U.S. missile shortage, Trump’s secret Air Force One swap, “Choosin’ Texas” & a new political party? | Ep. 81

Conner Jones: [00:00:03] Hi, I'm Conner Jones.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:04] And I'm Micah Tomasella.

Conner Jones: [00:00:05] And this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, and so much more, and we do it all from a Christian perspective. Micah, it's good to have you back.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:17] It's good to be back. It's good to be here in the studio.

Conner Jones: [00:00:21] Yep.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:22] In the house of the Lord.

Conner Jones: [00:00:23] In the culture, what do we call it? The culture corner?

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:25] The Culture Cabana, baby.

Conner Jones: [00:00:26] The Culture Cabana. One last summer Culture Cabana. Yeah, school's back in session around here, so we got to we got to wrap up in the Culture Cabana here.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:32] It's it's hot out there too. But but let's talk about what we're going to be diving into in this episode because I'm pretty excited about it. And yes, maybe these subjects aren't super fun, but they're also not fun. So we're going to do our best to have fun with it today. We're going to be talking about weapons shortages. We're using a lot of missiles with our war or scuffle or skirmish with Iran, whatever you want to call it. So how does that affect other things? Is America ready for a third party? Tucker Carlson floated that idea with some other influential people. So we're going to talk about that and talk about the state of the nation. Uh we also kind of have another announcement and then we'll talk about Trump, Air Force One switcheroo, tricking everybody, tricking the world. Former NBA players declaring for the WNBA draft and so much more. So let's jump into the brief.

Conner Jones: [00:01:18] The brief. Yeah, so the US, man, we have used a large swath of our missile stock piles.

Micah Tomasella: [00:01:25] Swath.

Conner Jones: [00:01:25] Swath. Nice word.

Micah Tomasella: [00:01:26] I feel like it's a very journalistic word. I think I probably read that in something somewhere this week.

Conner Jones: [00:01:31] It's like who who says that in daily conversation?

Micah Tomasella: [00:01:34] I just did. There you go.

Conner Jones: [00:01:36] Large swath of our missile stock pile is gone. We have used it against Iran in defense of Iran and defense, some of it's also in defense of allies over in the Middle East or even some of it being Ukraine over the past few years.

Micah Tomasella: [00:01:50] But most of it has to do with Iran.

Conner Jones: [00:01:51] Most of it has to do with Iran. I'm going to dive into some of those numbers here in a minute of pre-Iran war to today of the numbers. But just as some like context behind what the situation is all around in the conflict. President Trump said on Sunday that the United States is now, quote, low keying it with Iran and he's letting economic pressure build as opposed to ordering a new military offensive. So last week that kind of also led to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that a deal with Iran was very close and would be announced later that day on the straight of Hormuz and then it never happened. And so we've seen the stock market, it it rebounded for a little bit that day and now it's back down. Gas prices are still really high. There's no deal that's been announced. Trump even said later on this week, we are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact that they have no money. It will work out. It always works out. It's like a chess game. But Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that there are no direct talks with Washington currently happening. There's some messages going through intermediaries, but really there's not really a lot happening on the deal front here.

Micah Tomasella: [00:02:54] Which lines up with Trump saying semi negotiating with them, you know, it's like, you know, you're telling this person that then goes and tells this person, probably like a game of telephone.

Conner Jones: [00:03:03] Well, quite literally with multiple people. And then again, we don't even know where the Ayatollah is of Iran, you know, the actual leader of Iran and they apparently pass notes to him. It's kind of a weird bizarre negotiating situation.

Micah Tomasella: [00:03:16] There's questions on if he's still alive, which we've talked about or if he's very injured or, you know, whatever it might be.

Conner Jones: [00:03:20] Yeah, nobody really knows. The president of Iran, this is not the same thing as the Ayatollah. He's kind of in charge of their, you know, their their parliament essentially. He fears economic collapse and he wants to deal with Washington. So he's got that going on, but the military commanders in Iran don't want to agree to any sort of a deal. In fact, they want a lot of concessions laid out. In fact, they the Iran Supreme National Security Council has laid out these following conditions for reopening the straight. They want the US permanently ending the war. They want a lift of its naval blockade. They want all forces withdrawn from the region. They want an ending of all sanctions, freeing Iran's they they want a freeing of Iran's frozen assets and they want payment of war reparations and the end of threats and insults among other things. So essentially, they want everything and they give nothing in return other than opening the straight. They seem to think that they've got a lot of leverage. The former Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, he was Secretary of Defense during Trump's first term. He said on the news this week, it shows that they believe they have the upper hand. They believe they're winning and they are emboldened. Micah, what say you on that?

Micah Tomasella: [00:04:28] I mean, I think it's just a case of of what you're held accountable to and like what you're willing to go through. So as a nation, well, you know, we've talked about this. I mean, I Iran is willing to let its people starve for what they believe over here, we're worried about mid-term elections and gas prices and energy prices, right? I'm not saying those things don't matter, but in comparison to what the citizens of Iran are going through, it honestly just makes me think about how we need to continue to pray for the people of Iran, pray for the Christians in Iran, the church in Iran, because clearly the government is just willing to, you know, let their people suffer for as long as it takes, right? And so it it's just it's just a tale of two different worlds in terms of what the pressures are and what people are held accountable to.

Conner Jones: [00:05:12] That's true. And there there I mean, ultimately, the straight of Hormuz is their biggest leverage point. They just they can continue to shoot missiles at transiting ships that are carrying the oil.

Micah Tomasella: [00:05:20] And it just takes a couple guys. It just takes a few cheap drones and then it throws everything off. These are commercial ships. These aren't warships. Right. So I mean, like these commercial ships are not equipped with weapons.

