A Dimly Lit Room Blah Blah Blah

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "A Dimly Lit Room Blah Blah Blah" – Detailed Episode Summary

Release Date: February 24, 2025
Host/Authors: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast Description: The official, On-Demand podcast of The Armstrong & Getty Show! Accept no substitutes!

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1. Elon Musk's Directive to Federal Employees

Timestamp: 03:31 – 07:14

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into Elon Musk's controversial directive requiring federal employees to list five accomplishments each week to justify their positions. The hosts explore the implications of this mandate, questioning its feasibility and the underlying motivations.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (05:24): "Portraying it as, I love it. Portraying it as answering to Elon Musk as opposed to answering to taxpayers."
• Jack Armstrong (06:21): "I think federal employees and their unions have way too many protections."

The discussion highlights the tension between accountability and the protections traditionally afforded to federal workers. They debate whether such measures are a legitimate push for efficiency or an overreach that could destabilize governmental operations.

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2. Justifying Federal Roles and Comparisons to Private Sector

Timestamp: 07:14 – 10:18

The hosts compare federal employees' need to justify their roles with the accountability standards in the private sector. They argue that while private businesses thrive on measurable outcomes, government positions often lack the same level of scrutiny.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (08:42): "There's a hiring freeze. Anybody who resigns or retires, we're not going to replace them."
• Jack Armstrong (09:53): "Figure it out has been the answer for people in the private sector for a long time."

Jack and Joe emphasize the disparity between government and private sector job security and performance expectations, suggesting that federal employees might struggle under Musk's new policies.

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3. OnlyFans as an Example of Job Justification

Timestamp: 10:18 – 12:34

The conversation pivots to modern gig economy roles, using OnlyFans creators as an example of how individuals in non-traditional jobs might justify their work.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (11:40): "It seems like an odd way to live."
• Jack Armstrong (12:18): "This is the worst digression perhaps in the opening of the show history."

They humorously critique how individuals might list personal activities, such as self-care or casual expenditures, as legitimate job accomplishments, highlighting the absurdity of Musk's directive when applied to non-traditional careers.

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4. Germany’s Election and the Elephant Round

Timestamp: 13:45 – 31:00

Jack and Joe discuss Germany's recent election victory by the conservative party and the innovative "Elephant Round" – a post-election forum where all candidates convene to discuss future policies collaboratively.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (14:19): "The elephant round. We should start doing that."
• Jack Armstrong (30:19): "They all sit down and have a conversation about, where do we go from here?"

The hosts express fascination with the "Elephant Round," suggesting it fosters civility and comprehensive dialogue, contrasting it with the often polarized and contentious U.S. political landscape.

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5. The War in Ukraine: Three-Year Anniversary

Timestamp: 25:35 – 33:30

Marking three years since the Russian invasion, Armstrong and Getty reflect on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. They discuss the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the international community's response.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong (25:35): "It's a three-year anniversary of the bombs beginning to fall and Russia invading Ukraine completely unjustifiedly."
• Joe Getty (29:32): "Russia launching its biggest ever drone strike on Ukraine."

The conversation underscores the persistent instability in the region and criticizes Russia's actions, emphasizing the need for sustained support for Ukraine.

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6. Critique of DEI Programs

Timestamp: 44:02 – 46:47

The hosts offer a critical analysis of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, distinguishing between genuine advocates and those they perceive as ulterior motives.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (44:02): "Those who believe racism is justified and those who sincerely believe that racism has no part of DEI programs."
• Jack Armstrong (45:08): "DEI as an effort to have more diversity in our workplaces."

They argue that while some support DEI out of genuine belief in equality, others misuse it to mask deeper biases, calling for a more authentic and transparent approach to workplace diversity initiatives.

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7. Mailbag and Listener Correspondence

Timestamp: 42:40 – 43:42

Engaging with listener feedback, Jack and Joe address common misconceptions and clarify previous discussions, such as the confusion between TV characters Fred Mertz and sports figures.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty (42:43): "Happy birthday, Jack. Writes frequent correspondent Amani."
• Jack Armstrong (42:40): "Glad we've cleared up the issue of the day."

This segment fosters a sense of community, showing the hosts' responsiveness to their audience's comments and questions.

