Let's Not Become Europe Today

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Let's Not Become Europe Today"

Release Date: May 20, 2025

In the episode titled "Let's Not Become Europe Today," hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive deep into a spectrum of pressing political and social issues, offering sharp critiques and insights into current events shaping the United States and Europe. This comprehensive discussion touches on presidential transparency, media accountability, US foreign policy, European political dynamics, and the burgeoning influence of technology and artificial intelligence.

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1. Biden's Health and Media Transparency

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to scrutinizing President Joe Biden's recent health disclosures. Armstrong and Getty express concern over the timing and transparency of the announcement regarding Biden's prostate nodule, suggesting it may be strategically timed to divert attention from other pressing issues, such as Biden's forthcoming book.

• Jack Armstrong (02:01): "This is the first time in his career he can remember when he checked his top 25 news sources and no two had the same headline and that it was the lead story."

Armstrong advocates for greater transparency, emphasizing that as President, Biden should provide immediate and comprehensive updates on his medical condition.

• Jack Armstrong (04:03): "We demand transparency as a governing body. Everybody should have to tell us everything all the time, immediately about their personal medical reality."

However, Getty raises practical concerns about the extent of such transparency, questioning where the line should be drawn regarding personal health disclosures.

• Katie Green (06:18): "Find this a really interesting conversation. Where do we draw the line? If the president has a rash on his ass, does he have to disclose, for instance?"

2. Comparing Presidential Health Disclosures

The conversation juxtaposes Biden's handling of his health information with former President Trump's initial medical disclosures, which the hosts describe as lacking seriousness and strategic depth.

• Katie Green (08:23): "Trump's first medical disclosures were hilarious. I mean, he wasn't even trying. He like found a guy on the street who may or may not have been a doctor, who declared him the healthiest man to ever inhabit the planet Earth."

Critiquing media coverage, Armstrong references Jake Tapper's book as emblematic of broader media failures in addressing presidential health transparently.

• Jack Armstrong (08:59): "It's the biggest failure of media in our nation's history and it should not just disappear as a minor thing."

3. US vs. Europe: Political and Economic Contrasts

A central theme of the episode revolves around the perceived differences between the United States and Europe, particularly in terms of economic policies, technological innovation, and regulatory environments. The hosts argue that the US should avoid adopting Europe's perceived pitfalls, such as stringent labor laws and overregulation, which they believe stifle innovation and economic growth.

• Jack Armstrong (28:00): "Don't become Europe. That's what we as a country need to repeat to ourselves every morning."

They highlight the Wall Street Journal's analysis of Europe's lag in the tech sector compared to the US and China, emphasizing Europe's regulatory constraints as a significant barrier.

• Katie Green (25:00): "Apple’s market value is bigger than the entire German stock market. There's no Google, there's no Amazon, there's no Meta in Europe. There's nothing even slightly close."

The discussion extends to European political dynamics, focusing on Germany's handling of the AfD party and its controversial classification as extremist based on contentious rhetoric rather than violent actions.

• Katie Green (26:22): "The evidence against the AfD consisted not of plans for violence or insurrection, but just controversial rhetoric and deeply nationalist views... they're twisting the German political system into knots."

4. US Foreign Policy: Ukraine-Russia Conflict and the Trump-Putin Call

Armstrong and Getty delve into the complexities of the Ukraine-Russia war, scrutinizing President Trump's recent phone call with President Vladimir Putin. They question the effectiveness and implications of Trump's decision to allow Ukraine and Russia to negotiate directly without clear US intervention.

• Jack Armstrong (18:48): "Now, what about the Putin call? Remember we had a clip of that?"
• Katie Green (20:58): "We need to work every day as a country to not become Europe."

The hosts analyze European leaders' recent commitments, such as Germany's decision to lift its prohibition on nuclear energy to reduce dependence on Russian energy, viewing it as a significant economic blow to Russia.

• Jack Armstrong (22:03): "They are going to, like France start using nuclear energy so that they don’t have to buy energy from Russia. So that’s a pretty big deal economically for Russia."

Additionally, they discuss NATO's evolving strategies in response to Russia's territorial ambitions, emphasizing the need for robust defense postures.

