Gotta Cut Through The Clutter!

Summary

Episode Summary: "Gotta Cut Through The Clutter!"

Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Host: Jack Armstrong & Katie Green
Release Date: July 14, 2025

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In the episode titled "Gotta Cut Through The Clutter!", hosts Jack Armstrong and Katie Green delve into a myriad of pressing political and social issues, navigating through sensational headlines and controversial topics with their characteristic blend of humor and critical analysis. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, the duo sets the stage for a week brimming with unpredictability and significant developments.

Epstein List Controversy

The episode opens with a heated discussion about the Epstein list, a recurring topic in American discourse. Jack Armstrong expresses skepticism about the media's focus on the matter, suggesting it's primarily a tool for political maneuvering against the Trump administration.

Jack Armstrong [02:12]: "They continue to interest... it's not getting to the bottom of whatever it is people think they're getting to the bottom of."

Katie Green counters by emphasizing the public's obsession with the list rather than its actual content.

Katie Green [02:00]: "You're interested in the people who are interested in the Epstein list. They continue to interest."

The conversation shifts to the credibility of key figures like Tucker Carlson, who Jack credits with providing substantive insights into the Epstein case, linking it controversially to Israel's influence over American politics.

Jack Armstrong [03:00]: "He connected the dots... it's mostly Israel."

Katie challenges the rationale behind Carlson's alignment, questioning the logic of combining severe political accusations with event appearances.

Katie Green [03:23]: "If he believes the entire administration is corrupt... seems like an odd pairing."

Trump’s Ukraine Strategy and Sanctions

A significant portion of the discussion centers on former President Donald Trump's anticipated announcement regarding Ukraine. Armstrong anticipates that Trump will reveal extensive sanctions and the provision of advanced weaponry to support Ukraine, referencing Axios's reports on the matter.

Jack Armstrong [04:43]: "Trump is going to announce... sanctions and it's going to be weapons."

Katie remarks on the irony of using interest from seized funds to purchase weapons, highlighting the complexities of fiscal strategies in foreign policy.

Katie Green [05:47]: "I love the idea of using the interest on the money to buy weapons for Ukraine."

Secret Service Accountability and Rand Paul's Claims

The hosts transition to a critical examination of the Secret Service's handling of presidential security, prompted by Senator Rand Paul's allegations that former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle lied under oath about asset requests related to the Trump assassination attempt.

Rand Paul [19:21]: "She did not tell the truth... we found at least four occasions where requests were made."

Katie and Jack express frustration over the lack of accountability and the bureaucratic finger-pointing that ensues, underscoring systemic failures within government agencies.

Katie Green [22:22]: "It's hard to believe the reporting from a source is ultimately, it's a Secret Service's responsibility..."

Jack Armstrong [29:37]: "Anytime you have one of these government... the investigation is always completely unsatisfying."

Immigration Laws and ICE Raids

Immigration remains a contentious topic as Katie questions Democratic leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), about their stances on immigration laws amidst condemnation of ICE raids.

Katie Green [34:40]: "Gavin Newsom and others, what are your immigration laws? What should they be?"

The discussion highlights the superficial debates without substantive policy proposals, reflecting a broader national frustration with immigration enforcement inconsistencies.

Tech and Security Breaches

Shifting gears, the hosts touch upon technological vulnerabilities, referencing a McDonald's AI hiring bot that exposed millions of applicants' data to hackers, dubbed the "McHire."

Katie Green [15:43]: "If it is online, it can be hacked. And it will be hacked if it hasn't already been hacked."

Additionally, they discuss a disturbing incident where Elmo's Twitter account was hacked, leading to offensive and hateful messages being posted, showcasing the perils of social media security lapses.

Rand Paul [15:49]: "Elmo goes full Nazi in hacked social media posts."

Cultural Commentary: Kanye West’s Concert

Jack and Katie critique Kanye West's recent concert in Shanghai, which was marred by delays and poor execution, leading fans to chant for refunds and label it the "worst concert ever."

Jack Armstrong [16:30]: "Really? You went to Kanye's concert expecting it to be normal?"

Katie offers a succinct review, describing the event as "off the wall, goofy and stupid," further emphasizing the disconnect between Kanye's persona and his performances.

Katie Green [36:42]: "Director James Gunn took what everyone knows about Superman... and completely reinvented the thing."

