I Stepped On The Scale & Got Punched In The Face

Summary

Summary of "I Stepped On The Scale & Got Punched In The Face"
Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Release Date: December 3, 2024
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In the episode titled "I Stepped On The Scale & Got Punched In The Face," hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive deep into the tumultuous political landscape of 2024. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, the duo sets the stage for a no-holds-barred discussion on recent controversies, societal issues, and listener interactions.

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1. Hunter Biden Pardon Controversy

A primary focus of the episode is the contentious decision by President Joe Biden to pardon his son, Hunter Biden. The hosts express strong disapproval and frustration over perceived broken promises and hypocrisy.

• Criticism of Biden's Integrity:

  Joe Getty emphasizes the betrayal felt by the public:

  "This is clarity, folks. This is the way it really is." [05:21]

• Jon Stewart's Takedown:

  Referencing Jon Stewart's critique on the Daily Show, Armstrong notes the widespread sentiment:

  "You get to complain about all this stuff, but it happens to you to get around the world." [04:19]

• Deconstruction of Political Principles:

  The hosts argue that Biden and the Democratic Party lack genuine principles:

  "They are lying liars. They have no principles." [09:32]

• Implications for Public Trust:

  Discussing the broader impact, Joe outlines the growing public cynicism:

  "There's bitter cynicism... Somewhere is the sweet spot of being skeptical, yet caring." [11:24]

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2. Public Cynicism and Trust in Politics

Armstrong and Getty delve into the erosion of trust in governmental institutions and political figures, attributing it to actions like the Hunter Biden pardon.

• Spectrum of Public Outlook:

  Joe presents a visual metaphor for public sentiment:

  "It's like a big field... somewhere is the sweet spot of being skeptical, yet caring." [11:24]

• Challenges in Rebuilding Trust:

  Highlighting the difficulty in restoring faith, Armstrong states:

  "They don't make it easy." [12:14]

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3. Listener Mailbag Highlights

Engaging with their audience, the hosts address various listener concerns and opinions.

• Tommy from Texas on Hunter Biden:

  Tommy expresses harsh judgment:

  "If my 54-year-old son was in this much trouble, I'd let him rot in jail." [16:25]

• General Discontent with Legal Outcomes:

  Discussion revolves around perceived leniency and systemic failures:

  "This is a problem in and of itself." [32:25]

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4. Domestic Issues: Porch Piracy and TSA Security

The conversation shifts to everyday issues impacting Americans, blending personal anecdotes with broader societal critiques.

• Rise of Porch Piracy:

  Armstrong humorously shares personal theft experiences while Getty critiques systemic lawlessness:

  "Another example of the current lawlessness... you don't even care anymore." [25:27]

• TSA Security Concerns:

  Both hosts recount frustrating TSA encounters, highlighting inconsistent security measures:

  "You don't pull out randomly people so it makes look like you check young women... as you check Islamic, Muslim men." [21:55]

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5. International News Snippets

Briefly touching on global events, Armstrong and Getty provide context and commentary.

• Israeli Strikes in Lebanon:

  Mentioning ongoing conflicts and fragile ceasefires:

  "When they haven't ceased firing, I'd say it's a shaky ceasefire." [37:03]

• U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine:

  Highlighting escalating tensions and foreign policy decisions:

  "Russia has taken more territory in the last couple of weeks." [37:03]

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6. Cultural and Societal Observations

Reflecting on broader societal changes, the hosts lament the loss of community values and the rise of individualism leading to increased crime and distrust.

• Erosion of Community Values:

  Joe discusses the decline in shared cultural norms:

  "The loss of common cultural values... you don't know your neighbors." [27:03]

• Impact on Crime Rates:

  Connecting the loss of community to rising petty crimes:

  "Lawlessness is a big part of this." [26:14]

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Getty on Political Hypocrisy:

  "They are lying liars. They have no principles." [09:32]

• Jack Armstrong on Public Cynicism:

  "Nobody believes anything. Nobody trusts any of it." [10:49]

• Joe Getty on Community Loss:

  "A loss of common cultural values... humiliating to be branded a scumbag." [27:51]

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Conclusion

In "I Stepped On The Scale & Got Punched In The Face," Armstrong and Getty offer a candid and incisive analysis of current political scandals, societal degradation, and the deepening cynicism among the American populace. Through sharp dialogue and poignant anecdotes, the hosts encourage listeners to critically assess the integrity of their leaders and the fabric of their communities.

