I Have Had 19 Cups Of Coffee

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "I Have Had 19 Cups Of Coffee"
Date: January 22, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this lively, broad-ranging episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty discuss a mix of serious political topics and lighter news, with signature sarcasm, skepticism, and wit. Main themes include the hypocrisy in Western progressive responses to police brutality in Iran, the surprising turnaround of Mississippi’s public schools, and a mix of sports updates, odd news stories, and classic Armstrong & Getty commentary.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks News

[01:10–02:59]

• Breaking news about upcoming trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the US, possibly with both Zelensky and Putin present.
• Hosts are openly skeptical about meaningful outcomes, comparing it to endless headlines on familiar scandals ("Epstein files").
• Quote ([01:59], Joe Getty):
  “I will ignore the next three rounds of them and you tell me if anything significant happens. And if it does, I will say, wow, and I will pay attention.”

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2. Hypocrisy on Police Brutality: The US vs. Iran

[03:07–10:51]

• Jack and Joe, referencing an article by Nellie Bowles, dissect the double standards among Western leftists who call for abolishing police domestically but rationalize brutal police crackdowns in Iran.
• Quote ([08:38], Joe Getty):
  “They're all for, like, abolishing the police until the police is named Ayatollah. And then it's like, come beat me, Ayatollah.”
• Discussion about Progressive International’s statements excusing Iranian state violence as resistance to Western interference.
• Hosts reflect on how activists and progressives justify supporting repression, and the historical context of compromised moral stances in international relations.
• Quote ([09:56], Jack Armstrong):
  “I'm surprised by this. I didn't know that they would...come up with a way to support putting down the protests in Iran. That’s shocking to me.”

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3. Historical Perspective: Revolutions and Moral Compromises

[10:51–13:48]

• Drawing on “The Rest is History” podcast and personal reading, the hosts discuss the Iranian Revolution and the necessity of sometimes siding with unsavory allies.
• Questions about the real motives of noisy protesters—whether they're useful idiots for activist elites or genuinely believe in their causes.
• Quote ([11:31], Jack Armstrong):
  “It's really hard to like draw bright lines of we're never gonna support despots or whatever when you get out into the real world.”

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4. Science News: Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough

[14:34–16:24]

• Short discussion about a University of Indiana (er, Indiana University!) research team finding biomarkers that might help detect pancreatic cancer earlier.
• Classic comedic detour on the confusing names of Indiana’s universities.
• Highlighting the terrible survival rates of pancreatic cancer and the promise of early detection for improving outcomes.
• Quote ([15:13], Jack Armstrong):
  “You just don't know you have it until it's so late... It's the deadliest cancer out there.”

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5. NFL MVP Finalists and Oscar Nominations

[16:38–18:02]

• Sports “fluff”: Recap of MVP finalists, with Jack’s trademark lighthearted but knowledgeable banter.
• Oscars record for a new movie, “Sinners,” setting a new bar with 16 nominations.
• Quote ([17:38], Jack Armstrong):
  “16 Oscar nominations breaking the all-time record shared by Titanic, that weird trans movie last year and a couple others. I'll watch it and review it for you.”

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6. Mississippi’s “Education Miracle”

[18:02–33:17]

• Deep dive into the dramatic improvement in Mississippi’s public schools, especially reading proficiency, after rejecting modern “progressive” methods in favor of phonics and traditional discipline.
• Quote ([21:19], Joe Getty):
  “So a lot of folks who are honest are hailing the state of Mississippi, whose public schools have rocketed from 49th place in the nation to 9th in reading.”
• Harsh critique of education fads, teachers unions, and failed reading approaches—highlighting the return of phonics and order.
• Discussion on the failure of “restorative justice” and its effect on discipline and bullying.
• Revelation that the positive article was written by Democrat Rahm Emanuel, with Jack lampooning Emanuel’s hedging critiques of both left and right.
• Quote ([32:14], Jack Armstrong):
  “He's running for president and wants to get the Democratic nomination... but I think that's a moronic way to look at it.”
• Passionate call for focusing on practical solutions rather than ideology in education.

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7. Tangent News & Oddities

[18:21–19:45, 35:06–36:43]

• Story of a Canadian man posing as a pilot/flight attendant to ride hundreds of flights for free—musings on TSA inefficiencies and security loopholes.
• Brief discussion: The Eagles’ Greatest Hits goes “quadruple diamond,” outselling even Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
• MLB potentially facing another lockout, and the negative effect of work stoppages on baseball’s popularity.