Media and Political Satire

Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Green employ sharp satire to critique media narratives and political strategies. They mock the superficial nature of political discourse and the tendency to prioritize spectacle over meaningful dialogue.

Katie Green [33:07]: "This is one of his Mount Rushmore quotes. It's tough to pick one of his."

Jack Armstrong [31:43]: "You just want to get people's attention. Got to cut through the clutter. It's hard today."

Audience Engagement and Mailbag Segment

Engaging with their audience, the hosts read and respond to listener emails, addressing concerns ranging from security failures to personal anecdotes about political events. Barry from Thailand reflects on the anniversary of the Trump assassination attempt, expressing skepticism about uncovering more information due to the swift cremation process.

Barry [33:46]: "This guy was cremated quicker than a family pet. I don't think there's much to discover. Honestly."

Katie extends an open invitation for listeners to share their thoughts, reinforcing the show's interactive nature.

Katie Green [34:28]: "Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstronggetty.com is the email address."

Closing Thoughts

In wrapping up, Armstrong and Green reiterate the challenges of navigating today's information-saturated environment, emphasizing the importance of cutting through the "clutter" to uncover the truth. They reflect on systemic issues within governmental institutions and the media's role in shaping public perception, leaving listeners with a call to remain vigilant and critically engaged.

Jack Armstrong [30:35]: "We’ve talked a lot. One of the reasons conspiracies like this can grow is it's tough for us to wrap our heads around the idea of just some average local dope could change world history."

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Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong [02:12]: "They continue to interest... it's not getting to the bottom of whatever it is people think they're getting to the bottom of."

• Katie Green [05:47]: "I love the idea of using the interest on the money to buy weapons for Ukraine."

• Rand Paul [19:21]: "She did not tell the truth... we found at least four occasions where requests were made."

• Katie Green [34:40]: "Gavin Newsom and others, what are your immigration laws? What should they be?"

• Jack Armstrong [30:35]: "We’ve talked a lot. One of the reasons conspiracies like this can grow is it's tough for us to wrap our heads around the idea of just some average local dope could change world history."

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This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand adeptly navigates through a complex landscape of political intrigue, media scrutiny, and societal issues, offering listeners a comprehensive and thought-provoking analysis while encouraging active participation and critical thinking.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio at.

[Joe Getty]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Katie Green]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now, here's Armstrong and Getty live.

[Katie Green]

From Studio C. Si, senor.

[Jack Armstrong]

A brand new week. Pregnant with possibilities. This could be the week it all comes together finally. Are you meeting Mrs. Wright or Mr. Right? Or it could be the week that a former Mr. And Mrs. Right tells you I need to talk.

[Katie Green]

Or you get fired.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't know. See, that's what's exciting about a brand new week.

[Katie Green]

You know what's most likely this week? Just another stinking week of the same stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Answering to the man.

[Katie Green]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Another week answering the man. Hi. How y' all doing? Dimly lit room deep within the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound. And today, to kick off the week, we are under the tutelage of our general manager.

[Katie Green]

Surprise General manager today, Jack J.D.

[Jack Armstrong]

Vance.

[Katie Green]

Why? Because he's got the snappy Internet comeback of the year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, haven't heard that. I assumed he must have the Epstein list, since that seems to be the most important story in America.

[Katie Green]

I know it.

[Jack Armstrong]

We need a. We need a show policy. Do we care about the Epstein thing or not?

[Katie Green]

Oh, what's the show policy?

[Jack Armstrong]

We need. We need a white paper.

[Katie Green]

Well, if one of us are on the list.

[Jack Armstrong]

If one of us are on the list. Quite confident.

[Katie Green]

I am not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Curiously enough, it's Katie Green that's on the list.

[Katie Green]

Well, we might not be interested in the. Holy cow. What? We might not be interested in the Epstein list, but are we interested in the interest in the Epstein list? That's where I am.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's pretty interesting right there. You're interested in the people who are interested in the Epstein list. They continue to interest.

[Katie Green]

Interests me because I had no interest. Well, I had some interest, but no. No remaining interest in the original topic.

