Is Talarico the Next Democrat to Implode? + What Everyone Missed in the Platner Video

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Is Talarico the Next Democrat to Implode? + What Everyone Missed in the Platner Video
Date: July 10, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Special Guests/Clips: Sean Hannity, Jazzy Jazz, Jalanda Jones, Graham Platner (clip), John Podhoretz

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Overview of the Episode's Main Theme

This Ruthless Podcast episode takes a ruthlessly critical—and often humorous—look at the latest Democratic Party scandals and dysfunction, focusing on Senate candidates James Talarico (Texas) and Graham Platner (Maine). The hosts dissect the fallout from Platner's implosion, discuss whether Talarico is the “next to implode,” and highlight what they believe mainstream media missed about Platner’s withdrawal video. Expect biting jokes, bold accusations, and mockery of Democratic leadership, candidate quality, and campaign culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. James Talarico: The Next Implosion?

• Talarico benefiting from Platner's fall: "The one primary beneficiary, by the way, of everything Platner is James Talarico." (Josh Holmes, 00:00 / 03:02)
• Talarico's obsession with trans issues: The hosts repeatedly joke about Talarico's focus on trans children and gender-affirming care, suggesting it's unusual and politically misguided for Texas.
  • Memorable quote: “Why is this man so obsessed with the genitals of children?” (Michael Duncan, 06:27)
• Critique of Talarico's religious positioning: The hosts mock his religious rhetoric as “profoundly unbiblical” and see it as an attempt to manufacture electability.
  • “That's not evangelical at all to me... he said God’s non-binary, and that the conception of Christ was like an affirmation of abortion.” (Comfortably Smug, 10:31)
• Staff & campaign ties: Highlighting Talarico’s link to Anna Lopez and the “Cox Not Glocks” protest, suggesting fringe staff choices reflect campaign priorities. (18:23-19:43)
• Texas primary dynamics: Discussion includes Talarico's primary opponent "Jazzy Jazz" and the role of the Democratic Party leadership (esp. Chuck Schumer) in influencing outcomes.

2. Democratic Party Dysfunction and Civil War

• Leadership vacuum: The hosts repeatedly describe the Democratic Party as “rudderless,” overtaken by fringe activists and consultants, resulting in “the worst classes of candidates.”
• Consultant culture and 'vanguard' problem: Ivy League-educated leftists “larping as working class” dominate recruitment and staffing (22:11-23:09).
• Infighting and lack of mainstream ideas: The party’s only unifying idea is “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS), per their quote of Sen. Fetterman.
• Money, representation, and cynicism:
  • Notable moment: Local activist Jalanda Jones bluntly says, “Fuck you. Pay me.” regarding Talarico’s lack of investment in Black infrastructure. (31:20)
  • Tammany Hall comparisons (“walk-around money”).
  • Hosts argue that everything is transactional, not ideological or representative.

3. Graham Platner's Withdrawal Video – The “Cut” No One Saw

• Mainstream media’s complicity: The Ruthless crew insists they are the only outlet noticing a key edit (“the cut”) in Platner’s withdrawal video, pausing on his language: “I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw…” (37:28-42:28)
  • “That is political speak for I haven’t filed the paperwork.” (Josh Holmes, 39:33)
  • “He is still negotiating with them.” (John Ashbrook, 40:22)
• Implications: This edit is described as a sign that Platner is using his withdrawal as leverage with the Democratic Party regarding his successor.
• Media failure: The hosts criticize national reporters for failing to notice or raise questions about the edit, linking this to partisan incuriosity ("Partisanship has outstripped curiosity in media today." – John Ashbrook, 47:08)

4. Consultant Grifting: The Case of Morris Katz

• Consultants allegedly profiting off campaigns: John Podhoretz is played at length discussing how consultants like Morris Katz take a standard “15%” rip off campaign funds, regardless of outcome.
  • “He gets 15% of that money.” (John Podhoretz, 57:49)
• Manufacturing narratives: Katz and others are accused of picking candidates for fundraising value and constructing their entire public image—Platner as “oysterman,” for example.

5. Further Democratic Mayhem: D.C. and Minneapolis

• Minneapolis suburb mayor skips America250, visits Somalia: The hosts sarcastically question whether this shows a commitment to America (65:26-66:58)
• D.C. mayoral race and antisemitism: The likely socialist mayoral candidate regrets voting for a measure against antisemitism, vows to protect pro-Palestinian activists (68:29-70:54)
• Map manipulation in NYC: Mockery of New York redistricting that removes “Little Italy,” adds “Little Palestine” (73:20-74:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Talarico’s Platform & Persona:

• “He always looks unnerving, you know, like he's a really weird dude. Something about that guy... What's he up to?” (Comfortably Smug, 06:35/06:48)
• “It's odd because most politicians are talking about taxes or health care or something… Why is it that this guy keeps coming back to trans every time you see a video of him?” (John Ashbrook, 07:29)

On Democratic Candidate Quality:

• “Every one of them has a fundamental problem that is unidentifiable. If they were in your neighborhood, they wouldn't be invited to the cookout.” (Josh Holmes, 12:10)

On D Party Civil War:

• “The rise of the freak show.” (Michael Duncan, 14:03)
• “Democrats… have no leadership, a party that is rudderless.” (14:03-14:07)

On the Platner Video Cut:

• “That cut really irons it in. If you didn't get enough from the ‘intend’ thing, you're looking at a video that is 11 minutes long… There was only one thing that got cut, and it was whatever came after the ‘intend.’” (Josh Holmes, 41:15)

On Political Consultants:

• “These consultants... come from Ivy League schools... They’re the highly educated academia folks. It’s like the last person you would want to invite to Thanksgiving dinner…” (22:21-22:32, Josh Holmes)
• “He gets 15% of that money.” (Podhoretz, 57:49)

On Democratic Media Handling:

• “Mainstream media today has a disease and it's killed their curiosity.” (John Ashbrook, 47:08)
• “Every beat writer... is now on the horn... so who is it that you guys are galvanizing?” (Josh Holmes, 47:41)

On Internal Democratic Disputes and Money:

• “Jalanda Jones. Fully support that message. Fuck you. Pay me.” (Comfortably Smug, 31:16)
• “Turnout, it's not what it should be.” (Josh Holmes, 31:56)

On Staff Quality:

• “...these are fundamentally broken people… sent them off to these Ivy League schools... now they were taught the country that provided the opportunity... is a fallen nation...” (Comfortably Smug, 23:56)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• James Talarico Focus & Critique: 03:00–13:25
• Party Dysfunction & Civil War: 13:25–18:23
• Talarico’s Staff & ‘Cox Not Glocks’: 18:23–20:26
• Consultant Class / '15% Rip': 56:19–58:07 (Podhoretz clip)
• Graham Platner Video Cut: 37:28–44:09 (detailed from 41:15)
• Media Partisanship on Platner: 45:12–49:22
• D.C. Mayor Clip & Antisemitism: 68:29–70:54
• NYC Immigrant Map Redistricting: 73:20–74:22
• Absurd News Closer (Indiana Penis Arsonist): 75:36–80:53

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Additional Memorable and Humorous Moments

• Jazzy Jazz’s reaction to losing her race and blame game (25:31, 27:17)
• Money talk in campaigns: “You gotta pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win.” (Jalanda Jones, 31:11)
• Italian-American outrage over NYC redistricting: (74:04–74:22)
• Indiana arsonist using his penis: “He poured gasoline on his severed genitals and set it on fire on the floor of the garage…” (79:00)

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Tone and Style

The episode maintains a highly satirical, irreverent, sometimes coarse tone—skewering Democratic candidates and operatives, mocking media complicity, and riffing endlessly on the absurdity of political news. The hosts use humor, sarcasm, and a ‘no sacred cows’ attitude in their deconstruction, blending biting political analysis with punchlines.

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Bottom Line:
The "Ruthless" team presents Talarico as the next potential Democratic disaster, highlights broken party machinery and media, and demands listeners notice the behind-the-scenes consultant grift and leverage games—sealing it all with jokes, mockery, and the promise to dig deeper than any mainstream outlet.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

The one primary beneficiary, by the way, of everything Platner is James Talarico.

[Comfortably Smug]

He always looks unnerving, you know, like he's a really weird dude.

[Guest Commentator]

You saw it in the anti LGBTQ legislation, including the bill that would have denied gender affirming health care to trans children. All these ideologies stem from this, this Christofascism movement.

[John Ashbrook]

Why is it that this guy keeps coming back to trans every time you see a video of him? All he's talking about is trans, specifically.

[Josh Holmes]

Ok, so a lot's been written about the final hours of Graham Platner. We wanted to point in one specific direction on the video that was filmed. Going back through it, I think the

[Graham Platner (clip)]

only cut, Yes, I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw the process needs to assure that what comes next, that

[Josh Holmes]

cut really irons it in. If you didn't get enough from the intend thing, you're looking at a video that is 11 minutes long. That is a stream of conscious thought, very unpolished, certainly could never be confused for scripted. There was only one thing that got cut. My question is, did Graham Platner know that got cut?

[Michael Duncan]

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[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. This program has become one of the

[Sean Hannity]

most influential podcasts in America.

[Comfortably Smug]

I love the personality. You guys are killing it. I just saw your number one, so congratulations.

[Guest Commentator]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

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

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[Josh Holmes]

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

[Michael Duncan]

Friday.

