Whoring For Clicks In '26!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Whoring For Clicks In '26!"
Date: January 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty return live for the first show of 2026, diving headfirst into the U.S. capture of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, the response from both Venezuelans and American progressives, and the ideological battle over socialism and collectivism—especially as it plays out in U.S. politics. The hosts also riff on absurdities in recent American legal decisions, viral pop culture trends, and New Year’s superstitions, all with their signature blend of scathing commentary and sardonic humor.

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Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. "Free Maduro?" The U.S. Capture of Venezuela's Dictator

• Opening Satire: The episode opens with riffs on protest chants from American leftists decrying Maduro's capture (“Free Maduro. Free him now. Handle Venezuela now.”) [00:28–01:08].
  • Armstrong and Getty lampoon the performative aspect, questioning the logic behind American activists supporting a dictator, and noting the split between Venezuelan expats (joyful) and U.S. progressives (outraged).
• Reactions: Citing reporting from The Free Press, they describe “Venezuelans… weeping tears of joy, chanting and singing in celebration,” contrasted with the Democratic Socialists of America “marching in favor of turning Maduro loose” [02:36–03:25].
  • Quoting a Venezuelan-American: “This is what all Venezuelans wished for. We were waiting 25 years for this.” [02:14]

2. The American Left, Socialism & “Regime Change” Debates

• Ideological Clash: The hosts discuss the disconnect between progressive supporters of Maduro and actual Venezuelans, referencing New York State Senator Jessica Ramos:
  • “How about being against totalitarian regimes as a whole? If you’re against kings, you should be against kings everywhere.” [05:22]
• Critique of Socialism’s Track Record: They recall Vin Scully’s famous take:
  • “Socialism failing to work as it always does. This time in Venezuela… there’s no food to eat. And who do you think is the richest person in Venezuela? The daughter of Hugo Chavez.” [03:51–04:10]
• Election Legitimacy: Discussion about Maduro’s stolen election, noting most of the world didn’t recognize his presidency; the hosts challenge leftist claims that the U.S. “kidnapped” a legitimate head of state [04:27–05:11].
• Partisan Reflexes: Armstrong laments tribalism in modern politics:
  • “…as long as we’re stuck in the ‘If the other side does it, I’m against it regardless’ mode… we’re just never going to get anywhere.” [08:00–08:26]

3. Rise of Socialism in American Discourse: Zoran Mamdani in NYC

• Quotes from Mayor Zoran Mamdani:
  • “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” [11:33, 18:12, 21:26]
  • The hosts react with disbelief, invoking the historical weight of words like “collectivism”—“the most deadly word in world history”—and recounting its use by dictators (Lenin, Stalin, Mao) [18:55–20:49].
• Generational Divide:
  • They note the appeal of socialism among young Americans (“a ridiculously high percentage… now say they favor socialism over the free market” [17:24]) and the hosts’ skepticism that most understand its history.
• Satirical Man-on-the-Street Interviews:
  • New Yorkers on Mamdani/Trump/Maduro:
    • “Would you trade Trump for Maduro?” — “Yeah, 100.”
    • “I would rather have a bus driver in charge than a billionaire.” [10:47–11:16]
    • The hosts call such views “unspeakably stupid.”
• Sia Weaver, Housing in NYC:
  • “We are going to, in transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity, [mean] that families, especially white families ... are going to have a different relationship to property.” [21:52]

4. Historical Parallels, Orwell & the Allure of Collectivism

• Citations of George Orwell:
  • Discuss Orwell’s reality check after seeing the working class firsthand: “It is brought home to you… that it is only because of miners sweating their guts out that superior persons… can remain superior.” [08:50]
  • Orwell’s critique of socialism’s “smell of crankishness, machine worship and the stupid cult of Russia”—relating to modern leftist activism [27:50–29:05].
• Taboo in Political Ideologies:
  • Armstrong and Getty contrast America’s near-universal repudiation of Nazism with the casual acceptance—and sometimes celebration—of communist or socialist symbols, even among candidates for high office [29:30–30:44].

