Not Falling for It

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Not Falling for It
Date: July 27, 2026
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the rise of extreme left ideologies in American politics, focusing on the current state of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the dramatic influence of figures like Zoran Mamdani, reactions by media personalities such as Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, and the real-world implications of radical proposals (abolishing prisons, ICE, and private property). Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty provide critical, sometimes satirical commentary, scrutinizing the logic and historical naiveté behind these ideas while expressing concern about their growing mainstream acceptance. Later segments drift into pop culture, including a discussion of the cinematic phenomenon "The Odyssey," and the latest political news regarding President Trump's security.

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1. The Democratic Socialists of America’s Platform (00:58–01:44)

Key Segment

• A DSA representative appears on Fox News Sunday running through platform points:
  • Abolish the Senate, presidency, Supreme Court ("True", "Yep").
  • Abolish ICE ("Absolutely").
  • Abolish borders, amnesty for illegal immigrants ("As a long term plan. Yep").
  • Defund the Pentagon, abolish prisons ("Absolutely", "As part of a long term program").
  • Government or public ownership of most large corporations ("Yeah, absolutely").
• Jack Armstrong: "We don't want any checks nor balances on our power. That's your message." (01:53)
• Joe Getty: "It's a call for revolution that ends the Union and the United States as a country...You want to end the United States and create something different, Right?" (02:06)

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2. Media Coverage & Left-wing Personalities (03:25–08:32)

• Jon Stewart accused of softballing DSA policies, especially regarding Zoran Mamdani.
  • Jack: "John, he's an active member of the, like the cabal of the Democratic Socialists of America who radicalized it toward communism. They're not following in his wake. He is them. Read his words. Good Lord." (04:38)
• Bill Maher’s critique: Calls Mamdani “a straight up communist.” (06:08)
• Bill Maher on Sia Weaver, Mamdani’s housing advisor, and her beliefs:
  • "She says things like, if you don't believe in the government's sacred right to seize private property, it's over. ...Private property, especially home ownership, is a weapon of white supremacy." (07:15)

Memorable Quote:
Bill Maher: "Democrats seem to be having this debate whether or not Mayor Mamdani is a socialist or a democratic socialist. Let me settle it. He's a straight up communist." (06:08)

• Armstrong & Getty point out how radical figures tend to downplay their intentions via presentation and rhetoric ("first-date syndrome"), but Bill Maher isn't fooled:
  • "They always take a shower and dress nicely and are flattering and lovely like a person on a first date. ...But they always, always do that, and Maher's not falling for it." —Jack Armstrong (08:32)

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3. Generational Divide and the Future of Radicalism (09:05–12:37)

• Joe expresses uncertainty over how widespread these extreme ideas are among younger generations, especially college grads.
• Bill Maher’s increasing isolation as a voice of reason on the left is noted.
• Discussion turns to an interview with a young, idealistic DSA representative characterized as "college miseducated, earnest, bright, utterly fanciful, unrealistic knucklehead that embraces communism." (11:58)

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4. Flawed Logic Behind Abolishing Prisons & Human Nature (14:20–18:02)

• Jack recalls misguided economics education and draws a parallel to idealistic theories around crime and poverty.
• Clip of a DSA spokesperson interviewed by Shannon Bream:
  • Justifies abolishing prisons as poverty-related, implying crime will dwindle with economic equality.
  • Jack retorts: "The theoretical framework is crime only exists because of deprivation of need. And a communist system will get rid of need so there will be no more crime anymore. Well, you have to be completely ignorant of history..." (15:40)
• To illustrate human nature, they play a clip of affluent Florida girls stealing Girl Scout cookie money because they "wanted that money and it was mine." (16:27–17:40)
• Jack: "No, they're affluent Florida girls driving an expensive car. They saw money and they wanted it." (17:11)
• Joe: "Percentage of people think that way, always have, always will." (17:59)

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5. Satirical Solutions & Commentary (18:02–18:19)

• Jack: "How can we hurl these college miseducated ... into a pool of reality. A nice chilly, 12 foot deep pool of reality. That's what they desperately need."
• Joe, deadpan: "Or a volcano." (18:16)

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6. Pop Culture Break: Sammy Hagar & David Lee Roth (18:23–21:04)

• Brief detour into music news: Sammy Hagar invites David Lee Roth to join him in Vegas after his tour gets canceled.
• Commentary on separating art from artist and the personalities of Van Halen members.

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7. President Trump’s Plane Switch & Security Concerns (21:15–23:32)

• New York Times reports that Trump switched planes during the NATO summit due to a credible threat from Iranian proxies.
  • Details about Air Force One, the Qatari Boeing, and security apparatus.
• Jack: "I'm enormously uncomfortable with whole playing footsie with Qatar. ...Don't like this Air Force One deal. It's unholy." (23:32)
• Speculates on national and international ramifications if Air Force One were ever shot down.
  • "The vengeance would have to be so terrible that the math would never work again in the future." —Jack Armstrong (24:33)
• Discusses who would take office and possible further chaos, including polls showing public indifference or approval based on political alignment.