Conner Jones: [00:05:31] Yeah, and they have carrying expensive cargo. Yeah, expensive cargo and human lives. I mean, just civilians that are trying to do their day job. You know, this is what they do. They go between these Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and Qatar and the UAE trying to get through that straight of Hormuz and Iran is just holding that really captive. That's their biggest point of leverage. Another point of leverage though is what we're going to talk about, this military stockpile depletion that is now being widely reported on the US side. There is just loads of reporting over the last few weeks. I'm going to dive into some of these specific things about the US has just gone through our missiles like crazy in this war with Iran to the point where a lot of people fear we are not ready for a broader conflict one with Iran or two with a bigger, more powerful enemy such as Russia or China. If we were to go to war with them, are we in a place that we could actually defend ourselves well and and fight back well. CBS News reported this week, quote, the US has used nearly all of its global stockpile of long-range precision missiles during the war with Iran. Specifically, the army tactical missile systems known as ATACMS and precision strike missiles. So those are missiles that are are made for offensives. They are shooting and and hitting targets. As far as our interceptor missiles, these are defensive missiles that are taking out other missiles that are incoming or drones that are incoming. Those have been depleted by more than 50%. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the pre-war, pre-war speaking of Iran, so back in February, back in February, the inventory of Patriot Pack 3 missiles was 2,330. Today, they estimate that sits at around 800. That means we have shot off thousands of these missiles and we are now down to 800 remaining for defensive purposes. The THAAD missile, that is terminal high altitude area defense missile. This is one that goes up into space. It can go into space, goes to a higher elevation and altitude. That inventory pre-war was sitting at 452. Today, CNN reports that it sits at nearly only 80% or 20% remain. 80% have been used in the war and it's at least below 250 missiles remaining. Yeah, that that same study also said that diminished stock piles may force the United States and its coalition partners to take more risk with interceptions. There are no good alternatives to Patriot or THAAD ballistic missile defense. Navy ships with standard missiles can intercept such threats, but they are generally too far away. Expended munitions create a near to mid-term risk for US readiness to fight a war against China in the Western Pacific. Micah, initial thoughts there.

Micah Tomasella: [00:08:10] I mean, it's it's it's a scary deal. I mean, at the same time, like, you know, you just kind of go back and forth on what what are our wars, right? You know, we're talking about this potential war with with China. It it wouldn't necessarily be a direct war with China imminently. It's more of a, I mean, it could be, but it's gosh, what's the country?

Conner Jones: [00:08:31] Taiwan.

Micah Tomasella: [00:08:32] Taiwan, right. So it's like, it just goes to the argument of what what is our war? So, you know, China attacks Taiwan. Do do we have to do something about that? I mean, I I'm not saying we don't, I'm not saying we should. It's just a question that comes to my mind and if that's the thing that everybody's worried about, China invading Taiwan, what is our place in that? Now we've talked about how we have a great partnership with Taiwan and they're a great chip manufacturer and there's there's a lot of economic interest in that. So yes, I mean it's obviously kind of disturbing, but it also just leads to the question of what are our wars to fight? And it's just a question.

Conner Jones: [00:09:10] Yeah, it is a question. And it's also, if someone was to attack us, attack the homeland or whatnot, do we have what we need to be ready to defend our homeland one and then two, fight back and and go into an actual extended war? That's the question being asked of a lot of people. You might just think, well, what's the big deal? Can't we just build more of these missiles? That seems like a reasonable question, but I can tell you as someone with actual expertise in this department, I used to work on one of these missile programs at a very large defense contractor. It was not the best time of my life. I personally did not really enjoy that job. That was before I worked here. I'm so much, you know, I'm so grateful to be working here at Dennis and Ministries now. But in my previous life, I did work there right after college and man, these missiles one are extremely expensive. And I worked on the contracts to with the government. We worked with the military and the government on negotiating these contracts. And I'm got to tell you, man, these missiles are not cheap. And they take a long time to build. Each of these missiles that I mentioned that are having shortages require between three and a half to five and a half years to build. And they're ordered in these large quantities and so these massive stocks get built together. It is a it is a big hassle.

Micah Tomasella: [00:10:22] It's time to speed up production, boys.

Conner Jones: [00:10:24] Well, that's what the Pentagon is now requesting. The the Pentagon's deputy secretary, Stephen Feinberg, wrote a memo to all the defense contractors last week, such as like Lockheed Martin and Boeing and Raytheon and some of the others. And basically told them, you need to drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and increase production for critical capabilities. Years-long development cycles are no longer acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our program and schedules and expand our production capacity now. And he gave them essentially 21 days to present a plan of how they're going to speed up production of these missiles. And I fully agree with that. But the the challenges there's supply chain issues. Each of these missiles requires so many components that are built by other suppliers. And then a lot of times it's also a labor thing. It it's expensive labor here in the US to get people to build these. And especially in the places that they do it, it's not exactly in urban centers. They don't build these missiles in the middle of a big city. They build them out in the middle of nowhere a lot of the times. So it's hard to get people to go and accept a job where you got to move to the middle of nowhere in Arkansas or Alabama or something and and get the talent that you need to do that. Additionally, the Pentagon, because of this whole shortage, has requested Congress to raise the defense budget from $900 billion last year, Micah, to $1.5 trillion next year as an effort to just crank up the production of all of these things, missiles and other weapons as well. Some of these smaller missiles, they cost between $1 million to $3 million. Those THAAD missiles cost between $12 to $15 million each. And they're being used in seconds. That's that's the thing. They they take years to build, they cost that much money and just within 60 seconds to a few minutes, they are going through their entire life cycle there, right? They are being used for a purpose, but sometimes they're taking down a $10,000 drone. They're being used against other cheap missiles coming from Iran. That's kind of the challenge here is is there a way to do this faster and cheaper? The Atlantic, they reported last week, this is interesting. They quoted a Republican congressional official as saying that Raytheon and Lockheed are are hesitant to provide a license to Ukraine. Ukraine has requested access to actually build Pack 3 missiles themselves, get the license of the manufacturing instructions and the components and all of that and build them themselves. But Raytheon and Lockheed, this congressional member says, will officially frame their concerns around IP theft and tech transfer, but their real worry is that the Ukrainians will actually find a way to improve the Patriot missile and then produce them at a scale faster and for much less money than what they can do with existing production lines in the US. It's exactly what I was just saying about labor here.