5. Rapid-Fire: Other Headlines and Cultural Satire

• Giorgia Meloni, Italy: Praised for defending traditional values:
  • “If you feel offended by a crucifix or a nativity scene, then this is not the place where you should live.” [14:17]
• California Legal News:
  • 9th Circuit strikes down open-carry ban [15:48].
  • Commentary on “wild blue state laws”—e.g., laws protecting all sexual content in school libraries if it's linked to LGBTQ+ themes (mocked as “Porn for kids. Yay. Porn for kids.” [17:01]).
• Trends & New Year’s Culture:
  • Pop culture riffs: Olympics figure skater Ilia Malinin [31:13], “sneakerinas” (ballet-sneaker hybrid shoes) [31:52], and the “scalp as the new it body part” [32:15–32:59].
  • Superstition: Eating 12 grapes under the table at midnight for good luck; “It doesn’t work. I did it last year and I had a bad year.” [34:25–34:38]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On American Politics and Partisanship:
  “As long as we’re stuck in the… mode that if the other side does it, I’m against it, we’re just never going to get anywhere.”
  – Joe Getty [08:00]

• Maduro’s Fall and Joy Among Venezuelans:
  “This is what all Venezuelans wished for. We were waiting 25 years for this.”
  – Quoting Venezuelan-American, reported by The Free Press [02:14]

• On “Collectivism” in U.S. Political Rhetoric:
  “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”
  – Zoran Mamdani, Mayor of New York [18:12, 21:26] “That is the term that was used by Lenin and Stalin and Mao… It might be the most deadly word in world history.”
  – Joe Getty [18:55]

• On Historical Ignorance:
  “You’d think nobody with two brain cells to rub together could possibly embrace socialism. And yet they by the billions yearn for it. And they deserve it good and hard.”
  – Co-host [12:02]

• On the Nature of Socialism’s Appeal:
  “It is the shapely blonde who says, ‘I’m a little drunk,’ of political philosophies. It doesn’t matter how many people she murders in cold blood... the next generation comes along and says, ‘ooh, give me a picture.’”
  – Co-host [24:50]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:28–03:25] Satire of American leftists’ reactions to Maduro’s capture; contrast with Venezuelan diaspora’s reaction.
• [04:27–05:11] Debunking the “legitimacy” of Maduro’s regime.
• [08:00–08:26] The toxic impact of hyper-partisanship.
• [10:47–12:02] “Man on the street” interviews in NYC and reactions to socialism.
• [17:10–18:12] Discussion and reaction to Zoran Mamdani’s “seize the means of production”/“warmth of collectivism” rhetoric.
• [21:52–23:10] Sia Weaver’s remarks on property ownership and socialism in New York.
• [27:50–29:05] Orwell’s reflections on socialism and their modern parallels.
• [29:30–30:44] The different American attitudes toward Nazism versus Communism.
• [34:19–34:38] New Year’s tradition: 12 grapes under the table.

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Tone & Style

The episode is fast-paced, blending news analysis with sharp cultural criticism, sarcasm, and satire. Armstrong and Getty are openly incredulous about the left’s defense of Maduro and the rising popularity of collectivist ideas, often using historical analogies and deadpan humor. The language is irreverent and sometimes caustic—“fruit loops,” “unspeakably stupid,” “moronic”—matching their commentary’s polemical edge. They frequently cite news, historical figures, and culture to bolster their points with both wit and substance.

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Useful For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

• Clear timeline: The summary tracks major themes and provides timestamps for pivotal segments.
• Quotes capture essence: Notable lines from both the hosts and quoted figures bring the episode’s tone and main arguments alive.
• Contextualizes broader debates: From Venezuela to New York City, the episode is about more than news—it grapples with the “why” behind political and cultural divides.
• Balanced between recap and critique: The summary gives a thorough sense of what was said, how it was said, and why it matters.

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If you’re looking to catch up on Armstrong & Getty’s take on recent global events, American ideological battles, and the cultural silliness that always slips through the cracks, this episode—and this summary—has you covered.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Show Announcer]

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

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is he doing?

[Joe Getty]

Fight him now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Free Mont. Free him now. Handle Venezuela now. Handle Venezuela now. Free maternal. Free him now. Free Ma. Free him now.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Wow. From Portlandia, a handful of angry white chicks screeching, free Maduro. Free him now. Hands off Venezuela.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Or did they rhyme now with now? Which as a songwriter offends me? Anyway, so that's. That's Portlandia. Let's check in. In Seattle, where a. A man who for some reason has chosen to present himself as a woman is leading a different chant.

[Joe Getty]

Hands up Venezuela. Hands up Venezuela. Socialismo. I don't speak that language.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Wow. Socialism or death. He sees shouting at them.

[Joe Getty]

I get the. I get the argument that I'm willing to listen to the argument that we shouldn't be going into other countries and snatching their leaders or whatever. I get that argument. I'm not particularly worried about it in this case, I don't get.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

In this case it's wrong, but we'll get to that.

