What Is Really Behind The Democrats’ Civil War?

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary Title: What Is Really Behind The Democrats’ Civil War?
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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1. Introduction: The Democratic Civil War

The episode kicks off with host Josh Holmes addressing the escalating tensions within the Democratic Party, likening it to a civil war. He underscores the fracturing between the House and Senate Democratic leaders, emphasizing that such internal strife is unprecedented.

Josh Holmes [00:00]: "This civil war is no joke. The tension between the House and the Senate is very real."

2. Key Players and Internal Conflicts

a. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Chuck Schumer

John Ashbrook highlights the direct confrontation between AOC and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, where progressive members openly call for Schumer to be ousted.

John Ashbrook [02:34]: "We've got basically a lot of Democrat House members asking AOC to primary Schumer straight up."

b. Kyrsten Sinema's Role

Michael Duncan brings up former Senator Kyrsten Sinema's shift in stance regarding the filibuster, portraying her as a pivotal yet conflicted figure within the party.

John Ashbrook [03:40]: "Kyrsten Sinema just showing... she's like waiting on the outside the ring with the steel chair."

c. Jasmine Crockett Emerges as a New Voice

The discussion transitions to Jasmine Crockett, a rising star in the Democratic ranks, who challenges party norms and leadership dynamics.

Jasmine Crockett [21:52]: "What your response to Senator Fetterman?"

3. The Media's Influence and Democrat's Struggle

The hosts critique legacy media's longstanding bias, arguing that it has contributed to the current fragmentation within the Democratic Party. Josh Holmes laments the media's control over information access, hindering independent voices.

Josh Holmes [00:00]: "The media is broken... providing voices and views that legacy outlets... will not air."

4. Interruptions: The Tale of Gus the Murder Donkey

In a detour, the podcast recounts a bizarre incident involving "Gus the Murder Donkey" at Maker's Mark. This story serves as a metaphor for misguided leadership and the chaos stemming from internal conflicts.

Josh Holmes [11:11]: "Gus the murder donkey is a sordid tale..."

5. Government Shutdown Predictions

The hosts delve into the possibility of a government shutdown orchestrated by Democrats to disrupt the Biden administration. They analyze listener comments predicting Democrats' strategies to pass a continuing resolution without substantial grounds.

Listener Comment (Lorinda Leach) [39:35]: "I bet the Dems will pass the CR because next week is spring break..."

6. Approval Ratings: A Stark Contrast

A significant segment highlights the contrasting approval ratings between Democrats and President Trump. Chuck Schumer's leadership is criticized for damaging the party's image, while Trump enjoys a historically high approval rate.

Josh Holmes [37:03]: "Trump's approval rating of 47%,... the highest ever."

7. Hack Madness Tournament: Holding the Media Accountable

Introducing their annual "Hack Madness" tournament, the hosts engage listeners in a bracket-style competition to identify and rank media critics they deem the most biased or ineffective.

John Ashbrook [27:29]: "It is the fifth annual Hack Madness tournament... vote for each game, each matchup of these 64 hacks."

8. Dem Journal: Distinguishing Journalists from Democrats

In the "Dem Journal" game, the hosts present statements purportedly from journalists and Democrats, challenging each other to identify the sources. This segment underscores their assertion that mainstream journalism is overly aligned with Democratic ideologies.

Michael Duncan [50:54]: "A true leader would use this as a moment to showcase why he should remain majority leader..."

9. Conclusion: A Rudderless Democratic Ship

Wrapping up, the hosts reiterate their view of the Democratic Party as directionless, plagued by internal conflicts, and unable to present a unified front against the Trump administration. They call for action from listeners to support Republican initiatives and challenge Democratic leadership.

Josh Holmes [37:56]: "They're in a rudderless ship... Is it Jasmine Crockett? I don't know."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Josh Holmes [00:00]: "This civil war is no joke. The tension between the House and the Senate is very real."
• John Ashbrook [02:34]: "We've got basically a lot of Democrat House members asking AOC to primary Schumer straight up."
• Michael Duncan [03:40]: "Kyrsten Sinema just showing... she's like waiting on the outside the ring with the steel chair."
• Josh Holmes [37:03]: "Trump's approval rating of 47%,... the highest ever."
• Josh Holmes [37:56]: "They're in a rudderless ship... Is it Jasmine Crockett? I don't know."

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Key Takeaways

• Internal Strife: The Democratic Party is experiencing significant internal conflicts, with progressive members challenging longstanding leaders like Chuck Schumer.
• Media Bias: Legacy media's perceived bias against Republicans exacerbates Democratic disarray, limiting the party's ability to present cohesive narratives.
• Leadership Vacuum: Emerging figures like Jasmine Crockett are stepping into the fray, but the lack of clear leadership continues to weaken the party's structure.
• Approval Disparity: While Democrats grapple with low approval ratings, President Trump enjoys unprecedented support, highlighting the party's challenges in resonating with the electorate.
• Engagement Initiatives: Through segments like "Hack Madness" and "Dem Journal," the podcast actively involves listeners in their critique of media and Democratic politics.

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This episode of the Ruthless Podcast offers a critical examination of the Democratic Party's internal challenges, the influence of media bias, and the broader implications for American politics. By dissecting specific conflicts, leadership struggles, and media dynamics, the hosts provide listeners with a comprehensive analysis of what they perceive as a weakening party undermined by its factions and external forces.

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

This civil war is no joke. The tension between the House and the Senate is very real. In the leadership of the same party, there is tension, but you also have to have a healthy respect in knowing that you don't know how best to whip the other person's caucus. You may have disagreements, you may think it's stupid, but they probably have a better idea of what their membership looks like than you do. So you always lay off party leaders of your own party. I mean, you can talk in private, but you never make that public. Well, all that's out the window for the first time, literally, than I can remember. I really don't remember. The media is broken. For decades, big cable and legacy media filtered information to hide the truth. But thanks to podcasts like the one that you're listening to and new media around this country, the truth can break through, providing voices and views that legacy outlets we know well will not air. But big cable still has a major way of controlling information access. They do this by limiting access to something called spectrum, the invisible airwaves that power affordable wireless Internet, and by forcing you to keep their bundles, the old cable package bundle, keeping independent media out of reach. Trump and Republicans in Congress have a huge chance right now to get this right by making more spectrum available and breaking the big cable stranglehold on your information. You gotta tell your senator and your member of Congress to work with President Trump, sell more spectrum and make sure that you can hear programs like the Ruthless Variety Program. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Michael Duncan]

Just catch your strays over here.

[Josh Holmes]

You in for a hell of a show.

[John Ashbrook]

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

[Comfortably Smug]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I am Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan. John Ashbrook, left, right across your radio dial. At times like these, when your political opposition is imploding, and we've talked about this for a couple of weeks, you just sit back, you relax, you enjoy. One of the things we love to do on the Variety program is think about, you know, things that irritate us. Not a lot that irritates me right now, other than just sort of the opposition being as they are. But it's nothing short of a civil war going on in the Democratic Party.

[John Ashbrook]

And that's the thing is, you know, we've got basically a lot of Democrat House members asking AOC to primary Schumer straight up. Just being like, primary openly. They're like, primary Schumer, take him out. He's got to go.

[Michael Duncan]

It was so funny. Dude. Because, like, we called it last week in their episode of exactly how all this would go down.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, literally to the T. Go back to last Thursday and you listen to the show. We just described exactly what was about.

