Interview · moment 16 of 23
Trained Killers, Trump vs Hillary as Spectacle
from Incompetence and Ruthlessness · #8
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
3 minGuest
Baker explains how ex-special-forces personnel become available for extralegal violence, then argues that Trump vs. Clinton is largely bread-and-circuses distraction since neither could meaningfully alter core U.S. policy on resource extraction, military dominance, or finance.
- 44:29Military training means never asking questions, so soldiers follow orders to fire at targets without hesitation.
- 45:06Tim asks whether the guest gets frustrated hearing average people debate whether Trump said something racist instead of discussing what actually matters.
- 45:34People tell the guest they should support Hillary because Trump is dangerous, but the guest sees the election as entertainment and distraction from real policy.
- 45:54It doesn't matter whether Hillary or Trump wins—they're constrained by decades of American policy on resource extraction, military control, and financial dominance.
- 46:28The only differences between candidates are how they talk about hot-button issues that rile people up, but even there their options are limited.
- 46:54Tim brings up the death of journalist Michael Hastings and asks whether the guest worries about the risks of writing about powerful people.