A Resounding Chorus Of Boos

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "A Resounding Chorus Of Boos"

iHeartPodcasts | September 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty is a classic mix of sharp political and social commentary laced with humor. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty navigate the week’s headlines, beginning with political theater at a New York sporting event, delving into speech freedoms in America, critiquing the state of education and the power of competition, reflecting on current geopolitics (Russia/Ukraine/Trump), and griping about the sneaky difficulties of modern subscriptions and corporate fines. The show maintains its signature style: irreverent, conversational, insightful, and occasionally wryly exasperated.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Governor Hochul Booed at Ryder Cup Event

[03:50 - 05:14]

• The Ryder Cup, a high-profile golf event, kicks off at Bethpage Black, NY.
• Governor Kathy Hochul is repeatedly booed by the crowd despite formal thanks from event officials.
  • Jack Armstrong jokes about how he would remove his own name from speeches after being booed multiple times.
    • "I get up there and say, is my name in the script anymore? … How about you don't thank me anymore?" (04:09)
  • Both hosts agree: it was “a resounding chorus of boos”—not just mixed crowd noise.
• They muse on the political makeup of sports crowds and speculate this is a symptom of deep dissatisfaction with Hochul’s governance.

2. Ryder Cup’s Changing Identity

[05:14 - 07:02]

• Joe reminisces about how the mystique of international competition has faded: most European golfers now live/play in the U.S., blurring cultural lines.
  • “They play like Americans… all these guys are on TV every single week, they speak… accent-free English.” (06:33)
• Jack likens it to NBA stars representing other countries in the Olympics.

3. FCC, Speech Policing, and the Hypocrisy of Both Parties

[07:11 - 11:36]

• Conversation shifts to free speech debates: the feds pressuring broadcasters over political content, specifically referencing Jimmy Kimmel and critiques of Trump.
  • Both hosts denounce government interference in media content.
    • Joe Getty: “We don’t need the government weighing in on free speech, all right?” (08:01)
  • Democrats, the hosts note, have also pursued expanding FCC power to police misinformation, e.g., discussing actual legislative proposals to create new agencies for digital speech regulation.
    • Jack Armstrong: “They invented the whole concept of hate speech, right?” (08:31)
    • Joe Getty: “Orwell is spinning in his grave like a Black and Decker drill.” (10:44)
• The shared message: power to police speech inevitably gets abused, regardless of the party in control.

4. Competition in Education—The FedEx Parable

[11:36 - 19:46]

• The show explores John Stossel’s libertarian argument for introducing competition into public schooling, drawing on FedEx as an example of how business competition spurred the post office to improve.
  • Jack tells the legendary story of FedEx’s founder, Fred Smith, saving the fledgling company by gambling its last $5,000 in Las Vegas.
    • “He hopped a plane and he went to Vegas… and won enough money to pay the bills for another week. And FedEx picked up some more venture capital and took off.” (17:16)
  • The story is both a celebration of American entrepreneurial grit and a commentary on how such stories are uniquely possible in the U.S.
    • “You can't do that almost anywhere else in the world.” (18:44)

5. Russia, Ukraine, and Trump’s Shifting Rhetoric

[21:49 - 29:15]

• News recaps: Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warnings to Russia; discussion of Trump’s recent remarks about Ukraine’s chances and Russian military weakness.
  • Hosts critique Trump’s odd tone—wishing “good luck to both countries,” despite only supporting one—and muse on his style of instinct-driven foreign policy.
    • Jack Armstrong: “What is that? Good luck to all. Good luck to both countries. One country is evil and started the whole thing… Why are you wishing them luck?” (24:42)
    • Joe Getty: “He thinks he can instinct his [way], and it takes him months and months… to realize, oh, Putin never negotiates in good faith.” (25:15)
• They discuss the unpredictability of the war, the threat of escalation, and Finland’s entry to NATO as a regional stabilizer.
  • Alexander Stubb (Finland’s leader): “We are a security provider, not a security consumer. In NATO, we take care of the northeastern flank of Europe together with America.” (29:59)

6. Corporate Trickery: Cancelling Subscriptions & Amazon’s Record Fine

[34:27 - 39:01]

• The hosts rail against companies making cancellations difficult (gyms, telecoms, Prime subscriptions).
  • Jack Armstrong: “You can sign up for it here, but you can't cancel it… You're hoping I can't or won't.” (36:06)
  • Joe Getty jokes they need a government agency just to test and enforce cancel procedures.
• Amazon’s $2.5 billion FTC fine is discussed as a rare case where such practices crossed into illegality.

