Democrats’ TOP 5 Most Unhinged Anti-Trump Takes

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "Democrats’ TOP 5 Most Unhinged Anti-Trump Takes"

Release Date: March 20, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook
Description: The Ruthless Podcast delivers next-generation conservative talk, offering a sharp and unfiltered analysis of current events and political maneuvers. In this episode, the hosts dissect what they identify as the top five most extreme anti-Trump positions taken by Democrats over the past eight weeks.

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Introduction

In this highly charged episode, the hosts of the Ruthless Podcast delve into the Democratic Party's recent actions and statements opposing former President Donald Trump. They categorize these as the "Top 5 Most Unhinged Anti-Trump Takes," arguing that Democrats have consistently sided against Trump even on issues where a significant majority of Americans may support Trump's stance. This opposition, they contend, stems from what they describe as "Trump derangement syndrome," leading Democrats to adopt positions that the hosts believe are disconnected from the broader American populace.

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1. Violent Oppression Against Tesla and Elon Musk

Timestamp: [06:26] – [16:12]

The episode opens with a discussion on increasing attacks against Tesla dealerships and owners. The hosts argue that these acts of violence are a direct response to Democrats' opposition to Elon Musk and his enterprises, viewing Musk's efforts to curb federal spending and promote innovation as a threat to their agenda.

• Key Points:

  • Democrats' historical opposition to electric vehicles.
  • Shift from advocating for electric cars to targeting Tesla as it becomes a market leader.
  • Linking violent actions to political motivations, labeling them as acts of domestic terrorism.

• Notable Quote:

  "They are cheering on a plummeting of Tesla stock as a result of terrorism against people who own Teslas and people who own Tesla dealerships."
  — Josh Holmes [12:31]

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2. Opposition to Deporting Dangerous Venezuelan Gang Members

Timestamp: [21:20] – [28:57]

The second point addresses Democrats' stance on immigration, specifically their resistance to deporting Venezuelan gang members deemed dangerous. The hosts criticize Democrats for not utilizing existing legal tools to deport these individuals, instead advocating for outdated and broad immigration laws.

• Key Points:

  • Use of the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798, to deport undocumented Venezuelans tied to criminal activities.
  • Democrats' preference for "process arguments" over decisive action.
  • Accusations of Democrats prioritizing political maneuvering over national security.

• Notable Quote:

  "If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, ... we would deny your visa. That's right."
  — John Ashbrook [34:49]

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3. Democrats' Conflicting Stances on Transgender Girls in Sports

Timestamp: [28:44] – [39:01]

This segment critiques Democrats' handling of transgender inclusion in women's sports. The hosts argue that Democrats are sending mixed messages, supporting transgender athletes while simultaneously undermining the very premise of gender categories in sports.

• Key Points:

  • Debate over whether transgender girls should compete in women's sports.
  • Criticism of Democrats for inconsistency and perceived support for policies that compromise competitive fairness.
  • Allegations that such policies open doors for broader, uncontrollable definitions of gender.

• Notable Quote:

  "Trans girls are girls. ... I play co-ed sports all the time."
  — Comfortably Smug and Josh Holmes [31:50]

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4. Allowing Hamas Supporters on Student Visas and Campus Disruptions

Timestamp: [33:48] – [40:43]

The fourth take focuses on the alleged infiltration of Hamas supporters through student visas, leading to disruptions on college campuses. The hosts condemn Democrats for permitting individuals tied to terrorist organizations to enter the U.S. under the guise of educational pursuits.

• Key Points:

  • Incidents of individuals associated with Hamas gaining student visas.
  • Accusations that these individuals are using First Amendment rights to promote terrorism.
  • Democrats' defense of these actions as upholding free speech, which the hosts vehemently oppose.

• Notable Quote:

  "This has nothing to do with the first amendment right. It's cut and dry. Did he invite members of a terror group to speak? Yes, that's providing aid to a terror group. Case closed."
  — Michael Duncan [37:36]

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5. Democrats Defending Indefensible Positions and Federal Waste

Timestamp: [42:36] – [50:02]

The final point criticizes Democrats for defending budgets and policies that the hosts deem wasteful or harmful to working Americans. This includes funding allocations for transgender studies in Tanzania, tourism in Egypt, and combating disinformation in Kazakhstan, among others.

• Key Points:

  • Highlighting specific instances of federal spending that Democrats support.
  • Contrast between Democrats' outrage over these allocations versus their silence on disasters impacting Americans.
  • Accusations that Democrats prioritize international agendas over domestic welfare.

• Notable Quote:

  "Every single one of you Democrats are outraged that the American people want to be... their money going to good uses, not stuff like this."
  — Josh Holmes [42:36]

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Interactive Segment: King of the Hill Game

The hosts engage in an interactive segment called "King of the Hill," where they present and debate various Democratic takes, ultimately critiquing them through a competitive framework. This playful yet pointed game serves to reinforce their arguments against the Democratic positions discussed.

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Interview with Coach Tom Crean: Insights on March Madness and Bracketology

Timestamp: [57:18] – [99:05]

In an extensive interview, Coach Tom Crean joins the show to provide expert analysis on the NCAA March Madness tournament. While this segment diverges from the political focus, it offers valuable insights into team strategies, player development, and the impact of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and transfer portals on college basketball.

• Key Points:

  • Bracketology Tips:

    • Importance of analyzing team performance in conference tournaments.
    • Assessing defensive capabilities and free-throw efficiencies.
    • Considering live betting opportunities based on early game dynamics.

  • Impact of NIL and Transfer Portals:

    • Challenges coaches face in recruiting and retaining talent.
    • Emphasis on building team culture and player development over mere recruitment rankings.
    • Strategies for adapting to the evolving landscape of college sports.

• Notable Quotes:

  "There's so many teams that don't understand the value of space and the value... you can create movement, you can create long closeouts and play the game in space."
  — Coach Tom Crean [66:28]

  "The efficiency is what matters a lot of not your numbers, it's your percentages in your efficiency that's going to get you drafted."
  — Coach Tom Crean [85:34]

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Audience Engagement and Listener Comments

Timestamp: [54:25] – [56:07]

The hosts read and respond to listener comments that echo their main arguments:

• Comments Highlighted:

  • Lack of leadership and agenda within the Democratic Party.
  • Perception that Democrats are focused on immigration and corrupt practices at the expense of American citizens.
  • Frustration over Democrats' alignment against Trump and their inability to resonate with the broader electorate.

• Notable Comment:

  "The Dems have no leader, no written or spoken agenda, no message, no love for America and Americans... They’ve lost their minds and now they're losing their party."
  — Lane Bashford [54:54]

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with the hosts reiterating their stance on the Democratic Party's opposing actions and positions against Trump. They emphasize the ongoing battle over political narratives and encourage listeners to remain informed and engaged. The episode concludes with standard sign-offs and promotional content, which were omitted from this summary as per the guidelines.

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Note: This summary captures the primary discussions and key points from the episode, focusing on the hosts' critique of the Democratic Party's recent political maneuvers. It highlights significant arguments, supporting quotes, and the overarching narrative presented by the Ruthless Podcast team.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

Top five most unhinged moments that Democrats have sort of placed themselves in here over the last eight weeks or so. I kind of like refer to it as a look what you made me do type situation.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I mean, honestly, you could call this the 8020 list. The issues that Trump has taken a position that 80% of Americans share, and for some reason, Trump derangement, most likely. Democrats have taken the 20% side on all these issues. Issues essentially just like setting themselves on fire, trying to just oppose Trump for its own sake.

[Josh Holmes]

The media is broken. For decades, big cable and legacy media filtered information to hide the truth. But thanks to podcasts like the one that you're listening to and new media around this country, the truth can break through, providing voices and views that legacy outlets we know well will not air. But big cable still has a major way of controlling information access. They do this by limiting access to something called spectrum, the invisible airwaves that power affordable wireless Internet. And by forcing you to keep their bundles, the old cable package bundle, keeping independent media out of reach. Trump and Republicans in Congress have a huge chance right now to get this right by making more spectrum available and breaking the big cable's stranglehold on your information. You gotta tell your senator and your member of Congress to work with President Trump, sell more spectrum and make sure that you can hear programs like the Ruthless Variety Program.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

Just catching strays over here.

[Josh Holmes]

You're in for a hell of a show.

[Michael Duncan]

Keep the faith, hold the line and own the lids.

[Tom Crean]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook, left to right across your radio dial. As always, a very, very jam packed big show. This is a 10 of 10 as far as I'm concerned. What we're gonna have for you here is the top foot, top five most unhinged moments that Democrats have sort of placed themselves in here over the last eight weeks or so. I kind of like to refer to it as a look what you made me do type situation. Right. Where it's like you look at issues the way the American people do. And almost all of these are 8020 on the side of President Trump. But they're just because of Trump derangement Syndrome. Everything else, they literally have instant opposition to things that make them politically cancerous.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I mean, honestly, you could call this the 8020 list. The issues that Trump has taken a position that 80% of Americans share and for some reason Trump derangement, most likely. Democrats have taken the 20% side on all these issues, essentially just like setting themselves on fire, trying to just oppose Trump for its own sake.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. So, but that's not all. That's not all.

[Michael Duncan]

That's not it.

[Josh Holmes]

We're not just doing that. We're gonna play a game. We got a variety, and then we got a very special guest. Listen, I know an awful lot of you like us. Today is the first day of March Madness. We take this very seriously on the Ruthless Variety program. And I know a lot of you do, too, which is why we wanted to give you something that had you an edge for your brackets, you know, and if you're doing like, single game bets and all that kind of thing, like, we wanted to give you something to work with, give you a little edge. I can't think of a better guest in all of history to do that than Coach Tom Crean. This guy coached the Georgia Bulldogs, the Indiana Hoosiers, the Marquette Golden Eagles. He is a analyst at espn. He does Westwood One play by play. You can hear him on your radio for all of these games. He's a personal friend, to be honest with you. Never asked about his politics. I don't know what it is. So that's not what you're getting with Tom. What you're getting is absolute expert stuff.

[Comfortably Smug]

You're getting the money ball of bracketology.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like, it's absolutely incredible. You're not going to want to miss it.

[Josh Holmes]

You're not going to want to miss it. He's a good friend. Very kind of him to do it. He's, like, basically asked by every major network and station in the country to do what he did with us. So you're in for a treat with that, especially if you want to make a little bit of money over the next six weeks during March Madness. So tune in for that. Fellas. I, you know, I'm so excited. Yeah. About this.

[Michael Duncan]

I know.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm so excited. I want to start with number five.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

And the. They're, they're not in exact order. And I think as a listener, you listen to these and be like, well, I'm more outraged by four than I am by two. But just all five are so money, Right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. It's like, who is the best player on the Fab Five?

[John Ashbrook]

Who?

[Comfortably Smug]

Who can really say?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Who can say?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Who can say But Chris Weber.

