Just Skin Me

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Just Skin Me" – Episode Summary

Release Date: March 7, 2025
Host/Authors: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand by iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Just Skin Me", hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a critical analysis of the current state of the U.S. Department of Education, spearheaded by recent actions and statements from former President Donald Trump. The discussion seamlessly transitions into broader educational policies, federal bureaucracy, and culminates with an in-depth conversation on Trump's foreign policy maneuvers concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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Trump’s Executive Order to Abolish the Department of Education

The episode opens with Trump’s controversial remarks on education reform.

[00:23] Donald Trump:
“I want to bring the schools. I want to bring the schools back to the states. And, you know, I've said it a hundred times, we're ranked at the bottom of the list, and yet we spend more...”

Armstrong and Getty scrutinize Trump's proposal to potentially abolish the Department of Education through an executive order. Jack Armstrong highlights the sarcastic tone of Trump's declaration:

[01:08] Jack Armstrong:
"Wow, that is some excellent sarcasm there. I just appreciate Trump's use of the term pupils, which you don't hear much anymore."

Joe Getty mocks Trump's age and workload, emphasizing the skepticism surrounding his capability to implement such significant changes.

Analysis of Kim Strossel’s Critique

The hosts reference an insightful article by Kim Strossel, who offers a scathing critique of the Department of Education.

[04:00] Jack Armstrong:
"Never has a department been more deceptively titled. To listen to this week's wailing. The federal Education Department is the beating heart of our nation's schools..."

Strossel argues that the Department of Education's federal control has stifled local innovation and burdened schools with unnecessary regulations. Jack Armstrong commends Strossel's bold assertions:

[04:35] Joe Getty:
"Oh my God, that's funny."

Federal Education Bureaucracy and Its Implications

Armstrong and Getty delve into how federal involvement has led to inefficiencies in education. They critique the allocation of funds, emphasizing that despite a hefty $80 billion annual budget, the outcomes remain subpar.

[05:11] Joe Getty:
"I am stunned by the work a lot of my kids teachers have done and do just..."

The discussion touches on the role of teachers' unions and the misplaced priorities within the education system, such as excessive administrative roles over direct teaching.

Shift Towards School Choice and Conservative Solutions

The hosts highlight the rising trend of school choice, scholarships, vouchers, and charters as conservative alternatives fostering accountability and innovation in education.

[08:25] Joe Getty:
"Or somebody just hits you with teachers or heroes, right? You're supposed to just recoil in emotional horror from anything else."

They commend the shift towards merit-based teacher pay and the revival of vocational education, noting significant positive reception from parents.

Trump’s Foreign Policy: Russia and Ukraine

Transitioning to international affairs, Armstrong and Getty dissect Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, referencing recent communications and strategies aimed at brokering peace.

[17:11] Jack Armstrong:
"We might know, Armstrong and Gettysburg."

Donald Trump’s statement is dissected for its ambiguity and potential underlying strategies:

[17:59] Donald Trump:
"I think what's going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don't think they have a choice..."

Joe Getty questions the efficacy and clarity of Trump's foreign policy tactics, pondering whether Trump’s approach is a calculated strategy or mere rhetoric.

David Ignatius’s Perspectives on Trump’s Strategy

The duo references David Ignatius from The Washington Post, who, despite his critical stance on Trump, acknowledges the necessity of ending the Ukraine war and reestablishing U.S.-Russia relations.

[21:19] Jack Armstrong:
"And send the message, hey, we're not coming in to lop your head off in spite of my earlier idea..."

Joe Getty explores the paradox within the negotiations, highlighting Ukraine’s vulnerability and Russia’s unyielding stance:

[22:03] Jack Armstrong:
"Is that Trumpian bull duty or..."

They speculate on potential secret strategies Trump might employ, albeit with a humorous undertone.

Russian Oligarchs and Stability Concerns

Armstrong and Getty delve into the internal dynamics of Russia, debating the extent of Putin’s control compared to the Soviet era. They discuss the influence of oligarchs and the precariousness of Russia’s stability amidst economic and social challenges.

