NEW EPISODE · JULY 2, 2026 · EP 565
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Vol. V · No. 565Friday Edition
Righteous MediaSince 1776. Est. 2019

Episode 480

88 Percent Say No Boots

The Pentagon quietly prepares for ground troops in Iran despite overwhelming public opposition, while drone swarms shut down U.S. air bases and an IED plot targets MacDill.

The Brief

→ Four things from today’s episode
01

Ken Burns on why the founders would be shocked not by a stro. Ken Burns on why the founders would be shocked not by a strongman but by a Congress that abdicated Article I

02

The Wounded Knee medals reversal and what Burns calls "obvio. The Wounded Knee medals reversal and what Burns calls "obvious racist editing" of American history

03

Renaming forts back to Confederate generals. traitors, in Burns' words — and the cost of that message

04

Baseball as a barometer of America. immigration, Jackie Robinson, and why every player wears 42 on April 15



In episode 480 of Independent Americans, host Paul Rieckhoff delivers a hard‑hitting solo briefing on Trump’s increasingly unpopular forever war in Iran, exposing how the Pentagon is quietly preparing for U.S. boots on the ground despite overwhelming public opposition and a distracted Congress. He connects that escalation abroad to urgent threats at home—from sophisticated drone swarms that temporarily shut down operations at nuclear‑linked and fighter bases like Barksdale and Langley, to an IED plot at MacDill Air Force Base—arguing that America is dangerously unprepared for modern warfare on its own soil.

Paul also takes aim at the growing culture of cruelty and politicization inside our own institutions, from ICE reportedly staking out Marine Corps graduations to hunt undocumented family members, to acting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “more bombs, bigger bombs” rhetoric, alleged defense‑stock profiteering, and Trump’s open flirtation with clinging to power beyond two terms. Alongside the “No Kings” protests, Charles Barkley’s powerful comments on immigrants, and the long fight in Ukraine, he highlights a real alternative: a rising wave of independent veteran leaders like Seth Bodner in Montana and Brian Bangs in South Dakota who are challenging a broken two‑party system. It’s independent content for independent Americans—country over party, people over politics, and light over heat—to help you stay ahead of the curve and stay vigilant.