Groans Across the Nation!!!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand — “Groans Across the Nation!!!” (July 7, 2026)

Podcast Host: Jack Armstrong (Joe Getty on vacation)
Notable Guests: Heather Myers
Summary by [Expert Podcast Summarizer]

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Episode Theme & Purpose

Jack Armstrong returns from his own vacation to host solo, with Joe Getty away for his 40th wedding anniversary. Jack sets a lively, sardonic tone, reflecting on vacations, the challenge of relaxing, the polarized mood of America post-4th of July, and recent major news stories—mixing personal anecdotes with sharp commentary on politics, American culture, and media distortions. In this episode, he also introduces news anchor Heather Myers, who’s filling in during Katie Green’s maternity leave.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Joe Getty’s Absence and Routine

• [00:10] Jack kicks off alone, bemoaning Joe’s extended absence but congratulating him on “the longest vacation of his life” celebrating 40 years of marriage.
• Jack discusses how difficult he finds it to relax during time off, comparing his approach to that of his “do nothing” 16-year-old son.

2. Reflection on Retirement & Routines

• Jack contemplates his inability to “take it easy” and muses on routines—comparing himself, humorously, to dogs and citing his dad’s daily McDonald’s political arguments as proof of everyone's need for structure.

3. Personal Vacation Anecdotes

• He teases upcoming vacation stories: “I was in Vegas for three days. I rented a 1966 Mustang GT that we rode around Vegas in for a couple of days. That was so much fun. My 16-year-old and I... oh my God, that was cool.” ([09:56])

4. Major News & Political Stories

• Politics Fatigue: Jack expresses a lack of enthusiasm for political horse-race coverage: “I love issues, I like policy. But man, just the day to day crap that fills cable news channels and social media I have so little interest in.” ([02:06])
• Graham Platner Scandal: Significant attention is given to newly-surfaced, explicit rape allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine, which has led to major party figures (Schumer, Ro Khanna) calling for Platner to leave the race. “When Chuck Schumer and Ro Khanna and all kinds of powerful Democrats ... have now asked him to get out ... you know it is almost certainly over.” ([03:52])

5. American Patriotism & July 4th Observations

• Polarization in Patriotism: Jack notes a poll showing Republicans’ steady love of country, regardless of the President, contrasting with Democrats’ views which “go up and down with the administrations.” ([07:20])
• Community Divide: Jack laments the lack of American flags in his own town, joking, “My son actually said... how come I don't see more American flags? I said, because you live in a town full of people that mostly hate the country.”

6. International Affairs & NATO Summit

• Trump at NATO: Ongoing coverage of Trump’s attendance at the NATO summit, including planned meetings with Zelensky (Ukraine) and a phone call with Putin, plus tense discussions about defense spending and technology sharing with Turkey ([08:25]).
• Jack pushes back on the “Trump doesn’t believe in NATO” narrative, stating: “NATO didn't believe in NATO until Trump started pressuring them to spend money on if they didn't believe in their own alliance.” ([13:00])

7. America’s Image Abroad

• Perceptions from Foreigners: A highlight is Jack’s recounting of meeting European visitors in Vegas who expressed surprise at how safe and happy Americans are, compared to grim portrayals in foreign media. They “were actually blown away by how different the country was than what they thought it was going to be.” ([22:25])
• Jack muses on global media-driven misconceptions about America and worries about a future shaped by “clickonomics” and social feeds that warp the perception of everyday life.

8. Cultural Flashpoints & Media Bias

• Discusses the rise of “America-hating” or socialist sentiment, especially referencing congressional shifts in Michigan and the NYC mayor’s 4th of July criticism.
• Plays a controversial quote from The View:

  “There are times when I walk into a community and I see American flags all over the community and I suddenly feel unsafe because there is a section of this country that has co-opted the American flag. And they equate being an American or an American flag with white supremacy.” [17:18]

  • Jack retorts: “What are you talking about? That’s one of the clacking hens from The View.”
• Shares Elon Musk’s 4th of July patriotic tweet:

  “I read the Declaration of Independence out loud today with heartfelt conviction. It's a work not just of genius, but also a purity of soul that resonates to this very day.” ([25:57])

9. Hot Dog Eating & American Jokes

• Celebrates Joey Chestnut’s 18th hot dog eating title, with tongue-in-cheek US-vs-Belgium comparisons:

  “Moon landings. USA 6, Belgium 0. Waffle Houses, Belgium 0, United States over 2000. And finally, hot dog eating titles. USA 16, Belgium 0. So there you go. Suck on that, Belgium.” ([11:29])

