The Young Turks - Off The Ballot

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

An Israeli official suggests Gaza be "flattened completely, just like Auschwitz today." Colorado boots Donald Trump from presidential ballot. New U.S.-led Red Sea task force won't stop shipping attacks, Houthis say. HOSTS: Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) and Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I love my people. All right, welcome to the Young Turks, Jake U Granite with you guys. Look, as we've been doing lately, and actually for a long time. So we'll have super serious important stories, obviously for you. We've got to cover the news and we'll give you the analysis that no one else does. And we'll be honest about it like no one else is. But we also have lighter stories and interesting stories. And stories about labor and culture and all the different things that are going on.

And I have even allowed a story on terrible bonuses. That bosses give, yeah. No, no. I can't wait to get to those stories. Yeah, I can't wait. No, no, there are portions of the show that are for sure lit in a fun way. So, but before that, let's, of course, do the most important news first. Yes, unfortunately, we begin with genocidal rhetoric that's just openly used right now by various Israeli officials.

And as they're using this rhetoric, they are also incredibly critical of anyone who accuses them of carrying out a genocide in Gaza. So that's what we're dealing with. Let's talk about it. The genocidal rhetoric of some Israeli officials and their allies isn't just continuing. It's actually getting even more explicit and more threatening as the assault on Gaza continues. Now on a recent radio show in Israel, a local official called to flatten Gaza like Auschwitz today. So this was an interview with a gentleman named David Azule, who is the head of the town of Matula's council and is in, the interview was in Hebrew, but according to Heretz's translation,

here's what the conversation contained. So Azulei said that while he is not a far right person, in the wake of October 7th, Gosen should be told to go to the beaches, where Israeli ships will load them up, the civilians, the terrorists, they have there, and place them on Lebanon shores where there are enough refugee camps. In other words, we should do ethnic cleansing. That's what this is. This is ethnic cleansing. But there's more.

As which should be done with the Gaza Strip, should his plan with regard to its residents be enacted. Azzulay explained that it should be left empty just like Auschwitz, a museum. So the whole world will learn what the state of Israel can do. We're not done yet, though. There's more, believe it or not. The strip, he said, should then be turned into a huge buffer zone. From the sea to the border fence completely empty so that everyone remembers what was once there. Flatten everything just like Auschwitz is today, he reiterated. Now his comments were so egregious that the ex-account for the Auschwitz Museum responded to it and condemned his statements.

I want to read it to you. They write, memory of victims of Auschwitz has at times been violated and instrumentalized in various extreme statements. David Azulay appears to wish to use the symbol of the largest cemetery in the world as some sort of sick, hateful, pseudo-artistic symbol. symbolic expression, calling for acts that seem to transgress any civil, wartime, moral, and human laws that may sound as a call for murder of the scale akin to Auschwitz, puts the whole honest world face to face with a madness that must be confronted and firmly rejected. We do hope that Israeli authorities will react to such shameful abuse as terrorism can never be a response to terrorism. I give the Auschwitz memorial so much credit for that statement.

I couldn't have asked for a better statement in response to the disgusting comments that we heard from David Azulay here. Yeah. So he didn't say that, so it's a testament to see, so you can see what Israel can withstand. He said so that you can see what Israel can do, what they can commit. And so look guys, this is unfortunately a part of humanity. If you think that any one group is more likely to X or Y or Z, you're just wrong. It's in the nature of man. And so unfortunately, this happens throughout history where a group is oppressed or kept down, abused, et cetera. And then when they have power, they do likewise. And so is Is this the same as Auschwitz?

God, I hope not, and it certainly isn't on that scale at this point for sure. But when an Israeli official alludes to that analogy, that is a terrible, unsettling thing to say, to say the least. And so it's not that, like I just want to be super clear that this group does it or that group does it. It's a power dynamic, guys, I've been telling you about that throughout this entire. The powerful almost always overreach and are overconfident and do too much oppression. And they do propaganda to say that, oh no, it's their fault.

They had it coming that they made us do this. In fact, that's the exact propaganda used against Jews throughout the history of the world. It's not that we were terrible to the Jews and did pogroms and Holocaust, etc. It's that they did something to deserve it, right? And that's the stereotypes, the tropes, the propaganda, etc. Now that dynamic has been switched onto the Palestinians. They made us kill their children because they were using them as human shields. Total nonsense propaganda, right?

