Last Week Of The Mummy In The White House

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Last Week Of The Mummy In The White House" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: January 14, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Podcast: The official, On-Demand podcast of The Armstrong & Getty Show! Accept no substitutes!

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1. Introduction and Overview

In the episode titled "Last Week Of The Mummy In The White House," hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a variety of pressing topics ranging from climate change, wildfires in Southern California, political hearings, corporate bankruptcies, to innovative health technologies. The discussion is laced with their characteristic humor and insightful commentary, aiming to inform and engage their listeners on current events and societal issues.

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2. Climate Change: A Catch-All Excuse

The hosts kick off the conversation by critiquing how climate change is often used as a blanket excuse for various unrelated problems. Jack Armstrong sarcastically highlights the overuse of the term:

Jack Armstrong [00:48]: "Climate change. You forget to pick up the bread at the grocery store. Climate change."

They argue that political figures exploit the vagueness of "climate change" to gain support during campaigns and later deflect responsibility when faced with economic or societal challenges.

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3. Wildfires in Southern California: Impact and Governance

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the devastating wildfires sweeping through Southern California. The hosts discuss the immediate effects on residents, including forced evacuations and long-term implications for communities and infrastructure.

Impact on Residents: Joe Getty shares anecdotes about friends displaced by fires, emphasizing the human cost and disruption to daily life:

Joe Getty [02:25]: "How amazingly disruptive would that be? Especially if you have kids. Can't even. I really can't even imagine how I'd be dealing with that."

Governance and Bureaucracy: Jack Armstrong criticizes California's environmental policies, suggesting that bureaucratic red tape hampers effective wildfire management and prevention efforts.

Jack Armstrong [31:55]: "From the New York Post, California eco bureaucrats halted a Pacific Palisades fire safety project to save an endangered shrub."

The hosts express frustration over prioritizing environmental concerns over pragmatic solutions, arguing that such decisions exacerbate wildfire risks.

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4. Political News: Pete Hegseth Hearings and Media Bias

The episode covers the ongoing confirmation hearings of Pete Hegseth for the position of Defense Secretary. Armstrong and Getty shed light on differing media narratives surrounding the hearings.

Joe Getty [08:37]: "Media coverage of the Pete Hegseth hearing is presenting very different sides depending on your source."

They express annoyance over perceived media bias, particularly criticizing mainstream outlets like MSNBC for uncritically reporting allegations against Hegseth:

Joe Getty [35:16]: "MSNBC is all day long discussing how and why the FBI did such a poor job of the background check... they're treating that as if it's 100% fact."

The hosts defend the Republican process, advocating for adherence to constitutional checks and balances rather than yielding to partisan pressures.

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5. Corporate Bankruptcies and Economic Concerns

Armstrong and Getty address the alarming rise in corporate bankruptcies, highlighting it as the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. They discuss major companies like Party City, Tupperware, Red Lobster, Spirit Airlines, and Stoli Vodka filing for bankruptcy, attributing the trend to elevated borrowing costs and reduced consumer spending.

Jack Armstrong [17:45]: "US corporate bankruptcies rose 8% from 2023. It's not huge, but almost more than 2021 and 2022 combined."

The hosts analyze the implications for the broader economy, emphasizing the strain on lower-income families and the challenges posed by persistent inflation.

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6. Health Technology: The Oura Ring

Shifting to technology, the hosts explore the benefits of health-tracking devices, specifically the Oura Ring. They discuss how these devices monitor sleep patterns, heart rate, and overall health metrics, providing users with actionable insights.

Jack Armstrong [13:12]: "Your total sleep versus your time in bed, your deep sleep versus your total sleep, heart rate, sleep efficiency... pretty accurate."

Joe Getty considers adopting such technology to gain better insights into his health, reflecting the growing consumer interest in personalized health data.

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7. Consumer Behavior and Claw Machines in Arcades

The conversation takes a lighter turn as the hosts examine the phenomenon of high-end prizes in adult arcades. They discuss "Gacha," an arcade in Queens, New York, where patrons can win luxury items like $3,600 Hermes bags through claw machines.

Jack Armstrong [22:52]: "Gacha may be the only place on earth where you can score a $3,600 Hermes Picotin Bag."

They critique the business model, highlighting how machines are programmed to be winnable only after several attempts, balancing profitability with customer satisfaction.

Joe Getty [24:31]: "If you're about to tell me that some of these games are rigged, you should have said sit down first."

