What's up, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of The Steph nick Smith Show, coming at you as I'd love to do it fairt least three times a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of course iHeart Radio. As always, I like to pause before I do anything else to give thanks and pay gratitude to my subscribers, my listeners, my followers, because obviously without your support, this
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lot of stuff to get into. But it's gonna be a relatively quick show today because I got to hit the road because since the Minnesota Timberwolves did what they did, I gotta end up back to OKC probably back here. Who the hell knows what's going to happen, But that's where we're going to get started, because we're talking about the NBA playoffs, specifically the Western Conference Finals, where the y Oklahoma City Thunder are just one game away, one
went away for reaching the NBA Finals. That's because they took down to Minnesota Timberwolves one twenty eight to one twenty six last night in Game four to take a commanding three to one series lead. The league MVP himself shake Gil, Just Alexander and Jalen Williams led the way for the Thunder, both dropping playoff career highs of forty and thirty four points respectively. As for the Timberwolves, they struggled as both Anthony Edwarods and Julius Randall what hell
to just twenty one points combined. Edwards was asked about their struggles in Game four, and I can't believe I'm hearing this, but listen to what he had to say.
I don't look at it like I struggled or he struggled.
They just.
They had a good game plan making us get off the ball. Especially for me, man, it was super into gaps. I made the right play all night, So I don't really look at it like I struggled. I didn't get enough shots to say I struggled, So that's might that might be how you guys look at it, But yeah, I didn't struggle it. Oh, it just I made the right play.
That's how I looked at it. I looked at it the struggling because if your aunt man Anthony Edwards forty one minutes, sixteen points, five of thirteen shooting from the field, which is just thirty nine percent, one of seven from three point range, just fourteen percent, five turnoffs, that's struggling. That's struggling. Now. I love me some aunt man, always have, and I think that he's a future face to this league.
But let me be very very clear. When you are a superstar in this league, you do not go into a game for down two one knowing you have to avoid a three one series advantage to the opposition, and you go into this game and you attempt only two shots in the entire first half. He took one shot. His first shot was with thirty five seconds left in the first quarter. Come on, bro, that ain't what got
game three. That ain't want Galvanaza troops and led to a forty plus point blow out of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You got to be more aggressive than that, Okay, And let's call it what it is. Jordan wentn't have took two shots and a half. Kobe Bryann would have done that. Doctor j wouldn't have done that. Magic Johnson wouldn't have done that. Le Bron wouldn't have done that. Come on, now, come on now, Lebron wouldn't have done that. Maybe d Wade wouldn't have done that. I'm just saying two shots
and a half. No, that's not cutting it. And by the way, Shaye Gilgers Alexander was in the mister putting on a show forty ten and nine on the road in a game they needed to secure this series, essentially being up three to one. Shaan Gilgers Alexander forty ten and nine that brother us up the Special, the modern day, upgraded version of George Gervin, the iceman checking out. If you don't know your basketball history, I'm telling you he's that kind of a player. He is special, make no
mistake about it. And then I'm looking at some other numbers. Did y'all know that despite the loss of timper Bowl shot the ball better than ok See fifty one percent. They shot forty four percent from three point range. They are rebounded OKC, scored more points in the paint, scored more points in transition and off second chance second chance opportunities. They had eight more assistant three more points off turnovers.
They made six more free throws. Minnesota's bench outscored the DUNDA sixty four to twenty seven, and they still lost. They still lost. I love Julie rand I think he's a great guy. I think he's a talent, and he's a bulldog. I mean, put him down low. He's a man child. Five points on one of seven shooting bro five points. Horrible performance by Julius Randall nowhere around it because the minute he put the ball on the floor,
they knew it. Because he's not a ball handler, so they chased him off the three point line and they made him put the ball on the floor and he was ill equipped to handle that. He looked like he was playing for the Knicks in the playoffs. And I'm not talking about the present day Nicks. I'm talking about when Julius Randa was there a few years back, when they had lost to Atlanta in the postseason and Julius Randal couldn't get anything right. That's how he looked last night.