[30:44] Joe Getty:
"Yeah, you gotta think that."

[31:07] Jack Armstrong:
"Do we. You want to take a break?"

The conversation underscores the fragility of Putin’s regime and the potential shifts in power dynamics post-conflict.

Other Topics: AI in McDonald's and Ultra-Processed Foods

In lighter segments, the hosts touch upon the integration of AI and facial recognition in McDonald’s drive-thrus, critiquing the corporate motives behind such technological advancements.

[16:27] Joe Getty:
"Here's something exciting. McDonald's is going to use AI computer vision and facial recognition..."

They also address the surge in ultra-processed foods composing over half of the American diet, highlighting public health concerns:

[34:24] Jack Armstrong:
"Much like, you know, the wonders of the Internet and social media and all sorts of things appeared to be all good and it took us a while to recognize the bad."

Conclusion

"Just Skin Me" offers a robust critique of federal involvement in education, advocating for localized control and innovation. The episode seamlessly transitions into an analysis of Trump's foreign policy, particularly his enigmatic strategies in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Armstrong and Getty blend humor with incisive commentary, providing listeners with a comprehensive examination of pressing national and international issues.

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Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump on Education Reform [00:23]:
  “I want to bring the schools back to the states... and yet we spend more."

• Jack Armstrong on Kim Strossel’s Article [04:00]:
  "Never has a department been more deceptively titled..."

• Joe Getty on Federal Education Bureaucracy [05:11]:
  "I am stunned by the work a lot of my kids teachers have done..."

• Donald Trump on Russia-Ukraine Deal [17:59]:
  “I think what's going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don't think they have a choice.”

• David Ignatius’s Perspective [21:19]:
  "Though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has bristled at Trump's pressure, he badly needs a ceasefire."

This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from Armstrong & Getty’s "Just Skin Me" episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven’t listened.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Donald Trump]

I want to bring the schools. I want to bring the schools back to the states. And, you know, I've said it a hundred times, we're ranked at the bottom of the list, and yet we spend more. If you tell me about Indiana and some of these great states that run really well, Iowa, you tell me about those states. And if they run their own education, they're going to do a lot better than somebody sitting in Washington, D.C. that couldn't care less about the pupils out in the Midwest.

[Joe Getty]

No, no, no, no, no. Places like New York and la, they should set the standards for the kind of education your kid gets in stupid Iowa and stupid Indiana. And then the federal government can force it on those people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that is some excellent sarcasm there. I just appreciate Trump's use of the term pupils, which you don't hear much anymore.

[Joe Getty]

Well, he's an old man.

[Jack Armstrong]

He is that. So President Trump is sitting on is still considering, apparently, an executive order some people thought might come out this week aimed at abolishing the Education Department.

[Joe Getty]

By the way, something just throwing it in there. At Trump's age, he's damn near 80.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

The last three weeks.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who you?

[Joe Getty]

Me? Anyone has worked three weeks that much, that hard at any age, let alone 80 years old.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd be in some sort of rest facility. Some sort of rest God.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, back to you.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's amazing. Anyway, a draft of the order directs education secretary Linda McMahon to, quote, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department based on the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law. And then. And that just refers to the fact that if Congress starts a department and tasks it with specific things, really the best you can do is pare it down to that, which is obviously undeniably what Congress said specifically. But agencies tend to metastasize and take on a bigger and bigger list of programs. A larger remit is, as they'd say, in the intellectual community. Why can't you talk like regular people trying to, you know, change the world in the way they were never designed to do? But anyway, some of the verbiage from the draft report, the experiment of controlling American education through federal programs and dollars and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support has failed our children, our teachers, and our families. The draft viewed was labeled as pre decisional. I. I like that. I just like that term.

[Joe Getty]

I live my life that way, lots of issues.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like that color for the drapes. But this is a pre decisional, you know, discussion.

[Joe Getty]

I'm speaking of which, I'm in my pre decisional period on a number of things.