[Jack Armstrong]

They led with it on ABC this week yesterday, to my surprise. And I kind of figured out because they led with it on a Morning Joe Today on msnbc, some news outlets. It's just. It's just their latest hammer to use in trying to talk bad about the Trump administration. So it's their favorite. Look how stupid these people are. The whole MAGA world is so stupid. So I think that's mostly their interest. It's not getting to the bottom of whatever it is people think they're getting to the bottom of. That I haven't quite grasped. Well, although. Well, it depends. We've got Tucker Carlson laying it all out for you. He gave a speech over the weekend where he, you know, he connected the dots. He lays out exactly what the Epstein thing is all about. And it's mostly Israel.

[Katie Green]

Wait, what?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Israel's controlling the whole thing. That's why Trump has to dance to the tune. Netanyahu's got all the information and he'll release it. And that'll do in Trump and Bongino and Pam Bondi and the whole government and everyone, all Hollywood. So we have to dance to Israel's tune. Why else would we support Israel? Not just because they're a democracy and a friend and all these things. No, it's got to be the Epstein.

[Katie Green]

Listen, seems odd and ill advised that that same fellow, Tucker Carlson, addressed the convention if he believes now that the entire administration is corrupt, perverse and in the pocket of Israel. Seems like an odd pairing. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. Megyn Kelly, harsh critic, critic of Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, and how she's got to step down if she's, I mean, she's got to go one way or the other, either produce a list or resign.

[Katie Green]

Mostly because of this, really.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not because she cares about Epstein, but mostly from the. You claimed you had it. You either have it or you don't. And if you claimed you have it and it doesn't exist, you gotta go because you're a phony. You're not, you're not really about being.

[Katie Green]

Attorney General, I would agree, certainly a would be Trumpian showman while being Attorney General, which I think is a bad mix. You know, I don't have any problem with the modern, you know, hyperbolic show, busy politics. I don't like it, but I understand it's here to stay. But I don't need it, say, out of my cardiologist. I don't need it out of, like, I don't know, a marriage counselor. The, you know, I'm big and bold and brash and provocative and I don't need it out of my Attorney General. I want somebody boring and studious, more Bill Barr like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

And I, I was, I've been impressed by Pam Bondi. I've, I've touted her as a, a big person on the scene these days, but just no, no. Sometimes no.

[Jack Armstrong]

So to me, the most interesting thing going on will happen during our show. Trump is going to announce whatever his big announcement is that he's been teasing for many days since Friday about Ukraine. And it's going to be sanctions and it's going to be weapons, according to Axios, a lot of weapons systems, defensive and weapons that are Primarily offensive, like rockets you could shoot as far as Russia that they haven't been supplied with in the past. And then everybody's talking about going after this ton of money that was seized right when the war started that's just been sitting in an account. And originally talk was of using the interest off these at $300 billion. It's a lot of money. So just the interest on it is a ton of money. And freeing that up to support Ukraine. And then others are talking about just grab the 300 billion, use that. They don't get it back. Screw them. Yeah.

[Katie Green]

Looking forward to chatting about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that, that.

[Katie Green]

As a fan of irony, I got to admit, I love the idea of using the interest on the money to buy weapons for Ukraine. But we can chat about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we should start because that fits in with the opening clip. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is. It's Monday. Like I said, pregnant with possibilities. July 14th, the year 2025, where Armstrong and Getting. We approve of this program.

[Katie Green]

When do I pay off the snappy comeback of the year?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. It's a good question.

[Katie Green]

Maybe to kick off next segment. Or I could do it right here. Let's just do it right here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Katie Green]

Let's not make people wait for their infotainment. Their. So the Internet became aware that J.D. vance and his wife had brought their kids to Disneyland in California. And Gov Gav. Gavin Newsom becomes aware of this. And as he is hotter for the Oval Office than a teenage boy is for female companionship, uh, he took to the Internet with his outrage and his advocacy. Hope you enjoy your family time. J.D. vance. The families you're tearing apart certainly won't. Referring to the infamous immigration raids. J.D. vance's online comeback. Had a great time. Thanks. That's it. That's it. I love that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That should happen more often.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't. I don't care about you or respect you enough to, like, really respond. Had a great time. Thanks. That's it. Love that. The understatement of it. All right, let's begin the show now, officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Leaping into action at Mark. I am very disappointed with President Putin. You know, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. And he'll talk so beautifully. And then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did he surprise a lot of people? Did he surprise anyone on planet Earth but you?

[Katie Green]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

And were you actually surprised?

