Why do liberals ruin everything?

Summary

---

Ruthless Podcast: "Why Do Liberals Ruin Everything?"

Date: February 10, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook, Doug
Special Guest: Congressman Pete Stauber

---

Episode Theme:

This episode delivers the Ruthless crew’s signature irreverent, sharp-edged take on current culture wars, particularly how progressive attitudes—particularly those of journalists, athletes, and public officials—undermine traditional American values, patriotism, and even sports. The main focus: why the hosts believe liberals "ruin everything," with side forays into sporting events, media bias, cultural shifts, and how these issues play out in Minnesota and beyond.

---

Summary & Key Discussion Points

1. The State of Patriotism in Sports

Timestamp: 02:14–18:30

• Olympic Frustrations:

  • Michael Duncan expresses disillusionment with Team USA, stating he's "rooting for them to do extremely bad" and advocating a boycott because of perceived anti-American attitudes among athletes.

    “I now believe in group punishment. All of them. I don't support anyone on Team USA until they internally pressure themselves... Cut that shit out." (Michael Duncan, 04:07)

  • The crew debates whether a few "bad apples" merit collective blame, or whether the issue is systemic.
  • The group criticizes journalists for always "putting on a pedestal" athletes who voice grievances against America, while ignoring repressive regimes' abuses.
  • Examples are played of Olympic athletes making politically charged statements about America, prompting an extended riff about identity, selfishness, and loss of collective purpose.

    “…It’s disheartening. It takes a little piece out of you every time you see somebody go do that." (Josh Holmes, 13:11)

• Role of Coaching and Culture:

  • Holmes laments the loss of old-school coaching emphasizing national pride, recalling the way legendary coaches instilled respect for the anthem.

    “There was an element of leadership that came with being a coach…just how unique their opportunity is and how incredible their country is at providing it. And that saddens me deeply.” (Josh Holmes, 14:22–16:39)

  • Duncan insists the current situation requires more than change from above—it needs outright social and peer pressure, even invoking the idea of "bringing back bullying" as a tool for enforcing norms.

    “We need to start going after people like this…bring back bullying…” (Michael Duncan, 16:41)

---

2. Culture, Media, and the “Liberal Pathologies”

Timestamp: 18:30–21:03

• The discussion shifts to blaming the media for systemically promoting progressive values and devaluing patriotism.
• The crew jokes about the pressure athletes feel to “use their platform,” likening it to "struggle sessions" in Maoist China.

  "It’s not enough to be like, I got nothing to say. You must say what we want you to say." (Michael Duncan, 20:23)

---

3. Minnesota: Political Chaos, Activism, and Scandal

Timestamp: 21:43–38:08

• Ongoing protests in Minnesota (involving activists throwing dildos at vehicles) provide fodder to mock the left for what the hosts describe as "degeneracy" and weird protest methods.

  "...just the absolute degeneracy of the left where it's just like. It's not enough to hate America. You just have to be an absolute degenerate in all possible forms whatsoever." (Michael Duncan, 23:47)

• The team riffs on regional differences, Minnesota's unique political pathologies, and how cultural protests connect (or don’t) to larger issues.

---

4. The Super Bowl: Halftime Shows and Progressive Culture

Timestamp: 25:02–33:02

• The hosts critique the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show, expressing nostalgia for more “all-American” acts.

  “Super bowl is the most American thing of all time. How do you not tune in to TPUSA and Kid Rock when your choices are Bad Bunny and dead puppy?” (Josh Holmes, 26:41)

• The segment turns into a series of jokes about how halftime shows are designed more for TV and less for fans in the stadium, and how recent artists have left the “mainstream” behind.
• Michael Duncan connects the predictably "woke" lineups to Jay Z and Roc Nation’s management of halftime contracts—suggesting commercial self-dealing.

---

5. Audience Interaction & Halftime Show Debate

Timestamp: 33:02–35:06

• The hosts share listener comments on Democratic nomination predictions and open a participatory debate on the best and worst Super Bowl halftime performances.

---

6. Fighting, Sports, and Masculinity Gone Wild

Timestamp: 35:06–38:30

• The crew discovers a viral Australian sport where hulking men simply sprint into one another, and everything devolves into humorous speculation about further “pure” sports, including man vs. animal.

  “It’s the purest sport. It’s the purest sport of all.” (Michael Duncan, 37:37)

---

7. In-depth: Congressman Pete Stauber (MN)

Timestamp: 38:41–65:32

A. Olympic Nostalgia and Hockey Roots

• Stauber recounts his own hockey journey and the recent honoring of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team.
• He describes the deep significance of hockey in Minnesota and the pride his family (several of whom played at the highest levels) takes in being part of that tradition.

B. Mining, Energy, and “Critical Minerals”

• Stauber passionately advocates for responsible mining in Minnesota (particularly the Duluth Complex) to counter dependence on China for critical minerals.

C. Fraud & Governance in MN

• Stauber blasts Governor Walz for being “complicit or incompetent” in fraud scandals, especially relating to state social service programs and election integrity.

  “If we get rid of the fraud, including the voter rolls, Minnesota’s gonna flip red.” (Pete Stauber, 48:56)

D. Voter Rolls & Federal Accountability

• Extended talk about election fraud concerns; Stauber agues for exposing the “internal network” controlling the state’s politics and improving transparency as a bipartisan need.

E. Law Enforcement & Immigration

• Stauber (a former cop) and the crew praise border enforcement actions, criticize sanctuary cities, and describe effective recent cooperation between state and federal authorities.

  “The gold standard in law enforcement is voluntary compliance. That's what you want…But when you have a governor and his administration calling the federal agent the Gestapo…they rile them up.” (Pete Stauber, 57:26)

F. Personal Reflection

• Stauber speaks movingly about raising a son with Down syndrome.

  “It’s not their disability, it’s their ability that we’re working on…they bring sunshine to every day…” (Pete Stauber, 45:21)

• The interview wraps with fun “three questions,” revealing Stauber’s work ethic, sports mindset, and pride as a “Midwestern agony of defeat” guy.

---

Notable Quotes

• On the Olympics:

  "I'm rooting for them to do extremely bad." – Michael Duncan (02:58)
  “That's the basics. Like why do you have to be asked to have respect for the country that has sent you?” – Michael Duncan (12:05)

• On Media and Cultural Pressure:

  "You never see anyone from Team China being asked: So, about Tiananmen Square?" – Michael Duncan (04:41)

• On Minnesota’s Political Scandals:

  “Our great state of Minnesota…is the fraud capital. It's unbelievable.” – Pete Stauber (46:36)

• On Down Syndrome:

  “It’s not their disability, it’s their ability…they bring sunshine to every day…” – Pete Stauber (45:21)

• On Super Bowl Halftime Shows:

  “Super bowl is the most American thing of all time. How do you not tune in to TPUSA and Kid Rock when your choices are Bad Bunny and dead puppy?” – Josh Holmes (26:41)

• On Social Norms and Bullying:

  “Bring back bullying…quote, bullying used to act as kind of like an enforcement of societal norms.” – Michael Duncan (16:41)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Olympics patriotism debate: 02:14–18:30
• Journalism/media bias: 04:36–06:45, 18:31–21:03
• Clip: Athlete's critical statements: 07:11, 10:25
• Minnesota protests and cultural riffing: 21:43–25:02
• Super Bowl halftime show discussion: 25:02–33:02
• Fan reactions and cultural commentary: 29:11–33:02
• Combat sports riff: 35:06–38:08
• Interview: Pete Stauber: 38:41–65:32

---

Tone

Unapologetic, humorous, and combative—hosts riff on the news with a heavy dose of sarcasm, frustration, and cultural commentary. The underlying mood is one of exasperation with progressive pop culture and what they see as its erosion of national solidarity and traditionalism.

