Let's Get Our Chill On!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Let's Get Our Chill On!" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: January 27, 2025

In the episode titled "Let's Get Our Chill On!" from Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a range of pressing political and social issues with their characteristic blend of insight and humor. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, the duo navigates topics from high-profile biographies to the complexities of immigration policy, all while engaging listeners with notable quotes and sharp commentary.

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1. Elon Musk and Leadership Styles

Timestamp [00:24] - Walter Isaacson's Perspective The episode opens with a discussion about Elon Musk, referencing Walter Isaacson's biography of the tech mogul. Isaacson describes Musk's multifaceted personality, highlighting his "engineering mode," "giddy boat and silly mode," and the formidable "demon mode" where Musk becomes intensely focused and leaves significant impacts.

Walter Isaacson: "...he can do things like figure out how to do a rocket, landing upright and catch it with the arm, arms... when he gets really dark and he's really intense about something."

Timestamp [00:47] - Joe Getty on Musk’s Focus Joe Getty elaborates on Musk’s intense focus, possibly linked to his Asperger's, allowing him to lock into projects with remarkable concentration.

Joe Getty: "...his Asperger's thing, where he can just lock in on something and really focus on it that way."

2. Critique of Republican Messaging and J.D. Vance

Timestamp [01:08] - Jack Armstrong on Republican Defense Jack Armstrong criticizes Republicans for not effectively defending conservative philosophies on mainstream media, contrasting this with J.D. Vance’s assertive representation.

Jack Armstrong: "It's profoundly annoying... J.D. ain’t that. And I have really enjoyed his aggressive spokesmanship for Trump and conservative values."

Timestamp [01:36] - Analysis of J.D. Vance’s Interview The hosts discuss J.D. Vance’s appearance on Face the Nation, where he counters Margaret Brennan’s questions forcefully, showcasing his adeptness in handling tough inquiries.

Jack Armstrong: "He thinks he parried with great skill."

3. Immigration Policy and Enforcement

Timestamp [05:37] - Discussion on Immigration Enforcement Armstrong and Getty tackle the contentious issue of immigration enforcement, dissecting Margaret Brennan’s questioning of policy changes and the resultant "chilling effect" on illegal immigration.

Jack Armstrong: "They create a horrifying mess... you are the bad guy."

Timestamp [07:31] - The Debate Over Chilling Effects The conversation intensifies as they debate the implications of enforcing immigration laws in public spaces like schools and churches, criticizing the notion that such enforcement would deter illegal immigration without impacting law-abiding citizens.

Joe Getty: "It's a damn good tactic from the left because it has worked pretty well."

4. Social Media Amplification of Minority Voices

Timestamp [10:07] - Impact of Online Presence The hosts reflect on how small fractions of the population, such as BlueAnon and QAnon, gain disproportionate visibility through social media, skewing public perception of their prevalence.

Joe Getty: "Blue Anon and QAnon... have outsized voices in social media."

5. Disaster Response and Political Commentary

Timestamp [12:47] - Southern California Winter Storms Armstrong and Getty shift focus to recent winter storms in Southern California, discussing the logistical challenges of disaster response and critiquing political responses, including Donald Trump’s comments on self-reliance in cleanup efforts.

Donald Trump Clip [14:03]: "You should let them do it because by the time you hire contractors, it's going to be two years."

6. Super Bowl Insights and Tom Brady’s Commentary

Timestamp [17:40] - Super Bowl Predictions The conversation transitions to sports, specifically the upcoming Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Getty shares his enthusiasm for Tom Brady’s role as a color commentator, noting his initial positive impressions despite early criticisms.

Joe Getty: "I thought he was great as a casual fan... I enjoyed it a lot."

Timestamp [19:05] - Brady’s Commentary Style They critique Brady's stern commentary style, comparing it to how Michael Jordan adapted after his baseball stint, suggesting Brady maintains high standards that can come off as harsh.

Joe Getty: "It reminded me of when Michael Jordan left basketball to go play baseball."

7. The Rising Disability Crisis

Timestamp [21:53] - NPR’s Coverage on Disability Armstrong and Getty delve into a critical issue highlighted by NPR: the soaring number of Americans on disability. They discuss the complexities of disability claims, the economic implications, and societal attitudes towards disabilities.

Jack Armstrong: "Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government."

Timestamp [24:47] - Personal Experiences and Societal Impacts The hosts share personal anecdotes and observations about the prevalence of back pain and other musculoskeletal issues among workers, questioning the criteria for disability and the authenticity of claims.

