In this thought-provoking episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush sits down with Robert George, a prominent author and professor, to unpack the intricacies of truth in modern education and society. George shares personal experiences from his decades-long career at Princeton University, where he’s observed a gradual shift away from critical thinking towards a reality governed by emotions rather than facts. Learn how this phenomenon impacts not only academic institutions but society as a whole.
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This is Rush to Reason.
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With your host, John Rush.
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It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, Hour 3, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Author Robert George joining us now. Robert, welcome. How are you?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m very well. Thank you, John, for having me on your show. Good.
SPEAKER 16 :
A new book just came out yesterday, Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth. And I always ask folks that write books, why the book?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I wrote the book because I’ve been teaching young men and women as a professor at Princeton University for four decades now. And I’ve become very concerned that universities have lost their way. They no longer are forming our young men and women to be determined truth seekers and courageous truth speakers. And those young men and women, in many cases, have lost their way. They’ve lost their grip on the very concept of truth. They now identify truth with their feelings or their emotions. And our feelings and emotions are not very reliable guides to truth and We’re going down a very bad road, I think, when we identify truth so it’s how we feel.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yep, I can’t argue that at all. You are spot on. So, A, thank you for writing about that and getting that message out because that has been something that I think, Robert, I’ve been on air now for 11 years here on a daily basis. I’ve been doing a weekend show longer than that, but on a daily basis I’ve been doing it 11 years, and I will tell you in those 11 years what you’re talking about has done nothing but get worse.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve seen it over these four decades, just get worse. But we’re going to have to turn it around. I mean, if we’re going to save this treasured experiment of Republican government and ordered liberty that our founders bequeathed us, we’re going to have to Teach our young people to love the truth, to value the truth, to strive for the truth.
SPEAKER 16 :
So how do we do that? You wrote a book. I’m sure you’ve got some details in there. But how do we do that? How do we get somebody that is so used to gauging truth off of how they feel about something or how they feel about even truth itself, how do we get them to understand that you could have feelings about it, but they could be completely wrong?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, that’s right. Well, it didn’t end very well for him personally, but I think our role model here really should be Socrates. How did Socrates bring people around? How did he reason with people? it was basically a matter of asking questions. I think we need to confront people, especially our students, especially our children, our young men and women, confront them with questions. Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you feel the way you feel? Have you considered the argument on the other side? Have you allowed yourself to be challenged by the best arguments, the best evidence that people who think differently would provide? And of course, often the answer to that question is going to be, no, you know, I’ve been here in this silo. I I’ve been just being reinforced in what I already believe by the people I associate with and the things I read and what I see on the Internet or watch on TV. So I think the strategy of questioning, just like Socrates on the streets of Athens, is the way to go.
SPEAKER 16 :
I can’t, again, can’t disagree with that at all. And I will say this, even though I’m very much a strong conservative, that’s what this program is about. We have strong conservative ideals and so on. A lot of what you just talked about, you know, that’s us. I want to see this republic, and I’m always careful to not call it a democracy because it’s not. We are a republic, and I want to see it stay that way. And yet I will tell you, Robert, that I think both sides— Both sides, and I’m sorry to say this, but both sides can be victim to what you’re talking about in regards to letting emotions guide what’s going on versus the facts.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, John, you’re so right. Look at how many people, whether they’re on the right or the left, and I myself am like you, I’m a conservative, I’m a strong conservative, but look how many people on our own side as well as on the other side are in silos. You know, on one side you have people who watch MSNBC and they read the New York Times or the or the Nation magazine, these left-wing magazines, or go to the left-wing websites, you know. And on the other side, people, they only watch Fox News. They only read the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. They only read National Review. So that means we’re just being reinforced in what we already believe. And my belief as a professor, John, my belief is that my job isn’t really to get students to agree with me. That’s just not my job. My job is to confront students, challenge students with the best arguments possible across the spectrum. You know, the ones that persuade me, but the ones that I’ve considered and don’t persuade me, but I think that students should be exposed to them. And then we empower our students that way to be better thinkers, deeper thinkers, and above all, independent thinkers. The problem right now is there’s not enough independent thought.
SPEAKER 16 :
No, there’s not. I mean, I’ve been an employer.
SPEAKER 05 :
People don’t get on board with fashion.
SPEAKER 16 :
That’s right. I’ve been an employer the majority of my adult life, Robert, and I will tell you that the critical thinking skills and that end of things for even people you’re hiring as employees, nonetheless talking about just social issues and politics in general, but really getting down to even how do you problem-solve Robert, we have lost all of that. I’m sorry to say, but we have.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. And these are critical skills and critical virtues. Absolutely. And skills are the virtues. And, you know, well, look, we can’t just curse the darkness here. No. We’ve done that for too long, especially those of us on the conservative. That’s right. We’ve been cursed in the darkness for too long. We need to light a candle. We need to renew especially civic education in the United States. That’s right.
