Reclining With Endless Cheese

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Reclining With Endless Cheese
Date: January 21, 2026
Podcast Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the latest political drama, global headlines, and the looming impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), all delivered with Armstrong & Getty’s signature blend of skepticism and humor. The opening focuses on President Trump’s trip to Davos, his provocative remarks on Greenland and WWII, and technical glitches with Air Force One. A lengthy, insightful discussion follows on the near-term future of AI, referencing Elon Musk’s recent predictions about the rise of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The hosts further explore contemporary performative politics, media narratives, and offer satirical takes on global and personal news.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump at Davos, the Greenland Gambit, and WWII

• Davos Absenteeism: Jack and Joe joke about not actually broadcasting from Switzerland, poking fun at travel mishaps.
  [00:32–01:13]
• Air Force One Incident: Speculation about what really forced the President’s plane to turn back mid-flight, suspecting more than "minor electrical problems."
  • Jack Armstrong (01:13): "They have all kinds of backup systems on Air Force One... Sounds like something must have been bigger than that."
• Trump’s Speech Highlights:
  • Trump reportedly told Europeans, "if it wasn’t for the United States, all y’ all would be speaking German right now. Maybe a little Japanese."
  • Jack (02:14): "We stupidly won World War II for you, and we stupidly let you have Greenland. Now it’s time to give it back. That’s basically what he said."

2. Stock Market Reactions & Global Excitement

• Market Dip:
  • The hosts attribute a recent market drop to "Greenland talk," but expect a rebound.
  • Jack (03:03): "Pretty big one day drop, but... it'll bounce back."

3. The AI Singularity – Elon Musk’s Dire Predictions

• Singularity & AGI:
  • Discussion about Elon Musk’s assertion that AGI is arriving this year (2026), warning listeners to "buckle your freaking seatbelt."
  • Jack (03:58): "Once it can learn on its own and start to program itself, it will go at a speed we can't even imagine..."
  • Roller coaster analogy: "We're just about at the top of this roller coaster and then... it’s going to take off a million miles an hour and nobody knows what it's going to do."
  • Joe (04:33): "Do you sound excited about this?"
  • Jack (04:36): "It's exciting in the same way if somebody breaks in your house, it's exciting."
• Universal High Income/UHI:
  • Musk's proposed future: free housing, healthcare, endless energy, and "more food than you can eat" as humans become obsolete in the productive economy.
  • Hosts question the distribution: "Who’s doling it out, and deciding?"
  • Joe (06:20): "They will have all power, and therefore they will be kind and benevolent."
  • Katie Green (06:36): "Oh."

4. Panel Discussion – Would UHI Make Us Happy?

• Mixed Reactions:
  • Katie: "I'm sitting back having a cocktail, eating some nice cheese." [09:29]
  • Michael: "I think I'd be bored. You'd have no purpose."
  • Joe warns of societal chaos between disruption and utopia: "You're gonna have to, like, swim through rivers of blood." [09:52]

5. Loneliness, Chatbots, and ChatGPT Suicide Reports

• AI & Human Interaction:
  • Michael: Jobless people will seek solace by talking to their computers.
  • Jack mentions reports (retweeted by Elon Musk) of nine deaths allegedly linked to ChatGPT, five by suicide.
  • Joe (11:12): "Now you've made me want to cry."
• Jack (11:15): "Maybe that’s why they’re pushing this chatbot stuff... they think we gotta come up with some way to keep them occupied."

6. Life Philosophy in a Tech World

• Joe’s “Club”:
  • Joe proposes a club (with jackets) urging people to ask: "Is this what God intended for me? Or... is this right for a human being?" [12:11]
  • "Never mind what the effing tech companies want you to do..."
  • "I hate the tech world. I hate it, hate it, hate it." [12:52]
• Jack (12:52): "Laying around, eating cheese, sexing up robots... maybe that is God's intention."

7. Trump, Europe, and Global Headlines

• Katie’s News Roundup:
  • Trump’s rhetorics on Greenland straining allies, Davos speech emphasizing the U.S. economy, and warning Europe "is heading in the wrong direction." [13:52–14:13]
  • CBS: House considering holding the Clintons in contempt over the Epstein probe.
  • CNN: Usha Vance (Second Lady) pregnant with fourth child.
  • NYT/NY Post/Reuters: Variety of domestic stories, including a baseball brawl and Americans’ ignorance about savings interest rates.

8. Congressional Subpoenas, The Clinton-Epstein Drama, and Performative Politics

• On Congressional Subpoena Battle:
  • Jack details the back-and-forth between Comer (Republican) and the Clintons over testifying about Epstein.
  • Observes that both sides engage in theatrics, mostly for fundraising and to play to their base, not to "solve the rat problem" as Joe puts it.
  • Joe (21:17): "The insidious... influence of small donation online... Outrage and anger gets the most donations."
• On Likely Outcomes:
  • Both hosts doubt there will be any real consequences for the Clintons, seeing the moves as "performative."
  • Joe (22:33): "It will make no difference, they will not miss a cocktail hour... It’s performative."

