Bombing Drug Boats

Here is a summary of the transcript:

The conversation centers on the legality and ethics of the U.S. administration’s decision to bomb ships suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Pacific, specifically those linked to Venezuelan leader Maduro and his cartel.

📝 Key Arguments

• Executive Authority & Counter-Terrorism: Max argues that the President, as Commander-in-Chief, has the constitutional responsibility to protect the nation. He cites post-9/11 legislation (like the Patriot Act) that allows the executive branch to bypass a formal declaration of war against an organization or government designated as a terrorist organization via executive order.
• Drugs as a National Threat/Terrorism: The speaker asserts that since drugs (like fentanyl, opiates, heroin, etc.) are “killing Americans,” the distribution of these substances constitutes a national threat. Therefore, designating the cartels as terrorist organizations gives the President the authority to order attacks on their assets, like drug boats.
• Defense of Second Attack: Max defends the controversial action of attacking a second time to kill survivors hanging onto the wreckage. He dismisses critics who called the action “egregious,” arguing that the individuals were enemies of the state/terrorists, and that the military “did those people a favor” by preventing a slow death at sea. Mike adds that intelligence may have indicated the survivors were in communication with other boats to continue their mission.
• Historical Precedent: Max draws a parallel to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama to arrest President Manuel Noriega on drug-trafficking charges, arguing that attacking drug boats is “akin” to the aggressive action taken in the past to stop drug running.

In essence, the speakers agree with the attacks, framing the distribution of deadly drugs into the U.S. as an act of terrorism that justifies a forceful military response under the President’s executive authority.

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Would you like me to find out more about the specific post-9/11 legislation mentioned, such as the Patriot Act, and its role in defining terrorism?

0:00Hey, Max. So, what do you think about

0:01the ship bombings that have been

0:03occurring down there in the Caribbean

0:04and the Pacific by the current

0:05administration?

0:07You know what, Mike? Um, the

0:09Constitution gives the responsibility to

0:12the executive branch of the United

0:14States for protection of our nation and

0:17its citizens. And of course, that that

0:20person in the executive branch is the

0:22commander-in-chief. And and that’s the

0:24civilian authority over all the

0:26military. Now, you know, you may not

0:29remember this, but back in the day, I

0:31think it was George W. Bush uh was

0:34president and 9/11 attacks occurred. Um,

0:38they went in and they did some

0:40legislation, Patriot Act was one of

0:41them, some other legislation. Basically,

0:44if the president of the United States or

0:47the government of the United States

0:49acknowledges or records someone as being

0:51a terrorist organization that you no

0:54longer need a declaration of war against

0:58a terrorist. Uh that was the outcome of

1:00that, you know, the legislation that

1:02occurred after 9/11. And there are

1:04several pieces of legislation. kind of

1:06bore you with all of them, but the

1:07bottom line is is that there is no doubt

1:09that an executive order issued by the

1:12president of the United States

1:13designated any particular organization

1:16or government as being a terrorist

1:18organization now gives the president the

1:21authority to perpetuate attacks to

1:25perform attacks on what he perceives as

1:27the threat. Now, one could argue that

1:30the boats in the Caribbean are not

1:31headed for New York, the port of New

1:33York City. and is that boat really a

1:36threat to the United States? And of

1:39course, the argu the counterargument to

1:40that would be once you decide to

1:42distribute drugs uh in its various

1:45forms, whether it’s fentanyl or opiates

1:47or or um you know, heroin or what

1:50whatever it is that all of those drugs

1:52are killing Americans. So, you know,

1:55Donald Trump’s perspective, this new

1:59executive order that designated Maduro

2:02and his cartel, I forget the name of the

2:04cartel that they have, uh, are

2:06distributing drugs illegally to the

2:08United States, and that’s a national

2:10threat. That gives the president

2:12authority to order these attacks. Now,

2:14the president is not ordering the

2:16attacks. The president gave the

2:18executive order. He issued the directive

2:20to the secretary of defense. Secretary

2:23Hegsth Secretary Headsth gives that th

2:26those orders to the whoever is in charge

2:30of that part of the world from the navy

2:32and and army perspective, right? Each of

2:36you know like whenever I was in Desert

2:37Storm, we reported Senai central

2:39command. So there’s a command that

2:41covers the uh the Mediterranean as well.