---

For Non-Listeners

This episode is a brisk, sometimes caustic, always light-on-its-feet roundtable blending political and cultural commentary. The hosts use humor and exaggeration to critique left-leaning trends, lamenting the loss of “old-school” American traditions—in sports, politics, and media—while celebrating local heroes (especially from their home turf of Minnesota). The Pete Stauber interview provides a sincere, even touching, break amid the chaos.

Transcript

[John Ashbrook]

Journos are always looking for that sort of person who trashes America and they put them on a pedestal.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, yep.

[Michael Duncan]

All the guardrails for normalcy and patriotism and believing in this country are gone. And now essentially you're just congratulated for how far deviant and anti American you can become. That's pretty much how the Democrats choose their candidates these days.

[Doug]

For years, the big health insurance companies have been raising the price of insurance, denying care and delaying treatments while making record profits and receiving trillions of America's tax dollars through federal programs. When they get asked why health insurance prices keep skyrocketing, the big insurance companies dodge, distract and blame everyone else. But the American public isn't buying it. Recent national polling shows that voters are concerned about affordability and most importantly, want Congress to prioritize lowering the cost of health insurance. That's why Congress recently grilled the CEOs of the big health insurance companies to answer questions. After years of denying responsibility and pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves, the big insurance bosses are finally being asked to answer for skyrocketing premiums while they make record profits. It's an important first step, but Americans are demanding action and accountability, not more excuses and denials from big health insurance companies. Learn more at americansforopengovernment.com President Trump called.

[President Trump (voiceover)]

For American energy dominance. Congress can deliver it by allowing year round E15. E15 lowers prices at the pump, strengthens rural economies, and puts more money in the pockets of farm families. But political Gridlock is limiting E15's potential. Farmers, fuel, retailers and consumers want certainty. They need permanent year round E15. Let's Make America energy secure. Let's make rural America stronger. Congress, let's make year round E15 permanent.

[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Michael Duncan]

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

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the ruthless Friday program. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to write across your radio dial. As always. Listen. Football season dead and gone. Super bowl, we have it. I'm wearing all kinds of baggage with the Sam Darnold, former Viking now winning the Super Bowl. Off season's gonna be good for me. I just gotta repackage a lot of emotions. But one of the things that has captivated my sports interest is the Olympics. I love the Olympics. How do you fellas like the Olympics?

[Michael Duncan]

I don't. This year, I oppose the Olympics. I oppose the U.S. olympic team.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, come on. That's outrageous.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm Rooting for them to do extremely bad.

[Josh Holmes]

That's outrageous.

[Michael Duncan]

And we'll get into why.

[Doug]

Who are you rooting for? The Italians?

[Michael Duncan]

Honestly, anybody but the US it seems like every country except for the United States sends people who love their country.

[Josh Holmes]

Smug.

[John Ashbrook]

We know who smug likes. Pro Italy.

[Josh Holmes]

That's something. I didn't see that coming.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, we're gonna get into it, but I'm sure for so many of our listeners and viewers, you could understand my frustration with the US Olympic team.

[Doug]

Oh, no doubt.

[Michael Duncan]

And it's basically every day for them. The Olympics is not an athletic competition where you are representing the country which you love and are grateful for the opportunity and the honor of representing your country. The real Olympics is just like, how many things can I say trashing America. And I'm sick of it.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't care for it either, but I do. I love the Olympics.

[John Ashbrook]

I do, too. And the journos are always looking for that sort of person who trashes America, and they put them on a pedestal. I just choose not to watch that because I'm more interested in the athletes that are trying to win and not talking about anything other than how glad they are that they're able to compete.

[Michael Duncan]

And so that's the thing is, I think for the longest time, we've tried that approach of like, don't let a few rotten apples. I now believe in group punishment. All of them. I don't support anyone on Team USA until they internally pressure themselves. Hey, you have the honor of representing the United States. Cut that shit out. Until they do the work of pressuring each other, I'm not gonna support any of them. And here's the thing. Speaking about your friends, the journos, why is it that they're only out there asking Team usa So tell us about why America sucks.

[Doug]

Because they're nerds and they don't care about sports.

[Michael Duncan]

But why?

[Doug]

And they like to project their liberal pathologies onto athletes, not.

[Michael Duncan]

You never see anyone from Team China being asked. So about Tiananmen Square.

[Josh Holmes]

And you guys ran kids over with tanks.

[Doug]

How about those Uyghurs? How are they doing?

[Josh Holmes]

Heftier price to pay for that kind of journalistic ingenuity.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing is also, I.

[John Ashbrook]

Haven'T seen a whole lot of interest in Team China and the Winter Olympics.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, they have a large team out there, but there's a huge.

[John Ashbrook]

I haven't seen them on the podium.

[Michael Duncan]

There's kind of a. I don't care whether they win or not. What I'm saying Is that your journey buddies and the Team USA athletes are very motivated to attack America every opportunity. And they never have any attempt to ask any other country, hey, what about your geopolitical situation? What about you guys unleashing Covid on the world? Or what about you guys, as Duncan mentioned, running these Uyghur concentration camps? They never get any questions about that. But we have these idiots on Team USA who are very willing to come out and trash the country on the world stage. They should be held accountable. All of Team USA should be held accountable. That's why I'm boycotting. It's got nothing to do with it.

[John Ashbrook]

It is a fair point. And I feel like the left wing view is overrepresented in sports journalism. I saw a headline about Colin Kaepernick.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my gosh, this guy Kilgore at the Washington Post. Apparently the one guy that didn't fire at the Washington Post.

[Michael Duncan]

There's a few that are still left. There's a bunch of that left.

[Josh Holmes]

He decided to show up at super bowl week. And he says right in the top of his story, the most important figure of this year's super bowl is not in attendance. It's Colin Kaepernick. Oh, yeah, this was his lead.

[Doug]

A quarterback from 10 years ago.

[Josh Holmes]

100%. Get out of here, dude.

[John Ashbrook]

You can't.

[Michael Duncan]

And then he.

[Josh Holmes]

And then he proceeds to like, bother all the athletes and whatnot.

[Doug]

This is what I'm talking about. The projecting of their liberal pathologies onto the rest of the ecosystem.

[Josh Holmes]

There's even a quote or two in there that kind of gives up the game a little bit where he'll ask somebody about Colin Kaepernick and they're like, what?

[Michael Duncan]

Whoa.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a name I haven't heard.

[Michael Duncan]

The funny thing is, like, for a lot of players currently in the NFL, they're not old enough to remember Colin Kaepernick. No, I know that's a decade old. Like, who are you talking about?

[Doug]

Like, bro, I was in middle school. What are you talking about?

[Josh Holmes]

But the journalism component, the journalism component to what it is that we're talking about with the Olympics should not be ignored. Because I think you're right. I mean, nobody else would do this or attempt to get people representing your country to undermine their own country while they're abroad competing. But the American media does it. For all of the things that Smug is frustrated about, I want to give you a couple of examples.

[Olympic Athlete (voiceover)]

Clip 5 yeah, it's been a hard time for the community overall under this administration. It isn't the first time that we've had to come together as a community and try and fight for our human rights. And now, especially, it's not just affecting the queer community, but many other communities. And I think that we are able to support each other in a way that we didn't have to before. And because of that, it's made us a lot stronger. I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these games to try and encourage people to stay strong in these hard times.

[Doug]

We should let men back into women's sports.

[Michael Duncan]

Duncan has a good argument for this.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean.

[Doug]

Cause, like, this is the thing. You try to help liberal women, and all they do is resent you for it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Doug]

It's unbelievable. So I did a little research on this Amber Glenn. You know she's pansexual.

[John Ashbrook]

What does that mean?

[Josh Holmes]

I saw that one of the prelims to qualify for the Olympics that she won, she draped herself in that trans flag.

