A Libertarian in the US Senate? | Q&A with U.S Senate Candidate Tom Jandron ft. Ethan Holmes

Añadido: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00][music] >> Liam McCollum, really one of the uh brightest young minds in the Liberty movement, [music] one of our rising stars.

[00:00:13]>> [music] >> Hey everyone, and welcome to another special episode of Liam McCollum show here in the Human Reaction studio. I've got my friend Joe Sheehan here in studio with me. He is a co-host on the Human Reaction podcast. It is the most underrated libertarian show, I would say, in in the movement. Um definitely check it out. It is a weekly news and commentary show, highly produced by my friend Joe Sheehan and David Rand. And then also to the left, I have Tom Jandrin. He's running for US Senate here in Montana. He is the America First anti-war candidate in the race in the entire field. And then I also have my friend Ethan Holmes, who I've interviewed on the show before. He is a Russia-Ukraine expert. He also worked for Sputnik News. I actually lived with him in Missoula. He was my roommate. Um and I actually wanted to have you on to talk a little bit about your history as a reporter with Sputnik and kind of give a quick update about the Russia-Ukraine war.

[00:01:14]Um for those who haven't listened to our previous episodes, you work for Sputnik News. And as a result of the war in Ukraine and Biden's policies, you lost your job.

[00:01:28]Um And if I remember correctly, it was actually at the threat of uh criminal charges. Is that correct? Can you kind of give a recap of of your story there?

[00:01:39]Yeah, of course, Liam. Well, first and foremost, thanks for having me on. Tom, great to see you. Bennett, great to see you as well. Always happy to uh to appear on your show here, tell my story, um provide kind of the the up-to-date coverage um that a show like this deserves. Uh I remember very fondly uh right after uh I got booted from Sputnik by the sanctions, I appeared as an on-the-street reporter, uh, for Human Reaction during the election night 2024, uh, outside in front of the Capitol.

[00:02:06]Some police showed up just for me, uh, just to flash their lights at me, and uh, give us a little warning. So, we're notorious on the streets of DC and only getting bigger.

[00:02:15]That's right. It was the deep state sending you a warning, wasn't it?

[00:02:18]It I there is zero other explanation. It was really the weirdest thing. We caught it on camera. Um, anyways, uh, speaking of notorious in DC, uh, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, uh, a very notorious country, has been for decades in the DC establishment, both in Congress, the State Department, the Defense Department. They're kind of a boogeyman number one. And so, that's why I wanted to initially become a reporter for Sputnik. It's kind of a sort of diplomatic journalism, right? We need Americans to to tell the story of American politics for foreign audiences in a fair and objective matter with, you know, the the inside expertise and knowledge that only comes from being an American who grew up taking American government classes, studying political science in America. I viewed it as my duty to give the Russian people, the people of the post-Soviet sphere, accurate information. And that only became, uh, more important once the Russia-Ukraine conflict started and trying to make sure that both our own coverage, um, was accurate and fair and to push back on the mainstream US media, the mockingbird media, and their narrative that they were pushing, uh, which I viewed personally as very dangerous, uh, especially as a Montanan living in our nuclear sponge. Uh, I know we'll get to that in the future.

[00:03:29]But anyways, uh, in October 2024, so just a month before the election that Biden ended up losing, uh, his administration, uh, threatened to shut threatened criminal charges or other financial penalties against any American who was working, uh, with Russian media.

[00:03:47]And it doesn't matter that there was editorial independence. It doesn't matter that we were American citizens engaging in free speech and journalistic activities. uh, They felt comfortable making that threat because of the perception of Russia as this strictly adversarial straight in all things state in all things associated with it as evil. And so I lost my job, I lost my income, you know, multiple years of experience kind of down the drain when I was planning on a on a decades-long career. And it really forced forced me to refocus, you know, choose a different career path here in politics in the state of Montana.

[00:04:22]And as a constituent of Montana representatives, as a citizen of the United States, I felt as though there was very little representation, very little ability to seek help for my situation because I knew I'd be wasting my breath going to Senator Daines or Senator Tester at that time to ask for help with my situation. And so here I am today still on the the outside of the journalistic field hoping to break back in at the first opportunity and speaking with with you as a candidate, hopefully getting to ask you some good questions and just providing some analysis, some commentary on the state of US-Russia, Russia-Ukraine, Russia-NATO, US-NATO relations. Happy to be here and happy to to put my years of work and experience to the test and to continue to to inform the public and and uh you know, have the ear of of a potential US senator right here. Well, your your voice is always appreciated and before we turn to Tom and his campaign, I wanted to ask you, you know, we're quite a bit into the the Trump term, the second term, and he campaigned on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Where are we at with that? I have not heard it in the headlines obviously because of the Iran war that has really taken up much of the attention, but has Donald Trump done anything to push negotiations forward?

