The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Three

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand — The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Three

Date: August 28, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty, with guest appearances from "Katie"
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this episode, Armstrong & Getty deliver their trademark blend of offbeat anecdotes, sharp political analysis, and lively banter. The hour covers a memorable Boy Scout camp story, a major development in Trump-world involving the so-called Epstein “hoax,” anxieties over U.S.-China competition in AI, the excesses and failings of American education and teachers’ unions, the ethics of zoo animal diets, and a bizarre tale about a prolific sperm donor. The hosts engage in reflective commentary, humor, and pointed criticism, particularly targeting political tribalism and systemic failures in education.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Boy Scout Camp & The Johnny Cash Surprise

[00:44–02:13]

• Joe narrates an unexpected moment at a Boy Scout camp: a 13-year-old camper brings a guitar, stuns the group by playing Johnny Cash songs with a deep voice.
• Moment highlights: The contrast between expectations and reality, and the way generational tastes can still surprise.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty:

  “If I would have bet you ten thousand dollars, a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars, I wasn't going to hear what came out of his mouth...” [01:36]

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2. Trump’s Public Denunciation of the Epstein "Hoax"

[02:14–09:19]

• The hosts discuss Trump’s new stance on the Epstein conspiracy theories, which had energized some of his base, particularly those from QAnon-adjacent circles.
• Trump now strongly condemns those peddling these ideas, calling them “stupid people” and “doing the Democrats’ work.” Clip from a recent Trump statement is played. [03:30]
• Jack and Joe analyze whether this is Trump’s "Sister Souljah moment"—a public disavowal of a party faction to signal broader appeal.
• They speculate on the political calculus and fallout, questioning the handling by figures like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel.

Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump:

  “It’s people that are really doing the Democrats’ work. They’re stupid people.” [03:57]

• Jack Armstrong:

  “You're calling crazies your most passionate supporters. Yeah. Wow.” [06:54]

• Joe Getty:

  “Go with they owe you an apology as opposed to, 'you’re crazy and I don’t want your support anymore.'” [09:01]

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3. China, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Warfare

[09:44–14:33]

• The show pivots to concerns about the technological arms race with China, especially in AI and robotic warfare.
• Discussion includes the U.S. allowing Nvidia to sell high-end AI chips to China, the impressive advances in robotic “soldiers,” and the broader implications for military and economic power.
• Analogies to WWII are used to illustrate how technological superiority often decides conflicts.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong:

  “There won’t be a human being on a battlefield in 10 years.” [11:10]

• Joe Getty:

  “If China ends up, you know, way ahead of us like this person suggested in AI, it’s going to be a problem.” [12:24]

• Jack Armstrong:

  “We need to at least be fighting them to a draw in the AI stuff. I mean, it is so obviously the future of warfare.” [12:54]

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4. The Ethics & Weirdness of Sperm Donation: The ‘Sperminator’ Retires

[14:43–17:18]

• The hosts react to a news story: a math professor dubbed “the Sperminator” retires after fathering 181 children via sperm donation.
• Joe expresses discomfort with the idea of having that many biological children with no parental involvement; Jack questions the ethics but distinguishes between wanting medical info and personal contact.

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5. Rot in the American Education System: Teachers’ Unions & Indoctrination

[17:35–29:47]

• Jack launches a pointed critique of the Department of Education and teachers’ unions, arguing leftist indoctrination is American education’s core problem.
• Coverage of NEA convention resolutions: fighting Trump, opposing ICE, prioritizing political activism over education basics.
• The hosts lament educational decline, using statistics (e.g., 40% of 4th graders below basic reading skills) and challenge the political focus of educators.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong:

  “The NEA is a radical leftist organization that could not give a crap about your kids.” [27:38]

• Quoting Maya Sulkin:

  “‘We don’t have time for that. We’ve got to fight Trump,’ her friend was told.” [23:07]

• Joe Getty:

  “If it’s just not the core things your kid needs to learn that they’re spending time on, that’s a crime.” [29:39]

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6. Danish Zoo Asks for Companion Animal Donations for Big Cats

[29:59–35:43]