SPEAKER 16 :
I say this all the time, and I want to take this one step further, because while I am critical of the left in a lot of cases, I just talked about that in the last hour in regards to a lot of the comments that have been made about the tragedy in Texas and the flooding and so on, and what some people have said, which I can’t even believe the words that come out of some folks’ mouth, Robert, but that’s a whole other discussion. But outside of that, I think for us, and I want to get your opinion on this, I think for us on the conservative side, We have to be a model. And what I mean by that is we can’t live, and you said it earlier, we can’t live in a silo either. We have to know what both sides are saying. We have to be independent thinkers. We have to be able to think outside the box, if you would. And let me give you an example. And I know there’s a lot of people out there that are probably going to get mad at me for using this example. But all of the, you know, the election was stolen in 2020. And I’ve said this for years. Is every election out there fair and honest? No. Men are evil. Men do things that they want to do to make sure that they win. And I don’t know if there’s ever been a quote-unquote fair election since the beginning of time. In other words, one that didn’t have any cheating in it at all, Robert. I don’t think that’s ever existed since the beginning of time.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s an imperfect world.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s an imperfect world. That’s right. Any institution, including a republic, is going to have some flaws. That’s right.
SPEAKER 16 :
That’s exactly right. So given that, and I really kind of stayed away from all of the conversation about voting machines and this, that and the other and the nefarious things going on. And I will tell you, though, that there is, in my opinion, there was a faction of our side that got so ingrained in all of that that we lost sight of the next election and and what we needed to do candidacy-wise to actually win in the next election. In other words, it clouded us so much because we were still so upset over something that happened that we lost sight of the next election and, frankly, lost.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, John, do you remember what happened in the Senate election in Georgia in 2022? Yes. Do you remember this? Yes. We have now lost two seats in Georgia that should be in conservative and Republican hands, and it was our fault. It was our fault that we lost those seats. It’s exactly what you’re talking about here.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah. And my point with everybody listening is we can’t be that influence. And I’ve talked about influence a lot today. It kind of started that way in the four o’clock hour, Robert. And the reality is we need to be an influence, leave a legacy, all of that. But the reality is we can’t do that if we ourselves live in our own bubble, our own silo.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, that’s right. And the message in my book, in Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth, is every bit as much directed at conservatives as it is to progressives or liberals. I want my team to be the best that they can possibly be. But they can’t be the best they can possibly be if they’re involved in groupthink and conformism and dogmatism. And that’s why we need to get out of the silos. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 16 :
I love it. You are welcome here anytime, Robert. I’ve appreciated the conversation. Where do folks get the book? I know it just came out yesterday.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it’s available at all the online booksellers. If you go to Encounter Books, the publisher, they’re offering it with a 25% discount. The promo code is simply Age of Feeling. But I am grateful to you for the opportunity to talk about the book. And I hope that people will consider not only reading the book themselves, but giving the book to their children and grandchildren. Those are really my special audiences here. I want to do something that will really move our kids in the direction of being determined truth seekers and courageous truth speakers.
SPEAKER 16 :
Awesome. Robert, I appreciate it again. It’s been great. Enjoy the rest of your day, and thank you so much for your time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you. Bye-bye now, Tom.
SPEAKER 16 :
You bet. Have a great night. Again, Robert George, Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth. That is the name of the book. Just came out yesterday. Flesh Laws Next, Civil, Criminal, you name it. Kevin is there to help you with whatever legal matter you might have. 303-806-8886.
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This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Joe, what’s going on?