They made us wipe them out, they made us do X, Y or Z. We have a right to defend ourselves. These are the same things that have been used throughout time when the powerful want to crush and oppress the powerless. In this case, Israel feels like it's invincible. And not only does it have a military that is so much larger than, well, the Palestinians don't have any military, so much larger than anything the Palestinians have, but really they've beaten all the Arab nations combined several times, and they have the might

of the US military behind them. Exactly. So they feel like, well, they could not only do it, but now begin to say brazenly, we'll turn this into an Auschwitz, will flatten the place, will destroy and either move or kill everyone inside. And that is a sign of a, unfortunately, a society that has decayed. And again, it has nothing to do with their religion or their ethnicity. It's the state of the power dynamics there. And that is why it is incumbent upon friends like us, America, to say you've gone too far. You've got to bring this back. Otherwise, you're going to cause untold damage, not just to the

Palestinians, but to yourselves. Yeah, this is beyond anything that's bearable. And I assume, of course, there'll be congressional hearings, this is a call for genocide. No, no, of course not. And in fact, I just want to do a quick tweak on what you just said, Jank, about how it's incumbent upon Israel's allies, namely the United States, to be a real friend to Israel, and not just ask them to reel it in, but to force them to reel it in. And by force, what I mean is you're not getting any more military aid, you're not getting any more, you know, foreign aid. if you continue to carry out what you are continuing to carry out in the Gaza Strip.

There's too much slaughter happening, too many children dying, and we are not going to allow this to happen with our bombs, okay? And but we're not getting that. Instead, we're getting, you know, lukewarm statements from the Biden administration. I mean, I watched Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's press conference yesterday. I watched the whole thing. The question an answer part, I think is the most enlightening portion of the press conference, because he was specifically asked, okay, well, is there a timeline? Is the United States implementing some sort of timeline for Israel to reel this war back in? And basically change their behavior so we don't see as many civilians dying as a result of this war. And you know what Lloyd Austin

said? Just straight up. No, no timeline. This is Israel's war. Okay, so if you're not willing to threaten the military funding, if you're not implementing some sort of timeline, if there's really no genuine, sincere ask here, does the Biden administration not realize how weak they look when they keep saying over and over again, Israel needs to be careful to protect the civilians? Israel needs to be careful to protect the civilians, and then they don't do it, right? Israel does the exact opposite. That makes the American government under the leadership of Joe Biden look pathetic and weak. It's embarrassing. Yeah, and guys, we got to ask, did they, did anybody ever really mean it when they said never again?

Because we have eyes, we can see what's happening. They're 90% of Gaza is destroyed. 90% of the population's homeless now. And 29,000 bombs dropped, nearly 20,000 dead, over 9,000 kids dead. What did you mean never again? Did you mean never again only to specific people or only to our side generally, only to the West, what did you mean never again? Because when you say, here's $14 billion extra to commit more war crimes and further genocide with no check at all, what you're saying the opposite of never again. You're saying do it again and again. something's off in your body, but not knowing exactly what. It's not just aging. It's often your hormones, too. When they fall out of balance, everything feels off. But here's the good news.

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Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self-back nap. I want to just note. I want to just note, we're not cherry picking here because there have been genocidal statements, statements in support of ethnic cleansing by multiple government officials in Israel. And I want to give you a few other examples. So last month, Israeli security cabinet member in agricultural. culture minister, Avi Ditcher of Netanyahu's Lakud party, said in an interview that Israel is

rolling out the Gaza Nakhba when shown images of residents of northern Gaza evacuating south on the IDF's orders. His comments came a few days after another government lawmaker, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amishay Aliahou, suggested in a radio interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is an option since there are no non-combatants in Gaza. Now, this individual was briefly suspended as a result of the nuclear statements here, but obviously that kind of punishment isn't really dissuading them from saying more genocidal garbage. And so some politicians here in America, in the United States, are parroting this type of rhetoric, which is incredibly dangerous.

Now, who you're about to hear from is not a current politician, but she did run for president as a Republican back in the day. So let's hear from Michelle Bachman, who called for Palestinians to be forcibly expelled from Gaza. The money is flowing in for Gaza, all the money is coming in from Iran. And that's what the people of Gaza are. They're basically high mercenaries, that is their industry. Terrorism is their industry. That's why you have more miles of tunnels, Charlie, than you have the New York subway, because they have one industry in Gaza. And that's terrorism. So it's time that Gaza ends. The 2 million people who live there, they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. And since there are the voluntary mercenaries for Iran, they need to be dropped on the doorstep of Iran. Let Iran deal.

with those people. Let's take a look at the so-called terrorists that Michelle Bachman wants to drop 2,000 pound American bombs on, the dangerous people who threaten the lives of Israelis allegedly. Let's take a look at them. That's what the people of Gaza are. They're basically high mercenaries. That is their industry. Terrorism is their industry.

In every bed, another gut punch. Less than two years old, Amir still still. He still doesn't know that his parents and siblings were killed in the strike that disfigured him. Yesterday he saw a nurse that looked like his father. His aunt Nahaya tells us he kept screaming, Dad, Dad, Dad. That's why you have more miles of tunnels, Charlie, than you have the New York subway, because they have one industry in Gaza, and that's terrorism. A 12-year-old girl has been killed in an Israeli attack on Nassau.

on Nassar Hospital in Khan Yunus. Donya Abu-Mohsen died when a shell hit the pediatric ward where she and several other children were sheltering. She had already lost her family and her leg in a missile attack on their house. And last month, she told Al Jazeera about her hopes and dreams. I hope to be a doctor to help people. Now my life is changing. They have gone.