The hosts draw parallels to broader societal issues, suggesting such consumer behaviors reflect a reluctance to transition into traditional adult responsibilities.

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8. International Affairs: Ceasefire Between Israel and Hamas

Armstrong and Getty touch upon the tentative ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, analyzing its potential implications.

Jack Armstrong [25:02]: "Donald J. Trump has made it clear that the era of Joe Biden. Then we must have a ceasefire."

They express skepticism about the sustainability of the ceasefire, attributing its promise to political maneuvering rather than genuine conflict resolution efforts.

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9. Concluding Thoughts and Broader Insights

Wrapping up, the hosts reflect on the interconnectedness of the discussed topics, from environmental policies affecting wildfire management to economic downturns influenced by corporate failures. They emphasize the importance of critical thinking and diverse information sources in navigating today's complex media landscape.

Joe Getty [04:06]: "Most people don't have time to check like four different sources every day on every story and then do some research behind that to try to figure out what's real or not."

Armstrong and Getty encourage listeners to remain informed and proactive, advocating for accountability in governance and media representations.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

1. Climate Change as an Excuse

   • Jack Armstrong [00:48]: "Climate change. You forget to pick up the bread at the grocery store."

2. Corporate Bankruptcies

   • Jack Armstrong [17:45]: "US corporate bankruptcies rose 8% from 2023. It's not huge, but almost more than 2021 and 2022 combined."

3. Health Technology - Oura Ring

   • Jack Armstrong [13:12]: "Your total sleep versus your time in bed, your deep sleep versus your total sleep, heart rate, sleep efficiency... pretty accurate."

4. Media Bias in Political Coverage

   • Joe Getty [35:16]: "MSNBC is all day long discussing how and why the FBI did such a poor job of the background check... they're treating that as if it's 100% fact."

5. Consumer Behavior - Claw Machines

   • Jack Armstrong [22:52]: "Gacha may be the only place on earth where you can score a $3,600 Hermes Picotin Bag."

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Conclusion

In "Last Week Of The Mummy In The White House," Armstrong and Getty provide a comprehensive examination of contemporary issues, blending humor with critical analysis. Their discussions offer listeners a nuanced perspective on environmental policies, economic challenges, political dynamics, and evolving consumer behaviors, encouraging thoughtful engagement with the world around them.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Studio C. Si, senor.

[Joe Getty]

It is a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound. And hay. On little Wednesday, we're under the tutelage of our general manager.

[Jack Armstrong]

Climate change. You forget to pick up the bread at the grocery store. Climate change. There's rain. Climate change, it's dry. Climate change. You screw up the Penske account at work. Sorry, boss. Climate change.

[Joe Getty]

I went to the doctor, I said, it hurts when I do this. He said, you know what it is?

[Jack Armstrong]

Climate change.

[Joe Getty]

So why is that? To the general manager, it is absolutely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hilariously clear now to anybody with any sense that climate change is the all purpose vague, fuzzy goal that gets you elected. Then when I become president or governor, I'm going to fight climate change. Yay. See all the soft heads. And then once you're in office, it's the all purpose excuse. The economy tanked under my watch. Well, it's because of the damn cl. Climate change, folks.

[Joe Getty]

What's it today? An efus extra effed up situation or something? In, in Southern California, the wind is supposed to pick back up real strong and they got some new fires and everything like that. So we bring you a little headlines on the news on that. But it ain't good.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, it's the worst.

[Joe Getty]

It's.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's an awful break.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I was talking to somebody. Not talking, texting with somebody yesterday I know in the Pasadena area who has been out of their house now for a week and a half. It hasn't burned down. But so even that, even the, the what is it? Hundreds of thousands of people that have had to leave their spots? Even if your house didn't burn down, you're in a hotel or with friends or something somewhere all of a sudden. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

However many minutes to pack.

[Joe Getty]

How amazingly disruptive would that be? Especially if you have kids. Can't even. I really can't even imagine how I'd be dealing with that. You got to go to work. You still got bills to pay and stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Got to get the kids to school. Presuming our schools are open, as most are this week.

[Joe Getty]

Last week nothing was open. Right. So they got the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing going on today, and that'll be a big hullabaloo in Washington D.C. and if anything exciting happens while we're on there, we'll. We'll bring you the fireworks. I Imagine there will be some grandstanding e. Fireworks on one side or the other. Some of them may be even true. Sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

And there are a handful of swing votes as well. Decent, honorable senators who just want to get their questions answered. This. It's very difficult to predict the outcome of this one.

