The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 01.29 3 Americans Killed, War With Iran Closer Than Ever, Taylor Swift Banned, & Today’s News

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Visit  https://www.cozyearth.com/defranco and use my code DEFRANCO to get up to 35% off your purchase! ​​The New https://BeautifulBastard.com Drop is almost sold out so get your sizes ASAP! –�� TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Taylor Swift’s Influence Could Reach AI Regulations, 2024 Election 2:11 - George Carlin Estate Sues Podcast Over AI Stand-Up Special 4:10 - Man Pleads Guilty to Making 20 Swatting Calls For “Entertainment” 6:02 - Sponsored by Cozy Earth 7:01 - Pelosi Says Protestors Demanding Ceasefire Are “Connected to Russia” 10:16 - Biden Vows to Respond After U.S. Troops Attacked in Jordan 13:27 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Stories ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #TaylorSwift #AI ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Welcome back to your first Philip DeFranco show of the week. Today, we're talking about if the United States is about to go to war after three U.S. troops were killed, why Pelosi said people calling for a ceasefire are doing Putin's bidding, or the disturbing Taylor Swift situation

might actually change U.S. law. And there's so much more, so buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. Starting with, whether you love her, you hate her, you're indifferent to her, it is undeniable that Taylor Swift is at the center of just numerous stories right now. Some that even matter. Unlike the fact that both entertainment and actual news outlets have fucking dedicated articles, some of which the most popular on their site today. Breaking down whether she's actually

going to be able to make it to the Super Bowl to watch her man Travis Kelsey play. That is important not just for the Swifties, but I imagine the NFL. Because not only has she reportedly brought in just so many more eyes when she's at the games, but Apex Marketing Group just put out data saying, Taylor Swift has created $331.5 million in brand value for the NFL and the Chiefs. And that reportedly accounting for print, digital, radio, television highlights, and social media monitoring.

Though those numbers might be taking a hit right now because if you haven't noticed on social media, specifically X, you literally, as I'm recording this video, cannot search up Taylor Swift. You get an error and that's because of the Taylor Swift AI porn stuff that we talked about last time. The platform telling the Wall Street Journal, this is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue. Though notably, because this is the internet and we're talking about X, which doesn't necessarily fully think things out. And there are really easy ways to get around that

and you still find those results. But the Taylor Swift AI situation got so big that even the White House chimed in, saying there should be legislation tasked with combating non-consensual explicit AI. And that's been echoed by a handful of members of Congress. Also with this, after 404 Media reported that the images were potentially made with Microsoft's AI tools, the CEO of the company responded saying that it needs to move fast on this issue, that guardrails need to be further established. Also on the note of politics, there's been a lot of conversation around Taylor Swift. As November gets closer, political aides are looking at her to rally the Swifties to the polls. Biden's team obviously wants that. The New York Times reporting that fundraising appeals from Ms. Swift could be worth millions of dollars for Mr. Biden.

There's also been talk of like how much she could actually swing an election. People pointing to research from Redfield and Witten Strategies have found that 18% of recipients would be more or significantly more likely to vote for a candidate that she endorses, though not as talked about 17% said they would be less likely. So still very meaningful, but possibly overstated. And then the other shoe has officially dropped in that whole George Carlin AI situation. With George Carlin's estate now officially filing a lawsuit against Doodsy, which is that AI podcast that published a George Carlin AI special called I'm Glad I'm Dead. That special generating a lot of backlash. Most of the comments on our video were about how it was disgusting,

though you did have some dudezy fans showing up saying it's not like that, saying that it's more of an experiment being at the mercy of AI, saying Will Sasso is actually freaked out by it. But regardless of that mindset, his estate is now claiming that the special amounted to copyright infringement

by using Carlin's material to train the chatbot without permission, then seeking removal of the special and damages. So notably, the special is no longer viewable on YouTube as it was switched to private sometime after the suit was filed. A suit that is specifically filed against both co-hosts of the Dude Z podcast,

right, Will Sasso and Chad Clutch. And though it also includes others involved with the AI program and creation of the special, with a lawsuit arguing that the special also hurt Carlin's reputation. And Carlin's daughter Kelly saying in a statement, that quote George Carlin in that video is not the beautiful human who defined his generation

and raised me with love. It is a poorly executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals to capitalize on the extraordinary goodwill my father established with his adoring fan base. And this is their acclaim that this special was actually not made by Aon. Or with a spokesperson for Will Sasso

telling the New York Times that Dudezy is a fictional podcast character created by two humans. And that the Carlin special was quote completely written by Chad Clutgen. Though Clutgen's team didn't confirm that to the Times, nor was there any clarification about how Carlin's voice was made.

