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[00:00:00] All right, we are now joined by Greg [00:00:03] Stoker. He is a former host of the show [00:00:06] here at Mitt Press, State of Play, and [00:00:07] now he's running for Congress in the [00:00:10] state of Texas. We couldn't be prouder [00:00:12] of Greg and uh thank you so much for [00:00:14] being here today. [00:00:15] >> Yeah, thanks for having me. Um, [00:00:17] apparently I'm just a massochist who [00:00:19] just wants wants more trouble and more [00:00:22] scrutiny and pain. So, let's go. Um, I'm [00:00:24] not sure the system can be reformed, but [00:00:26] at least we can educate people. [snorts] [00:00:28] Well, I think that the kind of trouble [00:00:30] you want to bring is the exact kind of [00:00:32] trouble that we need. Um, the kind of [00:00:34] trouble that calls for civil [00:00:36] disobedience. And, you know, this week [00:00:39] has shown us that we do live in a system [00:00:42] that is so broken with the release of [00:00:45] the Epstein files. I mean, how [00:00:48] horrifying [00:00:49] um are the details of this from, you [00:00:52] know, alleged cannibalism, satanic [00:00:54] rituals, trafficking of young girls. And [00:00:57] the fact of the matter is is that the [00:00:59] media is still denying the fact that [00:01:02] Jeffrey Epstein was acting as a spy for [00:01:05] the state of Israel. This is something, [00:01:08] of course, we at Mitt Press News have [00:01:09] been covering for over a decade. We've [00:01:12] chronicled and documented uh this all in [00:01:15] a series uh with Whitney Webb many years [00:01:18] ago from 2017 2018. [00:01:21] And so I mean it really feels like [00:01:23] America is disintegrating [00:01:26] and you Greg just actually returned from [00:01:29] Minneapolis. You and I were on the [00:01:30] streets where Alex Prey was murdered by [00:01:34] an ICE agent. masked blackclad death [00:01:38] squads who are roaming our streets here, [00:01:40] snatching people off of the street and [00:01:42] killing anyone they please with total [00:01:45] impunity. And so when we think about [00:01:48] just these Epstein release and like [00:01:51] what's happening on our streets with ICE [00:01:52] and this surveillance system from [00:01:55] Palunteer to the AI killing machines, [00:01:58] it's all connected. [00:02:01] >> Yeah, absolutely. And the Epstein [00:02:03] release was shocking in terms of like [00:02:05] the mainstream media like not blaming [00:02:07] Israel. They're actually trying to [00:02:08] especially especially the British media [00:02:10] is trying to mobilize people's like [00:02:13] conditioned Russophobia to pivot Epstein [00:02:16] to actually being a Russian intelligence [00:02:18] asset. That's one thing that's [00:02:19] happening. But it's basically just a [00:02:21] signal from the ruling class to be like, [00:02:23] "Yeah, we did it. What What are you [00:02:25] going to do about it?" Uh, I saw a video [00:02:27] from a Trump interview earlier today [00:02:29] where he's now saying that that he [00:02:31] doesn't like Bill people coming after [00:02:33] Bill Clinton. You know, Bill Clinton was [00:02:35] always like really nice to him and even [00:02:38] though he campaigned on like releasing [00:02:40] the Epstein uh files to like destroy the [00:02:42] Democrats and stuff, this is what we're [00:02:44] seeing like uh an expansion or a [00:02:46] manifestation of like ruling class [00:02:49] solidarity, right? you know, the the [00:02:51] billionaires, you have uh the elitist [00:02:54] politicians both on the Democrats and [00:02:56] the Republican side, you have a [00:02:58] transnational global figures all bound [00:03:01] up into this and it's like I I've always [00:03:03] been talking about, yeah, you know, [00:03:05] there are some liberal billionaires and [00:03:07] oligarchs and Democratic politicians, [00:03:09] they all hang out in the same places, [00:03:11] the same crowds. Like you go to DC and a [00:03:14] lot of high-profile uh people or like [00:03:16] congressional staffers or Senate [00:03:17] staffers, they all hang out whether [00:03:19] they're Democrats or Republicans and [00:03:21] drink together at the same speak easys. [00:03:23] It's all one big club and you ain't in [00:03:26] it. And so I'm actually structuring like [00:03:28] one of my own like long form episodes [00:03:30] about this tomorrow. It's people are now [00:03:34] because of the Epstein files, they know [00:03:36] what's happening. They know uh he's most [00:03:38] likely an access agent or he was handled [00:03:41] to be running an international like [00:03:42] blackmail ring or at least to uh [00:03:45] infiltrate as an access agent all of [00:03:47] these elite circles that you can't just [00:03:49] cold approach as an intelligence [00:03:51] officer. You know, you can't just like [00:03:52] roll up to Bill Gates and be like, "Hey, [00:03:54] we want you to do this or push this [00:03:56] agenda." But anyways, a lot of people [00:03:58] are just blaming this on Israel, like [00:04:01] the Zionist capture of our government. [00:04:04] But that's pretty ahistorical because if [00:04:07] you look and if you look at ICE [00:04:08] operations, you know, they're kind of [00:04:10] like this quasi slave catcher Gestapo [00:04:13] organization like hybrid now. This has [00:04:17] always been how the US government and [00:04:20] ruling class has operated. This has [00:04:21] always and and before our preeminence [00:04:24] after the end of the second world war, [00:04:25] this is always how the British Empire uh [00:04:27] imperial elite acted and operated. This [00:04:30] is like nothing new. like, yeah, it's [00:04:33] debatable whether or not we've had this [00:04:34] structured of a human trafficking [00:04:36] operation since the abolition of slavery [00:04:39] or the abolition of the uh indigenous [00:04:42] American boarding school system. But [00:04:45] human trafficking in general has always [00:04:47] been a massive part of the capitalist [00:04:49] financial sector, whether it's [00:04:51] transnational travel slavery, whether [00:04:53] it's indentured servitude like [00:04:55] kidnapping Irish children to go work in [00:04:57] the colonies. um you know the fugitive [00:04:59] uh yeah uh and or like ICE detention now [00:05:03] being completely forprofit. Thanks [00:05:06] Obama. You know there is lots of money [00:05:08] to be made in the carceral system for [00:05:10] the