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Jack Armstrong
All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan Partisan. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?
Joe Getty
I'm thirsty. Watch.
Jack Armstrong
I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow.
Joe Getty
Beginning to feel more seasonal in here already.
Jack Armstrong
If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.
Joe Getty
Tis the season to be jollier.
Ryan
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Joe Getty
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Katie Green
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Joe Getty
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Katie Green
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Jack Armstrong
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Unknown
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Jack Armstrong
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Katie Green
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Jack Armstrong
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Unknown
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Katie Green
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.
Jack Armstrong
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.
Ryan
Armstrong and Getty.
Katie Green
And now he's Armstrong and Getty.
Joe Getty
Ooh, Christmas is getting close. Live from Studio C C, a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty communications compound.
Katie Green
And hey, y'all.
Joe Getty
Kicking off a brand new week, we're under the tutelage of our general manager, the Syrian rebels.
Katie Green
Those rebels and those. But not those rebel. Except those rebels up there. They're. Yes, up with them. Not the other ones. Htf.
Joe Getty
Is that the new letters we're supposed to know?
Katie Green
Hts, I think, is it hts. And it is not a K pop band. It's not a boy band. Hts, that's our new group. Different.
Joe Getty
Yes, that's our new group we got to know about. Okay.
Katie Green
Yeah, one's kind of tough looking and the other one's like effeminate. And the one's really athletic.
Joe Getty
It's not like that. It's not a boy band. It's way.
Katie Green
Okay.
Joe Getty
It's a. It's a group of people that overthrew Bashar Assad in Syria. And here's one thing I think the world has learned. You can't see these things coming. Apparently that is not a knowable thing when a revolution is about to happen. Because I've never seen one predicted anywhere close to accurately thus far in my life. They come out of nowhere. And in retrospect, everybody points to all the little things. Well, this has happened then and then. This is what led to it. But nobody saw it coming, Right?
Katie Green
Well, and when people do see it coming, like in the case of Russia invading Ukraine, nobody believes you. Well, because it's. It seems so crazy. Yeah, you're right.
Joe Getty
The CIA gets regularly blamed for not catching the fall of the Soviet Union. Well, after watching. I don't know how many different regimes fall since then in my life. Nobody predicted those either they just, they're just. It's something goes on internally, there's something in the wind, there's some, there's something happens where everybody says, are you over this? Yeah, I'm over it too. Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking that happens on some level, apparently. And all the fighters in Syria thought, nah, I'm not fighting back anymore, forget it.
Katie Green
And that's it. And I've heard it described by somebody who took in intelligence briefings that one of the problems with it that doesn't often come up is that you will have a certain number of people saying it's absolutely rock solid. A certain number of people saying it's about 50, 50. And a certain number of people saying, oh, the other thing's absolutely certain to happen. And so yes, people did predict it, but other people said it absolutely won't happen.
Joe Getty
No. I was watching Bob, Richard Haas, who used to run the Council on Foreign Relations on MSNBC today. He said he was in Syria recently talking to or in the Middle east recently and leaders from various countries telling him, one of the things you Americans need to do is get over your hatred. Assad, he's not going anywhere and you need to learn to work with him so you can blah, blah, blah. This is just weeks ago.
Katie Green
Good call.
Unknown
Yeah.
Joe Getty
So it goes to show you there's no, there's no predicting this stuff, apparently.
Katie Green
Well, Assad didn't predict it evidently is he didn't have time to get a lot of his swag out of the country. Oh, my collection of cars, among other things.
Joe Getty
I really would like to have seen him riding a bayonet down the street like happened to Gaddafi in Libya or hanging upside down by his heels or something like that. One of those gruesome death, a lust for the ma. Freaking lutely. That guy is responsible for the deaths of at least a half a million people. Awful human beings should meet a violent end. He shouldn't get to live in some villa in Russia until his old age, like he's probably going to get to do. It's disgusting. And maybe it's because I watched at least the first part of the movie Napoleon over the weekend and the movie opens with Marie Antoinette getting her head cut off. That's what usually happens to despised kings dictators when they're overthrown. And Assad was able to escape somehow in the middle of the night and get to Russia. And yeah, he did run fast. They were in his. I saw some video, they were in his kitchen and there was like pots boiling on the stove. I mean, they were cooking him dinner when they all ran out of the place. That's. That's how little time they had.
Katie Green
So, speaking of which, my favorite bit of video that's emerged from this whole thing is folks are going through the presidential palace and ransacking it and mostly just being tourists and posing for selfies at his desk and stuff like that. But my favorite clip was, this guy's walking through, looking around, he's munching around an apple. And I don't know why, it just struck me as so amusing. Hey, you want to go down and check out the old dictator's palace? Yeah, yeah, but I'm a little peckish. Let me grab a little snack to enjoy on the way. She's just looking around at the palace, munching an apple.
