A Play On Words That Involves Vomit

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: A Play On Words That Involves Vomit
Date: January 23, 2026
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

In this lively and fast-paced episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, joined by producer Michael and newswoman Katie Greener, deliver their signature blend of current events, media critiques, pop culture riffs, and personal anecdotes. The main highlights include sharp commentary on US politics, neuroscience insights about learning and curiosity, a satirical performance-art idea involving "regurgitated" facts, heated discussion of Don Lemon’s controversial activism, and reflections on snow days, athleticism, and the NFL’s global ambitions.

The episode’s title—“A Play On Words That Involves Vomit”—arises from a humorous segment about learning and memory, ending in a comedic proposal for a performance piece involving the literal regurgitation of facts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. "Clips of the Week" – Political Satire and Media Commentary

[00:26–03:19]

• The team recaps the week’s political highlights and absurdities through their "Clips of the Week," poking fun at Donald Trump, Gavin Newsom, and other media personalities (notably Don Lemon).

• They riff on pop-culture references, such as Trump as a "T. Rex" and Newsom as "Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken" ([01:35], Katie Greener).

• Example of satirical banter:

  "Donald Trump, he’s a T. Rex. You mate with him or he devours you."
  — Don Lemon ([01:30])

• Armstrong and Getty lampoon political theater and the overwrought tone of political punditry.

2. On Learning: Curiosity, Motivation, and the Science of Memory

[06:09–13:29]

• Joe Getty shares a summary of research from the Annual Review of Psychology about how motivation and curiosity impact memory:

  • When genuinely curious, the brain enters “sponge mode” (an “interrogative state”) and absorbs information better—including peripheral details ([08:07], Joe Getty).
  • Stress-induced, “exam-cramming” learning (with noradrenaline in play) is contrasted—students absorb isolated facts under pressure, but without deep understanding ([09:33–12:32]).
  • Personal anecdotes about being able to memorize lots of details when motivated (e.g., car facts) but struggling with uninteresting school subjects.
  • The team discusses whether it’s possible to “force” oneself into curiosity, with Joe suggesting “reframing” tasks as puzzles or learning how things work in real life ([13:53]):

    "Your brain treats questions as puzzles worth solving."
    — Joe Getty ([13:54])

• The segment closes with Joe floating the idea of a performance art piece:

  "I'm gonna stick my finger down my throat and I'm gonna vomit...and what I vomit is going to be a bunch of statements of things that are true, and I'm gonna look at the audience and say, 'I'm just regurgitating facts.' Isn't that brilliant?"
  — Joe Getty ([12:54])
  This becomes the episode's titular "play on words" involving vomit, to much laughter from the crew.

3. Don Lemon: Media, Activism, and Public Discourse

[15:28–29:53]

• Joe and Jack critique Don Lemon’s role as an activist-journalist, especially regarding his involvement in a protest that disrupted a church service in Minneapolis.
  • The discussion critiques Lemon’s "self-importance," perceived hypocrisy, and his insistence on framing events as rooted in white supremacy ([25:54–26:54]).
  • A memorable rhetorical volley:

    "When he cuts himself shaving, does he bleed self-importance?"
    — Michael ([26:55])

  • Joe opines:

    "What a piece of crap he is. Anyway, he was part of the mob of protesters, rioters that made it impossible to conduct a Christian church service..."
    — Joe Getty ([22:22])

  • They play audio of Lemon tying criticism to white supremacy and respond with sarcasm and exasperation.
• A segment ("Don, Truly a Sour Fruit") features Don Lemon in a comedically tangled street debate about whether entering the country illegally is a crime or just breaking the rules, which leaves him verbally outmaneuvered by passersby ([27:42–29:14]).
  • Joe observes:

    "They've got him completely flummoxed and tied up in knots...It's just a couple of people walking down the street..."
    — Joe Getty ([29:25])

4. Athleticism, the NFL, and Changing Sports Science

[17:21–18:33]

• The hosts discuss the apparent leap in athleticism in modern football—citing data, evolution, improved training and nutrition, and anecdotal remarks.
  • Listeners weigh in via text, noting that today’s best women athletes could outperform men from 30 years ago in some sports, underlining advances in human performance.

5. Karl Rove, Trump, and Presidential Historiography

[18:33–21:51]

• The pair discuss Karl Rove’s Wall Street Journal article critiquing Trump’s second-term behavior.
  • They question whether Trump has truly changed or if the perception is shaped by media environments and shifting political alliances.
  • Joe posits:

    "He cracks way too many eggs when he makes an omelet. He cracks like the three eggs and then five more in the carton."
    — Joe Getty ([21:09])

  • They predict Trump’s historical ranking may improve with time ("He'll go up," [21:10], Michael).

