Thanks, Napoleon. You Jackass!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Thanks, Napoleon. You Jackass!"

Date: March 27, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Guest: Mike Lyons, Military Analyst

---

Episode Overview

This episode blends analysis of escalating military conflict in the Middle East—especially U.S. involvement in Iran—with discussions of media narratives, cultural phenomena like protests and group identity, news about archaeological discoveries, and quirky musings on daily life. Military analyst Mike Lyons provides in-depth commentary on the strategic posture of the U.S. and Iran. The hosts further explore media sensationalism, political rallies, and even touch on recent odd news stories, maintaining their signature mix of irreverence, skepticism, and cultural observation.

---

Key Segments and Discussion Points

1. Escalation in the Middle East: Boots on the Ground and Military Strategy

[01:00–09:49] In-depth Interview with Mike Lyons

• Deployment of Additional U.S. Troops

  • The Pentagon is considering sending 10,000 more troops, in addition to 1,500 already-mobilized paratroopers, to a conflict zone in the Middle East.
  • The exact total troop count and force composition are not finalized.

• Emphasis on Air Campaign

  • Lyons advocates for extending the air war, stressing that ground deployment should only follow after air power has sufficiently degraded enemy assets.
  • "I don't think we've hit enough targets... there's still lots of military targets, lots of targets of opportunity." (Mike Lyons, [01:42])

• Strategy on Carg Island and Oil Refineries

  • Taking Carg Island would provide a visible victory but is “heavily defended.” Likely not imminent—special forces might be used if it happens.
  • Targeting oil refineries could cripple Iran economically and would mark a strategic shift from just fighting to “waging war.”
  • “The United States is great at fighting wars, but we’ve not been really good at waging wars and doing something like that… That would make a real difference.” (Mike Lyons, [03:28])

• Securing Nuclear Material

  • Removing uranium stockpiles is a massive engineering and intelligence challenge, likely requiring international cooperation post-conflict.
  • "You're not putting that on the back of a Special Forces helicopter and getting in and getting out... that's a long, really difficult engineering problem set." (Mike Lyons, [04:18])

• Modern War Timelines vs. Public Expectations

  • Lyons cautions against the "TikTok world" mentality expecting quick results.
  • Historical examples (Desert Storm, Vietnam) show that real wars are protracted, complicated, and casualties are minimized by current standards.
  • “Fast wars just don’t happen and they’re not easily resolved.” (Mike Lyons, [05:38])

• Force Size, Logistics, and Strategy

  • Unlikely the U.S. will deploy massive ground formations. Expect reliance on rapid deployment, light infantry, and special forces.
  • Taking and holding strategic targets (like refineries) is the more effective approach for forcing outcomes.

• Iranian Military Cohesion

  • No signs yet of major internal breakdowns or loss of loyalty within Iranian forces, despite hopes of fissures between IRGC and Basij.

---

2. Media Narratives and the Cultural Climate

[09:49–13:05] Armstrong & Getty on Modern Media

• The hosts critique the U.S. media’s tendency toward clickbait, sensationalism, and negative framing during wartime.

• Notable exchange:

  • "Everything is clickbait and or narrative reinforcement… We really try to avoid that but we're too stubborn to change." (Joe Getty, [11:15])
  • “A point, a percentage and a half drop in the stock market in one day doesn’t mean a freaking thing.” (Jack Armstrong, [12:32])

• Discussion of how media coverage can shape public opinion and morale, contrasting current skepticism and criticism with more unified or controlled reporting in past conflicts.

---

3. Archaeological Discoveries: Second Sphinx Found

[15:11–16:27] Breaking History News

• News surfaces about a second Sphinx discovered buried beneath the sands in Egypt.
• Armstrong jokes about Napoleon, referencing the story that he blew the nose off the original Sphinx.
  • “Thanks, Napoleon. You jackass.” (Joe Getty, [15:31])
• Theorizing about larger Egyptian complexes yet to be uncovered and light banter about ancient construction.

---

4. Trump, Currency, and Political Branding

[16:45–17:45] Quick Political Round-up

• Discussion about rumors of Trump’s signature appearing on U.S. currency and possible commemorative coins.
• Armstrong expresses disinterest in the symbolism, while Getty muses over the permanence of such gestures.

---

5. Politics as “Bad Group Therapy” & The “No Kings” Rallies

[17:51–28:00] Social Psychology and Politics

• Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist, argues that current political activism (especially progressive rallies) resembles “bad group therapy”—more about emotional affirmation than substantive change.

  • “Feelings are increasingly treated not as signals to examine, but as conclusions to affirm.” (Joe Getty, summarizing Alpert, [22:23])

• The demographic analysis of rallies (left-leaning, highly educated, childless women in their 40s) leads to a broader discussion about identity, group behavior, and the rise of therapeutic language shaping modern protest culture.