[00:05:45]Well, I can say that Donald Trump has done more than Joe Biden did. However, the bar was was uh you know, rock bottom to say the least. Uh Trump has sent more envoys. He's engaged in both more formal and informal talks than we were seeing under Biden, especially early on in his in his administration. Uh but exactly as you said, the Israel-Palestine conflict and then later the US-Iran conflict to take up all the media bandwidth, all the political attention. And so, Russia-Ukraine has fallen to the side and perhaps to the benefit um of of Russia and to the detriment of Ukraine.

[00:06:20]You know, we're not seeing the constant aid packages continuing to flow. We're not seeing the constant news coverage with Ukrainian ambassadors and officials. Um so, that is one uh aspect of of the Ukraine-Russia war war in 2026. Um but kind of like I've been saying for months, uh sadly, this is just an absolute meat-grinder stalemate of a of a war. Uh yes, Russia continues to take small amounts of ground. Ukraine continues to launch some counteroffensives trying to regain momentum on the front line. Uh but ultimately, uh this war is boiling down to a war of attrition. And as we all know, uh statistics and logistics win a war of attrition. And Russia has the stats and the logistics on its side here. And for me, it's a real tragedy for Ukraine and Russia alike. We're seeing hundreds of thousands, if not millions ultimately, of people killed, wounded, displaced. Uh the Ukrainian economy is in shambles.

[00:07:14]Rebuilding is going to take decades and billions of investment. And um you know, we're all losing in this conflict the longer it goes on. So, it is unfortunate that Trump has not followed through as strongly on his peace initiatives as you would have thought when he was campaigning in campaigning in 2024. Um but he is doing more than Joe Biden.

[00:07:34]There is hope yet. Uh there's a very common phrase in Russian. Uh uh Nadezhda umirayet posledney. That's hope dies last. And so I'm going to uh hold that adage in my heart and hope that there still is hope to to stop the killing as Trump so correctly said and has yet to follow through on. Well, turning to you, Tom, I know [clears throat] that you've been hearing from voters a lot about the Iran war and and you made your position very clear, but what, you know, I obviously you followed the Iran I mean Ukraine war pretty closely. I've been friends with you since 2022 and I know that that you're you were an ardent opponent of the United States uh giving Ukraine aid similar to how you're opposed to uh United States giving aid to Israel as well. Um what is your position just to make it clear to Montanan voters?

[00:08:26]Yeah, my position I'm against war in general [clears throat] unless, you know, it's a strictly defensive, you know, posture where we're actually being attacked, you know, US mainland.

[00:08:40]Um all the wars in my lifetime have always been overseas or a proxy through some other uh country like, you know, Ukraine. We're basically uh at war with Russia as a proxy. Um and so I would never I would not vote for aid packages. I think that we need to um sever that. You know, there's long history that most Americans aren't familiar with as far as why we're even in this conflict, you know, it goes back to NATO and its original borders and, you know, the US foreign policy has continuously um pushed that line further and further towards Russia. And you know, and then so Russia, you know, gets upset with it. Obviously, you know, if they were pushing their uh you know, if they still had the uh the Warsaw Pact and and they're in South America and constantly pushing further north, we would have a a with it. So it's no different than us being on their border pushing, you know, NATO closer and closer.

[00:09:41]Uh you know, in 2014, there's the Maidan Revolution.

[00:09:46]Uh hot heavily involved with that, you know, we have um Victoria Nuland on record discussing exactly what her role in with that was.

[00:09:57]Uh we had John McCain and my favorite uh Senator Lindsey Graham uh was there pushing the war and and supplying the rebels, which, you know, they were actual Nazis that we were supporting to create that uh Maidan uh revolution. So, it's our constant meddling in all these foreign uh countries and uh throughout the world that lead us into these, you know, bad situations, running up our debt, um you know, we we don't have the money. I don't know where it comes from. We just print, you know, it's ones and zeros on a screen, but it affects us, you know, at the bottom line, Americans, everyday Americans.