Micah Tomasella: [00:12:56] Oh, that's a tough one, right? Because I want I want these American companies to succeed, but there is a lot of greed in this. You know, the industrial military complex was definitely caught the ire of Americans, especially during like what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration, the 2000s. I don't know. I I just feel this overwhelming sense of, obviously we trust God and you're going to get into that spiritual application. But at the same time, this is when Americans find a way. Think about how AI has progressed. How can this be implemented into the production of these stock piles? But then at the same time, like Americans just find a way to kind of be have some ingenuity and figure out some sort of way to increase this. How do we get other companies other than the big boys involved, these smaller defense contractors and weapons builders? How do we get them involved to build these things faster? Because at this point, yeah, I mean, you can kind of say might have been poor planning on the munitions stockpile with what's going on with everything else going on around the world. But now it kind of is what it is. So how do we increase production and be able to properly defend ourselves and our allies around the world?

Conner Jones: [00:14:08] Yeah, I think that's the big question. We'll see what they end up doing and how these companies respond. And yeah, maybe we do outsource to some other cheaper options outside of our own borders, but they try to keep it within the US for one, what you were saying, it's good to have American companies being have jobs and production and all that. And two, it is a security thing. Like you want to keep that proprietary information.

Micah Tomasella: [00:14:25] It would have to be a close ally if it was outside of the country.

Conner Jones: [00:14:28] Very close ally. Yep. Trump and the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, have both publicly dismissed any concerns about the stock piles. They they've like they're saying it's a false media narrative. We have plenty. But the reality is we know we've depleted a lot. And so, you know, Trump has even shown frustration with the leaks to the press about the depletion numbers because he knows it's hurting the US's negotiation power with Iran. They kind of got some leverage here in this conversation. Another former defense secretary, Leon Panetta, he was Obama's defense secretary. He characterized the shortage of munitions as what you were saying, poor planning by the Pentagon at a time when there really is a chance for a grander conflict over Taiwan and with Russia and Europe. Right? Should we have been using all of this stockpile against Iran in this war? I also think this war just didn't go the way anybody thought it would. And wars typically don't. That's if we can learn a lesson from history, it's that when you think something's going to be easy, it's not. Russia's learning that with Ukraine right now. Germany learned that against Russia in World War II and against all the other nations. Napoleon learned that against Russia. It just doesn't go the way you think it will most of the time.

Micah Tomasella: [00:15:34] Man, Russia's involved in a lot of historical conflicts. You're saying it like all of them are like Russian examples.

Conner Jones: [00:15:41] Like post 1600s, Russia's up in there. Yeah, and then frankly, look, China and Russia essentially, they're salivating at this whole thing. They're like, oh, they're low on stockpile. We may not attack the US, but it gives us leverage over a whole bunch of other stuff. Maybe we'll hit Russia might be thinking we'll hit a NATO ally because we don't think the US will actually step up and defend them like a Poland or a Romania, some of these kind of weaker allies near their border. They might try to go for and try to distract from Ukraine in that sense. China, yeah, looking at Taiwan, they might be thinking, okay, now's our time. If we're going to do this before the US can re-up their munition supply, let's do it now. A lot of people have always thought 2027 is the year that's on China's mind that they've been strategically planning around. We don't know that for sure and hopefully that does not happen. But they might see an opportunity here for a whole bunch of reasons, but to if they want to go for Taiwan and try to take over that island, this might be a moment that they're looking at as a strategic time. You know, so as far as like Iran goes and with Trump and whether he's going to decide to do more launches or whatnot, this is probably a reason why he peeled back a couple weeks ago from doing a very large offensive was the weapons portion here. Generals have been expressing concerns about this like, hey, the more attacks we do, the more of our weapons stockpile we use. And anyways, it's just it's not a popular war. We're down on our stockpile. There's a lot that he's looking at. Midterms are coming up. You got to kind of wonder what's his thinking, what's next and does he even have regrets about this war? We don't know. But for us sitting here today, you can hear this and you might be like, oh my gosh, this is a problem. This kind of caused me some anxiety. And you know what? It's kind of fair. It can be anxiety inducing. It's in a way worrisome as we think about our national defense, as we think about the future of the Middle East and Asia and Europe and all of that and here at our homeland. You may be concerned about our troops overseas. Maybe you have a family member serving overseas and you're worried about this. How are we going to defend them if we don't have enough missiles? Are they going to start saying, hey, let some things through so we don't use all of our missiles and take some risk on that? I don't know and I really hope not. But the idea is, you know, that we can't just rely fully on our military. It's like you were saying a minute ago, Micah, we got to trust in our God. And and that that is so crucial to everything, but even in these moments about geopolitics and war and all of that, we have to trust that our God has got everything in his hands and we can we can have faith in him. We just can't be overcome with that worry. Dr. Jim Dennison on Monday's daily article, he was writing in his newsletter, kind of reflected on the same concept. He was actually talking about the rise of AI and some of these crazy AI viruses that AI has literally created that can bring some worry there as well. Like what could get released into the world that these bots are essentially building. And there's fears being raised among people across the world looking at that. That's out of our control. And honestly, so are these military things. Unless you are in the halls of the Pentagon or the White House, you're probably just having to sit on the sidelines and hope that it all goes well, right? There's a feeling of impotence that comes with that. Like, oh my gosh, I have no control here. There's nothing that I'm in charge of in this situation. I'm just having to sit on the sidelines. That can cause us to feel extremely anxious in a circumstance like this, right? And that can be a root cause of our anxiety. And that's not, I mean, that's true for not just these big grander things. You can have that with AI or wars or elections or politics or anything outside of your control in that sense, but also your own personal life. What's outside of your control today in your day-to-day routines, in your day-to-day life? And you might think like, well, how much control do I actually have in my life? There are things we control and we do control some of those routines, some of our actions. We control our emotions, our words, all of that, right? But every day we have to go about our lives heating control to people we will never meet and objects we will that have no other purpose but to do the work that they do. I think of like when you pull up to an intersection, Micah, and you see a red light, you're trusting that everyone else is stopping at that red light. Or if it's a green light, you're trusting that other people are stopping at the red light so that you can go through it. You're trusting that the stop lights are working correctly. You're trusting that everybody's car is working correctly and that your car is working to get you across the intersection. It's things that are kind of out of your control, but you're trusting that it's going to work, right? The faith that we have at stop lights, we have that same type of faith in God. It's kind of just a easy little metaphor there, but do we trust God fully? That's the question that we need to tackle and think through today as we're thinking about big things going on in the world, small things going on in our lives. You know, we can ask God to bring our impotence to his omnipotence. And Philippians 4:19, it encourage us encourages us to ask and trust him to supply every need of ours according to his riches and his glory in Christ Jesus. And we can heed the call of 1 Peter 5:7 that says to cast all of your anxieties upon him because he cares for you. And then I'll just leave us with one of my favorite passages here, Philippians 4:6-7. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And do what you're called to do by the Lord today.