[John Ashbrook]

To, like, the Democrats heard it and they're like, okay, let's do it, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. They're like, yeah, this sounds like a.

[John Ashbrook]

Bad idea for us. Let's do it.

[Michael Duncan]

My favorite part about it was like, we knew that Dem leadership in the Senate was going to blame Elon Musk and Doge and all this for why they actually had to vote.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what they. Wow. Right?

[Michael Duncan]

And then Schumer actually did it to camera on Twitter and immediately, like, 5,000 people are in, his replies being like, we hate you. We're voting for aoc.

[Josh Holmes]

The guy had to cancel his book tour.

[Comfortably Smug]

He did, he did. And now AOC wants to primary him. And the only thing Schumer has is to say, good luck finding another senator who can move and shake like this.

[John Ashbrook]

And then also, like, it gets even better because then over the weekend, you've got former Arizona center Kyrsten Sinema just, like, showing. It's like. It's like you got a WWE wrestling match going. And then the guy, like, sneaks out and pulls a steel chair, just, like, hits someone. That's cinema right now. She's like, waiting on the outside the ring with the steel chair, just like clocking people, calling them out for, like, I thought you said the filibuster was racist. Now you're for the filibuster.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, the backstory is worth exploring on that. And we're going to get into all of this in a lot more detail. But the backstory of the cinema thing is they basically ran her out of the United States Senate. She was the first Democrat that won a seriously contested race in Arizona in like, oh, gosh, 40 years or something like that. She was like the queen of the Democratic Party for a short two years. And then she looked around and she was like, maybe we shouldn't be totally crazy because we might not always have power. Maybe the filibuster is something that is worth preserving. And she was one of two, or Joe Manchin being the other that voted against getting rid of the filibuster. And the Democratic Party, they. She didn't even get to run in the primary. No, she had to, like, take her hat.

[Michael Duncan]

She was like a code pink activist. Like, she was a liberal left wing person and she wasn't far left enough for where the Democratic Party was at the time.

[Josh Holmes]

So she's come for the receipts.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

So.

[Josh Holmes]

And they ran around for that, precisely that issue. And then they went ahead and filibustered, at least the vast majority of the conference filibustered a continuing resolution, which literally, I'm not kidding you, it's the Biden budget. It is just to keep the lights on. And they're like, no filibuster. And then she's like, I got receipts on all of it. And she went through, she spent the weekend going through all of the people who had pledged and voted to eliminate the filibuster, who now saw it as a critical tool.

[Michael Duncan]

Bro. She had spreadsheets.

[John Ashbrook]

AOC kept trying to come back and reply to her. And then she would. Cinema would keep coming back with screenshots. It's like, this is an amazing time to be a Republican and a conservative in this country. Just watching them go after each other.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're in bad shape, buddy.

[Josh Holmes]

They're in bad shape. It's a rudderless ship, there's no question about it. I think on Thursday's show, we're gonna do some kind of an overview of all the positions that Donald Trump has forced Democrats to take over the last eight weeks, which is shocking when you add it all up and look at it in one place. Don't miss Thursday's show, cuz we're gonna put it all there. But there's a number of other things that have been happening here where they don't have a leader of their party. Clearly they don't have any direction in terms of a strategy on how to oppose a Trump administration. So it's like, you're a conservative. You're sitting back and you're like, man, this is fantastic. There's like nothing in my lifetime that has been anything like it. The only thing that concerns me in Ashbrook, we were talking about this earlier. Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball. Fellas, listen, you're a baseball fan, you're not a baseball fan. But it's America's pastime, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. And unfortunately, it starts tonight in Tokyo. I mean, like, I'm glad that Japan is a part of Major League Baseball. They're sending some athletes over and they're a part of it. Like, great, great. The first game should not be in Tokyo. The balls are rubbed with mud from some river in New Jersey, thrown to a bat made in Louisville. There is no reason on this planet why Major League Baseball should start in Japan, it should start in America.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, we're doing so much good stuff. Rob. Rob. Manfred needs to go. He does this is the Major League baseball commissioner. This is the guy that, remember, moved the All Star game out of Atlanta because he got shaken down by Stacey Abrams.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, it's the same guy who made the same guy.

[Josh Holmes]

And now he thinks it's a good idea to take two Major League baseball teams and start America's pastime. The first pitch being thrown in Japan.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

So I'll say this. I think it is absolutely America's pastime. And definitely, I think because it is America's pastime, the first game should be in America, no question. But play as many games as possible in Tokyo. It's like one of the few civilized parts of the world.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't have any problem with Japan.

[John Ashbrook]

You want to go see a game and not get robbed trying to get into the place. You want to go see. Like, you go to Baltimore to see a baseball game, you're lucky if you don't get shot.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's the symbolism of the first game. You know, this. This is a sport that began in America. Every season that should start in America. I will not bring up.

[John Ashbrook]

First game should be Yankee Stadium.

[Michael Duncan]

Every time it's Kirby Puckett, not Kirby Cucket.

[Josh Holmes]

There you go, buddy. There you go. That's what I'm talking about. And Ken Herbeck and the rest. Yeah. I mean, we used to be a country anyway, so that's the only thing that I can think of this week that I'm irritated about. I did get a great story, though.

[John Ashbrook]

What's that?

[Josh Holmes]

I got a great story on the way over here. I got a great story.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, we're gonna do it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

This is a great story. And, you know, it's apropos. We're drinking Maker's Mark.

[Josh Holmes]

We are drinking Maker's Mark. And I got a story for. We have some friends. They work in around Maker's Mark and that kind of thing. And I don't know if you guys have all been down there. I've been down there. Absolutely gorgeous.

[John Ashbrook]

No, I've always been waiting for someone to hook up, like, you know, Bourbon Trail tour.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

You know anyone from Kentucky? Y'all know anyone from Kent?

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know. Maybe if you showed up. Maybe if you showed up for the interview for the guy who was chairman of the Bourbon Caucus.

[John Ashbrook]

I said hello, and I had to go. And now I enjoy the fine bourbon he left. Cause he brought some good stuff.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, this is the.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you so much.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the story of Gus the Murder Donkey.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

And Gus the murder Donkey is a sordid tale that begins with the fact that this is a beautiful stretch of land, that the reason that Maker's Mark is as successful as it is is it literally lives off the land. They have this beautiful stream that they've created different little aqueducts for that runs through the center of the land, and then the rest of it is farmland where they harvest literally what they use for the bourbon. So they're very, like, agronomy focused folks. I mean, these are sustainability, live off the land type people. And they had this beautiful stretch of land that they were reliably told would be better for the vegetation and whatnot if they had sheep.

[Michael Duncan]

The terroir, if you will.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's important they had sheep. They needed sheep to, you know. Apparently those things go out there and they kind of like, till the land of unwanted vegetation amongst the crops.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Sheep eat grass.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't.

[John Ashbrook]

It's like sustainable. Lawnmower.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, they're like a lawnmower. Essentially, you put a bunch of sheep in the area. But they found out very quickly there's also coyotes there that were taking down the sheep, and they can't have that. You can't just, like, keep throwing sheep out there. You have to protect the herd.

[John Ashbrook]

This is in Kentucky.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

That coyotes out in Kentucky. I didn't know that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So, you know, the first thing you do is you get a couple shepherds, you know, because they guard the. But they're not up all night. You know, the shot the dogs, they sleep or whatever. And so they were told by. By locals in the area, the best, literally the best fighting coyote is a donkey.

