Trump's War Fortune, America's Addiction to Endless War, and Why Democracy Fails | 11-02-26

[00:00:04] Broadcasting live from atop the Rocky Mountains, the crossroads of the West, you are listening to the Liberty Roundtable Radio Talk Show. Back with you live, ladies and gentlemen, this is Lowell Nelson riding shotgun this morning with your host Sam Bushman.

[00:00:25] We're talking about Dr. No and his column this past week about President Trump speaking the truth, whether he knows it or not. At a campaign rally last week, President Trump, quote, dismissed Americans' concern over high oil and gas prices. We're making a fortune, Trump said, hundreds of billions of dollars, trillions of dollars, end of quote. Yeah, so he overstays, he exaggerates big time there.

[00:00:54] But who did he mean when he said we? We are making a fortune, said Trump. Who did he mean when he said we? Well, is it you, Sam? It's not me. I'll tell you that. It's not the American people. I mean, polls indicate that price inflation is the top concern among our fellow countrymen. Next is jobs and then the economy. So if the American people were making billions, even trillions of dollars, they certainly wouldn't be concerned about price inflation.

[00:01:24] So what did President Trump mean when he said we are making money? Well, Ron Paul answers this question. Quote, he meant that part of the private sector was directly or indirectly in bed with the government war machine. From oil companies to weapons manufacturers and everything in between, war and conflict drive up profits in well-connected corporations at the expense of the rest of us.

[00:01:51] That is why we are in a constant state of war, 20 years in Afghanistan and a similar length in Iraq. Endless bombing in places like Somalia. A 12-year and counting proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. Military bases and covert operations across the globe. End of quote. All that statement came from Ron Paul, his column there. And he's right as rain on that.

[00:02:16] That's exactly what props up this corporatism in America is war, constant war. It turns into money. It's a moneymaker for the armament manufacturers for the defense industry corporations. And this is why, folks, that the framers so opposed war. It's why they made it difficult to go to war.

[00:02:41] It's why they did not allow the president to go to war without a clear declaration of war by the people's representatives in Congress. And what do we have now? We have a yellow-bellied Congress that is afraid to impeach the president for this abuse of power. And it's been going on for decades. I'm not just picking on the Republicans right now who are in power and who have a president in the White House. This is true of both parties, sadly. It was true of Trump, of Biden.

[00:03:11] It was true of Obama before him and Bush before him. Right? We don't have members. We don't have Congresses who will stand up to the president and impeach him for abusing his power. What we need are members of Congress who refuse to give away their birthright, this responsibility to declare war and to contract peace. Right? Now, let me do a thought experiment with you, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:03:41] Can you imagine what would happen if Congress gave to the Supreme Court of the United States their authority to declare war? Right? I mean, say Congress passes a law that says we are now giving the United States Supreme Court authority to declare war. I mean, that's unthinkable. Right? I mean, who could ever think of such a thing?

[00:04:05] And then, so my question, Sam, is then why is it not unthinkable that Congress would give to the president their authority to declare war? It's the same thing. Whether you give it to the president or you give it to the United States Supreme Court, you're still giving away your authority. And you don't have permission to give away your authority. What we do is make sure that in the next election, whoever did that is simply gone.

[00:04:31] And that's the problem in America today with politics is we've become so party oriented that we just let the party run things. And what we do is we just basically look at whoever the prettiest person is on TV or whoever they whatever. And that seems how we kind of, you know, look at our responsibility. What we really need to be doing, ladies and gentlemen, in my opinion, is we really need to be focusing on who these people are, what they stand for, what they're doing and hold them accountable.

[00:05:00] And if America would do this, I don't think we'd have the problem that we have in America at all. Well, but we don't take action. And as a result, we just have nothing but problems. And if Americans would get involved and find out who is representing them, find out what the issues are and vote from an informed position, we could have something. But I'm almost to the point, Lowell, where I almost don't want people to vote.

[00:05:24] I know that sounds insane, but it seems like if you vote ignorantly, you're worse off than if you didn't vote almost. Sad, but I think it's kind of true. And so now we've got this partisan politics. We've got this dark money coming into elections to the point where I don't want to be negative because I know it's an important, sacred, civil duty to vote.

