Listen now | 0:00 Is Mickey all-in on Trump?4:28 The “garbage” wars and their aftermath7:56 Kamala’s path(s) to victory10:31 Mickey explains the logic of voting for Trump19:46 Why Trump sucks, why Kamala sucks26:07 Bob doles out (p)recriminations35:39 Will Israel-Iran escalate?45:02 How Kamala could win Mickey’s vote49:25 Why did Kamala go negative?55:29 Mickey plays pundit defender1:10:04 Which swing state looks worst for Kamala?1:15:57 How Biden made war in Taiwan more likely1:21:26 Four Dem sex “scandals”1:30:55 Bob trashes Trump’s tariffs1:41:57 Bob looks for a silver-lining to a second Trump term1:47:33 Elon Musk, the oligarch’s oligarchRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded October 30, 2024.
Mickey thinks Kamala won't be a good administrator? Come on. Trump is explicitly trying to gut the administrative state. Speaker Mike Johnson said he "wants to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state." Deeply unserious.
Rob, I beg you to have @Noah Smith on the podcast to discuss the CHIPS Act. Noah calls it a success and you call it a failure, and I think both of you are smart.
What's wrong with Podhoretz saying (as everyone said about Stephen Millier after Madison Square Garden) that Mickey's betraying his people by opposing immigration? This sounds like...a good criticism of Mickey? Why isn't this a perfectly good and persuasive point? Who hears this and sympathizes with Mickey as opposed to sympathizing with the immigrants?
I thought it was a great pre-election podcast, and I’ll note the similar one Bob and Mickey did in 2020 was prescient about the actual results. I feel that if Bob is proven right about the election (and his batting average recently on political predictions has been really good), the word of the election will be “gravitas.”
And in reality Trump is talking about deporting 20+ million immigrants and Mickey is worried about an amnesty. This is truly nonsensical. And the Israeli government under Bebe has directly given money to Qatar for Hamas, this has been proven.
Bob, once again you disappointed me with Mickey and completely let him off the hook! The Dems literally tried to pass Trump's immigration bill and Trump killed it! And yet Trump and Mickey are blaming the Dems and Harris for the border. Complete B.S!
And Reagan has the biggest immigration amnesty in American history! Let's stop this Dems are weak on immigration nonsense!
And Bebe is a perfect example of what Trump could do to not give up power, starts and inflame wars, etc !
I don’t think many are on the fence. The only deciding factor is abortion to draw in additional women’s vote on right. People moving left are disgusted with Trump.
Bob, Bob, Bob. I love you but your pushback against Mickey's reasons for still being undecided were not up to par. But first, let me just give thanks to Republican former Fox News guy Geraldo Rivera for telling Puerto Rican men like it is (link #1), and for the fact that Pennsylvania has 620,000 Latino voter-eligible residents, most of whom are Puerto Rican. Now, as for Mickey: his main stated reason he is considering voting for Trump is immigration because it hurts American jobs, which is total baloney (link #2 & 3). In fact, in my home state here of Wisconsin, if Trump is elected and follows through on his threats to deport migrants, our dairy industry will be absolutely devastated (link #4). Not only will I not be able to afford any more lattes, 😵 but the reverberations throughout the economy will hurt MANY US-born Americans. The fact is that we need MORE immigrants to shore up our shaky Social Security and Medicare system for old people like Mickey, especially if Trump adds even MORE to the deficit as his current plans will do (far more debt than Kamala's plans). And yes, Mickey, Kamala DOES have specific plans if you just bother to go to her website (her pdf doc on the economy alone is 82 pages). You also never brought up that Kamala promised to sign the bipartisan immigration legislation that was supported by most Republicans until Trump told them to nix it for political reasons. (link #5) What I really don't understand are the people who claim not to be MAGA but are just voting for Trump because he's "a smart businessman" who will be better for the economy. Um, you mean like declaring bankruptcy 6 times smart? Those 23 dumb Nobel Prize winning economists who said that Harris's plans for the economy are "vastly superior" to