[00:10:40]Um so, yeah, I would not be in in favor of any kind of aid to these um whether it's Ukraine, uh Israel, you know, all these we just we need to stop. We need to actually make and take America first seriously, fix our problems here at home instead of, you know, causing problems throughout the world. So, 100%. Well, the other >> Tom, Yeah, go ahead. Sorry, Liam. Go ahead.

[00:11:07]Correct me if I'm wrong wrong, Tom, but I think this is a really important point to make here while we're talking about this. Just because we're against US taxpayer dollars being sent to Ukraine, US military equipment being used in Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, wherever it may be, doesn't mean we are pro their enemies. It doesn't mean we're pro Palestine, pro Hamas, pro Russia and Putin, uh pro Chinese Communist Party, right? We can be against the idea of the US involving itself, getting entangled in these conflicts, draining our own resources for the sake of propping up these proxies. It doesn't mean we're on the side of their enemies whatsoever.

[00:11:41]It's one of the most ridiculous arguments and attacks that we hear commonly in politics. And certainly, if you were to be in the Senate standing up to these these aid packages and these defense agreements, you would be getting a lot of flak from our own government, you know, our own Pentagon and lobbyists, from our own media. And so, you know, I think it's important to make clear that we're just pro-America. We're truly America and Americans first and and not on the side of Russia, China, Hamas, whoever we may be straw-manned to being an ally of.

[00:12:10]>> Yeah, no, I'm glad you pointed that out because I am not, you know, I'm not Russian. I don't have any ties or to China or Palestine.

[00:12:18]I'm American first. I want to fix American problems and focus on, you know, the problems that we have here and make, you know, future generations happier and healthier and everything else. So, yeah, and and that's always what they divert to anytime that you speak out against one of these, you know, aid packages or against, you know, the foreign meddling, they turn it against you and make you a Russian asset or a whatever, you know, Putin sympathizer. I No, it's the furthest thing from the truth.

[00:12:54]I'm an American.

[00:12:56]I love this country and I want to see this country succeed and you know, turn those dollars over, you know, military equipment, what have you.

[00:13:05]It's just we need to end it and stop it cuz it does not benefit us as a people here in our country.

[00:13:12]So, Ethan, I I don't know if you saw this, but um one of Tom's opponents, uh Seth Bodnar, who's running for um US Senate as an independent, obviously, I think he probably has the most name recognition in Montana because he's the former University of Montana president.

[00:13:28]Um he came out in a Montana Free Press questionnaire and said that one of his biggest priorities is sort of I guess it was like economic stimulus toward Montana, bringing jobs to Montana. And one of the things he cited was the Sentinel program in Great Falls.

[00:13:46]And we've talked about the nuclear threat that was a result of the Russia-Ukraine war extensively in previous podcasts. Um I'm wondering what you think of that as someone who has studied the nuclear threat and and the nuclear sponge.

[00:14:03]It's it's concerning to say the least.

[00:14:05]And I understand why he comes out in support of it and why pretty much our whole delegation is backers of the Sentinel nuclear modernization program.

[00:14:13]It does bring jobs. It brings funding to the state of Montana. You know, that's one of the the key goals of one of our members of Congress in the modern era, right? It's just to bring back the bucks to the people of Montana. So, their their logic makes sense, but they they uh miss the forest for the trees on this one, right? Especially when we're uh further escalating tensions not just with the nuclear power that is Russia, but with other nuclear powers including uh China, uh potentially Iran if we're to believe the the two-weeks nuclear story, right? And and Israel, you know, Israel is a nuclear power. We are involved in a conflict in which it is involved. So, we have multiple nuclear threats going on at the moment. We're juggling them all. And our delegation seems to have forgotten that Montana is at the heart of the so-called nuclear sponge, the part of the United States that's low population density enough that's so non-critical that we can afford to have Montana nuked for the sake of national security in in a first-strike situation. And I just have to pose the question to them, hopefully in the future, and and to Tom here now, you know, is it worth making Montana a first-strike nuclear target just for a little bit of funding, uh a few jobs that aren't even permanent jobs. You know, is that worth putting target on Montana and Montanans backs?

[00:15:33]I'd rather not die in a nuclear holocaust personally. I don't know. It's not real comforting.

[00:15:40]You know, I have wife and kids. I'd like to see them get older and not die from that. Um >> [snorts] >> Anybody from Montana who's maybe been up towards Judith Gap or up to Great Falls, uh you know, I've hunted up there and whatnot and it's kind of I don't know.