[00:05:44] At the same time, it's become so jaded, so manipulated, so perverted that it's a little bit difficult to want people to vote when you know full well they don't even really know what they're voting for. Yeah, it goes back to that article published in America magazine that it was entitled to, unless you know what you're doing. That's very true. I don't want people to vote who don't know what they're doing.

[00:06:11] I mean, if you know what you're voting for and who you're voting for and you have good reasons and they're based in the Constitution, then, yeah, go vote. But, you know, my question is where are the states when you need them because states were designed to check the power of the general government. The states should be making a stink about this, right? And the framers said repeatedly that the states would check the power of the general government and they would keep it in line, basically.

[00:06:38] And then the question is where are the people of America who understand the Constitution well enough to elect public servants to governorships and to legislatures to do this important work of curtailing the power of the general government. So it comes back to us, ladies and gentlemen. It's really our responsibility to see that we have public servants who are honest and who are wise, who understand the proper role of government.

[00:07:05] Those are the kind of people we want in our governorships, in our legislatures, and in Congress. And the fact that we don't have that kind of people is an indictment on us. We don't have ourselves to blame for this failure. We need more people like Sam and others who understand the Constitution and who will support Constitution-loving public servants. That's how we get our country back. Sam?

[00:07:35] There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. This is serious business. And I don't know how to really respond to it except to say that we have got to. We have got to realize where we are in America. If Americans don't educate themselves and take action, I'm afraid we're starting to get to a tipping point. You know, they say great republics only last for a couple of hundred years. We're already at 250. And you look at what a shame this year's been. And I don't mean to be negative, but I'm telling you, I thought this year was going to be an incredible celebration of America.

[00:08:05] It was going to be awesome and patriotic. And Americans were going to realize the importance. And they were going to, you know, take their country seriously. And it's been a clown show from beginning to end. Scandal after scandal. Do nothing Congress. Trump running off the rails. I mean, now Trump's getting more and more crass and more and more belligerent in his statements. Mocking everybody. Calling everybody stupid. But I mean, we've stooped to a low when it comes to the presidential office. I mean, I know Bill Clinton made a lot of mistakes and did things.

[00:08:31] But I mean, this president is literally offending everybody, running around, taking us into war. I mean, he's not even at all obeying his oath of office. And I don't mean to attack President Trump. But I'm just saying we've allowed this to creep, creep, creep, creep over the years. And we can't just blame the latest president. At the same time, we can't ignore stuff like this either, folks. I mean, it's just insane what's going on. Anyway, I don't mean to just go negative. All I'm telling you is elections are so important.

[00:09:00] But people are just feeling disenfranchised to the point where they want to give up. And I want to beg you never to give up. I want to beg you to always be involved. I want to have you realize, yes, people are making billions from the Iran war. And it's a sad tale to tell. Trump slipped and admitted a fundamental reality. They're making a lot of money, folks. You know, the private sector is getting rich. It isn't me or you. It isn't the American people. But that's why. We're in a constant state of war. 20 years in Afghanistan, folks.

[00:09:30] Similar length in Iraq. What about Iran? Now that's going to be it's already going to be coming up on a year pretty soon. OK. And we've got this addiction to war, says Judge Napolitano. Lol. He starts his column out this way, Sam. Quote, America has a deadly addiction to war.

[00:09:47] Since 1950, presidents of both political parties have sent American troops into conflicts across the globe, killed countless people, sacrificed the lives and limbs of American servicemen and women, and wasted trillions of dollars. End of quote.

[00:10:11] End of quote. More and more enemies around the world. And that's the problem right there.

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[00:12:35] Sam Bushman, ladies and gentlemen. Lowell Nelson, CampaignForLiberty.org doing a phenomenal job. At a campaign rally last week, President Trump dismissed Americans' concerns over high oil and gas prices. He said we're making a fortune. Wow, folks. Who's we? We're in a constant state of war. The military industrial complex is out of control.

[00:13:05] The American people aren't making a fortune. We're $40 trillion in debt, and we're not even looking back in the rear view mirror, folks. America's deadly addiction to war is what Andrew Napolitano calls it. The Constitution gives Congress. Did I say Congress? Yes, I said Congress. Yes, the responsibility to declare war. The framers deliberately withheld from the president and the court's unilateral authority to plunge the nation into war.

