It Says I'm A Robot

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "It Says I'm A Robot" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: March 14, 2025

In this episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into pressing societal issues, ranging from government shutdown frustrations and homelessness to the complexities of federal bureaucracy and the surge in legalized gambling. Through engaging discussions and real-world examples, the hosts provide insightful commentary on the state of America in 2025.

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1. Government Shutdown and Public Disinterest

The episode opens with Joe Getty expressing frustration over the extensive coverage of the government shutdown on cable news networks like MSNBC and Fox. He questions the public's engagement with the ongoing political wranglings:

Joe Getty [00:24]: "I thought, is there anybody in the country interested in this back and forth and the wranglings over this? Anyone?"

Jack Armstrong responds by highlighting the complexity of the budget process, suggesting that even those interested likely misunderstand the intricacies involved:

Jack Armstrong [01:00]: "Even if you're interested in it, you probably misunderstand it. ... the budget process is so complicated."

Joe Getty counters by pointing out that previous shutdowns often get resolved before significantly impacting the public, leading to apathy:

Joe Getty [01:13]: "But haven't you lived through the last dozen of these where most of the time it gets settled before it happens and nobody ever thinks about it again after all this conversation?"

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2. Homelessness and Drug Addiction in San Francisco

Shifting focus, the hosts address the escalating homelessness crisis in San Jose, California, sparked by a troubling incident involving a homeless individual during an arrest:

Jack Armstrong [01:22]: "Homeless guy is masturbating outside someone's home... Advocates Blame San Jose's Homelessness Approach for Violent Police Altercation with Unhoused Man."

Joe Getty and Jack Armstrong critique the local government's handling of homelessness, suggesting that excessive support without adequate oversight enables continued addiction and criminal behavior. They discuss an interview with Patrick, a substance abuser in San Francisco, highlighting his candid admissions and the systemic failures that trap individuals in addiction:

Joe Getty [02:33]: "And hey, even your readers in the Bay Area of California no longer are on your side on this sort of stuff."

The conversation underscores the tension between providing support and inadvertently fostering dependency:

Jack Armstrong [05:04]: "The city of San Francisco has made it easy and comfortable for him to continue to be an addict, which is the worst thing you can do."

Patrick's interview reveals the harsh realities of addiction, including multiple overdoses and a cycle of seeking help without achieving long-term sobriety:

Patrick [03:40]: "I've been to several detoxes and even since I've been in San Francisco... there's something with this fentanyl that's like, just keeping people on the streets."

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3. Critique of Federal Bureaucracy and the Civil Rights Division

The hosts transition to a critical analysis of the Civil Rights Division within the U.S. Department of Justice, emphasizing its perceived ideological bias and resistance to bipartisan reforms. Drawing from a Wall Street Journal article by Kim Strassel, they discuss the challenges faced by conservative appointees and the division's alignment with liberal advocacy groups:

Joe Getty [19:31]: "The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department ... is a hotbed of liberal activism that acts as a law unto itself."

They argue that career attorneys within the division often refuse to adhere to directives that conflict with their personal beliefs, leading to inefficiencies and a lack of accountability:

Joe Getty [21:19]: "Career attorneys refused to work on cases which with the ... they disagree. Others ... sabotaging cases."

Jack Armstrong echoes these sentiments, describing the division as dominated by self-righteous activists whose priorities overshadow fundamental rights:

Jack Armstrong [22:48]: "They're all activists, self-righteous, angry activists."

The discussion highlights the broader issue of bureaucratic capture, where bureaucratic agencies are dominated by ideologically aligned individuals, hindering objective governance:

Joe Getty [25:21]: "Capture. I mean, if you get enough of your crowd into something, you can take it over."

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4. March Madness and the Surge in Legalized Gambling

Shifting gears, the hosts explore the burgeoning legal gambling industry in the United States, particularly in the context of March Madness. They discuss the massive increase in both legal and illegal betting activities following a pivotal court ruling that expanded gambling rights to more states:

Joe Getty [31:08]: "This year they're expecting $3.1 billion to be bet legally on just March Madness. But the total amount that is going to be bet in the country is 15.5 billion."

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty express concerns over the lack of regulation and the societal impacts of widespread gambling, comparing it to other addictive behaviors:

Joe Getty [33:44]: "I didn't even know [quintillion] was a real word. ... It's not very likely you're gonna get the whole."

