The A&G Replay Monday Hour Three

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: The A&G Replay Monday Hour Three – Episode Summary

Release Date: February 17, 2025
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Episode Title: The A&G Replay Monday Hour Three

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1. The Unexpected Guest: Too Low and the Gunshot Incident

The episode opens with an unexpected and chaotic moment involving rapper Too Low, who joins the podcast as a guest. Shortly after his introduction, a gunshot rings out, disrupting the conversation.

Notable Quote:

Michael (00:52): "That is rapper Too Low, who is appearing as a kiss. A guest on a podcast who. The gun went off in his pocket, apparently, somehow."

Jack Armstrong humorously comments on the situation, highlighting the casual attitude some guests seem to have towards firearms:

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (01:13): "What the most interesting to me is these people live such a lifestyle that their action is, hey, whose gun went off? Who? Somebody's gun went off."

Michael attempts to lighten the mood by mocking the nonchalant reaction to the gunshot, juxtaposing it with the more concerned approach of his usual company.

2. Motivating for the New Year: Jeff Goldstein's Redeclaration of Independence

The hosts transition into discussions about self-motivation for the new year. Michael shares a provocative piece by writer Jeff Goldstein titled “Redeclaration of Independence,” which vehemently rejects progressive ideologies and collectivist movements.

Notable Quote:

Michael (02:15): "I refuse to unpack white violence. I reject the idea that my existence perpetuates white power structures... I am Jeff. Good to meet you."

Goldstein's manifesto continues with declarations against equity, inclusivity, mandated diversity, cultural Marxism, and other contemporary social theories. The hosts critique and analyze the intensity and implications of such rhetoric.

Notable Quote:

Michael (03:45): "Cultural Marxism is determined to raise norms, sow chaos, tear families asunder, and reduce being to collective conformity. I reject its premises as fully as I reject its adherence."

Jack connects this discourse to a Wall Street Journal article he recently read, which argues that the progressive moment in global politics has waned, primarily being confined to online spaces and academic circles rather than broader society.

3. The Decline of the Progressive Moment in Global Politics

Jack Armstrong elaborates on the Wall Street Journal's perspective that the progressive surge was overestimated in its size and influence. He emphasizes that the visibility of progressive ideas in media does not equate to widespread public support.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (05:55): "The progressive moment in global politics is over... it was misleading because it was so prevalent in, you know, TV newspapers and Twitter and places like that."

Michael reflects on the notion that a dedicated minority (approximately 15%) can significantly impact societal change, aligning with historical theories of revolutionary success.

Notable Quote:

Michael (06:52): "It only takes 15% of a population that's dedicated to a revolution to make it successful."

4. The 15% Revolution Theory: Small but Mighty

Building on the Wall Street Journal discussion, the hosts delve into the idea that a small, active minority can drive substantial political and social changes. Jack highlights how even a concentrated group can create the illusion of widespread support, thereby influencing public perception and policy.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (07:05): "You get a big enough chunk of people who mostly agree with you, they're not gonna really do much, but they're not gonna get in the way."

Michael adds that if such a group were to strategically capture media and educational institutions, their influence could be exponentially magnified, leading to significant societal shifts.

5. Satirical Take on Georgia's Greenland Bill

In a humorous segment, Michael introduces a fabricated bill proposed by Georgia Representative Earl "Buddy" Carter. The bill absurdly aims to enable former President Trump to purchase Greenland, rename it "Red, White, and Blueland," and assert American dominance over the Arctic region.

Notable Quote:

Michael (13:16): "The bill would also require the federal government to refer to it as such on official maps and documents. Never mind what the Denmarkians and Greenlanders say."

Jack humorously engages with the concept, pointing out the implausibility and satire behind the idea.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (14:02): "Oh, that's awesome."

6. RFK Jr. and the Controversy Surrounding Children's Health

The conversation shifts to the contentious figure of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), focusing on his nomination and the controversies surrounding his stance on vaccines and children’s health.

Jack Armstrong shares a personal perspective, relating his struggles with his child’s health issues and the complexities of navigating medical decisions amidst debates on vaccine safety.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (19:02): "I have no idea. But I know a lot of you are in the same boat, and I would love to be able to figure this out."

Michael discusses the polarized opinions on RFK Jr., acknowledging the difficulty in disentangling factual truths from personal biases and motivations.

