Conspiracy! The Show 292: The Iran-Contra Affair

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Welcome to Conspiracy The Show,
the world’s most trusted

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conspiracy theory podcast with
your hosts Adam Todd Brown and

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Olivia Hydar.
Hey everybody, welcome to

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Conspiracy the Show.
I’m your host, Adam Todd Brown.

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Joining me is Co host Connor’s
here this week.

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Connor, how’s it going?
Kayonda.

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What?
Kayonda, What’s up?

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Oh, is that what that means?
Which language?

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What do we?
Spanish.

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I don’t know why I went Spanish.
I was trying to go for a choice

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I hadn’t made before as a
conspiracy.

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The show Co host and some of
them are going to be duds folks.

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I’m in the process of learning
Spanish so as to better enjoy

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the Shakira concert I’m going to
in November, but I haven’t made

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it to the podcast section of
Duolingo.

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Adam is a real white ally.
This is what ally ship looks

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like.
Yeah, I’ve lived in LA for more

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than a decade, so at any point
learning Spanish would have been

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the cool thing to do.
But you were like.

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I want to feel Shakira.
That was what puts you over the

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edge.
It was like I could talk to 28%

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of the he, probably more that
live in my community.

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Way easier or hips don’t lie
could hit even harder somehow.

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Yeah, yeah.
What if I enjoy the Spanish

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language version of She Wolf
just as much?

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You never know.
We’re about to find out.

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Hope.
I got to say there was the only

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good TV show on like Bunny Ears
TV when I was a kid, between

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like three and four was Dragon
Ball Z on Telemundo and Dragon

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Ball Z on Telemundo.
It’s just goes way fucking

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harder.
It was, I don’t know, the voice

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acting was better.
It was, it was tight.

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I didn’t know.
I didn’t need to know the words.

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That guy’s shooting laser beams
of that guy.

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It’s not that complicated.
Yeah, there’s also an app that

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teaches you Spanish or several
languages that way just by

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watching Spanish language TV.
And then there’s dual subtitles

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and you can pause it and click
on words that you don’t

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understand.
That actually seems extremely

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useful and like a very intuitive
way to learn languages.

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I wish I remembered the name of
the app so I could tell people

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sorry.
We’ll put it in a post.

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So we’re talking about a doozy
of a government scandal this

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week.
This is like one of the big

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ones.
It is one of the big ones.

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We’re talking about the Iran
Contra affair, which right off

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the bat, I love how romantic
that makes it sound.

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Yeah, it does give it a kind of
a Casablanca feel of like it was

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just the the iron.
But, you know, all the good old

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boys in the White House are in
the Rose Garden going.

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Those were the days, man.
The Iran Contra affair.

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Two diplomatic needs just
happened to be in the same cafe

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at the same time.
Crossed paths.

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You just you got to love
realpolitique.

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It brings together the strangest
bedfellows that the Barbie movie

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and Oppenheimer.
Who would have thought, you

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know?
Yeah, one of the things that I

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thought about when I was
researching this is people

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complain a lot about how
Watergate gets all the attention

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when this is the bigger scandal.
And I agree with that.

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But even then, in the big scheme
of things, this is kind of small

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beans compared to a lot of
things the United States has

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done.
Even he acknowledged stuff.

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I think MK Ultra is massively
underrated in terms of

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government scandals.
And we did confirm that was

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real.
We conducted a decades long

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human experimentation project.
You can go read all about it,

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you know, in their own words.
Yeah, there’s so much

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information out there about it,
but people clutched their pearls

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over the Iran Contra affair.
With MK Ultra, there’s no final

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finished product, but no one
came out and went Bobby Kennedy.

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That was MK Ultra.
Pretty cool they never spiked

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the football on it.
As far as American scandals go,

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at least we were trying to free
some hostages this time.

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Yeah, at least there was some
good.

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It’s not even usually slightly
noble.

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Yeah, exactly.
We need to kill this dictator

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because sugar futures are fucked
up right now.

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As the name implies, it’s two
different foreign policy matters

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coming together.
Iran and the Contras are not

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related.
They’re only related in that we

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needed something out of both of
them and we just did this mash

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up of government abuse to make
it happen.

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Yes, they are strange bedfellows
for this play, this affair.

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Yeah, you’re going to see that a
lot in this, especially when we

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get into Israel agreeing to be
the one to sell arms to Iran.

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I don’t think that would happen
today.

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Maybe it would.
I’m giving his real a little too

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much credit, I think.
It’s not like that isn’t exactly

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our move of, hey, you guys want
these weapons.

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And then it’s like we wait 30
years until that becomes the

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weapon version of like a
Motorola Sidekick and we come in

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with an iPhone 14 Pro and we go,
hey, what’s that oil doing under

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there?
We got to get that out of there.

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Yeah, even with this, we’re
going to get to a point where

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publicly we’re saying Iran is
the enemy and we are not going

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to sell arms to Iran.
And behind the scenes, that’s

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exactly what we’re trying to do
at the highest levels of

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government.
It’s just like blatant

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propaganda and lying to the
public.

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Did you see the Netanyahu speech
today?

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A lot of Iran talk.
I did not watch it.

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I had to record.
I kind of regret not watching

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it.
Full disclosure, I watched about

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1/3 of it, half paying
attention, but it was like this

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guy was jacking off to going to
war with Iran.

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It was pretty hardcore.
Yeah.

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And no, we’re not going to go to
war with the Iran.

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We’re.
Running out of places to go to

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war, Adam, you know this.
What are we going to do?

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Go settle an Inuit tribe in
Antarctica?

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And then you hyper accelerate
their cultural development so

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that we can come and decide that
it’s controversial to ours.

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There’s like 1012 good targets
left.

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Yeah, and there’s also the
project for a new American

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Century thing where we were
supposed to take out all these

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specific targets or at least go
to war with them.

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And I think Iran and China are
the last two.

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Everything is so interconnected
with China and Iran, it just

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seems so goddamn inconvenient to
go to war with them.

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It’s hard to imagine it
happening.

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But I don’t know, people really
push important.

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Yeah, I would appreciate if we
didn’t.

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It feels like that would be
perilous, but I’m sure we’ll

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find out.
So yeah, We also haven’t done

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any Watergate episodes, which is
weird.

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Because this has never been a
hacked conspiracy show.

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This has been about the passion,
the thumbtacks and fucking post

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it notes with yarn on your
bedroom wall.

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That’s conspiracy the show,
baby.

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God damn right.
And I think with both of these,

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Watergate and the Iran Contra
scandal, the actual details of

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it are kind of boring in a lot
of spots.

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Yeah, very bureaucratic.
Yeah, and maybe that’s why we

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haven’t covered Watergate.
There’s at least more to this,

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and it does get pretty fucking
wacky in spots.

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I think the funnest Watergate
fact is they got a lot of the

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money from this leftover slush
fund from the milk council and

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they called it the milk money.
Oh, that’s great.

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Yeah, I’ve never looked into
Watergate that much.

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Rick Pearlstein, Nixonland is a
fucking great Nixon Watergate

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book, his whole series, and he
goes from Barry Goldwater all

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the way up through Reagan, just
chronicling conservatism in

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America from the pretty
objective point of view, I

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guess, and not particularly
partisan perspective.

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And it’s, yeah, just really good
books.

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They’re like fucking beach reads
like novels.

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Look, Roger Stone is a great
character in the novel.

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Get out of town, you know?
Yeah, yeah.

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I’ll check that out.
So the two initiatives that were

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at play here, the selling of
arms to Iran in exchange for the

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release of American hostages
held by Iranian allies in

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Lebanon, That’s number one.
And two, the Contra half support

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for the Contras in the fight
against the communist Sandinista

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government in Nicaragua, which
is also the name of an album by

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The Clash.
Great album.

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It’s fine, Sandinista.
It’s all right.

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It’s long.
There’s a great album in there

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in the triple album.
Yeah, that’s the thing.

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It’s a triple album, which, what
am I made of?

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Free time.
It’s got like 10 amazing songs

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on it, so that’s fine.
Worth noting that by the time

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the scandal part of this
happens, Congress had already

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cut off funding to the Contras.
So Reagan and his people were

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trying to sidestep that lack of
funding, which it was a scandal

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then.
Now we just have a budget that

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is that.
It’s just acknowledge that we

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have this Black Ops budget where
everyone in government is like,

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Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, I don’t
know what we’re doing with that

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money.
I’m.

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Sure, Boeing is putting those
$17 trillion to excellent use.

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Yeah, exactly.
But at this time, I guess we

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still cared about if Congress
signed off on what we spend

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taxpayer money on.
But also, this wasn’t taxpayer

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money.
Eventually it was just like

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crack cocaine sales.
It’s been interesting watching

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the the American political
process lose its own respect for

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its civic traditions and shit.
We’re just slowly realizing this

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is just a power sharing
agreement made-up by farmers 300

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years ago and we can kind of
make it say whatever we want.

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Yeah, Reagan and his people are
trying to sidestep Congress not

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funding their hopes and dreams.
CIA always gets name checked in

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this and for good reason.
They were planting mines and

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selling crack in Los Angeles.
Things of the like.

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What I didn’t realize until I
really dug into it is how

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pivotal the National Security
Council was.

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00:10:01,680 –> 00:10:05,680
And I think that’s because I
didn’t know what the National

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Security Council was.
Vastly underrated government

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department, as it turns out.
If.

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The CIA is coke.
They’re tab, you know, they’re

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kind of different.
They’re going for a hip or

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angle.
Yeah, I remember there was a

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00:10:19,680 –> 00:10:24,560
period in history where the NSA
was just a rumor and like, it

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00:10:24,560 –> 00:10:28,400
was finally found out like 20
years after it was launched.

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00:10:28,480 –> 00:10:31,040
Adam like flexing his like old
head status.

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00:10:31,040 –> 00:10:34,320
Like man I’ve been asking
questions since the NSA was just

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a fucking rumor on BBS boards.
Dog, you don’t know shit.

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Think it was revealed before I
was born, but not long before.

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I think it was sometime in the
70s, but the National Security

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Council, it was introduced with
the same act that Truman signed

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00:10:49,120 –> 00:10:53,800
the CIA into law with in 1947,
the National Security Act.

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But I guess over the years they
have developed into basically,

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00:10:58,840 –> 00:11:02,680
at least by the time Reagan was
in office, just sort of the

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president’s covert operations
department in that they weren’t

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00:11:07,680 –> 00:11:10,360
under the same kind of oversight
the CIA was.

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00:11:10,560 –> 00:11:15,040
So if the president needed CIA
type shit done that the CIA

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00:11:15,040 –> 00:11:18,320
couldn’t do, the National
Security Council just did it,

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00:11:18,400 –> 00:11:21,640
which why not just let CIA do it
at that point?

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00:11:21,720 –> 00:11:24,960
What the fuck?
It’s so funny living in military

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industrial complex lands where
we have 3 Cias that don’t talk

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to each other about anything so
they have no synergistic benefit

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00:11:32,960 –> 00:11:35,880
from coexisting with each other.
They’re just bumping into one

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another and fucking shit up.
And.

