies at the age of 68.
Transcript
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Every week, the Payne family cuts straight to the real financial story.
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The one question, Bob, everyone's asking is, are we in an artificial intelligence bubble?
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You've been through boom and busts. What do you think?
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No hype, no myths, just what actually matters to your money.
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Does feel very similar to what we experienced in the 90s. Where are we, though? Are we in 1995,
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1997, 1999? Listen to the Payne Points of Wealth on the Red Apple Podcast Network.
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Want to fast-forward your career? Discover the Chang School of Continuing Education
00:00:33.840
at Toronto Metropolitan University. Our programs are the perfect way to boost your success.
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It is so incredibly good to be back in the saddle, back in the zone.
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Deep appreciation to my colleague, the great Greg Kelly, for filling in for me.
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Greg Kelly, once again, made my 17th annual International Best Dressed list.
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One more year, and I'm going to have to move Greg Kelly to the Hall of Fame,
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the fashion icon category, along with our mutual colleague, Larry Kudlow.
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Also, last Friday, January 9th, I was not able to join you,
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but it was the birthday of, I'm sorry, but one of our greatest American presidents,
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Richard Milhouse Nixon, you know, Nixon, the guy who got a strategic arms limitation agreement
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with the Soviets, who ended the war in Vietnam on a much faster timetable than the Pentagon wanted.
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The man who launched the program for federal revenue sharing.
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The president who integrated the public schools without incident or tragedy.
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The president who opened the door to China at a time that China was a backwards,
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deeply poor agrarian society without indoor plumbing or electricity.
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There was no way for Richard Nixon to know that 30 years later,
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President Bill Clinton would give them most favored nation trading status,
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which has made them the danger to the world that they are today.
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So, happy birthday, Richard Nixon, 113 years old, last Friday.
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I really regretted not being on the air that day.
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Scott Adams, the creator of the iconic Dilbert cartoon script,
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and one of America's most influential cultural commentators,
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who's been a guest here in the Stone Zone several times, died at the age of 68.
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The announcement was made Tuesday morning by his ex-wife and caregiver, Shelley Miles,
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who shared this final message that I now bring to you.
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If you're reading this, things did not go well for me.
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I am of sound mind as I write this on January 1st, 2026.
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If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate or anything else,
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please know I am free of any inappropriate influence of any sort.
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Next, many of my Christian friends have suggested to me that I find Jesus before I go.
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I have to admit the risk-reward calculation for doing so is attractive to me, so here I go.
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I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I look forward to spending an attorney with him.
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The part about me not being a believer should be quickly resolved.
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If I wake up in heaven, I won't need any more convincing than that.
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Now, I think that if you declare Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, as I have done,
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and by the way, I've been roasted by the Washington Monthly for professing my faith publicly,
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I received my first Holy Communion and my confirmation,
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baptized at St. Mary's Church in Norwalk, Connecticut,
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one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in the northeastern United States,
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received my first Holy Communion at St. Aloysius,
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same place I was confirmed, St. Aloysius in New Canaan, Connecticut.
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And I admit to you, I wandered very far from the Lord.
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In my heyday as a powerful Washington lobbyist and power broker,
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I did some truly crazy things, things I now regret, things I have atoned for.
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But your declaration of Christ as your Savior has to be sincere.
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And I hope, because I loved Scott Adams, I loved his humor, I loved having him as a guest,
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I hope that his was sincere and that he now rests with the Lord in all eternity.
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Best known for skewering corporate absurdity through his comic strip Dilbert,
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Scott Adams brought laughter to millions of Americans navigating cubicles,
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bureaucracy, and managerial nonsense in soulless corporate America.
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What began as a comic strip back in 1989 evolved into a short critique of modern professional life
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and a reminder to laugh at systems that often take themselves way too seriously.
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In later years, Scott Adams' journey took an ideological turn.
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He became a best-selling author, most notably with his book,
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How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big,
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and a daily commentator through Real Coffee with Scott Adams, a great show.
