 The radical Fundamental principles of freedom rational self-interest and individual rights This is the Iran Brook show Alright everybody welcome to your own book show on this Saturday June 24th a Extra show wasn't expecting to do a show. We've got actually in two hours. We've got the Ask me anything show and some of you will be on video for the You know those the supporters to ask me questions and we're still going ahead with the AMA shows or 3 p.m. East coast time there will be an AMA show but given the news out of Russia and given that I'm doing these shows on On the news it seemed appropriate to add an additional show and to and to talk about the breaking news out of Russia That I've been following since yesterday afternoon You know a lot a lot to talk about there's a lot happening But You know we have to talk first about all the caveats All the caveats right fog of war. We don't really know what's going on back there There are as far as I can tell there are no real You know objective journalists Covering this the mainstream media and and the alternatives to mainstream media the media generally is sleeping It's it is you know, this is happening in places where they don't necessarily have a presence The story is moving super fast You know this this breaking story is Really evidence to the fact that to follow breaking stories forget about CNN forget about Fox Forget about your conventional media Twitter is the place To follow it now It's dangerous because Twitter is filled with nonsense and filled with misrepresentations and filled with made-up stuff But it is far ahead and it is and if you can screen out stuff and you can evaluate on the fly You can you can get the information much more information on Twitter than anywhere else Of course the ultimate source of what's going on right now is telegram Telegram is where all the Russians actually posting a lot of the Russian civilians a lot of the Russian military a lot of the Russian propagandists A lot of videos out on telegram Many of those are being translated into English and and put up on Twitter So I'm getting a lot of those through those through those mechanisms onto Twitter But again, not every video is real not every video Actually, it is is of this particular crisis. It's hard to verify. It's how to validate So beware and that includes what I say here today. I might regret saying certain things A few days from now. It is really hard to tell what is actually going on in Russia right now There's certain things that are factual. There's certain things that We know we know Putin gave a speech today and we can I think interpret and read a lot into that speech we know that Pregosin has been talking and talking and talking for months and particularly in the last few days and in particular Since this whole thing started yesterday, so we've got a lot of videotape and audio of Pugosin. We know certain things about where Pugotin's of Wagner Military is we know that because there's clear video showing it in Wustov and we know it because video of the convoy of His military heading towards Moscow. You can see the video and the testimonies now theoretically even that could be fake Unlikely we also seeing explosions. We're seeing helicopters being downed. We're seeing airplanes the whole thing but the whole thing is again hard to tell what's exactly going on because Part of my disbelief a part of part of the difficulty in believing what's happening here is Where is the Russian Air Force? Now you could ask that question about the entire war in Ukraine. Where is the Russian Air Force? But God there is a there is a convoy here on a highway heading in one direction You'd think this is just a shooting range. This this should be easy for the Russian Air Force to just wipe them out And yet nothing and and if anything the story is coming out of Russian airplanes being downed But is the Russian Air Force? Refusing orders and sitting back. Are they refusing to fly? Is the Russian Air Force in on this? Some people are claiming Putin isn't on this. Okay, so so let's step back a second. What is actually going on? What do we know? We know that For a couple of months now a few months now Pogosin has been complaining about the Ministry of Defense Claiming that they have abandoned his Wagner troops They have been doing the bulk of the fighting in Bakhmut. They're the ones who took Bakhmut from the Ukrainians after seven months of fighting Thousands and thousands and thousands of Wagner soldiers have been killed during that During those battles tens of thousands probably we know that the Wagner group has recruited many of its recruits who fought in Bakhmut are Criminals who were led out of jail specifically to enlist with Wagner in order to fight on the front and then we know that that Pogosin has been a supercritical of the Ministry of Defense not providing his troops with ammunition One thing to consider is That he was lying much of that time and indeed Some of the ammunition that he was receiving from the Minister of Defense. He was saving up for what's happening right now What's happening right now? I think Given what we're hearing What's happening right now? I Think has been planned has been planned for weeks This is well orchestrated Everybody's doing exactly what you know Pogosin wants them to do they they set this out, you know It all happened kind of on schedule. Okay, that was a side And then he started complaining and and really calling calling the Ministry of Defense and the leading generals in the Russian Army Calling them treasonous and basically sending Russian troops unequipped Into the meat grinder. He claimed after the Ukrainian offensive counter-offensive started that the Ukrainians were making significant progress significant progress You know much more significant much more progress Than even the Ukrainians were claiming so he he thinks they they're breaking through and they're having a Real impact and causing the Russians real casualties And really he was Borderline treasonous and what he was saying in terms of the regime in terms of the motivation in terms of what they were doing Then I think it was yesterday early yesterday Video came out where he was basically said Look everything you've been told about the causes of this war why this war was started is all wrong This war was not started because of NATO. This was not started on to denotify or demilitarize Ukraine He says this war was started so the oligarchs and the people in charge at the Kremlin could loot Ukraine