In this moving episode of The Good News, Angie Austin interviews Debbie Hartung, a San Francisco-based artist and author, who courageously recounts her experiences with mental health challenges. Listen as Debbie shares her journey of awakening in a psychiatric ward, navigating the stigma attached to mental health issues, and her involvement with a new age group that spiraled into a cult. The candid conversation also touches on the need for reform in mental health facilities and the power of storytelling as a mode of healing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here on The Good News. I'm really excited about today's interview, and I'll explain more in depth in a minute, but I'm fascinated by the topic because of my family history. The book is The Factory of Maladies, and the author, Debbie Hartung, is joining us. Welcome to the program, Debbie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you, Angie. I'm so happy to be here, and I'm really looking forward to chatting with you about my new book this morning.
SPEAKER 05 :
OK, so it talks about, you know, the complexities of mental health, et cetera, family dynamics. And I understand that your aunt was involved with the cult and you basically woke up and you were in a situation that was very foreign to you. So let's just get into your story so that we can talk about the complexities of mental health.
SPEAKER 06 :
Sure. I'd love to just dive right in.
SPEAKER 05 :
Let's do it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so my memoir, The Factory of Maladies is very, it's a visceral and raw, deeply personal story. And yes, nine years ago, I awoke on a psychiatric ward. And I could not remember how I arrived. It was very, it was extremely terrifying. And I couldn't recall What had happened, I woke up in a freezing room. It was dark and I was on a mattress that smelled and I couldn't grasp how I arrived at that point in my life.
SPEAKER 05 :
So you're freezing cold, which, sorry, that's just like one of my things that's like my top five least favorite things is to be extremely cold and then to be scared in the dark, not know how you got there. It's like really tipping off on like some of the top five things people would be terrified by. And when do you figure out why you're there and what happened? Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
So my memory had huge blank spots. And through the week, so my memoir actually is just about this one particular week in my life. And throughout the week, I start having flashbacks and my memory starts to recover and the blank spots start to give way to the reasons in which the reasons for which I was hospitalized and how complex and intense my suicide attempt was.
SPEAKER 05 :
So as your memories are starting to come back, and I know I was reading about you too, Debbie. I mean, you remind me of me, you know, in terms of college educated, you know, you were a successful person. It wasn't like you're this person on the street that's, you know, we hear about people in mental health units that maybe have used drugs or, you know, done this or that. You know, you aren't actually the person I would come to first think of ending up in a psych ward.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, and that's part of the reason I felt compelled to share my story because I experience the stigma of mental health and especially those who have attempted suicide is a particular stigma within a stigma. And I really, I just want to drive home the point that mental health challenges do not discriminate. If you have unbalanced brain chemistry... it really is like any other medical condition. It can happen to the most well-educated, wealthy, happy, healthy individuals, and it can happen at any time. And when it does, in my experience, the spiral happens so quickly from when I was living this great life as a budding artist, I had a stable relationship, I had money in the bank, and I think it was a matter of six months. from that point until I woke up on a psychiatric ward, not knowing how I arrived there.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, I would say half of my family struggles with mental health issues. And one of my brothers was paranoid schizophrenic. And I think he had seasonal affective disorder. He'd be a little more depressed, you know, in the winter months. And they said bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and maybe the seasonal affective disorder. But, you know, there were times when he was so loving and caring, and he was an artist as well. And So bright and engaging and funny. And then when he would have these episodes, he was unrecognizable to me. And I remember when I was a little kid, just the first time that he was institutionalized. And I was maybe, I think he was 17. So I probably would have been about 11. And I remember going to visit him at the psych ward and they had him strapped down on like a metal table and his ankles and his... wrists were bound and it was there was very sterile you know the camera was on him so we're viewing him from outside of the room and there was nothing in there except tile and this metal you know bed with uh wrist and leg constraints and i was like oh my gosh he's 17 years old like How terrifying for him. Like, I was terrified, just standing there watching him. And I was always afraid, like, what if that happened to me? And I have a little brother that also is similar. My older brother was murdered, and my younger brother has been institutionalized on and off for all of his adult life. I haven't seen him. He disappeared about 10 years, but I haven't seen him. for many years. And like once a year, I'll get a call. There's never a phone number for him because he's too paranoid to have a cell phone because he thinks people are tracking him and this and that. But anyway, to make a long story short, I just was always fascinated by it because if I told people that my brothers had cancer, they'd be like, oh, my goodness I am so sorry your brother's sick but like that they're crazy you know what I mean like that oh they're crazy well that's somehow shameful that what is wrong with your family what happened to them how did you guys grow up like why did they turn out that way you know and it's hard to explain because you don't know you can't figure out how they got cancer and I can't figure out why he's a paranoid schizophrenic right so how do you wrap your head around it if if you know, there's, like you said, the stigma. So then do you tell people the truth about what, you know, what their issues are? Or do you pretend they're just in the hospital because, you know, they've got an infection? You know what I mean? Like, why does society make us feel differently about something that's a mental health issue? And when, like you said, it's just like any other illness, it's just something's amiss in your body. Yes, I completely agree with the stigmas.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I also really empathize with you and your family situation and your brothers and I also have paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in my family as well. So I can really relate to that. And yes, I'm so glad that you're sharing this because I think the more we talk about it, the less power the stigma will hold. And unfortunately, society, it just hasn't quite caught up. to the fact that mental illness, like you said, is an illness. If you broke your leg bicycling, the doctors would, you know, fell off your bicycle. A doctor would, you know, give you compassion and feel sorry for you and elevate your leg and give you painkillers and make you comfortable. However, if something's wrong with your brain chemistry and you're in a crisis, more often than not, if you're in a publicly funded hospital, um, At least in my experience, I was treated almost like a criminal. And it's just not fair.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, I just want people to know about you. So I'm just going to read a little bit about your bio. You're a San Francisco-based abstract artist and an author, obviously. We're talking about your book. You studied psychology and visual art at the University of San Francisco. I mean, hello. You graduated with honors. You're an avid traveler, which I completely relate to. It's such a beautiful thing to do. passionate about the healing powers of the arts, including visual mediums, music and writing. The Factory of Maladies is your literary debut. And really, this is something that you felt compelled to write to get rid of some of the stigma and to share, you know, your story about this crisis in the psychiatric ward that, you know, you're chronicling that week. So what led up to you that six months that led up to you finding yourself in the psych ward and not knowing how you got there in the freezing cold room. What led up to it as you've uncovered more of that?
SPEAKER 06 :
So the mystery that began to unravel itself was very, you know, fractured. My mind was, you know, fractured and there was big, dark, gaping holes. And yet when things came through and I was able to piece together what had happened, I came to realize that I was associated with a new age group. And in the beginning, it felt like a spiritual group that, you know, had good intentions in the world. And, you know, my family member that I trusted implicitly sort of indoctrinated me into this group and i had no reason to doubt her or her at this point in my life and the more i came became involved with the group unfortunately the guru shall we say became increasingly greedy and power hungry and he realized that i was in a unique position because i was conveniently off of my medication, which he recommended.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, interesting.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. I was not seeing a licensed therapist because he said I didn't need one and he could be my therapist. And as I began to... The longer I was off of my meds, the more I lost my reasoning and logic skills. And I just believed I trusted him. And he saw... my weakness and exploited it. And it quickly cascaded from a group into a cult situation. And he implied that my mental health struggles and my depression and anxiety were karmic related. And he sort of prescribed these spiritual healing tools. that would clear my karma and restore me to, you know, balance brain chemistry.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, it's interesting. I just wanted a side note. I've watched so many, I guess I'm fascinated also by cults and the power they have over people. And you see how highly intelligent people are. fall prey to these charismatic leaders that in so many cases are abusive in numerous ways. And I guess from the outside looking in, I'm just fascinated by the phenomenon. I don't even like to say the word Scientology because they visited me once in Southern California when I was working on a story with them. And I realized there were people at my place of work in Burbank, California, that must have been associated with Scientology to know that I was working on this story. Interestingly enough, Debbie, a young woman that had some mental health issues and she ended up dying. My understanding, and I could be wrong, was that it was because of dehydration and they weren't feeding her. And it happened down in Clearwater, Florida. And so I was hiring producers to investigate what happened to her, and they visited me at my station, and they tried to get me to come visit them and brought me a lot of books. And I was the only person there on the weekend, and no one knew that I'd gone. I was single. I had just gone to work on a Sunday to do some extra work. And so someone was following me or notified them that I was there alone. And so I thought to myself, oh, my goodness, like these – These organizations, shall we call them, and these documentaries that I've been watching on cults, so many highly intelligent people that have a need for something. Maybe it's an acceptance. Maybe it's like you said you trusted. You thought he could help you. He got you off your medication. He's giving you these spiritual remedies to balance your brain chemistry. And you're like, wow, I found someone that really understands me. That's going to help me. And I won't have to be on this medication for the rest of my life. This is like nirvana. This is so great for me. And then here you end up in a psych ward and you're, you know, manipulated by this person that you think has your best interest at heart. All right, Debbie, I'm so interested in our conversation that we have to end this segment here in a minute. So I'm going to come back with you. But for people who may not be able to stick around and hear more about the factory of malady seven days on a San Francisco psych ward, would you give us your contact information so people can find you and your book? I found you on Amazon, by the way.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, thank you. And thank you so much for sharing that amazing story. An extremely sad story, and it really does show how dangerous these types of organizations and pervasive how they are. Yes, I am available through my website, thefactoryofmaladies.com, and you can also purchase my book, as we mentioned, on Amazon, bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, let's take a break, and we'll come right back with Debbie.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Kimball, Nebraska is listening to the mighty 670 KLT Denver. Hey there, friend. Welcome back to The Good News. I'm really engaged in our conversation with Debbie Hartung, the author of The Factory of Maladies, Seven Days on the San Francisco Psych Ward. So it really chronicles that seven days you're on the psych ward, but we're talking about what led up to it. You had a very trusted family member who was involved in what you found out later to be a cult. and this leader told you, get off your medication for your mental health issues, and I will help lead you into a perfect situation where you'll no longer be dependent on those, and we'll balance your brain chemistry through what the person called some kind of spiritual healings. So then what happened, Debbie?
SPEAKER 06 :
So yes, so yes, that is correct. So as I think it was about six months of this healing, and And obviously, my brain chemistry did not improve. And I've suffered from major depressive disorder and anxiety my entire life. And I was so low, I was contemplating suicide. And as this guru was acting as my therapist, I confided in him.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know, it's like, this needs to be a movie. I'm like, oh no, what is he going to do with that information? Okay, so you told him that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, I know it is very cinematic. So unfortunately, and this is so, so sad, he continued to exploit me and put two and two together that I had some money in the bank. My grandparents had lovingly bequeathed me A small inheritance about 20 years before this happened. And because of the family dynamics, he was aware of this and he encouraged me to take my own life. and to leave my small inheritance to him.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, that is so evil on so many levels. Like, I can't even imagine, like, other than just stabbing you and robbing you. I mean, it's right up there. Like, he's basically saying, kill yourself and redo your, you know, your will so that you leave all the money to our cult. I mean, unbelievable. And that your trusted family member is kind of backing this and telling him this information so that he knows you have this money available to, quote unquote, him.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. It's just so even to this day, it's been nine years. It's still incredibly heartbreaking and unbelievable. You know, I just sometimes just don't even believe it really happened. But that is the truth. And it all came to light during an occupational therapy session. And I write about it in my book. And it was, you know, incredibly sad and intense. But once I realized what had happened and how easily it happened and how much shame I felt around, um, my suicide attempt and, and sort of falling for this, um, gurus, you know, for his, um, His prescriptions.
SPEAKER 05 :
And, you know, it's interesting, his prescription for healing guru, but really he's a murderous con artist. You know what I mean? Like here he's respected as a guru, a healing guru, but really he's a murderous con artist. It's unbelievable to me. And that these people can wield so much power over their organization, shall we call the cults.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, exactly. And I forget that we're just on a call, so you can see my air quotes or my facial expressions. Yes. But yes, I completely agree with you. He was a con artist. And I just, there was just so many emotions and then the shame of having a suicide attempt and the stigma around mental health and the manner in which I was treated in the hospital and how I saw my fellow patients treated. That's why I felt compelled to share my story because I just want people to know that mental illness
SPEAKER 05 :
not something to be ashamed of you know this was you had these journal entries than that you turned into the book the factory of melodies and you know I'm picturing you in there like if I was in a similar situation that I'd want to wear a shirt that says hey I know I'm in a psych ward but I graduated from college with honors I'm a successful person you know I have a highly you know successful life you know I have money in the bank I you know I I'm an artist like you wanted to say like hey I Like, I'm okay, but then you're all lumped in there in the crazy house, right? And they're all treating you the same. And from my understanding, it was in a rather degrading manner where you lost your identity of who you'd been on the outside.
SPEAKER 06 :
I did, yes. I lost it so intensely that it was really hard to remember who I was. And yet I looked around and... So many of my fellows were Ivy League educated. One was a psychiatric nurse, actually. One was a teacher. These were people that were very successful in the outside world, yet their illness was so intense, they also found themselves in the same situation with me. And there was a moment while I was in the psychiatric ward where There was this lovely nurse and she was very kind hearted and somewhere in my chart, there was information about my history and that I was an artist and a writer. And one night I was trying to sleep, which was virtually impossible, but my eyes were closed and they opened them and she was standing over my bed. And I, of course I was initially terrified and frightened. And she said, you know, be quiet. And she handed me a blank notebook and a miniature golf pencil. And she said, I know you like to write. And she looked at me and it was almost as if she was saying, tell your story. And it was prohibited for any patient to have a sharp object, i.e. a pencil or anything else you can think of, or a notebook. And then she'd ran out of my room. And at that point, it really hit home that this was something I needed to share with the world, no matter how uncomfortable it made me feel.
SPEAKER 05 :
So you started those journal entries and figured out why you were there, how you ended up there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I did. And I was so discombobulated. And it's inferred in the book, but not said outright. I experienced a brain injury for my suicide attempt. So when I was trying to write, unfortunately, it was just scribbles. I couldn't make my brain and my hands work together at that point. But a month afterwards, I was able to write again. And I just began writing journals and Cafe is all around San Francisco to heal the PTSD that I experienced from my institutionalization. And I call it putting my pain to paper. Because it was the ultimate catharsis for me.
SPEAKER 05 :
You talk about family dynamics in the book and then this trusted family member that led you to this new age cult and this con man that, you know, manipulated you. What do you think made you in particular vulnerable to the influence of this cult?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think there's quite a few factors. One of them is that I'm inherently a very trusting, optimistic individual, and I always try to see the best in people, although to a fault. So that was... I was just predisposed, I think, to that sort of influence. And also, I had no reason to doubt my family member. She had never given me any reason before, and I honestly thought that she was trying... to help me. And I think the third is that because of my depression and anxiety issues and also eating disorders, which I talk about in the book, my childhood wasn't ideal and being very creative. I didn't quite fit in with my fellow students and I was picked on and made fun of. So I think I always had a longing to be a part of a group. So all of those factors, I think, plus my unbalanced brain chemistry, just it was like, you know, the perfect storm.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that that that all makes sense to me now in writing the book and talking about the time in the mental health ward in the institution. How has writing the book impacted your your mental health journey?
SPEAKER 06 :
It's impacted it in some wonderful ways. I feel really happy to share. It's really gotten me out of my comfort zone. As an artist and writer, I usually work behind the scenes, especially my writing, helping other people with their manuscripts or writing marketing copy. But this, this time, it was as if the spotlight was on me. And although it brought up anxiety and it was triggering, it's actually pushed me to be an even better version of myself than I was before.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, in terms of reform and like your experience and the dehumanizing experience of being in a mental health facility, do you, you know, in terms of reform and what that would look like, like kind of what do you want us to know about those facilities and what would be beneficial to the way that they, you know, their treatment of their patients?
SPEAKER 06 :
So I think if I may share an example, I think this example really illustrates the differences between a regular hospital ward and a psychiatric ward. So five years before I was institutionalized, I was at the same hospital with the same health insurance, and I had a severe problem with my ovaries, and I spent five days in the hospital. And while I was there, I was given warm blankets, extra pillows, round-the-clock care from compassionate and highly educated, trained nurses, very attentive doctors, and I was given morphine for my intense physical pain. And yet, when I found myself in the psychiatric ward and I was being held there against my will, I... I felt as if I was a criminal. I was freezing the entire time. The mattress I slept on was incredibly dirty and thin and I was given pancakes and pillows and no one offered me clean scrubs until I discovered them in a closet. and requested them. But I was walking around, you know, and I was extremely dirty. And then on top of it to be, you know, as you mentioned, the dehumanizing aspect of it, the staff I encountered, although many of them had good intentions, they were clearly not trained to deal with people in an emotional crisis. And the doctors were overworked and very busy working. And there was really no therapist on call. So, and on the weekends, there's absolutely no programming scheduled. So I just felt, and I could tell that my fellow patients felt the same. We just wandered the halls or we just sat in the day room. And also we weren't allowed outside. So all of those factors just added to the extreme anxiety sense of feeling like we were being treated as if we had committed a crime.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I think your memoir is going to help a lot of people so deeply personal and really, you know, helping to take the stigma off, really opening yourself up to people and to potential criticism. But I think that what it's going to do is make, you know, you and I talking about it, make people more compassionate towards people, you know, dealing with mental health issues, just like they are people dealing with cancer. Again, the book is The Factory of Maladies, Seven Days on a San Francisco Road. psych ward. Debbie Hartung, give us your website.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's the factory of maladies.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thank you so much. A real blessing to have you on the show. Thank you, Debbie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, thank you, Angie. It's been lovely to talk with you. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to the good news with Angie Austin on AM 670 KLTT.
Get ready for an episode of jaw-dropping stories and cultural revelations. We discuss the shocking and often reckless antics of the infamous Florida Man, including a dramatic supermarket stabbing and a controversy over a Home Alone 2 cameo featuring Donald Trump. As the director considers an edit, we explore the cultural implications and the ensuing backlash.
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, I've heard of some people being desperate to get attention, especially from the ladies. This Florida man is no different. A Florida man shot himself and then lied about having cancer so he could get sympathy from the woman that he is accused of stalking. This guy, he... I mean, this this 30 year old, he staged a shooting and a claim about having cancer so that he could gain sympathy from a female co-worker who accused him of stalking her. This like went for a year. It began back in March of last year. And Cocoa Police, they responded to shots fired at a FedEx. This guy was he like staged all of this. And then he then afterwards he pretended to have cancer so he could all because he wanted to get sympathy from this woman. He was released in a four thousand dollar bond. I feel like that's a little low. It feels like that's a little bit low. A let's see this. Oh, I want to do this one. The outdoor a man faces harsh consequences after he provoked an iguana for viral content. Yeah, I think that you should. He this individual, these people that do these videos, this was his his his video was supposed to be like, this is what living in Florida is like. And he grabbed this iguana. And that was standing, well, like kind of sitting next to his arm. And the animal, I mean, the iguana immediately bit him. And he had a lot of damage. He's like, I'm going to need stitches. You know that they actually have like, I mean, they're covered with salmonella. Not all of them, but you can get salmonella from them. you're always supposed to wash your hands um after handling iguanas i had a friend in college that had two of like the biggest iguanas or something like that in the state and uh kept them in this like huge they converted a room in their basement and to housing these iguanas but you always are supposed to wash your hands if you're handling them etc and this guy gets bitten by him because he thinks he's going to do it for viral content not everything has to be viral content you know not everything has to i don't know why people are so obsessed with it's the click culture Let's see this. This was a local 10. An Audi driver going 155 miles per hour said I know what I know what I'm doing before he had a deadly crash on State Road 84. That doesn't sound good. This individual, he was told by the passenger to slow down as he drove 155 miles per hour. And then not just, what, minutes later, he crashed into another vehicle and it ejected one of his passengers and killed them. That's horrible. So he was arrested on six felony charges, including one count of vehicular homicide. And they said that he rear-ended a Honda Accord as he switched lanes, which caused his Audi to spin out, hit a curb, roll over, and then sadly eject a passenger who did not have his seatbelt on. The people in the Honda were taken to the hospital. That's just 155 miles per hour. That's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Good heavens. Machete news. Today in machete news, an ashtray, this is the headline, an ashtray theft. led to a machete fight in Cooper City. A dispute over an ashtray turned violent. I didn't even know ashtrays still existed. I think I'm more amazed at that than I am about the machete fight. A 42-year-old man broke into a townhome courtyard, fought the new homeowner who was armed with a machete, authorities confirmed. Broward Sheriff's Office deputies said the confrontation happened Tuesday of last week. one of the men identified as David Guevara was standing in an enclosed patio of his townhome holding his ashtray. The victim opened the door, demanded the ashtray, told Guevara to leave. And then the victim walked back inside, sensed that Guevara was following him. So then the homeowner had time to arm himself with a machete. Then he went back and confronted Guevara. And then Guevara rushed the victim. They tried to wrestle the machete away. They fell to the ground. They fought. Somebody did get caught in the face. I mean, it was just crazy. Guevara told the deputies that he took the ashtray because it looked nice. Was he going to steal it? Like what in the world? Over an ashtray. And also everybody has machetes. Literally everybody has a machete in Florida. One thing that we've I mean, that's not a joke. I think you have to. I think they give you one if you move there. I don't know. A Florida man stabbed a woman after she criticized his uncontrolled kids while in line at the supermarket butcher counter. Oh, my gosh. This Florida man is going to spend a decade behind bars. A woman criticized his kids at the supermarket, so he brutally stabbed her. Jamakar Gayle. literally as it sounds, was convicted by a jury of his peers. He had a three-day trial. So he got sentenced to 12 years in prison, one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The knife attack occurred at the butcher's counter in the Milan supermarket in Port Charlotte. And apparently he was there with his kids. And I guess they I don't know if they were loud or whatever. But this woman criticized them for their behavior. And they ended up arguing. And then afterwards, the you know, they they people were pushing one another. And then, yeah, the next thing you know, he I mean, somebody even grabbed a cast iron pan from a shelf in the store and like went back to the butcher counter because they thought they were going to swing it around and slap people with it. But then that's when the defendant, upon seeing the cast iron pan, grabbed a. an eight inch chef's knife from the shelf and then they didn't pay for it first they were stabbing without paying they didn't pay for it after he stabbed the woman uh the man fled to the parking lot and the victim was severely wounded followed him though in an attempt to photograph the license plate on the vehicle uh and so that's how yeah when first responders arrived the victim was in pretty dire straits bleeding profusely from her abdomen and head they noted So they absolutely did find the people who did it, took them into custody, and that's the conclusion of the trial. 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Elon's not cutting Medicare, just the billions in waste of it. The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski. Every day, Chris helps unpack the connection between politics and the economy and how it affects your wallet. As the left freaks out claiming Elon Musk is going to cut Medicare, remember during Obamacare when health insurers got double paid by Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of patients and our government didn't check? Whether it's happening in D.C. or down on Wall Street, it's affecting you financially. Be informed. Check out the Watchdog on Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 02 :
I wanted to switch gears here and also bring up this story. This is more of a culture story. New York Post had this story. I saw it on Friday when we were out. Home Alone 2 director wants Trump cut from the cameo. He doesn't hear it from his cameo piece cut from the Home Alone 2. And you remember Home Alone 2? There was the where Macaulay Culkin was in the hotel. He was I never watched Home Alone 2. Did you ever see a cane? I never watched it. I couldn't tell you what was about.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know I've seen it. It's been so long, though. It's been a long time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Home Alone came out when I was a kid. Home Alone 2. I never saw it. I just didn't see it. But Trump was in it. He has a cameo in it. And how petty do you have to be to start talking about taking this cameo out? So he said the guy who the director, Chris Columbus, he wants it removed. But he says, well, he goes, if I if I cut it, I could get deported. That's what he said. If he cut it, he's worried that Trump would deport him. If he cut his cameo, how petty is this? This guy's 66 years old. He did an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. And he said that Trump's cameo has become a curse because he would love to cut it out. But he goes, it's become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone. He says, I can't cut it. If I cut it, I'd probably be sent out of the country. And he said it'd be, uh, I'll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I'll have to go back or something. He said he's from Italy. I'll have to go back to Italy. Although he's, well, he has Italian heritage. He was born in Pennsylvania. So he's pulling a Hillary Baldwin with us. And it was the Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time. Columbus said that Trump bullied his way into the movie, which I don't believe. He said that they... said that they spoke with him about filming in the plaza and they paid the fee which you'd have to do with everybody so if you when you when people scout for locations uh you if they choose a private property they pay like uh basically they it's almost like that well they pay an ungodly amount of money you can make a lot of money by having a property uh that's used for filming but he uh what what Chris Columbus said was that oh well you can use the plaza if I'm in the movie is what Trump told him so he said however it happened they agreed to put him in the movie and then when they screened it people liked it when they showed up so he told the editor leave him in the movie it's a moment for the audience is what he said and he made that decision then and so they now he says it's an albatross and he hates the fact that he's in it and then he's also said oh well you know uh you know he bullied his way into it trump says that columbus begged him to appear in home alone 2 they that he they that the film's director and others were begging him to be in it and I how in the world like if you're Chris Columbus, why do you think that this is a smart move to just start trying to pick this fight now? I guess this is like the only leverage that he thinks that he has. Why does he think this is the time to do it? It's just these people being so petty and so obsessive and so insufferable. It's truly remarkable. I think it looks petty if he removes him. Because it's become this cultural iconic scene. I think he looks petty by removing him. And thinking that... Because then it looks bad. And then the director has projected his... onto, I mean, he's tainted the movie then if you do something like that. That's so lame. And I don't think that anybody was complaining about it either. I never heard anybody complain about Trump being in this movie or having a cameo in it. Nobody complained about it. Nobody said anything about it. So why now is he wants to, yeah, it's an albatross around his neck, Kane. Steve says that Home Alone 2 is his all-time favorite Christmas movie. You've got to be kidding me.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, it's up there. It's the first Christmas movie as a kid I remember seeing, so I guess it just stuck with me longer. I don't know. Mine's Die Hard.
SPEAKER 04 :
But think about this. All he's doing is really making... So the movies that are out there on VHS and all that that have Trump in it, he's literally going to make Trump more valuable because those movies that were originally with Trump in them are going to be more valuable to people because if he's going to remove it from the movie, that's going to be something people will collect and keep, which will then, of course, gain value. So if he's wanting to give Trump more value, I guess this is the move. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, that's the way to do it for sure. That's the way to make it exactly like you said, way more valuable. That's how you do it. It's just so lame to take this out. But this is like Mao. That's like cultural. That's like the cultural revolution. It's very Mao-esque. Oh, we got to take all these references out. We have to go back and whitewash all of our stuff because politics, because people have grown so simple and weak. It's our friends at All Family Pharmacy. All Family Pharmacy is a great business that is going to make sure that you are topped up with whatever it is that you need. They've saved me. They come and clutch a number of times and They have the treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, you know, therapeutics and the things that the government was trying to prevent you from actually accessing when the government was out there crushing alternatives. All Family Pharmacy has you covered. They also have your everyday medications, your maintenance medications that you need. Fast shipping, no hassle, no gatekeepers, no insurance, no problem. It's simple and fast and affordable to order from All Family Pharmacy. They have straightforward pricing. Shipping is just in like two to four days or overnight in a pinch if you need it. And it's all everything that they have is made in the USA. So you don't have to worry about outsourced stuff coming in from India or China. Visit all family pharmacy dot com slash Dana and get 10 percent off with promo code Dana 10. Be prepared. Protect yourself and your family today. That's all family pharmacy dot com slash Dana coupon code Dana 10 to save 10 percent.
SPEAKER 05 :
Democrats now insist they have a huge momentum shift after those special elections turned out pretty much like we thought they would. President Trump has the audacity to claim he should be able to decide who works for him. And Trump makes the media look like Wile E. Coyote again over comments about a third term. I'm Greg Karambas, inviting you to join Jim Garrity of National Review and me each weekday for the Three Martini Lunch podcast. We'll give you the good, bad, and crazy news of the day and hopefully a lot of laughs too. Follow the Three Martini Lunch on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 04 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, so we have... I can't believe this is a headline, but it is. It sounds like a punk band name. A flaming romantical accessory sparked a blaze damaging three Staten Island homes and a neighbor was busted for it accordingly. I don't even know. I don't even want to know how something like this happens. I mean, I understand if you leave like a curling iron on. You know, then you can have an issue. But this had to do with three Staten Island homes and they were damaged. An elderly woman told authorities that the blaze started when the guy tried to burn. romantical accessories in, I don't know how to put it, in his backyard.
SPEAKER 04 :
You can say sex toys. Why can't you say sex toys?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh my gosh, because we've got some pure people like Juan out there, and we've got to protect them at all costs.
SPEAKER 04 :
Blaming Juan.
SPEAKER 02 :
They said that the guy, his name is Harry Torres, he said that he was in this backyard of his house and he lit two of them on fire. And then it just kind of got out of hand and went from there. He said authorities initially called it suspicious. It spread to two neighboring buildings that were extensively damaged. So it was a three alarm fire, they said. They said it necessitated being called a three alarm fire. I can't even believe this is a thing. I don't know. Let's see. Apparently how somebody smells may dictate whether or not you're going to be friends. I guess it makes sense. They said that smells do matter, especially when you're forming bonds or relationships with people. I guess that makes sense. Like if somebody's smelly or if they smell like patchouli or Toms of Maine. I'm typically probably not. I mean, that's, you know, no offense, but just probably not going to happen. We're not going to be friends. Apparently, your midlife eating habits obviously can help you live longer and healthier. I can't believe this is a headline. You need to do a study about this. A plant rich diet with some fish and dairy might make the biggest difference, they say. But I thought dairy was bad. Is it good now? I thought it was bad, but I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Now, Louisiana, Virginia, Missouri have reported their first measles cases of 2025. Oh, great. So we're all going to freak out over measles. NASCAR fans got their first look at an electric car out on the track in new footage. I am not going to... I'm still not going to be into it. Are you... Would you... Don't you think that they... EVs need their own, like, thing? It's like trans cars. I don't know. I just... It's the NASCAR EV prototype. It turned heads during an exhibition in Chicago and Miami. Fans got to see it on the track as part of a commercial. So they were shooting a commercial with it. So they got to see it in action. I wanted to talk real quick. about this issue with the... Let me pull this up because this was another... This is one of these stories that I saw running around, floating around the internet. The issue of Kristi Noem and her bag being stolen. Can someone tell me how in the world a DHS secretary with Secret Service protection can have her bag stolen? I mean, I'm not trying to be a mean person. I want to know how that happens. She had a purse with $3,000 in cash. She also apparently had her passport. And I think some blank checks, her driver's license, her passport, her DHS bag, medicine checks, her apartment keys, makeup, according to the New York Post, which confirmed the contents of the bag. There was a guy in a surgical mask who stole her bag before he left the restaurant. And I'm just curious how that happened, because she has Secret Service protection. So how do you steal somebody's bag? If they have Secret Service detail. Also, can I just say, how do you get your bags stolen? I'm not, I'm not, I just, I've always got an eye on stuff. I always either wear stuff or I just never leave anything. But I really want to know with the Secret Service protection how that happened. Is this another Secret Service, is this another question for Secret Service? I'm just curious. The New York Post reached out to them for a comment and they haven't heard anything yet. I don't like that someone could get that close. I mean, I've got my issues with how she does some of her stuff. I mean, she can do her glamour shots and as we talked about weeks ago, her extensions and all. As long as you're deporting people, I'm fine. But how was somebody able to get that close? That's my question. Is this is this something that we need to be concerned about? Apparently, the Secret Service did review security footage, and that's how they saw that guy on camera do that. You know, go and sneak in, get right next door and take her stuff. But how was that able to happen? Because Secret Service, if you're ever around any of these, you know, if you're ever around any of these people that are in these high appointed positions, anybody, particularly in the president's cabinet. And one of the things that you know immediately is that there's always a bubble around them. There's a security bubble that's enforced around them. It's not like you can just go up to their table. It's not like you can do any of that stuff. So I've got questions. I've got a lot of questions about this. I don't even know how this works. I just I don't know how that happens. And I get I get concerned because, hi, what did we deal with last year at this time, Kane? Well, not this time, but what did we deal with last year? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Somebody tried to kill POTUS. And there was a lot of questions about Secret Service. Yes. I yeah, I've. So that's why I have a lot of questions about this. I'm just a little nervous. I get a little antsy. So I just would really rather, I would like for some answers from Secret Service to how something like this could happen. You know, for sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast. If you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, we unravel the layers behind recent political controversies involving U.S. lawmakers and media outlets. From the dynamics of Easter celebrations at the White House to the heated debates about congressional taxpayer-funded trips, we leave no stone unturned. Tune in as we dissect these stories and more, providing you with the critical insights you need to navigate today's tumultuous political landscape.
SPEAKER 22 :
Elon's not cutting Medicare, just the billions in waste of it. The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski. Every day, Chris helps unpack the connection between politics and the economy and how it affects your wallet. As the left freaks out claiming Elon Musk is going to cut Medicare, remember during Obamacare when health insurers got double paid by Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of patients and our government didn't check? Whether it's happening in D.C. or down on Wall Street, it's affecting you financially. Be informed. Check out the Watchdog on Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 14 :
You know, what a big surprise that a bunch of, a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax. Won't get back their Pulitzers. They got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies. Pulitzers for a bunch of lies. And on hoaxes. Time and time and time again. And as they peddle those lies, no one ever calls them on it. See, this is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me, because we're changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn't matter. So I'm happy to be here at the Easter Egg Roll with my dad and my kids, because this is what we're doing it for. These kids right here. This is why we're fighting the fake news media. This is why we're fighting slash-and-burn Democrats. This is why we're fighting hoaxsters. Hoaxsters. No, no, no. This group right here. Full of hoaxsters. That peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind. And then you put it all together as if it's some... news story. And when we know it, we know exactly what it is. So I'm really proud of what we're doing for the president, fighting hard across the board. And I'm going to go roll some Easter eggs with my kids. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 13 :
It was this morning they have the typical Easter egg hunt at the White House, and that's when they roll all the Easter eggs down the hill. You might remember that because, what was it, a couple of weeks prior to that, you had, in the Biden administration, you had, what was it, like that pride thing that they did? And right before the Easter egg roll, they had these... uh the trans activists that legit went topless there in the middle of the like and then you know a couple weeks later you do the white house easter egg roll but i that's sec def hegseth talking about some of the turmoil which we're going to address uh welcome to the program uh your girl dana lash here with a fun scratch i think on her cornea so we'll see how that works out i know we're going to power through the radio today one eye so uh welcome uh it's good to see you Well, or hear you, be on with you. We'll get things remedied here. But we've got a lot of stuff to touch on. It was kind of actually a slow and boring weekend. But then, of course, the news came this morning. Pope Francis passed away. So now I guess the conclave, that movie, is happening. It's going to be the conclave. I don't know. There's a lot of discussion. I'm not going to get into the back and forth of it, of all of the political nature of it and all that stuff. But there's a legitimate... There's a lot of debate as to how that's going to politically kind of affect the church and what that's going to be like. Because there's... I think questions about Pope Francis and how he is accused of taking the church left-leaning. Of course, it's not just him alone. I mean, there's a lot of stuff. There's a lot of structure that goes into making all that happen. So we're going to talk about some of that going into it. So welcome to the program again, and we're going to get into all of that. So we've got this. We've got the Easter egg stuff. the Easter egg roll that's been happening at the White House. And you heard the Secretary of Defense just there. Bear with me. I'm still looking at some stuff in terms of trying to see some things. I also wanted to play this. This is audio somebody, too. This is Chris Van Hollen, who did admit, by the way, that his trip, the CODEL that he was on, that it was taxpayer-funded. He met with this Kilmar Garcia employee. and called him an American, a Maryland dad, all this. I mean, it's just wild. Listen to this. He calls him... At this point, he's talking about this guy. He says he's an American in this. Audio sound by two.
SPEAKER 24 :
I think at some point, the president of El Salvador realized it was looking really bad to have this person who had been absconded from America, from the streets of Maryland, in one of their prisons. I think... So...
SPEAKER 13 :
He's not a Maryland dad. He's not he's not a Maryland dad. He's literally a citizen of El Salvador. But we're we're not going to pay attention to any of that. We're going to keep calling him an American. So but he went he admitted that it was a taxpayer funded Codel audio soundbite for to go and meet with this MS-13 gang member. Listen, who did pay for this trip?
SPEAKER 24 :
This was an officially cleared congressional trip. So taxpayer dollars. Yes, like every other trip.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes, taxpayer funded. Taxpayer funded to go and meet with this gang member. Taxpayer funded to go and meet with this guy. MS-13 gang member. and sip margaritas. I don't know if you guys saw that, but at one point they were there and they were sipping margaritas together. I didn't know that you could be in an El Salvador prison and drink margaritas, but I guess I'm wrong. I guess you can do that if you're MS-13. I wonder if all the other prisoners were upset that he was having drinks when I don't think that they can get anything like that in jail. I don't think that they, is that a feature of jail? Do they just let that happen? You can just go and you can have, You know, sip tequila. You can go and have tequila. I'm just curious. Is that something you can do in prison? I don't know. I guess it is for him. But it's taxpayer funded. And I'm curious as to how much these codels cost, because it was and it's not just him. Then there's there's a number of other Democrats that are also going down there. Everybody has to have their who are the other because there's another four that are going down. And they're a little bit lesser in stature.
SPEAKER 08 :
I saw James Comer's refusal to have taxpayer dollars pay for these trips. So that was a new outrage I saw this morning.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, but I mean, these guys have already left. These lawmakers have already left. So the... I mean, you're probably looking, I would say easily, you know, half like $50,000 to get all these guys down here and then the security and all that. You know, it's going to it's you know, it's going to be a pretty it's going to be a pretty hefty price tag to get these guys down here. For all of them. And, you know, they got to fly first class. They have to fly first class. You know that that's something that they got to do. So they he's he's confirmed that they did it. He confirmed that they that it was taxpayer funded to go down there. And then he was asked, you know, when he He was asked about Rachel Morin. Now, Rachel Morin was one of his constituents and her mother was the one that was there at the White House. And they were talking at the White House during the press avail, talking at the White House. I don't he's never tweeted about her. People were looking at his Twitter account. He's never tweeted about her. Rachel Morin. He's never tweeted to her mother. Apparently he never reached out to any of them. This is audio soundbite. Which one is this? I just had this audio soundbite five. Listen. Neglected. And that's the question.
SPEAKER 19 :
I think it's about the mother being unable to understand why you would spend so much time energy for this person who was not in your state or in the country legally, at which time she felt like you didn't have the same concern about her daughter and her family.
SPEAKER 24 :
I did have concern. I have concern, my heart goes out to every Maryland family that is the victim of violence, regardless of the perpetrator.
SPEAKER 13 :
But what do you mean any Maryland family? So anybody is. So what does this have to do with him lionizing the exact kind of gang activity that got Rachel Moore and killed? It just doesn't make any sense. None of this makes sense. Audio somebody seven. Now he's trying to gatekeep and says that he he more than anybody else has been fighting audio somebody seven MSNBC or MSNBC. Same thing, though, really. MS 13 longer. Listen.
SPEAKER 24 :
The embassy, the Trump administration, is doing nothing right now to comply with that court order. What they're doing is trying to change the subject, as if you can't comply with the Constitution and fight gang violence. I've been fighting MS-13 longer than Donald Trump probably ever uttered the words. I put together an anti-gang task force in this Washington region, Maryland, Washington, Virginia.
SPEAKER 13 :
So this task force, what task force did he put together? What did they actually accomplish? He put together this task force and yet people are still getting killed and they're still allowing them to come in. So what does that mean? before before Trump ever uttered the words. Well, I think POTUS has done more in that short time than Van Hollen has done, which is the crazy thing about it. I think POTUS has done a lot more in this time than than POTUS has. So what you know, what was his point of even going down there? Audio soundbite eight. He says this in this interview. This was the only big interview that he gave about it. This was he said he wanted to go down to see if Garcia was alive. Listen.
SPEAKER 24 :
I did. I had two missions. One was to ask the government of El Salvador to not be complicit in this illegal scheme with the Trump administration and to release him. I made that request to the vice president. They denied that request. My other major purpose was to just see Abrego Garcia, to see if he's alive. I did.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, to see if he's alive, to see Abrego. Like, why would he not be alive? Out of curiosity. Oh, because... He's, I mean, the El Salvadoran prison is, you know, pretty hardcore prison. That's for pretty hardcore people. This dude's pretty hardcore rolling with MS-13. He wanted to see if Garcia was, he never called the Moran family. Hell, he's never called anybody in Maryland that have been. Subject to the sort of violence that he claims that he's protecting citizens from by inviting a deluge of illegal immigrants in. So this is one of the things we're going to we got we got a lot more on this because, yeah, they sent their their four other Democrats that are traveling down. to go and visit this Garcia guy. They're just gonna take turns. You remember how they took turns with the kids in the cages, what they said was kids in cages. Remember how they took turns with that? They had AOC go down and pose on the side of the fence. They had a number of other Democrats go down. For like three weeks, they just took these extended field trips down to the border, and they all took photos. They all took photos, like AOCs was in a parking lot by a chain link fence. They all took photos. It was a photo op for them. It was a PR stunt for them. We're going to talk more about that here coming up. Also on deck, the White House, they're backing Hegseth, and now you have this It seems like the Pentagon is really, you've got some entrenched people in the Pentagon who make decisions that are really pushing back against some of these reforms. We're going to talk about that coming up because that is a big thing in this. It is a big thing. You're never going to be able to work on your fighting force if you don't get the top of the pile in order, so to speak. So we're going to get all this in. We're also going to ask, why was it, and I saw this earlier today, how in the world can the Homeland Secretary, DHS, Kristi Noem, how in the world does she have a bag stolen from her at a D.C. restaurant over Easter? Like, she has a Secret Service detail. How did that happen? So we're going to talk about all of that and then the latest as well. We'll follow all the Pope stuff as well as we get moving. Our partners that help bring you the program. It's our friends at All Family Pharmacy. All Family Pharmacy is a great business that is going to make sure that you are topped up with whatever it is that you need. They've saved me. They come and clutch a number of times and They have the treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, you know, therapeutics and the things that the government was trying to prevent you from actually accessing when the government was out there crushing alternatives. All Family Pharmacy has you covered. They also have your everyday medications, your maintenance medications that you need. Fast shipping, no hassle, no gatekeepers, no insurance, no problem. It's simple and fast and affordable to order from All Family Pharmacy. They have straightforward pricing. Shipping is just in like two to four days or overnight in a pinch if you need it. And everything that they have is made in the USA. So you don't have to worry about outsourced stuff coming in from India or China. Visit allfamilypharmacy.com slash Dana and get 10% off with promo code Dana10. Be prepared. Protect yourself and your family today. That's allfamilypharmacy.com slash Dana. Coupon code Dana10 to save 10%.
