From the grandeur of the Capitol Rotunda, witness the commencement of what's being heralded as a 'Golden Age' for America under President Trump. This episode delves into Trump's inaugural address where he outlines a robust agenda focusing on national restoration and global respect, alongside pledges to reverse past betrayals and enhance national security. Joined by esteemed guests and a participative audience, it's a compelling exploration of America's path forward, capped by a stirring performance from Carrie Underwood and multiple prayers of benediction. Don't miss this captivating recounting of a truly notable day in American history.
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Trump inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States.
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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.
SPEAKER 09 :
And now your host, Logan Sekula. This is Logan Sekula. We have live coverage of President Trump's inauguration. J.D. Vance is about to take the oath right now. So we're going to join this live. Let's go ahead and do this. We'll be back for commentary in just a moment. Phone lines are open.
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I, James David Vance, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. Congratulations, Mr. Vice President.
SPEAKER 09 :
there you go that is uh vice president jd vance who has been sworn in again this is logan seculo joining you live will haynes is uh here as well we will be taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110 president trump about to take the stage to again begin his oath of office that should happen any second now so if you're watching right now live don't go anywhere even if we go into break if you're watching on uh
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rumble or on youtube it'll immediately come back with the live feed and welcome to all of our radio audience and everyone that's joining us let's go ahead now here is president trump please raise your right hand and repeat after me i donald john trump do solemnly swear i donald john trump do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states the office of president of the united states and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God. Congratulations, Mr. President.
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That was the ceremonial cannons that we're shooting. Just make sure you know if you're listening on the radio. That's right.
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There's a 21-gun salute with cannons outside the Capitol. So that, if you are watching or just listening, that is not anything terrible going on.
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There was some loud noises here. President Trump now talking to his family. A lot of congratulations, a lot of cheering happening right now. If you want to call in with your thoughts, we will be breaking in live to President Trump's speech that will happen in just a moment. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. We're obviously not going to interrupt the president as he makes his speech. But later on in the broadcast, we'll take as many calls and comments as we can. If you're watching on any of our YouTube feed or Rumble feed, we encourage you to put in your comments as well. Let me know where you're watching from. And if you have any thoughts, as we now have a brand new president of the United States, Donald Trump, 47th president of the United States, no longer president-elect, officially sworn in. to office again if you are listening or you're watching on the salem news channel uh it may go to break but if you're watching on youtube on rumble any of our social media outlets we are going to continue this live coverage throughout our breaks but this is a short break we'll be back in just a moment for those listening again over terrestrial radio or on sirius xm and we'll be back in just a moment. I did want to say thank you to everyone who's become an ACLJ champion. That's the one that gives to the ACLJ on a monthly recurring basis. I encourage you right now to do that if you can. ACLJ.org slash champions. Today is a big historic day, and you played a big role in it. So again, ACLJ.org slash champions. Become a champion today. For your radio audience, we'll be right back. Stay tuned, not going anywhere, on YouTube, Rumble, and social media. Welcome back to Secula. We are going to join back live President Trump's inauguration. He has been officially sworn in. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110 if you want to have a comment on this historic day, Will.
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That's right, and we will be talking about later some of the executive actions that they're saying President Trump will be signing momentarily, as well as some of the... pardons that came down from President Biden, including some that just happened moments before President Trump was sworn in.
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Yes, I'll just tell you that real quick. Moments before President Trump was sworn in, we knew the ones this morning, which included Anthony Fauci and the January 6th committee. Now we have James B. Biden, Sarah Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden, obviously members of the Biden family, who all were granted pardons just one minute, I believe, before President Trump was sworn in. We'll have to do a background on why, specifically those people, but pretty interesting development. We are going to go back now and join the festivities live again inside of the Capitol Rotunda as President Trump is now officially the 47th president of the United States.
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It is my honor and pleasure to introduce to you the 45th and the 47th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.
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Thank you very much, everybody. Well, thank you very, very much. Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, Justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris and my fellow citizens. The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. the vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before. But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, who have been treated so badly. And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago. Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense. They're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting. But we can't let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it that's going to change. We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases, to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly. My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, America's decline is over. Our liberties and our nation's glorious destiny will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency, and loyalty of America's government Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250 year history. And I've learned a lot along the way. The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. Thank you very much. That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every.
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All right. Welcome back to Sekulow. Joining back with President Trump live right now.
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In everything we do, my administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution. And we will not forget our God. Can't do that. Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It's all about common sense. First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I sign today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks, bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities. As Commander-in-Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody's ever seen before. Next, I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill. America will be a manufacturing nation once again. And we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have. The largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth. And we are going to use it. Let me use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it. With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers. In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote. I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the external revenue service. to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources. The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before to restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government. My administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency. After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities. This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.
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We're not going anywhere. Stay tuned. As of today... If you lose us here, go to ACLJ.org for live coverage.
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...the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. Thank you.
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Welcome back to Seculo, continuing our coverage of President Trump speaking live as he has just been inaugurated.
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Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That's what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier. I'm pleased to say that as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families. Thank you. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States. The United States, I mean, think of this, spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged. and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form. And that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back. Above all, my message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of history's greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred. Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy, and disease-free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation. one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.
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All right. We'll be back with continued coverage of President Trump's speech as the inauguration ceremony continues. We'll be right back. Support the work of the ACLJ by going to ACLJ.org right now. And again, we'll be back in just a moment. If you're watching online, though, we're not going anywhere. So stay tuned on ACLJ.org, YouTube and Rumble. We'll be right back.
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Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation.
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You're listening to Seculo with live coverage of President Trump's inauguration. We'll go right back to it.
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From Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, D.C., our country was forged and built by the generations of patriots who gave everything they had for our rights and for our freedom. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steel workers and coal miners, police officers and pioneers who pushed onward, marched forward, and let no obstacle defeat their spirit or their pride. Together they laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, built great highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism and communism, and triumphed over every single challenge that they faced. After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore America's promise, and we will rebuild the nation that we love, and we love it so much. We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you. We are going to win like never before.
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Thank you.
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Thank you. In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly, but we are going to bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage, and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable. America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith, and goodwill. We will be prosperous. We will be proud. We will be strong, and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated. We will not be broken. And we will not fail. From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign, and independent nation. We will stand bravely. We will live proudly. We will dream boldly. And nothing will stand in our way because we are Americans. The future is ours. And our golden age has just begun. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you.
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Thank you very much.
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Continue our live coverage here of President Trump who just wrapped up his speech. Or is he continuing on? That's the question. He said, God bless America.
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God bless America. I felt that way, but he's still up there.
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Again, we're going to be taking your phone calls coming up. If he does continue to speak, we'll cut right back to it. 1-800-684-3110. And we'll even cover all the other festivities. So there should be still some performances and things that will happen as this event progresses. President Trump now leaving stage. So presumably that is the end of the formal ceremonies. I believe now Carrie Underwood is about to come out and perform America the Beautiful. We don't want to miss that. So let's go ahead and cut to Carrie Underwood coming on stage live right now. Again, in this second half hour of the broadcast, we're going to take your calls. If this all wraps up here soon, 1-800-684-3110 to call in. Again, 1-800-684-3110. And as they set up here for, I believe, the performance of America the Beautiful, we're going to keep our coverage alive and continue on. That's right.
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And as we wait for Carrie Underwood to sing, a couple things that stood out to me. We had Golden Age of America Begins Now. Sunlight is pouring all over the world. A very positive message. But we'll be going here just shortly to hear Carrie Underwood sing Don't want to leave you with any radio silence if you're listening over the air. But as soon as she steps up, we will cut to that as well. But I thought comparatively, you know, all the negativity you see around President Trump, it was a very positive message from the president, the now president. You can say that, not president-elect. But also some of the things he's going to do immediately, the border, day one, the Panama Canal. Now, President McKinley, which he pointed out and many have, was a tariff president. So someone that he obviously admires, maybe some of his political strategy, renaming what was Denali, renamed Denali under President Obama back to Mount McKinley. So a lot of things. And it seems very different. from the first go around where you had the fog of Russiagate, the Russia collusion hoax as we now know it, that was really pressuring the new administration. They were on the defensive almost immediately. And now it seems like everything is wide open and they are hitting the ground running with a lot of work that they are going to be doing day one. I also liked, he said, we will be the envy of every nation and will no longer be taken advantage of. But here we go to Carrie Underwood.
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For spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountains above the fruited plain.
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Amen.
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America, God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
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That was Carrie Underwood, who had to perform acapella as they were having some technical issues with the music, and obviously invited everyone to sing along, and she just killed it. I mean, that was phenomenal. So good for her for being able to do that amazing moment as Carrie Underwood performs. Again, we're going to be taking your calls coming up here, and we're going to continue the coverage live. of the inauguration ceremonies. I believe they are going to start wrapping up here shortly. But let's go back live to hear them probably close this out as they head into the parties tonight.
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Rabbi Ari Berman, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, and Reverend Frank Mund to provide prayers of benediction.
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Let us pray. Almighty God, your prophet Jeremiah walked the streets of Jerusalem and blessed its inhabitants with the Hebrew words, blessed is the one who trusts in God. Thousands of years later, this great nation, which adopted these words as its motto, in God we trust, stands at a moment of historic opportunity. Americans are searching for meaning. Our merciful Father, help us rise to meet this moment. Bless President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance with the strength and courage to choose the right and the good. Unite us around our foundational biblical values of life and liberty, of service and sacrifice, and especially of faith and morality, which George Washington called the indispensable supports of American prosperity. Guide our schools and college campuses, which have been experiencing such unrest, to inspire the next generation to pair progress with purpose, knowledge with wisdom, and truth with virtue. Hear the cry of the hostages, both American and Israeli, whose pain our president so acutely feels. We are so thankful for the three young women who yesterday returned home and pray that the next four years brings peace to Israel and throughout the Middle East. Almighty God, grant all Americans the opportunity to realize our shared dream of a life filled with peace and plenty, health and happiness, compassion and contribution. Stir within us the confidence to rise to this moment. For while we trust in God, God's trust is in us, the American people. America is called to greatness, to be a beacon of light and a mover of history. May our nation merit the fulfillment of Jeremiah's blessing. that like a tree planted by water, we shall not cease to bear fruit. May all of humanity experience your love and your blessing. May it be thy will, and let us say, Amen.
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Right back with more coverage in just a moment. Stay tuned live. Back to secular, last segment of our live show. Let's go back to the inauguration ceremonies.
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In every molehill in Mississippi, from every state, every city, every village, and every hamlet. And when we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day where all of your children black men and white men, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile will be able to sing in the meaning of that old Negro spiritual, free at last, free at last. Thank you, God Almighty. We are free at last. If you believe what the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Come on, put your hands together and give your great God great glory.
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All right, as we see this live happening right now, the final prayers that just ended as the inauguration ceremony comes to an end. And there'll be an official close out now. We'll go to that.
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Almighty and eternal God, we gather here today in reverence, joined in our shared hopes and dreams for our beloved nation. In this sacred moment of the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, we turn our hearts to you, seeking your divine assistance and abundant blessings upon this pivotal moment in history. We come before you with profound gratitude for the many gifts you have bestowed upon our land. Thank you for the freedoms we cherish, for the strength of our communities, and for the resilience of our spirit. As our President and Vice President embrace their newly appointed roles, we humbly implore that your everlasting love and wisdom will envelop them. Grant them the clarity of mind to navigate the challenges that lie ahead and the compassion to serve all citizens with fairness and integrity. May their hearts be filled with a giving spirit and sincere understanding for those whom they represent. May they be beacons of hope in times of uncertainty. and prophetic voices in defending the dignity of all created life. We pray for a spirit of collaboration to flourish in our government and across our nation, fostering an environment where dialogue and heartfelt listening will prevail over division or discord. May each decision made by our president and vice president reflect the values of justice and peace. As we embark on this new chapter, we also seek your comfort, O God, for those who feel lost or disheartened. In this time of transition, may your light shine upon them, reaffirming their belief in a brighter tomorrow. May we all strive to lift one another, supporting our fellow citizens with kindness and empathy, recognizing that together we can overcome any adversity. Grant us the strength to endure, the courage to face our fears, and the clarity to see the light that remains even when clouds of uncertainty may gather. Inspire our new leaders to be champions for the vulnerable and advocates for those whose voices are often silenced. May they pursue policies that promote the well-being of all, seeking to build bridges that will foster unity and belonging. As we stand witness to this inauguration, we hold fast to our faith in the goodness of each of us and the possibility of change. We trust that with your guidance, O God, our nation can move forward to a future filled with promise, prosperity, and understanding. And finally, We lift our hearts in gratitude for the beloved parents of President Trump. Without Mary and Fred Trump, this day would never be the miracle that has just begun. From their place in heaven, may they shield their son from all harm by their loving protection and give him the strength to guide our nation along the path that will make America great again. Let us go forth now with these words of President Trump's emblazoned on our hearts. As long as we have pride in our beliefs, courage in our convictions, and faith in our God, then we will not fail. We stand tall, we stand proud, because we are Americans, and Americans kneel to God, and to God alone. Amen.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was the conclusion of the invocations here as the prayers all just happened. We were watching to see if there's any more that will be going on. I believe it's just a musical performance. Steer Hill still left. We'll give it a moment. We'll cut back to that. I did want to encourage you all. It's a historic day. It's a big moment. We're going to be back tomorrow with our normal scheduled programming and normal show. We'll bring in all the commentary. We'll see all of the executive orders that have been brought in today. We'll go through everything, the pardons that happened. But today we wanted to spend this day with you all watching the festivities of President Trump. Now, President Trump happening right now. Let's hear what's going on right now. Let's cut back in just for a moment.
SPEAKER 1 :
We're so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there O say does that star-spangled And the home.
SPEAKER 09 :
This concludes, I believe, the inauguration ceremony of President Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States. I want to encourage you all to stay tuned that we are actually going to play a really amazing piece that our video team did outlining the last few years or last year or so, year and a half or so. And it's really pretty fascinating to watch. And I think you're going to want to stay tuned. So if you're watching online, don't go anywhere. We've got a very special piece that our video team put together of where we are and where we came from, how we got here. I encourage you in this moment, as the festivities now ending, President Trump heading off into the White House. headed to the parties tonight. It's wild time, man. Nothing you really could have probably predicted just a few years ago that in the Capitol Rotunda, here we would have the inauguration of our new 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Pray for our nation. Pray for our president. And if you can, Support the work of the ACLJ today. Become an ACLJ champion. We're going to break down all the news we have. A lot with the hostages that were released. We wanted today, though, spend our time on this historic day watching with you all. So again, stay tuned. If you're watching, don't go anywhere on YouTube or Rumble. Very special video presentation by our incredible team here that you're not going to want to miss. Again, that will start in just a few seconds. Go to ACLJ.org right now. Take a look.
In this dynamic episode, we explore the contours of Inauguration Day and the whirlwind of emotions that flow from it. From Biden's exit speech filled with sarcasm to conspiracy theories that abound, there's no shortage of heated discussions. We delve into the recent chaos in the political arena, touching on alleged conspiracies and the drama surrounding political transitions, while Karen and her guests weigh in with their distinctive views. As the conversation unfolds, we examine the state of American pride amidst political turbulence, with a particular focus on the inaugural address. Hear impassioned debates on historical and current political figures, and learn how these discussions resonate with the episode's hosts. The ongoing issue of the TikTok ban and its implications hits home, leaving listeners with plenty to contemplate about our digital world.
SPEAKER 02 :
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 03 :
Hello, hello, everyone. Happy Inauguration Day. Oh my gosh, it's finally here. The day that nobody ever thought, well, I can't say nobody ever thought, but I was questioning whether this day would even come. And here we are. Thank you so much for tuning in to Shooting the Breeze today, brought to you by Franktown Firearms. You guys have to stop in and see what's new at Franktown Firearms. You will not be disappointed. And if you're not in the southern Denver metro area, I will tell you that it's worth the drive to come and see it. If you haven't been in a while, if it's been a hot minute, you need to come and see us. One piece of significant news is that Franktown Firearms is now an authorized Staccato dealer. If you know, you know. So come in and take a look at the selection of staccatos that we have, as well as all the other favorites like Glock. You know that's me. I'm Mama Glock, right? Smith & Wesson, Ruger, CZ, FN, Taurus, Springfield Canik, Beretta, all your favorites. Hunting rifles, shotguns, it's all there. And all the accessories you need to improve your shooting experience. We offer lots of training courses. New ones are coming in February in the Shoehouse, and we're so excited about that. We offer concealed carry training, and I have a class coming up this weekend on Saturday. I offer private training as well, and if that's something you're interested in, you can email me directly at karen.murray at franktownfirearms.com, and we can get you on the schedule. Call the shop anytime if you have questions about anything that I talk about. or anything you just want to know about inventory or whatever, you can call them at 720-770-7777, and they'll be more than happy to answer your questions. You can visit the website. We're going to soon have a new, improved, beautiful-looking new website, so you can check that out at franktownfirearms.com for now, and then franktownfirearms.co is going to be the next one, so you can check that out as well. So, you know, not much going on today. So I'm just going to talk about TikTok. I'm kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm still going to talk about TikTok and the ban and all that stuff. But it's Inauguration Day. So my social media feeds are just on fire today. And I'm so happy that I follow TikTok. all the right people or at least all the interesting people. So I can sort of project and inject all kinds of cool different sort of, I don't know, different thoughts, different feelings, different stuff into the conversation. If you would like to talk about anything about the inauguration and all the ancillary stuff that went down with it, You can call me at 303-477-5600, and Luke will be happy to patch you through. Luke, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER 06 :
Cold.
SPEAKER 03 :
Cold, yeah. Yeah, it's cold. And, yeah, I'm going to talk about these temperatures. It's just crazy here in Colorado, and D.C. is not much better. Bitter cold temperatures in D.C. forced the ceremony into the rotunda at the U.S. Capitol. And, you know, my conspiracy-minded brain thinks, are the cold temperatures the only reason to hold the ceremony indoors? Maybe, maybe not. My conspiracy theorist self says no, but my self that hates wind and cold that cuts through you like a knife says yes. So I don't know. But Biden and his cronies have been busy doing what they do best, which is doing as much damage and destruction as they can possibly do on the way out the door. First of all, did you guys see Biden's exit speech? I'm sure you did. All full of joy and hope for the future, right? Good grief. Of course, I'm being sarcastic here. A president should be portraying a, I don't know, a grateful heart, for being able to serve the American people and go out with a little humility and a little dignity and looking forward to the next term and whatever. And, God, this guy, it's just so different. It's so different from everything that we've experienced up until this point. He'd rather warn the American people that the incoming administration is basically going to you know, put a boot on your neck and he's going to take away all your rights and he's only going to serve the richest people in the country and act as an oligarchical, oligarchical, how do you, I don't know how you say that, whatever, a dictatorship. And, you know, all of our liberty is dead. It's dead. Just so dramatic and just, just, oh, I just, I can't with this guy. This is the same guy who – and I'm sorry if you disagree and just – you look at a lot of stuff online and you see that when people say this kind of stuff, you're deemed as a crazy person. It's not even conspiracy theory anymore. He blatantly stole the 2020 election, and if you don't believe that or if you don't think that or if you don't think there's enough proof or whatever, I think that you're about to be proved wrong during this next four years. But – Biden enriched himself with shady business dealings through 22 different shell companies and money from China and Ukraine. And let's not forget the censorship charge that he led through COVIDCon that Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted that Facebook was guilty of participating in because they were pressured by the U.S. government. And we can't forget all the lies about January 6th and the events that took place on that day and the 26 human assets from the FBI instigating an otherwise peaceful crowd. MAGA supporters trying to keep the peace, and those same MAGA supporters are still rotting in jail with no trial and no due process. So we're going to be talking a little bit more about that. But we also have AOC warning yesterday. of 21st century fascism. And she called this the eve of an authoritarian administration. So do you think there might be a little panic going on in D.C. right now? There's rumors swirling around that Vivek Ramaswamy allegedly stepped down from his co-leadership role in Doge. Department of Government Efficiency. And I guess he said that American workers are lazy compared to their foreign counterparts. And that caused all kinds of controversy and stirred all the hornet's nest of epic proportions. I don't know. But Trump did debunk that. CBS News and their unnamed sources are the ones that put that out. And they said that there's no truth to it. And Ramaswamy is still part of Doge. I don't know. But tensions have been building between Musk and Ramaswamy, I guess, and Vivek disappeared from X for like 10 days after the controversy surrounding the H-1B visas came out. So I don't know. Stay tuned for that information as we kind of move forward through this. And to put the icing on this – You know, I want to say a swear word right now, but I know I can't. So to put the icing on this crap cake that has been the last four years, Biden decides to preemptively pardon several people that might suffer injury when Trump decides to seek revenge. Well, if we're being honest, the pardons really only reflect their guilt. Fauci said, I mean, come on. He's guilty of all kinds of crimes against humanity for the COVID scandemic. And, of course, all the things he did with AIDS and animal testing prior to his illustrious career as the face of the coronavirus. Adam Schiff also preemptively pardoned, I'm assuming, for his role in Russiagate, which all turned out to be fake news. And Liz Cheney and her fake January 6th unselect committee touting lie after lie after lie about police officers that were killed by MAGA insurrectionists. All turned out to be provenly false. And the only people who actually died were Trump supporters like Ashley Babbitt. And we've talked about that at length. And her murderer, Michael Babbitt. whatever the hell his name is, I don't even know, don't even care, the D.C. cop, never even glanced at, let alone charged with anything. And Biden pardoned his entire family minutes before Trump took his oath. So tell me they're guilty without telling me they're guilty. Really, Joe? It's funny how these pardons go right back to 2014 when that Ukraine money started flowing and accidentally wound up in all those Biden family bank accounts. It's just disgusting. And I have to ask, do pardons cover treason? So that's the question of the day. Do pardons cover acts of treason? So I guess we'll find out what that's all about here going forward. From the AP, quote, the decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemy's list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump has selected cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him. It goes on, the issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as acknowledgement that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Oh, okay. Whatever. It ends with our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. What a bunch of crap. I'm sorry. It's a bunch of crap. And I actually pulled that off of KDVR, our local Fox affiliate. And the fact that it says Trump has selected cabinet nominees who backed his election lies right there. That just tells you all you need to know. So it doesn't matter if there is legitimate cause to believe that the 2020 election was blatantly stolen. They're lies. It's lies, and that's how everybody should look at it. It's just lies. It's kind of becoming the narrative of the – I don't know, the government and their stance, it's sickening. It's absolutely sickening. Jim, what do you got for me?
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, yeah, you know, Karen, yeah. I watched that inauguration, and let me tell you something. After the inauguration was over, I'll tell you, I stood up, and I was, like, yelling inside my living room, like, Yes, it's great to be an American again. I love being an American again. I'll tell you what. I've been so ashamed of being an American for such a long time, Karen. I mean, really, you can't imagine how long it's been since I've been proud to be an American. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER 03 :
It's just – not just – Well, Jim, I have to push back on that just for a second, okay? I have never lost my pride in being an American. I was deeply disgusted and, and just, you know, embarrassed by the Biden administration. And there's some things.
SPEAKER 05 :
Go ahead. Well, no, it goes far. It goes way, way back further than that. I mean, George Bush, Bill Clinton, the whole lot of them, they've been either globalist or they've been straight up out and out right Marxist. Agreed. And I'm not one of these people that – I didn't vote for Clinton. I didn't vote for George Bush Sr., You know, I guess I'm just one of few that was awake of what was going on. And George Bush Jr., I mean, that guy is straight up. He's a globalist. He was a criminal. He was letting more people into this country illegally than Obama. I mean, the guy was just a shameful person. And I'm just totally ashamed. And nobody takes pride in this country for a long time, Karen. I'm sure it is. You know, I understand. I understand. You know, being a native, I've seen people move to Colorado. I remember when people used to take pride in this state. Nobody takes pride in this state anymore. Everybody opens up their windows, throws their trash out the window. No, it's been a long time. And I'm hoping things change in this country because, really, Americans have to take pride. You know, and until our government gets itself straight, the rest of America is not going to get on board with this, Karen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. And, you know, my show today is going to be chock full of all kinds of stuff. And some of it is very sad. And I don't know. We're all still a big freaking question mark, in my opinion.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, if you're watching this on TV, I mean, you can see the people to the left of Donald Trump when he was up there speaking yesterday. And you could see all the people that were sitting there just going, Oh, I saw it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Trust me, I saw it.
SPEAKER 05 :
And George Bush was right in there with them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he was. And let me go back to just when I say that I'm just embarrassed for the last four years. I love America as... the foundational ideal on which we were founded, on the republic that we were founded. And anything that goes against that and goes against the Constitution, that's what I'm embarrassed of. So any of this stuff, whether it's RINOs or Democrats or the radical leftist, Marxist, Leninist, whatever, that's obviously the scar. That's the cancer. That's what needs to be eradicated. And will it ever be? I don't know. But I know what you're saying, and I know what you're saying about how, you know, you haven't been proud to be an American. I'm proud of the American ideal.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, right, right. Well, you know, I will say one disappointment about Donald Trump, though. I don't think Donald Trump has ever sat down or never really read our history book very well because – You know, all these pardons, all these pardons that went down, especially for all those people that was involved with that January 6th committee thing. You know, I mean, I'm sorry. I love to sit there and stand there in front of Donald Trump and say, hey, Donald. You know, do you think George Washington would have went out there and announced to the British, hey, we're going to take this route, come after you guys? I mean, do you think Abraham Lincoln would have announced to the world, hey, this is what we're going to do to capture and take over or do this to the Confederates? I mean, Donald Trump, I love the guy, and I think he's going to do good, but that man has got to learn how to control his mouth. And he really does.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep, understood. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER 03 :
Go ahead. You've got to hear the rest of my information that I have today, and we're going to kind of tie all this stuff up because there's still a lot of questions. A lot of questions that came out, for me anyway, came out of the inauguration and the oath. And everything I've got to say. I mean, for one, I've got to say that Trump's family looked absolutely horrified when they were standing behind him. And lots of stuff that I'm going to talk about with that. And because, you know, me, I'm going to pull out the comms. I'm going to pull out all kinds of crazy stuff that maybe the other people didn't didn't recognize or pick up on. So.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. OK. All right. Thanks, Karen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks, Jim. Thanks for the call.
SPEAKER 05 :
You bet. Bye.