They criticize the narrative presented by media outlets like NPR, which focus solely on the economic benefits to state governments rather than the personal freedoms and potential dangers associated with legalized gambling:

Joe Getty [34:19]: "They didn't even bring that up. It was only, does it benefit the state government or not?"

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5. Budgetary Complexities and Tax Policy Mismanagement

Jack Armstrong delves into the convoluted nature of the federal budgeting process, using the example of Republicans struggling to extend the 2017 tax reforms. He explains how the Congressional Budget Office's 10-year window complicates policy extensions, leading to misleading classifications of budgetary actions:

Jack Armstrong [28:00]: "It doesn't cut taxes. It's like your fiscal year and the calendar year don't overlap or something."

The hosts lament the opaque and manipulative strategies employed in budget negotiations, which obscure the true nature of policy changes from the public:

Joe Getty [29:28]: "It's seen as a tax cut even though it would merely prevent a four and a half trillion dollar tax increase."

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6. Concluding Thoughts and Future Topics

As the episode nears its end, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty preview upcoming discussions, including efforts to reform university systems, immigration crackdowns, and the psychological implications of progressivism. They emphasize the need for accountability and systemic change to address the entrenched issues within federal institutions.

Jack Armstrong [35:41]: "How's the immigration crackdown going? And is progressivism actually a mental disorder? I will present a case to you and you, the jury Are there juries in this sort of thing?"

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Getty [00:24]: "I watch MSNBC and Fox every morning and they were wall to wall government shutdown."

• Jack Armstrong [05:04]: "The city of San Francisco has made it easy and comfortable for him to continue to be an addict."

• Joe Getty [19:31]: "The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department ... is a hotbed of liberal activism that acts as a law unto itself."

• Joe Getty [31:08]: "If you're into sports, you know this... This year they're expecting $3.1 billion to be bet legally on just March Madness."

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Conclusion

In "It Says I'm A Robot," Armstrong and Getty tackle a range of complex and interrelated issues affecting modern America. Their incisive discussions shed light on the systemic flaws within government operations, social support systems, and emerging industries like legalized gambling. By intertwining real-world examples with critical analysis, the hosts encourage listeners to question and understand the underlying mechanics shaping current societal challenges.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

We've lined up 10 different guests to talk about the government shutdown over the next three hours. Cable news. I'm old, so I watch cable news. I realize a lot of you who are not old, you're like you were watching what, you don't watch it, so that makes sense. But the small number of people who still watch cable news, what do they think they're doing? I watch MSNBC and Fox every morning and they were wall to wall government shutdown. And I thought, is there anybody in the country interested in this back and forth and the wranglings over this? Anyone?

[Jack Armstrong]

And even if you're interested in it, you probably misunderstand it. I've got a good illustration of that coming up a little later. Not because you lack sophistication or anything like that, but because the, the budget process is so complicated.

[Joe Getty]

But haven't you lived through the last dozen of these where most of the time it gets settled before it happens and nobody ever thinks about it again after all this conversation?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, the Beltway bubble. They're self obsessed. On a completely different topic, which we're going to slide into now. Got this note from Mike who lives in the San Jose, California area. We're huge in the ho shout out to our friends there. Californian California in a nutshell. Homeless guy is masturbating outside someone's home. Oh, then he runs. Bites a cop in the process of being arrested. And the headline in the Mercury News is Advocates Blame San Jose's Homelessness Approach for Violent Police Altercation with Unhoused Man.

[Unknown]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he said it's articles. As much as he supports local journalism, it was articles like this that made him throw up his hands and cancel his subscription to Mercury News, which used to be a really good regional paper.

[Joe Getty]

For an important metro area. And hey, even your readers in the Bay Area of California no longer are on your side on this sort of stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

People are bubbles. Yeah, journalism in America is a weird little subset of people. It's, it's like the Amish, but odder. Anyway, their lives and thoughts have nothing to do with yours. Friends on the topic of bums and.

[Joe Getty]

Junkies, came across this yesterday. It's a guy who goes on the street in San Francisco. He's actually wearing those cool Ray Ban glasses where you can video people and record them. I don't know if he's getting their permission or not. I don't know. They're fentanyl addicts on the street.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I know J.J. smith's work. He's really good. This is what he does. And he's very polite and respectful and asks people if he can talk to them and record it.

[Joe Getty]

But anyway, here's a conversation with a young man standing on a street corner in. Could be any corner in San Francisco.

[Unknown]

Where you from, Patrick?

