The Most Rosy Scenario

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "The Most Rosy Scenario"

Release Date: July 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, policy dilemmas around preventing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and the increasingly polarized landscape in U.S. politics. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty analyze recent American military actions in the Persian Gulf and discuss their possible outcomes, including the large-scale blockade of Iranian ports and the strategic, political, and human complexities of intervention. The episode also covers a revelation about the Jack Smith investigation, the internal divide in the Democratic party, and other notable news, all with the show’s trademark blend of skepticism, humor, and straight talk.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Escalation in U.S.-Iran Conflict

• Background: U.S. naval blockade is in effect, oil tankers are being turned back, and airstrikes are underway to pressure Iran (02:39–07:25).
• Details:
  • U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker attempting to breach the blockade (02:39).
  • The American air campaign is now "around the clock" in an attempt to bring Iran to the negotiating table (03:03).
  • Airstrikes targeted Greater Tomb Island for the first time, aiming to open shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz (03:03–03:36).
  • The economic impact on Iran is estimated at $400 million per day lost as ports remain closed (04:05).
  • Despite military pressure, no commercial vessels have dared to use the supposedly "open" Strait (06:46–07:08).

2. Limited Options and Risks of Escalation

• Military Analysis:
  • The force available is insufficient for a land operation to "take" and reopen the Strait of Hormuz (04:58–09:27).
  • Potential for heavy casualties and prolonged involvement if U.S. attempted ground operations (05:58).
• Economic Pressure:
  • Alternative is using a combination of military and economic pressure to collapse the Iranian regime (10:01).
  • Joe Getty: “Given the IRGCs, we get all the food and energy first. Those poor people can starve... Hell, we'll starve them anytime.”
• Dilemma:
  • Both hosts stress that even if collapse occurs, what replaces the regime is unpredictable and could be just as bad, as seen in previous Middle East upheavals (04:25–04:33).
• Memorable Quote:
  • Jack Armstrong (06:46): “Give me the most rosy scenario you can come up with at this point. You know how many ships went through our route of the strait yesterday after Trump declared it open? 0.0 ships.”

3. War of Choice & Nuclear Red Line

• Core Question:
  • Is this a “war of choice”? What is the threshold for action to prevent Iran’s nuclear armament?
• Jack Armstrong:
  • [11:44] “Are you okay with Iran having a nuclear weapon? … That would probably be the worst day in world history … Ok, if we're in agreement on that, what's your suggestion?”
• Debate over diplomacy:
  • Discussion about the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) and whether negotiation has ever been realistic (12:42–14:11).
• Philosophical Question:
  • “At what point in their process of getting a nuke does it stop being a war of choice?” (13:00)
• Joe Getty:
  • [14:11] “They would go to their fantasy that you can negotiate Iran out of wanting a nuke, and you can't bridge that gulf with them.”

4. Jack Smith Investigation Revelations

• Scandal:
  • Former special counsel Jack Smith reportedly obtained and read the personal text messages of over 40 members of Congress—including Democrats—as part of his Trump probe (28:48–30:15).
• Reaction:
  • Outrage from both parties due to executive branch incursion on legislative branch communication.
  • Grassley calls Smith’s actions “a runaway political train that improperly obtained congressional information” (29:17).
  • Accusations emerge that Smith committed perjury in prior congressional testimony (31:18–31:38).
• Memorable Moment:
  • Banter about the age of Chuck Grassley, highlighting political longevity/humor (29:17, 31:41–32:05).

5. Democratic Party Infighting & Extremism

• Statistics:
  • Notable increase from the 1990s to present in Democrats who self-identify as “very liberal”—from ~24% to ~60–70% (25:47).
• Divisions:
  • Debate over whether the House, if retaken, should prioritize impeaching Trump vs actual governance (32:26–33:20).
  • “They will be so easily branded as the party of nothing but investigations and impeachment,” notes Joe Getty (34:18).
• Extremist Candidates Highlighted:
  • Discussion of a Michigan U.S. Senate candidate with avowed Islamist positions opposing Israel’s existence (34:44–35:21).
• Quote:
  • Jack Armstrong (34:47): “He doesn’t believe Israel should exist. ... That's what he's running on. And he might become a U.S. senator.”

6. Other Segments & Light-Hearted Content

• Fraud Phone Scam Story:
  • Hilarious retelling of an absurd scam call, emphasizing skepticism and common sense (18:15–20:18).
• Dinosaur Bones & Luxuries:
  • Giddy conversation about a $50 million T. rex fossil sale, with musings on what each host would buy if rich (20:33–22:57).
• Soccer Analysis:
  • In-depth analogy of the Argentina/England game as a metaphor for economic reform versus stagnation, defending soccer's entertainment value (37:39–41:04).
• Founding Fathers' Youth:
  • Fun facts about the young ages of U.S. founders, underlining historical perspective (44:11–45:19).