[Joe Getty]

I don't understand the, you know, up with Maduro angle, though. I don't.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's absolutely fruit loops. And the Free Press has done some great coverage of this story and the policy as a whole and how it ends and are we quote, unquote, running Venezuela and what it's going to look like in two years? Those are absolutely great questions, wonderful questions, and only time will tell. But the idea that it was somehow bad to get rid of Maduro and to chant, free Maduro. Free him now. Is badass crazy. I mean, that is, that's like hospitalized these people levels of crazy. And the Free Press doing a great job of talking to a bunch of Venezuelans. Here's this gal who. Her phone began to buzz Saturday with the news. She's Venezuelan, living in America now. Her phone began to buzz with news that the US had captured Maduro. She could hardly believe it. She said, this is what all Venezuelans wished for. We were waiting 25 years for this. And she was astounding. Astound. Dead rather, by Zoran Mamdani, who has just sworn in. She says, he's young. I feel like he knows what the people, blah, blah, blah. Oh, he's crazy. He needs to live in Venezuela for one year. He shouldn't be saying that anymore. And they talk about this split screen reaction in New York City, especially where Venezuelans are taking to the streets in enormous numbers, weeping tears of joy, chanting and singing in celebration. Meanwhile, the lefties of America, like we just heard, including the Democratic Socialists of America, held a counter demonstration, released a statement demanding the return of Maduro and the first lady, who's a real sweetheart and marching in favor of turning Maduro loose.

[Joe Getty]

Well, so I don't. We played this clip a lot here. Vin Scully, L.A. dodgers, back in the.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Day, socialism failing to work as it always does. This time in Venezuela, you talk about giving everybody something free, and all of a sudden there's no food to eat. And who do you think is the richest person in Venezuela? The daughter of hugo Chavez.

[Joe Getty]

Hello?

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Anyway. Owen 2.

[Joe Getty]

So what year was that? That was way back in the 90s. How.

[Jack Armstrong]

How long.

[Joe Getty]

So then when Hugo Chavez left, this guy took over.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah. Yeah. Maduro was his appointed successor. Yeah. And then they had an ultra loyal, brutal goon.

[Joe Getty]

So then why did he try to have an election which he then stole and stay in office? Stayed in office. Why do you think, in that way that they do?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's very little downside. If you happen to win the election, you get to claim legitimacy. I'm not a dictator. I got elected. And if you lose it, you just overturn the results. Yeah, it's too bad, but you got to do what you got.

[Joe Getty]

And that ignored by this part. Ignored by a lot of the critics of this, that most countries around the world did not recognize him as the president, the actual president of the country.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Oh, right, right. Including the EU and quite a few others. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So if they don't call him president, how can you claim that we took their president?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Right, right. And my, as I briefly stated, the idea that we're violating international law by snatching up a head of state, blah, blah, blah, an idea that NPR is just treating as a given. It's clearly true, and there's even no reason to even discuss it. It's absolutely not true. Number one, the guy was an indicted drug trafficker, and number two, he was not the legitimate head of state. He had faked an election. Everybody knows it. It was agreed upon by multiple organizations around the world, including the Biden administration. So it just doesn't apply. So what folks who are arguing that are advocating is the idea that, look, you can commit any crime in the world you want, but if you're strong enough to take over another country, no matter how small, we can't touch you. Which is a bizarre way to look at it. But anyway, getting back to the left and their reaction. So this. This Gal. This Venezuelan gal, who was crying tears of joy, was asked about the democratic socialists, which Mamdani has been part of for years and years. She says, I guess it's not surprising because they're socialists. But then you got New York State Senator Jessica Ramos, who's married to a Venezuelan, represents a district that has a lot of Venezuelan folks. She said she was disappointed to see her party take a one sided stance. I've seen those signs about socialism beating fascism, but how about neither extreme being a good. How about being against totalitarian regimes as a whole? If you're against no kings, you should be against kings everywhere. And Ramos, who ran against Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary, told me the situation was not at all good in Venezuela, blah, blah, blah. But she said for anyone who's worked with asylum seekers here in New York City over the past few years and has heard their stories about having to send their children to schools where there's no running water or electricity, or about how they practice, can't practice their career or go to college, it's impossible not to understand why the immediate reaction for so many Venezuelans is joyful. They haven't felt joy like this in a long time before this weekend. Then they go through the list of Kamala Harris and AOC and others who, who are saying that this is terrible, terrible. Here's a 33 year old Uber Eats delivery driver from Venezuela who argued that Mondami was wrong to oppose the actions of President Trump. As a patriot of Venezuela, I agree with everything Trump is doing. It's perfect, truly perfect. And final, final word. New Yorker, Venezuelan American, who's lived here for 27 years. She said the New York mayor's social media post merely confirmed what she already suspected, that his posh upbringing on the Upper west side rendered him out of touch. And I quote, it's hard to tell a rich kid that poverty exists. He doesn't seem to understand that there are people suffering in this world and they're suffering because of socialism. Wow, that's great stuff. I haven't heard. Go ahead.

