Getting Trump Will Be Their Jihad

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Getting Trump Will Be Their Jihad"

Date: February 25, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty (with Katie Green)
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on reactions to Donald Trump's most recent State of the Union address. The hosts dissect partisan behavior during the speech, especially focusing on Democrats' refusal to stand for statements prioritizing American citizens over illegal immigrants. They explore the broader implications of political polarization, the performative nature of modern politics, notable State of the Union moments, and current headline news—with the show’s signature humor, skepticism, and banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Modern State of the Union: Clip Economy and Political Theater

• Trump’s State of the Union Address

  • The hosts debate the utility and excess of a two-hour speech:
    • "Did we need a two hour State of the Union address?" [01:10] – Jack Armstrong
    • Joe suspects the long speech is fodder for viral online clips, aligning with Trump’s showbiz instincts:
      • "What’s important is the next day, the echo chamber, the online. The clips online." [01:22] – Joe Getty
  • Few Americans actually watch the entire address ("maybe double digits, like 15 people, somewhere between 40 and 45." [02:01]).

• Key Viral Moment: Immigration Stand-off

  • Trump asks Congress to stand if they agree "the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens"—Democrats sit, Republicans stand and cheer.
    • "How do you argue with that? Where's the wiggle room on that?" [03:09] – Jack Armstrong
    • Hosts discuss how this will be used politically and how difficult it is for Democrats to navigate:
      • "Trump intentionally phrased it just objectionably enough." [02:50] – Joe Getty

• The Stunt’s Political Purpose

  • The hosts agree the moment was designed for campaign ads:
    • "If I'm the Republicans, that's a political commercial. Of course, that is gonna—that's what Trump wanted. They're gonna run the hell out of that." [13:15] – Jack Armstrong

2. Partisanship and Political Performance

• On Attendance and Behavior at the State of the Union

  • Jack and Joe criticize members of Congress who boycott or behave disruptively, citing Representative Angie Craig’s remark:
    • "I would rather stick forks in my eyes than listen to that." [06:03] – Angie Craig, quoted by Joe Getty
  • The hosts defend the ritual regardless of party, urging attendance and respect:
    • "Show up to the damn State of the Union address if you're a member of Congress and sit there and listen to it." [05:31] – Jack Armstrong

• Media and Public Reactions

  • Despite political leanings, even mainstream, left-leaning outlets gave Trump’s performance high marks:
    • "They were pretty positive that this was among Trump’s better speeches, if not his best speech that he's ever given." [09:39] – Jack Armstrong
    • Mark Halperin praised Trump’s teleprompter/ad-lib blend [09:52].

3. Notable or Humorous Moments

• Gold Medal Hockey Team Invited to SOTU

  • Celebrating the U.S. hockey victory triggers playful debate:
    • "You only win the gold medal for hockey once every 50 years. And he was the reason." [11:06] – Jack Armstrong
    • But Joe jokes about the merits of presidential medals:
      • "I'm not sure that puts him up there with war heroes and astronauts." [10:56] – Joe Getty

• North Korea Satire

  • The hosts mock state-run media rhetoric on Kim Jong Un:
    • "Dear respected comrade Kim Jong Un is the greatest person in the world." [25:07] – Joe Getty citing North Korean newspaper
    • "Our future is infinitely bright and promising as people fight to the death over kernels of corn because they're starving all over the country." [26:08] – Jack Armstrong

4. Deeper Divides: Political Anthropology and Social Fragmentation

• Country’s Divisions Feel “Anthropological”

  • Prompted by a Mark Halperin newsletter, Jack describes U.S. political rifts as more than ideological:
    • "The country's divisions feel not only Political, but almost anthropo—anthropological. I thought, wow, I have not heard it put that way, but that is exactly right. It feels like some giant, like, evolutionary cleave has occurred." [18:39] – Jack Armstrong

• Loss of Civic Bonds

  • Joe echoes Thomas Sowell on “conflict of visions” and diminishing American ties:
    • "The gulf between the two sorts of people... has become enormous and our bonds of friendship and brotherhood... have been frayed." [19:16] – Joe Getty

• Polarized Dating (and Society)

  • The sentiment that people won’t date across political lines is highlighted as a new, absurd norm [20:02–20:37].

• The (Im)Possibility of a Unity Ticket

  • The hosts muse about a bipartisan presidential ticket as a possible response to polarization, but doubt its viability given entrenched party interests [21:46–22:58].