SPEAKER 04 :
John, I wanted to call in when Sonny Kutcher, right after Sonny Kutcher was on, didn’t get a chance. And I don’t know if you had a chance to check the email I sent you today, but she was talking about socialism. And you remember when Reagan way back said, if you want more of something, you subsidize it. If you want less of something, you tax it. Yep. Well, you know, the quote from Thomas Sowell is along those lines, and he said, you cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible. Right. So here we are, oh, you’re having multiple children you can’t feed, and the more kids you can’t feed you have, the more we’re going to give you. John, we’re subsidizing that’s irresponsible. That’s right. Kids borrowing… almost $100,000 to get a college education that will never increase their earning power enough to pay the loan back. And of course, the Democrats and the Biden have wanted to subsidize that and make those loans go away. That’s irresponsibility. So the whole Democrat philosophy, I believe, is whether intentional or not, is basically subsidizing your responsibility.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, I watched, it’s funny you say that, because I was watching some video today that there were some folks, you know, reposting and commenting on some posts that have been put out from some quote-unquote, I don’t know what else to call them, liberals talking about quote-unquote Medicaid cuts. And some of these are individuals where, you know, they’re talking about Joe where, and this is a rather robust woman, so I’m not saying she’s fat by any means, but she’s definitely not, she hasn’t missed a meal, let’s just say it that way. So she’s on camera and she’s talking about how with Medicaid she’s now going to lose her, what I would consider to be very expensive, implanted birth control device that, by the way, if she didn’t have, she’d have to go out and pay for that on her own, which the rest of us have had to do over the years, by the way, Joe. those of us that are not on Medicaid. She talked about how the fact that she has two different homes that she now has to watch kids in. Evidently, there’s an ex-baby daddy where she watches those kids because he has to go to work and earn a living. So she’s the built-in babysitter, yet her husband is a stay-at-home dad there because while she’s gone watching the— The kids from the first marriage, he’s watching the kids now in this marriage, and they’re going to lose all their health care, and on and on and on we go. And I’m thinking to myself, you’re the very person that shouldn’t be on Medicaid. You are able to go out, get a job. Your new husband’s able to get a job. You haven’t because, to your point, Joe, we’ve incentivized you to stay home.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. And by the way, if she truly is a caregiver, she’s not in danger of losing her Medicaid.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, there’s a difference between a caregiver and a babysitter.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, a babysitter is one thing, but if they were her kids and that she was giving care to her kids. But yeah, the requirement is very, very simple. You either work 20 hours a week or go to state-sponsored job training, free state-sponsored job training 20 hours a week. Right. But it’s actually 80 hours a month. It doesn’t have to be.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, that’s right. It’s 80 hours a month. That’s exactly right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. So it doesn’t have to be 20-20-20. It could be 40-0-40 or whatever. And or do 80 hours a month worth of community service, which you can knock out in a couple of weekends. So why doesn’t she, you know, why does she not want to avail herself?
SPEAKER 16 :
No offense, Joe, because up to this point, she hasn’t had to. She hasn’t had to. You and I have been paying her bills, essentially.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. And Thomas Hull said something, I quoted him about a month ago. He said when people have received preferential treatment, when you take that preferential treatment away from them, they feel they’re being discriminated against. And this is a classic case. This woman has been given preferential treatment. The government’s been buying her food. That’s right. Paying for her medical care. And now they’re saying, hey, we’re not going to do that anymore. Now she’s screaming, you’re discriminating against me.
SPEAKER 16 :
Which actually is the opposite. If anything, Joe, I’ve been discriminated against. I’m writing her checks, essentially.
SPEAKER 04 :
Correct. Absolutely correct.
SPEAKER 16 :
And it’s just a bunch of, I mean, I’m sorry, Joe, some of this stuff just gets under my skin because, to your point, we incentivize the wrong behavior.
SPEAKER 04 :
We incentivize irresponsibility, and we expect people to become more responsible after we’ve spent literally, well, almost a trillion dollars a year incentivizing irresponsibility. I mean, and by the way, if you’re a single mother, the more kids you have, the more money you get from the government every month. You get more SNAP benefits, more Section 8 housing benefits, more heating assistance benefits per child. So it goes up and up and up. So that’s where we are.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, to your point, we incentivize, and that’s part of what this new bill was, you know, law now is trying to correct. And by the way, folks, everybody listening, it’s not going to correct at all. It’s not going to fix every situation. You’re still going to have some folks out there that know how to scam and game the system because, Joe, they have spent more time doing that than you and I do working, and they know the system. You’re not going to cure it all, but we’ve got to start someplace.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. And by the way, and all the scare tactics and hyperbole, they’re going to throw grandma out of nursing home. No, they’re not. No. States, first of all, Medicare enrollment is managed by the states. They get to set their own rules and limits and whatnot. And, you know, right now, I think in Colorado, one-third of our population is on Medicaid in Colorado. Is that correct, John?
SPEAKER 16 :
That sounds about right. I wasn’t surprised. I think that’s right. I think it’s what I read the other day, so I believe that’s correct.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, about a third. Now, a great many of those people, John, they’re not poor. They’re not even at the poverty level, not even close to the poverty level. They have jobs, and their employer, like if you work at Walmart, you know, one or both of you in that household has access to an employer-subsidized health insurance plan. Right. That employer subsidized health insurance plan, as you know, typically has a monthly or weekly payroll deduction.
SPEAKER 16 :
There’s payroll deductions and co-pays in it. That’s right, deductibles and so on.
SPEAKER 04 :
And you go to the office, co-pay. Or I can jump on the state of Colorado’s Medicaid plan, no payroll deduction, no co-pays, no deductible. Right. Which plan are you going to pick, John?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, Joe, of course, the one that doesn’t cost me as much.
SPEAKER 04 :
That doesn’t cost you anything, anything.
SPEAKER 16 :
And then on top of that, probably gets me as good a care.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, probably get you as good a care.