[John Ashbrook]

I've heard about this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Donkeys, they hate them. And they. They love protecting the sheep.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Why?

[Josh Holmes]

I. I don't. I. Maybe we'll find out. The rest of this is just a.

[Michael Duncan]

Mystery of the animal kingdom.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a mystery, but they love it. They love it. And this is part of why we're an animal fighting podcast. Anyway.

[John Ashbrook]

They're like a great utility animal. They do a lot of wild shit. You wouldn't expect.

[Comfortably Smug]

Donkeys care very much for sheep.

[John Ashbrook]

Well.

[Josh Holmes]

And they've got a hell of a hoof kick.

[John Ashbrook]

They also like, when there's storms and such, you keep them in your horse barn. They calm the horses down.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, they're also like therapists for horses. These things do a lot.

[Michael Duncan]

They're a five tool player.

[Josh Holmes]

They do. They do. And apparently what you're supposed to do is get like a. Almost a motherly, like, female donkey that comes in and just sort of takes care of the herd. They missed the gender specific portion of this. And so what they did is they brought in a male donkey, which at first was great big old male donkey looking after the herd. His name was Gus, Gus the murder donkey. And what Gus did was initially like, very well protective of the herd, like he did. They were like, this is really working out great. And one of the things they do at Maker's Mark is they have this beautiful setting where they have, like, bachelorette parties, they have weddings and stuff. It is really one of the most picturesque places you're ever going to go. If you're going to go to a. To any kind of bourbon distillery, make sure that's on your. Your area because it is gorgeous. The farmland and everything. It's gorgeous. So they had this bachelorette party that went out there, and they ushered the bachelorette party out to this sort of symposium area in. In the middle of the field with the sunset. And it's just gorgeous. Whatever. And as soon as they get up there, Gus is having a, shall we say, an intimate experience, perhaps forcibly, with one of the sheep.

[John Ashbrook]

With the sheep.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gus is hauling off Gus.

[John Ashbrook]

This is like an abomination to God.

[Michael Duncan]

Gus abused his position of power.

[Josh Holmes]

Gus was there to protect. Gus let us down. Cause in front of like, these 12 women who were at a bachelorette party, Gus is literally banging the lights out of this sheep. And so, like, one of the farmers, obviously they can't have this. So one of the farmers runs out and is like scaring Gus off the sheep. And Gus jumps off, you know, sort of like takes a couple of steps back, legs akimbo, and is looking around. You can only imagine what Gus looks like at this particular moment.

[Michael Duncan]

Probably whipping around the fifth leg.

[Josh Holmes]

Like Gus. Gus is confused. Gus doesn't know what's happening. All they know is that Gus shouldn't have been doing that to that particular sheep. So Gus is kind of like looking around while the bachelorette party observes, and he makes a clippity clop, full sprint towards another sheep that he's seen in the herd and immediately mounts it and starts banging the thing. Except this particular sheep has got some fight in her and she starts kicking and bucking, throws, throws Gus off. And Gus, like, stumbles, falls down and.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, immediately gets this donkey gotten into the product here. This guy, just like at a bachelorette party, bourbon'd up, being like, I'm in the mood.

[Josh Holmes]

He lost sight of his mission for sure.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But he stands up and he's now been embarrassed in front of the 12 women. And he promptly stomps the sheep to death.

[John Ashbrook]

No shit.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Holy cow.

[Michael Duncan]

Gus the Murder Donkey.

[Josh Holmes]

So therefore, that's how he got there. Gus the Murder Donkey.

[John Ashbrook]

Is he still on the job?

[Josh Holmes]

Nope. He was there for like three days. They got.

[John Ashbrook]

This is three days.

[Josh Holmes]

They got him off of there.

[Comfortably Smug]

Now what is the. You know, I'm not a zoologist, but they're both hooved animals. Is it possible to have a half donkey, half sheep? Do you think that's physics?

[Michael Duncan]

John Ashbrook does not have a degree in animal husbandry.

[Josh Holmes]

I am flummoxed as to how Ashbrook thinks that the hooves are the key between procreation.

[Comfortably Smug]

You never know. You just never know.

[Josh Holmes]

They could be. I mean, I guess like the. It's.

[John Ashbrook]

He's like giraffes, donkeys host. Maybe it works. So, yeah, so this. This. I'll make it quick. This reminded me. I love watching documentaries on YouTube. I'm watching this documentary about this sad thing that happened in Colorado where they reintroduced the wolf. You're talking about protecting coyotes. So they held an election, a vote, and they were like, should we allow wolves back in Colorado? Because they all got hunted away now there's so much farmland and such in Colorado, and they show the voting, and it was like Denver and Boulder voted yes. Every other part of Colorado, all the rural areas, no, don't bring it back. But there were like 51% of these city dwellers voted to bring the wolves back. And they've been just fucking up all the livestock that these farmers have. But here's the thing is it's not like you can shoot the thing because they're still a protected species.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no.

[John Ashbrook]

So they will fine them. They will put this person's family business out of business for the.

[Josh Holmes]

You just have to let it happen, wolf.

[John Ashbrook]

You just have to let it happen. And, like, it's because these idiot city people made this decision.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, when you're in danger, they let you do it.

[John Ashbrook]

So, like, secretly, if you can kill these wolves in Colorado, I say do it.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I have a new mission.

[John Ashbrook]

Do it.

[Michael Duncan]

I have a new mission for Gus the Murder Donkey. Let's get Murder Donkey, send them out to Colorado.

[Josh Holmes]

I'd love to see the murder Donkey. Gus the Murder Donkey versus this wolf population and see what happens. Because something tells me that those wolves, they think they're gonna have an edge. I'm not sure.

[Michael Duncan]

Not sure.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Gus is not to be trifled with as everyone is found.

[Comfortably Smug]

But if it's illegal, My God, if it's illegal, the Cops in Colorado are gonna handcuff his hooves behind his tail.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so listen, we're gonna get back to politics here in a minute. I wanna take a short break. But when we come back, it's the Democratic civil war like you've never seen. There's clips, laughs, a lot of fun right after this. Chevron's latest deep water development, Anchor is powered by innovation. This breakthrough technology helps enable us to safely produce oil and natural gas at greater pressures, setting a new industry benchmark. Anchor is pivotal in our goal to produce 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2026 in the Gulf of America, home to some of our lowest carbon intensity producing assets. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com anchor to learn more. Okay, so this civil war is no joke. We've seen it before in some ways where Democrats have sort of lost their view of things. But in the modern culture, it's basically been a progressive. Ever since Obama, it's been just a progressive leftist thing where they all follow the leader. No such thing as a moderate Democrat anymore. They're just all kind of the same. But when they're stuck between just clearly idiotic positions and the progressive left, like, there's a few of them that are like, like, do we, do we want to take the cyanide pill? Like, they just ask the question, do we want to take the cyanide? And they're like, yes, you dumb shit. We, we take cyanide pills around here. And so there's become this debate and you've seen the progressive left become the dominant force of pushback media consumption. And some of these things you won't believe, because when I was in leadership offices, the tension between the House and the Senate is very real. In the leadership of the same party, there is tension, but you also have to have a healthy respect in knowing that you don't know how best to whip the other person's caucus. You may have disagreements, you may think it's stupid, but they probably have a better idea of what their membership looks like than you do. So you always lay off party leaders of your own party. I mean, you can talk in private, but you never make that public. Well, all that's out the window for the first time, literally than I can remember. I really don't remember ever having this. What you're about to see in clip one.