SPEAKER 03 :
Bye. So they're still portraying Trump as this next – all I can say is this next four years is going to be absolutely wild. I mean how do you flush the toilet on literally thousands of swamp creatures and get rid of every corrupt individual in government and the media and academia and Hollywood and the list goes on and on? So Trump issued a response to the pardons, and he said only this. It is disgraceful. Many are guilty of major crimes. And then he signed a DJT. So that's the text message that went out to all kinds of media people and whatever shortly after the pardons. But the first swing that Trump took out of the gate today is that he's going to be signing an executive order declaring there's only two sexes recognized in the U.S., And that was on X, and I'm not sure why he didn't use the word gender, but we'll talk more about that in just a little bit. The actual order is going to elaborate a little bit more. And the village people performing at Trump's pre-inauguration rally, how priceless was that? Trump doing his little Trump dance was a sight to behold. Very fun. And I got to be honest, as I was typing my show notes today, I couldn't help but think that so much was going to happen before today, before now, before the show starts. And I'm researching as I'm typing, and I'm trying to put everything in the right context, and it was very tough. But in terms of the people showing up to the inauguration today, Everyone's in their finest clothing, showing up to the inauguration, and John Fetterman shows up in his standard hoodie and cargo shorts. So what is wrong with that guy? I got to ask, what's wrong with him? Don't the people of Pennsylvania and the U.S. government pay the guy enough to buy a freaking suit? Good grief. I mean, whatever. When he shows up to an interview with his sweatpants and or his you know shorts and his sweatshirt and whatever whatever okay i get it but you know you're going to a presidential inauguration can't you buy a pair of chinos and a and a button down is it that hard and then we saw george w bush arriving he looked terrified And to Jim's point earlier, he's a criminal beyond all criminals, and we all know that. Well, you should know that. So I don't know if you saw him as he was proceeding into the rotunda to sit down for the inauguration, but he did not look happy at all. Bill and Hillary Clinton were booed as they entered the Capitol building, so that's kind of funny. Amy Klobuchar arrives, all smiles, like she was smiling from ear to ear, and Chuck Schumer looked like someone just punched him in the gut. So looking at all these people and their facial expressions, I was really trying to focus on that, although I didn't get to see like every single person enter the rotunda. It was just very interesting for me to see all the faces. All the different expressions and of, yeah, kind of crazy. Melania Trump looked stunning, had a very Michael Jackson vibe going on in her black and white fitted dress and her black hat with the white band around it. That was very cool. And their son, Barron Trump, looking, as he's standing there, he's kind of looking like a secret service agent, like looking up into the rotunda area, you know, very suspiciously. It was kind of weird. I don't know if you guys caught that or not, but Melania, you know, she's not a shrimp, and Barron just towers over her. So I'm watching the opening ceremony to the inauguration, and I'm noticing that everybody who spoke before Kavanaugh, you know, took the stand to swear Vance and Trump in, Everybody was saying our democracy. I haven't heard the word republic at all, except from Trump. And boy, does that feel good to say again, President Trump. So, and yeah, I'm going to apologize here for the way some of this is being put out there, some past tense and some current and looking forward and I was watching the inauguration events on television as I was doing my notes, and so a lot of this is being typed as it was happening. Carrie Underwood, did you guys see that? After a few minutes of very awkward silence, after I guess they had some technical problems or whatever, and she ended up singing America the Beautiful a cappella. And she knocked it out of the park. Just absolutely amazing. So some notable no-shows include Michelle Obama. and Karen Pence, and Nancy Pelosi, and the aforementioned AOC. So what a bunch of scumbags, all of them. I mean, there's got to be a reason. Well, we know the reason, just, you know, for them not to show, and it's not aforementioned AOC. I think I have that coming up here in a second, but AOC put out this – no, I told you about it, the AOC saying that we're in a fascist whatever. We're going to look forward to four years of fascism, whatever. Anyway, I got to admit that when I watched Vance and then particularly when I watched Trump take his oath and the Navy choir singing the battle hymn of the republic, I got misty. I'm not going to lie. It's been such a grueling four years. And that moment was kind of surreal because if you listen to this show, you know, that I was, I was kind of apprehensive to even think that this day was going to happen. But looking at Trump's face in the closeups that were shown during the Navy choir song, I wasn't sure if he looked angry. He did look angry. He looked angry and upset. And then you could also determine or kind of view that as focused and determined I don't know. But his speech, I think, makes it seem that he was focused and determined. And I love when he opened it up and said that January 20th, 2025 is Liberation Day. So if you missed Trump's inaugural speech, I've got you. It's all kind of exciting. It seems almost too good to be true, a lot of the content of his speech. So We're going to talk about it. So today he's going to declare an emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will be immediately halted. And I've also heard reports that the entry point in El Paso is already shut down. He will reinstate the remain in Mexico policy, ending the practice of catch and release. He will send troops to the southern border to repel the invasion. And it is an invasion. You guys know that. He will designate the cartels as a foreign terrorist organization. I love that. Invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is kind of a huge deal, and I love how he kind of pulls these things out of the past. He will direct power of all federal and state law enforcement agencies to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks. He's going to direct his cabinet to use their full power to tackle inflation and bring down prices on everything. He's also going to declare an energy emergency and says that he's going to drill, baby, drill, which I love. He's going to make America a manufacturing country again and says we'll use the liquid gold under our feet to power it. He'll also revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving the auto industry and keeping his pledge to American autoworkers. We will be making cars in this country again. He's also going to sign an executive order eliminating government censorship and bring back free speech to America. He said never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law. He says he's going to bring back law and order to our cities. He said this week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. which, I mean, can I get an amen on that? So when we come back from break, I'm going to talk about some other stuff that he said in his speech, and we're going to go into a little deep dive rabbit hole. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
And we're back after that short break. I just wanted to I'm continuing on with with Trump's inaugural speech and wanted to touch on some high points here. Trump said on day one he's going to end all diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government, which I cannot cheer loud enough for that. He says, as of today, it will be the policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. And you know what? I can just hear the LGBTQ, the T part specifically, just melting down, melting down right now. Because, you know, I want to interrupt this just for one second. I want to talk about a commercial that I keep seeing on – I watch Investigation Discovery a lot, and they are pretty much every commercial break is filled with just pharmaceutical everything, like every drug that you can buy for every condition and the list of side effects and whatever, and they have catchy jingles and whatever. You guys have heard me talk about it before. But there's one, Descovy, I think is what it's called, and it is for AIDS prevention, okay? And One of the side effects, or as they start to introduce the side effects, they say something to the effect of Descovy is not for people assigned female at birth. Why? Why not? You guys seem to think that, you know, men can get pregnant and men can breastfeed and all this other stuff. Why, why is it only assigned for, you know, people who aren't assigned female at birth? So anyway, I digress. It's all just a jacked up system that I, you've heard me talk about it before. I can't say enough terrible things about the trans community in, in terms of what they've pushed and the grooming and the whole thing. It just makes me want to throw up. So that's just my little injection there. So, He also said, this week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay, and I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It's going to end immediately. Then he goes on, our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission, defeating America's enemies. Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but by also the wars that we end, and perhaps more importantly, the wars we never get into, which love that. He says, my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier. I'm pleased to say that yesterday was One day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families. And of course, Biden took credit for that. He goes on, America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. So I guess that wasn't just a something that he threw out there, I guess it's going to happen. And we will restore the name of the great President William McKinley to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. And if you'll recall, Obama is the one that renamed Mount McKinley to Denali because global warming. I wish I was joking, but that was the reason for the name change. Look it up. I guess William McKinley must have been an energy-consuming madman. And yeah, so we're going to go ahead and rename it back to Mount McKinley the way it should be. He goes on to talk about the Panama Canal and how we foolishly gave the canal to Panama after losing 38,000 lives in the building of it. And how the treaty we signed with Panama has been violated. American ships are being overcharged, including our Navy ships. and that China is running the Panama Canal, not Panama, and that we're taking it back. So all good stuff. Very, very ambitious. He's talking in this whole what he's going to say that are basically going to happen in the first couple of days. He goes on to say, above all, my message to Americans today is that it's time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of history's greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred. Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy, and disease-free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory. So that kind of buys into the whole like getting Greenland and Canada perhaps I digress, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And then he goes on to something that I find unbelievable, I guess. So let me read this next part to you. He says, and we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on planet Mars. And if you know me, you know I kind of scoffed at that because that's just how I am. You know me. He says, ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation, and now our nation is more ambitious than any other. There's no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls. Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on earth. No one comes close. Americans push thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They cross deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers. won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens, and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. Again, that last part, not my way of thinking, but you know, we can't expect Trump to be a flat earther now, can we? That just wouldn't kind of jive with most of the the world population. And then he ended by saying in recent years, our nation has suffered greatly, but we are going to bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other. And then he finally says the golden age has just begun. So if you have any thoughts on the president's inaugural address, please give me a call at 303-477-5600. And I'd love to talk to you about it. So Trump on his first day will also suspend the security clearances for the 51 national security officials who lied about Hunter Biden's laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. So that's a big yay for me. One thing Trump didn't mention is the blanket pardon of all the January 6th prisoners of war is what I call them that are still locked up in a D.C. gulag somewhere. I really wish he would have mentioned them and talked in depth about their – because those guys have been in prison for four years. And most of them – and I'm not going to say all because I don't know the story of every single person that's in the D.C. gulag. And there's other prisons that they were sent to. They're not all in D.C. But that's an issue. And, you know, if he did mention that whole thing in the inaugural address, then I missed it. My morning was kind of filled with trying to type with one side of my brain and trying to listen with the other. So sometimes that doesn't work out very well. But President Trump did say during an appearance on the Dan Bongino show earlier that he will fully investigate January 6th. So that's a bonus. Trump stated that he will figure out the identity of the pipe bomber. He will identify the scaffold man. He's the guy who shot the revolver up in the air. And a lot of people say that he's the one that instigated the rioting. And he's going to determine whether Ray Epps is a federal informant. So, yeah, Ray Epps kind of disappeared into the obscurity after the J6 and the committee and all that stuff. So maybe we'll find out some more about him. But although I'm still kind of cautious about pretty much everything, I'm going to revel in this win. And I'm going to pray that the next four years bring great things to the American people. Now, I'm going to go into some darker things here. And it's just darker just based on what I've seen on some of my Telegram accounts and some of the comments that I've seen on Facebook and as kind of a middle-of-the-road sort of stance, I guess. So some people are saying that Trump was installed and is a puppet and things are only going to get worse. He's a Freemason. He will enact the Noahide laws. He's a Jesuit. He's all in for big banks and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Can't you people just take a moment to breathe and enjoy the win? I guess if you don't view this as a win, then – I don't know what you can say other than, you know, say what you feel. People are also saying, and I verified this, that Trump's hand was not on the Bible when he took his oath. And I don't know if that bothers me or if we can throw the Q stuff in here. And so I'm going to read a little bit about that. But he did not have his hand on the Bible when he took his oath. And if you didn't just look it up. Gary, what do you got for me before I move on?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, thanks for taking the call. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I, you know, I voted against Biden or Harris for Trump. I agree with a lot of his policies. But, you know, some of the things that I have a problem with him is invoking God. I don't believe he's God bearing at all. Also, I don't know if he's ignorant or if he's just trying to talk to people who don't understand tariffs, but he said he was going to create this external revenue service who are going to collect tariffs from foreign countries where anybody with room temperature IQ can knows that importers pay tariffs, not foreign countries.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And I did pick up on that and his use of the term external revenue service. So, yeah, I'm not real sure what that's all about.
SPEAKER 04 :
But do you think he doesn't understand that foreign countries don't pay tariffs? Or is he just talking to folks who don't understand tariffs is he trying to pull the wool over people's eyes or is he just ignorant well who does pay tariffs importers okay that's that's what i mean it's not the countries it's the manufacturers that that import countries into our country right yeah i i'm an importer i'm going to import some uh some computer parts from China. I paid import tax to the customs service. And Trump said foreign countries like China pays tariffs. They absolutely do not.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, the tariffs placed on the exporter, I guess. So, yeah, I get that. I don't know. Maybe, yeah, maybe he's just dumbing it down to where, you know, like textiles that come from Pakistan or, you know, electronics that come from China or, you know, furniture that comes from Sweden or whatever. Maybe that's what he's talking about, but he just puts it in a way that the American people can digest. I don't know. And I'm not defending his, you know, his speech and what he said about that, but maybe he's just dumbing it down for normies to hear. I don't know.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think what he's trying to do is create the impression that you and I, pay ultimately pay tariffs and and the price we pay for these goods because the importers pass it on to us so by saying so by him saying these foreign countries pay the tariffs he's trying to cover that up and for people who don't choose to understand how tariffs work it sounds good and they're a rah-rah and he does that with so many different things it's irritating right
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Yep. Yeah, I hear you. And all this stuff's going to come out the way. You bet, Gary. Thanks so much for calling. So Trump not having his hand on the Bible, it does bother me. It bothers me a lot. But, however, someone on Telegram kind of put this in a QCOM kind of basket, and he said this. He didn't place his hand on the Bible because he did not concede the 2020 election because A new oath was not needed, and if he did, that could be used in court. So that's very interesting, right? And then someone else said it's because there is no office of the president of the United States of America, Inc., to be filled. The corporation no longer exists as of January 1st. The military is responsible for this deception and will continue to fool the American people until we all wake up. Now, this is from this post. This is not me saying this. This is from this post. It goes on. It says the military has been used as a private commercial mercenary force for the last 160 years. And Serco, that's a British crown thing, is the paymaster for the military. And Donald Trump is their puppet. You have all just witnessed the rebranding of the old cabal. The only legitimate government in the United States is your national land and soil jurisdiction government. And until all U.S. citizens wake up and take the necessary steps to correct your political status and return home to the land and soil jurisdiction and declare yourself as an American, nothing will change. So that kind of goes back. If you guys have been listening for any length of time, you know who Bobby Lawrence is. And he was on the show a couple of times talking about, you know, he doesn't like the word sovereign citizens, but to claim your status as an American, as a human being living on the land. So that's kind of what that all means. So I do think that things are going to get crazy. And Jim, we got you back again. What do you got for me?
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, so... Man, people do not pay attention to what's going on. I mean, this stuff has been explained and nobody listens to any of this stuff when it's being explained. Oh, and by the way, within the first 10 minutes of his speech this morning, he said he was breaking open the doors. Everybody was going to be released from that January 6th thing. He did mention that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, good. Good. Okay, good. I'm glad I didn't hear it. And so thank you. Thank you for offering that clarification because I didn't hear that part. And, yeah, okay, go on.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, so on the tariff thing, okay, he did this the last time when he was president. Why everybody thinks this is going to be across-the-board tariff? This is not an across-the-board tariff for everybody and their little service industry thing. He is targeting certain corporations. Like the last time he was in office, he went after Ford. He went after Chevy. He went after them and said, hey, you're going to Mexico, building this stuff dirt cheap down and then bringing it back up here and making billions of dollars profit off the American people for your cheap labor. He's targeting the companies that have left America behind. Karen, and that's the companies. And so what it does, it forces them to sit there and bring their, their manufacturing back into this country because the tariffs are going to be so heavy on companies like Ford, even the pharmaceutical companies that have taken their pharmaceuticals out of this country. It's going to force them because the tariffs are going to be so high that Americans aren't going to be able to afford it. And if Americans can't afford to buy their junk, then it forces them to bring it back into the country. Okay. Great explanation. Well, I mean, it's been explained to people, Karen. Nobody has ever heard him say this isn't across the board 100% on everything being brought into this country.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Yeah. And that makes sense. And, you know, I was talking about the, you know, and so was Gary talking about it's the manufacturers, not the countries themselves that are going to be tariffed, obviously. Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, that's right. Okay, we know we have a pharmaceutical problem in this nation, and so much of it is being made over in Asia. He wants all that stuff, pharmaceuticals, to be brought back. What about the computer chips? He wants the computer chip industry brought back into this country.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Yep.
SPEAKER 05 :
Those are the things why this last guy don't understand that. I just don't get it. Listen, people. Open your ears and listen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep. Well put, Jim. Well put.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks so much. In my next section, you're going to probably want to call back in. So just for a forewarning. I think two calls is the limit, though. I don't know. But I do think that things are going to get crazy. They always do. And since this is Trump's last shot at doing big things, and he has nothing to lose at this point, I think we're going to see some fireworks. And speaking of fireworks, I was on Nextdoor today. If you guys have that Nextdoor app, and people were reporting gunshots in Parker, and it turns out that they were fireworks, just as Trump was reciting his oaths. A neighbor commented fireworks to celebrate the orange Mussolini. So, okay. Wow. Anyway. So that's enough about that. All I can do is, is just pray. God is in control. We're going to go through this next four years and we're going to hope for big, great things. Yeah. We're, we're just going to see what happens. I'm very hopeful and, but very cautious and, Ready, ready to, I don't know, ready to take on whatever comes, I guess. That's all I can say. And I want to talk really quick. We got about five minutes left. And I want to talk about this TikTok ban. And I know that many of you probably don't give a crap about this subject. at all, but I want to talk about it anyway. So the ban was supposed to happen yesterday, Sunday the 19th. And if you're on TikTok, you know that your app started to go dark and act very weird on Saturday night, so the 18th. So I normally don't kill the app. It's on my phone all the time. I just never kill it. I just close it and go to another app, whatever. I don't kill it. But when things started looking and acting weird and all the people that I follow, their profile pictures were grayed out and just things started to get really weird, I decided to kill it. I killed the app and then I brought it back up. And as soon as I did, I got a notification on the main screen that said, sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned. Okay. Now, that was Saturday night. And oddly, a while ago, when the ban was first mentioned, TikTok came out with an alternative called Lemon 8, just in case the ban was instated. So I downloaded Lemon 8. It acts and looks very much like TikTok, just with a bunch of yellow kind of fonts and stuff. So when the TikTok app first started acting weird, I opened my Lemon 8 app and got that same notification. So I actually think Lemon 8 went down first. There was another app that people were talking about called Red Note, and people were downloading and using that app, and I've seen all kinds of people talking about it. But the app, that app, Red Note, is owned by China. And all the language is in Mandarin, okay? And people were still using it, trying to navigate through it and, you know, trying to learn Mandarin and all this. So I think people were just desperate. They're trying to keep whatever online presence they had intact. And like I said in last week's show, there are a lot of people who make a living on TikTok, either by affiliate marketing or creator collaborations. on the TikTok shop or simply by being in the creator fund and monetizing their videos. And I'm not kidding when I say that many people are making six-figure incomes just from the TikTok shop. I'm not one of them. I just like the app for news and information because I think it's fun. But fast forward from Saturday night, about 12 hours, and TikTok is back up and running. Everything was restored, and other notification came up thanking Donald Trump for that. Of course, the left is losing their minds about it, but the 170 million Americans who do use TikTok are very happy about this. If you recall, last week I read a transcript from a press conference where a lawyer for TikTok was explaining its ownership and and its origins, and I told you that the CEO of ByteDance Ltd is Chinese, but he is based in the Cayman Islands, and that TikTok's servers are in Virginia, and that TikTok is owned by a cadre of global investors and by their employees. But in the eyes of the TikTok haters, I'm not sure how you can hate something without ever seeing it or using it. The TikTok ban was awesome. I commented on a Facebook post that asked if we agreed on the band. I explained why I didn't agree with it, and some guy commented that he was just hateful and vitriolic beyond belief. He said the Chinese government uses TikTok to spy on, gather information from the people and, you know, all the stuff that we've already heard. It's a danger to national security, blah, blah, blah, blah. What he failed to mention is that the app had already been banned on government devices. So he was talking about, you know, national security and it can suck the information off the device and whatever. So to stir the pot a little bit, I just said wrong. And then he came back at me and called me a two-year-old and said I was a commie. And, I mean, it's pretty unbelievable. So, I don't know. Once again, I'm going to go back and tell you, get on TikTok. And especially now, go get on it. Go get on TikTok right now. Okay? There's a reason why I'm asking you to do this. It's not because I want your devices, you know, compromised. It's something you need to do for success. all the reasons that I always explain, okay? That's going to do it for me today. Thanks so much for spending the last 58 minutes with me, shooting the breeze. Stop by Franktown Firearms and check out all that's new and exciting. Shoot me an email if you'd like to schedule some private training on this historic Inauguration Day. I want to pray to God for our country and for each and every one of you for a blessed 2025 and beyond. Mama Glock is out for now. Take care, everyone. God bless.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
Tony Perkins provides a heartfelt look into the ongoing challenges faced by Israel as it navigates a complex ceasefire with Hamas, following the release of hostages. The emotional landscape in Israel is captured through heartfelt reflections and interviews with those involved. The episode also highlights the spiritual dimensions of governance, quoting historical figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and articulating a moral vision for the future. As listeners are called to prayer, this episode serves as a reminder of the power of faith in confronting international and domestic challenges.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 :
I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear... I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear... That I will faithfully execute... That I will faithfully execute... The office of President of the United States... The office of President of the United States... And will, to the best of my ability... and will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect and defend. Preserve, protect and defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was President Donald Trump taking the oath of office earlier today in the Capitol Rotunda. Welcome to Washington Watch. Thank you for tuning in on this Monday. Well, despite the cold, tens of thousands came to Washington, D.C. to witness history. We'll talk about it with Congressman Robert Adderholt of Alabama in just a moment. Before today's inauguration, Family Research Council partnered with Dr. Jim Garlow and Wellverse to host an inauguration praise and prayer convocation.
SPEAKER 15 :
This is not an inter-religious service. We will not be praying to Allah or Buddha. We'll be praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
SPEAKER 06 :
It was a deeply moving service and I'll share some highlights with you a little bit later. Well, President Trump is wasting no time in getting to work.
SPEAKER 05 :
Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It's all about common sense.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we're looking forward to a little common sense. He's issuing a flurry of executive orders covering topics from the border to climate policy, the federal workforce, and transgender issues. Chris Gacig, Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs at the Family Research Council, will join us with the details.
SPEAKER 10 :
Also, since the October 7th massacre, our mission has been clear. Bring home all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Today, as part of these ongoing efforts, we welcomed home three hostages, three young women after 471 days in Hamas captivity.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari yesterday. We'll check in with Chris Mitchell, CBN's Middle East Bureau Chief, for the latest updates from Israel. Stay tuned for today's Washington Watch. A lot ahead. Let me encourage you, if you've not yet downloaded the StandFirm app, to download the StandFirm app. There's actually a couple of very important things. Resources there for you are 100-Day Tracker. It's a 100-day toolkit. It will help you keep up with and pray into the changes promised by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. You can track that. We can give you daily updates. Also being released next month, we have the first installment out, is God and Government. What does the Bible have to say about government? You can find out more about that at the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store. Simply download the StandFirm app. As mentioned, Donald Trump was sworn in today as the 47th president of the United States, making him officially the second U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms. In his inaugural address, President Trump said, quote, the golden age of America begins right now, end quote. He also shared his priorities with the American people. Joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Robert Adderholt, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He serves Alabama's 4th Congressional District. Congressman Adderholt, welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 02 :
Tony, good to be with you. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, thanks for taking time to join us. Busy, busy day in Washington, D.C., a lot of activities. Your thoughts on today's inauguration ceremony?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it was a great day. Just I was honored to have a chance to actually be in the rotunda there. As you know, plans changed drastically after, I guess it was Friday when they decided to move inside. So a lot of the folks I know that was hoping to be there, but I think most people understood between the weather and what all was going on in Washington that the We needed to make sure everybody was safe, and it was the call by the president, but obviously all the Congress was there, the House and the Senate, and we were there to see it, and just a lot of energy in the air, and we're just very excited to be there.
SPEAKER 06 :
And there were a lot of folks that came to D.C. despite the weather. In fact, it moved the indoor gathering at the Capital One Arena just across from the FRC headquarters here in D.C. They were lining up last night, could not wait to get in, even out there in the cold. So a lot of enthusiasm. What was it like there in the rotunda?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, no, there was a lot of energy. Of course, obviously, a lot of Democrats didn't come. Probably most of the members there were Republicans, but you did have a lot of Democrats that were there. But there was a lot of energy in the room. And just hear the president just beginning of a new day. It was really what I'm how to best describe it, because we felt like we're starting a new morning. Things are looking very positive. We're starting with a from a position of security. And so that's. I just, you know, it was just great being in the room and seeing the president and hearing him take the oath of office, seeing him right there. So, yeah, just really, I think everyone felt better after he was commander in chief.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Congressman Adderhall, after he made his speech, kind of laying out his plans, what he wants to see America do and become, what were your major takeaways?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, obviously, I think one of the things that was very obvious that border security is going to be a number one priority in this administration. And, you know, and also it was just very great to see him, the strength of the international community. of seeing that we, that the United States is going to project now and not only project, but also be in strength around the world. And I think that's one of the things that's been lacking because we've so much been, the United States of America has not had the respect that we've really needed. And we are the, And militarily, economically, we're number one around the world. And I think it's important that we stand strong for democracy. And I think people feel better that now with Donald Trump in that role, that that will definitely be the case.
SPEAKER 06 :
I know when these types of gatherings take place, everybody's going to kind of be there and kind of waiting, milling around before the actual event takes place. There's a lot of time for conversations. Can you share a little bit about the conversations you've had today with your colleagues and kind of what they're thinking and just kind of the anticipation that they have?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know, it was interesting as I was sitting now next to some of my colleagues there, and this president was making his speech, as you know from listening to his speech yourself, the things that he said he was going to implement. And basically, members of Congress. And I know, uh, around me was saying, saying just under their breath, but you could hear them actually say, thank you. Thank you for standing for a strong border, uh, for, uh, that we'll have energy freedom, uh, that we will make sure that we are, uh, number one on the world stage, making sure that we put in those common sense practices that are so important that have gone lacking over the last four years. So just really a sense of gratefulness that the president is going to move forward on these policies and that it's not going to be just talk, but it's going to he's doing that. And as you know, putting those signing those executive orders today, he is not wasting time. I had a chance to talk to some of the members of the of his cabinet that he is going to be appointing or has appointed, I guess, is waiting for their confirmation to come through. And they are ready to get to work. And I saw John Ratcliffe and talked to Lee Zeldin. And they're just very excited about starting to work and to implementing the president's policies as soon as they get their confirmation.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, you mentioned the executive orders, and we're going to talk about those in a moment with Chris Gasek from FRC. But what I did not see in the list of executive orders in this first batch, and we'll see more this week, that is the Mexico City policy, which has been kind of a ping-pong policy from administration to administration. Democrats You know, rescind it. Republicans generally put it back in place, and that's simply prohibiting U.S. tax dollars for funding or promoting abortion abroad, getting its name from Ronald Reagan when he did the announcement in Mexico City. Any word on that?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I've not heard an update, but I mean, I would be shocked if that is not within these, one of the first executive orders that comes through. But I was reminded with something that I was so happy that he pointed out, and I'm sure you heard it loud and clear, Tony, was what he said about there were two genders, male and female. And I thought that was very bold. And I think that was very good news for the American people to hear. that, you know, the transgender, that obviously that from that standpoint, that there's many genders, that that is not something the president is embracing and that we'll get back to some common sense regarding that. So by him making that statement, I think was tremendous. He didn't have to make that statement, even though I know he agrees with it. But to agree that there are only two genders and to make that publicly in his speech this afternoon was, I think, a real sign that he's going to be very serious about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I have not read the executive order related to that in the federal workforce, but I'm curious if that replies to our nation's military, because he rescinded the Obama transgender policy in his last term. I'm wondering if this would also affect the United States military, where they would go back to recognizing just two genders.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, well, I haven't seen the details either, Tony, but I do think that he's been very serious and very strong on it by him making this statement today. I think it's a good sign that he will move forward on that.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Congressman Adderhall, we just have about a minute and a half left. Biggest challenge going forward, and how do our viewers and listeners need to be praying?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, biggest challenge will be actually, you know, this the House. We only have a very thin majority. So getting these policies through is going to be very difficult. You can have just one or two members. Matter of fact, when as we were getting ready to go out of the chamber this morning into the rotunda, we got the resignation letter from Michael Waltz. that was presented to the speaker that he's, of course, going for to be the president's security advisor, national security advisor. So that's one less member that we have now. So it's going to be very tough as we move forward on these policies. Of course, even the Senate, even though they will have 53 when everyone is there, it's still, that's going to be a close in all respects, but it's going to be one or two seats majority in the House. So that's what I see as the most challenging and just everyone getting an agreement because even though Republicans were together, we sometimes don't always agree on what the best way to move forward.
SPEAKER 06 :
That would be an understatement.
SPEAKER 02 :
Would be an understatement.
SPEAKER 06 :
Robert Adderholt, thanks so much for joining us. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. Thanks, Tony. Good to be with you. And God bless and God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 06 :
Amen. Congressman Robert Adderholt of Alabama. And a lot of these executive orders that the president is doing are good, but we want to take this moment to put them into statute so that they cannot be rescinded by the next administration. So Robert's point, we need to be getting these things through Congress. All right. After the break, I'll share with you a little bit about last night's presidential inauguration prayer event.
SPEAKER 09 :
During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we're making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins parked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC's outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere, the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God's intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel's peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government, Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 12 :
Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC's Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into Scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God's Word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Well, yesterday, ahead of today's presidential inauguration, Family Research Council hosted an inauguration praise and prayer convocation service to pray for our nation. And if you missed it, you can actually catch it on the Stand Firm app. Go to the app store and download the Stand Firm app. But right now, I'd like to share with you the message that I delivered yesterday at the event. Here's what the Lord put on my heart. For America to be great again, it must first be moral again. It must first be good again. Tomorrow, as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, is inaugurated, our nation will also celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And as Alveda was praying a moment ago, Dr. King, a pastor, a leader, profoundly influenced the government of our nation through his unwavering commitment to proclaiming truth and pursuing justice. In his sermon, A Knock at Midnight, Dr. King made a powerful statement about the church's role in society. He said this, he said, quote, the church must be reminded that it is not the master nor the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool. The church does not recapture its prophetic zeal. It will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. God help us to recapture that prophetic zeal. This principle is vividly illustrated in the final recorded exchange of the prophet Elisha with the king of Israel, Joash. In 2 Kings 3, verse 14, it says, Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. And Elisha said to him, Take a bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. And then he said to the king of Israel, Draw the bow. And he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. And he said, open the window eastward, and he opened it. Then Elisha said, shoot, and the king shot. And he said, the Lord's arrows of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria, for you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them. Then the prophet said, take the arrows, and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, strike the ground with them. And he struck three times, and he stopped. Then the man of God was angry. and said you should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck down Syria until you had made the end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times. Although Joash was not a good king, he still recognized and respected the indispensable role of the prophetic voice of the prophet in preserving and prospering the nation because the prophet never compromised God's truth. In this passage, we see three key actions of that prophetic voice, which the church must recapture today. Number one, he instructs, verse 15, take a bow and arrows. The church must have the clarity and give direction. And that clarity only comes from the word of God. The church must rediscover the word of God. And it must bring it into the public square once again. He guides. Look at verse 16. It says, draw the bow. He drew it. Then Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. The church must be involved in government. We must be hands on.
SPEAKER 01 :
And then...
SPEAKER 06 :
The prophet never apologizes for the call of God. He corrects, verse 19, then the man of God was angry with him and he said, you should have struck five or six times. What God says is wrong. We cannot politely nod as if it is right. We must speak the truth of God's word. Amen. For nearly 60 years, Elisha served as a prophet, undoubtedly praying and interceding for the king, even though most of them walked contrary to God and his word. Why? Because that is what God told him to do. That was his mission. And there is a benefit when the prophet walks in his mission and intercedes. The apostle Paul speaks to this issue in 1 Timothy chapter 2. He says, that supplications, prayers, and intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. How many of you want peace? How many want joy and to be able to live in the tranquility of your home? We need godly leaders and we must pray for them. So how does a church today in 2025 recapture this prophetic zeal that Dr. King spoke of? We must stop seeking affirmation from government and stand firm in our identity with Jesus Christ. We cannot speak prophetically to those to whom we're seeking approval. We do not need the approval of government. We are called as a prophetic voice of God. Elisha did not need Joash's validation. He knew his master and he knew his mission. Likewise, the church must understand its authority and its purpose rooted in the power and the calling of God. if it is to rediscover its prophetic voice in our time. Church, stand firm in Christ. Pray for our leaders and boldly speak the truth of God. That was from yesterday's inauguration praise and prayer convocation that FRC co-hosted at the Greater New Hope Baptist Church just around the corner from the Family Research Council, just two blocks from the Capital One Center where large crowds were gathered there as well. And if you missed it, you can catch it all at FRC's Stand Firm app. Go to the app store, download the Stand Firm app. All right. After the break, we're going to take a look at some of the executive orders that President Trump is probably signing right now. And so we're going to talk about that with Chris Gasek on the other side of the break. So don't go away. A lot more Washington Watch coming up. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 14 :
So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think it is the best program out there.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I've absolutely loved my experience interning at FRC.
