You Can't Open Your Eyes & You Whistle Through Your Ears

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: Episode Summary Title: You Can't Open Your Eyes & You Whistle Through Your Ears
Release Date: June 26, 2025
Host/Authors: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

In this engaging episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a myriad of pressing topics ranging from local politics and social issues to international affairs and defense. Their candid discussions, sprinkled with humor and sharp insights, provide listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current socio-political landscape.

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1. New York City Mayoral Primary Upset

The episode kicks off with a surprising development in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat to state Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani, a result that took many by surprise.

Key Points:

• Zoran Mamdani's Victory: At just 33 years old, Mamdani secured decisive wins in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, showcasing a strong base of support in these key boroughs.
• Cuomo's Concession Speech: Cuomo praised Mamdani's ability to "touch young people and inspire them to come out and vote" (02:14).
• Media and Public Reaction: The hosts express skepticism about Mamdani's political stance, labeling him a "socialist, Israel-hating, Jew-hating" candidate, and predict a potential media-fueled narrative against him.

Notable Quote:

• Jack Armstrong: "It's amazing you have that power." (00:28) – Highlighting the unexpected nature of Mamdani's triumph.

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2. 10-Year Anniversary of Marriage Equality

Marking a decade since the landmark Supreme Court decision in the Obergefell case, Armstrong and Getty reflect on the evolution of the gay rights movement.

Key Points:

• Supreme Court Decision: Recalling the day gay marriage was legalized, the hosts reminisce about the public celebrations and the shift in societal norms.
• Andrew Sullivan's Commentary: Referencing Sullivan's New York Times essay, they discuss concerns over the movement's "radicalization," particularly regarding transgender issues.
• Debate on Gender Ideology: Both hosts critique modern gender theories, arguing that conflating gay rights with trans issues has diluted the original objectives of the movement.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "Being a man or woman has nothing to do with biology. That's a good point." (08:25)
• Joe Getty: "Again, to go along with radical gender theory is to submit to something you know in your heart is bizarre and untrue." (08:34)

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3. Pentagon's Iran Strike and Media Response

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Pentagon's recent release of videos depicting bunker-busting bombs used in an Iran strike, analyzing the implications and media portrayal.

Key Points:

• Military Action Details: Armstrong and Getty dissect the visuals of the strikes, questioning the extent of the damage and the accuracy of leaked reports.
• Media Spin and Public Perception: They argue that the media has potentially misrepresented the effectiveness of the strikes, framing it as a negligible event despite evidence of substantial destruction.
• International Reactions: The hosts touch upon Iran's response, including the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), signaling ongoing tensions.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty: "The pilots called the blast the brightest explosion they've ever seen in their lives. It looked like, it literally looked like daylight." (19:44)
• Jack Armstrong: "It's an act of submission." (12:26) – Referring to the acceptance of radical gender theories, illustrating their broader critique of societal shifts.

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4. Trump's Influence on NATO and European Defense Spending

Armstrong and Getty commend former President Trump for his role in compelling European NATO members to increase their defense budgets, a move they believe has strengthened the alliance.

Key Points:

• Defense Spending Milestone: Under Trump's leadership, 32 NATO countries committed to spending 5% of their GDP on defense, a significant rise from previous allocations.
• Media Neglect: The hosts lament that this achievement went underreported due to negative perceptions of Trump in the media.
• Strategic Implications: Enhanced defense spending by European nations is viewed as a crucial step in bolstering NATO's collective security, especially in light of Russian aggression.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "I've never understood how you don't see it that way." (25:43)
• Joe Getty: "What are you gonna do?" (29:41) – Emphasizing the inevitability of stronger defense measures despite media criticisms.

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5. Brief News Bits and Humorous Anecdotes

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts shift to lighter topics and humorous exchanges, providing a balance to the intense discussions.

Key Points:

• Leanne Rhimes Incident: They briefly mention the actress’s on-stage mishap involving her teeth, injecting humor into the conversation.
• Plastic Surgery Banter: An amusing dialogue ensues about contemplating a chin tuck and the potential teasing from family members.
• Yeezy Slides Joke: The hosts joke about Adolf Hitler's hypothetical use of Kanye West’s Yeezy Slides, blending pop culture with dark humor.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "You can't open your eyes and you whistle through your ears and all kinds of different things happen." (15:35) – A playful reference to the exaggerated effects of plastic surgery.
• Joe Getty: "Is that the Klansman's brand?" (34:47) – Poking fun at the earlier joke about Yeezy Slides.