• Discussion of a Danish zoo program accepting euthanized household pets (and other animals) to feed carnivores in their care.
• The hosts debate the practical ethics and emotional challenges, using both humor and some real discomfort about the practice.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong:

  “You have these animals in the zoo, people love them... And as the zoo says, this way nothing goes to waste. So it is absolutely, biologically, zoologically, not only defensible, it’s ideal... And then I thought about my dog, and I changed my mind.” [31:51–32:38]

• Katie:

  "Could you feed that... What's that little white fluffy dog you got, Frank? No, I could not feed Frank to an orangutan." [33:49–33:57]

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Additional Memorable Moments

• Reflections on how political conspiracy theories (left and right alike) gain traction and become dividing lines within parties.
• Sharp critique of DEI, federal intervention, and trends in public education policy, focusing on how these priorities have displaced traditional learning.
• Banter about automated warfare and a possible future where nations “watch the video at the end and say, huh, we won, or huh, we lost?” [14:03]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Boy Scout Guitar / Johnny Cash Story: [00:44–02:13]
• Trump Denounces Epstein Theories (audio/analysis): [02:14–09:19]
• China, AI, and Robotic Warfare: [09:44–14:33]
• The 'Sperminator' retires: [14:43–17:18]
• Attack on Education System / Teachers’ Unions: [17:35–29:47]
• Danish Zoo Animal Feeding Ethics: [29:59–35:43]

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Conclusion

With characteristic wit and skepticism, Armstrong & Getty dissect cultural and political developments, critique ideological excesses (especially in education and politics), touch on ethical quandaries arising from modern life, and never miss a chance for a wry aside. This episode is a snapshot of American anxieties circa 2025—both profound and absurd.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Donald Trump]

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

[Joe Getty]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

3Rd so when I dropped my son off at Boy Scout camp the other day at this lake and they were gonna have to hike to their destination, it was a couple mile hike. You have to take everything in with you. So try to pack as lightly as possible, blah, blah, blah, blah. Drop them off or I load everybody up. And this one kid brought a guitar and the Boy Scout leader, one of them said, you sure you want to carry that thing for a couple miles? Said, yeah, yeah, I really want to bring it. And you know, if you've ever camped having a guitar around, if you're a guitar player, it's really cool and you can sing songs and all that sort of stuff. Anyway, we stopped for lunch. It's a couple hour drive to this lake and we stopped for lunch at this little pull out and he gets his guitar out and sets up a little thing and he's like 13 years old and he sets up a little chair and he's sitting there on a log and he starts in playing. And if, if I would have bet you ten thousand dollars, a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars that wasn't going to hear what came out of his mouth as a 13 year old boy. Because I'm just wondering, you know, what's a 13 year old boy gonna play? He sits down with his guitar, first of all, he's got an incredibly low voice and he says, I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota. He launches into a Johnny Cash song. Immediately I'm like, what?

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Me and one of the other leaders was like, unbelievable. I would have never guessed that this is what was going to happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Huh?

[Joe Getty]

He did several Johnny Cash songs and then put his guitar away. I'll be dang. I know. And he played better than me, which is highly disappointing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's so annoying.

[Joe Getty]

Very, very annoying. You might be annoyed if you're really into the whole Pedo Ring story. That is the reason a chunk of you voted for Donald Trump. Some of you don't even know what I'm talking about. Because I only know because I happen to know a couple of People that are really into this story, their big thing was, I mean, they were all tweeting and texting each other leading up to election Day and Inauguration Day. Finally it comes to an end. They're all going to be exposed. The Clintons, the Hollywood types, everybody who's been trafficking all these children for sex all these years are going to get nailed to the wall. And it's all tied in with Epstein and he's a Mossad agent in blackmail and all these different sorts of things. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a form of the QAnon or more like the pizza gate thing. Just evolving, continuing to evolve because that's the nature of these things.

[Joe Getty]

And you might be disappointed if you're in that crowd that Trump has come out so hardcore against you today with truth social posts and a couple of different on mic things, denouncing you and saying he doesn't need your vote anymore. Here's the very latest from the Oval Office. You said this was all a hoax.

