More like CaCA De Mayo

Summary

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Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode Title: More like CaCA De Mayo
Release Date: May 5, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty balances the absurd and the serious, riffing off the day's news, culture, and their ever-present skepticism about authority and institutions. The hosts take on topics ranging from sewage at San Diego beaches (inspired by the Cinco de Mayo pun), muddled Middle East ceasefires, Trump’s approach to negotiation, concerns about AI regulation, the challenges of weight loss, parodies of conspiracy culture, U.S. partisanship and political vendettas, Alberta separatism, the reality of living in polarized times, and much more. As always, their tone veers between sarcastic, comedic, and occasionally thoughtful—a style that invites listeners to both laugh and reflect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cinco de Mayo, Sewage, and San Diego Beaches

• Jack and Joe joke about the episode title—a play on "Cinco de Mayo"—by referencing the very real problem of Mexican sewage contaminating San Diego beaches.
  • "More like Kaka Demeo de Mayo Demayo. Terrible problem in San Diego beaches with Mexican sewage. I saw that flowing onto the shores. People can't swim like half the year." – Joe (01:41)
• Segue into broader skepticism about holiday celebrations and related news tropes.

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2. Ceasefires, Iran, and Middle East Tensions

• Extended riff on recent struggles in the Strait of Hormuz: escorting vs. guiding ships, what a "ceasefire" means, and the difficulty in messaging and policy.
  • Satirical Orwell reference: "I'm getting a text from George Orwell who's pointing out the very term 'ceasefire' implies..." – Joe (02:27)
• Criticism of U.S. administration's handling of Middle East policy, with Trump’s methods compared to poker: double-backing, making odd statements, and waiting for the right moment.
  • "Trump is the absolute master of making odd statements and weird promises to negotiate, then doubling back..." – Joe (03:53)

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3. The White House, AI, and the Edge of Regulation

• Discussion of the reported plan for the Trump administration to vet all major AI models before public release; general distrust for government’s tech expertise and fears of bureaucratic stagnation.
  • "I don't believe for a second they have the expertise to know whether or not something is okay. So then all we're gonna do is stifle advancement." – Jack (04:53)
• Joe observes how difficult cyber regulation is compared to regulating physical weapons, linking AI oversight to broader debates about what constitutes an "act of war" in the digital age.

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4. Acts of War – From Missiles to Malware

• Engaging hypothetical: Should destructive cyberattacks be seen the same as physical acts of war? What if a cyberattack makes a factory explode versus a missile strike?
  • "If you destroy that factory with a cyber attack, man, you hardly do anything. Maybe attack them back cyber, maybe, maybe not." – Jack (06:24)
  • "Cyber attack... causes large pieces of machinery to overheat and burst into flames and burned down the factory... Is that an act of war?" – Joe (07:01)

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5. Everybody Fights Their Weight

• A humorous, self-deprecating discussion about weight, biology, "set points", and the seeming futility of weight loss due to evolutionary pressures—while recounting recent experiences at Red Robin.
  • "That information I've got is if you want to be saddened, stay tuned for that one." – Jack (10:20)
  • "America, the country that's so wealthy, we build buildings out of food." – Joe (09:30)

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6. Satirizing Alex Jones & Infowars

• Amused commentary on The Onion’s purchase of Infowars’ domain after Alex Jones’ lawsuits, now using it to parody conspiracy culture.
  • “I'm going to sip from the blood of the forsaken. This is real human blood. You can find this at the Infowars store... It tastes like blood.” – Tim Heidecker/Alex Jones parody (10:58)
  • "Almost every guinea pig is horribly deformed with their testicles on top their heads. The Jews did that. Or who did that? Somebody did." – Jack, mocking conspiracy absurdity (12:11)

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7. Alberta Separatism & Regional Discontent

• A report on an Alberta separatist group gaining signatures for a referendum; the hosts riff on Canadian politics, regional divides, and analogies to rural discontent in the U.S.
  • "It's vast and pastoral and agricultural and contains Calgary, I'm gonna guess." – Joe (14:10)
  • "It reminds me in some ways of like eastern Washington State... Blue states where sanity prevails. Except in the big cities." – Joe (14:40)

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8. Headlines in Rapid-Fire

(15:14–18:23)

• Europe fears Putin’s window: Anxiety over whether NATO/U.S. would defend against Russian aggression
• Florida redistricting: Drastic re-mapping shifting more seats Republican.
• Cruise ship drama: Hantavirus outbreak, "SS Rat Crap" (their nickname), issues with docking and medical response.
  • "God, being trapped on a boat with the hantavirus, which can kill you." – Jack (16:55)
• Health & Human Services vs. Overprescription: Efforts to reign in antidepressant use.