7. Tax Code Changes: Roth IRAs & 401k Catch-Up Contributions

[39:01 - 39:42]

• New rules mean high earners can no longer make certain pre-tax “catch-up” contributions; will need to use post-tax Roth accounts instead.
  • The hosts bemoan the complexity and ever-shifting nature of the tax code.

8. Final Thoughts, Humor, and Universal Wisdom

[39:50 - 41:54]

• A round of light-hearted reflections: forgotten subscriptions, a complaint about infuriating return policies (Snuggie anecdote), and a universal human instinct (“if you want to know if something’s alive, you poke it with a stick”).
  • Joe Getty: “Everywhere on Earth… if you want to figure out if something’s alive or not, you poke it with a stick. That’s right, universal.” (41:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jack Armstrong, on Hochul being booed:
  “Every time I get thanked, it’s a resounding chorus of boos. So one, three times.” (04:37)
• Joe Getty, on speech policing:
  “We don’t need the government weighing in on free speech, all right? And there’s no such thing as hate speech. That’s a non-existent thing.” (08:01)
• Jack Armstrong, on education reform:
  “When you found out, wow, you’re telling me for like 10% of the money all the kids can be proficient in reading and math and I’ll be darned.” (15:47)
• On the FedEx origin story:
  “He hopped a plane and he went to Vegas and he played blackjack. And he won enough money to pay the bills for another week.” (17:16)
• Joe Getty, on immigrants and entrepreneurship:
  “Well, if you can contribute and you’re going to work hard and you’re going to value this country, welcome my friend.” (19:07)
• On Trump’s ‘good luck to all’ in Ukraine:
  “What is that? Good luck to all. Good luck to both countries. One country is evil and started the whole thing… Why are you wishing them luck?” (24:42)
• Alexander Stubb (Finland):
  “We’re a security provider, not a security consumer.” (30:27)
• Jack Armstrong, on return policies:
  “It shows up in a cardboard box. With no label, no paperwork, no nothing. Who are you gonna send it back to? How? What?” (41:12)
• Joe Getty, on poking things with sticks:
  “Everywhere on Earth… if you want to figure out if something’s alive… you poke it with a stick. That’s right, universal.” (41:54)

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:28] – Teasers: Obama marriage gossip; Trump/Kimmel/FCC; sports openers
• [03:50] – Governor Hochul’s Ryder Cup Booing
• [05:14] – Ryder Cup’s international flavor and changes
• [07:11] – FCC, Jimmy Kimmel, and free speech policing past and present
• [11:36] – Stossel’s case for school competition; FedEx survival story
• [17:16] – Fred Smith’s Las Vegas gamble saves FedEx
• [21:49] – Russia/Ukraine, Trump’s messaging, NATO (incl. Finland’s perspective)
• [34:27] – Corporate tactics: canceling subscriptions & Amazon’s Prime fine
• [39:01] – Changes to 401k/Roth IRA catch-up rules
• [39:50] – Final thoughts, jokes, and closing wisdom

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Tone & Style

The Armstrong & Getty trademark blend is on full display: fast-paced, candid, with dry wit and common-sense skepticism. Whether dissecting politics, policy, or poking fun at themselves and their producers, the conversation remains approachable yet sharp—perfect for listeners seeking clarity with some comic relief.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a standout for covering a little bit of everything: political theater, current affairs, libertarian principles, entrepreneurship, international tensions, and the frustrations of modern life—all with a unique blend of humor and insight.

No outrage, no hysteria—just Armstrong & Getty’s resounding chorus of real talk.

Transcript

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio.

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

Barack Obama Admits to marriage Woes and Shocking comment. Not that shocking. Mildly interesting. I'll tease it as saying it's mildly interesting later this hour.

[Joe Getty]

Plus, the long and storied history of folks on the left doing precisely what they're saying Donald Trump shouldn't do in the Jimmy Kimmel thing. And that will probably be my last word for the rest of my life on the topic. Uncharacteristically, I have brought not one, but two sports stories to you today. Number one, Cal Raleigh, affectionately known as Big Dumper, the home run smashing catcher for the Seattle Mariners, joined baseball 60 homer club. Second sports story. Unless you have more to say on the big dairy error, what I kept.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hearing from everybody on this team was we got more work to do. And it seems like this team was just even more focused tonight.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think.

[Jack Armstrong]

Most people heard what I said last night. You know, might as well win the whole thing.

[Joe Getty]

That's awesome.

[News Reporter]

All right, Aaron, back up to you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Naughty naughty cow. Naughty cow. So two nights in a row, he says in front of the big giant hometown crowd. Might as well win the whole effing thing. And I guess it's from the movie Major League, which I didn't remember. The Charlie Sheen Classic.

[Joe Getty]

That's where it comes from.