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8. Proficiency Standards & Education Metrics

[33:24–34:15]

• Listener message reveals “proficiency” in reading/math is often set at the 60th percentile or above an 'F' grade, making celebrated benchmarks depressingly low.

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9. Final Reflections: Are Schools Failing on Purpose?

[34:16–35:06]

• Pessimism about whether education experts are intentionally keeping kids uneducated to stoke revolutionary sentiment or are simply misguided.
• Reiteration of the need for competency, basics, and outcome-focused policies.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Exchanges

• [01:59] Joe Getty:
  “I will ignore the next three rounds of them and you tell me if anything significant happens. And if it does, I will say, wow, and I will pay attention.”
• [08:38] Joe Getty (on hypocrisy regarding Iranian police):
  “They're all for, like, abolishing the police until the police is named Ayatollah. And then it's like, come beat me, Ayatollah.”
• [15:13] Jack Armstrong (on pancreatic cancer):
  “You just don't know you have it until it's so late that it. It's the deadliest cancer out there.”
• [21:19] Joe Getty (on Mississippi schools):
  “Mississippi, whose public schools have rocketed from 49th place in the nation to 9th in reading.”
• [32:14] Jack Armstrong (on Rahm Emanuel):
  “He's running for president and wants to get the Democratic nomination... but I think that's a moronic way to look at it.”

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Important Timestamps

• 01:10–02:59 – Ukraine/Russia peace talk skepticism
• 03:07–10:51 – Hypocrisy on police, Iran, and the Western left
• 10:51–13:48 – Historic perspective: revolutions and moral complexity
• 14:34–16:24 – Pancreatic cancer breakthrough news
• 16:38–18:02 – NFL & Oscars chatter
• 18:02–33:17 – The Mississippi “education miracle” deep dive
• 18:21–19:45 – Fake airline pilot story
• 33:24–34:15 – Education metrics/proficiency explained
• 34:16–35:06 – Are schools failing by accident or design?
• 35:06–36:43 – Eagles album, baseball lockout

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Overall Tone & Style

Armstrong & Getty’s tone is direct, sarcastic, and opinionated—often poking fun at political and bureaucratic absurdities. Substantive issues (education policy, geopolitics) are balanced with humor and lighthearted asides, making the episode engaging and approachable even when tackling complex topics.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a prime example of Armstrong & Getty’s style: a fast-moving combination of sharp political critique, wry humor, and in-depth exploration of current events. If you’re interested in debates about education reform, the double standards in modern activism, and a sampling of offbeat news, their spirited back-and-forth delivers both insight and entertainment.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the.

[Joe Getty]

George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. The meeting with Russia that'll take place tomorrow. They're going to be meeting with President Putin. I had a very good meeting with President Zelensky. Everybody wants to have the war end.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's some pretty big breaking news out of Davos. Breaking ABC says Ukrainian President Zelensky said that trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US Are expected to be held in the United Arab Emirates. And Trump saying tomorrow.

[Joe Getty]

And.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Putin's involved. Putin and Zelensky in the same room. I still don't see that ever happening.

[Joe Getty]

But I feel almost exactly the same as I feel about Epstein files headlines. I will ignore the next three rounds of them and you tell me if anything significant happens. And if it does, I will say, wow, and I will pay attention.

[Jack Armstrong]

Could you.

[Joe Getty]

And that is a comment on the utter cynicism and cruelty of Vladimir Putin. Yeah, I don't think.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think if I'm Vladimir Zelinsky, I could be in the same room with Putin. And even if I worked myself up emotionally, why, this is for the betterment of my people, it's bigger than me, blah, blah, blah, being grown up, et cetera, et cetera, he makes One smart ass comment about we caused the war, whatever. I'd go over the table with the images in my mind of dead children and raped women. Yeah, it'd be hard to control yourself.

[Joe Getty]

And tens of thousands of kidnapped children being re educated to hate their country. He does. Speaking of which, the teachers unions coming up. Stay with us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Putin does that whole sitting back with his legs splayed open kind of a smirk on his face. Make some smart ass comment. You'd be impossible to control yourself.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Hear, hear. All right. On a cheerier. No, wait. No, it isn't. Michael, play my clip for me, would you? You, You Nazi traitor. You think you're gonna bring your kids here and we're gonna spare you while you support the bombing of children in Gaza. Your parents are Nazis.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're such a Nazi. Little.

[Joe Getty]

All right, so you've got your radical leftists screaming you're a Nazi at all sorts of people, whether they are ICE agents trying to force federal law and certainly thinking people can differ over the methods and, and the scope of the roundup and the rest of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

But was that at the people going into the church, that specific one?