Joe Getty
I love this sort of stuff. And took in a tremendous amount of news coverage yesterday. The LA Times got an interesting story out today in Syria. Militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA. That is going on to a certain extent as you have different parts of the country controlled by different people. And in some cases we're back very different goals.
Katie Green
Yeah.
Joe Getty
In some cases we're back in all of the groups against each other, or at least until we change our mind. So that's where it gets very complicated. Trump put out a strong statement yesterday that even Ian Bremmer agreed with about how devastating this was to Russia and how devastating it was to Iran and how we should stay out of this for at least the time being until you see how things sort out.
Katie Green
Yeah, it could absolutely turn into a pit of chaos like Libya. But hts again, not a K pop band, their leader. And they, they were considered, they are considered a terrorist group. He formerly had ties to Al Qaeda and isis. He broke those off years and years ago. He's going around saying, look, we got to have diversity in this country. We're going to protect religious minorities, we're going to keep it cool. All right? There's not some sort of crazy ass Islamist thing, which is exactly what you'd say if you're a crazy ass Islamist and wanted to get support of more moderate factions. Or he might be sincere.
Joe Getty
I don't agree with that. Take just because I was thinking about, I don't rem al Qaeda leaders, ISIS leaders, Hamas, Hezbollah, any of those people ever saying Iranian. I don't remember those people ever saying anything like that. All they ever say is death to all infidels. The one and true religion is Islam. They just never. I don't remember Those people ever saying we will be open to all sects and religions.
Katie Green
And in the west they do all the time. Yeah.
Joe Getty
Not in the Middle east though.
Katie Green
Well, right, but see that's what I'm saying. It's possible this guy's more sophisticated. He understands the game better than the wild eyed lunatics.
Joe Getty
Well, we'll see. We do have a. As of today, like as of this minute, the United states has a $10 million bounty on his head because we consider him one of the world's leading awful people.
Katie Green
Yeah.
Joe Getty
And you know, I would think we need to figure out fairly quickly whether we want to change that stance or not.
Katie Green
He also friends, the, the Turks of course, are backing some of the people who we oppose the most vehemently.
Joe Getty
This new guy, Mohammed, what's his name, who I had never heard of and most of you haven't, hadn't either before yesterday. Another thing that he mentioned in his speech, I was completely unaware of this. He said we are going to get rid of Captogen. I had never heard that word in my life. It is the drug that has just devastated the Middle East. It's their fentanyl. It's a lot like fentanyl. And Assad was making a tremendous amount of money on it and had a lot to do with it spreading all around the Middle East. All countries in the Middle east are just being wiped out by this Captogen drug. Their youth, their, you know, people are selling it and it's getting into regular drugs and people are dying. I was completely unaware of that story.
Katie Green
Yeah, and your Islamist groups are using it to make money too. Of course their fighters aren't allowed to take it. It's, you know, it reminds me of various things happening in the west where they're more than willing. Well like China is more than willing to poison our people. But you get caught with it in China, they'll kill you. But anyway. Yeah, yeah, an evil guy, Assad, it's.
Joe Getty
Just stunning that people like that can still exist on planet Earth. And I, you know, at some point I should get over it. I suppose it's because it's never going to change.
Katie Green
How about strapped to a post in the sun, let the crows peck out his eyes.
Joe Getty
I'd be perfectly fine with that. I'd be perfectly fine with that. And yeah, but there's lots of guys like that around the world. He's not, you know, he's not the only one. There's lots of. In fact, the people that took over might be just like that. So who knows?
Katie Green
Africa's thick with them, for instance.
Joe Getty
Now, I just saw a former diplomat of some sort, I don't remember which stripe, on one of the cable news channels saying, this is as big as the fall of the Berlin Wall. That seems like a heck of a lot to say. Might be with the idea that it could be the end of Iran, at least as we know it. And if it's the end of Iran as we know it, then it could be the end of Putin and Russia as we know it.
Katie Green
Combination of factors, including the devastation of Hamas and Hezbollah and then cutting off the landline to supply Hezbollah in Lebanon has seriously, seriously weakened Iran, not to mention Israel, exposing them as a paper tiger in terms of air defenses and stuff like that. So, yeah, it could be really, really big in that way. It could be a huge step toward peace in the Middle east and an alliance between Israel and the Gulf states. Or not. What? I've got a great quote somewhere. A learned and wisened hand in the Middle east who said, essentially, good news has a way of turning into bad news very, very quickly in this part of the world.
Joe Getty
Yeah, it's too bad that that is the case. Well, it's just a truth of the history of the world. It's very difficult to end up with what we ended up with after you have a revolution of some sort, where you end up with a stable, safe democracy. The French Revolution didn't go that way, the Russian Revolution didn't go that way, and a gazillion other revolutions in tiny countries that you've never heard of didn't go that way. Somebody's got to be in charge, and it's a battle to see who's going to be in charge.
