That Made The Big Dumb Cup Look Smart

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Episode: That Made The Big Dumb Cup Look Smart
Release Date: June 23, 2025

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Introduction

In the June 23, 2025 episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosted by iHeartPodcasts, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve deep into the intricate dynamics of US military power, escalating tensions with Iran, and the profound relationship between morality and faith in modern society. The episode, titled "That Made The Big Dumb Cup Look Smart," offers listeners a comprehensive analysis of current geopolitical events, particularly focusing on recent developments involving Iran and the US. This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn by Armstrong and Getty, augmented with notable quotes from the transcript.

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US Military Power: Unmatched Capabilities

The episode opens with Armstrong and Getty emphasizing the unparalleled strength and discipline of the United States military.

Joe Getty states at [02:47]:
"The United States and its capabilities... seem to be second to none."

Jack Armstrong echoes this sentiment, highlighting the global recognition of US military prowess. The hosts commend the military's ability to execute missions effectively, underscoring that this is not mere cheerleading but a reflection of genuine capability.

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Escalating Tensions with Iran

A substantial portion of the discussion centers on the escalating tensions between the US and Iran, particularly focusing on recent threats and military maneuvers.

News Analyst at [04:04]:
"The imminent threat of Iranians Iranian strike on U.S. base in Qatar..."

The hosts dissect the credibility and implications of such threats. Joe Getty critiques former President Trump's approach, suggesting that his rhetoric often lacked diplomatic finesse, potentially escalating tensions unnecessarily.

Joe Getty at [08:18]:
"It's a great example of Trump not observing the rules of diplomacy and standard presidential statements."

The conversation shifts to the role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with Jack Armstrong providing an in-depth analysis of its influence within Iran's political and economic landscape.

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The Revolutionary Guard Corps: Iran's Powerhouse

At [07:03], Jack Armstrong delves into the structure and significance of the IRGC:

"The IRGC has been the most powerful branch of Iran's armed forces since its formation during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It operates independently from the traditional army, boasting its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence, and special forces, with a staggering budget of around $125,000."

Armstrong further elaborates on the IRGC's pervasive influence, likening its economic empire to major American corporations:

"The Revolutionary Guard dominates all major infrastructure sectors, including oil and gas, construction, and telecommunications. It's their Exxon, their AT&T, and essentially their Amazon and Walmart."

This comprehensive control underscores the IRGC's ability to sustain and potentially reshape Iran's socio-political fabric, making them a formidable entity both domestically and internationally.

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Morality and Faith in Modern Society

Shifting gears, the hosts engage in a philosophical debate on the interrelationship between morality and faith.

Joe Getty at [38:14]:
"The answer is faith to morality to order is a lot like water to the soil that you're growing your lawn in. When you cut off the water of coherent religious belief... the lawn will live for a certain amount of time, but then it'll die."

This metaphor encapsulates their stance that faith provides the foundational "water" that nurtures a society's moral "soil." They explore whether a secular framework can sustain societal morality without the underpinning of religious belief, highlighting the complexities introduced by multiculturalism and diverse worldviews.

News Analyst at [32:17]:
"Have you ever known anybody that didn't have that moral compass? I've known several and it's always just so mind-boggling to me."

The discussion underscores the hosts' belief that intrinsic moral values, often reinforced by religious teachings, are crucial for maintaining societal order and ethical behavior.

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Breaking News: Iran's Attack on US Base in Qatar

The episode reaches a crescendo with breaking news about Iran's imminent and actualized attack on a US military base in Qatar.

News Analyst at [38:50]:
"Breaking news. Iran has attacked the U.S base in Qatar."

The hosts analyze the rapid developments, scrutinizing the sequence of events and questioning the strategic motives behind Iran's actions. They speculate on Iran's intent to test US military readiness and the potential for swift retaliation.

Joe Getty at [42:09]:
"We launched our righteous vengeance. Here we go. Striking a blow."

The episode captures the immediacy and gravity of the situation, reflecting on historical precedents such as Iran's retaliation following the killing of General Qasem Soleimani. The discussion anticipates further geopolitical repercussions and the potential for an intensified military standoff.

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Concluding Thoughts

In their final moments, Armstrong and Getty offer reflective insights into the broader implications of the discussed topics.

Joe Getty at [34:05]:
"We are coming out of a period of cultural homogeneity... We are truly becoming multicultural in a way that'll be extremely difficult to manage."

This statement encapsulates their concern over the erosion of unified moral and cultural standards, potentially leading to increased societal fragmentation.

News Analyst at [38:47]:
"What a powerful metaphor. Iran Breaking news."

