A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
A Ringleader with 3 Idiots! Trump and Syria, Bondi and Noem and Gabbard
Democracy teeters on the edge while a child reminds us what truly matters.
The latest news stories finds me reflecting on both disturbing political developments and moments of hope that keep us grounded.
The news cycle continues its alarming trajectory as Trump embraces former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharra, Syria's interim president who once had a $10 million US bounty on his head. During their "historic" meeting, Trump heaped praise on the former terrorist, this pattern of embracing questionable figures underscores a troubling approach to international relations.
Meanwhile, Qatar's gift of a luxury 747 jet raises profound ethical and security concerns. The multi-million dollar present, reportedly approved by Attorney General Pam Bondi (who previously lobbied for Qatar), could potentially serve as the new Air Force One. Beyond the ethical implications of accepting such lavish gifts from foreign powers, significant security vulnerabilities exist. Can we trust that this aircraft won't contain surveillance devices while transporting the most powerful person in the world?
The potential suspension of habeas corpus perhaps presents the most alarming development. When DHS Secretary Kristi Noem suggests constitutional requirements have been met to suspend this foundational legal protection – while admitting she's "not a constitutional lawyer" – we witness a casual dismantling of democratic safeguards. Combined with Tulsi Gabbard's firing of experienced intelligence professionals, we're seeing institutions hollowed from within.
Yet amidst this political chaos, I found solace in five-year-old Max Browning. This young boy's dedication reminds us that wonder, curiosity, and compassion still thrive – perhaps offering the hope we desperately need in these troubling times.
Share your thoughts with me at resistdonaldnow@gmail.com and remember to stay hopeful – our collective future depends on it.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. You know, with everything that happened this week, this is a world gone mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe and I'm here again to give my commentary on the news. Thank you for joining me. I just celebrated my 100th episode of my podcast and if you haven't heard it yet, please listen to it. I explain in that episode why the number 100 is important in the podcast world. To those of you that have listened and sent me emails about episode 100, thank you sincerely. Here's the email if you'd like to send me your comments resistdonaldnow at gmailcom. I'd like to read one email that I received from Victoria in Illinois, and she wrote Hi Jeff, congratulations on your 100th Talking points found to be interesting and valuable.
Speaker 1:As far as abortion, what's missing with MAGA majority are no health care during a pregnancy. Ridiculous Children of concern are those traumatized victims being forced to carry a pregnancy. Female body isn't prepared for that. So young, easy to look up for age, medically speaking is now 25 for matured muscle growth. If you're in a high-risk category for your pregnancy, it's trouble due to no medical care. My child was saved when I miscarried Her twin. Every religion puts the mother's life first, including the Jewish and the Islamic, etc. Medical procedures when you're not pregnant, such as a DNC, are considered abortion. This is now an unacceptable practice, including women at my age Could swear. I heard you say you're 74 years old, so if so, you're holding 10 years over my age. Speaking of which, I just got my Medicare card today. Can't use it till September, but whoop, here it is. Have a good night. I'll hear you in a few days. Thank you, victoria, for that. And as far as 74 years old, no, not quite. You aged me a lot. I'm in my 60s, but I thank you very much for your email. You know definite lunacy, victoria, about the lack of health care during pregnancy. No question about it. All right, let's get right to the news. Here we go.
Speaker 1:Trump's embrace of Syria and its jihadist-turned-president could shake up the Middle East Now. Us President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who recently had a $10 million US bounty on Trump's head. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharra, once known by his militant name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met Trump in Riyadh six months after leading a swift campaign that toppled the half-a-century-old Assad regime, ejecting Iran-backed armed groups and declaring himself leader of the country, al-shara, was placed on the US specially designated global terrorist list in 2013 for heading al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, known as al-Nusra Front, and allegedly orchestrating suicide bombings across Syria. Now, the Saudi-born former jihadist had spent years fighting US forces in Iraq before moving to Syria to lead an armed Islamist rebellion that ousted the brutal dictator, bashar al-Assad. The meeting, described by Syria as historic, was the first between a US and Syrian president in 25 years, taking place during the Trump Middle East tour, the first set of state visits of his second term. Both leaders were seen smiling in photos released by the White House and the Saudi foreign ministry. The Syrian foreign ministry said Trump committed to standing by Syria at this critical juncture.
Speaker 1:A day earlier, trump announced the removal of decades-old sanctions on Syria, a move that prompted a 40-second long applause from the audience, including a standing ovation from the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Oh, what I do for the Crown Prince? Trump said in a room on Tuesday, crediting the de facto Saudi leader for leading the effort to lift what the president called brutal and crippling sanctions. Syria has been designated by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism since December 1979. Now, during the meeting, trump proposed that Shara take a series of measures, including normalization with Israel, expelling foreign and Palestinian terrorists and helping the US to prevent the resurgence of ISIS. According to the White House, bringing Syria in from the cold gives a lifeline to the country's fledgling regime and its president, who pledged in an interview with CNN last year that Syria's armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government defined by institutions and a consul chosen by the people. But it also presents an opportunity for Gulf Arab states and Turkey, which also pushed for sanctions to be lifted, to expand their influence in Syria and profit from it after decades of being left out of the country. I think is a sort of tacit approval for those who are looking to invest in Syria, potentially as well.
