DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Afghanistan and US Both Shut Down”

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou bring you the lowdown on everything that’s happening around the world. At a new time for the month of October, back to normal after.

• General Anxiety: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth razzes America’s generals and admirals, announcing 10 directives attempting to reorder military culture around fitness, race, and gender. He calls the military the "woke department," and threatens to fire progressive-leaning generals for valuing diversity over strength. Hegseth warns that those who disagree should quit, signaling a ruthless purge.

• Trump Declares War on US Cities: The President Trump urges officers to use U.S. cities like Chicago as “training grounds.” He defends blowing up Venezuelan boats without cause and violently endorses "they spit, we hit" if/when soldiers get insulted, telling ICE agents to "do whatever the hell you want” against American protesters.

• Deportations Violate First Amendment: U.S. District Judge William Young rules that the Trump administration's deportation of pro-Palestinian students and professors deliberately strikes fear into non-citizen students, chilling campus protests unconstitutionally. In a blistering 161-page opinion he condemns Trump's "hollow bragging" and censorship of free speech as a profound threat. Young even questions if divided Americans will defend the constitution before personal interests ignite violent resistance.

• Ambassador Kills Self: Paris prosecutors say that South Africa's ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa, leapt from his 22nd-floor Hyatt Regency room. A security guard discovers his body in the hotel courtyard, with no signs of struggle, drugs, or third-party foul play.

• Afghanistan's Blackout: Entering its third day, the Taliban's total Internet cuts off the country from the outside world. The shutdown severs digital and phone links, grounding Kabul flights, shuttering businesses, and halting visa services. NetBlocks reports near-total blackout and fiber-optic bans under strict Islamic law, paralyzing banking, hospitals, education, and emergency responses amid ongoing earthquake recovery. Isolating women further by severing digital lifelines, the outage—possibly tied to paranoia over U.S. Bagram base demands—fuels frustration and speculation over motives.