The Dan Bongino Show - Ep. 799 The Liberal Culture War Hits Critical Mass

Episode Date: September 4, 2018

Summary: In this episode I address the outrageous decision by Nike to make Colin Kaepernick the face of its new ad campaign. I also address the profound impact of the Trump presidency on the courts.    News Picks: Who is Stefan Halper? And why was he spying on the Trump team?   Margot Cleveland’s new piece addresses a key flaw in the FBI’s investigative tactics in the Papadopoulos case.    This Miami Herald piece shows who the real Colin Kaepernick is.    What is Nike doing? This may be one of the worst business decisions in U.S. history.    John Brennan loves Colin Kaepernick.    Illegal immigrants are opting out of government welfare programs due to Trump’s immigration policies.    Copyright CRTV. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Dan Bongino Show. Get ready to hear the truth about America with your host, Dan Bongino. Are you entertained? Oh my gosh, folks. Welcome to the Dan Bongino Show. Are you watching this Senate hearing for Kavanaugh? Oh my gosh. The Democrats, you want chaos? Yeah, no, I. The Democrats, you want chaos? Yeah, no, I'm telling you. You want chaos? You sure? Because we can give it to you.

You want chaos? We'll give that to you. You sure that's what you want? You thought you wanted to scrap the filibuster too? Look at how well that worked out for you. You want chaos? We can give you chaos. So this actually wasn't even going to be part of the show

today, but now since the Democrats have lost their minds in the hearing and have made complete fools, clowns, jokes, frauds, street show performers, total chaos out of the hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court Justice,

which started today, in case you missed it. If you're not... It is absolute chaos right now. It is the WWE right now. All right, Joe, producer Joe, how are you today? I'm doing okay, man. If I don't ask you that, people get very upset. You don't understand. So I got to be sure to get that in every day.

I made the mistake of missing that once. And man, did I get emails like you wouldn't believe. All right. I've got a lot to get to. I got a stack show as we said the Kavanaugh hearings Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nominee the Senate confirmation hearings begin today the Democrats have made embarrassments and fools out of themselves but they've always been fools I'm talking about up on the hill I'm not talking about out there in America because I think a lot of moderate Democrats are watching this embarrassed that these people

represent their party a bunch of clowns in there screaming. That was that old song. The fool's on the hill. Yeah, there you go. I never heard it. Sorry. The fool on the hill was the song. You know me.

We just made it plural. People, protesters screaming and the crowd getting thrown out. Just a litany of embarrassing episodes. Just a total disgrace. But that's the Democrats. That's who they are. They're a broken, pathetic, sorry bunch of losers up on the hill. It's true.

So I want to get to that. I want to get to Nike. Dude. Nike and probably the worst, or definitely one of the worst business decisions in the history of American business. And a couple more stories as well. All right, today's show brought to you

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Offer code DAN. Great product. We love it. Used it just the other day day as a matter of fact. Okay. First, yeah, the Kavanaugh hearing. Folks, listen. You want chaos?

We're going to give them chaos, okay? I don't know any nice diplomatic way to say this, but we live in a constitutional republic. In the constitutional republic, this is not a direct democracy. It's not a plebiscite here this is a this is a constitutional republic the way we operate we don't vote on issues we vote on people to vote on issues if we're going to vote on people who are going to act like complete imbeciles and

losers like they are right now up in this hearing up on the hill they have this senate confirmation hearing going on for kavanaugh in case you missed it I'll just give you a quick synopsis. It's total, complete chaos. The Democrat loons apparently have trucked in a bunch of protesters to scream and yell. It took about five to ten minutes to get the protesters out. It wouldn't even let the hearing start. As the chairman, Chuck Grassley, started to talk, the Democrats started to interrupt him with a bunch of nonsensical motions, not for the purpose of getting the motion passed, but for the purpose of stopping the hearing.

The Democrats want chaos. The Democrats want the collapse of the Constitutional Republic. The Democrats don't care anymore, folks. They don't care. Any semblance of law and order or fidelity to rules in this system is gone and is out the window. Now, the analogy I've used in the past and the problem we're having here is if we as constitutional conservatives, Republicans, and libertarians

adhere to a set of rules that the other side doesn't respect, I don't know, there's no practical path forward to getting back to what would be a normal sense of order. And the only analogy I can use for you is if this is a boxing match and one side decides that they're going to put lead weights in their gloves and they're going to bite you and knee you below the belt during the boxing match and the other side, us, says, no, we're going to stick by the rules. The problem is it's not survivable.

It's not just that you're going to lose the match it's that it's not even survivable right what i'm getting at here joe is the constitutional republic is not survivable if the fidelity to the rules is only applied to by one side now i don't know any other way to say this but if these guys in this hearing will not let this hearing go on then there's got there has to be procedural votes in the Senate to take a vote whether they're there or not. I don't care. Shut off their microphones. Do whatever you want.

Oh, man, we're going to look like tyrants. Are you serious? who, because they lost an election, because they lost the Senate, and they lost the House of Representatives, in a fair election, despite all their nonsensical, ridiculous, hyperbolic assertions otherwise, is absolutely refusing to abide by the Senate consent rule. Oh, but Merrick Garland. They didn't have the votes for Merrick Garland.

End of story. You didn't have the Senate. It's not our fault you suck and can't win an election in the Senate. How about that? That's not our fault. It's not our fault you suck and can't win an election in the Senate. How about that? That's not our fault. It is not our fault that when Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, you didn't have the votes to get him through in the last year of a presidency, and we just obeyed the Biden rule.

Joe Biden himself, when he was a U.S. senator, said that we shouldn't be taking on a vote for a Supreme Court nominee in the end year of a presidency. You don't like it? Go win a darn election. But you can't because you suck. That's why. Your party sucks. Your ideas suck. I'm sorry, folks. I'm not being diplomatic today. I am tired of these police state tyrants getting people spied on, locked up, presidential opposition people, government being weaponized, weaponizing the IRS and conservatives. Well, I got to play by the rules. There's no rules. Do you understand the rules are gone?