The episode concludes with a blend of personal anecdotes and final reflections, maintaining the hosts' signature blend of humor and gravitas.

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Getty at [02:47]: "The United States and its capabilities... seem to be second to none."

• News Analyst at [04:04]: "The imminent threat of Iranians Iranian strike on U.S. base in Qatar..."

• Joe Getty at [08:18]: "It's a great example of Trump not observing the rules of diplomacy and standard presidential statements."

• Joe Getty at [38:14]: "The answer is faith to morality to order is a lot like water to the soil that you're growing your lawn in."

• Joe Getty at [42:09]: "We launched our righteous vengeance. Here we go. Striking a blow."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand offers a thorough examination of US military strength, the volatile relationship with Iran, and the essential role of morality grounded in faith within society. Through informed analysis and thoughtful discourse, Armstrong and Getty provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of complex geopolitical and philosophical issues, making it a valuable listen for those seeking depth and insight into current affairs.

Transcript

[Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Hannah Jewell]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

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Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty Armstrong And Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty. Talk about the US Military and how it really does it stands. This is, this is not cheerleading on, on my part. I think any, any military person in the world would say the same thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

The United States and its capabilities and.

[Joe Getty]

Its power and in its discipline right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now certainly seems to be second to none.

[Joe Getty]

It is, Joe. It's awesome.

[Military Analyst]

The power of the military, the power.

[News Analyst]

Of the people in the military is incredible. We can do anything we're asked to do. The US Military can do anything. I love how on MSNBC they always have to qualify it. You know, I don't want to be too much of a cheerleader here. Same show on Morning Joe today, they had David Ignatius of the Washington Post, and he had to qualify his statement. I don't want to be, you know, I don't want to be giving Trump too much credit here, but the point of his article was this sent a message to China and Russia that is gonna back them off a fair amount of. The United States sometimes does what it's threatening and can do it really, really well. So keep that in mind.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, the whole narrative. Well, Trump always chickens out, was wildly overrated, the whole taco thing. But the question of does he make blustery threats and doesn't really intend to live up to him that that question was out there. I'd say this changes the calculus significantly.

[News Analyst]

Well, and stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is a different topic than tariffs, too. Just completely different worlds. Couple of things for you want to do this first or this first? Before I get to the. Let's hear from Mike Lyons and then we'll get to the breaking news. It's not so breaking that I feel like I need to get it on this second. We talked to Mike Lyons, one of our favorite military analysts this morning. He had a couple of things to say we thought we'd repeat.

[Military Analyst]

Classic Iranian playbook. They sow fear within our country, saying we're going to release sleeper cells. You know, they must watch the same movies that made here in Hollywood because I just think that's completely overblown. They will likely try to maybe target some American forces that are in the area that are close, that are all. That are all buttoned up right now. Every one of those missiles they try to fire at them has a return address. And I guarantee it as soon as one of them leaves the tube on that side, there'll be something in return going in the other direction. This president is not going to sit back and take.

[News Analyst]

So that's to the what could Iran do or will they do something back as a, you know, a response. Fox News alert sources to Fox imminent threat of Iranians Iranian strike on UA I'm gonna learn to install Windows. How long would that take at this age?

[Joe Getty]

Hey, you gotta apprentice for a few years, really get it down but you.

[News Analyst]

Don'T need to be able to talk to do that.

[Joe Getty]

Right. So maybe they say good morning to your your clients and maybe that'd be.

[News Analyst]

A better job choice.

[Joe Getty]

Greet your co workers.

[News Analyst]

Sources to Fox imminent threat of Iranian strike on U S Base in Qatar so they have some info on that. We'll see if that's true or not. I've been wondering what the mullahs think they would get out of an attack and what's their end game. My clients spoke to that a little bit.

[Military Analyst]

There's no negotiation that's going to take place. They're not interested in talking. They're interested in just surviving and delaying. But they're in such a bad point strategically right now. I just think they're going to do whatever. I wouldn't be surprised if they get on planes and left. I think that's going to only survive if the Switzerland or get some other place. That's the only thing ensure their survival at this point.

[News Analyst]

I don't know that we want that.

[Joe Getty]

I thought it was notable that after the devastating American attacks the ayatollah came out with a blistering statement against Israel, didn't even mention the Great Satan. Now was that a feint? Does he or the Republican Guard actually intend Revolutionary Guard intend to go after the US directly? Boy, that seems like a suicide mission to both of us. But they might feel like they have to to have any legitimacy.

