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Welcome to Annette on America, hosted by Annette Bybee, God-fearing, freedom-loving mother, college professor, lawyer, talking to you about all things freedom, all things America.

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Welcome to Annette on America. This is Annette Bybee, single mom to three teenage girls, lawyer, college professor, and a little sad today. We lost one of the great actors that I had a huge crush on, especially in the 80s and 90s when he was doing all his big movies. Batman Forever, which was in the 90s, Top Gun, 80s. But I knew him starting with Top Secret in 1984, and I’ll get to that in a minute. But Val Kilmer succumbed to pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes told the New York Times. He was diagnosed with throat cancer, which required two tracheotomies in 2015 and later recovered. The Los Angeles native made his film debut as rock star Nick Rivers in the 1984 Top Secret, which was written and directed by the comedy team that created Airplane. I asked my Facebook radio show group members today which was their favorite Val Kilmer movie, and I said that I fell in love with him when I saw him as Iceman on Top Gun. But then I later remembered, no, that’s not where I first saw him. I mean, yes, I really appreciated him, especially the volleyball scene, if you know what I mean, ladies. But… I can remember going to see Top Secret at the drive-in, because I had my little 1967 Datsun Fairlady Roadster, the convertible, and my friends and I, and we all went to see the movie, and I remember just, that movie was just goofy and so hilarious. and a little off color but really funny and so i started liking him then and that’s a sweet memory for me we used to drive that thing around town it was so hot i went to high school in yuma arizona it was hot there most of the time in that so we were always driving on of course the 67 roadster didn’t have any air conditioning and my friends would sit on the back bench which didn’t have any seat belts which was probably illegal but we had a lot of fun Anyway, Two years later, Kilmer was launched to superstardom for his role as Lieutenant Tom Iceman Kazansky in Top Gun, the highest grossing movie of 1986. It’s about 86, that’s when I graduated high school. So yeah, I can remember, I’m pretty sure I saw that one just at the normal theater, not at the drive-in. But man, Kilmer was beautiful. There’s no other way for me to put it. He was just beautiful in that movie. I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me, Kilmer wrote in his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry. I need to get that now. My agent, who also represented Tom Cruise, basically tortured me into at least meeting Tony Scott. He was praised for his role as Jim Morrison in the 1991 biopic, The Doors, about the music icon in which he did his own singing. I didn’t watch that one. I’ve seen bits and pieces, but that didn’t really interest me. There were challenges, particularly when he started to lose it, which was a whiskey deterioration in the throat, he said in a 1991 interview with Bobby Weigandt. Kilmer also starred in 1990s hits, True Romance, Heat, and famously played Michael Keaton, replaced Michael Keaton as Gotham’s caped crusader in Batman Forever. Now I don’t think I saw True Romance, definitely saw Batman Forever. Don’t think I saw Heat. Kilmer accepted the role of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego without even needing a script. I was buzzed about being Batman, but hardly for artistic reasons, Kilmer later wrote his memoir. With two franchises going, Batman and The Saint, I could start an artist’s community, write poetry and plays, and become the wild auteur I saw as my destiny. Kilmer would become unhappy about wearing this heavy suit, but could later joke about the 1995 movie, I mean, it’s so bad, it’s almost good. He also starred with Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau, a science fiction horror film famous for being plagued by production issues. Kilmer, who replaced Bruce Willis, reportedly feuded with Brando and director John Frankenheimer on set. John Frankenheimer went on to blame me publicly for ruining the movie Kilmer wrote in his memoir. I always thought it an odd thing to try to do blame me for his failure to make an entertaining film because my character dies halfway through and the last half of the film sucks as bad as the first. Tell it like it is there, Mel. Though he had a reputation as difficult, Miro Sorvino, his co-star in the 1999 romance film, At First Sight, said he was easy to work with. Now, I did see that one. That was lovely. I just hate furthering rumors about people being difficult because it can do such enormous damage to their career, she told AV Club in 2011. My experience with him was nothing but positive. He was really professional and gentlemanly and a terrific actor. For his work in the 2005 crime comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kilmer won a satellite award for outstanding supporting actor. That’s another one I haven’t seen. I may have to go check that out. In 2015, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer, which would take away his ability to speak due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He appeared in 12 projects after his diagnosis, which is pretty darn impressive. Kilmer reprised his role as Kazansky in the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun Maverick, sharing a scene with his on-screen rival turned confidant in his final movie role. That was a very touching role. I think, well, it was just touching that he was still able to be in it, even though he couldn’t talk. I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character, he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman Cruise set on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I was crying. I got emotional. He’s such a brilliant actor, and I love his