[Doug]

Right, right. You thought bisexual was greedy.

[Josh Holmes]

What is pan.

[Doug]

Pansexual is literally everyone.

[John Ashbrook]

Really?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait.

[John Ashbrook]

Wait a minute.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, all comers.

[Doug]

Wait, pansexual?

[John Ashbrook]

What does that include that bi does not.

[Doug]

Well, see, this is the thing. I assume it's something you get, like, yes. Anded into at a Pride rally. You, like, show up and you're like, I'm bisexual. And then people are like, well, what about the transgender community? Are you attracted to them? And they're like, oh, well, yeah, that too non. Binary.

[Josh Holmes]

Then you become pan.

[Doug]

I'm pansexual. I might wake up on Tuesday and, like, girls. Or I might wake up on Wednesday, like, boys. Or maybe I'm into transgender people on Thursday. Yeah, dude. Wild.

[Josh Holmes]

She's also the one that I saw where she said her hobby was magic the Gathering.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, kidding.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Doug]

So she's a nerd on top of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So there's a bunch of stuff.

[Doug]

What is exactly, though? What is exactly the discrimination that the LGBTQ community is experiencing under the Trump.

[John Ashbrook]

I'll tell you, buddy.

[Michael Duncan]

I will.

[Doug]

Scott Besson is the Treasury Secretary. He's gay.

[John Ashbrook]

Nope. I will tell you very clearly. Gavin Newsom has had a hard time rising up as a candidate among Democrats. And I think very, very clearly that is who she's sticking up for. She's worried about him. Okay. She's worried that he's not gonna get the nomination.

[Josh Holmes]

Are you making allegations?

[Michael Duncan]

Well, I mean, many people are saying, you know, the whole Mayor of San Francisco thing. Some people have mentioned that.

[Josh Holmes]

Treasury Secretary has mentioned that right here in the brokerage Interesting. Well, that's an interesting.

[John Ashbrook]

I think that's who she's sticking up for.

[Doug]

You've got Scott Bessant.

[Josh Holmes]

Is he in? Who takes all comers? I've not seen Gavin. Yeah, I don't know. I don't. That's a new allegation. Well, Smash surfaced it, so we might as well discuss it.

[Doug]

I've heard nothing of that.

[Josh Holmes]

I haven't either. But he's.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, she. Listen, this is the world stage and you know, Democrats often do things in secret, as we know.

[Doug]

We do know that.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. There's a loophole and they're worried about his ability to get the nomination, so they're sticking up for him.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. Okay. Well, there's more. Clip 6.

[George Harrison (Olympic athlete)]

It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now. I think, really, it's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on. Look at the dude that's not the biggest fan of.

[John Ashbrook]

And I was like, George Harrison.

[George Harrison (Olympic athlete)]

George Harrison aligns with. I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S. so, yeah, I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.

[Josh Holmes]

You kinda wanted to.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the thing. Did you hear, like, hearing that is what did it for me. When he said, I'm doing this for.

[Josh Holmes]

My friends, I like that too.

[Michael Duncan]

And so if he's gonna exhibit that level of selfishness, it's time to punish the entire Olympic team. I am boycotting anything to do with.

[Doug]

I was like, oh, darn, we got hockey coming up.

[Michael Duncan]

No, no, no, no. Normally when there's like an Olympics, it's like, oh, you know, you wanna support Team USA and remember things like the Miracle on Ice and. And like Apollo puts out these, like, sweaters with the American flag.

[Josh Holmes]

Aruzioni jumped ugly. The miracle. Speaking of Miracle on Ice, Aruzioni jumped ugly.

[Michael Duncan]

But, like, you know, like, there's all this, like, Team USA merch. I'm buying. None of that. I was gonna get this nice, you know, like a nice little Olympic sweater that has a USA flag because you're proud of the United States. I want nothing to do with that team. Gonna punish your country commies and these trash bag people who, again, unless you punish all of them, there's going to be no change whatsoever. You can't be like, I don't like that one communist and that other communist, but I'm going to stand and I'm Going to cheer for no. Until collectively they start pressuring each other to have some respect for the country whose flag they are competing under. Have some respect. That's like the basics. Like why do you have to be asked to have respect for the country that has sent you and, and who has provided the opportunity for your entire career and everything? If you go up there and you're like, no, this is from my friends and family who got me here. Kick him off the team.

[Josh Holmes]

Deport his ass.

[Michael Duncan]

Send him to China. Compete for China, friend.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, some of them do that. So there's an American born guy, an athlete by the name of Gus Kenworthy, who decided he is competing for Great Britain. Graphic 3. If you don't mind tossing this up, this is a depiction that he put out on his social media account of him peeing. Fuck ice.

[Doug]

That's gotta be like a Photoshop. Nobody's got that sort of stream control.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right. I mean there is, there's a pattern there outside of the deep, but this is what this guy has done. So like, look, here's this.

[Michael Duncan]

I'm really rooting for that guy to get hurt. This, come on, rooting for injuries is what I am doing for those folks. Folks fly off the side of the mountain.

[Josh Holmes]

But this is what, like that one in particular. And I'm with you in that it really irritates me because I'm all in on the Olympics. I still all in. Like if you can put an American flag on your back, I don't care what the event is, I'm going to root for it no matter what. And it's disheartening. It takes a little piece out of you every time you see somebody go do that. So I thought a lot about this over the weekend, cuz these clips surfaced and you know, there's just not a lot of athletes that are out there talking about the importance of America. It's America's 250th birthday, for crying out loud. Like, that's what you should be talking about in the context of press conferences, what it means to represent your country.

[Doug]

Look, the Tkachuk brothers love America well.

[Josh Holmes]

And there's many athletes that do.

[Michael Duncan]

But they're not acting as enforcers in that little Olympic village. So they deserve to have collective punishment. Collective punishment has worked a lot throughout history.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I think it, you know what I think it might. What I've come to, I think is coaching. There's a huge component of many disciplines in US Olympics where the coaching in and of itself is not from the United States at all.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, we saw skiers on the mountain where they're dealing with like Swedish coaches or Norwegian coaches. Everything is about the individual athlete and how they can individually participate. It's not about the country. Which reminded me of like, you know, John Wooden used to make his team every year practice the national anthem. Bud Grant used to line people up on day one of the football season to practice how they stood during the national anthem. There was an element of leadership that came along with being a coach of American athletes when they go abroad to make them understand how unique this opportunity is and how unique the country is that has provided it. I think that that is missing entirely when you have. There's a number of athletes here that probably vehemently disagree with the statements that we've just played. The fact that nobody feels compelled to say shut the fuck up and we're here representing our kind, I don't care what your political beliefs are tells me that there's a top down problem that doesn't. It's not just the ski coach, it's not the snowboarding coach. It's a top down problem with Team usa. And that nobody has communicated articulately to a whole group of young and impressionable, obvious go getters or they wouldn't be there in the first place. Just how unique their opportunity is and how incredible their country is at providing it. And that saddens me deeply because I think that's what it is. I don't think that there's just a bunch of left wing psychopaths who've decided to be athletes. I think that there is some kind of an influence at some level about a neglect for pointing to that flag first. Understand who it is that you're playing for before you start talking about your individual accolades. Right? It's like the front of the jersey is always more important than the back. It's that kind of mentality that we've carried with us in our generation, where we grew up, that I think is totally missing right now.

[Doug]

Are you satisfied? Smug.