[Patrick]

I'm from Indiana. Indiana, usa.

[Unknown]

How long you been in San Francisco?

[Patrick]

I've been in San Francisco for four years.

[Unknown]

Four years max. You, what type of drugs you use?

[Patrick]

I use crack, methamphetamine, hard cocaine. I use fentanyl, isofentanol, isoflofentanol, and smoke weed.

[Unknown]

Do you know fentanyl can kill you?

[Patrick]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Have you ever overdosed on it?

[Patrick]

I've overdosed, yeah. Many times? Several times?

[Unknown]

Several times, yes. If that never scared you.

[Patrick]

It scares me every time.

[Unknown]

Has it scared you not to use it anymore?

[Patrick]

Sort of, but not. Not. There's no longevity there.

[Joe Getty]

Obviously. Pretty well spoken dude. It's not like he's, you know, completely crazy or an idiot by any means. Rolls on.

[Unknown]

Are you homeless? On house?

[Patrick]

I'm. No, no, I'm not.

[Unknown]

You're not what?

[Patrick]

I'm not homeless or I'm honest.

[Unknown]

You said you sell the streets or in the shelter or.

[Patrick]

I. I have an apartment through a subsidy that was a non profit funded with city benefits.

[Unknown]

Oh, so they gave you an apartment, the city gave you an apartment?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Okay.

[Unknown]

How's that working out for you?

[Patrick]

Well, I mean, it's working out. It's working out really well relative to some of the people on the streets. I mean, I still have a lot of my health. I'd, you know, I have the ability to not worry about like my basic needs, like, you know, food, shelter.

[Unknown]

How old are you?

[Patrick]

I'm 31.

[Unknown]

31. Do you ever stay in contact with your family members?

[Patrick]

I talk to my mom, kind of.

[Unknown]

If I was able to tell you I could help you out and get you into a detox where you can start healing yourself. Are you interested?

[Patrick]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm always interested. I have kind of a flight risk.

[Unknown]

You're a flight risk?

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

What do you mean by that? Explain that.

[Patrick]

I've been to several detoxes and even since I've been in San Francisco, you know, I've researched the avenues, but then when it gets close, I just tend to not go.

[Unknown]

Okay, I understand. I understand what that mean now.

[Patrick]

No, I'm super interested. Like I'm super interested. But then, like, fentanyl is such a different animal. It's such a different drug. It's like, I lived in Chicago. I was. I was a heroin addict in Chicago for some years, and I was always able to get into detox very easily. But there's something with this fentanyl that's like, just keeping people on the streets.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, okay, we got more of this. But that's a pretty interesting insight right there. As a guy who does meth and heroin, Fentanyl's a different animal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. I was struck by his rather concise and eloquent description of what I'm always going on about. The city of San Francisco has made it easy and comfortable for him to continue to be an addict, which is the worst thing you can do. I'm reminded of the words of Nelly Bowles now of the Free press, before the Free Press existed as a liberal, lesbian San Franciscan who realized that, as she put it so beautifully, and I wish I had it in front of me, but I'll paraphrase that. The way we treat these people is allegedly kindness, but it doesn't look like kindness to me. It looks like easing young people into death on the pavement.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, well, that gets into having a judgment about their lifestyle. Maybe you don't like that. You're a libertarian and people should be able to do whatever they want. Fine. If you can support yourself while you're taking fentanyl and meth and hard cocaine, whatever that is, and a bunch of other stuff, go ahead. But if you can't support yourself, and now it's my money to pay in for you, now I get a say.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he said it's worked out. His apartment, a city paid apartment, because it takes care of all of his basic needs. He doesn't have to worry about being broke or on the street. It's great. So he can keep being a junkie. And that is the favor we're doing him as a society, quote, unquote.

[Joe Getty]

Let's hear a little more of this and discuss more.

[Unknown]

So tell me this. Do when you get your supplies, do you get them from harm reduction?

[Patrick]

Yeah, yeah, supplies. Like, I mean, you know. What do you mean?

[Unknown]

Let me ask you this. What do you think about harm reduction? Do you think they're enabling people?

[Patrick]

Yes, I do think they're enabling people, but I can't say that they're a totally bad organization because they do offer services. But like I said before, barely anybody takes those services that they, you know, they. They take the pipes and the. And the Brillo. And the, you know, the, the needles over the, you know, the, the Subutex maintenance treatments, the micro. The euthanorphin microdose, the STD tests.