But notably there, the complaint actually notes that whether the special was fully AI, just use AI-powered tools or whatever, it does not matter because it was promoted and presented as AI-generated and claiming to have resurrected George Carlin with the technology. And really, I think this is just one example

of a growing situation. With AI, we are seeing a new wave of lawsuits. And notably, the results of these lawsuits are largely going to determine what this whole fucking landscape looks like in the coming years. But as we wait to see how this plays out, how do you think it should? Do you think the George Carlin estate is in the right here? Or do you agree with the argument that this is just a different version of parody? Like I've seen some dudesy fans saying, you know, what's the difference between what we saw with the AI special? And if Will Sasso just like put on a wig

and tried to do his best George Carlin impersonation. Or do you think that holds water or is that bullshit? And then let's talk about our douchebag of the day. A guy who's been described as the most vile, worthless, scummiest shitbag pieces of trash to ever grace the glorious state of Washington. His name is Ashton Connor Garcia. He is 21 years old.

And for each year that he's been on this planet, he has swatted at least one person. With him from June of 2022 to March of 2023, making over 20 swatting calls to police in several U.S. states and Canada. With him making false bomb claims, making allegations of murder, rape, and kidnapping. And in many of those cases, heavily armed police entered the place that he targeted with their guns drawn. And all of that now leading him to plead guilty to four felony charges. With his indictments saying that he treated the calls like entertainment, explaining that he often broadcasts them on Discord to encourage others to watch and participate. And more specifically, sometimes he threatened to swat female victims

if they didn't send nude photos of their parents' credit card information. And as far as the time he's going to serve, we're not going to know until April, though we know that prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than four years in prison. And while I know there are going to be some watching that are going to be like, that's not enough time. At the very least, it is important that we see people be held accountable for shit like this. Because we are continuing to see more and more of this, especially compared to a decade ago.

And I mean, we're seeing it in all avenues of life. Some of the most recent examples being like earlier this month, there was a swatting campaign directed at public officials in charge of ballot access and voting. Or you had authorities having to evacuate or lock down several state capitol buildings following bomb threats. So I will say, personally, I do think that the penalties for doing this need to be greater. When we're talking about someone swatting someone else, I don't see that as harassment. I see a lot of these situations as attempted murder. You're sending a group of armed people to a place. You're telling them that something horrible happened. It's fucking game on. And the only fucking saving grace in these situations having been the authorities actually having some trigger finger discipline.

We've seen cases in the past where that didn't happen and someone got fucking shot and killed. As far as I'm concerned, the swatting is the firing of a weapon. And we either make a bigger deal about holding people accountable or there's no reason you should expect any sort of change in behavior. And I mean, that's not even taking into account the extortion we talked about with this situation. And then I gotta say that one of the things

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It all stems from Pelosi doing an interview with State of the Union host Dana Bash. With Pelosi being asked, are Democrats worried that younger voters, Arab Americans and progressives might stay home instead of voting for Biden in 2024? And Pelosi responded by saying that she had been the recipient of what she called the exuberances of anti-war demonstrators. So arguing as a result that she knew the feelings they have and adding. But we have to think about what we're doing. And what we have to do is try to stop the suffering and gossip. This is women and children, people who don't have a place to go. So let's address that. But for them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin's message. Mr. Putin's message. Make no mistake, this is directly

connected to what he would like to see. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. When Bash asked if Pelosi thought that some of the protesters were Russian plants, she responded. These are plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the protesters were Russian plants. She responded. These are plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that. Now, to be totally clear, right now there is absolutely zero evidence of what she's saying.

It is true. Russia has called for a ceasefire, but so have a ton of other countries. In fact, the U.S. is increasingly alone there, with there being 153 countries voting for a ceasefire at the U.N. back in December. So we're talking nearly three in every four members supported the ceasefire. In fact, only 10 nations voted against it, including the US and Israel, and 23 abstained.

