ANOTHER Dem Scandal Explodes + Why are Lib Journos Cheering for Iran?

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: "ANOTHER Dem Scandal Explodes + Why are Lib Journos Cheering for Iran?"
Date: June 23, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook

Episode Overview

This episode is a classic "Ruthless Variety Program," blending irreverent conservative analysis with humor as the hosts dissect the political scandals rocking Democrats—especially Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego’s alleged misuse of campaign funds and personal controversies. The team also spotlights left-leaning journalists who seem to side with U.S. rivals (notably Iran during the World Cup), and riffs on liberal virtue signaling, absurd media trends, and the importance of American culture, all wrapped up with their signature banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Scandal: Ruben Gallego’s Campaign Spending and Personal Life Woes

• Opening Segment ([00:00]–[14:00]):
  • The show launches straight into the controversy surrounding Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who allegedly used PAC funds for lavish personal expenses, including trips to St. Barts and Miami for family birthdays ([00:00], [17:09]), Super Bowl tickets, and Disneyland visits ([13:03]).
  • Gallego is also criticized for personal conduct: blindsiding his wife with divorce papers when she was about to give birth ([00:19], [18:24]), and even demanding she pay for his attorney’s fees ([21:03]).
  • The hosts call out the inertia among Democrats protecting Gallego, even as these stories become public:

    “He's using campaign cash to live a luxury lifestyle.” – Anonymous source, read by Josh Holmes ([14:42])

Memorable Quotes

• “He paid his mother-in-law to babysit his own kids.” – Josh Holmes ([13:40])
• “This is the sort of thing that’d make a Somali in Minneapolis blush… paying your mom through your campaign.” – Smug ([14:55])
• “She was likely to give birth any day… and Reuben Gallego served his pregnant wife with divorce papers.” – Josh Holmes ([18:24])

Key Segment Timings

• Full Gallego Scandal Discussion: [11:25]–[22:09]
• Gallego/Swalwell “food incident” and video explanation: [22:09]–[22:34]

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II. The World Cup, American Exceptionalism, and “Lib Journos”

• World Cup Banter ([03:54]–[10:00]):
  • Holmes confesses to finally enjoying soccer, drawing mockery and debate about “American” sports and the nature of cultural bandwagons ([03:54], [04:23], [06:46]).
  • They discuss the U.S. team’s strong performance and poke fun at Eurosnob sports commentary and cultural differences ([07:12], [08:07]).
• Liberal Journalism Rooting for Iran ([27:43]–[36:09]):
  • The hosts criticize left-wing commentator Elie Mystal (The Nation/MSNBC) for publicly rooting for Iran over the U.S. national team ([29:58]), highlighting the dangers of rooting against the U.S. on American soil.
  • They lambast Mystal for defending the denied visas of Iranian staff with IRGC (designated terrorist group) ties ([32:22]).

    “This is literally… the intellectual heft behind the left right now.” – Josh Holmes ([34:02])

  • Broader critique: leftist progressives are accused of consistently taking an “anti-American” posture, illustrated by slogans like "Gays for Gaza" ([36:05]).

Notable Quotes

• “The left has been like, ‘sounds great,’ and completely mainstreamed his [Mystal’s] viewpoint.” – John Ashbrook ([29:30])
• “There’s such a constituency for this that this person can make a living out of saying…the country we’re at war with ought to win on American soil.” – Josh Holmes ([37:34])

Key Segment Timings

• Elie Mystal/Iran Segment: [27:43]–[35:30]
• Cultural Riffing, Sport as American Identity: [03:54]–[10:00]

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III. Virtue Signaling, Cultural Politics, and Media Ridicule

• Father’s Day and the Left’s 'Attack on Traditions' ([38:15]–[46:16]):

  • The NYT is roasted for running a “trans dad” Father’s Day cartoon ([39:43]), which the hosts argue trivializes and mocks fatherhood.
  • Emphasis on a pattern by the left to “destroy anything beloved”—from action films to holidays ([41:03], [41:52]).

    “They want to skin it and wear its corpse as like a little suit and dance around it…” – John Ashbrook ([39:43])

  • Hosts vent about the left’s need to insert “woke” politics into every cultural sphere, and the erosion of positive portrayals of “American normalcy.”

• Local News Absurdity: The Broken Window Fallacy ([46:16]–[50:45]):

  • A Bay Area TV station is ridiculed for lamenting dropping car break-ins (and thus lost business for auto glass shops), prompting a mini economic lesson on the “broken window fallacy.”

    “If you could just make GDP go up through destruction … everyone in America could be ditch diggers and we'd all be billionaires.” – Smug ([49:23])

• Democrats and Cringe Juneteenth Pandering ([50:45]–[55:08]):

  • The group mocks politicians like Abigail Spanberger and Jeanne Shaheen for awkward attempts to appear culturally connected at Juneteenth events (highlighting a failed “booby shake” dance demonstration by Shaheen) ([53:36]–[55:07]).

    “If you can get Gene Shaheen out to do a booby shake in New Hampshire to prove that they’re culturally diverse, you can do anything.” – Josh Holmes ([55:22])

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IV. Notable Moments & Meta Commentary

• Question of the Day:

  • “If you were a Democrat, what would you spend your donor money on?” Listeners are encouraged to submit their funniest takes ([23:17], [79:22]).

• Tribute to Martha Zoller ([24:50]–[27:38]):

  • The hosts pause to remember Martha Zoller, a conservative radio pioneer and supporter of the show, upon her passing.

    “True friend of the program… a really incredible woman. And our hearts and thoughts go out to her family.” – Josh Holmes ([25:22])

• American Beverage Association Interview ([61:40]–[78:01]):

  • Kevin Keane, CEO of ABA, joins to discuss the evolving beverage industry, health transparency (goodtoknowfacts.org), and U.S. cultural traditions tied to summer drinks and fun.

    “There’s a lot of jobs… non college-educated worker, that’s the foundation… so we’re proud, we’re proud to give the information out.” – Kevin Keane ([70:14])

Segment of Humor and Key Banter

• “The only thing that I’ve seen that certifies [Obama] is absolutely dyed in the wool straight is the look of that building. Gay people have better aesthetics.” – Josh Holmes ([57:16])
• Riffing on Obama Library rumors, ‘gay certificates,’ and Larry Sinclair as a running joke ([57:49]–[59:38])

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Timestamps of Major Segments

| Time | Topic / Quote / Speaker | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–03:46| Gallego scandal intro, campaign spending fraud | | 03:47–10:00| World Cup, American sports, cultural debate | | 11:25–22:09| Deep dive: Gallego’s personal/family scandals and crony connections | | 22:10–23:36| Gallego/Swalwell “food incident” video segment | | 27:43–36:09| Elie Mystal, journalists rooting for Iran, “anti-American” media critiques | | 38:15–46:16| Father's Day, NYT cartoon, attack on traditions, “skin suit” metaphor | | 46:16–50:45| Local news broken window econ lesson, car break-in riff | | 50:45–55:08| Juneteenth virtue signaling, cringe dance video analysis | | 61:40–78:01| ABA Interview: soda’s place in US culture, health transparency |

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Final Thoughts and Tone

The hosts maintain their trademark balance of zealous partisanship and irreverent humor. No topic is too sacred for mockery, and even somber moments (remembrance of Martha Zoller) are met with heartfelt appreciation. The episode is rich with banter, inside jokes, economic asides, and pointed critiques of media and Democratic politicians—always with the aim of entertaining staunchly conservative listeners while ridiculing “the left.”

For those seeking a comprehensive, energetic breakdown of conservative hot topics and media provocations with gallows humor and plenty of barbs, this episode delivers a “banger”—to use the hosts’ own term ([80:05]).

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Further Listening

Next episode tease: More on Democrat mismanagement, leftist media failures, and responses to "What would you spend Dem donor money on?"

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To submit your answer to the question of the day (“If you were a Democrat, how would you spend donor money?”), and for merch links:
→ Visit the official Ruthless Podcast YouTube or website.

Notable Quote:

“Keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We’ll see you on Thursday. Stay ruthless.” – Josh Holmes ([80:26])

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

And I look at, like, Ruben Gallego, for example. Ruben Gallego is a senator who's a mistaken senator. The Gallegos also used PAC money to travel to St. Barts for Sidney Gallego's boss's birthday. Oh, my God, what a weird thing. And to Miami for Sidney Gallego's own birthday.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And he's doing this all on the back of the donors of the Democratic Party who, you know, they want communism and such. His wife at the time was likely to give birth in a day in Ruben Gallego's search, his pregnant wife with divorce papers.

[Michael Duncan]

Right? He did.

[Josh Holmes]

She was blindsided.

[Michael Duncan]

Meanwhile, he's asking his campaign donors to pay for his super bowl ticket.

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[Michael Duncan]

This program has become one of the most influential podcasts in America.

[John Ashbrook]

I love the personality.

[Smug]

You guys are killing it.

[John Ashbrook]

I just saw your number one, so congratulations.

[Kevin Keane]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome the great Sean Hannity. Guys, I love you. Congratulations on all your success.

[John Ashbrook]

This is why you listen to the Ruthless Podcast, because nobody else would ask that question. The only political podcast worth listening to

[Michael Duncan]

is the Ruthless Podcast.