could steal their stuff and They were all just criminals And and this video was out now granted you have to rely on translations that might not be 100% accurate But I've seen multiple translations translating it the same way. He basically called that the Kremlin Never mentions Putin. He mentions the minister defense. He mentions other other of the oligarchs and the leaders He has criticized the oligarchs and their children particularly the children for now fighting in the war. I did I mentioned this on one of my shows So he has basically been agitating and agitating and agitating To the point where I have been wondering why the hell is Putin keeping him around? How is this guy still alive? Well, he's alive because he's surrounded by his own military personnel Who he trusts who is trained who he pays in cash it turns out You know the another aside This morning or late last night The Wagner officers in St. Petersburg were raided by Russian by Russian police Rated once once it was clear what Pogosin was up to and what they found with truckloads of cash Rubles in rubles Pogosin today said yeah, of course I pay my people in cash Those are that's all the cash that was meant to pay my people. I pay my people not like you Russian military guys So so he's been speaking out. I thought that what was going on was probably this is Putin hedging his bets If the military personnel fail he goes with Pogosin And and he sides with Pogosin You know, so I thought that was what was going on and But it still seemed very strange because he was going all out and really at the end all all his critique Is questioning Putin's judgment because Putin is these people's boss Anyway yesterday Pogosin basically announced after this release of this videos where he's saying The reason that what was started was a polluting that the ministry defense had no clue what they were doing that the Ukrainians were making a lot more progress that they were sending Russian troops to die for no reason And and and they were just being slaughtered for no reason just I guess the ego of the of the generals and the people in in in charge What once that video was released it was clear that okay, he probably crossed the line and You know, so he preemptively Came up with another video Saying that it troops have just been shelled by a by the Russian military That they had been shelled and they were under attack by the Russian military by the way He has claimed this before when they left Bakhmut he claimed that Russian troops were firing on his own troops My guess is that most of that was just friendly fire Accidental but he claimed it was intentional. He also kidnapped a Russian officer supposedly tortured him and Got him to say all kinds of stuff on tape Accusing the generals and everybody else of all kinds of nasty stuff. So again, this has been going on for a while Anyway, yesterday, he declared that he was heading to Moscow to rid Russia of the corruption basically the Minister of Defense and the leading generals commanding the Russian military and he was and he basically he had been stationed in Donsak in a part of Ukraine that had been occupied by the Russians since 2014 This is after his troops had left Bakhmut and he was now he's now in Donetsk Basically last night His troops started moving out of Donetsk Heading towards Rostov at least one column of them were headed towards Rostov Now what is Rostov? Rostov is a city in in Russia it is a city close to Donetsk close to Ukraine and It has served since the beginning of this war as the military command for all Ukrainian operations So this is where the general in charge of the entire Ukraine operation sits This is where his officers are. This is where the vice Number two in the Ministry of Defense sits Again supervising everything that is happening in Ukraine Early this morning while it was still dark it became clear that Prigozin's forces Wagner forces basically had entered Rostov and had surrounded the the officers of the Ministry of Defense there. They had come in with basically No opposition maybe minor clashes, but basically nobody tried to stop them not at the border and not in Rostov itself This is after this morning. I saw video Which is which is you know unless unless a deep fake which I doubt it of Prigozin speaking with the outside sitting there speaking in a very You know tough manner with the general in charge of all Ukrainian operations and the vice-minister of Defense accusing them of all kinds of stuff and basically telling them putting them in their place and Telling them he's going to Moscow and he's going to take out the Ministry of Defense the thing In addition another column of Wagner troops Headed probably, you know, I don't know where the sources, but my guess is also from the same area in Eastern Ukraine started heading north Towards Moscow on the highway towards Moscow now Russia's a big place You know Western Russia not as big as a place as Eastern Russia still a big place So they are driving towards Moscow This is a column of several hundred supposedly vehicles Again hard to tell hard to tell exactly Exactly how many vehicles involved how many troops involved, but they're heading north From what we can tell facing almost no opposition on the way from what we can tell The opposition they they got from helicopters and airplanes they have dealt with and and That's Helicopters and planes have been down From what we can tell again all with a caveat because it's hard to tell from what we can tell A big oil depot in a major city on the way north Was was blown up not clear if by Pugosin's forces or by Russians themselves Also unclear, but there are stories out saying that many Russian soldiers Stations around Rostov and then stationed on the way to Moscow are flipping to Wagner again Hard to verify hard to confirm, but at least looks like it Latest reports are that Pugosin's troops are I don't know depending on on when this actually happened are basically an hour from Moscow Maybe two hours from Moscow now part of that depends on what kind of barriers they face Can they cross the rivers have bridges being blown up? Clearly Moscow is in a state of emergency The police are frantic their military barricades their roadblocks. They've been roadblocks along the whole highway leading to Moscow Wagner troops have just blown right through those roadblocks So anyway, this is a a big dramatic situation. We are seeing on on the way to Moscow As as as the troops approach Moscow will know much more later this