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- [00:02]
Jack Armstrong
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. NBC Saturday night.
- [00:32]
Joe Getty
George Carlin.
- [00:36]
Jack Armstrong
With Janice Ian and Billy Preston. Andy Kaufman.
- [00:46]
Joe Getty
Ladies and gentlemen, George Garland. They aired that in place of their normal live show on Saturday night. The very first episode of Saturday Night Live aired this past Saturday night as they were headed into Sunday night for their actual live show which was the 50 year anniversary of the program. And all kinds of former cast members and stars and man, that was some star studded crowd there. Every time they go to a crowd shot thingy and do stuff is like, look, there's so and so and there's Kevin Costner and there's, there's Robert De Niro and there's. It was just absolutely amazing. A lot of people wondering about why Kevin Costner looked so angry and off put. Everybody else was kind of watching and laughing and he looked crazed. I've read a couple of different theories about that. There's a couple of actors that are apparently that were there sitting near him who were ripping him off financially and he's in a big court case with. Maybe that's why he was acting that way or maybe he was drunk. I don't know why, but at one point he ended up holding an Elmo head toward the end during a musical number. He looked angry, like he wasn't playing along at all. An angry, very tan, chomping his gum. Kevin Costner for some reason. Did you see the Adam Sandler song he did toward the end? Yes, 50 year tribute. So I was thinking about that and wondering just from a crafting entertainment standpoint. So Jack Nicholson introduced him, which is cool. Jack Nicholson was in the crowd and he hadn't been seen in public in years. Nobody knew if he'd ever be seen again. He's incredibly old, 87 or something like that. He's my dad's age, but so there he was. He introduces Adam Sandler and Adam Sandler does one of his songs. And I was thinking Adam Sandler has a special talent for. And this is probably why he has sold a billion dollars worth of movie tickets in his life. He has a talent for schmaltz and funny. That doesn't cross the line into too schmaltzy or too ridiculous to be, I don't know. But he has got a talent for that that's obviously unique, which is why he's so incredibly successful and made so much money. So I always think this, is this too much and it always kind of gets me, emotionally speaking, yet it's funny. That's a. That's a tough balance, that thing right there. Yeah.
- [03:05]
Jack Armstrong
I don't. Yeah, yeah. I might quibble over the term schmaltz.
- [03:10]
Joe Getty
Okay. Sentimental.
- [03:11]
Jack Armstrong
Differently.
- [03:12]
Joe Getty
Yeah, Sentimental.
- [03:13]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
- [03:13]
Joe Getty
Touch it. Okay. Schmaltz is wrong because schmaltz implies negative sentimental and touching with funny. To pull that off the way he does is incredibly unique. And I guess that's what he did in all his movies that he wrote that were so successful. But I thought that was really good. But this happened toward the end of the show and thought it would be a good point of discussion. So they had Tom Hanks come out there and set up a bunch of highlight clips from stuff that there's no way you could air anymore on Saturday Night Live. And whether or not that's good or not is its own discussion. But this is. This is what the setup sounded like. As we celebrate the achievements of the past 50 years, we must also take a moment to honor those who we. Countless members of the SNL family taken from us. Too soon. I'm speaking, of course, about SNL characters and sketches that have aged horribly. But even though these characters, accents, and let's just call them ethnic wigs were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them. So if anyone should be canceled, shouldn't it be you, the audience? Something to think about. So I had friends that reacted to the whole thing, and then they. And then they ran a montage of a bunch of clips, like, lots of clips over many decades. It's been on for 50 years that were some of the funniest things and most memorable things they've ever done in Saturday Night Live history, but including bleeping things and blurring things out. But for the most part, like, some of my friends were highly offended that they treated it that way. I thought it was Lorne Michaels doing what he does with the Colin Jost, Michael Che bit where they write each other jokes and they act like they're so disgusted by the jokes, but it's an opportunity to get the jokes on.
- [05:22]
Jack Armstrong
I just felt like you get it both ways.
- [05:24]
Joe Getty
I just felt like it was the same thing. We're going to pretend that was just so wrong that we did this and now air a bunch of the stuff that you really liked?