And this is the second time in four games, because Game two he was awful. Game four last night he was awful. Single digits in both games. And now the Minnesota Timberwolves on the break of elimination. Let me be very clear about what I'm trying to say. Oklahoma City ain't coming back to Minneapolis the season. This series is over tomorrow night, and okay, see, I can't imagine that Minnesota's gonna find a way to win this game. I
just can't see it. Malahoma City, with that crowd, did y'all see the fans out there at three o'clock in the morning where the Oklahoma City thunder landed back home? There was thousands waiting outside at three o'clock in the morning, and they hadn't even won the series yet. She does not look good for Minnesota. It does not look good. I just want to say that and get that out the way. I expect the series to end in five
Wednesday night at OKC, where I will be. And if I look a little bit tired, Damn's because I'm a lot tired. I'm exhausted. You know, it's hard traveling back and forth for OKC and many and all that stuff. You don't catch many flights that way going in those areas of the country. I'm just telling you that right now. It's not easy, okay, and that stuff will drain you. But now I'm here for it. I'm here for it. I think the series ends Friday or Wednesday night in
Game five, So let me transition to the East. We're gonna get to the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Knicks have a chance to steal home court advantage back from the Indiana Papers with a winternight in Indy New York. Staring back from twenty points down in Game three, but they're still down two to one in the series. Head coach Tom Thibodel switched up the lineup, starting Mitchell Robinson over Josh Hard. Of course we know that story. We'll see what he does tonight heading in to Game four.
Here's my thing about the New York Knicks and this series against the Pacers. I want to state, as a New York Knicks fan, I'm not in some disgusting, delusional, nauseating fan base. I'm not that dude like the Dallas Cowboy fans are. I'm a realist. The Indiana Pacers are a better team than the New York Knicks. I'm gonna say it again, the Indiana Pacers are a better team than the New York Knicks. The question is do they have the New York Knicks grit? Are they willing to
grind grind away the New York Knicks do? Do they have anybody that could deal with Jayalen Brunson nee Smith was doing that, but he twisted his ankle, and by virtual of twisting his ankle, he was suspect throughout the rest of the game and when he ultimately returned back
onto the court after departing for a few minutes. Jayden Brunton was in foul trouble through our Game three, but he came in and when it counted most he was able to close with a big time shot with over a minute with over a minute left, not to mention hitting all ten of his free throws. New York Knicks in the fourth quarter hit fifteen to sixteen free throws, ten to ten at clutch time, six of six in the final twenty seconds. That's how they won this victory.
Their offense wasn't sublime, it wasn't flawless. The Indiana Pacers, top to bottom, are a deeper team, and they're a better shooting team, and they're obviously better coach because as good as Tom Thibodeau is, he is no Rick Carlisle. But they got their work cut out for them. There's no way around it. Because the New York Knicks won't go away, and I believe they're not going away tonight.
I think they're gonna win tonight in Indy. I think they're gonna go back to the Guarden and win Game five, and that ultimately we're looking at a seven game series. That's what I call from day one. Now, let me say this because I am a diehard Knicks fan, and I do believe in Orange and Blue Sky's baby, and I know that we can tell y'all a irony of my situation. I'm just gonna put it out there for you. Do you know that orange and blue skies also apply
to okay See? Those are their colors too, Arji Blue? You who would have thunk it? I mean on a year that I don't need this problem and the New York Knicks are as close to they have been in the quarter century of capturing the championship. Let me tell y'all something. There is no way in hell I believe the New York Knicks can beat the ol Gloma City Thunder. Can they beat Indiana? Yes? I don't believe they can
beat oka See. And I actually think it would be a better finals if it's Indiana versus OKC, because both of them are deep, both of them are exceptionally coached. It's just that, okays the I'm with a superstar in Shae Butter as in Shae Gilgers Alexander. I gotta say it. I gotta say it because it's true. Hey set the truth. So this is where we are. But you gotta take it one series at a time. And I worry about the Knicks later and what they could do they get
to Okaoma City later. For right now, I need them to beat the down the pacers, which they should be able to do. Tom there though, you dudes on this bench, I didn't even know Shaman was on the bench, angelon Wright, I didn't even know they were there. But putting them on the court and allowing them to defend Halliburton ninety four feet that caused some problems. Indiana and I shooting the ball well from three point range off from the field,