trafficking of human bodies and it's [00:05:12] always been bound up with you know this [00:05:16] entire economic system and ruling class. [00:05:19] They've always benefited from it and [00:05:20] everyone's shocked that Jeffrey Epstein [00:05:23] was able to seemingly create this [00:05:26] massive network of people. But it's also [00:05:28] not that shocking because the ruling [00:05:30] class has always been obsessed with this [00:05:34] idea of taboo and transgression. So [00:05:36] yeah, the files were released, but [00:05:38] materially, how does it change the [00:05:41] behavior of the US empire whether or not [00:05:43] some like intelligence ring was running [00:05:44] it? like Hoover like Herbert Hoover when [00:05:47] he was in charge of the FBI did the same [00:05:49] exact thing to forward capital [00:05:51] interests. So this is kind of just more [00:05:53] of the same. And I think people are [00:05:56] shocked by this level of barbarism [00:05:59] >> because they're seeing it now and not in [00:06:02] some history textbook as this bygone [00:06:05] colonial era of barbarism. [00:06:07] >> But like nothing's changed. We we just [00:06:09] witnessed a genocide in Gaza and that [00:06:11] was supposed to like have ended in like [00:06:13] the early 1900s or the late 1800s, but [00:06:16] it's not. And I would remind you [00:06:18] everybody that the US has been acting [00:06:20] like this for a long time, even before [00:06:23] we were entrenched in the politics of [00:06:26] the Israeli government when Israel [00:06:28] started to form a symbiotic relationship [00:06:30] with US foreign policy to be our dirty [00:06:33] appendage uh to wage dirty wars and [00:06:35] stuff like in Guatemala. Let's remind [00:06:38] everybody we overthrew a democratic [00:06:40] government in 1954 [00:06:43] and uh to install a far-right [00:06:45] dictatorship and armed and advised them [00:06:48] while they committed a genocide against [00:06:51] indigenous Mayans literally for united [00:06:54] fruit literally for bananas. So when [00:06:57] people like go down this oh it's the [00:06:58] Zionist rabbit hole. We've been doing [00:07:00] this apart from Zionism and it's kind of [00:07:02] like a red herring u to just blame that [00:07:06] you know a lot of people are saying this [00:07:07] is not America. This is not what we are [00:07:10] or what we stand for. If you actually [00:07:12] pay attention to history this is exactly [00:07:15] what it is. The fact that like Zionism [00:07:17] is now involved is kind of muddying the [00:07:20] waters and the way these files were kind [00:07:23] of rolled out. There's no prosecution. [00:07:25] there's not going to be any [00:07:26] accountability. Um, you know, you have a [00:07:28] lot of mixed messaging, which is [00:07:29] intentional, uh, with the mainstream [00:07:31] media pushing the Russian narrative with [00:07:33] other aspects of the uh, mainstream [00:07:35] media uh, dismissing overtly Israeli [00:07:38] involvement and ignoring it alto [00:07:39] together. It's like fracturing or trying [00:07:42] to fracture like class solidarity with [00:07:44] all these different ideologies and just [00:07:46] blaming it on the ZOG machine, the [00:07:48] Zionist occupied government conspiracy [00:07:50] is part of mut muddying those waters. So [00:07:53] definitely want to keep it all focused [00:07:54] on class and educate people on how this [00:07:57] is how our entire imperial system [00:07:59] operates and it would be operating like [00:08:01] this irregardless of Israel's [00:08:04] involvement. [00:08:05] >> Of course, I mean we have to remember [00:08:06] that like Hugo Chavez called Uncle Sam [00:08:09] the great Satan because of its imperial [00:08:13] acts and one of those acts has been [00:08:15] child trafficking and human trafficking [00:08:17] throughout its history. I mean, this [00:08:19] whole country was built on the genocide [00:08:21] of indigenous people. And so, what we [00:08:24] see, whether it's from the Epstein files [00:08:26] or what ICE is doing on our streets, [00:08:28] it's very much all reflective of US [00:08:31] imperialism and its history. We can't [00:08:34] take that away. And Democrats right now [00:08:36] are trying to act like, you know, they [00:08:38] have nothing to do with any of this, [00:08:40] even though one of the most mentioned [00:08:41] names is, of course, um, Bill Clinton. [00:08:44] But how do Democrats play a role in kind [00:08:46] of creating the toolbox, I guess you [00:08:49] could say, for these kinds of situations [00:08:50] and scenarios, whether it be ICE, the [00:08:53] surveillance state, and the Epstein [00:08:56] scandal to take place. Well, spec [00:08:59] specifically the Democratic Party were [00:09:01] instrumental in convincing half the [00:09:03] population that the Epstein files were [00:09:05] like a right-wing conspiracy hoax while [00:09:07] also Epstein and his associates were [00:09:11] busy like stoking like out-of-pocket [00:09:14] conspiracy theories in 4chan and QAnon [00:09:16] circles as well. So, the Democrats [00:09:19] historically exist to be the leftwing [00:09:21] that protects, you know, the [00:09:22] establishment from like any sort of uh [00:09:26] progressive movement from the left. And [00:09:28] with ICE, um, their their entire [00:09:32] position is reform. You know, you we we [00:09:35] need to reform the Death Star. We can do [00:09:38] it, folks. It just the Death Star just [00:09:40] needs a body cam. So, if you actually [00:09:43] look at their ideas, the estab like the [00:09:44] establishment Democrats are not the ones [00:09:46] saying abolish ICE. That's what their [00:09:48] voters are saying. That's what people [00:09:49] who identify as Democrats are now [00:09:52] saying. And I've also I'm also running [00:09:54] in a pretty like an insanely [00:09:56] conservative district and even [00:09:58] conservative people are like we don't [00:10:00] like ICE. We want it to be gone. That [00:10:02] would be an easy way for them to pick up [00:10:03] independent voters or or like you know [00:10:06] moderate Republicans if they wanted to. [00:10:08] But they will never do that because that [00:10:09] is not the purpose of the party. The [00:10:11] purpose of the party is to protect [00:10:12] capital interest with the veneer of [00:10:14] culture war and identity politics. So [00:10:16] what they're trying to do is preach a [00:10:17] gospel of reform. So we are