6. Snow Days, School Policy, and Remote Learning

[30:10–32:48]

• Jack expresses nostalgia and mourning for traditional snow days, sharing anecdotes from childhood, while lamenting new policies replacing snow days with Zoom classes ([31:28]).
• Joe cynically suggests the shift is partly about funding and indoctrination, not education:

  "We're here to indoctrinate the kids into hating their country and into neo-Marxism. We don't care if they learn a damn thing."
  — Joe Getty ([32:17])

7. The NFL’s International Expansion and Flag Football

[32:55–33:38]

• The crew discusses the NFL’s push for global popularity and youth flag football, wondering about its appeal and commercial prospects abroad.

8. Final Thoughts and Banter

[33:48–35:18]

• The episode closes with lighthearted “final thoughts” from all cast members, featuring stories of snow days, powderpuff football, and affectionate digs at NFL officiating culture.
• Armstrong and Getty sign off urging listeners to follow, subscribe, and review their podcast.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On learning and curiosity:

  "Curiosity is akin to putting the brain, what they call charmingly, 'sponge mode.' It doesn't just absorb the thing we're curious about, it soaks up everything around at that moment."
  — Joe Getty ([08:07])

• On stress and memory:

  "Stress activates the amygdala... with less help from the hippocampus, which is known to destroy canoes and drown the people in them. I'm sorry, I'm just... It's Friday. I'm through."
  — Joe Getty (jokingly, [11:39])

• On Don Lemon:

  "When he cuts himself shaving, does he bleed self importance."
  — Michael ([26:55])

• On Trump’s “omelet” style:

  "He cracks way too many eggs when he makes an omelet. He cracks like the three eggs and then five more in the carton."
  — Joe Getty ([21:09])

• On snow day magic:

  "I don't know if there is a feeling as great as my mom coming in and telling me, they canceled school today."
  — Jack Armstrong ([30:46])

• On the demise of snow days:

  "God, you're taking away one of the greatest things on Earth, the snow day. If Zoom worked, it would make sense... but they don't work."
  — Michael ([32:23])

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Useful Timestamps

• Clips of the Week & Political Satire: [00:26–03:19], [03:19–05:00]
• Learning, Curiosity & Brain Science: [06:09–13:34]
• Don Lemon, Activism, & Public Debate: [15:28–29:53]
• Karl Rove, Trump, and History: [17:02–21:29]
• Snow Days & School Policy: [30:10–32:48]

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains Armstrong & Getty’s trademark irreverence, wit, and rapid-fire banter. The tone veers between sarcastic, reflective, and occasionally biting, especially when discussing public figures or cultural trends. Even through serious discussions, humor is ever-present—often undercutting or highlighting the absurdities of contemporary news and media.

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This thorough recap delivers the key ideas, memorable jokes, and social critiques from "A Play On Words That Involves Vomit," providing a vivid sense of the episode for those who missed it.

Transcript

[Joe Getty]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting. Live from the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael]

The President announced today we have an armada headed toward Iran. The last time he mentioned an armada headed somewhere, it was headed toward Venezuela. And we know how that went.

[Joe Getty]

You know how I hate the Spaniards. Is there a reason we're using that term? Is that a Spanish term? I've always heard of the Spanish Armada.

[Michael]

I don't actually know if it's a Spanish term.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's an English equivalent.

[Michael]

I think it's the agreed upon term for a whole bunch of boats that are going to do warfare, like activity.

[Joe Getty]

But not your whole Navy. It's just. It's a whole bunch of boats. Okay, fair enough. Who am I to quibble? Coming up, why you can learn so quickly sometimes. This is fascinating. You will learn if you stay tuned. But first, let's take a fond look back at the week that was what a cherished Friday tradition. It's cow Clips of the week.

[Jack Armstrong]

Clips of the week.

[Joe Getty]

I would encourage everyone to be optimistic.

[Katie Greener]

And excited about the future.

[Joe Getty]

Sit back, relax.

[Katie Greener]

This will work out.

[Joe Getty]

It might be a disaster.

[Don Lemon]

Donald Trump, he's a T. Rex. You mate with him or he devours you.

[Joe Getty]

What?

[Katie Greener]

Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Kin. He's here with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros.

[Don Lemon]

I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders.

[Katie Greener]

If you brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. President Trump lashing out at NATO allies as he escalates his push for Greenland because the boat went there 500 years ago and then left. That doesn't give you title to property. We are in the midst of a.

[Michael]

Rupture, not a transition.

[Joe Getty]

How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenwood?

[Michael]

You'll find out. It's not specific enough to know at this point how long this lasts. Forever.

[Joe Getty]

Forever.

[Michael]

It'll be forever.

[Don Lemon]

More tension, including a Sunday church service.

[Michael]

Disrupted by around 40 protesters.

[Joe Getty]

You will be judged not by a God, but by our court of law. You Nazi. Compliance, they think is optional. Compliance is not optional. A Canadian man accused of posing as a commercial pilot and a flight attendant in order to get on hundreds of flights has been arrested. Now five of the biggest alcohol makers in the world are sitting on what's described as a lake of unsold alcohol. Veronica the cow. Using a tool to Scratch her back. It looks like whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Four lands.

