 Aloha, welcome to American Issues Take One. I'm Tim Apachele, your host and the title today for today's show is Michael Johnson What kind of speaker of the house is that? We have a new speaker finally on round. I believe it's round four We've had a lot of candidates that came to the table and we're all denied one way or another Who are the candidates? It was Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, Tom Els and now Mike Johnson In the show right up I said, you know What was the litmus test for you to become a speaker and it appears Mike Johnson fills that test? The test is you have to be an election denier of the 2020 election And if you weren't an election denier then you would not be sitting as speaker of the house So we don't know a lot about Mike Johnson, but we do know he was on the ground floor of the election denial for Donald Trump So with that in mind, I'd like to introduce my co-host Jay Fidel and we're gonna discuss this topic immediately Good morning, Jay. Good morning, Jim Jay, we don't know a lot about this guy Mike Johnson. He's a Representative from Louisiana Steve Scalise seems to know a little bit about him because he was very complimentary in his introduction of Mike Johnson, but we do know one thing That he is an ally of Donald Trump and he was very much connected with the early days of Assisting Mr. Trump for the election denial that Joe Biden was the president and the election was stolen from Donald Trump And he was on that ground floor. I listened to his speech his acceptance speech this morning and He seems to be somewhat pragmatic as far as saying we have to get the business done for the American people and the first thing he said was We have to fulfill our obligation to keep the government funded. That was certainly good news to my ears Didn't sound like one of the bomb throwers of Marjorie Taylor Greene or or the likes of her Or the Matt Gaetz type that let's put a wrecking ball to government get nothing done and watch it crumble So there was some some hope in his initial words and we'll see how this goes your thoughts Hmm. I am no less concerned than I was before He's a trumpet Trump for his work. Trump is working behind the scenes manipulating this whole process for the past month He was a trumpet in denying the election. He voted against the electoral ballots He was actively supporting Trump in Trump's efforts to turn the election over to turn the government over to destroy our democracy Query will he be better now answer probably no I'm not confident at all. I think Trump speaks through him And we just don't know enough about him, but we will know more about him soon when we start to see what he has to say I don't think he's his own man. I think he works for others He works for Trump and he and he works for the religious right. He's an extreme conservative I'm not happy at all with this Republicans do not have their act together. They do not represent the country they got in in 2020 a lot of them a lot of them and They were the product of all of the machinations that went on in that election As I told you before the show Tim, you know, we were all focused on Trump's efforts to steal the election from Biden and And and January 6th and all that and we forgot to look at exactly how Congress got constituted in the elections of 2020 Well, I think what happened is that Congress was also being manipulated by Trump There were these, you know These efforts to Primary people get his people to run in the Republican side There were these efforts through social media to pour money into campaigns for Republican candidates To manipulate voting suppressed black voting all the things that he was doing those things count and He said there would be a red wave. Well, okay, it may not been a red wave but it was enough to screw up Congress and And and you know walk through the halls of Congress and you see people who are clearly unqualified and And they are leading us. Where are they leading us? Where is Mike Johnson leading us? I will be really surprised if Mike Johnson leads us anywhere good. I think he's a proxy for Trump Okay, let's take a step back just briefly on on how we got to the selection of Mike Johnson as you know, Steve Scalise was the next candidate and That didn't take long for him to withdraw because clearly he saw that pathway to becoming the speaker was fraught with objections Let me let me just interrupt to say that He had a good chance until Trump Dished him and that was the end of him. It was immediate as soon as Trump turned against him He was gone. Well, that's where I was going with this. What is the common denominator? So then let's move to Jim Jordan who Donald Trump fully throated his endorsement and he was the heir apparent But for 20 Republicans, we did a show on this last week Jim Jordan was a bridge way too far either from his involvement with the January 6th events that took place certainly with the election denial issues and then he had a little bit of a Some you know baggage from his days as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan that That tail never left and so a lot of people thought that was a character flaw that this could they couldn't abide with So Jim Jordan didn't make it and Donald