[Joe Getty]

I was just gonna say on that, you know, the, the knee jerk, well, Trump did it, so we gotta be against it thing. I was trying to find a piece Mark Halperin wrote, I think for New Year's Day of the as long as we're stuck in the and both sides do this, it isn't just lefties. But as long as we're stuck in the. If the other side does it, I'm against it, regardless mode that we've been in for quite a few years. We're just never going to get anywhere. We just never.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's. Charles Lane wrote a fabulous piece I came across about this topic, and he's talking about George Orwell. One of his very, very early books was about the miners in Britain, not to young people, people who mine, and how, as an intellectual socialist, he went to see their lives. And he writes, in a way, it is even humiliating to watch coal miners working. It raises in you a momentary doubt about your own status as an intellectual and a superior person generally. For it is brought home to you, at least while you are watching, that it is only because of miners sweating their guts out, that superior persons in quotes can remain superior. And when he got his actual encounters with the working class, as opposed to hearing about them in a classroom taught by a professor, maybe at Columbia. Columbia, he realized, oh, my God, the reality is so different from the classroom. And that's why he went on a lifelong campaign of saying, hey, here's the problems with socialism.

[Joe Getty]

The next days, weeks, months certainly matter, though, because it could. It could go so south so fast that it's hard to feel like it was a win, couldn't it?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, well. And all these joyful people of Venezuelan extraction might end up being heartbroken because for now, the administration's embraced the second in command, who's a dedicated totalitarian.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right. I like this conversation that Marco Rubio got into with, I think, Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation about is this regime change or not? And I think it's a good question. The. No, it's not regime change. It's because regime change has a. As a nasty hangover from when we've done it a couple of times and it hasn't worked out that well. But she made the point. Well, if it's not regime change, I mean, so it's the same regime, but we're expecting them to act completely differently. That's the hope, I guess, yeah.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, yeah. Well, they're gonna try to use their leverage and see what happens. I'm skeptical, but keeping an open mind. Hey, finally, this. I haven't heard this, but I hear it's pretty amusing. Here is a man on the street montage in New York City. It is priceless.

[Joe Getty]

Would you trade Trump for Maduro?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, 100.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, I think Trump. I think Maduro was democratically elected, probably.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, sure.

[Joe Getty]

More than likely, yes. Of course.

[Jack Armstrong]

If there's a Nicholas Maduro out here who's going to bring us to revolution, I will support that movement.

[Joe Getty]

I Would rather have a bus driver in charge than a billionaire. Okay, let's put it that way.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Nicholas Maduro could come and be our president.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Oh, any day.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Any day. Look, he said all the check marks are there. He's not white.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

He's a minority.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

He looks a little too much like Saddam Hussein, though. Those people are unspeakably stupid.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, but how many? So Mamdani the other night at his inauguration.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

This we will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.

[Joe Getty]

How many people out there actually cheer that believe that I don't have a sense of.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Is the most persistent idiotic scam in the history of mankind. It makes snake oil look unpromising. Is a scam like chemotherapy, right? Exactly. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

It's.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's. It's worth studying and understanding why it is so alluring to people. Because it has been disproved so thoroughly and so many times and so brutally. You'd think nobody with two brain cells to rub together could possibly embrace socialism. And yet they by the billions yearn for it. And they deserve it good and hard. Let's just divide up the country in two and you can have your socialism. You knock yourselves out over here. We'll be doing the liberty thing.

[Joe Getty]

And so the million people on the streets with tears in their eyes so happy in Venezuela, they're just wrong. They just don't know that it's a good system.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

That's just a big loud fact that they ignore because that's one of the keys to being a socialist, is you must ignore reality.

[Joe Getty]

Weird. Any thoughts?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

They're misguided. They're. They're the brown face of white supremacy.