[Joe Getty]

I am somewhat annoyed today with. It was really exceptionally obvious day where I took in. I take in a lot of news from a lot of different sources. And if I had only chosen one of the sources, any of them, I would have a completely different view of some of the major stories than if I had chosen only that other one or that one. And I just. That's just no way to run a railroad. No. Most people. I'm doing this because it's my job. Most of you don't have time to check like four different sources every day on every story and then do some research behind that to try to figure out what's real or not. It's amazing how different a story can be. No. No wonder you run into people all the time who have this view of a story or this view of some issue and you're like, what?

[Jack Armstrong]

Because strongly held, of course, the day.

[Joe Getty]

They took in information, they listened, they read that newspaper or watched that cable news show or whatever, and it's completely different than the one that you took in. It made. It's stunning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I would like to think that that's why we are performing something of a service to mankind here. Doing what we do welcome new listeners by debuting on a handful of stations around America. I think today we appreciate you being here. We beg of you, have some patience. It's. This is different. This is different than what you are used to in a number of regards. That's a style, approach, perhaps the language we use. The. There is the question of quality. That's different too. But anyway, welcome to the Armstrong and Getty Show. Hope you enjoy it.

[Joe Getty]

First of all, where. Where are we going on today? Couple.

[Jack Armstrong]

A couple of fabulous stations in beautiful New Hampshire. It's just wonderful. I love the Northeast. Yeah. So do you have a particular example of a story that you saw through several different windows today?

[Joe Getty]

First of all, your taglines of serving mankind or something. Doing a service for mankind. Presenting a service for mankind. The Armstrong and Getty Show. I like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And then I also like when you have new customers saying, be patient. I feel like if I went to a restaurant and they said, if you don't like the food, be patient. I might say, I need to go to the bathroom. Then I'd walk to my car and leave.

[Jack Armstrong]

I disagree. Subtly. It's.

[Joe Getty]

It's not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, well, no, it's. It's. We're. We're offering like, you know, Asian, Indian, South African fusion food. It's different than what you're used to. Give it a try. That's what I'm saying.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, gotcha. Yes, Michael?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was just thinking, Joe, describing.

[Joe Getty]

The radio show as different in finger quotes.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not exactly appealing. Wow, everybody's a critic.

[Joe Getty]

How's your new boyfriend? He's different.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right. Perhaps we should just plunge on with the content.

[Joe Getty]

I'm trying to be patient.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're all going to be so disagreeable.

[Joe Getty]

See if I can come up with any qualities, anyone that I enjoy. He says I will if I just. Impatient. Let's start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday the 14th of January. You know what that means? One month from Valentine's Day, the year 2025. We are Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Jack Armstrong]

Last week of the Mummy in the White House. All right, here we go. Let's begin the show officially. Now, according to FCC rules and regulations, I'd still like to hear the example of the story that you're sparked your interest there. But anyway, here we go at mark. We anticipated that this was how it.

[Joe Getty]

Was going to happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

And these are the criminals, these are the people who are seeking to exploit this tragedy for their own benefit. Today we're here to announce that the promise that we made when we started this, that these criminals would be arrested, they would be prosecuted, and they will be maximally punished is a promise we are keeping.

[Joe Getty]

I hope so. I hope so. You know my teenage crush, Justine Bateman, who had tweeted out she was the star of Family Ties back in the day, and I thought she was so dang cute. She's Jason Bateman's sister. Is that his name?

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, their brother and sister, child stars. Anyway, she has become this like right wing Twitter person. But she said you, you set the culture for years in California. First of all, anybody come here and if you're illegal, you can commit crimes and we don't but you out and you can steal and do whatever you want and nobody's going to prosecute you. And then you're surprised if there's looting. I mean, come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I tell you what, this is a good day, a good moment. That was the new District Attorney, Nathan Hockman, who replaced the utterly awful Marxist George Gascon in LA County. The People finally have had had enough of this guy's act. We cannot prosecute our weight out of the desperation that we have. You know what we can do? We can prosecute our way out of looting. Couple of beatings. Wouldn't be misplaced either. Not to. Not you folks. Don't take the law into your own hands.

[Joe Getty]

You can prosecute your way out of lots of things. Lots and lots.

[Jack Armstrong]

Crime, for one thing. You rotten piece of garbage. So anyway, he's gone.

