Impact Without Limits

S5 E19: Revival of the American Spirit

• Dale and Brian Karmie / Adkins Media Co.

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As America continues to celebrate its 250th year, Dale and Brian take a closer look at the renewed sense of patriotism that's been showing up across the country. From the semiquincentennial celebration to the surprising role the World Cup has played in reviving the American spirit, they discuss what makes this moment feel different—and why people around the world are seeing America through a new lens.

Along the way, they reflect on the principles that have shaped the nation for the past 250 years, the freedoms that are so often taken for granted, and the responsibility each generation has to preserve them. It's a thoughtful conversation about gratitude, liberty, and why America's story is still worth celebrating all year long.


Episode Highlights: 

  • Celebrating 250 years of America.
  • The revival of the American spirit.
  • What the world sees in America.
  • The freedom behind American exceptionalism.
  • Carrying the American legacy forward.


Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on ForeverLawn:

This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.


SPEAKER_03

Nothing has been bigger, I think, for reviving the American spirit, the American patriotism, the American pride than the World Cup.

SPEAKER_02

So why would two guys leave comfortable jobs, move across the country, and start a business in an industry they don't know, a place they don't know?

SPEAKER_01

And could it be successful? We're Dale and Brian Carmen. Join us as we share our story and inspire you to become people of impact. Welcome to the Impact Without Limits Podcast.

SPEAKER_03

Welcome back, everybody, to the Impact Without Limits Podcast. I am Minuteman, Sergeant Dale Carmy.

SPEAKER_02

And I am General Brian Carmi. Washington. For those of you that are seeing clips of this, we do have on uh a little uh revolutionary area era garb. We are in costume. In uniform. That sounds in uniform. It is not a costume. It is not a unique one.

SPEAKER_03

It is a uniform. Um I even have look at this. I I gotta check this is an actual firing musket, right? That's pretty awesome. And this was a gift just given to me a few minutes ago. Minute man, I see what you did there. Yeah, uh-huh. By uh my soon-to-be sonner son-in-law Paul, and together with my son Colton and my daughter Jenilee, they got me this awesome gun to go with my Minuteman outfit. So which my lovely wife Lori got for me for Father's Day. I mean, come on. This is like this is as good as it gets.

SPEAKER_02

So I think this whole thing started. I made a joke about we should wear powdered wigs.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's where it started. And then you heard a powdered wig. I ordered you a wig. And you didn't get yourself. Oh, I'm wearing. Well, what happened was I said, you said you'd get the powdered wig. And I said, Okay, I'll I'll get you the powder. I said, I'll wear a tri-corn hat. Yes, is what I said. So I ordered Brian a wig. He's like, Where's your wig? I said, I'm not wearing a powdered wig, I'm getting a tri-corn hat. So I got the hat. You got the hat. And that's that's kind of where it's at, right? I actually ordered three hats, and I might do a uniform change here in a minute, but I got this one, I got this one. That's nice. That one's got a chin strap. No, it's uh adjustable. Adjustable head strap. Okay. And then the one I'm wearing, uh, Lori actually ordered for me, which is leather. Those ones are kind of props. This one's actual leather. We we paid a pretty penny, uh a King's ransom for this one. And and so then that's what we had. Brian had the wig. I had three hats. I figured he could wear one of them. I had hats. So here's the deal.

SPEAKER_02

I go home with the powder, and I'm I'm gonna go ahead and do this. I've gotta be honest. I do not I do not have a face for a powdered wig.

SPEAKER_03

I put it on. Look, you are pulling off George Washington incredibly good. The profile you could be on a quarter right now. Does anybody have a quarter? Like the post. How about a dollar bill? I don't think I have my wallet's not with me.

