Behind every war is a check with someone’s name on it.

In Episode 2 of The American War Machine, we follow the money — exposing how war in the United States isn’t about freedom, democracy, or national security… it’s about profit.

We break down how defense giants like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin sell war like a product launch.
How private military contractors like Blackwater committed war crimes — and got presidential pardons.
How Congressional lawmakers literally invest in bombs and cash in when missiles fly.
How the Pentagon labels civilian deaths as “collateral,” and how veterans — the very people who served — are tossed aside when they’re no longer useful.

And we get personal.

Because I served. I fought. I came home.
And I’m not staying quiet.

This episode is about naming names, confronting hypocrisy, and demanding accountability — from the boardroom to Capitol Hill.

• U.S. Department of Defense, Top 100 Contractors Report (2022)
  https://www.defense.gov

• CNBC: “Defense stocks surge after Russian invasion of Ukraine” (Feb 2022)
  https://www.cnbc.com

• GAO Report on F-35 Program Costs (2023)
  https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106106

• The Intercept: The Drone Papers
  https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/

• New York Times: “FBI Inquiry Into Blackwater Shooting Finds Contractors Used Deadly Force Recklessly”
  https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/washington

• DOJ Press Release: Trump Pardons Blackwater Contractors (Dec 2020)
  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/president-grants-pardons

• Business Insider: Conflicted Congress Series (2022)
  https://www.businessinsider.com/conflicted-congress

• Washington Post: “Lawmakers’ stock holdings raise questions” (2008)
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/09

• STOCK Act (2012), and amendments weakening enforcement
  https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/2038

• Bureau of Investigative Journalism: U.S. Drone Strike Casualty Database
  https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com

• New York Times: “A U.S. Drone Strike Killed 10 in Kabul. Here’s What We Know.” (2021)
  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/us/politics/kabul-drone-strike.html

• Pentagon Press Briefing: No accountability in Kabul drone strike
  https://www.defense.gov/News

• HUD: 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report
  https://www.huduser.gov

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2023-2024 Suicide Data Sheet)
  https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov

• VA Suicide Prevention Annual Report (2023)
  https://www.va.gov/health-care/health-needs-conditions/mental-health/suicide-prevention/

• Military Times: “House GOP seeks $15B in VA cuts in budget proposal” (May 2023)
  https://www.militarytimes.com

• PACT Act Overview – VA.gov
  https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/

• CNN: “Senate Republicans block veterans bill” (2014)
  https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/27/politics/senate-veterans-bill-blocked

• ACLU Report: “Discharged, then Discarded” (2016)
  https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/discharged-then-discarded

🧾 Sources & Citations:🎯 Military & Defense Industry:🔥 Private Contractors & War Crimes:💰 Congressional War Profiteering:🧠 Civilian Casualties & Drone Strikes:🪖 Veteran Care & Betrayal:

They say it’s “heritage, not hate.” But let’s be real—Southern pride was never about tradition. It was about treason. About preserving slavery. About rewriting history so white supremacy could survive under a new name.

In this episode of The Lies We Tell, I break down the dangerous mythology behind the Confederate legacy—from the Lost Cause lie, to textbook censorship, to Confederate flags flying in the U.S. Capitol. We expose how politicians like Ryan Walters in Oklahoma and national figures like Trump are resurrecting that lie for political gain—trying to rename military bases after traitors and ban honest history from our classrooms.

June 14, 2025 — No Kings Day. Across the country, Americans took to the streets in a powerful show of unity and resistance. But as hope marched forward, horror wasn’t far behind.

In this Off the Record episode, I unpack the full picture:

• The strength of the No Kings Day protests — and why it still might not be enough

• The targeted political assassinations in Minnesota that left a state lawmaker and her husband dead

• Trump’s cowardly response, wrapped in fake condemnation and years of incitement

• His speech at Fort Bragg, where he used uniformed soldiers as partisan props — and why, as a Marine veteran, I’m disgusted

• And finally, a raw reflection on why we keep showing up, even when it feels like democracy is bleeding out

This isn’t just about politics. This is about the future of this country — and the quiet war being waged on truth, justice, and anyone brave enough to stand up.

No kings.
No crowns.
No cover.
Just the truth. And the people fighting to defend it.

The Problem With... The American War Machine (Part 1 of 4)

Before the first bombs drop, the war begins — in silence. With Bibles. With flags. With budgets nobody reads and histories nobody teaches.

In this opening chapter of our 4-part deep-dive, we expose how America was never meant to be a peaceful nation — but a nation designed for permanent war.

From missionaries in Hawaii to drone strikes in Yemen… from Eisenhower’s warning to Congress’ complicity… from public school defunding to Pentagon blank checks…

This is the origin story of a machine built to conquer, not care.