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8. Connection Between Islamist Terrorism and Activist Slogans (28:13–30:07)

• Discussion of the phrase "Free Palestine" as "Allahu Akbar in disguise."
• Analysis of a stabbing attack in New York where the press hedges on calling it Islamist terrorism.
• Joe: "Once enough people are conditioned to believe that Jews are the ultimate oppressors, then the cry shifts back to its raw form: Allah Akbar." (29:12)
• Noted progress: Media will label attacks as Islamist terrorism if victims are the "right" kind (i.e., pride parade attendees).

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9. Western Civilization, Critical Race Theory, and the Odyssey (30:07–36:35)

• Armstrong & Getty tease an upcoming Multnomah County lawsuit that could end neo-Marxist, race-based governance in Portland.
• Joe plans to discuss why “The Odyssey” is so central to Western civilization.
• Segment dissects the cinematic success of "The Odyssey" film: shot in true 70mm IMAX, theaters sold out, huge nationwide phenomenon.
  • “It’s a lot of sensory overload...for three hours, I thought, I felt like that was a lot.” —Joe Getty (33:00)
• Reflection on communal pop culture experiences versus modern fragmentations.
  • “Those of us who remember [shared TV shows or films], we miss it. And those who’ve never known it are like, wow, this is really cool.” —Jack Armstrong (35:02)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "We don't want any checks nor balances on our power. That's your message." —Jack Armstrong (01:53)
• "It's a call for revolution that ends the Union and the United States as a country. That's what you're saying." —Joe Getty (02:06)
• “John...is the cabal of the Democratic Socialists of America who radicalized it toward communism. They're not following in his wake. He is them. Read his words. Good Lord.” —Jack Armstrong (04:38)
• "Democrats seem to be having this debate whether or not Mayor Mamdani is a socialist or a democratic socialist. Let me settle it. He's a straight up communist." —Bill Maher (06:08)
• "How can we hurl these college miseducated into a volcano? Heads. No, into a pool of reality. A nice chilly, 12 foot deep pool of reality. That's what they desperately need." —Jack Armstrong (18:02)
• “Western civilization, democracy are absolutely incompatible with fundamentalist Islam. Write that down. No caveats, no apologies. That’s true." —Jack Armstrong (30:17)
• “Those of us who remember it, we miss it … this is really cool, everybody’s talking about the same thing and gets my references.” —Jack Armstrong (35:02)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:58–01:44: DSA’s revolutionary platform summary.
• 06:08, 07:15: Bill Maher’s monologue on radical leftism.
• 14:54–15:40: DSA rep on abolishing prisons, Jack’s rebuttal.
• 16:27–17:40: "Affluent Florida Girls" story — refuting bad human nature assumptions.
• 23:32–24:33: Trump’s midair plane switch, security, and the risks.
• 28:13–30:07: “Free Palestine” analyzed as “Allahu Akbar in disguise”.
• 33:00–35:54: "The Odyssey" IMAX phenomenon and communal pop culture.

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Tone & Conclusion

Armstrong & Getty employ a signature blend of satire, incredulity, and pointed skepticism, calling for realism in politics and society. The episode eloquently connects ideological debates to real-world examples, cautioning listeners about the appeal and dangers of utopian thinking, and punctuating political critique with moments of cultural levity and sharp asides.

For those who missed it:
This episode is a wide-ranging, animated exposé on the perils of unchecked ideological extremism and the importance of realism—delivered with classic Armstrong & Getty irreverence, historical awareness, and cultural savvy.

Transcript

[Joel Osteen]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so we're gonna put up on the screen a few of the things that are part of your platform. And I wanna ask you, just give me sort of a tr. False on these. Abolish the Senate.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

True.

[Interviewer]

Okay. Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we now know them.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

Abolish ice.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer]

Abolish borders and give amnesty to anyone currently in the US Illegally.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

As a long term plan. Yep.

[Interviewer]

Defund the Pentagon.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer]

Abolish prisons, at least in large part.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Yeah. Again, as part of a long term program. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so no prisons, government, or public ownership of most large corporations.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Joe Getty]

Well, you got to give them credit for saying it out loud. That's a representative for the Democratic Socialists of America, the dsa on the Fox News Sunday.

[Jack Armstrong]

And may I paraphrase her first answer about the Senate and the President and the Supreme Court. We don't want any checks nor balances on our power. That's your message. Back to you.