We are alone now without them. without them. I was connected to this life because I was very much connected to my mother, father and siblings who died. But I must continue despite the fact that I will never forget them. So it's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there, they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. I'm still in this nightmare. I'm still not, I haven't talked up yet. In Florida, Ian Abu-Shaban can't bear the unimaginable loss. That's my cousin, his son.

Three generations gone in a single day. Back-to-back airstrikes, the family says in Gaza, killing 42 relatives, the youngest, just three months old. And it's not just Palestinians, Arabs in Gaza that are dealing with the brunt of these aerial bombardments and the shelling, and the shootings, it's also Christians who are losing their lives in the Gaza Strip as well. But when confronted about unarmed Christians in Gaza being shot and killed, here's how Israeli politician Yuri Edelstein responded. You heard our member of parliament, Leila Miranda, her relatives, six of them,

targeted by Israeli army snipers in a church compound in Gaza. What on earth is going on? Well, that's the question to later, not to me. I think that I can only say that we as the Jewish people are used to blood libels. So to hear that Israeli snipers are targeting women on purpose and not letting them leave the church is something that reminds them usually the atmosphere in the Middle Ages before another holiday. Are you saying it's a lie? Are you saying it didn't happen?

This is a flat lie, absolutely. Israeli sniper ever purposely targeted any civilian to say nothing about women. I want to be clear about something and it's it goes beyond what we just heard. It applies to anyone who decides to use allegations like nuclear level allegations of either anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, whatever, to shut conversation down. That's never going to happen on this show. It's not going to intimidate us. It's not going to stop us from criticizing what we can see with our own two eyes, what we can hear. What we're dealing with literally on a daily basis as we research for stories like this. Okay, we're not going to abandon our own human

senses because some guy is going to accuse us of being anti-Semitic because we are telling the truth about what's happening on the ground in Gaza. I'm just so sick of the weaponizing of identity to shut conversation down. Yeah, I mean, on the one hand, he says, oh, that's blood liable that you're saying we killed women and children, but you did kill 9,000 children. So is no one allowed to report that because you have this special immunity from ever, like so because terrible things happened to Jews before, they can now do terrible things to other people at infinitum for the rest of history and you're never allowed to criticize it.

That's an insane standard, okay? And guys, this isn't about Jewish people, it is about the right-wing zealots in charge of the Israeli government, okay? Right-wing zealots are always in favor, war, bloodshed, et cetera. So, and then the irony is, he says, because of terrible things like the Holocaust, etc., that have happened to Jews before, now you're not only not allowed to criticize us, but our officials, as we showed you earlier in the show, can call for genocide and ethnic cleansing and even saying wipe out all the Palestinians, and we're just allowed to say it and you're not allowed to criticize it. No, you missed the entire point of what never again was supposed to mean.

And so it doesn't mean never again to me, but I'd love to do it to you. It doesn't mean that at all. It's supposed to mean never again to anyone, to anyone. And so if that offends you, that we are telling the truth, the absolute undeniable truth about what happened. The problem isn't us. The problem is you because you're so biased that you're like, no, my country, my identity can do anything at once. We can murder anyone. We can do any act of terrorism.

We can shoot those women in front of the church. We can butcher those children. But we are, not only can we do it, we're immune from criticism. No one is ever allowed to criticize us. We don't agree. Sorry. Don't agree. And you don't get to stay, have your way just by stating it and bullying everyone.

And if you think that the Israeli side has not bullied everyone in America for the last 40 years, you're being completely and utterly disingenuous. It's a preposterous thing to say. The minute you said that you support Palestinian rights in this country for the last 40 years, They would call you an anti-Semite instantly, and they is not Jewish people. They is the people in power, whether they're in media and politics, et cetera, for a variety of different reasons, including the evangelical Christians who most care about this issue because they want the death and destruction in the Middle East.

So no, we do not obey your rules. We do not bow our head. We tell you the truth. You know what the Pope said about those two women who were shot and killed in front of the church? he said that it was an act of terrorism by Israel because it is. Now what are you going to do? You're going to call the pulpit anti-Semite? Probably.

Of course you are. And you're going to say he is the one that is at fault for telling things that are true about what we're doing. We can do whatever we want because we are the mighty Israel backed by the mighty United States of America. Since we have more weapons, we can just mow you down and kill your women and children and then say, no, it's your fault. It's you used human shields making us murder your citizens.

Yeah, that's what every bad guy in history has ever said as they butchered the other side. So no deal on any of this. You saw Michelle Bachman's horrible statements, and we showed you the reality of them. But these right wingers, not based on religion or ethnicity, but these right wingers that want more war and more bloodshed and more killing are always saying, Oh, yeah, turn it into glass. Oh, yeah, kill them all. And they think that, oh, yeah, by the way, I'm pro-life. Exactly.