Notable Quote:

Michael (20:17): "He says on a regular basis, we have the sickest kids in the world. Is that documentable? Is that true?"

The hosts express frustration over the societal shift in attitudes towards child vaccination, noting the swift political realignment from predominantly left-wing resistance to right-wing skepticism.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (25:51): "Previously, we talked about lefty moms who wouldn't vaccinate their kids being in certain liberal areas. Now it's a MAGA crazy right-wing nut job thing. How did that happen?"

7. The Influence of Billionaires and the Rise of Oligarchy

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the concentration of wealth and power among billionaires, referencing Bernie Sanders’ critique of oligarchy in the United States. The hosts debate the implications of having a small number of ultra-wealthy individuals exert disproportionate influence over politics and policy.

Notable Quote:

Bernie Sanders (27:31): "When you have massive concentration of ownership in our economy, that's oligarchy."

Jack and Michael engage in a spirited debate over whether billionaires genuinely hold too much power or if societal perceptions exaggerate their influence.

Notable Quote:

Michael (35:24): "If a billionaire does something good, why don't you say that's good, and if they do something bad, say that's bad, and I don't like it. We'll go from there."

They also touch upon how political affiliations of billionaires differ, noting that Democrat billionaires often receive more support than their Republican counterparts, further complicating the narrative around wealth and political power.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (30:33): "There are more billionaires that donate to Democrats than there are donate to Republicans. That's just an unknown fact."

8. Reflections on the Kennedys and Concluding Thoughts

In the final segments, the hosts briefly discuss the Kennedy family, particularly referencing a recent letter from Caroline Kennedy about her brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Jack clarifies that he does not hold the Kennedys in high regard, Michael humorously suggests extreme measures to dissociate from the Kennedy name.

Notable Quote:

Michael (26:17): "I think they ought to be banned. I think that we ought to offer him the following bargain. You can be jailed or exiled permanently or you can change your name."

The episode concludes with Jack sharing a deeply personal reflection on the struggles of raising a sick child amidst societal debates on health and vaccines, underscoring the emotional toll such issues take on individuals and families.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (19:32): "It's the most challenging thing that's ever happened in my life. It'll be the most challenging thing in my son's life, the rest of his life."

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Conclusion

"The A&G Replay Monday Hour Three" offers a blend of humor, satire, and serious discourse on pressing societal issues. From unexpected on-air incidents to deep dives into political ideologies and personal struggles, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty navigate complex topics with a mix of levity and earnestness. The episode serves as both entertainment and a platform for reflecting on the evolving political and social landscapes.

For more insights and discussions, listeners are encouraged to visit armstrongyegetti.com and engage with the hosts on various topics of interest.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Foreign.

[Joe Getty]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio Studio, the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Michael]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

Not live from studio C. Armstrong and Getty. We're off for taking a break.

[Michael]

And as long as we're off, perhaps you'd like to catch up on podcast. Subscribe to Armstrong and Getty on Demand or one more thing. We think you'll enjoy it.

[Too Low]

Thor and choices we got in life. Those be your choices. Who shot who? Somebody got shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

You good? I hope. I hope y'all good.

[Too Low]

Only on the dirty third one on one with M D. I thought shot me.

[Jack Armstrong]

What the hell is this? Everybody.

[Too Low]

Everybody good?

[Michael]

That is. That is rapper Too Low, who is appearing as a kiss. A guest on a podcast who. The gun went off in his pocket, apparently, somehow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, first of all, guests on a podcast. To have a podcast, all you need to do is own a phone or a computer. So is this a podcast with any. Anyway, so he's sitting around talking to a guy and his gun goes off. What's the most interesting to me is these people live such a lifestyle that their action is, hey, whose gun went off? Who? Somebody's gun went off. Pretty funny. Somebody.

[Michael]

Who?

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody's gun went off. Whereas most of the company I keep. If there were a gunshot in the room, we would all be quite flabbergasted. Who shot who?

[Michael]

Oh, my gosh. Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to be on my podcast?

[Jack Armstrong]

Hello.

[Michael]

Play that again, Michael. Just the beginning of it.

[Too Low]

And choices we got in life. Those were your choices. Who shot who?

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody got shot.

[Michael]

Somebody got shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Are they okay?