5. News Headlines (with Commentary)

Selected by Katie Green (~[13:47] onward):

• Democrats’ SOTU Behavior
  • Rep. Al Green escorted out for protest. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib loudly criticise Trump [13:54, 14:01].
• Bill Gates Epstein Apology
  • Gates apologizes to staff over Epstein ties, admits affairs; hosts joke about the surreal tabloid drama [14:40].
• Kamala Harris, 2028?
  • Harris refuses to rule out another White House run:
    • "Please run. That's my dying wish. I'm not dying. We're all dying slowly from time." [15:07] – Joe Getty
• Ukraine, AI, and Dating Trends
  • Ukraine wants to join the EU, AI can pinpoint time of death (post-mortem), and a new toxic dating trend: “ghost lighting” [15:17–16:30].
• Babylon Bee Satire
  • "Democrats announce State of the Union response will be delivered by Bad Bunny." [16:30]

6. Rhetoric, Indoctrination, and Authoritarianism

• Comparing Indoctrination in North Korea and the U.S.

  • The hosts compare state-driven indoctrination in North Korea to ideological capture in U.S. education:
    • "You’ve got to indoctrinate the children. That's why the neo-Marxists moved from the factory floors to our nation's schools and are indoctrinating your kids..." [27:18] – Joe Getty

• Psychological Residue of Totalitarianism

  • Citing defectors, Jack notes the difficulty of escaping indoctrinated love for dictators, even after exposure to other systems [28:10–28:23].

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Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• "Did we need a two hour State of the Union address?" [01:10] – Jack Armstrong
• "It’s all about the echo chamber and different clips on different topics for different needs in different states." [02:10] – Jack Armstrong
• "Your first duty is to American citizens and not illegal aliens." [03:04] – Joe Getty (describing Trump’s phrasing)
• "If you had Barack Obama say that, Democrats would approve 80% plus of that notion." [04:20] – Joe Getty
• "I would rather stick forks in my eyes than listen to that." [06:03] – Rep. Angie Craig, quoted by Joe Getty
• "I think it's just ridiculous to not go. ... That's your job." [05:31] – Jack Armstrong
• "Remarkably positive for a long time. I mean, till everybody had left." [09:46] – Joe Getty (on MSM Trump reviews)
• "It's a crazy stance." [13:31] – Jack Armstrong (on Democrats not standing)
• "It is the definition of a pseudo event... created and then reported on as if it is a tornado or something." [16:57] – Jack Armstrong
• "The country's divisions feel not only Political, but almost anthropological." [18:39] – Jack Armstrong quoting Mark Halperin
• "Perhaps getting Trump will be their jihad." [34:29] – Joe Getty

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Noteworthy Timestamps

• [02:09] Discussion of viral moments vs. whole speech
• [12:09] Trump’s clip: “If you agree with this statement, stand up...”
• [13:15] Political power of the Democrats’ non-stand
• [17:06] “Pseudo event” critique
• [18:39] Discussion of "anthropological" divisions in America
• [25:07] North Korean propaganda quote
• [27:18] On indoctrination and education
• [28:10] On the psychological challenge of leaving dictatorship
• [34:29] “Getting Trump will be their jihad”

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Episode Tone

Jack and Joe balance sharp skepticism and political critique with irreverent, occasionally dark humor. Their exchanges mix earnest concern for American civic life with satire, cultural references, and a resistance to tribal thinking. The show's language is conversational and sometimes intentionally provocative, reflective of their "guaranteed human" broadcasting guarantee.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This installment delivers a wide-ranging, insightful, and often humorous breakdown of Trump’s State of the Union address, focusing on modern media dynamics and deep societal rifts. The hosts illuminate the performative nature of today’s politics—from the carefully engineered viral moments to the partisan “pseudo-events” that populate the news cycle. They’re critical of both sides’ extremes, and they probe what these developments might mean for American unity, civic ritual, and culture at large. The show is peppered with punchy anecdotes, sharp quotes, and a reminder that, behind the spectacle, serious questions about the country’s future remain unresolved.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Joe Getty]

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

Armstrong and Getty. And now he. I'm strong and Getty. From Studio C, Senor.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a dimly lit room, deeper than the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound. And today on Wednesday, we're toiling under

[Joe Getty]

the title of the POTUS Forgives SCOTUS Gets Democrats Goat Us or We need to stop paying our presidents by the word Oof.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did we need a two hour State of the Union address?

[Joe Getty]

Duh.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd be interested in what the thinking is on that. I would love to know.