[Josh Holmes]

Welcome back to the ruthless Friday program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right across your radio dial. Of course, this week has been filled with all kinds of different news. Graham Platner foremost amongst them, the one primary beneficiary, by the way, of everything Platner is James Talarico in Texas, because they were sort of linked at the hip for a period of time of being quirky, weird, totally out of step Senate candidates from the Democratic side by mistake or something else. But there they were. And it seemed like a day to day race of whose oppo was worse.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And then ultimately the alleged rape. And then Democrats consolidating around the idea that they needed to do something about Maine because he gotta win. Maine, like Texas would be nice, but Maine, you really got it. So we really have to push this guy, which of course is subservient. Corporate media decided to take it upon themselves to surface all of that. And miraculously, everybody was available on camera just a week before he was supposed to drop out. We have something on that, by the way, in the second segment that is worth focusing a little bit on. And Platner, that he said he would intend to file the paperwork on Monday. That is of course, the drop dead deadline in Maine for him getting out and then being able to replace him. We got more of that in the second segment. But the first segment is the one who is sort of been living underneath the shelter that Graham Platner has provided the Democratic Party, which is Talarico.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And I gotta say, just there's many shows who would see all this news this week and the Platner stuff and rest on their laurels and say, good week. Yeah, good job, gentlemen. Not the ruthless variety program. We get a scalp and we go and say we want another on to

[Josh Holmes]

the next, as Bill Belichick would say. But there's plenty to work with. And the thing is about Talarico is it's not like things aren't continuing to come out. It's just been overshadowed by the catastrophe Democrats have made for themselves in the state of Maine with Graham Platner. And like, we're just going to play a couple clips just to kind of get you warmed up for what it is that we're talking about. Clip one, please.

[Guest Commentator]

You saw it in the anti LGBTQ legislation, including the bill that would have denied gender affirming health care to trans children. And then of course, famously, infamously, we saw it last session with the most extreme abortion ban in the country. All of these. All these ideologies stem from this, this Christo fascism movement, okay?

[Josh Holmes]

So unless you want to chop the pricks off your kids, you're a Christcho fascist. Apparently, according to James Talarico, which I imagine in the state of Texas is somewhat concerning, fellas.

[Comfortably Smug]

The other thing is, like, this is his. Almost like his entire platform. It's like 90% of the information you see about James Tallreco's. I mean, it feels like he was first introduced to the public when he had that video where they're like, name something you love. And he's like, well, trans children. And it's like, what? Like, you know, you could have said like a beer. You know, maybe like a good sandwich.

[Michael Duncan]

It leaves one. Leaves one to wonder, like, why is this man so obsessed with the genitals of children?

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I don't want to judge a book by its cover. He always looks unnerving, you know, like, he's a really weird dude. Something about that guy. Well, like, if you just saw him walking around, you're like, okay, what's this guy?

[Josh Holmes]

What's he up to?

[Comfortably Smug]

He's always sketchy looking, and then he turns into like a single issue thing thing, and he's like.

[Sean Hannity]

And.

[Comfortably Smug]

And Even, like in 2024, we decided we were done with this, like, stupid lie of a gender affirming health care. No, that's not what you call performing a surgery on an. On a child. On prepescent children. Yeah. That will alter the entire course of their lifetime and their ability to ever have children. Like, that's not called gender affirming health care. I think the country spoke loudly, let alone in Texas. And he's trying to come up with any other issue to talk about, but it's like the entire library of information we have on James Talrico, he's just fixated on this one thing, which is.

[John Ashbrook]

It is really odd because most politicians are talking about taxes or health care or something, housing, you know, like, why is it that this guy keeps coming back to trans Every time you see a video of him, all he's talking

[Comfortably Smug]

about is trans specifically.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like, why? Like, I know we're going to get into his primary opponent in a minute, but I mean, like, I just. I fundamentally do not understand why this guy isn't talking about the basic things that politicians usually talk about. It's a little weird.

[Comfortably Smug]

It is.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's a little weird because he's really weird. And that's what you're finding out. You know, they think about the Graham Platner stories. It started with the Nazi tattoo and you found the Reddit posts and you found the border bodies, and then you found the misogyny and the, and the alleged domestic violence, and then you found the alleged rape and all of these other things. But like, together they all over time, just with commentary alone, before you knew about the two camera allegations, painted a picture of somebody who was relatively unstable. And if you're paying attention to James Tallarico, the same, very different than Graham Platner. But the same can be true. And you're talking about somebody who's gone out of their way to make as a core conviction this idea that trans children are why he is serving and why he intends to serve. Now, he covers that all up by like this sort of commitment to biblical principles. And we talked about this before on the program about how, again, Graham Platner was a Democrat's idea of a working class white male. James Talrico is a Democrat's idea of a religious court convicted, middle of the country, sort of salt of the earth

[Comfortably Smug]

individual and Christian specifically. Even though, like, as we've covered, he said some extremely horrific.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he's about. Let's, let's take another, let's take another whack at that pinata clip, too.

[Guest Commentator]

I'm always so, so thrilled when I get invited, you know, to the Diwali Festival. I think I've gone two years in a row now and, you know, also have gotten a chance to speak at some of our local mosques. And I find wisdom and comfort and inspiration from faith traditions all over the world. And I find that they're all kind of equal pathways to truth. You know, that's how I think. You know, I always think of all of the world's faith traditions as like a circle with, you know, that, that divine mystery of the universe in the middle. And we all have different names for that mystery, Right. Whether it's God or Yahweh or Allah or Nirvana, the Great Spirit, whatever you call it. This is all, you know, different pathways to the kind of fundamental truth of reality. So, yeah, it's something. It's how I try to stay grounded and stay rooted.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, sounds very grounded, very rooted.

[Comfortably Smug]

It does not sound evangelical in the least to me, and especially in the context of his previous comments of where he had. It was the God's non binary. Yeah. That he says God's non binary and that the conception of Christ, he said, was like an affirmation of abortion. He finds the most hideous ways to attack Christianity. And yet Democrats have tried to mold him as like, hey, Texas, here's your nice Christian young man.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. He's talked about God. So that's enough for us, right?

[Michael Duncan]

Because like it's profoundly unbiblical what he's saying. Like, you can be tolerant of other people's religion.

[Jalanda Jones]

Yeah, right.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't have any problem with that. But don't claim to be an evangelical conservative Christian and then deny the Bible and what it says about Jesus.

[Josh Holmes]

But basically right there in step one.

[John Ashbrook]

But that's, that's the thing. This is another example that proves what I was saying is that this guy. There's something weird about this.

[Comfortably Smug]

There really is.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, like most politicians, okay, you could be a Democrat saying, I want single payer health, I want, you know, I want free housing for everybody. You know, the things that the other Democrats are saying. And yet he is coming off like some sort of philosopher. It's like ideology. Here's my take on postmodern religion.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like, what the hell are you talking about, dude? You're asking people to let you represent them in the United States Senate. Okay, you got a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. Texas is a hell of a big state. But the reality is they're asking you to do a job, not like rewrite religious infrastructure.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, it's true. And we have a lot more on this guy. But before we do, I just want to level set for everybody who's not from Texas or you're not from Maine and you're like, yeah, these people are crazy. Like, it's interesting and fun and whatever these stories, but like, how does it relate to me? It's because it does. Because all of the Democratic candidates are elements of what it is that we're talking about here. Some do a better job of hiding it than others. And I'm not saying every Democrat's a pervert or every Democrat's a rapist or every Democrats are this, that and the other. I'm saying that the candidate they recruited this time around and the influence of the Bernie Bros. And the influence of the. Or the lack of influence and lack of leadership that today's Democratic party has, has basically given this country the worst sack of shit in terms of candidates that I've ever seen. Every one of them has a fundamental problem that is unidentifiable. If they were in your neighborhood, they wouldn't be invited to the cookout. If they were a part of your kids school class, that would be the Family that doesn't come to the welcome back to school.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're on the school grounds. They're probably breaking a law. They have to be 300ft away. I mean, let's be serious. This is, as Holmes described, one of the worst classes of candidates that Democrats have ever put forward. I think that highly reflects of the fact that we're seeing every day that there's a Democrat civil war.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Out in the open.

[Michael Duncan]

I think what Holmes said about leadership is the most important component of that, and that is the lack thereof a party that is rudderless. You know, there is no mechanism by which the party has a singular direction. And in that vacuum, you get the rise of the freak show.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right, Dude.

[John Ashbrook]

But you know what? That's their problem.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

That that doesn't need to become America's problem because they can't nominate a normal. Not saying, for example, there's no Bill Clinton's out there among Democrats being nominated for some congressional office. I'm not saying I would vote for him anyway, but at least you would be like, okay, this guy has a point of view that's sort of a little bit in the more mainstream. They don't have any of that. And that's their problem. It doesn't need to become America's problem.

[Comfortably Smug]

Something the other night that I saw Senator Fetterman say that I thought really is a key part of why we're seeing this kind of a meltdown among the Democrats. He was like, they asked, is there any kind of like a leader for the Democrats? Is there any kind of leadership? Because you're seeing an absence of it in the House where all the lunatics in New York took out incumbents, cuz Hakeem Jeffries has no control. So they asked Fetterman this and he was like, no, the only guiding principle for Democrats is tds. It's just Trump derangement. And they're counting on Trump derangement to win the midterm.

[Michael Duncan]

That's their only organizing principle because they

[Comfortably Smug]

have been unable to have any kind of a guidance of vetting, of bringing serious people forward. And that's why they end up with these platners. That's why they end up with these crazy DSA Marxist candidates that are taking out incumbents. That's why their party is spiraling. That's how you get Talarico.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you're totally right. And if you look at the issue set, you might say as a political party, like, okay, well, what are the issues that they would do differently from Donald Trump if you're trying to project some kind of a contrast, like, what would you do differently other than not Donald.

