Hard To Believe There's A Brain In Your Skull, Sweetheart.

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Hard To Believe There's A Brain In Your Skull, Sweetheart
Date: November 3, 2025
Host: iHeartPodcasts (Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty)

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Episode Overview

This Armstrong & Getty episode kicks off a new week and month with a blend of sharp political and social commentary, sports talk, and signature irreverence. The hosts dissect the ongoing government shutdown, skepticism over polling, generational ideological shifts, and the role of government—interlaced with humorous asides about sports, inflation, pop culture, and AI. Their conversation moves effortlessly between mocking absurdities in modern politics and expressing deeper worries about the nation’s future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sports Recap and Social Commentary

• LA Dodgers Win the World Series: Hosts celebrate the Dodgers’ victory over the Blue Jays in a thrilling 7-game series that went into extra innings.
• Post-Game Riots in LA:
  • Joe expresses frustration over taxpayer-funded property destruction:
    "LA did what LA does and rioted like crazy that night and destroyed all sorts of property that taxpayers will pay for. Why we put up with this, I'll never ever in my life understand." (01:12)
  • Jack links this to the fragile line between civilization and chaos, suggesting many—especially the young—take stability for granted. (01:35)

2. Government Shutdown: Perceptions vs. Reality

• Duration & Personal Impact: As the shutdown nears a record, the hosts discuss their personal lack of impact and skepticism towards polls stating that 75-80% of people are "affected" or "very concerned."
  • Joe: "Three quarters? That can't be." (03:00)
  • Jack jokes: "I was saying to the doctor who was removing my kidney...I don't feel like it's affected me very much." (03:21)
• Polling Skepticism:
  • Both dispute the framing and doubt the veracity of those numbers, referencing their diverse personal networks, none of whom are significantly impacted (05:28).
  • Jack: "I'd love to see the actual wording of the poll questions, but it seems pretty straightforward." (05:36)
• Sector Differences: They acknowledge some people—government contractors, specific workers—are affected, but paint the larger poll numbers as "stretching credulity." (04:15)
• Flight Delays: Acknowledgement that travel, notably through flight delays due to air traffic and other federal roles, is one area ordinary people might feel direct consequences. (09:00-09:38)

3. Elections & the Age Divide in Politics

• Upcoming Mayoral Races:
  • Dismissal of national significance headlines:
    "If there's one narrative I'm tired of...anytime there's a election anywhere...trying to convince you that this has got serious national significance." (05:50)
• New York’s Race as Ideological Bellwether:
  • Younger voters’ shift away from capitalism and traditional support for Israel noted as a genuine generational divide. (06:58)
  • "If we have sweeping in a generation that doesn't believe in capitalism, that's a big deal." – Joe (06:59)
• Marxism & Education: Jack bemoans "ideological capture" of the education system, comparing it to overt indoctrination campaigns in history (Mao's Red Guard):
  "The perversion of the minds of American kids was done covertly in the schoolhouses." (07:14)
• Complacency of Prior Generations:
  • Both hosts reflect on prior generations' failure to defend the basics of capitalism and democracy, assuming them to be "settled questions." (07:53-08:22)

4. Social Programs: Ideals vs. Reality

• "Starve the Lazy" Merchandise:
  • Jack and Joe promote merchandise with this slogan, emphasizing their belief in a distinction between helping the needy and supporting the unwilling.
  • "Social programs are for people who truly need them, not just people who are unwilling to work." – Jack (12:00)
• Public Perceptions:
  • They challenge the contemporary assumption that everyone struggling is "poor," pointing to large-scale government assistance reaching even relatively affluent earners. (04:50)

5. Economic Anxiety and Inflation

• Cost of Living Anecdote:
  • Joe: "I took the kids to IHOP yesterday. Me and two kids, 80 bucks...that'd be like going to a nice restaurant." (14:14)
  • Both discuss inflation as the public’s top concern per polls—far outstripping worries over the shutdown.
• Tariffs and the Supreme Court:
  • Brief mention that a Supreme Court case will soon decide whether Trump’s use of tariffs was legal under emergency powers (21:13–26:07).
  • Discussion on legal ambiguity:
    • The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not clearly authorize tariffs, and the court could move quickly due to the stakes.
    • "If Congress would do their damn jobs...they need to clarify the 1977 Emergency Powers Law." – Jack (24:04)
  • Even if restrained, there may be loopholes for future presidents to exploit, mirroring Biden’s student loan workaround (24:40).