[Katie Green]

There are three choices here. And. And Big Trump fans. I will let you supply choice number three, because I don't know how to phrase it exactly. Choice. A, Trump is just ignorant of Vladimir Putin and his history and his goals.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can't be.

[Katie Green]

B, Trump is an idiot.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, definitely not.

[Katie Green]

C, Trump was trying to. Dot, dot, dot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think Trump was trying to. He's worked with a lot of. He's done deals with a lot of creepy people in his life, and he acted like he respected him and liked him and got him to do things he wanted to do when building a, you know, a giant hotel or whatever.

[Katie Green]

Worked with many gangsters in New York who can be real cutthroat fellas, and.

[Jack Armstrong]

He acted like they were all friends and was able to make a deal with them. I think that's what it is. I don't know why he goes out saying things like, Putin surprised a lot of people by turning out to not be a nice guy. Okay, if you say so.

[Katie Green]

But that gets to being. He's got to be just ignorant of Putin because, I mean, Putin and I know this. You know this. Anybody who's into geopolitics knows this. Putin harnesses a dozen of those mob bosses and makes them pull his sleigh in the wintertime, and he puts the whip to them. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't know. I suppose it doesn't matter ultimately, since in my mind, Trump has come around to the correct side on this, and I'm just very happy about that. You know, I'll just live with that.

[Katie Green]

Yep. Just keep getting rid of the woke stuff, and then we'll figure out the foreign policies as we go.

[Jack Armstrong]

In the last seven days, Russia has launched 1800 drones, 1200 guided aerial bombs, 83 missiles, according to President Zelensky. I mean, it was the most attacky week of the entire war last week when he got off the phone with Trump and claimed he was, you know, working on a peace deal or whatever. So, again, Trump's going to announce while we're on the air today what exactly he's going to do about that. And Lindsey Graham on the talk shows yesterday said, oh, wait till Monday. Said, I don't want to get out in front of this. I know what it's going to be. It's going to be big, though. So stand by. And specifically said, India, Brazil and China are really going to be unhappy because their days of buying cheap Russian oil are over. So China and Brazil, who cares? So we hate China. I don't know what we think of Brazil, but India isn't supposed to end. Aren't they a frenemy?

[Katie Green]

They were coming our way.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. Anyway, so we got lots to talk about. We got Katie's headlines. Dropped my son off at this big boy scout camp yesterday. But there were some interesting things occurred there. I want to talk about lots today. What do we we used to say. I don't remember when we we used to always say another stinking week of answering to the man. I don't remember how we worked that into the show ages ago. Age. Welcome to another stinking week answering to the man. What a way to start your day. Anyway, lots on the way.

[Katie Green]

Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Here's my most charitable view, briefly, of Trump's thing was he was going to go to a ridiculous extent to try to make a deal with Putin, thinking that it probably won't work. And when it doesn't work and we make the turn, we're going to be in it for a very long time and it's going to be a very big deal. And that will be, you know, we'll be on I'm going to put that off. I'm going to try everything possible to avoid that. But it didn't work. That's the most charitable thing I can come up with.

[Katie Green]

If you are focused on what is done as opposed to what is said, which I think is a healthy way to go. It's, it's fine. I get that that's a good strategy as you described it just. But he says though, that man, I was shocked by Putin. He talks pretty, but then he come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

He surprised a Lot of people he surprised. Nobody. Nobody.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Okay, a lot to talk about today. Let's get into it. Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with Katie Green. Katie, hit it.

[Rand Paul]

Alrighty, let's start with cnn. EU warns that its trade with the United States could effectively be wiped out if Trump follows through on his 30% tariff threat.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I, I got to admit, I mostly ignore this story. I just. Because I don't know what to do with it.

[Katie Green]

Well, it just seems like every verse is same as the first. Could get better, but it's going to get worse as the older rhyme goes. I don't. Well, we've got some good audio from various of Trump's handyman trying to explain the strategy. We'll play that for you in a little bit.

[Rand Paul]

USA Today, Trump says FBI's Dan Bongino is quote, in good shape amid Jeffrey Epstein probe fallout.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So Chris Christie said on ABC this week and I've then I've heard other people echo it that there's no way Pam Bondi in Bongino have come out and said, look, there's no list, there's nothing here without Trump's direction. And that's why Trump's coming out and then supporting them because they're doing what he told them to do.

