Strokin' A Camel

Summary

Podcast Summary: “Strokin' A Camel”

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – iHeartPodcasts
Date: November 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the political, social, and cultural waves set off by Congress’s overwhelming vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, the bipartisan chaos and media frenzy surrounding the situation, and broader reflections on power, scandal, and the behavior of America’s elite. The show also features lighter news, witty banter about podcast quirks, and mailbag segments, delivering the trademark Armstrong & Getty blend of skepticism, irreverence, and analysis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Camel, MBS, and Political Absurdity

• (01:14 – 02:33)
  The hosts open with in-studio hijinks ("the camel in the studio" as a running gag) and connect it loosely to Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who had just met with the U.S. President.
  • Joe Getty: “Ironically, appropriate tie in. Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, no stranger to camels himself.” (01:45)
  • Jack Armstrong: “How is that a tie— we have a camel in the studio and MBS is our general manager. I don’t get the tie in...He didn’t ride to the White House on a camel.” (01:55)
  • The joke underlines both the show’s irreverence and the sometimes-arbitrary nature of “general manager” selections they use to frame the day’s episode.

2. Epstein Files: Congress Unites & Unleashes

• (03:08 – 15:38)
  The centerpiece of the show is the stunning 428–1 House vote to release the Epstein investigative files. The hosts dissect the politics, media treatment, and implications.

  • Jack Armstrong: “How amazed are you that the House voted, whatever it was, 428 to 1, to release the Epstein files after all of this drama...? And Trump trying to stop it from coming out at all, that it was 428 to 1?” (03:08)

    • Both are shocked that weeks ago, “nobody thought it would get through the Senate” (05:19), yet now the Senate didn’t bother to vote, letting it pass unanimously.

  • Joe Getty: “The impropriety of flinging FBI 302s…national security and law enforcement documents and grand jury material into the public maw is how a republic slides toward reality television.” (06:12)

  • They boil it down: releasing unfiltered investigatory documents is unprecedented, potentially damaging to reputations, and likely a Pandora’s box for civil liberties.

    • Jack Armstrong: “Collateral damage, reputations, civil liberties, livelihoods shredded for sport. When the mob gets a peek at the raw material of justice, sausage making is going to be something to watch.” (06:44)

  • Both hosts maintain skepticism that major, new revelations will emerge:

    • “I don’t think there’s anything exciting that’s going to come out of the damn thing. I think the President’s close to right when he calls it a hoax...not that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t have underage girls...but the idea there’s some giant unveiling...I think that’s a hoax.” (04:25)

3. Media, Victims, & Conspiracies: Reactions and Risks

• (08:10 – 11:52)

  • The hosts note how the story has become a feeding frenzy, with rumors that victims have lists of “lots of powerful people that have not been named yet.”

    • Jack Armstrong: “MSNBC was claiming last night that the victims have a list of lots of powerful people that have not been named yet that were having sex with them when they were underage... I don’t believe that.” (08:35)

  • Joe Getty makes a distinction between those casually acquainted with Epstein and those in the “inner sanctum,” warning against guilt by association:

    • “Anybody who’s at level one...you can’t say it wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear that Alan Dershowitz raped a 16 year old. I mean, no, no.” (11:22)

4. Political Hypocrisy, Precedent, & Public Appetite

• (20:08 – 28:08)
  • They analyze the strange, shifting coalitions in Congress, Trump’s flip-flopping, and the possibility that making investigatory documents public will set a troubling precedent.
    • Joe Getty: “There are good, sound, like bedrock sound reasons, you don’t spray out just the raw material of investigations. And yet we’re going to do that as we chase ghosts. There are going to be no ghosts found.” (07:26)
  • Both agree that the country’s “reality show” appetite is driving this unprecedented transparency.