[John Ashbrook]

Trump. Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

And like most parties put together sort of a slapdash thing of just basic economic principles and foreign policy principles that they think are wrong and they would go in a different direction. They've done none of that. Remember, they shut down the government last year over healthcare and Obamacare, tax credits. Have you heard a word?

[John Ashbrook]

No, not one.

[Josh Holmes]

Have you heard a word? I have not heard a word. There's not one of them that are talking about it at all. They're afraid to raise issues because the controlling party within the Democratic Party right now is the Democratic Socialists. Yep. And if they were to spill open that Pandora's box, it gets super ugly in a hurry. First of all, doing all of the battling is anti Semitism. It is the tie that binds right now to the point where you get like previously sort of quote unquote, mainstream Democrats being like, yeah, well, you know where I'm at in genocide. As if they're like shorthanding genocide for what has happened in the Middle east and that means Israel.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the crazy part of this is hopefully they're starting to realize. They won't realize it, but like, we brought up the Scott Wiener situation where he even came out and he said, he said this is a genocide and they still chase him around. Yeah, it's never gonna be enough. You can never. You bend a knee to the mob one time, they'll never stop. They'll come right back. And so that's the thing is, like, they've made that Faustian bargain. They made the deal with the devil, and this is what you're gonna get.

[John Ashbrook]

But they have the anti Semites fighting against the TDS people, and none of them are answering the questions that your average voter is interested in asking. You know, just think back to 2024. Remember the campaign trail when Bill Clinton was in the state of Georgia and he was talking before an audience and he was like, you know what? This situation with Lake and Riley is messed up. Somebody needed to do something about that and they didn't. The next time that our president or we Democrats have president in charge, they have to do something to prevent a girl like Lake and Riley from being killed by someone who shouldn't be here. And all of them are like, what is he even talking about Bill Clinton? Why would he even say that? Total. Yeah, exactly. They're not even there. You know what I mean? Like, they're not even operating in reality right now. So.

[Josh Holmes]

But it's just we touched on this a little bit at last episode as it related to Graham Platner is just below the surface. Explains a lot of this because you're dealing with a lot of staff. Like, where do you get the staff? Where do you get the people who self select a career into Democratic politics today. Would you like to hear about James Tallarico's choice? According to the New York Post, Texas Democratic James Talarico hired the brains behind Cox Not Glocks, a protest to draft gun control bills. That's the name of the group called Cox Not Glocks. Oh, that's interesting. Okay, well, first of all, the writing. Fantastic. New York Post, as always, should have kept this in the holster.

[John Ashbrook]

Go on.

[Josh Holmes]

Is how they. But Democratic Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico tapped a former leader of a protest movement called Cox Not Glocks at the University of Texas at Austin to be his legislative aide, a job that included drafting gun control legislation. Anna Lopez helped Talarico craft three major firearm restriction bills that he rolled out in the state legislature, all of which failed to pass. Not surprisingly at all, Lopez took over the leadership of Cox Not Glocks, which once handed out more than 4,500 dildos at the UT Austin campus to protest a 2015 law allowing basically conceal and carry

[John Ashbrook]

George Soros money to 4,500 dildo being passed out on a college campus. You're doing great, George.

[Comfortably Smug]

And Talarico Investments. That's who's running my legislation. That's who he picks for that. There's a lot I want to say about this subject. There's a lot that should be said about this subject, especially about Talarico's interest in either of those things. But there's this group called the dscc, and Chuck Schumer's in charge of it, and they're very litigious people, especially when you tell the truth about James Talarico. I think a lot of people should go and Google maybe using these terms, see what pops up about James Talrico, because there's a lot out there.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. You got to look for yourself.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you're talking about the name of this particular organization that we just covered.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the one.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, interesting.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because I think a group like that has some components that might interest James Tally right now.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's just which one you have to decide.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, it's.

[Josh Holmes]

It's up to you, the listener, to come to the conclusion.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

That's very insightful. Smug. I appreciate the direction that you always point us here. In the ruthless variety program. Anyway, this is the kind of staff that we're dealing with. We talked about the staff that was like in the independent in Nebraska, Dan Osborne. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And then the cat who recruited Graham Platner or the, the guy with vocal fry who was in charge of the vetting documents for Graham Platner. I mean, these are the people ultimately that bear responsibility for who these candidates are.

[Josh Holmes]

And we're going to put a finer point on one of the Platner aides who managed to take a 15% rip on the whole operation here later in the show that you will love every second.

[John Ashbrook]

But you know what, if I can just say one more thing because you guys have talked ad nauseam about how Democrats have been run over. Democrat voters have been run over by the establishment cycle after cycle after cycle. And they have so many problems. But I think this is one of them in that it's like if you're watching that Wall Street Journal video that Michael Duncan just talked about with the guy with the glottal fry talking about how he came up with the idea that we need a guy like Platner. They are saddled with these candidates because the establishment on their side is so powerful, because Democrat voters do not have a say in their process. Like that is what empowers these consultants to be able to say, you know what, this is the kind of person that I think should run and therefore that's your candidate.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, but I disagree with that in one way. I don't think it's the establishment. I, I kind of think it's more like what smug was talking about last week with like, who is the vanguard of these left wing movements.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, it's okay.

[John Ashbrook]

You know what I mean?

[Michael Duncan]

It's the new establishment. It's the new Bernie bro establishment of consultants. And these people who come from Ivy League schools.

[Jalanda Jones]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

Or you know, they, they're maybe they're pals, school buddies with Graham Platner at Hotchkiss. Like they are the highly educated academia folks. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like the last person you would want to invite to like a Thanksgiving dinner.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But somebody who is now more or less appointed well heeled people who larp

[Michael Duncan]

as working class and they are the vanguard of left wing politics. Right. The vanguard of most left wing movements in the world are this. These sorts of people who actually have their finger on the pulse of what working class America wants. No, it ultimately is what Ashbrook's point is down. That's how it's still happening and it's the reason why There is a disconnect between what, what white working class voters in Maine actually want in the candidates they recruit.

[Josh Holmes]

Weird, emotionally broken, angry. Like it's just disconnected from your average American.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

And that, I mean, we see it time after time, which is why we sort of framed this subject about it. It's in Platner, it's in Talarico, it's in all of these candidates. Like you've never met or hung out with anyone, that you're in like a three second conversation at the Thanksgiving table. And you're like, oh, how's the gravy? And you're like, I'll tell you what it's not fucking doing. And you're like, whoa, dude.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's not acknowledging the land that we're on today, which is stolen.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, but it's like there's a weird sort of emotional detachment from society, from neighborhoods, from the way that everybody makes a living in this country.

[Comfortably Smug]

Can I tell you what it is, is these are fundamentally broken people. They're fundamentally broken people that came from houses, that they came from, families that had tremendous resources and did everything they could to provide these kids with the best step forward. And all they got from it was they sent them off to these Ivy League schools and these boarding schools that are now essentially left wing indoctrination centers. And so they were taught that like, no, the country that provided the opportunity for your family to do so good. The reason why you're not doing as well as them, it's not because you got a degree in basket weaving, communism. It's actually because America, America's a fallen nation and only Marxism can free us from the shackles of late stage capitalism. You know, like they are unwilling to accept that they are a failure as a result of their own decisions.

[John Ashbrook]

I think that you hit the nail on the head and I think that a lot of the breaking apart happened in college, where you have one set of people who are the elites who went to Swarthmore and their parents paid for their school. And then you have everybody else who went to a state school and they're still paying off their loans. Like that is where the breakdown starts. It doesn't explain everything, but it explains a hell of a lot.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it certainly explains a lot of why we're seeing more and more. Cause it's a 20 year project. I mean, we're well into the project of the left, of institutional capture of higher education. But if you want some yucks, particularly as it pertains to the state of Texas, you gotta get Jazzy Jazz back in.

[Michael Duncan]

I've missed her.

[Josh Holmes]

It's been a few weeks. It's been a few weeks. Of course, she was the primary opponent of James Talarico. And she's got some thoughts. Clip 3.

[Jazzy Jazz]

You see, a lot of haters got a lot of things to say about me and my race and how I ran it, but she went to boarding

[Comfortably Smug]

school, by the way.

[Jazzy Jazz]

There was a lot of racist. Not a lot. It was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is. Right. But we live in America. As y' all are celebrating 250. Okay. We know what this country is.

[Comfortably Smug]

It was a racist race.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, where to start?

[Comfortably Smug]

You know,

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, she's like, she even managed to throw 250 under the bus. Yeah, it's 250's fault.

[John Ashbrook]

What?

[Josh Holmes]

250 was the problem.

[Michael Duncan]

Liberal woman escapes accountability. News at 5.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's just, it's so good because it's always something. I mean, if you. There's never been a Democratic politician who's lost. They've lost because of some injustice. And she's got it.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's the thing is like, I really wish she had the courage to explain why she actually lost is that Chuck Schumer wanted Toriko.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, in that if she would be honest on that, she might not be wrong in the top line because there is.

[Comfortably Smug]

She sees like the outline of, of the problem here. She's seen just that. Like, like, it's like Plato describing allegory of the cave. She's seen the shadows just turn around, Jaz. You can almost see it. It's Chuck Schumer. He's back there with the lighter.