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event, the Ruthless Podcast.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial. Fellas, I have to first off, give you a big hat tip. Last week, I was out all week enjoying myself with my family, and you held it down. And you held it down in a way that everybody found incredibly entertaining. Amidst what I would say is a

[Michael Duncan]

mixed bag of news, mixed bag, both foreign and domestic.

[Josh Holmes]

And like rapidly shifting, it didn't Great. I tried to remove myself as much as I could from the daily news cycle, but what I did see, it didn't look awesome. It looked. It looked challenging. And yet you did it with humor and grace, fellas.

[John Ashbrook]

That's gonna get through it.

[Smug]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

It was well done.

[Michael Duncan]

It's always good clean fun when you're having good time with your boys.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right. A couple of cocktails and you talk about things you don't understand. That's what we do here on the Ruthless variety program. I kid. I kid. We do understand because there's a lot going on, some of which is in politics. Others is just sort of interspaced in our cultural relevance. And I have a confession.

[John Ashbrook]

I think I know where this is going.

[Josh Holmes]

I got a confession to make.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. Should we put up the curtain and.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, I feel like it deserves it.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think God forgives this.

[Josh Holmes]

He might not. I watched a lot of soccer.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

I watched a lot of soccer. And I will tell you, as a lifelong soccer hater, it pains me deeply to say this. I still believe it's not an American sport.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Smug]

I'm sorry. I'm just appreciating this moment, but I will say, letting it wash over me,

[Josh Holmes]

the World cup is very entertaining.

[Smug]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

It is very entertaining. And the Americans are dominating right now. And it's the same thing with the Olympics. Like, I'll get up in the morning and watch the curling, which seemed like it was on like two thirds the Olympics. It was the curling. But I will watch that and cheer for the United States of America, no matter what. And so when our team comes in and starts dominating this group phase, which I've learned a lot about all of this, I get. I get excited about it. So I start watching other teams and I start getting some explanation as to what it is that I'm watching. And I like it. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I would like, watch soccer if given a choice between the other sports that I like. But it is very entertaining in the World cup and the fact that the United States of America is hosting this bad boy, and the rest of the world has to grapple with the fact that we might be contenders. Oh, this is fun.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. So my prediction, I always hope America wins everything. But my prediction is, like, always, this is just like, early false hope, and it's going to go to some, like, you know, country with, like, a $19 GDP, you know? So, like, here's the thing. What gets me, what a brave Prediction.

[Smug]

Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

And it's. It's.

[Smug]

Tell us more. It's a fucking tournament where every country loses except for one.

[John Ashbrook]

And Duncan knows where this is headed. It's called accountability, so way to go. So what I don't. What I hate about the World cup is what I call the Wikipedia sports dudes. And Duncan is the most guilty of this. It's like, whatever is happening, Duncan has hit Wikipedia for a good 90 seconds. And he's like, oh, well, you see, you know, here's the history of curling. Like, when it's Olympics, this guy's. Same thing. He's like, oh, yeah, whatever. Sport is. How do this become an attack on Duncan? Attack media. But the thing is, like, this is. This is the problem is this is widespread.

[Smug]

You just hate on it because you could never play it in your entire life because you're the most uncoordinated of all.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm not a soccer guy anyways.

[Smug]

You could never be.

[John Ashbrook]

There's all these guys who are like, nobody's asking you to sports in the news. I'm gonna Wikipedia this, and I'm gonna be like, so this is the classical history of. You know why they call him a classic 10. He's talking about Messi at lunch, and I'm like, get out of here, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Get out of here.

[John Ashbrook]

Is that what Wikipedia told you?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, I just came out of the closet as a soccer fan, right?

[Smug]

And I'm getting attacked. Cause he doesn't want to attack you.

[Michael Duncan]

I do think it's natural. You know, most American sports fans do not watch soccer, but when the World cup comes around, they take a new interest. And I think your point about curling is exactly right. It's like, curling is on in the Olympics. A lot of Americans are like, yeah, well, I'll see America can win. I want to learn about this sport.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Now I'm into it. And I will say our partners over at Fox, great job on the broadcast, crushing it.

[Smug]

It's been great.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm learning a lot. Good analysis. I, you know, I'm not in love with the English as a second language sort of analysis, but I'm beginning to understand that some of these people are the people who know more things about it than we do.

[Smug]

Yeah. I mean, Terry Henri knows a lot.

[Josh Holmes]

He seems like a real dick, by the way.

[John Ashbrook]

He is a dick.

[Smug]

He is a dick. And it's what I do love, is how much they hate Alexi Lawless.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Why?

[John Ashbrook]

He's a great guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's what I'm saying, right?

[Smug]

Because they're Europeans.

[John Ashbrook]

And they're mad.

[Smug]

They're mad. They're mad. And they're snobs about their sport.

[Josh Holmes]

But which makes this whole thing better.

[Smug]

Exactly. That's what makes it so awesome, is we have con. Colonized the final frontier of sports. Like we have the World Cup. And Alexi Lawless, I think, reflects the American energy of that moment, which is fun.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm not sure it's the final frontier of sports. I would disagree with you on that.

[Smug]

We dominate everything else.

[Michael Duncan]

What else? Making up games here in America, like actual football and baseball and basketball that are. Have taken over the planet. I would consider that the final frontiers.

[Smug]

He misunderstands. He misunderstands. We already dominate in all of those. When I'm saying the final year, I mean the sport we have not previously dominated in.

[Michael Duncan]

We made those up. And the Europeans stand no chance against those things. Michael, he gets.

[John Ashbrook]

He gets.

[Smug]

He gets angry when he doesn't understand.

[John Ashbrook]

He gets things angry. Let me.

[Michael Duncan]

Let me clarify things for you.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay?

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. Let me. Let me clarify things for you about the shit game that everybody's watching because each country has a chance to shine.

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Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

He's mad.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm sure it's important to you because you can't use your hands and you can only use your feet. And there are all these countries from Africa and South America who can compete and rise up. Cool. And I know you like them. And all I'm telling you is that the other sports are better than soccer. But we will abide by your sport.

[Smug]

This is.

[Michael Duncan]

For now.

[Smug]

I got to say, this is a really weird way of everyone apologizing to me about how soccer is actually to you.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm not apologizing to you. I mean, I'm sure wrestling will be just as interesting.

[John Ashbrook]

One last thought is, however, there's nothing wrong with. I was enjoying a new sport because, like, I think I gave the example the other week of, like, I never really watched UFC. I saw Freedom 250.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

This is what I'm watching when the NFL's out.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. No, no, it's great.

[John Ashbrook]

Finding a new sport is actually a great thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a source of entertainment at some level, which I have found.

[Smug]

Happy note.

[Josh Holmes]

And now, and everybody's concluded that it's all my fault. You are, in fact, a Muslim dictator.

[John Ashbrook]

It was all Duncan's fault.

[Josh Holmes]

Look what you've done. But I did notice there was a whole bunch of political news, none of which I'm eager to get into. Like, we're talking about what's up with Everybody with the fucking fountain. Like, all of a sudden, there's a literally limitless appetite. The reflecting pool for the reflecting pool.

[John Ashbrook]

The.

[Josh Holmes]

Everybody wants to talk about, like, who gives a shit? I don't know why that's happening. There was an Iran deal that, like, got second billing to the fountain in cover, and there's, like, former Olympians being arrested and there's controversy. I was like, dude, I just.

[John Ashbrook]

Off.

[Josh Holmes]

I just turned the phone off.

[Smug]

Honestly, you picked a great week to be out.

[John Ashbrook]

I did. I did.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it was horrible.

[Smug]

Just a weird. You guys carried weird week.

[Josh Holmes]

A real bad week.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But then we come back and I look at, like, Ruben Gallego, for example. Ruben Gallego is a senator who's a mistaken senator in. In many ways, in my view. He came upon a moment in time where a totally talentless, complete ridiculous maniac, from my standpoint, somehow got the state of Arizona to elect him as a United States senator. And then, lo and behold, we find out his best friend Eric Swalwell and him have upped him all kinds of hijinks and whatnot. And. And then he gets into the mix and you find out what we've all known about this guy. I don't know what Arizona got confused about. It was pretty obvious, you know, when you see a candidate like Graham Plantner, like, if he got to the United States Senate, do you think he wouldn't completely humiliate you in the state of Maine?

[Michael Duncan]

Very similar.

[Josh Holmes]

He's got 15 years of demonstrating the kind of humiliation that he would provide. Gallego is in that category for me. And it turns out, like, there's a Politico article, which means it's. Some of this is coming from within.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

As it usually does.

[Josh Holmes]

And Gallego tapped campaign cash for family, travel, super bowl tickets, records show. Oh, that's interesting. Who would have guessed?

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody.

[Josh Holmes]

That the guy who's standing in the desert with his shirt off with Eric Swalwell, who's. I will remind you here later.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, there's a. We have a clip that's also kind of wild, involving Eric Swalwell. Yeah, we'll get to that. That's just like a teaser.

[Josh Holmes]

Divorced his pregnant wife.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, who'd have guessed he was up to no good? I couldn't. I can't imagine. But this is stuff that is, like. I don't think breaks contain. Like, what broke contain was the Reflecting Pool. But when you tune into the Ruthless variety program, I'll tell you what else is going on here in Washington, D.C. ruben Gallego is the front and center of it. He had deployed donor funds to cover his travel for his family, childcare and a trip to the Super Bowl. And Politico is reporting this. Certainly not a right wing rag by any stretch of the imagination. At least since they sold out to Germany. Aren't they German owned?