[Michael]

All right, getting back to our topic, motivating ourselves for the new year. Rapper Too low if you need it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stick to your diet through January.

[Michael]

Oh, that's beautiful. So there are a couple of things I wanted to do yesterday as kind of a kicking off the year thing, but we have so much so to get to. We can't get to all of it, but I love this. I'm going to hit you with part of it, then we'll. We'll move on. We got a bunch of stuff, but this is written by a guy named Jeff Goldstein, who is a writer I really like, and he has this redeclaration of independence. And you'll know what he's driving at immediately. Be it so. Understood. This is my vow for the new year, too. I refuse to unpack white violence. I reject the idea that my existence perpetuates white power structures. I will not and in fact cannot examine my application biases. I'm an individual. I refuse to grant determined interpretive communities authority over my being. My meaning is mine. It's what makes me me. I'm not taking any journey to discover the impact of my privilege on black and brown peoples. I will not become anti racist or anti fascist to satisfy your demands. I reject cultural Marxism. I am an individual. I'm not defined by my color, my origin, my sex. I'm Jeff. Good to meet you. I will not respect your pronouns or celebrate your queerness. I am hostile to your sexualization of children. I reject your triggers and your desire to control my speech. I know who and what you are. You are my presumptive master, or else the useful idiot who empowers him. But I will grant you and your ideology no power over me. There's more. You want to hear a little more?

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Michael]

I reject equity because it is collectivism disguised as virtue. I reject inclusivity because it is inorganic, superficial and contrived. I reject mandated diversity. I will not surrender to the crayon box mafia, nor to the gender changelings who pretend I am construct answerable to their whims. Cultural appropriation is merely culture. It expands to include and it makes up the very fabric of a pluralistic society. There's no such thing as digital blackface. My whiteness is not violent. My sex is not oppressive. My religion doesn't concern you, and my children are not yours to mold. Your beliefs will not be imposed on me. The state will not parent my sons. Queer theory, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Digital blackface. I'd forgotten that term.

[Michael]

Oh, yeah, again. If you've lost a thread, this is a re Declaration of Independence. Queer theory is critical. Race theory is critical. Consciousness is the Marxist rejection of the individual as individual. I have some stats on how many states queer theory is being taught in schools to little children as truth, and it is shocking. But one more time. Queer theory is critical. Race theory is critical. Consciousness is the Marxist rejection of the individual as individual. Cultural Marxism is determined to raise norms, sow chaos, tear families asunder, and reduce being to collective conformity. I reject its premises as fully as I reject its adherence. I will not comply. I will not mouth your slogans. I will not denounce on command. I am not your tool and you are not my minder. And he has a little more about. My speech is my own. I reject each of your excuses to silence me. I don't ask for your protections. I can filter information without your interference, Mark Zuckerberg. And I despise your Presumption to protect me from myself. I am your sworn enemy and you are mine. I will not perform for you. I will not read from your script or dance in your follies. Oh, my brother. We'll post [e-mail] it is brilliant. And he goes on, but that's the main part.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, and it fits in with that, that Wall Street Journal article I was reading from last hour. The progressive moment in global politics is over. That moment existed mostly online and with the, you know, high level university set. It was a much smaller group than we all thought or feared, thank God. But it was, it was misleading because it was so prevalent in, you know, TV newspapers and Twitter and places like that. But it was not near as big as we all thought. And the, the best thing that could happen to people that are on the right side of that, and you could be a lifelong Democrat and be to the right of all that stuff by a lot like Bill Mar. And, and, and lots of people. The best thing that could happen for us is if they continue to believe that they have the numbers they think they have as opposed to the tiny fraction that actually agrees with them.

[Michael]

Right. I'm reminded of something great you brought to us, I think it was last year about how it only takes 15% of a population that's dedicated to a revolution to make it successful. Because you want to give us the nickel version of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. You have to have the 15% really, really active group that wants to overthrow the current regime. But you get a big enough chunk of people who mostly agree with you, they're not gonna really do much, but they're not gonna get in the way. And then you got the crowd that's scared of you. And you can easily get over 50%.