SPEAKER 21 :
Democrats now insist they have a huge momentum shift after those special elections turned out pretty much like we thought they would. President Trump has the audacity to claim he should be able to decide who works for him. And Trump makes the media look like Wile E. Coyote again over comments about a third term. I'm Greg Karambas, inviting you to join Jim Garrity of National Review and me each weekday for the Three Martini Lunch podcast. We'll give you the good, bad, and crazy news of the day and hopefully a lot of laughs too. Follow the Three Martini Lunch on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 08 :
And now all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's quick five.
SPEAKER 13 :
Need knife control in D.C. D.C. mass stabbing suspect was arrested after attacking six people, including innocent bystanders at random in a substance fueled frenzy. Try that in a concealed carry town. The D.C. police, they responded to the scene. It was two miles from the Capitol. It was like three twenty p.m. yesterday after we got off air. They found the male suspect on the ground suffering from stab wounds. But he had hurt a number of people. They said he was in a, quote, alternate mental state from an unknown substance. And that's how it began. Also, rising odds. I am really upset over this. And I feel betrayed. Smog. The asteroid that we thought might, you know, kind of ping the Earth actually threatens to hit the moon instead. What? I mean, you know, that's going to just mess stuff up for everybody, but it's not going to be the end of humanity, sadly. I'm saying it's a huge asteroid. Now it has a 4% chance of smashing into the moon. So there is a chance, though. They thought the size of it is capable of leveling a city. According to data from the James Webb Space Telescope, it has a 3.1% chance of hitting our home planet, apparently the highest chance more than any other asteroid that they've measured previously, and it required the Earth's planetary defense community to leap into action. Further observant observations quickly ruled out the asteroid called 2024 YR4 or giant disappointment will strike Earth on December 22nd, 2032. Wow. We got to wait that long. Maybe it can change its trajectory. Could we send Bruce Willis up there and have Aerosmith play and he can like jackhammer the asteroid into a new trajectory? I mean, I'm sure it's possible. I know engineering guys because I can eyeball a wall and hang a picture. I have a story about that. It was like perfectly in the center. I swear to you. My husband was like, that's an exception, not a rule. Stop it. Amazon has a bid to buy TikTok per New York Times. Does that does that mean we got to use TikTok if somebody buys it? You telling me I got to create an account on TikTok? I will annoy the hell out of everybody on purpose. I will create the most horrible content. So, yeah, they said that they put in the last minute offer to buy TikTok. And I guess we're going to it's now we're playing wait and see, see if they take up the offer. San Francisco is rethinking its free handouts of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Wow, I wonder why. I wonder why that's happening. San Francisco is now scratching their heads thinking, you know what, maybe it wasn't a great idea. to hand out free drugs and drug paraphernalia to drug addicts. Maybe it wasn't a good idea. It's like, you know, giving kids to a kid toucher. Why would you do this? I've said for years now that our media is just garbage. Legacy Press is garbage. How does the average person know if a news story, if the source is accurate or if it's biased? Ground News can be a great solution for that. Ground News can show you the stories and the sources of the day, and then they give you details about their sourcing. how reliable the reporting is and who owns them and keep you fully informed on any potential political or motivational leanings. So, for instance, you could use Ground News to read about the Trump administration suing the state of Maine over participation of transgender athletes in girls sports. The Huffington Post said, quote, So same story, but two very different headlines. Is it a power grab by the president or is it in the hands of the DOJ? You can sign up for your Ground News account today and get access to the mobile app. the website, the browser extension, and exclusive newsletter so you can stay informed on the news and the bias. Visit groundnews.com slash Dana today to get 40% off the Ground News Vantage plan and get access to all of their news analysis and features. That's groundnews.com slash Dana for 40% off the Ground News Vantage plan for a limited time only. Groundnews.com slash Dana for 40% off.
SPEAKER 04 :
Not able to catch all three hours of The Dana Show? Subscribe to the full podcast and get news and laughs delivered in short, easy to digest episodes. Ideal for your busy lifestyle on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 17 :
So I have a book here that I really like. And on the end, you will tell me what you learned from it. And the name is Bunny with a Big Heart. Does anybody know this book? Yeah, you do? Beautiful. So let's start. Bunny with a Big Heart. PJ Funny Bunny was a very busy bunny. He was always doing something. I'm going to the park, he shouted one morning. Then he raced out of the house, leaving the door wide open. PJ also left his dirty dishes on the table.
SPEAKER 13 :
She's reading to the kids at the... His toys. Easter egg roll.
SPEAKER 17 :
All over his bedroom.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's so refreshing to not have, like, topless trans activists on the White House lawn. Bottom of this first hour. And that is... It's interesting to me in that the... I think the tenor, I mean, it seems like there's more of an acknowledgement of like a genuine acknowledgement of Easter and from an administration that's not insane, I think. I mean, I have to tell you, I was kind of laughing because I was listening to this. And thinking of the, you know, the White House Easter egg roll. And then I was also coupling it with this story from Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary, about how she had her bag stolen. And you know what my first thought was? Did Sam Brenton do it? Remember Sam Brenton, the luggage twink? Sam Brenton, I thought, did he do this? Is he the guy who stole her luggage? And is he going to start walking around with hair extensions and all this stuff now? I was just wondering. Oh, and then I remember that was the last administration. So not really. Don't really have to worry about it. It's not the same. It's not the same. So welcome back to the show. All right. So the other the a couple of things that we're we're watching and again, welcome. We're we're. your your girl has an issue with her eye today so we're dealing with that while we're also covering all the news just for the people that are asking we're just giving you guys a heads up so the uh Fallout with DOD, and I'm sure that you guys have seen these stories at this point. The Fallout with DOD, the Department of Defense, and this issue with Hegseth, and now they're accusing him of what having had another conversation or whatever in Signal and it got out. I think I'm, first and foremost, regardless of what people think of Signal, One of the things that you, and this was a New York Post piece, by the way, that had this, where it said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared war plans in second signal chat. Can I remind everybody that no matter, you know, what, separate from what your thoughts on this may be, Signal has been an approved program. uh platform for use by members of the government for some time i you know admittedly i didn't know this at the time when this story first all started breaking but it's been uh it's something that comes pre-loaded on apparently who was it that testified to this to the cia they were saying yes the cia loaded this onto our uh onto our computers yes we we had this on our devices we use signal it's an encrypted supposed to be safe so i i mean i don't I don't know if the alternative is that something in like the government makes is going to be somehow more secure because I don't necessarily believe that. So I don't know if you, if it's one, but the other big question is who's leaking it. Now we've had a number of aides already that have been shown the door. Now they were saying, well, there's a second group chat and there's been advice. So who are the people that are leaking? It is the bigger question. And especially if it's something that has been approved, so I don't see what the scandal is, whether or not, you know, it's acting like they were somehow involved in using a platform that's somehow clandestine. I don't know. I mean, it's been approved for government devices. But again, who's been leaking this stuff? If you can't have an inner circle, you know, you're the Secretary of Defense. If you can't have in your inner circle the, you know, a trustworthy group, then we've got issues. I mean, these are the people that are heading up our warfighters. We have issues if we cannot trust the people who are working around the Secretary of Defense. Dan Caldwell was one of the guys who was escorted from the Pentagon last week because they said he was leaking from the DOD. And they've had three officials in total placed on leave in recent, just like within the past week and a half. his deputy chief of staff, Dan Selnick, and then Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to his deputy, were also placed on administrative leave. And then his chief of staff, Joe Casper, is apparently going to go for Politico to a different post within that agency. So I want to know, Because they're all demanding, people like Chuck Schumer are demanding that Hegseth be fired. Can I ask the question of, or not the question, making an observation that it almost sounds like they want him to fail. It's like they're trying to set him up to fail. That's what it really seems like. that Chuck Schumer had said, oh, Pete Hegseth put lives at risk, but Trump is too weak to fire him. He's got to be fired. He's got to go. That was Chuck Schumer. He wrote that on X just last week. They really want Hegseth to go, and I want to ask why. Why is he being set up to fail? Why is it that you have a whole group of people that are supposed to be in your inner circle, and yet... You can't trust them with any information. You can't trust them with any kind of discussion. And I get, you know, with certain sensitive things, they have to, you know, they'll meet in person or they'll, you know, if they're reviewing stuff, they'll go in the skiff. I get it. But why the leaks? Why is it that they're trying to undermine him? Because that's what this is. They're trying to undermine the Secretary of Defense. And these are people who would rather rule over ashes than to lose. That's what this is. They would rather rule over ashes than lose. And they're fine with endangering and jeopardizing the security of the nation in order to do it. That's what this is. If he had, and apparently this had to do with the, because the first time you remember it was this March attack, the Houthis, and that's what, and it was only, I think it was Goldberg, that Jeffrey Goldberg over at the Atlantic that had, was writing about this, and apparently he only learned about the actual, you know, I guess strikes two hours before they happened, but still. I am I'm I'm concerned because there doesn't seem to be a lot of cohesion in DOD. I mean, you're talking about an agency that thrives on discipline and cohesion. You know, Department of Defense, they thrive on cohesion. They thrive on being a unit. They thrive on. Well, you can't have leaks. So why is it that some of these people and some of them are newly transitioned? Some of them have been there. Why does it seem to run the gamut of people who are leaking on sect up? If they are displeased with the selection for the secretary of defense, there are ways to deal with it beyond leaking things to the press, leaking things to a malicious press that wants to do nothing more than destabilize this administration and in turn destabilize the country. And whenever I see these people like this stuff, I kind of always, you know, I always ask the question, what's the purpose here? This isn't whistleblower stuff. This is a malicious movement designed to portray the secretary of defense is not having his people together as not. They're trying to showcase that he they're trying to they're showcasing. They're trying to project this message that he's weak and that he doesn't have the confidence of the people underneath him. That's why they're doing this. They're doing this because they they are displeased with Trump's pick. And so they're going to leak to the press and think that at some point POTUS will be prevailed upon to jettison him to the sidelines. That's not going to happen, though. I don't think that when does that ever happen? I mean, Hegseth, this is not like a situation like Matt Gaetz. OK, Matt Gaetz is a giant unforced error. This is not even remotely like that. This is a legit witch hunt. And I and for Schumer, Schumer's trying to he thinks that he's playing to Trump's ego here by saying, oh, he's too weak to fire him. He's saying that because he kind of has an idea of how to get under Trump's skin by questioning his strength or his acumen, etc. But I don't think that anybody's anybody's going to respond to this. I just, you know, we got a lot of issues happening in the Middle East. We got a lot of issues with China. These are serious things. And I really wish that our government would give them the seriousness to which they're due, would treat them in a manner accordingly. Thank you for joining us. I've partnered with a great company that makes it super easy to buy. Easy, transparent, and simple. 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SPEAKER 04 :
Not able to catch the full Dana show? Follow Dana's Absurd Truth podcast and get news and laughs delivered in short, easy to digest episodes. Ideal for your busy lifestyle on Apple or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 07 :
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of the United States.
SPEAKER 10 :
I do them every year. Do you want to keep going? Do you want to keep going and keep harassing me? You could have gone to a dozen town halls last year.
SPEAKER 09 :
I've already done one. I'll do plenty more. You're always invited.
SPEAKER 10 :
And by the way, I voted for gay marriage twice. What does that have to do with me? So I'm just saying, it has everything to do with you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Do you think everything about me has to do with gay marriage? I do, absolutely. That's your first stance when you speak with me? Absolutely. There's no other humane conversation you can have about me.
SPEAKER 10 :
If you want to get in my face about town halls, you should have shown up to one last year.
SPEAKER 09 :
There's no other humane thing you can talk about me, just saying, oh, I support gay marriage.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, because you're getting in my face about a town hall.
SPEAKER 09 :
You could have gone last year. Would you like me... I have town halls every year.
SPEAKER 10 :
I have over a dozen every year.
SPEAKER 09 :
Great. That was my entire question.
SPEAKER 10 :
You didn't have to go into this. You could have come to any of them last year. I had over a dozen.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't understand why Nancy Mace is making such a big deal of this right now. This guy's shorts are horrendous, number one. He's in these short little booty shorts. But can I be honest? I don't know why Nancy Mace... is seeking to make this like a confrontational thing? Am I missing something? I mean, if he just asks, when are you holding more town halls, then all she has to do is say, oh, yeah, well, we're going to have another one here, or we're going to be holding some here. That's all she has to do. So I don't understand why it's a big fight. I mean, did it seem like he was being purposefully like a jerk or totally confrontational?
SPEAKER 08 :
I don't know. In the beginning.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't want to defend a guy in booty shorts. So please give me a reason to not. I don't want to be on this guy's side. He's in booty shorts. Please give me a reason to not defend the booty short dude.
SPEAKER 08 :
Look, he's clearly mentally ill approaching someone like that as though, you know, he's accusing her of never doing town halls or that, you know, the talking point out there now with Democrats going to these Republican town halls is that somehow these Republican town halls are reflective of how Republicans feel about their Republican representatives when, in fact, that's not the case. It's the left causing these issues. So I think she's just pointing to that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right. Well, I mean, still, I mean, it is it's. Just I don't know. I just feel like that there's there's times to blow up and there's times to not blow up. And I don't know. It just to me, it just seems it feels like it didn't need to be all that much. Maybe I'm wrong. But, you know, we also don't know exactly how it started. You know, I mean, you only get it and only like cuts through like part way. So maybe he did something. I don't know. But I just think that if you know, if he's just asking you, hey, are you going to be doing more of this? Then that's not a big issue, right? Because, yeah, we're going to have more town halls. Yeah, we're going to have more town halls. So you can get on the bus with the other Soros funded people and you can go to town. Right. I mean, it's like, okay. I would have answered it. Wouldn't have been a big deal.
SPEAKER 08 :
So you think it was just a, hey.
SPEAKER 13 :
I tend to, I don't dislike her, but I also think that sometimes she really tries to manufacture attention. And I think that our, I don't just blame the lawmakers for doing this. I think that our society supports that. I think that we want people, like if people aren't gaining traction with something, they'll manufacture a victim narrative. I just don't, I don't know. I mean, there's just ways to handle. I've dealt with people publicly before. And it doesn't always have to be like a big blow up. You know, sometimes, you know, maybe it's necessary. But I just didn't seem like this is one of the times where it was. You know, I don't know. But I just I think she just needs to slow it down just a little bit. Remember when she wore that a shirt like Hester and her a shirt? Yeah, her scarlet letter. Hester with her A. I feel like she just tries to go out for the attention is what I'm saying. I feel like she just really tries to go out for it. I don't know. We got more on the way. Lorraine noted that Van Hollen's gang task force spent over $2.5 million in just one year. So what did they actually accomplish? Well, that's what she was looking at. She was like, I can't find a single thing as to what Van Hollen's gang task force did. They had like a joint gang task force back in 2004, but it ended there, she said. She said that they had congressional hearings into it in 26. It was included in the spending bill, the omnibus in 09. But then there's, you know, nobody knows. Well, I mean, they spent money to the University of Maryland, right? They spent money there. They sent money there. But nobody really knows... So I'm just curious how much taxpayer dollars are we going to have here for this CODEL because we've got other ones going down there. It's like the hot new summer vacation. You go down and you go down to El Salvador and you go down to that prison there and you go and everybody gets a turn. You go get your picture taken with Garcia. You go get your picture. It's a hot new summer vacation. Forget your sightseeing. Forget your jet skis. Forget any of that. No, just do it this way. We have a lot more on the way. We've got a new pope, I guess. They're going to make that determination. We're going to get into all of that. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well. A couple of observances on that issue, too, on the issue of Easter. But we're going to get into all of that. And then we have Stephen Yates later on in the program. because obviously we keep a very close eye on everything that happens with the biggest geopolitical foe of the United States. We're going to talk to him about the latest with China. They sent back a new Boeing jet. China did. We're going to talk about some of this stuff. We're going to get into all of it. And, of course, second and third hour on the way. We've got Florida Man coming up, too. Stick with us. More in store. Homeowners, what was the last time you checked on your home title? That's the legal proof that you own your house. You know this. The problem is that in today's AI and cyber world, scammers are stealing your home titles and your equity is actually the target. Criminals forge your signature on one document. Then they use a fake notary stamp. They pay a small little fee with your county and boom, your home title has been transferred out of your name. And then, oh, it doesn't end. Then they take out loans or even sell your property. and you're not going to know it happened at all until you get a collection or foreclosure notice. Use promo code Dana at HomeTitleLock.com to make sure that your title is still in your name and protect yourself. You'll also get a free title history report plus a free 14-day trial of their million-dollar triple lock protection. So that's 24-7 monitoring of your title, urgent alerts to any changes, and if fraud should happen, they'll spend up to $1 million to fix it. Visit HomeTitleLock.com now. Use promo code Dana.
SPEAKER 02 :
Swore to the American public he was going to deport illegal criminals and especially those who have been involved in violent gangs like MS-13 that have terrorized American communities. And so to the Democrat Party who thinks that they are going to bring this foreign terrorist back to the United States of America to live a peaceful and happy life, that is never going to happen. Not only is this an MS-13 gang member, but he is also an illegal alien who broke our nation's laws to come here. And not only is it a slap in the face to the American citizens whose lives who have been put in danger or in many cases lost at the hands of these illegal alien criminal gang members, but it's also a slap in the face to the millions of legal immigrants who came to our country the right way, waited their turn and paid their dues. We have a legal immigration system for a reason. The president is going to continue to uphold that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and good for him. He needs to. And it's about time that we've had... I mean, people in the administration do what they needed to do as it pertains to illegal immigration and to uphold the law, to actually uphold the law. So I don't know why we're still defending this case, by the way, of the... You know, this Garcia, this guy who's an El Salvadoran national who... Was never here legally. I mean, I don't know how many times we can talk about this. I'm sure that you guys hopefully didn't run into any of this stuff on Easter. Hopefully nobody talked about it on Easter. Goodness. Welcome back to the show. Dana Lash with you. We are at the top of this second hour. And the issue of immigration and this back and forth, I want to reiterate again because I feel like this gets lost in all of this. The issue with... Him and the deportation, I was listening to, who was it, Senator John Kennedy out of Louisiana earlier. who remarked how the administration, he said in his view, the administration messed up because they let this guy go too early or they deported him too early. I don't think the administration messed up though. I mean, how is it that it's bad if you deport someone earlier than what was scheduled and then When you and then they enter the country illegally. I mean, if you're if you're going to go buy the book as it pertains to law and order, then you have to go buy the full book, not just that which. You know, it works to your advantage, not just you can't ignore the fact the guy came in illegally. And because he came in illegally and because he had his due process and he had numerous court appearances and he was before numerous immigration judges. We read one of the bond documents out aloud to you when we were on air last week. And this guy is. I mean, he immediately, he was reoffending. He comes into the country illegally and he immediately starts reoffending. And that's one of the reasons why he was ended up getting the attention of these people in the first place, getting the attention of law enforcement in the first place, because he was he had numerous what traffic incidents. And then he wasn't showing up for court. His court dates there. And he entered illegally again. So he was deported legally, although it was out of schedule. Can you have like an illegal deportation, deportation, illegal deportation? I don't think you can. especially if someone's here illegally. I just am trying to wrap my mind around the thought process of the left on this. I mean, if it's bad that he's deported because you think that somehow you're violating his rights, okay, he's an illegal immigrant. He's not here legally. One doesn't follow the other. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense.
SPEAKER 08 :
Why is he entitled to the due process of American citizens when he's not an American citizen?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and he got it. He got it with the numerous court appearances, and then they kept telling him, you're a danger. In fact, one of the judges even wrote that, like, you're a danger to the public, so we can't guarantee, we can't make any guarantees to the public as of such. You know, we're not going to, we can't allow you to stay in this country. And he got the deferment from the Biden administration. But I want to point out again, too, that was only a temporary thing. It was never an issue of he's not going to ever he's going to stay in the country legally or we're going to give him legal status. It was never an issue of that. It was always an issue of at what point is he going to be deported? And so the stupidity of the left on this, the fact that they've tripled and quadrupled down on it is truly stunning to me. It's really stunning that they keep hammering this. I don't know. I wanted to talk real quick. about this issue with the... Let me pull this up because this was another... This is one of these stories that I saw running around, floating around the internet. The issue of Kristi Noem and her bag being stolen. Can someone tell me how in the world a DHS secretary with Secret Service protection can have her bag stolen? I mean, I'm not trying to be a mean person. I want to know how that happens. She had a purse with $3,000 in cash. She also apparently had her passport. And I think some blank checks, her driver's license, her passport, her DHS bag, medicine checks, her apartment keys, makeup, according to the New York Post, which confirmed the contents of the bag. There was a guy in a surgical mask who stole her bag before he left the restaurant. And I'm just curious how that happened, because she has Secret Service protection. So how do you steal somebody's bag? If they have Secret Service detail. Also, can I just say, how do you get your bags stolen? I'm not, I'm not, I just, I've always got an eye on stuff. I always either wear stuff or I just never leave anything. But I really want to know with the Secret Service protection how that happened. Is this another Secret Service, is this another question for Secret Service? I'm just curious. The New York Post reached out to them for a comment and they haven't heard anything yet. I don't like that someone could get that close. I mean, I've got my issues with how she does some of her stuff. I mean, she can do her glamour shots and as we talked about weeks ago, her extensions and all. As long as you're deporting people, I'm fine. But how was somebody able to get that close? That's my question. Is this is this something that we need to be concerned about? Apparently, the Secret Service did review security footage, and that's how they saw that guy on camera do that. You know, go and sneak in, get right next door and take her stuff. But how was that able to happen? Because Secret Service, if you're ever around any of these, you know, if you're ever around any of these people that are in these high appointed positions, anybody, particularly in the president's cabinet. And one of the things that you know immediately is that there's always a bubble around them. There's a security bubble that's enforced around them. It's not like you can just go up to their table. It's not like you can do any of that stuff. So I've got questions. I've got a lot of questions about this. I don't even know how this works. I just I don't know how that happens. And I get I get concerned because, hi, what did we deal with last year at this time, Kane? Well, not this time, but what did we deal with last year? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Somebody tried to kill POTUS. And there was a lot of questions about Secret Service. Yes. I yeah, I've. So that's why I have a lot of questions about this. I'm just a little nervous. I get a little antsy. So I just would really rather I would like for some answers from Secret Service to how something like this could happen. You know, I for sure. A couple of other things to discuss the on Friday. Actually, it was on Thursday, the issue Thursday, which we had the it was the horrible shooting that took place at FSU. And as per usual, you know, you immediately had FSU is a gun free zone. If people are unfamiliar, FSU is a gun free zone. I had a friend who had a family member who was there, and my friend, their nephew, who is a practiced shooter, I think he said he did it competitively for a while. He's not able to have a firearm on campus. Now, keep in mind, he could have very well easily defended himself, defended others, but you're not allowed to have a firearm on campus. And my friend was livid, livid. that his nephew was on campus and not able to defend themselves when this happened. Now, as more started to come out about this individual who carried out this shooting, I mean, there's... I always get, I don't like to say these people's names. I don't like to do anything like that because there definitely is a copycat syndrome. We've already talked about this before. I don't know if he was anti-Trump or not. I think he just didn't like protests because they immediately, one of the things that the left tried to do is figure out, well, what are his politics so we can assign that to whatever side and use it as a cudgel. And... This, you know, you had these five wounded, I think two fatalities that happened. And Lorraine has a write up about this over at Substack. She did a really good job covering this. It was a 20 year old student and the son of a member of the sheriff's office, Leon County Sheriff's Office. He was a participant in the Sheriff's Youth Advisory Council. He had some firearms training as well. It doesn't seem that he shot at police, but he was not shot. following apparently the verbal commands and he, they took him into custody and apparently to the hospital. Uh, the, uh, the classes were all canceled for the remainder of the week, but two fatalities and five wounded. Now, the people who were, the fatalities were not students. I think they may have been faculty. But he, the left was seizing on this quote from a college paper where, and they said, oh, he just doesn't like the anti-Trump protests. And the left tried to make it out to be like he's a pro-Trump. I think he just didn't like all the protests because they think he just thought they were disruptive. I don't care. Why are we sitting here instead of asking how was this individual, what was his motivation and how was this individual able to do what he did? Why are we not asking those questions? Why are we trying to figure out, oh my gosh, how can we use this against the right? I mean, with the left, I'm used to it because most of these mass killers are people on the left. But with this, I mean, he had a he had a firearm, a handgun. That's I mean, already if he's 20 years old with a handgun running around without a handgun, that's already he's already a privative possessor by way of his age. And then by having it at FSU campus, well, then there's another violation. So there's immediately two charges right there. They might be able to say criminal trespass if they had the appropriate signage. I mean, it all depends. There's several things that go into this. But, of course, the left doesn't want to know anything about it. They immediately just want to say that this had to do with, oh, it's because of the proliferation of firearms. How about bad parenting? Can we talk about that for a moment? Like, how are you a 20-year-old student? You're running around. How did you get a hold of a handgun? How did you get a hold of any of this? 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SPEAKER 08 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, so we have... I can't believe this is a headline, but it is. It sounds like a punk band name. A flaming... romantical accessory sparked a blaze damaging three Staten Island homes and a neighbor was busted for it accordingly. I don't even know. I don't even want to know how something like this happens. I mean, I understand if you leave like a curling iron on, you know, then you can have an issue. But this had to do with three Staten Island homes and they were damaged. An elderly woman told authorities that the blaze started when the guy tried to burn romantical accessories in, I don't know how to put it, in his backyard.
SPEAKER 08 :
You can say sex toys. Why can't you say sex toys?
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh my gosh, because we've got some pure people like Juan out there, and we've got to protect them in all costs.
SPEAKER 14 :
Claiming Juan.
SPEAKER 13 :
They said that the guy, his name is Harry Torres, he said that he was in his backyard of his house and he lit two of them on fire. And then it just kind of got out of hand and went from there. He said authorities initially called it suspicious. It spread to two neighboring buildings that were extensively damaged. So it was a three-alarm fire, they said. They said it necessitated being called a three-alarm fire. I can't even believe this is a thing. I don't know. Let's see. Apparently how somebody smells may dictate whether or not you're going to be friends. I guess it makes sense. They said that smells do matter, especially when you're forming bonds or relationships with people. I guess that makes sense. Like if somebody's smelly or if they smell like patchouli or Toms of Maine. I'm typically probably not. I mean, that's, you know, no offense, but just probably not going to happen. We're not going to be friends. Apparently, your midlife eating habits obviously can help you live longer and healthier. I can't believe this is a headline. You need to do a study about this. A plant rich diet with some fish and dairy might make the biggest difference, they say. But I thought dairy was bad. Is it good now? I thought it was bad, but I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Now, Louisiana, Virginia, Missouri have reported their first measles cases of 2025. Oh, great. So we're all going to freak out over measles. NASCAR fans got their first look at an electric car out on the track in new footage. I'm still not going to be into it. Don't you think that EVs need their own thing? It's like trans cars. I don't know. I just... It's the NASCAR EV prototype. It turned heads during an exhibition in Chicago and Miami. Fans got to see it on the track as part of a commercial. So they were shooting a commercial with it. So they got to see it in action. Coming up. We've got some culture as well. The Home Alone 2 director, he wants Trump's cameo removed in real ID. Stick with us. I'm going to tell you, I always tell people to carry. I will always carry. I will always encourage people to carry. I get that some people want to diversify their weapons array. I understand that. Especially, like what we were just talking about, gun-free zones. I have friends who, all I can say is that they work in the media. New York, Washington, D.C., they are out at night because, as you know, apparently our government now with this administration never sleeps. And even though they went through all the hoops and jumped through all of that stuff and got their license to carry, they're barred from carrying in a number of places. So they went out and they got what's called the Burna SD. That's the most popular model. It shoots chemical irritant projectiles that deter threats from up to 50 feet away. And it is a way for you to still have some means of protection when you are barred from carry. I mean, think about it. You carry knives. You'll carry blades. You have different calibers. You know, I think the saying is what I use my pistol to get to my rifle. You see, you have all different kinds of stuff. It's always good to anticipate varied situations and plan accordingly. And this is the niche that I feel that Berna fits. And you can look and go to their website and see everything that they have to offer. Like I said, the Berna SD is the most popular model. And when you go, you when you when you go and you can look at the different options. Projectiles, that's what I'm thinking of. The different projectiles, the different accessories, all this kind of stuff. They have different things up there. And this has five rounds compared to regular stun guns, which only have one or two. So you have multiple chances. Visit Byrna.com slash Dana, B-Y-R-N-A.com slash Dana and get 10% off your purchase.
SPEAKER 04 :
Make some common sense of the crazy headlines with the Dana Show podcast. Your on-the-go guide for getting up to speed on today's most important stories. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, or your favorite podcast platform.
SPEAKER 20 :
I think he's exactly where he should be.
SPEAKER 11 :
But you said that El Salvador would have to cooperate. You have no doubt that if President Trump wanted him returned, that he could ask President Bukele to return him, right? I mean... I mean, President Trump could make this happen.
SPEAKER 20 :
I can't comment on something I don't know. But what do you think?
SPEAKER 11 :
I mean, you know President Trump. You've talked about how, you know, he can get things done. I mean, if he wanted the guy returned, he could get him returned, right?
SPEAKER 20 :
I do. I'm not going to comment on conversations I'm not a part of. I don't know what conversations we're having, what conversations, who's having what conversation, what officials. I'm not in the loop on that.
SPEAKER 13 :
So that's Tom Homan, who is... obviously, you know, working in immigration. He's addressing all of this. First off, welcome back. Dana Lash with you. We're at the bottom of the second hour. You'll have to forgive me. The simulcast is interrupted today because your girl's operating one eye, one eye. I was going to give myself a nickname, but I don't have one. So basically, I have something massively scratching up the inside of my eye. So we're We're powering through it. So it's impossible to be on camera today. And it's a great start, by the way, to our amazing affiliate out in Seattle, KTJs. We're very excited to be on Seattle. Jason Rance is a dear friend. And they do such a great job. It's a great station we're happy to be on. So tomorrow we hope to have all that restored. And I hope to have both eyes functioning. Makes it very difficult when you're trying to see your prep and everything in front of you. So don't work in broadcasting if you have eye issues. It can be a bad deal. So the Tom Homan and that remind me, that was audio soundbite that we had just played. That was 11. So he's addressing the conversations between. Well, or rather saying how he's not going to address the conversations that the president is having with the president of El Salvador. Now, I'll say this to the. And Jonathan Turley remarked on this, this this Supreme Court order that has to do with this Abrego Garcia, because I quite didn't understand what the Supreme Court was talking about this decision when they basically made it to where the government has to be the facilitator of getting this guy, you know, back to the country to which he illegally entered. Audio somebody 12. I'm not the only one. This is Jonathan Turley expanding on that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. The Trump administration is adopting a pretty artificially narrow interpretation. They're saying that if they bring him to our doorstep, we have to open the door. The district court clearly disagrees and basically said, I feel unfacilitated. Well, this is the problem with what the Supreme Court did. You can get a unanimous decision if no one can agree what you said. And they said you have to facilitate, but they didn't define what that means.
SPEAKER 13 :
So what is facilitate mean in that regard? Like what is the United States, what do we have to do in order to fulfill the facilitation? And they didn't, as he said, he wasn't defined as to what that meant. And that was a question that I had when that order came out. And that's what the left keeps coming back to. So audio somebody at 14, Senator John Kennedy, he responded this way. Listen.
SPEAKER 23 :
Well, Chris is my friend, and I respect him, and he's certainly entitled his opinion, but in my judgment, He is utterly and gloriously wrong. I mean, most of this gauzy rhetoric is just rage bait. Unless you're next level obtuse, you know that Mr. Garcia is never coming back to the United States ever. And that's not because of President Trump. That's because of Mr. President Bukele.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Well, and the president of El Salvador said, I'm not releasing him from prison. He's a known gang member. And it just seems disrespectful for Democrats to try to argue this, by the way, and to think that they're just going to travel to El Salvador and have this conversation with him and to make demands. I mean, we have a number of other lawmakers going there to sit down and sip margaritas and all on the taxpayer expense. I mean, you know, we're not taxed enough already. And after the discoveries of the wasteful spending from USAID and elsewhere, yeah, I don't think that taxpayers are really in the mood for spending money on this type of stuff. But yeah, that's what it is. That's what they're doing. And it's incredibly unfortunate to see these people do more for those who broke the law and entered illegally than not. I wanted to switch gears here and also bring up this story. This is more of a culture story. New York Post had this story. I saw it on Friday when we were out. Home Alone 2 director wants Trump cut from the cameo. His cameo piece cut from Home Alone 2. And you remember Home Alone 2? There was where Macaulay Culkin was in the hotel. I never watched Home Alone 2. Did you ever see it, Cain? I never watched it. I couldn't tell you what it was about.
SPEAKER 08 :
I know I've seen it. It's been so long, though. It's been a long time.
SPEAKER 13 :
Home Alone came out when I was a kid. Home Alone 2. I never saw it. I just didn't see it. But Trump was in it. He has a cameo in it. And how petty do you have to be to start talking about taking this cameo out? So he said the guy who the director, Chris Columbus, he wants it removed. But he says, well, he goes, if I if I cut it, I could get deported. That's what he said. If he cut it, he's worried that Trump would deport him if he cut his cameo. How petty is this? This guy is 66 years old. He did an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. And he said that Trump's cameo has become a curse because he would love to cut it out. But he goes, it's become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone. He says, I can't cut it. If I cut it, I'd probably be sent out of the country. And he said, I'll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States. So I'll have to go back or something. He said he's from Italy. I'll have to go back to Italy. Although he's, well, he has Italian heritage. He was born in Pennsylvania. So he's pulling a Hillary Baldwin with us. And it was the Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time. Columbus said that Trump bullied his way into the movie, which I don't believe. He said that they... said that they spoke with him about filming in the plaza and they paid the fee which you'd have to do with everybody so if you when you when people scout for locations uh you if they choose a private property they pay like uh basically they it's almost like that well they pay an ungodly amount of money you can make a lot of money by having a property uh that's used for filming but he uh what what Chris Columbus said was that oh well you can use the plaza if I'm in the movie is what Trump told him so he said however it happened they agreed to put him in the movie and then when they screened it people liked it when they showed up so he told the editor leave him in the movie it's a moment for the audience is what he said and he made that decision then and so they now he says it's an albatross and he hates the fact that he's in it and then he's also said oh well you know uh you know he bullied his way into it trump says that columbus begged him to appear in home alone 2 they that he they that the film's director and others were begging him to be in it and I how in the world like if you're Chris Columbus, why do you think that this is a smart move to just start trying to pick this fight now? I guess this is like the only leverage that he thinks that he has. Why does he think this is the time to do it? It's just these people being so petty and so obsessive and so insufferable. It's truly remarkable. I think it looks petty if he removes him. Because it's become this cultural iconic scene. I think he looks petty by removing him. And thinking that... Because then it looks bad. And then the director has projected his... garbage onto I mean he's tainted the movie then if you do something like that that's so lame I and I don't think that anybody was complaining about it either I never heard anybody complain about Trump being in this movie or having a cameo in it nobody complained about it nobody said anything about it so why now is he wants to yeah it's an albatross around his neck came Steve says that Home Alone 2 is his all-time favorite Christmas movie you've got to be kidding me
SPEAKER 22 :
I mean, it's up there. It's the first Christmas movie as a kid I remember seeing, so I guess it just stuck with me longer. I don't know. Mine's Die Hard.
SPEAKER 08 :
But think about this. All he's doing is really making... So the movies that are out there on VHS and all that that have Trump in it, he's literally going to make Trump more valuable because those movies that were originally with Trump in them are going to be more valuable to people because if he's going to remove it from the movie, that's going to be something people will collect and keep, which will then, of course, gain value. So if he's wanting to give Trump more value, I guess this is the move.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, that's the way to do it for sure. That's the way to make it exactly like you said, way more valuable. That's how you do it. It's just so lame to take this out. But this is like Mao. That's like the cultural revolution. It's very Mao-esque. Oh, we got to take all these references out. We have to go back and whitewash all of our stuff because politics, because people have grown so simple and weak. Gold prices have surged over 40% since January 2024, consistently reaching new highs. According to Goldman Sachs research, the upward trend is expected to persist due to strong demand from central banks. It's stuff like this that's made me take action and why I've bought precious metals like gold and silver. I partnered with a great company that makes it super easy to buy. Easy, transparent, and simple. And that company is Goldco. They're a huge supporter of this show, and they're the best at what they do. And right now, you can get a free 2025 gold and silver kit jam-packed with critical information about buying precious metals. It was a huge help, not just for me, but to all of you if you do this. And for my audience, you could also qualify for up to a 10% instant match in bonus silver. It's a really great deal, so don't miss out. Visit danalikesgold.com to learn more. That's danalikesgold.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Pastor Alan Jackson encourages Christians to get tough and fight.
SPEAKER 05 :
The military had been turned into a social experiment. Apparently, they've been looting the coffers in Washington for a long time of hundreds of billions of dollars, terminating the lives of our children. I mean, we all know the litany of things that are happening. It feels like it's going to take a determination from the people of faith if we're going to see this walked back to the place it needs to be for the sake of our children.
SPEAKER 06 :
Subscribe to Culture and Christianity, an Alan Jackson podcast on your favorite podcast app.
SPEAKER 08 :
It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 13 :
Man, I've heard of some people being desperate to get attention, especially from the ladies. This Florida Man is no different. A Florida Man shot himself and then lied about having cancer so he could get sympathy from the woman that he is accused of stalking. This guy, he... I mean, this this 30 year old, he staged a shooting and a claim about having cancer so that he could gain sympathy from a female co-worker who accused him of stalking her. This like went for a year. It began back in March of last year. And Coco police, they responded to shots fired at a FedEx. This guy was he like staged all of this. And then he then afterwards he pretended to have cancer. So he could all because he wanted to get sympathy from this woman. He was released a four thousand dollar bond. I feel like that's a little low. It feels like that's a little bit low. A let's see this. Oh, I want to do this one. The outdoor a man faces harsh consequences after he provoked an iguana for viral content. Yeah, I think that you should. He this individual, these people that do these videos, this was his his his video was supposed to be like, this is what living in Florida is like. And he grabbed this iguana. And that was standing, well, like kind of sitting next to his arm. And the animal, I mean, the iguana immediately bit him. And he had a lot of damage. He's like, I'm going to need stitches. You know that they actually have like, I mean, they're covered with salmonella. Not all of them, but you can get salmonella from them. You're always supposed to wash your hands after handling iguanas. I had a friend in college that had two of like the biggest iguanas or something like that in the state and kept them in this like huge... They converted a room in their basement to housing these iguanas. But you always are supposed to wash your hands if you're handling them, etc. And this guy gets bitten by him because he thinks he's going to do it for viral content. Not everything has to be viral content, you know. Not everything has to. I don't know why people are so obsessed with... It's the click culture, right? Let's see this. This was a local 10. An Audi driver going 155 miles per hour said I know what I know what I'm doing before he had a deadly crash on State Road 84. doesn't sound good this uh individual he was told by the passenger to slow down as he drove 155 miles per hour and then not just what minutes later he crashed into another vehicle and it ejected one of his passengers and killed them that's horrible so he was arrested on six felony charges including one count of vehicular homicide And they said that he rear-ended a Honda Accord as he switched lanes, which caused his Audi to spin out, hit a curb, roll over, and then sadly eject a passenger who did not have his seatbelt on. The people in the Honda were taken to the hospital. That's just 155 miles per hour. That's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Good heavens. Machete news. Today in machete news, an ashtray, this is the headline, an ashtray theft. led to a machete fight in Cooper City. A dispute over an ashtray turned violent. I didn't even know ashtrays still existed. I think I'm more amazed at that than I am about the machete fight. A 42-year-old man broke into a townhome courtyard, fought the new homeowner, who was armed with a machete, authorities confirmed. Broward Sheriff's Office deputies said the confrontation happened Tuesday of last week. One of the men, identified as David Guevara, or Guevara, was standing in an enclosed patio of his townhome, holding his ashtray. The victim opened the door, demanded the ashtray, told Guevara to leave. And then the victim walked back inside, sensed that Guevara was following him. So then the homeowner had time to arm himself with a machete. Then he went back and confronted Guevara. And then Guevara rushed the victim. They tried to wrestle the machete away. They fell to the ground. They fought. Somebody did get cut in the face. I mean, it was just crazy. Guevara told the deputies that he took the ashtray because it looked nice. Was he going to steal it? Like what in the world? Over an ashtray. And also everybody has machetes. Literally everybody has a machete in Florida. One thing that we've, I mean, that's not a joke. I think you have to, I think they give you one if you move there. I don't know. It's required. A Florida man stabbed a woman after she criticized his uncontrolled kids while in line at the supermarket butcher counter. Oh, my gosh. This Florida man is going to spend a decade behind bars. A woman criticized his kids at the supermarket, so he brutally stabbed her. Jamakar Gayle. literally as it sounds, was convicted by a jury of his peers. He had a three-day trial. So he got sentenced to 12 years in prison, one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The knife attack occurred at the butcher's counter in the Milan supermarket in Port Charlotte. And apparently he was there with his kids. And I guess they I don't know if they were loud or whatever. But this woman criticized them for their behavior. And they ended up arguing. And then afterwards, you know, they they people were pushing one another. And then, yeah, the next thing you know, he I mean, somebody even grabbed a cast iron pan from a shelf in the store and like went back to the butcher counter because they thought they were going to swing it around and slap people with it. But then that's when the defendant, upon seeing the cast iron pan, grabbed a an eight inch chef's knife from the shelf. And then they didn't pay for it first. They were stabbing without paying. They didn't pay for it. After he stabbed the woman, the man fled to the parking lot. And the victim was severely wounded, followed him, though, in an attempt to photograph the license plate on the vehicle. And so that's how when first responders arrived, the victim was in pretty dire straits, bleeding profusely from her abdomen and head, they noted. So they absolutely did find the people who did it, took him into custody. And that's the conclusion of the trial. Third hour on the way. Stick with us. What does living better mean to you? Is it more money, a bigger house? Now think about this. What about how you feel physically every day? Life is so much better when you feel good. When you wake up feeling great, you can do more of the things that you love and you're ready to take on the day. If pain is affecting your life, see how Relief Factor can help change that. Relief Factor is a 100% drug-free daily supplement that helps your body fight pain naturally. Developed by doctors, Relief Factor supports your body's response to inflammation. And it doesn't just mask pain for a short time. It helps to reduce or even eliminate it. And it's safe to take daily. 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SPEAKER 01 :
with the democratic governments and the democratic movements and peoples and parties of the world to try to prevent the spread of the lawlessness and the fascist chaos that's been unleashed against us. But implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power, and we will, we are not going to look kindly upon people who facilitated, to use a word of the day, who facilitated authoritarianism in our country. That's an assault on our Constitution and on our people.
