This week’s episode of Rush to Reason sheds light on the current state of the NFL as host Andy Pate and guest Richard Rush engage in lively debates. Discover their insights on AFC and NFC dynamics, defense strategies, and quarterback performances. Will Denver’s defense be enough to carry them into the playoffs? Can the Bengals and Chiefs maintain their momentum? Tune in to uncover the expert predictions and strategic insights that could determine the rest of the football season.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 13 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 15 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 13 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job first. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 09 :
Actually, it’s Andy Pate, party of choice.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome to hour number two here on Rush to Reason. I’m Andy Pate filling in for John Rush along with Mr. Todd Watkins. You having fun?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, on the line right now we have Richard Rush. Richard, um… I would think that for Christmas you want a playoff berth. Am I right?
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, Andy, it would be great. And if this were any, you know, at the start of the year, Andy, if you told me that the Broncos had an opportunity to get into the playoffs at Christmas time, I would say, oh, my, this is a resounding success. But it feels like if we don’t, the season’s kind of a failure, which is funny how things turn.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think you’re going to the playoffs. I really do. And there’s two reasons, Richard. First of all, your quarterback is no longer a rookie. It’s time to toss the R word because, first of all, I don’t think people understand how much football he played in college. This kid came in seasoned. Yeah, he came in seasoned. And secondly, we’re not in week two, week three anymore. He has seen a lot. I think he’s ready to go. He’s highly intelligent, very highly intelligent. Basically, we’re dealing with a young Drew Brees here. And right. And by the end of his first year, Drew Brees was pretty wicked.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes. Yes, he was. And he obviously was coming into his own, Andy, although he didn’t fully blossom until later. But I’m with you, Andy, and my hope is that he continues. He maintains this kind of upward trajectory. You know, he’s had a few dips here and there, which is not to be unexpected of a rookie by any stretch of the imagination. I just hope he keeps it up, Andy. But, man, we have got a tall task this week with the old, I’ll just say it, old Joey Burrow is on one of those heaters that he gets on, Andy.
SPEAKER 04 :
He is on a heater, but come on now. Denver is, Denver has a whole team. Okay, because the other thing that I was going to say is that you guys have a top five defense. Your defense gets after it. Now, I understand last week you ran into a quarterback who just had one of those ridiculous days. And that’s going to happen. Where he was making throws that, let’s face it, very few mortals ever make. And he was just making them. That happens. You can’t do anything about it. You just shake it off and move on. But all around, Denver’s defense has been locked down for most of the year. Cincinnati has no defense. I mean, literally. I don’t think they even run anybody out on the field. I think they just let you walk down the field. They have no defense whatsoever. Their running game is average. All they’ve got is Joe Burrow. Is that going to be enough against a total balanced team like Denver? I don’t think so.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I’m with you, Andy. I don’t think it’s necessarily enough either. I guess that’s my hope is I think that he’s going to come back to earth. It is supposedly supposed to be a little bit more of a, well, how do you say it’s supposed to be more of a, well, there’s broadcasting weather, Andy. I’ll just say that. And so to me, it’s a situation of I feel like Maybe that can equalize it a little bit, and then maybe we can just score a few more points than them, hold on, because, again, their defense is not going to stop our offense. So maybe we can shorten the game and make it a little bit better that way, Andy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Richard, you and I, a couple old guys could walk out. Well, I’m old. You and I, a couple guys could walk out there playing catch and move down the field on Cincy’s defense. We would do okay. I totally agree with you. They are wretched. I mean, between them and Atlanta, I don’t know who has the worst defense. It is really, I mean, it’s kind of fun to watch their games because it’s like watching a video game. Just score, score, score. Here’s what I think. If there’s any weather at all, Denver’s going to blow them out because physical teams win in weather.
SPEAKER 16 :
I don’t disagree with you. I got a question for you, though, based on it. Jordan Love, they’ve got a chance to not get the division but get one of those top seats.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we’d have to have a few things break our way. I don’t expect that. Because, you know, you need some very good teams to lose who just aren’t losing. I mean, Minnesota is not losing games. Philadelphia lost one game.
SPEAKER 16 :
You are correct there. They’re not losing any, but they’re coming on, and maybe they’re coming on at the right time. And that NFC, though, Andy, well, I guess it’ll be interesting with Jalen Hurts, how that ends up coming together, because he’s now hurt. How bad? How bad is he hurt? Well, it’s a concussion, so that remains to be seen.