that caused some problems. I kind of like this, and I'm just looking at it, and I'm saying to myself, Hey, let me tell y'all sign right now, New York Knick should be able to win this series six and one on the road this year, but three and five at Madison Square Garden. And then I'm looking at some of this other stuff to some of these other numbers that I needed to point out. Halliburton had twenty points and
forty seven percent shooting in Game three. Indiana's starting five, however, they shot a combined four of twenty one from three in Game three. They're usually better than that. Nie Smith and them hall combined for just seventeen points of four to seventeen, shooting one of six from three in Game three, I don't expect that to continue. The New York think's gonna have a tough time tonight. It's gonna be real
interesting to see what happens. Karl Anthony Towns was sensational on Game three, twenty points in the fourth quarter, but up until then he only had four points for the first three quarters. I'm looking at Mitchell Robinson. He shows up and throughout this series he's played twenty two first
quarter minutes and it's had ten points, ten rebounds. The last three quarters of this series, he's played a grand total of fifty seven minutes and he's only scored four points, but with thirteen rebounds, so offensively, in terms of his productivity, he's relatively He's basically disappeared. I'm just looking at it, and I'm saying, hey, we gotta get it together. New York Knicks can win this game. They should win this game, but it ain't gonna be easy. And the quandary for
me is, I'm a die hard Knicks fan. I love my New York Knicks. I know they can't beat Oklahoma City. Their defense is just too damn good. And one man in Bruntson and another dude in Karl Anthony Town's going up against a hard Stein and a chet Holger. There is no way in hell that this New York Knicks team is gonna be able to beat Oklahoma City. They're just too deep. They're just too deep, and they're too
tenacious defensively. You need to be deep yourself and more potent offensively to be able to have a chance against an OKC team, which is Indiana. So Indiana could lose to the Knicks, but it'd be a better matchup than the Necks for OKC. Somebody got to say it. So I'm telling you that's the situation right now, going and going into these conference finals. One is postgame four. One is approaching the game for in the West and the East, respectively.
But that's the nugget of material you need to know. I'll get into all of that a little bit later on in the week as the show progresses, but I'm gonna move on from sports right now. Coming up, Donald Trump finally calls out Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. What does it all mean. I'll get into that and then, but first, Caitlyn Clark will be out at least two weeks with a quad strain injury.
What does that mean for the WNBA. I'll get into that and more next right here on the steven A. Smith Show. You gonna go away? All right, folks, I need you all to stop what you're doing and listen up. You know I love this time of year. Right The NBA Playoffs are in full effect and with all its action jumping off to Steven A. Smith Show. Wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to win
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bring your game. The New York Knicks snatched the Game three from the Indiana Paces to Stay Alive. Game four is tonight as they look to even up the series. So I'll be giving you my picks for tonight's game. First up, well, the Knicks Josh Hart scored more or
less than eight and a half points. First of all, I think he's gonna get more than eight and a half points because I think he's gonna hit a few jump shots, He's gonna have open opportunities, not to mention the fact that he's gonna crash the boards and he's gonna be irrelevant on the open court. Yes, I'm going with more than eight and a half points. Next up, will Miles McBride score more or less than four and a half points. I'm gonna say more to this as well.
Out this brother is better than anybody in the New York Knicks and the plus minus category, while Michel Bridges is worse than anybody else on the Knicks in the plus minus category. Miles McBride has been a pleasant, a pleasant, pleasant surprise. I'm very very pleased with his development and growth. I'm going with more on this one as well. Next, with the Paces and drew them hard score more or less than eleven and a half points. I think he will.
Here is why because Nie Smith is going to be out, and if he's not out definitively, he's definitely gonna be at least hobbled because he twisted his ankle and he's trying to recover from that. That's gonna give them hard more opportunities and he can shoot. I'm gonna say more than eleven and a half for him. And finally, will TJ McConnell score more or less than eight and a half points. He's the guy described as the little engine that could. Whatever he needs to do, he gets done.
