FAKE: Talarico Facade Starts to Crumble

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary
Episode: FAKE: Talarico Facade Starts to Crumble
Date: July 31, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Special Appearance: Sean Hannity

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Overview

This episode of the Ruthless Podcast dives into the facade of "fake" candidates in contemporary Democratic politics, with a particular focus on Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. The hosts dissect Talarico’s campaign authenticity, with comedic derision aimed at the establishment's attempts to manufacture Texan credibility for him. The wider theme is expanded to critique broader Democratic Party strategies, highlight media fact-checking bias, and lampoon current events ranging from political hypocrisy to bizarre technological innovations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Talarico Truck Ad Debacle

[05:41–10:38]

• The hosts critique James Talarico’s new political ad, which attempts to position him as a genuine Texan by showing him driving a truck.
• Authenticity Issues:
  • Pointed out that in previous ads and profiles, Talarico drives a Chevy Colorado, but in the new ad, he’s behind the wheel of a rented Dodge Ram 1500 (with visible rental plates).
  • This inconsistency symbolizes, per the hosts, his and the party's "manufactured" authenticity.
• Quote:
  • John Ashbrook: "They have to rent a truck for James Talarico because they think, listen, we can trick voters into thinking he's a real Texan if we... have him driving a truck and they go and they rent a truck." [09:28]
  • Josh Holmes: "This is fake authenticity. Everything about this guy is fake." [07:38]

2. Talarico and Liberal 'Wine Mom' Virtue Signaling

[11:11–14:28]

• The team lampoons a resurfaced tweet from Talarico celebrating a Fauci action figure as a Christmas present.
• They portray this as out-of-touch and compare his enthusiasm to "liberal wine moms" and virtue signalers.
• Quote:
  • Michael Duncan: "Getting a Fauci action figure also makes him a card carrying member of the liberal wine mom university." [12:25]

3. Establishment Democratic Party Meltdown: Chuck Schumer

[15:04–24:38]

• Multiple segments mock Chuck Schumer’s struggles as the Democratic leader:
  • Schumer heckled: Played a clip where an elderly man derails a Schumer event, highlighting intra-party dissatisfaction and demonstrating lack of energetic support for the leadership.
  • Quote:
    • John Ashbrook: "Anytime you could get dog walked by a guy with a horseshoe hairline, you know, you got some shit going on."
• Discussion on Democratic primaries: Hostile to grassroots or outsider candidates; Schumer’s history of picking and protecting specific types of candidates.
  • Comfortably Smug: "He’s run over candidates on their primaries for years and years..." [19:04]
• Noted a trend of Senate candidates avoiding commitments to support Schumer as leader.
• Realignment: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) insurgents and the fracturing Democratic coalition are subtly shifting party dynamics.

4. Media and Fact Checkers: ‘Abolish the Senate’

[26:34–34:33]

• Focus on Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial race and candidate Francesca Hong.
  • Her prior tweet "Abolish the Senate." is denied by her spokesperson; the Wisconsin Watch fact-checker refuses to validate the obvious.
• Quote:
  • John Ashbrook: "These idiots: Never said it. Oh, no, they didn’t even nuance the thing... She tweeted this abolish the Senate thing..." [29:35]
  • Michael Duncan: "It doesn't seem it. That's for you to decide, not the readers." [31:31]
• The hosts expand the criticism to a general mockery of legacy media’s reflexive defense of left-wing candidates via selective fact checking.

5. DSA Candidates & Midwest ‘Transformation’

[36:24–38:34]

• Heightened concern about DSA candidates gaining ground in midwestern states, especially those supporting policies like abolishing police, prisons, and the Senate.
• Ashbrook's Warning:
  • "They want to get in there, and then they want to make your lives a living nightmare because they hate this country... what's it gonna take for people to wake up and do something about it?" [37:26]

6. Congressional Workplace Misconduct, Scandals & Ineffectual Remedies

[41:02–43:41]

• Briefly covered Nancy Mace’s proposal to ban Congressional members from having sex with staffers—poked fun at the necessity for such rules and the general dysfunction of Congress.
• Quote:
  • Michael Duncan: "...we'll win if we can only keep our dick in our pants." [43:41]

7. Humor and Segments - Robotics, ‘Big Penis’ Studies, & Outlandish News

[45:54–52:36]

• Ridiculed the latest quadruped-humanoid "centaur robot" designed for dangerous environments, joking about its demonic appearance and potential as a home security system.
• Quote:
  • Michael Duncan: "Can you imagine the pitch meeting for this?... I'm gonna make an animal that looks like it's a spawn of the devil." [46:17]
• Big Penis Segment:
  • Discussed a new government-backed study suggesting macaques (monkeys) have advanced geometric intuition along with young children. Segment laced with double-entendre and running jokes.
  • Comfortably Smug: "The only way Ashbrook is just highlighting the important thing here, and that is a plan to grab macaque." [56:15]

8. Audience Interaction & Listener Comments

[59:39–62:34]

• Read and responded to listener comments, including creative punishments for Fauci.

9. Closing Banter: Merch, Sports, and Fish-Gun-Spear Hybrid Fishing

[68:28–67:29]

• Shared new Ruthless merch, lightheartedly critiqued Olive Garden, and showcased a wild fishing video involving a spear and handgun.
• Commentary led to debate on "sport vs. efficiency" in fishing and tied back into podcast's hallmark absurdity.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• **"They have to rent a truck for James Talarico because they think, listen, we can trick voters into thinking he's a real Texan..."" (John Ashbrook, 09:28)
• "Getting a Fauci action figure also makes him a card carrying member of the liberal wine mom university." (Michael Duncan, 12:25)
• "Anytime you could get dog walked by a guy with a horseshoe hairline, you know, you got some shit going on." (John Ashbrook, 16:31)
• "It doesn't seem it. That's for you to decide, not the readers." (Michael Duncan, 31:31)
• "If you want to sell your product satirists, you know where to find us here on the Ruthless Variety Program." (Josh Holmes, 52:50)
• "We'll win if we can only keep our dick in our pants." (Michael Duncan, 43:41)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Talarico truck controversy & ad breakdown: [05:41–10:38]
• Fauci doll, ‘wine mom’ commentary: [11:11–14:28]
• Schumer leadership critiques and intraparty disputes: [15:04–24:38]
• Wisconsin DSA candidate, ‘abolish the Senate’ fact-checking: [26:34–34:33]
• DSA platform infiltration, Midwest politics: [36:24–38:34]
• Congressional misconduct and Nancy Mace bill: [41:02–43:41]
• ‘Centaur’ robot segment: [45:54–52:36]
• Big Penis (animal intelligence) segment: [53:00–58:46]
• Listener comments & comedic punishments: [59:39–62:34]
• Fishing spear/gun routine & sportsmanship discussion: [63:23–67:29]

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains the Ruthless Podcast’s trademark snarky, irreverent, and highly satirical tone throughout. The hosts bounce between sharp political analysis, bro humor, niche conservative inside jokes, and self-aware commentary about their own content, delivering a “variety program” vibe that encourages loyal listener engagement and mocking of mainstream media norms.

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Conclusion

This fast-paced, comedic episode exemplifies Ruthless’s blend of conservative political critique and biting pop culture analysis. The hosts use the Talarico campaign as a lens to highlight what they see as the Democratic Party’s authenticity problems and their cozy relationship with the media, all while weaving in segments about robots and animal intelligence for levity. Listeners looking for an unvarnished, humor-heavy conservative take on the week’s political absurdities will leave entertained and, by the show's urging, ready to "stay ruthless."

Transcript

[John Ashbrook]

It's a fake candidate, folks. It's your fake oysterman, Graham Platner. It's your fake Texan James Talrico.

[Michael Duncan]

Chuck Schumer in the establishment in D.C. and the media are dedicating a lot of time to polishing this turd in Texas.

[John Ashbrook]

No one thinks this is a serious guy. He's not your man's man. He's not out there driving cattle. They're like, put him in a truck. They have to rent a truck for James Tallarico because they think, listen, we can trick voters into thinking he's a real Texan if we, if we have him driving a TR Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee took an important step in addressing the abuse of the 340B program, which was designed to help low income patients access affordable health care by allowing certain hospitals to purchase prescription drugs at heavily discounted prices. But recent scrutiny by lawmakers has revealed widespread abuse of the program. For example, hospitals, clinics and their for profit partners pocketed over $100 billion in profits from 340B medicine markups in 2024 alone. With no rules requiring that money be used to help patients afford medicine. Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith said tax exempt hospital empires look less like hospitals and more like hedge funds making stock investments, purchasing stadium naming rights, and even participating in political activism. That's why the Ways and Means Committee passed Congressman Greg Murphy's Tax Exempt Hospital Transparency act, which will increase transparency into hospitals and help rein in waste, fraud and abuse. Visit americansforopengoverment.com to learn more.