afternoon as There's a certain probability that Pugosin's troops will actually enter Moscow and whether they'll actually be fighting From all indications and I'm gonna get to I'm gonna get to Putin's speech in a minute, which was really really I think Really really interesting in terms of a speech But by all indications Putin has left Moscow Possibly to St. Petersburg Possibly to hide out in the mountains By all indications Medvedev the number two in Russia has left Moscow not clear with his entire family not clear where Many of the oligarchs their private jets were seen leaving Moscow Airport Last night heading towards Turkey Israel Dubai Basically anywhere out of getting out of Moscow, of course not going to the West where they were all wanted or they were all under sanctions So the the rats are fleeing a sinking ship Not clear where the Russian army is now much of the Russian army, of course is in Ukraine But where is the rest of the Russian army? Where's the rest of the Russian command? Yesterday videos came out of at least two Russian generals Calling Pugosin to stand down Calling him a traitor and asking the Wagner troops to lay down their weapons and surrender Okay, but but where are they actually threatening military action? Where are the generals rounding up the troops? Where's the FSB the equivalent of the KGB? Everybody out there that I've read all the Russian experts of all kinds of varieties are convinced Pugosin is gonna be defeated here that he is gonna soon face the might of the of the of the Russian military and the might of the Russian Air Force Where is it? Now it could be that they're right It could be that this therefore this will lead to that that they're still getting organized and ultimately that is what happened but You know very very difficult to see what they're waiting for now before the troop center Moscow is The ideal time to go and destroy this column troops now the column has anti-aircraft weapons But still you would think the Russians know how to deal with their own anti weapon anti weapons Anti-aircraft weapons systems you think they know how to jam them you think they know how to fix them anyway It's it's a real mystery where the Air Force is. It's a real mystery where the rest of the Russian army is and what is exactly What is exactly happening? All right? Let's talk a little bit about I mean again a lot of different angles here will talk about the response of the Putin loving American right to this in a minute, but But let's let's talk about Putin's speech this morning. It was it was a really unique speech. It was It definitely had the aura a Putin panicking a Putin Losing a sense of control. His speeches are usually longer more forceful and And and this one was not this one was defeatist in many many ways and we'll get to it So first of all he had completely acknowledged the mutinies all the people yesterday were criticizing me for calling this Potentially a coup and making fun of oh, don't believe everything you see online Putin said it was a mutiny. It was a coup now There's some people who think this is Putin playing for for the chess He's using Pogosin in order to get rid of of his generals and then Pogosin and him will make up and And it will turn out it was all Putin's plan for the begin with Okay, maybe I'm a little dubious if if if I can say so Anyway, he called it a mutiny He addressed the military the Russian military and asked them not to join Pogosin Don't make that fatal mistake That is pretty that's pretty weak He stated that law enforcement received all the necessary orders Whatever that means And He gave the impression that this is serious. This is not a game. This is not Just a rogue general who doesn't have a shot that he gave the impression. Oh, no, I'm taking this very very seriously He then appealed to unity, right? He never appeals to unity Right, this is not this is not typical of his speeches since the Ukraine war started You know usually he did you know while appealing to unity he did what he typically does and what the American right is now doing He basically said the real existential enemy is the West He didn't mention gays in this in this speech. That's very weird He usually mentions LGBTQ at least once during a speech He didn't mention them But he didn't mention that that the West was the existential enemy and and not to let this distract away People on the right are already accusing the Biden administration of having the CIA Plot this with Pugosin and this is really a CIA coup Because nobody in the world nobody in the world can ever stand up to anybody and can ever do anything without the permission and the authority of The CIA the CIA. I mean, I actually think it's the Mossad I think this is really guided by the elders of Zion. I'm kidding. I'm kidding guys I mean really everything there's a you know, the CIA runs the world. I mean The incompetence of the CIA is legendary Just watch the ghost of Beirut. You know, you think they pulled this off Huh, and you think nobody has agency in the world except the CIA. It's just So pathetic the white is so pathetic these days. It really is Looney Tunes out there. All right See, yes, the West is the existential enemy. Don't let this distract you from the from the West as the enemy This is what Putin said Putin always invokes history. He is a student of history and he cares about history his whole the reason of invading Ukraine his whole Approach to governing his own approach to Russia is an historical approach. Basically Putin is an imperialist. He a mystical imperialist he cockens back to some mystical Russianness and reuniting the Russian people in the name of a Russian Empire that is going to save the world from LGBTQ loving Westerners and Indeed in this speech he again Hawken to history and this is this is maybe the strongest evidence of weakness from Putin What did he choose to Hawken back to? 1917 1917 remember 1917 Russia was fighting a war Against on against Germany on its Western front and it was the middle of World War one and and some in the Russian military abandoned that war and basically Resulted in a coup to overthrow the Tsar of Russia Putin considered himself the Tsar of Russia But know that he's giving an example where his side lost Which I thought was really interesting the consequence of that he says is You know the dissolution of the Empire and the rise of communism I got somebody said somebody's told me about the speech somebody Antwita said said oh no look Putin is against communism