9. Macron's Eye and Political Optics

• [23:37]
  • Humorous speculation on Emmanuel Macron wearing sunglasses at Davos to cover a "bloody eye."
  • Jack (24:02): "Would you rather stand up there with the bloody eye and take that mockery or... be 'Mr. Cool' with sunglasses?"

10. Wall Street Journal Op-eds and Information Warfare

• [29:13]
  • Hosts debate whether Western outlets should publish op-eds by Iranian officials.
  • Joe (29:13): "Expose them to the light, let them be smoking, then let’s talk about them. Because when you look at them, they are nearly comedy."
  • Jack adds WSJ is reporting potential military action against Iran remains "on the table."

11. Mailbag & Listener Engagement

• Hitler Quotes & Populism:
  • Continuing their "Freedom Hating Quote of the Day" series from Hitler, the hosts discuss how authoritarians use emotion to sway the masses.
  • Hitler (cited at 30:23): “I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.”
• Emails on Current Issues:
  • Listeners sound off on Trump’s "mad dad" leadership style, the performative Greenland debate, and—less seriously—Joe’s potato chip recommendations.
  • Satirical takes on Al Gore’s continued climate activism ("He’s the Rolling Stones still touring.") and China’s EV triumph.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AGI's Arrival:
  • Jack (03:58): "Once it can learn on its own and start to program itself, it will go at a speed we can't even imagine."
• On Adapting to a Tech-Driven World:
  • Joe (12:11): "Is this what God intended for me? Or... my nature? Never mind what the effing tech companies want you to do... Is this right for a human being?"
• On Political Performers:
  • Joe (21:17): "Outrage and anger gets the most donations... they just keep going to that card."
• On Societal Transition in the AI Age:
  • Joe (08:16): "The disruptive forces...will be 50 times faster than the forces that will try to deal with that situation."
• On Endless Cheese Utopia vs. Rivers of Blood:
  • Katie (09:29): "I'm sitting back having a cocktail, eating some nice cheese."
  • Joe (09:52): "You're gonna have to... swim through rivers of blood."

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:32–03:10: Davos gags, Trump’s Air Force One mishap and speech
• 03:23–05:23: Elon Musk’s AI Singularity prediction, UHI
• 06:36–09:40: AI panel: Will UHI make you happy? Rivers of blood vs. endless cheese
• 11:03–12:52: ChatGPT, loneliness, and digital solace
• 13:52–17:27: Katie’s top headlines (Trump, Clinton, Vance, NY brawl, savings survey)
• 17:30–26:17: Congressional subpoena drama and performative DC politics
• 29:13–29:36: Wall Street Journal, Iran op-ed, editorial choices
• 30:06–33:46: Mailbag: Hitler quote series, listener feedback on Trump's style, chip jokes

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Tone & Style

The conversation is sharp, irreverent, and laced with sarcasm, banter, and weary skepticism about political and technological progress. The regular cast (Jack Armstrong, Joe Getty, Katie Green, Michael) punctuate the debate with one-liners and thought-provoking rhetorical questions. Themes of futility, performative politics, and uncertainty about AI’s future thread throughout, tempered by moments of self-aware humor.

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Summary prepared for listeners who want a comprehensive, engaging snapshot of the episode—with context, key moments, and verbatim highlights. If you missed the show, this summary gets you up to speed.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Show Announcer]

Broadcasting. Live from the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Davos, Switzerland. Yeah, we're still not in Switzerland. Maybe tomorrow.

[Joe Getty]

We just dug deep in under the cat cushions and just couldn't come up with a budget.

[Jack Armstrong]

But we got on our plane, but there are electrical problems, so I had to turn back.

[Joe Getty]

We got on the plane, it flew. It got within two miles of Europe, but it ran out of gas, so we had to turn around and go home. So we put more gas in it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And we try again live midweek. The Armstrong and Getty show today. What's the title of the show today?

[Joe Getty]

Today's show is entitled no Bravo, said Davos, or it's been just one year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good God, no Bravos, Davos. Yeah, my little joke there. The President took off for Switzerland and the plane had an electrical problem. Using my finger quotes, after flying like an hour or something, turn on, came back, and I just saw an expert say. It doesn't sound like a. Sounds like something must have been bigger than that because they have all kinds of backup systems on Air Force One in case of a million different contingency things, you know, that far into the flight, you know, minor electrical problems. So something was going on. But, you know, it's not their job to tell us for all kinds of obvious reasons. Turn around.

