The P.A.S. Report

2026 Midterms: Why Trump’s Base Feels Abandoned

October 12, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

Episode Description

2026 midterms: Why does Trump’s base feel abandoned despite major victories? What threatens Republican enthusiasm before November?

Here is the institutional breakdown GOP leaders ignore. Despite landmark wins on the southern border and federal agency reform, high gas prices, the Iran war, and unmet promises of government accountability fuel intense frustration across the Republican base. Professor Nick Giordano cuts through superficial BS to analyze John Brennan’s remarks on a “legion of professionals,” FBI controversies, the Epstein files debacle, and the administrative state’s power to frustrate presidential authority. Beyond bureaucratic resistance, control of Congress will shape Trump’s final two years, judicial confirmations, and federal oversight. Discover what Republican officials must deliver as political complacency and voter distrust threaten their midterm prospects.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The Republican Enthusiasm Crisis: Why landmark achievements haven’t translated into grassroots energy, and how kitchen-table financial pressure threatens 2026 turnout.
The Deep State’s Unelected Power: What former CIA Director John Brennan’s remarks about a “legion of professionals” reveal about bureaucratic resistance against presidential authority.
The Government Accountability Betrayal: Why the Epstein files debacle, FBI revelations, and stalled investigations leave conservatives questioning their own leaders.
What’s Really at Stake in the 2026 Midterms: How control of the House and Senate could reshape Trump’s final two years, judicial appointments, subpoenas, and federal spending.
The Crisis of American Self-Government: Why leaders must offer more than anti-Democrat talking points, and how blind party loyalty weakens constitutional accountability.

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Nicholas Herkimer & the Battle of Oriskany: A Warning for a Divided Nation

October 8, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

What happens when political division turns deadly and neighbors become enemies? Nicholas Herkimer and the Battle of Oriskany reveal one of the bloodiest and most personal battles of the American Revolution.

In this episode of America’s Founding Series on The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano tells the story of Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer and the nearly 800 Tryon County militiamen who marched toward Fort Stanwix in August 1777. After accusations of cowardice and divided loyalty pushed Herkimer to abandon his plan, his column entered a deadly ambush near Oriskany, where Patriots, Loyalists, Oneida allies, Mohawk warriors, Seneca warriors, former friends, and even relatives fought at close range.

The Battle of Oriskany exposed the civil war within the American Revolution and left the Mohawk Valley scarred for years. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Herkimer’s story offers a powerful warning about political contempt, civic division, and what can happen when fellow citizens stop seeing one another as neighbors.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode:

The Road to Fort Stanwix: Why Nicholas Herkimer led nearly 800 Tryon County militiamen through the Mohawk Valley to relieve the American fort
The Decision That Changed Everything: How accusations of cowardice and Loyalist sympathy pushed Herkimer to abandon his plan and advance
The Battle of Oriskany: How Loyalist and Native forces trapped Herkimer’s militia in a brutal ravine ambush
Herkimer Under Fire: How a badly wounded Nicholas Herkimer stayed on the battlefield and helped his men survive the attack
The Lesson for America Today: Why political contempt can destroy civic bonds and why citizenship requires disagreement without hatred

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National Debt Crisis: Ken Buck Says Congress Won’t Stop Spending

October 7, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

The national debt crisis reaches into your paycheck, your mortgage, and your retirement. Ken Buck warns that America’s $40 trillion debt demands action. Why do both parties promise fiscal responsibility, then approve bigger federal budgets?

In this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano talks with former Congressman Ken Buck about his book, Wake Up America!: The Rise of Socialism Is the Death of Freedom. Buck shares a firsthand account of congressional dysfunction, explains how party leaders pressure lawmakers to approve costly bills, and connects federal debt to the costs families face. He also makes the case for permanent DOGE oversight, challenges Congress over Trump’s tariffs, and predicts Democrats will take the House in the 2026 midterm elections.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode:

The household cost of national debt: Why Buck argues that federal deficits put pressure on mortgage rates, food prices, and family budgets.
Why Republicans abandon fiscal restraint: How political threats and primary challenges undermine promises of limited government.
What permanent DOGE oversight could achieve: Buck’s proposal to make waste, fraud, and abuse reviews a core congressional responsibility.
Why Congress must check presidential power: How Trump’s tariffs expose a deeper problem with separation of powers and emergency authority.
What voters can do before the 2026 midterms: Hear Buck’s House and Senate forecast, plus practical steps to hold candidates accountable.

⭐ Support the Show: For more conversations about the ideas and policies that shape America, follow The P.A.S. Report on Apple Podcasts, leave a five-star rating wherever your platform allows it, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

Iran War: Is Tehran Betting Everything on the Midterm Elections?

October 5, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

Could the Iran War now hinge on the midterm elections? Tehran has taken its case directly to American voters as economic pressure, oil prices, and political unrest become weapons in the war.

