Trump’s Most Important Executive Orders

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Summary: "Trump’s Most Important Executive Orders"
Release Date: January 23, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook delve deep into the significance of former President Donald Trump’s latest executive orders. Released shortly after his re-election, these orders mark a strategic shift intended to reshape various facets of American governance and society. The hosts analyze the implications of these actions, contrasting them with the previous administration's approaches, and discuss the broader impacts on the culture and political landscape of the United States.

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Overview of Executive Orders

Josh Holmes sets the stage by highlighting the stark differences between Trump’s current executive orders and those from his prior tenure:

Josh Holmes [00:00]: "You'll recall the first time around, each executive order that came out, there was a banner headline. And they're like, activists erupt and court challenges are here, there and everywhere. And like this time around, you're not getting that."

The hosts emphasize that Trump’s current approach is more precise and legally sound, reducing the immediate backlash and legal challenges that plagued his previous orders.

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Birthright Citizenship

One of the pivotal executive orders discussed is Trump’s stance on birthright citizenship, a direct challenge to the 14th Amendment.

John Ashbrook [00:13]: "That is the funniest part about this, is seeing the left's reaction in this executive order. And it's like these people on every other issue believe in a living constitution that can be amended on the fly, but you talk about birthright citizenship and they're like, no, our framers were geniuses."

The hosts trace the historical context of birthright citizenship back to the Reconstruction era, emphasizing its original purpose of granting citizenship to formerly enslaved individuals. They argue that the current interpretation incentivizes illegal immigration, citing examples like individuals traveling to the U.S. late in pregnancy to secure citizenship for their newborns.

Michael Duncan [11:17]: "In 2025 world, it becomes an incentive to be illegal because it's like, okay, if we just make it across that border."

Legal challenges are already underway, with 22 Democratic states suing the administration over this policy.

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Designating Cartels as Terrorist Organizations

Another significant order involves classifying Mexican cartels and similar organizations as foreign terrorist entities.

Josh Holmes [17:21]: "This is an executive order designating the cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations. That's a big one."

The podcast underscores the severity of cartel activities, including drug trafficking and violent crimes, which have reportedly resulted in the deaths of up to 300,000 Americans annually. By designating these groups as terrorist organizations, the executive order empowers law enforcement agencies to take more aggressive and legally supported actions against them.

Michael Duncan [19:41]: "This is a terror organization. This is essentially the Taliban in Mexico with military caliber weapons terrorizing the population."

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policies

Trump has issued an executive order dismantling DEI initiatives within the federal government and encouraging corporate America to follow suit.

Michael Duncan [25:56]: "He had an executive order dismantling DEI policies at the federal level."

The hosts argue that DEI departments have been a drain on resources and foster division rather than unity. The order not only puts DEI employees on leave but also signals to private corporations to halt their DEI programs, leading to immediate layoffs and budget cuts.

John Ashbrook [26:55]: "It's a complete racket."

They contend that DEI initiatives were more about enforcing a particular political ideology than promoting genuine diversity and inclusion.

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Energy and Environment

Trump's executive orders also focus on bolstering America’s energy sector by promoting oil and natural gas resources.

Josh Holmes [04:00]: "It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources."

The hosts praise these measures for ensuring reliable and affordable energy, which they argue is essential for economic growth and national security.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Technology Policy

A forward-looking executive order prioritizes substantial private sector investment in AI infrastructure.

Josh Holmes [56:05]: "President Donald Trump set about defining his new administration's technology policy... a massive private sector investment in infrastructure for artificial intelligence that could reach $500 billion."

The podcast highlights the competitive race between the U.S. and China in AI development, stressing that America must lead to maintain technological supremacy and ensure ethical standards.

Michael Duncan [60:02]: "This creates having this large of investment in AI... a race between China and America... AI can cure cancer."

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Inauguration Speech: Listener Comments

The hosts feature listener feedback on Trump’s inauguration speech, showcasing diverse perspectives that align with conservative values.

Cheryl from Manilapan, NJ [45:10]: "Americans pushed thousands of miles... If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve."

Katie Bug [46:05]: "For all the lib talk about how racist he is... you will be judged by your merit and not by the amount of melanin you contain."

Allison Esquivel [47:33]: "Reassurance that our slighted and disrespected military be given back their careers with back pay."

These comments reflect appreciation for the themes of unity, meritocracy, and support for the military presented in the speech.

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Woke Bishop Incident

A noteworthy and controversial segment involves a bishop's attempt to influence Trump’s policies on LGBTQ+ issues.

Bishop Marion [50:40]: "Millions have put their trust in you... there are gay, lesbian and transgender children... the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals."

The hosts respond vehemently to the bishop’s statements, criticizing the conflation of immigration with LGBTQ+ issues and denouncing her rhetoric as dangerous and misleading.

Michael Duncan [52:05]: "There are not gay, lesbian, transgender children... activists and crazy people are telling them... irreversible damage has been done."

They advocate for stringent measures against such ideologies, including revoking tax-free status for organizations and individuals promoting what they deem harmful narratives.

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Social Media and Political Battlefield

The podcast features a segment called "King of the Hill," where the hosts mock tweets from conservative figures like Adam Kinzinger and Rick Wilson, portraying them as ineffective and out of touch.

Adam Kinzinger [65:14]: "They have convinced themselves Trump, who isn't president, is responsible for the ceasefire... cultiest cult ever."

Rick Wilson [67:58]: "The hollow triumphalism of the people on this platform who think they're not going to get f**ed over by Donald Trump will never get old."*

Through satire and critical commentary, the hosts argue that these figures are failing to support Trump’s agenda effectively, furthering division within the conservative movement.

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Cruise Ship KKK Costume Mishap

Adding humor to the episode, the hosts recount an incident where cruise ship staff unintentionally dressed as KKK members, mistaking the costumes for snow cones.

Comfortably Smug [74:42]: "They thought it was something else."

The episode humorously critiques the lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity, drawing parallels to broader societal misunderstandings.

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Conclusion

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts reiterate their support for Trump’s executive orders, emphasizing their potential to restore traditional values, strengthen national security, and promote economic prosperity. They encourage listeners to engage with their content, share their viewpoints, and remain steadfast in their political convictions.

Josh Holmes [78:21]: "Remember, listeners, subscribe to YouTube. Hit that like button, leave a comment and we will see you on Tuesday."

The episode closes with a playful segment of banter among the hosts, reinforcing the camaraderie and unified stance of the team against opposing political ideologies.

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Notable Quotes

• Josh Holmes [00:00]: "Each executive order that came out, there was a banner headline. And like this time around, you're not getting that."

• John Ashbrook [00:13]: "These people on every other issue believe in a living constitution... but you talk about birthright citizenship and they're like, no, our framers were geniuses."

• Josh Holmes [04:00]: "Building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources."

• Michael Duncan [11:17]: "It becomes an incentive to be illegal because it's like, okay, if we just make it across that border."

• Michael Duncan [19:41]: "This is a terror organization. This is essentially the Taliban in Mexico with military caliber weapons terrorizing the population."

• Katie Bug [46:05]: "You will be judged by your merit and not by the amount of melanin you contain."

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Final Thoughts

The Ruthless Podcast's episode on "Trump’s Most Important Executive Orders" provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic moves by the Trump administration to redefine American policies across immigration, security, DEI, energy, and technology sectors. While the discussions are unapologetically partisan, they offer listeners insight into the conservative viewpoint on these pivotal actions shaping the future of the United States.

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For more in-depth discussions and analysis, subscribe to the Ruthless Podcast on your preferred platform and join the conversation shaping America’s path forward.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

You'll recall the first time around, each executive order that came out, there was a banner headline. And they're like, activists erupt and court challenges are here, there and everywhere. And like, this time around, you're not getting that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

That is the funniest part about this, is seeing the left's reaction in this executive order. And it's like these people on every other issue believe in a living constitution that can be amended on the fly, but you talk about birthright citizenship and they're like, no, our framers were geniuses.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, Right, Exactly. I don't have to tell you Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future, a better future for our families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives. Reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth, and the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more saf secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of [e-mail].

[Comfortably Smug]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

Just catching strays over here.

[Josh Holmes]

You're in for a hell of a show.

[Michael Duncan]

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

[Comfortably Smug]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Welcome back to the Ruthless Friday program. It is a good Thursday to you. We're going to cover a lot of ground here today. I'm Josh Holmes, comfortably smug. Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook, left, right across your radio dial. As always, you may have noticed that Washington's working a little bit more expeditiously than you may be accustomed to over the last four years. It turns out the guy that was there before, and not exactly on his A game, a little sleepy.

[John Ashbrook]

Not a lot of pep in his step.

[Josh Holmes]

A little sleepy. That's part of it. And then the guy that came in.

[Michael Duncan]

Now, holy smokes, he's not taking a break.