going to [00:10:21] spend more money on ICE, give them more [00:10:23] money to retrain them and also pump [00:10:26] millions of dollars into the defense [00:10:28] complex to give them body cams which [00:10:30] there after decades of study do not [00:10:33] reduce police violence. You know, you [00:10:35] and I have reported on protests for a [00:10:37] while and you know that ICE officers or [00:10:40] like police officers will keep their [00:10:41] body cams on to get all the footage of [00:10:44] who's there, all the facial biometric [00:10:46] data and then when the protests or when [00:10:48] the arrests start happening and they go [00:10:51] out into the crowd and start grabbing [00:10:52] people, they will turn their body cams [00:10:54] off and there is zero accountability. [00:10:56] They're not teach they're not talking [00:10:57] about accountability. They're not [00:10:59] talking about prosecution. They're not [00:11:00] talking about unmasking necessarily. [00:11:02] They're talking about implementing more [00:11:05] systems that act as a pressure valve to [00:11:07] make people think that change is [00:11:09] happening when it's actually not. So, [00:11:11] it's that's their role. That always has [00:11:13] been their role. And they're more like [00:11:15] Bush era Republicans now than classical [00:11:18] liberals. [snorts] [00:11:19] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, and and you're you know, [00:11:20] I want to talk more about your run for [00:11:22] Congress here in Texas. Um, you are [00:11:27] sounding a lot like the kind of person I [00:11:29] would definitely vote for and I think a [00:11:31] lot of [00:11:31] >> Thanks, [00:11:32] Yeah. So, we we're we're so proud of [00:11:34] you, Greg. And I mean, the way you talk [00:11:37] and about US imperialism and just being [00:11:40] ruled by these elite who are obviously [00:11:43] all they care about is power. I mean, [00:11:45] this is the kind of radical um [00:11:49] independent [00:11:50] uh candidate that I think people should [00:11:52] get excited about. And so, that's why [00:11:54] I'm really excited about your campaign. [00:11:55] you actually came here to Minneapolis [00:11:57] and, you know, announced your campaign, [00:12:00] your run for Congress here in [00:12:02] Minneapolis at the Alex Prey Vigil. And [00:12:06] I thought that was really symbolic [00:12:07] because you were there speaking to [00:12:09] people in Minneapolis about how the war [00:12:12] on terror has come home to roost, [00:12:14] something that we've been talking about [00:12:15] for a long time. But how is your past in [00:12:19] the US military and just all of this um [00:12:24] you know horrible things that you're [00:12:26] seeing with ICE kind of playing a role [00:12:29] in your uh run for Congress in Texas and [00:12:32] how will that influence your policies? [00:12:35] >> Uh just one just real quick. I don't [00:12:37] want to be seen as like trying to [00:12:38] capitalize on you know a tragedy. I I [00:12:41] did announce the campaign and the [00:12:43] campaign video like a couple weeks [00:12:44] before, but when the shooting of Alex [00:12:46] Pretty happened, we were at a Tech for [00:12:48] Palestine uh convention in San Francisco [00:12:52] and that happened and then we hopped on [00:12:53] a flight up to Minneapolis because this [00:12:55] is a federal issue. I'm running for like [00:12:58] nationwide office. I'll be hopefully [00:13:01] legislate if I win. I'd hate it, but you [00:13:03] know, we'll we'll see. Um [00:13:06] it's a it's a federal rule. you will be [00:13:09] voting and challenging and offering like [00:13:12] structural defense against these type of [00:13:14] things. And yeah, I I I think it's a [00:13:17] national issue and it's one that is [00:13:18] actually resonating with voters in the [00:13:20] district. And what's happening in [00:13:22] Minneapolis is also happening in [00:13:24] different ways in Texas. So in [00:13:27] Brownsville, you know, uh near the [00:13:29] border, we're seeing a different [00:13:31] manifestation of the global war on [00:13:32] terror. We're seeing um you people of [00:13:36] Hispanic uh Hispanic people calling ICE [00:13:39] on people over sllights, you know. Um [00:13:42] she broke up with me and it was with a [00:13:43] guy I don't like. Call ICE. This is [00:13:45] exactly what happened outside of CIA [00:13:47] black sites in Afghanistan and stuff. [00:13:50] And we used to say like, "Oh, look at [00:13:51] these people, you know, betraying each [00:13:53] other." Yeah, the apparatus of this [00:13:55] violence and the ability to like call a [00:13:58] foreign entity to take out your, you [00:14:00] know, your social rivals shouldn't be [00:14:03] there in the first place. Every aspect [00:14:05] of this reeks of the global war on [00:14:07] terror. And so my position is not just [00:14:09] to abolish ICE. That's a milktoast [00:14:12] Democratic establishment uh position [00:14:14] like Nancy Pelosi like kneeling for [00:14:17] Black Lives Matter. They're not going to [00:14:18] legislate on it. They don't care about [00:14:20] it. They're not even the ones saying it. [00:14:22] It's a milktoast position and it doesn't [00:14:24] even go far enough. So, I'd like to [00:14:26] abolish the whole thing. Just as a [00:14:28] concept, I I'm introducing abolish the [00:14:31] global war on terror because that [00:14:32] actually resonates with conservatives a [00:14:34] lot. That's a it's a bipartisan issue [00:14:36] because they hate the Patriot Act and [00:14:39] they hate Palunteer and the National [00:14:41] Security State. Abolish ICE is kind of [00:14:44] seems like a manufactured Democrat [00:14:46] position that not everyone is going to [00:14:48] get behind. But when you say abolish the [00:14:49] global war on tariff had a lot more [00:14:51] success talking to like potential [00:14:54] constituents as a policy platform [00:14:57] position cuz everybody agrees like some [00:15:00] of the first people who were critical of [00:15:01] the Iraq war were actually on the right [00:15:04] you know and and so when we when we take [00:15:06] these like identity politics or cultural [00:15:08] issues that don't actually address the [00:15:10] entirety of the system that's a huge [00:15:13] problem because as much as we might hate [00:15:16] it like they saw Trump a lot of people [00:15:18] in the mega movement as this kind of [00:15:20] revolutionary figure that was