Soup Sandwich
Welcome to Soup Sandwich, a podcast that explores the complex and compelling world of veterans in the United States. Through interviews with veterans themselves, military experts, and advocates, we'll dive deep into the issues that matter most to this community, from mental health and employment, to the history of veterans in the US and the future of military service. This podcast is supported by the generous contribution of the members of VFW Post 3033.
Soup Sandwich
Balancing Honor and Humor: Veterans' Insights on Modern Challenges
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This episode of the Soup Sandwich Podcast continues on from last episode where we discussed the recent election, but promises to unravel the complexities and paradoxes of such, laced with humor and heartfelt camaraderie. Featuring veterans like Manny Martinez and sharing personal stories from our guests, including El Salvadorian immigrant Giovanni, we dive into the nuances of veteran experiences and immigration reform. Join us as we remember Big Sexy Tim through his sticker tribute, sparking laughter as Billy fulfills our tradition of adding his name to our Soup Sandwich banner that hangs in AJ's Sky Lounge!
As the conversation unfolds, we tackle some of today's most pressing issues, from hate crime laws to media bias, highlighting the importance of understanding nuances in statistical data and political perceptions and biases. The chapter on police shootings and racial bias challenges listeners to consider the reliability of data sources and media reporting while exploring the interplay of race and political affiliations. On a lighter note, the banter about teaching a Marine about pay periods and the joys of extra paychecks offers a momentary respite from deeper topics, ensuring a balanced blend of serious dialogue and levity.
With a thoughtful examination of affirmative action, hiring practices, and immigration policies, our guests share insights into the balance of qualifications with diversity, providing a fresh perspective on historical and current challenges. Through anecdotal exchanges about the challenges of the immigration process, both in America and abroad, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience. This episode of the Soup Sandwich Podcast is an engaging tapestry of personal narratives, societal critiques, and a celebration of the veteran community, inviting our listeners to reflect on the past and envision a future filled with camaraderie and understanding.
Email Us with your comments and suggestions at vfwpost3033@gmail.com, we'd love to hear from you!
War is a paradox. It has the power to bring nations together, to inspire heroism and sacrifice and to forge bonds of camaraderie that will span a lifetime, but it also has the power to tear families apart, to shatter communities and to leave scars that will never fully heal. And, for those who have served, the transition back to civilian life can be one of the greatest challenges they will ever face. This is the typical life of military veterans, a world that is both familiar and foreign to most of us. It is a world that is shaped by unique experiences, values and traditions of the military and by the sacrifices and struggles of those who have served, but it's also a world that Thank you for joining us at Soup Sandwich. Dig your foxhole, heat up your MRE and spend some time with us.
Speaker 1This podcast is designed solely for entertainment and, occasionally, informational purposes only, and is to be regarded strictly as satire. Comprising of veterans, it delves into their thoughts and experiences in combat, as well as their perspectives on various aspects of daily life that may be unsettling for certain listeners. This podcast is not suitable for individuals under the age of 18. The views articulated in this podcast may not necessarily align with those of the National VFW VFW Department of Michigan or VFW Post 3033. Additionally, we kindly request that listeners refrain from pursuing legal action against the creators or contributors of this podcast. In other words, please don't sue us In other words.
Speaker 2Please don't sue us. Welcome back to another night of Soup Sandwich Podcast. Vfw Post 3033. We appreciate everybody watching us live on Facebook or listening to us on Spotify.
Speaker 3We'll leave the introductions to the founder Brent Holbrook Sounds good.
Speaker 4I like that title the founder, yeah well you know, if you ever get a bike, that'll be your road name. Sounds good, though, which will never happen.
Speaker 3I don't know. You know, five years from now, I might.
Speaker 5Do you have a home plate?
Speaker 6No, we still like two-part.
Speaker 5Are we gonna?
Speaker 6set a CC limit? We still like two-part. Do you have a CC limit? We still like two-part, all right.
Speaker 3Me too.
Speaker 2Oh shit, you threw me off my groove man, that's because you were doing the intro on the live. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3I had to start it, which isn't normal. Did one of you guys want to watch the live and just monitor any comments or anything? I'm trying to go. Oh okay, all right, so, yeah. So, as Charlie said, thanks for joining us on the live Tonight. We have a few things we kind of wanted to talk about, wanted to follow up on. Was it last?
Speaker 2week or the week before Two weeks ago, we kind of left it in a shit show, you know. I mean we digress quite a bit in this podcast.
Speaker 3So you know we want to follow up on that a little bit and throw in some other things and, as our disclaimer states, you know occasionally informational of a, of a podcast, so wanted to throw out some stuff there. Um, something you know about real estate and the va home loan and you know short, sweet and to the point kind of a thing, nothing too crazy. But if we want to go a little bit deeper then, um, I can set up a, I can set up a, you up a guest to come in and maybe have one of my buddies who's a loan officer come in.
Speaker 2So I actually have one that might want to go live tonight if we decide to call him in. So on the last podcast we were talking about immigration and doing it legally and all those different things Trey are you worried, am I? Worried. Al-qaeda.
Speaker 1Al-Qaeda is in the house no.
Speaker 2Which goes back to like 10 podcasts ago. Immigration, no, but my niece's husband, Giovanni, the El Salvadorian immigrant here illegally, went back to El Salvador, came back legally. I did message him over the last few days and he's willing to come on tonight if we want to have him on. He's at work but he's like I can step outside and as a brown guy he could give us his intake, a little bit different from Trey's wife who came over from Poland as a doctor, this guy's coming over in the blue collar kind of world.
Speaker 2He's a chef.
Speaker 3At the risk of sounding a little racist. With the name Giovanni, I would not have thought El Salvadorian. I definitely would have thought Italian.
Speaker 2Yeah no, no, no.
Speaker 5You're a typical asshole.
Speaker 2So, for Christmas years ago I actually bought him a Spanglish dictionary, so it's half Spanish, half English, because when you talk to him he'll talk to you and if we bring him on tonight you'll hear the way he talks straight up. He has that dialect, which is awesome I love, especially like French or German, like I love like ooh yeah yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6I like the German dialect.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, yeah, or even like Irish. Oh my God, dude, Mm-hmm, women that have an Irish.
Speaker 6Can we smoke in the?
Speaker 2podcast. Absolutely, brother. This is the AJ Sky Lounge.
Speaker 6You can do what you want to do, I know. But you know how I smoke, I know.
Speaker 2but you know how I smell. There's Trump flags flying up and down, which I'm surprised that Trey didn't catch on fire walking by him, walking into the AJ Skylark, you know, because he was almost simmering. He was simmering coming in. He didn't quite catch on fire until I put that 28 Vance flag up there.
Speaker 4That's where I keep this cup full of ice. It's pulling me down. That's what's in it. That's what's in it.
Speaker 6That's what's in. It is just ice.
Speaker 2Ice and water but. I mean when you guys hear this guy talk you will have to really kind of pay attention, because it's still thick, right. But apparently El Salvadorians have a lot of foreign nationals that have immigrated there or moved there or whatever. So how the hell did he get his name? It's not Jorge or whatever. The hell.
Speaker 3I have no idea I have no idea what they're, you call me a stereotypical asshole.
Speaker 2But I'm saying I have no idea. You know what I mean. I don't. I see the guy like three times a year when him and my niece come back to Michigan because they're in Washington DC. So I don't get to see him enough, right. But when he left, I was talking to him once a week when he was down there, right gone from family and stuff like that, but I have no idea how. Yeah, I would think Giovanni is definitely not an El Salvadorian name, right? Yeah, I would think Giovanni is definitely not an El Salvadorian name, right? And even his last name, orellana Orellana. Orellana Even sounds Italian to me too. Okay.
Speaker 3Well, before we get too far into it, you're monitoring over there. If you want to monitor as well, I just want to do a quick sound check. Is anybody watching that can comment real quick and just make sure you can hear us, okay, and all that stuff.
Speaker 2Yeah, but if these guys aren't?
Speaker 3If these guys aren't admins Okay, somebody's playing it, so yeah, I think I can. Alright, cool, alright that's alright.
Speaker 2Anybody's got questions comments.
Speaker 3Questions, comments concerns complaints, whatever.
Speaker 2Just realize there's a little bit of a lag.
Speaker 6Well, if you've got complaints, keep them to yourself.
Speaker 3No, I mean they can submit complaints. They'll just go right through the shredder, it's alright.
Speaker 5Are we finished going around the table?
Speaker 3Yeah, let's do introductions Again.
Speaker 4We've only done it like 7,000 times, I know, but we do it every episode. I haven't been here in a minute.
Speaker 2You're the outtake tonight.
Speaker 6Yeah.
Speaker 2I'm the fresh. Let's go this way. Start right here, Brent's the founder man. I thought we were saving the best for last, but okay, that's why I'm over here, that's why we're going that way.
Speaker 6Two-part start.
Speaker 3Yep, all right. Well, my name is Brent Holbrook. I am a life member of Post 3033, mount Pleasant, michigan, represent. Mount Pleasant, michigan, represent. I am the founder of this podcast and all around good dude.
Speaker 2I don't know. You're not the tech nerd. I'm not the tech nerd, all around nerd.
Speaker 3I was junior vice commander, but that's keyword is was, so I don't really have any other titles these days douchebag took the words right out of my mouth sorry, it was funny to me.
Speaker 4Sorry, uh, you're gonna make me cry. Trey porter, uh, I am the writers group president, lifetime member of Post 3033. I used to think Roy was the most handsome guy when he first started coming around, but he's grown on me, not in a good way, and now he's back down to number two and I have that number one spot now. Sorry, roy, grown on you is like herpes, like a wart Like herpes.
Speaker 2Herpes, billy, you're up All right. Grown on you is like herpes.
Speaker 6Like a wart, Like herpes. Billy, you're up All right. My name is Billy Payne. I'm a past three-time commander of the polls. I'm a past writers group president. Let's see what else.
Speaker 2District commander, district 11. I'm a past District commander.
Speaker 6District 11. I'm past district 11 commander Life member. I'm a life member of the post.
Speaker 2We call him Billy Goat, so if you're looking online you can see the goatee. Looks like a.
Speaker 3Billy Goat. I can't see him. Oh, you can't see him Come over here.
Speaker 4Bill, there we go.
Speaker 6Got the goatee.
Speaker 4There he is.
Speaker 6I'm the pot smoker of the group.
Speaker 4We don't do drugs or alcohol here, we do AJ's Catholic Sky Lounge.
Speaker 2AJ's Catholic Sky Lounge. Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa, whoa, whoa. You're all altar boys and I am the priest 30-year Army combat vet 30 years 30 years. Yeah, but it was National Guard. Yeah, you were POC, it was National Guard JV team. Yeah, I did both part time, 30 years is like three months in the Marine Corps, right? Roy, you just graduated boot camp after 30 years. Congratulations.
Speaker 6I did 17 and a camp after 30 years. Congratulations, good job. Good job. I did 17 and a half active duty years.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, 17 and a half. Yeah, okay, so you got nine months credit in the Marine Corps. Yeah, we're just teasing. That's what we do up here. Billy, we appreciate you being here tonight, man. It's been a long time since you've been up. We appreciate you joining the conversation Before. It's been a long time since you've been up. We appreciate you joining the conversation. I'm glad you actually called me, because I was going to call you today to remind you that tonight was the night, did you?
Speaker 5get my text you called me.
Speaker 2No, I didn't get a text from you because you don't know how to text. But you called me and said I will be there tonight. I remembered, tonight is podcast night. I saw you last Friday. You called me today to remind me not to call you to remind you, I know which, I appreciate it.
Speaker 6And then I sent you a text a few minutes ago that said I'm drinking. Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2I'm not. You're finishing your beer and you're on your way up, yeah yeah, I got you, cuz you're any birthday dinner oh yeah, is there any beers up here?
Speaker 3so? Here's the deal we only drink food you have to take what we have if you don't bring your own.
Speaker 2There's hams, there's cores, there might be some ultras there might be some millers there might be. You get what you get, don't throw a fit, there's some gin over there.
Speaker 3Unless you bring your own While he's getting his beer. Has he signed our thing? I will check. I will ask him.
Speaker 2Actually I'm. Has he signed our thing? I will check. I will ask him Okay, Actually I'm going to go check, I'll just wait. No, he has been here.
Speaker 3He's been here, yeah, but I think we might have.
Speaker 2We got Roy's introduction. Yeah, Do mine and I'll go check.
Speaker 5I'm Roy Thomas, post-3033, lifetime member, post-quartermaster and better-looking dude in Trey.
Speaker 2The quartermaster.
Speaker 5Better looking dude than Trey.
Speaker 2The best looking member of post-3033,.
Speaker 4That's what you have to say.
Speaker 6That's not true, because I'm here.
Speaker 2And since we're saving the best for last, I'm Charlie Klein, obviously life member of our post and the director of the writers groups for the state of Michigan. Are we all lifetime members? I think so I think every one of us. Billy, did you sign our AJ Sky Lounge post-sandwich podcast banner? No, what?
Speaker 3Are you sure? I told you. He came and then you got that you got that right after he came the last time.
Speaker 5Yeah, he hasn't been back.
Speaker 1No, you're sure you didn't sign this.
Speaker 5That was one of my first podcasts when he was here last time.
Speaker 2I'll see you, gently Roy. All right, billy.
Speaker 6You made me fucking get up again.
Speaker 2It's our tradition, billy, they need your Herbie Hancock up there buddy Herbie Hancock grab the camera grab the camera, gotta bring it over here so we can see it hold on we're on the move here.
Speaker 7The podcast is on the move flip that around a big deal.
Speaker 3This is a big deal. Do you want to flip that around? Yeah, I've got to mess with it here. I've got to write something too.
Speaker 4You've got to write your name.
Speaker 5All right, you write whatever you want, bill Yep.
Speaker 3All right, hold on, guys. The podcast is on the move.
Veterans' Podcast Banner Signings and Banter
Speaker 2Yeah, you should be able to come all the way over here, all right. So for all those that are new, here at the India Sky Lounge we have a banner, so anybody that comes in and joins the podcast, regardless of post number or not post number, signs the banner. So I got this literally at an order and Big Sexy Tim had passed away before I could get him to sign the banner, so we have his sticker on there and it made me so mad. I actually have the banner, but didn't have this marker for his last podcast.
Speaker 5And we said next time we have his sticker and everybody else signs it.
Speaker 2Sign your name, your years, your branch service, however you want to do it. You see what everybody else has done and we have Jimmy. We have Jimmy that was in the Navy lives out of Washington State In the Navy Oregon, oregon. Came from Oregon for one of our podcasts one time and signed it.
Speaker 2So you know this is just a way for anybody that ever shows up. We have who's been on this podcast. It's special to me, right? It's special to all of us. Thank you, thank you. So not only so. What I always appreciated about this podcast is we have about 12 or 15 hours of Tim's voice yeah, we do, and all those times that he spent on this podcast you can go back and listen to those very beginning ones, if you can hear them. You have all that audio recording. So I wish I had a signature. We don't have it. We have this memorial sticker. Because I was too lazy that day I didn't go get that, and after that happened I went and bought these. And there you go Now. We got Billy on the sign.
Speaker 3Billy's on the sign. So there you go. All right, I'll get it wrapped up. I'll get it put back the way she goes. All right, thanks, billy. Moving back to our setup here, justin Carey says hee, hee, yee, yee, yee, yee.
Speaker 6Nobody can do it like Carey.
Speaker 3Nope, he can't, nobody can.
Speaker 2You're right, I think I'm all the part of my jacket. Good old stogie's on the horn.
Speaker 6I like it it's good stuff, stogie. This puffs for you. This puffs for you so is Liz Brian oh, liz Stroud.
Speaker 5Brian Shainer, Kerry Cairns oh, brian Shainer.
Speaker 2So I gave him a shout out last podcast. Then I cut on him right after the shout-out. And he never messaged me to say you, son of a bitch, Brian. I appreciate that because I probably was well-deserved after giving you a shout-out this is my first Coors, pure light beer. Whatever man, here's the deal. You didn't bring your own. I know the Sky Lounge provides what the Sky Lounge provides I'm taste testing right now, well, that's probably like a year old. Just so you know. Hopefully you enjoy it.
Speaker 6This is my first one. All right, I'm taste testing.
Speaker 3Natalie Lopez says hey, hookers, hope you all have a great holiday, alright.
Speaker 2Yeah, so hopefully, as the Fall continues on and the winter gets here, this will be a Bi-week or bi-monthly Podcast. Bi-monthly Bi-weekly Bi-weekly right Podcast. Bi-monthly Billy Bi-weekly Bi-monthly Bi-weekly means, we do it twice, a week there's.
Speaker 3Bill House. No, bi-weekly means every other week.