5. Elite Impunity & Moral Decay

• (25:11 – 28:08)
  • The hosts discuss revelations from journalists like Joe Nocera of moral rot among the elite—apathy toward Epstein’s crimes, prioritizing access and power over principle.
    • Jack Armstrong: “We read a piece from National Review yesterday…how gross this is for all of us to find out that at the highest level of rich and powerful, you just overlook all kinds of gross things that you’ve heard about or seen or they’ve been convicted of, to be in that group.” (25:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Precedent and Media:
  • Joe Getty (06:12): “The impropriety of flinging FBI 302s…into the public maw is how a republic slides toward reality television.”
• On Hype & Conspiracy:
  • Jack Armstrong (04:25): “I think the President’s close to right when he calls it a hoax...the fact that there’s some giant unveiling...I think that’s a hoax.”
• On Political Machinations:
  • Joe Getty (20:30): “So Johnson presides over the put it all out, knowing that’s a terrible idea, thinking, don’t worry, the Senate will do the right thing. Then the Senate’s like, no, you don’t hand us this flaming bag of turds and ask us to fix it. You fix it. We’re passing it."
• On Elite Social Scenes:
  • Jack Armstrong (30:56): “Movie screening parties that Epstein would throw in New York that everybody would go to. The rich and powerful, the big movies…all together in a room with a fabulous buffet, hanging out with each other with Jeffrey Epstein walking around. Because he’s the guy that put it all together.”
• On Cynicism and the Law:
  • Joe Getty (28:53): “Our very system of government was designed because the founding papas knew that you had to presume guilt…if you are trusted with power in government. Because they knew human nature and they knew the way people behave."
• On Public Support:
  • Jack Armstrong (21:51): “The vast majority of Americans think the US government should release all of its files from the Investigation of Epstein. 80%. It includes 91% of Democrats, 83% of independents and 2/3 of Republicans…that’s the reason…it was a 428 to 1 vote.”

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Lighter Segments & News Highlights

• Katie Green’s Headlines
  (14:37 – 18:30)

  • Diverse headlines:
    • Washington resident hospitalized with never-before-seen virus in humans.
    • The NFL’s logistical challenge of supersonic flight for European teams.
    • Wall Street Journal: robots in the bloodstream for drug delivery.
    • 81 monkeys and meth found in a car in Thailand.
    • Satirical “Mariah Carey-canceling” headphones from Babylon Bee.

• Internet Outage & AI Dependence
  (18:30 – 19:32)

  • Armstrong jokes about ChatGPT being down and how reliant people (including himself) have become: “I used chat GPT for a medical question yesterday and it was fantastic...It was stunning.” (18:54)

• Mailbag & Listener Reactions (32:45 – 36:47)

  • Hosts read and react to listener emails, ranging from puns, T-shirt slogans (“According to Democrats, men make the best women”) to angry missives filled with conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism, which they robustly mock and rebuke.

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Key Timestamps & Sections

• Camel/MBS Opening Jokes: 01:14 – 02:33
• Epstein Files Vote Analysis: 03:08 – 15:38
• Media, Victims & Conspiracies: 08:10 – 11:52
• Political/Procedural Ramifications: 20:08 – 28:08
• Elite Impunity & Moral Rot: 25:11 – 28:08
• Katie's Headlines & Offbeat News: 14:37 – 18:30
• Mailbag & Listener Feedback: 32:45 – 36:47

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Tone & Style

• The episode is fast-paced, skeptical, and analytical, with a signature mix of humor and cynicism.
• Hosts often punctuate serious analysis with irreverent asides, self-deprecating jokes, and pop culture references.
• Commentary is deeply informed but peppered with wit (“You can’t say it wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear that Alan Dershowitz raped a 16 year old. I mean, no, no.”) and a clear, conversational style.
• Philosophical undertones surface—on the rot at the top, the unending appetite for conspiracy, and the tension between skepticism and cynicism.

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Conclusion

For listeners, “Strokin’ A Camel” is a tour through America’s Epstein obsession, viewed with caution and irony. Armstrong & Getty argue that the coming document dump is more likely to fuel public spectacle and smear campaigns than to provide a cleansing moment of truth—and that the bipartisan eagerness for spectacle is a sign of the times. Throughout, the hosts keep the proceedings lively and laced with their brand of gallows humor and pop-cultural perspective.

Transcript

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Hmm. It's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

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Could you be more specific?

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When it's cravinient.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

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Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at am, pm Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a.

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Crave, which is anything from AM, pm.

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What more could you want? Stop by A and PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravy. Ampm. Too much good stuff.

[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.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and.

[Joe Getty]

Get it. Live from Studio C, senor.

[Jack Armstrong]

A dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound. And hey, y'.

[Joe Getty]

All.

[Jack Armstrong]

On today, midday Wednesday, I'll crap the camels in the studio. I just walked in. He was standing over there in the corner in the shadows. He knows I don't like him at this point. The camel hump day.

[Joe Getty]

You got a camera? There's no tension here in the room. It's awful.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Luckily the contract runs out end of the year 26. We don't have to have the camel in the studio. We made a deal with Camel cigarettes. They give a couple thousand dollars a month. I became on the studio. Blah, blah, blah. It's an endorsement thing. Anywho, today. Today we're under the tutelage of our general manager.

[Joe Getty]

Ironically. Appropriate tie in. Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, no stranger to camels himself.

[Jack Armstrong]

How is that a tiger that. We have a camel in the studio and MBS is our general manager. I don't get the tie in. He didn't. He didn't ride to the White House on a camel.