SPEAKER 16 :
So, yeah, the answer there is easy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Easy. I’m going to go on the state-sponsored Medicaid player, which doesn’t cost me a nickel versus my employer’s plan that might cost me $60 to $80 a month in payroll deductions and $20 every time I go to the doctor. Of course you’re going to go on Medicaid.
SPEAKER 16 :
That’s right. Yeah, to your point, because that’s what we’ve incentivized.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s what we’ve incentivized to get on Medicaid. And, by the way, do you know half a dozen states – openly allow illegal aliens to participate in their Medicaid.
SPEAKER 16 :
Which, again, this one is, as you know, that’s part of what got fixed here. So part of what the left’s story is that all these people are going to lose their Medicaid benefits, no, they’re not. What’s going to happen is some of the things that you and I have already talked about, plus what you just said.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, by the way, states can still allow illegal aliens on their Medicaid plan, but they’ll be excluded from the federal reimbursement rate. Right. It’s on their own. If California wants to keep a million illegal aliens enrolled in Medi-Cal, which is their Medicaid program, they’re free to do that. But when they go to ask the federal government for their reimbursement share, the federal government says, no, those people are excluded. And all those people, and if they have people that they’ve decided to leave on who aren’t complying with the work requirements… They’re free to do that, but the federal government’s not going to pick up one penny of the people who don’t meet the requirements.
SPEAKER 16 :
And really quick, Joe, as you’re talking about this, there’s some articles out today talking about some of this here locally, and I’m not buying the whole, well, these states are going to be spending millions of dollars now to do these work verification things. No, folks, I’m sorry. That is a total bunch of BS. If the state can’t figure out… how to incorporate its payroll reporting system, which all of us are part of no matter what state you live in. Joe, if they can’t figure out that you and I worked X amount of hours and X amount of dollars last month, you know what? It doesn’t take millions of dollars to figure that out. I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, it doesn’t, John. Even though I was the head of a company in Colorado, plus down at my ranch I actually had a – a ranch manager, a live-in barn manager, and I had to personally do his payroll myself every week. and I reported Social Security number, wages, everything else to the state of Colorado.
SPEAKER 16 :
I mean, Joe, here’s where I’m going with that. If that’s the number and it’s going to take somewhere between, Colorado estimates, $5 million to $7 million a year to manage that side of things, which I just find absurd, then we need new computer programmers that will make that information more viable across certain departments, in this case Medicaid. They ought to be able to see right away if so-and-so is working or not.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s just a couple lines of computer code, John. And maybe it’s a one-time… $2 million software development program, but it’s not $5 to $7 million a year forever and ever.
SPEAKER 16 :
You ought to automate that, in fact, Joe. In fact, if it isn’t, shame on the state or whoever for not having that automated, which I hate to say this, Joe, this is one of the complaints I have about government, is the fact that they don’t look at the things that you and I are talking about often enough. They’ll run the same old crappy software for 100 years if they can.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yep. And it’s endemic within all phases of government, John.
SPEAKER 16 :
It sure is. It sure is.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’ve talked about all the inefficiencies in DMV and how we could fix things and streamline things, but that would make jobs go away, John. By the way, Did you know in the last jobs report, more than half the job growths were in government, not federal, city, state, and municipal jobs?
SPEAKER 16 :
That’s right. So your tax dollars at work, folks.
SPEAKER 04 :
Your tax dollars at work. And by the way, I think the number of—I don’t recall the exact numbers, but about two years ago, the growth in the population of Colorado— versus the growth in the number of state employees. It was some ridiculous ratio. Um, I remember that the, uh, like the population of Colorado doubled, you know, doubled over some 10 year period. and the number of state employees quadrupled. I think that’s about right.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, I remember that.
SPEAKER 04 :
The ratio.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 04 :
So why do we need twice the growth in state employees? We don’t. Particularly with automation.
SPEAKER 16 :
We don’t.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, we don’t.
SPEAKER 16 :
With AI now, Joe, and everything that’s coming along those lines, we don’t. It should be going the other direction, actually.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Economy’s a scale. In other words, as you get larger and larger, you should be able to do more. That’s right. In business, John, you know, you have a fixed overhead. that is typically not 100% utilized. And as you get more and more revenues, more and more customers, you may have to, you know, in business, I would grow my I would grow my revenues by 30% and only have to grow my overhead by 10% because you get economies of scale.
SPEAKER 16 :
That’s exactly right. We don’t do that in government, Joe. It’s the opposite.
SPEAKER 04 :
We do it the other way. That’s right.
SPEAKER 16 :
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The best export we have is common sense. You’re listening to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. And, yeah, again, thank you, Joe, for calling in and reminding everybody that, yes, you end up getting what you incentivize for. And, unfortunately, we are a country that has incentivized a lot of wrong things, a lot of wrong behavior, and that is very unfortunate. Our next guest joining us, who’d been with us before, Amon Blair. Welcome back. How are you? Or Amon, I should say. Amon Blair, how are you? Good. Good. How are you? I’m doing great, Eamon. OK, so Texas Public Policy Foundation. Let’s talk about that for a moment before we get into what’s happened in Texas, by the way.
