Centered From Reality

Trump Expects to Get Arrested, Channels Kremlin Propaganda & Calls for ’Protests’

On Saturday, Donald Trump told his supporters that he expects to get arrested on Tuesday for this alleged hush-money scheme that involved payments to a porn star. Alex reacts and worries that Trump is trying to agitate his base and is using similar rhetoric to the events leading up to January 6th. Later, Alex looks into a troubling video that Trump put out where he blames America’s problems on itself, talks about purging American institutions, and provides content that is worthy of Kremlin propaganda. 

SVB Bets on Bonds, Bank Run Fun, Worries of Moral Hazard & Mike Pence’s Cowardly Moment of Bravery

In this episode, Alex starts by discussing how Mike Pence finally did the bare minimum over the weekend. At an elite media dinner, Pence finally condemned what happened on January 6th, said history would hold Trump accountable, and seemed to critisize Tucker Carlson for trying to whitewash 1/6. Alex laughs at Pence’s late and cowardly stance. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about the collapse of three banks over the last week. These banks were Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate (an institution heavily exposed to cryptocurrency), and Signature Bank in New York. While reports show that 89% of $200 billion of deposits at SVB were not insured (the FDIC only insures up to $250,000), the Fed and the Biden administration promised that all depositers would have access to their funds by this week. Alex discusses his concerns about this precedent. While this was not technically a bailout, and there are reasonable arguments about why these tech start-ups needed access to their money, Alex things banks like SVB were under-regulated and allowed to act carelessly. He goes into moral hazard, loostening of the Dodd Frank Act, and why interest rate hikes could have made this issue worse. 

In 2003, Tucker Predicted His Own Demise - Saturday Short

In this short episode, Alex starts by playing a 2003 interview with Tucker Carlson on CSPAN. Carlson calls out Bill O’Reilly and predicts that O’Reilly can’t play a character on TV forever. In a sense, Carlson is describing his future and providing a portal into his own future on Fox News. Alex then discusses why he is perplexed by Tucker’s transormation. He argues that Tucker did not change for the funny since he was one of the only journalists at the time that came from money and did not really need any more. Alex also discusses why Tucker may have been radicalized by his own life experiences living in elite, liberal areas. He also argues that Tucker may not survive this moment on Fox News because there are other commentators, on other news programs, that actually believe the lies and may attack him. 

An AUMF Against Mexican Cartels, Rep. Comer Wants to Bomb Mexico & SVB Collapses

In this episode, Alex starts by going over the chaotic weather in California. Then he discusses how Silicon Valley Bank, “among the top 20 American commercial banks, with $209 billion in total assets at the end of last year” has failed after a bank run and a capital crisis that made it the second largest failure of a financial institution in history. Alex questions whether this is a one-off event or the beginning of a financial crisis. For the remainder of the episode, Alex goes into how the kidnapping of four Americans, and the murder of two of them, in Mexico has sparked hawish rhetoric towards Mexico. Now Republicans, some that oppose military force in Ukraine, want to consider using an Authorization for the Use of Emergency Force (AUMF) to be able to attack cartel-owned drug labs. While this AUMF will look different from those used to invade Iraq in 2001, Alex worries that this AUMF will start a new war on drugs that could backfire. Dan Crenshaw, one of the Republicans pushing for this AUMF, says it would be different than the AUMF of 2001 and would look more like how the United States helped Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Tucker Carlson: A Never-Trumper in the Sheets and a Propagandist on the Streets, NATO v Turkey & Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline?

In this episode, Alex talks about new revelations related to Tucker Carlson. This time, texts show that while he privately despised Donald Trump, he continued to tout conspiracies and support for the former president. Next, Alex looks into the reasons why Turkey has been blocking Finland and Sweden’s attempts to join NATO. It seems like for political and strategic reasons, Turkey is continuing to stall these actions. Finally, Alex goes into different theories regarding who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines and why. Some speculate it was the United States, others think it was Ukraine, and some argue it was Russia. Alex notes that this is another example of the fog of war eroding certainty during a conflict. 