[Joe Getty]

I wonder if it's like how they film, you know, some movies where they accumulate lots and lots and lots of clips that they could use to follow it up. It's like, it's. What's important is the next day, the echo chamber, the online. The clips Online.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, like I was saying yesterday, viral stuff. Maybe Trump has this theory, as a guy who understands show business better than, you know, your average politician, that it's the. It's the clips in the echo chamber. She might as well have as many clips out there as possible. How many people watched the whole thing? I mean, mean, I probably watched 15 minutes of it, which is more than I usually watch outside of that room.

[Joe Getty]

It's got to be maybe double digits, like 15 people, somewhere between 40 and 45.

[Jack Armstrong]

It wouldn't be a lot, I'll tell you that.

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so maybe Trump must just think it's. Yeah, it's all about the echo chamber and different clips on different topics for different needs in different states. So with the highlight being putting the Democrats in the situation of are you going to stand up and. And make it clear that you prioritize U.S. citizens over illegal immigrants or not? And they didn't stand. Nope.

[Joe Getty]

No. In an excruciatingly long and exquisite moment of humanity.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you think. Do you think if they had that back and could all get together and discuss it, that they would redo it and stand and then explain afterwards or.

[Joe Getty]

That's a really interesting question. Probably not, because Trump intentionally phrased it just objectionably enough. Oh, you're thinking you put them in a box.

[Jack Armstrong]

In what way was it objectionable enough?

[Joe Getty]

Your first duty is to American citizens and not illegal aliens.

[Jack Armstrong]

How do you argue with that? Where's the wiggle room on that?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, it's just knowing Democrats in the way, they think they couldn't stand for that. Which. Which is precisely as the, the POTUS intended proof of where they stand and what their priorities are.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's so crazy.

[Joe Getty]

It was a moment, you know, on par with who's in favor of government health care for illegal immigrants, undocumented immigrants, and all the yahoos raised their hands on the primary debate stage back in the day.

[Jack Armstrong]

What, what do you, what suppose of them? What do you suppose the vote is on America on that for American citizens?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, gosh, 88 to 6 with the inevitable 6 having an opinion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think it might be higher than that on the, the. If you did it for the whole country, I think more than that percentage of the whole country would sit just out of hatred of Trump. But just on the face of it, I mean, how do you, you can, you can have every bit of problem you want to have with Donald Trump on the way enforced this and that and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But to say you don't prioritize American citizens over illegals is nuts.

[Joe Getty]

If you had Barack Obama say that, democrats would approve 80% plus of that notion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, we've played the clips in a lot over the last couple of weeks of Barack and Hillary and Bill Clinton going back in the day of the illegals need to get, go back home, get back in line, do it the right way, pay a penalty, learn English.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's how far it's shifted in that amount of time. But wow, I was, I was blown away by that. So what would, how would Trump have handled it if they stood, just turned it into a. You see. Okay, so good, we're all in agreement. We need to prioritize American citizens over illegal immigrants. Let's start doing it. Which would have been fine.

[Joe Getty]

And dory, he might have had an ask. I'm glad to see that. Now let's blank. Now let's start using E Verify in a serious way. But you know, the Republicans are in on it too, in a way they didn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some ways, at least from the camera shots I saw, there wasn't a lot of looking around like, geez, should we stand or not? They seem to be really committed to sitting. All of them. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

In their hearts, straight ahead, scrolling through their phones, whatever. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

The whole thing is nuts. I saw Bill Maher with a reaction. He's a lifelong liberal that everybody needs to go to the State of the Union. And he said, and when there's a Democratic president, all the Republicans need to show. I feel the same way. I think it's just ridiculous to not go. And I will say the same thing if there's a Democratic president next term and a whole bunch of Republicans say, I'm not gonna go listen to those lies. That's ridiculous. Show up to the damn State of the Union address if you're a member of Congress and sit there and listen to it and then comment on it afterwards.

[Joe Getty]

I quote Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota. I would rather stick forks in my eyes than listen to that. That's. Well, at least she's got a colorful quote. I would rather stick forks in my eyes than be here tonight to listen to Donald Trump talk about the State of the Union. But this is the People's House.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you and I are. You and I are in agreement, ma'. Am.

[Joe Getty]

Honey, I didn't watch it.

[Jack Armstrong]

E. I don't like. I don't. I'd rather stick fortunes and watch any State of the Union address. We are in agreement on that. But I'm not a member of Congress. And the whole point is the executive branch comes and reports to the legislative branch. So that's your job.

[Joe Getty]

Show up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yep.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm glad I don't have to watch it and I didn't.

[Joe Getty]

I think your honey actually did show up. She was explaining that since it is the People's House, that. Oh, she feels like she ought to.

[Jack Armstrong]

She was just expressing that if she were given in a weird. It's hard to imagine how this situation would occur where somebody puts her into a. You've got two choices. I'm only two choices. And we're not letting you out of this room until you make one of them.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. Tell me about them.