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6. Closing Remarks and Teasers

As the episode wraps up, Armstrong and Getty tease upcoming topics, maintaining their trademark blend of seriousness and wit.

Key Points:

• Upcoming Health Segment: Discussion on the decline of heart attack deaths juxtaposed with the rise of other deadly conditions.
• Right-Wing Divides: Exploration of the schism between isolationists and interventionists within the political right, questioning the actual influence of isolationist voices.
• Final News Bit: Highlighting Iran's parliamentary decision to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, reinforcing ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "We're just going to have to." (28:12) – Summing up the inevitability of addressing complex international issues.
• Joe Getty: "It's a battle of our time that we fight every day in our own little way." (29:33) – Emphasizing the personal nature of combating widespread societal challenges.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Armstrong and Getty effectively navigate through a spectrum of topics, offering listeners a blend of in-depth analysis, personal anecdotes, and humor. From examining local political upheavals and reflecting on social progress to critiquing international military actions and celebrating defense achievements, the hosts provide a well-rounded perspective. Their candid conversations encourage listeners to engage critically with current events while enjoying the light-hearted moments that make the podcast uniquely entertaining.

Notable Overall Quote:

• Jack Armstrong: "It's the battle of our time that we fight every day in our own little way." (29:33) – Capturing the essence of their ongoing discourse on societal and political issues.

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For those who missed the episode or wish to revisit the discussions, the full podcast is available on-demand through iHeartPodcasts.

Transcript

[Joe Getty]

This is an iHeart podcast broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Got to catch up on a couple of things. My, I've got a, a Mormon insider, somebody who was living in the Mormon church, married for decades, who has hit us with a couple interesting things on a story we did last hour. I don't know if you've been following this national story of these kids that got kidnapped, it looks like by some of the fundamentalist Mormons. Anyway, we'll get to that later. It's the anniversary of gay marriage becoming legal. Got some stuff on that. But big story, especially since the media is out of New York, the fact that they, I mean, it's a big story whether you live in New York or not. But this socialist dude, it would seem Israel hating, Jew hating socialist dude is going to be the mayor of New York almost certainly come November. And all the late night comedians did a joke about him last night.

[Joe Getty]

Yep, we're gonna do a late night joke off. Here's the format. Each takes their crack at a joke. I, Joe Getty, will rate them, give them a letter grade, and the bottom grade. Getter will be banned from comedy for life.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's amazing.

[Joe Getty]

Vested in us.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's amazing you have that power.

[Joe Getty]

Yesterday was New York City's Democratic mayoral primary and former Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded to state Assemblyman Zoran Mandani. On the bright side, on the bright side for Cuomo, at least he doesn't have to move to New York City. During his concession speech, Cuomo said that Mamdani put together a great campaign and added, quote, he touched young people and inspired them and got them to come out and vote. Cuomo's mistake was waiting until after he was elected to touch. Yeah, everyone was talking about this last night. In a major upset, Zoran Mamdani beat.

[Jack Armstrong]

Andrew Cuomo to win New York's Democratic mayoral primary. Mamdani is 33 years old. After he won, he was like, My seven roommates are never gonna believe this.

[Joe Getty]

Dudes, take a look at this map. Mamdani won decisively in Manhattan, Brooklyn in Queens, while Andrew Cuomo won Staten island, the Bronx, and the secret sixth borough of Groper's Island. And it's not. And no, it's not. It's not what it sounds like. It was named after Emanuel Groper, a Dutch colonial farmer who, who enjoyed touching his employees.

[Jack Armstrong]

I knew that it was coming, but Groer's Island.