6. Generational Malaise & AI Critique

• "BBEs"/Blob of Bitter Ennui:
  • Discussion of youth disengagement, described humorously as "blob of bitter ennui"—BBEs—attributed to easy living, social media, and poor education (35:45).
• Suspicion Toward AI Tools:
  • The hosts express concern over AI being designed to "kiss your hiney" and its inherent lack of accuracy or accountability (36:38-38:58).
  • Listener anecdotes support this, including AI chatbots making illegal chess moves and offering false flattery.
    • "It is really good at convincing you it's your friend who's willing to help. But across the line..." (37:17)
  • Warning about the risks of unsupervised AI, with a tease of a later story about an AI encouraging self-harm.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Rioting after Sports Wins:
  "I’ll never ever in my life understand why we've decided. Well, you're excited. So I guess a few take millions of taxpayer dollars destroying public property. It's just people being people." – Joe Getty (01:12)
• On Polls About Shutdown Impact:
  "Three quarters? That can't be." – Joe Getty (03:00)
  "I was saying to the doctor who was removing my kidney...I don't feel like it's affected me very much." – Jack Armstrong (03:21)
• On Generational Complacency:
  "We, our generation, generation before asleep at the switch as education was taken over by radicals. Man, this was one of the most successful ideological captures maybe in the history of mankind." – Jack Armstrong (07:14)
• On Social Programs:
  "Social programs are for people who truly need them, not just people who are unwilling to work." – Jack Armstrong (12:00)
• On Supreme Court Power and Executive Overreach:
  "They [the court] don't talk about this much, but they're supposed to be completely apolitical. But they're not idiots." – Jack Armstrong (23:12)
• On the Philosophy of Liberty:
  "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." – John Stuart Mill, read by Jack (33:25)
• On AI Tools:
  "There are a lot of very smart people spending billions and billions of dollars building something that they do not fully understand, but they're selling it like snake oil." – Jack Armstrong (38:32)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [00:40] – LA Dodgers win, World Series, breakdown of sports culture & riots
• [01:58] – Government shutdown milestone & polling skepticism
• [03:21] – Personal anecdotes undermining shutdown impact claims
• [06:50] – Upcoming elections, generational divide in politics
• [07:14] – Education, Marxism, and ideological capture
• [14:14] – IHOP, anecdotal evidence of inflation
• [21:05] – Trump & Supreme Court tariffs showdown
• [24:04] – The limits of presidential power and congressional responsibility
• [33:25] – John Stuart Mill on liberty, philosophical digression
• [35:45] – Blob of bitter ennui, youth disaffection
• [36:38-38:32] – AI flattery, lack of reliability, listener feedback

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode is brash, sardonic, and unfiltered—characteristic Armstrong & Getty. With a blend of biting satire and sincere unease about America’s trajectory, the hosts spar with each other, laugh, and riff, but never stray too far from their core beliefs about liberty, personal responsibility, and skepticism of power in all forms. Their mix of humor, mockery, and genuine worry makes the episode accessible, relatable, and consistently entertaining.

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Recommended For:
Listeners seeking insight into current events, skepticism toward mainstream narratives, critiques of bureaucracy and cultural change, and an irreverent take on the week’s news that’s both humorous and thought-provoking.

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Missed a segment? Catch up on the Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast!

Transcript

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Show Announcer]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Studio C. Si, senor.

[Joe Getty]

Dimly lit room deep within the foul.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound to kick off a brand new week.

[Joe Getty]

In a brand new month. Today we're under the tutelage of our general manager.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's go with your Los Angeles Dodgers world serious champions. I'll tell you what missed opportunity. Sunday morning I was advocating we should have invaded Canada then because they were so demoralized there had been no fight in them.

[Joe Getty]

I was rooting for the Blue Jays as I stated, but it was a tremendously fun sporting event for seven games. Those are the more fun weeks of watching sports I've had in my life. Really enjoyed the whole thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

And a game seven that is not only a game seven, but goes to extra innings. Are you kidding me?

[Joe Getty]

Can't hardly get any better than that. That was a good time. And then of course LA did what LA does and rioted like crazy that night and destroyed all sorts of property that taxpayers will pay for. Why we put up with this, I'll never ever in my life understand why we've decided. Well, you're excited. So I guess a few take millions of taxpayer dollars destroying public property. It's just, you know, people being people.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the cost of enforcing the law would be too much. It'd be too nasty, too bloody, too expensive. So we'll just let people run rampant. Yeah, it's, it's a great example. And there are so many of the very, very thin line, the fragile line between civilization and chaos. And yet especially the young having grown up in civilization their entire lives think, well that could never go away.