  • “Many rallies have taken on a performative, even theatrical quality… The primary goal is expression rather than persuasion.” (Joe Getty, [28:41])

• Katie (producer/commentator) chimes in, describing some protests as more social parties than substantive activism.

---

6. Odd News & Listener Lifehacks

[28:15–34:13] Human Moments

• Sports: Musings about fandom and group identity, comparing sports fans’ camaraderie to political rally dynamics.

• Listener Segment: A humorous sidebar about whether people put on their socks standing up or sitting.

  • Katie: “I've always done it standing up... But then it was like a couple of weeks ago that I tried it and I smashed my face into the back of my office chair.” ([33:15])

---

7. U.S. Biolabs Discovered Operating Illegally

[34:14–36:54] Major Investigative Story

• Code enforcement in Reedley, California, uncovers a secretive lab run by a Chinese national, containing dangerous pathogens (Ebola, HIV, malaria, COVID-19) and suspicious test kit production.
• Ties to a similar lab discovered in Las Vegas; both are linked to CCP-affiliated entities.
  • “It’s a Chinese Communist Party bioweapons lab in the U.S.—two of them. At least two.” (Joe Getty, [36:28])
• Hosts emphasize the risks of an open society in the face of adversarial state actors.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The fallacy of a short war is that thing we've seen in the last century ... Fast wars just don't happen and they're not easily resolved."
  – Mike Lyons ([05:38])

• "Thanks, Napoleon. You jackass."
  – Joe Getty, on the Sphinx’s missing nose ([15:31])

• "Everything is clickbait and or narrative reinforcement."
  – Joe Getty ([11:15])

• "Many rallies have taken on a performative, even theatrical quality, with costumes and exaggerated symbolism replacing direct political engagement."
  – Joe Getty, summarizing Jonathan Alpert ([28:41])

• "It's a Chinese Communist Party bioweapons lab in the US—two of them. At least two of them. Wow."
  – Joe Getty ([36:28])

• "I've always done it [putting on socks] standing up... But then it was like a couple of weeks ago that I tried it and I smashed my face into the back of my office chair."
  – Katie ([33:15])

---

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Notes | |-----------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:00 | Troop deployments in Middle East | Interview with Mike Lyons begins | | 02:43 | Strategy on Carg Island | Lyons discusses potential military targets and Logic of waging, not just fighting | | 05:38 | War timelines | Lyons details modern vs. historical conflicts | | 09:49 | Media coverage during war | Hosts critique negative, clickbait war reporting | | 15:11 | Egyptian sphinx discovery | Lighter segment, Sphinx, and humor about Napoleon | | 17:51 | "No Kings" rallies & group therapy | Deep dive into politics-as-therapy; Jonathan Alpert insights | | 34:13 | Listener sock challenge | Hosts discuss the logistics of standing vs. sitting for socks | | 34:14 | Secret biolabs in California | Breaking news on CCP-tied facilities |

---

Tone & Style

The episode is brisk, irreverent, and conversational, blending sharp political-military analysis with cultural critique and offbeat humor. The hosts maintain their established persona of skeptical observers, unafraid to lampoon both the news media and activist culture, while also highlighting genuine threats and curiosities in current events.

---

For Listeners

This episode is a must-listen for those interested in U.S. military strategy, media criticism, and cultural commentary. Even non-news junkies will appreciate the relatable tangents and oddball stories—whether it's the Sphinx, currency rumors, or how to put on your socks. The juxtaposition of serious analysis and quirky banter is quintessential Armstrong & Getty.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Global Gaming League is presented by

[Howie Mandel]

Atlas Earth, the fun cashback app. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my How We do it gaming team take on Gilly the king and wallow. $267 million gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match right [e-mail] that's global gam league.com in

[Jack Armstrong]

partnership with Level Up Expo, broadcasting live

[Joe Getty]

from the Abraham Lincoln Radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Mike Lyons]

Meantime, the Wall Street Journal reports the

[Joe Getty]

Pentagon is considering sending an additional 10,000 troops to region. That's in addition to the 1500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne to be mobilized for the war. It's not clear which division the troops would be drawn from.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't know what that brings the total number to that's being sent there, but we're definitely getting more boots that can be on the ground in the area.

[Joe Getty]

And this conflict certainly has the potential to become the biggest story of our lives. Jack and I both amazed at how little attention is being paid by a lot of media. But that's a discussion for another moment. Right now, let's talk to military analyst Mike Lyons, who joins us. Mike, hello. How are you?

[Mike Lyons]

Hey, good morning, guys. Great to be back.

[Jack Armstrong]

As boots get closer to the ground, what are your concerns?