Speaker 1:Natasha Hall of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, csis, said it means that he is giving wins to Mohammed bin Salman. After meeting Sharon Wednesday, trump heaped praise on him, calling him a great, young, attractive guy with a very strong past, who is a fighter, trump said. The new Syrian president, he said, has got a real shock of putting it all together. Look, donald just embraces anyone that he can, especially people who are dictators or terrorists or anyone with questionable character from their past actions. I don't know why I'm amazed when I hear news like this. Nothing should shock us about Donald and the way he thinks he puts his energies and his words and his actions into people that don't deserve it. So Trump is given an expensive gift from Qatar a ridiculous, expensive luxury plane as a gift, but the legality of receiving that expensive gift is in question.
Speaker 1:Until now, doj lawyers cleared Pam Bondi's memo backing the legality of Trump accepting Qatar's 747 plane. The Justice Department's internal legal advisors cleared a memo signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsing the legality of President Donald Trump accepting the 747 luxury jet from Qatar, a DOJ official said Wednesday the Office of Legal Counsel approved the memo before Bondi signed it sent it to the White House. A Justice Department official told CNN Bondi, who previously lobbied on behalf of the Qatar government, also consulted with career ethics officials, the official said, who determined there was no conflict that would require her recusal. There was no conflict that would require her recusal. Doj's acknowledgement of Bondi's memo and the process behind it comes as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter demanding answers from the Justice Department about the memo that reportedly said it was okay for Qatar to gift the plane to the Department of Defense and then transfer it to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation. There are serious questions about whether you should have recused yourself from this matter. Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said in a letter to the Attorney General, adding that Bondi committed to consult with the career ethics officials within the department if matters involving Qatar arose. Now the Justice Department told CNN it has received Durbin's letter. Durbin is the latest Democratic lawmaker to demand answers from the Trump administration on the multi-million dollar gift gift. On Tuesday, senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was placing a blanket hold on all Justice Department political nominees until he got answers related to the jet.
Speaker 1:Some Republican senators have also expressed concerns over Trump's plan to accept the luxury jet, saying that the administration should ensure that the gift will pass legal muster. Bottom line it doesn't matter, trump does whatever Trump wants to do, even though, as president, it's wrong to accept the gift from another country, let alone a ridiculously expensive gift, let alone a plane that's going to be retrofitted to be used as the new Air Force One. What the hell? This is wrong on so many levels. It's a terrible look for a president to accept gifts. It's also beyond rational conversation that a president would accept the plane with the possibility of security problems left and right, while it's transporting the most powerful man in the world. I'm not saying the plane is bugged, but we can't take the chance of allowing something on glitz to take place, with the president and his important staff members sitting on board of a gift from Qatar and the possibility of listening devices and surveillance devices inside that damn plane. And Pam Bondi allows this while the Republicans, except for a few of them, are not screaming bloody murder. I'm going to step away from the microphone. Get a couple of slugs of whiskey, because this type of garbage drives me mad.
Speaker 1:Moving on from stupidity to lunacy, us Homeland Security Secretary says requirements have been met to suspend habeas corpus as Donald Trump continues to embark on his Middle East trip. During a congressional hearing Wednesday, department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that requirements have been met to suspend habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court, adding that she was not, however, a constitutional lawyer. Cnn reported Friday that Trump was personally involved in discussions over suspending habeas corpus, and one of Trump's top aides, stephen Miller, confirmed publicly Friday that the administration was actively looking at suspending the procedure. This is something that's not on my purview to weigh in on. This is the president's prerogative to pursue. Noam said Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee. He has not indicated to me that he will or will not be taking that action.
Speaker 1:The Constitution only allows habeas corpus to be suspended when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, when the public safety may require it. On Wednesday, representative Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican, asked Noem whether unlawful immigration into the US under President Joe Biden, which Noem has referred to as an invasion, was enough to meet the constitutional threshold to suspend habeas corpus. To meet the constitutional threshold to suspend habeas corpus. I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but I believe it does know. Him said Look, I find it hard to tell you, the listeners, about this news story and keep a straight face. I'm not a constitutional lawyer. But hey, listeners, some of you that are doing any renovations on your house, I'll fly out to you, give you some great suggestions on-site on how to build that new structure. Now, I'm not a contractor, but oh, and any surgeries any of the listeners have coming up, I'll be more than glad to assist the doctor in the operating room. Now, I'm not a doctor, but Kristi Noem, another unqualified person who was put in charge to make decisions that are incredibly important but has no freaking clue on what the hell she's doing. These lunatics in charge just make me drink more heavily at the end of each day.