2:44So when they say that that somebody has

2:46attacked these drug boats,

2:49I’m for it. You know what’s in the news

2:52recently was we attacked the boats and

2:54then there were a couple of survivors

2:55hanging on to wreckage of the boats and

2:57we attacked it the second time to make

2:58sure they were dead.

3:01Somehow

3:03people have determined that that was

3:04egregious.

3:06What are you going to do with people

3:07that are thousands of miles away from

3:10anywhere in the middle of the and and by

3:12the way by the very act of trying to

3:15distribute drugs? They are terrorists.

3:17They are people trying to according to

3:19our laws and according to the

3:21designation of this government. What

3:23kills me the most, I think, are the are

3:25the many various individuals coming out

3:27and saying, “Well, how mean was that? We

3:30already destroyed the boat and and now

3:32we sent a second attack to kill the two

3:34survivors that were hanging on the

3:36wreckage of the boats. You know what,

3:37Mike? We did those people a favor. We we

3:40did they perishing

3:44that way without water in the ocean is a

3:48terrible way to go. And of course, we

3:50don’t know anything about what kind of

3:53particularly sharks are are a problem.

3:55we don’t know what kind of um other

3:59problems they would have faced. Um look,

4:02if if if you’re trying to kill Americans

4:04by distributing drugs into the United

4:06States of America, you are an enemy of

4:08the state. You are by the laws that we

4:11have in place, and Congress can

4:12certainly change those. Uh you are a

4:14terrorist, and it’s and in my mind,

4:17we’re doing our job to protect this

4:20nation by killing those terrorists.

4:22That’s my opinion.

4:23Yeah. Well, I I saw that, you know, they

4:25said they were in communication with

4:28other boats in the area and trying to

4:30recover the drugs and continue the

4:32mission. Maybe that was the case, maybe

4:34not. I mean, I know that intel can pick

4:37up those signals and they were listening

4:40the whole time. The other thing I

4:42likened it to is imagine if they were

4:44driving a boat full of plutonium to the

4:46United States.

4:47You know, we’re talking about deadly

4:48substances. And you know, cocaine may

4:51not be as deadly as fentanyl, but hey,

4:53it ruins the lives of a lot of people

4:55and they’re lacing cocaine with fentanyl

4:57and it kills a lot of people. So, that

5:00being said, what what do you think? Uh,

5:02you were telling me this week about the

5:04response to Pete Buddha Judge by Senator

5:07Senator Kennedy. That was kind of

5:08hilarious.

5:10Well, let me just finish on this drug

5:12vote thing for a minute, Mike. I I know

5:13you’ll remember this. I think it was

5:161989,

5:17but I think you probably have more

5:19direct knowledge of this. If you

5:22remember the president of Nicaragua, a

5:25gentleman by the name of

5:27um

5:30what was his name? Mike Noriega.

5:33Nora was accused of being in charge of

5:35drug of drug running, right? A drug

5:37cartel. What did the United States of

5:39America do?

5:41Well, we went and arrested his ass. We

5:43created a war in Panama and got him.

5:46We went and got him. Arrested him

5:49without shots being fired, by the way,

5:51and brought him to, I think, Miami, but

5:53it was certainly Florida we brought him

5:54to. Put him on trial and put him in

5:56jail.

5:57Yeah. He was in Supermax the rest of his

5:59life.

6:00So, you know, when people start

6:02complaining about us blowing up drug

6:04boats,

6:06isn’t that akin to what happened in

6:081989?

6:10What? What? What chain?

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