SPEAKER_02

So the thing I noticed was that it really uh it accentuates the features of your face, which when you have a nose like mine. It does not need accentuated. So uh then I go home and I told Angie, I said, I can't wear this powdered wig and just a regular shirt. I'd have to go with a puffy shirt, right? A throwback to Seinfeld with a puffy shirt. Well, Angie isn't just gonna settle for just a puffy shirt. Apparently not. The next thing I know, she orders this uh General Washington outfit from Amazon. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, am I allowed to sit this close to the general? All men are created equal. Yes. Soldier, some might be a little less equal than others. You realize I left the tissue laying in the middle of the table.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, anyway, that's what Minutemen do. So Angie orders this for me, and I was gonna walk in here and surprise you. Yeah. And then I see the picture of you in the Minuteman outfit, and I'm over, we're watching a movie the other night, and Lori comments about you having bought you the Minuteman outfit. She said, Did you see it? I said, Yeah, I said, crazy enough, Angie bought me this outfit. That both of our wives buy these for us. It's classic. I mean, how many times do you like dress up in cosplay?

SPEAKER_03

Can I go with before today never?

SPEAKER_02

I'm just picturing you in like a Chewbacca outfit going to Star Wars.

SPEAKER_03

Whoa, yes. I did do it once. Do you remember? We got to find this picture. It was Rob Wolf's birthday. Yes. My brother-in-law, and he loves no, I wasn't. He I'll get there. He loves Star Wars. And so um Josh Gelker made a Chewbacca outfit and even got stilts. So he was like seven feet tall. I went as Han Duo because I wasn't quite as good, but I parted my hair in the middle and had the vest and all that. I actually got our picture in some Star Wars Geek magazine Rob sent in. So we'll have to find that. So this is the second time I've been in uniform.

SPEAKER_02

And I will say, Angie has done some of those murder mystery things where I've had to play a character. So I've done that, but usually I'm inside my house and no one else.

SPEAKER_03

So here's the deal. Here's a question. I don't know if it's for you or for Bethany or people listening, but uh people listening, it's gonna be in the past. Um, we're going to see Young Washington.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

July 2nd.

SPEAKER_02

Which our next episode, I believe, will be us talking about Washington and that movie.

SPEAKER_03

I I might go like this. I might go in your probably without the musket. They might not want me walking in there with a musket. I guess I could try it. I am not sure. No, I couldn't try it.

SPEAKER_02

I am not sure that I could wear this wig uh for that long. It is you could probably do it without the wig. To be clear, George didn't wear the wig.

SPEAKER_03

No. George He used his actual hair. He powdered it. Yeah. Now because I think wasn't his hair like reddish, reddish brown, like Auburn.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Now, a lot of the other founding fathers, uh, Hamilton, Adams, those guys did wear powdered wigs, but just that is one thing. Uh but I didn't have his hair to just pull back.

SPEAKER_03

So you just wear it so well.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so we wear that it is July 6th. We have officially celebrated in epic fashion the semi-quincentennial. The fireworks. The fireworks incredible. Spectacular. Which is amazing because we're talking like it's the sixth, and yet we're going to see Young Washington in the future, which is the second.

SPEAKER_03

And we're going to do the fireworks in the future.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. But that's the amazing podcast world we live in. So anyway, uh, and the we're having some fun with it today.

SPEAKER_03

Obviously, we're uh if you're in uh audio land, you gotta at least check out the social media to get some pictures or or go go look at us on YouTube. Yeah, this is um It's all linked. It is all linked. Linked in the show notes. Something they didn't do back in 1776.

SPEAKER_02

But what we wanted to do today is just kind of further the celebration. We're gonna dive back into some of the characters of the revolution in future episodes. But right now, we wanted to just talk about a revival of the American spirit.

SPEAKER_03

And and I think General, I just want to know what are my marching orders?

SPEAKER_02

I've got my musket on the back. Soldier, stand your ground. Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes. All right. That wasn't Washington. No, it wasn't, but that's okay. It's okay.