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Notable Moment:

• Hunter Biden Pardon: The episode dedicates significant time to dissecting the implications of President Biden's decision to pardon his son, discussing its impact on public trust and political integrity.

  "He specifically said, I've thought it over, made the decision, and this is what I've decided." [06:25]

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For those seeking an unfiltered perspective on America's political and social climate, this episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand delivers a compelling narrative rich with analysis and personal insights.

Transcript

[Narrator]

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Narrator]

He.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and get it live from.

[Jack Armstrong]

Studio C C. Oh my gosh. We're in a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound. Today, Tuesday, we're under the tutelage of our general manager, the pardon heard round the world. Oh, are you telling me there's still reverberations? Oh, please.

[Joe Getty]

It's reverberating like a crazy re. I almost went with the real Joe Biden because this latest episode is completely typical of Joe Biden. The idea that it's a shock, it's a surprise. Old Scranton Joe, that that was an entirely media created fake image.

[Jack Armstrong]

So how you doing? Welcome to the show. We have the news of outrage.

[Joe Getty]

Thanks for outraged.

[Jack Armstrong]

I tell you, as you can hear from the sound of Joe's voice, he is outraged. I stepped on the scale and got punched in the face. Again. The struggle is real. So that will continue to be a big part of my life view that there is more to me to love. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

The struggle against the real colonial oppressor gravity. Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I just heard this as I walked in the door. I was very happy to hear this. Sometimes the government does things. I like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whatever that is. I'm sure they have a budget of $18 trillion or something. We're gonna get new rules in the United States for the way they share your data. Finally. And it should really, really put a dent in the. Every time you buy something, it means they sell all your data. And now you get texts and emails from 50 different companies you've never done business with.

[Joe Getty]

That'd be. I would like an account of each and every datum personally. Is that. That's the singular of data, right? Datum.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't ask me.

[Joe Getty]

I eat Latino.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't speak Latin. I don't know. That sounds fantastic. But I would love if that happened and the other news story I saw just as I was walking through the door, did you see 60 Minutes on Sunday night?

[Joe Getty]

I did not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, man. The first story about Notre Dame was really good because they've unveiled the remaking of the cathedral there in Paris after that horrible fire years ago. Two thousand artisans who, like, still have the old timey specialty of certain kinds of woodworking and metal forging and stuff like that. You know, like kind of people you see at the fair, a blacksmith, that sort of person sure still has those skills doing stuff in the old timey way. And they rebuilt the whole thing and it looks absolutely amazing. It's good to go for many, many more centuries now.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I saw a Twitter thread on it the other day, and I agree it was astounding. Unfortunately, those old timey craftsmen will be boring friends and relatives with the tales of their great moments for the rest of their natural lives.

[Jack Armstrong]

Finally, somebody wanted my skill.

[Joe Getty]

The phone rang. Do you know who it was? It was, yeah, it was the assistant Minister of antiquities. You've told me this story like five times. It was the assistant minister of antiquities. And he said, we need an ivory smith.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God. I. I was laying in bed last night watching Jon Stewart on the Daily show tear apart Joe Biden for that pardon you're still outraged about. It was really good stuff. It was mostly visual. Unfortunately, we can't play it on the air because it was just so much visual, but it was really, really good. And it was, it was what most of America is feeling about the whole thing. It's just. Okay, we get it. So you're rich and powerful, you get to do things. You get to, you get to complain about all this stuff, but it happens to you to get around the world. And you lied for years about, I'm not going to pardon my son. And then you do just whatever.

[Joe Getty]

And now people are coming out and saying, yeah, we had a meeting about it and we said we're going to claim he's not going to, but then he's going to. And dopey little KJP continues to deny. This is as you're, you know, indicating. This is one of those news stories that does not confuse or distort or cloud people's understanding. This is clarity, folks. This is the way it really is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fox and Friends was saying, KJP should have resigned yesterday and said, I'm not going out there and defending this. I went out there. I've actually got the list. Who put out the list yesterday? Somebody did. Of all the dates that Joe Biden.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, I saw that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Said the Hill, which is a liberal newspaper website, put out all the dates that they officially made the statement that Joe Biden wouldn't pardon Hunter. And it's a lot of them, and KGP should have resigned and said, you can't, you can't. I can't. I went out there 15 times with my own mouth and said you weren't going to. And now I can't go out there and explain why all of a sudden you're changing your mind. Unless you're going to give me something better to say. That would have been an honorable thing to do, I think. And, but, you know, well, if your.