[Joe Getty]

Highly classified. That's fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And got him there late. And he's giving you a speech right now, which we'll have highlights of later in the show. But here's my favorite part. I saw him say just a little bit ago, if it wasn't for all of. If it wasn't for the United States, all y' all would be speaking German right now. Maybe a little Japanese. Oh, yeah, I like.

[Joe Getty]

That's hurtful.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's freaking Germany wasn't for us. So give us Greenland.

[Joe Getty]

It's a little sensitive there in that part.

[Jack Armstrong]

So give us Greenland. We stupidly. We won World War II for you, and we stupidly let you have Greenland. Now it's time to give it back. That's basically what he said. Oh, boy. Some more on that. That later. Fantastic. Yeah, thanks. Could the world get more exciting? Hardly. It's good news, right?

[Joe Getty]

It's good for not.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's good for talk radio. Yeah, sure. Let's see.

[Joe Getty]

Sure it is. People be huddled in their homes, terrified, penniless, but we'll have lots to talk about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stock market went down yesterday but plunged.

[Joe Getty]

It plunged off a cliff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pretty big one day drop but all around some of the Greenland talk. But you know, it'll bounce back.

[Joe Getty]

Usually does. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's cool. Bravos at Davos. So again, no bravos at Davos. No bravos of Davos or my God, it's only been a year. Yeah, that's a good headline.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Read an unbelievable article from. Or I guess Elon gave a speech and then I read an article about it that I can't wait to talk about later about where he says we are with AI. He says the singularity is here and we're going to hit AGI Artificial General Intelligence this year in 2026.

[Joe Getty]

Question is he raising money?

[Jack Armstrong]

Of they're all. They all are. But if he's right, as he said, buckle your freaking seatbelt.

[Joe Getty]

Strapped in, shoulder strap, I'm wearing the helmet. I'm like a NASCAR driver.

[Jack Armstrong]

Once it's. Once it can learn on its own and start to program itself, it will go at a speed we can't even imagine. And when that moment happens, it's he. He in his speech yesterday talked about like, when you're on a roller coaster, it's a tick, tick, tick, tick up kind of slow. And that's where we are now. And we're just about at the top of this roller coaster and then it's just going to be whoosh. It's going to take off a million miles an hour and nobody knows what it's going to do. It's going to be doing its own thing. It's going to be programming its own stuff and deciding what its priorities are and all that sort of thing. But it will happen and it will do it. And so there you go.

[Joe Getty]

Do you sound excited about this? I'm.

[Michael]

I.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's exciting in the same way if somebody breaks in your house, it's exciting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. Well said. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep.

[Joe Getty]

The adrenaline's going. Yes, the adrenaline's going. Well, this is exciting. Honey, would you be so kind to stand be my 45. Thanks. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So anyway, more on what Elon said about that coming up in a little bit. And he. He gave. Talked a little more about the whole universal. What is his term for it? Not a universal basic income. Uhi. That's the new term we all need to talk about Universal high income. We're all going to have.

[Joe Getty]

Just give me.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're gonna have loads of stuff. Well, you're not gonna need money. As we talked about yesterday. What will be the point of money? Because we'll all have big house, endless energy, free health care, more food than you can eat, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

[Joe Getty]

Fantastic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on. I mean, you're listening to this, you got to be thinking, what my ship has come in, right?

[Joe Getty]

I mean, so what's.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's.

[Joe Getty]

What's that gonna mean? Like, there's gonna be, like, an expensive country club on every corner. Well, expensive. What does that even mean? I mean, it's just every. Every golf course will be Augusta National. Every restaurant will be Shay Paul or whatever's hot these days.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

You know, every. Everything will be the best it's ever been.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I don't.

[Joe Getty]

Every baseball team will be the Dodgers. They'll have all the free agents.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, see, I don't. I still don't understand who's getting the money when we're. When we're this productive as a country and who's doling it out and deciding if. If, who. If. If Sam Altman's getting all this money, we're 20 times more productive than current GDP and he's collecting all the money. Maybe he doesn't think we ought to have golf courses or whatever. You just mentioned a restaurant.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

So then we're not going to. He's going to dole out the money in a different way.

[Joe Getty]

Well, yeah. And they will be all powerful. The. The, you know, the power to control. Scarcity is power. That's what politics is. And they will have all power, and therefore they will be kind and benevolent.

[Katie Green]

Oh.

[Joe Getty]

I got myself there. Oh, that's good.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I'm just. I'm just curious. And then we'll move on from this. Like, when you hear us talking about this, Michael, Katie, or whatever, do you think we're talking about, like, sci fi fantasy that will never happen? Or, like, how does this land with you? I'm just wondering how most people listening, it's like, what do you even talk about this for? Like. Like, it's like. It's just a. Like a theory or something. As opposed to the reality of our lives soon. Yeah.

[Katie Green]

I mean, it's a stretch.