Jack Armstrong: "No doctor can say your back doesn't hurt that bad if you say it really, really hurts."

8. Youth Anxiety and Societal Changes

Timestamp [28:28] - Generational Shifts in Anxiety Getty expresses concern over increasing anxiety levels among today’s youth compared to previous generations, pondering environmental and societal factors contributing to this trend.

Joe Getty: "My kids have levels of anxiety that were unthinkable for me and my brothers."

9. Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts

Timestamp [34:07] - Final Reflections As the episode winds down, the hosts offer light-hearted final thoughts, touching on topics like societal obsessions with body image and the pervasive influence of technology.

Joe Getty: "Why are we all overweight? ... Add pumpkin syrup to your coffee. That's plenty of pumpkin in my morning."

Timestamp [35:36] - Sign-Off Armstrong and Getty conclude with reminders to engage with their content online and a humorous exchange, reinforcing their rapport and commitment to providing unfiltered commentary.

Joe Getty: "God bless America."

Jack Armstrong: "Armstrong and Getty."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [01:08] Jack Armstrong: "It's profoundly annoying... J.D. ain’t that. And I have really enjoyed his aggressive spokesmanship for Trump and conservative values."

• [05:37] Jack Armstrong: "They create a horrifying mess... you are the bad guy."

• [10:07] Joe Getty: "Blue Anon and QAnon... have outsized voices in social media."

• [17:40] Joe Getty: "I thought he was great as a casual fan... I enjoyed it a lot."

• [21:53] Jack Armstrong: "Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government."

• [28:28] Joe Getty: "My kids have levels of anxiety that were unthinkable for me and my brothers."

• [34:07] Joe Getty: "Why are we all overweight? ... Add pumpkin syrup to your coffee. That's plenty of pumpkin in my morning."

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Conclusion

In "Let's Get Our Chill On!", Armstrong and Getty provide a comprehensive examination of contemporary issues through spirited dialogue and incisive analysis. From dissecting political performances and immigration policies to exploring societal health trends and youth anxiety, the episode offers listeners a multifaceted perspective on the challenges facing America today. Their ability to intertwine serious discourse with humor ensures an engaging and thought-provoking listening experience for both regular followers and newcomers alike.

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's Armstrong and Getty.

[Walter Isaacson]

You know, he has a mode that's engineering mode, where he can do things like figure out how to do a rocket, landing upright and catch it with the arm, arms. And he has a very giddy boat and a silly mode. But he also has what one of his friends calls demon mode, which is when he gets really dark and he's really intense about something. There's no distracting him, and he can leave a lot of rubble in his wake.

[Joe Getty]

Now, that's Walter Isaacson talking about Elon Musk. Walter Isaacson was the official biographer for Elon. He followed Elon around for like, six months or something all day and night. And the biography is supposed to be great. I haven't read it. I mean to. But that probably fits in with a little bit of his Asperger's thing, where he can just lock in on something and really focus on it that way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, no doubt. So Elon Musk, definitely one of the big personalities around the Trump administration. Another one of note would certainly be J.D. vance. And, Jack, you have been one of the few people, if not the only one, I've heard railing through the years about how poorly Republicans do defending a conservative governing philosophy when they go on the idiotic and hard to watch Sunday talk shows.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's as if they feel like, well, I don't want to be, like, unpopular or make anybody uncomfortable, so I'll just pretend like they're 80% right and maybe nip around the edges and then apologize for it. I mean, it's profoundly annoying. Well, J.D. ain't that. And I have really enjoyed his aggressive spokesmanship for Trump and conservative values and the rest of it. I don't agree with him on everything. He's another guy that I'm not exactly sure what he believes at his core, but he's a wily operator and he's certainly on the rise. Anyway, he was on Face the Nation with the utterly insufferably smug, snotty, lefty Margaret Brennan, and she, in her insufferable way, asked him several questions that he thought he parried with great skill. We'll start with clip 34.

[Margaret Brennan]

Michael, you campaigned on lowering prices for consumers. We've seen all of these executive orders. Which one lowers prices?

[Michael]

We have done a lot. And there have been a number of executive orders that have caused already jobs to start coming back into our country, which is a core Part of lowering prices, more capital investment, more job creation in our economy is one of the things that's going drive down prices for all consumers, but also raise wages so that people can afford to buy the things that they need. If you look at our executive orders. No, no, Margaret. Prices are going to come down, but it's going to take a little bit of time. Right. The president has been president for all of five days. I think that in those five days he's accomplished more than Joe Biden did in four years. It's been an incredible breakneck pace of activity. We're going to work with Congress. We're of course going to have more executive orders.