[Joe Getty]

Boss repeatedly makes you look like a jackass, the only reason you don't resign is because you are indeed a jackass. And so why would you.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Jon Stewart played maybe. We had this clip yesterday, but was one when Joe Biden was asked by David Muir on ABC News, he was more specific and because David Muir said, have you made a decision? And he said, yes, I have, and I'm not going to pardon my son. So he, he specifically said, you know, I've thought it over, made the decision, and this is what I've decided.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Well. And, you know, there's part of me that feels like there's no point in trying to point out the dishonesty of it and squaring his statements with the result. But it's probably worth going through at least a little bit in that he said he made the decision and then apparently he changed his mind, but he didn't say, look, I changed my mind out of an outpouring of love for my son. And I know people won't disapprove. No, he strung together this utterly ridiculous condemned on all sides, just un, unforgivably fanciful account of how his own Justice Department singled out his boy. And because of the pressure of the Republicans, they persecuted him, they hounded him like an escaped convict when everybody knows it was exactly the opposite. You've got IRS whistleblowers coming out and saying, and risking their entire lives and careers saying, hey, this guy committed all sorts of crimes and we're letting them get away with it. What's happening here? Yes. Trent and Joe die or resign or go away. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Jon Stewart on the Daily show had a different point about that, but I think that will be in our opening clip. So let's start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday, December 3rd, the year 2024. Life will not be a boring 24. It certainly hasn't. And we are Armstrong and Getty. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

All right, let's begin then, officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Here we go at Mark. I said I abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him. Letting the world know that he will not wipe away the decision of 12 of his son's peers. Was asked directly and he has said he wouldn't pardon his son if he gets convicted. Let's wait and see what happens if he loses. Yeah, but I mean, but he said it.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's going to get pardoned by his dad. There's no question about that.

[Joe Getty]

The president has ruled out pardoning his son. Major commitment from the president accepting the outcome of the trial and also pledging not to pardon his son. There's nine minutes of talking heads and commentators saying this man has made it clear that he's not going to. This question should stop coming. He's a man of honor. He's old Scranton Joe.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, the thing Jon Stewart is most outraged about, he had a montage of Democrats during the campaign talking about the difference between Democrats and Republicans. We believe the courts. We accept the results. Even our president, with his own son has said he will accept the results and will not pardon him. Because we believe in the. And Jon Stewart's thing was, okay, you're a dad. You decide to pardon your kid. Lots of us would have done that. We can all understand that. But you sent all those people out there to say this when you were planning to do this all along. That's not good at all.

[Joe Getty]

No, they're, they're liars. They are lying liars. They have no principles. All they do, they use principles as weapons. They don't actually own those principles. They don't internalize them. They put them on and take them off like a jacket. Bingo.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we talked about the tax stuff yesterday. So you're the party of when will the rich pay their fair share? And here's a rich guy who wasn't paying anything, let alone his fair share.

[Joe Getty]

And feloniously lying about it and covering it up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, but the gun part, I was watching Zoom thing with Spicer, Trump's former White House spokesperson. Say it. The Democrats are done. They can't ever talk about guns again. They're always talking about background checks and registration and wanting more registration here and there. And here you got Hunter Biden, who didn't register, lied on registration, took the gun, threw it in a, threw it.

[Joe Getty]

In the bushes near A school, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

And you're gonna. And he gets off.

[Joe Getty]

And combine that, please, with coast to coast. You have Democrat DAs who refuse to add gun enhancements to prosecutions. For instance, they refuse to prosecute people for gun offenses at all if those people happen to be more tan than me. So please, quit with your phony, phony principles.