[Joe Getty]

We're into day 34 of the shutdown today. If we tomorrow we tie the record or set the record anyway, we're getting close to an all time record, so that's very, very exciting. I and then there's some sort of court ruling that came out over the weekend that the Trump administration has to come up with money for the SNAP benefits and I don't know where that one stands. Anywho, the. I was in a religious setting over the weekend and a woman actually said it's hard to believe there is a God with the government shutdown going on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hard to believe there's a brain in your skull, sweetheart. That's Joe, not Jack. Jack, much more diplomatic actually said that.

[Joe Getty]

I thought, wow, I don't I don't feel it at quite that level.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, come on now.

[Joe Getty]

That was the Babylon B. No, that was a parody. No, I am not kidding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good gracious. I know.

[Joe Getty]

So, so, so different people are looking at it in different ways. Well, I was looking at the polling on this, a couple of polls that came out over the weekend, and the percentage of people who are highly worried about this. It's like 80% people that say they're being affected by. It was. 3/4. Are 3/4 of people affected by this government shutdown? No way. Three quarters? That can't be.

[Jack Armstrong]

That seems like a stretch to me.

[Joe Getty]

I am not highly worried about it. I would put myself at barely remembering that it's happening. And in terms of it affecting my life, zero so far.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I was saying to the doctor who was removing my kidney, my second kidney, because I've sold them both to try to get me through the government shutdown. I was telling him I don't feel like it's affected me very much. And he agreed. No, I kid, I haven't heard anybody talking about it in the context of actually affecting their lives. In my real life, now that I think about it, I'm not denying it has in some ways. You know, we've heard from various folks who are government contractors or have con. Well, you know, work tangentially with the government and, and. Or government employees. I'm not saying nobody's affected by it, but that that number stretches my credulity.

[Joe Getty]

I do have a friend in government who's constantly sending me pictures from her various hikes and trips that she's been taking during government shutdown during her vacation. Here we sit in which suckers, private.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sector suckers, in which she will get.

[Joe Getty]

Paid at the end of this thing for the. For the weeks that, you know, you didn't get paid.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Now, if you're paycheck to paycheck and you missed a paycheck, obviously that is a. That is a really, really big deal and would be really, really toug. There are many years of my life where if I had had to miss a paycheck, it would have been quite sucky. I would have been scrambling to try to figure out how I was gonna make that month work, but 3/4 of people. Seems a lie.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm sorry, where'd that number come from again?

[Joe Getty]

It was one of the many polls that came out over the weekend. A lot of them were in that area. Oh, I would say that was the prevailing. The prevailing wisdom over the weekend.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, given the unbelievable metastasizing of a lot of social programs where, for instance, there's a free. What was the proposal I was looking at? Oh, it was Obamacare subsidies that go to people up to four times the poverty level, which is $105,000 for a family of three in earnings per year. If you have government largesse going out to that enormous a group of people, I suppose maybe more of that. And many people are at least feeling a little pinch.

[Joe Getty]

Three quarters and 80% of people are very concerned. Am I that out of touch with the world?

[Jack Armstrong]

Either that or I'd love to see the actual wording of the poll questions, but it seems pretty straightforward. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I have family and friends of all socioeconomic levels, and nobody seems to be the least bit concerned. Concerned.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, yeah, I. I am astounded by that number.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Anyway, so then you got the mayoral race tomorrow. A bunch of races tomorrow which are not bellwethers or freaking anything. God, if there's one narrative I'm tired of in my life in the world of politics, it's anytime there's a election anywhere in the country, them trying to convince you that this has got serious national significance.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is a preview of the midterms.

[Joe Getty]

Whatever. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, the. The one that is clearly the most interesting and has the most likelihood of being a bellwether of something is clearly the New York mayoral race and whether or not that's the direction that party is going to go. And I was listening to who was having this on him. I don't even remember what News Nation, I guess it was. And they said that the big divide is age. That's the biggest divide in Mamdani's big lead there, which has shrunk in the polls, but he's still going to win. And the big divide is age. With the younger not believing in capitalism to the extent that older generations do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Idiots.