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00:11:37,760 –> 00:11:41,640
Yeah, I think that would be an
interesting series of episodes

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00:11:41,680 –> 00:11:45,800
is doing one about each
intelligent three letter.

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00:11:45,800 –> 00:11:48,720
Agency.
Yeah, because we have, I think,

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00:11:48,720 –> 00:11:51,840
16 or 17 in this country.
Yes, sometimes you’ll hear

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00:11:51,840 –> 00:11:54,640
people be sneaky and they’ll be
like, well, only two out of our

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00:11:54,640 –> 00:11:58,720
26 intelligence agencies that
actually confirm those early

220
00:11:58,720 –> 00:12:00,880
findings.
And then you find out it’s like

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00:12:00,880 –> 00:12:03,680
we had the fucking Coast Guard
didn’t have an opinion about

222
00:12:03,680 –> 00:12:06,000
goddamn UFO they saw over in New
Mexico.

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00:12:06,000 –> 00:12:08,400
There’s no.
Water, one of the things we’ll

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00:12:08,400 –> 00:12:13,720
link to is Brown University has
a whole no relation, by the way.

225
00:12:13,920 –> 00:12:16,400
I thought you were starting your
own Jordan Peterson self

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00:12:16,400 –> 00:12:19,280
betterment school.
Motivational videos every day

227
00:12:19,280 –> 00:12:21,720
from ATB.
Yeah, we’re fighting it out in

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00:12:21,720 –> 00:12:25,480
court over the name, but in the
meantime, they have one of the

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00:12:25,480 –> 00:12:29,960
better resources out there for
information about the Iran

230
00:12:29,960 –> 00:12:32,840
Contra affair.
They have really good long

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00:12:32,840 –> 00:12:36,800
overview, and then it’s broken
down into separate sections that

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00:12:36,800 –> 00:12:38,880
go into more detail.
Highly recommended.

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00:12:38,880 –> 00:12:40,720
We’ll link to it.
For all the Contra heads.

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00:12:41,000 –> 00:12:44,640
Exactly one of the key figures
in the Iran Contra affair,

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00:12:44,640 –> 00:12:47,200
Oliver North.
He was working for the National

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00:12:47,200 –> 00:12:50,960
Security Council on loan from
the Marines when he committed

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00:12:50,960 –> 00:12:55,120
all of the acts that he ends up
committing during the course of

238
00:12:55,120 –> 00:12:57,160
this.
That would eventually get him

239
00:12:57,160 –> 00:13:02,280
sentenced to a lifetime of being
a minor television celebrity.

240
00:13:02,440 –> 00:13:04,960
That was kind of the only
fallout for him.

241
00:13:05,160 –> 00:13:07,320
At least in prison you get in
shape, you know?

242
00:13:07,680 –> 00:13:11,960
Yeah, exactly.
So a little background about the

243
00:13:11,960 –> 00:13:15,240
United States and Nicaragua.
This is where the Contras come

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00:13:15,240 –> 00:13:17,760
into play.
We, if you can believe it, have

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00:13:17,760 –> 00:13:21,400
always been a little interested
in political affairs in

246
00:13:21,400 –> 00:13:25,640
Nicaragua because we don’t want
them to be communists or

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00:13:25,640 –> 00:13:29,840
socialists.
It’s our entire policy in Latin

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00:13:29,840 –> 00:13:32,360
American countries and has been
forever.

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00:13:32,440 –> 00:13:36,880
Still is.
As early as 1912, the United

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00:13:36,880 –> 00:13:41,400
States was putting down
rebellions in Nicaragua to keep

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00:13:41,400 –> 00:13:45,720
our chosen leaders in power.
1912 That’s kind of crazy.

252
00:13:46,040 –> 00:13:52,320
Yeah, it goes way the fuck.
Back in 1936, a guy we trained,

253
00:13:52,600 –> 00:13:56,480
Nicaraguan National Guard leader
Somosa Garcia, took over the

254
00:13:56,480 –> 00:14:01,120
government by force.
He was a horrible warlord, but

255
00:14:01,120 –> 00:14:05,800
an excellent Girl Scout cookie.
Oh yeah, for sure, Somosas,

256
00:14:06,000 –> 00:14:07,960
that’s a tasty treat.
The coconut.

257
00:14:08,760 –> 00:14:11,640
Yeah, real good.
And even though this show of

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00:14:11,640 –> 00:14:16,400
force included killing then
leader of the country Augusto

259
00:14:16,560 –> 00:14:20,760
Caesar Sandino, the US didn’t
care because we wanted the guy

260
00:14:20,760 –> 00:14:25,440
we trained to be in office.
Let my kid play, coach, it’s the

261
00:14:25,440 –> 00:14:27,080
last inning.
Put my kid in.

262
00:14:27,240 –> 00:14:31,440
My kid hasn’t played yet.
That murder marked the beginning

263
00:14:31,440 –> 00:14:34,480
of what’s called the Somosa
dynasty that would rule for the

264
00:14:34,480 –> 00:14:37,880
next 43 years.
And would later be adapted into

265
00:14:37,880 –> 00:14:41,360
a hit Netflix series.
Oh I I was going to say my

266
00:14:41,360 –> 00:14:45,880
favorite Indian restaurant like
that also has there ever.

267
00:14:45,960 –> 00:14:48,680
Been an Indian restaurant based
on the Netflix original series

268
00:14:48,840 –> 00:14:51,360
based on the events of a crime
family in South America.

269
00:14:51,920 –> 00:14:53,600
Don’t think so.
That’s right.

270
00:14:53,800 –> 00:15:00,240
So in 1961, the Sandinista
National Liberation Front FSLN

271
00:15:00,440 –> 00:15:03,760
aimed after Sandino formed in
opposition to the Somosa

272
00:15:03,760 –> 00:15:06,200
dynasty.
So that becomes a big conflict.

273
00:15:06,360 –> 00:15:10,680
Fast forward to 1974.
Sandinistas kidnap a bunch of

274
00:15:10,680 –> 00:15:13,040
Nicaraguan elites at a Christmas
party.

275
00:15:13,480 –> 00:15:18,200
That’s cool.
And the Somosa regime, and led

276
00:15:18,360 –> 00:15:23,760
by Somosa Garcia’s son Anastasio
Somosa de Bale, responded with a

277
00:15:23,760 –> 00:15:29,120
bunch of brutal human rights
violations, as was the norm of

278
00:15:29,120 –> 00:15:31,120
the day.
And that put the US in a tough

279
00:15:31,120 –> 00:15:34,000
spot because we wanted to
pretend we cared about human

280
00:15:34,000 –> 00:15:38,680
rights, but we also didn’t want
Latin American countries to fall

281
00:15:38,680 –> 00:15:41,920
into the hands of the commies.
We need to get a picture of me

282
00:15:41,920 –> 00:15:44,520
posing with one of those kids
with the big bellies.

283
00:15:45,760 –> 00:15:50,280
So when Jimmy Carter took
office, he cut all aid to the

284
00:15:50,280 –> 00:15:53,520
Nicaraguan government like a
real pussy until they could

285
00:15:53,520 –> 00:15:56,160
improve the human rights
situation.

286
00:15:56,320 –> 00:15:59,680
This led the Somosa regime to
pull back on their attacks, and

287
00:15:59,680 –> 00:16:03,080
then the Sandinistas were like
cool, time to start our attacks

288
00:16:03,080 –> 00:16:05,440
again.
And that shit worked.

289
00:16:05,440 –> 00:16:11,840
By 1979, a Sandinista uprising
led to them taking full control

290
00:16:11,840 –> 00:16:15,760
of the government, at which
point they started doing all

291
00:16:15,760 –> 00:16:20,200
sorts of shit America loves,
like expropriating land from

292
00:16:20,200 –> 00:16:24,000
rich business owners,
nationalizing banks and

293
00:16:24,000 –> 00:16:28,000
resources, things of the like.
I love that Uncle Sam is sitting

294
00:16:28,000 –> 00:16:30,600
at the Lincoln Monument and he
just cocks his ear and he’s

295
00:16:30,600 –> 00:16:33,520
like, what’s that?
I think there’s somebody sharing

296
00:16:33,520 –> 00:16:37,160
in South America.
That is exactly how it works

297
00:16:37,160 –> 00:16:39,920
though.
My Eagle, we fly tonight.

298
00:16:40,160 –> 00:16:42,440
We.
Talk about it being a Reagan

299
00:16:42,440 –> 00:16:47,040
thing, but look at what happened
when Venezuela elected Hugo

300
00:16:47,120 –> 00:16:50,160
Chavez.
We tried to topple that

301
00:16:50,160 –> 00:16:54,760
government immediately, and the
people of Venezuela were so

302
00:16:54,760 –> 00:16:57,760
upset about it.
We just let him have the country

303
00:16:57,760 –> 00:17:00,640
back.
We apprehended him and flew him

304
00:17:00,640 –> 00:17:03,600
away.
And it was such an unpopular

305
00:17:03,600 –> 00:17:07,359
move in that country.
We were like, fine, have your

306
00:17:07,359 –> 00:17:09,720
democratically elected
president.

307
00:17:10,079 –> 00:17:12,720
Who’s your fucking Hugo Chavez
pussy?

308
00:17:13,720 –> 00:17:16,800
Oh, Gee, well, why don’t you
marry him if you love him so

309
00:17:16,800 –> 00:17:18,319
much?
But that happened.

310
00:17:18,319 –> 00:17:20,440
I’m.
Not trying to get into political

311
00:17:20,440 –> 00:17:22,760
theory, but you have to wonder
at some point are they just

312
00:17:22,760 –> 00:17:25,800
afraid that it’s going to work
somewhere and then people will

313
00:17:25,800 –> 00:17:29,520
be like, oh shit, Venezuela
suddenly #8 in education.

314
00:17:29,840 –> 00:17:32,080
Yeah, I think that’s exactly
what they’re worried about

315
00:17:32,080 –> 00:17:35,320
because there’s so many people
here that have so much money,

316
00:17:35,480 –> 00:17:36,680
they could be.
Sharing.

317
00:17:36,720 –> 00:17:39,240
They could be sharing it with
like 38 boy dudes.

318
00:17:40,080 –> 00:17:42,920
Yeah, exactly.
That’s kind of how it works.

319
00:17:43,200 –> 00:17:45,200
Yeah, you can share.
Come share with us and we’ll

320
00:17:45,200 –> 00:17:47,560
share real good.
I love sharing.

321
00:17:47,840 –> 00:17:49,520
Nice mineral rights you got over
there.

322
00:17:49,520 –> 00:17:51,600
What do you give it to you?
Right to get rid of those?

323
00:17:51,600 –> 00:17:53,680
What are you doing with your
mineral rights?

324
00:17:53,680 –> 00:17:55,800
Nothing.
Did you even know you had

325
00:17:55,800 –> 00:17:57,920
mineral rights before I told you
you had mineral rights?

326
00:17:58,360 –> 00:18:03,640
Yeah, we’re just making country
sign 1960s Motown contracts,

327
00:18:05,200 –> 00:18:08,280
diamond mines.
With the Don King of like

328
00:18:08,280 –> 00:18:11,480
fucking farmland in Brazil.
Yeah, yeah.

