In this episode, join John and Richard as they delve into the luxurious world of the 2025 Genesis GV80. From its array of high-tech features to the smooth driving experience it offers, the Genesis GV80 challenges the very definition of a large luxury SUV. Discover why this vehicle is garnering attention for providing a lot of car for the money and how it stands out in a competitive market. As Richard passionately recounts his experience behind the wheel, listeners are treated to insights on the vehicle’s incredible features, such as its color-changing interiors, infotainment enhancements, and the advanced suspension system that anticipates and adapts to road conditions. Get the scoop on why this model is a game-changer in the luxury segment, offering exceptional value without compromise.
SPEAKER 01 :
But Richard, you recently drove a 2025 Genesis GV80 3.5 Turbo Prestige all-wheel drive.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, so this is kind of a mouthful, Dad, but yeah, 2025 GV80. There's several different trim levels to choose from, as you know and as some of the listeners know. Genesis sort of does it kind of. You sort of buy the trim level, right? There's not necessarily additional add-ons and stuff you do. They're definitely available, but you kind of buy the trim level you want. And you can get this car, Dad, for less than $60,000 if you want to opt for that a little bit smaller engine, the four-cylinder turbocharged, which still works great. Or you can kind of go to the higher end, which is where we were at, which is the V6, twin-turbo V6, I should say, which worked really, really well. Fuel economy, 16 and 22 for an average of 19. And, Dad, the one we had is right up there. This class of car, this not extra-large SUV, but I'm still going to call it a large SUV, right? This larger size SUV class SUV. that doesn't necessarily have the third row, but got plenty of room in the second row, is becoming a very, very competitive class, especially in the luxury segment, which is where this Genesis is meant to be. And at $81,000, you would expect that. And some of you listeners are going, Richard and John, $81,000. What I would say, folks, is look at some other competitors. And for a car similarly equipped, you're going to be $10,000, even $20,000 higher for a very similarly equipped car. So what has Genesis done, Dad? Well, they introduced this car, let me see here, back in 2021, kind of the first GV80 generation. So this year, not a whole lot's changed. Some subtle exterior changes, enhancements, whatever you want to say it. And the instrument cluster is now one nice big 27-inch display. It's got a lot of the creature comforts that you would expect on a vehicle of this price point in size. Massaging front seats, heated and cooled. You've got heated seats in the back. I think you've even got cooled seats in the second row. This one, Dad, was outfitted not with the third row seats, but sort of with the... I'm going to call it, and I'm probably going to butcher it, so my apologies, Genesis. I'm going to call it the chauffeur's second row. And what I mean by that is basically the second row is more of a... Well, it's more of a you can have it as a chauffeur car, right? If you're an executive, you want someone to drive you around, it's got the ability to do that because the second row passenger can actually move forward the front passenger seat if they desire, give them some more legroom. They can actually recline those seats a little bit. It's got your color-changing interior. It's got a fragrance dispenser in it. I could go on and on, Dad, about the list of technology in it. But Genesis has done that, and you see this badge, and honestly, Dad, you see this car, and I'll say it, even at $80,000, you think this car's worth a lot more money than that. And they've done a phenomenal job at it. They really have some cool tech, Dad, and you can sort of speak to this as far as suspension-wise goes to where it actually has cameras. that search the road in front of you and find, basically, find potholes, whatever it might be, and essentially prepare the suspension for said environment, right, that it's getting ready to go over. So, yeah, so maybe the right side is going to go over a bump Well, it can actually anticipate that, have the suspension system plan for that just on the right side and keep you going as smoothly as you can. And I will say this, Dad, driving down the road in this car, it is smooth, it is quiet, and it's just something that you get in this car and you feel luxurious. It's even got this mood, Dad, or this mode where it sets the mood or kind of lets you be in this zen mode where you can sit in the car and it can massage you and it plays this relaxing music. So you can just kind of You know, veg out for a second, to be honest with you. So it's a really cool vehicle. You've driven some Genesis over the years, and they've honestly kind of, they tend to impress every time you get in them, don't they?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, you know, Genesis is a brand that for a lot of folks, and they're becoming more and more popular because you get a lot of car for the money. And I've said it numerous times, you know, you're going to go spend in a lot of cases, you know, depending upon the model of Genesis and so on and what you're competing against. But anywhere from... $20,000 to $50,000 more to go find another like luxury vehicle like the one you're looking at on the Genesis side. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. That's how much of a better value they are than some of the other vehicles that are on the road. And for those that are listening, yes, Hyundai is... the parent company, but there is no other Hyundai Kia that matches what Genesis is doing. It literally is its own line. It's a lot like what some of the other luxury car makers do that are out there as well. So, no, it is not like the other sister companies that are there underneath the Hyundai brand or the Hyundai label, if you would. Richard, Genesis is its own deal, if you would, and they build a very nice luxury car for a very great value.
SPEAKER 02 :
They do. And the other thing is, as we've talked about this before, they are willing to stand behind it in terms of their warranty, right? Right. unlimited mile anti-perforation warranty this is on top of some complimentary rate maintenance and some service valet that that you get by buying the genesis which like you said is in is in direct competition to some of the other manufacturers right some of the other luxury brands right that are kind of doing some of that so overall that i i was i was pleased with it like you say business is getting to the end of the year i don't know if it's necessarily you know fits your requirements, whatever you're looking to do. But I would strongly encourage you, if you're looking for a large luxury SUV or whatever you want to refer to it as, right, enough for four full-size adults without any issues at all, I would encourage folks, head to your local Genesis dealer, test drive it, get out and experience this car. And if it's been a while since you have, I really encourage you to do that because I think you'll be really happy. And when you do that, let them know that John and Richard Rush from Drive Radio and Rush to Reason sent you.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road Edition - 2024 by John Rush
Join John Rush and guest Leighton Gray as they unpack the controversy surrounding Canadian gun confiscation and its relevance to American listeners. From Canada's significant firearm restrictions to its paradoxical role in arming nations abroad, this episode navigates through the complexity of international politics and domestic policies. Through a detailed discussion, they uncover the deeper societal changes at play, including the erosion of private property rights and the rise of totalitarian tendencies. Listen in to understand the geopolitical threats, the media's portrayal of firearm-related incidents, and the real impact of policy decisions on law-abiding citizens. This episode challenges the narratives and explores the connection between gun ownership and societal freedom.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush. My advice to you is to do what your parents did! Get a job, Turk! You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 13 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 04 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 08 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Thanks for listening today. And I didn't get a chance at the top of the hour, 3 o'clock hour, to do this. I'll do the question of the day here momentarily. But don't forget, we are looking for Christmas Day. We will play Christmas songs on Christmas Day. Another thing we're looking for, nominations of, you can send us either email, email them to me, or you can text me, either one, doesn't matter. On Christmas Eve, Charlie and I have decided that we're going to play a compilation of musings or stories, things like maybe Paul Harvey have done or things along those lines. So in other words, we want to keep them within about four to five minutes long at most. But maybe some things that you've seen on the Internet, YouTube, whatever, places where you're like, hey, yeah, that would be a fun thing to have, you know, to listen to along with some other things. And it could be serious, could be heartwarming, could be funny. You name it. We'll put a compilation of those things together. We need a couple of hours worth of that. So the way this would work is because we do things kind of in, you know, 13 to 15 minute segments. If you can come up with a few of those, we really need about, let's see, roughly 3, 6, 9, 12. So we need about 24 of those. A little more, a little less, doesn't matter. We can always make that work. But if you have one of those that's a favorite and you'd like to hear it played on Christmas Eve, please let us know and we'll add it to the list for that particular day. And again, text line 307. Or you can send me an email. And I'll get those to Charlie, and we'll make that happen for Christmas Eve. Leighton Gray joining us now. Leighton, welcome. How are you? I should say welcome back, Leighton. Always a joy having you, a host of the Gray Matter podcast, Europe and Canada. And what I'm reading in front of me is, and I knew this, Canada bans more types of firearms than probably, well, definitely than what the U.S. does. But yet, you guys are going to donate a bunch of guns to Ukraine. How ironic.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it really is insanity. I think after the United States, Canada has donated more per capita to the Ukraine war in any other country. And our government has been very interested in gun confiscation going all the way back to 1977 when our current prime minister's father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who's sort of like Canada's Woodrow Wilson, he's a rank communist, club of Rome guy, really started a lot of the problems that we're experiencing today. And this gun confiscation has just got more and more serious. And, of course, anybody who's studied the history of gun confiscation, as I have, knows that gun confiscation is right out of the totalitarian government playbook. That's right. All the totalitarian governments of the 20th century, from the Soviet Union to Maoist China to Nazi Germany to Castro's Cuba, all of them have made gun confiscation fundamental to and disarmament of the citizenry, you know, fundamental to to their plans to really deny human rights and to abuse their citizens. That's what's going on in Canada right now. But what's really idiotic about this, Ted, These are guns that people would use to shoot at ducks and moose.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you for kind of switching out. I wanted to ask you, because it's been a while since I've had much affiliation with Canada. I had a son-in-law that was up there for a long time. So I, years ago, knew a little bit about the types of guns that Canadians could actually own and a little bit about how all of that worked. But what you're saying is this... ban, I guess you could say, is going even farther than what it's been before. Because in the past, they had to have a specific use, like hunting and things like that. Am I right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and these guns right now, the ones that they're talking about setting up a use rate, are not weapons of war. In fact, our government talks about something called an assault-style rifle. Well, that actually doesn't exist. There's no such thing as an assault-style rifle. No. But these guns actually are useless in terms of being things that could be used to fight the Russians. Trying to use a duck gun or a .22 caliber or something like that in wartime is ludicrous. And, of course, anybody who knows anything about guns knows this. But the deeper problem that we're experiencing in Canada is, is that we are, and I think Mr. Trump and his new administration realize this, we're descending into communism. We're being made into a CCP client state. And what this is really about, when you look deeper, is really destruction of the concept of private property. And of course, as you know, or you probably do realize, One of the genius things about the Second Amendment in your country is that implicitly it guarantees the right to keep and hold private property. Because what is a gun? A gun is nothing other than a species of private property. And so in guaranteeing the right to keep and bear arms in the United States, it guarantees the right to hold private property because we know that everywhere private property exists, so does freedom.
SPEAKER 15 :
So when you talk the additional 324 varieties of firearms, and make sure that I'm following this correct, in Canada, if you already owned one of these, do you have to now give it up? Do you turn it into the government? How is that going to work?
SPEAKER 03 :
It's a mandatory slash voluntary buyback program. In other words, they expect you to turn in your gun. They price them out at what they think they're worth. and then you have to turn them in. The problem is, there hasn't been a single gun turned in in all of Canada. Nobody's doing it. The province I live in, Alberta, the provincial government, which operates much like state governments do in the United States, has no constitutional authority. One of the things it doesn't have to do is to enforce federal law. Same thing is true in the United States. And so our province has told the federal government, Trudeau, Go pound sand. We're not going to enforce these laws. But really, you know, what we're dealing with, unfortunately, is a deep level of virtue signaling. Canada wants to appear virtuous in the eyes of the world. And they're also really interested in disarming the populace. The problem, though, in Canada is that we have 160% hike in gun violence in the past nine years. And there's actually no connection. I'm sure you realize this. There's no connection between restricting the ability of lawful gun holders to hold firearms and reduction of crime.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, actually, it's typically the opposite, as you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly. And the thing is, Canada, the United States, actually are... for children for responsible gun ownership because when you consider how many guns, there's millions of guns just in Canada, I'm sure, probably hundreds of millions of guns in the United States.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, yeah. Actually, I believe last figures, and this is where it's always a debate as to, you know, how many do we actually have? Because a lot of folks, you know, myself included, nobody knows what I actually have. I mean, I guess they could go back and see how many have been produced and so on. But it's a very vague number, but it's more than our population. Let's just say that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sure. And so if responses to lawful gun violence really were dangerous,
SPEAKER 1 :
these countries would be unlivable.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. If what you're saying or what Canada is saying is true or what the liberals say is true, you shouldn't be able to walk anywhere in the U.S. safely.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, absolutely not. The irony is, as gun complication has gained steam in Canada, we've had an influx of guns from the United States And most of them are illegal. And then, of course, Canada reciprocates by being a net exporter of fentanyl to the United States. And that's why Mr. Trump is saying to Mr. Trudeau, hey, you've got to do something about this border. or we're going to impose 25 tariffs on you.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. Yeah, no, you and I talked about that here, I believe, last week, or maybe it was a couple of weeks ago. Reality is, and I think a lot of that is saber-rattling from Donald Trump. Will those tariffs actually go in? I highly doubt it. But what he's trying to get done is for you guys and Mexico both to pay more attention to what's happening at the border, which can be very, as you know, can be very lax. Although I will say this when it comes to Canada. It might be lax coming our way, but it's not lax going the other way, is it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it isn't. I think you're right about the border, but I think it's deeper than that. The reality is Canada poses a geopolitical threat to the safety and security of the United States for the first time maybe since 1812 because of the kind of control and infiltration that the CCP has, and not only in our government, but in all of our systems. And I think when Mr. Trudeau was summoned down to Mar-a-Lago recently, I think he got told that. I think he got told that the Communist Party in Canada is over, and you're seeing this from other members of Mr. Trump's cabinet, J.D. Vance, um rf key jr tulsi gabbard that elon musk they're all i mean the level of trolling that donald trump has done with our prime ministers just it's hilarious but it's got people up here you know especially in government are really really concerned because for the first time in a long time the united states is going to pay a lot of attention to the domestic politics of canada i think it's out of necessity
SPEAKER 15 :
I can't disagree with that at all. Okay, how do folks follow you, Leighton? How do they listen to the podcast and follow you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the podcast is everywhere you'll find podcasts, Podbean, Spotify, Apple. But the best way to find us and follow our content is on our X page, at graymatterconvo. That's the only platform that Trudeau has not been able to successfully censor in our country yet. So we're going to keep plugging away. But, you know, my next interview with you might be from jail.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Well, let's hope not.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, you're very welcome, and we will follow you. In fact, I'm clicking that right now to make that happen, and we'll get other folks to do the same. Leighton, it's always a joy having you. Appreciate you very much. Happy Christmas. You bet. Happy Christmas to you as well. Have a great rest of your day. Hi-Fi Plumbing and Electrical is next. And again, you may want something upgraded. You want to make a change. Maybe you've got a leak or you've got a drain that's not doing what it needs to. And as we head into the holiday season, make sure that you're all dialed in across the board. Hi-Fi Plumbing and Electrical, 877-WE-HI-5.
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SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 16 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, question of the day from yesterday. Who made this statement? I came in with Haley's Comet, and I expect to go out with it. That would be Mark Twain. Today's impossible question of the day. Why do books smell? Why do books smell? Any ideas, Charlie? Good answer. So Charlie just got it right. So those of you that can't hear Charlie, you'll have to answer that on your own. Go to the Facebook page and answer it there. And again, I want to remind everybody, please, for Christmas Day and for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, we're looking for just your favorite Christmas songs. We'll put a compilation of those together and we'll play those during this three to six. Actually, let's see, that's a Wednesday. So, yeah, the three to six hour that day will actually do that. Now, Christmas Eve. We are looking for just a compilation of things. You could have a short story. It could be something you've heard from Paul Harvey. It could be something you've seen on YouTube or something that somebody sent you. It can be serious. It can be funny. It can be heartwarming. It doesn't matter, but if you've got a three- to five-minute little video that we can – understand by listening to sometimes videos need all of the video to understand what's going on in other cases it doesn't so make it where it can be radio playable as what i should say understandable on the radio i should say and give us what those requests are and i'll get them into charlie and we'll put that together for christmas eve and christmas day okay The shooter of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, and I'm not going to say his name because I don't like giving people that do these things any more credit than what they're already getting or any more publicity, which, side note, there's so many whack jobs out there that are siding with this guy that it's just mind-boggling to me. But we've got individuals like... the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, saying, I have no tolerance, nor should anyone, for one man using an illegal ghost gun to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most. He said that at a press conference on Monday. So I have a few answers to Josh Shapiro. This person could have legally bought a gun. Why they chose to make their own, I have no idea. But this particular individual didn't have any kind of a record prior and could have easily bought a gun. OK, so let's just make sure we get that out there. Because, again, Josh is criticizing, quote unquote, ghost guns. And there's now all sorts of press about them. I can get into more of that maybe in the next particular segment. But reality is they're getting a lot of bad press right now. And I'll explain some of what that even means. I think there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to ghost guns. But he could have legally bought one. The suppressor that he had even on the ghost gun is heavily regulated. you have to, A, they're not cheap, B, you have to have what they call a tax stamp to own one, and the background check to go through is arduous at best. So it takes a lot to make that happen. So my point is, if he legally owned the suppressor, he could have easily owned a gun. So the ghost gun part of this is, frankly, irrelevant. This shows, number one, that gun laws don't work, by the way. And I think the biggest part that the left misses, like Josh, is unless something has changed, and Charlie, correct me if I'm wrong, but is it not illegal in every state in the United States of America to take someone's life? Last I checked, that's kind of one of the number one rules, don't murder someone. This guy did it in cold blood. So regardless of the gun conversation, he did. So as always, the left wants to blame the item rather than the person. Typical. Never fails. Now, I also will go out on a limb, and I think I'm fair to say it this way. If this young man were any other race or was transgender or was probably even a female, would this be getting as much press as it's getting? And would you even be hearing about the quote unquote ghost gun? My gut feeling is probably not. For example, if a young black male had done this, this story is already dead. It's gone. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. It's because it was a young white male from a wealthy family, by the way. In fact, in fact, a wealthy conservative family doesn't mean he was because he was a raging liberal. But it's because of that, I believe he's getting more press than you would otherwise see. Anybody else does this, you know, literally anybody else. In fact, make this a white transgender female or male. I always get mixed up which is which, by the way. Yeah, they. If it was a they-them, you know, transgender female being a man wanting to be a woman and a transgender male that's a female wanting to be a man. If it had been that, this story is done, gone. Overnight, it's gone. They bury it. But because it wasn't, and it's a fairly normal-looking young white male, it's not normal to kill someone, so I'm not going to go that far to say this guy was normal because he's a wackadoodle. He's not normal. You don't take someone else's life and claim to be normal. Ever. Ever. no matter how much of the left is praising this guy for this, it shows you, by the way, the mental illness on the left. I keep saying that because liberalism is a mental illness, and I mean that wholeheartedly. And the proof this week has really come out because the majority of people that are behind this young man and what he did, supporting him in what he did, accusing McDonald's and the workers there of being traitors, yes, they have, for calling the police and outing this guy, shows you the mental illness on the left. And I'm not saying that lightly. I mean that sincerely. There is a deep mental illness on the left because you can't do the things I just said and not be mentally ill, not have a screw loose. Don't tell me it's because of your conviction or it's because of this or it's because of that hogwash. You have a screw loose. I, as a conservative older male, would not be supporting anyone, anywhere, anytime, anyplace that takes someone else's life. Period. As much as there are people I don't like and I don't care for and I may disagree with a thousand percent. It's not OK to take their life. Ever. Now, maybe there is some exceptions. We talked about this a little bit on the podcast where you take a guy like Osama bin Laden. who we took out, okay, there might be some exceptions to what I just said in that regard, where that guy is a mass murderer and killed thousands of Americans and who knows how many else around the world because of the terrorist activities he was in charge of. That's different. You take a lead of one of the cartels in Mexico and all of a sudden that guy is off. Am I going to lose any sleep or shed a tear for that? That's a different situation. And I know some on the left would say, well, that's no different than the UnitedHealthcare CEO. Yeah, there's a huge difference. Huge difference. You cannot put a cartel leader and the head of UnitedHealthcare in the same sentence. I'm sorry. If you do that, you're mentally ill because there is not a comparison there at all. And if you try to make a comparison there, you're mentally ill. You're not thinking straight. You have a screw loose. So those of you that are on that side of the aisle that are thinking what this young man did was OK and you're somehow justifying it because of the way health care in the country works. And we spend an entire hour from three to four with Dr. Kelly Victory and Steve House talking about some of those things. And yes, does the health care industry in America need a complete revamp? Absolutely. But keep in mind, those of you that are on the left, Obamacare made it worse, not better, worse. frankly, a lot worse. Look at your premiums. And no, you can't keep your doctor and choose your plan, and it's all hogwash. It was a lie. Obama lied through his teeth. And it's been one of the worst things, in my opinion, outside of legalizing marijuana, it's been one of the worst things to ever happen to America, was Obamacare. did nothing but create more problems in health care than what they were trying to solve. So those of you that are on the left, if you really want to get down to the core of what's wrong with health care, it started with Obamacare. I mean, it started before that, but Obamacare just fueled the fire. Did not help it at all. So please, if you're somebody out there that thinks what this young man did was great, you need a self-check big time because you have a screw loose if you think that's the case. All right, we'll be right back. Golden Eagle Financial is up next. And Al Smith wants to help you with all of your financial needs as we close out 2024 and head into 2025. Give Al a call today. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 10 :
Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial is your key to ending the year on track. You need to take your required minimum distributions from your IRA investments before the end of the year. And if you have more than one, Al will help you figure out the smartest way to do that. Also, if you plan to convert all or part to Roth, it must be done by December 31st. Al can work with you to determine the ideal amount to convert tax-wise. We'll be right back. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason, presented by Hi-5 Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. And I said during the last segment I would explain what a ghost gun is because I think there's a lot of misconceptions, number one, around them. Some know exactly what they are. Some just hear the term, and I think they think, wrong about what one actually is. So I'll do my best to explain this. And yes, I'm very knowledgeable when it comes to guns and the like, and I've been around them since I was a wee boy, I guess would be the way to say that. Literally, I've been shooting a firearm since I was... Six, seven years of age, and yeah, before all of you on the left say that was child abuse, no, it wasn't. My dad taught me properly how to handle, use, respect a firearm all through my not only childhood, teen years, and now my adult life as well. And he did a very good job of teaching myself and my brother exactly all of that. So just a side note, no, that wasn't child abuse. In fact, I think a lot of kids would benefit from what I learned as a kid, and you'd have a lot less accidents. if they actually were taught the way I was growing up. So I have very good familiarity, very familiar, I should say, with guns in general. So the other thing you're going to see before I explain what a ghost gun is, is lots of data in the news media as far as how many have been confiscated, how many ghost guns have been confiscated. Now, what I've learned and I believe to be true from what I've read, is the authorities will consider a ghost gun anything without a serial number. So be careful when you see them talk about all these confiscated ghost guns because serial numbers can be removed from production firearms also. It's called a grinder. And some would say, well, why doesn't everybody do that? Well, because nobody wants to ruin their gun. And sometimes you may need that for other things, getting parts and so on. And reality is you don't want to. We're law-abiding gun owners. We don't need to. So also be careful when you look at the data on confiscated ghost guns because they consider a ghost gun an untraceable gun. Everything I've read when it comes to the authorities, FBI and so on, that's kind of their definition. It doesn't necessarily have to be homemade. and you're going to see all sorts of things about homemade, printed, this, that, and the other. I'm going to explain to you the ways that you can actually have a ghost gun. So my point is you're going to see a lot of things in the media and a lot of gun control advocates pushing now this whole ghost gun narrative, and we've got to stop this, we have to end this tomorrow, that sort of stuff. Remember that not every ghost gun is either a printed gun, quote-unquote, or one that's even been assembled by their owner. These again could be firearms where they just shaved off. ground off basically the serial number so i want to make sure that i'm very clear on that because uh they'll call these ghost guns you know they put a wide label i guess what i'm trying to say when it comes to ghost guns and the reality is in a lot of cases those labels these this data is not exact so real quick before i go to joe there's several ways to do this In some cases, you can buy a quote-unquote kit, which will give you pieces of said gun, pistol or rifle, and then you do the rest of the assembly. And a lot of guys, by the way, some would say, well, why would you ever do this? Well, because a lot of guys do things custom because it's a hobby. They enjoy it. It's fun. And by the way, by the time they're done, typically speaking, it will cost far more than if they just went and bought a production gun. And most people aren't doing it so they can run under the radar. They're doing it for the reasons I just stated. They want to build something custom for themselves that's different than what somebody else has. And it's not because they're going to go use it nefariously. It's because they want something different, unique, special to them. That's why people do that. Now, you're also going to hear a lot about printed guns. Yes, you can print one. There's these at-home printers now even where you can print all sorts of different things, parts, components, and so on. And what I will tell you is especially with printed guns, even more so than what I just explained a moment ago, their reliability, which you saw even with this particular shooter, is not very high. The possibility of them jamming, per se, is very high because they're not done to the same specifications you would get done with a production-type firearm out of all of the major production companies that are out there, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Glock, etc., So don't kid yourself. The news media is going to make it sound like this is some, you know, everybody's out there in their backyard or, you know, sorry, in their basement or their garage making guns. That is not the case at all. If you look at the amount of firearms we actually have nationwide and even the amount that they have, quote unquote, confiscated is still a very, very, very small number all in all. And again, don't be misled by the data is my point. Joe, go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
John, a couple of things. And you touched on one of them first with regard to printed guns. If anybody looks closely at the video of the shooting, you can see the guy, the gun wouldn't function, it wouldn't cycle. He had to manually pull back the slide to eject the shell. In fact, he had to eject three unspent rounds on the pavement because the gun just wouldn't cycle. Which is not unusual. And you can't print a barrel.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, still got to buy that from somebody. I guess, you know, you could if you're really, really sharp and know how to do it. Could you make your own? Yeah, you could. You need a machine shop and some tooling and things, you know, Joe, at your disposal to do that. But the average person can't do that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, the pressure from a fired bullet is around 60,000 PSI. So you need a steel barrel, and you can't, with a 3D plastic printer, you can't print a steel barrel for your gun. So you have to have a steel component. And then ghost guns. In New York City, John, that's a cottage industry. About twice a month in New York City, they show a raid where they've broken into some place, and there's 15 or 20 ghost guns. There are people literally who are doing this as an industry. Now, do we need a law? No, it's already highly illegal. But I think, by the way, last year, if you look at the video clips, the news clips of the press conferences, behind one of the people from the New York City Police Department, on the left, you'll see 19,000 guns confiscated so far this year. And most of these, John, are stolen guns or guns that have been bought out of state and illegally brought into New York State.
SPEAKER 15 :
Used in crimes, things along those lines, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Used in crimes. By the way, there are more than 250,000 guns stolen in this country per year, and the inventory of illegal guns on the street is estimated to be about 10 million. You know, if there are 100 or 200 ghost guns being used, you know, it's, as my father used to say, a fart and a gala win. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, big deal. I mean, no offense. If that's what the feds, the ATF, and so on are going to go after, that is chump change.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is chump change. You know, if New York City—and trust me, I would be stunned if out of the 19,000 guns New York City police have taken off the street in the past year— I would be stunned if more than 50 were ghost guns. So in my mind, what they ought to be doing is focusing on where did the other 18,000, 950 come from.
SPEAKER 15 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
And if they can trace them back, you know, people are buying these in Virginia or Ohio and bringing them into New York. In terms of your bang for the buck, I think that's where they need to be spending their efforts, tracing them. Where do these guns originate and how did they get into New York City?
SPEAKER 15 :
Joe, if they were really concerned, and I say this all the time, if they were really concerned about fighting crime and deterring the things that they constantly go after regular citizens like yourself and I, you would concentrate more on these illegals that have come in, the cartels and what they're doing, you know, the coyote movement and all the different things that are happening there. I mean, the reality, Joe, is you could spend your time in a lot of other places and have a lot more bang for the buck than worrying about some, you know, Joe Schmoe owning a ghost gun.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. And to that point, John, yesterday, New York, maybe it was the day before yesterday, because I get up in the morning, Western New York City News. They had a gang, a mini gang war. They had a Haitian gang shooting it out, three Haitian gang members having a shootout with three Venezuelan gang members. Right on the sidewalk streets in New York, you know, and they all had guns. Now, if you're a Venezuelan Haitian gang member, you can't legally acquire or even possess a gun in New York City. Correct. Yet all six of these thugs had guns. What's wrong with that picture? Yeah, I guarantee you they weren't ghost guns, John. These were not ghost guns. They were all functioning perfectly.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and Joe, I go back to even this particular young man. Again, I'm not using his name because I don't want to give credit anywhere where it's not due and it's not due. But this particular individual had a silencer, which as we've talked about before, even you and I, that's a tax-stamped item. There's a lot of scrutiny that goes in. They're very expensive to buy in the first place, and you don't get delivery of it same day.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's correct. You've got background check, fingerprints. It's a federal. So I think there's an outfit out there that might be able to get you one in 10 days if you've got a squeaky clean background.
SPEAKER 15 :
And that's really fast because in not the too distant past, that was a 90-day process.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely correct. But even then, it has to be shipped. You have to sign for it. You just can't go to the store and pick it up.
SPEAKER 15 :
And for all of you listening, some of you maybe that are on the left that don't know as much about guns as we do, not every gun store, Joe, in fact, it's a small percentage of gun stores that even do what you just said. In other words, most gun stores don't sell silencers, don't sell suppressors, we call them.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, in fact, I've never seen a gun store ever. And I've been in a lot of gun stores. I've never seen a gun store that sells.
SPEAKER 15 :
Very, very, very few do because, Joe, number one, there's not super popular. There probably isn't a lot of markup in it when it's all said and done. And the hassle factor is huge.
SPEAKER 05 :
And it's not a it's not an over the counter item. No, no. If you want to buy one, it's OK. We'll set it aside for you here. Fill out this paperwork and we'll hold it for you for a month.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, because they can't give it to you until you've passed all of the checks and you're paying up front for it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, you're going to pay them up front to hold it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Meaning felons and bad guys aren't buying them that way, Joe. That's my other point.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's correct.
SPEAKER 15 :
So this guy, I don't know, they haven't told us whether he acquired that legally, illegally, did he buy it off the street, whatever. I mean, my gut feeling is, Joe, knowing that this kid probably had a squeaky clean record, he might very well have bought that legally.
SPEAKER 05 :
You mean that gun that he used?
SPEAKER 15 :
No, the suppressor.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, the suppressor. He might have bought the suppressor legally.
SPEAKER 15 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
But if you're going to take it with you after you shoot somebody... Oh, jeez.
SPEAKER 15 :
What a knucklehead, by the way.
SPEAKER 05 :
But if I was going to take it with me, I'm going to dispose of it, which is never going to be found, by the way.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. I mean, again, what a knucklehead. Why would that thing still be in your backpack, Joe?
SPEAKER 05 :
Knucklehead, John. I mean, you got it. For some people...
SPEAKER 15 :
This kid was obviously, I mean, he was valedictorian of his class, so on paper... He wasn't stupid, but he was definitely... He had a mental screw loose, mentally ill, as I said earlier, Joe, or you wouldn't do the things he did.
SPEAKER 05 :
100% correct. 100% correct. It's that simple.
SPEAKER 15 :
I mean, even after the shooting effect of things and what we're talking about right now, a sane person wouldn't do.
SPEAKER 05 :
He kept the... In fact, he kept the... fake New Jersey driver's license that he used to check into the hostel in New York City. You know, he checked in under an assumed name. Right. And he used a fake New Jersey driver's license when he checked into the hostel where he was staying in Manhattan. Well, he kept that fake driver's license, which ties him directly to that city on those dates.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, not smart. Not smart. Not smart. Anyways, Joe, appreciate you as always.
SPEAKER 05 :
You're welcome, John.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, have a great night. And Joe's always got great insight, and I appreciate that very much. We'll take a break. We'll come back. American National Insurance is next. Paul Leuenberger, my good friend, he's a broker. He'll broker whatever's best for you when it comes to insurance. Give Paul a call today. And again, he's able to help you out in multiple ways. It doesn't have to be just the home. It could be home, auto, you name it, business. You give him a call. 303-662-0789.
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SPEAKER 16 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Thanks for joining us. John and Cheyenne, go ahead, sir.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, John, listening to you and Joe talk about it and following a little bit of the news, I think this guy wanted to get caught.
SPEAKER 15 :
Possible.
SPEAKER 06 :
And hear me out. He made it from the shooting spot into Central Park. If you've never been to New York, Central Park is huge.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. Yep, have been.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. Very wooded. They got lakes. They got sewers everywhere. If he didn't want to get caught, he could have walked through the park because he headed all the way up to 178th Street, what they call the George Washington Bridge bus terminal, to get out of the city. That was probably 100 blocks where he could have dropped the gun, the jacket, the backpack. He could have got rid of all that and they would have never found it. But he kept it all. What does that tell you?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, one of two things. Either, to your point, he wanted to be caught or he's got a screw loose. One of the two.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I'm thinking of, well, if he wanted to be caught, that definitely means he's a nut.