Trump's should give back their prizes! (link #6) Trump has always taken huge risks in business and sometimes he wins, but sometimes he loses but he's not the one left holding the bag, it's his creditors. But if he bankrupts the US government, we taxpayers are left holding the bag. Do people not get this? Even Elon Musk says their plans will lead to "temporary pain." Um, how temporary? Are there any possible unforeseen consequences? (Musk seems to be as impulsive as Trump, and impulsive people are fine in some jobs but leadership isn't one of them, since they don't take the time to think through all potential consequences unless they delegate it to others, like ADHD Richard Branson does, and then actually listen to those people). People also say they like Trump because he "says what everybody else is thinking." Only narcissistic people believe others think the way they do; in fact, not everybody thinks the racist and misogynistic things that Trump "says out loud." (Yes, Mickey, we females believe it's misogynistic to think women happily "let you" grab their pussy because you're rich, and don't get me started on the demeaning comments conservatives are making about Julia Roberts' ad, likening a vote for Harris to marital infidelity. One MUST vote the way the husband says to vote if you're a conservative! ). I'm sorry Bob, as I know Mickey is a long-time friend, but you need to face the fact your old friend does not share your sense of decency and respect for all others, and he doesn't even stick to the facts when he makes his case for Trump. Thanks for letting me vent!
The talking point about Mehdi being a Qatari shill is overplayed by the Right– NY Post "journalist" Jon Levine levied this accusation during an Open to Debate live show in NYC (debate was with Eylon Levy), and Mehdi completely shut him down , noting that Zeteo is viewer funded. Highly recommend taking a look at 01:04:40 time stamp (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQzKw30LeTA&t=585s&ab_channel=OpentoDebate)
Only a few minutes in and Mickey’s cognitive dissonance is sufficient to tear spacetime.
It’s soldiery past this point.
Mickey thinks Kamala won't be a good administrator? Come on. Trump is explicitly trying to gut the administrative state. Speaker Mike Johnson said he "wants to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state." Deeply unserious.
Rob, I beg you to have @Noah Smith on the podcast to discuss the CHIPS Act. Noah calls it a success and you call it a failure, and I think both of you are smart.
I too would enjoy that, but it will never happen. I remember Bob disparaging him pretty harshly on Ukraine back in the Parrot Room.
What's wrong with Podhoretz saying (as everyone said about Stephen Millier after Madison Square Garden) that Mickey's betraying his people by opposing immigration? This sounds like...a good criticism of Mickey? Why isn't this a perfectly good and persuasive point? Who hears this and sympathizes with Mickey as opposed to sympathizing with the immigrants?
"Who hears this and sympathizes with Mickey as opposed to sympathizing with the immigrants?" - Most (or many) of the population of the USA, apparently
I thought it was a great pre-election podcast, and I’ll note the similar one Bob and Mickey did in 2020 was prescient about the actual results. I feel that if Bob is proven right about the election (and his batting average recently on political predictions has been really good), the word of the election will be “gravitas.”
And in reality Trump is talking about deporting 20+ million immigrants and Mickey is worried about an amnesty. This is truly nonsensical. And the Israeli government under Bebe has directly given money to Qatar for Hamas, this has been proven.
Bob, once again you disappointed me with Mickey and completely let him off the hook! The Dems literally tried to pass Trump's immigration bill and Trump killed it! And yet Trump and Mickey are blaming the Dems and Harris for the border. Complete B.S!
And Reagan has the biggest immigration amnesty in American history! Let's stop this Dems are weak on immigration nonsense!
And Bebe is a perfect example of what Trump could do to not give up power, starts and inflame wars, etc !
Mildly entertaining stream of bullshit from our MAGA apologist. Harris won't be a good administrator? FFS.
That chick, de Stael, was so right when she said "One must choose, in life, between boredom and suffering."