work. In 2021, Kilmer declared he was cancer-free. He is survived by his daughter Mercedes and son Jack. So now I feel like I need to go on a Val Kilmer movie binge, but I think we’re all going to miss Val and appreciate the wonderful work that he did over his long career, which, yeah, spanned about 40 years. All right, let’s move on to some stories here. I thought this was kind of funny, and I was hearing about Cory Booker and his quote-unquote filibuster story. New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour, five-minute speech on the Senate floor that began at 7 p.m. Monday and ended Tuesday night was not the longest ever Senate filibuster, even though he kept hearing that in the news, right? That’s because a filibuster is defined as obstructing legislative action, especially by prolonged speech making. So while this was a long speech, it didn’t obstruct any legislative action. In fact, Booker wasn’t even protesting a Senate action. He just railed against the Trump administration. Ironically, the executive branch could operate just fine while one half of the legislative branch was held thrall to Booker’s sleep-deprived raving. The only vote delayed by his theatrics was a Democrat-led bill to undo Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Booker doesn’t seem to have accomplished anything except win a few moments in the limelight, which of course was the point. So here’s some good news. Border Patrol registers new record low. Across America’s 1,950 miles southern border, US Border Patrol detected just 7,181 illegal crossers in March. That’s an average of 230 a day and fewer than one person per eight miles of border, constituting a new record low. I started as a border agent in 1984, which was 41 years ago. I cannot recall a single month since then that the numbers have been that low, observed Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s border czar. To put even more perspective on this, under the Biden administration, Border Patrol was seeing more illegal border crossings in a single day than in an entire month under Trump. Clearly, the message has gotten out that those who illegally enter the U.S. will be caught and deported. Joe Biden lied that he needed legislation. As Trump noted, all we really needed was a new president. It’s so nice to read these kind of stories, isn’t it? Oh, and layoffs begin at HHS by RFK Jr., RFK Jr. is cleaning up the Department of Health and Human Services, starting with a mass layoff. The FDA, as we’ve known it, is finished, one former Biden FDA commissioner said. If you’re a bureaucrat advocating big government, Tuesday was yet another apocalyptic day. A partial list of Kennedy’s cuts include 33,500 at FDA, 2,400 at CDC, and 1,200 at NIH, and 300 at CMS. Critics argue that this will set back American progress on the opioid epidemic and throw the mental health care system into disarray. After the last few years, however, one wonders how much worse the management of those issues could get. So in other words, it’s not like we’re doing a bang-up job. It’s like the Department of Education, who has put us into nearly last place for education. So when someone’s not doing their job and someone’s not getting the job done for whatever reason, you fire them. ISA exposes Crockett’s judicial hypocrisy. During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday, Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett, viewed by some as a rising star and by some as a joke, blasted Republicans for filing articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg over his despotic activism. Crockett accused Republicans of endangering the rule of law, claiming… What it means to have law and order, I just love it when we get lectured by people like this. What it means to have law and order in this country is that you follow the order and you go through the appeals process, even if you dislike what the judge did. Committee Chair Darrell Issa was quick to set the record straight after noting that Crockett herself had co-sponsored articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. He said, it does seem interesting that when the shoe is on the other foot, everyone is self-righteous. You got to be careful with what your record is before you start spouting off. The court tosses the charges against Mayor Adams. New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty to the accusations of bribery and fraud brought against him by Joe Biden’s Justice Department last September. He went further, calling the indictment a witch hunt, inspired by his stance that illegal immigration was out of control. If so, the change in administration ended that witch hunt with the Trump DOJ ordering the prosecutors to drop the case. Today, Manhattan federal court judge Dale Ho ruled in favor of Adams by tossing the case. Adams has three months to campaign for reelection, but he’s been absent from the campaign trail so far and trails former governor Andrew Cuomo in the polls. Cuomo, come on, New York, come on. You can do better than this. I don’t know if Eric Adams is guilty of bribery or fraud. I do know that Joe Biden DOJ does like to go after innocent people and charge them with crimes. So my guess is probably he’s not guilty. And one of the big takeaways here is that Democrats will eat their own if it means furthering their own cause. And that’s what it sounds like was happening here. So Biden didn’t just go after his enemies on the other side of the political aisle. He went after his own people, and they’re not averse to doing that anymore. apparently. But Andrew Cuomo, come on, people, you can’t put him back in. He killed your grandma for the love. You know, all those people running around saying you’re killing your grandma if you don’t take your vaccine or wear your mask. Cuomo actually did. He actually killed people’s grandparents by sticking them in nursing homes with COVID patients. So really, really, you’re going to ignore that and elect this guy? No. All