[Tom Crean]

Except for that timeout.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, except for that timeout. But all of this, as you've listened to this program, we've talked about AD Nauseam. Over the last eight weeks, anything that Donald Trump does, Democrats have to instantly oppose, no matter how dumb the rationale is to do it. And you saw the polls we talked about on Tuesday, where they were down, you know, to the 20s approval of the Democratic Party as a result of this. This is what we're about to talk about is the reason not only why President Trump is far more popular than he was four years ago, but why Democrats are literally the worst opposition in the world and they're going south. It's getting worse for, for them. So let's start out with number five. Let's play this setup. Clip one. What you're looking at here.

[Michael Duncan]

Jesus.

[Josh Holmes]

Are Tesla's on fire in the city of Las Vegas? And there is an enormous amount of damage in. What we've seen is reoccurring attacks on Tesla dealerships, Tesla owners.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh my God. It's like sparking and exploding.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah. In this, this unfortunately has become the routine move of the left. Everybody remembers during COVID when they were attacking a federal courthouse and when they were burning down the St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. the left is as violent as it gets, and no more so than when they're not getting what they want.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly. And of course, all of this is a result of Elon Musk taking a position as the head of Doge within the context of the Trump administration. Because over the last four years, the same people who are burning that dealership down were telling us that nobody ought to ever drive anything but an electric car. In fact, electric car, electric vehicle mandates were put in. So all of a sudden their electric vehicle, the hottest selling electric vehicle in the country, is now the target of their opposition.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah, I think it really shows you the left unvarnish. I mean, this is a group of people who would suspend habeas corpus before they would cut any one of these left wing NGOs. And why Trump is so smart is that he's going after them. He actually found their underbelly and is keeping them on defense. They're all defending the climate, NGOs, the trans NGOs, every single pet project of their side. They're defending it to the hilt as if it's the end of the world and it's all they're thinking about.

[Michael Duncan]

So you might, this is just, if you, when you just see this video, it's just completely insane. This like I, you know, we've got Cash Patel there. I hope to God this is treated as what it is. These are terrorist attacks. They need to find the People responsible. And the other thing, folks online pointed this out, Tesla's, for their safety, have like these cameras and stuff on the side so that, you know, Tesla's been getting keyed and stuff. So they get video of the person doing. I hope they have footage of the people responsible for these attacks and those folks get locked up.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. Because it is an act of terror. It's not to trash a dealership. It's not mischief. It is about trying to alter the federal government's policy.

[Comfortably Smug]

But if you listen, if you listen to the media, this is the expected backlash of a billionaire who has put himself, thrust himself into the political limelight. That's the way that they're talking to excuse terrorism at Tesla dealerships. It's like the same thing after the Luigi guy murdered that health care CEO and it's like, well, but can you blame him?

[Josh Holmes]

And also a little bit like George Floyd.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

There is an excuse structure around what's happening. As if this isn't terrorizing the community.

[Comfortably Smug]

That riots are the voice of the unheard. Yes, right.

[Tom Crean]

I think part of the reason why Democrats are in such shambles is that nobody is actually listening to the media anymore in the way that they once did. And Democrats do not know how to handle.

[John Ashbrook]

Handle that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Tom Crean]

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[Josh Holmes]

You might say to yourself with this, how does this fall in the top five of positions that Democrats have taken? Surely they wouldn't condone attacks against Tesla or these bomb. Let's play clip two.

[John Ashbrook]

Saying on my phone, I know some of you know this. On the iPhone, they've got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day. 225 and dropping. So cool.

[Comfortably Smug]

Tim Walls.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, and, and if you own one, if you own one, we're not blaming you. You can, you can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off, you know, and take out. Just telling you.

[Tom Crean]

The guy, he is such a zero. He was a D line assistant at a school where all the best athletes played hockey. And he pretends like he's Newt Rockman. You know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Zero volunteer, by the way.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

But also like the way he described it then he was like, you can take that, you know, Tesla symbol off of it. It's like, you know, in the news, there's also been reports of like, these leaflets being put on people's Teslas, like in California and other states where it says, like, you have 30 days to sell your Tesla or we will, like attack you.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So this is all just. The left is essentially just saying, listen, whole shakedown. Yeah, take that symbol off, bow down to our side or violence will ensue. That's the implication for all of this.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. And I saw a Jimmy Kimmel clip last night where he opened a funny, hilarious monologue where he does this late night show that nobody watches, where he talked about like, oh, people are doing. And then he like ingests a. Don't ever attack a Tesla and then like let a pregnant pause go by and then kind of smiled and went on, thereby encouraging a broadcast medium that this was okay, that this was. This was not something that you should be concerned about.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's the never take cough syrup mixed up with iodine lie. That's the whitest kids, you know, reference for those who know. But it's. Yeah, it's like a comedy where a dark comedy where you're basically encouraging them to do violence.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, that's what's happening here. So make no mistake, make no mistake. They are cheering on a plummeting of Tesla stock as a result of terrorism against people who own Teslas and people who own Tesla dealerships in response to Elon Musk taking a patriotic duty to try to cut a little wasteful spending.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it's insane.

[Josh Holmes]

Think about how insane that is. Crazy that is. That's number five, folks. Yeah, this is. This is gonna get. This is gonna get better. But I'd like to just juxtapose it, you know, it's not enough to just. You hate Elon Musk. You hate. Oh, did you miss. Did you miss the fucking news on Tuesday? Let's pop up clip three.

[Tom Crean]

Oh, I'm glad.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, there it is.

[Tom Crean]

I'm glad you did this.

[Josh Holmes]

There it is. That's a space capsule and Splashdown Crew 9 back on Earth, designed by Elon Musk's SpaceX that went up and fixed the absolute dereliction of the Biden administration and a bunch of different things that didn't work. With a crew that was supposed to be in space for eight days, had spent eight months up there. And Elon Musk, thanks to the partnership between Musk, SpaceX, NASA and Donald J. Trump, those people all got off of that thing and walked back into their homes. Like without it, that doesn't happen.

[Comfortably Smug]

And he's the bad guy.

[Josh Holmes]

And he's the bad guy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Can you imagine watching that, by the way? I mean, look, I sat was at Fox and I sat and watched all of this on Tuesday night. And there were dolphins.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, a pot of dolphins showed up. Cinema, pure cinema.

[Josh Holmes]

A pot of dolphins. They had a perfect sunset and calm Atlantic waters. I mean, it was like the most cinematic patriotic thing I've seen in a long time.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's so funny because it feels like the Democrats are desperate to make Atlas Shrugged real. You know, it's like, it's like Elon Musk really is going to be that Hank Reardon character, you know, who's like, they force him to like seastead and take everything away.

[Josh Holmes]

I just, the juxtaposition tells you about the mental health of the modern left.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's crazy, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

The idea that you as an American can watch what we all collectively experienced on Tuesday with the return of the astronauts in a vehicle powered by SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, and say, no, he's the real problem. He's the problem because he had the audacity to try to suggest that $36 trillion in debt is unacceptable, that sending trans money for trans studies in Tanzania is maybe not the best use of taxpayer dollars. That empty office buildings across the entire District of Columbia in our country for that matter, is maybe something that we should remedy because he suggested it. We ought to burn down his company. We ought to make sure that we bankrupt him. Everybody is so all the dealerships, all the people associated with him. And then we shot a terrorize anybody who had the balls to buy a Tesla in the first place. Which by the way, you're lefties to begin with. You're driving an electric car. Careful who you're attacking.

[Tom Crean]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean it's, it's, this is the brain damage and it is hard for me to get beyond just number five here, don't you think?

[Michael Duncan]

It's, it's just, you see it across the board. I saw this kind of polling data chart the other day on X where it showed white college educated males, white college educated females, non college educated white males, non college educated white females and like where they stand on various political figures and issues. And there was like Total agreement among all of those groups pretty much, you know, within 5, 10 points of each other. Except for white, college educated women where they hate everything. I kid you not. Except for Zelensky and DEI were the only things that they're positive. Like, this is like a serious kind of like mental health issue, because this is. This transcends politics.

[Comfortably Smug]

Rfk, if you're listening, please.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

We have a health care crisis in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

It's outrageous. Like SSRI or something. I don't know. There is something. There's something that we don't understand here in the variety program that needs to be looked at. Shut it all down till we can find out what's happening. Yeah, I mean, it's. It's truly remarkable. Listen, we're going to get to the other four. I got to let you know. Remember the Gaza Riviera stuff we rolled out a couple of weeks ago? We got to put a hard cap on that. Too many orders.

[Tom Crean]

Wow. I guess I'm not surprised.

[Michael Duncan]

Or Duncan. He's been just selling and selling.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Too many orders. We're going to do a hard cap on Friday. So if you haven't gotten yours and you want it, order it now. It ends Friday.

[Comfortably Smug]

Clb, shout out to George Sosa at Cigar Cigars in Sarasota, Florida. I updated your address. You're getting it.

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Your address.

[Tom Crean]

Hell, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And he's. He's a great guy. A patriot and a hero. And he's a friend with my dad and he buys all the merch. He's a great, great.

[Josh Holmes]

I love this man.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't wait to meet. Someday I'll meet this man.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

We had to go down there and hang out.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

This is fantastic. All right. The only other public service announcement I have is Hack Madness. Hack madness, right? The signature, the thing that we do, the thing that we started with on the ruthless Variety program where we ranked the top 64 hack journals that cover politics across this country, mostly in D.C. and New York. Surprise, surprise. We rank them 1 through 64. We put a bracket together. I will tell you this. We had a meeting.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

This week where we put these things together. The seating was. It was an intense debate.

[Michael Duncan]

It was awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

It was an intense debate, the likes of which we haven't had in years. There was.

[Michael Duncan]

We wanted to make sure that, like, the picks, the people who are going into the bracket, the hacks that we pick and where they're seated, the ranking for them really reflects their body of work and how deranged these hacks have been over the past year and I could not be more proud. All four of us had such terrific input and it was absolutely hilarious because like the arguments were making of like, no, this person should be number one ranked. And then you read off like somebody would pull up a story or their post and you're like, yeah, they should be number one.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think the funniest thing about it is it, it's kind of just like the tournament. It's like there are hacks, the blue bloods who are the blue bloods, who are like, all right, overall body of work and their legacy and everything that they've done, they deserve. Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And then it's like, all right, you might be a. There's another hack who's like streaky, who's like good from three point range. And it's like they, they deserve.

[Josh Holmes]

And they could go on a roll over the next month. I mean, that's the thing about this because you're voting in real time. Remember, you got to go into X follow smug. He tweets all these things out and you have to vote in real time. But as you're voting, you're going to be influenced by their body of work that's happening in real time. So they're literally playing.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're playing each week.

[Josh Holmes]

Whether they know it or not, they are playing. And they do know and they know.

[John Ashbrook]

It and they know.

[Michael Duncan]

And I would just like to add, unlike the, you know, NCAA bracket, ours has integrity. We're not unc and we don't rig this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we don't rig it.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a bracket of integrity.

[Josh Holmes]

It is a bracket of integrity.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you for saying that, Smug. As a Hoosier, I appreciate that.