I don’t think many are on the fence. The only deciding factor is abortion to draw in additional women’s vote on right. People moving left are disgusted with Trump.
Bob, Bob, Bob. I love you but your pushback against Mickey's reasons for still being undecided were not up to par. But first, let me just give thanks to Republican former Fox News guy Geraldo Rivera for telling Puerto Rican men like it is (link #1), and for the fact that Pennsylvania has 620,000 Latino voter-eligible residents, most of whom are Puerto Rican. Now, as for Mickey: his main stated reason he is considering voting for Trump is immigration because it hurts American jobs, which is total baloney (link #2 & 3). In fact, in my home state here of Wisconsin, if Trump is elected and follows through on his threats to deport migrants, our dairy industry will be absolutely devastated (link #4). Not only will I not be able to afford any more lattes, 😵 but the reverberations throughout the economy will hurt MANY US-born Americans. The fact is that we need MORE immigrants to shore up our shaky Social Security and Medicare system for old people like Mickey, especially if Trump adds even MORE to the deficit as his current plans will do (far more debt than Kamala's plans). And yes, Mickey, Kamala DOES have specific plans if you just bother to go to her website (her pdf doc on the economy alone is 82 pages). You also never brought up that Kamala promised to sign the bipartisan immigration legislation that was supported by most Republicans until Trump told them to nix it for political reasons. (link #5) What I really don't understand are the people who claim not to be MAGA but are just voting for Trump because he's "a smart businessman" who will be better for the economy. Um, you mean like declaring bankruptcy 6 times smart? Those 23 dumb Nobel Prize winning economists who said that Harris's plans for the economy are "vastly superior" to Trump's should give back their prizes! (link #6) Trump has always taken huge risks in business and sometimes he wins, but sometimes he loses but he's not the one left holding the bag, it's his creditors. But if he bankrupts the US government, we taxpayers are left holding the bag. Do people not get this? Even Elon Musk says their plans will lead to "temporary pain." Um, how temporary? Are there any possible unforeseen consequences? (Musk seems to be as impulsive as Trump, and impulsive people are fine in some jobs but leadership isn't one of them, since they don't take the time to think through all potential consequences unless they delegate it to others, like ADHD Richard Branson does, and then actually listen to those people). People also say they like Trump because he "says what everybody else is thinking." Only narcissistic people believe others think the way they do; in fact, not everybody thinks the racist and misogynistic things that Trump "says out loud." (Yes, Mickey, we females believe it's misogynistic to think women happily "let you" grab their pussy because you're rich, and don't get me started on the demeaning comments conservatives are making about Julia Roberts' ad, likening a vote for Harris to marital infidelity. One MUST vote the way the husband says to vote if you're a conservative! ). I'm sorry Bob, as I know Mickey is a long-time friend, but you need to face the fact your old friend does not share your sense of decency and respect for all others, and he doesn't even stick to the facts when he makes his case for Trump. Thanks for letting me vent!
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4957356-geraldo-rivera-latino-men-trump/
https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/immigration/new-data-shows-why-the-u-s-needs-more-immigrants/
https://www.epi.org/blog/immigrants-are-not-hurting-u-s-born-workers-six-facts-to-set-the-record-straight/
https://www.startribune.com/as-trump-threatens-mass-deportations-some-rural-areas-that-back-him-rely-heavily-on-immigrant-labor/601164261
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/unraveling-misinformation-about-bipartisan-immigration-bill/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/23/politics/nobel-prize-economists-harris-economic-plan/index.html
The talking point about Mehdi being a Qatari shill is overplayed by the Right– NY Post "journalist" Jon Levine levied this accusation during an Open to Debate live show in NYC (debate was with Eylon Levy), and Mehdi completely shut him down , noting that Zeteo is viewer funded. Highly recommend taking a look at 01:04:40 time stamp (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQzKw30LeTA&t=585s&ab_channel=OpentoDebate)