SPEAKER 04 :
OK, OK. Well, golly gee, you know, I don’t know. I will say this. Jordan Love right now is playing as well as any quarterback in the league right now. Now, he hasn’t had that good of a year. You know, he’s had the year two of starting kind of thing where people haven’t figured out and it took him a while to come on. Also, he was injured for a while, but he right now he’s red hot. Is that going to be enough? I don’t know. I don’t think Green Bay has that great of a defense. I love my team, but honestly, I look at Detroit. Once they get a few defenders back, I think they’re unbeatable.
SPEAKER 16 :
Andy, the only thing for Detroit that worries me, and I know we’re kind of jumping around here, but that’s okay. The thing about Detroit that worries me, in all honesty, is are they going to get enough to come back? You saw, obviously, they did well against Chicago. Ben Johnson, their offensive coordinator, is in his bag, but no offense, Andy, that dude’s auditioning for the Bears shot, basically. I mean, that’s really what he’s doing. And so then you get into, because he’s getting interviewed for that job, which goes back into successive teams that have their coordinators interviewed, all sorts of things, right? But neither here nor there. My thing for not only the Lions, Andy, and just the team as a whole, but is… The NFC, I feel like there’s a lot of flawed teams. And you can argue the same thing with the AFC, although we’ll get to Buffalo here in a second.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think the AFC’s top teams are much more flawed than the NFC’s top teams. Really? Oh, yes. I think Detroit’s the best team in the NFL, hands down, once they’re healthy on defense.
SPEAKER 16 :
Even with their, well, that’s the question, but how healthy are they able to get?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, they’re going to get several guys back. They’ve been holding them off because they know how good they are and they can win without them. That’s why they’re arresting them. And Philadelphia, yeah, they had a hiccup against Washington. But first of all, Washington’s a very good team. And secondly, even really good teams have a hiccup, but Philadelphia has been killing people. I believe that when Philadelphia and Detroit play in the NFC Championship game, that’s the Super Bowl. I don’t think anyone in the AFC is in that level.
SPEAKER 16 :
You’re not a Sam Darnold believer.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, boy. You know, I do believe Minnesota’s the third best team, and I think they could give a run at those guys. By the way, if Minnesota were in the AFC, I’d be picking Minnesota. That’s how good I think the NFC top teams are versus the AFC. I am not impressed with the AFC. I think the AFC right now is the best football player, and he’s playing quarterback for the Bills. Yeah. I’m sorry. I just think overall he is the guy. I mean, he’s Elway-esque. He’s a dude. He’s a dude. But I don’t think they have a total team that can go up. I think Detroit would kill Buffalo, frankly.
SPEAKER 16 :
Andy, it pains me to say this. It feels like this is the year where the Chiefs, for example, or mainly the example, are flawed. And the teams should be able to get them. They should take advantage of this year. But it’s like these teams can’t get out of their own way to take advantage, right? You know, poor Detroit, I get how I would have argued, would have taken them down, no questions asked, nothing. But then now they’re hurt, so they’re going to be battling injuries. And the Eagles, again, I think are flocks. I think they’ve got their own internal problems there in the Bills. Yeah, they’ve got Superman. Although, Andy, I compared it like this. And, again, I know I’m scatterbrained for a second. I compared Josh Allen for the Bills this year to Mahomes for the Chiefs a few years ago. Remember when Mahomes just… and he kind of did it this year, but he was flicking balls behind his back and left-handed throws against the Bronx. It just felt like no matter what you did, you could not stop the dude. That’s how it feels with Josh Allen this year. No matter what you do, you’re not going to stop him.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it doesn’t matter, though, because I guarantee you, Buffalo’s defense is not going to stop Detroit’s offense once.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, they did it last week, though.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think when it matters, I don’t know that Detroit will punt. I’m sorry, but there’s just such a talent differential there. Detroit is so talented when they’re healthy.
SPEAKER 16 :
The only thing I care about in the upcoming playoffs, and regardless of my Broncos make it or not, As long as the Chiefs lose, I do not care who wins the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, let me tell you something. My first team that I am picking to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs is Denver. I think Denver is a very well-constructed team for the playoffs. Defense wins when the temperature gets colder. And quarterbacks really don’t like getting hit. And you guys have the best, the number one sacking defense in the league. I’m telling you what, that is fast defenses. Come on, man. You saw what you guys did for years. With your ferocious defense. And when the playoffs came, you started just running people over. Denver could win the AFC. I think the AFC is that level. I’m not saying Denver will. I’m going to give it to Buffalo. I’m going to give them the edge in the AFC. But I’m not that impressed with anybody. I don’t think Denver could be in the top three in the NFC.