[Josh Holmes]

Holy smokes.

[Michael Duncan]

There are no breaks on this train. We saw so many executive orders going out. We're talking about all the campaign promises. It's like, check your watch. It's been 30 minutes, another one's been kept. You know, he's moving fast, fast, fast.

[Josh Holmes]

It is really incredible. And look, just visually, even if you're not paying attention to what's coming out, and we're gonna get into all of that, but if you're not paying attention to that, the idea that you have Joe Biden saying, like, I don't know, eight good words over the last six months, in public. And then in the first full day, you had Donald Trump do not one, but two unwieldy open press conferences answering any question that anybody will throw at them. It comes as a little bit of a shock to the system, to people around here. What a welcomed surprise.

[Michael Duncan]

And again, Ashbrook has said this a million times. The press has essentially been either, A, asleep during the day or B, when they're summoned by the White House, told what to say. And they're not used to, like, having to show up to work. A lot of the federal employees aren't used to showing up to work. The press is the same way.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, he's got an E. O for that. Yeah. About showing up for work.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Have you guys seen this chart that Elon is moving around? It's the percentage of office space that's actually been occupied by federal employees. And, like, one, I think it was like the Department of Energy was like, eight people are going into the office every day in their space for, like, 4,500 people.

[Josh Holmes]

No way.

[Comfortably Smug]

And if you calculate out the percentages, it goes to 0% of the spaces occupied.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. We're going to have to rename it the Department of Low Energy.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing is, we've all been paying for that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And we didn't hear this information before because for the previous administration, this kind of stuff was acceptable. It became the norm of you don't show up to work. And I know a lot of people, and I'm one of you, is like, well, if there's less bureaucrats, you know, that means that they can't mess more stuff up. Well, they're just sitting at home under their jammies, you know, occasionally deciding, here's another horrible idea.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm choosing to mess stuff up anyway. Right. But they're doing it for the comfort confines of their own homes. The other thing it does, honestly, is probably have an attrition rate associated with it. When you make a whole bunch of people who are like, oh, I never need to go to work. I'm just going to work from home and do my own thing. When you make them go back to work, they probably decide, you know, let me look around for other opportunities where I can work from home. And, like, there is a whole host of problems when you try to get rid of a federal workforce. First of all, they're, like, unionized, shockingly, which is horrible. Shockingly. We should get rid of all of that shit, but we can't immediately. That takes things to do. So, like, just by making him go into work. His promise to reduce the footprint of the federal workforce probably comes to fruition just by indirection.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Because they don't want to be told that they actually have to put in a day's work. They just want to forward their requirements to Booz Allen or some other subcontractor out there. And by the way, people wouldn't have known this if they just were relying on corporate media over the last four years, because, as we always say on the show, that the media never holds Democrats accountable. If you want the media to hold your government accountable, elect a Republican.

[Michael Duncan]

Bingo.

[Comfortably Smug]

All they did was forward on Dem press releases for the last four years. So the only place you would have heard complaints about stuff like that, shows like this.

[Josh Holmes]

We were talking a little bit of the other day, though. Dunks. Sort of a mixed bag for folks like us.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. I mean, selfishly, I'd like them to stay in their homes forever so I can go door to door in 12 minutes from my home, you know, but I care that the taxpayer gets what they're paying.

[Michael Duncan]

Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. We'll sit in traffic a little longer for you.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Knowing that they're miserable makes me happy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And so much about Trump is about making all the right people as angry as they possibly can.

[John Ashbrook]

And I also anticipate, you know, there'll be a lot more availability for, I don't know, long weekends at beach houses in Rehoboth if all these government workers actually have to go to the office rather than being home and on zoom. And in reality, they're on permanent vacation.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, that's the truth, 100%. So we'll get right into the meat of things. And it starts with the executive orders. Look, there's been a lot of summaries. Then you see the thing, the scroll on cable news. And if you're doing your due diligence, really paying a lot of attention to it, you've seen some of what it is that we're about to talk about. But just let me just say, as a precursor to all of this, this is such a different experience than in 2017, when many of the same ideas that Trump and his senior staff had then have. Now, the difference is they've had four years to prepare for it. And also in a lessons learned category of things that they tried to do in 2017, they immediately got jammed up in and they were fighting endless legal battles. To you again, dear taxpayer, having to deal with to try to effectuate actual change. And what you've seen out of these executive Orders is pristine. I mean, they are really good. Yes, they're very specific. Many are just unchallengeable. I mean, they're just clearly within the confines of executive power, things that can and should be done, and some of which have been challenged, and the challenges have been lost because they really are well within the confines of what the President can do. I credit Stephen Miller for this.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, yes.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, America first went to the policy and the legal side of things and put together a team that never stopped thinking about it if they ever had another opportunity. Of course, they didn't know whether or not President Trump would choose to run for another term or not. But just in case, just in case. They spent four years researching every way you can possibly do what it is that they intended to do the first time around. And it's why, I mean, you'll recall, the first time around, each executive order that came out, there was a banner headline. And they're like, activists erupt. And court challenges are here, there, and everywhere. And like, this time around, you're not getting that.

[Michael Duncan]

And you're 100% right. Stephen Miller, you know, at that America First Policy Institute was ready to hit the ground running. Trump just unleashed him. Stephen Miller has gotten these things ready to roll, and we're seeing them roll, and we're seeing the results. And also, I feel there's a little bit of a shift in the vibe where. When Trump was first elected in 2016, in the aftermath of that election, you saw corporate America, you saw the Democrats, everyone, they were like, you know, maybe this was a fluke. You know, this was just. It wasn't supposed to happen. So if we go along with this, like, resist thing, maybe that'll work, because this shouldn't have happened. I think seeing him win this landslide election and the popular vote let them know, okay, America is with him, there's no use to fight. It feels like a complete surrender. On the opposite side, where you're not seeing these activists flooding the streets. You don't see all these court battles, you know, filings starting to get put into courts to jam all this stuff up. It's kind of like they get that, hey, we lost and America's won, and this is what the American people wanted.

[Josh Holmes]

So what's interesting to me is when you take all of this, the one that focuses the attention of the left, the ones that they think that they actually can. They'd love to take it all down, obviously. Obviously. But, you know, you gotta pick and choose when you're dealing with stuff like this. And the Thing that has promoted the most ire out of the left so far, and I saw 22 Democratic states sue on this. And I think today, as you're listening to this at 10:00am out in Seattle, they're gonna be having an initial hearing on it is this whole concept of birthright citizenship, which is very interesting to me because, look, a lot of conjecture, discussion about birthright citizenship. It is the. The principle behind it is that if you are born, literally born in this country, on the land of the United States of America, you are afforded citizenship to the United States. An interesting concept. The history of it is also sort of interesting, right? I mean, and this is something that came out of the Reconstruction era, right? And there was a series of things that dealt with slavery and people. It granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people. It was relevant, extremely relevant in 1868.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And that was an important part of a post Civil War society that you had to grapple with all of these things. And ultimately the 14th amendment was born out of that. You extrapolate, take all of that out, and that's really what that was for. But then you put it in a.

[Michael Duncan]

2025 world, it becomes an incentive to be illegal because it's like, okay, if we just make it across that border. And it's why you see so many illegal immigrants arrive eight months pregnant. And while you've seen, for example, this became a big problem of Russian tourism, where there it is, they fly in and the wife is pregnant, and she. The plane lands an hour later, she's in the delivery room, and all of a sudden you've got an American citizen.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, because think about it, right? I mean, look, getting here, unless you're crossing the southern border or perhaps the northern border with all the illegal immigration that we've seen, for any other country to do that, it had to be a tourist event. Who travels in your ninth month of pregnancy? What responsible person is traveling in the ninth month of pregnancy where there's a very real chance that they could give birth on a tourist vacation? Like, you don't do a lot of that.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, folks at home, how many of you would be like, well, I'm nine months pregnant. It's time to go on a cruise.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Like, you just wouldn't.

[Michael Duncan]

There's only one reason why someone would do.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, there are some hardcore. I went like eight months. My wife is hardcore. With our second child, like our first. Very careful, right? We, like, did nothing outside the norms. Our second child, we had some friends who were. They wanted to go to the Caribbean. And she's like, that sounds fun. Let's do that. I'm like, ah, yeah. Like, this sounds horrible. Like, I mean, it's not like you're dealing. You're not exactly going to the Mayo Clinic if something happens here. And. But we win. It was eight months, but it was a good month. But before. Six weeks before a due date. If you're doing it at the due date, clearly there's intent there. And the intent is to try to abuse an interpretation of the 14th amendment where it would apply to people who just simply set foot in America.