[Michael]

Right, right. And that's how you win. And imagine if you were in that hardcore 15% that wanted to, I don't know, for the sake of the argument, overthrow Western society in the name of neo Marxism. Imagine if your first step was to capture media and education. I mean, that would be an enormous coup because you could, and I'm stating the obvious here, you could project the idea that you have way, way more mass than you do for your radical ideas like radical gender theory, which I will give you a clue. It's like over a third of American states are teaching radical gender theory. There's no such thing as a man or a woman. You get to choose to little kids in schools. So man, these, these scumbags. And I'm sorry for the, for the, you know, I'm a wordsmith. I can do better than that. I apologize. These monsters, at least it's more adult. The fact that these monsters have gotten as far as they have is really, really troubling. But, you know, on we go with the fight.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trudeau resigning in Canada is a lot of what sparked, for instance, the Wall street journal Article 1 on the list of Western leaders or parties that have really suffered defeats trying to ride the whole pronouns Latinx. You should be ashamed of yourself for being a white male thing.

[Michael]

Right? Yeah, yeah, he was huge into that. And what's really troubling about this, and we've had a bunch of conversations, is you got the year. We'll just keep calling it 15% for the sake of the argument. You get your hardcore 15% that are activists. Well, the genius of neo Marxism developed in the intellectual salons of Europe in the 40s and 50s, 1940s and 1950s. They wrote books, they signed their name, they told us precisely what they wanted to do. The genius of it is they have crafted, and it's an evil genius, these moral sounding arguments that convince a certain sort of person that they are doing the right thing morally by becoming an adherent to neo Marxism. And it's particularly effective among women who want to seek agreement and groups and acceptance and that sort of thing. And it's particularly successful among your university crowd who, who want to be on the cutting edge of thought. That's how they gratify their egos, by being the innovator, the new person, the revolutionary. It's, it's incredibly. I mean, they take practically sexual glee for being innovators in the universities because how are you going to justify your big Sal salary if you in any level of education say, you know that stuff we've been doing, it's perfect. I wouldn't change it at all.

[Jack Armstrong]

True.

[Michael]

You've wasted your PhD.

[Jack Armstrong]

So anyway, man, you have heard a lot of gunshots. If your reaction to a gunshot in a room is this.

[Too Low]

And choices we got in life, those were your choices. Who shot who? Somebody got shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Could he have been. Could he have been calmer than that? Who shot who? Did somebody get shot?

[Bernie Sanders]

Huh?

[Michael]

What? That's great.

[Jack Armstrong]

It would be the most amazing thing that ever happened in my life if a gun went off in a room.

[Michael]

We're sitting there interviewing, I don't know, Rich Lowry from the National Review and blaming. And Rich says, who shot who?

[Jack Armstrong]

Did somebody get shot?

[Too Low]

And choices we got in life. Those were your choices. Who shot who?

[Michael]

It actually pretty interesting conversation before you know the gun went on. So the other thing, I want to squeeze in a couple more kind of wrapping up the year, looking forward to the year things because I'll rant and rave about the previous story for the rest of my life. But Jan Crawford was on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday.

[Jack Armstrong]

I saw that.

[Michael]

And she, she brought the thunder that the most uncovered and underreported topic last year was clearly she said, quote, that to me, Joe Biden's obvious cognitive dec, they became undeniable in the televised debate unquestioned, that that's the most underreported story of the year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, absolutely true. But we'll be lost to history. It's amazing that there isn't more introspection over that.

[Michael]

Well, here's the really interesting part. She says, still, incredibly, we read in the Washington Post that his advisors are saying that he regrets that he dropped out of the race, that he thinks he could have beaten Trump. And I think that is either delusional or the gaslighting the American people. But CBS's chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa jumped up and said, well, President Biden has repeatedly said he was sick during the debate in Atlanta and he's always been fine and he leaves fine. That is his position, the position of many of his top satans as well. Even though there is that reporting that Jan was talking to reduce the obvious accepted by everyone reality of Joe Biden's cognitive decline as there is that reporting. But he has now, Jan, he has said repeatedly he had a cold. Costa's lost to me. He's lost his mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know who that's for. 85% of America before that debate thought he shouldn't serve again. So I don't know who you're serving.

[Michael]

With that, but enjoy your bubble.

[Joe Getty]

Bob the Armstrong and Getty show get more Jack, more Joe podcasts and our hot [e-mail] Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Michael]

I wonder if there's going to be a run on those giant schnauzers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of course there are.