SPEAKER 16 :
And I would agree with you there. I just think the Broncos… We’re a year ahead of schedule, Andy, right? This is where we were supposed to be next year. And so anything that happens is gravy, but I’m still greedy. And, yes, greedy at Christmas time. My apologies. Lord Jesus, baby. You know, six-pound, eight-ounce baby Jesus. If you would forgive me, that would be great.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’re still that little kid on Santa’s lap who won’t shut up for a half hour.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes. Yes. And I won’t shut up because I want to. I don’t care if it’s this week or next. I mean, I prefer this week so I can enjoy my week 18 for the NFL. But, man, Andy, if you can go in and beat Cincinnati, even though they’re not technically a winning team yet, if you can go in and beat Cincinnati, especially right now where they’re getting hot, you can beat a lot of teams. Now, I also think the Broncos still have a shot because Cincinnati has to play Pittsburgh. At Pittsburgh, their last game of the season, and that could very well be for the division. at that point in time. And so I think that there’s a good chance that – because as long as Cincinnati loses one, and same with Miami, the Broncos will be in no matter what happens. But, yeah, I’d like to go in winning one, beating a winning team. That would make me feel a little bit better.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right now I feel – and let’s take a break here in a moment. We’ll come back and do picks. But right now I feel in the AFC the third most dangerous team after Buffalo and the Chiefs – come on now, they’ve been there – is the Broncos. That’s who I have third in the AFC right now.
SPEAKER 16 :
I hope you’re right, although I will say Baltimore, if Lamar and the Ravens play like they did this past weekend against the Steelers, if they play that way… Let’s put them third.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s a good point, because you’re right. Lamar’s really been playing well.
SPEAKER 16 :
But his biggest red flag, Andy, is playoffs, right? He doesn’t do what he does in the regular season, the playoffs. And so I guess it shall remain to be seen until it happens. So it’ll be exciting. Andy, last two weeks of the NFL season is arguably the best time of the year in football.
SPEAKER 04 :
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No need.
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SPEAKER 15 :
Don, we now are ugly sweaters. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason. Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Andy Pate filling in for John Rush on the line. We got Richard Rush. Richard, let’s do some games. You ready? Let’s do it. All right, let’s cue it up right away. The Chiefs are a three-point favorite on the road at the Steelers. I know you’re rooting for those Chiefs. You love them. Are you doing the tomahawk chop?
SPEAKER 16 :
I am rooting again this week, Andy, because if they beat the Steelers, the Steelers have more to play for in week 18, and the Chiefs have less to play for because if they win, no matter what happens with Buffalo, the Chiefs will lock up the number one seed for week 18. So, and besides the point, I think that the Steelers are sort of struggling a little bit right now, which is not typical of a Mike Tomlin team, Andy, but typical of Russell Wilson of the past two years that I saw firsthand. So, I’m going to go the Chiefs here, Andy. I think it’ll be a competitive game because Mike Tomlin and the Steelers will keep it competitive. But I don’t think that the Steelers will get the Chiefs. Although, Andy, this will be the longest game even out of the play of the Broncos. It’ll be interesting because Russell Wilson could get the Broncos over twice because if he beats the Chiefs, that means the Chiefs have more to play for in Week 18 where they could then knock the Broncos out of the playoffs. And how sick and twisted would that be?
SPEAKER 04 :
That would be pretty sick and twisted. I’m going to take the Chiefs as well, Richard, because honestly, I think the Steelers’ defense carried that team for so long this season, they’re worn out. I’ve been watching them. They look like their legs are going. I don’t think the Steelers’ defense is what it was earlier in the season. I’ll take the Chiefs next game. The Ravens are favored by five at the Texans. You know, the way the Texans are playing, is that enough?
SPEAKER 16 :
Um, no, because they, and they just lost Tank Dell. They’re going to bring on, and the Ravens need this win, Andy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, now again, I think that the Ravens, or maybe the Texans are coming on kind of the end of the year, but I think D’Amico Ryans is realizing how hard it is in your sophomore season to coach and C.J. Stroud. So, yeah, I’m going to go with the Ravens here, Andy, at least by five, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I agree. D’Amico’s still a great coach, but he’s going to get overwhelmed by the Ravens. I’ll take the Ravens next game. Seahawks, who have really had a hard go lately, they are favored by three and a half at the Bears.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, Andy, they have, but Geno’s back. The Bears are terrible. They really need to just lose as many games to get more weapons for Caleb Williams, but the biggest weapon he needs is a new coach, which he’ll get in the offseason. I’m going to go with the Seahawks, Andy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I would say new coach and a couple offensive linemen. I don’t think he would get too upset at those either. I’ll take the Seahawks. Next game, the Chargers. The Chargers, who survived your Broncos, are favored by 5.5 at the Patriots. That seems a little low.