Trump that was a slap to his face because remember Donald Trump is the kingmaker correct and Now Donald Trump's embarrassed. He's not the kingmaker because Jordan went down in flames so then you had Tom L's and Guess what? He was one that didn't decertify the election He voted that the election was fair and clean and so within within minutes Donald went to his true social network and typed in that Representative else was a globalist rhino and for those who don't know what rhino means it means Republican in name only that was the end of him and will own behold now. We have Mike Johnson So Donald Trump now is again because he's endorsed Mike Johnson He again comes off as the kingmaker the man with influence Donald Trump the leader of the GOP party and the MAGA party Donald Trump is he tarnished into this whole process or did he come up on top? well He's more tarnished than he ever was for me and for the people who are following the four indictments But for the Republican Party, which he had a lot to do with electing them as they are He's not tarnished. He's in greater control raising more money among the base all that So I think it's tragic That he's not, you know out of control. I mean not no longer controlling But I'm afraid to say the answer your question is among the Republicans. He's in the same control or more Okay, well, let's look at the almost the last four weeks Let's look at the last four weeks and say to the following The world's been watching and it's been a clown show. We've used that reference. It's been a clown show To what degree does Donald Trump own the clown show and to how much damage has the House of Representatives abstained by not being able to elect a house speaker Well, you know in the last four weeks we have seen violence in the Middle East now on one two three fronts and the newspaper today Reported that there are attacks against Americans in Syria and in Iraq Repeated attacks dozens of attacks and some American soldiers have been wounded So we have a we have a major problem going on in in the in the Middle East We have many problems going on in the Middle East. We have of course the problem in Ukraine We have not supplied them with what they expected what we promised and Poland has just Turned over its f-16s to Ramstein But said they would turn over their f-16s not to not to Ukraine like they said they were gonna do but to the Americans in Ramstein and this leaves everything in in limbo because Because Biden has not yet agreed to give those f-16s or any f-16s to Ukraine Even though Ukraine is getting hammered if you watch the news carefully these days It does not look like Ukraine is winning 20% or more of the land of Ukraine is occupied by the Russians and they are more aggressive They are using more weapons more missiles Than and more more, you know dropping bombs on Ukraine than before you can't be heartened by what's happening in Ukraine and They need help from us, you know in a desperate fashion Then you have, you know the incident or a series of incidents between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Turkey another hotspot And there are a lot of smaller hotspots But right now the South China Sea is very hot and China is being very aggressive with the Filipinos And a lot of people think the reason is that it's winding up It's softening the area up for its big play on Taiwan and indeed it is flying over when near Taiwan every day It is having incidents in the Taiwan Strait And what we have is again a number of hotspots around the world and we haven't paid attention to them worse than that Tim is that we have sent a message to everyone in the world Especially the autocrats that we are weak and in political discord for a long period of time So you can say that Mike Johnson is the solution to that problem. I doubt it And I think they are going to be looking very carefully at us to see whether that discord continues Or whether we are a paper tiger and I suggest they are going to find us a paper tiger and see the whole thing as Opportunity opportunity to continue their autocracy to continue their violence their invasions You know, they're their violations of the liberal world order The world is in bad shape and we have we've demonstrated we're not interested in fixing it You know, uh now speaker Johnson said at the podium in the house of representatives That one of his top priorities was also to ensure that there is sufficient funding for israel He was very silent on ukraine and Allegedly he is not a supporter of continued funding for ukraine or certainly reduced funding for ukraine By dividing the two What message does that send? Well, it's I think it's a continuation of the reluctance of the republican party Or a good number of them To to support ukraine, which is really really tragic because ukraine is the future of europe And what it does is it discourages the eu it discourages nato to see that the american government is not ardent at all In defending ukraine That's that's so that's one thing. It's a continuation of the of the trump policy. Remember trump is friendly Here's it's so logistic trump is friendly with putin He's in a transactional arrangement with putin. He wants to see putin succeed. He's made it clear And