Grasley, he's a nice guy. I like him, but I'm sorry. It's time to shut the microphones off. You know what? I'll tell you what. These guys don't want to shut up, Joe. Take the confirmation vote right now. Do whatever you can.

The rules. All right, everybody's got two minutes. You got a question? I don't care what the media is going to be upset. He's going to be deemed an illegitimate. I don't care. Do you understand that the rules are gone? The Democrats have brought about a state of complete, utter, total chaos.

This is an embarrassment. This is not a hearing. This is a complete sideshow. This is a joke. It's a street performance. It's a farce. It's a shell game in Times Square. By the way, don't ever play.

You know you can't win those, right? Right. When I was a cop and a cadet in New York City, you can't win that. There's no bean under the shell, okay? You can't win those games, I promise you. Once in a blue moon, they let someone win just so other people come in. This is a shell game. It's a total farce.

Don't... We have to go... Now it's time... If you're going to put lead weights in your gloves, we're putting lead weights in ours too. Shut it down. Use every parliamentary Senate procedure you can. These guys don't want to shut up and they don't want to let the hearing go and they don't want to abide by the rules of the republic.

Then we don't have to abide by them. Or better off, use the rules and make them look silly. I didn't want to waste a lot of time on this, but I'm just so beyond frustrated with Republicans up on the Hill who continue to try and maintain some sense of

unearned decorum. What do you mean decorum? The place is devolved into a total mess. This is a disgrace. Folks, if you haven't seen it, don't worry, you're not missing it. I'm giving you the update you need now. If you're headed home from work tonight,

you're listening to this at five o'clock. If you're listening to this in your lunch hour, the Senate hearings to nominate, excuse me, to confirm Kavanaugh are happening now to the Supreme Court. According to the Constitution, how it works. The Democrats get to answer questions. The Republicans get to ask questions.

Excuse me. The Republicans get to ask questions. Kavanaugh answers the questions and they take a vote. The Democrats aren't interested in that. They trucked in a bunch of protesters to scream and yell. The senators are screaming and yelling like maniacs. They're embarrassing themselves. They're all trying to get money from donors. It's evolved into complete chaos. So again, just get up there, Graslie, and say, mics are getting shut off. Listen, if you're not going to let this go forward, mics are shut off. Who cares what the media

says? Why do you care? The other side is pounding you into oblivion with brass knuckles and lead weights. Are you talking about the media? Who cares? This is an embarrassment. A farce.

A total disgrace. You want chaos? We'll give you chaos. That's the attitude we need to take now. It's ridiculous. Fidelity to the rules. There are no rules anymore. Rules.

The Trumpier rules rules you weaponize the government to spy on a presidential candidate you weaponize the irs to take out packs you didn't like on the conservative side you let four patriots die in benghazi and still haven't come up with an adequate explanation why you didn't save them and then all of a sudden the rule give me a break with the rules shut up you know and I think what bothers a lot of us on this side is that nobody's got the pine cones to enforce the law. Dude, the pine cones. I've heard a lot of analogies.

I've never heard the pine cones. They don't. They don't. Listen, I like Grassley, but this is absurd. You got a bunch of Democrat senators losing their marbles, humiliating themselves on a national stage, embarrassing themselves, and Grassley's like, hey, you know, we got all week to do.

No, we don't. I would shut that down right now. Yep. Oh, man. All right, so I'll keep you updated. I've got this thing on, but it's just chaos. Totally embarrassing. Okay, Nike nike oh my gosh what this has got to be the worst business decision i've seen in modern american history i mean seriously what when i saw this yesterday i am not kidding uh for those of

you that missed it by the way forgive me sometimes i get right to the story assuming you've seen it my mistake colin kaepernick um you know anti-American kneeler who uh started the whole let's embarrass the country and uh disgrace the national anthem by kneeling during the uh during the uh singing of our national anthem at NFL football games most of you know who he is um Kaepernick uh doesn't have a contract in the NFL right now but oh who comes to the rescue nike nike yes n-i-k-e that nike i i i've read this story about nike pulling kaepernick in apparently he's been on the nike payroll for a long time as an ad man as a as a pitch man they rolled out their new just do it campaign which is an old campaign you You know Nike, Just Do It.

That's one of their sayings, Just Do It. And they've had an elite group of athletes who have done this. So the face of their new Just Do It campaign is Colin Kaepernick. Folks, I swear to you when I read this, I'm not making this up. If you're wondering why I didn't tweet about it yesterday, despite my interest in this issue, having been a cop myself, and this disgrace of a human being Kaepernick who wore socks during practice with cops depicted as pigs if you're wondering why I didn't tweet anything about it yesterday I didn't tweet anything about it yesterday because I thought this I thought this can't be real that

there is no way a major corporate brand like Nike that appeals to a bipartisan heartland bubble, coastal elite bubble, a broad swath of people geographically, regionally, and politically, that there is absolutely no way that the Nike board would okay a decision like this to take on such a disgraced figure such as Colin Kaepernick. I thought there's simply no way. I saw articles in actual credible places and I thought, Joe, somebody's getting work. This is not real. There's no way Nike is this stupid.

Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, Nike is this stupid. I cannot believe this is going to be, I believe, one of the biggest conservative boycotts and American boycotts of a brand you've seen in American history. Now, in case you think this was a good decision, I'm a free marketeer. I let the market decide, just like the market decided that the absurd liberal boycott of In-N-Out Burger was a bad call because In-N-Out Burger was packed. There were lines around the corner. I covered that for the last two days, so no need to readdress that.

You can listen to the shows for details. So In-N-Out Burger, liberals announce a boycott. In-N-Out Burger is packed. Now, that's not a publicly traded company, but we can assume their business went through the roof because liberal boycotts are always a joke because liberals don't believe in anything. They only believe in state power, but just not for them because they're hypocrites, right? I told you though, when conservatives boycott, it is big trouble for businesses. Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, the NFL, it will do lasting damage

because as I always say, conservatives never, ever forget. Ever, ever, ever. You violate our trust, it's over. Sweep the leg, Johnny. It's over. So the market opens this morning, Joe. Nike stock is down 2% to 3% this morning. Of course it is. Wiping out millions of dollars in value in the company.