[Joe Getty]

All right, well certainly the, the winner is clear there. Colbert with a solid B plus, maybe an A minus. Fallon and Myers tying with B minuses according to the obscure rules of the late night Jokoff. They are both on double secret comedy probation and must be funnier in the future.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not trying to downplay the fact that this guy's socialist ideas and maybe antisemitism was popular and got him votes, but I think there is a lot more there. He, he ran against a horrible candidate, a horrible candidate that to everybody I've read ran a almost non existence campaign. He thought he could just walk through the primary and win it without any effort whatsoever. And, and he got beat. So he's a horrible candidate who ran a bad campaign that played part of it. Also, Trump learned this, knows this. You grab onto a couple of issues everybody's crazy angry about that nobody seems to be addressing and you make that your focal point, Trump. Immigration and inflation over and over and over and over and over again and it seemed like nobody cared. And, and that was the number one and two issue. And, and this guy did the same thing. Prices are too high. And he just kept talking about he can't afford to live here over and over and over and over over again.

[Joe Getty]

That's going to get a lot of.

[Jack Armstrong]

People to vote for you.

[Joe Getty]

And he's charismatic, he's articulate, he's, you know, a hard working campaigner. The rest of it. He's also a nightmare for, for people like me who've been warning against the coalition of Islamism and progressivism and it's played out many times in history. I brought you a list a couple of weeks ago where they work together to overthrow the powers that be and then they fight each other for whether it's going to become an Islamist republic like Iran did, or a Marxist republic like, you know, Soviet Union did. Although, you know, Islamism wasn't a big part of that. But yeah, but they joined together through history over and over again. This guy's both.

[Jack Armstrong]

He won even though he refused to denounce the phrase globalize Intifada. It'll be interesting to see if he moderates on that headed into the general election or not. He probably doesn't need to to win, but that's a heck of a thing to run on.

[Joe Getty]

Probably not because he got an enormous turnout of who, white college educated young voters. That wasn't it, but that was the strength of his campaign.

[Jack Armstrong]

So today is an anniversary I remember very well. We were Gladys, we were doing this job, of course we were doing this job. We've been doing the same thing every day our entire lives, Joe and I together, which is fine. I love my job. It's just, it's just amazing that you.

[Joe Getty]

Can go opportunity for advancement. Somebody should have told me.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's amazing. It can go through like anything that's happened in the last 30 some years. And Joe and I were sitting here talking about it. But it was 10 years ago today that everybody was anxiously awaiting a Supreme Court decision, as you often are in June. There's not one this year, but often there's a really big one. What's the Supreme Court gonna say in the Obergefell case, which was the gay marriage case?

[Joe Getty]

That was the one where John Roberts came out and said, sodomy is a tax. Right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's exactly right.

[Joe Getty]

That's my memory of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And we remember people, reporters running out of the Supreme Court, breathless, breathing hard. Gay marriage is legal. Gay marriage is legal. And everybody cheered and going crazy except for people who didn't want that. And I got to admit now, 10 years after it became the law of the land, I can't believe we ever discussed this, or it was an argument or whatever. It didn't seem to make much difference in anybody's life or not much.

[Joe Getty]

Although the progressive movement has taken that ground and moved on to new ground, which I think you may be about to bring up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let me read from the. This is just from a tease piece the New York Times put out, but it's got all the information in it I need. Today is the 10 year anniversary of the day of the Supreme Court's ruling that ushered in marriage equality in the United States. That was always the way they phrased it, as opposed to gay marriage. Andrew Sullivan, who I've always been a fan of, he's a conservative gay man. He's very conservative, very religious, Catholic gay man. He's a number of contradictions, which is one of the things I like about him. He is an early and influential advocate for gay marriage. Argues in a guest essay today in the New York Times that after the gay rights movement won its most sought after and once unimaginable goal of gay marriage being treated the same as same sex couple marriage, it turned ever more radical, especially on trans issues. And in doing that, Andrew Sullivan writes in the New York Times today, it lost its way. Quoting now, the new ideology I believed was different. Like many gays and lesbians and a majority of everybody else, I simply didn't buy it. I didn't and don't believe that Being a man or woman has nothing to do with biology. My sexual orientation is based on a biological distinction between men and women. I'm attracted to the former and not to the latter. And now I'm was supposed to believe the difference didn't ever exist. That's a good point.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. I'm attracted to. Well, I can't define either sex, so I don't know. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's absurd.

[Joe Getty]

Again, to go along with radical gender theory is to submit to something you know in your heart is bizarre and untrue. It's an act of submission.