[Mike Lyons]

You know, I still want to keep the air war going, the air campaign going. I don't think we've hit enough targets. I guess over 10,000, but there's still lots of military targets, lots of targets of opportunity to go after and continue to use that as a way to degrade and to put pressure on this regime to try to get them to a point where they will agree to something reasonable. You can see what they've put out so far is completely unreasonable. I know we're working Steve Witkoff's 15 point plan, which resembles like they did in Gaza, but there's no such thing as a 15 point successful peace plan anywhere. So again, I have no problem keeping the military aspects going, but there will likely be soldiers at some point that'll have to be deployed for a couple different reasons. One, to get the half a ton of depleted or enriched uranium out of there and perhaps make it a show of Force to make sure that we have some visible sign of victory.

[Joe Getty]

Based on what you've read and heard, how likely do you think it is we'll take a shot at taking Carg Island?

[Mike Lyons]

Well, that would be the most easiest way for this administration to get a victory, to get a visual on what's going on. But I do think that there's IRGC units dug in there. It's heavily defended. I don't think we'll go there anytime soon. In fact, we could continue to bomb it for three more weeks or so. And I don't see the Marines launching a D Day type invasion there. I don't see that. If we do, it's Army Rangers and Delta kind of occupying it. If you remember back Mogadishu kind of fast roping. I think that's the air assault airborne way to do that. From a military perspective. I'm getting a little bit inside baseball here, but I think it would be important. And I think, look, we're really good at fighting wars, right? The United States is great at fighting wars, but we've not been really good at waging wars and doing something like that. Taking Carg island and taking over Iranians oil refineries would be a good way to wage war. That would be the kind of thing that would make a real difference. Now, I know a lot of people would be screaming about war crimes and civilians and all these other things, but this is what waging war is all about. This is what Clausewitz would say is how a country has to expect if it wants to win. If we just want to, again, wallow a novocaine and not, you know, do what we did for the past two conflicts, then we'll get nothing done. But this administration is not interested in doing that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you brought up that whole idea of securing nuclear material. That seems like a heck of a job to me. I mean, are they gonna have to go to these areas that we just bombed the bejesus out of and get some dump trucks and some backhoes and start digging while protecting it? I mean, what's that gonna look like?

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah. No, I don't know. It's gonna take intel first from Israel that will likely know where it's stored to find out where it is and then find out how difficult it's gonna be to extract? Is it underground? Has it been enc? In some cases. So whether that mission's plausible or not, that would be. You know, we want to get the imea, the international, you know, community involved with that mission, if that's possible. But you're not putting that, you know, on the back of a Special Forces helicopter and getting in and getting out and doing that mission. That's a long, you know, really difficult engineering problem set to solve. And I think the, you know, probably solved after the conflict is officially over on some level. But that would be another one of those signs that the president could point to and say, this is why we're victorious.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And one more note. I've heard that it is extremely dangerous and volatile stuff to deal with, as you might expect. Highly refined uranium.

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, the protection alone of the forces would be overwhelming. Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, Mike, another discussion we've had a number of times on the show is that how in the TikTok world, everybody expects things to be wrapped up within 72 hours or they think, you know, it's gone wrong. Talk to us. As a veteran of combat and a student in military history, where are we timeline wise, in a very significant and I would argue, important war?

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, the fallacy of a short war is that thing we've seen in century, in the last century, based on Desert Storm, about how fast that happened. But that was just the ground aspect of it, what's forgotten, or the 37 or 38 days of the air pounding that took place, and we still had to send ground troops in order to kind of clean that up. And in this case, you know, we had four times the amount of air sorties that were flew during Desert Storm there. We're still doing a lot here, but from the grand scheme of things, I think it lulled Vladimir Putin, for example, into a false sense of security, thinking he was going to take Ukraine very quickly. Just he forgot to figure out how to way to take his forces and multiply them and combine them. But that's another thing. But in the grand scheme of things, fast wars just don't happen and they're not easily resolved. And Desert Storm was an unfortunate example of when it did happen that a lot of people point to and say, why can't we do something similar there? Which is why, again, this goes on for many, and this administration, I'm sure, will protect its forces. I think the number they have on their board right now is 13, you know, how many Kia at this point. And the objective is to keep that low. Which, again, to me, you think back when we were doing Vietnam, we were sending 150 bodies and body bags back every week, and no one blinked an eye about it. So, again, protection of the force is going to be important, but we could still see this conflict go for months.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they talked about that clip we played. 10,000 more troops being sent over there to join up with 1500 this or that. Do you expect that number to go way up? I mean the reporting today from all the sources that I really trust is Trump is hell bent on we're going to pound them until they surrender or we're going to take what we want. We're just going to take it from them. Is that going to take like a really big number of troops? Should we be prepared for that?