[Joe Getty]

And not liking Israel in the way that older generations have. But the capitalism thing, that's a big deal. That's a big deal. If we have sweeping in and a generation that doesn't believe in capitalism, that's a big deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Wow, man. We. We, our generation, generation before asleep at the switch as education was taken over by radicals. Man, this was one of the most successful ideological captures maybe in the history of mankind. Makes Mao's Red Guard. Look. I mean, that was overt. It was done openly. The perversion of the minds of American kids was done covertly in the schoolhouses where we assumed they were being Taught to read, write, and do math. You know, as test scores kept telling us they weren't. We just thought they were doing a crappy job at what they were supposed to do. We didn't realize they were doing something completely different.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And I think it's probably like sleeping on your marriage or your relationship with your kids or maybe your job and things that you think, you know, it's. It's going so well. It's been going so well for so long. I don't need to even think about that much anymore. And it was, of course, this, this is a settled question, whether or not capitalism, free markets are better, whether democracies are better, and whether or not we're a good country. These are settled questions. There's no reason to revisit that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, come on.

[Joe Getty]

That's ridiculous. I think that's where we were, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's absolutely true. 100%.

[Joe Getty]

And we're about to get our comeuppance tomorrow when a whole generation gets excited about a freaking co. Well, Trump called him a communist last night on 60 Minutes. Fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Close enough.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, close enough is right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Especially because Marxists have, for the entire history of Marxism known. They have to pretend to be something else that sits that practically one of their trademarks is I'm.

[Joe Getty]

I'm no Marxist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Marxism. What? Said the Marxist?

[Joe Getty]

All right, so we. There were a lot of flight delays and cancellations. Now that, you know what, if I was flying over the weekend, then I probably would have been able to check the box of my life was affected by the government shutdown.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're right. You're right. That expanded the number.

[Joe Getty]

Yep, that definitely expanded the number because there were quite a few delays and cancellations, and that's going to grow a lot this weekend. Next, from people who legitimately are not wanting to go to work because they ain't getting paid and maybe have to stay home with the kids or they're driving an Uber or whatever. And then, you know, politically they're not going to work because it causes more pain. So that might be the best way to reach lots of people is the flight cancellations.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I heard one guy who was. Was he like, with the flight to the air traffic union or something? I can't remember. He wasn't an air traffic controller himself, but he was explaining how with the government shutdown and the paychecks being withheld, even though they'll be paid back eventually, probably they just, they're offended, essentially. They can't believe that they're being asked to work without being paid and, but essentially what he said was, and so people are in a mood.

[Joe Getty]

Like, nah, I'm calling in.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm gonna pretend to be sick. So the mood is kind of feisty and defiant. And yeah, I don't have to act like a good employee. Cause you're screwing me kind of, sorta by delaying my paycheck. And so people are just calling in because they figured nobody's gonna call me on it.

[Joe Getty]

Right. So kind of on that subject, are the starve the lazy T shirts and sweatshirts in our story?

[Jack Armstrong]

They are. Oh, and the hoodies. Very attractive. Armstrong and getty.com. check out the store.

[Joe Getty]

This is not an implication that everyone who needs help is lazy. But there are lots of lazy people and those we want to.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's why it doesn't say starve the poor. It says starve the lazy.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly, exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's very succinct, very straightforward. Get your star of the Lazy, Armstrong, and get a gear. Wear it proudly.

[Joe Getty]

Have people ask you about it. Oh, my God. Let's start the show. Officially, I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Monday, November 3rd. Brand new month. The rent is due. The rent is too damn high.

[Jack Armstrong]

The year 20 said it, brother.

[Joe Getty]

The year 2025. That's why I'm voting Mom Donnie. Because the rent's too high.

[Katie Green]

We're gonna find Zoran, Donnie.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's not actually right.

[Joe Getty]

Zoran going to finally get at Zohran. Finally get rent control in this city which has been proven to work everywhere.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, it's always a winner. The year 2025.

[Joe Getty]

We are Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I. I generally don't wear political stuff when I'm not working because I. I talk about it all day long. And I would just as soon talk about the weather. But the thing I like about the starve the lazy gear and the reason I would be willing to wear that is if somebody brought it up to me. The answer is so brilliant. And pers. It's that social programs are for people who truly need them, not just people who are unwilling to work. Well, what about the young mother who. Blah, blah. Oh, no, no, I'm fine with that. It's just the lazy. We're just talking about the lazy. And you, you would have to be either a lunatic or a communist not to say. Yeah, I guess I agree with you.

[Joe Getty]

Perfectly healthy working age dudes of which we have millions who aren't even looking for a job. That crowd, for instance.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bingo, gringo. All right, let's start the show officially according to FCC rules regulations. Here we go at Mark I want.

[Saturday Night Live Actor]

To be mayor so I can deliver a better New York. Free health care, affordable housing, free WI fi. As mayor, can I make that happen? I'm not sure yet. But together we're going to find out that the answer is no.