SPEAKER 16 :
It does, Andy, although the Patriots played the Bills the toughest last weekend and the Chargers with Harbaugh. They feel like they sort of play up and down at times. So I’m not going to pick the Patriots by any means. I think the Chargers will get them. But it may be closer than the limited Charger fans that are out there would like.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, the Broncos are on the road. I’m agreeing. I take the Chargers. The Broncos are on the road at Joe Burrell because that’s all the Bengals have is one player. And so the Broncos are three-and-a-half-point underdogs, which surprises me. Who do you pick?
SPEAKER 16 :
They are, Andy, which tells you actually they’re closer than you think because on a neutral field, it would almost be a pick-em. But I’m going to go with the Bengals here, Andy, mainly for two reasons because I think the Bengals will get them. Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase are just really good, Andy, and the Broncos are still a young team. I’m hoping by picking against my team, they come back and say, see, Richard, we can do this. So, you know, twofold.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, I disagree. I think the Broncos have one of the only players in the league you can put one-on-one on Jamar Chase, and that’s going to make the Bengals have to actually earn it on offense, and the Bengals have no defense. I think the Broncos score well into the 30s and win this game. Next game, Cardinals are on the road at the Rams. Rams favored by 5.5.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, Andy, the Cardinals don’t have anything to play for. The Rams, I think, locked up a playoff. They’re just playing for seeding now. But, man, they look – Matt Stafford looks old. He may very well retire after the end of the season, Andy. I’m going to go with the Cardinals as an upset, to be honest with you. I like it. I don’t feel confident about that. Just I think you and I may agree on too many of the other games. So I’m going to go Cardinals.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ll take the Rams. Just I don’t like either team right now. Okay, Jets are at the Bills. Bills favored by 10. Don’t waste our time. Go.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, Bills. It’ll be the Bills. They’re fighting for that top seed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, okay, next game, the Raiders are at the Saints. Saints favored by one and a half. I don’t like either team.
SPEAKER 16 :
Who’s the Raiders at Saints?
SPEAKER 04 :
Saints.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, both teams are terrible. Raiders shot themselves in the foot last week, but I’m going to go with the momentum, Andy. Give me the Raiders on the road.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, you know what? I’m actually agreeing. I’m going to take the upset as well. Raiders, next game. We’ve got eight left. Colts are favored by eight at the Giants.
SPEAKER 16 :
Giants are terrible, Andy. Going for Shador Sanders may be much to the chagrin of John from Cheyenne. But, yeah, I’m going to go with the Colts here, Andy. even though you don’t know which Anthony Richardson version you’re going to get. But yeah, the Colts.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ll take the Colts. Next game, the Cowboys are on the road at the Eagles. Eagles still have something to play for. They’re favored by 9.5.
SPEAKER 16 :
They do. Cowboys will make a competitive Andy just because that’s who they are right now, which is surprising to say. But I’m going to go with the Eagles.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, Panthers on the road at the Buccaneers. Bucs favored by eight.
SPEAKER 16 :
Panthers looking better, Andy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
I’m actually going to take the – well, I’m not going to take the upset because the Buccaneers need to win in order to be in competition for the division. But I think this game’s close. I actually like the Panthers’ chances, and Bryce Young I really like as well. But I’ll go with the Bucs at home.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think he’s got a nice future. I do. But they gave up too much to get him. I’ll take the Bucs as well. Next game. Yuck. The Titans are playing the Jaguars. Jaguars are favored by a half point.
SPEAKER 16 :
Two terrible teams, Andy. Flip of the coin. I’ll go Tennessee. Mason Rudolph pulls them in at the end.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Actually, I’m going to take the Titans as well. Next game. Dolphins favored by six and a half over the lowly Browns.
SPEAKER 16 :
Andy, I need the Dolphins to lose to make me feel better about stuff at that point. I don’t know if it’s going to happen. The Browns are playing for draft picks, so I’ll go with the Dolphins here, although I don’t like either team.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Okay, my Packers, this is weird. They’re going into Minnesota. Minnesota’s only favored by one and a half points.
SPEAKER 16 :
Interesting, Andy. I’m not confident in the Vikings. I know that they’ve played well. I just am not confident. I’m going to take your Packers. You may not. I’m going to take your Packers here.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ll take the Vikings. They’re at home. They’re a better team overall. Yes, we have the better quarterback. It will not matter. Next game, the Falcons are on the road at the Commanders. Commanders only favored by four.