[Michael Duncan]

No. I mean, dude, I think you have a great sentiment and I wish it were something like that, but we need to start going after people like this. You know, there was this interesting discussion which has happened for like maybe a year now online, of where it's like, bring back bullying, you know, And I'm not talking about like the big kid on the playground beating up the little kid on the playground. I'm talking about how like, quote, bullying used to act as kind of like an enforcement of societal norms. You Know what I mean? Like, if you had someone on the playground, be like, guess what, gentlemen, I am now pansexual. And I believe that America should have a communist uprising and we should burn the flag. There used to be a kid who'd give you, like, a little thump on the head and be like, that's a very stupid idea. And all that's gone.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

All the guardrails for normalcy and patriotism and believing in this country are gone. And now essentially, you're just congratulated for how far deviant and anti American you can become. That's pretty much how the Democrats choose their candidates these days. Well, you sound like you hate America, but do you really, like, let's really hear it. Let it loose. I want to see you pee. Fuck ice. That's how we're gonna get you up on a stage. That's how you're a hero. That's how you get attention these days. Nope, nope. We gotta punish it. It's not enough to be like, I.

[Josh Holmes]

Kind of agree with that.

[Michael Duncan]

We need to ensure there's good coaching to make sure that, you know, you have proper, you know, that you have respect for the flag. These people want to burn the flag. They want to kill us. I don't think telling them that that's a bad idea is gonna be enough. I think you lock them up. Animals go in cages.

[Josh Holmes]

Jesus fuck. I mean, my God. I think there's a broader societal look at this whole thing that it concerns me. It starts with, like, not saying pledge of allegiance in classrooms.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. And like, I've never lived a day under a Democratic president or a Republican president where I haven't been proud of my country.

[Pete Stauber]

Yep.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's never once made me, you know, like, I thought Obama. Everybody talks about how Biden is the worst president in America. Obama was way worse in my view. I thought he was the worst president.

[Michael Duncan]

There was behind the gates to hating America.

[Josh Holmes]

I thought he was the worst president in the history, but never would have occurred to me to, like, not wear the stars and stripes. Cause I'm an American. Like, the politics of today doesn't dictate my pride of what America is. And the fact. And I think I can only attribute it to, like, upbringing people I associate with, my parents, coaches, people around me, like, instilling the values of what it means to be an American. And I just don't believe you could come to the conclusion that these athletes have come to and think that your personal politics about something. Who's been in the news for the last 10 days somehow supersedes your allegiance to this country.

[Doug]

Well, I think the answer. I think the answer to that is smug is wrong in one way, and that is it's not that bullying went away. It's that there's only one side doing it.

[Josh Holmes]

It went the other side.

[Doug]

And that you've got these athletes with people in their ear. You have a platform now. You need to speak out and use your platform. Why aren't you speaking out and using your platform?

[Josh Holmes]

You do.

[Doug]

You stand with ice murdering people, Murdering people. Don't you care? Why don't you speak up and use your voice? That's the thing that's happening.

[Michael Duncan]

But you're not wrong.

[Josh Holmes]

Also, use my platform is a hilarious.

[Doug]

But that's what, that's what they say. You have an obligation. You have an obligation.

[Josh Holmes]

You have a platform.

[Michael Duncan]

It's like in the, in the, in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, how they would have these, like, struggle sessions. That's where the term comes from.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Of where they, like, force you. It's not enough to be like, you're not going to stand in our way.

[George Harrison (Olympic athlete)]

You.

[Michael Duncan]

You must recite the party slogans in public or you'll be humiliated and bashed. Until you do, you're forced to. And that's what's happened. The left has 100% become. You've got to spit out the party slogans any opportunity you have. It's not enough to be like, I got nothing to say. You must say what we want you to say.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's disappointing. But it's not even close to the strangest thing that we saw from the Libs this week. We pay attention because it's sports, but wait till you hear what the rest of them are up to. I gotta go back to Minnesota to do all that, but I brought in some reinforcements at the end of the program. Pete Stauber, man, what a great guy. Congressman from Minnesota. He's gonna help buck us up a little bit.

[Doug]

And a hockey legend.

[Josh Holmes]

Hockey legend in his own right right after this.

[Michael Duncan]

I've worked at Coca Cola for 21 years.

[Pete Stauber]

We're delivering Dr. Pepper from our brand.

[John Ashbrook]

New facility in Dallas, Texas.

[Michael Duncan]

We're really proud to still make Pepsi Pro products in America. You don't need a college degree to.

[Josh Holmes]

Work here, but I put four kids through college by working here.

[Doug]

This is a great place to work with great people and great American brands.

[Michael Duncan]

Grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, they all depend on us. We deliver great paying jobs.

[Doug]

We deliver beverages people love.

[Michael Duncan]

We deliver for our community.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so apparently there is still protests going on in Minnesota. I mean, Homan drops in, he gets every county in Minnesota to participate in this, you know, prisoner situation. If you detain, they give him over. Like, everything seems to be working out. Doesn't stop. The paid agitators, though. They're still out there. But they've got a. They've developed somewhat of a new. Well, have a look. Clip 1. They're throwing dildos at this truck time.

[John Ashbrook]

But this, this is the guy who's on their side.

[Doug]

They're sticking dildos on his hood in his windshield.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm on your side. And they're conf. So pro ICE groups allege that they've been reporting anti ICE vehicles. So this guy was in an anti ICE vehicle. And you recall that part of this whole thing of them tracking down ICE agents is that they have this database that they're sharing amongst activists where if you see the license plate of any vehicle associated with ice, you immediately report it. Then you start blowing your whistles and throwing dildos. Evidently, we'll get to the dildo thing.

[John Ashbrook]

In a second, as one does.

[Josh Holmes]

But this cat, apparently somebody who is a pro ICE individual.

[Michael Duncan]

He's an anti ice, right?

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, but somebody who was pro ICE shared the vehicle data, a little bit of dirty tricks, so. Dirty tricks. And next thing you know, he's inundated with giant schlongs.

[Doug]

That's incredible.

[Josh Holmes]

Which is the video that you just saw. And can we talk just a second about how the dildos became a part of this situation?

[Doug]

Yeah, I don't remember reading that in Saul Alinsky again.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, I go back to just like the absolute degeneracy of the left where it's just like. It's not enough to hate America. You just have to be an absolute degenerate in all possible forms whatsoever. That's the unifying feature at this point.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you see. I don't think we have this available. If you can stitch it in, you should. Did you see the guy who was out protesting and who stuck the suction dildo in his own head?

[John Ashbrook]

Mm, I did not see that.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you see this?

[Doug]

I saw that.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, also, this is a very Minnesota kind of a thing.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's like people from there have.

[Michael Duncan]

Weird things, have lots of weird things about them. We don't. I think this is the thing. And that's also why I think we should start considering no more migration out of Minnesota. The problem seems to stem from there. Listen, Minnesota, you gotta keep the Minnesota people there.

[Josh Holmes]

You need to lock em up unexplored sexuality. Animals going cage realm in Minnesota. We don't. We don't talk about it. We don't.

[Michael Duncan]

We don't. Well, clearly, I mean, this is just footage from Minnesota. We, you know, we all saw their eyes. What happens there?

[Josh Holmes]

Bury it like disgusting little place. I mean, wild though, right? Yeah, I mean, still does. I don't know how that connects with ice and all that, but. Well, it's entertaining nevertheless. The bad bunny thing.

[Pete Stauber]

Mm.

[Josh Holmes]

So the halftime show, you know, a lot of other alternatives. TPUSA did their thing Puppy bowl, which by the way, the puppy that was like disabled. You see that? That thing? No.

[Michael Duncan]

Are you so old? There was a dog that died at the Puppy Bowl.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, right after, yeah. They were running it around and it was like kind of a feel good story because it was on all kinds of things and it was all mangled and look terrible. Anyway, too much for the old pup.

[Doug]

But kind of a good story. He went out doing what he loves.

[Josh Holmes]

Which is filming propaganda dog propaganda dog propaganda.

[Doug]

Well, I'm sure that was a glorious day for him.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, probably the best if you look at him. He hadn't had a lot of good days. Anyway, he's out.

[Michael Duncan]

But that's insane.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally. They killed a dog.