SPEAKER 13 :
They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord.
SPEAKER 14 :
It's really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC's internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you.
SPEAKER 13 :
I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned. other places and they're responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that. But here we get real hands on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of.
SPEAKER 01 :
Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that's not all. They're also engaged in our government. They're voters. They're more likely to be involved in their community, and they're making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That's S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Be sure and check out the app for the latest on today's activities. You can also, in addition to the Washington Watch, you can get the Washington Stand, which is our news feed. You'll get news and commentary from a biblical perspective, also the Stand on the Word. Go to thestand.com. Go get the Stand Firm app in the App Store. All right, today, President Trump, first day back in office. He's wasting no time. He's signing a wave of executive orders aimed at fulfilling key campaign promises, reversing policies from the Biden administration. From declaring a national emergency at the southern border to ending federal DEI programs, these actions mark the beginning of what President Trump calls the complete restoration of America, a return to common sense. Joining me now to unpack some of these, Dr. Chris Gasek, Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs here at the Family Research Council. Chris, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Tony. How are you doing? Good to be with you. And what a wild day it's been.
SPEAKER 06 :
It has, and I'm sure it's only going to get even wilder. Let's talk about some of the key. There's a lot of these executive orders. I think they're going to be rolling out a whole stream of them over the next several days. Let's hit the ones at the top of the list. What do we have so far?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, what happened this morning was that the president, when he was at the Capitol, signed about four or five. And one had to do with Inauguration Day ceremony and a number of cabinet, sub-cabinet appointees and making appointments and commissions and things like that. So a lot of administrative issues. But right now, just two blocks from here, the president is seated and he's about to make an address at the Capital One Center. And it looks like the Air Force Band is over there. I mean, it's a big event with like another 15 to 20,000 people inside. And there's a sort of, I don't know if it's, I don't think it's the real one, but there's an Oval Office lookalike desk sitting there with a chair. And apparently, you know, he's going to go and sign, you know, maybe a couple dozen or more executive orders and maybe talk about them as he goes through them. So at this point, there's a bit of, I wouldn't say conjecture. I think we sort of know what directions they're going, but we don't have the actual paper with the words. And we haven't seen precisely which ones have been done in what order. So I just want to spell that out.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, we've been waiting. It was scheduled at right at the top of the hour, but He typically runs a little bit behind. One that, again, we're working off of titles because we've not seen the content of the executive orders. But one, which I mentioned earlier with Congressman Adderhall, was one dealing with the fact that there are two sexes. This is an issue. It's Title VII, but he says as it applies to federal sexes. personnel. I'm wondering if this is going to reach into the military and into the transgender policy of the Biden administration.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, if we move out of this gender ideology framework and go back to a description of or a use of biological sex, the term sex instead of gender, that's going to have kind of rolling implicate, you know, it's going to have a logical effect that's going to essentially wipe out a lot of policies, even, you know, that's the way the law works. The law works is if I set a principle in motion, it's going to work its way through things. And I think that if, depending on how much of a, how many boundaries they put on this, it will do the same sort of thing. Sometimes they take the military out of these, but my sense is that the way President Trump thinks about things, it's like the military would be the first place he does it.
SPEAKER 06 :
So how does this, how will that mesh with the Supreme Court ruling on the Title VII gender issue?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I guess they're going to be, you know, kind of the Bostock decision. It's going to be interesting. You know, just some immediate points. The Bostock ruling was about a private employer, the government, the federal government may have more leeway with regard to the employees that it has in terms of setting terms and conditions, especially in areas like the military. So, again, you know, one of the things that happens here is that there are issues that have to play out in kind of legal thinking. And remember one thing, until 20 years ago, everything was framed in terms of biological sex. So it wasn't like we've never been in this world before, right? It's more like the strange new world that the Supreme Court and other institutions have created for us have created these problems. And in a sense, using biological sex again would just be a reset to the, you know, the way things should be.
SPEAKER 06 :
But but as he made very clear, this was a return to common sense. Common sense has not been that common. He's got executive orders on the border. That's been the big focus. In fact, there'll be several dealing with the border. declaring an emergency. No doubt, Chris Gazig, we're going to see a lot of legal action and there will be suits filed to try to stop the president from moving forward these executive orders. Am I correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. Yes. I think I saw on a Politico flash news item that somebody has already filed to get an injunction against the Doge effort, which is kind of silly because I think the Doge you know, Musk and these people are essentially assistants to Russ Vought in the Office of Management and Budget. I think he can, you know, get people and advisors and things of this sort. I don't know. That seems, you know, kind of persnickety, but we'll see what happens. Remember, one of the things about the District of Columbia is that it's populated with all these leftist district court judges and all these, you know, very leftist appellate court judges. I mean, it's kind of a rotten burrow up here, as they would use in English politics, right? It's a company-owned town, and the deep state and the government own the judiciary, except at the Supreme Court level. And there you have a group of conservative lawyers, especially conservative on these administrative state issues.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they've actually ruled on that recently. So that's going to be interesting. All right, Chris, we're out of time, but we're going to come back to you in the next couple of days as we look more at these executive orders. Stick with us, folks. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn't be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 11 :
All of us are born with the desire to find truth and meaning. Where did I come from? What happens when I die? While our answers to these questions may divide us, we are united in our need for the freedom to answer life's biggest questions and make life's biggest decisions for ourselves. That's why religious freedom matters for everyone. Religious freedom matters because the powerful have long wanted to control those who are less powerful. Religious freedom matters because the freedom of those who are different is often threatened by those who believe different is dangerous. Leah Sharibu, a Christian teenager in Nigeria, remains a captive of Boko Haram for her refusal to renounce her Christian faith. Chinese pastor Wang Yi is serving a nine-year sentence for speaking publicly against the Chinese government. In Pakistan, Asif Pervez is on death row for allegedly sending a blasphemous text message. All of this because people in power decided different is dangerous. at the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council. We promote religious freedom for everyone because the only alternative is religious freedom for no one. We encourage Americans and the American government to engage and advocate for the persecuted. And they do. We work every day to bring good news to the afflicted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. We do it because that's what Jesus does. We work to give freedom to others because we ourselves have been set free.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us today. All right, a new Congress, a new administration, and a new resource for you. Announcing today, the God and Government course that will be coming out beginning on President's Day. Each week thereafter, we'll be releasing a new episode of God and Government, but you can get the introduction right now and prepare for it. Go to the Stand Firm app. It's exclusively on the Stand Firm apps. Go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. Our word for today comes from the book of Nahum. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. You know, this kind of reminds me of the words that Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3. He said, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Here's the takeaway. Don't mistake God's mercy and patience for acceptance or indifference toward sin. God is merciful and he is patient, but he's also just. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That's BIBLE to 67742. Earlier today, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners, terrorists, as a part of the first phase of the hostage and ceasefire agreement that the Israeli government signed off on at the beginning of the weekend. Now, this came after yesterday's release of three Israeli hostages by Hamas following 471 days in captivity. Four more hostages are expected to be released this coming Saturday as a part of the six-week-long first phase. Now, at the end of this first phase, only 33 hostages will have been released, while nearly 2,000 Palestinian terrorists will be set free. So what's the mood like right now in Israel, and how is the Jewish nation feeling about the weeks ahead, and how is the Bibi Netanyahu administration coalition holding up. Joining me now to discuss this live from Jerusalem is Chris Mitchell, Middle East Bureau Chief for CBN News. Chris, thanks for joining us. And again, thanks for staying up late there in Israel. I know it's almost midnight.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is actually. Yeah, almost. One o'clock here, but great to be with you and such an important historic day for Israel and certainly the United States.
SPEAKER 06 :
We were discussing last week, of course, you were in Israel. I mean, you were in the United States. You just made it back to Israel. What's the sense there? I know there was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm about the three females that were released yesterday. But I mean, that's just a token of what remains in captivity. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's right, Tony. I would describe, and I just arrived back yesterday, and you can almost feel the mood here of what people are feeling. First of all, they're conflicted because of what's going on. First of all, the jubilation they have, I think shared by almost all Israelis, that these three young Israeli women, Daron, Emily, and Romy, have been reunited with their families. The video of them with their mothers is just heart-wrenching. that they are finally back after 470 days, 71 days in captivity. So the jubilation is there. The emotion of seeing these families reunited is really profound. On the other hand, Tony, as you mentioned, 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released the same day. And so what Israelis know is that historically these prisoners have gone on to commit terror attacks. In fact, in 2011, there was 1,027 Palestinian prisoners released In exchange for one IDF soldier, his name, net soldier, whose name was Gilad Shalit, many of those 1,027 terrorists went on to commit terror attacks and killed more than 190 people. And, famously, among those prisoners was Yahya Asinwar, who became the head of Hamas and masterminded the October 7 massacre. So there's really a conflicted feeling about what's going on here. Israelis rejoice in the three women that have been released, but are sober minded about what's anticipated with not only the 90 today, but as you said, nearly 2000 eventually through the course of the next six weeks will be released.
SPEAKER 06 :
Chris, what information do we have on the well-being of the three that were released?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, according to the doctors at Sheba Medical Centers, where they were taking, they're pretty good, which is really surprising after this well more than a year of being in captivity. We'll find out more as time goes on exactly what happened. during their time of captivity, whether in tunnels or maybe in some homes, and whether or not they were sexually abused, what kind of torture or deprivation they all suffered. But so far, you know, they look good. And you can see from the videos, you know, they're walking and they're not debilitated in any way it seems. One of the hostages, I believe Emily, two of her fingers were shot during October 7th when she was kidnapped. But so far they look pretty good, and Israelis are quite excited about that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Chris, there's this is, as you said, this there's there's mixed feelings on this. A lot of concern about the release of terrorists in exchange and how that might further incentivize the taking of hostages. There's also the concern, although we've heard even on this week on the Hill program that I do, the House speaker, we've heard Mike Waltz, the. national security advisor to the president, make very clear that Israel has the right to eliminate the threat from Hamas as an entity. Is the Netanyahu coalition government going to be able to hold together?
SPEAKER 03 :
I would think it's actually been shaken by this more than perhaps even the threats against it by the Biden administration. And what has happened is that one of the coalition members, Ben Gavir, he has a religious party in the coalition. He's left the government. It leaves about 63 seats left. left in the majority coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu. But another threat is that Bezalel Smoltrich, who is the current finance minister, has said that after the first phase, which goes for 42 days, if Israel doesn't resume the war, then he would leave. So that puts the Netanyahu coalition government in jeopardy. And if he would leave, then perhaps the government would fall and there'd be new elections. And I would imagine that the Trump administration would rather deal with a Netanyahu government than any of the alternatives on the left side of the political spectrum here in Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Is there an expectation that Hamas will not live up to the particulars of this ceasefire? Because that has been the history in the past that they have not kept their part of the deal.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think that's a lot of people anticipate that that will happen and that they will continue to wage not only warfare, but a psychological warfare against Israel. For example, they delayed the announcement of the three hostages about an hour and a half. And the expectation is they will continue to try to, you know, maybe threaten Israel with these minutiae of the details, but further than that, that the substance of the deal would be violated by Hamas. So there's an expectation, as you said, historically it has happened, and that they will break the deal, and perhaps Israel can resume the fighting in Gaza. And finally, finish what had been the goals at the very beginning of the war, Tony, which, number one, was to destroy Hamas militarily, two, make sure that it never is able to govern the Gaza Strip again, and third, would free all of the hostages.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, the two war goals that they had going into this was, as you said, to secure the release of all the hostages and to eliminate this threat posed by Hamas. The future of the coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu depends on the execution of those two goals and the accomplishment of it, does it not?
SPEAKER 03 :
It does. In fact, in phase two and phase three, this is a three-phase deal, phase two leads to a permanent ceasefire, which would mean the end of the war and that Israel would not fulfill its number one and number two goals. You saw it right after the release of the Israeli women. You saw Hamas members take to the streets and parade, celebrate their victory. So it really does put these war goals long-term for this deal at risk.
SPEAKER 06 :
So they are, Hamas is holding these hostages basically as hostages for the second and third phase of this deal. You know, this, I know there's been a lot of comparison to the Iran hostage situation when Ronald Reagan came in as president. But all of those hostages were released. We see Hamas holding on to hostages, only releasing a token of those hostages. And it's going to be very difficult when you get, I think, 16 days into this initial ceasefires when they began or they're supposed to begin negotiating the next steps. As long as they're holding hostages, it's going to be very difficult for Israel going forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that's right. There is a similarity in the 1980 hostage release, but there's many differences. And like you said, right now, it's not all of the hostages being released. It's sort of a drip, drip, drip. Next Saturday, there'll be four released, and then the following... Saturday, more until the end of the 42 days, and all 33 hostages will be released. And we don't even know how many of those will be alive. So there's a sense among some people here that the first ones that were released were in good health, relatively. And they certainly didn't want to have Israelis see either dead hostages Israelis come out or very ill hostages come out. So it's going to be a drip-drip for the next several weeks.
SPEAKER 06 :
So 33 at the end of this 42-day period. The remainder, that would leave roughly about 60 that would still be held.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's right, and that goes on, and these second and third phases will continue to go on until presumably all of the hostages would release. But also, according to the deal, as we understand it now, the end of the war would happen. So it's quite the dilemma right now for Prime Minister Netanyahu. There are some calling, and our good friend Amir Sefardi is calling people to pray for these 42 days. And as you were sharing in... early in the program, wonderful message, by the way, prayer makes a difference. And I think for people to be encouraged to pray for Israel, pray for President Trump, to make wise and godly decisions, especially in terms of Israel, Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu to have the fortitude to do what he needs to do to protect the Jewish people in Israel. And pray for Israel. It says in Isaiah chapter 40, comfort, comfort ye my people. They're going through excruciating emotional turmoil right now and really a psychological warfare by Hamas against them. So they need prayer to be comforted and what they're experiencing right now. Something I think in their experience in modern history have never quite gone for it, just to the depth of this emotional turmoil.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you beat me to my last question. I was going to ask you how we need to be praying right now for Israel. But I would also sense, and I was with several elected officials from Israel that were over in DC this week for the various events. There is a there's a greater awareness, I think, of the spiritual significance among Israelis, even those who do not who are not religious Jews are sensing that God is at work in their land.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's some of the commentary I've been reading or hearing here. People are just perplexed. They're flummoxed. How can we manage this deal that is so emotionally wrenching and threatens that these threats would remain on its border? And many are concluding it's God. We have to look to God. Here Orthodox Jews use the name Hashem. So they are looking to God to help during this time. And I think they're evangelical friends. And I know many are listening to us right now. They're looking to them to join them in prayer and join them in support and advocate for them during this very, very difficult time in their history.
SPEAKER 06 :
Chris, we've got about 45 seconds left. Would you lead us in prayer there from Jerusalem?
SPEAKER 03 :
Sure. Father, we do pray right now for comfort for the Jewish people, for the people of Israel right now as they go through this. ordeal, this excruciating ordeal. We rejoice in the families right now that are reunited. But we also pray for those families that our loved ones are still in captivity. And we pray for them during this time. And we pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu for great godly wisdom that he would hear from heaven during this time, and for President Trump, who has been such a great friend for Israel during his first administration. We pray that he would be as great a friend and even greater during these next four years, and that America would enjoy the promise in Genesis 12 that those that bless Israel will be blessed, and that that promise would bless America. And we ask this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER 06 :
Amen. Amen. Chris Mitchell, thank you for praying. Thank you for joining us. And again, thanks for staying up late tonight. Thanks, Tony. And folks, thank you for joining us. And please do pray for Israel. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you've done everything you can do, when you've prayed, when you've prepared, and when you've taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 08 :
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.
In this compelling installment, Kim Munson brings you both perspectives and clarity on the significance of Inauguration Day. She interviews special guest Scott Whatley, providing a detailed view of the pivotal moments in politics. As we reflect on past administrations and look forward to a hopeful future, Kim encourages her listeners to act with purpose and strive for excellence in their communities.
SPEAKER 17 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 12 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water, what it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 17 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 12 :
Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it's actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 17 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 12 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 17 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 12 :
Indeed, let's have a conversation. 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.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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 12 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. We're going to do take two on this. We got some technical difficulties today. I am broadcasting from home, and the snow and the temperatures are, I think, maybe making things interesting. So we're going to stay focused on this if need be. I've got this great little... Thank you so much for joining us. And thank you to the team. That's producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Monday, Joe, and it is Inauguration Day.
SPEAKER 11 :
I am so excited for today.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is a big day in our history. We've got a lot of headlines. We've got a lot of things to talk about. Check out the website. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunza.com. Thank you to all of you who support us. And you can listen to us on all KLZ 560 platforms. That's KLZ 560 AM, 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, and the KLZ app. And we are on live 6 to 8 AM. Monday through Friday, the first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon, second hour 10 to 11 at night. We dissect these issues and search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through this 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 it is Inauguration Day, so the word of the day that I chose was hope. Because I think so many people have great hope that we will reclaim our country and reclaim our freedoms. And with the inauguration of Donald Trump. And so hope, number one, could be an intransitive verb to cherish a desire with anticipation to want something to happen or to be true. And it is also trust. Secondly, and as a transitive verb, it is to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment, to expect with confidence. And then as a noun, a desire accompanied by an expectation of or belief in fulfillment. or someone or something on which hopes are centered and something desired or hoped for. So trust or reliance. So our word of the day is hope, H-O-P-E. Your challenge is to use that in a sentence today. And our quote of the day, I thought it was appropriate to go to Donald Trump, who was born in 1946. He was our 45th president. He's a politician, media personality and businessman. And he will be our 47th president as well. And he said this. He said, together, we will have one great American future. Our potential is unlimited. We will be one people under one God saluting one American flag. And so let's get into some of these headlines. We're going to be talking with Scott Whatley in just a few moments. He is another KLZ radio host. He hosts Haystack Help Radio, which is and then also Sportsman of Colorado. So we'll talk with him in just a little bit. He was he was in Washington, D.C. when they moved the inauguration in. inside because of the temperatures there, he decided to come home. So I just checked it a little while ago and the temperature in Washington, D.C. was, let's see, it was 21 degrees, but it felt like 12 degrees. Let's see where we're at right now. It's still 21 and a little chilly there. So they've moved the inauguration inside. And apparently there's many, many people there. I have a number of friends that are in Washington, D.C., and I guess some of the different congressmen are going to have watch parties. And so it'll be interesting to see what happens today with all of that. But today is Inauguration Day and a great, great quote. by Donald Trump. So several things. First of all, I think this is super important. And Joe Biden, again, these are little things, I think, to try to disrespect Inauguration Day. And that was with the death of Jimmy Carter. Biden had decreed that all U.S. flags would be flown at half staff. for 30 days, which would go past the inauguration. And I think it's another try to thumb their nose at the American people and the American idea. And so I love this. This is from the Raleigh News and Observer. Speaker Johnson will defy the White House order of flying the US flags at half staff for inauguration day. And he has ordered that those flags will be flying proudly and fervently. And he said on January 20th, the flags of the Capitol Hill will fly at full staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th president, Donald Trump. The flags will be lowered back to have staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter. That seems like the best way to make all of that happen. Additionally, Trump will is planning on issuing maybe near 100 executive orders. And CNN says that they've outlined some of these. This is from an article from CNN and Trump. So right off the bat, I think some of the first ones will be regarding immigration and the border, energy policy. And so those are going to be some exciting things to watch to see what's going to happen today. And then I want to talk with Scott Watley about this. This just came across the wire maybe even 30 minutes ago. And Biden has this is from USA Today, has preemptively pardoned Fauci, Cheney and Milley to protect against Trump inquiries, as well as I think Adam Schiff was in that list, as well as Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. and Adam Schiff regarding the J6 committee. So that is super interesting. But let's welcome Scott Watley on the show. He is the host of Haystack Help Radio, which airs Monday through Friday at noon to 1 on all KLC 560 platforms. And then also Sportsman of Colorado is broadcast on Saturdays 1 to 2 in the afternoon. Scott Watley, welcome.
SPEAKER 07 :
Kim, good morning. How are you?
SPEAKER 12 :
It is. I'm doing well. It's January 20th. You had gotten to Washington, D.C., and because of the temperatures, they've moved the inauguration inside. So you came back home, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, ma'am. I took off on Friday, actually, about 9.30. And about halfway through the flight, my phone started getting some text messages and different things of the event had been moved inside. And so landed about 3.30 and left. you know, got around a little bit. And I tell you, Kim, it was just, you know, just starting out with the flight and the folks that were on it. I've never seen so much red in all my life. Oh, my gosh. Different things. I mean, it was really, you know, even just in the airport. I mean, it was just a, I don't know, just a different feeling in the air, I guess, so to speak. And, boy, just people being so nice and courteous. But getting to D.C., And it was really, really packed, you know, the airport and different things like that. But then, you know, it did not take them long to start, you know, tearing down different things and platforms of all the things, just the big changes. And this is throwing thousands upon thousands of people. You think about all the people that we both know from here that we're going with. families and then different, you know, Congress people, dignitaries, different people that now the last reports I heard Sunday before I left were about 600 people would be able to attend inside the rotunda. And so needless to say that that negated a lot of tickets people had.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and that's disappointing for everyone that has traveled back there, I understand. It seems like it makes sense. Now, I saw a text message from, or not a text message, a post by James Woods recently. who is a Hollywood actor, and I think his house may have burned in this last fire, but he is very supportive of Donald Trump, and he said he was concerned about Donald Trump and Melania walking in the parade today, and it hadn't crossed my mind about that parade. Do you know any details about that at all, Scott?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I talked to some friends. I actually had a friend of mine that was in the Secret Service for many, many years and had kind of even hooked me up with some rides while I was there to get me around D.C. So, you know, in talking to them, security was a big issue. And while this gentleman, you know, is retired from Secret Service, still had friends there. And I'm not sure. I mean, you look at today, this morning, D.C. And I think the parade here in Denver is still going on. And look at the temperatures we're having. So there are a lot of people and there was a lot of talk about that just with just normal folks, you know, that, man, this just doesn't seem right, you know, for. But you look at all the different things out there from and what they even they came out with press releases on them. animals that were their horse you know cops on horses different things like that and you know the ice and snow so i get it because i mean it they did get some bad weather there but it is interesting um you know to move it inside and i think reagan was the last time they had done that right in like 1985 or something so yeah it's gonna it was interesting and and like i say disappointing for a lot of people but you certainly want everyone safe and needless to say the president and uh And I'll tell you, that was a big topic just right there in itself of just, man, we got to keep President Trump protected these next four years. I mean, you look at these things. And one report I saw late yesterday was about 200 executive orders he was going to be doing. So, I mean, he's going to be causing some havoc on a lot of different lines to a lot of people. So it's going to be interesting. So. You know, but it's just so refreshing, Kim. And I think we've all, you know, and I was sitting with someone on the plane that wasn't a huge Trump fan, but, you know, kind of thought about the way I've always said, hey, I'm not looking for him to be my pastor. He's not perfect. He's not the savior of the world. But I do believe he loves America. And I believe he is going to do all he can to protect us. It's just nice to have somebody that You know, I mean, you look at – I saw him and Lee Greenwood came out with a Bible, you know, together. I mean, that's pretty neat, you know. I mean, you look at just the respect for the military, our police. I mean, everything. It's just – and you look at just the events of this morning, like you say, Biden pardoning Fauci and all the different things like that. It's just nice to have – it seems like just a refreshing – you know, we're getting our country back, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and I was very concerned if the O'Biden-Harris administration had four more years with the things that they'd done. I was very concerned about what would happen for our country, Scott.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, no doubt. You look at, you know, I think even talking to some people that were there in the military. I mean, man, they're thrilled to have him back. And, you know, just all the appointments he's made. I mean, this does seem like an all-star cast, so to speak, of his different choices for all these different positions. It's not going to happen overnight, but I tell you, I think by the time sun sets tonight, even here, it is going to be a different country for us. And I just hope everybody will pray for President Trump and leadership and for his protection. And boy, that somehow we can get this back to, you know, respectable America again. And, you know, and looking at Trump and you look at all these world leaders and different things like that. I mean, I think we now have the respect of everyone again because they know him and know he's not messing around with things.
SPEAKER 12 :
He's not going to mess around, and the inauguration is scheduled to be at 10 a.m. our time here in the Mountain Time Zone. So I was at the inauguration in 2016, Scott, and you mentioned being on the airplane, and it was very curious. Yes. Because there were a number, I thought everybody was going back to Washington, D.C. because we were excited about Donald Trump's inauguration. And there were a number of women that were on the plane with me. And they didn't seem quite as excited about it. It was taking me a little while to connect the dots. And then when we got to baggage claim, many of these women were pulling off boxes and boxes of things that had been shipped there. And I'm thinking about that. I'm like, oh, that is so curious. Well, that was the remember all of these many women that were there to protest Donald Trump's inauguration with all the weird hats and the T-shirts. And it was very well organized. And I that was that was my first inkling that there there was just this really organized effort that was going to try to undermine his presidency. And again, it took me a little while. You know how you're sometimes looking at something, Scott, and you're like, that is so curious. What what is that? I know it took me it took me a little while to connect the dots, but you didn't see any of that this this time around, huh?
SPEAKER 07 :
No. Now, you know, there were some protests, and they all seemed to be pretty peaceful, you know, around the Capitol and all, you know, later Friday and Saturday. You know, different groups, but all of it seemed to be pretty peaceful and all. So, like I say, it's going to be interesting. You know, just praying today will go smooth and no tragic events of any kind. I think it's going to be a great, great day. And, you know, it's going to be exciting just to see. I mean, you look back when he won the first time. I was thinking going back yesterday, am I more surprised that he won the first time or this time? You know, when you look, Kim, and you reflect back at everything he has gone through with them trying to tear him down, I mean, from the court case, the assassination attempts, I mean, All the different things. This is the most resilient guy. Dana White with UFC spoke yesterday at the rally, and he said he's the most resilient guy he's ever met in his life. And I think you have to agree with that. It's unbelievable.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, it really is unbelievable. And I've been getting text messages. People have a lot of great hope for today. And to your point, I think prayers are very important for safety, for Trump and all of them. And his family, but also for guidance that we keep our our focus where it needs to be. And then, Scott, we have work to do in Colorado. What I also see is that I think that we're going to. see doubling down on a lot of the radical activist stuff that has been going on in Colorado at the local, the county, and the state level. And so we are really going to have to do our part to reclaim our state and our country as well. I was talking with a number of girls recently, and they had said that Trump – Trump has basically cracked the door open for us to reclaim our country. But each of us has something that we need to do to reclaim it as well. So choose that thing you're most concerned about and become involved in it, become an expert in it, and work to get things turned around so we can reclaim our state and our country. It is an exciting day, but I look at it with we have much work to do because there's been much damage that has been done to our state and our country, Scott.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, absolutely. And like you said, my shows are not really political, but you know what? I'm telling you, I've learned over these last couple of years, no matter where we are and maybe what we do, we're all going to have to jump in this fight and support our good politicians here and you know, local law enforcement, different things like that, and just to show them our support. And we're going to have to get involved in every level here and get Colorado back.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep, we are. We're going to need to reclaim Colorado. So Scott Whatley, thank you so much for giving us a boots-on-the-ground view of what was going on in Washington, D.C. And again, he is the host of Haystack Help Radio. It airs Monday through Friday, noon to 1 p.m., and also Sportsman of Colorado, which Saturdays, 1 to 2 p.m., on all KLC 560 platforms. Scott, have a great day, and it is a new day for America. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER 07 :
Kim, it's been an honor to be with you. And, yes, it is. It is a great day. So let's go. Make America great again.
SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
All of Kim's sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in part Z or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of the Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact her website, KimMunson.com. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
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 shouldn't have to force people to do it. I do thank the Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show. It's reliable. Efficient, affordable, and abundant energy from natural gas, oil, coal that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams. And it actually, natural gas helps us to change our own personal climates. When it is negative one outside, it's nice to be able to have my personal climate changed. change to a point where it is warm and comfortable. So again, thank you to Laramie Energy for their goal sponsorship of the show. Please to have on the line with me, Dr. Brian Joondepth. He is an author at the American Thinker, Rasmussen Reports, and he's written a really interesting piece saying that perhaps January 20th today is our new Independence Day. Dr. Joondepth, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, good morning, Kim.