I was going to, thank you for saying that. That's exactly where I was going to land on this. Because remember, Michelle Bachman is a fundamentalist Christian. And she will not hesitate to govern and control the bodies of women under the false pretense that she's trying to save human lives. In reality, I mean, you just heard her. She wants to level Gaza. She totally dehumanized the Palestinian population living in Gaza, including all of those kids.

Remember, half the population in Gaza under the age of 18, minors. She doesn't give a damn about them. Yeah, look, she called for murdering the civilians there. You saw the tape herself. That is a terrorist. Michelle Bachman is a terrorist supporting terrorism of murdering civilians. And basically calling for genocide and maybe even worse. And so the people on the right do this all the time with no consequence at all, constantly doing it.

Mark Regev, the other day on Pierce Morgan, said it was funny that the idea put my name on missiles that they were dropping on Palestinian civilians. I don't find it funny at all. I find it sick and I think that Mark Regev is also a terrorist who says, yes, we should be allowed to murder their civilians Because our civilians are worth 10 times, 20 times, 100 times their lives. That is literally what Israel is saying. Having now killed 20 times as many civilians as Hamas did, to argue that you're not a terrorist because all of the massive amount of murder that you have done is all accidental and collateral damage.

No one believes you. And no one's buying your crap anymore about, oh, no, if you can criticize me, I'll smear you and I'll smear your reputation and try to ruin your career. Come for me, come for me, see how it turns out for you. You monsters, rega, you love terrorism when Israel's doing it. Why don't you be honest for the first time in your life? Final thing that I have to mention because it's important. This is a headline from Newsweek.

Michelle Bachman preaches end times prophecies on Steve Bannon show. So, Jank, anyone who's watching who feels that saying anything critical of Israel is anti-Semitic. It's rhetoric against Jewish people. Can you please explain to them who Michelle Bachman really is? And why she was preaching End Times prophecies on Steve Bannon shows. What does she actually think about Jewish people? Okay, so the way that end times is, so she's evangelical Christian. She's a total nut job.

And but she was elected many times as a Republican and was a Republican leader. She once jumped out of the bushes at an LGBTQ event. She was hiding in the bushes to try to catch lesbians. She's a total lunatic. That Republican voters go, yes, what a wonderful lunatic on our side. Okay, so what does it mean this end times prophecy? They think that if Israel is reconstituted, check, and they go on to do a series of predictions, not based on the Bible, but based on some lunatic books written in the 1970s in America

that if they destroy the Al-Aksa Mosque, they take the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it'll start a gigantic war that will lead to basically Armageddon where almost all of us are murdered by their God, okay? And they look forward to this. And they say, oh, this is Jesus. They are not mainline Christians. They do not speak for the majority of Christians, but these lunatic fundamentalist evangelical Christians here in America, which are unfortunately a giant percentage of our population

that drive this war more than anyone else does, they think, I can't wait for their version of Jesus to come back and murder almost everyone, including every Jew in Israel. Who doesn't convert? Yes, and they say that you have to convert ahead of time. By the time Jesus comes back, if these Jews haven't converted already, well, obviously, are Jesus is going to kill them all. And they look forward to that. And you're saying that people on the other side are anti-Semitic,

there's no one more anti-Semitic than anyone that believes in end times prophecy. You're the most anti-Semitic monsters rooting for a Holocaust of Jews and everyone else. That's who these sick, sick fundamentalist evangelical Christians are. So, and then they have their audacity to turn around and say that we should murder more Palestinians because they're friends of Israel. And by the way, the pro-lifers, 9,000 dead kids. I thought you said you cared about kids. You were all liars.

Every single evangelical Christian leader in America is a sick, disgusting liar. What happened to pro-life? 9,000 dead Palestinian babies, children. And what do you? Have you said, has one leader in America in that community said one word again? Yes, Israel. Nope. All they've done is green light. Yes, Israel. Murder more children, right? Evangelical leaders, you sick pigs, you sick, disgusting human beings. Pro life, you've never been pro life. All you want to do is control women's bodies because you're pathetic and you're like,

oh man, I loved it when we controlled them. Oh, now these women get to do whatever they want. Let's pretend we care about babies. Oh, Israel's killing children. Who cares? Yeah, go get them. You're all genocidal wannabe lunatics, all those evangelical Christian leaders. All right, we got to take a break. There is some pretty big breaking news in regard to the 2024 presidential election. So when we come back, I hope I'll be able to give you the details. It's a developing story, but we also have some more to get to in regard to the war in Gaza and how it is in fact expanding now with the United States shooting down drones from the

Iran backed Houthi rebels. Lots to get to. Come right back. twice. Thank you so much. Those upgrades mean the world to us. And OBBHPA 21 also gifted 10 Young Turks memberships, Benjamin Morrill and Gabby Mathis gifted one and Bronco gifted 10. Joey Winterton gifted 20. You guys are all amazing. We really appreciate you guys and you are what allow us to stay on air. So I can't appreciate you enough. Everybody, the join buttons below if you're watching on YouTube. All right, Anna. We've got some breaking news and This is a big one. I don't even know how I feel about it yet, but we should talk about it. So let's get to it. In a rather stunning and definitely unprecedented decision, Colorado's Supreme Court has ruled that since Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection, and due to the Constitution's 14th Amendment, he will not appear on Colorado's ballot for the 2024 presidential election.