Micah Tomasella: [00:20:59] Love it, Connor. It's a great reminder. We are in control of a lot less than we think we are. I was encouraging a friend of mine yesterday and I just encouraged him to control the controllables. And then you really think about what are the controllables? Well, I can put one faithful foot in front of the other. I can enjoy my family, I can enjoy my work and the people around me. I can seek to love people around me. And I can enjoy today. Because all of these issues are, I mean, some people, we might have some, I know for a fact, we got some high caliber people listening and checking us out here at the Culture Cabana. But I can speak for Connor and I, everything we just talked about, we really can't do a single thing about. So we're going to be faithful today and trust the God of the universe.

Conner Jones: [00:21:47] Maybe when I worked at that defense contractor, I could have. When I was like a 22-year-old just after internship. No, probably not, but yeah, it it's true. A lot of stuff's out of our control. Thanks for that, Micah.

Micah Tomasella: [00:21:57] All right, well, let's jump into the next story. And I want to ask you a question rhetorically, of course. Is America ready for a third party?

Conner Jones: [00:22:06] It's a good question. Political party?

Micah Tomasella: [00:22:07] Or like a big just a third political party. Cabana party. Is America Like it sounds like you're like you're about to throw the biggest party. A third party. Okay, so what were the first two parties? New Year's and 4th of July. Right, okay. Well, listen, America's always ready for a good party, all right? But is America ready for a third political party? We got Republicans, we got Democrats. Are we ready for a third one? So what happened? One of the more interesting stories this week wasn't about stockpile munitions or legislation or polling. It was actually a photo. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, we've all heard her in the news, right? She was really close with Trump and then really wasn't close with Trump at all. They got at odds and then she wasn't reelected to her position. But she posted a photo from Tucker Carlson's home in Maine with several prominent, what we would consider America First voices gathered around the table. And her caption said this on X. We said no more foreign wars and we meant it, but he has betrayed us all. The movement has begun. Those comments were directed squarely at President Trump over disagreements about foreign policy, especially when it comes to Iran and just America's overall role overseas. And then a few days later, Tucker Carlson released what Axios described as a 10-point political manifesto outlining his vision for America's future. Around the same time, Politico then reported that Greene says donors are already reaching out, wanting to financially support whatever this movement eventually becomes. A lot of moderate Republicans and a lot of moderate Democrats are jumping into something like this. Now, let's be clear of what we don't know and what we do know. No political party has been officially announced. There's just a meeting of the minds and there's conversations happening. And Tucker Carlson himself has not announced a presidential campaign, but something is clearly happening inside a portion of what's considered the America First movement that believes Republicans have drifted away from the promises that helped elect Donald Trump. And I think that there's room for this for those who are more on the moderate Democrat side who are saying kind of the socialist ultra progressive wing of their party is leaving them as well. Where does that leave the people in the middle? So, Connor, is this just a handful of influential people frustrated with Trump? Or is this the beginning of something bigger?