right, another piece of good news. Bondi seeks death penalty for United Healthcare assassin. Luigi Mangione is the man accused of assassinating United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. Video of the event shows the assassin waiting for Thompson’s appearance. shooting him in the back, clearing a jam, and then firing at the prone Thompson as he attempted to crawl away. For that kind of calm, premeditated assassination, Attorney General Pam Bondi wants the death sentence as she seeks to fulfill President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and make America safe again. opponents of the death penalty will surely oppose this decision the rest of us are left wondering if this doesn’t deserve the death penalty what does because i’m not really a fan of the death penalty either being a lawyer i can tell you that judges and juries get it wrong a lot and so you don’t want to see someone get it wrong and then receive the death penalty But in this case, with the video clearly showing what this guy did, and like they said, the cold natured, premeditated way that this guy went about it, It really does feel to me like he should get the death penalty. I mean, it’s just, you don’t get much more evil than that. Clearing a jam, it’s like stopping and reloading. He stopped, he had time to reconsider, he had time to rethink, he had time to let his conscience actually tell him not to do it, and he did it anyway. And then he just ran around and went to McDonald’s and whatnot. Yeah, that’s evil. All right, California and Colorado, imagine those two doing the same thing. Go pro trans. Two bills that aim to preserve female spaces in schools and ban males from competing in girls and women’s sports were voted down by California’s Democrat controlled legislature on Tuesday, no surprise there. The bills failed to proceed out of a committee by a two to seven party line vote. Republican Assemblyman Bill Assele responded, Assembly Democrats are so committed to allowing biological boys into girls’ sports and locker rooms rather than protecting our daughters. Meanwhile, Democrats in Colorado are pushing legislation that would make it a crime to misgender or deadname a person who identifies as transgender in public. talk about a massive violation of the first amendment protection of freedom of speech centennial state democrats want to compel belief in a blatant lie by installing an anti-trans blasphemy law so this radio show uh broadcasts in colorado and then lots of other people listen to it i have moved out of colorado and one of the reasons is because of this nine kind of nonsense Let’s see. Let me just read again what Democrats in Colorado are trying to pass. They want to make it a crime to misgender or deadname a person who identifies as transgender in public. That would mean that I, if this were passed, I have committed a crime, if you were gonna do ex post facto laws here, by misgendering and I’ve done it many times and I will continue to do it many times because I call someone what they are, not what they think they are in their head or what they pretend to be. I call them what they are because to do otherwise is to lie. And I want to obey the commandments. And I have a First Amendment right to do that. So hopefully this doesn’t go anywhere. Or if it does, the Supreme Court knocks a bag that says, no morons, you can’t violate the First Amendment that way. But having come from Colorado, it doesn’t shock me. I am actually, well, I’ll get to that later. All right, next, there’s been a lot of talk about Trump and a third term. Let’s unpack that. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump caused yet another media meltdown after he told reporters that a third term might be in the cards. In a phone interview on Sunday, Trump explained, A lot of people want me to do it, but I mean, I basically tell them that we have a long way to go. You know, it’s very early in the administration. Naturally, the likes of The Hill, The Washington Post, and Politico immediately listed all the reasons why this is a terrible and unconstitutional idea. First, it’s against the Constitution. The 22nd Amendment was put in place after the four-term reign, and some people would say reign of terror, of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president while navigating the Great Depression and World War II. However, according to Trump, those who have floated the third term idea have also suggested there is a constitutional loophole. That loophole is that Trump can run as number two on the 2028 ticket and then take the office of president after the elected president dies, steps down, or is otherwise declared unfit. Trump would be old. In 2028, he would be 82 at the beginning of his third presidency. It’s also not very loyal to run to his current vice president, J.D. Vance. If Trump really wants a lasting legacy, he should pass the baton to the next generation instead of holding on to power. He should want the legacy of George Washington, not Barack Obama. There are other really good reasons why a third term would be preposterous, but at the end of the day, Trump is a troll master. And despite his insistence that he’s not joking, he is in all likelihood joking. He invariably mentioned the words third term to get a rise out of the media and watch as Trump derangement syndrome melts their brains. To me, it’s also a way to get the media to look over here while he’s doing something over there. Senate Majority Leader John Thune also believes that Trump is joking because he has a great sense of humor. When asked by reporters about a third term, Thune replied, I think that you guys keep asking the question and I think he’s probably having some fun with it and probably messing with you. The theory of it being yet another Trump troll was underscored by an interview the president gave Monday evening. A reporter asked, I know it’s hypothetical right now, but if you were somehow allowed to run for a third term, is there a