329
00:18:11,480 –> 00:18:14,480
Like actually if you find any
other mines, we get those too.

330
00:18:14,560 –> 00:18:17,440
Like we own all those rights.
Y’all read that right?

331
00:18:17,640 –> 00:18:21,120
In the name of keeping the
Sandinistas on our side, Jimmy

332
00:18:21,120 –> 00:18:27,800
Carter immediately sent them $99
million in aid, and that did not

333
00:18:27,800 –> 00:18:29,960
work.
Because if you send 100 million,

334
00:18:29,960 –> 00:18:31,880
then you have to report it on
your taxes.

335
00:18:32,440 –> 00:18:34,920
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, it’s just a banking thing.

336
00:18:35,040 –> 00:18:39,080
The Sandinistas wanted
diplomatic relations with

337
00:18:39,360 –> 00:18:44,680
Russia, and they got it.
They signed all sorts of trade

338
00:18:44,680 –> 00:18:47,240
agreements and cultural
agreements.

339
00:18:47,440 –> 00:18:50,120
They started getting weapons by
way of Cuba.

340
00:18:50,280 –> 00:18:52,720
And so we were not happy about
this.

341
00:18:52,760 –> 00:18:57,200
And there’s always an opposition
party in a situation like this.

342
00:18:57,360 –> 00:19:02,040
And in this case, two men named
Jose Cardinal and Enrique

343
00:19:02,040 –> 00:19:05,880
Bermudez founded what would
eventually become the Nicaraguan

344
00:19:05,960 –> 00:19:09,560
Democratic Force, AKA the
Contras.

345
00:19:09,720 –> 00:19:12,720
That’s one of the other
misconceptions I think about

346
00:19:12,920 –> 00:19:18,680
Venezuela is we’ve done such a
good job spinning that story.

347
00:19:18,840 –> 00:19:22,240
So the point that people don’t
realize, the opposition party

348
00:19:22,240 –> 00:19:28,040
there is the party that we favor
and the party that was in power

349
00:19:28,120 –> 00:19:31,520
for years and years and years.
Hugo Chavez is the first non

350
00:19:31,520 –> 00:19:36,440
white person to be elected
president of Venezuela, which is

351
00:19:36,480 –> 00:19:40,520
insane.
Before that, tell me if this

352
00:19:40,520 –> 00:19:43,440
sounds familiar.
There were two parties that were

353
00:19:43,440 –> 00:19:46,560
mostly aligned.
They had some minor

354
00:19:46,560 –> 00:19:50,080
disagreements, and they just
went back and forth ruling the

355
00:19:50,120 –> 00:19:53,880
nation for decades and decades
and decades, always rich white

356
00:19:53,880 –> 00:19:56,400
dudes.
That’s the opposition party in

357
00:19:56,440 –> 00:19:59,680
Venezuela now.
That’s who we want to bring

358
00:19:59,680 –> 00:20:02,560
back.
And if you look into it, they

359
00:20:02,560 –> 00:20:05,520
also drove the country to the
point that people were starving.

360
00:20:05,800 –> 00:20:07,720
And rioting in the streets over
it.

361
00:20:07,840 –> 00:20:12,000
So their only advantage is that
they’re more beholden to U.S.

362
00:20:12,000 –> 00:20:15,480
business interests.
But we paint it like, oh, Maduro

363
00:20:15,480 –> 00:20:19,000
and Chavez are dictators and
that’s why this opposition party

364
00:20:19,000 –> 00:20:21,120
exists.
No, but it’s like literally just

365
00:20:21,120 –> 00:20:23,240
these dudes will play ball.
Yeah, yeah.

366
00:20:23,760 –> 00:20:27,320
Oh, I don’t get me started on
Venezuela or John Krasinski.

367
00:20:27,520 –> 00:20:30,800
Mariah Carey and Venezuela.
There’s the things that move,

368
00:20:30,800 –> 00:20:34,600
Adam.
So Contras form they find a lot

369
00:20:34,600 –> 00:20:38,600
of support among locals who are
disenfranchised by Sandinista

370
00:20:38,600 –> 00:20:42,240
policies, which is going to be
anyone they took land from,

371
00:20:42,240 –> 00:20:45,680
anyone who lost jobs when they
nationalized resources, anyone

372
00:20:45,680 –> 00:20:48,880
who lost money over that.
Probably a lot of countries

373
00:20:48,880 –> 00:20:52,760
aligned with them, Argentina
being the 1st, but once it

374
00:20:52,760 –> 00:20:56,840
became clear that they weren’t,
they’re going to give up on

375
00:20:56,840 –> 00:21:00,840
their Soviet love in ways.
Carter did authorize the CIA to

376
00:21:00,840 –> 00:21:05,480
support rebel forces in
Nicaragua, but only in ways that

377
00:21:05,480 –> 00:21:09,640
didn’t involve armed action.
So propaganda mostly.

378
00:21:09,920 –> 00:21:12,200
Interesting, what was the
propaganda campaigns like?

379
00:21:12,960 –> 00:21:15,520
I’m not sure.
I feel like that could probably

380
00:21:15,520 –> 00:21:20,600
be its own bonus episode of all
this, because we’re going to

381
00:21:20,600 –> 00:21:26,040
talk in one second about how the
Reagan administration handled

382
00:21:26,280 –> 00:21:28,720
propaganda surrounding
Nicaragua.

383
00:21:28,880 –> 00:21:32,360
But first we got to talk about
the CIA finessing Reagan into

384
00:21:32,360 –> 00:21:38,560
office by way of definitely not
brokering a deal for hostages to

385
00:21:38,560 –> 00:21:41,320
be released if Reagan got
elected.

386
00:21:41,480 –> 00:21:43,680
This is a great one.
Were you on that episode?

387
00:21:44,200 –> 00:21:46,000
If I if I wasn’t, I’m familiar
with it.

388
00:21:46,440 –> 00:21:49,920
Yeah, We did an episode recently
called The October Surprise, and

389
00:21:49,920 –> 00:21:55,240
that is about a famed incident
where it’s alleged Reagan’s

390
00:21:55,280 –> 00:21:59,720
election team brokered a deal
with Iran, who was keeping

391
00:21:59,720 –> 00:22:03,760
American hostages at the time.
They brokered this deal that

392
00:22:03,760 –> 00:22:09,080
basically was if you keep those
hostages and don’t release them,

393
00:22:09,320 –> 00:22:14,120
AKA don’t give Jimmy Carter, the
publicity win of releasing these

394
00:22:14,120 –> 00:22:17,560
hostages because Carter had a
deal in place that was really

395
00:22:17,560 –> 00:22:20,440
close to being done.
And then they just pulled out.

396
00:22:20,560 –> 00:22:24,120
And the speculation is that
Reagan’s team went to them and

397
00:22:24,120 –> 00:22:28,000
was like, hey, if you just wait
until Reagan gets elected,

398
00:22:28,000 –> 00:22:30,240
you’ll get a better deal to
release the hostages.

399
00:22:30,600 –> 00:22:34,480
Those hostages were released 5
minutes after Reagan was

400
00:22:34,480 –> 00:22:38,120
inaugurated. 5 minutes.
And people are like, did it

401
00:22:38,120 –> 00:22:40,560
happen, though?
Was that a real thing?

402
00:22:41,160 –> 00:22:42,600
And of course it was a real
thing.

403
00:22:42,880 –> 00:22:44,960
So the.
TV monkey man will give more

404
00:22:44,960 –> 00:22:49,640
money if we release late OK?
Yeah, yeah, Reagan ends up

405
00:22:49,640 –> 00:22:53,400
getting elected.
The former director of the CIA

406
00:22:53,400 –> 00:22:57,560
is his running mate at a time
when the government is cracking

407
00:22:57,560 –> 00:23:01,000
down on the CIA.
And then Reagan almost gets

408
00:23:01,000 –> 00:23:04,480
assassinated.
All coincidences in like, very

409
00:23:04,480 –> 00:23:06,360
MK Ultra fashion.
Coincidence.

410
00:23:06,600 –> 00:23:11,720
Reagan, He gets in office and we
take a hard pivot on Nicaragua

411
00:23:11,800 –> 00:23:17,040
and we decide that since they’re
helping with arming rebels in El

412
00:23:17,040 –> 00:23:20,040
Salvador, they’re not going to
change their mind about Russia.

413
00:23:20,240 –> 00:23:22,760
Fuck it.
We want that government toppled,

414
00:23:22,920 –> 00:23:26,800
which was never the stated goal,
but it becomes the goal

415
00:23:26,840 –> 00:23:30,520
eventually, but not at first.
Tailor Rummy, I said.

416
00:23:30,520 –> 00:23:34,200
Toppled.
In December 81, Reagan signs an

417
00:23:34,200 –> 00:23:36,960
order allowing the CIA to
support the Contras in a more

418
00:23:36,960 –> 00:23:40,720
military way.
Support meaning weapons and

419
00:23:40,920 –> 00:23:43,440
training, equipment, money,
things like that.

420
00:23:43,600 –> 00:23:47,000
And it’s said that this is the
point where we shifted into

421
00:23:47,160 –> 00:23:50,280
topple the government mode
because at first we were just

422
00:23:50,280 –> 00:23:54,440
sort of doing this to supply
arms, the contras, and see what

423
00:23:54,440 –> 00:23:56,600
would happen.
But now we’re all in.

424
00:23:56,960 –> 00:23:59,240
We’re going to give you arms and
we’re going to help you topple

425
00:23:59,240 –> 00:24:01,880
this fucking government.
At first we were just feeding

426
00:24:01,880 –> 00:24:04,600
the bug so it could fight the
other bugs, but now we have

427
00:24:04,600 –> 00:24:08,160
introduced more bugs.
Interesting detail here.

428
00:24:08,240 –> 00:24:12,160
We just mentioned propaganda
even though the government

429
00:24:12,160 –> 00:24:16,040
always tells us the truth in all
situations and conspiracy

430
00:24:16,040 –> 00:24:18,360
theories aren’t real.
This is the point in history

431
00:24:18,360 –> 00:24:22,520
when the United States set up
its first ever peacetime

432
00:24:22,680 –> 00:24:27,280
propaganda department.
In January 83, Reagan signed a

433
00:24:27,640 –> 00:24:30,600
national Security decision
directive and I don’t think I

434
00:24:30,600 –> 00:24:32,680
need to explain what that is
titled.

435
00:24:32,720 –> 00:24:36,560
Management of public diplomacy
relative to national national

436
00:24:36,560 –> 00:24:39,200
security.
This created a special group

437
00:24:39,200 –> 00:24:42,560
within the National Security
Council that was meant to quote,

438
00:24:42,720 –> 00:24:48,720
coordinate public diplomacy
campaigns and quote around what

439
00:24:48,720 –> 00:24:52,720
we were doing in Nicaragua.
I’m pretty good spin, taking

440
00:24:52,720 –> 00:24:57,560
propaganda and getting public
diplomacy campaigns like it’s

441
00:24:57,880 –> 00:25:01,320
some good copywriting.
Yeah, I wonder how many hours

442
00:25:01,320 –> 00:25:05,040
they sat in a room just tossing
out words until they landed on

443
00:25:05,040 –> 00:25:06,240
that.
Because that is good.