[Josh Holmes]

And I think, and I think we've updated with what best reflects the 2025 field. This is not just a bunch of legacy names that you've thought of over the last eight years that have been problematic. This is a fresh field. God, you're gonna love it.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the selection show will be on Saturday. You can put in your predictions for the bracket all over the weekend. And please, you know, go on YouTube and watch the selection show because it's a real treat.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a real treat. Get your brackets ready. Get ready to vote. We've got all of that coming for you. And the top four cr. Craziest, craziest positions the Democrats have taken right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

Hard working Americans know when it's time.

[Josh Holmes]

To roll up our sleeves and get the job done. Now is the time to unleash our nation's energy to create jobs, secure our future and make life better, more affordable and full of opportunity for all Americans that the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. All right, welcome back. Listen, we're going to continue with our top five. Number four has happened quite recently and it was the opposition to deporting dangerous Venezuelan gang members. This is not something that if you would have told Democrats five years ago that they would have had any interest in weighing in on the particular side that they are. But now in the era of a second term of Trump. Absolutely. And to go no further, we have to actually bring their party leader in. Clip For JASMINE Crockett.

[John Ashbrook]

This morning, President.

[Josh Holmes]

Trump seeking to use the Alien Enemies.

[John Ashbrook]

Act, a wartime authority, a law signed by John Adams in 1798 to deport undocumented Venezuelans that the administration say are dangerous individuals with ties to the gang trend. That gang is obviously associated with a lot of crime, human trafficking, drug dealing, theft, shootings, including in your state of Texas, right outside of your congressional district. Do you agree with this? And if not, what's your issue with the US Using any tool at its disposal to remove undocumented, violent people from this country?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, my, my argument is that we already have tools that are available to remove, come on, undocumented violence. That's why they're here. And so the idea that you want to go into a zombie law, this is kind of like what we saw in Arizona when they decided to revive a zombie law around abortion. It is the fact, just like this administration to actually use a scalpel, but instead they love to use a butcher knife on things. And so giving them this wide latitude to just kind of go across and just claim that anybody is anything is wrong. And so we do have courts, we do have processes, we do have laws, and we should just go ahead and use those. There's a reason that nobody else has decided to go back until into Adam's times in order to try to find ways to make sure that we can keep our country safe. All right. It's, it's John Adams.

[Comfortably Smug]

Adams Times Sort of.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm looking up some info on the year that was passed by. Please continue.

[Josh Holmes]

Adams TIMES yeah, Adams Times. Adams Times, it turns out, produced, I don't know, things like, well, the Constitution.

[Tom Crean]

Jasmine, they're terrorizing people in your district. Do you support removing them? Talking point, talking point, talking point. The conference sent over some talking points. And so I'm gonna say that it's unbelievable.

[Josh Holmes]

Also, the idea she goes well, we have all those tools. Is that right, Jasmine?

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that right? If you have those tools, it's pretty amazing that the Venezuelans are all in your district terrorizing your constituents, isn't it?

[Tom Crean]

They're working great.

[Comfortably Smug]

Did you notice the weasel word in there? And for people who don't work in politics, you may have missed it, but whenever a politician is in a situation where they know they're on the 20, not the 80 side of an issue.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

It always becomes a process argument. Instead of being like, you know, we don't actually disagree with deporting violent criminals.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the manner in which.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's the manner in which they're not going to use the right scalpel. They don't have the right tool. They're just not going to file the right TPS report.

[Tom Crean]

And that.

[Comfortably Smug]

And really, that's my. My, My objection to this is the TPS report.

[Michael Duncan]

You're right.

[Josh Holmes]

That's it.

[Michael Duncan]

And so I did look up the dates when they say, like, zombie law. See how they. Again, they're trying to, like, brand it as, like, oh, it's a zombie. It's a bad thing. It's too old for us to consider it seriously. It's over 20 years younger than the Declaration of Independence. So what, we throw that out there? Like, all of a sudden we're British citizens again? Like, they are always trying to find these insane excuses, and again they turn it into. Our problem isn't like we have a bad policy. It's how we communicate. Let's call a zombie law. Let's just throw out this rule, because I think it's too.

[Comfortably Smug]

Our entire. Our entire immigration policy, if you listen to the left, should be dictated by, like, a poem on the Statue of Liberty.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, from. From over 100 years ago. But this old law, this is a bad one. Too much dust.

[Josh Holmes]

Do we have. Do we have. Do you still have West Wing on the board? I feel like that's exactly.

[Tom Crean]

No, I. I don't know if we have.

[Comfortably Smug]

So we gotta talk about this. We gotta talk about this internally. He doesn't deserve the board.

[Josh Holmes]

I feel. I'm concerned about his board work, you know?

[Michael Duncan]

Do you think Duncan should get the board? I think Duncan should get the.

[Josh Holmes]

We might need a board.

[Michael Duncan]

I think Duncan.

[Josh Holmes]

We might have to fire.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, I. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna argue my case here. I would have been like fucking Tiesto on that thing here over the last five episodes. And this guy over here is not delivering. And I. I love you, John, but You're not delivering.

[Michael Duncan]

Is he?

[Josh Holmes]

Has he?

[Michael Duncan]

The board's going to Duncan. 100%.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes. Let's go. Let's go.

[Josh Holmes]

But I mean, look, the zombie lot. First of all, it's hilarious. She's like, just like, abortion. Oh, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

Violent, criminal, illegal alien gangs ransacking your communities is just like, the issue of abortion. No question about it. And by the way, just in case you want to be totally accurate about what Arizona's situation was, they did have. I wouldn't call it a zombie law. It was a law that was made, rendered moot by a Supreme Court decision, may have heard of it. Called Roe v. Wade. And Roe v. Wade was overturned. And so therefore, they had to revisit the statute that was the current law in the books once it was rendered moot by the Dobbs decision, at which point they changed the fucking law.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, this is. These people are so dishonest.

[Michael Duncan]

They are.

[Josh Holmes]

They are so dishonest. They're so terrible. And, like, they can't defend the basics. They have no vision for this country. The only thing that they want to do is oppose Donald Trump at all costs. And if that means they have to welcome Venezuelan gangs into their communities, so be it.

[Tom Crean]

Okay, but devil's advocate here. And to echo something Duncan was talking about, there is a poem. Send me your tired, huddled masses and their Kalashnikovs and their Fentanyl, and allow them to kill everybody who's living here peacefully.

[Josh Holmes]

May you traffic our good.

[Comfortably Smug]

He redeemed himself.

[Josh Holmes]

He did.

[Comfortably Smug]

He totally redeemed him.

[Josh Holmes]

He did, actually. That was well done. There's more on this. Okay, we have number three. You guys want to hear from somebody who's fighting Jasmine to be the number one voice of the Democratic Party? I don't think there's an argument like these are the top two. No question about it. But she clearly articulates one of these hot topics, which is men playing women's sports. In clip number five, Trans girls are girls.

[Comfortably Smug]

Come on.

[Michael Duncan]

And for all the folks that are.

[Josh Holmes]

So concerned, thank you for your concern about women. For the first time that I've seen. I don't know about y'all. I don't know who's been to gym class lately, but girls, even if you only believe in two genders. I've played co ed sports all the time. Oh, did ya? But what this also opens the door for is for women to try to perform a very specific kind of femininity.

[Comfortably Smug]

Come on.

[Josh Holmes]

For the very kind of men who are drafting this bill and to open up Questioning of who is a woman because of how we look, how we present ourselves, and yes, what we choose to do with our bodies. I know who loves this bill. Yes, bigoted folks love this bill. Assaulters love this bill. But also CEOs love this bill. Because Los Angeles is on fire right now. And this is the number one priority this majority has. Thank you.

[Comfortably Smug]

CEOs love this bill.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, literally, CEOs it like fully embraced when they thought they were being shaken down. Yeah, they fully embraced in every single health care plan, in communication to their, their employees, all of the trans stuff. When they thought that the left was shaking them down and there was no way out. That's their ally in this fight. Now it's turned around, obviously, because one, it's nonsense and they well know that. But that doesn't stop major corporations from doing nonsensical things all the time, provided that the electorate reflects back. Cuz they're selling a product.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah. And you know, it'd be one thing if this message was coming from a lunatic in the House. Only it's also coming from these NGOs that we are funding until Donald Trump eliminates them. It's also coming from these activist judges who are trying to stop the President from changing policy that he was elected to change. They look at the constitution and these judges think it says, you know, like the Constitution says ensure domestic tranquility. And these judges think it says ensure domestic trans militant.

[Josh Holmes]

Amazing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

This guy really showed up today, didn't he?

[Josh Holmes]

That's good.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, I think my favorite thing about that AOC clip is just like all of those logical leaps, you know, to get to CEOs actually want this bill. But like in the beginning she says, you know, trans girls are girls. Yeah, I've played coed sports and it's like, wait, hold on. Yeah, I thought they, I thought they were girls. Now we're talking about co ed sports. Are you admitting they're not girls?

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, co ed, doesn't that, doesn't that require multiple gender?

[Comfortably Smug]

So you're saying gender, men and women.

[Josh Holmes]

Men and women, that's coed.

[Comfortably Smug]

So you've literally just undermined your first point.

[Tom Crean]

She completely left two spirit in the dust, you know, I mean, who is she kidding? She's just blowing past her entire base. What a terrible leader from the left.

[Josh Holmes]

But it is hilarious if you think about it. You've got like, you know, Riley Gaines, who we've had on the program where she's competing for a national championship in swimming, and they toss a Dude in the water and he wins. And she's like, yeah, I play co ed sports. Like softball in the National Mall. Does not. Is not what we're talking about here, sweetheart. That's not. That's not it.

[Tom Crean]

Ultimate Frisbee.

[Josh Holmes]

And, like, the idea that they can conflate this right down to the point where it makes no sense to anyone is an amazing trick. It takes a mental ingenuity the likes of which I'm unfamiliar with. Like, we've been in some bad messaging spots, fellas. You know, I mean, I've been in this since, like, Iraq war days, where it's been a tricky messaging mess.

[Comfortably Smug]

The good news out of Iraq. I remember those.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, that was Steve Schmidt's special. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Shout out Steve Schmidt.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. The Lincoln projects guy. He was the. He was the good news out of Iraq guy.

[Comfortably Smug]

We built a new soccer field.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Tom Crean]

Purple fingers, Republicans. Nothing to worry about this cycle.

[Josh Holmes]

But you never get to the triple bat. Purple fingers were a big thing. Dip the thumb.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's all gonna be good like that. You know, honestly, we gotta ruffle this guy's feathers more. I do one. One attack on the board against Ashbrook and he has. He's had nothing. But he.

[Michael Duncan]

And he took it personally. It's like Jordan, if you slide it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

He's Gonna put up 60 that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hell yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm just saying, it. It.

[John Ashbrook]

It.

[Josh Holmes]

There is a triple bank, quadruple bank in all of the justifications of everything that we've talked about thus far. That's a tough. Like, I don't know how you look at the talking points from what your staff has produced and been like, people will follow that. They get it, but this is what they're doing and everything. It's why they're 2080. Listen, it goes on. Let's get to. Let's get.

[Michael Duncan]

This is the one.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's get to number two. This is the Hamas supporters that are here on student visas, and they're like, burning down college campuses and inviting classes.