because he's against the 1917 revolution Isn't that a good thing? I'm sorry, you know All this stuff happening on Twitter has my opinion of the human race Dramatically has declined I God so if Putin comes out against LBG BTQ and he's anti-communist Then he must be on the side of the angels, right? He must be a good guy ultimately So put in a Vox 1917 Which happened to World War one he evokes the fact that this led to a major civil war Which it did that lasted many years and was very brutal and I ran wrote about it. If you've read We The Living It's some of that the consequence of that civil war and what happened to in that civil war is evident from there But God so first of all he's accepted that this could lead to civil war. That is unbelievable unbelievable You know weakness that he's acknowledging this the Putin is acknowledging this right this is by the way not Twitter This is Putin's speech He signaled that the events are really serious that he is clearly afraid He's given huge weight to Pogosin Pogosin is now the equivalent of the rebels in 1917. I Mean this is very unusual for Putin for Putin usually his opponents are nothing zeros Little guys mean nothing. He is the big shot. This is easy. No problem. We're gonna take care of it This is super weak So Putin is really I think In trouble he thinks he's in trouble anyway He then protects promises protection and accuses Wagner of betrayal Excess ambition and personal interests That's typical Putin But he basically is calling him Pogosin to treasonous so it's hard to imagine how Putin and Pogosin then team up again later on not happening I don't think happening He then states that anti-terrorism measures are being introduced into Moscow into the Moscow region and several other regions to stabilize the situation Hard to tell what is actually going on there bottom line It's quite possible that power will change in Russia hard to tell but it's possible if it happens It's likely to be pretty brutal a lot of people are gonna die The US EU NATO in the West I'm not gonna determine the outcome of this. This is gonna be determined by Russians Pogosin is a real threat to Putin Putin has given Pogosin significant weight through his rhetoric and You know, I think this I think this So so I mean the speech by Putin Basically says this is really happening. This is really happening Russia is a completely insane place at the end of the day What we're seeing in Russia today, and this is the danger the dangers don't assume Pogosin is a good guy He is not This is one nasty character. Let's see. I had his at his rap sheet out here somewhere Yeah, he was born in 1961 just a few days after me So I'm just a few days older than him in Leningrad 1981 he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for robbery and fraud. He began selling hot dogs in 1990 after an early release from prison. He expanded his business operation in 1995 and popular and successful restaurants He grew closer to Putin in the 2000s Served international leaders as his catering business became known became known as Putin's chef Received government contracts and grew increasingly wealthy In 2014 he established a Wagner group to support Russian forces in the world Donbass But then expanded into operations Dramatically into operations in Syria and in Africa indeed The one operation in which US forces fought with Russian forces in Syria. This happened was with the Wagner group brutal brutal a lot of a lot of Russians were killed He became a you know, and then so expanded dramatically to Syria in Africa he controls his forces control many many countries in Africa They are their crucial to that but he became a key player in the war particularly with the campaign in Bakhmut So this guy is a bad guy. He is a nationalist. He has talked about crushing Ukraine I mean my guess is if he took power He would be More brutal of an authoritarian than than Putin is this is not a good guy. This is not some Liberal savior for Russia Russia's not gonna have a liberal savior in a very long time He is a He's gonna be if you know to the extent that he is successful. He is a super authoritarian He is You know again dangerous. He might be somebody who'd be more likely to use tactical nuke than even Putin He is friendly to the nationalists so There's no good outcome here and let's be realistic the one good thing That is gonna come out of this is a Putin might be gone or at least there's gonna be some bloodshed and and and They're gonna be preoccupied with the civil war. This is really really really good Really really good for the Ukrainians if I were the Ukrainians I would be watching this carefully and if I've got troops in reserve which they do Soon if not now is the time to use them now is the time to go in there and just crush the Russian forces and Sweep that territory and get rid of it now It's problematic because the mines in the ground don't care about what's happening in Moscow The mines are there no matter what but if ever there was a time to find a Place to break through The other thing I would do is I didn't intensify whatever communication I had with the Russian troops on the ground Let the Russian troops know what's going on in Russia itself. I you know crush their morale They didn't have much morale to begin with now is the time to completely crush them Maybe they'll just leave if you push them a little bit. So Yeah, I mean let the Russian troops know what's going on in the in in in the back, right? Let's see God so much so much going on I Just have to let me just find this. I just have I just you know this tweet from Ammari, you know Ammari Let's see if I can find it though. No, I can do that. So Sahaba Mari is one of the main leaders of what you'd call the You know the integralists the new right the the the guy the guys that that would like to You know turn the United States into theocracy together with the mean and for me You'll I mean this guy's a real piece of work really nasty Anyway, this is his tweet today The Wagner uprising bears a lesson for the West Okay, the privatization of military capacity the rise of defense connected CEOs and mercenaries with private tech and Warmaking prowess is an enormous danger to the state to the state It's the most extreme case of what I call private tyranny This is his problem Right, this is his problem. It's not the nature of authoritarianism and the nature of a mafia regime in Russia It's not the horror of engaging in immoral unpopular war in Ukraine. It's not the evil of a mafia