SPEAKER 12 :
And it's here. And, boy, it's already a big news day.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. It's exciting. This is something that a year ago I thought wouldn't happen. I was hoping, but, you know, as we got closer, it seemed more and more likely, and now it seems like it really is happening.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is, and certainly praying to get to him inaugurated. The man has done so much, and as Scott Watley said in the previous segment, he has been so resilient, and we can take such great hope in that, I think, Dr. June Depp.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, absolutely. It's It's really a new day for America. So, so much will change. We can reverse many of the bad policies and practices over the past four years, and things are going to change. He's going to hit the ground running. He's serious this time. It's from his words and actions to even his photo, his presidential photo for the inauguration. Eight years ago, he was smiling and looking happy. Now he's serious. This is his mugshot photo. And he's going to hit the ground running and take no prisoners and go scorched earth on stuff. He's learned a lot from his first term. His first term, he tried to play nice with the Republican establishment and put people in place to please the establishment. And he's not doing it this time. He knows the lay of the land. He knows the forces arrayed against him. And he's got a very different cabinet than he did eight years ago. And he's serious. That's what it shows me.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and in your piece, you had written this, and it's tyranny begins gradually before escalating rapidly. And we really have been moving towards more and more tyranny. And even here in Colorado, we've got our own set of challenges here with this radical activists, extremists that have taken over the legislature and the governor's mansion. We have work to do right here in Colorado. But I am very excited about at the federal level that there will be a lot of things done to try to roll back this tyranny that is is really has been, I think, moving into more speed under the Biden Harris administration.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. I mean, this this has picked up speed slowly with. George W. Bush and the Patriot Act and loss of civil liberties and creating a surveillance state. And I think for at least, I give him the benefit of the doubt, good intentions, but Obama weaponized it. He turned all that against the American people and weaponized the government for his purposes. Trump's first term was a speed bump. He tried to stop it, but that weaponized government was used against Trump to stop him. The Russian collusion nonsense, the complete fabrication, was used to really put a leash on his first term. Couldn't do anything with Russia. How does that limit foreign policy when you're accused of colluding with a major world power? How can you engage in any type of foreign relations? Because it's viewed under that lens. And then Biden just, not Biden, but his people. It's clear Biden wasn't in charge. Speaker Mike Johnson let the cat out of the bag with an interview that Biden didn't even know what was in the executive orders he was signing. They just put papers in front of him and he signed it. There needs to be an accounting for this. This is truly an insurrection of people taking over the government that were not elected and didn't have authority to do so. I don't know if it was Blinken or Jake Sullivan or Jill Biden or Hunter Biden or Obama or his people uh but it's disgraceful I think we're going to get to the bottom of it I was disappointed this morning to to learn of preemptive pardons to to Milley and Fauci and the January 6th gang um but that's fine there can still be hearings and disclosure and they can be shamed into oblivion um There are a lot of bad people that haven't been appropriately punished for their crimes, but their reputation is forever stained. So I think Trump will handle that.
SPEAKER 12 :
So this is so I took I saw that come across the news line regarding these pardons. And it's it's quite a few. I know that probably the mainstream media, Dr. June depth is going to spin this, that that Trump said that he was going to be coming after some of some of these different people. And that so they're going to spin it that Biden did these preemptive pardons because Trump said he was going after his political enemies. And so that's why he did these preemptive pardons. And at least that's what I think is going to happen with the mainstream media.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, that's baloney. What are they being pardoned for? If they did nothing wrong, what do they have to worry about? They're only being pardoned because they did something to be pardoned for. What is it? Well, that remains to be seen. And I think we know what they did, but I don't know the legalities of this. This is going to be a deep dive for the constitutional lawyers out there of can you give preemptive pardons? What if it turned out somebody murdered somebody? Can you give a preemptive pardon to cover that? That's a get-out-of-jail-free card, and I don't think that's the intention of presidential pardons. You're pardoned for something you did. You're convicted of a crime and you're pardoned. If Trump pardons January 6th prisoners or Biden pardons other criminals, well, they've been convicted. There's something to pardon them for. I don't know the constitutionality of these preemptive pardons. I have a feeling that's going to be challenged and the Supreme Court may have to ultimately weigh in on that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and so I did a quick search on that, too, because I was wondering about that. And this is from Newsweek. It says, the Supreme Court case of Ex parte Garland in 1866 sets down that the power of pardon conferred by the Constitution upon the president is unlimited except in the cases of impeachment. It extends to every office known to the law and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction or judgment. But there has not even been anything happen with that. But I did find it was interesting. They said that in 74, Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a full, free, and absolute pardon. George Bush in 1992 pardoned Casper Weinberger. Abraham Lincoln issued preemptive pardons in the Civil War, and Jimmy Carter preemptively pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers in 1977. So it has been used, but not very often, I don't think, and I don't think to the scope necessarily. of what was announced this morning with Fauci, General Milley, Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff, Kinzinger. I think Fauci is probably the most amazing one to me, Dr. June Depp.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, absolutely. Well, I mean, if the Supreme Court ruled almost 200 years ago, fine, they can overturn it. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. So who knows? I think it's It would be smart to pursue that case and bring it to the current court and see if that's the intent of the Constitution to pardon for crimes not even identified. At the least, there can be congressional hearings and really a public airing of this and put the stain on these people of full disclosure on what a travesty this was. and their names will—history will remember them poorly, and maybe that's the best punishment. Fauci's 80 years old, so, you know, putting him in prison or whatever, so what? But then again, I'll leave it to the lawyers. If these are conspiracies and RICO statutes come into play, I don't know. I don't know if fraud— There's a workaround on this. I don't know. So I'll leave it to the legal system. But at a minimum, they're going to be held to account, at least in the court of public opinion.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and I think that's really important. And of course, we need to speak truth into all of this as well. You said in your piece that lawfare will end with Donald Trump. And I certainly, I hope that that is the case and it will be the case. But I also want to make sure that justice is served. But this is not going to be what happened to Donald Trump with just fabricated accusations going through. I still can't believe that there was the raid on Mar-a-Lago. As you look back at some of these things, it's almost surreal, Dr. June Depp, to think about what Donald Trump went through and withstood to get to this point January 20th today. It's really astounding.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. This is banana republic stuff that he's been through. And in his first term, he never pursued political enemies. You can call people names and make fun of them, but that's not criminally prosecuting them and taking away their constitutional rights. Trump never did that, and I think he's very careful about that. I would not expect lawfare from him, but I would expect an accountability. And everybody's equal. under the law, and justice needs to be served to those that committed crimes. If you didn't do anything wrong, I don't think Trump's going after people for policy differences. That's political, and that's a campaign, but not prosecuting them for that. Trump was prosecuted over policy and personality and what he represented, and it was personal. So I don't think Trump will pursue it in that way but uh yes there needs to be a reckoning uh the system was badly skewed against him and his supporters and there needs to be an accountability and reckoning so this doesn't happen again because this is not uh this is not america this is banana republic stuff
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes. And so we need to get this turned around. And Donald Trump, I think, intends to do that. And we each have to step up and do our part as well. So become engaged in an issue that is important to you. If every American takes one thing that they care deeply about... and works to get government put back into the proper role at the local, the county, the state, and the national level. I think we've got a short period of time here, Dr. June Depp, to make this happen, and so we can't be just sitting around and talking about it. We need to be taking action on what's occurring here in our country.
SPEAKER 06 :
You're very correct. Trump has two years, maybe four, but certainly two years where he has – the assistance of Congress, midterm elections, things can go the other way. Hopefully not. But he's got two years and I think he's going to hit the ground running. He's got 200 executive orders ready to sign. He signed a little over 200 executive orders his entire term. So this is day one. I hate to see ruling by executive order. It should be done by Congress. That's the proper path. But some things need to happen. There's going to be ICE raids and secure the border and get rid of the criminal illegals and handle that. And a lot of this stuff just needs to end. And that's, as Obama said, with having a phone and a pen, that's the quickest way to get things done. So that will be the start. And I think he's got a good ally in Mike Johnson in the House, and legislation is needed to codify these things.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. So we're going to continue the discussion with Dr. Brian June Depp. His piece is at American Thinker. It says January 20th, a new Independence Day. And these are important discussions and they happen because of our sponsors. So for everything mortgages, reach out to Lorne Levy.
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SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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, you should not have to force people to do it. And two nonprofits that I dearly love and support on the show is the USMC Memorial Foundation, which uh they are raising money for the remodel of the marine memorial which is right here the official marine memorials right here in colorado out at six and colfax it was dedicated in 1977 and very exciting what they're going to be doing with that and it's so important that we remember and honor those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for our freedom. And so more information there, usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And then this Thursday night, January 23rd in Pueblo at the Center for American Values, they will be having an On Values presentation featuring Robert Chica, who was a crewman on the USS Pueblo, which was taken captive during the Vietnam War by the North Koreans and held for a year. and so more information about that let them know that if you're planning on attending and that is at the americanvaluecenter.org on the line with me is dr brian june depth we've been talking about donald trump's inauguration so it is a new day for america and a a new independence day because we have seen this march of tyranny in our lives with the government out of control weaponized really not only against donald trump but against the people But let's change gears a little bit. He's written another very interesting piece in American Thinker. When did changing weather become climate change? And Dr. June depth, the climate change has been used, I think, basically to try to bankrupt our country. The green and the Green New Deal is the green that's been going into politicians, bureaucrats and interested parties pockets. And that's why our documentary, A Climate Conversation, is so important. You can see that at climateconversation.com. It's the project of Walt Johnson. So this is a very important piece as well, because Biden has had disseminated billions of dollars before he's left office to all of these interested parties to push this agenda.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. And it's more than an agenda. It's a religion. There's a Michael Crichton book from 20 plus years ago about the environmental movement. And in the beginning of the book, he had a long chapter or two on how the climate movement has replaced religion. It has all the tenants of a religion with repentance and a savior and, and God and everything else. And that's, that's the religion of the left is, is climate. And What it ends up for society is it's about money and control. It's a way to control everybody's activities. If CO2 is a pollutant, then all human activities generate CO2. We breathe. So that can be regulated and controlled. And everything from electric vehicles to alternative energy to 15-minute cities, all these things. And protecting the environment is a good thing, of course. but forcing things that don't work, technologies that are not ready for prime time, it's foolish. And then the excuses we get of blaming all types of weather on climate change. Yeah, it's cold now. It's one degree this morning, or minus one, according to my thermometer. And yeah, that's not a first in Colorado. It's been colder. It's been warmer. It's called weather. And the folly of blaming everything on climate change when it's been far colder throughout the Earth's history. We've had ice ages. We had Chicago and the Great Lakes buried under a mile-thick sheet of ice 10,000 years ago. That's not that long. Four and a half billion year history of the Earth 10 to 100,000 years ago was a lot of nothing. That was a blink of an eye. So Yes, the weather changes, the climate changes, that's normal. To ascribe human activity as the cause of it, that's a means of control. And that's where the problem comes in.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and Biden, the Biden-Harris administration on their way out has sent out billions of dollars to all of these interested parties. And it's that's really irresponsible. This debt that we have is unsustainable. And it sure seems like the Biden, the Biden-Harris administration has put a whole bunch of marbles in front of Donald Trump today. and his administration as we're getting to inauguration today.
SPEAKER 06 :
It'll be interesting what of that spending can be reversed. Just because he's said it so doesn't mean it's – the check hasn't been written in cash. And I think the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies under Trump's control a few hours from now can stop that, and they can put a pause on it and review it and whatever they want. I don't know the process for all that, but I think Trump is going to stymie as much of that as he can, and that's necessary. Yes, they're creating roadblocks and all the things they're trying to do, but just because Biden says it's so. Biden yesterday said the Equal Rights Amendment, he deemed it passed, and it's not. He can declare anything he wants, but it's... There's a new sheriff in town and things are going to change and new rules. And I think there will be a hold on a lot of these monies and other things. And if Biden can, by executive order, spend the money, Trump can stop it. So I'm hopeful for that, at least.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's very encouraging as well. And so we've got a couple of minutes left. What would you say that you really want to make sure that people know today as we're moving into this new era for America?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think it's a time of optimism. It's a chance for peace around the world to get out of these conflicts that are dragging us ever closer to World War III. And World War III could entail nuclear weapons, which would basically end civilization as we know it. It's a chance to reverse course on that. It's a chance to reverse course on government control and out-of-control spending. We have a $36 trillion debt. We're spending a trillion dollars a year on interest payment on the debt. It's the biggest federal expenditure. These things cannot go on. As Herbert Stein said, anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, and that includes our economy. And it's important to give Trump a chance. It's not going to turn around by tomorrow. It's a process. Be supportive of it. Be optimistic. And hold local officials to task. The immigration problem is a huge mess. And we have local officials that are resisting it. The Denver mayor is... It's a Tiananmen Square moment. Well, if you harbor... illegal aliens, that's a federal crime. And I think the Trump administration is very serious about arresting anybody. It doesn't matter if they're a mayor or a governor, if they're impeding federal law and harboring criminal aliens. So that needs to be supported because that's the only way these things get fixed. And be patient and be optimistic.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. Well, thank you, Dr. Brian Joondepth. And again, you can find these pieces at American Thinker. And yes, I have a lot of optimism for our country, for our next generations. And we need to roll up our sleeves and go to work as well. So, Dr. Joondepth, well, thank you so much.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you. And I'll put in a final plug for a piece I have in American Thinker this morning entitled, Has the Storm Arrived? So that's a summary of our conversation this morning.
SPEAKER 12 :
I'll check it out. That's awesome. And our quote for the end of the show is from Donald Trump. He said, the most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead. 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. God bless America. Stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 01 :
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 17 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 12 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water, what it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 17 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 12 :
Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it's actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 17 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 12 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 17 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 12 :
Indeed. Let's have a conversation. And welcome to our number two of 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, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Inauguration Day, Producer Joe.
SPEAKER 11 :
Happy Inauguration Day to you, too, Kim.
SPEAKER 12 :
It's a big day. We're getting close. So the inauguration will be at 10 a.m. Mountain Time. And so just less than three hours away. And it's a new dawn for our country. And we do have work to do to to reclaim this country. As we talked with Dr. Brian June Depp in the first hour, Trump probably has basically two years. That's when we'll have the next election. And we've got a lot of work to do between now and then. So check out the website. That's KimMunson.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. It goes out on Sundays with the upcoming guests for the week 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. 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. Do check out the website for last Friday's broadcast. Listener Sandra Lull had a list of things to have on hand to be prepared for an emergency. And I think that so many of – I heard – From so many of you, you wanted that list. That is in the show summary. The way that you get to that is you go to Kim Munson dot com and then you will see it'll pull up the some of our events. You'll get down to the most recent show. And you'll click on that image. And when you click on that image, then you will be able to pull up that whole list. And so that is down under there. We've got our featured articles, and then we get to show episodes. And you should be able to check that out there. And again, that's a great list, and we all need to start to work on that as well. Let's see here. A couple of things. It is Inauguration Day, and it looks like Trump is going to issue a number of executive orders, and the inauguration is moved inside, which I know is disappointing to many people, but it seems like that probably makes sense in light of how cold it is there in Washington, D.C., And Biden, we talked a little bit about this. This is astounding. Just a few hours ago, President Joe Biden, this is from USA Today, issued a blanket preemptive pardons. They said for potential targets of President-elect Donald Trump. Again, USA Today leans to the mainstream media and media. basically tries to influence through these little words people's opinions on things. But this is USA Today. President Joe Biden on Monday issued blanket preemptive pardons for potential targets of President-elect Donald Trump in an unprecedented move to shield some of the incoming president's top foes from criminal prosecution. Those issued pardons include General Mark Milley, former chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and people from the J6 committee, and those would include Liz Cheney, Adam Kinsinger, and Adam Schiff. And so this is pretty unprecedented. And if they had done nothing wrong, then they should not need a pardon. And so stay tuned on that. That's going to be super interesting as well. On the local level, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, we will be issuing our first email today regarding our positions on bills that are scheduled for hearing for this week. And we there's two things that are happening on Thursday, the 23rd. One is the event down at the Center for American Values in Pueblo. And that is honoring the USS Pueblo, which was taken captive. in the Vietnam War by the North Koreans. The crew was held captive for a year. And Robert Chica, who was one of those prisoners, will be presenting on Thursday at their On Values presentation. More information on that, go to AmericanValuesCenter.org. And if you're going to attend, just let them know. The other thing, and I can't go to that because I will be at the Colorado Union of Taxpayers legislative kickoff event this Thursday. Tickets are $10, and we'd love to have you join us as well. It's only $25, and you will receive the email that we send out to the legislators and governor each Monday. And in that, though, we will have a bill of the day. And so while we're celebrating this inauguration, which is great. We here in Colorado have those that want to push tyranny on us at work. And so Senate Bill 25045, and how that works is Senate Bill, then it'll have the year, it's 25 and 045. It's a healthcare payment system analysis concerning the analysis of a statewide universal healthcare payment system. The Colorado government has been doing such a crackerjack job on so many things, I don't think that they need to be into the statewide universal health care system. But we will keep an eye on that. But the people, the prime sponsors that have brought this forward is Senator Sonia Waukesha Lewis, Senator Janice Marchman, Representative Karen McCormick, and Representative Andrew Boesnecker. And so we'll need to keep an eye on that. That's the bill of the day. We're going to keep you informed on that. And so, again, join us at coloradotaxpayer.org. We would greatly appreciate it. And we happen to work with great people here at the Kim Munson Show. And I'm talking with Roger Mangan with the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team. And, Roger, people, I think they're confused about insurance, that everything's expensive, who to talk to. Any suggestions on how to shop for insurance?
SPEAKER 15 :
You know, I'd like to share something with you. We did an analysis between, let me see, seven insurance companies, State Farm included. And they were farmers, AAA, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Costco, and Nationwide. The prices for a home at $560,000, and a car at, this is actually two cars, an Acura and a Sienna. These are annual prices. And then an umbrella liability policy. So on the high end of those four policies, home two cars and an umbrella liability policy the range was as low as 3700 for the same coverages as high as 8 400 wow so it's like when you buy insurance it's very difficult to go out and get all those comparisons and do a good job analyzing and organizing the concept on some kind of a spreadsheet which, by the way, we would be glad to do for you if you would give us permission. I want to highlight a little bit about the finding here. Turned out that Farmers was the highest, and Liberty Mutual at this point was the lowest, $3,700 versus $8,400. The other companies like AAA, they were at 5,200. Allstate was at 5,200. State Farm was at 4,700. Nationwide was at 4,500. The two companies that were lower than all the rest of them, Liberty Mutual and Costco, Liberty Mutual was at $3,700, actually $1,000 a year less than State Farm. The reason for that is they do not have agents. So if you want an agent, you're going to pay more because the agent gets a renewal commission for the services he provides to you. Costco was actually a little higher than Liberty Mutual. so there's a lot of ways to shop for it but you want to make sure your situation is probably unique do you really have the correct amount of coverage for your family at this time in your life you have children that drive those children are learning to drive if they have an accident do you have an umbrella liability policy that steps in behind the liability you have in your cars people you know insurance is getting more expensive why should i buy an umbrella I would say you should definitely have. It's a must because we have a lot of people out there. Do you listen to lawyers advertise on how they're going to help you get more money out of a lawsuit? And they do. They get a lot of money out of a lawsuit. And if you have base limits, and base today is different than it was 10 years ago, of course, base today would be $250,000 slash $500,000 slash $100,000. If you don't know what that means, again, call us. We'll walk you through it. But if you get sued for $250,000, great, your policy is going to pay it. If you get sued for $450,000, All they're going to pay is $250,000, and you're out $200,000. An umbrella steps in. Umbrellas are maybe $200 a year. So you really, and I'm not admonishing you, but take the time and pay attention because the devil is in the details if you just are looking for the lowest price. Then you can go anywhere. You don't need an agent. But if you really want to protect your family in a very positive and sequential way, we can help you do that.
SPEAKER 11 :
So, Roger, what is that number for a complimentary appointment?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, complimentary analysis would be 303-795-8855. And again, we would need your permission, need some information from you. We would give you a quote, and then you would say, hey, I'm interested in Allstate or I'm interested in Costco. We can help you put that together.
SPEAKER 12 :
And again, that number is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
SPEAKER 13 :
With the limited number of homes in the Colorado Front Range market, Karen Levine can help you achieve your home buying or selling vision. Karen has the right connections, technology, and strategies to help you buy or sell your home or to purchase a new build. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed or want someone to take the wheel, or you just need a second opinion, you can rest assured that RE-MAX Realtor Karen Levine is the right agent for you. Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516. Karen is the trusted professional who strives for excellence. That number is 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 16 :
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 12 :
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.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, you should not have to force people to do it. And I do thank Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show because it is a reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, and empowers us to change our own personal climates to be warm when it's cold outside and cool in the summer. And so I do really appreciate them. On the line with me is Randall O'Toole. You know him. You can find him at TI.org. He's an expert in urban planning and transportation, and he had a really important piece that he recently published at TI.org, Will L.A. Finally Learn Its Lesson? Randall O'Toole, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, glad to be here.
SPEAKER 12 :
And it's Inauguration Day, which is a big deal here for America. But we have been watching these fires in L.A., which is unbelievable to me, the devastation that has occurred. And it didn't just happen overnight, did it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, it may seem unbelievable, and yet it's entirely predictable that Colorado went through the Marshall Fire, which burned a lot of homes in Superior and Louisville. And that fire took place because wildlands that were very flammable were right next to houses that were built that were very dense. The houses were like 10 to 20 feet apart from one another. They were so dense that if one house caught fire, the radiant heat from that fire would ignite all of its neighbors. And that's what happened. They all burned down. And this is exactly what has happened in California. California believes in density. They don't believe in letting people live at low densities, you know, like one house per acre or one house per half acre. And so they put... houses on 5,000 square foot lots right next to flammable wild lands, and the wild lands caught fire, which is entirely predictable, and one of the houses next to the wild lands caught fire, which is entirely predictable because nobody made any attempts to make their houses out of non-flammable materials. I shouldn't say nobody. A lot of people didn't make the attempt. And once one house caught fire, thousands of others were doomed to go down. And there were a few houses that didn't burn because a few people did make an attempt to build their houses of non-flammable materials. Tom Hanks' house, for example, survived even though all his neighbors burned. And if you look at the pictures of his house, it was designed specifically to not burn. And if people had all built their homes that way, then a lot more houses, probably all of them, would have survived. But they didn't.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and another problem with this, and I had not ever really known the definition of the word chaparral, but the preservation of hundreds of thousands of these acres of chaparral, which is primarily in Southern California, it's kind of an underbrush, right? And that was just, it's like tender for a fire, yes?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it's very flammable, but chaparral is not like the kind of pine forest you see around Colorado. A lot of people have said, oh, if only they had done thinnings, if only they had done prescribed burnings. Well, chaparral doesn't work that way. Pine forests can respond to thinnings and prescribed burnings and be a little bit less flammable if you do that. Chaparral can actually become more flammable if you do prescribed burnings because unlike pine forests, which in pre-Columbian times... normally burned about every 30 years. Chaparral forests normally burned only about every 150 years. And so the forests were kind of resistant to fire. And when you do burnings, and there's a lot of species that live in chaparral forests, when you do burnings, then the species that benefit from frequent fires are encouraged. And the species that are resistant to fire are discouraged. And so when you do frequent burnings, you end up making the forest more flammable and more susceptible to big fires. And that's exactly what's happened. The chaparral forests in California are all susceptible to fires, but because they've done some burnings and things, they've made them even more susceptible. And that shows that people can know a little too much for their own good. They know, oh, we need to do some fires, but that is not true for Chaparral. It's true only for Ponderosa Pine Forest, like in Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
So what do you think the solution is to build homes that are less prone to burn? Or what is the solution on all this?
SPEAKER 03 :
That is a solution. You know, if people say, what government official, what government agency is responsible for my house burning down? Was it the state for not providing the water to the firemen? Was it the city for not hiring enough firemen to protect my house? Was it the National Park Service for not doing enough thinnings and prescribed burnings in the chaparral? They want to blame somebody, and I say there is somebody to blame, and they just need to look in the mirror. They need to realize that they built their house in such a way that it makes it extremely susceptible to fire. And then, you know, you can look at Google Earth or Google satellite photos and Google Street View photos of these houses that burned down. A lot of them have eucalyptus trees, which are very flammable, right in their yards, often right up against their houses. The houses, because they're on small lots, are built close to one another, and they often have a lot of vegetation between the houses. So when one house catches fire, the rest of them are going to go if they're not made out of concrete. So if you want to find out who's to blame, look in the mirror. It's really a question of instead of trying to expect a government to save us, we need to save ourselves. We need to build our houses or redesign our houses so that they're a lot less susceptible to fire.
SPEAKER 12 :
What about all the rules and regulations and coming in on the text line solution would be low density housing, but they don't want low density housing because low density would mean that people probably own their property and have a single family home. And we see this in Colorado. There's this push to more and more density, adding accessory dwelling units onto properties. This just is increasing the density. And it's because of government policy. And then you see, I saw a headline that Gavin Newsom said that he was going to reduce some of the regulations that are in place for new building in the area because I think that was a roadblock to people rebuilding their homes. So what about this whole public policy on this moving to more and more density? That's a problem.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, in this case, the problem isn't high-density housing like five-story apartment buildings or high-rise apartments. The problem is that the lots are simply too small Bend, Oregon, for example, has designed a buffer around itself of homes on two and three acre lots so that this buffer will protect the more denser homes that are on You know, one quarter acre or one eighth of an acre lot in the city itself. If you have that buffer, then the fire is not going to reach them. If you don't have that buffer, then the fire will reach the national forest and then immediately burn down the houses next to the national forest. So in California, the lots have already been laid out. You're not going to go to people and say, okay, your $4 million home built burned down, but we're going to force you to merge your lot with your neighbor's lots, and then only one out of four of you are going to get to have a house. That's just not going to happen. The other thing that could happen is they could take a national park or a state park and subdivide it into two-acre, one-acre lots and then sell those lots to people to provide a buffer. However, that's probably not going to happen either politically. So what Gavin Newsom is saying is that it takes a long time to get a permit to build a house. It can take six years to get a house built in California. You buy the land. You go out. You try to get the permit to build. You have to deal with all the neighbors who complain about the design of your house. Then you finally get the permit. You find a contractor to build. You get it built. And then you have to get a permit to move in. You have to have inspections all along the way to make sure that everything's done right. And so it can take six or eight years to get a house built. and you've already got a shortage of housing in Southern California. Newsom is saying, we want to get these houses built as soon as we can so that people can get back into their homes. And I'm saying, okay, so you're going to have them build a whole bunch more wooden houses that are going to be susceptible to fire, and the next time you have a dry winter and Santa Ana winds, they're all going to burn down again. I think there should be something saying, people should build houses that protect themselves from fire. And I don't know whether you do that as a government regulation or you do it as an insurance policy. You say if you want your house insured, you're going to have to build it in a way that the insurance company knows you're not going to burn it down the next time there's a Santa Ana wind.
SPEAKER 12 :
So the other day on our text line, a listener said that instead of government being in charge of all these permitting permits for building a house that actually mortgage companies and insurance companies. should be involved in that because they're the ones that really have skin in the game on that. What do you think about moving that away from government creating the permits for all of this and have insurance companies and mortgage companies drive that? I thought that was pretty creative. What do you think?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that sounds like a good idea, except for the fact that not all houses have mortgages and not all houses are covered by insurance. If you have a mortgage, then the bank is going to insist that you be covered by insurance. And if you're covered by insurance, the bank doesn't care whether your house burns down because they know the insurance will cover it. So that is the insurance company's business to determine that you've done a good job of taking care of your house. And until recently, there haven't been enough wildland houses burned down for insurance companies to care. Only like 1% of all homes that burn in this country burn because of a wildland fire as opposed to kids playing with matches or poor electrical wiring or something like that. And so the insurance companies haven't cared either. What's happened in California is that the state passed a law that made it really difficult for insurance companies to raise their rates. And so the insurance company said, well, we know that these houses are really susceptible to fire, and we would like to raise our rates so that we can do something about it. One thing they can do is offer people discounts if they protect their homes from fire. Another thing they can do is they can say, all right, you've got a $3 million house here. If there's a fire coming your way, we'll send somebody out and pour fire retardant all over your house to make sure it doesn't burn down. That's what the fire insurance companies have done in Oregon. But in California, the problem is these Santa Ana winds move the fire so fast that you wouldn't have a chance to go in there and use fire retardant. So the insurance companies are becoming a little more proactive. They're moving out of California because this law makes it impossible for them to function. But in other states, they are being a little more proactive, and yet it's still – I don't think it's enough by itself. The problem is that you're only as safe as your neighbor's house. So if you do everything you can to make your house fireproof, but your neighbor's house is only 10 feet away from yours and they build a house of wood and they put, you know, they don't screen. The problem is you're not allowed to have wooden roofs, but you're allowed to have vents that aren't screened. And so firebrands can get in these vents and burn your house in the attic, and then your house totally burns down. So then your house is flaming, you know, huge flames because the attic caught fire, and that next-door neighbor's house who put the vents in is still susceptible to fire from the radiant heat from your house. And... So it's not just a matter of what you do with your house. It's a matter of what your neighbor does with their house as well. And for that reason, you might need a little more than just what the insurance companies are going to do.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay. Super interesting to talk about this with Randall O'Toole. You can find his essays and articles at ti.org. And we're going to continue the discussion about these fires and what we can do and a number of things coming in on the text line as well. and these are really important discussions. And I tell you, for a real treat, though, be sure and check out Lavaca Meat Company. They truly are the steakhouse experience at home. They're a premium product, and they're located at the corner of Nevada and Maine in Old Littleton.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. 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 should not have to force people to do it. And check out the Center for American Values website. That is AmericanValuesCenter.org. This Thursday night, January 23rd, they're going to have a really important event, an online, excuse me, an On Values event. And it will be featuring Bob Chica, who was a crewman on the USS Pueblo, which was the Pueblo was taken captive in the Vietnam War by the North Koreans. And the crew was held for over a year. So it's going to be a really informative event. It doesn't cost anything, but let them know that you're coming and you can check everything out at AmericanValueCenter.org. And so really important. Talking with Randall O'Toole, he is an expert in transportation as well as urban planning and development. And we're talking about these fires in Southern California. And I had seen this come across the wire last week. was mandated to be cleared of much underbrush, but Jenner shared a picture of California public lands where it's all overgrown, and so Jenner was blaming forest management or management of the public property for part of the fire. So what would you say to that, Randall O'Toole?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that is an incongruity. But here's something. It's not like this is the first time this has happened. Back in 1961, there was a fire very close to the Pacific Palisades fire, and it very quickly grew up into a huge firestorm. Now, it only burned about 500 homes, but every firefighter in Los Angeles was called up to duty to try to fight this fire, and they were unable to keep it going as long as the Santa Ana winds were going. And they were unable to suppress it as long as the Santa Ana winds were going. And after the fire, the fire department made a movie called Design for Disaster, saying that this whole thing of building homes on small lots next to wild lands, especially in steep, hilly territory, with wooden roofs was a design for disaster and that there was no way they were going to be able to put out these homes. This was more than 60 years ago. The city of Los Angeles responded by passing an ordinance saying you couldn't use wooden roofs anymore. But that was the only thing they did. They didn't change the small lots. They didn't change the management of the wildlands. They could have said, okay, let's just sell these wildlands to developers to build on large lots to provide a buffer strip. They didn't do that. so they changed one thing, and they thought, well, this will solve the problem. Well, it didn't. About every 10 years since 1961, there's been another big fire that's burned 500 homes, 1,000 homes, 1,600 homes, and so this fire is entirely predictable, and although people were supposed to keep the brush cleared from their lots, and yes, the state or the city or the county or whoever owned the wildlands wasn't required to keep the brush cleared there. That seems like an incongruity. The reality is we've known these fires were coming for at least 60 years, longer than that, actually, because the first fires that burned in Pacific Palisades were in 1916, so it's been over 100 years, and yet people were still building homes out of wood with inadequate screening events, with inadequate soffits under their eaves, with a lot of other things that made them susceptible to fire and just said, oh, I never expected it to reach my home, even though I live two blocks away from the wild land because all my neighbors will protect me. No, they haven't protected their homes either. And so they're going to go and yours is going to go. And that's exactly what happened.