[Katie]

Has your Attorney General told you this was a hoax?

[Joe Getty]

What evidence have you seen of it?

[Donald Trump]

It's not the Attorney General. No, I know it's a hoax. It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years. You had Christopher Wray and these characters in Comey before him. And it's a bad group. It started actually, look at the Steele dossier that turned out to be a hoax. The 51 agents, the intelligence so called intelligence agents. It was a hoax. It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats work. I call it the Epstein hoax. The sad part is it's people that are really doing the Democrats work. They're stupid people.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. The most energetic Trump supporters I know would be that group of stupid Republicans that fell into the net doing the work of the Democrats he just talked about because they believe that story that your Attorney General and FBI director and others were pushing for quite some time. It wasn't Democrats. I don't remember Democrats ever pushing this child sex ring thing. No.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they're now doing the work of the Democrats by undermining the Trump administration, saying.

[Joe Getty]

Right, but how does it tie in with Comey and Russia Gate and all that sort of stuff? Well, it doesn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's not a great comparison. I mean, they're both false and, and both, you know, had just enough tidbit of evidence here, evidence there that you could spin the yarn if you're James Comey. Yes. Trump is a secret Russian stooge.

[Joe Getty]

So you hear that the phrase in politics sometimes about when Bill Clinton denounced a rapper that kind of went against his own party. Sister soldier moment. People call about it. And, and, and it helped him bring people in to support him from the other side. This is like one of those.

[Jack Armstrong]

He was proving. I'm not. Look, I'm left, but I'm not way out.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I'm willing to denounce the crazies in my party. Is this Trump's Sister Soulja moment?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Except that the Epstein thing is so under the radar of the vast, vast majority of people. Whereas, like rap and violent imagery and anti American imagery. And in the case of Sister Soulja, I think it was anti cop imagery. That's. Everybody's aware of that. That's like a hot topic.

[Joe Getty]

This is so. I mean, he's denouncing them so strongly. It would be like if, you know, assuming Biden wasn't a mental patient, if Biden had come out and said, look.

[Jack Armstrong]

These college students marching on Reminder, Kamala was the actual candidate. So you as Kamala.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. If Kamala had come out and said, these college students are crazy. They've fallen for a hoax that Israel is perpetuating a genocide. I don't want their support. They're nuts. I mean, it's that level of. Your biggest supporter. Your biggest supporters.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're calling crazies your most passionate supporters. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's notable. And you know what's funny is I think the criticism of Pam Bondi and cash Patel & Co. Is, is legitimate. Having led people way down the garden path of the idea that there's something here and we're getting to the bottom of it just to exploit them and keep them listening and watching, whatever. And then just saying, I've looked at the file and there's nothing there. So we're fine here, we're done. And thinking that's going to be good enough. It's just dumb. You don't understand how the way human beings behave. You needed to do better than that and explain why. Having promoted the idea for the longest time, or in the case of Pam Bondi freaking specifically said, you had the client list on your desk, now you gotta do better.

[Joe Getty]

Do you think she needs to step down or will a lot of people say that?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. It's so hard to say within. Within Trump world. It's entirely possible. Yeah. But anyway, I was working toward a point. Oh, that's absolutely. I Think they mishandled that they had to do better. On the other hand, I have no idea why Donald J. Would be so harsh. He doesn't need a sister soldier moment. He's in office, he can't run again. He's just doesn't care who he hurts and bruises with his words.

[Joe Getty]

It seems to me like he would have been better off if he went with. Look, I wasn't paying attention to the Epstein thing really. You know, throw Bondi and Patel or whoever you want under the bus. You know, they were pushing this. I, I, I heard what they said and I thought, wow, that's interesting. But I wasn't really paying attention to it. Turns out there's nothing to it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they probably went too far, folks. And, and, and now they've seen the actual facts and they realize there was really nothing there. So they, you know, they owe you an apology. Right. Being as enthusiastic as they were.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

When they didn't have the facts.

[Joe Getty]

Go with they owe you an apology as opposed to, you're crazy and I don't want your support anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

And stupid.