thought that the Democrats run Barack Obama? Trump quickly replied, I’d love that. But he then quickly redirected the focus to the amount of work he wants to invest in the current administration before he even turns his attention to 2028. At this point, we’re all very used to Donald Trump’s hyperbole. It’s part of his brand. However, making trolling remarks about something highly controversial like a third presidential term is incredibly risky when you’re already polling below 50%. If Trump were polling at, say, 60%, this type of trolling wouldn’t be so politically precarious. The midterms are coming sooner than we think, and Republicans, particularly in the House, have a huge lift when it comes to keeping their already slim majority. Trump’s words and actions have down-ticket implications. That said, he has at least succeeded in getting the signal debacle out of the news cycle. Perhaps that was the strategy all along. Either way, Trump 2020-28 is likely a joke at the left’s expense. I tend to agree with the author in this that I don’t really think that this trolling is a good idea, not with something this contentious. Something else that doesn’t really matter, sure, but not when you’re talking about a third term, which would really, really anger people on both the right and the left. Speaking of which, let’s talk about the other elections that we just had happen. Let me find that story. All right, we had some mixed election results. Okay, you win some, you lose some. That could be the takeaway from yesterday’s election results in Wisconsin and Florida. The legacy media will make hay over the results, trying to find some tea leaf indicator for the future. But let’s face it, these were April elections in two states, albeit with relatively strong turnout. Nobody panic. We’ll start with the bad news. Dane County Judge Susan Crawford defeated Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the race to take a vacant seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, meaning the left maintains its 4-3 majority. This election has huge repercussions for the Badger State with key issues, but also with the U.S. House given the state’s districting fight. Arguably as important as the results itself, Donald Trump and Elon Musk went all in on Schimel’s behalf, and his defeat is theirs as well. Trump won Wisconsin by 29,000 votes and almost a full percentage point in November, his narrowest margin, but yesterday’s election wasn’t close. Crawford won by 237,000 votes and 10 points. Ouch. At nearly $99 million, it was by far the most expensive Wisconsin Supreme Court election in history. Wow, that is a lot for a state Supreme Court. Democrats spent heavily to boost their preferred candidate because of the aforementioned consequences. Yet Musk spent heavily, too, using his America PAC to give away money directly to petition signers and millions more to promote Schimel. However, NBC News isn’t wrong to note recent polls have shown Musk’s favorability ratings are lower than Trump’s, both in Wisconsin and nationally. So it makes sense that the pro-Crawford campaign would lean in on Musk in their messaging. Democrats, NBC say… may have found a new electoral boogeyman in Musk. Frankly, the hatred for Musk that has bled over to terrorism against Tesla is astounding. When deranged psychos target Tesla buyers and voters still turn out against him, that’s bad news. I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we won Crawford Crowed last night in Madison. Still, there’s good news in Wisconsin too. Voters handily approved a constitutional amendment to require photo ID at the polls. And when I say handily, I mean a 63 to 37 margin. Democrats hate voter ID and have even tried in Congress to ban states from requiring it because it’s the number one election integrity measure. For that reason, the vast majority of voters, regardless of party affiliation, support it. Republicans should be pushing this in every state. Down in Florida, special elections were held for two House seats to replace two Republicans Trump nominated to take roles in his administration. Neither of those have worked out particularly well, by the way. Matt Gaetz flamed out before confirmation hearings to become Attorney General because he’s a scumbag. While National Security Advisor Michael Waltz was a central player in the Signal snafu episode. On Tuesday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronus defeated Democrat Gay Vallemont to take the District 1 seat vacated by Gates, and Republican State Senator Randy Fine beat Josh Wheal to win Waltz’s District 6 seat. both men pitched themselves as trump allies and with most votes counted they each led their democrats opponent uh i guess lead at this point lead their democrat opponents roughly 57 to 43. of course the left media is trumpeting the fact that trump and the previous two republicans won heavily republican districts by margins exceeding 30 points still as in wisconsin democrats spent heavily only to come up far short The result that matters is that Republicans will now have a 220 to 213 majority in the House, with two vacancies caused by recent Democrat deaths. They’ll need those votes to push through a measure to stave off major tax hikes on most Americans. If there is a takeaway for Trump and Musk, it’s that they should work harder on the messaging behind their government efficiency project. Both men are former Democrats who have made it their mission to drain the swamp. That will get even harder if they allow their message to be overwhelmed by Democrat money and media attention. It’s a very interesting thing that goes on with the people that hate Elon even more than they hate Trump. And I’ll get to that in the next half. I’m just out of time right now. Okay, if you’ve missed any of this episode or any past episodes, You can catch up by going to AnnetteTalks.com or YouTube or Rumble or Spotify or Ask Alexa or iHeartRadio, yada, yada, yada. Don’t go anywhere. I will be right back.