[Jack Armstrong]

You can listen to the speech or we're going to jam forks into your eyeballs.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Let me think that over. I see pluses and minuses. I'll be blinded for life.

[Joe Getty]

Really depend on my sight. And yet probably would really hurt. How long did you say the speech is going to be again? Yeah. Yeah. Are they clean forks? Yeah. Two hours.

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on now. I'd like to see those numbers. How many people? You said it's low double digits, so it's like 15 people nationwide.

[Joe Getty]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I agree. Ain't nobody got time for that. Wasn't a heck of a lot of stuff on Iran. There's a little bit in there. I prefer diplomacy, but barely any. Did he mention Ukraine at all?

[Joe Getty]

I don't recall.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hear it if it happened.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And I was pleased on a positive note that he did not get nasty and personal with the Supreme Court justices.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was thinking about that.

[Joe Getty]

It was terrible enough. What he said last week. So again, he went easy, which was good. Somebody got in his ear. Maybe Don Jr. Maybe Melania.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. He said it was an unfortunate decision by the Supreme Court. Very unfortunate. But then he just moved on. And so what I thought with that is, so he's aware that what he did Friday wasn't productive or wouldn't be productive last night. So then why is he doing it in the first place?

[Joe Getty]

Utter lack of discipline.

[Jack Armstrong]

But does he. He's 80 years old. So doesn't he at this point think, you know, a whole bunch of times I've just, like when I'm really angry, I've said things that turned out not to be a good idea. Maybe, maybe I'll hold back this time.

[Joe Getty]

You know, you've got a number of factors, and I spend a fair amount of time thinking about this. I'd be happier if I didn't. But you've got the combination of his just boiling, boiling resentments against the swamp and the Democrats and the lawfare and everything else. And I can't blame him at all for having that level of resentment. So that fuels his machine gun verbiage sometimes. Plus, you mentioned his age. He's getting into the old man loses his filter portion of life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, perhaps. I took in a lot of the punditry afterwards. I took in more punditry than of the speech and I'd say of the mainstream media, the left leaning mainstream media, they were pretty positive that this was among Trump's better speeches, if not his best speech that he's ever given. I heard that on like ABC and CNN and cbs, places like that.

[Joe Getty]

It was remarkably positive for a long time. I mean, till everybody had left. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was watching Mark Halprin's podcast afterwards and he thought it was the best interaction of Trump reading a teleprompter and ad libbing he'd ever seen of the, the going back and forth and seamlessly regardless of people's feelings about the content. I, I think that immigration stunt was freaking awesome. I thought that was brilliant.

[Joe Getty]

Landed 100%.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's the only thing that'll be remembered from that. That and the gold medal hockey team. If anything's remembered at all, those will be the two things a week from now, let alone for history. But, and here's, here's a question for

[Joe Getty]

you, because I'm in the branding business, Jack. I'm in the image business, the advertising business. Does Jack Hughes get his teeth fixed?

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Or does he leave the jagged gape in his mouth? That's his brand.

[Jack Armstrong]

It Is got to admit, if he walks up to me with teeth, I'm not sure I know him. Right. Without the teeth.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're the guy, Jack.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like the goalie. Getting a presidential medal of what? Whatever it was.

[Joe Getty]

I thought that was a little silly. He's a really good goaltender. I'm not sure that puts him up there with war heroes and astronauts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I don't know. You only win the gold medal for hockey once every 50 years. And he was the reason. Yeah. What's.

[Joe Getty]

What's the harm devalues? The Bubba will be fine. We'll be fine. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

The hockey moment was good, though. I liked it.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, it was lovely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And I tell you what, those young men. And we're going to grab you a couple of clips, but Brett Baer talked to the Kachuk brothers and also Mr. Holbeck, the. The goalie. They are brimming with patriotism and love of the American people and pride that they could represent their beloved country.

[Jack Armstrong]

According to the New York Times, they allowed themselves to be used as political pawns which damages the entire gold medal win. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Watch your teeth, New York Times editors.

[Jack Armstrong]

We should start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty. On this. It is as Wednesday, February 25, the year 2026, where Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

All right, let's begin. Officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Here we go. Leaping into action at mark.

[Donald Trump (clip)]

If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. Isn't that ashamed? You should be ashamed of yourself. Not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Joe Getty]

To me, the best part of that, that we edited for time was how long the applause went on. It went on a long time because the Republicans were just delighting in just the moment and keeping the Democrats sitting through the roaring applause. It was. Oh, it was something.