He's a workman. He finds a way to be productive and effective. I think he will in this game too. So the rehash that's more for Josh Hart, more on, Miles McBride, more on and Drew Nemhard and more on TJ McConnell is Stephen A. Smith giving it to you. We like more when it comes talking about prospects what we do. Go to Prospects app and check out the Steven A. Smith Show community play. It's boosted twenty five percent, y'all. In case you didn't know, Welcome bout to Steven Nate
Smith Show. Now let's get to the WNBA where the Indiana Fever announced that star Caitlin Clark will be out at least two weeks with a left quad strain. Clark reported some pain in her leg Saturday after the team's lost to the New York Liberty. She subsequently underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with the strain on Monday. Clarke was the WNBA's Rookie of the Year last season and
her first team All WNBA selection. So far, she's averaging nineteen points in the league leading nine point three assists through four games this season. I could give a damn about that last part. I don't care about her leading the league and assists. I don't care about the points that she's averaging because I already know that the young lady canball. She is special. What I'm interested in is what somebody tweeted me and asked about earlier today that
I want to show you right now. Put the sweet up please so our audience can see there at fourth Jen Bucci bu Cci right, Steven A. Smith. Can the w NBA keep itself afloat while CC, as in Kaitlyn Clark is out end quote? My answer would be yes, I'm not gonna summarily dismiss the w NBA. It's growing popularity some of the athletes that they have in there. I mean Asia Wilson, come on now, I mean it really starts with her. We all know what she brings
to the table, Brian and Stewart and others. We see what this league has available to itself and what it's maintained. We get that part. But I'm not going to ignore, nor am I gonna take my eyes off of what transpires with the w NBA over the next two weeks while Caitlyn Clark is out with the quad strain. And the reason why is because, let me tell you something
right now, I'm not gonna go to word hate. I'm not gonna be out there like RG three was saying that Angel Rees hates Caitlyn Clark, other players hate Caitlyn Clark. But I will say this, I don't think it's specific about Caitlyn Clark. I think it's what Kaitlyn Clark represents. See it's stude, no fault of Kaitlyn Clark. Caitlyn Clark ball. She balled at Iowa in college. She's balled, She's been in the NBA. She came into the league last year
with no break whatsoever. Between the college game of the pro game, and did a thing, ended up as an all start, ended up being fourth in the league in MVP voting, was the clear winner for Rookie of the Year, no competition whatsoever in that regard. When it was really all said and done, we know what she brings to
the table. But people wanted to hate because why, you had a bunch of players in this league that watched this young white girl come along and take the league by storm, and they resented it because they saw or the marketing prowess that she had. They ignored the fact that you got chartered flights because of this girl. They ignored the fact that ratings were going through the roof
because of this girl. Instead, they resented it because they said, Yo, we were doing stuff all before Caitlyn Clark got here, and y'all wasn't paying attention then, But now the young white girl comes along, and y'all want to sit up there and shower all of this praise and all of this attention that was earned before she ever came along. The resentment is understandable, but it's not about Caitlyn Clarke. It's about what she represents. My point is, grow up.
Who cares if your magic and bird? That didn't stop Jordan from coming along and doing what he did over the years that followed. It didn't stopped the Vince Carters of the world, the Oversers of the world, the shaq Diesel Shaquille O'Neills of the world, the chemologic ones of the world, the Charles Barkley of the world. Not necessarily in that order, of course, because he came before all of those guys that I mentioned. How about Evince Carter,
how about a Kobe Bryant. It didn't stop them. The fact of the matter is that it has to start somewhere, and if it starts somewhere, a rising tide lifts all boats. You jump on that tie, you jump on that boat, and elevate and use them to elevate your play or to elevate the attention you garner. It's very simple. But people didn't want to do that. There was a lot of people that didn't want to do that. Let's call it what it is. I ain't gonna mention no names,
but you don't know, y'all know who they are. And they didn't want to do that. And I'm not talking about players and just players so about announcers two talk about pundits as well. There's a whole bunch of people that didn't want to give Kaitlyn Clark a shine. But let me go over some of these numbers just to remind y'all of what this young sister brought to the table. Because we all brothers from another mother and all of that other stuff and sisters from another mother and got that.
