Leadership, Decorum, And The State Of The Union

If this is what passes for leadership on the world stage, no one should be surprised that trust is collapsing everywhere else. When public figures, as demonstrated by Democrats this week, refuse basic decorum, prioritize theatrics over responsibility, and model childish behavior instead of accountability, the damage doesn’t stop in government—it spills into workplaces, classrooms, and families. Leadership isn’t blind loyalty, performative outrage, or walking out when things get uncomfortable; it’s showing up, acting with restraint, and calling out wrongs even when your own side would rather look away. If we wouldn’t tolerate this behavior at home or at work, why do we keep excusing it from those who claim to lead?

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Transcript

Setting The Stage

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Yeah. Welcome to the RatNet Lounge, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, welcome back. You know, if you were lounging around earlier this week, I don't know if you got a chance to watch the spectacle that was the State of the Union. Donald Trump has a chance to stand in front of a microphone and go on at a record length yet again. This past Tuesday about the State of the Union. And no, I'm not really here to comment too much about Mr. Trump and what you know, a lot of the stuff that he says. We know where he comes from. But I want to talk about leadership, examples of leadership. Today's youth, today's, you know, America, what they see by their political leaders. And you got to scratch your head going, what the hell is wrong with them? And then when you look at society, you're saying to yourself, well, no wonder we're such a bloody goddamn mess. Because if you were watching and the actions, the reactions, the attitude from the Democrats, you're like, no wonder we have a problem, not just in America, but in the West. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Rent Network. I'm David Solomon. Stuart Brisgale is away for the next few days. If this is your first time here, thank you so much for joining us. What we do here every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, noon Eastern, just our little brand about life, politics, culture, society, and so much more. From the absurdity of what we deal with on a day-to-day to the stories that really just don't make it to the headlines, don't make it to the front lines, don't even make it anywhere. We talk about stuff that at the dinner table tends to become taboo because people just can't talk to each other anymore. So welcome in, bring your friends in, share this with others as I go in today, talking about how to act in public. So, yeah, Donald Trump could stand up there, as did Joe Biden before him, as did Barack Obama before Trump v-1, as have the Bushes, the Clintons, the Reagans, the Carters. I'll go back in American history. The State of the Union is the opportunity for the president of the United States to give his version of what's up in the states, in the world, and how things are going to be for the future. He stands up there, makes his requests to Congress, to the Senate, to the judicial about what the future of the U.S. can and should be. It's their moment in the sun. For the longest time, this place was filled with Democrats, Republicans, as I said, the judicial. No questions asked. That was the respect the office of the President of the United States received. But lo and behold, apparently respect has become a dirty word in society, especially when it comes up to politicians. If you recall, even George Bush Jr. was dubbed very much like a Hitler. He was dubbed a radical right-wing lunatic. And as time progresses and years have gone by, you hear the statements like, ah, it wasn't so bad. But the attitudes back then were awful. Same thing happened when Obama was in power, that he was some socialist, and that he pushed all kinds of policies. But what was consistent was you showed up at the State of the Union and there was a certain decorum. Now, decorum does not mean that when the president speaks and you disagree, you stand up and applaud. I get that. But at the same time, understand that this person is the most powerful person in the United States, with probably the most difficult job, most thankless job ever. And yet, why is it, why is it that it depends on who's in the office, the Democrats or the Republicans, the way they treat them, that's how the media is going to be is going to portray them. Of course. We know that this has been a ridiculous agenda-based media that will favor the Democrats in the most part, and the liberal media and the right and the more conservative media will favor the Republicans. We get that. Got it. But when you're watching the State of the Union, there is no interference by the media. They're just broadcasting. They're giving you the time from about 9 p.m. Eastern onwards, and there is no commentary until it's over. Yes, the opposition party has a chance to rebut, and we've seen it, and that's cool, and that has been the opportunity available to the public. But that's not what I'm talking about. Those are the ground rules, those are the unwritten rules. But what was happening on Tuesday is so incredible that you can't stop and wonder what the hell. What is the one thing? What are the sorry the two things that you attribute to Donald Trump? You hear this again and again and again and again. He's Hitler, he's a racist, he's authoritarian. You hear these terms trying to be pasted on Donald Trump. And going into the State of the Union, it didn't change. Democrats were on to all over this idea that Hitler was gonna give a State of the Union veiled with racist remarks. It's crazy how the Democrats already are saying things, and this is behavior towards a president of the United States. But on top of it all, 73 of the approximate 210 Democrats didn't even show. That's right. A counter-event. Because they weren't gonna show up at the State of the Union, they weren't gonna give the respect to the president that he deserves. So when the next Democrat president comes in and 80, 90 Republicans don't show up, what are you gonna say? How dare they disrespect the office of the president of the United States? That is the president. But 73 decided it ain't worth it. Is that leadership? Is that what you asked your Congress and senator, Congresspeople and senators to do? To not show up? I mean, really, is that the behavior that you want from your leadership? No. You want them to represent you, that they have to be in Congress and when they have to be sitting at the State of the Union, that they have to represent your views. And stepping out and walking away and not being present isn't the view of the United States. It's the view of a bunch of callous babies who all they want is to whine and bitch so that they can give you the impression that you have to vote for them and not the Republican in power. That's step one. Step two. Donald Trump asked whether or not it was important to applaud a child who survived an attack of an illegal immigrant. And he said, those that agree that this is good, that you should support, you know, that we we should be applauded, stand up. Democrats