[Jack Armstrong]

I, I was thinking to you the other day, I want you to react to this from, from your heart, from your ticker, from your gut. Two hours spent looking at granite and other counter surfaces for a kitchen remodel.

[Joe Getty]

So did the new slip off your neck or how did you end up in that situation?

[Jack Armstrong]

I enjoyed it. This is how you tell us apart? I thought it was fun.

[Joe Getty]

I, I, I perfectly embrace that other people are okay with that. I, dude, I don't understand that on any level whatsoever.

[Jack Armstrong]

I can almost convert you. I'll, I'll convert you on one level.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, man.

[Jack Armstrong]

The variety of colors and patterns that are produced by nature, by God's creation are astonishing and beautiful.

[Joe Getty]

They're like nature.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've, I've awakened the poet in your soul. Anyway, so I thought this was great. Kim Strossel, who's a genius, quoting a lot of really brilliant women on today's show, which, which I think is great. She's talking about the executive order. She was writing about it recently and is in favor of it. And I love her description, you know, never mind her reasoning, which is great, but never has a department been more deceptively titled. To listen to this week's wailing. The federal Education Department is the beating heart of our nation's schools. Right. And its demise. A straight line to an illiterate nation.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God, that's funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. I ought to voice her articles because she doesn't have a low enough voice to say a straight line to an illiterate nation. You know, you gotta be scared.

[Joe Getty]

Which we practically are now with the Department of Education in charge.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, wait a minute. Yeah. The Education Department is more the straight line to an illiterate nation than its absence would be the reality. Our federal education bureaucracy takes no part in the daily hard fought grind of teaching. Little salute to the great teachers. That sentence goes out to y'all because you're heroes.

[Joe Getty]

I am stunned by the work a lot of my kids teachers have done and do just, I mean, stunned by the.

[Jack Armstrong]

A lot of teachers unions are evil. You got to be really into themselves. I love you. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so. The federal education bureaucracy takes no part in the daily hard fought grind of teaching. It does not step in classrooms, interview teachers, or debate curriculum. It doesn't meet with parents, coach sports, or set bus schedules. The department's only job is to act as the keeper of the education treats. Every year, these federal masters get some $80 billion to dispense on good behavior. They hive off a dollop for their own salaries, while the rest they dispense as if rewarding a pet. Good state puppies, those that roll, fetch and fill out paperwork and triplicate get grants from idea funds. Bad puppies lose their school lunch money. Thus today's inane system in which kids from Taos to Tallahassee are held hostage through a counterproductive maze of federal rules that dictate dollars yet waste res resources and stymie local innovation. Schools stage bingo nights when staff coach parents to minimize their salaries on forms so that a school qualifies for Title 1 low income funding. Wow. Parents and and administrators fight to get kids labeled special needs to score an individual education plan and extract federal resources. And by the way, folks, before you fire off an angry email that in no way implies that any kid with special needs is trying to do that. Not at all. It's like, you know, Ritalin for adhd. There are some cases that are absolutely necessary. There are a hell of a lot that aren't. Having said that, in recent years, the threat of losing federal funds also sent districts scurrying to comply with Joe Biden's transgender directives. And then she gives a bunch of specific examples of the specific grants and how they, they, they play the tune and the schools have to dance to it. Whatever, you know, whatever the cause. Celeb is restorative justice and transgender. You know, boys playing girls sports and the rest of it.

[Joe Getty]

You know, the thing Trump said there at the beginning should be like the only part of the discussion and then go from there. We spend more than anybody else. We get lower results. Even if you don't want to compare us to other countries, don't compare it to ourselves. We spend more than we ever have and we get less out of it. What changed from, you know, the year 1990 or the new year 1970 that we have to spend so much money per pupil and then get a worse result? I mean, that seems like such an obvious how would you get around it? Sign that things are off the rails.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think it's Washington thrives on this, but we need to return to a plain spoken sentiment like this has been a failure. What do you want to try now as opposed to the notion that, well, the Department of Education exists and it does the things it does and we probably shouldn't mess with it? No, it's failed. What, do you want to try now?