[Jack Armstrong]

A stretch that will ever happen?

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I think so.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I just wonder if that's where most people are. Yeah, I think.

[Joe Getty]

How about you? Yeah, same thing. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't think it will ever occur?

[Michael]

I don't think so, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

In your lifetime, anyway.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hope you're right. I don't think you are, but I hope you're right.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I view it more like. I'm more convinced that it Will reach capabilities that are incredibly disruptive to society as we understand it and the economy as we understand it. And in that way, it is like death to me. I understand it's a reality. I've accepted it to the greatest extent that I can. But there's virtually nothing I can do about it. So I go about my business. Well, thanks for designing death, Sam. Elan Sundar.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think there are going to be decisions to be made. So that's why I think it's important to have some idea what's going on. I think there'll be decisions to be made either in terms of policy, rules or. Or how many guns you need to hold off the hordes. If there are hordes.

[Joe Getty]

As a man with a degree from a major American university in the science of politics. Phony degree. I tell you this. The disruptive forces that turn people out of their jobs on the streets, unable to make a living, terrified and confused, will be 50 times faster than the forces that will try to deal with that situation. And the period of violence, angst, unrest, revolution in the streets will last for some time before order is somehow reimposed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, let me go back to my two person panel. If all of a sudden you're provided for your house payment, your food, your medical care, your transportation is all free, the rest of your life you don't need to work, is that make you happy? Do you think cool and you go home or how do you react to that?

[Michael]

Michael, I think you'd be bored. You'd have no purpose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, think about you personally, not other people. How about you speaking for me?

[Michael]

I think it'd be boring.

[Joe Getty]

That selfless Jack, he's that G man.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just gave you all that. Your rent, your food, your medical care, your transportation is all free.

[Michael]

I think I'd be bored.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie.

[Katie Green]

I'm sitting back having a cocktail, eating some nice cheese.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, you know, cheese.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, you're assuming Sam Altman is doling out cheese, but maybe he is. I don't know.

[Katie Green]

I think so.

[Joe Getty]

So I don't really mean I don't mind that you skipped over my screed, but to get to that question, you're gonna have to, like, swim through rivers of blood.

[Jack Armstrong]

Rivers of blood, you say?

[Joe Getty]

Yes. How are they going to get that income? Through what means? Through whose auspices?

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody ever talks.

[Joe Getty]

How long will it take to set up those systems?

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody ever talks about that. Nobody ever talks about that. Which I think is interesting.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's very human. It's. We'll just get where we get and think oh, my God. Now what? And. And again, the B will run in the S's, but let's not get overly negative.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, I didn't know there was going to be an Rob I have to deal with.

[Joe Getty]

Please, please. And several, you know, smaller, like, creeks of blood. I was like Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was more into, like the reclining with endless cheese. But you've got rivers of blood.

[Katie Green]

Well, I like my idea way better.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, yes, we like. We like EC Endless cheese.

[Joe Getty]

You go with Rob. When the Rob comes and sweeps away your cabin as you're munching on your cheese, you'll think, damn, that Joe was right. That's that satisfaction enough for me.

[Jack Armstrong]

He was so right. This is incredible.

[Joe Getty]

You know, this cheese is doing me no good. Damn him. Listen. Damn him.

[Michael]

Here's something ironic, though. All these people that lose their job, they'll get solace by going home and talking to their computer.

[Joe Getty]

Now you've made me want to cry.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe that's why they're pushing this chat bot stuff, is because they realize people are going to be home and lonely and everything like that, and they think we got to come up with some way to keep them occupied. By the way, and we'll talk about this later, because we got to start the show officially, but ChatGPT, this was. This was tweeted by Elon Musk, who competes against Chat GPT and is battling Sam Altman. He tweeted out. Chat GPT has now been linked to nine devs tied to its use, and in five cases, its interactions are alleged to have led to death by suicide, including teens and adults. So nine people have off themselves because Chat GPT told them to.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's just the beginning of the rop boy. Okay, so every. You know what? If. If any of that stuff happens, I gotta work on my, you know, like, survivalist skills because I'm gone. I'm. I'm out in the woods. I'm completely checking out of the economy and everything else. Here is my new. I'm going to form not a religion, but a club. Maybe a club. There will be dues, little dues. Anyway, I got to wear a jacket. I like a formal gathering. Anyway, here's my club. You ask yourself, is this what God intended for me? Or if you're not religious, is this what my nature intends for me? Is this right for a human being? Never mind what the effing tech companies want you to do because they make money on it, or what the algorithms are trying to trick you into doing at the cost of your own physical and mental health. Is this what God and or nature wants for me? And the answer is almost universally no. I hate the tech world. I hate it, hate it, hate it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Laying around, eating cheese, sexing up robots. I don't know. Maybe that is God's intention. We got to start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong on this. It is Wednesday, January 21, the year 2026, where Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, let's begin. Officially, according to FCC rules and regs. Here we go at. Mark may prove that cows are way smarter than we thought. Veronica, the cow using a tool to scratch her back. It looks like the study's author said this marks the first time on record that a mammal that wasn't a primate has been documented using a tool. This is some of the most shocking and important cow news I have heard in many years.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're gonna have to break this down later in the show. Cows can use tools. Run for your lives. We've got Katie's headlines on the way. Stay here.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump threatening the Euros over Greenland. We got more on that coming up later.