Now, there are some caveats to this, and I want to give you those caveats. So first, the court made this ruling four to three that Trump isn't an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment's insurrectionist ban. The ruling though will be placed on hold pending an appeal until January 4th. So election officials in the state, which by the way has 10 electoral college votes, said that the decision has to be made ultimately by January 5th. And that is because January 5th is the statutory deadline to set the list of candidates for the GOP primary. So I have no doubt that the Trump team is going to attempt to appeal this decision. And I want to be clear

that this is specifically in the state of Colorado. This is the state's highest court making this decision in regard to the state of Colorado. This will not impact other states. Now, Trump, of course, denies any wrongdoing regarding January 6th and has decried the 14th Amendment lawsuits as an abuse of legal process. And just to give you some more information about the 14th Amendment, it was ratified under the Civil War. The 14th Amendment says that officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are banned from future office if they engaged in insurrection. But the wording is vague. It doesn't explicitly mention the presidency and has only been applied twice since 1919. So this story is developing. It literally just

broke. I am curious what you think about this, Jank. Yeah. Well, first of all, I'm thrilled that people are beginning to read the 14th Amendment. Yes, you should read the whole thing. It's got amazing parts to it. So in this case, there's no question that the 14th Amendment says that if you who participated in an insurrection, obviously meaning the civil war, but beyond, it didn't just say the civil war. They said any insurrection against America, you cannot hold office, and that makes sense. And is what Trump did an insurrection? Yeah, definitely, he had fake electors ready to do a coup and install himself when he knew he

had lost. That is an insurrection against America. So point one, the ruling is logical. You could disagree with it politically, but it is logical. They're just enforcing what the 14th Amendment actually says. So then you can say, hey, I want to argue on the facts, was it really an insurrection? No problem, that's what courts are for. So far the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled, yes, it was an insurrection.

They could appeal and eventually they'll almost certainly take this to the Supreme Court. So now there is one issue that I have with it, which is is that if the different states start interpreting the 14th Amendment in different ways, the Supreme Court must resolve it because we cannot have Colorado banning Trump and some other states banning some other candidates that are potentially on and not on the ballots and have this hodgepodge all over the country of blue states and red states blocking different candidates. So I urge the Supreme Court to take this on, take any 14th Amendment case on, and clarify what the rules are. And if I was on the Supreme Court on this one, I don't see how it's not an

insurrection. And I don't see how the 14th Amendment wouldn't apply. It's literally written for exactly this type of situation. So yeah, I think the Colorado Supreme Court is right. Yeah, look, I don't know, I'm mixed on this. And please be understanding toward me, because I'm just processing this decision by Colorado Supreme Court and what it means. So I totally agree with you in that, logically speaking, this makes a lot of sense. Maybe I took some of the threats from the likes of Tucker Carlson to heart. And aside from the logical component of this, I am concerned about the what this means for Trump supporters and how they might potentially lash out. out if this ruling in Colorado stands. I also agree with you that the United States Supreme

Court needs to adjudicate this matter. I'm curious to see if they take it up. I think they might, but I'm worried, okay, so I agree with the decision. Let me just make that clear. I am worried about what this means for the future of the country and how Trump supporters might lash out given this decision by the Supreme Court in Colorado. Well, let me bifurcate that because I'm worried that the country needs to remain united, and we need to have a clear national decision. Was it an insurrection or wasn't it? I think it was. I think a lot of people think it was. Obviously, tons of people don't think it was an insurrection. And we should, I mean, in my ideal world, I know Supreme Court doesn't televise these hearings, but you would do a giant

hearing where you would have lawyers on both sides arguing insurrection, not insurrection, And the courts would decide. Now in this case, Trump has a gigantic advantage in the Supreme Courts. There's six to three conservative. The court has in the past made brazenly political decisions handing George W. Bush to 2000 election, five to four along political lines. A vote as Sandra Day O'Connor hinted she regretted because of how political it was and obviously political. And Donald Trump has appointed three of the Supreme Court justices, giving him a gigantic,

advantage. If he still loses in the Supreme Court, after both sides are heard out, then yes, as a nation, we have decided that it was an insurrection and he is banned. I am not worried about Trump fan reactions. If they want to be criminals and thugs after the Supreme Court makes its decision and say, we don't believe in our Constitution, we don't believe in the three branches of government, we don't believe in democracy, we love the insurrection and we're going to now take up arms and cause violence. Well, that's what Fort Leavenworth was made for, Rikers Island, the maximum security prison in Colorado. It's got your name written all over it. I have no hope in any of that, actually, to be honest with you.

