What Happens When Politics Rewards The Worst Instincts

Gunfire at one of Washington’s most scripted nights jolts everything into the real world. We start with the White House Correspondents Dinner security scare, what we know about the suspect, and the bigger question nobody can dodge: how much does political rhetoric and media framing contribute to the temperature that makes violence feel “justified” to unstable people?

From there, we get into the messy part: accountability. We talk about why armchair breakdowns of Secret Service movements don’t help, what a layered VIP security response actually looks like, and why Trump’s post-incident press conference turned into another showdown with the press. We also tackle the Jimmy Kimmel “expectant widow” line, not as a censorship debate, but as a culture question about cruelty, double standards in late-night comedy, and what viewers should reward or reject.

Then we widen the lens. King Charles III’s US visit brings a rare moment of humor that actually works, while a viral Ilhan Omar “World War 11” gaffe shows how unprepared soundbites spread faster than corrections. We close with harder governance stories: a Green Beret accused of betting on classified intel, Iran nuclear tensions and rising costs, and redistricting fights after a Supreme Court ruling that reshapes how voting districts can be drawn.

If you value clear talk over performative outrage, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the one headline you think will matter a month from now?

Transcript

Cold Open And Rapid Agenda

SPEAKER_03 0:28

Oh, hey, hi. How are you, Clay?

SPEAKER_06 0:31

I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_03 0:32

I'm good. I'm good. I'm ready to roll. I'm ready to party. We got lots of uh lots of great topics that never happens. We never have lots of great topics. I'm kidding. Of course we do.

SPEAKER_09 0:42

Every week.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Every week. They never they never fail to fail, right? The world never fails to fail.

SPEAKER_06 0:50

And uh, you know, even today. And folks, as always, it's Wednesday uh at about what it's about 4.05 on East Coast. But uh, you know, our normal process, Elsa and I is I send her topics on Tuesday morning. Yep. Uh she reviews them, adds, subtracts, does what she does, and then we settle on things we record Wednesday afternoon. And so much has happened even between yesterday and today that we've got to drag stuff in uh to the topics we have pre-planned. So even a 24-hour cycle just gives us more and more material.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Yeah, so don't go yelling at us in the comments if uh you know you're saying, hey, this you missed this. You didn't say that. Well, how come you don't know about pay attention? We know, guys. Come on now. Um, so the topics, here they all are, and I'm sure we'll squeeze in more stuff in between here and there. But here's what we got.

Gunfire At The Correspondents Dinner

SPEAKER_05 1:39

Tonight, Washington's fanciest dinner turns into a security scare. Late night comedy forgets where the line is, and King Charles drops in while America celebrates 250 years. Ilhan Omar goes viral for all the wrong reasons. A special forces soldier is accused of betting on classified intel, Iran tensions stall with global stakes, and red states and blue states redraw the map like it's a contact sport. Welcome to the Elsa Kirk Show with Clay Novak.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Oh, yeah, big stuff. So, I mean, psh, obviously, right off the bat, this has uh, you know, been uh huge. The White House correspondence dinner went from elite media pageantry, pageantry to serious security story after gunfire erupted and President Trump was evacuated. Thankfully, no one was killed, but a Secret Service agent was hit uh and thankfully protected by his uh vest. I mean, is he got hit right in the chest. So suspect, of course, is in custody. And now the conversation, of course, is less of who roasted whom and more of how did this happen at such a high-profile event. And there I have heard some explanations of that. But uh, Clay, your your thoughts on this.

SPEAKER_06 2:49

Yeah, so it's um what's his name? Cole Thomas Allen, who is a teacher from California, um, a teacher of the month, I think, uh, notably they put in his bio, uh, who has also written a manifesto, which I have not read. I've heard bits and pieces, I've heard clips, but I haven't read the whole thing. But he hits all the his manifesto hits all the talking points. It's uh Trump is a Nazi and blah blah blah blah, everything that we continue to hear from the left. And so he made a cross-country trip, uh, including a train ride, evidently, yeah, where he moved with a shotgun, a pistol, and a handful of knives. Made his way to the uh Hilton in Washington, DC, checked in the day before the event. Uh sounds like he did a little bit of recon. And then uh waited until everyone was in the big ballroom before he rushed the uh magn magnometers, magnometers, whatever they are, the metal detectors.

SPEAKER_08 3:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:46

And uh tried to get into the ballroom to uh and his plan was to target the president and his inner circle, quote unquote.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 3:53

Um yeah, I was uh unfortunately I was uh traveling Saturday, and so Saturday night I was uh sitting in a hotel room uh surrounded by a bunch of family when we turned the TV on and boom, there it was. So, you know, this was one of those events, you know, I it's become too commonplace, right? Third one.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Oh my goodness. Yeah, third one. Um similar, Clay. I I rarely watch the live um uh events. Yeah, I I almost never watch them. I usually get the next day, I'll get all the highlights and lowlights and clips and all of those things from it. Mostly because I just there's so many other things I'd rather be doing than than watching TV, honestly, or you know, streaming something. Um, but uh yeah, I mean, third attempt. Um again, I I can't even imagine. I can't imagine being in that room. And you know, one of the things I think a lot about regarding this is the people that was there that were there, the press, a good number of them who despise openly, gleefully despise him, have been part of the rhetoric and the hate and the um dog whistle blowing for these people to be doing these types of things, to be sitting there in that room and now actively being part of an at an assassination attempt where you you, meaning they could very easily have been hit by that gunfire. Because it's like guy, he didn't care who else he hit. Like he it was gonna be mass casualty if if he could have gotten away with what he was trying to do. Um, and I and I can't help but wonder if there's any one of them that are sitting back and doing what they should be doing, which is going, you know what, pump the brakes, man, pump the brakes. This was this became real. Like, did it become real enough for any of these people to say, Wow, maybe, just maybe, we've taken it too far and I'm gonna pump the brakes here. I I'm sure a bunch of people will pop up in the comments section and say, Nope, nope, it's not enough for them, um, because it continues. And of course, I've seen enough of the post uh post-incident comments um from different people who, you know, clearly have no soul and uh no sense and are still saying things like, Oh, so close, darn, they missed again. Maybe next time they'll get them. Um, do you think any of these have you heard any of these people, any of these people in the press taking any kind of accountability here? Or am I just screaming?

Security Reactions And Media Accountability

SPEAKER_06 6:30

I'm actually looking up right now because there was a female, a congresswoman, I think from maybe Connecticut, who posted on social media, Democrat. Um, can can we please stop trying to kill the president? Uh so I I want to look it up. I'm trying to find her name because um I want to give her credit for being a level head in office. Um and I unfortunately can't find her name. So, but there was. So there's there's a little bit. Um I know that um, you know, I got a little animated on social media uh Monday morning uh because there has been a ton of armchair quarterbacking.

SPEAKER_08 7:10

Oh, I can't.