[Joe Getty]

Well, as Charles C.W. cook has been saying in writing about all this, what people need to understand, this is not a call for a change or an amendment or something. It's a call for revolution that ends the Union and the United States as a country. That's what you're saying. You want to end the United States and create something different, Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not totally rip up the Constitution. Yeah. No, they just want things to be slightly more like Sweden. Good Lord. Wake up, idiots. It's time for tough talk. Jack. One of your pinky extended dabbing at your forehead with handkerchief rhetoric. Time for tough talk.

[Joe Getty]

So which did you want to do next?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I thought you were gonna take over with your. Your boys.

[Joe Getty]

I thought you had a plan.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no damn plan. How long have you been working with me? No, I kid. I mean, I can absolutely fashion a plan. I know you wanted to highlight. We'd asked for. I'd asked for Jon Stewart with Mumdani. We'd kind of ignored it last week, but I saw a couple of clips and it just made me so sick the way Stuart was just gushing and palling with him, and it just. Oh, it was terrible. I haven't heard it. Yeah, yeah, let's go ahead with 81.

[Michael]

Michael, if someone says we're going to abolish all prisons and borders like I do, go. I don't think that's a good idea. Like, it's. It feels like order and security is also a progressive value. Why shouldn't people in neighborhoods with less resources have the same safety and security that neighborhoods with lots of resources? So are there tenets of those that are kind of following in the wake of. Of Zoran Mamdani's success that you're not comfortable with or that give you pause?

[Joe Getty]

If you have more than one socialist in a room and there isn't disagreement, then you don't have more than one socialist in a room,

[Michael]

so. But you're comfortable with those kinds of discussions.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'm comfortable with disagreement and I'm comfortable with disagreement. That doesn't end the conversation entirely.

[Caller or Guest]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's so enlightened sounding. Yeah. If folks on the right of the aisle say, and we need to take care of the Jews, no, I'm not comfortable with that sort of disagreement. That's sick, that's twisted, it's wrong, and I'm going to stand against it. That was such a phony answer.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and then they moved on from the we're going to abolish prisons and the police very quickly without nailing down what he believes. So.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and the other thing, I want to call out Jon Stewart for the premise of that question. The way he phrased it was there are some people in the wake of Zoran Mumdani who believe this crazy ass John. He's an active member of the, like the cabal of the Democratic Socialists of America who radicalized it toward communism. They're not following in his wake. He is them. Read his words. Good Lord.

[Joe Getty]

Well, Bill Maher drew very bright lines around this on his HBO show the other night. It's so I would. If you'd have told me this is where we would be in. In 2026, back when. What year was it? I went to see Bill Maher at my local university here in town. He doesn't even speak at colleges anymore. Thank you, Gladys. He doesn't even speak at colleges anymore. Because they've gone so far away from him. I went and saw Bill Maher doing his politically incorrect thing at the University of California here in the town where I live. And I almost got up and left and I thought, no, you can't be the guy who gets in, you know, offended and leaves. That's ridiculous. But the crowd was cheering so much for this crap that I thought Bill Maher was spewing, particularly this anti religious crap that he was into and everything. I guess just like, whatever. But now Bill Maher is like the only person standing up against. On the left who's standing up against the crazies. He'll. Here's Bill Maher on Friday night. I thought this was just fantastic.

[Bill Maher]

Democrats seem to be having this debate whether or not Mayor Mamdani is a socialist or a democratic socialist. Let me settle it. He's a straight up communist. How do I know this? Well, I'm reading between the lines. When one of his major advisors says, elect more communists.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's. I like that. As opposed to the way Jon Stewart handled it where he said, if you

[Jack Armstrong]

get two socialists in a room and

[Joe Getty]

don't misagree, just move on.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're friends. We're friends.

[Joe Getty]

He's a flat out communist. Here's Bill Maher. I wanted the other clip, actually, Michael. I'm sorry, the. The long one explaining why he can't believe that people haven't caught onto this.

[Bill Maher]

Her name is Sia Weaver. And if you ask anyone in the.

[Joe Getty]

Start there. Let me set it up, otherwise it won't make any sense. Bill Maher is talking about the woman that's in charge of housing for his administration and. And all the crazy things that she says where she calls herself a communist, she advocates communist policies, and. And everybody's ignoring the fact that Mamdadi's a straight up communist. Okay, here we go.

[Bill Maher]

Her name is Sia Weaver, and if you ask anyone in the blue sky bubble who that is, they'll look at you like a turkey looking up at the rain. She's kind of important in New York, being Major Mandani's chief of the office to protect tenants. And since Mamdani's big issue is the rent's too damn high. It's a very key appointment in the most important city in the country, which is also our financial center. It matters that the mayor stands by and so I assume, stands with someone who says things like, if you don't believe in the government's sacred right to seize private property, it's over. Seize private property. Home ownership is racist. Elect more communists. Private property, especially home ownership, is a weapon of white supremacy.