That's why I said that, let's look at this. Became the first rookie with at least twenty five points, five assists, and five rebounds in a playoff game. That was Kitlin Clark. Became a fourth different rookie to play all forty minutes in a playoff game that was her. I'm looking at other things. Six different league television partners. This is last year. This is the last season, because this is Katelin Clark
that we're talking about. Six different league television partners set viewership records this year, that year her rookie year for its highest viewed WNBA game. Do you know every one of those games including the Indiana fever? I mean, am I just making as a am I just making as a every one of the games, including the Indiana fever. That's a that's what you think, that's an accident. Thanks to Clark, Indiana led the league and attendance both at
home and on the road. The Fever average seventeen thousand and thirty five fans at home and over fifteen thousand on the road. Four teams moved home games to bigger arenas when Indiana came to town to accommodate more fans. That's about Kaitlyn Clark. How do we know this? Attendance for the entire league was up nearly fifty percent last year according to data from across the Timeline, and Indiana League led all teams with an average attendance of seventeen thoy
thirty five. That was up three hundred and nineteen percent from the year earlier, three hundred and nineteen percent three hundred and nineteen percent. All of the teams still grew by double digit percentages, so let's not forget that. But they didn't go by three hundred and nineteen percent. It was Caitlyn Clark, which means she's largely responsible for the
overall league attendance records. Merchandise sales were also up four hundred and fifty percent for the WNBA according to Fanatics, and Clark was the top selling player and his fifth among athletes across all sports. Fanatics also reported a one hundred increase in sales for WNBA specific merchandise. It started
with Kaitlyn Clark. And so now that we know all of this, and we've known that for months now, we get to turn around and look and see what exactly is it that the league will do, knowing that she's out for the next two weeks. I'm not saying I know for sure what's gonna happen, but I have an idea. We shall see. We'll definitely be watching coming up. President Donald Trump finally calls out Vladimir Putlin over the war in Ukraine, and then some also Jake Tapper and that
new book out Original Sin. I'll tell you how all of that comes into play with exactly what I'm gonna talk about with Donald Trump and how that people end up getting screwed over. Are the American people? What on earth does one have to do with the other. I'll explain. Stick around. This is Steven A. Smith show back with more in a minute. All right, everybody, listen up with all the big time sports action that's happening each and every day. The steven A. Smith Show wants to make
sure you are taking advantage of it all. That's why we partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to win cash while watching sports. The app is really easy to use. To make a lineup, all you have to do is pick more or less on a few player stats. Choose from any of your favorite players Jaylen Brunton, Tyrese Halliburns, and Anthony Edwards the Man himself all in the same entry. Then sit back and watch. The list is endless. You can play Prize Picks in over forty states, including California
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to the stephen A. Smith Shop. Let me get to Washington, where President Donald Trump is threatening new sanctions on Russia in the coming days as he vents frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin after Putin launched a new missile and drone attack on Ukraine over the weekend that left many dead. Here's what President Trump had to say about Putin yesterday when asked about the latest assault on Ukraine. Take a listener.
I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all.
Okay, And here's what Trump posted today about Vladimir Putin on Truth Social, his social media outlet. Quote. What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia. And I'm mean really bad. He's playing with fire. End quote. Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are lobbying Trump to significantly ratchet
up you as sanctions after the week in attacks. However, Trump has said privately he is concerned that new sanctions could push Russia away from peace talks. End quote. First of all, let's call us what it is. That's an utterly ridiculous statement by President of the United States. You're concerned about antagonizing Vladimir Putin and him becoming a bit more volatile. What are you talking about? What else does he have to do? What else does he have to do?
Ladies and gentlemen, let's I'm not a historian, and I'm not asking you to look at me as an historian, But can we be honest and forthcoming about what has been transpiring over the last couple of decades or so at the very least, you gotta remember since the dissolution of Russia, of the old Soviet Union, rather in nineteen ninety one, after Reagan told Gorbachev tear down that wall
and all of this other stuff. Remember, the Soviet Union has never been what it once was, and that pained very very few people on the planet, more so lan Vladimir Putin. It's been his mission for the rest of his life since that period of time, to reclaim territory in land that he believes belongs to the Soviet Union. I mean, I read some of these articles around here just from an historical perspective about the kind of stuff this man is fixated on and it gets pretty damn scary.