• Katie Green (23:32): "The play for the Kremlin is obvious here. It wants to keep inching ahead with territorial gains... with major advances against an increasingly hard-pressed Ukraine."

5. Mailbag: Listener Engagement and Reflections

The hosts engage with listener submissions, highlighting graduation quotes and political observations. A notable submission echoes the show's enduring slogans, reinforcing their messaging strategy.

• Katie Green (32:13): "Her graduation quote was 'stupid should hurt.' She credited her dad with that quote, even though that's been our slogan for many, many years."

They also address the increasing polarization within American politics, noting the diminishing space for bipartisan cooperation and the rigid loyalty expected within party lines.

• Katie Green (33:51): "We now have two parties defined by not being the."

6. Technology and Artificial Intelligence

Towards the episode's conclusion, Armstrong and Getty touch upon advancements in artificial intelligence, contrasting expert predictions with their own observations. While acknowledging AI's growing capabilities, they debate the timeline for achieving true artificial general intelligence.

• Katie Green (34:57): "We're not nearly as far down the road... Chatbots are terrible, even though they deal with fairly restricted subject areas."

They commend tools like ChatGPT for their practical applications while maintaining skepticism about the imminence of fully autonomous AI.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jack Armstrong (05:36): "The doctor that looked at Joe Biden should have been on TV yesterday afternoon answering the question did you ever check him for prostate cancer?"

• Katie Green (23:39): "Russia has been playing hockey for years. We are not going to figure skate our way out of this."

• Katie Green (32:19): "What's ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long."

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Conclusion

In "Let's Not Become Europe Today," Armstrong and Getty offer a critical examination of current political and social trends, urging listeners to remain vigilant against perceived governmental overreach and to champion transparency and innovation. Their discussions serve as a call to action for maintaining democratic values and fostering a resilient economic landscape in the face of evolving global challenges.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

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[Katie Green]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

From Studio C. See you, senor.

[Katie Green]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's the first time in a month I've made it through that without coughing. That's fantastic.

[Katie Green]

Progress.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're in a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound.

[Katie Green]

Hey, y' all.

[Jack Armstrong]

On Little Wednesday, we're under the tutelage of our general manager, and I couldn't decide.

[Katie Green]

I kept going back and forth. Do you have a favorite?

[Jack Armstrong]

Funny you would say that. I was just reading the morning newsletter I read every single day for Mark Alerin, and he said this is the first time in his career he can remember where when he got up in the morning, he checked his top 25 news sources and no two had the same headline and that it was the lead story and that it's so spread out over what people think is a big story today, which obviously we get to decide what we think is a big story.

[Katie Green]

Sure, sure. And there are several. Honestly, if I was gonna go with one, I don't even know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Biden's nodule, the backlash, the nodule on his prostate, among other things. Where are you on that?

[Katie Green]

Where?

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you. What do you think happened? I was just watching News Nation Today is flipping around the channels and everything like that. MSNBC has decided to not cover the store anymore. I'll bet. They got so much pushback yesterday but they got killed by a lot of their viewers.

[Katie Green]

Wow. To pivot even in a minor way towards sanity in the center. They get murdered.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah. They even. They kind of led the way on the whole. Wait a second. This timing is beyond suspicious. They were like the lead on that yesterday so. But they were the first person to have a doctor on questioning that but didn't cover it all today. News Nation though they just stated it flatly like not like even analysis, just like news analysis. The guy they talked to. There are no coincidences in Washington. So the release of the medical information about Joe Biden obviously timed to, you know, throw clouds over the her tapes and the book coming out. I mean they just stated it as fact. Do you think that that's that clear?

[Katie Green]

I just happened to read an email from one of our favorite correspondents who was rejecting that idea saying that the announcement of the cancer thing would draw more attention to Biden's decline in age and that sort of thing. And I'm by in the argument. I think it is injecting the cloud of sympathy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Katie Green]

And, and, and, and you know, here's an old fellow with a dread disease. He's near death. We can't be talking about him critically. Yeah, I, that fits beautifully. And the other explanation is inexplicable. Yeah, I just never tested him and never had any symptoms. No. Come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

I took in so much news coverage yesterday and I'd say 99 out of a hundred doctors say it's impossible that they didn't know about this earlier. I mean it's just doesn't. That's not the way it works. You don't get to the level nine whatever reading on your, on your prostate cancer the first time you get checked.