[Church Protester]

It's good.

[Joe Getty]

Two, Lance. He's going to take off and run, then go. Weaves his way first and go diving toward the end zone. Touchdown.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's Clips of the week.

[Michael]

Wow, that was a cool football play. That was one cool play.

[Joe Getty]

Both brutal and acrobatic. I'm Joe Getty.

[Michael]

Do I understand that the Governor of California and the Secretary of the treasury went back and forth with.

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Michael]

You give oral sex to dudes to curry favor. Oh, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Me. You do. Oh, boy. Conversant with some nasty nose.

[Michael]

That's where we are in our discourse. Now.

[Joe Getty]

Perhaps we could all take a step back and. Nope. I'm being told by the booth, no, we're not going to. All right. You know, that reminds me, in an unfortunate way, I've got to pay this off before the end of the show, which is rapidly approaching a featurette I have assembled and have entitled Don Lemon truly a sour fruit.

[Michael]

Stay with us. That's fantastic. Oh. So the Treasury Secretary who said Gavin Newsom needs to wear knee pads to. I don't know what he's supposed to.

[Joe Getty]

Be doing, but Alex Soros.

[Michael]

I guess we have a new.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yes.

[Michael]

Treasury Secretary Bessert.

[Katie Greener]

I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking up with some of these things he's saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo. And being on the national stage is very different than being Governor of California with no signature achievements. But to say strange things like President Trump is a Tyrannosaurus rex. What the hell does that mean? I could say Gavin Newsom is a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut. And, you know, if he brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. Wow. So do not get into a battle of wits with a gay man who has an IQ of 145.

[Michael]

Well, I was going to say, I hate to be stereotypical, but our gay Secretary of the treasury has a pretty good caddy game that he can unleash if he needs to.

[Joe Getty]

World class. That was so good.

[Michael]

That's funny. I thought that same thing when I heard it again in Clif Clips of the Week. Donald Trump is Tyrannosaurus.

[Joe Getty]

What is it?

[Michael]

What does that mean?

[Joe Getty]

Either mate. No, I. I actually get that. You either mate with them or he devours you. You've got to give in to him completely.

[Michael]

Why do you choose T Rex, though? Is that well known about T? It's well known About a lot of different beasts. Oh yeah, but I didn't know about T. Rexes.

[Joe Getty]

No, I just had to pick that up from context. I've never heard that about T. I don't think much has been is known about the love making game of the Tyrannosaurus rats.

[Michael]

I guess you're probably right. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

I don't imagine giant lizards engage in a lot of like, sweet talk and foreplay.

[Michael]

And I say you're like a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut. And by the way, if you brought knee pads, it's to. Whoa.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, everybody, let's take a step back again. Wait, I'm being told again, that's not gonna happen. Okay, I found this so interesting. I'll bet we all have examples of this. I, you know, you get the brain you get, and it's not like a moral thing that you should brag about if you happen to be bright. And certainly people who are not terribly bright, as long as they're nice people, it's the height of cruelty and stupidity, oddly enough, to make fun of somebody who's just not blessed with a lot of intelligence. Okay. Having said that, when I was a kid, I could learn things very, very quickly. But then there were times, especially in college, that I would struggle to learn something, but other stuff sucked up like a sponge. They finally figured out what is semi obvious. If you're actually curious about something, it turns your brain into a different mode. Major research review published in the Annual Review of Psychology analyzed decades of studies on how motivation affects memory. The process led to finding that when someone is genuinely curious about something, for instance, how to pronounce genuinely, their brain doesn't just remember the answers better, it remembers everything that was happening while they were learning that, including irrelevant crap.

[Michael]

So do you have any control over that? Like, can you, like, try to convince yourself to care about something? I. I'm thinking about my high schooler who really struggles to learn certain things because he doesn't give a crap. In classes. He says, I just can't learn this. I say, you can look at a car and say, that's a 2008 Chevy Malibu, the kind of engine it has, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You've memorized lots of things. You just aren't memorizing this stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Do you have any control over that?

[Joe Getty]

No, I doubt it. Essentially. Well, yeah, I suppose I could spin a screed about, you have to dig into it and realize, okay, this is significant for this reason, that reason, this reason. And I always tried with My kids when they were in that mode, because that is so familiar to me. Me personally, I just attack something like Gavin Newsom's Tyrannosaurus rex if I was interested in it. And I just couldn't motivate myself at all if I wasn't. So with my kids, I would say, remember now, the stuff you do care about, whether it's, you know, being able to do math or understanding some subject they weren't that interested in, that will help you get to where you want to be in that field. It's a tool to use. I know you're not interested in it in itself, but it's a tool to get you where you want to go. I don't know how well that worked, but anyway, curiosity is akin to putting the brain what they call, charmingly, sponge mode. It doesn't just absorb the thing we're curious about. It soaks up everything around at that moment. Researchers call this an interrogative state. That is, the brain is primed to ask questions, make connections, and actually understand how ideas fit together. So you can do complex learning practically, effortlessly. When you kick your brain into that mode, isn't that wild?