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Der Spiegel, Axel Springer. Axle Springer.

[Smug]

Yeah, I like that. You threw in a dirt Spiegel.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, isn't that the same?

[Michael Duncan]

That's the magazine.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Well, whatever it is, it's not here. I saw them play soccer on Thursday.

[Smug]

I think he's a winger.

[Josh Holmes]

Der Spiegel. Good feet. Soft feet. Anyway, so he used all this and went to Disneyland, Miami, Chicago, Disney World. He went to Disney World and Disneyland.

[Michael Duncan]

Man, oh man.

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Really?

[Michael Duncan]

I think you checked the box with one of them.

[Josh Holmes]

He tapped his pack at his main campaign committee for more than $18,000 in reimbursements for child care since 2019, including 400 to his wife's mother for babies that he paid.

[John Ashbrook]

He paid his.

[Josh Holmes]

He paid his charity. This guy paid his mother in law to babysit his own kids.

[John Ashbrook]

The next part's even better.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

FEC commission records show that on one such occasion, Gallego used a joint campaign account with disgraced former Rep. Eric Solwal to attend the 2023 Super bowl in Arizona. Like, that's what this guy is in it for, is that's why he got elected. He's not like, think about people of Arizona. Have your lives gotten better as a result of Ruben Gallego?

[Michael Duncan]

Of course not, dude. I've always thought it was wild that we went from two Republican Sen. In Arizona cycle after cycle after cycle to now all of a sudden we have two Democrats in that state. I've always thought that was wild. And somebody has mismanaged things along the way. I'm not exactly sure who that is, but there's been a sea change in the state of Arizona where we have so many retirees and it should be at least one Republican. And yet you got a communist too.

[Josh Holmes]

Quote, he just spends his campaign account like it's a personal slush fund. Said a source who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation. He's using campaign cash to live a luxury lifestyle.

[Smug]

I mean, this is the sort of thing that make a Somali in Minneapolis blush. I mean, it's like paying your mom through your campaign to watch your kids. That's like next level fraud stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

The fact that that ever got entered into the receipt category, it's like, oh, yeah, my mom Watched my mother in law watch my kids.

[John Ashbrook]

This is Bullet.

[Josh Holmes]

400 bucks, by the way. That's a big number.

[John Ashbrook]

This next bullet point, I think is why we're finding out about it.

[Josh Holmes]

Gallego is considering a presidential run in 2028. On Friday, Gallego traveled to South Carolina, where he took part in the Democratic Party's on the road series on Juneteenth. Because everybody thinks of Ruben Gallego when they think of Juneteenth. No question that. But the pattern of spending could pose a major liability. On top of his longtime friendship with Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April amid allegations of sexual assault and a series of headlines about his misuse of campaign funds, Gallego's team has recently brought on former Biden White House Deputy secretary press secretary Andrew Bates.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's go.

[Josh Holmes]

To assist with political communications, which is a thing here in D.C. andrew Bates was like the bad guy for the Biden election campaign and ultimately the Biden White House. And that he was the dude who would just like, run into the breach to do crisis comms on a whole bunch of.

[John Ashbrook]

He basically he like, sit out there. Like, you'd see Biden's brain fall out in his pants drop. And Andrew Bates would be the first guy. Like, this is totally normal. I mean, like, look, we were in the Oval and he was doing backflips and like reciting that 19th digit of PI.

[Smug]

He's like, he's like the grim reaper of people's political careers.

[John Ashbrook]

And then like a week ago, he shows up.

[Smug]

Right at the end, he shows up

[Josh Holmes]

and everybody's like, oh, shit, I guess it's over. Pack up the cartridges.

[John Ashbrook]

And then like a week ago, Joe Biden's like, yeah, I hate him. Like, out of nowhere, it's like, like, this is what your loyalty gets.

[Smug]

You can, you can walk under a ladder, you can break a mirror, you can open an umbrella indoors. But if you really want bad luck, you just hire Andrew Bates.

[Josh Holmes]

The Gallegos also used PAC money to travel to St Bart's for Sydney Gallego's boss's birthday. Oh, my God, what a weird thing. And to Miami for Sydney Gallego's own birthday. According to a person familiar with his spending, staying at the Lowe's hotel on Miami beach. That cost more than nine grand.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow. Nine grand.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And he's doing this all in the back of the. The donors of the Democratic Party who, you know, they want communism and such. And so this is. Stands in some contrast.

[John Ashbrook]

I wonder also if there's a culture of like, on the Dem side of like, well, you know, Act Blue cash just keeps rolling through, which I don't know if those days are going to continue. So they're just like, oh, I'll just spend it. You know, the act Blue money machine just keeps going. Brr.

[Josh Holmes]

They dude. They've dispersed more than $18,000 in child care reimbursements and direct payments to Au Pair Company, including more than $400 to a Sydney Gallego's mother, which we discussed, which is completely hilarious. But there was also a like a flashback that this brought memories of. And it was Reuben and I think this was in the Free Beacon.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Eliana, our girl over there wrote something up at the time, in October of 2024, that his wife at the time was likely to give birth in a day. And Reuben Gallego served his pregnant wife with divorce papers.

[Michael Duncan]

Right? He did.

[Josh Holmes]

She was blindsided.

[Michael Duncan]

According to the headline when God, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean. But again, like I always find this stuff so fascinating in that people are such as scummist.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, it's easy to serve her with the papers. It's not like she can move much. You know what I mean? He really thought it out.

[Josh Holmes]

Complete the strategic move, honey. Rest your feet.

[John Ashbrook]

Sign that you've been served. Unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

What an asshole.

[Michael Duncan]

Complete scumbag. But this has been known by left wing journals in D.C. for quite some time. You guys remember when Kirsten Sinema first ran for Senate in the state of Arizona? There was a lot of speculation that Reuben Gallego might challenge her in the primary. Yep. And every single left wing journal that you would talk to or Democrat you would talk to that would say, oh, he's not going to do that because of what he did to his ex wife.

[Josh Holmes]

Troubles at home.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. He can't do it. He's not going to run.

[Josh Holmes]

But then, but then they become supporters. That's the thing of his. And cheer on his critiques of the Trump administration right up to the point where he dips his toe in a presidential water and loaded down

[Michael Duncan]

that belongs to AOC or Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom.

[Josh Holmes]

It was Reuben Gallego who moved to seal the record back in 2016 in his memorandum making the case to the court that he noted Kate Gallego had not yet been served with divorce papers, nor had her attorney entered into an appearance in the case, but that she was likely to give birth every day and then served her.

[John Ashbrook]

He said that straight up. Like in the court proceeding. He says she's likely to give birth any day. That's why I'm Going to serve her these papers.

[Smug]

Yeah, let's hurry this along, you know? Yeah. Forbid the kid be born.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm working on this. I'm hanging out with Swalwell. My God, you know which opportunity is out there. I don't want to deal with his pregnant wife.

[Smug]

Imagine how angry she must be reading this FEC report.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh.

[Smug]

$18,000 to an au pair company.

[Josh Holmes]

Nine grand for a trip to Miami.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, oh, she.

[Smug]

You know.

[Michael Duncan]

What are you suggesting? Divorce the au pair company? Michael.

[Smug]

I'm saying he's not sending that much to her. An alimony, I'm sure. You know, I don't know. I'd have to check. We don't.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, according to the papers, he told his pregnant wife that he was entitled to an award of the attorney's fees, so that he should get. She should have to pay for the divorce.

[Smug]

Stunning.

[Josh Holmes]

So I just want to. I want to get this straight. So this sitting senator from the great state of Arizona has been living high in the hog on donor money, going to Super Bowls and such, hanging out with Swallow. We have the pictures to prove it. Of him half naked on camels and things like that.

[Michael Duncan]

Thankfully, that was it.

[Josh Holmes]

Serving his pregnant wife with divorce papers while she could give birth any day. And then asking her to pay for his attorney's fees.

[Michael Duncan]

Meanwhile, he's asking his campaign donors to pay for his super bowl tickets. This guy has a track record. Well, maybe.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe he's just really super charming in person. Let's take a look at clip one.

[Michael Duncan]

What was going on there?

[Josh Holmes]

That was.

[John Ashbrook]

That was him and Eric Swalwell hanging out with a couple. I think that some of them were reporters. And he's trying to shove. After he takes a bite of some food in a lady's mouth, and she's just, like, disgusted and recalled. For audio only, that's what you're seeing. Watch them.

[Josh Holmes]

Look at that. Yeah. So he's trying to jam his food into another woman's mouth. And she is taken aback by all.

[John Ashbrook]

And that idiot on the right is Eric's wall. Wall.

[Josh Holmes]

Who would have guessed. Who would have guessed that this guy would be problematic?

[John Ashbrook]

And you know what? I think the more that Ruben Gallego thinks about running for president, the more we're going to hear about him hanging out with Eric Swalwell. I think there's a lot of stories that haven't been put in front of the public that would if he runs for president. And it'd be the Dems that did it.

[Josh Holmes]

But it seems to me like the Dems are just in a. They're a death spiral in terms of the candidates that they support, whether it's Platner, Gallego, Rising star. They called him Gallego. It's like they knew all this stuff. They still were like, yeah, rising star Swalwell, oh, it should be a presidential contender, maybe governor of California and like, meanwhile molesting the staff allegedly.