[Katie Green]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

As president of the United States. But anyway, here's one aspect of it that, that we should not put up with as a people. I've been saying this for years. I wish we could demand as a, as a self governing country to get information back. We should have been able to demand yesterday. The media should have demanded and people should have fell in line knowing that voters will not put up with anything short of this. The doctor that looked at Joe Biden should have been on TV yesterday afternoon answering the question did you ever check him for prostate cancer? If not, why not? And if yes, what were the results that should have happened yester afternoon? There's no reason for it to not. It's the president of the Fricking United States. Right.

[Katie Green]

What's the. What's the reason to compel that, though? I agree with you.

[Jack Armstrong]

We demand transparency as a. As a governing body. Everybody should have to tell us everything all the time, immediately about their personal medical reality.

[Katie Green]

That's a stretch. I'm not saying I disagree exactly, but it's a stretch.

[Jack Armstrong]

They do it physical every single year. They talk about it.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. I think it's a completely dishonest way. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask the question, did you check for prostate cancer? Okay. You want to politically say it's none of your business. Okay. Roll the dice on that. Go ahead and say it's not the public's business. My own personal health as president, I.

[Katie Green]

Find this a really interesting conversation. Where do we draw the line? I mean, if the president has a rash on his ass, does he have to disclose, for instance?

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Katie Green]

It'S got a tendency toward acne or dandruff. And so where do you draw the line?

[Jack Armstrong]

What does something way on the other side of you had a cancer, that the treatment causes you to have mental difficulties and trouble walking?

[Katie Green]

Yes, that is one of the leading theories at this point. Yes. Uh, I. I would agree. I just. Again, it's the practicalities of it that I'm getting hung up on a different topic then.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're. If you. If the medical one is too complicated for you, pick the. The dog bite one or, you know, any of the. Any of the many things that happen, somebody should have to answer questions immediately.

[Katie Green]

Yes. Yeah, I absolutely agree with you in principle. The dog bite one.

[Jack Armstrong]

That comes up because I was listening. I was watching a. I was watching a podcast last night with reporters with.

[Katie Green]

With.

[Jack Armstrong]

With one reporter making the point that early on in the Biden White House, they are. They would cover up everything he said. They wouldn't be transparent about the tiniest thing he said. At the very beginning, there was. I don't know if you remember, way back there was a wedding. Somebody in Joe Biden's family got married, and they got married at the White House, which you're not supposed to do, because that's a. You're just not supposed to do that. It's people's house, taxpayer thing. You can't do that, whatever it is. And they lied about that. And the reporter's like, this is so. I mean, why are you lying about this? I mean, you're not being honest about this. The dog bites, they weren't. They weren't honest about that. From the very beginning, there was a Whole bunch of different things that the guy saw. These are minor incidents and why are you covering these up? And it's just the way they operated. They weren't honest about anything ever.

[Katie Green]

Right. I just don't know how to deal with this other than yelling about it on the radio. I mean like Trump's first medical disclosures were hilarious. I mean, he wasn't even trying. He like found a guy on the street who may or may not have been a doctor, who declared him the healthiest man to ever inhabit the planet Earth and that was it. Was there a political price to pay?

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Katie Green]

Or at least not measurable.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I got the Jake Tapper book last night and I started into it and I read quite a bit to go and I've got some highlights from that with the, the main takeaway being, first of all, it's hilarious. It's unintentionally hilarious.

[Katie Green]

Really.

[Jack Armstrong]

Completely unintentionally hilarious. They take themselves so seriously. The way they're letting the world know they're pulling back the curtain and allowing you to get a glimpse. I mean, it's just hilarious that. Are you kidding? I mean they open with a Shakespeare quote on the first page. Before they get into it, I thought, you've got to be kidding. You're going way too self important here.

[Katie Green]

This really gets to our core question about this. Your core question about this. The answer appears to be yes. Jake Tapper and the other fellow who did some good reporting for Axios at the time or whatever it was. But Jake Tapper is that bubbled and that self delusional. He doesn't know that we know that's 100% right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not, I'm not trying to soften that at all. Because you've got the evidence of polls showing that majorities of Americans knew. So if majorities of Americans knew and with, with zero sources inside the White House.