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He stood out for his outspoken support for President Donald Trump,
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correctly predicting Trump's 2016 victory when very few others ventured forward to say so.
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Adams always maintained his independent, skeptical mindset, however, was never a follower.
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Always expressed his honest opinion, for better or for worse,
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In short, he was a great American, and his is a great story.
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For his legacy, Scott Adams asked only one thing,
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that others pay it forward, be useful, and live generously.
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And hopefully his conversion to Christianity will inspire others to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior,
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remembering that you may not have the opportunity to do so on your deathbed.
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So, Scott Adams, my friend, may you rest in peace.
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Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are now refusing to testify
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before congressional investigators over their connections to the deceased pedophile predator,
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The Clintons were subpoenaed by Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky
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as part of an investigation into their documented interactions with the convicted sex trafficker Epstein
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and his pimp Ghislaine Maxwell, including multiple flights aboard Epstein's private jet.
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was on the Lolita Express, as they called Jeffrey Epstein's private jet,
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and based on the sworn testimony that I have read
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from at least three of the cases of women who refused
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multi-million dollar settlements to press forward with lawsuits against Epstein,
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Bill Clinton was on the island at least three times.
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This all in the face of claims until recently by Bill Clinton
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declaring Comer's subpoenas invalid and legally unenforceable
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the president's former and, once again, trade advisor.
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But when both of them refused to testify before the House,
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or do we have a two-tiered justice system?
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You see the same thing in the case of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
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Now, I was charged with lying under oath to Congress,
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despite the fact that no misstatement I made was material,
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because there was no underlying crime to lie about.
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you have been convicted of covering up for Donald Trump,
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Now, Jerome Powell very specifically lied before the U.S. Senate
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of the palatial headquarters for the Federal Reserve.
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He specifically said that that development plan had no private elevators
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All those things were material lies, lies that involved literally millions of dollars
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It's amazing that the heads of the central banks in countries around the world have all stepped forward
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to support Jerome Powell, to which I say, what business is it of theirs?
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It doesn't matter whether he's the chairman of the Federal Reserve,
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It doesn't matter whether he's used that position politically.
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Donald Trump deserved and the country should have had
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a contempt of Congress proceeding against Bill and Hillary.
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Contempt of Congress carries a penalty of up to $100,000 in fines
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and a year in jail if enforced by the Justice Department,
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although critics note such charges are rarely pursued
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unless, of course, you're a Trump-supporting Republican,
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The refusal comes weeks after the Trump Justice Department
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documents that prominently reference Bill Clinton.
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the Clintons have assembled a high-powered legal team
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of conducting a politically-motored investigation
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claimed they're now prepared to fight for this country
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I think they just described exactly what they tried to do to Donald Trump.
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So they're now hoist on their own petard, as they say.
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The Trump Justice Department should initiate criminal charges
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They must be held accountable for any potential participation
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as well as the other hosts of crimes they're guilty of,
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Vince Foster's death, Seth Rich, or you name it.
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When we come back, I have a good laugh over the fact
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that Stinky Steve Bannon says he's running for president.
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First of all, this guy doesn't look like he can run.
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But despite the fact that he rarely bathes, doesn't shave,
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he kind of has the toothless hobo look down pat,
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he now wants us to believe he's running for president.
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By doing so, I think he exposes the fact that it's he
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that had a very close working relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
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after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes in Florida
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and before he was re-indicted for child sex trafficking in 2019.
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So I'll have a lot more to say about Steve Bannon
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I'm Roger Stone. You're back in the Stone Zone.
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And please don't go away, because we'll be right back.
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Every week, the Payne family cuts straight to the real financial story.
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It does feel very similar to what we experienced in the 90s.
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Listen to the Paying Points of Wealth on the Red Apple Podcast Network.
00:13:34.760
I can't tell you how much I appreciate those warm words from Vice President J.D. Vance.
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Evidently, Vance has a new challenger for the Republican nomination in 2028.
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The megalomaniacal narcissist Steve Bannon thinks he's running for president.