[Joe Getty]

That's one of the pieces of audio that was not Minnesota. That's a different church in a different place. But all cops are bastards. Acab. You've seen that on spray painted on the walls of many buildings in Portland and Seattle and that sort of thing. Cruel fund. The police animated much of the Democratic Party and still does, although the moderates are desperate to get those people to shut up. Them and the defund ICE people again, the normal Democrats are like, oh my God, what are we gonna do? Anyway, so the idea that police cruelty, the heavy hand of the state is so abhorrent. And that's why we need to seize control. Okay? That's frequently the narrative. That's why we need to tear down the system. Well, I'm gonna be weaving in and out of the brilliant and Nelly bowls and throwing in my comments. And Jack, certainly his comments here. But Nelly writes abolish the police. Except in Iran. As protests for freedom continue in Iran, the Ayatollah's brutal regime is responding by gunning down thousands of protesters. Are there marches here to stand in solidarity? No. Is our freedom all entwined again? No. So how is the American progressive establishment treating this? Well, they're either saying it's fake or they're saying it's great. The chair of the DNC says America is just as oppressive. This is the chair of the dnc, Ken Martin.

[Jack Armstrong]

How do you Say that.

[Joe Getty]

Here's the actual quote. If comparing the US to Iran makes you angry, ask why leftist?

[Jack Armstrong]

It makes me angry because somebody who's willing to say that shouldn't be in the position you're in should, because that's not good for the country. That's what makes me angry.

[Joe Getty]

And because it's so blank and stupid. Leftist and Islamist influencer Hassan Piker defended himself against critics that he really liked. A Khomeini tweet recently, he said, you'll find you can find poetry in the strangest places. And then Nelly writes and sometimes you hear terror apologia exactly where you expect. Here's where it gets really, really interesting. This is, this is a rich stew of info. Scores of Scottish independence social media accounts went dark after Iran instituted an Internet blackout. So these are down with the system in Scotland quotes or I'm sorry, sites.

[Jack Armstrong]

That turned out to be phony Iranian activists trying to sow anger.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Well, yeah, they're like in Russia and like China and North Korea. They are regime employed. What's the term? They're trying to infiltrate and brainwash essentially Americans. What is the term that's so good that the guy from the Soviet Union, the famous KGB interview from back in the 80s, said they want to infiltrate us and screw us up from, from the inside out. Anyway, it'll pop into my mind. So you got the scores of Scottish independence social media accounts went dark after Iran instituted an Internet blackout. Meanwhile, when Iran shut down the Iranian Internet, suddenly a lot of anti government protest accounts in other places went dark too. Odd. And then the chef's kiss is this treatise from Progressive International. In short, police are meanies. Except in Iran, where they are very, very good. Here's Progressive International and the. Perhaps the, the prelude to the actual quote is you remember all the times I'm bringing up the red green axis where the Marxists join with the Islamists to bring down Western civilization, capitalism, et cetera. So why in the world would the Progressive International, this big multinational, it's like the DNC on steroids around the world. Why would they be in favor of police repression and brutality, like to the point of slaughtering thousands of people? Is it perhaps because the principles they say they're demonstrating for aren't their principles at all? Their only principle is takeover. It's capture, which I've been trying to tell you for a long time. Anyway, here's what Progressive International actually said. In the imperial countries, the police function as the domestic arm of the empire. They suppress dissent, criminalize resistance and enforce accumulation through violence, particularly against black, indigenous and other peoples of color. In Iran, the law enforcement command exists within a radically different context. A state born of popular revolution, subjected to decades of sanctions, assassinations, sabotage, and overt military threats. Crucially, it faces sustained attempts at regime change, operations and color revolution, tactics aimed at disarming the state internally by delegitimizing its capacity to maintain order. They have. So they're saying, oh, it's totally, totally justified that they engage in brutal suppression and repression of their citizens because the forces of the west are trying to get rid of them. So it's excused. If you ever wondered how hard is it for, like, a communist to said, you know, we've got to throw off the chains of oppression to oppress the crap out of people. It's that easy. It's that easy. Just a one paragraph, let's see, says Nelly Bowles. They have such newfound respect for maintaining order. Hot. They're all for, like, abolishing the police until the police is named Ayatollah. And then it's like, come beat me, Ayatollah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm surprised by this. I didn't know that they would. I, you know, come up with a way to support putting down the protests in Iran. That. That's shocking to me. Or to make comments like, it's worse here in the United States or as bad, which is just for numbskulls.