SPEAKER 18 :
Sure. We are the largest state based think tank in the nation and we help conservative policy pass in our state legislature.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right. And I’ve talked about this a lot this week, and my heart and thoughts and prayers go out to a lot of those folks that are not only in Texas, but folks that are around the country that could even have family and relatives, you know, their friends there. And it’s just a tragedy what happened. And really what I find to be the most tragic is how the left has responded to this.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, it’s unfortunate how they claim to say that we need to stop making this into a political situation, but at the same time they’re making it into a political situation.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
It’s kind of sad.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, and I hate to say a whole lot because they’re still looking for, you know, survivors, those that are missing. The death toll is now way over 100, as you know, and it’s just, I mean, and I hate the way that the left has politicized this. We’ve got young children especially that, you know, were lost in this. It’s just absolutely tragic, and again, you know, my heart and prayer goes out to all those individuals that are affected by that, and it’s just tragic any time there’s loss of life.
SPEAKER 18 :
100%. Yeah. And to be honest, if any of your listeners want to help, they can actually go to if they go to Twitter or X and go to United Cajun Navy. They posted up there a direct link to an Amazon account. where people can donate materials on what the people actually need. And so you’re not having to go through NGOs or state-based programs. It goes straight to the victims.
SPEAKER 16 :
And United Cajun Navy. Make sure I get this right. Okay, perfect. The Cajun Navy. That is awesome. I was not aware of that. How has the state been affected by this? You’re there. You’re right in the thick of it. What’s it like there, given all of what’s just happened this last weekend?
SPEAKER 18 :
It’s hell on earth. And to be honest, I mean, the governor today also just announced the legislative items that are going to be on the special session, and four of them are directly related to disaster response because of this. So because of this tragedy, it has now made the state kind of realize on what we’re lacking in terms of response.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
Do you think there will be anything that comes out of this? Again, just reading through, and I’m always hesitant to point any kind of blame on things until everything comes out to know exactly where were some of the missteps, if any. I do know, though, that in that particular area, they didn’t have, which we don’t have here either, and it’s probably something that we have some things in Colorado going on that we should think of. We don’t have the sirens and things that a lot of coastal areas have when it comes to tsunamis and hurricanes and so on. that?
SPEAKER 18 :
Oh, 100%. In fact, it should be above and beyond that. And that’s why we actually helped with a policy to go in this last legislative cycle, House Bill 4914. And that was actually to reconstitute the Texas State Guard to be the premier disaster response and Homeland Defense Guard unit in the nation, a kind of pattern after Florida’s model. Okay. And And unfortunately, it didn’t make it out of the committee. I did testify actually on that bill and helped Representative Hopper on that. And so there are many things that each of our states can actually do, but that’s one of them. is rapid response. In fact, not after the fact, but before. As I said, the National Weather Service put out a warning on July 2nd that this is going to happen. And so at that time period, many organizations should have already responded. And in fact, it was the Austin Fire Chief that denied his firefighters and his special operators to go out there. And so there’s a lot of… And really quick, for what reason?
SPEAKER 16 :
I mean, what was the reasoning behind that? I’m confused.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, so what he said, his official statement is the same, because it was cost and logistics. However, on these type of events, the state of Texas comes in and pays for those costs.
SPEAKER 16 :
To be reimbursed anyways. Yes, yep. And I’m assuming what you’re talking about is they could have been out on the forefront. You’re out there basically 36 to 48 hours ahead, and even 24 hours in advance would be huge. They could be rolling through a lot of these areas, a lot of the camps and so on, instructing on a one-on-one basis that, hey, this is what’s coming. We need you to leave. If you don’t leave, you’re on your own. I mean, those are sorts of things. It’s a free country. You can stay if you want to, but just keep in mind, this is what’s going to happen, and this is what’s on its way. You could have been doing that on a face-to-face basis is what you’re saying. Am I right in thinking that? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 18 :
100%. And that’s why actually Team Rubicon was actually originally created. They are the lead disaster response nonprofit, and they have a team that monitors this. And so whenever something like this is about to happen, they pre-stage. And so not only are they disaster relief, but they’re disaster response. and they also go through a lot of training as well. And that’s why they were able to respond quicker, as well as the United Cajun Navy. They were able to respond quicker than the state did on many aspects, and they’re coming in from, like, Louisiana. And that’s why each state needs to look at this, go through the AARs. There’s a lot of loss of life, but In order to mitigate lost life in the future, we really need to look at this and look at how NGOs are being able to respond without bureaucratic nonsense.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, no, anytime there’s a – I mean, this is general business principles. The reality is you look at a failure. You look at what could we have done differently to avoid that failure. Let’s fix it so we don’t have this again in the future. If we don’t do that, we’re just dumb. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. We’re just stupid.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, 100%, sir.
