Nepotism To War What Really Works In Business Politics

We need to be very, very attractive to them so they can do their job, but we can also maintain U.S. national interests. What makes you think that would work? Because that's what works. I mean, that's what works, you know? If we would have done that in Iraq, you know, instead of just this blanket, no, we're cutting them off, we're doing our own people, we're doing our own thing. We've already seen what doesn't work. So I'm trying to say, let's try something different and then see what works. And I think- And how many times did you and I walk into a factory, a farm, a plant, and they're like, hey, the guy that used to run that, he's in fill in the blank country to include the ground. And the guy that used to run it, who didn't know how to do it, and he left too. They were always in Syria. Always in Syria. Yeah, always in Syria. Always in Jordan. Yep. Yeah, always. And they were not coming back. They're like that guy. They were targeted. Because they were Baptists. They were Baptists. So I think that's a big, big, big issue. We've got to lay something on the table that says, okay, whatever has happened has happened. You're the best person for the job. We want, oh, you can do what you need to do to rebuild that country. You understand the inner working. So we also have a US national interest involved. And it's X, Y, and Z. Can you do X, Y, and Z? Yes, okay, we agree. And then you got to watch the fruits of their labor. If it's good, great. If it's not, well, then you deal with it at that time. But you've got to put the right people who know how that country runs, how those people act, all their social stuff, all their political stuff, all their business stuff. They would not be oligarchs if they didn't know how to do what the fuck they do. Love that. All right, you get audience with Zelensky, and he's like, hey, man, I get a bunch of people with all kinds of ties and letters behind their names, but you're a no-bullshit guy. I heard about you from Pete. Pete brought me some ice cream, so I trust Pete. What do I need to do? In what capacity? To win a war, to help their people rebuild the country after the war? I'm losing control of this war. There's so many corrupt people around me. How the fuck do I get control of this thing? Well, what is pulling your people away to be corrupt? Because we have to work on the centers of gravity, first of all, and then that will pull them right to you. Get rid of the centers of gravity causing them to be corrupt, and then that'll pull them right to you because then they've got no other game in town. So you're telling me to kick the US out. All that money, you've got to have that money. I like it. All right, and then same thing, but this time you meet with Putin. What are you gonna tell Putin? To win the war? No, just like, what's your advice? My advice all the way around is I'm gonna tell Putin, first of all, you're not gonna live very long. And I know your hopes of reestablishing the USSR are very big. You wanna do that before you die. It's not gonna happen. But you care about your reputation. So let's talk about reputation. Let's talk about how you wanna be seen when you die. Because if you die in the middle of this war and it gets lost and you didn't do anything to create some sort of capitulation, you're gonna have an issue for the rest of eternity and I don't think you want that. Nice. That would be my line of persuasion for Putin. Right. What do you got for me? What do you want to ask me? I've beaten you up for about an hour and 10 minutes here, man. And I appreciate you did awesome and thank you everything I needed you to do. I just wanna know why you're bringing Zelensky ice cream and I'm not getting any. I say, hang on, stand by. Where's my Amazon phone? Send that ice cream over to Boone. No, man. I enjoyed it. I didn't hear that. I enjoyed doing your show because we get to talk like guys. I do a lot of interviews. I do so many interviews. But it's rare I get to talk to someone, A, who's a friend, but also we hold each other accountable and we also test each other and people get to see that. They get to see that. And I think that's positive, because that's a big difference. This is as close as we can get the physical domain, being one-on-one with a video, but it would be the same thing if we were sitting across each other at a bar. And so we've got to get back to that physical domain. Stop as people, stop relying so much on the technology. Talk to your neighbors, your neighbors are your enemy. And at the end of the day, I think there's a lot of dissension that's trying to be sewn within the United States. It's not good for us. And so I would just wanna tell everybody out there that there's a lot of strings being pulled in our own country. And I know we're focusing on Ukraine and other places, but let's look at our own street. Let's look at our own block. Let's look at our own communities and really have a concerted effort to do something and be active right here at home to help each other live a better life. When you and I first met, it was electronically, but we were talking. And look, I have a soft spot, but I have a critical spot for PsyOp people, just like I do for spies. And I was talking to you about this guy that I knew in Iraq. He was a governor. And it was a big lesson for me because you don't know these lessons until you learn them in real life because this shit ain't in the book. And we were doing a terrible job with IO, a terrible job. And we sat down with this governor and we were gonna tell him about all this stuff we were gonna do with this program, we were gonna do for him. And we had this messaging stuff. And he said, we built up trust with them, right? I knew to do that. And the commander I was working with knew to do that. So we'd built up trust. And he's like, you know, I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that. Do you guys mind if I show you what I wanna do? And we're like, oh, no, please, yeah, show us. So he reaches down and he pulls out this poster board of his vision, his professional poster board. Right. And the vision of this park with this ancient arch that was from his area, the Stizofon Arch, which is like a world UNESCO site if we fucking gave a shit about it. And he's like, this park that needs to be this. And he went on for like half an hour and he pitched us on this entire thing. And he's like, so I don't want any billboards talking about like a future of Iraq. I want them talking about this. And I have this message and I have this image and I want this poster board in that thing. And he's like, and I thought I was the governor. And we're like, you are the governor. And he's like, well, then I want that up in that fucking poster board. And the colonel said the coolest words ever. He said, no, I'm saying, which means yes, sir. And I'm like, holy fuck, my mind just got blown. So I told you that story and you're like, yeah, that's what's supposed to happen. I've told that story and I know you'll agree with this. I've told that story to a bunch of PSI operas and they're like, he doesn't get to decide that. And I'm like, no, sir, you're wrong. You're wrong. And so you got it. And I was like, who knows what he's talking about because it's not us, right? And it's, you've said it. It's these oligarchs. It's these holy men. It's these farmers. And if they say, go that way, fucking go that way. And even if that doesn't work, we don't say to them, you go that way. We go their way and we see what happens and we learn from that. That's what we do. If you can get the buy-in and there's nothing that they want that's against the US national objective, you're gonna do so much more. You gotta work with the populace. You gotta work with the people. I can't tell you how many people in Sadr city that literally just showing an ounce of compassion. I mean, look at the militia is showing up, murdering them and torturing them on a daily basis. And you wanna go in and throw your weight around? What do you think you're gonna get? You're just gonna get people who cower and don't work with you. So understanding the people and understanding their wants, needs and desires and then using that to satisfy what they're trying to do to get what you want to do is always the path. It's always the path. Always. There's already human butcher shops. And I mean, literally human butcher shops in Sadr city. So don't offer that, offer something else. Yeah, they wanna future. They wanna see their kids do well. They wanna see, I mean, like every other parent in the world. And so if you kinda key in on those human things, you're so much better. And yeah, you're right, man, I've seen them. And it's bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. And when you see those conditions, you're like, okay, well, how hardcore am I gonna be?