[Unknown]

Yeah, okay, I get that.

[Joe Getty]

Darn it. We edited out the part I wanted to talk about. That's disappointing. He. He was asked what he does all day long or where he gets his money, and he talked a little bit about it and they kind of like winked at each other and used some code words. I wanted to ask people what that meant. Did that mean he stole all day long? Was he breaking into cars or.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, let's see if we can dig that up. We have the raw audio. Yeah, we'll come back to it.

[Joe Getty]

Because I thought that's a heck of a thing to gloss over, if that's what he meant. You know, I just kind of, you know, I steal for my other stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ha.

[Joe Getty]

You know, if you've got your car broken into in the San Francisco area, you don't find it quite as funny or as not a big deal as he does.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, as long as I'm quoting people. Thomas so well, famously said there are some ideas so stupid. It was a word like stupid. So stupid. Only an intellectual could. Could have them. And I'm. There are so many times when especially progressive America manages to overlook the bedrock truths of human beings and human behavior. And that is, if you want less of a terrible, terrible behavior, there have to be disincentives for it.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'm trying to wrap my head around how you even get to this place. So San Francisco's a hippie town, or, you know, and this is true in lots of places, not just San Francisco, but San Francisco's a hippie town. And so they think partying is cool. And you shouldn't ever describe any possible downsides to partying hard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like a lot of port cities, it has a reputation as an anything goes place.

[Joe Getty]

Right. But then when you got drug addicts on the street, so those of you who. You still believe that if you just. If you just had enough rehabs, these people would go to rehab and stop doing this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they think that.

[Joe Getty]

How do you come to that conclusion? What's your. What's your mindset or data that brought you to that conclusion? Does that guy sound like an amino?

[Jack Armstrong]

They have no experience of the actual people, I would guess.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's not like I've lived my life around heroin addicts. It just seems, like, obvious to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that is really interesting. And then you've got the crowd that uses the Numbers of people on the streets to claim it's a housing thing. And then that's. I don't know. You're either an idiot or it's just a scam. It's a way to try to get more tax revenue.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Anything goes, I get. But anything goes and taxpayers will pay for it is an attitude that is not only outrageous as a taxpayer, but. But just again, it overlooks the bedrock truths of human behavior.

[Joe Getty]

That guy seems more or less perfectly comfortable with his lifestyle.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. To the extent that an addict can be. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, Mike.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because of the quote unquote services. Every time I hear these stories, so I just. I'm amazed this guy's still alive.

[Joe Getty]

Just this list of drugs that he was using. Yeah, well, we edited out also the number of times he's had to be brought back. He's overdosed a whole bunch of times and had to be revived, you know, because you heard him asked. You ever. You never almost died.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

You know, you realize this could kill you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've overdosed a whole bunch of different times. They had to bring me back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

And it just like this seemed like a no big deal to him whatsoever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And the number of times we've talked about this that we've been flooded with emails and texts saying, guys, I was an addict of various substances and getting arrested and put in jail saved my life over and over again.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, yes, we have seen that over and over again. Have we ever had one in your. In your personal life or on the radio? Have you ever had one? Yeah, they put me up in an apartment. They gave me needles and Brillo pads and all the stuff he's mentioned. They gave me vouchers so I could buy food, and then I got sober. I have never heard that story one time. Not once. No, no, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think we have the clip you're looking for, Michael. 74. Still coming in, actually.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, we'll get to that later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is she mailing it to us or what? How many. How do we get these clips?

[Joe Getty]

We have the same bird.

[Patrick]

I got it right now.

[Joe Getty]

Same bird, Harry Potter, an owl.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's sent by owl.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Unknown]

So how do you. How do you survive, like, to get your. To get the money to get the drugs?

[Patrick]

Well, I don't know how. I don't know how much. I don't know how much of that I can go into. I've been trying to tell story, but.

[Unknown]

Just whatever you want to say, say it.

[Patrick]

Well, I've gone career.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Patrick]

Every day.

[Unknown]

All right. All right.

[Patrick]

I work every day.

[Joe Getty]

All right, so I've gone, I've gone career. And he kind of smiles and nods. So that's breaking into cars. I, I couldn't tell if that was turning tricks or breaking into cars.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's interesting. It could be that I assumed he was a. He's a thief, he's a shoplifter. Right.

[Joe Getty]

And then for that to be just so you know, I break into cars. So yeah, they, they provide me with an apartment and all the stuff I need from a drugs. And then I steal from people who are just trying to park their car so they can go to work.