SPEAKER 15 :
On the same token, if you wanted to be, you know, just devil's advocate, if you wanted to be caught, why didn't you just stand there after you killed him?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep, if you wanted to be a martyr about it. I just think, you know, this guy, they say he's got a master's degree in computer science. Yeah, he's book smart. But does he have the common sense that... God gave a five-year-old? It doesn't seem like it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, probably not.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know what I'm saying? There's street smarts and then there's book smarts. Absolutely. He might have gotten all the book smarts and none of the street smarts.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, again, to your point, something is awry with this guy. I mean, either A, he wanted to be caught, and I don't know what his thought process was because there was even better ways to make that happen when it was all said and done, unless he just wanted to be dramatic about it, which maybe that was part of it as well. I don't know. On the same token, he could have just gotten caught because he's a nut job and
SPEAKER 06 :
you know again john who knows i mean again all i know is the left is is fond you know is is so fond of this guy and are and are just gloating over this guy it's ridiculous well what would it be you know you if you take it a step further one of those lefties that wrote an article from i think she got fired from uh the washington post or one of those and she's now on her own she's a you know, she writes online. What if somebody walked up to her and put a bullet in her head and said, well, she wrote things out I didn't like, so I just killed her. Would anybody defend that?
SPEAKER 15 :
No. Well, and even in that case, again, John, as you know, I mean, I would be upset, period, on any level along those lines, because you don't take someone else's life. No matter how much you disagree with them, you don't take their life.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, you don't. But what I'm saying is it's acceptable to they dislike. So, and here's the other question I had on this. Do you notice how his, what they call the manifesto that he had in his backpack has already been released?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
And everybody knows it's We still haven't seen the national trans shooters.
SPEAKER 15 :
Nope.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, that's my, where is it?
SPEAKER 15 :
That's a great question. No, you are correct. And I had a couple of different text messages along those lines as well. It's like, yeah, there's such a lack of consistency, it's ridiculous.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, hopefully that Kash Patel will release all that stuff.
SPEAKER 15 :
I think he will, by the way.
SPEAKER 06 :
One other thing.
SPEAKER 15 :
Real quick, I got 20 seconds. Go for it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Shout out to Paul. I got my first rebate check on my home car insurance.
SPEAKER 15 :
Nice. Good job. All right. Appreciate you, John. Nope. Thank you very much. And that's it for this second hour. We've got another full hour, of course, coming your way. Linda Hanson, she's been with us before. She'll be joining us, Prosperity 101. We're going to talk about companies that are going from woke to what. We'll do that next hour. Don't go anywhere. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you.
Join John Rush, Dr. Kelly Victory, and Steve House on Rush to Reason as they dive into pressing healthcare issues, from skyrocketing drug prices driven by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the Biden administration’s recent decisions on mRNA vaccine liability protections. They discuss Donald Trump’s surprising cabinet picks, the Surgeon General's role, and what it takes to revolutionize healthcare in America. Don’t miss this episode packed with hard-hitting analysis, expert insights, and a call for transformative change in health and policy.
SPEAKER 14 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 12 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 03 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 04 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 09 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 15 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 14 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Happy Thursday, everybody. Welcome Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Hope you guys have all had a great week up to this point. Dr. Kelly Victory joining us now. Let me bring her up as well as Steve House. But Dr. Kelly, how are you to start off with?
SPEAKER 13 :
I'm doing great. Had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'm skating right into the big holiday season.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, man, it is coming fast. Steve House as well. Welcome, sir.
SPEAKER 15 :
I'm doing well, too, except for I kind of threw up on my mouth a little bit a little bit ago when Biden gave the mRNA vaccine manufacturers liability protection until 2029 today. Some of my Thanksgiving dinner came back. Otherwise, it was pretty good.
SPEAKER 03 :
Until 2029. In other words, I guess what he's planning on is somebody else besides a Republican winning in 2028, therefore never having any issues there. Is that what his thought process is?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, when you really think about this, I don't know if this was on our agenda, but we saw two things this week. That happened, and then the PBM legislation to try to, you know, de-link it from drug pricing, which would have done so much for the American people. And that bill basically is dead at the moment, even though it has bipartisan support. It's never going to make it through the process, and that's... Because the pharma industry is so damn strong, and $29 million of the lobbying effort, and they've slowed it to the point where it's just not going to make it, and that's insane based on what it does for us.
SPEAKER 03 :
And for those that maybe are tuning in for the first time, Dr. Kelly Victory, she's been with us for a very, very long time over. I guess we're going on five years now since COVID. Steve House has been with us for much longer than I've been talking to Steve on air for 10 years plus. And Steve was instrumental in having Dr. Kelly join us on a weekly basis long ago. Dr. Kelly, really quick, though, for folks that maybe don't understand all of the acronyms and things that Steve just mentioned to go explain that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, with regard to giving liability protection to the mRNA vaccines, I think that that is absolute insanity. First of all, you're giving a pardon or giving liability protection to something. That hasn't been charged yet. We've been seeing a lot of that lately. I'm hopeful that we will sidestep around that particular, quote, liability protection by eliminating mRNA technology entirely or taking it off the market until it's ready for primetime, which it's not at this point. And I think that that's my biggest takeaway from all of this. I think we are seeing a doubling down of the Biden administration trying to hand out passes to everybody and their brother. And it's happening certainly very much with those people who are involved in the COVID debacle. It remains to be seen whether or not any of this actually holds up or is deemed to be even constitutional.
SPEAKER 03 :
Makes total sense. No, go ahead, Steve. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 13 :
Jump in. I'm sorry. You were also asking about the PBM issue. Yes. Yes. The PBM, a pharmacy benefit manager, is what we refer to colloquially as, quote, the middleman. They are the people who sort of broker the deals, if you will, between the pharmaceutical companies and those agencies that actually sell or provide the drugs, whether it's a doctor's office or a hospital or the government. They are a middleman. They are a broker. It would be known in any other industry as racketeering. The middlemen essentially take a piece of the action. It's a pay-to-play scheme. They say to the pharmaceutical companies, if you give us a kickback, we'll get you the big juicy contract at UnitedHealthcare or at Hospital ABC or for the Department of Defense. It is racketeering by any other name, and it's something that I'm hoping that Bobby Kennedy Jr. will absolutely eradicate, ultimately, because, as Steve said, it is the single biggest cost driver for pharmaceuticals.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, let's talk about that for just one moment. Sorry, John.
SPEAKER 15 :
Go ahead. Just one comment, and that is, I really believe that Biden did this pardon because, you know, the pharma industry is a huge donor. But I think the other reason why he did it is they're afraid that Kennedy is going to release all of the information from the trials. And you know what? They can't stop him from doing this just by this. What they can do, though, is they're going to be dealing with an American public that's going to hear more and more and more about how bad this was and how much they cheated. And yet they're going to want to sue, but they're just going to stop their ability to sue. So that's why they're doing this. And then lastly, I was at the American Society of Healthcare Pharmacists meeting this week in New Orleans. And the one thing I will say, Kelly, is almost all of them struggle with PBMs themselves. And they're sitting there looking at this and high-cost drugs, and they're saying to themselves, how could we possibly be allowing this to happen? And then what you get is a hospital system signs with Mark Cuban to get 100 drugs from Mark Cuban that is going to reduce their cost. which would theoretically be passed on to the patient, but then they send out a note publicly in a news release saying it won't necessarily impact the patient's payment amount because that is really dependent upon the agreement they have with their health insurance company. So what's going to happen is they're going to take the profit at the hospital level rather than the PBM level, and they're not going to give it to the patient, and that has to be stopped by Bobby Kennedy Jr. as well.
SPEAKER 13 :
Correct. These things that have been called for years, John, rebates. The rebates should be going to the patient, but the rebates end up getting scooped up by the hospital system or the doctor's office or whoever else takes it back and puts it in their coffers. So the patient is constantly on the losing end of this. It's really a complete racket. And we've got to get this exposed. It's part of the fraud, corruption, deception and graft that's gone on for decades. It's perhaps come to light more recently during everything we saw because of COVID. But this has been going on for decades.
SPEAKER 03 :
So a question, I'll start with you, Dr. Kelly. With the changes in the administration, granted we're not quite a little under 40 days out roughly. We're counting down. We keep getting closer and closer to the time where the Trump administration will come in. We'll then have to, of course, go through some confirmations and things along those lines. But once everything is in place, I mean – I'm very hopeful, I hope that I'm hopeful in the right way, that the team, not just RFK Jr., but a lot of others that will be involved with different things that will be happening there, DOJ, etc., do you feel like this new team can tackle some of the things you and Steve just got done talking about?
SPEAKER 13 :
I certainly think that they can. That said, I am... realistic with regard to how Washington works. It would never fly in the private sector. They are so slow to act. And I guarantee you that although you and I would like to believe that this stuff is going to get addressed day one, it won't. It takes months and months and months to even get up to speed. So everybody's going to be new. Everybody's going to be feeling their way around. Everybody Everybody's jockeying per position.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 13 :
And the wheels turn so slowly in Washington that I think we will be lucky if they get a fraction of the things done that they've talked about. The most I think we can hope for is that Bobby Kennedy and the rest of his team at each of the independent agencies, whether it's the FDA, NIH, CDC, whatever it is, HHS, in general, that they will address and expose some of these conflicts of interest and start right now eradicating those things, teasing them out. And I think rather than focusing on any one initiative, like decreasing the amount of fluoride or regulating the amount of fluoride in water or making ivermectin over-the-counter, We need to really expose the rampant fraud and corruption. So, yes, I do think they'll be able to do it. But I have been reminded very recently in some communications I've had with people in Washington just how slowly and frankly how disorganized the whole thing is. You have to remember, you know, most of these people who are going to be stepping into new roles come January, you know, moving to Bethesda or moving to D.C. or moving to Atlanta to work at the CDC. This is, you know, not only are they moving themselves and their families, but it's a brand-new job, a brand-new day, and it takes, you know, when you start a new job, you don't just hit the ground running. It takes months to learn all the players and to figure out what it is you're supposed to be doing. So I think, you know, people should just sort of prepare themselves that it's not going to happen overnight.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Steve, I'm going to ask you a question as soon as we come back, which is, you know, what can executively Donald Trump and his team do in some of these areas or not? I'm going to ask you that as soon as we come back. Affordable interest mortgages next, folks. Kurt Rogers, remember to call him any mortgage question. And as we go through this holiday season, there may be some things that you want to avoid debt-wise when it comes to a mortgage in 2025. 720-895-0500.
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SPEAKER 08 :
No liberal media bias here.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is Rush to Reason. And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Dr. Kelly Victory with us today, as well as Steve House. And Steve, I asked you before we went to break, what can Donald Trump, the executive committee, and I get it, there's, as Dr. Kelly said, lots of facets to this, and yes, things move slowly. Is there anything, though, that Donald Trump himself could fast-track?
SPEAKER 15 :
You know, John, if it were me and I had the ability, and I have to talk to a constitutional lawyer about this, but I would write an executive order on day one that would drop a small grenade into health care by ordering the delinking of pricing for PBMs so that PBMs could not link their cost or their price, their rebate structure to the price of the drug. They would have to become a service-oriented scenario where what they did was what they got paid for, not just, you know, if a drug cost, if it was an oncology drug and cost $30,000, what they get for that versus metformin at $80, it's not fair to pay them on the price of the drug because the work involved, the process involved is fundamentally not any different. So I would do that right off the bat, and that would drive people crazy, but it would sure break up the industry a bit.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, so an analogy that people might understand better, because I think you're exactly right, Steve. The analogy might be if you tip, there's a reason why you don't tip, for example, at a restaurant on a bottle of wine, because it doesn't take the waiter. It's no more difficult to open a $100 bottle of wine than a $20 bottle of wine. And why should they make five times more in terms of the tip? And that's what the PBMs are doing. They charge a percentage. Now, the other thing that people don't know, and Steve and I are well aware of this, is that the way the law was written, PBMs are allowed to charge a fee for the work that they do, for being that middleman, for brokering the deal, if you will, the same way that a realtor does.
SPEAKER 03 :
I got to start for just one second, Dr. Kelly. Why do we need them at all? Can you tell me why? You know, is there a justification? Is there a real solid reason we should have them? I mean, does it benefit anybody at the end of the day? Or is it just, frankly, there's a middleman there and there always has been?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, they do provide a service in the way, for example, that a realtor does. They do the paperwork. They do a lot of the stuff that you and I don't know the intricacies of the legalities of the paperwork, so they provide a service. But they were supposed to do that for a determined fee, and it was 2.3% that they were allowed to charge. by law, but nobody in Congress has ever paid any attention to it, and many of them now are charging 100%. So it would be as if your realtor, rather than making a 5% or 6% commission on the sale of the house, instead was making an 80% commission on the sale of the house. Can you imagine what the house would cost?
SPEAKER 03 :
And really quick, make sure that I'm also explaining this correctly. The difference between what we're talking about in a house is the house is your money that you're spending and paying the realtor and so on. In the case of what, Stephen, you were talking about, in a lot of cases, it's tax dollars that are paying for that or your health insurance dollars that you're paying for that's paying for that. Am I correct?
SPEAKER 13 :
Exactly, and you end up paying more for the house because the person selling the house is saying, well, I'm not going to take it on the chin that the realtor is charging 80%. I'll just jack the price of my house up. Well, when you're buying a house, you have the choice not to buy the house if it's too expensive. If it's a drug that your child needs for his or her cancer or a medication that you need to treat your diabetes, you don't have the choice. to not buy that drug necessarily. And so you are being fundamentally squeezed by the people who are trying to pass the cost on. So yes, the PBMs did provide a service, but the service was, number one, supposed to be capped in what they could charge for it, And number two, as Steve rightly points out, the percentage should not be directly linked to the cost of the medication because some medications are wildly more expensive than others and there's no more work for the PBM to broker the deal.
SPEAKER 03 :
Steve, as a moment ago, I just gave a commercial little ad for affordable interest mortgage. And I know in the mortgage brokerage end of things, there were some rules that came out, laws that came out not long ago to where they could no longer charge percentages. They make flat fees, I believe, in most cases, and they are limited to what that fee can be. So if we're doing that, Steve, for mortgage brokers, why can't we do the same here?
SPEAKER 15 :
We should do it here. In fact, if you see a couple of things, I'll add it to Kelly's comment. Sometimes the fee from the PBM is 3000 percent. So it's not always under 100 percent. And then on top of that, you're right. It should be a flat fee of some nature. However, most of the PBMs now are stock market listed there. You know, they've got investors in Wall Street and, you know, they've purchased the health insurance.
SPEAKER 03 :
All the more reason why we know it's wrong.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. So here's an example that was kind of a turning point beyond. By the way, all American diabetics should gather together in a class action lawsuit, sue the Health and Human Services and the federal government against the safe harbor law that set a 2.3 percent fee and that was never enforced. That means diabetics have been paying more. boatloads more money than they should have for all these years because the federal government failed to enforce their own laws. But here's the deal. Gleevec, and I know that Kelly knows this drug really well, in theory was the first $100,000 drug to come to the market. And people thought they were crazy, right? So PBMs come in and they thump their chest. They say, we're going to get discounts of, you know, 80% off the drug. But they took the $80,000 discount and they gave it to your health insurance company who never lowered your premium ever. So it became racketeering. She described it perfectly right. So I'm going to say, well, all right, insurance car pharma, why don't you make a drug that costs, you know, $80,000 like Harvoni and I'm going to buy it from you, put it on formulary by you giving it to me for a 55% or 60% discount, but I'm going to take a portion of that money and keep it for myself, make my investors happy. I'm going to give the rest back to the insurance companies because they're asking me to allow it. And by the way, the only person who loses is the patient.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
The patient loses big every time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Okay. I want to shift gears for just one second because you guys have some inside knowledge. And feel free to share as much or as little as you feel you can. But we've got cabinet picks that have come out. Of course, RFK Jr., we've talked about that. And there's been many others as well. But then we also have Surgeon General, which right now the pick that Donald Trump has thrown out at least, I am not a huge fan of. I don't think either one of you are as well. Why are we headed in a direction that I don't feel we should be, Dr. Kelly?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I will refrain from saying too much about any individual candidates prior to their upcoming election. confirmation hearings, I agree with you. There are some choices that have been, let's use the word, perplexing to me in terms of what their histories are when there are a few of us. And, you know, here Steve and I are just bantering around. I would guarantee you that Steve and I know more about the issues related to PDMs and the impact that they have had on drug pricing that any of the current cabinet nominees have.
SPEAKER 03 :
I'm not so sure that after listening to you guys as long as I have, I don't have that much experience. I have more than they do, Dr. Kelly.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, and so I think that as all things in politics, they're political. So many of these nominations are political nominations. And I think that President Trump would do well to stop making purely political nominations and appointees because there are people who have been deep in the trenches and certainly those of us who got it right during COVID, rather than people who clearly got it wrong. And he has nominated quite a few of those people to high positions. when they were people who were on the wrong side of history for the better part of the pandemic. So much of many of these appointees are political and are paybacks for things that they've done to support the president. And I don't think that that puts us necessarily in the best position. All that said, I think that Bobby Kennedy Jr., who is going to be clearly the leader and setting the leadership on HHS and on the health care side in general, I think that he is an excellent pick, and although I don't agree with every single one of his policies or initiatives, I think that directionally he is correct, and he will drive the bus, I think, in the right direction.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Steve, you want to comment on that as well?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and I just add one more piece to it. Kelly's right, but the other piece I would add to it is you stand up in a campaign, and I think Donald Trump is a unique and amazing individual with a lot of opportunity to do things, but he stands up in a campaign and talks a lot about the deep state. Well, part of the deep state has always existed because political graft, you know, someone gets elected, I helped you get elected, and I put you in a position to give you back the favor of you helping me. That's part of why the deep state exists. And I really wish, as Kelly said, he would look at people for their skill set and see what they're talking about. I mean, quite frankly, I want the Surgeon General to be somebody who understands, you know, COVID-like events. major catastrophes and things that are happening because in Australia somehow we've lost 383 viruses over a hundred of them in the hantavirus and other categories this week I mean I don't I don't want to I mean well don't do respect to primary care I just don't want I want somebody who understands catastrophes and somebody who understands health well enough to teach I don't want a surgeon general that looks like our last one that's for sure because they're not a good example in any respect
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. And I, so I would say the current, just so that in case people who are listening, don't know the current nominee and she has not been confirmed is Dr. Jeanette Nashwa. She's a family practitioner. She went to a foreign medical school. She went to medical school in the Caribbean. Um, she, uh, worked at an urgent care center in New York city, uh, and was very much on the record for the duration of the pandemic. praising not only the vaccines and recommending that people continue to get the boosters, but praising censorship. She said that she applauded Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook for censoring people like me who spread, quote, disinformation. And she, quote, prayed to God that other social media platforms would do the same. She supported not only wearing one mask, but thought the two was better, agreed with the lockdown and the closure of schools. and strongly promoted things like social distancing. She now has done a 180 very, very late, just very recently, on a number of these issues. And I understand that she says that she was bamboozled, quote unquote, her word, not mine, that she was bamboozled and bought into it, and now she sees the light. I would like To say that that's fine, I'm glad that she sees the light now, but I think we should be rewarding the people who got it right the first time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 13 :
Who got it right at the beginning.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. Yeah, because that shows discernment on the front side, not the back side. Okay, really quick, because I know we're going to have to take another break here shortly. Somebody texted again, and I know we've already explained this, but listeners are asking, would you please, Steve, again, explain what a PBM is?
SPEAKER 15 :
I think essentially what Kelly said was right. It's like a real estate broker. So you have drug manufacturers who come out with new drugs constantly. It was 12 new Alzheimer's drugs last month, for example. So the hospitals and pharmacies themselves do not have time. to figure out and negotiate directly with pharma companies like Pfizer and J&J. They don't have the time to negotiate with them on pricing and distribution of the drug. So they hire a middleman, in this case called a pharmacy benefit manager. They literally manage how pharmacy benefits are playing out. And they set up a price structure. They are the ones who provide the rebates back. to the health insurance companies on the negotiated discounts. They get paid that way, but they also do a lot of the paperwork to bill for that drug. So they'll help hospitals get the billing right so that they bill the insurance company who has agreed to pay for it. Quite frankly, if you have a high deductible, the insurance company is getting the rebate back. You're paying for the cost of the drug anyway because your deductible is too high, and they're not paying anything for it anyway. But that's a side note. That's basically how they do it, yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
Another thing that they do, and people may be familiar with this, hearing that a particular drug, quote, isn't on the formulary. It either is or isn't on the hospital's formulary. So hospitals set up a formulary, meaning what are the things that they stock in their pharmacy at the hospital? No hospital, no doctor's office, no pharmacy stocks that. 100% of drugs that are available. They make a decision. So if a hospital needs to have a drug, for example, to treat influenza or a drug to treat whatever it is, the pharmacy, the PBM, is the one who goes and says, well, we're going to stock this drug and this drug and this drug and not these other three. And a big part of the way they make those decisions is they say to drug company A, how much are you going to give me? I'll put your antibiotic on the formulary, depending on how much you pay me.
SPEAKER 03 :
So in a lot of ways, Dr. Kelly, really quick, in a lot of ways, this isn't much different than Kroger wanting to stock certain things, and even the shelf position of is a lot of times dictated by who's kicking in the most for that shelf space and so on. As far as inventory control goes, it's not much different is what you're telling me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Correct. And if you go back to the time of the big racketeering scandals in New York City, it was because they were, quote, contrary to the people working for the city, you know, and said, well, I'll give you the contract to do the roofing or the plumbing or the electricity city buildings. it depending on how much you pay me under the is a back alley deal you know how much you're going to give me in the back alley because this other electrician company they're going to give me you know 10 and you're going you give me 12 great when you go back and see if i can get 13 they're negotiating a kickback it's called racketeering and that's exactly what the pbms do they get kickbacks and that's how they decide what drug they're going to contract for a particular hospital or for a particular pharmacy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Makes total sense. And, again, whoever texted that, thank you. I hope I explained or we explained that well enough. I think we have. I mean, I've got a really good understanding of what happens here as far as that goes. And mainly, I guess, guys, because of my background even in the automotive side, there's a lot of things that happen even internally with – different, you know, parts distributors and so on and so forth. And it's really, I hate to say this, Dr. Kelly, it's not a lot different in a lot of other worlds, although I will tell you that the markups and the money side of it is far different.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. And you're right, though. It happens in many, many industries that how something gets priced. But generally what happens is when one side has to pay more, when the hospital has to pay more because the PBM, the middleman, is taking a cut, and so all of a sudden the The prices on that drug are more because God knows a big pharmaceutical company is going to pass it on. They're not going to take it on the chin. They're going to say, fine, I'll jack the cost of the drug up so that I can cover what I need to pay this extortionist called a middleman. I'll jack up the price of my drug to cover that. And then it gets passed on to the hospital. The hospital says, well, I'm not taking it on the chin either. It's going to roll downhill. I'll pass it on to the patient. So the patient's the one who's always stuck holding the bag.
SPEAKER 03 :
Steve, it sounds like your idea, number one, of executive orders to get the process started, which I'm not in opposition of. I think that's a great idea. Although to keep this moving forward in that direction, in other words, if he gets that done, let's say, still we need some... congressional support and a law, I guess you could say, that becomes permanent that would then have to be changed on down the road if another administration came in. Because as you know, the next president, if they don't like what Donald Trump did in this particular area with a stroke of a pen, all of that could be reversed and we're right back to square one. So I see this as, you know, to part one, get the problem immediately fixed if you can through executive action. And then after that, we need Congress to go to work and get this set in stone for good. Am I right, Steve?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and the whole set in stone for good thing is kind of mushy these days, right? Because you can wipe something out with an executive order. I mean, I think what happens is, I mean, truly, if you do this right, if you de-link it, if you peel it back to that 2.3% number or something rational like that, what happens is the industry is going to change. And it's more than just Congress being lobbied to change it back. I mean, people are going to start to see the real value of, you know, this change in what's going on because literally drug pricing should go down if you do it right. I mean, it has a huge impact on drug pricing. I think, you know, A, it starts out with a change because structurally you'll make a change, and B, I think the industry will get used to it being done a new way, and then it'll probably fight it itself. If you're a hospital or if you're, you know, a patient advocate, you'll fight changing back yourself. So I'm not as worried about Congress. I just want to have enough time for people to see what happens when you do it.
SPEAKER 03 :
So in other words, once they start seeing the results, that will become permanent in and of itself.
SPEAKER 15 :
I think because it'll become industry standard. I mean, it's industry standard now at 100%, and people expect it. I don't want them to expect it anymore.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Great segue. We'll stop there. We'll come back, guys. I've got more questions. If you have a question, by the way, specifically, please let me know. 307-200-8222. Hi-Fi Plumbing is next. And again, if you've got electrical needs or plumbing needs, Hi-Fi Plumbing will take care of you. 877-WE-HI-5.
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SPEAKER 03 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Dr. Kelly Victory and Steve House with us. And Steve, we've got a question that came in. I'll direct this to you first, and Dr. Kelly, you can chime in afterwards. If people... want to help or want to have a voice, want to chime in on some of the cabinet picks, for example. In this case, let's talk, you know, Surgeon General. Is there any kind of a platform or a way for people to, you know, tastefully either oppose and or, you know, give kudos to somebody that's been recommended already? Stephen, do we have anything in place like that at all?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I mean, the simple answer is yes. And there's two things I would do. One is I would write a letter to my congressman. I mean, or to all four of the GOP congressmen in Colorado would take a letter from any of the listeners there. And you could send them a letter, tell them what their concern is and send it on to them. Now, do congressmen read every letter? They don't. But it would be worthy. of the process. And the second thing is, if you know somebody on the Trump transition team, send them a note and tell them what their concerns are. Now, by doing so, you're ultimately opposing Donald Trump. So I would rather than sending him a letter saying this person is not not capable or whatever, talk to them about what you're looking for and what you might what you believe the skill set of someone is who would be a better choice rather than tearing down the other person.
SPEAKER 13 :
I agree with both those things. I would absolutely, however, put out, if you have specific people in mind, give those names. Don't just say, I would like somebody who has these qualities. State the person's name. The other thing is, do not overlook the power of social media. People like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and, God knows, Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump spend a lot of their day and their teams spend a lot of their days scouring social media correct so put those names out there tag you know somebody that you think is worthy and say this person please you know donald trump bobby kennedy jr whoever it is you know elon musk please consider this person as you know a uh a pick for your team this person would be an excellent choice for x y and z reasons i think social media i would never have said this obviously 10 years ago but in today's world It's far more important than you might realize.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, no, thank you, Dr. Kelly, for saying that. For all of you listening, your voice and some of the things that you put out there, and, you know, we see this all the time, Dr. Kelly and Steve, when somebody has a problem, for example, with an airline, and they'll go to X and they'll post something about it. In a lot of cases, you'll get a faster response in doing that than by actually calling their 1-800 number. So, yes, it's very powerful.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, we have teams that look at these.
SPEAKER 15 :
I would add something else to this equation, which is now is not the time for incremental change. And the Surgeon General is one example. I think the Department of Transportation is another. But let's just focus on Surgeon General for a minute. We have wasted Surgeon General's power for several decades, right? Because this is a person that should be saying what Bobby Kennedy himself is saying about health care. Right. So Bobby's talking about health, not health care. I mean, he's talking about processed foods, fluoride, all this other stuff. Right. So we've had this bully pulpit with a person who has a title that could get into any room anywhere in the country and talk to credible people who are in the ag business, in the food business, in health care, et cetera. And we're wasting the opportunity. The same is true. Right. You would approach it from the point of view of someone who's in a car, who deals with cars, who deals with congestion and traffic. Most of the time the Secretary of Transportation is being driven in a black SUV somewhere. They don't know what it's like. So we don't need incremental change. I want a pit bull in that job who can call people out and say, you know what, I work for the American people. I don't work for the system. I don't work for the soft-hearted people who are working there who don't want to hear the criticism. I want a pit bull. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 13 :
And that is exactly what I told the team. You know I've been discussing this. With them for some time, I was disappointed with the choice that was made, but I would absolutely revolutionize and completely reform that wasted position because the average American cannot tell you who the Surgeon General was after C. Everett Koop. I believe that it's a position that could be very meaningful if you had someone whose skill set was in communication and teaching and had the ability to take complex subjects and to break them down into lay terms, to have the ability to walk the walk and talk the talk and live the lifestyle that we want all Americans to do with regard to health and wellness. somebody who's not afraid to push back on big pharma, not afraid to push back on big ag, to say we have got to do things differently and be willing to shake it up and risk the things that it takes to actually be a mover and a shaker. And I think that making a safe choice is not the way to go. As Steve said, this is not the time for incremental change. We need somebody who's going to go in there and be a heat-seeking missile.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. And really quick in the past, Dr. Kelly, I mean, you're right. In fact, I had to even go look up our current Surgeon General, because you just don't hear much from Mr. Vivek. And it's not Vivek Ramaswamy, by the way. It's Murthy. I mean, honestly, Dr. Kelly, I couldn't have named that person. I had to go look it up because you're exactly right. We don't hear much from them.
SPEAKER 13 :
So think about this. The Americans just survived four-plus years ago. of the worst health care crisis, largely because of the way it was managed. Absolutely. But the reality is we just lived through a pandemic, and you can't tell me the name of the surgeon general?
SPEAKER 03 :
And I'm on radio watching this stuff daily, by the way, so I'm even different than the average American, Dr. Kelly.
SPEAKER 13 :
what the heck was the guy doing for the last four and a half years?
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly. Exactly. No, Steve, I mean, I can't disagree with Dr. Kelly at all. I mean, it is a position that, again, I mean, I watch this stuff, you know, politically speaking and so on, on a routine basis, and I couldn't tell you who it was before now.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and think about this. If you got the bully pulpit and you're the Surgeon General, you should be the one telling me that American women, 40% of American women are an antidepressant, 79% of You know, young people, the cancer rate is increased by 79%. You know, yada, yada, yada. There's five or six major statistics that are an indication that our health is degrading very rapidly right now. The Surgeon General should be standing in the pulpit every single week somewhere calling out, why do we have this metabolic problem that's causing all these issues and no one's addressing it whatsoever.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, you guys are spot on. I mean, this is a very important position.
SPEAKER 13 :
I can give you Donald Trump's number.
SPEAKER 03 :
If I thought he would listen to me, I would call him. Trust me. Trust me. And there's been several text messages that have come in that have agreed, Steve, with you and Dr. Kelly on, yes, contact your local representative, your senator. Senators do the confirmations, of course. And by the way, in this particular case with Surgeon General on the pick, there is a ton of... of conservative, not just regular media, but conservative media, I'll just say backlash. I don't know any other way to say it, guys. There's a ton of backlash with conservative media. So trust me, this particular pick is getting a lot of heat on it because of not only, Dr. Kelly, some of the things that you have stated, but there's even some stories going around right now to where this particular nominee had some issues with guns going off in the past and, and, and. I mean, it's not looking very good. Let's just say that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Go ahead, Steve.
SPEAKER 15 :
Go ahead, Steve. unfortunately I think we've treated the Surgeon General's job that way as well yeah and it's just like give it to somebody for because they're connected to a friend of yours which indeed which really is demeaning to the job and it delegitimizes the job agree it's and we have the worst health status metabolic health status in we've ever had, probably worse than any nation in the world, we cannot delegitimize this job.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, before I let you guys go, Steve, I'll start with you. Dr. Kelly, I want you to chime in on this as well. Doge, we've got Vivek, we've got Elon, they're going to do their best to go in and cut supposedly $2 trillion out of what we've got going on in Washington. Steve, when it comes to this topic, we talk a lot about health care between the three of us. What can they do in that area to actually save the country money? It costs us
SPEAKER 15 :
20 percent, 19, 20 percent to do billing and collection in health care. So 20 cents of every dollar for billing and collection. And in a restaurant, it's three percent, four percent. Those guys need to go in and completely restructure how billing and collection works because it's a trillion dollars. Imagine what you could do with a trillion dollars if you gave it to, you know, people who are focused on health like Bobby Kennedy, the surgeon general and others, instead of spending it just on moving money around and fighting payments.
SPEAKER 03 :
It's ridiculous. So in other words, let's get some more efficiencies in the way that we do billing, the computerization, the way things talk to one another and so on. I assume that's what you're talking about in and of itself, Steve.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. So here's what I mean. I had a CT scan. You guys all had a CT scan, which didn't get billed to my insurance company for six weeks after I had it done. But they gave prior approval for me to have the CT scan after it was done and the bill was sent. They denied payment. That should be against the damn law. Because doctors spend 45 minutes getting prior approval, and then they get denied payment for it. It's ridiculous.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I agree. And that's some of the stuff that could be cleaned up. Dr. Kelly got a couple of minutes, and you're in that world very much as a doctor. What else could they do to clean things up and make things more efficient?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I think one of the things that the statistics that came out just this past week about the number, it's only 6% of total federal employees actually work on site. 94% are working remotely. 12% total of federal buildings are currently occupied. OK, 88 percent of the buildings we're spending 15 billion dollars on real estate, air conditioning, heating, janitorial services for buildings that are not inhabited where people aren't working. That is insane. Every single congressperson should be held to account for this, Republican or Democrat. The idea that they are spending our tax dollars. to allow this to happen, you have got to be kidding me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 13 :
I mean, this is absolutely.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, I agree.