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8. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Segments

Timestamp: 47:22 – End

As the episode nears its conclusion, Jack and Joe preview upcoming discussions, including polling on trans athlete issues and further analysis of the Ukraine conflict. They reiterate their commitment to addressing contentious and timely topics, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for more in-depth conversations.

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Conclusion

In "A Dimly Lit Room Blah Blah Blah," Armstrong and Getty tackle a range of pressing political issues, from Elon Musk's attempts to enforce accountability among federal employees to Europe's evolving political strategies and the enduring conflict in Ukraine. Their candid discussions offer critical perspectives on government policies, international relations, and social programs, interspersed with humor and audience engagement. Notable quotes and thoughtful analysis make this episode a comprehensive and engaging listen for those interested in contemporary political discourse.

Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

Our world gets a little more connected.

[Joe Getty]

But a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Us to be more human.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

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[Joe Getty]

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Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now he's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Everybody who works on the show, Michael, Katie Hanson, Joe and I by the end of this segment need to list five things we've done in the last week to justify our jobs. Five things that we've accomplished in the last week that can justify our continuing.

[Joe Getty]

I picked up a wadded paper towel in the bathroom that I didn't need to. I just thought it'd look nicer without it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I watched a lot of television. That seems like a good idea.

[Joe Getty]

Live from Studio C. Other that nothing springs to mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

See, senor, a dimly lit room, blah, blah, blah, blah. Today, we're under the tutelage of our general manager, Elon Musk.

[Joe Getty]

Apparently, for better or worse.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was talking to some people who actually work in the federal government who got that email where you got to come up with five things to justify your job. And some of them said it was quite easy. And some of those who said it was quite easy said they know those who. It's a bit of a struggle to come up with five things. They have to get a little creative to come up with five things that they actually do in the last week. So depends on who you are and what your job is. I guess.

[Joe Getty]

This might be the absolute emblematic Trumpian move, or Muskie and move. Who knows if Trump even knew Elon was going to send it out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good question.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe not good question, but. But it's exactly. It's the perfect symbol of the Trumpian reality we're living in right now. In principle. I love it. As an idea, hey, what do you actually accomplish? What are you doing for your pay that's paid by the American taxpayer? That is a 100% legitimate inquiry. It ought to be happening all the time, as it does in the private sector. All the damn time. And you know what? In about six months, we're gonna ask you again and. Or just watch you and figure it out for ourselves. In principle. Beautiful. In reality, you got a bunch of Trump's own departments saying, what? No, don't do that. You don't have to do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's.

[Joe Getty]

It's flailing. It's prints. Okay, it's good in principle, but just too fast, too much, too nutty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why do you think those departments reacted that way? Some of them, the FBI and others saying, no, no, no, no, no, you don't need to fill out that list. Why do you think. What was the going on there?

[Joe Getty]

Including some of Trump's direct appointees. It's. Well, that. That mechanism doesn't exist, that you report to Elon Musk on the Internet or you get fired from your federal job. I mean, I think federal employees and their unions have way too many protections.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's not just.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, if Jeff Bezos says, no, no, forget that. I want to know how much you can lift. How much weight can you lift over your head? I mean, what then?

[Jack Armstrong]

And then Bill Gates says, I need to know what kind of car you drive by the end of the day.

[Joe Getty]

Right, exactly. And what year it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he's just compiling information, isn't he? I don't. So I responded to some Democratic senator I'd never even heard of. It's funny how There are only 100 senators, but like most. Well, most people can't name one senator. And then people who follow politics a lot can name like six, because it's always the same six. And then. But then there's a whole bunch of other senators. Like they'll pop up now and then you think you're a U.S. senator. Never heard of it.

[Joe Getty]

I don't recall that name.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, some Democratic US Senator, she tweeted out, elon Musk is not our boss and we are not gonna. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I read, I retweeted that with the response to her. Yeah, no, Elon Musk is not. But U.S. taxpayers are. And I think a lot of us taxpayers are pretty interested in what do all you people do? What did you do last week as a taxpayer? I'm interested, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree completely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Portraying it as, I love it. Portraying it as answering to Elon Musk as opposed to answering to taxpayers.