Shazam. I love Coburn. I actually know that one. Shockingly, I barely know these things. Wiping out all of this value because conservatives, now I have Nike shoes, I have Nike shorts. I'm telling you right now, I will not be buying Nike ever again.

I told my wife and my daughter last night, my daughter was disappointed. My daughter was disappointed. She actually likes Nike. She likes Nike products. There's a Nike store in the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach. I am now done with Nike forever. I used to be a big fan of Nike Freeze. That is the last pair I've ever bought.

So goodbye, Nike. Listen, I'm not a rich man, but I'm definitely not a poor man. I've worked hard my whole life. I've made some good investments. But I'm going to guess, Joe, with me alone, my family, and our consumption of Nike products through the years, that that decision alone in my family is probably going to cost Nike upwards of $5,000 to $10,000 over the course of our lifetime. Maybe more. Yeah, you guys use a lot of athletic gear and stuff.

Oh, my gosh. My daughter swims. She rows. My youngest daughter's athletic. My oldest daughter's into just about everything. She wants to play basketball. I run. I do CrossFit-type exercises, everything from mixed martial arts down.

I am done with Nike. D-O-N-E. Stick a fork in Nike for me. Goodbye now. Now, they have a 2% stock drop. Now, let me just give you some red meat for your liberal friends, because I'm sure your liberal friends are going to have some kind of a ridiculous comeback. Here is the problem I have with this in contrast to In-N-Out.

Because your liberal friends, understandably so, on Twitter, because they're always looking for an argument and a way, sadly, to embarrass and make America look silly. And Kaepernick is their guy. The liberals love Kaepernick because they love to disrespect the national anthem. A lot of them, not all of them. But it's sad, but true. Here is the difference. In-N-Out Burger did not choose to make the Republican Party platform a central tenet of their brand and advertising campaign joe make sure if i if i'm unclear on this please stop me because i want the audience to understand the distinction how there's not there's no hypocrisy here matter of fact in and out burger was very clear that and they are right by the way all you have to do is look at their donation history through the fec the federal

election commission in and out burger has made donations to democrats and republicans and in andOut Burger was crystal clear in their public statement on why they made this donation to the Republican Party. They're interested in the business climate of California. They donate to pro-business Democrats and pro-business Republicans. Ladies and gentlemen, there's nothing controversial about that at all. I support through my money and buy, I don't mean donations, but I buy products from companies that I'm sure have donated to the Democrat Party. I'm sure of it. As long as it's not a part of your public branding and it's not an effort to

indoctrinate my kids, it happens. People donate to causes, that's fine. The difference, Joe, and make sure I'm clear on this, you are the audience on Budsman, is In-N-Out did not make this some public campaign. In-N-Out did not make this some public campaign. In-N-Out did not go out and put on their,

put on the bags that they sell their hamburgers in, you know, tax cuts for all. They, you know, vote GOP. That's not what they did. Now, election laws, they couldn't do that, but you get my point. Yeah. Nike has chosen voluntarily

in one of the worst business decisions, and this business decision will be taught in business schools for eons as an example of what not to do. I believe this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I'm sure of it. Ladies and gentlemen,

I believe we've reached a moment. Conservatives now understand the market power of boycotts. Nike chose to make Kaepernick the face of their company in the Just Do It campaign. The face. In other words, this is us.

This is us. And that us, the kneelers I'm talking about, the kneelers, the disrespecting the National Anthem folks, the pigs on the socks depicted as, cops depicted as pigs,

the statements about Cuba and Castro that Kaepernick made. Oh, I got that. I'll get to that in a second. Americans out there who love this country of all races, colors and creeds, Joe, are saying, no, no, no. That may be you, Nike, but that ain't us. I love my country. For its flaws, for its sins, for its people. I love my country. There is no more aspirational country that tries to stay on the righteous path

as often as we do. There is no country on earth as benevolent, as generous, or as forfeited more of its lives to defend the freedom and liberty of others. You want to kneel before that national anthem in front of a national audience, you do it on your own. You want to make this guy the face of your brand,

that brand ain't me. You can take those sneakers and throw them in a barbecue pit outside because I'm done with them. Now, having said that, I'm not going to burn my sneakers because I think it emits toxin. I'm a conservative environmentalist. I mean that. I believe in the free markets. But I love clean water and clean air. I can't burn my sneakers. I just don't want to do it to burn them. But it's over. My business relationship with Nike is absolutely done.

And I am exactly what you want. What is that? What's that key advertising demo? 18 to 54, something like that? Yeah. Yeah, you know, you're in radio. I am in that key demo now. So is my wife.

And we would spend for our family. You just lost us for good. But it is because, and I want to be precise here, it's not that you made a donation to a cause. It's that you made this guy the face of your company saying, this is what we represent. Well, I've got news for you. American patriots who've died for this country,

who have family who've died for this country, and who would die for this country and love what it stands for despite all its flaws. That's not us. That's not us. This is one of the worst business decisions in American history. You've disgraced yourself. You've disgraced your company.

Disgraced the country, the NFL, and Nike, I assure you, I say this with no air of pretension at all. This show has become a force in conservative politics. Thanks exclusively to you. I work hard on it, but it's you, the audience, and you spreading the word that have made this show the force it is. And Joe and I, believe believe me are honored and i thank

god every night for all the opportunities he's put in front of me i mean that yes sir but if you think for a moment that i am the only one talking about this today on the air you are out of your mind this is going to be a hot topic because it touches a nerve for so many american patriots who just want one thing we can collectively agree on. And you know what that one thing is, Joe? We're a country that's flawed. We're a country of sinners. But we are a great country that has aspirational ideas of freedom and liberty that have sacrificed so much. We are the most benevolent, most charitable. We have left our dead on foreign shores defending the liberty of others multiple times.