[00:13:33] They didn't want it in one person's hands or the very few. They wanted it in the most people's hands possible and the closest to the people possible so there'd be accountability. Is America a constitutional republic or a failing military empire? Napolitano answers the question first, Lowell. Then I want to give you my answer. All right, his answer is this, quote, A republic defends its people and their lands against genuine threats.

[00:13:58] An empire seeks to shape the behavior of other nations through force, coercion, colonization, and the constant threat of intervention. The former requires vigilance. The latter, endless violence. The most dangerous enemy of American security is not a foreign power. It's our own government's inability to recognize that the power to wage war is not an unlimited license to rule the world. End of quote. Sam?

[00:14:24] I think he's absolutely right on where we stand, sadly, but true. But I want to remind everyone, and this is something that, you know, the judge should really know and I think highlight. Because, you know, a lot of people end up inadvertently preaching doom and gloom for the country when they say those things. They're right on the facts. But there's some other facts that I think make it more nuanced than that. Let me explain. The rule of law is from God.

[00:14:55] And the Constitution is based on the rule of law. It's based on God's law. The separation of powers are scriptural, biblically speaking. And the separation of powers are for the whole reason God says governments exist, which is to protect the people, to protect their agency, their ability to choose, and their ability to remain free. And if they use their freedom wisely by obeying the commandments of God, then they have this wonderful, precious gift called liberty, a gift from almighty God.

[00:15:25] And so the supreme law of the land is the Constitution, and it says that only Congress has authority to declare war and for market reprisal, et cetera. The president only becomes the commander-in-chief when we're in war. So he doesn't just have a commander-in-chief role day to day. He has a commander-in-chief role if we declare war and if we fund that war, et cetera, et cetera. So my point is he's right on what's happening in America, sadly.

[00:15:54] Unfortunately, we've slipped into this. But let's not lose sight of the Constitution's not dead. We are not in a Weimar Republic or we're not in a tyrannical situation. These things are happening only because we, the people, are letting them happen. And if we want to grab onto the rule of law tomorrow, God's law, and if we want to grab onto the supreme law, our law, then we, the people, could demand an end to this immediately. The Constitution's not dead because it's gone.

[00:16:24] It's dead because it's not written in our hearts. It's dead because we don't understand it. It's dead because we don't realize that if we expect to be ignorant and free, we expect what never was and never will be. We're going to be in these situations as long as the American people don't do their duty. As long as we, the people, are derelict in our duty and ignore reality, which is we are the boss. God gave us inalienable or unalienable rights.

[00:16:52] And those rights are not on the altar of government. They were delegated, which means, one, we can take them back. And two, if they're delegated, it's up to us to insist. If the boss doesn't like what you do, you get fired. And that's what we need to do is start firing bureaucrats and politicians. Get partisan politics out of the mix. And if we, the people, would stand tall for the sacred cause of liberty, we could make progress. All right, any final notes on that one, Lowell?

[00:17:22] Yeah, just the thought that we tacitly divorce ourselves from the responsibility of holding Congress accountable when we say the words that the Constitution gave Congress the power to declare war. It just occurred to me last night, and I was thinking about this, when we say that the Constitution gives Congress the power, what we really mean is that the people, the sovereign states, gave Congress that power. The Constitution is a piece of paper. It didn't give them the power.

[00:17:51] We, the people, gave Congress that power. And so understanding that is probably important, in my opinion. That's important because we, the people, have the responsibility, just like you said, of electing public servants who understand and follow the Constitution. It's our fault that we have a Congress that is not accountable to the Constitution.

[00:18:19] We, and so by saying that, yeah, it's just a point that... We can get rid of the whole House right now, Lowell. Yeah, yeah, we certainly should. All 435 clowns could be gone, right? Well, that's right. But, you know, a lot of them are going to get reelected. It's like you have over 90% of the incumbents get reelected. And that's my point. The people have the power. Yep, you're exactly right, Sam. Well put. And I don't mean to be belligerent about this,

[00:18:47] but it's important that we start to realize this in a bold way. And I really had hoped this year 250 was the year that we were going to kind of get an idea about this. But all we had is a big old brawl in the White House, and then a bunch of perverted politicians have scandals everywhere and everything else. And the American people just kind of went back to sleep. It's a tragic reality. But gun-free zones in schools. Donald Trump promised us first day to get elected, second time he'd get rid of gun-free zones. He failed on that promise, Lowell. Unfortunately true, Sam.