[Jack Armstrong]

I feel like you do yourself no harm as the Democrats to stand for that. And then if you have to, an election or a speech or whatever, explain, you know, the nuance of it.

[Joe Getty]

We protect everyone. All human beings.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go.

[Joe Getty]

I solved it for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I'm the Republicans, that's a political commercial. Of course, that is gonna. That's what Trump wanted. They're gonna run the hell out of that. Leading up to the midterms, every congressional race in America.

[Joe Getty]

And they should have 20 million views online already, and they should.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's crazy. It's a crazy stance.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, we've got Katie's headlines on the way. Stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

We blow beated. We're below beaters. So we got to get right to Katie's headlines.

[Joe Getty]

Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with Katie Green. Katie?

[Katie Green]

Well, we usually do the top three for the the Alphabet network, but I'll

[Jack Armstrong]

just give you 1.

[Katie Green]

From CNN, Representative Al Green escorted out of House chamber early into Trump's speech after his protest.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good for him.

[Joe Getty]

I just retweeted Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib screaming wild eyed and red faced at the infidel president who runs the Infidel States of America.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that was something, man.

[Joe Getty]

Boy, are they. They not only hate Trump, they hate America. Oh, absolutely. Stop me before I say too much.

[Katie Green]

From the Washington Post, Iranians eye Venezuela for hemp. Hints of Trump's next move, I'm sure. From the Wall Street Journal, Bill Gates apologizes to foundation staff over Epstein ties.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, he said he did nothing elicit. He saw nothing elicit, but he shouldn't have hung with the guy. And by the way, I've had two Russian lovers. Let's just get that out there.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. From the New York.

[Joe Getty]

Essentially, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow, I didn't catch that.

[Joe Getty]

Had two affairs with Russian women. Okay.

[Katie Green]

From the New York Post, Kamala Harris refuses to rule out another White House run quote. I haven't decided.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, please run. Oh, please. That's my dying wish. I'm not dying. We're all dying slowly from time. Please run, Gavin.

[Katie Green]

You two from the New York Times. Ukraine wants to join the EU quickly, and that won't be easy. From USA Today, there's a toxic new dating trend called ghost lighting. It's even worse than ghosting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, we'll have to look into that. Worse than ghosting.

[Katie Green]

It's a combo of ghosting and gaslighting where they'll drop all communication only to reinitiate contact later as if nothing happened.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, all right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That ain't gonna work.

[Katie Green]

Study finds AI estimates time of death more accurately than standard methods used today.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. That's that. Now that's interesting. If AI could take in all the information about you and put it together in a way that humans never have and figure out. Yeah, you got until about June 7, 2032.

[Joe Getty]

I don't think that's. Is that what the story is about?

[Katie Green]

No, it's after someone passes away to pinpoint their time investigation.

[Joe Getty]

That's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gotcha. I thought I Died, which I probably will be able to do.

[Katie Green]

And finally from the Babylon be Democrats announce State of the Union response will be delivered by Bad bunny.

[Jack Armstrong]

Haha. This whole game, I just. I just. The whole thing is nobody will think about this at all. All in a week.

[Joe Getty]

I mean at all.

[Jack Armstrong]

The response.

[Joe Getty]

Blah blah, the midterms, blah blah blah blah. Rallying the. The base and blah blah blah the economy. Blah blah blah blah blah. Feeling their pain.

[Jack Armstrong]

Blah blah.

[Joe Getty]

It is a.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is the definition of a pseudo event to look it up. It's created and then. And then reported on as if it is a tornado or something.

[Joe Getty]

It exists to be talked about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And here we are suckered into it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Still though, the whole Democrats not standing to prioritize Americans over illegals is. Is. Is something. Oh yeah, that one will have legs. As Michael said. That'll be in ads everywhere for a long time. We got a lot more on the way. I hope you can stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty in New York City.

[News Reporter]

Meanwhile, the police are investigating an incident you may have seen online. In Washington Square park, officers were pelted by snowballs. The police commissioner and union say this was a criminal act. Mayor Zoran Mamdami tried to defuse the situation, saying officers deserve respect. And he joked, if anyone should be pelted, it's him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you see that, that attack on the cops with the, with the ice balls, if you've ever heard about it, been involved in snowball fights, you can form them into the right kind of snow ice balls that will do serious damage. It's not as childish and fun as it always looks on tv.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, you can pack them tight and throw them hard and, you know, break your bone or knock out somebody's teeth.