[Joe Getty]

I'm a little surprised that you're a little surprised, honestly. But I thought it was just more.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of a, you know, that's over there. I don't care what happens over there. We were so into the Israel thing because we support Israel just because it's.

[Joe Getty]

In the United States.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We the college kids on a campus or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

But, yeah, we've been indoctrinated to hate our country and hate Western civilization. That's it. And we've been taught that people of color, Marxists and Islamists, are fighting against that. And they are our brothers. And so if the Islamists. And this is the mark of every soft head that's been sucked in every violent Marxist revolution in the history of mankind, if our side engages in precisely the tactics that made me a Marxist, I excuse it because it's justified. So when they march in the streets saying we're angry because of this principle, they're not. They're really not.

[Jack Armstrong]

We've mentioned a couple of times the podcast. The rest is history. Really, really great podcast. And it wins awards and stuff like that. But anyway, they did a recent episode.

[Joe Getty]

We need an award Maybe we can grab Maria Machado's podcast of the year and demand that she give it to us.

[Jack Armstrong]

They did a recent episode on the Iranian revolution from back in 79 and I've read lots of books about it and documentaries and all this sort of stuff. If you're our age, you lived through it, but they went clear back to the beginning of the 1900s and through the whole story. And it's just, it's so interesting that that should be taught to college kids or all people about, you know, just.

[Joe Getty]

The reality of the world and how.

[Jack Armstrong]

Often you have to support scumbags because this scumbag is more aligned with you than they are with other even worse scumbags. And just, I mean it's, it, it's really hard to like draw bright lines of we're never gonna support despots or whatever when you get out into the real world.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, it's generally one despot or another. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

If the Shah is more likely to work with us than with Russia, then.

[Joe Getty]

We'Ll back the Shah. Right, right. And that, you know, getting back to my principle that they shout about principles but they don't really mean it. I find myself wondering, I mean, because sometimes. And again, as Jack often brings up, do you think the people yelling in the streets, the nice lesbian middle aged housewives understand what they're actually doing? The answer is generally no. They're the useful idiots. It's the small cadre of activists who dupe them into believing the religion and get them to go out into the streets and sacrifice themselves, often literally sacrifice themselves, while the Marxists, you know, puppet string pullers, are cheerfully, you know, going about their business. But you know, back in the day when I remember as a kid and a young man seeing the leftists screeching self righteously about some of the regimes we supported in south and Central America, we, the United States and, and a lot of those regimes were, were regretfully brutal. I mean they were terrible. They're indefensible on a human rights level. But it was either that or slaves to the Soviet Union, Communists. So what's a boy to do? And I find myself wondering, were those people who I took at face value, those activists, were they really just always communists and wanted communism? Because as soon as like the Sandinistas took control in Nicaragua, they became every bit as awful as was it the Somoza regime? And I've been alive too long, there are too many regimes, they became every bit as bad as the regime they overthrew, but they were communists and The American left didn't have anything to say. I thought you were against brutality. You screamed it in my face. There is spittle on me. No, you're not. Wow, that's weird, isn't it?

[Jack Armstrong]

So if you've been following the NFL like I have, they just released the five finalists for the MVP of the season, which you might have some interest in. I can just run through them real fast. Among other things we got coming up. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. That's right. President Trump signed the whole Milk for Healthy kids act into law, which allows school and their cafeterias to receive federal funding to serve 2% milk to help wash down the 5% chicken.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought that was pretty funny. Okay, do you want serious hard news first or fluff first?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I always like to end with a little fluff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, this is could be big cancer breakthrough around pancreatic cancer. Do we all know why? Pancreatic cancer is what killed Scott Adams, the Dilbert creator last week. That's what Nebraska senator.

[Joe Getty]

Prostate cancer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, you're right. It was prostate cancer. Pancreatic cancer is what Ben Sass. Ben Sass has got.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I assume we all know why a pancreatic cancer is so bad. It's because. Because of where it is. You just don't know you have it until it's so late that it. It's the deadliest cancer out there. You find out you got pancreatic cancer, it's usually at the very end and you left like weeks to live.

[Joe Getty]

It's horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's scariest one out there. Well, so researchers at the University of Indiana Hoosiers. Somehow you win a national championship, you have cancer breakthroughs also.

[Joe Getty]

Ah, sorry. That's Indiana University that won the national championship.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, right. What did I say?

[Joe Getty]

I think it is Indian University of Andy. Indiana. They're different.

[Jack Armstrong]

They are.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Indiana University is different than the University of Indiana. Yeah, they're two different schools.