• Listener reaction: “Hot dog eating contest. Obscene. Gross. Classless symbolic gluttony.” Jack agrees but loves it anyway. ([29:51])

10. Fourth Amendment Supreme Court Case

• Jack teases a significant new Supreme Court decision on privacy and the Fourth Amendment, to be discussed in greater detail with a legal expert in hour four:

  “It may be more constitutional privacy for what people do on their phone than what they do in their home. I find that a very intriguing notion...” ([18:50])

11. Heather Myers Interview (Get to Know Your Guest)

• [30:43] – [36:21]
  • Heather shares her transition from 20+ years of San Diego TV anchoring to becoming a real estate agent and then splitting her time with Newsmax correspondent work.
  • She notes Newsmax provides “the other side of the story that you almost have to hunt down to find. Unless you're watching Newsmax.” ([34:06])
  • Discusses working from home during her kids’ teenage years and how the pandemic changed media production—now often solo, via phone and Zoom.
  • Heather and Jack bond over parenting teenage boys and laugh about changes like voice cracking and “armpit hair comparisons”.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On politics coverage ([02:06]):
  “I love issues, I like policy. But man, just the day to day crap that fills cable news channels and social media I have so little interest in.” — Jack Armstrong

• On Americans’ routines ([02:39]):
  “Human beings, like dogs, really like routines.” — Jack Armstrong

• On anti-American sentiment ([17:44]):
  “What are you talking about? That’s one of the clacking hens from the View.” — Jack Armstrong, responding to concern about American flags as a symbol of white supremacy

• On U.S. dominance ([11:29]):
  “Moon landings. USA 6, Belgium 0. Waffle Houses, Belgium 0, United States over 2000. And finally, hot dog eating titles. USA 16, Belgium 0. So there you go. Suck on that, Belgium.” — Jack Armstrong

• On foreign perceptions ([22:25]):
  “These guys were actually blown away by how different the country was than what they thought it was going to be.” — Jack Armstrong

• On Supreme Court privacy case ([18:50]):
  “It may be more constitutional privacy for what people do on their phone than what they do in their home. I find that a very intriguing notion...” — Jack Armstrong

• On career transition ([32:56]):
  “You realize this is not the way it works for most people in media. Most people, either you get fired or quit your job, you never get another job again in your life. You don't get called that day.” — Jack Armstrong, to Heather Myers

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:10 — Jack solo hosts, reflects on vacation, routines, and Joe’s absence
• 03:52 — Platner rape allegation scandal and impact on Senate race
• 07:20 — Partisan divides in patriotism/polls
• 08:25 — NATO summit preview; Trump-Zelensky-Putin talks
• 11:29 — Joey Chestnut/US vs Belgium jokes
• 12:39 — News headlines with Heather Myers begin
• 13:00 — NATO media “Trump doesn’t believe in NATO” critique
• 15:18 — China missile test; US millionaires stat; Microsoft layoffs
• 17:18 — The View's American flag “unsafe” controversy
• 18:50 — Supreme Court Fourth Amendment case preview
• 22:25 — Foreigners’ positive impressions of US vs. their media’s portrayal
• 25:57 — Elon Musk’s patriotic 4th of July tweet
• 29:51 — Listener texts on hot dog contests & trucks/flags
• 30:43 — “Meet Heather Myers” interview: career, family, Newsmax role

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Final Thoughts

Jack leads a fast-moving, humorous, outspoken episode—tying together national events, cultural rifts, personal experience, and guest insight. The show’s signature irreverence is on full display, especially as Jack pokes fun at both political sides’ foibles and America’s idiosyncrasies. The episode is especially timely for listeners interested in post-July 4th national mood, current political shakeups, and how the media shapes perceptions at home and abroad.

For additional detail on key legal, political, or cultural topics (Graham Platner case, Supreme Court decision, US image abroad), refer to timestamps above.

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For more: Listen to Armstrong & Getty On Demand, July 7, 2026, “Groans Across the Nation!!!”

Transcript

[A]

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

[B]