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On U.S. Action in Iran:
  • Jack Armstrong: “We bombed the crap out of Iran yesterday for seven hours, took a little break, then came back with another 90 minute of bombing and, and just keep pummeling them. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon has been telling Trump that ain't gonna do it.” (04:34)
• On "Rosy Scenario"
  • Jack Armstrong: “Give me the most rosy scenario you can come up with at this point.” (06:46)
• On Military Risk
  • Joe Getty: “All it takes to close the straight is the threat. And, and the IRGC has gone far beyond that.” (08:31)
• On Regime Change Uncertainty
  • Jack Armstrong: “You never know. Sometimes [the change is] something worse.” (04:33)
• On Preventing Iranian Nukes
  • Jack Armstrong: “Are you okay with Iran having a nuclear weapon? … Ok, if we're in agreement on that, what's your suggestion?” (11:44)
• On Congressional Text Message Scandal:
  • Jack Armstrong: “That's one of the things with these special counsels is they have so much leeway to spy on people… that’s what's scary about these things.” (30:18)
• On Democrat Party Shift
  • Joe Getty: “Around 2000, the percentage of Democrats that described themselves as very Liberal was about 24%. It's now 70, 60%.” (25:47)

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Important Timestamps

• Opening and U.S.–Iran Crisis Coverage: 02:39–07:25
• Military Options & Blockade Analysis: 04:58–10:01
• Nuclear Red Line & War of Choice Debate: 11:44–14:11
• Congressional Text Message Scandal: 28:48–31:38
• Democratic Party Division: 25:47–34:44
• Soccer Metaphor Segment: 37:39–41:43
• Dinosaur Auction Segue: 20:33–22:57
• Founders’ Ages / History Angle: 44:11–45:19

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Memorable Moments & Humor

• On radio communications during the blockade:
  • “At least one boat responded with F off. One sailor is heard responding via the ship's radio.” (08:15)
• Joking about Congressman's age:
  • “Chuck Grassley would know a runaway train. Also, the Johnstown flood and the Civil War. Well, he drove the golden spike, so.” (29:17–29:31)
• Dinosaur bones:
  • Jack Armstrong: “If I was a billionaire, I'd absolutely spend my 50 million on having an actual T. Rex skeleton in my living room.” (21:09)

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Tone & Language

Armstrong and Getty deploy a conversational, irreverent, and skeptical tone, infused with humor (“I don’t need sexpot news,” “We just bombed the crap out of Iran”), but are always incisive in assessing geopolitical dilemmas or political absurdities. The vibe balances hard realism with “devil’s advocacy” and never lets go of the show’s mission: to question official narratives and ask tough, sometimes uncomfortable questions.

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Conclusion

“The Most Rosy Scenario” is a quintessential Armstrong & Getty episode, combining sharp political analysis with wry commentary. It cycles between global crises, American political in-fighting, personal anecdotes, and lighthearted asides. For listeners, it provides a thorough, thought-provoking rundown of current events, shot through with wit, skepticism, and moments of comic relief—all without shying away from grappling with some of the hardest questions in American foreign and domestic policy today.

Transcript

[Announcer]

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[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong, Armstrong and Getty. And now, here's Armstrong and Getty.

For the first time since President Trump ordered a return on the naval blockade, U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker trying to run through it to Iran's Kharg Island. In a sign, the conflict with Iran has Entered a new phase.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, it definitely has. And we have new information about it to discuss from a piece in the Wall Street Journal today. But Lucas Tomilson of Fox goes on.

[Joe Getty]

American air campaign against Iran has expanded. U.S. navy jets now launching strikes around the clock, including daylight hours, in an effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table. This afternoon, U.S. forces hit greater Tomb island outside the Strait of Hormuz for the first time. The increased volume of airstrikes and attempt to clear a path through the straight of Hormuz to increase shipping volume and potentially paving the way for US Warships to sail through something that hasn't happened for two months.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, a little more from Lucas and then fill in some of the gaps here. This is a man we are, we are into, we really are into a different phase, I think.

[Joe Getty]

The US Naval blockade has now been in effect for more than 24 hours, forcing at least two commercial vessels to reverse course. With Iranian ports now closed, US Officials estimate the return of this economic strangulation will cost Iran more than $400 million per day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, good. And hopefully that strangles them. And that, that seems to me to be pretty much our, our only hope at this point that the regime collapses, that they're closer than it looks to collapse and they finally fall apart because

[Joe Getty]

they've been strangled and are taken over by more reasonable voices.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I don't know what would happen.

[Joe Getty]

The people rise up.