Conner Jones: [00:24:24] I it's really hard to tell. It's kind of early in the game here. Tucker is obviously extremely influential. He's got some of these other former congressional members who are, you know, decently influential. I don't know if everybody would know them as household names. Tucker Carlson is obviously a household name. Here's the deal. He he was such a big Trump guy up till like a few months ago. He was calling Trump weekly. And he tried to he tried to call Trump and tell him, do not do this with Iran or else it's going to backfire on you. And I think we might be seeing some of that happen. Obviously, it's backfired with him and Tucker specifically. Look, the deal is Tucker's he's kind of a showman. And I could see this being one of two things. One, either very serious and like they're going to try to launch some sort of political party or two, this is a big stunt and it's going to bring more attention and it's going to bring a lot of hoopla around it and he will use it as some sort of leverage to get a a powerful position in a potentially future administration with specifically, I would say JD Vance, who is one of his best friends. If JD Vance was to be president in the future. To this day, they're very close, which is interesting. And JD likes having Tucker in his corner because he knows how influential he is. So if JD is the Republican nominee in the future in 2028, I think you see a mending of the relationship here with the party. But I don't know where this goes, man.

Micah Tomasella: [00:25:36] Yeah, so I think I think Tucker is the smaller story here because I think the bigger story is this. Let's go over some Gallup numbers and polling. Americans have been telling pollsters for years that they're frustrated with both political parties. Absolutely. But I think it's been highlighted a little bit more recently. So Gallup found that 62% of Americans believe Republicans and Democrats do such a poor job representing the country that America does need a third major party. So 62% of those polled said that they're these this two-party system is doing so poorly, we need a third option. Even more interesting, 45% of Americans now identify as independents, the highest Gallup has ever recorded. 45% of Americans are so disenfranchised with the Republican way, the Democrat way. Both the Republican Congress and the Democratic Congress, specifically the Democratic Congress, they have very low polling numbers and they have for the last several years. But Congress currently has an approval rating overall of 10%. So you put those numbers together and you begin to understand why political figures like Tucker, and then you remember last year with Elon Musk have floated the idea of another political option. The question isn't whether Americans are frustrated. The data says they are. We all kind of feel that frustration to a certain extent. The question is whether frustration eventually will turn into something constructive, like will it turn into some sort of political realignment of those who find themselves more in the middle on issues? Can there be enough that they can agree on to coalesce around an idea? I don't think it's the craziest idea in the world. You just need a central figure. Think about the people that elected Donald Trump. Very non, like very non-traditional people who would vote for Republicans along, you know, our long history voted for Donald Trump, that America First movement, right? And they were rejecting the Biden administration. So I don't think it's so far fetched to say you can get people coalesced and together on certain ideals, but I do believe you need a central figure. And in 2024, that was Donald Trump.

Conner Jones: [00:27:44] Yeah, it was. And in 2024, there was even the attempt by RFK when he was running as kind of an independent type of presidential candidate. And that that was a big enough following that Trump felt he had to offer him a position in to get his endorsement, right? Look, the thing is, a third party has truly just never worked in the last few hundred years. It would take quite an effort. It would also take quite a bit of money. Now, if you were going to do that, having an Elon Musk support it would be I think you've got some money. You have the best person in the world to support something like that. Now, he's hard to work with and he does it his way. And he said he was going to launch this party and it didn't really work. And now he's saying he's going to support Republicans in the midterm here. He's apparently donating hundreds of millions of dollars to these midterm elections because he believes Republicans need to be in control of the Senate and the House again. That said, Tucker, I think is kind of close with Elon. They could build something up together. But to go against the Democrat and Republican Party is not just like the candidates. It is the institution of both parties. They run the primaries. They run the fundraising arms of these parties. It is so ingrained in our culture. Right. I mean, if it if it was easy to set up a third party, it would have already been done because this isn't the first time in American history people have been frustrated with the two-party system. And there will be so much money thrown against the third party because the third party could win because of the numbers you just stated. So many people kind of just want a they want a different option.

Micah Tomasella: [00:29:06] Yeah, they feel left. They feel kind of left behind by the establishment parties. So could this actually work? Let's talk about that. You already kind of dove into it. There are reasons to take this seriously. Tucker Carlson has debatably, he debatably has the largest political platform in America. Green says that donors are already expressing interest and the frustration they're talking about is backed up by real polling like we talked about. Okay? But there are also reasons to be skeptical like Connor touched on. Third parties have an incredibly difficult time surviving in America. The winner take all system that we have makes it hard to compete. History shows that third parties often influence politics without ever replacing Republicans or Democrats. Maybe that's what this ultimately becomes. Not a replacement for the Republican Party, but pressure on the Republican Party to change, pressure on the Democratic Party to change. So what we're watching, there's a a few questions I'll be watching over the next several months. Does this movement become an actual organization? Because when Elon floated it, it didn't. Do the donors that Green said are just lining up to donate to this, do they actually write checks? Do more elected Republicans and Democrats join them? Right now it's looking like more Republican leaning, but I mean, at that table, there were some Democrats too. So does this simply become another chapter in the ongoing debate about what America First is going to mean after Donald Trump? But I think the argument is, what does America First mean now during Donald Trump's second term, right? And so either way, I think the underlying frustration is very real. The movement may or may not last, but I think until things change, the dissatisfaction absolutely will last.

Conner Jones: [00:30:46] Yeah, I think so too. I I'm just so curious to see where this goes. I'm curious to see, he's got an interesting cast of characters. They're almost like outcasts from DC. I could see people, he he Tucker Carlson specifically interviewed Hunter Biden this week. Talk about an outcast from DC. I could see him pulling some

Micah Tomasella: [00:31:00] I haven't seen Hunter Biden anywhere.

Conner Jones: [00:31:01] He's on this big PR campaign. I think he's trying to revive his image and some people think he's trying to make his own political run at something here. Oh. No, he's been on like the Barstool podcast. He's he's now Tucker Carlson, a couple other pods too.

Micah Tomasella: [00:31:14] There's very little that disqualifies you these days. I mean, I mean, I mean, the amount of Congress people who are still in their seats after being proven to do some pretty terrible things. I mean, there's nothing that disqualifies you anymore.