SPEAKER_06 7:11

Security, about you know, everybody's analyzing frame by frame and bits and pieces of of film footage and and still photos and who did what and you know, comparing Hegzith to Patel, and you know, and and why did they move Vance first and not President Trump? And I and I will say this again, and I did irritate some people when I said it, and I really don't care. If you are not a security professional, yeah, and you've never worked in a room like that, or in an event with multiple VIPs, with multiple security teams, with layered security like there was, or you were not in that room, and all you're doing is watching what is being fed to you by the media, shut up. Have no opinion in this. You can say anything. Listen, it's America, you can say whatever you want, but I will tell you that you are not helping anything by aren't you quarterbacking, by you know, saying, Oh, they should have, or what's going on with this, or criticizing the Secret Service, or or making all of this speculation, you're not helping. Okay, the White House has already said they're gonna do a complete review of this, the Secret Service is gonna do a review of this, and every party involved is gonna go back over this as good organizations do, and they're gonna figure out if anything went wrong. And I say if because I'm not convinced anything did go wrong, right? You can't plan for every contingency. You can't um and and you know, the bottom line is the guy got caught, nobody got hurt. You know, a secret service agent caught one in the vest. Um, there are accusations or claims that there were five, four or five shots taken, nobody hit this guy. Um, you know, again, a bunch of armchair marksmen, you know, grown man running at full speed. Oh, I don't know why they didn't hit him. Okay, try it, pal.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Yeah. Everybody's an expert from their their country.

SPEAKER_06 8:49

So that that stuff's gotta stop, uh first and foremost. So if you're do if you're one of those people, and again, it's America, you're free of speech, do what you want. I just think you look like an idiot and you're not helping the situation. So um keep that to yourself. But um, there are some funnies that came out of it. Uh I don't know if you saw, you know, there's some folks that were taking the bottles of champagne, and and I I thought it was funny, and then I realized and you know, they paid what was it, two grand to attend this.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:19

They didn't get dinner, like that whole thing got cut off. So people were like, Yeah, smell bottles of champagne, bottles of wine, uh you know, Kennedy.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

I dressed up to all of the things.

SPEAKER_06 9:31

She she said she grabbed a couple and like took them up to the because she was staying in the hotel, took them up to the hotel room, and there were people that were so nervy after this that she just popped court and gave 20 people a glass of wine or champagne and let everybody's nerves settle down. You know, so there is some of that. Yeah, but you know, this whole thing, the the rhetoric that drove this, and it is clear as day, uh, that this man was driven by the rhetoric that comes through the media, that comes through the DNC talking points, that comes through democratic leadership, people like Hakeem Jeffries and all of the rest of these idiots.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

Who double down, who double down basically, double down, double down, like, dude, read the room. Read the room, bro.

SPEAKER_06 10:12

Absolutely direct cause of this.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

Yeah, yeah. Like I said, you know, uh, the my favorite term for that is that dog whistle thing, and and they are constantly blowing it. And um, and again, you know, your Hakeem Jeffries of the world um just simply double down on their nonsense. And and just as bad to me is the the ones who have been, you know, full steam with the rhetoric, uh, now sitting there saying, We need to stop, we need to stop this. You guys need to calm. Yeah, exactly. Like, what is that? What is that even? Like, like you want to turn the page, turn the corner, whatever. That's wonderful. I love that. And I commend you if that's the case. But that doesn't sound like that to me. That sounds like, you know, one, it's either like distancing yourself, like, oh no, not me. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't part of that. I'm somebody calling for, you know, which is garbage and crap. But you know, those people annoy me just as much. Like, I'll even, I'll even give Hakeem Jeffries like a fraction of credit. Say, hey, listen, he's sticking to his guns. He's, you know, I'll give you credit for that, even if they are dead wrong and stupid and ignorant and awful. Um, but the ones that pretend that they, you know, they I'm not part of that, you know, time time to comment or pointing the finger, just you know, being like, you people need to settle it down.

SPEAKER_06 11:32

That's the uh that's like the uh if you look across, it's very funny to look across the the uh mainstream media outlets and see who uses the word alleged or accused for Mr. Cole Thomas Allen. Yeah. Right. The guy literally ran through, was uh in possession of weapons, attempted this, was tackled, it was all caught on footage. Right. There's still alleged. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Like your like your gunman. Right. Like your uh Barack Obama uh tweet after the manifesto release released. We don't know, you know, we don't know what this was all about. What yeah, we're not sure. Like really, Barry, really?

unknown 12:12

Um yeah.

Armchair Experts And Secret Service Reality

SPEAKER_06 12:13

What did you what did you think of the press conference afterwards? Uh they went back to everybody, so all the key figures, the cabinet, key individuals, they all went back to the White House, they opened up the press room, they brought everybody in, and the president ran a press conference. What did you see any of the highlights of that?

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Yeah, yeah. I um I actually watched uh a good portion. I don't think I caught it from the very beginning, uh, but I caught a good portion of it. And you know, listen, uh and I've said this so many times. I honestly don't care what people's opinions of uh President Trump are. Love him, hate him, cringe, uh everything in between, whatever. But there you cannot, in honesty, deny that the man is brave as can be. You cannot, because you'd be lying to yourself and you'd be lying to anyone that you try and deny that to. The man's bravery is astounding. Three attempts on his life that we even know of. Uh, you know, maybe there was more thwarted or whatever that we don't even know about. Um, but three attempts. He was shot in the ear and he doesn't stop. His his love, and I, you know, you know, there's going to be somebody that calls it like, oh, it's just arrogance. It's just because he's a narcissist, you know, like, okay, we'll go with that for you. If you want to run with that, you go ahead and run with that. But the rest of us know that the level of bravery that this man has in the face of absolute danger threat is astounding. And I extend that same credit to Melania and to his children and to his cabinet because um these are people who are getting death threats on a daily basis, credible, real death threats. And their commitment to what they believe in, which is the betterment of this country, um, is unwavering. And for that, they deserve so much credit. It's just unbelievable. Uh, I know we took a lot of flack from people for wanting to go back to resume the uh right? Like I get it. Like, come on, we're we're good. Let's go. Let's go. Gotta live our life, man. And uh to be able to say that immediately after your your another attempt on your life is like wow. I mean, if if anybody can sit there and say, yeah, I do the same. Um, I know you like to think that you do the same, but you don't know. You do not know what you would do in those circumstances. And uh, there was a lot, Clay. I there was a couple pictures, uh, stills that that I saw and videos too of some of the key cabinet members. You mentioned uh Hegseth and Patel, you know, what they were doing and how they were acting. And there was one uh that kind of caught me in the feelings, and it was uh Pete Hegseth um uh hovering, you know, guarding over his pregnant wife. Wait, no, is she pregnant? No, somebody else is pregnant. She's not pregnant. I'm sorry. I'm thinking of um um the deputy chief. Yes, thank you, thank you, yes. Um Miller, Stephen Miller, I was thinking of him. Uh him as well, uh, of these just men, like manly, real alpha males doing what real men do in the face of danger, and that is, you know, protecting their loved ones, um, literally putting their bodies, using their body as a shield to protect their loved ones. And you know, it doesn't get more badass than that, guys, as far as I'm concerned.