[Comfortably Smug]

You're telling me so that in the mid-1800s there was an interpretation of this, and at that time, they weren't thinking about how Uzbekistan war fighters couldn't bring their families across the Mexican border in 2025.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. That is the funniest part about this is. See left's reaction in this executive order. And it's like, these people on every other issue believe in a living constitution that can be amended on the fly, but you talk about birthright citizenship, and they're like, no, our framers were geniuses.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right, Right, exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

This is perfect the way it is.

[Josh Holmes]

Fully envisioned, a big Honduran migrant crisis. Right.

[John Ashbrook]

But, like, you talk to them about, like, the Second Amendment, they're like, well, that's like flintlock rifles, you know. But on this one, they'll just. They take it down to the hilt.

[Josh Holmes]

They do. They take it to the hilt. And so, like, look, I think a lot of the battle, the legal battle that we retreated to in 2017, it sort of begins and ends at this question. I don't know how it's going to resolve itself. Of course, the left is absolutely convinced it's a hard text and interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

[John Ashbrook]

We're not allowed to change any of our immigration policy in the United States of America forever because of the words on a poem on the Statue of Liberty from 100 years ago. And it's just like, it's not the reality of America. And at one point, America was a frontier country to be explored by the people who are colonists and the early pioneers of this country. That isn't America in 2025.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. For Democrats, it's a broken immigration system until Trump's in charge of it. And they're like, no, no, no, perfect.

[Josh Holmes]

Everything worked great. Just enforce the laws. No big. No big deal with no big changes around here. But, like, look, I think that's the big. The big thing to focus on, the one that's gonna make some news. Just wanted to give you some information on that. Cuz that's, I don't know from my standpoint, the one that everybody else is, the left is focused on and it's making all the right people mad, which I absolutely love. Listen, it's been a really historic first few days, and we're gonna tell you why all these executive orders are so important for the future of America. For the first time, folks, conservatives, first time in my lifetime, and I mean this sincerely, conservatives are winning a culture war.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

For the first time ever. Like, winning used to be for the entirety of my professional life, stopping the leftward march.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I have never in my life seen a reversal where a rightward march has taken place.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. I think in military tactics, you call it a fighting retreat. You know, it's like that's how the culture war has felt for conservatives for a generation.

[Josh Holmes]

And that stuff's changing. I mean, it's just changing. We're going to get into all of that right after this.

[Comfortably Smug]

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[Josh Holmes]

All right, so let's get into this stuff. Let's play clip two to start to just sort of lay the predicate for this. This is actually an executive order designating the cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations. That's a big one.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, sir.

[Josh Holmes]

People have wanted to do this for years, so they are now designated as terrorist organizations. Foreign. And Mexico probably doesn't want that. That we have to do what's right. They're killing our people. They're killing 250, 300,000American people a year. Not 100. Like has been reported for 15 years. It's probably 300,000. Ah, thank God. Donald Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

This is something that we've longtime listeners. You know, this has been a little bit of a hobby horse for a while in that people aren't just showing up in the border because it's like Manifest destiny in Central America and they're interested in a Better life. I mean, there are cartels where their business model is to human smuggle sex, smuggling, basically, drugs, fentanyl, the worst of the worst. And their entire business model is an illicit promise to get people over the border. And to do that, they then send all this shit with them in the process. And so, like, look, I mean, they sent Kamala Harris on a three and a half year extravaganza to examine the root causes of illegal migration.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

How about a fucking cartel that's paid to do it? Right? And these are horrible people. I mean, these people are beheading people, killing people, raping, pillaging. I mean, they're just. It's been like this for the beginning of time. Reagan fought this stuff in the 80s.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, yeah. And it's always been clear that they're the problem, the key problem in this whole flow. And what I love about this executive order is like, you don't have to go into the Situation Room and put up like a plan to take out these cartels. All you gotta do is flip on Sicaria and then we're ready to roll.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Ready to rock. But so by designating them as foreign terrorist organizations, it opens up a whole world of possibilities for how you can defend yourself against them. An offensive posture rather than a defensive posture that this country has been doing for decades.

[Michael Duncan]

And again, this is not a group of people who are on some street corner trying to be like, does anyone want to buy some weed? These are people who now have military vehicles, rocket launchers, when it was Chapo's son, was taken by the authorities by the Mexican government. There were days of the cartel running a rampage across Mexico where they were shooting down Mexican police helicopters using rocket propelled grenades. So this is a terror organization. This is essentially the Taliban in Mexico with military caliber weapons terrorizing the population, bringing drugs and misery across the US Border, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans with their poison.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And you have to ask yourself, why in the world is Trump the first guy to be doing this? I mean, like, why didn't Biden do it? Why? Why isn't this. I know we all know the answer. It's because there were terrible leaders.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Comfortably Smug]

But. And that Trump is a great leader. But you gotta think like, this is the kind of common sense thing that everybody in the country is like, oh, well, of course, of course they're terrorist organizations. They've been terrorizing our country. Why don't we act like it? And I know there's, you know, a lot of different competing equities that go into that designation, but if this is such a big problem to our country, and it is, why isn't a leader stand up and do something about it? And, like, it goes to the. It's the same thing with the Panama Canal. Like, did you know that there was a big problem with the Panama Canal? I mean, I guess maybe I'd heard about it, but it wasn't something that anybody talked about for the last four years. This is. This. What you're seeing is four years plus of a problem of the mainstream media that will not call attention to the real problems in our society. So it takes a leader like Trump to say, no, I've noticed that, and I'm doing something about it.

[Josh Holmes]

So it allows for military intelligence. It allows for Justice Department to become fully involved in all of this. It allows for the end of that. Clip is they asked him about whether or not there could be a situation where Special Forces are called in to dismantle a clear and present threat, which, by the way, is what you do when you're commander in chief and there is a terrorist organization posing a threat. They're killing. He said 300,000Americans. 300,000.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's a lot of people.

[Josh Holmes]

300,000. I mean, come on, dude. There's nothing. There's nothing that's in that category of crazy. And the fact that nobody's done anything about it is crazy. But now that you've done this, there are tools, and some of this stuff is actionable today. Some of these executive orders are tools that he may or may not use, but it gives him leverage. Now he's been talking to the Mexican president like, you gonna handle this or I will.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I mean, the reason why I don't think it's gotten done. Back to Ashbrook's problem is I think there's, like, this diplomatic industrial complex that exists in Washington, D.C. this blob that is just like, well, if we just got in the room and kept talking, we'd somehow figure it out. And I think it's so naive.

[Josh Holmes]

And a fear of offending.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, it's just a naive worldview. It's the same worldview that the Obama administration had. If you go watch that documentary the last year about their policy in places like Africa and that Susan Powers who.

[Michael Duncan]

Ran over an African kid.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, but she just thought if she sat in the right room with enough women who'd been, like, mutilated. Their genitals had been mutilated. Like, somehow, you know, this awareness would stop these lunatics from hurting people. And it's like, no, at some point you have to deal in hard truths and make things happen. And Donald Trump does that.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing is, like when you mentioned this blob, this foreign policy blob. You've had these thinkers, you've had John Kerry sitting in Nantucket being like, well, you know, when I have a problem with a neighbor, I invite him over and we have a couple martinis. Maybe this can work with the world's problems. These are very bad people around the world, and Donald Trump is the kind of person who knows how to handle very bad people well.

[Josh Holmes]

And they understand pain and they understand fear because that's what they live with. That's what they. That is the only currency.

[John Ashbrook]

It's what Wesley Hunt said when we had him last in here for an episode.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like there are parts of the world that deal, like, in those absolutes, and if you're not willing to deal in those absolutes, you're not going to make any progress.

[Josh Holmes]

There's no deals.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

There's no deals. All right, Clip three, please. Baguettes. It's okay. They've done a great job, a lot of them, not all of them, protecting.

[Comfortably Smug]

Women from radical gender ideologies.

[Josh Holmes]

Ooh. Mr. President, going back to the World Health Organization, you were the president during.

[Michael Duncan]

COVID Shout out Megyn Kelly for that because she was 100% out there when it was not okay to be like, keep men out of women's locker rooms. Keep men out of women's sports. She led the charge. Promise made, promise kept.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. And Riley Gaines. And anybody who's raised this amongst great personalities, risk. Right. Because we're still in the cancel culture with democratic rule, where if you put your head up, you're immediately a target for one. But two, like your job prospects, your social media accounts were canceled. Like, all those things were very real and they happened in real time. We had a lot of them on our show. To have a president, United States sit behind and say, no, we heard you. And we're recognizing that on the federal government forums, you can select man or you can select woman.

[Michael Duncan]

It's so crazy. Think about it. 20 years ago, you're, like, standing up and plotting. Thank God the president said there's only two genders. Like, that's how nutty things got, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

That means wild stuff. So there's a whole bunch of other stuff. Declared an emergency on the border. Yep. Feels like we're about three, four years late on that. And thank God for January 20th in the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, because he finally now allows him to deploy troops to the region, National Guard to the region, to actually have this sort of bandwidth to deal with a potential problem. You know what the end result of that was? They stopped coming. Yep, they stopped coming.

