California innovation sent us to the moon in 1969. Today it spends $126 billion on high-speed rail to nowhere and loses $180 billion in welfare fraud. While Artemis II circled the moon for the first time in half a century, taking humans farther from Earth than ever before, California continued on its budget spiral to hell.

Chris Rufo’s recent reporting exposed that Gavin Newsom has presided over an “empire of fraud” across the state’s generous unemployment insurance, Medicaid, and homelessness programs. What happened to the state that elected Ronald Reagan and built Silicon Valley?

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Check my sources over on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/dadsavesamerica/p/california-sent-us-to-the-moon-now?r=24ayxm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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I sat down with Matt Taibbi, the reporter who broke the Twitter Files, to trace how the American press went from honest journalism to deep state propaganda.

Matt spent about a decade studying and working as a journalist in Russia, witnessing the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin. When American meddling in Ukraine led to Russian military intervention in 2014, he was uniquely positioned to understand what was really going on.

This conflict set the stage for over a decade of American politics, from the rise of Donald Trump, to Russiagate, to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal and the FBI censorship plot that followed. Matt saw Soviet propaganda up close, and he’s convinced the fight for free speech in America is more urgent than ever.

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Stay ahead of the spin. Go to ground.news/dsa to cut through media bias and see the full picture. Use my link to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan.

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Follow Matt Taibbi on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/mtaibbi?s=20

Check out Racket News: https://www.racket.news/

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Outline:

[0:00] Matt's journalism origin story

[5:06] Why Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was censored during COVID

[13:23] What the Missouri v. Biden ruling actually means

[19:19] The government wants to control your mind

[25:39] Free speech used to unite Americans

[31:28] The unbridled arrogance of elite journalism

[43:54] Studying and working in the Soviet Union

[54:28] Russia’s financial crisis and the dot-com bubble

[1:02:19] Witnessing the rise of Vladimir Putin

[1:13:12] Taking over Hunter S. Thompson’s job at Rolling Stone

[1:16:21] Obama, NATO expansion, and the road to Ukraine

[1:20:48] The real reason Russia annexed Crimea

[1:30:20] Is American influence in Ukraine overblown?

[1:37:16] Biden family corruption in Ukraine

[1:44:31] How Matt knew Russiagate was a scam

[2:02:14] Elon’s DM and getting access to the Twitter Files

[2:12:30] No one wanted to cover the censorship crisis

[2:18:05] Figuring out what was actually in the Twitter Files

[2:25:54] How the Hunter Biden laptop story was censored

[2:39:30] Proof that government is behind social media censorship

[2:46:55] Did Trump’s reelection actually strengthen free speech?

[2:52:17] How Wilsonian liberalism overtook populist liberalism

[2:57:07] Fight for American values for the sake of your kids

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Purchase a T-shirt, hoodie, and more over on our merch store: https://shop.dadsavesamerica.com/

Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4mh_MBdjdHM

Make a tax-deductible donation to Dad Saves America: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://secure.anedot.com/emergent-order-foundation/dad-website?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Marc Andreessen’s claim that “introspection is overrated” sparked a predictable media backlash, but the real debate isn’t about therapy culture or woke narcissism. In a world shaped by AI, social media algorithms, and increasingly rigid ideologies, we’re losing the ability to question ourselves. That’s where things get dangerous.

This Good Friday, I’m reflecting on Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Live Not by Lies,” the sin of pride, and why Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The symbol of the Cross is a reminder that suffering is unavoidable and that humility is the path to truth.

Resisting pride means admitting when you’re wrong, something our social media-driven culture rarely rewards. Committing yourself to truth, even when it’s inconvenient, means accepting that cost.

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Purchase a T-shirt, hoodie, and more over on our merch store: https://shop.dadsavesamerica.com/

Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Zzp8ekos36o

Make a tax-deductible donation to Dad Saves America: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://secure.anedot.com/emergent-order-foundation/dad-website?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.dadsavesamerica.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