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This news surprises nobody who knows who's been following this lunatic.
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Bannon has always seen himself, not President Donald Trump, as the top dog in the MAGA movement.
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Back in 2020, 2019, 2020, Bannon was positive that Trump was guilty of Russian collusion.
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At least that's what he told the author Michael Wolff.
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And Bannon was planning his 2020 campaign, a campaign that never happened.
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For those who don't know, he perjured himself in his testimony against me at my trial,
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saying one thing before the House Intelligence Committee under oath,
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where he claimed that he had never discussed WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, or the allegedly stolen emails with me,
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and then completely reversing himself on the stand at my trial,
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where he showed up as a surprise witness for Robert Mueller.
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There he said that he and I had discussed WikiLeaks and Julian Assange,
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and the allegedly stolen emails in every phone conversation we had in 2016.
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In fact, I took three tests that proved that that was not true.
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So Bannon was basically trying to throw me over the side,
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paint me as a criminal and part of a likely deal to save his own hide.
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You see, he stole $15 million from the We Build the Wall project,
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a federal crime that President Trump pardoned him for him,
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and was supposed to go to trial in Manhattan before the very same judge as President Trump.
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And strangely enough, Bannon pled guilty to that theft
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and received a sentence of no jail time from a liberal Democrat judge.
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I really hope Bannon does go through with it and runs for president in 2028, and here's why.
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Right now, Bannon hides in a tightly controlled echo chamber,
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barking at loyal podcast listeners who never even asked him hard questions.
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But put him on a debate stage under bright lights, shoulder-to-shoulder with real candidates,
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although I doubt he can get on the ballot in most states, and there's nowhere to run.
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after the world understood the depth of Epstein's depravity,
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Bannon still sought him out, not accidentally, not casually, but deliberately.
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He was advising Epstein, strategizing with him, helping him to plot image rehabilitation,
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discussing ways to demonize Epstein's victims as part of a morally bankrupt image consulting scheme.
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All of this is proven in the emails that were recently released by the House Oversight Committee.
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The emails showed Bannon coordinating puff-piece documentary efforts,
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and responding approvingly to claims that President Trump feared his friendship with the sex predator.
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This was a desperate, disgraced slob doing damage control for a mobster who destroyed lives.
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This is in no way comparable to President Donald Trump,
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who cut ties with Epstein way back in 2004 and banned him from Mar-a-Lago and all of his properties
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once it became known that Epstein was a pedophile.
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He moved closer to Epstein when others ran away.
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So if Steve Bannon thinks he's going to crown himself as the prophet of populism post-Trump,
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His Epstein record will be fair game, front and center.
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And no amount of bluster, podcasts, or fake bravado
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will prevent Steve Bannon from being exposed on the grandest of stages.
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and I'm going to pursue this bloated, gin-soaked windbag
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because he has the gall to go through a presidential bid.
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I will be there to ask the hard, hard questions.
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When we come back, Iran and the brutal regime there is teetering.
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On the brink of destruction, we need to pray for that.
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We'll talk about it when we return to the Stone Zone.
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I'm so happy to be back with you after five days in a sickbed,
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but a strict regimen of vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc,
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which makes the vitamin C more effective, bed rest, and a lot of water.
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And I'm back on my feet and feeling fit as a fiddle.
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Iran stands at a historic inflection report right now,
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one whose consequences really go far beyond the Middle East.
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To understand today's unrest, Americans should recall a truth often forgotten.
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And that is before 1979, Iran was a modern, forward-looking nation.
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Tehran was a cosmopolitan city of universities, commerce, and culture.
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Iranian women, dressed freely, were allowed to be educated,
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While most definitely imperfect under the Shah,
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who was very far from an exemplar of human rights, to be sure,
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was nonetheless oriented towards development and engagement with the West.
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That path ended in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution,
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when radical clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the monarchy
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and imposed a theocratic regime rooted in religious absolutism.
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This is one of the most brutal regimes in the history of the world.