SPEAKER 13 :
So that alone is just so, it is so egregious. And if I could walk into Congress, I would let them all have it with both barrels because I'm telling you, that is such a slap in the face for the American taxpayer.
SPEAKER 03 :
I agree. All right, guys, an hour goes by so fast. We'll do part two next week because we've got a lot more to cover as well. Dr. Kelly, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you, as always. See you next week.
SPEAKER 03 :
You're very welcome. And Steve House, you as well. Thanks for setting all this up years ago.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, everybody write to Jim Jordan and tell him he spent $50 million investigating Biden and nothing happened. He should probably pay that back.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, amen. Great to be with you. Amen. Steve, I appreciate you very much. Have a great rest of your day. Veteran Windows and Doors is next. 40% off entry doors with free labor. Call Dave today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
It's time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that is it for this first hour. We've got more hours coming your way, so please don't turn the dial. Stay tuned, and we'll be back here in just a moment. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
sunshine and happiness surround you when you're far from home and may you grow to be proud dignified and true and do unto others as you have done to God bless you.
In this episode, host John Rush dives deep into the realities of remote work as companies begin recalling employees back to offices. He shares insights on how recent economic policies affect both paychecks and corporate strategies. Special guest Linda Hanson from Prosperity 101 talks about the shift from corporate wokeness to more traditional policies, highlighting the impact of public opinion and economic realities on business decisions. As John explores these shifts, listeners are reminded of the vital connection between policy and economic prosperity, urging both employers and employees to understand the broader impact on the workforce.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush. My advice to you is to do what your parents did! Get a job, Turk!
SPEAKER 16 :
You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 11 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 10 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 16 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. And we're waiting for Linda. And again, she's very busy and could very well have gotten tied up. We were waiting for her to call us. But you know what? As I always say, the show goes on. I got plenty of cover anyway, so not a huge issue there whatsoever. So let me do this. Linda was going to talk about, you know, the wokeness in corporate America, what's happening there and so on. And I... Well, yeah, you know what? I'm going to move this up. I had this in my notes for a little bit later this hour, so I'm going to move this up. I'll talk about this now. If Linda calls in, we can still kind of coincide this into this particular topic anyways. And that is remote work. And I read several different articles today about – and one of them is in the Wall Street Journal – regarding remote workers in the fact that they are now starting to be terminated for not showing up to work. In other words, in some of these cases, people moved across the country and thought i guess that this is going to be some sort of a permanent thing so remember all the way back in covid andy and i even talked about this numerous times you know people were being you know because of covid they were allowed to work remotely and it was going to be the new trend and it even affected commercial office space and the vacancy rate and on and on and on we go andy and i at the time said this won't last now i will be the first to admit it lasted longer than i thought by about two years. I really felt like by now even, there'd be a lot more people back at work, but that's not the way it turned out. And at any rate, A lot of those people now have refused to come back and are now, let's just say this, they're going to be looking for other work. I've got some examples of that I will talk to you about in this particular article as well. But I believe Charlie's getting Linda for us as we speak. So we'll shift gears here and I can come back to that. But there's some things in that I want to talk about as well. So we'll come back to that here in just a few minutes. And real quick, we'll switch gears. Let's go to Linda real quick. Linda Hanson, how are you?
SPEAKER 06 :
I'm just great. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 12 :
You're very welcome. Welcome back. Prosperity 101. Let's talk about from woke to what. In other words, and I've read it. We talk about this on the program quite often. A lot of these companies that literally were on the DEI train have either shifted gears. The train's not even on the track any longer. I mean, they're going completely. different direction. Some of that, I believe, Linda, because of public outcry. But in other cases, I think they're finally figuring out this isn't working.
SPEAKER 06 :
I would say, yes, it's not working. You know, we really don't need to judge surgeons and pilots and plumbers by the color of their skin or their gender. You know, we need people who are skilled at the work that they do. And I think that the American public has awakened to to this incredible lack of common sense, and companies are being forced to wake up as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and I had said this one as well. I was talking a moment ago about the people coming back or supposed to be coming back to work that aren't, that are now losing their jobs. The return to work thing has gotten to be a big deal. And folks, I guess, finally have, you know, folks that moved even some cases across either state lines or multiple states to work remotely are now figuring out that, oh, they want me back in the office. I mean, once again, the bottom line profit, Linda, as you know, when it comes to companies is, That has a lot to do with what they do day to day, especially companies that, for lack of better words, I guess I should say, Linda, have to answer to the public, the stakeholders, and so on. When they start to not have very good returns, people get antsy.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, they do. And one of the problems that we have in America is that people don't really understand how much policy affects their paycheck. And consumers don't understand how much policy affects the final price of their product, that their product or service they're buying. And so, you know, we can see these changes, but unless we absolutely educate people in the workforce now, I think it can be kind of a flash in the pan that we have this opportunity to really drill in and help people understand the greatness of our system of government, the greatness of our Constitution. the greatness of our opportunity to create prosperity, which is human flourishing and freedom. But unless we help them truly make the connection between these things, we could end up in another wave of these crazy policies that make no sense.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, I agree. I said this. It's funny. I was talking about this a couple of days ago that there's this window that we have right now whereby we can do some of the things you just mentioned. We can train not only the employees but the customers and so on and really take this opportunity and do something with it. And my fear is if we don't, we'll be right back where we started from.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I have seen the effects of working in the workplace to help employees understand how basic policy affects their paycheck. One time I was doing a workshop at a company where they did Prosperity 101 days across their company throughout every facility. I trained the managers, sent them out, right? And then I was at like the home office or one near there with the owner. And some union employees were part of this presentation. And there was one person in particular who didn't want to be there. He was very intimidating. He kind of, you know, made me, like I said, intimidated a little when he walked in the door. And I just said a silent prayer, Lord, I want that one. Right. And throughout the conversation and the presentation, his body language opened up and he got more curious. And at the end, he raised his hand and said, let me get this straight. If those policies up there make it hard for Jim over here to pay my paycheck and my benefits, why do I want to vote for someone who supports those policies? Which I wanted to jump up and down and say, yes, that's why I'm here. You're getting it. Yes, and one of the posters I have on my website that I offer for... people to use in their workplace is simply the Bill of Rights. And underneath it says, are you voting for a person who will protect your rights? So many people have come through the public education system these years. They're in their 20s, 30s, 40s. Like you were talking about, they're being entitled, you know, they have to go back to work. Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
I got to go back to the office? How dare you?
SPEAKER 06 :
I can't go in my pajamas? Yeah, anyway. But they're in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and they really don't understand that it takes healthy businesses to drive the economy. The government has nothing until we give it to them first. They don't understand how it all works, and they're in the workforce now. They're through their school. They're done, and they have come through, and they've been taught to hate America, and to hate capitalism while they hold their Starbucks and their laptops. And so I say if employers don't help educate them with some basic civics and basic information, who will? And we'll be right back in that section.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and I really appreciate having you on, because I believe wholeheartedly in what you're saying. The education part of it is huge, because you are correct. Most, I mean, there are some rare exceptions of kids that go to, you know, private school, Catholic school, Christian school, homeschooled, where they may be getting some of these civic things, and it's different on their level. But generally speaking, and some of this... Linda, I know because, A, I'm an employer, and, B, I talk to a lot of young people. And I will, on purpose even sometimes, get into some of these questions and answers, if you would, on some of the things you and I are talking about just to see what level are they at and what have they been taught. And I'll just say it straight up. I can tell where these kids have gone to school. Let me just say that. Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. And so that's why I love what I do with Prosperity 101, because I really want to empower employers to be able to get these people reeducated. And it's not telling them who to vote for or what party or anything. It's reintroducing them to the documents that protect our God-given rights. reintroducing them to that, reintroducing them to, well, or introducing them for the first time to the policies that drive our economic system and allow for us to have, you know, that capitalism and the free enterprise and the opportunity to build and create wealth. and then how to protect that by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. So what I want to encourage every employer to do is just join the movement and help re-educate or educate for the first time some of that basic civics, basic economic policy that all of these people should have learned in fifth grade because they didn't. We've had these years of absolute chaos and confusion. And I think that if we just begin the conversation and then also when employers do that in such a way that it lets the employee know they're mentioning these things because they care about them, they really want them to have. Yeah. You know, Linda, really quick.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, I've always wanted as an employer to see my employees be as successful and as prosperous as possible, because when they are, they become a lot more, you know, loyal to me. And we're all in this together. You know, if they win, I win. And so I've always told them, you know, if you guys are winning as employees, that means I am as well. And together we keep building what we're doing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, that kind of communication builds that loyalty, engagement, retention. That helps an employer's bottom line. That helps everybody's bottom line. You know, all the ships rise when the water rises, right? And so this is why this is so important. And like I said, I have seen this change constantly. perspectives and change lives. And that's why I love what I do. So if people, you know, obviously they can contact me at prosperity101.com and learn more. I even have just a free ebook people can get with ideas of how to even start a conversation in the workplace. But I truly believe that employers are like a last frontier for educating these people to understand how policy affects their paycheck.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep, and really quick, just in closing, for those of you that are listening, employers, one of the things that I've always done is when especially a a mistake has been made. So maybe it was costly, maybe it's not so costly. What I mean by that, Linda, is maybe something didn't make it to an invoice that should have, or maybe there was a slight accident and now the company's got to pay out some money to handle said accident. I've always gone and said, okay, and I know it varies from company to company and what your bottom line is, but truly what is that mistake going to cost the company? In other words, how many sales, how many dollars do we now have to have come in to make up for what just happened? And sometimes, not always, but in most cases with employees, when you start saying, okay, that $100 mistake now means we have to do X We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, exactly. And this is just such good information for employers to share with their employees because, you know, in our personal lives, we can't live with the kind of deficit that the government has. No. In business, we can't do that. Not for very long.
SPEAKER 12 :
Ask Stellantis Motor Company right now how that's working out for them.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. And, you know, but we could see it in nations as well. And so... When we can give these people the common sense, basic civics, basic economics, and it comes from I care about you so you can learn about this, It's so powerful. I've seen it time and time again, and it's so powerful. And, you know, we can really take our country back. I mean, we have, in a sense, with the election, we have a window of time. And unless we think like statesmen, you know, politicians think like the next election, but statesmen think like the next generation. And unless we really, as activists, as employers... As voters, as citizens, unless we start thinking like statesmen, we are not going to be able to preserve that freedom for our children and grandchildren moving forward.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's right. Linda Hanson, again, appreciate you very much. Prosperity 101, what's the website folks need to go to?
SPEAKER 06 :
Prosperity101.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
Awesome. I appreciate it. You're welcome back anytime, Linda.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much. You're very welcome.
SPEAKER 12 :
Have a great evening. I'll come back, by the way, to that work from home, remote work. We've got a short segment. I'll do that in just one moment. Geno's Auto Service, though, is up next. And as you head down this stretch into Christmas, if you need something done to your vehicle, they'll get you taken care of. Geno'sautoservice.com. And Geno starts with a J.
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SPEAKER 15 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, return to work. And I started the top of the hour that way, and then we had Linda call in, which I appreciate very much. Very gracious of her, by the way. There was a little miscommunication between her and her person that does the bookings and so on. But I appreciate Linda. Second time I've had her on, and I enjoy having her. So we'll have her back in the future. But there was an article in the Wall Street Journal talking about this whole return to work. And one story that just caught my eye, there was a few, but there was one that caught my eye. And this is in the article, so I can say it without defaming anybody. This is just a story in the Wall Street Journal. Stephanie Pittman says she lost her remote job as a director of vendor management. She's a lawyer, by the way, for a building maintenance company last month. She had worked from her home in Wichita, Kansas, since joining the California-based business last year. The company started calling employees back to its headquarters and hiring people who could work in person. Pittman, who is 51 and again, an attorney, had taken the job to escape a previous employer's back to the office push and is anchored to Wichita by four children, her husband, who is a judge and aging parents who live only a mile away. Now, while I'm sympathetic to her situation. I understand what it's like to have aging parents and all of that. I'm there right now. I get it. I'm very sympathetic to what her situation is. But I think her expectations of working remotely for someone are, frankly, too high. And being an attorney, I would think that her common sense would tell her so. Because she's... This article goes on to say, her old job is now posted on an on-site position, or as an on-site position, with part-time legal work as a contractor. Pittman has maintained her income in the months since, but the outlook for another high-paying remote job is discouraging. She has gotten little traction on more than 100 applications so far, and she goes on to quote, saying, it's just so frustrating, so demoralizing. Now... I know she's an attorney, but Stephanie, I could have told you this was coming, and I did several years ago. It lasted longer than I thought, but I'm not sure why this is frustrating and demoralizing to you. You're an attorney. You should have seen the handwriting on the wall. Remote work. I don't want to say it's completely dead, but for a lot of jobs and a lot of companies, it will be. And here's why. And Andy and I have explained this many times. You don't get the same production as a company out of remote workers you would if they were in the office. You don't get the same collaboration. as if they were in the office. You don't get the same ability to monitor what they're doing when they're not in the office. And there's only but probably, I don't think I'm exaggerating, one, maybe two percent of all workers, and I know that sounds like a low number, but bear with me, one to two percent that can work remotely and be just as effective and productive and make the company the same money as if they went into the office. I mean that sincerely. And the reason is the majority of workers are not that disciplined enough to do that. Most workers from home. will take whatever advantage they can of doing so. The distractions will come. They don't have the same routine. I go down the list of things that most remote workers won't do to make them less productive and effective at home as if they were in the office. Now, some would say, well, yeah, but I get distracted in the office. I'm way more productive at home. You might be. And you might be. You might be one of those one or two percenters I was just talking about. But you're the exception. Far too many say that, and yet the numbers would say that they're very sorely mistaken because, no, they're not as productive at home as they would be in the office. I'll go one step further. Most people that can work effective remotely... and stay on top of things and make their company the same amount of money, could probably run their own business. Because that's what it takes, by the way. You have to be working almost 24-7 when you run your own business. You really never stop. You're doing something constantly. Your brain never shuts off. You're always figuring out what's the next thing that we as a company need to be doing to move things along. And if your mindset is such that you can do that from home versus being in the office, you're a good candidate to own your own business. And again, that's a rarity because most can't. Most can't. Most don't have the drive, the wherewithal, the ability to work as many hours as I just said, and so on. And I'm not saying everybody that works remotely has to put in 60, 70, 80 hours. That's not what I'm saying. But the reality is most that have even a 40 or 50-hour job that work from home probably aren't working half that, actually working half that. Again, distractions come along. Oh, I got to go do a load of laundry. Oh, I need to go mow the grass. Oh, I need to go do X, Y, Z. Or I think I'll do this or I'll do that or I can go down the list. And those distractions are there. And trust me, I know I work from home. I've worked from home now since about 2010 or so. So 15 years almost. And started working from home as I had more businesses and locations and so on. I figured out that I could actually be more effective going to my home office and getting done what I needed to do and so on. And I will tell you that even that for me, and you guys all know how hard I work and what I do on a daily basis. And even for me, that was a shift. A, because you're not around people. You don't have the social aspect of it because you're no longer around people in the office, so you're doing it without all of that, which, again, sometimes that can be a distraction. Sometimes, though, it can be a help. Sometimes that can even be a motivator. So you're at home working alone. You're trying to make sure you put all these distractions aside so you can concentrate on the things that you need to get done, and yet you also know that, oh, man, I didn't get this done yesterday, and I didn't get that done this weekend, and I still need to get this done because you're seeing all these things around the house that you know you need to get done, and they're barking at you. And you're thinking, well, I'm here. I could just take a half an hour and go do that really quick. Well, a half an hour turns into an hour and a half. And pretty soon you've not done any work because you've been over here doing this. And far too often on remote workers, what I just said happens. And it's finally caught up. And companies are realizing that, wow, our numbers aren't what they used to be. We've got all these remote workers. And, yeah, we know we saved a lot of money on office space and so on. But at the end of the day, we're worse off than we were before. Even paying for all of that. So, again, the remote office thing is changing dramatically. People are refusing, in some cases, to not go back because they've made huge lifestyle changes, which, again, good for them, I guess, if that's what they wanted to do. But I think some of these people really have this pie-in-the-sky feeling that, oh, this is just the way it's going to be from this point forward. They had no backup plan. One of the stories talks about a guy that lived somewhere in California that moved to Oregon or Washington. I can't remember exactly where it was because the cost of living was cheaper and he liked the climate better and blah, blah, blah. Well, now he's being called back to work and he owns two different homes because he kept the one that he owned initially, rented it, and now has a second home that he paid for, you know, is paying for with a mortgage. And now he doesn't know what to do because he's got two homes, basically. And if he doesn't return to work, we'll be out of a job. I mean, he really bit off a lot. And my point is, is didn't these people think that down the road this might change? I mean, did they think that just because of COVID and you're working from home now that that's never going to end? and a lot of them either got filled up with a bill of goods or something, but somehow, someway, they lost sight of reality. All right, Hi-Fi Plumbing is next. Hi-Fi Plumbing and electrical, I should say. 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SPEAKER 08 :
No need.
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SPEAKER 16 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason, presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 12 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason. Dan, what's going on, sir?
SPEAKER 07 :
So, interesting you're talking about working from home. I read an article today, or this week, where, you know, Doge, Musk, and... So... They're looking at government remote workers, and I guess there was some person that was working two six-figure jobs for the government, and they were full-time jobs. Both of them were.
SPEAKER 12 :
Which means he's not doing, and my guess is he's doing neither probably, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
I don't know. That was just interesting that, mean that's it's good that we got the whatever doge or whatever it's called because i wonder how many other remote positions in government are the same way so good question and then and then i'm wondering like i i don't i know you go up to the mountain some but all these uh high occupancy apartments like they're popping up in silverthorne right i'm like well how can people afford to live in silverthorne i mean where's all the jobs and it's probably because People are working remote jobs, and they're able to live wherever they want to live. So if it starts changing, I wonder if people are going to have to start leaving Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, that is a really great question. I would not be, well, let's just say this, Dan. I think there's going to be a lot of shifting around of the workforce as time goes by. To your point a moment ago, because people did exactly what you said. In fact, I will tell you that a lot of the mountain towns, I know this firsthand, a lot of the mountain towns saw significant growth in their populations, Grand County being one of them, because of remote workers. And to your point, will they stay or will they be putting their homes up for sale and going somewhere else?
SPEAKER 07 :
I don't know cause I don't think Colorado has, well, we need to have a government regime change, right? Um, because they're not doing anything to create jobs. They're just taking more money from us and, and you've met on illegals and what, what not. So I guess we got a new something starting January 1st. I imagine you talked about it about, I don't know what healthcare or something that Colorado is doing now. Um, I can't remember. I read it. Where did I read it? I don't remember. All I could think was, oh, here's another government agency that we don't need. Yeah, you know what?
SPEAKER 12 :
I have talked about that. I'm going to have to go look that one up. Top of my head, I can't remember the exact name of that. But, yes, we have a new agency in Colorado for health care, basically.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and it's like, I don't understand why. the mentality of the liberal mindset, I don't have a hard time trying to understand, well, let's just keep taxing ourselves and we'll create more government agencies and more inefficiencies because there is no profit motivation for a government agency at all. And so because there's no profit motive, there's no reason for them to be efficient and effective.
SPEAKER 12 :
You are correct. That's why government doesn't do anything well at all, Dan, because to your point, there is no incentive to.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And another question, I'm just all over the place. How did Joe Biden make all his millions of dollars?
SPEAKER 12 :
Uh-huh. So...
SPEAKER 07 :
And I'm wondering if the funding of the Ukrainian war, if he hasn't made money through it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, guaranteed he has. I mean, I can't say that with valid proof that I could show anybody. But, Dan, I mean, you'd have to be an ostrich with your head buried in the sand to think that Joe Biden isn't profiting off of Ukraine.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, he is. He is. So...
SPEAKER 12 :
Given the history that Hunter had and Burisma and, and, and, and, and, you know, to sit out there, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, if you think for one second Joe Biden hasn't profited from that, you have a screw loose.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
You're in denial. I mean, Dan, literally, you have a screw loose because you're in total denial of reality, meaning you have a screw loose.
SPEAKER 07 :
I agree. And so... Did Biden allow the war in Ukraine to happen so that he could line his pockets with money? I think he did.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
And think about all the young men who have lost their lives.
SPEAKER 12 :
That and the citizenry of both countries that have gone through some of those things as well. Shows you, Dan, I say it all the time and I'll continue to say it because I mean it, the left, the Marxists, don't care about people at all. I might have lost you, Dan, but living proof that they don't care because if they did, Dan, I think I lost you. You must have gone into a bad spot on the cell. Regardless, yeah, no, they don't care about people because if they did, you'd see things being done differently along those lines. We'll take a break. Flesh loss coming up next. Civil, criminal, you need representation. Kevin is there for you. 303-806-8886.
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SPEAKER 04 :
It's time to leave your safe space.
SPEAKER 12 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560. All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. And Dan, again, thank you for calling in. I had a video I was going to play today from John Stossel. I think Joe sent me this, but I've seen it as well. Why government can't build anything. And I don't have the time now. We're getting short here as we get towards the end of the hour. I'll probably do that either Monday or Tuesday because it's really solid. In fact, it talks about some of the things that I believe and don't know for sure because I'm not them, but I believe that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk will do their best to help fix because I'm sure it's frustrating. And any of you that haven't. done this should. Elon Musk has all sorts of different videos out there, YouTube and so on, on X, where he talks about the inefficiencies of government, some of the things that he has experienced with SpaceX, for example, and just different things along those lines, building his data centers and all these different things that he has to go through and all the hoops he has to jump through regulatory-wise. It's worth watching. You know, I think one of the things that a lot of folks don't give him enough credit for is the fact that he's been through some of these things. He knows firsthand how difficult some things can be because government says so. Even though there's no rhyme or reason for it, it's just because government says so. So he's looking at this thinking, well, wait a minute, we're trying to do all sorts of things, technologically speaking, and advance the world and be the superpower that we are, and yet we've got government coming in and getting involved and basically hamstringing that, making it difficult for that to happen, which isn't the way it's supposed to work. Government should be there to aid in that and make that stuff jettison forward, not the opposite. Unfortunately, when government gets involved, they slow everything down. And much to what Dan was saying a moment ago, it's because the majority, not all, but the majority of government workers have no incentive to do otherwise. If you know, and this is human nature, by the way, if you know that your job is secure tomorrow, having nothing to do with how well you perform today, where's the incentive to get more done today so that you've got less to do tomorrow? As you can tell, there isn't any. And human nature is if you can put that off and procrastinate and not deal with it, you will. And this is not being, you know, judgy towards anyone. It's just human behavior. If you don't have to do it, you won't. So when it comes to government, and I get it, there is some accountability in some agencies and so on, and there are some things that have to be done and goals have to be met and so on, but not often. In most cases, that's not how it works. You show up, put in your time, fill out your time card or punch the clock or do whatever you need to do. As long as you're there and you're getting a quasi-fair amount of work done, you'll have that job for life. You don't have to perform like in the private sector. at all to keep your job. And guys, I'm not saying anything that people don't know. I mean, there used to be an old joke, Charlie, where people would talk about a government job, or there was some slang that went along with that to where everybody knew that if you worked for the government, you didn't have to work as hard. And frankly, that's gotten worse, not better. We have less accountability in that now than we've ever had. Not more accountability, less accountability. And again, I'm not trying to pick on government workers. We have some that listen to this program. And by the way, some government workers I don't think get near enough credit. I think that exists as well. I think some people might even carry their whole office because they feel like they should be doing what they need to be doing. And they are doing it. And yet most of their coworkers aren't. And for those of you that are listening to me that fit into that description, congratulations. Thank you. I appreciate it. And you probably don't get enough of that. In fact, you may be one of those people that you do all the work and watch your boss in government get all the credit. And I feel for you. And yet you don't want to rock the boat because you enjoy your job and your paycheck and your pension and so on. And you don't want to screw that up. And I can't blame you. And again, thank you for what you do. But you probably are, in some cases, carrying the whole office. Which, like I said, you don't get enough credit for. So I'm sure there's both in government. I'm not saying that every government worker is a slouch, but there's far too many. And part of that is because we make government jobs unaccountable. We, we as, in other words, the people. And remember, there's a lot of appointed bureaucrats that never get elected. that once they get into quote-unquote power, they can write their own ticket. They'll be there forever. There literally is no accountability. If they chair jockey correctly, that's what I call it. In other words, you jockey from this chair to the next chair to the next chair. If you're a good chair jockey and you know how to move up the ladder, you could very easily do so and have a job for life. And a lot of people play that game. And, again, I'm not criticizing. It's just what they do. It happens in the private sector as well. I get that. There's some chair jockeys and big corporations that do the same thing, and I understand that. But trust me, by and large, it happens way more in government than it does private sector. And when I say government, I mean everything from local towns all the way to the feds. And everything in between. And some of you are going to say, well, John, how do you know this? I mean, you don't have any proof of this. Well, actually, yeah, I do. You know, at times I think people forget all of what I've done in my career. When you grow up in the automotive world, and I started out in a car dealership and then had my own shops and so on, and I was around a lot of different people throughout the years. A lot of different people. And still am. But in that realm, I was around a ton of people. where I had my facilities, people that were professors at the college, people that worked for Ball Aerospace, folks that started Level 3, people that started Crocs. I mean, I can go down the list of the different people I've known over the years that have done a lot of high-end things, including a lot of people that work in government. And I can tell you straight up some of the stories, some of the people that I knew that could verify everything I've just said. I've watched some of them do that. And it was very frustrating for me, being an owner, knowing how many hours I had to work to make things work and know that my tax dollars were supporting a lot of these things, whereby people weren't putting in a full day's work for a full day's pay. So some would say, John, you have no idea. Well, actually, I do, because I've been around that stuff probably more than I would have cared to and saw more of it than I wanted to. And it really shed a light on what happens in a lot of those agencies. And yes, I have firsthand knowledge of a lot of those things that I just got done talking about. about. So Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. Again, I keep talking about the end of the year finances, where you're at, what you need to do, taxes, and so on. Make sure you've got your financial future set. Talk to Al Smith today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 15 :
Stay up to date with Rush to Reason after the show on Twitter at Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 12 :
We are back. Just a few seconds left of this particular hour. Tomorrow, movie reviews. Andy will have Kraven the Hunter and Lord of the Rings, The War of the... Rorim? Am I saying that right, Charlie? Rorim? I can't say it right. And then we're going to continue on with last week's loony lefties movies. So those of you that have actors and actresses that are loony on the left and you'd like to add that into our list, please, you can text me and do that. And we'll talk about that tomorrow during our Friday edition. Have a great night, folks. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
In this lively episode, Dana dissects Time Magazine's latest cover featuring a notable person, analyzing the desaturated tones and the possible hidden implications. What does this say about the media's current stance? Tune in for Dana's sharp insights and predictions about political narratives, media endorsements, and the future of political representation in media. Plus, hear about the undercurrents in women's sports as Dana weighs in on the WNBA's racial dynamics.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast, sponsored by Kel-Tec.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 04 :
So a Florida man is threatened to light a homeowner's car on fire with a Molotov cocktail, said police in Cape Coral. A man was arrested over the weekend. Police said that he pulled out again with the swords. He pulled out a sword. Okay, stop, stop, stop. Full stop. Is that a thing in Florida? Every month I have two to three stories. They're brand new, different from each other, different parts of Florida where someone has a sword or a machete. Floridians, what is up? Do you all just like have swords? Is that a thing? What in the world? So this guy had a sword and a Molotov cocktail, and he wanted to make a point during an argument with a Cape Coral resident. Cape Coral police said that they got reports of a disturbance at the victim's home. They met with the homeowner, a 36-year-old man. He showed up in a driveway holding a glass bottle with a cloth wrapped around the top. He threatened to throw it, which he claimed... It was a Molotov cocktail at one of the vehicles in the driveway and lighted on fire. He also had a sword and he used the sword to tap on the windshield of a vehicle during the exchange. It was all captured on video by ring doorbell camera. And the police located the guy. They asked him. He said, no, I just I went to go ask about the disrespect to a family member. And then he was arrested, taken to Lee County Jail, charged with violating the law that they have about manufacturing firebombs. Okay. There you go. But the sword, though. And they... Was it actually a Molotov cocktail? They never really said. They never really confirmed that it was. But, you know. Let's see. This... This Florida man... Yeah, let's go ahead and do this. So... Apparently, I don't think this guy was supposed to be gator hunting, and he was. And it was a company that showed this guy and his friends, they went down to hunt some gators. But the guy's wife apparently did not know. And there's videos, but you can't, there's a lot of cussing in them. But the guy apparently was, his wife didn't know that they were all having a little boys trip and they were all drinking and hunting gators. And then a gator bit his hand. So he's probably going to have to come up with a story as to how to tell his wife. It was done by Salty Adventures. And this Isaiah Trujillo and his friends, they were hunting gators. And then he got his hand bit. And apparently he told his wife he was worried more about his wife finding out. And he had said in the video, don't wake Katie up, whatever you guys do. He didn't bite that hard. Like trying to hide it because he didn't want his wife to know he was out drinking and gator hunting. She probably would want to come. If you're looking for a convenient, affordable way to access medications and treatments you can trust, All Family Pharmacy has you covered. 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Visit allfamilypharma.com slash Dana and use code Dana10 for 10% off of your entire order. That's allfamilypharma.com slash Dana, code Dana10. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. We are at the top of the second hour here. And it's Thursday. We're almost done through the week. It's the week before the week before Christmas. You guys are like, wait, what? Yeah, I know. It's going by fast, isn't it? Like how are we already – how is it already December 12th? This is just like way too fast, way too fast. All right. So a number of stuff, a number of things we've been covering. By the way, you can also look and follow us if you're not listening to us really, Channel 347, DirecTV, and we're also over at Rumble where the chat happens and X and less so, all that good stuff. The president rang the bell this morning. Wall Street. He's named Time's man of the year. Time magazine's man of the year. He's invited to ring the bell at New York Stock Exchange. He's only the second president to ever do so. Notice how they're all Republicans that get to. interesting that, isn't it? Only the Republicans, probably because they understand the economy. He's the first since Reagan to ring the opening bell. And the crowd was yelling at his family with him. He was flanked by the covers. It's a nice cover. The perspective is a little interesting. But It's a nice cover. I mean, it's like at a downward kind of angle and I'm curious as to how he was sitting or what he was sitting on. But they... What do you think the cover says? Is the cover backing a compliment, do you think? Because it's... When you consider the first one that they put him on where it was just like an emoji of his head and it looked like it was melting, that wasn't very flattering. This is a lot more sober. This is like the magazine cover that... seems like final acceptance of the inevitable, right? That's what I get out of it. It's not bad. I don't think that they make him look old. They have a cold filter on him because they took some of the hue out of his face and his hair. His hair is way brighter than that. But it seems like a... Their cover seems like a... Like they're accepting the inevitable, the inevitableness of all of this.
SPEAKER 02 :
Like they can't deny the last year.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. So they're like, OK, here it is. What's funny, when Joe Biden was elected, he said that they were going to return to normality. There's the cover I want showing you right there. It's not a bad cover. It's a weird perspective, though, isn't it?
SPEAKER 02 :
I was going to say that.
SPEAKER 04 :
But what what is that? I'm just I don't want to unpack it too much, but. I do think it's interesting. It's almost like you're peering up at him, right? That's the perspective of the photographer. You're peering up at him from a lower position, but he's not like lording it over you. It's very odd. I almost don't know what to make of it. Do you – I don't think it's – Steve, what do you think? Do you think it's like a backhanded compliment? I'm going to get one more opinion on this. It's weird. I don't know how to read it.
SPEAKER 03 :
I mean if you're reflecting from the same publication that had that cover years ago of that like really dystopian melting face, like that's obviously a twist. But I think they kind of had to admit that that's the case. I mean there was a lot of people up for it that they could have picked on the right – or on the left, excuse me, and they didn't.
SPEAKER 04 :
True. Yeah, they could have. I mean can you – who are they going to – can you imagine if they tried picking Kamala? That would have been a joke. But I also think that they realize that he sells magazine covers, I think. And so putting him on that, I don't think that it is a smear. And the reason I'm bringing this up is a couple of you emailed me this morning asking if I thought that it was an insulting, if I thought it was an insulting cover. And I don't think that it is an insulting cover. I just think that It's I don't know. It's very weird. Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think I think it's just the inevitable. They realize what happened in the past year. They can't ignore it. There is no ignoring it. You can't rewrite what happened this past year. And that like we were talking about that perspective of the photographer, you are kind of as Time magazine or even as the public, you kind of look up to a guy that has gone through what Trump has gone through over these past eight years.