Speaker 2No, bi-monthly. Bi-weekly would be twice a week. How much do you want to bet? Google or shit? I can't. I don't twice a month. Okay, twice a month. Bi-weekly would be twice a week Bi-weekly.
Speaker 3You're thinking as a Marine.
Speaker 6Roy Roy have my back, jesus Christ, that would be smarter than a Navy guy. Charlie's right.
Speaker 3Hey, you got your computer. Will you Google this shit?
Speaker 2What's the difference between bi-weekly and bi-weekly? Let me know at a 51.
Speaker 5Bi-6.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'll send a fucking smile down your ass, javelin. Incoming Yep.
Speaker 4Occurring every two weeks Boom Fortnightly.
Speaker 3That's what Charlie said. No, he said bi-monthly was every Bi-monthly.
Speaker 2Bi-monthly would be every two months.
Speaker 4See, that's what.
Speaker 2Charlie said Bi-yearly would be twice a year, no monthly. Just wait a minute. Bi-yearly would be twice a month.
Speaker 4No, bi-yearly would be twice a year.
Speaker 2Every two years. Twice a year. So that's twice a year. Bi-month that's twice a year. Bimonthly would be twice a month.
Speaker 4Biweekly. So like if you get here, we go bimonthly versus biweekly. Both mean occurring every two or occurring twice, so you're both right.
Speaker 2So we're both white. Okay, that's cool, you're both white, both white.
Speaker 4Both right. I knew how this was going to go, Jesus Christ just because I'm Caucasian, is a motherfucker with.
Speaker 1Irish-German descent.
Speaker 3Okay, doesn't mean you got to call me out you just said you're both white Perfect example, though so bimonthly was how we were paid on active duty. The first and the 15th it was bimonthly. So biweekly is literally every other week.
Speaker 2So it doesn't follow Same difference. So then don't cut on me when we're saying the same thing.
Speaker 3What's?
Speaker 2that. Uh-oh, uh-oh, this is how she calling it. Hold on a minute, I don't know what I'm doing. You're in trouble. Hey, what's up Now? We there he is Now. We just googled it. We just get, I'm hanging up. We just googled it. We already got the answer thank you very much we don't need the peanut gallery. Thank you, though. Enjoy you. Enjoy your drive home in the ghetto yeah tell him, he should have been here. Yeah, why weren't you here? Yeah, he's trying to call in defending the Navy guy.
Speaker 5I'm not listening to that shit.
Speaker 2Words of a feather fluff together. Yeah, you're trying to tell me you've already Googled it. Brother, Sorry about your luck. That is surprising. So there you go.
Speaker 4So we have the answer anyways, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2So you get paid bi-weekly, you get paid bi-monthly, whatever, it doesn't matter, you get paid bi-yearly In the grand scheme of things.
Speaker 3Well, I mean it's.
Speaker 2Next time he calls, I'm not answering.
Speaker 3I understand what you're saying, but I'm just saying that there is a slight difference, because there's some months where there's like three, there's three weeks, you know so there's five weeks in a month, yeah, which I always like those.
Speaker 2I always love those months because you got paid three times that month, yeah, when you're, when you're in the service, right, there was like a bonus, but then you hit the next month and it was you only got are you taking text like oh shit, are you gonna be our? I'm gonna be the fact checker as long as you don't have Joe's oddly loud mouse clicks, yes, which I wish he was here tonight because he is so fast at typing and I don't trust your abilities compared to him.
Speaker 3I would be happy to help you. Definitely not.
Speaker 2He should be hired by the View as a fact checker, because they have like 19, I swear to God, 19 fact checks and what do they call those? Law statements or whatever they do During their episodes? Now they actually have fact checkers and they have to do like a legal.
Speaker 5Oh yeah they have to read that legal document. Yeah, they have to read like a legal statement Really.
Speaker 2Yeah, so like the girls will be talking about whatever and they're like you have a legal statement to read and they have to read like okay, matt Gaetz was never convicted, he was just brought up and this isn't true.
Speaker 4It completely contradicts everything that they just said.
Speaker 2So that they don't get sued.
Speaker 4So you guys watch the View a lot Legal statement.
Speaker 5No, it's all over the news.
Speaker 2I actually watch the View.
Speaker 2I sit at my desk and I don't watch it. I listen to it, but here's the thing I always like to hear. Like, when the election happened, I had you ask Jen, you ask House, you ask whoever I had multi-view on my TV MSNBC, cnn, I had Newsmax and Fox News going Four channels, right, so you can watch them all and, depending on where you put your cursor, right, which one of the highlighted is the one you listen to, right, just so I could hear like, okay, fox News called whatever Wisconsin for Trump. You switch over to one of the other two networks, the liberal, and either they've called him or haven't called him yet, right, and you can hear what they're talking about. Yeah, right, Just type in the new legal statement.
Speaker 2Because I hate to say this, but I don't trust any of those motherfuckers.
Speaker 4Well, no, you know what.
Speaker 2I mean One's going to be slandered one way or the other. Now with Elon, maybe buying MSNBC. See, they're freaking out, Rachel.
Speaker 5Rachel.
Speaker 8Rachel Maddow melted Hold on a second. I do have a legal. Thank you, Whoopi.
Speaker 4No rewind, that I am, I am. This is the one I was talking about Watch her face, watch her face.
Speaker 2Thank you, whoopi Bill rewind that I am. This is the one I was talking about. Oh, he was. They were trashing Matt Gates. Watch your face, watch your face.
Speaker 3Let's give everybody who can't see the screen here. So he's got a 30-second YouTube clip here of Sonny Hostin from the View being forced to read a legal memo after they were talking about Matt Gates, and what we were saying is essentially that they're being forced to read this so they don't get sued. So here's 30 seconds.
Speaker 8Hey, sonny, you have a legal memo. I do have a legal memo. Thank you, whoopi. Matt Gates has long denied all allegations, calling the claims quote invented and saying in a statement to ABC News that this false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism. That DOJ investigation was closed with no charges being brought. We'll be right back, okay.
Speaker 4No charges being brought. I know a lot of people that have committed crimes and no charges were brought. I know a lot of people that have committed crimes and no charges were brought. Matter of fact, I'm going to go and say this You're the fact checker.
Speaker 3You've got to keep that open.
Speaker 4So, anyways, I'll say this I can't close that Because the statute of limitations Count to ten. Be careful what you say. Statute of limitations has gone bye-bye on this, but I've committed crimes as a teenager that I was actually even investigated for and never charged.
Speaker 2Let me ask you a question Was it because you're black? No, I actually did it. Oh, I just wanted to make sure that we're Okay. Roy was there yesterday right. No, the statute of limitations. They're not.
Speaker 4No, we were talking about this thing yesterday and there was a guy who was down in Detroit and he got upset with a, a worker at a gas station and the guy was arab or chaldean, one of the two, I believe. And uh, chaldean, yeah, which is chaldean? That's they're. They're arabs from iraq that are catholics. You should know this, being a catholic. Which is? They're Arabs from Iraq that are Catholics. You should know this, being a Catholic.
Speaker 3Hey, I'm a new Catholic, alright, so you can't pull that on me.
Speaker 4This guy got upset with this and went in there and started Dumping gasoline In the gas station.
Speaker 4In the gas station but was probably calling him A bunch of racial epithets while he was doing it. And this is the, a black dude, and he got charged with ethnic intimidation. I was like how the f is the first person I've always known, even as a as a young child, that ethnic intimidation was a crime. It it's a felony. You can't call somebody the N-word, punch them in the face and then not get. It's a crime, it's a felony. So how is the first time I'm hearing I didn't realize it was a felony.
Speaker 1I get called the.
Speaker 4N-word and punched in the mouth a thousand times in my lifetime Maybe not a thousand, but a lot. How is it that the first time I hear about somebody actually being charged with ethnic intimidation, it's a black man in Detroit? Come on, can't make this shit up.
Speaker 3Those are your hate laws at work that all the Democrats wanted to push through Pontiac.
Speaker 2But wait a minute, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 4You weren't even here for this discussion. I don't want to hear your mind.
Speaker 2I have, I guess, some issues. If a white person punches, a black or brown or yellow person is that considered a hate crime?
Speaker 4No, but if you're calling the N-word while you're doing it, okay.
Speaker 2Well, because. I think, I feel and I'm not saying I'm correct. I feel a lot of times if it's a white person that commits a crime against a minority or a colored, whatever right, depending on if you're black. So I just say colored, right, right, black, brown yellow.
Speaker 3Sorry to interrupt. Are we expecting anybody? I think I just saw somebody pull in.
Speaker 2Yeah, a lot of people turn around in the driveway.
Speaker 3Sorry.
Speaker 2Yeah because they're trying to find hemp higher. But they figured timber is right across the street.
Speaker 4I'd give them directions. It's like a mask.
Speaker 2No, but I think a lot of times that automatically just institutes a sort of hate crime, right, because it's one color against another. I do too, but I find it very, very not prosecutorial. Prosecutorial, thank you, because Jen would totally have that. She'd have my back on that. Prosecutorial, thank you, because Jen would totally have that, she'd have my back on that. But if it's the other way around, it's a yellow against white or a brown against white or whatever, it never becomes a hate crime, right.
Speaker 6I can see that.
Speaker 2Well, and I'm curious to see if you, because very rarely like I just watched a video this old white lady was walking her dog, Dog was going to the bathroom, whatever this black guy just walked up and sucker punches this 70-year-old lady, knocks the fuck out, he goes for her.
Speaker 2They end up picking him up and he gets charged with assault and everything else, but not a hate crime. Now, if you reverse that and it was a white guy that punched a black lady, brown lady, yellow lady, that age, it would include some sort of in extenuating circumstances. It would be a hate crime.
Speaker 4Right. The thing about a hate crime is they have to prove it was racially motivated.
Speaker 2Right, not just I think the assumption always is if it's a white person on a minority, it's automatically a crime.
Speaker 6I think I agree with Charlie.
Speaker 2I think it very rarely goes the other way.
Speaker 4How many white crimes? No, yeah, are you going to Google that?
Speaker 5I think this whole divide, though, is how many obviously politically pushed, how many hate crimes are prosecuted.
Speaker 2These are the things that we should be talking about with an open discussion, where we can look up facts and we can have an adult conversation about because I think they're important. There's a good. Maybe I'm wrong, I have no problem.
Speaker 3I fact check the fact checker and I pointed him in the direction of a reputable source.
Speaker 4So this is from the Department of Justice so sexual orientation was 18.4, religion was 22.5 percent percentage and race and ethnicity was 52.5. There were 13,857 victims. There were 415 multiple bias incidents. That involved 559 victims.
Speaker 3We also for clarity there's also, 4.1% was based on gender identity, 1.6% was based on disability and 0.9% was based on gender by itself.
Speaker 2Okay, so give us a synopsis of what all those statistics actually mean. So basically reported hate crime Right but I want to know what were white against minority or minority against?
Speaker 3white. Oh, how it breaks down.
Speaker 2That's what I want to know, because I have a feeling that majority of hate crimes are always going to be white against the minority, or colored Regardless of what color is, and very rarely is it ever colored against a white person. You know what I'm saying and I use colored as not a racist term.
Speaker 4It's brown black yellow, you're talking Asians, right? Well, you know, and this is not going to be a popular opinion when I say this, your opinions usually aren't. And the thing is, your wife likes my opinions.
Speaker 7True story right, Only when she hears the zipper, then she likes the opinions.
Speaker 4No, don't say that, tiffany. That's not what we're saying. And so and this is from the DOJ that the number one like terroristic threat in America Do you know who that is? No, whites for sure.
Speaker 2Yeah. So statistically, do you know who's more likely to be shot by the police? Well, statistically, whites. Let's Google it. A thousand percent, I bet you if you look it up.
Speaker 3I'm just trying to look it up the FBI crime statistics.
Speaker 2And you talk about? What race is shot more by police?
Speaker 3Okay, what race is shot more, All right so time out real quick, or killed, just put killed more.
Speaker 2Just to throw this out, white's almost two to one over any other minority.
Speaker 3Just to throw this out. They will basically say that it's race, ethnicity, ancestry related, but they won't break it down by which is fine.
Speaker 5So going back to Trace as far as what was I doing? What the DOJ reports?
Speaker 2Race is killed by police Right but going back to the DOJ.
Speaker 5Two to one it's whites With the DOJ, you know they're number one. The white male is the biggest threat in America? Yeah for sure. But I feel that with this current administration, this current administration has labeled white American extremists and that's such a broad spectrum that they've opened that up to. White American extremist, and that's such a broad spectrum that they've opened that up to. If you don't view with them or align with them, they're going to call you an extremist. So I feel that's a little skewed.
Speaker 4You ask that's why we're here, Right right. Doing this so that we have a better understanding of each other, but we break these crazy barriers down, right right.
Speaker 2Doing this so that we have a better understanding of each other, but we break these crazy barriers down, okay, so? So for me, you ask, jim. So I hate the word conspiracy theorist, right, can I? Because everything is a conspiracy until it's proven true. Can I look at this?
Speaker 4The.
Speaker 3JFK shooting Right look at all the things coming out, we're gonna get proven the jfk shooting.
Speaker 2You look at the moon landing right and the conspiracy theorist on that and you start looking at the evidence and stuff coming out like aliens never existed. No, you look at the evidence coming out and even the government saying, yes, there's extraterrestrials here now on earth. Yeah, but 20 years ago everybody was a conspiracy theorist about, oh, there's aliens, I believe in aliens. Well, you're a conspiracy theorist I know Now those things are being proven true yeah.
Speaker 3They're actually here. Oh, so sorry.
Speaker 2Or have been here.
Speaker 3We have their vehicles, we have whatever right, sign up for a.
Speaker 2So Today. If you ever think outside the norm, you're labeled a conspiracy theorist. So I don't think we should use this. They're all a conspiracy until they're proven true.
Police Shootings and Racial Bias
Speaker 3All right, hold on, hold on, hold on Right. Yeah, so we found something from Statistacom, but it won't let us look at the actual sources of the information. Okay, so we're just going to throw this out there, but it is unofficial.
Speaker 4Let's see if we can find the.
Speaker 2DOJ report. I think it might be the FBI actually Go back up National Use of Force Data Collection.
Speaker 3So this is from the FBI's website.
Speaker 2I think it's the FBI report. We'll actually tell you.
Speaker 6We're going to get in all kinds of trouble getting on the FBI website.
Speaker 2We're not hacking it, we're just looking at statistics right, because this might go back to 2018, because they're so far behind in their data.
Speaker 2But I will bet you you will find like 3,000 white people have been shot and killed by police and 1,000 or 800 minorities have been killed by police and 1,000 or 800 minorities have been killed by police. But they always want to put right and I think this is politically motivated. They always want to take the Joy Floyds or whoever else and stick them in the forefront of the police killing minorities, but when you actually look at the data, it's two to one the other way, right, of the police killing minorities, but when you actually look at the data, it's two to one the other way, right, right, because it's a sticking point.
Speaker 4Well, I'm going to, and I'm just going to use this information here.
Speaker 2Yeah, which is fine.
Speaker 4Which we don't know if it's a credible source or not.
Speaker 2Well, I would assume if it's coming from the FBI, it should be somewhat credible it was the one before that.
Speaker 4We haven't found the FBI one yet. This is a fucking wild goose chase we're on here, but it said that 500, let's say, in 2023, I was looking at the numbers 500 white people killed by police. It was 249, half the amount of black people killed by police, so two to one. Two to one, yeah.
Speaker 2Essentially yeah.
Speaker 5Let's just round the numbers.
Speaker 4Yep good. But out of those 500, how many? What is the percentage of white people in America that were killed versus the percentage of all black people?
Speaker 2All right, Some of you should be able to Google it. Black people make up about 13% of the population, of all black people. Some of you should be able to Google it Black people make up about 13% of the population of America.
Speaker 4White people are 75-ish. Maybe, it's getting lower and lower, buddy.
Speaker 2No, there's no doubt about it, but you want to go back to the last podcast you talked about who all races. Vote for Trump. Yeah. Racists Races.
Speaker 4Not racists, not racists. I said racists, racists.
Speaker 2So then you're saying black people are racist.
Speaker 4No, I said not all people that voted for Trump are racist, right, but all racists voted for Trump.
Speaker 2Races, racists, racist right, but all racist voted for Trump.
Speaker 4Races racists, so anybody who's racist in America voted. So what I'm saying is then you're calling black people racist oh, I'm not saying that everybody that voted for Trump are racist, okay, but I'm saying the racesist, okay, listen Billy's Caucasian racist. All of us here are Trump voters. Let's just say for argument's sake he said all races like Mexican.