[Katie Green]

At the very least, they told him that that is the case. And he said, fine. Tell everybody from the Wall Street Journal.

[Rand Paul]

How China's military is flexing its power in the Pacific.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I saw that. I was thinking of bringing it to the show, but it's a heavily visual article. But it's, it's unquestionable. China is trying to push outward and unlike, you know, the US that patrols the seas just to make sure everybody's observing the laws of the, of the sea and navigation is fine and trade's going on. No. China does it for belligerent reasons to take land and take control of areas.

[Rand Paul]

From ABC Texas flooding search continues. 130 confirmed dead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have you seen the cars that were buried? Figuring out how those people actually died? Oh, my gosh.

[Katie Green]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was something. Yeah. So they're starting to figure out where did you know, everybody go that. And you find just like a car on its side. Like here's a rear view mirror. You keep digging in there and then the whole car is underneath there.

[Katie Green]

Wow. Massive flash flooding over the weekend. So that's obviously set back the search for, you know, victims.

[Rand Paul]

From wired.com McDonald's AI hiring bot exposed millions of applicants data to Hackers, they call this thing the McHire.

[Katie Green]

All right. It's okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

If it is online, it can be hacked. And it will be hacked if it hasn't already been hacked.

[Rand Paul]

Well, speaking of hacked, from Breitbart.com Elmo goes full Nazi in hacked social media posts. Elmo has a Twitter. Somebody hacked Elmo's Twitter page and he started calling for everyone to kill the Jews.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God. Elmo and Grock, both of them.

[Katie Green]

Yikes. Grossing.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's Elmo.

[Katie Green]

Grover's gotta slap some sense into that little fella.

[Rand Paul]

For the New York Post, Angry Kanye west fans chant for refunds at Shanghai show quote, worst concert ever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really? You went to Kanye's concert expecting it to be normal?

[Katie Green]

Okay, yeah, right, Good point. In what specific way did it go sideways? Do we know?

[Rand Paul]

It started with him being 40 minutes late and then the crowd. He pissed the crowd off to start with, and then it was just a really bizarre show and they said the sound was bad. Everything was bad. Hey, finally from the Babylon be, CNN marks one year anniversary of Trump falling down after loud popping noises.

[Katie Green]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a year ago yesterday. So gonna be a lot of anniversaries this week. It'll be the one year anniversary tomorrow. When he walked into the arena where we were in Milwaukee without white bandage on his ear and everybody cheered and all the craziness of those couple of weeks, holy crap. Can't even hardly believe it even really happened, the whole thing.

[Katie Green]

They were handing out souvenir ear bandages to everyone.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right, right, right. For a cup of coffee. That was a thing to have a bandage on your ear and support. I didn't join in with that.

[Katie Green]

So you're not maga.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got a lot of the news of the day to get to. There's some good stuff around. Immigration, some congress people visiting Alligator Alcatraz and were horrified by it. You know, the Democrats were anyway. But of course, a bunch of other stuff.

[Katie Green]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

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[Katie Green]

You have released an accountability report. We've had a look at it and it details that assets were requested by the Secret Service, including requests made over the phone, and they were denied. You also say that the former Secret Service director made false claims under oath. When Kimberly Cheadle said there were no denials. Was she misled or are you accusing her of lying?

[Unnamed Speaker]

She did not tell the truth. She said that there were no assets that were requested. Advance. We found at least four occasions, actually maybe five occasions, where requests were made.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's obviously the voice of Senator Rand Paul, who's the chair of the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate, which for some reason was surprising to me. Anyway, he said that Cheadle, who was running the Secret Service at the time a year ago when Trump was nearly killed, lied under oath to Congress. She came out and strongly denied that yesterday.

[Katie Green]

The only possible defense I could come up with for her was that that sort of denial is decided below her level and she was never told about it. But you certainly think she would have heard about it in the inquiry post near apocalyptic assassination. So, yeah, yeah, Rand Paul on Face the Nation. Their whole report is done now. Their hearings are done, apparently. Why don't we play another clip or two before I comment. But next one, Michael, the primary request.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That was made by both Trump's Secret Service detail as well as his campaign was for counter snipers. Counter snipers were denied until Butler. So thank God, on that day in Butler County, Pennsylvania, that was the first time he was allowed counter snipers. If he had not had counter snipers, that assassin would have popped up again. He pop up again to continue firing and that's when he was taken out. But thank God we had the counter snipers there. But why were they denied for months and months? When they finally did ask for them, they mysteriously, magically appeared. They found them where they needed. They just weren't trying hard enough.