[John Ashbrook]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[John Ashbrook]

I love the personality. You guys are killing it. I just saw your number one. Congratulations.

[Josh Holmes]

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

[John Ashbrook]

This is why you listen to the Ruthless podcast, because nobody else would ask that question. The only political podcast worth listening to is the Ruthless Podcast. It's time for our main event, the

[Michael Duncan]

Ruthless Podcast

[Josh Holmes]

Fun Time FR Friday. Welcome back to the Ruthless Friday program. I'm Josh Holmes along with Comfortably Smug, our workout partner, Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left to right, across your radio dial, people have been asking questions. Michael, you slimmed.

[Michael Duncan]

Thank you to peloton.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that you look, I mean, you do look terrific.

[Michael Duncan]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

People have been talking about it though. They wonder if you were sick or something.

[Michael Duncan]

I have seen that. I've seen that in the comments and on the replies on, on Twitter. No, I'M fine.

[Josh Holmes]

It's very healthy, in fact.

[Michael Duncan]

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

[Josh Holmes]

It's quite the opposite.

[Michael Duncan]

Pretty good health.

[Josh Holmes]

He's in great health.

[Michael Duncan]

I wish I had some secret to give to everyone, but it's really just starvation.

[John Ashbrook]

Just math exercise.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it's math. Calories in, calories out. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you look like a million dollars.

[Michael Duncan]

Thanks.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen, it's been a hell of a week. Typically, in the month of July, particularly late July, as you get into what is the August break for Washington, D.C. there's a real lull. Not the case here. I don't think we've ever been so lucky as we are this week and last week to just be inundated with content left, right and center.

[Comfortably Smug]

We are very lucky.

[Josh Holmes]

We are so lucky. As. As Johnny would say, we are so very lucky.

[Michael Duncan]

And typically, you think, like, in the summer months, the political news slows down, but it's just been the opposite.

[Josh Holmes]

It hasn't. And of course, you know, this week, the big event, the Graham funeral, where you get Zelensky, you get Netanyahu, you get people from all over the town. Tons of news associated with all of that stuff. And so we've done some serious stuff. I'd like to think yesterday at least we had a little reprieve, at least in the back half of the show where we were talking about, like, nursing and, like, whether or not men should be involved in that profession.

[John Ashbrook]

Great episode, by the way, which I

[Josh Holmes]

think was your hot takes.

[Michael Duncan]

But wild that Ashbrook was defending the guy who's very irresponsible.

[Comfortably Smug]

It was with the guy with the ski pole through his.

[Michael Duncan]

Here we go. Here we go.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, Pretty tough stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

It's tough stuff, but it's fun time Friday, so we got a whole bunch of stuff that we've saved that most of which you haven't seen at all, and we certainly haven't talked about. We're very excited about it. And it all starts in the great state of Texas, place that we absolutely love, where they have a critical Senate race in tall Rico, which is kind of like, I don't even know what. I do put him in the platner level of candidate. He's not there in terms of having to resign his candidacy yet. Yeah, but. But he is in terms of quality of candidate. And there's a bunch of polls that come out and they're like, oh, like Tal Rico is showing strength and whatnot. And it's like, well, it's kind of only because Texans haven't actually seen who this. Who this Cat is, but he's starting to run ads, and one caught our eye. It was a clip where he's driving a truck. Like a. You know, he's. He's like a. A big pickup guy.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, he's a real Texan. You know, he wears a cowboy hat, drives a truck.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah,

[Josh Holmes]

a pickup guy, but he's not a truck driver. Let's just put it that way.

[Michael Duncan]

You're saying he likes truck stops?

[John Ashbrook]

Maybe this is even better.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

This is a great episode. I don't know already.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm not saying.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm not saying that. I thought that's what you were alluding to.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I mean, I'm just gonna leave it open.

[Michael Duncan]

But it is interesting, Holmes, because I agree, they're both shit candidates. But Chuck Schumer and the establishment in D.C. and the media are dedicating a lot of time to polishing this turd in Texas.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, Chuck Schumer, the establishment and the media. But you repeat yourself, right? I mean, this is all. They're all one of the same, which is why everyone sort of believes that this guy's in a different category, different echelon, despite the fact that, like, literally every issue runs total countervailing to anything that anybody in Texas has ever voted on in the history of that great state. But he wants you to know that he drives a truck. Check out this first clip.

[Michael Duncan]

Clip Across Texas, people are waking up before the sun.

[John Ashbrook]

I was born to one of those people.

[Michael Duncan]

As a teacher I saw in the statehouse, I brought.

[Josh Holmes]

And cut property taxes. I'm James Talarico, and I approve this

[Comfortably Smug]

message because I'll take on corruption and

[Michael Duncan]

make this economy work for working people again.

[John Ashbrook]

So, like, that's just. He's a tact cutter. The thinking behind that is, you know, his consultants are like, so we know this guy. No one. No one. No one thinks this is a serious guy. He's not your man's man. He's not out there driving cattle. They're like, put him in a truck. Put him in a truck. People will be like, oh, yeah, you know, oh, yeah, he's James Talarico from Texas. He drives a truck.

[Josh Holmes]

But doesn't it fit exactly with what we've been saying about Democrats?

[John Ashbrook]

The same way they tried with Platner of like, oh, he's an oysterman. Yeah, he fishes for his mommy. You know what I'm saying? Mommy's little fisherman. And this is. What is happening is that this is all fake. He's a fake candidate. This is fake. Authenticity. Everything about this guy is fake.

[Michael Duncan]

He also did that annoying thing in the ad. It was one of my. Remember when we did, like, our Festivus episode at the end of the year, the things that grind our gears about politics. He did the thing that I hate most, and this is a nonpartisan issue. I hope everybody listening and watching agrees with me. But I hate when candidates, when they have to read the verbal disclaimer instead of just saying, you know, I endorse this message. I endorse it because I'm ready to fight for you working 10. And it's like, come on, man. Yeah, it's just bullshit.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And, yeah, it's game in the system.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just junkie.

[Michael Duncan]

Just tell us you paid for the ad. Get off it so I can get back to watching football.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you can figure out why he wanted to take a little time to do that, because the truck in and of itself became somewhat problematic. Dave Weigel helpfully pointed out that an odd detail in the new Talarico ad. He drives a Chevy Colorado, which has appeared in other ads and in profiles.

[Comfortably Smug]

There's.

[Josh Holmes]

There's profile pieces about this truck, which tells you everything you need to know. Like, anytime a candidate is like, yeah, and I own this thing, they're just trying to wedge in some thing, right? But up to this point, it was a Chevy Colorado. But here in this ad, he's driving a Dodge Ram 1500. Not hard to spot. You can see the plate, which is linked to a car rental company.

[Comfortably Smug]

So why. Why wouldn't he just drive the Chevy Colorado?

[John Ashbrook]

What's the deal with that? Here's the deal. All of it's fake. They have to rent a truck for James Talarico because they think, listen, we can trick voters into thinking he's a real Texan if we. If we have him driving a truck and they go and they rent a truck. It's this. This is the same thing. It's a fake candidate, folks. It's your fake oysterman, Graham Platner. It's your fake Texan, James Talrico. It's all just, let's go. It's the same story. Let's go rent a truck. Let's go. Put it in front of a camera. Let's say, put on a cowboy shirt, make people think that this is an episode of Yellowstone. And they'll think that you're a real Texan and not the guy who said that his favorite thing in the world is trans kids that he can't stop thinking about. And he'll say that Like God's non binary. Like let's make sure that like people don't think about all that crazy shit about him. They just see James tall Rico driving a rental truck.

[Josh Holmes]

You can definitely spend all day thinking about trans kids and then get in your pickup truck and drive.

[John Ashbrook]

Super weird what you do. Extremely weird guy. Extremely weird guy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Just so.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also fake but it's so obvious and I'm glad people are blowing the whistle on it. It's going to get tougher and tougher for this guy as it gets down the stretch because what we've been talking about, I would say, you know, probably less than half of Texans are even close to aware of. And once that starts to bleed in, I think you're going to see a real change in that race. Going to be a real one though. No question about it. But because of the news of the week, which was that big Anthony Fauci hearing that we covered yesterday, people did a little sleuthing on the Internet to see what Talarico had to say about all of that. Let's put up graphic one.