[Michael]

And it reads completely true based on my life experience.

[Joe Getty]

And then listen to this college Joe. In econ classes, when someone's cramming for a high stakes exam or learning something because they're afraid of failing, the brain switches into a completely different mode. Stress responses kick in, flooding the brain with a chemical called noradrenaline. This heightens focus. Wow. Noradrenaline was my first girlfriend. I thought we'd be together forever. This heightens focus, but in a very specific, narrow way. Instead of making connections between ideas, the stressed brain laser focuses on individual facts and details. It will remember exactly what the threatening thing looked like, which is useful when you're running from a bear, for instance, but will struggle to understand anything else and how it relates to it.

[Michael]

That is what. I didn't know it well, I knew it, but I didn't know the science behind it. I knew I could count on, on test day that if I took 20 minutes before class in the hallway, I could, I could soak up that stuff and have it for the test. I just, I just. But that's the way my brain works. I was concerned enough, apparently about the grade or whatever that I could go into that. That mode there right out of fear in a way that I couldn't relaxing in my bedroom the night before for some reason.

[Joe Getty]

But if somebody had asked you, you know, a week later about the ideas. No, no, no, no, no, and no.

[Michael]

No.

[Joe Getty]

You could regurgitate facts.

[Michael]

I've always thought one of my talents was. And this doesn't do you any good in life, really. One of my talents was understanding the structure of tests and stuff like that and what they're going to have stuff versus, like, knowing concepts and, you know, learning, in effect, just. That's interesting. So that's what I was doing my whole life. Flipping into that Nora something or other.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Nora, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and sucking up.

[Michael]

The information just long enough to replicate it for a test. And then going back to my skating through life ways.

[Joe Getty]

I did the same thing. Brain scans show why, Michael. Stress activates the amygdala. You knew that. The brain's alarm system, with less help from the hippocampus, which is known to destroy canoes and drown the people in them. I'm sorry, I'm just. It's Friday. I'm through.

[Michael]

I don't care anymore with the writing papers. I did the same thing. I just, like. I couldn't get myself to come up with an idea or make myself write a paper. But if I got to, like, we got to do it now. The brain went into noradrenaline mode, and I can. I could concentrate and think and get.

[Joe Getty]

Stuff done, but so getting back pun free. The stress activates the amygdala, which tells the hippocampus, which is the relationship builder, the thing that really builds networks of knowledge. It tells it to sit down and shut up. Because we're under stress here. We don't have time for your crap with your. Oh, now I understand why. No, no, we're just learning facts and regurgitating them.

[Michael]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

This leads up to a bunch of isolated facts rattling around your head.

[Michael]

True. Which is what I have.

[Katie Greener]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Interesting.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I just thought of a great performance art piece that I'm gonna do.

[Michael]

Is it.

[Joe Getty]

I'm gonna.

[Michael]

Doesn't have scat related to it.

[Joe Getty]

No, but you're close.

[Michael]

No.

[Joe Getty]

I'm gonna stick my finger down my throat and I'm gonna vomit. And what I vomit is going to be a bunch of statements of things that are true, and I'm gonna look at the audience and say, I'm just regurgitating facts. Isn't that brilliant? If there's a Democrat back in the White House, I could probably get a grant for that.

[Michael]

So it's a play on words. That includes vomit.

[Joe Getty]

Probably ruining the enamel in my teeth and my throat, my esophagus.

[Michael]

Yes, well, I'm disgusting your audience, but.

[Joe Getty]

It'S a great play on words.

[Michael]

It is. It's a really top notch play on words. Okay, more on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, this will please you. Jack, what's the name of that crazy university where you don't have like traditional classes and texts is all socratic and discussion?

[Michael]

St. John's College.

[Joe Getty]

St. John's College. That's right. I knew it was St. Somebody or other. Anyway, so Ben ran, got a degree.

[Michael]

From there among other people.

[Joe Getty]

Ah, man, it makes me sad every time I hear Ben Sass's name. I admire him so much and he's, well, sick anyway. So how do you flip your mind into the mode where you're actually curious and you can learn stuff much more quickly? They have some tricks that actually work at least some of the time. Instead of telling yourself I have to memorize this for the test, try reframing it. I wonder how this actually works in real life. Or why does this matter? Or how is this different from what I already know? Or what I thought before? Your brain treats questions as puzzles worth solving. So instead of thinking this test determines my future, think of it as this is practice to see what I know. And that actually that attitude, I can actually feel my brain chemistry changing matters for how much you can learn and how quickly.

[Michael]

How about how you learn when you're drunk or at least somewhat inebriated?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. What are they? Something Conditional learning. I remember that. Is that real?

[Michael]

You learn something drinking and you can only do it when you've been drinking? That's not been my experience.

[Joe Getty]

I tested that premise once in college with a certain burnable substance. And a D was the result?