[John Ashbrook]

Leader Jeffries, Senator Chuck Schumer is from your state. He clearly has a different view of this than you. He is not saying, let's go back to the negotiating table. He's saying, let's take this vote. So do you. Have you lost confidence in him? The fact that you guys see this so differently.

[Josh Holmes]

Next question. What? What?

[John Ashbrook]

Have you lost confidence in him? Next question.

[Comfortably Smug]

Next question.

[Josh Holmes]

It doesn't take a lot to be like, I don't know, I, you know, my sense is that he probably understands his conference better than I do. We're all trying to work towards the same goals here. I may disagree with this one, but, you know, we've got a lot of things that we need to accomplish here. None of that.

[Comfortably Smug]

No, they're in a bad way.

[Josh Holmes]

Next question.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And he knows the backdrop of this is what you were talking about with aoc.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, this is such a toxic situation they're in that imagine how bad it is in private that publicly they're like, it must be hell.

[Michael Duncan]

I think the only thing that comes close to it, smug, is where Democrats found themselves after that disastrous Biden debate performance.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, where it started to leak out in public. And you had Nancy Pelosi being like, we don't know if this was an incident or a condition, like an endemic issue. Right. And like, that's what this sort of feels like where it's like, it takes so little to tamp down the media. Talk about whether you have faith in Chuck Schumer and you couldn't do the.

[Comfortably Smug]

Bare minimum in the Biden debate moment. They had an excuse. They had a brain dead president who the media was protecting, but he was brain dead. This is all Democrats have on full display for the American people, and they still can't get it right.

[Josh Holmes]

They can't do it. All they have to do is sort of bandy about what is a strategically good unifying opposition to everything, which is what they. I mean, they don't have to pass a damn thing. They don't have to do anything.

[Comfortably Smug]

No responsibility.

[Josh Holmes]

All they have to do is come up with a message that basically unifies everybody. And they're like, now let's depose our leaders. Let's go like a level below this. When you get this at the leadership level, you also have this downstream. Let's enter Jasmine Crockett, our favorites here in clip two.

[Jasmine Crockett]

Last week you were one of those who participated in a choose your fighter video. It got some criticism online, including Democratic Senator John Fetterman called it bizarre and reportedly mocked it in the Senate hallway. I will say that your punching looked better than some of your colleagues. He's been. Fetterman has been criticized. Such a kiss for undignified antics and A sad cavalcade of cell phones during the President's address to Congress. What's your response to Senator Fetterman?

[Josh Holmes]

He's not the one to talk about anything. I mean, this is a guy that doesn't seemingly want to own a suit. Own a suit. I'm not really sure, but I don't show up in hoodies when I'm going on the floor.

[Michael Duncan]

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

[Josh Holmes]

So I actually. You know what I mean? Look, if Fetterman's 100% right, and, like, nowadays, I feel like more than 50% right on the stuff that he's talking about, which is wild in and of itself, but. But if you're gonna come at him, that's a hilarious way to come. He's like, does he own a suit? I don't know if he owns a suit.

[Michael Duncan]

Lecture me about decorum.

[Josh Holmes]

Lecture me about decorum. Suitless.

[John Ashbrook]

Here's something I'm curious about. When did Jasmine Crockett arrive to the House? Because it feels like after Inauguration Day. She's like number three Democrat IC the most.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Like she just stole the AOC thunder.

[John Ashbrook]

She did. She's the new aoc.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. She's like the most vocal in public at this point. She also happens to be easily the most. Like, she's got a most media friendly personality.

[Michael Duncan]

So that's what I was going to get to here is I think we've seen a lot of her because the media wants us to see a lot of her. I think they know one of the biggest vulnerabilities of the Democrats is that they lost the presidency and the Senate and the House, and they changed nothing.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I know. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Same leader in the House, same leader in the Senate. You know what I mean? It's like the same, you know, loser fest over it.

[John Ashbrook]

That's a really good point.

[Michael Duncan]

And so the media sort of does the work of the Democratic Party for them in that, like, they're the scout, you know, team, and they're out there finding, like, the next AOC or the Democrats.

[Josh Holmes]

This ought to work.

[Michael Duncan]

This. This lady.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's so. It's so true. Because it's also based in one of the fundamental rules of the ruthless podcast, that the media only tax Democrats when it benefits another Democrat. So they must think.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

That helping Jasmine Crockett helps their party in some way.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Look, just to wrap this whole segment up, and we're going to get to more of this in the fallout of Schumer and everything else, and more Democrats, but, I mean, the reason that this happened, in case you didn't follow the news on Friday and throughout the weekend, is that they actively threatened. Chuck Schumer did on Thursday of last week, Wednesday night, I guess, that they were gonna shut the government down. And it was over. Like a budget that had been passed by the Biden, including all of the Democrats who voted against it. They wanted to pass this into March. And then they were gonna say, well, our stand strong moment here is we want 30 days, not another six months. Like, there was no articulated reason. They didn't say, well, we disagree with this policy or we want this policy. I mean, there was nothing beneficial.

[Michael Duncan]

They could have picked anything. Right. Like, that's the thing. And the media criticized for this as well. It's like you could have picked one thing that is super popular and say or lie or whatever and be like, trump's gonna cut X. We demand that you say X is important, you know, before we agree to pass this. There was no actual ask in this. It was just.

[John Ashbrook]

They couldn't even lie.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

They weren't even capable of.

[John Ashbrook]

It's the laziest Dem move.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right, I know. Like, just at least lie to me. But, you know, the conversation that we had with you, dear listener, on Thursday, was that we didn't know if they had the balls to do this because one, it's a total box canyon. There was no way out, and you're not actually fighting for anything on behalf of the American people. It's basically a process argument, which you're destined to lose and lose big. And it was just a matter of time before they did that. Schumer, at some level understood that and was like, okay, well, I'm gonna walk back everything I said 24 hours previous, and I'm going to just try to find eight votes to make sure that I pass what they're doing. So we live to fight another day. If you're talking about how to preserve the Democratic Party for a long period of time, that's not a dumb decision.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Recall that that vote was all Republicans except for Rand Paul, who doesn't play team ball, and then. And then all Democrats except for. I think that. What did they find? Like 10?

[Comfortably Smug]

Something like that.

[Josh Holmes]

Something like that. Democrats to take it off their plate.

[Michael Duncan]

But it was smart. It was. It was smart to walk it back if you're Chuck Schumer. But you put yourself in this position in the first place. Like, that's the thing. It's like getting that far out over your skis, which is why we did the show.

[Josh Holmes]

That's why we did the show on Thursday.

[Michael Duncan]

Like, doing that was just so wild. And is. Does not express a lot of confidence.

[John Ashbrook]

No.

[Michael Duncan]

In your ability to actually govern.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, what are you thinking?

[Michael Duncan]

Like if you actually do that that early, walk out over your skis and then have to bring it back 24 hours later, like you don't feel that confident. Your position as leader, you don't pull.

[John Ashbrook]

Your gun out if you're not willing to shoot.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

And they waved her around hoping to get the job done. And no one took him serious.

[Josh Holmes]

So people are all fired up about Chuck Schumer. We've got AOC clips, we've got Democratic poll numbers which are like the absolute basement. You want to stick around for that. But we also have an important announcement, fellas.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

It is the fifth annual Hack Madness tournament.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It is going to happen this week. It is going live on Saturday special. For those of you who are new to the program, this is where we pick 64 of the biggest hack journalists in all of government politics coverage. We seed them one through 16 in four brackets. I think we have a couple of play ins.