[Comfortably Smug]

I saw this pretty terrible.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a tweet where he actually. And this is a Christmas gift.

[Michael Duncan]

Christmas gift.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Where he is celebrating the gift of a Fauci action figure for our audio folks only.

[John Ashbrook]

His tweet says. And it's a photo of it. I got. Oh my God. I got the Fauci action figure for Christmas. I remember when my think about that dude.

[Comfortably Smug]

I remember when my cousin got a rainbow bright doll. She had the exact same reaction as this guy talking about his Anthony Fauci action figure.

[Josh Holmes]

Who gets that? I think Jimmy T Probably got a rainbow bright nose.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think he probably did.

[Josh Holmes]

You just never know.

[Michael Duncan]

What I love about this bit of research on Talarico. Unlike the God is non binary thing or the thing I think about most is trans kids. Like that's super psycho weird stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

But getting a Fauci action figure also makes him a card carrying member of like the liberal wine mom.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

University. It's like a different cohort of the liberal base.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like the people who like posted TikTok Mueller time on Trump's replies for a year and a half. Like the people who've had their brain rotted. Not just crazy like from a policy perspective, but actually could not. You wouldn't want to have a conversation with these people because they don't inhabit the same planet as us, you know. And so knowing that that exists in his background I think makes him actually the worst candidate because at least Platner. Lunatic Nazi tattoo. If I was, like, at an airport bar, you could probably. I could probably have a beer with the guy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, for sure. For sure. This guy.

[Michael Duncan]

This fucking clown with the Fauci doll. No.

[John Ashbrook]

No possible way.

[Comfortably Smug]

These leftists, to your point, these leftists always try to one up each other in the virtue signaling of who is the who's doing more to show that you have allegiance to Fauci. Like, remember the. The knit pillow that Gretchen Whitmer used to put on the bookshelf behind her for her MSNBC hits. James Talarico is like, the knit pillow is not as good as what I've done.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

I, for Christmas as an adult, got an action figure of Anthony Fauci, and therefore I like him more than anybody.

[Michael Duncan]

Elsebrook is 100% right. It's like all of these liberal politicians are servers at TGI Fridays, and they have to put on more pieces of flair.

[John Ashbrook]

It's so true.

[Josh Holmes]

They got to check every box.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you got to a lot of coalitions in that situation. This is the wine Mom.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Coalition also. It's 2021. Right. The literal mask was off, and the metaphorical mask was exactly right. You know, and he's still neck deep in Fauci.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's like, no, I'm still with it.

[Michael Duncan]

Ride or die.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm still with it.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm in. That's my kind of man.

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly right. All right, so. But it's not just him. It's the guy who recruited him who, let's be honest, I kind of feel bad for old Chuck Schumer. Yeah, this guy's really had a tough year, you know? I mean, he's had to shut down the government twice to show that he's a fighter for no. No reason. Like, nothing happened. They didn't accomplish anything. In fact, they don't even really talk about the things that they. The seminal reasons why they had to shut down the government and throw people out of their jobs and things like that. But the politics have turned so far against him that his party, they hate him. And just another thing that popped up. There are two other things that popped up.

[John Ashbrook]

Check out this clip.

[Josh Holmes]

Changes. The con stays the same.

[John Ashbrook]

The presidency is supposed to be a public trust.

[Josh Holmes]

Trump has turned it into the single most profitable scam of his. Please sit down. Please sit down.

[John Ashbrook]

Genocide. What could be more corrupt than back in genocide? This is part of the same con with you and Trump playing off of each other. Oh, he's worse. Oh, he's worse. You were put on notice in November of 2023 by the center for Constitutional Rights and other legal and human rights organization. Notice on potential legal liability for aiding, abetting, inciting or conspiring to commit genocide through congressional acts and demand. You were put on notice and you backed it. And you backed it. You're just taking it for years on end. How dare you talk about corruption. How dare you talk about corruption.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you for your diatribe.

[Comfortably Smug]

Now, let's continue.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's continue and let the people. The people don't come to hear you. You should be questioned about your diabolical record. Diabolical. That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Anytime you could get dog walked by a guy with a horseshoe hairline, you know, you got some shit going on. I mean, that guy popped up.

[John Ashbrook]

So that was awesome.

[Michael Duncan]

That was awesome.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, like, here's the thing is there's no one in that room under the age of 900. So it's not like security, is there? Nothing can be done. You've got an out of control old guy shouting at another old guy. And there's. It's, it's only gonna stop when one of them gets so tired they pass out. Like, look at this. It's just a showdown.

[Comfortably Smug]

I thought it was a Larry David sketch when I first saw it come up.

[John Ashbrook]

You can't make. You can't make it up. I mean, like, he had time to, like, reference paperwork that he brought with him from his sheets. There's no security. This is not like a congressional hearing where there's a security guard or someone to like, be like, okay, you're getting escorted out.

[Michael Duncan]

No, there was like a poor, like, you know, press assistant.

[John Ashbrook]

There's like a lady trying to tell him to stop. And he's like, no.

[Josh Holmes]

Tens of attendants are like, now, let's hear him out.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's hear him out. Well, which I think tells you everything you need to know about the state of the Democratic Party today. Because the point he's highlighting is kind of true. Not like the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, this.

[Michael Duncan]

I got this paper from this organization funded by George Soros about Israel is the bad guy, actually. And Hamas is good. Not that part, but the first part that Chuck Schumer has dined out on Donald Trump as the leader of the Democratic Party for the last decade.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And he has been completely toothless in his ability to stop Donald Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he has nothing other than to say down that that was the guy's point. Which is a good one.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a good, good point. And now you can see why the DSA in the far left and all of these primaries, it's been so easy for them to take over because they don't buy that game anymore that Chuck Schumer is trying to do, which is redirect their anger at Donald Trump when they're fucking pissed at him.

[Josh Holmes]

Imagine being the leader, de facto or whatever, of one of the two major political parties in our country. And over the course of a decade, you got nothing, not a single idea, not a single interesting branding, not a single position that isn't just entirely focused on not what he's doing. And I. I so, like, you do understand that in concert with the fact that they've never let anybody actually cast a primary bel in that party, like, you do understand why it is that they hate this guy and they hate this party.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's run over candidates on their primaries for years and years and years. We were just talking about James Talarico. Nobody even thought that Colin Allred, a guy who's from Dallas, a real. A real candidate who was able to collect some votes last time he ran, he didn't win, but, like, he was raising money, he was coming up with votes. Chuck Schumer didn't want him. Again, Chuck Schumer didn't want Jasmine Crockett.

[Josh Holmes]

Jazzy jazz.

[Comfortably Smug]

Same thing in North Carolina two cycles ago. And he didn't want Erica Smith because he wanted Cal Cunningham. Wonder what the similarity was. There A similarity, you know, he didn't want Charles Booker because he wanted Amy McGrath. What was the same.

[Josh Holmes]

What was the similarity there?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, I don't. I can't put my finger on it, but there is just something about those candidates that Chuck Schumer saw it fit within himself to roll over, cycle in and cycle out.

[John Ashbrook]

Can we get a CYC still of Schumer getting owned on screen again?

[Josh Holmes]

All right, let's put it. Let's find that.

[John Ashbrook]

Let's find. Do we have a technical staff? Somebody put that up.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, come on.

[Comfortably Smug]

There it is.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude, the vibes of this setup are so terrible, too, by the way. Like, what is this? Is this, like, you know, the Duluth Marriott Ballroom, and there's, like, seven chairs of people and. And Schumer's standing next to this, like, poster. Yeah. Combating corruption. This is a horrible setup. Yeah, the vibes are trash. Look at this. Looks awful. Everyone's miserable to be here.

[Josh Holmes]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. I can count.

[John Ashbrook]

16, that is. That's the Democrat Senate leadership. And he can't even get enough people for three large pizzas in a room and then he's getting owned by some 9 year old dude reading off some like Xerox sheets. This is, is like a low point. This is wrong.

[Josh Holmes]

The leader of the Democratic Party shows up at a ballroom, wherever the fuck that was, with a poster board that was probably made in the Senate, giving a speech about corruption to 16 people and fucking father time shouts showed up

[John Ashbrook]

dude shouts him kind of man.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just, it's not good for the horrible situation.

[John Ashbrook]

That's rock bottom.

[Josh Holmes]

It's not good. So interestingly enough, there's a new clip where you go senate race to senate race and you try to figure out like, all right, well, maybe Chuck Schumer is like a problem for these guys. Well, they checked in with the Iowa guy. You think of all places where they're not like, you know, super into leadership races in Washington, D.C. certainly that can't be an issue there. Clip 3.