[Katie Green]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why do you need any of those? You have sources.

[Katie Green]

But, and it's not like we had a vague suspicion.

[Jack Armstrong]

But it is more than I had realized. The tightest inner circle were lying to everybody, like at the next level. Like I don't know how they're. You know, Washington D.C. is famously, if you want a friend, get a dog. There are no. You have no friends. I mean, everybody just doesn't what's in their best self interest. But I can't believe that there aren't more destroyed relationships. It'd be like if you were lying to me about something important to the show for years. And I, because I would obviously I would believe you. I mean, that's, that's the way it was. It was, it was like senators who had worked with other people who were now, you know, chief of staff or whatever, in the inner circle for, for decades.

[Katie Green]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who would say, damn, I'm a little worried about the President. I mean, he looked rough. Like, trust me, behind closed doors, he's fine, you know, and you'd take their word for it because it's somebody you've known for years, then you go out.

[Katie Green]

And repeat it yourself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, because they wouldn't hang to dry. This is somebody you've known forever, your close friends. And they did, they lied to like, like people that have known forever.

[Katie Green]

You know, I think in D.C. and Lord knows, I'm not a student of that culture. I find it horrifying in every way. But I have a feeling that the brighter the light in front of you, meaning the greater the power in front of you, the less the little lights behind you are even visible. I mean, if you're next to the ultimate power, that senator you worked with for 20 years, I don't even see his light anymore. I'm in the epicenter, baby. Because they're just crocodiles, those people, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

I got one more thing on the cancer thing I want to say, but first, we should start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday, May 20, the year 2025, where Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, Remind me. Michael's got to give me my monthly prostate exam during the commercial break. I don't want to forget.

[Jack Armstrong]

And full disclosure, we put all the pictures up on the website.

[Katie Green]

Oh, yeah. If you want to see them. All right, here we go. Here's the beginning of the show officially. Now, according to FCC rules, regulations. Here we are at.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mark.

[Mark Alerin]

If they came out and said, yeah, Biden knew about it five years ago, I wouldn't be shocked. If they came out and said Biden found out on Friday, I wouldn't be shocked. And I understand the excitement over an insidious Democratic cover up about Joe Biden's mental decline. The thing is, though, it was a terrible cover up because we all knew, all of us knew.

[Katie Green]

Except the Bigfoot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Media, and they would use such a fool. Fascinating psychological study, yes.

[Katie Green]

Not only were they unaware, they were angry at the very suggestion that it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Was true, including the guy who wrote the book I was reading last night, screamed at Lara Trump for claiming it wasn't the stutter. Yeah, I'll have to get some excerpts from the book that are funny. I'll do my screed about the playing on their emotions from the Biden family, which I think they're doing, which is just unconscionable. And it is really unconscionable what they're doing. They should be ashamed of themselves. We'll get to that later.

[Katie Green]

They lack the capacity. They don't, apparently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we got Katie's headlines on the way. We got lots today. Hope you can stick around Armstrong and Getty. Man, the NBA's got to be happy that the New York Knicks have gotten on a roll because the final Four teams are Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Indiana and New York. That is not the star power they want or the big markets that they want for.

[Katie Green]

No, probably not.

[Jack Armstrong]

They got lucky if New York made it in.

[Katie Green]

Fantastic. I'm happy for them. They're good folks and they try real hard. Man, what a crazy show we have today. Just too much to describe. So let's dive into it. Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with Katie Green. Katie?

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

Well, starting with NBC, Trump allies shift from well wishes to suggesting Biden hid his cancer diagnosis because he obviously did.

[Jack Armstrong]

The question is for how long?

[Katie Green]

Yeah. What was that? Trump allies did that.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

Yeah. Trump, this is from NBC.

[Katie Green]

Trump allies like, like Joe Scarborough. Yeah. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was listening to NPR on the drive in and they said while initially offering well wishes, later in the day, Trump turned to conspiracy theories about Biden's diagnosis. Is it a conspiracy theory? Really? Every single doctor I heard yesterday, like a hundred doctors said, no way. They just found out about this on Friday. Every single one.