SPEAKER 16 :
Interesting, Andy, especially with this last week. Jayden Daniels, after his big games, he typically has a letdown. This may be it, but I just think that, I’ll be honest, I think that Dan Quinn’s going to cook up something for Michael Penix that he hasn’t seen before. So I’m going to go with the Falcons here, or sorry, with the Commanders, Andy, at home.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ll take the Commanders as well. Okay, last game, interesting game. The Lions, still with a bunch of guys out on defense, favored by three and a half, going into San Fran.
SPEAKER 16 :
San Fran’s eliminated, Andy. I would not surprise me if those dudes started hanging it up. They’ve got a real problem there, and the Lions obviously need to win to maintain that number one seed advantage because they cannot lock it up because, believe it or not, the Vikings can actually take that number one seed, Andy, depending on how the rest of the season plays out. But I’m going to go with the Lions.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ll take the Lions as well. That is all the games. Hey, Richard, really quick, if I was right, then you get a playoff spot, so I’m your Santa Claus.
SPEAKER 16 :
You will be my Santa Claus, Andy, and trust me, you will receive a very nice text message from me on Saturday if that is to happen.
SPEAKER 1 :
All right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Richard Rush, thanks again for joining us. We’ll talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks, buddy. See you, man.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you for welcoming us into your home. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Andy Pate filling in for John Rush, along with the great Todd Watkins. You having a good time, sir?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, yes, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, let’s talk about the big four. Now, the big four are, in my opinion… Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy.
SPEAKER 05 :
And that is a big four, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, yeah. And what I mean is this. Remember last time Donald Trump swept into Washington, he was a newbie, and he was appointing people because, let’s face it, the insider said, hey, you really need this person, you really need that person. And he didn’t really know who to go with, and some of them turned on him, some were fine, some were not. It was kind of a mix. But basically… Trump was kind of alone. He was a rebel on his own going into Washington.
SPEAKER 05 :
A true maverick. A true maverick. A true political maverick. And I got to watch that his first four years, his first administration from the kind of maybe not the front row pew, but definitely somewhere near the choir. Yeah, what were you doing? You were working for him. I was an assistant chief with the U.S. Border Patrol.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
So I belonged to our headquarters, our national headquarters. And as I was saying on the break, I mean, if I had to guess his first administration, I would say because of all of the lawfare and the obstruction from the Obama deep state, it’s real. Right. He wielded, I would say, maybe half of the actual power and authority that the executive has. Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
I agree. But we have to keep in mind, though, all their lawfare just helped elect him. Right, exactly. And so, you know, I’m not sure the Democrats are going to have the same appetite to do lawfare, lawfare, lawfare, lawfare, hold him back, hold him back, hold him back, hold him back. Because if they do that, the voters have shown this time they will churn on them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yep. So – and I’ve got to believe that the first – that first administration, he learned. He learned where to step, where not to step. And I think he hopefully learned what – What affronts from the other side he has to actually address or listen to and what others he can just completely disregard.
SPEAKER 04 :
He is so much smoother this time. You know, that press conference he did last week was so smooth, calm, presidential, in control. Yep. He knew when to answer a question. He knew when not to. He even looked at a reporter at one point and says, how can I answer that question? If I say yes, it’s this. If I say no, it’s that. He said, I’m not going to tell Iran what we’re going to do. You know, it was just he is on his game right now. Now, I want to play really quick here a clip from Megyn Kelly. And she was talking to Steve Bannon. And she was talking about how the media is trying to divide Trump and Elon Musk. And so what the Democrats are trying to do is they’re trying to come out and say President Musk is in charge.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. All they’ve got is ridicule and vitriol, and I think we’re smart enough to see that that’s all it is. These are the mean girls on the playing ground.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, they’re losing their strut, and it’s starting to happen. Okay, listen to Megan here. This is pretty interesting.
SPEAKER 01 :
So here’s what happened first. It was Pramala Jayapal, a member of the squad, who tweeted out, it’s not clear who’s in charge. She’s got a picture of Elon at the Resolute desk. And it’s not President-elect Donald Trump. Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead. Then somebody retweets this and says, for awareness, note the language here. It’s very intentional strategy. The goal is to weaken Trump and Elon by fomenting tensions between them, by jabbing Trump about not being the alpha. The idea is to provoke him, to sideline Elon and to fray the relationship. And Elon retweeted that saying, that is exactly the goal. The political and legacy media puppets all got their new instructions yesterday and are now parroting the same message to drive a wedge between Donald Trump and me. They will fail.