Conner Jones: [00:31:24] Yeah, so I think he's trying to he's trying to like establish his image again. So someone like that or John Fetterman, senator from Pennsylvania, who is a Democrat, but Democrats really don't like because he leans more down the middle. You could see a cast of characters coming together and building some sort of coalition here if they've got the the foundation of of really the dollars. That's going to be the big thing here. But

Micah Tomasella: [00:31:43] So as I was preparing for this episode, I realized that this this conversation, it kind of hit me is not ultimately about political parties. It it's about this concept of identity. So when I'd like the I didn't know where this was going. I like the turn there. Come on now. It's about identity. Amen. This is a biblically based podcast. So whether you're a Republican, you're a Democrat, you're an independent or someone hoping for another option, politics has a way of asking us to find our identity in that specific movement. Place all that I am in this, place my hope in it to change what I want to change, to create a reality I want to see. But Jesus calls us to something greater than that. In Luke 9:23, Jesus himself says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Notice what Jesus doesn't say. He doesn't say follow the right political movement, follow the whims of the day. He doesn't say put your hope in in the right establishment or party. He simply says, follow me. As Christians, our first allegiance, as we've said over and over and over again, is not to a political party. It isn't to a political movement. It isn't even to a nation. That's not our first allegiance. Our allegiance is to King Jesus. So that doesn't mean politics don't matter. Of course they do. They absolutely matter. People matter and we should vote. We should stay informed. We should pursue justice and we should seek the good of our communities. But we should never allow politics to become our identity. When our identity is rooted in Jesus, we're free to engage politics passionately without worshiping politics, without worshiping that establishment, without worshiping that movement. When we're truly rooted in Jesus, it frees us up to engage, but in a healthy way. Okay? So we're free to disagree with each other without questioning each other's humanity. I think we could go back to that. That would be nice. We're free to celebrate victories without believing they usher in the kingdom of God and we're free to endure disappointments because our hope was never built on a political movement in the first place or jumping to, oh, this other side won, that means the world is ending. That means Jesus is coming back right now, right? No matter what happens in American politics over the next few years, Jesus and his invitation remains the same. He says, take up your cross and follow me. Simple as that.

Conner Jones: [00:34:10] Oof. Yeah. And that's one of the best verses. I dude, I'm I'm fired up. Let's go. Take up the cross, cast our anxieties on him. Like we we got some callings to do today, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, absolutely.

Micah Tomasella: [00:34:21] Yeah, that's great, Micah. Thanks for that. I will see where the third party goes if if anything, if it Ross Perot is probably the last third party guy to really make a dent and that that affected a full election. He was never going to win, but it changed the election for sure in the 90s. So we'll see what happens here. Thanks, Micah for that breakdown.

Conner Jones: [00:34:38] Okay, a few weeks ago, Micah, you did announce, we're going to jump into an announcement here, that you were going to be taking a step back from Culture Brief and for like, you know, a host of reasons, primarily, we got a big campaign going on, a fundraising campaign, and that is Micah's primary job. So today, technically, is your last day as like a a permanent co-host of Culture Brief. You'll still be around. You'll come back every now and then. You just won't be here frequently anymore. So, want to let you have a quick moment to say what, your see you laters.

Micah Tomasella: [00:35:08] Yeah, it's definitely not goodbye. It's see you later. Definitely was emotional as I was preparing for this week because this has been such a this has been such a joy. This has been such a ride. This this it's been a pleasure to do this with you, Connor. We've been close friends and brothers for a very long time and to be able to do this podcast together and still stay close as friends. Like I think is a testament to our friendship, but just God's help as he helped us create something like this. What is this? Episode 81? Yep. Okay. It's crazy. I mean, this was an idea in 2023, 2024. We did test episodes in 2024. We then launched right at the beginning of 2025 and it was just, let's do this thing. Let's see what happens. And we've just been able to engage with you as the audience. We have learned, we have grown. This podcast has helped me in my sanctification journey as I'm trying to become more like Jesus. It has forced me to try to apply what we preach and what we do as an organization to invite God into your consumption of the news, to not let all of the pressures of the outside world get to you and change your hope and change your outlook to be reminded that my identity is not in the way I vote or how this political system works out or if we have enough munitions stockpile or if there's going to be a third political party that gets started. My my identity is in Jesus. Nothing can shake that. Nothing can change that, will change that. And that changes everything if we actually grab hold of it. So this podcast has helped us, has helped me as I've been seeking to apply that. And I'm really thankful to be to have taken this journey with you guys. You know, the first verse I ever memorized was Micah 6:8 because obviously my name is Micah and I was just really excited as a kid that my name was in the Bible, that there was a small little chapter, there was a small little book in the Old Testament that called Micah. And Micah 6:8 says this, he has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. I'd like to think this podcast has helped me do that as these things of do justly, love mercy, walk humbly have been something that I feel has marked my life and what I've sought to strive for and what I believe God has put me on this earth to try to do, not perfectly, but faithfully. So being a part of this podcast has helped me do that and I hope that it's helped you guys and I know that it will continue to help you guys do just that. But my encouragement would be to stay curious, stay hopeful. Don't block yourself off to the rest of the world. Don't block yourself off to your neighbor because they look a little bit different or because they vote differently or maybe they've got different political signs in their front yard. Go and love your neighbor because no matter who I vote for or who they vote for, no matter what Connor votes for, pales in comparison to where do you stand with Jesus? The author, the perfecter of our faith, the one who came, the one who died, the one who rose again. Where do you stand with Jesus? That's the most important question we can ask ourselves and we can ask our neighbors and those around us and share the hope that's within us with them. So this podcast has been a small glimpse into what we are seeking to do with what we're calling a new kind of news that our organization is trying to build. Okay? So the goal here, just just to let you know is by the end of 2028 for Denison Forum, as we're building a new kind of news, we are seeking at the end of this campaign to go from 40 million content experiences a year, give or take, to over 300 million content experiences. Relaunch nationally, globally, seeking to become in time the go-to Christian news alternative so that we can cover even more, bring more voices on and actually cover the news of the day, give it to you straight, give you the facts straight, but then actually disciple you towards Jesus, encourage you to be faithful rather than fearful. We believe Christians are having to compromise every day with the news that's offered. What if we were able to give you the news comprehensively enough with enough options that you could actually replace some of this garbage out there that's leading you to fear, leading you to dislike your neighbor. Satan is using news media to divide the church and divide people. We want to step into that fray and be a part of the solution that we don't see is out there right now. So again, you can visit a new kind of news.org for more information on the campaign and can even give if you so feel compelled. This podcast, everything you read, everything that's done, we don't do a subscriber model. This ministry only happens. We're only sitting in this room because of faithful donors and people who partner with us and want their dollars, want their resources to go to something and make an impact beyond them and you have an opportunity to do that if you visit a new kind of news.org. And again, my job as a fundraiser, as a director of advancement, I would always love to have those conversations, but I'm excited to see where God takes our ministry in the future.

