690: Saving the World from Nuclear Annihilation

Brian Nichols  0:11  
Did we rage against the war machine? Yeah, let's talk about that. Instead of focusing on winning arguments, we're teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to win in the world of politics, teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Well, hey there, folks, Brian, here on The Brian Nichols Show. And thank you for joining us for another fun filled episode. I am as always your humble host joining you live Mr. Stratus ip studios, you're in luck, Eastern Indiana. Don't let cyber attacks or outdated Business Technology put your company at risk book an appointment with yours truly at the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash Stratus ip. So let's rewind back to a weekend or so ago. And that's when we had the Rage Against the War Machine rally. Now. Of course, it was not without controversy. But that wasn't the point of the actual rally. The rally was focused on ending the war, ending the bloodshed and hopefully ending a possible nucular conflict. Joining us today, who was a member actually at the event, we're going to learn all about what happened. Brian kowski Welcome back to the birthday. Welcome back. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Thanks for joining us.

Brian Kunkoski  1:24  
Hey, Brian. Thanks for having me.

Brian Nichols  1:25  
Absolutely. Brian, thanks for joining. And obviously, we're looking forward to digging into what you learned and what you saw at the Rage Against the War Machine rally. But first, do us a favor, introduce yourself to the audience, and particularly your history here in the liberty movement.

Brian Kunkoski  1:40  
Sure. Well, I've been a registered libertarian since 2013. And like a lot of people I got involved, once the COVID lockdown started began. So it was November of 2020, when I got involved with my county, and then it's just blossomed from there. And I'm now the chair of my county, I ran for state senate and my district last year, didn't win, but I did pretty good for a first time candidate, third party candidate. So I'm happy with how things went with that. And I'll definitely be running again in about three years now. You know, trying to gear up, saving up some energy start off, start hitting the trail again, start getting my face out there again, and I'm looking forward to that.

Brian Nichols  2:22  
And you also are a podcast shows is that correct?

Brian Kunkoski  2:25  
I am I started a podcast called the Free State podcast, not free state, New Hampshire, but free state, Maryland. And the title comes from a play on a newsletter that the Libertarian Party of Maryland used to send out, and it was called the free question mark state newsletter. So I kind of took a play on that and said, Don't get confused with New Hampshire guys. But I just mostly focus on Maryland politics. I'll touch on some national issues, but I feel like they get harped on so much. It's not even worth, you know, having another podcast or talking about the same thing. So I really delve deep into the bills that are in legislation on the different county level and in the state level and try to bring bills to light that the mainstream media isn't talking about.

Brian Nichols  3:12  
Well, we talk about the importance, Brian of local elections here on The Brian Nichols Show, goodness all the time, we actually have a brand new free eBook that's out there for folks who want to run and win their local elections, ironically enough, titled How to Win your local elections. So folks, if you want to go ahead and grab your free copy, just head the Brian Nichols show.com. But the importance of what you're mentioning here, Brian, is exactly why we wrote that ebook, right? And why frankly, we do our candidate school when we're bringing local candidates on that see, how can we effectively address the main concerns that your constituents are looking at right now and seeing every single day and we find the best way to do that is to talk to them to go out and actually meet them where they're at. Leader not on the issues they care about i No surprise, surprise. So Brian, when you're going out right now, and you're talking about let's go beyond the Rage Against the War Machine route, or I'm sorry, the Okay, I put the cart before the horse there to be on Maryland politics. Let's go towards the Rage Against the War Machine rally, which obviously is top of mind. I think for a lot of folks, maybe not the rally itself. But the idea of the looming threat of world war three. Now this transcends local state, federal politics. This is talking about like a global thing here. Right. And you feel the war impacts all so you were one of the members there at the Rage Against the War Machine rally. Talk to us first about what was the the feedback from folks that were at the actual rally did seem like everybody was pretty much on the same page. I know there was a lot of different conflicting political views that were represented, but we all seem to have one cohesive message and that was anti war. Is that fair?

Brian Kunkoski  4:45  
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, there were there were communists there and socialists and just every group that you can kind of really think about that is anti war, and everybody was just focusing on being anti war. rally. There were a few fringe people, I didn't even see them. I actually saw it after the fact that they were, you know, allegedly, you know, proud boys or Neo Nazis or whatever. But I didn't see them, they had no influence on the crowd. And everybody was just is strong as a message as it was and what we are potentially facing the global threat of nuclear war. Everybody was in such good spirits. Everybody was laughing and smiling and standing shoulder doing was one issue that we don't

Brian Nichols  5:42  
Oh, I think we lost you there for a hot sec. Repeat the last thing you said there, Brian.