[Joe Getty]

I hope they got the infrastructure to follow through on that. Catch people, prosecute them, actually put them in jail. Word gets around. Hey, they're arresting people again. Oh, really? Well, I really enjoyed that whole not getting arrested thing when I stole, but hopefully that's over. We should start. We know we started the show officially. We should move on. How's Mailbag look?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's coming together.

[Joe Getty]

Cool. And I can give you an example of media coverage of the Pete Hegseth hearing, for instance, and the different sides of it. Very different sides of it, depending on who you're reading or listening to, which is frustrating. So we got all that coming up today. Oh, we're Talking to Tom McClintock, are we not?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Longtime California congressman and a guy on the Natural Resources Committee in Congress. He knows everything about forests and water. Name it.

[Joe Getty]

Longtime friend of the show. And he got this big fire in SoCal and he wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal. We're going to talk about a little bit. Yeah, let's talk about the road that got us here. All that stuff coming up today. Text line 415295, KFTC.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

I just checked in on my favorite political newsletter, see what they had to say about the hexa hearings today. And it is going to be lots of really long speeches, like lots before they ever get to the questioning, which is where the fire. Fiery stuff's gonna happen. So it could be a while. Who knows? Might take a day. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, who knows? Here's your freedom loving quote of the day.

[Joe Getty]

Cool. Because I love freedom.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm gonna go with this. Sent along by alert listener Paul from Voltaire. It is. It is clear that the individual who pers. Can I have a second take on that? Go ahead. Grab this one at the last minute. I didn't pre read it. It's very fine font and I'm an older man. There it is. It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would Say yeah, to, to aggressively argue your position and to perhaps point out aggressively the foolishness of another is fair game. But the cancel culture, trying to ruin their career out of just resentment that they disagree with you, that's cowardly.

[Joe Getty]

I think I've been ruined on that. I think I hear somebody espouse certain opinions and I think, oh great, they're one of those. And then I just assume a whole bunch of other things about them based on that one thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's not persecution, it's a time saver. Yeah, well that's true enough, but. But you're not like calling their employer and, and falsely accusing them of terrible things?

[Joe Getty]

No, but I decide you're not worth my time to speak to ever again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's fine. Oh, that's fine. That's perfectly in.

[Joe Getty]

Based on one opinion that seems a little harsh.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a timesaver. You said it yourself, Mailbag. Blah, blah, blah. Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com Richard in San Diego, California. Right, so let me get this straight. Mark Zuckerberg is now saying he was just following orders? Where have I heard that before? Wow, Richard, wow. Are you going with a Nazi Germany reference? Nazi Germany, Michael, Come on. Let's see. This is Frank who says best show on the radio or streaming, etc. Thanks Frank, that's very kind of you. As to the functional stupidity of Biden, we were talking about a book yesterday that posited the definition of stupid is somebody who does things that damage other people and are of no gain themselves. They just do damage. They're not like doing damage to get gain, they just do damage. And Biden, there are a number of examples about that. Anyway, Frank writes as to the functional stupidity of Biden, those decisions he made that were catastrophic and offered no benefit to him. You said they were even harmful to America. That is the upside for Biden and especially his handlers. These are the woke globalist critical theory pushers who want this country burned down so they can rule over the ashes. They're evil and dangerous people. They hate our freedom and they hate us. I think that's true of a lot of his activist far left advisors. I think Joe Biden is just a career long mediocrity and a spent force and he was led by the nose by his younger advisors who are activists. But yeah, the neo Marxists don't want to solve our problems. They want to overload the system and break it. Moving along, we were talking about these, what are the rings called? The health rings. The, the Aura ring.

[Joe Getty]

Aura is the brand. I don't know what the rings are called, but you can wear them and they give you all kinds of data about your health. A doctor friend of mine sent me his data yesterday. He loves his. He's a doctor and thinks it's fantastic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, G. First initial G. The engineer says, Dear Pork Chop and Cookie Monster, what's your mind? You know, it's. I think Cookie Monster. Anyway, it's a longish email. It's very good. It's actually quite a great review. But he said it's most handy for tracking sleep and figuring out what affects it. He said I'd wait to check the app until the afternoon to see if the score aligned with how I felt.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting. From.