SPEAKER 12 :
So one of our listeners texted and said the story of the three little pigs is a good one for fire-resistant homes. I'm concerned regarding – I think it makes a lot of sense to start to use public lands and let people buy property there and start to really plan accordingly to try to prevent these fires. We have a lot of risk here in Colorado, obviously. And, of course, people are having higher and higher – insurance costs to ensure their homes. And one of our listeners said that, for example, Chaffey County is 80% public land. That sure seems like that there's a lot of land there that we could do some planning to prevent these devastation of lives and properties from fires. But There's this hands-off approach to public lands, unfortunately, Randall O'Toole, and to have the political will to do something like that and run up against all the environmentalists and the not in my backyard, that would change things, yes?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, California has gone through the same thing as Colorado, the Boulder area in particular. The Marshall Fire that burned hundreds of homes in Superior and Louisville was started on open spaces that were bought by Boulder to preserve them from development. Now, Boulder is right up against a national forest. So it's up against a million acres of public lands, and yet it felt like it had to buy 100,000 acres of land surrounding it to keep development from taking place. It was essentially a green belt around the city that forced the city to become denser instead of having low-density development, which low-density development would have been an excellent buffer strip against fires. Okay, so California did the same thing. Um, after the 1961 fire, yes, they passed an ordinance saying you couldn't have wooden roofs and they also required homeowners to clear brush from their property. Um, But at the same time, you had the state buying lands and making them into state parks. You had the federal government buying lands and making it into the Santa Monica National Recreation Area. You had the state creating something called the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which went out and bought lands and made it into parks. All of this was an intentional green belt around Los Angeles to force the city to grow denser rather than to allow the city to grow at low densities around the edges. And that made it much more susceptible to fire. And we've seen this in California as well as Colorado before. The Santa Rosa fires a few years ago were exactly the same thing. You had wildlands butted up against houses on 50 by 100 lots. One of the houses catch fire and they all go down. You had a city that was near Sacramento called Paradise. It was a lot of mobile homes and other homes on small lots right next to a national forest. When one of those homes go, they all go. And a lot of people died in that because the city had closed down one of the exit routes from – the city, even though the state had said that you've got a serious fire hazard, you need to have more exit routes. And instead of having more, they closed one of them down. And so California is making the same mistake over and over again. We all saw the videos of cars that were gridlocked. And so people jumped out of their cars and ran away from the fire. And they had to use a bulldozer to clear the cars out of the way so that the fire trucks could get in. That was because there was a large neighborhood in Pacific Palisades called the Summit that was completely surrounded by wildlands, had one road exiting the neighborhood. And so all the people in that neighborhood probably lost their homes, except a few that were built out of non-flammable materials, and they couldn't get out because they had only one exit route. That's the same mistake that Paradise made. It's the same mistake that Santa Rosa made, the same mistake that Louisville and Superior made.
SPEAKER 12 :
Wow. Oh, gosh. This is just, I guess the only other thing that I wanted to hit here is if we have, what about affordability to make these homes fire-resistant? Does it mean that it will be out of reach for people to have their own single-family homes if they made them so fire-resistant?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, fire resistance doesn't cost much if you build it into it. And if you've got an existing home and there's thousands of existing homes in Los Angeles that are in the path of Santa Ana winds, they didn't burn this time, but they might burn next time. You could go through and retrofit those homes and it would cost some money. That would mean putting screens on. fine mesh screens on all your vents. It would mean putting in fireproof soffits. It would mean completely re-landscaping the homes, putting five feet of gravel or concrete around the homes instead of having trees and shrubs right up against the homes. Things like that. That would cost some money and it would I suggested it would be cheaper for the city of Los Angeles to pay half those costs. We'll pay half the cost that it takes to fireproof your home if you'll do it. It would be cheaper for the city of Los Angeles to pay those costs than it would be to be ready for the next big fire, which is going to happen in 8 to 10 years, since they've all been 8 to 10 years apart. So they need to do that. Colorado needs to do that as well. But you're right. Affordability is an issue. When I say that the homes in Pacific Palisades were $3 and $4 million, I'm not talking about mansions. I'm talking about 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom homes are $3 million in Pacific Palisades. So it's not a question of the housing being $3 million. The house that burnt down might have been only a $500,000 house. But the lot is $2.5 million. So the losses aren't quite as great as people are saying. But at the same time, how are you going to rebuild? And what are you going to do to deal with affordability? Hey, we can kill two birds with one stone. We can take some of those wildlands and sell them to developers and have them build on low-density one-acre lots to provide a buffer around the rest of the city. And by building all those extra new homes... you will have made the region a little bit more affordable. But, of course, they're not going to want to do that.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, of course they're not going to want to do that. Randall O'Toole, I so appreciate it. And I know that you are retired. I have that in air quotes because you are doing such important pieces at TI.org, and I really do appreciate it regarding these fires in L.A. And keep up the great work, and we'll talk again very soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Well, thank you very much.
SPEAKER 12 :
And again, that was Randall O'Toole. And these are really important discussions. They happen because of sponsors. And if you've been injured, be sure to reach out to John Boson at Boson Law.
SPEAKER 14 :
Boson Law is a local law firm dedicated to helping injured individuals in Denver and the surrounding areas fight for the justice they deserve. Boson Law focuses on personalized representation tailored to your unique situation with one-on-one attention and counsel and consistent communication. Boson Law personal injury attorneys have extensive trial experience and have successfully represented clients against the interests of powerful corporations, manufacturers, insurance companies, and government agencies. Contact Boson Law at 303-999-9999 for a complimentary in-person consultation. Again, that number is 303-999-9999. Call now at 303-999-9999.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 02 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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. 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. If you want to weigh in on Donald Trump's inauguration, give us a call, 303-477-5600. The show comes to you because of our sponsors. Hooters Restaurants is a great sponsor of the show. They have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. Great specials Monday through Friday for lunch and happy hour. Check all that out at my website. I'll get to some of these text messages here. This is from Susan. The golden age begins and Congress is she says it's a fact that Congress is too slow and cannot be trusted at this point. I think that we need to day one. We need to be rolling back this tyranny that we've seen. we're experiencing under the O'Biden-Harris administration. She says that also that having water storage and fire hydrants would certainly be a good idea in Southern California and here in Colorado as well. She's absolutely correct. Yvonne has always said you can't have water conservation if you don't have water storage. And so good point on that, both Susan and Yvonne. A question from Jenny. If Joe Biden is not competent enough to stand trial for his illegal possession of classified documents in his garage, how can he be cognitive enough to issue executive orders? I think that that is a very good question as well. Let's see here. This is from Dave. He said that insurance codes, insurance has led the building codes, particularly industrial and commercial, and they have created many construction standards. And we want to make sure that all these insurance, these building codes really make sense that they're not having interested parties involved. that are trying to influence these building codes. This is a really tight rope to certainly try to walk. So that's important. Let's see here. Oh, thank you, Dave. He said we have the best guests for Timely Topics. And next one, this is land is the key to affordability. Absolutely right. Let's see here. Another listener said the environmentalists have way too much power. We not only as a state, but as a country have to figure out how to take the enormous amount of control that they have away from them as soon as possible. And they've really done this. Thank you for that comment. They've done this through the whole climate change narrative, saying that we want to make sure that we have clean air and clean water, which we do. We want to be good stewards of our earth. We also want to make sure that we are focusing on human flourishing as well. Those things can coexist together. We've seen, I think, from the environmentalists, again, I think more management of the forest is crucially important. Here in Colorado, when I went up to Grand Lake for U.S. Constitution Week, looked at the side of the mountain, all of this beetle kill, just it's ripe for a forest fire. We can manage this. We can do this. And but the environmentalists have said hands off of all of this. And when we do that, it just sets us up for these these incredible fires. But to Randall's point, I do think that it is a good idea for us to be proactive with our own properties and encourage our neighbors to be so as well that we don't have these fires. vegetation around our homes that can go up so quickly in flames. And so there is personal responsibility. There is personal responsibility. Then there is the management, good management of our forests and our wild lands. And then there is opening up all of this public land for development. Not all of it, I should say, not all of it, but certainly much of it. And so I think that's important. Oh, another good point here. Building codes now contain energy requirements which have nothing to do with safety. Absolutely true. And making building new homes more and more expensive. So let's see here. Okay, this again is from Susan. She said there was a guy who was trying to put up an indoor soccer field in Brookfield. The fire codes recommended over $1 million of fire suppression system, even though there were big doors that could be opened. The guy never got the soccer field going. We can't go for the perfect and leave the good behind. She's absolutely correct on that. So there has to be a good balance on all of that. Let's see here. It says Trump's inauguration is forecast to be the coldest in 40 years. And the meme is that Trump is ending global warming on day one of his presidency. Mary, thank you for sharing that as well. So it is Inauguration Day, the 20th of January. I had the great honor to be in Washington, D.C. for his first inauguration. And I was standing there with... thousands and thousands of other Americans. I was standing next to a father who had brought his 17-year-old son. He was a farmer from California because he wanted to experience that historic day. And we are blessed that we have another chance here. Oh, thank you, Connie. She just let me know that Newsmax is reporting that the presidential parade has been canceled. And I think I'm grateful for that because I felt from a security standpoint that there could be just tremendous risk. I wonder if with these cold, cold temperatures, if this is another way that God is protecting Donald Trump and this administration. Yeah. Super interesting on this chain of events. But we have an opportunity here to reclaim our country. We have to work here in Colorado to reclaim Colorado. While that is happening at the federal level, as I highlighted with this bill of the day, they are at work down at the statehouse to create more and more tyranny and a socialized medical system that we'll get to a point where there will be shortages of medical care. It will be expensive. There will be shortages of doctors, and it is not the proper role of government to be into that particular, that business. So my friends today, we need to pray. We need to pray and we need to take action in our individual lives. Choose one issue that keeps you up at night, become an expert on that, and then become involved from a public policy standpoint. on that and pray for our country and pray for the blessing that we have another chance at reclaiming our country with this. I call this the third founding of our country, what we're in right now. And so the quote for the end of the show is from Donald Trump. And he said, the most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead. And 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. God bless America. And this just came in on the text line, Amen, God's provision. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER 04 :
I don't want no one to cry. But tell them if I don't survive, I was born.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
Jim Sterner's narrative doesn't just stop at the battlefield; it travels across years, connecting the past with the present through the miraculous power of technology. A heartwarming reconnection facilitated by Facebook brings Jim face-to-face with the family of a fallen comrade from the Sherwood Rangers. Discover how the bonds of comradeship and shared histories continue to inspire generations. Whether it's about the harrowing five days and nights attacking a formidable German pillbox or the profound experiences shared with fellow soldiers under the strains of war, Jim's recount transports us to a time of intense adversity and unyielding human spirit.
SPEAKER 04 :
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and her 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 03 :
And welcome to America's Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. And the show comes to you because of a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied four D-Day veterans back to Normandy for the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. And returned stateside realizing that we need to hear these stories. We need to record them and broadcast them and archive them. So hence, America's Veterans Stories. I am thrilled and honored to have on the line with me Jim Sterner. He is a World War II veteran. He fought at Battle of the Bulge as well as the Rhineland. And it is great to have you on the line, Jim Sterner. Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you very much. I'm glad to be here, Kim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, let's start with what year were you born, Jim?
SPEAKER 07 :
I was born in 1923. So if you do the arithmetic, I'm 99.
SPEAKER 03 :
You sound like you're 60, if that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
I am so excited to hear your story. Where were you born?
SPEAKER 07 :
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I was raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And when I went to high school, we moved to Wilmington, Delaware. So I was graduated from high school in Wilmington, Delaware.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. And do you remember when you heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed?
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. It was Sunday, and I was going to the University of Delaware, and I was 18 years old, physically fit, and I was living in a fraternity house. and the phone started ringing and all of the fathers were calling down there to plead with their sons not to do anything rash to take it easy and uh we listened most of us listened to our fathers and did not quit school and enlist there was one fraternity brother who, two days later, he was just about to enter his last semester in chemical engineering, and he came in the fraternity house, and he had just enlisted in the paratroops. He had a toothbrush in his jacket pocket, and we all said his nickname was Streaky, and we all said to him, Streaky, One more semester and you can do a lot more good for your country than you can running away now and joining the paratroops. And his answer to us was, which was typical for the time, my conscience dictates. And Streaky Shorter was off, went through the whole European campaign, D-Day, the bulge and everything else, became a top first sergeant in the paratroops.
SPEAKER 03 :
And he survived World War II?
SPEAKER 07 :
He survived World War II. That is correct. He's gone now.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is absolutely remarkable. So then he must have jumped in behind enemy lines on D-Day, yes?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, he did. He did. He has a remarkable record. And as I say, he became a first sergeant. Now, with three and a half years of chemical engineering, I'm surprised he didn't get a commission. But somehow or other, he didn't.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is absolutely fascinating. So the rest of you listened to your fathers. You did not quit school and enlist. But how did you end up then in the... I just want to ask, was Streaky 101st Airborne or 82nd?
SPEAKER 07 :
I can't remember, Kim. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, that's okay. That's okay. No problem.
SPEAKER 07 :
So let's talk about... What was the Band of Brothers? Was that the 86... He was in the same division as the Band of Brothers.
SPEAKER 03 :
I should know that, and I don't. So that'll be homework for all of our listeners, Jim, okay?
SPEAKER 06 :
Not now either.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, well, let's talk about you. So 1941, you are in college. What's your story? What happens during the war? How did you end up in the Army?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, as a teenager... I was bitten by the army bug. And during the between the two world wars, the United States had a program called Citizens Military Training Program. It was held in the summers only. And you had to be 16 years old to enlist. And when I was 16, I enlisted and I went to Fort Dix, New Jersey for the summer. And it was a program, looking back on it, I think primarily to keep reserve officers up to date. But there were teenage boys from the whole area. Most of the people in Fort Dix were from New York City. But we spent a month at Fort Dix learning military discipline, close order drill, open order drill. We went to the rifle range, did all the things. that the soldiers did. And in those days, a private's pay was $21 a month. Or as a lot of people said, we were paid $21 a day once a month. So I was red hot to go in the Army, and I enjoyed that very much. And then when I went to the University of Delaware in September of 1941, I had two full years of reserve officer training. It was what was then called the Coast Artillery. We were dealing with 155-millimeter guns. So while I was at Delaware, we went on an accelerated program. They were turning out college graduates in three years rather than four. So I was able to get into two years of reserve officer training. And I enlisted while at the University of Delaware in December of 1942. because I was anxious to go in active duty. And I had a guilty conscience, I remember, getting on a bus or going in a crowd. I figured everybody was looking at me and wondering, why isn't he in the service? So I enlisted in the Reserve Corps and then quit school so I'd be called up. And I was called up. and did basic training in Camp Walters, Texas. And while at Camp Walters, I qualified for the Army Specialized Training Program. Have you ever heard of it, Kim?
SPEAKER 03 :
I have heard of it, but I don't know much about it.
SPEAKER 07 :
The Army's ASTP was a program where if you qualified, the Army sent you back to college. But while you were in that program, you could not even get a promotion to private first class. But it was a good deal because the Army sent me back to college, and I was in college again for six months until that program was discontinued. As I understand it, the Army was looking ahead to D-Day. And they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for personnel. And some general looked over his shoulder and he saw 10 or 15,000 physically fit young men that the Army was sending to college. And he figured, man, if we stop this program, we can fill three infantry divisions, which are around the country, that are all about half full. And we can get two men for every man that's in college. And I think the divisions that we were sent to were the 84th, which was my division, the 106th, which you may recall was the first division to take the brunt of the German attack in the Ardennes, and the 102nd. And so that program was discontinued in May of 44. And I personally was sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, which is near Alexandria. And I was a private. in a frontline infantry rifle company, much to my amazement, because I had thought with my two years of reserve officer training and my summer of citizens' military training camp, I figured I was pretty much of a hotshot, and I was a shoo-in to get a commission. But I found myself as a buck private in a frontline infantry rifle company.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow, and that's May of 1944 as they're preparing for D-Day. So what happens then, Jim Sterner?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we trained in Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. We reported there on April Fool's Day, and some of us thought the Army was playing an April Fool's joke on us by sending us to the infantry, but they were not. So it was dead serious. And that was April. And I have to interject here that on July 1st, my girlfriend and I decided to get married on my overseas furlough. So I was married on July 1st, 44, and went back to Camp Claiborne, and my wife was still going to the University of Delaware. And in September of 44... We sailed out of New York City to Scotland and got on a train in the Firth of Clyde to an Army base in southern England. We were there about a month, and I think it was October 30th, we went to Southampton, got on a ship, and... crossed the channel, I somehow or other got picked to drive a Jeep. So I went over on an LST and landed on Omaha Beach in November 1st, 1944.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Hey, I tell you what, Jim, that is fascinating. Let's go to break. I'm talking with World War II veteran Jim Sterner. He's sharing his experience during World War II. And before we do that, though, as you know, a nonprofit that I've adopted is the USMC Memorial Foundation. And they are raising money to remodel the Marine Memorial out at 6th and Colfax here. And they have an amazing event that is going to be October 26th, 1130 a.m. to 130 p.m. at the Hilton Denver Inverness. And the keynote speaker is Commander Navy SEAL. Rourke from Denver, and then there's going to be some Iwo Jima World War II veterans there, as well as some Broncos and sports celebrities. So to get more information, go to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That's usmcmemorialfoundation.org. We will be right back with Jim Sterner.
SPEAKER 11 :
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 05 :
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 03 :
And welcome back to America's Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. I'm thrilled and honored to have on the line with me 99-year-old or 99-year-young Jim Sterner, World War II veteran. We're talking about his experiences. Jim, just a couple of questions. First thing, on your overseas furlough, you married your girlfriend. She became your wife. There had to be a lot of emotion between the two of you because there was a lot of unknowns, correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
Kim, you hit the nail on the head. There was a tremendous amount of family pressure on both sides against us getting married because, as I said, I was a private in a frontline infantry company. I was gun fodder.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And
SPEAKER 07 :
There was a tremendous amount of pressure from our parents to not do such a dumb thing as to get married. And, of course, everybody just knew that I might be crippled or blind or whatever, return home and have a young, beautiful wife. And they thought we should wait until after the war. But... I don't know whether you can take this comment or not, but that was 1944. We were madly in love. We wanted to sleep together. And we wouldn't do it unless we were married. So we decided to get married. And to us, it was that simple. To the parents, it wasn't quite that simple. But they did... uh put on a big wedding in wilmington uh in a very short time and uh my father-in-law actually at one point was going to refuse to give away his daughter but he did and everything and we had 76 years of a beautiful wonderful married life we have five daughters and uh from my point of view, a wonderful life together.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is a remarkable story, Jim Sterner. I just got chills as you were telling me that. That is just amazing, so thank you. Okay, so, and I'm just thinking about your wife saying goodbye. I mean, I just can't imagine the emotion. So you're off to Europe, and... You go on to Omaha Beach in November after the initial landings were in June. What did you see and what did you think when you were landing this LST with this LST on Omaha Beach?
SPEAKER 07 :
My biggest thought was, my God, how did they do it? I'm glad I wasn't here. and and i was a guy who was gung-ho in the army i was a guy who was anxious to get into combat i i had ups and downs kim there were times when i didn't want to go to fight and there were other times when i did in claiborne I became convinced that the 84th Division wasn't going to get to get overseas while the war was still on. So I actually volunteered for the paratroops so I could get over and do some fighting. And yet I took advantage of the Army Specialized Training Program where I let them send me to college, which was a long way from any injury. In fact, one of the theme songs we used to sing in ASTP was, take down your service flag, mother. Your son's in the ASTP. He won't get hurt by a slide rule, so the goal need never be. So we were a little bit self-conscious about that. not being in the war. But on the other hand, we were greedy enough to take advantage of a free college education.
SPEAKER 03 :
If there was going to be a free college education, I think that this is one I could probably get behind because of your service on that, Jim Sterner.
SPEAKER 07 :
I certainly did. And luckily for me, I guess... After my initial interviews to go into the paratroops, the division was alerted for overseas and all transfers were canceled. And so I did get to go overseas.
SPEAKER 03 :
But not as a paratrooper, correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
But not as a paratrooper, as an infantry private. And K Company of the 333rd Infantry Regiment, 84th Division.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
The 84th Division was nicknamed the Rail Splitters because it was, in World War I, an infantry division from Illinois, and it was called the Abe Lincoln Division. You may recall Abe Lincoln was a rail splitter. And our patch had a white axe into a log, and so we were called the Rail Splitters.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, so it's November 1944. You've gone on shore at Normandy. What happens after that, Jim Sterner?
SPEAKER 07 :
We got on trucks and had a convoy across France into Holland. And I think we spent the best part of a week in that convoy going across France. A lot of rain, a lot of mud. And we got into Holland, and we were in a little town called Heerlen, H-E-E-R-L-E-N. And we lived in a schoolhouse and getting ready to go into action. And it was mid-November, I think it was November 17, that we— crossed the border from Holland into Germany. And at that time, the 333rd Regiment was on loan to the British Army. So we were really, in fact, we were Sherwood Rangers yeoman. And the only difference we really saw between being in the British Army and the American was that we got a rum ration from the British. So every morning we had about a half a canteen cup of rum while we were in reserve. When we actually got into the battle on November 17, the rum ration quit coming up to the front. But we started the attack, and we were supposed to take a little town named Wurm, W-U-R-M. And we went through a pretty sizable city of Geilenkirchen. We had no trouble capturing Geilenkirchen. The Germans just completely withdrew the battalion, which was four companies. had one casualty in the capture of Guyland Kirkland. That casualty was the Catholic chaplain. Nobody knows to this day how in the world he got wounded. But we took Guyland Kirkland and then proceeded through some fields, and we ran into a German pillbox. Do you know what a pillbox is, Kim?
SPEAKER 03 :
I do, but explain that to our listeners.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, the easiest way to explain it is to think of Jackie Kennedy. She wore a pillbox hat. A pillbox in Germany was part of the Siegfried Line, which was a row of these reinforced concrete houses, maybe 20 feet in diameter, reinforced concrete walls. Oh my gosh. Very, very thick reinforced concrete walls. They were built so strong that I actually saw an American dive bomber come in and drop a bomb on this pillbox that I'm talking about. And the pillbox looked to me as though it raised up about six inches, shook a little bit, and went right back down. And the firing from the pillbox never stopped. They were magnificent structures. And K Company attacked that pillbox for five days and five nights. And when we started the attack on November 17, there were about 197 men in the company at full strength. After five days and nights of attacking, we were pulled back into reserve and we got our mail. And at that time, there were only 44 of us left on our feet to receive our mail. And we had not captured the pillbox. So this was one little battle that I think you'd have to say the Germans won.
SPEAKER 03 :
I'm just thinking, and just describe this, five days, five nights, you're sleeping on the ground, food, tell us about that during this battle.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, there's a whole lot to tell about that battle. There's a lot of stories from five days. we captured a German chateau, a beautiful structure, one wing of which was totally on fire. The chateau was the company headquarters and it was the aid station. And we attacked out of there across a field which was planted with sweet beets and We crossed a stream. It was called the Wurm, W-U-R-M, River, but it really wasn't a river as we think of one. It was more of a stream about waist or chest deep. And we crossed it, and there were six of us that got within about 30 feet of the pillbox, And it was night. This was all done in the dark. And we were receiving a lot of artillery fire. The German 88-millimeter gun, which was probably the best weapon in Europe in World War II, was firing at us. And when we got to within about 30 feet of the pillbox, The machine gun fire and the small arms fire was so heavy that we ducked into a German house. We were lined up in the house and I was on the we were in an alleyway that went across the back of the house to the street. And I was standing on the left end of the line with our backs against the brick wall, which was facing the Germans. And a good buddy of mine was on my right and another guy from Wilmington, Delaware, on his right. And the Germans let loose with an 88, which hit right behind the man two down from me and just totally shattered him and wounded everybody on his right. So there were six of us left in the house, and we decided the place to go was in the crawl space. So we found a door in the living room. We stayed in the crawl space for 24 hours, having a discussion about what to do. And I was all for making a run for it. But cooler minds prevailed, and they decided we should stay there until the shelling let up a little bit. And there's a little bit of a side story here. Do we have another couple of minutes, Kim?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know what? Let's go to break and come back, and we'll keep that as a cliffhanger on the side story on this. I'm talking with World War II veteran Jim Sterner. Before we go to break, one of the great sponsors of both my shows is Hooters Restaurants. They have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. They have all kinds of lunch and happy hour specials throughout Monday through Friday. Part of mine is a great story about freedom and free markets and capitalism. You can find that at my website, KimMunson.com. We'll be right back with Jim Sterner.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back to America's Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. On the line with me is 99-year-old Jim Sterner, World War II veteran. We're talking about this battle regarding a pillbox, correct, Jim?
SPEAKER 06 :
That's correct.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Before we went to break, you said there was a side story regarding you're in this crawl space trying to determine what to do. You said cooler heads have prevailed. So what's this side story?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, while we were in that alleyway before the 88 shell hit and killed some people, I was standing at a position where I could look out. the side door across the street and i saw as i said we were in the british army at the time we were assigned to the brits i saw the sherwood the sherman tank which was manned by british soldiers come up And the tank commander was standing up in the turret of the tank, and he was directing fire at the pillbox. And the reason I could see this all at night is because the Germans were firing tracer bullets. And they were firing so many hundreds of tracer bullets that it was really lit up at night. and i could see the tank commander who was trying to give us relief he was directing fire and i saw him get killed and slump over in the turret of the tank and i think he recognized that we were in the house and in a jam and he was trying to give us relief so that we could stay alive wow i have thought about this man ever since this was november 22nd 1944 and through the miracle of facebook and your friend and mine ralph peters in holland I have met this tank commander's son who lives outside of Nottingham, England. His name is Michael Augustus Butler. His father was Gus Butler Sr. The boy, who's now 82, was five years old when his father was killed. And through the miracle of Facebook, Gus and I have become friends, visiting each other electronically and on the telephone. And I have been able to tell him exactly the situation of his father's death, the fact that his father was there to help out six Americans And we have visited the father's grave with Ralph. And for me, very emotional. And Gus and I have shed a few tears together. In fact, I'm moved right now. I am, too.
SPEAKER 03 :
uh i am too jim sterner and this has got to be so powerful for gus just a five-year-old kid when his father was killed in world war ii and then to connect with you after all these years and the work that ralph peters is doing is absolutely amazing and so at this point in time i'd like you to share with our listeners what's going to be happening here within the next few days with Ralph and Ron over in Europe. I think it's super important if you let people know about that.