SPEAKER_03

It's era era appropriate.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, American exceptionalism. I just a quick side note. I'm not just listening to Washington. I'm reading and listening because it's such a long book. And on the way in, they were talking about the march from when they lost Fort Washington and they're marching up in New Jersey, and the the soldiers were so sick and they didn't have wagons and they had to hike all this way. They ended up leaving some of the soldiers behind because they didn't have rations for them, didn't have and these guys became street beggars. So you think about these guys fighting for our country, and they end up being left behind. And then there's another story where they didn't even carry their kettle because it was so heavy they couldn't carry it. And they're like, why are we carrying this thing? We don't have anything to eat anyway. We're just carrying around an empty kettle and they leave that behind. And the the plight of these soldiers, uh, and I think we're gonna talk about that more in the future, but it just I looked at you in your Minuteman outfit, and I just pictured you having to walk alongside thank you thank you for your service. It was hard. So all right, so back to the topic rekindling of the American spirit.

SPEAKER_03

We're seeing yeah. I the to me, I I guess I would say this is ironic that um in a period when, and I think we mentioned this before, the bicentennial, you were just born, but I was 11 years old, 10 years, 11 years old when that happened. It felt like there was a real, like just embracing of the general public, of the population, the American spirit, companies promoted it, advertisers advertised it, everybody talked about it. We we dealt with it at school, all of that. Here we are at 250, and it just feels like maybe it wasn't being embraced the same way. Yeah, and we we talked about this, and then something happened. As odd as it sounds, the World Cup. Yeah, the World Cup is here in America, and as a result, you have all these foreigners, most of them, many of them European, many of them from England, Great Britain, coming here to the US, and in this world of social media, so many of them have taken to social media to say we were wrong about America. Yeah, America is amazing. And I I heard somebody say, if you want to hate America, watch the news. Not just American news, foreign news, watch the news. If you want to love America, come experience it. And so it's taking foreigners from the outside to come visit and see what we really are, what we're about, what's here to create this revival, I feel like, of the uh Amer what we're talking about, the American spirit.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. It's really interesting to to see. I mean, there's there's a lot of fun social media out there. Some people, you know, playing off it a little bit, and I think we'll link some of them, but some some of them are certainly some of them are to get clicks.

SPEAKER_03

The one guy, the one guy was really funny. He was a Frenchie. Yeah. And he's really an American, but he acted to be a French, but man, he had some funny lines. But many, many, many of them are legit, are real. And not even the ones you see in social media, but the people you hear telling stories about the people they're interacting with. Um, and then just watch the stadiums. And and what they're saying- Watch the reactions, watch the watch what the people were really doing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and what they're saying is just what you were saying, the difference between the media and the experience. They've been told all along that America's unsafe, that Americans are lazy and stupid, that Americans, you know, aren't aren't pleasant, aren't cultured, aren't not diverse, whatever. And they come here and they experience it, and they're like, oh my goodness. Like the one comment about diversity. Like, well, Americans don't, you know, Europeans travel to all these different countries. Yeah, you don't need to in America because you've got 50 states.

SPEAKER_03

They were saying that uh, I think it was the the the one I heard that they said the critique of Americans is they're not cultured. Most Americans never leave America, they don't see other countries, they don't know what it's like, they don't know what the world's like. And then the the response was, oh my goodness, you have 50 different states, which are in a sense like 50 different countries to everybody else, where each state has its own feel, its own people, uh, something it's known for. Uh right. And we're all united under the country. We're all united under the flag, we're all united under the Constitution, Declaration. We're we're one country, but we are 50 individual states. And you can experience more in the 50 states of America than you can travel into dozens of countries. Yeah. And they realize that. And they talk about the size of America, they talk about the breadth, they talk about the things we have. But um underlying all of this, I and I think I think people see it, but they don't know how to express it. It is the freedom. The freedom we have as Americans is what enables us uh enables us to have a bucky's. Yeah. It's what enables us to have uh, you know, waffle house, ranch dressing, uh carry guns, um, you know, drive trucks, all these things that people were so blown away by that they just ice. We have we have air conditioning, garbage disposals in the sinks. We there are so many things that we take as so basic that I hear repeated over and over again that people in other countries are like we've never seen anything like this. And so it's not the trucks, uh it's not uh the air conditioning, it's not the movies, it's not the music, yeah, not the barbecue, not the meats, not the way we cook. It is the nation, it is the freedoms, it is the constitution that has created this government, it is the freedom that we uh have first in Christ that drove the freedom we see as people, that all people were created equal. And and the the life, liberty, and what pursuit of pursuit of happiness, that's what they're experiencing. They're calling it out as items, but that's the difference.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and it's it's fun. Like we we've talked about this, but um I I think there is a lesson here in the difference between experiencing something for yourself and just going on reports or what someone else has told you. And and even for us, uh the inverse, right? We we went to Europe and I had no real desire to go to Europe, but you go there and you experience it, and it's different, it's unique. And and I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. I I truly enjoyed Europe. I I'm the same as you. I I never wanted to go, right? I never had the desire to go, and ended up business happened that gave us the opportunity to go. I mean, like that was pretty neat. It was, and it was different than I thought, different than I expected. I enjoyed it, but I'll also tell you, yeah, I did it. Europeans, we love you. It's not America.