[Mike Lyons]

No, I think that's where again not sending large formations, not sending the 1st Armored Division, 300 main battle tanks, 100 and 240 Brads. We're not sending the logistics that goes with that kind of the tail of that kind of operation is just unsustainable and there's really no way to get it there. Now at this point the light infantry units will go 10th Mountain Division for example. That's not in the Rabber deployment force with the 82nd O' Rangers Delta, those guys that move fast. But that's another division that can kind of get in there and get out. There's an airborne unit in Alaska that could probably go. So they're just looking for again getting troops in there low logistics that can sustain themselves. Don't need lots of things to go with them. Take control of something and then hold it for a certain period of time. Again go back to if we decide to take the refineries which I think would be a tremendous military target right now. And I think hopefully they're working on that. I think that cripples Iran takes their ability to generate revenue and puts the United States in control of that oil resource. Now again the world's going to scream, you know, the imperialistic, you know, Americans are doing it again. But that's the way to get this war to stop. That's, that's waging war against the country, not just fighting it.

[Joe Getty]

Mike, my final question is when you look at Iran's defense forces, have you heard of or seen any signs that there might be cracks in the loyalty or serious breakdowns in command and control?

[Mike Lyons]

So no and didn't have seen us go after Basij targets which surprised me. I thought that you were going to see it there. I'd read previous incidents that the Basij would have somewhat turned against the the IRGC because they were conflicting each other. It's kind of like big brother, little brother within the country. But it doesn't look like that's happened. It's like that the besiege is still well aligned with the irgc. The besieged think of the besiege as local police, dhs, you know, kind of not true military forces but having control over security. They're the ones that are, that are killing the civilians right now that are protesting and they've become a target. So that's been disappointing but haven't seen the breakdown yet. I mean again they've been dug in for 47 years. They've been someone planning for this for 47 years and the IRGC is just not going away anytime yet. We just not. We're not at the level where someone finally says enough's enough again because we haven't waged war, we've just continued to fight.

[Joe Getty]

Mike, just fantastic. Best analysis I've heard anywhere and we sure appreciate the time and the energy you put into it. Thanks.

[Mike Lyons]

Great guys. Thanks for having me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that whole wage war versus fight war. I'm going to have to spend more time looking into all that. That's really interesting.

[Joe Getty]

Seriously. Mike's analysis is so much better than anything else you hear. Oh so good.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have there no military background and only what I've read about wars. I do know something about the media though and so like I'm looking up at the headlines on what is that? Good morning America stocks plunge, oil rises on Iran, war fear fears which is true enough but the drumbeat of that sort of thing. Has there ever been in the history of the world a country go to war and your media or maybe even the pre media era, I don't even know who you'd be talking about the I don't know, village elders or whatever bad mouthing their own efforts and exaggerating, making positive things look like a failure. I mean has that ever happened? I don't know if it has ever happened, honest to God, in the history of the world. Including like if you got an Indian tribe going over to fight the next tribe on the other side of the hill and everybody's standing around saying oh yeah, I heard it's going horrible and as you can see food is getting scarce. So it's a disaster when, when all the facts on the ground are it's

[Joe Getty]

going fairly well, everything is clickbait and or narrative reinforcement which is clickbait. Everything is clickbait in media. We really try to avoid that but it's probably a strategic mistake but we're too stubborn to change.

[Jack Armstrong]

But sure interesting culturally.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know and sometimes it probably wasn't good what the Brits were doing in the Boer War wasn't, wasn't the greatest thing in the world or you know, God help you. Who was it?

[Joe Getty]

I didn't pay attention to the Boer War. You know why? Too boring.

[Jack Armstrong]

Belgium and what they did to King Leopold. I mean, look into that sometime. But, but their own media wouldn't have been reporting that because they weren't allowed to, which is probably isn't good.

[Joe Getty]

But.

[Jack Armstrong]

But regardless, I don't know if it's ever happened where a country's gone to war and you have media at home giving you the worst case scenario as a drumbeat.

[Joe Getty]

So I'm looking at the markets right now and the S and P was down about one and a quarter percent. It's now bounced back to DIS being down three quarters of a percent and the NASDAQ is down about 1% having also bounced back. So the idea that you would go with as a responsible news organization Plunge. Right. Exactly. That you would use that verbiage is hilarious. It's, it's clickbait, period. Although it does affect people's minds and their, their hearts and attitudes about what we're up to as a country.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if you had a really good media and you know, you can't expect this, but they would give you some context. A point, a percentage and a half drop in the stock market in one day doesn't mean a freaking thing. It means zero. There's so many factors that go into a percentage up or down for one day. To draw any analysis from that is

[Joe Getty]

insane unless you just had on your calendar. I'm going to cash out all of my investments to retire on this day. Well, number one, you need a better financial advisor.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Right. Better media.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's something. Anyway, any thoughts on any of that? Text line 415295 KFTC Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Safeway/Albertsons Advertiser]

Save on family essentials at Safeway and Albertsons this week at Safeway and Albertsons Signature select spiral ham bone in is 127 pound. Member price with digital coupon limit 1 while supplies last and Fuji Gala or Granny smith apples are 79 cents per pound. Member price plus selected sizes and variety of Pepsi Pure leaf tea, Rockstar Energy Propel water or Gatorade are 97 cents each. Member price with digital coupon limit 10. Visit safewayoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, it's Bubba Wallace from 2311 Racing you know what feels like forever

[Joe Getty]

sitting

[Jack Armstrong]

on a plane waiting for takeoff. Good thing I've got Jumba Casino with Daily Boost and Social Casino Games on tap. This is the kind of fun that makes time fly. Why not turbocharge your downtime play [e-mail]? let's Chumba.