[Joe Getty]

And stupid.

[Jack Armstrong]

Crazy is one thing, stupid is another. You hate to be both. Yeah, it's, it's just, it's bad politics. But you can do whatever he wants. That much is clear.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, well, that's that story. Keep thinking this is over. That dang story.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I'm just interested in watching humans and just the, the psychological, social, political aspects of this. I don't, I don't, I have no interest in the story itself really, because I've learned everything I need to learn. I think about it, but.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

But the way people behave is so interesting.

[Joe Getty]

It's exactly what I thought it was. I assumed all along they were saying this to get ratings and, or get votes and there was nothing to it, but. Change the topic. I just wanted to get this story on. It's a story about China and what they're doing around AI. And now Trump gave the go ahead for Nvidia to continue to sell the very best AI chips to China. I'm not exactly sure what that's all about. I haven't looked into it, but Chinese government, they're working on AI too. Let's hear it.

[Jack Armstrong]

This whole robotic push comes at a time when the Chinese government is making technology, including AI, a national priority. Already China's a proven innovator, as we've seen with EVs. Now it's looking to dominate the field of AI enabled robots. And the gap with the US is widening. According to Morgan Stanley Research, China is really pushing the envelope in all things leading edge technology. And there are so many practical and also strategic applications of AI and robotics combined.

[Joe Getty]

Now you said you saw the video of the Chinese robot soldiers and it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Was, it was not Chinese. It was, they were our, they were the good guy soldier robots.

[Joe Getty]

But they were pretty impressive.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, just crazy impressive.

[Joe Getty]

That's funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

There won't be a human being on a battlefield in 10 years.

[Joe Getty]

On CNN I saw a thing about China's particular robot armies. Robot dogs, robot soldiers, robot. They're actually, they're presenting it all as robot athletes, which is pretty clever. Yeah, we just want to have the best robot athletes out there. They're really strong and fast and can jump high and run fast and have guns and then we'll have guns. And they'll go from being athletes to being very athletic soldiers. But they were damned impressive. And it reminded me of, and I keep mentioning this book, but I'm reading this, listening to this book about the end of World War II in the Pacific. We were just dominating the Japanese in that last year of the war before we finally won because we just had better technology. Our technology was so much better than that. What they had, we're just literally blowing them out of the water. But they couldn't. Our planes could fly circles around their planes. Our intelligence was so much better. Our radar's ability to reach out further than they could. They wouldn't know where our fleet was and we'd show up because they knew where they were and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's how you win. I mean, you can care about your country and be a patriot and that, that matters. See Ukraine. But the main reason Ukraine's doing so well is their innovation and their, their technology. And if China ends up, you know, with way ahead of us like this person suggested in AI, it's going to be a problem. We defeated the Japanese so soundly. Not because we're a better. Well, it is because we're a better system. But not me, because we're better people or more honorable or ethical. It's because we, we had the better technology to win the war.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right.

[Joe Getty]

And I hope China doesn't have that. That report made it sound like they do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And sometimes you just have the edge temporarily. But yeah, yeah, plenty of awful regimes have gotten over because they had better war making tools. Yeah, we need to at least be fighting them to a draw in the AI stuff. I mean, it is so obviously the future of warfare. It seems silly to even point it out anymore. But you're Going to have unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aquatic vehicles, unmanned men in the field, just. And practically nothing but that. It relates directly to that farm story I was excited about getting to. Maybe we can do it tomorrow. But there's not going to be a damn person in your local farm field, never mind dozens and dozens of people who oddly have no immigration paperwork. Please. That's going to be as yesterday's ville. As. As I said earlier, importing a bunch of Chinese people to build the railroad. It'll be a historical curiosity and soon.

[Joe Getty]

Well, if you had a bunch of column AI Soldiers, robot soldiers, but they're various kinds of drones really, I suppose. And we get a big battle, and the true drone armies meet. Then some of them are here, some on the ground, some of them look like dogs, some look like people, some of them look like a half a tank or whatever. And then they meet and then they have a battle. What, do we all just watch the video at the end and say, huh, we won, or huh, we lost?