We break down:
🔹 How soft power (religion & aid) prepares countries for invasion
🔹 The rise of the military-industrial complex
🔹 Where your tax dollars really go
🔹 How Congress became part of the defense lobby
🔹 Why peace isn’t profitable — and never was

We dig deep into the twisted history of the Second Amendment, the racist double standard in gun enforcement, the billion-dollar gun lobby built on blood, and how evangelical nationalism has fused God and guns into a deadly cultural myth. We compare the U.S. to countries around the world that actually protect their children — and ask the question no one in power seems willing to face:

What kind of freedom lets six-year-olds die in classrooms?

This is a raw, honest conversation — not just about policy, but about morality.

Because if we really believed in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…
We’d be doing everything we could to stop the killing.

And before we close — a critical warning:
ICE and CBP will be present at the FIFA Club World Cup in Miami. We end with a rights reminder to protect yourself and your community.

In this urgent episode of The Lies We Tell, we connect the dots between two deadly lies: the anti-vaccine movement and the violent crackdown on peaceful protests in Los Angeles. What do they have in common? A warped idea of “freedom” that’s killing our kids, endangering our communities, and protecting power at the expense of public health and civil rights.

We dive into:

• How a fraudulent study birthed the anti-vax movement

• Who profits from fear and misinformation

• How “religious freedom” has been weaponized against science

• The real toll: preventable deaths, collapsing herd immunity, and public trust in ruins

• And how this same logic fuels government-sanctioned violence—from school boards to the streets of L.A.

As a Marine, I was taught to defend freedom. But if freedom means letting children die and activists be silenced by the military, then we’ve forgotten what we’re actually fighting for.

This isn’t just about vaccines. It’s about what kind of country we want to be.
And whether we still have the courage to fix it.

Here are organizations doing critical frontline work to protect immigrants, reunite families, and fight for dignity and justice:

• RAICES – https://www.raicestexas.org
  Provides free legal services to detained immigrants and unaccompanied children in Texas.

• National Immigration Law Center (NILC) – https://www.nilc.org
  Advocates for immigrant rights and provides litigation support.

• Immigrant Defenders Law Center – https://www.immdef.org
  A Los Angeles-based nonprofit that offers legal defense for immigrants, especially children.

• United We Dream – https://www.unitedwedream.org
  A youth-led immigrant rights network organizing for DACA protections, deportation defense, and education access.

• Border Angels – https://www.borderangels.org
  Provides water, food, and medical aid along the U.S.-Mexico border and advocates for migrant justice.

• Al Otro Lado – https://alotrolado.org
  Offers legal services, asylum support, and family reunification at the border.

• Families Belong Together – https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org
  Organizes protests and petitions to end family separation and detention.

• Freedom for Immigrants – https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org
  Monitors detention centers and supports detained individuals through visitation and advocacy.

They told us it was about saving babies, about protecting the innocent, about morality and faith. But when you look past the slogans and actually follow the money, the votes, and the policies — it’s clear. The modern GOP’s version of “pro-life” ends at birth and begins with control.

In this episode, I get personal. I talk about my time in Catholic school, why I never marched for abortion bans, and how religion is being used as a weapon to push cruelty in God’s name. We talk guns, healthcare, hunger, poverty, and the real lives that are being ignored by people who claim to be protecting them.

This isn’t about faith — it’s about power. And it’s time we called it what it is.

This emergency episode was supposed to be scheduled and ready for Wednesday.
But then the news broke.

The so-called "border czar," Tom Homan, ordered the National Guard to Los Angeles — not to protect communities, but to target peaceful protesters standing against ICE raids and mass detentions.

So this episode became something else: a call to action.

In this special Wednesday drop, Luis breaks down the violent double standard in how protests are treated in America.
From Ferguson to Standing Rock, from MLK to Colin Kaepernick, from George Floyd to January 6th — the message has always been clear:

If you're Black, Brown, Indigenous, or undocumented — your protest is criminal.
But if you're white and conservative? It's patriotic.

We unpack the media spin, the violent history behind so-called "peaceful protest," and why the system never cared how we resist — only that we stay quiet.

And for those who voted for Trump and now want sympathy?
Save it.
You were warned.

In the explosive finale of The Fame Defense series, we take on the 2008 financial crash — the biggest economic collapse in modern history — and follow the money, the power, and the fallout. While everyday Americans lost their homes, jobs, and life savings, the elite walked away wealthier, protected by bailouts and political cover. No jail time. No shame. Just business as usual.

But the story doesn’t stop there.

Because out of that chaos — out of the anger, betrayal, and collapse of trust in institutions — came a movement. A brand. A strongman who claimed only he could fix it. This episode traces how the crash didn't just wreck the economy — it cracked the foundation of American democracy and helped pave the way for Trumpism.

When justice breaks, power fills the void.
And sometimes, it wears a red hat.