[Joe Getty]

Sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Jack Armstrong]

No purchase necessary.

[Joe Getty]

VGW Group voidware prohibited by law. 21+, terms and conditions apply.

[Jack Armstrong]

Major League Baseball. The Dodgers hosted the Diamondbacks at Dodgers Stadium.

[Joe Getty]

Louisiana.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is trying to win their third straight World Series. Dodgers right now are kind of like the Chicago bulls from the 90s, except they have three Michael Jordans and they're all Japanese. I don't know if you saw any of the clips of Savannah Guthrie. Did an interview for the first time. The interesting thing to me was she's gonna return to the Today Show April 6th, so next Friday. I didn't. I didn't think she'd ever come back after that. I don't know if I could.

[Katie]

Well, she's blaming herself for her mom's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's too bad.

[Joe Getty]

Well, her fame, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's too bad.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can't. I have no idea how I would process that and what I would do, you know? Two months later,

[Jack Armstrong]

completely different topic. They found a second sphinx buried under the sand in Egypt. You know, the sphinx, the big old. The lion with a pharaoh's head or whatever the heck that thing is that the snake tailor. Napoleon blew the nose off of it. That's why it looks like that.

[Joe Getty]

Thanks, Napoleon. You jackass.

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding, you jackass. Anyway, they found another one buried under the sand, suggesting a mega structure of many pyramids and sphinxes that might exist under the sand. Still, I would have thought we'd have had some sort of X ray technology or something where we could have figured that out by now.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, given all the antiquities and riches and everything. On the other hand, maybe the pharaoh just had a Bogo coupon and buy one, get one. Buy one sphinx, get one free. Who knows? Jimmy, the sphinx maker was struggling for business, so started sending out coupons.

[Jack Armstrong]

Think about all the slaves whose entire lives were toiling in the hot sun to build those things for nothing.

[Joe Getty]

Put the one sphinx up there and just bury the other one. And we'll grab it when we need it. Well, I'll remember it's there. That's how it went. Some sort of super giant complex, though. Oh, that would be amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is what I was saying a couple of weeks ago, and I'm not to drag the Iran war back into this, but if the Middle east became like Europe. God, there's a lot of great tourist destinations there.

[Joe Getty]

No, I might just move there for a year, maybe two. Check out all this cool stuff. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mentioned Trump's gonna put his signature on the money. Usually the Secretary of Treasury signs all the money, but it's going to be Trump signature. And then there's also a gold coin coming out with his face on it. I heard that on Ms. Now is that true?

[Joe Getty]

I didn't hear that anywhere. People on currency.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that a real rule or did you. That's the Joe Getty rule.

[Joe Getty]

That's my rule. No, I think it's federal law.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

But I can't be sure. I mean, it's the sort of thing you learn as an 8 year old.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not sure I care. I don't rank these up to the level of caring. So these sorts of things.

[Joe Getty]

Trump's self aggrandizement is already so far beyond my comprehension and ability to believe it that one more thing would just be one more thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

But. But does, does he feel like putting his name on the Kennedy Art center, the Trump Kennedy Art center or whatever is gonna last past the first Democratic administration?

[Joe Getty]

I have no idea how he thinks about these things. It seems nuts to me for reasons like that. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

But again, I don't care either way. Not on my list. What is that thing you're going to tell us? Coming up.

[Joe Getty]

I love this. Oh, it's. It's absolutely great. It's a psychotherapist who says he's talking about the next no Kings rally. I had no idea when was happening. I guess it's happening tomorrow. No Kings Politics is bad group therapy. There's another politics has become ineffective. Bad group therapy. And he explains why. It's very insightful.

[Jack Armstrong]

There will be a no Kings rally while we're trying to get rid of a king in Iran and you're complaining about it.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. A king who behaves. Just like the Handmaid's Tale.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, yeah, it's as if you people are idiots.

[Jack Armstrong]

The mindset of people who go to rallies and protests. So yeah, I look forward to talking about that and a whole bunch of other stuff that we got coming up on the show.

[Joe Getty]

Michael, do we still have that old clip? Quit being a idiot. That was one of my favorite. Yeah, I can find it lots on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you missed a segment of the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Bob Costas]

It doesn't make any sense to have a swimmer who was the 472nd ranked swimmer when he was a man at Penn either winning or coming close to winning against women. A Year and a half after transitioning. If that's what the person wants to do, that person should be treated with dignity and respect. But there ought to be common sense and common sense is not transphobic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's Bob Costas who I think is an amazing announcer and one of the greatest interviews viewers in history. But if you follow Bob Costas, he got very political in the last several years. Where was that while this was happening when, when that pen swimmer was beating all the girls? And where were you then, Bob Gusas. He didn't have the nerve to say that. Now he says it with obviously we all agree on this. That's nuts.