[Joe Getty]

Brett Bear made the same mistake. Yeah, I'm a big Ten guy. The only reason if I wasn't, if I didn't grow up and go to a big ten school, I would have no idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

You can't do that. You got to change your state laws or something. You can't have the University of Indiana and Indiana University. One of them's got to be state or tech or something.

[Joe Getty]

You know, Indiana stands for idiots out walking around.

[Jack Armstrong]

You gotta have some rules around this.

[Joe Getty]

No, that's Iowa. Sorry. It's anarchy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, that's not the important part of this story. They have recognized some biomarkers that they think they can detect pancreatic cancer way earlier, which is the whole ball game with pancreatic cancer. And then you could treat it just like any other cancer, which it's not specifically different than other cancers other than that you just don't know you have it until it's too late.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. And survival rates for all sorts of cancer have doubled and tripled in recent years. Now, some of them from, you know, holy crap short to, you know, well, tripling is tripling.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. Here's your fluff. They have announced the top five finalists for MVP of the year in the NFL. And I've been watching a lot of playoff football swim into this. Not surprising, most of these. Josh Allen, quarterback for the Bills, who's out. And they fired his coach, Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars, who is out. Also, they lost Drake May of the Patriots, who's my current that's currently my team, my favorite player. That's who I'm rooting for on Sunday.

[Joe Getty]

Bandwagon jumper, fake fan, Matthew Stafford of.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Rams, who's still in it, taking on the Seahawks quarterback. And Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers, when fortunately played on a team full of hospital beds and they didn't have a chance against the Ospreys last weekend.

[Joe Getty]

And later, strangers. Hey, I'm Christian. Who are you? Yeah, I just flew in. I'm your new starting linebacker. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good to meet you. Because the guy before me, his knee was pointing that way and his foot was pointing that way and he can't.

[Joe Getty]

Play before him, I don't even remember. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Looking forward to the football. Oh, and the Oscar nominations are out. And a record number of Oscar nominations for a movie called and I hadn't it, I don't know if I'd even heard of it, called Sinners, which I will try to check out this weekend. 16 Oscar nominations breaking the all time record shared by Titanic, that weird trans movie last year and a couple others. I'll watch it and review it for you and tell you about it on Monday.

[Joe Getty]

Super. Coming up, the Mississippi Miracle. The beleaguered southern state of Mississippi has completely changed the educational reality for its children by utterly rejecting everything the teachers unions advocate.

[Jack Armstrong]

Awesome. If you missed the segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. Be here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg. A Canadian man accused of posing as a commercial pilot and a flight attendant in order to get on hundreds of flights has been arrested. Now the suspect, Dallas McCornick, indicted on federal wire fraud charges in Hawaii. Prosecutors say he used fake IDs in order to request seats on several airlines for years. His lawyer declining to comment. He got on hundreds of flights posing as either a pilot or an air waitress. I don't care what the punishment is or the fine is. He ends up ahead. Like way, way, way ahead. Unless they find him a million zillion dollars and put him in jail for the rest of his days for wire fraud.

[Jack Armstrong]

You mean just in terms of saving money on travel?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. Where do I sign up for that? I can go, like, virtually anywhere in the world with this fake id. And after hundreds of flights, even that means if that means 201, I'll have to pay the piper, get a lawyer, pay a fine, whatever. Okay, where do I sign up? Where do I show up?

[Jack Armstrong]

Your mind went that direction. My mind went the direction of being screamed at because this time I left my belt on. But last time they screamed at me to take it, not take it off, anytime at the last airport. And then you let this guy hundreds of times, you don't have any idea who he is, get on your plane.

[Joe Getty]

Well, yeah, actually, you've unintentionally, Jack, or perhaps semi intentionally pointed out one wrinkle of this. He got through security with that fake ID because he didn't have a boarding pass. Right. Unless. Where do you get the boarding pass?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Do you go to the ticket counter and say, hey, I'm a pilot, I need to get to Buffalo. I was. Any flights to Buffalo?

[Jack Armstrong]

Tangent. I was one of the flights I was on over break. Apparently a pilot guy got on, he had the pilot outfit on and he just pokes his head in the cockpit. He shows his, like, badges got around you. Hey, just letting you know I'm back in 3A if you need me or whatever. And they say, okay, cool, thanks for letting us know. And he walked back there.

[Joe Getty]

What.

[Jack Armstrong]

What would be the circumstance where you gotta, like, do we have another pilot? We need an extra set of hands up here. Would that happen?

[Joe Getty]

The pooh has hit the fan. I would think so. Yeah. I would think so. Are there any pilots on the plane? All the passengers are like, what we.