[Jack Armstrong]

So prices aren't going to come down.

[Joe Getty]

Margaret Brennan, who didn't understand what inflation even was during the entire inflationary period, all of a sudden now as that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Angle is an expert. Yeah, he's had five days. Why haven't prices come down? I mean, I mean, the shows are so just shamelessly partisan, but everybody knows that, so I won't bother repeating it. But unbelievable. Republicans on it's 100% adversarial. The Democrats on it's practically love making. I have to avert my eyes. It's embarrassing. Get a room, you two. I love this though. He goes on next clip.

[Michael]

One of the main drivers of increased prices under the Biden administration is that we had a massive increase in energy prices. Donald Trump has already taken multiple executive actions that are going to lower energy prices and I do believe that means consumers are going to see lower prices at the pump and, and at the grocery store. But it's going to take a little bit of time. Rome wasn't built in a day. And while we've done a whole lot, we can't undo all of the damage of Joe Biden's presidency.

[Margaret Brennan]

There are a lot of that contributed to higher energy prices and there was record oil and gas production.

[Michael]

Joe Biden did many, many terrible things to lead to an increase in prices. I agree, Margaret.

[Jack Armstrong]

But still insisting that inflation can be turned around in a one week or less period. She plunged on.

[Margaret Brennan]

No, but all the things you experience at the grocery store, what people touch and feel. That's what you were talking about, bacon on the campaign trail.

[Michael]

Of course, of course.

[Margaret Brennan]

Those things. When do consumers actually get to touch and feel a difference in their lives?

[Michael]

Well, Margaret, how does bacon get to the grocery store? It comes on trucks that are fueled by diesel fuel. If the diesel is way too expensive, the bacon is going to become more expensive. How do we grow the bacon? Our farmers need energy to produce it. So if we lower energy prices, we are going to see lower prices for consumers. And that is what we're trying to fight for.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go.

[Joe Getty]

He's better at that than Pence was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And if you took one week v. Con 101, all that makes perfect sense to you, but it's far beyond Margaret's.

[Joe Getty]

Ken, different topic, same show, same people. They got into the immigration stuff. And there's one particular clip I wanted to get on, but this is how it started.

[Michael]

We are going to enforce immigration law. We're going to protect the American people. Donald Trump promised to do that. And I believe the U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops, if they're worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden.

[Margaret Brennan]

You personally let them talk about people.

[Michael]

Like Lake and Riley who were brutally murdered. I support us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they're illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe.

[Joe Getty]

So the sex trafficking thing, which has happened, happened, of course, because that's part of what cartels do and all that. But that is also a big topic for a certain segment of the right that believes there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of kids being sex trafficked by the Democratic Party because they're all pedophiles. That's part of that whole Kunan thing, which I don't have a sense of how big that is, but it, it's out there. But anyway, back to the real world. Here's a little more on that topic.

[Michael]

Let me ask this question, Margaret. Let's separate the immigration issue. If you had a violent murderer in a school, of course I want law enforcement to go and get that person out.

[Joe Getty]

Of course.

[Michael]

What's the point of the question?

[Margaret Brennan]

You changed the regulation this week. That's the point of the question.

[Michael]

Exactly.

[Margaret Brennan]

Giving the authority to go into churches, go into schools.

[Michael]

We empowered law enforcement to enforce the law everywhere to protect Americans.

[Joe Getty]

A chilling effect.

[Margaret Brennan]

A chilling effect, arguably to people to not send their hides.

[Joe Getty]

Just.

[Michael]

I desperately hope it has a chilling.

[Margaret Brennan]

Effect on illegal immigrants coming into our country. Conference of Catholics Bishops is, are actively hiding criminals.

[Michael]

I think the U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops has frankly not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for. And I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they'll do better.

[Joe Getty]

He is a devout Catholic, and I guarantee you there are Catholic churches where they're hiding illegals and some of them are criminals. Guarantee indeed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, correct.

[Joe Getty]

We were talking about this earlier. For whatever reason, year by year, little by little, we built this idea that illegal immigrants are something. I don't know, that they're just untouchable as a group because the dreamers and, you know, the poem at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty and all.

[Jack Armstrong]

These different things, better than all of us.