[Joe Getty]

Or somebody just hits you with teachers or heroes, right? You're supposed to just recoil in emotional horror from anything else.

[Jack Armstrong]

And indeed, Ms. Strassel, much like Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Trump, points out the formula A4 described has sent $1 trillion to schools since 1979, producing a perfect inverse correlation of plummeting education scores. Yeah, and then she makes a point that I love. Go ahead.

[Joe Getty]

I. I don't. I mean, that is the end game of the discussion. We're spending more and getting less. Clearly something's wrong. We gotta change. Like massively change.

[Jack Armstrong]

But this is. This is how you. You get people to rally. Jack, we've established it needs to change now we're gonna get them excited about it by pissing them off. She writes yet what? And she. She went through, gosh, six or eight different ways. The money flows to schools for dancing to the tune, being a good puppy. Yet note what these federal funds have in common. The money, ostensibly for the children all goes to the adults to hire more counselors and special ed teachers for those IEPs, sometimes great, necessary, but more administrators to run various programs, including perverse ones, legions of staff to input data. And guess what? Most of those adults belong to a union local of the National Education association or the American Federation of Teachers because the keeper of treats was, is, and always will be Jimmy Carter's thank you for teachers union endorsements. Randy Weingarten controls the clicker. And then she. She's a little annoyed that. That Trump has been a little passive on education so far, but everything else has been so feverish, it. It's hard to. It's easy to forget that. No, no, no. This month, number two, we'll get to it. It'll. It'll be good, I hope.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, Randy Weingarten. Say hello to Hitler and O.J. when you get to hell, because that's where you're headed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Amen to that. Yeah. She does say he didn't mention school choice in his address is addressed to Congress this week, which would have been good, but conservatives are already on the offense and winning. School choices exploding across the states, those laboratories of democracy innovating on scholarships, vouchers, savings accounts, charters. New generation of conservative leaders are embracing next steps, accountability and standards, merit pay for teachers, reviving vocational education. And parents are loving it in large measure. One note before we eliminate the Department of Education, and although honestly to answer myself before I even make any argument, have the Department of Justice do it, or streets and sanitation or park rangers or something, but we don't need a whole department for this. But the still breathing Department of Education launched a public portal last week for parents, students, teachers and communities to submit reports of sex and race based discrimination in public K through 12 schools. The portal is called the NDEI Portal and allows the submission of an email address, the name of students, school or school district, and a text box for detailing. Hey, even though this DEI racial discrimination stuff is illegal now, my school is still doing it and here's how they're doing it.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that's good because our friend Tim Sandifer who works for the Goldwater Institute, he tweeted out today a win for Goldwater. A Pennsylvania school district tried to hide its DEI from a mom. It claimed the materials were copyrighted so they weren't subject to state's open records law. And Goldwater challenged that in one yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I could write a book right now about ways colleges especially and and and lower tiers of education are getting around all the anti DEI stuff. I'll give them points for creativity but they are just changing names of programs and offices, changing titles and pretending to change their admissions while doing precisely the same stuff. And one more note and then I'll shut up. I read a really interesting piece. I can't remember who wrote it. Might have been the Free Free Press was talking about how one of the big problems is the accreditation organizations that the government has tasked with and this is the sort of thing that ought to respond to the private market. But it doesn't because universities are so woke. But they're tasked with saying the University of Pennsylvania for instance, has good professors and they're teaching good stuff and we accredit them as a university. Those organizations are crazy ass woke the accreditors themselves. And so they're going to the universities and saying if I don't see you marching the DEI tune we're not going to credit credit you as a university.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, not shocking at all. Troubling. So coming up, trying to put a lipstick on a pig re re Ukraine and Russia. I'm going to try to do that. And also AI comes to the McDonald's drive thru among other things. On the way Armstrong and Getty Trump.