[Jack Armstrong]

The two we've got up here can't handle the current situation.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dir.

[Joe Getty]

If you are in the airline industry and have any idea or can just enlighten us how they. How this guy would have gotten past security and all, I guess with that ID, how does that work? In short? Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com. that's the email address. Mailbagarmstrongandgetti dot com so unlike a lot of activists, I. We actually care about kids, little kids, and whether they learn or not. Because learning knowledge is the key to a successful life. According Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson and everybody else.

[Jack Armstrong]

I believe children are the future.

[Joe Getty]

It's a good point. So a lot of folks who are honest are hailing the state of Mississippi, whose public schools have rocketed from 49th place in the nation to 9th in reading. I think it is. And according again to people who are serious about this sort of stuff, they aren't manipulating test scores or doing anything like that. They've changed the way they teach. They have utterly rejected, did the sort of stuff that have ruined Cal, Unicornia schools and other places where they threw away phonics in favor of this. What was it the name of it, Jack, your kids suffered through some of it. The reading method. What was that called?

[Jack Armstrong]

Word spotting or something? Whatever it was. Yeah, yeah. It was the idea that you take in words, which I thought it sounded stupid when they told me. I remember kindergarten or first grade teacher. No, no, no, no. The way the brain works is you take in the word as a whole, not piece by piece. That really. I don't know if that's true.

[Joe Getty]

Rejecting something that had worked brilliantly for centuries in favor of the newfangled thing that would necessitate lots of new PhDs being hired and lots of administrators in the school and studies and that sort of thing, and it was a miserable fail.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, one of the obvious flaws with that theory is if you're going to do away with phonics. So if I come across a word I don't know, and I don't know every word, especially when I'm five, then I've got no way to figure it out. I've either memorized the word as a whole or I just. I'm lost because I have no idea the way. Figure it out.

[Joe Getty]

Sh. You know, whatever. Right. Well, and if. And we learn words verbally much more quickly than we learn them in print, which is why you sound something out, because then you say, oh, that's the word pirate, for instance. Or of course, that's a bad one because it has a silent E, but. And the A is not sounded as a long A. In fact, that's one of the worst examples I could have given. Perhaps I should go back to school. But you sound a word out, you realize, oh my gosh, I recognize that word. That's how it works.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's use the word pneumonia as an example of.

[Joe Getty]

Wait a minute, P is in psychotic. Yes, but anyway, so the point is that the, the teachers unions shoved in these revolutionary new teaching methods and generations of kids were screwed and couldn't read. And Jack, I am going to ask you. This is cold, folks. There's no prep here. What is the other progressive principle that's completely screwed up Schools?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, geez, there's so many to narrow it down to one.

[Joe Getty]

But here's. Here's a hint.

[Jack Armstrong]

The idea of lowering standards to get more people to succeed has been pretty tragic.

[Joe Getty]

That's the unholiest of the unholies. You're right. But I'm, I'm more specifically. Here's a hint. Johnny and Jimmy are in math class. Johnny punches Jimmy in the face.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right.

[Joe Getty]

Johnny and Jimmy are brought to a meeting where they each share their feelings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Restorative justice.

[Jack Armstrong]

Restorative justice is the. It was like the, the gold. They ushered in the golden age of bullying with that. That's what I've actually said that to administrators.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And you're 100% right. And speaking of things that have been.

[Jack Armstrong]