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9. More Middle East Uncertainty

• Breaking news update: Iran has fired on nine ships during a so-called ceasefire. Ongoing U.S. response described as passive and mysterious—with frustration over what “ceasefire” really means when shots are being fired.
  • "I guess as long as you don't shoot back, it's still a ceasefire." – Jack (18:58)

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10. The Era of Shameless Denial: Tucker Carlson, Trump, and Political Memory

(20:51–25:09)

• Jack plays audio of Tucker Carlson’s NYT interview, in which Carlson flatly denies having said things the Times has him on tape saying—even when confronted with his own words/video.
  • "I may have said, some are asking that I'm not weighing in on that because I don't understand it." – Tucker Carlson (21:30)
  • "Presented with your own face and audio from recently... you can say, 'nope, never said that.'" – Jack (22:18)
  • "It's either that or he's had some sort of psychic break." – Joe (22:40)
• Bigger concern: Have we crossed into a reality where denial can simply replace accountability?
  • "...we crossed into a new era now where people running for governors and presidents, stuff like that, can just flat deny what they said yesterday. If it's on 10 different videos." – Jack (25:09)

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11. The No-Win of Playoff Pardons & Perpetual Prosecutions

(27:24–30:47)

• Host praise for WaPo’s Megan McArdle, who urges Democrats not to pursue post-office prosecutions against Trump/Biden/families for the country’s sake.
  • "Don't go down the road of chasing prosecutions with Trump... It’s going to make our politics even more divisive." – Jack (27:24)
• Discuss the presidential pardon power: The escalation from Clinton to Bush to Obama to Trump, and likely to Biden.
  • "Trump is going to set a new all time pardoning everybody in his orbit it everywhere including all his family members when he goes out the door to try to avoid any prosecutions going forward." – Jack (29:32)
• Prediction of an immediate impeachment if/when the House flips.

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12. Has America Fallen Apart or Just Having a Bad Decade?

• Contextualizes current polarization by recalling even founding fathers’ fury; wonders openly if the U.S. as an “organization” would survive under normal conditions.
  • "Our country really has the feeling of something that's fallen apart." – Joe (31:41)

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13. Mailbag—Listener Feedback, Satire, & Memorable Exchanges

• Light-hearted listener mail, including “bitter old fat lady” comparisons, Met Gala commentary, Howard Cosell's vocabulary, and Trump’s off-the-cuff style.
  • "Nobody's ever trusted their gut more than Donald Trump. And if he became a billionaire and got elected president twice, I could see why you trust your gut." – Jack (37:47)
• Parodies of current news, pop culture, and amusing tangents.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Bureaucracy & Tech:
  “Your expertise is out of date. Right. That’s the problem with it.” – Joe (05:21)
• On American Overindulgence:
  “America, the country that’s so wealthy, we build buildings out of food.” – Joe (09:30)
• On Political Denial:
  “...we crossed into a new era now where people running for governors and presidents ... can just flat deny what they said yesterday. If it’s on 10 different videos.” – Jack (25:09)
• On Pardons:
  “...when he goes out the door to try to avoid any prosecutions going forward. There’s something Congress needs to take a look at is the pardon power of presidents.” – Jack (29:32)

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Memorable Comedy and Recurring Themes

• Satirical Commercials: Frequent joke ads for “TryJoyBox.com”—custom songs for Mother’s Day—used as recurring bit.
• Parodies of Alex Jones: Real and fake quotes blended for comedic effect, highlighting the insanity of current (and parodied) conspiracy talk.
• Physical Fitness Throwback: Trump's announcement to bring back the grueling Presidential Fitness Test, triggering host memories of its ridiculous standards (33:16).
• Political Madness: Cynicism about both left and right, repeated jokes about shifting the goalposts, and over-the-top policy ideas.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Cinco de Mayo & Sewage: 01:41–02:13
• Ceasefires/Iran: 02:13–04:11, 18:58–19:38
• AI Regulation Debate: 04:13–06:17
• Acts of War (Cyber vs. Bomb): 06:17–07:24
• Weight Loss Discussion: 07:31–10:20
• The Onion/Infowars Satire: 10:58–12:29
• Alberta Separatism: 13:24–14:50
• Rapid-Fire Headlines: 15:14–18:23
• Tucker Carlson Denial & Political Reality: 20:51–25:09
• Prosecution & Pardon Power: 27:24–30:47
• American Division & Listener Mail: 31:41–38:32

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Final Notes

This episode serves as both an encapsulation and send-up of 2020s American culture and politics: fast-paced, sardonic, and often deeply skeptical. Whether tackling the news of the day or the absurdities of the present era, Armstrong and Getty use humor and blunt honesty to offer commentary that is engaging for both longtime listeners and new arrivals.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[TryJoyBox Announcer]

Most Mother's Day gifts end up in a drawer. But a song lives in the heart forever. This year tryjoybox.com is giving away 1 million free custom songs to celebrate 1 million incredible moms. Just share a few memories and joy. Box produces an original track and greeting card just for her Instantly. It's the most personal gift you'll ever give. And right now it's completely free. Make mom the star of her own [e-mail] 1,000,000 songs. 0 to only@trijoy box.com

[Jack Armstrong]

broadcasting live from

[Joe Getty]

the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here. Armstrong and get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Are you ready for the churn? Live from Studio C. Oh,

[Joe Getty]

see senor, sorry up so late at the Met gala. Oh, I love party though. I was wearing Robert Wound, in case you're you're wondering.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love the way you embraced fashion as art. Cuz that was a very artistic piece you wore.