[Joe Getty]

It's freaking Saudi Arabia. They have camel races there. It's the official livestock of Saudi Arabia.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's. Come on. Do you think he's ever been on a camel?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like an American leader being on horseback. It just. It's. It's. You need that. That shot for your publicity, my brother. You know, if you don't like mbs, he has you bones hot. But, you know, that's. That's. That's their system. We must respect it.

[Jack Armstrong]

My brother spent a lot of time in Saudi Arabia for either of The Gulf wars. And he said, yeah, there's herds of camels running across the road all the time. Just a thing. Why is MBS our general manager today?

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. Yes, he's. He. Yes, he has all of them. And he's prepared to release them. No, he was at the White House yesterday. He had a meeting with the President. A number of agreements were struck, many of them fairly vague. But the friendliness is. Is the key, Jack. The warming of relations between the US and that great Gulf kingdom.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fantastic. How amazed are you that the House voted, whatever it was, 428 to 1, to release the Epstein files after all of this drama for the last however many months, and Trump trying to stop it from coming out at all, that it was 428 to 1?

[Joe Getty]

Well, two things. Number one, I was tempted to have every Jepstein be the general manager. I refused to say the name, but I will say. I will say that I was tempted to have the Epstein files as a political phenomenon. As the general manager.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Because if you separate yourself from the actual arguments involved and just look at the transitions and the weird hypocritical coalitions being formed and the rest of it, it's a fascinating case. It is.

[Jack Armstrong]

As a political story. You're absolutely right. Actually, I was watching Mark Halperin's newscast last night, and he started it by saying, this is the most amazing story I've ever covered in my decades in Washington, D.C. right. In terms of just how both parties are reacting and how it's just consumed the entire city. And. And. And then you've got the splits inside parties for a variety of reasons, where.

[Joe Getty]

And at its heart, there are a lot of folks, including us, that believe they're chasing phantoms.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't think there's anything there. I don't think there's anything exciting that's going to come out of the damn thing. I think the President's close to right when he calls it a hoax. Not that Jeffrey Epstein had underage girls, you know, sexing up powerful people, that obviously was true. But the fact that there's some giant unveiling of something that's gonna be shocking and interesting. I. I think that's a hoax, but, you know, it has split the whole Republican Party and the MAGA wing, and Marjorie Taylor Greene's now a traitor to our country, according to Trump. And. And lots of you all were cheering just as loudly as the victims were yesterday when they got the news that it passed the House and passed the Senate. I assume you all follow the news Close enough to know that the whole Epstein file release thing passed the House 428 to 1. Then the Senate just said, don't. We ain't bother voting. It's through.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That. That's what happened in the Senate. I mean, they didn't oppose it at all. And when.

[Joe Getty]

A week ago, certainly two weeks ago, nobody thought it would get through the Senate.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not a chance. Right. Two weeks ago. And now they didn't even. They didn't even bother to. To vote. They're so overwhelmingly in favor of bullying it through. Of course, America must know what's in the Epstein files. So then it's going to go to the President's desk, he's going to sign it, and then within 30 days, the Justice Department has to release all this stuff. And we read what's actually in the bill yesterday. It's a ton of information that is going to come out. And here's the most interesting thing I've come across today. Mark Halpern writing in his newsletter about what this means. The impropriety of flinging FBI 302s. Those are those documents they have whenever they're doing an investigation or whatever, national security and law enforcement documents and grand jury material into the public maw is how a republic slides toward reality television.

[Joe Getty]

Yes. Especially given the voracious appetite of our media for innuendo and gossip. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he says, and I'm afraid this is probably true, I hadn't thought about this, the precedent being set that once one president does it, where you release all of this investigation stuff, future ones are going to have a lot of pressure on them, too. It's like an executive version of, you give a mouse a cookie that in the future they'll release all this stuff. And the collateral damage, reputation, civil liberties, livelihoods shredded for sport. When the mob gets a peek at the raw material of justice, sausage making is going to be something to watch.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Say you were in a bitter dispute with, I don't know, another commentator or blogger or, you know, the, the guy who runs the competing steel company with you, whatever. And you come across the name, comes up a couple of times in the Epstein files. There's nothing there. There's no substance there. He just went to a couple of cocktail parties and a fundraiser, whatever. But if you are the correct vicious sort of person, you will just hammer that information and dress it up to make it look a little more jazzy and fancy than it actually is and attempt to assassinate the other person's character with maybe a little success, maybe a lot of success. And then come the defamation lawsuits and the rest of it. There are good, sound like bedrock sound reasons. You don't spray out just the raw material of investigations. And yet we're going to do that as we chase ghosts. And nothing is going. There are going to be no ghosts found. I mean, there's going to be some interesting information found, but there will be no ghosts found. And even if every single dot and tittle, as they used to say back in the fancy pants world, every single iota of information is released, those who are the hardest core conspiracy theorists will insist there's more. And it will not rest. It will never rest.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I. Well, we'll play the clip later. I don't know if you were watching when the. They were having a candlelight vigil with the victims yesterday and news broke that it had. I forget if it was when it passed the House or passed the Senate, but news broke on their phones and they're all cheering and crying and hugging each other, and I, And, And I don't know what they think is about to happen. Now, MSNBC was claiming last night that the victims have a list of lots of powerful people that have not been named yet that were having sex with them when they were underage.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they have held back on, on saying any of those names because they're scared of the damage that will be done to them by these powerful people if they try to stick their neck out and say, I'm not even going to use a name. Well, I'll use a name. If one of them came forward and said, I had sex with Bill Clinton, I was only 16 at the time. They're worried that they'll be crushed. Well, right. Clintons have crushed people in the past who make claims like that. Not underage, but sex claims. They. And that they claim that this will come out now without them having to risk their lives, careers, etc. If that's true, obviously this is huge. I don't believe that. I don't.