SPEAKER 04 :
and I think it's I don't think it I don't look at it as a backhanded compliment or you know what I mean anything the only reason I think that it's and I don't mean to like I'm sorry if I'm boring you guys because I'm obsessing over it but what the reason I bring it up is because it's so desaturated so is that is the desaturation because and I'm not saying this is to be mean he's oranger than this guy come on the dude has like super Scottish red hair It's like... Except it's not really blonde. It's definitely got red tint in it. And he's one of those people that when their hair... He doesn't really gray. It turns blonde. I had a grandmother who was as Irish as the day is long. That's where it comes from. And she had hair like Ronald McDonald. And she didn't go gray. It went blonde. It was real weird. He's got like the same thing. So... It's just super desaturated. He doesn't look defeated. He looks reflective. And I don't know. There's a lot to get into with this cover. And why I'm focusing on it so much is I'm trying to read the tea leaves as to what his presidential term, the start of it's going to be like. And every politics has been upended since 20. I would say since 2014, really. It really started getting upended in 2014, 2015. And then when he won and no one expected him to win. And then in 2020, when it was so close, no one knows what to expect. Every term has the only the only thing that's been predictable has been Biden. And even then, how bad he was was not as predictable. We all knew he was going to be bad, but we didn't know he was going to be as bad as – I mean, my gosh, the joblessness, the inflation, the instability, the lack of – I mean, any kind of focus on any kind of domestic issue, particularly manufacturing, all of that stuff. But – This is I almost it almost seems like it's a relief because the left, I think, is relieved because they don't have to be yoked with Biden anymore. They don't have to make excuses for him. They don't have to apologize for him. They don't have to send surrogates out to clean up his messes. So I almost feel like they act like they have a reprieve. And in some respects, they're sort of grateful for it because they don't have anything else that they can use to stop the bleeding, so to speak, any other candidate of Biden. They don't have anyone ready to step up. They don't have anyone who can actually do the job. That's why they ran Kamala. And I honestly do think that they felt like they were going to lose. But they ran Kamala Harris because they had to run someone and they had no one else to run. And she's shallow and vapid enough to think that that was a compliment to her and that they actually believed in her ability to run when they didn't. They were just they needed a sacrifice. They knew that they were going to be feeding someone into the meat grinder and And that person had no hope of a political career after. And so they gladly sacrificed her. The irony of ironies, Democrats, you had people like James Clyburn who were demanding that they run a black woman when Democrats in reality knew that this was going to be the sacrificial candidate that had no hope and that it was going to be such a destructive presidential cycle that whoever it was, they were never going to have any hope of a political career after. And so they just ran her. How unbelievably fitting that they actually fed their own DEI policies to the meat grinder in this fashion. I've never seen such a cell phone in my ever-loving life. It is truly stunning how unbelievably ironic this all is. Really, it's truly stunning. So they were demanding, oh, we want our black female candidate. And then turn around and they're like, okay. We'll let you have her. And they destroyed her. You're not even going to see her at the inauguration, I doubt. Which brings me back to this cover. To me, it spells relief. When you look at it, do you feel like they're exhaling? That's what I get out of it. It feels like they're exhaling. So what does this mean with the media covering him going into January? It's tricky. Think of how many newspapers endorsed him over Kamala or didn't make an endorsement. Like WAPO, right? They didn't make an endorsement. And they weren't the only ones to not make an endorsement. So think of this. The media coverage when he assumes office, I think they're actually going to be – I'm not saying this because I'm hopeful. I'm not. I have no hope. I am diogenous. I feel like they realize the economy is a mess, the border is a mess, and they're going to be supportive on those issues. And they realize they can't really do anything to him because he only has four years and he's termed out. I think that their ire, they're already retiring him with this magazine cover. Their ire is going to be turned towards everybody else. The bench. And this is one of the things that the media has been really bad at. So they don't know how to deconstruct the coalition that Republicans have built. And they have not really hardcore attacked the Republican bench yet. I think this magazine covers them kind of like retiring him. And they're reconciled to the idea that he's the president. And they kind of feel relief because of Biden. But also, they're going to go after everybody underneath him twice as hard. Because as soon as they stop being sad over losing... They're going to be vengeful. And that's when I think you're going to see it. Thoughts, Cain? I think that's how it's going to go. I think that it's going to be knives out like you've never seen. For Republican governors, leading Republican senators, leading Republicans in Congress, I think you're going to see a double coverage on them. That's my opinion.
SPEAKER 02 :
Just like when you put salt on a slug. And it writhes and seethes and screams like that's exactly what we're going to be seeing because it's not going to be easy to drain the swamp.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I think so. And then when he starts going after Deep State, interesting. So that cover, I was staring at that cover and I'm like, this is such an interesting cover because it's such a departure from the stuff that they usually do, right? It's such a departure. So interesting stuff. And their article, if you've read it, it's like they're trying not to be flattering But it was it's there. It's just a fascinating thing. I think that they're actually they don't want to admit that they like him. That's what I'm walking away with. They are happy to have somebody who understands business and they want to like him, but they know that they're on the left's team. So they can't like him. The whole article read like they kept having to walk it back. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that was my take. And it just fascinated me. I just thought, this is so interesting. Our partners that help bring you this portion of our program, it's our friends over at Caltech. The P15 is the lightest, thinnest double stack 9mm that's on the market. And with the lightness, I mean, it's just so thin. It's so easily concealable. And there's two versions. You have the metal version, the metal frame with the walnut wood grip panel, gorgeous. And then you have the polymer version, gator grip texture, tritium fiber optic front side, fully adjustable fiber optic two dot rear, 1.27 inches wide, four inch barrel, lifetime warranty, compact, striker fire. It's awesome. I mean, this thing is so light and thin. Previously, my 43X was my lightest, thinnest. So ladies, if you'd like to conceal carry, you got to have it. Dudes, if you want to be like ultra concealable, You've got to have a two mag, standard capacity, one 15-round minimal pinky extension, the second 12 rounds, double stack mag, flush fit. You have to check it out. It's the P15 at Kel-Tec. Innovation, performance, Kel-Tec. Learn more at Kel-TecWeapons.com. That's K-E-L-T-E-C-Weapons.com. Tell them that Dana sent you.
SPEAKER 02 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 04 :
So puberty blockers are set to be banned indefinitely for under 18s across the UK. The health secretary says the emergency measures banning the sale and supply are going to be made indefinite. And that's very good news because we can't be abusing this stuff and then chemically castrating people. It's just insanity. So this is huge news. This, let's see, out-of-control welfare has stunted economic growth. That's an actual headline from a newspaper. Who would have thought? Like, I'm so shocked. What? Yeah. Welfare and regulation. They're saying that economic orthodoxies are tumbling. People are realizing that those policies don't work. But are they actually going to implement them? I mean, that's like the big thing. You're actually going to put them into practice. Coffee prices are surging to the highest on record. This is the Arabian beans. They said that they have accounted for what most of the global production is. And their prices have jumped 80% this year. And that they're not the only place. They're saying that coffee brands are considering putting prices up in the new year also. Everything's been super expensive. But coffee roasters have been able to absorb a lot of those prices. Places like Black Rifle Coffee and that. And they said that. Some companies like Nestle, they've taken the hit from higher raw material prices to themselves. But they said all of that's kind of at a tipping point right now because the expense is still I mean, it's still super expensive. And it was a lot of it's due to drought and then heavy rain. I know both of those things are factoring into the expense on all of it. Floyd Mayweather was attacked by a mob in a row over Israel and Gaza while he was jewelry shopping in London. Why would you pick a fight with Floyd Mayweather? You stupid idiot. So... Apparently, he got into an altercation at Hatton Garden and he was out shopping for jewelry. And I mean, it was doing some window shopping and a ton of people are in the street. A mob descended on him and he was apparent. I mean, he looked angry. He knows security. We're in the Capitol. They said that he was confronted. They bundled him out of a jewelry store into a waiting four by four. And they said that he wasn't touched during at any point. But the crowd was using racial slurs towards him. These are like pro-Gazan people using racial slurs towards him. And he said he was fine. There's nothing more to it. He was there for 48 hours and he did some quick shopping. And that was it. That's so crazy. I wanted to touch on this because we missed it yesterday. Caitlin Clark, Audio Soundbite 22. She's doubled down. So Caitlin Clark. Came out and said that she felt like it was white privilege that she ended up. She was saying that she somehow was the beneficiary of white privilege and she doubled down on it in the soundbite. Listen.
SPEAKER 01 :
I think we have it. Okay. I always have had really good perspective on everything that's kind of happened in my life, whether that's been good, whether that's been bad. Um, and then obviously coming to the WNBA, like I've said, I feel like I've earned every single thing that's happened to me over the course of my career. But also I grew up a fan of this league from a very young age. Like, My favorite player was Maya Moore. Like I know what this league was about. And like I said, like it's only been around 25 plus years. So I know there's been so many amazing black women that have been in this league and continuing to uplift them, I think is very important. And that's something I'm very aware of. And like I said, like I try to just be real and authentic and, you know, share my truth. And I think that's very easy for me. Like I'm very comfortable in my own skin. And that's kind of been how it is my entire life. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
So she says that she's admits feeling privilege as a white person and says that the WNBA was built. on black players. No, it wasn't. The WNBA was the welfare recipient of the NBA. Nobody gave a rat's ass about women's basketball. Women don't even give a rat's ass about women's basketball. The WNBA was subsidized by the NBA. It is the welfare recipient of the NBA. NBA players and NBA viewers and NBA game attendees built the WNBA. Let's not pretend like these women who are in the WNBA built it. They can barely keep what was given to them. And then when they get someone who gets the eyeballs, they trash her and drag her down because they are a bunch of jealous bitches. That's the reality of it. And then they want to play victimhood and act as though everything's a racial hustle when it's not. She is one. What is her privilege exactly? And I know a lot of people are slamming her. And I just think that she is navigating something that no one has ever had to go through before. And that's part of what my point. How in the hell does she have white privilege when she is like one of she's a minority player in the WNBA? How in the hell does she have white privilege? They have been racist bitches to her since she got there. They have targeted her. They have smeared her. They have acted like she has is less than that. And to her credit, she's ignored it up until now. I mean, she's ignored it up until, you know, this point. So I don't know how she's considered privileged. She works hard and she has talent. But how is that a privilege? She works hard with her talent. I mean, this is it's goofy. She she gets athlete of the year and then she has to apologize. I feel as though she's – because she had said – she said, quote, I want to say that I've earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is a privilege. I disagree with this. And she says – she said a lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been black players. This league has kind of been built on them, blah, blah, blah, blah. Again, someone who is one of – she's a minority player in the WNBA on her team, and she has to admit to some kind of privilege. They can't just credit her talent. Like Time Magazine, they said Clark is cognizant of the racial underpinnings of her stardom. She says, I want to say the quote that I gave you, but the fact that she says that, oh, yes, the racial underpinnings, Time Magazine and writing about her, the racial underpinnings of her stardom, the racial underpinnings of the WNBA, nobody watches it. She's, I don't know, she just is like a beaten dog. But at the same time, she's never had to navigate. Nobody's ever had to navigate anything like this in the WNBA or anything like this. A female. Nobody's. This is kind of new. It's very new. But she's allowing herself to be bullied at this point. And there are players of a different race that did not generate the eyeballs that she generated. They did not generate the interest for the league that she generated. And they feel like they and they're they're trying to other her. They're trying to say that the only reason that she's talented is because of some sort of privilege. Being white doesn't make her play better. Practicing hard and working hard does. And she has a natural born talent that is entirely unrelated to her skin color. She just happens to be a white girl. But no one can credit her talent because no one wants to admit that she just might be a better player than Angel Reese. Or she just might be a better player than some of the other women on the teams in WNBA. They can't say that. So they have to discredit her talent by saying, oh, well, white privilege. The hell does white privilege have to do with being naturally talented at basketball? I suck at basketball. Love basketball. Love watching it. Love watching it. And I always wanted to play it. But I'm not very good, Cain. Where's my white privilege? I was told that I would have privilege. Look, as badly as I wanted to be on my school's basketball team and I never made it, I was varsity everything I did but basketball for some reason. I have no idea why. It doesn't make sense. I did 18 years of classical ballet and then I was varsity everything I did from freshman on. Basketball could not do it. No idea why. Where's my white privilege for that? Right? I wanted it. Isn't that how it works if you're white and you want it? Don't you automatically get it? Cain, how does white privilege work? Isn't that how it works? You're white adjacent though, 50%. So I don't know.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. I get a 50% card. Yeah. 50% privilege.
SPEAKER 04 :
But the other 50% of you, what privileges have you gotten?
SPEAKER 02 :
Gosh, I don't know.
SPEAKER 04 :
You haven't gotten any privileges?
SPEAKER 02 :
Not that I know of.
SPEAKER 04 :
But wait a minute. I'm told that if you're white, you get all these special things.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I don't. They only see the non-white half of me, apparently.
SPEAKER 04 :
You played football, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Were you a better football player because you were white? Half white?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I don't think so.
SPEAKER 04 :
It didn't give you any kind of special superpower?
SPEAKER 02 :
No.
SPEAKER 04 :
I mean, I always thought that you played worse. Remember the Woody Harrelson movie, White Men Can't Jump? That was huge when I was a kid. And I remember looking at that title thinking, I wonder if they can't. Hollywood. Just saying. It's true. Do you feel bad for her? Caitlin Clark?
SPEAKER 02 :
Do I feel bad for what she's had to go through and all of that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Do you feel like she's been browbeaten into this?
SPEAKER 02 :
I think so. I think so. She literally just wants to play basketball. She just wants to get along with everybody. She just wants to have fun. And everyone else is thrusting her in these directions and making her do these things. It just doesn't seem, just like anybody who doesn't do anything that comes naturally to them, it doesn't look right and it doesn't feel right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Lorraine says that she feels like she's saying this to make the other girls on the team feel better. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Probably, because she wants to get along with them.
SPEAKER 04 :
How lame are the chicks in this league? If you have to have this woman lie prostrate in front of the media to make you feel better, I'm going to say something mean. I've already said it once, but these women are... They are... I read lips.
SPEAKER 02 :
I didn't know I was a lip reader until just now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is that white privilege? Uh... You would have been able to hear the voice in your head had you been full. I'm just saying that's how it works, right? Lorraine says that she's always lifted up her teammates, always been very humble. She always seems like she's tried to ignore this. But that's sort of notice. And this is how it is. And it doesn't matter if it's Caitlin Clark or whoever. This is why I'm like never been in need of the rage mob because they don't care. She's never going to be forgiven. She is their original sin of being born white. I mean, that's how all of her critics and all these people around WNBA are acting like. Maybe if you bitches could play basketball a little bit better, then maybe she wouldn't be getting all the attention. Maybe if y'all were half as talented as she was, then maybe, oh, I don't know, maybe you would get more advertising dollars. Maybe you would get more sponsorships yourself. Instead of hating on her, all you women need to be thanking her for keeping eyes on the WNBA, which has been nothing more than a glorified welfare recipient of the NBA. And you all know it's true, bitches. You know it's true. I'm so tired of this stuff. There are a bunch of bullies. Grown middle-aged women being bullies. Women who are in their 30s being bullies. At some point, you need to grow up. You do. Dana's, people are going to be like, Dana, I don't like your language. I am not Dora the Explorer, okay? You're not sitting in church and this ain't PBS, okay? I do feel bad for her because she's never had to navigate this. And I think that people who are trying to jump all over her need to slow their roll a little bit. I mean, I think the people who need most of the ire are the coaches and the league and her teammates. Those are the people that you need to be sharp with. Because I think she's just trying to navigate and deal with it. And she didn't come out and I think she, I mean, she seemed very hesitant when she was saying the stuff that she said. But if she thinks, though, that this kind of thing is going to make it to where they accept her and they celebrate her and they stop giving her grief, no. In fact, it's going to double. Because if they see you bleed, then they're going to come for more. That's how it works.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast. If you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
FBI Director Christopher Wray officially announces his resignation. Biden continues his pardon spree.Trump rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. WNBA Superstar Caitlin Clark doubles down after getting bullied by racist players and says she will help elevate black WNBA players because it’s “very important”. Donald Trump wins 2024 TIME’s Person of the Year. Was their cover a backhanded compliment?
SPEAKER 11 :
After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, on the indispensable work each of you is doing every single day. And in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. And I should go without saying, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it anyways, this is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people. But my focus is, and always has been, on us and on doing what's right for the FBI.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, Chris Wray going to, well, I mean, of course he's going to step down, and he needed to. And I think that, I think there was one sound bite that Trump had said, well, what's wrong with him? You know, why did he, basically kind of questioning why he turned out to be such a, yeah, yeah, yeah, why he was such a, I'm trying to think of a polite way to put it, and I don't think there's a... You know, an SOB. I don't know how else to put it. Yeah, or that. So, welcome to the show. Dana Lash with you. Top of this first hour. And we have... Gosh. It's... I mean, honestly, most of everything is boring as all hell. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to go over the same, like, lower-level cabinet picks. Do we need to know, like, who's going to... I mean, it's important to know, but I feel like you guys can look that up. You guys can do it on your own time because there's other stuff that we have to touch on, too. We only have three hours and that doesn't seem like it seems like a long time, but it's not a long time. So Chris Ray is out, which, you know, we knew it's paving the way. Probably, I would say for Cash Patel. Right. I mean, that's kind of. That's where we're going. I mean, that's what it looks like anyway. But I don't know. There's a lot of back and forth as to whether or not he's going to have difficulty getting confirmed, Kash Patel. I kind of think that maybe he I just don't know if there's any baggage. I feel like it would have already come up. Honestly, wouldn't it have? It would have already come up. If he had any baggage, it would have already been out there. Yeah. So I just I feel like he's going to get I feel like he's going to be fine. He's he's I don't think it's going to be an issue with him. I feel like he's going to be he's going to end up being confirmed. So that's just some of the latest. So Chris Ray stepping down. He's finally. And I do think that that was one of Trump's worst moves is putting him in there. He had a lot of if you remember, Chris Ray had a lot of objections to him. from the beginning. If memory serves, right? A lot of people were objecting to him in the beginning. And I feel like there was good reason as to why. He was kind of a bureaucratic swamp beast, I guess. Is that the best way to put it? Yeah, we're going to go with that. He was kind of like a bureaucratic swamp beast. And that's just... I don't think that you can work with someone. It's just not. He's compromised. And the FBI, considering everything that the FBI was responsible for doing, I mean, if you look at the tagging of parents as domestic terrorists, which was by itself pretty insane, the tagging of parents as domestic terrorists, the complete, I mean, missing so many things. the terrorist incidents that took place on his watch, on Chris Wray's watch. So this is just all, you know, some... it's good that he's gone. It's good that he's gone. Now, I don't know how long he's going to stay in. I mean, because you're going to have an acting FBI director. So that's not beyond the realm of possibility to have an acting FBI director. But I think Kash Patel, I think he'll be fine. I think he'll be fine. So also the big news today is the number of Commutations. I was actually reading about this. This is the first thing I was reading about this morning. The commutations coming from Joe Biden. It is the largest. in i don't know american history they keep saying modern american history but i feel like i don't know of any other historical time excuse me where there where there's been this many commutations it's the largest single day act of clemency in modern history and it is four and a half times Four and a half times the number that was granted by Barack Obama, who held it previously at, what, 330? And that was his last full day in office in 2017. And he did all of these commutations at that particular time. So Biden, I mean, you're looking at 1,500 people now. Fifteen hundred people. And then there were an additional thirty nine that were involved in nonviolent crime. So you had thirty nine people involved in nonviolent crime. And it was. What I mean for over four and a half times, but fifteen hundred people, some of these were violent crimes, though, by the way. I feel like it's important to kind of, you know, FYI. Some of them were. This idea that they weren't, that's kind of laughable. So in looking at this, these commutations, they said that some of them affect individuals who were placed on home confinement due to the coronavirus rules. And they served out those sentences for about one year after they were released. And they said that the news of the... I mean, they... That's an insane amount of people. Are you counting Hunter Biden amongst? I wonder if there's like an extra for his brother or any. Has anybody gone through all of them yet? Has anybody because there are a lot of Bidens that are, you know, you could have his brother. Who's his brother, Jim Biden? You could have Jim Biden up there. You know, it's very important to make sure that we're reading through all this stuff. So just saying. So the these commutations single day, the single largest for these commutations, fifteen hundred thirty nine largest single act clemency. Pretty, pretty unbelievable. And of course, it's Joe Biden who did it. Are people surprised? Are they surprised? They said that they had high level discussions about preemptive pardons. And for people who they felt might be a target, they're looking at protecting all of these people that they think are going to be targeted by the Trump administration. That's not really how I mean, he didn't do it the first time. So why would he do it the second time? Why would he do it the second time? He didn't do it the first time. He didn't go. He didn't go after Hillary Clinton. He didn't go after her. He even said, no, I'm just going to take it easier. I'm not going to do it. So I'm not quite sure what I just think that's stupid. That's just that's just that's just so goofy. He never did that the first time around. So that's a. One of the other things, and we're going to come back to this, one of the other things that we're watching as well. Also, a couple of other things to touch on, and I'm looking at some of the audio that we have here that I wanted to get into. So the president, Audio Soundbite 9, he was named Times Person of the Year. He opened, opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Watch.
SPEAKER 08 :
With the whole thing on.
SPEAKER 17 :
This is not his first time doing this, right? I mean, it's Trump. He's had it done before. He's got his time person of the year. Boy, how things change in eight years time. Look at his cover. Look at the cover. And then remember when they put the orange cartoon on? When Time Magazine, yeah, they went after him and they put the orange cartoon on. And when you look at the magazine cover now, as opposed to how they had previously represented him, that's pretty amazing. All of that in just eight years' time. He also made some remarks. This is audio some by 10. He was talking about the corporate tax rate of which the United States has the highest. Listen to what he says here. This was interesting. New policy.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I think I've always said, you know, to me, stock market is very all of it, you know, all of it together. It's very important. It's an honor to be here at New York Stock Exchange. I sort of joked that I actually bought the building across the street because the stock exchange was here. It's a big deal. Forty. It's a nice building. Forty Wall Street. Look, we're going to do things, I think, that haven't been really done before. We're going to be cutting taxes still further. You know, we got it down to 21%. We're going to bring it down even below that. You pay 21 if you don't build here, meaning your product or whatever it is you're building. And if you do, we're going to try getting it down to 15%. But you have to build your product, make your product in the USA.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good for them. Got to make your product, build your product here in the U.S. of A. Of course. And that's that's an interesting policy. So if you're not doing the bulk, I'm wondering what the tax rate is going to be lowered to. I mean, if you if you are not manufacturing in the United or does it have to be 100 percent manufactured in the United States? Is there going to be is there some kind of. Oh, I don't know, like a quota. Well, yeah. I'm just curious if there's going to be like a quota. What is he going to have? I'm curious as to how that's going to work out. So I'm excited to hear about that because our corporate tax rate is stupid. It is stupid high. I think we've talked about this before. It's super, super ridiculously high. And to lower the corporate tax rate, are we at 35? I was trying to remember. We're at the end of the week and everybody's drunk on eggnog. Let's be real.
SPEAKER 07 :
Half of you people are like, the current corporate tax rate is 21 percent, according to this.
SPEAKER 17 :
OK, it's 20. So 21, 21 percent. It's still too damn high. That's it's it's insane when you consider that like China's rate, China's rate, China, the commie country of China, their rate is lower than ours. That's insane. It's insane. That's absolutely insane. So he says, we're going to lower it. If you produce in the United States, we're going to cut it down to 15%. And what was I thinking, 35? I was thinking of like a tax. I was thinking of a tax cut.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think that's what it was before. I think it was like 38%. Hang on, hang on, hang on.
SPEAKER 17 :
I only have this partially finished in my notes. So hang on. That's the sound Google makes. I don't know if you guys knew that or not. So he did—I mean, he did lower it. I thought Biden had raised it, though, afterwards. The reason that I ask this is because the— Because the EU was even looking at reducing after what Trump did. The EU was looking to match what Trump did to copy what he did. So this is good. And I'm fascinated at seeing what else can be done. Because 15% rate, I mean, that would explode growth, I would think, right? I mean, you would... So from 21% to 15%, you would see... I mean, it's going to government's going to have to tighten its belt a little bit. Right. Your government's going to have to practice a little bit of austerity. And that was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That's what reduced the corporate. So it was. You're right. It was. That's what I was thinking. Thirty five. It was previously thirty five. So under that in 2017. Trump lowered it to 21% and he wants to lower it further. I think had he been elected consecutively for another term, I think that we would have already seen it at 15% because I remember covering some of his, I don't know if it was one of his, not inauguration speech, State of the Union addresses, where he had made mention of things that they had to do in order to continue lowering the corporate tax rate Because I think there was some bureaucracy that they were eliminating and things like that. That was one thing I will say that he was super consistent on. I know a lot of people give him grief over guns, obviously, and some other things. But on the corporate tax rate, he actually was pretty consistent on it. I do wish that the entirety of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had been made permanent because it wasn't. Remember, there was part of it that was permanent and part of it sunset. And then that's when we all saw our taxes go back up. So I hope in addition to that, he makes that permanent, too. So that's good news. That's really good news. We're going to talk more about that here as we roll throughout the program. So a lot of stuff to touch on. We're also going to get into some of the Caitlin Clark controversy. So she had responded to a lot of. You know, she was, you know, player. She got all these awards, all this recognition, a lot of controversy surrounding her. We're going to touch on that. We've got some cultural things as well to hit on. So a lot of things to touch on today as we get you set up our partners, the non-firearm firearm. It's Burna Gun. And Burna is a great option if you're looking to diversify your your self-defense array and the reason i say this is because people always like want to they they want to go i'm always going to carry and i'm never going to go into any gun-free zone and that's great for you i have no problem carrying i tell people to carry i have literally no issue at all whatsoever with using lethal force to protect myself or the life of another That being said, because, you know, we're all big grown people. Sometimes we have to go to places that demand that you don't carry a firearm. And whether it's, you know, government property, whether it's private property, whether it's whatever it is, and you have to go there anyway. And so this is where the Burna gun comes in. It's the Burna SD is their best selling self-defense option that they have. And it can shoot chemical irritant projectiles that can stop threats from up to 50 feet away. And it has five rounds. Standard stun guns have like one or two. So this has five rounds. It's legal in all 50 states. It doesn't give a rat's backside about gun-free zones. No background checks. And it can be shipped right to your door. I always think it's good to diversify what you have for self-defense. And so this is one option to consider. And you can get it at Burna.com slash Dana because it's the only place where you can get 10% off. B-Y-R-N-A Burna.com slash Dana for 10% off of your Burna gun.
SPEAKER 20 :
This liberal attorney general thinks it's Amazon's fault? The AG of DC is going after Amazon because of delivery times in rough neighborhoods. Maybe if he would go after the crime, the deliveries would come quicker. Amazon's just protecting their employees. Check out the Watchdog on Wall Street podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. And now, all of the news you would probably miss.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, first up, the... For really? Really? 846 million people are infected with the herp. Like, the bad one. Like, the genital herp. Why? Stop being whores. 846 million people. How is this a thing? They said it's a hidden epidemic sweeping the world. And it has no cure and it's socially traumatizing. Any more socially traumatizing than sleeping around and getting the herp? I'm just trying to figure that out. Why is this a thing? It's 2024. It's not like we don't know where germs and this stuff comes from, right? We know. What are you doing? Stop it. The, uh... This is one of the craziest stories I think I've ever had in quick five. An 80 year old grandmother is dead after she got trapped in her sleep number bed for two days. My first thought was the hell number did she have it on? Like, what is this Illinois? She got trapped by her malfunctioning sleep number bed for two whole days. Rosalind Walker's mattress suddenly lowered itself without warning, and it pinned her against her wall. And then she wasn't freed until 48 hours later. They rushed her to a nearby hospital. She was treated for unspecified injuries, transferred to a rehabilitation clinic, and later hospice care. She only lived for like three weeks later. That's one of the craziest things I've ever heard. Your sleep number, bud. Man, that's kind of, I don't know. And now they're trying to say that there's a pet translator scientist that converts growls and barks into English, and it could be available in just 10 years. So that way you can understand the women on the VO. Stay with us. Our friends over at Patriot Mobile, the only Christian conservative cell phone service that exists, and they want to save you money. They have plans that can be tailor-made for any type of budget. And right now they have their Every Friday Matters special. So for a limited time, Patriot Mobile is giving away a brand new smartphone when you switch your service. Great opportunity to get high quality service and support a company that aligns with your values. And you get to access all three major networks. So you get to experience the same reliable coverage as all of the big providers. But your money is not going against the things that you vote for. at the ballot box. Seamless switching. 100% U.S.-based customer service team. And you can save. It's never been simpler to switch. And you can get that free smartphone as part of the special offer. Keep your number if you want. Keep whatever. But you can get a free smartphone only, only though, by using promo code FRIDAY. So it's their Every Friday Matters special. Take advantage of it because it's for a limited time or until supplies run out. Free smartphone offer eligible only with promo code FRIDAY. Terms and conditions apply. Make the switch today. Patriot mobile dot com slash Dana nine seven two Patriot.
SPEAKER 04 :
Keep your finger on the pulse with a Dana show podcast delivering timely news with insightful analysis whenever you want straight to you on YouTube, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 15 :
Why do you think Democrats lost and what do you think needs to happen by the midterms in the next presidential election in order to find your footing again?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, Kristen, no disrespect to you. I think you do great work. But the reality is that those that tune in to our traditional news sources, they absolutely went for us. And we know that the standards that you have to live by as an actual journalist are completely different from other platforms. And so we know that we were winning for those that were tuning in to the traditional news sources. But when it came down to people getting their news from places that really aren't even news sources, they were going for Donald Trump by 19 points. And that is exactly why we lost. The reality is that we're going to have to play in spaces that we've never had to play and make sure that we're communicating in all ways. Unfortunately, we can't just rely on the mainstream media to get our message across.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I think she's a little late to the game because when have Democrats ever really totally relied on mainstream media to get their message across? I mean, who do you think controls Hollywood? Who controls Hollywood? Who controls academia? This idea that it's just the media that that is responsible for this or that that people are getting there. They can't rely on the mainstream media. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. She's an example of a person who just thinks that politics began the day that she was made self-aware, which is probably a couple of years ago. Let's be real. Right. It's one of the dumbest things ever. That's really stupid analysis that like ignores everything that media, all everything that the left has been involved in. Right. So it ignores the entire system and bureaucracy of academia. It ignores the music industry, Cain. It ignores Hollywood, arts and entertainment, film. art, all of it, fashion. So this idea that, well, you know, we lost because we got to play in spaces we never had to play in before. What are you talking about? You mean you actually have to go and talk to the people? Notice that wasn't one of the things on her lips. You got to go and talk to the people? That's just stupid. She is not the brightest bulb in their box. She really isn't. I was listening to this and I thought, my gosh, they're going to keep losing because they have no idea why. They have no idea why they lost. That's just, and she says that, I guess what, you know, these places that they're not even news sources and, and they're not even news sources. What defines a news source? If you get news from something, is that a source from which you got your news? Who defines news source? Because I know Democrats have been wanting to define have been wanting to define news sources as goodness. That which validates their narrative. They've been wanting to do that for a long time. So is that really true? This is it's just wanting to control media. It's wanting to control where the information comes from. That's all it is. It's wanting to control how people share information, what they share, how often they share it, etc. I just thought that was a really dumb soundbite. Wasn't she? Didn't we just have a soundbite from her the other day where she was going off on the Daniel Penny stuff? Yeah, that's right. Okay. Yeah. Not the brightest bulb. on the Christmas tree. That one. Definitely not. Now, going on from that, uh, As it pertains to media, etc. I wanted to touch on this because we missed it yesterday. Caitlin Clark, Audio Soundbite 22. She's doubled down. So Caitlin Clark came out and said that she felt like it was white privilege. That she ended up, she was saying that she somehow was the beneficiary of white privilege. And she doubled down on it in this soundbite. Listen.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think we have it. Okay. I always have had really good perspective on everything that's kind of happened in my life, whether that's been good, whether that's been bad. And then obviously coming to the WNBA, like I've said, I feel like I've earned every single thing that's happened to me over the course of my career. But also I grew up a fan of this league from a very young age. Like, My favorite player was Maya Moore. I know what this league was about. And like I said, it's only been around 25 plus years. So I know there's been so many amazing black women that have been in this league and continuing to uplift them I think is very important. And that's something I'm very aware of. And like I said, I try to just be real and authentic and share my truth. And I think that's very easy for me. I'm very comfortable in my own skin. And that's kind of been how it is my entire life. Yes.