[Jack Armstrong]

There are bloody faces in some of those cops.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's. That's awful. Well, you have a situation where, for instance, Rashida Talib wore an F ice pin with the words spelled out to the State of the Union address last night. That's federal law enforcement. That absolutely contributes to people's attitudes toward law enforcement.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you know, I just came across a phrase that's in my mind. Maybe I'll bring it up here. I was reading a newsletter that I read every. Every single day from Wide World News, written by Mark Halpern. And he had this phrase in there. He's just talking about how different people saw the speech last night in different ways. And we'll play more clips of it later, as we do with everything now. But he said the country's divisions feel not only Political, but almost anthropo anthropological. I thought, wow, I have not heard it put that way, but that is exactly right. It feels like some giant like evolutionary cleave has occurred.

[Joe Getty]

That's such an interesting way to put it. Yeah. Thomas Sowell, I think is nodding his head in agreement. The, the gulf between the two sorts of people rated conflict of visions has become enormous and our bonds of friendship and brotherhood, to paraphrase Lincoln, have like been frayed. So we don't have the. Yeah, I think he's crazy about some stuff. But he's my fellow American, he's my fellow Californian, Illinoisan, whatever, he's a member of my church, he's my brother in law, whatever. So it's fine. That's much more important than our differences. We've also lost that. So we've been able to drift like emotionally much farther apart than we, we ever have.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well the whole, you know, you will not date someone who voted for the other person for president thing, which is brand new I think certainly in

[Joe Getty]

modern history and just seems absurd to those of us who don't think that way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

On the other hand, I'm not a 25 year old guy and every woman I have coffee with is like a foaming mouthed f ice, F trump radical gender theory spouting lunatic. I might just think, I'm not going down that road again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it doesn't take two to tango. It takes one to tango. If you've got one person in the pair that is, is of the. I won't tolerate anything other than my point of view. It doesn't work.

[Joe Getty]

Well.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

In fact, I'm sorry, I went too far. I overproved the case. If you become aware as a moderate to conservative male that the only acceptable stances for your progressive women is to agree with them, you just would never go there. You think? Okay, fair. Fair enough. All right, you've made yourselves clear.

[Jack Armstrong]

Almost nobody I'm watching Senator John Fetterman's on Fox this morning in his sweatshirt and I know he hated the fact that Democrats didn't show up and were some were behaving badly, but outside of him there's just, there's just not a lot of voices saying what's, what's the end game of this? If we just keep going further of now we don't show up now more of you don't show up. So okay, we've lost this common thing. We just keep losing more common things. We're all just talking to where everybody's preaching to the choir what do you see the end game as?

[Joe Getty]

So this is. You're right. Yeah. That's a great rhetorical question. This, this is not an original thought and it's been run up the flagpole kind of once or twice. But the unity ticket, the Marco Rubio and Josh Shapiro, the all O ticket, like a moderate Republican, although Marcus certainly hawkish on defense, and a moderate Democrat unity ticket. Would America respond with oh, thank God

[Jack Armstrong]

there was a brief chance of that in O8. Is that when McCain.

[Joe Getty]

Joe Mentum.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's right. McCain and Joe Lieberman.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there was talk prior to that. McCain and Carrie running together at one point. Which cycle was that? And that was a behind the scenes thing that never made it into the public. But they. It was kind of got discussed and I forget which one of them shot it down. I think Carrie. But they recognized at that point where we were. And maybe, maybe we should try what you're talking about some. So you need to take it. Which might have been a good idea. I don't know. I would like to see how that would play out. Would you just get destroyed by.

[Joe Getty]

First of all, the two parties have

[Jack Armstrong]

so much interest in making sure no third party ever gets a sniff of anything correct. So that, that, that would help the

[Joe Getty]

duopoly though, or would that hurt it? I think it might help it by. What an interesting thought experiment. I got to think about it for a while. My mind's moving a bit slowly. I was up way too late last night. Speaking of electoral politics, Jack, we've. We've buried the lead. Congratulations to the winner of a landslide victory. Editorials in his capital's newspaper called him, quote, the greatest person in the world. Well done, Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un, who has won re election in North Korea. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think I knew that he has the fake elections. A lot of your dictators do. But I didn't know he actually went

[Joe Getty]

through the whole election process. It's not a super frequent thing. I think he just does it when he wants to watch people dance to that particular tune.

[Jack Armstrong]

But do they actually have polls and people go out and vote and stuff or does he just announce that there was an election? Everybody's.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not 100%. I don't know what the mechanics of it are, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because like in Russia they have a. They actually have an election and people go out and vote.