[Joe Getty]

I don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you. Do you believe that there's a list?

[Joe Getty]

There are.

[Jack Armstrong]

There are a bunch of those victims that have. They could, they could absolutely could testify that I had sex with this person when I was underage and I haven't said anything yet. Do you think that's true?

[Joe Getty]

It could be. It could be, but there would be no corroborating evidence. Probably somebody's presence, you know, in the same zip code isn't proof of a specific act. It reminds me of the horrific accusations about Justice Kavanaugh during his confirmation Hearings you could have that times six.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, that's. It's a little different, though, that there's just no reason to think Justice Kavanaugh was involved in gang rapes where there is lots of reason to believe that some of these people who are hanging around Jeffrey Espy Epstein were having sex with chicks that they knew were 17. I mean, that. That's not. Wouldn't be shocking.

[Joe Getty]

No, it wouldn't be shocking. But I hesitate to say there's lots of information, blah, blah, blah, like you just said, because this guy was huge in Manhattan society. Just fundraisers and dinner parties and cocktail this and that. Totally innocent of sexual perversion. That was reserved. And I've hung around people like that a little bit and decided I do not want to be around here. There are different levels of how much you get to see of their lifestyle. If you are just a casual business acquaintance, they seem to be a respectful business person. They clearly like to party a little bit, blah, blah, blah. Then they figure you're cool and they invite you to the. Their. Their party or their get together or whatever. And you start to see, wow, they just don't like to party. Guys are like sneaking off to do coke. And who are those chicks? That's another level. Then there's another level. You get to where they figure, ah, he's cool, he's down. And then you start to realize, oh, my God, now I see what's going on here. This is crazy. But not everybody gets to that level. So anybody who's at level one, and that was lots and lots of luminaries in New York and Florida, you can't say it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear that Alan Dershowitz raped a 16 year old. I mean, no, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bill Clinton in the blue dress and the painting, pointing.

[Joe Getty]

That was weird. What is going on there?

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, we got more to talk about on this later. We got to start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Wednesday, November 19, the year 2025. We're Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, one more note on every Jepstein. Joe Nocera writes for the Free Press, went through thousands of the emails. That's all he's been doing since they got released. What was it last week? And he says there's nothing big politically speaking, but the depth of moral ugliness in them. Yeah, he said, I didn't think they could shock me. They shocked me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, we'll get to some of that. Yeah, these These people, these people are sociopaths anyway. All right, let's begin the show officially according to F rules and regulations for you good non sociopaths. Here we go at Mark and Trump.

[Jack Armstrong]

Doesn'T give a fist pump.

[Joe Getty]

I grabbed that hand. I don't give a hell where that hand's been. I grabbed that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So remember when Biden met MSB or MSG or which one is he? He's ms, bs, mbs. Mbs. When Biden met MBS because he called him a pariah for murdering Khashoggi and everything like that. Then he goes and meets him and fist bump him. So he can't be said that he shook his hand or whatever Trump says.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I shook his hand, I grabbed.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't care whether where his hand has been.

[Joe Getty]

I shook it and I shook it and I brought it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I don't care where that hand has been. Holding the bones or whatever, stroking a camel.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, not exactly sure what that comment means. If somebody shakes my hand in a public setting and I. I don't care where that hand has been, I'm going to shake his hand. What, what are you claiming? I'm a relatively clean person.

[Joe Getty]

I. I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Decent human being.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we got so much news to catch up on. Joe just had a heck of a tease. I can't wait to hear that. We got Katie's headlines on the way. Stay here.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

We'll get into it more later. Some of the details in the various memos that came out last week, emails, stuff like that. But there has never been a major story that I understood less than the Epstein story. All major stories since we've been in talk radio, I at least got my head around at some point and understood. I do not understand this one.