going to [00:15:22] drain the swamp and uh destroy the deep [00:15:25] state which I just think is capitalism [00:15:27] in general. Um but he turned out to be [00:15:30] one of the swamp creatures and so they [00:15:33] are more in my experience and again I [00:15:36] might I don't like personal anecdotes [00:15:38] but I did grow up in Texas they're more [00:15:42] critical of the system than classical [00:15:43] liberals who think that the status quo [00:15:45] and the system is inherently good. It's [00:15:47] just Reagan messed it up and they need [00:15:49] to bring it back to like what it was. [00:15:51] Uh, and that's not working for GL uh [00:15:54] people on the right. It's not working [00:15:55] for people on the left. It's working [00:15:57] It's not even working for centrists [00:15:58] anymore. So, we definitely want to have [00:16:00] a more nonpartisan message going [00:16:02] forward. And that's the work. You know, [00:16:04] that's I don't think elect electoral [00:16:06] politics can be reformed. I don't think [00:16:08] our government and its systems and [00:16:10] institutions can be reformed. But one of [00:16:13] the purposes, one of the last purposes [00:16:14] of electoral politics is it's a a way to [00:16:18] educate and organize people because they [00:16:20] do people still do pay attention to it [00:16:21] obviously uh into like dual power or [00:16:24] alternate sources of power and planning [00:16:26] outside of the government. You mentioned [00:16:28] that people are feeling like this whole [00:16:32] thing is crumbling. There is a word we [00:16:34] use for that. It came out of the [00:16:36] collapse of the Soviet Union. It's [00:16:37] called hypernormalization. [00:16:39] and where all of these people went [00:16:42] along, the citizenry went along with all [00:16:44] these crumbling institutions. It wasn't [00:16:46] working anymore. There's no leadership [00:16:48] or vision of a future. And we want [00:16:51] candidates to actually demonstrate what [00:16:55] that would look like because nobody is [00:16:57] doing that right now. [00:17:00] >> Yeah. And I I love that you've been able [00:17:01] to kind of shatter that leftright [00:17:03] illusion and run on a nonpartisan [00:17:07] uh platform. I mean, that's really what [00:17:09] we need because the whole system is [00:17:12] created to keep people divided and [00:17:15] they've done a pretty good job at that. [00:17:16] But I think if you talk to the majority [00:17:18] of people, they really are nonpartisan. [00:17:21] I mean, even here in the streets of [00:17:22] Minneapolis, I was on the ground. You [00:17:24] were on the ground. I mean, I live in [00:17:25] Minneapolis. I spoke to people about [00:17:28] what's happening with this ICE terror [00:17:31] raining down on our streets. And a lot [00:17:34] of people on the streets are [00:17:36] libertarian. They are on the [00:17:38] conservative side and they're completely [00:17:41] opposed to what's happening on the [00:17:43] streets alongside a lot of liberals too. [00:17:46] And it goes to show that these kind of [00:17:49] police state issues, the war on terror, [00:17:51] coming home truths can really unite [00:17:53] people. It can. And I love that you're [00:17:56] doing that. Um except for like MAGA [00:17:59] folks, right? MAGA folks are like so [00:18:01] diehard proTrump. I mean, the Epstein [00:18:04] files are like in front of them and they [00:18:06] still like can't believe like that Trump [00:18:08] is capable of of these uh horrific [00:18:11] crimes against children and they'll [00:18:12] defend him and they're defending ICE. [00:18:15] It's like they're they're experiencing a [00:18:18] a pretty standard case of like Stockholm [00:18:20] syndrome, right? And so, um, one of the [00:18:25] famous images, I don't want to say [00:18:26] famous, but one of the images that have [00:18:28] come out is, um, Alex Prey being shot by [00:18:32] an ICE agent. And this new new angles [00:18:35] were coming out showing him like kicking [00:18:38] the tail light for an ICE vehicle while [00:18:41] they were like targeting this woman. In [00:18:43] both cases, they were targeting a woman [00:18:45] and he came to her defense and he was [00:18:47] like a legal observer. and the right or [00:18:49] not I I don't want to say the right but [00:18:51] like MAGA was using that video of him [00:18:52] kicking the tail light to show like you [00:18:53] know he deserved to die but actually the [00:18:56] way he reacted and this is just my [00:18:58] personal opinion is how most people [00:19:00] should be reacting to how I is acting on [00:19:02] our streets they're completely out of [00:19:04] control they're bearing their you know [00:19:07] arms their weapons pointing them at [00:19:09] people arresting people walking up to [00:19:11] people in the streets asking to show [00:19:13] them their papers none of this is [00:19:15] constitutional none of this is what [00:19:18] makes America great. And his reaction, [00:19:21] Alex Freddy's reaction is the rage that [00:19:23] most people should be exhibiting towards [00:19:26] such an unconstitutional [00:19:28] uh police state force. [00:19:31] >> Well, [00:19:32] >> what's your reaction to that? [00:19:34] >> It it's the mo it's the moral [00:19:35] inconsistency for me. If you're Law and [00:19:37] Order and and you thought it was bad, [00:19:39] you know, he could have been arrested [00:19:41] and charged for like property [00:19:43] destruction or whatever. It it doesn't [00:19:45] mean it's a capital offense. you know, [00:19:47] you just you just want to kill people [00:19:48] who don't agree with you. Like, that's [00:19:50] that's what's behind it. I would also [00:19:52] like to point out that again, I I exist [00:19:55] in very conservative circles as a as [00:19:58] someone who considers himself a pretty [00:20:00] hardcore leftist. I I question [00:20:03] everything I see online [00:20:05] uh and the propagandists on Twitter and [00:20:08] all the talking heads because it's not [00:20:10] really reflective on the ground. Like [00:20:12] I've been out all out through like rural [00:20:13] Texas talking to people and they really [00:20:17] don't have that. I've I I've seen a lot [00:20:19] of disenfranchised MAGA people who now [00:20:22] have realized that they've been tricked. [00:20:24] Of course, I have my feelings about [00:20:26] that, but like welcome on board. Let's [00:20:28] find out how to work together