[Katie Green]

I'm not conspiracy guy, but when you take that and combine it with the egregious, still incomprehensible failure to secure a line of sight rooftop, you gotta think there are people who thought, you know, if he gets shot, that would take care of the problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Boy, I don't know I'm not saying.

[Katie Green]

That'S true, but if you're of that bent, I don't have a great counter argument for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I'm not willing to go there, but I'm surprised that, I mean, I have no, nothing of what I talk here, so. Which makes me perfectly qualified to be a talk show host. But I was just surprised that you don't normally have counter snipers. When a guy who's former president, likely to be the next president is speaking outdoors, I'm surprised that that's not just a regular thing.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, me too. Me too. Just to finish my previous thought, I remember at the time saying virtually this word for word. My only counter argument to the conspiracy theorist types is, oh, no, no, no. The supreme, the Supreme Court is this incompetent that they will leave a rooftop with direct line of sight to a presidential candidate unsecured. Well, remember the volatile time and that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's hard to believe the reporting from a source is ultimately, it's a Secret Service's responsibility, I suppose. But the, the very close knowledge from a source is that you coordinate with local law enforcement and hope they do what you ask them to do. The Secret Service cannot order people around. They can just ask. And the local police, butler police were supposed to secure that building and they decided it was too hot outside to be up on that roof. So they didn't.

[Katie Green]

Wow. Wow. If that is the case, the, the vision I think most Americans have of the incredibly secure perimeter around the President or presidential candidates, even that's fantasy. It's, it's not, it's conditional on whether it's hot out or not. Lovely. Well, if you're hoping for accountability, you're going to go away disappointed. One more clip at least, Michael.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So it was a cascade of errors. It was just one error after another. When we talked to the people in charge of security, everybody pointed a finger at someone else. We said, who was responsible for that roof? The roof where the assassin lay with a direct sight line. Nobody wanted responsibility. Everybody said it was somebody else. There was plenty of time to take him off the stage. The suspicious person with a range finder who became the shooter. Many times he was spotted by police with suspicion. That should have been enough to take the President off the stage. Even with him on the roof. There was about a three minute period when he could have been taken from the stage and yet no one was fired. Some of these people could be in charge of security for another presidential candidate. And really that's a danger that some one, some one of the people that were in charge at Butler could be in charge again. That's not right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, darn it. The whole everybody blames somebody else and nobody ever gets fired thing is the biggest problem. Anytime you have one of these government.

[Katie Green]

Investigations and Rand Paul with a timely reminder of again, what we discussed at the time, that this guy was seen multiple times, identified as a suspicious character up on the roof, had a sighting device. I mean, and, and the President just went ahead and took the stage and talked for some time. As everybody's saying, there's some weirdo on the roof with a direct line of sight at the President and nobody thought, you know, why don't we say, hey, there's a technical problem, we'll be right back. I just, it's, it's, well, it's disillusioning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did Rand Paul get to it at any point? Because I didn't see that interview. I wish I had. I should have watched that one instead of one about tariffs. Did Rand Paul, to get to any place where he believes it's less likely to happen in the future, or is it just as likely to happen in the future?

[Katie Green]

You know, that's an interesting question. I don't remember. There was certainly an implied we're working like crazy to clean up the mess in the Secret Service. He mentions that there wasn't really any disciplinary action until after they subpoenaed for information and. Oh well, go ahead and play. 83. Michael. So when you say someone was not telling the truth, is it that there was no record of, of requests and denials? Was this knowingly misleading Congress or was this like a culture of COVID up within the agency?

[Unnamed Speaker]

I think it was a cultural cover up for the agency. They did not want to assess blame. They did not want to look internally and they wanted to discount any of their actions that might have led to this. This was a cover your ass sort of moment. And I do believe that they did know. There's no way that the director of Secret Service, that she did not know that these requests have been made. And, and so yes, it was a huge failure.