[Michael Duncan]

Wait, they killed him?

[Doug]

Died.

[Josh Holmes]

They said he died. But like, I don't know, it may.

[Michael Duncan]

Have been one of these situations, you know, when the animals too far gone and where the true merciful move you.

[Josh Holmes]

Talk about old yelled.

[Michael Duncan]

Yelled him to God.

[Doug]

You old yellered him.

[Michael Duncan]

That's my guess. Honestly. Like, I don't know anything about the situation. But my best guess, you know, is sometimes the real merciful somebody clip that make the kid is sending him back to God.

[Josh Holmes]

He made the kid owner shoot him.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, the. If the pup's having a hard time sometimes, you know.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, it's the only humane thing to do. Anyway, Bad Bunny during was trying to compete for market share and it's pretty universally reviled in terms of like, I always. Again, dude, like, call me old fashioned. Super bowl is the most American thing of all time.

[Michael Duncan]

How do you not tune in to TPO saying Kid Rock when your choices are Bad Bunny and dead puppy? I think it's Bad Bunny, Dead Puppy, Kid Rock. I think my choice is pretty clear.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I feel. I feel like that's right. But. But they had to slip this bad boy in here. Graphic too.

[Doug]

What's. What's going on here?

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so I noticed this.

[Michael Duncan]

Wait, is that from the halftime show or is this like wolf's personal?

[Pete Stauber]

I.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

Just Strafing.

[Michael Duncan]

It's a bit much wolf. A bit much wolf.

[Josh Holmes]

Screen. Capped that and saved it for later. No, but they had. So it was. They were doing crowd scenes or whatever, and then all of a sudden they get two dudes who are just grinding on each other.

[Doug]

Is this part of the act or are these people watching the Super Bowl?

[Josh Holmes]

They're watching the halftime show. Yeah. And that's what they're. I don't feel like this graphic does it full justice because it was like a maybe a 1 1/2 second clip.

[Michael Duncan]

It's described as a simulated sex act. But I'd like to take this opportunity to play a surprise card. I have a surprise for everyone here, especially for John Ashbrook.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, God.

[Michael Duncan]

Could we get that surprise graphic? This is from the Washington Post, and they say analysis in general. Bad Bunny's super bowl halftime show had the kind of wholesome, traditional family values that would have fit right in with some of the more sentimental commercials that appeared during the game. So that is being described by Ashbrook's friends at the Washington Post, is just clean family fun.

[John Ashbrook]

And they wonder why. They wonder why things have fallen apart.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, well, you were defending them like hell last week, so I just wanted to make sure you were held accountable for that.

[John Ashbrook]

Thank you for holding me accountable. Smug.

[Doug]

Thank you, sir. I'll have another.

[Josh Holmes]

We appreciate it.

[John Ashbrook]

We are so lucky.

[Josh Holmes]

So, like, you know, for the people who watched it, you were sort of in. It was like you're waiting for the train wreck. Like, you just had to see it for.

[Michael Duncan]

Wait, you watched it?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I had to, because I was. I was basically.

[Michael Duncan]

No, you were forced to.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I was waiting. I needed to see what everybody was gonna talk about the next day.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, that's a good way of putting it. What everyone's talking about was Kid Rock performance, which was amazing. Yeah, the whole show was terrific.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, No, I get it.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, they were having millions and millions and millions of people tuning well.

[Josh Holmes]

If I wasn't in this line of work, I would have done just for my own pure entertainment. I would have done what you're suggesting. But because I like to provide value to millions of listeners, I took over.

[Michael Duncan]

My buddy cerebral part and I was like, throw it on. We're not watching this. We're going to watch the tpusa. Everyone was thrilled. Everyone enjoyed it, so.

[Josh Holmes]

But it turns out a lot of fans had a similar reaction to me. Look at clip four here. So this is the fan. You've got, like, two people dancing, the rest of the crowd. This whole thing is going on. There's another third person dance. You have 50,000.

[Michael Duncan]

That is amazing. I didn't see that video where everybody's like, dude.

[Pete Stauber]

Huh?

[Michael Duncan]

It's funny how when no one knows what is being said, they're completely still and puzzled. Like, who would? Like, no one here knows what's being said.

[John Ashbrook]

Somebody said too, that in the stadium you couldn't actually see him. Like, he was walking in the. All these grass fields and it was all for television. And in the stadium, they were like, wait, what's going on?

[Doug]

That's the thing about super bowl halftime shows. If you're actually there in the stadium, you very quickly realize that none of this is for you. Like, the camera angles and everything make it look large, like a huge production.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Doug]

But it's really not.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Doug]

You know, and so you're kind of like half watching it because, like, the artists and all the entertainers are more focused on, like, where the drone camera is and all that sort of stuff. So, like, it doesn't even feel like they're really performing well.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, in fair, they're playing to 100 million people on that television set instead of the 50,000 that are in front of them. But.

[Doug]

But hey, though, they paid a lot of money.

[Michael Duncan]

It's.

[Josh Holmes]

They sure did. They sure did. But it's also been a long time, other than the Snoop, Dr. Dre, halftime, which I thought was fantastic.

[Doug]

That's all our generation got. And then they skipped right over.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I just feel like it's been a long time since I've had one of those things that it's felt like it's for me.

[Michael Duncan]

Do you know why that is? It's because Jay Z and Roc Nation got that contract for like.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what I heard.

[Michael Duncan]

It's 100% true. Friend of the program, Alex Brucewood did a great breakdown of this, but for like eight years now, they've had the. The contract with the NFL that Jay Z essentially is hand picking every single one of these acts. And so it's been like, man, remember when it used to be like, we're gonna have the Rolling Stones or like.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, like, totally.

[Michael Duncan]

What is the biggest, like, Prince in the world?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Show up.

[John Ashbrook]

It rained.

[Doug]

It rained when he played Purple Rain.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it was fantastic.

[Doug]

That was amazing. Great Colts won that Super Bowl.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, imagine having an act that, like, everyone can understand. Radical idea.

[John Ashbrook]

So how much longer does that contract last?

[Michael Duncan]

I think it's still got a few years left.

[Josh Holmes]

Let me guess. Every single one of the people that he recommends are on contract with his record label.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, 100%. Oh, weird. I mean it's fun getting a piece of the action.

[Doug]

Is that true or are we doing allegedly here?

[Josh Holmes]

Well, we might have to do allegedly because it's smug.

[Doug]

We don't know if you would have.

[Josh Holmes]

Told me that, Duncan.

[Michael Duncan]

I think the one conservative on the show I'm always a.

[Josh Holmes]

We'll look into it and report right back. So it leads to our question of the day. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless variety program. We read all of your comments and get back to the very next episode. Our question on this one is that was probably the worst halftime show, at least from our perspective. Who had the best? There's a lot there. And like, you know, I mean one of the best is not at a Super bowl was the creed Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving one. And I thought that the Vikes Lions, there was a Christmas one where they did an incredible halftime show. Snoop was the lead of that. I just love Snoop, but you know what I mean? Like what's your favorite? You remember them all. Tell us which one is your favorite halftime show of the last 25, 30 years? I think you gotta go back a little ways. At least I did. Coming up, your comments from last episode. We asked the question is with Kamala back on the scene, who is going to win the Democratic nomination? Your responses right after this. When you like and subscribe to the ruthless sobriety program. We read all of your comments on our question of the day and this question was who's going to win the Democratic nomination? Kamala Gavin. Somebody else to do that. We always start with a voice.

[John Ashbrook]

Okay. First one comes from Chelsea Alexander. Chelsea writes, longtime listener, new subscriber here. Thanks for doing that. Chelsea felt compelled to join in on your Friday question. Kamala must really have some juicy dirt on the core Democrat establishment to keep them from muddying her muddling. Muddling her like an old fashioned cocktail.