Speaker 2Latino, black, no, he said racist, racist, all races voted for Trump. Racist. That's the difference.
Speaker 5All races. No, that's not what I said. That's not what he said. He said racist. That's not what I said.
Speaker 4That's not what he said. He said racist. Not all people that voted for Trump are racists With a T Racists. Not all of them are racist, but all racists that exist in America voted for Trump.
Speaker 2So they're called racists? No, yes, you're a race right.
Speaker 4People who are racist in. In my opinion, voted for Trump.
Speaker 2So what I'm saying is then you think black people are racist. No because you have to.
Speaker 4That's not what I'm saying.
Speaker 3But, you're saying the same word. Somebody who can speak English?
Speaker 4Get in there. Brent, Can you help me out here?
Speaker 3I think what he is saying correct me if I'm wrong is that not everybody who voted for Trump is racist, but the people who are racist did vote for him.
Speaker 2So what I'm trying to say is then he believes.
Speaker 3Did I translate that?
Speaker 2correctly, then he thinks there's minorities that are racist because they voted for. Trump Minorities are racist.
Speaker 4How is that? How are you not seeing the logic here?
Speaker 2Right, you're using the same word, trying to double mean it.
Speaker 4No, I'm not double meaning it. I'm not double meaning it, okay.
Speaker 1You are double meaning it.
Speaker 4Let's say, all of us here are Trump voters, right, okay.
Speaker 2There's four white guys and one black guy. Yeah, so you're saying we're all?
Speaker 4racist, but we all voted for no, I'm not saying that we're all white guys. We're different, races we're different races, yes, but we all voted for Trump. Let's call Brett a Mexican. He's a Mexican. I'm a black guy, and then we got three white guys, so we're different races but we're not racist no, we're not.
Speaker 4But Billy is a racist, right? Just for argument's sake, we know he's not okay. He didn't vote for Kamala. He's voting for fucking Trump because he wants the Mexicans, the brownies, to get the hell up out this country, and that's who's gonna right. But there's Trump because he wants the Mexicans, the brownies, to get the hell up out of this country, and that's who's going to Right, but there's four out of five that aren't racist.
Speaker 2We're different races. Yes. We're different races and we voted for the same guy, right, so let's not call us all racist.
Speaker 4I'm not saying that you are.
Speaker 2I'm not saying that, because there's just as many racists Do you understand?
Speaker 4what I'm saying, roy, no, no, I don't think he does.
Speaker 2No, but listen. There's just as many racists that voted Democrat than there are that voted for Donald Trump. I'm going to say bullshit. I guarantee you, give me time out.
Speaker 3This okay, number one, this thought process. I understand what you're saying, but this thought process number one is not provable because there are racists on both sides. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2So now he admits it.
Speaker 4I'm going to say yes, but generally speaking, by and large, what?
Speaker 3is the definition of racist? It is hatred based on your race and that is on both sides, and I found the information we were talking about by civilian deaths, with contact from law enforcement. This is from the university. Billy's like what the fuck is going on.
Speaker 2This is why I don't show up. This is why I never come around.
Speaker 4Is the heat off on that thing?
Speaker 2It is off. It's set to like 73.
Speaker 5Here's your standing next to Billy. He's a ball of fire.
Speaker 6Yeah, it's set to like 73. You're just standing next to Billy. He's a ball of fire. He's on fire for you.
Speaker 4I feel like Billy's about to punch me in the mouth right now.
Speaker 2Billy was eating spicy.
Speaker 4He called me a racist.
Speaker 6Billy's a brown guy.
Speaker 4I said we know Billy's not a racist.
Speaker 2We know that Billy's a brown guy.
Speaker 4He was at El.
Speaker 2Jamente eating dinner and he had the spicy salsa.
Speaker 5He did it because you got the good stuff, all right.
Speaker 4He's mad at him for getting it from his shop. Oh, is this percentages no.
Speaker 3Yeah, this is some percentages. So this is the Law Enforcement Epidemiology Project from the University of Illinois, chicago. Okay, so what they did is how they got this information is from the causes of death as reported by ICD-10 codes, which is the health codes that your doctor uses. So, in 2000,. Most recent information is 2022. There were 817 total deaths that year based on contact with the police. Deaths that year based on contact with the police. Okay, now, out of those, it breaks it down by, you know, by white, non-hispanic. So white non-Hispanic deaths were 370. Which is 0.2% of the population, which is yep. 0.2% of that population, 0.2% of that population that died. So 20%, essentially so. And then up here it's saying black non-Hispanic is 198.
Speaker 4Almost half as much.
Speaker 2But percentage. But the population in general is less Yep.
Speaker 3And then it adjusts for Hispanic black, so on and so forth. So that's what we were looking for. Is that was the number? So out of 817, 370, let me double check this. Hold on, yeah, so just shy of half, yeah, so anyway.
Speaker 2So just shy of half, and I think these are important conversations to have Because I think things get taken out of context. There's always in the media special attention paid to. I unfortunately can't remember the name off the top of my head. There was a security guard in Florida at some neighborhood, shot and killed. Trayvon Martin, was the guy's, was the kid's name.
Speaker 4Oh, he wasn't even a security guard, no he was just neighborhood watch or neighborhood watch.
Speaker 2Yeah, he shot this unarmed black kid right that lived in the neighborhood and then they said he was Zimmerman.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 2George Zimmerman Said he was a white dude, and then it came to find out he was Hispanic. So that changed the narrative all of a sudden, right, Because I think he went to prison for a while or whatever right, he got off.
Speaker 4He got off.
Speaker 2Okay, but you see how that narrative goes. They hear the name George Zimmerman, they just assume the guy's white. Then they find out he's Hispanic, right?
Speaker 4He's half white.
Speaker 2Or whatever, but he's still Hispanic, so I don't care if you're. I mean, what's the congressman senator from Florida Gates Woman? No, the woman. She's been there for fucking ever. She said she was Indian. She even put on her applications she was Indian. Yeah, he calls her Pocahontas Elizabeth Warren. She puts on her shit. She wasn't from Florida, was she? I think she's from Florida. I'm pretty sure she was a congressman senator from, I think she's Massachusetts.
Speaker 3Maybe you're right. I digress sure.
Speaker 2Google it.
Speaker 5I'm pretty sure she was a congressman senator from I think she's Massachusetts.
Speaker 2Oh, maybe you're right. Maybe you're right, I digress.
Speaker 3It doesn't matter.
Speaker 2She put on her college applications and everything else right. She was Native American, right, so she could get those credit points to get into college, yep, oklahoma, and then come to find out.
Speaker 3So she's from Oklahoma. She was born in Oklahoma.
Speaker 2And then come to find out. So she's from Oklahoma, she was born in Oklahoma. And then come to find out she's like quarter percent Sure, we're probably all quarter percent.
Speaker 4Trump talked about her so bad. Oh yeah, she went and got a DNA test.
Speaker 2And then found out she was like less than a quarter percent Native American, I think she was like two or three. I don't even think it was that much. Yeah, but yeah, like two or three. I don't even think it was that much. Yeah, because you can't say you are what you are if you don't know what you are.
Speaker 3She was born in Oklahoma City, but she's a United States Senator from Massachusetts Senator, that's what it is.
Speaker 2I have no idea how I came up with Florida.
Speaker 3That's called affirmative action, and I'm pretty sure they struck that down, didn't they just strike that down recently? Here's the deal.
Speaker 2He's a business owner, like I'm a business owner. You guys work for different businesses and no offense when Trey and I hire people to work for us. I don't give a shit what you are If you're the most qualified person to do the job and I'm going to pay you whatever the wage is. To pay you what the wage is, it doesn't matter to me, right, and it shouldn't matter to him either. I don't even need to know what your fucking name is. You leave the name blank, you leave the sex blank and you give me what your description of what your certification license is experience or anything else is.
Speaker 2That's what I should hire off of. You should never fill out your name. You should never fill out your sex. You should never fill out your origin or anything else. It doesn't matter. When I'm hiring someone to do a job, it should be the best candidate period.
Speaker 3That's it. So let me break this down, because I'm going to be devil's advocate, that's usually me, so that's weird.
Speaker 2Yeah, I like sitting over here.
Speaker 3From an HR perspective. Okay, there's actually companies out there now that they will. When you apply to their career page on their website, that application gets funneled through this company and what they'll do is they'll take away all identifying information from your resume your name, your birth date, all of that stuff, anything that can be construed as discriminatory and then give you just a clean resume based on your credentials only. So that's how you got hired In some places.
Speaker 2Yeah, but the idea though, the idea, though, is so he definitely took your sexual orientation out of it. If they knew you were a Peter Puffer, they might not have.
Speaker 5Well, yeah, they saw that you said Navy, Navy.
Speaker 6Navy, they automatically knew.
Speaker 5They actually probably left that in there because they know he comes with knee pads and good oral skills.
Speaker 2Friggin' ancillary I'd hire him for that, because. I know he comes with knee pads and good oral skills. Freaking answers, man. I'd hire him for that. I'd hire him for that, I wish.
Speaker 3I would have known you should apply it here. Doesn't matter which end you're on, you're still gay.
Speaker 2I got a spotter to my desk 20 bucks, 20 bucks 20 bucks is 20 bucks, but talking about affirmative action. I mean, I think, affirmative action, I think.
Speaker 3I think affirmative action, I think, is another example of something that sounds great on paper but in practice is horrible, because the idea behind it was to give everybody a fair shot. Okay, I get that. I understand the idea that the stereotypical person let's just say somebody from the inner city or something mixed in the pool of college applicants and stuff are going to be drowned out by everybody else.
Speaker 2So let me ask you what's wrong with that?
Speaker 3That's the idea.
Affirmative Action in Higher Education
Speaker 2So if you're CMU okay, which is Central Michigan University here in town, you don't make the cut to make CMU, what's to say you can't go to Mid-Michigan Community College or Delta College or Saginaw Valley or whatever else. So maybe you don't qualify to get into CMU. That doesn't limit you. So you go to mid for a year or two, get your grades up, do whatever, and then maybe at the end of your college career you qualify to get to the next level. That's the way it should be, regardless of what your circumstances are. It doesn't mean you should just automatically get a spot somewhere else because he's not going to hire a guy. He's not going to hire a guy. I'm not going to hire a guy. Just because your circumstances are what they are. I've got to hire the person or accept the person that comes in, regardless of who they are. That best fits what the needs are. If your needs aren't up to the standard here, then maybe you need to get your standards up, and I understand everybody's got.
Speaker 6Why would you limit it so that an inner city person couldn't get a job?
Speaker 3No, I mean, you're thinking it the other way around.
Speaker 5So there's preferences and stuff for low income and so on.
Speaker 3Yeah, they're trying to give preference to those individuals, but the argument is that they make up such a small percentage of the applicants in their applicant pool that they're trying to give them a little bit of a boost, to essentially hit their radar so that they can look at them, for example, if you are a US Naval Sea Cadet which would suck I was a Sea Cadet which would suck. I was a Sea Cadet. I was a Sea Cadet, totally understand that, and we. The program is great. All seriousness, I know you guys are joking.
Speaker 6That's fine. It does because I partook in that program for a little bit.
Speaker 5Yeah, they were here forever.
Speaker 6I knew about that program.
Speaker 3There is John Smith. I remember him. We were who, was it Sorry?
Speaker 3I'm trying to think there are. It's a separate pile in their admissions department for the kids who are sea cadets. It doesn't mean you get special preference, you don't get special appointment. It just means you're looked at differently. And we were told that years ago when I was still a cadet and I was in high school and stuff, and in fact one of our people did get picked up for an appointment to the Coast Guard Academy. So there's things out there, but there's a difference there and so.
Speaker 2But there's a difference. Because you went above and beyond, you didn't do the basic. So, for instance, you didn't go to high school and just graduate high school. And then you got extra credit Right, because you came from inner city. Right, you went to high school and did a additional program. Yeah, to get extra credit. That's what we're talking about.
Speaker 2So, just because you went to Detroit Central Catholic whatever the hell high school doesn't and you just graduated high school, should not give you extra credit over the kid that went to Hazlitt, lansing, central, mount Pleasant, central, bay City, central. It shouldn't give you extra credit because where you came from, just in a high school graduation right, you did an extra program to get extra credit. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, and that's different.
Speaker 3So and then, coming from the two business owners here, um another. The next cog in the wheel would be when you got these universities like take all the Ivy Leagues right, they're all the number one in the country, everybody wants to go to them and they've got an applicant pool of 10,000 or more people a year routinely. They need some way to pare down their applicant pool, and so I think that's kind of another reason why affirmative action exists, because they were trying to. You know, I can solve this easy.
Speaker 3And so my this is the question I'm posing to the both of you, and this is my argument is it doesn't frickin' matter where you go. You're going to look at their credentials and if you've successfully completed something a bachelor's or whatever I don't give a fuck if you went to Harvard or Dartmouth or whatever versus Central.
Speaker 4I'll let Trey answer first, if you're ready if not, no, I want you to go ahead.
Speaker 2And then let me chime in so for my business, we're a union. We're with United Association, local union 85 out of Saginaw. For six, seven years I sat on the JTC, which is the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. So it's made up of this side of the table was all the labor side, right? So the union guys in the front office at the local or the instructors, whatever, and this side of the table were all the owners or owner representatives. So I said on this side of the table is the owner of the owner representatives.
Speaker 2We did applications right. All throughout the year cutoff date. There was pre-tests that they had to take they call them work keys and some other different things you have to turn in your high school transcripts, whatever, those automatically equated to points. Over the course of three or four days we'd have every applicant come in. They'd get about ten minutes to sit in front of that committee and each one of us would ask you a question or two, right, we only had 10 minutes. We'd have over 300 applicants that made it through the first round just to get the interview. So say we would have 600, 700 people apply. Half of that would have a high enough score from their work keys, their high school transcripts, whatever else, right Well?
Speaker 2it's just like yeah, the computer automatically tabulated and said okay, you know, these people can get an interview. You'd come sit in front of us for about five or ten minutes. We'd all be able to talk to you, kind of get a feel for who you are. We'd all ask you a question or two and then, out of the 12 of us that were sitting at the table, we'd all grade you like one through a hundred, right on each category, like how were you dressed, your attitude, right? How you answered whatever questions, right, they were always the standard questions. I asked the same question to everybody. You answered, you know, you asked the same one to the next guy, right, it was always the same thing. Then, out of that, we'd turn the slit and the girls would type in whatever the scores were and they would tabulate one through the 300 that we interviewed and we had a picture of you and we would sit there and it was like the draft, the nfl draft, right, we'd sit there with a 90 inch tv and we'd be like, oh yeah, I remember that guy and here's the scores. And we're like, and we'd sit there for a fucking day picking 16 people out of the 300 we had an interview with, out of the 600, 700 that applied, right, we didn't care.
Qualifications and Diversity in Hiring
Speaker 2Black, brown, green, yellow, white Didn't matter, right? Were you going to fit in the program? Were you going to go out on the job and make me money? Right, we didn't care. The union side definitely didn't care. They were like, hey, if these guys want to hire this guy, that's perfect. Right, they were worried about is he going to complete a five-year apprenticeship? We didn't give a shit, right? But sometimes it took a face. You know, we only met you for five or ten minutes, so sometimes we needed the face. We hired women, we hired minorities, we hired white people. We hired whatever white people we hired whatever. It didn't fucking matter. But we had this huge pool of people.
Speaker 3So it's possible to do this.
Speaker 2It didn't matter where you came from. We had guys from the inner city of Saginaw to the dude that lived in Remus, michigan, or Blanchard, michigan or wherever. You had no idea Until they walked in, but they had to make the cut every time and it wasn't just one person making a decision. We'd argue over people for 20, 30 minutes sometimes, right, because I might be like dude, I don't want to hire that person. Well, I like that guy. Okay, cool, you hire him for five years. You know, you hire him for three years.
Speaker 2We're paying people good money with pensions, insurance, you know all these different things. So we didn't care. We just wanted someone that would fit with our crews. Right, I can make money off them. They could make good money. They could pay for the kids' college, they could do their things right. That's what we cared about. So, at the end of the day, it didn't matter the color of the skin, it didn't matter what their economic socio, whatever, depended upon. What we cared was I could make money off them being an owner. And, at the end of the day, if they fit with the crew, just like you, right, you're not going to hire somebody if they're not going to sit in your storefront and be friends with the customers.
Speaker 3And that's the downside. So your customers want to come back again.
Speaker 2Right, because you know what? Hey, when Johnny works, johnny takes care of me. Dude hemp hires the shit because when I go in there I feel like I'm a member of their team. I feel like those guys love me and they appreciate me. Guess what that guy's getting the sales. He's making them buy something they probably weren't going to buy when they walked in the door. But Johnny talked me into buying this and I like it. Now I'm going to buy it again and I'm going to go there because I know that product I'm getting. That's what we do, it doesn't matter. The other shit is just a stigma, bullshit that the media pushes. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3And I think that's the downside of the affirmative action, because it gives credit to something that doesn't deserve credit. Okay.