Armstrong and Getty. And now he is Armstrong. Live from Studio C, a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong Yeti Communications Company compound. How y' all doing? First, the disappointing news to some of you. Joe is still not here. He's still on vacation. I can hear the groans. I can hear the groans all across this Great Nation. The 70 stations were on, across this great station, people groaning. But it's still just me back from vacation. Joe is off for a couple of more days as he is taking what he keeps calling the longest vacation of his life. And I'm sure it is with him and his wife Judy, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, which is obviously a big number and a big deal. And he'll be back, I think on Friday or sooner or later or whenever, whenever he gets around to it. But man, there's a lot to talk about. Both things I want to share from fun stuff I did over vacation or things I learned over vacation or whatever and just stuff that's in the news and really look forward to it. Michael, how are you doing? How was your time off? Did you do anything? Did you take any time off? Yeah, I took it easy. I took it very easy. Took it easy. How are you at taking it easy? I am terrible at taking it easy. I am not good at it at all. I just got stuff done around the house, so nothing exciting, you know, I did the stuff that you don't want to get to. But you, you have no excuse at this point. You got lots of time to do it, right? I didn't. I did a fair amount of that too. And I am not good at relaxing. I never have been. And it made me wonder about someday in the distance future when I retire, what that will look like, because I am not good at relaxing. My son said to me yesterday, my 16 year old, because I was talking to him about this, and he said, you know, I could. I could do nothing all day, every day, the rest of my life, I'd be perfectly happy. So I guess he's built that way. He got those jeans somewhere. Yeah, I can't do that. I can't either. I absolutely cannot. So I'm happy to be back at work and happy to be back in my routine. Human beings, like dogs, really like routines. And I suppose, you know, if you don't have a job, you. You get some sort of routine. Like my, my parents. My dad gets up in the morning and he Goes down to the McDonald's and argues about politics with some other old retired guys. He's got a routine. You gotta have a routine. Of course. We're gonna dedicate an entire hour to Travis and Taylor finally getting married over the weekend. We got a full hour on that. We'll do a one segment on this, what the celebrities wore. We'll do a segment on the vows and all kinds of different stuff. We'll do that later. That was what my niece called our royal wedding. Our royal wedding that happened in Madison Square Garden over the weekend. Look forward to that. Biggest political stories out there. And I have no interest in talking about politics. One thing I thought about over the last week and a half is how little I care about talking about politics. I love issues, I like policy. But man, just the day to day crap that fills cable news channels and social media I have so little interest in. And it has so lim little impact on anybody's life. But it is a pretty big story that this Platner guy running for the Senate up in Maine, who at least had a shot of flipping a seat which could determine who controls the Senate, which is a very, very big deal in our system. Graham Platner is in trouble. A woman came forward over the last, what, 48 hours flat out accusing him of rape with the long detailed story on camera on cnn. This is not the New York Times piece from several weeks ago that had a bunch of women kind of vaguely alleging him that he wasn't a good date. I mean, it was so weak. This is, this woman was in that piece. She wasn't at that time talking about being raped. She didn't want to be a rape victim. But she, she decided she just couldn't handle this guy being in the Senate, knowing what kind of guy is, even though she agrees with his politics. And we'll get into that a little bit later. We'll play some of that interview she did with Jake Tapper on cnn. It's very believable sounding and it's, it's definitely bad. And you know, it's bad and got teeth. Given the fact that Chuck Schumer and Ro Khanna and all kinds of powerful Democrats that had been supporting Platner have now asked him to get out of the race. The top Democrats in the country have asked this guy to get out of the race. So that's when you know it is almost certainly over. But if you haven't heard that, the details of that story, we'll get into that a little bit later. I know the 4th of July at this point is in the rear view mirror. But man, there was so much good stuff over the fourth of July that I came across just everywhere. Social media and various publications and TV shows I watched and everything like that about this great country that I can't wait to get into that stuff and share it. There was also some ridiculous pushback against America that we have to talk about, including the mayor of New York City and his insane address that he put out for the fourth of July, blasting the United States of America for that whole socialist America hating crowd out there that is growing in power. It would seem the socialists won another seat in Michigan a couple of days ago, unseated another what, 16 term normal Democrat lost to another socialist. So they are continuing to flex their weedy, we don't believe in work. Muscles got more on that too. And then of course, the United States lost in soccer yesterday to a much better team. That was the problem with that. The team we were playing was much, much, much better. Did you go to a fireworks show or anything like that? Kinda. Not a lot. I live in a town that hates America. It's amazing how little, how few American flags there were in the town I live in. It was disappointing, My son actually said, because we were driving around, I don't know if it was day before or on fourth of July, said, how come I don't see more American flags? I said, because you live in a town full of people that mostly hate the country. Which is true. And if you drive 20 miles to areas where people love the country, there were tons of flags and a lot more firework going on. But such is the deal. I don't. There's a great poll that came out over the weekend. We'll get into the details of that also. But for people who lean right with their politics, Republicans, their love of the country is steady, no matter who's president, very little wavering, whether it's one of their guys or not one of their guys in the presidency. Whereas Democrats, they love the country and it's a Democratic president, they hate the country when it's not a Democratic president. It goes up and down like that. Which is interesting, isn't it? One line is straight, the other one goes up and down with the administrations, which I think means something about the psychology of people and how they vote. But again, we'll talk about that a little bit later too. Trump's at NATO right now with some major decisions and conversations to be had about the future of NATO and how much money they're going to pony up and in particular, Trump is meeting with Zelensky tomorrow and then already has scheduled immediately after that meeting with President Zelensky, a phone call with Vladimir Putin. And that could be a big deal. Trump's meeting with the leader of Turkey. They're going to talk about whether or not they get some of our very, very, very cool technology in terms of our planes or not, and lots of stuff there. We'll probably talk to Mike Lyons at some point this week about that. Definitely. I'm looking up at the tv, man. All of the political shows, your cable news shows are big on this Plantner story. If he has to drop out, I think Susan Collins holds on and that means Republicans most likely are a lock to hold onto the Senate, which is a big deal for Trump, who's probably going to be impeached somewhere between one and 50 times over the next two years when the Democrats take back the House. Have lots to talk about. Can't wait to tell you some of the stories about going to Nevada riding dirt bikes. I was in Vegas for three days. I rented a 1966 Mustang GT that we rode around Vegas in for a couple of days. That was so much fun. My 16 year old and I oh my God, that was cool. But more on that later. Let's start the show officially as we're back from vacation. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday, July 7th. Let me count my fingers from the fireworks. Yep, got all 10 this year. That's fantastic. July 7th, year 2026. We are Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program. Let's begin it according to FCC regulations at Mark, this is the 18 time champion of the world with 66 Nathan's famous hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, Joey Chestnut. And he went on to win again quite easily. Nobody can touch Joy Chestnut when it comes to hot dog eating. Which reminds me of this that I came across though. We lost to Belgium yesterday in the World cup soccer four to one and it wasn't that close. That doesn't tell the whole story of The United States versus Belgium. Moon landings. USA 6, Belgium 0. Waffle Houses, Belgium 0. United States over 2000. And finally, hot dog eating titles. USA 16, Belgium 0. So there you go. Suck on that, Belgium, who needs you? Um, we don't care about soccer anyway. I came across another great bicentennial piece about all the things America's good at and it was basically of, hey, World cup soccer fans, you can thank us later. With the idea being that nobody would care about the World cup. If the United States prioritized soccer, if we cared about soccer the way we care about the NFL and the NBA and Major League Baseball and all our best athletes play soccer, no other country in the world would ever win a, a World cup tournament. We would win them all and nobody would have any interest in it because it'd be boring. So you can, you can thank us later that we stay out of your sport, rest of the world. Otherwise we dominate that and it would take all the fun out of it for you. I have to talk about running into some foreigners while I was in Vegas who love the country. Just like all those stories you've seen on social media, maybe about people coming here from foreign lands and being amazed by the United States, particularly compared to what they're getting from their news media. That's what this guy from Sweden told me. But just absolutely having a great time in the United States and shocked about how happy and safe we are compared to what they're seeing on their TV news every single night all across Europe. That doesn't do us any favors. Anyway, we got that to talk about too. So that's about 15 different topics that I've already introduced. And we got more to come. Can't wait to get into all of that. You can text anytime you want on the text line, which I've been gone so long I don't remember what it is. 415295 kftc. We've got headlines with Heather Myers coming up next. Please stay here.