[Jack Armstrong]

But that is clearly going to become the Mariners hook line as they make their way through the playoffs.

[Joe Getty]

So second and I will be rooting for them, I think. Second SPORTS Story. Do you know what the Ryder cup is? It's a big every other year team golf competition between the U.S. against Europe. And everybody gets super fired up because it's a team event that's kind of fun and they play different formats and there's patriotism and national pride involved that everybody hoots and hollers and Chance usa. That's golf at the golf, as I mentioned. Yes, indeed. And, and, and if you're a golf fan, you get super into it. Before I get to the semi interesting story I was going to bring you, ladies and gentlemen, it's oh, it's being held in New York at the legendary Beth Page Black Golf Course. And the governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, went there to receive the warm accolades of her voters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Keep it going for New York. Your friend and mine in attendance. Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor, thank you so much for, and thank you to your team too for getting us ready for the Ryder cup in New York.

[Alexander Stubb]

I would like to say a few thank yous to Governor of State New.

[Jack Armstrong]

York, Kathy Hochul as we prepare to tee it up on Friday. I want to thank the people who made this journey possible. To Governor Hochul, to the teams of New York, to the teams of the New York state parks. Here's what I do after the second time I get booed at the mention of my name. I get up there and say, is my name in the script anymore?

[Joe Getty]

Give me that pen.

[Jack Armstrong]

How about you don't thank me anymore? I don't know if you've noticed, but every time I get thanked, it's a resounding chorus of booze. So one three times.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I know. Just overwhelming, lusty. We've said on this show many times Donald Trump came into the state of Studio Stadium and was greeted by Bose. But if you listen to it, it's a lot of cheers. It's some booze, whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those were booze.

[Joe Getty]

Those were booze. So speaking of booze, there will be quite a bit of it consumed at the Ryder cup and there's some fear that the New Yorkers will get a little mouthy and mean to the Euros. But here's the twist I want to bring to you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why were they booing her? Why don't they like her there?

[Joe Getty]

Because she sucks as a governor and a human being. Her policies are terrible, her character is non existent and she's a bad person.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I didn't know. Is that a mostly Republican crowd? The, the Golf tournament or I could.

[Joe Getty]

See it being more Republican than say, an NBA game. But anyway, so one interesting aspect.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mentioning my name.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, please. So it used to be that part of the appeal of the event was that, you know, the, the European players who, you'd heard of the squash buckling, Sevy Byesteris, the unflappable, you know, what's his name? His name flitted. Tony Jacklin, you know, but. And you'd seen footage of them and all, but you weren't sure. And the American players, the Euros, had seen footage of them and blah, blah, blah. Well, now the entire European team, except for, I think two guys went, came here as children or teenagers to the United States, went to college in the United States and have been playing on the PGA Tour in America from the first moment they possibly could because that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

The best place to get coaching and all that sort of stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, yeah. And then to make the PGA Tours the highest level of competition by far. It's like the Premier League Soccer in Europe versus Major League Soccer in America. You would never play an MLS if you could make a Premier League team. But so anyway, so all these guys are on TV every single week. They speak a lot of them, completely accent free English and they know all of our golf courses and the style of play and they play like Americans. And also it's all become kind of funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's kind of like when we see our NBA MVP playing for some other country in the Olympics. Like, okay, you play for the Denver Nuggets, but.

[Joe Getty]

Right, yeah, exactly. You're not some mysterious foreigner. You play for the Nuggets. But it's, it's still fun. And what the heck, I'll be there watching and enjoying it. On a slightly more serious topic, I know you know this, and we know that you know that we know this, that though we disapproved strongly of Brendan Carr of the useless, ridiculous, antiquated fcc, they've got very few actual, you know, duties that they need to execute. Putting hardcore pressure on ABC and various media companies because they didn't like what Jimmy Kimmel said. I hate that. I've always hated it. I always will hate it. We don't need the government weighing in on free speech, all right?

[Jack Armstrong]

And there's no such thing as hate speech. That's a non existent thing.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and Pam Bondi using that term was an utter betrayal of, of those of us who cherish liberty. So shut up, Pam. Get better at your job. Anyway, having said that, here's the part that I know that, you know, that we know that, you know, the Democrats have been enthusiastic proponents of this sort of thing for a very long time. They make Brendan Carr look like an amateur.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they invented the whole concept of hate speech, right?