[Joe Getty]

I don't think it's accurate, although. No, it is accurate. It's 100% accurate. And the other one's 100% accurate too. That's the problem. This, there is. This is not a thing, as the kids say. This is, this is not. He has no power to compel anybody to do anything like that. Well, I mean, he can ask them to and that's fine. There's no legal power. Like all the lawyers in all the departments, including Trump appointees, are going to judges and saying, we don't know what's going on. We don't. The judge says, what's. What law are you resting on? And the lawyers are saying, and this literally, literally. And this is from a person who loathes progressives. Keep in mind, I want Trump to succeed. This is why I criticize. Not cuz I want him to fail, because I want him to succeed. His own lawyers are going into court and the judge is saying, what laws are you guys resting on? The lawyers say, we don't really know. And then. All right, what sort of facts are you bringing to bear that we don't know that either. I don't know. They just sent us here to argue it. Well, it's flailing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is there, well, is there a way to do it that's not flailing? I mean, there's so many protections for everybody. Is the, is the, is the only alternative to this, to just let it continue the way it is?

[Joe Getty]

You have the heads of, you have the heads of departments who you appointed and are now managing within the next few months or so say, hey, we could absolutely afford a 10% reduction in our workforce. Absolutely. There will be a hiring freeze. Anybody who resigns or retires, we're not going to replace them.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was talking to a federal employer.

[Joe Getty]

Or you had everybody write an essay and send it to. Dear Elon Musk, my name is Jim. I work in the Department of Agriculture, specifically in the sorghum division. What I do is I go to sorghum farms and tell the farmer, oh, come on, buy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Chalk this one up. Label this segment Joe's for big Government. Apparently Joe's for federal workers just wasting our tax money. The way I'm taking it. I was talking to a federal employee who, their particular department have lost a bunch of people. Last week they were people that were within that first couple of years where you can still fire them and they're gone. And everybody's horrified at how they're going to get their jobs done with less employees and being doing two people's jobs and all that sort of stuff. And again, I say, I mean, it sucks for you, but again, welcome to everybody else's life.

[Joe Getty]

My answer would be, how are you going to get all that work done? Let's find out exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's the way it's worked. I only know one industry, the radio industry, for the past 40 years of my life. But that has happened around here over the last couple of decades where just, you know, Jim's gone. You have Jim's got job now. I was busy before. How am I going to do my job And Jim's done? I don't know. Figure it out has been the answer for people in the private sector for a long time.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. Jack is exclusively been in the radio business. I run a website, an online shopping center for marital aids. And I can tell you that that market is, you've got to be very, very efficient because, you know, anybody can sell those things and then they're all more or less the same. So it's all about, you know, keeping the costs low.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you've got your only fans page, but you're Self employed. You work, you want to work. And that's one of the advantages.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. And who wouldn't like to lay around pleasuring themselves all day for a living?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh my God. Oh my God.

[Joe Getty]

I was, I. You know it's funny, I got sucked into a little clickbait of an only fans woman explaining her, her day and she was making a lot of money. She was making like low mid six figures, 350 grand, something like that. How is that possible?

[Jack Armstrong]

I just don't understand how there's the demand for the supply. But anyway, go on.

[Joe Getty]

But to, to, to get that you've constantly got to post new content. And whether you're actually doing the on camera work or the editing and marketing and social media and stuff like that, it's, it's, it's a pretty good work day. But, but to spend one to four hours a day just probing yourself, et cetera, I just seems like an odd way to live.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, not specifically OnlyFans but just any of those websites, anything online in general. That's one of Mr. Beast's things. He tells all the young people. Don't think that this is something you can just do kind of as a hobby. It, I mean it has to dominate your life. You work constantly.

[Joe Getty]

To be able to actually content is seriously the tip of an iceberg.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And you have to provide it constantly.

[Joe Getty]

And as P. Diddy would tell you, it's just tremendous amount of lubrication.

[Jack Armstrong]

So if you, so if you ask this only fans woman justify your job. What are five things you've accomplished in the last week? And say well, I masturbated a thousand times, I bought some high heels.

[Joe Getty]

Let's see, I put this in my that and also that over here.

[Jack Armstrong]

I went to a tanning bed. And so let's easily, easily justify. Boy, this is the worst digression perhaps in the opening of the show history.