[Michael Duncan]

Members of terror groups to speak on.

[Josh Holmes]

Campus and speak and traveling to funerals for Hamas leaders as a result. Like, it's just incredible. Let's get. This is graphic one. This is Jayapal. Nobody speaks more firmly to this. Her whole contention is obviously that the student she's talking about, Mahmoud Khalil, who is a Columbia student who's been detained by ICE for running a pro Hamas operation at Columbia University, which has disrupted the whole situation. And the best spokesperson for why how insane this is is Marco Rubio. Can we play Clip six. When you come to the United States.

[Comfortably Smug]

As a visitor, which is what a.

[Josh Holmes]

Visa is, which is how this individual entered this country as on a visitor's visa.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, you are here as a visitor.

[Josh Holmes]

We can deny you that visa. We can deny you that if you tell us when you apply. Hi, I'm trying to get into the.

[John Ashbrook]

United States on a student visa. I am a big supporter of Hamas.

[Josh Holmes]

A murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children.

[Comfortably Smug]

That rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages.

[John Ashbrook]

That allows them to die in captivity.

[Comfortably Smug]

That returns more bodies than live hostages.

[Josh Holmes]

If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, and by the.

[John Ashbrook]

Way, I intend to come to your.

[Comfortably Smug]

Country as a student and rile up.

[Josh Holmes]

All kinds of anti Jewish student, anti Semitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities. If you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa. That's right. And he went on to say, the same is true on revoking your visa. Once we find out what it is that you've been up to. These folks like Jaya, Paul and everybody else say this is a First Amendment issue.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's not. It's not for one fucking second. And this is the thing that upsets me about this. And it's. It's back to the first thing where I was saying, you know, when you know you're losing an issue and you use those weasel words, oh, we're worried about the TPS report or the scalpel. Like the way that they're actually going to do this thing is actually our problem. Right. When you're trying to say this is a First Amendment issue, it's fucking not. It's like this foreigner comes to our country, we educate them. America is under no obligation to take in people and give them a green card. People who hate this country and educate them. I'm sorry, we're just fucking not. That is not our responsibility as the United States of America. And there's a hell of a lot of people, good, hard working people who deserve to go to college if they want to, who can't get in. And we're, we're bringing in fucking foreigners who hate this country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And we're educating them. So they what? So they can shut down college campuses and scare Jewish students? F ck you. Get out of our country.

[Tom Crean]

Have you not seen the poem on the Statue of Liberty says, send Hamas?

[Comfortably Smug]

It's just so absurd.

[Tom Crean]

Never let them leave. It says, give them your Social Security. That's what it says.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I have a message to every other so called conservative out there who wants to preempt actively surrender on this. I mean, get some balls. Yeah, get some balls. I, we shouldn't support, I believe in spree free speech in this country, but we shouldn't subordinate American values and loving this country to foreign nationals who we grant the privilege of coming to this country and we educate them. That is not America. No, that is like, that is just not America.

[Michael Duncan]

And so I see this as part of what is no longer working for the left and the Democrats and what they've been doing for the better part of a decade, if not longer, which is trying to weaponize empathy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

And 100% black male, thank you Americans. And turn them against their own interests using emotional arguments and distorting their empathy that they have for their fellow man of being like, oh my gosh, this guy who was aiding and abetting terrorists, he's just a good kid. You know, he just, he came here for the American dream of going to college. This has nothing to do with the first amendment right. It's cut and dry. Did he invite members of a terror group to speak? Yes, that's providing aid to a terror group. Case closed. It's as simple as that. So they try to subvert it into the issue being this is first Amendment, don't we stand for second?

[Comfortably Smug]

America should be able to survive competing ideals and thoughts. And it's like, no, you're just trying to preemptively surrender to some fucking Hamas sympathizer.

[Michael Duncan]

A decade of the left weaponizing empathy has. Look at the state of what it's done to this country. Look at every major city in this country. That's what's happened to it. That's why you see people dying on the streets with fentanyl. This is why you see crime.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's sick. Joe Biden put a 75 year old woman in prison for praying in front of abortion clinic. Obama fought nuns in court because they didn't want to cover abortion as a part of Obamacare. Fuck you. We're fighting back.

[Tom Crean]

And you know what? Marco Rubio has been extremely eloquent on this. And you know who else has been? It's JD Vance who last summer started saying that America is more than an idea, it's a nation.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Tom Crean]

There are people here who are depending on each other to be able to thrive. And Democrats act like that's not the case at all.

[Josh Holmes]

Those of you of a certain age, I will close number four with this. You'll appreciate the idea that after 9, 11, if we were just importing Al Qaeda sympathizers into this country, educating them, and then allowing them to run amok under the guise of a First Amendment protection like you granted their visas, you let them come here, sit around college campuses disrupting classes and trying to push bin Laden's vision for what society ought to be. I don't think there would have been a lot of First Amendment protections for that. Right, but the only difference between Osama bin Laden and Hamas is that he had the capability of taking two towers down and hitting the Pentagon. And they don't.

[Tom Crean]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the only difference. Because if they could do it tomorrow, they would. And anybody who's been around who's followed this for even five minutes knows that to be a fact. This is a sworn enemy. This is a terrorist state. These are people who want death. They chant death to America, then they chant death to Israel, like this is what they want. And the idea that we have some obligation to put them in our universities and keep them here under a First Amendment, I mean, it's the wildest thing I've ever heard.

[Tom Crean]

You're overlooking it, Josh. The First Amendment says every Saudi Arabian deserves a pilot's license. That's what it says. And you can't fight against it.

[Comfortably Smug]

We say it for the next generation. There's too many people, these young kids on TikTok who are like, oh, this Osama bin Laden guy, he's making a lot of sense. No, he's not.

[Josh Holmes]

No, he's not. So right after this, we're going to get to our number one overall. You're not going to miss it. We've got a lot to say about it. We'll do it right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

Hey, aren't you that PBM middleman?

[Comfortably Smug]

At your service, Doctor.

[John Ashbrook]

Don't you get rebates that save money on medicines? Oh, PBMs like me get big rebates. So why do patients tell me they're worried about their costs? No one says we have to share the savings with patients.

[Josh Holmes]

Congress should make sure medicine savings go directly to patients, not middlemen. Visit phrma.org middlemen to learn more. Paid for by pharma. Okay, so listen, we've combined a couple of thoughts here for our number one. But we think this is fantastic in so many ways because Democrats have simultaneously defended the indefensible, but then also gone on offense against working America, which is really. You might stretch 80, 20 to 90, 10 on this one. I mean, all of these things are complicated. People have many thoughts. 80% of people agree with President Trump, 20% with a demo. This one. Like, unless you're being paid by the Democratic Party or you're like wearing a code pink shirt, I'm not sure you can agree with any of this. It starts with usaid. Let's get to Carolyn Levitt. Clip seven and I would just say.

[John Ashbrook]

A strong message to Democrats who are.

[Josh Holmes]

Out there pretending to be outraged about the long list of crap that this administration is cutting federal waste and funding, like $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala, 6 million to fund tourism in.

[Michael Duncan]

Egypt, 20 million on a new Sesame.

[Josh Holmes]

Street show in Iraq, 4.5 million to combat disinformation in Kazakhstan. I could go on and on. And I'm happy to provide this listing. Every single one of you Democrats are outraged that the American people want to be.

[Michael Duncan]

They want their taxpayers going to good.

[Josh Holmes]

Uses, not stuff like this.

[Comfortably Smug]

But then they're very quiet about the.

[John Ashbrook]

Fact that there are still North Carolinians.

[Josh Holmes]

And people in California who have lost everything. And in the last four years, this.

[John Ashbrook]

Federal government did nothing to help them.

[Michael Duncan]

Bingo.

[John Ashbrook]

This president will continue to put Americans first.

[Josh Holmes]

And I think the successes of this week so far speak to that. And it's only Wednesday.

[John Ashbrook]

So I'll see you guys later this.

[Josh Holmes]

Week and we'll see you this afternoon.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hell, yeah.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's part of the reason why outside of Donald Trump himself and J.D. vance, she's the most effective spokesperson for this administration. The frame up with a smile is exactly. I mean, everybody watches that and they're like that. That's it. I got it. That's. That's all I need to know. And then you hear from the other side. Clip eight please.

[Comfortably Smug]

Elon Musk, you didn't create U.S. aid. The United States Congress did for the American people.

[Josh Holmes]

And just like Elon Musk did not.

[Comfortably Smug]

Create US Aid, he doesn't have the.

[Josh Holmes]

Power to destroy it.

[Comfortably Smug]

And who's gonna stop him?

[John Ashbrook]

We are.

[Josh Holmes]

We're gonna stop him. So that's it. I mean, everything that she just said, to be very clear, is what he is outraged about. It's amazing that they're stopping the trans studies in Tanzania. Again, like that. That. We did. That we. We did it. Hands up. That was what we did as Congress. How dare you try to stop us from doing trans studies in Tanzania.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Tom Crean]

And he's got Ilhan Omar over his shoulder and she's like, your money belongs to me and I'm sending it to Somalia. There's nothing you can do about it.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I mean, there's video clips of her at rallies in her district saying point blank, I'm going to do everything I can to send as much money to Somalia as possible. There's video of that out there and it's insane. And it's come to an end.

[Comfortably Smug]

When you think of the deep state, you think like, oh, well, the CIA or like some bad agents at the FBI. No, the reality is that these, these left wing lunatics have empowered an unelected bureaucracy here in Washington D.C. through all of these grants and through USAID and all these things to create this permanent bureaucracy that exists to, I don't know, publish white papers that say Donald Trump is a Kremlin asset. You know, like bullshit like that. Like, that's what they do and that's what they're defending. It's disgusting.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's an amazing thing. It's a superpower from Donald Trump. You know, I mean, I understand Trump derangement syndrome. I understand that they just hate everything that he does. But you would think there would be somebody within the Democratic Party who would listen to the list that Caroline Levitt talked about and be like, not sure that's our best stuff. Is this really the Hill we want to die on? Nope. They do. Every one of them. Like literally all Democrat. Every single Democrat in all of con. I don't get every Democrat, right down to your dog catcher in your community. They all believe that same thing, that this is somehow a threat to democracy, that there's someone who's auditing the books. That the $15 million mansion in Great Falls, Virginia, that has not been worried about for a second since it was purchased because it is an auto contract from the federal government for decades on end because no one would ever change. It is not of your concern, American taxpayers.

[Tom Crean]

Dude, it's such a good point. And you gotta hand it to Trump. He really found their underbelly in a way that I think nobody else has before. He is going after them, he's on offense. And that is all they care about. The money to the NGOs, it shows you what Democrats value.

[Josh Holmes]

It's incredible. But then it's not enough just to oppose that. Let's put a finer point on whose money they think this whole thing is. Like, the federal government is just, it's just a, it's one big bank account. And for no other. Let's get Chuck Schumer in clip nine.