[Joe Getty]

So much to talk about. As always, let's figure out who's reporting what. It's the lead story with Katie Green. Katie, yes.

[Katie Green]

Three of the major print outlets all talking about Trump right now. The Washington Post. Trump's Greenland crusade pushes European allies to a breaking point. The Wall Street Journal. Trump opens Davos speech touting U.S. economy. And Reuters, Trump tells Davos that Europe is heading in the wrong direction.

[Joe Getty]

Meanwhile, you got Austrian cows using tools. As Jack said, run for your lives. More on that live team coverage. Stay tuned.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll have some highlights coming up of Trump's speech.

[Katie Green]

CBS House oversight committee to vote on holding the Clintons in contempt in Epstein probe.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's today. That's a spicy one. I don't think it's a good thing. But explain that later.

[Katie Green]

CNN second lady Usha Vance announces she's pregnant with her fourth child.

[Joe Getty]

There you go. They're doing their part to repopulate the planet. Way to go, Vances.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that's not a bad plan. Have your kid while you've got the full White House vice president lifestyle going on, being weighted on hand and foot. That's a good time to have a baby, I'll bet.

[Joe Getty]

I guess it's a rather narrow list of folks who get that opportunity, but go ahead. Actually, it's extremely narrow because normally people are significantly older than that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Katie Green]

From the New York Times in Minneapolis, a pattern of misconduct toward the protesters.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

From the New York.

[Joe Getty]

To go around. Go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

From the New York Post, bench clearing brawl breaks out at Florida baseball game after irate parent sucker punches the umpire's father.

[Jack Armstrong]

I saw that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I want like some like you get an enhancement for using a firearm in a crime. A sentencing enhancement. I want an enhancement for screwing up something that ought to be fun and innocent for kids. Like an extra 10 years. Yeah.

[Katie Green]

Study finds nearly half of all Americans are clueless about their savings account interest rates.

[Jack Armstrong]

Savings account interest rates. Well, I probably, I'm probably get within a couple of percent, but I don't.

[Joe Getty]

Spend a lot of time. Extended period where it was practically zero.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

And finally, the Babylon Bee, after learning of anti ice protest at Target, wife announces she too will stand up for immigrants by spending all day there.

[Jack Armstrong]

The. I suppose, I suppose we were supposed to be shocked that Americans are not on top of their savings account interest rates. I just, I don't know. I don't know if that's of all the things Americans should be up to speed on. I'd rather. How many Americans can come up within $20 trillion of how far we are in, in debt in this country. Right. I'd like that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. No kidding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not whether you're getting two or two and a half percent in your savings.

[Joe Getty]

Account, you're probably not. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

That's an odd statistic. Don't worry about it. There's better things to worry about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, hey. Euros for and for us, you'd be sparking German and a little bit of Japanese.

[Joe Getty]

That's what Trump says to Liber God.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that's why you owe us Greenland. It's like a tip for World War II. It's like a little gratuity.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay with us.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

As you know, I'm not a fan of this whole race to the bottom thing we got going on in America right now where each side says, well, the other side does it, so we've got to do it too or do it more or whatever. And uh, nobody's willing to like pull the nose up on this diving plane. Um, so. Because Adam Schiff did all the insane BS crap that he did, he's now my senator in California when he was running the Intelligence Committee and all the lies he told about. We're just, we've seen the evidence. Trump is an asset of Russia. We'll release that this coming week. And he just never did. Uh, you got this guy Comer for the Republicans. Is this who's doing the same act? It seems to me around a whole bunch of different stuff. And so he subpoenaed Katie, had this in her headlines. So I'm just giving you some of the backstory. He subpoenaed the Clintons last week to do an interview around all the Epstein stuff, Bill and Hillary to talk them under oath. Well, that's not a thing we normally do in this country where we bring in ex presidents into Congress to do you know how those hearings work, where they sit there and everybody just gets to yell yes or no would answer the question. It's yes or no. You know, that whole thing, the grand thing, we don't usually do it on the other side, says, I just want.

[Joe Getty]

To begin by thanking you for your service to the country and her people, particularly blind children. I yield the rest of my time.