[John Ashbrook]

Listen, you talk about her courage. If she had the courage, she would run as an independent right now. She would gather her crew and she would run as an independent in Texas to be a part of the conversation and not just like a member on a panel.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, look, there's been a decade plus of candidates like Jazzy jazz, not quite as dynamic, but, you know, African American women accomplished in their own communities, either members of Congress or office holders or business people or whatever that Chuck Schumer has deemed unacceptable in a state.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, he has quite a track record on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. And so I don't know if she was pointing to James Talarico as the racist in the campaign maybe, but like there is a component to what Graham Platner was talking about in Maine and what jazzy jazz is talking about here in Texas. That is the Same and is undeniably true, which is they went after these people both guns blazing, and they have full command and control of a corporate media complex that will write and do whatever it is that they want them to do on a day to day basis. Now, we happen to think they're all psychos and they are, but nobody would ever know that that reads the New York Times if not for Chuck Schumer, the DSCC majority PAC and all those things. And they made damn sure that everybody thought that about Jazz Crockett. They made damn sure. Because once their guy that they first recruited, who's the cat that had to bow out because Jazzy Jazz ate his lunch, he won the primary in South Dallas. He's going to be Colin already. That was who they recruited for the seat. But Jazzy Jazz ate this guy's lunch, completely crushed him. And then Talarico, who was kind of like a throw in candidate, was like the last white man standing. And they're like, well, I don't think Jazzy Jazz is gonna, you know, if we get what we want in terms of a Texas ticket on the Republican side, we're gonna need to have something better than Jazzy Jazz. So they all just sort of like lumped in behind this Talrico cat. And then the similar profiles that came out, that came out about the oysterman.

[John Podoritz]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Came out about the biblical scholar. Right. Same thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

And it's, it's, it's so funny. It's their own fault they did this. They spent like a decade plus being like, every white male is a sexist Nazi rapist. And, and we have to purge them from the party. We don't want anything to do with them. The future is female. And then they get smoked in 2024. And like, ah, well, I guess we kicked all the white males. We, we need. Is there a white male in the building? Schumer's like, find one. And they're like, there's a guy, his name's Talrico. He's really weird. He's in the parking lot late. We don't know what he's doing. Bring him in here. We'll run that guy, give him a shot.

[Josh Holmes]

And we'll create this mythology that doesn't actually exist as they did with Graham Platner. But the racism thing is floating around the Talarico piece because she's not alone. Jazzy Jazz is not alone.

[Jalanda Jones]

On the 3A, Talarico has given out money to white GOTV organizations and white infrastructure, but in Hispanic infrastructure. But he's not giving it to black infrastructure. I have already told them, Roland, they need to pay for black infrastructure. They need to pay for media with you and not just cnn, you know, and other people like you. I've told them that we have people like using hit strategies with Terence Woodbury, who. No one polls black people better than him. We don't want no white polls because they don't know how to poll us. And for the most part, I've told them it takes money to get the vote out. Right? Inspiration doesn't get the vote out. So Talarico needs to pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win. If he continues to do what he has been doing, I believe Talarico is going to lose.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay? So I fully support that individual.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. I also believe Talarico is going to lose.

[Comfortably Smug]

Jalanda Jones. Fully support that message. Fuck you.

[Jalanda Jones]

Pay me.

[Josh Holmes]

I love it.

[Michael Duncan]

Tammany Hall. Wasn't that on the nose?

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, this, like, level of honesty from an elected official is so refreshing.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, and as Republicans, we've joked about this our entire. The walk around money, walking around money. And you'd always hear these stories. Eventually, when you get past September and October of every presidential election in the Democrat Party, you know, local activists and. Or Houston or Chicago, you know, would start to go to the media to tell stories about how. Really worried about turnout.

[Josh Holmes]

Turnout, it's not what it should be.

[John Ashbrook]

You hear it from the kids volunteering on your campaign, knocking doors. They're like, hey, I think Democrats might be paying people. Is that ever. You guys ever heard of anything like that? You think that's possible? Are they allowed to do that? You hear it every time. The kid, it's always the kids.

[Josh Holmes]

But you never have.

[Michael Duncan]

You never have a Democratic politician to camera being like, no, that's how it works. It's good. And we're not getting enough of that.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the specificity where she's like, listen, this is who you contact at this GOTV firm. This is his name.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

She was like, and this is the poster. You got to pay. Also the wiring instructions for my account. I love it.

[Michael Duncan]

In case it was unclear, we have created an intricate cottage industry that is a shakedown operation for the Democrat Party and you need to give us money or you're not gonna win.

[Comfortably Smug]

I love that so much.

[Josh Holmes]

I hope who we've helped paint for you on here on Funtime Friday in this first segment is just how fucked up this party is.

[John Ashbrook]

It is. And it's their problem. It doesn't need to be America's problem.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, it doesn't need to be America's problem. Do you want. Because that's what you get. You don't get, like, look, tall Rico is going to pay that toll.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep, he is.

[Josh Holmes]

For sure. That's all that took.

[Comfortably Smug]

For sure. That's exactly what that is.

[Josh Holmes]

That's all that took. Like you, you know, we should probably stay on that to see when that clears the FEC report. But it's coming because he. She just said like, you know, you need to pay us to go do.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

We need to do.

[Michael Duncan]

I can't wait for the press release. Historic investment in black voices and media.

[Josh Holmes]

And then she'll come out and be like, I think James Tal is the finest public servant this state has ever seen.

[Michael Duncan]

What a great campaign.

[Josh Holmes]

But again, that's what. How broken. There's nobody that's doing it just to do it. We're gonna give you a little bit after the break about the Platner campaign and much of this DSA socialist stuff and how it just perfectly slots in to this entire conversation. Before we do, we ask a question of the day. What do you think will bring down James Tallory? A lot to work with there. What do you think? Smug.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, there's a lot of things you'd probably go down for. Oh, I think it's a question that our audience is welcome to answer.

[Josh Holmes]

That's interesting.

[Jazzy Jazz]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Turn a phrase, if you will.

[Michael Duncan]

What a word. Smith

[Comfortably Smug]

Hemingway of our time.

[Josh Holmes]

When we come back, the cascading catastrophe following Graham Platner's withdrawal. And in more details and some things you might still have to keep an eye on right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so a lot's been written about the final hours of Graham Platner, you may or may not have seen the video. We're gonna put a little more texture to that in a second. There was a Politico piece inside the tense final hours of Graham Platner's campaign. Several of the embattled Maine Democrats closest advisors pleaded with him Wednesday strike a conciliatory tone in the announcement terminating a Senate campaign, according to two people familiar with the internal discussions. But the Progressive bucked their advice and made it a condition of dropping out of the race to get free reign to assail the establishment Democrats and blame them for a ignominious end to his rapid political rise. You could hear that, right? And for people, first of all, this is all theater.

[John Ashbrook]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

None of this shit is real. Like, even the story is not real.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's all fake.

[Josh Holmes]

It's all just trying to cater to inside these broken constituencies of the Democratic Party that we're talking about. Like the aides that have been blamed for running a totally unvetted, completely ridiculous candidate to try to capture a seat that they have to win, have to get out from underneath it. So they got to tell people, like, hey, we wanted to be conciliatory. Like, what about the guy with. It rolls in with the Nazi tattoo? Strikes you as particularly coach worthy when it comes to a tone debate.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's never going to happen.

[John Ashbrook]

No is not a word he typically responds to.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh my God,

[Michael Duncan]

geez.

[Comfortably Smug]

And he's not wrong, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

A word Smith on the end as well. But we wanted to point in one specific direction on the video that was filmed because as far as I know, this is brilliant.

[Comfortably Smug]

Catch everyone, perk your ears up.

[Josh Holmes]

This is very critical. I followed everything that has been written, printed or said on TV about this. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has said a word about what you're just about to see. In clip 4, you will see a strange. And it's going back through it. I think the only cut in the entire video, meaning it was all stream of consciousness.

[Comfortably Smug]

Straight to video. Like straight to straight face, one shot stream of consciousness. Except for one odd cut that Holmes caught.

[Josh Holmes]

One cut. Clip four.

[Graham Platner (clip)]

We banded together. We did it the way that we were told. We are supposed to make change and we won. And now they are not going to let us have it. Not if it's me. And so we're suspending campaign operations. I want to make clear, though, I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw the process needs to assure that comes next is reflective of the Mainers who on June 9th turned out and showed that they are desperate for A different kind of politics.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay, I intend.

[Josh Holmes]

Here's why. This is a big deal. And I can't believe we are the only people who are talking about this, because it strikes me as something that if I was in DSCC headquarters, I'd have fucking hives over. That's a problem, because the entirety of the conversation going into him doing that video was, will he get out? And can we convince him that he doesn't have the leverage that he actually has to do that? And can we move on and try to pick a candidate who we think can win? And what you were hearing vocally from the Platner campaign and the progressives and DSA is like, no, no, no, no, no, no. He may very well have to get out, but we're going to be the people who are in charge of appointing who replaces him because we won this election. And then you heard a secondary conversation from the Platner campaign itself that he, in fact wants to choose a successor, or at very least precondition, which we talked about in last episode and we outlined three, which I all still think are applicable here, that he would file the paperwork. Now, in that cut, he says he intends to file the paperwork. That is political speak for I haven't filed the paperwork. When you say. I've written a lot of speeches. When you say you intend, what you're doing is providing a wiggle room where if circumstances entirely change, I may not do it. That you don't use the word intend.

[John Ashbrook]

He is still negotiating with them.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes, 100%. That is still going on behind the scenes. And like Politico is not reporting it that way. Nope. They're. They're describing.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, everybody else wants to be like,

[Michael Duncan]

this is it, done deal, lights are

[John Ashbrook]

off, we're moving on to the next.