SPEAKER_02

We're happy this is home. Oh, yes. Those are great places to visit. But the interesting thing is some of the things that these uh foreigners picking up on here in the U.S. are some of the things, same things we noticed, right? Like a simple one, the trucks, right? The the foreigners are loving they can just drive around on a pickup truck. Like that's unheard of in Europe.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you I mean, I don't know. I don't know, we might have said this before, but when we were over in in Europe the one time, and you you don't think about it at first. We're we're driving around, it was after like a day. So we're like, aren't there any pickup trucks? We went through multiple countries. We started counting, right? We went through what was Germany, Germany, it was Netherlands, Belgium, and we're driving, guys. We're not we're we're driving on the roads on the home. And we were there for it, it was probably a five-day trip or four-day trip. Once we we realized we started saying, hey, let's count. What we see five? Yeah, it was it was single day. Five trucks, and and we're not like the biggest truck, I think we saw one Raptor. Yeah. F-150, you know, Ford F-150 Raptor. The others were smaller trucks, a Ranger, a Toyota. It's like that is so odd. And we ask about it, and and the people are like, oh no, we we don't drive trucks. Yeah, they they put like taxes on them. Um, I mean, they wouldn't fit most places. Yeah, like and you think about it here.

SPEAKER_02

Somebody is a plumber or a landscaper, they just drive a pickup truck. There, they're driving a van. Or wagons.

SPEAKER_03

So then we came home. Um, so I I went to church. Like we came home. I we got home on like a Friday afternoon or Saturday, and that's Sunday. I thought, you know what? I'm gonna count pickup trucks on my way to church. I live how how far do we live? Probably 15, 20 minutes. Yeah, 15, 20 minutes, probably 10 or 12 miles to church. On the way home, I I think it was just home. Maybe it was two and home. I was just home. I counted 147 pickup trucks. It's crazy in 20 minutes, traveling 12 miles here in the US. It's it's just so different. And I'm talking pickup trucks, I'm talking F 250, 2500s, 3500s, diesel, you know, like the real the real trucks. Yeah, it was awesome.

SPEAKER_02

And and then gas stations, right? I mean, it's hard to find gas stations.

SPEAKER_03

Do you remember what we said over in Europe when we were over there about the gas stations? But what what do we say would would be a huge hit? A sheets or a bucky. Sheets or a buckies. Change the world over there. We we were over there. It's like you get off in America, you get off an exit. And again, uh I the I'm not I'm just comparing. Yes. But you get off, we got off an exit, and there's no there's not stuff there.

SPEAKER_02

No.

SPEAKER_03

Right? And in America, if you're on the interstate and you get off an exit, you're gonna have four or five gas stations, you're gonna have a bunch of restaurants, you're gonna have hotels, you're gonna have all this stuff. Over there, you'd get off an exit and there was nothing, and then you'd have to drive down a road and go a bunch of miles until you found something. It was just different. We said, could you imagine what it would be like if you had a sheets in Europe? And if you don't know what sheets, it's it's like uh, you know, uh a wahwa or a racetrack or yeah, it's a gas station with some food and items inside.