[A]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[B]

Jack, what about the late mail in goals that America will receive tomorrow? That's true. The mailing goals have not been counted. Maybe we'll end up beating Belgium if that's the way things ought to work. Again, we beat a moon landings. US 6, Belgium 0 Hot Dog Championships US 16, Belgium 0 Waffle Houses 2000 plus for the United States, Belgium 0. Now those are important scores. Take a look at the headlines that are going on right now. We welcome back to the Armstrong and Getty Show. Heather Myers was off for a little while too. Welcome back, Heather.

[A]

Glad to be back and happy Tuesday. Let's start with this story from FOX News. Trump arrives in Turkey for high stakes NATO summit. Same story from NBC News, Trump to meet with NATO leaders with his commitment to the alliance in doubt. And from ABC News, Trump meets with NATO allies after a year of upheaval.

[B]

Yeah, we will talk more about that. I hate all of the news coverage that the leans into the Trump doesn't believe in NATO. NATO didn't believe in NATO until Trump started pressuring them to spend money on if they didn't believe in their own alliance. Anyway, more on that later. Oh, we got a microphone problem there, Micah. Michael, we have any idea what's going on there? Let's try it again. Heather, Did we just completely lose our microphone? That's a drag. We're gonna do a feature with Heather Myers a little bit later. She has been filling in for Katie Green who is off because she had a little baby. And well, maybe we'll hear from Katie, who knows? But Heather Myers has been filling in and we decided we'll do a little segment with who is Heather Myers A little bit later in the show today. But Heather is back with the headlines. Heather.