[John Ashbrook]

He wants to use that money for tax cuts for the billionaires. The Republican Party is a different kettle of fish than it used to be. And that's why we're fighting them so hard. They are controlled by a small group of wealthy, greedy people. And you know what their attitude is? I made my money all by myself. How dare your government take my money from me? I don't want to pay taxes. Or. I built my company with my bare hands. How dare your government tell me how I should treat my customers. My. The land owned my employees. Government's a barrier to people. The barrier to stop them from doing things they want to notice. We are not letting them do it. And we're united. Okay, good. All right.

[Josh Holmes]

More, more. Whoopi Goldberg is like, dude, cut. Oh, it's like Chuck Schumer. I'm not. I'm not even making this up. It's like, Chuck Schumer has a short position on the Democrat approval rating, and he's just trying to protect his investment. I think it's every single day.

[John Ashbrook]

It's.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's outrageous that this guy cancels his whole book tour after the whole shutdown fiasco where he has the entire Democratic Party mad at him. And his safe space is. He goes on the View. How fucking pathetic.

[Josh Holmes]

Even they're like, dude, this is not your best stuff.

[Comfortably Smug]

We're playing them off.

[Josh Holmes]

We got to play you off.

[Comfortably Smug]

We're playing you off.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, if you. So let's just take what he was saying for a moment where he was like, oh, it's a bunch of greedy billionaires or whatever. No, like, that's not. That's actually not the Republican Party. Like, that was the argument that you made in 2007 during, like, a TARP discussion, a bank bailout discussion of what the Republican Party may have looked like in that era of time. And like, 20 years later, he's still sitting in that same spot where he thinks he can make that argument, except for the fact that everything. Like, just look at a poll. Look at an exit poll. Look at a study. Look at anything. You're talking about working class Americans. You know who makes the argument against what he just made? Not the billionaire billionaires sending money to the 501c4 fucking fail sons that support the Democratic Party, that support things like dei, that support things like Hamas at our universities. That's where the billionaire is. The person who says, I built this company. Why are you taking my stuff? I'm employing people in my community. I support the Little league baseball team.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Those are the people who say, why are you doing this to us? That's the message that that guy is. Again, it is a Short on the Democratic approval rate. There's no other explanation. It is the worst argument I have heard a Democratic politician make in my lifetime, and I've been doing this a while.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, I did love the one line he had. He was like, government is a barrier to people. And it's like, wait, I. I agree, dude. It sucks. That's why we're. That's what we're doing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Keep going, Keep going. Keep the readers. He's like, no, it's good.

[Michael Duncan]

Government's a barrier, guys. Come on. Right? We're all cheering for that. I was like, oh, my God. That's why they're playing him off. Like, shut this guy up.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's a barrier to people. And then he was like, oh, wait, no. A barrier to people, but a barrier to people to do wrong things. Which boils down exactly where the Democrat Party is. Your money is not your money. It's the government's money. And what it's there to do is protect you from your neighbors, because your neighbors inherently want to do wrong things to you. And your federal government that is a thousand miles away is better equipped to deal with the problems in your neighborhood than you are.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I would.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what it is.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I would also point out that those small business owners that Chuck Schumer makes fun of in that clip, you know, do quarterly tax estimates, K1 filers who send thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars to the government preemptively to pay their taxes on a quarterly basis. And Chuck Schumer, you know, shows up on the View and is like, you don't want to pay your fair share. And it's like, talk to any small business owner across this country, like, they gave you their fair share, and now they're gonna try to figure out if maybe they, you know, they get something back. Maybe they get something back. Maybe they owe more.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah, but I think you're exactly right, Josh. It's like he said the quiet part out loud.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Tom Crean]

And it's like he is actually shorting their own position, and he's trying to drive.

[Comfortably Smug]

I hope he does it more.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Because, I mean, look, he's been in a lot of heat from the left because he passed their own budget, they passed their own spending bill, and Democrats didn't want that because Trump was gonna sign it. And so the incentive structure on the left is attacked further left. So he has to say the quiet part out loud in order to get people to be like, well, maybe he gets it in this small fringe 15% that they think Control the Democratic Party, which does control the Democratic Party, but ultimately, this dude, look, he's not long for this. I'm just telling you, this is the drain circling that happens when you're in leadership and you don't have the actual balls to do the right thing. When you show up and you know that the party, you're going to take a lot of heat from your base, but you can't actually just do it. You need to build expectations that you're not going to do it. Like he did the day before. He didn't do the government shutdown when he knew the right thing to do at the end of the day, but he couldn't just. He had to survive one more day.

[Tom Crean]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

If you're doing that in a position of leadership, I don't care if you're in the Republican or Democratic Party, if you're acting that way, you're not long for this.

[Tom Crean]

You're exactly right.

[Josh Holmes]

You're not long for this.

[Tom Crean]

And that's because his mainstream media megaphone has more relevance to our Hack Madness tournament than it does to people in the country who are trying to figure.

[Josh Holmes]

Out what's going on 100%. Listen, that's our top five. Our question of the day is, what is the craziest thing that you think Dems will defend next? What position do you think these replies are gonna be? Incredible. What position do you think that they can be pushed into? Because if you can defend this, anything's possible.

[Comfortably Smug]

Ashbrook said in our production meeting, furries should be eligible for the Puppy Bowl.

[Tom Crean]

They should. I mean, you know, like, why not, right? I mean, Democrats are gonna vote on that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Transgender is not far enough. Trans species.

[Tom Crean]

Next. Next Super Bowl, Beto in the Puppy Bowl.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Tom Crean]

I mean, if Animal Planet doesn't allow it, that's hate.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody feels better about that than Gus the Murder Donkey, I'll tell you that much. Very, very good about that. So you gotta like and subscribe in order to do that. But we will read your comments next Tuesday. I want to get to last Tuesday's comments, which was a great question. Who's the real leader of Democrats? Like and subscribe. And all of you did. And to do this, we all start with the voice. We will unleash the power of American innovation.

[Michael Duncan]

We will soon be on the verge.

[Josh Holmes]

Of finding the cures to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and many other diseases.

[John Ashbrook]

The cure for cancer is claimed closer than ever. But the Biden pill penalty is forcing researchers to abandon breakthroughs that could save millions of lives. Only President Trump can fix it. He'll ignite a golden age of innovation. To defeat cancer once and for all. Tell Congress, end the Biden pill penalty.

[Tom Crean]

Okay, first comment comes from Lane Bashford. And Lane writes, the Dems have no leader, no written or spoken agenda, no message, no love for America and Americans. Fewer voters, fewer donors, and no honor. They're only out for illegals and making themselves richer at our expense. They've lost their minds and now they're losing their party. That is an excellent comment from Lane.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[Tom Crean]

Guy sees the field for what it is.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally. Really, really solid. What do we got?

[Comfortably Smug]

Duncan James Edgar writes, jasmine Crockett is the Democrat party leader. Why? Because her shoulder pads are so big, many Dems think she's Jalen Hurst.

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

What a great comment. You guys are the best. Totally great. Smuggles. What do we got?

[Michael Duncan]

Comment 3 comes from Laurie Buffington. Lori writes, the leader of the Democrat Party is Donald J. Trump. Hear me out. By his sheer existence as potus, they have decided as a party to be against anything he does. With this as their MO DJT has effectively switched their positions on war, the climate filibuster, keeping America safe from criminal legal aliens. At this point, if Trump came out for gun control, they'd fight him on it. That's hilarious.

[Josh Holmes]

Hell yeah. Oh, man. So good, Lori.

[Comfortably Smug]

Laurie basically did the summation of the top five. Right there.

[Michael Duncan]

Right there.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's so good. It's so good.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

It's our signature game here on the ruthless variety program King of the Hill. For this week, I am the judge in jure.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And our competitors are.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm the defending champion, Rick Wilson.

[Michael Duncan]

And I am the challenger bringing back the queen, Jen Rubin.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, it's been too long.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, this is good. This is really good.

[Comfortably Smug]

Go ringside.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Tom Crean]

It's time for King of the Hill. In the red corner, fighting out of her cat filled apartment for a chance to reclaim her crown. The king, I mean, the queen, Jennifer Rainworms Ruben.

[John Ashbrook]

And now in the blue corner, fighting out of the Daily Beast, we think and current champion of the world, Rick Wilson.

[Michael Duncan]

The.

[Comfortably Smug]

The Rick there was legendary dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Every once in a while there's a special performance.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know you're gonna get one when you make eye contact with them while he's doing it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, he likes to see it through.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man, that's so good. All right. As judge and jury, I will instruct the champion to go first with his exhibits, please.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, Spaghetti, let's do Exhibit number 13, please. Rick Wilson writes Kill Tesla, save the country. And he includes a photo of Tesla's on fire from domestic terrorism.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh.

[Comfortably Smug]

Your turn.

[Michael Duncan]

Here's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

How do I deal with that?

[Michael Duncan]

Here's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It's literally as they're. Can I get. Can you pop that back up? What's the date on this sucker? It looks like it's March 19th.

[Comfortably Smug]

March 19th.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, geez.

[Josh Holmes]

So it's literally as they were. Firebombing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh.

[Michael Duncan]

So I picked Jen Rubin because she absolutely brought the heat. Could I please get Exhibit 6? We were talking about the Democrat civil war on our last episode. So this is Jen Rubin weighing in. A reporter says AOC to reporters talking about how AOC was mad at Schumer. Jen Rubin's take is brava. She should be New York senator. The former conservative writer for the Washington Post thinks AOC should be a U.S. senator.

[Comfortably Smug]

Brava. I don't speak Italian, so I think I win.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, that's an incredible take, both of America. But literally. Pop. Duncan's back up one more time. I want everybody to really, actually appreciate the fact that he has done this. I just. I can't get over it. I really wanted to give this round to Ruben with that, but look at this thing, dude. It's kill. Kill Tesla. And with flames.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

As they are actually attacking. I mean, I just. I wouldn't.

[Comfortably Smug]

He says attack. The. The subheader. He's linking, of course, to his sub stack, you know, because this is all just an engagement farming exercise. Kill Tesla, Save the country. The subheader is Elon has a weak spot. Attack.

[Tom Crean]

Yeah, attack. It's like. It's like his.

[Comfortably Smug]

There's literally fucking flames in the photo he used.

[Josh Holmes]

It's not. It's not a close call.

[Tom Crean]

He's borrowing from the left, who were trying to support Louis Zagatelli, who killed the insurance guy, Louis Parmesan.

[Josh Holmes]

It's not a close call. He wins. Round two, please. Smuggle.

[Michael Duncan]

Can I get exhibit number two, please? This is Jen Rubin continuing her great political consultation work. Durbin isn't going to run. Mark my words. This is it. Shouldn't have run last time. Kinzinger should change parties and run.

[Comfortably Smug]

Hell, yeah.

[Tom Crean]

That's a tough one.

[Josh Holmes]

That is a dart. That's a dart.

[Comfortably Smug]

Let me see that, Auntie. And raise you exhibit number seven, please. Baguettes. Rick Wilson writes, elon Musk hates kids with cancer.

[Josh Holmes]

It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. I'm not. I'm not. I don't need to I don't need to ruminate. It's over. It's not close. This man is demented. This is a champion the likes of which we have not seen since the emergence of Sherry Jacobus.