SPEAKER_02

And then we got the crazy idea. What if you had a Buckies? I mean, I think about this. You're talking about the pickup trucks. There's probably more gas pumps at one Buckey's than I saw the whole time I was in Europe.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

In Malta, it's just so different, right? Uh, and it's just a really we drive.

SPEAKER_03

We drive everywhere. Yeah. Over in Europe, they don't drive.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, they're talking. You know what I mean. Yeah. So but but bringing it back to us, uh, to America is our forefathers, uh the founding fathers of this country, not only did they sacrifice so much, not only did they put their lives on the line, the Minutemen, the generals, everybody, um to create their freedom, but they established a form of government again based on the idea that all men are created equal, that this country was founded under divine guidance and providence, and then they set up a form of government with the constitution as the framework, right? A uh constitutional republic that gives us the ability to do and have the things we have, that makes America great, that makes other people from other countries come and see this and say, This is really good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I think some of the irony here is that it's it's sports end up becoming a vehicle to to bring back this spirit of patriotism. You you go back even to the Olympics, the the men's gold gold medal team in hockey. Uh huh. I mean, that was great. It's just this national pride and unity and coming behind it and celebrating.

SPEAKER_03

Bethany, you gotta look up the young man's name that hit the winning goal. That lost his tooth. Yeah. I mean, how epic was that story? The guy gets his tooth busted out with the puck, keeps playing, and ends up knocking in the winning goal in it was in overtime, right? Uh, and then they were just so proud of America, so proud to be American. Uh, you know, won it against improbable odds and Jack Hughes. Sorry, Jack, I should have remembered that. Just awesome. So that kind of started it. That was almost foreshadowing, right?

SPEAKER_02

And then you have the NBA finals, and on the scorers table, they put the America 250. Look at listen. I'm not going there. NBA. The NBA. But they did at least put it on the scores table. America 250. I'll give them that. And then you have at the White House they had the UFC event.

SPEAKER_03

So here's the deal on that. I didn't watch it. Well, subscription services are too many. It was so awesome that they did that. It's like America is back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, how American to have this amazing venue, this patriotic event, this you know, UFC championship. The you know, I saw you know different posts and highlights. It was an epic event.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was. And we were down there in December and we saw them starting to build the stage or arena or whatever on the lawn for this event. It's just amazing. Like everything that went into this was months of work to get this ready to host this event. Yeah. And then I don't know. There's the the quote from Joe Rogan. He was talking about going and and you know, concern of, hey, is there like gonna be a terrorist attack? Like, this is you know, President Trump's obviously had multiple threats on his life, and he he says to to President Trump, like, you know, what what if there's a terrorist attack or something? And Trump just looks at him and says, We all got to go sometime. Rogan's just like, are you kidding me? That's hardcore. That's hardcore. That is, but I mean, how great that Trump understands that sports are something that unites and and it pulls people together. And and and it this this world cup is really unique. Because I yeah, so in all honesty, I haven't been a soccer fan.

SPEAKER_03

No, you've got to talk about the sports sports, and and nothing has been bigger, I think, for reviving the American spirit, the American patriotism, the American pride than the World Cup. Well, what happens who would have thought that?

SPEAKER_02

What happens when they play the national anthem? The players are all standing up, stand, they're the crowd of their heart. They're representing America in Seattle.

SPEAKER_03

Unlike the NBA, oh San Antonio Spurs, you guys are so embarrassing the way you acted when that starts playing with the city. We're gonna keep it positive. We're gonna, we're gonna but yes, but the it Seattle, right? We saw that video clip. They start playing the national anthem. Now, look, guys, when I go to a sporting event, right anywhere. It doesn't have to be a sporting event. In my living room. Is played, I stand, I'll be in my living room watching a ball game. We're all sitting on the couch. They play the national anthem. I stand, and my family stands with me. I put my hand over my chest and I sing. I sing quietly because I don't know. What's that sound like? Go ahead, give us a little bit. Oh, say can you see? That's why I sing quietly. But I sing, but when we go to events, you know how many people sing? I just got to be less than one percent. You don't hear it. The only people you hear singing are the people who were paid or brought in to sing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You go to the stadium in Seattle, Seattle note, and soccer game, USA was playing. I were they playing Australia or Argentina, something I don't know. And they start playing national anthem, the entire stadium is singing along. That's awesome. It was just incredible. There were fans in the stadium dressed up in costumes. Can you imagine that? Who would dress up in a costume? I saw people in dressed up like eagles, people dressed up in red, white, and blue and hats and all this stuff. And it is like, amen and hallelujah. That that was outstanding.