- [05:31]
Jack Armstrong
I think so. I think you've nailed it. Yeah. I think Lauren probably understands pretty well where some standards have changed, maybe appropriately. A lot of standards have changed completely inappropriately.
- [05:47]
Joe Getty
Right. I mean, for Tom Hanks, to say that we're in questionably in poor taste. As if in poor taste makes something out of bounds for comedy. When. When did that become a thing? Something important can't be funny or, or, or for the public. I mean, that. Come on now, that's hilarious.
- [06:05]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
- [06:07]
Joe Getty
But it included a. A few things that I don't understand why ethnic accents are off limit now. You know, it's like Hank Azaria retiring Apu's voice from the Simpsons because you can't sound like somebody from India.
- [06:25]
Jack Armstrong
Why? Yeah, I consider it completely absurd. They would say, well, you're reducing it to a stereotype and lampooning them merely for their nationality and the rest of it. It's an absolutely universal human truth that when we hear languages and accents unlike our own, we notice them and they are odd or amusing to us. It's universally true.
- [06:50]
Joe Getty
Well, going way, way back, John Belushi, cheaper Cheeberger, you know, ethnic immigrants in Chicago running a diner. Are the people that are offended by that?
- [07:01]
Jack Armstrong
No, no, I don't think.
- [07:03]
Joe Getty
But the, the. And then body shaming had some body shaming in there. Okay, fine, fat jokes. And then, you know, the ambiguously gay duo. I can't believe that actually was a thing for a while. I'm just surprised it was a thing because, I don't know, gay is just so accepted now. I'm surprised that ever worked. But the most famous one, and it's definitely an interesting point of discussion, is Chevy Chase calling Richard Pryor the N word on Saturday Night Live, which aired in the seventies on network television. And it wasn't really even that big a deal. Are we in a better place now by not doing that or a worse place? And I would think we're in a.
- [07:55]
Jack Armstrong
Worse place, but hundred percent, because we've gone from. That was a really good, insightful use of comedy to make a serious point to a point now where we're just so paranoid about it and becoming less so because the Ibram Kendi garbage era is on the Wayne, at least in normal society, not academia, but. And so we're all, especially white people, just terrified to say anything at all. So you just tell us what to say and take control of our institutions and we will obey you. So you don't call us racists. So you can't have an honest discussion like that.
- [08:30]
Joe Getty
Katie, you have a question?
- [08:32]
Katie Green
No, I don't have a question. I was just in, in watching this whole thing. I was. It was cool to see stuff that I had heard of, but I had never seen Before I did. Appreciate them bringing back some of the older skits.
- [08:42]
Joe Getty
All right. Because you're young enough. Saturday Night Live started before you were born. As Sabrina Carpenter said, Saturday Night Live started before her parents were born, which is really something.
- [08:53]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
- [08:54]
Joe Getty
But I don't.
- [08:55]
Jack Armstrong
I.
- [08:56]
Joe Getty
What percentage of America. If you had all of those clips that were in poor taste and, you know, the death of these characters, because obviously they can't be heard anymore, I would. I would love to see polling on each and every aspect of those, because I think they're majority. Okay. Majority of people would say they're okay. Of course, then the pushback would be, well, the majority of the country's white, and so of course you think it's okay to be racist or whatever.
- [09:23]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, well, kiss my ass would be my. My response, you know. Yeah. Comedy exists to push limits and to call out authority and to make people uncomfortable at times. It's. That's its purpose. And I despise efforts to. To censor it, to preemptively censor it. There are jokes and comedy that I hear that I think are awful. They're stupid, they're mean, they are actually racist or whatever, and I'll gladly tell you when I think that. But the idea that they need to be preemptively censored so they never offend anybody. Bull crap.
- [09:58]
Joe Getty
Well. And most of the time, as Ricky Gervais has pointed out before, we're all laughing because our laughter is us in agreement that that is not. That's what the joke is.
- [10:08]
Jack Armstrong
So it really reinforces norms.