Katie Green
Right, Right. Final note, this is a hell of a blow to Putin and Russia, which had tried to portray itself as a stalwart and dependable ally. If you cast in with Russia, we never let you down. We never leave you on your own. And Assad faced an attack, and Russia's like, yeah, busy in Ukraine. Can't help click. And down goes Assad.
Joe Getty
But opened the door to Assad and his family to come live there in Moscow. And so maybe the dream is for Putin to fall and then he dies and Assad dies, all in one wonderful afternoon. One of these days.
Katie Green
Wow. Well, it's worth hoping.
Joe Getty
That'd be fantastic.
Katie Green
Christmas miracle.
Joe Getty
Uh, we're hoping to talk to at least one, if not two, of our military analysts about what's going on over there. We do have 900 U.S. troops in Syria. We bombed 75 different sites yesterday. In Syria. So to say we're not involved at all, obviously would be a lie. That's, that's a fair amount of bombing.
Katie Green
Well, right. With the Assad regime gone and no defense of their territory, anybody who's got a gripe, including us with isis, is saying, yeah, well, maybe now is a good time.
Joe Getty
And as I just said, the fact that we're backing the CIA's back in one side and the Pentagon's back in another side with some of those rebels, that's pretty complicated thing. How about we start the show officially? I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is a Monday, December 9, year 2024. We are Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.
Katie Green
Let's begin officially, according to FCC rules, regulations. Here we go at mark.
Joe Getty
I think if you run the numbers here, you know, 25% chance it turns out really well and there's a secular country kind of emerges. I think 25%, it shuts down pretty quickly as, as jihadists take over. Maybe a 50% chance it looks like Libya, which is an ongoing state of conflict. There you go. That's 75% bad news, 25% likelihood of good news.
Katie Green
Although even the bad news is bad for Iran and Russia.
Joe Getty
So how good news is good? How does mailbag look?
Katie Green
It's good. Good for Monday. Very strong.
Joe Getty
I was thinking about the decent people of Syria who just want to have live good lives. But you were only interested in America first because you're wearing your MAGA hat.
Katie Green
You're right. I am chastened.
Joe Getty
We have a mailbag on the way and a bunch of other stuff to catch you up on. Here's our text line. 415295 KFTC.
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the bar. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?
Joe Getty
I'm thirsty.
Jack Armstrong
Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.
Joe Getty
Feel more seasonal in here already.
Jack Armstrong
If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian craftsman every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.
Joe Getty
Tis the season to be jollier.
Ryan
Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.
Unknown
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Here's to the holidays. To baking cookies in matching pajamas. To decorating the house with paper chain garland. To gathering around the table for the holiday toast.
Cheers.
And the Chinette brand is here to share in the joy of it all with the Chinette Crystal Collection. Your holiday table is perfectly coordinated so you can achieve elegance with less cleanup, letting you focus on what really matters. Here's to the traditions that bring us together year after year. Here's to us, all of us. Find a local retailer@mychinette.com this message is sponsored by Greenlight.
Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
Them up for success.
Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
Number5Casino.Com Christmas two weeks from Wednesday that's too close. I would like to move that back a little bit. Like an extra week. That'd be all right.
Katie Green
Certainly. I think we can work something out. Speaking of which, your freedom loving quotes of the day. I'm gonna go all sentimental on you and do some quotes about family between now and Christmas, which. Which, you know, could easily. Every single one of these could start a very long conversation about the nature of family and function and dysfunction and love and discord and thousand other things, I suppose. But I just like this one from Michael J. Fox. Family is not an important thing. It's everything.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I would say.
Katie Green
Mailbag, you can drop us a note mailbag at Armstrong and getty.com type away. Keep it brief if you can. This from Psy. Heard a radio commercial the other day that the Trans Siberian Christmas show is coming to town. Yay. At lunch, one of my adult children asked, does that have something to do with the gender thing? Is this the Trans Siberian Orchestra? That's funny. Which is a joke I think I made a week ago.
Joe Getty
But that would be the first. If you don't know that act, that would be the first thing you would think.
Katie Green
So it's a bunch of dudes dressed as chicks playing metal Christmas music from some. No, no, it's across Siberia. Yes. Moving along. Speaking of that sort of thing, Linda writes, you have to love how the left constantly change the meaning of words. They manipulate them like sculptors with clay. Like Rob Bonta, California's crook Attorney General, posted on Twitter. Laws such as Tennessee's Senate bill number one, the trans kid bill, are dangerous and discriminatory by denying transgender youth the critical life saving care they need. Life saving?
Joe Getty
Show me.
Katie Green
One minor has been rushed to the ER because they need hormone surgery stat or hormone therapy stat. I want bonted to name one child who's been hooked up to life support while they await a team of surgeons who can remove their genitals.
Joe Getty
Well, it's really the ridiculousness that they'll kill themselves if we don't do this. So sure.