[Michael Duncan]

Now that. Now that it's not a competition, can I add, he was trending the other day on. On X because of a lot of this deranged stuff that he's been saying. And people are posting some of his stuff. It's. It actually sounds like physical threats.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, it's.

[Michael Duncan]

He may not be in a good place.

[Comfortably Smug]

Cash Patel, if you're listening, you're listening.

[Josh Holmes]

Somebody needs to at least interview this guy. Yeah, it has gone way off. I mean, the idea that he's posting flames and attack Tesla dealerships as they're currently being attacked, not to mention the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Assassination content he was doing last week.

[Josh Holmes]

I thought I was reliable. I thought was. Yeah, well, that was what.

[Comfortably Smug]

We played our game last night in King of the Hill.

[Josh Holmes]

We might have blacked it out. Yeah, but, no, but I mean, seriously, this is. We're talking like a different level stuff this guy's dealing with. Listen, we're going to switch gears real quick here because I want you to know, as a listener to the program, this guy is a personal friend. This is somebody I've gotten to know, Duncan and Ashbrook have gotten to know over the last 10 years. He is one of the most remarkable human beings that I know. His faith, his family, his commitment to leadership with kids across this country teaching the game of basketball. He's not only a brilliant coach, he's just a brilliant human. And I think his whole family are brilliant humans. Again, you just heard, what, 45 minutes of partisan politics? I don't know what this guy's position on any of that is. He's never told me and I've never asked. But he had the courtesy to come in here because we thought you, as a listener, want a little edge in your brackets, little edge over the family, in your pools. And boy, oh, boy, does he deliver on this.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, does he? Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

You guys are not gonna believe what you hear. Tom Crane, I want to welcome to the program a very good friend. Known this guy for a long time, one of the very best people in all of sports. Just can't get enough of them. So glad that he joined the program right out in front of what is going to be a very exciting NCAA March Madness. Coach Tom Crean. How are you, sir?

[John Ashbrook]

I'm doing great and it is great to be with you guys. Absolutely great. I appreciate you asking me.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man, you're making the rounds. I know this is a busy time of year, so we really appreciate it. But for those of you who are unfamiliar with coach's work, head coach at Marquette, Indiana, Georgia went to a Final Four with Marquette, if I'm not mistaken.

[John Ashbrook]

Coach, I definitely did. Definitely did, 22 years ago. I remember it like yesterday. I'll do it again.

[Josh Holmes]

So do the people of Marquette. You're very, very fondly regarded there. And now ESPN analysts, and you're a voice on Westwood One for all these things. You're like, kind of the face of college basketball at this point.

[John Ashbrook]

Not quite that, but I do enjoy it. I mean, it doesn't. You know, coaching is coaching when you're. When you're on the court every day, when you're helping players deal with their problems and their issues and you're competing against teams. But the part of this that I love is it's constant game planning. It's constantly looking at two teams at a time. And sometimes in the studio, you're watching, trying to watch eight games at once. There's a lot of preparation, which I love, and so I get that feel of it and being able to really study the teams. And like, I've. I think about this, and it hit me a couple times when I was doing games this year, like, I've never seen basketball quite the way I see it now. It's like. And I know there's no emotion in it when you're. You're. You have emotion and you have passion, but you're not emotionally attached to what's going on. So that's different, obviously. But just seeing the game, I get a much better clear of what that term, you know, 30,000 foot view means. I really do. And I think that I feel. I feel so good about how I see it, what I'm seeing how. And I'm trying to really explain it the best that I can to people, and I'm really trying to do with viewers or listeners exactly what I would want on the other end. Yeah. And I know sometimes I have to tone that down a little bit with verbiage or things like that, but. But I do love it. And. Because I never want to watch anything that I'm not learning from. I mean, obviously you guys are epitomizing that with what you're doing with this podcast. And. And it's one of the great things that you have is people absolutely learn so many different things. Whether they agree or not, they learn. Yeah, right. And I think that's. That's kind of what broadcasting games is like. And so I love it and it's been fun and I'm looking forward to this week I go to Milwaukee for Westwood One and that regional. And then next week I'll have the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in Atlanta.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow, that's just awesome. Can you, can you guys imagine the producer that has to tell Coach Creen to tone? I can't imagine that goes over well.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I get a few. Wrap it up, lay it out, layout. But radio is great because the play by play guy is the absolute star of the show. And I'm working with Noah Eagle.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

Who I've never worked with, who Dwayne Wade worked with this summer in the Olympics and absolutely loves him. And I love Noah's work. His dad Ian is phenomenal.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

So I'm looking forward to that. And then next week, Spiro Adidas, who I've never worked with. So, like, like, it's awesome being with these top of the line professionals. But you get into radio and you realize, like, you got to be concise, you got to come up with something quickly. But the point guard is the star of the show because they are the eyes of the viewer. And I think. Or the listener, I should say. And I think that's fun.

[Comfortably Smug]

What I love about watching you coach is like, obviously you come at things from the perspective of a coach and you've done the hard work of coach player development in practice, we got to see it firsthand. I was blown away by it. But I wonder, you know, coming from that perspective as a coach and looking at the bracket as you see it now, you know, what sort of sticks out to you as things to look for here in the tournament.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, overall, I would say this. Here's how you start it when you're looking at it, okay, look at who played late into the conference tournament tournaments Saturday, Sunday either. Won the championship, didn't win the championship. How far do they have to travel? And do they play on Thursday, like right off the top? I'm saying UC San Diego versus Michigan after Michigan, three straight games ending on Sunday. Now I think they go out to Denver. Like, I'd keep a close eye on that. Plus, like UC San Diego. Oh, absolutely. UC San Diego averages 11 threes. They're excellent defensively. And as good as Danny Wolf is for Michigan, he can be guarded like Illinois proved that. They put Kylan Boswell on him as a 63 guard, and it really took Danny out of the game. I mean, basically. But Vlad golden is a whole different deal. And if you don't have a post double scheme for him. And if you don't have a real good ball screen answer for Danny Wolf and Vlad golden, like you're not going to beat them. So like those are the things that you watch is, is does the defense of the other team take away strengths of their opponent? Not just they're good defensively. Okay. Because every. Well, yeah, they're good defensively and they're only giving up 0.94 points of possession. That's all cool. But can they stop people? Do they have a defense that can legitimately stop guards, bigs, forwards? Do they have schemes that are hard to deal with? So like that is a big picture thing. I think you really want to study free throw shooting. And because. Because free throw shooting for the most part travels, you know, sometimes it can get contagious the other way. But not only free throw shooting, but free throw attempts. Because the NCAA tournament above all else, no matter what anybody says, it's about how it's officiated and teams that. There is a lot of non calls in leagues. I was a part of it, I've been beaten by it. It's just the way it is. Because sometimes there are teams that file so much each possession, you know, for there's teams that if you throw six, seven, eight passes, there's three files on that possession that aren't going to be. Because the average game right now in the NCAA tournament the last couple years has been 2 hours and 11 minutes. I think we're getting ready to break that this year with all the reviews that have gone on. Yeah, but it can't go too far. Right? Because that's. Those are the things that you look at in, in years before the. The average game in the NCAA tournament was 2 hours and 7 minutes. And the TV windows a lot of times are an hour and 57 to 2 minutes and 4 minutes. I mean 2 hours and 4 minutes. So like it can't get too long when TV is involved and TV is involved. And so are they going to be able to draw fouls against a tough whistle? Are they going to be able to get away with what they get away with? And again people on the outside don't really know that, but does this team consistently get fouled in their league and out of their league? And so when you're looking at that like, okay, this team's averaging 26 free throw attempts a game, but. But they're only average in 16 on the road. Well, that's a. That tells you something. That tells you that they're not able to get to the rim as much on the road. There's a lot of skewed statistics. But can they get to the foul line? To me, do they have rim protection? And I think that is a glaring thing right now. That's come out. It's come out all year when you're watching it the way that I do. But it's really showing up right now. Like, here's a great example with Auburn. Auburn is 1 in 3 since the Kentucky win. So they beat Kentucky, they get home, they find out Tennessee wins at the buzzer, beats Alabama. They're the champ, right? So they're one in three since then. Their numbers offensively are not as good. Their numbers defensively are not as good. And, and you, when you watch them. Janai Broom has always struggled with guarding the ball. He's always struggled in pick and pop situations where he's got to recover. And so a lot of times a big that can drive him is going to be a problem. Tennessee got him in switches, so their guards and wings drove Broom. Well, here's the number that stands out to me. 34 of the points since Auburn beat Kentucky are coming in the charge circle, which means people are getting all the way to the rim. And like, that's. That's hard to change now. I think Bruce is a great coach and I gotta believe he sees the same thing. I see, right, because he's there. Like, they got to get a reset. Like, they've got to be better defensively if they're going to have any chance. So, like, those are things that stand out to me. Free throw attempts, free throws, you know, where are people getting their scoring from? Do they have schemes? Defensively, shooting is big, but offensive rebounding numbers and offensive rebounding percentages, they're even bigger. Like, that's why Texas A M is a good pick. Texas A M a couple weeks, 24 offensive rebounds against Auburn when they beat him, which was the most anybody's had in this century against the number one AP team. Well, it's not uncommon for A M because they lead the country in offensive rebound percentage.

[Tom Crean]

We'll coach you.

[John Ashbrook]

That stuff travels.

[Tom Crean]

Coach, you mentioned that Michigan game. I'm wondering if you see any other potential early round upsets. A lot of people are talking about Yale.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't see Yale doing that with A and M. I think A and M. I think Yale is good. John Pulikitis had 27 points in the second half the other day after having two in the first half. Like, he's an NBA player. Bezem Bang is really, really good. They've got a great offense but that A and M physicality is for real and they get the rebound and I just think over the course of a 40 minute game that is hard to deal with. I think one to really watch is Colorado State. Memphis. If Memphis doesn't have tyrese Hunter, see P.J. haggard. He's a great guard and Memphis did a good job in the tournament. They had a lot of close games at the AAC in Dallas, but our Fort Worth I should say. But. But if without Tyrese Hunter that puts a ton of pressure on PJ Haggerty and Colorado State is a five out offense. Five players on the floor can make plays and Nick Clifford is going to be in the NBA. And if, if there's not enough distractions around that program because Nico Medved is rumored for jobs, that team is going to be locked in. I mean because they see you see it on the floor. So that's a 512 that I'm watching close because I love Colorado State because that offense is so Good. Here's another one. Utah State against UCLA. Utah State average is 81 points a game. They got a kid named Ian Martinez that can really play. UCLA has not been so good when they come east and now they got to go to Providence and, and that. That's. I believe it's pro. No, it's. Is it Providence? I can't believe. I can't remember where they've got to go.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's right.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't exactly remember but that's to me I could be wrong on that. But like I'd really keep a close eye on that because UCLA has struggled out. He's. Now they got to turn back around and come all the way back east. They're really good at home. When they got on a seven game winning streak, they didn't leave the pacific time zone. Yeah, it's like that stuff matters even this time of year.

[Josh Holmes]

And this guy's making us money on the brackets right now. This is just.