[Joe Getty]

Jack, we gotta play that mom Donnie clip and like, really put it in context a little bit later and discuss it because it is. It is. I don't think it's a minor thing that he said that. Oh, no, no, no. We got a lot more on the way. Stay here.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Anyway. Owen 2.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Yo, yo, yo. We're back live. That's it. We're actually back. This is us back. What are. If you're listening to the show and you heard a lot of reruns for the last two weeks now this is live. This is January 5th, the year 2026. God bless it.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Are you gonna come up with a slogan for 2026, do you think?

[Joe Getty]

Gonna have people suggest ideas? What rhymes with six? We've been doing this for. We've been doing this for so long. I know that we could probably just go back to 16 or 06 or whatever.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, well, 16 wouldn't work. Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

That's true.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

How about whoring for clicks in 26?

[Joe Getty]

Except we don't. No, we don't. I got so many notes of news over the last two weeks that. That just deserve a mention. For instance, did you see. Well, you almost certainly didn't. Giorgio Maloney. She's the leader of Italy. I like the cut of her jib. I like her deal. Anyway, she gave a big speech to a giant rally speaking to Third World migrants there. If you feel offended by a crucifix or a nativity scene, then this is not the place where you should live.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

We will go, girl.

[Joe Getty]

We will defend God and homeland and the family. There had been some nativity scenes attacked in Rome and that's what she was speaking to.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

This is the preference cascade. We talked about a fair amount last year where you're told over and over again, nobody thinks what you think. You're wrong to think it. Stop thinking it. And then when everybody all along you've been thinking, this is crazy, letting all these people in who hate our way of life. And then suddenly, when it becomes safe to say it out loud, you realize, oh, everybody's been thinking about it. Certainly everybody who has a conscience and a brain.

[Joe Getty]

I'm glad she said it, but the cake is in the oven and being baked on that whole thing in Europe, so we'll see how that turns out. I mean, the people are there and they have their beliefs. Elon Musk said he's going all in funding Republicans to help President Trump take back full control of the House or hold on to full control in the November midterms. He's gone all in on a couple of elections where he didn't get his way, even though he spent a lot of money. But funding a whole bunch of House members, Republican, across the country. I don't know. I don't know if money will be the difference maker or not, I would guess. No. He did have dinner with Donald and Melania at Mar A Lago the other night. So the whole bromance is over, or they're feuding or whatever stupid soap opera that people like to talk about. He was sitting there at the dinner table and they were both laughing and chuckling and seemingly dinner table events.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

So I don't know if you think that's a big deal or not. California's open carry ban was blown up by a major Second Amendment ruling that happened while we were on vacation. And it was the 9th Circuit Court, which Generally, we hate the things they decide. Said that California's restriction on open carrying firearms fails the Supreme Court's modern second amendment test.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Wow. That's a couple of huge court victories over the break that were kept quiet by most of the media.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see how that turns out.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Also, yeah, the National Review had a fairly amusing roundup of some of the ridiculous wild blue state laws of 2025 and 2026, including in Cal Unicornia continuing to be the sanctuary state for children who are momentarily confused about their sex. And the 2026 sees the California legislature enacting the. Banning. Banning books no matter how sexually explicit or age inappropriate they are. If you can argue, well, it's gay sex or trans sex, you can't take.

[Joe Getty]

It out of your kid's school library.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's protected. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Porn for kids. Yay. Porn for kids.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, a lot more on the way. If you miss a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

We have to continue to elect more socialists, and we have to ensure that. That we are unapologetic about our socialism. There are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it's bds.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

Or whether it's the end goal of seizing the means of production.

[Joe Getty]

Seizing the means of production from Zoran Mamdani back before he got elected. Now, so the question at the time was, and this is in the context of a ridiculously high percentage of young people who now say they favor socialism over the free market. I should have looked up those numbers, but it's been growing for years and it's disturbing. Did he use the term seizing the means of production by accident, or did he know how he was poking people like us? Well, then the same thing the other night when he got sworn in New York into New York as the mayor, everybody knowing exactly what he was, and enough people choosing him on purpose, and he said this.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.

[Joe Getty]

If you're a cold warrior at all. The warmth of the term collectivism is just. Dude, you're, you're, you're. You're trolling me, right? You're just trying to get my head to pop off by using the term collectivism.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, I know, it's amazing. Just very quickly, I, for one, and I'm asking you, do you find liberty frigid? I find it wonderful and innovating and exciting and fun. The last thing I find it is somehow oppressive. Are you kidding? Well, it's just an open plea for the vote of sheep.