[Joe Getty]

That was the faux New York mayoral debate on Saturday Night Live with the mom and dad Donnie character being represented as someone who's promising things he can't do. Although I don't think that really matters. It's similar to the Trump running for election. Now we just, we just signal directionally where we are and people vote for that knowing that they might not necessarily be able to do what they're saying. But you know, it's gonna be fun to talk about on Wednesday. We got Katie's headlines on the way. Lots of stuff today. Stay right here.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Joe Getty]

I took the kids to IHOP yesterday. Me and two kids, 80 bucks. And I thought, I remember it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that that'd be like going to a nice restaurant. 80 bucks.

[Jack Armstrong]

That sounds like dinner and a nice bottle of wine. And perhaps you share desserts. Romantic and delicious.

[Joe Getty]

Me and two kids at ihop.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Joe Getty]

That's. Inflation was the number one issue people were concerned about on all the polling that came out over the weekend.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is Donald Trump's America. A lot to say on that topic. Tariffs. Oh my gosh. Huge Supreme Court case this week, but no time. We got to figure Out. Who's reporting? What is the lead story with Katie Green?

[Joe Getty]

Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, geez. Yeah, it is getting late.

[Joe Getty]

Jump to it, Katie.

[Katie Green]

All righty. Bleacher Report. Jeff Hoffman takes blame. Feels pretty essie to cost the Blue Jays the World Series.

[Joe Getty]

You can't blame that person. In a team sport like that, lots of opportunities for both teams. It could have gone either way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and the stuff that happens early in the game, everybody forgets about that. But, man, you get as many runs for a run in the second inning as you do in the 11th.

[Joe Getty]

Man, that Dodgers catch where the one outfielder ran over the other outfielder. I mean, and that would have been the end of the game. Wow.

[Katie Green]

Wall Street Journal. How the US Economy has defied doomsday predictions on tariffs.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was gonna bring that up. We need to talk about that. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

That is amazing.

[Katie Green]

From the New York Post. Mississippi mom guns down monkey that escaped from overturned truck to project protect her children.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that is mom of the year.

[Joe Getty]

Is that the last one? The last of the diseased monkeys on the loose that the mom shot?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, maybe they keep giving us different numbers to try to cover up their complicity in the Dr. Fauci. Like unleashing of disease monkeys on our food. We got 21 monkeys that was on this. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And the first one bit your tongue off. Apparently.

[Katie Green]

This one from study finds one bite of dark chocolate could sharpen your memory for the next hour.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's good for me because I bought the dark chocolate Hershey Kisses for Halloween. And because we didn't have that many kids in come by, I got this big bag of Hershey Kisses sitting on the counter. 1 Hershey's Kiss is nothing. I'll just have and walk by five minutes later. One more is not a very big deal. It's just a little more.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love the dark chocolate.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, the dark chocolate Hershey's Kiss is pretty good.

[Katie Green]

I've been doing the dark chocolate covered almonds lately.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, Katie, that's funny.

[Joe Getty]

Me too. Big deal.

[Katie Green]

Ah, yeah. Until you walk by the bag and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get a couple more.

[Joe Getty]

It's an almond. Let me have one. One more for me. That's our fat voice.

[Katie Green]

And finally, this one from the Babylon be Al Qaeda. Activating sleeper cells to help get out the vote for Mandami.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Not far off. You remember the clip of him at that Democratic Socialists of America gathering? Said he came to politics through the quote unquote, Palestinian cause. Also have another Islamist leader admitting, yeah, the Palestinian cause is just wiping out the Jews. That's just code we use for wiping out the Jews.

[Joe Getty]

Trump threatens some military action over some Islamists that are killing Christians in Nigeria, which it's going to be a heck of a thing if he actually follows through on that. And we got a lot to talk about today to catch you up from the weekend. I hope you can stick around. If you missed a segment Podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[News Reporter]

The White House faces a deadline to pay out SNAP benefits despite the government shutdown. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to start making food stamp payments today or partial payments by Wednesday, but it's unclear if the White House will comply. The Trump administration argued it can't legally use emergency funds.

[Joe Getty]

So depending on how that whole thing turns out. And that's of course assuming the shutdown still going on by Wednesday, which I think most experts think it will be. And that'll make it the longest shutdown in US History. I feel like that while it's kind of being portrayed as a like gotcha to the Republicans, I feel like it's going to delay any pressure on the right to cave on the whole shutdown if they because that's the biggest leverage over the last several weeks anyway. SNAP benefits the poor, the hungry, starving people starving is the point, gavin Newsome said. And then if they have to continue with that, okay then what, what's your, what's your leverage now? Flying we just got a text from somebody who said they flew to Boston, back from the west coast. They had no delays and they never heard anybody bring it up in the Airports or anywhere at all. The shutdown thing, again, getting to my confusion over polling that shows 80% of Americans are highly concerned about the shutdown. Really? I don't feel that.