[News Analyst]

Man, I hadn't heard anybody other than Mike Lyons bring up the idea of them. Maybe they jump on a plane and do the whole dictator living out the rest of their life somewhere else routine. But then there's nobody running Iran and it could fall into, you know, full on Iraqi chaos.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Yeah, it's possible. The, the interesting question is who's a greed head inside Iran and who's an actual religious fundamentalist nut job? Because if you're a the part of the latter group, you're not going to take some sort of golden parachute to live the rest of your life out in Monaco or the UAE or whatever. No way.

[News Analyst]

And we haven't mentioned this for a while just in case you don't know. So everybody supporting the Trump administration went on all the talk shows yesterday and said this is not a war with Iran. And we're not about regime change. We are not interested in regime change. Regime change. No. If you say regime change again, I'm going to slap you, cuz that's not our thing. And then Trump, like after all those people went on the shows, tweeted out. It's not politically correct to use the term regime change, but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn't there be a regime change? Mega miga. Make Iran great again.

[Joe Getty]

It's a great example of Trump not observing the rules of diplomacy and standard presidential statements. And sometimes I think that's a mistake. Sometimes I think who doesn't think? Everybody wants the Ayatollah to go. Everybody wants him to go. He just said it out loud. It's not that crazy. Well, that empowers forces within Iran to claim that it's a U. S. Directed, blah, blah, blah. I don't know how true all that sounds.

[News Analyst]

I'm not worried about that statement.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. So speaking of the Revolutionary Guard, really interesting situation now. Israeli strikes have taken out many of their senior personnel.

[News Analyst]

Yes, the latest mtg. I don't think you had this in what you were reading earlier from Marjorie Taylor Greene. Only six months in and we're back into foreign wars. It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neoconstruction.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[News Analyst]

From Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Tucker crowd. Open warfare with Trump seems like a bad idea.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we can get back to that, man.

[News Analyst]

If you all think. If you all think you are maga and Trump is just along for the ride. Well, I guess we're about to find out.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we'll see how that goes. But anyway, so the Revolutionary Guard battered Supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini's Khabani. His role depends to a large extent on loyalty from the Guard. Quoting from the journal. He has empowered the military force to the extent it's likely to outlive him. But if Khomeini were toppled or killed, the Revolutionary Guard most likely to step in and dictate a new ruler and run the show. I just think these organizations are really, really interesting and Americans can't relate to them at all. Since its formation during the Great Brave Revolution 1979, the IRGC has been the most powerful branch of Iran's armed forces. And it's separate from and more powerful than army. It has its own ground forces, its own navy, its own air force, its own intelligence and special forces totaling around $125,000. It is also deeply Embedded in Iran's economic system, political affairs and social fabric, it has an expansive economic empire. The Guard dominates all major infrastructure sectors, including oil and gas, construction and telecommunications. The Revolutionary Guard is their Exxon. It's their what's a giant construction company and their AT&T. It's also damn near their Amazon.com and their Walmart.

[News Analyst]

And they're separate.

[Joe Getty]

They even dominate tourism.

[News Analyst]

And they're separate from the army. Yes, but, so my question would be, since Israel has killed the leaders of the army and the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard, do we know how they would react, the new leaders?

[Joe Getty]

No. I mean, you can make educated guesses, but they don't.

[News Analyst]

But they wouldn't have the cult of personality that you usually have as a military leader when you're going to take over a country.

[Joe Getty]

No, that's absolutely correct. Although, again, my point in describing this, and there's a little more to it, but is that this is a giant corporation. It is much more like Disney than it is the United States army because it has its hands in so many different industries and economic activities.

[News Analyst]

So is your belief that they're motivated by money as opposed to bringing back the 13th Mahdi or whatever that whole stuff is?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's the super interesting part of it. It's difficult to say. I have a feeling you got guys who are 9010 greed heads versus religious fanatics and guys who are 10, 90 in the other direction.

[News Analyst]

But if they're mostly just businessmen, they're like, you know, Putin or the oligarchs in Russia, then we might be okay with that. Right? It'd be like LCC run in Egypt.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Exactly. Yeah. That's one of the reasons I was kind of enthused about bringing this up is I think dealing with the greed heads would be a great option for the rest of the world because you can, you can do business with them. Now, Trump, one of Trump's blind spots is, I think this less now, I guess, than I used to. But he always thinks the offer to make a lot of money and bring prosperity to your people, whether it's Putin or the Ayatollah or whatever, he thinks that's irresistible because that's how he sees the world. And Putin's like, no, I'm going to restore the great Russian Empire and I'm going to be Peter the Great. So thanks anyway. And the mullahs obviously are like, no, it's all about Allah. And, and, and I don't, I don't need money, really. On the other hand, the, the Revolutionary Guard guys, a lot of the higher ups, they're greed heads, they're mobsters, they're business people. And I think you probably could deal with them maybe.