Katie Green
Even if you accept the false premise that transgender care prevents imminent suicide, can't the same be said of other things, like humor? I've gone through extremely difficult times in my life when I didn't think I could go on watching comedy. Got me through it. Does that mean Conan O'Brien's YouTube channel is life saving care? Can I get Blue Cross to pay for my YouTube Premium subscription or a stiff drink?
Joe Getty
Is that life saving care?
Katie Green
Yeah.
Joe Getty
I feel better now.
Katie Green
Yeah, Daddy needs his medicine. Ryan from Houston. Guys, seeing how on social media apparently vigilante justice and assassination are back on the menu talking about that healthcare executive. Can we get the official okay list? Clearly, white male healthcare CEOs are cool, but if they are a woman or another race? Does it have to be healthcare bureaucrats? We are doomed.
Joe Getty
Yeah, we'll have to talk more about that later. First of all, it's an interesting whodunit and then secondly, the sociological aspect of people happy about assassinations now being a thing.
Katie Green
Right, let's see. Do we have time for this? Don't blame Joe Biden for not getting out and for pardoning his son the way he did, writes JT in Livermore. Blaming Joe Biden for being Joe Biden is insanity. The left leadership knew what and who Joe Biden was when they put him to the top of the ticket in 2020. They did so because the communist Bernard Sanders was actually on track to get the nomination and they had Trump derangement syndrome. But I want to get to the good part. But none of that was a mystery in 2020. Was Biden a known corrupt politician? 2020? That might need to pardon Summer all of his family? Yep. Was Joe Biden a serial liar, chased out of the POTUS race multiple times for plagiarism, lying, and generally a low iq? Yep. So who's really to blame for Joe Biden not getting out of the race sooner? Who's really to blame for Joe Biden doing what he everyone thought he'd do and pardoning Hunter?
Joe Getty
More of the news of the day. Biggest sports contract in the history of sports and a bunch of other stuff.
Katie Green
To tell you about Armstrong and Getty.
Jack Armstrong
All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.
Katie Green
Partisan.
Jack Armstrong
It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe Margarita?
Joe Getty
I'm thirsty.
Jack Armstrong
Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.
Joe Getty
Feel more seasonal in here already.
Jack Armstrong
If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.
Joe Getty
Tis the season to be jollier.
Ryan
Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get 50.
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Here's to the holidays. To baking cookies in matching pajamas. To decorating the house with paper chain garland. To gathering around the table for the holiday toast.
Cheers.
And the Chinette brand is here to share in the joy of it all with the Chinette Crystal collection. Your holiday table is perfectly coordinated so you can achieve elegance with less cleanup, letting you focus on what really matters. Here's to the traditions that bring us together year after year. Here's to us, all of us. Find a local retailer@mychinette.com Gifting is hard.
But here's a Give the gift of connection from US Cellular. Not sure what that means? Here's a slightly more specific hint. You can choose four free phones and get four lines for $90 a month from US Cellular. Your family wants new phones. How do we know? They told us. The good news is that compared to wrapping presents, you're great at getting hints. So take the hint and get them four free phones and four lines for $90 a month US Cellular built for us.
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Joe Getty
Number5Casino.Com Two new photos of a man police are calling a person of interest in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a midtown Manhattan street. They're from a taxi cabin, the same cab police say he took to a bus terminal after the murder. Police saying they think he's left New York City this weekend. Police found new evidence a backpack they believe belongs to the suspect when they revealed what was inside, a jacket and Monopoly money. So nobody knows if that's because he's a crazy person or if that was some sort of clever comment on yeah.
Katie Green
Sounds it feels like that to me. It was going to be part of the whole Messages on the bullets Theater.
Joe Getty
Several things about this story are interesting. We'll delve into the glee at the assassination of a guy who runs a health insurance company. We'll get into that whole thing later because that is just freaking horrifying if we go down that road. But New York is one of the most surveilled cities on planet Earth, certainly outside of China. I didn't know you could shoot somebody in the middle of the day on a major street in New York and get away. I wouldn't have guessed you could.
Katie Green
No, no.
Joe Getty
I'm surprised at that. And then also the fact, as a, as a libertarian who worries about government power a lot, because what we got now is nice, but you can end up with something closer to Assad pretty easily over, you know, a couple of decades. And having the infrastructure to be surveilled. This at this level where there's just cameras flipping everywhere getting pictures of you or video of you in major cities, it's just, ah, if we ever end up with a government that really wants to keep a track of a certain kind of person, we've certainly put the infrastructure in place.
Katie Green
Right, right. It's frustrating because some of the things we talk about a lot which involve cultural norms and policing small things, so people never get the idea that they can do big crimes. For instance, letting go of that culture of lawfulness leads you to a spot where you have so much damn crime, people think, yeah, I want cameras. Yeah, I want the. What's it called, the shot spotter, the audio system. Yeah, we need these things to keep ourselves alive. Government intrusion. Yeah, I get that. But I want to be alive. So, yeah, you just paint yourself into a corner where your solutions are bad.