[Joe Getty]

I blame myself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you came out pro government. We need to. Do we have to switch the topic? I'm Jack Armstrong, he's Joe Getty on this. It is Monday, February 24, the year 2025 where Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Brand new week. Let's start it. Here we go. According to FCC rules and regulations. I want to see those FCC commissioners justify any paycheck they get. Please. What do people do? Anyway, here we go at mark. My message to young men is don't allow this broken culture to send you a message that you're a bad person because you're a man. Because you like to tell a joke because you like to have a beer with your friends or because you're competitive. Our message, the cultural message, and I think the president's and mine is the exact opposite. But our cultural message is, I think that it wants to turn everybody into, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same. We actually think God made male and female for a purpose. And we want you guys to thrive as young men and as young women. And we're going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that. Love it.

[Jack Armstrong]

JD Vance Justifying Toxic Masculinity. Details to come in.

[Joe Getty]

In comparison with the horrors that would have been visited upon our fair country had the moron from California won the presidency. I, I am so, so happy with most of what's happening. Like I said before, I'm criticizing some of the methodology because I want it to succeed, not because I want it to fail.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that reminds me. Speaking of Kamala, we need to introduce the elephant round into American politics like they do in Germany. We need the elephant round.

[Joe Getty]

The what now? That'd be awesome.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll talk about that later. I just learned about this yesterday with the German election. Maybe I'll tell you about that next. The elephant round. We should, we should start doing that. Let's all vote for it. Among other things, it's the three year anniversary of the start of that horrifying war in Ukraine, which we'll be talking about that.

[Joe Getty]

Plus we've got Katie's headlines coming up in moments.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Three year anniversary of the war in Ukraine beginning with Vladimir Putin launching the most vile and evil war from a major country since World War II. He started it there, let there be no question. And it fits in with the German presidential elections I had over the weekend. Certainly played a role. And and then we'll talk about what the elephant round is, which I just learned about yesterday that they have in their politics that we should have.

[Joe Getty]

It sounds like it's ready to start. Hey, next segment, one more note on J.D. vance's quote that we opened the show with and we'll get to a little more of that down the line. But I was coming to my wife last night and a misogynist is the last thing I am. I'm the proud dad of two wonderful brave daughters and you know, super proud of them and want them to have great lives. Blah blah, blah, blah, blah. End of the disclaimer. There's a new show on NBC. I can't remember one of the big networks, the Pit or something. It's about some super secret classified prison with the worst of the worst. Psychopathic terrorists, multiple murdering lunatics. And there's some big prison break. And who do they send to really bring them in? These violent horrifying individuals. And it's gonna be a bloodbath to get them 110 pound hottie, which is about as likely as a 370 pound white guy. Being an Olympic sprinter, you might as well have a drama show about a 375 pound white guy winning the hundred meter dash in the Olympics. It's utterly ridiculous, but it's part of that whole bizarre, idiotic, unrealistic women kick ass thing. Sure they do, but not at that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, we got it. We got to get to Katie's headlines.

[Joe Getty]

Do we? Do we like Elon Musk handing out edicts right and left? All right, let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead stories Katie Green, starting with the Associated Press.

[Jack Armstrong]

Federal workers face mass confusion as Musk's.

[Joe Getty]

Deadline to list accomplishments looms.

[Jack Armstrong]

I really, you know, I want government workers who aren't needed to go. I really do. But a little tip from old Jack, who's been shooting for a bee his whole life and found workarounds for a lot of things. I have a feeling that if you put down practically anything on a piece of paper, you'll be okay. I just don't think there's going to be room or time or money for scrutiny to like really nail down. Are you sure you had an appointment at 3 o'clock last Thursday?

[Joe Getty]

It reminds me of what I was told about the, like the steroid test in baseball. It's not a steroid test. It's an intelligence test. If you're not smart enough to get around it, you don't deserve to play.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I think that was part of it. Elon said if you don't want to do that, then feel free to, to resign. I think it might be if you're not even willing to try to justify your job gift, I think that might be part of it. And in the same vein from the.

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Washington Post, several administration officials tell their.

[Jack Armstrong]

Workers not to Reply to Elon Musk. Musk's email. Yeah. Could this be the beginning of the Trump Musk feud that everybody anticipates at some point? I don't know. From the Wall Street Journal.