SPEAKER_06 15:32

Well, you know, I I have my I have my issues with hexit. Yes, um, you know, personally, he did exactly what most people would do. I know, and I I don't want to get too deep into this, you know, Cas Patel was you know kind of kneeling down, and truthfully, if you're in a situation like that, the best thing you can do is not interfere. Um so he he was staying out of the way and doing what he's doing. He's not a cop, he's not there with a badge and a gun and a vest. That's not what he's for. Even as the director of the FBI, that's not his job. Stay out of the way, which is what he did. Hegzith protected his wife, right? Stephen Miller protected his wife. Um, you know, there are those things. And I know there are a lot of people that were critical of Secretary Heggs and others at the press conference because, you know, they've just been through this life-threatening experience and now they're kind of laughing and joking, um, you know, at the press conference. Here's the reality, folks. Um that kind of stuff does strange things to people. Um, and and if it's happened to you more than once, and I will give Secretary Heggs the benefit of the doubt, and I will bet money that he has been shot at on more than one occasion. Um you one, you process it and you move on. Two, some people's bodies and brains don't know how to process it. So laughter is is how it comes out. Yeah, um, so don't be hypercritical of them uh, you know, as they were moving through all of this at the press conference. You know, Melania kept as she is who she is, you know, she kept everything lined up the way she always does. She was very stoic. The president even offered her the microphone and she said, no, I'm just and yeah, they just you know kept doing their thing. So you know, I thought the press conference was good. I think President Trump trying to, you know, his gut instinct to go back in and like, hey, let's just do the dinner. I think is I get it. Um, you know, good commanders do stuff like that, and you've got to continue to move forward. Um, so I I I'm on board with that, but I do understand the Secret Service saying, no, like not a time to do this. Um they took it down and went to the White House, and it is worth it.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

Yep. Uh let's go back to a minute. Uh, you had mentioned about, and I I I heard discussion about this as well, uh, that uh JD Vance was you know moved out first before Trump was and everything. Um here's my understanding, or here's my beliefs uh of that. And you correct me if I'm wrong. Each member or particularly the president of it, they have their own security details, right? Like they they are assigned to their um, I don't know, what would the word be their ward, their right security detail? Yeah. So, you know, it's they're they're just doing each of them are doing their job in the way that they're able to do it. I mean, if they could dive over the tables, which that did happen, um, they would do that. But it's not like JD Vance's security team can bypass him to go to the president if they don't see coverage for him. Like you have your assignment, you do your job, and that's that. So, I mean, I think that's like kind of the only answer to that, really.

SPEAKER_06 18:24

It it is, and then you know, the the chief of the detail, whoever's in charge of the detail, makes the decision, right? And so Secretary Trump's, you know, the chief of his security detail made a decision to set up the human shield, which is what they did, right? They all kind of surrounded him. I think they even covered him a little bit, and then they moved him off to the side. Where Vance's chief came to him and he actually spread this quote today. He just walked up behind him and he goes, Sir, we need to leave. And that was and Vance was like, Okay, let's go. Okay, they moved. So, yes, each detail now there is coordination that goes on amongst when between all of those details, right? They know, hey, if this happens, we're taking the president this way, we're taking, you know, because you want to gain some separation, and it's all coordinated um and probably rehearsed in most cases. So um, they knew what they were doing in rel in in you know, kind of relationship to each other. It was just a matter of what needs to be done first and what their personal opinion or assessment of the situation was. So I don't fault one versus the other, you know, but I I do I like that account from from vice president Vance. Yeah, I like that. I like that.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

I like also um the uh we need to leave. Okay. Um also the dude, and and I've seen the dude, uh, the guy, Secret Service guy, who just stood right smack in front of the president, just got up there and just was a human shield, just stood there like I mean, you know, ah man, I just like I said before, that it gets me right in the feelings when when you see like, you know, protectors doing their job like that. Because the reality is when you know the reality of like most people would not do it. Most people, it's the it's the old adage, while other people run from danger, these are the people that run toward it. And so much respect, so much respect to them. Um I also want to go back to we were talking about the press. I brought up how um does that change their their tactics any? Does it give them any pause for thought? And of course, we we know um just going by the interview that uh Trump did um shortly after, right? So let's let's watch that and we'll talk about it or just part of it.

Trump Press Conference And Media Clash

SPEAKER_04 20:31

He's radicalized, he was uh probably a pretty sick guy. You can see the expression on the first lady's uh face. He looked uh very upset about what you still play. Why not? And he fired off one or two rounds. His speed was rather incredible, actually. It was it was like a blur. It was amazing because as soon as they saw that, you could see them doing their guns. They were so professional. I listened to what they said. Please drop down, sir, please drop down. Then I got up and we went to a hold room for a while, and I tried to get them to continue the event if possible.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

You wanted to go back in. I did, I really did. He also wrote this. I'm no longer willing to permit a pedophile rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction?

SPEAKER_04 21:20

Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you're you're you're horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, I did write that. Uh I'm I'm not a rapist. I'm raped anybody. Uh excuse me. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person. I'm not any of those things. Mr. President, excuse me. You shouldn't be reading that in 60 minutes. You're a disgrace.

SPEAKER_06 21:44

But I do think that the Oh, you thought you thought, oh, oh. Oh, I didn't think that at all. She's so full of it. She's an antagonist for him for years.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Absolutely. For her to Say that in that way. To call it obnoxious is such an understatement. It was, it was disgraceful. As he said, you know what's funny, Clay? I and I, you guys probably aren't going to believe this, but I am so super non-confrontational, believe it or not. Like if I get confrontational, it's got to be pretty bad because I can walk away from most nonsense. Um, so it like at first I was like, I got so uncomfortable watching that. And then it's like, wait a minute, no, that is awesome. I am so glad he called her out like that. But yeah, woo. My goodness. And he knew it was coming. Like you said, you know, I was waiting for it. I was waiting for him. We knew you were gonna go there. So 100%.

SPEAKER_06 22:37

So good for him. Good for him. You know, I think there's there's a there's a level of disrespect that's you know, sent his direction. That was a great example. And like you said, he knew it was coming and he had his response in his pocket and he was ready to go. Um, and and uh good for him is you know, for not trying to be funny buddy with the press, which is exactly what President Biden was, exactly what President Obama was, right? And they got what they wanted. They got the nice, they got the, you know, I'm not saying that President Trump would ever get a great rel or have a great relationship with any member of the press um outside of Fox News, but um he doesn't cater to them. Uh and and so when he holds them accountable for what they say, just like he did there, uh that's what I that is one of those things. You know, you hear it all the time. This is what I voted for. And truthfully, yes, that is one of the things that everybody voted for was they're sick of the garbage, and that's exactly what that was.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

Yeah, I will all day take his not um smooth delivery uh over the BSers. So I love it. I'm glad we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_06 23:39

One last thing about the uh about the news conference before we move on, and that is I everybody knew it was coming. Uh and I I knew it was coming, I everybody knew it was coming, but the it the mention of the ballroom, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:54

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:56

My my only thing, my only thing is that he didn't have to say it.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

Right. I will agree with you on that. Yes, it could have gone without saying. It was one of those, yes, it was one of those, like I'm gonna let you come to your it should have been, could have been, I'm gonna let you come to your own conclusion about that. What do you think uh the answer to this is? But uh yeah, so he went there and uh, you know, of course, there was the people that and then of course, you know, we gotta go into the uh the Looney Tunes that immediately within like five seconds of this whole thing dropping, go right with the it was staged.