[Jack Armstrong]

We don't usually do that with presidents. And the Clinton said they're willing to answer any questions under oath with the Republican and the Democrat in the room, you know, at his office or whatever. Colmer says that he doesn't agree to their stipulations. They wouldn't allow a transcript. And so he needs to bring them in in front of Congress to answer questions. The Clinton lawyers say, what are you talking about? We said you can have a transcript. Of course you can have a transcript. We don't care. And, and so Comer's holding that up. We are not. You're not going to get away with testifying behind closed doors with no transcript. They can say, what are you talking about? Nobody said anything about no transcript. But so anyway, Comer's going to go through with the contempt vote today in, in the committee, and then it'll go to the full House floor if it passes. And then the Democrats are going to be in a weird spot because they're so into the whole. The Epstein stuff must come out.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

While at the same time not really wanting to drag President Clinton and his wife in front of Congress for questioning. Right.

[Joe Getty]

The whole, you know, it's funny, I will frequently be asked about politics and governance by civilians, people who, God bless them, folks like you who have normal lives and don't spend a ton of time on this. And the two things that surprise people the most is when I explain how performative everything is. They kind of have a sense of it. But I don't give a crap about solving. Just pick something fanciful, the rat problem. Let's, let's pretend there's a big rat problem in America. I couldn't give a rat's ass, ironically, about solving the rat problem. But I want Desperately to be seen as the guy who's doing what it takes to solve the rat problem and then I never solve it. But then I pick a new problem and I'm just seen as the great crusader for solving that. That's that's all that matters. And then you claim victory whether you have victory or not. Second thing is the insidious. I mean like poisonous isn't a strong enough word. Fatally poisonous. Influence of small donation online small donations to politics online money because outrage anger one upsmanship gets the most donations. They have algorithms that have proved this and so they just keep going to that card over and over again. So James Comer, I guarantee has gotten a pile of money for this anti Clinton vendetta. And come on, the Clintons.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Should interject that if you're not what's.

[Joe Getty]

His LBJ in for kicking next if.

[Jack Armstrong]

You'Re not a longtime listener of the show. I'm no fan of Bill Clinton, never have been. But I, I just don't think there's anything here with this whole Epstein thing and it's just I think it's an attempt to him you know it's just the it's just a hooray for our side sort of stuff. But anyway so if it's and to.

[Joe Getty]

Be seen digging into the Epstein thing, we're serious about this. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Should a contempt citation pass the House today and we'll find out here maybe while we're still on the air today it would be up to the Justice Department to prosecute the matter with Bill and Hillary being found in contempt of Congress with penalties that include a fine of up to a hundred thousand dollars and imprisonment for as long as a year. So then the ball gets kicked to the Justice Department and how far they want to go with the whole performative. We're being tough on Epstein and look we're putting the Clintons in jail.

[Joe Getty]

Michael, I really enjoyed your your humorous use of the Hillary drop there. That was wonderful. But I would strongly I would guess with a great deal of confidence their actual posture is they just said to their attorneys anything significant happens let us know. Otherwise you don't need to update us. It's fine. It's a non event in their lives to the Clintons. Yeah. This will go nowhere and amount to nothing. And they know it. They've been through it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't and in our current times all the stuff that should be you know have an off ramp often doesn't. Yeah. Justice Department and you know the pressure they're going to be under to they.

[Joe Getty]

Have zillions of dollars of Clinton foundation money that can go to them somehow through some, you know, mysterious movement of shell corporation money. Ask the Bidens and it'll be fine. It will make no difference. They will not miss a cocktail hour nor an afternoon tea over this. It's performative.

[Jack Armstrong]

Coming up. Why was Emmanuel McCrone wearing sunglasses? Back to this, though.

[Joe Getty]

Did his wife give him the old Three Stooges treatment? Boink. Right in the eyeballs.

[Jack Armstrong]

He got in another fight. He's hiding a black eye. One of those tragic spousal abuse stories. He's up there with his sunglasses on at Davos. He.

[Joe Getty]

He's playing mean teacher and naughty student, and things got out of hand.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's got the thing where the blood vessels break in your eye because you sneezed or coughed or, you know, whatever happens. That happens to people sometimes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. So he's got the bloody eye.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's got the bloody eye. And so either stand he. So he gave a speech recently with the bloody eye, and it just way too much questions and mockery and it's tough. It's a tough call, I got to admit.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Would you rather stand up there with the bloody eye and take that mockery or do you want to be, oh, Mr. Cool with the sunglasses on? Adamo's giving speech, which brings a lot of mockery also.

[Joe Getty]

That's a. That's a tough question.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is.

[Joe Getty]

Remember when I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Remember when Bob Costas had the. The bloody eye doing the Olympics years ago?

[Joe Getty]

Did he. Oh, did he have pink eye?

[Jack Armstrong]

He had pink eye, but his eye was. Yeah. Not the normal color.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta go. Although, like, reflective aviators is just. That's a bridge too far.