[Jack Armstrong]

The title of his essay in the New York Times is How the Gay Rights Movement Radicalized and Lost its Way. Sullivan worries that the gay and lesbian movement, by allying itself with what he sees as new gender ideologies, including the medical treatments of trans kids that was the subject of a recent support Supreme Court decision, as we all know, may have weakened the American consensus on gay rights. It absolutely has. Because. Because they worked so hard to lump it all together. Well, it's all gotten lumped together.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Gay and lesbian became lgbt, became lgbtq, then LGBTQ plus, then LGBTQIA or two slgb. What's the point? Yeah, yeah, I'm that. And, and, and there are plenty of gay people. Or like, all these letters got nothing to do with me. Stop pretending like they do. And I sympathize with you good people.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder if at some point there will be a split. Uh, first of all, I'd like to see polling on how many run of the mill gay guys, lesbian women, have any interest in the whole trans issue at all, like, as a cause.

[Joe Getty]

And there are plenty who are staunchly against it because they're like, somebody would have convinced me that I'm not an effeminate man. I'm actually a woman. And they would have fed me hormones and gotten me surgery, blah, blah, blah. I'm speaking for them, not me, obviously, but. And they realized that they could have been duped and rushed and bullied into the same terrible decision that effeminate boys or in girls afraid of puberty or being bullied into now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So to start with, I'm a gay man or a lesbian woman putting me together with the trans thing, I don't even see where they're. They should even be in the same discussion. Why?

[Joe Getty]

Why?

[Jack Armstrong]

And then combining with what Joe just said, in many cases, like Andrew Sullivan writing in the New York Times, he's a very masculine gay man. But if you're an effeminate gay man or a very Butch, lesbian woman. What? Joe was just saying, the modern thing would have been, no, no, no, no. You're not a masculine gay woman. You're a dude. And you need to start. You don't need to change your name. You need to get these surgeries. You need to blah, blah, blah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, you're so messed up. You need powerful medical interventions. Or as you know, for the umpteenth time, my philosophy is you. You're perfect the way you are. You do. You. You're an effeminate guy, you're a gay guy, a bush woman, or a girl who's afraid of puberty. Don't listen to people who say that you're so effed up they need to carve on you. Good Lord.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and Sullivan's point is, the whole gay lesbian argument was, this is biological. I was born gay. I didn't make this choice. You know, that was the thing for.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

For years it was you. You're choosing this. And it's, you know, going against God or whatever he's saying. It's biological. And now the trans community comes along, says, no, there's no such thing as biological man or woman. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

At the same time, though, and this is why, again, you're either an idiot or a coward or you haven't been paying attention if you fall for this stuff. At the same time, they're saying that. They're saying being transgender is an immutable characteristic. It's not a choice. So your gender is a choice. Entirely a choice. It's just a social construct, fluid.

[Jack Armstrong]

It can change.

[Joe Getty]

But being trans is like your eye color or your. The fact that you have thumbs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on, you have thumbs. That's pretty good.

[Joe Getty]

Good for you, Andrew Sullivan.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's pretty damn preaching the world. Yeah, Bruce Springsteen dropped seven albums. Actually, they come out next week.

[Joe Getty]

That's plenty.

[Jack Armstrong]

That seems like a lot. I wanted to mention that just in case you're a Bruce fan. I am a fan of his music. I couldn't be less of a fan of his personality and his. He's gone so far, it's almost hard for me to enjoy his music. But that and a bunch of other stuff eventually come. Oh, Pentagon just released new videos of the bunker busters and I. And I can describe them to you because you can't see them on the radio, but that's pretty interesting too. Stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Alarming video showing flames and smoke shooting out of this American Airlines jet mid flight. The Airbus A321 took off from Las Vegas headed for Charlotte.

[Joe Getty]

The Crew reporting an engine issue just.

[Jack Armstrong]

After takeoff, forcing an immediate turnaround. American Airlines says the aircraft experienced a mechanical issue. It returned to the airport and taxied to the gate under its own power, where its 153passengers deplaned normally. Adding the aircraft was taken out of service to be evacuated, evaluated by our maintenance team. What? Just because flames were shooting out of the engines? Geez, you guys are picky, picky, picky, picky.