Speaker 2So he's sales, I'm not sales, I'm construction. So he might have a different opinion, which is great.
Speaker 4I'm going to give you an idea of affirmative action. Fit into this society at one point and we'll see. They took affirmative action away, so we'll see where this goes. But my father was an affirmative action hire in the 70s Mishkan. In the 70s Mishkan, if he would have never, if they weren't forced to hire a black man, they would have never hired a black man. This was in the 60s.
Speaker 5Okay, your phone time out.
Speaker 4I think so, it would have never happened. Is that House calling you? No, that's my daughter Text me.
Speaker 2Did it end? Yep, my daughter's actually asking what happened to the live feed. Yeah, I have no idea.
Speaker 3It doesn't say anything, it just says it stopped.
Speaker 2Might have to log back in.
Speaker 3No, I'm just going to restart it. Three, two one.
Speaker 2Anyways, no, and I'm not, I really want you to understand.
Speaker 3Address it real quick. Sorry about that, guys.
Speaker 4All right. So my father was an affirmative action hire. I wouldn't be where I am or who I am right now if it wasn't for that. I can tell you that Affirmative action had a time, a place and a time in this country. Sure.
Speaker 4Has it worn out its welcome? Well, we'll see. It's over now. So the amount of racism that pervade in this country for years and years and years, and even after the Civil Rights Movement it's not like the Civil Rights Movement happened and that was it. Racism was over. No, my uncle was an affirmative action. Hire at Ford, I guarantee you that. And this was in the 60s. And he became a Right 60 years ago. Right 60 years ago. But he wouldn't have became the man he is today without that.
Speaker 2Right, but you can't tell me that the man you are today is because of what happened in the 60s.
Speaker 4Me yeah, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 3And I'll tell you why. Did we get everybody back? Sorry?
Speaker 9Yeah it's back on. We're back on.
Speaker 2We got four people. I'll tell you why?
Speaker 4It's because my father was up here, moved up here and was an affirmative action hire in the 70s in Mishkan and was able to provide me because of that, was able to provide me with a life that he probably wouldn't have been able to provide me had it not been for that. But that's not what I'm asking.
Speaker 2What I'm asking is do you still affirmative hire today in your business?
Speaker 4No.
Speaker 2Why not no? If this is the way you were raised and you see the benefits in it, why don't you do it now?
Speaker 4Number one it's not required, right? It doesn't need to be required for you to do it. Number two there's not a huge pool of minorities here, yeah, but so why don't you not hire until you hire of minorities here? So why don't you not hire until you hire? Now, here's the thing I have hired people because I wanted some diversity in my organization. I have hired people. They've met the qualifications. If they didn't meet the qualifications, I wouldn't have hired them. Yeah, so I do want diversity, but did you?
Speaker 2solely hire them because of their diversity? No, did you solely hire them?
Speaker 4because they were a qualified candidate. They were a qualified candidate, but did they get preferential?
Speaker 2treatment because they were a diversity.
Speaker 4No, I wouldn't say that, but I do want diversity in my workforce.
Speaker 2There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to hire the best candidate at the time when you're doing your applications right. There shouldn't be bonus points based on what your race is or what your ethnicity is or anything else. You get two 100% equal people.
Speaker 3One is white and one is black. Which one are you going to hire? Okay, equal yeah completely equal Across the board. The only difference is their skin color. They even sound the same. Which one are you hiring?
Speaker 5I think that's a difference of opinion.
Speaker 3Yeah, I mean, that goes either way. I guess that's the point, because opinion, yeah, I mean that goes either way. I guess that's the point because, before I get into that, number one I agree with you there was a time and a place, especially right after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Yeah, that whole generation, the generations before, were totally racist.
Speaker 2So there's a place there, I agree, we're not talking the 60s, we're talking 2020s.
Speaker 3But now, if we're going to flip the script, because I think if you again that hypothetical situation, you've got two completely identical people. The only difference is their skin color, and you hire the black guy because you want diversity, is that not?
Speaker 4racism. So if I hire the white guy, why am I hiring the white guy and wear the black? I know but I'm saying, I'm saying either way, Maybe I flip a coin.
Speaker 3But see, that's what I'm saying Either way, and then you know, if they're 100% equal, which, as you know, never are. This is a hypothetical, but if they are, either, one could have an argument against you.
Speaker 5What if that coin's racist?
Speaker 3then yeah, what if that's a two-headed coin.
Speaker 4Yeah, what if it's racist coin?
Speaker 2It's black and black. Trust me, you get heads you want heads.
Speaker 3So I guess that's my point.
Speaker 2That's kind of what my point was. If you have two equal candidates and you're only picking the one because they're a minority, then, that is a racist choice.
Speaker 3I mean, I shouldn't say that there's never a situation where you've got a couple? Identical candidates.
Speaker 5So I think a little bit to that, though is say, they're equal as far as you know everything on paper. What about their personality?
Speaker 3Yeah, that's my. Point is everything on paper? What about their personality?
Speaker 5Yeah, that's my point is at some point there's going to be something that sets them apart.
Speaker 2Same thing I told him. Right, johnny's selling you something you don't want to buy. Right, johnny's a good salesman and he owns a retail store and he gets a guy to buy another $20, $30 worth of shit and he wants to come in because he likes Johnny when Johnny's working, because Johnny's his buddy and he gave him good advice. He's going to hire the guy that makes more sales.
Speaker 4Regardless of what the skin color is, it doesn't fucking matter. My best bud tender is the black guy.
Speaker 3Bud tender Really.
Speaker 4That's what we call him bud tender. I'm telling you what he sells like a motherfucker over there. Hire his fucking brother. Yeah, I wish.
Speaker 2I could, he's just the same yeah. Hire a sister.
Speaker 4He's got a sister who's a lawyer, I think.
Speaker 2Well, he ain't paying that much yeah. We ain't worth that much you might want to hire her. But maybe she could be in-house counsel.
Speaker 4There you go, there we go.
Speaker 2No, and that's what I'm talking about. So at the end of the day, you hire the best fit regardless of what their skin color is, for what your business deserves.
Speaker 2We did the same thing. We didn't give a shit what you were. If you could fit in with a crew and you wanted to work in the heat and the cold and the dirty and the nasty 12 hours a day, seven days a week, we didn't give a shit. We didn't give a shit because I have to pay the bill and if you're going to show up every day and you're going to work and I can bill you out, you're worth it to me. It doesn't matter what you look like. I don't give a fuck where you came from. It really doesn't matter.
Speaker 2Ray Lopez or Natalie Lopez is listening tonight. Ray worked for GM. Gm didn't give a shit that his last name was Lopez. He showed up every day. He worked. He showed up on the weekends. He showed up on Saturday. He showed up on Sunday. He worked nights, he worked weekends, he worked whatever. I don't give a fuck, you're there to do the job, right. Your dispos are open, regardless. If it's Scottville or Clare, michigan, it doesn't matter. Right or Loomis, you show up, you work. I don't give a shit, you sell my stuff 10147 North Loomis Road.
Speaker 2Perfect Empire.
Speaker 4Empire Collective.
Speaker 2Come see us. The best selection in Michigan Period, worth the drive, regardless if it's from Detroit or it's from fucking inward Michigan.
Speaker 3It doesn't matter. Stock up, and that's a good point, because, especially in the trades, your personality and your work ethic goes a hell of a lot farther because, let's be honest, you're not always in new construction where everything's sort of clean. You're going to be under somebody's fucking house in the mud, like in the cold, it sucks.
Speaker 2Yeah, but I mean, even in trades, business, right, you can have the asshole customers that are never happy. Or you're working behind a bar, you're always going to have the asshole customer, or the person hates the food you delivered. You're serving somebody, you didn't make the food, you're just bringing it out, and those retail people catch so much bullshit Stuff they have no control over, so for him, same thing. Man, if you're out there producing and selling, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like or anything else. Right, you could have dermals. You could have a fucking horseshoe in your nose, you could have whatever.
Speaker 2You're making me money, you're my best employee, period, and every business owner, typically Republicans we've had this conversation. I could care less. I'm very fiscally conservative, socially liberal, I don't care. You want to marry a balloon or a potato, cool, we don't care. 99% of conservatives or Republicans don't care. They want to put the no. Honestly, listen, honestly, listen, honestly, listen. There's a bunch of us sitting at the table tonight. Right, we don't care. Trump even said we need to extend gay rights.
Speaker 4Did he say that he did.
Speaker 2When did he say that? Do you want me to pull the video up where he actually said it? Okay, I'll do it, just give me a minute. He actually wanted to expand gay marriage. He wanted to extend abortions past nine weeks or six weeks or whatever they had. He said that's not enough time.
Speaker 4Right, he said it. What has he done he?
Speaker 3said it. What has he done?
Speaker 2He doesn't need to do anything, that's not his job, the responsibility of the president, he's not the king, that's what they're trying to make him. No, your side's trying to make him.
Speaker 4No, okay, so we haven't even talked about Project 2025.
Speaker 2He didn't endorse it one bit. He said that's a crack show.
Speaker 3No, we already decided that. Hold on.
Speaker 4hold on If he told you he had a 16-inch penis, would you believe him? No, no, yeah, you would. You would, and then you'd probably put it in your mouth Time out.
Speaker 3We already settled the Project 2025 debate the last year.
Speaker 4No we did not. Yes, we did no, we did not.
Speaker 3Yes, we did no, we did not, we agreed that in four years, at the end of Trump's next term, we were going to go through line by line and see what actually came true. Remember that I can tell you this.
Speaker 4I can tell you this To date. To date, seven of his appointees, seven of them, are Project 2025 authors. Okay, who are they? Stephen Miller, his chief of staff. Miller, his chief of staff.
Speaker 2No, his chief of staff is a fucking woman dude. Hold on, he's a misogynist motherfucker. Who, stephen Miller, listen to CNN? Hold on, hold on, we're all misogynists. Hold on, his chief of staff is the first woman chief of staff, bro, yeah, hold on hold, on hold on Trump's chief of staff, Susie. Uh yeah, hold on, hold on, hold on Trump, yeah. Chief of Staff Susie.
Speaker 4Talk right into this microphone, because I want to hear you say I'm sorry, because I am wrong.
Speaker 3Oh yeah, okay, hold on, no say it wrong.
Speaker 4What's her name? Trey Porter.
Speaker 2No, what's her name? Her name's Trey Porter.
Speaker 4Her name is I don't know what. What's her name? Her name's Street Reporter. Her name is I don't know what is it Susie Wiles. There you go. It's not his chief of staff. I'll tell you. Hold up.
Speaker 2Stephen Miller, first woman appointed chief of staff to the President of the United States, but he's a misogynist.
Speaker 1Oh, no, wait a minute. No, wait a minute, sorry.
Speaker 2He only associates or likes stupid women.
Speaker 4Right, Okay, so Stephen Miller would be the Homeland Security Advisor. Yeah, Also also an author of Project 2025. Okay, so why is Okay back up?
Speaker 3Why is Project 2025 such a resounding drum for the liberal side? Have you read it? No, no, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 4You should read it. I have. It's a waste of time. Okay, and seven of his appointees to date, just to date. I'm sure there'll be more. He's done appointing. They're authors of the Project 2025.
Speaker 2He's done appointing. So let me ask you a question what's the Okay? If you guys made a Project 2025 for marijuana, the liberals Marijuana, oh, okay, and you signed your name to it, okay, amongst a thousand other people that signed their name to it does that mean that you're not qualified to be on my staff?
Speaker 4But what if I wrote it Actually? It was an.
Speaker 2Author. Okay, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 4It's one thing to just endorse it and not add anything to it.
Speaker 2Let me ask you a question how many people endorsed the Constitution of the United States, not Trump? How many people endorsed their name? Oh, I don't know, right, like 400. Does that mean they're all crazy because they endorsed? We want to establish America from Britain. Does that mean you know John Hancock? Because he signed his name big as fuck and everybody knows it. But that doesn't mean everybody is some crazy person, right? It's not saying that you don't agree with some of it, but that doesn't mean you agree with all of it, you're comparing the Constitution to Project 2025.
Speaker 2Because you're talking about authors. There's a lot of authors of the Constitution, Uh-huh Like literally 160 people.
Media Bias and the Fairness Doctrine
Speaker 3So, and here's okay. So we were saying there's like, how many authors of everything? So here's okay. So we were saying there's like, well, how many authors of everything? So here's my question Trump has not come out and said that he endorses Project 2025.
Speaker 2He would never.
Speaker 3He came out against it. But stop, stop. It says one thing at a time. Ladies, you actually believe this?
Speaker 4You actually believe this? Hold on. I mean, I know he said it, I know he has, I know he has, I know he has, I know that.
Speaker 9So why would I not believe him? He's lying.
Speaker 4He is lying. He is lying Because it was so unpopular. Project 2025. If everybody loved Project 2025, you'd have been like yep, that's me all day. But people hated it, everybody hated it, and so he came out against it. Yet 40-something of his former cabinet in his administration, former, former, but now seven of those people are back in business.
Speaker 2Seven out of 40.
Speaker 3Okay, so my question is the authors of this project of which there are many. They're going to push it. The authors of this, which are many. I want to know what is the difference between them authoring a section of Project 2025 and putting an op-ed in one of the newspapers. Say that one more time. Okay, an op-ed is an opinion piece. I know what it is, but Okay. What is the difference between somebody being part of Project 2025 as an author of a section of it and an op-ed?
Speaker 3What's the difference. Specifically, if Trump has not come out and said that this is not, they call this the presidential transition project. But if the president-elect is saying that is not my presidential transition project, then what?
Speaker 4That's my question. Okay, so okay.
Speaker 3I think they're trying to take.
Speaker 4How much of this, how much of Project 2025, aligns with Trump's policies? How much of it does? Probably 10 or 20%, maybe I'm going to say more like 95.
Speaker 3So let me read this Of course you will Of course you will.
Speaker 2And Elon Musk is going to own MSNBC and you will watch it every day. So here's the thing, because Joe Scarborough went down and sucked the nuts of Trump in Mar-a-Lago, he sure did.
Speaker 3Oh, why is that so hold on? Why is that? Let me read this.
Speaker 4Daddy owns them. Daddy owns them Because they know what's about to happen, because Trump's about to go after reporters and everybody else that he doesn't like that lied.
Speaker 5That lied Because they're all slanderous.
Speaker 2The reason why the View has legal disclaimers like 94 times an episode. Hold on, hold on, let me read this. They talk all this shit and they're worried about getting sued, so they have to fucking have a legal disclaimer. So let me read this Project 2025.
Speaker 3This is from their About page.
Speaker 4Real, quick Hold on. Which news organization had to pay a billion dollars for slander? Cnn which one?
Speaker 3CNN. There you go, cnn. Well, actually we don't know how much it was, because it was a closed deal. Fox News.
Speaker 4It was like a billion now.
Speaker 3Google it.
Speaker 7Let me do this first Fox News. It was like a billion now.
Speaker 4Okay, google it, hold on, Let me do this first.
Speaker 3Project 2025.
Speaker 4Project 2025.
Speaker 3I agree. The project is an effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in 2025. They did not say to ensure Trump's successful administration, but I'm going to continue on. With the right conservative policy recommendations, keyword recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government. Presidential Transition Project is organized by the Heritage Foundation and builds off the Heritage's longstanding mandate for leadership, which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan era. More recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage's mandate for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of their proposals within just one year in office, but that was in 2016 when he won the first time. That does not mean it's going to be the same thing here.
Speaker 4You, you, I mean the the, the.
Speaker 3I'm not saying. I'm not saying that it's not going to happen. I'm just saying we need to wait to see if it actually does.
Speaker 4What's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 2The doom and gloom.
Speaker 4Yeah, sure, no, no, it's. I don't know. I'm just befuddled that you guys actually, Because you're on your own swallow this bullshit that this motherfucker is pushing.
Speaker 3So it did come out and say CNN confirms settlement after a $275 million lawsuit with Nick Sandman. Do you remember that one? Yeah, I do. Okay, so $275 million they paid Sandman Do you remember that one.
Speaker 4Yeah, I do.
Speaker 3Okay, so $275 million they paid.
Speaker 4I wish I was that kid.
Speaker 3Let's do Fox News.
Speaker 5Fox News Dominion. Yeah, but wasn't that the kid that was at the Washington DC? Yeah, he got surrounded by that protester group.
Speaker 3Yeah, Damn $787 million Shit Over election claims. So let's see, let's see Nearly 80. Okay, so To which?