[Joe Getty]

Sort of. I didn't realize he was passive while it was happening when we were yelling about it. But anyway, Bob is actually reacting to the announcement from the IOC. And here's the iOS, the International Olympic Committee, their president, Kirsty Coventry.

[Podcast Host]

The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes. At its heart, the scientific evidence is very clear. Male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power or endurance. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So it's absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would would simply not be safe.

[Joe Getty]

Can you imagine reviving perhaps a loved one who passed away 15 years ago? Right. And they would hear that and they would say they're talking about men playing in women's sports.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why is she answering a question nobody's ever asked?

[Joe Getty]

And why is she so wordy? The answer is no, men can't play in women's sports. We're through here. Yeah. Yeah. It is so astonishing.

[Jack Armstrong]

And in some cases it would be dangerous. You mean like when that dude beat the crap out of the girls in the boxing to the point that some of them quit halfway through? Like I'm going to get killed out here. Is that what you mean?

[Joe Getty]

Even in non combat sports like basketball, volleyball, terrible injuries to young women and grown women as well. Yeah, it's absolutely bizarre. It shows how quickly a social contagion can infect people and make them say and do things that are just insane. Anyway, speaking of progressive attitudes, good for the ioc. A little late to the party, but thanks for coming anyway. Speaking of the left's attitudes, apparently there's going to be another no Kings demonstration or a bunch of them.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm against kings.

[Joe Getty]

Very good. Great. Me too. All across the country tomorrow. And Jonathan Alpert, who is not only a practicing psychotherapist, but he is writing he's about to release a book on how bad a lot of psychotherapy is, something that'll be near and dear to your heart, Jack, I'm sure. And he describes he's written a piece excuse me. My goodness. Allergies are bad this time here or you're dying? I could be. Well, we're all dying slowly from time anyway, he Sundays. After no King's rally last October, I was walking through the area and paused to read the signs. A woman asked me, aren't these great? And I said, I don't know. I actually like some of Trump's policies. Well, f you that. She shouted.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh God.

[Joe Getty]

Then he gets into the whole no Kings rally, and given our history, I mean, it's a striking claim that we're living under one or about to or something. But he says, still, it's revealing. It reflects a broader shift in how political disagreement is understood not as a clash of views, but as a struggle between victims and villains. Then he describes how the US is what it's always been, a contentious, often frustrated democracy with competing interests and imperfect leadership. But describing it in more dramatic terms raises the emotional stakes. It transforms ordinary political conflict into something more absolute and more psychologically satisfying, he says. In my work as a psychotherapist, I've seen a parallel change in how people interpret their personal lives. Feelings are increasingly treated not as signals to examine, but as conclusions to affirm. And I think we're kind of all familiar. We've heard that verbiage about how you can't deny my feelings or I've got to trust my feelings and all. When feelings are often wildly misleading, they're the last thing you should trust anyway. You shouldn't ignore them, but they should not dictate your life anyway. Discomfort is no longer something to work through, but something to explain, often by projecting blame onto an external source. This mindset doesn't stay in the therapy room. It has begun to shape political life, and the no Kings rallies offer a framework that support that favors affirmation over scrutiny, a clean moral narrative in which there are those who are wronged and those responsible for the wrongdoing. At their core, the rallies resemble bad group therapy gatherings that offer validation, solidarity, and emotional release. They feel good in the moment participants vent, find reinforcement among like minded people, and leave feeling heard and aligned. The experience can seem productive, even clarifying. But like bad group therapy, it stops at validation. The feelings are processed but not challenged, reinforced but not Examined, there is relief but little resolution and the underlying problems remain. It offers the feelings of progress without the substance of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but there's got to be a personality type that's susceptible to that and it runs one direction politically because otherwise you would think it would be happening exactly the same on the right with a certain kind of person who get their feelings validated and enjoy seeing. Well, there's a whole bunch of people that agree with me and all that sort of stuff, but it does.

[Joe Getty]

Yet it exists on the right, but it's a much, much smaller scale. I think a lot of the Trump rallies are that, but it's, it's tiny compared to some of this stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I don't know. But so outside of a Trump rally where it's around, you know, the personality that is the President.

[Joe Getty]

Sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, an issue rally on the right, boy, there have been very few of those in my lifetime that have had any. And I only became aware of this because I have a friend, really good

[Joe Getty]

dude,

[Jack Armstrong]

him and his wife, fantastic, great kids, blah, blah, blah, all that sort of stuff. But they apparently go to every rally that exists and just, and, and the first time I became aware of it, remember, it was years ago, and he said, I'll see you at the rally tomorrow. And I was like, I don't know anything about any rally. No, I'm going to be doing something. And then I had to look it up. There was some rally going on in our town that I was completely unaware of. But it was just like, of course, you know, that's what we're all doing tomorrow. We're all going to be at the rally. And then I became aware that, yeah, that's, that's what you do every, what you, I don't know what email thing you get on where you get the alert all the time, but you go to them all. Wow, it's just what you do.