[John Ashbrook]

As you think about coming here, do you.

[Michael Duncan]

Would you be supporting Chuck Schumer for leader? I'm not trying to measure the drapes yet, honestly. If, if I'm able to be able

[Josh Holmes]

to get up here and be elected

[Michael Duncan]

the U.S. senate, I'll sit down with whoever's running for leadership and I'll ask

[Josh Holmes]

them a few questions.

[Michael Duncan]

Nice punt.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, hold on.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you.

[Michael Duncan]

There's a lot of that in Iowa.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you blame, can you blame that?

[Josh Holmes]

Just a Hawkeye blast. All right. With. People are not going to like that.

[Michael Duncan]

That's fine. Kick's a great place to see a game.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Can you blame him? I mean, look at the clip we just saw.

[Michael Duncan]

I know.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, yeah, what's he supposed to do?

[Josh Holmes]

Check out that and be like, wow, the energy. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

The dude who gets owned by 90 year olds. Like,

[Josh Holmes]

how do I not surf this wave to election? No, but, but so that's Josh Turek again. I mean, the, all of these guys, they're all the same. They're all, you know, it's mom, Donnie, really. But it's ultimately like, I don't know, I have to kind of try to be an Iowan, so I'm just gonna dance around it. But it got me to think, like, it's a better, the better question for Senate Democratic candidates is not whether you support Chuck Schomer, who does. Every single one of them that I've seen to date has said no and that I would include him in that because you could easily say yes, because he is going to be the beneficiary of, I don't know, roughly $60 million of Chuck Schumer's money. It would be very easy when somebody's giving you $60 million to be like, I like him, but he's gonna take the 60 million and be like, not sure.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah. You know, the one I would find very interesting is an incumbent senator in one of these battlegrounds, John Ossoff.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, that would be an interesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Because that would really put him in a sticky wicket.

[John Ashbrook]

It.

[Josh Holmes]

It would put him in a sticky wicket. Oh, I feel like he's pile driving us in in Georgia.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, he's got a huge cash advantage.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, he's got a massive cash advantage crushing Collins, the Republican candidate. That can all change, obviously. I mean, look, there are more Republicans in Georgia than there are Democrats. But I don't feel great if. I mean, I'm just being honest. Like, I don't feel great about the way that that thing looks. But that's a good question for somebody like that. Serve with them for six years.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, anyone at the ajc, Ashbrook. You think any of them are going to ask Ossoff any tough questions? You think?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, I think they're all more interested in what Mamdani has to say about whether he's going to run against Schumer in this primary in New York. I honestly think that is the backdrop. We talk about AOC running against Schumer. I think it's more likely AOC runs for president. Mamdani has his eyes on the Senate.

[Josh Holmes]

You think so?

[Comfortably Smug]

I do.

[John Ashbrook]

Interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, is that. That's interesting.

[Comfortably Smug]

He can't be president.

[John Ashbrook]

Not yet. Yeah, well, they haven't imported enough people.

[Michael Duncan]

President of Uganda, Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Not until they like 9, 11. Our election system. And then we'll figure out how that works.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, I'm sorry, they're trying to let eagles vote. I mean, so.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it is what it is. Anyway, back to the Talarico thing for our question of the day. When you like and subscribe to the ruthless Variety program. We read all of your comments. Get back to the very next episode. Our question of the day today is after the whole truck episode. What will Talarico do next to prove that he's a Texan?

[Michael Duncan]

What do you think?

[John Ashbrook]

I cannot wait to see these comments.

[Josh Holmes]

The truck stop bit.

[Michael Duncan]

Good place to register voters.

[John Ashbrook]

Just doing Geo tv. Geo tv.

[Michael Duncan]

Pick up some beef jerky one voter at a time. I can keep going through a hole

[Josh Holmes]

in the stall

[Michael Duncan]

that's too on the nose.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, sorry. Apologize to everybody for that. But anyway, when we come back and yet another prominent DSA candidate. This one's running statewide in the state of Wisconsin. You will not believe we haven't covered this person. Holy cats. Like you're gonna love it right after this.

[Comfortably Smug]

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[John Ashbrook]

We're back.

[Josh Holmes]

We've had some pretty good off air discussions here, some of which may not make it, but you never know. So you gotta tune in because you don't know where this is going to head. There's a DSA candidate which is now officially going to be the Democratic candidate in Wisconsin, Mandela Barnes, who was a Senate candidate. Left wing psychopath was a Senate candidate against Ron Johnson last cycle. Re up to run for governor. Not far enough. Left for the Democratic primary election.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wait, you're telling me Democrats pushed Mandela Barnes out of the primary?

[Michael Duncan]

Well, he stepped down from the race.

[Josh Holmes]

He bailed, have pushed a few things himself, which ultimately was on his undoing. Allegedly. We don't know. But that is.

[Comfortably Smug]

That is what Democrats rumors.

[Michael Duncan]

Rumors of consensual encounters with young adult women.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Adult.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

No, no.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

These are just allegations, nothing illegal.

[Josh Holmes]

But that was a big rumor thing for the last month within Wisconsin politics and ultimately I don't know if that's the reason that he decided he didn't want to run anymore. But he's not running anymore.

[John Ashbrook]

Anymore.

[Comfortably Smug]

I just think that their party has

[Josh Holmes]

quite a track record, as it turns out. As it turns out. We'll wait till you get a load of Franchesca Hong.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

What she. Okay, so let me just set this. She attacked Republican Tom Tiffany for his claims that Hong called for abolishing the Senate. Now recall on Tuesday's episode, we had the DSA lady who was on air with Shannon Bream and Shannon asked very directly, do you still want to abolish the Senate? It's a DSA basic mandate. If you're a DSA candidate, yes, you want to abolish the Senate, which is a hysterical position. But they all kind of adhere to it. And so at this point, they want to come back and be like, do you actually believe this stuff? Interesting excerpt here in a graphic from Greg Price, good friend of the program on X. If you want to pop this up, this is. He's quote, tweeting a. An excerpt from Fox News when it says. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Hung rejected Tiffany's accusations. Tom, Tiffany's once again telling lies and inverting quotes because he can't run on his record. Representative Hong has never called for abolishing the Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a single statement where she did. And then Greg hilariously used that graphic to retweet the actual tweet where Francesca Hong says, quote, unquote, abolish the Senate.

[John Ashbrook]

Three words, one period.

[Comfortably Smug]

She capitalized the word Senate.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, these idiots never said it.

[Josh Holmes]

Never said it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, no, no, they didn't.

[Josh Holmes]

They didn't even nuance the thing where it's like, you know, she wants to clarify, like, this is her position now. This isn't. She was.

[Michael Duncan]

Didn't massage it at all.

[Josh Holmes]

No, they're like, she never said it.

[Michael Duncan]

They were daring him to come up with one single example. And the funniest part of it to me is that she tweeted this abolish the Senate thing back in 2021 when she wasn't a candidate for governor. Yeah, but once you change your username on Twitter, it's your username for all your tweets. So it's like the evidence could not be clearer. This candidate running for governor said, abolish the Senate.

[Josh Holmes]

But wait, now is the time for the fact checkers to arrive. This is what you have to find is a little mainstream media in there because they're going to put their pencils into this.

[Michael Duncan]

They don't root for a side. They just want to tell the truth.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just about facts and evidence and that kind of thing. And so inter Tom Kirchner of Wisconsin Watch, he claims irrefutable evidence that Hong called for abolishing the Senate is not sufficient to claim that this is true. Look at graphic six. This is the best a fact checker actually puts out media bias Wisconsin, so called.

[John Ashbrook]

This is from Tom Tiffany saying that this is an example of media bias.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. Refused to hold Francesca Hong accountable despite her literally posting abolish the Senate. The liberal media immediately rushes to cover for her. The media guy. No shit. I'm not kidding at all. She has a tweet that says three words, abolish the Senate. The fact checker says, as always, thanks for the suggestion.

[Michael Duncan]

Very passive aggressive, by the way. I just started that way.

[Josh Holmes]

As always, thanks for the suggestion, but I think we're gonna pass on this one since it's one tweet and this doesn't seem to be her position. It doesn't seem.

[Michael Duncan]

It doesn't seem it. That's for you to decide.

[John Ashbrook]

It doesn't seem it.

[Michael Duncan]

That's for you to decide, not the readers.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we put her tweet back up just so you just. So you just get a. Let's put her abolish the Senate.

[Comfortably Smug]

Ah, no. You know what? Doesn't seem like that to me.