I'm, I have less faith in our criminal justice system today versus where it was at even like five years ago. And what I mean by that is we're talking about a group of people who are heavily armed, okay? And we're also talking about law enforcement that is short in terms of staffing, in terms of the number of officers. There's like a giant shortage right now. So I, like, I don't know. I know that there has been, at least among the MAGA crowd, some portion of them, some percentage of them have been itching for a civil war and they've been very vocal about that. I'm just, look, I'm just concerned about violence breaking out. That doesn't mean that the potential violent reaction should weigh into the decision made by federal judges or the United

States Supreme Court. But I'm just telling you the two different thoughts I'm having at the same time. One thought is based on logic and the evidence that we've talked about on the show, the evidence that was presented very clearly during the January 6th hearings, the evidence that will continue to be presented very clearly in the two indictments that Donald Trump is facing, one in Georgia, one on a federal level in regard to election interference. So there's that side of it. But then there's also the concerns I have about this further tearing the country apart. Yeah, no. So we, look, number one, I understand the concerns, But number one, we shouldn't negotiate with terrorists.

If you're a Republican and you believe there really was not an insurrection and that Donald Trump actually won the election, you're not a terrorist. There's a lot of tons and tons of Americans that believe that. I think you're massively wrong and fundamentally wrong. You've never shown one piece of evidence, but good, you get to prove it in court in Atlanta. You get to prove it in court in the federal trial that Donald Trump is up. And now you might get to prove it at the Supreme Court in a where there's a, where the court. the judges are completely stacked in your favor.

We need that national conversation. I don't want to just have the government steamroll the Republicans and go, ha ha, deal with it. I don't want that at all. But if you say after all is done, no, even though the justice system was rigged on our side in favor of us, I don't care, even though we presented no evidence, I don't care. I just want to pick up a weapon and kill people I disagree with. No, then I don't negotiate with terrorists.

Then the government should come and get you and put you in prison. probably for the rest of your life. And if you say, oh, I'm a political prisoner just because I wanted to murder you. Yes. No, you're not a political prisoner. You're a prisoner because you wanted to murder people. No, we should not negotiate with terrorists. And I don't care what kind of violence these thugs and brown shirts promise us if they don't get their way.

They're crying little babies who are constantly like, we don't need evidence. We don't need democracy. We just want power. Otherwise, we'll kill you. Not interested in that. Not at all interested. That's what the military and the police are made for. And if you go in that direction, there should be massive consequences on your head.

And by the way, just to give you further context, prior to Colorado Supreme Court making this decision, in November, there was a Colorado judge who issued a ruling that concluded that Trump, quote, engaged in an insurrection on that day. But the decision fell short of removing Trump from the state's 2024 ballot based on the 14th Amendment's insurrection ban. And so I guess that was appealed to the state Supreme Court and the decision that we just shared with you about that was made. And so we'll see how the appeal process works. I guess buckle up. It's going to be a chaotic election season to say the least.

For now we got to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to get back onto the Israel story, the war in Gaza, and how this is unfortunately spreading to a broader war in the region. We'll be right back. All right back on TYT, Jane Canana with you guys. Assumi Danny, thank you for joining. Day at the join button below the video on YouTube, Progressive Bandito and Purple Pegasus 2531. Thanks for gifting five young turks memberships at peace.

You guys are amazing. Everybody, you can either donate or become a member through t-y-t.com slash join, and we need it, and we appreciate it. Anna. Well, for those of you who are concerned that the ongoing war in Gaza might expand to a broader regional war, you do have cause for concern. Let's watch. U.S. defense officials saying the U.S. Karni shot down 14 attack drones in the Red Sea launched from areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. The Houthis say they were targeting Israel. This is just the latest in a series of instances since October 7th of U.S. ships destroying drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed rebels, either directly at Israel

or at ships they believe are connected to Israel. The Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Suez Canal, all see about 30% of the world's container ships, and now several major shipping companies say their ships will not use that route, which could impact the global economy. That's right. Ongoing skirmishes between the United States and the Iran-backed, who's rebels in the Red Sea are further legitimizing concerns that the war in Gaza will expand to a broader war in the region. Now let's get to a timeline of events involving the United States, fighting Houthi rebels, as the Houthis basically retaliate against Israel for what it is carrying out in the Gaza