A 26-page open letter from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets American public opinion and urges voters to change the makeup of their government. In this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano examines Iran’s strategy, the IRGC letter, the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices, America’s refinery weakness, and the military buildup that could make Tehran’s bet on November a dangerous miscalculation.

Iran believes time can work in its favor. Economic pain inside the United States could weaken public support for the war, while Tehran hopes political pressure after the midterms will limit President Trump. But Iran faces a collapsing currency, severe economic strain, near-zero oil exports, and additional U.S. military power headed toward the region.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Iran’s Midterm Pressure Campaign: What the IRGC’s 26-page letter reveals about Tehran’s effort to influence American public opinion and use the U.S. political calendar to its advantage.
The Oil Price Mystery: Why Middle Eastern crude exports have returned near prewar levels while Brent crude, diesel, gasoline, and home heating costs remain painfully high.
America’s Refinery Crisis: Why the United States has not built a major refinery with substantial downstream capacity since 1977, and how that weakness limits true energy independence.
The Iran October Surprise: Could Tehran strike energy infrastructure, U.S. forces, cyber targets, or even the American homeland before Election Day, and could such an attack backfire?
Trump After the Midterms: Why Article II powers, additional U.S. carrier groups, Iran’s economic crisis, and Trump’s legacy could create the opposite outcome Tehran expects.

The Iran War no longer comes down only to missiles and military power. Iran needs American economic and political pressure to break Washington first. The United States needs Tehran’s economic position to collapse first.

The question is simple: Who runs out of time first?

John Paul Jones: The Naval Battle That Shocked Britain

October 2, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

How did John Paul Jones capture HMS Serapis when his own ship, Bonhomme Richard, was on fire and took on water? The Battle of Flamborough Head turned disaster into one of the American Revolution’s most remarkable naval victories.

In this episode of America’s Founding Series on The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano tells the story of a Scottish sailor who took the war to Britain’s shores. As America marks its 250th anniversary, discover how Jones faced a more powerful Royal Navy warship, changed tactics after his heaviest guns failed, and refused to surrender.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode:

The Scottish sailor: How a gardener’s son became an American naval captain and challenged Britain near its own shores.
Disaster at Flamborough Head: How two of Bonhomme Richard’s heaviest cannons exploded and cost Jones his best chance in a gun duel.
The tactical death grip: How Jones turned a collision with HMS Serapis into a close-range fight that reduced Britain’s firepower advantage.
“I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight”: What the accounts reveal about Captain Richard Pearson’s surrender demand and Jones’s defiance.
The lesson for today: Why Jones’s resolve still matters when a plan collapses and defeat seems inevitable.

Jones lost Bonhomme Richard, but he and his crew captured the warship that nearly destroyed her. His victory reminds us that a failed plan does not have to end the fight.

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Mayor Mamdani & the Rise of Socialism: Vickie Paladino

September 30, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised an affordable New York. Vickie Paladino argues that his policies could leave families and small property owners with a higher bill. What does New York’s socialist shift reveal about the future of America’s cities?

In this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano talks with New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino about Mamdani’s agenda, conditions in NYCHA public housing, and the pressure that rent freezes and city fines place on small landlords. Their conversation moves from City Hall to a national question: Why do socialist candidates gain ground while Republicans fail to make their case in urban communities?

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The cost of Mamdani’s policies: Why Paladino fears rent freezes and aggressive code enforcement could hurt small property owners and tenants alike.
The free speech dispute: Why Paladino sued the City Council and how she describes the outcome.
The rise of socialism: Why she believes socialist candidates gain support even as residents express frustration with city services.
The NY-13 candidate gap: What the race against Darializa Avila Chevalier reveals about Republican recruitment and outreach.
How to reach new voters: How Paladino earned support from Democrats in Bayside and what she says Republicans can learn from it.

Social Justice vs. Reality: The Destructive Leftist Mindset

September 28, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

Nikole Hannah-Jones admitted her school choice failed her daughter. Did social justice ideals take priority over parental duty, and what does that choice reveal about the leftist mindset? On this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano argues that this decision exposes a dangerous moral inversion: people claim to serve a righteous cause while discarding the concrete duties owed to the real human beings right in front of them. He traces that pattern through the public praise for Luigi Mangione after Brian Thompson’s murder, the growing acceptance of physical force against campus speakers, and a survey exploring a hypothetical military coup against Donald Trump.

Professor Giordano also examines remarks following the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, an aspiring politician who views American workers as expendable units of labor, and parents who publicly declare on social media that they regret having children. He asks the same critical question in each case: What happens to parental and civic duty when ideology, public validation, or personal comfort comes first?

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why Hannah-Jones’s account raises an urgent question about social justice, virtue signaling, and a parent’s fundamental obligation to their child.
How the reaction to Luigi Mangione elevates an ideological grievance above a murder victim.
What attitudes toward campus violence and a hypothetical coup reveal about respect for free speech and constitutional order.
Why the Clancy juror’s remarks and public expressions of parental regret point to a collapsing hierarchy of responsibility.
How honoring ordinary duties to children, neighbors, and fellow citizens sustains a constitutional republic.