SPEAKER_06 24:30

He planned the whole thing so he could get his ballroom like really yeah, they took all that stuff out of this has been great.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

That stuff is so out of control, and which also um they played to death, which I will not be playing at um the clip of Erica Kirk uh leaving in tears and just the you know, the exploitation of this poor woman, uh it makes me sick to my stomach. It is so vile and disgusting that people, you know, and she literally, and uh actually Matt Walsh said it uh phenomenally, uh and I shared his um I don't know, tweet or whatever it was. Uh, you know, if she cries, uh she's a faker. If she's smiling, uh she's fake, you know, if it there is nothing that this woman can do to appease these nasty, disgusting, horrific soulless people. Um and exactly why I won't be playing the clip. If you want to see it, I mean it's been played a million times, guys. You can see it. Uh, I just choose not to exploit that poor woman any further than she's been. Um yeah, so oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_06 25:32

Um back to the speaking of nasty and disgusting and horrible people in entertainment.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Bum bum bum bum. Yeah. Oh, such a jerk. So Jimmy Kimmel does it again. Um, this correct me if I'm wrong, Clay. Yeah, this was actually like the night before. Was this like a night or two before? Or with uh I I forget the actual time frame.

SPEAKER_06 25:53

So yes, it was Friday night. It was Friday night because the dinner was Saturday night. That is correct.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Okay, yes. So uh Jimmy Kimmel joked that Melania Trump had a glow like an expectant widow. Um, and of course, this became wasn't such a big huge thing before the dinner, but of course, after the dinner it got a lot more traction. Um, and of course, that comment blew up. Melania called it hateful. Trump demanded ABC firing, which I actually disagree with. Um, and now the FCC is reviewing the Disney-owned ABC station licenses, officials uh officially tied to broader blah, blah, blah concerns. Um, so yeah, I don't agree with that part. Um I listen, I think he is disgusting. I would love for him to be fired, but not fired for telling tasteless, disgusting, horrific jokes. Um I think that should I think he, as much as I despise it and find it vile, I think he has a right to do it and he should be allowed to. Let the people decide if they're gonna watch it, if they're gonna be, you know, let us decide. Um, you know, because we get into that dangerous territory. When you start putting government controls in places where, you know, we're talking about free speech, you know, hate speech, uh, you know, all of those things. I I think most of us actually take some issue with that. Um, or you should, or you honestly should. And I believe me, I get it. I find him to be one of the most vile human beings uh on television um today.

SPEAKER_06 27:14

But so you you said it it didn't draw much attention Friday night and even into Saturday morning for a couple of reasons. One, um most and you and I were talking about this before we even started recording. Most people turn on Kimmel to go to sleep.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:28

Um his his numbers of people watching, I think, are highly skewed. I think there's a ton of people that turn that show on, hit the sleep timer, roll over, and and don't actually watch. Two, the people that do watch are so used to him saying stuff like this that it didn't catch anybody's attention. So which is a statement in and of itself, right? That you know, he says crap like this so often it just nobody even blinks an eye.

SPEAKER_08 27:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:55

Um which again is the problem. Now, when confronted with this, because like you said, First Lady made a statement, president made a statement, he came back and he doubled down on it. And this is this is the one that killed me because he said uh it was a light roast joke. Okay. So if you've ever watched any of the celebrity roasts, um and I've watched a bunch of them, right?

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Even going back to the Frank Sinatra and Martin roasts were like the greatest thing that ever existed to say, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:25

So even going back to those, but you know, the ones, the more modern ones, they happen all the time. You know, they got Tom Brady, like that one didn't go so well. But um when you roast somebody uh and you classify your jokes, because when you roast somebody on those roasts, especially now, um they're sitting there, they have signed off on being roasted. They know that they're subjected to a lot of you know, pretty, in some cases, stuff being said, awful stuff. Um Kimmel, this is not a roast, it's not a light roast joke. You know why? Because she wasn't there, neither was the president. You didn't say it to her face, you pretended like this was a skit, right? This was a skip of a roast, but it's not a real roast.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:06

And so you you can't play it off as, oh, well, it's it's really not a big deal. Uh just a light roast joke. It's a roast if they're there. If you have the balls to say it in front of her or in front of him, which he doesn't, that's one thing. That's not what this was. And he tried to play it off like it was nothing. And the reality is, we all know this. And I'm gonna say it out loud because, like you said, he's a vile, horrible human being. Jimmy Kimmel is garbage as a person, right? Um he he is that guy who hides behind his celebrity, he has zero intestinal fortitude. I could promise you, he would never have the guts to say that to Melania's face. He would never have the guts to say that to the president's face. He he would never and truthfully, any average male at all, he would never have the guts to insult anybody to their face. Because he's a punk. He's a punk and a coward. He is a coward. He is that guy. And and listen, folks, if you know him, tag him. I don't care. Please don't. He's a punk. He's a spinalist Hollywood sellout punk. That's who he is. And and even his longest friends know the truth.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

Yes, they do. Yes, they do. So uh and Adam Carolla, who is a longtime friend, uh buddies with him, partners uh with the man show back in I don't even know what what decade that was, 90s maybe?

unknown 30:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Oh, okay, early twos. Um he he weighed in on this as I would have expected until he's weighed in on the last incidents with him. And um I I I like I like Adam Corolla well enough. I I definitely don't uh dislike him in any way, uh, but he's got that soft spot for his friend Jimmy, and he does look for the best in him and tries to spin uh some of the things that he says and does in a better light. And this was no exception. I mean, he kind of acknowledged, but he also um also kind of wanted to give him a bit of a pass here, using the same things that you said, Clay, that um, like, you know, roast, if you know anything about roast, they're pretty vicious. Um, he was making a joke about the Trump's age difference. It wasn't anything about anything else. And that was kind of where I took a little bit of like, hang on a second. No, actually, no, I don't think so. But um we'll we'll watch what he had to say, and so you guys can draw your own conclusions too. So here's that.

SPEAKER_06 31:20

Look at more so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.

SPEAKER_07 31:25

I'll approach this from a comedic standpoint. A couple things. One is when you make a joke and then nothing happens, like there was no shooting, no one made a thing about it before the shooting. So then it's kind of a thing where you go, like, oh, that um Alicia Krauss, I hate that. I hope she dies. And then two days later you get a car crash and he died. Then everyone looks at me and goes, No, now I'm angry at you, at me. But I'm like, but if she never got in a car crash, you never said anything. Like this thing happened, then the joke happened before. So A, it's it's unrelated. B, I mean, to be fair, now people do this one too. They go, it's not like he wrote that joke, but he said that joke, but he didn't write that joke. Somebody wrote that joke and he said it because he thought it was funny. But that's a pretty typical roast joke. It is also a trope. Any younger, beautiful woman who's married to an older guy, especially if the guy's rumored to be sort of a douchey, you would make that joke at any roast.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Andor rich. Like a younger woman. My perspective was, oh, she's an attractive woman that is significantly younger than him, yes, that married him for his fame and fortune. Yes. So whenever he dies, whether he was president or not, you would make that joke. You could make that joke about Lauren Sanchez marrying Jeff Bezos, even though they're more similar in age, is like, well, she's waiting for her cash out, right?