SPEAKER 04 :
OK, they will fail. Now, first of all, Todd, correct me if I’m wrong. I thought Donald Trump was a dictator. I thought that he was a king. I thought he was coming in as a dictator and a king who was going to override and overwhelm everything. I thought everybody in the Republican Party nationwide is nothing but a puppet. And Donald Trump was pulling the strings. Remember, because Donald Trump, you know, he’ll come out and say, look, if you don’t tell the line, we’re going to primary you. All right. We’re going to we’re going to be tough on you. And he wants Republicans to kind of toe the line. I thought that he was an absolute fascist. OK, so now all of a sudden that changed. Wait a minute. He is not even in office yet. He’s not even in office yet. That’s that’s a month away. And we’re being told now somebody else is president.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, they’ve got to get a head start, right? That’s how far behind they are because Biden hurt them. The Biden administration was such an abject disaster that now they have to start this much further ahead before even the new guy gets in. But isn’t the president – I mean, yeah, we want Trump. We want the mandate, right? Hey, it’s going to be great. But part of his job is not to – Like you said, he’s not a dictator. No, he hires really smart people to advise all these specialized areas of what to do. That’s the mark of a good leader, not to be the smartest guy in the room, but to hire the smartest guys on all these different issues to advise you and steer your administration.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, two things. First of all, what do you think of people who immediately change their message the moment it’s not working? It’s dictator Trump, dictator Trump, dictator Trump. Oh, Elon’s in charge. We don’t know who’s president right now. Elon’s in charge. If they have to keep changing. Right away, because they’re there. What do you think of them? Doesn’t it just sound like they’re lying? They don’t even believe themselves.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you see now here’s what we saw in Trump when he did that press conference. I wish I could play it, but it just takes too long. OK, I saw boardroom Trump. Boardroom Trump is a guy who doesn’t mind deferring to this person or that person. Boardroom Trump is the calm, confident Trump. You see, what we saw too much over his first administration was lashback Trump.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 04 :
Emotional Trump. Angry Trump. Vengeful Trump. Right? Now, they’re trying to get him to be vengeful. They’re saying… Are you going to try to get these people, if anybody votes against you on your nominees, and he was asked this, if anybody votes against you on your nominees, are you going to make sure that they are primaried? He said, no. He says, all we ask, they can vote against my nominees. He says, all we ask is that they be fair in their questions and that they don’t just vote against them out of some vengeful reason, but just give all the nominees a fair vote. chance that’s all he asked he is coming off as boardroom trump as calm confident uh gracious smart he doesn’t have to overrun everybody and then somebody who is a good ceo what does he do he empowers his lieutenants like that’s why you have musk that’s why you have them so i think now that he’s won this election
SPEAKER 05 :
We should see less of the stark partisan Trump. And I think what you just described is good governance Trump.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. He’s more powerful now. These people who worry about, oh, my gosh, we’re seeing too much of Vance. We’re seeing too much of Elon. We’re seeing too much of Vivek. Folks. Turn the channel. That’s because Donald Trump is confident. Okay. If he wasn’t confident, if he had low self-image, if he was worried, if it was all ego Trump, remember the left always tells us big ego, big ego. Yep. Really? If he has such a big ego, why is he letting those three run out there making statements all over the place?
SPEAKER 05 :
Because he made good hires.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s what that is. That’s exactly what you want to see.
SPEAKER 04 :
Donald Trump does not have as big an ego as people think. I’m going to say it right now. Donald Trump’s ego is not that big.
SPEAKER 05 :
It might not be.
SPEAKER 04 :
He doesn’t mind sharing the stage. In fact, he kind of enjoys it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Again, I think this is what he learned from that freshman term in office is this is how you get to good governance is you bring in the experts. to drive your policies. He’s vision and intent. And then you get your lieutenants to execute it. And that’s what you’re going to see from Vivek.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, wouldn’t you agree? Donald Trump is a visionary. Yes. There’s no question. He’s a visionary. Okay. You know what he’s lousy at? He’s a lousy debater. Yeah. OK, he is. He is. It’s not his thing. I don’t care. I don’t want a debater in chief. I want to I want a president. I want a commander. Right. He is a visionary. And so what he does is he gets these guys. Here’s the here’s the big problem that the left has with the other three. OK, with Vance Vivek and Elon, all of them can rip you to pieces in a debate. All of them. Elon surprises me. I didn’t think he’d be that good at this. He is. OK. And Elon also owns the biggest platform in the world.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Right. All right. Which we never had before. Bought it from the left.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think Trump is sitting back and enjoying this. I think he’s having a ball. He’s not being he doesn’t have less power. He has comfortable power. Well, he’s happy.