[Michael]

Of course, the dignified giant schnauzer, they call it. Is there like an undignified giant schnauzer breed as well, like the clowny, you know, kind of loser giant schnauzer that just wears a wife beater around the house and poops where it wants? Yeah, I don't know. So this is one of my favorite moments in legislative history. A House Republican Representative Earl Buddy Carter of Georgia, natch. I'm gonna move to Georgia just to vote for Earl Buddy Carter. He introduced a bill this week that would enable President Trump's efforts to purchase Greenland and rename it Red, White, and Blueland.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Michael]

The bill would also require the federal government to refer to it as such on official maps and documents. Never mind what the Denmarkians and Greenlanders say. See, as part of the bill, America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and blueland. President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority and will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation ever exist when our negotiator in chief inks this monumental deal. Also considered as names for the new state. Cold, af, Sylvania, Polar, Barrington, Simply Ice, Ice, baby. And my favorite, North. North. North Dakota.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no.

[Michael]

We're gonna have nice cooperation with Greenland. The Arctic and those passageways are going to be incredibly important in the next 50 years. And it's a good thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you remember? I should do it again. In case anybody didn't hear it. The biggest rumor in Washington, D.C. according to Mark Halpern. And he talks to all the players.

[Michael]

Oh, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

The biggest rumor in the world, persistent and omnipresent, is the talk of a grand bargain between the United States and China that involves reduced tariffs, U.S. access to Greenland, China's peaceful taking of Taiwan. Oh, and several provisions and players to be named later. It seems implausible to many ears and eyes, but the talk of this deal is everywhere. Says Mark.

[Michael]

How proud this sounds like it could be a. A moral horror to me, but I'm trying to understand it. We won't fight you on Taiwan. We concede. Sorry, Vladimir. You get the rights to the Northern Passage through the Arctic and the rest of it as a zone of influence and security, and let's get it on. And. And we call it a deal. Yeah, yeah. And a couple of players to be named later.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I got a question. So yesterday was Lincoln's birthday.

[Michael]

Yes, sir.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Lincoln is on the penny. The penny was the most. My whole life. Omnipresent piece of currency that existed. It has since lost its usefulness. Yes, we all agree with that. But if Lincoln isn't the greatest president of all time, he's number two. So, I mean, you know, everybody agrees on that pretty much, right? It's either him or Washington. They're in the top two. And do we move him to another? Doesn't it seem. I mean, we're eliminating the most dominant currency that existed for my whole life with him on it. So that's a lot of Les Lincoln bouncing around and they're talking about putting, you know, Harriet tubman on the 20 or whatever.

[Michael]

They've been talking about that for a long time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gotta move.

[Michael]

Lincoln still got the. He's got the five dollar bill. Yeah, that's a fine, you know, piece of currency. The fin, the five.

[Jack Armstrong]

It ain't like the penny, though. Everybody had a penny in their pocket. My whole life. Lincoln was in their pocket your whole life. No more.

[Michael]

You got to move on.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just feel like he's getting downgraded and I don't, like.

[Michael]

I don't know what to tell you. You know how I'm always predicting a planet of the beavers because human beings are going to die off because we're not reproducing. Fascinating story. The Czech Republic was trying to build a dam project for years and years and years. And while they were arguing about it, beavers actually dammed off the river and accomplished what the government couldn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a pretty funny story.

[Michael]

They're ready to take over.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Judge Go Getty.

[Michael]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

And not live from studio C. Armstrong and Getty. We're off.

[Michael]

Or just men, not machines. We need a little break, but while we're off, enjoy a carefully cultivated Ang replay. While you're at it, why not hit armstrongetti.com drop us a note if there's something you ought to be talking about when we get back to work. And while you're there, pick up some ang swag. Armstrongygetty.com so RFK junior hearing I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not have a strong position on a lot of these issues as they are so freaking complicated. And then you add in politics and money and then try to figure out what's true and what's not. It's really, really difficult. But I do know this. Practically everybody in the country seems like they got a kid who's got something wrong with him that didn't exist decades ago. How many times have we said on this show, how is this not the biggest story in America?

[Michael]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

And RFK Jr spends a lot of time talking about it. Whether he's right about any of that stuff, I haven't got the slightest idea. I would say this. It matters more to me than anything else in my life. I spent the entire day yesterday, like I've spent many of my entire days over the last 13 years dealing with this situation with one child. Psychiatrists. Start this medicine. Stop that medicine. Do I call the police right now?