[Josh Holmes]

Democrats got what they wanted and because that is in service to their constituency, which is the Democratic Party. But that cut really irons it in. If you didn't get enough from the intend thing, you're looking at a video that is 11 minutes long. That is a stream of consciousness thought, very unpolished, certainly could never be confused for scripted. Says a lot of things the Democrats aren't gonna love in it attacks the establishment. There was only one thing that got cut, and it was whatever came after the intend.

[Michael Duncan]

The preconditions were dropping out, which you have to assume. I have to assume that is what that is.

[Josh Holmes]

And my question is, did Graham Platner know that got cut?

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, that's a great. I didn't even think about it because

[Michael Duncan]

it's totally possible he filmed this whole thing with all the preconditions as stream of consciousness. It would have been probably 12 or 13 minutes, not 11. And then somebody on staff. We don't know this. This is all conjecture. Cut that part out. And then that person posted on social

[Josh Holmes]

media, whatever it is, you don't have to surmise to know that whatever that moment was, they didn't want people to see. Now, you could say, oh, he sneezed and he fell over at his chair. He, you know, broke script and, like, wanted to cut or whatever. No, no, no. When you say, I intend to do something and then you take a deep breath and you look at the camera and it cuts right. And then the back, when it comes back, it's like, I'm gonna do all the right things.

[Michael Duncan]

But in fact, it even picks up at the process must be respected.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Which clearly tells you that was the dependent clause of some other thought that totally cut out of the thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's it.

[John Ashbrook]

But the word intend remaining is very significant in my mind because that is him signaling to the people who matter around Schumer that I'm not irrelevant to this process until Monday at 5pm well,

[Josh Holmes]

and then there was further news yesterday that broke in the afternoon that the campaign said they intend to file the paperwork Monday. Why is that significant? Well, at 459 on Monday, it no longer matters. Why wouldn't you file it Thursday? You already dropped out. Why wouldn't you file it Friday? That's a free day. I don't know if you can file over the weekend, but certainly Monday morning would be something that you.

[John Podoritz]

We can.

[Josh Holmes]

We'll file it Monday. There's negotiations happening here.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, there has to be. And there's also, I think, a more benign explanation other than like a staff revolt where it's like, this guy screwed this whole thing up. Let's cut out his demands and let's just railroad him. Right. End of campaign. So, yeah, there's also. It could be possible that they're like, you know what? These demands are too prescriptive. We've got all the leverage. Let's work this right up to the wire.

[John Ashbrook]

I think you're right. Until.

[Michael Duncan]

Until the very deadline. And because if it's prescriptive, then that's what we get. Let's negotiate. Let's let them worry about how bad we could want something.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's like. The thing is, if they have not put in the paperwork, the Democrat Party is sweating bullets because they still are at this moment.

[Josh Holmes]

While you're listening to us.

[Comfortably Smug]

And the thing is, this Platner story is now bigger than just this one idiot. You've got a media who tried to pat themselves on the back at the end of the other day being like, well, this is another example of how the media did its job. And it's like, really? Because we've now learned that the New York Times is willing to do capture and kill stories if they involve a Republican who was wronged.

[John Ashbrook]

Right? He's already like, what does he have to lose? You know what I mean? Every English speaking paper in the Western world has branded him as an alleged rapist. He's already branded as a Nazi. They already know he's crazy and capable of absolutely anything. So they're at a point where it's like, what do we have to lose? We have all the leverage and they need. Democrat establishment needs to come to us and meet some demand. Because if we don't sign this paper, then we're the same as we were before and still alive.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me just point back to what I think is like a more sinister view of all of this, which is you have a mainstream media, dutifully in a stenographer's pace, writing every shitty thing you could write about Graham Platner in a very narrow window of time, miraculously producing on set two camera testimonials that they weren't able to obtain for the previous eight months while everybody knew the story.

[Michael Duncan]

Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

They were doing all of. They were covering this as though it

[Comfortably Smug]

was like their neighbor, like, oh, local oysterman makes good.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, but they were just all over this campaign.

[Sean Hannity]

They were.

[Josh Holmes]

Every single scintilla he.

[Jalanda Jones]

They were.

[Josh Holmes]

They had live cameras outside of this man's house with cars parked in his yard. What will Graham Platner do next? Then he films an 11 minute video with one cut. And it was right at the point where he was going to lay preconditions for how he was intending to file paperwork. And not one of them fucking person, not one single journalist who's been covering this like it's a moon landing, is like, hey, what was that? Yeah, hey, what, what was that?

[Michael Duncan]

That was weird.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's weird that when he, Right when he was about to go totally off script, you cut. Like, what did he have to say there? Was there something important?

[John Ashbrook]

It's an easy story to write. Cut and platinum video gives rise to speculation. Yeah, easy story to write. Everybody clicks it.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, you only do that if you're not on board for the big win, which is Democrats getting what they want. That gets this guy out of the race. And so they just play ball with it. No, you're hearing this for the very first time.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody other than the ruthless Friday program has, has gone 10 minutes into this video and been like, ah, like the Leo DiCaprio. Yeah, meme.

[John Ashbrook]

It's because mainstream media today has a disease and it's, it has killed their curiosity. Partisanship has outstripped curiosity in media today. It's why you can't open up a newspaper and find what you want to find.

[Comfortably Smug]

Journalism they don't want. They're incapable now of, of figuring out what the story is themselves, accurately investigating it, reporting it themselves. They're like, why won't some operative just give me the lines for me to put copy paste into it? And if I do it for them, then they owe me a favor. They gotta leak me some shit. That's what's become of the media.

[Josh Holmes]

Every beat writer, cause we've done this job. Every beat writer in America that covers campaigns is now on the horn with every press secretary, anybody who will pick up the phone in the Democratic Party and saying like, so who is it that you guys are galvanizing? Who's you're choosing? Who is it here? Like, despite the main party being like, well, we're going to do this open convention and we're going to select things. They're like, yeah, but who is it that you guys are, are choosing? And they want that access. They want a little tidbit in there where they can break a story.

[Comfortably Smug]

And if you were to be like, wow, there's this really weird cut. As soon as it looks like he's trying to lay down, well, he's out. Like, well, take that journo off the list of people we're going to give the scoop to.

[John Ashbrook]

But, but see, but the thing is that that story is a fucking. It's bullshit. Somebody's going to write it anyway, someday, and it's bullshit until that, until it happens. It's like what you're giving up is the conflict that exists right now.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the second part of how messed up this is.

[John Ashbrook]

So much good stuff.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's like after Lindsey Fifield came out with that information about Platner, and the New York Times tries to paint the story as like, yeah, well, what she says isn't really important.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, there's just one half dozen or another.

[Comfortably Smug]

After that, it took this Democrat coming forward with rape accusations, and then Jake Tapper's got an interview with her the same way that Jake Tapper, when Biden's in office. Oh, well, you know, normal guy, he's doing cartwheels back there, you know, he's doing push ups. Really strong guy, drives a Corvette. And as soon as he's gone, I have a book deal, folks. Turns out Biden's brain was gone. You know, and the same way that they're gonna wait till Chuck Schumer can figure out what they're gonna do there, then maybe next year you'll get a book of. About the Platner downfall by Jake Tapper.

[Jalanda Jones]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

In the.

[Josh Holmes]

The. The crazy 48 hours before platinum.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're gonna wait till they can get book money off it, to tell you the truth, once it no longer can hurt Democrats chances.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me just say this for the record. If Graham Platner was anything that he claimed to be, if, if all the allegations against him are false, and I don't know, I don't think they are, certainly not the Nazi tattoo, we saw that with our own eyes and the Reddit posts and all that. So I think, think, like, look, the preponderance of evidence suggests this guy's not great. But if he's anything ideologically, as he explains, he wouldn't fucking go anywhere. He would look at these people on Monday and be like, you know what? You built a corrupt system. I'm running against it. Go fuck yourself. That's what he would do. But he's not. And the reason he's not is for the same AIDS that made that cut. Because they all want a future in politics things. Graham's not going to have one.

[Comfortably Smug]

Nope.

[Josh Holmes]

They're going to pretend like that guy never existed. But all the people who are trying to rip 15 off of his campaign, who made 10 million bucks over the last year because they found some oysterman who is not an oysterman.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's a Hotchkiss fisherman for his mommy.

[John Podoritz]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Mommy's little fish.

[Comfortably Smug]

Mommy's a little fisherman.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Those people are the people who are like, well, I got to stay in the good graces. So here's what we're going to do. Now we cut the video. Now we push him out. Out on to the next. On to the next.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

And they'll all be hired into whoever the bozo is that they come up with next. Which, by the way, is going to be a complete loser. I mean, they are. If they, if they were a decent candidate, they would have run. They would have.

[Michael Duncan]

Right? Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And, like, they can't. And the only guy that was in that mix, that Jared golden guy, the only person who I think can Read in the. Talking about in the Democrat, he was like, no, no, no, thank you. I don't want any part of that. And so, like, they're left with this, this crew. But the, the reason I bring up the staff is because New York Times also did a slow rolling disaster inside the implosion of the Platner campaign. Same thing as Politico. It's like, well, we can just tie a bow on the end of this and wash our hands of it. And now we've done what we need to do for the Democratic establishment and everybody else. Moving on, the initial headhunters, Dan Moraff and Leanne Phan. Remember when I told you that the initial headhunters when they interviewed them were not, like, as a expose of trying to find, like, who are the talented political professionals who are changing the face of politics. They needed a scapegoat for what they were ultimately going to do. Two perfect cast members of this because the vote, the. What do you call it? The fry.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it's glottal fry.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Where this dance. I mean, he couldn't even understand him. Like, you've never met anybody or talked to anybody that has anything like, going on. Like, this guy got. And first of all, if he was interviewing a candidate and you're a candidate and that guy shows up, you're like, get the hell out of my house.