SPEAKER 05 :
He likes these guys. He expanded his power. He expanded it. Because he’s got his lieutenants out, you know, conquering the political world, conquering the world of American government at this point.
SPEAKER 04 :
And they are shredding people. And let’s toss Tom Homan in there as well. Oh, yeah. These four guys. Okay. I threw in Tom.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, because we’re subtracting Trump.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m putting four under Trump. Okay. These four guys, Vivek, Elon, Vance, and Holman, they are… They are a wrecking ball to the media. They are a wrecking ball to the left. They are tearing people apart out there in debates. Every time they go in on CNN or anywhere else, they are so at ease. They just go in and win. And Trump has got to be – his only weakness is debate. So he sends these four out and they’re crushing people.
SPEAKER 05 :
And they’re going to try and goad Trump into doing something New York – Street brawl type thing where he’s going to say something that’s embarrassing that’ll give him a clip. He doesn’t have to. Nope, doesn’t have to. Old Trump would have. Yeah, but he learned from this also. You can’t say, well, this is not what the American people want. Oh, but it is. Yes, it is. Resoundingly so. Look at the numbers from November. Tell me what the American people want. And they want the Trump mandate. And that really angers the left.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Todd, tell me this and then we’ll go to break here. What do you think? How do you think it’s going to go for mayors and governors unless they are in deep, deep, deep, deep, deep blue territory? How’s it going to go for them to fight against Tom Holman and the deportation plans, especially the early ones where they’re really going after the criminals, the dangerous ones?
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s called 8 U.S.C.
SPEAKER 1 :
1324.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. That is the federal statute that covers alien smuggling, which we charged profusely in the field as a Border Patrol agent, but it also covers harboring, inciting,
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, I know they’re going to lose by the law. I understand that, but I’m talking PR. How’s it going to go in the press for the, you know, how’s it going to go in the, well, forget the press, but in the public consciousness, the approval ratings, how are those things going to go for people who try to fight Tom Holman, really, who try to fight Trump’s big four?
SPEAKER 05 :
It shouldn’t go well for them. And I guess, like you said, and if it’s, you know, deepest, darkest Portland or Seattle or San Francisco, something like that. But the thing is, they are… treacherously close to criminal charges if they resist this.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, they are. Okay, tell you what, when we come back, I actually, I was going to talk about something else. I was going to talk, well, we can talk a little bit about Matt Gaetz when we come back, but I also want to talk about Tulsi Gabbard. I want to talk about going into the intelligence. The DNI. Well, not just Tulsi, but all of them who are going to go in and clean out the FBI.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, so that’s Cash, Cash Patel.
SPEAKER 04 :
Cash Patel, Tulsi, all of these people who are going to go, because it’s not just the FBI, it’s the entire intelligence network.
SPEAKER 03 :
The 17 agencies.
SPEAKER 04 :
Because when they go in, Todd, they’re going to have to clean out the deep state, and the deep state hates them. Let’s talk about that when we come back. All right. Up next is Ridgeline Auto Brokers. Hey, when you’re looking at used cars, you want good selection and the best inspections. Ridgeline has both, and you can find both locations at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 15 :
Wishing you holidays filled with fun and laughter. Thanks for listening to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason. Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Andy Pate filling in for John Rush along with Todd Watkins. Todd, one thing really quick. Because I want to get to the deep state. But first, Matt Gaetz, the House Ethics Committee report just dropped. They made it public, which I kind of wonder about if that sets a bad precedent going forward. But setting that aside, we don’t have time, okay? Right. It looks awful. It looks really damning. And what they’re saying is they have all kinds of witnesses who just flat out say – This guy took a bunch of money from, I mean, gave a bunch of money to many women for sex. And it was clear the women were interviewed. It was for sex that he was doing this. He took, this started in 2017, went through like 2020, I think. And he was doing a lot of drugs apparently during that time. This is what’s being alleged. Okay. Okay. I’m an innocent till proven guilty guy, so I’m not going to say he’s guilty of any of this. And by the way, no charges have been brought. All right. So my first question is, why didn’t anybody bring charges if you have such great evidence? But setting that aside, isn’t it kind of in poor taste with all of this? Because this has all been hovering over him anyway. Isn’t it in very poor taste for the Colorado Republican Party to have him as a keynote speaker in a major assembly like they did? I mean, it’s not a good image. And I mean, the guy, when they had him as a keynote speaker, he had just cost us three seats in the House with his, let’s face it, ill-conceived speech. mutiny that he had and it’s so funny because now all they do is complain about coups and mutinies right which is hilarious they think a coup and a mutiny is the worst thing in the world but they praise matt gates for doing it and matt gates cost us three seats in the house and mccarthy’s gone now okay and it’s done us no good right anyway really quick just give me a you know 20 seconds what are your thoughts on matt gates
SPEAKER 05 :
I hope it’s not true. I mean, of course, right? You don’t want to see somebody who is, you know, that emblematic of the cause that we find ourselves working towards. You know, he was a big face, a prominent face of MAGA America first. And to have that sort of thing, you know, if it’s true… I mean, it’s a terrible mark. It looks really, really bad.