[Michael]

Well, I think so. I started playing a guitar when I was 25, and most of that period I practiced at least semi buzzed, if not quite drunk. I improved more on the guitar the year after I quit drinking than I did the previous 20 years of playing. I don't know what to say about that, but.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I don't doubt it.

[Michael]

Yeah, I don't doubt it either.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Michael]

By the way, football games this weekend, The Seahawks are two and a half point favorites at home, only two and a half as impressive that they've been. Of course, they beat the 49ers. Maybe that's not. Maybe they're not getting a lot of credit for that.

[Joe Getty]

It's all about matchups, Jack matchups.

[Michael]

True. And the Patriots are four and a half point favorites at the Broncos.

[Joe Getty]

So there you go.

[Michael]

Karl Rove wrote this in the Wall Street Journal the other day. An opinion piece. Mark Halperin points out that MAGA doesn't give a crap what Karl Rove thinks about anything. I'm not maga, but I also don't give a crap what Karl Rove thinks about him. He said a whole bunch of stuff that haven't been true over the years. Many, many, many things.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know, it's funny, I. I do enjoy Carl Rose. I do.

[Michael]

I like hearing what he wants to say.

[Joe Getty]

Grain of salt.

[Michael]

But, yeah, he's. He's often wrong.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael]

But he wrote this in the Wall Street Journal. We only have one minute. Well, there's no point in launching into this with a minute ago.

[Joe Getty]

Coming up, not only that fascinating look at Karl Rove, but also Don Lemon, truly a sour fruit.

[Michael]

And the long and shorter car roving. Then I'll. I'll get to the longer version of it in the Wall Street Journal. I just wondered if Joe agrees or y' all agree. He thinks that Trump is like a markedly different human this term than last term. And I'm not sure I buy it, but I'll use some of the examples he gives. I think maybe you've forgotten what he was like first term. I feel like. Anyway, we'll get into some of the details of that. If you miss a segment of our show, you can get in podcast form Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, you got to follow us, subscribe. Yeah, and give us a glowing five star review too. Or if you don't like the show, just shut up. Yeah, I think I'm gonna agree with you about Trump. I just think the water he's swimming in is very different.

[Michael]

Oh, that's an interesting take. Okay, stay tuned for all that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael]

Before we get to has Trump Changed this term? From the Wall Street Journal, which I think is an interesting conversation, we got a text about the athleticism in football. I brought this up earlier and I was just noticing specifically with receivers, people make plays that just didn't happen like when I was a kid. I just feel like they're so much more athletic than they used to be. And we were talking about why that may be and why it might not be. And we. And somebody weighed in, who knows about competitive swimming. I thought this was interesting. And they're not exactly sure about the why either. Whether it's just the general evolution of the human body. Training is different, nutrition is different, all these things. But she said the best women of today could beat the dudes of 30 years ago. That's how much the gifts have improved. And so, yeah, again, nutrition, training, evolution, of the human body.

[Joe Getty]

I guess that and they're so much more sophisticated about keeping track of what works and what doesn't. You know, data collection on training techniques and that sort of thing.

[Michael]

God, I think if you put the top receivers now in the NFL in the 70s, they would just go berserk.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. Got murdered going across the middle.

[Michael]

Yeah, I don't know. So Carl Rowe wrote this in the Wall Street Journal. The Trump presidency wasn't normal, even as in his first term. But something is different now. I'm not sure I buy this. Americans are increasingly unnerved by the president's rambling appearances and late night screeds. I don't think they're any more rambling than they were or his screeds are any different. Personally, whether it's age or advisors who can't check his worst instincts, Mr. Trump is acting in ways no American president has. That's true. His downward spiral has led 58% of Americans and 66% of independents in the latest CNN poll to describe his second term as a failure. What a stupid question. A year in, if his team can't turn things around, he'll help defeat his party this fall and damage the country for years. The only reason I wanted to read that is. Oh, and as I mentioned, Mark Halpern had this in his newsletter and he said one MAGA doesn't care what Karl Rove thinks. And that's true. But he said there is data to back up what Karl Rove is saying here in terms of people's attitudes towards Trump. Do you think he is more Trump than he was first term? I don't know that he is. I mean his late night tweets and long rambling speeches were.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Michael]

I don't think so.

[Joe Getty]

I do think he is more Trumpy than last time, but I absolutely am willing to concede that it might just be the fuzziness of memory. You know, just things tend to fade, particularly negative emotions. Thank God. But I think the other two differences are, number one, he didn't enter office with a giant all of swamp effort to discredit him as an illegitimate president and a Russian stooge. And two, and Rove touched on this. He's got very, very different advisors in his ear who are more enablers than limiters, some would say sycophants.

[Katie Greener]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I the beholder, I feel like. So I think he's more unrestrained.