[Michael Duncan]

Play in games.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. As one does in March Madness.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, it's serious.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's serious. And then we vote and explain to the listeners, smug, exactly how this thing works.

[John Ashbrook]

Sure. So it's the fifth annual now. Wow. Yeah, fifth. Like Holmes said, we pick 64 plus the play ins of the biggest hacks in media. Folks, this is the time of the year you hold them accountable. And then on my Twitter or x profile, x.com comfortablysmug I will have it pinned. And then you vote. Vote for each game, each matchup of these 64 hacks.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's a Twitter poll. Right. Next poll.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a next poll. And then you vote who advances. And it's just like March Madness, you know, it eventually goes down to 32. 16, 4, 2. Until there's finally one biggest hack of the year. We've had previous champions like Brian Stelter, Jen Rubin.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Lawrence.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. In a brand new media environment under Trump 2.0 and so many have been run out. Exactly. There's, there's no guarantee that Jen Rubin is going to win again.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, We've had over 10 million votes cast in this thing. Like it takes on a life of itself. So if you're new around here, get involved and you're going to want to see this election show.

[Josh Holmes]

You're going to want to see it. It goes live on Saturday, regular Thursday show. But then a special offering on Saturday which will give you your full brackets. Voting begins almost immediately. Can't wait for that. It's one of the most fun things we do here on Ruthless. We're going to get to more of the damn civil war right after this. Hard working Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done.

[Comfortably Smug]

Now is the time to unleash our.

[Josh Holmes]

Nation'S energy, to create jobs, secure our future and make life better, more affordable and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. All right, so you know, it's one thing for Democrats to openly question whether their leaders should be leaders. It comes with the territory. You know, I mean this is a tumultuous time to be a lib and they're, they're focused on that AOC because she's from New York and Chuck Schumer's from New York is taking this a step further in the the sort of interesting there was a couple of years ago where maybe she would primary Chuck Schumer. Well, that's arisen again. People are talking about it in a very real way. She's a chance to cool all that off and just say, hey, you know, let's move forward as a party. There's very important things for us to accomplish. What does she do?

[Jasmine Crockett]

Clip 3 Chuck Schumer, I guess the Senate Democratic leader, your senator said at this meeting that he is going to vote for cloture. He is going to vote to allow there to be a simple majority vote. You think that's wrong?

[Josh Holmes]

I believe that's a tremendous mistake there. It is, tremendous mistake. I mean, look, it's her senator. They're in the same delegation. There has been 24 years of rumors about whether or not she personally would primary Chuck Schumer. Not enough to not be the leader, maybe not a senator at all.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I love it. I love it. I love it so much. You know, like we talk about this a lot on the show, you know that obviously the media is left wing and wants Democrats to win. But what they love as much as they love that is conflict. Like political journalism in its essence is always conflict. They're looking for conflict in every story and she just gave it to them. And so I hope this whole story arc lasts the next two weeks.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, they also love the left and they know in a state like New York that the Democrat is going to win. So here's their chance to move Democrats even further to the left than they already are and supporting somebody like aoc.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, the American people have had a good look at all of this, and they've seen what Democrats have come out for over the last eight weeks and this little parade that they've had over last weekend, and they have some results. Graphic one, please 29% favorable. 29. This is a party that not long ago was over 50.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And from a registration standpoint, has always had an advantage over Republicans.

[Comfortably Smug]

I know we're going to get into this more on Thursday's show, but I just wonder, I mean, call me crazy, but, like, do you think fighting for LeBron to be able to play in the WNBA has anything to do with that? Do you think that, like, for trying to force the trend, terrorist, gang, turn the plane around to America, bring them back, you think that has anything to do with it?

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe like the college kid threatening Jewish kids on campus and, I don't know, using all the talking points of Hamas as something to do with and inviting.

[John Ashbrook]

Hamas to speak at campus. I mean, it's just they have really found themselves. We'll get into this on Thursday's episode. But issue after issue, Democrats are hell bent on picking the side that 80% of Americans are against. They want to pick every horrible fight possible and just go after it. It's unreal.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the byproduct of Trump derangement syndrome is that a healthy political party looks at a wide range of issues and finds areas where the party in charge is underserving the American people. They become a topic of discussion. At some point, they really seize on it and they push it. Problem with these guys is that anything that Donald Trump says he's for, they say that they're against. And they now have a president that's eight weeks in who's been like, I don't know, I think deporting terrorists is a good idea. And they're like, that's unconstitutional.

[John Ashbrook]

Crazy.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I think that, like, having murderous illegal aliens in this country is something we ought to end and we should get them out of here. And they're like, there's constitutional problems with that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Listen, I think it's also a byproduct of a fawning mainstream media. When Democrats can do no wrong in the eyes of mainstream media, and when the mainstream media is completely staffed by Democrats, those organizations turn into mini DNC NGOs basically. And so every single one of those news outlets is having a conversation that is the same conversation that's happening at the dnc, are we left wing enough? And so you have all of these elected Democrats who are trying to pander to the left wing because the only opinion that matters for them is the mainstream media.

[Michael Duncan]

Like Democratic voters don't even agree with the Democratic Party at this point. You know how low 29 approval has to be for overall for it to be 29. They're losing majority of Democrats. The Democratic Party's favorable is underwater with Democrats. Like, think about that. I heard. To your point earlier, Ashbrook, I heard a question in the briefing on Monday about these, you know, deporting these trended Aragua or whatever, the Venezuelan, Venezuelans criminals. The question was, okay, so outside of some tattoos and maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time, do you, how do you know that they're members of this cartel?

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, just think about having to parse.

[Michael Duncan]

That's a serious journalist in the briefing room asking that question.

[Josh Holmes]

I just. But it's so. I think you're right.

[Michael Duncan]

They're like, they're like, oh, yeah, he has this teardrop tattoo, but how do we know he's committed murder?

[Josh Holmes]

You know, dude, it's. But it's. Honestly, it's the thing and it's what we came back to when we did our show right after the State of the Union. We were like, look, we understand where Democrats are. Oppose, oppose, oppose everything Trump. So you don't clap for the stuff. You don't get up or whatever. What the American people see is not the conversation that you're having at the Georgetown cocktail party with a bunch of effete journalists. What they see is you don't think it's a very good idea to get Venezuelan gang members out of this country.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right? I mean, like, the story could have consisted entirely of tweets from the Trump administration. Hey, here's a great thing we're doing and it's wonderful. Everybody on the right would have been like, yeah, cheering them on. But what Democrats couldn't resist was like their left wing impulsion to say, no, we're not allowed to get rid of these people.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[Comfortably Smug]

And therefore there's conflict. So everybody's paying attention to it. And every normie out there, including most of Democrats, according to this number, are like, yeah, hell yeah, we're getting rid of the terrorists. And Democrats are left saying like, no, do not do that.

[John Ashbrook]

Can we see this graphic on Meanwhile, what has this effect been on Trump?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, the other side. Here's the other side. This is, according to CNBC, Trump's approval rating of 47%, according to NBC News, is the highest ever, the highest ever than it's ever been.

[John Ashbrook]

So Democrats have hit the lowest ever and Trump's hitting the highest ever. I wonder if that has something to do with the Democrats being completely insane and taking the, like, 20% side on every issue.

[Comfortably Smug]

It has everything to do with it. Every. Everything to do with it.