444
00:25:06,400 –> 00:25:08,760
That’s really good.
No, no it’s not.

445
00:25:08,760 –> 00:25:11,040
It’s not public diplomacy
campaigns.

446
00:25:11,080 –> 00:25:16,240
It’s freedom, messages,
movements, man fuck.

447
00:25:16,480 –> 00:25:21,320
So on my birthday in 1985 and
for my birthday, Oliver North

448
00:25:21,440 –> 00:25:24,000
sent a 14 page memo.
I said.

449
00:25:24,000 –> 00:25:26,520
Adam doesn’t give the day
because he assumes we all know

450
00:25:26,520 –> 00:25:27,880
his birthday.
Of course.

451
00:25:27,880 –> 00:25:31,040
Yeah, he sends his memo to
National Security Advisor Robert

452
00:25:31,040 –> 00:25:36,640
McFarland that listed more than
80 publicity stunts and things

453
00:25:36,640 –> 00:25:41,160
of the like that the CIA and the
National Security Council had

454
00:25:41,160 –> 00:25:45,080
pulled off in Nicaragua.
In the run up to various votes

455
00:25:45,400 –> 00:25:49,240
involving the Contras.
Along with propaganda, Reagan

456
00:25:49,240 –> 00:25:53,240
administration and his ilk would
strategically release

457
00:25:53,280 –> 00:25:58,320
information to or declassify
documents for journalists who

458
00:25:58,320 –> 00:26:02,280
had favorable opinions of the
administration and what they

459
00:26:02,280 –> 00:26:06,000
were doing in Nicaragua.
But again, this is all just

460
00:26:06,000 –> 00:26:09,680
conspiracy theory because the
government actually never lies

461
00:26:09,680 –> 00:26:11,440
to us.
We’re just talking about how

462
00:26:11,440 –> 00:26:14,840
access is such a huge chip.
The government has to play

463
00:26:15,320 –> 00:26:17,120
because if you’re in the
business of breaking news and

464
00:26:17,120 –> 00:26:19,600
you want to get straight from
the tap, maybe you have to play

465
00:26:19,640 –> 00:26:23,320
ball a little bit.
Yeah, and I still don’t

466
00:26:23,320 –> 00:26:26,200
understand how people don’t see
the conflict there.

467
00:26:26,320 –> 00:26:29,840
You’re supposed to be our last
line of defense against the

468
00:26:29,840 –> 00:26:33,000
government lying to us.
That’s what the media in a

469
00:26:33,000 –> 00:26:35,880
society that fucking works is
supposed to do.

470
00:26:35,880 –> 00:26:37,760
And they’re supposed to be free
to do that.

471
00:26:37,840 –> 00:26:41,320
Meanwhile, I mentioned on a
recent episode, I mentioned it

472
00:26:41,320 –> 00:26:46,840
all the time, United States 55th
on the Press Freedom index.

473
00:26:47,040 –> 00:26:52,720
We are behind some absolute
fucking nightmares of a country

474
00:26:52,840 –> 00:26:56,600
where they are way more lenient
in what you can report on.

475
00:26:56,760 –> 00:26:59,520
That’s not nothing.
I found out myself last night

476
00:26:59,520 –> 00:27:02,200
that you can’t even ride a Bird
scooter down the hill through

477
00:27:02,200 –> 00:27:04,480
the grass in the public park at
5:00 in the morning in this

478
00:27:04,480 –> 00:27:07,240
country anymore.
Well, that’s fucked up.

479
00:27:07,960 –> 00:27:09,360
Shame.
That is crazy.

480
00:27:09,440 –> 00:27:12,320
That is like finding that our
national debt bond rating is

481
00:27:12,400 –> 00:27:14,800
behind Switzerland and shit,
we’re losing the Switzerland

482
00:27:14,800 –> 00:27:17,640
guys, come on.
Yeah, yeah, we’re in a bad way.

483
00:27:17,800 –> 00:27:20,080
What the fuck?
How do we blow the Bretton Woods

484
00:27:20,080 –> 00:27:22,600
conference?
We had the lead of the century,

485
00:27:22,600 –> 00:27:25,720
literally.
So despite all of the Reagan

486
00:27:25,720 –> 00:27:29,400
administration’s efforts,
stories about our excursions in

487
00:27:29,400 –> 00:27:33,680
Nicaragua did start making their
way to the American media in

488
00:27:33,680 –> 00:27:37,200
late 1982.
Newsweek published a story

489
00:27:37,200 –> 00:27:40,960
called America’s Secret War
Nicaragua that was about

490
00:27:40,960 –> 00:27:44,920
everything that title implies,
and that was in response to them

491
00:27:44,920 –> 00:27:48,520
finding out that the CIA had
taken an even more active role

492
00:27:48,720 –> 00:27:52,840
in training and funding the
Contras and people at home.

493
00:27:53,120 –> 00:27:55,040
Boy, does that story take a
turn.

494
00:27:55,240 –> 00:28:00,320
Check out the FX original series
Snowfall for more details about

495
00:28:00,320 –> 00:28:01,840
that.
What I mean is the CIA

496
00:28:01,840 –> 00:28:04,960
eventually starts selling crack
to fund all this shit.

497
00:28:05,120 –> 00:28:08,160
I always loved that they were
like the CIA’s version of when I

498
00:28:08,160 –> 00:28:10,920
was broke and I lived in a crack
house with my flag buddies and

499
00:28:10,920 –> 00:28:13,080
we all needed a pack of
cigarettes to share for the day.

500
00:28:13,320 –> 00:28:16,600
We’d go to the fucking couch
behind my room and we would dig

501
00:28:16,600 –> 00:28:19,640
through the cushions and we
could find $5 to go get a pack

502
00:28:19,640 –> 00:28:21,080
of fucking Fortuna.
One hundreds.

503
00:28:21,240 –> 00:28:25,040
When the CIA is like shit, we
just need 7000 more AK47.

504
00:28:25,280 –> 00:28:28,280
Just let’s just make some crack.
We’ll flip it quick.

505
00:28:28,440 –> 00:28:32,080
In and out.
Yeah, it’s exactly like that.

506
00:28:32,280 –> 00:28:36,920
And I didn’t put it in the
notes, but if you read any of

507
00:28:36,920 –> 00:28:41,760
the articles that we link to,
even this Iran Contra stuff,

508
00:28:41,960 –> 00:28:45,640
it’s such a small amount of the
money that they actually were

509
00:28:45,640 –> 00:28:48,600
able to raise to do this.
They were getting it from

510
00:28:48,600 –> 00:28:50,440
private donors.
That’s a big part of it.

511
00:28:50,440 –> 00:28:53,520
But the most scandalous part of
this, which we’ll talk about

512
00:28:53,520 –> 00:28:57,360
later, which is the diversion
scheme, it’s not that much

513
00:28:57,360 –> 00:28:59,080
money.
It’s a small amount of money.

514
00:28:59,080 –> 00:29:02,920
It was just the shadiest thing
they did to get money that will

515
00:29:02,920 –> 00:29:06,840
actually admit to in the public,
like crack thing we’re never

516
00:29:06,840 –> 00:29:08,800
going to admit to as a
government.

517
00:29:08,800 –> 00:29:10,800
But diversion scheme we know
happened.

518
00:29:10,960 –> 00:29:16,480
Here is where I’m going to put
the conspiracy hat on.

519
00:29:16,760 –> 00:29:18,080
I mean, it’s been on this whole
time.

520
00:29:18,080 –> 00:29:21,880
It’s always on for me, the
Boland amendments.

521
00:29:22,240 –> 00:29:24,440
Even though some guy in his
mother’s basement right now just

522
00:29:24,440 –> 00:29:29,080
went.
Throughout the entirety of the

523
00:29:29,200 –> 00:29:34,640
Iran Contra affair, Congress was
seemingly trying to stop Reagan

524
00:29:34,840 –> 00:29:39,720
and the CIA from toppling the
government of Nicaragua through

525
00:29:39,840 –> 00:29:42,520
violence.
But I also think that might have

526
00:29:42,520 –> 00:29:46,840
been a little bit of kayfabe and
just the government putting on a

527
00:29:46,840 –> 00:29:51,320
good show knowing that they were
actually fucking unified behind

528
00:29:51,360 –> 00:29:55,240
what was happening in Nicaragua.
Because for one thing, think

529
00:29:55,240 –> 00:29:58,080
about how much support Reagan
had.

530
00:29:58,280 –> 00:30:02,080
I don’t remember what he won the
first election by, but I

531
00:30:02,080 –> 00:30:04,800
remember the second Reagan
election.

532
00:30:04,800 –> 00:30:08,480
I was eight when it happened, so
I’m old enough to have been

533
00:30:08,480 –> 00:30:12,080
watching it on TV.
Motherfucker won 49 states.

534
00:30:12,280 –> 00:30:15,320
So crazy.
He won California.

535
00:30:15,520 –> 00:30:17,960
People are like, oh, a
Republican would never win

536
00:30:17,960 –> 00:30:20,120
California.
Yeah, it can happen.

537
00:30:20,280 –> 00:30:23,760
It can happen.
Reagan had so much support.

538
00:30:23,920 –> 00:30:27,640
I don’t think Congress was
actually trying to stop this.

539
00:30:27,800 –> 00:30:31,120
I think Congress was trying to
put in writing that they tried

540
00:30:31,120 –> 00:30:34,280
to stop it, but I don’t think
that was actually the intent.

541
00:30:34,520 –> 00:30:36,760
I just get the feeling over the
years that 1/2 of the

542
00:30:36,760 –> 00:30:40,000
government’s job is always to
just be the Washington Generals.

543
00:30:40,000 –> 00:30:43,280
For the other half, they can
just roll over and allow them to

544
00:30:43,280 –> 00:30:46,080
both let the fuck up the country
in whatever complimentary but

545
00:30:46,080 –> 00:30:48,320
opposite direction is
advantageous to them.

546
00:30:48,680 –> 00:30:54,200
Yeah, we act like the government
being so split down party lines

547
00:30:54,240 –> 00:30:57,800
makes it hard to get shit done,
when it really just makes it so

548
00:30:57,800 –> 00:31:01,360
the government can do whatever
they want and also not do the

549
00:31:01,360 –> 00:31:04,160
shit they don’t want to do.
Because there’s some things we

550
00:31:04,160 –> 00:31:08,240
seem to be completely unified
on, like immigration, like one

551
00:31:08,240 –> 00:31:10,160
side talks about it a little
rougher than.

552
00:31:10,160 –> 00:31:11,920
Israel.
There’s fucking full room

553
00:31:11,920 –> 00:31:14,960
standing ovations throughout the
whole Netanyahu speech like

554
00:31:14,960 –> 00:31:16,720
crazy.
I couldn’t believe there wasn’t

555
00:31:16,720 –> 00:31:19,880
one grump doing one of these.
You know, like crossing his

556
00:31:19,880 –> 00:31:22,560
arms, sitting there.
Which is another great example

557
00:31:22,560 –> 00:31:25,440
of a thing I say all the time
when both sides of the

558
00:31:25,440 –> 00:31:27,320
government are unified on
something.