- [10:10]
Joe Getty
It reinforces that it's not okay. Which is interesting. I noticed that, and I was looking for it. One thing that they used to do regularly on Saturday Night live in the 90s, I guess, because I know Chris Farley was involved, probably late 80s, early 90s, was pat. The. You couldn't tell if it was a. A dude or a chick. I mean, that was an ongoing bit. And she'd go into a barber. He or she. Nobody knows if Pat was a man or a woman.
- [10:39]
Jack Armstrong
Well, just say Pat.
- [10:40]
Joe Getty
Pat would go into a barber shop to get their haircut, and the barber would keep asking questions to try to get a hint as to whether this is a male or a female. And everybody would howl with laughter. They didn't include that because apparently they feel like that one's too dangerous or toxic.
- [10:57]
Jack Armstrong
Wow. That's right. They didn't have any Pat.
- [11:01]
Joe Getty
No.
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Katie Green
That was actually a code at one of my old jobs.
- [11:04]
Joe Getty
Sure. It was for everybody, because, you know.
- [11:06]
Katie Green
You'D have Somebody come through and you'd want to be like, oh, hi, hello, miss. Or oh, wait a minute.
- [11:11]
Joe Getty
Yeah, we had a pat come through today.
- [11:13]
Katie Green
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [11:14]
Jack Armstrong
Which is fine.
- [11:15]
Katie Green
Yeah. But that was a common phrase to.
- [11:20]
Jack Armstrong
Observe it and, and, and make reference to how that makes you feel uncomfortable because we're used to responding to people's sex. There's nothing wrong with that.
- [11:29]
Joe Getty
Yeah, it's interesting.
- [11:29]
Jack Armstrong
Anybody, you're hurting them.
- [11:30]
Joe Getty
So the bit was you're not sure if this is a man or a woman. And then you're going to politely ask questions to try to determine that so you can be more comfortable. How is that bad? Nobody. The bit was never I'm mean to them or going to hate them or something. It was always, I'm politely asking questions.
- [11:53]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, well, we can't have that because that's hurtful. And if you're offended, you're always right. You know, it strikes me the ultimate oil and water, the things that don't mix is hypocritical crusading, do gooders and a sense of humor. They just do not intersect.
- [12:13]
Joe Getty
Right. And Saturday Night Live, which launched as like the counterculture dangerous, you know, we stick it to the man. Edgy, then becomes kind of the, like, leader in enforcing political correctness over time is something.
- [12:33]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Becomes a tool of conformity.
- [12:37]
Joe Getty
Yeah. We got some more breaking news out of that big meeting in Saudi Arabia over trying to wind down the war in Ukraine. That is either good or not. Or not. And a whole bunch of other stuff on the way. Stay here.
- [12:51]
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty.
- [12:53]
Joe Getty
I want to talk about test driving the Tesla cybertruck with my kids and why I can't, why I can't get it. Some updates from the Middle east on the peace talks, or whatever you want to call them, negotiations about ending the war in Ukraine. Just got a tip from somebody I know who works in the federal government about the federal government layoffs and how people are taking it, among other things.
- [13:14]
Jack Armstrong
On the way, let's talk about state government, Jack, and state policy. Round two of the compare and contrast between California and Florida's homeowners insurance situation. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last week announced a $1 billion surcharge on private insurers, meaning their, their policyholders, to prop up the state's insurer of last resort, which is now wobbling fair. The fair plan, or whatever it's called. Meantime, State Farm is asking regulators for an emergency 22% rate increase to avoid a dire situation.
- [13:50]
Joe Getty
22% on top of Right. It's already Insane.
- [13:56]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I know, I know. Meanwhile, in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis is announcing lower rates thanks to their legal reforms. That's right. Several of the major insurers in Florida have filed for rate decreases. And it doesn't have. It's not about fires and storms. It's about policy. Democratic insurance regulators in the Golden State for years suppressed rates even as home values ballooned. State Farm, which is the state's largest fire insurer, said earlier this month it's paid a buck 26 in claims for every dollar it's collected in premiums over the last nine years, resulting in $5 billion in losses. And California, until recently was the only state to prohibit insurers from pricing reinsurance. That's an insurance company has insurance itself. That's part of their costs. Well, California, for reasons that defy any explanation, don't let State Farm, for instance, factor that into their cost basis. And so. And they don't allow them to use catastrophe models to adjust rates. The state also bars insurers from dropping policies in areas affected by fires for a year thereafter, which has made it hard to limit exposure. And when they do approve a rate increase, it's usually less than what's asked for. And so companies are just fleeing the state, leaving hundreds of thousands of people with no option. But the fair plan, which is about to become completely insolvent.