[A]

Okay, is that better? Did I sound like I was underwater

[B]

there for a second?

[A]

Sorry about that. Let's try this again. This one from FOX News. Judge appears visibly shaken as Charlie Kirk assassination evidence is shown in court. Yeah, that one, that, that video you almost have to go to check out because it is, it is quite, I

[B]

don't know, this story. Go ahead and take a little time here. Explain what's happening there.

[A]

So they're doing the preliminary hearing right now, which is essentially where the judge will decide if there is enough evidence to move this on to trial, which is about a hundred percent chance of that happening. But they did actually the evidence yesterday, including the shooting. And you see the judge, the camera is only on the judge and you see the judge actually like wince as soon as the shots are fired. And to see a judge do that, it is pretty eye opening.

[B]

You know, I haven't seen the video and I'm not going to watch it. I don't, I don't need to see that. But from what I understand, it is pretty gruesome. Okay.

[A]

Right.

[B]

We'll be following that trial, of course. Back to you, Heather.

[A]

CBS News top Democrats call on Graham Platner to drop out as sexual assault allegations emerge.

[B]

Yeah, when Chuck Schumer and others come out and say you gotta go, it's, it's over. It's just a matter of hours, really. I'd be shocked if Graham Platner doesn't get out today. The interesting thing is that Maine has no system or no rules anyway for replacing them on the ballot. They can and they will, but they have no rules. They can do it however the hell they want and they need to scramble and figure that out, too.

[A]

From CBS News, China test launches ballistic missile from sub insistence South Pacific with

[B]

strong condemnations from other countries around the world.

[A]

Right. From Fox News the Views co host Sunny Hoston feels unsafe in neighborhoods with American flags.

[B]

Shut up.

[A]

Oh, that one's causing a lot, a lot of chatter online from cnn. Diarrhea causing parasite can contaminate raw produce, causing misery across several states.

[B]

So I don't eat vegetables.

[A]

It's not safe. From CBS News, Microsoft cutting more than 4,800 jobs, including 3,000 jobs from the ailing Xbox unit.

[B]

Do we know why?

[A]

Apparently people are not playing Xbox the way that they used to.

[B]

Okay, interesting.

[A]

They're all on their phones. From News nation, more than 440,000 people became millionaires in the US last year.

[B]

Yeah, with inflation, a million dollars ain't what it used to be. Maybe we'll get into the numbers on that. It's depressing.

[A]

Finally this morning from the Babylon be Dems wishing there had been some sort of sign that Platner was a bad person.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good one. It's still a mystery as to why the New York Times a couple of weeks ago when they had their big bombshell story about Graham Platner's accusations around, you know, me too stuff, sex stuff, all that, sort of why it was such a soft piece. Uh, nobody's exactly sure. And it featured this woman that eventually came forward with the rape allegations. And apparently the New York Times knew the details of her story and decided not to include those details. So, yeah, that's, that's its own interesting story, but this guy's gonna be getting out of the race. We'll, we'll hear from his accuser coming up in just a little bit. You will rather. And you can make your own decision whether you think she's believable.

[A]

Armstrong and Getty. There are times when I walk into a community and I see American flags all over the community and I suddenly feel unsafe because there is a section of this country that has co opted the American flag. And they equate being an American or an American flag with white supremacy. And that should never be ever the symbol of white supremacy.

[B]

What are you talking about? That's one of the clacking hens from the View. I got more to say about that as I took in a ton of Media over 4th of July. A lot of you probably did too. Or maybe you're smart enough not to have it. That crowd that hates America. More on that in just, just a second. A couple of things I want to get to. First of all, there is a cup of coffee sitting here, full cup of coffee. That is from. So we were off for a week and Two days we didn't work. We were, we were. What do we call our leftovers? Replay. Replay, yeah. Or best of stuff like that. I call them leftovers. It's like food you didn't finish and you put in the fridge and you heat it up and it's okay. So we had that yesterday all last week and then that previous Friday and then I worked from home, I think on that Thursday, didn't I? Because I had pink eye.

[A]

I remember.