now. Uh [00:20:30] but there are some dieards that you're [00:20:31] never going to get to. And one of the [00:20:34] things that uh I like to explain to [00:20:37] people about like the police and stuff, [00:20:39] it's like the the US government, if you [00:20:42] look at it, is the most lawless entity [00:20:44] on earth. You know, they've released [00:20:46] these Epstein files, you know, child [00:20:48] trafficking, murder, perhaps [00:20:50] cannibalism, allegedly. They won't [00:20:52] they've redacted names so people can't [00:20:54] be prosecuted. Uh they haven't released [00:20:56] the entirety. They haven't released like [00:20:58] a huge ton of like video evidence or [00:21:00] photographic evidence. just just files [00:21:03] to kind of like inundate us and [00:21:04] normalize us that this is what's going [00:21:06] forward. It was a big FU by the Epstein [00:21:08] class. They are not subject to the rule [00:21:11] of law and neither are the police which [00:21:14] enforce their will upon the US people. [00:21:18] So yeah, I think uh civil civil [00:21:20] disobedience for survival because law [00:21:22] and order only applies to us peasants. [00:21:26] So, we really need to start reflecting [00:21:28] on [snorts] that and internalizing that [00:21:30] and kind of collectively agreeing what [00:21:32] that means going forward because law and [00:21:35] order doesn't exist for the elite. It [00:21:37] exists to keep us in line. And we're [00:21:40] Yeah. The MAGA the MAGA movement seems [00:21:43] bigger than it is because if we recall [00:21:45] all these tech billionaires who control [00:21:47] all these social media platforms who [00:21:50] generally funded the Democrats flipped [00:21:52] to Trump and they're supporting the MAGA [00:21:54] agenda and they control the apps, they [00:21:57] control the algorithms. They control [00:21:59] like what posts and what content is [00:22:01] reported. Uh, for instance, since the uh [00:22:04] bite dance takeover on of of Tik Tok, [00:22:07] uh, you know, Larry Ellison or David [00:22:09] Ellison's uh, uh, company took over. I [00:22:12] made a video on how billionaires avoid [00:22:14] capital gains taxes and just the Uber [00:22:17] rich in general uh, through the uh, buy [00:22:20] uh, borrow die scheme and it was [00:22:22] restricted for uh, hate speech. So they [00:22:26] are controlling the algorithms [00:22:27] controlling what we see and I know for [00:22:30] like I have a very strong suspicion that [00:22:33] it is actually not and there's poly [00:22:35] there's data to support this actually [00:22:36] not what people are experiencing or [00:22:38] feeling on the ground. Yeah, I agree. [00:22:41] And we know that. I mean, even at Met [00:22:43] Press, we've documented [00:22:45] um bots, pro- MAGA Trump bots that are [00:22:49] just like fake. They're fake. They're [00:22:51] fake people. They're not real people. [00:22:52] And they're online pushing for [00:22:55] ridiculous things like regime change in [00:22:57] Iran. Like, that's how ridiculous they [00:22:59] are. And pro-Israel um talking points. [00:23:02] But um you know, as I alluded in my [00:23:05] intro, the tactics ICE are using on [00:23:07] American citizens didn't just arise from [00:23:09] thin air. I mean, you've said it. I've [00:23:11] said it. I mean, they're treating [00:23:12] America like how the US military treats [00:23:15] an occupied country. I mean, we saw how [00:23:19] Israel treats Palestinians. I mean, the [00:23:21] the face scanning cameras that I are [00:23:24] using that is made by Palanteer. I [00:23:26] actually did a documentary for Press on [00:23:28] the face scanning cameras in Al Khalil [00:23:31] Hebron. It's the same tactics. I said [00:23:33] it's creating a database on Americans. [00:23:36] Whether you're an immigrant or not an [00:23:37] immigrant, whether you're just an [00:23:38] observer or somebody walking down the [00:23:40] street or even somebody like Alex Freddy [00:23:42] where you're opposing this, they're [00:23:44] creating a database about you. And these [00:23:46] are the same tactics that are being used [00:23:48] to create databases against [00:23:50] Palestinians. But hey, we thought that's [00:23:53] happening over there, but here it is. [00:23:56] It's all coming back home having like [00:23:58] this imperial boomerang effect. And so [00:24:02] um in you know is this a case of [00:24:05] imperial boomerang? I mean I would say [00:24:06] yes. And are the tactics that were used [00:24:08] in our imperial conquest coming back [00:24:11] home? [00:24:12] >> It's always been like this since since [00:24:14] the formation of like the modern police [00:24:16] state like the modern police came out of [00:24:20] colonial occupation in the north of [00:24:22] Ireland and through slave patrols in the [00:24:25] uh in the Caribbean and Carolas. It's [00:24:27] been like this forever. like heat [00:24:29] mapping, racial profiling came from the [00:24:32] uh the US occupation of the Philippines [00:24:35] fighting a counterinsurgency there. Uh [00:24:37] SWAT teams came out of fighting a [00:24:39] insurgency operation in Vietnam. If you [00:24:42] actually get to the precursor of the [00:24:44] modern internet, ARPANET, they were [00:24:46] using that uh program to monitor [00:24:48] Vietkong on the Ho Chi Min Trail and [00:24:51] civil rights, Black Panther Union [00:24:52] organizers, student organizers against [00:24:55] the Vietnam War back at home. like this [00:24:58] is not anything new. It always happens. [00:25:00] It's always and it's not really a [00:25:01] boomerang, I don't think, because it [00:25:03] happens simultaneously. [00:25:06] >> Um, it's not like Yeah, I just see I I I [00:25:10] don't see it as this latent thing that [00:25:12] now happens. Maybe it was an imperial [00:25:14] boomerang during like the British Raj, [00:25:16] you know, in the 1800s, but everything [00:25:18] happens so fast now it's almost [00:25:20] instantaneous and immediate. [00:25:22] >> Yeah. I mean, you make a good point. I [00:25:23] mean, MIT Press has been around for 14 [00:25:25] years, and I'm here to say that we've [00:25:27] been reporting on this Imperial [00:25:28] Boomerang for over a decade, 14 years. [00:25:31] So, for somebody like myself or [00:25:32] yourself, we know this is not something [00:25:34] new. But I think when we talk about it [00:25:36] within that framing, it's just to remind [00:25:39] people who are just kind