SPEAKER 16 :
We’ve got to do that. What else can folks do besides United Cajun Navy? What can folks here do to help those that are in need in Texas?
SPEAKER 18 :
Really, that’s it. Unless they have time to come down and help the disaster relief process. And there’s a website. I’m trying to remember what it is. I think it’s Crisis Cleanup. And you can get on there and It will show the direct areas that they need help with, whether that’s mucking out homes. There’s a lot of mold, just like any hurricanes and flooding. And so the crisis cleanup, you get on that site, and you can go and volunteer.
SPEAKER 16 :
Okay. Other things that have happened of late that we could get into for a moment as well is, of course, Big Beautiful Bill, that passed. There’s a lot, again, left naysayers, people that are – are elderly that are in a nursing home. They’re going to lose their care. They’re going to get kicked out. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing has even been stated along those lines. Really, that was an area where we, on our side, we just want to clean things up and not incentivize the wrong things.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, 100%. And all the money that was afforded and also codified, the executive orders that were codified for border security and internal security is really big. I know a additional 10,000 additional ICE agents, more funding for the wall and everything else. So now is the hard part. Just like when Trump came in, that didn’t mean that we could just kick back and relax. That meant that the window of opportunity to work now opened. And same thing with this. The window of opportunity to now actually put our elbows in the grease and everything else like that and the boots on the ground to get things done is now. So that’s the hard work. The hard work is now about to begin.
SPEAKER 16 :
What would you say to some of those folks out there listening that are claiming that Donald Trump hasn’t done enough to deport certain individuals and so on? The actual numbers, if you look at what some of the previous administrations have done up to this point in time versus what Trump is doing, even though Trump from the left is being criticized and basically said he’s deporting everybody, actually the numbers don’t say that. What would your response be to those folks that say he’s not doing enough of that?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that’s because he’s not a king. We live in a constitutional republic, and he needs the help from all local, county, city, and state law enforcement agencies in order for this to actually happen. And unfortunately, to say that… Just because you may not be a sanctuary city, you may be a sanctuary city by just cynical mission, by not actually helping ICE and everyone else. And so like here in Texas, we even had the deputy director of DPS, our state agency, testify against Tom Homan’s plan this last legislative cycle. Said it was that DPS, that was not the job for state law enforcement. And so still today, they have not signed a 287G agreement with ICE.
SPEAKER 16 :
Wow. Wow. I like what you just said a moment ago. You may not be a sanctuary city, but by your omission, you are. Correct. Yeah, makes total sense. All right. How do folks find you and support what’s going on at the Texas Public Policy Foundation?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yes, sir. If they can just go to TexasPolicy.com, you can see what we’re doing there. Our initiative is Secure and Sovereign Texas. That’s where we talk about immigration enforcement, border security, and all things public safety.
SPEAKER 16 :
Nice. And I don’t think I told you this last time you were on. We actually are Signal. I get people that listen in on the air, not through our app, not through the Internet, but listen on air in the panhandle. Texas and Oklahoma so we have listeners that are actually in your state so we appreciate what you guys are doing I know they do as well they would attest to that so thank you very much I appreciate it greatly
SPEAKER 18 :
Oh, thank you so much for having me on.
SPEAKER 16 :
You’re awesome. Anytime you want to come back, let me know.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, Ammon, thank you very much. Have a great rest of your day. Ammon Blair, and again, Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. Al Smith. We heard from Al, by the way, at 3 o’clock, talking about IRAs today. If you’ve got something in an IRA, I should say, where you don’t feel like it’s performing as well as it should, talk to Al today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 16 :
Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning. Yes, it’s hot. Some of you have been sending me pictures of your dash temperature. In other words, what’s coming out on your dash readings on your car. And in some cases, 105, 106 degrees. So, yes, if you’re having trouble with your air conditioning at home, give Cub Creek a call today. Find them at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 08 :
This isn’t rage radio. This is real, relatable radio. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. We will just combine our next ad with Cub Creek and do it that way since the other music started playing. Not a problem. We will figure that out. And, again, Cub Creek, great place if you need anything at all when it comes to an upgrade or your old system is really getting tired or it’s not working at all, you want a second opinion, yeah, give Cub Creek a call, and they’d love to come out and help you. Okay, this was something that actually Charlie sent me, which I thought we’d close out today because we’ll – We talk about a lot of things that can be very upsetting and or can be kind of on the negative end and so on. And so I thought this would be fun to end things with today. And Charlie sent me this. It’s the 10 things that Gen Z… says that you’re not allowed to do anymore. Now, I don’t agree with all of these because I think this is, you know, how should I say this? Gen Z is 1997 to 2012. So in some cases, these kids are now 13 years of age is all. That’s the youngest, and, of course, the older ones will be much older than that, of course, but 1997 to 2012. Now, one thing that I looked up just, what’s a Gen Z? Because I wanted to know the particular age of the particular years of when they’re born and so on. And one of the things, and by the way, I’m going to disagree with this. Because one of the things that I looked up and AI spit out an answer, and it basically said that Gen Z are tech savvy because they grew up in the digital age. I’ll tell you straight up, wrong. Wrong answer. They might be tech savvy and How to Snapchat and how to do this and how to do that. But when it comes to the actual interworkings of computers and what you do to set up things and set up email and do this and do that, yeah, no, nothing could be farther from the truth. They’re not tech savvy. They’re tech savvy in the end user, I think, experience end of things. But as far as the back end of things is concerned, they have a… They don’t have the foggiest idea what’s going on. Some do, but most don’t. So that one I’m going to argue even with AI on because, no, most of them are not what I would consider to be tech savvy. They know how to use the tech, but how the tech actually works and the inner workings of, and if there’s a problem, how do you fix it? No, foggiest idea how any of that works. So sorry, not picking on them. I’m picking on AI, I guess you could say. So 10 things Gen Z says that you’re not allowed to do anymore. Number one, leave voicemails. This one I just had to laugh at because I leave voicemails pretty regularly. It depends on who you’re trying to get in touch with. Now, I will say this. I, on my phone, have set up that this is who you’ve reached, and you can leave a voicemail, but you’ll get me a lot faster if you text me. Now, what Gen Z is saying is they don’t leave text messages because they don’t want to scare you. They would rather have you text them back. I get that, and I can kind of understand that, although I think the younger generation needs to learn how to leave a voicemail. They need to know how to set up their voicemail box correctly. People still talk to one another. I think Gen Zers struggle with being on the phone in general. They’re so used to typing and doing that end of things that they don’t even talk on the phone much, where all of—not all, but a lot of you guys that are listening— you were used to having the extra super long 35-foot phone cord that you could roll all the way back into your bedroom down the hall because, A, the houses were smaller, and, B, the phone cord was super long. And if you wanted any kind of privacy, that’s about the only thing you could do because we didn’t have any other options. And you talked on the phone. Friend, girlfriend, whatever, that’s what you did. Yeah, I know I’m dating myself, but when we were younger, that’s how it worked. And yes, you dialed the phone. You didn’t push the touchtone. You literally dialed the phone. I remember when touchtone phones came out. That’s how old I am. So anyways, they don’t want you to use voicemail. Also, you can no longer use the crying, laughing emoji. So if you respond to somebody in a text message, you’re not allowed to use that. I have no idea why. They think it’s cringe. Again, this is a generation that, I’m sorry to say, most of them have a hard time holding down a job. I’m not trying to be critical, but most of them do. So these are people telling me what I should do with my emojis that can’t hold down a full-time job. Wearing skinny jeans as the default. Right now the trend is the barrel-type jeans, I guess you could say, where there’s more of a just, it’s like a round tube that you have running down your leg. There’s actually no style to it whatsoever, which, by the way, I find absolutely appalling. I hate the way those things look, but, hey, to each his own. I’m one of those where it’s like, you know what, you wear what you want. I could care less. I’m the last person going to judge you for what you wear. As long as you’re not wearing pajamas to the airport, you’re good because that I can’t stand. That’s a whole other conversation I won’t get into. But if there’s any one thing that bugs me when I travel is people that can’t stink and get out of their jammies and comb their hair before getting on the airplane. I mean, give me a break. You’re in public. Most of these people wear things I wouldn’t pick up dog poop in, and I mean that sincerely. So the next one, you cannot, and we’ve talked about this before, you cannot respond to a text message with a thumbs up. That’s very degrading to that younger generation. They would prefer you actually type in a short reply like, sounds good. So no thumbs up. I still do thumbs up. I don’t care if it offends somebody on the other end. It doesn’t matter to me. It’s an emoji. Grow some skin. Get a little thicker skin. Charlie said they don’t like me saying that either. That’s true. Yeah, you can’t say that either because that’s derogatory. Can’t see a man up. That’s right. That’s the last one on this list. Can’t see a man up. Double spacing after a period. Now, most of us grew up in typing school to where you double spaced after the period. I will be straight up honest. I haven’t double spaced after a period in decades. So that one doesn’t really affect me because I haven’t done a double spaced after a period. I know that that’s technically the way that it’s supposed to be done. But personally, I haven’t double spaced after a period in a very, very long time. Next one. Parting your hair on one side. Charlie, that’s you. Charlie parts his hair on one side. I don’t know how else Charlie would do his hair, because I don’t think he would look good parting it any other way. But I used to, when I was a