[00:15:57]It's There's something weird and eerie about it when you're out in the middle of nowhere and there's a silo, you know, kind of right off in the fenced off and um you know, all along the highway up going up to Judith Gap.

[00:16:10]I I would rather and I I want to denuclearize the world and you know, and I know Trump has said the same thing. He wants, you know, there not to be nuclear weapons. So, it's kind of counterproductive in my mind to you know, put out this new Sentinel program. I get wanting to bring, you know, high-paying jobs to Montana. It's important for everybody. You know, I don't know exactly how many jobs that would be um and they're most likely going to be temporary. I mean, once they install them and get them up and operational, then it's just going to be maintenance which, you know, Malmstrom uh takes care of that. So, it's not going to increase jobs there. Um so, it's a real short-term in my mind uh solution to bringing jobs into Montana.

[00:16:56]But, yeah, I'd much rather take, you know, a de-escalatory approach to the nuclear uh issue that we have. And it's also uh hypocritical of us to modernize and, you know, increase or expand our nuclear um arsenal when, you know, we're currently at war with Iran because they can't have a nuke.

[00:17:20]Um There's lots and, you know, Pakistan, India, Israel, as you mentioned, France, Britain, you know, there's multiple nuclear um powers out there, you know, bigger, smaller, you know, varying sizes and whatnot. But, um you know, we certainly don't want Russia, you know, the great monster, or China, that we constantly are, you know, told to fear, seeing what we're doing and then them like, "Oh, well, now we need to increase our nuclear arsenal. We need to modernize." And it just escalates again and again, and then we find ourselves back when I was growing up in the Cold War, where, you know, when I was really young, I mean, I'm not that old, but we still, when I was in elementary school, had, you know, nuclear uh bomb drills, like, "Get under the desk and kiss your butt goodbye."

[00:18:12]Uh so, yeah, I don't want to see future generations have to deal with that. Uh I think it's kind of a short-termed um you know, I don't know, political uh kind of catchy vote thing.

[00:18:26]>> It's a bit of a stunt, isn't it? It seems like it.

[00:18:29]>> the job creation side of it, which, you know, is is sort of, you know, a little bit tangential, but it it matters to Montanans. We want to see the economic growth here.

[00:18:37]They're government jobs, ultimately, right? It's not actual economic growth.

[00:18:40]We're really just printing more money or spending more taxpayer dollars to produce more GDP, but it's not actually private sector GDP. We're not actually producing anything new. We're just, you know, replacing old bombs with new ones, etc., right?

[00:18:55]>> exactly. Yeah, and uh yeah, the whole military-industrial complex, you know, that's what it always comes down to. Um >> [clears throat] >> So, yeah, it's just not really It's uh I don't know, the government Yeah, government jobs do don't produce any any real outcome for the economy down the road cuz and as it is we already have a massively bloated um government employee, you know, I forget the exact statistic, but there's way more >> [clears throat] >> um government employees than private or that ratio is becoming increasingly closer. So, you know, it's like And it's not it doesn't produce anything. Right.

[00:19:37]To play to play devil's advocate for the Keynesians here, if we provoke a nuclear war, that's going to be a lot of broken windows to [laughter] fix all around Montana. Good point. More jobs.

[00:19:46]>> they're on to a long-term plan that we're [laughter] just not in on. That's fair. Pretty much every window in Montana would break at that point, yeah.

[00:19:52]And but you do mention a really good point, which is that Donald Trump has has previously talked about denuclearization. One of my favorite comments from the 2024 campaign was that he was actually hoping to denuclearize with both Russia and China. And that would be in line with the current goal in Iran with him attempting to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that they've apparently been trying to achieve over the last 30 years. Yeah.

[00:20:19]But um I I think that's exactly right. The goal should be to de- denuclearize and we also do not need this third leg of the nuclear sponge. All of these could be sea or uh air-based as I understand it.

[00:20:34]Oh, yeah. I mean, you have subs and you know, everything else. So, they can be sea-based and probably you know, more tactical really because you don't know where the subs are at any given point in time. You know, Montana hasn't moved in a couple million years, I think. So, you know, it's Fair point. [laughter] We're sitting ducks out here.

[00:20:52]>> ducks, yeah.

[00:20:54]So, yeah.

[00:20:56]Well, I you know, if Trump goes ahead and somehow acquires Greenland, we could put him there, right? That's a good idea.