[Jack Armstrong]

What I was thinking, you could have picked a little more. Less cool guy sunglasses to go with.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It looked more like, you know, like after I had my lens replacement surgery from. Got that done. I mean, I. I had these, like, protective lenses that were clearly not sunglasses. They were some sort of. You've got an eye issue shade.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I haven't looked like reading glasses. Nobody. The flinch.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Just a little.

[Joe Getty]

Little tint in there a little bit. This is one of the lesser issues on the world stage right now, but I feel like we've solved it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Back to the Clinton thing briefly. They remained adamant that they would not appear at a formal deposition, accusing Comer of pursuing a political driven process literally designed to result in our imprisonment.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, Lord.

[Jack Armstrong]

And promising to fight the chairman on the issue for as long as it takes. Yesterday on Morning Joe on msnbc, Joe Scarborough and his wife on the cable news channels that nobody watches any of them really very much. We're making the argument that this Greenland thing is to distract from Epstein. That's why the President.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, you're so.

[Jack Armstrong]

I am not kidding. I heard that and I thought, you've got to be kidding. So the big story is, Epstein, the Greenland thing is just interesting. All right, whatever. If that gets you out of bed in the morning, knock yourself out. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

You know, when you launched into that sentence, I was ready for something like dishonest, but not that stupid. Oh, my God. So the whole the Arctic is the greatest new geostrategic, you know, region, blah, blah, blah. That's all just a pretext to cover up for Epstein, Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump, Sirius, the Epstein files.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that's it. I've had enough. Wow. I gotta get over that. I'm on my knees. All right, more on that or something similar to come in a moment or two. Oh, my gosh. Iran's foreign minister is putting editorials in. The Western press saw that. Explaining what happened. Yes. And hey, folks, it wasn't at all what you were led to believe. Everything's fine. We'll bring you the word from Iran in a couple of minutes after word from our friends at Rough Greens.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, this is a new sponsor for the Armstrong and Getty Show. We're pretty excited about it. It's not your dog food. It's something you put with your dog food. And it's just super, super healthy. Rough Green supplements the diet with natural antioxidants, anti inflammatory compounds that help reduce oxidative stress, support immune defense, slow age related decline, helping dogs stay active, mobile and alert as they age. And you should try it out.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Rough Greens isn't dog food. It's a live nutritional supplement to add to your dog's food. You don't have to change your dog's food to improve your dog's health. Just add a scoop of Rough Greens. It's that easy. And oh, the effects are amazing on the, you know, their, Their health, their energy, their. Their alertness, their vision, their fur. Everything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So this is what you want to do. Don't change your dog's food, just add Rough Greens. Rough Greens is offering a free Jump Start trial bag. You just cover shipping. Use the discount code Armstrong to claim your free Jumpstart trial bag@rough greens.com that's.

[Joe Getty]

Rough r u f f rough greens.com. the promo code is ARMSTRONG. R u f f rough greens.com promo code ARMSTRONG. Don't Change your dog's food, just add rough green. Watch the health benefits come alive. Wolf.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And then let us know what you think.

[Joe Getty]

So we don't have a lot of time for the around thing. Let me put it to you like this. There were peaceful protests. The regime was fine with them because their folks are more than allowed to make their feelings known. And then foreigners and terrorists started shooting at the police and the soldiers, and all they did was return fire to defend the poor people who were defending, who were demonstrating in the streets. And the US and Israel tried to drag Iran into conflict by sending those terrorists onto Tehran streets and streets all over the country.

[Jack Armstrong]

We can get into more of the details, but how do you feel about the Wall Street Journal printing that op ed from a liar from Iran? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[Joe Getty]

I think it's a good thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I don't have any problem with it. Maybe I haven't thought it through because it's, you know, it's the classic example of what to do with bad ideas. Expose them to the light, let them be smoking, then let's talk about them. Because when you look at them, they are nearly comedy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wall Street Journal is also reporting that major attack on Iran, like taking out the leadership still on the table and Trump still talking about it while we've got an aircraft carrier making its way there. So we'll have to get into that a little bit later in the show. We got Mailbag coming up. Stay here.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty, how y' all doing?

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool. Middle of the week already. It was if you, if you had Monday off, you gotta like these short weeks. We should do this everywhere. Let's all agree. Let's do it every week. Let's do the four day week every week. Are we in agreement?

[Joe Getty]

It's done? Oh, hell yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Here's your freedom hating quote of the day. Continuing on our series from Adolf Hitler, who if you're not familiar with the Chancellor of Germany from the 1930s through the middle 1940s, what is brain abruptly ended in a bunker anyway?

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, the ah, I call him.