didn't move as a group. Republicans in unison stood up and applauded. Democrats sat and scowled. They caught you. Donald Trump caught you. Basically, what he did is he put you in a vice and said, You got it. Because your only concern is for illegal immigrants and not for American citizens. This is not what America has hired as has voted you in to do. What Americans did was vote you in for the rights. Sure, we could argue about the status of illegal immigrants and we could debate all these things, but to choose between an American citizen and an illegal immigrant, and you all in unison practically said we are here to support illegal immigrants, not American citizens, you got caught. And even your supporters noticed it. Stephen A. Smith, ESPN sports guy, who has his own political podcast, who is not abashed to say, hey, I'm a Democrat, I'm a card-carrying Democrat, called out the Democrats on the degree of their stupidity, on the depths of their dumb move. This isn't leadership, this is absolute asinine babies. You got caught. Trump got you in your own game. And so what is your reaction? Wow, those remarks were racist. Those remarks of a Hitler. Those remarks were racist, racist, racist, racist. Really? Have you learned nothing in the last year and a half, two years? The American public is fed up. Yes, there was a whole ICE thing in Minnesota. And yes, you Democrats are holding up the funding because you disagree with the way ICE works. So therefore, we hurt the TSA, we hurt the Department of Public Security, because you want your way. If I don't get my way, I take my bat and ball and I go home. That's not leadership, that's teenage immaturity. And that's what you showed in State of the Union. You sat down like a bunch of children, arms crossed, like babies, not moving. Wah wah whang. He got you. He got you good. Look, when you have representatives Elon Omar and Rashida Talib scowling, barking at Donald Trump, that's okay, apparently. That's acceptable behavior. When Marjorie Taylor Greene did it to then president Joe Biden, she got ripped. The media went after her. That it was disgusting, that it was unbecoming of a sitting congressperson. That was okay. But no, no, this was not okay. This was okay. Whatever Ilan Omar and Rashida Talib do, these these racist and these are racist Democrats. And yet they can get away by acting in such immature ways. You don't have to like what Mr. Trump said. But the behavior is what you're teaching future generations. Not to vote Democrat, that when you disagree with a leader, catcall, bitch, whine, insult, that's what you're teaching future leaders. No wonder there are so many organizations that have to undo such stupidity that they go into corporations and have to teach leaders how to be, because this is the leadership we see on TV all the time. And this is what we want to, you know, mimic, we want to, we want to be like. Donald Trump wants to eliminate insider trading in Congress. Guess who wasn't happy? The Democrats. That's right. And when Elon Omar was caught, a woman who came to Congress with you know with debt and now has 30 million declared in value. And you ask yourself, how the heck did that happen? And she refuses to answer, and she refuses to talk about, you know, the fact that she blames the white man. Beware of the white man. That's what she said. And then she says, Oh, I never said that. Of course, more lies. This is the behavior. This is the behavior that people are watching day in and day out. Ladies and gentlemen, what we I don't really, you know, you could disagree all you want with Donald Trump. And this is not a Donald Trump is a great leader. I don't, I have real struggles with a man who stands up there with such unbelievable narcissism. I get it. But you have to be a narcissist to be the one to be the president of the United States. You have to have that ego. Okay? Don't tell me that Biden didn't have it. And don't tell me that Obama didn't have it. And don't tell me that the Bushes and the Clintons and the Reagans and the Carters didn't have it. They all have it. You need to have that ego. You need to be arrogant enough to believe that you are going to make that difference. You want the most powerful seat in the world. You do need it. I don't care for the way he displays it. I don't care for the way he talks. I don't care for a lot of things. But when Elizabeth Warren stands up and applauds Donald Trump for saying we want to eliminate insider trading, you got to ask yourself, what is going through the Democrats' minds when she did that? She broke rank, just like John Fetterman broke rank when he shook Mr. Trump's hand when he came in. Folks, real leadership is not about I'm going to be on my team no matter how right or how wrong they are. That's not leadership. Leadership is calling out when there is a wrong. And you don't double and triple down in behavior and attitude and reactions just because you think, oh, well, the team said so. We got to do it. No, that's not leadership. That's not what your constituents have voted you in to do. They voted you in to effect change, to represent their values, their requests, their demands, and to insult the voters that voted Republican. And many of them are not even registered Republicans to say, no, that's not what America wants. We Democrats, the arrogant Democrats, know what you want. We want illegal immigrants. We want to create chaos in the United States. We want to show people how to behave very poorly. We love socialism. We embrace it. If they vote you in in 2028 and then in 2026 and that's what they get, then you win. You got it. But that's not what the people are saying. What the people are saying is you need to represent us effectively, with real leadership. None of this whining and bitching. Yes, we've seen it. Yeah, we know there are many who believe that the Democrats are right and can behave or misbehave the way they want. But overall, Americans are an embarrassment on a global scale because this is what we're showing the world. This kind of behavior, this kind of rhetoric, this kind of nonsense. So yeah, you don't have to agree with Donald Trump. But why did Elizabeth Warren get up? Why did John Fennerman shake hands? Because that is what people need to do. And so when you see Republicans do it with the Democrats, and you can say, oh, they broke rank. I love it. They broke rank. And all that you hear is that the Democrats are chasing all those who can hate Donald Trump and create some sort of scene, whether it's in Congress or outside of Congress or during the state of the Union or out of the, this is what you're getting. This is the behavior that your children are watching. What teenagers, university students, business leaders are watching and saying, wow, if our leaders could do this, so can I. If we can't accept it in our own home, and if we can't accept it in businesses, and if we can't accept it in society, why aren't we yelling at the Democrats for crying out loud? Pick up your baby, your boy pants and your girl pants, and let's behave. That's it for another week of the Rant Network. Thank you so much for joining me. Love to have you here again. I will catch you here again on Monday. Stay tuned, guys. The weekend just gonna be get a lot of fun. See you Monday.