[Joe Getty]

You got two engines, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm flying today. I'd hate to look out the window and see flames shooting out the engine. Actually, I'd be more annoyed by you got to go back to the airport, taxi, unload, get another plane, disrupt your entire day. That'd be more annoying. I mean, I don't want to die in a fiery crash, but that doesn't happen very often.

[Joe Getty]

In the past, you've called for a vote, a vote of the passengers. Yeah, we got a minor problem with the engine, folks. Let's have a vote. Or there's flames shooting out of the engine. That would be a different vote.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly. Sometimes it is. I would vote now. Let's keep going. Everybody else, okay. Let's keep going. We'll be all right. The, like, you know, the toilets aren't flushing or something. That FAA says you got to turn around.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Flames shooting out the engine. I go ahead and vote for. Let's go ahead and turn around.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I like your chances. I think you'd win that vote.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I got into a discussion about plastic surgery with my 13 year old yesterday. How I was contemplating it and he began mockingly mocking me endlessly.

[Joe Getty]

Good boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

What, what were you considering a chin tuck? Which. That's your starter. That's your starter plastic surgery. Right. The classic facelift chin tuck thing. They tighten up your, your neck. I mean, that's, that's, that's surgery number one. That's that. And I think what, that's what leads your Dolly Parton, your Kenny Rogers, your Barry Manilow, your Sylvester Stallone. I could go on and on.

[Joe Getty]

Delightful examples. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Down the path. They probably got those done. They probably got those done and nobody even noticed. Nobody even commented on. Because they just, they just look fine. They just looked younger. But then you go another two or three too far and you look like a freak. You can't, can't open your eyes and you whistle through your ears and all kinds of different things happen.

[Joe Getty]

Then you marry Jeff Bezos.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway.

[Joe Getty]

So not going to get my packages on the second day anymore from Amazon.

[Jack Armstrong]

So when I brought this up to Henry, he said I would. I would make fun of you for the rest of your life if you did this.

[Joe Getty]

Man.

[Jack Armstrong]

I probably shouldn't have told him. I should have told. If I was going to get it done, I'd have to. I'm going to be out of town on business for I don't know how long. You have to recuperate from something like that.

[Joe Getty]

Well, you make a quasi legitimate story up like you need it for better breathing with your nose. That's what everybody says for the nose job. I have a deviated septum and blah, blah, blah. And that's. That's fine. Do whatever you want.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, what would I claim for a. For a chin tuck? What would I claim? I need. I. I could always see my. You know, cancer came back. It's no big deal. But they just got.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my. No, no, that's not a child. Lord, what is wrong with you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Not for my kids.

[Joe Getty]

Several things, Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. D for my kid, but for other people, I just. I need to start because I probably miss work for a couple of days, and then I think I'd have bandages around my head for like a month, which is hard.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And what bruising. It looks like you lost a bar fight for quite a while.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why do you know so much about this? Is this what you did on one of our vacations?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Take a look at me. How much work do you think I've had? I ought to get my money back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway. I feel like I've ruined it now. I can't do it now because I've. I've exposed it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, that's up to you. You. Do you, Barry Manilow.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Pentagon released videos of the bunker busting bombs to help make the case peak Hegsets was making to the media today. It's pretty darn interesting conversation. That and some other stuff on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

The site was obliterated, just like I said it was. And just like the pilots should be given credit for, they came home to fake news and like, oh, gee, there was hardly any damage. The things are decimated.

[C]

They want to spin it to try to make him look bad based on a leak.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait a second. That doesn't. Wait a minute. That's not. The clip and the label are different because I didn't include Hex. That's saying get a shovel. Which I really liked yesterday when he said that you want to see what's going on under there, you're gonna have to get a shovel because it's underneath a lot of rock. So Pete Hegsette this morning, part of a demonstration by the administration to show the press how much damage was actually done after that ridiculous leak that came out yesterday that all the Trump Hayton media went nuts with. And it seems very clear at this point was an orchestrated attempt to accomplish something because a bunch of other reports and more of that same report have now come out showing no, there was a lot of damage done, a tremendous amount of damage. And what are you talking about?