[Jack Armstrong]

And then it boils down to manufacturing capability, uh oh, against China.

[Joe Getty]

But like, their army beats your army. And then they say, so do you want to sue for peace or. Or what? Because we just defeated your army.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, once we defeat all your machines, we're going to come for your humans.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you got to just smash up machines until everybody runs out of them, or one side or the other runs out of them. Then we say, all right, we're coming for your people next. You say, all right, all right, uncle, we can't manufacture fast enough to keep up with you.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that'll be something to watch.

The Armstrong and Getty Show. Get more Jack, more Joe podcasts and our hot [e-mail].

Anywho, a guy named dubbed the Sperminator is decided to hang up his testicles. And he announced it yesterday on Father's Day after he's turning 50. You don't know this guy. You're wrinkling your eyes there as Katie.

[Katie]

I'm wrinkling my eyes at a lot of things about this story.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm. I'm taking a wait and see posture on this.

[Joe Getty]

He was dubbed the Sperminator by the New York Post due to his prolific sperm donations. He. After more than 17 years of donating his swimmers to complete strangers and generating 181 kids across five continents, he's finally retiring. For some reason, he's a math professor from New York. I think that makes you an incredible weirdo. But, you know, people need that. So I suppose you being the guy who shows up like Every other day with a sample for some weird reason.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, no, there's demand for him is probably a tall, good looking math professor, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's part of it, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

The, the industry that says to him, you know, sure, hey, see you Monday. You know, we're going to need more for more moms around the world who are looking for tall, good looking kids who are good at math. The whole thing's.

[Joe Getty]

But then the, and I know there is a need for that and all that sort of thing, but the idea that I got 181 kids out there that are not going to have any of my parenting or any stories about my dad and mom or just none of the, you know, in, none of that. I just, I think that's, I hate that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So are you against sperm donation in general?

[Joe Getty]

No, I, I don't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, because if I had one kid out there answering the description you just gave, that's a tragedy.

[Joe Getty]

Although I know people who do have that information about the sperm donator when it's, you know, a person who do, you know, pass along that information or allow them to get in contact. You're not going to get in contact. Is he going to get in contact with 181 different kids?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I don't, no. That's not the nature of it though. As long as you have the medical information.

[Joe Getty]

I don't. I'm just saying I wouldn't want that.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I hear you, I hear you.

[Joe Getty]

I hate the idea of a whole bunch of little me's out there with no me, not in no role and whatsoever.

[Jack Armstrong]

We all hate that idea.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty Show. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's been stated by various people, including me, that the corruption and rot in our education system, specifically far left indoctrination is, is, is the biggest problem facing America. Because hearkening back to Lincoln's statement that essentially we'd never be brought down from without, the only way the United States ends, we, we commit suicide. I think that is the route by which we commit suicide. We raise generation after generation that hates their country and embraces these Marxist principles. Anyway, that's kind of the umbrella over this feature at this segment. Quick headlines. Supreme Court clears the way for Trump's cuts to the Education Department. It's one of those emergency orders. They didn't mention the vote but it was probably six to three. And there's no like rationale given because they don't do that on Emergency orders, generally speaking, but so he can go ahead and gut the Department of Education. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Gut. Gut. And I feel like that's language of the left. Gut.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, gut got away. Gut. Get gut. Well, the gutting's good. That's what I say. I like reform. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So I thought this was interesting. A couple of wags in the New York Times with the following article. What us? And we're leading up to the big kahuna. This is like this. You had the opening, opening band play two songs. Now these guys get like a 20 minute set. But don't worry, we're heading for the headliner, which is the evil, evil teachers unions. And I stand by those words. What a smaller Education Department is doing under Trump, writes the New York Times, cuts have hit most of the department's main functions, which include investigating civil rights complaints. That means for the last quite a few years, enforcing DEI dictates. That's what they mean by enforcing civil rights complaints. Providing financial aid. A bloated system that has skyrocketed the costs of college education, which Trump is about to roll back to. We'll have more time for that another time. But the federal government is to a large extent getting out of education financing. Moving along with the subhead here in the New York Times. Other things the Department of Education does. Researching what works in education. Oh, like when the Department of Education handed down dictates and funding to get rid of Phon in favor of the newest fashionable whole language learning or whatever they called it. A miserable, miserable failure. What else do they do? Testing students on the federal level, you could make an argument for that. But as Jack has explained through Goodhart's law, once you establish that as a standard, they pervert the education system to just score better. And then finally. And dispersing federal funding, that's what we need the Education Department to do. Yeah. Dispersing federal funding is the leash that they have the school districts on that they yank if they don't fall into line with whatever left wing dictate has been handed down.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You're seeing Trump use it now in different levels.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