SPEAKER 1 : 28:03

I know they don’t sound the way I planned them to be.

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And if I had to walk the world, I’d make it for me. I promise you, I’ll be right back.

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You can hear KLDC from the comfort of your own home. Click the listen live button on 1220kldc.com.

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This is Carter Conlon, Romans chapter eight, verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now this encompasses all things, not just the pleasant or the easy moments, but every experience that you and I encounter. Each situation contributes to our growth and development as believers in Christ. Even if the challenges we faced were solely to bring us to this moment, it’s truly worth it. Remember that you will persevere. You will not be defeated. No matter what challenges arise, you will remain steadfast. For there is a strength within you that surpasses any obstacle that this world may throw at you. Do not be surprised by the trials you face, as they are part of your journey. Embrace them, knowing that they will refine you and lead you to greater understanding and purpose. Stand firm in your faith and trust that you are equipped to overcome. It’s time to pray.

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Committed to God and our country. AM 1220 KLDC

SPEAKER 01 : 29:40

All right, Annette Bytey back with Annette on America. And we were talking about Elon Musk and how it seems like people hate him even more than they hate Trump right now, which is a very interesting thing because we didn’t think that was possible, right? I mean, it really seemed like… Triumph derangement syndrome trumped all other hatred. But that’s not the case. It really does seem like people hate Elon more. And I just, you know, I have to think, well, this is true for both men. I think a big part of it is that you have two wealthy men and they come across as cocky. And so people… And then with Elon, they’re both wealthy and they both come across as cocky. So people don’t like them then. People that are not thinking, people that are feeling. And the people on the left feel more than they think, a large percentage of them. It’s like the feeling part of their brain is working more than the thinking part. And so when you feel like somebody is elitist and they don’t like you, you don’t like them already. Okay, so we’ve got that with both men. And then with Elon, you see this big, bad wolf who is taking away the spending and you’re perceiving him as taking away spending from poor people. So this big, bad, rich guy is like the opposite of Elon. what you think of as like a Robin Hood figure, right? So this guy’s stealing from the poor. They actually think he’s taking the money from poor and keeping it for himself. That’s what they think. That’s what I see when I go on social media. That’s what people actually think. Or actually feel. They feel like that’s happening. And so then, on top of that, you add the fact that you have these very visible, symbols of Elon driving around, right? Driving around town. You have Teslas driving around town, and so these people who are feeling more than thinking, and they feel threatened, and they feel like this big bad wolf, this opposite of the taking from the rich, giving to the poor Robin Hood character, and you see these cars and you’re gonna go after that, you are gonna do something about that. And then you, so add all this together and you have this storm, this perfect storm of irrational feelings. And so what do they do? They key Teslas. They draw swastikas on Teslas. even though everybody knows now that there are cameras all over these cars and you can’t get away with doing things without being seen. It’s amazing to me. I would think that as soon as the first report came out, that there are cameras and that people are getting caught on camera. You would think that that would have ended it. But no, it continues to happen. I keep seeing the stories over and over. It’s like, do they really, are they that unaware of what’s going on? Or do their emotions just override them? I don’t know. It’s just bizarre. But this is just another… prime example of how feelings are at the forefront with some of these leftists. And some of the pictures you see of these folks, you can tell just by looking at them that they’re a bit deranged and a bit off. And I feel sad. I feel very sad for them. And I hope that they get themselves checked into a mental facility and that they have to pay back all the damage that they did on those poor vehicles, which are not owned by Elon so they’re not hurting Elon probably owned by libs because it’s mostly libs that buy electric cars and they’re not and insurance is going to have to pay especially the ones that are destroyed like in a fire insurance is going to have to pay these people to buy yet another Tesla so you’re not actually hurting Elon when you do this again there’s no thinking it’s all feeling All right, so let’s talk about another Elon Musk story. The real reason behind Musk’s departure from Doge and why it was always part of the plan because you see Politico and other news sites are, oh, oh, Elon’s leaving early. Oh no, what’s going on here? There must be something, some kind of a rift between Trump and Musk because Elon’s leaving early. Well, I hate to shatter that little dream for you. Lefty media worked themselves into a lather over Elon Musk’s imminent departure from the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. But his tenure was always meant to be temporary. Musk, DOGE’s lodestar, and President Trump’s right-hand man, is in fact expected to step back from the administration at the end of next month. Two sources close to the White House tell The Post. But his last day was a fait accompli from the start of the administration. Per federal regulations, which mandate special government employees, SGEs, can only remain at their post for 130 