[Joe Getty]

There's so many versions of it, which is part of the confusion we will discuss. Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's the lead story with Katie Green. Katie.

[Katie Green]

Well, speaking of so many versions, we've got Three headlines from the major Alphabet networks. NBC Congress passes bill to force the release of the Epstein files. Cnn, a Washington humiliation leaves Trump more politically exposed on Epstein than ever before. And then Fox, who buried this one a little bit. House Dem slammed for sick defense of colleague caught Texting Epstein during 2019 hearing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's, that's its own interesting story, but. Well, Trump is humiliated or in danger if there's anything there.

[Joe Getty]

But I don't know, it's definitely a slipping of his grip on the MAGA movement in general. But, but the second part of this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is about, you know, how much trouble he's in now that the Epstein files are coming out. Only if there's something there. And I got, I still believe, I don't. It doesn't make logical sense that if there was anything there that the Biden people wouldn't have put it out. That's never made mentioned in this story. The Democrats, when they controlled the House could have had the same vote that the Republicans had yesterday or Joe Biden could have by executive order released all this stuff just like they've been saying Trump could have.

[Joe Getty]

Are these people you're citing in the business of truth telling or clickbaiting? I don't think that's your, your answer anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't want to use up all your time. Katie, back to Kate.

[Katie Green]

Couple other interesting headlines from the Daily Mail. Washington resident hospitalized with virus never before seen in humans.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I read that he some dude got bird flu. First time ever. This kind of bird flu is transmitted to a human in Washington. Isn't that where Covid started, anyway? Yeah, I found that troubling.

[Katie Green]

From the Wall street journal. The NFL's secret obsession with supersonic flight. Talking about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Green]

Well, they have dreams of permanent franchises in Europe. So they're really behind this idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

And if, and if flying is fast enough, it would be more doable. Is that what they're.

[Joe Getty]

Is that what. Yeah. Can you picture an NFL team having to make a 12 hour flight to go play a game? That's terrible.

[Katie Green]

From the Washington Post. Robots in your bloodstream could deliver drugs with greater precision.

[Joe Getty]

Cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

Robots in my blood.

[Joe Getty]

That's the, the incredible journey. Was that the sci fi movie of the 60s? They shrunk down the little capsule to go like do medical procedures.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Green]

From CBS In Thailand, 81 monkeys and meth found in car driven by suspected wildlife smugglers.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a party, man.

[Katie Green]

81 monkeys in one car.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm coming over. Yeah, I got, yeah, I got all the monkeys. No, I brought 81 I brought one extra in case one of them gets hurt. Yeah, and I got the meth, too. Okay, I'll be there in five minutes.

[Joe Getty]

Those monkeys get into the meth, you are gonna have a problem.

[Katie Green]

And finally, from the Babylon Bee, Bose introduces new Mariah Carey canceling headphones for Christmas.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, that's funny. This is an important news headline that we didn't have. Federal judge yesterday blocked Texas from doing that whole congressional map redrawing thing. So at least according to this judge, unless the Supreme Court steps in, they ain't going to redraw their districts while California is. Which gives the Democrats a definite boost in trying to win back the House.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we'll have to see. I need to know more about that judgment by the judge doing his judging, whether that ruling will likely apply to California or not.

[Jack Armstrong]

There is so much to talk about. Oh, my gosh. I hope you can stay with us. If you miss a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Switching gears today, there was a massive Internet outage that knocked out several major sites, including ChatGPT. It was scary for a couple hours. People had to get medical advice from a real doctor. You have a hernia or you're pregnant. Can you come back in an hour? This is the Internet.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. God.

[Jack Armstrong]

I used chat GPT for a medical question yesterday and it was fantastic. I mean, the information it gave and then the links and everything like that, and how quickly it came up with it was just. It was stunning. So I don't know hardly of a show or journalist or anybody who's been more skeptical of the whole Epstein thing as a. As a story than us for all kinds of different reasons. I'm now pretty fascinated with it both as a political story and a phenomenon. And it is a phenomenon that I like, I've said many times I can't quite get my head around.

[Joe Getty]

Latest reminds me of that. What was that French fellow who wrote the Madness of Crowds? Yeah, like a hundred years ago. It's one of those situations. It helps you understand humanity.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is the most recent polling. Now this is on the heels of, I assume you know this, that the. The House voted 428 to 1 to release the Epstein files. Who was the one no vote? I haven't looked that up.

[Joe Getty]

I can't remember his name, but he had an extremely intelligent, principled objection, which is what I've been saying all along, that you do not spew raw investigative data out to the gossip hungry media. It's never happened for a good reason.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good for you boomer. This is the modern world where all everything is a reality show. So 428 to 1, the Senate didn't even take it up. They're like, yep, we're on board. Send it to the President. What? And Speaker Johnson was very unhappy with that because he wanted some amendments in there with some protections for some of the information that might come out, of.