[Joe Getty]

I got the theme and I thought this is my moment. Yes, and you shone.

[TryJoyBox Announcer]

Thank you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Studio C, Senor. Right, right. Dimly lit room, deep the bowels something or other. Armstrong and Getty. I forgot. Anyway, today we are toiling under the title of the show.

[Joe Getty]

More like Kaka Demeo de Mayo Demayo. Terrible problem in San Diego beaches with Mexican sewage. I saw that flowing onto the shores. People can't swim like half the year. That's terrible. Certainly, you know, 40% of the year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because they don't like swimming through sewage.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's why. Yep, yep, yep. And garbage. Or an alternate title. I'm new to ceasefires, but shouldn't we cease firing?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Pete Hegseth just did a news conference thingy. We'll have some of the highlights of that. He said the ceasefire is still on and they expected some churn. So that's what we got going on today. Four hours of churn. That's what we're gonna bring you. Lots of churn. Gotta say.

[Joe Getty]

Excuse me, I'm getting a text from George Orwell who's pointing out the very term ceasefire implies.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was gonna say that was kind of hoping more than two boats would get through with the whole. We're escorting people through now and we've got all this firepower and blah, blah, blah. And those two boats that happened while we were on the air yesterday. And that was it. So far, no more have gone through and I don't feel like that's a good look for how open the strait is and how much we're shepherding people through.

[Joe Getty]

But we're not escorting, we're guiding. They wanted to make that clear again as we. We just. The poor language doesn' deserve the torturing. It's going through right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's fine. But we haven't guided many ships through either. Just the two yesterday. And I don't know how else you would read that other than that currently Iran is getting its way and ships not going through there.

[Joe Getty]

And I will not serve up the delicious Mexican sandwich that is the taco on Cinco de Mayo. But. And I'm not saying Trump is chickening out, but he keeps saying this was just a minor, like a mini attack. I'd still prefer negotiations. And the IRGC is like, wow, this dude has patience. They're not gonna go negotiate successfully. It's a fantasy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Well, we are bringing some more firepower into the arena and I wonder if we're just not about to unleash holy hell.

[Joe Getty]

But we'll find out when we find out. Oh, it was one of the guys from the School of War podcast said Trump is the absolute master of making odd statements and weird promises to negotiate, then doubling back. And then you realize o just waiting until that stuff got in place right

[Jack Armstrong]

before they blast the crap out of someone.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we will see. Just came across this news story I look forward to digging into and talking about later on. How Trump has decided, or the White House has decided. Doesn't all have to be about Trump, but the white it's going to be an executive order, so I guess this has got to be about Trump. The White House is considering vetting AI models before they are released. The Trump administration, which had been kind of hands off with the world of AI, is now discussing imposing oversight on all new AI models before they're made publicly available, which I think probably is a horrible idea.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, shouldn't that has to be a law, right, Passed by Congress?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there's lots of things that should be a law passed by Congress. There's all kinds of things. All this redistricting. Name the thing that couldn't be a law passed by Congress, but they don't do that anymore. Anyway, if the White House decides that. No, no, no. Your new AI chat GPT 6.2. We need to look that over and see if it's good enough or not. I don't believe for a second they have the expertise to know whether or not something is okay. So then all we're gonna do is stifle advancement.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and if you have the expertise on Tuesday and you stall out following it by Thursday, your expertise is out of date. Right. That's the problem with it. This actually brings us back to a great discussion that you, you have led the way on through the years. Why are non explodee attacks that are clearly attacks that damage infrastructure, cost enormous sums of money, sometimes even cost lives, why are those not looked upon as acts of war? So if we accept the premise that. That's a pretty good question, and it is. If the. If the government, I think by statute, as opposed to bureaucratic regulation. But if you can regulate whether I, Joe Getty, can own a cruise missile, can you regulate whether I can own a cyber tool so powerful it could decimate the economy of Nigeria?

[Jack Armstrong]

Hmm.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I think it's a question that needs to be examined. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Currently the world, for instance, if we got a factory that makes widgets. Widgets are very popular. And you blow it up, that is an act of war. And you would respond with the marines and aircraft carriers and all kinds of stuff, but if you destroy that factory with a cyber attack, man, you hardly do anything. Maybe attack them back cyber, maybe, maybe not. How about.

[Joe Getty]

Here's an interesting case for you. This is the one I'm going to give to the college class on the final. And watch them struggle. The cyber attack causes, in the tradition of the Stuxnet attack on the Iranian centrifuges. I almost said subterfuges back in the day. You remember that one that caused them to overheat and spin out of control. Similar cyber attack that causes large pieces of machinery to overheat and burst into flames and burned down the factory.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good one.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. Lives lost or not in the final exam, maybe. Is that an act of war? And if not, why not?