- [15:16]
Joe Getty
And why a lot of people talked about this back when I was looking for a house, why a lot of people are choosing to rent rather than buy, like practically for the first time ever, just because the map between the price of homes, the energy bills and the insurance. It's quite the deal.
- [15:36]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, absolutely true. So Meanwhile in Florida, DeSantis. Ron DeSantis spearheaded a series of litigation reforms in 22 and 23 that have headed off an insurance disaster. Insurance has had been raising rates by double digits annually and fleeing the market because of rampant lawsuit abuse, which ballooned their insurer of last resort, which was called Citizens Property. But now that they've reformed that process, 11 new insurers have entered the market in Florida as the last.
- [16:06]
Joe Getty
Wow.
- [16:06]
Jack Armstrong
As the result of the last two years tort reforms. And in fact, again, I think it's three of the big seven. Don't sue me if that's off. Oh, it's. Four of the top 10 have filed for rate decreases and they just took about half a million policies out of Citizens Property and they now have better, cheaper private insurance. Those half a million homes.
- [16:27]
Joe Getty
That's quite the compare and contrast from two different models.
- [16:30]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I Just the Golden State.
- [16:35]
Joe Getty
Everybody wants to live here.
- [16:37]
Jack Armstrong
We're leading the way, like it or not.
- [16:41]
Joe Getty
It's just frustrating leading the way in one way. U Haul rentals, which is true.
- [16:46]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah. What are you gonna do, Change policy?
- [16:50]
Joe Getty
Nah, try something different.
- [16:55]
Jack Armstrong
You're. It's a mob. It's a criminal gang. They do what's best for the mob, not the voters.
- [17:02]
Joe Getty
Sons of update you on some stories that are going on today. Oh, and this little piece of information I got about the federal employees that are being laid off is kind of interesting. It's an inside source. Source. Stay tuned.
- [17:14]
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty.
- [17:16]
Joe Getty
We've lost the late, great Norm MacDonald who hosted Weekend Update. That's right, Norm MacDonald, who hosted Weekend Update until he was fired for making jokes about O.J. simpson. And he's obviously one of my heroes. So if you're watching up there, I just want to say we love you, O.J. oh, that's right. That was one of the Tom Hanks's. Looking back on things that were mistakes, having OJ Is a host or P. Diddy is a musical guest or.
- [17:51]
Jack Armstrong
We didn't know exactly who knew.
- [17:55]
Joe Getty
Oh, my God. Norm MacDonald got fired from Saturday Night Live because he refused to stop making jokes about O.J. being the murderer. They finally fired him, then they had him back a year later to host the show, which is weird. If you've ever watched that on YouTube, it's pretty funny.
- [18:11]
Jack Armstrong
Damn.
- [18:15]
Joe Getty
Where do I start? First, this. The government workers being so, so upset about being fired again. I'm not happy you got fired. I just, I would like it if everybody who worked for the government knew what it was like for the rest of us in the private sector. I just think that'd be helpful for the whole relationship between we the taxpayer and you the government worker.
- [18:35]
Jack Armstrong
Public servant, you mean. You brute, right?
- [18:39]
Joe Getty
Dedicated my life to public service. Somebody I know who works in the federal government. I don't know if I told this story. I don't think you were here last week and I told this story. So the boss was super upset about having to let go of about a half a dozen people and saying they'd moved here for this job. Oh, yeah, now they're losing their job. And yeah, that happens a lot in the real world. But here, here it is. Apparently there is a call probably all around the country for people who work in the federal government and they gave out a phone number for a government funded therapy. Government funded. What a term. Taxpayer paid for therapy. So I'm glad that I can pay for your therapy. Are you paying for my therapy? No, I'm paying you for your therapy and said it's available 24, 7 for six months after termination or for anyone struggling to come to terms with losing a coworker. So not only are the taxpayers paying therapy because you lost your job, anybody else ever lose their job out there? And nobody paid for therapy on how to deal with it, or not even that one of your coworkers got fired, so you lost a friend at work, so now the taxpayer is going to pay for your therapy.