SPEAKER 13 :
So, Jamie Raskin, well, you found that interesting, Cain, did you? Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, like when we come back in power, you know, this whole time they've been whining that Trump would be some, you know, vengeful type president. So far, he's followed the law to a T, but they have no problems going out there and future threatening other countries.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, none at all whatsoever. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. We're at the top of this third hour. Apologies for the interruption in the simulcast today. Your girl has sloth eye. I don't know how to put it. I feel like from the Goonies. Major, like I have a scratch on my eye and it's super red and super swollen and it's not even the same size as my other one and I'm having difficulty even seeing it. So we're like, maybe we don't do the simulcast today, even though I'm having a great hair day. It's like a baller hair day. But maybe we don't do that today. So apologies for that. But it's not I mean, I can't even see the camera anyway. So it's not it's we're in that bad of a shape. It's like your nightmare scenario. You're getting ready to go on national television and you have a huge red eye and a scratch on it. And you got to go to the optometrist after or the ophthalmologist after after you finish your broadcast. So I appreciate your patience. For those asking, that's the explanation on that. There's no conspiracy. You know, it's not, you know, no conspiracy at all whatsoever. All right. So because there are going to be those. Some people are going to be like, she had plastic surgery. I've never had that. But still, no. Cain can attest. I have sloth eye. He can attest. So. Okay, the situation... So we got the Pope who passed away this morning. And everyone's saying right after J.D. Vance visited him. And I feel like the leftist... Am I crazy in that the left is trying to make this a thing?
SPEAKER 08 :
What, that he visited the Pope and now the Pope's dead?
SPEAKER 13 :
Because I keep seeing it all over X, which I'm trying not to look at because it's just trash. It's everywhere. I've seen it. Like, is that a thing that we actually... that were entertaining as serious.
SPEAKER 08 :
Are any of them suggesting anything specific that he could have done?
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, like, oh, he met the Pope, and now, look, the Pope is... I mean, that's kind of a new low for the left, I think.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is it? Because I've seen worse.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, I don't know. Well, I have seen worse, but I don't know. I've got a lot of questions about this. Why is that a thing? So the Pope's passed away. Now they're going to have the conclave. It's going to come to life. And sidebar, I think it's fascinating that they work in the Sistine Chapel for this. So when they're selecting the new pope, they meet, they have their proceedings in the Sistine Chapel. I would have difficulty working and concentrating sitting in the Sistine Chapel, I've got to be honest. It's the Sistine Chapel. I mean, it's, you know, the Michelangelo's amazing masterpiece is on the ceiling. And it's I've been there. It's an amazing, beautiful room. And, you know, the artwork is I mean, it's Michelangelo. What else is there to say about it? But they gather there and then they showed us where they put the I guess after they have their votes, they put them in this little room. this little furnace, and then they light it, and then they color the smoke depending on whether or not they have elected a new pope or whether there is a new pope that remains to be elected. It's all very fascinating, the process, but how could you sit in the Sistine Chapel and work? And listen to old dude speak. You're in the Sistine Chapel. I mean, you just are you there just so often that it's just commonplace, which I can't imagine either. They just don't. It doesn't even register anymore. I don't know. I just I that's kind of interesting to me. But I do think that the conspiracy theories that the left is pushing aren't the right. The conspiracy theorists. How dare you? That's our job. We're supposed to be the conspiracy theorist, according to the left. And now the left wants to be the conspiracy theorist. I don't know. But it's going to be a very there's a lot of debate amongst all of my Catholic friends as to who's going to be the next pope. And there's apparently some cardinal from Africa who they say is like a great candidate and would remove woke. But it's not going to happen. He's not going to get the votes. I don't know. I just I don't think I would want to run. I wouldn't want that job. Because you have to deal with all the other cardinals, and it just seems like it gets catty. You know? It gets catty. But I've noticed they've got a short list of some. But yeah, all my Catholic friends are debating the Pope issue. And who is it going to be, and who's going to get the votes, and who isn't going to get the votes. And it's very... I don't know. It's very interesting. But I would not be able to work sitting in the Sistine Chapel because it's so beautiful. The other thing that we're also following is this Pentagon fight. A former top Pentagon spokesperson told Politico that it's been a month of hell inside the agency. And apparently there's another, I mean, the exclusive coming out of NPR. Now, it's NPR. So take it for what it is. They're saying that the White House is looking to replace Hegseth as SecDef. Now, I do know that there was another choice. That is true. I do know that there was another choice. If it wasn't going to be Hegseth, there was another choice that POTUS had met with, played golf with in Florida. That's all I can tell you that for certain. Now, I think that the person that, well, I'll just say it. Trump was looking at DeSantis. Now, I like Hegseth. I mean, I think it's a different type of leadership because I think that you can have more administrative and you can have more warrior class. I mean, it just all depends on what you think the need is or how it needs to be run. But I mean, I don't dislike Hegseth. I do know. I mean, one of the things that I very well play sources, you know, DeSantis and Trump actually do get along, even if some of Trump's people hate DeSantis. I don't think that Trump listens to his people 24-7. I know his chief of staff hates DeSantis, but I think Trump and DeSantis get along. And I think all of the primary stuff that they've had has been put to bed. But. I do know that he was being considered for sec death, but I think that DeSantis, from what I understand, wanted to stay on as Florida governor because there's so much that needs to be done still. And have you seen the state of things? We're resuming red state rhino hunting tomorrow. If you've seen the state of things, and we've covered this before, the issue of really weak Republicans trying to undo a lot of these... a lot of these initiatives that the, that the DeSantis admin had, had implemented is that's incredibly concerning. I mean, they were vetoing cuts and they, or they were trying to override the veto of, of, of, of, basically getting more money from the taxpayers to pay for their special interest pursuits. So they've been fighting with the administration, the DeSantis administration, because you have a handful of these rhinos that are trying to drag the state back to being more purple. Because then they could actually run as Democrats. You can't run as a Democrat in Florida. You've got to run as a Republican. But they could actually run as Democrats, technically. So I think that that's kind of part of their push. So I think he really wanted to stay and remain as governor of Florida. But like I said, I like Hegseth as SecDef. A lot of people got it out for him. And I think that's going to be true almost of anybody in that position because there's a lot of money tied up in war ink. Think about some of these legacy contracts. There was a time I was at a dinner in Austin, Texas, and meeting with a couple of generals and Futures Command and all of that down there. And one of the things that they were talking about was recruitment. And I brought up respectfully that the recruitment comes from the way that the military is being operated and administered. And that, you know, Abigate definitely wasn't a great recruiting message after we saw that from the Biden administration. A lot of the leaks and the catfighting that just doesn't, you know, doesn't really look so great. And so, The the. I think the more entrenched I don't want to say bureaucrats, but for the lack of a better way to put it, the more entrenched bureaucrats that are there at DOD, I think they're going to give anybody a hard time because anybody that's appointed to that spot is going to technically be an outsider. They're not going to have been there within the Department of Defense, within the Pentagon for decades. all of these years, the way a lot of these individuals that really carry the weight of the influence have and are. And really, ultimately, anybody that's that's appointed is going to have a hard time. I especially think it's doubly hard if it's a Republican appointee. For some reason there we've you know, we have a whole ghost class within the system that is just stringently against any type of Republican. And I feel like that's going to also going to be an issue. So I don't the idea that they're looking to replace him. The fact that NPR wrote this. So I don't NPR doesn't really get the best scoops. I got to be honest. They don't. They don't really get great scoops. I don't really put a lot of stock in this one. And and even if. I, I, anybody, like I said, anybody's going to have a tough time in that position. There's not going to be anybody that finds an easy time of it because you're going up against this entrenched class. It's just the way that it is. So I, you know, I, I'm not quite sure. I wanted to bring this one up too. This is a culture story. Uh, this GI Jane has, they called her a wannabe GI Jane is suing the Navy because her dream of becoming the first female seal has come crashing into to an end. The woman is 42 years old, or well, she'd be over the age limit of 42. So they said she will no longer qualify for Naval Officer Training Command in Newport, Rhode Island, because she would be over the age limit of 42 by the time she graduated. She's 41 now. She said she told the New York Post that that the opportunity was taken away from her and she would like to be reinstated. And she said that I want to be determined by merits instead of a technicality. So she wants a special exception for her. She said she was working in litigation for 12 years and she got burnt out working for 24-7. And she thought the SEALs were a noble cause. And she said she's SCUBA certified and she's an avid long-distance runner. And she said the Special Forces just, quote, kind of jibed with my physical pursuits. Yes, because, you know, Special Forces, all it is is just some running and swimming. That's all it is, you know. She wrote of her, quote, Viking-like pursuit to be a SEAL. And she said that her grandfather served in Norwegian ski patrol and that her uncle was in World War Two and her brother works in the FBI. She said she wants to be the first female Navy SEAL officer. And from the immediately she was having problems with it. She is. So she's like going to she's suing them for age discrimination against the U.S. Navy. This broad is suing for age discrimination because the Navy has age restrictions for all men and women. And she thinks that she told she she thinks that age waivers are obtainable and that she should get special. She doesn't want equality. She wants to be kid gloves. She wants special treatment. She wants a special exemption. And I'm going to be honest, I don't think that she's not going to last in the SEALs. Are you kidding me? A 41-year-old woman who thinks that she's going to just make it through buds? Are you kidding me? Let's be serious, people. It's not a social experiment. It's our friends at All Family Pharmacy. All Family Pharmacy is a great business that is going to make sure that you are topped up with whatever it is that you need. They've saved me. They come and clutch a number of times. And They have the treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, you know, therapeutics and the things that the government was trying to prevent you from actually accessing when the government was out there crushing alternatives. All family pharmacy has you covered. 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SPEAKER 08 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 13 :
So the Associated Press says that the cause of Pope Francis' death was a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure per the Vatican. He apparently also had it decreed in his will that he be buried in the St. Mary Major Basilica in a simple underground tomb. So he was having a lot of issues. He was super sick when he met with the VP. So that... I mean, goodness. I saw that at one point he was in a wheelchair being wheeled around. So he's been struggling with it for quite some time. Also, moving on down the rest of these headlines here. What is hat fish? I've heard of cat fishing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, hat fish is when bald guys go on dating apps and they wear hats in their pictures. And then when you go to the date and they're not wearing a hat and they're bald and these women feel like they were hat fished.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's hysterical. So this is like apparently big enough of an issue that Huffington Post has written about it. Well, ladies, it'd be like if you don't wear makeup or have extensions, like, I mean, you're that's not your natural hair and that's not your natural face. So I don't know. Somebody's like. Then you go on a date and you find out that they're bald. OK, then don't go on another date with them if that's not your jam. Right. I mean, just just saying. I don't know why that like has to be like this big, long. I don't know why it has to be this big ordeal. China sent back a new Boeing jet made more expensive by tariffs. We're going to ask Steven Yates about this. The 737 Max, which was meant for China's GM and Airlines, landed at Seattle's Boeing Field. It was returned. They returned it because they said it was too expensive because of tariffs. That was just them being that was them being punks. Don't you know? It was them being punks. Steven Yates joins us next. Stick with us. Our friends over at Super Beats, the Super Boreen product. Super Boreen is great for your metabolism and to help control healthy blood sugar levels. And with the Super Boreen, you're familiar with the Super Beats hard shoes, but with the Super Boreen, and right now you can get $5 off at Sam's Club through April 29th. That puts it at just $20. And the Superberine, like I said, it works with your metabolism and your blood sugar. It's plant-based and doctor-formulated. It has a unique berberine that is clinically studied to deliver 10 times higher absorption. than standard berberine. And it's just one highly concentrated, easy-to-swallow capsule. That's all you have to take daily. And it has grapeseed extract for greater tolerability. Visit Sam's Club. Everybody knows Sam's Club. To restock your heart hole support with the Super Beats Heart Chews and expand your routine with the new Super Berrine for healthy metabolism and blood sugar support. The Super Berrine is $5 off at Sam's Club. through April 29th. You can get that offer at Sam's Club while it lasts. Start today and get on the road to better cardiovascular health support. Welcome back to the program, Dana Lash, with you at the bottom of this third hour. And joining us now via the phone is our good friend Stephen Yates. You know him, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation at Yates Combs. on x and steven always a pleasure i hope you had a blessed easter and we're so glad that you're able to join us at the top of this week i i wanted to ask you about this headline because this sounds like the height of pettiness so china sent back a jet they sent back this boeing jet per i think fox business the guardian elsewhere a 737 737 max that was intended for for a Chinese airline, and it was returned to Seattle on Saturday because they said, oh, well, now the tariffs made it too expensive. This sounds like it's just a stunt. What are your thoughts on this?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, Dana, first and foremost, Boeing is one of the largest companies in America that actually sells things into China. And China sells far more to the United States than the other way around. So this is one of the very few points they think to pressure. the US system. And the old theory of the way the world used to work was they press on a big American company, those executives come and lobby Congress and the administration. And in times past, that meant that the executive would cave and smooth things out with China and the sugar would flow. At this point, pretty sure Boeing can sell that aircraft to Malaysia or somewhere else. And China's going to have a hard time filling their inventory by trying to shop elsewhere. And if they show that they're willing to do this to the United States, France via Airbus or wherever else can't be certain it won't happen to them, too. So really, this is just China driving their own brand down, in my view.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's a really great point, because if they can do this like just, you know, with a 737, I mean, of course they would do it to other countries that even, you know, have lesser stature than that of the United States. Talking with our friend Stephen Yates at Yates Comes On X. They also apparently China's also like threatening. They will. They say they're warning, but it sounds like a threat. They're threatening other nations about appeasing the United States as all these countries have been coming to the U.S., these these nations leaders to negotiate new trade deals country by country. And China's warning nations against appeasing the U.S. in these trade deals because it's not favorable for them. Stephen, if if the U.S. has if they make all these 70 some ideals.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, well, I mean, this is just part of a piece where they project onto us that we are putting politics in the way of the quote unquote rules based international order and free markets and all of that. Well, they have grossly distorted markets by size. Subsidies, stealing intellectual property, doing all kinds of manipulation. And of course, they go out to their neighbors and say, oh, well, we're not going to bully you the way the U.S. does. So we'll make some sweet deals with you and we'll hide our trade deficit with the United States by laundering it through our neighbors. And that's basically what the Trump administration is the first ever to do, is to go to the neighbors and say, don't launder their trade deficit, make a deal with us, we'll make it right with you, and we'll rebalance these relationships. That's actually rational economics. China, on the other hand, It's not based on economics they're going to these other countries. They're actually bullying them on sovereignty and on economics. So in a way, it's another way they're driving down their own brand. I just don't think they have the self-awareness. And it's going to take a while for countries to adjust. to this new normal. But I don't I think President Trump has hit a big reset button and it's only going to go in one direction. And these countries are going to have to figure out they want to bandwagon with the United States or make deals with China. And they have a lot more to gain dealing with the United States.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, very true. And it was Georgia Maloney who was in the United States just towards the end of last week before Easter weekend, apparently in town to negotiate a separate trade deal for Italy. So a lot of countries are it looks like, you know, they're they're following through with us and they're they're trying to have normalized trade relations. Is is that because I know so much of that depends upon just cementing these 70 some odd deals. Is that doable, especially with the short amount of time, in your opinion?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, it's doable if you have kind of a gradualistic view that I would, in that you want to get a big economy like Japan done first and soon. And the mood music that I'm hearing from the Japanese side and the American side suggests that that is possible. And if you end up with the momentum of a big economy like Japan and then you get one or two others coming along, that really will have a bandwagon effect in a lot of other places. And it basically makes clear this is really about rebalancing economics, trade, investment and manufacturing. And if it has the added effect of being less dependent on China, too bad for China. And a lot of Europe has been fed up with the over solicitous approach of old Europe that's made them very dependent and very vulnerable. And so I think Maloney is on the front line of a new wave to rebalance what Europe's trying to do. But they've got a long way to go.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Well, and to that point, one of the statements that the Chinese had said is that, quote, China firmly opposes any party dealing, reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests. So what are China's interests that are being threatened by the United States just making a good trade deal with another nation?
SPEAKER 12 :
Basically, they're confessing that they can't compete on fair and transparent terms. And so it hurts their interests if we are trying to compete on fair and transparent terms with other people. It also is a basic admission that the World Trade Organization has failed world trade. And what it did was it adapted to become more like China and permissive of China, then normalize what China's behavior was and make it more consistent with supposed international rules and norms. So we'd have to negotiate a post-World Trade Organization reordering of these patterns. And that's the huge reset button that President Trump has hit. People can question it. It's definitely risky and costly. I would argue it was necessary, and it's far better to go through this now than waiting for when missiles are flying across the Taiwan Strait or when China's caught helping the Houthis hit parts of the Middle East or they're caught doing other things that provoke a conflict. We've got to reorder now before we're having to do it in a time of crisis.
SPEAKER 13 :
Now, J.D. Vance, president or vice president of Vance is in India with his family meeting apparently with the prime minister. And obviously it looks like a lot of people are banking on there maybe being a trade deal that comes from that that meeting. Because but but then going back to China, because they're I mean, that's their top trading partner. I mean, China is like or well, like we're number one or two second, first or second largest trading partner for India, China. So with China threatening, what is that? Is that going to impact Vance's meeting with the prime minister of India? Is that going to is that enough to maybe potentially derail a sort of normalized trade agreement with them?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, there are risks for India, but they have gone very, very slowly for decades in trying to wake up and embrace engagement with the free world. They came out of a Fabian socialist background where, you know, they were the billion people that lived in a democracy, but they were a very socialistic democracy. And China lived under a communist party, but there were things that looked like markets to those who didn't want to scratch too deeply. Now you've got another billion people who have discovered they can make iPhones. And finally, the woke leadership of Apple discovered the Indians can make iPhones too. And that, I think, is the giant sucking sound of manufacturing moving across a different southern border to another billion people. And so that, I think, is the great profit motive for India. It also makes India a much more central player in global affairs. And I think that's consistent with what Modi's trying to do for the country. So why not give that a spin for a while? We've already made the China bet and the returns are in. It was bad.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. I want to switch gears here because you, for people who don't know, Stephen Yates also worked in two different presidential administrations. So he's had a front row view of how all of that works and, you know, the relationships that these department heads have with their subordinates. I wanted to ask your thoughts real quick about SecDef Hegseth and this leak. Is this, I mean, I like Hegseth. I haven't, seen a reason as to why i should oppose him in his position at secretary of defense but i feel like too this stuff that's why why is nobody asking how in the world someone is leaking on the secretary of defense why are we having leaks coming from dod of all places that to me suggests that maybe there's an entrenchment there that has an issue with him being the secretary of defense to the point where it actually endangers national security what are your thoughts on this
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, in terms of when it comes to the secretary, I am very absolutist in my view. I think that presidents deserve the person that they want in those key positions, especially the national security team. And so if the president has confidence in Pete Hegseth, then that's the secretary we have when we ride for that brand, in my view. Now, the people around him, it seems like we're caught in some leaking. It's the first time in my lifetime where there was actual enforcement of leaks right away. And the Pentagon is huge and full of leaks under normal circumstances. State Department is a close rival in that regard. And so in some ways, I'm impressed with the speed and the enforcement. But clearly there was a personnel mix up. The people that had been let go were people that were in the inner circle staff. And basically their behavior now shows they shouldn't have been. But until I see something that sort of says that the Hegseth is doing something the president doesn't want, the Hegseth is taking policy in a direction that increased risks for the United States. I'm not going to listen to the whiners who try to talk about signal chats. Signal chats are not going to save the world or undermine our enemies. And I'd love for that distraction to go away, but I'm not going to feed it. I like the doing and lets the talking sort itself out. But that might just be me. But I think we just we have too much at stake to get caught up with the chatterbugs that are infesting Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER 13 :
Agreed. Agreed very much so. Steven Yates at Yates comes on X. Always so good to have you, my friend. I hope you had a wonderful Easter. Have a great rest of your week as well. We so appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you so much, Dana. Take good care.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, you too. Our partners that bring you the program, it's our friends over at Patriot Mobile, the only Christian conservative cell phone service that is in existence. And you can save money with Patriot Mobile by switching. You get the nationwide coverage that you can trust. And you're also... supporting the maintenance and creation of US-based jobs. And so with Patriot Mobile, your money isn't working against you. The money that you spent for the service, this goes towards actually empowering the things that you vote to protect, right? And you also get exceptional nationwide coverage. They operate on all three major networks. So you're connected wherever you go. Seamless switching. And you can keep your number, keep your phone, upgrade. It's never been easier to switch. Right now at PatriotMobile.com slash Dana. You can get a free month of service using promo code Dana. Or you can call 972-PATRIOT. Make the switch today. Visit PatriotMobile.com slash Dana. Call 972-PATRIOT and get a free month of service using promo code Dana.
SPEAKER 04 :
On the go and need a quick news fix with a fun twist? Follow Dana's Absurd Truth Podcast for bite-sized, informative episodes, perfect for your busy schedule on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 15 :
There's a pizza chain in St. Louis called Emo's Pizza. It's awesome. Don't say anything against it.
SPEAKER 16 :
What is your beef? Sterling Brown. Tell me. You know that I don't like it? I do know that you don't like it. It's a thin crust pizza. Is that your issue in and of itself? The crust is the least of the problems.
SPEAKER 15 :
Come on, give it to me. Is this something that I had an argument with Jon Hamm about this? Anyone from St. Louis is so defensive of this pizza place. It's delicious. And I will tell you, I was excited to try it. In fact, I ordered it for my wife for Valentine's Day when we were first dating. I had it come out, and I was excited to try it because she says, oh, this is Emo's Pizza. It's the best pizza. And we tried it, and my first thought was, did I leave the plastic on it when I put it in the oven? And that is not a joke.
SPEAKER 16 :
I believe you. You have to let it cool a little bit. Okay. I think you probably had it too because sometimes the cheese will be running. If you let it cool for about two minutes, you would have a completely different culinary experience.
SPEAKER 13 :
Really?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 16 :
I got your back. That's what you do next time.
SPEAKER 13 :
I just saw this over the weekend. It was a couple of months ago. But Sterling Brown, who is an actor from St. Louis, and Jimmy Kimmel, who I'm not a fan of anyway, they were talking about Emo's Pizza. Emo's Pizza, if you are a St. Louisan, is the pizza. I actually have some Emo's in my freezer as I speak right now. In fact, I'm going to have some after the show. I'm going to have some as a way to make up for having a swollen wonk eye for the entirety of the broadcast. Like a weeping red eye. Oh, horrible. But they were debating over Emo's. And it is true. If you're from St. Louis, Candace, you can attest. Emo's is a St. Louis thing, but it's also delicious and better than any of the other pizzas there.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is delicious.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's better than any of the other pizzas there also.
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, it's delicious.
SPEAKER 13 :
As is St. Louis, then. Don't make me do this.
SPEAKER 08 :
I'm just saying it's delicious, but I don't think it is the best. Oh, it's so much better. Oh, my gosh, it is. Of St. Louis pizza.
SPEAKER 13 :
Then something's wrong with your tongue.
SPEAKER 08 :
I'm sorry. There are St. Louis families that have been there for, I mean, decades that have been making some really amazing pizza. Good for them. It's that Provel, man.
SPEAKER 1 :
It is.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. How do you explain Provel cheese to people who have no idea what it is? It's a cheese that you only get in St. Louis because of emos. They blend a bunch of cheeses together to make this cheese. And some people hate it. You can get it roped at one of the grocery stores, like a roped cheese. You can get it there.
SPEAKER 08 :
I don't know how to describe it. How would you... It's like... It's not cheddar-y, but it has like a... It's got the smoothness of mozzarella, but it has a tiny bit of... Not a cheddar-y tang, but it's got a little bit... Cheddar-y tang. It's got a little bit of some flavor.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's a white processed cheese. So it's a combination of cheddar, Swiss provolone, and liquid smoke. Oh. And it has a low melting point. And they've used it for St. Louis style pizza. It's also in like a Gerber sandwich. Do they have those anywhere else? Yeah. Okay, so you can do a Gerber. I mean, it's, I think people don't, I mean, it's just a nice, it's a nice melty cheese. I don't know. It's a great cheese for pizza.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is. I have nothing against the cheese at all.
SPEAKER 13 :
They trademarked it in 47.
SPEAKER 08 :
There's so much great pizza out there.
SPEAKER 13 :
But why do people got a hate on Emo's? It's a thin crust pizza. I dip mine in ranch. I've never... Oh, I will not eat it.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I'm older than you. I mean, I will, but I have to have ranch. I'm older than you, and I have never put ranch on my pizza.
SPEAKER 13 :
The fresh emos in St. Louis is unmatched. I mean, you can get the frozen, and it's still good, but a fresh one is unmatched. I mean, after school, we would either go to Burger King or emos.
SPEAKER 08 :
Dude, the pepperoni bacon used to be my favorite.
SPEAKER 13 :
Dude, it's so good. So they were having a big... And of course, Jimmy Kimmel being a doucher, he hates... emos pizza because he hates everything good in life is why so good on sterling brown for like uh sticking up apparently john ham john ham's from st louis he's apparently a big emos fan too this is not a commercial for emos they do not advertise i just like the pizza and i get very protective of it when i hear people run it down you know i'm like how dare you mess with my little brother like that it's like something like that i don't know i've even ordered emos through gold belly that's how i have it here down in texas you can get the make your own kits but it's not the same no it is Everybody knows it's not the same. All right, today in stupidity.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, Juan, this is cut 25. This is an LGBTQIA plus teacher saying that now most of her students somehow are transgender. Listen to this.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thank you so much. So I'm here as the co-chair of the Trans and non-binary network of the NEU. I'm here as a teacher. I'm here as an activist. But I want to speak to you as a teacher. I teach an alternative provision where most of our students are trans and non-binary.
SPEAKER 08 :
That seems like a lot of mental illness to me. That's a lot of mental illness to be bragging about.
SPEAKER 13 :
yep that's uh i agree with that yeah i totally agree uh that does it for us for today and again we'll be back with the simulcast tomorrow hopefully without super swollen eyes so i appreciate you guys uh buckling up for that ride what a great monday what a way to start the week we'll be back tomorrow but with you behind the mic find us youtube facebook
This episode takes you on a journey down the rabbit hole as Karen Murray dissects claims about alternate timelines and the questionable reality of commercial spaceflights. With engaging discussions about unconventional burial practices and the surprising parallels between calendar systems, prepare to question everything you thought you knew. Tune in for a mix of humor and depth as conspiracies unfold, leaving you to ponder the true nature of our world.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by the team at Franktown Firearms, a family-owned, family-friendly shooting range in Franktown, Colorado. Franktown Firearms offers practical, defensive training as well as an impressive selection of firearms at the lowest tax rate, so you can develop confidence with your firearm. The team at Franktown Firearms believes the only difference between a beginner and an expert is practice. so they equip you to keep yourself and your family safe in a welcoming atmosphere. And now, here are your hosts of Shooting the Breeze.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hello, hello, hello. Happy Monday, everyone. I hope everyone had a very blessed Easter. Not the bunny, egg, and basket kind, but the real kind. You know, remembering what Jesus Christ did for all of us as Christians today, what he endured as a flesh and blood man, the Son of God, dying on the cross on Good Friday, after suffering more pain than any of us could possibly imagine, and being resurrected from his tomb three days later and saving the world. That is the celebration, which has nothing to do with egg hunts and pastel colors and new dresses and chocolate bunnies and sugar-coated marshmallow chickens. So, happy Resurrection Day, everyone. A little late, but, you know, it wasn't on the air yesterday, so... wishing you all a very late, happy Resurrection Day. Thank you for tuning in today to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by Franktown Firearms. My name is Karen Murray, and I am the lead instructor at Franktown Firearms. You guys need to stop by and say hello. I talked to a lady on Saturday who said she's driven that stretch of road between Parker Road and Elizabeth a bazillion times and didn't even know that Franktown was there. So, You guys need to just go check it out. If you haven't been in a hot minute, then you need to go look because it's all completely different. Get yourself a new semi-automatic firearm while you still can. Grab some ammo in bulk and save yourself from having to pay state sales tax. It's awesome. Yes, we have that excise tax, but it's still cheaper than buying it anywhere else. Ask to see the Shoehouse. See if you can take a tour of the Shoehouse. We're going to be holding dynamic, immersive classes there very soon. We're putting the finishing touches on our course curriculum, and you won't find anything like this anywhere else in the state that's open to the public. We are located just east of the intersection of Highway 83 and Highway 86 in Franktown. We're open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6 and Sundays from noon to 6. You can reach us by phone at 720-770-7777, or you can visit one of our websites, franktownfirearms.com, or the shoot house site is cocqb.com. So check it out. You're not going to be sorry. You're going to love the atmosphere in there. It's just wonderful. It's a down home. It's not tactical, as I call it. Everybody's friendly, and it's just a really nice place to go, and we're all kind of family there, and it's wonderful. So Go check it out. News out of the Vatican today, very sad news. Pope Francis has died at the age of 88 after battling several illnesses over the last few months. Now, I could spend the next 50 minutes talking about this particular pope and all of the hidden mysteries under the Vatican and all the other conspiracy theories surrounding this. But out of respect for the Catholic community today, whether you like him or you don't like this pope, I'll save all that stuff for another show. But I will say that legend has it, I guess, that Pope Francis was slated to be the last pope. And everyone should probably keep their eye on who they choose to replace him. So that's all I'm going to say. But rest in peace, Pope Francis. In other news, very bizarre, kind of disturbing news, it seems that Kristi Noem, DHS secretary, was robbed. by a masked man in a D.C. restaurant. Now, I'm not sure how this is even possible, since the head of DHS should have Secret Service protection, right, all the time? But evidently, her detail was, I don't know, getting drunk at the bar or in the bathroom or something. I don't know. But the masked man took Noam's purse, which contained about $3,000 in cash and her passport and her DHS badge and some other valuables. So way to go, Secret Service. Way to do your job. Outstanding. In honor of the Easter Bunny, which has zero to do with Christ's resurrection, my show today I'm going to call Down the Easter Bunny Hole. I know there's a lot going on in the news, and if you want to call it news or fake news or whatever, but sometimes... I just want to go off the rails, and I find the actual news and the tariffs and the, you know, Trump this and that's that, and just, you know, China this and Russia that, oh my gosh, I get so sick of listening to all of it. So today, I decided not to even cover any of it, well, maybe a little bit, I guess I've already talked about the Pope and Kristi Noem, which are kind of current events, but I'm going to go off track. I'm going to go off the rails a little bit because this stuff, I think, is far more entertaining than talking about the news that every other, you know, show host talks about. Sometimes you just got to make people think outside the mainstream media box. So here we go. I'm going to start the show talking about an email I received because I'm signed up to receive updates from Ingersoll Lockwood. Now, I'll talk about who Ingersoll Lockwood is in a minute or what that website is or whatever. We'll get to that in a second. But the body of this email reads, Dear Patriot, it has begun. And then after that, it contains several links to a few different sites. The first one is to COVID.gov. When you click that link, you are directed to a WhiteHouse.gov page about the COVID-19 origins. Now, Obviously, this is something that we've known for a while. Or, well, I would at least hope that most of this listening audience has known this for a while. If you follow any of the Deep Rabbit Hole channels, you know that when something like this starts to come into the mainstream space, this information is not for us, the people who are at least slightly awake. This is for the people who are trying I don't want to say sound asleep because obviously they're up and they're walking around, but they're taking in CNN and they're taking in even Fox news. And it is what it is. And all the news that I just talked about, how it's just depressing and boring. And I don't want to talk about it anymore. So this is not for us. Um, this is mostly for them, but this page is as on the whitehouse.gov website. And, um, This is for, I'll just read it to you. So when you open it up, it says the origin. This is all quoting directly from this whitehouse.gov link that is from this email. The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2 publication, which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory, was promoted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally. It goes on to these numbered bullet points. It says, number one, the virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature. Number two, data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events. Number three, Wuhan is home to China's foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research or gene-altering and organism supercharging at inadequate biosafety levels. Number four, Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market. And that's in heavy air quotes. I'm putting it in heavy air quotes, as should they have, but they didn't. The fifth one, by nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin, it would have already surfaced, but it hasn't. Now, I watched a video on TikTok. You guys know I love me some TikToks. In this video, a conservative man was walking through, and obviously, you know, what the left would call a science denier, was walking through a, I don't know, a protest of sorts. The protesters were holding signs about COVID and masking and social distancing. And this was pretty recently, so I'm not sure where this took place, but these people were... they're still completely fooled, brainwashed, bamboozled. I don't even know what you want to say, but he's asking them why they were there and kind of ribbing them a little bit, if we're honest. And, of course, the protesters were getting angry, and they were getting up in his face, as protesters often do, these types anyway. And one lady got in this guy's face and told him what we were all told when COVID was going on, that if we didn't socially distance and we didn't care about our friends and family, we wanted them dead and dead. you know kill grandma and all all that stuff right the ones that know you can't have your kids over for thanksgiving dinner and you're you're irresponsible if you walk around without a mask and whatever and she walked away screaming vaccines save lives vaccines save lives so these people are the people who need this kind of information right We've all known it for years, but sometimes I think there are people who will never wake up. They will never accept the truth. You know the old saying, it's easier to fool people than to tell them that they've been fooled or convince them that they've been fooled. Yeah, bingo. The next link in this email was to another WhiteHouse.gov page, and it is a congressional report dated December 4th, 2024. Okay, I'm going to read this. I'm going to pull this up here. And this congressional report, this is a records vault. Actually, there's a congressional report on the origins of COVID. So it's a big, extensive, select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic. And after action review of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, this, mind you, was just back in December, so not that long ago. The lessons learned and the path forward. And this is 557 pages. report. So you guys can find that. And any of these links that I'm talking about right now, if you want to see them for yourself, because you obviously didn't get the email from Ingersoll Lockwood, you can send me an email at karen.murray at franktownfirearms.com, and I can send you any of these links that I have. I've got them all saved, so you can check them out for yourself. But this This congressional report is extensive, and I did not have time this morning to read all 557 pages of this, but it has things like the possibility that COVID-19 emerged because of a laboratory research-related accident is not conspiracy theory. That's on the very first page. EcoHealth Alliance Incorporated and Dr. Peter Daszak or whatever should never again receive U.S. taxpayer dollars. The next one, scientific messaging must be clear and concise, backed up by evidentiary support and come from trusted messengers such as frontline doctors treating patients. Public health officials must work to regain Americans' trust. Americans want to be educated, not indoctrinated. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo participated in medical malpractice and publicly covered up the total number of nursing home fatalities in New York. In addition to these notable bipartisan successes, the select subcommittee developed extensive findings, some of which include the U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese government, agencies within the U.S. government, and some members of the international scientific community sought to cover up facts concerning the origins of the pandemic. Operating, well, and this is where we kind of part ways on this, Operation Warp Speed was a tremendous success and a model to build upon in the future. The vaccines, which are now probably better characterized as therapeutics, undoubtedly save millions of lives. Wrong. by diminishing likelihood of severe disease and death. So, yeah, I don't buy that at all. But anyway, this whole congressional report is out there. If you would like to see it, you can just send me an email and I'll shoot it over to you. If you would like to talk about anything that I'm covering today, you can give a call to Luke and he will patch you through at 303-477-5600. I'd love to chat with you about any of this stuff. Anyway, I'm going to go on to the next slide. The next link that's contained in this email from Ingersoll, the next link is to an FBI record vault containing files from the FOIA request regarding Crossfire Hurricane. And I'm going to pull that up real quick. Let's see. There's two of them here. There's Crossfire. Okay. And in this record vault is just requests, pending requests, handling restrictions, and And then a bunch of documents, Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is all from the FBI. This is from their website, from their records vault. A lot of redacted stuff starting, you know, I think the first document that I see here, Monday, 18th of September, 2017, and Tuesday, the 19th of September, Christopher Steele and all about the dossier and all that stuff. You can read all of these. these documents that are part of Crossfire Hurricane. And, of course, you know, there's going to be people that are going to dig deep into that and catch all kinds of stuff. The next link is to the same kind of FBI record vault, only this one is a document pertaining to JFK. Now, there is a disclaimer that pops up, and I want to read you this disclaimer. See if I can pop it and pop up again. Hold on a second. we're going to check this out this is all super interesting stuff and i'm going to go into obviously go into all the um the ingersoll stuff here in just a second let's see here ingersoll lockwood okay i just want to read this pop-up that comes up that's very interesting okay when it comes up um you get a pop-up oh and now the pop-up's not there anymore That's crazy. Okay, maybe I opened up this link one too many times, and now it's not going to pop up for me, but I digress. I will just go to the actual link itself without it. Okay, JFK Part 1 and Final. And this is Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, JFK Jr. Oh, this subject is JFK Jr., The best copy obtainable is included in the reproduction of these documents. Pages include that are blurred, light, or difficult to read, whatever. So this is JFK Jr. And then there's another link that goes and talks all about, it has all the JFK assassination records. So, and this is, how many? There's 2,566 entries with all of the JFK files. So you can read them all, all in one place, and it's just really fascinating stuff that this all came from. All these links are contained in this one email that I got from Ingersoll Lockwood. And an important side note here, with Ingersoll Lockwood, If you've heard me talk about this website before, and it changes all the time, and not super often, but probably, I don't know, once a month or something, it changes. And sometimes the overall look of the site doesn't change. You have to dig around to find the little changes, and you have to kind of know how to navigate around this website. And if you've never heard of it before, I'm going to spell it out for you, and you can go check it out yourself. It is www.IngersollLockwood.com. So you've got to have three L's in the middle there, IngersollLockwood.com, okay? And I've said this before, but in case you haven't caught that show where I was talking about navigation around this thing, there are little things that you need to find that aren't visible to the eye when you open up the website. It looks like a very legit website. It is a legit website, and somebody put some serious time and money into this thing, trust me. But there's a video that's playing on the front page, and then above, below, any of the areas that are white that you may not see anything with the eye because the background is totally white, There could be little bits of text or punctuation marks or stuff that you can't see because the font or the print is also in white. So you can't see it unless you highlight it. So you have to go like to the bottom right of a white section and highlight the entire white section and see if anything else pops up. Or you can just wave your – you can hover over as much area as you can and try to find them. When you get the little finger, you know that you can click on something. So it's, to me – super interesting, rather fascinating. And I don't know who's behind it. Even the address is crazy. The address for IngersollLockwood.com is 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue. And you know, that's a reference to Q, whatever. But you know, the White House is 1600, right? So allegedly, it's 10 blocks or so away from the White House. So I don't know. I don't know the authenticity of the address or any of, you know, what exactly is behind it, what entity is behind this website. But all I know is that once you go on there and you start kind of poking around a little bit, you find just amazing things that you, there's a, there's one Excel spreadsheet that's got all these court cases that are documented. It's like the dockets for all these courts from all these different States. And this Excel spreadsheet is ridiculous, but you have to know where to find it. You have to find it on there by clicking around and, you know, looking at the different things and yeah, it's, it's wild. For example, Today, I went to Ingersoll as part of my show prep, and at the very bottom of the page, underneath the address and all the legal disclaimers and all of that stuff, there's a picture of a little tiny white bunny at the bottom. And you can click on that white bunny, and you can also, you have to highlight because you can't see it, but above and below the white bunny are other things that you can click on. And there is another link that will take you to the Internet Archive, and you will be led to this speech that was given by John F. Kennedy at the dinner of Bureau of Advertising at the American Newspaper Publishers Association at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, New York, April 27, 1961. So I'm going to read to you part of the speech. There are some continuation dots with brackets and stuff in there. So this is not the complete speech, but evidently whoever put this on there wanted this to be the most important parts of the speech, I guess. So it reads, And this was all about secret societies. So there was a title on it that had something about secret societies on there. So it says, the very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society. And we are, as a people, inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of extensive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts and far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it's in my control. But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. Today, no war has been declared, and however fierce the struggle may be, it may never be declared in the traditional fashion. Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger, and yet no war has been declared. No borders have been crossed by marching troops. No missiles have been fired. No war ever posed a greater threat to our security. The danger has never been more clear, and its presence has never been more imminent. It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence. On infiltration instead of invasion. On subversion instead of elections. on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned. No rumor is printed. No secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a wartime discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match. So pretty profound, kind of talking about the hidden war, the secret war that's going on covertly behind the scenes. You know, there's a lot of different accounts and different people who say that we are at war right now. Some people say it's a spiritual war. Some people say it's an information war. Some people say it's all of the above. But, yeah, and then we have the 2,500 entries with the JFK. files and then the JFK Jr. stuff. And finally, last but not least, there is a QR code. Now this is at the bottom of the email and this QR code that you can use on your phone. So if you bring it up on your PC, you can use, I don't know how, how does the QR code work when you're on your phone and you're looking at it? Can you do anything with the QR code? I don't know. Somebody's going to have to explain that to me because I've, I always just point it at something and not take it directly from the phone. You know what I mean? Luke, do you know how that works or can it work? Luke's gone. Yeah, just if you get an email that's got a QR code in it, like in the body of the email, can you do anything with it on your phone?