[00:21:01]>> [laughter] >> So, Ethan, um I'm wondering just with your legislative experience, uh like like you alluded to, because you got axed from Sputnik as a result of Biden's policies, do you have any other insights or questions for Tom related to what it will look like on the Hill?

[00:21:21]Absolutely. So, even before I worked for Sputnik, you know, I had experience working in the US Senate, actually for Senator Steve Daines on the Hill in DC.

[00:21:31]I had interned for him previously in a Montana office, went and worked at the state legislature here in Montana. And when I was reporting for Sputnik, one of my primary leads, really my beat, so to speak, at at Sputnik, was the US Congress. And I'd cover the White House, the DOD, the State Department regularly as well, but I was really our expert on the US Congress. So, so it's my pleasure to speak with with a candidate for the US Senate here. And a question that I think just isn't asked often enough of any candidate by the mainstream media or independent media alike is how you would approach staffing your office. You know, for all the lawmakers that are out there, Capitol Hill and the lawmaking process really runs on the staff behind the scenes. So, especially as a libertarian who's outside the party networking structure and who may not have these these long-standing ties to the campaign staff that would fill those government positions. And and considering your military experience and kind of the insight that gives you, how would you go about staffing your US Senate office to make sure you're delivering for the people of Montana and making sound decisions on on foreign and domestic policy alike?

[00:22:37]Yeah, so I've been [clears throat] asked that once or twice, but not very often. First, I want to actually commend you on the reason why you worked for Sputnik, I think is admirable, to be a, you know, a diplomat, so to speak, for Americans and putting that news out to Russia, I think is really important that we, you know, have that because everything is so one-sided and in such a vacuum. And I think that, you know, more information and uh and just having more conversation across the globe will help kind of bring everybody and the misconceptions that we have amongst one another.

[00:23:17]Um you know, we claim to be a free and open society and then we, you know, close off uh reporters from being able to do that. And I just think it's a tragedy to the country and the Constitution and, you know, freedom of press and everything else. So, but um Yeah, I thinking about that um it'd be kind of interesting being the first libertarian if I were to be elected in Senate, um I guess I'd be my own minority leader head. So >> [laughter] >> So, you know, when I'm trying to whip the vote, I'm going to, you know, get in the mirror and be like, "Hey, >> [laughter] >> you better vote for this."

[00:23:58]Um you know, I it's kind of nice and refreshing that um that I won't have to answer to, you know, Republican or Democrat um party.

[00:24:10]So often we see, like for instance, you know, Thomas Massie, unfortunately, was just unseated. He was a true, you know, constitutionalist and an independent voice in Congress.

[00:24:21]Um and when he diverted from what, you know, the Republican Party wanted, they went at him hard and spent, you know, somewhere 30 million dollars to get rid of him because he wouldn't tow the party line. And I will have that luxury where um I don't have that pressure and that demand.

[00:24:43]Uh I'll actually be able to represent the people of Montana um the way that they should be represented, you know, instead of the candidate, you know, runs on their platform and then they get to Washington and you know, they do what their donors tell them to do and what their party tells them to do. So, um So, I think that that's actually a huge uh bonus and incentive um for people to vote for a third-party candidate. Um And then, I'm sorry. I kind of sidetracked myself. So, if you could There's more to that question. I uh caucusing I think was part of it. Um It was around staffing your your office.

[00:25:27]Yeah.

[00:25:27]>> So, uh I don't know if Liam is aware, but he's definitely coming to DC [laughter] with me. So, Excellent choice.

[00:25:35]Uh And yeah, I mean, that's something I'm going to have to obviously have to talk about some more and you know, and uh there's a couple people that I know who have experience like yourself in DC. So, you know, I'll have to kind of uh figure that out because I don't have experience. None of the candidates currently running have any experience in in DC. So, um But, you know, coming from my military background, uh you know, loyalty, I guess in the sense that, you know, I have full trust in that staff that I put together.

[00:26:10]Um That are going to have my back, give me good um sound information because, you know, there's a lot of bills that come out.

[00:26:19]Thousands of pages, you know, and they expect us to know them. So, you know, having that staff put together that I can trust that will help me go through those things and um and give me the proper information to know, you know, are we going to vote on this or not vote on it?

[00:26:35]Um Uh and and a real sense of country. I mean, that's, you know, I was in the Montana Army National Guard. I served this country because I love this country and I want people on my staff who feel the exact same way.