[Jack Armstrong]

Another story I want to get to. I tend to overheat and spin out of control myself. And you're gonna hate this. I hate this. Everyone will hate this. Yet another story about the human body and its ability to hang on to our current weight despite our efforts. A new version of that. That is so annoying. I guess it's because for a million years, the greatest threat to humankind was starving to death. That if you got below a certain weight, it went into all hands on deck. Let's preserve the fat that we've got.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That we still do that. But God, I came across a new example of that last night. I was so depressing. Good Lord, we gotta fix that. I Guess that's what the GLP1s or

[Joe Getty]

whatever those are called for. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I'm. I'm a happily married man. I'm. I'm blessed. And, and that's part of it. And I'm okay. Healthy with the blood, blood pressure, drugs I'm on, stuff like that. I think I've just accepted. Look, I'm never gonna be much lighter than I am. It's just I could get lighter. Although at this age, it's harder and harder. But I'll bounce back. So what the hell's the point? The point is to fill my closet with clothes I can't wear.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or feel bad about yourself all the time.

[Joe Getty]

I woke up feeling bad about myself, but why not just enjoy whatever it

[Jack Armstrong]

was you're going to eat?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I try to eat smart to not gain more weight because it's effortless to gain weight.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, did you see my set point

[Joe Getty]

Only works one way. Huh? Huh?

[Jack Armstrong]

Thanks.

[Joe Getty]

Set point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you see my post on Twitter about the cheeseburger slider tower they had at Red Robin? Oh, that was fantastic. They stacked them on a tower on a spit. They were all stacked up and they were so good.

[Joe Getty]

Miracle of architecture.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was. That was like, great. To the cheeseburger tower. Oh, that was a good meal. Really enjoyable.

[Joe Getty]

America, the country that's so wealthy, we build buildings out of food. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I looked around that room and I thought, it's not a. I don't feel like it's that big a mystery why we're all.

[Joe Getty]

But anyway. Right, Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, Michael. As you ate your cheeseburgers. As I ate my cheeseburgers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'm not leaving myself out of that. It's not any mystery to me when my weight goes up why it's going up my diet.

[Joe Getty]

I tried to teach my teenagers this with varying levels of success, but we need to be teaching kids when they're young. Weight is a one way ratchet. Unless you're going to be on the GLPs GLP1 drugs for the rest of your life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. Keep that set point low in the first place.

[Joe Getty]

Right. One way ranch.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a tough one. Anyway, that information I've got is if you want to be saddened, stay tuned for that one. I don't know. Living reality. Let's present it in a positive way. You want to live in reality? We all do. We'll have that coming up. I'm going to start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on It is Tuesday, May 5, also known as Cinco de Mayo. It's Mexico's Independence Day. Except it's not. But that's what we say every year of the year 2026. We are Armstrong and Gideon. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

We mostly say it to annoy pedantic people who write angry emails. So don't worry about it. All right, let's begin the show officially. Now, according to FCC rules and regs, we go at mark.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm going to sip from the blood of the forsaken. This is real human blood. You can find this at the Info wars store. This is human blood curated from the forsaken and the sinners. All right, this is pure premium blood. Tested FDA unapproved. It tastes like blood.

[Joe Getty]

That is a fellow by the name of Tim Heidecker, who's with the Onion. The Onion bought the rights to Alex Jones Infowars website when he got sued for all of his horrors through the years. His horrific, you know, horror show for the weak minded. And so now they're using it to mock Alex Jones. We have more of that to come,

[Jack Armstrong]

but they spent a lot of money on that. Is that all they're gonna do is do impersonation? It'd be like if I bought the NBA and then me and my friends played basketball poorly. Why? Why would we do that?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know what they paid for it. I have no idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

I feel like it was a lot of money if I remember correctly. Anyway, we've got more of these. Every guinea pig is horribly deformed with their testicles on top of their heads. Yes, that's how. That's the actual Alex Jones, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

It'd be hard to tell the parody from the real one since he was talking about gerbils with testicles on their heads because of the government or something. Almost every guinea pig is horribly deformed with their testicles on top their heads. The Jews did that. Or who did that? Somebody did.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we've got more of that later. And who wouldn't want more of that? And lots of news of the day. Yeah, Pete Hegseth and the who the cent. Com commander all gave a little news conference, and we got some of what they said, among other things on the way. Hope you can stay here. We'll get to more headlines coming up next.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[TryJoyBox Announcer]

Most Mother's Day gifts end up in a drawer, but a song lives in the heart forever. This year, tryjoybox.com is giving away 1 million free custom songs to celebrate 1 million incredible moms. Just share a few memories and Joy Box produces an original track and greeting card just for her instantly. It's the most personal gift you'll ever give and right now it's completely free. Make mom the star of her own song at try joy box. 1 million songs $0 only@try joybox.com I

[Jack Armstrong]

have traversed various areas of Canada by car a couple of different times in my life. I don't know that much about Alberta specifically. Before we get into headlines, this one Alberta separatist group says it has enough signatures to trigger a referendum on leaving Canada. Looks like they're going to get it on the ballot in the premier of Alberta. Whatever government system they have up there in America's hat, they have a premiere of that province. Who even knows what that means but said they will. They will.