[Jack Armstrong]

Talked about all the good happening. The Dems just seethed. That was Liz Warren. There's so much steam coming from her ears I thought she was sending smoke signals. Me very mad at Orange man. Meanwhile Nancy gnawed through her mouth like it was a tough chunk of rice pudding. George Washington's teeth bit better and he whittled them out of mahogany I meant to comment on that. After the Tuesday night speech Nancy Pelosi was making. Never ending, very old person mouth motions.

[Joe Getty]

I saw that. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

We're all going to be that age someday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. Yeah. I'm not going to mock her for it, but the idea that she was the. The leader of a party until, like, last week is just absurd.

[Joe Getty]

I just ran into my son in the hallway. He said, what are you doing at home? I'm at home. And the reason I'm home, as I told him, is because I'm on the tail end of the flu and my stomach is not good. This whole flu thing. I'm flying today and I'm gonna get an aisle seat, if you know what I'm saying. I need to be able to move quickly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Move quickly. There are remedies, of course. Are you. I know you're hip to them.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I don't know. I hate to take some sort of. Stop me all up.

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you hate more?

[Joe Getty]

That's a good question.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Speaking of medical matters, I just got a call during the commercial break from my dermatologist. They got a slice on me again, and I'm gonna walk in there. I've threatened before to bring my own knife and say, yeah, come at me. Let's go. You like it? Come and get. But I've changed my strategy. I'm going to walk in there and say, hey, let's save all of us a little time and trouble. Just skin me. Just take all of it.

[Joe Getty]

All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or at least my back. We'll call it. Good covering.

[Joe Getty]

Some sort of cellophane or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, man, those. Those summer days on the Indiana dunes all covered with oil.

[Joe Getty]

That's like the only thing going the right direction. You know how I always. I always say, name one thing that's getting better.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Because everything seems like it's getting wor. One thing that's getting better is as we stay out of the sun and our kids, like my kids. I think one of them has had one sunburn and the other one's none in their lives. And I used to get burnt practically every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. With the. The cost being paid now with slicings. Anyway. What was I gonna say? Sunburn, sunscreen, doing better.

[Joe Getty]

Skin. You skinning, Joe?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, let's. Yeah. Anyway, we're not coming off at all. Old Al Green shaking his cane on the.

[Joe Getty]

You can get the flu at any age.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. Oh, no, I'm just. Yeah, just. Yeah. Yeah, man.

[Joe Getty]

Here's something exciting. McDonald's is going to use AI computer vision and facial recognition in store mounted cameras at the drive through to determine whether the orders are accurate before they're handed to customers. Oh, so the same technology that is facial recognition, they're going to look at your bag, I guess, and say, it looks like two cheeseburgers and McFlurry. Go ahead, give it to them. Necessary. You know what drives all this, by the way? Raising the minimum wage to where they can't afford employees. So they go. They're willing to spend whatever they got to spend to get to eliminate employees.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ding. True fact.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. What is the Trump plan on Russia, Ukraine? We might actually know now.

[Jack Armstrong]

We might know Armstrong and Gettysburg. President Zelensky sent a letter to the President. I think the President thought that it was a really good, positive first step. We're now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah. I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, so Zelensky is playing ball a little more than he did a week ago today with what Trump wants. Whether it's just rhetorically or in reality. I don't know which Trump needs, but. And here's Trump yesterday talking about the whole thing.

[Donald Trump]

I think what's going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don't think they have a choice. I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way, a different way that only I know, only I know, they have no choice either.

[Joe Getty]

So what was that? The entire foreign policy establishment wants to know in a certain way that only I know, only I know, Russia needs to make a deal also. What is that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy.

[Joe Getty]

Whether that's a boy threat that hasn't been said out loud, or we are more aware of their near collapse of either the economy or the military or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

When Trump last time around appeared to be kissing up to Putin, he secretly implanted a painless chip under Putin's skin that is in fact, a tiny nuclear device. And he can blow his head off with the flip of a switch. I. I don't. I was so intrigued by that.

[Joe Getty]

I've got a button, and it's right next to my Diet Coke button here at the desk. So I gotta make sure I don't get them mixed up. But if I press this button, it'll blow your head clean off your shoulders.