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, yeah, you can. You can use your phone to scan the QR code, but I wouldn't. If you don't know what a QR code leads to, I wouldn't be putting your phone on it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, no, what I'm saying is that if you're opening your email from your phone and you get a QR code that's in the body of an email that you're reading on your phone, Can you do anything with that QR code on your phone? You see what I'm saying? Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
I believe you can if you long press it or something. It depends on phone to phone, but I'm pretty sure you can do that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I just didn't know how that works. I was looking at this all on my computer. And I got the QR code. And because I trust this Ingersoll Lockwood site, because I've gotten, you know, I've been there many, many times and clicked on everything you can click on and have never had any problems or whatever. So anyway, this QR code that you can go to, it opens up a new text message. which is interesting. So the QR code, you press it from your phone, it opens up a text message, and the text message is populated with a phone number in a 202 area code, and it puts the words Golden Age in the body of the message. So when you send it, here's what you get back. welcome to the golden age of America. President Trump launched this number to stay directly connected with you, the American people. We'll share important updates and ways you can get involved. America is back. Let's get to work. Then it asks you to follow a link and fill out a form so you can leave messages. So it's like a direct kind of contact sort of thing. So I opened the link, and so it has that text I told you about, and then it has a link to a community.com website. And it was populated already with my phone number, and most of the phone number, like the first – The area code and the first three digits are X'd out, and it just has the last four digits of my phone number. And it wants your name, your gender or sex, it says sex, your birthday, your city, and your email address. And the disclaimer at the bottom of this form reads as follows. By clicking accept below, you confirm that you are 13 years old and meet the minimum age requirement to use this service. You agree to community's terms of service and privacy policy and consent to receiving recurring messages at the number above, which may be marketing or automated from or on behalf of President Donald J. Trump by a community. Consent is not a condition of purchase. So I did not fill out the form, but I'm going to, and I wanted to share it. I'll give you the results next time. When we get back from break, I'm going to talk all about Ingersoll Lockwood a little bit more. And yeah, we'll be right back.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
And we are back. I was just talking about Ingersoll Lockwood, and I was telling you about just some information that I have found on there in this form, and just something that I got in an email, QR code, and all that. So if you're interested at all, and this stuff is so interesting, you guys, if you want to get this kind of information, go to IngersollLockwood.com, and I already gave the website, but I'll give it again, I-N-G-E-R-S-O-L-L-L, O-C-K-W-O-O-D, ingersolllockwood.com. And you can sign up to receive their emails. And interestingly, on the website near the little white rabbit link that leads you to that JFK speech that I read a minute ago, there are a couple more links. One takes you to shroud.com, which is all about the Shroud of Turin. And if you don't know what that is from the intro to the website, it's The Shroud of Turin is a centuries-old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man, a man that millions believe to be Jesus of Nazareth. Is it really the cloth that wrapped his crucified body, or is it simply a medieval forgery, a hoax perpetuated by some clever artist? Modern science has completed hundreds of thousands of hours of detailed study and intense research on the Shroud. It is, in fact, the most studied artifact, the single most studied artifact in human history, and we know more about it today than we ever have before, and yet the controversy still rages. This website will keep you abreast of current research, provide you with accurate data from the previous research, and let you interact with researchers themselves. We believe that you have access to the facts. We believe that if you have access to the facts, you can make up your own mind about the shroud. So all very interesting stuff, and I implore you to go check out IngersollLockwood.com and check it out yourself. It's crazy. So before you do it, in case you missed it the first 43 times I talked about it on the air, just remember to poke around. Highlight things that you can't see. Highlight areas that just look white to you. You'll find all kinds of different things to click on. It can be music. They've used AI. They have a whole bunch of different songs that are all political written in like a 1920s or 30s style of music. And then if you do sign up for emails, don't expect to get bombarded because you won't be. They don't send a lot at all. In fact, I think I've signed up. for their emails probably a year ago or so, and I think I've gotten two so far. So they're not spammers. Like, you won't get the stuff. But when you do, it's super fascinating, and you want to go check it out. So, okay, Luke, it's time to strap on the tinfoil helmet, okay?
SPEAKER 04 :
All right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Got to strap it on. Everybody's got to strap on their tinfoil helmet for the rest of the show because it's just how I roll. I've got my tinfoil derby hat firmly in place, and I would like to dive into some conspiracy theories. So let's jump down a couple different rabbit holes, possibly rabbit holes that the Easter Bunny might avoid. A little Easter pun for you because I'm kind of doing that today. I'm poking fun at the pagan side of Easter, which the word Easter is part of that, as you probably know. Maybe you don't. I don't know. But let's chat about the Blue Origin spaceflight for a minute. Now, I put spaceflight in heavy, heavy air quotes today. The conspiracy side of TikTok has been having a field day with this whole charade. And yes, I call it a charade. All come out of the gate saying, I believe this thing was as fake as it gets. So I touched on this briefly last week before I had a chance to absorb a lot of the different videos and perspectives and commentary coming out about this Blue Origin campaign. Six women being shot into space on a giant, you know what I'm talking about, you guys saw it. So yeah, the rocket itself, you guys know what it looked like. I don't have to go into detail, but people are picking apart every tiny little bit of footage that's available today. and the discrepancies and just the stuff that they showed from outside of this capsule and inside this capsule and the stuff that they've – these people have a lot of time on their hands, and they really have picked this apart to a degree that you just can't look at it and say that it's real. You just can't. And then we have Gayle King out there. Have you gone to space? Have you gone to space? Because, you know, she's seeing all the negative blowback and stuff. And this, I can't remember the comedian's name, but he comes back and he says, no, we have bills to pay. We're at work. You know, we don't have an extra couple mil laying around to go to space, quote unquote space. But the first video that I'm going to talk about is actually from a guy who is clearly a liberal Democrat, and even he says this whole space launch thing was fake. He talks about the footage where Jeff Bezos comes to the craft after it touched down and attempts to open the door. And you see him, he runs up there, you know, as if he's super concerned about his fiance or whatever after they just plummeted to the ground at 700 miles an hour or whatever it was, and Now, the doors of the spacecraft are allegedly, they're supposed to be locked from the outside. And when Bezos approaches the door, someone inside had already opened it. So super fishy. Like, how is that possible? And next he discusses the windows of the pod and how Bezos goes from the door. So he goes up to the door. And it's already partially open, but he goes to the left and he takes a couple of steps and he trips. And then he takes a few more steps and he trips again. And so it's a full-grown man taking several steps between the windows to get from window to window. And what you see on the inside from when these women are supposedly floating around is is these windows are really close together. Like one of these women takes up the entire space between two windows. So that's really odd. But for somebody to notice that was just amazing to me. It just, yeah, blew my mind. And then he talks about the hardware. surrounding the door. So if you look at the pictures of the pod above the door at about, you know, if you look at the corners of the tops of the door and think of the left corner and a bolt being at like the direct 45 degree angle from the corner of the door and the same on the upper right. So there's two bolts that were there that do not show up in the imagery when these women are coming off of this pod. So it's like two different pods that they use or whatever. When they show the videos of them loading, the hardware around the door is there, but when the women emerge, it's gone. So that's pretty crazy in and of itself. And then we have the real basic stuff, like the fact that all these women were in full glam makeup, right? No pressurized suits or helmets or, I mean, I don't care what you're doing. You're still coming down. Even if it was real, we'll just say for a moment that it was real, even though it wasn't. When that pod is attached to the parachute and it's crashing down to the ground and poof, you know, the big dust explosion that happens when the thing lands and all that stuff. And these women emerge in full glam makeup, no helmets, no suits, no nothing. There they are. You know, I mean, how dumb do they think we are? I just, I can't. It's just ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. And then we have the condition of the pod itself after returning through the Earth's atmosphere, right? Not a scratch on it. Looks like it just had a fresh paint job. And it was as cool as a cucumber, might I add. After it crashed down to earth, Basil's comes in and slaps his palm right on it, which it should have been scorching hot, right? Isn't that what they always say about something, you know, coming through the atmosphere and landing? Yeah. So very crazy. And I don't really understand how these people think that we're supposed to think it was real. But there are people that do. 100%. Think it was real. And they're getting irritated with people like me out there saying, you know, what is with all the hate with this Blue Origin space launch? And it's like, well, how long do you have? Okay. So on another, this is a super kind of a creepy thing that's gone viral. I should just kind of, I should call this show like shooting the TikTok breeze because I get so much, so much information and so much inspiration for the show from watching TikTok videos. So There's this viral video going around. There's a lot of buzz surrounding this video that was made by a guy who has a side hustle as a gravedigger. He's actually made more than one video about his job and some very strange things that he's experienced doing it. But rather than playing his video, I'm going to play a response video made by another TikToker where he not only talks about the grave digger story, but he does his own digging and comes up with some really interesting things. Check this out.
SPEAKER 07 :
This is mind-blowing and something to think about. Do you ever think about what happens to the bodies after you leave a funeral procession? Why do I ask? Because there's a viral video that's going around where a guy explains how he allegedly believes because of the weight of some of the caskets that there are no bodies in them. So this gentleman right here claims that while he was on his side gig of digging graves, he's seen things that have led him to believe that there are no bodies inside the caskets. So basically, while he was digging a grave, the cemetery director walked over to him and said, hey, we need to dig up that grave. So he went ahead and they dug up the casket. Upon digging up the casket, it came up uneven, a little crooked sideways is what he says. like it didn't have enough weight in it. So after that, the funeral director told him it should be lifted up manually. So they went ahead, they lifted it up manually, and that's when he felt that it wasn't heavy enough, and he said to himself, I don't think there's a body inside this. So he basically asked, why is this casket so light? The funeral director turned to him and said, don't ask questions that you're not ready for. One thing I want you to think about now, now that this story has come to light and you never thought about it, I never thought about it. There are 144,000 cemeteries. across the US as of 2025. One question you should be asking is, when was the last time you seen them build a new cemetery? So of course, I went and did some digging. Why haven't you seen new cemeteries being built? Here is what came up when I searched for it. Land availability. They are building like crazy all over the United States. Therefore, where are you gonna put cemeteries? Increased land costs, but funerals cost an arm and a leg. Excuse the pun. Environmental concerns. Alternate burial options and grave recycling. You heard what I said, grave recycling. There is a such thing. In some cases, cemeteries are expanding their capacity by reusing burial spaces through a practice called grave recycling. So the question remains, with so many people across the United States, people pass away every day, every minute. What's going on with the bodies? Where are they going? Are you thinking about this? Is it something that you've never, I've never thought about this until I listened to that viral video and I'm starting to say, hmm.
SPEAKER 02 :
So that's, it's pretty interesting, right? Just, you know, and this guy, the guy, I watched the video that he's talking about, and the guy was very genuine. He doesn't look like he's got a, you know, extra dollars to his name. He doesn't really have any motivation to lie about this stuff. So, you know, he found it. And then I guess as a result of that video, he's got people coming after him. So interesting. Very crazy. But yeah, I mean, I never really put a lot of thought into what they're talking about. But he's right. People die every day. Lots of people die every day. But there's no new cemeteries being, he says, built. I guess that's kind of the wrong word. You know, yeah, there's a fence around a cemetery. And yeah, there's things that you do have to build. in terms of creating a cemetery. And a lot of people choose for the cremation. I get that. And many people put their ashes into the root balls of trees. And you can have a tree planted, you know, that kind of thing, the green options or whatever. And I've seen ashes being put into glass art and all that. And there's even the kind of disturbing, sickening liquefication of of human remains that they use for fertilizer. And that's like, I don't even want to go down that road, but it is legal. It's a thing it's called bio sludge and it's out there. But, um, but I've seen all, all the, all that stuff, but traditionally people are placed in caskets caskets and they're buried and Right? You go to the funeral, you go to the graveside, and this happens, and the casket is there above the ground, and then when everybody leaves, they put it down into the ground, and they cover it with dirt, and that's it. That's what you think about. So, and here's where the tinfoil hat might get a little itchy. I don't know. But you combine this guy's story with other conspiracies that entail human DNA found in McDonald's burgers and chicken nuggets and And I don't think I need to elaborate any further on that. And if you're currently sitting in your car in the drive-thru at McDonald's, you might consider exiting and heading to Whole Foods, get some grab-and-go stuff from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or something like that. I mean, we all know that stuff is unhealthy anyway, and even with that conspiracy in mind, eesh. Although I have to admit that I love me some Taco Bells. And I throw caution to the wind every so often by eating there. It's terrible. And I know it's terrible, but I love it. Is there a good fast food? Is there such a thing as good fast food? I kind of doubt it. But anyway, so have you guys heard about these alternate timelines? Have you guys ever heard about this? I'm going to blast through this pretty quickly because I'm going to run out of time. If you spend any amount of time down any number of rabbit holes, you might have come across videos that claim that we're in an alternate timeline, that things shifted a while ago and that we're living in an alternate timeline. And you've heard me talk about Tartaria and all the technology that they had and all that stuff with the World's Fairs and all that stuff going on before really the onset of mainstream electricity, as we would call it, and they had rivers that lit up and whatever. You've heard me talk about all that. Well, I find it interesting that our calendar and the names of our months are what they are, like the month of September, for example. What is Sept? Isn't that seven? If September is our ninth month, why is it named September? And October, isn't that eight? Eight, October. right? But it's the 10th month. November, novum, meaning nine in Latin. Then we have December, dec, meaning 10, right? It doesn't make sense to me. So how did that happen? And why did that happen? When people talk about the Easter holiday and trying to figure out when exactly Easter Sunday falls on any given year, it's hard to determine. Easter Sunday is determined by the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. which is the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, if you believe in that whole Northern-Southern Hemisphere thing. Many people say that the spring equinox should be the first day of the year. Like we celebrate the first day, January 1st. So this spring equinox is in March, which makes sense. If you count forward from March to September, that would be the seventh month. And so on, as I explained earlier. Now, the new year is about growth and rebirth, when all things are new and things are blooming. And then why do we celebrate New Year's at the coldest time of year when everything is dead or sleeping? We've been taught that our calendar has changed over the years, right? There's the Gregorian calendar, Julian calendar. And we all know that every four years is what's called a leap year, where we have to add that extra day. there's 29 days in February instead of 28, right? Well, who decided all this and who thought it was a good idea? When you consider the cycles of the moon and one rotation of the sun around our plane, I said what I said, Luke, I know you're loving this stuff right now. Our calendar, our timeline should never change. It should never have changed because our cycles have never changed. And many people on the woo-woo side of things say that this was by design. Just one of the many ways that our overlords historically have kept us in check. They can't let us get too mentally or physically healthy, and they can't let us be too happy. That wouldn't bode well with their eternal desire for, you know, money and power and control. Now would it, right? So, That said, I want you to hear this piece from Ask Holly Astrologist on TikTok. And this is something that has always perplexed me for years and years. Check this out.
SPEAKER 05 :
What if I told you that this is not the year of 2025 and I can prove it to you? And what if I told you that we're also using the wrong calendar? Who is using the right calendar? What happened? And what is this year? And what is supposed to be going on in 2025? We have 13 months, not 12 months. The Gregorian calendar and Julian calendar turned it into a 12-month system. But that doesn't go along with the lunar system and with the stars, because the stars are really our calendar, okay? There is a civilization, a race, a country that lives right now on this Earth that uses the correct calendar. And they're not in the year 2025, okay? Remember 2012? Where did that come from? The Mayan calendar. But what we did is we translated it using our current calendar. It still put us in the wrong year. The Mayan calendar didn't end in 2012. Well, it did, just not our 2012. so the lunar time is 28 days so every single month should have 28 days and the correct calendar should have 12 months of 28 days each or 28 nights really and an extra month the 13th month for the remainder of those lunar days So who uses the right calendar? The Ethiopian calendar. Look it up. So what year are we really in? The same year that the Ethiopian calendar is, which is the correct calendar, and also aligns with my astrology and where Pluto is, well, basically where Uranus is in. So we're in the age of Aquarius now. And guess what year it is?
SPEAKER 1 :
2012.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is the year of 2012.
SPEAKER 02 :
So now she goes on to explain in a different video because somebody called her out on the error that she made that the current year in Ethiopia is actually 2017 right now. But she clarifies that 2020 is what started changing everything, so that five-year difference still is explained as well. But I still find it interesting that Ethiopia, no matter how you slice her video or anything else, that they use a different calendar and that they are seven or eight years behind us It's just, to me, it's insane. One of the comments in the video I played for you said, in Ethiopia, the calendar is 2017, translates to 2025 now. In other words, 2012, end of the world, Mayans is 2020 COVID lockdowns to us. So our 2020 COVID lockdowns was, yeah, was eight years prior to that or 2012 for the Mayan calendar. So crazy. And basically it's saying that COVID, when COVID hit the world, that it changed everything as we know it. And it was actually 2012 in Ethiopia, which is the end of the Mayan calendar. Crazy stuff. But Jim, what do you got for me?
SPEAKER 03 :
I know exactly where you got that sound bite from. I was watching that this morning at about 5.30 in the morning. And I actually sent that creator a comment on that. And I'm going to tell you the same thing. Okay. Okay. What's up is down and what's down is up. What's left is right. What's right is left. You know, is the sky really blue or is it green? You know what? The way I see it, you know what? I don't concern myself in life with all these little stuff simply because, you know, it is what it is. You know, we're basically indoctrinated into our belief system. And until somebody can come up with hard evidence to show me that what I know is completely wrong, I'm going to kind of stick with what I know because literally what's left is right and what's right is left and on and on.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you're halfway there already by just questioning everything. So knowing that what's up is down and what's down is up and what's round is flat and everything else. So that's half the battle, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Now, I'll give you some food for thought about something else, okay? Okay. As a truck driver, okay, I've been pretty much all over the United States, but I haven't been an over-the-road truck driver for a really long time. But I did take notice of something. So you sit down with a map, and it's not exact, but it's pretty close. You look at the distances between major cities. and the whatnots, and you tell me what you see as far as distance, because there's a lot of similarities in the distance between cities and states.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
I swear it. If you go from here to Salt Lake, it's around 500-some miles. You go between here and Omaha and Nebraska, it's like 500-some miles. If you go up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, it's approximately 100 miles. If you go down towards Pueblo, it's like right around 100-some miles. There's a distance thing, a mileage thing, that's pretty much the same all over the United States. Yeah, I believe it.
SPEAKER 02 :
I believe it. I bet you never gave that no thought, did you? No, because I rarely look at a physical map anymore. I'm all about Google Maps.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. I'll give you another one here. I've thought about this forever. care i've thought about this forever okay especially like europe okay now europe has had millions and millions and i mean hundreds of millions of people in europe for thousands of years how come they have not ran out of grave a gravesite space i know exactly that i want to know where all the bodies are at
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, Jim, you hear the music. That's going to do it for me. I appreciate your call. You guys, thank you so much for spending the last 58 minutes with me in the fastest hour of broadcasting. I will close by saying this. Stay curious. Keep digging for truth. Question everything and stay frosty, my friends. Mama Glock is out until next Monday. Take care, everyone. God bless.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you for listening to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by the team at Franktown Firearms. Mention that you heard Shooting the Breeze on KLZ when you purchase a gun and Franktown Firearms will waive your background fee. Veterans, first responders, and law enforcement receive a Patriot discount on everything in the store. Get in touch with Franktown Firearms now at klzradio.com slash guns. Franktown Firearms, where friends are made.
As tensions simmer globally, Congressman Tim Burchett offers insights into the recent halt of Venezuelan deportations by the Supreme Court. We explore how this decision ties into broader judicial activism and voter concerns. On the international stage, the Iran nuclear talks progress slowly, with President Trump prioritizing peace through strength. The episode wraps with a focus on religious freedom, urging the U.S. administration to maintain its strong stance. Stay informed with expert analysis on the issues that matter most.
SPEAKER 13 :
from the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation's leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7.35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome returned to the house of the Father.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Cardinal Kevin Farrell announcing the passing of Pope Francis earlier this morning. Welcome to this April 21st edition of Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Pope Francis' tenure created confusion and uncertainty on a number of issues for many. But as the cardinals prepare to select the next pope, what direction might they take? We'll talk about it with Eric Sammons, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine. The second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran took place this past weekend.
SPEAKER 19 :
President Trump has been clear that Iran has no reason to enrich uranium. They therefore have no reason to keep their centrifuges, and they certainly have no reason to be developing intercontinental missiles that could hit the United States. If Iran is willing to make a deal on those terms, and as President Trump said last week, we can have peace.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton with his reaction over the weekend on Fox News. We'll get more insight from Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett a little bit later here on Washington Watch. Also over the weekend, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelans who are in the U.S. illegally to El Salvador.
SPEAKER 18 :
President Trump invoked the authorities he had of the Alien Enemies Act, an act written and passed by Congress and signed by a president. We're using the laws on the books, the statutes on the books, to secure the border and remove significant public safety threats and national security threats to this country.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Border Czar Tom Holman on ABC this weekend. We'll break down what this means a little bit later. Speaking of the court, tomorrow the justices will hear oral arguments in what could become a landmark case for parental rights and religious freedom. FRC's Meg Kilgannon will join us with the details. Before the court imposed same-sex marriage on the nation in 2015, I warned that the court could legalize it, but they could never make it moral. Just as with abortion, when the court ruled against the moral law of God, the issue didn't disappear. It became and remains a point of political and cultural conflict. Exhibit A is about a half a dozen states are now considering resolutions urging the Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 same-sex marriage decision. We'll talk with one of the legislators leading that charge, Oklahoma Senator Dusty Devers, later here on Washington Watch. All of this and more coming up on today's edition. And by the way, session 10 of our God and Government course has just been released today. In this new session, I explore how we should respond when government policies conflict with God's Word. You can find this latest edition exclusively on the Stand Firm app. If you don't have the app, tell you what, text the word course to 67742. That's the word course to 67742. And I will send you a link. Well, this morning, the day after Resurrection Sunday, Vatican authorities announced the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88. The Pope was suffering from a number of health issues and had been hospitalized on February the 14th. He did appear yesterday in public. Now the Vatican and the Catholic Church at large have entered its traditional phase of mourning for the late pontiff. Many are wondering what direction the Church will go in the selection of the next Pope and what is the future of the Catholic Church on some of the controversial issues that the Pope Francis kind of Well, he wasn't real clear on, provided, did not provide the direction that many were looking for. Here to discuss this, Eric Sammons, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magnesine and the author of seven books, including Deadly Indifference, How the Church Lost Her Mission, and How We Can Reclaim It. Eric, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thank you very much for having me, Tony. I appreciate you bringing me on.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I certainly think that this is a place where many in the Catholic Church are going to be mourning the passing of any pope. That's obviously a very significant position of leadership in the church. But there's a lot of controversy surrounding his tenure as pope on some of those core issues that obviously we deal with a lot when it comes to public policy, life, marriage, family, human sexuality. What do you see the reaction being long term to his tenure as pope?
SPEAKER 17 :
I think the word you used previously, which was confusion, is a good one, because the fact is, if you really look and I've done this, you study what Pope Francis has said and done over the years. He has said some very good things on issues like abortion, same sex marriage, issues of that nature and transgenderism. However, he's also done things that undermine those statements, frankly, that make it appear that – I mean, he has welcomed pro-abortion politicians with open arms. He has – there was a document that the Vatican released a couple years ago. that allowed the blessing of same-sex couples, things of that nature he's done. And it honestly has caused confusion among Catholics, among Christians, all men and women of goodwill, about what exactly is the church teaching. I mean, those of us who are Catholic know the church has very clear teachings, official teachings against abortion, against homosexuality, against transgenderism. But at times the Pope by his actions, you know, Pope Francis by his actions didn't always make that clear what the church's teaching were. And I think that will be a legacy, an unfortunate legacy of his pontificate is that although, like I said, he said good things many times on these issues, other times he just didn't really act in a way that made it clear that that's exactly what the church teaches.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, Eric, I think that's a very important delineation because the church teachings didn't change. It was the way he talked about some of them in creating that confusion. I had the opportunity to go to the Vatican a number of years ago for a conference on the complementarian nature of man and woman. This was before the redefinition of marriage. But you're right. The teachings there, the documents are very clear. But his statements muddled it. Do you see the, you know, as the cardinals gather together and they'll be choosing a new leader of the church, a new pope, will that be a part of the thinking?
SPEAKER 17 :
I do think so. I think because there's two different aspects when you talk about who the Pope's going to be, who they might want. One is going to be, yes, what is this person's ideology, so to speak, to use kind of a political term, but what's their theology? How do they really look at these issues, all the issues that Christians and all Catholics must address? But also what's their governance style? What's their public relations style, to use that term? Because I think in the first area, I think in general, the cardinals will be in general agreement on what is believed, what should be taught. And then the real question will be. Okay, how do we want, what kind of governance do we want? Do we want a pope who's going to be very much out in the world, like a Pope John Paul II? Or do we want maybe a more intellectual pope, like a Pope Benedict XVI? Do we want somebody like Francis? I personally think they're not going to want somebody who's the same style as Francis. Maybe some of the same thoughts and ideas of Francis, but not the same style. So all these things will come together when the cardinals meet in the conclave to say, okay, what different factors are most important to us? Some bishops might be like, honestly, the bishop, the cardinals coming from America and a lot of Western Europe, they're going to be more concerned about a, let's be honest, a more progressive ideology. But then you're going to get some of the cardinals who are coming from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, places like that. And they're not as concerned about the issues that are as important to maybe the Western Europeans, like homosexuality and abortion. They just consider that a They're not like still stuck in the 60s and 70s about that. And so they're more concerned about church growth, for example, in Africa, in Latin America, places like that.
SPEAKER 07 :
You mentioned Pope John Paul. The world was a very volatile place back there during the Cold War. Working with Ronald Reagan, as we now know history very clearly, Margaret Thatcher played a key role in bringing down the wall and opening up Eastern Europe. We're once again at a very volatile time. The United States has a leader along the lines of Ronald Reagan. Might that factor into their decision when you look at the geopolitical landscape of the world?
SPEAKER 17 :
I think so. I hope so, honestly. I mean, the great thing about Pope John Paul II is there were two great evils in the world at the time that he had to face. One was, of course, the threat of communism in the East and that destructive whole ideology. But then in the West, there was that growing culture of death with abortion, euthanasia, things like that. And one of the beauties of John Paul II is he worked against both. And like you say, he worked with Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher. Today we have some great evils of globalism. We have also the great evil of like the woke ideology, the idea of just – changing reality, trying to use different words to say what reality is. So what I'm praying for and hoping for is a pope who recognizes those two great threats and, like John Paul II, will stand up to them, because I do think that's a failing of Pope Francis. He was not always clear against those two threats, and he seemed to sometimes cozy up to the people who were for that. Maybe I think with good intentions a lot of times, but ultimately I think it should have been more the John Paul II method of we have to fight against these evils. And so what I'm hopeful for is There will be the Cardinals will see that as a need. Like I said, I'm not real confident Cardinals coming from America necessarily. But I do think, like, for example, the Cardinals coming from Africa and Asia, they see that more clearly the evils of a globalism of the ideology. I mean, like we know. American aid for so many years in Africa was dependent upon you had to abide by all this progressive ideology. And so that's something that the African cardinals are directly aware of. So I'm hopeful they'll say, OK, new administration in America, maybe this won't be the case anymore. We can we can work with that administration.
SPEAKER 07 :
Eric, we've just got a couple minutes left now. I want to get the process, but first, before we do, you mentioned Africa, you mentioned threats. Where does Islam factor into that, radical Islam?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think that's something that's very interesting because one of the candidates that people think might be very likely to be elected pope is Cardinal Pizzabala, who is the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. And he is directly involved with protecting one of his biggest... priorities is protecting Middle Eastern Christians from what's going on in Gaza and throughout that area. And so I think that's somebody who's very aware of the threat of Islam there, of the different threats in the Middle East. There's also a cardinal now from Iraq, and so he's surrounded by Islam. So I think there are more cardinals aware of kind of geopolitical role that Islam has in the world.
SPEAKER 07 :
I certainly hope that the Catholic Church will be a strong voice for religious freedom and add their voice to it. That's a very significant growing threat. All right. Eric, we just have a minute and a half left. Process. What's the timeline? What's this look like?
SPEAKER 17 :
So what first happens is there's a period of mourning. And for Pope Francis, there will be his funeral. They haven't set the exact dates or anything like that, but typically it's about nine days in the morning. And then soon after that will be the conclave. My guess is in about two weeks from now is when the conclave will start. That could last a very short time or a very long time. There have literally been conclaves that have lasted years. Now, I don't think that's going to happen in modern times as cardinals are going to get out of there before that. But it could last weeks. Usually in modern times, conclaves usually last a few days. And I my guess is that will happen. The first few votes will just be a matter of, OK, who's who are the main candidates? And then people start working. The Cardinals start working together. So, OK. We'll compromise and we won't go with our guy, but we'll go with your guy if we can all get together. And so my guess is we're talking about two weeks from now, the conclave will start. And then within a few days, God willing, we'll get a new pope.
SPEAKER 07 :
And how many cardinals will be in that meeting?
SPEAKER 17 :
About 130, 140. All right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Eric, thanks so much for joining us today. Very insightful. Appreciate the conversation.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you very much, Tony, for having me on.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. Well folks, we need to be praying that they make the right decision. All right, coming up, the Supreme Court decided to temporarily halt deportations of detained Venezuelans. Could we be looking at a confrontation between the administration and the court? That's next.
SPEAKER 09 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That's why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
SPEAKER 09 :
Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
SPEAKER 07 :
This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration's removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
SPEAKER 09 :
Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
SPEAKER 07 :
These are not just numbers. These are fathers, they're mothers, they're children, they're families.
SPEAKER 09 :
Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
SPEAKER 02 :
We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
SPEAKER 09 :
FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
SPEAKER 08 :
Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We've created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 15 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. Well, over the weekend, the Supreme Court temporarily halted the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelans held in Texas. While this marks a short-term setback to the Trump administration's effort to deport Venezuelan criminals, the Supreme Court indicated that it would provide a future order on the matter. But the question is, is a confrontation coming between the court and the Trump administration as they keep weighing in on these deportations? Here to discuss this and more, Tennessee Congressman Tim Burgett, who serves on three House committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Burgett, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks for having me on, Tony. I'm driving down the road. I'm speaking to a group of Cub Scouts here in a minute. So I'm not I'm actually riding down the road. I should say not driving.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, make sure you clarify that. We want to set a good example. All right. So what do you think about the Supreme Court's order halting the deportations of these Venezuelans held in Texas?
SPEAKER 06 :
I don't think a lot of it, Tony. I worry about the constitutional rights of Americans that their family members have been raped or murdered. We have a young man here in Knoxville, Tennessee. I knew his mom and dad today, as a matter of fact. He was killed by an illegal. And, you know, and I keep wondering, what about those people's constitutional rights? Of course, I'm not an attorney and I get the I get all of it. But I just I'm worried about that, the overall thing. And I think it also reemphasizes elections have consequences. President Obama, President Clinton and Bush, between the last three of them, they part. I mean, excuse me, they they sent over six million people out of this country. literally evicted them illegals and yet they stacked our courts with some of the most liberal judges that we've ever seen and you know and as conservatives we have a nice heart we want to do what do well by people and then yet we continue to play ball with these liberals and we put moderates on our courts and this is what we're we're we're suffering from i feel like i really do
SPEAKER 07 :
So this was, if not the major issue, it was at the top of the list of issues in the last election, securing the southern border. But also judicial activism remains a big issue for voters, especially conservative voters. I mean, it's like all of those things and national security all kind of rolled into one in this particular case. It appears that the Trump administration, for instance, they've been told by the court to return this man from Maryland who was sent down to El Salvador. And they're saying, hey, we asked for him. He's not coming back. Actually, this appears to be like it's going to be a bigger deal than what it looks on the surface. Could we be looking at a major confrontation between the administration and the court?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think we will. I think we will. But I mean, if the shoe was on the other foot, imagine if the president of El Salvador said to America, send back an American that you have in prison. I mean, that's exactly what they're doing. This guy, he's from El Salvador. He's here illegally. We have it's under two different judges. And we've had an informant saying he's MS-13. We have INVESTIGATIONS INTO THIS. THE PRESIDENT BELIEVES HE'S MS-13. HIS PEOPLE BELIEVE HIM TO BE MS-13. YET WE HAVE THE DEMOCRATS WHO FOR SOME REASON THINK THIS IS A BEACH TO DOWN. I KEEP SAYING ARE THEY POLLING ON, YOU KNOW, IN PRISONS THAT ARE FULL OF GANG MEMBERS? BECAUSE THIS OBVIOUSLY IS NOT A, I DON'T THINK IT'S AN 80-20 ISSUE. I THINK IT'S A 95-5. I THINK AMERICA IS SICK OF IT. AND CNN EVEN, THEY HAD A POLL OUT THAT SHOWS THAT 55% OF THE POPULATION, CNN, So you can stack 10 more percentage points on that easily. CNN said that America thinks that Trump is doing, is in the right direction on immigration. He's basically shut the border down, which is something Biden refused to do. He refused to let our border agents enforce the law. And I think America is sick of it. And I think America is ready for a fight.
SPEAKER 07 :
What options do the Trump administration have if the court does not change course on this?
SPEAKER 06 :
OF COURSE, DIRECT DEFIANCE, YOU KNOW, DARRELL ISSA HAS A BILL. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT BEAR SOME FRUIT. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THAT DOES IN THE SENATE. PUT IT UP FOR A VOTE, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE IT BASICALLY INSTRUCTS THE COURTS TO STAY IN THEIR OWN LANE. NOW, DEALING WITH THE SUPREME COURT, THAT'S A DIFFERENT ASSUMPTION. I'M NOT THE LEGAL EXPERT, BUT I SUSPECT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHO HAS, WHO ULTIMATELY HAS THE POWER THERE. And I don't want to abuse, and I see the idealistic viewpoint of some of my friends, but the reality is that we've been denied our constitutional rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness because they've allowed illegal people with criminal backgrounds and criminal tendencies into this country that want to do ill will to Americans.
SPEAKER 07 :
And I think, as you just laid that out, that's an 80-20 issue, certainly among conservatives. They do not want people here illegally committing crimes against American citizens. But I want to ask you this question, how you process this from a standpoint of, you mentioned, and we're talking Supreme Court now, because it's Supreme Court on Saturday night, as Samuel Alito said, in the middle of the night, issued this order. But this is a, quote-unquote, conservative-leaning court that President Trump constructed in his last administration. So how do you balance that? This is a court that, for the most part, has gotten it right, and they're saying, wait, you can't do this. How do you process that?
SPEAKER 06 :
I don't. I have a hard time processing it because I see my libertarian friends. I see their viewpoint, but I also see The mothers that I've talked to that have lost loved ones, their children to illegals, and they've been denied that constitutional right. So I don't know where the balance is. I just think it's so far out of whack that we've, you know, we've seen in the past, Nixon, I think it was the Burger Court. He thought that he put a conservative there and it turned out he wasn't. So I don't know. I don't know. I guess I'd have to pray on it. But I still, I would fall back on the safety of Americans.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and as you and I have talked multiple times before, these problems that we have now that are so big, we didn't get there overnight. And we've created huge problems that we have to deal with. Tim, we're almost up against break, got less than a minute left. And I don't want to hold you from your Cub Scouts, but I think we still got some time to squeeze in a couple more questions. I'm going to hold you over to the next segment. But I want to ask you about the second round of talks that took place between the U.S. and Iran. I mean, this is – you're on the Foreign Affairs Committee. You've got your finger on the pulse internationally of what's happening. We've got 30 seconds left, and we'll come back and finish this. But your initial thoughts, reactions to this weekend's talks?
SPEAKER 06 :
I'm glad Donald Trump's in the White House. I'm glad he's the one doing the negotiations. Under Joe Biden or a moderate Republican, I'm sure we'd write a strong letter and do nothing. Iran having nuclear weapons is not healthy for America. It's not healthy for our friends, specifically Israel. So I think President Trump is doing what he's doing and he's negotiating from strength.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. We'll finish that conversation on the other side of the break. Folks, stick with us. We're back with more after this.
SPEAKER 11 :
Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It's true that all ideas have consequences, but we're less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life's biggest questions determine our worldview. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They are disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn't begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won't happen if people can't recognize a lie and don't believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest and the trees.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining with us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, if you want to keep up with us, get the Stand Firm app. You can get the, not only Washington Watch, but you can get the Washington Stand and our daily Bible devotional, Stand on the Word. You can find it in the App Store. It's the Stand Firm app or... Text APP, APP, to 67742, and I will send you a link. All right, continuing our conversation with Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Congressman, thanks for sticking around and working us in before the Cub Scouts. All right, I want to talk, continue these conversations about Iran. As we said, the second round of conversations took place this past weekend. Iran's foreign minister says progress was made on, quote, principles and objectives, but details have been scarce. What specifics do we know?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, our objectives are what President Trump outlined when he ran for office, which is kind of unusual for somebody running for president to keep their word, but dadgum he is. He said he wanted peace in the Middle East. And he realizes that sometimes the only thing these people understand is force. And that's what Iran understands. And that's why, from what I understand, our bombers are stationed close there. And if things were to devolve in the wrong direction, that would take care of our business. And I don't think Trump wants that. Trump wants a peaceful solution. But he's not going to go over there with America's jet bucket and buy them out like it's been done in the past because then the next leader just asks for $1 more. It's kind of you don't pay terrorists, and that's exactly what would happen. But Trump understands the force, and he understands the fact that they want to destroy Israel, and Israel is our friend. And I don't believe President Trump will turn his back on them, and I think he's going to stick to his word. And I think we'll end up with peace, whether Iran is a pile of sand or they're a thriving nation. But I think YOU'VE GOT SOMEBODY IN THE WHITE HOUSE THAT UNDERSTANDS HOW TO NEGOTIATE, FOR GOODNESS SAKES. HE'S DEALT WITH THOSE UNIONS IN NEW YORK FOR YEARS, AND FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, HE UNDERSTANDS IT AND HE UNDERSTANDS NEGOTIATING, AND THAT IS FROM POWER, AND HE KNOWS WE'VE GOT THE POWER.
SPEAKER 07 :
WELL, THE TWO NATIONS WILL MEET AGAIN NEXT SATURDAY. Let me say, are you concerned that the Iranian mullahs are running out the clock? I mean, how long before they get a delay of game? Because, I mean, how long, again, you're on the Foreign Affairs Committee, you track these things. How long before, you know, they've run out the clock and they're at that point of having the nuclear capabilities and the capability of delivering it?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, of course, that is ultimately some of their goals, is to do that, to run it out until they have the nuclear capabilities. And I think Trump realizes that, and I think that's why our bombers are stationed where they are right now. And I think President Trump is not afraid. to use them if need be to protect us and our and our friends freedom and so i think ultimately they have to weigh that but you got to realize too just like in gaza the leaders probably aren't there they're they're somewhere safe somewhere in qatar or somewhere else some of them are anyway um pulling the strings and letting old men make decisions and young men die and I think Trump realizes that as well. So he's cognizant of the fact that civilians could lose their lives, but he's also cognizant of the fact that we have friends in the Middle East, and I'm sure he's weighing that, and that weighs heavy on his decision.
SPEAKER 07 :
You're absolutely right. I mean, he's been very clear about that. He wants peace. He doesn't want war. He doesn't want to be known as a war president. You mentioned Israel. The Jerusalem Post suggested Israelis are not confident that the deal will necessarily benefit them. I mean, you have to consider, I mean, they've gotten the short end of the stick multiple times. What do you think is causing their concern?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think they need to say that because they need to look like they're maybe not on the fence, but they're not getting in the middle of it. And I think also the fact that leaves them a little room to fall back on. I think it's purely a PR move. Because if they were to come out and endorse anything Trump did, I think that would show – That would show Iran's weakness to to Israel and making in their leaders. No, they can't show that. So I think that's all part of a political move. That's my theory.
SPEAKER 07 :
Congressman, I want to, I mean, there's so much happening on the global stage. Let's move to Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a one-day Easter ceasefire, but it reportedly was violated multiple times. That situation there looked like it may be moving toward a ceasefire, but now, I mean, anyone, what do we guess is going to play out there? Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
I just don't think you could ever trust Putin. He's a thug. But again, it's not our war. If we were truly concerned about people's lives, we'd be going to war with China because they're one of the biggest violators right now on the world stage. They did the Uyghurs and others. So I think it's clearly right now it's in their court. If they truly want peace, then They'll move towards that agenda, but if not, they're going to keep going like they're going, and you're going to see America, I feel like, pull further and further back from that conflict. We're already $250 billion in the middle of it. The president of Ukraine has already stated, Zelensky said that he doesn't know where I think it was, $100 billion of those dollars went. So there's a lot of questions that need to remain to be asked, but I just don't feel like that's our war, Tony, and I don't feel like we need to invest any more of our great-grandchildren's FINANCES IN THAT WAR.
SPEAKER 07 :
THE OUTCOME OF THAT COULD AFFECT US, THOUGH, COULD IT NOT?
SPEAKER 06 :
IT COULD. IT COULD. BUT THE OUTCOME EVERYWHERE ELSE COULD, TOO. BUT I THINK THE THING WE'VE GOT TO REALIZE, AND THEY REALIZE, WE HAVE A STRONG LEADER IN DONALD TRUMP. AND I DON'T THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE ANY MOVES TOWARDS US. BUT YOU GOT TO REALIZE, TOO, RUSSIA'S GDP IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FRANCE AND CANADA. THEY'RE NOT the axis of evil or whatever from years gone past. They are greatly diminished in power, even if they were to slice off a part of Ukraine, which I suspect was in the works. I feel like that needs to be And Ukraine won't play ball with us either, though. We could give them all that money, and yet they won't give us access to their rare earth minerals. And that's something that I think we could both benefit from, and that would show some strength. And I believe Russia would not want to interject any military.
SPEAKER 07 :
Tim, we're going to have to leave it there, Tim. All right, folks, stick with us.
SPEAKER 14 :
to transform your trials into triumphs? Dive into the book of Daniel with FRC's new study guide, Daniel, Visions and Valor. Perfect for those seeking courage and wisdom from one of the Bible's most faithful figures. This 13-day journey is ideal for small groups or individual study as part of our ongoing Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. It's a timeless resource ready to deepen your engagement with Scripture. Explore how Daniel's life and God-given visions offer a blueprint for navigating challenges. Each day includes Scriptures, reflection questions, and space for notes to enhance your understanding and application. available in digital and physical formats, order your copy of Daniel, Visions and Valor today and start your journey of transformation. To order, text the word DANIEL to 67742. That's DANIEL to 67742.
SPEAKER 10 :
What is God's role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today's most pressing debates, from the Ten Commandments in classrooms to the immigration crisis of America. We'll uncover the foundations of our nation's history and why it's relevant for today. Defend God's plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 12 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Unfortunately, the clock got us there and we had to let Congressman Tim Burchett go as he goes talk to the Cub Scouts. Let me make you aware of this. Beginning April the 29th, we're going to be in the book of Daniel. For those of you who are on our journey through the Bible on Stand on the Word, in anticipation of that, I want to encourage you to order a copy of our new study guide, Daniel, Visions and Valor. It's a great resource for anyone navigating through tough times, through life. Challenges, worries, anything. So if you'd like to get a copy of that, text Daniel to 67742 to order your copy of the new study guide. Our word for today comes from Ezekiel 39, where the Lord promises to strike down the nations that will come against Israel in the future. Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and your hordes and the people who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey of every sort and to the beast of the field to be devoured. You shall fall on the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Now, this coalition, likely an alliance of Islamic nations, will be decisively destroyed. Devastation will be cataclysmic. Will it involve nuclear weapons, natural disasters, or some combination of both? We don't know the means, but we know the certainty. God declares it in verse 8. Behold, it is coming, and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken, end quote. When God speaks, his word is not a possibility. It is a guarantee. For more on our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, we've been talking about the U.S. Supreme Court, and tomorrow they will be hearing a potentially landmark case involving parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, and their fight for parental rights and religious freedom, the ability to protect their children from materials they deem to be objectionable and contrary to their biblical faith. What's at stake in this case? So here now to share more is Meg Kilgannon, Senior Fellow for Education Studies at the Family Research Council. Meg, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for having me, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So explain this case. This is something you've been tracking from the very beginning as parents began to complain and raise concerns about what their children were being forced to view and to be taught.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. So this case is a situation of the school system and the parents talking past each other and not agreeing on the terms of the discussion. It's called Mahmood v. Taylor. And the parents in Montgomery County found out that their young children in elementary school and preschool were being read sexually explicit or books with sexual content in class time for, let's say, math or science or English, not as a separate sex ed education lesson from which they have the right to opt out. But this material was being incorporated into the curriculum of any particular lesson because it was considered a diversity, equity, and inclusion lesson. And DEI was being woven throughout the curriculum at the school. And so this is an issue of the school not believing this is sex education and the parents saying, but you're talking about sex to my children. It is sex education. And I don't want you to talk to my children about that. That's my job and I will do it. So we're very happy that the Supreme Court has taken this case. And I think it's because they want to make a, I hope and pray it's because they want to make a declaration about parental rights in regard to this matter.