Speaker 4to which they pulled their, and the reason they settled is because they kept pulling all their host text messages and all of them saying I hate fucking Trump. All of them saying to each other I hate Trump. But, yet they're telling you he's the greatest thing since fucking Slice Ben, and you're like, yeah, yeah, you're right, and that's why we shouldn't listen to any of these people.
Speaker 3$1.6 billion, damn. That's what they sued for, and they almost got it, Hold on hold on Well.
Speaker 2I can sue you for $1.6 billion Doesn't mean you settle for it.
Speaker 4Well, yeah, I know that they settled for half of it $787 million.
Speaker 3Okay, so they, and this is where I believe.
Speaker 2What was the dude? That fucking the Kenosha shooter, that kid. What did he sue CNN for? Did he sue Fuck?
Speaker 5yeah, he did. He won Kyle Rittenhouse, kyle.
Speaker 2Rittenhouse.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 2That motherfucker made a billion dollars.
Speaker 4No, the fuck he didn't.
Speaker 3I bet you damn close. He's rolling in the dough.
Speaker 2I bet you fucking close. I bet you 500 million. It may not be a billion, but you're rolling Hold on hold on hold on.
Speaker 3Before we get too far. We've got to in order here.
Speaker 4I'll bet you a blowjob.
Speaker 9Whoa.
Speaker 2Unless it's you, it ain't worth that much. Hey, put your mouth where your mouth is. That motherfucker made a shit ton of money.
Speaker 3Don't look it up, because it's behind closed doors. They won't release it and you bet a blowjob, dude. And we got it recorded.
Speaker 2He had motherfuckers fired because of it?
Speaker 3Yeah, he did so. The Fairness Doctrine you guys remember hearing about that on the news lately. So in 1987, during the Reagan administration, the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either commission policy or congressional legislation. The FCC removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in 2011. So basically, what the Stupid frickin' Apple computers? Frickin' garbage.
Speaker 4Get your shit together, boy.
Speaker 3So basically what? The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission that was introduced in 1949 was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints. That was removed from law in 1987 during the Reagan administration. I think, and it says right here fairness doctrine is not the same as the equal time rule which NBC just got fricking fined for it is not the same thing.
Speaker 3This is talking about factual accuracy in news reporting. They need to put this back in. They do.
Speaker 4I agree, I absolutely fucking agree.
Speaker 3Have you heard this? Have you heard about this? I've heard a little bit about it yes. Yeah, me too.
Speaker 4I fucking agree 100%. It's not just Fox News, it's MSNBC.
Speaker 3Oh, it's both of them, it is, it's CNN, and it's every single one of them, and I agree.
Speaker 5Present the news and let the person dissect it how they choose. Yeah. But, don't try and steer this way and steer that way. Well, here's the problem.
Speaker 3Because then it becomes propaganda and not news 1990, 1990.
Speaker 4What here's the problem 1990? What here's the problem with that is now we have YouTube and the Internet. That's where I watch. Most of my news is on YouTube. I watch most of my news there. I don't go with the.
Speaker 3With the Young Turks. I do.
Speaker 4I watch the Young Turks. I watch he gets it from the Kardashians.
Speaker 5Yeah, the hell I fucking hate them.
Speaker 4I can't say I've never watched an episode of that fucking show Keeping up with the Kardashians Not one. Do you have any comments On what On here? So yeah, this legacy media is dying. It's dying. Yeah, this legacy media is dying, but I don't think that Fox News is going to die. Msnbc is going to die, CNN is going to die, but I don't think Fox News is going to die Now, just because the conservatives are winning this information war which they are doesn't make them right. But it goes in cycles. The Nazis won the information war in Germany. Wait a minute. Does it mean they were right.
Speaker 2Let me say this it goes in cycles.
Speaker 5Is that the last one?
Speaker 2Yeah, it's the last cookie. You're shit out of luck. He'll share it with you, but you're going to be like what was that Disney movie we starred at the end.
Speaker 3Lady and the Tramp.
Speaker 4Come here. Ryan, you guys, me and the man, Come here. No Tramp's right next to you. Navy guy Navy.
Speaker 5Marine, there you go. We need Bill here.
Speaker 2No, I don't turn on the news cycle, right, we don't watch the network fucking news. It's all fucking garbage it is. It is. We get our news alternative sources right Twitter's, facebook's, tiktok'subes, whatever right Truth, whatever's out there. That's where we get our news from. Well, listen to podcasts, and I wholeheartedly believe that's where Trump did well at was podcasts. He was smart for that. Well the Harris campaign had the same thing and she wasn't willing to go anywhere.
Speaker 2They had a lot of restrictions. I'm not blaming her. It could be the party, it could be whatever. Who's pulling the strings behind the curtains, right?
Speaker 5I think there's a lot more there.
Speaker 2I think there's a lot more there that we don't know about. If she could have done them, I think she would have. I don't think she was able to do them. To be honest with you, I seriously think that because I think they still believed in the old school way of doing things, rather than coming up with the technology on the way things are actually done.
Speaker 4She definitely should have went on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Speaker 2Well, but Joe Rogan even came out on Joe Rogan Experience and said they were only going to give me an hour and I had to fly to LA and I had to set up a studio and I had to do this. And he's like fuck, I'm not doing that. If you want to be on my podcast, you're going to come here and you're going to give me three hours. No different than Trump did, no different. And I'm going to ask you the questions these aren't going to be set up questions that you're going to have me ask you. It's going to be you and I having a conversation.
Speaker 2This is not scripted, right. We'll fact-check each other. We'll do what we need to do during this. This is just a normal conversation between two people, right, which is perfectly fine, right. But at the end of the day, the things that need to happen when it comes to the news organizations, they are dying, for sure, because the younger generation is not doing it. And in 1990, which is where I was going when, brent, I was letting you finish your statement but the first Gulf War, that's when CNN started doing 24-hour newscasts, right, so I remember as a kid in the 80s, late 80s, right, the news was on from 6 to 7, or 5 to 6, or whatever. It was right, right, and you had the hour of the news, and then it was done for the night, and then it was on to regular programming, you know.
Speaker 4Sanford and Sons or whatever the fuck. Wasn't that the good old days?
Speaker 2Whatever was coming out. Now you have these 24-hour news cycles where you have all these opinion pieces.
Speaker 2Yep, because pieces because they're time fillers, so they bring all these experts on to give their opinions, probably more than what they really know, and I think that's what's killed the news, because those news stations were never meant to be. I have no idea what you're saying or showing, but House is willing to share a cookie with me? Yeah, I bet he is Navy guys, navy guys unite. But, and I bet you, they'll share a cookie and they'll share dungarees together too. Let me guess you guys are going to hot rack at the end of the night.
Speaker 3We don't use dungarees anymore.
Speaker 2Yeah, well, back in your day you did.
Speaker 1So anyways, so anyways, back in my day so anyways.
Speaker 2Definitely an obvious day, you know, but I mean, I think that's kind of what killed it, because then it became more opinion and it became fact. Billy's a lot older than us. No offense, I'm not calling you out for your age. No, I am, but you're probably 10 years older than me and I'm probably the oldest guy sitting at the table right. I'm 57. Yeah, so you're 10 years older.
Speaker 4I'm older than you are my birthday's tomorrow. I'm 48.
Speaker 2Is it really? Yeah, oh shit man. Congratulations. Happy birthday brother.
Speaker 4Yeah, made it one more year. Goddamn.
Speaker 2I'm surprised your wife let you do it, right he's got a lot of grades here, but I bet you, billy, would be better, because he's 10 years older than me so he probably remembers better than I do. When the news came on it was like a big deal 24-7. You stopped dinner, you stopped everything. You watched the news. I'm not saying the Walter Cronkite years, but you know I mean, but when the news came on it was actually what the news was about.
Speaker 5Right, but that's when family sat down at a dinner table together, yeah, and now it's 24-hour regurgitation of the same bullshit Of the same bullshit, yes you know, and a hundred different opinions on how things should be, and.
Speaker 2I really think that's ruined it. So I watch. So I have IPTV, so I watch Sky News, I watch Britain News and not the BBC, but there's alternatives.
Speaker 4I'm sure they have standards in Europe, australia.
Speaker 3Australia's Sky News is freaking hilarious. Sky News is great because they roast us.
Speaker 2They roast us Terrible they do. They were like these people think they're free the fuck they are. They cut on everybody. They'll cut on Trump. They'll cut on Harris. They'll cut on the Democrats. They'll cut on the fucking Republicans. They're like They'll cut on Harris. They'll cut on the Democrats. They'll cut on the fucking Republicans. They're like these motherfuckers have no idea. Like it's insane what they do to us. Yep, and if more Americans watched overseas news about America, they'd probably learn a shit ton. And that's see, that's the problem, because our media is so controlled it's insane.
Speaker 3That's the problem. No, it is. So here's something I want to ask and this might take us off the politics tangent a little bit but with our background in serving the country, right, Turn the volume up. I got it as high as it'll go. Are they talking about the live?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3So then we got to start speaking towards the camera over there. Just bring it forward a little bit if you can, don't tip it over.
Speaker 2Just bring it forward a little bit if you can. Don't tip it over, man, let me.
Speaker 5let me turn the fan off as long as you're feeling.
Speaker 2Also, you tell me if this is any better.
Speaker 5I'm gonna turn the fan off right above you there we go as long as you're what as long as you're what as long as you're the filling in that oreo cookie no, I always have the.
Speaker 4Uh, I always have the cream filling for you bud tell house, I miss him up here, are you sure I do?
Speaker 2miss him. So he actually took a brand new job down to detroit he did so. He is a I don't know if it's licensed or registered engineer, so he's the CAD guy that does the drawings for mechanical whatever SpaceX to whatever a building, whatever you're going to build. Some guy in the shop is going to build something. He has that degree to be able to be the guy that puts all the measurements out and you build off the drawings, like I have in my office. He's that guy, he's an engineer. So I think it's more mechanical mechanical engineering.
Speaker 2He would blueprint an engine, basically right, build the engine and what his specifications are. He's that guy he's pretty yeah he just I wouldn't go. He's smart. He has a fucking degree from CMU. It's not like he's got an Ivy degree. It's no offense to him.
Speaker 3My point earlier was that the names of the colleges don't mean shit.
Speaker 2He's definitely good at what he does, obviously right. So he just took a job down in Detroit. So he's living down there.
Speaker 3He's got some houses up here in the Mount Pleasant area, rosebush area, but yeah, so my question I was going to pose to you guys was, with our backgrounds of serving the country and being overseas and seeing other countries, especially what we would probably consider third world countries, Some of us more than others.
Speaker 2Yep, real quick. You guys want me to call GLN on his immigration, the way he came.
Speaker 3Yeah, as a brown guy, let's take this to him.
Speaker 2We'll keep talking and. I'll message him see if he's available. Okay.
Speaker 3So and we'll talk about, yeah, we'll use this to lead into immigration. So my question is freedom. You know how your typical and average American might describe that, as Charlie was saying, the international viewpoint is going to be a hell of a lot different than what we might describe that, as Charlie was saying, the international viewpoint is going to be a hell of a lot different than what we would describe it. So my question is those of us well, all of us we're VFW members, so to qualify, we've got to be boots on the ground somewhere overseas. Having seen those things in comparison, do we have more freedoms than they do? Absolutely, but here's the question Do you feel that too much freedom is a bad thing as well?
Speaker 3Because the argument that I'm making is people get too comfortable with what we have. Nobody's ever stepped foot outside of our country and they've got all these opinions about how the world works and it's you know. I don't know if some of it's factually accurate or not, but at the end of the day, I guess that's the question I'm trying to pose as to whether or not. What do you think? Because the quote in my head is you know, good men create good times, good times create weak men. Weak men create bad times, and bad times create strong men.
Immigration Process and Medical Checks
Speaker 4So here's my thought about this, and I've thought about this a lot actually. If you go to Europe let's say you go to Amsterdam you think we're free here. Them motherfuckers in Amsterdam are free. That's freedom. Over there, they're free to do almost whatever they want. Hookers are free. I mean hookers are legal.
Speaker 3They're not free.
Speaker 4All drugs are decriminalized. All drugs are decriminalized over there, and yet they don't have the type of problems there that we do here.
Speaker 2All right, I'm going to call Giovanni here in a second. I was just messaging with him. So this is my niece's husband. Came here legally left, came back legal as a brown guy, Yep, you know. So this goes back on our last podcast. Let me call him in here in a minute.
Speaker 4And so Americans have a problem with excess. Oh yeah, we have a problem with excess. Yep, we get something and we just we'll fuck it up, just because we you know what I mean. Like weed is legal, oh shit, we're just going to.
Speaker 2Hey G, how's it going?
Speaker 9Very good, just walking.
Speaker 2Just working, huh.
Speaker 9Walking actually.
Speaker 2Oh, you're walking, All right.
Speaker 9hey, so you're on Into a quiet on Okay.
Speaker 2You working tonight.
Speaker 9All right.
Speaker 2So in our last podcast here at the VFW we were talking about some immigration stuff, right?
Speaker 9our last podcast here at the VFW. We were talking about some immigration stuff, right.
Speaker 2Yeah, I heard a little bit of stuff about last night. Yeah, so I obviously brought you up because we experienced that with you and Steph right, yes, how you came to America and how you had to leave and then come back illegally and all those different things. Right, and I married you, remarried you in DC years ago and we wanted to have just a little bit of your experience on what it was like to come here, leave and then come back. You know, I know from my personal experience, right being able to. I know from my personal experience, right being able to FaceTime you when you were back in El Salvador waiting to come back and all the rigmarole that you had to go through. Yeah, was it more on the American side for you, the struggle to come back, or was it on the El Salvador government side for you the struggle to come back, or was it on the El Salvador government side for you to come back? Or kind of what was your experience?
Speaker 9I believe it was more. Actually, it was both sides Inside my country, which I still have no idea who runs the embassies there and the people that works, who qualifies who for the government and who calls the shots? You know, call the shots, you know. And because, at the end of the day, it was me trying to do the the things in the right way, uh, which you know, I, I got the opportunity to tell you lord and marry an american citizen and then, um, I entered the country illegally when I was a teenager and then so, through the, the process for people who enter the country illegally is like, if you able to qualify for one of the, the things is you need to leave the country and come back legally, which is a whole process through immigration, and then go for an interview inside the US embassy and, you know, run your background check. You're a good person, you're a dad, yes, you're a citizen. It doesn't grant you anything, but if you do, then you're good to go.
Speaker 2So I guess one of the guys here at the podcast tonight. His wife immigrated from Poland, so she is a legal US citizen, right?
Speaker 4Yes she is.
Speaker 2She's a doctor. She did her med school in Poland, came here and did a residency I'm assuming right or something similar. Yeah she did a residency here.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 2So his wife did something similar to you, right, or something similar. Yeah, she did a residency here. So his wife did something similar to you, right Immigrated back to America. She immigrated to America legally. You were illegal, had to leave and come back legally.
Speaker 4Here's the thing. She came here illegally initially, my wife, she was illegal. Then she filed her paperwork. Don't ask me why we did this, uh, but her parents came to visit and we left and went to. We would fly her every three months out of the country. Right, we go to mexico, whatever, just to reset her visa, because it was a tourist visa, but once we filed the paperwork, can't leave no more.
Speaker 4don't ask me why we did this, but we went to niagara falls with her parents and then came back like we weren't leaving the fucking country. But we did. And we were in there at Port Huron for two hours with her. They were going through every line by line. Why this? Why that she was in there shaking like a leaf, but they let her in. They let her back in. I don't know why they did it, but they did.
Speaker 9So, Gio, as an illegal immigrant, why did you feel it was necessary to leave the United States and come back legally to file for residency, To get your, to get my green card? It's like, first I need to file for a what is a waiver for entering the country illegally, so they approve it, it's fine, I don't have any criminal records or anything. But I need to leave the country and re-enter the country legally. It's a requirement. It's not like a choice. But in the US Embassy in El Salvador you have to go to an interview again with the US officials. But previous to that you have to go through a screening process with the government over there, which is drugs. I don't know if they have any type of disease. I don't know if I have any type of disease. I don't want you to bring I don't know any disease to the country, even though I just came back to the country a week ago and that's how things get rigged.
Speaker 9Where I go to get my blood test, I'm fine. Then I go to psychological evaluations. Then this guy had to, you know, identify me as an aggressive person or a person that has like psychological problems, you know.
Speaker 2Yeah, so when I was talking to you when you were back in El Salvador, right, it seemed to me like it was more a money grab on the El Salvadorian side for you to get your medical release right to come to the United States than it was a hang-up on the US government to get you to come back.