SPEAKER 17 :
So she says that she admits feeling privileged as a white person and says that the WNBA was built on black players. No, it wasn't. The WNBA was the welfare recipient of the NBA. Nobody gave a rat's ass about women's basketball. Women don't even give a rat's ass about women's basketball. The WNBA was subsidized by the NBA. It is the welfare recipient of the NBA. NBA players and NBA viewers and NBA game attendees built the WNBA. Let's not pretend like these women who are in the WNBA built it. They can barely keep what was given to them. And then when they get someone who gets the eyeballs, they trash her and drag her down because they are a bunch of jealous bitches. That's the reality of it. And then they want to play victimhood and act as though everything's a racial hustle when it's not. She is one. What is her privilege exactly? And I know a lot of people are slamming her. And I just think that she is navigating something that no one has ever had to go through before. And that's part of what my point. How in the hell does she have white privilege when she is like one of she's a minority player in the WNBA? How in the hell does she have white privilege? They have been racist bitches to her since she got there. They have targeted her. They have smeared her. They have acted like she is less than. And to her credit, she's ignored it up until now. I mean, she's ignored it up until, you know, this point. So I don't know how she's considered privileged. She works hard and she has talent. But how is that a privilege? She works hard with her talent. I mean, this is... It's goofy. She gets athlete of the year, and then she has to apologize. I feel as though she's... Because she had said... She said, quote, I want to say that I've earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is a privilege. I disagree with this. And she says... She said a lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been black players. This league has kind of been built on them. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Again... Someone who is one of, she's a minority player in the WNBA on her team. And she has to admit to some kind of privilege. They can't just credit her talent. Like Time Magazine. They said Clark is cognizant of the racial underpinnings of her stardom. She says, I want to say the quote that I gave you, but the fact that she says that, oh, yes, the racial underpinnings, Time Magazine and writing about her, the racial underpinnings of her stardom, the racial underpinnings of the WNBA. Nobody watches it. She's I don't know. She just is like a beaten dog. But at the same time, she's never had to navigate. Nobody's ever had to navigate anything like this in the WNBA or anything like this. A female. Nobody's. This is kind of new. It's very new. But she's allowing herself to be bullied at this point. And there are players of a different race that did not generate the eyeballs that she generated. They did not generate the interest for the league that she generated. And they feel like they and they're they're trying to other her. They're trying to say that the only reason that she's talented is because of some sort of privilege. Being white doesn't make her play better. Practicing hard and working hard does. And she has a natural born talent that is entirely unrelated to her skin color. She just happens to be a white girl. But no one can credit her talent. Because no one wants to admit that she just might be a better player than Angel Reese. Or she just might be a better player than some of the other women on the teams in WNBA. They can't say that. So they have to discredit her talent by saying, oh, well, white privilege. The hell does white privilege have to do with being naturally talented at basketball? I suck at basketball. Love basketball. Love watching it. Love watching it. And I always wanted to play it. But I'm not very good, Cain. Where's my white privilege? I was told that I would have privilege. Look, as badly as I wanted to be on my school's basketball team and I never made it, I was varsity everything I did but basketball for some reason. I have no idea why. It doesn't make sense. I did 18 years of classical ballet and then I was varsity everything I did from freshman on. Basketball could not do it. No idea why. Where's my white privilege for that? Right? I wanted it. Isn't that how it works if you're white and you want it? Don't you automatically get it? Cain, how does white privilege work? Isn't that how it works? You're white adjacent, though, 50%, so I don't know.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I get a 50% card. 50% privilege.
SPEAKER 17 :
But the other 50% of you, what privileges have you gotten?
SPEAKER 07 :
Gosh, I don't know.
SPEAKER 17 :
You haven't gotten any privileges?
SPEAKER 07 :
Not that I know of.
SPEAKER 17 :
But wait a minute, I'm told that if you're white, you get all these special things.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I don't. They only see the non-white half of me, apparently.
SPEAKER 17 :
You played football, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
Were you a better football player because you were white? Half white?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I don't think so.
SPEAKER 17 :
It didn't give you any kind of special superpower?
SPEAKER 07 :
No.
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, I always thought that you played worse. Remember the Woody Harrelson movie, White Men Can't Jump? That was huge when I was a kid. And I remember looking at that title thinking, I wonder if they can't. Hollywood. Just saying. It's true. Do you feel bad for her? Caitlin Clark?
SPEAKER 07 :
Do I feel bad for what she's had to go through and all of that?
SPEAKER 17 :
Do you feel like she's been browbeaten into this?
SPEAKER 07 :
I think so. I think so. She literally just wants to play basketball. She just wants to get along with everybody. She just wants to have fun. And everyone else is thrusting her in these directions and making her do these things. It just doesn't seem, just like anybody who doesn't do anything that comes naturally to them, it doesn't look right and it doesn't feel right.
SPEAKER 17 :
Lorraine says that she feels like she's saying this to make the other girls on the team feel better. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Probably, because she wants to get along with them.
SPEAKER 17 :
How lame are the chicks in this league? If you have to have this woman lie prostrate in front of the media to make you feel better, I'm going to say something mean. I've already said it once, but these women are... They are... I read lips.
SPEAKER 07 :
I didn't know I was a lip reader until just now.
SPEAKER 17 :
Is that white privilege? Uh... You would have been able to hear the voice in your head had you been full. I'm just saying that's how it works, right? Lorraine says that she's always lifted up her teammates, always been very humble. She always seems like she's tried to ignore this. But that's sort of notice. And this is how it is. And it doesn't matter if it's Caitlin Clark or whoever. This is why I'm like never been in need of the rage mob because they don't care. She's never going to be forgiven. She is their original sin of being born white. I mean, that's how all of her critics and all these people around WNBA are acting like. Maybe if you bitches could play basketball a little bit better, then maybe she wouldn't be getting all the attention. Maybe if y'all were half as talented as she was, then maybe, oh, I don't know, maybe you would get more advertising dollars. Maybe you would get more sponsorships yourself. Instead of hating on her, all you women need to be thanking her for keeping eyes on the WNBA, which has been nothing more than a glorified welfare recipient of the NBA. And you all know it's true, bitches. You know it's true. I'm so tired of this stuff. There are a bunch of bullies. Grown middle-aged women being bullies. Women who are in their 30s being bullies. At some point, you need to grow up. You do. People are going to be like, Dana, I don't like your language. I am not Dora the Explorer, okay? You're not sitting in church and this ain't PBS. I do feel bad for her because she's never had to navigate this. And I think that people who are trying to jump all over her need to slow their roll a little bit. I mean, I think the people who need most of the ire are the coaches and the league and her teammates. Those are the people that you need to be sharp with. Because I think she's just trying to navigate and deal with it. And she didn't come out and I think she, I mean, she seemed very hesitant when she was saying the stuff that she said. But if she thinks, though, that this kind of thing is going to make it to where they accept her and they celebrate her and they stop giving her grief, no. In fact, it's going to double. Because if they see you bleed, then they're going to come for more. That's how it works. Life can take a toll on our bodies. There's no way around it. And whether it's just sitting for hours on end at your computer or if you're working a physical job, over time, your body pays the price. There is, however, an effective way to turn back the clock on pain. Relief Factor. Developed by doctors, Relief Factor helps support your body's response to inflammation. And the difference, instead of just masking pain, Relief Factor helps eliminate it for good. And it's 100% drug-free. My husband, Chris, has taken Relief Factor with incredible results. So if the pains that come with living a full life are affecting you, do as many others have done and turn back the clock on pain with Relief Factor. Their three-week quick start is just $19.95. That's less than a dollar a day. And when you feel good, it's amazing how much more you get out of life. Visit relieffactor.com or call 1-800-4-RELIEF. That's 1-800-4-RELIEF. Try it for only $19.95 and turn back the clock on pain with Relief Factor. ReliefFactor.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of the United States.
SPEAKER 16 :
So I hope that you all feel that sense of, you know, peace and light and that just for a moment when you leave here today that you feel, I don't know, a little, a sense of joy. Because I think we all need like this, you know, we all need to feel joy now during this time of the season, during, just during this time. So anyway. Okay, now I'll start.
SPEAKER 17 :
You're all reading into that. So they were saying, oh, you sound like Holla. And she's like, you all are reading into it. She sounded exasperated there. I was on with Jesse Waters this week, earlier this week, and he asked me, it was kind of an aside, but he had brought up how Joe isn't like really looking at Kamala when they go and they do these events, like he's not looking at her and they're not, they don't have any kind of interaction, anything like that. And he had said, how did he ask me something to the effect of, well, is it overblown? Because, you know, Joe is old. And I said, well, no. Because look at Jill. So their dynamic is, especially right now, and it used to not always be like this, when they were first married and even... I mean, 10 years ago, he was really aggressive in Jack Wagon. And now she's the aggressive one because he's declining. And so she sets the tone. So you can watch them. Their dynamic is she sets the tone. And if you want to know where they stand on someone, watch how she acts. She's the wife. And if the wife doesn't like someone... If they don't like anybody, you're going to know. You're going to know. And she makes it known. How many different videos have there been? I've seen at least five. Two of them were at the same event. But where she, Kamala Harris was like looking at her and smiling and Jill Biden just does not even acknowledge her. After he's out of office, after Trump is in office, I think you're going to hear about some stuff. And I think it's going to get real petty. I really do. Stick with us. We have a whole other hour on the way next. ReadyWise is always ready with premium survival food. And you know the chain of command for your food. Start to finish. You know that it is U.S. ingredients packed in a state-of-the-art U.S. plant sent out from that state-of-the-art U.S. plant to your front porch. And you get free and fast shipping on most orders, ensuring that your provisions reach you promptly. They have an array of product choices to meet every budget. They have their one month supply to bucket bundle. They have their three month emergency food supply as well. Everything is designed by their team of in-house culinary experts to make sure that you get your calories, the needs that you have for calories met. Your protein, your carbs, your healthy carbs, all that good stuff. Comfort in a crisis and beyond. Super affordable, premium survival food, 25-year shelf life. Visit ReadyWise.com and use promo code DANA20 at checkout for 20% off of your entire purchase. That's ReadyWise.com, promo code DANA20 for 20% off. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. We are at the top of the second hour here. And it's Thursday. We're almost done through the week. It's the week before the week before Christmas. You guys are like, wait, what? Yeah, I know. It's going by fast, isn't it? Like, how are we already? How is it already December 12th? This is just like way too fast. Way too fast. All right. So a number of stuff, number of things we've been covering. By the way, you can also look and follow us if you're not listening to us, really. Channel 347, DirecTV, and we're also over at Rumble.com. where the chat happens, and X, and less so, all that good stuff. So the president rang the bell this morning, Wall Street. He's named Time's Man of the Year, Time Magazine's Man of the Year. He's invited to ring the bell at New York Stock Exchange. He's only the second president to ever do so. Yeah, Reagan was the other one. Notice how they're all Republicans that get to... interesting that, isn't it? Only the Republicans, probably because they understand the economy. He's the first since Reagan to ring the opening bell. And the crowd was yelling at his family with him. He was flanked by the covers. It's a nice cover. The perspective is a little interesting. But It's a nice cover. I mean, it's like at a downward kind of angle and I'm curious as to how he was sitting or what he was sitting on. But they... What do you think the cover says? Is the cover backing a compliment, do you think? Because it's... When you consider the first one that they put him on where it was just like an emoji of his head and it looked like it was melting, that wasn't very flattering. This is a lot more sober. This is like the magazine cover that... seems like final acceptance of the inevitable, right? That's what I get out of it. It's not bad. I don't think that they make him look old. They have a cold filter on him because they took some of the hue out of his face and his hair. His hair is way brighter than that. But it seems like a... Their cover seems like a... Like they're accepting the inevitable, the inevitableness of all of this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Like they can't deny the last year.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. So they're like, OK, here it is. What's funny, when Joe Biden was elected, he said that they were going to return to normality. There's the cover I want showing you right there. It's not a bad cover. It's a weird perspective, though, isn't it?
SPEAKER 07 :
I was going to say that.
SPEAKER 17 :
But what what is that? I'm just I don't want to unpack it too much, but. I do think it's interesting. It's almost like you're peering up at him, right? That's the perspective of the photographer. You're peering up at him from a lower position, but he's not like lording it over you. It's very odd. I almost don't know what to make of it. Do you I don't think it's Steve, what do you think? Do you think it's like a backhanded compliment? I'm gonna get one more opinion on this. It's weird. I don't know how to I don't know how to read it.
SPEAKER 20 :
I mean, if you're reflecting from the same publication that had that cover years ago of that, like really dystopian melting face, like that's obviously a twist. But I think they kind of had to admit that that's the case. I mean, there was a lot of people up for it that they could have picked on the right or the left. Excuse me. And they didn't.
SPEAKER 17 :
True. Yeah, they could have. I mean, who are they going to – can you imagine if they tried picking Kamala? That would have been a joke. But I also think that they realize that he sells magazine covers, I think. And so putting him on that – I don't think that it is a smear. And the reason I'm bringing this up is a couple of you emailed me this morning asking if I thought that it was an insulting – if I thought it was an insulting cover. And I don't think that it is an insulting cover. I just think that it's, I don't know. It's very weird, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
I think it's just the inevitable. They realize what happened in the past year. They can't ignore it. There is no ignoring it. You can't rewrite what happened this past year. We were talking about that perspective of the photographer. You are kind of, as Time Magazine or even as the public, you kind of look up to a guy that has gone through what Trump has gone through over these past eight years.
SPEAKER 17 :
and I think it's I don't think it I don't look at it as a backhanded compliment or you know what I mean anything the only reason I think that it's and I don't mean to like I'm sorry if I'm boring you guys because I'm obsessing over it but what the reason I bring it up is because it's so desaturated so is that is the desaturation because and I'm not saying this is to be mean he's oranger than this guy come on the dude has like super Scottish red hair It's like... Except it's not really blonde. It's definitely got red tint in it. And he's one of those people that when their hair... He doesn't really gray. It turns blonde. I had a grandmother who was as Irish as the day is long. That's where it comes from. And she had hair like Ronald McDonald. And she didn't go gray. It went blonde. It was real weird. He's got like the same thing. So... It's just super desaturated. He doesn't look defeated. He looks reflective. And I don't know. There's a lot to get into with this cover. And why I'm focusing on it so much is I'm trying to read the tea leaves as to what his presidential term, the start of it's going to be like. And every politics has been upended since 20. I would say since 2014, really. It really started getting upended in 2014, 2015. And then when he won and no one expected him to win. And then in 2020, when it was so close, no one knows what to expect. Every term has the only the only thing that's been predictable has been Biden. And even then, how bad he was was not as predictable. We all knew he was going to be bad, but we didn't know he was going to be as bad as, you know, I mean, my gosh, the joblessness, the inflation, the instability, the lack of, you know, I mean, any kind of focus on any kind of domestic issue, particularly manufacturing, all of that stuff. But This is I almost it almost seems like it's a relief because the left, I think, is relieved because they don't have to be yoked with Biden anymore. They don't have to make excuses for him. They don't have to apologize for him. They don't have to send surrogates out to clean up his messes. So I almost feel like they act like they have a reprieve. And in some respects, they're sort of grateful for it. Because they don't have anything else that they can use to stop the bleeding, so to speak, any other candidate of Biden. They don't have anyone ready to step up. They don't have anyone who can actually do the job. That's why they ran Kamala. And I honestly do think that they felt like they were going to lose. But they... They ran Kamala Harris because they had to run someone and they had no one else to run. And she's shallow and vapid enough to think that that was a compliment to her and that they actually believed in her ability to run when they didn't. They were just they needed a sacrifice. They knew that they were going to be feeding someone into the meat grinder. And that person had no hope of a political career after. And so they gladly sacrificed her. The irony of ironies, Democrats, you had people like James Clyburn who were demanding that they run a black woman when Democrats in reality knew that this was going to be the sacrificial candidate that had no hope and that it was going to be such a destructive presidential cycle that whoever it was, they were never going to have any hope of a political career after. And so they just ran her. How unbelievably fitting that they actually fed their own DEI policies to the meat grinder in this fashion. I've never seen such a cell phone in my ever-loving life. It is truly stunning how unbelievably ironic this all is. Really, it's truly stunning. So they were demanding, oh, we need, we want our black female candidate. And then turn around and they're like, okay. We'll let you have her. And they destroyed her. You're not even going to see her at the inauguration, I doubt. Which brings me back to this cover. To me, it spells relief. When you look at it, do you feel like they're exhaling? That's what I get out of it. It feels like they're exhaling. So what does this mean with the media covering him going into January? It's tricky. Think of how many newspapers endorsed him over Kamala or didn't make an endorsement. Like WAPO, right? They didn't make an endorsement. And they weren't the only ones to not make an endorsement. So think of this. The media coverage when he assumes office, I think they're actually going to be... I'm not saying this because I'm hopeful. I'm not. I have no hope. I am diogenous. I feel like they realize the economy is a mess, the border is a mess, and they're going to be supportive on those issues. And they realize they can't really do anything to him because he only has four years and he's termed out. I think that their ire, they're already retiring him with this magazine cover. Their ire is going to be turned towards everybody else. The bench. And this is one of the things that the media has been really bad at. So they don't know how to deconstruct the coalition that Republicans have built and they have not really hardcore attacked the Republican bench yet. I think this magazine covers them kind of like retiring him and they're reconciled to the idea that he's the president and they kind of feel relief because of Biden. But also they're going to go after everybody underneath him twice as hard because as soon as they stop being sad over losing, They're going to be vengeful. And that's when I think you're going to see it. Thoughts, Cain? I think that's how it's going to go. I think that it's going to be knives out like you've never seen. For Republican governors, leading Republican senators, leading Republicans in Congress, I think you're going to see a double coverage on them. That's my opinion.
SPEAKER 07 :
Just like when you put salt on a slug. And it writhes and seethes and screams like that's exactly what we're going to be seeing because it's not going to be easy to drain the swamp.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think so. And then when he starts going after Deep State, interesting. So I just, that cover, I was staring at that cover and I'm like, this is such an interesting cover because it's such a departure from the stuff that they usually do, right? It's such a departure. So interesting stuff. And their article, if you've read it, it's not, it's like they're trying not to be flattering But it was it's there. It's just a fascinating thing. I think that they're actually they don't want to admit that they like him. That's what I'm walking away with. They are happy to have somebody who understands business and they want to like him. But they know that they're on the left's team, so they can't like him. The whole article read like they kept having to walk it back. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But that was my take. And it just fascinated me. I just thought, this is so interesting. I'm going to have to talk about this with the radio folks tomorrow. All right. So coming up, we have all of the latest. That Luigi Mangione. So he's, I feel like he's like the next Joker. He's like the Joker. That's like the treatment he's getting, isn't it? Like apparently his inmates were yelling about his terrible conditions from jail. We're gonna get into that. We're also gonna get into those pardons, by the way, that Joe Biden has been issuing. Well, Lorraine caught the story from Financial Times that apparently some of them were Chinese nationals, including a pedophile. And it was a prisoner swap kind of thing. If you're looking for a convenient, affordable way to access medications and treatments you can trust, All Family Pharmacy has you covered. Whether it's the flu or parasites, cancer support, or general well-being, All Family Pharmacy's online service makes getting the medications you need hassle-free. With All Family, it's simple. You can choose the individual medications that best suit your needs or opt for one of their comprehensive treatment packages. designed to give you everything that you need in one convenient order. And every order comes with a doctor's prescription included. Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, or any other effective medications, they have it all. And you can get fast shipping with most order shipping in two to three business days. Medications start as low as $3 per capsule, making it really easy to take charge of your health without breaking the bank. No insurance needed. You can skip the paperwork and get the treatments you need directly. Stock up with their emergency preparedness bundles and access over 200 medications online anytime. Visit allfamilypharma.com slash Dana and use code Dana10 for 10% off of your entire order. That's allfamilypharma.com slash Dana, code Dana10.
SPEAKER 07 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 17 :
So puberty blockers are set to be banned indefinitely for under 18s across the UK. The health secretary says the emergency measures banning the sale and supply are going to be made indefinite. And that's that's good. That's very good news because we can't we can't be abusing this stuff and then chemically castrating people. it's just this is just insanity so this is a huge news this um let's see out of control welfare has stunted economic growth that's an actual headline from a newspaper who would have thought like i'm so shocked what yeah Welfare and regulation. They're saying that economic orthodoxies are tumbling. People are realizing that those policies don't work. But are they actually going to implement them? I mean, that's like the big thing. You guys are going to put them into put them into practice. Coffee prices are surging to the highest on record. This is the Arabian beans. They said that the I've accounted for what most of the global production. And their prices have jumped 80% this year. And that they're not the only place. They're saying that coffee brands are considering putting prices up in the new year also. Everything's been super expensive. But coffee roasters have been able to absorb a lot of those prices. Places like Black Rifle Coffee and that. And they said that... Some companies like Nestle, they've taken the hit from higher raw material prices to themselves. But they said all of that's kind of at a tipping point right now because the expense is still, I mean, it's still super expensive. And a lot of it's due to drought and then heavy rain. I know both of those things are factoring into the expense on all of it. Floyd Mayweather was attacked by a mob in a row over Israel and Gaza while he was jewelry shopping in London. Why would you pick a fight with Floyd Mayweather? You stupid idiot. So... Apparently, he got into an altercation at Hatton Garden and he was out shopping for jewelry. And I mean, it was doing some window shopping and a ton of people are in the street. A mob descended on him and he was apparent. I mean, he looked angry. He knows security. We're in the Capitol. They said that he was confronted. They bundled him out of a jewelry store into a waiting four by four. And they said that he wasn't touched during at any point. But the crowd was using racial slurs towards him. These are like pro-Gazan people using racial slurs towards him. And he said he was fine. There's nothing more to it. He was there for 48 hours and he did some quick shopping. And that was it. It's so crazy. So coming up, we've got some cultural stuff to talk about, including conservatism. Our partners that will bring you the program. It's our friends over at Black Rifle Coffee, the only coffee worth drinking because everything else is commie swill. Black Rifle Coffee has a new roast, their Freedom Roast. It's what the founders would have drank, would have drunk, would have drank. 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So the Freedom Roast Black Rifle Coffee, taste the other top shelf roasts as well. Whatever you decide, though, you get 20% off with Code Dana. 20% off using Code Dana at BlackRifleCoffee.com. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you at the bottom of the second hour. And, of course, you can watch us coast to coast. You can listen terrestrially. You can check us out, Channel 347, DirecTV. Also on X, Rumble, where the chat happens. YouTube. So we're everywhere. We're all over the place. Every state. So one of the things we were talking about was this first hour? No. First segment of this hour, right? Yeah. Yeah. was this Time Magazine cover of POTUS Elect and how it seemed to be, to me, this reluctant... sort of acceptance of the inevitable that because it was a oddly somewhat respectable cover that they gave to a Republican and I'm thinking oh my gosh don't get excited though everybody wants it don't get excited about that because it's the trash media I mean they're a bunch of jack wagons it's the trash media and I was thinking about this in context of right media left media how we got to this point and I read this really good piece the other day from a friend of mine, Mark Judge. We're going to have him on in a minute. But it's called The Coming Conservative Media Collapse. And I was I thought, oh, that's a very intentionally provocative title. Let's dive into this. And he's right. He gets into the conservative media structure, which definitely now has a formula and how they've got to find something else to kind of to focus on. They need to get back to art and culture and all of these other issues because people are tired of politics. I mean, even all of you out there in radio land, one of the things that we know when we go and survey all of our hundreds of affiliates across the country, people get tired of it. They get tired of politics. So you've got to shift. But that is not what that's not the incentive on which conservative media is built on. Not right now. Not anymore. So what are we going to do? My friend Mark Judge joins me and he is an author and also became infamous, famous or infamous during the Brett Kavanaugh. confirmation hearing. I almost said trial because it was like a trial where they were trying to assassinate him in the court of public opinion. And they dragged all of Brett Kavanaugh's friends in it. Every friend that the man ever had, they dragged through the mud, including Mark Judge, who joins me now on Skype. Mark, it's so good to be with you. There's a couple of things that I want to talk with you about. But starting with this, So you are, I think, spot on with your observance of the the new conservative media structure. And I would even go so far as to say there's even less investigative work because we're so used to playing defensively that I think we forgot how to do almost anything else. I kind of wanted to get your thoughts on this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. And if you remember when we were younger in like the 1980s, Dana, there was a whole infrastructure in a community that used to support and bolster and hold up up and coming artists in bands, in the fine arts and movies, you know, Martin Scorsese. There were little rock clubs like the 930 Club in D.C. where I lived, where you go to see bands like R.E.M. who are up and coming. And the point is there were support for these artists. And even though they were on a smaller scale back then – and I don't think conservatism has made similar investments. And post-election, we find ourselves with people sick of politics and saying, hey, I think I'm going to go see a movie. Who are the cool new bands now? I think I'll go to a jazz club. And that ecosystem is still largely controlled by the left. Um, and I can give specific examples pro of projects that if funded for a small amount would really get a lot of bang, but we just haven't worked that muscle. And I should add, you know, I'm not really blaming too much because conservatives were defending against communism and socialism and wokeness. So that was a full-time job, but we really need to start putting our money in culture more because I think as Andrew Breitbart knew that has a much longer term effect.
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, I completely agree. And that's one of the things that the right has always been kind of bad at. They do tons of white papers and think tanks and all this other stuff. Nobody cares about that. Nobody cares about those things anymore. It shifts. I wanted to share this graph that you this paragraph that you wrote in your piece. It's of a Chronicles magazine. You wrote yet what to do when the dog catches the car because you're talking about. all of the conservative outlets that have covered all of this stuff. And and this was good effort and it was for a good mission. You write yet what to do when the dog catches the car. The second era of Trump has ushered in new times, as actress and fellow Gen Xer Justine Bateman has noted. It's like a fog has lifted. Artists feel a sense of freedom that's escaped them for years. You noted a few years ago, the music critic for Washington Post, Chris Richards, announced that white bands should not cover songs by black artists. That sentiment now seems preposterous. It's like some of the rebel spirit of the 80s is back, something I think Bateman was sensing too. People are turning away from the screaming matches and back to culture. Even someone as conservative and interested in politics as I am can't watch any more shouting pundits on TV. It's over. So what's next?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I'll give you a very specific example. After the Kavanaugh nightmare, I wrote a book called The Devil's Triangle. You graciously gave me a blurb. I was radioactive at that time, and you said you'd give me a blurb, so I appreciate you so much for that. And as egocentric as it might sound, let me just quickly say, this is... a tremendous book about this nightmare I lived. It's a great book. Yeah, and right after all this happened, I got contacted by a Hollywood actor, a well-known actor, I will not say his name, and he said, well, how many offers has there been to turn this into a film? And I said, none. And he literally went... And he said, you know, here we have a psychological thriller. This is not a black and white conservative come to Jesus story. It's a story about a flawed protagonist who comes up against the American Stassi and there is evil. And he said, this is all the president's men are the parallax view with the little caddyshack thrown in. And he said, had you lied about your friend and thrown him under the bus, there wouldn't be one movie made about you. There'd be three.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so for the past six months, we've produced a treatment. We have a treatment of a film based on this book. And again, I don't mean to sound like it's about me because it's not. It's about the other people involved. And we have people in Hollywood reading this thing saying, OK, the election's over. This could be a great film, not a satirical film, not a very broad Christian film, although I'm a Christian. I love those kind of films. This could be a taxi driver or a film like that. And the actor said to me, $10 million, two nights on Netflix. He's been in movies with Johnny Depp. He knows what he's talking about. So we're sitting here thinking, okay, the election's over. This treatment is floating around Hollywood. The budget is loose change for Netflix, and it's a great story. Why won't someone make this movie? And I think I'm one of many, many people with similar stories.
SPEAKER 17 :
Do you think it's because Hollywood is terrified? They don't know. I think maybe for two reasons. They're worried about the backlash from the far left. That's sort of their base. But also they are so unfamiliar with not just so much conservatism, but that individualist ethos that they don't even know how to approach the material.
SPEAKER 03 :
They don't, and I'll quickly tell you, they're terrified of the material because since my book came out, I've written several articles about this in Chronicles and the Washington Examiner and elsewhere. Dana, Marty Baron, former editor of the Washington Post, wrote a memoir talking about me. NPR interviewed Christine Blasey Ford on air and reviewed her book, and I'm on social media calling these cowards out and saying, why won't you give me equal time? While you're a journalist who edited the Washington Post for 20 years, you talk about me in your book, I point to the mistakes you made, and you're too much of a coward to respond to me. So my point being is that if they're afraid, then Hollywood's really going to be afraid because they don't want to open this thing and say, oh, Christine Bozzi Ford and these other people were extorting Mark Judge, using honey traps and witness tampering, and he reveals all this in his book, The Devil's Triangle. There ain't no way we can make a movie about that. There's no way. And even if I said be sympathetic to people. I don't want to villainize anybody other than the politicians and the media. The kids I went to school with in the 80s, I don't want them demonized. But they are too chicken-esque. to face me on social media, much less in Hollywood. They're cowards. That's what it is.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, completely. We're talking with our friend Mark Judge, author of Devil's Triangle, and also he was dragged through the mud and unwillingly made infamous during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. You, in this piece, and I'm going to switch to the Hegseth stuff here in a moment, but I think you just really hit the nail on the head in a very classy way, because you say that conservatives are still badly outgunned by the left. I get the sense, and I was talking with a friend of mine who is like an associate editor at one of these conservative websites. And they were saying, oh, no, we're, conservatives are really doing well, you know, with X, now Elon Musk at X. And, you know, we're really balancing it all out. And I'm like, in what way? Like maybe in the news, but where in the culture are you balancing it out? And you touch on that. You said that The donor class never had any desire to put resources to work so we could compete in that manner. And that you said that, you know, it's not just, you know, being snarky Twitter gorillas and all of this stuff and focusing on stuff that Alec Baldwin says, but to penetrate the entertainment industry with deeper and more in-depth coverage and to create our own stuff. Is there anyone out there beside yourself that you think... is really that needs attention or that you could point to and say like this or like this or like this. I feel like we have so few.
SPEAKER 03 :
A hundred percent. A friend of mine named Paul Rowland, he is a writer for a conservative website. This is a perfect example. He made a movie called Exemplum. It's a black and white film about a priest who breaks bad. It's like Breaking Bad with a priest. And I'm Catholic. It's an awesome movie. I came across this thing last year. It's a great movie. Dana, the budget was $10,000. Wow. How does a movie get made for $10,000? That's crazy. It's called Exemplum. You can watch it for free. And this is a perfect example. And I contacted this guy and I said, why aren't... And he writes for a conservative website. He's Catholic. I said, why aren't conservatives propping you up and throwing money at you, dude? You wrote, produced, directed, and acted in this great movie. And he said, Mark, I'm getting nothing. So... I wrote about him. I interviewed him several times. I reviewed his movie, and my review was out there on social media and everything. And to this day, he and I talk, and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I keep saying, why aren't people throwing money at you, dude? You made this – it cost $10,000, and his rating is 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. This guy is a gifted young – conservative leaning filmmaker who made this great film about a priest and morality and Solzhenitsyn and all this cool stuff. And he can't get arrested. So go to example him and look him up. I don't have any stake in his movie, but he is the example I use.
SPEAKER 17 :
You also have a piece talking with our friend Mark Judge. over at Splice Today, Pete Hegseth will be confirmed. This is a really great piece. And you get into what changed what you think changed Joni Ernst's mind, because she I do disagree with some of the narrative out there that she was leading this campaign against him, but she definitely was not on not on board. She was very hesitant, I think, even to kind of like delve into it publicly. Tell me about this, because you have a theory.
SPEAKER 03 :
I have a theory. It's just a hunch. I'm a good journalist, so I don't want to speculate too much. But Joni Ernst changed on a dime. She abruptly began to support Pete Hegseth. And long story short, I think Pete Hegseth, like myself during Kavanaugh, was getting extorted. And he might have been getting honey trapped, and he might have been getting threatened. And I think Joni Ernst found that out. I think she had a meeting with him and the FBI. Because our situations are very similar. It's like I had people accusing me of drugging girls and gang rape, and I was getting served for crimes in states I've never been in. It was an absolute nightmare. And as I reveal in The Devil's Triangle, the whole thing was an extortionate plot. Now, Hegseth's... alleged incident happened in 2017, which is right around the Kavanaugh thing. And my speculation is a survivor of sexual abuse like Joni Ernst, who's a tough, independent, strong woman, doesn't change on a dime because Trump threatened her. She's far too strong for that. That's like telling you what to do, Dana. It just does not work. And so I'm thinking, well, what if she had a private meeting with Hegseth? Hegseth, who is saying, I look forward to the FBI investigation. I'm looking forward to that. What if she found out that he was being extorted? That would explain quite a lot, right? Because a sexual assault survivor doesn't just go, oh, they're calling me names. I'm going to support him now. B.S. I'm convinced she heard something. I'm convinced somebody said to her, hey, look, this was a scam. 2017, Mark Judge was getting honey trapped and getting extortionate calls. Is it possible they were doing it to him also? Yes, I think it is.