SPEAKER_07 32:46

If Trump was at a roast on Thursday, you would do that joke if he was still Well, i if he'd never been president, yeah, you would do that joke. But yeah, I get it. But now here's the problem. Once there's a lot of sewage under the bridge, then the the pump is already primed.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

And I think that that's people's perspective. I mean, um, our friends Ben Shapiro and Dave Rubin were playing clips on their show about other jokes that he's made about Stephen Miller and about other members of the administration. And I think that sometimes people they they develop that case based on other things that he has said over time. It's not funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

So, you know, uh on its own, I I would agree with a lot of what he said. Here's where the difference is to me is that you are making this joke about uh a man, first of all, the president of the United States uh who has had three, well, at that time two assassination attempts on his life, one of which a man died, uh, and two men were seriously injured. Um, you used a clip of the first lady sitting next to her son, who is the son of the president of the United States, um, as part of that joke, and you found that funny. Like you found that funny. To me, that is a special kind of sick, twisted humor that is simply not humor. It's not funny. And if there had never been, and I'll and I'll go with um uh Adam to a degree where the, you know, if he were not president, if there were not any attempts on his life, sure, the trope could hold. The trope, the trope could hold. Yes, the older man, the younger woman, the cliches, all of the nonsense. Um, sure. Do I think that is truly what Jimmy Kimmel was thinking when he did that joke? I don't. I don't, I don't, because they make jokes about him being assassinated. They think it's funny. So um, yeah, that's my opinion. Could I be wrong? Sure, I could be wrong. I don't think I am.

SPEAKER_06 34:40

Yeah, I think and uh uh for both Corolla and Kimmel, right? The fact that they uh have both kind of doubled down on, I I understand the comedic standpoint. However, uh Hollywood has killed that comedic standpoint. Yeah they they everything is offensive unless it's against President Trump. Because had you said that against President Biden and Jill, who there's a significant, you know, there's an age difference there, or had you made a a joke of like, well, you know, Jill slid into the bed right after his wife died, if you had made some joke like that, they'd have lost their mind, right?

SPEAKER_03 35:14

Yeah, there were never any jokes like that.

SPEAKER_06 35:16

Never but but also the fact that you got a guy who in his manifesto, the guy who was planning to kill the president, in his manifesto echoed everything that is coming from the left, and then you say, Well, it was just a joke. That guy, that lunatic, didn't take it as a joke. So you you can't absolve yourself of everything when it's convenient, right? If if you want to do that and and you want to just kind of ride it, then then fine. I think you're a horrible human being, and I think your ratings should suffer as a result. But don't play the it's just a joke game when the the playing field's not level, and we know specifically there are repercussions that come with it because the guy wrote them down on paper. Like you can't just ignore what's sitting in front of you, which is exactly what they're doing to benefit themselves as quote-unquote comedians. Listen, I'm all for offensive comedy. There's a ton of it out there, okay? Yeah, but but those that guy, specifically Kimmel, is so one-sided, I mean, so one-sided, that it's not comedy at that point. It is just attack after attack after attack, which again is why he said it Friday night and nobody thought about it because it's just business as usual for him.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, I think um, you know, it's our responsibility, and I don't think it's our government's responsibility, it's our responsibility as human beings, as decent civil human beings with a conscience to um hold these people accountable. And again, if you find that humor funny, if you think that kind of humor is okay, I I I think you have a heart problem. Like I really, I really genuinely do. However, it's yours to have it. That is completely fine. If that is your choice in life, to uh be that kind of person, okay. I mean, you know, you have my sympathies and you know, God help you really, uh, because you're gonna need it if this is your humor, you know. Oh my goodness, like if you think these things are okay. And the, you know, the only other thing I I took uh kind of umbrage with uh with Adam Krollis' statement is like he said some whole thing about like if I had said uh I hope the so-and-so dies because it's somebody you don't like, whatever, and the next day that person dies, then you know, you're kind of like whoops. Um, I can tell you honestly, for all the people that I have deeply, profoundly disliked and yes, even hated, I never wished a single one of them dead. I never wished anyone dead. And again, it's a it is a heart problem, it is a soul problem if that is you know something you find acceptable and okay. And and that is, you know, very prevalent on on the left to justify that type of um mentality and behavior and mindset uh when it's somebody you don't like. So it's a problem and and it's our job. Again, I I'll repeat it again. I do not think he should be fired for saying what he said. I I I do think his ratings should tank and he should be, you know, booed off the air. Um, but we'll see what happens. I don't know. Whatever.

SPEAKER_06 38:24

Whatever. But you know who can tell a joke? And a good Charles III.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

King Charles can tell a joke. Yeah, he's uh he's alright with that.

SPEAKER_06 38:34

Him and him and Queen Camilla came for uh a royal visit uh and a state dinner, and this is the first time uh obviously since his coronation that he has made it to the states. And uh he he had a good time with President Trump. There was an exchange of gifts. Um well, first he spoke to Congress, uh and President Trump got a great joke out of that because uh, you know, the he went in there, Prince King Charles went in there, and all the Democrats stood up and applauded. And President Trump, of course, said he got the Democrats to do something I've never gotten them to do, which is stand in the halls of Congress, which was funny.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

And for a king, which makes it even funnier.

SPEAKER_06 39:08

Right, and there's been a ton of the no-kings, um, you know, cut a ton of memes and and all that stuff all over social media. In fact, the White House was trolling everybody because they put a picture of the two of them standing together and it said two kings on there, and people lost their mind, which is hilarious. Um, but uh the king also, what did he say? He said he gave President Trump the original bell off of the HMS Trump, which was the World War II submarine, the original bell. Um, but he also said uh um a couple things. He said, uh, you know, I see there's uh some remodeling going on uh on the east wing of the White House. You know, we tried to do that in 1841 and that didn't go so well, or something like that, which is a great historical joke, right? And it got a laugh. Um, and then he also said something to the effect of, you know, if it wasn't for the Brits, uh the Americans would be speaking French right now. Um and and again, so some great historical jokes, but these are like 200, you know, they're like they're 150, almost 200 years ago. You can make those kinds of jokes, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 40:09

And so you gotta have a little time, a little time for some wounds to heal for people.

SPEAKER_06 40:14

Um but you know, and and people took this as a joke, and I and I maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but I don't know if you saw this. But the Fife and Drum Corps from the old guard who always wears revolutionary war uniforms, including red coats, right, um stood guard as King Charles, you know, was was there. So you had these guys, and there was a mix of you know, uh Great Britain, you know, British flags, Union Jacks, and along with um uh US flags intermingled, but you had these guys standing out there standing posts in the Revolutionary War uniforms, which again drew a little bit of side-eye from people who thought that that was um done purposefully. In other words, like, oh, we never have those uniforms, and and they did that just to you know to mess with the king. Those guys wear those things all the time. So it it was uh I think the placement is interesting and funny. It is funny.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

Come on, guys, laugh a little.

SPEAKER_06 41:14

It was good. Um I I guess there was something, I don't know, maybe you heard this, maybe you didn't, but Camilla chose not to wear her tiara for the oh I I think she wore it for part of the visit and then not for maybe the state dinner. And there was some comparison because when Queen Elizabeth did it in 1957 or whatever, like she wore her tiara the whole time. And of course, people who are super into the royal family got all worked up about it. Oh any idea what that was about?

SPEAKER_03 41:46

No, I have none. I'm not a follower of the royals. Uh, I never really was. I it never um I do love the historical um series. I think it was like HBO or something to the The Queen. I think it was called The Queen. It was just phenomenal. The crown. Thank you, the crown, thank you, the crown, which I think was phenomenal. It was so phenomenal I couldn't even remember the name of it, guys. Great series, honestly.