Joe Getty
Oh, and also there's breaking news today that there are NYPD in Atlanta for some reason on this story. So maybe something will come out of that later today.
Katie Green
I do want to talk more about the assassination of that healthcare guy and the reaction to it online, but also in terms of how much ignorance is being displayed. And I excuse people for this because the media never writes about this or very, very rarely does. The unholy, horrific interaction between government and specifically Obamacare and Congress and private healthcare and insurance. It is an unholy relationship which forces the private insurance companies to do things that they would not normally do. And so if you think, you know, I got denied or whatever and it sucks and I'm angry, well, yeah, you've got to look at Congress and people don't understand that. So maybe we'll get Craig Gottwalls on to talk about that later this week or talk about ourselves.
Joe Getty
But anyway, we're going to talk to a couple of our favorite military analysts about what's going on in the Middle east because the United States is involved. Absolutely. We have troops there and did a lot of bombing yesterday in Syria, for instance. So that'll be at least an hour to hope you can catch that. An economic thing that I find interesting. Last week I was bemoaning the fact that I did not buy bitcoin. Even even if I had bought bitcoin after the first time I bemoined bitcoin after the election, I still would have done well. And then it hit $100,000 last week and whatever. But this article in the Wall Street Journal, young men are making risky bets on crypto and politics and raking it in right now, I thought was an more interesting sociological story than financial story about the way young men feel in this country. And as a guy who's raising a couple of young men, it worries me a lot. Did you know this if you had a hypothetical portfolio, of course nobody would have this, so it's a little unfair. But if you had a hypothetical portfolio holding equal amounts of bitcoin gold, the meme stock GameStop and the sports betting stock DraftKings, you would return 62% so far this year. That has tripled the returns of a traditional portfolio that most of us have. 60% stocks, 40% bonds, that sort of thing, 62%. That'd be a pretty good year if he had those. Yeah, but it's mostly young men that are doing this thing, these things, these kind of stocks. Some 42% of men's age, ages 18 to 29 invested in or used crypto, versus only 17% of women in that age group. A Pew Research center said almost 11% of men say they are. Well, I'll skip that. I'll get to this because I don't want to. I want to use up our time. I want to get to the part that I think is actually most important. Some men say they have little choice but to roll the dice in a world they believe is stacked against them. Their participation in the labor force is falling while it's growing for women their age. Young men are less likely to enroll in college. Men out earn women in the workplace and are more likely to reach executive level positions. But some 45% of young men said in 2023 they face gender discrimination. Only a third of men said that in 2019. It's now almost half. That's how much it's grown in just a few years, according to recent surveys. And then it goes through how many women are in college campuses and are this percentage of that and that percentage of this. I think the view that younger men have of themselves in their role in society, wow, that's an underappreciated problem we have in the country and I don't know what we do to fix it.
Katie Green
I agree completely. Absolutely. You combine, you know, the things you mentioned with people are not coupling partly because so many women are radical leftists who won't couple with anybody who's not a radical leftist. You got just the value of the nuclear family being diminished in society and just all of the things that all of the like most fundamental and primal things that drive men, I will provide and I will protect have been taken away.
Joe Getty
We've talked about this for a couple of years about how the percentage of working age males that are not in the workforce is as high as it was during the Great Depression. That's horrifying.
Katie Green
Yeah, it is. And strange.
Joe Getty
Yes, it is very strange. And a society that's not like really focused on what's going on there is going to pay a price for it at some point.
Katie Green
No, because of the utterly moronic, whatever they say it was the second phase of feminism or something, where to be pro woman meant to be anti man, which is just an idiotic notion, but that doesn't mean it wasn't really popular.
Joe Getty
But does this surprise anybody that more women come out of high school thinking, oh, yeah, here are the many opportunities for me in America of ways to make a living and make a go of it in the world. And it's much, much less so for young men to feel like, you know, college is for me, well, welcoming for me or this career path or whatever.
Katie Green
I have no data to prove this point, but I suspect that it's true. I think a lot of young men also emerge from their schooling beaten down.
Joe Getty
Right.
Katie Green
Because they have been systematically given the message there is something wrong with you merely because you are male. But also because, like, as a little boy you acted like a male. Masculinity of any sort, including boyish energy, is pathologized in our sick, sick communist.
Joe Getty
Government schools, combined with an attitude that is changing thanks to Mike Rowe and lots of people. But an attitude of the kind of jobs that a lot of men would like to do are belittled and, you know, paper pushing jobs that more women would be more interested in are seen as fantastic.
Katie Green
Well, in just the whole Obama era, smugness About. Of course, everything he did had smugness about it. But the idea that college is the only route for the respectable, and those unwashed idiot brutes who don't go to college and work their menial jobs building H VAC companies and being carpenters and whatever, that's just sad. Sad. Do they even have the power of speech, those brutes? I mean, that was the attitude.
