What you'll learn

• 1 (01:06) **Show Opening & Midterm Context** - Dave Smith and Robbie "the Fire" Bernstein set up the episode two weeks before the midterm elections, noting millions have already voted and that the Republican agenda is collapsing.
• 2 (11:36) **Democracy, Voting Barriers, and the Growth of the State** - The hosts dig deeper into whether democracy actually constrains government growth, using historical examples from Woodrow Wilson to the modern surveillance state.
• 3 (19:21) **Trump Endorses Netanyahu as Midterms Approach** - Donald Trump publicly endorses Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections, despite Netanyahu being widely viewed as a genocidal maniac and Trump's domestic agenda collapsing.
• 4 (25:59) **The Bizarre Dynamic: Why Isn't Trump Mad at Netanyahu?** - Despite the official story that Netanyahu lied to Trump about the Iran war being a cakewalk, Trump continues to back him rather than punish him.
• 5 (30:23) **JD Vance's Impossible Position** - Vice President JD Vance is forced to defend the administration's war policy at a town hall, facing a grieving widower whose wife was killed in an Iranian airstrike.
• 6 (38:51) **The War of Choice and the Lie Exposed** - Dave and Robbie analyze how the town hall moment reveals that even the administration's defenders cannot bring themselves to repeat the official justification for the war.
• 7 (45:03) **The View Attacks Joe Rogan** - Sunny Hostin on The View criticizes Joe Rogan for not having a fact checker, claiming his statements about the border are false.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app