Strip. So after Israel began carrying out its aerial bombardment of Gaza, which has killed thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, basically Houthi rebels started to retaliate in the Red Sea with their own military operations. So the Yemeni group has basically been targeting commercial ships in protest over Israel's war in Gaza. And they're disrupting one of the world's busiest shipping routes, maritime trade. In response to the war in Gaza, the Houthis have said that they would target any ship that travels specifically to Israel and does not stop, if Israel refuses to stop its aerial bombardment and military operations in the Gaza Strip,

and also refuses to allow for humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. And they're also reiterating that they're specifically targeting ships headed toward Israel. Other maritime trade will not be disrupted by them, that is what they're claiming. Now a member of the Houthi ruling council told the Washington Post the following. Participating in a coalition to protect the perpetrators of genocidal crimes is a disgrace in the history of the participating countries. If America had moved in the right direction, it would have obliged Israel to stop its crimes without the need to expand the scope of the conflict. Now what is this person referring to here? Well basically in response to what the Houthi

rebels are doing. The United States has basically put together a coalition of other nations to basically protect these shipping routes in order to prevent any disruption of maritime trade. And so I want to get to a more specific timeline in just a moment that gives you a sense of how this this ongoing conflict has kind of continue to develop between the United States and the Houthi rebels. And what I'm concerned about is there are also calls by the Israeli government to get the United States involved in a conflict with both Lebanon and Iran. We're going to get to that in just a moment.

But, Jank, what are your thoughts so far? Yeah, so this is an really important development. And we're at a turning point here. For the last about 40 years at a minimum, America has dominated the sky so thoroughly. And we have such an enormous military advantage that no one could really threaten our interests. There might be terrorist attacks and we might not win the aggressive offensive wars that we start. But overall, we were in charge and everybody knew it. Now, because of drones, everything has changed.

So the Houthis were the most marginalized powerless group, arguably on the planet. They've been abused by the Sunni government in Yemen and by their allies in Saudi Arabia. America helped out abuse, and they had no power at all. But they gained some power when they took the capital about a decade ago, close to a decade ago, and did a huge war with basically Saudi Arabia-backed folks in Yemen. And now they have just a little bit of power. But with drones, you can go and bomb all the ships coming through the Suez Canal, and then all of a sudden you have tremendous power and leverage.

Now they are not bombing all the ships. We are gathering an alliance of 40 different countries to protect the amount of like the price that Israel pays for goods. That's right. So let's be super specific because they're only targeting ships that are going to Israel. And they could still get there. They just have to go around Africa, which makes them a little bit more expensive, the products going to Israel. So we might start a gigantic war in the Middle East to make sure that Israeli citizens don't pay quite as much for their goods because of what's happening here.

I don't think that's worth starting a war over. And so now tactically, if you're the Houthis and you're looking to support the Palestinians, it is a very effective. way of doing it. And so it is hard to stop. What are we going to do? We're going to go into Yemen. I mean, that's a disaster. We were already in Yemen, in effect, through the Saudis, and we couldn't defeat them anyway. What are we going to go get American kids killed there? Because the Israelis don't want a 10% hike on products on a war that they started. And economic pressure is usually the way to affect everything. And this is creating economic pressure. Now, look, I'm not a in favor of it. I don't want global prices going up. And it could affect more than just

Israel because oil goes through there, et cetera. But for the moment being, they are only targeting ships that are going to Israel. And Israel is in the middle of a genocide. And this is them fighting back with whatever leverage they have when it is actually not their interest. They have nothing to do with it except for the fact that they care about the Palestinians. And so they're striking back in that regard. And you could have any decision you want about the morality of that action. But as a matter of practical interests, it is effective and it is making a big difference. And we should all get used to the new warfare where America does not, and Israel does not have the dominance that it used to because of drones. Over the weekend, the United States did in fact shoot down 14 drones from the Houthi rebels.

And Jank is correct in that the United States has put together a coalition of countries to essentially protect maritime trade that goes through the Red Sea to Israel. It's known as Operation Prosperity Guardian. It was launched on Monday of this week. Hold on, sorry to interrupt. But look at even the name of the operation, Prosperity Guardian. They're not even hiding it. This is all about the money.

I mean, yeah, of course, of course it is. Now the US-led coalition will include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and also Spain. And so in regard to the Houthi rebels attacking the maritime trade shipping to Israel, Lloyd Austin said on Monday that the, he basically labeled the Houthi attacks as reckless and said that they involved ballistic missiles and drones and targeted at least 10 merchant vessels transiting international waters. And let's go to graphic two here because there are some pretty big name companies that have decided to pause their shipments through the Red Sea. On Monday, for instance, oil giant BP became the latest company to announce it would be pausing its shipments through the Red Sea. Several shipping companies, including MSC, MERSC, EuroAv, and the Evergreen Group have said that they are also avoiding the Suez Canal as militants target these cargo vessels. And in response to all of this, the Houthi rebels released other statements, including, quote, our war is a moral war.

And therefore, no matter how many alliances America mobilizes, our military operations will not stop. They're making it clear that they do not intend to stop until Israel stops its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people. And they say, we reiterate the safety of maritime routes in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, ensuring no threat to ships from any nation except those linked to the enemy entity or destined for Israel's ports. Now, final thing I want to just draw attention to is what I alluded to earlier in the story, which is Israel seems to want to drag the United States into a broader conflict in the region. And they're specifically looking at Lebanon and Iran. Now, it's no surprise that they want us to engage in a war with Iran. Netanyahu has been very vocal about this for years.