[Joe Getty]

You were prescient in your question about personality types. Nintendo, lean left. The good doctor writes on the composition of these rallies help helps explain part of their dynamic. According to a survey conducted at no Kings rally in the District of Columbia, attendees skew heavily highly educated left leaning white women in their 40s who probably don't have kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they have time to go to a rally because they're not at the little league game or trying to get some sleep after a long week or whatever else.

[Joe Getty]

And this demographic stands at the forefront of the broader shift towards therapeutic language in which emotional experience is elevated, validated, and often treated as a kind of truth in itself. Many learn about the rallies through social networks where political views and identity are intertwined, you know, in less fancy language. I remember being amused and appreciating the thought expressed to us many, many years ago. Just because you're mad doesn't mean you're right. Or just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right. And what the good doctor is writing about here is the attitude that being offended is proof that I should be offended. You don't examine these feelings or question them or challenge them. You merely affirm them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Proof that I'm offended.

[Joe Getty]

Proof that I should be offended is that I am offended. Which turns psychotherapy on its head. We've been babbling. Katie, any thoughts on this based on the folks you've run into?

[Katie]

I'm. I mean, the folks that I've run into that go to these things, use them as, like, a party scene, though. I mean, I had a social event, sure, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Katie]

And, you know, they'd stop at the gas station and grab their tall cans beforehand and head out to San Francisco, and it turned into, you know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, and which side are you on?

[Joe Getty]

That was it.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's either young people without kids or old hippies whose kids are grown. I just can't believe that if you got children, there's a lot that as a percentage, that's very many of the people.

[Katie]

Yeah. None of them had kids at this, at this time, and still don't, actually.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's interesting. This is, you know, it's really an intersection of so many different aspects of human beings and how odd we are. But, like, if I go to, you know, my favorite sports team game

[Mike Lyons]

and

[Joe Getty]

we're all cheering and wearing similar gear and colors and the rest of it, it's fun. It feels good to be part of a crowd that you're all pulling for the same thing. And. Hey, wait a minute. I'm cheering for the Cubs. You're cheering for the Cubs?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And we. High five. We've never met each other. We'll never see each other again. Score.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Cardinals.

[Joe Getty]

Boo.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I hate them. I hate them. They play for a city that's somewhat

[Joe Getty]

further from my home address than this team, so I hate them anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they're bad people, Right?

[Joe Getty]

What was I gonna say? Oh, but I don't let that, like, dictate my politics. No, no, no. People are strange. Many rallies have taken on a performative, even theatrical quality, with costumes and exaggerated symbolism replacing direct political engagement. That approach lowers the stakes of confrontation, but reinforces the idea that the Primary goal is expression rather than persuasion. And the pattern extends beyond protests. In some corners of the culture, people who have committed or been accused of violence, such as Luigi Mangione, have been recast as anti establishment symbols, valued less for their actions than for what they appear to represent. The details differ, but the impulse is the same. A search for villains who make anger feel justified. Yeah, yeah. Human beings. What are you gonna do with them? Oh, that reminds me. Maybe later. I'm always cautious of relatives of Martin Luther King because a lot of them, some of them are grifters and phonies. But one of his nephews wrote a great piece on. What was it entitled? It had a very great simple title. Essentially, you're not. Your demonstrations are not what Dr. King wanted us to do. You're not protesting like Dr. King. He said, and he explains why. And I think he would be not only in agreement with the writer I was just quoting, but anybody who despises like Antifa and. And the pro Palestine window smashers. So anyway, more on that later.

[Jack Armstrong]

So didn't get to the story yesterday in Reedley, California, which I don't know that I knew of, which is down by Fresno. Fresno or up by Fresno, depending where you're listening right now. Or 3,000 miles from you. I don't know where you're listening right now.

[Joe Getty]

Over by Fresno,

[Jack Armstrong]

they found a lab that was operated by a Chinese national that was full of hiv, malaria, Covid, Ebola, and all kinds of awful things,

[Joe Getty]

similar to a find in Las Vegas, also run by a Chinese national.

[Jack Armstrong]

What the hell is going on there? Among other things to talk about.

[Joe Getty]

Stay here, Armstrong and Getty. And finally, a video has gained attention online of a gray squirrel in London carrying a vape pen. So congratulations to the very first squirrel in history to figure out a way to relax

[Jack Armstrong]

uptight squirrels. Hey, here's a text. This came up on the show and it's worth revisiting about putting on your socks standing up.