[00:26:52]Um you know, I don't want them being influenced by, you know, other, you know, lobbyists or foreign interests or anything like that. So, um we're going to represent Montana and that, you know, and America as a whole, but Montana specifically, uh cuz that's obviously state that I'm representing and we need to make sure that we are doing that properly. So, I I think you've really outlined a major difference between yourself and President Trump there. We can see from both his first and second administration that people he surrounds himself with have a tremendous influence on his policy, um how he goes about making these big, um kind of black and white decisions and and he's definitely fallen on the wrong side of some decisions he's made because of the bad advice he's got.

[00:27:38]So, I'm glad to hear that that you're very open-minded, that you're very, um committed to to listening to expert voices, to surrounding yourself with people who are loyal to America, to to good ideas and principles, cuz I think that's something where certainly the president has failed in both of his administrations, although this one's a little better than the first, and and where a lot of our congressional offices fail, cuz they just hire the people in their network. They hire the people out of these, um elite connected political science and law schools. And and so I I appreciate your answer there. And there's also an interesting comparison here between yourself and and Seth Bodnar, who we mentioned, an independent US Senate candidate. He said he won't caucus with either Republicans or Democrats, that he's a true independent.

[00:28:21]And the downside of that is that you're probably not going to end up with committee assignments or at least good committee assignments.

[00:28:28]Um so, in your mind, would that be would that be a detriment, maybe being excluded from the committee process?

[00:28:34]Would you lump yourself in with Republicans for that purpose? Or would you just use it as more time to to serve the constituents of Montana and learn the ropes of the hill?

[00:28:43]Um I think it, you know, using some of it to learn the ropes of the hill. I think, you know, maybe like the Freedom Caucus are still good people within there.

[00:28:52]Um So, yeah, I mean, I think that there are groups uh that I would be able to caucus with. Uh we'll just obviously have to take a look at that and kind of see uh what becomes available. You know, it is harder being a complete independent and, you know, Washington is controlled by the two Well, the Uniparty, really.

[00:29:13]But, um So, yeah, it's going to be, like I said again, kind of a a learning curve, but um but I would like, you know, there's some There's good ideas on both sides, more typically from one than the other. Um But, uh but we need to create that unity and, you know, it could be an advantage, too, where if there is uh you know, good policy out there and kind of as a swing vote, I suppose, you know, a true swing vote. Um So, yeah, we'll just kind of look at everything that's out there and and see what we can do. I mean, That's an interesting way to look at it.

[00:29:54]Instead of being insulated from the two-party system, you you are a sort of someone to actually be courted honestly and earnestly by either side. Whatever good policies are out there and it potentially in a in a tight uh you know, congressional body with, you know, close numbers on either side, it could be a real opportunity for a libertarian voice to get things across the table or or, you know, strip bad pieces out of bills, right?

[00:30:17]>> Yeah. Yeah, there'd probably be a lot of stripping, you know, [laughter] cuz most of it's all bad. As small as we can get it. That's your job. As small as we can get it. We send you to Washington, that is your number one charge. Shrinking the government.

[00:30:30]>> Yes.

[00:30:31]Well, I'd be interested to hear your take. Sorry, Liam. Just a Montana tie here. One of the things I admire about Montana's state lawmaking process is we have single subject bills. You can't lump a bunch of different policies uh together into one bill and tie support for one with with support for another.

[00:30:49]Um so, if you were crafting bills there in Congress, do you think you would take that Montana spirit with you and and only propose and and introduce and sponsor single subject bills and not these like you said thousand-page omnibuses? Oh, absolutely. One of my biggest pet peeves is the omnibus bills.

[00:31:05]You know, it and they wrap it in the you know, the military spending or uh the Department of Homeland Security. All these things that you know, they use them as the wedge issues to to push them through.

[00:31:18]It's absolutely absurd that we're that you know, people in Washington are voting on these massive bills. Nobody truly knows what's in them.

[00:31:27]Uh you know, Nancy Pelosi years ago was famous for saying, "Oh, we got to vote, you know, for the bill before we know what's in it." Uh it's absolutely absurd. Like So, yeah, I think that uh you know, maybe the first legislation I would uh propose would be, you know, single line item bills.

[00:31:45]Uh you know, like Massie himself, all his bills were like a page or two pages.