SPEAKER 07 :
I will do that, but may I interject something before that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Ralph and I have become friends. In fact, Ralph has visited me here in my cottage. I'm in a retirement community in Pennsylvania, and Ralph has visited me here. Ralph and Ron... took me on a tour of this area. This house that we were in was in a little village called Muhlendorf, Germany. Ralph and Ron took me on a tour of the fields, which look the same today as they did in 1944. He has taken me to the house where we were in the crawl space. And I have guided him again through the miracle of facebook i have guided him to that exact spot and i have told him where the tank was where gus butler was killed and i said now ralph if you walk up that street in front of you about 30 meters or 40 meters something like that that's where the pillbox was Ralph and Ron walked up there and it was silence on the phone for two minutes, maybe. And all of a sudden I hear this yelling and screaming. They had found the remains of the pillbox. It's still there. So what a thrill. And they pushed back some weeds, and I actually saw the reinforced concrete remains of part of the pillbox. Now, what's going to happen on Sunday is Ralph and Ron are going to Belgium, I think, for some— Battle of the Bulge type of reunion, but they're going to go and they're going to visit a village. named Bourdon, B-O-U-R-D-O-N, Belgium, which is the largest city near there, is a city called Marche, M-A-R-C-H-E. I think if you want to get a little Frenchy, you call it Marche, on Femon. And We're done is the little village where on December 26, 1944, I was wounded. And Ralph and Ron are going to go to the spot on the road, which we know exactly where it is, where I was wounded. And they're going to relay this scene back here to my cottage and one of my daughters. I guess the one that you're in contact with, Tavison, is going to be here at 8 o'clock Sunday morning. And we're going to revisit Bourdain, Belgium at that time with Ron and Ralph.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and Ralph, I know well. When I was over in Normandy in 2016, he traveled with our group, and so he is a friend. And he actually was stateside here in Denver a few years ago and spoke at some different organizations here. And he is just a gem. And also I've interviewed Ron, and I just love the work that they're doing. So this is so exciting what's going to be happening with this Jim Sterner. So...
SPEAKER 06 :
I was thrilled to me.
SPEAKER 03 :
What kind of emotions are you feeling as you're going back via Facebook, via technology, to when you were doing battle in World War II? What's going through your mind?
SPEAKER 07 :
Totally amazed. I wish I could understand it. It's very emotional. In fact, it's tearful emotion. and uh but to think that i was there when we were there we used to pull up which turned out to be sugar beets we thought they were rutabagas but it turns out that ralph went there and while ralph was showing me the chateau which i knew quite well and I was telling him how we pulled rutabagas out of the ground. He pulled one out of the ground, and he said, the only problem is it isn't a rutabaga, it's a sweet pea. But we went back, and I say, unbelievable emotional to see the pillbox fall. Incidentally, I think the Americans never did conquer that pillbox. The Battle of the Bulge came, and then we went in and around it and eventually shut it down by coming in from the rear, from the German side. But that was a tough battle and a lot of memories. One of the things that happened in the battle, a group of us, Somehow, and this is totally unexplainable, some of us got out in front of the rest of the American lines, and we ended up about 200 or 300 yards behind German lines. And we came upon a house, and we started receiving a lot of small-arm fire from this house. And... We jumped in shell holes and started firing back. And it was at that time that the tank commander, Gus, saw what was happening, and he pulled his tank up on our left flank and started rapid-fire 75-millimeter gun into the house. And he was going kapow, kapow, kapow. And after a little bit, a white flag came out of the house, and 36 Germans surrendered to us.
SPEAKER 03 :
What did you do with 36 Germans then?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we lined them up in a column or two and searched them for souvenirs.
SPEAKER 03 :
Did you get any souvenirs?
SPEAKER 07 :
I got a watch, which I did not have a wristwatch at the time for some reason. So I borrowed a German's wristwatch that he had. And after I had time, when we were pulled back in reserve, I examined the wristwatch and I found French engraving on the back of it. I don't know the truth, of course, but I'd like to believe that the German took it from a French soldier. I took it from him. And when I was wounded, the medics took it from me. But he probably bought it in Paris is what really happened.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, well, that's quite a story. Hey, let's go to break. I'm talking with Jim Sterner, World War II veteran. And before we do that, though, I want to say thank you to Tricia Hood, who has been sponsoring the America's Veterans Stories shows. And we've interviewed her, and we're doing this in honor of her husband, Don Hood, who is a Vietnam veteran. He has passed on since the last number of years, and as well as in honor of her.
SPEAKER 01 :
daughter chelsea hood russell and i really appreciate trisha's sponsorship of these shows it's so important that we know these stories so we're going to go to break we'll be right back with jim sterner if you're 62 or older a reverse mortgage could be a great tool regarding retirement and estate planning it is essential to understand the process lauren levy with polygon financial group has nearly 20 years in the mortgage industry and has the experience to answer your questions Lauren understands that each financial transaction is personal. If you'd like to explore your options on a reverse mortgage, remodel your home, buy a rental property, or move, call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881. Licensed in 49 states, Kim Monson highly recommends Lauren Levy for all your mortgage needs. Call Lauren at 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 02 :
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 04 :
From the mountains to the prairies,
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back to America's Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. On the line with me is Jim Sterner, a World War II veteran, 99 years old. And Jim Sterner, you're over in... We're talking about November 1944 into December 1944. What's the next story that you have that you can share with our listeners?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think a story that people seem to enjoy is... After we finished with that pillbox, we got a bunch of replacements to get the company back near full strength. And we moved across some muddy fields into a town called Lindern, Germany. Our mission in Lindern was a holding action. We had foxholes around the perimeter of the city, of the village, I want to call it. It was big enough to have a railroad station. It's about as much as I can say about Lindern. But we... stayed in that position for, I think it was nine days, actually, at which time we would spend half our time in a foxhole and half our time in a cellar in the village. And one time... I was in a foxhole and for some reason didn't get relieved. So instead of spending about 12 hours, I spent 24 hours in that foxhole. And it just happened I was with a buddy from Texas who... Had a mental problem. In those days, we called it shell shock. I think today the polite thing is post-traumatic stress syndrome. And he could not stand watch. So I stood on my feet for 24 hours. And when I was relieved, I went back into the village and I went into the first cellar I could find. And in that part of Germany, most cellars were built like forts. They were built with stones in archways with a house built above it. The cellar I happened to go into was built with concrete block like an American cellar. And the owner of the house had coated the concrete block with plaster so that every time a German artillery shell hit anywhere around town, the concrete blocks vibrated a little bit. And the atmosphere in the cellar was a fog of plaster. And a very close buddy of mine, in fact, the man who was my best man when my wife and I were married the previous July 1, came into the cellar with me. And he looked around and he said, Jim, I can't stay in this place. This is a death trap. He said, I'm going to go look for a better cellar. So I, at that point, was so tired that I lay down on the cellar floor and I was out of it. A couple of minutes later, Don came back in and he said, hey, I just found a great cellar right across the street. Let's go over there. And I said, Don, I am so tired that I don't care if I get killed. I cannot walk up those steps and across the street. I'm staying here no matter what happens. Well, here's this guy that he and I had taken basic training together. We were roommates in college. We are in the same platoon in the division. He was my best man. And I refuse to move, and he doesn't want to stay in a death trap. So he thought about it a little bit and finally said, well, if you're going to stay, I'll stay with you. And I was glad because against all Army regulations, Don carried a blanket in his combat pack. So I knew that if he stayed there, I would be able to sleep under a blanket that night on the dirt floor. So Don decided to stay. And somehow, while all this was going on, a third member of our platoon, Faustino Guerra, from San Antonio came in. So Faustino and Don and I slept under Don's blanket. And I always like to add that Faustino and I insisted that Don sleep in the middle where it was less cold than on the outsides. The next day when we got out and about in the village, we found out that during the night That cellar across the street had been hit right in the cellar steps, in the cellar door with a big artillery shell. The house collapsed. There were eight men killed, and everybody else in the cellar was wounded to one degree or another. Lots of concussions. And our cellar... Our seller, the Death Trap, came through with flying colors.
SPEAKER 03 :
Boy, it seems like the hand of divine providence was upon you that night, Jim Sterner. That is an amazing story. Let's talk about Battle of the Bulge. We've got a few minutes left. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, the Battle of the Bulge, we didn't get there.
SPEAKER 07 :
until about the 22nd of December. And by then the Germans were pretty well beat. So we didn't really see intense fighting. We were stationed along a road which had been dug into the side of a hill And we could walk up and down that road freely, and the Germans couldn't hit us even with a mortar. One of the stories that we tell is that this gentleman, Don, of whom I'm speaking in the cellar, on Christmas Day, 1944, Don and I were assigned to a bazooka. And there was a German tank with an 88-millimeter gun on it about 50 yards in front of us. We were assigned to the bazooka and told if the tank moves, knock it out. Don and I, the place was frozen. You couldn't dig a foxhole. And we were lying on top of the ice. And after about 10 minutes, I said to Don, I hope you know how to fire this thing because I've never even seen a bazooka fired before in any way, shape or form. And he said, I don't know how to fire a bazooka. So here are two guys on the front line. to knock out a tank that we don't know how to fire a bazooka. But we took the rockets out of the ammunition bag. We examined it and decided what we would do in case the tank moved, which it didn't, by the way, luckily. And it turned out that We analyzed it properly, so if the tank had moved, we could have at least gotten a shot off. Now, what damage it would do is another story. Years later, some people found out who the tank commander was of that tank. His name was Gerhard Tebbe, and he came over to the United States to a reunion. which unfortunately I did not go to. And Gerhard Tebbe told us at that time that he was a tank commander and there were 12 tanks. The one that we saw was right in front of us. The other 11 were in the woods behind him. And we said, why didn't you just roll over us and kill us all? And he said, well, we couldn't because we were out of gas. You may remember the story, Kim, about the Americans burning our gas. Yes. Well, that decision probably saved my life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. Okay. Yeah. A tank's not of much use if it doesn't have any gas. We've got two minutes left, Jim. You were then wounded, correct? Correct.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, in two minutes I can tell you that our artillery decided they were going to knock out the tank. So a 4.2-inch mortar about a mile to the rear fired a shot to knock out the tank, and that shot hit on the road that I'm talking about and hit me in the right calf. And I sat down to check the wound, and my friend Don was sitting on my right, and two medics came out to look at me. And at that time, a second shot came in at the same place, and it killed both those. Those two medics took all the shrapnel, which would have killed Don and me. And those two medics fell over my legs. And I pushed them off my legs and started crawling down the road. And the artillery forward observer came up and said, don't worry. He said, I didn't see the first round come in. So I called a second round at the same spot. But there won't be any more. I know what's going on now. And so that's how I got wounded by friendly fire.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow, that is quite a story. Jim Sterner, thank you so much for sharing this story with us. Your final thought you'd like to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 07 :
I don't know what to say, Kim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I so appreciate you sharing your story with us, and I'm excited to reconnect with you after you've been with Ralph and Ron as well. So Jim Sterner, indeed, thank you. It's been an honor to get to do this interview.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's been my pleasure, Jim. I enjoyed it. I hope somebody listens.
SPEAKER 03 :
They will. I guarantee it. I guarantee it. So, Jim Sterner, thank you so much. My friends, indeed, we stand on the shoulders of giants. So God bless you and God bless America.
SPEAKER 04 :
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 08 :
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.
Scar tissue in the soul, the hardness of the heart, happens when you have a vacuum in your mind. “Don’t walk in the vanity of your mind” (Eph 4:17). When the Word of God isn’t there your soul is filled with human viewpoint thinking. When you choose to separate from God’s plan and God’s will your understanding is darkened, “alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them” (Eph 4:18). The key to removing scar tissue - rebound, stay in fellowship, learn the Word of God.
Click for Full Transcript: https://rhem.pub/hard-hearted-35573e
Hard Hearted People
Transcript of FLOT Line Episode 642 aired on December 24, 2017
Good morning and welcome to The FLOT Line. I'm your host Rick Hughes and for the next few
minutes I'm going to ask you to stay with me. It will be a brief time of motivation, some
inspiration, a whole lot of education, and we do this without any manipulation. We’re not trying
to sell you anything, we’re not trying to hustle you. We’re not trying to get you to join up, fess it
up, give it up, we would just like to ask you to listen up. The show The FLOT Line that you're
listening to is designed to remind you of Biblical truths and introduce you to a new way of
growing, a new way of studying and learning God's Word, a way that's done with no solicitation,
just 30 minutes of education. My job is to verify and identify God's plan for you and your life.
Hopefully, if you agree, you will orient and adjust to the plan. The FLOT Line is heard every
Sunday morning here on this radio station, I thank you for listening. We have a very interesting
subject we want to cover today. Let me remind you a FLOT line is a main line of resistance in
your soul. It's your forward line of troops and consists of 10 unique problem-solving devices that
you learn found in the Word of God. If you learn them and use them, then you can stop the
outside sources of adversity before they ever become the inside sources of stress. That’s why we
always say, adversity is inevitable and stress is optional. The FLOT line is made up of the
rebound technique, problem-solving device #1, confessing your sin to God, solving the problem
of personal sin we do as Christians, 1 John 1:9, how we handle sin. The second one is we have a
genetically formed sin nature and how we handle this with problem-solving device #2, the filling
of the Holy Spirit. The third one is the difficulties and the trials that we face in life and how we
handle these, that’s the faith-rest drill, standing on the promises of God. There are seven other
problem-solving devices that we've taught. We've gone over everything from grace orientation to
Biblical orientation to a personal sense of destiny to personal love for God, impersonal love for
others, sharing the happiness of God, and occupation with Jesus Christ. These are all extensive
studies that we've done. I hope you will get them and I hope you will listen to them and I hope
you'll build a FLOT line in your soul. On our last radio show we were talking about the three
different lives. We were talking about the physical life, the spiritual life, and eternal life and I
want to go back to this before we move on to our next subject. I wish there's something I could
tell you about everything to expect when you get to heaven, but I just can't do this because the
Bible limits our understanding about all that awaits us. There are some things that I can tell you
and this is what they are.
You cannot take your current body to heaven, that's why you must
die. This body will not work in heaven. It has to be a different body, the Bible refers to it as
a resurrection body.
Since this body is infected with sin and everything in this universe is
infected with sin, then it all has to die. Your new body, your resurrection body is seen in Romans
8:23 where it says,
“We eagerly await the adoption and the redemption of our body.”
In Romans
6:5,
“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection.”
We will get a resurrection body. When they lay you to rest, whether
642-Hard-Hearted-People-transcript.pdf
they cremate you or bury you, whatever you decide, that's not you. The real you is your soul and
the spirit inside of you. The old body is going to wear out, shut down, go away back to dust but
you’re going to get this new body if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, the perfect body, the
resurrection body. There will be a new heaven and a new earth also. Most people have this
strange idea that they’re going to go to heaven and live in heaven for eternity but listen to this in
2 Peter 3:12-13.
“Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and
nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for the new heaven and the new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness.”
Everything here is going to be destroyed. All the universe will be wiped
out. The sun will be gone, the moon will be gone, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, that's all gone, all
infected with sin. Here we come to the new heavens and the new earth and on this new earth
there will be what we call the holy city. In that holy city, this is where you will live your life in
the new heaven and new earth, being able to go to the holy city, the New Jerusalem. The Bible
says in this environment we will never age, we’ll never get sick, we will never lack for any
happiness. Revelation 21:4,
“And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no
longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning. No more crying, no more pain
because the first things have all passed away.”
This is eternal life and this life will be a
phenomenal life. It starts the minute you believe in Christ.
“Whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have everlasting life,”
John 3:15 says this and it will never, ever, ever end. John 3:15,
“Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life,”
so true because it's already
started the minute you believe in Jesus Christ and it'll never end. What a wonderful thought, what
a wonderful thing eternal life is. It’s hard for us to imagine. That's why the Lord doesn't give us a
whole lot of perspective on it. But I can tell you there will be colors you've never seen, there will
be sounds you've never heard, there will be things you’ve never dreamed of in heaven. This is all
complements of the grace of God by means of His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who
paid the ultimate penalty for our sin.
“He who knew no sin
was made sin for us so that we could
be made the righteousness of God by means of Him”
(2 Corinthians 5:21). That's how we get to
heaven. That's how we have eternal life. Jesus said,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life and no
man comes to the Father but by Me”
(John 14:6). Now I’m going to switch gears this morning. I
would like to go in a different direction. I'd like to pick up with a new study and go into
something that is very interesting and I think you'll find it interesting. We’re going to talk about
hard hearted people. Now remember, my job is to educate you, your job is to evaluate what I say.
If I can educate you, you can evaluate and make a decision, so I want you to listen. Throughout
the United States we’re seeing many young people relating to gangs and violence all across
America today. According to Wikipedia, approximately 1.4 million people were part of gangs in
2011. More than 33,000 gangs are active across the United States today, prison gangs,
motorcycle gangs, street gangs and juvenile gangs. Many people join these gangs to get a sense
of family, they are seeking some sort of identity. Some are just criminals, enjoying the risk of
demonstrating their power lust. They rob, they steal, and do whatever they want to, that's the
642-Hard-Hearted-People-transcript.pdf
power lust. Most of these gangs are involved in some sort of criminal activity or sexual activity,
but there are also some Christian gangs. These are good gangs, bikers for Christ and the
Christian Motorcycle Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reaching people for
Jesus Christ, I’m not talking about them. The question that I'm asking you today is, how can a
young person, maybe 12, 13, 14 years old, get into a gang? How can a person commit crime and
how can they be involved in sexual activities at such a young age as some of these gang
members and it not bother them? There's a crime game that some of them play called knockout.
This is practiced by street gangs who use this as an initiation into the gang. They have to walk up
to a stranger in the street and knock him out. They just hit him when he's not looking, and this
has led to many, many serious injuries and in some cases even death. Some of the young people
are required to shoot somebody as proof of their willingness to be a part of the gang. This attack
of the cosmic system, a.k.a. what I call the human viewpoint, is the lure that sucks so many
unsuspecting people into a life of bondage, into a life of misery resulting from repeated bad
decisions that violate the protocol plan of God. I want to show you today from the Bible how
people can do such things, how they can hurt people and not feel bad about it, how they could
steal from people and not feel bad about it, how they could lie about you and laugh about it.
We
should not be surprised if we see our country fragmented where there's a divide in the way
people think in this country about what's best for the future. It's the devil’s world, we call it the
cosmos diabolicus
,
cosmos
being world and
diabolicus
meaning devil, the devil’s world. This
divide that we have today in America is perpetuated by a constant barrage of human viewpoint
peddled by Hollywood celebrities, political leaders, and just plain troublemakers and they say it's
the key to happiness. Unless we start reasoning with what we call establishment thinking, then
there will be no hope for the next generation.
The apostle Paul warns about how you can scar
up your soul to the point of complete loss of reality.
It’s covered in Ephesians 4:17-20. It was
written to the church at Ephesus, that church made up of Gentile converts. They were being
warned not to follow the path of their previous Gentile life. I’m going to read it to you,
“This I
say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the
vanity of their mind,
having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Who being past
feelings have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
But
you have not so learned this from Christ.”
All right, let's break this down. Let me show you
what this verse is saying. I want to exegete this verse for you. That's the way we study the Bible,
we study it under the ICE technique. ICE stands for isagogical, categorical, and exegetical.
Isagogical means we’ll go into the original language. We’ll see what the word meant when it was
written. Categories means that we will develop out of verses different categories like the
category of love, or the category of God, or the category of whatever, happiness. You can
develop categorical studies out of these verses, so isagogics, categories. Exegesis means line by
line, word by word, verse by verse. So let's exegete this passage. Ephesians 4:17 starts off with
Paul giving a warning,
“This I say therefore and testify in the Lord,”
so the source of this
642-Hard-Hearted-People-transcript.pdf
warning that Paul is about to give is from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself through the apostle Paul
and by means of the Holy Spirit. Remember when the Lord Jesus Christ went to heaven, He sent
the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Son and as the Father.
Here God the Holy Spirit is giving a warning through the apostle Paul and what he's saying is
this,
“I testify.”
The Greek word for testify is
marturomai
and it means to make a solemn
warning. It means to affirm, to exhort, so he is giving a very solemn warning to these people at
Ephesus. “I testify to you,” “I warn you,”
“Don't walk as the Gentiles walk,”
Ephesians 4:17.
They were involved in temple worship and you know what was going on in the temple, they
were fornicating in the temple. Paul had to tell them to stay away from the temple, don’t get
involved in what's going on down there. I mean literally they would get drunk in the temple and
sit around and chant, “
yakus, yakus, yakus,”
and then they would go fornicate in the temple. Paul
says, “Don't live like the Gentiles live.” The word
“walk”
is the Greek word
peripateo
and it
means to regulate your life or live your lifestyle. What he’s saying to the believers at the church
at Ephesus is, “Don't live a lifestyle like the Gentiles who go to the temple are living. You don't
need to be involved in this.” “
Don't walk like the Gentiles walk.”
“Don't regulate your life like
they live their life” and then he tells you what it is.
“Don't walk like the Gentiles walk in the
vanity of their mind.”
This is our first key to scar tissue, what it is and how we get it.
“The
vanity of the mind,”
the word vanity means empty or devoid of any divine viewpoint.
An
emptiness, a void much like a vacuum. A vacuum is where there's a void, there's nothing there
and it sucks stuff into it. One time my daughter in school made a vacuum in a bottle where she lit
a Kleenex and dropped it down into the bottle and put a hard-boiled egg over the neck of the
bottle. As the Kleenex burned all the oxygen up in the bottle, the egg miraculously began to slip
down through the neck of the bottle until it popped out into the bottle. I asked her how she did it
and she said “I made a vacuum and by burning up the oxygen inside, the pressure on the outside
was greater than the pressure on the inside and it pushed the egg down through the neck of the
bottle.” Pounds per square inch, pressure, we live under pressure every day in our lives. When
you have nothing in your brain, when you have no divine viewpoint, then everything that's on the
outside will be pushed inside you and you can't stop it because you have nothing to stop it with.
“Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 2:5), and the Bible tells you
in 1 Corinthians 2:16,
“The Bible is the mind of Christ.”
And if you don't learn it and don't have
it, then you don't have any love for God because Jesus said in John 14:15,
“If you love Me you
will keep My mandates.”
How can you keep what you don't know? What you don't know can be
very detrimental because what you don't know will be overrun by what the devil knows. If he
wants to attack you, he attacks your empty mind. If you have a teenage son, a teenage daughter,
grandchildren, people that seem to get into sin and trouble all the time or are into drugs and
alcohol abuse or anything else, they have scar tissue. They don't feel guilt or shame like you do
because their soul has been covered up with scars. Paul said, “Don't live your life like those
Gentiles live their life, with an empty mind.” This is what Satan always does, he attacks your
thoughts.
The first thing Satan will do is attack your thinking. That's why you been told to
642-Hard-Hearted-People-transcript.pdf
renovate your thinking, change the way you think.
“Don't think in terms of arrogance but
think in terms of humility”
(Romans 12:3).
Arrogance will justify why you are right and why
the Bible is wrong. Arrogance will justify why you're right and why the preacher’s wrong, why
you're right and why your parents are wrong. You will satisfy your own lust with your own
arrogance. The vanity of the mind, that's the emptiness that Satan will attack and he will attack
your thoughts first. The Bible tells you to
“Put on the helmet of salvation”
(Ephesians 6:17) and
that's to protect the way you think. In Ephesians 4:18 this passage goes on to say,
“Having the
understanding darkened.”
This means the ability to process and determine right from wrong is
blacked out. There are two Greek words that demonstrate this concept, understanding and
darkened. The word understanding is the Greek word
dianoia
and this means the mind is a
processor.
The mind is where you process information and it is darkened, the mind is
darkened. How is it darkened? The vacuum that sucks in all the cosmos diabolicus
thinking, all the human viewpoint thinking, it blackens out your mind.
The mind is
darkened,
skotizo
is the Greek word. It means to cover with darkness. It means to be deprived of
any light and remember that Jesus Christ our Savior said He is the light of the world. This is void
of anything to do with Christ. This is complete darkness as a blind man walking through a dark
room. You won't see it, you won't know it, you won’t know what's going on until you run into the
wall because you have no light.
Their understanding is darkened, Ephesians 4:18,
“Alienated
from the life of God.”
This means they separated from God's plan and God's design by their
choice.
He didn't separate them, they chose it. They are alienated from the life of God, separated
from God's plan and design by their choice.
What caused this separation?
“Because of the
ignorance that is in them,”
the lack of knowledge of divine things, they never were
interested in the Bible.
They never were interested in learning God's Word. Listen, the mind is a
vacuum. It's going to suck in what the devil throws at it. It’s an empty void and you can fill it
with the Word of God. You can fill it with divine viewpoint or you can fill it with human
viewpoint and what the world offers. Here we have someone whose mind is empty, it's
skotizo,
it's blacked out. There's no light. They cannot see the difference between right and wrong nor do
they understand the difference. He goes on to say in Ephesians 4:18,
“Because their heart is
blind,”
blind is a wrong translation. It's not blind. The Greek word
porosis
doesn’t mean to be
blind. It means to be callused, blunted, not able to think clearly.
When you have a callused
mind, then it’s scar tissue over your brain. Scar tissue, this is what keeps you from seeing
what you are.
This is what keeps you from understanding what you should be.
“Alienated from
the life of God because of the blindness
[or the scar tissue]
on their heart,”
both words are used
in this passage, mind and heart, they’re both used. Remember, the mind is where we process the
information and the heart is where we store the information and eventually apply it. You learn it
from the Word of God, you store it in your heart, and then the time comes when you have to pull
it out, put it on the launching pad of your soul, and use it. These people that Paul is talking about,
they've copied the Gentile lifestyle. Their minds have opened up and they’ve sucked in all the
cosmos diabolicus thinking. They’ve scarred up their soul, their understanding is darkened and
642-Hard-Hearted-People-transcript.pdf
now
“They are past feelings.”
What does this mean? The verb
apalgeo
means to cease feeling
guilt and cease feeling grief or to be insensitive to pain.
Anyone who has heavy scar tissue
doesn't feel guilt.
That's why a 12 year old boy can take a gun and shoot somebody. That's why
a teenager could do the knockout, knock somebody he doesn’t even know senseless, and laugh
about it. That's why a thief could steal from you and laugh, because he thinks he deserves it. He
has no feelings, he's gone. The person who has extreme scar tissue never feels remorse, never
feels guilt. Let me ask you about yourself. Can you cheat on your taxes and it doesn't bother
you? Do you justify why it's okay to do this? Do you say, “Well, the government steals my
money, I’m just going to get a little of it back.” If that's what you think, you’ve got scar tissue.
Do you justify why it's okay if you found some money laying on the floor and didn't return it to
its rightful owner? You have scar tissue. Just imagine some kid walking down the hall of the
school, finds a $20 bill, and he says, “It's my lucky day.” No it's not. It's somebody else's unlucky
day. So do you put it in your pocket and whistle on out the door? Or do you go to the principal's
office and say, “I found this on the floor, I know somebody lost it.” If you find a billfold with
money in it, do you keep it or do you contact the rightful owners? See, this is what scar tissue
does. Scar tissue doesn't feel wrong about depriving people of what's rightfully theirs. Scar tissue
doesn't feel wrong about committing adultery. Scar tissue doesn't feel wrong about stealing. Scar
tissue doesn't feel wrong about murder and theft. That’s scar tissue and that's what happens when
you open your mind up to the cosmos diabolicus. When there's nothing in there to protect you
and you think you're so wise. You think you're so smart. You think, “Oh, I can handle anything,”
and you are being manipulated and duped like a little duck.
“Having given themselves over to
lasciviousness,”
Ephesians 4:19, the word is
aselgeia.
It means unbridled lust, excessive desires,
or shamelessness, feeling not ashamed. Having excessive desires, giving yourself over to
lasciviousness, can't get enough of it, you want more of it. In Ephesians 4:19, the reason you did
it,
“To produce all uncleanness with greed.”
Uncleanness,
akatharisia,
the Greek word means in
a moral sense impure, to produce impurity, the uncleanness of lustful living, giving into the
excessive desires of your sin nature and you do it with greed,
pleonexia.
It means you have a
desire to have more and more and the verse goes on to say,
“You did not learn this from Jesus
Christ.”
This is scar tissue.
Scar tissue is what can happen to you when you have a vacuum
in your mind, when the Word of God is not there, and your soul is infiltrated with the
cosmos diabolicus, human viewpoint thinking.
The cosmic system will fill you with every
kind of lie possible and you will wind up justifying your sin, believing that you’re something that
you're not. I hope you're listening. I hope you're paying attention. Until next week, this is your
host Rick Hughes saying thank you for listening to The FLOT Lne.
1/18/25: Colorado Gun Collectors Association & e-Bike of Colorado Today’s Guests: Tom Hillman, President of the Colorado Gun Collectors Association is with us to share his personal knife collection with alot of cool facts and history. Then in our final half hour, we’re featuring a segment from the It’s the “Just Try It” Radio Show brought to you by e-Bike of Colorado! Randy Caranci, Owner of eBike of Colorado stopped by The International Sportsmen’s Expo as we were there for The Sportsman Of Colorado Radio Show. Co-Host Kevin Flesch and his wife Janet are very happy customers of eBike of Colorado, and had a great conversation with Randy about their buying experience. Kevin & Janet love their new e-bikes so listen in and hear all about it. Buy with confidence at eBike of Colorado. When you go in, make sure you mention you heard Randy on “Just Try It” KLZ 560AM. You will not find a better selection of ebikes, and we encourage you to visit the store located at 544 Front St in Louisville and “Just Try It”. Check out the website at www.ebikeofcolorado.com. Download the KLZ 560 App to listen live. The Sportsman Of Colorado Radio Podcast on www.SportsmanofColorado.com is sponsored by www.DavisTent.com.
This week's episode takes you on a historical journey through the lens of Colorado's most dedicated gun collectors. Scott Watley welcomes Tom Hillman to discuss the cultural significance and detailed craftsmanship of firearms from bygone eras. With engaging anecdotes ranging from the pheasant hunting traditions of Iowa to the tactical evolutions seen throughout American military history, this episode offers a look at how these collections serve as educational tools and cultural artifacts. Whether you're an enthusiast or simply curious, there's something to learn as we explore history through these finely crafted relics.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Sportsman of Colorado, Colorado's premier outdoor radio show heard every Saturday afternoon on KLZ 560 with insights on hunting, fishing, archery, guns, and ammo from Colorado's top outfitters featuring the industry's leading experts on how to enhance your experience in the great outdoors. Now, here's your host, Scott Watley.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome to Sportsman Colorado. Thank you so much for joining us. We've got a great show in store for you today. Colorado Gun Collector Association. Hey, these are great folks. We've certainly enjoyed the last several months getting to know them a little bit better and what their organization is all about. And the president of the organization, Tom Hillman, joins us once again. Tom, thanks for being with us. How are you, sir? We're doing fine today. Thank you, Scott. So, man, what did you think growing up and then when you heard the year 2025? What did you think the world would be like then?