[Joe Getty]

So if you're not super into the history of this sort of stuff, I realize how the word collectivism might not land with you, but, man, if everybody shares together, but if you follow this sort of stuff, I mean, that is the term that was used by Lenin and Stalin and Mao and Castro and all of these creeps who led to the murder of millions and millions and millions of people. And it's, it might be the most deadly word in world history. Right, Collectivism. And he chose that for his inaugural speech. Right, right. So the question was, and I was listening to Jonah Goldberg on the Dispatch talk about this, did he, does he run in circles where that word doesn't have that meaning for the rest of us? And so because he's surrounded by his dad and his other socialist friends, that they don't know how it triggers the rest of us, or was he just throwing that word out there for the. Knowing that it, you know, makes people like us crazy, but for the people that voted for him, they love that word. Or does he not know?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Well, it's 10 to 35 year olds who are not particularly astute, who are his target audience. And he couldn't give half a crap how it triggers us, as you put it, or the fact that anybody who has any background knowledge about the history of socialism, communism, collectivism recoils because the history of it is just horrifically. It's unspeakably obscene because the youngsters, they don't recoil. They don't know. I mean, it was funny. I heard him hesitate before he used the term seizing the means of production. Because I think in his, like, Ivy League educated head, he knew, oh, this is a little on the nose. I mean, this is straight out of the textbooks. But he went ahead and used the phrase anyway because he knew he's within, you know, a friendly crowd now, you.

[Joe Getty]

Know, worth pointing out, he doesn't have the ability as a mayor of New York to seize the means of production or to collectivize, hardly anything. But the fact that he is in favor of, again, maybe the most deadly word in, in all of language going back over the last century or so. The fact that he's in favor of it is just wild. It'd be like if you had a right winger say, we need to deal the, with these immigrants through a holocaust of removal or something.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

A final solution.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[Guest or Additional Commentator]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's amazing.

[Joe Getty]

It is stunning.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.

[Joe Getty]

Straight off a mao poster from 1950.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Wow. Walk around Cuba, walk around the Soviet Union. Talk to me about the warmth of collectivism. That's just bizarre. I mean, it's obscene. Now he does have some power within New York City. This is Sia Weaver, his New York City tenant director who's gonna be in charge of all rentals. Listen to her, would you? It's 18. Michael.

[Sia Weaver]

I think the reality is, is that for centuries we've really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good. And we are going to, in transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity will require that we think about it differently. And it will mean that families, especially white families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Wait now, sweetheart. A lot of white homeowners. Well, and some POCs are going to have a different relationship with their property than they have right now. I don't think I need to explain to you folks what that means. We are going to confiscate your property and the state will control it. The state? Not the state of New York, but the state capital. S. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

To a bit more succinct. She said a couple years ago she tweeted this. Private property, including and kind of especially homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as wealth building public policy.

[Joe Getty]

Home ownership is white supremacy?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

That's correct. Yeah. And people who own homes need to have a different relationship with their property.

[Joe Getty]

Well, you can't accuse him of like trying to fool us by pretending to be something else because that ain't what they're doing.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, Points for honesty, mum.

[Joe Getty]

Dami said back in June, I don't think we should have billionaires. Is there a point to being a billionaire besides for power? I mean, this is some crazy ass.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

But it's for children and the childlike. Only a child or an ignoramus could fall for these arguments. Unfortunately, we have a lot of childlike adults and more ignoramuses than certainly we ought to start exporting them. The United States has a net surplus of ignoramuses. Unfortunately, so does much of the rest of the world. So they're not buying.

[Joe Getty]

You know, you're right. I focused on the second half of the phrase where he talks about collectivism. The warmth of collectivism, but the frigidity of rugged individualism.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

It's bad to be a rugged individual.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, exactly. It's Horror. Horror. Just the idea of being able to do what I want and how I want. It's scary. I want the warmth of collectivism, which has worked so well.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

You're self sufficient. That's sick.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

It's amazing that the mayor of probably the most important city on earth, whether he has the power to do all these things or not, believes that stuff.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And people voted for him like crazy. Yeah.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Good. Yeah. There's Bernie, there's. It goes to show you the incredible allure of that particular fraud. It's amazing. It is. It is the shapely blonde who says, I'm a little drunk of political philosophies. It's like, oh, my God, give me some of that. It doesn't matter how horrific. It doesn't matter how many people she murders in cold blood, like, openly on the streets. The next generation comes along and says, ooh, give me a picture.