You read the stories of the storming of Normandy Beach, of the boys of Ponduho. You read these stories over and over and over again. The Chosen River. Men and women dying for not only our freedoms but the freedom of others. And you choose to disgrace the national anthem? To kneel before it as a way to disrespect others, as a way to advance your cause for systemic oppression while you're collecting a check for millions of dollars claiming you sacrificed?

What exactly did you sacrifice? And Nike backs this up? No, no, no, no. No. So Nike, let me read something to you. Not only did your new ad sponsor by the way wear a pair of socks with cops depicted as pigs disgusting Nike should be hard if you were a police officer law enforcement out there buying this product I'm sorry I don't know what you're thinking

it's a free country do what you want you're more than welcome here to listen to the show but that is a very very bad decision but let me read something to you in this article please go to the show notes. Sign up for my email list. I hate to keep pulling, but it's important. Sign up to my email list or go to Bongino.com.

I pick out the show notes. There's a 2016 piece from the Miami Herald about Colin Kaepernick. It's an older piece. Pull it up on your phone. Keep it there. It is absolutely critical

you keep this piece up because at the end, a Miami Herald reporter starts asking Colin Kaepernick about Fidel Castro. Killer. Communist killer, Castro. La Pared, the wall. Lined up people against the wall. Shot

them. Political tyrant. Oppressor. Killer. Murderer. Murderer of hundreds of thousands. Keeper of political prisoners. The disgrace Fidel Castro. He's asked a question about Castro back in 2016. Why, Joe?

Because Kaepernick had a shirt on depicting Malcolm X's meeting with Fidel Castro. Here's a quote from Colin Kaepernick about killer, murderer, killer of men, women, suppressor and snuffer outer of human life. You yearn for liberty in Cuba, there's a good chance you were in a political prison or you're dead, wiped out, stealer of life, liberty, money, happiness, food, starving his people to death, human mutt, pig Fidel Castro. You want to know who the real pig is? A stain on human society, on human civilization,

the likes of which few can surpass. Here's a statement about pig Fidel Castro from Kaepernick. One thing Fidel Castro did do is that they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here, even though we're fully capable of doing that, Kaepernick said. The reporter writes in this piece, is this real life? This response is, please read this piece in the Herald. It's from 2016. The reporter's response, Joe, he's Cuban, by the way, the reporter. Is this real life? First, Cuba does not have the highest

literacy rate, and he cites a link. Second, don't be surprised if the same people who report Cuba's admittedly high literacy rate are related to those who report its election results. You know, Joe, the elections where Castro gets 100% of the vote. What? The polls are really reliable there. Murderer, pig, Castro gets 100% of the vote. Or God, of course, he can't get any votes anymore.

Not around to do that. But gets 100% of the vote. So we're supposed to trust. Number one, they don't have the highest literacy rate in the world. You can check the links in the report for that. But secondly, he makes a great point. We're supposed to trust Cuba's public sentiment in a society where if you vote for the opposition, you're probably killed or in political prison. Third, could it be Cuba?

This is the author again. I'm quoting him. Third, could it be Cuba doesn't have to invest a lot in its prison system? Because, you know, Joe, dungeons and firing squads are not expensive to maintain. Yeah. They don't spend a lot on their prisons. That's because when they throw people in political prison, they don't feed them. They starve them to death. Or, Joe, they just line them political prison, they don't feed them, they starve them to death,

or Joe, they just line them up against the wall and shoot them and kill them, like pig communists do. Pigs. Oh, you don't like it? This may not be the right show for you, then I'm sorry. You will get no quarter here if you are a socialist pig. None.

If you pride yourself on the taking of others lives liberty their happiness their kids happiness their prosperity their chance at a future their opportunity their freedom their vote everything and you imprison them you're a subhuman animal you deserve everything you get. He goes on, the author. Finally, it's bizarre that Kaepernick is extolling the education system of a country where people believe launching out into shark-infested seas to flee is a better idea than staying there. This is Colin Kaepernick, Nike.

This is your new guy. Disgrace, Nike. What the hell were you thinking? Now, if you're a hardworking man or woman out there that works for Nike, because I know I always get a lot of emails, I understand. Not you. You got to make a living.

I totally get it. I'm not trying to blame you for this. It's obviously not your call. But if you were one of the board members or ad people who had any say in the acceptance of this anti-American, anti-cop, disgraced former athlete as your ad man, you are a horrifyingly stupid individual and your company is going to pay. And your company is going to pay and your company is going to pay big time i assure you nike is going to be the new target and the new dick sporting goods just that on steroids nobody will ever ever forgive you for this

so here's the solution joe i can't suggest to you i suggest to you what to do. Obviously, I can't implement it. It's a free market. You do what you want. You will lose. This is going to bury your company long term. You're not going to go out of business.

You're too big of a company and a global brand. I'm sure. But I promise you, the company you could have been is now dead. Now the company you will be is not the company you could have been is now dead. Now the company you will be is not the company you could have been. But what you should have done and what you should do going forward is immediately fire the sky tomorrow and do a public mea culpa to every cop, every military veteran, and every family who ever lost someone overseas for bringing on a guy who has disgraced the memory of your loved one and the working habits of your law enforcement family member

or you yourself will go out there every day and put your butts on the line to keep these board members of Nike and their families safe while their new ad man wears socks with pigs on them in his practice sessions to disgrace every single law enforcement guy out there while he collects millions of dollars in checks. This guy is a disgrace to humankind and an embarrassment all right i've got a couple other stories i want to get to um including some a great another great piece by margo cleveland at the federalist who does really terrific work um she brings up just an interesting it's a quick one but a fascinating

question about papadopoulos. And I also want to talk about California and what's going on with them. You can always count on California to leave you with some business craziness, including the absolutely failed In-N-Out Burger boycott. You can't even get In-N-Out Burger. I guess I wish it was a publicly traded company.