[Joe Getty]

Wizard. Not like a wizard. Similar to similar.

[Jack Armstrong]

Similar to a wizard. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Gandalf wearing warmer clothing.

[Jack Armstrong]

But the premiere of the province said she she would move forward if enough names are gathered and they have enough names now to break away from Canada.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know much about Alberta other than the the blues song. It's. It's vast and pastoral and agricultural and contains Calgary, I'm gonna guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if this is true. It's possible it being so rural that it is not down with a lot of the wacky politics that the metro centers are into. That's possible. I don't know that.

[Joe Getty]

That's my guess too. It reminds me in some ways of like eastern Washington State.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Eastern Oregon, Eastern California. Blue, blue states where sanity prevails. Except in the big cities.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll bet it's principle.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, I'm for it. Where do I get the T shirt? Hell, I'll go militant maybe. Which reminds me, came across a great essay about living through an age of fashionable militantism which comes and goes through society. You've pointed out how anarchy or not was it anarchists like in the teens and twenties. 19 teens, 19 twenties was a big deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Bombing places all over the world. That's what started World War I. And then it just went away for whatever reason. Some more of the headlines we got out there, Politico. Today Europe fears Putin's window opportunity is now to attack some other countries thinking that NATO is down. The United States will not come to any European countries rescue and now is the time to attack and all the NATO countries are really worried about that. So interesting headline.

[Joe Getty]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with the Pope in Rome this week. And I don't care.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's a Catholic, so I'm sure that's a thrill.

[Joe Getty]

Fair enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wall Street Journal. A top secret team at Ford is tearing up everything it knows about making trucks, which is something since they have the number one selling vehicle in the world for the past 30 years. The goal? Build a truck as fast as a Mustang for the price of a Camry. So there's something to look forward to.

[Joe Getty]

Gonna compete with China on the electric vehicle front. Speaking of transportation, three have died, several more ill on the SS Rat Crap. That poor beleaguered cruise ship.

[Jack Armstrong]

Should have known when you got on a boat with that name.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, but the little cartoon was so cute on the hull. Yeah, it's off the coast of West Africa. I remember when the news first break, they wouldn't tell you where the boat was and what cruise line it was because they're desperate to dock somewhere and get some doctors going. But nobody wants it. Nobody wants an outbreak of hantavirus, which surprises me. In this modern day. We can't, you know, you know, dock it and go full HAZMAT team in. But they'd be better off off the coast of the US than Africa for sure, because we have the expertise.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, being trapped on a boat with the hantavirus, which can kill you. I mean, it's a deadly, not just unpleasant, it's a very decent chance it's going to kill you. Especially if you're old and being trapped on that boat and nobody will let you dock to get off. That's a horrible situation.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Just, just, just terrible. See, what else do we have there? Iran strikes boats in the Strait of Hormuz. The world's worst ceasefire continues. Not clear what's going on there. We talked about that earlier. Let's see. Florida approves a new redistricting map. So that's still going on. Going from 20 to eight Republican to Democrat to 24 to four. They're trying to get it in place in time for the primaries, I think, which are coming up in June.

[Jack Armstrong]

There is mostly bipartisan agreement on gerrymandering being bad. And Sarah Isger of the Dispatch, who's fantastic and has a new book out and I hope we get to talk to her soon about the Supreme Court said the other day on one of the shows, Congress could deal with this today. There's bipartisan support to end gerrymandering and Congress could make a law, you know, making specifics around that today that would pass muster, but they just don't. It's another One of those things that Congress won't do.

[Joe Getty]

Finally, Health and Human Services is working to fight the over prescription of antidepressant meds.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I want to talk about that. Absolutely. Katie Porter, running for governor in California, has a new ad out.

[Joe Getty]

I like Armstrong and Getty.