[Joe Getty]

We're a nation of immigrants. And got away from the idea that if you had somebody in the mafia and you knew they were gonna show up to a funeral of another Mafia member, you'd show up at the freaking funeral and arrest them. But with illegal immigrants, we decided we wouldn't do that for some reason. And Margaret Brennan with the chilling. It'll affect. It'll have on not sending your kids to school. Hey, if you did nothing wrong, don't worry about it. Send your kids to school. I wouldn't be concerned.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we're just getting the criminals. Just the criminals. I need to come up with this. Maybe y'all can help me with this. There's a term. There's. And just the, you know, term is always good because it's easier to sell an idea. But the idea is these people, be they Margaret Brennan or somebody in the media, they act like you coming in with the mop and the broom and cleaning up the terrible mess they made, that you are the bad guy. Call them anti janitorialists or something. I don't know. You understand what I'm talking about? Yeah. They create a horrifying mess. They put porn on school shelves, hardcore porn. And then you say, gosh, we got to get this porn out of here. And they say, you're a censor. You're hurting free speech. You're a book burner because you're cleaning up the mess they made. There's got to be a way to convey that to people simply. And how. How. I'm tired of it.

[Joe Getty]

It's a damn good tactic from the left because it has worked pretty well.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we let in millions of illegal immigrants, including many who are very dangerous. They're known criminals. They did crimes in their country. They came here, they did more crimes. They're creating more and more victims. They're awful, awful human beings. But you doing anything to get rid of them is too ugly. We won't have it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I wish he would have just turned it on. Or like, what's your reasoning for making schools and funerals off limits to arresting criminals? Of course she would say the chilling effect. But what you're talking about, a chilling effect on people who aren't Criminals, That's. I don't know. I. I can't control the way they react, but they. They're not at fault and they don't have to worry about it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Chill the criminals all you want. I'm. I'm pro. Chill.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's get the. Our chill on.

[Joe Getty]

And besides the fact that I. And I wish. I wish polls are always used by the left when they're in their favor. Throw that New York Times poll at her. Hey, Margaret, 85% of Americans want us to boot out illegals who have a criminal record. 85%. If you want to speak for the 15% and present their side, go ahead, but I'm.

[Jack Armstrong]

Admit you're doing that, but I'm on.

[Joe Getty]

Pretty solid ground here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, and she's trying to. In the left, the far left, the nutty left, is trying to portray that ice is going to shoot their way into a second grade classroom to apprehend somebody. That's not going to happen. Not gonna happen. Venezuelan gang member drops his kid off school and then heads on out. That's when they're gonna snatch him up. Anyway. So back to a question you posed. It may have been rhetorical, but I take everything literally. The more wackadoodly. Among us, how many people are there? You know, some fairly simple mathematics would tell you that a tenth of a percent of the people of the United States is 340,000 people. And if every single one of them is online tweeting constantly about some issue, you would get the idea that it's just everybody thinks it and it's of enormous importance. But that's. That's the problem with the. The Internet. I think it gives you an outsized view of how many people believe something in a way that if you're just experiencing it in your own life, you'd never get that sense.

[Joe Getty]

There's blue Anon and QAnon. They're both out there and they have outsized voices in social media. Yes, I wish we would all recognize that, but maybe we can't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah, I hope we will. I hope we'll learn to deal with it and. Or just come join my Joe Getty back to nature camp, where we get rid of our technology and smartphones and cavort in the woods. I mean, the cavorting is optional. It's not mandatory to cavort.

[Joe Getty]

Define cavort.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't gotta. I think it'd be to play happily.

[Joe Getty]

Woody Allen says in his fantastic memoir, I've never frolicked in a meadow, and I have no Desire to.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, frolicking is cavorting.

[Michael]

Plus.

[Jack Armstrong]

But they're similar. I mean, one man's frolic is another's cavort. Who am I to judge?

[Joe Getty]

Okay, we got more on the way. Stay here.

[Margaret Brennan]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Karen Bass]

The powerful winter storm striking Southern California worries any heavy rain and burn scar areas could trigger mudslides. Crews deploying concrete barriers to protect homes, making neighborhoods safe. A painstaking process including removing hazardous waste and dangers posed by damaged utility infrastructure.

[Joe Getty]

Hmm. And some of those dangers are why they tell you you can't go back to your house, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. That's always cautious about that.

[Joe Getty]

That's always a tough one for me. The. I mean, nothing is more individual freedom than me being able to go to my freaking house.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

That's a, that's a tough one when the government steps in between those two things. Anyway, among the topics that came up between Donald Trump and Mayor Bass on Friday when he was in California. I haven't heard this yet, but I guess it's pretty jazzy.

[Donald Trump]

But the people are willing to clean out their own debris. It doesn't cost.

[Jack Armstrong]

They can.