[Katie Green]

This is a fairly standard situation in government too, where, and I'm not criticizing Rand Paul because I think he's really trying to get to the bottom of it. But what I just heard there was, well, there was a rotten egg in the, the, the carton there and we've gotten rid of her. So everything's fine now. But the culture of cya, does that remain? Have we looked into the relationship between the Secret Service and local law enforcement which I. That makes perfect sense to me. They cannot, you know, command a deputy sheriff to go do something. It's a good point. So is that good enough? And what do we think of it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Netanyahu hinted that, you know, this kid was part of an Iranian plot. There's no evidence of that whatsoever. It's. I think it's worse. I don't know if you read the articles that came out over the weekend about the crook. Is that his name, the wannabe assassin? Any of the articles about him and his family and everything like it, Very dysfunctional family and all kinds of strangeness in his life. I think it makes it worse that it's not an Iranian plot or some high level, complicated three dimensional chess sort of plan that just a random weirdo kid who for strange reasons thinks he wants to kill the President could almost pull it off is worse than if it were an Iranian plot.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. Sloppy idiot. Oh, thank God the bullet missed. You know, if you don't believe in God, well, that's a hell of a good break.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And so then, you know, it makes it easier to look back on previous assassinations or failures like happened October 7th in Israel or whoever and just realize, yeah, a cascading series of failures can happen sometimes and you end up with.

[Katie Green]

A result like that. Yeah. The one thing I learned from talking to a high placed military source is the incredible importance of redundancies in systems where if system A goes out, specifically in this case it was for communication. You have to have system B and system C and everybody has to be on the same page of when and how you go from one thing to the other to the other because it is moment to moment, life or death in the military. But it seems to me like in the case of October 7th, you know, if somebody was on vacation or it was the Sabbath so his phone was off or whatever, there was no, okay, we go to plan B. There was no plan B. And the idea that you just ask the sheriff's deputies if they could please secure that building and just there's no second layer of accountability is bothersome to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

Again, given up with, given that we all have assumed that it's ironclad, it's, it's world leader, you can't get near the President. Yeah. Unless you're a 20 year old Nel who just wants to be famous or.

[Jack Armstrong]

Something and takes practically the easiest shot in the whole area. Just climbs up there and lays there with a rifle. I know, it's just astounding and it Can't. You can't. Like you said, it can't be. We asked them to and they didn't. There's got to be another layer of something.

[Katie Green]

Shucks those dumb local guys and whatever it costs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, then fund it, I guess.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, oh man, oh man. Okay, well, that's unsatisfying as.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

As is almost not almost every investigation and any government failure I can think of in my lifetime, the investigation is always completely unsatisfying.

[Katie Green]

Blame a building. And if you can find. Well, if you, if you can find a person to blame, blame that person. Put the goat's horns on him and run them out of town as if that solved the problem. And if you can't find that person, you blame the building and you just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hope that it doesn't happen again. Nearly kill the president or a financial meltdown for the entire world or whatever you know you want to want it to be. You just hope it doesn't happen again. God dang it, that's frustrating. If you have any thoughts on that, we'd like to hear them. Text line is 415295KFTC. We've got a mailbag on the way. I want to play that Tucker Carlson stuff where he lays out what some of you believe is going on with the Epstein files. It's. It's pretty nutty in my opinion. And a whole bunch of other stuff. So stay here.

[Katie Green]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Are you into the teddy bear wrapped in human skin story?

[Katie Green]

Ah, I'm aware of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Found in California Sidewalk.

[Katie Green]

You've really ought to warn people before.

[Jack Armstrong]

You just, you know, I Want to get people's attention. Got to cut through the clutter. It's hard today.

[Katie Green]

Done so many.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll get to that story a little bit later.

[Katie Green]

Great Scott. I'd kind of put that out of my mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. So here's my favorite headline. Lead you into mailbag. Ellen DeGeneres supports Rosie O' Donnell as Donald Trump threatens to strip her U.S. citizenship. I didn't realize Trump was threatening to take Rosie o' Donnell's citizenship.

[Katie Green]

A buddy of mine who I played golf with over the weekend who's, who's very pro Trump, he's like Donald. No, no, you're the president. Hi, caramba. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day from the great Thomas Sowell. Continuing on our series of his brilliance. This is one of his Mount Rushmore quotes. It's tough to pick one of his. Anyway, it is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good one.