[Joe Getty]

Seriously, what do you think the goal was as a. I don't know if he wrote his own speech or his speech writers, but he signed off on it. What's the goal of poking everybody who doesn't agree with that the way he did? I mean, that is just.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Oh, I don't. I don't think he even sees it that way. No. He was selling what he believes to people who were his customers.

[Joe Getty]

Do you think he realizes the extent that for the normal part of the country, that that is just horrific, or is he. Because he's. It's hard to imagine the circles he's been in his whole life.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Right, right. I don't know if he realizes it, but I do know that he doesn't care.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I think he's right about that.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Hardcore socialists have never cared what the bourgeoisie thinks.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm sure you're right that he's.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Kind of part of their whole philosophy.

[Joe Getty]

I do think that he has spent his whole life around, you know, intellectuals and socialists and that. That crowd so much that he doesn't realize what that sounds like to the rest of us.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Right. Hey, getting back. Yeah. I have time for this. And I'm so glad. I'm reminded of a couple things. Number one, Matt Taibbi saying we're in the upper class twits promoting revolution point in our country. And then.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, Matt Taibbi who tweeted out that quote about the rigid. The rigidness of. He just said, do you have that in front of you?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I don't.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, Matt Taibbi just tweeted that quote out about the warmth of collectivism and the rigidity of individual liberty or whatever and said what the F. He had the word.

[Zoran Mamdani (quoted speaker)]

We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Matt Taibbi tweeted out what the.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

F when a guy who can't tell you what time it is in less than 4,000 words puts it that plainly. And a wordsmith as skilled as Matt is anyway, so I was reminded of that and also, excuse me, the piece that Charles Lane wrote about, mostly about Charles or I'm sorry, about George Orwell, about when Orwell, who was a socialist, actually got exposed to the working class, specifically miners. He wrote a book called the Road to Wiegand Pier. I think that's how you pronounce it. But anyway, I brought it essentially. Yeah, it's about him coming up against the reality of the working class and socialism and that sort of thing. And Orwell wrote this and I think it's absolutely perfect. There are a couple of things you're gonna want to substitute here as examples, but Orwell writes, we've reached a stage where the very word socialism calls up. On the one hand a picture of aeroplanes, tractors and huge glittering factories of glass and concrete. On the other hand a picture of vegetarians with wilting beards, of Bolshevik commissars half gangster, half gramoph, of earnest ladies in sandals, shock headed Marxists chewing polysyllables, escaped Quakers, birth control fanatics and labor party backstairs crawlers. Socialism, at least on this island, does not smell any longer of revolution and the overthrow of tyrants. It smells of crankishness, machine worship in the stupid cult of Russia. Unless you can remove that smell and very rapidly, fascism may win. And Charles Lane points out, substitute electric cars for airplanes and trans kids for birth control and free Palestine for the stupid cult of Russia. And Orwell could be writing about academics in the Bay Area or Mamdani's fan base in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Substitute MAGA for fascism. And the parallels are even clearer.

[Joe Getty]

You know, it's before we went on vacation, I talked about this Christmas present I bought myself. I bought myself an original authentic poster from China in the late 50s about the great Leap Forward and how great it was going to be. And that killed Depends on who you ask. 15 to 40 million people by collectivizing farming and all kinds of different things and at gunpoint. And you mentioned the idea that I can have that on my wall as an idea. I'm mocking that. I'm not admiring that. I'm just, I mean as an idea of this is what Governments can do come up with these kind of bad ideas and kill millions of. But you can't do that with Nazi stuff. You can't do that. Nuts. And that's probably a good thing that we're just so turned off by the idea of Nazi. You shouldn't talk about. You shouldn't, you know, give that any air whatsoever. What's the idea that you can give air to communism?

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Well, right. I think, you know, the whole Nazi thing. You're right. Maybe it is a good idea. But the contrast is the amazing.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

If you had the Nazi poster up, you could say, oh no, no, no. I'm a collector of. I study propag. I've always. I'm fascinated by it. And this is propaganda from an evil regime. This is what it looks like. And people would still think, I'll bet he's an effing closet Nazi. Right.

[Joe Getty]

Well, my point is that people are knee jerk. You cannot even go a half a step toward Nazism. But people let you go all the way toward communism.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Just advocated openly. Never mind having the post that killed.