[Katie Green]

I feel about the phrase conspiracy theory very much like I feel about the phrase fact check. It's an indication that the opposite is happening, that somebody's just trying to, you know, deny without denying. Please.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

From the Hill, Netanyahu says Israel will control all of Gaza, take over aid deliveries.

[Katie Green]

The old way. Didn't work very well, did it?

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

From the LA Times Palm Springs bombing investigation turns to the explosives. How are they sourced and built?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's what I asked yesterday. Where'd this guy learn how to build a bomb and where to get this stuff? So, yeah, I'm going to have to read that L A Times article.

[Katie Green]

The Internet and around, I'm guessing. Man, what a lunatic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no kidding.

[Katie Green]

Anti human activist Germany.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

From the Washington Post. Supreme Court allows Trump to cancel protected status for Venezuelans for now.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, that's quite the story. I'd hate to be a Venezuelan who was given the gift of temporary protective status by Biden and then have it disappear. But what are you going to do? So if the president can, with a stroke of a pen, declare something, the next guy can undeclare it.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

From abc Russia attacks Ukraine with drones after the Trump Putin phone call.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, biggest drone attack over the weekend. They tried to fire a bullet, an intercontinental ballistic missile, but it either didn't fire or they changed their mind or something. Nobody's sure, but they almost fired off one of those over the weekend, of course, which would have gotten a lot of attention.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

USA Today 6 inmates still on the run after escape from New Orleans jail. Search enters day five.

[Katie Green]

There are parts of the south, including Louisiana, that have a reputation for being a little fast and loose and sloppy and corrupt. An old boyish and a number of different descriptors. This would not, not discourage me from thinking some of those cliches are true. These guys just broke out with ease, were gone for eight hours before anybody had any idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

My favorite part is they left the message. One of them left a message behind. It said too easy spelled T o easy.

[Katie Green]

Lol.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

From the New York Post. French pizza chef confesses to killing reclusive man, then chopping and cooking his body in a pot of vegetables.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, delicious.

[Katie Green]

A French pizza chef. That's the important part to me. What does that even mean? French pizza chef.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

And finally, from the Babylon Bee, experts say AI unlikely to replace government bureaucrats because it's not soulless enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of AI. So there was a Shakespeare quote at the beginning of the new Jake Tapper book that I didn't understand and I was going to Google it and I thought, no, I'm going to do chat GPT. I put it in chat GPT. What does this mean? Explained it at length with examples in a way that Google could have never done.

[Katie Green]

Oh, no, no. Sell your stock. Yes, man.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're not using chat GPT to answer simple questions, it's so much better.

[Katie Green]

Or one of the other ones are terrific as well.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know the one I have stock in.

[Katie Green]

Oh, sorry, I'll get out of the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some of the revelations from the book, among other things on the way. Stay tuned.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

Armstrong and Getty president now claiming, quote, some progress in the effort to end the war in Ukraine, saying he thinks Putin, quote, has had enough. But Putin giving no indications Russia is any closer to a ceasefire. President Trump now saying he will leave it up to Ukraine and Russia to negotiate for.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, what about the Putin call? Remember we had a clip of that? What was that about years ago what about the Putin call? That's from, like, eight years ago. So I don't even remember the very.

[Katie Green]

Beginning of Trump one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Anywho, Trump was on the phone with Vladimir Putin for about two hours yesterday, and the takeaway seems to be, I'm gonna let them work it out. Which. Where does that leave things? It leaves it as a win for Putin, I think.

[Katie Green]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although the ball is in Trump's court because he has not said, at least as of yet, okay, if you're going to let them work that out, does that mean them working it out while we continue to give a tremendous amount of aid, intelligence aid maybe being the most important to Ukraine or not. Because if it's. Or not, it's a big deal.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. I, I feel like those of us who would like to see the US backing Ukraine are digging through about our 15th pile of manure, looking for the pony in Trump's negotiations. Just this. Maybe he's got this up his sleeve, you know, feeling or hope. It's just. It's been dashed over and over again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, he does have to go one way or the other. We are either going to continue to back Ukraine the way we have for three years or not. And if we're not, that's a major change.

[Katie Green]

I think it's more likely that one happens.

[Jack Armstrong]

Will he announce it or will it. Will it just become evident at some point?