[Jack Armstrong]

So let's get down to business. Yeah. Wow, that's. Is that Trumpian bull duty or.

[Joe Getty]

Hard to say, but. So I Want to preface with this, just for my own cons, that I am not trying to spin this. Like, I think Trump has handled this beautifully, and I'm all in favor of everything that's happening. I, he said some, to me, just horrific things about the war in Ukraine and equivocating between Russia and, like, they're equals. And, and I just, I don't get that at all. But that being said, he might, through all of that haze of the way Trump does things, there might be a strategy, according to even David Ignatius in the Washington Post today, and I came to this through Mark Halperin's newsletter, where he said, the foreign policy world of Washington, D.C. and they are a thing. The foreign policy. What is the right term? Something contingent. They're more or less permanent. I mean, like the State Department and a whole bunch of other thinkers and everything like that. They, they, they stay there as presidents come and go. And they are starting to wake up to a, according to Mark Halpern, to a possible strategy that Trump's got here and that David Ignatius writes a little bit about in the Washington Post today. First of all, David Ignatius writing, and he does not like Donald Trump, but he writes, give Trump this much, he's right that the time has come to end the horrific Ukraine war. And he's right, too, that the United States needs to reestablish a relationship with the Kremlin to play an effective mediating role. Okay? So you got to do whatever you got to do to get Putin to talk to you. And one, you have to talk to him. Two, you have to come up with a way to get him to talk to you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah. And send the message, hey, we're not coming in to lop your head off in spite of my earlier idea, or coming in to broker this. So we're going to be cool. Can you be cool?

[Joe Getty]

Here's the paradox at the core of the negotiations, writes David Ignatius. Though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has bristled at Trump's pressure, he badly needs a ceasefire. His forces are tired and depleted and could begin to buckle in the next six months. As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has welcomed Trump's embrace, but he doesn't want a ceasefire unless it gives him the victory he hasn't won on the battlefield. Because while Russia has been somewhat successful, they're not anywhere near what Putin was hoping for. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I read a great Think piece that said Putin has lost this war by any of his definitions. It's been a miserable failure in spite of the territory Gained back to you.

[Joe Getty]

Right. The diplomatic agenda was summed up well by Keith Kellogg yesterday. He's the retired army lieutenant general who's serving as Trump's Ukraine envoy. What you're seeing now are urgent efforts to bring both sides to the table to a peace settlement. Bringing both sides of the table means applying pressure points and incentives. Sticks and carrots, he said yesterday. Putin. And I don't know if he's just waking up to this or. Or what. Putin has been feasting on these carrots for months. But the Kremlin suddenly began sounding truculent this week. An offer by Britain and France to provide troops for a deterrent force after a ceasefire brought a nasty response Thursday from Lavrov. We will categorically not tolerate such actions. European troops in Ukraine would amount to official and undisguised participation of NATO countries in a war against the Russian Federation. So that's what we were talking about the other day, is Trump just trying to, like, slip this by the world and Putin by being so belligerent and so over the top, hard on Ukraine, like behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, cutting intelligence, cutting services, calling Zelinsky a dictator, all this different sort of stuff. And then the reality was going to be Russia wakes up and wait a second, there are 30,000 NATO troops here and a brand new United States business full of business people and trucks and everything like that. How the hell did that happen? Is. Is. Is that what Trump's secret strategy is? I mean, that's what David Ignatius is saying, and I don't know. And it's a face saving thing, too, of as you should know. If you don't know. Face saving is so much diplomacy is. Is letting people walk away with their pride and, or at least, you know, if you're a dictator. Well, it's a dictator. Whether you're a dictator or you're elected, you have to have your people feeling like you didn't get played and you need to be able to present it that way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they call it legitimacy in political science. Sometimes it comes through the ballot box. Sometimes it comes through the, the point of a bayonet. Sometimes with a dictator, it's a combination of, yeah, I don't want to speak out because I don't want to go to jail. Plus, life's pretty good. But there are many, many cases in history where if life is pretty crappy and Russia has some pretty serious economic problems and social problems right now, I mean, really, really serious. I wonder if the, you know, Trump has a hard time sitting on classified Information. There are a couple of times through his tenure, whereas the Israelis got crazy pissed off or whatever. But he's obviously sitting on something big.

