In this episode of "Left Face," hosts Adam Gillard and Dick Wilkinson delve into the complex world of international oil trade and sanctions. They explore the mysterious "ghost fleet" of oil tankers that operate under the radar, moving commodities between sanctioned countries. The discussion covers the recent seizure of an oil tanker linked to Venezuela, the legal implications under international law, and the broader geopolitical ramifications. Tune in for an insightful conversation on how these covert operations impact global politics and economies.

Inside the Sausage of Democracy

In this episode of Left Face, hosts Adam Gillard and Dick Wilkinson discuss a range of topics, including the political shifts of Congress members like Marjorie Taylor Greene, the power dynamics within the military, and the media's role in shaping public perception. They delve into the implications of these issues on society and explore the ethical responsibilities of those in power.

A friend is gone and we refuse to speak in euphemisms. We start with the raw reality of veteran suicide—how access turns intent into tragedy within minutes, how survivor guilt lingers, and what it looks like to build “friction” into crisis moments: locked layers between you and a weapon, one more call, and a circle that actually answers.

From there we widen the lens to power and consequence. The historically long shutdown didn’t just stall paychecks; it rewarded a politics of brinkmanship. We unpack why senators safe from re-election cave first, why there’s no federal recall to correct bad actors, and how performative policy—like slapping a new name on health care—ignores costs families can’t absorb. The SNAP episode lays the stakes bare: trying to claw back food already on kitchen tables is both unworkable and inhumane, especially while gilded rooms and junk science steal headlines.

Accountability makes a rare appearance with a push to release more Epstein files. We trace the surprising Republican defections, the personal pressure applied to peel names off, and the moment a few chose conscience over party. The road ahead is procedural and steep—House, Senate, possible veto—but daylight matters. Survivors deserve more than whispers and sealed boxes, and the public deserves a government that doesn’t default to secrecy when the vulnerable paid the price.

We close with action, not just analysis. An “empty chair” town hall gathers stories, names, and community resolve on the eve of the vote. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to get involved, this is it: show up, call someone who needs you, and tell your representatives that compassion and transparency aren’t negotiable. If this resonates, follow the show, share with a friend, and leave a review—your voice helps others find ours.

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A 37-day shutdown shouldn’t be a theory test—it’s a stress test on real lives. We open the hood on what’s actually breaking: paychecks interrupted, SNAP benefits muddled, and a fragile FAA pushed to reduce flights right before the holidays. As veterans rooted in the Pikes Peak Region, we connect the local to the national, showing how a 15% veteran population feels every policy shock first and hardest—and how organized volunteers can still move legislation where it counts.

We don’t stop at the headlines. The filibuster gets a plain-English audit: not a constitutional safeguard, but a Senate rule that too often enables cost-free obstruction. We make the case for forcing real, on-the-floor filibusters so voters can see who’s blocking what and why. Then we track the aviation crunch—controller shortages, safety oversight gaps, and cascading cancellations that turn family plans into price spikes and missed seats. When the system relies on people who aren’t being paid, the margins vanish, and risk fills the gap.

Healthcare has been the banner, but it can’t be the only banner. Premium hikes matter, especially for lower-income families who spend every extra dollar twice over in their neighborhoods. Still, voters deserve a scale that fits the moment: missed wages, food security, safety regulation, and the uneasy drift toward deploying troops in American cities. If leaders ask the public to shoulder a shutdown, they must widen the case to match the harm.

We wrap with practical help and a push: local restaurants and nonprofits are feeding furloughed workers, veteran groups are organizing, and resources exist if you know where to look. Listen for clear takeaways, tangible support, and a roadmap for better messaging that puts people first. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review—then tell us what priority you want on the scale next.

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A president told reporters he wanted to “start testing nuclear weapons” while flying to meet Xi, and the timing set off alarms. We break down what it would actually take to light a test in Nevada after three decades offline, why subcritical experiments and modeling already safeguard reliability, and how treaty logic—if you test, we test—has kept a fragile peace. From the START framework to real-world launch notifications and telemetry games, we pull from lived experience in satellite monitoring to explain how quickly trust erodes when declarations and data don’t match.

Then we take the conversation from megaton headlines to street-level power. A string of ICE clips shows masked agents grabbing phones and conducting chaotic stops—signs of poor identification, weak discipline, and no de-escalation. We talk about what communities can do: coordinated observation, legal observers, and local pressure that forces transparency. Sanctuary policies aren’t a cure-all, but procurement, oversight, and city leadership signal whether people or spectacle set the agenda.

The shutdown sits underneath it all, amplifying executive reach while Congress trades narratives about funding and blame. We explore how stalemates turn governance into messaging, and why reopening matters to everything from inspections to courts. That leads us to money and power: defining “excessive wealth,” closing loopholes that let mega-firms chew up roads without paying for them, and reviving antitrust and procurement rules that spread opportunity to small, veteran-, and women-owned businesses. Decorporatizing doesn’t mean ditching capitalism; it means aligning profit with place, quality jobs with transit, and incentives with real community value.

If you value clear-eyed analysis on nuclear policy, civil liberties, and the economics that touch your daily life, hit follow, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review with the one reform you’d prioritize first. Your take might shape our next conversation.

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A warm lunch table with veterans turns into a hard truth session about the third week of a government shutdown—and who bears the cost when politics stalls. We unpack what missed first-of-the-month payments mean for retirees and VA disability recipients, why many military families face a double hit from “non-essential” base jobs, and how a late surge of back pay could mask deeper harm in the holiday economy. Along the way, we point to real lifelines—Food to Power, Care and Share, and Mount Carmel—for food access, counseling, and community that helps people breathe when the numbers don’t add up.