Speaker 1:Gabbard fires two senior intelligence officials focused on assessing threats to the US Director of National Intelligence, tulsi. Gabbard has fired the top two career officials leading the National Intelligence Council, the senior, most analytical group in the intelligence community, whose job it is to understand and assess the biggest threats facing the United States. Gabbard fired Mike Collins, the acting chair, and his deputy, maria Langen-Reikhoff On Tuesday. A spokesperson confirmed to CNN. The dismissals come as Gabbard has vowed to root out what she has described as politicization of the intelligence community and launched a war on leaks to the media that critics say is hollowing out the intelligence community of needed expertise from experienced professionals. Jonathan Panikoff, a former intelligence official who served on the NIC and his work with both people, said Collins is an unbelievable professional who served selfishly for 30 years and is a real China expert, and Langenreichoff is not just a strategic thinker but an unbelievably gifted analyst. Gifted analyst the director is working alongside President Trump to end the weaponization and politicization of the intelligence community, the office of the director of national intelligence spokesperson said in a statement CNN has reached out to Collins and Langenreich off through an intermediary because their contact information was not immediately available.
Speaker 1:Now the dismissals come shortly after the ODNI, which Gabbard leads, released a declassified assessment from the NIC about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. That undercut the Trump administration's key argument for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations, the key provisions of which had already leaked to the media and which Gabbard has said is under investigation. Gabbard, when asked about the assessment, blasted the media for twisting and manipulating intelligence assessments to undermine the president's agenda to keep the American people safe. It's not clear whether the two episodes are linked in any way, but Gabbard's crackdown on unauthorized disclosures to the media and said that she has referred three cases to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution. Really, what is happening when they do that is they're undermining our democracy, because what they're doing is saying I'm doing what's best for the country and I know what's better for the country than the majority of the American people who chose this duly elected president.
Speaker 1:Gabbard told Kelly, the only way we bring about accountability is by doing the work of conducting these investigations. Gabbard said Okay, oh good, I was worried there for a moment. I feel so safe right now with my family in our home after what Gabbard described. Don't you agree with me? Everyone, hold on listeners, please give me a moment. Thank you for letting me get that out of my system. It did not do jack to make me and my family feel safe. All of these lunatics that donald, the delusional appointed to all these departments and with all the ridiculous actions, just makes all of us feel uneasy. We're going to fire, dismiss, remove qualified human beings who have been doing their jobs for decades for the reason of, of, of, of, because we can, because we get a kick out of hurting America more. Please, someone who has a better insight into this, explain this to me. I say this sarcastically and finally breaking away from all of this lunacy.
Speaker 1:This week, when I look for uplifting and inspiring stories, I try to find something that I can share with you, the listener, that would resonate, and this particular story did it for me in several ways. A little Welsh boy has drawn 99 animals to celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 99th birthday, which just passed this week. Spanning across eight A3-sized sheets of paper, the giant birthday card took Max Evans Browning four days and a lot of research to find each and every animal that Attenborough has ever expressed a fondness for. Now, max's mom, samantha, shared a picture of her son and his artwork on Facebook, asking for anyone willing to listen to share it, in the hopes that it arrives on the desktop of the famous British conservationist Born 99 years.
Speaker 1:The Tuesday before last, sir David Attenborough became the most famous advocate and voice for nature and conservation the Western world has ever known. Offering the British media an interview in the days leading up to his quasi-centennial, sir David acknowledged that he felt there wasn't much time left for him on the earth and that he saved his greatest work for last Ocean, a documentary covering the salty watery world all around us. In the interview, attenborough said that his 60-year career as a conservationist has convinced him that the world's oceans should be the highest conservation priority for humanity and that if we save the oceans, we save the planet. A regular animal lover, five-year-old max, watches animals, reads animals and knows the most rare animals, said his mom, who added that his bedroom walls in their Pembrokeshire home are covered in animals. He will say to me I know that it's a pangolin and I'm like what. I don't even know what that is. Thank you in advance.
Speaker 1:And, mr Attenborough, if you ever see this happy birthday from Max Evans Browning, age 5, from five, from pebricshire, his birthday card read order receiving hundreds of shares, gnn will wait and see if the young man's virtual well wishes arrive at their destination. I'll have to admit that children and their imaginations and drive always keep me fascinated to read about it. If you'd like to comment on this story or anything from this episode or other episodes, resistdonaldnow at gmailcom, keep your comments and emails coming. I appreciate it. I will be back in two days with more madness and with my thoughts. I'm Jeff Alan Wolfe and until next time, stay hopeful. This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad.