- [19:55]
Jack Armstrong
Good Lord, we are far, far down a road, and clawing our way back is going to be uncomfortable, more impossible.
- [20:08]
Joe Getty
That's what I've been saying for a couple of weeks now. The pushback to Elon, the vilification of Elon, the. The chanting in the streets and all that sort of stuff shows you just how much they feel like, no, they're owed. They're owed a lifetime job, and nobody should pay any attention to whether they're needed or not. It's really out of bounds to question this stuff.
- [20:30]
Jack Armstrong
And that's the folks in the street. And I can forgive them for having formed certain attitudes over the years. I mean, they're. They need to come correct and wake up to the reality. But I don't resent them coming to those conclusions because they've been told that for years and generations. Really, the people I really want to kick where it hurts is the union heads who have realized, and they realized a number of decades ago, if we could organize government workers and make it permissible for them to unionize, that is the most permanent industry that has ever existed. We will get crazy rich and we will get crazy powerful. And then the politicians who are propped up by those union heads, and this is the story of California politics, obviously, but increasingly federal, too, that is the true evil there. They are unholy. They. They work counter to the interests of taxpayers, even as they howl, that the only thing they care about is the taxpayers and quote, unquote, public servants. It's a scam.
- [21:30]
Joe Getty
Well, this federal worker that I know said that is one of the reasons they're upset is they are told when they're hired, you know, you'll have to work this many hours. This will be your pay, but you can't get fired, really. So you're, you know, that's one thing you can count on. So, you know, if I took a job and I was told I couldn't get fired when I got fired, I would be, you know, unhappy about it. The. The problem is we shouldn't have jobs. And why would.
- [21:55]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
- [21:56]
Joe Getty
Why would there be such a thing as telling somebody you can't be fired? Why would that. Why would those civil service protections exist? Last week we were talking about how most of the people that are being let go so far fall within that first year or two, a probationary period where you don't before you get the civil service protections. Why do those protections exist? How do you get rid of them?
- [22:19]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, why.
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Joe Getty
Why would you have them?
- [22:23]
Jack Armstrong
Because the union, you know, government official scam. It was sold to us as something good. It's insidious. It's. It's a scam. It's a mob. It's a. It's a racket. That's the term I'm looking for.
- [22:33]
Joe Getty
Different thing I wanted to talk about. And really my ultimate point is going to be. I don't know, my ultimate point is going to be complaining about customer service or AI not being where it ought to be yet or something like that. But I test drove a Tesla Cybertruck over the weekend because I was kind of interested in maybe one of those. And, man, that's the most controversial vehicle out there. People either like them or they just absolutely loathe them. It is. And it's the most striking vehicle on the road. I mean, there's nothing as weird looking at as that maybe ever.
- [23:04]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I try to keep an open mind. I've seen them in the wild. Not a fan.
- [23:09]
Joe Getty
Yeah, well, there. But there's not a fan and then there's like, loathe, which I don't really get for any car I can't get that worked up about.
- [23:17]
Jack Armstrong
So don't you drive one?
- [23:19]
Joe Getty
But yes, Katie, they're making all of.
- [23:23]
Katie Green
These wraps for the cyber trucks, and I saw one online the other day. Someone wrapped it like a Ford F150.
- [23:28]
Joe Getty
That's funny.
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Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
- [23:32]
Joe Getty
I really wanted, like, the sort of.
- [23:34]
Jack Armstrong
Person who would do that. I think we would get along.
- [23:37]
Joe Getty
I really wanted to get one. I drove it and I absolutely freaking loved it, man. The. The steer by wire steering that they. They call it is unlike anything I've ever driven in my life. It's so cool. Does a U turn on a dime and you hardly have to move the steering wheel. Very cool. Smoothest riding vehicle I've ever been in in my life. Really, really liked it. But my son said, I will walk home from school. If you're going to pick me up in that, I will just go ahead and walk the home. It'll take me an hour, but I'll just Walk home from school. I can't have you picking me up for that. You know, Fine. He'd get over that. A friend of his said, I can't be friends with you anymore if your dad drives a cyber truck.