[Caller or Guest]

Really?

[Bill Maher]

Even among the 20 million black Americans who own their own home.

[Joe Getty]

And that's why Bill Maher went on to say for those in democratic circles who are having the debate of whether his mom, Donnie, a communist or a socialist, he's a straight up communist, which is a heck of a thing. It's a heck of a place to be where you got somebody of Bill Marsh status on the left saying the current mayor of New York is a flat out communist. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

If anybody has studied communism at all or, you know, radical Marxist regimes, they always take a shower and dress nicely and are flattering and lovely like a person on a first date. They're not stupid. They understand. Boy, a lot of people hate this. Let's just come off as something a little different. But they always, always do that

[Bill Maher]

and

[Jack Armstrong]

Mars not falling for it.

[Joe Getty]

Do you think we're in a good place on this?

[Jack Armstrong]

We're in an improving place on it. I just, I always have a hard time answering that question because, you know, we all live in our own worlds, surrounded by our friends and contemporaries. We take in the media, we take in. I happen to take in a lot of left wing media too, because of the nature of our job. But where is the college student or recent college grad who is going to be incredibly important to our political future? So I'm not quite sure whether they've achieved critical mass or not. To the point that it's gonna be very, very difficult to stop them and their plans. I don't know that well, is Bill Martin. It's a good thing that awareness is increasing.

[Joe Getty]

No doubt, as Bill Maher was pointing out to people on the left, they don't even know the name of this housing woman in Mamdani's cabinet. That anybody on the right or anybody who's anti communist is completely aware of her in a crazy S that she

[Jack Armstrong]

says, yeah, this is the same gal we highlighted a few months ago who came out of her very expensive brownstone and, and a reporter I think was from the New York Post said, hey, you're saying that housing or homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy. And I, I want to know. And he asked her a couple of difficult questions and crying and ran back inside and then made the point that it was utterly outrageous that a reporter would violate her privacy by waiting outside her home.

[Joe Getty]

Right, yeah. And I agree with Mars. Take that. If Mamdani stands by her, you have to assume he stands with her.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I almost dropped an S bomb. Shoot. He hired her, stand by her. He sought her out and put her on his staff.

[Joe Getty]

The mayor, he inherited her. The mayor of New York City is a communist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, he is.

[Joe Getty]

That's an Islamist.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Jon Stewart, he hates Jews. He and people who think like him would wipe Jews off the face of the earth. Does that not bother you at all? But John, God bless him, He has inoculated himself against any devil's advocate journalism, I think, or opinion. He doesn't want to hear it because he loves the vibes.

[Joe Getty]

Well, he's close to a generation younger than Bill Maher. That's part of it, I suppose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I suppose.

[Joe Getty]

I, I just, What a weird moment, man. Like I, like I said, I went to see Bill Maher and almost walked out because the college crowd was howling at his, you know, liberal beliefs. Just loving it so much and I was so annoyed with it. Now he's the guy standing up against a communist mayor in New York, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. I want to, I want to get back to the, the gal, the utterly. I mean, she's like an archetype of the, of the would be young American communist who Shannon Bream interviewed over the weekend and one of her most amazing answers. Like to counter that. But she is the 20 something, maybe pushing 30, college miseducated, earnest, bright, utterly fanciful, unrealistic knucklehead that embraces communism. And we'll get to her in a moment or two.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. Yeah, it's worth hearing.

[Jack Armstrong]

So stick around, Armstrong and Getty.

[Joel Osteen]

What God started in my life, he's

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

going to finish the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

[Joel Osteen]

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all days of my life. What was meant for my harm. Lord, I want to thank you. Right now you're turning to my advantage,

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

your daily source of hope and encouragement.

[Joel Osteen]

Your second wind is on its way. God is about to breathe on your life in a new way.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Joe Getty]

As Tolman talks about going to see the Odyssey. I'll have to get to that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, let's do that next hour. I can't wait to hear about it. So a quick illustration of what we're talking about here. So when I was going to College in the 80s, those were good times, Gladys, good times. I had effectively a minor in economics and it was one of the greatest wastes of time and money in my life. Although tuition was quite affordable at the time. Because economics was in the middle of trying to establish itself as a real science, a hard science. And so they just taught us a bunch of complicated equations about how the way economies work to big and small personal economy, to giant global economy economies. And it was all horse crap and, or useless to me. It was before the real dawn of behavioral economics where people tried to bridge the gap between those fancy equations and then looking at the economy and saying. Because the great fault of the first part that I'm talking about is economists believe that people always behave rationally, they make rational choices. And that's funny to know any human beings.