[Michael]

What?

[Jack Armstrong]

How do I handle this whole situation? It's all because of something that my kid doesn't deserve that happened to him because of the environment or something that happens with vaccines around. Who freaking knows? I have no idea. But I know a lot of you are in the same boat, and I would love to be able to figure this out. Love to be able to figure this out. It's the most challenging thing that's ever happened in my life. It'll be the most challenging thing in my son's life, the rest of his life. And it'd love it if we could have serious conversations about these things. But can we? Is it possible to get it beyond. What is Trump for? Is he for it? Then I'm for it. Is he for it? Then I'm against it. Can we get past that or not? If we can't get past that, then I guess we're all just doomed to try to figure this all out on our own.

[Michael]

Yeah. Getting back more specifically to RFK Jr. I think you could teach a college class, maybe two of them, back to back an entire year on his nomination and the controversies around it, because there are. I mean, there's the scientific part of it, certainly the question of, you know what. How to approach scientific studies and meta studies and that sort of thing. Correlation and causation. Could be a few case, a few classes, and then you could get into a situation where somebody. And I'm glad that Senate's in charge of getting to the bottom of this and not me, but somebody says a whole lot of things that are true. And a whole lot of the people that are attacking him are greedheads and liars, and he's a greedhead and a crackpot and says things that aren't true for attention and money. All of those things can simultaneously be true. And that's why this is so interesting to me and troubling and confusing and, you know, I have no idea. No. No desire rather, to. To offend anybody who thinks that Bobby Kennedy would be a real force for good, given some of his stances. Because I get that. I actually get it. I'm just troubled by the guy and.

[Jack Armstrong]

A lot of the things he believes I am. Back to the general. Back away from RFK Jr. To the general question of so he says on a regular basis, we have the sickest kids in the world. Is that documentable? Is that true? I know we've got more anxiety and depression and suicide than we've ever had. Do we have more than other Western nations? I don't look into this stuff. Maybe I should, because I'm so busy dealing with my own individual situation. I don't really have time to look into the. The meta problem and compare it to, you know, Norway, because I'm trying to figure out.

[Michael]

Yesterday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yesterday I'm on the phone with multiple doctors trying to figure out various this and that as things aren't working well at all. And so I don't know, do we have the sickest kids in the world? Is that a statement that's true?

[Michael]

I don't know. I don't know that would be helpful. I mean, it's enough to know that our kids are sick in ways that they weren't 30 years ago. On the other hand, you know, if we're unique, then you can start nailing down what is unique about the United States. That would tend to cause what we're seeing. I doubt that's true. I'm reeling through my memory banks. I know a lot of the negative trends in terms of mental health that we're seeing are practically universal, if not universal in the developed world. They could be worse here by degrees and various topics, the number of people.

[Jack Armstrong]

On the autism spectrum and anxiety and medication and all that sort of stuff. Is that true other developed nations? I hope, you know, I hope somebody has. And that comes up in the hearing today. If we have the sickest kids in the world, that's a big story.

[Michael]

And another problem is a lot of the big studies that people cite have been utterly discredited on some of these topics.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure, absolutely.

[Michael]

There are charlatans on all sides. Whenever you have a severe need, you will have fraud.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's tough, I mean, to be perfectly fair, on all sides. It's really tough because you've got ideology, you've got money, and then you got Trump derangement syndrome. And you put all those together and it's really hard to figure something out. The money thing, I was asking this all the way through Covid. Remember when they would try to decide whether or not to approve another booster, make another mandatory booster? And I would say, and it's still true. How many billions of dollars depend on that? Yes or no? And are you going to tell me everybody involved in yes, we should mandate another booster or no is doing it for health reasons and not for the billions and billions and billions of dollars that are on the line? It's impossible to think that that's true.

