NEW EPISODE · JULY 13, 2026 · EP 572
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Vol. V · No. 572Monday Edition
Righteous MediaSince 1776. Est. 2019

Episode 473

Admiral Stavridis: The Adults Have Left

The former NATO Supreme Commander breaks down Iran escalation, cyber warfare, and whether deploying ICE to airports is a road test for using them as a domestic political weapon.

The Brief

→ Four things from today’s episode
01

Why Paul saw the Platner collapse coming after the very firs. Why Paul saw the Platner collapse coming after the very first interview

02

The Nazi tattoo, the Reddit posts, and a vetting process tha. The Nazi tattoo, the Reddit posts, and a vetting process that somehow missed both

03

Jamie Harrison defends the Democratic establishment. and Paul pushes back hard

04

"Grown in vats". the fantasy of the outsider candidate versus the reality of governing



Democracy Wins—Pentagon Loses. Another Fumble from Hegseth. Vietnam Vet Robert Mueller Dies. No Justice for Breonna Taylor. RIP, CBS Radio. 

Admiral James Stavridis is back for a master class on war, peace, and the future of American power at a moment when Donald Trump can do almost anything he wants with the most powerful military on earth. The former NATO Supreme Allied Commander joins host Paul Rieckhoff to break down Trump’s war in Iran, the risks of escalation, what it would really mean to send Marines through the Strait of Hormuz, and how adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are watching—and celebrating. Stavridis explains why cyber is the next battlefield, what AI-enabled cyberattacks could look like, and why offensive cyber tools in the hands of angry regimes should have every American’s attention.​

They dig into Trump’s deployment of ICE to airports amid a partial shutdown, the culture crisis inside ICE, and whether Trump is road-testing ICE as a domestic political weapon where he can’t legally use the U.S. military. Stavridis lays out where checks on Trump’s power might actually come from—courts, Congress, NATO, and the American people—and why he still believes in the possibility of a centrist, independent political movement (even as a registered independent himself). It’s Manosphere Monday, March Madness is in full swing, St. John’s is dancing into the Sweet 16, and Rieckhoff and Stavridis still find “something good” in Disney World, underdogs, and the young Americans now fighting and dying in Iran.​