[Donald Trump]

You should let them do it because by the time you hire contractors, it's going to be two years. If, if a family, people are willing to get a, a dumpster and do it themselves and clean it out and they can. There's not that much left. It's all incinerated.

[Margaret Brennan]

That's right.

[Donald Trump]

And you know, it's just going to take a long time. If you do, you can do some of it. But a lot of these people. I know that guy right there that's talking. I know my people. You'll be on that thing tonight, throwing the stuff away, and your site will be. It'll look perfect within 24 hours. And that's what he wants to do. He doesn't want to wait around for seven months till the city hires some demolition contract and it's going to charge him $25,000 to do his lot. I think you have to. You have emergency powers just like I do. And I'm exercising my emergency powers. You have to exercise them also. I did exercise them because I looked. I mean, you have a very powerful emergency power and you can do everything within 24 hours.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

That is so awesome. You never hear politicians talk like that. That is fantastic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, and Karen Bass claiming people can clean up their own property. It's fine. Yeah, we'll let them. Sure. No problem.

[Joe Getty]

That's also. I'll bet that was a glimpse into Way back in the day, 80s, Trump being at some meeting where they're trying to build something somewhere in New York when he was just a developer. But that was a good glimpse at that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And somebody's trying to give him the old Jimmy Jack, the old hidey ho, trying to, you know, you know, fast talking. He's like, no, no, I want to see it happen. It needs to happen. Yeah. Well, here's a resident of Pacific Palisades responding. The people can go back to their home site and clean it up.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

I haven't been able to get to the House since January 7th. It's January 25th.

[LAPD Officer]

Correct, sir.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

President Trump said that we could go now. What's going on?

[LAPD Officer]

I'm not too sure, sir. Unfortunately, with us, we play that year with lapd, they kind of talk to our command, and our command tells us what LAPD says.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

So LAPD is saying, I can't go to my house without a police escort.

[LAPD Officer]

Yeah, you could get to your house, but you can meet a police escort, sir.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

And how long does that take?

[LAPD Officer]

I'm not too sure, sir. There's a lot of folks trying to get into our house right now, so it could even be like an hour or two trying to get to your house.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

But why can't I just drive up there?

[LAPD Officer]

Because it's a hard closure. So like I said, there's only escorts.

[Joe Getty]

You're in that door.

[LAPD Officer]

It's not that I'm preventing you from going to your house.

[Resident of Pacific Palisades]

No, you literally are preventing me from going to the house.

[LAPD Officer]

I'm telling you, you can go get a police escort to get to your house. I'm not telling you you can't.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, where do I go?

[Jack Armstrong]

The police escort store.

[Joe Getty]

That's cutting it pretty thin. No, no, no. You're free to go to your house. You just need to police escort. And then how do I get that? Oh, you go over there and you got to stand in line. Yeah, you can't. They're going to tell you no. Give you the old Jimmy Jack. That's what they did, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

I hate that.

[Joe Getty]

I. I hope I'm never in that situation because I would lose my s. That's my freaking house. I have to pay 10% property taxes on this thing. It's all my stuff. Let me go.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm a grown ass man. I can properly appraise whether it's safe or not. I'm pretty good at it. You'll notice I'm still alive, so. Yeah, but you know the individual cops are in a bad position.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, sure. No no, no, no. That individual guy, he's got no choice. He'd lose his job if he doesn't do what he's told. So. No, I get that. The mayor claiming. Of course she's claiming that. Oh, God dang it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lion liar. Go back to visit to Cuba and Castro again. Karen.

[Margaret Brennan]

Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Getty hurts under center on first down. He pitches it out to Barkley, takes off. He's at the 50.

[LAPD Officer]

He's at the 40. He's at the 30.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's going to go 15, 10, 5. Touchdown Saquon Barkley. 60 yards on his opening touch. He touched it and he took it to the house.

[Joe Getty]

It's as simple as that. As the Eagles call, obviously Philadelphia Eagles going to be in the super bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks in Super Bowl 59. And one of my. Somebody I'm friends with who actually works in the NFL said it seems like the Chiefs, like, weren't really paying attention until the playoffs started, which might be true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I think anybody who's ever observed your dynasty teams knows it gets, it gets tougher and tougher to focus in the games that don't matter that much.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And get yourself worked up to that fever pitch. You have to be in professional athletes to like, really compete. Anyway, that could be a pretty exciting game. I'm excited because Tom Brady is announcing the Super Bowl. He's the color commentator for the Super Bowl. I heard him for the first time last week. I had, you know, he signed this hundred million dollar contract or whatever it was for Fox. And then I heard a lot of negative comments about him early on. And I heard him the first time last week. I thought he was great as a casual fan. He told me all kinds of things that I didn't know and wouldn't know unless he was letting me know. So I, I enjoyed it a lot. And then I said, I don't love.