[Josh Holmes]

That is a muddling.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

For this reason she gets the nomination. The real winner is JD Vance. When only look at the current list of obvious contenders, there is perhaps a curve ball. I really have my eye on a bipartisan ticket with Josh Shapiro and Spencer Cox.

[Josh Holmes]

Interesting.

[Doug]

Governor of Utah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Governor of Utah. Governor of Pennsylvania. Governor of Utah.

[John Ashbrook]

Interesting.

[Josh Holmes]

Generally speaking, those things don't work out like split ticket. And the Democrats. The Democrats don't strike me as a accommodating party right now for anything that's center left.

[John Ashbrook]

They really don't. But it always makes for fun conversations.

[Josh Holmes]

It does.

[Doug]

It is true. Remember how Bloomberg got savaged oh, yeah. That was awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

It was awesome, actually. All right, comment to Doug's Rungs.

[Doug]

This is from Rat Boyd. Rat Boyd writes, I think Kamala gets the nomination, and we finally get to see J.D. vance destroy her in debates, which was denied us because Biden dropped out.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that is true.

[Doug]

I would love to see JD Just run circles around her.

[Josh Holmes]

That would have been fun to watch.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

No question about it. All right, comment three. Smug.

[Michael Duncan]

Comment three is from Judith Hamilton, and Judith writes, the question is whether the Dems will hold a true primary or just appoint someone to run. That's what they do.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

That's what they've been doing lately.

[Josh Holmes]

It is.

[Doug]

I mean, they've been doing it longer, you know, than people really think. I mean, the whole Hillary thing was wired from the beginning. They just robbed Bernie out of that whole thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

Totally.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally. Absolutely true. Great comments. When you like and subscribe, we read absolutely all of them. Get back to the very next episode. Thank you for those submissions. Just a variety thing or two here, fellas. There's a new combat sports league, you know, we like to talk about.

[Michael Duncan]

You found this. And it rules.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it was like the, you know, I mean, the hockey fighting thing, where there was no hockey being played. They just fight. And this one struck me as kind of compatible to that, although perhaps much more dangerous. Can we play clip 8? Oh, my go.

[Michael Duncan]

What the hell? Oh.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, God.

[Doug]

I don't like this.

[Michael Duncan]

You got to get.

[John Ashbrook]

You got to get low.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you think so?

[Michael Duncan]

That's the way.

[John Ashbrook]

You got to get low. Low man wins.

[Josh Holmes]

So this was provided by Happy Punch.

[Michael Duncan]

Who could have guessed that? Ashbrook's take. Is that Dem talker. When they go high, we go low. He can't stop.

[John Ashbrook]

It's not a Dem talker. Smug.

[Pete Stauber]

If.

[John Ashbrook]

If you would like.

[Michael Duncan]

He went high. Do you see? Big guy just took him out. Going again.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[John Ashbrook]

No.

[Michael Duncan]

It's about leverage.

[John Ashbrook]

It's about leverage. If you'd like to challenge me. Leverage. I'd be happy to show you how going low leverage wins.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't beat up on senior citizens, for God's sake.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[John Ashbrook]

So he's getting out of it. He doesn't want to try it. I will challenge you to this mug.

[Michael Duncan]

I'll play 100%.

[Pete Stauber]

It's a new.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a new sport, and it's being slammed as the dumbest sport, and doctors saying it should be banned. And this is according to an article. Is this a Daily Mail article? What is this? It's a packed.

[Michael Duncan]

He says Daily Mail venue in Sydney.

[Josh Holmes]

Watch countless brutal big hits in Australia despite ongoing concussion warnings about the events. The run nation championship. Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

For our audio listeners, this is basically two huge dudes running as fast as possible, sprinting at each other to knock each other down. It's just full speed.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like the most Australian thing that I've ever seen.

[Michael Duncan]

It is because, like, you know, you'd have, like, Australian football and they're like, we'll get rid of the ball, we'll get rid of the teams, and we'll give you what you want. It's just violence.

[Doug]

It's the Oklahoma drill without pads.

[Josh Holmes]

That's. That's right.

[Doug]

I don't like this.

[Josh Holmes]

This is going to kill someone.

[Doug]

Well, I mean, it's human fighting.

[Josh Holmes]

Most.

[Michael Duncan]

Most wonderful endeavors do. Lives are always. Lives were lost. Getting a man on the moon. All the great. All the great things humanity accomplished. You got to crack a few eggs. Lives.

[Doug]

I mean, you got to crack a few clavicles.

[Michael Duncan]

Think about this. Like, it's wonderful. It's amazing. And the thing is that it's not like anyone's being forced to do this. These are two people, two monsters, two.

[Josh Holmes]

Willingly, as fast as they can, straight into each other.

[Michael Duncan]

And it's the purest sport. It's the purest sport of all. You don't have to worry about are you going to dribbling or shooting. I'm sure this is.

[Doug]

I'm sure this is what everybody.

[Josh Holmes]

Skill.

[Doug]

This is what everybody was saying in the Coliseum. Yeah, they like fighting the lions.

[Josh Holmes]

The purest sport, because there's no skill.

[Michael Duncan]

We should bring back the Coliseum. You know, it was a wonderful idea. People really love that kind of thing.

[John Ashbrook]

I would like to see them bring the animal kingdom into this. Right. And have a man versus, like a gigantic ram that I can get on board.

[Michael Duncan]

That'd be cool. That'd be a great twist on it.

[Josh Holmes]

Get on board with. Can someone take the ram horn to the chest and turn that thing back around? I. I would watch and like, round.

[Michael Duncan]

After round, amping it up. Like, you start with the billy goat, then they bring in the ram, and then you got a moose. You know what I mean? And rhino. Can anyone take the rhino?

[Doug]

This is a psychotic segment.

[John Ashbrook]

Only Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

I paid top dollar. I swear I paid top dollar.

[Josh Holmes]

Have you ever seen that thing on Instagram where the guy does the voiceover for the ram? That's like knocking down the fat people at the sport ram. Oh, God.

[Michael Duncan]

You got to see. I want to do that league.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm going to find that for all of our viewers at some point. But we have to get to our interview, which is fantastic. This is Congressman Pete Stauber. Well, I've been taking entirely too much shit about Minnesota lately, so I need to bring in reinforcements. And when you're talking about Minnesota, the old Stauber family is one of those sort of stalwart, tough hockey guys that you just have to bring in. So now, Congressman Pete Stauber. How are you, sir?

[Pete Stauber]

I got your back.

[Josh Holmes]

Take him out, Pete. Let's go. We gotta get these guys. Listen, before we get into all the unpleasantness which is surrounding your entire state, I do want to talk about this recently signed Congressional Gold Medal act. Right. With the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. You grew up, I grew up. This is like, you know, there are hall of Fame things and then there is like the ultimate. This is the crew that basically guided much of our childhood.

[Pete Stauber]

Absolutely.

[Josh Holmes]

No, tell me about all that.

[Pete Stauber]

Well, you know, the. The 1980 Olympic team. I mean, those were heroes to us growing up playing hockey in Minnesota. And So this past December 12, we put forward the Congressional Gold Medal act for that team. And that's the highest honor a country can give an individual or a team. And our office led it. Senator Kramer from North Dakota led it to Senate. And it was something that was on December 12, that was a Friday. And I came back from votes at 9am at about 9:30, I'm in my office and there's my heroes. Drinking coffee, having donuts, excited for the day. And I mean to.

[John Ashbrook]

To.

[Pete Stauber]

To. To see Jack O. Callahan and, And Neil Broughton, Ken Morrow, Janicek Aruzioni, you know, Jim Craig, I mean, all those folks, it was unbelievable. And then 12 of them were from Minnesota, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, totally.

[Pete Stauber]

You know, and so we had.

[Josh Holmes]

Herbie Brooks insisted upon it. That's right.