[Joe Getty]

More people use the same phrases, run for office on it and nobody blinks an eye. Now, wild.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah, wild is one name word for it. Moronic, idiotic, ignorant and frightening. And frightening. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we'll be keeping our eye on that. Among other things. I've got something about New Year's. I'll bet you haven't heard. I guess it's all the rage with the young people. Did you crawl under a table on New Year's Eve? You didn't. Well, you should have. It's the only way you can make sure you're gonna have a good year. Among other things on the way.

[Show Announcer]

Stay tuned, Armstrong, and get.

[Joe Getty]

Ilia Malinin might be a household name here in just a couple of weeks. Ilia Malinin. You'll know him. Everyone will know him. He is one of our star skaters that will be at the Winter Olympics which starts in just a few weeks in Italy. He is the only person. He's a high school kid. He's the only person to ever land a quad in competition.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

And I've landed a couple in practice but there are no cameras present, so just have to take.

[Joe Getty]

So you just have to believe the many people who are wowed by your.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I'm certain I left up in the air world around a bunch of times and I was facing the same way. So I think it was four. Yeah, four. At least four.

[Joe Getty]

Katie, are you familiar with the trend that is the sneakerina. That is ballerina shoes, which have been popular with women various times coming and going, and now they're kind of turned into a sneaker. So it's a combination ballerina slipper and sneaker. The sneakerina. I guess. I guess it's very hot.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I don't know that. I don't know that. I know it to be called that, but, yeah, I've seen them.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. They're viral, so, yeah. Get those on your feet as soon as possible.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

Also came across. This is your scalp, the new it body part. Consumers are increasingly fixating on their scalps, turning to head spas, pricey treatments and products to combat thin hair and irritation. What do you mean? No, they're not.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

No, they're not just leaving it there. No, they're not.

[Joe Getty]

And I.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

The idea that it's new, that people are. I have thinning hair. Why I'm concerned. This is new in 2020, so shut the F up.

[Joe Getty]

You aren't going to head spas.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I'm not falling for the fake trends. I have noticed those popping up, though, the scalp spas.

[Joe Getty]

There you go.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

See?

[Joe Getty]

All right. Yeah. Where you go and you.

[Jack Armstrong]

It.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

They just focus on your scalp.

[Joe Getty]

The scalp is the new it body part.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

All right.

[Joe Getty]

I'm all scalp.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Hey, baby, show me your scalp.

[Joe Getty]

And then there was some announcement. Some country thinks they've actually cracked the code on growing hair. So I might have. As my brother said, I'm gonna have bangs and a mullet by the end of the year.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I pay $1,000.

[Joe Getty]

So we're at New Year's Eve and we're sitting around talking about things. It's amazing to me how some people embrace the New Year's resolution thing, and then if you don't embrace it, you're hostile toward it. There's no in between, apparently. It's like you've got to be hostile at the idea that you could improve yourself or. I don't know. I don't know what makes people mad about it, but if you ask somebody, they either have one or they're angry at the topic.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I think it's the ubiquity of. It's the obligatory feel of the whole thing.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

People reject.

[Joe Getty]

I love the idea of a reset and evaluation. It's like. It's like running a business. You take your log at the end of the year. How did this go? How did that go? What do we need to do more of? Unless of. Anyway, one of the young people at our gathering said, oh, did Anybody bring any grapes? And I said, why would anybody bring any grapes? To eat grapes under the table. And they're all like, duh. I guess that's a thing. Eating 12 grapes under a table at midnight is how you ensure yourself you're going to have a good year.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

That's funny. I'd heard about eating the grapes in the context of Venezuelans, but not in the table. Didn't factor. No.

[Joe Getty]

It's a New Year's Eve thing. And my One niece, who's 23 or something like that, I don't know how old she is, she's out of college, starting her real life. She said, it doesn't work. I did it last year and I had a bad year.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Well, that's just science.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. 12 grapes under the table. So maybe if you didn't catch it this year, maybe do it next year.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

I enjoy grapes. It couldn't hurt.

[Joe Getty]

I like this picture of a glum Marco Rubio where it says Rubio realizing he's going to be President of Venezuela, governor of Cuba and Shaw of Iran.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Oh, that's good.

[Joe Getty]

We can talk about all of those things in our four what there's an hour for. There is. If you don't get it or miss a segment, you can always get our podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Co-host/Commentator (likely Armstrong or Getty, possibly Joe Getty)]

Yeah. What is the relationship with Venezuela going to look like going forward? That is the question nobody has the answer to.

[Joe Getty]

And we mean nobody.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.