[John Ashbrook]

You know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Like, all this stuff is happening. So it gives us our question of the day. And when you like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program, we ask you a question of the day and you get back to us and we read them all for the very next episode. The question today is, if you were a Democrat, what would you spend your donor money on?

[John Ashbrook]

Great question.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know if they care. Do they care?

[Michael Duncan]

They have so much of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, at any. It's unclear to me that there is a Democrat who has donated to people like these who have been like, wow, that was a mistake.

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe these guys are like, well, they gave a billion dollars to Kamala, so they're gonna give me something, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe. Well, when we come back, you'll not believe who the lib journos are that are cheering. They are cheering for not the United States of America. Who they are cheering for is quite a story. And we'll get to all of that right after this. I've worked at Coca Cola for 21 years.

[Smug]

We're delivering Dr. Pepper from our brand

[Michael Duncan]

new facility in Dallas, Texas.

[John Ashbrook]

We're really proud to still make Pepsi products in America. You don't need a college degree to

[Josh Holmes]

work here, but I put four kids through college, five working here.

[Smug]

This is a great place to work with great people and great American brands.

[John Ashbrook]

Grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, they all depend on us. We deliver great paying jobs.

[Kevin Keane]

We deliver beverages people love.

[John Ashbrook]

We deliver for our community.

[Kevin Keane]

Learn [e-mail]

[Josh Holmes]

and now for some somber news. We just got word as we're recording now that terrific friend of the program, Georgia personality, incredible talk show host Martha Zoller's past. I think all of us spent a significant amount of time corresponding with her, getting the insights that she regularly provided, cheering us on as we got into this new adventure, something that she had dominated for decades.

[John Ashbrook]

True friend of the program. She was a day like day one.

[Josh Holmes]

True friend of the program totally. And for the OGs, you know, we've interacted on air with her in a number of occasions, but she was just a really incredible woman. And our hearts and thoughts go out to her. Her Family, her kids, grandkids, her husband, who continue to be friends of this program. And anything we can do, obviously we're just learning this now to help ease your burden a bit. We're more than happy to do. I don't know, fellas, if you have

[Michael Duncan]

any thoughts, I mean, it's just, it's crazy. I can't believe it. You know, I just talked to her. I think I talked to her last week. I missed a call from her on Friday and you know, it just shows you how fragile life is. This is a woman I remember over 20 years ago booking Republicans onto her. She show.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

In Georgia, you know, so I've known her for, for over 20, graciously took

[Josh Holmes]

the bums we'd offer. She did, and try to make it entertaining for an audience.

[Michael Duncan]

And she always would. Yeah, she, she always would.

[Smug]

There's something humbling, I think, because this isn't our first profession.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[Smug]

You know, when someone like a Martha Zoller is like, I love what you do.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally.

[Smug]

And it means the world to us when people who, you know, come from that radio world and have built such incredible followings are like, I like what you guys have to do because like, we don't really know, you know, we're, we're learning as we go. So it's, it was always really humbling when somebody of her stature would, would say stuff like that.

[Josh Holmes]

And every time she came to town she would shoot us a note and we try to get together and a wealth of information and just a good

[Michael Duncan]

person and rarity in this business world

[Josh Holmes]

lost a good one in Martha Zoller. So our thoughts go to her family and all the people in Georgia who set their watch to her commentary over the years, which was always astute, always very good, but in her the way that she would want it. We soldier on and we're going to have some laughs. Do you think? I feel like, I feel like that's

[Michael Duncan]

the way to go here.

[Josh Holmes]

The best way to do that is critiquing the media. Martha loved that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, she was very good at it.

[Josh Holmes]

Very good at it. And boy, we have some things to work with here, fellows. Whatever you think of the Iran conflict or a deal or whether we got, we came for whatever you are on the spectrum of that, I think it's safe to say the most well adjusted Americans are still rooting for the old United States of America. Like we got our jersey on in that regard.

[Michael Duncan]

Seems like a base level thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Seems like it. But then you look at the left and people who are Popular figures amongst the left, and it's not surprising that they cheer against America. But this, I felt like, was at a different level. Eli. Eli Misdel. So this cat has been a frequent competitor in hack madness. He makes deep runs. He's on Ms. Now, I guess, all the time, providing perspective from the left. Evidently, he's got some stuff going in the nation that seems like a real reputable operation. Can you imagine what the average subscriber to the Nation looks like? These have to be fucking insane people.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, that's the thing, is. So don't they. His takes, I think as the left really honed in as like, lawfare, as kind of their thing.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And like the court packing and like, the real derangement that they had in terms of the law and the Supreme Court. This guy has been like the tip of the spear on their derangement of like. He is truly a crazy man. Just look at his hair. I mean, just look at his hair. He looks like a deranged lunatic who's escaped from an asylum.

[Michael Duncan]

And.

[John Ashbrook]

And he sounds like one too, is the kicker. Like, his takes have always been things like pack the court, hunt down conservatives wherever they are. Just like the most offensive, far flung, deranged takes. But the really disturbing thing is, like, the left has been like, sounds great. And completely mainstreamed his viewpoint, which is why you'll see takes like this, and they're not surprised. They'll publish them.

[Josh Holmes]

First off, he has a. Like a weekly. I don't know if it's a podcast, a newsletter. Is it a newsletter? It's a newsletter that he calls ILI v. US so he kind of gives away the store. It's basically like my opinion against the United States of America, which is interesting. That's there.

[John Ashbrook]

Apparently not many people have done well in that setup.

[Josh Holmes]

But the subheader of this is in this week's Ely vs. Us. Our justice correspondent. He's a justice. Our justice correspondent explains why he's rooting for the Iranian national soccer team. Plus DOJ's scary rollback of gun regulations.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait, wait, can we get that graphic?

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, hold on. He's the author of this and then refers to himself as our justice correspondent in his own column.

[Josh Holmes]

Just. It's so good. All of it is just. It's a marionette of. Of the left.

[Michael Duncan]

And what do you think Illy is short for? You think it's short for, like, Elise or Iliana or something?

[Advertisement/Announcer]

What.

[Michael Duncan]

It's typically what that's short for.

[Smug]

Based on the opening. Michael knows based on the opening. Of this show. I thought smug wrote this, but alas, shots fired. Just your best friend shot and fired.

[Josh Holmes]

He's calling you Eli.

[John Ashbrook]

So another thing is this guy, Eli, for years I've been able to get extremely mad on Twitter. Like he gets extremely mad very easily. If you catch him, I think he might have escaped to blue sky and just spends his time with. With the.

[Josh Holmes]

No, yeah, he would engage. He would engage with you, especially on Supreme Court stuff. Yeah, I didn't.

[John Ashbrook]

Where I'd be like, guess who got confirmed Guess. And like that drives him up the wall. And why he's one of these court packing maniacs. But like.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he hit the height of his power essentially in the George Floyd era, where he was just sort of dictating views that were mainstreamed in the DEI era, which Duncan colloquially refers to as the dumb and dumbest time in American history, which it was. But this is the quote. I am unabashedly rooting for the Iranian national team during the World Cup. It's trying to compete under completely unreasonable circumstances. And then he goes on to discuss these unreasonable circumstances.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

For the first match in which they played in Los Angeles against New Zealand, key members of the Iranian staff were denied visas to enter the United States. Well, it's an interesting thing. It's like, oh, yeah, well, you know, was their trainer. Was it. Was it like their assistant coach, striker? Yeah, you know, was it like a component to winning a soccer game? Well, upon further review, and this is the New York Post that directly refuted some of this. Iranian people who were denied these visas had, quote, direct ties to the irgc, of course, that is the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The terrorists. The terrorists, essentially.

[Michael Duncan]

So they simply had like a timer and some explosive parts in their bag and they were told no.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, how dare.

[Michael Duncan]

How dare TSA. The 4 ounce rule is getting a little too.

[John Ashbrook]

This is hilarious. Is that guy. This member with direct ties to the IRGC tried to enter the US posing as the World cup soccer team president. He's like, I'm just the soccer president of Iran. And then he gets flagged by the Department of Homeland Security. And Ely Mystal thinks that's a bridge too far. He's like, I want to go back to the Biden years when our borders were open to terrorists. Military age fighting men. Yeah, why can't we go back to the good old days?

[Josh Holmes]

We understand that you are a part of an organization that has killed more Americans than any operation in the world over the last 45 years.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

But.

[Josh Holmes]

But you ought to get a fair shot in la, maybe you've turned a

[John Ashbrook]

new leaf and you just want to match a soccer team.

[Josh Holmes]

Just wants to watch little soccer.

[John Ashbrook]

Maybe he's a soccer guy now.

[Smug]

Oh, fuck it.

[John Ashbrook]

Hey.

[Michael Duncan]

Huh?

[Josh Holmes]

How about a little soccer, you fucking assholes? I mean this is. Dude, this is literally. This is the intellectual heft behind the left right now. I mean this is somebody who I guarantee you that some of these Democratic candidates in primaries across the country have on speed dial.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Smug]

But I think it's also a sign of the times. Like I think to Smug's earlier point, Eli Mistel had his moment in the sun.

[Josh Holmes]

It was the George Floyd era.

[Smug]

Well, and during the lawfare stuff he was the justice correspondent. Yes. Now justice course. Yeah. Hilarious, right?

[John Ashbrook]

Would have made up.