[Jack Armstrong]

So mostly, of course, it all gets covered as one side's up, one side's down, our side against your side, this makes you look bad, blah, blah, blah. But sure, ultimately, the 30,000 foot view which bothers me is just more cynicism. Just more. Nobody believes anything. Nobody trusts any of it. No, nobody takes any of it seriously. That is not good. That is not good. As we reach. I don't know, I thought we have reached peak cynicism many times, but we keep going further. And how would you blame us? How would you blame us for feeling this way? We, the public.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I wish I had the AI at work. I could do you a quick illustration and tweet it so you could see what I'm thinking, what I see in my mind. But what I'm seeing is a big field. It's like a spectrum of naivete. And then over here, there's bitter cynicism, a big. It's probably dark purple, but right there in the middle is like a narrow band of realism somewhere between delusional naivete, being scammed by these politicians, ridiculous promises, and then being so off, you can't. You don't even care anymore. Somewhere is the sweet spot of being skeptical, yet caring. That's what I would like to lead you all to. Somehow I will fail at this, but it keeps me busy during the day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they don't make it easy.

[Joe Getty]

Keeps me off the streets.

[Jack Armstrong]

How about Trump saying, and then we'll take our break. How about Trump saying to Trudeau? Yesterday Trudeau was saying, our economy would collapse. Our economy would collapse with those tariffs. And Trump says, you can't survive without those. With those tariffs. Well, then why don't you become our 51st state?

[Joe Getty]

You can be the governor. Hilarious. And Trudeau laughed uneasily.

[Jack Armstrong]

What a thing to say to a foreign leader. Anyway, how does mailbag look?

[Joe Getty]

It's quite good. Let's get to it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Text line 415295 KFTC.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Narrator]

In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath. To find out out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next President of the United States, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Joe Getty]

There is.

[Jack Armstrong]

By the way, we'll get back to it later in the show, but there is some reporting in a couple of different news places about how the pardon decision was made and how Jill was pushing it and how they came to that conclusion over Thanksgiving and everything. And we'll talk about that later.

[Joe Getty]

Just as long as the Biden family is out of politics and gone. Please go away. Go away, Mommy. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day. This is from J. William Fulbright. Perhaps you've heard of him, the scholarship, etc. Continuing our series on law. Law is the essential foundation of stability and order, both within societies and in international relations. I would point out that a society or in international relations, if you have no sanctions that will be enforced and are sufficient to discourage the undesired behavior, then you don't have law.

[Jack Armstrong]

Correct.

[Joe Getty]

International law is mostly a joke, and I would argue that the postmodernist neo Marxist Democratic Party has turn domestic law into a bit of a joke too. But we'll see whether Donald J. And his troops can overcome that. Mailbag yoo hoo. Matthew, Idaho Farmhand writes. Oh it's mailbag@armstrong and getty.com. drop us a note sometime. Good to have you back. You're missed, but it's great to have the refreshed perspective and added verve that you bring back from vacation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, the verve.

[Joe Getty]

I'm afraid I've under verved it. But anyway, thank you. He's going to remind me to bet on politics because I predict these things and I never lay any money down because I just don't think of it. But anyway. And then he says on the rush of gay marriages and preparations for Trump's certain crackdown, it reminds me reminds one of Obama's onset, a certain crowd rushed to buy firearms to head off his expected dismantling of the Second Amendment. Come on, American. My, why must we veer from guardrail to guardrail? Steady now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's true.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it is true.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's a certain personality that enjoys the crisis.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. To get fired up, to be afraid, to be under threat, to join together to fight the evil day. It's a good feeling. It's part of us as human beings. You just gotta be careful where you direct it. Anyway, one of my favorite notes of the day and the week, probably from Mary in the Ho Morning guys. On the I agree, thankfully, that the Black Friday craze seems to be over, but for some reason people are still looking back all wistfully on that nonsense like it was awesome. And being all Remember when we'd wake up super early and it would be pitch black and crowded and freezing? Ma'am, you're describing being a coal miner in 1836. Resist. We much marry in the ho. Thank you, Mary. That's very funny. Eric in beautiful Astoria, Oregon. Guys, on your excellent program Monday invoked General Tsao's chicken in the same vein as the Chinese Communist Party. The Com. I'm sorry, the Chinese Communist Horde. Sacre Blue. As you well know, General Cho's Chicken was created by the personal chef to none other than Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, whose anti communist credentials against chicom tyranny are incontrovertible. Expect a full public retraction. Consider it retracted. And you're I happen to know your nickname is not Stir Fry, so don't sign your emails like that. Let's see what's up Stir Fry, here's Tommy in Texas. Let's see. On the topic of Hunter. Sorry guys, if my 54 year old son was in this much trouble, I'd let him rot in jail. I'd feel sorry. I might be ashamed I didn't raise him correctly, but I'd let him face the consequences. It's not like he's an 18 year old punk. He's 54.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he's been sober for five years. And you, if you believed he's, you know, turned it around.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Well, then why didn't he say hey, when I was wasted, I didn't pay my taxes. I need to get this right. No, he lied and perjured and covered up when he was so he was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Busy becoming a painter.