consecutive days. Did you know that? No, I didn’t know that either. But these leftist media folks that are writing these stories should have known that. Okay, in Musk’s case, that would peg his last day at the Doge helm as May 30th, precisely 130 days since, Trump’s inauguration. But none of this, nor repeated assertions to the contrary going back months, stopped Politico and left-wing pundits from heralding the Tesla and SpaceX CEO stepping down from Doge as evidence of a fracturing of the Trump-Musk alliance. The news represents a shift in the Trump-Musk relationship from a month ago, when White House officials and allies were predicting Musk was here to stay and that Trump would find a way to blow past the 130-day limit. Political Capital Bureau Chief Rachel Bade breathlessly reported on X Wednesday morning, labeling her stating of the obvious as a scoop. They’re just mad at Politico that they’re not getting money from the government anymore. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt joined the dogpile of more than 1,200 commenters in ridiculing Bade’s post. This scoop is garbage, Leavitt responded to Bade’s threat before plainly restating the facts. Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete. The plan has always been to let Musk return to civilian life after his SGE status expires. And Trump himself recently alluded to the ex-boss’s departure coming sooner rather than later. At some point, he’s going to be going back. I’ll keep him as long as I can keep him. He’s a very talented guy, the president told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Well, duh. I mean, the guy’s got a couple of companies to run here. I love very smart people, and he’s very smart, and he’s done a good job. I like high IQ people. At some point, Elon’s going to want to go back to his company. Musk also acknowledged the 130-day limit in an interview with Fox News chief political anchor Brett Baier last week, saying, I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that time frame. In addition, Musk told investors in early February that he expected to only be in the Trump White House for about four months, post columnist Charles Gasparino reported at the time. Two months earlier, even before Trump took office, Musk had declared the final step of Doge is to delete itself. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt denied Tuesday there was a set date for Musk to leave. Responding to a political report by writing on X, Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete. In early February, however, Musk told investors that he expected to be in the Trump White House for only about four months, Post columnist Charles Gasparino reported at the time. Musk has made waves in his short time with the Trump administration, leading Doge in making major cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Education, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Social Security Administration. When I hear those names, I just think big, bloated, corrupt agencies. The massive layoff sparked violent protests targeting Tesla vehicles, which prompted the Trump administration to crack down on vandals and call the attacks domestic terrorism. I think a great wrong is being done to the people of Tesla and to our customers, Musk told Baer. I forgot the accent. Let me go back. I think a great wrong is being done to the people of Tesla and to our customers, Musk told Baer. I mean, Tesla is a peaceful company that has made great cars, great products. That’s all it’s done. Musk also made headlines earlier in the administration by directing all federal employees to send a progress report with five bullet points detailing their accomplishments in the previous week. But Trump later said Doge would be serving more as tech support than human resources after yet another backlash. The White House also said that Musk was using his tech knowledge to determine how Atlantic Magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a confidential Trump administration signal group chat on carrying out strikes against the Houthis in Yemen March 15th. I have a friend on Facebook that insists that that was no accident, that that happened on purpose. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s just one thought. Something else I wanted to bring up. This is an interesting story. I had a friend tell me that he, I don’t know if it was an interview he read or a story he read about Elon’s plans for cars going forward. And it has me very interested, even though I’m not an electric car fan. This idea has me interested in, and I’m just guessing it can be done with gas powered cars as well, as long as they are unmanned gas powered cars. But the idea is that if you are a small household with maybe just two or three drivers, that you could own simply one car, one self-driving car. And that car could drive you to work and come home and get your spouse and drive him or her to work and then come home and get your child and drive your child to school or whatever. You see what I’m getting at? The self-driving car doesn’t have to sit in a parking lot someplace idle while you have somebody else with another car you have one car doing the work of two or possibly three cars or if you’re only a one driver household a one person household you can that car can go off you can it can drive you to work in the morning and then while you’re at work it can be out doing like an uber type thing picking people up taking them places and earning you money i have to say i really like that idea Because why buy two cars if you only need one? Well, and I really like the whole self-driving concept simply because I would like to just sit there and read and let the car drive me. I think that would be fabulous. And I know a lot of people are afraid of self-driving cars, but I think they would do a better job than most human-driven cars. Especially if you spend too much time like I’ve been doing lately, watching reels on Facebook. I won’t do TikTok. And if I