[Joe Getty]

How many of your purchases throughout your

[Jack Armstrong]

life are rational, or at least not entirely rational. Right, yeah, yeah. Anyway, so a lot of kids come out of school completely convinced because remember, there's no dissent allowed these days. Completely convinced that the theoretical framework of how the world works that they've been taught is true. And they say things like Megan Romer, who's the spokeshole for the Democratic Socialists of America. Apparently she was on with Shannon Bream. And Shannon asked her about abolishing prison.

[Interviewer]

Talk about abolishing prisons. Then does that make society better? I mean, is there anybody that should be incarcerated? I mean, rapists, child predators, murderers.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Yeah, so the long term plan, when we think about most people who are in prison, they are mostly in prison for crimes of poverty. So when we.

[Interviewer]

But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the. Really?

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Yeah, when we. Yeah, so when we get rid of this need for crimes of poverty to exist, when we get rid of that destabilizing force that, that creates so many people who are living in desperate situations and doing desperate things, that brings those numbers down to very small numbers and then we can collectively decide what we do with those people. I suspect it won't look like the prison system as we know it today.

[Interviewer]

But you do think some people need to be locked away from society.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, that was the key part, really. The theoretical framework is crime only exists because of deprivation of need. And a communist system will get rid of need so there will be no more crime anymore. Well, you have to be completely ignorant of history or believe the old, well, they just didn't do it right argument that you always get with communism, the idea that there are no sociopaths, There aren't people who think, wait a minute, I'm tough and strong and smart. I could take other people's stuff and have lots and lots of stuff. Just predators in the world. They're all always been predators, always will be in your theoretical framework. You're like this economists. I was talking about. Here's reality.

[Joe Getty]

This.

[Jack Armstrong]

We featured this. We went big on it. A number of years ago, Florida girls arrested for stealing money from girl Scouts. Go ahead with 70, Michael.

[Joel Osteen]

We needed some money. We saw a girl selling girl Scout cookies. We saw an envelope with money in it and I grabbed it and she drove away.

[Reporter]

We aren't showing their faces, but these two teens had no problem bragging about their crime to our cameras.

[Joel Osteen]

Money's money. I mean, I feel bad it was a nine year old girl, but there was $150 in that envelope and I wanted that money and it was mine.

[Reporter]

But after admitting to stealing Gracie Smith's cookie money in front of this West Hyperluxo Winn Dixie, the two Park Vista students are flaunting their freedom, planning on

[Teen Interviewee]

buying like a necklace and all this stuff and a new phone. But now I guess not.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the DSA chick would tell you, well, yeah, they were. They're victims of capitalism.

[Joe Getty]

They had need.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, they're affluent Florida girls driving an expensive car. They saw money and they wanted it. Go on. Why did you do it?

[Teen Interviewee]

I mean, who doesn't like. Who doesn't like money? I know it's a crime, but it was an easy crime.

[Jack Armstrong]

Go on.

[Reporter]

It looks like they already have a confession on tape, but Gracie should not expect an apology.

[Joel Osteen]

I'm actually pissed because I should have kept that money. They charged me with all the charges I just got.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you have any remorse about stealing

[Joe Getty]

from a nine year old girl right now?

[Teen Interviewee]

No, because I'm kind of pissed because I have charges and we do give the money back anyway. So now I'm pretty pissed. Like I don't feel sadness for that little girl. I mean, she's getting a lot of money right now from people who feel bad for her. So whatever

[Joe Getty]

percentage of people think that way, always have, always will. Like you said.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

How. How can we hurl these college miseducated into a volcano? Heads. No, into a pool of reality. A nice chilly, 12 foot deep pool of reality. That's what they desperately need.

[Joe Getty]

Or a volcano.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or a volcano.

[Narrator or Host]

Either one.

[Joe Getty]

If you missed the segment gets podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. More on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty, about your tour getting

[Caller or Guest]

canceled and I want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry. I hope you're well, Mike. And I love the fact that you've been out there doing it supporting what we did in this band to keep this music alive. When you're Ready to carry on. Mike and I support you. Come to Vegas for the residency in September. Come on, join us, sing a couple songs. MC the damn show. Come out and just do what you. Which is pretty damn entertaining. Anyway, Hope you're well. I really do. God bless, brother.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it sounded sincere. That was Sammy Hagar putting out a post on Twitter to David Lee Roth, who is a nut job, to come join them in Vegas if he wants to because David Lee Roth's tour got canceled. Probably because nobody was going to it, I'm guessing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. His situation's a little sad. Yeah, I don't. I'm really into love the art, not the artist. Because a lot of artists are confused or weird or believe crazy stuff, but they made beautiful art. So I don't want to gush too much, but Sammy Hagar is absolutely one of the decent people in big time rock and roll.

[Joe Getty]

He is a smart, sane businessman who also happened to be a good rock and roll singer, whereas David Lee Roth is a crazy person and a weirdo and apparently always was.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's a crazed extrovert. Yeah, he always was.