[Jack Armstrong]

No idea what happens once the regime collapses, as we saw with the Arab Spring or throughout all of history. You never have any idea what's going to come. Sometimes it's something worse.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

You never know. But back to the current situation. So we bombed the crap out of Iran yesterday for seven hours, took a little break, then came back with another 90 minute of bombing and, and just keep pummeling them. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon has been telling Trump that ain't gonna do it.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

In terms of opening the straight back up. For instance, the President could up the ante with. This is the Wall Street Journal talking to people in the Pentagon and sources close to the President. The President could up the ante with close escorts of traffic using American warships. Experts estimate it could take two ships to escort a single tanker or a dozen for each convoy. Navy officers warn Iranian drones and anti ship missiles have the potential to turn the area into a kill box for US forces. If we try to do that though, yikes. That's with you. Just run ships through there in terms of taking over the strait, like actually taking it over and they Quote, somebody saying, if we're going to open the strait, we need to take the strait. That would be a land invasion. At the extreme end of it, Trump has the option of a large and costly ground operation to seize the territory around the waterway, whose rocky shores present unique challenges that would require many thousands of troops in the operation that would likely take many months. The paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary guard Corps has 190,000 troops, along with the country's regular army, and specializes in fights against better armed foes. A ground operation on Iran's coastline would leave US Troops extremely vulnerable to attacks from the country's rear and would be very difficult. This would be like Iraq in 2005 sort of battle at that point. Many thousands of troops, long war, lots of casualties, to open up a strait that was open before we started. Now, you said we got, we got some people that were being too negative on this.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. But again, I, I don't. They didn't make the context clear.

[Jack Armstrong]

What, what's, what's the positive thing on this? Give, give me the most rosy scenario you can come up with at this point. You know how many ships went through our route of the strait yesterday after Trump declared it open? 0.0ships. 0ships went through the waterway that we have declared is open.

[Joe Getty]

Let me read this. You are very negative. It starts with zero, and it grows from there. Well, let me, let me give you the rosy side. I'll quote the administration. We've sunk their navy to the bottom of the sea. We've totally decimated their defenses. They got no air force, so there you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they're continuing to take pot shops, pot shots at ships. I shouldn't call them pot shots because 12, 12 sailors have been killed or missing so far, and ships have stopped going through. So those aren't just pot shots. They have been very effective shots. Tuesday morning, U.S. forces radioed a message to ships gathered near the waterway. These are the oil tankers that are waiting there, trying to figure out can we go through or not? Is it open or not? What's going on here? US Forces are prepared to maintain freedom of navigation and safeguard lawful commerce in accordance with international law, the military said over Marine radio. According to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the southern route of the strait remains open. At least one boat responded with F off. One sailor is heard responding via the ship's radio.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And again, zero ships went through.

[Joe Getty]

Tell you what, on Captain Joe's ship, I would radio back. We would be delighted to be the 11th ship to go through. You let me know when the first 10 are through.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, no kidding.

[Joe Getty]

All it takes to close the straight is the threat. And, and the IRGC has gone far beyond that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't realize the RAGC has, still has 190,000 troops. Plus the regular army. Yeah, plus whoever else.

[Joe Getty]

What other.

[Jack Armstrong]

Other militias would. Would join in? Nothing would bring them all together like, you know, 10,000 Marines on the beach.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and to send 10,000 would be, you know, monumentally stupid. It would have to be hundreds of thousands. You have to apply overwhelming force or your Vladimir Putin just sending your guys to death. We need to sweep over them and defeat them so quickly and decisively that nobody dares lift up a peashooter to us. That's the only strategy. So you're looking at an enormous, enormous, you know, not quite D day maybe, but an enormous force.

[Jack Armstrong]

One official from the Pentagon told the Wall Street Journal that as I said earlier, at the end of the day, if Trump wants to take control of the straits, he'll need to take over the straits, but he's not going to be able to reach that objective with the force he has now. So even with all those ships and we keep hearing about, we got 50,000 troops in the area, according to this official. That's not even close to the amount of manpower you need if you're actually going to try to take the straight and force it open. There's no scenario where the American public is on board with that.

[Joe Getty]

No. So the only other alternative, I think, realistically, is to bring such combination military from above pain and economic pain that you remove their will to resist. Given the IRGCs, we get all the food and energy first. Those poor people can starve. We don't care. We'll shoot them. Hell, we'll starve them anytime. Given that effect, how much economic pain we will have to cause for how long to get them to sincerely come to the negotiating table ready to submit? I don't know. I can't imagine how much. Well, and literally, I can't imagine how much. It might be less than I think, but it's an open question. Nobody knows.

[Jack Armstrong]

My pushback against my pushback.

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[Jack Armstrong]

All the stuff we just said about the straight and the sticky situation we're in is all true, but the ultimate point still remains. And I wish every Republican that's asked about it on a TV show would would say this will say to the Christian Walker on Meet the Press or Margaret Brandon on Face a Nation, ask them, are you okay with Iran having a nuclear weapon? Because that's the question. Are you okay with Iran having a nuclear weapon? Okay, then what would you. I'm going to assume that we're in agreement that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That would probably be the worst day in world history. That it's really, really bad and it, and, and it's just, it's just a no go. Okay, if we're in agreement on that, what's your suggestion?