In fact, Netanyahu is the main reason why Donald Trump decided to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, which ensured that Iran was no longer developing any, you know, anything that could be used for nuclear weapons. There wasn't even any confirmation that they were developing nuclear weapons. But nonetheless, I thought that this moment in Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's press conference yesterday was illuminating because an Israeli journalist asked him a question. I think you should pay close attention to the framing of the question and also Lloyd Austin's response to it. Let's watch. Israel says, and Mr. Gallant has just repeated, that it will attack Lebanon if there won't be an acceptable solution that will include Hezbollah withdrawal north to the Littany River.

Jake Sullivan was here last week and he was quite confident that such a solution can be achieved. What is the U.S. position if Israel attack and will you order the U.S. Army to strike and even destroy Hezbollah and Iranian target if required? On Lebanon, we've been clear that we don't want to see this conflict widen into a larger war or a regional war. And we call upon Hezbollah to make sure that they don't do things that would provoke a wider conflict. Okay, but if Hezbollah is not effectively pushed back to the area or the region of Lebanon that Israel is demanding and Israel decides to carry out airstrikes in Lebanon and basically

intensifying this ongoing war, what is the United States going to do? That's the question. Yeah, well, look, he answered it by not denying it. And by the way, did you notice how the question was framed? They said, if Israel orders you to attack Lebanon, and he didn't say, who the hell would order the America to attack, no foreign country is to order us to attack anywhere, right? No, he didn't say that at all. He said, well, if Hezbollah makes them do it, who's in charge here?

So look, guys, there's anti-Semitic tropes about how Jews control the world this Senate. That's not what this is about. But if you think that America is telling Israel what to do, well, you're not following the news at all. Israel sets the agenda, and then America follows it 100%. So prove me wrong. There is, there isn't any instance of, in this conflict, where America has said, no, Israel, we do not support that action. You're going too far. They've said, oh, we're worried.

We're talking. We're having a lot of conversations, right? No, we've never drawn the line. Whatever Israel says, America does. That's just a fact. If that fact makes you uncomfortable, that's on you, okay? So now back to the Houthis for one more second here. Economic pressure has worked.

It is the one thing that almost always worked. So apartheid crumbled because of the boycotts and the economic pressure that was put on the South African government because it affected the actually powerful people in South Africa, which were the businessmen, the business communities. Same exact thing as in Egypt, the Egyptian revolution worked because they called a general strike and all the laborers stopped working and that affected Egyptian business interests and that's what led to Mubarak being deposed. So here they are creating economic pressure on Israel with whatever resources that they have. And look, on this program a long time ago, Wesley Clark Jr. said soon all of the military will change it in this world and people don't get it yet. And he was absolutely right. And I said, why? And he said, now China can just launch a thousand drones, 10,000 drones.

And that wipes out our air advantage completely. But it's not just China. Iran can launch 10,000 drones. Turkish drones destroyed the Russian military in Ukraine. Wow. That's it. It was, I mean, there were other things that were involved, but it was largely, you know, these drone, tiny little drones made in Turkey that wiped out the second biggest military

in the world. Wow. So now the idea that we are invincible, America or Israel, and that we could just boss people around. Okay, you do this and you do that. Otherwise, we'll attack you, we'll kill you. We have infinite power and leverage over you. Those days are gone. Look at the damage that the Houthis have done. That's the most powerless people on earth almost. With 14 drones. They knocked out 14, apparently a couple got through because they hit a couple of ships. Imagine if it was a thousand drones. And Iran can supply them and they can supply

themselves with that amount of drones. We're in a new world and people aren't getting it. And soon what I'm worried about is that we're going to be even angrier when we can't control the entire planet like we used to. Definitely. I am worried about that too. And I'm also worried about, look, part of the reason why we have the national security we have is because of the fact that we've had this military that we pour so much money into. But in this new world where we have upset quite a few countries across the globe, if we continue to carry out. these acts in other countries and whether you find them to be injustices or not, doesn't matter. I am worried about what this means for our national security moving forward as well. Yeah, well, you know, here's one thing we should be cognizant of. Maybe we get on the side of justice instead of constantly being on the side of injustice

and bombing and attacking one nation after another, almost all Muslim, almost all in the Middle East, and then going, oh, well, they hate us because they hate us. And that kind of propaganda might have worked in the past when we had infinite power. But it looks like now we're in a new day where we don't have infinite power. And so we better check ourselves. Not to say that, oh, we should be weak or humble, we should protect ourselves, we should protect our interests, but we should be just in doing that, and we should be strategic in doing that.

And not just say, oh, yeah, kill all the Muslims you want, and we'll just back you because nothing, there's nothing they can do, ha ha, well, it looks like those days are coming to an end. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Amazon workers, basically being told to write into their company mascot if they need financial aid. That's a doozy. And then one of my favorite stories of the day, Costco, what are they up to? I'm sure you want to know. We'll be right back.