[Jack Armstrong]

For me, the scores were pretty spot on. I felt if I felt like I was tired and dragging, I'd find that my sleep score the previous night had been low. On days where I felt energized, my scores were high. So it seemed pretty accurate. Then I started to make small changes to my lifestyle. Try to eat better. Go for a walk at lunch. Cut out afternoon coffee. Minor stuff. Bad news, Pork Chop. Oh, evidently I am Pork Chop. Anytime I drank our dear beloved scotch before bed, my scores would tank. On days I abstained, I slept better and my scores were higher. Sorry, brother. The data don't lie.

[Joe Getty]

I would like to see that on some of my eating choices. That's really interesting. Yeah. As the doctor sent me his for a day or whatever. Your total sleep versus your time in bed, your deep sleep versus your total sleep, heart rate, sleep efficiency, all these different things. I'd be kind of interested in that. Kind of like Katie said, though yesterday, I could see myself doing that for a couple of weeks and thinking, okay, now I have the information, I don't need to wear this thing anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, maybe we'll put up the text of this [e-mail] under Hot Links. All anonymous, of course. G. I found it pretty interesting, I've got to admit. Having now been sober for a couple of weeks, I still desperately need an alarm to wake up in the morning. And I still feel sluggish and dopey.

[Joe Getty]

And how do you feel about your fellow man?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I can't stand anything Right.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And scotch certainly helps with that. Makes you all more interesting and better looking. Let's see. Although the sleep stuff, I got to admit, I've got that I don't want to know the truth.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, if you use one of those OURA rings or different brand and have an experience with it. Go ahead and text or email us. I would like to hear that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then this from Jeff. I'm going to mention this partly to remind myself to go into a little more detail later about TikTok and its effect on young people in America.

[Joe Getty]

Already.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not some sort of like possible brainwashing tool going forward? No, the brainwashing has been done. Anyway, Jeff writes, Apparently TikTok users have made the Chinese app Red Note the number one app in America, at least for now. What they don't know is the app is actually called the Little Red Book in China. Communist Chinese could not be happier.

[Joe Getty]

Man, I took Tick Tock has been.

[Jack Armstrong]

An enormous win for China.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, absolutely. I took in yet another podcast on the legalities and the argument around the Tick Tock thing. It is so complicated. I have no idea where they're going to come down on this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is it Jack, or is that communists trying to complicate it? Simple to me. Okay, what's good for the red, white and blue?

[Joe Getty]

All right, so maybe we'll get to that coming up a little bit later. Also, I would like to know exactly how many hours I sleep every night. I just have kind of a vague guess I've been going with my whole life, but maybe I'm way off in one of those contraptions. A watch or a ring would tell me. I might buy one of those rings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sleep as opposed to being in bed. Right.

[Joe Getty]

I don't even really know how many hours I spend in bed every night. I don't keep track of it. So it's fairly simple mathematics, isn't it? Yeah, I just don't pay attention. I might get one of those at Target today and report back. That might be my New Year's resolution. Buy a ring at Target.

[Jack Armstrong]

How the Left Turned California into a Paradise lost. Beware. Beware. If you hear these policies advocated in your state, don't do it.

[Joe Getty]

Some more of the news of the day. If you miss an hour, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

President Biden on Wednesday is set to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Deliver his farewell address from the Oval.

[Joe Getty]

Office, though I think he already did that during the first debate. Yeah, bye bye. Biden with a couple speeches announcing some new monuments. That sort of stuff we'll tell you about later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Also coming up, urgent warning. Warning. A key economic indicator has hit its highest level since the 08 financial crisis.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

And not a good one.

[Joe Getty]

We'll lay out a little what's going on in the world today for you. But first, I I had a thought I don't usually have, and I don't know what's going on. There was a famous song, year back in the 90s, I guess, called Wear Sunscreen. Do you remember that? It was a talking song. It was like a poem. It's like beat poetry.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was based on a commencement address given by a newspaper columnist. It was brilliant.

[Joe Getty]

It was but lines in there that Joe and I remember just because of where we lived. It said, live in New York, but leave before you get too hard. Live in Northern California, but leave before you get too soft. Which I think about sometimes when I. When I take on a point of view that is way softer than I had most of my life. Anyhow, I come around the corner early this morning in the dark in my car, and there's a possum scurrying across the road. And I slow down and I let the possum scurry across the road. And I thought that possum is doing the same thing I'm doing. Up early out trying to figure out a way to help his family get a little food for his family or, you know, just do what it. What he's. What he's. What he's designed to do to help his species and his family go on.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you do.