putin, you know, it wants to help trump like in the 2024 Like the social media and all that so there's not an arrangement those two guys And I think that's playing out because trump the second part of the syllogism is trump is controlling this guy And I believe he's you know, he controlled all these failed elections and over the past month But now I believe he's controlling mike johnson and that's why mike johnson Doesn't want to support ukraine because trump doesn't want to support ukraine. That's simple um on israel, it's a little different um because trump gets money from some jewish factions Uh, trump believes he's got a good relationship with netanyahu after all netanyahu is like trump in many ways And all the problems in israel over the past 10 months You know in my view were were were an effect of that an effect of the strange relationship Between trump and netanyahu And and look where we are now. I think he wants to support netanyahu Keep him in office. Although there's a big move in israel to get him out of office um, and he wants to um, he wants to retain control Of of the situation there Therefore, uh for political reasons, uh, trump wants to support israel ergo mike johnson wants to support israel It's real simple. It is not a matter of moral equivalency Well, we know what it takes to get some somebody elected You have to say the right things at the right time and and have a track record but sometimes the office does transform the philosophy and Uh, the willpower of a speaker of the house where they they they shift They changed they become their own man so to speak or our own woman and um The job shapes the individual and one of the things I heard mike johnson say is that he is in support of bipartisan Relationships with the democrats. I personally found that is somewhat optimistic a thing to hear Uh, was it just a political banter? Was it just bombast or do you think there's an opportunity that Uh, this new speaker will actually reach across the aisle and get some things done Which by the way would probably include ukraine funny because Um, a majority of republicans in the house and the senate, uh, they do support ukraine and supported quite well Do you think that's an area where he'll be convinced despite what donald trump wants? I don't know him I don't know him well enough any of us do and I'll be reading the paper very artily over the past few days Uh or weeks Um to see where he really goes, but I think the jury's out on who owns him We have a you know the continuing of the government funding coming up here I believe it's around november the ninth Some part around that date What's your prediction on how successful this this new speaker of the house We we're all able to rally the g.o.p. Party to Be contributory to the successful passage of that funding bill so the government doesn't shut down again Yes, I I think they Mike johnson the republicans will Will work toward funding. I think they may nevertheless Require some of their ideology To be included in conditions to the funding. We'll see some of that. It'll be negotiated as it never was In the past it never was but you'll see some negotiation on ideological grounds But I think ultimately they'll be a compromise and I think we'll have our funding We only have like, you know three weeks to go before the middle of november when the deadline So I but I think the biggest reason of all Tim Is that over the past month? If not before the republicans got two black eyes in the eyes of the public everybody So what what kind of clowns are these? That they should hold up on funding and put all these people, you know out of out of their paychecks Stop all government services. What is this about? This is so destructive that no reasonable person on any side of the aisle Could feel they were doing their jobs earning their pay being responsible to the electorate in the country So they come out of this month long thing With two black eyes and mike johnson They have no choice if they want to retain Any kind of support in the election of 2024? They got to get their act together right now And if they fail to fund the government here in the middle of november They're going to lose a lot of votes lots and tons of votes. It is very material I think they realize they have a public relations nightmare because His his closing remarks he came out of the capitol and went to the podium on the steps of the house for representatives In his closing remark is we have no time For celebrations or ceremony That normally accompanies the you know the mark of of a new speaker of the house He said we have no time for that We are going to go back in and we are going to look at funding for israel and other things. So I think you're right They have two black eyes and they know it and At least from the podium mike johnson seems to recognize that and is willing to do something about it And do it very quickly. So If nothing else, uh, we'll see where that goes Yeah, but just remember that what he says, you know, the rhetoric he uses The language he provides to us and to the media. Okay, they're trying to get off on a good start That's one thing But let's see what he does Not clear to me that that he's going to you know follow his own language