559
00:31:27,480 –> 00:31:31,640
Fucking watch out, that’s bad
times behind the scenes like.

560
00:31:31,800 –> 00:31:34,560
Yeah.
Because that’s so rare, we turn

561
00:31:34,560 –> 00:31:37,520
like mountain.
Dew and fucking Budweiser.

562
00:31:37,520 –> 00:31:41,400
We turn beverages into cultural
fucking dividing lines in the

563
00:31:41,400 –> 00:31:42,400
sand.
Yeah.

564
00:31:42,680 –> 00:31:46,920
So in December 1982, Congress
passed the First Boland

565
00:31:47,000 –> 00:31:50,960
Amendment, which prohibited
using congressional funds for

566
00:31:50,960 –> 00:31:54,520
the purpose of overthrowing the
government of Nicaragua or

567
00:31:54,520 –> 00:31:57,280
inciting a war between Nicaragua
and Honduras.

568
00:31:57,600 –> 00:32:00,280
Which, how fucking specific is
that, man?

569
00:32:00,440 –> 00:32:03,880
And The thing is, for one, the
Reagan administration had

570
00:32:03,880 –> 00:32:06,760
already committed to doing this,
whether they had to sidestep

571
00:32:06,960 –> 00:32:10,600
Congress or not.
Yes, we made the crack already.

572
00:32:10,600 –> 00:32:12,080
What, are we going to smoke it
ourselves?

573
00:32:12,080 –> 00:32:14,880
I mean, come on now, It’s just.
Yeah, some of it you.

574
00:32:14,880 –> 00:32:17,400
Have any idea what you have?
Any idea what the half life of

575
00:32:17,400 –> 00:32:18,600
crack is?
I don’t.

576
00:32:18,600 –> 00:32:21,160
Let’s fucking move.
Yeah, we might lay some

577
00:32:21,160 –> 00:32:23,160
cigarettes with it, see what
effects it has on the

578
00:32:23,160 –> 00:32:25,040
battlefield, but we’re not going
to smoke at all.

579
00:32:26,960 –> 00:32:29,640
HW ripping the crack laced
cigarette.

580
00:32:29,960 –> 00:32:33,360
And see, the thing that makes me
feel like the Boland amendment

581
00:32:33,400 –> 00:32:38,560
was just Congress putting on a
show for the people is they left

582
00:32:38,560 –> 00:32:43,120
this loophole in place that the
US could still support the

583
00:32:43,120 –> 00:32:46,480
Contras.
We just either one had to do it

584
00:32:46,480 –> 00:32:50,880
for different reasons, like
humanitarian aid, or we could do

585
00:32:50,880 –> 00:32:55,480
it by soliciting funds from
third parties and the private

586
00:32:55,720 –> 00:32:58,600
sector.
And boy, does that story take a

587
00:32:58,600 –> 00:33:00,560
turn.
People listening at home.

588
00:33:00,800 –> 00:33:04,800
Check out the 2014 Jeremy Renner
film Killed a Messenger for more

589
00:33:04,800 –> 00:33:07,840
details.
It’s about the CIA selling crack

590
00:33:07,960 –> 00:33:10,000
in Los Angeles.
Anyway, because of that

591
00:33:10,000 –> 00:33:14,640
loophole, the Bolin Amendment
did nothing to stop the US from

592
00:33:14,640 –> 00:33:18,080
funding contras, and I think
that part was intentional, seems

593
00:33:18,080 –> 00:33:20,360
like.
Oh no, our amendment didn’t

594
00:33:20,360 –> 00:33:22,360
work.
I guess we have to go back to

595
00:33:22,360 –> 00:33:25,680
not caring.
Even when they amend it again,

596
00:33:26,000 –> 00:33:27,960
they somehow leave that loophole
in.

597
00:33:28,080 –> 00:33:29,720
What’s the point?
We totally.

598
00:33:29,720 –> 00:33:34,360
Wanted it to work.
So the CIA, they definitely

599
00:33:34,360 –> 00:33:37,120
helped to arm and train the
contras, but they were also

600
00:33:37,120 –> 00:33:40,920
active participants in a lot of
what happened, including two

601
00:33:40,920 –> 00:33:45,360
separate incidents on January
7th and February 29th, 1984,

602
00:33:45,480 –> 00:33:49,640
where CIA planted mines,
destroyed several ships in

603
00:33:49,760 –> 00:33:53,400
Nicaraguan harbors.
Not only did news of that make

604
00:33:53,400 –> 00:33:56,760
it to the press, but the Wall
Street Journal went so far as to

605
00:33:56,760 –> 00:34:01,680
name Oliver North as the person
who had knowledge of that and

606
00:34:01,680 –> 00:34:04,680
encouraged that kind of shit in
Nicaragua.

607
00:34:05,000 –> 00:34:08,239
And this is at a time when we’re
supposed to not even be funding

608
00:34:08,719 –> 00:34:12,719
Contras in any public way.
They must have got those AK-40

609
00:34:12,719 –> 00:34:14,239
sevens from a friend.
I don’t know.

610
00:34:15,320 –> 00:34:19,080
I was literally in my room.
What’s crazy is they amend the

611
00:34:19,080 –> 00:34:22,600
Bolin amendment again.
They amend it in response to

612
00:34:22,600 –> 00:34:25,960
this story, making it out to the
press.

613
00:34:26,120 –> 00:34:29,639
They amend it again.
But not only do they leave that

614
00:34:29,639 –> 00:34:33,400
same loophole in place where you
can still solicit funds from

615
00:34:33,400 –> 00:34:37,520
third parties and private
donors, but now they add another

616
00:34:37,520 –> 00:34:41,199
one that says also you can do
any of this shit if you just go

617
00:34:41,199 –> 00:34:42,800
through the National Security
Council.

618
00:34:42,880 –> 00:34:45,440
Which deal?
They were already doing it

619
00:34:45,440 –> 00:34:47,000
through the National Security
Council.

620
00:34:47,000 –> 00:34:50,600
So unless I’m reading something
incorrect, it seems like

621
00:34:50,760 –> 00:34:55,040
Congress was actually just
writing these bills in a way

622
00:34:55,040 –> 00:34:59,800
that gave a path for funding
Contras without making it look

623
00:34:59,800 –> 00:35:02,560
like an actual government
effort.

624
00:35:02,880 –> 00:35:07,440
Two Patsy bills to land on your
desired conclusion of legalizing

625
00:35:07,440 –> 00:35:09,200
the crime we were committing
already.

626
00:35:09,320 –> 00:35:12,840
Yeah, and to make it seem like
there’s some dissent among the

627
00:35:12,840 –> 00:35:15,200
two sides.
Yeah, so you can go on fucking

628
00:35:15,200 –> 00:35:17,920
whatever the TV show is and show
a guy in the red tie talk and a

629
00:35:17,920 –> 00:35:19,520
guy in the blue tie talk and go.
Well, there was.

630
00:35:19,520 –> 00:35:22,360
After much debate, we decided.
Yeah.

631
00:35:22,520 –> 00:35:25,880
And I also feel like they were
trying to set some people up

632
00:35:26,080 –> 00:35:28,360
throughout the course of this.
We’re going to talk about some

633
00:35:28,720 –> 00:35:32,640
flights later where I feel like
they were trying to get Portugal

634
00:35:32,960 –> 00:35:37,200
in trouble, but we’ll get there.
So the Wall Street Journal was

635
00:35:37,200 –> 00:35:40,240
on to something when they
reported on Oliver North because

636
00:35:40,240 –> 00:35:43,640
he was indeed the guy within the
National Security Council who

637
00:35:43,640 –> 00:35:47,120
oversaw all of our shady
dealings with the Contras.

638
00:35:47,280 –> 00:35:50,440
He worked alongside a retired
Air Force general named Richard

639
00:35:50,440 –> 00:35:55,320
Secord and an Iranian
businessman named Albert Hakim,

640
00:35:55,640 –> 00:35:59,480
and among their efforts, they
built a private airstrip in

641
00:35:59,560 –> 00:36:01,560
Costa Rica.
I don’t know if the three of

642
00:36:01,560 –> 00:36:03,520
them did it by hand, which
maybe.

643
00:36:03,720 –> 00:36:06,720
I like to imagine that they did,
and they bonked heads together

644
00:36:06,720 –> 00:36:08,600
like the Three Stooges, and it
was a good time.

645
00:36:08,800 –> 00:36:11,880
That’s how Jonestown worked.
I just fucking hope that the

646
00:36:11,880 –> 00:36:14,720
people that are fucking
manipulating the world and

647
00:36:14,720 –> 00:36:17,040
destroying people’s, I hope
they’re having fun with it, You

648
00:36:17,040 –> 00:36:19,800
know, I hope they are out there
digging like, well, it’s the

649
00:36:19,800 –> 00:36:21,240
ground breaking for the
airstrip.

650
00:36:21,880 –> 00:36:23,680
We’re going to move a lot of
drugs, fellas.

651
00:36:23,680 –> 00:36:25,320
I hope they’re enjoying the
moments.

652
00:36:25,520 –> 00:36:28,760
Yeah, I’ve had a job I hate.
I don’t wish that on anyone.

653
00:36:28,880 –> 00:36:30,760
I hope everyone’s happy in their
employment.

654
00:36:30,920 –> 00:36:32,760
You know, Dick Cheney’s like,
when he was walking down the

655
00:36:32,760 –> 00:36:35,200
hall one day, some fucking
Democrat guy was coming up and

656
00:36:35,200 –> 00:36:37,480
he wanted to be snarky.
So he’s like, how you doing,

657
00:36:37,480 –> 00:36:39,200
Dick?
Could you blow any small

658
00:36:39,200 –> 00:36:42,400
countries off the map today?
And Dick Cheney just paused very

659
00:36:42,400 –> 00:36:44,800
thoughtfully and said, you know,
that’s one of the things about

660
00:36:44,800 –> 00:36:48,720
this job I really enjoy.
And I was like, you know, at

661
00:36:48,720 –> 00:36:50,520
least they’re funny.
You know, at least they’re

662
00:36:50,520 –> 00:36:52,840
funny.
Building this private airstrip

663
00:36:52,840 –> 00:36:56,520
worked for a while, but it’s
also one of the ways the Iran

664
00:36:56,520 –> 00:37:00,520
Contra affair was exposed,
because the Sandinistas shot one

665
00:37:00,520 –> 00:37:04,520
of those planes down and
captured the pilot guy named

666
00:37:04,520 –> 00:37:07,360
Eugene Fuss and Fuss.
There must have been a big day

667
00:37:07,360 –> 00:37:09,320
in Sandinista town.
I bet.

668
00:37:09,480 –> 00:37:14,160
So unfortunately, private
donations and proceeds from

669
00:37:14,160 –> 00:37:18,080
definitely not selling crack in
Los Angeles weren’t bringing in

670
00:37:18,080 –> 00:37:22,160
enough money to topple the
Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

671
00:37:22,320 –> 00:37:25,680
And that’s when Oliver North
came up with the diversion

672
00:37:25,920 –> 00:37:28,760
scheme.
This somehow is one of the most

673
00:37:28,760 –> 00:37:31,160
explosive revelations in all
this.