[Joe Getty]

Right, well didn't you mention that even Joe Scarborough on MSNBC said hey, I think we're getting played by this leaker here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, let me find that that's worth mentioning. Yeah, we have to be cautious about being played by people inside the intel community who want to get their message out. Scarborough said yesterday at the end of Morning Joe I think he had caught on to the fact or thinking that I don't think this is accurate. So part of what Hegseth and the Pentagon did today was released some footage, New York Post's version of this jaw dropping footage released showing how 30,000 pound bunker buster bombs were used in historic Iran strike. And they got a couple of different versions of videos which I don't know how they got the videos actually. And they probably aren't going to tell us about the damage they did in different places and showing the craters and everything like that. And it's, yeah, it's hard to imagine that it didn't do a tremendous amount of damage.

[Joe Getty]

Now yeah, when you consider 14 of those giant sons of guns were dropped with precision guidance place, it's got to be incredible the devastation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now the pilots called the blast the brightest explosion they've ever seen in their lives. It looked like, it literally looked like daylight. Remember they were dropping these at night time. So more various intelligence reports again from that same report that the anonymous source was quoting just a portion of to portray it in the most negative light that a lot of the media was thrilled with for some reason very excited that Iran might get a nuke, I guess because you hate Trump so much. Anyway, from that same report more information came out about one how low certainty they have on their own report because they don't have, you know, enough information yet. And then also different reports from the UN who doesn't particularly like Trump or Israel, but saying no no is set back a very, very long time, maybe years with this attack and IAEA and a bunch of other different organizations. So I, I don't know, I don't know what was going on there actually. Mark Halperin writes in his column Today he said, this is all a ridiculous conversation that shouldn't be happening. The whole question is, is Iran committed to ending their, their attempt to get a weapon? Are they going to let the IAE in? What's Trump going to do at this point? This, this is all a distraction, which I think is probably true. It'll be forgotten.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's an interesting detail. If I'm a military planner, I'd like to know the effectiveness of the strikes, you know, in a specific way. But no, in terms of policy and the greater story. No, it's, it's just a data point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's run through some of the stuff Pete Hegseth did say today. All of it was pretty interesting. You can start with that first clip. Michael.

[C]

What President Trump accomplished in Naito yesterday was game changing and historic. A shift in burden sharing to European responsibility in NATO that most would have said was impossible. 32 NATO countries committed to spending 5% of their GDP on defense, on actually investing in the NATO alliance. So I hope with all the ink spilled, all of your outlets find the time to properly recognize this historic change in continental security that other presidents tried to do, other presidents talked about. President Trump accomplished it. It's a huge deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Missing the really probably the big, not probably the biggest story of the day for a story that was a red herring. He goes on with that.

[C]

In trying to find wedges and spin stories, this press corps and the press corps miss historic moments. You miss historic moments like 5% at Naito, which when you hear I was in the closed door briefing, I wish there could have been cameras in there when you heard the prime ministers and presidents of other countries, to a man and to a woman looking at President Trump and saying this never could have happened, never would have happened, seemed impossible five years ago, two years ago, eight years ago. But here we are because of your leadership. If you ask them the question, I bet they'd say the same thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Even Ian Bremmer, who is not a fan of Trump in the way he has talked about NATO, said NATO is the strongest it's ever been right now.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Which is striking given Russia's aggression. The rest of it. What's really interesting to me watching this developing over the last, you know, the two Trump terms is that, and it hadn't occurred to me at the time, I always loved Trump calling out the Euros for not spending on defense like they were contractually bound to as part of our sacred alliance. Absolutely.

[Jack Armstrong]

And as I've been saying, saying since eight years ago, I guess whenever he was president and first start talking about it. What he's saying is, hey, if you don't care about NATO, then why should I care about NATO? It's your continent and you don't even care about your own continent. You're not spending the money you're obligated to spend, so why should I care? But that was always portrayed as him wanting to blow up the most important alliance in us in world history, blah, blah, blah.

[Joe Getty]

And I thought some of the things he said were abusive and out of line at the time, and I didn't appreciate them. But especially now in retrospect, as all this has come together, he gave all of those leaders an excuse to do what they knew they needed to do. But that domestic politics made it really hard to do. I mean, you think it's hard to cut benefits in the U.S. what if you've had a quasi socialist system for decades like these European countries? So he, he was the bad cop.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hadn't thought of it that way, but that's true. So them being able to present it in the liberal media, constantly presented. Well, they're only doing this because they can't count on the United States anym.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they were obligated to by their own. I mean, they signed to the NATO agreement of they're going to spend two and a half percent and then they didn't. I've got the chart.