Ron DeSantis Has His ‘Flight 93’ Moment, Defining Democratic Distrust & Retconning January 6th (A Conversation with Jon)

In this episode, Alex sits down with Jon for their best conversation yet! Jon is a reoccuring guest and former member of the armed forces who currently works for the government in the West Coast. The two have a wide-ranging conversation that delves into why Ron Desantis may be more dangerous than Trump, why the GOP has moved away from conservative principles and towards reactionary authoritarianism, and why Florida is only a model of hope if you agree with DeSantis. Alex argues this is because of the “Flight 93 Moment” that happened prior to Trump’s electoral victory in 2016. Basically, many Republicans value fighting the left and demonizing the opposition as a way to justify their drift away from conservative values. The two also discuss American distrust in politics, whether January 6th was an actual riot, whether a true coup could occur, and why January 6th could be the beginning and not the end. 

’Utter Hell’ in Bakhmut as the Wagner Group Resorts to Shovels & Could Putin’s Chef Replace Him?

In this episode, Alex starts by discussing the insanity at CPAC and why the conference should really be called TPAC (for Trump). He also notes that the straw polls that gave Trump over 60% of support, should not be taken completely seriously at an event that is pretty much a Trump brownnosing event. Next, Alex discusses the brutal and “hell-like” situation that is unfolding in the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine. Russian forces, aided by the Wagner Group, have surrounded the city in multiple directions and a majority of the city has been decimated. There are reports of a coming Ukrainian withdrawl; however, Russian forces have experienced an arms shortage and have started using the shovels that they dug the trenches with as weapons. In general, the situation has turned into a violent and tragic form of trench warfare. Finally, Alex goes into Yevgeny Prigozhin. He is a shadowy criminal and oligarch that founded the Wagner Group and the Internet Research Agency. As his mercenary forces have fought in Ukraine, he has continued to critisize and blame the Russian Ministry of Defense for some of the failures in Ukraine. Alex discusses some reports that argue how Prigozhin could try and become the next leader of Russia as the Russian elites have constantly critisized Putin due to what they deem as inaction in Ukraine. 

COVID Amnesty, Mass Mask Lies + Matt Gaetz Believes Chinese Propaganda

In this episode, Alex starts by looking into how Matt Gaetz accidentally used Chinese propaganda to defend defunding Ukraine. He is called out by almost everyone, but Alex still discusses why these actions could hurt the pro-Ukrainian cause. Next, Alex looks into a study that has circulated the media.  It is a flawed study that discredits the use of masks during the COVID Pandemic. Alex provides his own perspective into why he thinks masks don’t work, but then agrees that this study is flawed and problematic. Finally, he goes his into thoughts regarding some sort of an amnesty agreement around the pandemic. It seems like a lot of people did stupid shit with good intentions. Whether it regarded masks, schools, vaccines, or lockdowns, it seems like people need a reset of some sort. 

Lightfoot Loses Big, Warnings About Ron DeSantis & Electoral Concerns in Nigeria

In this episode, Alex starts by celebrating some good news. In Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, the incumbent mayor, will not get reelected. In fact, she will not even make the second round in April because she came in third place with only 17.1% of the vote. Alex dives into why she was a bad politician, abrasive leader, and created too much noise while not focusing enough on working with others to stop violent crime. Later, Alex goes into whether Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump are more dangerous. Alex argues that DeSantis is more dangerous and more authoritarian; he has this stance because it seems like DeSantis is a more competent and angry version of Trump. DeSantis also seems to be obsessed with stopping “wokeism”, this could lead to troubling and authoritarian policies. Finally, Alex talks about the recent presidential election in Nigeria. New and transparent voting systems were supposed to make the election fair and free; however, only a quarter of the eligible population voted and many Nigerians distrust the results. 

Scott Adam’s Dangerous Racism, SCOTUS Hears Student Debt Case, Vandalizing Roald Dahl & Paul Ryan and Fox News

In this episode, Alex discusses that the Supreme Court will finally hear the Student Loan Forgiveness case. Many think that the court will not uphold it due to its previous decisions around COVID-related issues and emergency actions. Next, Alex goes into the Roald Dahl controversy where sensitivity readers have rewritten multiple parts of his books. While Alex thinks that Dahl has some problematic views and is an outdated figure, he thinks that many of these edits are aesthetic and not about serious issues of hate. He thinks that sensitivity readers are vandalizing these works and setting a troubling precedent. Later, Alex goes into someone who is spewing hate in 2023 and is rightfully being canceled. This is Scott Adams, the cartoonist responsible for Dilbert. He went on a very troubling rant that basically told his viewers that Black Americans do not like White Americans and that White Americans should avoid them. Alex finds this rant to encourage segregation and distrust of other races. Finally, Alex discusses the troubling relationship between the Murdochs, Fox News, and Paul Ryan.