[TryJoyBox Announcer]

Most Mother's Day gifts end up in a drawer, but a song lives in the heart forever. This year, try joybox.com is giving 1 million free custom songs to celebrate 1 million incredible moms. Just share a few memories and Joybox produces an original track and greeting card just for her. Instantly, it's the most personal gift you'll ever give. And right now it's completely free. Make mom the star of her own [e-mail] 1,000,000 songs $0 [e-mail] the Joint

[Jack Armstrong]

Chiefs of Staff dude who was part of the news conference not too long before we went on the air today said that Iran has fired on nine different vessels so far. I guess as long as you don't shoot back, it's still a ceasefire. I don't know the verbiage around cease fire thing. I don't. I'm not exactly sure what you're supposed to do there. I guess it's just to keep from just saying, okay, we're back at it completely.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And there could be a strategy that was just not being shared publicly. It sure looks like getting pushed around to me and I'm uncomfortable with it. But I'm open minded enough to wait and see.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? So coming up in just a few seconds, what news junkies might be forced to endure starting next year, but not if Megan McCardell of the Washington Post can happen. Have any influence on it. Trying to lecture Democrats on how they should handle things next year. Want to talk about that? I thought it was really interesting. But before we get to that, we played this yesterday. Actually want to hear it again? Cause I know not everybody heard it. This is Tucker Carlson did a big interview with the New York Times over the weekend and it was interesting in all kinds of different ways. Nobody, including people who have been friends with Tucker Carlson for decades, quite understand what's going on with the guy. He's very, very smart. He's very, very rich now peddling some of his weird thoughts. He thinks Trump can put spells on people. For instance, like he actually thinks that. Anyway, it's a little hard to tell in the audio. At some point, the New York Times plays a clip of Tucker Carlson from his own show in the middle of it to show him that, yes, you did say that. It'll make sense when you hear it here.

[Tucker Carlson Interviewee]

You cannot mock other people's gods and put yourself in their place, period. That is a deal killer for me. That's worse than the war with Iran, in my opinion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Tucker Carlson Interviewer]

But I ask because, you know, you've been talking on your show about whether Trump is the Antichrist.

[Tucker Carlson Interviewee]

I have not said that.

[Tucker Carlson Interviewer]

On your show, the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing ceremony as president. You said, and I'm quoting, maybe he didn't put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what's inside that book. And then on a recent show, you went further, saying, here's a leader who's mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist?

[Tucker Carlson Interviewee]

I actually did not say, could this be the Antichrist? Here's a leader who's mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist? Well, who knows? I don't know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I'm not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is. If there's just one. I. I actually tried to understand it. I may have said, some are asking that I'm not weighing in on that because I don't understand it.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't have to go with, you may have said, it's right there. Isn't that something? I feel like we crossed into a new world with that interview now presented with your own face and audio from

[Joe Getty]

recently and not like in a nightclub bathroom, but in a sit down with the New York Times, you can say,

[Jack Armstrong]

nope, never said that.

[Joe Getty]

Tape of your own show, readily available at your own archives.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those words never crossed my lips.

[Joe Getty]

That's one of two things we posited yesterday.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's the Antichrist.

[Joe Getty]

Merely cynicism. My fans will never hear this. They will believe my version of it, no matter how implausible. So it doesn't matter. So I'm gonna say, I never said that. It's either that or he's had some sort of psychic break.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, ye. I don't think it's that. I don't know. I don't. I can't imagine somebody playing a tape of me from this show, clearly me, and saying, I never. Those words never came out of my mouth. What?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know where you got that, but those words never came out of my mouth.

[Jack Armstrong]

By the way.

[Joe Getty]

No. I might say, what the hell was I thinking that day, huh? What do you know on the whole

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump never put his hand on the Bible? I. I'm pretty good on some theology. I'm not real good on, like, anti. Antichrist stuff, but I gotta believe that the Antichrist is willing to lie. To the extent that he go ahead and put his hand on the Bible and still do his evil. I just. I find it hard to believe that the Antichrist couldn't put his hand on the. Just because he doesn't believe in that, so he can't put his hand on there. That just doesn't make sense to me.

[Joe Getty]

I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Joe Getty]

But it's like a vampire movie trope. It's just. Yeah. Oh, he can't. He can't have holy water touch him. Look, he's running away. That's how you know he's a vampire. Oh, that's handy. Okay. Yeah. I don't know. We got this note from alert listener Nate, who knows something about this field. Mental illness and health. Tucker Carlson's relationship with his childhood trauma, specifically the abandonment by his mother, Lisa Lombardi, when he was 6, displays many hallmarks of intellectualization as a defense mechanism and actually includes some footnotes. I didn't have time to go to the footnotes. But intellectualism as a defense mechanism for childhood trauma.

[Jack Armstrong]

What does that mean, intellectualism? You.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know precisely. I think Soell's great quote that there are some ideas so ridiculous or stupid or terrible only an intellectual could hold them. A retreat into the more esoteric parts of human understanding. I don't know. I don't know exactly. He's always been the intellectual, the extremely smart fella who's willing to tell you how it is, but how it is keeps changing wildly for him.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know and I hope this isn't true, but I feel like that interview at such a high platform. The New York Times and Tucker Carlson, both big deals. I feel like we crossed into a new era now where people running for governors and presidents, stuff like that, can just flat deny what they said yesterday. If it's on 10 different videos.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Or you've got Gavin Newsom the other day on Mar. Bill Marshall flat out denied the bullet train numbers put out by the very high speed Rail Commission. Like the previous day, he said, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not going to be 230 million. It's more like 130 and everything's billion. I'm sorry. Oh, my God. Million, billion. And it's coming together quite nicely. That was an utter, utter falsehood. You laugh, I laugh.