[Joe Getty]

Actually, just to finish the thought as you grab the chart, they could not count on the United States because the United States, through Trump said, you are going to bring defense to the party or we're leaving the party. And the Euros thought, oh, Poland, Estonia.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Lithuania will start there, who are right on the border with Russia. I mean, Russia could roll into them any day. They were spending 1.86%, 1.9% and 0.9% prior to Trump getting involved. They're now going. They're now spending 4%, three and a half and 3% respectively.

[Joe Getty]

And ramping upward.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, the Germany was spending 1% of their GDP. They're the richest country in the whole alliance there outside the United States, and they were spending 1% and now they've committed to 5. That's absolutely unbelievable.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So who doesn't care about NATO, the guy who's badmouthing it, or the countries that aren't funding their own alliance? I've never understood how you don't see it that way.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Anyway, derangement syndrome.

[Jack Armstrong]

That story was missed by the media yesterday as they went all in on Trump, said it was annihilated and it wasn't na na na na na. Exith says there are other stories that they missed, but searching for scandals, you.

[C]

Miss historic moments like recruiting at the Pentagon, historic levels in the army, the Air Force and the Navy. Yeah, maybe there'll be a little mention here or there, but because it was under President Trump's leadership, Because it was.

[Joe Getty]

Because.

[C]

Because Americans are responding to him as commander in chief, the press corps doesn't want to write about him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's clearly true.

[Joe Getty]

It is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because it was Trump that you don't want to talk about. Recruitment up attack may have been successful. It's so crazy. Do you know how much easier it is to live a life where you just report the things and then, you know, go to bed at night? I mean, I don't care if it helps Trump or hurts Trump to say this or that.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah, it is liberating. Yeah, I know it annoys some of you some of the time, but that's what we do. I love that. And Pete, for all the predictions of his, you know, certain crack up because he was, you know, all the things, all the aspersions thrown at him from being inexperienced, true to a large extent, to being a drunk or whatever else. So far, so good. He certainly is an articulate spokesperson for a strong, proud United States military, which I do not think is a terrible attribute for a secretary of defense. You know, the story is still to be written. I'm not saying he's necessarily going to be looked back upon as a great sec def, but I'd say so far, pretty damn solid. He, you know what? One thing I say without fear of contradiction, he cares about the United States military and its people deeply, sincerely, and again, that's pretty damn good qualification for a sec def.

[Jack Armstrong]

Uh, play 46. This is Adam Kinzinger, who is not a Trump fan on the lead yesterday. But I think the bottom line is there's going to be a lot more intelligence coming in. Take the Israeli intelligence very seriously because the Israelis obviously have quite good intelligence on Iran. I would say probably significantly better than us, although we have certain capabilities.

[Joe Getty]

And we're just going to have to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Add all this together to figure out what happened. Right. The Israeli assessment shows that the reality is a lot closer to what Trump was saying than what that leaked report was saying. And I always just thought there's good reason to believe the Israelis because they have no want to exaggerate how much damage was done to the nuclear reactor. They would want to point out happy.

[Joe Getty]

Talk is the last thing you're going to hear out of the Israelis.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hell, yeah. If. If Israel, and I'm sure they have commandos on the ground, if those commandos on the ground said, hey, hey, Mr. Netanyahu, man, that thing is still intact. And they could still. No, you would be telling the United States, you got a bomb more. It didn't go far enough. What else can we do? It's not a game. It's not a. It's not a political game. It's the. Can we stop them from getting a nuclear weapon that will kill us all?

[Joe Getty]

It's an odd moment we're in where such unwise people have such a mouthpiece in education and in media. I mean, it's the battle of our time that we fight every day in our own little way. But it's a challenge. I mean, because some examples, like the going crazy over that incredibly preliminary incomplete leaked report that speaks to a complete lack of judgment and such misplaced enthusiasms that you can't trust them at all. But here we are. What are you gonna do?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was gonna point something else out. I don't remember if this. I nailed down whether this was true or not, that the Iranians announced they were pulling out of dealing with the IAEA in any way, but Trump seems to be portraying that as, it doesn't matter. I mean, we destroyed their capabilities and all that, so all is good. And I hope that's true. I hope we did destroy their capabilities for now. But what do you think of that angle the Wall Street Journal was talking about yesterday is where you just say to Iran right now, let AI let the international inspectors in today, or you're clearly not interested in proving that you don't want to get a weapon.