SPEAKER 17 :
I think I think he will ultimately, depending on if this process goes through, because there's been so much palace intrigue. I think most of these individuals are going to be confirmed in the Senate. We've got to have you back to talk more about it. We're running out of time right now, but our friend Mark Judge, and you can follow him on X at Mark G. Judge as well. Get his book, Devil's Triangle, and you can go and read his pieces as well. It's all linked up on, we'll have it linked as well. Mark, it's so good to see you. We've got to have you back again.
SPEAKER 03 :
Danny, you gave me the blurb when I was radioactive, man. I love you. I will never forget that.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know what? I think the country owes you a lot of gratitude because you held strong and showed what it was like to be resolute in the fire. So you really gave a good example to a lot of people for them to follow. So I appreciate you.
SPEAKER 03 :
It's an American Stassi and they can get bent for all I care.
SPEAKER 17 :
Gosh, it's the most Gen X thing so far that's been said today. God love you. Merry Christmas to you, my friend.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you. Good to see you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Merry Christmas. Thanks, Dana. It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 17 :
So a Florida man is threatened to light a homeowner's car on fire with a Molotov cocktail, said police in Cape Coral. A man was arrested over the weekend. Police said that he pulled out again with the swords. He pulled out a sword. Okay, stop, stop, stop. Full stop. Is that a thing in Florida? Every month I have two to three stories. They're brand new, different from each other, different parts of Florida where someone has a sword or a machete. Floridians, what is up? Do you all just like have swords? Is that a thing? What in the world? So this guy had a sword and a Molotov cocktail, and he wanted to make a point during an argument with a Cape Coral resident. Cape Coral police said that they got reports of a disturbance at the victim's home. They met with the homeowner, a 36-year-old man. He showed up in a driveway holding a glass bottle with a cloth wrapped around the top. He threatened to throw it, which he claimed was a Molotov cocktail at one of the vehicles in the driveway and lighted on fire. He also had a sword, and he used the sword to tap on the windshield of a vehicle during the exchange. It was all captured on video by ring doorbell camera. And the police located the guy. They asked him. He said, no, I just I went to go ask about the disrespect to a family member. And then he was arrested, taken to Lee County Jail, charged with violating the law that they have about manufacturing firebombs. OK, there you go. But the sword, though, and they was it actually Molotov cocktail? They never really said they never really confirmed that it was. But, you know, let's see this. This Florida man... Yeah, let's go ahead and do this. So... Apparently, I don't think this guy was supposed to be gator hunting. And he was. And it was a company that showed this guy and his friends, they went down to hunt some gators. But the guy's wife apparently did not know. And there's videos, but you can't, there's a lot of cussing in them. But the guy apparently was, his wife didn't know that they were all having a little boys trip and they were all drinking and hunting gators. And then a gator bit his hand. So he's probably going to have to come up with a story as to how to tell his wife. It was done by Salty Adventures. And this Isaiah Trujillo and his friends, they were hunting gators. And then he got his hand bit. And apparently he told his wife he was worried more about his wife finding out. And he had said in the video, don't wake Katie up, whatever you guys do. He didn't bite that hard. It's like trying to hide it because he didn't want his wife to know he was out drinking and gator hunting. She probably would want to come. Stay with us. Third hour next.
SPEAKER 19 :
We have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels. And importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.
SPEAKER 17 :
So you're telling me there are drones? That's what I heard. All I heard is that there are drones out there and they're going to come get us. That's all I heard from the Iranian mothership. They're going to. That's all I heard from John Kirby. You heard him say it, right? That's what I heard. Because, see, whatever they tell you, it's the opposite. It's the opposite of that. Whatever they're telling you. No, no, no. This is the Inflation Reduction Act. You're going to pay out your butt. This is the Inflation Reduction Act. That's what it does. It's going to actually increase inflation. You're all going to be homeless and eating cat food in the desert. That's what that is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got to listen between the lines. So when he's going, there's no evidence of foreign-based involvement. It's totally the Iranians. It's no evidence at all whatsoever. There's tons of evidence. There's none. It's not drones. It's just lawfully manned aircraft armed drones. That's that's what I'm hearing whenever he talks. Right. I feel like he goes. He said that they are unable to corroborate any of the reports. Why are they mysterious drone sightings? They're not mysterious in that we see them. They're there. There they are. What are you doing about it, right? But can I also just put the balls of the guy who came out and was off. So let me tell you what, everybody. It's drones, and it's from Iran. They got a mothership off the coast of Jersey. They're coming for you, right? The giant beans of that guy just coming right out and saying it to Harris Faulkner on like the late morning Fox show.
SPEAKER 07 :
Let me ask you this. Who do you believe more? John Kirby, who we just heard?
SPEAKER 17 :
No, I'm not going to believe him.
SPEAKER 07 :
Or the guy that was talking to Harris Faulkner yesterday.
SPEAKER 17 :
Van Drew. Yeah, him. I believe that dude. Yeah, I think so, too. By the way, welcome back. Top of the third hour. Dana Lash with you. When John Kirby talks, I don't believe him. At all. I don't even know if I believe his breathing. That's how little I trust. How little I trust. I mean, he might be an alien in a John Kirby suit. I don't know. I feel like he is wearing the tie that he wore today. What is that tie? It's like weird, a weird fat tie that's green and then like gray and blue. It's just weird. Don't do it again. Don't do that. So I immediately and there was apparently they didn't have any follow up questions after he said that there were no follow up questions. Mm hmm. Yeah. I was more interested in the sign language lady than I was him because I always look like they're dancing. She was really excited. That one. So I don't know. I just, you know, I just I just don't don't believe him. How about that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Also, because we know that there are FAA regulations, right? So if these are lawfully manned aircraft, they would have flight numbers, right? Or they'd have some FAA tags or some sort of- Yeah, you've got to register your drone and some stuff. They have to squawk when they're in the air. So he's either lying or they don't honestly know. Or he's lying. Or they don't have a clue.
SPEAKER 17 :
He's either lying or- He's lying.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's one of the two.
SPEAKER 17 :
It's one of the two. Right. So you've got some options. You know, lying or lying. It's one of the two. Yeah, the moment, I still, that was, I will never forget that guy going, well, let me tell you what. I'm just going to come out with it. It's drones. It's Iran. I thought my jaw hit the floor. What is this guy doing? And you had to know that they were watching and going, oh, so mad about it. Right. But for real, though, I mean, it could be.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think, you know, it's the same administration that allowed Chinese spy balloons not once, but two different times. Yeah. So I don't I have no faith in what's currently happening as far as who's guarding our airspace.
SPEAKER 17 :
Can I also add that the idea of, and remember, Iran has this business arrangement now. They bought all this drone stuff from China. But if you were going to lie about something, This is a very in-depth thing to lie about. And the way in which he did it, you're an elected member of Congress. You're not just going to make up. Let's see. What can I tell him? Well, hell, it was an Iranian mothership. Yeah, that was it. And there's all these drones coming out of it. You're just not going to make that up. That's not something you're just going to make up. That is so oddly specific and so wild. And he was on television in the middle of the day just saying it. So I, it's so crazy. I believe him. It's that crazy. That's where we are now, right? Satire is people being real. And that guy, he sounds crazy, but that's the truth. That's it. And then John Kirby's lying. So I just, you know, I'm just telling you, that's how I view this. Of all the things to say, and he's like, well, I'll be real with you. It's an Iranian mothership. They got it off the coast of Jersey. That's where it is. Good heavens. Just saying. That's kind of wild. Park a destroyer out there. So I don't know why we would deny it. I mean, if it's so well known that that guy knew about it and then informed the rest of the country, you realize America just looks dumb. If the Biden administration, if they're like, no, no, there's nothing to see here. Ignore those things in the sky. If I was Iran, I would just send more out just to make them look like, well, look, yeah, you thought these were here's a ton of them. I mean, we do got to shoot them down. They need to call the good old boy network. That should be the first move. I mean, I would be putting, so I don't know if you guys know this, but maybe we can get this implemented during the Trump administration. So if this is happening during the Trump administration, you know, maybe he can go out, you know, they would signal for Batman. And what are they, what's the light that they put in the sky can? It's a bat, right? Although I got to tell you, I always thought it looked like clown teeth. I have to work really hard to see the bat because all I do is see clown teeth first. Is that weird? It doesn't look like a bat to me immediately. It's clown teeth. And then I have to go, oh, bat.
SPEAKER 07 :
Maybe some clown trauma we'll have to look into later.
SPEAKER 17 :
I don't know. That's just, you know. But you could do like a silhouette of a mullet. And you could blast it into the sky. And that's the GOB alert, the good old boy alert. And so what happens is when you blast that silhouetted mullet into the sky, then all the GOBs know, oh, it's time to go for America. Let's go get her done. And then they all descend and they know where to go. And then they're just, you know, skeet, skeet, skeet, getting all that stuff out of the sky. I'm just saying.
SPEAKER 07 :
That is actually brilliant.
SPEAKER 17 :
That is actually brilliant.
SPEAKER 07 :
We need to get Patch Ops.
SPEAKER 17 :
Damn, why am I not? Like, I mean, I should be like making policy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. I think Patch Ops would have a decent.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good me. Good me.
SPEAKER 07 :
Emblem or patch that would look good in the light.
SPEAKER 17 :
The G.O. Boynet. Yeah, like a silhouetted mullet. The G.O.B.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good old boy network. The B has like a mullet.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
The G.O.B.
SPEAKER 17 :
Ooh, the B is the mullet. Nice, Kane. Thinking of that branding.
SPEAKER 07 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 17 :
And then that's when you know it's, you know, you got to go out there and get all them drones out. You could take care of it like that. You wouldn't even have to compensate these fellers for their ammo. They would gladly do it. They would gladly do it. I mean, you tell people, y'all want to go shoot some Iranian drones out of the sky? Well, hell yes. They will set their beer down for that. That's a big thing. You know that, like, put it down and get up. That's... They would do that in a heartbeat. You'll know it, too. So I'm just saying that that needs to happen. Just the silhouetted mullet in the sky. Oh, if they put out the good old boy call and then you would have like all across America, you know, the good old boys are getting their superhero suits on, which is just their work boots and their flannel. Let's be real. That's like their superhero costume. And they go out and they get her done. That's it. You know, no Batmobile. You just got your trucks and all that. You don't need no Batmobile. You got your four wheelers. You have your trucks. You don't need no Batmobile. You don't need none of that. Just get out there and get her done. Oh, man. I'm telling you, that needs to happen.
SPEAKER 07 :
At least a TV show. This sounds fun.
SPEAKER 17 :
You could also use the GOB network down at the border. You know, skeet, skeet, skeet, them coyotes coming across. I'm just saying, you could put that silhouetted mullet in the desert sky and everybody sees it. Oh, it's the call.
SPEAKER 07 :
You need to make good old boys great again.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, right. Make good old boys great again. Put that silhouetted mullet in the sky and they know it's time to come. They know what it is. They know what it is. And the siren call, free bird. Right? That's it. And if you want to get into their secret, this just keeps going. If you want to get into the secret G-O-B-H-Q, you got to open up your Zippo and just flick it on and hold it up. Muhammad Freeburn, you get in. It's that super simple. We just solved that problem right there. Look at us solving world problems. I actually, I'm not even joking. That would be great. And then you would have all these other foreign powers like, did you see what those crazy ass people did? They put a mullet silhouette in the sky and all these people and flannel came out everywhere with shotguns. Like what in the world? They'd be too afraid to try a red dawn here. Oh, heck no. Skeet, skeet, skeet. Heck no. All right. So I got a couple of things. We got the pardons. We got to get these part. Get the pardons. I'll talk about this because apparently so Joe Biden had like a record number of pardons and commutations. Well, guess what? Part of that included a prisoner swap where the U.S. and China apparently exchanged prisoners and Beijing has kept quiet about the identities of the returned Chinese nationals, the repatriation of at least three of them. They were convicted of espionage and other crimes. Apparently one was a pederast. And I don't know. Yeah. And apparently Shanlin Jin was sentenced to 97 months in prison. Jin pled guilty. Plano police were going they were going through his computer and they and this was Dallas Morning News. He attended SMU. Forty seven thousand images of underage like child pornography images found on his computer. So I don't know why. And that's one of the apparently one of the people that was provided with clemency is that guy. Why isn't he dead? Immediate murkification. Boom. You're done. You're out. If you're a pederast, you're dead. Golly. So Chinese nationals, one of them is a pedophile and he gets he gets clemency and they get repatriated back to China. Now, it's interesting how some of the media is not really talking about that too much. They're just saying he had some disturbing, disturbing material. No, he literally had child pornography on his computer. He was sentenced in 2021. And there were there were so much of it. Police actually apparently, according to Dallas Morning News, they stopped going through it. They confirmed over like, you know, 14. I mean, so many different actually was over 1300 images that he had. At one point. And then after they did the full. I guess. Tally. It was over 47,000. That's insane. And he gets. He gets clemency. And he's repatriated. And apparently records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Show his status is not in federal custody anymore. Why is this guy. I mean Dallas Morning News. They reported on this guy in 2022. Why was he chosen? over others in U.S. custody? Why is an actual pedophile chosen to get repatriated back over other Chinese nationals? I'm very curious. So that's and there's a lot of outrage over that.
SPEAKER 07 :
And now all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 17 :
Air passenger numbers to top 5 billion in 2025. Wow. 5 billion for the first time next year. The sector's revenues are going to break the trillion dollar barrier, according to global aviation body IATA. Passenger numbers are expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, a 6.7% rise compared to 24, and the first time that the number of those passengers has exceeded the 5 billion mark. And revenues are up 4.4%, so maybe they can stop making the seats small. Is that possible? Can we stop doing that? A woman won $1,380 for staying smartphone free for eight hours. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Who wasted their money on this? Who did this?
SPEAKER 1 :
$1,380.
SPEAKER 17 :
In China, she completed a public welfare challenge that tested people's ability to stay away from their smartphones for eight hours. Oh, that's it? So they had no smartphones, no sleeping, no distractions like books or movies. They had to lie flat the entire time and avoid displaying signs of anxiety that they monitored through a wristband. So they just laid there for eight hours. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's like $167 an hour.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, China. I don't know. There's... Oh, oh, oh, what? There's a holiday Guinness shortage? I'm sorry, what? What? Pubs are warning that Guinness is limited and it could cripple their business. Everybody's stockpiling the Guinness. That's the issues affecting Guinness suppliers. And in fact, a lot of the pubs in the UK, they're sounding the alarm. In fact, they said they're getting fewer barrels a week from the main distributors. And one guy who normally gets 12 50 liter barrels a week said he only got one barrel this week. Because of the company, the company that owns Guinness, they have allocation limits that they're imposing now. They wanted to make sure that there's enough stock to meet demand over Christmas. They said it's been an exceptional consumer demand for Guinness. So me and the pubs are worried. They're like, we don't have bad bones. Oh, my gosh. A Guinness problem. Who drank it all? No, they they said that they are. There are people who are trying to be a Guinness influencer. And that's a lot of younger people are drinking Guinness. So I'm glad that a lot of younger people are drinking like a good, decent beer instead of the stuff that you wash your beer glasses in. But that's crazy. And they think that a lot of it is the influencer culture. So they've been drinking it all. That's what it is. We have a lot more on the way. Stick with us.
SPEAKER 04 :
Subscribe to the Dana Show podcast because who says you can't make fun of people while staying informed on your own personal time? Subscribe on YouTube, Apple or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 14 :
Do you think it would be wise of President Biden to preemptively pardon any potential targets? What about your wife, Hillary Clinton? She apparently is on Kash Patel's list.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. Well, they got a problem with her because, first, she didn't do anything wrong. Of course. Second, she followed the rules exactly as they were written. Third, Trump's State Department, Trump's State Department found... Can you not lift this up? Remember how the emails were such a big issue in 2016? Trump's State Department found that Hillary sent and received exactly zero classified emails.
SPEAKER 17 :
That's yeah, that's a lie. That's a big, giant, fatty McFat lie. Number one. And number two, can he not lift his head up any higher than that? Why was his it looked didn't it look like he was he was suffering under the weight of his eyelids? He was like trying to. Geez. I followed all the rules. I mean, she followed all the rules. She did all those things, followed the rules. She didn't, though. And that's what an IG report actually discovered. And in fact, the DOJ just declined to go after her, even though they could have. There's definitely legal recourse to do so. And her claim, I mean, for crying out loud, even the Washington Post said that what Bill Clinton just said was a lie. Of course, they said it originally when she was stating it, you know, years ago. She said the fact is that I had zero emails that were classified. They they said that was a lie. So it wasn't just. I mean, ABC even was explaining how she deleted 33 emails on her private server, how she absolutely did receive classified information. So for him just saying, I would love to be able to just be like, nuh-uh. And then knowing that you have such a sycophant, so many sycophants in the press, no one's ever going to question you on it. They're never going to say, well, there's not going to be any kind of follow-up. No. Nope. Not going to happen. Golly, is he, can he not raise his head? You saw him. He was like this. He's up there. I'm trying to, if you're not watching the simulcast, I'm leaning my head over like a cocktail shrimp.
SPEAKER 07 :
He looks like he's looking under the desk. That's weird.
SPEAKER 17 :
I wonder if he thinks there's going to be another close but no cigar underneath there. You know, he's used to stepping under the table. He is Trump's age. That is weird, too. He's Trump's age. And why is there such a difference? Being Democrat and being old, you don't age well as an old Democrat. Old Democrats do not age well. Right? Isn't that weird? It's weird. I don't know. Just the whole thing. But he could not even raise his head up. So that's a lie. A couple of other things I want to make sure that we're hitting here because I think... So this is one... The FBI had 26 sources in D.C. on January 6th. What? Oh, yeah, that's what they're reporting now. Although Politico is trying to say, well, not really, really. They had 26 confidential human sources on January 6th, a majority of them of the and apparently with a majority of those individuals entering the restricted area of the Capitol during disturbances that day. Twenty six. Confidential human sources who were there, who entered the Capitol. And then there were an additional 13 confidential human sources around who were in the perimeter there at the Capitol. Hmm. Now they said that they, none of the CHSs who entered the Capitol or a restricted area have been prosecuted to date. Huh. Huh. Now, the report, this report, and it's from the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, the IG report found that several of those CHSs, what they call the Confidential Human Sources, provided the Bureau with information on the electoral certification process ahead of time. One had been in contact with members of one group, what they call a far-right group. The... Evidence, the IG found no evidence that the FBI deployed undercover agents within the crowds, but they had all kinds of sources. They had all kinds of confidential human sources. Huh. Kane, I, they haven't been prosecuted, but the ones who were right with them were prosecuted.
SPEAKER 07 :
What's up with that? Beyond to the fullest extent of the law. Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. I mean, that's kind of interesting. They said that they had, I don't know if I believe that they had no undercover agents, by the way.
SPEAKER 07 :
This reminds me of what they did with Gretchen in Michigan.
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, Big Gretch, the entrapment? Oh, completely.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's like that, where they put these confidential human sources in and they just start doing these things. And people know that you get a riotous sort of response when groups of people are seen doing what a group of people is doing. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER 17 :
Trump has said he's going to pardon all of the J6 defendants. He says in his interview, he said, quote, I'm going to do a case by case. And if they were nonviolent, I think they've been greatly punished. He says, yeah, I'm going to look and see if there were some that were really out of control. And he goes, but we're going to do it quickly. And we're going to start in the first hour that I get into office.
SPEAKER 07 :
That's huge, actually.
SPEAKER 17 :
That is super huge. And remember, there were only a tiny amount of prosecutions for the riots in Minneapolis. Yes. And they went on for weeks. They cost half a billion dollars in damage. Two people were killed. And there's no comparison. There's just absolutely no comparison. I wanted to switch gears. So this was apparently they're selling parts of our border wall. For like $5.
SPEAKER 1 :
$5.
SPEAKER 17 :
I'm trying to find this story that I had. I tweeted it out. Here it is. I tweeted it out. So apparently their government is auctioning off our border wall materials for $5. And yeah, it's an online auction. And it's just like huge, massive sections of the border wall that they're auctioning off. And for $5. How are they selling something that they didn't buy? Yeah. How does that work? I'm curious.
SPEAKER 07 :
Where's that money going to go once they do sell it?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, yeah, exactly. Where's it going to go? If they do sell it. Yeah. One day. Exactly. That's the million dollar question. So this they're selling. I mean, it looks like the vertical fence. I don't want to say I guess posts. Is that what this is? They're selling it post by post for five dollars. Yeah. It's not like a section of the wall. It's it looks like it's just different. posts? Why do they have all different pictures of the same group of posts? I'm curious.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Is it not a mile's worth of posts for $5? That's what I thought it was.
SPEAKER 17 :
I keep seeing different things, but my question, though, is Again, remember what we talked about last hour with the GOB network, the good old boy network and how you could just put a silhouetted mullet in the sky like Batman and call for the good old boys to come and shoot down them Iranian drones. Well, could you not do the same thing here at the border? Put that silhouetted muzzle mullet into the sky and at night and then everybody comes down there and they can help. Because we could I mean, we could buy the fence. with again because we already bought it once with our tax dollars and put it together down there right yeah i mean theoretically you could do that i'm just saying uh one of one of our radio listeners uh who's hysterical valeria she said this might sound like appropriation but they are my people so i can say this she says a couple of kegs and i'll bet i can find some real cheap labor so we could technically buy them and then build them at the constructed at the border right look at it like this it's like a giant adult lego kit The border wall, right? Put it together down there. Speaking of the border, I dropped some audio for you in Slack. But this thing, and Lorraine notes too, Trump should not have to pardon most of the J6ers real quick because Fisher v. U.S. wipes out the charge that most of them were jailed over. That's fascinating. I want to come back to that tomorrow. That's very interesting. But it's the justice system in D.C., she notes. This was an audio soundbite. So Dick Durbin, and this is all being leveraged to use against Trump and his proposals for immigration and specifically deportation for people who are in the country illegally, things like that. So this is Dick Durbin who is questioning. This is like one of these hearings. He's questioning this guy. This is the Judiciary Committee, and it's a DACA recipient. And this guy is a DACA recipient, and he is like a grown man. And I want you to listen. It's like a little over a minute. I want you to listen to the soundbite. Foday Ture is his name, and he's a prosecutor. And there's something very interesting to note here. Just listen to this. Listen to this exchange between the both of them.
SPEAKER 18 :
Mr. Ture, are you undocumented? Pardon me, say it again. Yes, Senator. And why are you undocumented?
SPEAKER 01 :
I came here from a civil unrest. I had no choice. My life was in danger. My mom told me the story when I was trying to get my driver's license. How old were you when you came? I came here when I was seven years old. What do you do today? I'm a prosecutor. I represent victims of crimes and go after heinous people that have committed crimes against the Mormons family.
SPEAKER 18 :
You've talked about Ms. Moran's situation a minute or so earlier, but the perpetrator of the crime against her daughter, Rachel, would be the type of person that you would prosecute? Yes, Senator. I think there is a fundamental difference we're being asked to acknowledge here. Is there a difference between Mr. Toure and the animal who attacked Ms. Moran's daughter? Of course there is. This man for a living is prosecuting criminals. He's a criminal. This other individual is a clear criminal with a record. When we say massive deportation, should we consider them the same because they're both undocumented?
SPEAKER 17 :
So here's the problem. This guy is a grown man. I want to know how someone gets to be a prosecutor if you don't have a social security number and you don't have, you know, like actual documentation. And he's a criminal prosecuting criminals. The grace ended when he never went to go and get the proper visa. He never... The grace is gone because he never went and did that. Was it H-1B? He never went and got the proper visa. He could have started that process at any point. And he was also, because he's a DACA recipient, he was protected from deportation under the law. He could have started when he was filling out forms to go to college, when he was going to get his driver's license. I mean, hell, he could have started it there. He could have at any point started the process to become legal citizen and he chose to not do that so you can say that he's making for his living a career prosecuting criminals but he himself is a criminal because he never followed the law to become a legal citizen in the United States even though he had ample opportunity to do so so at some point that That deniability, him being brought over when he was a child by his parents, that I totally understand. That's not his fault. But when he became an adult and he knew that he was brought illegally and that he could be protected from deportation as a DACA recipient, only if he just filled out the paperwork and he just started the process, everything would be okie dokie. He chose to not do that. So at that point, he willingly chose to be a criminal. That's how that works. So he can prosecute criminals, but he himself is a criminal. And that's the difference. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. And make sure you sign up for Substack, chapter and verse. Lots of good stuff that comes out over there, including Lorraine's latest write-up about all of the legal activity that you may have missed last week in legal. So you're going to want to see that as well. I wanted to play audio soundbite 19. Antony Blinken had to... He apologized to these families... in Afghanistan. And he finally admits only now after Biden is on his way out that they bear some culpability in this. Listen to this.
SPEAKER 05 :
As I said, our thoughts are with all of the Gold Star families. They're with the State Department and USAID employees who lost their lives over the course of 20 years of our military involvement in Afghanistan. And I think today, especially of the 13 heroes that we lost at Abbey Gate, And I deeply regret that we did not do more and could not do more to protect them. And to those families who are here with us today, you're in my thoughts. I wish that Nicole was here with us today. I'm deeply sorry that she's not.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know, this is so late in coming. He says, you know, you're my thoughts and my prayers. I regret that we did not do more and could not do more to protect them. Well, you could have. I mean, it's that you just didn't. It's not about that there wasn't anything else that you could do. It's that you just chose not to do what you could. And that's the truth of it. They knew that the terrorists who blew them up, they knew that he was a terrorist. They knew he was affiliated with Taliban. They knew that he had an explosive on him. They knew that he had been doing, like, dry runs on the gate. They knew all of this stuff. In fact, the trial with the families, I have a very dear friend that worked with the families legally. And... From what I understand, they were very well aware that this guy was a threat, that something was going to happen. They were anticipating this. And I think it just shows you the strength of those 13 servicemen and women that they stood their ground. They stayed. They were following orders and they knew it was coming. Can't even imagine that feeling. Ask me again while the military has a tough time recruiting. No amount of messaging is going to wipe that up. You need new leadership. Top down. Today in stupidity came.
SPEAKER 07 :
Speaking of new leadership, cut three one. Dan Goldman, who's a representative, says that Chris Wray, head of the FBI who resigned yesterday, should have waited for Trump to fire him. These are the people we're dealing with. Listen to this.
SPEAKER 12 :
Christopher Wray wanted to do what was best for the FBI. That is not what is probably best, or I would say what is best for the country. I would have much rather that he waited and made Donald Trump actually justify firing him.
SPEAKER 07 :
I'm sorry, I've always thought that Dan Goldman's a clown, an absolute clown.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, when is he not? There was never any alternative to think about.
SPEAKER 07 :
But his noting that change for leadership is absolutely needed. Christopher Wray out of there is exactly what we need.
SPEAKER 17 :
Exactly. Yeah, completely. So this is going to be very, very, very interesting as we move towards January. That's what we're all waiting for. Folks, tomorrow is Friday. Make sure you sign up for Substack, chapter and verse. Find us on YouTube and Facebook. Like and subscribe. We will be back with you tomorrow to get you set up for the weekend.
The spotlight is on Kash Patel, a name gaining traction as a potential successor at the FBI. Understand the journey of Patel from a high-profile political aide to a key figure poised to take the helm in American national security. As the conversation evolves, the episode broadens out to discuss economic reforms, DOJ leak investigations, and the delicate balancing act of power between governmental branches. Prepare yourself for an in-depth analysis of current American political dynamics, wrapped with audience interactions and expert opinions.
SPEAKER 08 :
Breaking today on Sekulow, Chris Wray, the head of the FBI, surrenders to Trump, says he will resign before Inauguration Day. What does this mean for the FBI?
SPEAKER 11 :
Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hello and welcome to Sekulow. So I guess he didn't want to be fired by Donald Trump. So Christopher Wray, who was initially put in place by Donald Trump in those, again, that era where, again, President Trump was a new president. You're trying to find good fits that can quickly be confirmed and trying to kind of counter Trump. Comey with someone with similar credentials to Comey and unfortunately what happened there was Chris Wray now I wouldn't say became another Comey to some extent but he did order and prove the raid on the former president's and now president-elect's home So at that point, you think about judgment. And it's not just because, hey, he did this to President Trump. He also did this to people who were pro-life activists and was showing up their doors with guns. And remember, they did this to radical traditional Catholics. That was all done by the FBI. Christopher Wray is the lead. So it's a good move. Obviously, I think it opens the door to justice. where you look at the difference between a Kash Patel and when you go back to Christopher Wray, who honestly, in those congressional hearings, Logan, to me, every time I would see Christopher Wray, I was kind of like, that's not instilling much confidence in the FBI.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I think even though he wasn't necessarily Comey, but he became a pretty toxic figure, became a name that you kind of, our audience would react to in a negative way.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. Yeah. Some ways less because it didn't lead to basically an attempt to remove Trump from office.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it more became an annoyance. Someone, when you heard the name, you knew that there was something that felt political was going to happen. They were trying to bar him from actually being able to run.
SPEAKER 08 :
And that was their big move there. Convicted felon, blah, blah.
SPEAKER 09 :
But here's what you have. You have Chris Wray saying, hey, before the end of the term...
SPEAKER 08 :
I am gonna get out of here and of course there's a lot of reasons that he'd want to do that yes one is there could have there's a threat of a potential constitutional showdown because the FBI director is supposed to be independent you're not supposed to be able to fire them I think the current Supreme Court would say anybody in the executive branch who was appointed by a president can be fired by a president doesn't matter which president appointed them they're not part of the bureaucracy you don't have to show any wrongdoing at all you could just say This doesn't work. And there's so many conflicts now. How on earth, if you're Christopher Wray, could you really be sitting across with President Trump, knowing the fact that you've been trying to go after him, allowing others to go after him as well, to the point where you raided his home, faked the photos of where documents were, all over pieces of paper that you didn't give his team time to even put together. So goodbye, Christopher Wray. Then we bring in then Kash Patel and individuals like that. And I will say this, I think because of the disdain about some of these agencies, Logan, someone like Kash Patel, who they wanted to make in this controversial figure, is hitting the Senate and they're realizing he's had every job leading up to this that would qualify you to be an FBI agent. They just don't like the fact that, like most of them, he's politically active.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, he's someone who has been a loud voice for a number of years now, really through the last four years or so. As if Eric Holder was not. The rumble generation, I guess. He's kind of one of those guys who's come up and has become one of those names, one of those social media names that you hear that you maybe don't know about his true background. Look, I'll be one of the people who say that. I knew Kash Patel as a... As an influencer, if you will, as a political voice online, I didn't know all about his background and that he is qualified for this position. So when the first thing came up that he was going to be nominated, I was like, oh, that's interesting. And then, of course, you do your research, you realize, okay, he's an incredibly qualified person.
SPEAKER 08 :
Folks, we need your support. This is going to be a lot of work. One, getting these nominations through. We do a lot of that. You know, we're working on Tulsi's nomination as we speak. You can sign that petition at ACLJ.org. But we also need your financial support so we can double down on that government affairs work in Washington, D.C., and make sure that the right people are being appointed. So donate today. Be part of our Faith and Freedom Challenge. Your gift will be doubled. So important, the impact these donations make for the ACLJ for the entire next year. Donate at ACLJ.org right now. We'll be right back. Back to Sekulow. So I want to take your calls on this 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. There's a lot to talk about there with Christopher Wray resigning. And I think I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. So Time Magazine names President Trump. Person of the Year. He could reshape the country. What I am hoping a little bit more is that he is reshaping the Washington, D.C. bureaucracy while at the same time focusing on how to keep Americans safe from the drug cartels, from fentanyl, and also keep our economy secured where we're not the ones who are sending all these high-tariff imports into the U.S. and not putting enough tariffs on outside companies as well, and those fights. I mean, the goal here is keep America safe and then get Americans back on track financially. And you could do that very quickly. Stock market's already doing that. But you could do that very quickly if we get interest rates down and if the prices of things start to fall. I think you'd also see, Logan, less and less people who aren't able to buy their first home. Yeah, I think if that gets- It's not the price of the home. It's what the mortgage ends up being.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. You end up being able to spend. I mean, I know this from personal knowledge is I purchased a home back in, I guess it was 2015. Yeah. And if I was just to purchase that same home at the same price, my mortgage would be nearly double, if not that. I mean, it's just is what it is. And it makes it impossible to even consider moving or coming up with options. My wife and I decided we're going to redo our house because we can't really, really look at anywhere to move that would be any, upgrade it would be not even moving to the same even with the fact that be easy to sell your house in our market sell it with no problem but then where you're going I think a lot of people have this sort of problem and they're looking to a Trump administration to address and fix some of these big economic issues that are hindering growth from a lot of young people who are trying like you said my young people by the way I mean people even in their 30s who are trying to make that next step in their life in their career whether that home kind of a place where you're based yeah
SPEAKER 08 :
And again, that doesn't work for everybody anyways, but we know so many people wish they could, are working hard, and have the salaries that over 10 years ago... Would have been no problem to purchase a home. Probably a home that they didn't even imagine that they could purchase. But I've had one of my mortgage payments that wasn't locked in has doubled. So, I mean, it went from, I think it was, I'll just say to people, the difference between $2,000 a month and $5,500 a month. That's a big difference. It's a rental property, so... Getting that back. I mean, so people are being hurt. There's a lot to do, but we have to clean up Washington first. Yeah, absolutely. People should hear from Christopher Wray.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, and phone lines are open also at 1-800-684-3110. We should hear first. I think it's a good idea. This is President Trump with Kristen Welker on NBC News last week going over what would happen to Christopher Wray. Does he get fired? Does he not? We do know, obviously, that Christopher Wray has said, hey... Before I get fired, I am just going to bow out nicely over the next few weeks. Let's hear that conversation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Are you going to fire the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, who you appointed?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I can't say I'm thrilled with him. He invaded my home. I'm suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I'm very unhappy with the things he's done, and crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we've discussed. I can't say I'm thrilled. I don't want to say, I don't want to, again, I don't want to be Joe Biden and give you an answer and then do the exact opposite. So I'm not going to do that. What I'm going to say is I certainly cannot be happy with him. You take a look at what's happened. And then when I was shot in the ear, he said, oh, maybe it was shrapnel. Where's the shrapnel coming from? Is it coming from heaven? I don't think so. We need somebody to strain. You know, I have a lot of respect for the FBI, but the FBI's respect has gone way down over the last number of years.