[Jack Armstrong]

All because he had one medical bill he couldn't pay in. Housing is expensive. Said nobody ever.

[Joe Getty]

My God, that is really interesting. Again, what's your any response to that text line 415 295KFTC.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Unknown]

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[Joe Getty]

Into a jail by hiding it inside.

[Unknown]

Two cans of Pringles. And the worst part was the prisoners.

[Jack Armstrong]

Could never get that last bit of.

[Joe Getty]

Heroin from the bottom of the can.

[Jack Armstrong]

End of the day, it's really a joke.

[Joe Getty]

So we just played some audio as an interview with a drug addict standing on the street in San Francisco, which is probably not a lot different than the drug addict standing on the street in Seattle or LA or. It's funny, I'm hitting all west coast cities, but that's where a lot of it is. Vancouver, man, you can just drive. I 5. San Diego, Louisiana. On up the coast. San Francisco, hit Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Cities that will provide you someplace to live, all the paraphernalia you need to take the drugs, all that sort of thing. And it's working out great. As you look around the city, you can see that it's a. That plan has been really reaped the benefits. Anyway, so the guy that was interviewed on the street, at some point, the. The interviewer said, you know, how you getting by? Or whatever. And he said, oh, I've gone career. And a whole bunch of people pointed out that that means career criminal. That's your street lingo. He's almost bragging about it, as if there's no stigma in that culture. Yeah, seems to be. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that I'm parking my car so I can go in to a store or go to work or whatever. You smashed the windows, stole some stuff. I now have great expense. My insurance goes up. You stole my laptop. All the putt pain that comes with that, but, you know, hey, what are you gonna do?

[Jack Armstrong]

Then he stole everything in the story you went into, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. That's a little disappointing that it's treated.

[Jack Armstrong]

You may have crossed paths with him. He was walking out with his big trash can full of. Trash bag full of what you were going to buy. And while you were in there saying, where the hell's all the goods? He was breaking into your car. Win, win.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'll just. Here's somebody somewhat angry. A lot of. A lot of you are quite angry with that nonchalant drug addict thief standing on the corner there. I'm dead. Effing serious. I want to go dark knight vigilante, like Philippines president Dura Totty or whatever his name is on these. Yeah, well, I don't know that I want that. Well, you know, I know I don't want that. You don't need that. You just gotta stop enabling these people. You know, you don't. You don't need to give people an apartment and money for food and the actual paraphernalia to take the drugs. You don't need to do that. And if you stop, you'll have a lot fewer drug addicts, period.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. Yeah. It's too miserable. I don't want to do this anymore. That has been.

[Joe Getty]

Is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that not Jack, roughly the cry that precedes every serious attempt to heal from addiction? This sucks. I don't want to do this anymore. Yeah, essentially.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't like this lifestyle, whatever the other lifestyle would be of not being drunk or drugged. I would prefer to. This is the only way anybody ever stops. And if you're providing somebody a pretty easy life and if you don't have to go to work every day, obviously you don't have any kids or anything like that, or if you do, you don't care about them. I was. He's from Indiana. Do you talk to your mom? The interviewer asked. Yeah, sometimes. Good. You know, mom might just have just raised a kid like we all raise a kid. And for whatever reason, at a party, that kid did some drugs and tried fentanyl and off it goes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's worth mentioning that he was an addict in Chicago for a while and now he's in San Francisco. Was it because he was transferred for his career or. Or what exactly?

[Joe Getty]

The weather, probably. I'm guessing he got word that. Hey, are they really taking care of you in San Francisco?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's great. And easy to be an addict. I'd be in Seattle, but it's too rainy, so I went with San Francisco. Great.

[Joe Getty]

Why does society do this? Anyway, we've got more on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty, how are you?

[Joe Getty]

I do want to talk about March Madness and betting gambling a little bit later. As you know, it's changed in the last few years. A big court ruling allowed legalized gambling all across the country in a way that had never existed before. And there's been an explosion of gambling. We do ads for it, too. And I, you know, do whatever you want to do. I have no problem with that. As funny as. Well, I'll save this for later. I heard NPR doing this story. Their take was hilarious. Anyway, my main thrust here is you don't understand the giant federal government. I don't understand the giant federal government. It'd be almost impossible to understand it. And it's hopeless to think we're ever going to pare it down to something that is responsible to the people. So good night, everybody. Drive safely. Tip your wait staff. It's yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's equally impossible for, say, the president to understand it.