SPEAKER_06 42:06

Never watched it.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

Yeah, phenomenal. But you know, um, because historically it was it was fascinating to watch that whole um that whole progression of how how that actually went. If you not, if you're not one that followed, you know, it's like all new information. So it was very cool. Um, but yeah, no, I have no idea what that was all about. Um, I, you know, I you can't I personally I can't help but feel bad for the woman, you know, because she's in that that uh big, big shadow of Diana, and of course, all of the everything that came and Queen Elizabeth, you know. So I, you know, let's face it, nothing that she does will ever um, you know, similar to Trump, not anywhere near to the extreme of that, but similar in that, you know, people have um long selective memories, and um they, you know, they're not gonna let her forget who she's not. So, you know, it's just me. And it kind of sucks. But but yeah, no, I I you know, I think it was I think it was a great visit.

SPEAKER_06 43:00

I mean, I I yeah, they they covered all the normal stuff. They covered NATO, they covered, you know, Iran, which we'll talk about in a little while, but they you know where the Brits fit into that. Um the the king and the queen went to ground zero for 9-11 today. I know that was part of the visit. Um, but I think overall, I think it was successful all the way around.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

I I think so. It's it sounded like didn't sound like there was any major glitches or issues or concerns. Um, overall, I think it was just a a nice unifying uh moment and you know, hopefully a a a step in in continued positive um union there of all of that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 43:37

Considering we've got like a whole bunch of world wars that we have to fight together as allies.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

I mean, how about it? Yeah, let's let's be pals. How about that?

SPEAKER_06 43:45

11 world wars that eleven.

Ilhan Omar World War Eleven Gaffe

SPEAKER_03 43:47

Yes, it's a it's eleven world wars, guys. Just in case nobody was keeping track of how many world wars we've had. Um, for those of you listening, what the heck are we even talking about? Well Uh a clip of Hilhan Omar surfaced of her making a pretty significant gap. Here it is.

SPEAKER_09 44:06

The Alien Enemies Act was invoked. It was used to detain and deport German, Japanese, Italian immigrants doing World War 11.

SPEAKER_06 44:20

That was like the ultimate Ron Burgundy moment. Oh yes. Yeah. Can't you just picture Will Farrell just reading the teleprompter and Ron Burgundy in San Diego, whatever's in front of him?

SPEAKER_03 44:35

That's exactly what that was it in a nutshell. So clearly somebody did not prep for her little press conference there that she did. So that's that's embarrassing for her. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:03

The FBI is rating all of the Somali Day Care Centers, uh the learing centers or quality learing centers are getting rated.

SPEAKER_03 45:12

Uh I think didn't her husband just abruptly close down their winery, like all kinds of you know, the fake winery is yes, you know, but they closed it now. You know, the the fake winery is now closed. It's now it's really fun.

SPEAKER_06 45:24

Her favorite thing to do is call Trump voters idiots.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 45:27

Pretty sure the Trump voters know that we haven't had 11 world wars. And even if it was put in front of them, uh they would read that correctly.

Green Beret Betting On Classified Intel

SPEAKER_03 45:35

Yes, exactly. Oh my goodness. So yeah, that was a fun one to uh to point out. Um, this one, not so fun. This is one it's kind of you, you know, how do you not say, dude, what were you thinking, my guy? What were you thinking? Um, go ahead, Clay. Tell them what happened.

SPEAKER_06 45:52

Yeah, so uh Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke is a Green Beret Special Forces Master Sergeant who was a key planner in the Maduro raid. And in the days lead and hours leading up to the raid itself, he was on uh Polymarket, which is an online betting site, and he made 13 bets related to uh the Maduro raid. Uh, and he bet$33,000, one approximately$410,000, uh, based on classified intel that he had that he knew because he was a key planner on the raid. It had to do with timelines and objectives and and all kinds of things. And so um he took this is like and and listen, folks, I know we're gonna hear the argument of like Congress does this with insider trading all the time, right? And there's an argument to be had there, however, comma, we expect a higher level of integrity, intellect, uh, you know, from our service members. Uh, I know that the you could call this entrepreneurial, you can call it enterprising, you could call it a lot of things. I call it a really, really bad, uh, it's poor judgment. Like you can call it whatever you want. Yeah. I don't know how this guy thought he wouldn't get, even if he got, even if he didn't get caught, but if he got caught, how he wouldn't get in trouble. Like right. And and is the payoff worth the risk? Because this is this guy's gonna be court-martialed. Like this is a huge deal, and he's not gonna get to keep the money.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

I I you know, I I mean, I do see listen, I see all the sides of this. Um I do feel that frustration of like this guy is gonna get reamed for this, and you know, his career destroyed, and all of those things. Like, that's you know, of course, he's he's accused, not convicted. So if it if that goes to the full extent, uh obviously his professional career is just destroyed, and that's terrible for such a stupid, stupid decision. But there's that frustration of like you look at Pelosi and all of the other ones of that ilk who don't even get a slap on the wrist. Not even like you can't even say they got a slap, but they got a slap on the wrist. Nothing. They get away with it. Their pockets have been lined to the nth degree. And this guy, you know, who's just probably making the bare minimum of whatever it is you make uh in the military, you know, so that part it's a little bit of a tough pill to swallow. But yes, I I do absolutely agree with you. You you're supposed to be held to a certain standard. There there is honor and decorum and all of those things. And you know, betting on uh political military outcomes uh is not a cool choice, not a good, not a good idea at all. So um, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 48:40

I will bet you. I will bet I'll bet you that in his defense uh as this goes to court martial, his defense, part of his defense, one of the arguments within his defense will be uh the Apache helicopter flyby of Kid Rock's house. Uh truthfully, and and used government money and and that the fuel wasted and the flight hours and all of those things. Uh and and that this guy who truthfully did not uh reveal classified information, he bet on inside, you know, right. So there's gonna be there's gonna be some arguments there about uh military conduct, about ethics, about morals, all of those things. I think this guy's gonna come out on the losing end at the end of it all. Uh, I think he's probably he may not do any jail time in Leavenworth or any of the other military prisons, uh disciplinary barracks as they choose to call them. Um but he will get uh a less than favorable discharge that may uh impact him for the rest of his life. And so he's probably gonna lose his retirement uh and and a lot of other this is gonna impact him and his family pretty significantly for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

So yeah, I I feel both kind of ways about it. Um uh yes, uh, you know, I I talk so much about accountability and when you do wrong, it is kind of you know, period end of story. You did wrong, you got caught, it was illegal. Is it no, it's not illegal.

SPEAKER_06 50:11

It's in it's this is I'm pretty sure this is they're gonna classify this.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

It's gotta be illegal, right? Because you're talking about you're because it's classified military, it's classified info. So, and like you said, yes, he's not exposing it or or you know divulging it, but yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:31

His defense team should throw everything out there. They should throw absolutely should yeah, they should throw what what was it, the uh the signal, you know, chat from the Secretary of Defense.

SPEAKER_03 50:40

They they should throw everything out there, everything that they can, and hopefully, um, you know, hopefully I I just I don't want to see his life destroyed over this. It would kind of break my heart a little bit for him.

SPEAKER_06 50:51

This is another one of those, like this could be um, you know, setting a really, really bad precedent uh if he does get passed.