The Culper Spy Ring: How Benjamin Tallmadge Became Washington’s Spymaster

September 24, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

How did George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring outsmart the British Empire for five years without exposing its principal agents? Discover how Benjamin Tallmadge built an extraordinary Revolutionary War spy network and became Washington’s spymaster.

In this episode of America’s Founding Series on The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano reveals the true story of Major Benjamin Tallmadge, Nathan Hale’s close friend and the architect of the Culper network. After British forces executed Hale, Tallmadge helped create a disciplined system of trusted agents, numerical ciphers, invisible ink, dead drops, and covert routes across British-held New York. Culper reports alerted Washington to the threat against French forces at Newport, while Tallmadge later stood at the center of the Benedict Arnold crisis.

More importantly, Benjamin Tallmadge’s example reveals why secret power demands character, restraint, and accountability. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, his story offers a timely lesson: institutions are only as trustworthy as the people who operate them.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Nathan Hale’s Legacy: How Hale’s fatal mission revealed the need for a secure American intelligence network.
The Chain of Trust: How personal relationships and shared purpose helped the Culper Spy Ring survive inside British-occupied New York.
Revolutionary War Tradecraft: How Tallmadge used aliases, James Jay’s invisible ink, numerical ciphers, couriers, and whaleboat routes to protect Washington’s spies.
Newport and West Point: How Culper reports helped Washington respond to the British threat against French forces and how Tallmadge’s judgment kept Major John André in American custody.
The Lesson for Today: Why institutional trust depends upon character, accountability, sound judgment, and loyalty to the Constitution.

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Confessions of a Democratic Operative: Evan Barker

September 23, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

The Democratic Party once claimed to champion blue-collar America. But behind closed doors, did elite donors and an ideological staffer class push ordinary workers aside?

In this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano sits down with former progressive campaign fundraiser Evan Barker, author of Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative. Barker shares an insider’s account of modern political campaigns, from helping raise millions of dollars for insurgent candidates to watching the Democratic Party lose touch with union households and working-class families.

Together, they break down why blue-collar voters shifted toward Donald Trump, the truth behind “trust fund socialism,” how the border crisis affects union wages, and why the 2024 Democratic National Convention became Barker’s breaking point. Barker also exposes the hidden mechanics of “Progress Inc.,” the parallel network of consulting firms, movement schools, and billionaire donors reshaping the Democratic Party.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The Blue-Collar Betrayal: Why union workers view illegal immigration and an open border as a massive scab operation that drives down wages and creates unfair competition.
Inside the Staffer Class: How affluent, ideological operatives pressure moderate politicians and suppress internal dissent.
The 2024 DNC Breaking Point: Why Kamala Harris’s nomination and elite contempt for middle America convinced Barker that the Democratic Party had lost its way.
Exposing Progress Inc.: How insurgent candidates built parallel fundraising networks with support from movement schools, political consultants, and billionaire donors.
The Cost of Speaking Out: Why Barker published her story, the backlash she faced, and the case for two healthy political parties.

⭐ Support the Show: If you value principled constitutional analysis, follow The P.A.S. Report on Apple Podcasts, leave a five-star rating wherever your platform allows it, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

AI Data Centers: Who Pays for America’s Race With China?

September 21, 2026 by Nicholas Giordano

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Episode Description

AI data centers are expanding across America, but who pays the bill? While Washington frames artificial intelligence as a critical race with China, Big Tech companies push for new AI regulations as local communities confront rising electricity demand, grid expansion, water use, and massive infrastructure costs.

In this episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, Professor Nick Giordano pulls back the digital curtain on the physical AI boom. Beyond consumer tools like ChatGPT, artificial intelligence is reshaping military power, intelligence, medicine, cybersecurity, and global competition. But the AI race also raises serious questions about regulatory capture, government surveillance, Fourth Amendment protections, and whether taxpayers and ratepayers will subsidize the infrastructure required by trillion-dollar technology companies.

Discover why China’s Communist Party fears AI-driven “cognitive warfare,” why major AI companies are calling for greater federal regulation, and what a free-market framework could look like if hyperscale data centers had to finance their own energy needs while protecting local ratepayers and communities.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The U.S.-China AI Race: Why artificial intelligence now shapes military, economic, technological, and geopolitical power.
The AI Regulation Battle: How regulatory capture could protect established Big Tech companies while making it harder for startups to compete.
Government Surveillance and AI: How machine-speed analysis could expand government profiling and raise serious Fourth Amendment and due-process questions.
AI Data Centers and Electricity Costs: Why hyperscale data centers could consume a major share of U.S. electricity and place new demands on local grids.
A Free-Market Data Center Framework: How dedicated energy generation, SMRs, natural gas, water transparency, ratepayer protections, and enforceable community benefits could change the economics of the AI boom.