Speaker 9Oh yeah, that's 100%. That's 100% over there.
Speaker 2Right. So they didn't want you to leave, and if you were going to leave, they wanted you to spend the money to come here, right?
Immigration and Business Perspectives
Speaker 9They wanted you to spend the money, but this is people that are qualified by the US government at some point. Because it's not like you can go any you know practitioner over there and be like, hey, I need a blood sample for the US Embassy. No, the US Embassy has a list of doctors and clinics where you need to go. You need to go to these places and they send the results straight to the US Embassy and, based on those results, you go to your appointment for the final interview, where you have all your stuff together for that to say, okay, you're healthy, you have psychological problems, you're not a gangster, you know, because they actually made me do that, yes, 100% naked, to see if I have a single tattoo. When it comes to gangsters, which is, you know, one of the main problems in the South Pole, used to be at least back in 2016.
Speaker 4They're all here now, right.
Speaker 9I'm here now yeah.
Speaker 4In Aurora Colorado Gangsters. The El Salvador gangsters.
Speaker 9Now the gangsters are here.
Speaker 2So, Gio, did I not give you a Spanglish dictionary one time at Christmas?
Speaker 9Spanglish dictionary.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 9Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, because I really like it tonight, because we're on a podcast, so you're broadcast over Facebook and everything else and Spotify and our radio. I would appreciate it if you talked English so we can all understand you.
Speaker 9Did I say a Spanish word that I'm not familiar with?
Speaker 2I don't know. I will let my niece dictate tonight when she hears this. But no, I really appreciate you being on because, as we've had which, I don't really care where your political allegiances lie, right, I would assume that you voted in the last presidential election, right?
Speaker 4But are you a US citizen?
Speaker 9No, no, no, no. You're not going to believe. I couldn't. I tried, even though I became a US resident. I'm an alien. I'm not a resident, I'm an alien, you're not a citizen, yet, no, I'm an alien.
Speaker 4Yeah, so he can't vote. So he can't vote.
Speaker 9He alien, so he can't. So he can't vote. I can't vote. But even though I got my green card in 2019, I don't have the physical one yet because after COVID, they keep sending. It's just like excuses after excuses. I don't know why.
Speaker 2So let me ask you this is just you don't have to answer it if you don't want to answer it If you could have voted in the last presidential election, being a legal and now legal immigrant, if you want to answer, who would you have voted for in the last presidential election? And you're more than welcome to say I don't want to answer it. But if you had the option to vote and you could have voted and you want to tell us, From the illegal.
Speaker 9You know me, I become a businessman here in DC and right now I'll go towards whatever makes me money and you know, business-wise and I believe Trump was the best option for that, and I believe you know Trump was the best option for that. But I mean, I don't. I really don't like the way he expressed himself about, you know, illegals and all that kind of stuff. You know he said we it's not dumping people here in the US, it's not like I'm in Salvador and the president said oh, you know what, go to the United States and fuck shit up. You know, sorry, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2No, what we're looking for right.
Speaker 9Because I heard from the previous podcast. It's like I hear some of you guys. Maybe I know Charlie, I know maybe other people Do. I know anybody else in there?
Speaker 2No, I know Charlie. I know maybe other people Do. I know anybody else in?
Speaker 9there? No, you probably don't. You've never met anybody but me. I'm very familiar with your unpleasant people, but I hear people saying you know they're sending. Let me tell you that's not how it is. It's not like I get qualified. I'm a criminal and I'm not qualified to go to the US and just whatever. Or they're dumping. The suburb is safer because they're dumping all the criminals in the US and that's not how it is. Ifiminals are running away from there. Yeah, I don't think that's a good thing, and the US have open border. That's a different story.
Speaker 2There's legitimate people seeking salvation. But, because of open border the criminals are running into it? Are you and Steph coming here for Thanksgiving?
Speaker 9I believe we're not no For Christmas. Possibly Okay, we don't know yet.
Speaker 2Which is good, so you and I can have an offline conversation later. Trust me, everybody here at the table this is the reason why I want to have you call in, because you are my best representative of someone that's gone through the system and or has an outside perspective that's not involved here at the table. Right, you obviously know that I love you, no different than my niece, right, but I always love the difference in opinions. Right, you're allowed yours, I'm allowed mine. Let's have an adult conversation about things.
Speaker 2And I don't think and there's different people at the table tonight than there were the last podcast that you probably listened to we don't think that, and we're primarily probably talking about Venezuela over El Salvador. But when we're talking about dumping people or doing whatever, nobody I think at this table has any adverse effect over bringing people to this country, as long as they do it legally Right. Over bringing people to this country as long as they do it legally right. So, no different. If I decided to fly over to El Salvador on a visa and overextend my stay, would I not go to jail or prison or be deported? Right, we should be doing that here as well, right? So it's not that we don't want people to come here, but we want to know who's coming here, why they're coming here and what they bring to.
Speaker 2America no different if we did it to your country.
Speaker 2No different if we did it to your country. We want to know, your country would want to know why you're here, why you're staying, why you're not going home or doing whatever, and what do you bring to the table. You know what I mean. So it's not that, as you know, right, you live in Washington DC. You're an owner of multiple restaurants, head chef of those multiple restaurants and do all those things. You bring a lot of assets to the table, so you're a welcome member of society. What most Americans I think are worried about are people coming here that soak off the system, right, they get the welfare, they get the housing, they get the food assistance, they get whatever, and they don't bring a tangible asset. You're probably an anomaly, Trey's wife, who came here from Poland. She's a doctor, right, so she brings a tangible skill set, just like you do, to America. I don't think Americans have an issue with that. You know what I mean. I love my wife.
Speaker 9No, correct Me too, and it's not a perception. I knew. Yet it's just, I feel like I don't know people assuming, assuming the illegals, and you know, in my experience I mean DC has the vast majority so far of illegal influence Besides New York, I think. Because, I do hire people. I lived there for a year here to work in the restaurants and you know I'm not saying I'm hiring illegals and stuff like that. I'm not immigration, I work for immigration.
Speaker 4Not saying you are, but you're not saying you're not.
Speaker 9If you qualify for the job. You qualify for the job, bingo. But I also work in nightclubs. You know, right, you being here, this is a massive nightclub and I run into people where you know. They come to me and they see me and it's like what are you? Are you at the drug dealer? Are you a fucking gang member or what is it? I'm like no, why do you assume that? But then these kind of people it's the same situation that is happening in Salvador.
Speaker 9In Salvador now the borders have tightened up so much, if you see, now they're ceasing drug operation over there, like for drugs to come from Colombia. They got across for Central America at some point and they're ceasing tons of drugs over there and really nobody's talking about it. But then people entering the country I did enter illegally, yes, but I'm maybe 90 percent. The people who come here want to do good things, but then there's always that 10 percent of you know that messed up people who leave and running away from either Guatemala, because whole Central America is a big problem. They're running away from cops, it's not just poverty, they're just legal situations they're running away from and they come into the country and then I'm literally in the most powerful city of the world and if I'm running into a MS-13 gang member trying to like say things to me, I'm like bro, don't, don't. You know I hired one of them and he's like bro, don't, do that stuff here over here. We're not in Salvador anymore. There will be repercussions for you if you're trying to pull up that stuff over here. We're not in salvador anymore. There'll be repercussions for you if you're trying to pull up that stuff over here. So you need to get, get out of here, move on. But you're not gonna do that.
Speaker 9So, yeah, I see the concern from other people saying do not have open borders. It's not the right way to do, but there is no. Also, the government is not stopping sanctuary cities for hiring people, you know, because these people still come here, get jobs or not or just go around. I mean, the situation in DC is out of hands, where the crime is going crazy high. You might as well leave with the windows open, because you know you're going to find your car with the windows broken at the end of the night when you're going to work, you know, because it has gone so crazy hard the the crime over here.
Speaker 9So, yes, in my opinion, my opinion, uh, open borders because right now, people, our friends, have probably been here for 15, 20 years and they still the immigration cases are not being even to view. But if you're venezuel I'm not, I'm probably anybody with Venezuela, anybody hearing this but if you're Venezuelan, whatever Colombian, you can get across the Mexican border and then you can get a court in the US and your court date is five years from now and they give you a permit to work if you apply in the US and your court date is five years from now and they give you a permit to work if you apply in the next three days, just because you can be. I don't know, that's what I know.
Immigration, Citizenship, and Legalities
Speaker 2No, yeah, and I think this is what we're saying is the immigration system in the United States is broken, right? We've said this forever on this podcast. It's not that we will not accept immigrants coming to the United States. We need to. There's no doubt about it, because no offense to all of us that are here that are American we're lazy, right. We need people to do certain jobs, certain things. It's not that we're not accepting of them. So Trey's wife's a doctor. We need doctors, but we don't need a million and five day laborers.
Speaker 4We need fruit pickers.
Speaker 2We don't need a million and five of them.
Speaker 4You white folks ain't going to do that. Well, but For sure you ain't doing that.
Speaker 2Right, but maybe those farmers need to up the pay to do it.
Speaker 4Yeah, because if they don't have, if they up the pay, then now your grocery bill is going to go up and you're going to bitch even more.
Speaker 2Well, but here's the difference. There's no difference in raising the minimum wage, right? So at the end of the day excuse me, I don't think anybody's saying that we don't need immigrants, but at some point it would be no different. If I went to El Salvador and I extended my stay, I'm probably going to end up in a jail, right? We don't do that. You probably wouldn't you?
Speaker 9can't work over there unless you don't have a permit. I mean the same thing you go to Europe, right? I mean we Salvadorians, the Salvadorian country I'm just talking about Salvadorian because I'm not Mexican and sometimes you and I we joke about where Salvador is in Mexico.
Speaker 2You guys are all the same to me.
Speaker 4But Americans have geography problems, unfortunately. Here's the problem. Here's the problem that I see is that there's well-meaning folks like you and you and you who say, yeah, people should come, and Billy yes.
Speaker 6No, Billy was the racist member.
Speaker 4People should come here legally, they should come here legally, and so on and so forth. But I don't think that the Trump administration wants brown people here period.
Speaker 2I think that's totally false. I think that's a crazy narrative. We need brown people.
Speaker 9Who is brown people? If you're brown, for me Indians.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 9For me.
Speaker 4Well, brown people speak louder for their lives. Brown people to me is anybody that's fucking brown he's saying.
Speaker 2He's saying brown is anybody between central American brown to Indian brown.
Speaker 5Africa brown so I but Trey is tan, so he's kind of, he's kind of outside.
Speaker 3He's virtually ambiguous.
Speaker 4Listen, they say they want to get rid of these illegal immigrants right? The Trump administration wants to get rid of these illegal immigrants and find out what happens once they start. They're not going to stop there. They're not going to stop there and they're going to take people like your nephew, gio.
Speaker 9I think it's a waste of time because for people I know some people they have been deported and 20 days later they're back in the country. So why would you waste thousands of dollars? Why would you waste thousands of dollars? Why would you waste thousands of dollars deporting the people when 30 days later, this is going to be billions, billions of dollars.
Speaker 2Because I think, gio and this is me speaking but I think if we deport them right and we make them come back the way that you did right as a we're not and we make them come back the way that you did right, we're not going to let them come back, but wait a minute you come back as a member of society, same reason why we imprisoned you, yeah but for me to do that, I spent over $15,000 to get that $15,000.
Speaker 4So wait a minute so wait a minute.
Speaker 2So wait a minute. Let me ask you a question then, Gio Was it worth the $15,000 to come back?
Speaker 9It was worth, but I don't think a lot of people can make that money Okay.
Speaker 2So then, no offense. I can't afford in the United States to get a drunk driving and pay $7,000 in fees and my jail time and everything else, to go to jail and pay to get my license back and everything else. I can't afford the $7,000. Maybe I shouldn't drink and drive. So no offense. You come to America, you get kicked out and it's going to cost you $15,000 to come back. Maybe you should save up and not come here.
Speaker 9I think you guys need to understand. I did not get kicked out. If anybody gets kicked out of the country, you're gone for the next 10 years.
Speaker 2We know you did what I'm saying is if it's worth $15,000 to come to America, would you not pay it? Obviously, it is because you paid it.
Speaker 9Everyone wants to go through that funnel of you qualify for green card, because the only way to get a green card right now is possibly, if I'm not wrong, through marriage and through business only if you're an investor. But pre-order administrations, you know, if I am your employee, I can grant you with the work, but not me personally. Like I just said, the owner of the business will be able to grant you with a sponsorship, so you'll be able to get your, your green before the previous, I mean not this one, I think was Nathan.
Speaker 9But the way the works right now is like that you just marry a citizenship, a citizen, and there's no other way. But even if you marry a person like that, you still got to get a lawyer which is a minimum of $6,000, $7,000 to start the case, which is a minimum of $6,000, $7,000 to start the case, and then another A-50 to send the permits, the forms, to the US immigration offices and if you get approved, if you get approved, so, on the reverse side, if I were to become an El Salvadorian citizen, is it free or is it going to cost me money?
Speaker 9No, if you want to start over there.
Speaker 2But it's still going to cost me money, correct? I'm still?
Speaker 9going to have to hire lawyers? Very little, very little.
Speaker 2Well, but are you talking exchange rate little, or are you just talking about?
Speaker 9Back home right now, things have changed differently and the president is going more towards bringing people to invest money and giving them the best assistance when it comes to opening your business Right.
Speaker 2So my instance is we have enough immigrants here now. We don't need any more. So if you want to come here legally, it's going to cost you money. I go to your country. You need people, so you're willing to take anybody and everybody. Now, if the shoe is on the other foot right, you guys have enough people you don't need anymore it's probably going to cost me money to become an El Salvadorian citizen, establish a business and do whatever. Right? So it's going to cost money because you don't need anybody else, right? So you're only going to take the best of the best to immigrate to El Salvador. You know what I'm saying? So what I'm saying is it's not that the US wants no immigrants. We're not about that at all. Come here, we want you. Trump just wants them to be white.
Speaker 2No, but we need to have productive citizens just like yourself, correct, right. So we don't need anybody and everybody, but we need to have productive citizens just like yourself, right, correct, yeah, right. So we don't need anybody and everybody. I said this at the last podcast. When my family came over here in the 1800s, they had to register. They got told where they went. There was no social bailouts If you want to come here, it's a different size of the coin.
Speaker 9It is, and it is because I mean from the humanitarian side and I know all of you are good people, you know you humanitarian side would say why would I not welcome women who's running from the gangs in Salvador or Honduras?
Speaker 4or running away with two, three kids.
Speaker 9You know from there and you, as a good person, you will welcome this person and try to help her out. But what about me? What about me that I say myself that I haven't got a woman pregnant? I don't have. Yes, I'm a Salvadorian, and we normally have five kids with five different women. But I'm not. I studied. I don't have yes, I'm a Salvadorian, and we normally have five kids with five different women. But I'm not. I studied, I went to college and then I'm here. You know, I made it. I stay over my visa, but I cannot get a work permit or green card, because the only way to get a green card is, if only I'm a single mother Right, you know, from an American, because if this kid is born here, yeah, then you're granted.
Speaker 9Yeah, this mother is granted with all the benefits Social security, I mean insurance, insurance and it's like, okay, so you can be, you know, a wife of a really gangster in Salvador. But you made it through the borders. Now you're here, your kid is born in the US and all of a sudden you have all the benefits possible, right, just like in other America. But me.
Speaker 9I went to university, I went to college or whatever. I qualified for everything, but I'm not a single model, so you know it puts you in a bad position, where being a humanitarian, you know, and trying to help somebody, is a good thing, but all right 100% agree with you, gino G and I, all of us here tonight, appreciate you.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think you deserve it, I mean, 100% Of letting me, letting us call you in tonight. You know we had this conversation a couple weeks ago about immigrants and the way they come in and the hamstrings and Trey he's the Democrat of the group we only want white people and I don't think that's necessarily the truth, right.
Speaker 4Well, you don't, you don't, no, roy doesn't.
Speaker 2Billy doesn't. What we want is people coming in the legal way. So G came here as a teenager illegally left, came back the legal way. Did it cost a lot of money? Sure.
Speaker 4But what if he never left and went back, but so Gio.
Speaker 9No, it's still illegal.
Speaker 4Yeah, gio, when you came here, right when you left, were you married to Stephanie.
Speaker 9No, you weren't married yet yeah, no, when I left, I was married. Yes, I was married and that's part of the process, Because my chances to re-entry were, you know, 90%.
Speaker 4So how is it that you had to go back, but my wife, as a white woman, didn't have to go back Because she's a doctor? She wasn't a doctor then too.
Speaker 9She possibly came under a visa.
Speaker 4She came on a tourist visa and overstayed it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so that's a different story.