[Katie Green]

I don't know. After this period of Zelensky and Ukraine and Europe doing everything conceivable. Conceivable to make it clear we want peace, too. We're with you on this. And Putin never giving a single sign that he has any interest in Trump's peace deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Katie Green]

If it, if the US Policy becomes. Well, then y' all are on your own. We're not going to support Ukraine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, then we've. But it's not a nothing. We've sided with Russia, in my opinion.

[Katie Green]

I know. 100. That's exactly my point. Yeah. And what seemed to be the lean is indeed coming true.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was. It was less than Putin showing he wasn't interested in peace right now. He gave Trump a long lecture about why Ukraine belongs to Russia and all the. He said this will not end until the underlying problems are solved. Well, the underlying problems will not be solved until he has Ukraine. Correct.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Yeah. As Rich Lowry writes in the National Review, the play for the Kremlin is obvious here. It wants to keep inching ahead with territorial gains, and if it continues to string along the negotiations, has to hope that Trump tires of the whole thing and cuts off USA to Ukraine. That would reward Putin's intransigent with an important diplomatic victory, a split between the US And Europe and a chance to make major advances against an increasingly hard pressed Ukraine. And the only reference really to Trump being tired of Putin and understanding that he's being played was that reference to Putin's tapping me along. But I mean to come out of the call yesterday and say, yeah, I think we made progress. I don't know what that is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, J.D. vance presented it as, as well, if you guys aren't interested, then hey, we're out. As if that is a, actually a neutral position. That is not a neutral position. That's a taking the side of Russian position. So I don't know if they're just trying, if they're trying to fool people by presenting it is like we're staying neutral on this or what. So the ball is first off I think in Trump's court, but then absolutely in Europe's court as they got to figure out what to do. So they had a big meeting over the weekend of European leaders with a couple of interesting things that came out of it. A big defense meeting of the Germany, the big people, Germany, Britain, France, Poland. Couple of things. They announced Germany is going to lift their prohibition on nuclear energy that they've had since World War II. So they are going to like France start using nuclear energy so that they don't have to buy energy from Russia. So that's a pretty big deal economically for Russia.

[Katie Green]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

They also announced in that meeting that Russia does not present NATO a dilemma in five years like had previously been thought. If the war were to end soon, but could within a year, like they could be back up to speed enough within a year to present NATO a real dilemma of what do we do now? If they move on Estonia, they would be strong enough. That's what the European countries announced over the weekend. And then I really liked this quote that came out of it, I think from the leader of Poland. Russia has been playing hockey for years. We are not going to figure skate our way out of this.

[Katie Green]

Oh, that's some good ice sport metaphor sling in there, sir.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Madam, well done that went with also one of the leaders saying the years of 2% funding of our military are over. It's going to have to be more like 5%.

[Katie Green]

You know, there were days I wish we had unlimited time for this sort of thing because it's so interesting. I have all sorts of interesting. Well, I suppose you all will be the judge of that. When I deliver it. But I found it really, really intriguing analysis of Europe and everything that's wrong with it. I think the Russia attack on Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea and the attack on Georgia and everything else has, has.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Germany continuing to buy oil from Russia after that happened and all those kinds of things.

[Katie Green]

Well, right. I think it's finally gotten to the point that it's shaken the dopey, dopey Euros out of their torpor, their, their, their sleepiness, their fantasy land that they've been living in for the past bunch of years after, you know, the US Secure security umbrella enabled them to invest vast sums of money into welfare states and socialism and the rest of it. And I would like to issue a hammering indictment against him for all of that crap. But I think they're right about Russia and Ukraine.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're not going to figure skate our way out of this.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I love that. Here's the takeaway. And this was going to be the takeaway after I built a case over many, many minutes. But I'll give you the takeaway. We need to work every day as a country to not become Europe. And there are a couple of examples of a great piece by Walter Russell Mead about why democracy is in retreat. And he cites several cases in Europe about anybody who does not go along with the very, very mainstream view of who ought to get elected and what policies ought to be passed is decried as undemocratic and dangerous. Like the AfD party Germany. And I could go into detail on that. The more I learned, the more interested I get. But their definition of democracy is the results I want. And anything that challenges that is swept aside like the AfD ought to be in an alliance with the party that won the most seats. It's obvious the efforts to keep them out because of a few crackpots and being a little soft on Russia or whatever is just. It's twisting the German political system into knots. Well, haven't they obsessed with it?