SPEAKER 07 :
What we've seen the left do on this front is that, you know, it used to be you'd have one section of instruction that would be dealing with these matters. And so you could just say, all right, I don't want my kid in that. And you could try to pull your kid out. Now, this has long been a debate that I've been involved in. I think you've been involved in as well. Parents should have to opt their kids in, not opt them out, because it puts the onus on the school. But in this case, it is intertwined with everything. I mean, even in math and reading, almost every subject matter, they have found a way to interject this liberal and this ideology that runs counter to the values of many of the parents.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And when your children are going to be presented with material of a reproductive nature in school, even if you do want your child to stay in that lesson, you at least know that on this day, my child is going to talk about this topic at school. And as a parent, you can go back and you can overlay your values over that if you know that it's happening.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
But these parents have to have no idea that it's happening unless their child happens to come home and ask them a question, which means that someone is presenting a value system to your child and they're taking it. I always want my children to obey the teacher when they're at school, right? I want them to listen. I want them to learn, right? So we're talking about elementary school children who are being told things that are contradictory to these parents' faith, to their moral values, in some cases to common sense. And then they have no way of addressing this at home with their children after it's done. So this is a very significant assault on parental authority.
SPEAKER 07 :
It is driving a wedge between parent and child.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Of course, that has been a fixation of the left for a long time. So let's talk about the implications of this case potentially beyond Montgomery County.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, well, this case has revolved around the fact that Montgomery County does have a sex education program and that that program can be opted out of. And so this court case is simply asking that these parents have the right to opt out of these materials. From my point of view, I wish that they were being asked to not teach this at all, right? And that certainly is what the Trump administration is doing when it is doing a lot of investigations and things. They have their DEI reporting portal at the Department of Education now. It's really, we don't want this taught in schools. It's not diverse, it's not equitable, and it's not inclusive. It's divisive, and we don't want it taught.
SPEAKER 07 :
But as we've talked about how this is so I mean, it's like I mean, it's like weed. I mean, it's just everywhere. It's got roots everywhere. I mean, how can they opt out if this is it? I mean, their word problems in math include controversial concepts. So, I mean, this would cause them to have to rework their curriculum and shrink this. presentation of human sexuality and all these other ideas that they're pushing into one session or one section of training, would it not?
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Well, that's what I hope. I think that's the goal, is to at least have the school system, who is now before the Supreme Court of the United States as regards to this matter, understand that this is not something that a whole lot of parents in Montgomery County want. And it's a wealthier county in Maryland. It's a suburb of Washington, D.C. It has some very successful schools in the school system. But I'm not sure that their test scores and their achievements in basic reading and math for certain populations indicate that they have time to take off to do other topics, right? Across the country, we're seeing the need to get back to basics and just stick to the reading, the writing, and the arithmetic. Let the parents handle the rest.
SPEAKER 07 :
Meg Kilgannon, final question for you on this. This is an example of the difference parents can make when they show up. I mean, this goes back a number of years, but they were showing up to school board meetings, became controversial. But eventually, because there were parents who were willing to stand up and take the opposition and the heat, they're getting their day in court.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. Thanks be to God, they are.
SPEAKER 07 :
So this is another example of, folks, why you need to stand up for what is right. It might not be in vogue today, but maybe tomorrow people will come to their senses. Meg Kilgannon, thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for having me, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 :
And folks, I encourage you to be praying about that court case tomorrow as the justices hear those oral arguments. And let me do something here that probably a lot of people would prefer that I not do, not you that are listening or watching. But, well, there's even a number of conservatives who want to make a big deal about women's sports. And, you know, hey, I'm there. I think men should not be in women's sports. But we're talking about this curriculum in schools. But they don't want to go back to the source of it. OK, let's walk back to the source of this. The source of it is when we, and it goes further than this, but the tipping point, let me put it that way. The tipping point was the US Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling in 2015, which forced same-sex marriage on all 50 states. They took something that is morally objectionable and made it a right. Now, they can't, you know, they made it legal, but they can't make it moral. And from that, we have all of these other issues that are coming forth in our public policy. And we're dealing with symptoms. Well, I made this argument back when the court was entertaining this. It's like abortion. You can legislate on it. You can rule on it. But you can never make it right because it is a violation of moral truth. Well, now we're seeing this. We've got about a half a dozen states that are now entertaining resolutions calling on the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 decision redefining marriage. Folks, this issue will not go away. As long as there is truth, there will be a conflict. And one of the one of the state lawmakers that is leading this effort in the state of Oklahoma, State Senator Dusty Devers, he introduced the Covenant Marriage Act in the state Senate to put a fine point on what marriage really is. Senator Devers, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 05 :
It's an honor to be with you, Tony, here on Washington Watch. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you're welcome. Thanks for joining us. Let me ask you this question. What do you say to those on the left who claim that Obergefell, that ruling, settled this issue of the redefinition of marriage?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you know, people like to say that Obergefell is a settled law, but the truth is it's not. Obergefell isn't settled law. It's besetting immorality that's imposed by judicial decree. And court opinions can be referred to as settled law only if they are rooted firmly in the Constitution and the heritage and the tradition of the American people. And the fact is Obergefell is fundamentally antithetical to all of And there is just no right to gay marriage in the Constitution. And some states are now passing resolutions, like you mentioned, in support of Clarence Thomas' ambition to overturn Obergefell. And, Tony, ultimately marriage is not the state's institution. It's God's institution. And really no Supreme Court ruling that redefines a God-ordained institution is ever truly settled, not morally or culturally and even constitutionally. The rogue court will stand in judgment before God for their decision. And the fact is here in Oklahoma, our statutes still define marriage as between a man and a woman, and that's not a relic, that's reality. And I believe that it will one day be enforced again. If anything needs to be settled, it's the moral courage to stand for truth in an age of confusion.
SPEAKER 07 :
Is this not parallel to what we saw with the overturn of Roe v. Wade? 50 years we were told it was settled law, but it wasn't because it cannot be the law when it runs, as you said, counter to the moral law of God.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's a fact. And, you know, the Supreme Court has overturned itself over 300 times, proving that they are not ruling from on high, that they don't have the mind of God oftentimes, and they need to move back to the sanity that we see in the scriptures and rule accordingly.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now, I want to ask you about the measure you've introduced, Covenant Marriage Act. I actually authored the nation's first covenant marriage law in Louisiana and came to Oklahoma and a number of years ago spoke to the legislature about it. But it was a pattern of marriage based upon biblical truth. Explain that legislation and the status of it there in Oklahoma.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the legislation was killed this session in Judiciary Committee, and it was voted down six to two, and four of those six that voted against it were Republicans. And it would simply give the option to religious citizens of Oklahoma who wanted a more meaningful form of marriage, it gave them an option to opt into a covenant marriage that didn't have no-fault divorce clause, and it would have given them a tax credit for doing so because we want to reward the very good that we see as foundational to society.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, that's very similar to the law that authored in Louisiana and that we presented in Oklahoma probably about 25 years ago. But it was an idea of modeling what is right so that others will see the value that comes from marriage as designed by God. And I found that when we started running into trouble, we got it through Arkansas and through Arizona, but it was the divorce attorneys who didn't like it because it was going to bite into their business.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's very true. I don't know who all came against it, but I know that Republicans sure did.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, Dusty, I want to thank you for joining us. I want to thank you for taking a stand for what is true and what is right. And even though it may not be in vogue today, we know that truth is everlasting. And so we have a right to stand and speak. I have an obligation, I should say, to stand and speak that truth. So thanks for taking that stand and thanks for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
It's my joy and honor. Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
And, folks, I want to encourage you to continue to stand for truth. This is a moment. We see a lot of good policies coming out of Washington, D.C., out of the president, the Trump administration. But, again, we've talked about this. These are executive orders. They can be overturned by the next administration. We've got to change the policies. But to do that, we've got to change hearts and minds. And we've got to be willing to stand and speak like those parents in Maryland. who are willing to stand, and we're gonna see what comes from that court case. We may talk about it some more depending on how those oral arguments go. All right, out of time for today. Thanks so much for joining us. Until next time, I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul. You've done everything you can do when you've prayed, prepared, and taken your stand. By all means, keep sampling.
SPEAKER 13 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
Beyond the realms of faith and religion, we explore the intersection of politics and spirituality in today's episode. The Sekulow hosts engage with influential experts like Rick Grinnell and Mike Pompeo to unpack recent political developments and their larger societal implications. As America witnesses a resurgence in Christian media and music, signaled by recent broadcasts like American Idol's Easter special, we question if we're experiencing a faith revival. In a surprising turn, we also delve into breaking news from Iran and the Trump administration's reaction to the deep-state efforts against Pete Hegseth amid ongoing DC political drama. This episode comes with a call to action for listeners, emphasizing the global reach and responsibility of Christians everywhere.
SPEAKER 07 :
After meeting with the Pope yesterday, J.D. Vance responds to his passing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Seculo. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome to Sekulow. Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. Will Haines is joining me in studio. We've got a packed show later on. Rick Grinnell and Mike Pompeo will be joining us to discuss some of the latest news coming out of Washington, D.C., as well as some of those negotiations still happening in Iran. But, of course, we're going to open the show with what everyone's talking about, is that it's the passing of the Pope. The Pope has died today on Easter Monday, aged 88 years old. We have seen the Pope just yesterday giving an Easter address and meeting with Vice President Vance. So, of course, we knew he had a lot of health problems, had a lot of health struggles over the last few months. It did seem like things were maybe... Getting better for Pope Francis. But unfortunately, he passes. I'd say, you know, being the pope, be able to do the Easter address just a few hours before you pass is pretty phenomenal. And, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot of controversy with this pope over the last few years. And I think we're going to talk about that coming up in the next segment of what the future of the Catholic Church looks like. looks like and how it plays on the world stage versus how it plays in America as we have seen a rise in American conservatives joining the Catholic Church. And we do have a statement from Vice President Vance, who, again, just met with him yesterday, met with the Pope yesterday at the Vatican, was there. J.D. Vance, a pretty recent convert to Catholicism, I believe.
SPEAKER 03 :
So it's interesting timing for sure. That's right. So Vice President Vance put out on X, I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I'll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul. And then a link to that homily by Pope Francis from back in 2020.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. So that is from J.D. Vance, obviously coming out again. The breaking news this morning, the passing of the pope. It's something that happens. It's happened a few times in our lifetime. I have more recently as they've gone a little bit older and picking who the popes are going to be. So maybe this time we will see an adjustment. Who knows? There's a whole process. And a lot of you saw the Conclave movie. Everyone's kind of followed the journey of what it looks like to be the next pope. And right now they're starting the nine days of mourning. I'm not all that familiar with all the traditions. So I'm not going to claim to sit here and be an expert in this. But I love your thoughts. I love your thoughts on where the Catholic Church is going right now. You know, you have, as you said, a resurgence in American conservatism going towards Catholicism. And I thought it was kind of strange, I'll be honest. But, you know, it is what's happening right now. And just a turn to faith that's happening in general. You may have seen yesterday on ABC. disney owned they did a three-hour edition of american idol all in tribute to easter sunday using christian and gospel songs featuring all their hosts and a lot of the i mean there's been more christian songs probably on this season of american idol than i've ever seen before i mean big uh big moment so i'd love to get your thoughts on that are we seeing that sort of revival in the land to quote carmen happening once again 1-800 1-800-684-3110 to have your voice heard on the air today. Get your comments in. 1-800-684-3110. We did see this Pope certainly push a more liberal, I guess you'd say, agenda over the last handful of years. Maybe not as much as people portrayed, but there were moments certainly where he was not as traditional Catholic as a lot of my friends who are Catholics would have hoped.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's right. And we'll get into this in the next segment some as well. But there was there was many things that this pope did that kind of broke with even some would say with Catholic doctrine in some of the statements and proclamations that he made and the way that he jousted with the leadership of the United States, calling out specifically what he saw was unfair treatment of migrants. weighing into world political issues more than what we had seen even in our lifetime. But we'll get into some of that. And also, how will the Catholic Church kind of take this going forward? Is the way Americans are converting, will that have any bearing on who they choose as their next pope?
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, we'll talk about it when we get back. Support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org. Give me a call. Phone lines are open for you. Welcome back to Secula. We are going to be taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. For those just joining us right now to restate what's going on, obviously the breaking news this morning was that Pope Francis has passed away and a lot of the Catholic churches in mourning, but also it comes on the heels, legitimately, a few hours ago. where Vice President Vance was meeting with this Pope to discuss some of the, obviously to celebrate the Easter holiday, Resurrection Day, but also to talk about some of the ways the Catholic Church has weighed in on the politics of the time. Maybe more so than ever, this Pope will be remembered as someone who was maybe more controversial for conservatives, It was a little more left-leaning. And will we see now the Catholic Church try to adjust who they pick? Because we did have that. We had this sort of rise happening right now in the state of the church, if you will. One of our producers just put this on my desk. This is a new research. This is a belief in Jesus' rise fueled by younger adults. And I'm seeing that. I'm pretty heavily involved now in the Christian media side, the Christian music industry. And with that, I'm seeing such a turn back to faith. This feels like a really important time. In America, at least, and in the UK. We're seeing both of that too. In Europe, it's happening, but in the UK, I can tell you, it is stronger than I've seen it in my lifetime of this sort of true evangelicalism that's coming out of the streets of London. in a way that has not happened in a very long time because they have been a place where the church though exists has been on the decline and the state-run church has been of issues and then of course you have in the catholic side a rise in sort of traditional catholic um leaning more towards conservative republicans if you will that is something that is changing too because we always kind of associated catholicism over the last maybe decade or maybe two decades as more of a liberal leaning churches or churches that were kind of a bit, you know, full up with tradition, but not necessarily with spirit, if you will, in terms of the way they interacted with politics.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, in this study, you mentioned the Barna study, which is the state of the church 2025. This is kind of a overview of all of Christendom, if you will. But this is showing that their study compared to an earlier study shows that 66% of all US adults say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important in their life today. And that's a 12% increase since their study in 2021. So that's a significant shift. But then when you also look specifically at the Catholic Church, as you were mentioning, this just came out a few days ago, the National Catholic Register showed that year-over-year reporting, so just the 2023 to 2024 year versus 2024 to 2025, There are increases anywhere from 30% to 70%, depending on the diocese that they're talking about, the local areas and how it's broken up, and 30% to 70% in new converts. And I think this has decreased. to go back a little bit as we talk about what comes next for the leadership of the Catholic Church at the Vatican with the new Pope and what we've seen here in the United States. We have seen like these numbers, 30 to 70% new converts, younger Americans, leaning right center right to more full-on conservative uh that are joining the church in mass and a lot of that they're pointing to push back on some of the the lax non-structured things that we've seen a lot of non-denominational churches um or even some mainline denominations that have kind of gotten away from a lot of the tradition and structure but we're seeing this happen at a time where the church globally the catholic church globally was seemingly based off the leadership going further left. And then you see Americans here at home that are more conservative, family value based individuals that are not only joining. but being very vocal and evangelistic about their conversion to Catholicism and why that they believe this is a good choice and reaching out and imploring others to come to mass with them in a way that I've never seen in my lifetime of people trying to not just become Catholic or be socially Catholic, but trying to get people to join them in this. and you also think about what happened under the biden administration you know president biden a catholic president but we saw the use of the fbi that was targeting this type of catholic a new young energetic catholic that was liked the tradition that they called them the radical traditional catholics and they were wanting to send spies in and wanting to monitor them and considered them a domestic terror threat leading up to an election. And that brings to mind here that when you see some sort of revival, and regardless of your thoughts on various denominations or the Catholic Church, when you see people moving towards something passionately, And the government decides, and we talk a lot about the First Amendment and the freedom of religion here at the ACLJ. But when you see the government decide, you know what? That's too conservative for me. I don't like that in the church. We're going to try and spy on them and consider them a terror threat and monitor them. That one thing, if it tells you anything, that if the government feels that way, maybe something good is happening in the faith movement there. But also it makes you wonder, if they thought they were that dangerous, does the Vatican... Respond to the movement in the United States and in the UK and say, you know what? We went with someone who was very more left. Do we kind of try and moderate that and go back center to really moderate?
SPEAKER 07 :
show what the church is doing right now it's looking towards the future if you look at i would say that the sort of gen xers and the millennials and look my generation included a lot of them grew up in the church and got pushed away didn't care for it anymore didn't raise their children on it so you have that generation of sort of the younger millennials who have rejected it now you have a massive response from Gen Alpha and from Gen Z that are looking for something, something to hold on to, something real, something that's going on inside of their lives instead of just the vapid world of social media and everything they've been preached to, honestly, from the media for the last 15 years, pretty much their entire lives. And I'm seeing that. I'm seeing it. So does the church say, hey, We are going to actually now try to appeal to that age group, to an age group that is up and coming. I'm not talking about us, Will. I'm talking about the generation below us. I'm talking about people that are in high school right now or maybe their early years of college. Because I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it happen. I'm seeing it happen for Christian music. I'm seeing it happen for Catholicism. There is a moment of time happening right now. And you got to get your head out of the sand if you think all of this is dead. I was saying that last night. If you're watching that three-hour American Idol special and you tell me that there's no Christian music happening anymore... Sorry, I've been to three arena shows with 20,000 people packed into arena worshiping. It's happening. It's in front of your eyes. It's under your nose. Take a look around what's going on. And most of the people there, teenagers. Okay, once again, much like when we grew up, teenagers. So how do you avoid the pitfalls of what happened before? I think there's ways you can do that. And I think some of it is going to be, like you said, appealing to this audience that they want to see. Now, I don't know how that exists in Rome. I don't know how it exists at the Vatican. Because that's a totally different thing than evangelical Christianity in the way that traditional... You know, pops and booms, Jesus movements that have happened over the years occur because this is a lot of politicking, as we know, in terms of who gets to be the pope, how the pope gets to run. And certainly, like I said, I'm not a specialist in this. I am not a Catholic. I got my friends who are Catholics. A lot of them were not thrilled with this pope in general. A lot of them couldn't publicly say it. which was which is an odd thing also you have that weird sort of balance between uh god and the pope and and i don't want to get into theological discussions about that but you know that it's very different uh but when we see these sort of revival moments happening look i think there's a lot of great passionate uh christians in the catholic church uh who are ready for something like you said they love the tradition they love the structure but want to get back to it let's go take a call real quick eric is calling and hopefully this gets you to call into 1-800-684-3110 Eric, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
So I think it's a good opportunity for us to get more, as Christians, to get more media going. I mean, we need more YouTubers. We need more of an influence out there, and there's never been a better time. I'm trying to do kind of a residency, a Christian film residency, where, you know, media missionaries. I went to The Chosen last night on Easter. Wow, man, there was a packed theater watching something different. Like, it used to be, you know, always action movies and... And then you'd sprinkle in this woke agenda. And last night, it was like our team did something.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, Eric. And they did it. It was fun. Yeah, I mean, I went to the premiere for The King of Kings, which is the new Jesus animated film that is out right now through Angel Studios. Beautiful movie. Incredibly well done. And again, packed house. I think it finished number two behind Minecraft movie. So, I mean, you're seeing that big impact happen right now. And that's what we've done here at the ACLJ, too. You know, we've done, I always say, you got to go to the law, you got to go to the hearts and minds. And we've done both. We kind of live in two worlds, and those worlds both have to coexist. You have to make sure you're there legally, you're there in the courtroom for the teams that need it the most, for the people that need it in the moment, especially the churches and people who need their true religious freedom protected. Then you got to make sure you're winning hearts and minds. That's how we do that with this show, with some of the movies we put out, the documentaries, the specials. It's all snowballing. It's all happening. And look, do I think the producers there in American Idol are like, we're going to win everyone over for Jesus? Probably not. But what they are seeing is a massive opportunity and huge audience appeal. Why? Because it's happening right now. And it's happening in unique ways. It's Brandon Lake, but it's Jelly Roll. It's that's what's happening right now. 1-800-684-3110 because Christians have learned their lesson and now are more accepting and less sticklers than they used to be in terms of who we're willing to talk to and more forgiving than they used to be, which I think is part of the Bible. Pretty good. Pretty good part of it. A little bit of forgiveness. We'll be right back with more on Seculo. Welcome back to Secular. We do have some phone lines open for you at 1-800-684-3110. I am reading through a lot of your comments right now. A lot of people talking about how they celebrated Resurrection Day yesterday. But look, there's a comment right now that said, hey, it's very rainy here in East Africa today. I just want you to understand that. When we are talking about the worldwide reach of this show and this organization, This is where the world has changed. Sure. It's great to be on terrestrial radio and still be able to exist. Tune into your AM station, your FM station. We're broadcasting. They're still great in your local markets. It's great to be available on things like the Salem news channel. It's great to be available on TBN once a week, but by able to be able to use free new media, we are able to reach all over the world and we are reaching all over the world. It's amazing. So remember, when you're talking about your American values, your American Christian values, if you will, it can reach all over the world because of broadcasts like this. This is why we have to be in the courtroom, but we also have to be here. We have to be broadcasting every day because it's so important on a worldwide scale. there's so much happening including obviously we've talked about what's going on in congo and the christians that are under attack there and around the globe we are fighting we're fighting there's a lot of imprisoned christians still overseas uh they're being persecuted around the globe and we have to have your support to to help them because we don't take obviously any sort of uh you know money from these clients these are people who are being tortured for their faith And we're engaging right now with Congress to help defend Christians who are facing that unthinkable reality. We are working really diligently to mobilize all of our offices around the world. And I'm so happy that I get to see these comments come in, because it gives me a good reminder of how far of a reach that our broadcast gets to. When you see 470,000 people on YouTube, That number sometimes can get a little blurry on what it means, but then you're able to realize, oh, we can reach around the globe and spread this message. It's really amazing. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. Will, we wanted to adjust the topic a little bit. Obviously, we're talking about the passing of Pope Francis, but we did want to move on because a little bit in the world of American politics, there has been some shakeups.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's right, and over the weekend, which many people during the Easter weekend aren't necessarily paying attention to the news as much, maybe spending time with family, going to Good Friday services and Easter services. Two nights of WrestleMania. Trying to tune that out, or two nights of WrestleMania for you, Logan.
SPEAKER 07 :
Some of us did all of those things.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's a lot. And that means you probably didn't have time to look at what some of the D.C. class was writing. I was way too focused on John Cena. So there was quite a few articles that were all coming out at the same time and that there was articles in Politico saying that there was so much chaos. at the Department of Defense that there's no way that Pete Hegseth survives this. There was articles where some of the people that were fired for leaking were trying to come out and saying, you've defamed us. We didn't leak anything. This is about something else because we stood up to you. And there's all these articles all hitting at the same time. It felt so coordinated over a holiday weekend that they're flooding the media with attack pieces against Pete Hegseth. And then you have today the White House coming out and saying that they back Pete Hegseth and says the entire Pentagon is resisting him. And this whole story to me just feels very much like the first Trump term. When you put someone in at an entrenched bureaucracy, an entrenched federal agency, and they want to change things. They want to make it better. This is, remember, the Pentagon that hasn't passed an audit yet. in seven years, and they can't account for where all this money goes. And it's one of the biggest budget items in the government. And is it any wonder that all of a sudden, when they are trying to make real reforms, that they're going after the Secretary of Defense, the person chosen by President Trump to lead these reforms? But one other thing, too, that can't be lost on this, because we're going to talk more about this with Rick Grinnell, what he sees, how it compares to some of the attacks on cabinet members under the first Trump term. But we have a unique opportunity right now to see real reforms at the Department of Defense. And I just want to bring up what we discovered in our FOIA when they were training people at Fort Bragg that pro-life groups were terrorists. There was a slide that specifically said that. terrorist groups and was listing pro-life groups like operation rescue national right to life specifically saying if you're watching on the screen this is the actual slide we didn't just uh right decide to make this this this is the slide they were showing to your american military it And we got this from our FOIA, the actual deck that was being presented. A Freedom of Information Act request. That's right. I tried to spell everything out. And so it even talks about people that are sidewalk counselors or crisis centers, something we're defending right now in Massachusetts through our Choice Begins Here campaign, as well as the lawsuit to try to shut down the government funding of these ads that the government's running saying don't trust crisis pregnancy centers or pregnancy resource centers. But all this goes because we found this out and then we started to get information from the FOIA and we see that there was a concerted effort, it feels like, within the Department of Defense to make this go away. And they said, we admit we made a mistake. The mistake was the top of that slide said terrorist groups. It wasn't a mistake to have them in there. It wasn't a mistake to talk about these groups in the context of terrorism awareness training. But just the slide heading shouldn't have said terrorist groups. But then it goes on because as you read this 100-page investigation report, we find out that the people that were interviewed on behalf of this said, no, they were hostile towards these groups. They didn't like them. They were telling you, be aware of these groups. And so that apology and saying that there was a mistake wasn't really an apology at all in that more than almost 10,000 people that we know of had been trained on this and this wasn't just a brand new training this had been going on for years so that type of stuff is still happening at the department of defense and you need someone like pete hegseth there that we are drafting a letter right now to go directly to him not just the low-level bureaucrats not just the people that are entrenched that want to train our soldiers that operation rescue and pro-life groups are terrorists and you got to watch out for them to our military So we got to go to the top. And is it any wonder that you know that would be a friendly voice at the top of the Department of Defense wanting to root out this kind of bad actor bias calling pro-life Americans terrorists? When you have someone at the top that would be receptive to this, of course, you're going to see the sharks circling and try to attack because it's not just this. It's every issue of corruption and malfeasance in the Department of Defense.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hopefully, the Trump administration is a little bit different, not listening to the media, not listening to their people who are pushing back on them to this point where they'll get bullied into making a decision that they don't want to make. We'll see what happens. Politics can be dirty. Washington, D.C. can be very dirty. But maybe... Maybe you'll actually have someone stick up for him. We'll see. But we're going to try to help in that. Hey, I want to throw up that QR code right now. We are only a few days away from the end of our life and Liberty Drive. It only lasts through the month of April. And I'm going to ask you right now to go to ACLJ.org as we head into the second half hour of the show. And some of you lose us. So this may be where you end. If this is where you lose us, I'm going to ask you to go right now to ACLJ.org or scan the QR code that you see on your screen. You have heard about what we are doing right now. We are fighting to free imprisoned and persecuted Christians around the globe. We need your help to support them. Sadly, so many Christians were not able to celebrate Easter yesterday. They were imprisoned or they lost their lives. But with the ACLJ, we're able to help out and we're engaging right now with Congress to defend Christians facing unthinkable persecution. The Congo, we're mobilizing our offices around the globe to defend Christians from Pakistan Supreme Court to the halls of the UN. And we're engaged in battles for Christians coast to coast in America, including those who are having their churches and their street preaching shut down. We need your help right now. Go to ACLJ.org or scan the QR code you see on the screen. Donations are doubled just for the next few days.
SPEAKER 02 :
keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Sekulow. Second half hour is going to be jam-packed. We're going to take as many calls as we can in this segment. If any of you call in at 1-800-684-3110. Because joining us next, Rick Grinnell, followed by Mike Pompeo. So it's going to be a packed second half hour of the broadcast. Of course, we are talking about a few different topics. One of which is, of course, the passing of Pope Francis. Now this comes also on the heels of... You may have seen what happened at Coachella, where there was a massive Coachella music festival. In California, there was a massive display against Israel that happened on the stage at Coachella. You have some of the owners of Coachella who have called this inappropriate. They had nothing to do with it. It's just the person running the graphics for that band specifically put up. These messages that were not just, hey, ceasefire. It was profanities targeted specifically at Israel, Israeli citizens. And it's really horrifying when you look at the pictures from it, especially over Easter weekend, especially over Passover, when all of this is on the top of the mind of historically how things have gone down. So I want to make sure that we didn't do that because look, even this Pope, look, a lot of people had issues with the Pope who just passed. I mean, one of the last things he did was call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Of course, a lot of us, you know, I'm looking at the sign right now from Coachella that said blank Israel, free Palestine. So you can fill in the blank yourself there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and when you think about how one disgusting this is, but on top of that, that the October 7th attack, Attacked a music festival.
SPEAKER 07 :
Very similar.
SPEAKER 03 :
Very similar to Coachella in the fact that there's no solidarity between people that just want to go and enjoy music. We remember the attack on the Bataclan in France by ISIS, and the entire world was outraged about, and rightfully so, about a terrorist attack on people going to a concert venue, hearing music, relaxing, having a good time, and terrorists specifically targeted that. The difference here is that it was Israel and Jews that were killed, and so it's okay for the world to not care. It's okay for the world to blame the victim at a concert that was just attending a music festival. It's shocking that we still see this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I have no issue with a band telling you their political opinion. Most of the music I love, probably these are not conservatives, okay? I know people have gone after Green Day a lot in this because Green Day has become a very pro-Palestinian group, if you will, a very pro-Hamas group, sadly. Look, I used to go to their tours all the time. They were never friendly to George W. Bush. They were never friendly to American Idiot. They were never friendly to Ted Cruz. But you know what? That's our own politics. I never really had as much of a problem with that. We're complaining about how you feel politically about what's happening in your country. You are not essentially calling for the eradication of a people group. or a uh you know supporting terrorism that's a little different than saying i don't like ted cruz and saying uh you know blank israel you know free palestine this is a different but they don't understand that there is a difference there that that is what's happening phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110 president trump did just make a statement by the way we're talking about the pete hex with situation where there's a lot of pushback on pete right now uh clearly there is a media angle that wants him out of power wants him out of his position president trump just responded at the easter egg roll that happened this morning i know it's happening easter monday here you know standing next to the easter bunny you got to make these kind of statements and of course our friend sean spicer may or may not have been not this year but previous in his previous life uh the uh the easter bunny so let's uh let's hear not that you know what i mean the guy you okay moving on let's go ahead let's hear from president trump
SPEAKER 06 :
Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job. Because he's doing a great job. Ask the Hooties how he's doing. Ask the Hooties how much dysfunction he has. He's doing a great job. Everybody's happy with him. We have the highest recruitment numbers I think we've had in 28 years. No, he's doing a great job. It's just fake news. They just bring up stories. I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that's what he's doing. So you don't always have friends when you do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
There you go, from President Trump. And we're going to get Rick Grinnell's take on this in the next segment. He'll be joining us live, so don't go away.
SPEAKER 07 :
You won't want to miss that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Correct. Maybe, though. You never know. I don't know. Who knows? He can talk about a lot of things.
SPEAKER 07 :
He can talk about everything. Right. I mean, he is heading up the Kennedy Center. I assume they had a bunny. Give us a call if you want to be on the air. We'll be right back. Go to ACLJ.org if you want to support the work. Rick's coming up, and then Mike later on. Welcome back to Seculo. It's Monday. We're going to be joined right now by our friend Rick Grinnell, who is currently at the Kennedy Center, it looks like, also, chatting with us. Rick, it has been a pretty wild weekend. Obviously, a lot of people woke up to the news of the passing of the Pope, but there's been the Easter egg roll this morning. Everyone had their Easter holiday, and... We're celebrating going to church, Resurrection Day that was happening. But in that, there was a lot of noise from, of course, the left who are trying desperately, Will, it seems like, to push out one of President Trump's cabinet members. Now, this happens, and look, in Washington, D.C., it can happen, and it can actually get done. It can happen where there's enough pressure. I'm hoping and thinking that President Trump and this administration, a little bit different, they don't maybe listen to the mainstream press as much as some of the others. But, Will, I'll let you take it from here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Rick, to me, this in some ways feels like something that would have happened at the beginning of the first Trump administration, where what we've seen is more coordination and better messaging in this second round to go into these bureaucracies and get things done. When you have a monolith like the Department of Defense with so many entrenched bureaucrats, and this is, once again, an agency, a department that can't pass an audit, you are going to have people there that don't like change and don't like restructuring. And so to me, this entire media swarm that came out over a holiday weekend where you were seeing headlines on every D.C. type media outlet about how bad Pete Hegseth is, it just felt so coordinated and obvious that the goal here was people inside the bureaucracy, the deep state, if you will, trying to push him out because he actually wants accountability there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, look, I think your point on the it feels exactly like the first term is exactly what I was thinking. This used to be a thing, right? The media would go after somebody and then there would be panic. And usually it's they're going after people that are effective. In Pete's case, they've just they've never really let up. They just keep going after him. I know the feeling and it doesn't matter. Honestly, President Trump doesn't focus on that. He's not reading The New York Times or The Washington Post. All of these newspapers, by the way, you know, they have paywalls. Raise your hand if you're paying for them. I'm not paying for them. You can't even click past it. And so I really don't think that it matters much. Pete just needs to stay focused on doing his job. He's doing a great job. The fact that he's losing some staffers is irrelevant. Honestly, he there are so many people that want to work there that want to work for Pete. He'll have a pick there. of people. And, you know, who knows why they're being let go, but one was already kind of talking to the media and talking about, you know, inside information of chaos. And I think that's so typical of what people say. So in Washington, D.C., where I am now, I'm not always here. I don't always love being here. But I am here, and it's so typical of what this city does, which is try to talk about palace intrigue and gossip. But most of us know that we just ignore it. And I will say that most of our listeners are barely even hearing about it. It's good to confront it, but it is really just irrelevant gossip in Washington.
SPEAKER 07 :
Rick, I couldn't agree more. I found out about all this this morning because most of us are living our normal lives, having our Easter weekend. What are you saying about me?
SPEAKER 03 :
I didn't have a normal life over the weekend, Logan, that I read things?
SPEAKER 07 :
I'm sorry. Well, you want to raise your hand if you're one of the paywall people. That's this guy over here. Okay, not me. That's why, honestly, the ACLJ page, I've always said never gonna be behind a paywall as long as I have any sort of say in it because you actually want your message to get out there and eliminate these friction points. If you wanna be real influencers, by the way, this is just all of a sudden I have like a TED Talk right here. Eliminate these friction points that are happening on your websites and all over. This is for Christians, conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, liberals, atheists, whatever. If you want your voice heard, we don't live in a world where these paywalls are going to work and quit asking me for 59 cents a day to subscribe to your newspaper. Okay. That doesn't give me a lot of feeling like I am putting some value in this content. I don't know if this content is only worth 59 cents, then I am. Okay. I'm done now. I'm done now. But Rick, it's true. And has Washington, D.C. You bring up, you don't love being there all the time. And look, same reason why I planted ourselves here in Nashville. Does it feel like a different time, though? Does it feel like things are changing right now? I mean, you're at the Kennedy Center. You are doing so much. Does it feel like there is any sort of breath of fresh air there? Or do you want to get out as quick as you can?
SPEAKER 01 :
I basically go from the Kennedy Center to the White House to my condo. And so all three of those are the access of positivity. So let me just say that as long as I stay within that little realm, I'm doing pretty well. Yes, I have a lot of friends here, a lot of friends in the administration. So this week, I'm going to go to dinner with Kash Patel, for instance. is one of those fun things that you get to do, because we're both living in the same city. But I guarantee within the first five minutes of both of us getting together, he's gonna say, isn't the city terrible? We gotta get out. He wants to get back to Vegas at some point, you know, when his service is over. But this is not a city that I think most Americans would recognize if you came here and you worked as a part of it. It's very swampy. Although Donald Trump is really changing the place. A lot of people, the budgets are being cut. A lot of people who are extra add-ons are getting cut. And that just saves American tax dollars. And one of the things that I try to stay focused on is the rest of America that's working so hard having to pay for all of this. when you're in Washington and you hear people being let go and people freaking out. I just had this issue on Facebook where a friend of mine was complaining about somebody from the Intel world that was getting cut. And I just had to share the budget of what today's Intel community budget is compared to just like 10 years ago, and it's almost doubled. So the growth in Washington, D.C. is out of control. I think people like Pete Hegseth are focused on trying to fix it. And of course, the typical reporters in Washington are going to scream and holler about those of us that are trying to fix the problems.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and I think to that point exactly, Rick, is that it very similarly what you're doing at the Kennedy Center and what the Secretary of Defense is trying to do at the Department of Defense. And you can go on and on throughout these agencies or departments. But what what Secretary Hegseth has said the entire time is that he is standing up for the warfighter. And what it feels like, all these bureaucracies across the board, the only thing that they were focused on was not their core mission of what they were doing, but of spending money. How can we deplete our budget so that we can ask for more the next year from Congress, get that, and then spend that again? And so you get bloat, you get these budgets and personnel and everything doubling, tripling in some cases so rapidly. And it doesn't add value to the American people, to the safety of America. Depending on what you're looking at, the mission has creeped from the Kennedy Center, a place for the arts and celebrating that in America, to spending money. You talked about having no cash reserves there. You're in financial dire straits at the Kennedy Center. I would say the same thing about the Pentagon if you can't pass an audit. And so really these stories are linked because immediately people start going to the press and leaking why not because they're concerned about the war fighters or the arts in dc but because they're concerned about the budget and being able to spend more and and really give no benefit or return to the american people
SPEAKER 01 :
Look, I think one thing that our listeners know more than anything is in their community, the status quo has a lot of cheerleaders. And if you try to change the status quo, the first people who scream and holler are the ones that are benefiting from the status quo. We see that with tariffs. We see that with budget cuts. We see it all over Washington, D.C., But I think the public policy officials have to really ask themselves, is the status quo working for the majority of people? And I think the answer when it comes to the tariffs is no, it hasn't been working. Young people are having a real hard time finding the means to buy a house. And if that is the case in America, the American dream is slipping away for a whole generation of people. And so we can't do that. We've gotta be able to bring back manufacturing, bring back the idea that we are making things. When it comes to the status quo for Pete Hegseth, we can't be spending as much money as we are on other people's defense. and then watching a $36 trillion national debt for American Americans. I think the same thing at the Kennedy Center. When it comes to the status quo, you know, conservatives have never felt welcomed here. And we need to be able to have institutions like the Kennedy Center, which is the world's greatest arts institute, have programming where everyone is welcomed and no one is booed because everyone is welcome.
SPEAKER 03 :
Rick, thank you so much for joining us today. Happy Easter. And we'll talk to you again later on in the week. But we appreciate all you do for us here at the ACLJ and for our country at the same time. You're very busy. And it's not lost on us that you still take the time to talk to our audience, the members of the ACLJ, and those that really want to learn from the great work you do and the great insight that you have. So thank you, Rick. When we come back, we will be joined by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He will be giving us some updates on the Iran negotiations that are going on. But we have a lot that you can learn also at ACLJ.org. Go to ACLJ.org, read the articles, learn about the great work we do, and please donate during our Life and Liberty Drive at ACLJ.org. Every donation is doubled during this drive.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Secula. We are joined by Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, Mike Pompeo, via phone today. Secretary Pompeo, second round of talks just happened between the United States and Iran. This happened over the weekend in Rome. The talks now move to what is being called expert level in the coming days. To you, is the deal looking more likely or less likely? And of course, look, I think we've all had that discussion here, whether we think this is a good thing or not. But is that progress?
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for having me on today. Look, I think having this conversation is useful. I hope we'll get after it quickly. It sounds like that's President Trump's plan. We should get to the end of this before too long. Everyone knows precisely how this is going to play out in terms of where the relative risks are. The fact that the technical teams are now taking the field suggests to me that it is a pretty serious conversation. But second, once the technical begins, it gets really hard because you ultimately have to rock in the hard place. There's no binary. There's nothing other than either you can enrich uranium or you can't. And no technical exports can kill the lily on that. And I suspect these will become not technical issues, but political issues that are going to be really hard to overcome.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mr. Secretary, you've written quite a bit in this past week, both for ACLJ.org, why we must prevent Iran's nuclear ambitions. So everyone can go read that up at ACLJ.org, but also in the free press, talking about what the United States should get in a potential nuclear agreement. And you kind of narrowed it down to three categories. I just wonder if you could kind of break that down for us briefly and why you think these are the key categories to getting to a deal if there is one to be had.
SPEAKER 04 :
I hope your audience will go to ACLJ.org and read the piece that I wrote.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think we may have temporarily lost Secretary Pompeo, but of course he was saying to go to ACLJ.org. We got you back. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
Great. Great. Look, I hope they'll go to ACLJ.org and read the piece because it talks about the centrality of getting this right for America. The risk to the United States is very, very real. There are three things that have to be achieved in Indiana. First is the complete verifiable dismantlement of the entirety of their nuclear program. They may well be further along than we even know. And so you've got to get in there and see everything, which includes no notice anywhere inspections. And that'll be a technical issue that gets discussed that I'm guessing will be really hard for the Iranians to concede to. Second, we shouldn't forget October 7th was an Iranian-sponsored terror attack. And so the Iranians also have to push back against their proxies and not provide them with resources and funding. So that'd be the second important piece of it. And then thirdly, an Iranian regime that is still hostile to Israel and still hostile to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Oman and all the other nations in the region is a dangerous nation for the United States. Those are our friends, our commercial partners, our security partners, they've got to give up the stated intention of destroying each of these and taking over political control of each of those places. If those three things can be achieved, then goodness knows, sign me up for a deal.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mr. Secretary, we know that over the past four years especially, well, one, before that, we knew that maximum pressure worked. We knew that it deprived them of funds to be able to engage in more proxy attacks against our allies and partners in the region. And we also know that it limited their capacity to be able to invest in furthering this technology. And then we saw four years of just taking the reins off and letting Iran get the cash they needed to continue proxy wars, terror attacks, and increase this entire nuclear program. uh we we also know that especially for this president that war should be the last option that he's not uh trigger happy wanting to jump into a war especially one that could have huge ramifications globally uh but is there is there a path where there's either a deal or is it end up one way or the other we have to stop iran from getting this technology and this capability
SPEAKER 04 :
Look, I think there's been a false choice presented from John Kerry onward, which was a deal or war. I don't think those are the two mutually exclusive conclusions. I think in the event that the Iranians won't agree to what we've described, you can go back to a model that looks like what we did for the first four years. which is to deny them the ability to advance their nuclear program, deny them the ability to pay Hezbollah soldiers or Hamas terrorists. Those are the things that present risk to the regime and over time can get you the outcome you're looking for without a conflict. And there are also things short of what I'll describe as total war. There are actually other things that the United States and our Israeli friends can do to set their program back. And so I don't think we should just tell ourselves, gosh, if you can't get a deal, we're going to have World War III. I've heard that from the deep state for a long time. If we don't surrender, there'll be World War III. We took out General Soleimani. They said there'd be World War III. There wasn't. I think it's very likely the United States has the power to deter Iran from doing precisely that, even if we come after their program.