Said before, the bullied and the bully are treated exactly the same and get the same punishment, which is zero.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. And so the bully realized, oh, I can do anything I want. I just have to show up and pretend to be contrite and there are never any negative consequences for my negative actions. Yeah, brilliant. Brilliant. Really Great. Takes a PhD to think that's a good idea. So anyway, this is something I've addressed before and probably will continue to, and I will try to make it at least slightly entertain. Entertaining. Every success story you hear, including this one. Some Harlem school for the downtrodden. Some Mississippi elementary school out in the sticks in la, Some failing neighborhood school. They all have the same effing story. And they'll highlight it on 60 Minutes and act like, this is so cool and novel and interesting, then learn nothing from it. You have a return to the basics of education, including phonics. Then you have once again, in this Mississippi situation, because they've got a great ass kicking. What's the name? It's essentially their secretary of education said, yeah, we're going with traditional discipline in schools. We are keeping order. Kids can't learn in disorder, so we are keeping order in schools. You act up their negative consequences, period. And it is working brilliantly. And the fact that that was abandoned by a bunch of people with utterly useless, well beyond useless, I mean, damaging fake degrees from teachers, colleges who said, no, no, no, we abandoned all that because it's oppressive, because it unfairly targets Children of color doomed all these children to lives of ignorance. And it's horrific because I mean this, the Mississippi schools, and they go into a fair amount of detail here in this article in the Journal, but a lot of these are heavily black, very, very poor schools that have utterly turned it around. And through the very things you progressives have said are racist. Through those means, these little black kids have a future and they have hope and they have knowledge. And you call people like me bigots? You're monsters. Half of black fourth graders now read at grade level in Mississippi. Half of them. Does that sound not great? It's barely a quarter in California. Whoa. Yeah. The state leapfrog California, naturally. This writer writes in my home state of Illinois, by not becoming wealthier, changing its demographics. It's actually very simple. And given that Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama have pursued similar paths, replicable. Mississippi chose to spend less time on top topics that dominate Washington's education agenda and instead maintained a focus on what happens inside the classroom. It focused on fundamentals. Mississippi didn't sprinkle fairy dust on schools to improve them. It abandoned the hokum that convinced educators that they could teach kids to read through pictures and context clues rather than decoding words. The state restored phonics based systems that rigorous scientific studies have shown to work. But more than that, with the help and support of former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, who's a really interesting guy, the Magnolia State constructed a system to train teachers so they are effective at teaching students to read. And then they get into the fact that they've reinstalled order in the classrooms.

[Jack Armstrong]

The fact that we put up with these incredibly low percentages for reading and math at various grades is, wow, that deserves PhD level papers on why a society would allow that to happen and continue for so long. Remember we did this last year when the national report card came out and it was so incredibly low and it had been steadily downward for what is it, 30 years? I think since 1990 or something like that. It's been steadily downward the entire time. And like, it's crazy. What kind of society would do that? I mean, you go, you go back 500 years, nobody's learning how to blacksmith anymore or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

We have a crisis here. So a couple of the quotes of this, this discussion have come from an article. I didn't tell you who wrote it on purpose. I'm going to tell you who wrote it after this word from Prize Picks because the big game is coming up. The big game. The big, big, big game. The biggest game. The biggest of Big games is coming up. That means the end of the football season as well. But you can still get in on fun fantasy sports for football and bassetball, which is going to continue for some time. Spring training is right around the corner with Prize Picks.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't know if I'm one of those lineups you'd want to follow. Like you can, but I'm a big Drake May guy. You can follow other people's lineups if they're really good, copy lineups you like or use them as an inspiration for your own picks. You can even follow Prize Picks partners and with just one click, you can do that. Download the Prize Picks app today to get involved.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's so much fun because if you download the Prize Picks app today and use our Code Armstrong, you get $50 in lineups to play around with after you play just a five dollar lineup. That's right. Use the code ARMSTRONG to get $50 in lineups to have fun. You play a $5 lineup, you don't need to win. It's automatic. Again, it's the Prize Picks app today. Use that Code Armstrong Prize picks. It's good to be right. Okay, one more. One more couple of sentences. That's an odd sentence right there. And then I will reveal who wrote it. Wrote what I'm about to read. The state's success has proved uncomfortable for the right, which has largely abandoned the promise of public schooling in the belief that the whole enterprise should be sacrificed in favor of vouchers.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's your takeaway from the Mississippi miracle, that it's uncomfortable for the writer?

[Joe Getty]

That's not a takeaway. That's. That's one part of a construct. Okay. I would suggest to the writer, well, that's because schools seem to be incurable in a lot of places like Cal, Unicornia, all the blue states. We have tried, we have begged, we have screamed, we have petitioned, and they won't return to the basics like you're talking about. Go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

It doesn't make me uncomfortable if my local school changes things and then it gets better. Why would that make me uncomfortable? Yay.

[Joe Getty]

I'm happy about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That does make me think. I don't know. I don't even. You'll get it.

[Joe Getty]

You're going to get it in a second. You're going to get it. I ask you to calm yourself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not easy. I've had 19 cups of coffee.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God. And it has proved uncomfortable for the left, which has surrendered to what George W. Bush called the soft bigotry of low Expectations.