Conner Jones: [00:40:20] Yeah, me too. It's been a journey, Micah. It's been so fun to do this every week with you or most every week. And you've seen some other people come on the show recently or heard their voices and that's going to continue to happen. I'll continue to have great friends coming on, friends of the ministry come on and and break down the news for you. Exactly what Micah just said and provide hope. That is what we try to do here, not fear. So, thank you, Micah for that and man, I'm just so grateful for you as a brother in Christ, you as a co-host, you as a friend and God has just blessed me with your partnership in this and blessed the ministry with your labor of love on this podcast. So so grateful for your time and commitment to this for the last year and a halfish, I guess a little bit more. We started in January 2025 right at the beginning of an insane new news year. So

Micah Tomasella: [00:41:04] 2025 was crazy.

Conner Jones: [00:41:05] 2025 was insane. I we started, I think Joe Biden was still president and we started kind of that week before the inauguration and then everything's just, man oh man, taken so many turns we could have never predicted in the last year and a half. All right, we'll end with that on the announcements, but let's jump into check in real fast. You might have heard that Donald Trump did have a Air Force One, what did you say earlier? Switcheroo. He switcherooed over in Turkey. This has caused a lot of just people are like, what in the world happened? And a lot of journalists and and other people that were on the actual Air Force One are like, were we decoys to potentially get shot down by an Iranian missile?

Micah Tomasella: [00:41:42] Yes, you were.

Conner Jones: [00:41:43] Yeah, technically they were.

Micah Tomasella: [00:41:44] Your life doesn't matter as much as the president, sorry.

Conner Jones: [00:41:46] That's that's what they're that's kind of how they're being told that. So Trump, for background here, he secretly departed the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey last month. This was July 8th of last month. So this is over a month that this was held as a secret. He used an alternative military aircraft because there was a direct threat that they deemed very credible from Iran or an Iranian proxy to try to assassinate Trump, specifically, it sounds like taking down an aircraft. So Trump boarded, first off, he took his brand new Air Force One to Turkey that everybody said doesn't have enough security to it. And then he boarded the old Air Force One, the you know, the one you all know and have seen a million times with the blue to come back home or so we thought. But now reporting is coming out to say, yeah, while he did board the plane, he immediately went to the other side of the aircraft, entered a catering truck, you know, one of those ones, the hydraulic trucks that lifts up to deliver the food to the aircraft. And at the same time, all the journalists and everybody else that's coming on board Air Force One is entering the back of the plane where they normally go to their seats. And Trump is taken from that catering truck to a separate smaller, it's usually kind of like an Air Force 2 type of aircraft, 757 that was carrying other staff and secretaries. And he boarded that plane and flew that to the UK before he got back on the most common Air Force One aircraft in the in in Britain. And nobody knew about this. This was a total ruse. So there was a plane full of journalists and White House staff members that had no idea. Oh, also, Marco Rubio was on there and so was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were on the decoy plane, the one that we all thought was Air Force One. This is crazy.

Micah Tomasella: [00:43:24] Did they know? I wonder if they knew.

Conner Jones: [00:43:26] I I I listened to the New York Times Daily podcast this morning on the way here to confirm some of the details on this. They are reporting that Marco Rubio knew. I don't know if Scott Bessent knew, but Marco Rubio apparently knew he was on the decoy plane or that Trump was being removed from the aircraft to to another one.

Micah Tomasella: [00:43:42] Talk about a scary flight.

Conner Jones: [00:43:43] Yeah, I wouldn't want to miss, you know, you you're like, we're a target. They felt the need to move Trump off of it. Just kind of an interesting thing causing a lot of problems there. White House Correspondence Association has approached the White House and is having conversations with officials to be like, you put our journalists in harm's way or you should have at least told us and we need to know the president's whereabouts and all of that. So, anyways, that's that's that. Kind of a crazy story. Additionally, last week we talked about the WNBA, Micah. You missed our WNBA conversation here, but we had it. I did that with Parker and we broke down some of the issues going on there with the transgender movement. Since then, two former NBA players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have, these are males, they are saying that they're going to and they actually have filed to enter the 2027 WNBA draft and saying that they sometimes identify as a woman for the purpose of professional basketball. This is their way of kind of like trying to make a statement. They are not actually trying to play in the WNBA, but they're trying to force the WNBA's hand into determining what is a woman and answering that question and who can actually be eligible to play in the Women's National Basketball Association. This has caused the WNBA to actually have to address the situation and they are actually having conversations and putting together a task force to determine eligibility in their league. This whole thing is just crazy. The WNBA continues to be at the top of the news headlines because of all of these culture war things, not for the basketball or all of that. There's been more of Sophie Cunningham in this past week with the foul against her and Caitlyn Clark and just crazy stuff.