[Jack Armstrong]

But now that I gotta call horse crap on that.

[Joe Getty]

Sorry, Horse crap?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's. I'm, I'm calling that manure. I just, I can't imagine that to be true.

[Joe Getty]

Of course, you got the media telling you every day, if you take in any media at all, the mainstream media telling you that it is a crisis, whether you're feeling it in your life or not, that might affect some people. You wouldn't even. My contention is the vast majority of people wouldn't even know it was happening if the news wasn't telling you. You should be concerned about it on a regular basis. Breaking news ish happened yesterday. Trump said he will not be attending the Supreme Court oral arguments on Wednesday. The Supreme Court is going to have their arguments on Wednesday about whether or not he has the power to start throwing all these tariffs around and roiling the world economy. As one guy, he's using some emergency powers to do that. He said he is going to go on Wednesday because it was such a big decision and sit there. Other people talked him down and said it'll look bad and look like he's putting pressure on the court and all that sort of thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Other people, meaning everyone. Absolutely everyone from JD Vance to Melania and Barron said, don't do that.

[Joe Getty]

So he tweeted out or truthed out, I will not be going to the court on Wednesday. I do not want to distract from the importance of this decision. And he went on to say, it will be, in my opinion, one of the most important and consequential decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court. If we lose, our country could be reduced to third world status. Pray to God that it doesn't happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's ridiculous.

[Joe Getty]

I don't agree with that. It's interesting. I don't know anything about this, but Mark Halpern writes in his newsletter, even if the court rules against him, there are many workarounds that Trump can use to continue to tariff if he wants to other different ways. I don't know anything about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't. Yeah, yeah. That is getting way, way into the weeds. But it's going to be a hell of an interesting case. No doubt, if only because we've already collected a ton of money in tariffs. Not as much as was predicted significantly, but a heck of a lot in figuring out how to return that. If it Turns out they were illegal, because I think we probably would need to. Now, that could cause quite the fiscal crisis, as if we don't have one already. But it's a huge case in a lot of different ways. Number one, obviously, the economic impact of it, because a heck of a lot of money is trading hands. There's the power of Trump to make trade deals right now, and he's already made a bunch of them. Undoing that would be just crazy economically and a little confusing. There's the question of the status of the court and its willingness to become a hot, hot, hot political football and specifically go up against a very dynamic president on a big, big issue for him. Because the court, you know, the court has to. They don't talk about this much, but they're supposed to be completely apolitical. They just are laid justice blind with the scales and everything.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

But they're not idiots. They understand that if there's a breaking.

[Joe Getty]

News, Joe Getty says the Supreme Court not idiots.

[Jack Armstrong]

Most of them aren't idiots. I'd like to amend my, my comments, Mr. Chairman, but this would be incredibly disruptive and really, really anger the executive branch. And so I've been trying to read comprehensible theories by legal experts on, you know, how the court might maneuver a way to get the result they know they need to without utter Defian defiance.

[Joe Getty]

Would an example of that being what John Roberts did on Obamacare. It was a popular president's signature legislation passed by the, by Congress to like, went out of his way to come up with a way that it was legal to do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that was not good. No, that was not good. But yes, they might try to find a way to do that. You know what's funny about this whole thing, not funny ha ha, but funny annoying, is that if Congress would do their damn jobs. This is a question for Congress. They need to clarify the 1977 Emergency Powers Law, which says nothing about tariffs, nothing about tariffs whatsoever. It's a stretch to think it includes tariffs, but, you know, they could clarify it tomorrow. Of course they're. They can't because the government shutdown, which is affecting 82% of us.

[Joe Getty]

I'll admit I was all excited about this ruling until I read that there are workarounds that he could legally. You know, it's like the Supreme Court shut down Biden on bailing out the college kids, but he found other ways to get around it. The other weird, different complicated laws.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but maybe, maybe that's good news in a way. If they can set the Precedent that. And I don't want to get into legal weeds into this partly because I'll, I don't know what I'm talking about. If they could find a way for Trump to, and Trump World to accept the decision and have some face saving ways to get around it at the edges, but at the same time not giving the executive branch the unilateral power to tax if it has to do with imports, because the Constitution never dreamed of that. It is not a constitutional power of the president. It's imports. When George Washington was president, what percentage of the, the, the economy was imports? I don't know. But it was definitely lower. So I don't, I don't know. This is a mess. Trump has gone too far and they're going to rein him in, I think. But we'll see. What's interesting about this is I've read conservative legal commentators and it's, it's a toss up. Toss up rather. Nobody knows exactly which way it's going to go.