[News Analyst]

Got a little tip for you based on recent major news events about how you should take in news if you're doing it the old way. If you hear something's happening and you flip on cnn, man, you are way behind and ain't the way to do it.

[Joe Getty]

Plus you gotta look at Wolf Blitzer.

[News Analyst]

Who wants to spend their Saturday evening looking at Wolf Blitzer?

[Joe Getty]

Not even Mrs. Blitzer.

[News Analyst]

That's mean spirited. That and other stuff on the way. Stay here.

[Hannah Jewell]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.

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[Christina Quinn]

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[Host]

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[News Analyst]

Different things for you. Changing times. You got to change your. You got to adjust your sales for the changing times, man. Have you ever seriously considered you're an iPhone guy? I'm an iPhone guy. Have you ever seriously considered abandoning the iPhone for one of the other smartphones?

[Joe Getty]

Not seriously. I looked into it once.

[News Analyst]

I've never seriously done it just because it seems like it'd be in a tremendous pain in the ass because I got everything tied into Apple. Although our friend Craig did it and he swears by it. Is he a Samsung guy?

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[News Analyst]

Yeah. But he. He likes the phone better and says it wasn't that hard and they. They've got to wait. Yes. Katie, your opinion on this?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I'm the complete opposite. I switched for a year and I'll. That was a huge mistake.

[News Analyst]

Oh really? What'd you switch to?

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[News Analyst]

Okay. And you didn't dig it and you went back and I just came across this. And this is from a consultant person who doesn't seem to have a dog in this fight, but they said Samsung just ended the iPhone era. The Galaxy S25AI is five years ahead of where Apple is currently and they aren't going to catch up in terms of their AI abilities. Anyway. I was looking at some of the examples of things you can do with pictures, video and voice on the phone with their AI and it looks pretty damned impressive. I'm not going to switch. I just. It just seems like a pain in the ass and I'm perfectly happy with what I got.

[Joe Getty]

But yeah. Any examples that leap out?

[News Analyst]

Well, you know that thing that you hate but I enjoy is the turning into everything, into babies talking. Oh, you can do that on your phone easily. And it was just to demonstrate the being able to assign voices to videos or edit, edit audio inside of videos that you take and then blah, blah, blah. All these different things that they said is super easy to do, you can't currently do on Apple.

[Joe Getty]

I could see if you're part of the hardcore, especially young social media crowd, that'd be really attractive. I don't have the time, but.

[News Analyst]

Right, yeah. But interesting to see if Samsung is way ahead in the whole AI in the phone thing as I've become such a chat GPT guy as opposed to Google. Now again, to the changing times. We got a new robo taxi, ladies and germs. Tesla announced over the weekend robo taxis are here. The Tesla robot taxi. They're launched them in Austin where Elon lives. This would be to compete with Waymo, completely autonomous out there, driving around on their own Teslas. And their Stock is up 10% on that news today. So we'll see how good they are or not, I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

So rioters can surround Teslas and set them on fire.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, I don't know how often that's going to happen, if that's a big deal or not. I don't have any idea. And then I came across this. I was going to mention today about how if you're not going to Twitter or maybe you have a different social media thing, you go to Instagram or something. I don't know. For when news breaks, you're just, you're so far behind. I was kind of monitoring cable news while I was doing Twitter as news came out that we had bombed Iran and cable news was so far behind. And I don't mean just like 60 seconds or five minutes. It's like he took like an hour later before they would bring you the news. You were reading on Twitter from a whole bunch of different sources. And if you care about breaking news on big stories, that's the way to go. And then I saw this from Barry Weiss, who we really like, who's over at the Free Press because somebody had tweeted out with all the resources cbs, NBC, abc, CNN have to report in, quote, breaking news. I turned to the FP live stream, the Free Press live stream, Saturday night, to get in depth analysis immediately. Way ahead of all those channels. Barry White said, thank you, I'm so proud of the FP team. So I hadn't even looked into that, but there are much better sources for breaking news out there than the Old cable news. If I was the old cable news. I don't know why you don't just like having somebody read from Twitter on there. You'd be better off if you had Anderson Cooper flipping through Twitter and reading tweets than whatever CNN reporting they have.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, that would. I would kind of put a fine point on it. So I think that would illustrate the whole. Why? Why, why would I have Anderson Cooper read it to me? I can read. So you learned when I was a little kid.

[News Analyst]

So you think MSNBC and cnn, they're just holding on to the fact that their old viewers haven't caught on to the fact that they can get all this an hour earlier and from better sources somewhere else.

[Joe Getty]

Ding. For what it's worth, the I heard that free press live stream later and it was, it was unbelievably good.