like government It's not the consequence of regime oppressing its own people. No, it's CEOs with too much power You know CEOs in the defense industry with too much power now. I'm against private armies. Maybe you should have written this for for the anarcho-capitalist to read but You know, they can't criticize Putin. They can't criticize authoritarianism Laura Luma that one of those beacons of lights on the conspiracy theory crazy nutty Nutty right in the United States today writes I truly believe the US government is working with the CIA to stage a coup in Russia to oust Putin So that Joe Biden can campaign on topping Putin in 2024 Just seems like this is all coordinated So Biden can take credit for ending the Ukraine-Russia war and pretend to be a hero The US government is the biggest terrorist organization in the world That's the these are the people those of you who who I guess love the right Want to support this is it the US government is the biggest terrorist organization in the world Yeah, I saw somebody affiliated with all of us saying something like You know, they're all mafia. You know the NATO is the mafia. Ukraine's a mafia. Russia's the mafia. Who cares? Really? Talk about moral equivalents awful Yes, Biden is all powerful. I don't know if you knew this but Biden is guiding the actions in Ukraine I mean the guy can barely utter a sentence that's coherent. He can barely manage what's going on in the u.s But by then he's the one out there. He's doing this. He's he's responsible for for for everything going on in the world All right, what else do we want to say? I might go to your questions By some reports Russia has already lost seven airplanes and helicopters today again hard to tell If if that is right or what this is the russian army versus progozin But it does it does seem like they will be They will be in moscow very very very soon um Let's see. Let's see what progozin has just come out with a weird statement. Okay um I don't know if this is true, but progozin says it's over. Okay, so I have to all that progozin says it's over They were going to dismantle p mc wagna We came out on 23rd of june To to the march of justice in a day. We walked to nearly 200 kilometers away from moscow In this time. We did not spill a single drop of blood. It's not clearly true Of our fighters. They did not we did not spill now the moment has come when blood may spill That's why understanding the responsibility for spilling russian blood. No one Uh on one of the sides we are turning back our convoys and going back to field camps according to plan So that's Just being published. So go figure What the hell is going on? Right? This is exactly why It's uh, it's it's impossible. It's impossible To figure out uh to figure out what's going on, right? All right There you go russia Russia is a land of a mafiosa bandits private armies You know personal hatreds Who knows what the hell they are doing or what the hell is going on? Maybe this is him buying time. Maybe this is him pretending Maybe maybe somebody threatened him in a way that was unequivocal I don't know have no idea Will He goes and really walk away will You know, will the accusations of treason just disappear Are they all gonna You know hug and and play nice Is this all just one big fuss was this really all just a 4d chess move? By uh by putin I don't know but again, this is the problem of Trying to follow what's going on in real time is that it's Yep, it's impossible. It's impossible um Let me just let me just check another Another yeah, I mean uh god all right Yeah, I'm you know breaking news means breaking. So uh If he goes and accepted Lukashenko's proposal to stop the wagon movement in russia and take further step to de-escalate tensions The press service of belarusian president reported. So this is a some kind of peace offering from The belarusian president something smells here Something just doesn't seem right Doesn't seem right You know how to tell exactly what but You know, we'll see we'll see Is putin still in command Um Because it has announced that having moved his units to within 200 kilometers of mosca. He's turning back um Yep All right, these people are nuts people are nuts. This is an insane country an insane regime A truly crazy And it it it, you know, you're hearing it in real time Uh, it it truly is it, you know It's unfathomable what's going on there. We'll see how this develops. I'll take your questions in a minute, although And the other aspect of this I was going to say is other people are going to try to take advantage of this. We'll see belarusians Thinking about rebelling against their own authoritarian government. We'll see if they take advantage of this There was those russian russian troops that were fighting on the side of ukraine That infiltrated russia They are talking about taking arms and taking this opportunity and using this opportunity to do To do something more significant Again, this is all up in the air. Uh, this is all You know, who knows what is going on in the background. Who knows what deals are being cut right now Who knows what pogosin has been told or what he has said I find it hard to believe that he just marched to moscow and retreated something else is going on here. So we we will see You know, particularly when you look and see You know russian soldiers are surrendering to wagna in in the city of Row nask where the where the old depot was bombed and now pogosin is just saying oh, whoops That was just a trial. That was just an exercise And and that the russian military we would let him get away with that Unless again, putin has cut a deal or Pogosin and somebody else in russia has cut a deal against putin. Who knows right complete naughtiness All right, um, ian meerkat says, um That he's running out of popcorn watching the monkeys fight. Yeah, I mean it is kind of Uh, the absurdity and the monkey-ness of the whole thing. By the way, um, this show we've got Probably the the largest audience we've ever had for a news roundup The show is is funded by the super chat. It's funded by monthly contributors You can support the show on your on bookshow.com slash support. You can support the show on patreon If you're watching live now, you can step in with the super chat or with the sticker and support the show It would be great. Uh, if those of you who value what I try to do on these shows if you stepped in and Just provide a support a lot of you have already I haven't thanked everybody on the list and I can't get to it because