[Joe Getty]

Right. They've gone the opposite direction so far, pulling out completely, as you said. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then Trump seems okay with that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, in a way, I think I. I would describe it as. He's like, okay, we'll do it the other way. It's. It's like he often says, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And. And the Ayatollah who declared victory. And I would like to congratulate the Ayatollah on the stunning victory over the fascist Great Satan and the little Satan, Israel. Well done, sir. Well done.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. He made his first public statement since in the last couple of weeks, he hadn't been seen for quite some time. And he. He said, I'd like to congratulate us on our big win, basically.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's your interpretation, I guess, more on the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. The defense concedes Combs is a horrible human being. He's guilty of domestic violence. He's guilty of drug use, but gee whiz, it was all consensual, so it's really not a crime.

[Jack Armstrong]

So is he being charged anyway with, like, beating her up from that video, or is that a separate thing?

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's not part of this complete. That's not the big charge.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And certainly if he's, he's guilty, that he wouldn't go to prison for 20 years like he would on all this other stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Huh.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wouldn't that be a heck of a thing? He's going to beat the rap because. Oh, sure, he beats the crap out of women and drags him down the hall and has the weirdest sex life anybody's ever heard of. He's all kinds of horrible. But he didn't, he's not, he's not involved in racketeering or, or trafficking.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Coming up next hour, fewer people are dying of heart attacks, like way fewer than a couple of decades ago. But these three deadly conditions are on the rise.

[Joe Getty]

Duh. Oh.

[Jack Armstrong]

So stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, plus, the much discussed divide on the right, the isolationists versus the interventionists. How many of those isolationists are there, really? Is it another example of voices much louder than they ought to be, given the actual numbers involved? We'll take a look at that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, here, I found it. The Iranian parliament yesterday officially passed a bill to suspend all further cooperation with the iaea. That just means. Yeah, we're still going to try to get a bomb as hard as we can. And we're not even going to let you look at anything. We're going to let them get away with that. Anyway, I won't go back to that story for now.

[Joe Getty]

Rubber stamp of the leadership.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we already mentioned Leanne Rhymes. The singer ran off stage after her teeth fell out mid concert. Full team coverage on that later. You hate to have your teeth fall out. She's only 53. That's only young to have your teeth fall out while you're singing.

[Joe Getty]

And again, I want to make the point that her, her natural chickless didn't just all spontaneously fall out at once. That would be a terrifying condition. Probably not as terrifying as the ones you're about to mention next hour, but that would certainly be something you would like to avoid. But no, indeed, she has false teeth, from what I understand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why do you have false teeth when you're three?

[Joe Getty]

Bad genetics.

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't Watch this video. Lifeguard impaled by umbrella at Jersey show in gr. Jersey Shore in gruesome scene. There is a video.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I don't want to see it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Life. The umbrellas are kind of pointy on the end. You've seen them. The umbrella went underneath her left shoulder and came out the back. Oh, I didn't watch the video.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's too bad. Oh, it's a gal, too. I react differently when it's a gal.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a little rough. I was going to throw out a shout out for the Yeezy slides, which my son has turned me on to. They're my new footwear at home. The Easy Slides. The most comfortable shoes I've ever had on my feet. Bye.

[Joe Getty]

Is that the Klansman's brand?

[Jack Armstrong]

Does it cause impromptu Nazi salutes? Yeah. You walk around like this all day long. Yeah. I'm just saying. I mean, they're. He's not involved with it now. Easy still. Adidas still makes them. The original, his version of Yeezy you can get, which I got, which are a little pricey, but you can get. The other ones are the same. Very, very comfortable. So if you want some decent, comfy Nazi footwear, I recommend them.

[Joe Getty]

Thanks.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think that, you know, I don't think that's true. If you miss a segment hour, we do. We do four hours every single day. Read the. Is that right? If you missed a segment or an hour, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I heart podcast.