[Joe Getty]

If you got secret information, you put it in the bathtub at Mar a Lago, you pull the shower curtain so nobody can see it and everything's fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right. Yeah, I'm fine with it. But yeah. So anyway, I wonder whether the classified stuff he can barely keep to himself has to do with oligarchs who are really, really pissed off at Putin because remember, they, they accumulate a large share of their wealth by dealing with the west, doing business with Europe, for instance, and Putin and his little war have screwed all of that up. I just, I don't know what it could be, but it's intriguing.

[Joe Getty]

Well, again, and I'm not trying to work too hard to give Trump credit for this master plan, but, but for instance, this week, Left leaning TV was playing some of Russian TV to say, see how this is playing back in Russia, where you got, they're showing clips of Trump yelling at Zelensky, at J.D. vance yelling at Zelensky. They're playing that on Russian TV. Well, maybe that's so Putin can say, see, we won. And when the settlement is done and I won, I got 20% of the land. Zelensky is the punk. Even according to the President of the United States. While at the end of the day, There are now 30,000 NATO troops there, we've established a business which is practically the same as having troops there. And we're not going to let American material and business people be attacked by Russia. So, I mean, that's the way. That's the way. Even Starmer, British Prime Minister, said that the other day. He said it out loud. He said, if the United States has a major business interest in the Ukraine, that's our backstop.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Right. You know, originally I thought you and David Ignatius were hinting that Trump was trying to, well, as you said, slip one past Putin. And I think that's, that's fantasy. He's just too calculating. But the whole preserving his claim to legitimacy and victory thing, now that, that one, yeah, it's got my attention. That is significant even in a dictatorship. More on that and several other fascinating topics in a moment. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Well, yeah, the one, the one most confusing part to me about Trump's strategy after this.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

The only thing I don't understand about this is if this is a strategy is why wouldn't you let Zielinski in on it behind the scenes, hey, I'm gonna have to yell at you and make it look like we're really sticking it to you, but at the end of the day what's you know and explain to Zielinski. And maybe Zelensky wouldn't agree with this because polling shows Ukrainians still want to fight and he can't blame them at all. But if the president said to him look, you're not getting that land back and Zelensky's even said we might not get all the land back. But if Trump said to him look, you're not getting the land back, but at the end of the day, here's what's going to happen. We're going to have a vested business interest which is same as a military interest and they're going to be 30, 000 NATO troops there. So that is your protection. All right. Why wouldn't you say that behind the scenes does the Linsky instead of having him, it certainly would seem like completely confused by the whole thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know what standards there are for Ukrainian tv, but Zelensky is not only a performer, an actor, a comedian, but like the most popular one could be he's in on it. He's playing his role as the. The butt hurt. I thought we were allies guy. To a. To a T, Jack.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, he sucked you in. Now that's nine dimensional chess with a time machine. That's just too complicated.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. One final perspective about Putin and. And Kremlin ology has always been an inexact science at best, but this bloke, Rod Martin is. No, it's not. That's not his name, is it? I'd like to give credit where it's due, but he's talking about how Putin's control of Russia pales in comparison to the Soviet Union's control. Because, you know, under Stalin, especially, the Communist Party was the organ by which the control took place. And they were in every village, practically every. Every cottage, in every village, there were a pair of Communist Party eyes keeping an eye on things, and they got paid back through, you know, patronage and money and power and. And the rest of it. But it's really now just the oligarchs, and the control of the Russian countryside is much less direct. And so this guy thinks. Well, he asked questions. Is Putin in control? And to what extent are the oligarchs of one mind? And what happens when the war ends? The oligarchs don't want the regime to fall, but whether they want Putin at the top is another matter. So he just thinks it's much less stable in Russia than we might think in the west, who knows?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, you gotta think that. The gazillionaire there in Russia have been saying to each other, if not to Putin's face, what are we getting out of this?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they were as rich as any human beings have ever been prior to the invasion of Ukraine.