[Joe Getty]

Course, which looks like a cover up and. Right, exactly. So Johnson presides over the put it all out, knowing that's a terrible idea, thinking, don't worry, the Senate will do the right thing. Then the Senate, it's like, no, you don't hand us this flaming bag of turds and ask us to fix it. You fix it. We're passing it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bam. Rubber stamp.

[Joe Getty]

Sorry for the unnecessarily frank language, friends.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then the President's going to sign it today. So how do Americans feel about this at this point? This is the latest poll. This is polling was done 15th through the 17th. So up till two days ago, the vast majority of Americans think the US government should release all of its files from the Investigation of Epstein. 80%. It includes 91% of Democrats, 83% of independents and 2/3 of Republicans that think all of the files around Epstein should come out. I mean, that's pretty strong support. And that's, that's the reason. I mean, because politicians are aware of this. They're either aware of the internal, internal polling around this or they're hearing from their own constituents. And that's why it was a 428 to 1 vote yesterday where none of them wanted to be on a. Well, I don't think we should side of it.

[Joe Getty]

Do you want to to know actually what's going to happen now?

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

If the President signs it. So the Epstein Files Transparency act would direct the Attorney General to make unclassified documents. Hello.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go.

[Joe Getty]

The conspiracy theories are well fertilized and ready to continue growing in spite of the release because there will be some classified stuff anyway. Make unclassified documents related Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell available within 30 days of being signed into law. The bill requires assist systematic disclosure of documents from the Justice Department, including flight logs, internal memos, personal communications, metadata, immunity agreements and more. It also stipulates that the release material be fully searchable and downloadable. The bill allows for redactions for victim identifying information and materials depicting child sex abuse. Then an additional report to Congress outlining what was redacted and why. Yeah, within 15 days of the publication.

[Jack Armstrong]

They have to be specific on why they redacted anything. And there's going to be, unless something changes, tremendous political pressure from all sides, as you just heard, to do this quickly and to do as you know, you better explain your redactions.

[Joe Getty]

And here is another wrinkle that will leave the most hungry unsatisfied. The bill allows the attorney general to withhold or redact, as we said, victims names, medical information, child porn information that would jeopardize an active investigation and images of death or abuse. It requires Justice Department to justify its redactions. But the Justice Department could say, well, Trump told us to, to investigate all these different Democrats so we can't release this stuff because it's part of an ongoing investigation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I think that was part of his ploy, but it ain't going to work. The public opinion is too strong. And that's why Trump changed directions. He, he launched that investigation on what, Friday after we got off the air. I think by Sunday night he was full bore. You all got to vote for this. He had flipped completely.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Some Republicans have said that the release could damage the reputations of people who've attended Epstein's parties but not engaged in any wrongdoing. But Ro Khanna, who is a grandstanding, hypocritical, America hating jackass, says if you showed up at Epstein's Rape Island, I don't have that much sympathy if your name gets released. But this is how innuendo works. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because there's going to be a lot of people.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right, exactly. This is how innuenda works. And I, you know, as I explained earlier, having, you know, hung around some fairly wild people at various times of my life, there are different levels of the inner sanctum. And not everybody gets to the inner, inner sanctum where you got 17 year old girls running around. So you could easily have come up against this guy and be completely innocent of anything other than you want to go to a party where, where Bill Gates is and, and he famously had dinner parties with like Katie Cour, Martha Stewart and you know, women like that as well. If I'm at a dinner party with Martha Stewart, that's not akin to me raping a 17 year old. Anyway. The island is definitely a different level of I'm partying with Jeffrey Epstein. But even that, that's still innuendo. Unless there's some sort of evidence though.

[Jack Armstrong]

When makes a difference though. The reason Larry Summers is in so much trouble and had to back down from everything is how many people are we going to find out were interacting with Jeffrey Epstein Flying on his plane, going to his island after he'd already.

[Joe Getty]

Been caught and convicted the first time. What?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's what's amazing. We read a piece from National Review yesterday, Rich Lowry had written, and I came across another one from a journalist I don't remember right now saying basically the same thing, how gross this is for all of us to find out that at the highest level of rich.

[Joe Getty]

Powerful, you just overlook all kinds of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gross things that you've heard about or seen or they've been convicted of, to be in that group. And tons of people where you're Larry Summers, Bill Clinton, whoever the hell it is, business people, you know, yeah, he's got a, you know, he got convicted of something, whatever. I'm still going to be at his party and fly to his plane and do these things and go to the fundraiser because we're all in this tiny little group where we all look out for each other and nobody will ever find out about it because we keep this stuff secret.