[Joe Getty]

Nobody was doing anything. That's what they would say.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no.

[Joe Getty]

They should have stuck with the jcpoa.

[Jack Armstrong]

That doesn't work. It had run its course already. That's just the. I don't want to know. We have in the last couple of weeks.

[Joe Getty]

But oh, no, I'm not saying that's my point of view. That's what Margaret Brennan would say. Then she'd show you a little bit of calf.

[Jack Armstrong]

Iran can't have a nuclear weapon, period. What are you going to do about it? And so I heard somebody bringing up the whole war of choice thing. This was a war of choice. Of war choice. I would like this rhetorical conversation to occur where you say at what point? So we're in agreement Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. Do you agree they were trying to get a nuclear weapon? I think we're all in agreement on that. They were trying to get a nuclear weapon. How close they were, you can argue about that. But, but they were trying to get a nuclear weapon. At what point in their process of them getting a nuke does it stop being a war of choice? You Tell me, at what point is it no longer a war of choice once they've got it, when they're an hour away? I mean, when, when is it no longer a war of choice? Is there such a thing or is the whole war of choice thing a stupid rhetorical instrument?

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's absolutely. That. That's some good devil's advocating right there.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would love to hear something on

[Joe Getty]

the other side of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know what I would say. What are you gonna say to when does it stop being a war of choice? If it's a war of choice, if we're in agreement that they're trying to get a nuke and they can't have it.

[Joe Getty]

Well, again though, they would go to their fantasy that you can negotiate Iran out of wanting a nuke and you can't bridge that gulf with them. I mean, I would love the exercise because the American people could make the judgment themselves, having heard an honest discussion of the salient points as opposed to never ending discussion of the straight, which is now undeniably a salient point, but it's not the original one. But you're never gonna convince them. So. At the beginning of Meet the Press, Margaret Brennan is shown in a variety of poses. And the final two shots are her in front of Lincoln Memorial. The second to last shot is a fairly reasonable one of her short skirt and, well, her medium skirt and her spike heels. But then the very last shot, she turns, looks away demurely, like turns her thigh towards you. Every time I watch it, I think, what, what, what, what am I about to watch here? Does the rest come off? Is she kind of into me or what?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't, I don't need sexpot news.

[Joe Getty]

Women. Of course, you know that. Fox News, the, the infamous leg chair at Fox News. Shiny, shiny legs.

[Jack Armstrong]

To wrap this up.

[Joe Getty]

We don't want some hairy legged woman telling me the unemployment numbers. No way.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I was President of the United States, I honestly don't know what I would do because I would do. I would expend all political capital to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. I don't care if I go down in history is whatever. Iran's not getting a nuke on my watch, but I don't know what I would do at this point.

[Joe Getty]

Economic pressure and bombings and hope. Hope they give in. I honestly don't know if the regime

[Jack Armstrong]

falls or they give in and come

[Joe Getty]

to the table in a serious way.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, if you have any thoughts, text line 415295 KFTC.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

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part is that I would have been

walking around with thousands of dollars in cash and then they either rob your car or they rob you.

[Jack Armstrong]

That guy. So I saw that presented the other day as this guy. He almost fell for it. And you could too, if you almost fell for somebody calling you on the phone saying you need to go to the bank and take out all your money and meet me in the park

[Joe Getty]

and carry it around for a while. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, I've heard of better scams than that. I get semi regularly the, hey, somebody is made a purchase on your credit card. If this was not you, please, you know, contact us. Here's the link. And boy, I'll bet those, I'll bet their batting average for that scam is pretty good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, how about if it's, See, I click on those. If it's, I made that purchase at that place yesterday. I think there's no way fraudsters know that, do they?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. If it's that specific, that's fine. But often it's your Amazon package or.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's easy if you're like in a hurry and kind of tired or whatever to just, oh crap, you know, you're expecting something from UPS and so it's been delayed, held up at the border, whatever. Oh crap. And then you.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I haven't, but I could see doing it.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah. Speaking of spending money and buying dinosaur bones, news Sotheby's sold a tyrannosaurus rex fossil two days ago for $50.1 million.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool. How big? How big was it as hell?

[Joe Getty]

Let's see, Full. It's a full skill. Practically a full skeleton 12 and a half foot tall.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, T. Rex. See, if I was a billionaire, I'd absolutely spend my 50 million on having an actual T. Rex skeleton in my living room.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. If I had billions, I would absolutely have spent $50 million on a T. Rex. Are you kidding? Every male in America has the same answer. Or virtually all of us.