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Hezbollah, once dominant in Lebanon, shows new signs of weakness.

[Jack Armstrong]

They're broke. The Houthis fired it on one of our fighter jets over the weekend. First time they've done that. So that was, that was exciting.

[Joe Getty]

National Review editorial board says it's time to unleash hell. I agree completely. From Axios, Zelensky says he's ready to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Resign if it brings peace to Ukraine.

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Or if Ukraine can join NATO.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we got a lot on Ukraine later on the three year anniversary today, Newsweek, Donald Trump celebrates Joy Reid cancellation.

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Quote, least talented people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Joy Reid's show is going away on msnbc. You probably don't know who she was and you never watched it, but she was horrible and she's gone.

[Joe Getty]

I wonder if they canceled it because it's a steaming pile of crap. Nobody watched. That's my theory.

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Bye bye.

[Joe Getty]

The star reporter, Tiger King Joe.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exotic releases. New quote, powerful lovemaking song from prison.

[Joe Getty]

You ick.

[Jack Armstrong]

You and ick.

[Joe Getty]

Just move on. Oi. And finally, the Babylon Messy Inmate. Love you.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Babylon Bee paternity test reveals Luke Skywalker's father is actually Elon Musk. Oh, we gotta talk about that. How about that chick who, who, who roped him into having a baby with her and her texts came out over the weekend and that's really an interesting story.

[Joe Getty]

Just saw the headline. Don't know the deets.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's a good one. And. Oh yeah, we'll talk about it more later. So what's the elephant round in politics in Germany? We need to start having that in the United States, among other things. There's lots to talk about today. We got to catch up from the whole weekend. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

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[Ashley Kinetti]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Our best policy.

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[Joe Getty]

Russia launching its biggest ever drone strike on Ukraine. The capital city of Kyiv under attack. Ukraine has weathered assaults like these every single day for almost three years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's a three year anniversary of the bombs beginning to fall and Russia invading Ukraine completely unjustifiedly, in every way possible, and killing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people if you include their own soldiers. And it's just absolutely awful. And so we'll be talking more about that later. And play some sound from what it sounded like three years ago today when the whole thing started. This is from the Wall Street Journal today, which is interesting. President Macron is at the White House meeting with Trump today. The Macron, the leader of France in The Wall Street Journal writing, britain and France are developing a plan to deploy up to 30,000 European peacekeepers. Call them troops. They're troops in Ukraine if Moscow and Kyiv reach a ceasefire deal. But the European proposal hinges on persuading President Trump to agree to a limited US Military role, which he and Hegseth have said is off the table. Dubbing that a backstop by British officials to protect the European troops in Ukraine if they were put in danger and deter Russia violating any cease fire. I think more than the or along with the idea that our, that our troops would be very helpful if Russia to attack to the European troops. It would be okay. It's on now. The United States is now, you know, in a war with Russia. Right. We'll be okay. I don't be desired. I don't see Trump and Hexath agreeing to that, do you?

[Joe Getty]

How about establishing the, the air defense system with our technology and consultants, training personnel and that's it. Something like that. Some half measure, no fly zone enforcement, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we'll see where these negotiations go. Thought it was interesting, Zielinski saying over the weekend that he'd be, he'd be happy to step down if, if that somehow gets us closer to a peace deal.

[Joe Getty]

Very bad at being a dictator. Terrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I guess that's the reason you say that, to make it clear for anybody who wasn't sure that he's not a dictator, the dictator is Vladimir Putin. Anyway, again, like I said, we'll have more on the whole Russia, Ukraine thing later. So I'm. This is a complicated thing that's going on and some of it is important about the tone, I guess, or however far it goes. So all this, J.D. vance goes to Europe and gives that speech about, you know, some of her European friends and they got problems within and their free speech stuff and this and that, and they need to step up and support themselves and everything like that. So Germany has their election over the weekend and the conservatives win. And this new guy, Fred Mertz, if you're old enough to remember the Honeymooners, Fred Mertz is now going to be the leader of Germany.