Micah Tomasella: [00:45:11] Yeah, I'm not so sure if this is a case of all news is good news. You know, in terms of like I I think that's probably distracting from the momentum that the WNBA has seen these last couple years of more viewership. It's just turning into another culture war issue. But as you guys discussed last week, the WNBA and some of these WNBA owners are not really aligning with the general public here. There is a common sense to this that needs to be clarified. This is not political. This is common sense.

Conner Jones: [00:45:39] I fully agree with that. That's just kind of an update there. Micah, I wanted to ask you as kind of a last good question before you peace out from the podcast for a while. Sounds so dramatic. I know. What has been your song of the summer?

Micah Tomasella: [00:45:53] What? Great question. I wish I would have known this question was coming. Let me think. Let me see.

Conner Jones: [00:46:04] Well, let me tell you this while you think. I'll tell you what mine is. And I'll tell you what I think everybody's is. I think it's Choosing Texas by Ella Langley.

Micah Tomasella: [00:46:11] Yeah, but didn't that come out before?

Conner Jones: [00:46:13] It came out in the it came out in the spring, but it has blown up in the summer. I mean, that is like hands down the biggest song. I was I was reading about this this morning. She, Ella Langley is the the singer behind Choosing Texas, which you've had to have heard this song.

Micah Tomasella: [00:46:24] She's a mega star.

Conner Jones: [00:46:26] She's now a mega star and obviously all the Europeans fell in love with her too when they came over for the World Cup and started attending her concerts and stuff. Her song, Choosing Texas, is now 17 weeks into being the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. That is the fourth longest ever.

Micah Tomasella: [00:46:41] It's still, okay, so I saw it was 15 weeks and that like broke some records. It's still number one.

Conner Jones: [00:46:45] She passed Whitney Houston. She is now sitting behind only three other songs. Would you care to guess what three songs have been on there longer?

Micah Tomasella: [00:46:52] Oh my goodness. No.

Conner Jones: [00:46:55] Okay. I'm just going to tell you then because I wouldn't have guessed these either. One of them at 19 weeks is Old Town Road, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. Remember that? We were in college when that came out. Woo, yeah. And then that was a big song. A bar song, aka Tipsy by Shabuzi. Okay. And then Mariah Carey sits at he was also at 19 weeks. Mariah Carey sits at number one, 22 weeks for all I want for Christmas is you. Shocker. Can Ella Langley pass those songs? I don't know.

Micah Tomasella: [00:47:21] I'm not sure. I kind of want Mariah Carey to remain number one. I mean, that's like just the most iconic Christmas song these days.

Conner Jones: [00:47:26] She's got to be the queen of Christmas. She just gets it. I mean, November 1st to to really January December 31st, that song's going.

Micah Tomasella: [00:47:34] So is that so that's your song of the summer?

Conner Jones: [00:47:36] I would say, dude, I don't know another song of the summer. I haven't felt anything else really bubble up to be the the biggest song. That song I hear everywhere.

Micah Tomasella: [00:47:42] I can typically count on One Republic to release something. Some summer song. They did that with Top Gun Maverick. Yeah. Yeah, with Ryan Tedder, but I feel like they haven't really put anything out recently. Or like Coldplay or man, I'll just tell you what. I mean, I listen to like country music, worship music, but for the most part, it's podcast. I mean, you know how you and I are. Like I'm in the gym, like, you know, some of my buddies make fun of me. I'm in the gym lifting or whatever and I'm listening to a podcast and they're like, you're insane. You know what I mean? To be like, you know, we're talking about some sort of like political or like biblical thing or whatever and I'm lifting weights. It's I mean, anyway, people just think it's a little silly.

Conner Jones: [00:48:21] I'm well, it probably is silly, but I'm right there with you. But when I'm out and about or I'm playing music while I'm in the pool or something, choosing Texas, man, it just anywhere you go, it's going, right?

Micah Tomasella: [00:48:29] I mean, yeah, I'm just normally going to put on some sort of if I'm out by the pool, I'm going to put on some sort of country playlist. And that's going to be on there. Oh, 100%. Yeah. And it's got Luke Grimes from Yellowstone in the video, the music video.

Conner Jones: [00:48:40] I did. I did see that. Connor, do you want to sing for us?

Micah Tomasella: [00:48:42] I don't want to sing. You don't want me to. Do you want to sing?

Conner Jones: [00:48:45] No, I don't. I just wanted to ask you one more time and have you say, I don't want to sing.

Micah Tomasella: [00:48:49] I don't want to sing. Maybe one day he'll sing.

Conner Jones: [00:48:52] It was good to have you guys here on the Culture Brief podcast today. Yeah, it sure was. Thank you guys for joining us this week and we'll be back. Well, I'll be back next week. See you then. Bye guys. Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast. All articles and videos mentioned in this episode will be linked in the show notes. If you want to help us reach more believers with truth in today's chaotic culture, please share this podcast around and leave a five-star rating and review. All episodes are produced by Sound of a Rose. For more information, you can visit soundofarose.com. See you next Thursday.