[00:31:50]It doesn't have to be full of, you know, nonsense and legalese and everything else. Just be cut and dry, simple for everybody to understand what it is, what it's to achieve and uh and go from there. So, yeah, I think that is probably one of the biggest um it'll be one of the biggest hurdles, but I think one of the biggest reasons why we find ourselves in the situation that we are in with, you know, rampant out of control spending and everything else, a massively bloated government. Um you know, I would also like to see like a DO type thing codified into law so that um we'll every single department in the government is audited on an annual or every 2 years, something. You know, and the Pentagon, like there's no sacred cows in the federal government. Everything should be open and transparent to the American people to know exactly where their dollars are getting spent, how they're being spent, and being spent prudently. So, yeah. In keeping with the question that Ethan just asked about, you know, the the Montana single-issue bills, um the Montana Constitution also has established term limits and historically, uh because it was a constitutional amendment, the goal was to impose them on uh US representatives and US senators, but that failed in the courts. So, technically, Montana voters though still voted, you know, that was at least the spirit of what they attempted to implement in the law is that the US representatives and senators would not serve beyond a certain period of time. So, would you also commit to uh stay to like two terms or three terms or something like that and or do you plan on being a career politician?

[00:33:38]>> I want to affect the most change in the least time possible because I do not want to be in Washington. Like that I don't want to go live in the sewers. Um I like it here in Montana. So, my family's here in Montana. They're going to stay in Montana if I do go to Washington.

[00:33:56]Um So, yeah, I absolutely will adhere to maximum of two terms. Uh Yeah, I would like to And I don't I don't feel that those positions ever should have been a career position.

[00:34:12]You know, uh the founding fathers talked about kind of the citizen legislator and that's also what we need to really go back to.

[00:34:21]Um we have people who are literally dying in Congress, you know, and it's [clears throat] absolutely it's insane. You know, you see Mitch McConnell and he has like, you know, the windows freeze up where he's just The pinball wizard spinning ball.

[00:34:37]>> [laughter] >> Hit the reset button.

[00:34:40]It's absurd. How can they actually be aware and cognizant of what they're voting for or what they're doing at that point? It's just a power control thing.

[00:34:50]And so, yeah, I I don't think anybody should, you know, Senate two terms, 12 years. If you can't get the job done, then you're probably not the right person for the for that position. You know, representatives are 2 years, so maybe, you know, 14 years, something like that, but or but yeah, it should be We need fresh blood rotating through Washington so we have um we don't have the lobbyists, [clears throat] you know, in so entrenched. But, you know, and then going back to uh your previous with staffing, you know, I hear that's also a big problem. You have these people who are so entrenched in the staffing, and they bounce around from one uh Senate or representative position to another. They could been working for a Democrat one term and off to a Republican the next term. And so, you know, the bureaucrats that we always talk about, I mean, they're a huge problem also. It's hard to term limit them out, but um but yeah, there's a there's a lot obviously a lot of problems uh going on in the national uh politics, but yeah, those are two big ones, and I certainly am not going to go beyond two terms, so. Well, I have one more question, and then I'll turn it to you guys see if if you guys have any others. Um but, obviously Montana, a huge voting block in Montana is uh the ag vote. Um Thomas Massie just lost his primary, so he will be unseated. Uh will you continue to propose the PRIME Act in his place? Um because I think that that is really a very important piece of legislation for Montanans. Yeah, I've looked into the Prime Act. I really like uh the spirit of it and what uh the intent is. Um, from if I'm not mistaken, it did pass through committee and is moving forward.

[00:36:40]So, hopefully >> it was in the farm bill. Yeah, so hopefully you know, in his next 7 months he can continue to push that forward, but um but no, there's like in Montana, a huge ag um it would be nice to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to get their uh beef directly to the consumer without having to, you know, ship it out to some massive um livestock, you know, conglomerate and then ship it back into our grocery stores.

[00:37:09]Um, you know, my family, we like to buy, you know, a whole half or full beef um we know where it's coming from and uh it's way better than, you know, the store-bought beef. And so, yeah, I'm a huge advocate of that. Um, however we can increase and and um and help our farmers and ranchers as far as that goes, you know, um I think is a win for everybody. So, and it just it also brings the communities kind of together more because you know, you know, the rancher that you're getting the beef from, you have more interaction with them. It just builds more community within Montana, I think, too. So, it has multi-faceted, you know, benefits that you don't necessarily see. So, 100%. You guys have any other final questions for Tom?