[Jack Armstrong]

True, dad.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, so I will tell you what, anonymous writer, soon not to be anonymous. The right will get over the idea that we have to abandon public schools. If you and anybody else can can inject a little common effing sense into them and change them from. From bastions of Marxist reeducation. I'm fine with the idea of government supported schools, but they're horrible. Now we've abandoned them cuz they're horrible. It's the left that's really got to get over the soft bigotry, low expectations. That's a bigger leap. Would this writer try to tip his cap to both the left and the right? Jack, it's because it's Rom freaking Emanuel and he wants to not offend people on either side and say, look, I'm the common sense guy, I'm the what works guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's running for president and wants to get the Democratic nomination. So I understand from the running for president standpoint, but I think that's a moronic way to look at it. That's like, oh yeah, you say that restaurant sucks and then I find out they got a new chef and they change your food. Well, then I'll try it again and maybe I'll like it. Now I didn't like boycott that for the rest of my life because the building.

[Joe Getty]

Right, which is why I held back on the Rahm Emanuel thing till the end. The. The important stuff is the, the education stuff, obviously. And then his. Look, the right angry left have made mistakes.

[Jack Armstrong]

That actually makes me angry. The right, who's given up on public education are uncomfortable when the what?

[Joe Getty]

That's nuts.

[Jack Armstrong]

We've been screaming forever. You should do this now. You did this. And it works. Okay, I'm back on board. You idiot.

[Joe Getty]

Look, you burped without saying excuse me. You beat an old woman into a coma. We all have things to apologize for. Yeah, it's got a bit of that feel to it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I get it.

[Joe Getty]

But again, the takeaway is not running for president. Stupid stuff. It makes you say the takeaway is what works in schools and what's good for the actual kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Turns out was the obvious, but glad somebody stumbled upon.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'll be damned. Stay here, Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a quick follow up on the school thing, then we'll move on. But when you hear that whole reading proficiency and you're horrified by how low the number is that people at, you know, fifth grade, eighth grade, graduating high school, read at the cutoff for what they call proficient in math or reading, somebody texted and you Got to remember this school board. I'm a school board member here in California. This person said what a lot of people don't understand is that proficiency is determined at the 60th percentile. In other words, anything above an F is considered proficient. So when you hear that 40% are meeting the standard, that means 40% or.

[Joe Getty]

Above an F is all it means.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, that is a pretty low standard.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Way to hang in there, friend, by the way, and do your best, which I'm sure you're doing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

You know, the truth of revolutions is that you have to have downtrodden people. And the history of Marxism is that you have the actually downtrodden, you have the people convinced that they're downtrodden, and then you actually try to make people miserable so they will overthrow their chains and capitalism, the rest of it. Part of me wonders whether the activists are actually intentionally making the poor kids uneducated so they'll rise up or something. It's either that or they're so monumentally misguided, it's hard to even comprehend.

[Jack Armstrong]

Couple other things to jam in here at the end of the hour. I don't know. When's the last time any of you bought an album? I don't even know what that would mean really, but apparently.

[Joe Getty]

Hot again. Oh, it's way hot again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but. But in a different sort of way. Anyway, the Eagles greatest hits album, which has been the number one selling album in. In the world forever, is just went quadruple diamond. It's officially sold over 40 million units. Greatest Hits 1971-1975 album. I've never quite understand why that was always the top selling album out there.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Michael Jackson's thriller is 34 Diamond. So that's the next one in line for anybody that's buying those albums, I guess. One other thing I came across. There's a chance there's going to be a baseball lockout. They're going to strike in Major League Baseball again this year.

[Joe Getty]

Practically guaranteed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, practically guaranteed.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. According to my sources close to mlb.

[Jack Armstrong]

Seems like a real shooting yourself in the foot thing for everyone. If you remember way back in the day, the last time they did this of any length, it really hurt the sport for quite a few years. And that was back before there were a gazillion other things I could do with my time. Like there are. Like there is now, man, you. You could lose a lot of people fast. And if I'm the Dodgers ownership, and I just went out and spent another quarter of a billion dollars on yet another fantastic player to make sure that I continue to win World Series. And I'm going for my third in a row. I'm really, really unhappy with the idea of this.

[Joe Getty]

That's part of the problem. Signed all the other teams.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's part of the lockout.

[Joe Getty]

Let me interview the players. Owners got to give. Let me interview the owners. Players union got to give. It's like every other lockout in the history of the world. You're right about the popularity sport, but there's a huge gulf between them on a couple of big issues. Salary caps and I can't even remember the rest of it. Doomed.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like that sport and it's gonna. Yeah, it ain't gonna help it any. I always want it to become more popular. And this is not gonna make it more popular. Oh, well, what are you gonna do?

[Joe Getty]

What are you gonna do?

[Jack Armstrong]

We had, we started in on a fantastic discussion about what this country is going to be like if AI turns out to be what it's going to be in terms of people working and surviving and having motivation. Maybe we'll follow that up in hour four. And if you don't get that, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.