[Michael Duncan]

Can I add one quick thing? It's not here in the notes, but he had an executive order dismantling DEI policies at the federal level. All the DEI employees who run the DEI departments have already been told, you are on leave, don't show up to work. You're probably not going to have a job because we're not doing that DEI stuff. But beyond just the federal government, I'm reading in the Wall Street Journal and in Bloomberg, this has already had a very rapid effect on corporate America where corporations are now freezing their DEI programs, their DEI offices. They're like, well, we're cutting that headcount. There's already layoffs happening among DEI offices and DEI administrators at these corporations. What does this mean specifically for you? Listener and the Wall Street Journal touched on this is this gives an opportunity to CEOs, executives at these companies to have these massive layoffs because costs have gotten so bloated, paying for. Well, it's a racket.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a complete racket.

[Michael Duncan]

It's been a shakedown racket from day one.

[John Ashbrook]

And if you're listening to this or you're watching this and you're like, man, it really turned on a dime. This is crazy. You've got all these corporations. Who feels like the Republicans now? And it's like reality. And having talked to a lot of these people, they've been here for a couple of years at the very least.

[Josh Holmes]

Some they were powerless to do anything.

[John Ashbrook]

They were powerless. They were being extorted by all of these institutions that the left controls to monitor their behavior. And you had a federal government that was forcing this from the top. So finally Donald Trump comes in and it's like, oh, thank God we can rip this band aid off because we've been wanting to do it for a long time.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. If you look at your like Fortune 50, right. And there's, look, there's a lot of reason to believe that corporate America just ideologically hewed to the left. But if you, by and large, the most successful companies in this country are non ideological to a fault in that they actually don't believe in anything other than their ability to do business. They're responsible to shareholders, their fate, their company's fate. Everything that they do is responsible for their ability to continue to do business. The greatest threat to their ability to do business was the left and particularly post George Floyd, in that moment in time, there was a great organization off the left that required you to pay them.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

And so they established these departments, these DEI departments that were filled with people who were part of this movement that essentially went out and then provided that company's grants to organizations like BLM and others in order to keep them off their back.

[Michael Duncan]

It was basically like a parasite shows up in the company, starts sucking the blood out in the form of cash and then distributing it to all the other left wing operatives. It became this was their money machine, is they were like, we will bleed corporate America if you don't pay the protection money. Then we're going to tell everyone to boycott your company, we're going to run you into the ground and we're going to take your money and we're going to give it to all these left wing organizations. That's what was happening for years.

[Josh Holmes]

It's 100%. It is absolutely no different than any mob movie you've ever watched where the guy walks into the front entrance of the bakery and the baker hands him a envelope full of cash and he's like, a little light this month. Yeah, I'll be back next month. Better be better. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's apples to apples. It's not like, oh, that's a funny movie comparison. That's apples to apples.

[Comfortably Smug]

What was going on exactly in the hard left had Luca Brasi. And Luca Brasi was the mainstream media and he would knock out anybody who got out of line. Trump walks in and he takes care of Luca Brasi, sends him to the fishes, and then everybody's like, oh, free at last. Yeah, we don't have to deal with that. We don't have to be afraid anymore because Trump doesn't care what they say, because Republicans don't care what the mainstream media says. They don't have the same leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, 100%. A couple more here. I'm glad you brought that up because that's a really, really important one and one that is done. Cultural significance here in 48 hours and.

[Michael Duncan]

Also for our listeners in your pocketbooks, that's gonna bring prices down because they don't have to pay protection money.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, there's not a. I mean, they said all these departments, every department in the federal government had a DEI office, huh?

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

What Department of Equity and Inclusion. Just think about the name of that Equity and Inclusion. Never mind the fact that you can do your job or not, you know, and then their ideas are all about, well, you gotta pay this guy, then you gotta pay that guy.

[Michael Duncan]

It's not like they're like equity is you pay me.

[Josh Holmes]

And the great irony of it all is at no point do things like Department of Equity and Inclusion, at no point does any of that seek to have racial reconciliation and racial harmony. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's to try to further divide things. Because you know what? That's the business model.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the business model.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the business model. If you solve the problem, then we trade the job. Yeah. You know, like.

[Michael Duncan]

Nope.

[Josh Holmes]

So you know what Trump's doing? Solving the problem. He's solving the problem. Cuz those guys. If you want to think about the history of racism in this country all the way back through slavery, all the way through the 60s, what you're talking about are things like, you know, integration efforts. Well, you know, who wanted to stop that? And what did that look like? It looks an awful lot like dei.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

It looks an off, like the Bull Connors of the world. Look an awful lot like a separate but equal type deal, you know, and it's, it's the left has become the modern day racists and we're still in an era where they're trying to process this out. You know, I'm convinced like 50 years from now people will look back on this and they'll have the same sort of disdain for everything that came about with the DEI era as they do with the racists of the 50s and 60s. They were trying to separate schools and have busing and all these other things. Because the practical impact, regardless of what the media has told us it's supposed to be, was that that's harmstrong. It's the same.

[John Ashbrook]

I would just love to know what the DEI department at like the CIA did.

[Josh Holmes]

We know in some, at some level they would hire under qualified agents.

[John Ashbrook]

They would. I mean it's terrifying.

[Josh Holmes]

It's terrifying. But we saw, I mean it goes all the way down to your local firehouse. I mean this is, this is the cascading effect.

[John Ashbrook]

We do not have enough minorities doing the waterboarding. We need to change this.

[Josh Holmes]

We got to make sure we get. Yeah, I mean it just makes no sense. But anyway, couple others that are going on remain in Mexico. We talked a lot about it. You know why he's reinstating that? Because it fucking worked.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right, it worked.

[Josh Holmes]

The remain in Mexico policy was a novel concept to the Trump administration in the first four years and it is the one thing more than anything else that worked. You could not come into America. There was no catch and release. We didn't have an on your honor program where you could come in, get processed by a court and released into the United States with a promise to show up at 8:30 on a Tuesday somewhere in Lubbock, Texas. Like that shit didn't happen. He made sure that you had to stay where you came from and if your asylum claim was processed in a way that you had a legit claim that then you had to go and get that stuff done. But until it was done, you stayed there. There was no catch and release. Huge, huge deal that's coming back. I mentioned, we mentioned the birthright piece. Energy and environment executive orders. These things don't get as much pub in a lot of ways, but like huge stuff. National emergency order and expedited deregulated of drilling. He calls it drill baby, drill. Yeah, man.

[Michael Duncan]

Great stuff. I mean, great stuff. America is a land of abundant natural resources and we have had one hand, both hands tied behind our back, becoming completely dependent under Joe Biden on China for solar panels. That was actually, it was a big government grift for the left wing where they're like, oh, we need $50 billion to make electric car charging stations. How many were made? One. Oh, where did the rest of the $50 billion go? To our friends. So all that shit's over. It's over.

[Josh Holmes]

We didn't mention the back end of the, of the making everybody, all the federal employees come to work. But another executive order was also a hiring freeze.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So we talked about the natural attrition that's going to happen with people leaving the workforce because they have to go to work for the first time in four years. There's also an executive order where there's a hiring freeze. You can't replace them so good. I mean it's the smart stuff. This is where we were talking about at the top. This is very smart. There was so much about 2017 where the intent was always right, but the execution of it created a whole bunch of problems in that you were dealing with court battles. There were some political fallout. There was all kinds of stuff going on. It just didn't lock the door.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, I mean part of it was a lot of people didn't know Trump was going to win.

[Josh Holmes]

The new twenties of Trump. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

So like the way I like to look at it is like 2017 was like a pop quiz. Like everybody had to get real smart real quick and figure out what we wanted to do. But in 2025 it's like a take home test.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

We've already seen how this works, and we're going to make it even better.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, it's just so good. This is my personal, absolute favorite. There's tons of different things. We could spend two hours talking about everything. Electric vehicle mandate. Throw all that stuff out. All that stuff is great. This one's my favorite. Did you guys hear about the one flag policy?

[Michael Duncan]

Hell, yes.

[Josh Holmes]

So I had forgotten entirely that the Biden administration had implemented a. I almost can't believe that this is possible. And I can't believe it wasn't just universally an outrage. Implemented a executive order that allowed for not an American flag to fly alone at American embassies and consulates around the world, but also made possible to fly a pride flag and a BLM flag. Like, you didn't. You didn't have to. Like you. Multiple flags. Multiple flags. And we actually have some graphics on this. Can we. Can we pull up graphic one? During the Biden administration, you may ask yourself, like, this is an American embassy. And you might ask yourself, like, holy smokes. Like, I wonder what country they put this up in. Is this the Vatican?