I mean, if you remember, remember when Bill o'raleigh told me to look up the Yolta Conference and he talked about Harry Truman, he talked about the United States, and you talk about Winston Churchill and Great Britain, and he talked about Stalin, Joseph Stalin and Russia. How ultimately they were supposed to agree upon some things in the aftermath of World War Two, and that Stalin essentially renegged and ignored it. They thought that it was going to be
about democracy. They thought that it was going to be about the three of them coming together and positioning themselves to police the world in a relatively democratic fashion. But Stalin wasn't going for it because he had his eyes set and his heart fixated. And it's so fixated on the Soviet Union, on Russian dominance, not just in their parts but throughout Europe. When we fast forward all of these years later, what does it look like with Putin
right now? Except in Stalin, one could argue it was greed. In the case of Putin, he has the mentality this is stuff that belongs to us, just like when we took off CRIMEA in twenty fourteen. We believe that's ours. Ukraine is ours, Poland is ours, Feeling is ours, fourteen other different countries ours. We believe that belongs to us. And we're coming back to reclaiming everything that he's doing. Said, so we don't have to worry about his words. We're
looking at his action. Since we're looking at his actions. And oh, by the way, it doesn't help when we see our president in the old office in the White House, with Ukrainian President Zalinski acting like this. Don't remember this. Check this out during the war. Everybody has problems, even you, but you have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the fusion. God blessed. I'm blessed. You're I'm blessed. You're not. Don't tell us what we're
gonna feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel. I'm not telling you because you're in no position to dictate that.
Remember you're in no position to dictate what we're gonna feel.
We're gonna feel very good, feel influenced.
We're gonna feel very good and very strong. It will feel influenced you're right now, not in a very good position.
You've allowed you in a very bad position the very beginning of the war. Not in a good position.
You don't have the cards right now with us. You start having right now, you're gambling with the lives and millions of people you've seen.
You're gambling with World War three.
You're gambling with World War three.
You see how we got distracted. We got distracted with the rhetoric that Trump was spewing, the fact that here was a president of a nation at war, and we were focused on the fact that he didn't say thank you enough, the fact that he was dressed in military garble, in an outfit as opposed to Remember when you saw GOP politicians talking about how did this man show up in the Oval office and not even have one a suit and a tie? Remember that while his country was
being bombed. Remember that? And then we're talking about Trump and we're saying, oh, my goodness, there was or the lack thereof, did you have to have this man on national TV embarrassing him like that. We're caught up in the wrong kind of stuff. Where our focus needs to be is on Poland. I'm reading from some articles here, Russia's territory is greatly diminished from the time when Moscow controlled one sixth of the planet's surface, including Finland, Poland,
and fourteen of the currently independent countries. This is based on an article in the Wall Street Journal just from a couple of years ago, June of twenty twenty two, to be exact. Are we not paying attention? Do we not see what's going on here? The man's not playing fourteen independent countries, press Poland, Press, Finland, Okay, Estonia, throw them in there. Montenegro who Trump lamented, should American soldiers
be dying over something? Over fights in Montenegro? That's what he said in twenty eighteen, if I remember correctly, this is what the former president of forty fifth president who's not a forty seventh president said at that particular moment in time. And we're focused on what exactly words, verbiage, tweets, how somebody's dressed, whether or not they said thank you enough and showed enough gratitude. We're talking about trying to
prevent World War three? And why am I concerned about it to that deep of a level because we keep lamenting the state, or we keep saying that Russia's lamenting the state of its armed forces, the state of its military. And yet when Trump opens his mouth and he says there's a hefty price that they could play, they could pay. What happens. Putin goes out there and drops a bunch of bombs and a bunch of drones on them, more so than he has in the last couple of years.
And then Trump says, I don't know what's wrong with him. He seems to have gone crazy. I don't know what's going like, you're surprised. But that's not what lindsay grahmm and those guys are saying. A matter of fact, reading from an article in a Wall Street Journal just a couple of days ago. I'm here reading, and I'll read your graph here. Good news is that US saidate still
has some genuine realists when it comes to Russia. As gop Saidator Lindsey Graham writes in a letter nearby, he has eighty two co sponsors on a bill that would hit countries that buy Russian oil and gas with tariff sanctions energy sales of mister Putin's financial lifeline. President Biden refused to apply these so called secondary sanctions and mister Trump can't make up his mind what the hell is
going on? So we got one hundred senators, we got a vast majority of folks in the House that believe that Russia is a legitimate threat, that we've all perceived them as being all of our lives. But somehow, some way Trump thinks differently. Why why for what? And by the way, I'm not here just to point to figure at Donald Trump. Like they said, President Biden at the time could have done something about all of this, but he refused to apply these so called secondary stations. Why not?