[John Ashbrook]

Does it seem like. It doesn't seem like a position now? Like, these people are criminals. Like, what they're doing. They're just absolutely. The. The purpose of what he's saying is to completely lie to voters. That's all it is. Because anyone with two eyes can see. Exactly. She said abolish the Senate. And he's like, well, listen, it's up to me to decide what's true or not. And here I'm gonna let her have a pass. Yeah, you know, that's not her position. Now. What does that have to do with anything? She says it right there. You know what I mean? Like, this isn't like interpretation situation when it's three words and right in front of your face.

[Josh Holmes]

I remember Johnny and I, back when we were in the thick of things. There would be like extremely tenuous components to some accusation that they were making about you. And you would send a fact checker, like 40 on the record statements over a period of a decade to be like, this has been the position for the whole time. Like, what you're saying is, it's not. Not that's not true. Like, it just isn't. They're like, well, I don't know. I think you seem here in this situation to be in at least entertaining. Or you showed up in a room with somebody, at some point, you may have done that or whatever, and it was always incumbent upon you to. To like, provide so much paperwork.

[Michael Duncan]

You have to fact check the thing they've already written in their head.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And.

[Josh Holmes]

And you would never fully get away with it. Like, if. If you just embarrassed them with the amount of evidence that you were showing that what they were trying to do was incorrect, they would be like half truth.

[Comfortably Smug]

It was like never at the onset of fact checking, there were guys who were trying to get it right.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, here he goes defending the journals.

[John Ashbrook]

Was it the Washington Post who had the worst one?

[Comfortably Smug]

There were what Was the name of

[John Ashbrook]

the guy who did it?

[Michael Duncan]

Glenn Kessler.

[John Ashbrook]

Glenn Kessler. Eric Kessler. He gets mad when you bring up like what his family did. You do it every time.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a trigger button.

[John Ashbrook]

What were they doing?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know what, at the onset of fact checking, Glenn Kessler was trying to get it right. I will say it right here on our show.

[John Ashbrook]

That is insane.

[Comfortably Smug]

I will say right here on our show, but I think that the ecosystem of fact checkers was completely consumed by left wing money that was paying these NGO style C4s or C3s or whatever these political vehicles were.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, so and so Journalism foundation.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

I see what you're saying to try

[Comfortably Smug]

to change the system and, and get their arms around it, that they completely ruined the entire concept of the thing and now it's a joke.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

But not all hope is lost because there are some journalists who are still interested in getting to the heart of the matter here. Let's go to clip number four.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you still long term want to abolish police?

[John Ashbrook]

But ultimately, you know, I believe that

[Comfortably Smug]

we have to be serious about public safety. And I'm going to be a governor

[John Ashbrook]

that is more serious than anyone else in making sure that we are building systems of care, that we are focusing

[Comfortably Smug]

on lowering crime, getting guns off of

[John Ashbrook]

our street, and making sure that folks

[Comfortably Smug]

who are incarcerated, which 90% of those

[John Ashbrook]

folks, will be going back to community, that we're lowering recidivism rate.

[Comfortably Smug]

And it's appalling to me that for

[John Ashbrook]

folks who are working within our prisons,

[Comfortably Smug]

they have some of the highest suicide

[John Ashbrook]

rates of any job and occupation. So this system is not working. If we want to be serious, we better be putting these billions into the things that we know prevent crime.

[Josh Holmes]

You hear so much. I mean, it's just like JMAR just asked her whether or not she still supports abolishing the police.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Like I think that was such a J Mart move, by the way.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you're gonna tell.

[John Ashbrook]

Because he was like, he, he's like, I. He asked a good question. Do you still support abolishing the police? And then she's like, so the thing is that we have these systems in place and what happens with these systems is I want to be the governor who's the most serious about systems that are bringing care and lowering ravidicism. And, and that's when he say, but I mean, yes or no? Basically, yeah. Here's the thing is about J Mart is you don't get invited to all the little cocktail parties that Ashbrook's at to. Unless you let that. If you. You have to have a little talking point for as Ashbrook. Be like, Jay Mort asks the tough questions.

[Michael Duncan]

Sure.

[John Ashbrook]

And then he just sits there while they lie.

[Josh Holmes]

We like J Mart Ashbrook.

[Michael Duncan]

Are you gonna take that?

[John Ashbrook]

He was the best man at Ashbrook's wedding.

[Comfortably Smug]

Listen, smug.

[John Ashbrook]

Check me on that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Smug can try to derail this conversation, but what I have heard from this woman running for governor in the state of Wisconsin is two very clear planks of the DSA platform. Abolish the Senate, get rid of prisons, get rid of cops. This is what this person wants to do as the governor of a state in the Midwest. How in the world can this kind of candidate win in a state in the Midwest?

[Josh Holmes]

What's her tagline? Smug on her campaign. What do they say?

[John Ashbrook]

I can't remember who.

[Josh Holmes]

You don't remember this one? Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I think the situation, what you're saying is like, how can a candidate in the Midwest get away with this? Is like, dude, who's the governor of Minnesota again? There's a serious problem. Like, I know you guys are like, oh, you know, the Midwest is like. You know, it's the best. It's the real American. It's like, is it part because Minnesota seems like, you know, it's basically just like little Ethiopia. Somalia.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because here's the Midwest.

[John Ashbrook]

Here's the thing about the Midwest, folks, is it's been taken over.

[Michael Duncan]

Roy Cooper's your governor. I just want to point that out.

[Josh Holmes]

Who's going to be your senator?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

All these.

[Comfortably Smug]

How many. All these did he let out of jail?

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing, is you gotta hold these people accountable. So when you're like, there's no chance that someone like this can win, that's what I wanna tell all you folks. And bringing up the North Carolina example is a great one, is you cannot take for granted these maniacs. Because you had a governor of Minnesota who let Minneapolis burn and his daughter's out there tweeting, like, do it more. My dad said he's not sending the cops out. Like, it's that dire. This matters a lot. And so these maniacs, all these DSA people, they're just wolves in sheep's clothing. They want to get in there, and then they want to make your lives a living nightmare because they hate this country. I mean, they've said it in their charters, like, we fundamentally want to destroy the west and America. They say it. So what's it gonna take for people to wake up and do something about it?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

There's no excuse for this woman to have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this state, and she needs to be taken seriously.

[Josh Holmes]

But what was her thing, Hong?

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know.

[Michael Duncan]

What was it? Smuggler?

[John Ashbrook]

I don't know.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, she wants to eliminate the police. She wants to eliminate the Senate. She wants to eliminate absolutely everything that makes Wisconsin a nice place to live.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And yet she is not being taken seriously. Like, there's no, like, broad outrage. You're hearing it on the Variety program, the hottest, most influential podcast in. In America, but you're not hearing it in the mainstream media. No, I know media is covering for

[Josh Holmes]

candidates, to be honest with you. Today. Today is the day that I heard about Hong. Today is the day. Like, I didn't know anything about this lady. I didn't know that she was going to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee for Democrats in Wisconsin. It's the most insane thing I've ever heard in my entire life.

[Michael Duncan]

To Ash Brooks point all the time. If the mainstream media is hurting a Democrat, it's only to help another Democrat. The situation. Hong's the front runner right now. Yeah, well, now that's a liability. That's why they were trying to push Barnes out of the race. So this third candidate, the name escapes me. Can go one on one with Hong.

[Josh Holmes]

Hong.

[Michael Duncan]

Time.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, look, and also, just like, you know, level set from the Variety programs standpoint, your great state of North Carolina, we're all in for Watley. And we still think there's an awful lot of time to reset the dial. We've seen a lot of races there over the last 20 years. They break late. Conservative. We've always managed to figure it out one way or another when every single candidate that I'd ever met there, whether it was Liddy Dole or Richard Burr or Thom Tillis, Ted Bud or Bud. Even Bud.

[John Ashbrook]

They're always nail biters.

[Josh Holmes]

Even Bud did not have a big lead like it. But the other ones had huge deficits in the month of August, and they figured it out. So don't write that situation off. It does look tough, and you deal with somebody like Roy Cooper. But Chuck Schumer has not had a lot of luck with sort of like, quote, unquote, moderate Democratic governors in red states.

[John Ashbrook]

That's gonna be a problem.

[Josh Holmes]

He just hasn't. They have not. So, anyway, all for what, Lee, I hope we can save you, because I just, you know, I mean, for the love of God, you don't want what we've got going on in Minnesota. Nope, it's not good. Okay, so you had to talk about sex in the capital. I think the latest was Reuben Gallego. There was the Swalwell thing and the Ruben Gallego, but not.