[John Ashbrook]

It's the Vatican. The Holy See.

[Josh Holmes]

This is in the Vatican. They put up a pride flag on the American embassy. Imagine, in the holiest places for Catholics, that this is the message that you're sending. It is amongst the most offensive things I've ever. First of all, I don't care what the cause is. Pride, whatever, could be great causes to reduce the power and the image of the United States of America to niche, sort of like activists is insane to me.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, that might fly to the embassy, to the Episcopalians, but let's be serious. You think the Pope wants to see that out the window? Maybe this Pope, maybe a rhino Pope.

[John Ashbrook]

I knew a blast was coming. But think about how funny. Think of how funny it would be. You know, you're one of these, like, cartel guys in Mexico, and you're hanging out in Mexico City, you know, extorting a bunch of people, and you see the American embassy and you see the BLM flag coming down, and then, like, you look at your phone, you find out now you're designated as a terrorist.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You're like, oh, shit, I got a real problem.

[John Ashbrook]

Trump really is back.

[Josh Holmes]

But, I mean, just imagine the thought process. It's the same sort of offensive. I took so much offense. Remember when the Obama years, when they lit the White House in the pride colors? It's the White House. It's the symbol of freedom across the world. This is not an activist Organization. This isn't now. This isn't. This isn't some, like, domestic argument that we're having. It is literally the symbol of the free world.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Each and every embassy that America has is like, fuck you. We're here. Here's the Stars and stripes. Respect the shit out of it.

[John Ashbrook]

And also, that flag represents everybody.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, that's the thing.

[Josh Holmes]

That's.

[John Ashbrook]

And they're. And that's. The other side of it is, like, what they're saying is the American flag itself isn't good enough.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

The American flag doesn't represent everyone. And I'm here to tell you it does if you're black, if you're gay, if you're anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Because you're an American.

[Josh Holmes]

Right, exactly right.

[Comfortably Smug]

There was a time during Trump's first term when the left was like, no, you can't put the American flag up on your house in, like, your homeowners association. Like, kids would wear an American flag on their shirt to school, and they would be sent home because they were told it was offensive.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Think about that ideology.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a perverse ideology.

[Comfortably Smug]

It is. And until Democrats are not completely owned and operated by that perverse ideology, they're not gonna be able to win. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, look, I think they're still in the same category. Right. I don't think Democrats have changed a lick. I think if you gave them the keys to the kingdom tomorrow, they'd do all this stuff again.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But the difference is the people are not with them, and they're not gonna get those keys to the kingdom for at least four years. My guess is we're turning the tide on some of this stuff. The economic policies were horrible. They spoke for themselves. Trump's changing all of that. Border policies spoke for themselves. Terrible. It's the social and cultural stuff that he's done here that everyone thinks and was afraid to say.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

For so long. And when you have the President, United States, sitting behind the Resolute desk signing paperwork that says, nope, we heard you. This is it. You can finally, like, we're back.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, and it's just. It's a relieving. Relieving. I am confident that over the next, like, 30 days, there's gonna be plenty of things. We're like, whoa, you know, I mean, a lot of consternation. He's gonna do all kinds of things, some of which you may really agree with, some of which you may not agree with. But it's that trend in that direction that only this guy can do. And it's having a profound impact. Which brings us to our question of the day. It's a good one. I want to hear a lot. If there's not thousands of comments on this one, I'm going to be really upset.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Because it's a dang good question.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You got to like and subscribe. And I want you to use your imagination, Smug. While I'm reading it, you have to think of your own. Because I feel like you'd have a pretty good answer for this if you had a blue sky opportunity to write Trump's next executive order. And he's covered a lot of ground. So you got to really be creative about it. What would it be? I want to see some serious shit. And then I want the comics out there to give us some stuff to laugh at because, you know, like, Smug's whole Project 2025. I love that it's a great comic, but like, it goes to the point where, like, let's draw out a little funny. Let's see what else we got here. Question of the day. What would you do if you had Trump's pen and you could sign the next executive order? What would it be? What do you think you'd do? Smug?

[Michael Duncan]

So on a serious one, I would say there's no such thing as a sanctuary city. You gotta end that. You gotta get rid of that. Because I saw a headline this morning from the LA Times where they're trying to be serious and they said, oh, if Trump enforces these actions on sanctuary cities, it could endanger LA's ability to fire. I was like, what you have just said, we have just said is that Los Angeles is spending money on illegal immigrants that is taking away from critical basic services for US citizens. That's what you just said there. That needs to end immediately. Every sanctuary city that's gotta go, that's done with. And that's my, like, serious one. I think, you know, less serious, given the events the other day of this fake Episcopalian bishop trying to lecture him. That's not a church, that's a political organization. No more tax free status for the Episcopalians.

[John Ashbrook]

Specifically.

[Michael Duncan]

Done.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, where he gets so many emails. The problem with the jokey ones, you know, is like, some of those are being delivered too. Like, like, I don't know if you guys noticed, but like sweet green, the salad place, they have a whole menu of seed oil free dressings now. Oh, yeah, you got steak and shake, Indiana's finest. I will, I will add, they're bringing back beef tallow fries oh, like we're getting it all. We're getting it all, folks.

[Josh Holmes]

Little Maha stuff going on, I think.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think we need one. Establishing comfortably Smug as the chief warden at Gitmo.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, God.

[Josh Holmes]

Where there's a journo wing.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the thing, is, whatever he wants, I would be like, he's in charge.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's in charge.

[Michael Duncan]

He's Ford of Gitmo, slash head of journo. Public relations, because it's the same job.

[Josh Holmes]

In my mind like anybody who spent any time this week declaring that Elon Musk was doing a Nazi salute.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

You're gonna get a hearing before smug's tribunal.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, 100%. You're a fast tribunal.

[Josh Holmes]

If you spent two days on it. No hearing. You're just there.

[Michael Duncan]

And I hope you're thirsty because you're gonna be drinking a lot of water.

[John Ashbrook]

That one took a second. Everyone took a second.

[Josh Holmes]

A little towel shake. A little towel shake in there, too. Yeah. It's important. You know, there were some lessons in the early 2000s that were well worth carrying on. All right, so when we come back, we're gonna get to your comments about Trump's inauguration speech. They're very good. We'll get to it right after this. I don't have to tell you, Americans are ready for what's next. Moving beyond the hardships of inflation and economic anxiety towards building a future, a better future for our families. Ensuring greater access to more affordable energy that powers daily lives, reliable energy that fuels innovation and economic growth, and the abundant energy that keeps our nation safer and more secure. It's all within our grasp. We'll do this together, building a brighter future for us, powered by America's oil and natural gas resources. You can learn more about all of [e-mail] so on Tuesday, we asked you what was the best part of the inauguration. Inauguration speech. We. I mean, we went through an awful lot of it. We had our favorites. We open it up to you. You gotta like and subscribe. And for those of you who did, we read all of these things and cultivated a nice list and do that. We always start with a voice.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, this first one comes from Cheryl, and she writes my favorite part of President Trump's inaugural speech. Quote, americans pushed thousands of miles through rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild west, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted millions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens, and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the Human hand. If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve. Close quote. I love that one.

[Michael Duncan]

That's like Peggy Noonan caliber.

[Comfortably Smug]

That is. And she writes, history will remember these inspiring and unifying words. And that Cheryl from. How do you say it? Smoke.

[Michael Duncan]

I think that's manilapan.

[Comfortably Smug]

Manilapan, New Jersey.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't know.

[Josh Holmes]

That's spaghetti. Spaghetti is manilapin.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Does that sound good to you?

[John Ashbrook]

Thumbs up.

[Michael Duncan]

All right.

[Josh Holmes]

I just wanted an Italian from the New Jersey delegation.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you, Cheryl.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I love that quote because it goes back to what we were saying in. To the run up to the election, you know, when, like, Elon Musk would be there giving a speech at a Trump rally, is that they were inspiring Americans to dream big again.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's what this speech did. For so long, we've believed from the left that, like, America's in decline, our best days are behind us, and it's, like, reinvigorating as a country. To have this national purpose is like, we are the pioneers, and, like, we can do anything.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. It's. It's just. It's motivational. It's great. I'm so glad Cheryl clipped that, because I had forgotten just how. Beautiful, beautiful that was.

[Michael Duncan]

Excellent comment.

[Josh Holmes]

Two dunks.

[John Ashbrook]

This one is from Katie Bug. My favorite part of the speech was the DEI stuff. For all the lib talk about how racist he is, especially on MLK Day, just falls flat when you look at his message. MLK said he wants the day where men and women can be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. And that is exactly what Trump mirrored in his speech. You will be judged by your merit and not by the amount of melanin you contain. You have to be on your DeathBed suffering from TDS to not see the correlation. Great show, fellas.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, it's funny, I didn't read that comment, but our whole previous discussion was exactly that.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, exactly it.

