If You're Explaining, You're Losing: Pete Hegseth Edition
This week, Rick's Elephant In The Room focuses on Trump, General Ratliff, and Pete Hegseth selling the American people a bill of goods about the US's attacks on Iran last weekend. It's a general rule of thumb in politics -- if you're having to defend your position, you're losing. So, when Trump blindly and prematurely tweeted and spoke to the media about his "total obliteration" of the nuclear sites in Iran long before our armed forces had made it home and damage was assessed, he left himself open to be fact-checked and held accountable for his administration's actions. And the three "blame sponges" -- Hegseth, Vance, and Rubio -- looked on in terror as Trump made statements about his "military prowess" that would be hard to retract -- if he misspoke, one of them would surely be forced to take the fall. Furious at the reporting from various news outlets this week, shedding light on the lack of "total obliteration" in Iran and backing up those reports with aerial photos (from before and after the strikes and in the days leading up to them) Trump pushed Hegseth to the podium on Thursday morning for a press briefing where he scolded media outlets for reporting the facts about this unfolding story. The egg is on Trump's face. The reporting that came out this week highlighted the contrast between Trump's claim of "total obliteration" and photos of the three sites before and after the attacks that were taken from aerial surveillance. The worst part of the US's blunder? Highlighted in a few articles from this week, Iran's enriched uranium could fit into the size of a minivan. And, in the days leading up to the attacks, several trucks were seen coming and going from the sites. Clearly, Hegseth should stop focusing on the free press and get back to work...
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Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
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20:26
The Plan To Take Down Iran Was Israel’s, Not Trump’s: Inside Israel’s Plan To Defeat Iran
In the episode, Rick sits down for an exclusive with Israeli experts and co-authors of Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy – to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East Yonah Jeremy Bob & Ilan Evyatar. These Israeli experts break down how their book which was published two years ago predicted recent events (and surprise it was on Bibi’s desk during his planning) and how everything has followed their forecast. They also share the why and wherewithal, and shed light on where they think this conflict is headed. This is an exclusive podcast with those who know and haven’t spoken out before — please take a listen.
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Follow Yonah Jeremy Bob on X @jeremybob1 & find Ilan Evyatar at jpost.com/author/ilan-evyatar.
Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
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38:39
Who is that Man in the Mask?!
This week, Rick’s Elephant in the Room touches on the lack of accountability when those who are sworn to “protect and serve” do neither by concealing their own identities. A construct of every major dictatorship, secret military forces such as the Nazis’ SS and Russia’s KGB have always been a lynchpin in the descent into autocracy. Let’s face it, we do not need Seal Team 6 — or as these agents are called “Meal Team 6” — to tackle grandmothers and high school students. These losers are just living out their favorite video games and do not comprehend that power goes both ways. If they are going to continue this abuse of power, then it’s the public’s responsibility to call 911 and report masked men on the street. With great power comes great responsibility, and these douchebags “serve” all of us.
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You can check out Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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15:07
Trump's Tyrannical Takeover with Asha Rangappa
Rick's dear friend, Asha Rangappa -- who's an American lawyer, former FBI agent, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Senior Lecturer at Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs -- sits down with Rick to unpack all of the moving legal pieces between Trump and the courts. Invoking emergency powers when there isn't a real emergency, Trump continues to use presidential powers for nefarious reasons. Weaponizing the DOJ, Trump has placed people like Kash Patel and Pam Bondi in roles where they can do a lot of damage against people who oppose and/or speak out against Trump. In doing this, it's eroding the optics of the legal system and leveling the playing field between real criminals and Trump's enemies. When these folks say they will follow the Constitution, it's a version where the presidential branch has supremacy over the other two branches of government. The constitutional crisis here is Congress abdicating its role and refraining from exercising its constitutional power. Bending the knee only gives him more power. What happens when lawyers and legal institutions back down in a fight? What happens when Trump ignores court orders? Can judges force the president to comply with their rulings? Asha and Rick shed light on all of the "what-ifs."
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Follow Asha at @asharangappa.bsky.social on Bluesky and @asha.rangappa on Instagram, and subscribe to her Substack at asharangappa.substack.com
Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
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34:39
No F*cking Kings
This week, Rick's Elephant in the Room is twofold -- 1) no f*cking kings, and 2) the United States military belongs to its citizens. Look up the Posse Comitatus Act -- this is a federal law, passed by Congress following Reconstruction, signed in 1878 by President Rutherford B. Hayes, that limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States (i.e. you can't weaponize the US military against its citizens). Rick sheds light on the reprehensible and unprecedented display of totalitarianism by Trump this week when he ordered the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles and then continued to Fort Bragg, where he hazed the next batch of soldiers. We are inching ever closer to the point of no return, and Trump's dream of military dictatorship is becoming more and more of a stark reality. Speak out while you still can.
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Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The creators of the most watched and talked-about ad content in the political/cultural sphere, THE LINCOLN PROJECT, and co-founder/host Rick Wilson, have a reputation for saying the things others are afraid to say.
Headed up by LP's notorious creative team, THE LINCOLN PROJECT podcast features a range of special guests, from leading political minds to the hottest pop-culture icons. Broadening the subject matter beyond politics and making the conversation more relatable to everyone, The Lincoln Project podcast’s mission is to reignite the political flame in every American and break down the biggest topics of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
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