[Josh Holmes]

And more than anything, folks, it is a rudderless ship. All of this is the exact downstream result of Democrats having a rudderless ship. You had the Obama, first of all, you had the Clintons for 20 years. Then you had the Obamas all through the Biden administration almost 20 years ago. And now they're looking around like, is it Jasmine Crockett?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Is it Chuck Schue? Like, I don't know, like, who's running this shit?

[John Ashbrook]

Like, it's not Michelle's podcast, yo.

[Josh Holmes]

Jeez, what did she get, like, seven downloads?

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Seven views.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, Jesus, just so ugly. Anyway, so that's our question to you. Our question of the day. You gotta like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety program. Thank you for joining us today. But hit that. Like, hit that. Subscribe and answer this question. Who is the leader? Who is the leader? Yeah, Is it still Obama? Like, who's the leader of the Democrat? Is it Jasmine Crockett? I don't know.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, Stephen A. Smith.

[Josh Holmes]

It could be.

[Michael Duncan]

That's my vote.

[Josh Holmes]

It could be. It could be.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think it's still George Soros.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, that's a good answer.

[Josh Holmes]

That is ultimately a great answer. So anyway, when we come back, we're going to answer your question that we posited to you last week about the possibility of a government shutdown, because many of you had all of this fantastically framed. We'll get to it right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

We finally beat Medicare.

[Josh Holmes]

He's right. He did beat Medicaid. Beat it to death. Joe Biden's legacy for seniors. He raided Medicare, made premiums skyrocket, and drove up drug costs. Worse, the Biden pill penalty is already slashing the development of affordable drugs, forcing seniors to pay the price of Biden's failed policy. Biden broke Medicare, but President Trump can fix it. Call Congress and urge them to end the Biden pill penalty. So our question to you last week, and we provided a fair amount of guidance on this, which turned out to be instructive.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Was were the Democrats all talk or are they actually going to shut down the government? Your answer's fantastic. To do that, we always start with the voice.

[Comfortably Smug]

First one comes from Lorinda Leach. Brilliant. Lorinda writes, I bet the Dems will pass the CR because next week is spring break and they aren't going to want to have to quote, work using that word very loosely, of course. Course. Any longer than they have to.

[John Ashbrook]

Nailed it.

[Josh Holmes]

Well done, Lorinda. Well done.

[Comfortably Smug]

Very, very smart listeners to the ruthless.

[Josh Holmes]

Variety program Harun, what do we got for two?

[Michael Duncan]

This is from Lisa Marie. Oh, Lisa Marie. Great menu.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh yeah, friend of the program.

[Michael Duncan]

Thank you for writing in. Lisa Marie writes, 5050 on the shutdown. Dems are so emotionally unstable, it'd be an angsty thing to do, but it's so pointless and it only takes a few to wake up from their self indulged fanfic horrors to avoid it.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that's them in a nutshell.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, that really is it. Nailed it. All right, Smuggles, what's the last one?

[John Ashbrook]

Comment 3 is from Timothy Morrison. Timothy writes, they will make a big show of being committed to shutting it down, but they will quietly pick just enough vulnerable senators with elections coming up to vote yes so that it barely passes. They'll make a bit of noise publicly about people crossing over, then get media to shut it down and move back to crying about everything else again. I mean, this is like basically just what happened then. The weak senators up for reelection will use it to try and shore up moderates in their district by claiming they voted to avoid the shutdown. I don't think it will work. Hopefully it won't anyway, but I think it will pass with exactly the votes it needs. No more, no less. I mean, like that was their timid plan. Nostradamus.

[Michael Duncan]

Nostradamus.

[Josh Holmes]

Nostradamus. Timothy, what a fantastic bit that was. Although Ossoff, did he vote to shut it down?

[John Ashbrook]

I think he did, which is surprising.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know. This is this cat in Georgia that has absolutely no business being a United States senator.

[Comfortably Smug]

Total zero.

[Josh Holmes]

Very tumultuous time within the Republican Party. A runoff that happened as people were questioning election results and all kinds of things.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, the minions trolled this guy into proposing to his girlfriend. Yeah, like this is a long time story, this guy's life. I mean, continue, Continue.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's becoming like an accidental senator, but he's now like going through all of the machinations to try to seem like he's a normal person because he's up for reelection in the great state of Georgia, home, by the way of the great Governor Kemp. Should he seek to have something to do with that?

[Michael Duncan]

He voted nay. Voted nay on the cloture vote.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, so he wanted to shut it down. He wanted to shut down.

[Comfortably Smug]

What a zero. I mean the guy doesn't belong in the Senate.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the one, it's the one piece of Timothy's point where he was saying that like, you know, some of these vulnerable senators would do it. He was right. But that guy didn't get on board. He's just a full on leftist.

[Comfortably Smug]

No. Right. He also voted to let LeBron James play in the WNBA.

[Josh Holmes]

Sure did.

[John Ashbrook]

I know lots of was watching that, just like taking notes. Man, that's going to be tough for Ossoff. I don't know if he's got it in it to win.

[Josh Holmes]

Referring of course to the new executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund. And it has a particular interest in the great state of Georgia this time around. All right, listen, more news on this. We're not stopping here. One of the reasons that we've kind of gotten to a little bit in our discussion about why these guys are so unpopular is what they're doing. And one of the things that came out over the weekend, Trump, this is the way that the media frames it is Trump defies judge deports Venezuelan gang members. Can we play clip four, please?

[Comfortably Smug]

President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies act today. Now a federal judge is considering a wide reaching order to block him from deporting non citizens.

[Josh Holmes]

Under that act, the President took action saying the US Is being invaded by the Venezuelan gang Trende Aragua. Earlier, a federal judge had granted a temporary restraining order barring the President from deporting five Venezuela Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act. It's only been used three other times. Yeah, well I. All that notwithstanding, you got the news. Let's hear the other side of this story. Clip five, please. I can tell you this, these were bad people. That was a bad group of, as I say, hombres. A bad group.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You look at them and you look at the crimes that they've committed. You take a look, you don't get any tougher. You don't get worse than that. You understand that? Listen, he's right. It's a bad, bad bunch of hombres. What happened was that they were found rounded up, which, God bless it, I can't believe there was ever an administration that thought that these were serviceable American citizens.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank God for Tom Homan.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, thank God for Tom Homan. They found these people and then they plucked them out and they sent them back.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And in the midst, while they were airborne, a judge said, well, you can't do that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Which first of all, is nonsense. Can you believe there's an American judge anywhere that would be like, oh, yeah, no, it's very important to have murderers stay in this country.

[Comfortably Smug]

Insanity.

[Josh Holmes]

They're illegal, for starters. They're illegal. It has nothing to do, like, say there were no crime was committed. It's still fine to send their asses.

[Michael Duncan]

Back because they committed a crime in the first place.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Entering illegally.

[Josh Holmes]

But you're a part of a criminal gang that is noteworthy for rapes, murders, mayhem across this country. And those are the people that were sent back. The administration maintains, I think rightly, that these things, they were already airborne on their way back. Like you, you had a chance to weigh in on that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But you didn't.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And this was already an action that was been taken.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. We're in international waters. We can do a cockfight out here if we wanted to.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly, exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

We're not turning this plane around.