Joe Getty
So if the takeaway from that article in the Wall Street Journal was supposed to be that men feel like they either do or just feel like they have no route to success in America, they're going to take these higher risk bets on crypto and some of these other stocks. The Wall Street Journal of all publications shouldn't go with if you had this imaginary portfolio. Well, nobody does, so. And even if you had that imaginary portfolio, you'd have to get in at the right time and get out at the right time to take advantage of that. So, again, the Wall Street Journal, of all places, shouldn't. Shouldn't play that kind of game.
Katie Green
Right, Right, exactly. Yeah, I. Well, yeah, I've had more to say on that, but that's probably enough for now.
Joe Getty
Well, would you say. Am I right or wrong about this? Maybe I'm just trying to soothe my hurt feelings over the fact that I don't understand cryptocurrency. Is it. Is it just a very small percentage of people that are actually getting in and getting out at the right times, too?
Katie Green
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, every time it goes up, it goes down again, and those people take a bath. But that's not very exciting to write or read about. So it's like people who lose at Vegas, they don't. They don't come home and tell their friends the other part of it. And this is the part that I decided not to say, but I'll go ahead.
Joe Getty
I lost $4,000 and I got chlamydia. Nobody ever tells me that.
Katie Green
So I used to play a fair amount of poker. I play less now. And I think it's interesting that what is one of the big financial places has all of their new associates take 100 hours of poker training and playing and all, so they start to understand risk and levels of risk and that sort of thing. And I don't get frustrated about missing these meme stocks and stuff like that more than a little, because. And I hope this makes sense to you, if you play poker. It certainly does. You have a policy depending on where you are in the game, how many chips you have, whatever. If I have, like, a decent hand, I will Roll the dice and pay some to see. Like in Texas. Hold them. The flop. Those are the three community cards that come out first. But if I have a crap hand, I have a three and a seven, for instance. I'm not going to pay anything to see that flop because it's just unlikely as a percentage. It's not likely enough that it would bear out for me. And sometimes. So you fold your hand, then sometimes the flop is three threes. I'd have had quad threes and taken everybody's money. But that doesn't matter. My policy is I do the math in my head and I don't gamble on things not worth gambling on. So as long as you have, like, a method to the madness of your investing and your financial moves and don't be. And maybe it is. Maybe you're young and untethered and you chase meme stocks and bitcoin and stuff like that. Good for you. But have fun. I'm kind of jealous, but why does.
Joe Getty
The Wall Street Journal crowd talk up crypto like it is? Solid, sound investment strategy. They don't believe that. There's no way. Most of the people in the Wall Street Journal believe that.
Katie Green
No, it's almost just purely speculation. So is it just exciting? It gets clicks.
Joe Getty
Yeah. So it's just like any other newspaper. It's just.
Katie Green
Yeah, I see those articles. I read them, too.
Joe Getty
Yeah. And. Yeah. And I kick myself right in the ass.
Katie Green
Yeah, I try not to because that. That whole foma thing. Oh, it comes on strong, doesn't it? It's like you run into a guy who says, yeah, I bought Apple in 1991.
Joe Getty
It $4.
Katie Green
Shut up. Nobody wants to hear that. Shut up.
Joe Getty
You're right. Nobody ever says I got into bitcoin late. Thought I would jump on it. I lost a bunch of money and I got chlamydia. Once again, I don't know how this guy got chlamydia. And my story is everybody gets chlamydia.
Katie Green
Well, it's everywhere. Be careful.
Joe Getty
We've got Katie's headlines on the way. Stay here.
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.
Katie Green
Partisan.
Jack Armstrong
It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails. Plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe Margarita?
Joe Getty
I'm thirsty.
Jack Armstrong
Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.
Joe Getty
Feel more seasonal in here already.
Jack Armstrong
If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.
Joe Getty
Tis the season to be jollier.
Ryan
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Unknown
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Joe Getty
Los Angeles Rams fans. They beat the Billies yesterday. Even though Josh Allen had one of the most amazing performance in the history of the NFL, he's clearly your league mvp. Six touchdowns, threw for three, ran for three. Who does that? Nobody.
Katie Green
Did he win or lose? He lost. He's a loser. That's what I say.
Joe Getty
All right.
Katie Green
Actually the playoffs are shaping up to be really interesting. A lot of really good, exciting teams.
Joe Getty
And the Chiefs once again, one on the last play of the game bounced one through the uprights. I mean, what the stumble bums. No, no team in any sport has ever done this ever in the history of sports.
Katie Green
Stumble bums. Stumble bombs. Yeah. That's a good old timey one for you, Katie. Glad you enjoyed that. Yeah. They're winning ugly, as they used to say.