[Josh Holmes]

That's Katie. Katie Bug, man, hammering it. All right, smug, what else we got?

[Michael Duncan]

This comment comes from Allison Esquivel, and she writes, my favorite part of his speech was by far the reassurance that our slighted and disrespected military be given back to. Given back their careers with back pay. As a mother of three, active Navy. God bless you. Felt they had no way around getting that jab. If we don't have our military, we have no country, and we are so absolutely lucky that we have him. That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yep. Really, really well Done. So when we come back, we're gonna have a little lightning round where we're talking about the woke bishop in that situation. We covered a little bit of it. We'll put a finer point on that. And we got some other stories, some varieties, some things that you ought to stay tuned to. But before we do, we want to thank our sponsor, Lumen. Listen, longtime sponsor, longtime user. Smug.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

And this is for those of you who are new to the program. Listen. This is the first handheld device that gives you your whole metabolic catalog, keeps you healthy and in real terms, tells you how.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And it could not be easier to use. Every morning, you pop the cap off, you breathe in, you breathe out, and then it gets to work. It instantly measures exactly what your body is doing. There's no guesswork. It says, right now you're burning fat. Right now you're burning carbs. Here's what your body's doing. Here's what you should do. It tells you what to eat. It's like, here's what you should try to focus on for breakfast, lunch. Here. It tells it all for you. It's not like, you know, you get, like, a whoop band. It's like, this is what your HRV is. I don't know what that means. I don't know how to change that number. I don't even know what is doing to me. I have zero idea. Lumen doesn't make you guess. It does all the work for you. And I could not be happier.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, the technology was developed by PhDs. That's what's spitting out all of that data. So you know that you can rely on the numbers it provides.

[John Ashbrook]

And the technology might be complicated, but the information is easy, and it's at your fingertips just with this device. And what I love about it is for a lot of people, busy people, meal plans are hard to do, and everyone's trying to eat healthy. It's 2025 new year, new me. This makes it so easy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I can figure out whether I need to feed my body steak or bourbon, and I can oscillate it back and forth. Kidding, Lumen.

[Michael Duncan]

Kidding.

[Josh Holmes]

You make us be much healthier than that because we can see exactly what our bodies do with all of this stuff. So to take the next step in improving your health, go to Lumen. Me Ruthless to get 20% off your Lumen. That's L U M E N Me Ruthless for 24. 20% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. All right, fellas, so listen Little lightning round cruise through some. Because we got games to play, too. Yeah, we got games to play today. The woke Bishop Crazy. This is wild. You know, and it took me a while. I was on Fox, I guess, on Tuesday night. Well, I didn't even sort of consumed. There was so much news and I was trying to follow the executive orders and do like Trump's press conferences and his big announcements and all these things that I had totally missed this until I actually watched it. Wild. Can we play? Clip 4.

[E]

Let me make one final plea. Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. We're scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, wadara and temples.

[Michael Duncan]

Can I get the first crack at this point?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, take it.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, so I'm enraged. JD yet again has the perfect face for it. He was looking at her like she's nuts. Cause she's not the same. First off, when she says there are children who are scared because they're gay, lesbian, or transgender, number one, they're scared because people like you believe there are children who are gay, lesbian, transgender. There are not gay, lesbian, transgender children. These are children who want to go to school. They want to go to recess. And activists and crazy people are telling them, you know what? Maybe you're transgender, little kid. You ever give that a thought? They're like, I want to be a dinosaur when I grow up. No, no, no, no, no. You want to be a girl, little boy. That's what you want to be. For her to further this kind of ideology, which there's going to be not even 10 years from now. So many kids who were. Because their parents want to be part of this hip new thing of, oh, you know, the neighbor's kid's transgender. That makes them. When they go to Starbucks, they've got a story to share that makes them special. There's so many of these parents who have bought into this crazy bullshit and whose kids are going to end up permanently sterilized, scarred forever. Irreversible damage has been done to these children because of idiots like this, giving them these ideas. She should be ashamed of herself. Yeah, well, horrible. It's unacceptable.

[Josh Holmes]

The whole concept of fear in itself. They're scared.

[John Ashbrook]

They're scared.

[Josh Holmes]

If you know why, do you know why? It's because of you, Marianne.

[John Ashbrook]

Right. If you're scaring the shit out of your little kids because Donald Trump became president, I think CPS should take your kids from you.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You are a lunatic.

[Josh Holmes]

You are the problem. Bishop Marion.

[Michael Duncan]

And then for her to be like some of these people, who's going to pick our crops, who's going to do our dishes? Maybe you shouldn't be rooting for modern day slavery. Bishop.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Did you give that a thought? You know who can do jobs in America? Americans. Americans have always done American jobs. That's how this country was built. And that's what we need to do. Not open the borders for criminals and fentanyl to come in just because you want to have a sermon and try to lecture the President. So you're on the View the next day. She should be in jail.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, that's the first of all. Very well said. Smug. Very well said. Second of all, that's the other piece of this, is that you promptly gave that sermon, which, by the way, take a look at her.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, take a look at that Episcopalian scene.

[Josh Holmes]

Who'd have guessed that this lady was gonna have be off the left hand side of the spectrum?

[John Ashbrook]

I'm sure there are plenty good Episcopalians.

[Michael Duncan]

Bug.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't want to get all the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Emails, but the reality is she's a WOKE activist who's basically storing up her treasures in the legacy corporate media. I mean, she was on the view within 24 hours of the sermon. She was canonized by the New York Times instantly. She cares about an audience that is quite different from the most important audience that someone in her line of work should care about. Nobody's bowing down to her. Nobody is like, buying into her stupid ideology. This was supposed to be a national prayer service. We're supposed to give like thanks to our creator and recognize that he is in charge, you know, and she, she turned it into something else. I, I appreciate tradition as much as the next guy, but I really think they should have picked a different church.

[Michael Duncan]

And here's the other thing is they should have absolutely done that because very quickly online it surfaced on X video of her four years ago wearing her mask being like George Floyd. This national tragedy is because of Donald Trump. And we need to replace Donald Trump immediately.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep. Well, that's where you got the tax thing, huh?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you're right.

[Michael Duncan]

Revoke.

[Josh Holmes]

She's an activist that actually in and of itself would do the job. If you ever enforce the law, if you have somebody from the pulpit saying this happened because of this person, you need to vote this way. Like, that's. They told us, they told us for years that our churches, if we ever talked about social conservatism, you'd lose your tax status. And all of our churches have operated under the fear that the IRS is coming. If that were to happen, this lady does it with impunity and has an audience with the President of the United States and then gets put on the View and then on cnn. Marianne Booty. Good Lord, what a terrible. I can't believe.

[Michael Duncan]

Executive order designate the Episcopalian church a terror organization. Donald Trump, seize their land and bring her in for questioning.

[Josh Holmes]

I can't believe we've added to the Italian list at this point. Now it's the Irish, the Italian, and now the Episcopalian.

[John Ashbrook]

And the Canadians, too.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, the Canadians got. They took.

[John Ashbrook]

And the Australians. We've attacked everyone.

[Josh Holmes]

So tell us where you're from and your questions, and we're gonna attack them next. Listen. So this is a big announcement that happened yesterday, and it may actually go under the radar for some. You'll see the headlines, but you don't know exactly what it is. And I'll tell you, the fault of why. You don't know why this is significant is because of Joe Biden and the way the Democrats run what's important for so many different years. So the Trump tech agenda, this is, according to the Washington Post, begins with a 500 billion. $500 billion private AI plan and cuts to regulation. President Donald Trump set about defining his new administration's technology policy on Tuesday, hosting industry CEOs at the White House to announce a massive private sector investment in infrastructure for artificial intelligence that could reach $500 billion. This is super important for so many reasons. Reasons. First of all, we just got done with an administration that told you AI was basically any disparaging video of Joe Biden that they didn't want you to see.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, cheap fake.

[Comfortably Smug]

Such a good point.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the element that is the understanding that they have communicated to the American people about the power of AI and therefore amongst their, like, progressive base, communicated that AI is a danger and to be fair, weird, because it has profound unintended consequences. Neverminding the fact that like AI, if properly defined as it was with the CEOs yesterday. Can cure cancer, can do. This isn't about work. Product does that too, but it has. What they're talking about is the processing of information so quickly and so astoundingly that. That you're helping the best trained, most incredible scientists, doctors, you name it, engineers, oil riggers, to do their job so much better and more effectively. If you're into environmentalism, you should love AI. AI is one of those things that will help you not dig dry holes, right? If you're into health, you're talking about curing all of the world's most significant diseases in our lifetime.