[Joe Getty]

But this is actually some pretty amusing writing by Tim Martin in the Wall Street Journal. It was a lateral move for Kim Jong Un, merely retaining his top spot atop North Korea's ruling Workers Party. But the appointment won lavish praise in the regime's largest newspaper on Wednesday. His re election as party general secretary, finalized this week at a rare political gathering, resulted from Kim. Oh, I guess it was like a congress got together. It resulted from Kim Spier heading, quote, unimaginable achievements, according to the editorial. In five years that would take others centuries to accomplish. According to an editorial in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun, which I read every day. If you don't read the Rodong Synwin, Jack, you don't know what's going on in the world. North Korea under Kim's rule reached, quote, absolute military power at the highest level, the editorial read. The 42 year old dictator is also credited with having performed three miracles, personally overseeing the rest.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, so like becoming a saint, maybe?

[Joe Getty]

Canonization. It's in the air, Jack. It's in the air. He personally overseed the rescue of. Oversaw the rescue of citizens from a major flood, reviving that hard hit area, completing work on a modern greenhouse farm. Dear respected comrade Kim Jong Un is the greatest person in the world. The editorial rat actually said that. Barry. Hey, Barry Weiss. It probably reminds you of working at the New York Times.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, the greatest person in the world. Yeah, Yeah, I might say. Can we tone that down just slightly? I don't know, it seems a little showy.

[Joe Getty]

Tone it down. Oh man, you're gonna be eaten by dogs by sunset. The reinstatement of Kim as General Secretary brought. Bought. Brought boundless joy at, quote, guard posts, workplaces and home windows, the editorial read. Our future is infinitely bright and promising

[Jack Armstrong]

as people fight to the death over kernels of corn because they're starving all over the country.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they do mention the nation's widespread malnutrition, poverty and human rights abuses.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Plus, interesting.

[Joe Getty]

This is interesting too. It's getting tougher and tougher to indoctrinate young North Koreans because there's more and more illicit foreign media filtering its way into the country.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's interesting because I was going to say for a lot of those people, like in the Congress, they grew up in North Korea. I don't know how crazy they know that that is because since they've grown up there and they've been told that their whole lives, I'm not sure how nutty they perceive that to be.

[Joe Getty]

Another really good question. And I interestingly enough came across something that I think tends to answer it. And this gets back to a couple of things we've talked about a number of times. Number one, the first thing that's implanted in your head wants to stick. Somebody teaches you a word is pronounced in one way, and then they come back 20 minutes later and say, I was wrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was wrong.

[Joe Getty]

I was wrong. The word is pronounced this way. You will stick to the first one for reasons of neurological science that I can't comprehend. Second thing is, and we all know this, you've got to indoctrinate the children. That's why the neo Marxists moved from the factory floors to our nation's schools and are indoctrinating your kids into radical gender theory and hating white people and the rest of it. They've been horrifically successful in perverting the minds of the young. Which brings me to the interesting thing I read. It was a North Korean defector who said it was unbelievably hard to get adoration for. I think it was Kim Jong Un. Out of his head, he said, even rationally, I see what the west is and I see how horrible North Korea was, but I still have to work to get it out of my brain.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I've heard.

[Joe Getty]

Which I found so interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Read about that over the years with Hitler or Stalin or all kinds of different people, that it's really hard to let go of that, even when you intellectually know it's crazy.

[Joe Getty]

It's like falling out of love when, I mean, you know, she's moved on, it's over. And you've got to practically, like, power wash your brain to get. Get those pathways rerouted. So it is with dictators and radical politics. Oof.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, congratulations to Kim being reelected. I guess Seth Meyers had a joke about this.

[Joe Getty]

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, was reelected yesterday as the head of the ruling political party. I think because he got out and really talked to the people, unlike his opponent, who never left his grave.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. But so when they announce in that congress, he's won everybody, he's won an overwhelming victory. And he is. And we declare him the greatest person in the world. And everybody just cheers, and nobody, even. You don't even dare look sideways at the person next to you, like, can you believe this? Because you get fed to dogs.

[Joe Getty]

I read a story the other day, one from North Korea, one from the Soviet Union, where the security forces were watching a gathering like that and figured out who stopped clapping first.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh.

[Joe Getty]

And put them to death.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

To death.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Yeah. Whoo. That's rough. So we'll play some more clips from last night's State of the Union address about a variety of topics in hour two. We've Got Mailbag on the way. Next. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, I just read the whole thing about Bill Gates apologizing to Gates foundation employees yesterday and about the affairs. We got to talk about that later. That's an interesting story.