[B]

So this cup of coffee sitting here is a full, almost just short of two weeks old. What do you give me to drink it? Huh? 20 bucks. Anybody in for 20? I should do a GoFundMe. How much money you give me to drink this two week old coffee? Hanson says 25. Mostly because if it was just coffee, it wouldn't be a big deal. Really put cream in my coffee. It's all curdled up. It's pretty gross. I need to throw that out during the commercial break. More importantly, a couple of Supreme Court decisions that came down late last week as a Supreme Court skedaddled for the session before they come back in October. One around the trans sports high school thing that is interesting. And then another one and that one's pretty easy to understand. And we could talk about that later, although we're going to talk to our legal expert about that in hour four. But this Fourth Amendment protection case that I don't fully understand. So I look forward to talking about that in hour four. But like one of the analysts that I respect said, this may be the most important Fourth Amendment ruling in decades. The Fourth Amendment is where you get into your protections against the government and privacy and all that sort of stuff. It makes a lot of new moves that will force lower courts to rethink their precedent. It may be more constitutional privacy for what people do on their phone than what they do in their home. I find that a very intriguing notion, privacy around the stuff in our phone as determined by the Supreme Court going forward around the Fourth Amendment. So we will get to that in hour four and I look forward to talking about that. What was the other thing I wanted to tease before we get to the main. We're going to find out who Heather Myers is coming up in a little bit. She's been filling and doing our news. Oh, man, I'm watching one of your foreign countries who won their soccer match jump up and down and go crazy over the World Cup. I, as I've mentioned many, many times, not, not a, not a big soccer fan. I don't understand the sport at all. If you don't understand a sport, it's hard to enjoy. I can watch an entire NBA game or NFL game, or is it Major League Baseball game? Is that the A's game on last Friday night? I can watch those sports because I understand the plays and the strategy and what's going on over the two or three hours. Even when there's no scoring, it keeps my attention. I don't. With soccer, I don't see other than goals. I don't have any idea what's going on. So I don't. So I don't find it interesting. If you've ever watched like an NFL football game with somebody who doesn't know what the sport is, they, they, they're bored to death because they don't see anything happening. But I was in Vegas and I'm. And I stopped by this bar, my son and I. Why did I stop by the bar? Cause I wanted a piece of chocolate cake. So I stopped by this bar that had food and I saw on their menu thing outside that they had chocolate cake and they were still serving and it was like midnight. And so that's what I really, really wanted, not to drink. I haven't had a drink in almost 20 years. But I did want a piece of chocolate cake and. Or my son did, and we, we split it. Anywho, there were people watching the soccer match, and it was somebody and somebody, some foreign countries, and people were cheering like crazy and wearing jerseys and all that sort of stuff. And as we were sitting there at the bar after the match was over, some very drunk guy came up to me and said, are you Americans? And I said, yes, we are. And he said, I love this country. And he said he was from Sweden. And he said all of the media, they have back home, he said, our politicians and our media tells us it's miserable here in the United States, that everybody's fighting and there's gunshots everywhere and fighting with the cops in the street and all this different sort of stuff. And he said, I haven't seen any of that. I love it here. He said, I don't want to go back home. And the other guys he was with that were from other various European countries said the same thing. And so we've seen this on social media, bouncing around, people amazed at how nice and pleasant the United States is as comparison to what they're seeing in their own media back home and, and, and, and, and, and shocking. So not only are we a placid, friendly, everybody's just fine country, just in general compared to what they' perceptions were. It's even more so, of course, because they came in with a certain point of view, thinking that I'll bet what they're seeing lots of is like the fighting in the streets in Minneapolis. I'll bet they've seen that endlessly on their TV screens at night or on their video feeds, and they think that's what the whole country is doing with Trump as president. And. And obviously, of course, that is not what's going on all around the country or even close to it. And I spent a lot of time thinking about how the same topic we're on all the time is, can the world, can democracy, can human beings survive? The media everywhere, all the time, in your hand algorithm world that we live in, where clickonomics rules the day. And so fights in the streets are going to get lots of clicks, which means your feed on your phone, whether it's Instagram or TikTok or whatever, is gonna feed you more videos of fights rather than videos of everybody just being perfectly happy and. And everybody having a warped perception all around the world about everything. If everybody's perception about everything is completely wrong, what kind of world do we end up with? What kind of politics do politics do we end up? What kind of attitudes toward each other and different countries do we end up with? But these people are shocked to find out that our lives are vastly different than what they thought. And only the World cup and them traveling to the United States to see it in person is opening their eyes to reality. But obviously the World Cup's not gonna be going on all the time. And I don't know.

[A]

I.