Brian Kunkoski  5:47  
We could we all agreed, you know, regardless of our economic stance on things, or what have you, we just don't want to die in a nuclear war. That's the last thing that we want. So it was it was a good good energy for sure.

Brian Nichols  6:01  
Good. Yeah. And I'm sorry, we're having a little bit of audio issues there. Sounds like you had a little bit internet connectivity. But you're back now. Awesome. Thumbs up. And yeah, to your point, right, like nuclear war. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants to see know what happened in that particular war. That is literally, worst case scenario. And I gotta say, though, maybe I might be incorrect in my saying that nobody wants it. And I see a lot of folks still perpetuating this idea that we are on the right path. And listen, I am not arguing about Ukraine's personal sovereignty, but you cannot ignore the fact that NATO has expanded way beyond its original borders. It's definitely encroaching more closely to Russia than Russia was towards NATO. So that's just a undisputable fact. But with that being said, where we're heading right now, there are so many people, especially in the global elite, who they're much more on board with the idea of nucular war, Brian. So, I mean, what do we do there? If we have the people who actually have their fingers on the metaphorical and in this case, real life button that could end the world? What do we do?

Brian Kunkoski  7:07  
Well, I think what we need to do is what we did last weekend by showing up in numbers, and you know, being arm in arm with groups that we don't ideologically agree with most of the time, showing that different groups can agree on things and this is a big thing to agree upon. And then it's, it's getting involved with your your senators, from your area, email them, call them, almost badger them to the point where they can't ignore you. That's what people need to do with people that our leaders need to hear that this is the last thing that we want. And it's ultimately their decision. But what we need to do is to make sure that we're reaching out to the people that we put into office and that they hear us and that our voices are loud. Yeah, we

Brian Nichols  7:57  
will. And this is also I think, it speaks to why we have to set narratives and I've talked about this in the show many a time, stop responding to narrative start setting narratives, when we're out there leading the charge in this case, being a real difference to what folks are hearing traditionally on their corporate media channels. Right. And that is, we have to support Ukraine, no matter what they're hearing that from their elected officials, they're hearing that from their media, they're hearing that from their their cultural icons. So it is important for us to at least have a different message. Maybe not saying, you know, I've heard some folks say pro Russia, no, no, no, not that. No, no, we're talking about like maybe saying, is there an end date, at the very end, we have an end date we started there, or maybe not send $100 billion in US taxpayer dollars, which I know it's all being printed by the Fed. But let's just look at for what it is. Let's send that all over to Ukraine, when we have East Palestine, Ohio, literally, like being Chernobyl to point oh, like, what are we doing here? And I guess, you know, how can we come together? Because you mentioned there were a lot of different people that were at this, this rally, and they were all unified in this one particular issue. But do you see us getting beyond the one particular issue in the future? Let you know, let's say we avoid world war three, do you see us having more opportunities to build relationships with the people that we've been building these coalition's with on, let's say that particular issue like ending the war?

Brian Kunkoski  9:20  
I do, because, you know, a lot of the smaller parties, regardless of what your economic stances on things, you know, whether you're a lot of these groups are people first. They they want they have what is best for the people in their mind. They're not, you know, pro corporations, special interest groups, you know, NGOs, they're not for that stuff. They want the people to have the power. Now, we disagree on how the people can have that power, but for the most part, it's people first and that's that's the big deal. And that's what I'm actually going to do after I get off here with you. I'm going down to DC, because there's a pro Ukraine rally today, Lincoln Memorial, same place, and I'm going down there, and it's just a handful of us Maryland Guys. And we're just going to try to talk to people that are pro people anti war. Um, you know, they're sure this is a pro Ukraine rally that we're going down to, but this could very potentially, you know, bridge that gap that people who are supporting Ukraine are thinking like us, they just see it as, like you were saying, you know, Assad a, an attack on a sovereign nation, Ukraine in this instance. And, you know, I think they too, are putting the people first, not the Ukrainian government, I just think that their messaging has been misconstrued by, by even folks like me, but we're trying to just go down there just to talk to some people that are willing to talk to us and see if we can kind of bridge that gap bridge that divide. Because, you know, if we have these two huge separate groups that appear, at least on mainstream media and the news that disagree on the how we're handling the situation, if we can bridge that gap, then maybe we can, you know, people can come to the table, and we can start agreeing that this is bad, regardless, right? I'm sure they might be okay with us sending billions, which a lot of us aren't. But let's almost put that aside for the moment. And, you know, let's put our pride aside. And let's think about the people first and think about the people of Ukraine, the people in the Donetsk region, or, you know, in eastern Ukraine, think about the people in Russia, and think about the people in Europe that this could lead to and then think about us if this leads nucular and then try to sprinkle in that fact that, you know, we have crumbling infrastructure, and we just Chernobyl in Ohio, and we're sending all this money over there, when we really could be using it for ourselves to make ourselves better, so that we can go out and help people in a better way, kind of a lead by example is what the US should be doing, not just printing money and sending it over there just to make ourselves feel good.