[Michael Duncan]

You want to know a very interesting, specific test case that I saw the other day is there was a woman who was on X and she said her daughter, I think it was like playing a soccer game or something, had hurt her leg and could not walk on it, right? They take her to clinic and the doctor was like, she just sprained her ankle. It's fine. You know, just have her bandaged up, wait at home. Her daughter can't sleep through the night. The pain gets worse and worse and worse and worse, and she takes her to another clinic. The doctor was like, no, no, no, there's nothing broken. It's just a sprain. Just have her take an aspirin, go home. She uploads the X ray that she got done to X to Grok and asks Grok, is there, is the bone broken? And Grok pulls it up and is like, here's a hairline fracture. This is a broken bone. She goes to a hospital and sees a specialist and they're like, clear as day, it's a broken bone. Let's go mend it right now, or else her daughter would have had a lymph permanently. That's what AI can do.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what AI can do, you know? And here's the other piece of it. Why it's so important, because it's a race. What we're talking about is not just some piece of technology. It's not a Google search engine. We're talking about something that literally will change the way humans live their lives around this world. It can either be Chinese or it can be American. If you're at all concerned about the ethics behind AI or the human value of what AI can do, you ought to be very concerned that America leads this race.

[Michael Duncan]

And another really quick great point is on his first episode the other day, Will Caine's first episode, great show, by the way. Congrats. Will Cain. Yeah, he had Joe Lonsdale on absolute genius. I've gotten a chance to meet with him. He's brilliant guy. He was a palantir. He started a bunch of companies. Great friend of Elon's. He was explaining to Will all the benefits of this. What this creates is having this large of investment in AI is for so long. And like you said Duncan earlier, Democrats have told us, oh, you know, you have to think smaller. You know, we have to think of where we can have cuts and who will get them and whatever what AI allows is when you have productivity increase, we don't have to think about cutting entitlements because now we have a bigger pie. It's the idea of growth and abundance and we harness AI to do that for all Americans. That's what it can do.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what it can do. But the American aspect is something that Trump uniquely understands. I can't believe, by the way, he's the only president. He showed everybody in the first four years how you do this. When there's significant investment in America that he's helped convene, brings him on in and announces it. Right. It's like, I mean, he's basically like being the mascot for America, cheering us on, like telling us what can happen. You're giving people reason for hope. It's not every press conference about all the jobs that are leaving Ohio. It is. This is where we're going. This is what we're doing. I'm convening these people and this is what their investment is going to be. How is it that nobody else understands this?

[Michael Duncan]

Last thing, I'll add, it just occurred to me. It's Jermaine to you. So I saw a CNBC special talking about in Phoenix. Trump had talked to TSMC who makes the chips that are in, all the chips that we need. Y'all remember the chip shortage? Trump said, let's start manufacturing chips domestically. TSMC says they'll make a $5 billion investment in Phoenix, Arizona. It's now turned into a $50 billion investment. How has that gone even further? Is your old Alta Modern in Arizona has now become an engineering feeder school where American kids are getting engineering schools there. Then they walk across the street and they're handed a well paying job at tsmc. And it's thanks to President Trump. This is how we do it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And Donald Trump recognizes that you have to be willing to play a longer game when it comes to things like this with these investments on things like technology. You were saying earlier about the race between China and America on things like AI and it's like, well yeah, it's a race between two superpowers and like what's the rest of the world going to do?

[Josh Holmes]

They're either going to take ours or theirs.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And so like in the social perversion of something that is, doesn't have the American value attached to it.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Is potentially catastrophic.

[John Ashbrook]

Right? Yeah. I mean like what large language model does Nigeria use?

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Or Italy, you know, all these other countries. And it's like we want it to be ours because that's how we maintain our tech leadership in the world and that's how we get to that point that you were talking about. Smug like this like post scarcity world of abundance and growth.

[Josh Holmes]

And if you listen, if you listen to, we follow this stuff. But if you listen to what tech leaders have been saying all along, even when, you know, everybody thought tech leaders were off the left hand side of the map, which turns out they weren't, they were just had a gun to the side of their head telling them to be. As we found out on Monday when they all showed up. Right. They've been saying this all along. Like you don't understand. This is an existential race. If you believe in western value, if you believe in democracy, if you believe in all the things that you say you care about in America, you gotta win this one. This is way more important than the race for the atomic bomb. This is something that literally changes the way society works. And if society works with the same principles that America was founded upon, great, we're in a good spot. If it's not sayonara.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, it'll be China's social credit score. AI.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's, that's a choice.

[Josh Holmes]

By the way, Arizona State always said it's the Harvard of the West.

[Michael Duncan]

It truly is.

[John Ashbrook]

Many people are saying, I mean it.

[Michael Duncan]

Just, it made me so happy seeing that because so many of these questions about what we're going to do about immigration. America can take care of America and America can lead the world like we always have. But seeing that like thousands of kids graduating with a degree that they walk across the street and get a well paying job, that's awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the principle of technical schools, by the way, when we're going through that huge drought of new high paying jobs for people who couldn't afford college educations and technical schools started getting built because they did exactly that. They've just broadened it out to now really high paying jobs and giving you that opportunity, the next generation, that opportunity. It's incredible. We got better scenery and Arizona State.

[Michael Duncan]

That. Oh, it looked beautiful. Look beautiful.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. No, Everybody says that. All right, guys, you want to play game?

[Michael Duncan]

Always.

[Josh Holmes]

It's time for King of the Hill. It's our feature game here on the Variety Program. I think I'm the judge.

[John Ashbrook]

And I'm the bailiff, and you are the bailiff.

[Josh Holmes]

So we're going to run a tight court here.

[John Ashbrook]

Very tight court.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Very fair.

[John Ashbrook]

Very fair.

[Josh Holmes]

Who is our champion?

[Michael Duncan]

I am bringing Adam Kinzinger, who you have a new nickname for.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's a modification on the nickname.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I have Rick Wilson as the challenger.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Well, let's go ringside.

[Comfortably Smug]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. It's time for King of the Hip. In the red corner, fighting out of the Daily Beat, Rick Wilson. And now, in the blue corner, fighting from his own Twitter account, crying Adam King. Zinger.

[Michael Duncan]

So good.

[Josh Holmes]

We added the crying because Trump, right?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that's right.

[Comfortably Smug]

He made a great point. You have to add that in there.

[Josh Holmes]

You gotta add that in. It's good. Although I'd appreciate if he reciprocated and went with Cook. Cook. Cook as well.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, maybe he will.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, maybe he will. Maybe he will. We guys listen. So, you know, that's a suggestion box over at the White House. Okay. So our champion always starts things out.

[Michael Duncan]

Nick, may I please get Exhibit 7, please? Adam Kinsey writes, Many MAGA are so embarrassed that Trump canceled the inauguration for cold, actually legit reason when they already spent money. They are making up reasons like assassination attempts. It's going to be a letdown for them these four years when they realize how weak Trump really is. My God, number one, this guy's trying to diminish any assassination attempts on Trump. Like there weren't a half dozen, and that he had to survive. He survives being shot in the head. I also appreciate Nick pointed out to me in that graphic. Could you pull it up again at the bottom? Kinzinger's talking about who's weak. He. Limited replies.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a nice little addition.

[John Ashbrook]

Limited replies. I always love when somebody limits their replies, especially when they're like, a real smug, pompous asshole. Yeah, it's like it's the Twitter version of tweeting something and being like, I am infallible. Like.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, I don't need feedback.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, you take the social aspect out of social media when you do that. And it's like, if that's the way, then don't post.

[Josh Holmes]

Just posting bumper stickers, Right? Oh, my God. That's a real. That's a solid entry.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay. Challenger Rick Wilson of the Daily Beast. Exhibit five, please. Spaghettz. This tweet was delivered at 9:00 in the morning on January 20th. And he writes, hell is empty and all the devils are here. This guy was a former Republican, and every Republican who's coming to Washington D.C. he's saying that they're devils and that hell's empty.

[Josh Holmes]

Can you do the timestamp on that one?

[Comfortably Smug]

This is nine in the morning on January 20th.

[Josh Holmes]

So it is.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's taught.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

This is very, very tough. This is very, very tough. Let's pop yours up one more time.

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit seven, please.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, Exhibit seven. I mean, look, this thing. I thought this was a sure winner. Somehow alluding to security threats being made up for a guy who's survived not one, but two assassination attempts in the last six months. And then limiting replies like, I didn't think that that could get beat. And. But then I see, like, literally.

[John Ashbrook]

Hell, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. I can't. I can't. I just can't overlook that. Ash Brook. He got around one.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you, sir.

[John Ashbrook]

Fair.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, round two. We'll start with exhibit six, please. Baguette. And this is Rick Wilson. 27 minutes after his devil's tweet, he writes, the hollow triumphalism of the people on this platform who think they're not going to get fucked over by Donald Trump will never get old. Rick Wilson, Daily Beast.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that.