[B]

This is. This is a troubling topic, and I don't know what's gonna fix this. I don't know if anything can fix this, but if that's the way Europeans think it is in the United States, well, they're gonna have very different views of how much they should support us in a war with Iran, for instance, or all kinds of different things, or invest in NATO or whatever the hell it is. But I've got a little more on that from some. Some great writers I came across over the last couple of days, particularly around the fourth of July. But I found that really shocking. These guys were actually blown away by how different the country was than what they thought it was going to be. That's not good. We'll have more on that later. First of all, I'll tell you about this. If you got a dog, you need to try rough greens. It's something you sprinkle on your dog's food. You don't change your dog's food. We all know that is a big deal. You can keep your dog's food. You just put rough greens on top of it because of all the nutrients that are in there. 20 vitamins and minerals for pennies a day, you can give your dog what their food is probably missing. Live probiotics, enzymes and omega oils. It's all natural. It's made in the United States. Thousands of dogs are feeling younger, more energetic, happier and healthier than they have in years, and your dog could be one of them. Try it for nothing. Get a free Jump Start trial bag today. You just cover the shipping. Go to roughgreens.com and use the discount Code Armstrong Again, it's free. You just cover the shipping. That's ruff greens.com discount code Armstrong. Rough greens makes any dog food better. I want to give a for instance. On the back and forth of the attitudes about this country, there is a little bit of or a lot of nut picking going on on Twitter, for instance, nut picking is when you pick out one nut on the other side and then hold them up as an example of your opponent. And often it's not accurate, although sometimes it is. And as we all know, there is a growing section of this country that actually hates the country and wants to tear it apart and thinks we're, that we're a net, net, net force for evil on earth. Which is crazy, by the way. But Elon Musk, a foreigner that came to this land, tweeted out on the 4th of July. I read the Declaration of Independence out loud today with heartfelt conviction. It's a work not just of genius, but also a purity of soul that resonates to this very day. The fact that the richest man on earth by far feels that way about the United States, thank God that is a good thing. I really appreciate that he knows and he's talked about this and other people have written about how there's no place else on earth he could have taken his genius and what he wanted to do and pulled it off like the United States. Because so many countries either don't believe in innovation or don't allow for new ideas, or they're so entangled with bureaucracy and, and, and this and that and regulations that you can't do it. Not only are our attitude of for as long as we can hold onto it, some level of personal freedom in this nation and our ability to do whatever we want, just absolutely fantastic that he and others have this attitude and I've got a whole bunch of examples that, of that, that I collected that I want to share with you later, along with the examples of some of the haters, like Mayor Mamdani of New York and his ridiculous video that he put out for the fourth of July, which we'll play a part of a little bit later. But that battle, man, that is. I thought that was. The bright lines were drawn over the fourth of July. Those two crowds, the crowd that understands that we are the force for good, we are the last hope of the world for not living in a totalitarian state versus the crowd like mom Donnie and a lot of people who are winning elections around the country that think we're a force for evil and that we'd be better off without us, which is absolutely nuts. I actually think it's a mental illness, which I want to talk about also later. But first we're going to check in with Heather Myers, find out who she is, what makes her tick. We'll go deep, do a deep dive on Heather Myers, among other things. Coming up. Stay here.

[A]

Armstrong and Getty.

[B]

We got a text from somebody who says somebody who drives around in a big jacked up truck with an American flag is probably a racist a hole. Interesting that you have those views. We do need to get into that discussion a little bit later. I couldn't disagree more. Uh, we also got this text. Hot dog eating contest. Obscene. Gross. Classless symbolic gluttony. And Joy, Chestnut doesn't use any condiments on the hot dogs he consumes. God, no. God. If you put relish or mustard on there, you can imagine how gross that would be if you ate 66 hot dogs with mustard. I will give you probably obscene. Definitely gross. Of course it's classless gluttony. Yeah, yeah, all these things. Still love it. My kids and I watch every year. I don't think I've missed it. One year with my kids in 16 years. This segment, we are going to talk with Heather Myers. Heather, hey, good morning. So Heather's been filling in doing our news since Katie had her baby and she's on maternity leave right now with her cute, cute little baby and she posts pictures all the time and we see the cute little guy and we'll be talking to her as soon as she gets back. But Heather's been filling in and we realize we haven't introduced Heather to you, the listening audience at all. Heather's not in the studio. Where are you, Heather?

[A]

I am at home. I am at home. I am home. Based in San Diego. And by the way, if Katie's listening and you ever want somebody to come hold your newborn baby, I will do that any day of the week. There's nothing better.

[B]

You're a mom. What's your kid situation?

[A]

So my kids are older, they're 13 and 15 and they don't like it when I try to hold them like a newborn baby anymore.

[B]

Yeah. We've known each other for years and our kids are roughly the same because I'm 14 and 16 and we've been talking about that since they were quite a bit younger.

[A]

And you have two boys also, right?

[B]

Yeah. The moving into the teenage years is different than it was before, is it not?