To get rid of boys and girls sports.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, exactly. And in the past several years, it was used to enforce boys and girls sports and to enforce restorative justice practices. The bully's best friend. And to enforce saying, if you report violent students to the cops, that's the school to jail pipeline. They better not be minorities. So, yeah, great. The Education Department is just doing a wonderful job, a wonderful job through the years. And it's just a tragedy that they're being gutted. Anyway, I promised you. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the world's greatest rock and roll band, the Rolling Stones. Here's your headliner, and this is some great, great writing by Maya Sulkin in the Free Press. Headline is how do you fix schools? Teachers union says stop Trump ice and fascism. Maya Sulkin wrote this. 40% of American 4th graders have less than basic reading skills. That's not proficient. 40% have less than the basic level of of ability. And only 26% of 12th graders are considered proficient in math according to the federal government's own educational. I'm sorry, progress assessment.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, but more importantly, did they have Never ending Pride assemblies in the proper month at school? Because that's what I like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you're on the right track. So Maya writes. So you might think that there wasn't much else on the minds of teachers at the latest annual gathering of the nation's largest Teach Teachers union. And it's a good point. Our nation's schools are miserably failing. Our government schools, I should say miserably failing to teach kids what they need to know. So that must be the main topic. Are you blanking kidding me? No. And she goes into the description of every approved business item in the agenda published by the nea. But one convention delegate from Texas summarized them by telling me the response she got while trying to talk to other union union members about the best ways to teach reading and writing. We don't have time for that. We've got to fight Trump. Her friend was told.

[Joe Getty]

No. Somebody said that out loud.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Wow. At least at the meeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

But that extends to the classroom.

[Joe Getty]

You've got to fight Trump. I can't believe anybody said that out loud.

[Jack Armstrong]

And this is. This is not folks, Breitbart. This is the free press, which is, you know, very carefully, nonpartisan common sense. When I asked the NEA for comment, she writes the union directed me toward a number of previous statements, including the convention speech by Becky Pringle, a middle school teacher is now NEA president. We must use our power to take action that leads, action that liberates, action that lasts, she said. Here are some of the initiatives approved. Thousands of dollars to, quote, defend democracy against Trump's embrace of fascism by using the term fascism, which is misspelled, by the way. How great is that to use the term fascism in materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump's program and actions? Also, support for and participation in the mass democratic movement against Trump's authoritarianism and violations of Human rights. That includes support for the no Kings movement. Oh, that was earth shaking, wasn't it? And the Los Angeles based movement to defeat Trump's attempts to use federal forces against the state of California and other states and communities.

[Joe Getty]

Why are schools thinking about this stuff at all?

[Jack Armstrong]

Also opposition to immigrations and custom enforcement, kidnapping of student leaders, and support for students rights to organize against ICE raids and deportations. That's right. Main plank of the National Education association, the teachers union, is to encourage kids to demonstrate against ice.

[Joe Getty]

If I was going to be slightly charitable, I wonder if it's just a, over time, you just assumed, even within school systems or in the teachers unions at higher levels. Maybe in the school, you know it because you're up against it every day, but you're in the teachers unions at higher levels, you're not in the schools on a regular basis. You just assume the, the nuts and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bolts part is okay.