SPEAKER 08 :
Not like what it is now, to be very honest. Technology, of course, has caused a lot of interesting things and things we never thought would happen as far as restrictions. I grew up in Iowa, northwest Iowa. It's hunting territory as far as pheasants. You get into western Iowa and South Dakota, that's almost a national holiday, the opening of pheasant season. yeah no doubt so you know that's what we grew up with every farm had a shotgun every farm had a 22 and we didn't think anything about it and they were if you had a difference with somebody it was sold with means other than firearms sure sure and you know it's a shame that you think about and i grew up in texas and man i shot my first buck when i was six years old and
SPEAKER 10 :
But I'm afraid that's not happening a lot today with kids growing up, you know, getting the chance to be in the outdoors and hunting and fishing a lot. And, boy, I sure hope everybody will stay in touch with that with their kids.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I wanted to congratulate this particular organization and those you represent that they were able to keep the cougar hunting. Oh, I tell you this. I think that was such a valuable win.
SPEAKER 10 :
It was huge, yeah. Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
I kind of feel sorry that we didn't get that particular tax off the charts. If anybody has studied it, I think we're being penalized for being gun owners there in this particular instance so that they found a way, which particular groups like, that they can now, this money, the bulk of it is going to domestic violence, which really doesn't have a lot to do with hunting or firearms. They can claim they do, but they don't.
SPEAKER 10 :
I know, yeah. Man, we could do another whole show on that, couldn't we?
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, we could have fun, couldn't we? Never get a couple of old conservative Midwesterners.
SPEAKER 10 :
I'm telling you, for sure. Hey, as we are moving along on the calendar now, every month, someone from the Colorado Gun Collector Association is going to be with us. But, hey, it will all culminate May 7th. 17th and 18th at the Island Grove Events Center up in Greeley, and that will be your big show.
SPEAKER 08 :
That is our only show of the year. We specialize, our club is approximately 500 to 600 members. What we try to do is continue the preservation, collection, use, and study of historical weapons, something which is no longer taught but is very much an integral history of both the world and our country. Guns in particular, as I'm sure many of your listeners know, serve to do a purpose. When people were coming out west, it wasn't the Winchester or the Colt, really, that went west. It was the shotgun.
SPEAKER 10 :
Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
Because it could be used for hunting. It could put food on the table, keep predators off away from your other livestock. And it last means it was a protection for these folks. So, you know... there is a purpose behind all this.
SPEAKER 10 :
I'm a big Western watcher. My wife about does, you know, when she's like, haven't you seen that before? I'm like, yeah, but you know, anyway, I love Westerns and it is cool. Of course I have zero idea. Oh, you probably got folks that could sit there to Western go, Oh, that's this caliber. That's this make, that's this caliber. That's this make. I don't know that, but man, there were some cool guns back then.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, very interesting. Uh, People don't realize that there was a liver action rifle that had 28 shots to it. The problem is it took about an hour and a half to load it. Oh, really? So you don't want to run out. Yeah, yeah. So when you use up that magazine, you are done with that rifle in that particular instance. Interesting. But they used like a rotary magazine in the back of the butt. Again, this is one of those historical things that we learn at our club. And one of the three things that we feel our club does give people is history. of both the weapons, the specifications, different things that are out there. And, you know, it can be anything from, and I just wrote down here, we have a monthly meeting. And at every meeting, people bring in things that they feel are unique to show to the group. But one member will put on a half-hour, 40-minute presentation about what his collection is all about and what his specialty is. And for instance, this particular year, we've had presentations on the Colt pistols. We have had it on Barker Hale shotguns, Swords of the U.S. Army, World War II Lend-Lease and its effects upon the world, Winchester 1200 shotguns, and Smith & Wesson Magnum pistols. So a few topics where you can find out the history.
SPEAKER 10 :
Do most people in your group have a niche they like instead of just being an overall collector?
SPEAKER 08 :
People will say general, and you can say, okay, I like, in my particular instance, my big love is the Western and Civil War periods. Particularly, I have the guns from those periods, but I also love the edged weapons. of those periods so we all have something that kind of you fall into things and you may change as time goes on but they all have that niche and especially and that's really kind of the third point i had about our club is when people need help and identification the members are more than happy to use this expertise Help others. At one time here in Denver, we had the experts on American Revolutionary War rifles. We had an expert on Sharps Buffalo guns. All these things we learn about. We had a program on the migration of the buffalo herds and what the effect of the hunting did to them. which is a rather sad story, to be very honest. Canada was a temper of the times, I guess is all we can say.
SPEAKER 10 :
Tom Hillman is with us. Once again, he's the president of the Colorado Gun Collector Association. So how do people become a member if they would like? What's the process?
SPEAKER 08 :
Basically, the process is you sign an application, You pay a fee of $65 the first year and $50 every year after that. You are voted on by the membership. And in 12 years with the club, I've never seen anybody rejected who has an honest interest. As a matter of fact, I've never seen anybody rejected to get right down the bottom line. Because everybody, it's kind of a tight-knit community amongst those. And they kind of know each other and who will be a good club member and who will not. Right, right. But that is the primaries. And the reason why the first year is a little more is everybody gets a nameplate. So when you come, we can recognize you and talk to you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
So, you know, like all clubs, there's little niches here and there. But we all try to help each other and be friendly. And we also try to help the widows and the family members when they're our time to go on comes we can pass these firearms on and advise them on how to meet all state and federal laws to identify them to try to get them the most from their loved ones collection sure and you think about you know this time of year we just went through holidays people may have been around loved ones that
SPEAKER 10 :
And maybe they were shown some different things, you know, and the family has no idea. And the last thing you want to do is take that to like a pawn shop or something and ask them to, you know, give their opinion on it.
SPEAKER 08 :
But let's also say there are very reputable gun dealers in this town. Oh, absolutely. And they will be honest with folks. If you want to go to the ultimate opening thing, there are auction companies, which will also be at our show, letting people know who they are. But there are, you know, easy...
SPEAKER 10 :
avenues right to get this done and so and the great thing is these are passed on to other collectors who hopefully will appreciate them as much as your loved one did sure sure all right now this is going to be a little difficult because we're on radio and you can't see but we're going to do our best to go through some items here that tom brought in the studio with him and if you go to our sportsman of colorado facebook page you'll be able to see this i'm going to take some pictures of these items and post them there And we're going to spend some time on some different sharp objects.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's about the best way to put it. Shorter, sharp objects. That's a tough one to twist out early in the morning. But, again, I brought these along to kind of show how we appeal to many different groups of folks, different areas, how their weapons developed. Always remember, weapons developed out of agricultural tools for the most part. And particularly swords, knives, spears, things of this nature. They were adapted because that's what people had on hand. But again, an historical weapon, which is what we have, because at our shows, everything must be 50 years old or older. So we are not there to be one with the more modern weapons. We're there more to show the historical weapons. And a historical weapon can be a knife, a gun, a bow, a sword, armor, western period harnesses, ropes. Everything of this nature can be considered historical. Right, right. So we brought along a few just shorter things, which will be, and you can see how maybe we'll start at the very end here. We have what we call a borong is the term. We're going to kind of ask Scott if he can say what country or area it might have come from. I have no idea. And here's a man who's an expert on weapons. Well, you stumped me at the beginning. Well, the particular one he's handling is a Filipino barang carried by the southern Filipinos. This one dates back to the period of the Spanish-American War, which was right at the turn of the 1900s. And this was one of the primary weapons they used. And very frankly, they used them against the Spanish, and they were also used against the American troops when we went in. Because historically, they thought they were going to get independence, and they didn't get it, and there was a brief period of rebellion. after the Spanish-American War.
SPEAKER 10 :
Would they carry these in a sheath, in a case?
SPEAKER 08 :
A wooden case. In a sash. Because this is fairly large. Fairly large. And again, this is a multi-purpose tool. It's also a machete. It can be used for harvesting. They used what they had, but at that time, for those of you who really understand guns, the Americans were using a .38 caliber revolver and a .30-40 Kreg rifle, which was a bolt action rifle. These were not effective enough in stopping a Filipino jumping out at you from five feet away and wielding what, in effect, was a machete. So this, in turn, led to tests by the U.S. military where the 1911 pistol, Colt pistol, was adopted, which stayed in the service until the start of the Vietnam War. Wow. So basically, 1911 through the 60s, That was the weapon of choice of the U.S. Army for a sidearm.
SPEAKER 10 :
Interesting.
SPEAKER 08 :
So one thing sometimes leads to another. Right. The next thing, we have a knife, which is what we would call a knuckle knife. It's got a 9-inch blade. It's got a very heavy cast aluminum knuckle guard on it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Man, that would seem like, for you, again, I know we're on radio, but if you've ever seen brass knuckles, that's kind of what the handle is. That's what the handle is. But, wow, that seems like, while it might do some damage to your aggressor, it would make your hand pretty sore, too.
SPEAKER 08 :
Again, this was the court of last resort. When you didn't have your rifle handy or you ran out of ammunition— And, of course, a lot of the troops, this particular knife was made in Australia for the troops during World War II. And it was a private purchasing, and a lot of the troops thought they looked better carrying an extra weapon around. It made them feel they were kind of a salty person. So they would buy a private knife to have as well as any of those knives and bayonets that were issued to them by the U.S. Army. Or Marine Corps, excuse me.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. Now, what would the just rough value of this right here?
SPEAKER 08 :
It's hard to say. You're probably looking at a minimum of a $400 knife. Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. That particular one, because when you are looking at your hunting weapons or any other weapon, you have to remember value is based on condition, scarcity, and, you know.
SPEAKER 10 :
Now, is that one tip when people have what they may believe to be collectible items? Don't refinish it. Don't do anything. Don't touch it. Don't try to make it prettier. Leave it alone, right? Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
And, again, they're welcome to come to our show. They pay their admission fee, which is $15 for two days.
SPEAKER 10 :
Super reasonable.
SPEAKER 08 :
And, very frankly, you bring this in, and you'll find out what it is. Right. and you will probably have several offers on it if it's an older piece. Really? Wow. So if you're sitting in a drawer collecting dust and you don't feel you want it around the house anymore, Bring it down. We can put it into other hands.
SPEAKER 10 :
Once again, if you're just joining us, Tom Hillman is with us. He is the president of the Colorado Gun Collector Association. Their big show, May 17th and 18th in Greeley at the Island Grove Event Center. And we're just kind of going through some different knives and some different things he brought in. And I'll take pictures of these once again and put them on our Sportsman of Colorado Radio Facebook page so maybe you can get an idea. Now I'm just reading the tag here, so I'm cheating, but push dagger.
SPEAKER 08 :
This is a little push dagger. These were concealed weapons that were kept. Used quite a bit, actually, during the Civil War, but it was also used as a ladies' defense weapon because it's short. It's only about a three-inch blade. They could keep it in their purse. And if they felt their life was in danger, they had a means to defend themselves.
SPEAKER 10 :
And if a guy, you had this onion, you got into too close a contact, and as long as you could get this and shove it right? Oh, man.
SPEAKER 08 :
That is awesome. But that particular one type of blade was used an awfully lot during the Civil War and Western expansion periods. Right, right. Wow.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, moving right along.
SPEAKER 08 :
What do we got here? Well, the next one is a Marine Corps knife from World War II. And the very interesting thing, I said Providence was the third thing that you look for. And this is a knife I got from a friend back in Sioux City, Iowa, which has a Providence. The gentleman was issued this blade on Guadalcanal. And for those of you who are not up on this as much, that was really the first major battle in the Pacific of land forces by the U.S., And in this particular case, the gentleman's name was Willie Winford. So I know who it was. I know where it was picked up. And this is what we call a providence, which also increases value of things. It is basically a Marine Corps K-bar knife, which started being issued during World War II to both Navy and USMC.
SPEAKER 10 :
It's written right on it, so you know that's where it went.
SPEAKER 08 :
And it's just unusual to have that kind of history and that kind of condition on a knife of that period. No doubt. No, it looks in great condition. Now, what's this handle made of? The handle is made of leather rings. Okay, I was about to say it felt like leather. Leather rings to give you a better grip if your hand is sweaty. Unfortunately, that's one reason why a lot of them are in poor shape. A, they were used. This is a tool. And B... When you get into jungle conditions, there's a lot of rot of leather. Sure, yeah. So in the long term, they went over to other types of handles. Right. All right, now this one is very interesting. What Scott has right now is a knife out of Indonesia, which is Southeast Asia. This is their national weapon. They are hand-forged knives, just like we have knives which the hunters we have here, which are made by local knife makers and make a wonderful skinning tool. This particular one, because of the metals they used, they could only make them during the monsoon or rain and wind period in that area because it actually gave off poison gases as it was being forged. So you get a very unique pattern on the blade. This particular blade, again, probably dates back into the 1800s. So everything we're looking at here, except for the modern two military ones, do go back. Right, yes, sir. Also has a nice little interesting bird head handle on it. And as you know, basically, Scott, Indonesia is a series of islands. And each head will tell you which island the blade comes from. Wow, how cool is that? Again, something you have to research. I know that fact, but I'd have to get the book out to tell you which island for sure. All right. Now we're going back to a little style of knife out of Spain or the whole Mediterranean area. And this almost looks like a letter opener to us. Carried a lot by the seamen, actually. It was used primarily as a little self-defense weapon or when they were eating or other things they could do with it. The quality of them can vary greatly. This particular one has buffalo horn handles on it. They weren't huge knives. They were usually about a four- to five-inch blade on them. Right. So, again, this is something kind of interesting, a little different. This is an Italian-Spanish belt dagger. Exactly. Okay. Wow. And then we come to our last one, which is just a fun one. And I didn't have a tag on this one, so Scott has to guess. The unusual thing about this one, as Scott is looking at it, folks, it has a brass blade on it. Right. The reason why is this came from the Philippines. Okay. And the Philippines believe in spirits, spirits of the woods. You know, as we actually, I'm afraid I'm one of those that believes there's sometimes a spirit in the mountains. But this was used as protection by the native Filipinos of this area, and it was in the northern Philippines, against spirits. So if they were going out and they were worried there was something evil out and about, this would be the knife they would carry with them to protect themselves against those spirits. And did they believe the brass was... The brass being a non-ferrous metal... is more effective against the spirit of the fact that uh... or evil spirits right right As you go to sometimes some shows, I haven't seen one of ours yet, but you'll actually find vampire hunting kits. And this is the Spanish equivalent. This is the Spanish equivalent. The Filipino. I should say Filipino equivalent.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Of the exorcist kit. Now, you've got one left here. Now, that was through the knives, like you said. But this more looks like a hatchet or ax or something. Well, this is just the scabbard for Chris. Oh, the scabbard. I'm sorry. That's all right. The way the handle is. Now I see that. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. The reason why I brought this, we've done this little quiz back and forth, is, again, to tell people these are the kind of things you will find at our show. It isn't just all guns. It is majority guns. Right. And I know this is a hunting show, and you folks love those shotguns and hunting rifles, and we'll have those, too.
SPEAKER 10 :
This is super interesting.
SPEAKER 08 :
Anything from a $100,000 gun on down. But this is one of the other things that our club does. We have this annual show. The show is at the Island Grove Event Center in Greeley, Colorado. It is Saturday and Sunday this year on May 17th and 18th. It opens up at 9 o'clock on both days. There are approximately 700 tables. And again, this is all weapons. except for some Western memorabilia, such as saddles and jewelry, if we know it's old and significant. It has artistic value. But you're not going to find anything but weapons that you can use to educate you from anywhere from the Revolutionary War, a lot of things from World War II, starting to get things from the Vietnam War. World War I, Civil War, a lot of Civil War items. Wow. I was there reading in a military history book that I get about a battle between the American cavalry troops and one native tribe, and they were talking about a particular rifle, which was... Very unusual sounding, and the son of a gun, if I didn't see one at our last show. And so you get the whole history, folks. This is not where you, you know, look at a picture in a book. This is where you can go down, see it, feel it, know how heavy of a thing these folks were carrying, some of the things they had to go through. Wow.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that's super interesting, Tom. We appreciate your time and sharing that with us today.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it's just something, a little different look at it, and I'm happy Scott will put these on view just to show you some of the alternate things you'll see. Please understand that there will be guns from basically Revolutionary War period up through the Korean War, with a lot of emphasis on the Civil War and Western period. But there will be a few things from other countries scattered throughout there, too, which is helpful with the education.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, cool. All right. Hey, you know, the best thing to do, there's a lot of initials in their website. So just Google Colorado Gun Collector Association. Their website will come up. Maybe you've got a collection. Maybe you want to get a table for the show. You can get in touch with them there. If you want to become a member or learn more about membership. You can also get in touch with them there through their website. But save the dates. It's May 17th and 18th in Greeley at the Island Grove Events Center. And we sure plan on coming to that and take a look at all they have to offer. So, Tom, as always, we appreciate your time, sir.
SPEAKER 08 :
Happy New Year. It's always a pleasure. And, again, thank you all for getting out and voting this year, trying to help promote hunting and the preservation of our history here in Colorado.
SPEAKER 10 :
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you, sir. You're listening to Sportsman of Colorado. We've got to hit a quick break, and we'll be back with more right after this.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
KLZ 560, your home station.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Sportsman of Colorado. Again, thank you so much for being with us. Well, as most of you know, last week was the Denver International Sportsman's Expo down at the Denver Convention Center. And we were down there with our booth Thursday through Sunday. And you'll be hearing some more interviews coming up over the next few weeks there. We could not do our live show there. A lot of issues with Wi-Fi. So we just sat down and recorded a lot of great interviews. One of those interviews is with our good friend Randy Curranci, owner of E-Bike of Colorado. You normally hear Randy here on Wednesdays at noon for Just Try It. But Kevin Flesch, of course, was with us, and his wife Janet. They are great. clients of eBike of Colorado. So I had Kevin and his wife sit down with Randy, and they just had a great conversation about eBikes. And Kevin and them talk about their buying experience and their fun they are having on eBikes. So that interview we're going to give to you now from the Denver International Sportsman's Expo with Kevin Flesch, his wife Janet, and the owner of eBike of Colorado, Randy Karancy.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, welcome to Sportsman of Colorado. This is Kevin Flesch, and we've recently been out at the International Sportsman's Expo and happened to see one of our good friends, Randy Curranci from eBikes of Colorado. Hi, Kevin. How are you? I'm great, buddy. How are you doing? I'm good. Good. And it just so happens my wife, Janet, is here as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
I am, yes. Good to see you, Randy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Janet. How are you?
SPEAKER 11 :
Very good. And you too, Kevin. Good to see you. It's good to see you as well.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's been a while.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. It's so funny. Janet, this last couple of weeks, she was looking at it because she does a daily journal. And she realized that she was away from our house in Denver over 150 days this year. Wow. Now, some of those days, we were riding e-bikes. Surprise, surprise.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right? Hey, let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Janet. Yes. Tell us your experience with e-bikes and how well, well, just tell us about it.
SPEAKER 11 :
So I had been on e-bikes just once or twice, renting them up in the mountains. We had a great time, thought it was super fun. And then we decided we would take the plunge and buy some. And of course, we went to see Randy at e-bike of Colorado. And what a great process that your store set up so well. Lots of options, really great personalized service. But the best part is that there's a track really close by to go test ride. And you can do that as much as you want with as many bikes as you want. And so we spent the afternoon, we'd take a couple bikes out and then halfway through we'd switch them with each other. And then we'd ride back and then we'd try another one. That was absolutely the best way to figure out what we really liked.
SPEAKER 07 :
What was also interesting about that is the fact that you have different types of the motors on them. Yeah. The mechanisms, whether it's a rear-wheel drive or the center drive. And what your sort of personal preference was. And also sort of the type of bike, whether it was a pedal assist or whether you just hit the throttle and go. Right. And the color. And the color. The color's critical. Color made a big difference. Always. Color, yeah. But I mean...
SPEAKER 06 :
doing the test rides were really helpful because yes we rode different ones different price points and you kind of saw what you gravitated to something eventually that you really thought you'd use yeah you guys ended up with gazelles we did yeah we did and we loved them and that's a phenomenal bike in the store i mean it's a mid-drive um i believe they're class three if i'm not correct mistaken it's been a while i've seen a few customers since you guys yeah but um and that That particular day, I happened to have been in the store when you were in there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you were.
SPEAKER 06 :
But my staff is going to take care of people. So we talk about this a lot on the show on a weekly basis. We talk about assets and what the real asset of a business is. And it's always, in my mind anyway, it's always the people.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, the building is an asset. It goes on your balance sheet. The inventory is an asset. The real asset, and what allows me to be able to do things that I really enjoy doing, things like this, for instance, and be away from the store a little bit, so I'm out there researching and doing other things, is the fact that I have such a knowledgeable and professional staff.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
All the way down to even our warehouse people. You guys, they come into the store, they see you or whatever, they handle themselves very, very professionally. And it makes it easy for customers like you because you guys come in, you got a smile on your face, you're looking for something fun to do. And I know you kind of get serious because you go, now I got to make a decision. And I don't know, did you guys get a lot of pressure from it?
SPEAKER 11 :
There was zero pressure. Zero pressure. Just really trying to understand what our needs were and what bikes would best fit that and helping us with the information we needed and letting us test drive them and all of that, which was great.
SPEAKER 07 :
the store is made up so that there are other people there that are trying bikes too so it's fun to talk to other people other customers that are like you know like there was a family there that was buying a bike that had a lot of storage capacity because they wanted to have kids and yeah you know and that sort of thing and listening to sort of what other people were looking for things that you didn't really even think about in sort of art because i was just thinking well we'll just get a bike to ride around on trails and you know on bike trails and things like that but then you start thinking oh there are other uses for them and do we want to think about that too? So that was helpful as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
So the best part about all of this, the customer experience, the other customers, I hardly ever have to pay them to say something, right? They're saying that right from their heart, they're saying exactly what they feel. They're telling you about us, they're telling you about the bikes, and they probably, I'm going to guess, I don't know, but they probably said, did you try the rear hub? Did you try the throttle? Did you try the mid drive? And so this is all a personal preference, right? And they're all pedal assist. They all will engage the motor by pedaling. And then the throttle gives you a little bit of a boost. And they have different applications for different people. Yeah, completely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and so remember, e-bike of Colorado. You're at 544 Front Street in Louisville. And we had never been to Louisville either. It's kind of a... That was your first time?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's kind of a destination to begin with. Sort of cute little downtown. Yeah. Easy to get off of 36, and you're right there. It's a nice little drive.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you know I'm a sixth-generation Louisville guy. No. No. So our family roots go really, really deep. Not on the currency side. It was on my mom's side. I'm a third generation because my grandfather came from Italy. But my mom's side of the family goes super, super deep. And so I've got a lot of, you know, there's a lot of, I guess, nostalgic stuff with that. And pride, right? Yeah, I mean it's very, it is. And I grew up there, you know, and when I grew up there was 2,500 people. And then now it's about 25,000.
SPEAKER 07 :
yeah yes well at any rate so super super nice uh location just in general to go even if i mean you you hope that somebody buys a bike that comes into the shop right of course but but they're going to come and even if they don't make a decision that day there really isn't a better experience to try to yeah to try a bunch of bikes to learn something And then the actual buying experience was great.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Very easy. You guys are a little bit of the exception because you came in, but you came in early that day. Yeah. You rode several bikes. I don't remember if you guys went to lunch and discussed it or not or if you just stayed there and you made your decision. Yeah. That's not... the norm truthfully people come in they ride them then they want to go home they want to talk about it you know it's a it's a big investment in in people's minds and it is i mean there's no question and so that's a good thing right they're not just buying on on a whim i'm not saying you bought on a whim i'm saying you guys were pretty well dialed in i know janet was like We're going to come up there and we're going to look at these bikes. She was buying. She wasn't really shopping. Right. But I think you got a nice sampling of many different styles and models. And there's no way you can get that by looking online and reading people's reviews. Right. It just isn't you. No. You, Janet, you have a different style of writing, and you're looking for something different than Kevin is, than what I am. I can sit here and say, oh, Kevin, this is what you want. I walk away, Kevin goes, I don't want that. No, but I mean, that's a lot what happens. We want to make sure that the customer is having their own experience. And that's what we do. Or anyway, that's what we really try to do. And I think we do a pretty decent job.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that was definitely, I would say, our experience that day.
SPEAKER 07 :
was really good having the opportunity to try out the different bikes ask questions get information um that was really great and then and then trying to figure out so then we we got down to the gazelles that we really liked and then we realized the different fit you know some of them were a little bit i don't know the dimensions of the handlebars and the seats and all of that sort of stuff. That was different, too, depending upon the models.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think we had to order yours, didn't we, Kevin? And the reason, it's funny, because we have plenty of inventory. But we just felt like there was a different size bike, and we wanted to make sure that that was... going to be the right thing for you. And we said, we'll order the size, and if you like the other size that we have in stock, we are happy to make that switch. In other words, when we ordered that bike for you, you weren't locked to that bike. Right, right, right. So that's just a service that we obviously offer.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it was interesting with trying them out. That was the first bike I got on. Tried a bunch of other bikes, and they just didn't feel as good as that first one. And I think you found similar.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yes, I think that's right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Well, I think our staff kind of interviews you. That's what Scott always refers to. And they listen to what you're saying and the type of riding that you're going to do and how you're going to utilize the bike. And then they start to move you towards the bikes. Yeah. And, you know, people will immediately start looking at price tags and stuff like that. And you're going, look... I don't know about you folks, but when we raised kids, and we probably sacrificed more than we needed to raising kids. We all do. Every parent does. You get to a point in your life and you say, look, I think I should just make sure that I'm getting exactly what I want. If I save $200 or $300, that's a dollar a day for a year, you know, or less. And enjoy, because we all work hard. We work hard. And our kids are becoming raised. And now, you know, as we start to come into the younger generation, people with families, you mentioned that earlier in the interview. And they may have to have, they may have to spend a little bit of time thinking that part through. That's okay. That's quite all right.
SPEAKER 07 :
It was a really interesting analysis for the families, though, because they were were were using the bikes more recreational. Sure. Maybe maybe we're taking a camping and we're going to use it for a little bit of transportation. But the families were using it on a day in, day out basis to move their kids around or to go get groceries. Yeah. Or to do other things. And so that where you talk about at your store, They do the interviews of the people before you get them on bikes to really figure out what the use and what the purpose is.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you know our motto, our tagline is, just try it. That's the name of this radio show is just try it. And that's the whole premise of the thing. You can't try it if you aren't in front of it. You can only read about it. Awesome.
SPEAKER 11 :
And we sure have had a lot of fun with them. Well, yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
We haven't gotten to the recreation part yet. Yeah. We had a great summer with them. We really did.
SPEAKER 11 :
We really did. Yeah, we had a couple of different, like, almost day-long rides just around the metro area.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Oh, nice.
SPEAKER 11 :
Which was super fun. Great exploring. And the thing with the e-bikes is, you know, you can... go for like a whole day because you don't have to worry about the fact that oh my gosh what happens if after we stop and have lunch if i feel like i'm too tired to ride back that's so true and so that was really nice and then we've taken them up to the mountains and really had fun with them up there because the bike paths are so beautiful up there we've ridden all over and again having the assist on those mountain bike paths is really nice yeah
SPEAKER 06 :
It's so nice. And we say it's a game changer.
SPEAKER 11 :
A total game changer.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. And, you know, riding. So we've got a place at Copper Mountain. Riding up to the top of Vail Pass and coming back down. No problems for the bikes that we have. Pulling a small trailer with a dog behind you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
We did that once. We did. And then when we were in Crested Butte, doing more sort of gravel. road bike, not road bike, but like riding up there in a little bit more of a wilderness environment with the bikes that we had was still really worked out well. And we used it there to get to places like we'd want to hike somewhere instead of having to take the car or the truck up to where we were going, we took the bikes up
SPEAKER 06 :
dropped him off and then did the hike and then came back so that was really a cool very very fun yeah very very fun so randy where's where's your shop so i'm randy crancy i'm owner of e-bike of colorado we're located at 544 front street in downtown lewisville and it sounds like a big long drive to come from we're we're uh 15 miles from downtown denver you guys are in We're in Greenwood Village. Yeah, you drove there 30 minutes and you're there. Our phone number is 720-739-0299. Your hours. Our hours, 10 to 7, seven days a week. And yes, that includes Sunday. You know, people call in, they go, what's your hours? We go, 10 to 7, seven days a week. What about Sunday? Sunday also. And so we really pride ourselves. We don't even change the hours in the winter. Yeah. And I get a little bit of pushback from staff because, you know, it's somewhat of a seasonal business. It's very, very, it's really interesting because we get really busy between about 5 and 7 in the winter even. Wow. People picking up bikes that they had purchased maybe a couple of days before, and we assemble them. And that's another thing that we should talk about. We talk about our club membership.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah. We didn't even cover that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Our club membership is all about, you know, it gets the bike assembled correctly with a qualified mechanic. And then it gives you 20% discount on all e-bike accessories. like locks and gloves and helmets and that type of stuff. The only thing it's not is you don't get any additional discount on a bike or a car rack that fits under your car. And then you also get some, you get moved up in the queue Once your bike is through the warranty period or whatever, or you need it to be worked on, you get preferential treatment with that. Then somebody that didn't buy the bike from us, you get a tune-up at the first right out of the box. We take care of that cardboard. People don't realize that there's a lot that has to be handled, and we recycle that. And then you get another tune-up, free tune-up, at 250 miles. And then we also – one thing we also offer is tire protection.