[Michael Duncan]

Not here on the ruthless variety program. This is a family show.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, no, we.

[John Ashbrook]

We're.

[Josh Holmes]

We're respectable like that, but we do have to cover the news. I mean, that's true. It's what we do. And so. But a lot of talk about this and there's been allegations even beyond what's been publicly reported about certain Democrats and whatever and sleeping with staff. So naturally, when it comes to sex scandals, Nancy Mace has figured out how to insert herself into the middle of this and suggest by Fox News that she's dropping legislation to bar House laws lawmakers from having sex with staffers. After a series of exposes. I. Dude. I mean, I don't know what to say about this, but it's like, okay, yeah, like, it's a thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I didn't know we needed a law to stop that sort of thing. You know, like, the fact it's even being suggested well, tells you everything you need to know.

[John Ashbrook]

That's like, you'd think the kind of folks that we. I mean, that's the thing is it's naive to be like, oh, no, you think that these are people who are there to try to find help their constituents and serve their interests and. And that you wouldn't have to tell them, oh, also, don't sleep with your staff. But that it has to be codified is like, I mean, at this point, sure. Because like, how many stories have we gotten this year alone?

[Comfortably Smug]

By what?

[John Ashbrook]

But like, by what?

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[John Ashbrook]

It's like, okay, when we give you

[Josh Holmes]

a ticket, you get like, here's $45 fine.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, that's the other thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Banging your legislative assistant.

[John Ashbrook]

It's the same thing, like, with stock act and ST stuff. It's like, what are we going to do to hold these people accountable? These people need to be held accountable.

[Josh Holmes]

They're called elections, and they happen every two years.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think elections are enough.

[Josh Holmes]

It's pretty important that you keep.

[John Ashbrook]

I think. I think we got to do something about Congress. I also reign them in, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

I also.

[John Ashbrook]

We gave it a shot.

[Josh Holmes]

I feel like, look, I have no allegations to make or no information to make about Nancy Mace, but I feel like if you're going to make a puritanical argument to the House of Representatives, might not be our best messenger. I'm just saying, I'm not saying, I'm just saying, like I have no allegations. I'm not, I'm not. And I mean that. I really don't. But like, really.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, the clock is ticking. You know, she's got one more chance to do something before she leaves and this is it.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

All right.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know, it's a mess.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't even, I don't even know what to say.

[Josh Holmes]

You've got literally the Stalinists and the Maoists who are going to try to take over the House of Representatives. And here we are. Yeah, we're talking about we'll win if

[Michael Duncan]

we can only keep our dick in our pants.

[Josh Holmes]

Congrats, America. Yeah, we're on the right path.

[Michael Duncan]

I wonder why everybody has such a low opinion of Congress. I wonder, can't figure it out.

[Josh Holmes]

I wonder what makes you want to drink, does. And when you do, you're gonna want Zebiotics first. It's a game changing alcohol product, pre alcohol product that we all use here on the Ruthless Variety program before a big night out. And we've gonna have some big nights out. We're ready. August, September, big nights for the Ruthless Variety program. A lot of things that we're gonna announce here in the next couple of weeks. But when we do it, Zebiotics is coming with us, right? Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right. So everybody knows you've been told that if you're gonna have some drinks you got when you get home, you gotta chug some Gatorade or drink, drink four glasses of water. And then you wake up in the morning, you still feel terrible. And it's because this isn't about dehydration. You see what happens is when you drink alcohol, your stomach breaks it down. There's these toxic byproducts. That's what makes you feel bad. But if you have a Zebiotics first, it knocks it right out. You feel like a million bucks in the morning.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. With midterms coming up, we're going to be doing a lot of travel and I don't go anywhere without some Zbiotics in my carry on bag for those long nights.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know what else is coming up, buddy, is football season. And football season is always a great time. And it's one of the reasons we love Zbiotics so much. And it's also one of the reasons we always say there is no tomorrow without Zebiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's exactly right, Smash. So you should remember you got to go to zebiotics.com ruthless to learn more and get 15% off your first order, when you use Ruthless at the checkout. ZBiotics is backed by 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason at all, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to ZBiotics.com Ruthless and use the code Ruthless at checkout for 15 off. Okay, I think it's been a minute since we've done anything on robots. Generally speaking, they've been Chinese robots out of control. Remember the one that was dancing and it took a get out and it fell and died?

[John Ashbrook]

I think they just, you know, banned Chinese robots from America.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, with good reason.

[John Ashbrook]

For good reason.

[Josh Holmes]

There's a US company, Satress.

[Michael Duncan]

It sounds right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's developing three halves. A centaur style robot designed for dangerous environments. Let's pop that bad boy up.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so that's the. That's the robot there.

[John Ashbrook]

It says it's designed for dangerous environments such as wildfires, rubble searches, toxic areas and confined spaces. The system combines a humanoid upper body with the quadruped mobility platform. Can we get a. Let's get a graphic preview. So that's what it looks like for our audio chassis. You really gotta go onto the YouTube to see this thing. It's essentially just like some hellish kind of like a minotaur horseman.

[Michael Duncan]

Can you imagine the pitch meeting for this where everybody's going around the room, they're like, you know, people are really worried about AI and technology and robots stealing their jobs and stuff, and they're really anxious about everything. So how can we really make people comfortable with technology? I know what I know. I'm gonna make an animal that looks like it's a spawn of the devil.

[John Ashbrook]

Look at that. And its eyes glow like so.

[Michael Duncan]

It looks like Baphomet.

[John Ashbrook]

If you're in a house fire and then like the door is kicked in and this thing comes through, you think you're already dead. You think you're in hell. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude. I'm not even sure what you do if you try to get saved by something.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, you see that thing? It's like early verdict out of St. Peter.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, for sure.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm going to the hot place.

[Josh Holmes]

A couple of too many GDs.

[John Ashbrook]

The jury's back.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it is. I don't know what it does. I want to see it move. But it strikes me as something that we should be afraid of.

[John Ashbrook]

And like, what is. What is happening in this image right now? Like, I see guns and knives.

[Michael Duncan]

Those are the options.

[Josh Holmes]

No, you have options.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait you can arm it, can you?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it says it.

[John Ashbrook]

So that I do support. That I actually do support arming the. Because, like, it's one thing to have like ring cameras and stuff on your house. And it's like, okay, you know, give me peace of mind. I want an alarm system.

[Josh Holmes]

I got a sentinel.

[John Ashbrook]

But now I got this guy rolling around my house at night. And I would feel incredibly safe.

[Comfortably Smug]

You should feel safe. Can we go to the other picture? Because I did notice something to Smug's point about this thing rolling around your house at night and the added protection it might provide that a ring camera doesn't. If you zoom in, look at the ears on that thing.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, the horns.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, underneath the horns, first of all, underneath the horns, it has these giant ears. You know, it's not going to miss a single sound. Like if somebody in your backyard steps on a twig, can you zoom in

[John Ashbrook]

super close on the right there? So here is with a chainsaw, folks. So, like, I would go. I would go with chainsaw over guns because, like, if someone is trying to break into my house, I don't want them to survive.

[Josh Holmes]

You want a chainsaw.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing, is be like the centaur fucking dismembered the robber. It's not like you're going to have a guy who got shot, now he's trying to sue.

[Michael Duncan]

No. That's a lot of cleanup. Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Clean shit up.

[Comfortably Smug]

Here's the other thing it provides. If you could put that image back up, not only is it holding a chainsaw, but if you look at the back, it almost looks like there's a. You could ride it, you could write it while it's.

[John Ashbrook]

Work into battle. I think really the ring camera lets you know someone's there and then. And then this guy's there. Get me, Tonto. Like, let's go get them.

[Josh Holmes]

That thing wakes you up. It's like, hey, get on board.

[John Ashbrook]

Game time. But game time.

[Josh Holmes]

We gotta go.

[John Ashbrook]

Saw some stuff. I mean, see if it's on your side. I fully support that. Yeah, that is a great home protection system. If, like, he wakes you up and it's like, go time.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

You know what I mean? Like, I got three guns on me. Grab one and hop in the back.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly. It's the kind of thing that you just squeeze a little WD40 on that thing before you go to bed every night, and you know it's going to be operational at one in the morning if somebody breaks it. If.

[Michael Duncan]

If you could whistle to some to summon the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you know, well, he has those big ears.

[Michael Duncan]

And then you get on. Get on the horse.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, then I think I'm on board,

[John Ashbrook]

like, if I could be my kids.

[Michael Duncan]

If I could beat my kid's soccer game. And it's like, all right, game's over.