Not clear to me that he's not going to change his mind with a midnight call from you know who Well, okay, let's go to you know who because no matter what we do or what we say we always have you know who in the background You know who is donald trump? uh, to what degree does the the landscape change as donald trump is um in court and uh his Co-defendants are flipping on him. We have three attorneys who have flipped on him now And uh, these are very close allies of donald trump And to what degree if things start looking grim for donald trump Does that have any impact on? The positions of the speaker of the house or his fellow republicans Uh, let's forget about the maga the 20 maga republicans because they're gone They're they're beyond reproach. They're beyond hope of trying to convince them that you know, america needs to move forward And not into chaos the thoughts about um He's a master. He's a master of chaos And um, you know and some people really like chaos. They like the bonnie and clive, you know kind of thing that they like, um john dilliger an anti-hero person So I think he's going to retain them. Uh, whatever happens Um, he may well be convicted on the basis of uh, some of these uh People who have flipped and will testify against him. But remember in a criminal proceeding all you need is one All you need is one one sleeper juror um to vote against conviction and you beat it And he's been uh contaminating juries from the beginning all his all his life um, he's been, uh, you know Intimidating them threatening them Having his acolytes call them make those midnight calls and all that So the system is on trial And query whether the system will hold up does nobody that we can think of who did more to damage the american jurist Juris system criminal justice system that donald trump. So he's not finished with that But the question really arises as to the press, you know, like everything else in the world Including the middle east. It's what you say to the press and how soon you say it and how the press likes the raw meat that you feed them Um, it's like animals in the zoo. Honestly, they just want to have that raw meat So the raw meat now is uh, he's being he's being completely obstreperous And he's not following the gag orders and he got fined. Uh, what did he get fined? Uh, $10,000 today Uh for a violation In the I guess it's in the civil case Um, and uh, I don't know whether he has to pay that a check. Maybe a credit card. Maybe pay pal I don't know how he pays that but I hope he he gets to pay it And I hope everybody remembers it because he'll do it again. He likes to do it again Gets his name in the headlines Um, and every time he does it, you know, it ought to be and it ought to be, you know, collective between all of these cases In other words, if he gets fined $10,000 in in the civil case in new york Uh, the next judge who wishes to, uh, you know, hold him in contempt or punish him for violation of a gag order Or to keep that in mind Um, the $10,000 may or may not have an effect on him. So let's make it 20. Let's make it 50. Let's make it a million Let's make it two million to stop him. Apparently he doesn't believe in that. So he doesn't He doesn't buy by it. So I'm just answering by saying I'm not sure Whether people like the bunion Clyde, you know drama that's playing out in this reality show Over his first amendment rights and and the limitations the god rails from, um, you know, the gag orders Um, or whether they take it seriously. It's criminal The whole thing shows you a Person who is morally bereft Um, how does the country react to that? I said, I like mike johnson react to that mike johnson is a religious man And i'm always interested in how the religious guys in this country the religious factions Can forgive trump for things that are obviously against the principles of their religion Uh, let's see what happens when he lies. Let's see what happens when he violates every rule in a book. Um, let's see if mike johnson still likes him Good point You know getting back to you know, these these pending fines or sanctions against donald trump I'll introduce an acronym that i've used for years and it pertains to donald trump perfectly and that's the acronym is opm other people's money Donald trump rarely spends his own money And um, i'm sure there's a few legal defense funds that he's suckered the american public out of to fund And i'm sure it comes right out of those those funds those legal funds for donald trump and his efforts to write a wrong, which was the stealing of the 2020 election. So um But to get back to that to get back to the 2022 election midterm election we know that the the platform of addressing and and and stomping one's feet about how the 2020 election was stolen didn't play well uh, that tsunami of red the red wave tsunami Was a trickle as a direct result of people were not interested in addressing 2020 Uh election grievances that donald trump has brought to the forefront here today In fact in front of this selection of the house speaker That was a lipless test and if you didn't believe in a 2020 steal Uh, then you would not get the endorsement of donald trump. In fact just the opposite you would be You would be thrown under the bus