[Joe Getty]

And then that the Wall Street Journal article today that the feared inflation from all the tariffs has not hit the way it was expected to here in November.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. The way almost everybody hits it. We would feel it in November. Part of that is that companies thought, oh my God. And they stocked up like crazy on goods. Plus there are technical ways you can get around the tariff regulations. They have what are called bonded warehouses where if I'm an exporter in India, I have these warehouses and, and I store goods in India. But say these are in America now because they're all going to America. So it's there. They, they are imported already even though they're still on Indian territory. And you got warehouses full of those.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just about that today.

[Joe Getty]

Didn't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So.

[Joe Getty]

Gosh dang it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Complicated stuff. Anyway, a quick word from our friends at Prize Picks. The most fun, easy way to get in on fantasy sports. And what's great is you can, even as you build a lineup, it's just two or more players, you say they're going to do more or less on their stat projections. You can, in your quote unquote lineup, you can combine sports if you want. You got a theory on one NBA game, one football game, do it now.

[Joe Getty]

We just finished up the first half of the NFL season. NBA is just underway. They've got this stacks thing that is new. No other platform has this where you can pick the same player up to three times in the same lineup, which is really cool. You'll learn more about that when you download the Prize Picks app today. Use the Code Armstrong to get $50 in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup. Go to Armstrong to get $50 in lineups AFTER you play your first five dollar lineup.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

Yamamoto. Never forget.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Letting that go by four time, I think four times in a row. Three or four times in a row was the Japan League mvp, comes to the United States the next year, he's the World Series mvp.

[Joe Getty]

Well, he's the diff. He was the difference in the World Series. No doubt about it. No doubt about he was the only pitcher that Toronto couldn't hit eight games plus two innings that World Series went in terms of. Innings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Throws what, 100 pitches of 92 pitches comes out and pitches the next day. Nobody does that these days. So one more note on the whole tariff thing. The court evidently understands that this is a monster. This is an 800 pound gorilla. So they set a brisk schedule for the parties to submit written briefs and present oral arguments. And they now seem likely to rule swiftly rather than wait until the end of the term next summer, which is the usual practice for most of the. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

You can't wait till June to say, by the way, all that tariff stuff between the number one and number two economies for the past year. Illegal. I mean, that'd be ridiculous, right? You gotta announce it like Wednesday afternoon or whenever you make your decision.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, you know, to me, the pivotal question in the case is this 1977 law gave the president certain tools to, quote, deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.

[Joe Getty]

Are you talking about the International Emergency.

[Jack Armstrong]

Economics Powers act and that includes the power to regulate imports. Little vague right is we have a trade deficit. As a country with a gigantic consumer spending, you know, base of our economy having a trade deficit, is that an unusual or an extraordinary threat? I say no. I see. Understand this, friends. Understand. I want to reign in the wild powers of the executive branch because they're gonna be in Democrat hands eventually. And with the Democratic Party swinging to the left, you will praise God that the Supreme Court existed. When that lunatic, if they're elected, is in the office, you'll be eternally grateful that the Supreme Court found its cojones imported from Mexico 40% tariff. You'll be thrilled that they had found their cojones and reigned in executive power when that day comes.

[Joe Getty]

That's right. Cojones are 40% more expensive because of tariffs. Now if you order them through the mail, want them fresh, I find myself.

[Jack Armstrong]

I gotta choose between my rent and my cojones, especially with the government shutdown.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Gavin Newsom did a big interview yesterday on Meet the Press. I think it was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did he actually say anything or did he just string together a bunch of unrelated phrases?

[Joe Getty]

He's good. He's good in that politician. So he's good. He's horrible and good in that politician sort of way. He's good at being a politician. I don't understand why politicians get over the way they do on people because they're almost all full of crap. But in terms of doing that sport, that is being a politician, he's pretty good at it. I am not optimistic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mackerel at midnight. He shines and he stinks.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not optimistic about things. We got some clips of that and other stuff we can get to a little bit later. We got Mailbag coming up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay here.

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[Joe Getty]

I did come across some zero sugar peanut butter cups in the store. I didn't buy them because I figure whatever they're putting in the peanut butter cup to make it sweet is probably worse for me than sugar.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's, that's my current stance. Yeah. Yeah. Let's see. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day. I was motivated to revisit one of the greatest works of English language writing. That's ever existed. John Stuart Mills on liberty over the weekend and beginning a series of quotes, some of the key passages of that brilliant, foundational, irreplaceable argument in favor of free speech.