- [24:16]
Jack Armstrong
Oh, wow. Wait a minute. And then resist the oppression of today's youth.
- [24:22]
Joe Getty
And then I tweeted out a picture of me standing in front of it after I did the test drive. And the number of people saying, you're single. You really think you're ever going to not be single if you drive that?
- [24:32]
Jack Armstrong
Oh, another blow.
- [24:34]
Joe Getty
You would have the situation if you drive one of those of if you're going on a date, pulling up and thinking coin flip, they're either going to think, oh, cool. Or think, ah, my stomach's feeling kind of funny. I don't know if I should go out to eat. I mean, that's a deal breaker. I think that would be a deal breaker for a lot of people. So weird looking. I do love the videos you can see on YouTube of raccoons and bears trying to get into them because they think they're a trash dumpster. Those are funny.
- [24:59]
Jack Armstrong
I didn't know that. That's hilarious.
- [25:01]
Joe Getty
It's an actual thing.
- [25:02]
Jack Armstrong
I'm trying to picture myself as somebody being picked up for a date. And that appears. I think I would. My curiosity would overcome any, geez, that's an ugly truck. This is a. The person driving it is not to my taste. I would just think, let's take a ride.
- [25:20]
Joe Getty
But that aside, and this speaks to lots of different areas of life and kind of Elon himself. So Elon, such an interesting thinker, as we're seeing with Doge and the rockets and the electric car, the most successful electric car of all time. But he decided we're not going to have human beings. It's all going to be, you do everything online for everything. And that's one of the reasons why we're going to streamline this. And it just flat doesn't work. It just flat does not work at all. So I find that's interesting. And it makes me a little concerned about Elon, where he is on trying to pare down the government, because if he thinks that works, it doesn't. And if he thinks he can do that in a government office by eliminating human beings, because we'll just have computers and they can go online, it doesn't work. Hey, Elon, you're the world's richest man. Hire somebody at minimum wage to answer phones at all your dealerships so somebody could call and ask A question ever. I think that'd be a great move. No, no, no. You put them to the Internet and you get lost into the world of sent to this page and that page and you can't ever. You can't ever figure anything out. It just flat doesn't work. And I find that juxtaposition of brilliant, innovative, groundbreaking. Change the world with kind of basic tried something new non functional. An interesting thing that goes together in his brain.
- [26:49]
Jack Armstrong
Maybe faith in technology being a little too enthusiastic. You know, it's funny, I hadn't even thought of it, but I bought a vehicle not long ago and was trying to get Judy's phone connected and you know her just that whole tech hookup thing. And I kept running into a problem and I had the number of the tech guy at the dealership. I just called him. I said, hey, Zach, Joe here. How do I do this? He said, yeah, go to the phone instead of the. And it's two stacks. Thanks, dude.
- [27:18]
Joe Getty
I actually said to a system employee inside the building, I said, said, you know all other car makers and especially luxury car makers because these are expensive vehicles. I said, you know, you buy a Mercedes, you've got the guys like home cell phone. You can call and talk to him anytime you want. You got a question. You can't get a hold of a single human being for this car. And I think that's a big blind spot for y'all. But I said, you know, just my opinion if you're ever in a meeting.
- [27:40]
Jack Armstrong
I think that's a great point.
- [27:41]
Joe Getty
Yeah, and if he thinks he can take over and I'm all for cutting government agencies that don't work in employees and all sorts of stuff, but if he thinks you can just replace it all with computers where you're going to try to get out checks to people or something like that. You haven't proved it works with your big car company yet at all.
- [27:58]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, go ahead and figure out that tax question online. Have fun. Let me know how it goes.
- [28:03]
Joe Getty
Yeah, and go into the rabbit hole of you can't find your answer and very, very frustrating. Anyway, maybe I will figure that out in the future. I have no idea.