SPEAKER 07 :
As we wrap up, Secretary Pompeo, I think that was a very important point you just made about there not only being two options, war or negotiation, that sometimes you can figure out something in the middle, that sometimes things can get done. You brought up Soleimani, and those are obviously big things that you took care of and took a lot of risk on yourself for that. And we all know that and we all appreciate that. But Secretary Pompeo, I think that is something that our crowd and our audience, and look, I think most of the people listening don't really see that third option that you've presented or maybe haven't been thinking about it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, I think that's right. I think it's been ingrained war ordeal. I think we should remember that the deterrence model, the peace through strength model works, and President Trump is perfectly positioned to actually achieve that without going to war with Iran.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, thank you so much for joining us. As always, Secretary Pompeo, we appreciate your specialty and really just your thoughts and guidance here. And we always appreciate that. I did want to take the next two and a half minutes as we end this show today on this Monday. Of course, for all of our Catholic listeners and friends, obviously they're talking about the passing of the Pope. And we're going to talk about what that means. I'm sure as it gets closer to a naming of a new Pope, there's a whole process. You may ask why it matters. It does matter on a global scale. And the ACLJ is involved in the global church everywhere. And yesterday was obviously Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day. A lot of Christians around the world who gathered with their family and friends, including my family, but a lot of you were not able to. A lot of Christians are being persecuted for their faith, are not allowed to live openly with their faith. And that is happening in our country and around the world. Churches are trying to get shut down in places like California. Street preachers are getting shut down in Chicago. But we're there at the ACLJ to defend them, as well as those who are losing their life for their faith all over the world. So remember when America, we may have some of these issues that come up. The ACLJ gets involved. A lot of times it's handled civilly, through the law, through the media. But there are still areas in this world where you cannot openly live as a Christian. We're there. So now I'm going to encourage you for the next minute and a half, to really consider supporting the work of the ACLJ as we are only nine days away from the end of our life and liberty drive. This is the last nine days to have your donations doubled. We are mobilizing our offices across the world, whether that's Christians here, whether that's for people in Pakistan, and whether that's through the halls of the UN, we are engaged in these court cases also from coast to coast. Like I said, people are getting banned from doing their home Bible studies, people who are prohibited from praying, publicly we are defending preachers we're getting criminal charges in chicago just for street preaching and really their first amendment rights being trampled on your donations though right now that is how we help these people we don't ask them for any money and we want to be there for you when you need it as well your donations are literally helping us protect religious freedom around the globe so here we are Only nine days left to have your gift doubled, and we need your support. If you're watching right now, you can scan the QR code on your screen. Just if you have an iPhone or Android, just open up your camera and scan it, or just go to aclj.org, very easy, or download the ACLJ app. Make your donation today, and you can become an ACLJ champion, someone that gives on a monthly basis, and your first donation will be doubled still during this life at Liberty Drive. We appreciate it. Thank you so much for supporting the work of the ACLJ. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
This episode of The Kim Munson Show brings you the riveting story of Michael Collins through the eyes of Colonel Bill Rutledge. Discover the efforts of a young Collins who spearheaded a clandestine movement of guerrilla warfare against British forces, changing the course of Irish history forever. From tales of courage and strategic brilliance to the legacy of Ireland's quest for complete autonomy, this conversation offers a rich tapestry of historical insight commemorating Easter week.
SPEAKER 09 :
We are pleased to rebroadcast an interview aired on The Kim Munson Show, which is relevant for America's veteran stories. So enjoy.
SPEAKER 05 :
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and our other wars and conflicts. America's fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty. We must never forget them. Welcome to America's veteran stories with Kim Munson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here's Kim Munson.
SPEAKER 09 :
Indeed, and welcome to The Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You're each treasured, you're valued, you have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body, my friends. We were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That's Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda. and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Check out our website. That is kimmunson.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter while you're there. That way you'll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can email me at kim at kimmunson.com. Thank you to all of you who support us. We are an independent voice on an independent station searching for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, shouldn't have to force people to do it. I do thank all of you who contribute and support us and all of our sponsors because it is so important to have these conversations. You can hear the show online. Monday through Friday, 6 to 8 a.m. live. America's Veterans Stories is on Sundays, 3 to 4 p.m. But the Kim Munson Show is on all platforms, KLZ 560 platforms, which is KLZ 560 AM, 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, the KLZ app. You can listen via Alexa, and then the shows are on Spotify and iTunes after we get those posted. And we do search for Truth and Clarity. by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And we are pre-recording for several of the days during Holy Week. And that's the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. And pleased to have on the line with me a fan favorite. And that is 96-year-young Colonel Bill Rutledge, retired United States Air Force. He's traveled the world, has this deep interest in people, and was established right around the same time that we were in the 1600s. That's correct. Okay. And you'd mentioned in some of these preparation things that you'd sent over that Plymouth, which was established in 1620, was based upon a desire by the settlers to seek religious freedom from the Church of England. And then you said the Irish had largely been converted to the Roman Catholic faith by priests who had arrived in the 9th century. So this was setting up probably a situation where there were a lot of disagreements, yes?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. But we have to recognize that when they were first colonized, I should say colonized, but when they first were introduced to the Christian faith with Ireland to try to convert them and to gain greater control over them through sending people from Scotland, mostly, who were Scotch Protestants, to gain control. And they were concentrated in the northern six counties, which is called Ulster. And that, again, was in the early 1600s. And this was started by the English King James I and also by William and Mary. And, of course, we recognize that King James was reigning when that's why it was named Jamestown and William and Mary College in the state of Virginia. was one of the first colleges in America, and it was named, again, for the king and queen of England.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, and so a couple of things. I imagine this King James was the King James that had the Bible translated into English.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. And did he have it translated into English? Is that what it was? So we all know of the King James Version, yes? Yes, absolutely. Okay. You also mentioned in some of the prep work here that there was the Book of Kel, which was a handwritten Bible with beautiful illustrations dating from the 1900s. And this was via the... Let me correct. From the 900s. Oh, from the 900s. Yes, thank you for that correction. Correct. And it was written in Latin. And you said there's a display at Trinity University in Dublin, Ireland.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's correct. And I was not aware of this until we went to Ireland in 1977. And we were visiting in Trinity University. And they have the original book, the book of Calvin. And they also have extracted or made copies of many parts of that book since it was all done by hand. And it was done in color when they did pictures to illustrate stories because you have to recognize that most of the people couldn't read in those days and the priests were using Latin. And now they have copies of their most artistic presentations that are available for sale And my wife and I looked it over, and we picked four that we liked very much and we felt were compatible with us. And years and years later, I received an art book, and the art book had portraits and things from many, many generations, many centuries. And it happened to have some of the very copies from the Book of Kel that we had purchased. So it was very interesting.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. And I love the way that you have connected history in so many of our different conversations. So Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, regarding our revolution, our Declaration of Independence, all of that, he said, we must all hang together or surely we shall hang separately. And fortunately, the British did not capture and hang our leaders of our revolution. But the Irish were not so lucky, right? No.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's correct. There are a lot of parallels. First of all, we were the first English colony, starting from Jamestown in 1609, the first colony away from their main islands. And then Ireland followed pretty closely thereafter by just two or three decades later. So there were many, many similarities that occurred in that time. And we were most fortunate that not only did they not capture the people who signed it, but they didn't capture George Washington, because George Washington was the key. And if we had not had him and if he had not been saved by divine providence, by his choice of words, we would never have gotten our independence for many, many decades later. So The Irish also wanted to have their independence, and they tried, but they were too close to England and too close to the English so that they could bring their army over there when they wanted to assert their power. So it took them many, many years. So whereas we were the first British colony to gain their independence, the Irish were almost the last.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, and again, such a close proximity, easy for the British to get troops there. And so let's talk a little bit about Michael Collins, because I find this fascinating. You said he was born in 1890 on a large farm in County Cork, southwest Ireland. His father was the seventh son of a seventh son. And Michael was the seventh child and a family of eight. And that is curious. And the number seven is very important in the Christian faith.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it is. And it's I've used this reference many times when we talk about climate change and people are all distressed about factors. And I said, just just read the Bible. I said the Bible uses seven so frequently and it talks about seven year periods of drought and seven year periods of prosperity and plenty of moisture. And this is why they went down to Egypt periodically when they had drought up in what is now Israel. And so it's amazing how there are so many correlations between the Bible and both the Catholic faith and the Protestant faith.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, it is. And this is interesting. You said his father did not marry until he was 60. So was that his first marriage? And his bride was 22. Yes. And then they go on to have eight children.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good grief. It is. And it's what's so odd. I say it's odd. It was traditional in that era. An Irishman never considered marriage until he was older. and until he was employable and he could sustain a family. And it was that same way in America when I was young. A person never considered marriage unless they were going to be able to support a wife and children. Unfortunately, that is not true today. But it was the basis for strong nuclear families that were very active either as members of the Roman Catholic Church or in some Protestant denominations.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, and gosh, it took him a while, it took his father a while if he was 60 to get to that age. But I guess marrying somebody that was 22 years old, they ended up, again, having eight children. So Michael was always a real leader, and he was a student of Irish history.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, and he had that interest from earliest days. And he... During those periods, the British did not like for the Irish to dwell upon their history. They tried to encourage them to think of English history, and they wanted them to be sure and use English as their conversational language. But he wanted also to look at the Gaelic historical part of Ireland and their history. And he continued that. And in Ireland they had teachers who were referred to sometimes as hedgerow teachers because they didn't have a particular school or anything. They just moved around from place to place and they would go to areas where children could come out by the hedgerow because And they would try to teach them the history of Ireland before the British invasion, and especially to try to teach them Gaelic language so that they could maintain the language that they had learned. inherited for hundreds of years.
SPEAKER 09 :
Boy, this is absolutely fascinating, Colonel Bill Rutledge. We're going to continue the discussion. All this happens because of our sponsors. And did want to say thank you to the Harris family for their gold sponsorship of the show. And also the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team can help you with your insurance coverage to make sure that you know what you have and you have what you need. And so give them a call, 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
SPEAKER 08 :
RE-MAX realtor Karen Levine helps bring to life the individual stories of our servicemen and women. With her sponsorship of America's Veteran Stories with Kim Munson, Karen honors the sacrifices of our military and is grateful for our freedom. As a member of the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors, Karen works to protect private property rights for all of us. Karen has a heart for our active duty military and veterans and is honored to help you buy or sell your home. Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516 to help you navigate buying or selling your home. That's 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 03 :
All of Kim's sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That's kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at kim at kimmunson.com as well. And we are pre-recording many of the shows for Easter week, which that is the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. And in Irish history, there is the Easter uprising, which has a lot of... corollaries to our uh fight for independence here in america so i'm talking with uh colonel bill rutledge he's retired united states air force he's 96 years young and his interest in people and places in history and the fact that he will share this with us is really a it's a gift it's a treasure So, Colonel Rutledge, we're talking about Michael Collins, which some might say that Michael Collins is to the Irish as what George Washington is to the Americans.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, there's a lot of parallels in that Michael, like George Washington, had many occasions when he could have or perhaps should have been killed. because he was the target for the English for at least five years once they found out that he was a leader of the Irish people and sort of covertly trying to seek independence from the crown. So there are many, many similarities. There's one thing that I didn't mention earlier but was germane to this discussion, and that is how the British established control over the entire island. And this happened in the mid-1650s when Oliver Cromwell took over and actually gained control of Parliament. It was between two of the British kings, and Cromwell went to Ireland with an army, and he had a battle with the Irish natives an account called the Battle of the Boyne, in which they defeated the Irish Catholics who were in the lower counties and therefore asserted English domain over the entire Ireland of Ireland, the entire island. But the Battle of the Boyne is still celebrated in the northern six counties where they wear orange. It's odd, but they're referred to as orange men and even till today. So the British occupation in the mid-1600s is when they gained control of all these lands, many of which had been owned by the Catholic Church and the Pope. And just like in England, they took control of all that land in England from the papacy. Well, they did the same thing when they got to Ireland. And the Catholic Church presence there also controlled a lot of land. It was taken over and it was given to people who were loyal to the British crown. So that really it was taken away from the Irish owners. So the Irish, again, they became renters of their own land. And this created continued animosity.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, that would do it for sure. Just an off-the-cuff question. The Syracuse University is known as the Orangemen. Is that any connection with what you're saying about these counties in Ireland?
SPEAKER 04 :
Which school are you referring to?
SPEAKER 09 :
Isn't it the Syracuse Orangemen, I was thinking?
SPEAKER 04 :
That's correct, but I don't think there's any connection. None that I know of. I've never heard of that correlation. However, when I went to Ireland in 1977 and I went down to the vital statistics office to try to track my ancestors who had lived in Ireland. And when I was there, I gave them my name and they said, well, your ancestors may have been living here a long time, but they weren't Irish. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, your ancestors were loyal to the crown. They were orange men.
SPEAKER 09 :
Huh. Fascinating. Okay, so Michael Collins, we're setting the stage here for what he is doing. So what's next?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Michael Collins, in his early 20s, went to London because there were job opportunities there. So he first went over, like many people who got started with contacts in the mail service in Ireland. And so he went over and worked in the mail operation in London. And then he went into financial investment areas. as a beginner to learn because he was very intelligent and he learned a lot. And he was there when World War I started in 1914. So shortly thereafter, he elected to go back to Ireland because he said that if he stayed in England, he would be subject to the military draft. and that he did not want to fight on behalf of the king. So he went back to Ireland and renewed his association with various Irish organizations that were for perpetuating Irish history, Irish traditions, and ultimately to seek independence.
SPEAKER 09 :
And so what happens when he goes back to Ireland? How do they start to do this?
SPEAKER 04 :
She went back, and he went back in 1915, and they started organizing to take advantage, really, of World War I in that the British were so involved And their military was, of course, in France. And so, therefore, there were less British military presence in Ireland than there had been before. And it looked like, again, a great opportunity for them to seek their independence. So the various leaders, political leaders internal to Ireland, either they were local or a very few members were actually members of parliament. but they didn't have enough votes to be significant. Nevertheless, these people all aspired to be free, and they formed an organization very loosely and got together and elected that they were going to have what they called a rising. Now, they had done this on three different occasions in the 1800s very unsuccessfully. But this time, because of the war and the fact that the British presence was much smaller in 1950 and 1916, they looked as though this was a great opportunity. And Michael was very sympathetic with him, and he was a very junior person, but he was also interested in politics. contributing towards the uprising. So the rising was scheduled for Easter week in 1916. Now, on Easter Sunday, they did the regular traditional things. They had parades. They all went to Mass. It was an Irish Catholic holiday. in celebration, but it was also when they were assembling their military capabilities. They had gathered over a period of years, really, rifles and ammunition and things that they could use. They did not have any heavy guns like cannons. They didn't have machine guns. So they were not well-armed, but they had weapons. some resources, and they had established different places around Dublin that were to be their military points in which they would show their resistance. So actually on Easter Monday, they started significant changes in trying to control the main British post office and the main seat of government in dublin and that's when the firing and things started again at this time michael was sort of like a junior officer in say the national guard
SPEAKER 09 :
So what happens then? They're not that well-armed, and they don't have the benefit of a big ocean between them and Britain like the Americans did. And this is 1916. World War I is occurring at the same time. So what goes on with this Easter Monday uprising?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, they started defending various positions around the city. And then what happened was that the British brought in more soldiers from England, and the British brought in machine guns, and the British brought in artillery. And so consequently, the fighting really started on Monday, and by Saturday, because of the overwhelming number of trained military personnel, officers and men and also their guns especially the artillery they had really recaptured all of these strategic points that the irish had established and michael was in one of these specific locations around the city he was one of the last that was captured now he got some minor wounds And there were a couple of times when he was a real target, when he was trying to act as a courier between one strategic point and another. But nevertheless, he was eventually captured by that weekend, the weekend ending Easter week. And most of the other people who were insurgents or people who were fighting were captured there. There were a lot of people killed on both sides, but obviously the Irish had more wounded, killed and wounded. Now, when the people had signed, the leaders, the political leaders in Ireland had signed, and we're talking about six or eight people, they had signed this document declaring that they were independent. Then what happened was the British declared martial law And in so doing, then they established that they would use military courts. And so they had military court-martials, and those men whose signatures were on the documents were all presented before the courts, found guilty of treason, and within a week or so, they were all put up against the wall and executed by firing squads.
SPEAKER 09 :
So why wasn't Collins, why wasn't he killed at that time?
SPEAKER 04 :
Because he was not a signature. And it was just like, this is a parallel with those comments about Benjamin Franklin, said, if we do not hang together, we will surely hang separately. And they would have, if they'd have captured our people in Philadelphia. But they did capture the ones in Dublin. So it shows that we were lucky and the Irish were not. And this junior officer and all of these other people who were fighting were put into prisons. And they were given indeterminate terms. They were just captured as though they were insurgents. Many of them were sent to prisons in England, some in Wales, and then some, of course, on the island in Ireland. Ireland didn't have enough space for them. And so Michael was one of those that was sent to Wales. And while he was there, he began to plan for when he would be able to get out. The good luck for him was this situation. that he was captured in the Easter week 1916, and for some reason or not, he was released just before Christmas 1916, so he could go back to Ireland. But while he was in Wales, he started developing a plan to counter the British, and he realized they couldn't do it militarily because they didn't have the weapons, they didn't have the training or the men to do it. So what he did, it was to develop really what we know as guerrilla warfare. It was very covert. He set up spies in all the British organizations. As a matter of fact, he had one of the secretaries of the British commander... In Dublin, she was one of his spies.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. Okay, we're going to continue the discussion with Colonel Bill Rutledge regarding Michael Collins, who is part of the Irish's quest for independence. And we'll continue these discussions. We have them because of our sponsors. For everything residential real estate, reach out to Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. and really a great place to get together with friends and family for their lunch specials monday through friday and great place to get together to watch all the games we're getting into hockey playoffs i think very soon and baseball basketball lots going on out there so be sure and check out hooters restaurants and then also the usmc memorial foundation is a non-profit i dearly love they uh We certainly need to remember and honor all those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for our freedom. You can help them with their remodel of the Marine Memorial by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. We have prerecorded many of the shows for this week of Easter week, which is the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. And, of course, there's Easter Monday, the day after as well, and Easter. And all that is connected with the Easter uprising of the Irish for their independence. And the pivotal figure in this is Michael Collins. We're talking about him, and Colonel Bill Rutledge is sharing his knowledge about Michael Collins. So question, was Michael Collins married?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, Michael Collins was not married. He was engaged, and he was following a pattern really different. were very common in Ireland in that the men often were in their 30s when they would marry someone maybe in their early 20s or even late teens because they had to be able to support a wife and children. This was the concept and it's still the concept in many places. And so his was deferred. But also one of the reasons is that Michael became so active in the military and political underground, and he had great mobility. And as his leadership grew, he was hardly ever in one place long enough to be considering a marriage and supporting a family. So his priorities were different. to create chaos for the British and therefore by a continued period of doing this to make it where it was not desirable for the British to continue to to control the Irish and so therefore he became the underground leader and he realized that the way to do it was to gain intelligence from the English leadership positions. So he planted people in, say, service-type positions, be secretaries, or it might be a janitor, or it might be a doorkeeper, or it may be a manager of a pub. They were scattered around throughout, especially the concentration in Dublin. And they would find information and then share it with Michael, who in turn would share it with what he had like a hit squad. He actually had a small, like a small squad, maybe eight to ten people that would go all around the counties and would cause all the havoc they possibly could. Sometimes they would get in armed conflict with some of the militia. Some of the police. And it was that kind of harassment warfare. like an undeclared war with England for five years.
SPEAKER 09 :
So Colonel Rutledge, we've talked about some correlations between Michael Collins and the Irish and getting their independence, and America and George Washington and achieving our independence. But the thing about America is it was founded on this idea of all men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. But the Irish independence, was that just, it seems like it was more just based on we want independence and we want religious freedom. What would you say regarding the correlations between the two on that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, the big, I'd say one of the big differences was that all of the lower counties were very strongly Roman Catholics. Catholicism was a part of everyday life for the people in all of the lower counties. Ulster, the six northern counties, were principally from Scotland, and that's why you often hear the term when people talk about their heritage, they were Scotch-Irish. That means they came from the northern counties, but They lived there for generations, but their tradition was Protestant Scotch. And so that was completely different than the situation that you had in America, whereas most of our earlier colonial people had broken away from the Church of England and also Before that, because of King Henry VIII, he had made the break in the late 1500s, early 1600s with the Pope. So England, then when the people came to America, the ones that came to Virginia, those were traditional people. Church of England people there. But those that went to New England, to that area, they were breakaway from the British, from the Church of England. Now, they didn't officially declare it, but that's what it was. It was a declaration, and they did not want to owe homage towards the crown. So there were but very distinct differences because the people who came to America, they still considered themselves English. Their loyalty basically was to the English throne, whereas the Irish had their own tradition, which was hundreds, maybe even thousands of years older, and it was this Celtic background that their own language, their own written language, their own traditions, and their loyalty to the Catholic Church. So there was that distinct difference.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. So, Michael, thank you for all of that. Michael Collins, it was only 32 when he was killed. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. But he's in prison. He's a model prisoner. But he's working on these covert operations, guerrilla warfare. And is it effective what he and his guys are doing? Guys and men and women, I should say.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it was very effective, and especially after the war in Europe ended, of course, on the 11th of November, 1918. So after that, then the British could move more soldiers over into Ireland, which they did. And you've heard of things I call the Black and Tan War. Well, these were takeoffs on the uniforms that the British wore that came over. They were supposedly there to maintain the peace. But in fact, there was a lot of friction. There was a lot of killing between the British and the Black and Tans from after 1920. after November 1918, all the way up into the middle of 1921. So this, again, was this continuation of an undeclared war between the Irish and the English. And finally, the English parliament and the people, they just got to the point they'd had about enough of it. So they were willing to meet with the Irish government and try to come to some conclusion. And during this era, Michael had taken the lead, and Michael wanted to negotiate with the British to bring this to an end. Many of the others who were in the so-called IRA, the Irish Republican Army, which was not formal at that time, they didn't want to do that because they didn't want A division in Ireland. They didn't want the six northern counties to be separate. They wanted everything to be Irish. And Michael was willing to compromise to get a start in Irish independence. So he was one who was a principled negotiator who went to London in the summer of 1921 and he signed the documents. And that established what was then called the Irish Free State. And it was always that way until 1949. And all the time when I was in public school, when we studied Ireland, we talked about the Irish Free State. We never talked about the Republic of Ireland because there was no Republican of Ireland until 1949 when they declared absolute break with the British crown.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, was it 1949? Wasn't that also when Israel was established? Or was that 1948? That was 48, wasn't it?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, Israel had been already established, yeah. It was separate. The thing that, even though they signed and were Irish Free State, we had... The Irish had a continued struggle with the British because there were various members of the IRA that still insisted we must have control of all six counties north. Well, after they gained their independence in 1921, then they established their political body, and they appointed Michael as the commander-in-chief of the IRA, the Irish Republican Army. It now became a legal part of their government. But there were still breakaway people. There were those who had fought for independence and were not willing to compromise. And so consequently, they would go around and destroy things and kill people. And they would also go up into the northern six counties and create all sorts of havoc And one of the times they went up there and actually went to this British general's home and killed a general in his house. This caused a lot of problems. And it almost broke up the treaty with the English. And the British sent more and more people to Northern Ireland to protect them. And about that time, Michael... was out traveling in the southwest, actually over in County Cork area, with a small detachment of his soldiers, because he was now commander-in-chief of the IRA. And they were surrounded in one small village, and the other people were trying to kill him, but nobody was hurt. And so they were all breaking away, going out, And so Michael got out of his staff car and was standing out in the street talking to his soldiers. And nobody had been wounded. Everything was fine. And there was one sniper of the breakaway IRA people who was up on the top of the hill. And he didn't even know who was down in the valley. But he could see one officer standing out there. So he shot. And that one shot hit Michael in the head and killed him on sight. 22 August. And this was 1922. Michael was only 32 years old.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that was a breakaway IRA person that shot him. Yes. Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. And the thing is, this wasn't an end to this. The IRA as a informal group, not sponsored by the Irish government or the Irish Free State but they were still an organization all the way up probably even till today but most assuredly late in the 1900s and early 2000 because I remember experiences that were happened that were international. For example, in 1979— You know what?
SPEAKER 09 :
Let's keep that as a cliffhanger, Colonel Rutledge, and we're going to go to break. We're talking about Irish independence, Michael Collins, and the Easter uprising. These are great discussions to have. We all learn something, and they happen because of sponsors. One of those is Lorne Levy.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's 303-880-8881 Call now.
SPEAKER 07 :
You'd like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can't remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim's website, kimmunson.com. That's Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 05 :
From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans wide
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, shouldn't have to force people to do it. I did want to mention the Center for American Values located in Pueblo, Colorado. And they do really three things. They have these beautiful portraits of valor of our Medal of Honor recipients, or many of them. They focus on educational programs regarding these values of honor, integrity, and patriotism. And then they also have these great On Values presentations there as well. So get more information. Go to AmericanValueCenter.org. They are nonpartisan, nonpolitical, just focused on these values. Values of Honor, Integrity, and Patriotism. I'm talking with Colonel Bill Rutledge, retired United States Air Force. He is 96 years young, and I love the fact that he shares his knowledge and curiosity with us. We're talking about Michael Collins, who is probably to the Irish and their independence as what George Washington is to we Americans and our independence. With Michael Collins, it was happening much later in the early 1900s. He was killed by a sniper's bullet in, was that 1922, Colonel Rutledge?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, August the 22nd. late in the afternoon in 1922.
SPEAKER 09 :
He was only 32 years old at the time. But he was the head of the IRA, the Irish Republic Army, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
An army, correct. It would be just like if some maverick member of our own military were to be hiding out somewhere in shoot the chief of staff of the army.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. But I really had kind of thought the IRA was violent because I remember in the 70s and 80s, I just remember a lot of violence with the IRA. And I remember this news story that Lord Mountbatten was killed on his yacht. It was blown up. That was 1979. So I'd always kind of thought of the IRA as super violent. Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, they do have that tradition. And one of the things that's perpetuated it is that they have been able to get financial support over decades from the Irish who came to America. The people, there are many Irish, millions of Irish who came to America, first starting strongly when the potato blight hit in 1848. But even then, later in continuing affiliation, there were still a close identity between all those migrants who came to America and their homeland, and they always were in support of gaining independence from England. And that continued after 1921 and the agreement for the lower counties to gain Irish independence. So they still kept supporting them because still many of these Americans who were Irish Americans still felt strongly that the entire island should be under the Republic of Ireland. And so they offered support throughout that era. And So the people, there was always a small element that wanted to create problems, and they did. And we don't know even the status today. I mean, those of us in America, I feel confident that there's still pockets of these people. And you gave the example of Lord Mountbatten, them blowing up his yacht. And it was anchored in one of the more than six counties in Harbor. But shortly thereafter, in the early 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, they carried their action over to England. And the conservative party, which Margaret Thatcher was the head of, was having a large meeting over in Blackpool in the west of England. And they tried to kill her with a bomb. She was very lucky. She wasn't injured. But that was the IRA. And the IRA would always take pride in saying, yes, yeah, we did this. It was IRA. And I had a firsthand experience with them. In 1990, a friend of ours, he and I and our wives all did a home exchange in England. And we were down near the British Naval Academy. And he was a retired Army colonel, and I was retired from the Air Force. So we wanted to visit the British Naval Academy. So we went over to the main gate, and we asked the guard if we could come in and visit. And we showed him our identification, explained our interests, because I had been assigned at the Air Force Academy, and my friend had worked very closely with the people in West Point. And the guard there said, you can't come in. And we said, well, what's the problem? And he said, the problem is the IRA, and our defense and protection against the IRA takes priority over anything else. And that was 1990.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. So you'd said in your information that the IRA has kept a low profile, but it still would really like to have Ulster absorbed into the Republic of Ireland. So those six counties are part of Britain. Is that right? Do I get that correct?
SPEAKER 04 :
That's correct. And even today, there are exceptional situations like you may recall when we were having the Olympics. that some of the good athletes who are in the northern six counties, a few chose to represent Ireland in international competition. McElroy, for example, was a classic example. He played in the golf competition in France last summer and representing Ireland, not representing England.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
They've been raised in Ireland. And there are other occasions where, because these things are close, but they have these divided... It's an awkward situation.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, my gosh. Well, Colonel Rutledge, thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is super interesting, particularly to broadcast during Easter week. So thank you, Colonel Rutledge.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you for the opportunity.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for listening to America's Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure to tune in again next Sunday, 3 to 4 p.m. here on KLZ 560 and KLZ 100.7.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
In this episode, Mike Gallagher and Mark Davis engage in a riveting discussion on the complexities of political protests and immigration policies. They dive deep into the heart of the matter, inspecting the absence of racial diversity among anti-Trump protesters and questioning the constitutional entitlements immigrants hold. Navigate through their compelling dialogue on the evolving socio-political landscape, with an emphasis on the judiciary's role in balancing rights and legislative procedures.
SPEAKER 02 :
mike gallagher every day mike visits with mark davis morning host on 6 60 a.m the answer in dallas here's today's eminem experience rome and and venice venice is one of the world's most remarkable cities and florence and all that they got them a fine prime minister in italy these days too you got that right let me you see that little clip of her said they said electing a conservative would be terrible but we are safer our economy is doing great Well, you know what I love about the conservative wave that's happening all over the world? The world is getting better. And young people are more and more conservative than ever. In fact, in reading about the Pope earlier this morning, I was reading about the fact that young priests are more and more conservative than ever. Now, let that sink in. It's like the world is healing. Young people are more and more conservative than ever. College campuses, young people under 18 are more conservative than ever. And that gives me a whole lot of hope. And maybe it's with that spirit. Maybe it's the Easter spirit of the miracle, the resurrection. I mentioned being in New York. Saturday morning, I'm strolling down Madison Avenue, and here comes a sea of people. Oh, my.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, boy, you sent me some video of that. That was not good.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, is it not good? Let me tell you why.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, no, their free speech rights are fine.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
They don't need to protest. Oh, sure.
SPEAKER 02 :
And I watched them. I was just riveted by it for some reason. Now, first of all, let me give you a couple of observations about the anti-Trump protests that took place all over the country. There were like 50 cities, right? 51, 50, 50, whatever the number was. I watched these people pretty closely. First of all, a striking absence of people of color, Mark. It's the strangest thing, because it's a ton of people. Now, I'm not going to minimize this. I'm telling you, I'm standing at 47th and Madison Avenue, looking up Madison Avenue, as far as the eye could see. So if this was us, I kept thinking, if the unthinkable happened and Kamala Harris got elected president and thousands and thousands and thousands of us marched all over the country, we'd be like, wow, this is great. Isn't this fantastic? So that's how they feel. That's okay. They didn't burn any buildings. Nobody got hurt. The police were calm. Everybody was calm. But I was really interested in the demographic makeup of these protesters.
SPEAKER 03 :
mark they're all boomers they're all they're all boomers they're white boomers well you know why it is the bernie aoc wing well it's about the oligarchy we got the oligarchy yeah get in the delorean yeah so so that that is it's that kind of weird egghead college professorial liberalism that that is dying on the vine and uh
SPEAKER 02 :
They're old hippies. They're just old hippies from the 60s who think they got their moment again. They think they're back at Woodstock. This is their Woodstock, and it just is so interesting. But what do you attribute the almost zero presence of black or brown people?
SPEAKER 03 :
What is that about? Because the appeal of the Bernie slash AOC old college professorial, and I don't want to push back against the hippie thing. Hippies were cooler than these people. These are old leftist urban cranks. That's true. Which is a great band name. You know, I think that they're all about this haughty, condescending thing that a lot of people of color just don't want any part of. Yeah. A lot of blacks and Hispanics are looking at Trump and, I mean, I'd agree with everyone. They're saying, you know what? The notion of more American jobs, the notion of borders. We're kind of on board, more on board than some of these Upper West Side malcontents.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think you're right. And then the final thing we've got to talk about, I want to get this off my chest. I watched Senator John Kennedy, who's like the Will Rogers of the Senate and folksy and charming. He's always got a one-liner. And there he is bagging on Trump and bagging on this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Was this on Meet the Press with Kristen Welker?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, and he's like, the president is deporting. At one point, this Chris Van Hollen slipped, and he actually tried, he almost called Abrego Garcia an American. He started, he said, it's unthinkable that an American, I mean, somebody swept up an American. Because this is where my...
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SPEAKER 02 :
Here's what this all boils down to. This is real simple. And why John Kennedy is bagging on Trump all of a sudden.
SPEAKER 03 :
What was his specific point? Because he started out with a Kristen Welker segment.
SPEAKER 02 :
Due process. Due process. Now, but here's the problem, Mark. Let me ask you. You're one of the smartest people I know. Let's do. Does an illegal have the constitutional right of due process?
SPEAKER 03 :
Not the same that you and I have. However, and this is the thing where, and this is kind of a Mike Gallagher moment, maybe we'll still be the same, going away, we can do it some more tomorrow, because we're getting our brains beaten in, and there are enough squishy voters where they're like, oh, that sounds reasonable. Should there be a moment at which an immigration judge takes even 30 seconds, looks at a piece of paper, goes, yep, okay, he can go,
SPEAKER 02 :
They did that with him.
SPEAKER 03 :
In a couple of levels and a lot of the reasons for, I think it was like the tats and the bulls.
SPEAKER 02 :
But they did that with this guy. This guy's a gang member, Mark.
SPEAKER 03 :
They stopped the guy. That's my belief as well.
SPEAKER 02 :
I know it is. And the courts and the cops and everybody determined this. But the due process thing intrigues me. You tell me. You qualified it. I was very interested in how you responded to me. You show me in the Constitution where an illegal immigrant is entitled to due process. Where is that in the Constitution?
SPEAKER 03 :
It's more of a matter of legislation. It's more of a matter of the procedures that exist that if we are going to deport people, there's usually a turnstile that you walk through.
SPEAKER 02 :
But my benchmark, my North Star is the Constitution. No, exactly. It's like it was with abortion. There's no right to an abortion in the Constitution. There's no right to due process. Oh, I get you. I get you.
SPEAKER 03 :
There's no constitutional crisis, no constitutional law.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, exactly.
SPEAKER 03 :
It seems to have been a skirting of existing procedure, which if they've got even a molecule of a point, I offered an idea. Let me offer it to you. Hey, President Bukele loves Trump. You want to do us a solid here? Let the dude out of the prison on the streets of El Salvador. That really bothers me.
SPEAKER 02 :
I heard you say that. I heard you say that. What's the matter with that?
SPEAKER 03 :
We're not bringing him back.
SPEAKER 02 :
It ain't our problem. He's an El Salvadoran. He's a national. He's their problem. And why would we tell the El Salvador? That's like El Salvador telling President Trump what he should do with Carmelo Anthony.
SPEAKER 03 :
We're not going to tell him. We're going to suggest that maybe.
SPEAKER 02 :
Why?
SPEAKER 03 :
Because it would get everybody to shut up and we could get on with our lives. But we've got nothing to do. There are enough stupid voters, there are enough stupid low-information voters that day after day, week after week, of this guy being the most famous Salvadoran in history, not helpful. I've got midterms to think about.
SPEAKER 02 :
It seems very arrogant, I think, of us to tell the El Salvador president what he should or shouldn't do. Well, forget what to suggest. Who the hell are you to tell the El Salvador president what he should or shouldn't do with one of his own people?
SPEAKER 03 :
Because we're getting our brains beaten in. That's not his problem. That's not his problem. It's my problem as somebody that doesn't want to have more. You know it. There are a bunch of idiot voters out there looking. This guy shouldn't be in prison. Well, fine. Solve the problem. Get on so that we can get on. There's too much oxygen being taken up. I mean, this is one of those areas where I know exactly what you mean. Yeah. I'm just fascinated by your position on this. I'm trying to stop the problem because we're getting our brains beaten in. What does that mean? I don't know. I don't think we are. I think you're overstating that. No, because stipulate real quick. We're incredibly late. Are there millions of stupid people in America? Yes. Yes. Are they seeing day after day after day after day after day after day of this incessant coverage of this guy shouldn't be in prison? But they're wrong. But they're wrong. I know that and you know that.
SPEAKER 02 :
So you want to suggest respectfully to the El Salvadoran president to do something that we have nothing to do with because of the stupid people in America?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, because it will shut everybody up. It will shut everybody up. In fact, in retrospect, if we had just deported him, not to the prison, if we just sent him back to El Salvador and dumped him on the streets of San Salvador, would that have been okay? Yes, of course it would. So all I'm suggesting is that we make it like as if we had done that. That's all.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right. Well, we'll have to agree to disagree. Happy Monday. It's good to be back to work. More on Tuesday. More on Tuesday. I love you, man. I love you, too. For full shows live and on demand, it's the Salem News Channel.
In a week packed with significant earnings reports from major corporations like Netflix, Tesla, and Boeing, Bill Gunderson explores the ripple effects on the stock market. Amidst discussions on gold's performance as a safe haven and the untapped potential of rare earth minerals, this episode provides a comprehensive view of current market dynamics and future predictions.
SPEAKER 01 :
He's been seen on CNBC, the Fox News Channel, and the Fox Business Channel. His articles can be found on MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, TheStreet.com, and many other places. He's the author of the weekly Best Stocks Now newsletter and the inventor of the Best Stocks Now app. He's president of Gundersen Capital Management. Here is professional money manager Bill Gundersen.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome to the Monday, it is the Monday, April 21st live edition of the Best Stocks Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management. I'm here with Barry Kite, our chartered financial analyst. We kind of pick up where we left off last week with I didn't see any progress in the trade war over the three-day weekend between us and China. And now we've got another new wrinkle that the market can chew their fingernails about, and that's the... The independence of the Fed from the White House, and that has come up. There's a beef, a rift taking place. I do think that our Fed is behind the curve and owes us at least one rate cut. The other countries are doing it, the other trade zones around the world. But right now the Dow doesn't like it. The Dow is down 1.3% so far. It's at 38,638. The NASDAQ is down 2.5% right now. And, of course, it takes the brunt of the trade war, the tariffs, the NVIDIAs of the world, the AMDs, etc. So something's got to give there. Something's got to start moving in the right direction between us and China. It was last Monday. but there seemingly hasn't been much progress since then.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and China, what, today I think announced, you know, they kind of warned other countries not to input, you know, whatever deal they make with us, don't, you know, impose kind of on them.
SPEAKER 03 :
S&P is down 1.9% right now. So welcome to today's Best Stocks Now show with professional money manager, Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management. Man, I'm well rested after three days off. Barry, that felt good. Yeah, great Easter weekend. We get a few days off in this business and they're very sacred to us because they don't come along too often. A lot happened and a lot didn't happen over the weekend and that's impacting the markets here today. The markets remain volatile, but I think that they've settled down quite a bit. There's going to be some kind of a resolution between us and China at some point in time because China badly needs us. Unless China goes really rogue here and starts invading Taiwan or something like that, lashes out. I don't really see that happening, but who knows? And we do have a spat today, which has been brewing. I mean, this has been an ongoing one, but it really has escalated since Powell's most recent Fed decision was to leave rates alone after the ECB has cut rates already a couple times this year. We left off on a down note on Friday. UnitedHealthcare, though, was a big piece of that down note on Friday with the big drop down 23% in one day. I say it's time to kick UnitedHealthcare out of the Dow. They seem to be a trouble-plagued company. But on the other hand, we had big results from Netflix. Unfortunately, Netflix picked a big bad day to report earnings. They reported on Thursday, and then the markets closed for three days. And then the NASDAQ opens to the downside here today so far. So Netflix had a phenomenal report. And it is one of the stocks we own in our premier growth portfolio. The star of the day. And it's really been the only game in town recently. And today is an exceptional day. Gold. Holy cow. Trump has been a friend to the precious metals. Gold is up to a new high, closing in on $3,500 this morning. And we have some pretty good exposure, Barry, in the portfolio. And all of our portfolios have some gold in them. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, it's been, I mean, we've talked about there was really cash was the one thing you knew how it was going to react, right, given this volatility we've had. And gold's turned out to be the other one that's been reliable, right? Yeah. So it's been an interesting run for gold. There's a lot of signs to say that there's still a lot of tailwinds for the metal as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
There seems to be a huge appetite right now. I mean, that's where I see people going with their money. It's not to the bond market so much. It's not to cash so much. Yeah, quite a bit to cash. But gold seems to be on the receiving end of a lot of people that are frustrated with the market right now. Had a holiday-shortened week. It ended in the red. I did not do a newsletter over the weekend. That will pick up again. Good for you, Bill.
SPEAKER 04 :
I'm glad you got a little rest in. I wasn't sure if you were going to end up sneaking it in or not.
SPEAKER 03 :
I just got to be honest, you know, after three days off, I was done with tinkering and fiddling and doing repairs and gardening, and I'm ready to go back to work, man. There's no way I'm retiring any time soon. I get bored real quickly. Of course, the Pope died. That's a big piece of news, 88 years old. One day after Easter, that's pretty crazy there with the pneumonia. It will be very interesting to see. Who they pick as the new pope, I think you could say that this pope was on the left side of the political spectrum, even though a pope shouldn't be political, but he was. And the first Americas, we'll see who their next one is. Will they pick a more conservative European? I don't know. We'll just wait and see how that plays out.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's interesting how news-wise, right, it's like all in social media, which route to go. I mean, you know, years ago, right, it was, you know, kind of almost, you know, still shroud in kind of some secrecy and, you know, just magically, right, someone would appear.
SPEAKER 01 :
Someone emerges.
SPEAKER 04 :
Nowadays, you know, nowadays it's like, you know, you've got actual... Eventually you get a few names out there, and it's almost like we're running for president.