[Jack Armstrong]

Him, don't hate him, don't like him.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I thought I, I really enjoyed it. I didn't even know who it was. I was listening to the whole thing and just kept thinking, wow, that's really interesting. That's really. And then I figured out it was Tom Brady. I thought, oh, cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I also understand that that job, as other jobs that are in the same industry are harder than they look. And I think he'll grow into it. I just, I can't work up, like, hating somebody because I don't love their color commentary. It's just.

[Joe Getty]

He's okay. One thing he does, though, that I'D never heard an announcer do. And I didn't. I didn't think this was particularly good. Is he just. He's so cruel to the people when they make mistakes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh.

[Joe Getty]

And I thought, I don't know that you need to do that. Everybody's not you, dude. And what it reminded me of is when Michael Jordan left basketball to go play baseball, and he didn't really succeed at it. Then he came back to basketball, and they asked some of the players on the team, is he any different since he came back? And some of the players, I think even Steve Kerr, who's the coach for the warriors now, said, yeah, he's a little more forgiving now. He used to think, like, if somebody made a mistake, it's because they weren't trying hard. And now he realized you can be trying really, really hard sometimes and not succeed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

It's not effort. And I think Tom Brady's that way because I heard him make a couple of comments about players. It's like, dude, everybody's not you. Everybody doesn't see everything all the time before it happens. You're one in a gazillion. Even other pro athletes might miss something now and then.

[Jack Armstrong]

Take it easy, Michael. You know what we're listening to right now, don't you? The sound of a loser. That's right, a loser. If you want to build a merciless football machine that snaps up super bowl trophies, like average team snaps up, wins, you're gonna have to be merciless.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. To be the player but not the announcer, I think so. Like, this cornerback missed something like that. And Tom Brady on the replay said, dude, you had one job. And I. I thought, that's not what Troy Aikman would have said. Troy Aikman was. Said he missed on that play. He didn't see him. He didn't. He was. Looked the other way or something like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Not like, how could you possibly screw that up? Which is a little hurtful anyway.

[Michelangelo]

Yeah, I find it entertaining.

[Joe Getty]

You do you like it?

[Michelangelo]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like to hear standards. In Jack Armstrong's America, every game would end 100 to 100 or 0 to 0. Just soft softness.

[Joe Getty]

He did that. Brady did that with some of the calls Detroit coaches made. Like, how do you not call the time out there? What are you thinking? It just. Oof.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Well, he's probably the best ever, so. Yeah, he has high standards. Yeah. So on a completely unrelated note, got this from alert listener PJ and I just sent it Hanson so we can post [e-mail] it's one of the strangest and most disturbing things I've seen, certainly in the last little bit. It is Harry Potter. The Harry Potter movies recast as a North Korean propaganda music video. The Harry Potter stories recast as a North Korean propaganda music video.

[Joe Getty]

Again, that tired genre.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know why who thinks of these things? Why who bothers to do them? But it is a measure of how wonderfully, disturbingly strange technology is getting. And all the characters kind of look like the characters, but if they were North Koreans and full of bizarro Kim Jong Uni patriotic fervor, it's so freaking strange. And it'll be under hot [e-mail] I'll check that out. The other thing I wanted to talk about, and this is somewhat surprising that NPR would be writing about this, although they probably have some angle that I just haven't discovered yet. But in the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed.

[Joe Getty]

That whole thing is so out of control. The world of disability, it's just completely out of control.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was just gonna say we need to trot out this topic, maybe get some emails and some texts, and then bring it up in full tomorrow. But the rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job and new laws have banned workplace discriminations against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government. 14 million. Federal government spends more money each year on cash payments for disabled former workers than it spends on food stamps and welfare combined. Yet relying on disability payments and people who do are often overlooked in discussions of the social safety net.

[Joe Getty]

And often, because I know this is true, often it's your back and your neck, which is something they can't really tell you. Your back and neck don't hurt if you say your back and neck do hurt. No doctor can say your back doesn't hurt that bad if you say it really, really hurts. It really, really hurts. And you're on disability, as I've recently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Discovered in my journey through back problems and treatment. Yeah, there's a lot of gray area, tremendous gray area. As one well respected back doctor said to me, I have patients whose spines are a mess and they're mildly uncomfortable. And I have patients who it doesn't look that bad on the X rays, on the CAT scans, whatever, and they can barely walk.