SPEAKER 04 :
It does look bad.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I know that the state GOP and several county GOPs had him as a keynote speaker at some significant events.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, Lincoln Day and so forth.
SPEAKER 05 :
Lincoln Day, yeah. And you wonder, did you not know that that was happening when you did that? It never came up, I can tell you that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, all I can say is this, innocent until proven guilty. He’s a brilliant guy, a tremendous litigator up on the Hill. But he has also been somebody who’s made a lot of enemies, and that’s another reason why you can’t buy everything you hear. Why? Because there’s so many enemies who are up in these, who are running these investigations.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s the skullduggery thing.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, yeah. I don’t know. All I know is this. That’s a guy who had too much of a cloud over his head. I don’t think it was a wise appointment by Trump to begin with when he had Pam Bondi sitting right there, who’s so wonderful. Look, I’m sorry, but it’s not like he didn’t have a deep bench. He didn’t have to take chances like that. He didn’t have a chance. Whatever. He’s gone. Okay, we got about three minutes here. Sure. Deep state. How is Trump going to be able to root out some of the deep state? And I’m talking especially in terms of FBI, the intelligence agencies, and law enforcement.
SPEAKER 05 :
Go. So the deep state that we’re talking about is not the tinfoil hat, fever dream, deep state, shadow government. We’re talking about long-term control. Not presidential appointments, but career hires. Yep. Bureaucrats, GS, SES level government employees. Set in cement. Oh, yeah. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of a government employee. So… What you see happening, and I saw this when I was working in headquarters. You have a lot of Obama appointments or hires and appointments that turned into career hires. Then you had Trump who didn’t get rid of them. And then God knows how many more came in under Biden. And this goes to Elon Musk and the Doge effort, right, to thin some of this out.
SPEAKER 04 :
So they can’t just go in and wield the axe and fire all these people? Not really. Why not?
SPEAKER 05 :
Title V. Explain that.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’ve got 30 seconds.
SPEAKER 05 :
So they’re protected. Once you’ve become vested, you can’t just fire.
SPEAKER 04 :
Then how do you get rid of them?
SPEAKER 05 :
For cause. But what I would do, if I was Elon and Vivek, in order to kind of neutralize the impact of the deep state on some of these initiatives, because you’ll never see where they’re blocking you, where they’re stumbling, because it goes within the bureaucracies of each of these different agencies, is reassignments.
SPEAKER 04 :
reassign especially move everybody around where they don’t want to be well or to where they’re not handling some of these so they can be at that outpost in alaska right yeah they’re the doorman okay so so what we will so what you’re saying is they’re going to see a bunch of people who they know are obamaites and bidenites and they’re going to reassign them yeah you don’t fire them you just put them someplace else put them where they don’t want to be yeah kind of like in office space the closet in the basement yeah yeah they can ask for their red swing line you know
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. Do you think it’ll work? I know you can do that. I know.
SPEAKER 04 :
You think that they will dig in and say, no, I’ll stay forever and just wait for the next Democrat to put me where I belong? Or do you think they’ll give up? Or do you think it’ll be a mix?
SPEAKER 05 :
A little bit. I’m sure if they’re retirement eligible, maybe they pull the plug at that point. But yeah, you just, I mean, some of these would be kind of career killers too. Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, this is going to be fun. I’m looking forward to Doge, the bulldozer, as I call it. And I’m looking forward to the big four, actually the big five with Tom Holman, whipping through Washington. I think Washington is as afraid right now as they have ever been.
SPEAKER 05 :
I hope so. They should be.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think they’re terrified. I think a lot of them are going to be out of work. What do you think?
SPEAKER 05 :
I would start with the attorneys in each, every one of those departments and agencies. Reassign them. Oh, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wonderful. Good idea. Okay, folks, that’s it for our number two. Thank you, Todd Watkins. In our three, we’re going to be joined by Jersey Joe for all things crazy on the national political stage. Until then, keep it right here on Rushed Reason, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m a rich guy.