[Joe Getty]

Right. So this is an article in the Wall Street Journal by Kim Strassel. Strassel. We decide how we want to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Strassel.

[Joe Getty]

Strassel. Meet the lawyer who's about to head one of the most ideological offices in Washington. Harmeet Dillon is her name and she was appointed.

[Jack Armstrong]

We talked to her several times. Yeah, we talked to her. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, Cool. What did we talk to her about?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, she's represented some great clients in the face of progressive Madness. I don't remember the specifics.

[Joe Getty]

She's doomed in this new assignment, I think. But yeah, she is going to. She's the nominee as Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, and she is going to be involved in what former Attorney General Eric Holder called the Justice Department's crown jewel. And this is something that none of us pay any attention to, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, which has.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I'm in favor of civil rights.

[Joe Getty]

Jack, which has for decades successfully repelled any effort at reform or oversight. It's a hotbed of liberal activism that acts as a law unto itself. If Mr. Trump hopes to see through his goal of depoliticizing the Justice Department, it will be ground zero. And I thought a lot of you had been overstating, you know, the Justice Department's ideological leanings or the deep state or whatever, but no, you haven't been. And this whole. There's an article the other day about all the people that Elon is firing and trying to get rid of, but it's the gazillions, unelected people underneath all these people that are real, the fabric of the whole federal government that make the rules and bog things down and cost you money that are almost untouchable.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. Well, you go to somebody in that, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, you say, all right, I need you to file this writ. They'll say, I'm on it. And a week later, how's that writ filing? Gone. I lost it. All right, I need you to file it. All right, a week later, I lost it again. I ought to fire you. Well, you can't.

[Joe Getty]

They quote a former Republican in the Wall Street Journal who got involved in this division of the Justice Department. I have never been met with greater hostility. Nearly all the career lawyers come from liberal advocacy groups and all carry the mindset. I can do exactly what I was doing for the acl, aclu, only now with the power of the government behind me. Largest of the Justice's eight litigation areas. Today it has a mandate far beyond the 1957 Civil rights law it was initially created to police. Its embedded activists take pride not in enforcing the law, but in making the law in areas that range from disabilities and voting laws to housing, lending and immigration. It's one sided approach to the laws it oversees. Concentrating narrowly on radical priorities. Ignoring entirely basic speech and religious rights has played a part in Americans distrust of the department and why you're so angry with the federal government all the time. It comes out of this department. Prior Republican political appointees Alongside the rare conservative lawyer who accidentally ended there brim with stories of the division's resistance to direction, even direct orders. Career attorneys refused to work on cases. This is kind of what you were talking about. Career attorneys refused to work on cases which with the. Which with. With which they disagree. Others take part with the goal of misleading superiors on legal questions or sabotaging cases. Lawyers send letters, make threats or initiate proceedings without sign off from leadership. So they really just do whatever the hell they want to do on their own.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they're all activists, self righteous, angry activists.

[Joe Getty]

And things really hum along when Democrats are in charge. A 2013 inspector general report evaluating the operations of the civil rights divisions noted that of nine trial attorneys hired in 2010, eight had one or more liberal affiliations, including activist groups like the ACLU LaRaza or Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, which is a crazy organization also with no candidates that were Republican or conservative affiliated hired. And it got even crazier under Biden, according to the Wall Street Journal.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that was in the voting section. And you may recall when Georgia tried to quite reasonably say Covid's over. We're going to go back to the Before COVID rules, the Justice Department went crazy and you got all that Jim Crow on steroids horrific garbage out of Joe Biden and his administration.

[Joe Getty]

So all these super lefty organizations are fighting like crazy. They're waging a ferocious battle. It says here against her confirmation. A letter signed by 65 activist group warns of an assault on this and that if she is confirmed. So they're really pressuring Democrats to. To try to keep her from becoming the nominee. No, nobody pays any attention to this stuff. No normal person is even aware it's going on and it doesn't make the news on a daily basis. All these affiliated with the most left ring wing Marxist organizations. Lawyers pushing cases they care about, losing files on cases they don't care about, doing whatever they want without any oversight. And it's been going on for decades without anybody making a dent in it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. The deep state or I just prefer the permanent bureaucracy because it is a boring straightforward term. The permanent bureaucracy which actually runs DC is almost uniformly left.