[Joe Getty]

There are also patients as I work the cruel side of the street, the uncool side of the street. There are Also, patients who don't really have any pain, but they're claiming their back hurts so they can get a disability check and then get a free ride. They're going to go skiing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interestingly, because people get disability checks are technically not part of labor force. They're not counted among the unemployed, so they don't show up when you're looking at how the economy is doing. And again, interestingly, as NPR of all places puts it, the story is not only of an aging workforce but also of a hidden, increasingly expensive safety net.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So, you know, I will dig into this more thoroughly and we can follow up on it. But yeah, what's your experience? What do you, as an employer, as an employee, as somebody who's, who's got a disabling injury, whatever. What's, what's the reality? Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com if you want to drop us an email.

[Joe Getty]

My dad was big on this when he first retired and they were in kind of a community where most of the people owned the homes around there just were retired. And so many of them were disabled. On disability is how they retired. And from his observation, they seem to be living life like everybody else. I mean, perfectly fine, mowing the lawn, going on hikes, riding bikes, whatever else. But, you know, I don't know, how disabled should you be to get a government check? I guess it's a question.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, you can't work at all, at all. And they introduce you to a 23 year old guy who flipped his Jeep several ways, then flew 165ft from it, going through 12 to 14,000 volts of electrical lines, then landing in a briar patch. He says I broke all five of my right toes, my right hip, seven of my vertebrae, shattering one, breaking a right rib, puncturing my lung, and then I cracked my neck. Other stories seemed less clear. And he was talking to people in Hale County, Alabama, who are just like, yeah, my back hurts when I try to work, so I don't work anymore. But no specific, you know, injury or whatever. He says people don't seem to be faking this pain, but it gets confusing. I have back pain. My editor has a herniated disc and he works harder than anyone I know. There must be millions of people with asthma and diabetes who go to work every day. Who gets to decide whether, say, back pain makes someone disabled.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know many dudes who don't have back pain who aren't doing some sort of stretching regimen or taking some sort of drug or Hanson, you, Practically everybody I know who's over 40.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So how much you want to emphasize that or if you really want to get out of working. I don't know how hard it would be to get on disability. I really don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stretch, friends, stretch. Stretch as much as you can stand it is the key share of newly disabled workers by diagnosis. In 1961, back pain and other musculoskeletal problems was 8% of disabled workers, new disabled workers. Now it's 34%.

[Joe Getty]

Part of it is cultural too. And I don't want to be super hard ass, but there was a time when as a guy, you wouldn't want to admit pain. Now it's kind of a badge of honor. It's like a lot of things where you wouldn't want to admit you're depressed, wouldn't want to admit you're anxious, wouldn't want to admit, you know, maybe we were too far the other direction at one point.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

But we aren't now. You like to be. I'm. I'm overwhelmed by this person.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. Mental illness, developmental disability, etc. 9 1/2% back in the day. Now it's 19%. And heart disease, stroke, etc shrunk from 26 to about 11%.

[Joe Getty]

You know, it's. On the other hand, though, I'll make the other side of the argument specifically around kids. I was noticing, I've noticed this for a long time, but I was noticing specifically yesterday as we were running some errands. My kids have levels of anxiety that were unthinkable for me and my brothers. The things that they worry about. I just, I never did. I just never worried about it. And they worry about it and I don't know, like if it's something I passed on to them environmentally by living in my house or if it's the food they eat or cell phone towers, you know, the same questions we always have around.

[Donald Trump]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

But it's. Clearly they have anxiety about things that I just never did. And I was thinking a lot about that yesterday. Where does that come from?

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's such an enormous phenomenon, you'd think we'd have more serious inquiries into it going on. It's tough because your memory gets shifted and clouded and all as you age. We've talked about that many times and it's fascinating and troubling. But let's have a roundtable of Gen Xers talking about childhood and what they worried about and what they didn't worry about and friends and activities and Then have the youngsters of today it let's compare and contrast and have our greatest minds trying to figure this out. We've made our kids nuts, including, you know, a couple of my kids in particular struggle with a lot of this stuff and they were very, very free rangy kids by modern standards. Because I'm always talking about how being a free range kid is incredibly important to building resilience and confidence and problem solving and the rest of it. My kids were. But they, they struggle with a lot of this stuff too. And I'm, I think it would be very, very good if we could figure it out. It might be microplastics.

[Joe Getty]

Sure could be. We'll finish strong next.