See this is why relationships with other nations or with specific dignitaries should have a proverbial eyebrows raised because it smells what's up with Trump? And potent? Why are you not dealing with this man? Why are you letting him do this to Ukraine knowing that it has most of Europe's scared shitless? Because you see, if you are the United States of America and you decide not to provide Kiev with happy weapons that could deter Russia's advancement, where
does that leave us? These are legitimate questions, But I'm gonna tell you what the most sickening part about this is And by the way, don't listen. I'm not trying to point the figure. Just a Trump two thousand and eight,
Russia invaged Georgia. They weren't sanctioned in any serious way at the time, and I was followed by President Barack Obama's at tenth at a reset with Moscow in twenty fourteen, intervention in don Bass, Ukraine and annexation of Crimea during the miss Obama's second term prompted only half hearted sanctions. Reading from that same article Wall Street Journal, until last fight, if your Germany had pushed the nord Stream eight of the nord Stream two pipeline project that would have allowed
Russia's gas exports to bypass Ukraine. Up until April, the US and its allies refused to provide Keith with the heavy weapons that could have deterred this year's war. Where does that leave us? Because I'm seeing a lot of people scared because they know that Putin's not playing and if Putin gets a little bit, he's gonna keep going.
He's gonna keep going, and he's gonna keep going. And I'm gonna tell you what you scare us as American citizens, who are we to believe, because I don't know if y'all heard about that book that's come out, Okay, Original Sin Jake Tapper from CNN and Alex Thompson and its Original Sin, and it's basically highlighting and detailing Biden's deterioration. For lack of a better word, we saw it, we spoke on it. I was vilified for it a year before the debate last June twenty seventh, when Biden on
stage against Donald Trump. I called it out a year before that, as in two years ago. Yo, he's not gonna get to the Democratic National Convention. He does not need to be the Democratic nominee. And I was excoriated. I was raised through the coast. Who the hell are you? What do you know? Your novice? Shut the hell up, stick to sports all of this stuff. I had two eyes.
I could see. And if there's one thing I'm pretty good at, it's witnessing a deterioration taking place before my very odds, because I'm do it with athletes all the time. So if i can see it in them, I'm damnu you're gonna be able to see it in an eighty year old president. That Democrats was in the state Capitol chanting four more years four that happened, And why do I bring that up? And what's the relevancy to all
of that. I'll tell you what the relevancy is. I wouldn't feel so vexed, I wouldn't feel so insecure, I wouldn't feel so nervous if I thought we had a government that was committed to doing what's right, instead of supporting somebody for their own purposes or going against them for their own individual purposes, as opposed to be an objective and neutral enough to just give us the information original sin. Supposedly, it's highlighting how their information that was
needed to be given wasn't given. That there was a concerted effort by members of the White House and beyond to hide the debilitating circumstances surrounding then President Joe Biden. Now I could speak on it myself, because obviously it's an egregious thing that transpired, and I think there's a whole bunch of people that should be a shaded of themselves. I can't wait to talk to Jake Tappler, Jake Tapper,
and Alex Thompson because I want to know personally. I want to know personally what role Jake Tapple played and not reporting on certain information. I told you I watched it. If the interview with Megan Kelly from start to finish, ladies and gentlemen, she was sensational. She did a hell of a job. My point to you is that we saw it. How did Jake Tapper not see it? And as he continues to speak about all of this, where's his miacoppa? Because I don't see it. I haven't seen
it yet. I'm gonna be real interested in asking him about that when he comes on this show. The hatred for Trump was so deep that folks didn't want to report on his competition in any kind of negative way, then if the hatred would Trump for Trump was so deep that you were willing to compromise your own professional integrity, whether you're journalist, whether you have punded, a commentator, a politician, etc. I mean, Dan, who are we to believe now? But
don't just take my word for it. Take Chris Clomo's words for it. Listen to what he had to say on his show News Nation. Check it out.
When it comes to Biden, you know how I feel you didn't see and hear his obvious diminished capacity.
What we mentioned here at News Nation all the time.
This is a shocker, and now the narrative gets a nudge from a book that is about deception and a cover up. They want you to believe the media was deceived into thinking Biden had no issues. Don't count me in on that. I knew, okay, and it was no secret because you knew too. The book is titled Original Sin, claiming to detail how Biden's staffers made efforts to hide
his decline from the public and the media. The cover has Biden with his hands over his eyes, and it could just as easily be a picture of the writers of this book who are pretending they didn't see and hear what everybody else did. And look, I do believe the book is a cover for something, and it's a cover for something that's much more serious to me.