[Joe Getty]

Right. The whole concept of capture is not appreciated enough. Like once you get enough capture where.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have to say click on each picture that has a traffic light. Is that what you're talking about?

[Joe Getty]

Is that the poles in it? The light's not it. Does that count as the traffic light?

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

I've got the bottom part of the. Oh, it says I'm a robot now. I got to do it again. Click on everything with a bicycle. Well, that's barely the fact.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's like a tire. It could be something else. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Capture. I mean, if you get enough of your crowd into something, you can take it over. And we've seen it with the university system where if you get enough left wing Democrats, and I mean the far left wing Democrats, you've captured the institution in that one, you only hire other left wingers, and two, you'd be scared as somebody who didn't agree with them to ever raise your voice because it's going to damage your career. So that institution has been captured. Well, that has happened with our federal government.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Yeah. That is precisely the aim of dei. Diversity means more people who think like I do. Inclusion means more people who think like I do. If their color, if their skin is slightly darker than a tanned golfer, all the better if they can claim some sort of I'm queer, which can mean anything in the world you want. But they think like me. Yes. See how inclusive I am? It's. It is a technique of capture, of conquest.

[Joe Getty]

I find this, I find this really depressing that one of the most important departments in all of the federal government that is causing so many of the things that I hate is so one, captured and two, beyond. You know, you can't really touch it. They're like the untouchables. And three, nobody talks about it or writes about it or thinks about it, so it's unlikely to change. I find that very depressing.

[Jack Armstrong]

So rooting for Ms. Dillon to kick ass in that job and it'll, it'll do some real good. And, you know, for the first time, I'm just afraid Trump's erraticness and wacky policies and statements is going to derail his opportunity to do really, really good stuff too soon. But, you know, asking for a disciplined Trump at this point in his life and ours, frankly, is kind of silly. He's almost 80. So in another example, not to depress you or anything, but I thought this was instructive. As Chuck Schumer is bellowing about the Republicans want to slap food out of the mouths of babes and enrich their billionaires and millionaire and the rest of it rhetoric around the budget as we try to avoid a government shutdown or shut it down, who cares? Anyway, here's. Here's some writing by. Who is this? Oh, it's the editorial. Editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. But welcome to the arcane details of the budget baseline. Their premises. We hope Republicans aren't boxed into bad policy by some of the realities of the budgeting process. The main goal of Republicans in the current Congress is to extend the 2017 tax reform provisions that expire at the end of this year as written. That is they want to continue with current policy, which seems simple enough, but this is Congress which instead lives by the current law. That's in quotes, baseline over a 10 year period. I'll explain and if you don't quite get it, that's part of the point. Because some of those 272017 tax provisions expire within the Congressional Budget Office's 10 year window. The extension of current policy to fill to get to the end of that 10 year window is considered a budget busting tax cut, even though it would merely prevent a four and a half trillion dollar tax increase. This has Republicans scrambling to find offsetting tax increases or spending cuts to quote unquote, pay for an alleged tax cut. It doesn't cut taxes. It's like your fiscal year and the calendar year don't overlap or something. And so you got to pretend that, well, in October, November, we need to cut things down to the bone. When in truth all you have to do is keep doing what you're doing. But the way the system is set up so you don't, you have to pretend like the. So higher taxes, keeping the current laws of tax increase.

[Joe Getty]

So higher taxes would kick in. And if you try to stop the higher taxes from kicking, kicking in, that's seen as a tax cut even though it would be just holding them steady.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, exactly. So the Republicans have to jump through all sorts of hoops and budget trickery and the rest of it to keep the current policy because on paper it looks like a huge change in policy.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you're gonna have Chuck Schumer yelling at people that were trying to, you know, I don't know, slap the insulin out of the hands of the old or something.

[Joe Getty]

Ivy, I go around old folks homes, I slap the insulin out of their hands and then I give it to billionaires.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't need any insulin. Take it anyway. The point is to deny it to the old.

[Joe Getty]

Well, if there wasn't. If there was any point to this segment, and that's probably enough on a Friday of that. It's. This is also convoluted and complicated. Very few people understand it. Certainly people chanting and cheering at political rallies don't know any of this is happening.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't get me started on how Medicare really works.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's dizzying. You know, if there's a takeaway from all of this. It would be shrink government, federal government as much as possible and get government as local as you can conceive it to be because that's the only way the voters have actual control over it and there's any accountability.