[Joe Getty]

You know, it's, it's cruising along, teaching kids math and reading. That that's fine. We just, we need to, there's these other things we have the power to focus on. And you just somehow missed the boat that, that core part, the learning part.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Had gotten overlooked or decayed or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, they don't care. It's an indoctrination factor. Another, a couple of their other resolutions that passed to defend students rights to dissent and organize against Trump's policies, including attacks against LBGTQ plus students and against racism.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, if you, I, I just, I think about. Yeah, if you were going to build a school today, a public. If I was going to, maybe other people like in the town I live in wouldn't agree with me. But if it's going to build a school today, there'd be no politics in it at all. We wouldn't be doing anything about any political issue. There'd be no assemblies, there'd be no speeches, there'd be no position papers. There'd be nothing like first period math, second period reading, third period math again, I mean, just throughout the day.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then you go home, please. Social studies, that sort of thing.

[Joe Getty]

Learn the Constitution. Yeah. So. And then you go home.

[Jack Armstrong]

In response to the Supreme Court ruling allowing parents to opt their kids out of gender ideology indoctrination, the NEA will provide, quote, a sample local school board resolution that protects educators in the classroom who are teaching LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and content, meaning teaching your kid that radical gender theory and the gender bred person and teaching them that they can change their sexes if they want. And indeed you don't have to tell Mommy and Daddy. I will help you. I will tell you where to go. That's what the NEA is concerned about. I'm just going to touch on a few more because this is quite the list. Oppose any move to eliminate the U.S. department of Education. A bunch of radical stuff. Commitment to the 2026 federal, state and local elections is a pivotal moment for our democracy training programs to address the alarming level of discrimination against and bullying of Arab American students in the public school system. That's the whole up with the Palestinians thing. And it goes on and on and on. The NEA is a radical leftist organization that could not give a crap about your kids. I didn't even get to a brilliant article entitled how did California's Public Education Go from the best in the US to the worst? But the the short answer is by following chapter and verse all of the things we just mentioned the NEA is promoting. There is no more righteous cause than fighting against the left wing indoctrination factory in America's government schools. End of screed.

[Joe Getty]

It reminds me, I gotta find a math tutor. I was supposed to do that earlier. It's on my to do list. My son gonna make him do math during the summer. That's some cruel parenting right there. There you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gotta be cruel to be kind. So that person from Texas who Maya quoted at the beginning of the article said she wasn't surprised at all to see the approved business items that have nothing to do with basic, basic educational principles. Quote, it's politics, sex and gender. When delegates get up on stage, they tell you that they're political. These things do not just happen overnight. People just haven't been paying attention.

[Joe Getty]

God, I wish there'd be. There aren't. I suppose you couldn't rise to the ranks where you'd get a speaking spot, but I wish there'd be more. People get up on stage, say, hey, can we just talk about math and reading? Like that's it. Never mentioned Trump.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have known. And we hear from lots of teachers who are horrified, outraged and saddened by all this, whether y' all need to start your own union or form some sort of like you got your rebel stockholders, sometimes your activist stockholders that shake up a corporation. Y' all need to somehow find a way to band together and shake up the NEA and the other big one because they are absolutely freaking anti American far left. You know, guerrillas. And I think guerrillas is a pretty good term because they are operating undercover, indoctrinating our children.

[Joe Getty]

Even if it Weren't the far left part. If it's just not the core things your kid needs to learn that they're spending time on, that's a crime.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a great point.

[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty Show. Get more Jack, more Joe podcasts and our hot [e-mail] the Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

A Danish zoo is asking owners of companion animals nearing life's end to donate them as food for captive lynxes, lions and other carnivores.

[Joe Getty]

This is sounding like a pretty darn good idea. Why haven't we thought about this in the United States?

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, what's funny is I don't know if it's intentionally or unintentionally, the subhead and the head from the New York Times don't make it clear whether your animal is alive in this scenario or not.

[Joe Getty]

Right. I was wondering about that. But we got shelters full of cats and zoos full of hungry lions. How we haven't put those two things together.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God.

[Katie]

I'm not playing along with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and so my. The first thing I thought in looking this article over and skimming it real quickly was, man, this is a. Because they, they make it clear that these animals would be gently euthanized by trained employees, used for food by the zoo's predators like the European lynx, lions and tigers, etc.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, even, even I don't want to feed a live stray kitten who's going to be euthanized at the shelter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hungry lion.