[Margaret Brennan]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Karen Bass]

President Trump was sworn back into office on Monday, but he appeared to not place his hand on the Bible. Well, he tried to, but the Bible screamed. The Bible Trump used was the same one Abraham Lincoln used at his inauguration. And man, I wish those two could talk to each other. Lincoln could teach Trump a lot about the importance of preserving our union and Trump could teach Lincoln how to turn your head at the exact right moment.

[Joe Getty]

That is an edgy joke.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll admit that's a dark joke too.

[Joe Getty]

Soon I'm looking up at Fox growing calls to add Trump's face to Mount Rushmore.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, come on.

[Joe Getty]

I'm glad Trump won. Even more glad a week into it. But that's just a dumb conversation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. That could go side by side with the story. Impeach Trump movement is back and raising money.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right.

[Joe Getty]

So I think this week they're going to get around to RFK Jr. And his nomination for Health and Human Services or whatever he's up for. Some things you might not know about RFK Jr. For instance, he did an interview with Michael Steele, former Republican committee chairman. I think this was on msnbc, the rnc.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

When RFK said he was asked about abortion and limits on abortion. RFK said, I believe we should leave it to the woman. We shouldn't have the government involved. Steele said, even if it's full term? RFK said, even if it's full term. Okay. That's a quite a stance.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's infanticide. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

He tweeted out Parkland students are right. The NRA is a terror group. That's an RFK junior tweet still on his site. Do you you okay with that? If you're a Trump support and right leaning guntoker, you probably are NRA fan. Call them a terror group. RFK Jr once said farmers were worse than bin Laden. And that was just months after 9. 11.

[Jack Armstrong]

What was his point there?

[Joe Getty]

The damage they do to. To society and killing people with the food.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, okay.

[Joe Getty]

More people are killed by farmers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Farmers and our food. I mean, if you want to say like the big food manufacturers, maybe, but the farmers.

[Joe Getty]

Wall Street Journal with a piece out about that. How to rationalize a nominee who rejects basic science, who labels us farmers a greater threat than Al Qaeda, who wants to punish climate deniers through government action, loves big government and believes abortion should be okay up until full term. It's going to be a hard thing to get through, I think, with the Republicans, but we'll see. I love that one. Here's your host for Final Thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's perfect. Hey, let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap things up. There he is, back in his post. Michelangelo, Michael, final thought.

[Michelangelo]

Just want to make it clear I was gone because I was cataract surgery. My eyes are. I'm getting a lot of texts about people accusing me of having certain enlargements or weird operations and just knock it off.

[Joe Getty]

You're going to explain some of that during the One More Thing podcast, are you not?

[Jack Armstrong]

I am.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Okay, cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he's not. Michelangelo. In spite of the rumors I may have started, Katie Greener, esteemed news person, has a final thought for us. Katie?

[Michelangelo]

The fact that they want to think that the farmers are making us fat and killing us is hilarious to me because unfortunately my algorithm online has been showing me feeders lately. I don't know if you know what these are. They're women that are gorging themselves with fast food for likes.

[Joe Getty]

That's called a feeder.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Michelangelo]

I'll elaborate later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever happened to getting turned on by good old fashioned sex?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, let's. Let's get into that during the One More Thing podcast also.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Jack, final thought.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Speaking of that, why are we all overweight? I was at a breakfast place yesterday. Their big advertisement on the chalkboard outside, Pumpkin pancakes topped with torched marshmallows. Add pumpkin syrup to your coffee. That's plenty of pumpkin in my morning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yikes. My final thought is, you know, I don't really have time to explain it.

[Joe Getty]

And if you're putting matter for putting pumpkin syrup in your coffee, Armstrong got.

[Jack Armstrong]

A plate of pancakes with syrup all over it. You don't need more in your coffee.

[Joe Getty]

Jumbo Armstrong and Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[Jack Armstrong]

So many people thank so little all the time. Go to Armstrong. Yeti.com, man, some of the hot links. You got to go watch that Harry Potter. Harry Potter. North Korean video thing. It's just. It's bizarre.

[Joe Getty]

You don't need more jumbo. See you tomorrow. God bless America.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. I can imagine what can be and be unburdened by what has been.

[Joe Getty]

You got to be kidding me.

[Michael]

Do you have a reaction to that?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's absolute.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, okay.

[Joe Getty]

It's 100 on the crazy meter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Go away. I'm gonna call my lawyer. Gonna get the hell out of here. No, I haven't said a word, so stop yelling at me. You can't handle the dis. I can't handle the volume.

[Joe Getty]

This is no time for mamby pambyism.

[Michael]

You're a one horse pony.

[Joe Getty]

On that high note, thank you all very much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.