[Joe Getty]

By the way, I'll just step in right here. I'm gonna step in right here so we don't get 800 more emails. Because I said the same thing. Fred Mertz was the neighbor on I Love Lucy, not the Honeymooners. I don't care. I just don't want to get any more emails.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, it's funny, I was thinking, okay, cool, is Joe's gonna jump in with something important that I need to know about the whole European. NATO, us, Ukraine.

[Joe Getty]

No, I have nothing.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, it was. Which show is Fred Mertz on? Yes, Katie, I'm. I'm really happy that Joe is doing.

[Joe Getty]

This because they tracked me down on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Twitter to let me know. To let you know. Now, you're a young person. Have you ever seen any of these shows? Yeah. You have? Okay. Yes. I never know what people have seen reruns or not.

[Joe Getty]

Well, the Honeymooners aired, like, 25 years before I was born. Right. I was aware of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

We saw them back when there were only a couple of channels, and they re ran them. And now there's, like, eight gazillion things you could watch every single day.

[Joe Getty]

I have no idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Age of reruns.

[Joe Getty]

Don't worry.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

For the record, I couldn't give a crap if that was the professor's real name on Gilligan's island, but I just want to just stop getting the emails. So there we were. There we are. Where were we? Ukraine, under attack by the true dictator.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So Fred Mertz is going to run. He's. He's the leader of the moderately conservative party that kicked out the old lefty party there in Germany, and he gave a speech yesterday, and the ultra conservatives had their biggest showing they've ever had. A lot of it around immigration and a bunch of other stuff. But so this new guy, Fred Mertz, he gives a speech in the elephant round, which we need to start having here in the United States.

[Joe Getty]

There it is. It's begun.

[Jack Armstrong]

At the end of an election, they have what they call the elephant round, and they bring in everybody who was running into one room, and they sit at a table and they discuss the issues and how. I. I can't imagine that happening in the United States. I mean, in the United States, it would just be probably two people, maybe three or four, if you're gonna be really generous.

[Joe Getty]

Just before election day.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, at the end of the election, after you've picked the winner. They did it last night. So after Fred Mertz has declared, you know, he's gonna be the winner, they all sit down and it's a big TV show that everybody watches with everybody ran, you know, saying all their crap that you say in elections and then sitting down and have a conversation about, where do we go from here? And I find that fascinating. I don't know what that would look like in the United States. I don't know what German elections are like. Do they. Do they. Are there elections like ours where people say all Kinds of wild, crazy s that can't come ever, ever come true. And, you know, and then say that if that person wins, it's the end of democracy. And then abandoned that the moment the election is over. I mean, I. So I don't know what it would look like.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not an expert on German elections, but they're exceedingly polite and, and, and gentlemanly by our standards. Very.

[Jack Armstrong]

They should be compared to ours. But anyway, during the elephant round, this new guy, Fred Mertz, who's running the thing, said, my goal is to make us as independent and Europe as independent from the United States as we can possibly be. We need to be able to stand on our own. We can't count on the United States anymore. So it's being portrayed by, you know, Trump haters as, look, Europe can't count on us, our best allies can't count on us anymore. Whereas I'm hoping for more of a nuanced. They're getting the lesson that they need to be able to support themselves. It can't be the United States supplying their defense forever. It doesn't work.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, this is a great example of both things being true. Has Trump pissed off and shaken up our European allies? Maybe more than he needed to? Yeah, you could absolutely make that argument. On the other hand, if Fred Mertz, with the support of both Lucy and Desi, were to, you know, beef up their defenses, start living up to their obligations, and be strong enough to be fairly independent from the United States, that would make them an ally worth having.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think it's that complicated a reality. We mentioned this last week. You mentioned it, but let me read from it. This is from the New York Times. In 2011, you might remember from the date that Barack Obama was the President of the United States and his Secretary of defense is who we're quoting here. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sharply criticized NATO nations on Friday for what he said were shortages of military spending and political will, warning of a dim, if not dismal future and irrelevance for the alliance unless more core members contributed weapons, money and personnel. In his final policy speech before he stepped down again, this is Obama's Sec. Def issued a dire and unusually direct warning that the United States, the traditional leader and patron of the alliance, was exhausted by a decade of war and its own mounting budget deficits and simply might not see NATO as a. A group we need to be involved with in the future. So.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That happened under Obama because it's freaking true. It's just absolutely true. So the whole the. Our allies can't count on us anymore. Okay, this has been going on for a while, giving that message.