- [28:14]
Jack Armstrong
Nice job, rabbit hole. That reminds me, you know, I was kind of hot to try to play clip 15 can. Come on. This is going back. If you. This is. This is not the Saturday Night Live 50 year retrospective, but it's a little looking back through the sands of time, blah, blah, blah.
- [28:31]
Joe Getty
This report tells us how to cut waste, cut red tape, streamline the bureaucracy.
- [28:38]
Jack Armstrong
Al Gore.
- [28:38]
Joe Getty
And create A government that works better and costs less. By paying for these plans. First, with cuts in government waste and efficiency. Second, with cuts, not gimmicks in government spending, we'll prove that we can spend.
- [28:52]
Jack Armstrong
The money we have in an appropriate.
- [28:53]
Joe Getty
Way and stop wasting so much of it. We will be looking at every other agency and program asking the direct question, do we really need this agency? Do we really need this program? One of the commitments that I made the American people was that we would do a better job here in Washington in rooting out wasteful spending. Yeah, that's all, that's all Democrats in those clips. I, I think they probably meant it. Or at least I remember when Al Gore ran. Remember when he was on Letterman with the hammer and he put on his goggles to smash an ashtray and he said this hammer cost taxpayers $2500 because of blah, blah, blah. I believe they wanted to do that. It's just impossible, especially if you're not trying to fire someone.
- [29:38]
Jack Armstrong
Well, modern Democratic Party though, is suggesting that to even try it is evil.
- [29:42]
Joe Getty
Yeah. And they wrong and they would never consider of anybody part of the package. Well, I don't know how that's going to work then. We got a lot more on the way. We'll finish strong. Stay here.
- [29:53]
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty.
- [29:56]
Joe Getty
I'm going to be following what happens out of Saudi Arabia today. The big meetings between the United States and Russia, Rubio and Lavrov, see what happens there. And you got Zielinski hanging out in Turkey saying, hey, if you need me, if you want me involved, since it's my country that got attacked, fact, I'm right here.
- [30:14]
Jack Armstrong
We went big, big, big, big, big on free speech issues, including CBS on 60 Minutes just enamored with the German censoring of insults online and that. They just were, were enthusiastic about the new German way. And then Margaret Brennan with an idiotic comment to Marco Rubio on Face the Nation about how Nazi Germany got started because of weaponized free speech. And isn't that pro Free speech is not good. I mean, it was just insane. We went really big on that Hour two of the show. If you weren't here, grab it via podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. You probably ought to subscribe, but I didn't get a chance to squeeze in my favorite part of. And what launched a lot of this, or at least part of it is JD JD Vance gave a big speech in front of Europe talking about how, hey, y'all gotta stop suppressing the speech of your voters or it's gonna explode. And the German said, this is not acceptable, which is proof that he was right. They didn't say, you're wrong, and here's why. They said, it's not acceptable for you to say that. Which is really, really something. Thank you for proving my point, but I wanted to get to this. I absolutely love this National Review editorial board. There is nothing. Because a lot of people squealed, oh, it's improper. He shouldn't have done that. He insulted our allies. Some of the usual suspects said that there's nothing in Congress or unwise about the American government reminding our allies in Europe that an organization that exists to protect liberty and democracy ought to be filled with members who believe in libert. Democracy. Especially when those allies pride themselves on being the enlightened figures in the room. Just reminding them, hey, we. We protect democracies. That's. That's the point. So you gotta be one. Yeah, I don't think that's improper or out of line.
- [32:07]
Joe Getty
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see where this goes. What? Do you have a guess as to what percentage of people think free speech is dangerous?
- [32:18]
Jack Armstrong
In what country? This country.
- [32:19]
Joe Getty
Yeah. In the United States.
- [32:20]
Jack Armstrong
I know, I know. The figures I saw recently among young people are just shocking.
- [32:25]
Joe Getty
Well, it must be. It must be higher than I think it is for CBS to present. It is. Clearly, they're on the right side of history here by putting all these limits on free speech. I mean, we can't have people insulted on the streets or on the Internet, for crying out loud.
- [32:38]
Jack Armstrong
It's so easy to demagogue it because you present a single instance and say, wouldn't it have been better if this idiot hadn't said this to that nice lady?