[Michael]

And even if it doesn't motivate them to do the opposite of what they would have done otherwise. It can definitely, you know, I'm 40% sure this is a good idea. Wait, wait. You're going to donate enough money that I can get elected for as many terms as I want for the rest of my Life? Yeah. I'm 51% sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or the a lot mostly non elected officials involved in all that stuff. All these different committees and agencies and stuff. I don't know anything about their motivations, but again, when you got that much money sloshing around, I mean, the various pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be doing their jobs if they weren't trying to influence these people with, you know, we'll give you a gazillion dollar grant to study this. If you vote yes, then the other, the other weird thing around the vaccine. You're going to see a whole bunch of Democrats today beaten up RFK Jr for his stance on vaccines. All of that flipped during COVID My whole life, our whole lives we've been talking about all these moms in Marin county in the Bay Area who wouldn't get their kids vaccinated. Super hippie lefty liberals. Remember the old saying used to be people that don't vaccinate their kids are all within a certain radius of a Whole Foods. That was always because it was true. I live in a town like that full of lefty moms who didn't want to vaccinate their kids. Now it's a MAGA crazy right wing nut job thing. How did that happen? How did you all switch teams so fast?

[Michael]

I think if you can answer that question, you understand human beings and please at that point share it with the rest of us.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then one more thing. Before start the show officially, we had the breaking Kennedy news. At the end of the show yesterday, we read part of the Caroline Kennedy letter about her own brother. I didn't mean that to be any endorsement of Caroline Kennedy. If you've listened to the show for a long time, I don't hold the Kennedys in high regard in any way.

[Michael]

I think they ought to be banned. I think that we ought to offer him the following bargain. You can be jailed or exiled permanently or you can change your name. I never want to hear the damn name Kennedy again. Except for that nice gal from MTV who's now on Fox News.

[Jack Armstrong]

But worth keeping in mind the blast from Carol sweet Caroline from Caroline Kennedy about her brother. She was up until like a couple of months ago saying Joe Biden is fit for office for another term. So keep that in mind, in terms of her judgment or how honest she is.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. The Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wanted Joe to make an argument for why I should be worried about the billionaires and being at the inauguration and being too close to Trump and whatever this oligarchy that Biden warned us about the other night. Bernie talked about this less yesterday with the Treasury Secretary or something. One of your confirmation hearings. There's Bernie Sanders.

[Bernie Sanders]

We don't talk about this enough. And that is when you got three people on top who own more wealth than the bottom half of American society. 170 million people. You know what? That's oligarchy. When you have massive concentration of ownership in our economy, fewer and fewer corporations owning and controlling the economy, that's oligarchy. When you have more and more billionaires, whether it's Musk owning Twitter or Murdoch owning Fox or other billionaires owning newspapers, that's oligarchy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bernard Sanders. She didn't want to say Bezos in the Washington Post because they're on your side. Right?

[Michael]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And where. Who's another conservative? Murdoch. Yeah, that's it.

[Michael]

So.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, in what way? Well, what's the argument for? There shouldn't be billionaires. They've got too much money. This is an oligarchy.

[Michael]

I will tell you this a couple of things. Number one, if you are, if you hope to be a serious person, a person who of you it is said, I don't always agree with him or her, but their point of view is always worth taking in. You need to be able to steel man the other side's argument. It's the opposite of a straw man, where you construct a ridiculous parody of their argument, then knock it down and feel all manly. You see it all the time.

[Jack Armstrong]

It works great. You've got to dismiss it like it's a bad idea.

[Michael]

I tell you what, after a rough day, nothing I like better than beating the hell out of a straw man. But, you know, you've got to construct a very strong argument as they would make it. I've got to admit, I'm finding this argument, this assignment, very, very difficult because I find the arguments weak. What I would say is similar to Bernie. You have that much concentrated wealth and power in a few people with a direct connection line to the presidency and the entire executive branch. They will become a star chamber of the ultra wealthy, directing US Policy to their whimsical. Oh, my God, I did a good job. Evidently, you know my argument. How would you stop?

[Jack Armstrong]

How would you. First of all, how would you stop the possibility of that. How would you limit the possibility of that anyway within the Bill of Rights?

[Michael]

Oh, no, no, it can't be done. There are a couple of like really good counterarguments against that. Even if you admit that it's true. One, what are you gonna do about it? If your net worth is more than $50 million, you don't get to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Or you're not allowed to talk to your senator or the president.

[Michael]

And speaking of visiting Washington D.C. have you ever strolled along K Street and seen all the beautiful shiny buildings that are full of lobbyists? That sort of thing is already happening in spades every single day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Obviously because of our bent, it's just so much easier to take the other side of this statistically. First of all, just start here. There are more billionaires that donate to Democrats than there are donate to Republicans. That's just an unknown fact.