[Smug]

So yeah. You know, so like in the Kavanaugh hearings and all that sort of stuff. Like he was a go to.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

You know, you got to book him.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh he's like, what about, what about the gang bangs?

[Smug]

And I think now they really tried that. I think now he's sort of been back benched. And so the nation, I think in probably frustration, he's like, I think I'm rooting for Iran. I need to be as outlandish as possible. Because I noticed when I clicked on that you had to subscribe if you wanted to read the whole thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Except for the fact that. Just consider for more. I agree with everything you just said. Except for the fact that there is a considerable constituency for that.

[Smug]

Undoubtedly, undoubtedly.

[Josh Holmes]

Which again is not a healthy political movement. When you've got a guy who's sort of the voice of a progressive leftism in this country who's like, no, you know that country that we're at war with. I root for them.

[John Ashbrook]

And I think we used to like

[Josh Holmes]

rendition people like, well, that's the thing

[Smug]

is we used to be a country.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing is I think so much of what the left believes is not exactly policy or issue based, which is why you end up with things like Gays for Gaza, which on its face makes no sense. But they've created, created this coalition of leftists, so many of them with opposing views, all of them united by only one thing, which is opposition to America and a will to destroy America.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

How can they pushing a belief political constituency.

[John Ashbrook]

But that's the thing is that I

[Josh Holmes]

don't understand this whole.

[John Ashbrook]

All of it. Like during, as Duncan describes the stupidest period in American history, the 1619 Project, all these attempts to label America as being a horrible country, a fallen country, an unforgivable country, when the whole world knows America is the land of opportunity, has been the greatest force of good

[Smug]

in history, as we've seen as all these Euros have descended upon the United States for the World Cup. Like, they are now questioning, they're having existential dread about what they've done to their own continent. Because they've come to America and they've witnessed the abundance we have, and not just what abundance in, like, major metropolitan areas, but throughout the entire country. They see the way we live and they're like, oh, we goofed.

[John Ashbrook]

We were wrong.

[Smug]

We were wrong.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

We were wrong.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Meanwhile, our country has people like this who are an embarrassment to us and want communism here. It's just crazy.

[Josh Holmes]

It's crazy. I'm all for the First Amendment, and that's the thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, when you say the whole thing is, like, when you see, like, what Zoram Hamdani is doing and who he's endorsing and this, like, movement of. Look at the mayors across this country. Louisiana is on the precipice of electing a DSA Democrat Socialist of America candidate. New York has already done it. DC's on the verge of doing it. Like, I think DC just did it. So, like, you're seeing people who are out and out socialists, who we used to lock up. There used to be a time in this country where, like, wait, you're an enemy of the state. I'm not going to let you run for office. I'm going to send you to jail.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that old Joe McCarthy had some good ideas. I laugh at a joke, but honestly, I've always been of the opinion that more speech is the antidote to dumb speech. And I still am of that view. What concerns me a lot is, like, there's such a constituency for this that this person can make a living out of saying, like, the country we're at war with ought to win on American soil. That's my hope.

[John Ashbrook]

The left has primed this level of derangement from their supporters, and we're about to get into a perfect, perfect example of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, so this one, and I'm now looking at this for the first time. And Wolf did a good job of flagging this battle. One of you guys might have flagged it for him, but. But what it is is a New York Times editorial cartoon, which I. I didn't believe was real. When I first sat down here, like, five minutes ago, I looked at it and I was like, no way. This is true. So on Father's Day, they decided to print a cartoon and I guess the, the byline on this Zach Ellums. The title is to my daughter. My gender was never complicated. This is on Father's Day. On Father's Day. I just want to repeat one more time so everybody understands. Father's Day is where we're dealing with this. Graphic 2. Let's toss that bad boy up. I've been living as a trans man since I was 18 years old. That's the, that's the entryway that we get to this particular cartoon. And it go. But when my wife and I had Elliot, I had to learn how to be a trans dad. Hi, dad. And they're trying to like, my takeaway from this thing is like, look, I don't hate anybody. You know, you can do whatever it is that you want to do with your life and whatever, but we have so few sacred things in this. Fatherhood is something that really ought to be celebrated. You got to experience your first Father's Day on Sunday. How was it?

[John Ashbrook]

One of the best days of my life. It's an incredible, wonderful day. And that's what, like, really set me off when I saw this. And when you say that, like, you know, we have so few sacred things. This has been the modus operandi of the left where it's. They go after anything that they feel is sacred or beloved by any group and they try to destroy that institution and they try to like, wear it's. They want to skin it and wear its corpse as like a little suit and dance around it and mock that institution for what it was. We did a story like a year ago about how it was this like trans group in New York City who was demanding to do a black mass inside the Catholic Church right there. And this. They want to make a mockery of what Father's Day is. Look at what they've done to films. Any film that. Any action series that guys used to enjoy is destroyed and filled with like left wing ideology of like Indiana Jones. You're so stupid. Don't you know you have to be, like, woke now? And now we have a woman, Indiana Jones. Like, every institution must be destroyed, mocked and run to the ground. Culturally is where they have. Every communist revolution happens on a cultural level. Look at communist China.

[Smug]

It's their way of doing the paint can on the painting.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[Smug]

You know, the way that the green. The green movement has done for a long time. They want to do that to everything in our culture. And apparently not fatherhood. Fatherhood, you know, and like, we have so little. We have so little and we do not want to be praised. No, we just want to be left alone and just one day where we're allowed to grill and have a beer and watch golf and we can't be ridiculed for that.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Smug]

It's all we asked for.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the only day, you know, and

[Smug]

like, fathers were around. And our good fathers seem to be a pretty good thing for most societies.

[Josh Holmes]

Seems like it. There's stats to back that up. Actual science, so.

[Smug]

So of course it becomes a target of the left.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they got to come for that. I want to put up this next graphic two way. Apparently this thing is. I haven't seen it all, but apparently this is many, many different components to this cartoon. But here's how it ends. They can move between complex topics and in the question, how long did you have breasts for? Dad?

[Smug]

Come on.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the New York Times. I mean, look, I think the reason

[Michael Duncan]

we wanted just insanity.

[John Ashbrook]

I want to, I want to retcon that into. It's actually a story about a mean ass kid who Dad's gained like 60 pounds. He's like,

[Josh Holmes]

I feel like my kids are capable. My kid is definitely capable of being like, hey, what's up with those boobs, dad? Good. Good workout regimen. Fat ass.

[John Ashbrook]

Just a mean ass based kid.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, I definitely have that capability. But that's not what this means.

[John Ashbrook]

No, this is.

[Josh Holmes]

Look, man, I think everybody listening to this show understands deeply how complicated life is, how complicated raising children are. Relationships are. Not every family is going to be nuclear forever. There are things that happen. But the presence of a male figure in somebody's life is a positive thing. It's something that we recognize on Father's Day.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I also speak to the New York Times of like, you don't have to do this. You don't have to do this. An example, did you guys see the article that was in the Washington Post about Father's Day? It was like, when men have children and play a role in raising children, their brains become stronger. They're like, they do all this testing that men's brains become stronger and more resilient and are more capable and like, awesome. I love seeing this data and my wife sent me that article. So clearly she sees that now I'm gaining superpowers. She seems like, dad reflexes.

[Josh Holmes]

I love how receptive he is to any positive reinforcement. He's like, well, I'm gonna be the one that does this.

[John Ashbrook]

Good work.

[Josh Holmes]

Wampo must be smart.

[John Ashbrook]

Finally, some real news. When you hang out with them, Ashbrook, you should Give them some compliments. Whoever wrote the. This covering this important study. Dad. Brains becoming more powerful. I like that. That's what you can do on Father's Day.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's like, dude, just why?

[Smug]

Why?

[John Ashbrook]

It's because they have to destroy anything that is beloved.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And rot it from the inside and wear it like a skin suit. That's what these sick people want.

[Michael Duncan]

The left hates the basic underpinnings of American culture. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

To dismantle the traditional society, you have to take out the pillars. And one of those pillars is strong. Father.

[Michael Duncan]

Think about how many years they spent, like, attack families. And we would always joke. It's like, oh, you know, dad, like every. We. We like to joke about it all as much as anybody else. But think about how much time and effort and energy they put into that. Like, a thousand people walk into their, like, no work jobs every day to write 200 words about how terrible American society is. And somebody's paying for that. And most likely, it's the kind of person who wants America to fall apart. Yep. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just. This was depressing. And like I said, I didn't see this really too many minutes before we started. But I look at it, I'm like, we have so little.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

What are you doing?

[Smug]

I think a lot of it's the journalistic output of women who have bad relationships with their fathers.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you, old man. Another good take.

[Smug]

And typical fashion that, you know, those people who are the most broken project all of their neuroses onto society rather than deal with it themselves.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing. That's it. It bugs me so much because you see so many examples of.

[Josh Holmes]

Your job here is to attack him for that tip.

[John Ashbrook]

I gotta say, when man is right, he's right. And you see so many examples of this, especially, like, in films now, where they try to push the idea of, like, well, there's nothing wrong with me. It must be everyone else in the world who's actually bad and wrong.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And they push that pronoun shit. They're like, you are actually a stochastic terrorist.

[Josh Holmes]

Broken human.

[John Ashbrook]

If you don't call this dude with a beard ma'. Am. You know what I mean? Like, get out of here. We're over that. And it's no coincidence why they attack the strongest pillars of society when they're trying to break it down and remake it in their sick image.