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He

[Joe Getty]

significant downside to utter dishonesty. It's the era we live in.

[Jack Armstrong]

So right after this message, one of my favorite pundits with a message to the Democrats, please don't do this. Tell you what, this is in just a second. But first we want to tell you about rough greens, which is a great thing to put on your dog's food. You don't have to change your current dog's food because we all know that's a big deal and they their digestive system ain't so good for a while. When you change food, you get to stay with the same food. You put the rough greens on there to supplement with lots and lots of health benefits.

[Joe Getty]

Yep. Indeed. Because you know, your dog's food may or may not have good ingredients and see, you don't know. But it's all about nutrition. As Jack said, thousands of dogs are feeling younger, more energetic and healthier than they have in years. And your dog could be one of them thanks to rough greens. It's got all sorts of essential vitamins and minerals and omega oils and enzymes, probiotics, which are good for you, good for your pup, too.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you can try it for free. Just the shipping. Get a free Jump Start trial bag today. You just cover the shipping. When you go to roughgreens.com and use the discount code Armstrong. Remember that rough greens is spelled R

[Joe Getty]

u f f rough roughgreens.com roughgreens.com use that discount code Armstrong. Rough greens makes any dog food better. Roughgreens.com use that discount code Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

So this woman who writes opinion pieces for the Washington Post, Megan McArdle, I become a big fan of. She's on the Dispatch podcast. She's a libertarian. She doesn't like Trump, but she also doesn't like most of what any of the Democrats are ever doing. She is arguing and wrote a piece the other day for the Democrats. Don't go down the road of chasing prosecutions with Trump and his family once he's gone or once you take office. That is not going to be good for anybody. It's going to clog up the works. It's going to clog up the country. It's going to make our politics even, you know, more divisive. Please don't do it. And I wish people would listen to her. I'm not sure they will. But going back through my life, I remember when there was Lots of talks, lots of talk about going after the Clintons once, you know, the Republicans took, took the presidency back and everything like that. And they didn't. And then the same thing with George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi saying we'll have the subpoena power and we'll be able. And then they didn't. And the Republicans didn't really go after Obama after he left office and all the different things they said they would. We haven't done that in the past for a variety of reasons and it kind of fits in with Gerald Ford pardoning Richard Nixon. We've got, we just gotta move on. We have to move on as a country. And I don't know how much of it is high minded what's best for the country and how much of it has been it would gum up the things we want to accomplish whichever the case because in the past we haven't gotten bogged down immediately in new administrations with trying to punish the last person that was in there. I'm afraid this time around we're going to anyway. Her piece in the Washington Post is please don't do that.

[Joe Getty]

Does she address the very powerful counter argument? And I agree with the premise for what it's worth but the powerful counterargument is that, well, you've just declared corruption legalized if you can't go after malfeasance in office.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know her answer to that is elect better people. You make the argument for electing better people.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Which brings us back to our diseased primary system. And on and on it goes. Excuse me.

[Jack Armstrong]

She also made the prediction and I'll bet this is true. Trump is going to set so Biden set a record. I wish more people would recognize this is a process. It's not just one person doing that. We're on a continuum and it keeps getting worse. But Obama had a whole bun go back to Clinton. Clinton with a bunch of pardons that that were horrible. Bush had some pardons that were horrible. Then Obama had more pardons that were more horrible. Then Biden set a record for Trump set a record. Then Biden set a new record for pardons are horrible including his own son which he tore he wouldn't do. Trump is going to set a new all time pardoning everybody in his orbit it everywhere including all his family members when he goes out the door to try to avoid any prosecutions going forward. There's something Congress needs to take a look at is the pardon power of presidents. You wanna talk about legalizing criminal activity now we got that to look forward to. And when the Democrats take the House next year, almost guaranteed, according to every pundit I like and even the ones I don't like, there is going to be an impeachment like day one.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, goody. You know, you pointed out that we have as a country been at each other's throats and wildly partisan on and off. But since the beginning, like the very

[Jack Armstrong]

beginning, I didn't realize it was Washington's second term. I knew it started after that, but it started like immediately. Again, if you didn't hear it yesterday, Washington and Madison were not on speaking terms in the second term of George Washington's presidency.

[Joe Getty]

And you could argue the Continental Congress was like that. And before they even formed the Continental Congress, there are, there are enormous divisions, partisanship, but. So I don't mean to be discouraging, but. And I think we'll probably bounce back as a country. But if this was a, like a rock and roll band that I was playing in or a civic organization or a small company I'd started, our country really has the feeling of something that's fallen apart.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a downer.

[Joe Getty]

Well, is it a downer or is it a wake up call? Or is it a wake up downer? You gotta get down before you get back up again.