[Jack Armstrong]

We, when we were in Santa Fe, there's a great Fossil store there where you can buy all kinds of stuff. And it ranges from a couple hundred dollars to. I think the most expensive thing he had was like 80 grand or something. But man, I was looking at some of that stuff and thinking that'd be cool to have.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Just magnates putting the world in

[Jack Armstrong]

perspective and time and everything. It's just.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, yeah. Plus it's a giant lizard's bones. That's cool. One of your big hotel magnates started in effect a fossil museum and it's in a hotel in Savannah, Georgia. I can't remember which. If it's Hyatt or Hilton or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

One of the Hiltons are one of the Super Eights.

[Joe Getty]

The Super 8 family. Yes, it's quite amazing. It does put everything into perspective. But anyway, so $50 million topping records set in recent years. The previous record holder at $44.6 million, Jack had been a stegosaurus. A herbivore plays a vegan dinosaur. A ginosaur plays what? Sorry, I'm being a parody. I don't mean that. The record continues a trend of climbing price dinosaur bones. Oh man, that is so cool. I wish I had a T. Rex.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was on vacation. I almost bought some pretty expensive dinosaur bones.

[Joe Getty]

What about spending $10,000 for a really good replica of one? Would you do that?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I want the real thing. I'd rather have a tiny little real bone than a really big fake one.

[Joe Getty]

Like a T. Rex pinky bone.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, a little thumb. A tooth or something. I think it was a tooth I

[Joe Getty]

was actually looking at by huh. Armstrong and Getty.

[Bethenny Frankel]

This is Bethenny Frankel from Just Be with Bethenny Frankel. Most dog food is marketing, not nutrition. That is why Biggie and Smalls eat just food for dogs. Real 100% human grade food with ingredients I actually recognize. And yes, I do see the difference. Better digestion, healthier skin, more energy. Dogs that feel better. My babies, if you've been on the fence about switching, stop overthinking it. What's more important than your furry babies and their health? Go to justfoodfordogs.com right now and get 50% off your first box. No code needed. Just try it.

[Orderly Meds Advertiser]

Summer is here, which means we all want to look and feel our best. A GLP 1 may be right for you. Visit orderlymeds.com to learn more about which GLP 1 you could be eligible for. Getting started is fast, easy and happens virtually through telemedicine from licensed professionals. Check it out for yourself. Go to orderlymeds.com podcast that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Taking care of yourself feels great. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Eligibility required and determined by a licensed provider. Individual results may vary. See website for details.

[Joe Getty]

Mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad? Lingokids, please. When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Announcer]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

[Joe Getty]

This week it's Lingokids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why Lingokids?

[Joe Getty]

Because it's the best thing ever. You can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes. With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids.

[Bethenny Frankel]

So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lingokids. Everything kids love, download it for free.

[Joe Getty]

The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues until now. The X Games League Championship championship is live From New Orleans, July 24 through 26. Three days of elite action sports, plus performances from Metro Boomin, JID Subtronics and Bunt Watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick, Amazon and X Games YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

[Jack Armstrong]

Electric cars did not work out for American auto manufacturers. That story among other things on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, including it's clear that the Democratic party has completely lost its mind and is in the group in the grips of leftist lunatics. And you know who thinks that? Non leftist lunatics who are Democrats. And they're getting more and more vocal about, hey, we got to nip this in the bud. But you know, day before yesterday, like

[Jack Armstrong]

the Bill Maher crowd.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. And a lot younger sane folks too. I mean, they've observed just. And this is a for instance. Then we'll come back to this later. But in like, what Was this about 1995? Around 2000, the percentage of Democrats that described themselves as very Liberal was about 24%. It's now 70, 60%. And the percentage that describes himself as moderate has gone from like 48% to 32%. So it is just really, really swinging left. But again, more on that to come. Here's something we're bad at as a country and I am bad at personally following up and demanding accountability. Ability to jump stuff. Yeah, my vertical leap. My vertical leap is sad. Always has been too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really.

[Joe Getty]

I remember, I remember playing shortstop in third base in high school baseball and line drive would come my way that I had to jump for. And I think, no problem, got this. And I would leap up and there would be the ball in the outfield and I'd be like, what the hell happened?

[Jack Armstrong]

I just had to get, like, six

[Joe Getty]

inches in the air. I time my jump fine. I'm confident out here. I know I could. I realized I can't jump. I have, like. I should be getting government money for white man's disease because I got it bad anyways.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's money for lack of hops. I didn't realize that.

[Joe Getty]

Well, there should be if there was any justice. Anyway, one thing we're bad at in this country, and I am personally, is following up and demanding accountability for really bad stuff that happened a little while ago. The Jack Smith case, the guy who was examining, looking at Trump and what was he? Russian collusion and all. What was Jack Smith's purview? Is he the. That's funny. I don't even remember that. The precise. It was investigating Trump and company for something.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't remember which of the many investigations it was. No.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. There are so many of them.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll. I'll chat GPT that while you're talking.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, good. But he did some stuff that was incredibly untoward, and I found my. And you're about to hear about it, and I found myself thinking, yeah, there's more urgent stuff to talk about, more exciting stuff to talk about. That's how you get corrupt government if there's no repercussions for this stuff. So in that spirit, we give you the indictment. Oh, do you have it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack Smith appointed a special counsel.