Speaker 9Overstaying your visa is differently than me. You know jumping.
Speaker 2He came with no visa. He came on a bus. I came.
Speaker 9I jumped a wire back in 2004 or 2005,. If I remember very well, the border was a wire. How old were you? I was 20 years old when I came.
Speaker 4Oh, when you came, okay, I thought you said you were a teenager, wow. You can't even drink 20 is an adult. Yeah.
Speaker 9I know.
Speaker 2Yeah, he literally came across no papers, no visa no, nothing, he came across.
Speaker 9Yeah, but that wasn't an easy task. Back right now, you take a bus, you cross mexico that's what I know from stories that people tell me. You know you get a bus, you cross all mexico and get to the border. You, you surrender yourself to the legal authorities and then you have a court day. In the next five years you can stay in the country because you're waiting for your court, right, right, yeah, when I came, I had to pay a coyote six thousand dollars. Six thousand dollars. Back in.
Speaker 5Back then there was a lot of money back in.
Speaker 9Back then there was a lot of money where the marines were doing that shit and it took me over a month to cross the whole mexico.
Speaker 4It was being my friend. I do that, I do it, and you know I literally almost died and it was.
Speaker 9I was very close to death and you know, that's one of the points where I actually believe that God exists, because I was really close to die in that trip, damn. And you know, yeah, you've been stuck in these fucking high conditions.
Speaker 3I met it for a reason I don't know. Well, they just had. I believe it was an Indian family that came across the Canadian border and they froze to death.
Speaker 9Yeah, I mean, it's a lot of people who died Right and it's not like the first month I was, I would say, depressed. I was like that's the most stupid thing I did to come here, because the only family I had at that time was my father. That I never, that I did not grow up with Right. He's been here since the Civil War back in the mid-'80s, so he was here in America.
Speaker 9He was here, yeah, in Washington DC. Oh, okay, he flew the country during the Civil War. That happened in the mid-'80s, 70s and 80s, between that period of time.
Speaker 4Well listen, gio, we really appreciate you calling up here. I would like to personally apologize for the fact that you're related to Charlie Klein. He's not in here right now, so I can say what I want.
Speaker 3He'll listen to this recording later.
Speaker 9Okay, I really love everybody here. I'm really glad that I.
Speaker 4You've got to come up and visit us. Yeah, we'd love to meet you, man A lot of people there.
Speaker 9I recently was there for wine tours over Traverse City Beautiful country. I'm here in DC. I've seen people over there. People don't even believe how beautiful it's over there. Yeah, it certainly is, I've seen be using pictures and you know people, you know.
Speaker 3You had said that you might come, you know, for like around Christmas time or something. So I'm sure if you do end up coming here, we'll probably end up doing an episode that you can join us, or even if we don't do an episode.
Speaker 4We'll meet up with you somewhere.
Speaker 5We'll meet up with you somewhere.
Speaker 4Bring them up to the post, Charlie.
Speaker 9I was hoping for you guys to come and do a protest if Trump didn't win.
Speaker 2Yeah, so, g, I totally appreciate you taking time out of one of your restaurants tonight. Just so everybody knows that may be listening. You're still an owner group of like three or four different nightclubs, slash restaurants, in DC area, correct?
Speaker 9Yeah, yep.
Immigration Perspectives and Conversation
Speaker 2And the head chef, so you bring a lot to America, right? And the DC area, which I was fortunate enough to visit when I married you and Steph, and all those different things. We obviously had a great time there. Appreciate you taking some you know, 45 minutes of your time tonight to be able to talk to us. Minutes of your time tonight to be able to talk to us. Hopefully you follow us on Facebook Soup Sandwich Podcast and or listen on Spotify.
Speaker 2Iheart all those different things that we're on. Yeah, of course, Totally appreciate you and if I ever need you, I'll reach out to you, like I did the other night. And I definitely remember when you went back to El Salvador, as you were waiting to come back to America legally, and I saw that we were FaceTiming or whatever, and you had the top hat and the monocle, like you were the guy off of Monopoly, Right. So you're my niece's favorite husband, just so you know. You might be the only one, but you're still my favorite brother and I wish you were going to be here for Thanksgiving in a couple days, but hopefully I catch you at Christmas.
Speaker 9Cool, cool Anytime. Thanks, man, come see catch you at Christmas. Cool, cool Anytime.
Speaker 4Come see us, Gio Come see us.
Speaker 9Yeah, you all have a good night.
Speaker 2You too See ya, bye-bye.
Speaker 2Yeah, such a great dude. It was so weird because he is, unfortunately, the first minority in my family. It's just me and my sister and my mom and dad, my ancestors, alice Island we talked about it, right. They got sent to fucking Chicago. They've immigrated to Greenville and then to Mount Pleasant. Should have stayed in Chicago. Well, that was the Al Capone days. I'm actually a second. I'm actually a second. He was an Irish cop in there, got shot and then they left Chicago to go to Greenville. So there's some weird history there.
Speaker 1Why fucking Greenville?
Speaker 2Well, because Al Capone's mom lived in the Brownstone next to my great-great-grandparents. That was named after Charlie. I and my grandfather played with Al Capone's kids. Al Capone's kids went to the grandma's house, yeah, yeah, and he got shot. He was a cop. I have his Billy Club, his badge, all his bullshit.
Speaker 4Damn Wow, you have it all yeah.
Speaker 2So I mean there's some history there. He got shot. They left in the middle of the night Like there's the family stories right End of the day. He's the first immigrant slash non-white in my family. Great, great dude, known this guy for a long time, married my niece and him, but he'll straight up tell you so.
Speaker 2Like you know, we had this immigrant story, which I totally appreciate, eva's way she came here yeah, a little bit different because she's a little bit in the upper echelon, right as far as if you're going to immigrate somebody to america that can produce for america. Right, it's a doctor. Yeah Right, this is a dude that's an owner of nightclubs and bars or whatever, right. And he's a brown dude. He's a chef, not the typical stereotypical best of America coming here.
Speaker 3Hey Roy, Was Manny Martinez coming?
Speaker 5I don't think. So Did I say something.
Speaker 3He said I'm outside looking for you, gents, oh.
Speaker 2Roll out front.
Speaker 6I don't have that update.
Speaker 2So, anyways, what I'm trying to say is like he is the guy when I say like I want to hear his story, or you guys hear his story on how he came here. It's bizarro to me, because I would FaceTime him right and talk to him when he was back at home living with mom and dad, before he came back, and all the bullshit that he came through. I think it's important for people to hear what it's actually like to come here. Your wife's story is totally different than his and there's a different dialect, the way things go. Yeah, and I actually did buy him that Spanglish dictionary because he actually spoke pretty well tonight. Right, right.
Speaker 4A lot of times it's really hard to hear him and I know it's through speakerphone and then we're doing it through microphones.
Speaker 1I hope that people on the live, heard it and could understand, because it's just, you know not that his accent was so bad.
Speaker 4It's just, you know, with his accent and coming through this microphone and being on the phone.
Speaker 2It's different right? I appreciate him taking the time. Maybe text him.
Speaker 3Because I did see a truck back up a while back. So here's my question for you guys, and this is to you know, find solutions to this. So way back and we said this in the last stream um, was it during the reagan administration that they passed the naturalization act and it legalized a whole bunch of illegal immigrants up until that, to a certain date, right? If they were in the country before that date, they were all legalized, right. So here's the question we know how fucked up our immigration is, right. Yeah, I know it's got its issues and everybody is is talking back and forth about illegal this, legal that back and forth. I and I legal that back and forth, and I think we're fighting a losing battle. Wow, because if we want to fix this shit, we need to fix it first and then figure out what to do with the people who are already here.
Speaker 2Here's the deal on our side of the table and I will bet you probably 90%, might over, exaggerate, might not exaggerate 80%, 75% of Republicans, conservatives will 100% agree with we need immigration, right, but there's got to be some checks and balances, right. We have to know who's coming and going. If you decided you wanted to go to El Salvador or Mexico or anything else and overextended, you're probably going to end up in jail and deported, right? So why do we accept it and other countries don't accept it? There's a reason why Canada shut the shit off Mexico, mexico. She even said the president of Mexico, like Canada shut the shit off Mexico, mexico. She even said the president of Mexico said here, here's the deal.
Speaker 2America's going to deport people. If you're Mexican, we welcome you with open arms. If you're not, we're shipping your shit out of here. She literally said it, right, the new president, right, well, why? Why would they say that? And it's okay. But we say it and it's not okay. They're only going to take Mexicans. They're not going to take anybody else. They're like hey, whatever you are, whatever country you come from, we're getting rid of your ass, because we can't take you Well wait a minute.
Speaker 2But America can do that, but they can't do that. So why?
Speaker 3is it cool that they do it and we don't do it? I would say you know what I mean?
Speaker 2Well, I would say it's part of our heritage, because we always say we're a nation of immigrants, which is fine, but we have to know who you are and why you're here and what you bring to society.
Speaker 4I think, with the internet and technology being the way it is nowadays, we can figure that out.
Speaker 3What up, manny, welcome Big.
Speaker 2Manny, how are you man? A jarhead in the house. Let me guess.
Speaker 3Jarheads have us outnumbered.
Speaker 2Well, I was, even if I was the only one. There were 70 motherfuckers and you're still outnumbered.
Speaker 5Just saying 7-1.
Speaker 27-1,. The odds aren't with the Army, guys.
Speaker 1Now you're way outnumbered. Now you're way outnumbered.
Speaker 4It's three against three, I'd say we fuck them up. That's bringing it on UFC style Turn that camera around AJ.
Speaker 7Skylounge slash UMM. That's the Joe Rogan Dana White experience is coming live to the Skylounge.
Speaker 2tonight we're going to wrap up and make them tap out. Introduce yourself. You're live on.
Speaker 3Facebook Over there. We're recording you through here and we'll be uploading that to Spotify and iHeartRadio and wherever else we are.
Veteran Podcast Banter and Bonding
Speaker 2YouTube or something Not quite sure. Thanks for joining us tonight. I didn't know I was going to be on live.
Speaker 4Now you're put on the spot.
Speaker 2You need a beer, you need a cocktail, you need bourbon.
Speaker 4No, I don't drink?
Speaker 2Oh you don't, so you need bourbon. It's over there. Just grab a bottle, take a couple swigs and then you'll be right in the swing of things, but are we live really? Yeah, we are For sure. Look, look.
Speaker 5Roy's got live Drink.
Speaker 2So what brings you up tonight? Well, I'm going to hang out with these fellas?
Speaker 6I didn't, so what brings you up tonight? Well, I'm going to hang out with these fellas.
Speaker 4I didn't know they were going to put me on the spot. Yeah, well, we do a podcast every two weeks or so.
Speaker 3Welcome to the Soup Sandwich Podcast.
Speaker 4And it's a veteran-based thing.
Speaker 2Manny, who's a Mexican, obviously serves in the.
Speaker 4Marines? Yeah, who's a Mexican guy. Obviously he serves in the Marines. Yeah, who's a Mexican guy, he's Mexican. Are you legal, though he's legal. What do you call legal?
Speaker 3We were just talking about him, I'm above age I'm over 18.
Speaker 4I'm not a priest, so you're not my style. He's also you'll like this a Trump supporter. Oh no, you're wrong. Wait, I thought you said you were.
Speaker 2I never said that.
Speaker 4What.
Speaker 2I'm Kamala Harrison. All the way, get the fuck out of here.
Speaker 4I could have sworn.
Speaker 2You said that.
Speaker 4Did he not say that?
Speaker 2So here's the deal. So we started this podcast. Oh, look at this Motherfucking brown motherfuckers unite all of a sudden. Look at this Motherfucking ground motherfuckers unite all of a sudden. Look at this. Yeah, I need somebody on my team over here. No, it's not. It's not here still.
Speaker 4America is a team Thank you, thank you there you go.
Speaker 5You're right If we're all trying to better America, then we're wrong. We're not. We're all just trying to do different parts of what's better for ourselves.
Speaker 2You could have a different opinion than me.
Speaker 5But, what bothers me you know, what bothers me Is that today we are no longer considered American, while we're using the bathroom.
Speaker 6Oh, here you go which is wrong European.
Speaker 4European.
Speaker 9You're not American.
Speaker 4Yeah, european, you're European, and when you really got to go, you're not American. I'm not always.
Speaker 2European. Sometimes I'm you're a shit, just yeah, european. And when you really got to go, you know that I was European. Sometimes I'm your shit, you know, totally depends on how much I've had to drink tonight. This tomorrow might be a little hot and you really, when you really got to go, you're not American, you're Russian all right, so introduce yourself, manny.
Speaker 3We typically you know name and obviously you were in the Marines. So what'd you do? What years did you serve All that good stuff?
Speaker 6Manny Martinez is a United States Marine from 1993 to 2001.
Military Experiences and 9-11 Impact
Speaker 42001. Did more time than you did. I like it Right, you did.
Speaker 6I had four years active, four years inactive Awesome.
Speaker 3When did you get out? In 2001? Before 9-11?
Speaker 2Yeah, don't matter.
Speaker 3Well, I was just curious because I heard that some of the people who got out right before 9-11 got stop-lossed and brought their ass right back to active duty after.
Speaker 6I had custody of my son and I could have went back in, and but then they said you just got a hand right back over to the.
Speaker 5Did they do a stop-loss in 01?
Speaker 2no, it was all I thought they did. I know the only stop-loss.
Speaker 5I remember was 03, because I got stuck in Japan for an extra six months.
Speaker 1Okinawa, which yeah it was like not a painstaking ordeal.
Speaker 5I mean, I loved every bit of Okinawa. Were you on Schwab?
Speaker 2Hanson oh yeah, you on the big base. Yeah, I was on Schwab, so um, I think it was uh in the ring too, january.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah so that's that's why this is the good side.
Speaker 2Yeah, who were you with? So I was with First Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Company, or FAST Company, out of Norfolk, virginia, all right, and then I was at 3rd Battalion Submarines out of 29 Palms.
Speaker 6I was with the 2-7. Stumps. Huh, I was with 2-7.
Speaker 2The Stumps.
Speaker 9Our. Fast company 2-7.
Speaker 5Yeah, so we were actually we were doing training operations in South Korea. Like we were there just training when the official like kickoff began over in Iraq. Yeah, and the Koreans like started protesting. They weren't happy about it. Like they were protesting, sure. So it became like a mission.
Speaker 4They protest all the fucking time it became like we.
Speaker 5They had to rush us out of the field for safety reasons to get it back on ship. And then we ended up going to Sasebo, which is mainland Japan, for 10 days while they reloaded and restocked the ship and they had to figure out what we were going to do next. Because, with the war starting, they're like well, we're not going to show our face on foreign soil while our brothers are at war, so we're not going to do Bali, hong Kong, you know. Indonesia, australia, you know we're not going to do the Westpac float. So they refueled the ship and we went to Guam.
Speaker 2We did. Tinian Guam. So for us at 3-7, we did our six month over to Okinawa, right, we flew over Yep and then we did training with the. Did you fly through Alaska? No, so we actually. We actually left Anchorage, yeah, we actually left LAX, flew straight over. Then we went down to the Philippines, did training with the film. Marines, huh, when were you in? That deployment would have been like 2000, 2001.
Speaker 3What were your active years? Though I think is what he's asking Is that what you're asking?
Speaker 2Yeah, so I went in in 98 to 02. And then we went from there, we jumped on the Frederick and we went up to Thailand and we worked with the time marines, field exercises or whatever cross training and stuff with those guys. But I was back at 29 Palms and we were on a 25 miler out to the field during 9-11. When 9-11 happened. So actually I was in the fucking field on the march that morning and cell phones were ringing and this was like cell phones were scarce, like you could still use Pagers.
Speaker 5Yeah, they were Pagers.
Speaker 2Pagers. Yeah, right, so we're on a 25 miler out to the field at 29 Ridgeline and all the shit out to the out to the ranges or whatever right, and they flew helicopters out to pick us up and tracks and shit to get us bring us back. But, yeah, so, yeah, it was a different role. So when I was at Fast Company out of Norfolk, we were forward deployed to Bahrain. Then we went to Iraq and Saudi Arabia and UAE and all that shit, qatar. We went to Iraq and Saudi Arabia and UAE and all that shit, sure, and Qatar. So that's where I got my eligibility for the VFW. Smell it. Yeah, it was pretty crazy.
Speaker 2So at the time my wife Jen and daughter Maddie were at 29 Palms. So I'm out in the field and she's getting phone calls at like 6 am, yeah, so she's still sleeping, baby's sleeping, because Maddie was only like a year old-ish. Her phone's blowing up like what the fuck's going on with Charlie? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She's like what are you talking about? They're like turn on the fucking TV and she's like what are you talking about? She's three hours behind. So it's 9 am here. It's 6 am out in California, right, no idea. Well, they pulled us out of the field, brought us back to stand security on the base and all the different shit right because 9-11 had happened. So I'm also a GWAT guy as well, because they backdated everything, but yeah, so I actually got my Air Force expeditionary and stuff when I was that fast.