And even that vote came in response to the fact that the US had vetoed a nearly identical resolution days before. And so unsurprisingly, given the whole situation, Pelosi has gotten a ton of backlash for her comments. People arguing she's trying to undermine and delegitimize widespread calls to end the bloodshed. Some saying she's effectively calling for the criminalization of protesters. And that, including the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, who described her claims as delusional and adding that her call for the FBI to investigate those protesters without any evidence is downright authoritarian. And so for me personally, I'm left just wondering why Nancy Pelosi would say what she said in one of the dumbest and most insane ways possible. Because without a doubt,

Russia is an election meddler. As we've seen in past elections, they want Americans divided. They want Americans at each other's throats for chaos to prevail. In short, looking at the 2024 election, Putin would obviously like to have a Trump presidency over a Biden administration.

That American money for Ukraine, 100% confirmed dries up, easier for him. And while a Pelosi spokesperson later tried to clarify her comments, saying that from her decades on the House Intelligence Committee, the former speaker, quote, is acutely aware of how foreign adversaries meddle in American politics to sow division and impact our elections.

And she wants to see further investigation ahead of the 2024 election for her to say that people calling for a ceasefire, they are just repeating Putin's message. That's just fucking lunacy. Because for most people who want a ceasefire, when they find out, oh, Putin also wants a ceasefire, it's more of a, the worst person you know just made a great point sort of situations. And it doesn't change the fact that while many people like myself believe that Russia would want to agitate the situation here in America, right, put more gas on that fire. What Pelosi ends up missing, or at the very least appears to be missing, wording things the way that she did, is that there was already a fire. The call for a ceasefire is a majority popular opinion and movement in America. So saying that the people that are calling for it

are just doing Putin's bidding is bananas. But hey, another day, another Democrat further isolating the party before one of the biggest elections of our lifetime. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. And then, as if things were not tense enough, internationally speaking, three American soldiers were killed yesterday

by Iranian-backed militias in Northern Jordan. And on top of those killed, 30 more were injured at a remote base known as Tower 22, which sits at the border with Syria. Also, before you ask why America had troops, in Jordan they're an ally. We've had varying levels of troops in there for decades. Tower 22 seems to be an extension of that and likely provides logistical support to U.S. bases in Syria. But regardless, this attack is just the latest on U.S. troops in the region by Iranian-backed proxies. But the big key difference is that this didn't take place in disputed regions like Syria,

and Americans actually died. So you don't need to be a geopolitical expert to realize, okay, not only did things just escalate, but this raises the political pressure on Biden, even if Iran is denying any direct involvement in the attack, especially as Republicans have criticized him in the past for not doing enough to these militias.

With Republican Senator Tom Cotton saying he left our troops as sitting ducks, although many experts have said that is not a fair characterization. Even Fox News reported that the drone accidentally got through the base's air defenses, Senator Tom Cotton saying he left our troops as sitting ducks. Although many experts have said that is not a fair characterization. Even Fox News reported that the drone accidentally got through the base's air defenses. With troops at the base thinking that it was an American drone returning from a mission. But then in addition to people like Cotton trying to assign blame, you also had him calling for war.

Saying the only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East. And then you have Representative Mike Rogers, who leads the U.S. Military Oversight Committee in the House, saying, It's long past time for President Biden to finally hold the terrorist Iranian regime and their extremist proxies accountable for the attacks they've carried out. But as far as if we're going to war with Iran, that's unclear. With Biden using very specific language last night, saying, We had a tough day last night in the Middle East.

We lost three brave souls. And then going on to say that the U.S. shall respond, but understandably not going into further detail. And so as far as what that response will be, that remains to be seen right now. Though here, I would say like it gets a little muddy. So like if Iran were to be the target, there's almost zero chance that we would officially declare a war. Instead, the U.S. would continue its decades-long practice of having an undeclared war. But also, as all this is playing out, you have some saying, you know, the Biden administration needs to take a more measured response. With Representative Seth Moulton, who served in Iraq for four tours, responding to Republicans with,

deterrence is hard, war is worse. And saying to the chicken hawks calling for war with Iran, you're playing into the enemy's hand. And I'd like to see you send your sons and daughters to fight. We must have an effective strategic response on our terms and our timeline. Meanwhile, others like Representative Barbara Lee use the opportunity to say that this was a consequence of how Biden is handling the Israel-Hamas war, warning that it is spiraling out of control, saying it's beginning to emerge as a regional war. You've got a number of people saying she might be right. Israel continuing to say they're fighting Hamas and Gaza. It's also looking more likely that they're going to fight Hezbollah and Lebanon.