it's way above in my stream But thank you to everybody who has already used the super chat feature to uh to support what I do this is this is This is how I fund these shows So I uh, I value for value if you're getting any value from what i'm saying Uh, please uh Use, you know, and I'm an honest user is doing 99 a dollar right a dollar is great So whatever it is that you think this is worth or whatever it is you can afford. Please support the show Again super chat down there. You run bookshow.com slash support and patreon Elseway, okay to jean kent from from norway Whoops, press the wrong button there. Um Reading out the shock for the first time and have not arrived to galt's speech Which is incredible and second to none What a time to read that book with everything happening in the real world astounding. Absolutely And if those of you have not read the book yet Read out the shrugged read out the shrugged. It is worth world changing life changing Ryan says if the position of the of the convoy is known then there was something more broad going on Otherwise, they would be cannon fodder. I suspect wagno already has assurances in place for military commanders support the show Yes, I mean that's that was my hypothesis now because it is leaving Maybe he has assurances for military commanders. Maybe masca's already taking care of Who knows what's actually going on? I don't uh, you know twitter right now is uh, is an offensives hd media doesn't even have this story on yet. Um, so, uh You know and some people about some people have already seen the progosin announcements. Some people have not So completely completely impossible Um, uh to tell what exactly is going on. Um Yeah, so it's hard to tell if the audio is real if it's fake if if again, he's cut a deal. Um We'll see Yes, but I I I think it's kind of fodder too and but I but I've said Why aren't the pilots in the end? My guess is the pilots are not in there because because they don't want to shoot at other russians and they're also, by the way, civilian Cause on the highway, they don't want to shoot at their own russians thomas says and I thought I knew all the wagno epics a new wagno epic This could have been the right to the valkyries that marching into moscow with the right of the valkyries in the in the in the background just like in Apocalypse now apocalypse now Can we depend on the bite administration? Can we depend on the bite administration the contact? The parties involved and the generals in charge of the nuclear arsenal to protect the security Of the nuclear weapons that russia has I I don't see why not You know the people who would do the contacting are probably our generals. I'm sure they've been on the phone since yesterday It's the cia. It's the station chief in in in moscow You know, do you think they're less reliable to do that than under trump? I think more reliable than under trump less reliable than at obama or bush or anybody else No, I I I I don't think there's any reason to worry about The incompetence of the bite administration in this context Uh, jacob said thanks you're on uh, if you could later tweet the voices you're listening to I'd appreciate it. I'll try Um, I I'm retreating some of it. So if you follow my tweet, you'll see some of the retweets Um, alex says when the USSR collapsed, do you think the u.s had a chance for success for farm policy? And form a true alliance with parts of russia Is this even doable in the future all geopolitical games doomed to fail? I mean, this is the big question and and this is probably the most important question And here I want to echo in rand's view of russia Rand viewed russia as a mystical collectivistic culture That was going to be almost impossible to redeem That the culture was fundamentally an anti reason anti individualism culture That you had really no hope for So it's not clear what could have been done It you know, it's it's not clear that without You know, um without a uh, a A real cultural change real ideological change a real westernization and I know some of you Horrified by this but without a westernization of russian culture Is any better Option possible to russia I think russia has to be westernized. I don't think I don't want it to be done by force, but it has to be westernized And until it's westernized This is what you're gonna get thugs fighting with one another not in the name of communism in the name of loot in the name of thuggery In the name of russian nationalism in the name of the mystical gods of ancient russia in the name of the the russian you know Orthodox church So russia as a culture and russia has a culture and many of the minorities are part of that culture is a mystical collectivistic culture And that culture again needs to be westernized. Otherwise, there's no hope Could some of that have happened after the fall of the bill in wallow after the fall of the soviet union. Yes If russia had been Had gotten the right advice imagine in america that said yes Communism failed because communism had to fail not because of ronald reagan But because it had to fail because it's a losing ideology. It's an immoral ideology imagine somebody saying it's an immoral ideology And if russia wants to change if russia wants to be better what it needs to be is Capitalist and hear the principles of capitalism And instead of sending orders of jeffrey sacks to russia to advise them and to create the mafia state that exists today By You know privatizing You know russian enterprises without establishing the rule of law and without establishing private property rights Everything was done upside down If it had been done right then russia would have had a chance I mean, there are many many good people in russia Then they have been many many good people many of them have left hundreds of thousands of them left But there was a chance to move russia in the direction of the west if the west had Balls if the west had self esteem if the west could project instead what we got was was was the ridiculous end of history mixed economy Democratic liberalism socialism, that's the end of history The mixed economy is the end of history according to fukuyama. That's what we got If they had said what we really need is capitalism And russia needs to become capitalist today the west needs to be capitalist then yes, but given the state of the west in 1991 What happened I think to the ussr was almost inevitable Well, it's never completely inevitable because there's always free walk, but almost inevitable all right