[Michael]

Presidents move in the rankings through history up or down as we get a more sober View of things. I think if the presidency ended today, Trump would be ranked very low by historians. But I think he'll go up over time. I really do.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Judging by the early going. Yeah, I would agree. He cracks way too many eggs when he makes an omelet. He cracks like the three eggs and then five more in the carton.

[Michael]

Yeah, absolutely. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

That's my problem with Trump. He's utterly undisciplined, but in terms of production, we'll have to see.

[Michael]

Yeah. And policies. So I think he'll go up. And part of it is because he's going to be ranked so low in the early going by historians, if they don't have him dead last, I'll be surprised for a number of years. So I think he'll go up.

[Joe Getty]

Just assume that. Yeah.

[Michael]

Whereas I think people like Obama are going to go down over the years.

[Joe Getty]

You know, generally I avoid cliches like the plague, as the old witticism goes, but I think that the egg cracking thing, the omelette thing, may be the perfect metaphor for Trump. You gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet. He makes the omelette and just keeps cracking eggs that don't need to be cracked.

[Michael]

On your head. Cracks them on your head.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's a pisser.

[Michael]

Put shells in your omelet.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Michael]

All right.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that is that. Do we have time? Yeah, I think we do. Really? Welcome. I should have asked for some sort of stupid theme music, Michael. I'm kind of ashamed that I didn't. This featurette, which I'm calling Don, Truly a sour fruit, If you're not familiar with this washed up jackass who never had any ratings, Don Lemon, who hates America, is the perpetual victim.

[Michael]

You're just saying that because he's a black gay man.

[Joe Getty]

You're on to me. What a piece of crap he is. Anyway, he was part of the mob of protesters, rioters that made it impossible to conduct a Christian church service the other night in Minneapolis. Verbal abuse, screaming lunatic Marxists. And he was embedded with them, quote, unquote. Quote unquote. He said he did some scouting for them and he was just there recording it. As a journalist. He was there trying to create exciting content. Was he a journalist or was he more like the guys from Jackass? Well, a judge refused to prosecute him, saying, yeah, it's kinda like a journalist, which is an interesting question. I'm not gonna jerk my knee on this because I cherish the First Amendment and it's an interesting distinction to be made. Are you there to record what happens, or are you there to make stuff happen and then record it?

[Michael]

Yeah, that is a distinction.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. It's an interesting question. One that when we have more time, I think we ought to dive into, but. So in the aftermath of his obnoxious self promotion, Don Lemon's been making the rounds explaining himself and. Or continuing to agitate. See if you don't hate him by the end of this. First of all, here's Don Lemon talking to a man who left the church due to the protests. 36.

[Don Lemon]

Do you understand that some of these folks feel voiceless?

[Church Protester]

I don't understand, because right now, I'm so upset. Right now, I don't know. My son and I love you guys, and that's.

[Keith Ellison]

I'm a journalist.

[Joe Getty]

They're activists.

[Church Protester]

The simplest thing we can say is that we love you guys.

[Don Lemon]

What do you mean, you guys?

[Church Protester]

Well, whoever's here in this house.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Church Protester]

And if we need to talk about these things, then, I mean, this isn't the time for that, really.

[Joe Getty]

I mean.

[Don Lemon]

But don't you think until we go to heaven, if you believe in that, that there should be some sort of peace here on Earth and that people should have agency and we shouldn't be beating people up off the street and we should be abiding by the Constitution?

[Church Protester]

I think that's just a little bit loaded for me right now, what you're doing. I don't want to interview right now.

[Joe Getty]

I don't want to interview.

[Church Protester]

I just want to tell you guys I love you. I don't need to interview right now because I want to be with my son. It's Sunday. It's time to rest.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, get to the part where you talk about belligerently marching in and bullying a bunch of churchgoers and not letting them conduct their service because what a great Mott and Bailey argument.

[Michael]

Or Castle and courtyard argument.

[Joe Getty]

Are you saying that everything ICE does is fine? Well, no. Therefore, we get to interrupt your church service. Wait, no.

[Michael]

And then the pushback of Wouldn't Jesus want. Oh, shut up.

[Joe Getty]

Radical leftist Keith Ellison, who's the Minnesota Attorney General, defended the group of anti ice agitators who stormed a St. Paul church on Wednesday. On Sunday, rather than telling Don Lemon that critics of the incident were getting tender about a church service, this is the Marxist Attorney General of Minnesota saying, oh, you're getting a little tender about your little church service there. Oh, my God. A defiant Lemon, of course, mocked the churchgoers on Monday, saying they had a sense of entitlement that stems from white supremacy. Should have had you dig that. That clip up.

[Michael]

Guys, you got to be kidding.

[Joe Getty]

Can we grab that real quick? We had it, like two days ago. You have a sense of entitlement for.

[Michael]

Believing that you should be able to worship freely without protesters barging in and taking over your service.

[Joe Getty]

Go ahead, Michael.