[John Ashbrook]

Orange slices.

[Michael Duncan]

And it's like.

[Josh Holmes]

And it just. It, like, ambles over with the orange slices.

[John Ashbrook]

I support this.

[Michael Duncan]

Then I jump on it, and we go home. I mean, that's a power move.

[Josh Holmes]

It feels like a lot, though, to your initial point, that they put the horns on it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

So it feels like. I think there's sensors. That's where they did it. Is because, like, it's like antennas and sensors, and so they do it that way.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm being serious. So I got the white. The guy needs a WI FI signal, and they're like, let's just put horns on it. So I think that's actually a cool thing because, like, if you're riding it into battle, do you want it to look like a router, or do you want. Look like he's got horns and, like, it's it. People are gonna die.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. I want to be able to make sure my Bluetooth, you know, stereo is connected correctly and that I've got a N mix for the battle.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Do you want it to look like a router?

[John Ashbrook]

Dude, you tell them, be like, Spotify, ride at the Valkyries. Let's go.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I fully support it. I want that the company Satirist reach out to us. We want one of these things. We'll try it out.

[Josh Holmes]

Kids are going to love it.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, they'll feel safe.

[John Ashbrook]

It's fun for the whole family.

[Josh Holmes]

Kids can ride it.

[John Ashbrook]

And then you get a couple of them. One does the shooting, the other disposes with the chainsaw.

[Josh Holmes]

Is that actually, like. Is that commercially available?

[Michael Duncan]

I don't know.

[John Ashbrook]

I think the plan is. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I was convinced it was a goof, and so I actually checked out their website, and it's real.

[John Ashbrook]

I want a few of them. I want a few planets.

[Josh Holmes]

He knows what the plan is.

[John Ashbrook]

I want a few. They look great. They look great. Because I think about this kind of thing, especially, you know, like, you guys live in a state where the governor is trying to, like, disarm everybody.

[Josh Holmes]

They say nothing about that bill about centaurs.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing. Yeah, right. Right to bear centaurs.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a good loophole.

[John Ashbrook]

They didn't expect that part. I don't have the gun. He's got a chainsaw. Though, you know, it's all we got. I fully support it. I want to reach out or the company satirists reach out to us. Send a few of these over, we'll give them a spin, our full thoughts on it. I think it's a great idea. I think, think, you know, this is a thing. If, if it works out, if it stops one criminal, that's the kind of marketing that you need. Coast to coast, everyone's gonna want two, three of these things.

[Josh Holmes]

I've never. If they send us one of these

[John Ashbrook]

things, it'll be the best thing they ever did. I promise you.

[Josh Holmes]

Will you commit to riding one across Farragut Square?

[John Ashbrook]

Yes. 100.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

And we will film that.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Count on it.

[Josh Holmes]

All right.

[John Ashbrook]

Count on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

All right.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, there. There it is. If you want to sell your product satirists, you know where to find us. Here on the Ruthless Variety Program. Fantastic stuff, fellas.

[John Ashbrook]

There.

[Josh Holmes]

We've been fielding complaints from the OGs, like the original listeners because it's been at least six to nine months before we have since we've covered one of the things that was like a staple in the early years, like pre video, it was all audio. We would do like one of these a week. It's Big Penis.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, the Penis Studies. And what does it stand for? Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

It was like the something. National Proceedings Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

[Comfortably Smug]

And it's like a government funded thing. So you have to pay attention to it. You have to. You can't look the other way.

[Josh Holmes]

You can't. I mean they're the heads of. Of Big Science, Big Penis and Big Penis. When Big Penis speaks, you listen. They've done a new study which combined a number of things here for us. On the Ruthless Variety part we read

[Comfortably Smug]

all of their works and I just. Let me stop you quickly because the write up comes from earth.com and when our planet recognizes something, I feel like it's incumbent upon the Ruthless Variety program to also recognize that something.

[Josh Holmes]

No, the Planet has put pen to paper about the Big Penis story. And what they've come up with is that Macaque is smarter than you think.

[Comfortably Smug]

Whoa. Again, this is the Planet writing this.

[Josh Holmes]

The Planet said it.

[John Ashbrook]

And the spelling for our I only folks, that's M A C A Q U, E. It's like a monkey.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's a monkey macaque. They're frequent story here on the Ruthless Friday program. They're up to no good at all times.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean this is sort of a groundbreaking, earth shattering study because as I grew Up. I was taught not to do my thinking with macaque, but now I learn they're smarter than you think. Go on.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I will, I will. And when it comes from big peanuts, that's how you know the macaque story. The stories about macaque are true because they run everything to ground. From a scientific standpoint, monkeys, macaques and preschoolers see geometric shapes in remarkably similar ways. A new study that's found that macaques match shapes using the same geometric intuitions as humans.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is why the banana pool will work. Every single time they see that rectangle, they see the bananas in that pool, they go after it. They drown. This is how you stop. Stop these monkeys. I'm telling you, we're talking about this in terms of like a study and science and what earth.com thinks. But if you look at some of the societies around our planet who are dealing with this scourge, they, they don't know what to do. You know, these, these monkeys are throwing kids off.

[Josh Holmes]

Are you talking about my.

[Comfortably Smug]

I, I'm talking about the scourge. Oh, I'm talking about the scourge of the animal.

[Josh Holmes]

I wouldn't necessarily refer to it as a scourge, but appreciate your perspective.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm telling you, the only way Ashbrook

[Michael Duncan]

is just highlighting the important thing here, and that is a plan to grab macaque.

[John Ashbrook]

Huh?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And. And Ashbrook.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Apparently an expert in that area has

[Comfortably Smug]

a plan, I'm telling you.

[Josh Holmes]

But as articulated very specifically here by

[Comfortably Smug]

big penis, Olympic sized swimming pool with bananas all over the top, they jump in, they drown.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, we, look, we all have different expertise. We come from different backgrounds, different parts of the country or whatever, and our expertise falls in different areas. We've always really leaned on Ashbrook.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

For his intuition of macaque.

[Comfortably Smug]

What I've just told you is the way to solve the problem.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I say something?

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, so look at. This is the. We were given a fact sheet about this report. It says here. So this takes place at Carnegie Mellon University. It says here the experiments come from the lab of Jessica Cantlon, a neuroscientist at cmu. She spent two decades with macaw putting monkeys and young children through the same puzzles. Shape. She's done this for 20 years, bro. All like, you know, all the jokes and everything aside, that, that sounds like, insane. It's a long time. If you're like, what have you been doing for the past year? You're like, oh, well, I've been working on these things. 20 years I'm in a room with monkeys and preschoolers pointing at. Is this a square?

[Comfortably Smug]

Whoa.

[John Ashbrook]

What?

[Comfortably Smug]

You make a good point. It's like, maybe they should.

[John Ashbrook]

I would want a conversation with that lady because she cannot be in a healthy place. That's what you've been doing. Doing for 20 years, bro. Like, I mean, I got tummy time with my son, and it's like, okay, we did the seven minutes he looked at, you know, the little ladybug thing. But if that's eight hours a day for 20 years. That's a lot.

[Michael Duncan]

How dare you. Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

That's a lot.

[Michael Duncan]

Smug. Smug. Had to bring in the preschoolers to the conversation, so now we can't make dick jokes.

[John Ashbrook]

Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

They're going to make us have a radius outside of schools if we keep talking.

[Josh Holmes]

I want to eliminate that as a component of our conversation. What we're talking about here is fundamentally what Big Penass's view of macaque is.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

And I would suggest that if somebody spends 20 years with macaque, it's a marriage.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

In a lot of different ways. You know, professional marriage. In this case, married to the work. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And this work macaque,

[Josh Holmes]

Human participants heard only that they should try the matching game. In trying to figure it out, a correct answer triggered by a chime. Macaque received a cereal pellet while the children earned a sticker. So, you know, different inputs.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, for all that, no question

[Michael Duncan]

about it, they both should have gotten a banana. And then we would know definitively if Ashbrook's theory of the case is correct.

[Comfortably Smug]

It will work. I promise you, it will work.

[Michael Duncan]

She's talking a big game. I still haven't seen the pool Olympic size.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's because the government is spending money on this woman for 20 years asking her, Asking monkeys to point out a square. And then all of a sudden, you know, they. They don't. They don't get to the root of the problem.

[Josh Holmes]

You want some comments?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, always.