[Joe Getty]

All right. Anyway, Tommy goes on to say Hunter's a scumbag. Do you think it's possible he went to dad and said, pardon me, or I'll write a book about us. Or go to the press and tell him something about our sideline business, hosing down governments for profit. I think it was probably an unspoken understanding, Tommy, but you're on the right track. Yeah, more on that to come. Obviously a lot of people wanted to weigh in.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's a good one. So we didn't mention what's going on around the world much yesterday. What's. How about Syria? Wow, did that explode over the last couple of days? And Russia and Iran's involved in that whole bunch of different stuff we can talk about today. Stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Narrator]

In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it that's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore, and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Katie Green]

We are seeing the woman who managed to sneak past airport workers and onto an international Delta flight from JFK to Paris. According to sources, the woman was so unruly she had to be removed and she remains in France. The TSA says the woman bypassed the ID check podium, went through security, then slipped past a Delta gate agent. The crew and passengers noticing the woman would never sit down during the flight.

[Jack Armstrong]

She was seen moving from one lavatory to another, never actually going to a passenger seat.

[Katie Green]

French officials telling ABC News the suspected stowaway passenger is a Russian national and a legal resident of the U.S. and.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wasn't paying attention beginning she got on at jfk. Is that what I remember? Yeah, yeah, so.

[Joe Getty]

And there'd never be any terrorism at jfk.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I don't want to come off as, you know, because you can't, you can't be 100% right on a TSA. They're never going to get it. All right. But the pat down of my son that lasted a ridiculously long time, got pulled out of line and like going up the crotch and around the back and under his hat and then look behind his ears because his hair is.

[Joe Getty]

Long and just like have grenades back there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Since no white teenagers have ever done anything ever in the history of airfare, but this woman just walks in and gets on a plane.

[Joe Getty]

I just, I just feel like I.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don'T, I don't know. What are you doing?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, there need to be more whistleblowers from the tsa. More of the blue shirts who come forward and say, hey, here's what they make us do. And we gotta check a box and show we did this number of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, we need to, we need to have a vote when we'll raise our hands and somebody way up high can count. All across America, the raising of the hands. How many people would be okay with. How about you don't pull out randomly people so it makes looky look like you look. Makes it look like you. Check young women, babies and white kids the same amount as you check Islam, Muslim men from Africa who are 25 years old. How about we don't worry about chanting.

[Joe Getty]

Angrily under their breath.

[Jack Armstrong]

We don't worry about that. And they just go with like their gut feeling who they think might be somebody to worry about.

[Joe Getty]

You have so diagnosed it. Yeah, there it is. Yeah, I know. Speaking of law and order. Well, this is just a lovely, lovely development. There are so many people getting their packages porch pirated that you can now get insurance on your delivery. Nearly half of shoppers expect to have at least one delivery get snatched up during this holiday season. Whoa.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've never had that hat. Well, I guess I have a very minor. I left my pallet of water sitting outside that the doordash delivered way too long and somebody took it. I think that's all like a whole pallet. Not a pallet, but I get them on the 24. Pack the bottles.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just didn't bring it in.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Thieves who grab packages off the front porch have become so common that shoppers now spend hundreds of dollars to protect themselves. To deter the porch pirates, Americans are shelling out for such high tech gadgets as doorbell cameras, $400 lock boxes, or self service locker rentals.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting. I'll bet that's going to become a thing. Everybody will have like a little locked like the trunk sitting by the door. It'll just be part of every house and delivery box. Yeah, yeah, I would agree.

