Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) has long been a baffling phenomenon. The way a formerly adoring media and ruling elite turned on him was one thing—a kind of autoimmune response from the establishment to an invading body—and was not wholly surprising at the outset. The way that same media and ruling elite managed to convince half the country he was Hitler— that was something else entirely. However, this famous billionaire had been on the scene for decades, had done guest spots in movies, had his own television show for God’s sake.
Drukier opens the episode discussing the recent bombshell that during the waning days of the Trump administration, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called his Chinese counterpart to assure him that we were not planning a nuclear strike against China, but that if we were, Milley would be sure to give them a head’s up. Milley also allegedly wanted senior military officials to promise they wouldn’t carry out any orders Trump gave them for a nuclear strike unless Milley was there when the order was given. Milley’s spokesman has defended this call as normal, Biden continues to have absolute faith in him, and the media and leftists everywhere have insisted the call was no big deal because Donald Trump was unhinged and someone had to protect the world from him. Setting aside the simple fact that Trump is the first president since Ford not to start a war, the mental gymnastics it takes to excuse this kind of breach of protocol is breathtaking, and can’t be explained away by anything other than a serious case of TDS. The orange man was bad, and therefore anything anyone did to undermine him, up to and including violating the chain of command, was by definition good.
Drukier dives into this story with her first guest, Bill Gertz, who is The Washington Times’ national security correspondent. Regardless of what anyone on the left is saying, Gertz is adamant that there was nothing standard about the phone calls between Milley and his Chinese counterpart. Milley has claimed the calls were coordinated within the department, but Gertz has spoken with officials from the Trump administration who recall things quite differently. They were not aware of the phone calls, which naturally undermined their ability to put pressure on Beijing when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs was telling them not to worry, he had their back.
Drukier then wants to know what Chinese leaders think of this mess, which Gertz feels plays right into their hands. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been looking for ways to paint us as weak on the world stage as they seek to overtake us as the dominant global power. Having a modern day Benedict Arnold siding with China over the United States plays right into its hands, so thanks for that, Gen. Milley.
However, in what now clearly seems to be an effort at beating our chests to show how fierce we still are, the United States has entered into an alliance with the UK and Australia that will supply Australia with submarines to beef up their defense in the region. Of course because this is the same deal that upset the French so much, they all but gave us le bras d’honneur as they packed up their ambassadors and left the country. Gertz feels it was a good decision anyway, as it will remind China that we’re still a very powerful nation, especially with the expansion of its navy and its moves toward taking over the South China Sea. This is particularly relevant when it comes to Taiwan, a nation China is working hard to convince that the United States will abandon it in any kind of military conflict with the People’s Liberation Army. Gertz discusses some of the moves Taiwan is making to defend itself including buying American aircraft, in light of China increasingly encroaching on its air space. He feels this is an important step in deterring the Chinese regime, ending his interview on a note that at least doesn’t feel entirely bleak.
After breaking down the Milley scandal and efforts to stop China from ramping up aggression on the other side of the planet, the episode has its first Q&A, which ends up feeling like a truly representative cross-section of the American population at the moment. A number of people, all older, seem to truly have their finger on the pulse of what happened in Afghanistan and the danger of having a southern border that is wide open, regardless of what Jen Psaki says. Then there are a number of younger people who either think we have more dangerous extremism at home (i.e. the far overblown white supremacists) or readily admit to not really knowing enough about anything to know whether they should be concerned or not. At least there’s a guy in a Captain America costume who clearly knows what’s going on, so that’s something.
The second half of the episode is devoted to Larry Elder and his unfortunately failed campaign to kick Gavin Newsom out of the governor’s mansion in California. Personally, I hoped in vain he would be successful from all the way on the other side of the country, but California is so deeply blue it was always a bit of a long shot—and that was before the L.A. Times started acting as Newsom’s personal attack dog. Drukier brings on the former Democratic California Senate Majority Leader, Gloria Romero, who seems to be having a minor red-pill moment. Though she still considers herself a Democrat, she is able to call out many of the issues caused by one-party rule in California, with California’s failing education system being at the top of her list of priorities. She was also very turned off by the blatant hypocrisy on display among California’s elected officials, Newsom in particular, who not only had his infamous French Laundry soiree but sent his children to private school while keeping public schools shut down during the pandemic. It was egregious enough for Romero to sign onto the petition that triggered the recall election and then cross party lines to endorse Elder.
When it comes to crossing party lines, Drukier wonders if simply having an “R” next to a candidate’s name is enough to sink them in an election, but Romero thinks it’s more complicated than that. While it’s true that California skews heavily toward Democrats, Newsom also had a massive war chest—being allowed to raise limitless funds as the incumbent—and he had the media firmly on his side. Elder only ran a campaign for seven weeks, yet he was still scary enough for the media to call him the next Donald Trump (there’s that TDS again), and for the L.A. Times and the public to hurl a barrage of racist attacks at him. Romero mentions the disgusting “black face of white supremacy” headline the Times ran in August, as well as the white woman in a gorilla mask who threw eggs at Elder and then assaulted a member of his security staff while he was in Venice Beach. The media acknowledged there had been a physical altercation at one of his campaign stops, but they used a misleading photo that made it look like he was slapping a white woman (not the one who was wearing the gorilla mask—they never mentioned her) when in fact she was someone he knew and he was moving in for a hug.
Though Elder himself is loath to ever pull the race card, Romero has no such qualms, calling these attacks blatantly racist. They are, of course, relying on the idea that he somehow isn’t really black because he doesn’t support the correct policies (meaning the ones Democrats push), while also using imagery that is truly reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, where racist organizations like the Klu Klux Klan frequently pushed the idea that savage black men routinely went around raping white women. What’s even more disgusting than the fact that the Times published these pieces in the first place is that they accomplished their goal. Elder faced an uphill battle to begin with, and these articles ensured disaffected Democrats wouldn’t take a second look at him.
Romero’s eyes are definitely open, however, and she sees Elder’s campaign as a lost battle that has nonetheless started a larger movement. Next year is the gubernatorial election which she thinks Elder may want to run in, and she also supposes he might broaden his horizons in a national campaign. Whether she’s right on how many Californians have woken up to the state of their State will depend largely on whether they can connect the dots between their declining standard of living and the politicians and the policies they keep voting for, and then whether they’re willing to vote for someone offering something different. Given the history of people fleeing blue states for red states, only to vote for the same policies that had them fleeing the blue states to begin with, I’m not as optimistic as Romero, but I also don’t live in California. Perhaps there are enough people living there who are fed up with an exploding homeless population, failing schools, and streets filled with human excrement and hypodermic needles that they’ll take the opportunity next year to show Gavin Newsom the door.
The episode closes with the second Q&A, this time on whether Congress should have to abide by the same vaccine mandate as the rest of the country. Here again the responses seem representative of much of the population, with a number of people apparently misunderstanding the question and giving their opinions on the mandate itself, and the rest stating firmly that yes, obviously Congress should have to abide by the same rules as the plebs. It’s disheartening to see how many respondents have no problem forcing their fellow citizens to undergo a medical procedure they don’t want or may have been advised against, but at least Captain America’s still there to give his opinion.
All told, this is an excellent half hour spent on two topics that aren’t getting the attention they deserve in the mainstream media, and that alone is enough of a reason to watch and share it. The two interviewees have a firm handle on the subject matter and are very engaging. Drukier knows exactly which questions to ask to bring out the best discussions, and did I mention there’s a guy in a Captain America costume? You aren’t going to see that on the mainstream media, so make some time in your schedule to watch this episode of “The Nation Speaks.”
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