[Joe Getty]

Man, we like our gambling. We sure do. And March Madness is one of the biggest gambling periods of the entire year. And the tournament brackets come out on Sunday a little. Some stats on that that are really interesting, among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. Sunday isn't here yet, but there are.

[Patrick]

Some big conference championships this weekend.

[Jack Armstrong]

You winners will automatically punch a ticket to the big dance. And some teams are already shoe ins.

[Patrick]

We're going to get right into it.

[Jack Armstrong]

First on the men's side, Duke, Houston, Auburn and Florida are the top ranked teams. The four top ranked teams, they will make it anytime.

[Joe Getty]

Duke is one of the top ranked teams. It's a bad, it's a bad time to be alive. But March Madness, I'm on display, folks. Really gets rolling on Sunday when the brackets come out. And if you're into sports, you know this. If you're not into sports, it's about as big a deal as anything happens. I mean, it's not as big as the super bowl, but it's probably. Well, it is second betting wise and, and, and people love it. This year they're expecting $3.1 billion to be bet legally on just March Madness. But the total amount that is going to be bet in the country is 15.5 billion. So even with all the legal betting that exists everywhere, 3 billion. There's another 12 and a half billion that are going to be bet illegally. I'm using my finger quotes. I mean, who's, I mean there, there's some real, it talks in this article about, you know, for some real offshore serious betting that is not. But the, the stuff you're doing at the office where everybody puts in five bucks, that adds up to a ton of money. But is anybody really worried about cracking down on that? No, they.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want to see Trump crack down on it. I'd like to see ice or somebody come into offices and, you know, cuff people are handing out brackets.

[Joe Getty]

It's disgusting. Prior to 2018, you could only bet on sports in Vegas. But since the courts decided that the states should be able to decide. There are 40 states that allow legal gambling and it has exploded legally from where it was before. Um, 23 million more Americans betting on the tournament this year than two years ago, for instance. That's a Lot more. I feel exactly the same. By the way, for the bracket. You fill out your bracket. Your odds of getting the bracket completely correct, getting all 63 games. Right. One in 9.2. Quintillion, whatever that is. That's a, that's a word I say regularly. I didn't even know it was a real word. Quintillion. Five trillion. No, 500 trillion. I don't even know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thousand trillion would be. I don't know. I'd lose track at that point.

[Joe Getty]

It's not very likely you're gonna get the whole.

[Jack Armstrong]

To summarize.

[Joe Getty]

But I have the same attitude on the whole gambling thing as I had on the drug thing. You know, feel free. Is it. But if you end up in a bad situation, don't be taking my money because you don't have any money. When you, when you're 60 and you ain't got no money and you need food or housing or whatever. And I find out when you, in your 20s, you used to bet heavily on sports, I don't want you to get any of my money. See is the deal. So.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, right. And there's their own.

[Joe Getty]

But there's no mechanism for that. Oh, here's the funny thing. When I was listening to npr, they presented it as, so is this benefiting states? And then they went through how much the legalized gambling is. Is shoring up the coffers of state governments and whether it is or not. And so do you think it was a good idea? It was all run through the lens of does this make your state government richer or not? Nobody bringing up the idea at all of maybe people, adults ought to be able to make their own decisions on this. And it shouldn't be illegal to decide to bet on a sport that that was. They didn't even bring that up. It was only, does it benefit the state government or not? As to whether or not it was a good idea to rule this way. Isn't that an interesting way to look at the world?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think that's really illuminating about that sort of people.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it is. So when. When they decided, no, no, no states can decide whether or not they want to have gambling. If you're a lefty, you looked it through it through the lens of is this going to give more money to the government or not? Not more personal freedom. Fascinating. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Coming up next hour, the fight to clean up America's disease universities. How's the immigration crackdown going? And is progressivism actually a mental disorder? I will present a case to you and you, the jury Are there juries in this sort of thing? You. The jury will decide.

[Joe Getty]

We need to have owner of the social credit score like they got in China. Maybe someday we can have that in the United States. So you get to be age 16. You ain't got no money, but we can look at your social credit score of how much you gambled in your life or spent on cigarettes or went on fancy vacations you couldn't afford. I realize the libertarian in me does not like anybody keeping track of this sort of thing, but I'd like to know it as a taxpayer before you get some of my money.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Exactly. Yeah. Your responsibility score. Call it that. No. Sorry. You were wildly irresponsible there. You're not the other people's problem anymore.

[Joe Getty]

Good one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sorry. Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Unknown]

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