- [32:45]
Joe Getty
And it's true. True.
- [32:46]
Jack Armstrong
Well, right. Of course it is. But then when you extrapolate it even a little bit to a society and you give people the power to censor and the power to decide what should be censored, it ends up as a nightmare every single time. I would rather attend to the problems of too much liberty than too little. Thank you very much.
- [33:02]
Joe Getty
Who said that?
- [33:05]
Jack Armstrong
T.J. tom Jefferson. Maybe you've heard of him. I don't blame the young people because they've been indoctrinated to believe something terrible.
- [33:16]
Joe Getty
Well, sure, if their high school and college teachers have told them free speech is wrong. It was. It was weaponized to exterminate Jews in Germany, for instance. Well, then why would they think any different?
- [33:27]
Jack Armstrong
But, well, and then they'll hit with. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater. Which, of course, Is a quote from a Supreme Court case saying, just because that's true doesn't mean you get to stretch it. But people use it as an excuse to stretch it.
- [33:41]
Joe Getty
It.
- [33:43]
Jack Armstrong
It's Final Thoughts.
- [33:44]
Joe Getty
I'm strong again. It's Final Thoughts.
- [33:49]
Jack Armstrong
It's Final Thoughts.
- [33:50]
Katie Green
I'm strong again.
- [33:51]
Joe Getty
Get ready with Katie Green and Michael Angelo. It's Final Thoughts. I'm strong. Here's your host for Final Thoughts, Joe Getty.
- [34:00]
Jack Armstrong
Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew. Wouldn't that be fun? Michelangelo, lead the way. You know, I really enjoy the SNL.
- [34:06]
Katie Green
Stuff, but my wife and I were.
- [34:07]
Jack Armstrong
Watching it together and we kept saying, oh my gosh, he looks old now. And oh my gosh, she looks old now.
- [34:12]
Joe Getty
And there was a lot of that. Did David Spade become 70?
- [34:15]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Yeah. Katie Green, our final. Our esteemed newswoman with final thought.
- [34:21]
Katie Green
Katie, I will forever think that Norm MacDonald was the greatest thing on SNL. And I got to meet him and he was such a nice guy and I miss him dearly.
- [34:32]
Jack Armstrong
Minnesota. Nice, right? Yeah.
- [34:33]
Joe Getty
Canada.
- [34:35]
Jack Armstrong
Oh, that's right. Yeah, it's, that's northern Minnesota. It's the name of the new state. Jack, final thought.
- [34:40]
Joe Getty
Yeah, I am definitely going to keep my eye on this whole free speech thing. It's way worse than I thought it was for 60 Minutes to not even have an opposing point of view, a free speech warrior on at all. Highly troubling.
- [34:55]
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Yeah. And it would be easy to just dismiss 60 Minutes as a relic of the past were it not reinforced by what, what the kids are learning in school. I mean, it's a fight. And, and I've been saying this for years and other people have too. We got so lazy about advocating for why our principles are important and good. We just assumed everybody loves liberty and always would. We don't need to teach our kids about it. Yeah, well, we got, we got Bet we got bested by the Marxists.
- [35:27]
Joe Getty
Armstrong and getting wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.
- [35:30]
Jack Armstrong
And the would be totalitarian. So many people to thank, so little time. Go to armstrongandgetty.com our hot links. Oh, hotter than ever. Pick up some ang swag while you're there. For your favorite A G fan, maybe it's you. Drop us a line. Mailbagarmstrongandgetty.com Bill Murray looked 100, didn't he?
- [35:45]
Joe Getty
Michael, it's because he's really old. We'll see you tomorrow. God bless America. What's your name? Tell us your name. Armstrong and Getty. Not my Captain America. Okay. I think you're a star spangled awesome Max.
- [36:03]
Jack Armstrong
Made in heaven.
- [36:04]
Joe Getty
So good. Is it a real thing? Yeah, it is. So no joke.
- [36:08]
Jack Armstrong
Let's go with a bang. And it was like they got shot with a dart in the jugular that contained, like, methamphetamine and rabies. Okay. And they're like, why? What is wrong, guys? Armstrong and Gettysburg.