[News Analyst]

Really. I've got to jump on that next time.

[Joe Getty]

Experts on Tehran and Italy, Italy, Israel and warfare and stuff up at three o' clock in the morning where they were talking about it in depth. It was really, really good. I mean, you got to be really into it to enjoy it because it was in depth, but it was very, very impressive.

[News Analyst]

There is a YouTube channel our boss turned us on to where a guy basically does sit there and scroll through Twitter and just give you all the latest stuff. And he's pretty good at which Twitter sites to go to. But that's where news breaks. If there's a shooting or anything happens, a protest in la, you go on Twitter, you will get more news, you'll get videos that they won't have until the next day on your cable news channels.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Labubus are everything that's wrong with America. I'm not sure we'll have time to get to that. Maybe tomorrow. Labubus, those creepy looking freaky dolls that people are all hot to trot for that made the big dumb cup look smart.

[News Analyst]

Somehow I missed the Labubu trend. Okay, you'll have to bring me up to speed on that.

[Joe Getty]

But Jack, you were hot to trot to discuss the French cigarette morality. No. Can you have morality without faith discussion?

[Hannah Jewell]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Hannah Jewell]

There's an efficient way to get caught up on a lot of news. It's called the seven from the Washington Post. It's a newsletter and podcast. Whether you're reading or hit play, you get seven stories you need to know and you can consume it all in just a few minutes. The 7 is out every weekday morning by 7:00am Eastern. I'm Hannah Jewell, I'm one of the writers and I host the show Find the seven Podcast wherever you're listening. The newsletter link is waiting for you in the show.

[Host]

Notes for some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include a lot more people than ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Strivent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thrivent where money means more Connect with [e-mail].

[Hannah Jewell]

What was the celebration like when you.

[Joe Getty]

Guys got to the locker room?

[Hannah Jewell]

Because we, when we got there wasn't. There weren't bottles being popped like you normally see. Do we miss that and how much?

[Military Analyst]

I mean first of all none of us knew how to do it so so at it was more like, you know, like, you know like YouTube tutorials. And so we were just asking AC how to do it. And so it was, it was a kind of not really in sync because no one know how to do it. But yeah, shout out to AC for kind of teaching us how to pop champagne.

[News Analyst]

I guess so that's one of the young players of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Very young team and the younger generation that doesn't drink much or doesn't drink that. They had all the champagne bottles in there for the big popping, the cork spray and celebration. None of the young players knew how to open a bottle of champagne so.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's best they held off till somebody knew what they were doing was on hand. You lose an eye that way, Jack. Yeah, they're the youngest team in the NBA champions.

[News Analyst]

Maybe they need a bunch of vape pens or something.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. Some marijuanas to smoke. The kids do brought this up briefly at the beginning of the show and Jack expressed interest in following up on it. Frequent correspondent Paolo talking about the question of morality without faith. That sort of thing. I believe I quoted Tocqueville May was the freedom loving quote of the day. In fact I probably should have dug it up that you can't have liberty without morality and you can't have morality without faith.

[News Analyst]

The first one is true, the second one is an open question.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And Paolo said I think you absolutely can. Morality is a set of beliefs about how we behave that lead to the best possible outcome for humanity. Can be a constitutional framework governing human behavior. For instance, faith is a mode of belief that makes the belief immutable. Faith can support morality, promote adherence to it. It can also promote the dogma of Iranian theocrats. Can mean the faithful. It can make the faithful immune to logic and reason. And that's scary.

[News Analyst]

Well, I've never particularly liked the argument against religion that because sometimes it's used poorly, then it's all bad. I've never bought that argument. And sometimes it is used very poorly. As we all know, lots of quotes from the founding fathers about how this whole thing doesn't work unless we're a. A moral people. Practically everybody was religious back in the day. The question of do you need to be religious to be moral? While it seems like it should be. You wouldn't need to be. It's never been done before. I mean, it's kind of, kind of a new concept. Fairly new, like you know, last half century or something. Europe's trying it, but.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Well, and layer that experiment on top of the layer of, of the experiment of multiculturalism and not like multi ethnicity or multi, you know, hued skins, just literally completely different worldviews, cultural views. Trying to establish a secular morality in that situation is really, really hard.

[News Analyst]

Yeah. What, what, what? Well, we won't find out for decades, maybe a century or more. To find out is if you have to have the underpinning of a culture that had religion through and through forever.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[News Analyst]

And then we've got this morality hangover. Even as belief in God maybe disappears or church going disappears, the cultural norm of, you know, not lying, not stealing, that whatever has hung around, will that continue to hang around without the underpinning of religion? Nobody knows that. To claim, you know, that. I don't know what you're basing that on.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that's an interesting point. Kind of a cultural half life.