[Jack Armstrong]

They've been declared a terrorist organization or whatever so people can listen to their phone calls and read their emails.

[Katie Green]

Well, yes, but actually, as long as we're talking about this. Let me click over. I think it's right there. Yeah. So last week, the German government officially designated the opposition party AfD as a confirmed extremist organization. The announcement came from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, their domestic intelligence agency, blah, blah, blah. Then on Wednesday, they abruptly withdrew the extremist label. They will now monitor the party only as a suspected case, which still allows some Surveillance in a way Americans would find repub. Repugnant, but under much stricter judicial oversight. And somebody leaked the report. And it reveals that the evidence against the AfD consisted not of plans for violence or insurrection, but just controversial rhetoric and deeply nationalist views, none of which should have triggered that designation. So it was the quote unquote mainstream powers that be trying to label as extremist anybody who dared shake their hold on power. Which is exactly what I was driving at. Their definition of democracy is democracy with the right results. And that's, that's terrible. The other thing I really wanted to talk about is the Wall Street Journal had a great piece about how huge tech is in the world economy right now, technology in general, and how tiny Europe's share of it is. The EU rivals, I mean it's, it's in the same weight class more or less if you take it as a whole. The US economy and the Chinese economy, it's a juggernaut. But you want to talk tech. Oh, it's sad, it's pathetic. Apple's market value is bigger than the entire German stock market, for instance. There's no Google, there's no Amazon, there's no Meta in Europe. There's nothing even slightly close. And this Journal article goes into depth and has a bunch of different examples of native born tech people, German tech people, who brought what they learned back from Silicon Valley to Europe and were immediately crushed by strict labor laws, A risk averse business culture, suffocating regulations, smaller pool of venture capital, lackluster economic growth, no demographic growth and said no. And back to California they went. Or interesting places. Yeah. And so, and you know that list. I'm going to hit it one more time. And we free marketers, all Dragon fans, I know we're sad and we ought to have industrial planning and tariffs and the rest of it. But Europe is crushed by a timid and risk averse business culture, strict labor laws, suffocating regulations, smaller pool of venture capital and lackluster economic growth. Don't become Europe. That's what we as a country need to repeat to ourselves every morning. You got to make your bed. It's a small act of discipline and positive something or other. I believe in it very much and say, let's not become Europe today.

[Jack Armstrong]

So like when you get up in the morning, I'm going to be a good person today. Or, or whatever your mantra is, right?

[Katie Green]

I'm going to practice kindness, whatever, do.

[Jack Armstrong]

God's will today and stay positive. Let's not become Europe today.

[Katie Green]

Yes, we're going to build a utopia through a million regulations. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hour two. I'll get into a little of what I pulled out of the first part of Jake Tapper's book that I started reading last night when I was in bed. Again, unintentionally hilarious, along with some interesting nuggets about what was going on there. It's the biggest failure of media in our nation's history and it should not just disappear as a minor thing. Luckily, it has not been for at least the last couple of weeks.

[Katie Green]

Now I need to promote Mailbag. It's going to go heavily into the two big topics of yesterday's show, especially AI and Jack Black Grooming.

[Jack Armstrong]

So fat, so greasy is my headline. If I'm reviewing the Minecraft movie, you're not wrong. You can't wash your face before you walk out there. I mean, it's not asking a lot. Okay, all that on the ways to here.

[Unnamed News Correspondent]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the big, beautiful complicated bill. They had a vote Sunday night at 10. That's the one we were talking about yesterday that got out of committee. They voted at 10pm on Sunday night. I haven't heard a good explanation as for why the next vote is 1am tonight, tomorrow 1am why are they doing that? Do you know?

[Katie Green]

Are they voting after raves on Capitol Hill now? I can't imagine. Wake me up when it's time to vote.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's got to be a reason though, if you know. Text 415295 KFTC. I know what the Democrats are claiming, but I don't think that's it.

[Katie Green]

They're trying to steal it away in.

[Jack Armstrong]

The dark of night, right?