[Joe Getty]

What do I need this for? So you can feel like Peter the Great. What's in it for me?

[Jack Armstrong]

Do we. You want to take a break? George Friedman wrote the piece. Thank you very much, Mike. We ought to take a break. I was just gonna say Putin coming out of COVID with that megalomaniacal. I want to be the next czar and grow the giant Russian empire across the world. If his concern really was NATO getting too close and playing footsie with Ukraine, why wouldn't he just say that? Why is he putting out long fantasy screens about being the new czar? People who believe it was the West's fault?

[Joe Getty]

Coincidence, right? Yeah, good point. Okay, more on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

It's Friday, y'all, and my oldest kid's birthday, which means I've been a parent for 15 years as of today. Yay, me.

[Jack Armstrong]

No wonder I sold your oldness. Is that the explanation?

[Joe Getty]

The exhaustion of being a parent?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, oh, yeah, that too. Yeah. And the flu doesn't help. Now, we could bring you some exciting results from America's track and field championships, where Dudes have beat down girls in girls sports, but not in the mood for that. There are some notable ones, including a race where the two top female contenders said, we're not participating in this farce.

[Joe Getty]

I'm shocked that doesn't happen more often. I understand why you've been training your whole life, but I don't. I'm amazed there aren't more parents that just lose their minds. I would lose my mind. They'd have to. They'd have to get the cops.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. You heard when that boy triple jumper whooped up on the girls and beat them by 8ft? 8ft in a California match, all the. The folks in the stands were like, oh, my God, can you believe this? They were disgusted and talked to each other, but they made no formal protest, whether out of conformity, not wanting to embarrass their children, or not wanting to target the confused child involved. I get that. It's not necessarily cowardice.

[Joe Getty]

I don't think I could stop myself. I really don't think I could. I think I would run in front of the stands and say, who's with me? This is ridiculous. Is anybody disagree?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. But we're talking about what I said. We're not going to be talking about, which we do all the time, because it's a great topic. But, you know, one of the themes has been picking and choosing what the modern world presents to you, because taking the whole package, I don't think is a very good idea. And the theme might be better stated as the people trying to sell you the modern world do not have your best interests at heart. Here's another example of it. And this is not old man shaking fist at clouds. Because it's not just the amount of changes, the pace of change that I think is so dizzying to people right now, and they don't have time to slowly take it in and decide whether. All right, do we want a television set in our house? How much can the kids watch? What shows can the kids watch? It's just. It all comes on like a tsunami. Anyway, this headline caught my eye because I've kind of been on this kick lately. No granola eye, but ultra processed foods make up over half of American diets, even at home.

[Joe Getty]

Oh.

[Jack Armstrong]

According to a recent study, it's 54% of the diet at home and almost 61% away from home. Challenging the assumption that home cooking is automatically healthier, because a lot of home cooking is. You take some convenience food out of the freezer and heat it up and eat it. But it's ultra processed, lots of chemicals, you know, lots of weird industrial inputs as opposed to minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables and unaltered meats. That's declined significantly, dropping from just 30% of at home calories and 24% of away from home calorie by 2018. That's weird and weirdly worded anyway. And these trends were consistent across almost all demographic groups, suggesting widespread structural factors rather than individual choices are driving the shift toward more processed diets. I'm not sure I'd phrase that the same way either. I would just say much like, you know, the wonders of the Internet and social media and all sorts of things appeared to be all good and it took us a while to recognize the bad. Having incredibly delicious, ridiculously convenient food at our fingertips all the time seemed to be a dream come true.

[Joe Getty]

You left out cheap.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no kidding. But with everybody obese and young people developing cancer at rates that they never have before and all sorts of stuff, I think it's yet another example of yeah, the people who are profiting from this stuff are absolutely loving it. It is this something you would choose if you sat down and thought about it?

[Joe Getty]

I'm working with RFK jr. If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.