[News Analyst]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Christian values.

[News Analyst]

I think that's absolutely true.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Well, and it is. And I use the term Christian informantly or intentionally.

[News Analyst]

You.

[Joe Getty]

There are very, very, very different moral precepts to each of the world's major religions, although JDAism and Christianity are very, very close in a lot of ways. And I would argue that, you know, his citing the mullahs in Iran, for instance, is. That's, that's almost a different topic because the concept of what is morality in Islam is very, very different than Christianity, practically unrecognizable in a lot of ways. And so I don't, I don't know where we go from here, honestly, because it is like the question of organizing society without what you are describing, Jack, A general agreement on moral principles. The only thing you can go to, as Paolo pointed out, was like a constitutional framework governing human behavior. Well, I would suggest Paolo, though, it would have to be much, much more widespread and specific than that. It would have to be something approaching totalitarianism because there would be no common moral precepts that would make laws X, Y and Z completely unnecessary anyway or, or at least not, not necessary very often because nobody would do that except if they've lost their mind.

[News Analyst]

Where do most people's moral compasses come from? The Bible, maybe? I went to Sunday school in church as a kid, so maybe it's that. I think it's probably more that my parents just told me Repeatedly as a kid that stealing is wrong. So you know, you do and you just get that into your head and these like when I do not, not steal, how many negatives is that? Where did I end up? We're tracking with you because I think I'm going to be punished by God. It doesn't even cross my mind, right. A punishment from God. I just, to me it's just simple that society would break down if we all just stole. So I don't. And you shouldn't and I don't want my kids to. It'd just be the end of society if we did well.

[Joe Getty]

And you're taking somebody else's work from them.

[News Analyst]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

You've denied them the fruits of their labor, which is disgusting.

[News Analyst]

Have you ever known anybody that didn't have that moral compass? I've known several and it's always just so mind boggling to me. I had a boss one time, Gladys, if you could tell me. I had this boss, he actually was the owner of this nightclub that I worked at. And I remember the topic came up. Somebody left, assigned government refund check. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was in a situation where like if you had it, you could have taken the bank and cashed it. Somebody left it behind and then somebody returned it to the original person because their name was on the check. And he couldn't understand why anybody would do that. It just didn't make any sense to him whatsoever. Well, he left it behind. That's, you know, finders keepers, losers weepers. That's his problem, not mine. It just didn't make any sense to him whatsoever that you wouldn't take it because you could. Yeah. Which blew my mind.

[Joe Getty]

But I've known sociopath you think are just kind of from a tougher life. And he wasn't. Forget yours, you got to get yours.

[News Analyst]

He wasn't from a tough life at all. They were hardcore businessmen, all of them wealthy. His family was wealthy and he and his brothers were wealthy. They were all wealthy. But it was a very. I'm gonna get killed for this. I think Trumpian way of looking at the world of just. No, it's just, it's a constant battle over, you know, I got over. You should have hung on to your stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[News Analyst]

Or you should have made a better business deal. Or you should have thought of that before I did this. I win, you lose. That's the way life is.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I'm always going on about how a lot of politicians and a lot of people ignore the fact that post World War II America was a thing that will never exist again. It was a situation that will never exist again, or at least not very close. Europe decimated. A lot of Asia is still living in huts, except for Japan, which was decimated and under our thumb. And we had a virtual monopoly on advanced manufacturing and global trade and shipping and the rest of it. And that standard of living, that lifestyle became the norm, even though the situation that gave birth to it was completely not the norm and never would be again. Well, I think we have a similar thing going on culturally that nobody wants to talk about, and I will talk about it right now. We are coming out of a period of cultural homogeneity. We are homogeneous as a culture. Judeo Christian principles, European principles, and particularly dominated by the principles of the United Kingdom, were such a thick vein of what we were as a people that everybody just assumed that was so. And there was certainly spice around the edges of different cultures and people and perspectives. But we had such a thick, thick vein of Judeo Christian, Magna Carta, English Common Law, Declaration of Independent Principles. It made everything way, way easier. Not that it was easy. I mean, there's plenty of terrible things that went on, but that is gone now. It is gone. We are truly becoming multicultural in a way that'll be extremely difficult to manage.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, and I was just thinking of. Of people I've known that don't have that moral compass, at least that kind of moral compass, like the examples I'm thinking of. They weren't gonna. They weren't gonna rape or kill or anything like that. But certainly financially they were. They were willing. You know, it's just, if I can, I should. And you should too. And it's whoever wins, wins. I've known several successful business people like that.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and there are several very, very important countries where that is the cultural norm. To cheat somebody successfully is not looked upon as being despicable.