[Joe Getty]

That is absolutely true. And I referred to the Joe Nacera piece from the Free Press, which we'll get to next hour. He spent an enormous amount of time plowing through all these emails and that have been released so far. And his takeaway, the very short version, is not that there was, you know, specific, nefarious, you know, plotting going on or anything like that, but the lack of giving a damn by these people about what this guy was and what he had done, as you just described it pretty well. They didn't care.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because it's, you're, you got to be in the in crowd. He was, he was like one of the biggest deals ever. In the in crowd.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I don't, I, I don't like cynicism. I'm a big, big fan of skepticism. Okay. And I don't want to turn people cynical about their country and the law and the rest of it. But here's, here's a great example of what we're talking about. This happens to be a Democrat, but in 2019, Kamala Harris said this about so called dark money. Your dark money fundraisers who don't disclose their donors and then hand out money. George Soros and that company, and they exist on the right. She said this. It does not represent justice in America when dark money is fueling elections and when the few who have the greatest amount of wealth behind a veil without even presenting themselves are their names, manipulate and fuel the election process. Then during her campaign, she took in millions and millions of dollars of dark money to her packs. Mountainous amounts of money. These people have no principles. Their only principles are power, the accumulation of power and money to a large extent.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So again, we read that piece yesterday and Rich Lowry, National Review has been in politics his whole life in D.C. and around there. And he said friends and family are always, you know, cynical, the way Joe just described it. And he has to talk them down saying, no, it's not as bad as you've heard. And that's what Mark Halperin said, reporter Mark Halperin said on his videocast last night. He said, my whole life I've been telling people, it's not as bad as you think. Everybody's not in it for themselves. They're not all corrupt, blah, blah, blah. And he said in this story, he said, the more I look into it makes it look like I was wrong all these years, that at the highest levels they run in certain circles and look out for each other and ignore all kinds of wrongdoing to be part.

[Joe Getty]

Of some sort of super powerful rich guy club. Yeah. Well, my final pronouncement on that topic is our very system of government was designed because the founding papas knew that you had to presume guilt. You know, guilty until proven innocent if you are trusted with power in government. Because they knew human nature and they knew the way people behave. Speaking of human nature, thieves gonna thief. And that's why Simplisafe home security is so great. It doesn't react after an intruder has broken in your windows. Simplisafe is not different. They take action before Simply Safe's live agents get the heads up from the AI powered cameras that somebody's lurking around your house. They can immediately let that, that junky jackass know they're on camera. And if they don't leave, the cops are on their way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why wouldn't you try it? Make this the year, starting with your New Year's resolutions. Now to finally do the whole Simply Safe thing. And with the 60 day money back guarantee, no long term contracts, there's no risk in trying to do it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and it's not one of those systems where you have to look at the footage and figure out what's going on, then decide whether to call the cops because you're in an important meeting or something like that. No. Simply Safe does it. Go to simplisafe.com armstrong today you will get 60% off any new system. This is their best deal of the year. No better prices coming. And with a 60 day money back guarantee, long, no long term contracts. They earn your business every day. Simply safe.com Armstrong 60% off. Simply safe.com Armstrong. There's no safe like simply safe.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't want to use up any of your email time, but later I'll tell a story I heard yesterday about these movie screening parties that Epstein would throw in New York that everybody would go to. The rich and powerful, the big movies that come out, they see them like two months before we do. All together in a room with a fabulous buffet, hanging out with each other with Jeffrey Epstein walking around. Because he's the guy that put it all together.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

For instance. That's something. And you got to be able to tell your friends, oh, I've already seen Titanic. I saw it two months ago with. I was there with. Leonardo was there and Bill Clinton was there. And that's what it's like, absolutely wonderful.

[Joe Getty]

The beluga caviar was to die for.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Epstein was the guy that put that kind of stuff together.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, he was one of the world's greatest networkers. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got email on the way and a bunch of other stuff. Stay here.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Larry Summers lost another job, this time with OpenAI. The details of what he was trying to do with the hot young economist and how that's all known and his wife and everything like that. Maybe we'll get to that later in the show.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, here's your freedom loving.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Who's your freedom loving? Quote of the day. I like this one. It's from John Lennon. Yes, Imagine is an insipid song, but he was an intriguing guy, very bright. When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down happy. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that is good.

[Joe Getty]

That really is good.

[Jack Armstrong]

How old was he?

[Joe Getty]

Well, he says he was young. Five years old. It's a. No doubt an apocryphal tale, but it's an intriguing thought.

[Jack Armstrong]

By the way, I've watched enough of that Beatles documentary. I was watching someone last night. Paul is like 90% of the Beatles.