SPEAKER 01 :
Don't you have to fire him in order to make room for cash? But he is, in fact, confirmed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious that if cash gets in, he's going to be taking somebody's place. Right. Somebody is the man that you're talking about.
SPEAKER 08 :
And listen, I think Christopher Wray did the right thing here. He has not been someone who has been a very successful FBI director. He's gotten way too political, like the president said, raiding his home, those documents being scattered, sending in agents to spy on churches with no basis. It wasn't like they were looking for an individual who might be trying to utilize it. It was just, hey, we should look into these Catholic churches because that's where we see so much domestic terrorism come from. Except I don't see any. But you know what? They consider us, a lot of us, domestic terrorists with pro-life activists. And that is work that we are having to do, even with the overturning of Roe, even with Republicans in control, so pro-lifers in control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. Logan, you're working on big projects now that we won't be able to do without people's financial support right now where they can double their donation. Because these are some big pro-life projects.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, absolutely. We're signing contracts, you know, hopefully in the next few weeks. And a lot of it's going to be based on your response. We're going to unveil a lot of that coming up in the next week as something that we are working on big pro-life projects that are beyond just the law. We're also going to influence culture in a way that we've been working on for the last six months or so. These are projects that are dealt with some of the highest level. of incredible marketing and creative people who are putting together these campaigns that we think are going to be revolutionary. But of course, we can't do it without your support because that is how this works. It's not like we're running an ad campaign for the ACLJ. We're running an ad campaign and to support the concept of keeping your child. and why that is a good choice to make. There's not a return on that ad campaign, if you will. What we need is your support to make sure we can take over these spaces. We're going to talk about that again in the coming days. The ACLJ Faith and Freedom Drive is happening, though, right now. It's our year-end drive. It's our biggest month of the year. Have your gift doubled right now. Through our faith in freedom, year-end drive at ACLJ.org. You can scan that QR code on your screen. And if you look, if you can't do that right now, I understand. But right now, if you do, your gift's doubled. That means another ACLJ member, ACLJ champion, that's someone that gives on a monthly recurring basis, is ready to make and unlock their matching donation. This is a gift you can give this Christmas season that makes a global impact supporting the work of your ACLJ. And I encourage you to do that if you can. And if you can't, an easy way to support the ACLJ for free, hit that subscribe button if you're watching on YouTube. Hit that follow button on Rumble. If you're watching on X, follow us there. Share it with your friends. Make sure that this content gets out there for more people to see.
SPEAKER 08 :
as well these confirmation petitions are very important a lot of us on the right don't have a very close relationship with tulsi gabbard because if you were in washington dc as a member of congress you might have worked with her on some issues and she's got some definite republicans in the house who support her work and some who have gone from the house to the senate who knew her well and how she could work in a bipartisan way but Who better to kind of validate than a conservative Christian legal organization that she joined up with to be on this broadcast to talk directly to you and with us about serious issues, whether it was issues for the country, issues when it comes to our military, and issues when it comes to our allies and the deployment of U.S. troops and the hot wars going on around the world. This is someone who, while doing all this, has served over 20 years in the military. So that's a great way. Those petitions don't just get signed online to show everybody, look, we've got a lot of signatures. We deliver them, hand deliver them to the Senate teams so they know exactly how many Americans and ACLJ supporters were. want to see Tulsi Gabbard confirmed because we have worked with her over this past year, even a bit longer. And so we got to know Tulsi. She's the real deal. And so that's why we've got that petition up at ACLJ.org. So another way to really assist us if things are getting too tight this season. But if not, again, making that donation now at ACLJ.org is our core. It is how we get to... figure out kind of where we go with that budget, like Logan was talking about. How far can we go with a pro-life campaign? What cases do we need to already be preparing for that we kind of see bubbling in our own caseload, but also in what's happening in the country as well. So we'll take your calls at 1-800-684-3110. But I really encourage you, if you've got that $50 or $25, again, it doubles the impact of your donation. And that is serious for the ACLJ, and it really does matter. So if you want to talk to us again, ACLJ, 1-800-684-3110. What would you have done? if Christopher Wray had done this to you. And do you think that the president should just leave that alone? Or do you agree that the president should be able to fire anybody who is appointed by a president? Democrats might not like it, but that should be, you know, it's just, we don't even need laws on that. It's clear how the constitution is written. This is just a, well, we've always done it this way. And guess what? That's why Washington Logan can't stand Donald Trump is because he doesn't care how Washington used to do things.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's right. We'd love to hear from you about this. Give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. When you heard about Christopher Wray in this situation, was a sigh of relief to know that he is going to, I would say, a peaceful transition, I guess you'd say. 1-800-684-3110. Give us a call. We've got some great segments coming up also. Jeff Balabon is going to join us from ACLJ Jerusalem as well as we have special guests coming up in the next segment. So you're going to stay tuned for that. And of course, support the work of the ACLJ. As Jordan said, this is the most important month of the year. So I know you're going to hear a lot of fundraising over the next few weeks. Just know that that's why 25% of our annual budget comes in in the month of December. So we can't do it without you right now. ACLJ.org. But give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. And if you're online right now, if you're watching on YouTube or you're watching on Rumble and you have nothing to say, you're like, I don't know what to put in this chat. I see it going by. I like to know where everyone's watching from. So just in there in this break, if you either go make a donation or put in the comments where you're watching from or do both. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, welcome back to Seculo. We're joined by a great friend of ours, someone we work with as a colleague, Tristan Levitt from Empower Oversight. We always encourage you to check their site out at empoweroversight.org. You know, we work with Tristan for those whistleblowers like Marcus Allen, who we achieved a successful settlement with the FBI. I want to check in with Tristan on that. We're still in, you know, court going on with Garrett O'Boyle the one who said you know if you speak out the FBI will crush you and they are fighting back they did not in a very different way than they did with Marcus so we continue to fight that as well together with Empower Oversight but I also know Tristan that you've got some new information through FOIA and through the work you're doing and with the Department of Justice and I wanted to give you the opportunity to share people about it it's really important when we talk about these cases
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. So my partner, Jason Foster, who founded Empower, he and I used to work together for Senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That was where we investigated Operation Fast and Furious. And when I was over in the House side after the Hillary Clinton email investigation, he stayed in Senator Grassley's office. And as various things came up, like the Russiagate investigation, Jason was really thoroughly involved in that. Well, last about a year ago, we learned that that from a phone provider of his that way back in 2017, the Justice Department had sought out his communications records. And it turns out that it related to a leak investigation, the news of, you know, of some of the information that DOJ was providing to Congress. And so just this week, the Justice Department Inspector General finally released its report, which found that back in 2017, DOJ took 43 congressional staffers, two members of Congress, and sought records from all of them. For instance, Jason's, um information you know communicating with whistleblowers in the Justice Department those call records not the call themselves recordings but the records the phone logs all would have been produced and what's worse the Justice Department then got courts without ever telling the court that this related to congressional records because obviously we have a separation of powers under our Constitution that's there for a reason Congress is supposed to conduct oversight of the executive branch Jason's job on the Senate Judiciary Committee working for Senator Grassley was to conduct oversight so that when the Justice Department is doing things, Congress has insight into that and can look for wrongdoing. Well, the Justice Department used that backdoor and never told the judge when they sought these communications that they were congressional records they were seeking. And so finally, this Inspector General report highlights what a huge problem that is, how it can expose whistleblower information, and also how the judge never knew that for Four or five years after that, DOJ got nondisclosure agreements to stop Google or Apple or anyone else from informing those whose records had been obtained. So this is a really big problem. Kash Patel is one of the staffers whose records were also obtained. But this is something that there's got to be more change on because DOJ just saying, well, we won't do it again is not good enough.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, it's not. I mean, there's got to be something done. And Tristan, we've talked about the legislative reform necessary so that whistleblowers are protected. But now we're going to the point where we're talking about people inside the executive branch who are being investigated by the FBI. They're getting the okay to go from a judge. And I wanted to kind of get this from you because I think this has got to be people are thinking, how did that happen? How did they go to a judge and say they wanted these records without telling the judge where those records were?
SPEAKER 03 :
So it's because they sought it. They didn't use their official Senate issued phone or House issued phone. They sought their personal side records. And in Jason's case, it was significant, though, because so it was a Google voice number. He's explained this publicly, but that Google voice phone. phone number routed directly to his Senate phone. So even though they weren't using, because if they had sought directly the Senate issued phone numbers, there is a requirement out there from Congress that Congress has to be notified if there's any sort of request there. DOJ was sneaky. So they just found the personal communications avenues for these individuals. and sought those out. And so that's why none of the information to the judge was just presented as here's a leak investigation. Some classified information has been reported out there. We want you to allow us to go and look at the communications records of all these individuals. And the judge was never the wiser.
SPEAKER 10 :
Tristan, there was a commentator on MSNBC yesterday that was talking about the nomination of Kash Patel reacting to Chris Wray announcing that he'd be leaving. And he said, and this is a former state senator of Florida, and he said something to the effect that Kash Patel used to be on team normal, but then he got investigated and became radicalized. And I think... When you hear what Empower is talking about here and what the Office of the Inspector General has confirmed through their investigation, when you hear people say that, oh, they were investigated and radicalized, it rings hollow to me because... It doesn't seem radical to want the Department of Justice to want to follow the law, not spy on congressional staffers doing their constitutional mandate of oversight. But here we are. The mainstream is going to say it's radical. But I think it also shows the importance of getting these reforms through in the next Congress and under the next administration while we have this opportunity to ensure this doesn't happen again.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that's exactly right. And what's unfortunate about this whole radicalized narrative is this impacts Republicans and Democrats, right? So this is not a partisan issue. To be clear, people can spin this however they want. This was the beginning of the Trump administration. That's how a lot of people reported it. On the other hand, it was career folks in the Justice Department, the FBI that are seeking these out. They sought out records from both Democrat and Republican members of Congress. But I think everybody has to take a step back and understand the Constitution was established before there was a Republican Party, before there was a Democrat Party. And the separation of powers in there, you know, the checks and balances are really important. They're there for a reason. And so to the extent that we, you know, just just allow people to run those over because we think, well, you know, if I'm a if I'm a Republican, it's fine. It's just Republicans. If I'm a Democrat, it's fine. It's the Democrats. really, really has led to part of the erosion of our protections in our government and our separation of power systems. So there absolutely need to be reforms. DOJ cannot have that kind of access with no checks on them. And you're right, this is the key time to do it, to make those changes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And we've got the president to do it. We've got the House to do it. We've got the Senate to do it. We just have to fight hard alongside and power oversight to do that. Tristan, thanks for joining us. We're still in the fight with you to get both Garrett O'Boyle and make sure he is set and gets what he deserves. And also to make sure, hey, just really quickly, Marcus Allen, because remember last time still were issues over back pay. Where does that stand?
SPEAKER 03 :
So he's gotten there's we're still we're whittling it down, but he's gotten more. He got an initial payment. He got a subsequent payment. And we're still doing the kind of final due diligence to make sure he's gotten everything that he's owed. But, you know, he's in a he's in a much better place than he was six months ago, obviously, thanks to all the work that we've all put in.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Tristan. Folks, that is just great news. I wanted to make sure you knew that because remember the last time we talked to Tristan, that was the big hold up that the FBI had agreed to a figure that they know they didn't want to really then they started fighting to pay out. So all of this work, even when you get the victory, This is a great example, Logan. When you get a victory at ACLJ, that doesn't mean that work on that case for that client is done. In fact, it could go for another year. In Garrett O'Boyle's case, similar kind of client, still in court.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, you have to celebrate it. We want to make sure people know when there's a victory that you take that victory and go, wow, this is great. You saw the work the ACLJ said they were going to do. They did it. And they won. And that's great. But as you said, we are paying the best of the best. We're paying the best lawyers, the best media people to make sure that we can be able to provide this not only to those clients, but to future clients in the future and have broadcasts like this to make sure we can stay on the air. So I encourage you right now, as we head into the second half hour of this broadcast, if you don't get that on your local station, find us on YouTube or Rumble or ACLJ.org. Right now, ACLJ.org and support the work at ACLJ.org. Scan the QR code. We'll be right back. Second half hour coming up.
SPEAKER 11 :
keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, welcome back to Sekulow. We're taking your calls to 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. Tristan brought up some interesting things too about current nominees whose information got sought in this way that we want to fight in Congress to make sure isn't done because this kind of being able to go to a court and say, no, no, we're not looking for any kind of official government records. This is not a separation of powers issue. We just want their personal records. We believe the wrongdoing is done on the personal side. And if we had access to that, that's enough. We don't need government records. access but someone has a phone forwarding a call forward set up so that it goes to their work phone so they don't miss calls that might be important for the senator they work for and it happened to Kash Patel who now they're fighting back what you're really seeing is separation of powers being kind of fading away because you've got one of the branches of government able to spy on the other branch of a government by utilizing a loophole technical loophole and one of the issues that we've seen in court all all the time logan you don't have to be an attorney to see this is that courts are not always the best place to figure out technology you've got to have the laws and they've got to be clear because a lot of times you're dealing with judges and then when you get to even the u.s supreme court that are not as active on the technologies that are available today so easily And that's why you have to fight on the legislative side, which takes me to, Logan, when you're supporting the ACLJ. It's not always just the legal work. It's all the policy work and legislative work that we do on Capitol Hill that's just important to issues like this.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's important that we have people who can go in into these courtrooms, like you say, and explain it in a way that's easy to understand. Not that these judges are technologically not savvy, but sometimes they're older. They don't know what we're talking about here. Look, even for us, we have to do our research on what people are using or not using. I did want to throw back a little bit. Will brought up in the last segment that clip from MSNBC about Kash Patel and how he was, quote unquote, radicalized. Let's take a listen to this from MSNBC just today.
SPEAKER 12 :
I was disappointed, Jonathan, that Ray capitulated. That's what he did. He ran from the building. He's still fighting the last war. He's still in a world of norms. This is the Trump era. It's different. He should have stayed and fought, forced Trump to fire him. His replacement is likely to be Kash Patel. I do think he'll be confirmed by the Senate. And Kash Patel is someone actually I know. He was a public defender in Miami, so he was in my neck of the woods. He was actually on Team Normal for a while, even when he worked for Congressman Devin Nunes. Kash Patel was a very likable guy. He was not part of the Ultra Maga. But what happened was he changed during the Russia investigation. He was investigating himself. It took a lot of time, money out of his own pockets. And some would say it radicalized him. And now it's a different Kash Patel.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, no kidding. You know, first of all, you're not radicalized because you support a president of the United States and you have political positions that you care about. That is not being radicalized. He was a Republican who saw the problems with oversight because even as a top staffer on those committees, he gets investigated himself while he's doing the investigation. And you think about that investigation into Russia. Wouldn't you be pretty upset when you realized that the entire Russia narrative was fake? It was all made up. And then they use a term, Logan, that makes them sound like a terrorist. Radicalized. How often do you hear that for anything other than that? The traditional Catholics. We have to go to them. So we have to make everybody out to be this kind of on-the-line domestic terrorist if you happen to be pro-life. if you happen to be a Christian who shares their faith with others in any kind of public way, or if you have political positions that because of a president that you supported, who, by the way, you work in Republican, the world of Republican politics and executive branch, Cash Patel's got a long record there, that you're being spied on. And what I always put it, and we know this, is that if they will do it to Kash Patel and Donald Trump, we know they will do it to us. They already have. They tried to send spies, and were successful in one case, into churches. Think about that. They want your records. They want to say that, you know what, this person, you know, he called somebody in a different country. So because of that, we're not only going to Listen in on that call. But we can deem them a foreign agent and now spy on them through the FISA court. We've got to fight back. Donate today. Double your impact. We need that support. ACLJ.org. Donate today. Welcome back to Sekiro. As you know, Israel in the news a lot these days, our number one ally in the Middle East, if not the entire world, because of what we're seeing kind of shift in Western Europe. We still do have NATO together to some point, though I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done there by the Trump administration. They know that to push to make sure those countries... pay their fair share because it's really right now it's the United States paying for an international military and a lot of those other countries aren't up to speed so if we needed NATO deployments we'd still have to also bear the brunt of that by using our own troops and our own supplies because they're not investing enough in their own militaries but we are able to have that relationship with Israel where we do develop these new technologies. The Iron Dome has been one, and these smaller Iron Domes have protected so many American troops. It was all really tested out in Israel at a larger scale to keep civilians safe. But I want to bring in Jeff Balaban, our director of ACLJ Jerusalem, because people are looking towards... I mean, it's never forever end to a conflict with a group like Hamas that calls for the murder of all Jews wherever you see them in their charter. But there is some optimism right now in Israel because Hamas leadership that is currently still alive has shown some interest in hostage releases for a ceasefire and even more to allow the IDF more access. Tell people about it.
SPEAKER 07 :
So there's news that there's a potential new deal that Hamas is opening up to in Cairo, negotiations in Cairo. And America seems to be pushing this deal, the current administration. And the deal has broken through certain things that Hamas has always said no to, which is that some IDF presence remains in Gaza, which obviously needs to remain there. I mean, the entire Gaza is a military base or terrorist base used against Israel. And the IDF needs to be there. And the other is that they're... They've given a list of a certain number of hostages, including American hostages, still held in captivity, although we don't know their status. And again, Hamas is utterly unreliable. And so this is, you know, in Israel, it's being greeted by some sectors who are desperate to have hostages home. Well, everyone's desperate for the hostages to be home. And they're appreciating this moving forward. And everyone recognizes that the only reason this is happening is the imminent change in the American administration. And Hamas has nowhere to run after this. And no one who's going to protect them the way the American administration has been protecting them. So that's one aspect. But the other aspect is that most people don't really trust Hamas, don't understand why part of this deal is likely to be the release of some huge number of terrorists, which is exactly what triggered... October 7th, that terrorists that were released in exchange for a Jew taken hostage or an Israeli taken hostage ended up plotting and leading the October 7th massacres and atrocities and war. And so there's a tremendous amount of skepticism and concern at the same time as there are people who are desperate for some good news about returning some of these hostages, if not all of them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I wanted to circle back on a couple of things. One, Jeff, they actually put forward a list, Hamas, of the hostages that would be released and their condition I don't know if they put their condition of this hostage is deceased this hostage is still alive but that we know that they presented a list like that the importance of that plus the fact that they have conceded at this point if this deal goes through to allowing the IDF to keep a presence in Gaza, not just on the outskirts, for a certain period of time to make sure that this is not just a bluff move by Hamas to be able to rearm.
SPEAKER 07 :
That's correct. Those are details that have come out. Again, let's realize who we're dealing with. And you know this, obviously, on the other side, we're dealing with people who decided that it was a good idea to murder, rape, mutilate whole families, burn them alive and videotape it and share it. So their credibility is somewhat difficult to really believe. But at the same time, Israel is making this deal or is looking at this deal, shouldn't say making the deal, Also knowing there's a timeline while Biden and Blinken are in charge of this policy or Biden and Harrison Blinken, whoever is charged with policy, this administration and is waning weeks before Donald Trump takes office, knows that there's tremendous desperation by Hamas and they will see what they can get out of it during this period of time.
SPEAKER 09 :
Is some of this, Jeff, and I'm just curious about sort of the mood on the ground, the way I was talking about that in Israel, is some of this that the people, the citizens of Israel, are just wanting some sort of, and it sounds weird to say this, but some form of normalcy again. So it goes, okay, we need to get our tourism back. We need to get all these things back. So if this is not necessarily the best solution, but it's some kind of solution to the problem, is there that feeling going on? Do you feel like there's some pressure there to say, hey, The country's got to get back on track. The war needs to to wrap up and we need to get things back going because we were in a very Western civilization, again, driven pretty highly by tourism. And of course, when the news coming out of Israel is a war 24 seven, that doesn't help.
SPEAKER 07 :
So the economy in general, and tourism is an important part of the economy here, but the economy in general has been buffeted by this war. I mean, we have a huge sector of people who would otherwise be in the workforce who have spent most of the past year on the front lines fighting a war. And so things have shut down in the domestic economy, not just in terms of tourism. It's been affected, not shut down, but affected greatly. And there is desperate hope for that. But based on what I just said to you, you'll imagine even more hope is that their spouses and parents and children and brothers and sisters are going to come home from the front. And so the tourism and the economy are extremely important, but they also want their loved ones to be safe and sound. And we just had a return to the north here. Finally, because of what took place in Lebanon and Syria recently, they finally allowed people to return to the north and there are all kinds of celebrations. People have seen their homes for the first time in a year. And we're not talking about a few people, there are tens of thousands of people, thousands and thousands of families who've been away from their home and have been refugees within their own country for a year. And so we are so far from normalcy here and yet, people have had to contend with it and focus on it. And people ask me all the time, you know, are the Israelis, do they have the gumption to stick this out or are they, you know, or are they reeling from this? And the answer is both are true. Yes, they have the gumption to stick this out. They're taking the lead here. And by the way, what Jordan said earlier, I want to get back to that about what just took place in Syria and in terms of, Israel being America's ally. You know, when Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor, most of America criticized it. Leading America criticized it. Some didn't. Some said, thank you. Imagine if the Iraqis had had nuclear weapons. Imagine if what's now happening in Syria, which is a total collapse, and now you have multiple black hats fighting each other. No one's good there. fighting each other for control. Lots of terrorist organizations. Imagine if they had access to the kind of caches of weapons, including chemical weapons, that exist in Syria. And Israel is really leading the charge in saving the West from this.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, Jeff, talking about the hostages as well, I always say that about Israel too. They are the tip of the spear in the battle against Islamic terrorism and new technology to keep their soldiers and most importantly to them, civilians safe like here. And we're now able to use that technology by working together. So when people question why do we send these resources, and I want to bring up this, like in the National Defense Authorization budget, why do we send these kind of resources like $500 million to Israel? Well, it's not just $500 million, Jeff, to Israel. If you actually look at it, what it does, it's $500 million in spending on U.S.-Israel relations. missile defense cooperation. What I was just talking about, Jeff, is that we are able to work with Israel to test technologies that work in a smaller area, as Israel is a small state, that we could then deploy on the battlefield or in any situation necessary to protect American lives. That's why we invest in Israel, because we're working together to save lives.
SPEAKER 07 :
I agree, Jordan. This is obviously much more of an investment. People complain about it like we're giving a gift to the state of Israel. First of all, as you say, all that money is spent in America. Unfortunately, what this Biden administration has done by withholding weaponry when it was needed have actually damaged Israel's ability to trust America to be there when there's a time of great conflict and wars. But it's always been based on the idea that there's a mutually beneficial arrangement here. Israel is the stabilization, the stabilizing force in this very volatile and violent region. This is a region that Russia and China both have interest in to turn it also and control it. And so these issues are incredibly important to every American. I'll add to that. We have a major, as we know, problem with people, illegal aliens in America. There's going to be mass deportations, hopefully, from America of illegals, you know, criminals that come over. Well, many of those are jihadis, and we know that. And guess who has the best intelligence that can help the United States of America and the individual states root out the terrorists or the potential terrorists who have come over the border in the past few years to America? We know they're there. And I believe that we will be working closely with Israel to help them, to them to help us be able to root out those terrorists from America.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, Jeff, to end this on those hostages that we don't ever want to forget in these talks, we negotiate about and are representing about 10. Four of them have been released, two have been confirmed killed, and four remain. And two of the four remaining are women. So they should have gotten out with that humanitarian release, but weren't. So we need to continue to work very hard to get those hostages released. And again, the way we do that, of course, it all starts with having the resources to have ACLJ Jerusalem and other people we have to associate with to get those americans and israelis home and as many as we can alive so support the work of the aclj right now during our faith and freedom drive double your impact at aclj.org donate today we'll be right back Welcome back to Secula. Let me thank those of you who have been holding on the line. We're going to get right to those calls at 1-800-684-3110. If you want to be on the show, you need to call right now. That's 1-800-684-3110. A lot of calls in on, of course, Christopher Wray and Kash Patel. Let's get to them.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, let's go to Robert's calling Maryland on line two. Robert, you're up.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. Hi. I was calling about the FBI director or former FBI director, Christopher Wray. If he's now the former FBI director, what's the main reason or reasons he either resigned or was fired? And I want to say before you answer the question, thank God that Assad has fallen in Syria. And we need to continue to destroy all those jihadist groups in Syria. We don't want Syria to become another Afghanistan. Appreciate that.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, we don't, Rob. I mean, Syria, as you heard from Jeff Balaban, it's something we have to watch very closely. On the one hand, to see a dictatorship fall like that should be a good thing for the world. Should is what I say, because sometimes, I mean, those were dictators who were using chemical weapons on their own people, so it doesn't get much worse. unless you put in a terror group that starts executing mass executions of people in Syria because they don't share their exact faith or the women aren't wearing the clothing the right way and they are killed and executed. So we will see. if this group really has changed the way they say they have. On the other point, Christopher Wray has not actually resigned yet. He announced that he will resign before the beginning of the next administration. So what will happen is, unless it happens a little bit earlier, which wouldn't really change the procedure much. In general, we're only a month out. He's got a deputy, a principal deputy. unless that principal deputy resigns with him as well they would like they could set their resignation day depending on where Kash Patel's nomination is somewhere again right after the president takes office so and they are basically holding the spot and that you kind of go down the list to figure out who would be there as an interim director who can keep the ships kind of running but is certainly only there until the moment you can send Kash Patel in who is someone that continues to gain support on Capitol Hill and I think that's a great thing because a lot of people know him more for his work in politics outside of government I mean he's someone who's been chief of staff to the Department of Defense So chief of staff to the head of the U.S. military. The deputy assistant to President Trump. When he was chief of staff at DOD, he oversaw the $3 million employees, a $740 billion budget, and $2 trillion in assets. He was the deputy director with Rick Grinnell, the deputy director of national intelligence, where he, again, assisted Rick. in trump's mission to get those intelligence agencies back on track as best they could and he was so he worked very closely with rick on that and rick is you know part of our team is working hard to get cash there so it the the tough part is when you look at his legislative background the fact that he worked with you know tristan levin he worked on with Devin Nunes in uncovering the Russia story being a complete lie. That's what the left doesn't like about Logan. It's not that he's a political actor. It's that Kash Patel is the one who exposed their lies about Donald Trump.
SPEAKER 09 :
Of course, of course. Let's go ahead and continue on with these calls. And by the way, if you want to call in, last chance, 1-800-684-3110. Let's go to Melissa, who's calling in South Carolina, watching on Rumble. Melissa, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, Merry Christmas, guys. I expected Christopher Wray to resign before Trump got in. But what I don't understand is why are people upset with Donald Trump, you know, potentially being able to fire him or fire somebody? The Constitution gives him that right. People that are... that are not doing what is in the best interest of the United States, according to the Constitution, should be removed. And I just don't understand why we wasted four years on the Biden administration, but then to knock Trump about wanting to fire people or remove them, that's his right. Yeah. So that's my comment.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know what it is? Because, Melissa, they love traditional Washington, D.C., and traditional Washington, D.C. followed this procedure of, well, an FBI director should serve a little bit more than just two terms of the president that may be nominated them, so let's give them 10 years. And then at that mark, they automatically will resign. But there's nothing that stops the president from saying, you know what? No, you don't get your 10 years because of how you're conducting the running. of the FBI. I disagree with how you're doing it. I don't like your working style. You're out the door. You're appointed by the president. This isn't a lifetime appointment, as the Constitution makes clear that those judicial nominees are. This is an appointment by the president like any other. They serve at the pleasure of the president. And people, Logan, are actually now mad at Christopher Wray for resigning.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I'm sure there's a big group that's upset about that because he should have a few more years left in his term. Let's go to Mary, who's calling in Pennsylvania on line one. Mary's watching on Rumble, her favorite free speech platform, Rumble. Mary, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi, thank you. My question is about information that the FBI has been holding undisclosed, such as the Epstein list and the January 6th information. I just wanted to know what keeps that information protected so when Cash does take over, if he does, then he can disclose that information.
SPEAKER 08 :
Ultimately, Mary, information like what you're talking about, that the FBI director would work with the Department of Justice. That would be led by Pam Bondi as attorney general, former AG of Florida. And you'd work together on those steps and then take it to the president to get the final authorization. The president makes the ultimate call. On those kind of issues, to release that, and it depends on how much you're releasing. Are you releasing portions that are in a summary and then quoting it, or are you just going to give everything to everyone? I think the more you're giving, the more you want that final sign-off from the president. Now, you said, what guarantees they won't try to keep things from him? He'll be able to bring in his own team to an extent, but remember... He understands that most of that office, unfortunately, will be trying to work against him. So what do you do? Well, you take every division within the Department of Justice, and they're all divided up by the different areas of law that they cover. And one of those that has been a serious problem for Republicans since... doesn't sound like it should be but has is the civil rights division inside DOJ so when you get to that level you make sure that the right person's there so to work with someone like Kash Patel who'd be the director of the FBI which the Department of Justice oversees so there's that interplay there that's going to be Harmeet Dhillon through her confirmation, and that she would then oversee. Now, she was, again, someone who was head of the California Republican Party, has a firm that is very directly involved in election law, so totally qualified for that division. And you've got to make sure all of those people in the DOJ are set, and then you've got to make sure if you're Kash Patel that you've got the right team as well. You don't get as many picks, but you certainly get enough to where you've got a team that's going to make sure you're able to carry out the job that you have been tasked to do by the President of the United States and likely confirmed to do by the U.S. Senate. And if people are—I think this is what's going to be different about Trump this time around more quickly— and definitely the left you never see this is, they're going to be more aggressive about, Logan, getting rid of the bad actors. What I know the ACLJ will be involved there is that will become a constitutional question potentially that goes all the way through federal courts. What is the line where you can remove federal bureaucrats who have all these protections if they aren't providing information? Is that enough? Is it just insubordination? We're going to have to fight those issues out. It seems like we shouldn't have to, but we know we will.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's right, and that's why we urgently need your tax-deductible support today as we are wrapping up our Faith and Freedom year-end drive. As Christmas is on the way, we know a lot of you will be distracted with what's going on, but this is the most important month for us for fundraising, so that's why I've been telling you about this. Your support will help us keep fighting and fighting the deep state and helping root out all the problems that are happening in Washington, D.C. and around the world. We couldn't do it without you. We couldn't have this show without you. So I encourage you, go to ACLJ.org. You're going to have your gift doubled because a great ACLJ champion is there ready to unlock their matching donation. So do it right now. Scan that QR code on the screen if you're watching or go directly to ACLJ.org.
Join Tony Perkins in this compelling episode of Washington Watch as critical issues take the spotlight. Emerging reports of mystery drones on the East Coast raise security concerns that government officials are yet to clarify. Congressman Grothman joins the debate, criticizing the government's nonchalance and pushing for transparency. Turning to legislative matters, the show navigates the complex terrain of the National Defense Authorization Act, revealing both strengths and weaknesses from a bipartisan perspective. Insights from political insiders offer a glimpse into the expected shifts with the upcoming congressional leadership and call for revisiting social policies rooted in the Great Society era. Also covered is the crucial decision in the UK to ban puberty blockers for minors—a stride towards prioritizing child safety over experimental procedures. Family Research Council's Dr. Jennifer Bowens elaborates on the potential implications of these international decisions on US policies, urging a balanced approach towards gender-related healthcare.