[Michael Duncan]

This is why we got to bring bullying back in middle school. I mean, I'm sorry, but generally that sort of behavior is bullied out of you.

[Josh Holmes]

But they. So as they put him sort of. The initial headhunters, Dan Moraff and Leon Fan, and then third out of state operative they called up to Maine, Morris Katz, told Plat that he was the one, the hero of the movement, the historical figure who could be leading a revolution, according to a half dozen people with knowledge of their conversations. As Mr. Platner's star rose through the winter and early spring, Mr. Katz was privately promoting him as a future presidential candidate for as soon as 2028, if he won his Senate bid. There you get the bulwark.

[Comfortably Smug]

There you go. They're like, can we find some 80 who will actually buy into this? And JV last like, I'm that idiot. I'm here.

[Josh Holmes]

I can write that. That's great. So they go through this whole thing, and some of it is just incredible and impossible to believe. And in early June, Mr. Plattner found himself in a private meeting in Washington, facing questions from senators about whether more damaging revelations were yet to come. He promised there was nothing else. This is before the rape allegation, by law, the way, according to a person familiar with the discussion, by the way, they know it. They wouldn't ask the question if they didn't know. You know how they know it? Because the rape allegation was a part of the interview series for the New York Times that somehow Democrats got out of that text. The woman said when she reemerged to remake the rape allegation that she was so offended by not being a part of that story that she felt the need to come back out and do that. And who do all of these people interact with on a day to day basis? All the journalists that wrote the story and the press secretaries for Chuck Schumer, the dscc, the Majority pac. And they all knew they wouldn't ask the question if they didn't know. They already knew. They already knew, but they were perfectly fine with that because the polls hadn't suggested he was going to fucking lose

[John Ashbrook]

to Susan Collins yet, buddy. You know something else that strikes me? Remember that big meeting they all had? All the Democrats went to the DSCC like a month ago, right after that New York Times story broke and Graham Platner came down and he made his case to these members. That doesn't happen where you bring all the members together, where a candidate explains a bad story to them. That's not the way it works. The reason all those members came together is because their press secretaries and their consultants and their chiefs of staff were all telling them that there is a lot of bad shit about this guy, that everybody is talking about rape allegations and everything else and he could be a terrible candidate for us and we need to talk about it. And the story comes out. And they weren't there to talk about that story. They were there because they wanted to be assuaged that there wasn't more to that story. They'd been hearing more about it. That meeting was evidence that they all knew and they all heard before that New York Times story came out that this is a bad guy, that meeting is evidence and they didn't care.

[Josh Holmes]

And Chuck Schumer came out, we made fun of it at the time on the program when he came out after that meeting, gave the press conference and said, we are going to win the state of Maine. They said, well, what did you say to Grand Platter? We are going to win the state of Maine. What did you say to Grand Platter? We are going to win the state of Maine. That should have been a clue to you and everybody else who was listening. We said this at the Time. This dude is still up to shit.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

He's still looking at other options to try to get him off the ballot. And it was pulling the leash off of the corporate media to actually tell the story. And once he did, he knew he had four or five days to try to replace him as a candidate. Well, one guy who's in the middle of that, who did the 2028, is this guy Katz, Morris Katz.

[Michael Duncan]

He's kind of like the Svengali of this whole thing, right?

[John Podoritz]

Yep.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's attached with like, Mamdani. Like he is one of the operatives involved in all the Looney Tunes. This is his business.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And so I noticed this on X. I don't know what this podcast is. It's Liberation Information or something like that, but John Podoritz made a stunning accusation about.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's one of ours.

[Michael Duncan]

Cat's guy.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, I thought.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, interesting.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Oh, no, I didn't know it was Poter. It's. Yeah, no, he's been around for a long time.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's play that clip.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[John Podoritz]

Had a conversation yesterday with a, with. With a friend who was like, why? Where was the vetting? Why didn't they vet. And. And the whole point here is that the party is dead. These firms, these consultants are now the party. And what Morris Katz is looking for is somebody he can raise money off of and somebody not only he can run because it's exciting and he has this profile. And Morris Katz looks at it demographically and personally and thinks this is a great story to tell. But it becomes his campaign. He's the author of the campaign. He's got this frontman in, Graham Platner, that he's moving around like a GI Joe figure around Maine. Getting him to say this, getting him to do that, getting him to the other thing. And they're raising money hand over fist and he gets 15% of that money.

[John Ashbrook]

15%. Just simple industry standard, as you understand, Graham.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, just an Industry Standard 15.

[Michael Duncan]

In case the DSCC is litigious about this as well. We have no evidence of this. This is an accusation for a bunch of commies, man.

[Josh Holmes]

Although if you want to be litigious about it, I'd be happy to go into discovery about the 15.

[Jazzy Jazz]

Yeah,

[Michael Duncan]

I'd love to see their books.

[Comfortably Smug]

And also it just. It really furthers the cynical aspect of all of this. Morse Katz is not looking for authenticity. He's not looking for someone who actually is going to work to make their constituents lives better. He's looking for someone to put a costume on this is my oyster man. This is the working class man. He's not the Hotchkiss guy. He's not mommy's little fisherman. He's the Oysterman.

[Josh Holmes]

And how did the media brand it?

[Comfortably Smug]

Bingo. They buy it.

[Josh Holmes]

The oysterman. It was Graham Platner, Commerce oyster farmer, right?

[John Ashbrook]

Competitive pistol shooter.

[Josh Holmes]

Competitive pistol in profile after profile after profile. It's the manipulation that we're trying to outline for you that these guys have. I mean, they just as bifurcated as media has become, the big house organs are still the New York Times and all of the abc, cbs, NBC, Mississippi, now cnn, Politico. Like, they still own and operate all of that stuff.

[Comfortably Smug]

And then the Nazi tattoo comes out and they're like, oysterman, you know, he's just a hard working, working class kind of guy. And then Lindsay's accusations come out and they're like, well, he's just an oyster man. And then the polling comes out and he's losing to Susan and they're like, get the cars outside his house. He's gotta go.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, right? And then. And then the whole media and they did the same thing as you alluded to earlier, smug with Biden. They do this babe in the woods routine where they were.

[Comfortably Smug]

We were duped. This whole time.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody told us the truth. Ruth, Molly, Jong, Fast clip six.

[Sean Hannity]

You know, a lot of us. I interviewed him for my podcast. I've talked to his team. When the first New York Times article came out, I said, this reads sort of funny. What else is there? Is there something else coming out? And everyone told me up and down, absolutely not. And I think all of us heard that same thing from him, from his team. Nothing else coming out.

[Guest Commentator]

Out.

[Sean Hannity]

This is clearly a misunderstanding. There's nothing more coming out. We were sold an arc, right? A character arc of a person who had blacked out, but now no longer did that business.

[John Ashbrook]

Now, this is a woman who is sourced up entirely on the left, okay? And she is like, well, is there nothing else coming out? Like, why would you even ask that? I mean, based on the story, if the Annie Carney story is to be believed. Believed. Why would you even think that? To ask, like, is there anything else coming out? It's like, oh, here's a candidate in the state. I'm going to move on to a different state.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm going to ask a candidate in a candidate's campaign about whether there is super damaging stuff. And I expect them to be like, yeah, shit, I'm sorry that you asked, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

I wish you had.

[John Ashbrook]

She only asked the question because she's heard it from other Democrats who are like, this guy's a creep.

[Comfortably Smug]

And that's the thing.

[John Ashbrook]

And he's got a Nazi tattoo. And it's like. Like, she's like, well, how long do I dismiss the tattoo?

[Comfortably Smug]

Molly Jong Fast is another example of one of these rich kid lefties who developed zero skills, zero talents on their own. Her mother was a famous author who made a bunch of money. And she's just an idiot. She just said it herself. That's not, like, opinion. She's like, so here's the thing is I'm dumb. I'm wicked dumb. The campaign told me this story, and I'm just a stupid kind of gal. So I just listened and I said, this is a good story. Read me another bedtime story.

[John Ashbrook]

I took them at their wedding.

[John Podoritz]

Word.

[Michael Duncan]

Would I leave me another bed?

[Comfortably Smug]

Like, wait, you're. You're supposed to be, like, a journalist. He was just. I'm a podcast. And. And this. It was a. Story's a little funny. You know, it sounds really funny that he just threw a gal in a room and he slams the door closed. But she's a Republican, so I said it. He can do that. But, you know, there's a good story.

[Michael Duncan]

What I love about it is Molly Jong Fast talks about Graham Platner like, she's a college sophomore, and she's talking about her new boyfriend with her girlfriends.

[Jalanda Jones]

Oh, you know.

[Michael Duncan]

Know he used to black out a lot, but he's turned it all around. I swear, he's got a heart of gold.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's just that there's a Nazi tattoo on it. But we also gotta look past that. Like what?

[Josh Holmes]

It's just. It's a great little vignette because it ties the whole ball of wax together. It's the Civil War and the Democratic Party. It is the fundamental lack of leadership. It is the ideological driver behind the Democratic Party. It is the fact that there are consultants who are ripping 15% off of these candidates. They don't give a shit whether they can represent the state or not.

[Comfortably Smug]

Nope. Indifferent.