[Tom Crean]

I'm changing my pick.

[John Ashbrook]

Live betting. Live betting is at a premium right now because you can tell early on if that team is connected or not. And we could talk a whole podcast on the psychology of teams in this new Nil and Portal area era. But every kid in the locker room of these teams, they know what the players are doing. The coaches may not know, but the players know. They know who's leaving, they know who's transferring, they know what they're looking for, money wise and They've got all these kind of people in their ears about you need to do this, you need to do that, you're not getting paid enough. This school wants you, that school wants you. It's all going on. Right. That's not even including the guys that are going. Probably you've got to be connected on game night, game day. And that is the hardest thing because you can be struggling and you get into this environment and all of a sudden you see a couple shots go in and guys are revved up for each other because now they're not worried about where each other's going. They're, they're locked into winning the game. Well, you can also see a team that goes in, gets distracted, they're down 18, 6 early, and they don't feel like fighting.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's why I think live betting, if I was a better, I'm not, but if I was, I'd be all over live betting. And I learned a lot about that at being at ESPN because we've got the bet shows and things like that, but I'd be all over that early.

[Josh Holmes]

Early runs against top seeds are something to take a look at is what I'm hearing that.

[John Ashbrook]

But how do they respond? Yeah, right. Like how does the team that the run is against respond? Because I'm telling you now, in life and in and in basketball, you can let go of that rope a lot easier right now. Like if you don't feel like you can get it going. That's why finding teams that got dogs, finding teams that are connected, finding teams that are older, finding teams that got that, those one or two juice guys that get everybody else revved up, like those are worth their weight in gold. Because there's not a ton of teams that are like that. And that's stuff to watch as you go through this. Shooting is huge. The free throw shooting, the rebounding and the rim protection. And do they have decision making guards? Because high turnover teams travel too. You know, defense travels, rebounding travels. So do high turnover teams because that usually means they're sloppy passers.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to get your, your sense of the state of the game with nil and everything. But I got one more bracket set of questions for you. There's all always these gritty mid seed teams that come out of conference tournaments, not necessarily all the way to the championship, but they're playing decent ball. And you look at like a Missouri or like a BYU or you know, those kind of teams that aren't necessarily on anybody's bracket going deep past the sweet 16, but they're pretty solid teams. Am I right about that?

[John Ashbrook]

Absolutely. And those two are great examples. Just like my A and M example. Absolutely. Because Missouri gets fouled. I'm not sure exactly where they sit today, but at a. They were the leading free throw attempt or free throw percentage. I mean, team that was being fouled the most in the country at one point in the, in the, in the sec. That's a great example, you know, because they were getting fouled in the non league too, because they were winning. And what he's done, what Dennis has done, it. Teams that really attack matchups and teams that can run, you know, misdirection, which is, it's okay. We're going to send two guys down on a double stagger for a shooter in the right corner. We've got another shooter in the left corner. The guy with the ball at the top of key makes everything looks like it's going right, but he breaks it down and he can attack to the left because he sees a gap. Misdirection is big. Isolation is big. There's a term, volleyball, which is really big. And the best teams. This is where Mike Krzyzewski, one of the reasons Mike Krzyzewski was who he was, because of this. When they got to five team files on the other team, everything was about getting to the bonus. There was no more random play calling. There was no more let's take a jump shot. Everything was to get to the bonus. And then lo and behold, like when they would get to eight team files, everything was about getting to 10. Because now you're in the double bonus. And see, when I work from where I sit, it drives me crazy. There are not nearly, nearly enough teams that understand how to manipulate the bonus and how to get themselves into the bonus quicker. I mean, it's nothing to be watching a game, doing a game on television, watching it, and for the files to be six to two and all of a sudden you look up and they're eight to eight, right. Because the team didn't take advantage of the bonus and then they fouled and let the other team in and see like that stuff's real, man. And, and there are great statistics on when you get into the bonus at the 12 minute mark of a half, you've got an incredible winning percentage. I mean, you got to have some other things go, right, but you're gonna dominate the foul line. Bob Knight's Indiana teams back in the day were famous because they always made more free throws than the opponents attempted. And like that stuff's real. And for the people that are putting money on the line, for the people that are studying the brackets, that's the stuff to study. You again, it's got to be officiated in the right way. But if you were getting fouled all year long, if you were getting fouled on the road as well as at home, you're probably going to get fouled in the tournament because you've got a pretty good plan on doing that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, so much of what you just described boils down to good coaching. And you are, amongst all of the people that I've known for 10 plus years, one of the biggest students of leadership that I know. And as you look about college basketball, obviously huge transition time with Nil with transfer portals, all this stuff, you know, not in its infancy, but certainly at the first few years of really changing the game. Are there coaches out there that you think are handling this particularly well? And you know, contrast with folks like, you know, Bennett for Virginia, others who've just decided like, this is not what I do for a living.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I think there's some of that. I think, I think the Jay Wrights of the world, the Tony Bennett's of the world, I think they all had different reasons to retire.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Right. I really do. And did Nil and Portal play a handle of that? No question it does. You know, same thing in football, but everybody's got different reasons. I think there's. First off, people have grasped this at different levels and at different time periods. And football was ahead of it in a lot of ways, more than basketball was at the beginning. Okay. But like Tom is a great example. It's. It's not like he's sitting there with no money. Okay. So he's bringing in some transfers and they're paying their own players. But he decided he had such a good culture over this period of time. Remember, he's been there 30 years.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

He was able to keep that going. See, there are very few people that can do that. And if you look at the people that lost jobs last year, and if you look at the people that lose are losing jobs this year, there's. There's a lot of different reasons. Right. But I'm pretty sure that how they spent their money and how they built their roster, and even in all honesty, how the assistant coaches or the general manager viewed what was important to the head coach. If head coaches have a weakness right now, not the best ones. Okay. But if they have a weakness, it's getting their assistant coaches and their staff to understand what works for them, who can they coach? It's not about how much money this guy costs. It's not about who's recruiting them. Just like it's never been about the recruiting lists. If it was about the recruiting list and the rankings, I would have never gotten Dwyane Wade. I would have never gotten OG Anunoby. I would have never gotten Victor Aladipo. We, we just wouldn't have done it right because we'd have been following the, the rankings. That's not what's, that's not reality. Reality is who fits you as a head coach and, and who, who can play the way you want to play. And during COVID now, it was crazy. My last year at Georgia was the first year of the Portal and the first year of the Nil. My last year at Georgia, I only had two players on that whole roster that I ever recruited in person. Everything else was zoom. Everything else was zoom and video. Because we went through that two year period of COVID and was one of them Anthony Edwards? Well, no, he was, he was. We lost him his last game. No, I've seen him now. No, no, we lost him on the last. We beat Ole Miss in the conference tournament and Covet broke that day and, and the tournament was shut down the next day. We were going to play Florida that afternoon and that morning is when we got word that the tournament shut down. So not only did we end the season, but we never were able to go out and recruit again and try to replace a guy like Anthony Edwards. And it's a little different. Like we were starting to play really good basketball again at that point after beating Ole Miss, but we never. And we weren't going to replace Anthony Edwards. I mean, he was unique. I mean, he lived. He. At the end of the day, he really didn't want to leave home and he believed that we could help him because of the background of coaching Dwayne, coaching Victor. But at the end of the day, his comfort zone was his family. He lost his mother and his grandmother when he was in the eighth grade. So he was being raised by a sister, he was being raised by his brothers and he didn't really want to leave them. And I mean, they knew that was coming when he went to the draft, but he didn't need to have it happen too soon. And so we weren't able to replace that. But, but it's hard. And now it's not hard because you can watch film all year long. There's no question that conversations are going on. I think Kevin Willard said it Best. And I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but I remember him. The portal opened, I think he said, On November 11 or November 7, which was the start of the season. Well, he's exactly right. Because now everybody's being evaluated. And anybody that thinks conversations are not happening with kids and third parties and even some coaches on staffs is. Is not. Is not in reality, it is happening. Like I said, there's very few locker rooms right now where the kids don't know who's leaving and potentially where they're going and how much they're looking for, money wise. But they still have to come together on game night. And the coaches that can get that done are great. Well, that's where Izzo, Shaka, smart, Those guys are a little different. And. And if you've had a little time to build your culture, you've got a chance to sustain it. Yeah, but. But it's hard. And you've got to have. You've got to have a really good amount of money. I doubt there's anybody in the sec. Maybe somebody's at two and a half million, but I'm saying that that's ranging anywhere from three to four, five, six. There's people upwards of eight, nine million in that league. And they're not. They're not outliers. All right, they're not outliers. I mean, it's. If you're reading about the money, it's probably within 20% of being true. Either way. Yeah, either way. Because there's some people that they just don't really have a budget and. And there's some that do. But I think you better have unbelievable talent evaluators on your team, you better on your coaching staff, you better have very good player developers. Because I think what's happened in this day and age is because people see the portal, they see nil. They see people leaving all the time. They've lost the view of how important it is to get the individual player better during the season. Not everybody. I'm not saying everybody at all. But there's more that. That are just focused on their scheme and their team and their X's and O's than they are on really building players.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like the one thing, one thing we saw firsthand when we went down to Crane's coaching seminar we watch is the player development component. And I'm glad to hear you say that because I do think from a fan's perspective, it is a little bit frustrating when you see guys that come in with an awful lot of talent that are very raw, that you, you know, unless you're a blue blood program, unless you're, you're with Tom Izzo, you're basically concerned that this is all you're going to see of them, right? And you look back to, to coach Crean and what you did at Indiana and throughout your career. It was the player development piece where you took somebody who is, you know, sought after, but also made them basically an NBA superstar in the process of the years that they were with you. And they were willing to do that because they'd bought into the culture. And from a fan's perspective. Well, I guess what you're saying is you got to shop pretty carefully as a program for a head coach that still values that.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so, yeah, absolutely. Because it's gotten harder. And I really noticed this my last couple years at Georgia because we were starting to get more transfers. And my last year was the first year of the portal. We got got just drilled in it right when we lost guys and we brought guys in that we didn't really know. And they were good people. But what I found was really, really hard. And I've talked to other people about this because of the, the amount of moves that people make. And they make the moves long before they get to college. They make them in high school, they make them on AAU teams, they make them in prep schools. It's so hard if you get a person that is not willing to change. Like one of the people you saw who when you came up was a kid named Max, bfl. Max is from Peoria, Illinois, went to Michigan. He was a, a backup five graduate of Michigan and he ended up being an MBA graduate of the Indiana Kelly School of Business. And he shot 27 at Michigan. Like when I watched them on film, I said, this is fixable. This is absolutely fixable. So he comes up on a visit. He and his dad are in there with us in the film room and we're showing him the things that, that we're showing him why he's missing and then we go on the court because you could work the players out at that point if they were on an unofficial visit inside of that transfer part. And we get him out on the court and like he was enthralled with it. There was energy from it even in that workout. Well, we get him on campus and we're coaching him every day. He goes from being a 26, 27, three point shooter at Michigan to a 46, 47, three point shooter in one year.

[Josh Holmes]

That's amazing.