[Keith Ellison]

And there's a certain degree of entitlement. I think people who are in religious groups like that. It's not the type of Christianity that I practice, but I think that they're entitled and that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy. And they think that this country was built for them, that it is a Christian country. When actually we left England because we wanted religious freedom. It's religious freedom, but only if you're a Christian and only if you're a white male, pretty much. And so, Yeah, I. Absolutely, 100%, but it's an intimidation tactic. And, you know, I said, I don't understand how I've become the face of it. When I was a journalist, I do understand that I'm the biggest name there. And I'm also, as I was on with my producers this morning, you know, you and Kylie talk all the time. My producers were saying. I said, how did I become the face of this? And my producer said, don, you're a gay black man in America.

[Joe Getty]

There you go.

[Michael]

Wow. When he cuts himself shaving, does he bleed self importance.

[Joe Getty]

Some of my intellectual heroes happen to be black men. And though I abhor violence, I certainly am feeling an impulse to punch Don Lemon in his stupid face right now. What an ugly human being he is. Ugly, ugly, ugly. But I'm getting tender about a church service.

[Michael]

I think he probably thinks he's actually doing making the country better. You're not.

[Joe Getty]

Well, he's that self absorbed, that. Yeah, yeah. Now, now, let's cleanse the palate of the sour fruit of Don Lemon with a little unintentional humor. This is him doing his I'm so smart, I'm going to outmaneuver you verbally act with a couple of random people off the street. Okay. That he stops to talk to listen to how it goes 37 the border.

[Jack Armstrong]

Illegally is not a crime.

[Don Lemon]

No, it's not a criminal act. It's a misdemeanor.

[Jack Armstrong]

So why are they being sent back and saying that they're breaking.

[Don Lemon]

That's the point, okay?

[Jack Armstrong]

As somebody that we don't know if.

[Don Lemon]

They'Re breaking the law because they won't tell. There's no due process. Where's the evidence? That's the Whole point. And if they are breaking the law, most people will say, okay, then they need to go if they're criminals. But if they're not, why are they being rounded up and sent out? Especially when he promised to. To deport the criminals, and now he's not doing that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think we're going. So misdemeanor is not a.

[Don Lemon]

It's not a criminal act. No, if you get charged with a misdemeanor, that's not a criminal act charged at all.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then if it's not a criminal act.

[Don Lemon]

Because we have different levels of crime, everything is not the same.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it is crime.

[Don Lemon]

No, it's just different. We have different levels of. I shouldn't say crime. But it's not.

[Joe Getty]

It's not.

[Don Lemon]

You're not. It's not a crime. You're not breaking the law. I mean, you are breaking the law, but it's not a criminal act. No, you're not breaking the law.

[Joe Getty]

No, if you're speeding, drinking, get pulled.

[Don Lemon]

Over, dui, that's not a criminal act. Well, no, if you're speeding is a misdemeanor, so still breaking the law. Okay, well, if you want to. If you want to qualify that, we're doing semantics. But what I'm saying. But what I'm trying to tell you is everything is not the same. It's all not one thing.

[Joe Getty]

But is it the law?

[Don Lemon]

What is it the law that.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is it law to come over legally?

[Joe Getty]

Is there a law?

[Don Lemon]

There are. There are rules that Processes that you should follow. Yes, because you're breaking rules. You're breaking the rules, but you're not necessarily breaking a law.

[Church Protester]

So what happens when you break the rules?

[Don Lemon]

Then you get. But you suffer the consequences. But the consequences should not. Look, no one is saying. No one should stop with the consequences. You guys are getting things mixed up.

[Joe Getty]

They're getting things mixed up, are they? Donny Boy? That's hilarious. They've got him completely flummoxed and tied up in knots. It's just a couple of people walking down the street to. Who are challenged by the great intellect of Don Lemon. By the way, somebody ought to tell Donny Boy that right there in Minnesota, you got misdemeanor, misdemeanor domestic battery, misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor theft. They're all crimes, you effing moron.

[Michael]

And I would like to commend you on your fruit pun game through that entire thing.

[Joe Getty]

What pun? Oh, his last name's Lemon. Well, right. A sour fruit.

[Michael]

Right, Exactly. Okay, we'll Finish strong.

[Jack Armstrong]

Next Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael]

So Joe and I grew up in the cold parts of the country, so no stranger to the sort of giant storm that is about to hit many of you. And I was just thinking, Zoran Mandani came out with his snow day policy for schools, and it just gave me briefly that feeling I used to get when my mom would come in and say, they canceled school today.

[Joe Getty]

I assume on snow days we read Karl Marx. Is this policy.

[Michael]

I'll get to that in a second. But I don't know if there is a feeling as great as my mom coming in and telling me, they canceled school today.

[Joe Getty]

It's like the warden called, or the. The governor called warden and said, you don't have to go to old Sparky.

[Michael]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

He's commuted your sentence.

[Michael]

You're already sitting there in the metal hat with your arm strapped to the chair.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Michael]

And they come and tell you, oh, God, I would love that. When my mom said that she'd have to find out from the radio, because it was the only way to find out back then is the radio would announce school was closed.