[Joe Getty]

And it'll be sunk into the concrete and impossible to move and that sort of thing, depending on the quality you get. Also, to deter the scumbag thieves, I almost hate to call them Porsche pirates because it brings to mind Johnny Depp and R and good times. No, I almost used an unfortunate word on the air. Imagine the kids and how shocked they would have been. I'm glad I didn't. But they're blanking thieves. They're scumbags. To deter them. Oh, I said that already. Now there's also insurance. Porch Pals, a subscription based startup that launches nationwide yesterday, I guess says it will cover the cost of your stolen packages. 120 bucks a year covers up to $2,000 worth of deliveries or up to three claims.

[Jack Armstrong]

Except for in this case, which is your case is probably the way it works. Having tried to collect on a UPS thing and a variety of other insurance policies I've purchased before. It is, but not in this case.

[Joe Getty]

Except in high crime areas. Yeah, exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which they might declare the day that you get your thing stolen.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Did you request a special signed for personal fingerprinted delivery? What now? Sorry. Oh, right. Rejected.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Which is a pain in the ass. And except for really, really expensive stuff I'm never going to do because I'm not home.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I will concede that a portion of the lawlessness of porch piratery is just opportunity because I mean back in the day you just didn't have nearly, you didn't have a fraction of the stuff sitting on your front porches as people do these days. On the other hand, part of it's just another example of the current of lawlessness, the feeling that minor and medium and sometimes major offenses are ignored in this postmodern neo Marxist justice regime that the George Gascons of the world and you know the list. Kim Fox, all these people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, as you mentioned, as you mentioned last week or a week before that, in a lot of neighborhoods, my neighborhood, your neighborhood, there's a FedEx or Amazon or UPS van constantly coming and going. I mean it's constant.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And because so many people get so many things or doordash or target delivery, which I do, and I live in a neighborhood where it's unlikely that, you know, anything's going to get stolen. So I don't worry about it much.

[Joe Getty]

But.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I'll bet we do come up with a fix for this. And that makes sense to me. Every home will have some sort of lockbox thingy.

[Joe Getty]

Or you could execute porch pirates like we did. Horse thieves, hangings. I don't know. I'm just thinking out of the box here, so to speak. Lawlessness is a big part of this.

[Jack Armstrong]

So much of it is culture. And I think about this a lot. I find it fascinating. I don't know what you can do about it, but I grew up in cultures my whole life where it left your door open and your keys in your car. Everybody did, and it wasn't a problem ever. And you remember the movie Bowling for Columbine? Way back in the day? Michael Moore was up in Canada and going around and amused that he could go through this neighborhood and just walk up and open people's doors. Their doors are unlocked. You can have a culture where that is the thing. How do you hold on to that? I don't know. Or how do you get it back? Part of it is what you were saying. You have to punish people who violate it. Yeah, but that's not what was going on in any of the places I lived. It just didn't happen well.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Part of that was a sense of community. And all that implies a. A common set of values, which is incredibly important and which we have, to a large extent, given away in the name of diversity and immigration, such in the United States. And there are absolutely pluses and minuses to everything. I'm not saying it's entirely one or the other. You have that. A loss of common cultural values, loss of repercussions, and we just don't know our neighbors. It used to be the humiliation of being branded a scumbag was enough to keep people in line. You'd be born, you'd grow up, you might croak in the same town, John Mellencamp style. And so, no, you didn't dare run afoul of your community's standards.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is a very Burkian notion, but the culture thing is so much bigger than we give it credit and impossible to understand how you create it or get it back or mold it.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Once it's off track to the point that you're aware it's off track, you've got a hell of a task in front.

[Jack Armstrong]

He might have centuries to change it.

[Joe Getty]

I don't have that. Another great example of what's going on, what we can do about it. And we can do something about it after a word from our friends at Omaha Steaks. The perfect gift for the steak lover in your family. They don't need more stuff to put in an attic. What they need is These incredibly delicious Omaha Steaks and much, much more. And we got a great deal for you right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

I gotta admit, before, before we started getting involved in Omaha Steaks, I just thought it was the steaks. And I'd ordered the steaks before. They were fantastic. But I didn't know about the hamburgers, the hot dogs, the apple tartlets, the potatoes, all the different stuff. Anyway, right now 50% off site wide@omaha steaks.com/ + score an extra $30 off with the promo code Armstrong.