SPEAKER 01 :
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 10 :
I've been on the Armed Services Committee. I've been on the Intelligence Committee now for 10 years. And we haven't gotten adequate answers from the Biden administration either. I can tell you the answers that you're not getting in public are the same answers that we're not getting in private.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton on Fox News seeking answers like so many others about the mystery drones flying over the East Coast. Welcome to Washington Watch. I'm Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks for tuning in. Coming up on this Thursday edition, Wisconsin Congressman Glenn Grothman will join us to provide the latest updates on the mystery drones. And he'll give us a wrap up of the week as Congress prepares to head home for the weekend. And yesterday, the UK issued an indefinite ban on puberty blockers for teens, citing the significant risk for children and young people. FRC's Dr. Jennifer Bowens will be here with details on this decision and its potential implications for US policy. Some say he's handing them out like candy, commutations.
SPEAKER 06 :
More broadly speaking, as we move forward to the next couple of weeks, he obviously is going to review with his team about other clemency decisions, and they're taking additional steps.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responding to questions about President Biden's record-breaking day of commutations and pardons. Meanwhile, some Democrats are calling on the president to issue a blanket pardon for illegal immigrants. Can he do this? Jeff Clark, senior fellow and director of litigation at the Center for Renewing America, will join me to discuss. And we've seen how Republican state attorneys general have played an indispensable role in pushing back against the Biden administration's far reaching leftist agenda from open borders to school bathroom policies to transgender, transgendering our children. But what role will they play in the incoming Trump administration where they have a strong ally? Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell will join me here in studio. She's in Washington and she'll join me. This Christmas season, Family Research Council invites you to join us in shining the light of biblical truth in Washington, DC, across the nation, and literally around the world. During these challenging times, FRC serves as a watchman on the wall, defending faith, family, and freedom. And thanks to a $1.5 million challenge match, every dollar you give between now and December 31st will be doubled, enabling you to have an outsized impact. So here's an opportunity to stand with FRC as a prophetic voice for biblical truth by texting the word light. It's L-I-G-H-T to 67742. 67742, the word light. And together, let's make an eternal impact. Well, the Biden administration continues to insist that the mystery drones that have been spotted over parts of New Jersey, New York and elsewhere are neither a threat to public safety nor national security. While at the same time stating that they still. don't know where they're coming from or who's piloting them. So how can they be so confident that they're not a threat? Joining me now to discuss this, Congressman Glenn Grothman, who serves on three House committees, including the Oversight and Accountability Committee. He represents the 6th Congressional District of Wisconsin. Congressman Grothman, welcome back to the program. Always good to see you.
SPEAKER 15 :
to be on the program. I wish we were taking a topic that I had more hard answers about, but let's dive into it and see what we know and don't know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I mean, everybody's talking about it. I even talked to the House Speaker about it this morning, and he hadn't gotten any information. So what's going on here?
SPEAKER 15 :
We have had staff meetings with Homeland Security, the FBI, the FAA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, any agency you can think. And nobody will give you an answer. All they will say is they don't think it's a threat. and they'll say there's nothing here that would merit ever shooting one of these things down so you have perhaps hundreds certainly more than a hundred of these drone-like things and they won't even concede their drones that some of them may have a person in it apparently they say they're the size of an suv and it's been going on for three weeks And all the plethora of agencies, of three-letter agencies involved in this, their attitude is it's no big deal. It's not a threat. They won't say they're American. They won't say they're foreign. They won't say, are they a threat to, well, I assume they believe they're not a threat to other aircraft in the area. But it's very frustrating that this many government agencies and the state agencies in New Jersey are to some degree involved in this, and nobody knows anything. I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here, but I'm afraid it's just one more thing. We've got to wait for President Trump to get in there and clean up. Because we should know.
SPEAKER 04 :
We should. And I've said this before as we've been covering this throughout the week, is if they don't know where these are coming from and who's piloting them, then how do they know they're not a risk? But if they don't know this, either they're incompetent in that all of the technology we have, we cannot find out who and where these things, who's flying them, where they're coming from. Or the second option is it's actually our government doing something and they're just not wanting to tell us. Or they know something and they're not telling us. So it's either deception or they're just incompetent.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. And if it is our government test flying these things, then why would it be that? Why would you test fly them over populated areas in which they could crash, in which I would assume they could run into a helicopter, an airplane or something or other? And why would you be doing it over what now is up to a three-week period? so it's very frustrating and um we had a private briefing a while back we've now had briefings with staff um representing just about every congressional um committee you can imagine and no matter who goes before them they say i don't know i don't know we don't think it's a threat but We don't know what it is. So how can you even tell whether or not it's a threat? As you mentioned, we don't know what it is. It just is, I think, a problem with the government. Yeah, it just is so bad. It's beyond belief. None of these agencies will say, hey, you know, this is it. Here's a picture of it up close here. We're going to shoot down one of these things unless something. You know, they bring them down, whatever they could announce that tonight, right? Tomorrow we're going to be shooting these things down. That'd clear them up quick. It's like the Keystone Cops. Right. And contempt for the American public. I mean, I would certainly want to know what's going on there in New Jersey. Total contempt from Congress because so many Congress, including myself, members of Congress, have asked questions of these folks and they refuse to answer questions on this or almost anything else.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, considering how the Biden administration handled the Chinese spy balloon, You know, I'm not surprised by anything. It just seems the doors are open. Of course, the southern border is open for invasion, so why not the east coast to drones? I'm sure if we look, the people in charge of this are diverse. True. Let me ask you this final question on this topic. Is there some expectation that next week when you return, you know, before we get to the Christmas break and Congress adjourns, that we'll have some answers?
SPEAKER 15 :
I would be surprised. It seems like they're beyond embarrassment. I mean, if you work for any one of these agencies and you were listening to this and all the news media are asking questions about this and all they can say is, after three weeks of this, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, they look like complete fools. On the other hand, the complete fools today, it hasn't caused them to say anything. I guess it comes down to the degree to which I think the national media keeps this story going, which they should, and see whether there's any shame in them whatsoever. And they tell us what they are. Because how could you not know what they are right now? Yeah. Biggest NSUV flying all over the place, 100 miles an hour. Wouldn't you by now know?
SPEAKER 04 :
If we don't know, we have a serious flaw in our defense system in terms of allowing something this size to fly across our eastern coast border.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, this is why we don't like government doing anything except for our defense, where we have no choice but to lean on the government. But it's just further evidence that the government can't get anything right. And the utter contempt for all these appointees of the Biden administration for the public, right? They don't care. We don't care if we look like fools. We're not going to tell the people what these SUV-sized things are flying over their house. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you mentioned the national defense. So let's switch gears for here, switch gears for just a moment. Yesterday, the National Defense Authorization Act passed the House with bipartisan support. There were some good things in it. There were some not so good things in it. There were some bad things in it. But all in all, it had broad support. Your thoughts?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I mean, you kind of have to vote for it because we've got to keep the defense going. And it'd be worse if we had more Democrats voting for it, because it may. I think we're doing a bad job right now. I think we're buying stuff that in this era of missiles, this era of drones... It seems like we're preparing for the last war. And by the last war, I mean even World War II. I continue to be disappointed. They build these big aircraft carriers. Nobody can tell me in this day and age that against a real... China, Russia, even North Korea, that these big, relatively stationary military platforms are not exceptionally vulnerable. So I plan on voting for it, but I'm very disappointed in the military, somewhat disappointed in the committees that came up with this product. And that we continue to spend huge amounts of money on relatively static platforms. And our country is more vulnerable all the time to things like an attack on our electric grid. I think Congress has done not really as good a job as they should have done. But I know, you know, these... Ships and other things are are made in congressman's districts. And some people feel that, you know, bringing home the bacon is, I guess. Well, like I said, I would write a different bill if I was writing the bill.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, let's talk about going into the 119th Congress, as you made reference to President Donald Trump, President-elect Donald Trump. Do you have expectations that we're going to see significant changes in actually addressing some of these issues with Republicans having a working majority in the Senate, not having the 60 to breach that 60 vote threshold and having very slim margin in the House, but nonetheless having the House, the Senate and the White House? Do you have high expectations?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it's got to be high expectations because this may be the last time as a country we get all three. And you're right on a lot of bills because we don't have 60 votes. We won't be able to pass them. But through reconciliation, we can do a lot of good things. The question is whether we will. Me, on a personal level, I think the country really has never... recovered fully from the Great Society in the 60s in which the government may be giving $15,000, $20,000, $30,000 to a young mother to make sure she's not getting married. And we've gone from about a 5% rate of Americans born without a mother and father at home to over 40%. So we've really devastated the American family by what Lyndon Johnson did. I think it's time for the Republicans to take a whack at that figure and try to encourage more two-parent families. That's what I'm going to be looking for over the next few months. I wish more Republicans would make that a priority. I wish our conservative and Christian press would make it more of a priority to get rid of these programs that are basically keeping the men out of the
SPEAKER 04 :
Men out of the family. Right. Well, you get more of what you pay for. And that's what we've been paying for. And guess what? We get more of it. We'll join you in that effort, Congressman Grothman. Thanks so much for joining us today. Always great to see you. And if I don't see you before, have a very Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 14 :
Lovely to see you.
SPEAKER 04 :
And he's absolutely right. We need to go back and look at these policies. Hopefully the Department of Government Efficiency will look at them because we've spent over a trillion dollars on the so-called war on poverty. And guess what we've gotten? More poverty. All right, after the break, I'll discuss some good news coming out of the UK. Stay tuned. Dr. Jennifer Bowens joins me here in studio.
SPEAKER 03 :
The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it's never gonna be on the ballot. He's the King of Kings, and he's the Lord of Lords, and nothing's gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we're to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
SPEAKER 04 :
America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10-week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You'll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation.
SPEAKER 13 :
Let's not be discouraged. Don't lose heart. Don't lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let's stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 12 :
The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don't defend it, who will?
SPEAKER 02 :
Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don't say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You're naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
SPEAKER 16 :
Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we've relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we've relied too little on the power of God and God's ability to open doors that we can't open and do things that we couldn't even hope to begin to do.
SPEAKER 11 :
This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.
SPEAKER 04 :
father we thank you you have entrusted us with this moment in history and i pray that we would be found faithful and that as a result of our faithfulness to you that thousands millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in jesus christ amen Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us on this Thursday. The website, tonyperkins.com. But a better place to go is the Stand Firm app. If you've not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, go to the app store and get the Stand Firm app, and you can watch Washington Watch on your smartphone anywhere you go. You can also get the Washington Stand news feed, get news and commentary from a biblical perspective, and you can get Stand on the Word every morning. So go to the app store and get the Stand Firm app. Some good news out of the UK, in fact you can read this on the Washington stand, where the use of puberty blockers for minors under the age of 18 has been indefinitely banned. That's right, no more. The decision announced yesterday follows a review by medical experts who have consistently highlighted significant safety concerns and noted the insufficient evidence on the drugs long-term effects. Now critics argue that the ban is discriminatory, as puberty blockers remain available for other conditions. However, the British High Court upheld the restriction earlier this year, and the policy is set to be reviewed in 2027. So will this latest news receive the attention it deserves here in the United States, and might it shape policy here in our country going forward? Joining me now to discuss this, Dr. Jennifer Bowens, the Director of the Center for Family Studies here at FRC. Dr. Bowens, thanks for joining me. Good to be with you. So this is some good news.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it is good news. This is really good news, and it comes on the heels of country after country banning these, what's broadly referred to as gender-affirming care. There's nothing really wonderful about it, so we shouldn't use the word care because it's nothing about care.
SPEAKER 04 :
So lay out exactly what was announced yesterday.
SPEAKER 07 :
So yesterday, their version of, like, NIH or Health and Human Services said we are banning puberty blockers specifically. And earlier I mentioned gender-affirming care. So this is one aspect of gender-affirming care. It's what you would give to a child who has what's called precocious puberty in a – in a sense where they actually need these drugs. We're talking about banning drugs that are not needed by children because they're normal. There's nothing unhealthy about these kids. And so we're intervening where there's no health problem.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we're doing so in such a way that puts the children at risk, according to what these health experts have said in the UK.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. So the health experts, they determined that basically the risks are not worth the benefits. And what they outlined for us is that, one, what I just said, that the risks are not worth the benefits. But they also said something interesting in that they really have not given attention or care to those who want to stop puberty blockers and what that effect has on a child or those who want to reverse the effect of these puberty blockers. And that's also a very interesting thing because we're told in our country that these drugs have no negative effect and that puberty is completely reversible. And all is well if you just decide that you want to stop this. And here, the UK's... scientific review is showing, no, that's not the case. And you haven't even paid attention to this. You're allowing children to go on these puberty blockers and very harmful drugs without attention to these basic things.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, Dr. Bowles, it appears as we look at what is coming out of the UK and other countries, actually, as well, compared to the United States, they're citing a lack of evidence to support these... Interventions, experimental interventions. And the United States is just that the movement here is just kind of ignoring the evidence.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And I think one thing that's very interesting just in this whole conversation, and I haven't heard a lot of people talk about this. But, you know, as a researcher, it's pretty mind-blowing the fact that we have something that's a psychological intervention that's aimed at treating dysphoria. And here, you know, with puberty blockers, we don't have any idea how that affects the psychology of a child who is suddenly halted from having a normal puberty. Right. Puberty is a time when you're supposed to not only understand more about your body, but how that interacts with the world around you. So sociologically, relationally, you're supposed to kind of grapple with that as your body is changing. So now we have this external intervention through a drug that's given to a child and it's unnecessary. So we don't have any research that shows what's the impact of that. And that's a primary question that should be asked.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's one of the points related to that that they brought up in the UK was that they want to reform their gender services and center around offering holistic support for patients and their families. So when I look at that holistic, that's body, mind, and soul. That's dealing with the emotions. That's dealing with the psychological implications of what may have led to this change. But here in the United States, preceding what we have now with 26 states that have banned this or have restricted the use of these experimental drugs, we had some states that have banned counseling. So you lock these kids in and you don't allow the parents to get the help that the child needs, the child to get the help they need in dealing with the underlying psychosis that's driving this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And so there's just in that we know that there's a real ideological push to get these kids to go down the path of of transgender ism. Yeah. And we know some of the cases that are coming out that these kids were coming into some of the gender clinics with all kinds of preexisting issues and traumas. And they weren't offered a single session or a proper evaluation. They were just told, you know, this is a good path for you.
SPEAKER 04 :
So do you see this study, we've only got about a minute left, do you see this study having implications for policy here in the United States?
SPEAKER 07 :
I am hopeful that it will have implications for the U.S. because, you know, as as the evidence grows, as people continue to do more and more systematic reviews and they look at the literature and they see the evidence is lacking and then the countries are in their policies are pulling away from these, quote unquote, gender affirming care. I think we're going to see pressure put on the U.S. to to follow suit.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, let's hope that is the case. Dr. Jennifer Bowen, it's always great to see you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good to be with you, Tony.
SPEAKER 04 :
Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 07 :
Merry Christmas to you, too.
SPEAKER 04 :
I couldn't tell it was Christmas, just the other red and green. All right. All right. After the break, I'll discuss some ideas that President Biden might be considering to preemptively just go ahead and give a blanket pardon to illegal immigrants prior to Donald Trump taking office. How realistic is this? Stay tuned to find out. It begins here and here and here every day. Before you stand, you need solid ground. Standing in a culture that wants you to surrender the truth won't work unless you have a firm foundation. At Family Research Council, we have that firm foundation and you can find us standing. We stand for the value of all human life. We stand for the right of families to flourish. And every day we stand for your freedom to believe and to live out those beliefs both at home and abroad. We work with government officials, educating them on the issues from a biblical worldview. And when necessary, we hold them accountable. We equip Christians across America to be informed and to take action in their communities. With our daily radio program, television appearances, and vast online presence, we reach people where they are. We envision an America where all human life is valued, families flourish, and religious liberty thrives. And that won't be realized if we're not standing. Stand for faith. Stand for family. Stand for freedom. Stand with us at FRC.
SPEAKER 05 :
Did you know there are many faithful Christians on Capitol Hill fighting alongside Family Research Council for Faith and Family and Freedom? Download the StandFirm app today to view the latest video series from FRC, Defending the Faith, Profiles in Leadership. The series features exclusive sit-down interviews with our nation's leaders that go beyond the policies and politics to the events that brought them to Washington, D.C. Download the StandFirm app today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us. Well, earlier today, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. And he is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of nonviolent crimes. Now, together, these actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history. And he's not done. There's more to come. And one of the questions being asked is whether he will give ear to Democrats who are encouraging him to issue a blanket pardon for illegal immigrants before he leaves office or perhaps take another action to preempt President-elect Trump's mass deportation plan. Joining me now to discuss this, Jeff Clark, former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ Civil Division, and now Senior Fellow and Director of Litigation at the Center for Renewing America. Jeff, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thanks for having me, Tony. Good to be here.
SPEAKER 04 :
So let me start with this. How serious is this idea of a blanket pardon for illegal immigrants? Don't you at least have to name them?
SPEAKER 14 :
I think that Biden is putting this out as a trial balloon to see how it goes. And I don't think it's going so well, but he might do it anyway. I mean, I fully expect that he's going to be pardoning more questionable individuals like the the sex criminal and a Chinese suspicious individual like he did today, I think he's going to be pardoning large swaths of his own family before he's done and leaves office, just like he pardoned Hunter Biden. But on this one, I do have to say, look, as much of a conservative legal scholar and practitioner as I am, I think that the President has to be shown plenary pardon power, and that's what the Supreme Court has said. The only case I really know of where the Supreme Court has ever limited the pardon power is in a way that's actually not really a limitation. It's the idea that the President can't actually force someone to take a pardon, and that has consequences in terms of whether they're a Fifth Amendment privileges that continue to attack. So if someone says, look, I don't want the pardon, I'm going to stay and I'm going to stay silent. You can't force me to testify. Maybe somebody does that because they don't want to implicate a relative or a friend or business associate or something, then that can't be jammed down on them. But that's not really a limitation. It's more like just what is the consequence of how one accepts a pardon. But we've in the past had pardons that applied to classes of people. So after the Civil War, we had a class of people who were pardoned. We had pardons for folks who had participated in rebellions under George Washington that were in broad terms. I do think that this one feels very different, and it feels very different because it's It really is just a finger in the eye of Congress and prior presidents who passed immigration laws. It's just saying, we don't care about that. We don't like these laws. And therefore, we're going to just lift the consequences of them. It's very much like the DACA program for dreamers where Obama just created a program that Congress never authorized to let them stay here. But look, what I think we can do is we can vehemently criticize pardons like this. And if that pardon for illegal aliens takes place, there should be screaming to the high heaven as against the Biden administration and the Democrats, Tony.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, Jeff, you made reference to the pardons that were issued after the Civil War that were given to former Confederate soldiers and others that laid down their arms, no longer combatants. These are folks that, you know, we don't even know how many are here. We don't know how many, we don't know who they are. We don't know their name. They're not here legally. They're not American citizens. This would be unique. What would this look like if President Biden were to do this?
SPEAKER 14 :
It would create an administrative mess, which is, I think, what you're getting at, Tony, right? You'd have to be someone who was here at the time of the pardon. It wouldn't have prospective effect or continuing effect. And so if someone got apprehended and they said, hey, look, I got pardoned. You can't bring criminal charges against me under U.S. law. that person would have to show they were here illegally at the time Biden pardoned them, right? And maybe they can't show that. That I don't think would invade a presidential pardon power, but it would create a logistical nightmare for the immigration courts and then the federal courts that sit in judicial review of those administrative courts.
SPEAKER 04 :
But, okay, so they were pardoned for the crime that they committed by coming into the country illegally, right? But if they're still here and they don't have a green card, they don't have any, they're not taking any action to become a legal citizen. I mean, can they stay in that status forever?
SPEAKER 14 :
That's a very good point. I mean, certainly if you get a pardon for a crime, but it is a continuing crime, then at the point you continue it after the time that you've gotten a pardon, you're engaged in new unlawful conduct. And that would be itself a very unique legal issue to see litigated. If you were smart, you would self-deport right before President Trump took the oath of office, saying, well, they can't come after me later. And if I try to come in through a legal port of entry and apply for citizenship, they can't hold against me that I had previously been here illegally. But I suspect a lot of people will just try to go on as they were before. And if they keep engaging in criminal conduct, I don't think the pardon like that, if it happens, is going to protect them.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. We've just got a minute left, Jeff. But if Biden were to do some of these things, are Trump's hands then tied, his administration unable to undo any of this?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I don't think that stops the president from using civil remedies and the physical remedy of taking them out of the country, ejecting them. So that remedy Biden can't take off the table. It would just be the criminal consequences of their violations of federal immigration law.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Jeff Clark, thanks for joining us. Great to see you. Appreciate your insights on this. Thanks a lot, Tony. And folks, another reminder why we need to be praying for what is transpiring right now in our nation during this time of transition from the Biden administration into the Trump administration and globally, as we're seeing almost every day. So if you'd like to join the prayer effort, text the word SHIELD to be a part of Operation Prayer Shield. Text SHIELD to 67742, 67742. The Attorney General of Louisiana, Liz Merle, joins me next. Don't go away. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins, president of 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 you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. 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 09 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God's will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn't impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can't do that. It's not that you don't love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God's opinion more than your neighbor's opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you're the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. 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 go to frc.org sagecon and take the quiz to find out The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can't do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That's what we're working toward every day. 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 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us. If you've not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, I encourage you to go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app. That way you can have Washington Watch wherever you go. You can also have the news feed from the Family Research Council, our Washington Stand, and our daily devotionals. Stand on the word. Speaking of that, our word for today comes from Isaiah chapter 32. Rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent daughters. Give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women. For the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come. What does this mean? Does it have implications for us? Well, the principles that we control from this are as follows. We live in a time of great prosperity. Most middle-class Americans live better than royalty of ages past. And I'm grateful for the abundance we enjoy as a society, but we must guard against becoming intoxicated with the blessings of our nation's past obedience. We need to be sober-minded about the future and follow the Lord and His teachings. We should be content with our needs being met and not perpetually pursuing our wants. This is one of the greatest challenges that individuals and nations face, persevering through the blessings that come from following God. We must be intentional and disciplined in our pursuit of the face and not just the hand of God. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That's BIBLE to 67742. Well, since President-elect Donald Trump's decisive victory last month, there has been a lot of discussion about what a second Trump administration will mean for the Department of Justice, what it will mean for states across the nation as we'll see maybe the federal government kind of pull back and let states conduct business for themselves. Now, one of the things we saw during the Biden administration is that we saw state attorneys general across the country, Republicans, There's about half the states. They spent a significant time and lots of resources challenging the Biden administration and their leftist policies. And they were quite successful in keeping them contained. Now, how will that change come January with an ally in the White House? Joining me now in studio to discuss this is the Attorney General of the state of Louisiana, Liz Murrell. Liz, welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you. It is great to be here in the studio with you, Tony.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it's good to have you here in Washington, D.C. In fact, we were on the commute up here this week. We're on the same plane, and you enjoyed all of the normal commuting problems we have coming up here where we got stuck in Charlotte. So let's talk—I want to get into some of the cases in Louisiana that are very interesting, and even President Trump has weighed in on those. But first— You and your Republican colleagues played a key role in containing the Biden administration and their reach. I mean, it was a constant, nonstop. How does that change now?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, certainly we're not going to have to sue the federal government quite as much. I don't think it means that we don't have to sue them at all because a lot of these rules have gone into effect and we still want to block some of the rules that did go into effect that lawsuits may not be pending on yet. So it doesn't mean that that part goes away, but it does mean that we have an ally in the White House who sees the kind of regulatory power and regulatory overreach the way that we do. And so that we can kind of take advantage of that, go in and talk to them about some of the pending lawsuits that we still have that are open and see about how we can settle those and close those out and what that looks like. You know, it may be settling cases. It may be repealing rules that are in place. It might be, you know, slowing down compliance deadlines and then engaging in a withdraw, repeal and replace process through rulemaking. We don't anticipate that the need to litigate and defend those actions is going to be any less great than the need for us to sue on the rules that we challenged in the first place.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you will actually play a role in helping the Trump White House deal with some of the cleanup that's necessary for the agencies that are still operating under the rules left behind.
SPEAKER 08 :
We will. A hundred percent we will. And, you know, I think I've spent some time already working with my team to identify, go back and look at all of the open cases that we have. We had a lot of lawsuits on energy policy. We have one of the largest, one of the large coalitions that sued on the Title IX rules.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
So there are a lot of things that we want to sit down and talk to them about and see, you know, what can we do, how fast, how quickly can we do it. Some of those actions are going to be more complicated and take a longer time than others, but we want to do everything we can to help them be as successful as possible.
SPEAKER 04 :
The positive steps that the Trump administration takes to advance good policy is now going to be challenged probably by some of the Democratic attorneys general across the country. But the Republicans will play a role in that as well, will they not?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, we will, and we've kind of been through this drill once before. The Democrat attorney generals will do the same thing that we did when President Trump was president before, and they will generally file the lawsuits, and then we will come in as interveners in a lot of those cases and help defend the rules and explain why why the new action is necessary and appropriate.
SPEAKER 04 :
So it's not going to slow down?
SPEAKER 08 :
No, it's not going to slow down at all.
SPEAKER 04 :
But we may see more victories in playing a little more offense than defense.
SPEAKER 08 :
Look, there's no, I mean, there is no doubt that we are much better off now with having a friend in the White House, that there's someone that we can talk to. I believe that the policies of this administration are going to, by nature, they're going to revert to being more friendly and respectful of state sovereignty. The Biden administration absolutely was not. I mean, they wanted to remove power from the states, concentrate power. Even in the oil and gas sort of zone, they would like to concentrate more power in bigger oil companies and take it away from small businesses. All of that is destructive to democracy. So I think that, you know, we've got an administration that believes that democracy will survive in part by preserving the structure of our Constitution that respects 50 states that all have the ability to make different policy for their own people.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. I didn't tell you I was going to ask this question, but you're good. You can think on your feet. Before becoming attorney general, you're solicitor general, and you argued many cases in Louisiana. And you took one of the cases all the way to the Supreme Court. Five.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, the one that I want to— Actually, about nine.
SPEAKER 04 :
One I want to focus on because I did the initial legislation that was built upon over the years, and that was the Abortion Clinic Regulation Act. Yes. You took that all the way to the Supreme Court prior to Dobbs. We didn't prevail in that case, but I think that played a role in setting the stage for Dobbs.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, yeah, I agree with you. I mean, you know, I explain it often as, you know, we loaded the bases and Mississippi was able to kind of make the home run. But it takes time in Supreme Court. In the world of Supreme Court litigation, you kind of have, some layups before you actually get the ball in. And so I think that is by nature. It's by design that they move slowly and incrementally. And when they're reversing precedent like that, it's... It's stepping stones.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is. To get to there. My point, and you have... Louisiana is a pro-life state.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Our laws are pro-life. You're pro-life. We've worked together on a number of things. There's an issue with the current FDA and mithoprestone, the abortion pill, because Louisiana is a pro-life state. We have laws that say that we're going to protect the unborn, but that's being violated by the FDA.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, there's a lot of problems with the way this administration has handled it. It started in COVID. It started when, you know, they took advantage of the, and I would say, you know, the, the pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood took advantage of the opportunity to go in and remove some of the protections that existed, like the REMS protocol that had previously been in place for mifepristone. And, you know, that had a lot of advantages where they recognized that there is an inherent danger in inducing an abortion by the use of these medications. that more than half of them require additional procedures to complete it and that women can become septic, they can hemorrhage and die. And so this movement that has been so aggressive to pretend like those risks don't exist. And then to push those pills out into our states and make them accessible by mail without any relationship with a doctor, you know, it's just, it's very dangerous.
SPEAKER 04 :
And now almost 70% of abortions are being done through the abortion pill. So the FDA is the one that issued that order. What if that order is not reversed and we see that same policy under the Trump administration?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it's still illegal in Louisiana to prescribe those pills. I mean, you can prescribe them for other purposes, but not for the purposes of inducing an abortion. So the FDA can't change that. Our state laws still prevail when it comes to whether or not you can use those and have chemical abortions.
SPEAKER 04 :
But if they're coming across state lines by mail.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it's a different problem that we have to deal with.
SPEAKER 04 :
That is a federal problem.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is, well, it's a crime. I mean, it's a crime in the state of Louisiana.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's a crime, but it's being allowed because of federal policy.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I would expect that new, you know, a new set of U.S. attorneys and a, A new set of people in charge both at the FDA and HHS, but more importantly in the Department of Justice, is going to help us, allow us, and help us in enforcing our laws.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, that goes back to the Comstock law at the federal level where these cannot be mailed.
SPEAKER 08 :
It's illegal under federal law too.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. But they're doing it anyway. And the Biden administration has basically said you get a pass. Right. Okay. I want to go to a particular law in Louisiana that you've been, your office has been spearheading to defend. The Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. It's been at the district court. It's now at the Fifth Circuit. You had arguments, I guess, last month at the district level.
SPEAKER 08 :
District court level, that's right, on a preliminary injunction. So still an earlier stage. I mean, for non-lawyers, preliminary injunctions are still an early stage of the litigation, not supposed to be a final judgment on the case. But this judgment looks a lot like a final judgment. I think the judge intended it to be viewed that way. He also intended, I think, to chill any school board from complying with the law, even though only five school boards were actually defendants and therefore only five school boards are subject to the jurisdiction of the court and to his order. But we are on appeal at the Fifth Circuit. We were able to get the case expedited for oral argument, which means that we are going to be arguing it in the Fifth Circuit on January 20th. We've asked the Fifth Circuit to go en banc, so that means we would have the whole complement of active judges on the court ruling on the case instead of just the panel of three because there's some Fifth Circuit precedent that we think only the en banc court can sort out. So if they do that, we'll get a pretty good hearing, I think, from the Fifth Circuit and and the case will be teed up pretty well for the United States Supreme Court.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you believe it'll go all the way to the Supreme Court?
SPEAKER 08 :
I do. I do. One way or the other, it will. I mean, if we win in the Fifth Circuit, then our law goes, I mean, then those, you know, no other school boards are enjoined. All the five that were sued can go, can implement the law as well. And that's not really going to be an outcome that I think the people who sued us can accept. So They will go to the Supreme Court if that happens.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so just so our folks, our viewers and listeners know, this would just, what this requires is a posting of the Ten Commandments. It lays out the size. It's going to be read, readable. There's no government money that's expended in that these are given. So, you know, people are publishing these Ten Commandments to post them in the classroom. And the argument against them is what?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I mean, I don't obviously I don't agree with the argument against it, but the argument against them is that it violates the establishment clause. That the you know, how they get there is where a lot of our fight is, because we think that you can comply with this law and apply this law in a way that that. is constitutional. And that kind of brings us to two cases that the Supreme Court has decided involving posting of the Ten Commandments. And in one, they said it was a violation of the Establishment Clause. And in the other one, they said it wasn't. And the one in which they said it wasn't was a case where it was presented in a historical context, which means that we illustrate the Ten Commandments and how they played a role in the founding of our country.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's pretty hard to deny. that they played a role.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, certainly our legislature overwhelmingly agrees with that, as I do, and I think that, you know, this is an opportunity for us to be able to put it in, you know, in a poster, a small poster that creates a point for talking, for discussion, for teaching. And so I had a whole press conference with about 15 posters that my staff thought of and we created and we posted them so that we could illustrate to the press and in our briefs, we used them in our briefs to show that there are a lot of ways that you can apply this law and it still be constitutional, which means we should win in a case that's challenging it, saying that there's no possible way to apply it constitutionally.
SPEAKER 04 :
It should be pointed out that The Ten Commandments were in public schools until 1980. And that's when there was a court decision that struck down the posting of the Ten Commandments. So this is not like new. It's just returning to that, which maybe given all of the problems we have in our country, maybe exposing the kids to thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal might not be a bad idea.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and those, you know, commandments are, For us as Christians, they're meaningful to us in a lot of ways. But they also are built into the law of virtually every country, not just ours, but every state, every country.
SPEAKER 04 :
The very Supreme Court in which you are arguing the case.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, the federal law. Well, the Supreme Court has in nine different places. Moses and the tablets are there. And so there's a lot of teaching there. I think, points that are opportunities that arise with this. But, you know, to the question of whether we can just post the Ten Commandments, I mean, we're going to test that precedent.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we are glad that you're there, Liz. You're doing a great job, and we look forward to tracking this.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for being with us, and Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 08 :
You too.
SPEAKER 04 :
Folks, thanks for joining us today. We're out of time, but I want to encourage you to, once again, look to the encouraging words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you've done everything that you can do, when you've prayed, when you've prepared, and when you've taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
