Making Deals w/Devils: Ukraine Russia Venezuela /Lt Col Daniel Davis & Scott Horton

Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store

The discussion begins with analysis of the ongoing war in Ukraine, asserting that Russia will not stop advancing until it fully controls the remaining parts of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. The speaker doubts that Moscow would agree to freeze the conflict at current lines but notes some signals that Russia might compromise on certain areas. They criticize U.S. diplomacy, arguing that direct talks—like those between Lavrov and U.S. officials—should happen continuously to end the war.

The conversation then shifts to historical parallels: Nixon’s meeting with Mao Zedong and Kennedy’s talks with Khrushchev are cited as examples showing that American leaders have previously made peace with hostile or brutal adversaries when it served global stability. The point: negotiation is not moral endorsement but pragmatic realism, and peace requires dialogue even with opponents like Putin.

Attention then turns to Venezuela, where the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ford is reportedly nearing strike range. The speaker condemns talk from American politicians and exiles advocating regime change or assassination of President Maduro, calling it reckless and imperialistic. He argues that Venezuelan sovereignty must be respected and compares it to how Americans would reject foreign intervention in their own politics.

Scott Horton, identifying as a libertarian, says he is deeply anti-communist but insists that U.S. sanctions—imposed since 2005—have worsened Venezuela’s suffering. He maintains that independence is more important than ideology and that sanctions, not socialism alone, have fueled Venezuela’s crisis. The U.S., he says, should return to a “Ron Paul foreign policy” of nonintervention, free trade, and peaceful diplomacy instead of corporate-driven wars (e.g., oil companies influencing policy).