[John Ashbrook]

I love that.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to get right to this one. It was just perfect.

[John Ashbrook]

Don't put in the newspaper that I got mad.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It's just so funny. So good.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like on the day you're owned the most, you're like, actually, all those guys who won, they're the losers.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I chose the wrong side.

[Michael Duncan]

Can I get Exhibit 9, please? Nick Kinzinger writes, Ha ha ha, ha ha. They literally have convinced themselves Trump, who isn't president, is responsible for the ceasefire. You guys are in the cultiest cult ever. So dorky. So beta.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[Michael Duncan]

So a deal which hasn't been done in like 18 months. Yeah. Responsibility for this goes to Joe Biden. Not after Trump says there's gonna be hell to pay if I show up.

[Josh Holmes]

It's amazing how that all sort of came about. Any formal conversations sort of got fast tracked right after he said there was gonna be hell to pay if they're not all back.

[Michael Duncan]

And the guy who is saying it is the one who turned Soleimani into salsa, who follows through on his threats of hell to pay.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't have any question. You got round two. There's.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's go.

[John Ashbrook]

I think that's fair.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you, bailiff.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm gonna put this one away. This is a funny one. Can I please get Exhibit 10.

[Josh Holmes]

Adam.

[Michael Duncan]

Kantzinger, to the government of Denmark?

[John Ashbrook]

No.

[Michael Duncan]

The best thing you can do regreen threats is not express fear, but anger instead. Keep threatening and we will deny you access to Greenland. Trump, like Putin, understands threats and will back down.

[Josh Holmes]

No way. That's his foreign policy advice.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, here's how you get government to respect you.

[Josh Holmes]

Deny you access to Greenland.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. News flash. Don Jr showed up and they were like, hell yes. Keep threatening.

[Josh Holmes]

Keep threatening it. You can't go to Greenland. Okay, well, we didn't. We had no interest until all of a sudden we had interest. Maybe we can't go to Denmark either. Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine?

[John Ashbrook]

It just, it reminds me of that Dave Chappelle skit of Black Bush, you know, it's like, oh, un. Sanction me. Sanction me with your army. Oh, you don't have an army. Well, maybe you should shut the fuck up.

[Michael Duncan]

And then you can imagine that like Denmark holds an emergency meeting. Folks, we have a tweet from Adam Kinzinger.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

He's got some advice.

[Josh Holmes]

A high level, A high level strategist, former congressman, somebody we need to take very seriously here in Denmark. Oh, the Dutch.

[Comfortably Smug]

Funny. Okay, Rick Wilson, Exhibit 4, please. Baguettes delivered on the same day, January 20th. This one at 12:39pm Trump had always had a false and weird cadence when he's reading a real speech, like a slightly off text to speechbot. The authentic Trump is the whining, mendacious, compliant machine that swings between self pity and self elation.

[Michael Duncan]

Weirdo.

[Josh Holmes]

I did like the flourish of self affiliation. I mean, that he always has to work something that's, that's, that's kind of his M.O. right? Has to be some sort of a gay reference.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't that his thing?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I guess what I appreciate, hyper masculinity. Yeah. What I appreciate about that tweet and some of Kinzinger stuff here. And I think we're going to see a lot more of this now that Donald Trump's president again is like the never Trump characters who feature in this game for our new listeners and viewers. They've, they've changed tone in all of their tweets. It's now they're trying to mock and cajole us.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And they're trying out a different tact in the last four years they did a lot of earnest posting, a lot of cringe posting, and now they have a new strategy of like, try to demoralize us. I think they're trying to demoralize us through, you know, ridicule, which, which I can, I can appreciate.

[Comfortably Smug]

Great observation.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they spend the, the last eight years basically aligning with a party that sort of tries to eliminate all forms of masculinity on the planet and then come at us with, no, you're the cuck.

[John Ashbrook]

It is funny to get speech lessons from a guy who defended Joe Biden.

[Josh Holmes]

For the last four years. Smoggy.

[John Ashbrook]

Got it.

[Michael Duncan]

All right.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's awesome.

[Michael Duncan]

The government of Denmark could continue paying attention to the city.

[Josh Holmes]

It's serious. Well, I just think that the idea that this guy's got like the foreign policy chops to like recommend the way that Denmark handles something.

[Comfortably Smug]

He does have foreign policy chops, you know, because he has Slava Ukrainian his name.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[Comfortably Smug]

He knows all about foreign policy policy. Three flags right in the name.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a really good. It's a really good. Great game. Congratulations to our champion, Kinzinger.

[Michael Duncan]

So accurate.

[Josh Holmes]

I got one piece of variety here that you're not going to want to miss. This is the damned funniest thing I've seen. Maybe.

[Michael Duncan]

Incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

So the New York Post put up something that was cruise passengers horrified as workers prayed around while dressed as KKK members. And their explanation is mystifying. If we can pop up this pic real quick. Quick and graphic. So here's the. Here's the staff of the cruise.

[John Ashbrook]

Come on.

[Michael Duncan]

This is why you subscribe on YouTube. You have to see this.

[Josh Holmes]

So. So literally, if you're an audio only listener, what you're looking at is a little KKK costume, totally complete with the white pointy hat. Yeah, two eyes cut out.

[Comfortably Smug]

But they thought, they thought it was something else.

[Josh Holmes]

So the reason. So this is a foreign cruise ship that was unfamiliar with their western audience. Evidently, as these people, they're marching by a swimming pool. What they were evidently trying to do was dress up like snow cones.

[John Ashbrook]

Like snow cones?

[Josh Holmes]

Like upside down snow cones. The cruise company says the housekeeping crew, it did this to the housekeeping crew, the cruise company. I have so many observations to make. The cruise company says the housekeeping crew had no idea what they look like when they chose to dress up as, quote, upside down snow cones, unquote, for the event during a Pacific Explorer voyage from Melbourne to Hobart in December.

[Michael Duncan]

Also, hasn't the housekeeping crew been through Enough. They have to. These people on cruises are giving each other diseases. You have to clean out their place when they've been hitting a buffet line for about 14 hours a day. And you got to clean up the mess that they leave after hogging out on the high seas. And now they're like, now put on the uniform. Go out there looking like a Klansman around the pool.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, get out to the pool. People want to cruise.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, you have a single job. Just have the trough running 24, seven for the Hogs to roll up. You don't need to dress up like snow cones.

[Josh Holmes]

They're all going to get norovirus within the hour anyway.

[Michael Duncan]

Seriously.

[Josh Holmes]

No, but pop the picture back up. I'm going to tell you my favorite. Look how proud the guy who's leading.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's my favorite tooth. He's got this big smile on his face, like, look what I've done here. Look what I brought you. Entertainment. I just.

[John Ashbrook]

I. I just don't understand how. How in 2025, you know, with the Internet and history and, like, what are they teaching you in schools in Australia that nobody knows what the Ku Klux Klan was?

[Josh Holmes]

It is a very. It's the earnestness of.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what makes it so funny. They're like, what? People are like, oh, horrified. Right?

[John Ashbrook]

They don't appreciate our pageantry.

[Josh Holmes]

We got a couple of brothers sitting there like, oh, yeah, what's going on here? And then, like, they're like, why are all those people running from us? And they're like, dude, those aren't snow cones.

[John Ashbrook]

The eye holes.

[Josh Holmes]

They cut out the eye holes. It's literally identical. They're like, now it is like a Chappelle skit. They're like, well, now we're gonna start the annual flame of tradition for the.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

We will start our annual tradition of the burning X. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And the festive tiki torches. Everybody.

[Josh Holmes]

Everybody grab a necklace.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like, what the hell?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, God, it's just so good. We got a lot of. We had a kick out of that. What a bunch of nonsense. Anyway, remember our question of the day. What should Trump's next executive order would be, what would you do if you had the pen? You gotta, like. And subscribe to do it. Thank you. For all of you who have done it and tune back in, this is gonna be a wild ride, fellas. We're gonna have a lot of fun. And we've got some great guests coming up that gives you information, like, stuff you need to know. Like, you know, you don't get that in the newspapers and you certainly don't. People we're talking to, they're not gonna talk to anybody else on that. The kind of candor that they are here. So stay tuned. The next couple weeks are gonna be a real burner. We're gonna love every minute of it. So with that, I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode, gentlemen. Remember, listeners, subscribe to YouTube. Hit that like button, leave a comment and we will see you on Tuesday. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.

[Josh Holmes]

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[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

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[John Ashbrook]

Early ct mobile.com hey there Ryan Reynolds here. It's a new year and you know what that means. No, not the diet resolutions. A way for us all to try and do a little bit better than we did last year. And my resolution, unlike big wireless, is to not be a raging and raise the price of wireless on you every chance I get. Give it a [e-mail] Switch $45 upfront.

[Josh Holmes]

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[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

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