SPEAKER_03 51:00

So yeah, I would be very interesting to watch. Yeah, you know what I'd like to see them do? You know, of course, this should be a matter of course that they shouldn't be doing that. Use him as use him as the example in that, like, okay, now we are setting this new precedent here in very defined terms that you cannot do this. And, you know, yes, I he should be, you know, he should be held accountable for doing something so foolish.

SPEAKER_06 51:25

But oh, if they do that in the truest of all military fashion, what they will do is say, all military members are banned from online betting. That's that would be the normal military response is that you would put an unmeetable standard out there of any kind. They would take all the fun out of everything for everybody forever and say, not just betting on military stuff, not just betting on politics, ban, you are all banned. If you're in the military, you cannot use uh and listen, folks, again, this is speculation on my part. I'm not advocating for this, but that would be the typical military group punishment for a single person screwing.

SPEAKER_03 52:00

Now you're all in trouble.

SPEAKER_06 52:01

Now you're all in trouble, and and nobody's allowed to do online betting ever again. In fact, we're gonna put all the casinos off limits. Like that that would be a typical military response.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

Right. Oh my goodness. Listen, I think the online betting ban is fair for as long as you are uh in the military, as long as you're in active duty. I feel like I listen, I feel like that's fair.

SPEAKER_06 52:21

Yeah, it is. That's the hard part of that rule. It's impossible to enforce because now you're gonna say, oh, show me your bank account, show me your phone, show me who's got time for that noise.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 52:30

That won't stop them from doing something stupid. It's just impossible to enforce it.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

Yeah, it's just, I don't know, like it's that thing of okay, like, yeah, we're not gonna be breathing down your neck, down your back for this. But if you get caught, you've been warned, right? Like if you get caught, now you there is a consequence and you know it, and you're doing this knowingly. So do what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_08 52:51

Yep.

Iran Stalemate And Cost Of Pressure

SPEAKER_03 52:51

Right. I don't know. Maybe I'm too wishy-washy on this. I don't know. You guys can tell me if I'm being a wimp about it. Oh, all right. Well, let's kind of keep sort of kind of in that vein. Let's talk a little bit about uh Iran. Um, the US-Iran conflict has dragged past two months with talk stalled over Iran's nuclear program, sanctions, blockades, and the Strait of Hormuz. Trump says Iran is in a state of collapse and wants the strait reopened, while reports say Iran wants relief from U.S. pressure before addressing the nuclear file. Energy costs and regional tensions are climbing. What you got to say about it, Clay?

SPEAKER_06 53:29

Well, so Secretary Heggsmith was uh testifying today in front of Congress. Um, the the first question everybody kept, or one of the big questions they were asking was how much is it gonna cost? Um it's cost 25 billion so far uh in two months. Uh and then there are questions of how much longer is this gonna go on? Uh and pardon me, he's he was being, in my opinion, overly combative uh with Congress.

SPEAKER_08 53:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 53:53

Uh there were he and he was testifying on a lot of things um where he was being he was supposed to be this was supposed to be about Iran, it was supposed to be about epic fury. Uh but of course, anytime you know, Congress gets an opportunity to grill somebody they don't like, they're gonna go after everything. So they did. And he was to me um overly confrontational. Uh he, you know, in not necessarily in the way he was not in the words he was responding with or how he, but how. In other words, there was this, you know, uh, I think it was Rokana asked him how much does this cost? How much is this gonna cost? And he said, You tell me how much uh what the value is of keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, right? Which is a great valid argument, like to have a response to the I like it. But but not the way that he delivered it because he it was this very kind of snarky, very less than, in my opinion, professional, uh, very argumentative, uh kind of very smart ass y, which he has a reputation for being. Sure. Um so you know, there was a question too of what is a what is the greatest threat to the United States uh military, uh, or maybe to the United States, and he politicized it immediately instead of being the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of War as he likes to call himself, um, and saying what whatever it is, China, Russia, North Korea, an axis of evil, whatever you want to say, the terrorism, I I don't care, but in his role as a secretary, it should have been military focused. And what he turned it into was oh, the greatest threat to the United States, the United States military, is uh uh uh all Democrats and some Republicans. Uh and and you know, blah, blah. And I'm like, you know, that again, missed opportunity, right? Immediately combative, immediately like and and politicized. Right. So the assessment that I got out of that, this is a little bit off of the Iran thing, is Secretary Exit is never one, he's never going back to Fox News. Two, I think he actually foresees himself as having a very long career as a politician. And in his brain, I think that ends with him being the president. Um, and I think it is all about politics for him at this point. Uh and and and again, people are gonna hate on me, I I know, and that's fine, but but that opportunity to where he always talks about being the secretary and being ready and fighting wars and and all these other things, and then given the opportunity to define exactly what the greatest threat is, he decided to go political. I thought he says cards. And so he he missed the opportunity with Iran. But to go back to the original topic is um there are no new deadlines. You know, the president today said, you know, oh, I talked to Putin. Uh, I think this is gonna end soon. I think Ukraine's gonna end soon. Um, you know, they better straighten up. That's the that's the new deadline. They better get smart about this. Um, and then at the same time, the UAE just said, hey, OPEC, kiss our ass, and they're leaving. Uh, they're they're breaking up OPEC. That's the first time that's happened. Um, so things in the region because of the straight are getting tense and we're not getting any resolution. Uh, and I stand by what I said before, which is this will not end with that U.S. boots on the ground. It's just yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

I mean, at this point, what is success actually even look like to find it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a scary position to be in because um, you know, for the stating the obvious, nobody knows the answer to that. Like, what is that gonna look like? I mean, you know, the obvious is that they get no nuclear weapons, no access. You know, that's an obvious win, but there's also so much more going on uh that surrounds that.

SPEAKER_06 57:35

And for those of you, and I'm in the middle of watching this, I had never seen this before. For those of you that think that allowing that, and I was one of them until just last night, allowing Iran to have their own nuclear energy program is a good idea. With with just internal oversight, go back and watch, I'm watching it now for the first time, the Chernobyl mini-series, five episodes from just a few years ago. Yeah, um, it's like 2022, I think, somewhere in there. If you want to see how bad Russia screwed that up, okay. I mean, just in in every way, everything from the construction to the the administration to all of it, you will you watch that and you let me know if a second or third world country should have a nuclear energy capability because of the effect on the rest of the world if they screw it up. And so it's a great recommendation. Right? While I was a proponent for, hey, just let them, you know, energy's cool, just go provide some oversight. I I we can't, I take it back, I will never say it again. Uh they are incapable and they should never have it. If we wanted to do it as oversight, that would be one thing. But to let them do it on their own is is a waiting to happen. No way.

SPEAKER_02 58:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

All right, that's an excellent homework assignment for all of us, myself included. I've never seen the series.

SPEAKER_06 58:51

So it's great, it's great. I've seen the three out of the five episodes, only five episodes, although they're about an hour apiece. So I watched three of them last night, and it is definitely worth a watch.