[Joe Getty]

It just kind of got covered up by the fact that he was a really good looking guy in a cool band, but he's all. Now that he's not a good looking guy in a cool band acting the exact same way, you can kind of.

[Democratic Socialists of America Representative]

Oh, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

How did I not catch on to that before? You're a crazy person.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I guess that's a bit of a cartoon character and people don't need cartoon characters in their real lives, especially sandwich.

[Joe Getty]

All right, that's enough of that. And. And you know, I thought there might be a hint of I'm a gazillionaire and successful. You're a washed up. Has been. You know, if you'd like a. A few breadcrumbs here, come to it. But it sounded completely sincere.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. I think it was classic rock nonsense.

[Joe Getty]

My. My youngest and I, who likes classic rock and roll, we were going back and forth between Van Hagar and the. The David Lee Roth stuff. There's a lot of good both. There's a lot of both. That's really, really good. There's a lot of good Van Halen music.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And I guess it turned out that the craziest person in the band was Eddie Van Halen. He was the one that made everything so crazy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dysfunctional.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I'll be darned. He's dead, right? Eddie V. Eddie Van Halen's dead.

[Jack Armstrong]

He has passed. Yes. God bless him. May he rest in peace.

[Joe Getty]

He had tiny little rotted out teeth from his drug use drive.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's unnecessary. Really. To the topic at hand, here's an

[Joe Getty]

update on a story for you. The New York Times over the weekend, citing multiple people briefed on the matter, reported that President Trump switched planes. Do you remember that story when he was over there in Europe and he is flying on the new plane that the Qataris gave him and then he switched to the old Air Force One to fly back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And he said that it was so that the new cool Qatari plane could stop at a couple of bases and troops could see it, which I'm fine with that lie. Why somebody has to alert the world that no, it's not up to snuff for protecting the President. I mean, why we. There are way too many leaks helping our adversaries.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would agree 100%. Yeah. What most people don't know is that he switched planes in midair. They got the two planes really close to each other. The wings were practically touching.

[Joe Getty]

He did that wing walking thing, the president.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. He jumped out of the plane, he walked all the way across the wing, made the short jump to the other plane, walked up that wing and into the. Into the plane is very. Certainly, if you're adept at making AI videos, make that and send it to us.

[Joe Getty]

That's pretty funny. And then when he switched planes, not only did they just switch planes, but they hurried the President to the Runway. Media was not allowed to watch him go up the stairs like usual. And everybody got on the plane and was told to shut their window thing immediately before the plane took off. So that's not a normal getting out of the country sort of story for a President of the United States. Anyway, the latest reporting on that is Trump switched from the Qatari Boeing to the legacy Air Force One during the NATO summit after the Secret Service received what officials deemed a credible threat, that Iranian proxy forces were targeting the President and whatever aircraft he was traveling aboard. So it didn't, it wasn't just that plane, it was just anything he was flying on. And that other plane, according to some sources, didn't have all of the anti bad stuff happening equipment on it. Although Trump denies that. And who knows what the actual truth is and why we're leaking this to bad guys. I have no idea why that's happening. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I'm, I'm enormously uncomfortable with whole playing footsie with cutter. I really am.

[Joel Osteen Podcast Announcer]

Oh yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't like this Air Force One deal. It's unholy. I could easily picture because I did believe those accounts that, look, it doesn't have some of the systems the old one did that. Trump thought, well, when was the last time somebody took a pot shot at the president in Air Force One and we needed this stuff. I'm flying on the shiny new one with all the gold plate. Then somebody said, hey, look, it's almost never happens, but, yeah, Iran's talking about taking Air Force One out of the air. And he said, give me that old one again. I can believe that makes sense.

[Joe Getty]

Here's what I'd like to be able to ask. Some smart people would actually know what they're talking about, but since we don't have any smart people who know what they're talking about, I guess Joe and I have to do.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

How would we react if all of a sudden news breaks, Air Force One has just been shot down, crashed into the sea, everyone's dead, and you can tie it to Iran. How would we react?

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's an interesting question. There's how we should react. Well, how should we react with such. Yeah, essentially. Well, no, not. Not nuke it. But the vengeance would have to be so terrible that the math would never work again in the future, so.

[Joe Getty]

Including hundreds of thousands of dead regular Iranians who don't like the regime as it is anyway. But that's just the way it goes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd like to know a list of my alternatives from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Can we reign such enormous hell on every military establishment they have that we can avoid that? I'd really like to do that. It would. It would be horrific. And then. Oh, and the other layer of this is, well, it would be President J.D. vance, unless he was bored Air Force One, which is unlikely. And what does JD Actually think these days? Because that's very difficult to answer that question. So I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Well, since it seems pretty clear that Iran is trying to kill Trump, they must think they'd get something out of it, that it would be to their advantage. Otherwise, why would they kill it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because J.D. my best guess is J.D. is actually a bit of an isolationist. He doesn't want to mess with the Middle east anymore. Again, it's tough to say because he changes his principles as often as I change my socks, but I think that's probably where he is. So you got JD and then a Democrat, probably at the next election. Yeah, that's better than Trump from the Iranian point of view. And they're already a pariah. They're already a rogue Regime. I mean, as pariah as you can get, of course.