[News Analyst]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

It's looked upon as the same. Winning a tennis match.

[News Analyst]

Yeah. You were better.

[Joe Getty]

You were better.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, yeah. The people I've known that were like that I was better than you, and you should be better next time. Which is interesting. Most vast majority of business people I've known have not been that way, but I have known several. And then I've also known just like, losers who can't get anywhere a life who believe that because they're just amoral.

[Joe Getty]

I don't want to get angry letters and have to get dragged into a meeting, Lord knows, at this point. But yeah. A fellow who was an immigrant to The United States from a particular land which may or may not be in the news pretty frequently.

[News Analyst]

Was it an asshole country?

[Joe Getty]

No. Well, it kind is now, but it shouldn't be. Anyway, he was explaining to me the cultural norms of getting over on somebody in business and how that deception was not not looked upon as fraud. It's looked upon as cleverness. It's one of the tools you exercise in a way that is would be extremely unfamiliar to most Americans. In fact, hell, we've got, you know, thousands of pages of legal codes saying you'll go to jail if you do that. Not there. It's normal. I heard another giant economy being described by somebody who had lived and worked all over the world, had quite an auspicious career. He described that that large economy is a nation of thieves.

[News Analyst]

Huh. So getting back to the original question. Do you need to have the faith to get the morality which is required for us to succeed? I don't know. But nobody's run this experiment as far as I know.

[Joe Getty]

All right, captain metaphor, this is my final thought. Here's your metaphor. The answer is faith to morality, to order is a lot like water to the soil that you're growing your lawn in. For instance, when you cut off the water of coherent religious belief like the Judeo Christian principles, you cut that water off, the lawn will live for a certain amount of time, but then it'll die.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, well, we're going to find out.

[Joe Getty]

Two step process.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, we're going to find out.

[Joe Getty]

What a powerful metaphor. Iran Breaking news. Breaking news. Iran has attacked the U. S base in Qatar.

[News Analyst]

Oh really? Let's come back with details on that. Holy cow. I'm going to go to Twitter, not to CNN to find out what's going on. Stay tuned.

[Hannah Jewell]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.

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[Hannah Jewell]

We've all done it. You see a headline but don't have time to read the whole story or there's so much news you're not sure what is worth your time.

[News Analyst]

Welcome.

[Hannah Jewell]

I'm Colby Ekowitz, co host of Post Reports, the weekday afternoon podcast from the Washington Post. Post Reports brings you what's relevant and revealing breaking stories, politics, wellness, culture. Each episode goes beyond a headline for the context you need. Find Post Reports now wherever you're listening.

[Host]

For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include a lot more people than ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrivent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thrivent where money means more. Connect with [e-mail] so what was it?

[News Analyst]

A couple hours ago, Fox was reporting that an attack on our military base in Qatar was imminent. And then it turns out it just happened. Makes you wonder, does it not?

[Joe Getty]

What do you wonder?

[News Analyst]

Well, for instance, Axios reported Israel had detected missile launchers being moved in Iran positioned, it looked like, to attack our military base. Is it possible, I think likely, actually, that Iran was, hey, moving our missile launchers just out in the open here so everybody can see it moving them Here pointing them toward the Qatar toward your empty military base. Here we go, you're ready. Just want to make sure you see this coming so you can shoot them down. Here we go.

[Joe Getty]

We launched our righteous vengeance. Here we go. Striking a blow.

[News Analyst]

Now we're launching our missiles. And you shot him down. Well I'll be darned. Anyway, we retaliated, we saved face. See we aren't just gonna take it lying down. Everything good here? Are we done now?

[Joe Getty]

Boy, you may not be right but I think you are does have that feel.

[News Analyst]

Yeah. Now you remember now we got everybody out of our Qatari military base, a bunch of our military bases last week we, we talked about that. But remember when Iran did their face saving retaliation after Suleimani was killed and they scrambled the brains of some of our soldiers and Trump downplayed it to.

[Joe Getty]

He did try to keep the peace.

[News Analyst]

So that we wouldn't have to respond but I didn't think that was cool at all.

[Joe Getty]

No, no indeed. But it's different time, different situation. But and I remember their face saving attack against Israel turned out to be hundreds and hundreds of weapons and may well have been partly face saving but partly also just trying to exhaust their defensive weaponry, their number of shells.

[News Analyst]

Yeah, so we'll see. Qatar has temporarily suspended air traffic in its airspace to ensure the safety of citizens, residents and visitors. I was gonna vacation. We're on vacation next week and we are going, me and the kids, we're going to Qatar but I guess we aren't now. I guess we'll have to make it to Saudi Arabia, one of your other fun countries to go to.