This is the same time as the U.S. and other countries are dealing with the Houthis and other militias throughout the Red Sea, Yemen, and Syria. So with all this, you have people saying, at the very least, you could blame Iran, considering they arm, fund and directly train these groups. And that's just if they're doing these things without Iran's blessing. You have Iran claiming these groups are acting independently and they shouldn't be held responsible for their attacks. Which is also why actually attacking Iranian soil would be seen as a dramatic escalation. Unlike the Houthis and Hezbollah, Iran actually has the weapons that could effectively fight back. And I say that while also noting that there is no doubt that the US would crush Iran militarily. There should be no illusion that it would be some sort of cakewalk or without serious

casualties. But long story short, this is not an easy situation to figure out. Because as much as it could be joked about that anytime anyone fucks with the United States, we can say like, oh, you're gonna find out why we don't have universal health care. Every option being discussed involves the actual real world deaths of other people. Civilians, the men and women who served in the armed forces. It just becomes a question of which consequences we'll see from each decision. And then, and then finally today, let's talk about your comments on the last show.

Starting with the Taylor Swift stalking situation, just disturbing people. Althea Ali saying, after 30 times and three arrests, that stalker needs to be locked up because he's clearly not learning his lesson. And JJ Skrota saying, I think it's insane how minimal stalking charges are. It makes you wonder why the people at the top

don't want that change. And with this Marina adding, being stalked is so traumatic. Even if you live where there are how minimal stalking charges are. It makes you wonder why the people at the top don't want that change. And with this Marina adding, Being stalked is so traumatic. Even if you live where there are laws against stalking, the police, in my experience, don't want to enforce those laws. The amount of times I was told, He just likes you. Let us know if he actually does something to hurt you.

I don't know what you expect us to do. It's been over a decade and I still check my back seat under my car, always vigilant about situational awareness. I can't relax when I'm out and about. It terrorizes you and changes who you are as a person. And then finally with this, one of y'all sharing, my wife has a stalker that she had a stalking order against for over eight years, and he still contacts her, threatens her, et cetera. She used to report it to the police every time, but it usually only got worse rather than better. To this day, we still can't get the

police to do anything about it while he threatens us both now. Our support system for victims like this is absolutely ridiculous. So that story wasn't the only one that got a lot of attention. Because that insane story about that former NYPD officer had people chiming in. People saying that detective needs to get as many years in prison as the innocent people he sentenced. And saying if that's over 200 years of jail time, it's not enough. Others like GM Drake adding one scary thing about this story is how there's no mention about all the criminals who essentially got away with their crimes because someone else was wrongfully convicted. It might all still be out there doing who knows what. You know, some people like Crossarc saying, you know, that one cop cost taxpayers more than the $110

million mentioned in the story. Saying it doesn't count the taxpayer dollars that paid the cop's salary. Others adding the extra court costs of having to do retrials, the extra costs of reinvestigating all the cases, the money we paid to defend him in court. And all of that is in addition to, you know, I know in these situations we try to put a price tag on the time, but all of the time that all of these people have lost to actually live their lives. Because whether for more nefarious reasons or some fucking dipshit wanted the name The Closer, they got railroaded and wrongfully convicted. Which is also why I scattered throughout the comments, you had people saying, this is part of the reason why I have an issue with the death penalty. Saying, you know, if one officer can manipulate the court like this in

these situations, why not there? And that's in addition to when the court just gets things wrong when everyone's trying their best and doing everything above board. Yeah, there was a lot of interesting conversation happening. It's one of my favorite things about this show. So thanks to everyone that decides to be a part of that. But that is where we're going to end today's show. If you're new here, make sure you subscribe for more daily dives into the news. For more news you need to know that you might have missed, I got you covered right here, or I also got links in the description for you. And of course, remember, my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.