[Joe Getty]

But why not, you know, give a, knock it out a little bit and then give it to the lion.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, well, it'll be euthanized, it'll be dead.

[Joe Getty]

The circle of life.

[Jack Armstrong]

It won't be asleep, it'll be dead. But anyway, so enough.

[Katie]

Knock it out a little bit, you know, it won't really know what's going on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Give it a Xanax, it'll be fine.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, give it a half a Benadryl and put it in the lion cage.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I've got to admit, I was thinking, as I often do as the, the dedicated realist, that, all right, this is a pretty good dividing line. That makes perfect sense to me.

[Joe Getty]

Of course it does.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have these animals in the zoo, people love them, they admire them, they learn about conservation, blah, blah, blah. The animals are eating meat. Obviously, they're feeding them their natural diet. And as the zoo says, this way nothing goes to waste. And we ensure natural behavior, nutrition, and well being for our predators because it mimics the natural food chain by feeding Whole prey to its predators. So it is absolutely, biologically, zoologically, not only defensible, it's ideal. I'll have to ask. Here's a great dividing line. Can you handle that or not? Do you understand that your pet, when it's gone, is gone and you'll be doing a good thing?

[Joe Getty]

And then I thought about my dog.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I changed my mind.

[Joe Getty]

It is harder when you think about your own dog. I could still do it. I'll have to. I'll have to ask Henry if he'd be okay if Pugcito got eaten by a lion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my. Don't you dare ask him that. Not prior to the age of 25.

[Joe Getty]

No, 30. And he'll be on years old. He'll be on a therapist's couch and say, I remember it today, Gladys, he'll say. And Gladys will play the harp. And he'll say, I was 13 years old and my dad came in and said, would it be okay if we.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pugcito to a lion, your beloved dog companion. Good Lord. Be lucky if he doesn't take you out. Anyway, I. You know what my only problem is? Do I get to be. Maybe they explain that in the late. Going in this article. I was so intrigued by the. I didn't finish reading it.

[Joe Getty]

You're just not throwing the dog in there. Run, run, run. You know, it's not like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. And I don't want to make everybody sad, but certainly the. You know, as we've had to do in the past, I. I will be there at the end. And I don't need a zookeeper to do it. Backstage of the lion exhibit. Now we haven't.

[Joe Getty]

Katie's a dog owner. What's your opinion?

[Katie]

This whole conversation is just not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Could you feed that.

[Joe Getty]

What's that little white fluffy dog you got, Frank? No, I could not feed Frank to an orangutan.

[Katie]

I could not hungry. I could not feed Frank.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think you misunderstand the diet of the great apes.

[Katie]

But what's that little white fluffy thing you have?

[Jack Armstrong]

The post linked to the zoo's website describes the process for donating horses as food.

[Katie]

Now, do they take it alive and then they euthanize it? Because I could not handle. See that? So you're still handing over a live animal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Katie]

To the zoo?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I think this is. Now they also accept chickens and your dogs, your dog. A quick question. Why we at the zoo and where.

[Katie]

Am I going and why are you not coming with me?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, Lord, no. No. I can't even contemplate it's. Too dark. It's too terrible.

[Joe Getty]

Help but notice we're at the zoo.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they mentioned the We've never been to the zoo before. The horse will be delivered alive to the zoo, where it will be euthanized by a zookeeper and a veterinarian and then slaughtered. The zoo's website, or so they tell you right now. Here's where it gets weird. The zoo also accepts chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs during weekdays between 10:00am and 1:00pm but no more than four at a time.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, okay, geez. I have six. I'll have to go two days in a row.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh my God. I and your lower form of beasts that don't know what from what a gerbil. I I feel that's for instance. I feel different about them than I do about like, say, a very bright dog.

[Katie]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think this is going to catch on a lot.

[Katie]

I don't like the idea of handing them over alive. I feel like, I don't know, they need to euthanize them before, like, there. I don't know how that would work out.

[Joe Getty]

Rough. Rough. So when we got in the car, I thought perhaps where you were headed, to a church or a hospital.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, for God's sake, stop with that.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I Heart podcast.