[Joe Getty]

And I'm telling you, the quality of the beef is spectacular. It is really, really good. And for that steak lover, again, it's a fabulous gift. They'll think of you every time they crack open their fabulous package from Omaha Steaks. 50% off site wide plus use that code ARMSTRONG. For an additional $30 off, minimum purchases may apply. Of course, you can't go and buy one hamburger and get that deal. Go to Omaha Steaks.com remember that code, Armstrong? Omaha Steaks.com and the code is Armstrong. This headline is so great. From the Free Press. Olivia Rheingold. No wonder he's smiling. He's gotten away with it so many times. It's a story about this tda, the trendy Aragua Venezuelan gang, immigrant gang member robbed a Manhattan prosecutor inside her own home last month.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jeez, man, if somebody came into my home to rob me, I would think I'm going to die.

[Joe Getty]

Well, here's, here's the deal. It's worse than that. It was quite late, is after midnight and a 38 year old woman.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, I definitely think I was going to die.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah. A 38 year old woman is getting home in Hell's Kitchen near Times Square, New York City. A man followed her through the front door of her building. He demanded cash and motion that he might have a gun in his pocket. So she tossed him her phone, ID and credit card. But then he cornered her and masturbated in front of her for several moments, according to prosecutors. You while the woman stood terrified, cowering in the corner of her stairwell, this young model citizen. Well he's. No, he's not a model anything. And he's not a citizen. 25 year old Brandon Somoza, Venezuelan. Why he people saying migrant these days? Immigrant with links to tda. And the woman he robbed was no ordinary victim. She's a New York City prosecutor who works to put scumbags like this guy behind bars. But the victim works for Alvin Bragg, the infamous Manhattan district attorney. The very sort of guy. I was just Talking about who has skipped across it. There is downgraded 60% of felony cases to lesser charges while declared declining to prosecute 14% of all arrests last year. The anointed one, according to Lawrence O'Donnell, for going after Donald Trump for those ridiculous falsifying business records, is better known for his track record of freeing criminals like. And there's a long, long list. But. So anyway, this Somoza guy, that was his seventh arrest since June, and the New York authorities just kept turning him loose on the streets. What kind of society, getting back to our discussion of the way it used to be or is still, this is a place. What sort of society do you think you're going to end up with if a guy can get arrested seven times in. When did this happen?

[Jack Armstrong]

November.

[Joe Getty]

In six months, barely. With no repercussions. Good Lord, I feel like the world has lost its mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, That's. Well, we started the show talking about how the Hunter Biden pardon makes, you know, adds to cynicism. How about this?

[Joe Getty]

Well, the good news is we can't do anything about Hunter Biden unless there's some sort of major restructuring of the pardon power to the presidency. But, man, voting for DA's, voting for county attorneys for the people who appoint them or run, that sort of stuff, man, that's got to become part of your political consciousness.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. It is so crazy. And thank God it hasn't happened to me, although kind of practically did and got a similar reaction. But that woman might be pretty hard bitten being a prosecutor in New York City, but just for the average person, you basically get a gun stuck in your face, run to gun robbed, a gunpoint, worried you're going to die, then the guy's masturbating in front of you. So now you think you're going to be raped. You would never be the same after that ever again in your life. You will never, ever walk down a street at night into a room by yourself ever without thinking about that again in your life. And then when you find out the guy's been arrested seven times in the last six months and let go, I mean, how do you deal with that without going nuts?

[Joe Getty]

So I want to re approach this next hour because obviously this is a problem in and of itself. But here's the deal. This Somoza scumbag is one of nearly 215,000 immigrants the city has absorbed in just the last two years. And the word has gotten into Central America that a great, crazy, profitable place to do crimes is the United States. Of America, particularly this list of cities. So these guys are not. Well, I almost said they're not coming for a better life, but they are, in a way. It's not the classic immigrant story. They're like, hey, you four, Jose, Pedro, whatever. We need you guys to get to New York City. You need to set up a crime syndicate, then send the profits back to the main line. It's essentially opening field offices.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Don't worry for these criminal gangs and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don'T worry if you get caught, they'll let you out again.