[Josh Holmes]

It's true. So one of the things we look at is local coverage of stuff because it always reflects back. They do a better job than, like, the New York Times, for example, of reflecting back the values of the communities that they cover because they got to get some kind of traction. It's all local in nature and, and like if it was just irrelevant to the population, they wouldn't get any clicks or subscribers or anything else. So we look at a lot of this stuff. Local TV is just a fountain of great stuff, but a local Bay area. And this is. You can thank Wolf again. He's a resident communist who's from Northern California, who, who likes to. He pushes more California on us than we deserve.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep, it's Wolf, frankly.

[Josh Holmes]

It's true. You do huge Bay area. Every week I get something from Northern California. I'm like, san Francisco, I hope it fucking drowns. I hope it, I hope we can we sell that. You know, there's been a lot of talk about what we were trying to do with Greenland. Maybe sell Puerto Rico. Yeah, we could sell Northern California for all I care.

[Smug]

Yeah, take California and a territory to be named later.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we'll throw a Wolf in.

[Smug]

Hilarious.

[Kevin Keane]

Oh, there it is.

[Josh Holmes]

For the record, he's giving me the finger. Very obscene. I'm glad that was off camera for our younger viewers and listeners. Anyway, local Bay Area TV station laments the loss of business for auto glass repairs as car break ins decline. This is the most hysterical concept of like, okay, so there's a decline in break ins in the Oakland area and it's being welcomed as a public safety win because they've increased the police presence and it's good, but it's also contributing. This is like the fucking turn in the story. It's also contributing to a downturn for some local auto glass repair businesses.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh no, the most amazing take is like, listen, so car break ins may have decreased, but what about the honest hard working guys who are fixing windows because you have so many cars being broken? Like, how do they. This is the problem is this left wing ideology is all predicated on fake systems to like increase money in a community of like. Well, you see, it's not like an individual can start a business. We have to pump money into that somehow. Crime. Let's try raising the crime again.

[Josh Holmes]

If we can get crime response into a local economy. It's the same thing with all lib stuff, right? It's a business opportunity.

[Smug]

Well, and this is one of the oldest arguments of the left all the way back to Keynesian economics. Like this whole thing, there's an entire like fucking book written about this. Economic fallacies. The broken window fallacy. Right? Literally, basically, like, you know, for Broken window. It makes money for the glacier and.

[John Ashbrook]

But they took it seriously.

[Smug]

But it's all based on this thing Bastiat wrote, which was the scene and the unseen.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, listen to this.

[Smug]

What?

[Kevin Keane]

There we go.

[Josh Holmes]

Now we're doing some learning here. What the podcast.

[Smug]

What the left wing economists forget is the money you use to replace the broken window is then not invested or used to buy a suit or productive. It's not productive use of the thing. Because if you could just make a GDP go up through destruction. Right. Then everybody in America could be ditch diggers and we'd all be billionaires. But that's not how the fucking economy works.

[John Ashbrook]

But they're going to still keep trying with that. That's the thing. They literally took what you learn in economics as doesn't work.

[Smug]

It's like the first thing you learn.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Day one walking class, everyone turned to this. White was wrong. They're like.

[Josh Holmes]

But if you think deeper and honestly,

[John Ashbrook]

if I had to guess, it's probably that the fent got stronger and killed off a bunch of the homeless cars.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

But when they start.

[John Ashbrook]

This is not like good policy from California politicians.

[Michael Duncan]

When they start cracking down on the fence, what happens to the fent dealers?

[John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, what are the unintended consequences of cracking down the drug trade?

[John Ashbrook]

And can I tell you what they worried about is what about the NGOs with the safe injection.

[Smug]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, and if you think about the trickle down for the whores.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

The fence dealers aren't able to do what they're doing. And then the whores all the entire

[John Ashbrook]

community dependent on time. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just troubling. It is the only time they believe in trickle down economics.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

All right.

[Josh Holmes]

So we would be remiss if we didn't also just sort of capstone the Juneteenth holiday. Because there is a grand tradition in the Democrat party of, well, embarrassing themselves on Juneteenth and trying to appear as though they are something they are not. And in most cases, like you all remember, like during the George Floyd thing with the Kenta cloths.

[Smug]

Yeah. The kneeling and the kneeling.

[Josh Holmes]

And like you Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and all like they were. I mean, it's the most. That picture.

[Smug]

They did it in statuary hall in the United States Capitol. Again, the dumbest period in human history.

[Josh Holmes]

As if there was any connection at all between the Kenta cloth and George Floyd and what happened to him. But they had. It was all like an African Thing that they just wanted to try to, like, vow virtue signal.

[Smug]

Right, Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But now you've got politicians who are still up to it, and Abby Spamberger.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Who is my favorite virtue signaler of all time because she seems almost sociopathic in her willingness to sort of embody whatever she thinks people need to see. At that perfect amount of time, she's not alone, but. Clip two.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my God, dude, audio people. You need to see this on YouTube. What. What is this?

[Michael Duncan]

This is a Juneteenth concert.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

She.

[John Ashbrook]

She thinks she's, like, the dj, too.

[Josh Holmes]

She's, like, behind the DJ booth, throwing her hands up, doing the dance, doing the thing. And it's like, if there's anybody who could never be confused for somebody who is, like, hip hop or cool, it is Abigail Spammer. But there she is doing her thing. What is she doing?

[Michael Duncan]

Who's she trying to fool?

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you know who she's trying to fool? It's the people who are attending this thing.

[Michael Duncan]

Do you think they were fooled? Let me just ask you guys.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I have a question. Who's the current governor of Virginia? Her.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh. So maybe there was some fooling about.

[Smug]

Some Tom Foolery.

[Josh Holmes]

Some Tom foolery, if you will. But she's not alone.

[John Ashbrook]

Gene.

[Josh Holmes]

Gene who? I. I think this might be the whitest person in America. Yeah.

[Smug]

She doesn't strike me as real hip.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, definitely not real hip, but also to the point of retirement, because the Democratic Party is, like, too white. Here she is in clip three. She's in a pantsuit doing an African

[John Ashbrook]

dance in New Hampshire with this.

[Josh Holmes]

There's, like, a sum total of the African American electorate at that rally.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

In. In New Hampshire is.

[Michael Duncan]

Do we think that this is this sort of move. Do we think that this sort of move from Shaheen will adequately convince her voters that she's not one of those Democrats that's too white? Like, does this. Does this turn the table for her?

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think it does. I don't think it does. I mean, this is the thing is they face. And Schumer's learning this the hard way. You can. You can pander, you can do whatever.

[Smug]

Hold on.

[John Ashbrook]

They still want to get rid of you. Hold on.

[Smug]

Yeah, we got to go back before. Before we. We play it. The dancer opposite, Gene Shaheen.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Smug]

You know, she's following along with the moves and everything. Real bold to go for the booby shake. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

No, he's leading her into trouble.

[Smug]

Leading her into trouble. Gene Shaheen sort of like, leans back out rather than do the full on.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Booby shake.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Watch this because it's very painful. You can watch it like. Like the Zapruder film. Here it comes. Here it comes. Okay. He's like, I got her. Do everything now. I'm gonna make her shake her boobies. Here we go.

[John Ashbrook]

There it is. She kind of did it. She kind of did it.

[Michael Duncan]

She kind.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, she kind of did it. The shoulders were inward, though.

[Smug]

And then she realized maybe that's a bridge too far.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't do that.

[Smug]

Hey, I'll pander to the black community, but I won't shake my boobies.

[Michael Duncan]

Now what we, you know what we don't know, you know, Senate Leadership Fund is doing an aw of creative activity out there this year. Maybe this guy works for them.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, all I know is that this is what we've become accustomed to. The reason we play this stuff is because it knits neatly with everything that we talk about in the ruthless Friday program. These aren't real people. They don't believe anything. They don't believe anything. If you get Gene Shaheen out to do a booby shake in New Hampshire to prove that they're culturally diverse, you can do anything. And that's what they're trying to do. They literally believe in nothing. They say nothing. It's like they've got nothing. How many solutions have the Democratic Party posed over the last two years, year and a half since Trump's been president that advantage the African American community in any state in this union?

[John Ashbrook]

None.

[Smug]

None.

[Josh Holmes]

Fucking none. They don't even talk about it. The only thing they talk about is how racist everybody else is every time they open their mouth, because that's the only critique that they can come up with, whether it's economic or whatever.

[John Ashbrook]

And then the day after the 24 election, when Trump made, like, huge inroads among the black and Latino community, they're like, is there a white supremacy problem among these males?

[Josh Holmes]

Amongst Hispanic males or black males? Are black males secretly racist?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's their take.

[Josh Holmes]

And that was like, Obama was used to do that. Which, by the way, way last week. I'm sure you guys covered this, but that fucking library is hideous.

[John Ashbrook]

We're going to get to the comments on that, too.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, well, we might as well get right to it. The question of the day from Friday. And again, hats off for carrying a really troubling week.

[Smug]

We enjoyed the Obama library segment.

[Josh Holmes]

I bet you did.

[Smug]

I think we accused him of being gay at some point.

[John Ashbrook]

It was that whole cover that it was like Newsweek or Time that they called Obama the first gay president. Because at the time they were like, this is the best thing possible.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And I think we were saying that would be his gay certification because of the California. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

That you must be required to be gay to get government contract.