[Josh Holmes]

And just the indifference to your representation in the United States Senate or in the House or any level of government. They don't give a shit. It's all about the power. And again, if Graham Platner was polling 10 points ahead of Susan Collins, he'd be a Nazi tattooed, porta potty, masturbating Reddit commenter who is alleged of domestic violence and rape, who would also be their candidate.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's it. It's super sad. It's super cynical. And at the end of the day, for it to really come down to the common thread among all these lunatic left wing candidates of this guy Morris Katz. Matt's taking his alleged 15% rip off the top. He's like, I need you to get out there. I need you to say we're going to tax the millionaires. I got to get on the phone with my banker. We got to figure out what to do with the liquidity.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe we get a cutout for consultants or something. All right, you guys want a little bit more variety?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

There's some interesting stuff out there. I hate to go back to my home state, but I feel like when Wolf has taken too much heat over California, he just points it right back at me. Me in Minnesota there is a mayor, mayor St. Louis park mayor Nadia Muhammad. Just a quick backstory. I grew up generally in this area. It's a suburb of Minneapolis, a little closer to Minneapolis than where I grew up. But it was the most Jewish suburb of Minneapolis, the most concentrated. Well, apparently all that's changed because their new mayor is Mayor Muhammad. And Mayor Muhammad had a very interesting way of celebrating America. 250 Clip 7 Allow me to offer

[Sean Hannity]

my sincerest apology for daring, for having the audacity to take vacation time to go see family members I have not seen in 10 years. Allow me to apologize for utilizing the federal holiday that we have and the time off that we have to be able to go see my grandmothers in which I have not seen in 10 years, in which six of those years I have worked diligently to serve the good people of St. Louis Park. I am so sorry. How inconsiderate of me.

[Josh Holmes]

So that was, if you couldn't tell. A little tongue in cheek of an apology didn't seem like a lot of sincerity.

[Michael Duncan]

A lot of hand talking.

[Josh Holmes]

A lot of hand talking. She had gest and all the like. But what was it she was apologizing for? So America, 250 big time across this country, celebrating this country. If you're a mayor of a locality, certainly that's something that you want to commemorate.

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe a parade.

[Josh Holmes]

Where do you think she went?

[John Ashbrook]

Cut a ribbon or something?

[Josh Holmes]

Somalia.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, geez.

[Michael Duncan]

She went to.

[Comfortably Smug]

So, you know, I think it's definitely a sign that someone has assimilated into America and integrated themselves with their local community when they choose to spend the fourth of July in Somalia. I think it's a tremendous sign that the immigration system's working as intended, that you have an elected official who's like, I am an elected official in the United States of America. And on its 250th birthday. I'm in Somalia.

[Michael Duncan]

It's like a husband spending Mother's Day at the golf course.

[Josh Holmes]

Just like that. Just in case you wanted to give her just a little bit of reasonable deference. She said grandmothers, people that she hadn't seen in 10 plus years. How did she spend her time? Well, her visit was made alongside the country's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohammed.

[John Podoritz]

Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

Ah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm guessing that's not her grandmother.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't think that's her grandmother. I don't know that. I mean, there is.

[Michael Duncan]

Could be.

[John Ashbrook]

This is 2026 after all.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, one is Muhammad with an E and the other one is Muhammad with a U. So possibly no relation. I don't know how they do that, but it doesn't seem like her grandmother, Hassan Sheikh. I don't know.

[Comfortably Smug]

There is, I guess it could be considered a silver lining to the story. Fox News Digital reports that Muhammad, the woman you just saw, remains in Somalia.

[Michael Duncan]

She's still there.

[Comfortably Smug]

However, the city did not provide a return date. When asked, I would recommend President Trump, if you're listening, just, just cut off the return date. I think there should be a special election. They should find someone in Minnesota excited to serve the people of Minnesota as an elected representative in America. I think that's a very small ask. That's like when you take an oath of office. You'd kind of think you get the message there. But if you're like, Fourth of July seems like a good time for Somalia. I just don't get it. I just don't get it.

[Josh Holmes]

Council member Yolanda Farris is currently performing her duties while she's away. So have no fear, St. Louis Park. You're all in good hands.

[John Ashbrook]

Must be an important job if she doesn't even have to be there for it.

[Michael Duncan]

The Al Haig of our time.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right. And in another one, this hits a little bit closer to home to folks in D.C. because they have to elect a new mayor. Well, there's a socialist that's poised to do such a thing. And here's her. And clip a courtesy of the free beacon. In 2022, you voted for a resolution that recognized the Holocaust remembrance alliance, or ihra, definition of anti Semitism, which conflates criticism of Israel with anti Semitism. As mayor, how will you protect the First Amendment rights of Palestinian organizers, student organizers, community organizers, particularly those advocating for

[Comfortably Smug]

Palestinian rights from potential prosecution or deportation

[Josh Holmes]

or other legal ramifications?

[Jazzy Jazz]

Yeah, I want to say, you know, without going diving too much into it, if this vote came up today, I would not vote for it. As mayor, I will fight against unjust repression of pro Palestinian activists. And even as we right now plan for what a transition looks like, I'm excited to be in conversations and organizing. We're going to be organizing conversations around how do we do just that? How do we fight against the unjust repression of pro Palestinian activists, but also how do we support our pro Palestinian. Our Palestinian community members and activists? And I look forward to.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's like, I regret voting against anti Semitism. In hindsight, I would vote for anti Semitism. Can I get a freeze frame on the clown who was asking the question? First off, how does she not have. First off, it says Curtis H. He him. So, you know, this is not someone to take seriously. This is actually someone to dunk on. Given the opportunity, he gives this, like, little speech of like. So I want to go back to this anti Semitism vote that you took in the priest. Why do you not dunk on the guy? He knows he deserves to be dunked on. He sounds like an idiot. He's trying to be like, because this conflates that anti Semitism is bad. And I think we're all in agreement here that that's actually what's on the menu, what we all support here.

[Michael Duncan]

I love the legalese of, like, well, you know, what they want to do is conflate criticism of Israel with anti Semitism. And it's like, we saw what happened on campuses. You want to scream from the river to the sea in the face of Jewish students. That's what you want to do. You want to talk about globalizing these

[Josh Holmes]

two things, Boy, the imagination.

[John Ashbrook]

Also, she's running for mayor of Washington,

[Josh Holmes]

D.C. that's the best point.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, how about a road that's not fucking closed off, for crying out loud? How about you get those projects underway? How about you can walk on the sidewalk without getting mugged? Or like, your car getting carjacked?

[Comfortably Smug]

They're like, the mayor of D.C. could I understand your foreign policy?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, exactly.

[Comfortably Smug]

Alexandria.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

What are we talking about?

[Jalanda Jones]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

The Roosevelt Bridge. Is that what the foreign policy is? I mean, dude, it is. It is bonked. We saw that with the DSA and the state senator in New York, where they were like, finally a voice for Palestine. It was like, Gaza was on the ballot. Gaza was on the ballot. It was like, dude, no, they're voting literally for potholes. We're not for potholes.

[John Ashbrook]

You actually have a job to do. When you're mad mayor, right? Like a city. People who vote for you depend on you to do a list of things that actually impact the city, not what's going on overseas. And I feel like we're five to 10 years away from some activists being like, will you change the name of Washington D.C. to Istanbul?

[Michael Duncan]

You know what?

[John Ashbrook]

Like it's, it's not, it's not that far off.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it makes you want to drink, fellas. But if you do, you need Zebiotics first. We're firm believers here in the ruthless variety program of a game changing product that you can use before all night outs called ZBiotics Smug.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's right. So Zebiotics, there's a simple reason why we like it, is it's because it works. You may go out, you may have a fun night and you think when you get home, well, I had a few drinks, I better drink some Gatorade or I better drink four glasses of water.

[John Ashbrook]

Water.

[Comfortably Smug]

And you wake up in the morning and you still don't feel great. And that's because it's not dehydration that you're suffering from. When you have alcohol, your stomach breaks it down into these toxic little byproducts. The good news is Zbiotics knocks it right out.

[Michael Duncan]

And Zbiotics is critical this summer. Kids are out of school. They're going to camp every single week. You gotta ferry them all around town. You gotta feel your best. Especially when you got all these events in the summer that a man likes to have a cocktail at.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's right.

[John Ashbrook]

And it's developed by PhD scientists. So you know that it is backed by a high level of education. And it's why we always say there is no tomorrow without Zebiotics today.

[Josh Holmes]

That's exactly right, Johnny. So go to zbiotics.com ruthless to learn more. You get 15 off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Zebiotics is backed by 100 money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason at all, all they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Head to zbiotics.com ruthless use the code ruthless at checkout for 15% off. All right, I got to get one more here, Mom. Donnie kind of remap New York. And it turns out okay. Turns out some people got pretty pissed off about it. Graphic 1 if you want to just toss that thing up the the New York Post reported that Mayor Mamdani's map of the of New York City immigrant neighborhoods sparks outrage for ignoring Little Italy Terrible mistake, it's called.

[Comfortably Smug]

So this is the thing. When you let these crazy people in, they're going to redraw the maps. Normally, I think that Italians and especially the criminal proclivities among that community should be held to account. But I think the greater threat here is you've got Mamdani, who's redrawn the map from the river to the sea right there. You're seeing it from the Hudson right there. He takes little Italy off the map, but he puts little Palestine on the map. There's no map on earth that Palestine exists.

[John Ashbrook]

It's little palace.

[Comfortably Smug]

There's no Palestine anywhere on the map in the planet. No one's ever heard of. There's even the wildest one was. It was like little blood Tibet or something like that. Like, he's making up countries at this point.