[Joe Getty]

For instance, you got 11, seven Democrats, Senate Democrats, condemning Carr for the. Trying to, quote, act as the speech police and force broadcasters to adopt political viewpoints that you favor. How quickly memories fade. When Democrats were in the White House, they argued for giving the FCC additional powers to police speech by expanding its purview to cable networks and broadband providers. They claimed to want to prevent discrimination and what they called misinformation, which is exactly what Carr and Trump and company said that Jimmy Kimmel did, which is why he should be pressured. You got New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan. He suggested in an NPR interview that he believes the FCC should police the speech of broadcasters. Quote, and just as the affiliates on the broadcast side have to get a license that would not allow news distortion, why is it that folks on the other side with the same corporations are able to do it all while hurting the American people? He specifically campaigned for speech policing. Don't forget how Democrats who control the FCC under Obama and Biden wanted to classify Internet providers as common carriers, and therefore the FCC could regulate them in the public interest and what could be said or not said on them. The real goal was to give the FCC more political control over the Internet and speech. We could go into that, the Internet part of it, but, you know, maybe another day. Some Democratic senators wanted to go even further to police speech, especially online. Bennett of Colorado, Michael Bennett, Peter Welch of Vermont introduced legislation two years ago to establish a new independent agency, the Federal Digital Platform Commission, to regulate the content, moderation and algorithms of online platforms to ensure they weren't unfair.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, that's so crazy.

[Joe Getty]

Or harmful.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is so crazy.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just. I can't wrap my head around it. It's evil. Even if you're going to be in charge the whole time, but you're not going to be in charge the whole time. You nuts? Do you want to give that power to your opponents?

[Joe Getty]

I know, I know. It's. It's stupid as well as completely unprincipled. And finally, Rohit Chopra, whose name you may or may not know. Rohit, big Elizabeth Warren protege, led the Biden Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra proposed in 2018 a public integrity protection agency. Good Lord. Orwell is spinning in his grave like a Black and Decker drill. Regulators in that agency would be empowered to, and I quote, inspect and investigate individuals and companies seeking to influence federal officials, including think tanks and nonprofits, oppose this stuff all the time, no matter which side it comes from. Please.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting idea out there from one of the best libertarians in America, John Stossel. Why don't we do for schools what we did for the post office? A little competition. Little competition like we had with FedEx, which made the post office have to get a lot better. And an interesting thing about FedEx all on the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started, normally, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a long story that I think we most of us know if you've been paying attention of how our education system got into such a mess of from pre K, which shouldn't exist and doesn't need to exist, but is growing and we're throwing money at it all the way through graduate school. In America, our schooling is just a mess in all kinds of different ways. It's not making kids more learned, it's indoctrinating them into the craziest views of America. It's just as horrible all the way around. That's depressing. Actually, it's funny. I ran into a teacher last night while I was at the grocery store buying my hamburger for my spaghetti sauce. Some a woman said, older woman said, are you Jack Armstrong at the grocery store? And I said, why yes, I am. And she said, oh my God, I listen every day. And she went on about various things, but she used to be in the public education system that my very kids are in. And she told me some stories about it and how it's changed over the years. And it's just, it's depressing all the way around. Anyway, I was just taking in a little John Stossel. He used to have his own show. I don't know what he does now to get attention, but he's still a libertarian, writes books, does videos. And he was making the argument that that's, that's funny.

[Joe Getty]

That's an old guy thing to say. He probably gets 10,000 times as many views for his videos online, right, as he did for his TV show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it. The post office said you can't get it there overnight. But when FedEx did, suddenly others could. And even the United States Postal Service had to figure out a way to do it. That's the power of competition. Why not apply it to education? And that's what his whole video is about. And yeah, that. Well, that's, as we all know, one of the main reasons that Mum Dami, the commie or whoever else is really against any other kind of schooling. Because if you started to see the results you could get with a different model, whoa, that would be just like. It was horrible for the post office. They had to completely revamp. That's what would happen to public schools.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

When you found out, wow, you're telling me for like 10% of the money all the kids can be proficient in reading and math and I'll be darned.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. And as I've pointed out many times, even like, you know, Lefty media like 60 Minutes will have these awe inspiring stories about the charter school run by a tough black principal in the Bronx or whatever, with uniforms and high expectations and, and enforcing all the rules, no BS allowed. And the kids achieve like crazy. And it's presented as a wonderful feel good story. Then they forget it the second the teachers union squawks.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. But anyway, I wanted to talk about FedEx because I heard this the other day. I had forgotten this story, and I don't know many. How many of you've heard it before? The guy who started FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, who's one of the great American characters in the history of entrepreneurism, and he just died in June. I didn't realize that. Just died the other day. He inherited a couple million dollars from his family and thought that he could make this whole thing work basing on the model of banking or something like that. But he thought, why can't you do that with shipping and actually get things overnight? And it started very awkwardly and poorly and wasn't working very well. And in the early days, he was driving around the city where he formed FedEx, delivering packages in the middle of the night himself to get them there on time because he couldn't figure out any other way to do it.