Joe Getty
Beyond winning ugly on the last play of the game. Nobody's ever even come close to this number of last play. The game wins. They could easily be like 7 and 7. It's just incredible.
Katie Green
I'm Mr. Old Timey reference now. But they're Mr. Magoo ing their way to the Super Bowl. How did he not fall off the cliff or get hit by a car? It's God protects fools and drunks. And the Chiefs, there will be a team that goes to kneel. The ball will fumble it and the she will pick it up and win. Right? Right. Time for the victory formation. Jim, is this one's all but world? Oh, it's come loose.
Joe Getty
Hope all was loose.
Katie Green
Yeah. Beautiful, Michael. Love it. Hey, let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with Katie Green. Katie.
Unknown
Thank you guys. The Associated Press Trump calls for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and says a U.S. withdrawal from NATO is possible.
Katie Green
I read this morning that Russia is hammering Ukraine with like double the number of drones and missiles that they have of any time in the war.
Joe Getty
Right.
Katie Green
Huge escalation as they're trying to get to a better spot to, you know, sit down at the bargaining table.
Joe Getty
But he's got to be feeling a little weakened after the Syria falling apart. So panicked. More on that next hour.
Katie Green
If you're not familiar with this, Russia had a couple of has a couple of key bases in Syria.
Unknown
NBC News Trump aims to end birthright citizenship. Says American citizens with family here illegally may be deported.
Joe Getty
I don't understand how this is even controversial. I don't get why it's controversial.
Katie Green
It was just the Trump derangement crowd and the immigrants are Better than us because they're from somewhere else. Lunatics.
Joe Getty
We'll talk about this later.
Unknown
As you guys mentioned, abc, Putin giving Assad asylum in Russia, that's a good look.
Katie Green
Yeah, I'm stealing this from. I think it was JT or one of our frequent correspondents. How long before Assad gets a little annoying and he stands too close to an open window?
Unknown
From the New York times, Taylor Swift's eras tour grand total $2 billion.
Joe Getty
Yeah, she's doing her last concert tonight. I'll have to run through some of the final numbers on that tour. It's the most successful tour in the history of music. But what it did financially, just as a business story is stunning.
Katie Green
Then she put out that book that sold like 34 of a million in the first two minutes in target.
Joe Getty
What's her book? I didn't know she had a book.
Katie Green
It's like a tour memorabilia book with all sorts of pictures and stories.
Unknown
From the New York Post. Juan Soto signing with mets on gargantuan Sanjuan $765 million contract.
Katie Green
Did he win the World Series, Katie, or did he lose it? He's a loser too.
Joe Getty
So he's leaving the Yankees going to the Mets for the biggest contract in the history of sports and it's actually significantly bigger than Shohei Otani's because Ohtani's in real dollars was like mid-400s and this one is actually guaranteed to be 3/4 of a billion dollar.
Katie Green
It's cuckoo nuts.
Unknown
It is also from the New York Post. I love this quote. Defund the police activist goes viral after begging for help when everything she owned was stolen in San Francisco.
Joe Getty
I love that story. The cops didn't do s. I love that story.
Katie Green
These people, I just want to slap them so badly. But I'm a non violent man. I'm a peaceful man.
Unknown
And finally from the Babylon Bee, prosecutors warn Daniel Penny acquittal could lead to rampant acts of heroism.
Joe Getty
Oh, I like that.
Katie Green
Yeah, that is good. The number of utterly cuckoo for cocoa puffs notions all out of academia that were like the rage for a while. Defund the police. A man can just decide he's a woman and that's makes him as much of a woman as a woman. I mean this stuff is lunacy. But you have the intelligentsia shouting and then punishing you if you say excuse me, that's crazy.
Joe Getty
We're going to check in on the revolution that occurred in Syria over the weekend with Jeff McCausland, one of our favorite middle military analysts in hour two. So if you don't get that. Grab the podcast. It's Armstrong and Getty on demand.
Katie Green
Why not subscribe? Armstrong and Getty.
Jack Armstrong
All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.
Katie Green
Partisan.
Jack Armstrong
It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?
Joe Getty
I'm thirsty. Watch.
Jack Armstrong
I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.
Joe Getty
Feel more seasonal in here already.
Jack Armstrong
If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.
Joe Getty
Tis the season to be jollier.
Ryan
Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.
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Joe Getty
Oh yeah, because now they could listen.
Katie Green
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Joe Getty
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Katie Green
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Joe Getty
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Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Episode Title: I'm Feeling A Little Peckish. Let Me Grab A Snack.
Release Date: December 9, 2024
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
In this engaging episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong, Joe Getty, and Katie Green delve into a range of pressing topics, from geopolitical upheavals to social dynamics affecting young men in America. The conversation seamlessly blends political analysis with societal observations, offering listeners a comprehensive overview of current events and their broader implications.