I would have bought stock. So, oh, this hearing's such a farce. What an embarrassment. It's still going on. All right right today's show also brought to you by buddies at policy genius hey september is national life insurance awareness month most people aren't aware of that in fact most people aren't aware they need life insurance at all you do that's why 40 of people don't have it i have it big big deal i need it i

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You can do the whole thing on your phone right now. That's policygenius.com, policygenius.com. The easy way to compare and buy life insurance. Check them out. They're great. Super easy to use too. Okay. Just quickly on California, because I want to move on to a couple of other things. I got some news stuff that I've been missing because we've been so loaded down with heavy stuff that I've missed some of the newsy stuff. And it's important because I want you to beat the liberals to the punch. So hysterically, Obam is on its last legs folks whether you know it or not i haven't covered an obamacare story in a long time um the reason the reason is obamacare has bedrocked itself in two things uh community rating and guaranteed issue um i used to talk about this all the time i haven't

brought it up in a while but the core tenet of obamacare is community rating meaning you're going to roughly you're going to price insurance, not according to the market price or what it actually costs, but you're going to price it according to a government formula. Meaning, Joe, if you were an older American, and as you know, I'm only 43, but as I get older, I'm requiring more medical attention than I did when I was younger due to the beatings I've taken. Older Americans generally are more expensive to insure. Not surprisingly, because they have problems associated with age. Just chronological time wears the body down.

That's not surprising, right? Right. Older Americans are expensive to insure. The government apparently doesn't recognize that and has instituted a formula to say, well, we're not going to price their insurance according to a market. We're going to price it according to a government formula. That's called community rating. The ratio is roughly three to one.

So you can't price an older person's insurance more than three times the price of a younger person's insurance, which absurdly leads to what? Severely underpricing the insurance for older folks, which means they have to bump up the price of insurance for younger folks who don't have any money or aren't in a financial position of strength in their lives, typically. As a general rule, Joe, can we agree in your 20s, you're not nearly as wealthy as you are in your 50s and 60s? No, you're not.

No. Okay, thanks. Were you? No. Okay, me either. In my 20s, I had nothing. I drove a Honda Civic Del Sol that turned orange because I parked it in the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

when I went through Secret Service training in the Georgia sun. It was red, cooked it, and made it orange, okay? So there's a three-to-one ratio. I did not have the money in my 20s. I did my older age, right? Community rating means you will charge old people this amount of money, young people this amount of money. It doesn't work.

It's an absolute failure because the bills don't go anywhere. If you're an older American consuming a lot of healthcare-related services, someone has to pay. So ironically, the younger people voting for Obamacare, you're the ones getting screwed and you're voting for this because you're paying more for your insurance to compensate older people. Now, there's a better way to do that and to reduce insurance for everyone. It's called the free market and getting government out of the system.

But the Democrats don't want that. So they insist on community rating and basically, Joe, artificial price caps. Yeah. You can't charge older people more than this. Yeah, but they cost more. Well, just make the money go away. Well, it's not. The doctor needs to get paid. Well, who's going to pay it? just make the money go away. Well, it's not. The doctor needs to get

paid. Well, who's going to pay it? Well, who's the answer? The younger people, your grandkids. That's who's paying it. That's who's paying. So community rating was number one. Second was guaranteed issue where not only do you have to subscribe to this price control plan for your insurance, but you have to give people

insurance almost any time. It's called guaranteed issue. Don't forget these two principles because everywhere they've been tried, they've failed miserably, including places like New York and other liberal states where some component of this was implemented and insurance costs are through the roof, right?

Guaranteed issue makes it even worse because now not only do you not have to maintain insurance for your lifespan in some form, you can get it at any time. Any insurance company has to give it to you. Well, what's the problem with that? Well, the problem with that is obvious, folks. If you're not paying insurance premiums from whatever,

16 on or whatever it may be, or 18 on in your life, and then all of a sudden you get into a car accident, we're America. This is the United States. You're going to be taken care of in an emergency room. Well, accident. We're America. This is the United States. You're going to be taken care of in an emergency room. Well, thankfully. We don't want to let you die, you know. But somebody's still got to pay the bill.

Who pays? You, because you didn't have insurance. Guaranteed Issue said, oh, even if you don't have insurance, Joe, they have to guarantee you a certain price through community rating, and you can get it almost any time. So what do you do? You're a guy who rides a motorcycle, which is great. Do your own thing.

But say you smoke, you live a higher risk lifestyle. Motorcycles can be more risky than cars. Smoking is obviously going to lead to a higher risk of lung cancer and other things. You say, I'm not going to get insurance. I'm going to get it the day before I go in the hospital for a lung cancer treatment. Well, that's not insurance. That's a welfare program. So community rating and guaranteed issue have bankrupted Obamacare. Obamacare will not work because of those two things.

Honest to God, folks, if you don't have a lot of time to research the details of it, like IPAB and other things, the payments advisory board and other things like that, that's fine. I'm telling you as your trusted commentator here, if you understand community rating and guaranteed issue, price controls, and the fact that they have to issue insurance at any time, which is not insurance, it's welfare, you understand why Obamacare will never, ever, ever work no matter what. It is an economic catastrophe and an impossibility. Now, having said that, the fact that Trump, thankfully, and the Republican Congress eliminated the individual mandate to buy Obamacare,

people are pulling out of Obamacare in droves. Why? Because community rating is up to price for younger, healthy people who can't afford to offset the cost for older people who are paying less due to community rating. So they're bailing out in droves the younger, healthy people who, Joe, because they're younger and healthy, don't consume as much medical services. And Obamacare had relied on them through the mandate to buy insurance known as the individual mandate to be legally forced by the IRS to buy insurance. The mandate is gone. Bye-bye. See ya. Wouldn't want to be you. individual mandate went away therefore young healthy people are like hey listen i'm not paying that premium i'm out what happened then it only left behind

sicker people and those sicker people are paying higher and higher premiums and it pulled out all the other people who are paying the premiums therefore Therefore, the pool of Obamacare premiums to offset the artificial price controls for older people has gone away. In other words, folks, older people who are consuming more healthcare who are in Obamacare, who are not on Medicare yet,

they needed those younger people's premiums to pay the bills. That's just the economic reality of it. You see where I'm going with this? The younger people, now that they're not forced because Trump got rid of the individual mandate to buy crappy Obamacare, pulled out.