[Josh Holmes]

The only thing that I've seen that certifies him is absolutely dyed in the wall straight. Is the look of that building. Because gay people have better aesthetics.

[Smug]

Yeah, that's true.

[Michael Duncan]

You know what, that's a great point. I hadn't thought about it.

[Josh Holmes]

A horrible, horrible looking architect.

[Michael Duncan]

He's like, hey, how can I. How can I get some concrete here? And they're like, no, we got you, buddy. It's just a pile of concret.

[Josh Holmes]

Just absolutely terrible. So our question of the day is what are they hiding in the Obama library? To get to your comments, we always start with a voice.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. First one from Doc Brandy. Doc writes, just wondering if the Obama library architect checked the boxes of black and gay.

[John Ashbrook]

That's how you get it. You have to do it to get that contract in California. I wonder Chicago's these comments.

[Michael Duncan]

It could be, but I think to Holmes point, it's not designed by a gay guy.

[Josh Holmes]

No, can't be. Be simply can't be. It wouldn't look that horrific.

[Michael Duncan]

No question.

[Josh Holmes]

Comment 2 dunks runs.

[Smug]

Comment 2 is from Alicia Murphy. Alicia writes, no windows in the Obama library. Just like a closet.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, Jesus.

[Smug]

Maybe Larry Sinclair is in there.

[Josh Holmes]

I was secretly hoping Larry made an appearance.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Remember him back in that limo? He told a compelling story.

[Michael Duncan]

National press club.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, national press club.

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody wanted to cover it.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody wanted to cover it. Poor guy never got his moment. The national press, you know, that would

[John Ashbrook]

be so like there's that Banksy movie exit through the gift shop where like, they'd show like, Banksy did these, like little pranks where he'd go into museums and like hang his stuff. Like, stuff like that. Someone should go in there and drop like a Larry Sinclair print article.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

As if like encased in glass. And just like find an empty pedestal and toss that on there. Put a little like nameplate on there of like, Larry Sinclair comes forward with his relationship.

[Michael Duncan]

For our new listeners early in the first term.

[Josh Holmes]

For our new listeners, just simply Google Larry Sinclair or don't. And his hijinks. He's all fun.

[Michael Duncan]

All I'm saying, do do it at your own risk. Okay. Because what you'll find is something you've never wanted to read. No.

[Smug]

Why is Ashbrook trying to suppress it's? Information.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a lack of transparency.

[John Ashbrook]

Journals, that's what they do.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. They don't want to tell the story.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm simply supplying the audience with an adequate. You got to warn people what you're going to find is not something you were interested in. Trust me.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

You might be.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't know.

[Josh Holmes]

We don't judge here in the Erithrospratic program. All we do is give you the news. Comment 3, Smuck.

[John Ashbrook]

Comment 3 is from Buckeye Rifleman. Question of the day. Obama's gay certificate is indeed in the library. It's just in the closet. Parody, parody. We're laughing again. Like, I still cannot believe California is going to be doling out what was it, like, 80 billion in contracts. And question one is like, are you gay?

[Smug]

Like,

[John Ashbrook]

how did we get there?

[Josh Holmes]

You guys covered a lot of ground. There was a real top hat and cane routine going on last week.

[Smug]

We had fun.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you must have. You must have. Well, congratulations, listener. You. You got everything you came for and more when we come back. Fourth of July, right around the corner. Cold drinks. It's something that's always on our mind. Barbecues and everything else. Kevin Keane and our partners from ABA are going to be presenting what it is that they're working on right after this.

[Smug]

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[Josh Holmes]

Want to welcome back to the program. An old friend of ours has been on several different times, but I can't think of a better time than summer to have the CEO of the American Beverage Association, Kevin, Keen on. How are you, sir?

[Kevin Keane]

I'm doing great. How are you guys? Thank you for having me back.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm great. Listen, I grew up as I imagine most people that are similarly situated, thinking of the old coolers in the summer out by the pool.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You just kind of reached in. It was unclear at that point that I ever drank water. It was like I just, you know, coke or sunk, kissed or whatever. And that was Kind of like the way that we dealt with things. It's like I have an indelible vision of summer on soft drinks.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it is, to me, just sort of intertwined with American culture.

[Kevin Keane]

It is. And it's part of why we're looking Forward to the 250th this year. I mean, what a better time to be able to remind people that, you know, we're part of their communities. And that's intentional. You know, we're actually American origin stories when you look at our companies and we're systems and companies as we talked about before, you know, so family owned businesses all across the country. And what better way to not just celebrate summer, but the special one that we're having this year with the 250th. And you know, it's. And yeah, you remember growing up with the soda.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[Kevin Keane]

And the coolers, but, you know, we even have the waters now for you. That's how much we've changed and evolved over the years to try to meet our consumers and deliver the products that they want. And so it's a, you know, it's an exciting time normally in the summer because, yes, it's when people are thirsty in particular and, you know, weather, you need a beverage, it's hot and it's hot. But then you get the chance to just, just, you know, you know, with everybody else, you know, celebrate America. Yeah. And the unique part we all have in making America as great as it is.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally. I think Smash, you may have pointed out, or maybe, Duncan, a number of your brands that you represent are doing like special logos.

[Smug]

Oh, yeah, The Coke's doing the steak cans. Yeah, yeah, we got a Texas one. My wife's from Texas, so yeah, she, like, loved getting that can. We're big Coke Zero drinkers in our household.

[Josh Holmes]

But like, to your point, I mean, so many of your member companies are rooted in the communities and states, you know, forever in that celebrating America 250 is really a thing.

[Kevin Keane]

It is, it is. And it's, you know, you add that, you bring in, you know, the World cup and things like that happening. I mean, it's a pretty cool summer here in America right now. And being able to be part of it is. It's a lot of fun, you know, and that's. That's what we are. You know, we're refreshment beverages. We don't make ourselves out to be anything more than that. But we're certainly not anything less than that. I mean, we're just, you know, our companies want to Provide good fun beverages, refreshing beverages, beverages that have some function to it if you need it, you know, you know we have these beverages come out with more protein in it and yeah, things like that to try to meet folks needs there and got

[Smug]

to hit your macros, got to hit your Instagram.

[Michael Duncan]

Is that right?

[Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm unaware of that but I'm also, I mean look, growing up my mom was certainly not reading the label or to the extent that that exists. But as culture has progressed, like I think about my wife and she wants to know exactly what is in every single thing that our kids pick up. And I think obviously that's a positive thing for the country. It's a positive thing for development of children. You guys have talked about that and actually put a plan into place where you've got total transparency.

[Kevin Keane]

That's right. You know, when, when I was having my kids, so I'm going to date myself a little bit here. All we had was this book called what to Expect when youn're Expecting. You know, that's all we had. And you know my, I just became a grandparent a little over a year ago and I just watched my own son and daughter in law and you're right, it's like the parents today have access to so much more information than we did and they want to know what it is and they want to know what it means and sometimes it can be overwhelming. So that's what we really like about goodtokknowfacts.org our website that we created is it delivers just the fundamental facts. There's no narrative to it. There's no trying to push you one way or another because we know there's other apps out there that'll tell you what to think about those ingredients. We just want to give you straightforward information on the ingredients in our products. So we literally came and gathered all the ingredients and all our products across all our companies, put them on this one website. It's going to tell you three buckets of information. First, what type of foods and beverages that ingredient might be found in. So not just our products, it might be another food you're eating. And then it's going to tell you what else that ingredient might be called. So we may call it one thing here in America, maybe call it something else in Europe or in Canada. And then we're going to give you the regulatory status of that ingredient, which is really what people probably most want.

[Michael Duncan]

Look, is this unprecedented for industries across. I mean, I've never heard of anything like this.

[Kevin Keane]

We're the first ones to do it to this degree and this comprehensively. And so we're proud of that. You know, it was a fair question. I mean, it's like you're talking about your family. I mean, look on the back of a can and you see our ingredients. Right. And it's in smaller print and you know, you only have so much room on a can label.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It's not textualizing anything.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah. So fair question. I mean, that was a really fair question. And so we said, let's go do something about it. Obviously the administration was talking about it too, and radical transparency was one of the buzzwords they had when they came in. But, but our consumers were leading the way, I think, even for them. And we wanted to make sure we were being responsive and that's why we put the site together. And now the next build that we're excited to let you all know about is we're going to make it even easier to access that information because we're going to put it on the QR codes on our labels. So instead of having to go to the website, just scan the QR code and it will take you to the website.

[Advertisement/Announcer]

Really?

[Kevin Keane]

It'll take you inside and there'll be a link to the website now. Yeah. So it's great. We're going to need about a year to phase it all in across all the products, but that's starting now, so you'll find it on some products. And about this time next year, we think we're going to have it across most of our portfolios.

[Josh Holmes]

I do think it's interesting just because how different culture is. I mean, literally like summer, I basically lived on Sun Kissed and Mountain Dew. Right. And I don't. That was probably not the healthiest decision, but it's, it's, you know, the way that, that we grew up. But now that we have this culture that has embraced particularly health, transparency and understanding what it is that we're food and our, our drinks and everything have in it and whether they can be any repercussions. Taking the step as an industry to ensure that you're leading on it is a choice. And you guys have taken that step in a point where I feel like almost every other industry doesn't have any choice but to follow your lead.