SPEAKER_02

And and kudos to the men's national team, the players. Yeah. They are they're proud Americans, they're proud to represent the country. And uh specifically, and Mark Mackenzie, uh, the defender, is leading the team in prayer before and after the games. So I like what a platform.

SPEAKER_03

I uh this is our this is our podcast, right? We can we can say things. Yeah, and Bethany can edit it out. I'm gonna tell you there is something very true about the fact that a Christian faith and patriotism in large part, not 100% on either way, but they go hand in hand. Yeah. If you see somebody that's truly patriotic, they're gonna have a faith in God, they're gonna have a belief, they're gonna understand that they were created by uh uh God in that they were blessed with this country and this opportunity. It is hard.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I'm for myself, I know I see America as a gift, right? As a gift given to us by God through these founding fathers, through the people that have fought for our freedoms over the years, but it is liberty again. You go back to the founding documents, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, and and this government's just there to protect those rights that have been given to us by God. And when you see America as a gift that is to be received and to be protected and to be cherished, that's a lot different than just, you know, unfortunately, we have a certain segment of our population that just looks to find fault and complain and see flaws. I I mean, you look at the greatness of this country, and again, this is what's unique about Europeans coming in or or from wherever they're coming, and they're experiencing America, and they're seeing this greatness, and they're like, Man, we've been hearing about all the flaws. Yeah, but now we're seeing they get to experience it. I I mean, uh, this is a funny little one. But one guy was talking about he went to a restaurant and the waitress comes over and calls him honey and just starts talking to them like they're best friends. He loved it. And and in America, that's just a common thing. Like our waiters and waitresses, they they take care of you. And and when you go to Europe, it's very different.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, our our good friend Marco, yeah, um, from the Netherlands, uh, when when he visits, every time he comments about the hospitality, the graciousness, the way that he is treated, in general, but specifically at restaurants. Yes, the way people serve, the way they care, they actually act like they enjoy being there and and they value it. And yeah, you can say, well, because they're working on tips. Yeah, you know, that's there, but I think in general, there's there's just a spirit, a warm spirit around people here.

SPEAKER_02

So we're excited about the rekindling of the American spirit. Uh yes, the 4th of July is over, but it is still the semi-quincentennial. We're still celebrating. It's just getting started. And we we we are. And in the World Cup, I'm not sure when this episode falls, if the U.S. men's national team is still playing. I think they will be. Um, but I'm a fan. I'm on board.

SPEAKER_03

Let's go for the ride. I'm watching a game coming up. I haven't watched one yet, but I'm going to. You mark my words. I'm going to.

SPEAKER_02

So, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Look, love America. Um, love this musket. See if I can point this right at the camera. What that would so I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

Fearsome. All right. So watch out, you Brits. Next week, we're gonna jump into Washington, and then after that, we're gonna go through some other characters uh from the American Revolution.

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna talk characters, we're gonna talk symbols, um, themes, different things. There's so much. And guys, again, celebration is July 4th, just two days behind us, but semi-quincentennial is it lasts the whole year. So um break out your flags, um, break out your uh your patriotism. Don't be afraid to wear it on your sleeve.

SPEAKER_02

Or maybe you get it. You could get a whole uniform, a tricorn hat, and a powdered wig. We have plenty, Phil. All for less than a Benjamin, I bet.

SPEAKER_03

Well, just not if you throw in the leather hat.

SPEAKER_02

God bless.

SPEAKER_00

This is the Fred Call me reminding you that face looks up, hope looks ahead, and love looks all around to see whom it can help. Good day.