[Pete Stauber]

That's right. That's right. 12 of them. And then you had the. One of the equipment managers and of course, Coach Brooks and his son Dan was there and yeah, we had. It was just such a day for me to be in the presence of these hockey heroes that I grew up. You know, I always wanted to be. I knew I had to get to at least 5 foot 9 because that was Neil Bronton.

[Olympic Athlete (voiceover)]

Right.

[Pete Stauber]

If Neil Broughton can play in the NHL college, so can. So can I. Once I hit 5 9, I was.

[Josh Holmes]

Good, you know, it's so good. I love it. I mean, they did grow up as heroes, but your family. I mean, I remember growing up watching your brother Robbie goalie for. For the Gophers.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you had an incredible collegiate career. It's just, that's part of the fabric.

[Pete Stauber]

Of Minnesota, you know, playing hockey. You're right. Coming from Minnesota, playing hockey at the highest level, I mean, it's when you strive for it. For me, it was, you know, I just, I wanted to play Division 1 hockey and was able to earn an athletic scholarship to Lake Superior State University, small school and upstate. You know, the, you guys made some noise though. We won the national championship in 80, in 88. You know, but so my brother Robbie played at Minnesota. First goalie to win the Hobie Baker Award. Then he went on to play Los Angeles with Gretzky and then, and then Buffalo. And my brother Danny played in Boris Sweden. So we, we grew up loving the game of hockey, playing hockey all the time. And it was something that I take what I learned in hockey every single day in Congress now. You know, you get beat up for all these things, but you just focus on doing what's right, focus on getting that piece of legislation across teams hacking and slashing and just get that piece of legislation across the finish line for your constituents in the country.

[Josh Holmes]

So, yeah, we talk about that a lot.

[Doug]

So we talked a little bit before we got in here about something you're doing to that effect right now with the CRA and you know, everything that's going to do to impact your district up there in the Iron Range. So you tell us a little bit about that.

[Pete Stauber]

So we have, we have a lot of unfinished business. You know, when we talk about energy independence, we also need to talk about critical mineral dominance. And in mining is a big reason, you know, I'm in Congress. For your viewers, I'm 8th district of Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota. We've been mining iron ore that makes 80% of this nation's steel. Right. We know how to do it. And all of a sudden we have this critical mineral find. It's called the Duluth Complex. Biggest untapped copper, nickel fine in the entire world. And so that, you know, we're pushing to make sure we mine responsibly and we're going to do it. We can do it in Minnesota. And of course, Joe Biden was the most anti mining president in the history of this country. He took 225,000 acres off the ability to harness that. And so that cra, it reverses that withdrawal so it allows companies to compete for, you know, to be able to mine American resources.

[Josh Holmes]

How about that?

[Pete Stauber]

That's exactly right. I mean, we shouldn't follow China anywhere. Right, Right. And we're doing that Right now. So we can mine here, we can manufacture here, we can process here, and we can refine here. We have to have the political will to do it. And, you know, that's a. That's a high priority of mine in the natural resources space. So we have some unfinished business, and we're pushing the mining as hard as we can.

[John Ashbrook]

John, you come from a great Minnesota family, and you and your wife have built another great Minnesota family. I think you get six kids, is that right? Yeah, six kids. And one of them has down syndrome. And that is near and dear to my heart. I got a daughter with down syndrome and your son Isaac with Down syndrome. I think he's 21 years old. Am I right about that?

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah, he's a little older.

[Doug]

23.

[John Ashbrook]

23. Okay. And I just wonder if you could tell everybody just what an absolute blessing it is to have a child with that sort of disability that you. It doesn't even cross your mind when you first learn the news.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah, no, I mean, both you and I are blessed. We were chosen to raise these special children. And so my wife and I. I mean, Isaac came out unexpected. Right. And I remember when Isaac was born, the whole. The whole room went silent. And my wife said, what happened? Is he. Is he. What happened? What's going on? And so they had a tough time telling us that we just got down syndrome. We didn't care. He was our son. Doesn't matter if. I mean, he's one of the six kids that give us grief all the time. Although he's the best kid we got. Am I right? Your daughter. Right, exactly right. It's the best kid we have.

[John Ashbrook]

Life giving.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Pete Stauber]

They'll fight with the. Their siblings, and it's just a wonderful, absolute, wonderful blessing to be chosen by God to be able to raise a special child. You know, of course, my other five children are special, too. Right. But this one is just a unique gift from God that we cherish every single day. And I know you and your wife do. I mean, it's just your daughter. Just the most beautiful thing in the world. And so it's not. It's not their disability, it's their ability that we're working on. And they bring sunshine to every day, every event and our family. So thanks for bringing that up. I mean, that's very near and dear to us, and I appreciate that.

[Josh Holmes]

No, that's great. So less comfortable topic is what's happening in Minnesota with the administration, with ice, with Governor Walls, which, you know, I've said on this program for, like, the Last three weeks. I don't recognize what's going on here. I mean, we've had, when I was growing up, we had Democrat governors, it's Republican governors. But like basically sanity was a part of the equation. This seems to me from the outside looking in and you live it every day and talk to your constituents to be complete madness.

[Pete Stauber]

If I could be frank, Minnesotans are pissed with the fraud that's going on. We are hardworking. People go to work every day. And then we see this happening under this administration and it's hundreds of billions of dollars that are happening. We saw one stat, you know, $30 billion. And then, and then they just look the other way. Not now. We're going to get down to the bottom of it. They want accountability. They want people to that, that did this fraud on the taxpayers to serve time. They want to, they want to make sure that, that they're held accountable. It's ridiculous. I mean, our great state, our great state of Minnesota and it's the fraud capital. It's unbelievable. And Walz knew about it. The whistleblowers are coming out. Walls knew about it. And I mean, that's why he's not running again. I mean, in my opinion, that's why he's out. He knew that the gig was up. The fraud that was happening. He either he was complicit in my mind or he's incompetent. One of the two. Right. You can't have that amount of fraud, not even holding people accountable or having things in place to protect the taxpayer and let it go like that. And it's been going on for a while. Yeah. And again, I say to people, I said, don't let Minneapolis dictate the rest of our great state. We are very, very frustrated in greater Minnesota. And what's happening in Minneapolis, the politics.

[Josh Holmes]

Of, I mean, when I grew up in Minnesota, your neck of the woods was as blue as it could possibly be. Iron range heavy union worker, old school dfl, Democrat farmer labor. They since abandoned that whole wholesale and now they have this just sort of pocket around the urban epicenter that they're holding on to. And the rest of the state is generally pretty red. Is this obvious fraud mistrust, like complete deception on the American taxpayer, the Minnesota taxpayer? Is that going to fundamentally change Minnesota, you think? Or at least give us the opportunity to change from one of the most reliably blue states to something that's going to be competitive here?

[Pete Stauber]

If we get rid of the fraud, including the voter rolls, Minnesota's gonna flip red.

[Josh Holmes]

So do you? Let me make sure I understand what you're talking about. What walls? Because we've contended this here, so I'm not putting words in your mouth, but the fraud and the voter rolls and what they've done there is deliberate. It is about maintaining power for a Democratic establishment in Minnesota.

[Pete Stauber]

Do you believe that my Minnesota Voter Integrity act says, okay, the state of Minnesota, show your voter rolls to the Department of Justice. Yeah, we want, we want them accurate. We don't want any fraud in our voting elections. Right. We were seeing it and feeding our future, the Medicaid, the Social Security, the daycare fraud, you name it. So it's reasonable to conclude that there's fraud in all areas. I mean our governor won't even, or our Secretary of State won't even get up, give up the voting rolls and.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, like why?