[Joe Getty]

You do your thing. I'm gonna do my thing. Possum, I wish you the best. On the other hand, of course, but had been near my trash can, I'd have probably smash it with a shovel. Because you can't have pests reproducing and destroying your house.

[Jack Armstrong]

The end of the end there. Right.

[Joe Getty]

But I just.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I thought that was interesting, you know, that there are hearings going on today. There's lots of hearings going on this week. Lay it out for you today. You got the most profile. There's several going on today and with different committees and everything like that. But the most prominent nominees appearing before Congress are Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary. He's sitting there right now. I'm looking on television. I don't know if great hair will get you confirmed. He's a shoo in. That is some fantastic hair.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's a handsome devil, no doubt.

[Joe Getty]

I would say also Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, and Pam Bondi, Attorney General, both tomorrow. Those are a couple of heavyweights, I think, because everybody expects those to fly through.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Rubio is going to be effortless. Bondi, a little effort indeed. She will get through with flying colors.

[Joe Getty]

Scott Besant, or Besant, who, I don't know Treasury Secretary on Thursday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not a problem. Yep.

[Joe Getty]

What's not a problem? Knowing how to pronounce, Getting him through. Oh, okay. And then our appointment. There will be an appointment of a replacement for vice president elect J.D. vance by Ohio governor. So they'll get a new Ohio governor and the GOP will enjoy then a senator. Senators rather. The governor will appoint a senator. That's the sentence. And the GOP will then have a 5347 majority in the confirmation battle ahead. 5347 for the Republican Senate, at least for the next two years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that is a tight majority. I don't hate the idea of if a nominee can't get a majority among the slim majority Republicans, they don't get in. I don't mind that the advice and consent of the Senate exists for a reason. You see some of the MAGA crowd arguing that absolutely everybody Trump picks should get in because he has a mandate, et cetera, et cetera. That's not what the Constitution says. And I say let it work.

[Joe Getty]

Wildfires continue to burn in LA. We're now at 40,000 acres, an unimaginable size. The Palisades fire, the biggest one 14% contained at this moment, which is not a lot. That other big fire at 33%, they're so getting a handle on that. But that's before the wind picks up today and it's supposed to be 75 mile an hour gusts and who knows how that will go. The setup is as bad as it could get today, weather wise for this fire, said one LA weather outlet. So be prepared to evacuate. Yeesh.

[Jack Armstrong]

And yes, bad governance is not the entire story of why LA burnt and continues to burn, but it's a significant part of it. We'll get into that next hour. Hope you can stay tuned. Also, that economic indicator that's a little worrisome. In a moment or two came across this story which is both amazing and charming and discouraging all at once. Gacha may be the only place on earth where you can score a $3,600 Hermes Picotin Bag. I don't know from expensive ladies handbags for a variety of reasons, but you can get this $3,600 bag at the 9,000 square foot arcade in Queens, New York. It's a grown ups arcade where you can relive your youth, but the prizes in the claw machine are like that $3,600 bag or a $600 Chanel wallet $549 Apple AirPods Max. I think the whole inner child thing is is gone Far enough in America we're not having any babies because we're staying children.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I was going to point out, I don't think it's people reliving their childhood. It's people continuing their. They never left their childhood. People aren't becoming adults, entering the world, doing adult things and then having a fun little relive the childhood. We're just staying in childhood now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, right. If you are several years into your career and you've been hustling after the kids, but you've got the, the hall pass, you got the fellas night out or the cows night out or whatever, and you're doing this, then you're reliving your childhood. Right. But if it's continued without a break, Jack is quite correct. So I, I, but I learned this and I suspected all of this for sure. The owner of this arcade said the Hermes bag sat in the smash the button machine for a month before somebody ultimately won it in 12 attempts. They spent $600, 50 bucks a throw, obviously to try to get this thing. But the $4200 Louis Vuitton backpack was a flop, attracting only a handful of players. I think our sweet spot is around the two grand mark, he said of the value of the fancy prizes. He estimates that 80% of his patrons are over 14 and spend 40 to $55 on average. Wow. So every US state has its own laws regulating amusement machines, but rules can vary on municipal levels. A widely known trade secret is that operators can program the claw machine. Modern claw machines enable operators to manually set voltage, probability, grip strength and other settings.

[Joe Getty]

No way. If you're about to tell me that some of these games are rigged, you should have said sit down first.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they're, they're, they are rigged, but they're not like rigged to make you lose per se. According to this owner of the 1600 square foot Gotcha Claw Arcade in Las Vegas. Did you happen to go to that when you were in Vegas?

