Sep 9, 2026 · 1h 3m

Boat strikes expose the reach of presidential war powers

9/9/26: Wild Socialist Conference Goes Off The Rails, New Doc Exposes Caribbean Boat Strikes

The episode connects a viral socialist conference debate to a more consequential question: how far executive power can extend when evidence, law, and civilian protection remain contested.

3 key takeaways

1The Socialism 2026 conference prompts a debate over whether provocative nonprofit-left rhetoric reflects broader socialist organizing.
2Ryan Grim details disputed evidence, civilian casualties, and rescue failures surrounding U.S. strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats.
3The discussion frames the campaign as a possible expansion of presidential military power beyond the post-9/11 war model.

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Ryan Grim connects disputed boat-strike evidence, alleged rescue failures, and the killing of Ecuadorian fixer Rene Cobos to a broader expansion of presidential military power.

The brief

Viral clips from Socialism 2026 trigger a debate over “nutpicking,” representation, and whether the conference’s nonprofit and academic politics resemble grassroots worker organizing.

The hosts contrast the conference scene with proposals around unions, data centers, surveillance, and Mamdani’s Office of Worker Power, asking what actually builds durable working-class power.

Ryan Grim joins to discuss Drop Site reporting and Killing at Sea, documenting U.S. strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats amid disputed evidence and accounts from survivors’ families.

The legal framework is central: the administration’s rationale may not require drugs to be found aboard a boat, while survivors were reportedly repatriated rather than treated as prisoners of war.

Grim and Saagar examine alleged rescue delays, the killing of Ecuadorian fixer Rene Cobos, and the possibility that the strikes foreshadow a broader Western Hemisphere military campaign.

The episode’s throughline is the gap between official labels and human reality, whether applied to socialist politics or civilians treated as enemy combatants at sea.

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