674
00:37:31,360 –> 00:37:34,960
And I think it’s because it
involves us really just breaking

675
00:37:34,960 –> 00:37:38,920
the law like three times at
least in the course of one

676
00:37:38,920 –> 00:37:40,840
transaction.
It’s really simple.

677
00:37:40,920 –> 00:37:43,840
We’re selling arms to Iran by
this point, which we’re not

678
00:37:43,840 –> 00:37:47,120
supposed to be doing.
And we’re doing that in order to

679
00:37:47,120 –> 00:37:51,000
make money to give the Contras.
Oliver North’s idea is, oh, what

680
00:37:51,000 –> 00:37:55,080
if we just way overcharge Iran
and that way we can give more

681
00:37:55,080 –> 00:37:57,920
money to the Contras.
And that’s what they did.

682
00:37:58,120 –> 00:38:03,240
They sent two shipments of arms
to Iran way, inflated the prices

683
00:38:03,400 –> 00:38:07,840
and sent money to the Contras as
a result.

684
00:38:08,080 –> 00:38:13,560
And very helpfully, Oliver North
wrote a memo about this and sent

685
00:38:13,560 –> 00:38:19,240
it to Reagan and his national
security advisor, John

686
00:38:19,240 –> 00:38:23,040
Poindexter.
Nice name that outlined how the

687
00:38:23,040 –> 00:38:27,600
entire scheme worked came to be
known as the diversion Memo.

688
00:38:27,760 –> 00:38:31,200
So we were selling arms to Iran
because there’s actually a

689
00:38:31,200 –> 00:38:37,040
second hostage crisis In 84.
The US started publicly talking

690
00:38:37,040 –> 00:38:40,960
about an arms embargo on Iran
and it was called Operation

691
00:38:40,960 –> 00:38:43,760
Staunch.
My dream job is naming black op

692
00:38:43,960 –> 00:38:45,880
projects.
You know, being in the in the

693
00:38:45,880 –> 00:38:48,960
writers room for DARPA.
In response to this crackdown on

694
00:38:48,960 –> 00:38:53,960
Iran, a group called Islamic
Holy War took more US hostages.

695
00:38:54,160 –> 00:38:57,000
What are they all about?
I think they were just aligned

696
00:38:57,000 –> 00:38:59,600
with Iran.
They were allies.

697
00:38:59,800 –> 00:39:02,280
If I’m not mistaken, they were
based in Lebanon.

698
00:39:02,600 –> 00:39:06,280
They were not in Iran, but they
were friendly to the Iranian

699
00:39:06,400 –> 00:39:08,920
government.
At some point, American hostages

700
00:39:08,920 –> 00:39:13,120
are taken in Lebanon.
And what ends up happening is

701
00:39:13,120 –> 00:39:17,080
Reagan already knows the value
of a good hostage release when

702
00:39:17,080 –> 00:39:20,960
it comes to public opinion, So
he’s hungry to get these

703
00:39:21,320 –> 00:39:26,080
hostages released.
And Iran, on the other hand, is

704
00:39:26,080 –> 00:39:29,920
involved in a war with Iraq, and
they need arms, they need

705
00:39:30,040 –> 00:39:33,000
weapons.
But we’re publicly talking about

706
00:39:33,000 –> 00:39:36,560
how well, we have an embargo on
selling arms to Iran, so we’re

707
00:39:36,560 –> 00:39:38,520
not going to do that.
And meanwhile, President

708
00:39:38,520 –> 00:39:41,000
Reagan’s like, well, I’d like
to.

709
00:39:41,000 –> 00:39:43,000
It’s like.
It’s like a guy that’s only got

710
00:39:43,000 –> 00:39:44,880
1 move.
It’s like Reagan, you’re going

711
00:39:44,880 –> 00:39:47,400
to play a song on the acoustic
guitar again.

712
00:39:47,400 –> 00:39:52,040
Come on, switch it up.
And so that’s when a Saudi arms

713
00:39:52,040 –> 00:39:56,920
dealer named Adnan Khashoggi,
nice mash up of pop culture

714
00:39:56,920 –> 00:40:00,920
references in that name, and an
Iranian businessman.

715
00:40:01,240 –> 00:40:04,920
Who was friendly to the US,
named Manu Share or Bonafar

716
00:40:05,080 –> 00:40:08,600
devised a scheme to make those
arms sales happen.

717
00:40:08,800 –> 00:40:12,520
And at the same time, Reagan is
telling the press that we’re not

718
00:40:12,520 –> 00:40:16,320
going to kowtow to terrorists
holding these hostages.

719
00:40:16,440 –> 00:40:20,640
These two bring in a third guy,
an Israeli man named David

720
00:40:20,640 –> 00:40:25,080
Kimchi, to act as a conduit
through which Israel would sell

721
00:40:25,080 –> 00:40:30,040
the weapons to Iran for us, IE
we don’t break that embargo.

722
00:40:30,800 –> 00:40:33,640
The I was holding it for a
friend mom excuse.

723
00:40:33,880 –> 00:40:37,080
Yeah, it’s real, I’m not
touching you energy where it’s

724
00:40:37,080 –> 00:40:39,920
like, yeah, you’re not, but
you’re doing the same thing.

725
00:40:40,080 –> 00:40:43,240
And they met with National
Security Advisor Robert

726
00:40:43,240 –> 00:40:47,640
McFarlane and discussed these
arms sales in exchange for

727
00:40:47,640 –> 00:40:51,760
hostages.
McFarlane then visited Reagan in

728
00:40:51,760 –> 00:40:54,880
his hospital bed.
Reagan was recovering from

729
00:40:54,880 –> 00:40:58,400
abdominal surgery for some
reason, and chief of staff

730
00:40:58,400 –> 00:41:01,640
Donald Reagan was there.
Nancy spit too much of my own

731
00:41:01,640 –> 00:41:05,280
jizz back into my mouth.
I had to have my stomach pumped.

732
00:41:06,360 –> 00:41:10,080
And during that meeting, he
definitely did not tell Reagan

733
00:41:10,160 –> 00:41:13,960
about this arms deal for
hostages.

734
00:41:14,160 –> 00:41:19,240
Except he did, obviously.
Reagan himself even eventually

735
00:41:19,240 –> 00:41:25,480
admitted that this, at the very
latest, is when Reagan found out

736
00:41:25,480 –> 00:41:28,640
about this arms deal, which is
an important thing because the

737
00:41:28,640 –> 00:41:32,760
entire Iran Contra hearings kind
of centered around that idea.

738
00:41:32,760 –> 00:41:35,400
Did Reagan know?
I’m realizing that the Reagan

739
00:41:35,400 –> 00:41:38,240
campaign did what the Biden
campaign failed to do timing

740
00:41:38,240 –> 00:41:42,000
wise, which was hit the sweet
spot of dementia where he was

741
00:41:42,000 –> 00:41:46,240
highly impressionable.
I’ll coachable losing memories

742
00:41:46,240 –> 00:41:50,360
every day, you know, So it’s
like every day that passes is

743
00:41:50,360 –> 00:41:53,200
like you have a more credible
liar on your hands.

744
00:41:53,200 –> 00:41:54,400
Maybe he fucking, maybe he
doesn’t.

745
00:41:54,480 –> 00:41:56,280
I doesn’t remember talking about
that in the hospital bed.

746
00:41:56,280 –> 00:41:57,400
You know what I mean at this
point.

747
00:41:57,960 –> 00:42:01,760
Yeah, because he did several
times when asked about this.

748
00:42:01,920 –> 00:42:04,480
There were a few times where he
was like, I don’t even remember

749
00:42:04,480 –> 00:42:08,240
meeting with that guy.
But I think part of it is

750
00:42:08,440 –> 00:42:15,000
because Oliver North sent that
memo and that memo somehow was

751
00:42:15,000 –> 00:42:17,680
never destroyed.
So that’s probably why Reagan

752
00:42:17,680 –> 00:42:22,480
had to admit it eventually.
So the deal involved Israel

753
00:42:22,480 –> 00:42:26,160
selling missiles to Iran.
And then what we did is we just

754
00:42:26,160 –> 00:42:28,680
sent those same missiles to
Israel.

755
00:42:28,760 –> 00:42:32,680
So again, I’m not touching you.
I’m just what I’m sending.

756
00:42:32,680 –> 00:42:35,000
I’m sending missiles to Israel.
That’s our ally.

757
00:42:35,000 –> 00:42:38,880
What what we just keep adding?
More middle men to the like

758
00:42:38,880 –> 00:42:40,400
destruction.
It’s like, OK, we’ll go through

759
00:42:40,400 –> 00:42:42,320
the NFC and we’ll sell them to
Israel 1st.

760
00:42:42,320 –> 00:42:44,880
And you know, it’s like they
just like like how many I can, I

761
00:42:44,880 –> 00:42:47,760
can bring more fucking deep
state goals into this.

762
00:42:49,400 –> 00:42:53,920
And so in this big, long,
sprawling story, that’s kind of

763
00:42:53,920 –> 00:42:55,800
the crux of it, what did Reagan
know?

764
00:42:55,800 –> 00:42:58,680
Did he know?
And of course, he fucking knew.

765
00:42:58,880 –> 00:43:02,320
Even when we talk about all the
committees that investigated

766
00:43:02,320 –> 00:43:06,240
this, no one was ever willing to
just blatantly say, yeah, Reagan

767
00:43:06,400 –> 00:43:10,560
knew, but he knew It’s and said
just not in an official

768
00:43:10,560 –> 00:43:12,320
acknowledgement kind of way.
He’s.

769
00:43:12,320 –> 00:43:14,880
Such a himbo.
I could see him totally

770
00:43:14,880 –> 00:43:16,840
forgetting.
He probably thought of it as

771
00:43:16,840 –> 00:43:20,040
like the South America thing,
you know, Like it wasn’t like

772
00:43:20,400 –> 00:43:23,040
some specific thing.
He’d be like, Oh yeah, how are

773
00:43:23,040 –> 00:43:25,600
we paying for that?
Like, I could see him being not

774
00:43:25,600 –> 00:43:28,040
that even interested.
But yeah, there’s no way he

775
00:43:28,040 –> 00:43:30,680
wasn’t on his fucking radar.
It’s like Nancy handles that.

776
00:43:30,840 –> 00:43:33,960
I’ve no idea.
Yeah, our astrologer, mostly.

777
00:43:35,160 –> 00:43:37,120
So fucking cool that they had an
astrologer.

778
00:43:37,360 –> 00:43:40,360
Oh, yeah, That’s so comforting.
There were so many alarming

779
00:43:40,360 –> 00:43:43,520
things about Reagan.
One of my favorites is that one

780
00:43:43,520 –> 00:43:47,880
of his actual beliefs, one of
his religious beliefs, this was

781
00:43:47,880 –> 00:43:52,480
part of his religious beliefs,
is that the US was destined for

782
00:43:52,480 –> 00:43:55,840
a nuclear war with Russia, but
that we were going to survive it

783
00:43:55,960 –> 00:43:59,040
and so it would be fine.
I don’t know who he is.