Now some of the older folks who have this crappy Obamacare, their prices are going up because there's not enough younger people to be legally forced by the IRS to buy this crappy Obamacare. It's important you understand that. So what happened next? Trump has been dismantling this

garbage obamacare forever and it is a beautiful thing to watch first he gets rid of the individual mandate giving people a choice but now obama he was very slick obama and the democrats what they did show is they allowed these short-term plans if you let your if you left your job or something like that that were not Obamacare plans. They allowed you to have them, but you were only allowed to have them for three months or so. So they weren't a long-term solution. So what did Trump do? Trump...

I love when Trump does this. He comes in and he goes, ah, let's look at that. He allowed American consumers who don't want to be in Obamacare plans to buy short-term plans, Joe, that last a year, but were renewable for up to 36 months. Ladies and gentlemen, this was not a small change. Why?

Because people are now bailing out in droves of Obamacare, buying these short-term plans, which are not as comprehensive, but this is their choice. They don't want it. They don't want to pay the premiums. They want maybe catastrophic coverage, cancer coverage you know uh hiv hepatitis things that are serious it could really do damage but they don't want eyeglass coverage and they don't want you know coverage for uh you know general uh say a general physical exam they don't want they'll pay in cash right it's their choice people People are piling out.

So two takeaways, the pull out of the individual mandate by the Trump team, legislatively. People now aren't forced. They don't want it anymore. They're pulling out of Obamacare. Secondly, the availability of these short-term plans, now they can be extended

for up to 12 months and renewable for up to 36 months. People are like, you know what? I'm out of Obamacare. I'm going to get one of those short-term plans. The Democrats are in a panic. So what's happening? What's the news story, and why does this relate to you today?

Because, Joe, what do liberals hate more than anything? Choice! Freedom! They can't stand freedom! Freedom! William Wallace. They can't. They should make a brave heart for liberals. No freedom!

That should be their line. Wallace gets out there and goes, we don't want freedom. They hate freedom. So California has decided, the anti-freedom state, right, that they're going to pass a law, Joe. They're trying to get it through now,

banning these short-term plans. So let's just be clear. If you're in California, your government wants to stop you from freely going out and choosing an insurance plan that meets your needs only because it's a political advantage to them. It has nothing to do with you. It is just to be crystal clear on this. This law only stops your freedom of choice. It does nothing else. It doesn't force people to leave Obamacare. It doesn't mandate

that people leave Obamacare. It mandates one thing, that the short-term option for you in California will be banned so you can't buy it. That is it. Because it's the anti-freedom state. Again, the liberal Braveheart movie. Tyranny! That'd be William Wallace

in the liberal version of the movie. This is what they want and love. I read this story today in the Wall Street Journal. I absolutely can't believe, you know, California and how they frame it is hysterical. We can't allow these crap plans in our state. If they're crap plans, what are you worried about? Joe, is my logic faulty?

If these are really garbage plans, you understand the Democrats in California, they're lying, right? They're lying nonsense argument. These are state representatives in California going, we can't allow these garbage plans. You understand the Democrats in California, they're lying, right? They're lying nonsense argument. These are state representatives in California going, we can't allow these garbage plans. If they're garbage, then don't worry about it. What are you worried about?

People didn't buy the Lada, the Russian produced crap box car, right? Maybe know the Lada? If you've ever traveled to Russia, you've seen a Lada. I know, they're so bad. You drive it off the parking lot, it'll fall apart. The Lada. People didn't buy the Lada in the United States because it

was crap. Why are you so worried about people expressing their own humanity and choice? If these are really crap insurance plans that consumers don't want, then why are you so worried about banning them? Because they're not, and you're lying. Again, I wake up every morning determined to debunk the latest liberal nonsense,

and it is so comprehensive, the nonsense, that it's everywhere. Everywhere. All right. By the way, we only have Joe. Okay. Just so, Joe and I have code here. Joe and I talk in code. Semaphore.

Just so Joe and I have code here. Joe and I talk in code. Semaphore. We have like a show lingo and signs and stuff. It's great. But you know what? If we go to video, which we may be doing, so stay tuned. We'll let you know if we have any announcements.

We and you are going to have a tougher time there. You know? We're not going to be able to do our little code stuff. All right. This is a great story by Margo Cleveland. I have it in the show notes today again upon gino.com uh please subscribe to the email list that's just right there on the website really appreciate it it's been growing by leaps and bounds but she has a really great story she does really terrific work um over at the federalist she has a story about papadopoulos and uh you know my theory on Papadopoulos, of course, is that he was set up. George Papadopoulos was the Trump team advisor who I believe was set up as the fall guy. He is now getting ready to be sentenced by the Mueller team for alleged lies to the FBI about his meetings with this professor, Joseph Mifsud.

about his meetings with this professor, Joseph Mifsud. But one of the problems I've had with this case from the beginning is what I call the push-pull hypothesis here, if we give it a fancy term here. The push-pull hypothesis is this. They clearly spied on the Trump team, the Obama administration. We know that.

They employed actual central intelligence agency, intelligence community assets to spy on the Trump team. One of the suspects here is a guy named Stefan Halper, which also, not to keep hammering this, but I have a great story in the show notes today at Bongino.com, who is Stefan Halper? So you understand the depth of the spying operation against Trump.

But that's only half the scandal, folks. The effort by Stefan Halper and the United States government under the Obama administration to spy on the Trump team and pull negative information out about the Russians, I'm using air quotes, what they thought were the Russians, to spy on them was only half the story. The real scandal, I have argued relentlessly from the beginning, is the push. Forget about pulling the information out of Papadopoulos. Hey, did somebody say something to you about the Russians?