called a global rhino or or some other words So That strategy didn't work in 2022 j Why does donald trump and i i'm not asking you to get inside his mind because you may never get out But why does donald trump think that's going to work now? That's work Just because there wasn't a red wave doesn't mean he didn't have a big effect on that election He should have gotten zero. He was a terrible terrible president did nothing And and was arrogant and stupid the whole way through and appointed the wrong people and fired the wrong people Um terrible president and and I think he would have done much worse had he not engaged in the lies And and by the way, there are people out there tim. I don't want to surprise you in any way who believe today Um that the insurrection of january 6th wasn't really an insurrection at all It was just a protest. It was a sunday outing a picnic And and they they truly believe that because that's in donald trump playbook So they're not outraged about it And they weren't outraged in 22 in 2022 about it and if you talk to them today, they repeat the playbook You know, I told you I had a conversation with some people who believe in the second amendment big time And um, they got the playbook already and they can defend the second amendment The extension of the second amendment to everything Including every case that comes to the supreme court including every Every gross shooting in a school they can defend it because they got the playbook And the same thing with uh, you know with january 6th, they got the playbook and they believe in the playbook So do not assume I think do not assume that uh That they were all that this that the electorate was all that disappointed I think um, some people were Disappointed and would not vote for him because of january 6th But a lot of people still believe in him Well last question before we run out of time here jane that um You know, you recall it took 15 votes to get kevin mccarthy installed a speaker of the house Uh, his downfall was he made a lot of deals That basically stripped his his power away from him That power play went right to the mega freedom caucus And uh, he was doomed from the very moment. He was brought in as speaker of the house Uh, I understand from what I read is that mike johnson doesn't have a lot of baggage He's quite, you know under the radar quite unknown not a lot of enemies in congress And the question is do you think he had to make a deal with the devil and and make all sort of concessions? Uh, just to become that speaker of the house like, uh, kevin mccarthy had to do Maybe not to the same degree, but I to answer your question. I believe he had to make deals You know, and what sticks in my brain is the comment that matt gates made Uh, where he's after mike johnson, you know became speaker was voted in a speaker. He said Well, you know, he's not the greatest speaker. He's not necessarily my first choice, but He's okay And what that means to me is that for appearance's sake Uh, he didn't want to he didn't want to take a position that suggested that he'd made a deal with johnson But I think it does suggest that and I think the deal may be me, you know, it may not be the same as a kind of open deal Overt kind of arrangement that resulted in mccarthy But I think that there's a more covert deal that we're not going to hear about They were they were meeting in private Who's to say that matt gates doesn't have some kind of deal with johnson? I think he had a swear fealty at some point to some degree. So he does have baggage Okay, well, I guess time will tell on that. Um, what I hear you describe is that Representative house speaker mike johnson is the best worst option Um, I wouldn't go that far. Okay Well, we'll leave it at that j. Do you have any final thoughts before? Um, we end the show here today Well, it's another cliffhanger We'll have to watch it could be a better option than we had before. I don't think mccarthy was a good option at all And I you know and the bottom line is the country is in discord A congress is in discord and the world sees this And they are going to and the those who hate us those who are our enemies Are going to take advantage And the only way for us to deal with that and it's it's kind of too late in many ways Only way for us to deal with that is to get strong get together and do public policy do global presence And um and be the country we always wanted to be if we don't do that. I think we're on a major decline All right, uh, I'll leave us my last thought on this one. It's it's apparent that you have a minority caucus group called the freedom caucus They're maga they're loyal trumpets They won't think independently to their constituency or to the american public They'll do what they're told to do and there would be dutiful loyal lackeys And right now that group that minority is the tail that wags the dog in the house of representatives They are in control of the house of representatives and it's amazing how the g lp has allowed this to happen So thank you. Amen. Amen to everything you said Thank you, jay. Thanks for coming on the show jay and uh, i'm tim apachell your host for american issues take one And why don't you join us next week and until then? aloha