The episode kicks off with a deep dive into the unexpected overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hosts express astonishment at the suddenness of the revolution, highlighting how intelligence agencies and global powers failed to predict such a seismic shift.
Joe Getty [04:51]:
"It's a group of people that overthrew Bashar Assad in Syria. And here's one thing I think the world has learned. You can't see these things coming."
They discuss Assad's dramatic escape to Russia, comparing the potential chaos in Syria to the prolonged conflict experienced in Libya. The conversation underscores the complexities arising from such revolutions, emphasizing the challenges in establishing stable democracies post-conflict.
Joe Getty [10:42]:
"It's just a truth of the history of the world. It's very difficult to end up with what we ended up with after you have a revolution of some sort, where you end up with a stable, safe democracy."
The hosts also touch upon the involvement of the United States, noting the presence of 900 U.S. troops in Syria and recent bombings that indicate ongoing military engagement.
Joe Getty [14:38]:
"We have 900 U.S. troops in Syria. We bombed 75 different sites yesterday. In Syria. So to say we're not involved at all, obviously would be a lie."
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the repercussions of Assad's fall on regional powers like Russia and Iran. The hosts speculate that this development could destabilize Russia's standing, especially considering its ongoing challenges in Ukraine.
Katie Green [12:19]:
"It's a hell of a blow to Putin and Russia, which had tried to portray itself as a stalwart and dependable ally."
They explore the potential for realignment in Middle Eastern alliances, suggesting that the weakening of Iran and the shifting power dynamics could pave the way for a new era of peace or further instability, depending on how the situation evolves.
Shifting focus, Armstrong and Getty address the growing disenfranchisement among young men in the United States. They reference a Wall Street Journal article highlighting how young men are increasingly turning to risky investments like cryptocurrency and meme stocks as a response to perceived economic and social disadvantages.
Joe Getty [31:25]:
"Some men say they have little choice but to roll the dice in a world they believe is stacked against them."
The hosts critique the media's portrayal of crypto as a sound investment strategy, expressing skepticism about its sustainability and the long-term impacts on financial stability.
Katie Green [36:35]:
"I think a lot of young men also emerge from their schooling beaten down because they have been systematically given the message there is something wrong with you merely because you are male."
They delve into the societal factors contributing to this trend, including declining workforce participation among men, lower college enrollment rates, and the erosion of traditional masculine roles. The conversation highlights the emotional and psychological toll these issues are taking on young men, leading them to seek alternative avenues for financial and personal fulfillment.
The episode also touches on a recent high-profile assassination—the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The hosts express bewilderment at the incident, particularly given the extensive surveillance in New York City.
Joe Getty [26:26]:
"I'm surprised at that. And then also the fact, as a libertarian who worries about government power a lot, ... we've certainly put the infrastructure in place."
They discuss the broader implications of such events on public safety and trust in law enforcement, questioning how such a crime could occur in one of the most monitored cities globally.
Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Getty provide critical commentary on various cultural and media phenomena. They mock the sensationalism surrounding topics like Defund the Police activism and the shifting definitions of gender identity, highlighting what they perceive as absurdities perpetuated by mainstream media and progressive agendas.
Katie Green [21:33]:
"Can we get the official okay list? Clearly, white male healthcare CEOs are cool, but if they are a woman or another race? Does it have to be healthcare bureaucrats?"
The hosts advocate for traditional values and express frustration with what they see as the undermining of these principles in modern society.
Returning to economic discussions, the hosts analyze the appeal of cryptocurrencies and speculative investments among young men. They point out the high returns touted by some financial reports but caution against viewing these investments as reliable or sustainable.
Joe Getty [35:33]:
"The Wall Street Journal, of all places, shouldn't go with if you had this imaginary portfolio. Shouldn't play that kind of game."
They emphasize the importance of sound financial strategies over speculative endeavors, drawing parallels to poker by discussing the calculated risks and potential downfalls of such investment choices.
In this episode, Armstrong and Getty offer a multifaceted exploration of current geopolitical upheavals and societal shifts. From the unpredictable fall of Assad in Syria to the deepening frustrations among young American men, the hosts provide insightful analysis and candid commentary. Their discussions underscore the complexities of modern challenges, advocating for traditional values and cautious approaches to economic opportunities.
Listeners are left with a thought-provoking examination of how global events and internal social dynamics intersect, shaping the present and future of societies worldwide.
Joe Getty [04:51]:
"You can't see these things coming."
Joe Getty [10:42]:
"It's very difficult to end up with what we ended up with after you have a revolution of some sort."
Katie Green [12:19]:
"It's a hell of a blow to Putin and Russia."
Joe Getty [31:25]:
"Some men say they have little choice but to roll the dice in a world they believe is stacked against them."
Katie Green [36:35]:
"There is something wrong with you merely because you are male."
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essence of the episode, ensuring that even those who haven't listened can grasp the key discussions and insights presented by Armstrong and Getty.