[Joe Getty]

Then you've got the political nature of it, which would be probably somewhat unprecedented in the United States. Would we have polls showing fight. 45% of people are happy that Trump went down in a plane or agreed with the Iranians or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, wow, wow. You'd have a decent percentage saying that. Yeah. And you should be slapped hard upside your head. Okay, so word from our friends at Simplisafe, before we dive back into the fair of the day, had a message go off in my SimpliSafe app the other day and I had to do something and it's not important what. It was so simple and intuitive. And they told me what it was and I was like, oh, my God, this system is so good. I just went to the keypad and it said, here's what's wrong, and dealt with it. It's so smart and effective. Simplisafe home security. It is so unlike the clunky, old, expensive systems of the past.

[Joe Getty]

SimpliSafe is so sure that you'll like the security system that they don't have a contract. You're not locked in at all. You could quit it at any time, but they don't think you. I know.

[Narrator or Host]

I haven't.

[Joe Getty]

I love having Simplisafe keeping an eye on my doors and my windows and smelling the air and everything like that. And then there's a special, like Joe just said, if you get an alert, there's a release the hounds button you can press and it releases the hounds.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's not just a like a camera too. It's a comprehensive ecosystem of sensor cameras for inside and out 24. 7 professional monitoring. Right now you can get 50% off your new SimpliSafe system at simplisafe.com [e-mail] armstrong there's no safe. Like simply safe kind of.

[Joe Getty]

Well, similar topic or not, Since it's Muslim extremists. I came across this over the weekend. I thought this was pretty good. From a thinker. Free Palestine as a chant is just Allua Akbar in disguise. True. So there's a guy that stabbed a bunch of people in New York yelling alua Akbar. And then all the news reports were, this is being investigated as a possible hate crime or Islamic terrorism. Has there ever been a time where a guy has yelled out aloha Akbar and killed some people or tried to kill some people and it wasn't a fundamentals Muslim who wants to kill everybody else?

[Michael]

No, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

Unless the guy's completely psychotic. That's clearly what it is.

[Joe Getty]

But back to free Palestine. Free Palestine is stage one. It turns people who would never shout Allu Akbar into useful idiots for the same cause. Once enough minds are captured, once enough people are conditioned to believe that Jews are the ultimate oppressors, then the cry shifts back to its raw form. Allah Akbar.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Absolutely. I mentioned earlier in the show I appreciated kind of the mainstream media calling out, well, repeating the words of the authorities in Germany and Berlin that that attack on the quote unquote pride parade was an Islamist terrorist incident. Apparently our media will admit Islamism slaughters people who believe differently than they do if the victims are the right victims. If it had been a bunch of just everyday white Germans, they might have said, you know, authorities are still searching for the motive, but because it was gay people, they went ahead and said it on our Alphabet networks over the weekend. German authorities are saying it was an Islamist terrorist attack. So I appreciate that. That's progress. Speaking of progress, I think you're right about that. What's that? The whole totem pole of intersectional victimhood

[Joe Getty]

that they wouldn't have called it out as musl fundamental Muslim violence as quickly if it had just been regular people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Western civilization, democracy are absolutely incompatible with fundamentalist Islam. Write that down. No caveats, no apologies. That's true. Coming up. Speaking of progress, there is a giant lawsuit against Multnomah County. That's where Portlandia is in Portland. That could be a giant step forward in ending the neo Marxist critical race theory racialist society that was imposed on us, especially in the wake of the George Floyd thing. This could be a huge blow against those people. Can't wait to tell you about it.

[Joe Getty]

Also, Joe just threw out the term Western civilization as if that is a thing. And it is. What is it? And why is Homer's Odyssey considered one of the foundational texts of it? I went to the movie on Friday with my son. I want to talk a little bit about really the phenomenon of how it's become such a conversation point for so many people and why that is. And is that a good thing or a bad thing? What's it all about? Stay tuned.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Narrator or Host]

Theaters around the world are adding showtimes trying to meet demand for the Odyssey. Problem is, people want to see it in IMAX in its 70 millimeter glory. But there are only 41 IMAX screens worldwide. Most of those theaters are sold out through September. In its second weekend in North American theaters, it took in another 87 million, the global total so far. An estimated $640 million. Now, that is epic.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. I didn't realize there's two thirds of a billion dollars already taken in. It's only been out two weeks. I also didn't know. So.