[Joe Getty]

I was actually reading about was it what's the one of your Dubai, one of those gleaming super modern mega cities. Just astonishing architecture and attractions and recreation. The rest of it it, it's a hell of a long trip but it'd be a wild experience. I know a lot of you listening have probably gone to your Dubai's and that sort of thing but yeah, someday.

[News Analyst]

My brother's been to all those places and they are quite spectacular. I'm actually going to Florida in June. It is going to be very very hot and very very humid but not very crowded because nobody wants to be there. So that's the trade off you make.

[Joe Getty]

You got to warn the boys they got cockroaches there. You could saddle up and ride to town.

[News Analyst]

I'm more worried about mosquitoes. Gotta have a lot because we're going to go to the Everglades. Middle of summer, it's going to be very hot, very Mosquitoey. And what are you going to Gator bait.

[Amica Ad Voice]

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[Joe Getty]

I'm strong again. It's Final Thoughts. I'm strong again.

[News Analyst]

Get ready with Katie Green and Michael Angelo.

[Joe Getty]

Final thoughts.

[News Analyst]

I'm strong. Here's your host for Final Thoughts Thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

How about a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap up the show? There he is, pressing the buttons. Michelangelo, lead us off. Michael, do you think that if the Iranian people rise up and throw out their leaders that the YMCA dance will come to Iran?

[News Analyst]

That's a very good question.

[Joe Getty]

It is a beautiful dream, Michael. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought. I have several words that make my skin crawl. And you guys added one this morning.

[Annabe Ad Voice]

When Jack said festering.

[News Analyst]

You don't like the word fester? I don't.

[Joe Getty]

That word.

[News Analyst]

Not a good word.

[Joe Getty]

Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. No.

[News Analyst]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. Fester.

[News Analyst]

Ring.

[Joe Getty]

Jack, final thought for us.

[News Analyst]

So we went on vacation one time when 911 happened and you came back to work. I was in England. Is there anything that could happen that would bring us back from a vacation at this point? I feel like we've had so many crazy things happen that.

[Joe Getty]

I don't want to say no because that feels like tempting fate. Not that I'm superstitious, but I hope not. Can I just go with that? My final thought is I played the best golf I've played in a decade over the weekend. Two rounds, both very, very good. But I am old and wise now and I am fully cognizant of the fact that I will suck again and soon. Such is the nature of the game.

[News Analyst]

So you didn't think, hey, I've finally figured this out.

[Joe Getty]

Hell no.

[News Analyst]

Armstrong and Getty wrapping up. Another grueling four hour workday.

[Joe Getty]

So many people to thank, so little time. Go to armstrong, getty.com. we have a lot of great clicks for you under Hot Links, Katie's Corner. Pick up some swag. Pick up an ANG T shirt for goodness sakes. It helps keep everybody on the payroll during this difficult, difficult time.

[News Analyst]

Sure, we'll have a lot of details on the response tomorrow. See you then. God bless America.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. Match made in heaven.

[Public Ad Voice]

We're all better off.

[News Analyst]

We're all better off.

[Public Ad Voice]

We're all better off and we're working together.

[News Analyst]

What the hell was that?

[Hannah Jewell]

That was quite entertaining.

[News Analyst]

Oh, no.

[Public Ad Voice]

Joe.

[Joe Getty]

Unbelievable. So let's go out with a bang.

[News Analyst]

But honey or. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Joe Getty]

That, that that.

[News Analyst]

I don't know what to say to that.

[Amica Ad Voice]

I'm sorry.

[News Analyst]

I've just been totally thrown by.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I can imagine. I'm a little thrown by that also.

[Hannah Jewell]

If I'm being honest on that high note.

[Joe Getty]

Bye bye Armstrong and Gettysburg. And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.

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[Hannah Jewell]

Georgia from My Favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five.

[News Analyst]

We had snacks, laughs and we even.

[Host]

Recorded a special episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories.

[Annabe Ad Voice]

Take a listen.

[Hannah Jewell]

So I'm gonna tell you a story today, Karen. It's about a pivotal role that cars played in none other than the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

[Host]

Okay, well, yes, yes, it's right there in the title, right?

[Hannah Jewell]

This episode is brought to you by.

[News Analyst]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Christina Quinn]

You don't know me yet, but I bet we have something in common. We all wish we were better functioning humans. Maybe figure out how to sleep better, have more meaningful relationships, cook more that search for practical knowledge. It's my job at the Washington Post. I host a podcast called Try this. Every episode is like an audio class, and we learn together. I'm Christina Quinn. Now you know me. Check out Try this wherever you're listening.

[Host]

This is an I Heart podcast.