[Joe Getty]

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

The 2020 election interference. Oh, the January 6th investigation. That's right.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And also the Mar a Lago classified documents, One which.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump had less legs to stand on in that one. Definitely.

[Joe Getty]

Well, before I so rudely interrupted myself, I was going to say, we bring you the indictment. The prosecution of Jack Smith. Hit it, Michael.

[Jack Armstrong]

There were a whole lot of angry lawmakers on Capitol Hill today after it was revealed that former special counsel Jack Smith allegedly collected and read the personal text messages of more than 40 members of Congress, including some Democrats, during his probe of President Trump. Now, this revelation coming out after the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman says the Justice Department turned over the list of names to his office on Tuesday, and today he addressed it. Jack Smith's operation was a runaway political

[Joe Getty]

train that improperly obtained congressional information. Boy, and Chuck Grassley would know a runaway train. Also, the Johnstown flood and the Civil War.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he drove the golden spike, so.

[Joe Getty]

Right, exactly. Back to the. Back to the meat of the matter. Yeah. So not only was this investigatory malfeasance, but an incredible incursion by Biden's executive branch into the legislative branch in a way that is really unholy. Bill Malugian continues.

[Jack Armstrong]

Grassley says that 44 members of Congress had their text messages with Trump administration officials in the final weeks of his first presidency swept up and analyzed during the Arctic Frost investigation. And Republicans on that list are outraged.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's outrageous. I mean, at this point, I have. I may as well just. I may as well just give all of you my phone.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's disgusting.

[Joe Getty]

It just shows you exactly what the Biden administration was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, Republicans are outraged. Yesterday's reporting was. Lots of people were outraged because he was looking at Karen Bass's private correspondence. I mean, he got Democrats, too. That's one of the things with these special counsels is they have so much leeway to spy on people. That's how you ended up. And that's how it ends up being a fishing expedition so often. That's how you ended up with what's his name back in the day with Clinton and impeachment, when it originally was the whole White Water land deal. But then he came across, you know, emails that involved an affair. So we, we went after that. That's what's scary about these things.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I would agree. 44 members had their text messages swept up. 1944, by coincidence, is 11 years after Chuck Grassley was born. Sorry, I just looked it up. Holy cow, is he old. Anyway, final shot of Bill Mulligian on Fox News.

[Jack Armstrong]

And some Republicans are now even accusing Jack Smith of perjury after he gave this testimony to Congress under oath last December. The records that you requested, the toll records from the members of Congress, include the content of text messages.

[Joe Getty]

No, I think he probably ought to

[Jack Armstrong]

be referred for criminal prosecution. He lied to Congress about it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's just, it's, it's. We can't have this.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then Chuck Grassley yelled, remember the main.

[Joe Getty]

How do we have. In a position of leadership, a very

[Jack Armstrong]

important position of leadership, a guy who

[Joe Getty]

is old enough to understand what was happening around him during the Great Depression.

[Bethenny Frankel]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's crazy. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

A young man who grew up being told not to make loud noises around World War I vets because it was so recent. What the hell? Anyway, so we're losing the thread here. Remember the main.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I thought it was interesting yesterday, I never did read the whole piece about the political civil war that's going on in the Democratic Party, whether or not impeaching Trump is a good idea or not. If they. If to me, when they take the House of Representatives. I just assumed, like, week one, they're going to impeach Trump over something. Cryptocurrency or who knows what. But apparently a lot of Democrats think, no, no, no, that's. We're going to get all bogged down. We're not going to be able to accomplish any of the things we want to accomplish. And voters want, you know, affordability or whatever things they're voting for us for. We immediately go to impeachment, and we haven't done any of those things.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which is a, this is a pretty decent point. Then you get to the next election, which is a presidential election, and all you've done for two years is impeach Trump for the third and fourth time.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Meanwhile, even the Wall Street Journal is pointing out the billions of dollars Trump and his family are making from him being in the presidency.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So there's some grist for the mill there.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know, though, here's the interesting about this. Hardly anybody hates Trump more than the Dispatch as a news outlet. They did an entire podcast last week while you were on vacation about all this different stuff. They didn't come up with anything illegal. It's all looks bad, you shouldn't do it. No president has done it before, but they haven't come up with anything that's illegal. And that's the Dispatch who hates him. If they could, they would. They're like, yeah, I don't. I'm not sure he did anything that he shouldn't have done. If people want to invest in a meme coin, which is kind of ridiculous on its face because Trump's name is on it, you know, go for it. If you want to sell crappy watches, that's not against the law.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. It is untoward, but not illegal. Well, and I totally get the Democrats point about that. They will be so easily branded as the party of nothing but investigations and impeachment, they're right. Speaking of the Democrats war with themselves, got some more interesting statistics and opinions for you coming up in a couple of minutes, including that fake doctor in Michigan who's running for the U.S. senate. He's an avowed Islamist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Joe Getty]

An Islamist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he is the person we played the. Had the clips of this when he was in the debate against the normal Democrat who he might beat. He doesn't believe Israel should exist. That's what he said on a debate stage. And not like, you know, kind of getting around it from a weird angle and you kind of figure out what he needs to know, he states out loud Israel should not exist. I believe in one state, Palestine. That's what he's running on. And he might become a U.S. senator.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

How crazy is that?