The real scandal is who pushed the information in, and I've been very suspicious of Joseph Mifsud, who was a small-t's professor. This small-t's professor is, according to allegations, is the one who told Papadopoulos about the dirt on Hillary, although, to be crystal clear, Mifsud denies this conclusively. He, dispositively, he denies this. He says he did not talk about cybersecurity.

He did not mention anything about emails. Mifsud says he did not say this. And now Papadopoulos seems to be having some new recollection about what this conversation, how this conversation happened. Here's the Cleveland angle on this. I'm sorry for the setup, but it's critical. And it is an absolutely terrific point. I'm sorry for the setup, but it's critical.

And it is an absolutely terrific point. So if Joseph Mifsud, this Maltese professor, according to the FBI's Russian collusion story, started this whole thing by telling a Trump advisor, Papadopoulos, about this Russian dirt on Hillary back in April of 2016. How come when he was in the country on February of 2017, speaking at a Global Ties conference sponsored by the United States State Department, who had an integral role in passing this information along to the FBI, the dirt, so-called dirt on Trump, right? Cleveland asked a great question. How come the FBI didn't get Papadopoulos to work for them? Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me give you a little background. This will make sense.

When you're a federal agent, which I did for 12 years of my life, and I loved it, the way you typically work a federal case is you rarely get the big fish immediately. Rarely. If you're working, I'll give you just a quick example of a case I worked. I worked a case in Long Island, New York. It was a credit card fraud case. And the way we found the credit card fraud case is we picked off a local guy in Long Island who had gone into

a home repair store and had used a fake experience credit card, a fake credit card, a stolen number to buy products. When we arrested him, we arrested his daughter, too. His daughter had used the stolen credit cards as well. And what did we do, Joe?

We interviewed him and said, listen, we're looking for your cooperation. Long story short is he gave up another guy who gave up another guy, which eventually led to an international, I'm not kidding, folks. I'm not exaggerating. We got some big Department of Justice award for this.

I'm going to pat myself on the back. I'm just trying to tell you the gravity of the crime. It wound up turning into a $300-plus million credit card fraud that was running everything from terrorist financing overseas. It was a monstrosity. I had to get the FBI involved. It took me probably two years, soup to nuts, and a lot of Stu phone calls to secure

telephone calls to get this thing done. You flip the lower guy to get to the other guy. Why am I telling you that? Because if you had the guy, Papadopoulos, which they did, keep in mind the timeline. April of 2016, he has this conversation with Mifsud. Mifsud's alleged to have told him about this Russian email thing. The big story, right? Russian connected people passed information to the Trump team. The FBI grabs him at the airport in November of that year. Again,

why they waited so long, you've heard prior shows, I think I know why that is. It's because they grab him on the same day that Peter Stroke text come out. Oh my gosh, look, what are we going to do to distract? Let's go arrest Papadopoulos. They get him on a PC charge at the airport. They arrest him in November.

Joe, Mifsud is in the country in February. So keep in mind, just get the timeline straight, Joe. April, the alleged crime happens where Mifsud tells him about the Russian email.

The FBI pinches him at the airport that November. They get him in November, Papadopoulos. They know Mifsud's coming into the country a few months later in February to speak at a conference with a State Department-sponsored conference. Joe, you are not a federal investigator, correct?

No, I'm not, Dan. Let me ask you a simple question. I'm not messing with you here. Right. I always got to say that. You're a federal agent investigating a guy. You've got him in your hands now.

It's November, right? You're investigating Papadopoulos for what you believe to be colluding with Russians to help the Trump team. He's a member of the Trump team or was, okay? You've got him in your office.

Affirmative. You know the guy. He's alleged to have gotten the information from Mifsud a member of the Trump team, or was, okay? You've got him in your office. Affirmative. You know the guy. He's alleged to have gotten the information from Mifsud is coming into the country in February. Joe, serious question. Yeah. Do you think it may be a good idea to wire Papadopoulos up and get him to go meet with the guy and talk about the Russian emails again?

That way you got the whole collusion scandal on tape. What do you think, Joe? Boy, that's a great idea, Dan. That's a great... You are not a federal agent, right? No, I'm not, but I should be. You should be, yes. You should. You'd be better off than the

guys who worked this case and the women who worked this case. What an embarrassment. Wow. Cleveland asks a great question. What the hell did you just grab Papadopoulos in November, lock him up on a PC warrant, there's no PC, probable cause or complaint, get him

on an arrest warrant. Say, George, here's the thing. We're really concerned about Russian collusion with the Trump team. We think you may be involved, but we think the real ringleader of this whole thing is this guy, Massoud, who told you this whole thing. Now, we know he's coming into the country in February. How do we know? Because the FBI interviewed him in February.

They obviously got a heads up, right? I got an idea, George. I want you to email him and I want you to get it on record that this guy knows about Russian dirt on Hillary and he's trying to pass it to you on the Trump team. I want you to meet with him in February when he comes in the country.

We're going to wire you up. We're going to put a listening device in your cell phone. Why didn't they do that? The answer is because they didn't want the darn answer. That's why. Because if they would have wired up Papadopoulos and put him in a room with Mifsud, they may not have gotten what they wanted to hear, which is Mifsud didn't have anything on the Russians or there's a distinct possibility given given his connections to Western intelligence, that what they hear in that meeting about Mifsud's connections may not be about Russia, but may have been about friendlies, friendly intelligence community people, which would have been like, the FBI didn't want the answer, folks. They didn't want the answer.

Because Mueller's job job ladies and gentlemen is not to discover Russian collusion they would have flipped Papadopoulos and had him interview or go to sit down with Mifsud

and worked him as a CI a confidential informant the reason they didn't do that is because they didn't want the answers from Mifsud they interviewed Mifsud they probably handed him a few stock questions let him get out of the country from Mifsud. They interviewed Mifsud. They probably handed him a few stock questions. Let him get out of the country,

and Mifsud has never been seen again. Or, or, or, Mifsud may have been working for the intelligence community to pass information to the Trump team. May. intelligence community to pass information to the Trump team. May. And maybe that's not what the FBI wanted out there. Maybe the interview of Mifsud in February, where they could have used Papadopoulos if they really believed it was a Russian collusion scandal, wasn't an interview at all. Maybe it was more of a, hey, Joe,

you need to really shut up about this thing. We're going to let you get out of the country after this conference, but we don't want to see you again. Don't you find it awfully convenient that Mifsud hasn't been seen since then? Listen, again, I'm not alleging any conspiracy theory. I'm not saying he's in some kind of Adam Warlock cocoon somewhere, right?