[Michael]

And Bernie's against that. In his defense, he is utterly misguided. But Bernie Sanders is sincere.

[Jack Armstrong]

True, Bernie is a socialist. He doesn't think billionaires should exist. That is a nut job attitude. But Biden is fine with the Democrat billionaires. He doesn't like conservative billionaires.

[Michael]

Oh yeah, Complete.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or when billionaires switch teams. Because a lot of times billionaires are just going with whichever direction. C C Zuckerberg maybe whichever direction. Ok, they're in power, let's make them happy. Which you know, is not a bad business model. But first of all, it's a lot like we mock. If it's going to be a hundred degrees, everybody gets all excited. As opposed to 98. It's just a round number. I don't know why somebody who is, whose net worth is $900 million is. You do what you want to do, but once you hit a billion, you're all of a sudden suspect I got a kill, you've got a billion dollar. I mean that just seems so. If you got five guys in the front row that each have $300 million, don't need to think about them. It's the two billionaires over there. It just. That's just silly.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah. You know, I think this is, this is my final word on this. And it's a very handy thing to keep in your intellectual back pocket to bust out in case of emergency. And that is Jefferson's famous declaration not of independence, but that he would rather attend to the problems of too much liberty than too little. And there are so many things like the billionaire argument because it's you know, it's reasonable to say, look, you got people with incredible wealth and power. They can direct the government in ways not foreseen by the constitution. It's absolutely true. But the cure would be worse than the disease. It's, it's, you know, to unfortunately bring up Christine Omegain. My dog Baxter, God bless him, still hanging on. He's, he's, he's a fabulous dog. He's very bright. He's very willful. He is like a disobedient child. He will get away with what he can. And, you know, when I'm in the room, he's good, but at the minute I walk out of the room, he's like, all right, the boss is gone. Anyway. I could certainly eliminate a lot of those problems by shooting my dog like I'm Kristi n. It would absolutely 100% cure those problems.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you're going to shoot billionaires, I'm sure. Follow you?

[Michael]

No, no, no. What am I, Luigi the psychopathic lunatic? No, I am not. No, what I'm saying is, gosh, it would be nice to not have those problems, but if the cure violates your fundamental beliefs, then you got to find another way. You've either got to live with it or be more clever about curing it. And one of the great sick tendencies of the left, especially, but not exclusively the left, especially if you want to look at history. But one of their sick tendencies is to say, this is a problem and this is a solution to that problem. Therefore, we must do it. And the idea that we don't get to do that, we need to just put up with it or help a little bit. We don't. To give ourselves the power to cure that quote unquote problem would make us monsters.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not sure a lot of the media even has an argument. They just think because I've seen a fair amount of news coverage where it's just Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg. Will all three be attending the inauguration on Monday. They are the three richest men in the world, and they plan to sit together and they kind of look at you like, huh, isn't that scary? But with no follow up as to why it would be in any way, I don't. Right.

[Michael]

It's. It's just appealing to, like, not spelled out prejudices. It's like if you're in a group of racists and somebody brings up a black man, for instance, and somebody says something disparaging about them, nobody says, all right, now let's have a discussion of the positive and negative aspects of that person's character and whether that was deserved or not. No, they'll just snicker because they're racists, and that's the way it is. It's just a tribal signaling thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think they're way wrong on this. I think most people admire billionaires, wish they could be a billionaire. Think it's cool. Imagine what it'd be like to be a billionaire. I know there is a crowd, college students or whatever, college professors who are just the term billionaire. The idea of a billionaire makes them sick. But I think that's like a tiny percentage of the country, don't you? I would agree. I don't think most people are bothered by it.

[Michael]

The politics of envy is. Is incredibly powerful, too. But, yeah, I think. And this is crazy. Maybe you want to jot this down. If a billionaire does something good, why don't you say that's good, and if they do something bad, say that's bad, and I don't like it. We'll go from there.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, Elon.

[Michael]

Trying to rein in the shocking, sprawling, idiotic growth of the federal bureaucracies. That's great.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

I don't care what his net worth is.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think it should be pointed out more that the 1, 2, and 3 richest people in the world are all Americans who made their go of it from scratch in the United States of America, because you can.

[Michael]

Wow. Great point.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. The Armstrong and Getty Show.