SPEAKER 03 :
Do you think that game, let's see, King Draft Kings, and we'll run a little betting pool on who the next pope will be? I would not put it past them.
SPEAKER 04 :
I certainly know that some of those UK betting houses where you can kind of bet on almost anything you can think of, I'm sure they have a few names out there.
SPEAKER 03 :
I'm sure Flutters can get your action down. Well, okay. Now, I am not a fan of the Fed being autonomous myself because I think that, you know, if you've got an economic policy and pro-growth and this and that, and you've got somebody, there's obviously a rift between Powell and Trump, and I think the Fed has too much power. That's my opinion, okay? Now, I see Austin Goolsbee, who, I mean, whatever he's for, I'm against. I do not like Austin Goolsbee from the University of Chicago. You know, him and Janet Yellen and all those were kind of the authors of this, part authors of this, you know, unlimited government spending plan that hasn't served us well. And, of course, the Fed came along, right? There's a lot of controversy. Just ask, who's Rand Paul's dad? Ron Paul. Ron Paul. I mean, yes. I mean, let's audit the Fed. We don't need a fan. I kind of agree with that. I think the Fed's kind of dark. You know, it has its roots in that island off of Georgia there, Tybee Island, where they got together a bunch of cigar-smoking old guys and created the Fed. I think that the president should be able to name their own Fed chairman. That's just my opinion. Now, Goolsbee says, well... the vast majority of economists think that the Fed should be autonomous. Well, the vast majority of economists have been wrong for so many years, it's hard for me to listen to any consensus coming from them. But I do want to hear Barry's opinion as a chartered financial analyst. I'm sure there was quite a bit of study of the Fed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, certainly. And I think the Fed's probably gotten, you know, over the years, right, has kind of gotten a bit of a bad name, particularly, you know, obviously, you know, the financial crisis, kind of a little bit of that, at least initially, right, fell on Greenspan, even though it was probably more about greed and... You know, probably more about greed and how they were packaging up mortgages than anything, but that's, you know, debatable. You know, there are certain times, though, where I would argue, right, it's like the Fed has kind of only been the only adults in the room, right? Sometimes. There is some, you know, so there is some, you know, pushback there where if they weren't independent, right, whatever aisle someone's side they're on, right, then... Of course, they could print, say, more money potentially, right? So there's got to be, I guess, some kind of balance. But you don't want one that's automatically combative, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, that's what I see now, and I don't like that. I think that the 30-year mortgage at 6.9 is not good for our economy at all. It's brought the real estate market down. The lending market, the mortgage market, too, is standstill.
SPEAKER 04 :
Although I would say when you had mortgage rates where they were at 4%, right?
SPEAKER 1 :
3%.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah, I would borrow that all day long, but I would never lend anyone 30 years at 3% since there's a problem.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, but they were lending plenty of money. Well, I think there's a happy medium in there somewhere. Okay, when we come back, we'll just mention Netflix, UnitedHealthcare real quickly because they were big news on Thursday before we went on a three-day break here. And then we'll turn our attention to China. And seemingly there was no progress over the weekend in that spat. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 1 :
Bye.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back here to the second quarter of today's Best Stocks Now show. Well, Netflix right now is up $7.59. It would be up more if it weren't for a sloppy day there in the NASDAQ. It's up 7 tenths of 1%. And then UnitedHealthcare, which was the other big newsmaker on Friday, Man, it was down 23% on Friday. And, of course, a member of the Dow. And it's not helping the Dow today. I mean, it's down another 4.5%. I would kick it out of the Dow and I would replace it with Lilly. I mean, Lilly is a health care company. Lilly now is moving towards a pill for the weight loss instead of the shot in the stomach. And that was also, I think, very notable news from last week. That was big news. Lilly was up big on that news. So that's what I'm for. They finally listened to me and put Amazon in the Dow, all right? And they put NVIDIA in the Dow, which I thought was a little bit premature, but kicking Intel out was definitely... the right thing to do okay now the other stock we've got a look at today is boeing boeing is pretty much well it's down two point three percent they turned the jets around a second boeing seven thirty seven max jet originally designed designated for delivery to a chinese airline was en route back to the United States on money. Believe it or not, I think I saw that airline, Barry, that plane, as I drove over to that neck of the woods the other day. And it was there on the run. They have this, you know, lineup of all the planes that are getting ready for delivery. I guess they don't mail the planes. It's interesting. They fly them air freight right there, you know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it's interesting. I saw something where it was kind of almost a lot of show on China's part because I don't believe, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think they've made a Boeing order since 2020. Yeah. These are things that were ordered, I think, in 2018-ish or so.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, those are hot items.
SPEAKER 04 :
Malaysia turned around and said, we'll take it.
SPEAKER 03 :
So it's got to come back here to Charleston. The sign painter's got to get up there and white out the Shenzhen Airlines. I think it was Southeast China Airlines that put Malaysia logo on there. They're not going to not sell the plane. But it is a signal that no progress has been made over the weekend. We had a lot on last Monday when... when she started to lay down the rules for the negotiations. And I think something's going to give here. It's got to give. But in the meantime, that's a sign that, you know, there hasn't been any progress made.
SPEAKER 04 :
And did see where, you know, we're looking for progress in other places. We did see where the vice president, I think, is meeting with India.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, they sent Vance to India. And I think up there on the overall scale of things, you know, Europe and India, they're working on the big countries first. And, of course, China's number one. That's the one you want to get resolved. And I think China's going to come to the table here, and they want to know who they'll be dealing with. They don't want anybody in the cabinet making disparaging remarks and blah, blah, blah, this and that. So hopefully that will get resolved. Okay, so Malaysia Airlines plans to buy the Boeing jets dropped by China. And when I heard the plane was turning around, I thought maybe a judge on the Ninth Circuit there in Washington, D.C. was turning around a plane with a bunch of drug lords, you know. Hey, you've got to bring these guys back, or MS-13 guys. I'm glad to hear it was China that turned it around. Okay. earnings this week all right here we go let's see get ready because this will be a big week today will be agency which is pretty big uh mortgage reit that's done terrible i wrote a i wrote an article just ripping that thing and it's done terrible and you know i'm not seeing as many articles on seeking alpha anymore about high dividend stocks i think too many people have gotten burned by those things And the fervor there has died down as some people have learned the hard way. Particularly in those REITs. Oh, just clobbered. Okay, now, tomorrow the big one will be Tesla. And Tesla, I just don't like the stock. We did have a big Easter Sunday yesterday. I counted eight Teslas in our parking lot, which was full. I couldn't even find a parking spot yesterday. For Easter Sunday. But Tesla is down.
SPEAKER 04 :
Standing room only, yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, there was enough chairs, but there weren't enough parking places. But that's a good thing. Tesla is down 6.7% today. That's not helping the NASDAQ. And I don't like Tesla stock right now. I mean, look, there's a lot of things stacked up against Elon Musk right now. Also reporting tomorrow will be GE, Verizon, 3M, Dow Stock, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Halliburton, Kimberly Clark, my favorite diaper stock, Northrop Grumman, Donaher, and SAP, and Baker Hughes. So that's a pretty big day, a lot of industrials tomorrow. On Wednesday, AT&T, a member of the Dow, so is Verizon, by the way, and Boeing will report on Wednesday, a member of the Dow, IBM, a member of the Dow, Philip Morris, Newmont Mining, Texas Instruments, which is caught up in the tariffs war. We'll get Lamb Research Service now. Chipotle, which is opening their first Chipotle in Mexico. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. Let's see if Mexicans think Chipotle is real Mexican food or not. There's always been a debate there. General Dynamics, Thermo Fisher, Las Vegas Sands, and Alaska Air Group. And then on Thursday, it will be Google. And guess what? Google's going to appear before the Department of Justice in their case, antitrust. They want them to divest Google Chrome. And right now it's Meta that is under the microscope. I can't believe that. I mean, to me, the biggest monopoly is Amazon. I mean, what are they? It's harder to figure out what they don't sell. than what they do sell. So anyways, Alphabet's going to report. And then you're going to get Intel, Gilead, Procter & Gamble, Merck. This is a big week of earnings. Bristol-Myers, Nokia, Pepsi. How many companies are going... They say the new trend is split guidance. Split guidance. They'll give guidance if the tariffs get settled. Because we get that from United.
SPEAKER 04 :
They were kind of the first ones.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And they'll give guidance if it's the worst case scenario. So split guidance. And the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. And then on Friday we'll get Schlumberger... ABV, Phillips 66, which Dodger fans are boycotting. They don't like the Dodgers advertising Phillips 66 on the scoreboard. Charter Communications, Centene, AutoNation, Square. Okay, so some pretty important ones. Now, the other big news that kind of slipped through the cracks last week, and that's a major breakthrough. Eli Lilly plans to make the weight loss pill. Okay, just the fact that they're going to have a pill... I'm going to look for the date here that they think it will be out, but they plan on making the United States. The stock was up 14% on Friday. It reached its main goal in Phase 3 trials for adults. That's a huge, huge breakthrough, going from a shot in the gut to a pill. Okay, big, big news. Okay, when we come back, we'll look at other trade wars, us and Europe. This is Bill Gunderson. Thank you for tuning in to today's Best Stocks Now, Best Inverse Funds Now show. I put several hours of research in during the wee hours of the morning each day to bring you the very best cutting-edge stories that I can. To get two free weeks of my newsletter, go to GundersonCapital.com. To talk to us about our fee-based only money management services, call us at 855-611-BEST. Now, back to the second half of the show. And welcome back here to the second half of today's Best Docs Now show. I still don't think this is a good market to be buying inverse funds. It's all it takes is one breakthrough, okay, with China or one breakthrough with Europe. And I did read that they're getting much, much closer in Europe It's kind of down to how much methane that we put in. They want methane in the gasoline, and we don't like to put too much. So we've got to kind of get an agreement on that. But those talks are moving forward very rapidly between the EU and the U.S. And, of course, the U.S., I think that's a legitimate beef agreement. Why did you turn for your energy supplies from Putin and Russia? Okay, that's a big mistake. Now, the EU realizes they made a huge mistake. And, of course, they're not exactly Putin fans. I mean, they're 100% on the side of Ukraine. Why not buy your energy from the U.S.? We have plenty of liquid natural gas. We're open for business. It's for sale. And I think that will be a big, big part of the agreement that we eventually reach between the EU and the U.S. So there is progress being made there. It sounds like they're getting down into the fine print and the details there. Unfortunately, it sounds like with China, I'm sure there's things going on in the background that we don't hear about. But, you know, that is a chapter in a book that has not been finished yet. And the market is so dang impatient. They always want immediate, immediate help. immediate solutions so they don't have to fret and worry and chew their fingernails. That's just the way the market is. In the meantime, J.D. Vance arrives in India today. Well, he's a good one to send there. His wife is Indian, right? She's of Indian descent. So J.D. Vance carrying out the mission there. He is set for trade talks with Prime Minister Modi. And they've been terrible on trade. India has been terrible on taking U.S. goods and buying U.S. goods. And I know the other guy who's been visiting India here recently has been Elon Musk, trying to open up the markets for Teslas there in India. Or he's headed there a day after. the U.S. delegation. So anyways, we'll see what happens there. In the meantime, Trump's economic approval rating hits a new low. And that comes from CNBC. And of course, CNBC, no friend of Trump. CNN, no friend of Trump. Bloomberg, no friend of Trump. They're going to accentuate anything negative. That's the way it goes in today's world. But I would say it's a book that has not been written yet. It's being written as we sit here There's a chapter on Europe. There's a chapter on India. There's a chapter on the U.K. There's a chapter on China. There's a chapter on Japan. From what I can see, there's great progress being made in Japan, and there's great progress being made in South Korea, which is also a pretty big player on the world stage, especially as it relates to technology. There's a lot of news today, too, on rare earth stuff, a lot of individual companies. There is news on AI. This is a global first, Barry, and you know what? I know we're headed in this direction, and I don't like it. In a global first, the United Arab Emirates plans to use AI in lawmaking. I don't like that. Okay, are we going to replace judges with artificial intelligence? Are we going to make our laws from artificial intelligence? I'm sorry. I want the human touch there. This is not a good...
SPEAKER 04 :
It reminds me of the carnival, the fortune teller, where you put the money in. It's like, oh, hold on tight. Are you guilty or not?
SPEAKER 03 :
Don't meddle now. No, I don't like this. I don't like this precedent. But this is the first.
SPEAKER 04 :
We knew it was going to come. We've got to run through some court cases real quick. I mean, there is a backlog, of course.
SPEAKER 03 :
We knew it was going to come to this. Yeah. You know, I kind of prefer the Ten Commandments myself and not letting artificial intelligence decide what the Ten Commandments. Which Ten Commandments? Which of them should we get rid of? China's Huawei set for mass shipment of new AI chip, but it's nothing like NVIDIA's chip. But this is dragging on NVIDIA big time for now. And again, this is a chapter, this is a paragraph in the chapter on China. Where will we end up with these AI chips? Because the licensing, having to get a license from the U.S. to sell to China, I read that the analysts have cut earnings estimates by 8% to 10% for the next 12 months for NVIDIA and for AMD because both of those companies are caught up in this latest salvo fired by the U.S. And again, it's a salvo, okay? If you're going to do this, then we're going to make you get a license for the H20 chips. And that did hurt those stocks. But I still say if you're going to invest in a tech stock, there's not a better one in the world today. I believe there's two. There's NVIDIA and there's Palantir. They're both great companies. EPA grants exemptions to dozens of coal plants. Well, I mean, that's a big change from the previous administration who was shuttering coal plants. Europe has shuttered coal plants. And the U.S. is Trump says we should not eliminate. We should continue to use the coal plants until we have something new to replace them with. So anyways, Toyota may move some of its production. The RAV4, I guess, is a hot car. I think at its price point, I think it's a very popular car. And it's really hurting them big time with the tariffs because a lot of them are built in Mexico. But they're thinking of moving much of the production, especially for the American-made ones, to Kentucky. So RAV4, let's take our hat off to Kentucky, and they may become a big manufacturing part of the RAV4 for Toyota. In the meantime, Ford has halted shipments of F-150s and other models to China. Well, of course they're going to halt shipments. I don't know how many China buys of our F-150 pickups. I doubt very few, but... That is a blow for Ford. Nobody's going to buy a Ford in China right now with those heavy tariffs that are out there on those things. Aramco and BYD sign a pact to explore new EV technologies. So, I mean, that's a pretty big story underneath the surface. Because Saudi Arabia was pretty much very beholden. Tesla, obviously, has a big presence in Saudi Arabia. And what's the one they invested in? Lucid. Lucid has a big presence.
SPEAKER 04 :
And they're diversifying. I mean, it's a diversifying play, right? Obviously, Ramco being very oil-based. Yeah. They're diversifying into other industries. Yes, including EVs.
SPEAKER 03 :
so they're going to look at new ev technologies with byd and of course byd is the one that came up with the fast charger the ultra fast charger which i'm surprised we have an ant don't have an answer to that yet you would i still i still like when we did we did a story on neo and they had uh
SPEAKER 04 :
They had a thing where you drive in and literally all of the batteries come out.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
They put you new ones in and you just leave.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don't know that I like that one. A propane tank I can see. But I don't know about why do that when you can charge it in five minutes. I agree.
SPEAKER 04 :
I just thought it was amazing. Like what do they do? Like it was a Lego car. Just take out the batteries and throw some more batteries in there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Those things are heavy. Yeah. But anyways, that is one of the solutions that is being looked at. But in the meantime, a five-minute charge to get you 250 miles seems like, wow, let's go that route. It will also heat up your burrito. If you sit in the seat while it's being charged and you need something microwaved, bang. Okay, now let's go to the rare earth because that's a big deal. This is a real, and there's a lot of news.
SPEAKER 04 :
Part of that battery discussion, actually, electric cars.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, well, I mean, it ties right in because the batteries have a lot of rare earth minerals in them. Trump administration has picked Perpetua Resources. I wrote a whole article on Perpetua along with two other stocks. that are right smack dab in the middle of this, Perpetua, I thought that was a Canadian company. No, Boise, Idaho. That's right, it's Boise, Idaho. They were up 6.4% pre-market. Now they're up 1.4%. Its Stibenite Gold Project in Idaho was selected as a transparency project in response to President Trump's recent executive order aimed at strengthening American mineral production and reducing U.S. reliance. You know, Idaho's coming through with a lot of things. New nuclear technology and now rare earth. And, of course, micron technology is there in Idaho. So anyways, Perpetua, PPTA, has backing of the Trump administration. But wait, there's a new player when we come back in Noblesville, Indiana, that is shooting higher today. And there's progress being made between the Ukraine and the U.S. on Rare Earth. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 05 :
Go where you want to go, do what you want to do with it.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back here to the final segment of today's Best Docs National. The big question on this Jerome Powell issue and spat is, can a president remove a Fed, the head of the Fed, a Fed chairman, Barry? I don't know the answer to that. Because, you know, Jerome Powell refuses to leave. He's good for another year at least. And can the president remove... A Fed chairman. I don't know the answer to that. I guess we're going to find out. I think it's going to come to a head. I really do.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm kind of torn because the problem is, of course, if it sets precedent where some other president down the road can do it, too. You know, I don't know. You've got to have.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I mean, you're just.
SPEAKER 04 :
They have a mandate in terms of, you know, they've been given a mandate in terms of. what inflation needs to be around, what employment needs to be around. In terms of those numbers, none of those numbers say cut interest rates. It doesn't mean you can't be ahead of the game because he's been behind. He's usually behind over the time frame. The thing is, be careful what you wish for, because when you have the other side of the aisle that's in charge down the road and they want access to the purse strings, the only adult in the room has been the Fed.
SPEAKER 03 :
Every president wants lower interest rates, right? Well, yeah, of course. But, of course, he inherits a guy that was the Biden administration. He was their Fed. But I think he was appointed originally by Trump.
SPEAKER 04 :
I believe he was. I'm pretty sure it was a Trump appointment. So if they can appoint them, I don't see why they can't change them. Well, we're going to find out. Otherwise, we would have never got Volcker, by the way, because Volcker was raising interest rates 2% or 3% at a time. So my guess is that president, whether it was partly... Some Carter piece. Yeah, those are the ones where it was like, you know, they would have ousted them, right? So there's certain, you know, pieces where I would see that. You kind of need some autonomy. I don't know. In politics, is anything autonomous anymore, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, okay, back to rare earths. Let's solve simpler problems right now. Okay, here's a new player here, all right? This company is in Fishers, Indiana, American Resources. The symbol is A-R-E-C. and i looked in my database and it has not come up before it's only been around since twenty twenty one as a public traded company was trading at thirty eight cents just uh... two weeks ago announced a dollar thirty five but what they their their main business is they uh... process transport and sell metallurgical coal okay but They said on Monday that they are going to meet surging demand for domestically sourced rare earth oxide at its Noblesville, Indiana facility. They're going to expand their rare earth oxide production at their Indiana plant. The company said the phase two growth process from design to commissioning was completed in less than three weeks. and it will double the plant's production of finished rare earth oxides, with the third phase of expansion now underway, with equipment delivery expected in six to eight weeks, and projected to triple production levels when compared to phase two. So there's a new one. I added it to the, now the rare earths, neodymium, did you get that one right on the test? Neo, what are the 17 rare earths?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was about to say, I feel like they're making up something along the way.
SPEAKER 03 :
Neodymium is one, and they're going to ramp up production of that. They're going to ramp up production of praseodymium, praseodymium. Diprosium. That sounds like a drug you'd take for depression. Take some dysprosium and you'll feel better. Terbium is another one. Now, I don't recall those from the chemistry test, to be honest with you. While the Noblesville site was not originally intended to be commercial, growing customer demand, especially following recent global trade shifts, has made it an essential part of our operations today. As we continue developing our larger Marion, okay, we all know Marion, Indiana. What was that? The Music Man facility re-element, CEO Mark Jensen said. So, okay, Noblesville, Indiana becomes a player and a stock in EC to keep your eye on. In the meantime, the U.S. and Ukraine have inked a memorandum of intent. Okay, that's the first step, M-O-I. Then I think the next is a letter of intent replaces the memorandum of intent. And then there's usually a deal paving the way for a critical minerals deal. So there you go. I mean, you could buy, you could mine the rare earth. I mean, Trump wants access to the rare earth for the billions of dollars we've spent. He kind of, remember he used to say in Iraq, we should have taken the oil oil. Well, he wants to take the rare earth as payback for what we gave to them. Then they would ship it to this plant in Indiana and process it. So anyways, that is going on.
SPEAKER 04 :
Processing is the key.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it is.
SPEAKER 04 :
Because that's where China comes in, where China right now is the place to process it. And so even if getting access to it is the first step, the second step is actually processing it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Trump claims they have a deal that will be signed Thursday, and Secretary Scott Besson says we're still working on the details. We're shooting for around April 26th. So that's a big breakthrough. That's our friend Zelensky over there in Ukraine. And they did have a ceasefire over the Good Friday, and that's nice, and Easter. But now they're back at it today. The guys are back to work blowing each other up and blowing apartment buildings up and killing each other and all this and that. We would hope for peace there. And, of course, this week is a big earnings week. I mean, it's earnings, earnings, earnings. So there, was that enough news for you to digest on everything that's going on in the market? It's going to smooth out. It's a rocky day. I don't know. I think right now the most interesting story is the Fed and Trump and seeing what happens there, whether he's able to remove Jerome Powell. And if Jerome Powell does, it's going to go to the Supreme Court. That's what's going to happen. It seems like everything these days goes to the Supreme Court. Anyways, we're out of time. We're lining up our Cleveland trip, which will be approximately four weeks from now. And then we're going to Lakewood Ranch. I had it backwards last time, shortly thereafter. And then we're headed to Bloomfield, Michigan later after that. Make an appointment with us. There's some good value plays, relative value plays right now. 855-611-BEST. To get four weeks of our trial, everything, the whole enchilada, GundersonCapital.com. Have a great day, everybody.
SPEAKER 02 :
This show is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Bill Gunderson or clients of Gunderson Capital Management may have long or short positions in stocks mentioned during the show. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Gunderson Capital Management is a fee-based registered investment advisory firm. All accounts are held at Charles Schwab. Schwab is a member of SIBC and FINRA.
In this episode of The Kim Munson Show, listeners are invited to explore the intricate details of government intervention in daily life and the Fourth Amendment challenges posed by new surveillance measures. With a strong emphasis on the importance of maintaining individual freedoms, Kim and her guests sift through the complex dynamics of current legislative endeavors, aiming to educate and empower citizens to take a stand for their rights. Discover how these developments impact our privacy and what it means for future governance.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 06 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water. What it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 13 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 06 :
Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it's actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 13 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 06 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 13 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 06 :
Indeed, let's have a conversation, and welcome to the Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you're valued, you have purpose. Today, strive for excellence, take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment, and you are in Colorado for a reason. Thank you to the team. That's Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Easter Monday to you, Producer Joe.
SPEAKER 03 :
Happy Easter Monday to you as well, Kim.
SPEAKER 06 :
Did you have a good Easter? I did.
SPEAKER 03 :
It was nice. I just went to the parents' house, had a good dinner, and, you know, played some game. We played this game called Tapple. It was a lot of fun. It's just a quick little word game where everybody's kind of round-robinning words.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Any words that we should use for word of the day? You have to think about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, it's more based off a category. So, like, the category is movies, so then you're trying to use each letter that's not up. You're trying to pick a letter and be like, oh, shoot, now I can't even think of a movie. Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, good. I had a great Easter as well. And the Easter service was absolutely fabulous. And at my little church, they were going to have 16 baptisms. So at the service that I was at, they had six baptisms. It was absolutely precious. And I can't believe we're through Easter and we had pre-recorded four of the five days of last week. And I heard from many of you, you really appreciated the focus on those different subjects. But we're back in the saddle and there is a lot going on. So fasten your seatbelts because we are on it. And so several things. Check out the website. That is kimmunson.com. And we had two excellent essays that we published yesterday, one by Pam Long regarding RFK Jr.' 's first days. And so check that out. And then Alicia Garcia, a new sponsor with the Second Syndicate, also did an excellent piece regarding this Senate Bill 003. And so the title on that is License to Disarm the Tyranny of Senate Bill 25003. And I would really recommend that you check that out. She's done a really super job on that as well. And just great. So check all that out over at the website. And then while you're there, make sure that you've signed up for our weekly newsletter that goes out on Sundays. and you can email me at kim kimmunson.com the text line and i want to hear from you is 720-605-0647 i thank all of you who support us and the show comes to you uh uh six to eight a.m monday through friday first hour is rebroadcast one to two in the afternoon second hour 10 to 11 at night and that's on all klz 560 platforms which is klz 560 am klz 100.7 fm the klz website and the klz app and as you know on the show we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force force versus freedom if something's a good idea you should not have to force people to do it and we focus on the issues on this show we'll talk about the people that are involved in those issues but we really try to stay out of all the personality fighting on everything so Let's see. I wanted to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their goal sponsorship of the show because it is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy sources that powers our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. And it empowers us to change our own personal climate. It was a little chilly on Friday with the snow, and it was really nice to have warm weather. I met some friends for lunch, and nice to have a warm restaurant to go to as well. We take all of those things for granted. Our word of the day is felicitous, and it's spelled F-E-L-L, excuse me, let's start over, F-E-L-I-C-I-T-O-U-S, and it could be, number one, admirably suited, number Number two, exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style. Or three, marked by happiness or good fortune. And I would say that probably this next two weeks down at the state legislature, the radical activist extreme Democrats will not be felicitous at all to either the Republicans or to the people who are concerned about a number of the things that are going to be rammed through these last two weeks. And do check out the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. That website is coloradotaxpayer.org. Join us. We send out an email each Monday during the legislative session with positions on a variety of different bills. And just to give you a quick report from Bill Track 50, as of this morning, there were 703 bills that have been proposed down at the state house and every one of those i think are supposed to have a hearing so it's going to be pretty interesting to see what the last two weeks look like the colorado union of taxpayers has taken positions on 238 of those bills So if you want to be informed, be sure and join us. And I did want to say thank you to this group. And that is Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen, Dave Evans, Corey Onozorg, Paula Beard, and Ray Beard. These are all volunteers that are working diligently to keep you informed and to take positions with these legislators and the governor on many of these different bills. And again, you can join us at coloradotaxpayer.org. Our quote of the day is from founding father Benjamin Franklin. And he said this. He said, And I love that by Benjamin Franklin. And while we were off last week, we were not sitting around eating bonbons and twiddling our thumbs, working diligently. First of all, we've got to be on the offense, and we are on the offense here at the Kim Munson Show with working with all of you. and the good Lord to raise the money for the two lawsuits that we have in place right now. One is with United Sovereign Americans, and the basis of that lawsuit is that Colorado – and this is based on analysis they did after the 2022 election – that Colorado is not meeting the minimum standards as set forth by Congress on elections. And so that lawsuit is filed. The other is with Peter Berninger over at Wisconsin Center for Election Justice. And he used his technology to go through voter rolls here in Colorado and ended up because we were on a really focused time frame because of what is called NIVRA, the National Voting Rights Act, that we had to be very focused. And ultimately, he ran our analysis of certain voters as of Election Day, and 14,500 people that should not have gotten ballots voted. And so we've got that lawsuit in place, and those are going to complement, I think, President Trump's executive order significantly. So then we fast forward to Holly Kaysen and the lawsuit with her, Sean Smith, and Ash Epp. They were the defendants against MeFamilia Vota, the NAACP, and the League of Women Voters. And they won their case, but they—it's a long story, but the Christiansburg Standard— is a court case that says even if you are sued by NGOs and you lose, NGOs don't have to pay your legal fees, which that means these NGOs can do just about anything they want over there on the legal side. And so they're appealing that, and we needed to raise $60,000 for that. And together... with holly and sean and ash and the good lord we have just about raised all sixty thousand dollars and want to say thank you to all of you on that and then i started another project while we were off and you will know the details on that probably about in about five and a half weeks but that is going to be exciting as well we've raised the money for that as well So I want to say thank you to all of you who contributed, and thank you to the good Lord for providing all of those resources. The show comes to you because of our sponsors and all of you. And the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team wants you to feel safe and well-served and to understand your insurance coverage. And their office will respond to your call or text 24 hours a day. So for that 24-hour peace of mind, give them a call. That number is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 21 :
The Second Amendment was established to ensure that all individuals have the right to resist oppression, stand firm against government overreach, and protect our ability to defend ourselves, our families, and our freedoms. Today, that right is under relentless attack in Colorado. Colorado's premier grassroots Second Amendment organization, the Second Syndicate, is on the front lines, fighting to preserve and protect your constitutional rights. We expose the most pressing threats to the Second Amendment and provide the education, resources, and tools to stay informed, empowered, and prepared. Join the movement. Protect your rights. Visit thesecondsyndicate.com. That's thesecondsyndicate.com, where the second is first.
SPEAKER 20 :
Focused and wise marketing is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love The Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email Kim at KimMunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields. So they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services. Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors. Again, reach out to Kim at KimMunson.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you shouldn't have to force people to do it. Just came across the wire about three hours ago and Pope Francis passed on. And apparently, I think I saw something. They wheeled him out yesterday for an Easter Sunday greeting. But this morning, he passed on. So I just wanted to make sure that you knew that. Mike Rolick is on the line. He has been watching what's happening down at the Statehouse. And we've got a couple of weeks here, and he has an update for us. He's really been watching some things regarding, well, one of those is privacy. But let's find out what's on his radar. Mike Rolick, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 16 :
Hey, good morning, Kim, and happy late Easter. Hope you're doing well.
SPEAKER 06 :
I am doing well. So two more weeks. I think it's May 6th that this legislature should be done, although they have put in place, I think, given power to a lot of PBIs, politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties to do stuff. But what are you concerned about right now, Mike Rolick?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, you know, we've talked about the Senate Bill 25011, and that would be the wildfire, the AI wildfire detection components. One of the companies that will be bidding for this kind of work would be Panel AI, but there are others. But the basic concern is the idea that this camera technology is always on, doing the 360-degree panoramic sweep every minute, and then recording that, putting it to a private device, AI, it's a deep learning AI in the cloud, and then trying to figure out if there is a signal for smoke or not, and then passing it on to relevant authorities. Obviously, the privacy concerns are huge. We talked about them today. Sorry, tomorrow it's up in the Appropriations Committee. We did discuss how the gifts, grants, donations aspect of this bill is still in play. And that will be what's most likely getting discussed tomorrow since there's an appropriations. They can earmark up to a million dollars this year and then $2 million next year of state funding. But the gifts, grants, and donations could be unlimited. Unbelievable. We've already talked about it. It's terrible. Yep. And it's interesting because I don't particularly, you know, this technology is a little frightening to me, but if I were to want to donate, I could, according to one of the legislators that I heard in a testimony session, you could earmark that particular donation for a neighborhood of your choice, which is weird because if you have a state fund, It should be allocated to those most in need, I would think, as opposed to, hey, I'm giving money to a general fund, but can you look over here to my neighborhood? Do you remember when we talked about that?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 16 :
Gifts, grants, donations, yeah. Yes. And obviously, I think you and I share that same concern. And what's CUT's position now, Debbie? Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Cut's position on this Senate Bill 001 is a no. And this was what we said about it, Colorado Union of Taxpayers. Multiple laws at multiple levels of government already provide more than adequate assurance of equality. Hold on. That's the wrong one. What was the number, did you say? 011. Oh, 011, it was 11, excuse me. Okay, here we go. Okay, here we go. Apparently, we were a bit mixed on this, but this is what we said. We said, most members oppose this of our board. Our current situation regarding federal and state forest upkeep is dismal. Colorado is ripe for a catastrophic fire in different parts of the state, but benefits are projected with no guarantee of results. We are skeptical of public-private partnerships and of gifts, grants, and donations due to strings attached and the potential for spending on unintended uses. Instead, spend $7 million on clearing underbrush, and those results are guaranteed to reduce wildfires and spread of wildfires. So that's what Cut had to say about it to Mike.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, no, and you brought up a second interesting point is the forest management. There is a discrepancy or a kind of battle going on right now about what proper forest management is, and that's kind of a side note. But what we're seeing right now in places like Jefferson County Open Space, they're literally just cutting trees. down trees as opposed to taking care of the understory and leaving the canopy. And there is a scientific debate now on changes in wind patterns and changes in soil moisture content when you get rid of the actual large trees and the overstory rather than just taking care of the understory and reducing the fuels closer to the ground. I do have friends in forest management out in California and The ones that are getting the best results are leaving the large trees because you're taking care of the fuels close to the ground, but you're leaving that canopy and keeping things cool. You have less erosion, less drainage issues over time, and then less wind patterns. And so we've actually been looking at wind throw and it changes. We've talked to some folks near where these places have been clear cut and where they never were worried. They're worried now because... Well, the wind patterns change, and now they're experiencing those 70- and 80-mile-an-hour winds where before they had an amazing windbreak. So that's an aside. It's kind of a fuels management issue.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right.
SPEAKER 16 :
But that's pretty interesting as well. But as far as tomorrow goes, some of the real, I would believe, the supportive members, if people do want to reach out, which I hope they do, on the Appropriations Committee, we have Scott Bottoms. Lisa Frizzell and Brandi Bradley. And overall, their voting record has been pretty conservative. I can't say that for every Republican, but Scott Bottoms, Lisa Brazell, and Brandi Bradley.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, great. What else do we need to know about? Because, Mike, you're really doing a good job on this. And I think I need to talk to the cut board about this, but I think we'd probably like to put this on as cut engaged where people could take action on that. So I'm going to talk to Zach about trying to get that up this afternoon. Okay.
SPEAKER 16 :
So, okay. Yeah, that would be great. That would be great. One other interesting part about this, and I don't know if you're aware of the Institute for Justice, but I really like it. It's a Fourth Amendment group out in the East Coast. Well, they're based in D.C., but they have some satellite offices. But they're taking on a lawsuit in Norfolk, Virginia, against the automatic license plate readers. And there are parallels to this because the automatic license plate readers are always on. They're always taking information. They're always putting it into a database as compared to, say, a red light camera that only gets triggered on when someone potentially violates speed. And I just was looking it up. In February of this year, there was a judge that said it can proceed as a constitutional issue. And I'm hopeful that there's parallels here because, again, these fire detection cameras are always on, always recording, always uploading to a private database. There really is no transparency except for they're supposed to pixelate a house and blur a face.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Mike, one thing, Greg Morrissey, one of my buddies from Liberty Toastmasters, had sent this email over to me last week. And he said Longmont is installing the census gaso AI driven surveillance cameras right now. He said Firestone HOAs are installing Flock. And he says, are you concerned about where this is going? And these are these license plate readers. I know that Lone Tree is doing something regarding reading licenses over at Park Meadows Mall. And one of the reasons they say is they want to try to find bad guys. But that means that we've got government surveilling all of us all the time. And that is a real Fourth Amendment issue.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes, I would agree. And this is a scary time when our thoughts might align with the ACLU thoughts. The ACLU actually was saying New Hampshire would be the model of how to deal with these kind of cameras because New Hampshire, I think, orders the information to be destroyed within three minutes as opposed to up to 30 days when it comes to flock. And they had some other protective measures in place. Because part of what happens is that there's a lawsuit called Carpenter versus the U.S., and it was about collecting cell phone data for I think it was more than seven days, and that constitutes a search. Because you're not actually – at that point, you're not looking for anything specific. You're just gathering data for the potential. And they also looked at the fact that – a license plate reader in that context could be acting as a state actor because they are working in conjunction with the government to surveil, to pick up the data, the information, and then find a crime that fits to it potentially. See, there's a difference as well. And I think that's the parallel to me with Pano AI versus some of the other technologies. Lockheed Martin has a technology that would assess the risk based on weather patterns and based on weather of the day to see where lightning strikes are possible switch on the technology as far as i understand to where those lightning strikes have most probably hit and now you have a need because a lightning can cause a fire, and you're looking at that specific area with a specific intention as opposed to having these things always on, always surveilling, always picking stuff up, and then looking through the data to find something. So there is, yeah, I mean, there is an interesting connection there. And by the way, flock is pretty much everywhere. I do believe Arvada has flock now. And Flock also can connect to Axum dashboard and body cams for police. Wow. That's one of their subs that I was reading about. So it is an interesting net that starts coming together.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and one other thing I just wanted to mention is I'm deeply concerned about the surveillance of everyday people. And obviously the founders were as well because we have the Fourth Amendment. Now, it was different kind of stuff there, but privacy is super important here. But if they were really serious about these, you mentioned lightning strikes, and we're always gonna have lightning strikes, but my gosh, if you get rid of the fuel source, that underbrush, and manage that better, it's going to, the fires are not going to be, you know, as intense. They're not going to be as hot. And let's see some real serious business about that. So, Mike, we could, how about give us one more? We ended up a lot of time on this, but this is important. So what else is on your radar?
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, the Senate floor is looking at the HB 1169, which is the quote-unquote Yigbee bill, yes, in God's backyard. And we talked about that, I think, last week, building unlimited density on church property. But the caveat here that I thought was interesting is the Catholic Charities USA bill, put out a document that says, Catholic Charities USA is committed to addressing America's critical housing shortage by increasing and preserving affordable housing stock. Providing affordable housing is one of CCUSA's strategic priorities and a key support area for its membership. And they actually document out here project profiles and best practices for taking church land and building housing. HOMES OR TAKING OLD CHURCHES AND BUILDING HOMES. SO THIS BILL MIGHT HAVE A BIGGER ROOT THAN JUST COLORADO ITSELF. I TOOK A QUICK LOOK AND IT LOOKS LIKE A TREND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I SAW SOME IN CHICAGO, SOME OTHER LOFTS AND OTHER CITIES THAT WERE GETTING Yeah, they're taking churches and converting them into higher density housing. So I don't know if you're aware of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, yes, I am.
SPEAKER 16 :
Kind of an nationwide thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. OK, well, Mike, we're out of time on this. And man, you're doing my oh my, I should say you are doing amazing work on this. And so let's let's get you on again here as we're getting into the last couple of weeks here of this legislative session. And I think it's going to be real busy, Mike Rollick.
SPEAKER 16 :
I believe so, too. And thank you so much for having me on today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. These are such important discussions. And speaking of real estate, if you're going to buy a home, sell a home, or looking at a new build, reach out to Karen Levine. You want her on your side of the table.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
Don't delay. All of Kim's sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of the Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And last week, as you know, we did a number of prerecords, but I was down at the Center for American Values in Pueblo on Wednesday evening, emceeing an event with Norma Donlon. And she was married to Medal of Honor recipient Roger Donlon. And she didn't really talk about that much at all because she was born in one of the Japanese internment camps here in America during World War II. And it was an absolutely fascinating story. She's of Japanese heritage. And you can find that, her presentation, at the Center for American Values website, which is americanvaluescenter.org. And then Drew Dix, co-founder. of the center is now doing a podcast series. And you can find all that at AmericanValueCenter.org. That's AmericanValueCenter.org. Pleased to have on the line with me, Todd Reed. He is a district captain for District 10 with Convention of States. And there is a rally that is occurring this week. And we wanted to talk about Convention of States, Article 5. So Todd, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you, Kim. Great to be here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good to have you. So, Todd, if somebody's never heard of this Convention of States, explain that to us.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, just two days before the signing of the Constitution, the delegate from the state of Virginia by the name of George Mason realized that there might come a time when the federal government abused its power. And so self-governing people would have to have the ability to change the Constitution.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And so they added something into the Constitution, right?
SPEAKER 10 :
They did. They added Article 5. And here's a quote from George Mason. No amendments of the proper kind will ever be obtained by the people should government become oppressive. And George Mason and George Washington were farmers themselves. in neighboring farms. And so they were friends.
SPEAKER 06 :
And so fast forward that to where we are now. The federal government is out of control. And I think we're trying to get it put back in the box it's supposed to be in. And Article 5 of the Constitution would be important to do that. So tell us what could happen with Article 5.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, the reason that we need article five to help fix Congress air quotes is that Congress will never vote for term limits and Congress will never stay within the federal budget. We've elected people and we see how that goes. So to start out 34 state legislatures have to lead the way to pass a resolution through both houses calling for the article five convention. So each of the 50 states would determine the number of delegates to send, and each state would have one vote for each amendment.
SPEAKER 06 :
So a couple of things. What amendments are you looking at on trying to push forward?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, I got you. Well, the focus of the Article V Convention would be limited to three areas. In each of the state passed resolutions. Term limits for Congress. Fiscal responsibility to stay within the state budget or the federal budget and federal overreach. There is excessive influence on local decisions. And most of us would like Washington to stay out of our lives.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Todd, I have a number of friends that are very involved in the Convention of States Article 5. I push back a bit on the term limits thing. And the reason is, is because I'm concerned if we had term limits for representatives and senators, that that would only increase the power of the bureaucrats involved. in Washington and well also across government for sure but I'm concerned that the bureaucrats who would not be term-limited would have more and more power so ideally the people are supposed to use to exhibit their term limits or push term limits at the ballot box so what would you say to that well um let me give you an example
SPEAKER 10 :
of the people that are in Congress. And here's five from each party. Ed Markey from Massachusetts has been in for 45 years. Al Rogers in Kentucky, 42 years. Chris Smith in New Jersey, 42 years. Chuck Grassley in Iowa, 41 years. Chuck Schumer, New York, 41 years. Ron Hayden, Oregon, 41 years. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, 47 years. Rose Delaro, Connecticut, 32 years. And Maxine Waters, California, 32 years. Don't forget Jerry Nadler. New York for 31 years. So there are five from each of the parties. Do we really need people that are entrenched in our government for that long?
SPEAKER 06 :
But what about the bureaucrats? Because let's take this scenario. They know that somebody's going to be out in, let's say, 12 years. And so the bureaucrats know that they're not going to be out in 12 years. So in a way, I'm concerned that that would really make Congress even more irrelevant. Because I think the bureaucrats, we've got to do some kind of term limits on them.
SPEAKER 10 :
So you're concerned that it's going to make the Congress people more, say the lobbyists, have more influence on congressional members?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think that they'd have more influence on the bureaucrats behind the congressional members.
SPEAKER 10 :
And what bureaucrats are you referring to?
SPEAKER 06 :
So those would be over on the administrative state regarding, of course, Trump's trying to do something about that. But they're not term limited at all at this time.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that's part of the debate that needs to take place.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, it's a serious thing. The delegates to the convention will have certain guidelines that they have to follow. And under penalty of law, their behavior is restricted. So the discussion with the Convention of States lets Congress and the bureaucrats know that the people are watching and listening. And I think it's a good thing to challenge the seat of power with the Convention of States.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I agree. And I think people, I think we need to be challenging the power of not only the federal government, but what we're seeing here in Colorado as well. But that's a different discussion. And so before we go to break, explain how, who would select, well, let's go back to how many states need to approve this? Where are you at right now? Because I know that there's been a lot of work to try to get these through the state legislatures.