Thank you to all the superchatters And I can't I I know i'm getting a lot of stickers. I really really appreciated david arpeggio jacob david motor vibes jupiter Anonymous user mic mic adam jonathan honing. Thank you jonathan theme master west daniel and and and and rimo Thank you to all of you guys really really appreciate this and uh, so And and of course, we're going through all the people who've done it with questions You too can support the show keep this show going We do a daily news roundup every single day during the week Sometimes we do these specials of breaking news I wouldn't be surprised if I do one of these tomorrow Given how things are changing so fast But if you'd like to see me continue doing this if you think this is of value Then show value for value and contribute something using the superchat the sticker or go to my website You're on bookshow.com slash support and make a monthly contribution. Okay. I'm anonymous user Um Says second most powerful military always a delusion. Yes, I've talked a lot about that and by the way You know twitter's been super useful in terms of actually getting information. The reality is that If you you know The first indication that russia was losing was not going to be able to achieve its goals in ukraine Was not going to be able to take kiev was really some of the images coming out on twitter of You know of what was going on with with them with the russian military Whether it was they were bogged down in the airfield outside of kiev or whether it was burnt out t 72s You know any of those things it was it was really interesting To watch and twitter has as a consequence if you know how to use it and if you follow the right accounts and you And you don't take anything too seriously, but you try to back everything up Is now the source for breaking news and and much better than anything in the mainstream media The mainstream media is always a few days behind what you can get on twitter particularly for things like this All right, uh, let's see Yeah, um, michael says Putin it's not a word. It's a special operation. Well, it's not a coup. It's a special leadership review Who knows what it is now with the latest news coming out of here? Who knows what it is? It's it's It's almost impossible to to to tell what the hell is going on Right, I mean You know he said there was no blood spilled But they've also said they've knocked down a number of russian helicopters so clearly blood has been has been spilled You know one of the things about twitter is they don't they don't actually list the stuff Based on how recent it is So it's hard to it's hard to um, keep track of it. Um Huh, all right There's video of an execution of one of the what wagoner guys who supposedly try to kill Pugosin. So who knows? Um, again all bad guys all mafiosa. This is the nature of the russian regime This is the nature of the russian regime. There's so many people under way Think is is fighting for western civilization jp jordan peterson, right? You know putin is the west putin's the real west Uh, hopper camber putin looks like he's on the verge of crying. This is the beginning of the end for russia Perhaps more western market reforms in russia's future. I doubt it unfortunately I don't know that this is the end of russia You know, there always is the possibility that if this does descend into some kind of civil war That um, some of the ethnic groups who rise up against um, but That is that is a possibility um, but I you know It's certainly not the end of authoritarianism in russia authoritarianism russia is going to outlast putin and progovitz Progosny, uh by a long shot. You know, unfortunately I don't see more freedom in russia's future because of this When do you think people will start to look at the wars in africa middle east or asia? And actually have any care for those outcomes. How does the media select which countries matter globally? Well, a big part of it is Um, you know, you live in a western we all live in a western country Uh, the west in that sense is is therefore because it's close to us It's part of our culture more important to us ukraine was moving to becoming a western country Uh, and in that sense it was important europe is important because it's so close to kind of the culture and the world That that we care about care about Africa is is far away The middle east is close, but Just such a disaster. Nobody knows how to keep track of it. So they just ignore it Um In in asia, there are no wars going on as far as I can tell in asia right now I'm scanning quickly asia It's certainly not in east asia All right, uh, none of us user never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake. Absolutely Um, ryan no matter what these developments are boon to ukraine morale I think so and I think a boon to ukraine ability on the on the battlefield as well the monsoon you can create within russia Uh, the more you will find that, um Uh, morale will decline among the troops And the easier the battle will be for, um You know for For the for the ukrenians. All right, there we go. That's what I wanted. Let me just check in with, uh um With one of the channels I follow. Okay, danny says Uh, there is a fair chance that the rebellious forces in russia and the country's under russian power Will seize their opportunity. How did uh, how big is the risk for china moves into secure energy reserves? I think it's fairly modest at this point. Maybe if this grows and becomes bigger, um You know, you know, we'll see uh, but no, I don't think I don't think china's moving I think china's afraid of nuclear war with russia and it has no incentive to do so Uh, not unless the situation really goes to all out civil war and they think that it's there's real real weakness there um Yeah It looks like prugosen is serious and they're turning back. So I'm sure a lot of a lot of, uh Russians are unhappy about this. By the way, the one military force that it seems to have come to, uh, To russia's defense against prugosen with the chetchins under the command of uh, uh kadirov kadirov so Kadirov is a huge putin ally Kadirov is in ukraine fighting for the russians hard to believe the chetchen is going to do chetchen is going to do anything Um, but anyway right now everything's up in the air because we don't actually know what's going on given given the latest from uh prugosen, so it This might be all over by this evening But it's hard to it's hard to say um What that means Um, james says the russian government would be wise to