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Okay. All right. Like it's not going to come out in the papers the next day, right? Because normally the American people, because it's at noon, can storm in there and demand that they do something different. No, that's not the way it works. Ridiculous. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day. Love this one, Thomas Soul. Keep it in mind. What's ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, it's a good one.

[Katie Green]

Mailbag.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although we all have our things. Like I'm that way with leaf blowers. I would like that to be banned by the government everywhere.

[Katie Green]

But just that, that's reasonable. So speaking of quotes. Oh, drop us a Note [e-mail] Speaking of quotes we were talking about graduation quotes and what you might have on your mortar board and that sort of thing. And let's see. This is Rich. Salt Lake City wrote, my daughter is graduating from high school. Here's a photo of the quote she put in the yearbook. I feel like I've somehow succeeded in raising her properly because of your homespun wisdom. Her graduation quote was stupid should hurt.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good one.

[Katie Green]

She credited her. Her dad with that quote.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool.

[Katie Green]

Even though that's been our slogan for many, many years. But that's fine. We will lend it to you, Rich, if that increases the bond with your beautiful daughter. Happy to lend that. I liked another gal who's listed on this sheet. Her quote is, long story short, I survived. That's good. Let's see. How about this? JT and Livermore writes to claim that there aren't two parties any longer misses the point. We were talking about this. There's not really time to reset the discussion. But the parties don't stand for anything fixed or even semi fixed. They just change with the wind. The two parties we have today are stronger and more unified than ever before in American history. How else to explain how party members will no longer date across political lines? How else to explain the left's use of basket of deplorables, bitter clingers, or Biden's short but awful garbage? In the not too distant past, there were fiscally conservative Democrats, there were socially liberal Republicans. You're free to cross party lines for the things you believed in. That's gone by the wayside. Sabermetrics has taken over politics and both sides now demand near complete loyalty in voting.

[Jack Armstrong]

A lot of it has to do with Citizens United, which is correctly decided. But that doesn't mean it was good for the country. The fact that you can raise, you know, all these small amounts or attack somebody, a pro life Democrat or a pro choice Republican, for instance, would get killed in the modern era.

[Katie Green]

Well, Citizens United was about corporations making political contributions. And the left thought, that's going to ruin everything. No, it was the Internet. The Internet. Citizens United was completely insignificant compared to the Internet, which now moves mountains. Anyway, to finish up JT's point, to put in another way, we now have two parties defined by not being the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Other party, called negative. What is it called? Negative polarization.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Anyway, yeah, some good points there. Let's see. And he points out that we're worse than a credit card holder making the minimum payment because we're borrowing the money to pay the interest on our debt.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good point. You're borrowing from your parents to make the minimum payment on your credit card. That's. You're in bad shape.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. 2014. Hunter Biden thinks we're behaving irresponsibly as a country. On the topic of artificial general intelligence, Paolo quotes several people as saying, we're not nearly as far down the road. The technology we have today is not sufficient to get there, says one super giant AI startup guy. Then he describes how it's just a predictive thing. It's not thinking. Consider something as mundane as customer service. Chatbots are terrible, even though they deal with fairly restricted subject areas. I'm. I'm summarizing here. Then he quotes one of the great AI guys of the early days who said 1970, or three to eight years from serious general artificial intelligence.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want that to be true. I also know that's a minority opinion, and it's.

[Katie Green]

It's always farther off than they say. On the other hand, you know, we've got a couple of examples, including yesterday when I came up with an edgy name for a political party and was designing a logo and chat GPT said, now do you want to steer into the edginess of the name with the illustration with the logo, or do you want to make it more stock, like a political party? Okay, maybe that's not the, you know, artificial general intelligence, but it's pretty impressive. Another example of AI amazingness here. But we're out of time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep, we'll talk about that later. We'll talk about that for the rest of our lives, probably. As it takes over the world, the robots and the robots start to swing their arms and knock our heads off.

[Katie Green]

Boy, that video really made an impression on you, didn't it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, the Jake Tapper book. Unintentionally. Hilarious. I got some highlights from that. I was just reading it last night in bed. How fun is that? In hour two, Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Katie Green]

You'Re.

[Jack Armstrong]

Listening to an I Heart podcast.