[00:37:59]I've I've got just one and it kind of ties everything we've talked about together. Um, you know, a lot of especially long-time congressional office holders are hesitant to talk to independent media, to podcasters like Liam, uh to go on something like Joe Rogan, and they're certainly hesitant to work with any foreign media outlets, uh whether that be from adversarial or even allied countries. So, if you were to be a US Senator, would you continue to speak with independent media to this kind of new digital journalistic movement that we see online, and would you work as well with with any foreign media that's still around by the time you'd be in office?

[00:38:39]So, I think it independent media has a huge role to play. Um I think it's really important to have again, it's it's another voice it's not tied in and and having to tow the line of you know, a Fox News or CNN who is basically you said it earlier just mockingbird, you know, which was actually a declassified um operation through the CIA.

[00:39:06]It's all, [clears throat] you know, it's propagandized.

[00:39:09]If you don't do or follow what they want you to follow, then you know, you're going to get canned or whatever. So, I think it's really important that senators representatives talk to independent media and foreign media same to your point with working for Sputnik, you know, you're it's that diplomatic outreach to other countries hearing directly from you know, US representatives and what our policies you know, are moving through what we want and see and and having that you know, broadcast throughout the world. I think it's really important for just overall understanding of two different cultures and and and different people. And if you really want to spread democracy, I think it'd be much more effective to do it that way than you know, bombing the country into oblivion.

[00:40:03]I don't know, it's kind of a wild idea, but maybe we should try it.

[00:40:09]So, yeah, I think that um I have no problem with talking you know, to independent media and I think that it's healthy for uh for our country and free speech and everything else, so.

[00:40:23]Well >> Well said. Well said. Well, I I really want to thank you, Ethan, for for jumping on and and being willing to ask questions to Tom. Uh we'll definitely keep you in the loop and and have you on in future episodes as our resident in-person journalist um in the Human Reaction Network. Thank you for being the man on the street guy during the election stream and and for tuning in tonight and I got one more. I don't need to make sure I see in the gym, Ethan. That's [laughter] right. Oh, yeah. That's That just goes to show how small Montana is.

[00:40:52]I was in the gym one day and you know, I look over and I'm like, I I think that's Tom. I'd never met you in person. And like I I But you look intimidating.

[00:41:01]You're very very ripped. Uh the people in Montana need to know that. Uh that you are You are our very strong-appearing guy. Uh so I was a little intimidated and you had your headphones in, but uh got the courage to come and talk to you, ask if it really was the Tom Jandron. And and thank goodness it was. You're really nice guy uh to some weirdo who just walks up to you while you're trying to get a workout in. So Yeah. I appreciate it. But that's that's the level of interaction we should have with our elected officials here in Montana. There's only a million of us. We're bound to uh to run into each other now and again. Yeah, no, I appreciated it and uh I unfortunately can be come off as intimidating, but I am a nice guy and so I was glad that you uh you know, took the time to to say hi so we could meet in person and uh but yeah, I just want to see you there more often, so we'll be looking for you and Awesome.

[00:41:50]>> Absolutely. Well, thank you all for joining and and I'll make sure to include Tom Jandron's campaign link in the description if you want to help donate. Uh also show up before June 2nd.

[00:42:00]The primary's coming up very quickly. If you were tuning in and you're a Montana voter, please consider uh hopping in the primary because there is also an opponent in this race who is not a libertarian who does not share the same views as Tom and it is possible that he could be the candidate in November. So we really need true libertarians to show up and make sure that Tom is the candidate for November.

[00:42:22]So he can distinguish himself from Seth Bodnar, from the Republican candidate and from the Democrat candidate. And thanks to you too, Joe, for letting me use the studio today.

[00:42:32]I'm hoping to come back to Bozeman very often to be in studio. I think next week we plan on having Dave Smith. So uh hope to announce that soon. Awesome. It's been great to have you here, Liam.

[00:42:43]Thanks for joining us here in studio.

[00:42:44]It's It's a rare treat that we get to get you here in Bozeman. So more the merrier, my friend.

[00:42:48]>> And make sure to subscribe to both the Liam McCollum Show and the Human Reaction Show. Thanks.

[00:42:54]See you guys.

[00:42:54]>> [music] >> Thanks for tuning in to the Liam McCollum Show, a podcast by Human Reaction. Check out the Human Reaction weekly podcast hosted by Joe Sheehan, David Rand, and Kyle Mack. And make sure to like, comment, and subscribe [music] to both of our channels.