have time, I’m going to get to a TikTok story soon. But I spend a lot of time watching reels on Facebook and there are a lot of car chases. You know, the cops are chasing a car. And the car that’s running is just absolutely acting like a moron. I mean, putting people at risk and just a lot of dumb and bad drivers out there. And so I would much rather take my chances with self-driven cars than with humans. Of course, the major caveat to that is… they’re probably hackable and so i don’t want something hacked and the other major caveat to that is if the government can have control over stopping your vehicle and they can trap you and you can’t escape so okay anyway just interesting musings about elon musk and his plans All right, I want to talk about tariffs. I don’t have a lot of time, but as many of you know, Trump came out and called today Liberation Day and talked about tariffs. I’m not a big fan of tariffs, to be honest. I would rather see everyone drop all the tariffs and everyone just do some free trade, right? And have some low prices across the board. So, but let’s listen to hear what Trump’s plans are here. President Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on all imports, vowing his historic Liberation Day strike would rebalance global trade, reduce the national debt, and supercharge the U.S. economy to the benefit of long-suffering American workers. American steelworkers, autoworkers, farmers, and skilled craftsmen, Trump told the Rose Garden, pardon me, ceremony at the White House, we have a lot of them here with us today. They really suffered gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream. Now it’s our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt,” he added. Fulfilling a promise he made during the 2024 election, Trump vowed the reciprocal tariffs, a 10% base and higher for other nations like China, will tilt global commerce back to America’s advantage after decades of trade deficits. Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base, he said. Trump further showed a chart to the crowd displaying the tariff rates he planned to apply to each nation. China, or China, which tariffs U.S. goods at a rate of 67%. will face tariffs of 34%. Countries in the European Union which tariff rate U.S. goods at a rate of 39% will be tariffed 20%. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff, Taiwan at 32%, Japan at 24%, India at 26%, and South Korea at 25%. The chart included 20 more nations. The White House put out a fact sheet prior to the announcement highlighting how his administration hoped the tariffs will balance trade relationships and bring manufacturing back to American soil. The readout quoted a 2024 study that found that his first-term tariffs strengthened the U.S. economy and led to significant restoring in industries like manufacturing and steel production. Already in his second term, investments into the U.S. economy by entities such as Oracle, SoftBank, Apple, and Nvidia have reached nearly $5 trillion. Wednesday also marked the start of a 25% tariff on automobiles not made in the United States. However, auto manufacturers Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai have committed to shifting production back to the United States. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the president’s tariff plan, telling reporters on Wednesday, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, and Donald Trump haven’t done a single thing to lower the cost of living in this country. Not a single bill, not a single executive order, not a single administrative action, Jeffries told reporters at the Capitol. In fact, Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time and driving us to a recession. This is not Liberation Day, it’s Recession Day. That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do. Crash the economy, he added. Oh, no hyperbole there, right? I don’t think it’s going to crash the economy, but I’m not sure this is going to be a great idea. Let’s get some tax cuts in place for us first and let’s see… It’s kind of a dangerous game he’s playing with these tariffs. Anyway, we shall see. All right, I think, yeah, I want to touch on this. Amazon makes a shocking last-minute bid to buy TikTok. So… I’ve been mulling lately over what I want to do after I’m done with this radio show because I have left Colorado and so I kind of want to shift over to Utah where I live now. And so I’m probably going to be winding down this show, which is just another reason why you need to make sure you’re following me. You need to go to AnnetteTalks.com and listen to my radio show there. You need to subscribe to me on YouTube, on Rumble, on iHeartRadio, wherever. Go subscribe to me somewhere. Anyway, and so I’ve been thinking I’m going to start doing reels on Facebook. And my friend was like, oh, you’ve got to do TikTok. You’ve got to do TikTok. You’ve got to do TikTok. No, I’m not going to do TikTok. I refuse. I refuse to do something that puts my privacy and my security at risk with a Chinese government-owned app and also one that does so much damage to people by dumbing them down with their algorithms. And so I’m not going to do TikTok. And he said, well, maybe if they are purchased. Yes, if they’re bought by someone and they’re going to stop acting like that, then yes. So I’m really hoping that they are purchased by someone because I would like to get in on TikTok as well as on Facebook Reels because it’s basically the same thing. President Trump kept mum about a TikTok deal despite expectations for a big announcement, but fresh bidders, including Amazon, surfaced with surprise offers to buy the app before Saturday’s deadline. Now, see, my concern with Amazon buying it is that they will censor me, just like they censor me on YouTube. Amazon, whose billionaire founder Jeff Bezos has lately cultivated closer ties with Trump, so maybe he won’t censor, submitted a last-minute offer letter that was addressed to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to