kid, believe it or not, Charlie, I did the parting down the middle look, even though my part actually is naturally on one side. I did down the middle look like, what was the kid on The Little Rascals that had it down the middle? Charlie said he looked like Opie. Yeah. Buckwheat. No, Buckwheat was a little black kid. So I didn’t have my hair like him because I didn’t have – I have curly hair now, but not like Buckwheat had. I’ll think of it in a minute. Anyways, he had his hair parted down the middle. But parting your hair down one side, yeah, that’s a no-go. Paying with cash only. They don’t have cash. They don’t have jobs in most cases. In fact, I don’t know where their money comes from. I guess mom and dad. So, yeah, they don’t have cash because mom and dad’s not handing them cash. They probably have Zelle or Venmo or Cash App or whatever. So, yeah, no, they don’t pay with anything with cash. Now, I will say this. I don’t pay with cash like I used to. And some of you are going to say, really? Geez, why, John? Because I earn as many stinking rewards on cards as I possibly can. I have learned that game. Everything from cash back to airline miles to you name it, I’m that guy. I’m going to use that credit card for darn near everything I possibly can. A, I keep better track of it. B, I’m getting a reward for using it. Now, some of you may argue with me on that or may not like doing that to each his own, but that’s me, so I don’t do as much with cash as I used to. Now, oh, and Andy just responded. It was alfalfa, Charlie. Alfalfa parted his hair down the middle. So thank you, Andy, for that. Next one, writing passive-aggressive emails. So per my last email or circling back, those are things you can no longer say to Gen Zs. Using single-use plastic straws, I guess that’s a bad thing for the climate and all of that, which, again, I look at that and think, you people are so stupid. You have no idea. what you’re even talking about. But yeah, they would rather you carry a metal or silicone straw, sip on the lid itself rather than using a straw at all. Again, I look at that and think there are so many other things to worry about besides whether or not I’m using a single-use plastic straw. And then lastly, Charlie said this a moment ago, you’re no longer allowed to use gendered pep talks like man up or grow thicker skin or whatever. I mean, folks, I’m sorry to say this is the parents’ fault. Sorry, I’m going to blame the parents here. They have raised nothing more than a bunch of snowflakes. They have no adversity. They don’t know what failure is. They have no idea how to overcome certain things. We were talking to our one guest that wrote a book today. They’re not critical thinkers anymore. They don’t know how to problem solve. And honestly, the reason for that is because every single thing has been handed to them on a silver platter. The snowplow parents, not helicopter parents, the snowplow parents did exactly what they wanted to do, and they pushed every ounce of adversity out of their way so they wouldn’t have any. And in turn, you now have a whole generation that’s worried about using a term, man up. That’s offensive. To me, it’s just an expression. Man up means grow some thicker skin. Be tougher. My dad used to say things like that on a regular basis. I mean, reality is be tougher, learn to overcome those adversities, and that’s what you do, and that’s especially what you do as an adult. But the reality is kids need to be learning some of those things at a very early age. For example, I don’t have a lot of time here, but when I had my paper out, I was telling somebody this the other day, Back when I had my paper route, people didn’t pay by credit card. In fact, I’m not sure they could have paid by credit card. That option didn’t exist. As a nine-year-old boy, I had to go door to door and collect. either get a check or cash from them because I had to send my check in to the, in that case, Daily Camera, Boulder Daily Camera back in the day. I had to send my check in for the bundles of papers that I got on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, and I had to go collect to have enough money coming in so that I could actually pay said bill. You learn really quick to collect. Or you didn’t have enough money to pay for it. In my case, my dad wasn’t putting money in my account. I had to go collect on my own. So adversity. I had one house in particular, the dog’s name, I can still remember this day, its name was Susie. And that was a house that if Susie was out, you didn’t collect. So, in turn, I became smart really quick. I learned that I got two free papers, one on top, one on the bottom, because those are the ones that get messed up when they throw the pile into the driveway. So I quick learned that if they weren’t going to pay me and I didn’t want to hear any complaints from them from the paper company itself, I would give them one of the papers off the bottom or the top of the stack that were messed up because I was likely not to collect from that account, meaning I wasn’t out anything if I didn’t collect. So I became pretty smart pretty fast as a 9- and 10-year-old boy. Anyway. Anyways, veteran windows and doors. Somebody that’s smart when it comes to windows and doors is Dave Bancroft. He’d love to help you with your home and deciding what you need that suits your needs best. Talk to him today. Just go to klzradio.com. And don’t forget, Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning as well.
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SPEAKER 08 :
Suck it up, buttercup. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush. That’s going to do it for today. Have a fabulous evening. We’ll see you tomorrow. Dr. Kelly Victory and Steve House in the 3 o’clock hour. But have a great night. This is KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 14 :
Up next, the National Crawford Roundtable on KLZ AM and FM, AM 560 and FM 100.7 FM.