Speaker 5So I went to boot camp in June of 2002, or June of 2001. Graduated boot camp August 31, 2001. Come home for 10 days. Yeah, didn't get RA, shit pops off. I flew back to California the night of September 10. Damn, went to Deja Vu, hung out with the guys we were drinking, got off Probably SLI. We stayed at the Good Night Inn, you know down there. Damn, went to Deja Vu hung out with guys.
Speaker 2We were drinking got off, probably SOI.
Speaker 5We stayed at the Good Night Inn, you know, down there in San Diego with the shuttle that would take us the next morning. I had to check in to SOI, september 11, 2001 that was my check in damn. So we you know, we're all hungover and fucking our phones. We just got cell phones when we flew back to.
Speaker 5San Diego, you know. So our phones are ringing and blowing up and I finally answer mine and it's my mom and she's just like bawling, scared, like what's happening, what's going on, what's going to? I'm just like what are you talking about? Yeah, like no idea. Three hours difference, dude. Yeah, no idea. I get you. I didn't want to be awake right now, let alone be talking on the phone, let alone be dealing with my mom crying.
Speaker 2I have no idea. She's in my face. What are?
Speaker 5you talking about, you know. And so they told us to turn on TV and we turned it on, and that's when you know, we finally sobered up really quick, yeah, so so, so, so.
Speaker 2Jen, I think her first phone call was from my sister right, which is Gio that was just on the phone, my niece's sister or mother-in-law.
Speaker 4That's Jen's daughter Stephanie.
Speaker 2No, so it's my sister, janelle, janelle, janelle, yeah, so Gio married one of my sister's daughters. Oh, okay, yeah, that was the guy we just talked to. I think Janelle was my sister. Was Jen's first phone call, like what the fuck's going on with my brother? Basically, right, yeah, yeah, because 9-11 just happened. We were in the fucking field Crazy, you know what I mean. Like this, that time era, like when I was at Fast Company, we had pagers Jen will tell you the stories. I carried a pager like I was a fucking Navy SEAL. We were definitely not Navy SEALs, right, and that fucker would go off.
Speaker 2And I had to be back to the base within a certain amount of time. Our gear got loaded up by the Navy. Camp Allen, where Fast Company was at, was right across from Naval Air Station Norfolk, so they had Seaside, which were the ships, and then an air station, and they would come over and load up and we'd literally taxi and then pull back in. They'd unload our gear. It was like a timing thing, right, to make sure you could deploy within so fast, right, right, yeah. So 98, I just got to fucking Fast Company I mean fucking within a week. So I didn't even have all my gear right out of supply, plus my weapons and everything else, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2And we had embassy bombings in Nairobi County and Barcelona and Tanzania. I betrayed you. So those bombs went off within a couple hours of each other, right at the embassies, right, well, our job was to go secure those embassies, right. So we had the security clearances right, top or secret security clearances to go do extra security on stuff. And all of a sudden, right, I had this brand-new pager like I have no idea, right. It's like, oh, you got to show up, right, okay, cool, I had this brand-new pager like I have no idea, right. It's like, oh, you got to show up, right, okay, cool, I go show up.
Speaker 2And the guys are like, yeah, it's just a drill, because they've been doing it for fucking ever. Right, right, these guys have been around forever. They're like yep, well, we're on the Reaction Air Force, they're just timing us. Right the guys to get over to us to palletize our shit. They take it over on big-ass semis, we put it on the plane, you got a taxi and then they turn around and you unload everything, right, so Pedro goes off. Okay, you know, we get all our shit. So we had like gear we trained with and we had gear that was deployable. So we had bulletproof vests. We didn't even have Kevlar's, they had plates, savvy plates and all that shit. We were so old school, so pictures of me have like I have a bulletproof vest on.
Speaker 1People are like what the fuck? And I'm like that's what we had.
Speaker 2That's what they gave us right. We didn't even have M4s, it was so old school, we used M16s. We used. M16s, we had MP5s, we had the M590 shotgun, we had Berettas, we had all that bullshit. So we get on this fucking plane right, all our shit's loaded, fucking plane's taxiing. The guys are, you know, everybody's joking, the old senior lance corporals right Assault dogs, yep.
Speaker 2All of a sudden that fucking plane picks up fucking speed and takes off and they're going and their eyes are like this fucking big, oh shit, yeah, I mean this fucking big around. I have no idea, dude. I've been in the fucking unit like 10 days, yeah Right, and all of a sudden we're airborne and you're like what the fuck? And then captain comes back, lt comes back, staff sergeant comes back and they're like okay, boys, here's the deal. Right, there's two embassy bombings. We're fucking headed to Africa. God damn, what the fuck. Because these guys have been through the drills 105 times right, yeah.
Speaker 2And then, within like 18 hours, we're landing in fucking Africa.
Speaker 4I told you that story about it. It's crazy.
Speaker 5We had a similar deal when we first got it, like when I first got to the fleet after SOI, we got assigned to 24. And we ended up going to 24 because there was a great big, huge drug ring that went on. These guys were making crack and everything in the barracks.
Speaker 5Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a shit ton of them went to the fucking brig so they needed a huge boot drop at 2-4. So almost all of SOI went to 2-4. And when we got there and they were doing, it was QRF. So what we had to do is we still had the Alice packs at the time oh yeah, the old alley packs, the old Alice packs. But you had to have everything packed like sitting at at your door.
Speaker 2So that was my son and as we went through you know, training through the day Send his ass to voicemail.
Speaker 5When they gave, like this certain signal or sound, we had to grab our pack and be in front of the company. Uh, you know, office in x amount of time, like staged and ready to go to get on five tons whether. Well, back then it was five tons, you know, whether we were heading to an airport or wherever, and it was just constant drills of how soon and how staged we could be and everything else. And there were a couple drills where, like, we actually started heading up, you know, heading up to Riverside Airport to fly out. But I remember it was a different time. We actually it was right down to the minute that we were going to head to the Golden Gate Bridge, because at that time, you know, like a land train, like a target, you know like a famous national landmark, that was a target. So, like we were, I mean minutes away from you know, heading up to San Francisco to pick the Golden Gate Bridge. But it was just like you, it was that QRF. It was drill after, drill after drill.
Speaker 2How quick you just get mundane to it right.
Speaker 5You're just like oh, here's another one. Like hurry up, grab my shit, get upstairs.
Speaker 2So whenever Brent heard that, come over like the ship's horn, he just dropped to his knees and like started twisting, gripping. Even if it was midair, he didn't even care Grabbing them cucumbers out of the fridge, that's what it was. He was like the hot dogs, go the hot dogs. Ah, I remember when mayonnaise, extra mayonnaise on my hot dog, no bun, mayonnaise, mayonnaise.
Speaker 4I was at Bragg and kind of you were at Liberty.
Speaker 1Yeah it's now Liberty. I ended up.
Military Training and Family Stories
Speaker 4I didn't. You're a liberty. Yeah, it's now liberty. I hate that I ended up. I didn't go overseas, but it was a training exercise and I was a special operations, so I probably shouldn't talk too much about why not. It's past like 10 years.
Speaker 5Yeah, I know, but I mean Statute of limitations, right? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4But I don't know. I don't know, but you haven't been told. It's not okay. They got us on a bus, took us about an hour away from Bragg and said okay, get on this flight, commercial flight, you have water in there, yeah there should be some in the fridge, or there's a little table out there.
Speaker 4They said get on this commercial flight. It was a commercial flight like Delta or American, I can't remember, and there was a little bit of a training exercise and they were like, okay, Got off of that, we didn't go anywhere, Got off that one. They were like, all right, get on that C-130. I was like I got to get my kids in the morning. What the fuck are we doing? And they ended up flying us from that airport back to Bragg on a C-130. I was like, Jesus Christ, where did they take me Do?
Speaker 2you have the jump seats. Yeah, I mean I was airborne, so it was crazy. When I was at FAST, we went out to Hawaii for a refuel defuel we call them RFDFs Right, I did two, so it's where they take the nuclear fuel off a ship or a sub and they exchange those rods. Right, I did one in Bremerton, washington, I did one out in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. We flew from Norfolk C-130 in the jump seats. We flew all the way to fucking California, say the night, and then we jumped the next day to Hawaii and then vice versa, on the way to fucking California, say the night, and then we jumped the next day to Hawaii and then vice versa on the way back. And I actually went through a fucking earthquake when we were at uh, uh, what's, what's one of the fucking uh air stations, county O'Hare, no, out in California Riverside March.
Speaker 5Air Force Base no, no, no.
Speaker 2It's way south. Yeah, it might have been Miramar. Yeah, it was crazy, so we flew into there on the way back.
Speaker 5Miramar's like the southernmost station.
Speaker 2Yeah, we had to stay the night. There had a fucking earthquake. It was crazy. I think I talked to Jen on the phone that night when that fucking earthquake. So my same fucking phone number is a Sprint number from. Virginia way back in the day, footphone days 1990, yeah, it was like my, I just transfer transfer transfer right next to Sprint fucking Altel fucking into AT&T Verizon, you know. So they spent my number for fucking ever. But yeah, we actually had that. That was the first time I'd ever been through a fucking earthquake.
Speaker 4It was crazy. I've never experienced an earthquake.
Speaker 2That's crazy. I actually Miramar doesn't sound right. It was a different.
Speaker 5Miramar's like the only air station air base down in Southern California.
Speaker 6Back in the day Was it.
Speaker 5Yuma.
Speaker 2No, I mean Yuma is Arizona, but I'll have to maybe look on the map and try to remember Dude 30 years ago. Yeah, I know I get it Fucking old as fuck Can't remember shit. I don't remember what I did fucking yesterday, oh man.
Speaker 4Alright, I think we need to wrap it up. We're going off on tangents, going off, going off, going off.
Speaker 3All these old people need to get to bed, all of you.
Speaker 2What we do need to work on is I was talking about Manny. I was talking about Manny joining the post.
Speaker 5We need to sit through his DD 214 and get that correct.
Speaker 4We need all your records. I'm illegal.
Speaker 6That way I get all the money.
Speaker 2Wait a minute, you're not going to get the phone with Gio. You missed that.
Speaker 4You speak Spanish? You do Okay.
Speaker 6Not fluent enough. I speak Portuguese too. Oh, really shit no habla espanol oh, jen said it was Miramar.
Speaker 2We need to go to. Brazil, then I must have been at MCAS. That was on the way back from Hawaii. Yeah, that was crazy because I was on the phone with her. My fucking foot lockers and shit the hanging lockers were banging and shit Freaked the fuck out.
Speaker 4I remember a 9-11.
Speaker 2She'll always fact check me. That's the best part about having an ex-wife, they'll always fact check the shit out of you. I'm like no it doesn't sound familiar she's like nope, that was it.
Speaker 4Okay no, just self-melding. She's like nope, that was it, okay, cool, right. I remember on 9-11, I had three cousins that were living in New York at the time Nobody could get through to them. I had a cell phone and I was at Fort Leonard Wood, missouri. I was able to get through to them briefly, like hey, how's it going? We're all safe, we're in the apartment, so tell about 9-11. Yeah and uh, I was able to relay that message to their parents, my aunt and uncle, who couldn't get through to them. They were worried, you know, but for whatever reason, I was able to get through to them.
Speaker 2So the crazy shirt you're saying is I had a guy from new york. His sister worked in like the sixth floor basement of one of the towers and she was able to get out right. So he, he was one of the guys when we were doing our field exercise. You, you know, you stop to change socks and do all the shit right, yep, right, he got the phone call right. So as we stopped, all the cell phones started ringing, which was weird back then because cell phones weren't very prevalent. Yeah.
Speaker 2I mean, the internet wasn't even yeah, so then we got to yeah, then we got to the end of the movement, and that's when he finally you do that again.
Speaker 3I don't think I picked it up.
Speaker 2But I mean. And his sister survived. She worked in like a gift shop in the sixth basement floor of one of the towers. They got hit and she was able to get out because it might have hit the first tower and they started evacuating people right Because they were worried about, Because in 91 or whatever, there was the car bomb.
Speaker 5Hey, Bill said put in a plug and name the restaurants for Gio. What's that? Bill said put in a plug and name Gio's restaurants.
Speaker 2Yeah, that might have to be On the next one. So yeah, so Gio got called in.
Speaker 4Salvadoranian.
Speaker 2Yeah, he's an owner.
Speaker 4He's from El.
Speaker 2Salvador, el Salvador. So he was an illegal immigrant Salvadoranian. Well, he was an illegal immigrant left and came back as a legal immigrant. He's an owner, and there's like I don't know five, six, ten owners. They own a bunch of restaurants and nightclubs in Washington DC area. He's one of them, right, I don't know how many there actually are, but whatever and he is their head chef. So he sets the menus for each one and then trains the chefs at each one to what their menu is going to be. And then my niece, stephanie, she basically is his boss, so she is the probably lack of a better word maybe the CEO of each one of them. So they're making money, not making money, kind of thing. So she oversees him, right, right. So you better step up your train boy.
Speaker 2She's a bad bitch. She is my sister times 10. My sister's a pretty bad bitch. She'll cut you with a knife with just her words. You guys think I'm an asshole. My sister's a pretty bad bitch Like she'll cut you with a knife with just her words. You guys think I'm an asshole, my sister.
Speaker 4I can? You know, I see that in your sister, my sister, yeah.
Speaker 2If you've ever met her Like a strong woman. She, yeah, she looks sweet and innocent, right, but when she tells you something, you feel it right here, right, yeah, it's in your chest. Yeah, tells you something, you feel it right here, right, yeah, it's in your chest, yeah, yeah. So her daughter is Jill's wife, right, she's just as bad, bad of a bitch as my sister is.
Speaker 5It's kind of scary. I've never met any of your family, but I remember when I first got back home, I think our first days of meeting you were at Chip Lane's.
Speaker 4Oh, chip Lane's. Yeah, charlie, that's a blast from the past.
Speaker 5Oh, fuck, you used to buy me shots all the time. Every time you ran into me, when you caught me downtown, you'd come and buy a shot, and then you'd just vanish. No words, no line. You'd take a shot and you'd vanish. So yeah, no, I still do that. Short and simple and sweet, yep.
Speaker 4I still do that.
Speaker 5I think the first time that I ever met you, when I first got back home, was Chip Lane's.
Speaker 2I'll never say goodbye.
Speaker 5You just won't see me the next second the.
Speaker 4Irish goodbye.
Speaker 2I'm a ghoster, for sure.
Speaker 4Yep.
Speaker 2I do the same thing.
Speaker 3Are we wrapping it up then?
Speaker 2gents, yep, I guess Trees have got to curfew Yep.
Speaker 3So I think the next one, I think the next episode will be one of our rare informational episodes.
Speaker 2Good job getting back to his way of company. We do.
Speaker 3So I'm going to reach out to a couple of friends. Maybe I can get my buddy Will to come in. Maybe I don't know, we don't have friends.
Speaker 3But he's a real estate agent. I mean, so am I him and I can go back and forth about the va home loan and maybe I can bring in another friend who's who is a loan officer we can maybe talk to talk to her, I don't know something. Uh, just throw out one of those really small informational bits, maybe 30 minutes, and then the rest of it soup sandwich style, as usual.
Speaker 4You call this soup sandwich, but you've got no soup or sandwich here.
Speaker 6It's soup sandwich because it's just a shit show.
Speaker 5Shit sandwich Manny.
Speaker 4Shit sandwich.
Speaker 3We'll try to neat and tidy it up here Everybody's taking off.
Speaker 2We'll do the outro. We're not even waiting, we'll do the outro.
Speaker 3But for those of you watching live, thank you so much. Those of you listening later on, thank you again. I got a face for radio.
Speaker 6You got to take your phones over that way.
Speaker 3Yep, I know, so we'll see you guys later. We're going to Manny. Thanks for coming in. We're going to mute our microphones so you guys can hear the outgoing music. Again, thanks for coming. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1Thank you for joining us at Soup Sandwich, a podcast that explores the complex and compelling world of veterans in the United States. Through interviews with veterans themselves, military experts and advocates, we'll dive deep into the issues that matter most to this community, from mental health and employment to the history of the US military, the future of military service and everything in between. Whether you're a veteran yourself, a spouse or family member of a veteran, or simply interested in learning more about this community, this podcast is for you. So come with us on a journey into the heart of the veteran experience and discover the stories, struggles and triumphs that have shaped our nation's brave after they've returned home.