[Katie Green]

Amen to that, Thomas. Mailbag. Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongygetty.com is the email address. Keep it shortish if you can. Unless you know you're a great writer with an amazing experience and brilliant insights. Then, hey, stretch out a little bit. B. Wright hello, fellows. Barry from Thailand here. Yesterday being the anniversary of the attempted Trump assassination, I'm reminded of how little we've discovered about the shooter and his family. As Eric Trump commented, this guy was cremated quicker than a family pet. I don't think there's much to discover. Honestly.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think so either.

[Katie Green]

I mean, if a crazed, miserable loner who craves attention will slaughter a room full of innocent little children, one would certainly take a potshot at a presidential candidate. Yeah, we've talked easy math for me.

[Jack Armstrong]

We've talked about this a lot. One of the reasons conspiracies like this can grow is it's tough for us to wrap our heads around the idea of just some average local dope could change world history. We don't like that.

[Katie Green]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we prefer to believe there's much bigger forces involved.

[Katie Green]

And Barry includes a haiku to mark the occasion. And for once in my life, I'm refusing to read a haiku.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, look at you with your restraint.

[Katie Green]

Ryan from Houston, Dear Big Freedom and old Simple Jack Gavin Newsom AOC and many Democrats decry the ICE raids, but I never seem to hear what they want our immigration laws to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, nobody forces them to say we.

[Katie Green]

Can'T continue to have a semi open border and have people sneak in to be in legal limbo by being illegally in the country, but nobody enforcing the laws. So I'd like to know, Gavin Newsom and others, what are your immigration laws? What should they be?

[Jack Armstrong]

I do have, though, a friend of a friend account of somebody who's been trying to do it the right way for years and who got grabbed up and. And it's just that's. It's not good at all. Yeah, so we'll get to that a little bit later. I mean, we can't be doing that.

[Katie Green]

It is horrifying and almost hilarious that that very question really, of both sides combined with why haven't you done it yet? Is never asked in this discussion. Reams of coverage, hours and hours of the talking heads, and nobody says, all right, what should the laws be then? How do we enforce them? I mean, it's like it doesn't even occur to people to ask the question. It's enough to make you shake your head. Uh, on the topic of your pocket fork, Jack Amani writes, jack should ditch the bush league pocket fork and go pro. He should have a custom holster for his fork made so he can wear it as a sidearm when he approaches something like a bakery counter in a supermarket or a buffet, with his hand just above the holster fork showing, he's ready to draw people in line would know they better just step aside.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got the pocket fork right here. This is where I took it out of my pocket and decided I'm not carrying around a fork anymore. Yeah, it was a major step forward for me. And it's been sitting right here for quite some time. A fork that, if you weren't listening at the time, I kept in my pocket so that I could, like, stop at a grocery store, get pie, walk out and eat it in the parking lot in my car.

[Katie Green]

And. And. And Imani wants you to go in the other direction with, like, a custom made fork and a holster. But no, no. Okay, fair enough. Let's see. Garrick and Davis writes, Jack's head will explode if he watches the new Superman.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really? I watched the new Jurassic Park. I'll have to talk about that later.

[Katie Green]

Okay, I'll keep it as short as I can without big spoilers. I'm gonna skip mostly most of it. It's crazy how off the wall, goofy and stupid this movie really is. Director James Gunn took what everyone knows about Superman. He can fly, his powers, his suit, and then basically just wrote his own character and universe. So took the very, very basics of the character, then just completely reinvented the thing. It's a gambler. That's fine. It's not like it's the book of Genesis. It's a comic book carrier somebody came up with in the 30s or whatever. I just. I don't worry about that much. And Jared in Missouri actually makes pretty good point about the Superman movie because the. The story was, according to some, that the movie's kind of woke and it's a story about a brave immigrant. Blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've heard this so many times and then seen the movies and it's bull s. I wish I could say the word. Yeah.

[Katie Green]

It's a tiny percentage blown up way out of proportion and. Yeah. But Jared actually makes this point, which I liked. This can so easily be flipped. Superman is a success story about an immigrant who integrated in the American culture, loved his new home, and used his success to give back and fight for truth, justice in the American way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Perfect. Or you cannot think about politics at all when you go to movies like this. Which would be a good idea.

[Katie Green]

So you wanted Hillary to win Armstrong and Gettysburg. This is an I Heart podcast.