of getting it [00:25:40] now or like confused like, okay, this is [00:25:43] what we do overseas and now look, it's [00:25:45] coming home. So, if you support these, [00:25:48] you know, so-called humanitarian wars or [00:25:50] regime change wars, don't just think [00:25:52] that it's happening over there because [00:25:54] it will come back to happen over here. [00:25:57] >> You know, that kind of reminds me of [00:26:00] >> Yeah. [00:26:01] When I was still like in in the Imperial [00:26:06] military, the the big lie that we were [00:26:08] told was, you know, we're fighting them [00:26:11] over overseas so we don't have to have [00:26:14] like armed police and masked men on the [00:26:17] streets back at home. Well, flash [00:26:20] forward 10 years later. How's that [00:26:21] working out? [00:26:23] >> Exactly. [00:26:24] >> Because again, I I say this, there is no [00:26:26] distance. There's no difference between [00:26:28] the police state and the war state. All [00:26:30] these ICE officers are now wearing the [00:26:33] the kind of equipment that only like [00:26:35] special operations units had 10 years [00:26:37] ago. If you're a Ranger, SEAL, Green [00:26:38] Beret, but now they're all like hyped up [00:26:40] with Opscore helmets and like night [00:26:42] vision goggles, which they don't even [00:26:44] need. It's just like milsim cosplay BS, [00:26:47] but it's used as a occupation colonial [00:26:50] terror tactic on our own people. Like [00:26:53] they don't need this equipment. It's [00:26:54] useless to them. But and they also don't [00:26:57] have the training to really use it. It's [00:26:59] just it's just another uh like imperial [00:27:02] colonial terror weapon. [00:27:04] >> Yeah. And we have to remind people that [00:27:06] just like US soldiers um who committed [00:27:09] war crimes in Afghanistan or in Iraq or [00:27:12] even the architects of war that led to [00:27:14] the the deaths of millions of people in [00:27:17] Iraq and Afghanistan, there have been no [00:27:19] consequences for them. They have they're [00:27:21] walking this earth and many of them are [00:27:24] leading our country today. The same [00:27:26] thing for these federal ICE agents who [00:27:28] are uh violating our amendment rights [00:27:31] and literally committing murder capital [00:27:34] punishment on our streets here in [00:27:35] Minneapolis. JD Vance um uh what's her [00:27:40] name? Gnome. [clears throat] [00:27:42] >> Christy Gnome. [00:27:43] >> Christine Gnome, I'm sorry. Christine, [00:27:45] they've openly stated that and even [00:27:46] Trump, they've said to these federal [00:27:48] agents that, you know, they're they're [00:27:50] off the hook for anything they do. It's [00:27:53] like open territory for them. They can [00:27:55] do whatever they want. [00:27:56] >> Yeah. Whatever they want. [00:27:57] >> Hitler Hitler said the same thing to the [00:28:00] SS and, you know, it didn't work out for [00:28:02] all of them. Uh but yeah, that's a good [00:28:04] point about US impunity overseas. Like I [00:28:06] can think of a couple instances where a [00:28:09] few like absolutely psychotic guys were [00:28:11] charged and sentenced to life at Fort [00:28:14] Levvenworth breaking rocks into smaller [00:28:16] rocks. Uh but like for instance the guys [00:28:19] the Marines who were responsible for the [00:28:21] infamous Haditha massacre didn't do any [00:28:23] time. It absolutely insane. And [00:28:26] apparently the military is supposed to [00:28:27] have like more accountability uh when it [00:28:29] comes to that kind of stuff. I don't [00:28:31] know. It's it's all the same thing [00:28:34] >> of course. And um so let's let's change [00:28:36] gears to talk about your run for [00:28:39] Congress. I think a lot of people are [00:28:41] excited about this. I know we kind of [00:28:42] touched on it, but um it's a pretty big [00:28:45] deal that uh you Greg are running for [00:28:47] office. Um I want to I want to hear more [00:28:49] about why you're running as somebody who [00:28:52] has you know served in the military. [00:28:54] You're an anti-war activist. Um I don't [00:28:58] know if that's the best way to describe [00:28:59] you. It it's too it's too like old [00:29:02] school veterans for peace who just like [00:29:04] stop wars but didn't want to address [00:29:06] like the o overlying issue of like [00:29:08] imperialism. So I generally say like [00:29:10] anti-imperialist. [00:29:12] >> Okay. Anti-imper. Let's let's go from [00:29:14] there. Tell us more about why you're [00:29:15] running. [00:29:16] >> Um I'm running because I think that as [00:29:20] our the in the last gasps of our like [00:29:24] Republican institutions, electoral [00:29:25] politics still have the way to educate [00:29:28] people. uh and organize them. Uh you [00:29:32] know, I'm not the I'm not the first [00:29:33] person to like conceptualize that. Not [00:29:36] at all. And I started off, you know, [00:29:39] getting into the public sphere to [00:29:41] educate people. You know, my platform [00:29:43] kind of blew up talking about uh the [00:29:45] genocide in Palestine from a military [00:29:47] angle. So, this is just a progression of [00:29:49] keeping this going. I organized the [00:29:51] veterans boat on the flotillaa to use [00:29:55] our status as veterans in this [00:29:58] grotesqually militarized society to be [00:30:00] like, "Hey guys, what we do overseas [00:30:02] comes back home. That's why we're on the [00:30:04] flotilla trying to run the blockade [00:30:06] because we are not following our own [00:30:08] laws, the Leehy law. We cannot be [00:30:10] sending arms to Israel and Saudi [00:30:11] Arabia." Uh so if we break them [00:30:13] overseas, you bet your bet your butt [00:30:17] that we are going to be breaking them [00:30:19] back home. very simple message. That's [00:30:20] why we did it. And this campaign is a [00:30:24] continuation from an educational [00:30:25] perspective of that message. Hopefully, [00:30:27] we'll be able to organize people. I [00:30:29] think in the short term, like getting [00:30:31] people involved in their communities, [00:30:33] getting young people involved in their [00:30:35] communities because Texas is not really [00:30:36] a red state. It's not a blue state. It's [00:30:39] a non voting state because our politics [00:30:42] around these parts are absolutely [00:30:44] insane. And there's just most people are [00:30:45] completely disenfranchised. And