[Comfortably Smug]

Here's the thing. It raises the question, why in the world is the hard left waging war on these grounds? You know, they expect people to believe that these guys are here to work a 9 to 5 and hope they can max out their Roth IRA. They're here to kill people. You know what I mean? They're here to take over apartment buildings and terrorize Americans, send them back to the prison where they came from. There is no reason why they should be in our country. And the left is like, no, judge, please God, let these terrorists stay in our country. Why are they fighting on that ground? I'll never know, but I'm not going to try to stop them.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just. Just fantastic.

[Comfortably Smug]

I mean, and did you see the White House, by the way? They had. They did. They're so funny. They are so funny. They put out this video that. That wolf just popped up on the screen. And over the top of it, they played the music to closing time, that.

[Michael Duncan]

Song from the 90s.

[Comfortably Smug]

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

[Josh Holmes]

Look at these guys.

[John Ashbrook]

So this was. This video was originally tweeted out by Nea Bukhlay, the prime minister of El Salvador. And I mean, he's turned that country around. Like, murders are down like 95% since he got elected. And one of the things he did is he built this, like super prison and he had the military basically just like, this is a novel idea. Put all the criminals in jail. He just put all the criminals in jail.

[Michael Duncan]

Crazy, crazy idea, right?

[John Ashbrook]

And then all of a sudden, murders go down, everyone's happy, and he tweeted. Out. He was like, el Salvador is happy to imprison these, like, violent terrorists and murderers for the US At a small cost to the US Cheaper than it would be for us to have to jail these horrible people. And further, I think this is amazing that the Democrats take these kinds of positions, the judges specifically.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Because if you see what has happened over the past year, whether it's things like crime or illegal immigration, so many Americans have shown again and again, they're sick of this. They're sick of this, like, progressive idea that, no, it's actually the terrorists and the criminals who are oppressed and we are their oppressors. Like this dynamic they created of how, like, actually, you, taxpayer, are the oppressor. You're the bad guy. And all these people entering our country illegally, committing crimes, murders, stealing from stores, the reason you go to your drugstore and everything is locked up is because you're an oppressor. Everyone's sick of it. They're so sick of it, they've had to live through Covid being told you're an oppressor unless you go out and riot. For George Floyd, like, everyone is tired of it. And for the judges to take this position, you saw the immediate reaction. People are like, you're telling us to bring terrorists back to this country. It's been barely 20 years since September 11th. Are you being serious?

[Josh Holmes]

That's how a major party gets into the 20s. That's how they do that. And I saw this clip yesterday of a. A journalist was going back to, like, what you were talking about. The absurdity of the questions.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

A journalist asking Tom Homan about the alien sedition. This is the Alien Enemies act that we're talking about where they invoked, which is a 200.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, it's too old. And so then we can't use it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

It was basically their argument.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, what do you people object to? To this old law being used.

[Michael Duncan]

It's too dust, it's too dusty. We can't use this one.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I know. His response doesn't count. It was roughly the same time as the Constitution. I think we still respect that.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

They don't. They're like, no, that's just.

[Michael Duncan]

No, that's dumb, too. We shouldn't do it. These fucking people. And here's the thing. Smug. I agree with you on all that stuff. It's crazy that they're so ideologically conditioned by all this George Soros money and these prosecutors let people out of prison that this is apparently what they believe in. I don't think they actually believe it. And I think they know why they got to 29%. I think the one thing that supersedes all of it, the ideology and everything, is this compulsive need to oppose everything that Donald Trump does.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, and so they just get Trump derangement. And it's the same thing as the CR dude. It's like they didn't actually have an objection. They didn't go to a single thing and be like, this is what we want to fight for, for the American people.

[Josh Holmes]

He's just doing.

[Michael Duncan]

They didn't give a shit. Donald Trump's doing it. I want to be against it. Oh, Donald Trump's getting rid of violent criminals and deporting them. I'm against it. It's just a knee jerk, you know, reaction that they have to do otherwise. What is it you say you do here?

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I do think there's a lot of truth to that, but. But, man, I think that the left is so powerful in that party.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

George Soros and Hans Borg, Vice and all of these people who hate our country and want to see it fall apart are more than happy to fund these people and let our country fall apart.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's get that number lower.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

29 is not low enough.

[Josh Holmes]

They're on the way. Yeah, Wait till they oppose tax relief for working Americans, because that's on its way. Yeah, you know, that's right. All these other things, all of a sudden they became free traders, by the.

[Michael Duncan]

Way, which is, you know, I can't wait to hear them defend taxes on tips. So funny, everybody.

[Josh Holmes]

It's just going to be so good. It's fantastic. So anyway, I think the one thing that we can do here, fellas, to try to put a bow on what is just a brutal time for the libs, is to play a game of Demer Journal.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, great idea.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you want to do a quick recap of what this game is for our new listeners?

[Michael Duncan]

For our new listeners and viewers, of which there are many, Denmar Journal is a really fun game to play, particularly around, like, huge media stories where there's just so many takes, there's so much content out there from Democrats and from Democrats masquerading as journalists. And this game is. I read four statements, three of which have been made by journalists, one by a Democrat. And my colleagues here have to pick who is the Democrat. It's a very difficult one to pick.

[Josh Holmes]

One of the hardest games that we play, we generally do it in our live performances because it's just a Real crowd, please. It's a crowd pleaser, but I think we should hit that music.

[Michael Duncan]

Let's hit it. Damn.

[Josh Holmes]

Or journo dam.

[Michael Duncan]

Or journo dam. Or journal.

[Comfortably Smug]

Nobody knows.

[John Ashbrook]

Still too long.

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody knows.

[Comfortably Smug]

We always talk about the. The stanzas being too long, but what I want to draw attention to is the final line. Nobody knows.

[John Ashbrook]

Nobody knows.

[Comfortably Smug]

For the last two decades in this country, you don't know who's writing the story, whether it's a Democrat or a journey. And that's the beauty of this game.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good. All right, what do we got here?

[Michael Duncan]

Duncan Spaghetti. Get exhibit one.

[Josh Holmes]

Got to take notes in this game.

[Michael Duncan]

A true leader would use this as a moment to showcase why he should remain majority leader. Wow. Meaning Schumer obviously explain the decision he made and showcase a plan going forward. His canceling a book tour rather than facing Democrats and being proactive is part of his problem.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow. That could be a Dem. I mean, it's. It is trying to diagnose a issue within their party.

[John Ashbrook]

Also, it could be a journo because they're too dumb to know what a majority leader is. Yeah, he's a minority leader, but we'll continue.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's fair.

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit number two. Democrats have decided to embrace the rollover and play dead strategy. Schumer says a shutdown would have been a distraction from damage Trump is causing and allow him and Musk to wreck even more havoc. This is not a surprise if you've been paying attention.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my God.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's why this game is so tough, because those both sound like Democrat operatives.

[John Ashbrook]

And he saw journals, like, almost goading Dems to be like, shut this shit down.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man. Okay. All right.

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit number three, please. The party's base is right to be angry at Chuck Schumer, but the country's fate hinges on the fight against Donald Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God. That. I mean, to it. Come on.

[John Ashbrook]

That's it. So many of these. I mean, everyone sounds like it should be a Dem activist. Not a single one should be journalist.

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody knows.

[Josh Holmes]

Nobody knows.

[Michael Duncan]

Exhibit number four, please. People keep telling me that. I don't get it. They just want to see the Democrats fight harder. But I totally do get that the desire is for Democrats to take expressive action. Most of the caucus agrees with that, and Schumer is being responsible.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, I've got.

[Michael Duncan]

Those are our four.