From the streets, a “No Kings” protest brings the question of power into focus. Forget the noise; look at the clearest signal of all: the idea of putting a sitting leader’s face on currency. Democracies honor after service; monarchs mint themselves. That simple test anchors a wider conversation about dynastic ambitions, family entanglement in core state functions, and the normalization of permanence that corrodes the rule of law.

Then we head south, where small boats in international waters are being blown up at a steady clip. If you can track a vessel well enough to strike it, you can interdict it lawfully—that’s the standard the laws of armed conflict demand. An admiral at Southern Command resigns rather than carry orders he deems unlawful, even as rank downgrades compress experience and reward compliance. Meanwhile, the press is boxed into choreographed access while propagandists flood the zone, drowning out facts with noise. We connect these threads with a veteran’s practicality: help your neighbor, use the resources within reach, and keep your eye on what the law requires, not what the loudest voice demands.

If this conversation helps you navigate a hard month—or see the stakes more clearly—share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a review. What’s the one action you’re taking this week to support someone in your community?

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What if a holiday label could teach you everything about power? We start with the fight over Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day as a living lesson in how culture gets replaced, co-opted, and defended—and why nostalgia is such a potent political tool. From there, we pull back the camera (literally) on protest coverage, showing how tight frames and smoky angles turn a two-block action into a “city on fire.” When fear takes the mic, escalation becomes easy.

As veterans, we talk plainly about what we’ve seen at ICE facilities: pepper rounds fired at a priest, riot lines moving to punish rather than protect, and a growing haze where impersonators mimic federal agents to harass vulnerable communities. That’s not just a policing problem—it’s a civic one. We break down how modern resistance actually works: tail-number tracking, open-source mapping of operations, and real-time alerts that keep protests visible, lawful, and effective. When platforms silence observers in the name of “safety,” the public loses a critical check on state power.

Shutdown politics threads through the hour, but not as a budget parlor game. We ask what’s worth a hard stop: premium hikes—or drawing a line against active harm? With fractures showing on the right and real economic pain hitting farmers, service members, and families, pressure won’t come from sound bites; it’ll come from consequences. We also tackle the uneasy “peace” in Israel–Gaza and the profit-churn of reconstruction without accountability—another reminder that transparency is the guardrail, at home and abroad.

If you’re planning to show up for No Kings Day, we’ve got you: clear de-escalation steps, how to document safely, and why discipline—not outrage—wins hearts and ground. Listen, share with a friend who’s on the fence, and tell us: where do you draw the line, and how will you help hold it? Subscribe, leave a review, and join us on the ground—peaceful, visible, and prepared.

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A community protest with porta-potty “sponsorships” shouldn’t have anything to do with a room full of stone-faced generals at Quantico—but it does. We open on real-world organizing in Colorado Springs, then trace a straight line to a stage where aesthetics and loyalty checks tried to pass for military leadership. When beards become the battleground and “look the part” outweighs mission, you can feel the culture war trying to rewrite standards from the outside.

We break down what actually happened at the GOFO summit: a massive lift to move the brass, a political speech delivered to an audience trained not to clap, and a message heavy on optics but light on readiness. From shaving waivers and their racial reality to religious accommodations in the Space Force, we separate myth from operational need. We also clear the air on PT standards and combat roles: elite units already enforce tough, job-specific requirements that didn’t soften when women got a fair shot. The data is small, the standards are high, and the dog whistles are loud.

Then we widen the lens. “Train in our cities,” “enemy within,” and a push to militarize police risk crossing legal lines that protect civilians from domestic force. Add a government shutdown framed by misinformation about immigrant benefits while lavish projects skate through, and the priorities come into focus. Finally, we challenge the nostalgia for “hands-on” boot camp. Draft-era fear worked when you could replace deserters with letters; in an all-volunteer force, abuse undermines trust, retention, and real readiness. Along the way, we call out the AI meme factory and the normalization of ridicule from the highest office—a propaganda loop that distracts from what actually keeps the country safe.

If you care about readiness over rhetoric and mission over memes, pull up a chair. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who served (or wanted to), and leave a review to help more folks find an honest take on what really matters.

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The specter of authoritarianism looms large in this riveting discussion between veterans Dick Wilkinson and Adam Gillard as they unpack Secretary Pete Hegseth's unprecedented recall of 800 general officers to the Pentagon. What appears to be a simple administrative meeting reveals itself as potentially something far more sinister—a loyalty purge designed to reshape military leadership in the administration's image.

Drawing on their military backgrounds, the hosts decode the significance behind renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War—a seemingly symbolic change that signals a fundamental ideological shift. They highlight the staggering waste of resources this rebranding represents while examining the troubling pattern of dismissals targeting women generals, painting a picture of an institution being reshaped along Christian nationalist lines.

The conversation shifts to media freedom as they analyze Jimmy Kimmel's brief suspension and return to ABC following his Trump jokes. Despite his comeback, approximately 30 stations across America still refuse to air his show—a telling indicator of political pressure on media outlets. The hosts commend Kimmel for immediately hosting Gavin Newsom, who voiced the alarming concern shared by many: Will America even have elections in 2028?

Most chilling is their theory about Trump's possible strategy for securing an unprecedented third term through manufacturing an international crisis. By encouraging escalation with Russia while undermining democratic institutions at home, the groundwork for emergency powers that could suspend normal constitutional processes appears to be taking shape. As veterans who've sworn to protect the Constitution, their perspective offers a uniquely informed warning about the fragility of democracy when military loyalty is redirected from the nation to an individual.

Ready to join the conversation? Connect with us at the Veterans Lunch, where candidates regularly engage with our community about the issues that matter most. Your voice and perspective are essential in these critical times.

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