[Joe Getty]

I. I disagree, but I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. He's definitely a very, very large percent of what elevated them from a rock and roll band. But, but anyway, another. We'll pour people to death with that topic. Maybe on a podcast or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

Mailbag. It's. I always. I'm frustrated. I watch YouTube videos about music all the time. And I'm fr. People who obviously don't have the rights to actually play the music they're talking about to illustrate their point is somewhat unsatisfying in the world of music. Hasn't figured out podcasts. The whole playing a song on the radio thing is old head. Everybody knows what the contracts are, what the rights are, what the fees are, blah, blah, blah. But podcasting is a brave new world. Nobody's figured it out yet. That's why we can't really use songs in podcasts. Anyway, moving along, this is tension. Jack from Jeff. Driving to work, a gentleman had to swerve to avoid a box that fell out of a truck in front of him. Cop sees him do it. It pulls him over for reckless driving. Fortunately, another officer had seen the carton in the road and said, no, you shouldn't give the guy a ticket. So the cop takes the box, he looks in. The box contains all these large upholstery tacks. I'm sorry, sir, the trooper tells the driver, I'm still gonna have to write you a ticket. Amazed, the driver asks for what? Trooper replies, tax evasion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Not sure the juice was worth the extended squeeze there.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a long way to drive, dad. We drove this all this way for this?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Now looking back at it in print, it's better. Moving along, Marina writes, guys guest on Fox had the best line for a T shirt. According to Democrats, men make the best women. That's good. That's good. It's a point I've made many times. You know, the transgender thing has taught us this, ladies is all these transgender guys have won pageants. Men are better at everything, including being women.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you just. You have to accepted women would be standing up against this. But so far, not all for reasons we've discussed.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, nice note from. We'll just say Mac, who sends us historical notes semi regularly. People should be reminded it was on today's very date in 1863 that President Lincoln, at the dedication of the national cemetery, delivered the Gettysburg Address, widely considered to be one of the finest and most noble speeches in American history. Oh, it's Mike. Okay, thanks, Mike.

[Jack Armstrong]

And what should be remembered more than anything out of that is it's incredibly short. What is it, like 200 words or something like that? Yeah, you can have a speech that people remember and recite forever. That's a couple hundred words. Long length is not the key, but.

[Joe Getty]

For some reason it was mocked by the media at the time. Partly shortness.

[Jack Armstrong]

People still think length is the key. To make an impact, you got to Talk for like 45 minutes or an hour, an hour and a half.

[Joe Getty]

No, no, no, no, no. I was going to memorize the Gettysburg Address. I decided on that one day and put about 20 minutes into it and. And said I would come back to it the next day and never did.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nice effort.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, thank you.

[Jack Armstrong]

20 minutes, huh?

[Joe Getty]

I'll just say. And that may be an exaggeration, Michael. I'll just say first initial. Jay, who I hesitate to platform but it's a good example of of what the world is like. Looking forward to tomorrow's show to hear the utter bull ass and coping about Epstein. To make the calculated decision to never mention Massey saying Epstein has ties to the CIA and Mossad. You're both cowards and frauds. And I hope you know to the core of your being. It was under your watch, your generation, your libertarian Republican garbage that the country was destroyed. My generation is taking down the swamp. My generation will regain American sovereignty from Israel and Zionist control. My generation will fight back against demographic replacement. My generation will fight the culture war against feminism and LGBT and not eff it up more than you already have. Sincerely, Jay. Ah, the angry young man. And at the root of it is the Jews. Good to see that back for the 27th time. And the hyper confidence of the angry young man. That's original too because you figured out everything. Congratulations.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I know people like that. Men and women who have that exactly that attitude could have written that email. I just. The thing I wonder is what percentage that is. I wish I had a better idea of what percentage of people are that. I assume he's unhappy with Trump at this point. Point.

[Joe Getty]

And finally, how much time do we have, Michael? About 40 seconds. 40 seconds. JT and Livermore writes, contrary to Jack's claim that MTG is about as MAGA as anyone in America. You can't be MAGA without being pro Trump. Trump and MAGA are synonymous.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what Trump says.

[Joe Getty]

And second, MTG went off the deep end years ago. Her break with Trump is not actually new. In particular, as far back as 2021, she started spouting her anti Semitic BS about Jewish lasers, starting California wildfires, the Rothschilds genocide, genocide in Gaza, etceter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Etc. You say Trump is maga? We will find out. Trump says it is. A whole bunch of people out there saying no he's not. We're maga. Like that guy earlier with his email. We'll see how big that crowd is now. Much power they have over the Republican Party. We have so much to talk about. I hope you can stay with us. If you miss a segment, get the podcast.

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Armstrong and Getty.

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