[Joe Getty]

First of all, unfortunate flashbacks to my high school garden guidance counselor when you said a dim, if not dismal future, that was such an uncomfortable meeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, like every report card I ever got had that scrawled at the bottom.

[Joe Getty]

Jack has a dim, if not dismal future. Unless he buckles down.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's funny.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, it's. You know, it reminds me, the press's relationship with Trump is. It's so. I mean, it's become so obvious at this point. It's a little trite to even talk about it. Not only is he their. Their ratings promotion and their desperate click bait fodder, but the relationship's a great deal like, you know, if you have crumbling relationship, personal relationship, where you just criticize the other, you find fault with the other person for everything they do, even if it's the same things you do, the same things you did two weeks ago. It's just completely nonsense at this point. And Trump is a bull in a china shop. Absolutely. He antagonizes where he doesn't need to, but to get to the core demand, which is what is important. Yeah, it's exactly like Obama and his people.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you saying that, okay, that's fine. You know, you can say whatever you want. But is it possible.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, thank you. What is this? Germany people have free speech, but we will tell you what free speech.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is it possible to pull ourselves away from news story and then defending or criticizing Trump? Is it possible to leave Trump out of this and just discuss the fact that Europe needs to get stronger and be more military capable, militarily capable and, and be able to defend itself and not think, you know, we can spend all our money on ridiculous social programs and people retiring at 50 because the United States will come if, if we're ever invaded by Russia. That's got to end.

[Joe Getty]

Were it only Germany, that would be a worthy discussion. It's also France and Britain. Does Spain even have a gun? I mean, just all the European countries, except for maybe Sweden and Finland that are. That are pretty hard assets and increasingly so because they're so close to Vladimir Putin's expansionist czarist Russia starting in second.

[Jack Armstrong]

Grade, bottom of the report card.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack still can't tie his shoes, and we project a dim and dismal future if he doesn't try harder.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Taco. You're mentioning of Taco Tuesday reminded me I talk a little need to talk a little bit about some of my eating choices over my birthday weekend. It's just, I know I don't know what's going on there. Part of my brain broke.

[Joe Getty]

I love tacos. I apparently love chicken, fish, steak.

[Jack Armstrong]

I apparently love gluttony. Just a minute. I might be a glutton. I gotta look up the definition of glutton. I might actually be.

[Joe Getty]

You should, you should take a look in the mirror. If you got a big enough mirror.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want the mirror. They have a nice hotels that slim you so you look nicer. I need the slimming mirrors. That's what I need. We've got Mailbag on the way and and a lot more of the day. Here's our text line. 415295 KFTC.

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[Jack Armstrong]

That welcome you home.

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[Jack Armstrong]

And the more you cover, the more you can save. Amica.

[Joe Getty]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

During the Nazi reign of terror.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Definition of gluttony according to Merriam Webster excess or drinking greedy or excessive indulgence in taking in food. Sounds like that sounds like me. Apparently I am that Trump got into a war of words with some governors over the weekend around the whole trans athlete thing. And the New York Times out with some new polling on that how Americans feel about that issue. He's so on the right side of this. I mean it's not even close, but we'll get to that now or two.

[Joe Getty]

Can't wait. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day George the great George Washington with Jack requested last week. So let's do a week of great George Washington quotes. My favorite if the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mentioned to a guy over the weekend I'm in at this closing store and I said, it's my birthday today. So he said, oh, happy birthday, my birthday's tomorrow. And I said, oh cool, your birthday's Washington's birthday? He said, yeah, yeah. He said, you know, I say that to people and people most of the time say who I thought. Really?

[Joe Getty]

Whoa. Really? Whoa. If you deny people their history, they forget who they are and are easily molded into what you want them to be. Orwell spelled it out fairly eloquently in a couple of books mailbag. The progressives who are trying to get confused adolescent boys into girls sports courts are the same people who refuse to teach about the great George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, that sort of thing. They're denying us our history. It is Marxism 101. Anyway, let's see, Fred Mertz was on I Love Lucy, not the Honeymooners. We covered that. You can drop us a Note [e-mail] we should probably mention that once a segment so people listening to the podcast will stop.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm glad we've emails, glad we've cleared up the issue of the day.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, absolutely. The the issue that's been tearing America apart. Happy birthday, Jack. Writes frequent correspondent Amani. I think you said you're gonna have some time to yourself. Hope it was nice and relaxing. Perhaps you even lifted your baked good band for the day and were able to down a couple of pies. Just because you have a general ban in effect doesn't mean you can't have a couple of pie windows that open up each year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pie windows? That's what I need, a pie window.