[Kevin Keane]

Well, you know, we certainly want to set a standard and that's, that's what our industry's always been about too, I think, because they're so integral in their community. You know, they know their neighbors, they live next door to their neighbors, they, you know, they have these conversations in their backyards with their neighbors who are asking them all these questions too. So it, you know, it's really kind of natural for us to go there. And you know, so we're proud, we're proud to give the information out. You know, it's common sense too. You know, the consumer wants more information. You know, there's nothing to hide. We make great products. They're safe products. You know, some products you may, maybe for you, you may prefer other products. Yeah, that's kind of the cool thing about our industry too is that if there's something, if to say there's an ingredient that you prefer not to have, well, we have a product for you that is going to taste good and you're going to want to spend your money on. And not many industries can say that either is that we're providing not just choices but like meaningful choices.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Keane]

And you know, that's America too. You know, we're built on freedom of choice and our products and our, what we want to consume and buy. And you know, so we're again, it just all kind of comes back to the Americana culture that our companies come from. They get it. They especially our family owned bottlers, I mean they're, they're so integrated into their communities.

[Michael Duncan]

They, and they're all over the place. They're all, you know, in so many jobs, you know, with these distributors, you grow up, I have friends whose dads worked, you know, worked for distributors. It's. You feel like, I mean, you guys probably too.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally.

[Kevin Keane]

There's a lot of jobs, you're right. In these communities. But the thing is they're great paying jobs. These are jobs that you could have a college education. But a majority of the jobs, you don't necessarily have to have a college education, but you're going to make good pay, they're going to take good care of you. And that's why we have so many of our employees who build their careers staying in those type of jobs. So when you look at that non college educated worker, I mean that's the foundation of our industry and workforce as well as a lot of our consumers. So, you know, college is important. I'm not going to say anything bad about college, but you can hear that's fine.

[Smug]

You're in a safe space.

[Kevin Keane]

You have a lot of folks who, they're incredibly intelligent. They just don't want that financial burden of college and want to go straight into a career. And, and that's what's cool about our industry too is they provide Those type of opportunities.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You always had the little league teams.

[Kevin Keane]

Oh yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Sponsored by the local distributor. I was a little jealous of that because they have the best swag.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. The unis were like, coca Cola.

[Smug]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

And you're just like, hey, how'd they get there?

[Smug]

Yours is like the local florist. Totally.

[Josh Holmes]

Because it's all, it's all local, local. And that was the thing that, that I think when I grew up I, I sort of understood is that all these, like Coca Cola wasn't made in Minnesota, but I thought it was.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Kevin Keane]

Well, yours probably was manufactured there by the local bottler in Minnesota.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, because we saw, you know, the, the local bottler and, and they had a presence in the community and it was a big part of the community that I grew up in and I. That's across the nation.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah. It's a nice thing to see. And that how committed are when you have those family owned businesses? You know, they want to grow and they want to see their communities grow because they know they're not going to grow if their neighbors aren't growing too. And if their neighbors are suffering, they're suffering. So they want to help build their communities and they're invested in those communities. And I think that's, you know, part of what has made America so successful over the years is you have so many companies that, that are rooted in their communities and that's when we're at our strongest, when we're relying on them and those companies are growing.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to put you on the spot here.

[Kevin Keane]

Sure.

[Josh Holmes]

Got a very serious question. What does McDonald's do in the fountain version of Coca Cola that you don't get? It is the single best beverage in the history of the world in the fountain soda. You remember this?

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Fountain drinks are bad.

[Smug]

Is it the carbonation like is hitting the syrup at the, the moment there's

[Josh Holmes]

like a different mix, like.

[Smug]

Yeah. Is it the extra air? I don't know.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know.

[Smug]

But it tastes a little.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a bed wetter of those things. Like on a. After, you know.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

A big night in college. Nothing hit better than that.

[Kevin Keane]

It. All I can say is this. It is different and it's a proprietary arrangement with Coke and McDonald's. But you know, since I love all my members, I'll tell you the same thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I.

[Kevin Keane]

People say the same thing about Pepsi in a fountain like a Taco Bell. They say the same thing. That's where they go to get their Pepsi little tweak arrangement.

[Josh Holmes]

Do they let you in on the secret at all?

[Michael Duncan]

No.

[Smug]

We're going to get to the bottom of this.

[Michael Duncan]

If you're finishing a baseball game, you might ask the guy, you might get a free drink. You might ask the guy a little bit of each other.

[Josh Holmes]

A mix and match.

[Michael Duncan]

A mix.

[Josh Holmes]

A mix.

[Michael Duncan]

Just give me one of each.

[Josh Holmes]

Some of them took a dim view when I was mixing and matching.

[Michael Duncan]

I just, I, I always said one of each in a big league joke.

[Kevin Keane]

But that's a cool story about McDonald's and, and Coke and way back with Kroc and. Yeah, he was getting started. So that's cool about our industry too, is it's been part of other.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Keane]

You know, us brands growing.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we do this a little differently for our Fountains Mountain?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's a fun deal and it is to us a part of summer. You know, it's the, the cooler with the, all the ice and the cans in there and you just kind of.

[Smug]

I remember summer road trips. My dad would have the cooler that slid, you know. Oh, yeah. Oh, the hinged one.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Smug]

You know that old one.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Smug]

The igloo.

[Kevin Keane]

Yeah.

[Smug]

And like it would, it would be discolored from years of use and sun bleached. But that thing always was in the back of the car.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kevin Keane]

Always kept everything cold.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah.

[Smug]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But we really appreciate, because our listeners care and my wife cares deeply. You're sort of yours about this health transparency component and the fact that you guys have decided it's not enough to have just a indelible American brand, that you've got to meet society where it is and provide all the information to parents and take the anxiety away about what's exactly in this thing. And that is Good to know. Facts.org and you guys are expanding this into the QR code and everything else. Yes, it's great.

[John Ashbrook]

It's great.

[Kevin Keane]

I mean, you don't get to be around for more than 100 years like our companies have, if you're not meeting your consumer and deliver what they want and also adjust to the times. You know, it's like the difference between when I was raising my kids, you're raising yours, and it's, it, you know, the fundamentals are all the same. Change of diaper hasn't changed. Yeah. At least that I know of. But, you know, it's, I think it's great that parents today want to know more. They're trying to learn more and, and you have access to so much more.

[Smug]

So some of the things you're learning is against your will. We're just inundated with information constantly. Right, right.

[Josh Holmes]

Insta doc, you know.

[Smug]

Right. And so, and so like I. That's what I love about this website and this whole program you're rolling out is you're inundated with information constantly. Some of it good, some of it bad, some you don't really know. And so if, if you can't get access to information, you're just lost in the wilderness of like, I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

Totally. You know.

[Smug]

And like sometimes you feel becomes overwhelming. Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Kevin Keane]

I'd put out there for your viewers and listeners that goodtokknowfacts.org is a good first start. It's not going to probably answer all your questions because we're not going to give you opinions on things, but we're going to give you the of basics to fundamentals and that's going to help you then discern those sites that give

[Josh Holmes]

you opinions on the ingredients that have agendas or not. But it's an important part. Thank you for leading on this because it is a big thing in my family and I know a lot of people that are listening. They think an awful lot about this stuff because there's information everywhere and the fact that you guys are taking the lead for every consumable industry to do means a lot. You guys are doing the right thing.

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So.

[Josh Holmes]

Kevin Keane, thank you so much for joining us.

[Kevin Keane]

I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on and have a great fourth, great summer.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay. Really interesting conversation and I think Holmes, you hit the nail on the head when you talked about the difference between the way we grew up and the way our wives are raising our kids these days. And they want a lot more information. It sounds like Kevin working his hardest to provide.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's just a culture change. But I appreciate. Look, for those of you who are not intersected directly with politics, there are trade associations in D.C. and they basically try to run cover for the membership that they have over political issues that are uncomfortable or, you know, difficult to handle. What ABA has done is get out in front of all that stuff and just here's we know what you're concerned about, so here it is. And that that's a different approach I'd like to see more of.

[John Ashbrook]

I always think that, I mean it's bold because it takes courage, but it does so well. Like you really think more folks would be like, what if we just went open kimono and listened to the community and provided them what they want and everyone wins? Turns out crazy idea.

[Josh Holmes]

People have a pretty good receptivity to People who are like. Like, this is all done. Yeah. Anyway, thank you to Kevin for joining us. He's always a good guest. Remember our question of the day. If you were a Democrat, how would you spend donor money? What would you spend it on?

[John Ashbrook]

These better be good.

[Josh Holmes]

I want it to be funny. Work on this stuff. Workshop it a little bit. If you're just going to drop something in there, just give it a second, think about it, then get on board. Right?

[John Ashbrook]

That's the way to do it.

[Josh Holmes]

Because you're entertained, ultimately, this is your opportunity to entertain us. Like, I read every one of them. I know you guys read every one of them. I want to laugh. And when we do, we get back to the very next episode with the absolute best. So like. And subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program. Put your comment down. We read all of them. We'll get back to you on Thursday about all that. Check out some merch while you're there. There's a lot of good summer options. Everybody needs good summer options.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Smug]

Beach towels.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

With that, fellas, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much to Kevin Keenan. Thank you to the listeners. Remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube and hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you on Thursday. Stay ruthless,

[Josh Holmes]

Sam.