[Katie]

Oh, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yesterday, y' all mentioned how unusual it seemed that a listener normally put on their socks while standing.

[Joe Getty]

Well.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's unusual. Also incredibly unusual was that person thought everybody else did it that way and was surprised to find out that people

[Joe Getty]

think that's odd and people sit to put on their socks. I merely admire their flexibility and athletic ability.

[Jack Armstrong]

Could I even do that? I think I could. I don't. Maybe I'll try that. Anyway, this person goes on to say, my wife and I have a standing challenge every day to always attempt to put on our socks and shoes while Standing instead of sitting down, which, as you can imagine, is a pretty funny thing to witness. Give it a try and do it every day.

[Joe Getty]

You'll think the family that plays together stays together. Kind of funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I assume you'd put your socks on standing up, then your pants, then your shoes on standing up. Pretty sure I couldn't put on my shoes and tie them while standing. Just from a balance standpoint.

[Joe Getty]

If you, like, went into a half squat and crossed your leg over. I know that because that's a hip stretch I have to do constantly, really,

[Jack Armstrong]

without touching a wall.

[Joe Getty]

It helps to have a golf club in hand, for instance.

[Katie]

So, yeah, it is. Socks, then pants, shoes. I've always. I've always done it standing up. And then I told that story since I got pregnant and I decided to try it while I was pregnant and almost broke my face. I've stopped.

[Joe Getty]

Your center of gravity has shifted.

[Jack Armstrong]

You always done. You've always done what? Standing up. Up.

[Katie]

Put my socks on standing up.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have always done that standing up. Did I miss that yesterday? You put on your socks standing up?

[Joe Getty]

I do your whole life.

[Katie]

Yeah, I've just always done it. But then it was like a couple of weeks ago that I tried it and I smashed my face into the back of my office chair. And I've never done it again.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, now that I. I never really thought about it before, but I think I have seen lots of women throughout my life who put on their socks standing up.

[Katie]

Yeah. There's no need to sit down to do it, really.

[Joe Getty]

I've not witnessed the sockification of many different women. I've got to admit, my sample size is smallish.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm thinking, like, just, you know, just like. I think like my nieces put on their socks and shoes standing up. I think, yeah, like athletic and young.

[Katie]

I'll slip my shoes on standing up, but I have to sit to tie them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Time to go to the restaurant. Okay. And they stand up and put on their socks and shoes.

[Joe Getty]

Heck, I sit down to put on a hat. I just. Safety first, Katie, you know? Safety first. Yeah, I'm like, Joe, I just fall over.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm going to try that tonight, see if I can do it. Okay, That's a good one. How much time I got here, Michael? Try to determine.

[Joe Getty]

Three minutes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Plenty of time. So this has happened more than once in the United States, but here's the latest. This is from the Los Angeles Times. The case of a lifetime started with a putrid smell and a green garden hose sticking out of the side of A supposedly vacant warehouse in California farm country near Fresno. Inside the sprawling building, code enforcement officer Jesselyn Harper found vials filled with liquid, some marked in English or Chinese, others with just a code that bore frightening labels, such as malaria, COVID 19 HIV refrigerators lined up in columns along a wall that had labels that read Blood and Ebola. Can you imagine? You get called to what you thought was a vacant warehouse, and you go in there and you see all those labels. She'd freak out. As she walked deeper into the warehouse, passing lab workers filling pregnancy test kits, she located the source of the smell that had brought her there. Droppings from 1,000 lab tested mice, she told the LA Times during a recent interview. The workers were nice enough, she said, but when she started asking questions, the mood changed. I realized I'm in trouble. I needed to get out of this building without tipping them off, that I'm scared. Her discovery blew open in an elaborate criminal case with ties to California, Vegas and China. Joe mentioned the Vegas version of this. Uh, it's a lab. Part of an elaborate scheme to import Covid tests from China and pass them off as American made. Okay, that's one thing. You're trying to get illegal Covid tests in the United States when that was a booming business. But what's with all the Ebola and HIV and blood?

[Joe Getty]

Nobody needs an Ebola test from their CVS or just Ebola itself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, the investigation is ongoing and the place is run by Chinese nationals and they're trying to figure out what was going on there. Don't trust China.

[Joe Getty]

Our good friend Kevin Kiley, Republican, soon to be gerrymandered out of his district in California, put out a statement back in February about both of these labs and says specifically that they are Chinese Communist Party linked.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which everything really Chinese is Chinese Communist Party linked? Pretty much.

[Joe Getty]

But this one is definitely, indisputably so. It's. It's a Chinese Communist Party bioweapons lab in the us. Two of them. At least two of them. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And for what purpose? To unleash weapons stuff on us if they wanted to.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're a soft country. You think they would allow a US owned lab full of Ebola to just show up somewhere in China?

[Joe Getty]

The Chinese constantly use our openness as a society to try to bring us down every day. That's a heck of a story, Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Podcast Host]

Guaranteed Human.