[Josh Holmes]

Listen. We like to talk these things through before we get a little bit into it. I think that that last one, in my view, is a Perfect encapsulation of a journo.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, I'm agreeing the last one.

[John Ashbrook]

Number four.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Because in my view there is nothing that is a journalist that is not an establishment Democrat.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what they are. That's what. You know, there are some journalists that are activists. You know, you get the Harwoods of the world and the, you know, all those folks who like, like to advocate for an outcome. But most journals find themselves in just protecting the Democratic Party.

[Michael Duncan]

Like all the journals who defended Joe Biden even though he had dementia.

[Josh Holmes]

That's an establishment.

[Michael Duncan]

And then he went on national television. His brain melted. And then they were like, I'm shocked.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I never saw this coming.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's what an establishment Democrats in the final clause of that final sentence and number four sounded to me like a journo protecting their beat. Schumer is being responsible.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. That's how you get an interview in with the minority leader in the United States Senate.

[John Ashbrook]

Can I rub a bow on number four? Can I pull that up on the screen? Number four? This is why I thought it was a journal. See that. But I totally do get that. Is like there's this annoying online journal thing. This like millennial compulsion to speak. Like they're hip and talking to friends. But I totally do get that. You're a journalist, man. Just write the sentence. Speak with authority. Like you know something about the subject. Not like. But I totally do get that. Get the hell out of here. Dude.

[Michael Duncan]

They're so scared of outrage against them.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

They're the softest. They are the soft skinned people.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Yeah, 100%. So I'm gonna go to number one. Was the only other one that I thought was absolutely a journo. This is a true leader. Yada has canceled the book tour. Rather than face Democrats as being proactive is part of the problem. What they're doing is discussing the immortal. It's not that he's the problem. It's his choices within on how he described what he was doing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

So you preserve enough that number four was doing overtly and saying that his decision wasn't the problem. It's the fact that he chose not to articulate it well enough to the American people.

[John Ashbrook]

The Democrat can never be the problem.

[Josh Holmes]

They can never be the problem.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's exactly right. It's a discussion of the problem and also a diagnosis in that last sentence. His, his lack of strength is what's standing between Democrats and victory and, and, and yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Forever immortality. First ballot.

[Comfortably Smug]

I agree with you.

[Michael Duncan]

So I'M I'm hearing you're between two.

[Josh Holmes]

And three, so I'm between two and three. I. I'm ultimately gonna go with number three as my. As my Dem operative here. Just because I thought that the rollover and played dead component of number two was just had all the hallmarks of what a journo would give me.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

And I thought. I just thought three was. Can we pop that up one more time? Fate hinges on the fight against Donald Trump. That's a little bit more. Yeah, that's a little bit more.

[John Ashbrook]

My read on this is when it says that like. But the country's fate hinges on the fight against Elon Musk and Trump. I thought this was Duncan trying to pull the old switcheroo of being like, this is so partisan, so crazy that of course it's gotta be a Dem.

[Josh Holmes]

But the surprise, it could be a game master surprise.

[John Ashbrook]

That was my guess. Is it the. It's.

[Josh Holmes]

So you're going to go to.

[John Ashbrook]

I'm going. Number two is the Dem.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay. Can we pull number three up one more time? Because number three is my Dem. And part of the reason is because there's a statement at the beginning that seeks to align with the left against Schumer and a Democrat. Right now is seeing. Reading the tea leaves and knowing that there's chaos and assuming that AOC and the young left is the New Democrat Party and is seeking to align with them and against Schumer while also reminding people that the real fight is against Trump and Musk. And I think that number three is.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it could be like a young Senate Democrat who still wants their committee assignments.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Still wants. You know, they haven't. They're not going to go all in against party leadership quite yet, but they want to express their right, their contract.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's a contrast. Yeah, they're different.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, they were. All four were unhinged.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, so Holmes and Ashbrook are on three, I'm on two, and Smug is on two as a Democrat.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, so by process of elimination here, can we pop up who was exhibit four, please? Spaghetti.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

But I totally do get that. I told you it was a tool. Yeah, I called it.

[Michael Duncan]

But I totally do get that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Like this egg Left wing journal out of Glacier.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, got it. Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay, now exhibit number two.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh. Oh.

[Michael Duncan]

Smug was wrong. That was Stephen Dennis at Bloomberg. No, Democrats have decided to embrace the rollover and play dead strategy.

[John Ashbrook]

He's really gotten out there, man. Bloomberg, like 10 years ago, he used to be semi. He's really Gotten Bloomberg as a whole. They're, they're. Their political reporters have just gone as far left as you can.

[Josh Holmes]

Not a surprise if you've been paying attention all over. Play dead. Interesting surprise because they've swung at every fucking pitch that has come their way. Yeah, like, oh, illegals in America. Yep, we oppose it. Terrorists in America. Yep, we oppose it. Men and women's sports. Yep, we oppose it. Like literally every single thing that you could possibly. They have not rolled over and played dead on a single thing. They've literally swung away at every single pitch that Donald Trump has thrown.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

That is not a rollover and play. That is a dying by self inflicted wound.

[Comfortably Smug]

They care a hell of a lot more about the left than they do about the country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

So it's down to one or three spaghetti. Let's put up number three, please. That is from no Michael at the New Republic.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wow.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. No. Yeah, yeah. And exhibit number one, spaghetti is from this guy at the aclu.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[Michael Duncan]

Maybe if he spent less time defending terrorists, he'd know that Schumer was minority leader.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, that's why this game is so hard. This is crazy.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is very hard game.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a very hard. We are all losers.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow. Good pull, guys. Great game.

[John Ashbrook]

Maximum people who are losers of the state of journalism today. That's the lesson we've taken.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what it is.

[Michael Duncan]

It's tough. It's a tough game.

[John Ashbrook]

Horrific.

[Josh Holmes]

The point, nobody knows.

[Michael Duncan]

Nobody knows. The point is nobody knows.

[Josh Holmes]

God, I love it. So remember our question of the day. You gotta like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program in order to do so. But our question of the day is who's the real leader of the Democratic party? Hey, nobody knows. Might be jerdos of that too, but I'd be interested in your discussion on that. Remember, we got merch up there, there's some great golf gear, all kinds of other things. Take a look while you're there. And in the meantime, wait for the brackets coming out Saturday. This is going to be a hack madness spectacular the likes of which you've never seen. Got to get on board, set your timers. We're going to do that Saturday with that. I think we did it.

[John Ashbrook]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much to the Minions. We love to see our YouTube numbers go up like. And subscribe if you have not yet and send it to a friend and make sure they do too. So until next time, Minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and own the libs we'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.

[Josh Holmes]

Hey, lights. Hey, Swipes.

[Comfortably Smug]

You ready for the nasty weather?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. That's what we windshield wipers were made for. How about you, Lights? You remember your training, right? Of course. When you guys are on, so are we. We're shining a light too. Really? On safety for Oregon's rose. Making it so everyone can see each other coming. Oh, we all go together so well.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, here comes the rain.

[Josh Holmes]

We're on. Let's go.

[Comfortably Smug]

Remember, when your wipers are on, make.

[Michael Duncan]

Sure your headlights are on too.

[Josh Holmes]

Two lights and swipes.

[Michael Duncan]

It's the way to go.

[F]

A reminder from ODOT Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience and their favorite podcasts with Libsyn Ads, go to libsynads. Com. That's L, I B S Y N ads dot com.

[Josh Holmes]

Today.