[Joe Getty]

Don't allow mission creep around those pie windows.

[Jack Armstrong]

I do need to talk about what I did on my birthday and how you hold on to that feeling. I think we've all experienced this before, but anyway, stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, interesting. How about French Camp? Pat, on the topic of 60 minutes, it's funny, Pat, you had similar experience to me last night. Guys, I've had some reservations regarding some of the Trump administration's actions, the J6 pardons, tariffs, doge and others. But after watching 60 Minutes the last two weeks and their aggressive, unfair criticism of Trump, I'M confident Trump is doing the right things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. That is. Is there. Have we come up with a term for that? If we. If we have, I don't recall. Essentially, the obnoxiousness of the media and many Democrats, which we'll get into, you know, soon during the show, just drives you into the Trump camp.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Like, yeah, he can be a real a hole. But I tell you who, I'm not ever gonna join forces with you lunatics. Moving along, Paolo, I think there are two categories of DEI supporters. Those who believe racism is justified and those who sincerely believe that racism has no part of DEI programs. The first group are just racists. I think they're often disingenuous. They don't admit racism. They try to justify it, probably because they know it's a steep hill to climb. Indeed, they generally deny it. They cannot be persuaded to modify their beliefs or even discuss them in good faith. You're absolutely right. Yeah, they're activists. Neo Marxist activists. The second group is either uninformed or naive or they've been gaslighted by the first group. This group will listen to reason. They can be won over. But how? Let's hope the second group is larger than the first. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Multiple times over the weekend, with Trump firing that black chairman of the joint. Whatever. Over the weekend. We'll talk about that later. But several times over the weekend, I heard news outlets report DEI as an effort to have more diversity in our workplaces.

[Joe Getty]

Right. That's the COVID story. That's the insidiously clever cover story. Because they know they exploit our goodness. They know Americans aren't racists, and they say, you got to be down with this or you're a racist. And people who are busy or dopey or. Or gaslighted or whatever, they say, oh, well, I'm not a racist, so I guess, yeah, I've got to be down with this. No, no, no, it's. It's a lie, Robin. Beautiful El Dorado county in California, right, guys? The LA mayor blames the fire chief and fires her for not calling in reserve personnel and not telling the mayor to not go on her trip to Africa. But the mayor would have blown her top if somebody had tried to tell her what to do. So the real people who are to blame are the voters who elected the mayor and the city council who hired the fire chief? Elections do matter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who'd she fire?

[Joe Getty]

Karen Bass. Fired the lady fire chief Friday afternoon. Friday evening.

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't hear that.

[Joe Getty]

A funny coincidence. Just when it would get no news coverage.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was in LA on Friday, but I wasn't paying attention to the news.

[Joe Getty]

Because the fire chief has been saying no. Everything the mayor is saying is a lie about our preparation, our budget, et cetera. Yeah, Karen Bass is an evil person. She's a bad person. She's a union hack who lives only to hand out money to her cronies. Wake up. Figure that out and or be willing to say to your public employee union friends, hey, you know, the people that y'all get elected over and over again are ruining our state. Illinois. Get the memo. Massachusetts. New York, Same memo.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is absolutely unbelievable.

[Joe Getty]

I want to get to this. How much time do we have? Michael? Like seconds. Occasionally, somebody when they're writing about NATO says the US Overthrew a freely elected government to get Zelensky elected. The Poroshenko government was a puppet of Moscow. Their election was as legitimate as Putin's are. If you're walking around saying Poroshenko was freely elected, you have swallowed awful, dishonest Kremlin talking points. You need to take a look at yourself. Why would Poroshenko was a crook?

[Jack Armstrong]

New York Times, new polling on the whole trans a few issue. I think you'll like this. Among other things on the way. If you miss a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand Armstrong.

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[Ashley Kinetti]

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