reports. The White House confirmed receiving the offer on Wednesday. Other details such as the dollar value of Amazon’s proposal were not revealed. However, key parties involved in negotiations on a potential TikTok sale do not appear to be taking Amazon’s bid seriously, according to the New York Times, which first reported the story. Amazon declined to comment. Representatives for TikTok did not immediately return the post’s request for comment. Mobile tech firm Applovin also submitted a bid to buy TikTok, as did a group that includes OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely. I don’t really want to be associated with OnlyFans. Trump on Wednesday afternoon concluded an hour-long address about his reciprocal tariff plan without addressing a potential TikTok sale. However, the president was slated to meet with key advisors, including Vance Lutnick’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, to discuss a final proposal that has taken shape. under the Trump administration’s proposal, a new group of U.S. investors, potentially including Andreessen Horowitz and Blackstone Group, will own about 50% of a spun-off TikTok America and license the app’s current algorithm from Chinese-based ByteDance, the information reported on Wednesday. Anyway, it goes on and on and on. I don’t need to go anymore. The point is that Amazon may buy TikTok And if they do, they’ll probably not censor while Trump’s in office. But I don’t really trust them to not go back to their old ways after Trump is out of office. I just don’t. So I wanted to talk about some more things. Let me see if I have time for a headline. Russia says it won’t accept U.S. ceasefire proposal in its current form in sign. Ukraine peace talks may have stalled. So we thought we were going to end up in the Ukraine war. Not so much. Hunter Biden, this was a funny one to me. Hunter Biden agrees to give up law license in Washington, DC. I didn’t even know he had a law license. Once again, kind of proving that any moron can get a law license. I used to be more impressed. with having a law degree and a bar card. But then I went to law school and some of the other people that passed and got their bar card didn’t impress me much, including Hillary Clinton. So I don’t think I’m all that, just FYI, because I have a bar card. All right, I’m almost out of time. So I only have time, I wanna do two quick stories from my favorite news source, the Babylon Bee. Nation’s men honor Val Kilmer by quoting Tombstone all day, like usual. A film legend was memorialized today as the nation’s men announced plans to honor Val Kilmer by quoting Tombstone all day long, just like they always do. With the news of Kilmer’s death breaking last night, American men collectively banded together to pay tribute to the late performer by doing the same thing they do every other day, communicating almost exclusively through Tombstone quotes. Skin that smoke wagon and see what happens, said mourning Kilmer fan Michael Garrison. Yeah, we’re all really heartbroken about the loss of Val. We wanted to do something special to pay our respects. We decided the best thing to do was quote Tombstone all day long, just like we do every day. You’re a daisy if you do. Other Kilmer fans agreed with the sentiment. I’ve got two guns, one for each of you, said Mark Talbot. It’s a shame to hear about Val Kilmer passing away. He gave the world the greatest gift he could possibly give. His performance as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. It’s our responsibility, our duty, to honor him by doing the same thing we do every day of our lives. Thank you, Val. Rest well, sir. We are all your huckleberry. At publishing time, the Nation’s Wives issued a collective press release asking their husbands to stop responding to every question with, say when. All right, and the other story, breaking, Cory Booker’s filibuster record broken by your wife. In a surprising turn of events, Senator Cory Booker’s 25-hour filibuster, really just a speech, record that was just set on Tuesday was broken by your wife. Booker made headlines across the country by speaking uninterrupted for over an entire calendar day without taking any breaks to eat or use the bathroom, but saw his record fall less than a day later when your wife set a new mark by continuing to speak incessantly overnight and well into today. Poor Corey. It was foolish for Senator Booker to expect his record to stand against your wife, said political expert Charles Thurman. While he may be a professional politician with years of knowledge, that pales in comparison to the fact that your wife is a woman with extensive experience in being a wife. All things considered, it’s surprising that Booker was able to hold the record for any length of time at all. When notified of her historic achievement, your wife seemed unaware that anything notable had happened. I was just telling him about my day, she said. I had to tell my husband about the text that my sister sent me this morning and how it made me feel and this Instagram reel I saw that had this amazing couch in the background that I totally love and ask him what I should make for dinner tonight and remind him that we’re having the Millers over for dinner this weekend and find out when he’s going to mow the grass and tell him about the episode of Real Housewives that I watched last night. I had no idea I broke any record. I just do this all the time. Do I talk that much? At publishing time, the nation prepared for the worst after Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floated the idea of challenging your wife’s filibuster record. No, not AOC, please. I would rather listen to your wife. I have to say that as a talker, I resemble that remark, although I certainly don’t watch The Real Housewives or comment on couches on Instagram videos. Anyway. As always, thank you for listening to Annette on America, where freedom lovers gather.

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