[Teen Interviewee]

So.

[Joe Getty]

So the Odyssey was shot in that IMAX format. Nobody'd ever done a major motion picture like that. There's only, what do you say, 41 of the theaters in the whole world?

[Jack Armstrong]

Shockingly low number. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Huh. Is he hoping that that will catch on as a way to make movies and they'll build more of the theaters or.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you'd asked me how many of those theaters there were in the us, I would have said a couple hundred.

[Joe Getty]

I probably might. I might even guess what. Guessed thousands. I wouldn't have guessed that there. How many are there in the United States? Like 17 or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, something like that. Sold out through September.

[Joe Getty]

A lot of them are in LA and New York. Yeah, I know. Well, I had to. It was hard to get tickets. My son and I didn't sit together. I had. I. I started looking for tickets on opening weekend. So it took almost two weeks to. I kept going further and further out to come up with a day where there were any seats available at all. And then we sat in separate places, which, at a movie doesn't really make any difference, but.

[Teen Interviewee]

But,

[Joe Getty]

yeah. Wow. That's. That. That is something. I don't know what I think about the IMAX format in terms of watching a movie. It's. It's a lot. I mean, it's a lot of sensory overload. The. The sound system they have at IMAX is. Is like being at a. Seriously, like at a concert. It's that level of volume, and then the picture is just so huge. You know, it's what covers all of your vision. It's just a tremendous amount of sensory overload. And for three hours, I. I thought. I felt like that was a lot. I can understand why a friend of mine said, yeah, I saw it. I'm glad I saw it. I don't know if, you know, I'm in no hurry to see it again. And maybe just because of the format, it's just so much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I found that to be true watching IMAX stuff, too. I haven't watched much, but I remember thinking, it's too big. I'm having to look from one side of the screen to the other and, like, physically turn my head.

[Joe Getty]

And the volume, which you have no control over. So any. You know, maybe I'm just an old person and the younger crowd likes that level Although the crowd was pretty old at the, we went to the Friday afternoon show, my son and I. I don't know what the average age would have been in there, but there are a lot of old people. The woman sitting to the left me was probably 85. I mean, she came in and her,

[Teen Interviewee]

her, her

[Joe Getty]

daughter, I assume, was roughly my age, helped her in and everything. There was a lot of old people there. She knew Homer, I'm. What I, I am still fascinated as to why this has become such a national conversation.

[Caller or Guest]

And

[Joe Getty]

all around the whole theory of kind of the golden rule, you know, if you, if you, you put bad vibes out in the world, bad things are going to happen to you. And if you put good vibes out, maybe better things happen to you. That sort of thing. I don't, there's lots of movies with themes like that that don't get this level of attention.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I just think it's because it's a Nolan film. He's huge. There's a lot of attention being paid to it. And so, like the World cup, it's one of those incredibly increasingly rare, everybody's talking about it or can relate to it moments. And people have a lot of enthusiasm for that, that we miss it. Those of us who remember it, we miss it. And those who've never known it are like, wow, this is really cool. Everybody's talking about the same thing and gets my references.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, you're right about that. I was talking to my son. We've been watching Seinfeld on Netflix and I was telling him about how it was such a big deal. He'd come in on Friday morning after watching it Thursday night at 8, and everybody would, he says, seinfeld, of course I did. And you'd be talking about it. And that is a great bonding experience that everybody loves and that is going on with the Odyssey right now. And it kind of, you know, nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. Everybody talking about it means everybody's talking about talking about it and.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

I, I liked it fine. I, I, I, if, if I had gone to it in a vacuum, I don't know that I walked out and walked out of it and thought, boy, everybody in the world is going to be discussing this movie endlessly for days and writing long articles about it. I, I wouldn't have thought that. Just, just, just thought it was a, I don't know, big movie with lots of action and stuff like that. I, I would have not on my own thought these are some major themes that need to be discussed in 5000 word pieces in the Atlantic about good and bad and evil. I just would have never crossed my mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting. Interesting. So you got the Nolan factor and a lot of Mike Nolan fans are not classicists. Then you got the classicists who are like, oh, oh, it's a giant, expensive version of the Odyssey. Let's talk about this. I don't know. What an interesting stew of things coming together. Yeah. I can't put my finger on it, but that's an interesting point. I expected you to be a little more awestruck by it in the very little time we have. Let me mention this. I got a great, great story, really impactful about a huge moment of change in Portlandia. If you don't get next hour, you can't be around. Whatever. Grab it via podcast later today. Armstrong and Getty On Demand. You ought to subscribe because you get all the On Demand podcasts. You get the One More Thing podcast. You get the Extra large podcast they automatically download so you don't have to do anything ever again after you subscribe or follow us. So please do that. Armstrong and Gettysburg.