His dad big supporter of terrorists too. Absolutely documented. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want to hear more about that. Stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Bethenny Frankel]

This is Bethany Frankel from Just Be with Bethenny Frankel. Most dog food is marketing, not nutrition. That is why Biggie and Smalls eat just food for dogs. Real 100% human grade food with ingredients I actually recognize. And yes, I do see the difference. Better digestion, healthier skin, more energy. Dogs that feel better. My babies, if you've been on the fence about switching, stop overthinking it. What's more important than your furry babies and their health? Go to justfoodfordogs.com right now and get 50% off your first box. No code needed. Just try it.

[Orderly Meds Advertiser]

Summer is here, which means we all want to look and feel our best. A GLP1 may be right for you. Visit orderlymeds.com to learn more about which GLP1 you could be eligible for. Getting started is fast, easy, and happens virtually through telemedicine from licensed professionals. Check it out for yourself. Go to orderlymeds.com podcast. That's orderlymeds.com podcast. Taking care of yourself feels great. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Eligibility required and determined by a licensed provider. Individual results may vary. See website for details.

[Joe Getty]

Dad, Disney activities are on Lingokids.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Moana and Elsa and Marvel's Spider Man. All of them on Lingokids? Yes, dad, on Lingokids. That's pretty cool. I know.

[Announcer]

You just lost them for the rest of the afternoon.

[Joe Getty]

Worth it. Full of fun activities inspired by Disney's Moana, Frozen, Zootopia, Marvel's Spider man and more. Lingokids is where little ones discover more about favorite characters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lingokids.

[Joe Getty]

Everything kids love. Download it for free. The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues until now. The X Games League Championship is live From New Orleans, July 24 through 26. Three days of elite action sports. Plus performances from Metro, Boomin, Jid Subtronics and Bunt Watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN 2. Stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick, Amazon and X Games. YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

Messi Resets Messi driving in Messi Crossing

[Jack Armstrong]

Vampires La Tara Martinez.

[Joe Getty]

Stoppage time. Go head. Go for Argentina.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I was just reading one soccer writer saying that assist from Messi should be in A museum with its own display.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. With like three dimensional graphics and the rest of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love when they give different angles, so, you know, there's the angle you got watching on tv, but some of the Twitter stuff, people in the stands or whatever, it's just freaking unbelievable.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, just. It was. It was an amazing game and Argentina's incredible and I'm rooting hard for him. If you didn't hear us talking about this earlier, it is almost like hokey. How perfect a metaphor that game was for the respective countries. Argentina, which has just thrown off socialism and embraced the free market and Javier Milei is achieving amazing things for the Argentine people, is dynamic, creative, never say die. And then the Brits, who have thrown all of that away in favor of a socialist dystopia and politically correct free speech nightmare got ahead one nothing. Just went into like this socialist fetal position and didn't explore anymore. They didn't create anymore. They didn't take chances, they didn't have fun. They just thought, we just gotta keep what we got and hand it out equally to everybody. And they got their ass whooped.

[Jack Armstrong]

They retired at age 50, if you will.

[Joe Getty]

I will. So anyway, I happen to be sitting in an establishment and some of my friends came in and were discussing the game and two or three of the four said, yeah, but the game's just so boring. Soccer, so boring. And I wasn't going to bother then, but I went home and watched the second half of England, Argentina, and I actually tried this for five minutes. I explained what they were doing, allowed. I was alone.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's not crazy at all.

[Joe Getty]

Well, no, I was just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because I would somebody walk in the room, get a net.

[Joe Getty]

No, it's a beautiful, exciting sport if you understand it. And I found myself thinking about. I happen to know that at least one of the couples, actually, both of the couples are huge football fans. If you don't understand football, gaining 4 yards on your first down play on your own 25 is boring. Who cares? Well, football fan cares because getting four yards on first down, it's pretty good start. Opens up a number of options for second down. This will be. I wonder if it'll go with the run or the pass, blah, blah, blah. And soccer is the same way. If you have it explained to you. All right, here's what they're trying to do. Look how they're forming that triangle. He's going to go back to that guy. Because they're trying to free up that guy. Look, they went to him. They're trying to set up A cross from that. Once you know what they're doing and see them doing it, why do they go backwards so much? It's because the defense was controlling the movement of the ball. They had to regroup. So the offense, the attack was controlling the movement of the ball. If you understand that stuff, it's fun.