784
00:43:59,480 –> 00:44:02,320
I don’t know if we means just
the president and his cabinet.

785
00:44:02,600 –> 00:44:04,800
Inside, underneath the mountain,
you know, somewhere.

786
00:44:05,200 –> 00:44:08,840
Under the Denver airport, so
there were two shipments of arms

787
00:44:08,840 –> 00:44:12,960
to Iran in 1985.
Funds from the second were

788
00:44:13,000 –> 00:44:17,160
diverted to support the contras.
To hide the money from Congress,

789
00:44:17,160 –> 00:44:20,520
a company called Stanford
Technology Trading Group

790
00:44:20,560 –> 00:44:24,280
International was set up and
they just funneled the money

791
00:44:24,280 –> 00:44:26,600
through that.
I think there’s a word for

792
00:44:26,720 –> 00:44:31,080
sending money through a business
to make it look legitimate, but

793
00:44:31,080 –> 00:44:33,880
I can’t think of what that might
be the company.

794
00:44:33,880 –> 00:44:38,640
Was washing currency.
Like cleaning.

795
00:44:38,800 –> 00:44:40,120
Is it cleaning?
Do they call it?

796
00:44:40,120 –> 00:44:41,120
I don’t know.
I don’t know.

797
00:44:41,120 –> 00:44:42,560
It’s a big crime.
I’m surprised.

798
00:44:42,560 –> 00:44:43,520
I can’t think of the name.
It’s.

799
00:44:43,720 –> 00:44:46,840
Almost like a scrubbing process.
Yeah, on the tip of my tongue.

800
00:44:47,000 –> 00:44:50,120
This company was also referred
to as the Enterprise, which

801
00:44:50,120 –> 00:44:52,040
that’s cool.
And now they rank calls.

802
00:44:52,440 –> 00:44:55,080
It would be great if that is
actually enterprise car.

803
00:44:55,520 –> 00:44:57,160
It’s just that.
What they?

804
00:44:57,400 –> 00:45:01,560
All my heart.
Just listening devices in rental

805
00:45:01,560 –> 00:45:04,600
cars across the nation.
That was like a little taste of

806
00:45:04,600 –> 00:45:07,160
the joy in my heart when I found
out that the Bush family

807
00:45:07,160 –> 00:45:11,280
literally dealt with Nazi gold,
like in, in no uncertain terms

808
00:45:11,280 –> 00:45:12,880
whatsoever.
Like, wow.

809
00:45:13,440 –> 00:45:16,800
And I think to myself, what a
wonderful world.

810
00:45:17,720 –> 00:45:21,400
So it’s that second arms
shipment where things really

811
00:45:21,400 –> 00:45:25,240
start going haywire in the Iran
Contra scandal.

812
00:45:25,400 –> 00:45:29,440
Because remember, we are in the
midst of Operation Staunch,

813
00:45:29,440 –> 00:45:32,160
which is an arms embargo against
Iran.

814
00:45:32,360 –> 00:45:35,320
And if you’re an ally of the
United States and we put

815
00:45:35,320 –> 00:45:38,840
something like that in place,
one thing you know is that if

816
00:45:38,840 –> 00:45:41,480
you violate that, we’re going to
fucking violate you.

817
00:45:41,800 –> 00:45:45,200
And in like a street gang
violate kind of way, we will

818
00:45:45,200 –> 00:45:46,880
fuck you up if you do that.
We.

819
00:45:46,880 –> 00:45:50,040
Do have this like prison bitch
relationship with these

820
00:45:50,040 –> 00:45:54,120
countries where it’s like we’ll
protect you unconditionally but

821
00:45:54,120 –> 00:45:57,240
not for your best interest and
only completely conditionally.

822
00:45:57,760 –> 00:45:59,400
Right.
And we’re going to get rich off

823
00:45:59,400 –> 00:46:01,240
of it, but hey, you have our
protection.

824
00:46:01,440 –> 00:46:05,360
And So what happens is this
second flight where they’re

825
00:46:05,360 –> 00:46:09,440
shipping arms to the Contras, it
was set to land in Portugal.

826
00:46:09,760 –> 00:46:12,480
Nice country you got here.
It’d be a real shame if someone

827
00:46:12,480 –> 00:46:17,520
were to introduce democracy.
So this plane is due to land in

828
00:46:17,520 –> 00:46:21,240
Portugal, and authorities in
Portugal are like, all right,

829
00:46:21,440 –> 00:46:24,680
Ellis, what’s on the plane?
And some fucking knucklehead

830
00:46:24,800 –> 00:46:28,520
just straight up tells them, oh,
these are arms that are being

831
00:46:28,520 –> 00:46:31,920
shipped to Iran.
And there’s a retired American

832
00:46:31,920 –> 00:46:35,520
general on the plane.
And so someone in Portugal was

833
00:46:35,520 –> 00:46:39,080
familiar enough with American
foreign policy to be like, so

834
00:46:39,080 –> 00:46:43,040
you mean this is an American
shipment of arms to Iran?

835
00:46:43,760 –> 00:46:47,320
Whoever was on the plane was
like, well, yeah.

836
00:46:48,800 –> 00:46:51,040
And Portugal stuck to their
guns.

837
00:46:51,040 –> 00:46:54,960
And we’re like, no, if we’re
letting this flight leave, you

838
00:46:54,960 –> 00:47:00,200
are giving us some sort of
official written proof from the

839
00:47:00,200 –> 00:47:04,200
American government that they
are signing off on us letting an

840
00:47:04,240 –> 00:47:07,160
arms shipment to Iran go through
our country.

841
00:47:07,160 –> 00:47:10,400
We are not trying to get fucking
invaded by you six months from

842
00:47:10,400 –> 00:47:11,520
now.
Fair enough.

843
00:47:11,760 –> 00:47:15,240
My favorite part is Oliver North
was like, all right, fine, we’ll

844
00:47:15,240 –> 00:47:18,160
just use one of the CIA’s
private airlines.

845
00:47:19,680 –> 00:47:22,680
They were running a commercial
airliner that when they didn’t

846
00:47:22,680 –> 00:47:26,240
need it for.
When Jeffrey Epstein 0 wasn’t

847
00:47:26,240 –> 00:47:28,440
using it like.
Exactly.

848
00:47:28,560 –> 00:47:33,360
And that worked like a charm in
this second arms deal.

849
00:47:33,360 –> 00:47:36,680
Except.
Shout out to that guy who just

850
00:47:36,680 –> 00:47:40,080
worked for the fucking plane
company that was like oh this

851
00:47:40,080 –> 00:47:41,720
yeah dude, it’s fucking crazy
bro.

852
00:47:41,880 –> 00:47:44,040
These are weapons bro.
Get this shit.

853
00:47:44,120 –> 00:47:45,640
You just totally spilled the
beans.

854
00:47:45,800 –> 00:47:48,040
Much love to that guy, that’s
why.

855
00:47:48,440 –> 00:47:51,320
When people bring up the idea
that the government was involved

856
00:47:51,320 –> 00:47:54,840
in what happened at Jonestown,
one of the very, very, very

857
00:47:54,840 –> 00:48:00,720
valid questions is how did Jim
Jones get all those guns and all

858
00:48:00,720 –> 00:48:05,000
those drugs from the United
States to Guyana if he didn’t

859
00:48:05,000 –> 00:48:08,720
have some kind of government
cover or help?

860
00:48:08,840 –> 00:48:11,320
I want to know how he got all
the fucking Coca-Cola down

861
00:48:11,320 –> 00:48:12,800
there.
He’s drinking the fucking big

862
00:48:12,800 –> 00:48:14,920
glass bottle of coke.
Every fucking video.

863
00:48:15,120 –> 00:48:18,600
Yeah, and a lot of people, their
argument is, oh, well, you could

864
00:48:18,600 –> 00:48:23,120
just bribe someone at customs.
And it’s like, yeah, you’re

865
00:48:23,120 –> 00:48:26,920
going to roll the dice on that,
hoping that some motherfucker is

866
00:48:26,920 –> 00:48:30,760
like, hey, you keep your $50,
I’m about to make my fucking

867
00:48:30,760 –> 00:48:37,120
career on this goddamn story.
You can’t rely on everyone being

868
00:48:37,120 –> 00:48:40,400
able to be bribed.
And I think this Portugal story

869
00:48:40,640 –> 00:48:43,440
proves that because, you know,
at some point they were like,

870
00:48:43,560 –> 00:48:45,320
what if we give you like
$1,000,000?

871
00:48:45,600 –> 00:48:48,480
The guy was like, no, that’s not
going to cover what it’s going

872
00:48:48,480 –> 00:48:52,280
to cost when America invades
over this in a few months.

873
00:48:52,480 –> 00:48:56,400
So yeah, eventually, yeah, we
just went through our private

874
00:48:56,400 –> 00:48:59,240
CIA airlines.
That is hilarious.

875
00:48:59,600 –> 00:49:03,040
Someone kind of sort of nobly
somewhat stands up to this

876
00:49:03,040 –> 00:49:06,240
thing, and then they’re like,
well, I guess we got to take the

877
00:49:06,240 –> 00:49:09,400
PJ.
And then CIA air just lands

878
00:49:09,440 –> 00:49:12,320
right next to them.
Sammy Hagar solo place.

879
00:49:12,760 –> 00:49:16,800
And it gets funnier actually,
because that part worked really

880
00:49:16,800 –> 00:49:19,840
well, getting the arms to the
contras.

881
00:49:20,200 –> 00:49:23,480
It’s just that we landed and
realized we had delivered the

882
00:49:23,480 –> 00:49:27,520
wrong kind of missiles.
Like we delivered them like they

883
00:49:27,520 –> 00:49:32,800
were not capable of using these.
Missiles are USBC bro.

884
00:49:32,800 –> 00:49:38,200
We have USBA mother fuck dude.
It had to be something like

885
00:49:38,200 –> 00:49:39,520
that.
Look at this.

886
00:49:39,520 –> 00:49:42,120
It is way too fucking.
It is like rolling around in the

887
00:49:42,120 –> 00:49:43,040
tube.
The I don’t.

888
00:49:43,320 –> 00:49:45,760
I’m not a fucking missile
expert, but I know it’s supposed

889
00:49:45,760 –> 00:49:47,120
to be snug in the tube.
Bro.

890
00:49:47,320 –> 00:49:51,920
And so eventually we made nice
enough with Iran that we started

891
00:49:51,920 –> 00:49:54,520
going public with our arms
deals.

892
00:49:54,600 –> 00:49:57,240
And then even then we were
diverting money to the Contras

893
00:49:57,560 –> 00:49:59,720
behind Congress’s back,
allegedly.

894
00:49:59,880 –> 00:50:04,280
But the story of the Iran arms
deal makes it to the press by

895
00:50:04,280 –> 00:50:08,760
way of two Lebanese newspapers
in November 1986.

896
00:50:08,920 –> 00:50:12,320
And by December it’s all over
American media.