[Joe Getty]

Precisely. Yeah. More on this guy and how it all works next hour. Stay with us.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got Katie's headlines on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Stay here. Armstrong and Getty.

[Narrator]

In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Michael, I apologize. I just doordashed donuts to the radio station.

[Joe Getty]

Why?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I needed to doordash my cream because I'm out of my cream for my coffee and I gotta have my special cream. And I thought I get donuts because people bring donuts all the time. I never bring anything. I'm a taker.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I thought I should accuse you of KJP style rambling bull crap to just no, that, that, that time buying that. That's good.

[Jack Armstrong]

People bring in baked goods all the time. I never bring anything. So I ordered some. But I could have gotten like bagels and cream cheese or something healthier. What's that new healthy thing? Beans. I should have some beans.

[Joe Getty]

Nice bean salad. Yeah, it's good for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Salad in the lunchroom and Jack ordered it for us.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, let's figure out who's reporting what, perhaps about beans. It's the lead story with Katie Green. Katie.

[News Anchor]

Well, thank you, guys. Starting with NBC News, Hunter Biden pardon fuels Trump's weaponization arguments.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, of course. I mean, obvs.

[Jack Armstrong]

The big other shoe to drop is does Biden pardon his brother or any of the other people involved in this whole thing? And then it just becomes completely obvious what it's all about.

[Joe Getty]

It's entirely possible James Biden is so damn old, it might not matter. But, yeah, since he's not, like, up for being sentenced for anything. Right. Joe Biden can wait till, you know, the last hour in office, like presidents generally do, including Trump.

[News Anchor]

From the New York Times, Cash Patel has a plan to remake the FBI into a tool of Trump.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, pluses and minuses. We can talk more about that down the road.

[News Anchor]

In international news from cnn, deadly Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon after Hezbollah attacks. Testing a shaky ceasefire agreement.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, when they haven't ceased firing, I'd say it's a shaky ceasefire.

[Joe Getty]

Donald J. Yesterday the day before said, give us the American hostages back by the time I get inaugurated or we're going to hit you like you've never been hit before. Where has that been in American foreign policy? Hallelujah.

[News Anchor]

From NPR, U.S. will send Ukraine 725 million more dollars in arms and landmines.

[Jack Armstrong]

Russia has. Russia has taken more territory in the last couple of weeks than at any point since the whole thing started.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Crazy, crazy. Trump might be defunding npr. There's certainly a move in that direction. Boy, would I love to see it.

[News Anchor]

From ABC News, missing Hawaiian woman crossed freely into Mexico, according to Los Angeles police.

[Jack Armstrong]

I haven't been following that story, but I saw that update yesterday. What the hell?

[News Anchor]

So this woman went missing. She apparently didn't board her flight on purpose and her family's been searching for her to the point where her father committed suicide.

[Joe Getty]

What?

[News Anchor]

Because this has been so hard on their family and now they're saying they have footage of her crossing freely into Mexico and she's alive.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's she up to?

[Joe Getty]

Mental illness thing. Is she meeting that dude from Wisconsin who made his way to Eastern Europe? What's happening here?

[News Anchor]

Jack, this one's for you because you need to step up your inflatable decor game. And my post Long island couple wants to make Christmas great again with a giant 42 foot, $3,000 inflatable lawn Santa.

[Jack Armstrong]

42 foot? Yeah. A four story Santa building all of a sudden shows up in your neighborhood.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, you're going to have to moor that thing to the ground like it's a, a radio tower or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Planes will hit it.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[News Anchor]

And finally, from the Babylon Bee Hunter, Biden asks if he can get his baggie of cocaine back from the White House.

[Joe Getty]

Now. Come on. Oh boy. I get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some of the reporting out today I think is in the New York Times is that Joe was really worried that a sentencing would cause his son to go back to using drugs, that it endangers his sobriety. So that really factored into his decision.

[Joe Getty]

Making a sweeping pardon for any crime that could conceivably have been committed in an 11 year period that is more sweeping than Richard Nixon's pardon to heal the nation given by Gerald Ford. It is astounding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we got a lot more on that. An hour too. If you miss an hour or a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Narrator]

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast for the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.