[Josh Holmes]

All right. So when was it? Thursday. We asked our question of the day. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety Program. We read all of them, and we come back to the very next episode with a nice little compilation. And our question was, is Fauci going to prison? Because we did lay out, which I've since heard Rand Paul laid out, a very similar argument to the one that we were making here on the Ruthless Variety Program about, I don't know, this guy might have some legal liability despite the pardon. And we asked you what you Thought. And to do that, we always start with a voice.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay. First comment comes from Mike H. Mike H writes, Tony did 1741 media appearances but had no answers for the American people, despite the auto pen pardon answers or prison. I say the latter. Bubba might hollow.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my God, dude, that's an wild and.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, that's my gage. My gates wild end getting real.

[John Ashbrook]

He's like, I've counted the media appearances. And you're like, wow. You know, put in the work and then.

[Josh Holmes]

Doing his own big PS investigation. Incredible.

[Michael Duncan]

Comment 2 Dougs Run 2 is from Dave Tarter. Dave writes, fauci isn't going to jail, but he should be sent to a CIA black site and forced to listen and watch Stephen Colbert's vaccine song.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God, that's so bad.

[Michael Duncan]

Dance until morale improves.

[John Ashbrook]

That's pretty good.

[Josh Holmes]

That's really good.

[Michael Duncan]

That's a fitting punishment. I like that.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, that is a torture worse than death. No question about it. Comment 3Smuggles.

[John Ashbrook]

Wes91169 says the only way Fauci might see the inside of a jail cell is if individual states drag him into court. I've heard about that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, me too.

[John Ashbrook]

The federal pardon no longer applies. Your Olive Garden pasta pass is revoked.

[Josh Holmes]

There you go, Fauci.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, I don't think Olive Garden would ever revoke a pasta pass. That contract is sacrosanct. When you buy it, you got it. And even Anthony Fauci, if he walked into an Olive Garden, which I don't think he has the good sense to do, he would be honored.

[Josh Holmes]

Do they franchise?

[Comfortably Smug]

They do not.

[Josh Holmes]

They do not franchise.

[Comfortably Smug]

There are some restaurants out there that don't. Their brand is so good that they just won't turn it over to anybody.

[Josh Holmes]

They just won't.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because they know that the food has to be of a certain quality. When you walk in and people are expecting something good, you know, the combination of garlic and salt and pepper and cream, it's just so good.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just so bad. It's. What do we do?

[John Ashbrook]

The thing is, he's actually being serious, everybody. He really does eat that stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, he does. I mean, that's like. If you were. He would do that.

[John Ashbrook]

It's tragic.

[Josh Holmes]

And then he would do the red water over.

[John Ashbrook]

Like when we're. When we're on the road and we're like, okay, we gotta rush again. Like, this guy alone. I'm not even. This isn't even joke. This wasn't even bet. We'll be like, where are we gonna go to eat? And. And he'll be like pouting if we suggest a normal place that like has food and he will go alone to an Olive Garden. This has happened four or five times and you won't believe it, but he really does it. He goes there and he'll house two or three things. Like, he's not like a never ending pasta guy. He'll get like the lasagna. He'll get the fish, which is God knows. It's been microwaved. It's from God knows, dude. No sense.

[Comfortably Smug]

Don't give me that.

[John Ashbrook]

He does it and it's disgusting.

[Comfortably Smug]

The fish is always fresh, buddy. It's always locally sourced.

[John Ashbrook]

And I think he needs help.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, speaking of fish, we do have a video on that. There's an innovative new way to go fishing. Can we play that video? So I'm addicted to this.

[Michael Duncan]

Not in the literal medical sense, but

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think I could live without it.

[Josh Holmes]

Stabs a fish. It looks like a halibut.

[Comfortably Smug]

Boom.

[John Ashbrook]

This is again, my need to go on the YouTube. You're seeing him spear the fish.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And then very quickly go to the handgun. And he's a quick draw.

[John Ashbrook]

He's super fast with it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. So like when you're.

[John Ashbrook]

And then bringing him in, dude reels it overboard. This is so great.

[Josh Holmes]

Does it feel like, feel like maybe it takes a little bit of sport out of it if you're.

[John Ashbrook]

I want to answer that question.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

So it does not. And here's the thing, something that I have opposed for the longest time is catch and release fishing. It feels like the most futile, waste and aggravating waste of time. You're out there, you're out there in waders, fly fishing all day, right? And like, you'll get like, the bastard fish will like bite at the hook and get away, right? They'll get the fight, they'll get away. And you can spend hours doing that shit. And, and, and the first time I went, man, I told the guide, I was like, what's, what's, like, what's the law? If I, if I were to electrify this fucking wire, cuz they're touching it and then they're, they're getting out there. And then when you get a fish and the guy's like, hey, good job, out you go. And I was like, why'd you do that? Why'd you. We're out here fishing. We're not here to look at the fuckers. You know, I've brought a hook and reel. I'm. I'm trying to get these Fucking fish. We're not here for. This isn't fish watching. This isn't like bird watching. You know what I mean? Like, you don't see hunters. Be like, it's pheasant season. Let's take the shotguns and let's get a good look at these guys.

[Michael Duncan]

Smug wants to mount the minnows.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the thing. And so I see this, and that's just, like, cathartic. It's like, I've had so many fish get away. I've had days where I'll go fly fishing and I'll catch a single, single one of them, and I'm just, like, enraged. And I spend all night stewing until I get in the morning, and I'm like, I'm gonna kill a hundred of these motherfuckers and then have the guide with the audacity to be like, well, it's against state law to take the fish out and keep it. And I was like, are the cops fishing with us, brother? We're in the middle of a creek, and I want a fucking fish, dude. Right? So I love. I want to do this.

[Comfortably Smug]

I want to do that.

[John Ashbrook]

Where we're like. We're like. You're reeling it in and the spear. Because the thing with fish is they're wily fucking thing. Like, they may survive the spear, but that's it, dude. That's the dream. Cuz, like, God knows I was out there those days being like, do they allow strafing the water? They allow AR15s in Sun Valley for fishing? Because I can see them. I can see them, and I bet I could pop a few of these guys. And I just want some fish. And. And this approach isn't working for me. And so I see something like that. I want to take part in that. But. But more. More germane to actually what we're seeing this video. Can you pull the video up? Mute it. I don't want to hear the music. This is wild because it's. Some people be like, this takes the sport out. It's so easy. Look at how quickly he has to move that spear back to shoot. That can go through somebody's leg. Like, that is. This is a dangerous sport. You're saying it's at night? No, no, this. When he hits it with a spear and then he pulls it back in the boat. That could go through his leg. It could go through his. The other dude's leg. Like, this is a dangerous sport. You're out here with spears and guns, right? Like, this is you versus nature. This is Real, there's consequences. And you're seeing skill. He's hitting it with the spear and then the fucking gun. That's a sportsman right there. A lot of respect, you know? Respect to that, dude. That's awesome. It should be celebrated. People try to denigrate that. Is that very sportsmanlike? Yes, it is. It's a tremendous sport.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a cross discipline.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Spears and guns.

[John Ashbrook]

It's amazing.

[Michael Duncan]

In some ways, it's harder because you have to think like.

[Josh Holmes]

Like an Olympic biathlon.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, it'd be easier just to hit him twice with the spear. You already have it in the water, you know. No, we're gonna throw the spear back and we're gonna pull the gun and shoot it.

[John Ashbrook]

So it's like, I could hit you with the history of human arsenal. Spear.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Gun. I'd have my boy hit him with the bow and arrow, dude. Or you do it all.

[Comfortably Smug]

You could bring your centaur or you

[Josh Holmes]

could bring your centaur. Very good.

[John Ashbrook]

That's the dream, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, remember our question of the day. Would you like. And subscribe to the Ruthless variety program? We always ask you a question. We get back to the very next episode with a summary of your responses. Our question today was what will tell Rico go do next to prove that he's a Texan? I know you've got ideas. Just let us have them. We also have some new merch. You're wearing one.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, this is the dad hat. Sort of like a khaki.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's good.

[Michael Duncan]

With the American flag on the. Ruthless on the.

[Josh Holmes]

It looks good. Yeah, it looks good. That's.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, check that out.

[Josh Holmes]

You put little hands to work on stitching it all up for the people.

[Comfortably Smug]

Although this doesn't look stitched. This looks like you ironed it on.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it's. I think that's like an iron thing. Yeah, it's good because you can't stitch it with all the different colors.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to have some versatility, which we do here on the Ruthless.

[John Ashbrook]

There it is right there.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

No question about it. All right, so, like. And subscribe. Get on board. Check out some merch while you're there. Been a great week. Thank you guys for listening. With that, fellas, I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

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

[Josh Holmes]

Sam.