[John Ashbrook]

Both from being the sixth man of the team at Michigan to the sixth man of the year in the Big Ten and we don't win the championship and we don't go to the sweet 16 without him, there's no way we don't do it. And it's because he was willing to change. He was willing to step in, he was willing to get his non shooting shoulder and he was willing to be coached. And what happens is people struggle and this is what's so big in recruiting. And now you can do it more. You couldn't do this off Zoom, but you can do this because you can see him in person.

[Josh Holmes]

Person.

[John Ashbrook]

Do they really want to change or are they really comfortable with who they are as a player? Because you can be averaging 15 points a game somewhere and think that you can be averaging five points a game and think you don't have to change, but you can be somewhere and you can be so comfortable with what you're doing that you don't want to change it. You're okay being at 33% from 3. If you're averaging 15 points instead of being at 42% from 3, maybe average in 12, maybe average in 18. But you're now you're much more efficient player. It's hard for coaches to get across to people that don't want to learn or that are unwilling to change. The. The efficiency is what matters a lot of not your numbers, it's your percentages in your efficiency that's going to get you drafted.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm going to take this entire interview and I'm going to put it into GROK and have it make a bracket based on everything.

[John Ashbrook]

Seriously, you have about 24 teams.

[Josh Holmes]

A lot of life lessons in that too, right?

[John Ashbrook]

It's true though. I mean you live with it every day. I mean you see it within your world. It's like that to me blew me away because and, and where you see it a lot of times is not only shooting mechanics but in really wanting to learn range.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And you would think in this day and age with the NBA range and Steph Curry and all those things that people would truly understand, hey, it's way more than having three point NBA range. You've got to play. When we were at. I didn't do this at Indiana. We had the NBA line down at Indiana. But when I got to Georgia, we put in a four point line that was 33 foot eight because I learned it from the NBA. I learned it from Brett Brown. Like spacing screws coaches up a lot of times. Because they think that means that's where the players got to shoot from. No, that's where they got to be positioned. So you can create movement, you can create long closeouts and play the game in space. And there's still so many teams that don't understand the value of space and the value. And it's like there's so many different offenses that come over from Europe or come over from the NBA and people think because it's a hot fat offense, well, we're going to run it. Five out is like that. It's not five out if they don't have to guard your five man. It's not five out if they don't have to guard one of your players. And that's another thing to watch in this tournament because this happened to Carolina last year in the tournament. Michigan State didn't guard Elliot Cadeau and he played on the perimeter and they got away with it. Grant Nelson at Alabama was the defender on Elliot Cadeau in the Elite Eight. And they didn't get away with it because there was no real answer to move A, let Elliot Cadol run. Now he's better this year. You can't do that to him this year he's. He's playing at a much higher level. But last year he wasn't much of a shooter. So, but, and so what happens is when somebody takes somebody off their man, there's no space for everybody else. It's a one man zone in the paint. And, and when you're watching the tournament, that's where the live betting comes in. If you see somebody that's not guarding somebody and they don't have an answer for it, you got free money. Because it's really hard to, it's really hard to change that.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean this is a guy just listening to you coach. You're not done coaching. You're not you.

[John Ashbrook]

Definitely. I love what I'm doing, but I want to coach again. I just want to go where it matters. Right. Because that's what I've been fortunate to do. Even in Georgia we set attendance record the first two years, then Covid hits. But I want to go where it absolutely matters. I want to go somewhere. It's not about the level. It's more about if have they won and the fans love it. And if you get winning again, the fans will come back. Yeah, that's what I want more than anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Might I interest you in the University of Minnesota Golden Golfers?

[John Ashbrook]

They know what they're doing. I think they, I think they got a pretty good idea on what they're doing, I would think.

[Josh Holmes]

I hope not.

[John Ashbrook]

But I love Ben Johnson. I thought with Ben Johnson, I don't know if you know him, Josh, but I thought Ben Johnson because they didn't have. They don't have much money in there. You talk about a team, they got treated like a mid major last year with the best players that they lost in the sense of. And I'm not. I'm not saying Minnesota's a mid major at all. I'm saying they were treated like that in the sense they didn't have money to keep Elijah Hawkins, to keep Pharrell Payne. They didn't have money to do that.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[John Ashbrook]

Hawkins is on a top 10 team. Pharrell Payne is a huge player for Texas A and M. That team would have looked a lot, you know. Yeah. Jameson brewers in the NBA, you know, after. And got. I think that's his name. That was at Minnesota the year before that. Correct. They transferred to Ohio State. Like, Ben had some dudes. He just wasn't able to keep them. And I think what he did coaching wise, especially going out to California and beating UCL and USC late in the year, I thought he did a great job with that. So that's a great program. And Ben certainly didn't hurt it. But they got to get. They've got to get behind that in a big way because that's the kind of place you can win big because the fans love it. You just got to have some nil resources now and some creativity on how you're going to do that. And I think that program can be right back where it needs to be.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's fascinating. It's really fascinating stuff. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all this. I do have to ask you a couple of things. First of all, how's Joanie and the kids?

[John Ashbrook]

They're great. They're great. She's. She's here. She plays a lot of tennis. We live in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, which is. Right. Outskirts of Sarasota. Yeah, my parents.

[Comfortably Smug]

My parents are down there at.

[John Ashbrook]

Where? At.

[Comfortably Smug]

At Palm Air in Sarasota.

[John Ashbrook]

Is that right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, we drive by it all the time.

[Tom Crean]

I was.

[Comfortably Smug]

I was just down there two weeks ago to play in the member guest with my dad.

[John Ashbrook]

Wow. Joni plays tennis out there. She's in a league and they play tennis out there. They have a. They have a team out there, too. So I've been there to watch her play tennis. Wow, that's awesome. Our daughter Ainsley, who you met when she was a little girl. You guys did. She's a freshman at Auburn. Loving it.

[Josh Holmes]

It's awesome.

[John Ashbrook]

Riley is in his third year with the Dallas Mavericks as assistant video coordinator and employer development. He absolutely loves that. And. And Our Megan is 29 and living in New York working for Armor, which is a really good hydration colostrum company that she's excited about. She's living in the heart of New York City over by Central park on the Upper east side and loving it. We miss having them around, but they're happy. And as you guys know, man, you'll learn if they're young, if your kids are happy, you're happy. And no parent. And a parent is only as happy as their unhappiest child.

[Josh Holmes]

That's 100% correct. And for the listeners who don't know you, also Joanie or maiden name Harbaugh. Absolutely. So I imagine you keep up fairly frequently with a couple of NFL head coaches.

[John Ashbrook]

Absolutely. I talked to John for a long time yesterday because he's really, he's so locked into building this Harbaugh coaching academy. And we did a clinic last year. He kicked it off. He had a clinic for coaches at the Raven center. And I was on the panel with John, Joni's dad, Jack, and Bill Belichick, and we did an hour panel clinic. Man, it was awesome. And he's really into that. And their daughter, we see. I haven't seen him quite as much as my family has because I've been gone with basketball. But it. John's daughter Allison is a three year grad of Notre Dame and now she's one of the top players on the lacrosse team at South Florida in Tampa, which is an hour from us.

[Tom Crean]

Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

And so this is our last year. So they come to quite a few of the games and our family will see them some. And so can you, can you imagine.

[Josh Holmes]

What the Thanksgiving table looks like with Jack and Jim and John and Tom Crane? I mean, like, we got some stuff going. There's some leadership lessons going on.

[John Ashbrook]

It's all fun and games. It's all fun and games till somebody brings out something competitive. Then there's no more. Then there's no more fun and games. And in that environment, I just go to the side because Jim, Jim will do whatever has to be done to get the win, Whatever. Right? And he's. It doesn't matter if it, it doesn't matter if it's a holding your breath in the water contest like he used to do with our kids. And Jim is going to win. Right. So you say, I'm not going to fight this.

[Josh Holmes]

I could ruin the family fighting this.

[John Ashbrook]

They're great. It's an unbelievable family to be in. And like I always say, I got the best looking Harbaugh, I got the most competitive Harbaugh, and I'll kick the coverage big time.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. No question about it. Coach, we can't wait to listen to your calls on Westwood One, all of your analysis on espn. We think the world of you. A great family man, a good role model for any kid who's looking to take a next step in basketball or just generally leadership. Coach Tom Crean, thank you so much for joining us.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you. And as you know, Josh, all of you know, I've learned, and I've learned so much from what you guys do, so much for how you manage, lead, orchestrate, campaign, you name it, I've learned so much from. There's such a great value to learning when it comes to coaching, leadership, especially recruiting, you know, all the things that you deal with. There is. There's really no greater vehicle to learn from than watching politics and political operations unfold and how people do it. And I felt like that way for a long time and studied it long before I met you guys. And it's just, just, it's awesome to know you and it's really awesome to follow you and to see how you do things. And it's. I learned something every time. So I really, really appreciate being on with you.

[Josh Holmes]

You're the absolute best.

[Tom Crean]

Coach Tom Crean, I just love this guy so much. And I think you said it best, Holmes. This guy is a lot of things, I think, chief among them as a role model. You know, I think this is a guy who everybody should strive to be a little bit more like. And just a treat to have him here on the Variety program.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. I mean, every time I hear him speak extemporaneously, when he's not doing analysis or whatever, if he's doing a speaking engagement across the country, I listen to it because I want to learn something. But two, I'm also reminded, like, all my shortcomings. Right. He sees the world in a very different way as an ability to help. Like, look, we have a lot of fun. We laugh. I mean, part of our shtick is we laugh and make fun of things, which I'm never going to stop doing. That's just who we are. But, like, he doesn't see the world that way. It's always a building block. He's trying to help something. He's trying to build something. He's done that his entire life. And then when you hear him talk about basketball, you hear the passion involved in it and the passion that his family has for teaching kids.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right? If you send your kid to college, you hope they're surrounded by. By people like Tom.

[Josh Holmes]

Like that guy. Exactly like that guy. If that guy shows up in your living room, you're like, well, I know he's there. Somebody's taking care of my kid.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

It's just such a. What a delight. Thank you for coming in, Coach Crean. Really appreciate it. That's a hell of a program. You got a little bit of everything. Remember, you gotta like and subscribe to the YouTube channel to hear more like this. And we're gonna do some diverse interview. We're gonna get some different stuff in here because. Because like you, we also have an array of interests around here.

[Tom Crean]

It's a variety program.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a variety program. So thanks for listening. And with that, I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen. Thank you so much, Coach Karin, and thank you so much to the meeting. Seems like a lot of you have been sharing our show with your friends. We love seeing our subscriber count go up. So like. And subscribe if you have. Not yet. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold on and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.

[John Ashbrook]

Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds.

[Josh Holmes]

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[Comfortably Smug]

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[John Ashbrook]

They charge you a lot.

[Josh Holmes]

We charge you a little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be.

[John Ashbrook]

Raising their prices due to inflation, we.

[Josh Holmes]

Decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

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[Comfortably Smug]

From $30 a month to just $15 a month.

[John Ashbrook]

Give it a [e-mail] switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month.

[Josh Holmes]

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[Michael Duncan]

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[Josh Holmes]

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