[A]

I'm hearing voices in my house and thinking, there's a stranger. And I realize it's one of my kids with their voice changing and cracking. I'm like, oh, that's you.

[B]

Yeah. My youngest, to his great dismay, still has his little kid voice. He can't wait till it changes. But I remember when my 16 year old's voice changes, all of a sudden there's a grown man in my home. There's a different grown man in my home.

[A]

It is very, very weird. Hello, dad, do your kids compare who has more armpit hair?

[B]

No, I haven't had that conversation. I'm sure that does come up.

[A]

Coming.

[B]

I'm sure. So what's your resume more or less your news history? You were a TV news person your whole career?

[A]

Yeah, this is. And I was so blessed to do most of my TV news work here in San Diego. Started off as a reporter and then moved into the anchor seat for over 20 years here in San Diego. And it was, you know, a dream come true. But there was something nagging at me that it was time to go. And from different changes within the industry to me really wanting to feel proud of the product. Finally I just kind of ripped the tablecloth off my life about a year and a half ago and said, that's it. I'm going to do something totally different. Got my real estate license with my husband and quit my job here in San Diego. And the day I quit my job, Newsmax called and said, we're looking for a freelancer. Would you be interested in doing some work for us?

[B]

Just coincidentally, the day you quit your job?

[A]

Yeah. I mean, we had been in contact, but nothing lined up as far as contracts worked out.

[B]

You realize this is not the way it works for most people in media. Most people, either you get fired or quit your job, you never get another job again in your life. You don't get called that day.

[A]

I know, I know. And I, you know, I'm so great every day I'm pinching myself because I thought I need to be at home more. I thought it would be harder to be, you know, away from the kids as they were toddlers. But I realized it was way harder when they were teenagers.

[B]

Right.

[A]

To be. They always have to be somewhere. They almost like need you more. So I, yeah, Newsmax said you can do it from home. So it's been amazing. And so now I have two, two full time jobs, Jack.

[B]

And so you are a reporter for Newsmax.

[A]

So I do some correspondent work for them. I basically cover most of what's happening in California. There's never a shortage of stories here. It's me and another guy who's based up in Los Angeles and we do most of the California coverage.

[B]

Yeah, good for you. And you could do that for a long time. And Newsmax is. Newsmax is one of the many channels I check out on a regular basis. What is, what is the, what is Newsmax trying to accomplish? Do they have a, an ax to grind?

[A]

I can't, I don't know about an ax to grind, but I do feel like they are sharing and showing sides of stories that I was not seeing on any of the major networks. I was noticing, and I'll be frank, I was noticing complete and utter bias in one direction. Not just from what ended up on air, but from conversations in the newsroom room. And I thought, you know, you are allowed to have an opinion. Every single person does, every journalist does. But what shows up on air has to be fair and balanced. And I was getting really frustrated with it. So I'm, I'm seeing networks like Newsmax show the other side of the story that you almost have to hunt down to find. Unless you're watching Newsmax.

[B]

Yeah. So you don't mind being on camera. You've been doing that your whole life

[A]

depends on what time of the morning, first thing in the morning. That's not a side that I like to show many people. But no, I don't mind it. And I think that now that people are in front of their phones all the time, I feel like most people are starting to get more comfortable with that. Whereas before it was way harder.

[B]

Right, yeah. That's one thing. That Zoom, the pandemic and people having to be on zoom, introduced to, well, one for meetings at work, we all know that. God, I can't believe for all those years we all drove to these stupid meetings when now we realize, let's just jump on Zoom and not have six people sitting in traffic for a half hour to two hours to get to this meeting in person. Oh, I know, it's nuts. It's nuts that we ever did that. But media stuff, all kinds of the expense of having guests be in one studio as opposed to, you can be there on Zoom. It's perfectly fine. Nobody cares.

[A]

Right? And it's the same on television, too. I mean, bringing in guests from all over the world via Zoom, right on tv. In fact, that's actually how I connect for my live shots every day. I shoot it right on my phone. I don't have a crew. I set up a tripod, my own light, and I connect on my phone. And that's how reporters are doing it these days. We're starting to see the, you know, the big cameraman and the big old live track. Those are fading fast, I'm sure. Unfortunately.

[B]

Well, Heather Mize, we appreciate you filling in while Katie Green is on maternity leave for a while longer. You're doing a really good job, and we couldn't appreciate it more.

[A]

Well, thank you for having me. This is such a great opportunity to be with you guys. Listen to you guys for years, and I wish Katie all the best. There's nothing better than your first baby.

[B]

Cool. I know. No kidding. Nothing like that. We got a lot more on the way. If you miss a second, you get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[A]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.