[Joe Getty]

No, I did not.

[Jack Armstrong]

He personally tests each of his claw machines a hundred times to ensure it takes between four and seven plays to win.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is the balance that enables the arcade to be profitable without frustrating losing customers.

[Joe Getty]

That's way more often winning than I would have guessed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, me too. But that makes sense. I mean, the, the more useful version of this, you know, for the kids is just a complete fix and hardly anybody ever wins. And I wouldn't let my kids play it at a quarter of throw.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Or it's a life lesson. Or my kids figured it out on their own very quickly. My favorite one of those is when Steph Curry, and I think it was right after he won an NBA championship years ago, went to one of those you shoot baskets to win prizes things and he couldn't. Okay, so you get the greatest basketball shooter who's ever walked the planet. Can't come close to winning the stuffed doll on your tiny little rim. The ball doesn't fit through.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lesson learned.

[Joe Getty]

No kidding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. We have breaking news, Michael. Breaking news. According to CBS News and others. That's right, when news breaks, the donkey Grace, Arab, U.S. and Israeli officials all tell CBS that the draft deal for a ceasefire and hostage release has been agreed to in principle and will be finalized by Israel and Hamas this week. Perhaps we shall see.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I've been reading a lot about that. That this is a pretty serious one. What's going on there? Did Israel finally punish them to the point that they're crying uncle?

[Jack Armstrong]

More or less, yes. And Donald J. Trump has made it clear that the era of Joe Biden. Then we must have a ceasefire.

[Joe Getty]

There you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, our ally is winning. Why would we have a ceasefire Is giving way to Trump. And I will unleash hell upon you if our hostages aren't released. Excuse me.

[Joe Getty]

Or at the very least, the knowledge that sneeze.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pardon me.

[Joe Getty]

The knowledge that if Netanyahu unleashes holy hell on Hamas, Trump isn't immediately going to go on television and talk about what a bad guy Netanyahu.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who is? Right, Right, Exactly. The whole dynamic has changed. Anyway, more on Biden's miserable and weak foreign policy coming up. So urgent warning Americans key economic indicator hits highest level since the 08 financial crisis. It is US corporate bankruptcies as companies have been increasingly grappling with higher debts driven by higher interest rates that cause borrowing costs to spike in. Well, bankruptcies. Corporate bankruptcies rose 8% from 2023. It's not huge, but almost more than 2021 and 2022 combined. The whole. You know. Honestly, I'll stop myself and interrupt my narrative. The whole pandemic era cannot be compared with any other.

[Joe Getty]

No, of course, of course not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just bizarro time for companies large and small. Anyway, one of the year's biggest bankruptcies came from Party City. Which reminds me, the younger generation isn't drinking and it's nearly as much. And it's not entirely a good thing.

[Joe Getty]

You tease that. I want to hear those stats.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think it's an interesting topic, sociologically speaking. Other major names like Tupperware, Red Lobster and Spirit Airlines also filed for bankruptcy. Even popular vodka Stoli filed for bankruptcy in November.

[Joe Getty]

Is that a good vodka or a cheap vodka? I was never a vodka guy. Really?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a pretty good one, as I recall. I don't. Me neither. Me neither. Let's see, Zabitab said, chief economist at who is this guy with? Well, he's quoted the persistently elevated cost of goods and services is weighing on consumer demands, hitting lower income families the most. Absolutely clear. You know, as I'm looking at some of the bankruptcies, though, the beautiful and painful thing about the free market, some call it capitalism. I prefer not to use that term. It's Karl Marx's. Anyway. The beautiful thing about the free market is it creates ideas or it allows ideas to become profitable and to grow until they are mismanaged or they are no longer good ideas and then they go away, which is precisely what they should do. Going to spend a little time later in the show talking about Xi Jinping's China, which is racing away from the free market and towards central control. And it's yielded miserable, miserable results. Xi Jinping is China's greatest adversary, not the United States. But again, more on that later.

[Joe Getty]

So if you watch msnbc, perhaps cnn, I don't know, I didn't catch them. They've got a narrative on the Pete Hegseth hearings today that I just want to point out a flaw in because it's the big. It's the story on MSNBC today on why these hearings are corrupt and it's a travesty and everything. And they leave out one particular part. So just want to fill you in on that. It's me or us doing the homework for you on this, on this story. Anyway, I know we got Katie's headlines on the way also, so stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Man, you hate to go 14 and three during the regular season and get defeated like that on Monday Night Football in the playoffs. The Vikings just got trounced by the Rams last night.