[00:19:17] Like last month, the shooting of the Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, it turns out that the father of two students at the school named Caleb Giamonco, I think I'm pronouncing that right, Giamonco using a handgun in contravention of gun-free school zone policy killed a murderer. Right? Well, Giamonco broke the law to save lives. Is that okay? Absolutely.

[00:19:46] Was the law he broke a real law or a pretend law? Well, my answer to that question was a pretend law. Pretend legislation, sir. It goes against the supreme law. Exactly right. Because carrying a gun to protect yourself and your family is lawful, even though the government might say it's illegal. Because there's a big difference between lawful and legal. Right? Some legal activities, such as abortion in some states, can be unlawful. Same-sex marriage. Because murder is not lawful. Yep. That's true. That's another example.

[00:20:15] Something that's legal but not lawful. And there are some activities, some lawful activities, such as carrying a gun into a school zone, which can be deemed illegal by some legislature or by Congress, as is the case here. But had Giamonco complied with the law, he would not have been able to stop the murder of children at that school. And so I think what a great blessing it was to have a lawbreaker named Giamonco at the school at that time

[00:20:43] to stop the bad guy with a gun. It's just like you say, Sam. It's a good guy with a gun who stops a bad guy with a gun. Something like that. You often say that. And so I agree. Luckily, there was a lawbreaker around to protect people from a murderer, from another lawbreaker. So yeah, one lawbreaker. From a God Almighty point of view, it's not a lawbreaker at all, because God's law says you have absolutely the right to defend innocence. So there you go. Yep. All right. Final story of the hour, Lowell?

[00:21:14] It's about democracy. That's why elite love democracy and why you shouldn't. We mentioned democracy earlier in the show, and so I thought it was very appropriate to highlight this column about democracy. The word democracy, as I said before, is not mentioned a single time in the founding documents of this country. Not a single time. And the founders and the framers, they had a huge distaste for democracy. John Adams said, quote,

[00:21:41] Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots. End of quote. Thomas Jefferson said, quote, And elective despotism was not the government we fought for. End of quote.

[00:22:09] End of quote. Well, obviously, Sam, framers, the founders, the ratifiers, they understood the problems with democracy. And it is not the voters in a democracy who control things. That's the key thing to understand here. It is the professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.

[00:22:39] It's the politicians who are dangerous in this case, right? They're the ones who rule in a democracy. In other words, in place of politicians, you can use the term professional manipulators and be very accurate. And so it's very interesting, Sam, that Mr. White, who wrote this column, he had a class in high school called The Problems of Democracy.

[00:23:04] Now, I've never had that class in the public schools in San Juan, Idaho, but did you ever have a class named that in your high school, Sam? No, but I sure wish I did because it's the truth. Another name for democracy is demon crazy, ladies and gentlemen. Nations literally, when they embrace democracy, eventually go demon crazy. They eventually turn over to the dark side. They eventually seek for power and glory and gain, and it turns into a Satan fest. And you can say that's extreme, Sam, but you go look at how Rome turned out, and let's talk about it.

[00:23:31] So when we jettison a constitutional republic based on the rule of law and based on God's laws, we look to God, not government for solutions. You've got something solid and stable, and that'll preserve a nation until the Savior Christ returns. But if you embrace democracy, you'll eventually have a nation that turns demon crazy on itself. It gets psychotic. They vote themselves largesque from the treasury, and they act like wolves, and it's too bad for the hen in the hen house.

[00:24:01] All right, well, Nelson, thank you very much, my friend. We're going to have our incredible election coverage tomorrow night, 7 p.m. to midnight Eastern, 5 to 10 Mountain Time. Five hours of incredible coverage from the best in the business, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone at Liberty News Radio and beyond will be joining us. It'll be an incredible night. Join us, would you please? LibertyNewsRadio.com. And we'll be available on all kinds of media services. Rumble, YouTube, X, Truth Social.

[00:24:28] I'm just telling you, it's going to be an absolute barn burner broadcast. Would love to have you around for that. Lowell Nelson, thank you, sir. My welcome. My pleasure, Sam. Thank you. CampaignforLiberty.org. Doing a phenomenal job as always. I'm Sam Bushman. God save our constitutional republic.