[Joe Getty]

But first, a freedom loving quote of the day. I have switched dovetailing with our discussion of North Korea to this fabulous quote from Barbara Demick, who wrote Nothing to Ordinary Lives in North Korea, which has got to be a fascinating book. She says, and I quote, north Korean defectors often find it hard to settle down. It's not easy for somebody who's escaped a totalitarian country to live in the free world. Defectors have to rediscover who they are in a world that offers endless possibilities. Choosing where to live, what to do, even which clothes to wear put on in the morning is tough enough for those of us accustomed to making choices. It can be utterly paralyzing for people who've made decisions, who've had decisions made for them by the state for their entire lives.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's really something.

[Joe Getty]

It really is. The way you can twist human minds is amazing. Mailbag, drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com is the email address. MailbagarmstrongandgettI.com Super B writes I loved his speech. I thought the speech was great. Why are you so judgmental about Was wonderfully. He was wonderful. Especially pointing out the Dems are crazy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why was it? What was I judgmental about other than the length?

[Joe Getty]

I can't imagine if we're not worshipful enough. Apologies. Bob from Campbell writes State of the Union Best show ever. Gentlemen. We watched the entire presidential production in my lifetime. I'm 62, probably the best over ever. I usually can't stand watching these things. But Trump entertained for almost two hours. The event flew by as we laughed, felt proud of the Americans and cheered as he hammered the Dems over and over.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, the pacing because Trump is an entertainer. The talk for a while, introduce a guest. And almost all of them are really interesting war heroes and all kinds of stuff like that. Talk for a while, introduce a guest. That was a good idea.

[Joe Getty]

So interestingly, my freedom loving quote of the day was going to be from Friedrich Engels about centrally planned economies and absolute proof that there are some ideas so idiotic only an intellectual could hold them. And on that topic, Jeff from North Carolina sends along a picture from Trier, Germany. He says, I was recently in true Germany, came across a statue of Karl Marx. At this point I was completely unaware I was in his birth Town not too far away, there's a gift shop with tons of Karl Marx merchandise. Lol.

[Jack Armstrong]

Karl Marx swag.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my gosh. What percentage of that is bought ironically and what percent sincerely by college miseducated idiots?

[Jack Armstrong]

I was just gonna say I would absolutely buy a pin or a magnet or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

If they have like Riley sarcastic Marks T shirts. I would have to have one of those. I mean, I am Michael Joe Getty Cold Warrior.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, come on. Have to buy one of those shirts. Getting back to the. Whoops. I had that out of order. Yes. Cold Warrior. There it is. Right on time. President Trump. The topic. Oh, Antonio writes, the truth is obvious. Trump is a rich man among a sea of money. Can't blame a whore. They're born that way. Have a nice day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, drop the mic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not sure I followed that.

[Joe Getty]

Drop the keyboard. That's tough to argue with. How about this from. From Anthony about this State of the Union address? Never before has such a scoundrel tried so hard to bask in the achievements and heroisms of others. It wasn't a speech. It was stolen valor.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, wow.

[Joe Getty]

Then this in contrast from Aaron. He sent along a video from Twitter of Rashida Tlaib, what's her name? Ilhan Omar, and a couple of other characters from the Democrats who were all seated together. Hilarious. They placed the jihadi, the pirate and the tranny in one place so they could shout together like vitriolic savages.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know about the term tranny.

[Joe Getty]

Which one's the pirate? Oh, the Somali pirate. I get it. Oh, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no.

[Joe Getty]

Do better. Be better. Does anybody know what she was shouting? Have you heard that? Well, I watched the video there.

[Jack Armstrong]

I couldn't tell what she was saying though.

[Joe Getty]

You should be ashamed you killed Americans. And something else. Okay, but I tell you what, it was not performative. They were wild eyed with hate. Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Perhaps getting Trump will be their jihad. Moving along. Z Dog.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think you chose that word accidentally.

[Joe Getty]

What? Z Dog writes. Dear Jack and Joe, Am I the only one who thinks that USA Gold medal hockey goalie Connor Hellebuck should be having as many progenies as possible with the USA Olympic women's gold medal hockey team starting in 2020, 2046, the US teams would be unstoppable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Well, I don't think we have forced Olympic breeding programs in this like China, dog. But like China. And certainly they will couple with whomever they choose. I wonder how political the women declining the invitation was and how logistical it was. Invitation to go to the so too

[Jack Armstrong]

the logistical problem of it makes sense to me. They're already all gone back home.

[Joe Getty]

You are a liberal. You're covering up for the progressive women's hockey team.

[Jack Armstrong]

What? And they all sang the the national anthem together on the podium, swaying back and forth and I didn't see any anti Americanism out of them.

[Joe Getty]

I'm swayed back I think the other thing now

well argued Armstrong and Gettysburg.

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jack Armstrong]

Guaranteed Human.