[Joe Getty]

Aren't we something? Listen to this.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm a little fancy. Yes, true, Guilty. We'll start with this. And it has to do with one of his foundational arguments that liberty can only be limited to prevent harm to others. And more on that. But the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.

[Joe Getty]

Oh boy, how far away are we from that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's against paternalism and nanny statism. The current hot topic out of that quote, though, is the question of preventing harm to others. Which is why leftist totalitarians try to convince you that speech is violence. Because virtually any civilized person would agree that violence is the one thing we can forbid except under special circumstances. And so they've thought, they've realized, okay, well, ideas are our greatest enemy, so we've got to find a way to outlaw ideas. I know, say speech is violence.

[Joe Getty]

I got much to say on this whole. Government shouldn't do anything just because it would be good for people. I want to talk about that again more. Of course, the core problem with that is who's making this decision on what's good for me? Why are they better at this than a me?

[Jack Armstrong]

And whose money is being forcefully appropriated to accomplish said goal? Mailbag Talk about that all week if you want. Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com is our email address. Drop us a note, won't you? Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com Good morning gentlemen, and Katie writes a Bridget in beautiful Healdsburg, California. I think you a wine country, don't you know? I think you may have not given enough cred to the great term you used on Friday's show. Oh, all shocks. As you poured over the Timothy Lee article about AGI, Joe per usual, came up with the perfect metaphor for today's youngster, which has been created by the ease of life, immediate gratification, social media, parents who never parented, educational system, etc. Etc. A blob of bitter ennui. Yes, I described America's youth as blobs of bitter enweed, heretofore known as BBEs. Or is it Bobies? Anyway, idle hands are the devil's playthings indeed.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I've got some good stuff on that from an economics podcast I listened to over the weekend. Can't wait to talk about it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bunch of BBEs Dan writes guys, you mentioned how Chat GPT is designed to kiss your hiney. Absolutely true and I would like to apologize in advance for the content of this email, but I think its sheer stupidity and grossness proves the point. I let my 6 year old niece ask any question she wanted to chat GPT. I was talking about the fact that it flatters you all the time. I could ask, you know, what's the best place to get a replacement tube for my bike tire? Excellent question. It will say no, it's a basic effing question because I need an effing bike tube. It's not a great question at all. Anyway, the six year old the text of her question was why do farts stink? And before it answered it hit me with a what an excellent question.

[Joe Getty]

Oh God, that is not and it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really gets to the heart of human digestion suggestion. Lol. So dumb.

[Joe Getty]

I like doing that with Grok. Like I said something about how I was rooting for the Blue Jays. Oh man, I want the Blue Jays to win. And Gro said, I know, me too. Isn't it fun rooting for a plucky team up against the blah blah blah? I mean, they just go with whatever your vibe is to make you feel good.

[Jack Armstrong]

So clearly a deliberate strategy to, you know, anthropomorphize these computer programs so we become more addicted to them.

[Joe Getty]

We've got a story later about Chat something or other telling a kid to go cut himself, which is horrifying.

[Jack Armstrong]

We've got teen suicides from the AI characters. How about this AI? Please be careful, writes Manny. Put down my $200 for an annual subscription to the premium version. Obviously I've been challenging and prompting and pushing my AI chatbot in all sorts of ways in my own profession, with serious questions and requests for designs and specifications, and also about religion, philosophy, politics, financ, home improvement. I've spent a lot of time pushing and prodding at this thing. His field is a technical one and he needs to know how good it is and how good it isn't. I would say. Anyway, it's amazing and also amazingly scary how inaccurate and badly misleading it can be. It is really good at convincing you it's your friend who's willing to help. But across the line last night when I asked it to play a simple game of chess and I had to shut it down after three restarts based on illegal moves, and he goes into what illegal moves they want moves.

[Joe Getty]

Like the bishop is jumping people or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, specifically the queen. Well, well called Jack. The only response I get when I protest is, you're right, I made an illegal move. Sorry about that.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Wow, that is really interesting because, I mean, the rules of chess is not. That's not very complicated and it can't even stick with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I'll use this as a summary. There are a lot of very smart people spending billions and billions of dollars building something that they do not fully understand, but they're selling it like snake oil.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that is one of the keys. They do not understand exactly themselves why their AI does what it does. Which should trouble you. We've got a lot on the way. If you missed a segment, the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand, stay here.

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