Than Biden's age and stage.
Everwhere the reality that many in the media knew damn well that Biden was losing it, but they played it down because they wanted Trump to lose more.
The Original Sin is.
Not hiding Biden's age and stage, but hiding this preference.
Amen, Amen, Chris Cuomo is absolutely right, But you know, what the bigger problem is. It makes Trump look right because that hatred for him, that led people to compromise their own professional principles just to ensure that he didn't win the presidency. Well, if you were willing to do that, then all of a sudden, does it not buffer his arguments about law fair being exercised against them? Does it not buffer his arguments about fake news, fake news, fake news?
Does it not buffer the credibility that comes to his arguments that it was a witch hunt? Does it not in some way buffer the notion that somebody might have cheated him in twenty twenty. I don't believe that last part. He lost that damn election, And I get that. I'm talking about him genuinely feeling cheated as opposed to knowing he's lying because, oh my god, the numbers say so, why should he give it themn the rest of us? Yes, why should he give a damn about the numbers? You
see what hatred can do. You see what an absence of objectivity can do. You see how the corrupt actions of a few, whether it's him and appropourri of his lives over the years, or Democrats and the lives that they were spewing leading up to the election. You see how we all got screwed because now the American people are sent here not knowing what to believe or who to believe anymore. And then you wonder why I'm pissed.
In my perfect world, all I want is somebody in that office and on Capitol Hill, whether it's a senator or a representative, who is free from influence, whether it be that of monetary or emotional. You're just committed to doing the job and the best interest in the country. So people can walk the streets of America every single day, going to work, coming to and front work, socializing with friends, families and loved ones, living their best lives, understanding that, hey,
we trust our officials to do their jobs. We don't have that luxury at this particular moment in time. Trump now with put makes no sense. Why he hasn't assisted other senators and imposing sanctions makes no sense, just like the actions articulated in Jake Tapper's book, acknowledging what those who hated Trump, obviously on the left, were willing to do to subvert and evade the principles of our constitution.
They were willing to manipulate stuff at all courts just to ensure he didn't return to office, and as a result, we're sitting here with nobody to trust. What a damn shane, What a damn shame. Hopefully it won't lead to World War three. But I ain't gonna lie to you. I'll be darned if I'm not worried about a few things. I don't know if I'm worried about that, but I'm worried about a lot of things, and you should be too.
Before I get on out of here, let's go to some tweets in this show on a lighter note, if at all possible. At Terry FINCONEA right, Steven Smith, why do you hate on Cowboys fans but then act the same way they do with your next? How do I act? I consider Cowboy fans to be delay us and disgusting and nauseating. Okay, now the nauseating part may apply to me. You could even sit at there and say I'm disgusting because of my Knixt fandom. But one thing I am
not is delusional. They having one since nineteen seventy three. I don't think they're winning this year. I don't walk around seeing you know who didn't go win the NBA Championship next year?
Right?
I don't do that, y'all do theyn't never compare me to a cowboy fans y'all so damn delusional, you'll owner profits off of it. He could sell y'all a bag of worms. You'll think it's shrimp. Next tweet, what's up at Mike Chapowski? Right, Steven Niswiell, how do you put on your shoes? A socks shoe, socks shoe or B sock socks, shoe shoe. It to be for me, sock socks and then shoeshoe. That's how I like to do it. That's my comfortable way of doing That's the easy ass.
That's an easy answer to that question. Last tweek, what do you got here? Let's see at Merriam Webster, right, what word is the most fun to say out loud? Blasphemous? Blasphemis R blasphemy? Either way? It works for me because I'm cussing without cussing. That's why it works for me. Ope, you can appreciate where I'm coming from. That's it for this addition to Stephen and Spishow, I'm about to get
on out of here. I gotta travel back on the road, get out of Minneapolis to head back to Oklahoma City for Game five, where I expect oklooma city thunder to end stuff. You know, I think this way it is. You know, I think Oklahoma City will end Minnesota tomorrow night in Minnesota timber Wolves. I think it's over. But I'll talk to you all in a couple of days until next time. This is Stephen, a sounding off piece of love. Everybody