[Sean Hannity]

Point.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait, there's nothing on here about Irish.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I mean, there's no little Ireland. Let's get out of here.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you're telling me.

[John Ashbrook]

You're telling me there's no.

[Comfortably Smug]

You're telling me there's no weekends, you can find plenty of Irish.

[John Ashbrook]

There's no Irish in New York.

[Josh Holmes]

Not anymore. Ethno cleansed.

[Guest Commentator]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it's dude, like gangs of New York does not exist. No question about no Italians, no Irish.

[Comfortably Smug]

I want to see the Italians rise up and they need to hold Mamdani accountable. This is an outrage. This is like, what's it gonna take, folks? What is it gonna take?

[Josh Holmes]

It's a good opportunity to prove yourself to comfortably smug to get over.

[Comfortably Smug]

The streets should be filled with Italians who demand to be recognized for their many years of service. Like, here's the thing. It comes down to two things. Italians, they're the lesser of two evils here. It's like, you know, we've all seen good fellas. You get Italians, they see a plane, they might find the cash, they'll take it off the boat. A lot of these Mamdani's folks, they take a plane, they don't want to land it. They want to fly it somewhere else. So it's up for New Yorkers to decide.

[Michael Duncan]

My God, this is off the rails.

[John Ashbrook]

They don't want to land it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow. And that's my take.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's the news. Oh, fantastic. There's perhaps one more thing that we need to get to this week. Our audience deserves it. These are the kind of hard news stories that we are committed to.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm worried about this one.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's according to New York Post, but there's an arsonist out there, fellas. And we hate arsonists. We really do. This one in particular has a unconventional incendiary technique that he is using. And this gentleman cuts off his penis.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my goodness.

[Josh Holmes]

And then he uses it to start a blaze in his neighbor's garage.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's the headline. That's the headline, folks.

[John Podoritz]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Can we put up graphic too? This is the suspect areas. Now, he doesn't really look worse for wear when you consider the ordeal that he's put himself through. Sure, he's an arsonist, but he did have to cut off.

[Comfortably Smug]

It'd be fair to say he's totally nuts at this point. And also, it's like there's a literacy program issue here where when he's trying to read the directions for a Molotov cocktail, clearly the wrong info. Maybe it was bad AI. Maybe he's one of these fake Chinese AIs that's like, well, here's how you make a Molotov cocktail.

[Josh Holmes]

What a goof.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's a huge problem. Directions unclear to the next level. Level of what this guy has done here. And it says here she's from Fort Wayne.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is this one of those weird Indiana things?

[Michael Duncan]

Weird Indiana things, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Is this what Indianans is the Hooers? This is. Now you're taught to start fires with your penis.

[Michael Duncan]

No, I mean, like, this is the danger of electing a guy like James Talarico. You know, mutilating genitals is the thing he thinks about all day.

[Comfortably Smug]

Amazing. Clearly he went full tyre, Rico.

[Michael Duncan]

Clearly this was inspired by that.

[Josh Holmes]

This guy, by the way, is Chris Peden. Oh, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Never had a chance. This guy was.

[Josh Holmes]

Now he knew it was. It was. It was written in the stars. I'm sure everyone has a lot of questions about this, and I will endeavor to try to get to the bottom of most of it. New York Post has done the heavy lifting. A fire bet a firebug in Indiana cut off his own penis, dumped gasoline on it, and then used it to light a blaze inside a neighbor's garage. According to police, Christopher Peden of Fort Wayne allegedly copped to giving himself a shaft.

[Jazzy Jazz]

Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

After first claiming he was stabbed. According to court documents, Peten told cops he, quote, unquote, harmed himself. That's understating it.

[John Podoritz]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

There wasn't like a rag around you could have used.

[Josh Holmes]

The only thing to light on fire here is my penis. I mean, so he set it ablaze and inside the garage before Wayne home cutting off his penis with a kitchen knife on May 6 during the Totally nuts kindling plan. According to the New York Post, he poured gasoline on his severed genitals and set it on fire on the floor of the garage just inside the door. According to court documents. When Peat and ladder later ran in into police, he claimed he'd been slashed in the city's downtown area. But soon cop that he was being dishonest about the stabbing and told investigators that he wanted to be truthful. This is a man who cuts off his penis, who has integrity. That's what you look for.

[Michael Duncan]

Clearly he's got some sort of mental

[John Ashbrook]

condition going on here.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

We've got a mental health crisis in this country.

[Josh Holmes]

Investigators collected evidence from the garage and

[Comfortably Smug]

can we be honest? I feel like we have enough under incarceration issue in this country. It's like, I do not want to hear any story about this guy being back on the streets. You know what I mean? Like, how many signs do you need that someone needs to be put in a concrete cell and locked away forever? I feel bad for the neighbor. What did that garage ever do?

[John Ashbrook]

Like, you know, what did the neighbor do?

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I don't know. But like, he must have done something pretty bad. The neighbor must have really been a problem. I mean, look at to the extent that this gentleman went to, to try to set ablaze and I assume all

[Michael Duncan]

for not, you know, you throw that

[Josh Holmes]

in, it doesn't seem like it burns

[Michael Duncan]

out and then somebody sweeps up the ashes of your penis into.

[Comfortably Smug]

I cannot understand. Was he trying like, did he have like a moment of clarity after he did this crazy messed up thing of like trying to cauterize himself? Is that what happened here?

[Josh Holmes]

No, I don't think that was it. Pretty much. It seems like he was trying to start the fire with the penis.

[Comfortably Smug]

It wasn't like he's got to get locked up. Fire definitely lock up forever.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Can you imagine if you're that neighbor and you come home to watch the ball game or something and you got your kid, you're just like talking everything and all of a sudden garage doors up. Oh, that's kind of weird. The garage. What's that smoke? There's some. Is there smoke coming from the garage? And then you walk out and you see this guy.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a very small fire with his,

[Comfortably Smug]

with this, with his blood.

[Josh Holmes]

There was nothing in the article. Article that explained the extent of the blaze. Maybe this man had a duraflame in his pants. I don't know.

[Michael Duncan]

I do want to know what the neighbor did. Yeah, I need to know.

[Josh Holmes]

I have to know, we need to find more out about Chris Peaton and his Duraflame penis.

[Michael Duncan]

Chris. Chris. No Peeden. No more Chris.

[Josh Holmes]

No more Peeden. Fiery Peden. It's a tough story. We hate the end of the week with it. We got to do a couple comments and then we'll get out. We're not going to leave you with that. Our comment, when you like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program, is something we ask and we get back to every episode with your. Your best comments. Our comment from last episode was, will Platinum drop out? And if he does, like what happens there? And you had a variety of comments, some on topic, some not. But we will get to all of them. In doing that, we start with the

[John Ashbrook]

voice first one from Lone Star state of mind. Who said question of the day. Platinum has dropped out. Left will hire Helen Keller's vetting firm to vet the next one just as thoroughly as they vetted Platner.

[Josh Holmes]

Well done. Well done. Comment 2, dunks or uncs?

[Michael Duncan]

Comment 2 is from bartman2 3 1. Wasn't Bartman the guy who took the ball.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, maybe it's that guy.

[Michael Duncan]

The. The Cubs, that is.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, we have a big audience.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. It could be he's been in hiding.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Poor guy.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Anyway, how much did they pay Platner to drop out?

[Comfortably Smug]

We're gonna.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, the allegation has been made that people were being paid.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's being negotiated, as we discussed in segment one.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a moving target, partner.

[Josh Holmes]

That's exactly right. Comment three, Smuggles.

[Comfortably Smug]

Comment three is actually criticisms of Holmes judgeship in King of the Hill on yesterday's episode, which, I mean, honestly, I always stand with the. With a fair court. But here's what the folks had to say. Podcast seven writes Josh Holmes, the Judge Boseberg of Internet jurisprudence. And then Bowse Groves wrote ketanji Brown

[Josh Holmes]

Holmes

[Comfortably Smug]

and mwilk24 said impeach Holmes. So folks were not a fan of that. I thought it was fair.

[Michael Duncan]

I was surprised.

[Comfortably Smug]

I believe in a fair court.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, I noticed this as well. There were other comments and some traffic on Twitter. People were very surprised how quickly you folded.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, again, like I said during that episode, the material that I had that week for Smokin Joe was absolute trash. And then we even let Ashbrook drop a couple of what Bill Crystal had. And it wouldn't have been close. It would have been close.

[Michael Duncan]

You used to fight.

[Josh Holmes]

Well.

[Michael Duncan]

He's gotten soft in his advanced age.

[Josh Holmes]

He understands the turnabout is fair play.

[Michael Duncan]

But you see what happens? You have a kid and you lose that drive.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, wow, what an insult. I think you should judge the out of him when he comes up.

[Comfortably Smug]

I certainly will.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Good.

[John Ashbrook]

I think Michael is the judge next week. And might I say that that man runs a very fair court.

[Michael Duncan]

Would you look at that?

[Josh Holmes]

This is all become a lobbying routine. This is nothing to do with your case any longer. We're going to have to rethink some guidelines, maybe some court reform.

[John Ashbrook]

Court preform.

[Josh Holmes]

Our question of the day is what will bring down James Talrica?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, a lot. A lot of interesting responses I'm looking forward to seeing on that one.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, we're looking forward to all of it. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program, we read all of them, so make them good because you want to entertain us while you're at it. Please do. Anyway, I always appreciate that. We'll get back to you on Tuesday. Big week next week. We're doing a lot of fun things. I know you're going to enjoy it with that. Fellas. I think we did it.

[Comfortably Smug]

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

[Josh Holmes]

Sam.