Brian Nichols  12:12  
You know, now 100%, man, and one thing, too, I wanted to address to the audience. This is more of something that Brian is talking about here, but also something we want to make sure we always revert back to and this is at the beginning to show how do we use the sales and marketing that we use in the world of b2b and bring it to the world of politics, right? And we know it works there. So what can we do to make it work in politics? I say, You know what, we start off in sales, you ask good questions, right? And you make questions. Make the person think so instead of just saying, Oh, my gosh, you know, Ukraine war is bad, because XYZ just ask the question, Hey, do you think we we've spent enough money in Ukraine yet? You think $100 billion is enough in Ukraine yet? Just set the context reframe the way that they think about, hey, do you think that NATO expanding its borders all the way from I forget the exact line, but all the way up to Ukraine at this point? Do you think that may have pushed Russia at all? Or do you think that that would make Russia at least a little upset, like start to ask questions, get people to reframe the context in which they're thinking of things right, Brian? So let's go as we're going towards the tail end of the episode here, and that is, we talked about winning Congress, not arguments. So I think it's important when we're going to a Ukraine rally. I know we're gonna find a lot of people there who are pro Ukraine war regardless. So with those individuals, not winning arguments, but winning converts, what are some seeds that we can plant to those people? So maybe not next week, maybe not? Next month, but maybe a year, two years, five years down the road? Whatever we talk about is going to start maybe growing into something more

Brian Kunkoski  13:53  
just it's really the people first it there's no group of people that's better than the other. And in this case, the the Ukrainian people don't deserve, you know, any more peace than the Russian people, do. They every every, you know, sovereign human being on Earth deserves peace. You know, not having this giant existential threat, you know, in their faces right now. I mean, we're all we all see it, this could go nucular. This is a big deal. So it's really just trying to, like you said, I'm not going there to try to persuade people, I just want to, I just want people I just want to see where they're at what level they're on, and then kind of put my two cents in it. And then there's, there's going to be some agreement, there has to be we can't completely disagree on everything. So if we can have some small agreements, and you know, maybe a year from now, a couple of the people that we might talk to today are like, you know, I remember that Ukraine rally I was talking to those libertarian guys, and you know, I think they were right like looking back on and now, people, there's always room for growth. If you're not growing, then you're, you're not being successful. So, you know, changing people's mindset, you have to plant small seeds. And it could just be simply showing up today, and just them saying, oh, there's, you know, some libertarian, libertarian guys are, you know, some guys that were wearing, like Rage Against the War Machine, you know, stuff. And they're they're here to, you know, also show solidarity for the Ukrainian people because it is people first it's it's it's government last, you know, this isn't about the government's This is about the people, and as long as people can start to see that, and then maybe they'll agree with, you know, other things, you know, maybe police reform, or maybe economic reform, depending on what side of the spectrum spectrum they're on. And then maybe a year from now, five years from now, they're like, you know, maybe I'll look into libertarianism and then we have one more soldier in our, you know, in our battle for liberty.

Brian Nichols  16:00  
Brian, you ran for office back last election cycle, do you see yourself running for office again, anytime soon?

Brian Kunkoski  16:08  
I think I'm gonna run for the same office. So that wouldn't be until 2026. So 2026, I plan on running again, I kept all my signs for a reason. The, the guy who beat me this will be after I hit this next four year term, it'd be 20 years in office. And they weren't very happy with how he did last campaign. And he actually lost his his Senate Minority Leader seat, it was a Republican. And so I wouldn't be surprised if they try to run a new person. And if they run a new person for the Republican Party in my district, I have a very, very good chance of winning that one.