[Jack Armstrong]

But, yeah, I mentioned the other day that I feel like the announcers did a good job of dumbing it down enough that I finally understood some of us, some of it. Which made it more exciting. Like, in the NBA, I get double and triple teams. I had never really noticed that in soccer, but they showed how some of the star players, like Messi, does this all the time. He can get three guys on him because he's so good, and then all of a sudden, they got that many fewer dudes out there to, you know, defend anybody else. He draws three people over to him, and then he kicks it over their head.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And sometimes they've got a guy practically in his shirt the entire game, which would drive you insane. Dude, the ball's way over there. Can you give me a little personal space?

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, this is not really sports. I fell for this. The Buffalo Bills have just released their new logo for the upcoming season. Okay. Teams do this all the. All the time. Change their logos and gear and stuff like this to sell more stuff. It's their usual helmet, but the Buffalo has got the old man flying in the air in front of it.

[Joe Getty]

That is funny. That is amazing that my son and

[Jack Armstrong]

I were talking about this. It looks like AI. It's like a cartoon, the way the old guy goes up in the air and, like, flips over kind of slowly. It really. It looks like it has to be fake, but it's. It's real. I go buffer fast. I go buffer.

[Joe Getty]

All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Buffalo grass in the buffer smoke. I've got buffer bars. I've got buffer flow. I'm a buffer star. I'm a buffer pro. Buffalo. Buffalo.

[Joe Getty]

All right, all right. So that's a meme of some sort, is that correct?

[Jack Armstrong]

Apparently. May some people pronounce it.

[Joe Getty]

Well, they should stop.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're going to talk about that guy running for the Senate in Michigan as a Islamo fascist communist.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, we have Islam unists running for and winning office. Mamdani handful of congressional would be. Well, they'll probably win because they're in heavily Democratic districts. And we'll bring you some of the particulars. Also, the panic. It's been fairly quiet so far. It was like a lot of the establishment Republicans hated the Tea Party. Movement, which has been brutally mischaracterized and continues to be still. But it was fairly quiet because you don't want to be ripping in your own party. Well, there is frantic concern on the left about the far left, so we'll combine those two things for a bit of analysis. Also, we ought to take a look at this, a beautiful flower of Canadian womanhood. This crazy biatch. You slapped down a teenager at the Jersey Shore for wearing Trump gear. No, she and her husband are kooks. No, like satanic purvo kooks.

[Jack Armstrong]

You assaulted someone because they're wearing the other team's political gear. Yeah. That makes you crazy on its face.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah, it absolutely does.

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of politics, let me shoehorn this in here. I've got so many notes still about the 250th anniversary of this country that I never got to. I took so much stuff. So good.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we've talked about this before, but it's amazing every time I come across it. On the 4th of July, 1776, the age of our founding fathers. TJ was 33 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton was 21 years old.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, you're a child.

[Jack Armstrong]

Does your mom know you're trying to overthrow a country?

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

James Madison was 25. James Madison was 25 years old. John Adams was the old guy. If you watch the miniseries, which is fantastic, he was all of 40. George Washington was 44. John Hancock, 39. Patrick Henry, 40. Thomas Payne, 39. These are a lot of young men. Ben Franklin.

[Joe Getty]

Well, no wonder they respected Washington so much. I mean, holy cow. 46.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's my favorite line from the John Adams series that I'd forgotten from Benjamin Franklin. I believe in moderation. And I think any man who doesn't believe in moderation ought to be castrated.

[Joe Getty]

Barbaric. Hilarious. The great Ben Franklin.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's right. We've got a lot more in hour four. If you ever miss a segment of the show, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on Demand. You should subscribe.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Announcer]

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[Orderly Meds Advertiser]

Summer is here, which means we all want to look and feel our best. A GLP1 may be right for you. Visit orderlymeds.com to learn more about which GLP1 you you could be eligible for. Getting started is fast, easy, and happens virtually through telemedicine from licensed professionals. Check it out for yourself. Go to orderlymeds.com podcast that's orderlymeds.com podcast taking care of yourself feels great. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Eligibility required and determined by a licensed provider. Individual results may vary. See website for details.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is Tony Ayo from the Real Report with Tony AO and Uncle Murder. You ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rent, streaming, even extra Sosa at your favorite burrito spot? But with Boost Mobile, you don't have to play the Willis Go up soon game. Boost Mobile offers an unlimited talk, text and data plan at a price that'll never go up. It's the same price you'll pay for life. Switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up. Only at boost mobile. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan.

[Joe Getty]

Mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad, Lingokids, please. When did we become the Lingokids House?

[Announcer]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

[Joe Getty]

This week it was Lingokids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why Lingokids?

[Joe Getty]

Because it's the best thing ever. We can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes. With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids.

[Bethenny Frankel]

So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lingokids. Everything kids love, download it for free.