I'm [00:30:47] like, yeah, I'm not gonna ask you to [00:30:49] vote for me or tell you to vote. That's [00:30:51] insane because I really don't believe in [00:30:53] it as I think it's voting is like the [00:30:55] most useless way to affect political [00:30:57] change. So, I I'm using this and the [00:31:00] volunteer base that comes with running a [00:31:02] campaign to like get out in communities [00:31:03] and hopefully like reactivate people to [00:31:06] become involved in like civic life [00:31:08] outside of the structures of violence of [00:31:10] our government and also to hopefully [00:31:13] educate some people into what they [00:31:16] deserve. We've been propagandized over [00:31:18] generations [snorts] that, you know, [00:31:20] workingass people like don't deserve [00:31:22] anything. You know, it's you when it [00:31:25] comes to issues like universal [00:31:26] healthcare, it's like you are not [00:31:28] entitled to anybody's money, anyone [00:31:30] else's money or labor. And it's just [00:31:33] like what? That's completely illogical. [00:31:35] It's our money. We all pay into it. The [00:31:38] system's not perfect. you know, I I have [00:31:41] access to a social pro social socialist [00:31:43] program through veterans health [00:31:45] benefits. I want to use my status as a [00:31:47] veteran to be like, "Yeah, the VA kind [00:31:49] of sucks, but it's better than not [00:31:51] having health care and everybody should [00:31:53] have healthcare." Very simple messaging. [00:31:55] And when it comes to like other people's [00:31:57] labor, like what what do you mean other [00:31:59] people's labor? It's our labor. I'm not [00:32:02] a doctor. I work in like journalism, you [00:32:04] know, I used to work as, you know, a [00:32:06] grocery store clerk. But like if we all [00:32:08] collectively, everyone who works a job [00:32:11] disappeared for like 3 days, our entire [00:32:14] uh society would collapse. But if Warren [00:32:15] Buffett, who you know earns uh uh is in [00:32:19] charge of Burkshire Hathaway and all [00:32:21] these other like uh healthc care [00:32:23] billionaires disappeared for two years, [00:32:25] literally nothing would happen. It's a [00:32:27] racket. So this is all about simple [00:32:30] messaging and education because like we [00:32:32] have been propagandized generation after [00:32:34] generation. It has to end. And so it's [00:32:37] interesting seeing these Epstein files [00:32:39] uh kind of take the mask off for a lot [00:32:40] of people. That that's who that that is [00:32:43] who is telling you to hate brown people [00:32:46] and hate poor people and immigrants. So [00:32:50] why and those are the people telling you [00:32:52] that socialism and social programs are [00:32:55] bad. [00:32:57] >> Yeah. I mean these federal agents are uh [00:33:00] kidnapping the wrong people. They're [00:33:02] putting the wrong people in jails, [00:33:03] right? they're putting the wrong people [00:33:04] in these um these horrifying um and [00:33:08] inhumane conditions when it should [00:33:10] really be these pedto um who should be [00:33:12] locked up. But they're not going to be [00:33:14] locked up. They're probably going to, [00:33:15] you know, walk free. They've been [00:33:17] walking free. I mean, the DOJ has had [00:33:19] access to these files for a long time. [00:33:21] And I would argue it's a very controlled [00:33:24] release. And who knows what we don't [00:33:27] know, right? what what else we don't [00:33:28] know um about their their their [00:33:31] horrifying crimes. But something I want [00:33:34] to point out as we wrap up here is, you [00:33:36] know, you're probably the first person [00:33:37] running for office to tell people don't [00:33:39] you don't have to vote. You know, voting [00:33:41] doesn't do anything. I think that's one [00:33:43] of the most radical things I've heard [00:33:45] from somebody who's running for office. [00:33:46] And I've I mean, the system is so [00:33:49] broken. I don't believe that voting [00:33:51] really even matters. But of course I [00:33:52] will always put my support behind uh [00:33:54] radical figures like yourself who are [00:33:57] speaking from a revolutionary tone about [00:34:00] the entire system is broken. So I [00:34:02] appreciate that. And you know the the [00:34:05] final thing I want to and you can [00:34:06] respond to that too but one of the final [00:34:08] things I want to ask you about is um [00:34:10] your district encompasses Fort Hood [00:34:12] which is one of the US military's [00:34:15] largest bases. I mean, how did your [00:34:17] military experience shape you on today? [00:34:20] And how will Fort Hood being in your [00:34:22] district affect your run for Congress? [00:34:27] [sighs] [00:34:28] >> We are having to like leverage the [00:34:30] veteran angle. Uh, you know, a lot of [00:34:33] people on the left are very suspicious [00:34:36] of people who do that. You know, I work [00:34:38] with more radical veteran organizations [00:34:40] like About Face, Veterans Against the [00:34:41] War, which is way more left than [00:34:43] Veterans for Peace. Uh, And we kind of [00:34:46] have the belief that if you really want [00:34:48] to take down and challenge the military [00:34:51] industrial complex and apparatus and war [00:34:53] making apparatus, you kind of need [00:34:55] veterans to do outreach. You know, I've [00:34:58] um on State of Play, I've platform [00:35:00] conscientious objectors, um done [00:35:03] explainers about how to leave the [00:35:05] military as a conscientious objector [00:35:07] with no legal action and still how to [00:35:09] retain your benefits from doing that. [00:35:11] like if you actually and and like [00:35:13] Veterans for Pe or sorry, Veterans for [00:35:15] Peace and other organizations, they do [00:35:17] outreach to like National Guard members [00:35:19] to try to like get them to leave and not [00:35:22] uh reup their contracts and stuff like [00:35:25] that. So yeah, we we definitely want to [00:35:28] even though people on the left are [00:35:29] suspicious of it, like we're the only [00:35:31] ones who can really do outreach with [00:35:33] that goal in mind because I don't know [00:35:35] how some person who wasn't in that [00:35:38] structure like understands the lives and [00:35:40] circumstances and the mechanisms of this [00:35:42] apparatus of violence unless you were in [00:35:44] it. Like how else are you going to [00:35:46] message that? It's just such an [00:35:47] all-consuming institution. It's kind of [00:35:50] like prison, you know? So yeah, yeah, [00:35:53] >> I wouldn't try to tell like prisoners [00:35:55] how to rehabilitate themselves back into [00:35:57] society. It's just not beyond my [00:35:58] experience. So this is kind of like what [00:36:00] we do. That's kind of how this fits into [00:36:02] my campaign. And I'm not going to be [00:36:04] messaging so much like people in the [00:36:07] military. More towards veterans becoming [00:36:09] more politically active because they are [00:36:11] so frustrating a demographic. Of course, [00:36:14] they're not a monolith. It's a whole [00:36:15] spectrum, but I've been very open about [00:36:18] this for years. I I kind of want to re [00:36:21] reinvigorate kind of like the Veterans [00:36:23] Against the War block that was like the [00:36:25] most militant alongside the Black [00:36:27] Panthers uh organization against the [00:36:29] Vietnam War. And they organized together [00:36:31] because they were both anti-imperialist [00:36:32] and uh anti-racist as well. So, you [00:36:35] know, there's a there's a lot of [00:36:37] possibilities. I'm since I'm a third [00:36:38] party candidate, I'm not going to get [00:36:40] primar. So, I'll be around doing this [00:36:43] for like the next nine months. We'll see [00:36:45] what happens. [00:36:45] I was just about to ask you, how is you [00:36:49] being running on a third party ticket [00:36:51] going to affect this campaign? Because [00:36:52] you are running against you're running [00:36:54] for Texas's 31st district um against [00:36:58] John Carter, which is an 85year-old who [00:37:00] was born before Pearl Harbor. I mean, [00:37:03] he's an old dude and he's been around [00:37:05] for a long time. So, how do you think [00:37:08] this is going to work? [00:37:10] >> He was endorsed by Trump. [00:37:12] >> Okay. And after going to a lot of meet [00:37:15] the candidate forums and meeting voters [00:37:17] who are very conservative, nobody wants [00:37:20] him around anymore or wants him to run. [00:37:23] We'll see if, you know, he he takes the [00:37:25] primary and goes to the general [00:37:27] election, but everyone I've talked to [00:37:29] because he's very corporate. He hasn't [00:37:31] done any votes. The only legislation [00:37:33] he's introduced in 20 years were like [00:37:35] two bills that he was like co-signing [00:37:37] on. if I'm if I'm there's a lot of [00:37:39] information that I have to hold in my [00:37:41] head right now. But yeah, it was all [00:37:42] like anti-woke DEI stuff. Did nothing [00:37:44] for like workingclass people and missed [00:37:47] 800 congressional votes in 20 years. So [00:37:50] everyone's like what what what are we [00:37:52] doing here? Uh record number of people [00:37:54] identifying as independents. So it'll be [00:37:56] this is an interesting political moment [00:37:58] where all these entrenched ideologies [00:38:00] and political positions are kind of [00:38:01] collapsing and ellighting and uh forming [00:38:04] something new. So, we'll see if we can [00:38:06] we can spread some nonpartisan class [00:38:08] consciousness over the next nine months. [00:38:10] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, my final question to [00:38:12] you, and we can keep it brief, you can [00:38:13] talk as long as you want, but I guess [00:38:15] people would be curious to know what are [00:38:17] the some of the issues that are going to [00:38:18] be, uh, a core part of your campaign. [00:38:21] >> So, [00:38:24] uh, issues that kind of resonate with [00:38:26] people across the aisle, especially [00:38:28] people in the district. no more foreign [00:38:30] wars or interventions and and that's [00:38:32] linked to and people are starting to [00:38:34] realize how that's linked to mass [00:38:35] migration and immigration policy. [00:38:38] They're also increasingly seeing ICE as [00:38:40] a foreign war. So, we're definitely [00:38:42] going to be pushing that uh coming home. [00:38:44] You know, my my whole shtick about the [00:38:46] the next forever war with boots on the [00:38:48] ground isn't going to be in Iran or [00:38:49] Venezuela or over the straight of [00:38:51] Taiwan. It's going to be here and it's [00:38:52] already arrived. That's part of it. Um, [00:38:55] also [00:38:57] conservatives in general are deeply [00:38:59] upset by the Pentagon never being able [00:39:02] to pass an audit ever. So, everyone's [00:39:04] like, why are we giving another five [00:39:07] trillion dollars uh to the defense [00:39:10] budget, which is already 1 trillion, the [00:39:11] biggest in history. Uh, that's part of [00:39:13] it. And then basically just [00:39:16] environmental community based stuff. the [00:39:18] the data centers uh that are fueling [00:39:20] Austin's uh tech hub are absolutely rav [00:39:24] ravishing communities high um high [00:39:27] conductive power lines are causing [00:39:29] imminent domain throughout the district [00:39:30] and they have like no recourse because [00:39:32] the Texas government has sold out Texans [00:39:35] to these private corporate interests and [00:39:37] the Democrats aren't fighting it, the [00:39:39] Republicans aren't fighting it. This is, [00:39:41] you know, you can talk to one of the [00:39:43] most liberal districts in Virginia and [00:39:45] they're going through the same thing. [00:39:46] So, uh, these aren't just text district [00:39:49] specific issues that will be part of my [00:39:51] campaign, but no, these are the main [00:39:53] things. And then, of course, access to [00:39:55] healthcare because that's just absurd. [00:39:58] >> Yeah, [snorts] that's kind of a big [00:40:00] deal. [00:40:00] >> Yeah, [00:40:01] >> we thought Obamacare was it, but I don't [00:40:03] think that was it. [00:40:04] >> Oh, no. It was it was a very much [00:40:06] forprofit absolute cluster F of a uh [00:40:10] policy position. [00:40:12] >> Absolutely. So, so I I I love that [00:40:13] that's going to be one of your first um [00:40:15] causes that you're going to be going [00:40:16] after. Well, Greg, we're very excited [00:40:18] for you. We're very proud of you for [00:40:19] this next stage of your um journey, and [00:40:22] we'll be standing behind you. That's my [00:40:24] congressman, Greg Stoker. Thank you for [00:40:26] being here today. [00:40:27] >> Thanks so much for having me. Have a [00:40:29] good day, y'all.