[Joe Getty]

Memphis, I believe.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, you're right. And at one point they got. And this is the legendary story, at one point, they were down to their last $5,000. They didn't have enough money for the fuel for the planes. They were literally going to have to shut down. It would have been the end of FedEx. They just were out of money. And he was down to the last 5,000. And he hopped a plane and he went to Vegas and he played blackjack. And he won enough money to pay the bills for another week. And FedEx picked up some more venture capital and took off. But it seems that literally, if he had not got on a winning streak at Las Vegas, FedEx would have never happened.

[Joe Getty]

That's just mind blowing.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is. It's an amazing story.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, combine the fact that he's driving around Memphis himself as a multi millionaire with boxes in his trunk, delivering them just so he can, you know, live up to the promises he's making to show people, hey, this will work. Invest money, man.

[Joe Getty]

There are a lot of great lessons there. I mean, because the, the. Yeah, you should gamble more. That's number one. Gambling is fun and you usually win. Now, I was gonna say that that was obviously an incredibly great break. How many bad breaks did he get?

[Jack Armstrong]

Good point.

[Joe Getty]

But he just kept grinding. He just kept solving problems and looking for solutions. And finally, with the help of, you know, a pocket ace or whatever, he, you know, he got over.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is a great story. And people from other countries, Elon Musk will. Will tell you all the time, you can't do that almost anywhere else in the world.

[Joe Getty]

Right There just doesn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

There isn't the. There isn't the spirit for it with people that will invest in, in new ideas. The Barack bureaucracy will not allow you to do it and regulations and everything. You just can't.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's why we Americans, we native born Americans love so much the immigrants who embrace this country and our principles and our opportunities and say I love this country. This is an unbelievable place to be. And you know people call conservatives like ourselves anti immigrant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Well, if you can contribute and you're going to work hard and you're going to value this country, welcome my friend.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and most of your convenience stores, liquor stores, dry cleaning places are being run by people from other countries who had the guts to start a business and run it and are willing to put in the time it takes.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

To get a business going and make it run.

[Joe Getty]

Working hard again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Damn it.

[Joe Getty]

That keeps coming up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you, you own one of those stores, you ain't gonna have a lot of free time. You're gonna be working constantly. Russia, Ukraine, what Trump said the other day, what's it all mean? We'll touch on that. Among others, Armstrong and Getty.

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started Normalely, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously. But we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

[News Reporter]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN reiterating in private to his Russian counterpart what the administration is broadcasting to the world.

[Joe Getty]

If the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it's gonna be very, very bad for their country.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know where all this is.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith. Do you mean more?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Yeah. The report goes on President Trump's new.

[News Reporter]

Belief that Ukraine is positioned to fight and win back all of its territory. Is a 180.

[Joe Getty]

From this, you don't have the cards.

[News Reporter]

And it came about, Trump says, after taking a hard look at the military and economic position Russia is in, suggesting in a truth social post, the people of Russia have no idea what's really going on with the war. And calling Russia's military a paper tiger. The Kremlin's response?

[Jack Armstrong]

Russia is not a tiger, it is a bear. And there was no such thing as a paper bear. So Russia is a real bear.

[News Reporter]

But even Peskov admitted, quote, certain tensions and problem areas in various sectors of the economy, which he framed as a global issue.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So there is some reporting out there that Trump got economic information and military information about Russia that shows it to be really, really weak, like in a bad, bad position, and that's what caused him to change his tune on this. Although lots of people are writing, talking about what you were talking about earlier, that it didn't exactly say, the United States is going to do anything.

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

He just said, you know, it'd be, you ought to take back all the land. That's what you should do. Anyway. Good luck with that. And he did say that at the end of his post. Good luck to both countries. What.

[Joe Getty]

And if. If NATO wants to buy, you know, scary weapons from us, we'll sell them. Well, we're not going to worry about it. No. The. The restraints are off, but not. We are going to actively help you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. It really was just, we will not get in your way. We will not get in your way. And. And then the fact that he ended with, I got it here in front of me, this is the time for Ukraine to act. In any event, after saying all this stuff about Ukraine taking back all the land and maybe even more and all these different things and lots of capital Letters and exclamation points. He says, in any event, I wish both countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO, for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all. What is that? Good luck to all. Good luck to both countries. Good luck to both countries. One country is evil and started the whole thing and wants to and may and may take over more countries in Europe and we might be at war with them soon. Why are you wishing them luck? What the hell is that? I don't even know what that means.

[Joe Getty]

Surely Trump doesn't still think he and Putin can be buddies.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, he. He's given up on that. I think he said something over the weekend we didn't, we didn't air about how he. He really. He. He really thought he and Putin were friends, but he realizes they're not now. He said something along those lines.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

But what's the good luck to both countries? What a weird thing to say.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I.