[Jack Armstrong]

You need to tell us some more about the how you dressed for the Met gala last night, all the rave reviews that came in.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, my outfit weighed 30 pounds, so I'm a little tuckered out. Also coming up, the I've got to confess, the new Animal Farm movie is not as bad as the trailer made it seem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

It's worse. It's a horror.

[Jack Armstrong]

You tricked me.

[Joe Getty]

I did. Broke his ankles with my crossover Michael. Did you see that? Plus, the Democratic Party is the party of Islamists now. It's official.

[Jack Armstrong]

My son really wants to see that Animal Farm movie just because he read the book fairly recently for school. So, yeah, we'll go to that and have to review it at the time, but I want to hear about it. And we've got. We're going to get to Mailbag and a bunch of other stuff on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

box.com so the President Donald Trump has just announced the return of the Presidential Fitness Test. From back in the day. If you're a child of the 70s, 80s or 90s, because it ended in 2000, you remember that we don't have what the new numbers were are going to be, but we'll go with what through what the numbers used to be for the presidential Fitness test, including the nobody but Navy Seals could do it pull up contest that three kids in America could do every year.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God. Right? You realize we're eight, right? Here's your freedom moment. Quote of the day Anna Louisa and Anna Louisa and Rainy La Mesa sent this long a couple of quotes from Plato I to want choose the second one. We've done the first one before. But wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Remind me of that. Can you remind me that I always say remind me of these things and I don't think I get reminded. I should remind myself. Remind me of that. I got a thought about that.

[Joe Getty]

When? How often? Just later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sometime later. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

On the show we'll do Mailbag. If you'd like to correspond, please do [e-mail]. you know, I wasn't gonna go with this, but I've changed my mind. Let's see. John says he's been listening for a long time and has said we're the best show in the world. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, he said. But now your show is unlistenable. You spend your time bitching and whining, trying to poke fun at other people's shows. You remind me of a couple of old bitter fat ladies who sit around griping about the hot young woman wearing a bikini. Here's a thought. Come up with some interesting content. Be better.

[Jack Armstrong]

I am a lot like a bitter old fat lady.

[Joe Getty]

What.

[Jack Armstrong]

What shows are we criticizing?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

The TV show.

[Joe Getty]

She's probably like a Candace fan. A Candace Owens fan.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, gotcha. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

And resents the the criticism. Yeah. Moving along. I can't tell if this is real or parody. Which is the world we live in? It's from the breaking911 Twitter feed. It's a picture of a woman wheelchair bound, et cetera, et cetera. Aaron Rose Philip, the first black transgender woman with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, signed to a major model agency arriving at the Met Gala. All right. Black, transgender, quadriplegic, cerebral palsy. Anyway, okay, maybe. I don't know. Let's see. Tom and Windsor Etsy Witches cursing Clay Thompson. Really? I was taken aback to hear poor Miss the Stallions delicate sensibilities were tussled by the ever so unsurprising actions of her NBA boyfriend. I can imagine the pain this would cause the delicate flower that brought us the wholesome ballad WAP with lyrics such as and I can't. I can't even read the more clean ones.

[Jack Armstrong]

I forgot she did the WAP song, an acronym for Women as President.

[Joe Getty]

That was not my understanding, but go on. Then he quotes the lyrics and says, heavens to Murgatroyd, I do declare. What does this world come to? Let's see.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's how she got famous with that song. Okay,

[Joe Getty]

here is Eric Solipsistic Smith of Astoria, Oregon, writing, y' all seem nonplussed by the baseball Color commentators use the word pulchritudinous. And he suggests he was paying homage to the late great Howard Cosell, famous for using fancy vocabulary such as pulchritudinous, though usually with tongue in cheek. And this was my favorite part. His penchant for the use of this particular word was keenly noticeable when he provided on the field reporting during TV's Battle of the Network stars in the 70s and 80s as he lecherously interviewed young starlets in their skimpy swimsuits. Do you really think he cared what Gabe Kaplan had to say about track and field? Ha. And he sends his best wishes to the pulchritudinous Katie Green. Eternity leave. Yeah, she is. She's with child. You can't say she's pulchritudinous. Let's see. Ryan from Houston, Dear Cold Warrior and old Fancy Jack. President Trump is. Trump is treating the Iran war like he treated his tariff policies like I treated my first draft in English class. Everything's a top off off the top of the head first draft.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think there's a lot of that.

[Joe Getty]

And he sees how it goes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody's ever trusted their gut more than Donald Trump. And if he became a billionaire and got got elected president twice, I could see why you trust your gut.

[Joe Getty]

We were talking about one of those Tucker Carlson clips yesterday and his brilliantly unfair way he argues. He's very, very good at all sorts of different ways to twist discussions. And Jeff says, I don't know. I'm not a theologian. Reminds me a lot of. I can't define woman, not in this context. I'm not a biologist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we'll take a deep dive on what is the Antichrist, among other things. Coming up, if you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand. Lots of news on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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