[Joe Getty]

Can you imagine if they had that feeling in a drug? Or the feeling of falling in love in a drug?

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

People would become immediately addicted and ruin their lives.

[Michael]

Zoran Mandami has announced they will not have snow days anymore. Probably true. A lot of places they'll either.

[Joe Getty]

They will have white precipitation supremacy days. They.

[Michael]

They either will be in the classroom like normal if they can get the snowplows out. If they can't, there'll be Zoom classes, but there are no snow days. Katie is groaning. And rightfully so.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that's horrible.

[Michael]

Without any recognition of the fact that by every measure, Zoom was worthless as a teaching tool during the pandemic, there's no example that it did any good whatsoever.

[Joe Getty]

This is a beautiful example. Or answer, rather to the question, how much do progressives care about what's true data?

[Michael]

You know what? It probably is probably just a funding thing. School is open. We get our however many dollars per pupil that we get for being open, as opposed to if we close for the day.

[Joe Getty]

And we're here to indoctrinate the kids into hating their country and into neo Marxism. We don't care if they learn a damn thing.

[Michael]

God, you're taking away one of the greatest things on Earth, the snow day. If Zoom worked, it would make sense. If Zoom actually worked. I mean, it'd be stupid to cancel work. If you could do your Zoom meetings and just as well, you know, just be Dumb, but they don't work.

[Joe Getty]

For the record. For the record, I. Joe, I'm concerned that Mumdani is taking away democracy in western civilization. Jack is concerned that he's taking away snow days.

[Michael]

That's true.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe, maybe my focus is not appropriate. Oh boy.

[Michael]

Did you ever play, have you ever played flag football, Katie?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael]

You have. Cause I mentioned earlier in the show is in the Financial Times today, the NFL is making a big push, multi billion dollar push to get the NFL spread around the world and to get it to catch on in other countries as a money making thing. And it's, you know, it's the number one sport in America by far. We mentioned the other day, of the top 100 TV shows last year, 93 of them were the NFL, which is really quite stunning. And they just, there's no reason why it can't be that popular around the world. But they're trying to get girls flag football going around the. Is kind of a, here's what the sport is, here's how it works. Your kids get interested, you know, laying the groundwork thing. I don't know if it'll work or not.

[Joe Getty]

And boys too, right?

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, kids, it's that time again with Armstrong and Getty.

[Michael]

Here's your host for final thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap up the week. There he is pressing the buttons, our technical director, Michelangelo Michael. Go ahead, final thoughts.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Where I grew up, it rarely snowed. Maybe like every five years or something. It was always just a dusting. But I remember when it was just a dusting, it was like, oh, gotta close school, gotta close school. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought. Katie? Yeah, when I played flag football, it was powder puff and I caught a touchdown pass and I was the master of sneaky holding.

[Michael]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Ref? He held me, he held me. They hold on every play. Yeah. Unfortunate but true in football. I'll make that my final football thought. Jack, a final thought.

[Michael]

Yeah, it is all about the reffing in flag football. I remember the final game of my son's flag football season where it was very close to tackle football, at least on the line. I mean, it was very physical.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. They hold on every blank in play. Well, they want more offense, they got more offense.

[Michael]

Offense, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And it's popular and I have taken offense. You know, I hate what the let's be global thing is probably going to do to the NFL. I don't think it's going to be good for the players, the fans, the teams. But like if I was in a business class, oh yeah, I would think, wow, the way they're going about this is really, really smart.

[Michael]

Yeah. Yeah. Thinking long term, getting kids interested.

[Joe Getty]

Yep.

[Michael]

Armstrong and Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[Joe Getty]

So many people to thank, so little time. Go To Armstrong and getty.com for the hot links for Katie's Corner. Drop us a note if there's something we ought to be talking about. You see it over the weekend, send it along [e-mail] and remember, subscribe to the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand. You will automatically get Armstrong and Gettys. One more thing which sometimes has swears.

[Michael]

Man I'll be looking at those open source news feeds to keep an eye on whether or not we attack Iran or it looks like we're about to to over the weekend. Cuz that could definitely happen in the next 72 hours. That'll be jazzy and something to talk out about on Monday and we'll see you then. God bless America.

[Joe Getty]

Well, whose bright idea was it to.

[Michael]

Put every idiot in the world in.

[Joe Getty]

Touch with every other idiot?

[Michael]

Many of us thought it was a joke. You know, it was like a bad onion headline.

[Joe Getty]

America's chickens coming home to roost. Holy cow.

[Michael]

You are quite. You're a really dull class loco.

[Joe Getty]

It's just the way it is. I'm done with any event.

[Don Lemon]

I hope this is behind us.

[Jack Armstrong]

So say it with me.

[Joe Getty]

C?

[Jack Armstrong]

Se Padwe.

[Michael]

Bye.

[Joe Getty]

Have a great Friday, you mother. Armstrong and Getty. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.