[Joe Getty]

Just trolling.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're backing one country, we're not backing the other country.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So why would you say good luck to both countries?

[Joe Getty]

Ah, he's differentiating Russia from Putin, I guess, or Russian leadership in general. The people versus the government, I guess. I don't. I don't know. It seems very odd to me. I, I have a more charitable view of that. Although one of the things that bothers me about Trump is, and as I always say, he's done some really, really good stuff, some stuff that I'm so grateful for, but he thinks he can instinct his. And it takes him months and months and months to realize, oh, Putin never negotiates in good faith.

[Jack Armstrong]

Rather, if you were 80 years old, had got elected president twice, had a hot model life, and were a billionaire, you might also think you can instinct your way through everything, and I'd be.

[Joe Getty]

Wrong, and that's dangerous.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you can understand how you'd get there.

[Joe Getty]

Doesn't matter. It's immaterial to me. I get your point, but, I mean, people are dying all the time. I'm sure they don't turn to each other, you know, in Ukraine and say, you know, he got elected president. So I can understand him taking Putin at his word for a year and a half. I'm sorry, it's only been nine months.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. I'm just surprised that his instincts are this. I mean, I would think that your instincts, after all these years of being a. A businessman at the highest level and dealing with all kinds of brilliant sharks, would be able to. Would be to Understand what Putin is like really quickly.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right. And your instinct ought to be, I need to know everything about this real estate market. I need to know everything about tourism in Scotland before I in invest in a gigantic golf project. Anyway, where this ends, nobody knows.

[Jack Armstrong]

So.

[Joe Getty]

Well, my God, it could be the Russian paper tiger or paper bear, if you prefer, shrivels up and just looks terribly weak and Ukraine wins back a bunch of territory in the next six months. Or there could be mushroom clouds, I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, because Russia keeps pushing with various NATO countries and flying planes in their borders and everything like that. And the leader of Finland was on Fox yesterday talking about that. He was asked if there is an incursion with aircraft, Russian aircraft, NATO countries should shoot them down.

[Alexander Stubb]

Yeah, well, we have a strict protocol on this, how we work. So of course, what we do in Finland is we protect our airspace and then it's up to the military force, the defence forces and the air force to use the protocol. We've had many violations of airspace over the years, some of them intentional, some of them less so. We announce them immediately when they happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a bunch of words around the idea that NATO countries are going to start shooting down any of these Russian drones when they cross into their borders, maybe even before. So we'll see it.

[Joe Getty]

Alexander Stub of Finland is an extremely thoughtful guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll see what this leads to. Like you said, it could be Russian, it could be stalemate nine months from now. It could be Russia decides, you know, this isn't worth it, the economy, the military and kind of backs off. Or it could be mushroom. Mushroom clouds. It certainly could be.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Putin would not be the first dictator to decide. If my megalomaniac dreams don't come true, then my people don't deserve me and they don't deserve to live.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, that was Hitler's belief at the end. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, he, he, he ordered the destruction of German towns and luckily it was not carried out by the people beneath him. But he, he actually believed the German people should die. They, they didn't fight hard enough. So I don't think Putin is that. I don't think so, but I could 100% see that, him making the calculation, I'm going to use attack tactical nuke and it will back them off. They'll back off.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. A terrible possibility. But I think you're 100% right, which.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think we might, by the way, back off.

[Joe Getty]

I really enjoyed the conversation between Bret Baer and President Stube of finland. Michael, do 65 and 66 back to back for us, then we can move on.

[Alexander Stubb]

And the other thing we have to understand is that Russia and Putin have failed in all of their strategic aims. And on the military front, the advance is really slow. In the past 1,000 days, they have advanced 1 percentage point of the territory of Ukraine. So this is not exactly a march into Kyiv. So what was supposed to be four days is now showing it pretty much four years. And they've taken 20% of Ukrainian territory.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're happy Finland joined NATO?

[Alexander Stubb]

Oh, I'm very happy. I was always an advocate of Finnish NATO membership. I have to admit we're in a minority. You have to understand that for us, the big game changer in Finland and Sweden was Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. And the feeling was, you know, if they can do it to Ukraine, could they do it to us? We've always taken care of our military. As I said, you know, we are a security provider, not a security consumer. In NATO, we take care of the northeastern flank of Europe together with America.

[Joe Getty]

I like that. We're a security provider, not a security consumer. And I'm sure he had a couple two tree countries in mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

When it was banned. Italy. Sorry. Allergies. France. Yeah. And then you want to know the most important thing he said? I don't think we had the. Have the audio. Brett Bear, who's an avid golfer, asked him a kind of a light hearted question about the fact that Stube and, and, and Trump have bonded over playing golf together because Stube actually came. I think he went to school in the US and wanted to become a professional golfer. And he's got game, he's got serious, no long hitter stub. Yeah. But he, he said, yeah, I've really enjoyed playing with the President. He's a fine, fine player. He's a better player than me, which I don't believe for a second. But Trump probably like sent $50 billion worth of armaments and gold plated ceiling fixtures and walrus oil.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever they need in Finland.

[Joe Getty]

Whatever they need. Exactly. That's some good flattery. And he said it with a totally straight face and everything.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's funny. Hey, Katie, before we take a break, I got a joke for you. Apparently this is a popular junk, a joke among your graders or whatever. Okay. It made me laugh.

[Joe Getty]

So Katie, Katie has gone clear through middle school in high school. Not too long ago. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

I don't know, Jack. Why?

[Jack Armstrong]

To get to the idiot's house. Knock, knock.

[Joe Getty]

Who's there?

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

Who's there?

[Jack Armstrong]

The chicken.

[Joe Getty]

Very good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait a minute. You have in effect implied nays stated that I am the aforementioned idiot. We got a laugh out of dare. You got a laugh out of me. It was just multi layered. Most basic dumb joke humans have ever crafted.

[Joe Getty]

I'm gonna hit my wife with it the moment I see her. Okay?

[Jack Armstrong]

We will finish strong.

[Joe Getty]

Next Armstrong and Getty.

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started Normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So if you're into common sense, sanity and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

[Jack Armstrong]

In general, I like the free market to take care of things. If you're a bad company doing bad things and tricking people or bad service or whatever, well then you know some other company will come along and do a better job and take your customers. That's what keeps people right. Where you cross the line into illegal. Illegality is, you know, I didn't go to law school, but the Federal Trade Commission with the biggest fine ever, $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon, they were tricking customers into signing up for Prime. I haven't heard a good description of how that worked, but here's the part that I do understand. And making it almost impossible to cancel now that so many companies do that. And it makes me so angry. And again, I think the free market should fix this. It doesn't a lot, but it should fix it like a. With AT and T. Or maybe I shouldn't name a company. Let's pretend I didn't say AT and.

[Joe Getty]

T.

[Jack Armstrong]

A company where you might have your iPhone and a bunch of other iPhones and watches and stuff like that. You get rid of one, you can sign up for anything there at the store, but you can't cancel it there at the store. You gotta call a specific number. You have to call them and they're only open certain hours and rings for a long time. And then you're on hold for a long time and you get busy and you think, I'll call back tomorrow, I haven't got time for this right now. And you forget about it. And you keep that damn $20 a month thing for a watch you no longer use, going for another however many months that it freaking drives me crazy.

[Joe Getty]

Enter the 50 digit code on the original packaging of your Apple watch.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Exactly. I mean, that is, that is what it obviously is. Oh, I can sign up for it here, you can sign me up easily. But you can't cancel it. Why is that? You know why it is. You're hoping I can't or won't.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And I'm gonna have a government agency that just goes around opening accounts and trying to cancel them. And if they can't, they bring the hammer down.

[Jack Armstrong]

And we've all had experience. If you've ever tried to quit a gym, I just paid like six extra months on a gym that I swear to God I canceled on time. But they said I didn't. And well, how was I going to prove them wrong?

[Joe Getty]

Michael, do we still have that canceled clip that we used to play all the time during the height of cancel culture?

[Jack Armstrong]

And I.

[Joe Getty]

Because when my government agency gets up and running, you know, when we go to cancel an account, if we go to cancel that account, you know what's going to happen? You know what?

[Jack Armstrong]

It'll be canceled.

[Joe Getty]

Taking a long time.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I'm, I'm wondering, given how giving, how much I'd been screwed by various phone companies and gyms and other people throughout my life, what did Amazon do to cross the line of actually getting sued for it, making it almost impossible to cancel your prime subscription. Wow, God, that makes me nuts. Because you, you know what you're doing. I know what you're doing. You, ah, can't handle it.

[Joe Getty]

Jeffrey.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jeffrey.

[Joe Getty]

Be.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's not just the stupid tax, it's the I got better things to do tax than, you know, spend an hour on trying to cancel this dumb little thing today.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hate you so much.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of tax, I've been meaning to squeeze this in. If you're of a certain age, you're familiar with the fact that once you hit 50 and then 60, you can do catch up contributions to your 401k.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Pile extra money into that for your retirement.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I don't exactly understand the theory behind that one.

[Joe Getty]

Well, to make you less dependent on the government.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, but then why don't they, why don't they, why don't you let people contribute more than they're younger?

[Joe Getty]

Because they want the tax dollars. And indeed this is a huge tax increase. The current government, the Trump IRS is eliminating that if you are a high earner.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh really?

[Joe Getty]

Which they set at 145k in wages, which makes you a hell of a high earner in Coon Holler, Kentucky. And it makes you able to afford your 1200 square foot apartment barely in for instance, Manhattan or San Francisco Bay area or wherever else.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, national income statistics for any sort of thing are just. They don't make sense.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they're ridiculous.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, I didn't realize it. When's that start?

[Joe Getty]

Consult your local tax professional.

[Jack Armstrong]

That sucks.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's gonna. It issued final rules this month on the 2022 law. That means many workers will pay taxes on their catch up money upfront. Well, it's high earning years.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's just a different version of wealth redistribution.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yet another version.

[Joe Getty]

And the money will go into a Roth IRA account which perhaps you've heard of, which can later be withdrawn tax free. So it's post tax money that then you can use tax free later, which in some cases you're better off with anyway. Honestly. But again, talk to your local, you know, tax counselor, accountant, attorney, whatever. But my God, our tax code is complicated, just horrendous.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it constantly changes too, so.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, yeah. O. It's final thoughts.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm strong again. It's final thoughts. It's final thoughts.

[Joe Getty]

I'm strong again. Get ready with Katie Green and Michael Angelo. It's final thoughts.

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

How about a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap things up for the day. There he is. Michelangelo, our technical director, in the control room, pressing the buttons.

[Jack Armstrong]

Michael, final thought?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I was just thinking back to when I was a kid. They used to have these things where you would get a CD for like, 10 cents. And then they would keep sending you stuff, the next things you, you know. You were hooked on this program. I couldn't cancel it. Yeah, that.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have to be a certain age to remember that. But 13 albums for one penny. And my mom talked me out of it because she had done it when she was young, in the 50s, and, you know, it was impossible to cancel.

[Joe Getty]

Bastards. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought. Katie, this is always fun. Go into your subscriptions section on your phone and see how many things you're subscribed to. Because I do that sign up for the free thing and then forget. Yeah, we've got to do that. Thanks for the reminder. I ought to have, like a count of days. It's been 78 days since Joe vowed to go through his subscriptions. Still counting. Jack, final thought.

[Jack Armstrong]

My favorite return policy was the Snuggie. Remember when the Snuggie was popular?

[Joe Getty]

Free returns.

[Jack Armstrong]

If not satisfied, all your money back. It's my brother.

[Joe Getty]

Got it? It shows up in a cardboard box.

[Jack Armstrong]

With no label, no paperwork, no nothing. Who are you gonna send it back to? How? What?

[Joe Getty]

Right? Bastards. Did I mention that already? My final thought. You know how they say a smile is the universal language? This thought occurred to me yesterday. Judy and I were walking Baxter, and I jumped back because I saw a rattlesnake. And it was motionless and its head didn't look quite right. Like a viper. And then I realized it's because it had no head. But before I realized that, I had found a long stick and poked at it with a stick. And I realized, everywhere on Earth, no matter your culture or religion, if you want to figure out if something's alive or not, you poke it with a stick. That's right, universe. Like a smile, it's universal.

[Jack Armstrong]

They even did that on Friends with their fat neighbor across the way. Poked him with a stick. Armstrong and Getty wrapping up Another grueling four hour workday.

[Joe Getty]

So many people. Thanks. So little time. Go to Armstrong and getty.com. a lot of great clicks for you there. Pick up some swag.

[Jack Armstrong]

The one where they poke the neighbor with the stick. We'll see you tomorrow. God bless America. These are the two things I got from the United Nations. A bad escalator and Armstrong injection to spaghetti sauce. Jack and Joe cover it all the big dumper and monkey jobs Jack and.

[Carol Markowitz]

Joe uncover the truth in case you.

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

Missed it, hear it all.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get the podcasts Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Washable Sofas Advertiser]

Armstrong and Getty there's nothing like sinking into luxury. At washablesofas.com, you'll find the Annabe sofa which combines ultimate comfort and design at an affordable price. And get this, it's the only sofa that's fully machine washable from top to bottom. Starting at only $699, the stain resistant performance fabric slipcovers and cloud like frame duvet can go straight into your wash. Perfect for anyone with kids, pets or anyone who loves an easy to clean spotless sofa. With a modular design and changeable slipcovers, you can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair, loveseat or a luxuriously large sectional, Annabe has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now you can shop up to 60% off store wide with a 30 day money back guarantee. Shop [e-mail] Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions and may apply.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

This is an I heart podcast.