SPEAKER 07 :
I was just going to talk to you about that because that was – once we got done with picking out the bikes and ordering them, then we talked about tires, which I hadn't really thought of because – That's a big part of having a bike. Yeah. And the different types of tires and the protection that you have.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, because here's the thing, you know, with the protection that we offer, we offer a two-year guarantee, no flats. Yeah. Does it happen? Yeah, every now and then. Very, very rare. And it's usually something that's outside of our guarantee, no flats. Yeah. We've, I don't know, we're somewhere over 10,000 tire protections now out there in our field because we're getting in business now. for seven and a half years. We opened July 1st, 2019. And the thing about it is that we've always honored it no matter what. And we had a guy riding through, I think he was riding through a junkyard because he kept coming in and finally one of the mechanics said, look, this is number three. Something's going on. Yeah, you're riding somewhere where you shouldn't be riding. He goes, well, this is a way to my work.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
And he goes, maybe you need to find a little different route because we are fixing these tires for you. But, you know, it really needs. And we would. We would fix them. We're not going to split hairs with that. But back to you guys for a second here. Kevin, I think you, if I remember correctly, you said you were going fishing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you rode this trail.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. So we ended up, um, we, we actually, over the 4th of July, we rented a camper van for a few days because we wanted to see how sort of that camper van lifestyle. And so we were able to put the bike rack on the back of the camper van. So we took the bikes with us and it was awesome because we had a campsite that we stayed at and there was some really good fishing, probably a couple of miles from the campground. Um, But I wanted to go out early morning. Janet's still sleeping in the van, so I'm not going to take the van down to go fishing. So I took the bike. So I'd ride the bike to where I needed to get, stash the bike, and then fish, and then be able to come back. And it just made another way to get somewhere and give you more range, you know, when I wanted to get out. And they're just so quiet. We ran an And we ran into deer. We ran into other wildlife. Because you're not in a car. You're not in something that's making all this noise. You're rolling along. And it's just a nice, really nice experience.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's good for the brain. It's good for the heart. It's good for the soul.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it was mostly downhill getting to where I needed to go. So it was really nice to come back with the pedal assist on the way back.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and General, you talked about this, and you said if you were riding and you went out to lunch or breakfast or something, and then you're like, am I going to be too tired to ride home? Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yes, it really is sort of a peace of mind in that regard and frees up the thought of, oh, well, we can keep going. It's fine because we can always, you know, kick it into turbo mode. And so like those exploring days that we took in town, but even up in the mountains, you know, we'd be like, oh, let's just go out for a couple hours. And then we'd be like, Well, why don't we stop for lunch? Oh, let's ride for another couple hours. And we would be gone like most of the day. And it just turned it into such an adventure to just going out for a quick little walk.
SPEAKER 07 :
bike ride yeah the other thing that was interesting about that too in town is the you can get on the apps now with regard to the bike yeah and be able to see different areas of town that you would normally maybe drive your car around but like even from our neighborhood where we're just south of the Cherokee Cherry Creek Reservoir taking the bike path through the reservoir and then around I-25 and then through Cherry Hills. We did one day where we had lunch over in Littleton, so we got all the way over to the river trail over there and then ended up in downtown Littleton, had lunch, and then rode our way back.
SPEAKER 11 :
All on the bike trails. All on the trails. We never even knew were there.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, we never knew they existed.
SPEAKER 06 :
that's the other thing and and it's really nice because there's a safety factor there oh yeah you're not riding on the roadways and some of that we still have to be careful we still have to be you know aware of our surroundings right because we have walkers and yeah you know and you guys i don't know about janet but i think you do you know i'm a big equestrian yeah all right yeah yeah and a lot of people don't know this but that horse on that trail has And a lot of folks don't know this and they'll ride by it. My horse are desensitized to bikes. So I am not as concerned. My wife gets a little bit concerned if we ever run across a cyclist on, but her horse is solid as a rock. And so, but it's just something people need to be aware of. And usually, like with us riding, we'll pull off if we see people coming towards us or even behind us, we'll pull off and we'll wave them on because we don't want to hold them back either. And I would much rather be standing still and having somebody go by me on something scary like a bike or it's scary to the horse. But yeah, so the whole experience and the whole thing about staying out longer and doing more things is pretty phenomenal, really. And you'll see areas that you never knew existed, and Colorado has absolutely phenomenal trail system. But you guys also travel other parts of the U.S. with your bikes. Oh, yeah. And you're seeing parts of other states that you enjoy. Yeah. So it's just a different, it's kind of a different lifestyle in a way. Yeah, completely agree with you.
SPEAKER 11 :
It also, I would say, you know, we can do it together. Like, it's not like one of us is a better rider than the other in terms of stamina or strength or speed. The e-bikes equalize that out, which is really nice.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it's been good for me to try to keep up with you. Exactly right.
SPEAKER 11 :
Otherwise, you'd be way back in the dust.
SPEAKER 07 :
So difficult. Yeah. It levels the playing field.
SPEAKER 11 :
Levels the playing field.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, but it is true. I mean, it definitely, and it makes a difference because every day is a little bit different, too. And the rides that we've done have been different. Sometimes the rides are more difficult than you realize, and then you're really happy to have it. And then there's other times where it's not. That's the other thing with e-bikes is you're able to sort of control your workout so that it's manageable either way.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's the next question. So the question was, do you feel like you get a workout? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
yeah absolutely i mean it's um you can adjust it the way you want depending on how you're feeling and and i like to keep it as low as i can the majority of the time until kevin kicks it into turbo and i have to you know just to keep up with them but i can tell because all of a sudden the way he shoots But, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's great exercise. But then that changes your heart rate a little bit, too, because you have to pedal harder. Even though you're in a turbo mode, you need to pedal harder to keep up. And so you elevate your heart rate a little bit, which is part of our exercise program. Yeah, I think it's a great workout.
SPEAKER 11 :
I really enjoy it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And you've noticed the difference between what, Randy, you call acoustic bikes and the e-bikes going uphill in particular, like when we were up in the mountains and how people were reacting to us.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, our joke is that when we're riding, like in the mountains where it's a more difficult trail, you're headed uphill, that everyone that you see on a regular acoustic bike looks really serious and intense and not really like they're having fun. And everyone in an e-bike is just smiling and having the best time. And so we always joke about that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. So that's a big, big part of it, you know. And I just want to, you know, Scott runs this interview almost all the time, but the name of our show is Just Try It. It's E-Bike of Colorado in 544 Front Street in downtown Louisville. And our number is 720-739-0299. And we're open 10 to 7, 7 days a week. And we would just love for you to just come down and visit with us and experience the bikes.
SPEAKER 07 :
And if you've heard it here on Sportsman of Colorado, make sure that you tell Randy that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
So that he can give you a little something extra and make sure that he says hi to Scott and Kevin.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, we want that. No, you guys have been phenomenal for us. And we just continue to build a stronger and stronger relationship. And I know we're coming kind of towards the end of the interview here. But, you know, 2025, we're into 2025. We're in the first week of January. Or is it the first week? Maybe it's headed to the second week. But... We're excited for, you know, we're going to extend the rebates again for the state rebate. It's the $450. And it's been a positive response from the state at this point. And we're just excited about the whole future now of 2025 and beyond. And e-bike of Colorado, you know, being seven and a half years old now. Once again, this is Haystack Radio.com. And so this is Scott Wadley's program, weekly program. We're doing a little bit different. You can hear some background noise probably happening. And that's because we're at the International Sportsman Expo. Yes. So I'll let you finish up, Kevin. And thank you again for, and Janet, thank you for being a part of this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Awesome. Thanks, Randy. Appreciate it. And we will see you this spring for that tune-up on our two blagues.
SPEAKER 11 :
We'll ride our bikes up to Louisville.
SPEAKER 06 :
There you go. There you go. Hey, come in now because we're offering – well, your tune-ups are free. Yeah. But if they weren't free – Yeah, you get an additional 10% off. So if you're a club member, you'd get 20% off already. So now we're offering 30% off, and we're actually doing that for any bike at all. through the winter here so i think it's march 1st or march 30th or something all right so anyway thank you very much thank you for being part of just try it you bet
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, thank you so much for being with us today for Sportsman of Colorado. We appreciate it so much. Just a quick reminder now, if you miss our live show on Saturdays 1 to 2, you can catch us twice on Sundays. That's at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. And then also on Thursdays at 9 a.m. So four times you can catch Sportsman of Colorado Radio, and we appreciate it. We have our Flesh Law text line. Let me mention that real quick, and this is for all of our shows with Haystack and Sportsman. If you ever have a subject you'd like for us to cover, you have a question for us, send us your question on our Flesh Law text line. That's 720-201-8585, and we will try to cover your question or your topic for you. So thanks for being with us today for Sportsman of Colorado. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend, and we'll talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 05 :
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.
As we step into the Jubilee Year, Father Andre calls upon us to reconnect with our spiritual roots and reassess the values that define us. This week, we explore the transformative power of divine intervention, drawing from the wisdom of the past and the lived experiences of today. In a world often shrouded in darkness, discover how the stories of faith can provide a beacon of hope and incite unity within our hearts, our homes, and our nations.
SPEAKER 01 :
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. At age 10, Father Andre escaped Christian massacres by living in caves in Mount Lebanon with his family. Today, Father Andre works tirelessly to encourage American leaders to keep God in the public square, defending religious freedom at home and abroad, so that all might live in peace for the glory of God. Founder and President of the Mission of Hope and Mercy, Father Andre has learned the secret to safety, joy, and peace. Love God and one another. Now, let us spend 33 minutes on the Lord's Day, retuning ourselves to the truth of love in the hands of God.
SPEAKER 01 :
Praise be the most holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Again, Merry Christmas season and Happy New Year to all of our friends, to all of those who in the United States, in Denver area, in Colorado Springs, in all over our state and the United States, in Lebanon and else in the world have celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. have celebrated the feast day of peace on January 1st, which is a new year for all of us in the world. And also on that day, we celebrated the title of the Virgin Mary as Mother of God, the Theotokos. For many Christians in the world, the importance of heaven and earth coming together, where God communicated to humanity salvation, and the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Immaculate Birth in the virgin womb of the Virgin Mary, who herself as well, being prepared to bear the Son of God, was conceived without original sin, is a very important factor of our faith in Christianity. The Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. the Lord as Savior in time of persecution. We call him and we tell him, rise up, Lord, and come to our aid. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 16, from verse 1 to verse 22, we pray about the revelation of God's glory over Jerusalem. Rise up in splendor, O Jerusalem, your light has come. The glory of the Lord shines upon you. It is very obvious that in the Old Testament, there have been so many precedences where God communicated to human beings, connected to holy places, connected namely to a holy city. God also connected to a very special race of humanity, offsprings, Abraham and Sarah. And then from that line of offsprings, the Lord formed for himself a people that he himself shepherds, Israel, the people who walk with God or the people of God. It is very obvious that the Lord made his dwelling amongst his people. Oh, how lovely are you dwelling place, O Lord God of hosts. Of course, my soul and my spirit are yearning to the house of the Lord, our Savior. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we see that God basically revealed his entire glory over the holy city, Yerushalayim, the city of peace. And Isaiah says, see, darkness covers the earth. and thick clouds cover the peoples. But upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. The prophet Isaiah is speaking about the city of Jerusalem being the city which was chosen by God Almighty. where he makes his dwelling amongst the people of the earth, where also the Lord reveals the fullness of his glory. It is very obvious the contrast that we see, according to the prophet Isaiah, when the entire earth is covered with darkness and when the peoples are surrounded and covered with thick clouds. You know, even till today, we speak of a human being having fog over their brains due sometimes to pain, due sometimes to problems, physical problems or emotional problems or reactions to medication or allergies. You know, we see people, you know, are experiencing cloud almost on their brains. But it's so amazing to see. That in a physical place, over 3,000 years ago, when the Bible was written, the Bible spoke about some sort of revelation that God decides to make from time to time in relationship to a place, in relationship to a mountain like Mount Sinai, in relationship to people like the people of Israel, in relationship to a city like the city of Jerusalem, in relationship to kings that he himself favored. from whom he said his own son will be born, the Messiah will come. And he related to the Virgin Mary, from whom the Messiah came. And then Isaiah the prophet continues and says, raise your eyes and look about. They all gather and come to you. Your sons come from afar. and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see. Your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you. The wealth of nations shall be brought to you. It's amazing to see that when God relates to a place and he shines with his glory, there are consequences, there are effects, there are signs and rewards for God's divine glory. One of which is the eyes to look and see. One of which is that the people will gather, there will be peace. one of which is that people will return home. Sons and daughters who are far away, they will return. So the family will be saved. Some of which as well, nations themselves will come back and the human race will enjoy time of peace. And people won't no longer have to stock their riches. They actually do the opposite thing. They instead of gathering more, assuming more, they start emptying out before the city of God their wealth and their richnesses. And everybody will bring them to the house of the Lord. So the prophet Isaiah continues and says, caravans of camels shall fill you. Drawn the reeds from Midian and the Epah, all from Sheba shall come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. In such a way, the prophet Isaiah is not only telling us that the people will come with righteousness that are made by human hands, but the goods of the earth will also be brought over to the city of God. And more than this, there will be a worship that will come from all over the world, a presentation, people bearing gold, people bearing frankincense, to proclaim the praises of the Lord. So God will be adored, proclaimed, and worshiped. And there will be a hymn of praise, and there will be a sacrifice of incense being offered to the Lord. Tithing will take place. And then the prophet Isaiah continues, All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered for you. The rams of Nebaioth shall be your sacrifices. They will be acceptable offerings on my altar, and I will enhance the splendor of my house. So amazing, so beautiful to see that one day the entire humanity is worshiping and adoring God. And remember, we're talking about a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah, which was written probably 600 years before the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is chapter 16 from verse 1 to verse 22. But the beauty of these revelations of God's glory over Jerusalem, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah, Regardless of the symbols that they are being used at that time, the prophet is insisting that everyone in the world is invited to be part of being enjoying God's glory over Jerusalem. So what is really God's glory over Jerusalem is the recognition, the admission that God is its savior, it's its Lord, it's its king. All goodnesses, you know, from material things to social things, to the family unit, to the people of God, to the praise and worship, to the sacrifice, even the animals, even the first fruits of the labor of the man, even whatever blossoms in nature, everything comes to be offered in Jerusalem before the Lord and the Lord will accept it. all the flocks will be gathered to offer sacrifice it's of course we're talking about the sacrifice of animals in this case but the lord also says i will enhance the splendor of my house what does it mean really can you imagine how the lord can better enhance the splendor of his house rather than keep sacrificing animals, for instance, or bringing the human sacrifices like the old days, which was a horrible thing to do. And unfortunately, humanity did offer human sacrifices. The Lord saved everyone. The Holy One of Israel, who has glorified Jerusalem. not only allowed his people to bring gold, silver, frankincense, and rams, and to offer sacrifices, but in fact he saw that all the kings of the earth will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Foreigners, settlers, dwellers, the people of the land, everybody, that in my good will I have shown you mercy, the Lord says, though I struck you in my wrath, right? So even though sometimes we as a people of God, sometimes Jerusalem, a city that was destroyed because every time that the people of God stepped away, slipped away from their love and their fidelity and faithfulness to Almighty God, The Lord allowed chastisement, but the Lord was always their savior. And the Lord, though he struck that city with wrath or in his wrath, yet in his good will have shown mercy to Israel. And what better mercy could be more than the birth of a savior? The man of God, the son of God, Jesus Christ, the Savior, who comes to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, who comes to be the King who offers himself in sacrifice to redeem all creation, all alike. He comes to tell that in his kingdom, which is a kingdom not of this earth, is a kingdom of peace, is a kingdom of healing, is a kingdom of eternal life. My friends, we are entering into a year that is known to be the Jubilee year. The Jubilee year is a year in which we count 25 years now into the 100 of the 2100. Now we are 2025. 25 years have passed already to be subtracted from the 100. Another 75 years, if you come to think about it, humanity will celebrate the 2,100 year to the birth of the Lord. In 2033, some eight years from now, humanity will celebrate the 2033 years or to 2000 year anniversary the 2000 year anniversary to the crucifixion the death and the resurrection of our lord and savior jesus christ the lord our god has truly saved us and he stopped all forms of other sacrifices assuming all the sacrifices in himself, offering himself as a priest and victim, as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yes, this is the key of the 2025 radio shows that I would love to spend with you every Sunday. And I look forward to spending with us together over the radio shows. The Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. And we have to tell these stories to our children, to our neighbors in America. The Lord as Savior in time of persecution is our Lord and Savior. We do tell him, rise up, Lord, and come to my aid. There is a sermon by Saint Leo, the great Pope who lived in the fourth century between the year 400, 450, he was a Pope. He says, the Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. He speaks about the providence of God, qualifying that the providence of God is actually a loving providence. The providence of God is a caring providence. The providence of God is a main factor through which we discover how God determines to make decisions. A few weeks back, I received a phone call from a friend of mine And we were talking early morning time, his time in Colorado. And it was kind of like evening time, my time. And he said, let us pray. And we prayed, him and me. And then he said, Father, I have to drive for about three hours. And then I want to get to a cabin. And then when I come back, I will give you a call. Or when I reach my cabin, I will try to call you if there is basically connection. I said, well, God bless you and God be with you. We wished each other a Merry Christmas. And then he sat on his way to get to the cabin. And for some reason, halfway, I thought to call him back again. I said, I'll try to talk to him and to chat with him a little bit. And of course, he responded and he said, sorry, I don't have good connection. And really the connection was bad. So, and somehow we succeeded exchanging another greeting. And I said, but be safe and arrive safe and let me know when you arrive. About an hour and a half later, he calls me and he says, Father Andre, I thank God. I thank God. I am safe. I am alive. I am alive. I said, what happened to you? He said, as soon as I walked into my cabin, there was a thief hiding behind the door. And the thief actually got to it and he tried to kill this man. But this man successfully defended himself without hurting anybody and successfully was able to dial the 911 and to contact the police. And the police came and the man was actually saved. My friend was saved. A crime was going to happen the day almost before Christmas. Something horrible, unthinkable. So divine providence, I said, intervened directly. I said, listen, this is the event of the divine providence. God intervened in his loving kindness, and God determined that you need to be with your family. You need to have a good Merry Christmas. Your wife, your company, your children, your extended family, everybody needs you. We, in a mission of hope and mercy, I said, we needed you, and we needed you to stay around. And God listened to the prayers of the faithful. So my friend, the Lord has made his salvation known to us personally. I wonder how many of us can think about the personal stories where in his divine providence, his loving divine providence, you know in your heart, in your mind, in your conscience, that if it wasn't for God intervening at some point, things would have been bad actually. Probably you could have been died by now. So God's divine providence is always a loving providence, it seems. And it seems that St. Leo the Great, the Pope, states, the loving providence of God determined that in the last days, he would aid the people, the world, set on its course to destruction. It's the year 2025. It's a jubilee year. It should be a year where humanity connects back with God, It should be a year where humanity connects back with its conscience, connects back with its values, connects back by making an examination of conscience and refuting what is evil and stop lying and stop the culture of death. Stop civilizations which are being raised based on lies, based on relativism. based on negative energies, as a matter of fact, we have work to do. It does seem right every time we think about it that throughout the course of history, a humanity without the interference of God, without the loving providence of God, sets its course to destruction, sets itself on its course to destruction. So God, hopefully the great said, decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ. Coming to think about it, this is the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, as we celebrate Epiphany, the visits of the Magi, the kings from the east who came following the star of Bethlehem to see where is the king and to pay him homage, to bring him frankincense, myrrh, and gold, anointment, possessions, glory to the new king. Today is also in the east the feast day of the baptism of our Lord. where the Lord at the River Jordan was baptized at the hand of John the Baptist. And John says, This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So we do see God in his divine providence intervening, being present in our midst. And as I said earlier in the beginning of today's show, the Lord also was present when he came sending his angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, telling her, Hail, favorite one. The Lord, with his divine grace, fill you. You are filled with the grace of God. And you are to bear a son of God, the Holy One of Israel. So God intervenes, my friends. He does knock at our door and says, if you open to me, I will come and I will make my dwelling amongst you. In the feast of the baptism of our Lord, we see how God the Father in heaven appeared and sounded with his voice. And we see how the son was being baptized in the River Jordan. And we see how John, as he was baptizing the Lord, that in the form of a dove, the Holy Spirit hovered over the sun. And God said, this is my beloved son. This is the revelation. This is the place where the Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. And the promise that he gave to the prophets and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel and a line of Judah from David, he said, will bring the King, the Savior, the High Prophet, the Priest, the Messiah, the Lord and Savior, the Prince of Peace. And he did it in a fulfillment of time, in a fullness of time, in a fullness of time. He actually brought his only son to be born of the Virgin Mary. So hopefully the great in the fourth century knew that if we study the history of the world, we find out that any time humanity decided to slip away from the love, from the divine providence, from the faith in God who is good, in God who gives life, protects life, and God who is merciful, and a God who's gloriously just, a righteous God, a God who is and gives life, a God who fights in a battle against all forms of darkness and against evil. He knew that humanity, once it removes itself away from that God, it means that humanity set on its course to destruction. So God intervenes and he decides by decreeing that all nations should be saved in Christ. Today, the United States has elected a president and there is a transfer of power and there are incidents happening on the streets and in many states in the United States of America. Let us pray that God in his loving divine providence will protect our people, will protect the validity of the choice of the people who elected in the United States president, who promised to keep God the focus, the culmination, the center, and the heart of our nation. Let us pray for peace in the United States, for peace in the world. My friends, with the remaining time that I still have with you on this Sunday morning, the very first Sunday in the month of January in the year 2025, it's a beautiful date. It's 1-5-2025. 1-5-2025. January 5th, 2025. How beautiful to recognize our five senses, for instance, right? We have five senses. How beautiful to recognize in our life as well that the five days during the week that God gives us to work and the sixth day in which we rest because he rested. And, of course, the seventh day when he rested, if we're looking at it backwardly from Monday through Friday, we work, and then Saturday, the Sabbath day, and then Sunday, the first of the week, it's the day in which we give God, we render him homage, we give him and show him glory. A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. God visited Abraham in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. And he told them he was to have a countless progeny born not from his body, but from the seed of Abraham's faith. His descendants are therefore compared with array of the stars. The father of all nations, Avraham, was to hope not in an earthly progeny, but in a progeny from above. Remember what Jesus tells Nicodemus. What is born from above is the spirit. What is born from above is above. And what is born from the flesh is the flesh. And amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man is born again from the water, and the Holy Spirit cannot enter the kingdom of God. In the baptism, the Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. The Lord is our savior in time of persecution. The Lord rises up and he comes to our aid. He did it in the past. He did it in the Bible. He did it with the Virgin Mary. He did it in Bethlehem. He did it with Zechariah, John the Baptist, to Moses, to Father Abraham, to Noah. He did it to Job in the Old Testament, to David the king, to Solomon the king. He did it to many prophets, to many judges. He did it in the New Testament to the apostles. He did it in the history of the church to many holy saints, people we know and people who we do not know. The Lord is shepherding his people. So, Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. These words are for St. Leo the Great. And how can we as Americans, how can we as a people of faith assist that the nations will take their seat in the family of the patriarchs? It is time for us in the United States to rise up and to embrace our spiritual destiny. There has not been in the history of the United States like any time before, such as these times, where people, when we voted, we did not only vote because of problems and issues such as migration or such as the issues of the visas, H-1B, or the issue of homeland security, or the issue of trade, or the issue of the taxes, or the issue of our health. We actually voted because in the fullness of conscience, we knew that the faith in our society, family in our society, the unit in our society that made us a children of God, children of light, what connected us together in love to each other and in love to God, our faith was under attack. And therefore, I believe this was a main factor for the people in the United States to have faith proclaimed, decreed, and announced the way we voted in the United States, and for what? Because somebody tried to take God out. Somebody tried to confuse us and tell us that God may not count, or to confuse the identity of God by turning vices into virtues, by convincing us that where there is darkness, it's actually light, by lying. By telling us if we kill more children, we are actually practicing freedom. No. The Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world. When he redeemed everybody. And he never allowed any longer that any human sacrifice will happen. No more children being killed. No more animals being offered on any altar. No more bulls. No more even fruits. Even anything. But he himself. took upon himself to redeem our fallen nature, because otherwise we had set on our course to destruction. So God comes always to the aid of his people. It is so beautiful to see every time we want to start prayer, we say, oh God, come to my assistance. Oh Lord, make haste to help me. This is our prayer today, my friends. I urge you and I want to thank you for continually supporting the Mission of Hope and Mercy. Please don't forget to go on our website, missionofhopeandmercy.org, and continue to assist us in our work, in our endeavor, as we too in our way. And with your support and your trust, we extend to other people on earth the salvation known to the whole world, when the Lord has made it known to us, we also make it known to others in times of persecution. And may Almighty God bless us all, protect us from all evil, forgive us our sins, give us the beauty and the prosperity we need and the blessings we need and the protection we need for this new year, And may God bring us all to peace, victory, and joy in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And may the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, triumph against all evil and the fruit of her womb, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And may God bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to 33 Minutes on the Lord's Day. To hear previous programs, visit the show page at missionofhopeandmercy.org. Listen to Father Andre every Sunday morning at 7.30 on KLZ as he speaks on the unity of Christians, religious freedom, and the biblical foundation of Judeo-Christian values and traditions. Join him in bringing hope and freedom to people across the globe while also strengthening your own faith, family, and community right here in Colorado. Reawaken the spiritual strength of America. Go to missionofhopeandmercy.org.
In this episode, we dive into the 2025 Volvo V60 T8 all-wheel drive Polestar engineered, exploring what makes this vehicle a powerful yet practical choice. From its plug-in hybrid technology that accelerates from zero to 60 in just over four seconds, to the luxurious interior features synonymous with Volvo, join us as we unravel all the fascinating details. Whether you're looking for a robust family car or a fun drive with impressive storage capacity, this episode covers it all. Learn about the exceptional performance, stylish design, and state-of-the-art functionalities that Volvo has to offer. With insights on safety features, cost considerations, and driving experience, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of whether the 2025 V60 T8 aligns with your vehicle needs. For more, listen in to find out why this model is making waves in both the electric and traditional car markets.
SPEAKER 01 :
All right, what is the next vehicle you got to drive? Because we're a little bit behind for the holidays, so go ahead. A little bit behind, yeah. So 2025 Volvo V60 T8 all-wheel drive Polestar engineered. And I kid you not, that is the name. Here's the deal, folks. This is the Volvo V60, which is, yes, those Volvo station wagons that you still see running around, because even though they may not be popular here, they are back in Europe. And I will say this, Dad, they work great. They may not, depending on your views of them, of your looks, whatever, they work great for storage and all those sorts of things. This is essentially a V60 cross-country, a performance edition. And to tell you the difference, a normal V60, Dad, will go from zero to 60 in about seven seconds. This one, because it's got some plug-in hybrid technology and it's part of their Polestar engineered, will go from zero to 60 in about 4.3 seconds. So it really adds the oomph. Obviously, it's got a plug-in hybrid, which gets you about 40, 45 miles on a charge. You can recharge at home if you've got a level 2 charger in about five hours at the most. And even a plug-in, you can just plug it into the wall with a standard outlet dad and probably charge it in about 12 hours or so. You may be a little bit longer, just kind of depending. But it's got a 2-liter turbocharged battery. you know, engine. And obviously, once you add in that, you know, the performance piece of it, as far as the interior, Dad, it's everything that you would expect from Volvo, right? It's got, you know, nice plush seats. I think it's got yellow seatbelts, part of the Polestar aspect of it. It's got some really great brakes on it, some fun looks to it. It ran really, really well. This vehicle, Dad, as it sits... is about $73,000, which is about $20,000 more than the normal V60 cross-country. But again, folks, it is a performance-based model, and it's also a plug-in hybrid in that regard, Dad. In terms of fuel economy, 31 combined, 74 after you factor in some of the electric aspect of it. I will say, Dad, here, this car ran tremendously well. It was really fun to drive. I believe it's all-wheel drive if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, you did say that. Which, again, for our up-here data, and obviously we had some snow last week. We've got some more snow on the way this coming weekend. It's definitely something that people value. And again, like I said, the cargo space, the interior room, For kids, as we just talked about in the last review, second row is going to be a little tight for anything more than a booster seat. I'll just be 100% honest with you. However, if you are wanting to fit two full-size or four full-size adults, maybe a little bit tight there too, but you could still do it, Dad. Again, just kind of a different size car. But if you're looking for a fun car, to haul kids around, haul people around, haul some cargo around. This is the car for you, especially if you're looking for that kind of plug-in E side of things. So for folks that want to learn more, Dad, head to your local Volvo dealer, test drive it. Again, 2025 Volvo V60 T8 all-wheel drive, Polestar engineered. And when you do that, let them know that John and Richard Rush from Drive Radio and Rush to Reason sent you. This is John Rush from Rush to Reason and Drive Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Check out more of our podcasts at RushToReason.com or Drive-Radio.com.