But don't you find it odd the FBI interviews him in February. This guy's supposed to be the founder of this whole scandal, the founder of the feast. He started this whole thing. The Bureau interviews him. He's never seen again.

Never. He's not making any public statements. He's only speaking through surrogates. And according to the FBI's own release documents about this, he alleges in a thing. I never mentioned anything about a cybersecurity stuff. This was strictly and according to the FBI's own release documents about this, he alleges in a thing. I never mentioned anything about a cybersecurity stuff.

This was strictly international relations. Ladies and gentlemen, there's only two possible solutions to this. That Mifsud was a Western intelligence asset and was told to shut his mouth to the FBI about it and his work pushing the information to the Trump team, or Mifsud is completely, entirely innocent. That's a distinct possibility. Has his connections to Russians

had absolutely nothing to do with his meeting with Papadopoulos? The FBI knows that, but needs Papadopoulos to be the fall guy to maintain the patina of authenticity behind this Russian collusion fairy tale. Understand there's no alternate solution. I know the FBI.

These guys aren't stupid. If you believe you've got a guy willing to roll on another guy, a bigger guy in the scandal, you roll Papadopoulos into Mifsud. Why didn't they do that? Because they don't have anything or they don't want the answers. That's it. There's no option C, folks. And let me add one

final note. With Cleveland, hat tip to Margo, puts it in her piece again. For those of you out there saying, well, maybe in a case of this magnitude, we don't want to flip Papadopoulos. We don't know what's going to happen. We don't want to make this case bigger than it is.

Maybe they wanted to maintain some order over the case. Oh, so now you don't want to pull information out. So you don't want to flip Papadopoulos to pull information out of Moussoum. But you want to flip a CIA asset. Well, you don't need to flip them. And Stefan Halper, you want to use Stefan Halper to pull information. So let me get this straight. You don't want to use assets to do.

I'm just trying to say how ridiculous, because I know liberals. And well, you know, we don't want to flip information. So let me get this straight. You don't want to use assets to do, I'm just trying to say how ridiculous, because I know liberals, and well, you know, we don't want to flip assets. You know, these assets may talk, but you did. You used an asset. You used a central intelligence agency asset

and helper to email and communicate with the Trump team trying to pull information out. Why not just flip the guy you think is the criminal in Papadopoulos like happens every single day in the federal justice system? Because you don't want the answer cut the crap cut the crap you're lying lying they don't want the answer folks this clearly was an FBI interview to either shut this

guy up or when they heard the answer and they didn't like it to shut down the uh the uh the investigative process to prevent the public from knowing the depths of the spying scandal on Trump and who actually pushed the information in. Okay. Listen, one final thing I wanted to get to in light of the Kavanaugh hearings, which are still going on right now. It seems they've got some order back in the room. Democrats, again, you want chaos, babe, we'll give it to you. Be sure that's what you want before you roll down that path.

You thought you wanted the filibuster gone, too. That hasn't quite worked out like we thought, did it? On Trump and the courts. There's an article in the New York Times. I'm not going to put it in the show notes because I don't like giving them links. But it doesn't matter because there's really one quick takeaway. But it's a good takeaway. Listen, the Kavanaugh hearings are happening today.

And it's great that we're going to get another Supreme Court nominee. It looks like he'll be approved by the end of the week, despite all the Democrat chaos and nonsense. But one important takeaway, Joe, is let's not just focus on Kavanaugh. The Supreme Court is critical, obviously. But ladies and gentlemen, very few cases make it to the Supreme Court. I think that's obvious. The real decision makers in the United states are the is the court of appeals you have district courts circuit courts and the supreme courts the court of appeals are that

second layer the circuits the court of appeals has 179 judges trump's already gotten through 26 there are 13 more vacancies we can get through. I'm talking about now. If we can re-elect this guy and keep a Senate majority for six more years, we have the opportunity to turn the courts back to one thing, Joe. Courts. Actual courts. Not black-robed legislators like they are now. We have the opportunity to change the United States back to a constitutional republic for a long time.

This is a critical moment. Remember, the Democrats love to take over the court system because they don't have popular opinion on their side. The Democrats can't legislate, you know, bathroom policies and things like that because they don't have popular opinion on their side across the country, tax hikes and other things. So what they'd like to do is they'd like to legislate using the courts, which are supposed to judge, not legislate. If we can change the tide of that back to getting strict constructionists on the bench at the federal level,

and it's happening, 26 confirmed, 13 more vacancies, only 179 spots. We could change the courts for a long time, folks. And we could do severe damage to the liberals' destruction of America and their abuse of the bureaucratic state trying to make us a discretionary state. We are a state of laws. This is a constitutional republic. It's time to get back to that. All right, folks, thanks again for tuning in. Please subscribe to the podcast. back to that. All right, folks, thanks again for tuning in. Please subscribe to the podcast. It's free. You can go to iTunes. You can go to Spotify, SoundCloud. There's an Amazon Alexa skill you can enable, Google Play. The subscriptions matter. They're free. There's no charge at all, obviously. It's also, what else? Oh, iHeartRadio. But the subscriptions help us get up the charts

and really drive more people to the show. We deeply appreciate it. It means a lot to us. Thanks so much for tuning in, and I will see you all tomorrow. Thanks a lot. You just heard the Dan Bongino Show. Get more of Dan online anytime at conservativereview.com. You can also get Dan's podcasts on iTunes or SoundCloud. And follow Dan on Twitter 24-7 at DBongino.