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President Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer from Georgia,
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who I think lacked any level of sophistication when it came to international affairs,
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President Richard Nixon predicted that this day would come.
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that the new Iranian government was not a government, but a mob.
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So this was not a revolution of freedom, but a revolution of repression.
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Almost immediately, the new rulers defined the United States as their chief enemy.
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You'll recall culminated in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
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Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 445 days,
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and a calculated act of state-sponsored terrorism that signaled how the regime would rule
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through intimidation and spectacle, not to mention brutality.
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From that revolution emerged the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC,
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The IRGC dominates large parts of the economy, enforces domestic repression,
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and directs terrorist proxies across the region.
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Its mission is not national defense, but regime survival,
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But U.S. allies and allied sanctions aimed to cut off the system from global finance
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and denying it resources for terror and nuclear ambitions have been successful.
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And today, the regime teeters on the brink of collapse because the quality of life,
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the availability and cost of food, the availability of jobs,
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The greatest victims, sadly, are the ordinary Iranians who increasingly reject clerical rule.
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Across the country now, women, students, and workers protest corruption,
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repression, and the economic ruin that the Ayatollahs have brought.
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Despite the brutal crackdowns, the demonstrations continue.
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That is what impresses me the most, the incredible courage of the Iranian people,
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They have done mass public executions of their political opponents.
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And the brutality of the regime and the severity of their secret police cannot be underestimated.
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History shows why no regime can endure forever once it governs only by fear.
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What we're witnessing in Iran is not a passing disturbance,
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but the slow erosion of a system that has lost the consent of its people
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President Trump clearly supporting the resistance.
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The time is now to send the Islamic dictatorship into the ash bin of history.
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Now, there are those who have advocated a return of the Shah's son
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I'll get a thousand trolls attacking me on social media right after the program,
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but I don't think going from theocracy back to a monarchy is the answer.
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The people of Iran need democratic elections and freedom,
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Now we know that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the Somalian immigrant,
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is facing renewed scrutiny after lawmakers uncovered a proposed earmark
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directing more than $1 million of our tax money to a little-known
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Somali-led addiction recovery organization that apparently shares an address with a restaurant.
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The controversy resurfaced this week as Congress unveiled a massive $174 billion spending package.
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Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican of Iowa, identified a $1,031,000 earmark.
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That's a piece of legislation put forward by a very specific legislator for a very specific source.
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Rooted through the Department of Justice for an organization called Generation Hope Minnesota.
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The request was included alongside funding proposals co-led by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar,
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a woman who combs her hair with buttered toast,
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and the other senator who I've never heard of and couldn't identify in a police lineup, Tina Smith.
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According to Ernst, the earmark was described as funding for a substance abuse clinic.
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However, her staff found the group was operating out of the same address as a Somali restaurant,
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with leadership tied to a single residential home.
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Ernst said the situation has a ton of red flags,
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and said that Congress ultimately stripped the funding from the bill.
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describes itself as serving East African communities in the Twin Cities.
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Reporting indicates the organization listed multiple addresses,
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including one matching the restaurant location,
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raising further questions about transparency and oversight.
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Senator Ernst says she is now working to redirect the funds towards federal fraud prevention efforts,
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warning that Minnesota has become a hot spot for misuse of federal dollars,
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almost all of it flowing to its large proportion of Somali residents.
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Subsequently, Omar made headlines over the weekend after joining protests outside of Minneapolis Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility,
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where she was reportedly denied entry while attempting to confront federal agents.
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It's no surprise why Ilhan Omar is fighting against an investigation into the Somali community.
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having been exposed for marrying her own brother
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as part of the immigration fraud scheme that allowed her to enter the United States
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And it has been alleged that she embezzled money through a consulting grift
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Ilhan Omar is a testimony to the fruits of diversity and multiculturalism
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And for that crime, she was given a brutal nine-year sentence.
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Tina Peters has also appeared here in the Stone Zone.
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after President Trump publicly criticized Polis