SPEAKER 10 :
yeah 34 state legislature state legislatures must pass this resolution and currently we have 19 that have passed it completely through their both houses we have we have another oh it's 31 total that have either passed or are um considering the legislation in their states So that's a good number, and the Convention of States is going to happen eventually. It's just a matter of time now.
SPEAKER 06 :
So let's go to break. I'm talking with Todd Reed, and he is a district captain for District 10 with Convention of States and talking about things to get the federal government really put back in the box that it's supposed to be in, that the founders... wanted our federal government to be limited. It's not limited much at all these days. And so we will continue the discussion. But if you are looking at needing a new mortgage, a first mortgage, second mortgage, or a reverse mortgage, reach out to Lauren Levy.
SPEAKER 14 :
We'll be right back. If you'd like to explore what a reverse mortgage can do for you, call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881. That's 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 12 :
Call now. You'd like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Monson Show, but you can't remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim's website, kimmonson.com. That's Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter and you can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea. You should not have to force people to do it. And I am talking with Todd Reed, and he is the district captain for District 10 of Convention of States. And we were having this discussion regarding amendments that could be proposed at a Convention of States. One of those was term limits. And I think Producer Joe, during the break, he had mentioned just the power of bureaucrats but as he was talking about that I realized Todd with the Convention of States if there were term limits then that should put the representatives back on the side of the people instead of the special interests and then they could rein in bureaucrats is that would you say that that's correct that is the that's what we're trying to accomplish because fresh faces in Congress
SPEAKER 10 :
have new ideas, and they want to serve the people. When you're in Congress for as long as some of these people have been in Congress, you cozy up to the lobbyists and it's business as usual. And we want to see if we can break that and infuse Congress with new ideas and new blood. And once the convention is held, 38 states, all get to vote on the amendments and ratify them before the amendments become law. Okay. There have been three mock conventions. We've held two in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2023.
SPEAKER 06 :
Was it Williamsburg, Virginia?
SPEAKER 10 :
Williamsburg, yes. And just last year, an Article V experience was held in Comfort, Texas.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
So that's the problem. Well, go ahead.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, so next question is the budget. We are headed to disaster with the deficits and the overspending, and we've got to get that under control. So tell us about that next amendment, which would be a balanced budget amendment.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, we didn't consent to $36 trillion of debt. And if it's constitutional that Congress has to stay within a balanced budget, we wouldn't lose control of the spending in Congress.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so that makes sense. And then the last one, federal overreach. Tell me a little bit about that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, the federal government tries to influence local decisions with grants and incentives. And this would allow local states to make their own decisions without the influence of Washington trying to coerce the states into making certain kinds of decisions.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and I think that, again, getting the federal government back in its proper role and getting rid of these grants that come from the federal government to try to influence behavior at the state, county, and local level I think would be really important. One of our listeners, Jenny, has said that these grants that come from the federal government to these other jurisdictions is like crack cocaine to municipalities and counties and states. And I think she's absolutely right. So that makes a lot of sense as well. So Todd Reed, so there's a rally that's or there's an event that's going to happen this week, right?
SPEAKER 10 :
That's correct. Two days from now on Wednesday at 11 o'clock, there's a rally on the steps of the state capitol in Denver. And Mark Meckler, one of the founders of of Convention of States will be a keynote speaker there. But, you know, my challenge to people, if you agree that Article 5 is a good idea, is to Google the Convention of States website and follow the Take Action button, because we have volunteers out all summer long. We're going to be getting more people to sign the resolution that they agree and the Signature goes directly to your state legislature based on your zip code. There's 2.5 million people who support Convention States nationwide and 55,000 in Colorado alone.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and so this rally will be on, you said on Wednesday, again, at the Capitol. Is that going to be on the west side? And again, what was the time on that?
SPEAKER 10 :
11 o'clock on the west side, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And at the website, conventionofstates.com, you have a map that shows the states that have passed a Convention of States resolution. So is there any time limit on these different states that have passed that resolution?
SPEAKER 10 :
Not that I'm aware of. We've been working on this for decades. 13 years now to get where we are. We're going to keep going until, you know, this Convention of States is like Kennedy's vision of walking on the moon. It's never been done before. And so if people want to take part in history, it would be a good thing that they can do to get involved. And it doesn't take much. Just go to the website. sign the petition and send it off to your, it'll automatically go to your state legislature and let them know that you support a convention of states convention. And you can either watch history being made or you can be part of history.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Todd Reed, we're in Colorado, and Colorado is not one of the states that looks like anything is happening right now with Convention of States, at least when I look at the map. So bring us up to speed regarding Colorado.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, Colorado is a little bit behind, but that's not deterring us. Our motto is to... to overcome. And that's why there's a group of veterans that go out to get signatures. And if you see them with the table set up somewhere in a public event, go over and say hello to them. They're from the Marines, the Navy, the Air Force, and they're really great guys. They're trying to
SPEAKER 06 :
get as many people as possible to let our legislators know that the people support a convention of state conference so once this uh the convention would happen and this would you said it had to be 34 states is that right
SPEAKER 18 :
34, correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and 19 have already approved this. And so there's 15 more to go. And it looks like it's passed in one of the two houses in Wyoming, South Dakota, and Kansas. And there's active legislation in a number of other states. But then once the Convention of States happens, each state would then have a vote regarding those proposals. And then that would go back to the states that 38 states would have to approve those particular amendments to the Constitution. Is that right? Am I getting that correct?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes, that is correct. 38 states would approve amendments. the amendments that come from Convention of States to make it law. So it's a high bar to amend the Constitution.
SPEAKER 06 :
But Todd, this is really the way it's supposed to be. When the founders put together, first of all, the vision of America through the Declaration and then the Constitution to keep government limited and that we would settle our differences, not by picking up arms, but in this battle of ideas, which is what we are involved in every day on the show, is to engage in the battle of ideas, which this Article 5, the Constitution, makes America unique in the history of man.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. I think that we're lulled into complacency and don't think about getting involved in governance. You know, just ask yourself, can you name your state house your senator or house representative? It's easy today. to save a phone number or an email in your phone and computer and let your legislature know what you're thinking. And I appreciate your show especially because you talk about the things that Americans and Coloradans should be conversing about regarding policy that impacts us in the short term and the long term.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, in Colorado, I think Todd Reed is at the tip of the spear on all of the crazy stuff that's getting pushed out here in our country right now. So that's why, yes, that we do the show. We've got about a minute left on this, Todd Reed. And I really appreciate you reaching out. And I know a number of the folks that are really involved in Convention of States, they care deeply about our fellow man. They care deeply about America. So how would you like to wrap this up?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, everybody can be a proponent. You can talk to your coworkers, your bank tellers, grocery clerks, strangers. Just out of the blue, say, hey, do you know how many ways there are to amend the Constitution? And you'll get a lot of crazy answers. But that gives you an opening to talk about Convention of States. And people that I've talked to appreciate the fact that that we can, as people, we the people, have an effect on the Constitution and try and correct Congress as it stands today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and it's really important that being a citizen of the United States of America, it should not be passive. It's something that we should be actively involved in because if we're passive on it, we get to where we are right now, Todd Reed. I really appreciate that. And again, when is this rally?
SPEAKER 10 :
It is Wednesday. It starts at 11 o'clock on the west side of the Capitol building, downtown Denver.
SPEAKER 06 :
It should be a beautiful day in Colorado, so great to get down to the Capitol. Todd Reed, thank you, and thank you for all the great work that you and all those involved with Convention of States is doing, and that website is conventionofstates.com. And our quote for the end of the show is from Andrew Napolitano. He said, "...all presidents but Jefferson have argued that their first job was to keep us safe." All presidents but Jefferson were wrong. If you read the Constitution, you will see that the president's first job, as Jefferson understood it, is to keep us free. So, my friends, today be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 1 :
to cry.
SPEAKER 07 :
But tell them if I don't say
SPEAKER 18 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 06 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water, what it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 13 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 06 :
Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it's actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 13 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 06 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 13 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 06 :
Indeed. Let's have a conversation. And welcome to the Kim Munson Show's Hour No.
SPEAKER 1 :
2.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much for joining us. You're each treasured. You're valued. You have purpose today. Strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body, my friends. We were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team, a great team that I get to work with, and that is Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Easter Monday, Producer Joe. Happy Monday, Kim. Yeah. And we're back in the saddle. You know, I took a little bit of time. Well, you just came in later. You didn't have to get up at oh, dark 30. And amazingly, I'm so used to getting up at oh, dark 30, even though we weren't broadcasting. I got up at oh, dark 30, but I got a lot done.
SPEAKER 03 :
I do believe that because I was naturally waking up about 4.45 every morning and going, oh, it's time to go back to sleep because I can't.
SPEAKER 06 :
And we try to do this four times a year. That is the week of Easter, the week of the Fourth of July, the week of Thanksgiving, and the week of Christmas to do prerecords so that the team can have a little bit of a break. And so really appreciate that. Hey, check out the website. That is KimMunson.com. While you're there, we've got two excellent essays that we published this last Sunday in our newsletter. The first one is by Alicia Garcia. She is with the Second Syndicate, which is a new sponsor of the show. And the title of this is License to Disarm, the Tyranny of Senate Bill 25003, which Governor Polis signed that. And so that is really an important piece. And then also a piece by Pam Long where she talks about RFK Jr. and what he's doing over at the Secretary of Health and Human Services. So super great, great pieces there. So check that out at my website. And while you're there, sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at kim at kimmunson.com. Text line is 720-605-0647. And thank you to all of you who support us. Our word of the day is felicitous. And it could be, number one, admirably suited or apt. Number two, exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style. Or number three, marked by happiness or good fortune. And Lorne Levy, a great sponsor of the show for everything mortgages, he's in studio and Karen Levine will be in soon. But I'm going to attempt to use the word of the day, Lorne.
SPEAKER 15 :
I thought you were going to ask me, so I'm glad you're trying.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is, is that the markets are not very felicitous regarding uncertainty, right?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, very much so.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the uncertainty of these tariffs is pretty interesting with the markets right now.
SPEAKER 15 :
It is. And I'm just, you know, I just watch... I was talking to someone the other day over the weekend, I think in When we used to see moves in like the U.S. Treasuries, like the 10-year note, you know, if the 10-year note, let's just say, for example, went from 425 to 430 in a day, that was a really big day. That was a large move. And now that happens like it's nothing. Like I'm watching it right now. It just went from 435 to 441 back to 438 in the last like 20 minutes. So there's like news is just moving it around all the time. So it's just become a more volatile market.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, well, we'll talk about that in the second and third segment, what that means for people in the mortgage arena as they're looking at things. So our quote of the day, I think that you'll like this. Now, you grew up in Boston. And so Boston, well, did you know that April 19th was Patriots Day?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that's today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yesterday.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, they're actually celebrating it today. The Red Sox play their morning game this year in the marathons today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh.
SPEAKER 15 :
So it's always on a Monday. They have all the kids today are from school.
SPEAKER 06 :
For Patriots Day? Mm-hmm. I thought I was going to stump you on that because I was stumped on that. Not being from Boston, huh?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. No, there have been. After this, this is the one thing I usually do. I normally go to the office after this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER 15 :
But today I'm going to go home because I've got to watch the Red Sox.
SPEAKER 1 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 15 :
They play at 9 a.m.
SPEAKER 06 :
So Patriot's Day is, we had Ben Martin on last week. We pre-recorded it. And the right of Paul Revere, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, although Ben Martin said it wasn't actually totally accurate, but it was written to really get people excited about America. And then the shot heard around the world was February 19th as well, which was then the battles of Lexington and Concord.
SPEAKER 15 :
It's interesting because you say I'm from Boston. I am. I lived there my whole, you know, youth and into adulthood. And it's kind of one of those things I can only speak for myself. I don't know about everybody else, but you kind of get bored with where you live sometimes and you don't realize what you have. And the history there is amazing. So now when I go back and take my family, it's like we're going to do this. We're going to do this. There's so much people that go visit. Like, what should I do? I'm like, I can give you a thousand things to do there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
It's so much history and everything's so old.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I know. I did the Freedom Walk in Boston.
SPEAKER 15 :
The long one or the short one?
SPEAKER 06 :
The short one, yeah. I want to go back. I want to go back. But lots of history, and this was in 1775. So, Lorne, I think we're in our 1775 moment here.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, there's a lot going on, that's for sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
There's a lot going on, and that's why we do this show. I did want to mention, are you a golfer?
SPEAKER 15 :
I tried. I'm not very good. And then I've got this bad back thing, so it's cut into the playing quite a bit.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you probably aren't going to do the USMC Memorial Foundation Golf Tournament.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, I haven't played in a while.
SPEAKER 06 :
15th, okay. But if you're a golfer and you want to support the foundation and have a great day of golf out at the... I think it's the Ridge and Castle Pines, go to the USMC Memorial Foundation and check out their website. And that would be a great thing to do to help support them. And that is on May 15th, which is right around the corner. And very excited to have Lauren in studio and Karen Levine will be in studio in a little bit. But I know all my sponsors personally, and I know each and every one of them strives for excellence. And so I'm blessed to work with these great people. And I'm so pleased to have the Roger Magnet State Farm Insurance team as a sponsor of the show. And we're getting into hail season. Colorado is one of the top hail capitals of the world. And so let's talk a little bit about roofs because roofs are one of the things that gets...
SPEAKER 09 :
damaged in a hail storm and lots of questions about replacement costs can you get insured to replace the whole roof what what does that look like exactly good question kim and yes hail season is upon us i think the latest claim i've ever had with hail was in october the earliest one was april so it's a long season um you know it's six months on the calendar and You know, if you have a roof that gets hit by hail and it's 10 years old, and it's, let's say, severe hail, smaller than a golf ball, but severe coming down the right direction with the great velocity it gets coming out of the clouds, it can tear your roof up. So you need a new roof. Before we get to the financial side of that roof, I deplore you, please, do not, Except a knock on the door and talk to a roofer. I've had people who have done that. They get far enough into that conversation where they really like this roofer to be. And the worst part is signing a contract with that roofer. Basically, hail chaser, they have a team that goes and knocks on doors and, hey, your neighbor used us. Can I have a conversation with you? Or your neighbor got a new roof. Did you get one? Let me talk. So they're really very smooth at what they do. And there are a lot of very good legitimate roofers out there. I don't want to throw them under the bus. But there are some that take advantage of the situation. So first thing you do is call your agent. Say, hey, we had a hailstorm here. Would you please... You know, have someone come out and look at the roof. You'd want a state farm adjuster, for example. The best thing to do is get your agent to recommend a roofer who will go out, not the state farm adjuster. But a roofer, and your agent can give you the name of two or three roofers, that will come out, they'll assess the roof and say, yes, you need a new roof. So you have a trusted roofer. Now you call your agent and set up a claim. If you do it in reverse, you set up a claim with State Farm, and there is no damage. Just because your neighbor got a new roof doesn't mean you got one. That's... I guess we call it. Everybody thinks, boy, I never got one. I deserve one. Hailstorms are kind of unique that way. They can damage a house right next to you and not damage yours. Be that as it may, your state farm adjuster comes out after the claim is filed and he writes it up. So now the roofer that you had come out looks at that state farm estimate and says, I can do it for that. Or that state farm estimator missed a few things, but the roofer and the estimator worked that out. You're kind of out of the picture now, and that's the ideal thing to do, to have a good roofer and a good adjuster, look at the differences, work it out, and write up a final estimate. Now, as far as replacement costs, A roof today is probably $30,000 to $50,000 to put out of, let's say, a 3,000, 2,000 to 3,000 square foot house. That's a big check, okay? So let's say it's a $20,000 loss. State Farm writes you a check, and they give you maybe out of $20,000, they give you $12,000 or $15,000. They're going to hold back the loss. the difference until the roof is done so they have some leverage really to make sure the quality of the job is such that you accept it so and that's a little confusing to people because your mortgage company is involved and the mortgage company is going to have to sign off on that so it is a there's a three-way commitment going on here between the mortgage company the roofer and your insurance company and you're in there of course your insurance company represents you but at the same time we have an obligation to the mortgage company to make sure that job has been done because they're they own as much of that house as you do so as far as depreciation of the roof there are some companies out there writing business that do not give you a hundred percent replacement cost So you need to know what you're buying on that roof situation. And if you're getting a quote, be sure you say, do I have full replacement costs? If they say yes, State Farm sells only full replacement cost policies. The only thing they do is hold back until the job is done to make sure the job is done correctly to your satisfaction.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, Roger, that's important information. So ask that question, do I have full replacement costs? And I think that can save you a bunch of headaches down the road here in Colorado where we are one of the hail capitals of the world. What's the best way for people to reach you for a complimentary appointment?
SPEAKER 09 :
Please call us at 303-795-8855. That's 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty, wrote founding father John Adams. RE-MAX realtor Karen Levine has been working diligently at the local, county, state, and national levels to protect property rights and home ownership. Karen has navigated the often challenging Colorado metro real estate market for years. That's 303-877-7516
SPEAKER 12 :
You'd like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can't remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim's website, kimmunson.com. That's Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. Wanted to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their goal sponsorship of the show because it's reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, and empowers us to change our own personal climate. I was busy last week, even though we... Had four days of prerecords, and Ramey Johnson and Walt Johnson, they did a screening with AMAC of Climate Conversation out in Lakewood. And Walt is kicking around the idea of doing a sequel to a Climate Conversation.
SPEAKER 05 :
And what is AMAC?
SPEAKER 06 :
uh American mature or something it's the uh it's the conservative alternative to aarp I think it is oh and so it was a great screening and uh so Walt's kicking that idea around but you can watch a climate conversation for free at a climateconversation.com and Eric bless his heart he i don't think the guy sleeps because he is so informed on everything but i get a text message he said uh hey a climate conversation was on at 4 a.m on newsmax i hadn't watched it yet it was great and so eric thank you for that and then also this had come in from yvonne on friday she said we're going to loveland hooters for fish and chips for good friday supporting those who support you. I love that. And then she also just texted me. She said she's never been to Boston and she and I can be travel buddies. And she said, I'll go with you. She would, she and I would have a blast in Boston. So we're going to have to make a date on that because she's listening to you. You don't have much of a Boston accent.
SPEAKER 15 :
lauren levy it's funny i i never really did um i have relatives that you would have trouble understanding but it only evidently come the one thing i've always been told is i talk fast which is a northeast thing okay um you know people have told me i have to slow down when i explain things sometimes but and then i've also heard that if i get mad it comes out
SPEAKER 06 :
I'm not sure that I could ever imagine Lord loving mad.
SPEAKER 15 :
It takes a lot.
SPEAKER 06 :
I bet it does.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
But I bet when it happens.
SPEAKER 15 :
It hasn't happened in a while, but it's happened.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Same here. There's lots of things when I get mad that I've tried to really temper that. But I wanted to mention thank you, Yvonne, for going to Hooters restaurants, supporting those that support me. And our show in Hooters restaurants, there's five locations, Lovedon, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster and Colorado Springs. Great specials for lunch and a happy hour. Probably can't watch the Red Sox at 9 a.m. this morning because I don't think they open yet.
SPEAKER 15 :
That's true.
SPEAKER 06 :
They don't have breakfast over there.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I'm not doing wings for breakfast very often.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, but the Red Sox season opener today, right? No, no.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, they're like 20 games in. They're like the Rockies. Oh, okay. This is just the Patriots day game. That's why they do it. They do it so that, like we used to do this as kids. We would go to the game and get out. Of school. Well, everyone has the day off for school. So we go to the game. The game would end. And you walk out of Fenway Park and you've just missed the winners of the marathon. go by so then you could catch friends you know so like in college we'd go to the red songs game get out of the game go down to the finish line and you know we'd be carrying beers in our jackets and not you and then we just wait for our friends that were running the marathon okay to come by so like the game starts at nine the it'll so that means it'll end at like noon the winners finished the marathon like 11 30 i think okay the guys that are just flying
SPEAKER 06 :
I didn't realize that the Boston Marathon was for Patriots Day as well.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that's today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and yes, I should know that opening day was earlier in April, and we're in the hockey playoffs and basketball playoffs, too.
SPEAKER 15 :
So that marathon bombing, I think, was April 15th of 2013. I think it was right around now, you know, this time on Patriots Day.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Well, good to know. And so, great place, though, to watch all the games, Hooters restaurants. Check that out. And great sponsors of the show. And let's see. Oh, let's see. Did I give the quote of the day with Benjamin Franklin?
SPEAKER 15 :
I heard it in the first hour, but not this time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. I gave the word of the day. Felicitous. And the quote of the day is from Benjamin Franklin. He said, the U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. And Karen Levine is in studio as well for Everything Mortgages. Yep. No, not mortgage, but I'm really real estate. It's okay. Sorry.
SPEAKER 15 :
She dabbles.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I'm a little rusty here, taking some time off. Okay. Okay. Is this the year that your word is joy, or was that last year?
SPEAKER 05 :
That was last year. I'd like to grab that word back because it's this year's word. It's tough.
SPEAKER 06 :
What was this year's word? It's listen.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you laugh.
SPEAKER 06 :
I get it. I truly get it. So, OK, let me make sure I've done everything that I want to do here. And so let's jump into it regarding, first of all, real estate. While I had some time off on Friday, the day it was snowing, I ended up having lunch. This was a lunch that was planned for probably six weeks with some other girlfriends. And my girlfriend from Phoenix was in town. They were staying down in Colorado Springs. She'd organized this luncheon, and then she couldn't make it because it was snowing. So the rest of us got together, but one of the girls is moving to Texas and she has her house on the market and she, and it's in the South Metro area. And she said, I think I missed it. We, she said, I think that we put our house on a little too high and we haven't had any offers. It's been on the market for a month. And so I'm seeing more for sale signs. And I think What we've learned, Lauren, you and I have sat at this desk and watched so many different things happen in the mortgage market, the real estate market. So what's going on right now, Karen Levine?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, first I would say the fact you're seeing more signs is a seasonal thing. We always see more signs in April. The most amount of signs actually seasonally is in April. And the most amount of buyers typically in the marketplace is March, April to mid-May. So this is the height of what we would consider the spring selling season. I have heard that the market of the South Metro area, Southern Aurora, Parker, Centennial, Lone Tree, those markets are seeing less activity. And I don't know that I have an answer to the why they're seeing less activity. The Northwest suburbs are very active. We're seeing multiple offers on homes. But with that said, you and I and Lauren have talked about pricing. And you, as a seller, need to be very, very sensitive to your pricing strategy and make sure that you're getting good professional advice about pricing your home. Because overpricing can be very, very harmful. Underpricing, and not dramatically underpricing, but when you slightly underprice... you look like a very good value, which creates more eyes on your property and the potential for multiple offers or for a very strong full price offer initially. So pricing is critical. And I would say... I have a new listing up in Arvada. It is lovely, three-bedroom, three-bath, two-car garage, priced well at $670. But Easter weekend is not an ideal time to see a lot of traffic. So this weekend was pretty quiet. It will be interesting to see when I get in the office today if that was true across the board.
SPEAKER 06 :
So I'm wondering if there's been, down in the south metro area, there's been such an increase in values of homes. And so I'm wondering if maybe Northwest is more reasonably priced or no? No.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, I showed property to a client who this is an interesting journey that we are on. The client has a handicapped son who is in a wheelchair. And. Obviously, they have special needs of a home that can accommodate a wheelchair. We need a main floor bedroom, not a main floor master. We need a main floor secondary bedroom. And what we're finding is finding the bedroom is not the challenge. It's finding a bathroom that can be retrofitted for a wheelchair. There's just not a lot of square footage in those bathrooms.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, because normally there might be the bathroom without a shower.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. If you have a main floor bedroom, you typically have a three-quarter bath. Because you have a bedroom, you wouldn't have just a half bath to accommodate that bedroom. But it's the size of that bathroom that doesn't have enough radial space to turn a wheelchair around. With that said, we looked in the Ken Carroll area, we looked in Arvada, and we looked in backcountry, which is the southwest side of Highlands Ranch. And those homes were seeing a lot of activity two weeks ago, two, three weeks ago. And, you know, that was in the south and then obviously the west. And a couple of those homes are still on the market. But I showed him, I believe, eight properties and half are under contract.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Interesting. So there's activity. Okay. Well, and I want to find out with all this tariff stuff, what that's been doing to the mortgage market with Lorne Levy. So we're going to go to break. And when we come back, we'll have that discussion. But while I was off last week, I have that in air quotes, off last week. I did emcee an event down at the Center for American Values on Wednesday. It was fascinating by Norma Donlon. And she was born, she's Japanese heritage, in one of the Japanese internment camps during World War II. And it was fascinating. And you can catch that. You can go to the Center for American Values website, which is AmericanValuesCenter.org. And catch that there. And then Drew Dix, Medal of Honor recipient, started a podcast, which is very interesting. And he did one on Greenland that I think that you really want to check that out. You can do all that by going to AmericanValueCenter.org. That's AmericanValueCenter.org. And I'm really pleased to welcome as a new sponsor of the show, the Second Syndicate.
SPEAKER 21 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
The current level of interest rates is causing challenges and creating opportunities. For nearly 20 years, mortgage specialist with Polygon Financial Group, Loren Levy, has helped individuals realize their hopes and dreams of homeownership, fund kids' educations through second mortgages, and access capital by utilizing reverse mortgages. Loren's not constrained to work with just one lender. Because he works with many different lenders, Loren offers you choices for your individual mortgage needs. Knowledge is power and preparation leads to success. Call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881 so that you are prepared for the opportunities in the mortgage market. That's Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881. Focused and wise marketing.
SPEAKER 20 :
is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love the Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email kim at kimmunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields. So they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services. Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors. Again, reach out to Kim at KimMunson.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice, and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea... Should not have to force people to do it. I wanted to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their goal sponsorship of the show. It is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, and empowers us to change our own personal climate. Lauren Levy, mortgages, 10-year treasury, tariffs, what's going on?
SPEAKER 15 :
A lot of bouncing around.
SPEAKER 06 :
You don't need to go to the theme park and get on the roller coaster. You can just watch this, right?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. I mean, you always talk about when we do our calls how long we've been working together. And the whole theme throughout the whole thing has been uncertainty.
SPEAKER 06 :
Regarding the tariffs and all that?
SPEAKER 15 :
No, just regarding anything in the market. Stock markets, any market doesn't like uncertainty. It could be about anything. Right now, it's the tariffs, right? I mean, in years past, it could be terrorist attacks or geopolitical tensions or what might happen, who might attack who or –
SPEAKER 05 :
But there's always uncertainty.
SPEAKER 15 :
Typically, there is something.
SPEAKER 05 :
Inflation. Yeah. Remember when we were watching inflation.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, or COVID was a huge one, right? I mean, any of them, anytime you don't know exactly what's going to happen, markets don't like that. They like direction and they like to know where things are headed. So right now we have uncertainty as to what will be the result of the tariffs. Will they stay on? Will they, you know, after this 90-day reprieve, will they come back? Will they be there? Will they not? Will it affect growth? Will it affect employment? Will it affect prices and inflation? A lot of uncertainty. And so when you have that, markets get scared. And people... All markets are risky. The stock market has risk, right? And people will not want to take that risk when they're uncertain. So that's when markets go down. People sell and go to cash. They also sell bonds, which are very safe, but... have some risk, and they'll go to cash. And when they're doing that, it brings down the value of all these different assets. So bonds work inverse to their price. The price comes down, the interest rates go up. The yield on the bonds goes up, which causes interest rates to rise. And that's what we've seen. But then you'll have something happen, like... We had those days when the stock market was down kind of big a couple days in a row, and then President Trump said he's going to do a 90-day reprieve on a tariff, and the stock market went up by 2,000 points. And when you're trying to price loans for people and you have a day like that, you're like, whoa, that rate I just gave does not apply, as opposed to 30 minutes ago.
SPEAKER 06 :
So on an individual basis, somebody's gone through all the work of putting everything together and figuring out if they can make that house payment, and then it changes.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right, and that's when we tell them all the time, when you lock in a loan, you've locked in your highest rate. Okay. It's not going any higher. From there, things can move around. We have ways we can do things, and the worst case scenario is... you're looking at a refinance months down the road, which is a worst-case scenario, and that's where we try to help people cover their costs as much as we can the second time around because there are costs to refinance. But at least you know the highest rate you're going to have. And if you're comfortable with that, you're fine.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and Karen Levine, I think that people, it's just human nature. You want to buy low, sell high. Or if you buy a house, and we had seen multiple offers, people say, gosh, did I overpay for my house? However, if they're going to be there for a long time, it doesn't matter that much, right? No.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. Well, in in the comment of overpaying is relative to the market, which is exactly what Lauren just said. You have a choice. And what we talk about is the freedom to make those decisions. And when you we had short supply and had high demand, we had less houses available for buyers. Well, that causes prices to go up and they had the decision to make. Do I make a decision to buy at this price? and get a three, three and a half percent mortgage, which really made the overall price irrelevant because the cost of money was so low. And now today we're in a market where interest rates really are where interest rates typically have been for my career of 35, almost 40 years. So you look at rates in the sixes being pretty typical. And yes, our prices went up. But again, we still struggle with an inventory shortage. And yet the perception is there are a lot of signs out there. And yet we aren't at a number of signs that would create what we would refer to as a balanced market where you have equal amount of buyers and sellers in the marketplace. And maybe you have a little bit of downward pressure on pricing if it becomes more of a buyer's market. We haven't seen that.
SPEAKER 06 :
So I am so concerned about all of these apartments. We've talked about that. And Lauren, as we were talking just about this, and I'm a free market girl. If people want to rent, great. But what I've learned is there's really been some coercion by government to push these apartments. four and five story apartment buildings and then also we're seeing colorado state legislature trying to for example there was this let's see which bill was this that uh i think it was 1169 where it would say that churches and schools could use some of their property for affordable housing which could change the fabric of a neighborhood significantly and so this government coercion trying to push people into rental units. I've been concerned about it. And you said one of the reasons that that had happened, because you mentioned, Karen, the cost of money, the cost of money to build these apartment buildings was favorable, right?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, for a long time it was. These guys were getting FHA financing, you know, to build these these apartment buildings in very low rates. So they're going to go where they can profit. Right. I mean, that's business. So if they can make more to an apartments and not have to face the lawsuits of condos. That we have that they've had to face and and make more money that that's a no brainer for them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And I agree. I drive around all the time and I'll be with my wife. I'm like, look at this building now. Look at this building now. And they're trying to push all along the corridor. And every time I drive up and down these empty trains rolling up and down, it's just like, man, this doesn't work.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's it doesn't work. And I saw I was driving driving around last week and I was at a stoplight and one of those accordion buses was there and it was empty. And I was thinking, what? Think of this transfer of wealth. Taking from people via sales tax because we pay sales tax to RTD. And just to continue this. And empty trains, I would drive by and there was nobody on the platforms to get on these trains. But they continue to move them back and forth. And it's crazy to do this.
SPEAKER 15 :
The only times I see these, I mean, I guess there are times when I see people like early in the day or late in the evening, maybe taking them to work. Only when you have some place to go, it seems like a specific destination, like a Bronco game. I'm going to and from a concert, to and from the Broncos, to and from the Rockies. You'll see some full trains. But when I drive around just on a normal time, you know, 10 a.m., there's nobody on these things. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's crazy.
SPEAKER 15 :
They've built all these apartments where everyone's just going to ride the train because they wouldn't need a car. Yeah. But they want their car.
SPEAKER 06 :
They want their car. They want to be able to go where they want to, when they want to.
SPEAKER 15 :
And a lot of them want to put it in a garage. You think? Where they don't have to brush off the snow.
SPEAKER 05 :
You think? Well, so then, you know, let's not require parking spaces.
SPEAKER 06 :
For all this building. Because they think if you don't have a place to park the car, then you won't own a car. But what happens now is then everybody's parking their cars in the neighborhoods nearby.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, which then affects it. But I am not fond of the multitude of apartments that got built. But you've got to look... When you look at it from a business perspective, of which Lauren was saying, if the return on an investment is positive for that developer investor, they will continue to build apartments. But if those apartments are not getting filled with renters, there's going to be the pullback. And we always talk about overbuilding, overbuilding. There was a period of time I thought we were building way too much assisted living. And now you find we really don't have too much assisted living. So a lot of that's projection. A lot of that is business forecasting and you're going to make good choices. You, the business owner, the investor, et cetera, et cetera. And some are going to be successful and some aren't. The sad part is I believe that so much of what has come out of our city councils and our state legislature is has impeded the building of home ownership units, that has caused the unaffordable situation.
SPEAKER 06 :
Which brings us up. Remember when you and I did that World Economic Forum show? And you and I, we were very concerned about it because we thought, oh, everybody will think that we have tin hats on. But you and I started to research it because there was a quote by somebody from the World Economic Forum that by 2030 that we'll own nothing and be happy about it. You and I looked at it and we're thinking, well, that seems kind of crazy. But that's what that agenda has been. And then we've seen it, as you mentioned, play out. through public policy, to be favorable to rental units. You won't own anything, but you're not happy about it. I know a lot of people would like to have their own home. And we kind of thought we were crazy, but it's been public policy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct. But I think what's exciting is that the American people still want the freedom to and the ability to own because that's what built america property rights and i think what's exciting is to see yes the first time the average age of the first time home buyer um has increased you know it's in the mid 30s maybe higher 30s now um but the desire for them to do that they're figuring it out and they're making it happen despite all the things all the roadblocks and so I love that that's our nature and it's ingrained in us as people that we want those things.
SPEAKER 06 :
So before we go to break, you had told me about a conversation because you're very involved at the local county and state level and that you were having a meeting regarding housing. And I don't remember who it was with, but it was always incentives. And you said, hey, maybe we could look at this differently, which I thought was huge.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and you know. It's also our nature that if we've done it this way, we should always do it this way. And so affordable housing has typically been incentivized. And that's because it's hard to bring a product out of the market when the land costs this and the building costs are these, et cetera, et cetera. A developer... builder is not going to build those properties for no profit. They are in the business of making money. And so incentives have created that opportunity to bring that lower-priced product to the market. But then the question is, well, how can you do this without it? And what I was happy about is the Government Affairs Committee at the Denver Metro Association just wrote our policy statement about, you know, the general... guidelines of what we will and not will and will not support. And I said, is there any chance that we could stop using the word incentive? And they did a good job in some regards, rewording some of those and seeing the harm or potential harm of always utilizing incentives. Good. So that was exciting.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's very good. What do you think about that, Lauren?
SPEAKER 15 :
I think, you know, the one thing as we do this show more and more, I always pay attention to when I'm reading or listening to things now. And, you know, there's an incentive for everything, it seems like, you know, to try to get companies to move here, to bring jobs. They waive their property taxes on their building or whatever, you know.
SPEAKER 08 :
It's like, how's that fair?
SPEAKER 15 :
To try to get movies made in states. They'll try to, you know, waive all the taxes and stuff. And they incentivize everything.
SPEAKER 06 :
So the answer to this, and I had a conversation with a friend of mine in the film industry because we were just talking about incentives. There's a bill down at the state house incentives for the film industry. And she said, well, Kim, this will bring producers in. This will be good because they'll have to hire caterers. And I get all that. However, if you lower taxes across the board, so what if Boulder brings in Sundance, which I think is really great. But if if they're giving business to a caterer, that doesn't do anything for me. I'm still paying higher and higher taxes. So my friend and I were having this spirited discussion.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. But the caterer then hires more employees. So there is economic benefit. And I'm not disagreeing with you that, well, if you're going to give incentive, why don't you give it to the citizens by less tax? I do see that.
SPEAKER 06 :
I like your thinking. Yeah. I like that.
SPEAKER 05 :
But it's, you know, it depends. It's terrible that we've gotten into the habit. Well, they'll just tax us. And they just do because we have many of us still push back, but the majority don't push back.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that's why we do the show. And I'm so pleased to know that, Lauren, that you, hopefully people are learning as we're getting these experts on. So we'll continue the discussion. And actually, I got so interested, I was not looking at the text line. So this Mark says, housing is not the proper role of government. Market solutions only. I agree with him. And we have all these discussions because of these wonderful people I work with, like Karen Levine and Lauren Levy and John Bozen with Bozen Law.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
All of Kim's sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That's kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. And you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I saw Paula Sarles, president of the U.S. MC Memorial Foundation, on Saturday night at a birthday party. And it was at a Korean barbecue party. which was so interesting. You have to work. You have to cook your food. And what happens, Lorne, is I get to talking with people, and it's lucky that I like my meat well done. Overcooked, yeah. But Paula is doing such great work, and they're going to have their... Second annual USMC Memorial Foundation Golf Tournament on May 15th, and you can get more information by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. In studio with me is Lauren Levy for Everything Mortgages, and Karen Levine, you want her on your side of the table. If you're buying a home, selling a home. We're looking at a new build. And I know she can bring all that expertise to the table for you. And I tell you, the residential real estate market, you need somebody like you on their side of the table, Karen. Well, thank you, Kim.
SPEAKER 05 :
I think they do.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's for sure. I thought you'd probably agree. So I was off for four days. We prerecorded some amazing shows and Gabby is on the line. She was she didn't take any time off. She was continuing to stay engaged, writing summaries on many of these bills down at the statehouse. Gabby, welcome. Did you miss me?
SPEAKER 04 :
I missed you terribly. Good morning, everybody. Considering half the weekend I was throwing up, that wasn't fun.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I'm sorry. Are you feeling better?
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Listen, today, Ken DeGraff needs help. Okay. He needs people's support. HCR, which is a concurrent resolution, 1003. It's only one page to read, and you write a half a page, a page, send in the written. If you can zoom in, zoom in. If you're there anyway, show up. This is about a person's rights related to their children. Literally, this resolution submits a constitutional amendment to the voters of the state at a 2026 general election, and if approved, Add to the non-exclusive list of inalienable rights of all persons the right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children. Literally, this is, you know what this is? This is a counter to the nightmare that they have passed with all the bills where the state, the human services, the judges, the legislators are taking your children over. This is like the Communist Manifesto. The state will take your kids. And they've passed bills that already give them those rights. So I suspect he's going to have a heck of a fight. You know what? If I have to drop dead, I'm going to call and I already signed up to Zoom on Saturday. Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, Gammy, again, I'm trying to find it. What is the number for that resolution?
SPEAKER 04 :
HCR, House Concurrent Resolution 25-1003, a person's right related to their children. It is simple, short, and sweet, and to the point.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. I was trying to find it in Bill Track 50, and I'm not finding it quickly. So, again, what time and where today?
SPEAKER 04 :
1.30 in the House State Military and Veterans Committee.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Okay. It's HCR 1003. Got it. Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
I figure, you know what? What's the worst I can do? Show up in their faces, which I want to do anyway when I call in.
SPEAKER 06 :
So what's that? Okay. Okay, Gammy, thank you so much for getting that on our radar. And that is HCR1003. And so that is something to do today. So thank you. I appreciate it immensely. And I wanted to get through just a few of these text messages as well. Mark says Gammy is the Energizer Bunny. That is true. And he also said incentives don't work. They make everything worse. Ultimately, I remember, gosh, it was the company... Now, I can't remember the name of the company, but they'd gotten incentives in California. And once those incentives ran out, then they started shopping around looking for incentives for another place to move. And so they left the place where they were, which was supposed to incentivize everything around there, and moved to another state. And so what happens is government's picking winners and losers. And, Lauren, that's not the proper role of government.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, but it's happening all the time on many, many different things. You know, and if you just, people just don't pay attention to it enough, I don't think, you know. I remember, do you remember recently within the last few years when Amazon was looking at a home?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
And all these different states were competing for it. It was just who can lay out the biggest incentives, you know.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you can't blame Amazon.
SPEAKER 15 :
No.
SPEAKER 06 :
Because as you mentioned, Karen, developers, they look at the landscape of what PBIs have put in place, and they've tried to work within that context. So the problem is we've got to make sure the PBIs are staying in their proper role. And I was against those incentives here in Colorado. And it was the one thing that I've agreed with AOC on because she was against all that as well. But she and I were coming at it for different reasons.
SPEAKER 15 :
I come from an athletic background. I remember in college I wrote a 35-page marketing paper in sports about these cities building stadiums for these teams to try to lure them when they already have billionaire owners.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. What's wrong with that picture?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. And I mean, that's the same thing right now. I mean, we're looking at it locally here. It's on the news. The Broncos are looking to move.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. They've talked to Lone Tree. They've talked about, I believe, somewhere up by the airport would be like the second one. And there you can see without them admitting it, they're playing these cities against each other.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
to see who will cough up the most tax relief and tax breaks or give them the land. And you say, well, what's wrong with their current stadium? Nothing. It's just they can make more revenue with a newer one, and they can build condos around it and retail. I'm from New England. We've talked about Boston. Robert Kraft owns the Patriots. He was brilliant. He built that stadium with his money and just told the state of Massachusetts, just give me the roads. Like widen the roads. I need access. But he had the land. He had the stadium. And now if you go to that stadium, it's got an outdoor mall with all these restaurants and stuff. And everything's there, their Hall of Fame. And he owns it all.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I don't think that the taxpayers should be doing.
SPEAKER 15 :
But the threat is that they'll leave. They hold that carrot that if you don't give us a stadium and we have to play in this awful, antiquated, beautiful stadium much longer, well, maybe Nashville wants a football team. Or someone that doesn't have one in Portland, Oregon might need a football team.
SPEAKER 06 :
So we'll have to talk about that next month because we're out of time. So do you have any final thoughts, Lorne?
SPEAKER 15 :
No, I just gave them.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, sounds good. And Karen Levine, thank you. Oh, let's give your phone number, 303-880-8881. That's for everything mortgages, 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 15 :
And Karen Levine, your phone number.
SPEAKER 06 :
My phone number is 303-877-7516. And we are in the heat of the spring selling season. So if you're interested in buying or selling, give me a call today. That's 303-877-7516. It's always great to have both of you here.
SPEAKER 15 :
And one final thought. I know Nashville has a football team, so if anybody texts on that, I caught it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, okay. That's good. Okay. And our quote for the end of the show is from Andrew Napolitano. He said this. All presidents but Jefferson have argued that their first job was to keep us safe. But all presidents but Jefferson were wrong. If you read the Constitution, you will see that the president's first job, as Jefferson understood it well, is to keep us free. So today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 07 :
young like a new moon rising fierce through the rain and lightning wandering out into this great unknown and I don't want no one to cry but tell them if I don't
SPEAKER 18 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