Redistricting Chaos And SCOTUS Ruling

SPEAKER_03 59:00

Yeah. Okay. I will uh I will take a break from my strict only only comedy and documentary rule to educate myself on this. So yeah, yeah, no, good recommendation. I like it. Uh, let's see, we can squeeze in these last two guys here. Um, so Virginia Democrats backed a redistricting plan that could heavily favor Democrats, but the state Supreme Court has temporarily blocked certification. Meanwhile, Florida Republicans under Governor Ron DeSantis were pushing an aggressive GOP map of their own. Uh, translation for that is that both parties hate gerrymandering right up until they find a sharpie and a favorable court. Um I mean, that's kind of let's call it an agreement. And by the way, you know, I think I have some kind of like um, well, I know I do. I don't even know if there's a name for it, but I have a thing about um certain sounds and words and everything. It's like an auditory sensory thing. And the fact that I've had to say the word, and I'll say it again, the word gerrymandering is so problematic for me that I'm gonna be honest with you, Clay, and everyone watching and listening. I'm never actually gonna say that word again because I I truly cannot stand it. I I can't do it. So that was the last time. That was my side note. Go ahead, Clay.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:16

So just this, you know, the argument has been well, California did it first, Texas responded to California, Virginia responded to Texas, Florida's responding to Virginia, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, and so the state Supreme Court of Virginia said, nope, uh, we're not doing this, and they put a pause on it. Uh, and and then DeSantis said, Well, we're moving forward anyway. Now, the Supreme Court of the United States, SCOTUS, today ruled that you can no longer determine voting districts by race. Uh, which do some do some looking, folks. This happens in a lot of places. In a lot of the states where you know the blue is is looking for some seats, they have they have outlined their maps. Illinois' one of them, it's a great one to look at, where you've got these weird snaking voting districts that make no geographic sense whatsoever. Uh, but it's all based on race. So the Supreme Court just said, no, I can't do that. And now what you've got is if you go back, now you're gonna have states redrawing lines back to historical precedents. They're gonna erase a lot of this uh you don't like gerrymandering, but that's what it is. This race, uh, you know, um gerrymandering, essentially, uh, because the Supreme Court said you can't do that. So now what you're gonna see is potentially a 12-seat swing back to the red after these districts are essentially redrawn for I won't say last time because it's not, but for for a most updated set of uh voting districts. So everything that Florida was about to do in response to Virginia and everything that Virginia has done that their Supreme Court said no, uh, is all up in the air right now because of what the U.S. Supreme Court did just today. So watch your own state, folks. It may not apply to you, but it does in a lot of cases. So you may see some redistricting when you thought there was no reason to, even in your own state, because of what the ruling from Supreme Court. Oh, by the way, big surprise 6-3 ruling, and the outstanding on the uh three were the three ladies, yeah, on the on the Democrat side. So uh no shock there. No, but that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:26

Is it? I mean, do you think it's like impossible to even have like neutral redistricting? Like, is it even possible? Are we too far gone for that? Because obviously nobody trusts anybody.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:36

Yeah, I I think I think we should look at a potential grid system for the United States and say, here's the grid, lay the grid over the United States, and however it lays out, it lays out. And however the districts are broken apart, they're broken apart, and it is what it is. But uh that'll never work because it's all about population and all those other things. But I think if if we're gonna do it based on geography, uh I think we could do something like that, and it would be okay. Um but you would have places in you know South Dakota that have nobody voting in them, you know, right. And so that that's part of the problem. But yeah, no, I I don't think we could ever have neutral, realistic, non-uh-influenced uh voting districts. It it just it won't happen.

Why Good People Avoid Politics

SPEAKER_03 1:03:27

Exhausting. Yep, exhausting. Good grief. All right, speaking of exhausting, let's talk about the comment section. Our last one, our last one, the comment section. So um uh I pulled up one for us, and actually, this is this is a good one. I I chose to pick one that does not beat up either one of us or anyone. Hey, how about that? For once we're not getting beat up by somebody. Uh, this one, for those of you that are listening and not watching, uh, it says, uh, so well, I'll read it and then I'll explain. It says, no good man becomes a politician. More and more are being held for accountability. Um, so this was on last week's conversation about uh some of these ethics that we uh what's his name?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:10

Um swallow well swallowing desolate.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:14

Yes, thank you. Um so that was on that. And you know, uh it's that one caught my eye because it made me recall a statement I've made many times in the past about uh I'll use my example of I've used many times for anybody who knows who Mike Rowe is, you know, and I've talked about him before with this very same conversation. Uh he's such a level-headed, smart, calm, rational, great guy, from what I know of his personal, his public persona. Um and I've said in the past, now why can't we have someone like him for president? Like everybody would love him. How could you not love this man because he's so level-headed and he's so um educated, he's smart as heck, but he's neutral in a lot of ways, in a lot of significant ways. And um, the answer to that I've always said is I think because nobody of that ilk would even want the job. Like you have to have a level of, I hate to say it, narcissism, um, you know, arrogance, even to want to be in that job. You have to have this sense of ego that is bigger than the average person, because the average people don't want any part of that. And that is the problem. Like that's part of the problem for us. That's the problem that we're given because it's hard to get good men and women in those positions who are altruistic, who are selfless, who are, you know, um fully about doing what's best for others. And uh it's tough. And I I think that's you know, in my mind, that's kind of the answer, Clay.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:56

I I've had a I have had uh more than a few people. uh ask me or say something to me after I retired about potentially running for office, uh local government at a minimum, uh, and then potentially even at the state level. Absolutely not. No. I don't want any part of it. And and it's not that I don't want to contribute. I've spent my entire adult life contributing to this country. However, that is a uh greasy, gross, disgusting pool uh that I do not want to dip my toe into.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:27

And that is the biggest deterrent um for most people. Really, I mean that's unfortunately what it is. And and uh and I think you see a lot of times sadly too that people that do go in with those intentions, with that heart um to make a a good positive impactful change in in their region, in their state, in their town, whatever the case is, because you start small, that's how you start, um they either become corrupted or disillusioned and they leave. You know, so they either it's a very, very like you called it, you know, everything you said about it is so true. It is a dirty, disgusting, ugly machine and when people get a taste of what it really looks like on the inside, they don't, you know, most of them don't want any part of it. And I don't know how we change that. You know, and I'm I'm such a fan of see a problem, find the solution. And I just don't know what it is. Well yes, there you go.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:18

I mean that is the biggest thing that's the easy that's the easy one. And so two things it even if you if it's not term limits uh then no retirement. Yeah just get rid of that get rid of the entire retirement program period. Sure. Yeah nobody's gonna hang around for more than 10 years if there's no retirement program for it.

Closing Thoughts And Sign Off

SPEAKER_03 1:07:38

Yes and and guys clay just solved it Clay just solved it just like that just like that. I'm like I don't have the answer I don't have a solution Clay's like I got it I got it no retirement. I love it. I love it. See that's why we have such a a a great balance don't we like I'm like here's the problem Clay fix it. Clay's like no problem I got it oh my goodness all right guys well we uh we enjoyed this we solved all the problems of the world in uh just over an hour uh you're welcome you are welcome and tomorrow there will be new problems new problems for us to solve and and we are we are up for the task next week we're done for this week oh clay close them out you send them off hey folks as you know we we love doing this and uh we appreciate you all and we appreciate the comments uh keep the comments coming uh we love them both Facebook YouTube those are the easiest ones and uh until next week as always for me keep moving keep shooting take care guys we'll see you next week the headlines will change by tomorrow but the patterns won't thanks for spending this time with us we'll be back to keep asking the harder questions and telling the quieter truths.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:45

Until then stay grounded be discerning and we'll see you next time