hand putin over and stand down or do his underlings still fear him Again hard to tell I think everybody fears the fsb the equivalent of the kgb and uh, who knows what side they're on and what they're doing and Maybe and and how they got to prugosen or who knows what they got who they got to So something is going on behind the scenes that we don't know Daniel says break in bellows and president held talks with prugosen today The vahana chief agreed to hold off and further advances at the moment. Yeah, I mean Really, what does that even mean? All right, but that yes, but it looks like he is the one who got prugosen to stand down Uh and and say that he's actually reversing course, but What's the deal there? What's what's happening? I don't know. I don't think anybody knows Liam says will putin fall ultimately destroy trump and the nationalist right? No No, I mean, I don't think anything is going to they'll just pivot But but the national right is here to stay unfortunately. It's not going to go away easily Not going to go away easily at all And i'm not and putin by the way, there's no reason to believe yet that putin is falling Uh, Stephen 13 says if russia was still communist, would this be still be as much aid going to ukraine? Remember the west is now far left. Yes, there'd be even more There'd be just as much aid going to the west to the west The west is not communist How do people benefit from this scenario around the world? I see no upside in this scenario. However as a capitalist, how do you view the situation? My view is whenever the bad guys are fighting among each other It distracts them from creating havoc for us So, uh, the fact that russians are fighting each other is good for the west. It distracts them It it it's good for ukraine. It distracts them from fighting the ukrainians Again, I think the ukraine should make a big push right now In the next day or so Yeah, you always want the bad guys to kill each other It saves you the trouble So I absolutely think that, uh, you know, if there was a civil war right now If there was an upheaval in china, that would be good for the west It doesn't mean the west should get involved It shouldn't it should sit back and watch and and and hope that you know, they they You know kill each other and that ultimately something good Results of it comes out of it, but even if something bad comes out of it It's a weaker bad. I mean putain's one here, but what's clear is that putain is weak So because because he actually withdraws his troops Well, he's got this lever now. He can always redeploy them and putain is weak putain is more beholden to him um Lukashenko from belarus has negotiated this piece under some Some What's the deal behind there? Russia is weaker today than it was yesterday Significantly weaker putain is significantly weaker today than he was before The russian military is weaker Many of them joined the wagon group The whole edifice of authoritarianism in russia is weaker. It doesn't mean it's gone. It doesn't mean it would disappear It doesn't mean they're gonna Capitulate in ukraine or withdraw their troops. It just means the weekend anytime the bad guys are weaker The good guys should be happy Stephen 13, I know that if I created a western empire You would oppose me, but if I invaded russia, would you support me? No I I I don't believe The united states should I mean if you steven 13 invaded russia. Yeah, you know, that might be fun to watch Uh, yeah, I have no idea what steven 13's story is. He says i'm a moderate right wing nationalist And i'm tired of people thinking that we support putain, but many of you do many of you do You support and you support orban who supports putain and you support, uh, you know, the the the authoritarian You know you support authoritarians That's what right wing nationalism means So don't run away from what the implications are Of your ideology. Okay, that's all the questions Uh, anything really stunning happening. I mean, how could he be more stunning? Than the news in the last half an hour. I mean, it's just I mean the question is what will really happen. Is he going to withdraw from moscow? Is he going to stay on the on on the edge of moscow? um, a lot of people within wagna Are really upset right now. So supposedly on on telegram wagna group senior people are expressing their frustration with prugosny's, um, uh, decision to halt um So, uh, you know how to how to tell how to tell what way this leaves. Let's go again Uh, and see if there's anything breaking and then we'll call it a day um Okay, uh breaking is reports There will be major changes in russian military ministry of defense leadership in exchange for wagna halting its advance on moscow So vagna stops and they and they sack the minister of defense Who who prugosny has has been accusing of all things and putin remains president Is putin stronger now or weaker now? Clearly putin is weaker much weaker much much weaker if this is if this is actually the deal that's being cut And it makes sense That this would be the deal they cut putin is still in power And putin is much much weaker. All right before you go before I go, please Give the show a thumbs up. Please like the show at least if you if you Saw any value in it. I'm not asking for money Just just a press of a button with the thumb up because it helps all over the algorithm It helps the show get promoted. It helps our visibility Um, I need to go now because I have another show at three o'clock I hope some of you would join us. Well, if there are any breaking news in the next hour I will cover that in the show at three o'clock But some of you will be joining me live on video for q&a Others will be on super chat for the q&a. We will have a ask me anything But of course, uh, to the extent that there's more, um, More stuff happening and I'm sure there is because stuff is happening very very quickly here Um Then we will cover it. So join me at 3 p.m. East coast time. Don't forget to like the show before you leave Don't forget if you'd like to support the show if you're listening to this Not live if you're not here right now, or you couldn't use the super chat or you didn't want to use the super chat You can and I think ultimately should support the show On a monthly basis by going to your on book show dot com slash support or on patreon Just search your on book show on patreon and and become a regular monthly Join the hundreds of people who are already supporters of the show Bye everybody. I will see you all in 55 minutes