Brian Nichols  16:51  
Brian Krakowskie con koskie. I told you, I was gonna get it wrong in the show. Because I have problems with names. I should tell the story here. I really put some vulnerability on here, folks, I had a gentleman the show I four or five years ago at this point. And God bless him. I said his name wrong the entire episode. And he didn't correct me the entire episode, until the very end, after we hit the end record button will be feeling so bad about it went through afterwards. Every time I said his name, I corrected it. And I went through the episode and replaced it. And I sent him like one of the longest emails apologizing and I was like, I'm so sorry, I called you not your name. And if I say the name, you'll instantly be able to go back and find out who it was. It's a very unique name. So anyways, with that being said, I apologize, right. I'm gonna get there one day with names koskie. And also with that being said, I want folks to also be able to find you and continue the conversation. So you don't have to rely on me trying to get your name right. I got your name wrong. I got a Brian. Brian McWilliams podcast, or I called his podcast over on lines of liberty instead of mean age, daydream. I call them Brain Age daydream, because at that point, today, my brain was fried. We're doing this recording, peek behind the curtain on a weekend in the morning. So I'm fresh and bright and bushy eyed, and ready to roll. So otherwise, Brian, let us know where can folks continue the conversation with you? And also, where can folks go ahead and hit subscribe for your brand new podcast? Yeah, sure. So

Brian Kunkoski  18:09  
you can follow me personally on Twitter. You can either type my name as it comes up on the screen, Brian W can cost you the second or my my handle is at BK the number two for Maryland. That's my personal page. It's it's my personal brand, I guess you could say, um, you know, my activism and things like that it was my campaign page. Now, it's just my personal page. But you can also follow my podcast at freestate pod on Twitter, freestate podcasts, I'm on YouTube, so you can subscribe there, that would be great. I'm also on rumble Odyssey, Spotify and Apple podcasts. You can catch me live on Twitter and YouTube. And then after the fact I'll be on the other services. So please go follow me there. And if you can give me a review, if it's on Spotify or apple that would be much appreciated, help those algorithms?

Brian Nichols  19:06  
Absolutely. So let's do this. As we go towards the end of the episode, I will kick things off for our final thoughts. And Brian, I will say for my final thoughts it is we need to be a part of these conversations specifically, in the hit my microphone in the world of the cultural arena. I will talk on my hands a lot. So I'm just like flailing around here. I'm not even Italian. But truly, we need to make sure that we are entering into these conversations that people are already having and figure out what like what topics are on people's mind that we can then enter into those conversations that they are already having and bring our values bring our ideas to the table and present them a different way of thinking. So if you want to go ahead and check out where we just had this conversation actually on the show with Brian McWilliams on that Afra mentioned episode, it was called culture matters. And you can go ahead and find the episode back on last week's episode by the way, I'll include that right here on On YouTube, when we end the episode here, I don't pop up for you guys to go ahead and continue the conversation here on YouTube. But for final thoughts on my end, yes, please go enter into these cultural conversations. And of course meet people where they're at on the issues they care about, Brian, what do you have for us for your final thoughts today?

Brian Kunkoski  20:16  
I'm just keep fighting. It were this isn't a short game. This isn't you know, this isn't Twitter, you know, trying to get as many likes as you can in the next like, two hours. This is a long game. Stick to it. Don't get discouraged. Don't burn yourself out. Take your time. You know, spend time with your family. That's the most important thing. But if you're in this fight for liberty, stay diligent. Stay persistent. Stay consistent. And just be patient. That's we just have to be patient.

Brian Nichols  20:46  
Amen. Well, if you want to go ahead and learn how to be patient and how to continue these cultural conversations, well, the episode will not end here. You're joining us on YouTube right here. Click that video in the middle. It'll bring you right over to our conversation with Brian McWilliams, where we talk about how in fact culture does matter and how we libertarians need to enter into that cultural conversation. I will see you over there. Otherwise, if you are one of the 99% of the other folks who join us on the podcast version of the show will do us a favor click the artwork on your podcast catcher, it'll bring you over to the Brian Nichols show.com where you can find today's episode, all nearly 690 other episodes of the program. And yes, the entire transcript from today's episode and the video versions of the show on YouTube. Honestly and rumble just do me a favor hit that subscribe button and little notification bell so you don't miss a single time. We go live but it's all we have for you. Brian Nichols signing off. You're on The Brian Nichols Show for Brian kowski. We'll see you tomorrow.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai