Can They Fit Their Big Boy Pants Over That Fat Ass?

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Can They Fit Their Big Boy Pants Over That Fat Ass?
Date: April 9, 2026
Host: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty (plus Katie Greener)
Main Theme:
A candid, sharply opinionated look at NATO’s future, Europe’s military readiness, changes in modern warfare (especially drones), and the importance of leadership and accountability—intermixed with classic Armstrong & Getty commentary on everything from collectibles at The Masters to the politics of language and AI.

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Episode Overview

This episode sharply dissects the state of NATO in the context of ongoing global conflicts, particularly focusing on U.S.-Europe relations, European defense capabilities, and the evolution of warfare—centering on drone technology. The hosts weave in commentary on media narratives, organizational discipline, and even moments of lighter cultural observation, all with their trademark irreverence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NATO’s State and the U.S.-Europe Relationship

• NATO in Flux:
  Jack Armstrong opens with an assertive assessment that NATO is at a pivotal, uncertain juncture. He argues the previous status quo—Europe relying on the U.S. for security—became untenable, emphasizing European military deterioration.

  • “Europe, protected by the American security umbrella, had grown very soft and very lazy and utterly unable to help itself... The greatest navy on earth has been reduced to, I mean, like a third world nation's.”
    —Jack Armstrong [00:46]

• Britain’s Decline in Defense Capability:
  Jack singles out Britain’s military decline, referencing failures during the Iran conflict.

  • Media, he claims, avoids reporting these humiliations.

• Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General:
  Armstrong calls Rutte “the most skillful Trump whisperer,” lauding his diplomatic finesse and understanding of both American and European perspectives.

  • Rutte is credited with “using his powers for good, not evil.”
    —Jack Armstrong [01:24]

2. Iran, Trump, and NATO Tensions

• Rutte’s Measured Responses:
  Clips of Rutte’s interviews highlight his skill dodging media bait, maintaining support for the U.S. while avoiding outright critique of President Trump’s provocative actions.

  • “When it comes to what leaders are saying, I'm not commenting on everything. What I want you to know is that I support the president... Iran... are one of the main enablers of Russia's war effort in Ukraine. We all know this.”
    —Mark Rutte [03:04]

• NATO’s Need for “Hard Power”:
  Rutte argues American leadership remains indispensable, quoting Reagan, and calls for Europe to overcome its aversion to military force.

  • “Over reliance on the notion that security was just a new norm and the United States would take care of any threats... Europeans imagine that hard power was something to be embarrassed by, a relic of a bellicose past... Recent years have made abundantly clear that history is alive and kicking.”
    —Mark Rutte [04:50]

• Europe’s Transition:
  Rutte describes a necessary move from “unhealthy co-dependence” toward “true partnership” in NATO.
  “Europe is assuming a greater and fairer share of the task of providing for its conventional defence.”
  —Mark Rutte [06:55]

  • Armstrong, with classic bluntness, doubts certain countries’ willingness or ability to change:
    “Can they fit the big boy pants over their fat ass?”
    —Jack Armstrong [07:51]

3. Media Narratives and “Daddy” Mishap

• Handling Media Traps:
  Rutte deftly explains a viral “daddy” quote, arising from a Dutch-to-English translation issue, demonstrating how such narratives spread.
  • “I was not calling him my daddy, but saying... sometimes Daddy has to be angry. And I now have to live as this the rest of my life.”
    —Mark Rutte [10:11]
  • Armstrong relishes the absurdity: “Who's your daddy? Oh, fantastic.” [10:52]

4. Commentary on The Masters and Organizational Culture

• Collectors & Customer Experience:
  A sidebar explores the hype around Masters golf gnomes, serving as a springboard for Jack’s riff on the event’s culture of order, respect, and consequences.

  • Masters as a model of enforced standards: “If you're in customer service in any capacity, spend the money to go to the Masters... there is an enforcement mechanism. There are specific and fairly drastic disincentives for bad behavior. And it works.”
    —Jack Armstrong [15:11]

• Broader Lesson:
  Disorder in cities, he suggests, is a failure of enforcement and choice, not compassion.

  • “It is not compassionate to let people be a holes.”
    —Jack Armstrong [16:40]

5. Modern Warfare & NATO Drone Exercises

• AI & Gig Economy:
  The team discusses a new gig where people film themselves doing chores to help train cleaning robots—heralding the rise of “side hustle” gig data.

  • “So I could get paid to like fold my underwear and put it in a drawer.”
    —Jack Armstrong [18:46]
  • Katie: “I wouldn't be mad at a robot folding my laundry.” [19:36]

• NATO Military Readiness & Drones:
  They review Gillian Melchior’s piece on a NATO drone war exercise:

  • Cheap drones create new battlefield realities, threatening expensive hardware.
  • The shifting war landscape in Ukraine accelerates military adaptation.
  • “We're not talking about change at the margins. We're talking about a complete overhaul of how war is waged.”
    —General Petraeus (quoted by Armstrong) [20:49]
  • Disparity in drone production: Russia vs. NATO's sluggish adaptation.
  • Debate on tank vulnerability in modern drone-dominated warfare.

• Generational Change:
  Young soldiers’ DIY ingenuity—3D printing parts and quickly adopting new tech.

  • The challenge: scaling production and fully embracing the new model of war.

6. Political Language & Social Commentary

• Riff on 'Alphabet Soup' Identity Acronyms:
  The hosts play a Canadian MP's long acronym-laden speech, noting the ever-expanding list of identity labels.

  • “Mmiwg2slgbtqia oh boy. I'm sorry, what?... 15, yeah. Is it? Wow.”
    —Jack Armstrong & Katie Greener [31:30]
  • Armstrong contends that such language is meant to enforce public obedience rather than inclusivity.
  • “The point is making you say that, making you memorize it and recite it. It's your obedience they want.”
    —Jack Armstrong [32:30]

• Critique of Cultural Theories:
  Armstrong dismisses a call-in comment that “grass lawns are racist,” calling it brainwashing and countering with historical context.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It's time for Europe to put on its big boy pants. But can they fit the big boy pants over their fat ass?”
  —Jack Armstrong [07:51]
• “American leadership is absolutely essential if freedom is to be the rule and not the exception.”
  —Mark Rutte [04:14]
• “If you're in customer service in any capacity, spend the money to go to the Masters... fair rules, consistent enforcement of those rules and incentives and disincentives... It works.”
  —Jack Armstrong [15:11]
• “We're not talking about change at the margins. We're talking about a complete overhaul of how war is waged...”
  —General Petraeus (quoted) [20:49]
• “The point is making you say that, making you memorize it and recite it. It's your obedience they want.”
  —Jack Armstrong [32:30]

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Description | |---------|-------------| | 00:27–03:04 | Introduction: State of NATO, US-EU tensions, British defense struggles | | 03:04–06:41 | Mark Rutte’s response to Trump, Iran threats, and historical context for NATO & hard power | | 06:41–10:52 | Future of NATO: Rutte on “big boy pants”, media attempts to create conflict, “daddy” quote | | 10:52–16:48 | Sidebar: The Masters golf collectibles, event culture, and lesson in standards | | 16:48–19:34 | Artemis mission update, gig economy for robot training data | | 19:34–28:50 | NATO’s Estonia drone exercise: lessons, challenges, and modernization | | 28:50–32:30 | Calls & clips: Social commentary on lawns, identity acronyms, and language politics | | 32:30–34:39 | Final Thoughts: Reflections from the crew |

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Tone and Style

• Candid, irreverent, and occasionally brash.
  The hosts combine sharp criticism of policy and trends with humor and personal anecdotes.
• Mix of hard news analysis and pop culture banter.
  Highbrow/lowbrow blend (quotes Reagan and then riffs on “big boy pants”).
• Political skepticism and defense of “common sense” conservatism.

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Conclusion

This episode offers an incisive, sometimes satirical, always opinionated exploration of NATO’s challenges, the revolution in modern warfare, and the cultural signals of strength and discipline—from the literal battlefield to golf course etiquette. It ends with the hosts musing on how enforcement, technology, and language shape society, all while keeping listeners entertained and a little bit provoked.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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.

[Mark Rutte]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Katie Greener]

As negotiators try to wind down this conflict, the President continues to vent his frustration with NATO allies for not supporting his war effort. An administration official telling ABC News the US Is weighing plans to shift troops away from countries that were seen as being unhelpful during this conflict.

[Jack Armstrong]

The relationship between the United States and the rest of NATO is absolutely in flux right now, and it's one of the more interesting and important things going on around the world. Where it goes, nobody knows. My personal point of view is that where it was, we couldn't possibly continue. It was an absolutely silly kind of pantomime of an alliance in that Europe, protected by the American security umbrella, had grown very soft and very lazy and utterly unable to help itself. Britain, for instance, has been humiliated repeatedly. A lot of folks are not aware of this because the mainstream media finds it inconvenient to report this, but it's just crazy. Interesting. Britain's been humiliated multiple times during the current Iran conflict because they've tried to launch ships or been asked to, and they can't. The ships aren't ready. They don't have the personnel. They're missing parts. Their navy has, the greatest navy on earth has been reduced to, I mean, like a third world nations. Nice try, Navy, and not even a very nice try. So, anyway, something new is coming, and it's appropriate. I mean, how far are we from the end of World War II, when NATO really formed up during the Cold War. But where it goes, nobody's quite sure. Which brings us to Mark Ruta, who is the Secretary General of NATO. Very, very smart guy, Finn, and is absolutely among Euros, the most skillful Trump whisperer, wrangler. He understands Trump and dealing with Trump in a way that very, very few world leaders do. And I believe Mr. Ruta is using his powers for good, not evil. But he's been making the rounds now trying to save NATO's bacon and the relationship in general. And we're going to go through some of the things he said recently and talk about them a little bit. Here he is, first of all, with Jake Tapper, talking about Trump's threat to leave NATO when President Trump threatened to kill the entire Iranian civilization. Okay, did, did that bother you at all as. As a diplomat?

[Mark Rutte]

Well, you know what I always say, when it comes to what leaders are saying, I'm not commenting on everything. What I want you to know is that I support the president and I know large parts of Europe do when it comes to taking out the capacity of Iran to export chaos to, to the region, to Europe, to the whole world. They are one of the main enablers of Russia's war effort in Ukraine. We all know this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, all the drones.

[Mark Rutte]

With the drones, it is an existential threat to Israel. If they would get their hands on nuclear capability, it is great to try to negotiate it away. But we also always knew that with North Korea, it took too long, and then North Korea had its hand on a nuclear. And then you cannot negotiate any longer, and they have that power.

[Jack Armstrong]

Two things. Number one, don't let me forget we're going to come back to drones probably next segment. Secondly, he understands the American media too, which is looking for a juicy quote or even better, to sow the seeds of a rift between Mr. Ruta and Mr. Trump. Jake Tapper trying to tap him or trap him into saying that, oh, I disapproved of that. What the president said, that was terrible. Blah, blah, blah. Ruta goes on, quoting the great Ronald Reagan. This is a different setting, but go ahead.

[Mark Rutte]

If peace is to have a chance, if the hope for freedom is to be kept alive, the United States must play a powerful and active role in world affairs. When President Reagan offered those words, the burning wall still held people's hopes and dreams captive. What President Reagan knew then and what I know today is quite simple. American leadership is absolutely essential if freedom is to be the rule and not the exception.

[Jack Armstrong]

Rutas, speaking in D.C. today, went on

[Mark Rutte]

over reliance on the notion that security was just a new norm and the United States would take care of any threats further afield caused us Europeans to imagine that hard power was something to be embarrassed by, a relic of a bellicose past that humankind had now outgrown. But recent years have made abundantly clear that history is alive and kicking. That while Europe may not think in spheres of influence, countries like Russia certainly do. And we have seen that Putin is all too willing to use force to press the point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Rutte is one of my favorite thinkers. I love that Europe is embarrassed by hard power. We're too enlightened for that. With our bloated welfare states and our retirement at age, whatever it is, 50, and our massive immigration and our desperate attempts to be politically correct and get overrun by immigrants. The hard power is used by brutes and idiots. I love Ruta calling them out on that. He goes on, and I'm sure that will ingratiate him to Trump as well.

[Mark Rutte]

He goes on over the alliance of the notion that security was just a new norm and the United States.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think that's the same clip, isn't it, Michael? Let's go.

[Mark Rutte]

President Trump's commitment to progress reverse more than a generation of stagnation and atrophy by reminding Europe that values must be backed by by hard power. Hard power provided not only by the United States, but through the collective efforts of countries who are part of the most successful military alliance ever built.

[Jack Armstrong]

One that then mutated into a completely one sided one attack dog in a bunch of fat, you know, Labrador retrievers laying around the couch. So what of the future, Mr. Secretary?

[Mark Rutte]

Why then does everyone in this room have a knot in their stomach about the future of the transatlantic alliance? Why when we turn on our televisions or scroll on our phones, do we see eager early drafts of NATO's obituary? Let me be clear. This alliance is not whistling past the graveyard, as you would say in the United States. Allies recognize, and I recognize we are in a period of profound change in the transatlantic alliance. Europe is assuming a greater and fairer share of the task of providing for its conventional defence. And from that there will be no going back, and nor should there be. This is a move from unhealthy co dependence to a transatlantic alliance grounded in true partnership.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, he's 100% right in his intentions. Can he and all the will in the world move, say, France toward meaningful participation in the hard power defense of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? Or as the New York Times put it the other day, the North American Treaty Organization. How can you have that without America? That was actually in a prominent story in the New York Times. They don't even know what NATO stands for anyway, anyway. So again, Ruta's 100% right. It's time for Europe to put on its big boy pants. But can they fit the big boy pants over their fat ass? I'm sorry the metaphor had gone that far. I couldn't help myself. One more clip from that speech.

[Mark Rutte]

When it came time to provide the logistical and other support the United States needed in Iran, some allies were a bit slow, to say the least. In fairness, they were also a bit surprised. To maintain the element of surprise for the initial strikes, President Trump opted not to inform allies ahead of time. And I understand that. But what I see when I look across Europe today is allies providing a massive amount of support, basing logistics and other measures to ensure the powerful US Military succeeds in denying Iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to export chaos.

[Jack Armstrong]

Impressive guy. Anybody who deals with negotiations or has any emotional intelligence or puts teams together in a skillful way recognized what he did there with a hey, hey. No, Trump's got a great point about there had to be the element of surprise. On the other hand, the Euros were completely surprised. And so you got to give him a little time to get up to speed and figure out how to handle this and all. But, hey, we're still buddies. We're still buddies. Then one more attempt by the media to turn him against Trump and to, you know, sow the seeds of discontent, which he handles quite skillfully here.

[Katie Greener]

Do you think that he is still going to stay in NATO since you know him so well?

[Jack Armstrong]

And second of all, do you still consider him daddy after yesterday?

[Mark Rutte]

Well, on the daddy thing, this is a language problem. What happens is the following. I have to explain to you because it follows me a little bit, I can assure you. Now, we had a sort of pre summit meeting, the President and I, in June in the Hague. And he had been very angry that day with Iran and with Israel. This was in June last year. And in Dutch, he would say, hey, the translation of your father is daddy. And I would say, I said, hey, yeah, sometimes Daddy has to be angry. So I was not calling him my daddy, but saying, but of course, daddy has, has also a special connotation. And I now have to live as this the rest of my life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who's your daddy? Oh, fantastic. All right. Speaking of the defense of democracies and that sort of thing, NATO just had a big, well, semi big exercise in Estonia where they are trying, trying, trying to get up to speed with the drone warfare. And the account I came across of it is both very interesting and somewhat troubling. And we'll have that for you in moments. Stay with me. Armstrong and Getty. The Masters draws fans and spectators from around the world, but only a lucky few of those attending are able to snag one of the event's coveted souvenir gnomes. What do you. What are you trying to do when you get in the gift shop? Gnomes, of course. Why'd you get here so early?

[Katie Greener]

Shopping for gnome.

[Jack Armstrong]

We want the gnome.

[Katie Greener]

Right, of course, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you think the odds of getting a gnome are at this point? Oh, I'd say slim to none. Do you feel like you've won the Masters with walking out with this guy? Absolutely. So I, Joe Getty, have had the pleasure of attending the Masters two different years. It's my super bowl, as I Say, every year. And it's four days long at least, depending on, you know, par three tournament and everything. But when Judy and I first went, we became aware, of course, we showed up like as the gates were opening the first day, that everybody was like, frantic to get in line for the swag shop, which does something like a million dollars a minute of business. I mean, it's astonishing, but don't quote me on that number. But it's astonishing amount of money because there is 0, 0 online sales for Masters merchandise unless you buy some and sell it. And I think they might try to crack down on that. But anyway, the only way to get Masters swag is to be at the Masters. And we became aware that people were like, super hot to trot. Cause they wanted these damn gnomes. And the gnomes change every year. They're always a golf themed gnome. And people who get them are like, crazed with excitement. And it was funny. Even the kind of guy I am, the fierce individualist, I found myself thinking, maybe we should get some gnomes. Honey, we should probably get in line and get some gnomes. I mean, everybody wants a gnome. We gotta have a gnome. Let's get a gnome. And we were both like, we don't want a damn gnome.

[Katie Greener]

Oh, okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I thought, be funny in my man cave. I kind of wish I had one.

[Katie Greener]

You should get one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Make. If you'd like to sell me your name, your gnome, I will buy it. All right. [e-mail] Now I want to gnome again.

[Katie Greener]

Oh, see? Okay. When I saw this news story, I didn't know if it was just like a random thing they did this year, but. So they have a different gnome, each master collectible thing. Oh, you need. You need a whole gnome garden. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no, I don't. You don't do this to me. You know how easily led I am. Yeah.

[Katie Greener]

One of the guys that was in line when he was asked in that news report, like, you know, did you. Did you get. When he's like, no, but don't worry, I can probably find one on Facebook marketplace for about 500 bucks later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, so. Oof. Joe's work. So I can buy crap. Yeah, you know, I ought to. I should have, like, tweeted out yesterday. I am a golf freak and I love Augusta national as a golf course and I love the Masters and attending. It was amazing. And I talked about this some the first time. And last year I went in 2022 and I think 2024. Is that right? Yeah, it's close. Anyway, 2023 and 25, maybe. How incredibly well run it is and what an example it is of how good things can be if people are held to standards. And it reminds me of the discussion we had last hour about that great essay about all the bums and junkies and chaos and crime and ugliness on our streets. They happen because we permit them. And it is a choice entirely. A choice. But Masters is. Everybody is courteous all the time and it's tens of thousands of people and it's all pleasant. And the prices are not incredibly high. Confiscatory is the fancy word they've chosen to keep the prices of sandwiches the same. You can get a pimento cheese sandwich for a dollar and a half and a tea for two bucks or whatever it is with a souvenir cup. And everything's incredibly inexpensive. Once you get in the gates, the security is amazing and almost invisible. It's almost like Disney.

[Katie Greener]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

But the level of customer service, how everybody is kind and friendly to the patrons, never call them fans, never call them the crowd, they're the patrons, they're our guests. It's awe inspiring. And if you're, if you're in customer service in any capacity, spend the money to go to the Masters. I realize you can't replicate what they have in a lot of ways, partly because you could be a family that has had passes to the Masters because you're past members or whatever of Augusta National. You've had Those passes for 50 years, say, and one day you lend those passes to your brother in law, Jim, who gets drunk and causes problem. You will never have those passes again. Oh, wow. They take them away from you. Yeah. And so people are very, very careful about who they lend them to or whatever else. So there is an enforcement mechanism. There are specific and fairly drastic disincentives for bad behavior. And it works. It's one of the reasons I'm a conservative is I've seen what happens if you have fair rules, consistent enforcement of those rules and incentives and disincentives in place that help people make decisions. It works. And it's not compassionate to let people be a holes.

[Katie Greener]

Fancy that. Rules and consequences, they work.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I know, Katie, I know, I know, it makes me insane. But it gets me up in the morning to come do this job. So I promised that super interesting account of NATO's drone exercises, plus update from the Artemis 2 mission, where they are and what's happened, some really cool, awe inspiring stuff on that and whatever else we manage to squeeze into the rest of the show. If you have to depart. Goodbye, my friend. And grab it via podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. Armstrong and Getty from In Integrity. We are ready for the event. The Artemis 2 crew checking in as they prepare for one of the most dangerous parts of the mission re entry into Earth's atmosphere. They're expected to reach a speed of nearly 35,000ft per second ahead of splashdown off the San Diego coast tomorrow. And anybody who knows anything about space travel knows that reentering the Earth's atmosphere creates astounding levels of heat. The nose of the spacecraft anyway. We wish them well certainly. And we'll be following that. It's our all technology segment moving from the spacecraft thingy to this. This is not only really interesting glimpse into training AI robots, but it's a potential side hustle for like anybody looking

[Narrator]

for a side gig. You've seen humanoid robots do backflips, cartwheels and kung fu. Now their next big mission is cleaning. But first they'll have to learn how, using videos of humans doing it first. That's created a new kind of gig economy where people are paid by the hour to record themselves doing odd jobs around the house. All around the world, thousands of workers are strapping cameras to their heads before starting on a list of basic tasks like cutting fruit, cleaning countertops, and watering plants. Then the footage is marked up so that robots can translate the visual cues into physical responses.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I could get paid to like fold my underwear and put it in a drawer.

[Katie Greener]

Okay, I am interested, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. First I'd have to actually do a chore, but let's hear a little more.

[Narrator]

This type of human data is turning into a multi billion dollar industry since companies say it's going to take billions of hours of training before robots can be deployed into people's homes. Analysts say that the data from these videos isn't as effective as having humans guide robots through the tasks themselves, but. But it's a lot cheaper and faster to collect. As AI advances, developers are combining human and virtual training methods, all in the name of building the world's most advanced Android.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, interesting.

[Katie Greener]

Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't be mad at a robot folding my laundry.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, that would be great. They say that's a really difficult thing for robots to accomplish at this point for a variety of reasons. But yeah, I'm trying to think of what tasks would be best. Certainly vacuuming and that sort of thing. They have robot vacuums, that kind of work. Yeah. Folding laundry is right up top. Yes. I hate it. Yeah. But if you Got like music listen to or like a dumb TV show you only half watch? It helps, but yeah, all right. Get paid to do chores. That's pretty cool, I thought. Yeah, I suppose you become a maid, but you know, that's fine. It's a rewarding line of work. A lot of nice people do it. So moving on to a different, different technology. This is written by Gillian Melchior of the Wall Street Journal, among other publications she writes for. But she's writing about going along with a big NATO multinational drone war exercise that they're using to try to get up to speed. Let me. I'll hit you with some of it. If Russia attacked Estonia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's multinational battle group would be the first line of defense. On a sub freezing February day, I joined British soldiers who along with some 250 French troops comprise the roughly 1200 man battle group to see how well they are learning the lessons from the war in Ukraine. Let's see. During the exercise I saw real progress as the British forces drilled with drones and electronic warfare. Yet I left uneasy that NATO partners aren't sufficiently prepared for today's warfare. As we were discussing last half hour listening to Mark Ruta, NATO partners aren't sufficiently prepared for any warfare. Anyway, here's a brief recap of some of the ways war is changing. Cheap weapons like aerial drones threaten expensive targets, especially when deployed in huge numbers. Use expensive countermeasures against them and you'll quickly find your resources strained. Technology is rapidly evolving which requires faster and nimbler procurement. Ubiquitous drones and sensors can provide combatants with a continuous, real time, high definition picture of the battlefield. What's visible is vulnerable. The unprecedented quantity and detail of battlefield data then that the drones are taking in requires changes to how intelligence is collected, analyzed and disseminated. Again, they're sucking up such enormous amount of data, which is super useful, but you got to find a way to process it. Retired General David Petraeus was over there studying the evolution of military technology. He spent a lot of time in Ukraine primarily, but listen to these quotes, would you? We're not talking about change at the margins. We're talking about a complete overhaul of how war is waged and how it should be envisioned in the future. A complete overhaul of how war is waged and how it should be envisioned in the future. Back to Ms. Melchior. She writes, during the NATO drill, I saw changes to training, the types of personnel being cultivated, the facilities where warfare is drilled, and to some extent the materiel used. But I also saw worrisome indicators that some NATO military leaders hadn't fully absorbed lessons from Ukraine and haven't adequately adjusted doctrines or policies, including vital changes in procurement. She mentions. The British troops in Estonia came from Britain's 12th Armored Brigade. By the time my visit, that brigade had put about 100 soldiers through a month long course focused on electronic warfare, the use of drones for reconnaissance and strikes, countering drones and tactics, according to their leader. I watched as a drone zoomed in low through the Estonian woods. Only a few seconds elapsed between the drone's eerie buzz and it's hitting its target, a net strung over a military vehicle. The goal isn't to become competent at any specific model of drone, obviously, because they're changing so quickly. It evolves day by day by day. In Ukraine, the proving ground of all this mayhem, instead of training, the soldiers of the 12th Armored Brigade focused on fundamentals like hand. I'm sorry, I mis. Emphasized the words. Instead, the training for the soldiers focused on fundamentals like hand, eye coordination on controls, evasive maneuvers and rapid attacks. Practicing in the terrain they could someday have to defend. British soldiers also learned practical lessons like how quickly a drone battery drains and how slowly it charges in frigid weather. During the NATO exercise, troops knelt in the snow to set up an unwieldy device resembling an antenna known as the Kraken system. Plant three of them and you can triangulate the position of an enemy drone, among other targets. Let's see. And they're trying to up the use of the Kraken, but it was released in months, not years, still longer than it takes in Ukraine. But to develop and deploy something in months and not years is a huge improvement over most military procurement, including the United States, which is famously slow and lead footed and prone to pressure from Congress and that sort of thing in a way that will get just scores of soldiers killed if we continue in those ways. So the NATO battle group in Estonia now has a 3D printer to make drones or build spare parts. The battle group's youngest members are showing a proclivity for using new tech to solve problems. One soldier recently 3D printed a replacement for a broken fuse box cover. Cultivating creative initiative, even at the lowest unit levels is an important military mentality shift. It's been vital for Ukraine. And then the next step for NATO's tinkerer soldiers is to scale up production. Since August of 24 in Ukraine, the Russians have been using unjammable stealthy fiber optic drones that get their signals from a thin wire resembling like a fishing line. This NATO battle group has only 10 or so of them to train with, and they're a recent acquisition. As of September, Russia produced more than 50,000 of these fiber optic drones a month. That's according to their state run media. But there's no reason to doubt it, I suppose. And there are many other sorts of drones on the battlefield. Ukrainians, for instance, now deploy some 9,000 drones every day. Ukraine's target is to build 7 million drones this year, a Russian official recently said. Moscow's goal is to train more than 70,000 drone operators in 2026. And Ms. Melchior says it's unclear if NATO military leaders fully grasp how the ground fight changes when so many drones are deployed on the battlefield. War eventually comes down to the moment when metal meets metal, said Major James Curry, second in command. Blah, blah, blah. Taking and holding territory still requires close combat, and to advance rapidly you need mobile, protected firepower. But the war in Ukraine is making it clear how much more difficult it is to field tanks and armored vehicles in large groups on a battlefield that's dominated by drones. The weapons that can reliably disable tanks are so pervasive and inexpensive that it's impossible to operate larger or armored formations anymore, says Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute. It is not hard for a drone to knock off a tank off its tracks, I should say, leaving the crew stuck and giving the enemy a chance to finish the job at their leisure. But NATO doesn't seem to be on the same page, and I can't appraise who's right and wrong in this discussion, but I think we'll all find out pretty quickly. They quote Major Curry, who we quoted earlier. I fundamentally disagree that tanks are any more vulnerable than they used to be. And it's true that there have been more ways to kill tanks about as long as there have been tanks. And Major Currie also praised the sturdiness of the British Challenger 2 tank, which he said is capable of surviving multiple drone strikes. But drones are a highly dispersed threat, which makes them harder to get to target them at their source. And so this in turn makes it hard to shape the battlefield before your armored formations roll in. You'll just get wave after wave after wave after wave of drones anyway, other than the introduction of like the bow into battle back whenever that happened. If Jack was here, he could probably tell you he reads about that stuff a lot. Yeah, this is, this is such an enormous fundamental change in warfare so quickly. It's amazing. Okay, well, I hope the good guys are as up to Speed as the bad guys. And I hope the Ukrainians continue to sell us their expertise and their equipment and teach us how to do it. Because, man, we can. We can blast 350 foot rockets to the moon back, but if we can't quickly produce cheap, crappy drones to blow up the bad guys, we'll be hosed. Oof. The modern world. I don't like it. You can have it back. We're gonna finish strong next. Stay with us, Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest or caller]

I can't stop thinking about how grass lawns are racist and like, based in white supremacy. If that doesn't make sense, that's okay. I guess it seems really obvious to me. It's. It's really upsetting. Bring back weeds. Bring back clover yards. Look, can we just. Can, can anything just be okay in its natural state? Or do we just have to whitewash everything, make it a competition and use it as a sign of your worth as a human being in society? Like, can we just have weeds?

[Jack Armstrong]

I frequently don't know where to start after hearing something like that. I mean, watching or listening to somebody who's been brainwashed. And then, you know, I argue for living. So my impulse is to come up with a counterargument. But again, I don't know where to start. We could start with, people enjoy beautiful gardens in Africa, and the hanging gardens of Babylon were one of the wonders of the world, and people like to beautify their spaces. And to say it's west, White supremacy is, pardon me, friends, effing stupid. We could start there, I guess. We featured this a little earlier in the show. This is a gender bending member of parliament from in Canada. I failed to notice all the acronyms here. The New Democratic Party, which is the wackadoo radical leftist party that's gaining power horrifically in Canada. And if you haven't heard this yet, stay tuned toward the end of the clip and get ready to jot down a note quickly. When the budget was released, I was shocked to find out that Prime Minister Carney is cutting $7 billion between Indigenous Services Canada and Crown Indigenous Relations. They provided $0 to deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQIA plus this is abhorrent, not a parody. Do we have the short version of that, Michael? Mmiwg2slgbtqia oh boy. I'm sorry, what? Yeah, I know, I know. How long might it get eventually? I mean, if we're at. I didn't count that. That looks to be something like 15 or so letters. And symbols.

[Katie Greener]

15. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is it? Wow. How about that? You know, science, I just read this the other day. Science has figured out that human beings are incredibly good at counting things quickly. And the experiment was they would flash a bunch of like dots on a screen and say, was that 47 or 49? And people would like get it at numbers way better than chance. Really weird. Yeah. That's bizarre. I thought it was nutty. Anyway, back to the many, many, many, many letters Katie was kind enough to look up with that Alphabet soup stood

[Katie Greener]

for yes, here we go, missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual plus.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the plus is implying that there are several other letters.

[Katie Greener]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

That we're letting you off the hook for now. Yeah. How many more letters are there? So, and we made this point earlier today, but everybody needs to learn this. Everybody. The point is not that all those Alphabet soupy people are beleaguered. The point is making you say that, making you memorize it and recite it. It's your obedience. They want a lot of the change from negro to black to African American and colored or whatever, all those things. Some of it was well meaning but most of it was to get you to obey because, and this is the absolute hallmark of the DEI and the so called anti racist things, they want your obedience and they want you to feel like, I don't know what to say. So you tell me what to say and I will say it. Oh boy. That's the point of all of this. Don't go along with it. Almost finished. Let's get ready. Final thoughts with Armstrong and Getty. Ah, beautiful. Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap things up for the day. Michelangelo in the control room will lead the way bravely. Michael, what's your final thoughts? No, I really like the idea of putting a camera on my head and just videotaping myself vacuuming and get a few extra bucks. I think that's great. It's a great way for me to make some extra money. You gotta do it anyway. We'll see if we can get you a gig. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought.

[Katie Greener]

Katie, I am pleased to announce that I did have my double double from In N Out yesterday, but I went protein style. So no bun because I am trying

[Jack Armstrong]

so hard to do what?

[Katie Greener]

No, I mean, you can use pregnancy as the reason for so long.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then did Joe, Jack, Mike, Michael want the bun? Your babe?

[Katie Greener]

Yes, Joe, Jack, Mike, Mike had some French fries, so he's doing just fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fair enough. My final thought is Jack's gonna be off tomorrow, but we've lined up a lot of great guests for what I hope will be really interesting conversations. I am looking forward to it and I hope you can join us. Meanwhile, please do. Oh, Armstrong and Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday. So many people to thank, so little time. Go to armstrongandgetty.com for many clicky pleasures await you there. Trust me, Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongetty.com we'll see you tomorrow. God bless America.

[Mark Rutte]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's a couple of guys that got no reason to hide. It's Jack and Joe, Katie the news lady and Michelangelo. You could call them tramps, but that wouldn't be very nice. Instead, get the podcast. It's called Armstrong and Getty on Demand. Armstrong and Gettysburg.