[Joe Getty]

That's good. And again, the point of this is understanding how those who would oppress us think. So perhaps we can recognize it in advance next time it comes around. Hitler said, I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few. That's interesting. That jibes with a. Some other radical slogans always appeal to people's emotions because you can get a motivator much more quickly that way. Mailbag, drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongygetty.com I promise you, the next two days of Hitler quotes will blow you away.

[Jack Armstrong]

So is Hitler the ultimate populist?

[Joe Getty]

To a large extent, yeah. He was absolutely brilliant at that. Yeah. Yeah. Harnessing grievance and aspiration to gain himself power.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongetty.com Scott writes, Yesterday, you're looking for a cliche for when you're being shocked about China. Jack suggested, are you greasing my walk? Which was what we settled on for the moment. He says, how about, are you walking my dog? All right, that's. It's got a little Asian shot in there.

[Jack Armstrong]

I feel like it almost has to be in print for me to enjoy it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Walking. Are you walking my dog? Joe, you have an odd accent. Yeah, I think we may stay with greasing my walk, but thank you. Navy Tom writes, the topic of Greenland, Dear Big Freedom and Thistle. Thistle be awesome for this whole Greenland thing. It's crossed the line for me. At this point, I think the Republicans have to find a reason to bring impeachment charges to get President Trump to back down. None of this makes sense. And he makes the point that we do own Greenland. As far as our military needs go, we can do virtually anything there, anything we want. Now, with Trump's rhetoric, it's practically impossible that the Danes will back down. And he writes some more on that, but we're pressed for time. I want to move on to this one from another J in San Jose who writes, One year of Trump's mad dad unleashed. The unleashed Trump 2.0 has done so much in one year. Will future presidents be held at the standard? Will they need to be strong presidents who lead the world forcefully? Vile, gentle diplomacy. For all his faults, Trump understands deeply that those two other great forces on this earth don't share our values. He's drawing lines because someone needs to and he's not afraid. And frankly, the world, including America, does need a kind of mad dad right now. Yelling at everyone about doing their chores, cleaning up and homework. It's like an allowance. When he gets what he wants, you get what you want.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Well, I guess that gets to the belief that the world's going to get split into two hemispheres. China's and or two spheres. China's sphere in our sphere. So we better grab what's in our sphere now to be prepared for it. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

When does a mad dad act become an unnecessarily abusive dad act? That is where I think the disagreements Lie. But it's an interesting point, Jay. We kind of discussed this yesterday, whether Trump has just realized, look, these institutions are at their. They're on their DeathBed. The post WW2 institutions, 6D chess.

[Jack Armstrong]

You just don't understand the moves.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, Lord. And then we need to forge ahead to the new thing. That's what Trump is doing. Okay, it's possible. Let's see. Boy, the notes keep piling in about my potato chick chip recommendation. Jesse in Fremont writes, keo's chips are a great recommendation. My girlfriend and I bought four bags. Where do I send the $10 to? You don't need to send me $10. That was a joke. A joke. But I hope their chip sales surge and they decide to sponsor the show.

[Jack Armstrong]

That guy, that actually guy actually sent a ten dollar bill out of his Social Security check because Joe was holding hostage the name of these good chips for some weird egotistic reason.

[Joe Getty]

Go to your local chip aisle. There's like 50 choices. Seamity.

[Jack Armstrong]

Your local chip aisle. Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And then how much time do we have, Michael? A couple minutes. Funny, I usually run out of time. Let's see. He calls himself crazy Daddy in this email. Writes, yesterday, Al Gore was at Davos and he told us that everyday pollution is trapping the equivalent of the explosion of three quarters of a million Hiroshima nuclear bombs. He's still pitching the climate scarism for fun and profit.

[Jack Armstrong]

It seems quaint to hear that because it used to be Davos, used to be all about the climate, climate change and this and that, and that's kind of no longer the deal.

[Joe Getty]

You know, he's a lying, profit, greed head fraud. But I almost, I almost feel affection for him, like he's the Rolling Stones still touring.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there's an.

[Joe Getty]

Al Gore is still flogging that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there was an article today about how China has finally really surpassed us in electric cars and, you know, distancing themselves from Tesla as being the number one electric car maker. And my first thought was, so, I mean, yeah, does that important? Do you need to be the electric car leader? I don't know that you do.

[Joe Getty]

And so Daddy actually did the math and he said that if we presume an equal distribution of heat across the continents, this would mean that every day each continent would experience temperature rise of between 20 million to 28 million degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know how long Mr. Gore thinks it's been going on, but yesterday, where I live in California, it never got above 54 degrees.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and if it gets warmer, I'll sell my coat, huh? I mean, that's just the way if.

[Joe Getty]

It gets to 28,000 degrees. Yeah, I don't. I. I'm not worried about anything, really.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got a lot more coming in now. Or two. If you missed the segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty?

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Guaranteed Human.