[Jack Armstrong]

Indeed. Yeah, that wasn't even close. One of several blowouts that I wanted to watch and was excited about and just. Nah, give up on. Big hour next hour. Hope you can stay tuned. We're going to talk California wildfires with Congressman Tom McClintock. But first, let's see who's reporting what. It's the lead story with Katie Green.

[C]

Katie, we have a couple of fire headlines, starting with ktla. We're not in the clear yet. The high winds are returning and L A is still facing extreme fire danger.

[Joe Getty]

Right. That's the ongoing day by day. But I'm looking at the pictures up on the tv, you know, the devastation. Oh my God. This is going to be one of the most amazing cleanup, rebuilding projects in the history of the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

America.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was reading some of the, you know, mundane and mind numbing technicality of clearing all the debris, getting all the permits, environmental tests before you can, you know, nail two, two by fours together from abc.

[C]

Multiple people charged with looting in the Palisades.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I mean the more I think about it. So if your house is destroyed, everything is destroyed. No. Your cars are gone, your house is destroyed, everything you own and it's going to be, what would it be two years before you'll have another house on that spot?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's gotta be a wild guess. Something like that, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

What are you doing in the meantime?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Are you quitting your job and moving to another state? Are you in a hotel and commute where you. I don't even know. I don't even know where you start. What a mess.

[C]

From the New York Post how California eco bureaucrats halted a Pacific Palisades fire safety project to save an endangered shrub.

[Joe Getty]

That shrub was protecting the smelt, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[C]

In 2019 they were replacing a 100-year-old power lines and apparently the eco bureaucrats freaked out.

[Joe Getty]

Is this a chance that a lot of that silliness goes away? Perhaps.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder. Boy, does the environmental left have a headlock on California government right now.

[C]

From the Free Beacon, special counsel slams Biden's attacks on quote integrity of the justice system in Hunter Biden case as.

[Joe Getty]

Being left out a lot of the mainstream media, the big report that came out last night that we haven't mentioned yet, the Jack Smith report that came out, I'm not sure needed to, it included a whole bunch of hey, by the way, President Biden. No, we were not putting our thumb on the scale during the whole Hunter Biden stuff. So shut up. You're doing a lot of damage.

[C]

From NBC, Chinese tick tock alternative called Red Note tops the app charts ahead of potential tick tock ban.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And this is the one that is closely tied to Mao's Little Red Book or something like that, right? Yeah.

[C]

So this is just another, another tick tock basically from the Wall Street.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know I heard some learned a observers saying what the US needs to do is come up with its own better way to completely waste our kids time and turn their minds into jelly. But at least it wouldn't be communist Chinese jelly. It's a hell of a solution from.

[C]

The Wall Street Journal. U.S. deaths expected to outpace births within a decade.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we're. If it were not for immigration or. Our country would be shrinking rapidly very, very soon.

[C]

This is horrifying. From the New York Post. Patient dies after hospital asks wrong family whether to pull the plug on life support.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

They had.

[C]

They had two patients in one room, and it was the wrong patient.

[Joe Getty]

You talked to the wrong patient. Family.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, your.

[Joe Getty]

Your son is David.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh. Oh.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we've got a problem. We've had a snafu. Everybody makes mistakes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Kind of funny if you think about it.

[Joe Getty]

You think about it, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's kind of funny, right?

[C]

And finally, the Babylon Bee. California police arrest arsonist for using gas blowtorch instead of electric blowtorch.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go. Too many emissions.

[Joe Getty]

How much time I got, Michael?

[Jack Armstrong]

About six months looking at you.

[Joe Getty]

Thank you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, you got about 40 seconds.

[Joe Getty]

A short version of this, and we'll get into more of it later. MSNBC is all day long with the discussing how and why the FBI did such a poor job of the background check. It's all based on a New York Times story with unnamed sources. That's the whole thing. Some unnamed Hegseth. Yeah, Pete Hegseth. Some unnamed sources said the FBI didn't do their normal background check, and now MSNBC is treating that as if it's 100% fact and running with it all day long and just wanted you to know that unnamed sources, people familiar with the investigation said.

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of businesses that deserve to be bankrupt.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, please. Yeah. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.