897
00:50:12,520 –> 00:50:15,720
Reagan went public, gave a bunch
of press conferences where he

898
00:50:15,720 –> 00:50:20,040
told a bunch of lies about how
the US does not condone other

899
00:50:20,040 –> 00:50:24,000
countries shipping arms to Iran
either, completely forgetting

900
00:50:24,160 –> 00:50:28,400
that his own chief of staff,
Donald Regan had already

901
00:50:28,400 –> 00:50:32,600
admitted publicly that we signed
off on Israel sending arms to

902
00:50:32,720 –> 00:50:36,000
Iran.
Oliver North took to shredding a

903
00:50:36,000 –> 00:50:41,360
bunch of documents in N86 when
the story broke and somehow just

904
00:50:41,360 –> 00:50:47,040
failed to shred the diversion
memo, the most important memo.

905
00:50:47,320 –> 00:50:49,400
Until you said that I was
actually kind of getting

906
00:50:49,400 –> 00:50:52,160
nostalgic for the deep state of
old hearing this.

907
00:50:52,200 –> 00:50:54,600
I feel like I never watched
basketball during the Contact

908
00:50:54,600 –> 00:50:57,280
era or something like that
because I only got to see this

909
00:50:57,280 –> 00:51:00,800
somewhat competent Bush regime
where they had a semi competent

910
00:51:00,800 –> 00:51:05,480
actor and a somewhat united
cadre of spooky individuals

911
00:51:05,480 –> 00:51:07,120
behind the scenes pulling the
strings.

912
00:51:07,480 –> 00:51:10,320
But here it’s like you’ve got a
great fucking mouthpiece and

913
00:51:10,320 –> 00:51:12,040
Ronald Reagan one of the best of
all time.

914
00:51:12,280 –> 00:51:15,440
You’ve got the King Supreme of
the deep state, George HW Bush

915
00:51:15,520 –> 00:51:17,680
is number 2.
And then you’ve got some of the

916
00:51:17,680 –> 00:51:20,560
funniest ghouls that Republican
politics have ever produced in

917
00:51:20,560 –> 00:51:22,440
your cabinet.
And they just fucking ran

918
00:51:22,440 –> 00:51:24,360
numbers, man.
They, they had this shit down.

919
00:51:24,360 –> 00:51:26,760
They’re like, we’ll fucking tell
them a couple lies over here.

920
00:51:26,760 –> 00:51:29,040
We’ll say some inspiring shit
over there sitting on a hill,

921
00:51:29,040 –> 00:51:31,520
blah, blah, blah.
It’s kind of amazing to watch

922
00:51:31,520 –> 00:51:33,880
them work.
I always wonder if that part

923
00:51:33,880 –> 00:51:37,480
would be the deep state, or was
the deep state the person who

924
00:51:37,480 –> 00:51:41,760
somehow managed to not get the
diversion memo shredded?

925
00:51:41,920 –> 00:51:46,040
Because I refuse to believe that
that box of MK Ultra documents

926
00:51:46,200 –> 00:51:48,720
that eventually broke that
story, they were just

927
00:51:48,720 –> 00:51:52,440
accidentally put in the wrong
storage facility because that’s

928
00:51:52,440 –> 00:51:54,200
what happened.
That’s how we found them.

929
00:51:54,200 –> 00:51:56,080
They were put wrong.
Like a filing error.

930
00:51:56,320 –> 00:52:00,000
Yeah, so when we shredded
everything, that one box didn’t

931
00:52:00,000 –> 00:52:04,120
get shredded, Was that a filing
error or was someone like fuck

932
00:52:04,120 –> 00:52:06,840
this?
People need to know that.

933
00:52:07,120 –> 00:52:09,400
Is interesting.
I don’t know, because yeah, I’d

934
00:52:09,400 –> 00:52:12,680
love to know how Oliver North
fucked up on not shredding the

935
00:52:12,680 –> 00:52:15,720
diversion memo.
I’m sure that details out there.

936
00:52:15,960 –> 00:52:17,640
Oh, you think there there might
have been someone with a

937
00:52:17,640 –> 00:52:19,320
conscience?
That’s an interesting theory.

938
00:52:19,560 –> 00:52:25,280
Yeah, there was a whistleblower
very recently who that was his

939
00:52:25,280 –> 00:52:27,640
whole thing.
He just found some shit in the

940
00:52:27,640 –> 00:52:30,400
course of his NSA job and was
like fuck this, I’m going to

941
00:52:30,400 –> 00:52:33,920
upload this to the Internet and
he’s probably in Guantanamo now,

942
00:52:34,120 –> 00:52:36,760
but still.
That’s the spirit, kid.

943
00:52:36,960 –> 00:52:39,360
They’re feeding the streets
content at the end of the day,

944
00:52:39,560 –> 00:52:42,240
which I support.
We conspiracy heads need some to

945
00:52:42,240 –> 00:52:44,680
goon over, and you know when
there’s a fucking wiki leak, you

946
00:52:44,680 –> 00:52:48,920
know that’s our time.
And so Oliver North learns he

947
00:52:48,920 –> 00:52:53,280
might be facing criminal charges
over all of this on television

948
00:52:53,280 –> 00:52:56,080
with the rest of the world,
which I love that part because

949
00:52:56,080 –> 00:53:00,400
he assumed he was working under
the direction of the president.

950
00:53:00,640 –> 00:53:03,320
And you got to feel like you’re
bulletproof at that point and

951
00:53:03,320 –> 00:53:05,160
you’re like, what the fuck?
And he’s like.

952
00:53:05,560 –> 00:53:08,240
Oh shit, yeah, I’ll testify.
You bet.

953
00:53:08,360 –> 00:53:12,880
And I think we’re going to do a
separate episode about the

954
00:53:12,880 –> 00:53:18,000
actual Iran Contra hearings
because they are fascinating.

955
00:53:18,000 –> 00:53:20,480
I remember watching a lot of it
on TV.

956
00:53:20,640 –> 00:53:24,200
Oliver North comes out the other
end a legitimate TV star.

957
00:53:24,560 –> 00:53:27,440
My mom fucking loved Oliver
North.

958
00:53:27,640 –> 00:53:31,640
She was so enchanted by Oliver
North.

959
00:53:32,000 –> 00:53:37,000
It’s crazy and I have been
unable to find it ever since the

960
00:53:37,000 –> 00:53:40,720
first time I read it and was
like, huh, that’s a curious

961
00:53:40,720 –> 00:53:42,840
thing I’m going to bring up on
an episode another time.

962
00:53:43,040 –> 00:53:46,360
I think it’s during the Iran
Contra hearings.

963
00:53:46,560 –> 00:53:51,480
At one point this really crucial
witness is rendered unable to

964
00:53:51,480 –> 00:53:54,040
speak before he gives his
testimony.

965
00:53:54,040 –> 00:53:57,440
And that was the explanation.
They were just like sorry, guy

966
00:53:57,440 –> 00:53:59,560
can’t talk anymore for the rest
of time.

967
00:53:59,920 –> 00:54:01,440
Looks.
Like someone shot him with some

968
00:54:01,440 –> 00:54:04,640
kind of can’t talk gun.
Yeah, like they fucking debarked

969
00:54:04,640 –> 00:54:07,040
him or something.
Like what the?

970
00:54:08,640 –> 00:54:12,520
Fuck is is a hypersonic signal
that only he can hear?

971
00:54:12,760 –> 00:54:14,640
I’m going to try and find that
shit.

972
00:54:14,720 –> 00:54:19,320
But yeah, I think next episode
we’ll talk about the Contra

973
00:54:19,320 –> 00:54:21,560
hearings.
Connor, if you would like to do

974
00:54:21,640 –> 00:54:25,200
the Iran Contra hearings
episode, please do.

975
00:54:25,360 –> 00:54:27,920
The people would love.
Let’s let’s have some continuity

976
00:54:27,920 –> 00:54:29,360
here.
God damn right.

977
00:54:29,520 –> 00:54:33,200
And just like the Reagan
administration did eight solid

978
00:54:33,200 –> 00:54:35,720
years of I.
Mean 12 really.

979
00:54:35,880 –> 00:54:39,720
You know, yeah, basically once.
I think that’s like the longest

980
00:54:40,000 –> 00:54:42,840
outside of FDR to Truman.
That’s like the longest streak

981
00:54:42,840 –> 00:54:47,480
in the 20th century for sure.
I’m still shocked George HW Bush

982
00:54:47,480 –> 00:54:51,800
lost that second election.
Like you got the full weight of

983
00:54:51,800 –> 00:54:54,840
the CIA behind you.
Maybe by that point they were

984
00:54:54,840 –> 00:54:57,480
like, all right, we need some
division in this country.

985
00:54:57,480 –> 00:55:00,680
Let’s get a Democrat.
Almost like, almost like when

986
00:55:00,680 –> 00:55:03,560
people saw Elvis, like shaking
his hips back and forth a little

987
00:55:03,560 –> 00:55:05,960
bit for the first time.
They were like, Oh my God, this

988
00:55:05,960 –> 00:55:09,480
is wildly sexual.
I think when suburban moms saw

989
00:55:09,480 –> 00:55:12,800
Bill Clinton, they were like,
oh, I haven’t felt, I haven’t

990
00:55:12,800 –> 00:55:16,080
felt like this in a long time.
Now they know what he feels like

991
00:55:16,080 –> 00:55:18,280
when he sees a suburban mom.
Oh.

992
00:55:19,720 –> 00:55:22,120
All right.
That guy fucked.

993
00:55:22,200 –> 00:55:26,360
So yeah, on Part 2 of this,
there’s probably going to be a

994
00:55:26,360 –> 00:55:30,320
bonus episode in between, but
we’ll talk about the Iran Contra

995
00:55:30,320 –> 00:55:33,360
hearings.
And until then, what do we got

996
00:55:33,360 –> 00:55:35,640
to plug?
Please check out my solo podcast

997
00:55:35,640 –> 00:55:38,760
at Adam Todd Brown Comedy on
YouTube or at

998
00:55:38,760 –> 00:55:42,240
adamtoddbrown.substack.com
called In Broad Daylight.

999
00:55:42,480 –> 00:55:46,000
I talk about the government a
lot there also, so check that

1000
00:55:46,000 –> 00:55:47,320
out.
Connor, what do you got to plug?

1001
00:55:47,600 –> 00:55:52,640
Oh boy scripted comedy podcast
Mean Boys is available to listen

1002
00:55:53,040 –> 00:55:56,600
everywhere and I have seven
comedy albums out on streaming

1003
00:55:56,960 –> 00:55:59,520
and YouTube YouTube channel.
You can watch me YouTube special

1004
00:55:59,520 –> 00:56:03,000
jokes about fucking Connor
Mcspadden jokes about fucking on

1005
00:56:03,000 –> 00:56:06,200
YouTube Gray.
And I think that’s it.

1006
00:56:06,200 –> 00:56:08,120
Let’s get the fuck out of here.
Connor, say goodbye.

1007
00:56:08,400 –> 00:56:10,000
Adios amigos.
Bye everybody.

1008
00:56:10,000 –> 00:56:18,560
We love you people of Earth.
Your planet is about to be

1009
00:56:18,560 –> 00:56:30,410
destroyed.
Your planet is about to be

1010
00:56:30,410 –> 00:56:31,010
destroyed.