[Pete Stauber]

And the SNAP rolls, you know, Secretary Rollins wants to see the SNAP rolls. What are you hiding? Why don't you allow the federal government to take a look at it to assure every Minnesotan everything's good, there is no fraud. I believe that when they, they're going to find it, they're going to look into the SNAP rolls and the voter rolls, they're going to see some disc that are gonna even make Minnesotans more upset.

[Doug]

How does that work exactly? So is it, you know, do you withhold SNAP funds from the federal government in order to compel? How exactly do you get to this information? Because like, look, we've talked a lot about Minnesota, but I have to imagine this problem is everywhere in the country. Like what else can Congress do to compel these states to investigate things that a lot of these Democratic jurisdictions do not want to investigate? You know.

[Pete Stauber]

That's right, that's right. So I think that you, you know, the money isn't going to come to, to support the elections from the federal government if you don't comply with the request and the SNAP benefits, it's going to harm our low income people in the state of Minnesota who are on snap. If they don't show us the SNAP rolls and they're being punished. The people that truly need it are being punished. Because we have a lack of leadership by Governor Walz. We've tried to send them back to Nebraska. They won't take it.

[Josh Holmes]

We get a lot of runoff from Nebraska, I feel like. But look, I get this argument because this is a difficult thing. You have to try to compel them to provide the evidence of their own fraud, which they're unwilling to do, but to compel them honestly Makes vulnerable people more vulnerable. And they just tag you on that. I mean, good God, the Minnesota media has been so asleep at the switch and complicit with all of this.

[Doug]

The Red Star.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, red Star, the old Star Tribune. But I mean, that's a challenge.

[Pete Stauber]

Well, look at, look at the whistleblowers.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Pete Stauber]

Predominantly Department of Health and Human Services workers and predominantly they vote Democrat. Not all of them, but okay. This is a group of both Democrat and Republican workers that said we've had enough and they're being bullied, they're being walked out of their jobs when they bring it up. And then you look at the people that truly need it, the people that truly need the daycare or the Medicaid or the SNAP benefits and the taxpayers are being ripped off. And again, I'm talking to people all across our state that are furious that this is going on and they're even more furious that the governor won't comply and the Secretary of State won't give the voter rolls.

[Josh Holmes]

So what do you do to sort of serve as a catalyst for action on this? Because honestly, I am dubious that they're ever going to turn over anything like, I just don't. They would rather hurt their citizens, they've proven that over and over again, than actually be found to be complicit or maybe culpable for fraud. So political change is necessary. And obviously we've seen, you know, there's candidates that are running for stuff. I mean, I think I was on the Last statewide some 20 some odd years ago that, that won in Minnesota. How do we go about as a Republican Party in Minnesota harnessing that angst and ensuring that we have a political change? Because that's been the biggest trick, the hardest thing to figure out over the last 15, 20 years.

[Pete Stauber]

This is the voter fraud. And those concerns are bipartisan concern. Right. I truly believe that everybody wants free and fair elections and only, only those that are eligible to vote. But what you have, I think an internal network that is so deep right now, it's going to take a change of leadership. And one of the first steps is the Department of Health and Human Services. The whistleblowers, those whistleblowers, they put their careers on the line to do this and to see the amount of fraud going on. And, and of course the sanctuary states and cities that Walz supports. I mean, he came to Washington D.C. here and testified in Congress, spent 240 some thousand dollars on Minnesota taxpayers to prepare for a hearing in support of sanctuary cities and sanctuary states. I mean, think about it, it's wild. And, you know, look at what's happening with the. In Minneapolis. I'm a former cop. In Duluth, Minnesota, when you worked, I.

[Michael Duncan]

Didn'T know that either.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you have a mustache?

[Pete Stauber]

No, actually, my department, we couldn't wear it. We couldn't wear one.

[Josh Holmes]

Duluth is going real clean cut.

[Pete Stauber]

No, it didn't have a mustache, but I spent, yeah, 23 years as a cop. And, you know, when you're a police officer, when you work with the state and the federal agencies, the, the investigations, everything works better when you cooperate and share information. And that's not what's happening as of late. However, since border czar Tom Holman's been up there, there's been what he calls unprecedented, unprecedented cooperation, even going in the jails. I mean, I mean, he said, we just need one agent to go into the Sally port in the jail, take him or her and move on. If you let them out in the streets, it could take a lot more agents. So that's why he's being willing to draw down the jails, are starting to give that information.

[Josh Holmes]

Do you think he had the right approach on that? It seems to me, I mean, we've talked about this a lot and smashed, you've been involved and actually talked to Homan a couple of weeks ago about this. But it seems to me that law enforcement mentality when it comes to this problem has worked itself out.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. So we interviewed him on the show and he talked about how dangerous some of these sanctuary states and cities are because the bad guys know that's where they can go to do everything in secret and get away with it. And one of the things that he said was about his approach. We talked about how, like, where in the world. Where was it the Democrats all of a sudden decided they didn't care about border security? Because we've all been in this line of work long enough to remember when they made speeches saying, no, we're better at protecting. Protecting the border than Republicans. And it was very interesting to hear his point of view because the guy's a career law enforcement officer, has been doing this job in one way or another since the early 80s. So it's interesting to hear your point of view as a former cop. And it's like he speaks a language that local cops understand. If you go in guns blazing, I know how to do everything. You don't know what you're doing.

[Josh Holmes]

There's so feds versus local.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

There's a reticence to. They're like Wait a minute. What are you doing? But he goes in and seems to understand how to interact with these local officials. And from what I understand from the White House, they're getting cooperation almost in every single county in Minnesota where they didn't before he went in.

[Pete Stauber]

The gold standard in law enforcement is voluntary compliance. That's the gold standard. That's what you want. Nobody gets hurt. Officer doesn't get hurt, the suspect doesn't get hurt, nor do any bystanders. Voluntary compliance, that's what you want. But when you have a governor and his administration calling the federal agent the Gestapo and Nazis, they rile them up. And you see the assaults on law enforcement, it's just. It's wrong. I mean, you should not. Law enforcement is there to perform and remove violent illegals. That's what Congress has asked them to do. That's what we've asked them to do.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's a law that's been on the books for quite some time.

[Pete Stauber]

That's right. I mean, they did it under President Obama.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Pete Stauber]

They did the exact same thing under President Obama. And he didn't hear people. You know, by the way, when there's, you know, 13, 14, 15 million people coming into this country illegally, wide open southern border, by the way, I was down there more than the borders are. Kamala Harris was.

[Josh Holmes]

Did she make it? I don't even know if she made it.

[Pete Stauber]

She went down there for a photo op during the campaign.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a good 15 miles away.

[Pete Stauber]

So I would just say I saw in a bipartisan fashion, I don't care if it was a Republican mayor or a Democrat, but they say, stop the open border. We can't handle this. It's overloading our hospitals or social services, some our schools. And so they've had enough. And I didn't see my colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying, yeah, we need to stop it. I mean, we need to stop it. It took President Trump and he promised the American people that he would do it. Our border is more secure now than ever in the history of this country. And Tom Holman also understands we have a northern border, and he's working on that, too. Important part of my district goes into Ontario or connects with Ontario.

[Josh Holmes]

Good fishing up there, though.

[Pete Stauber]

It's great fishing, great mission. Walleye I showed you. We got great fishing in Minnesota, too.

[Josh Holmes]

You do.

[Pete Stauber]

You get it on some good lakes in Minnesota. You got the walleye, fresh walleye. How many places in this country can you leave work, get in your boat, catch a limit of walleyes? Have fresh walleye for dinner and then go to bed. Not many places.

[Josh Holmes]

What a dream, you know? Yeah, you're singing smashes tune right there.

[Michael Duncan]

That's.

[Josh Holmes]

That is the dream. So. All right, so we do three quick questions for everybody that comes on for the first time. Last meal on Earth.

[Pete Stauber]

Last meal on Earth.

[Josh Holmes]

If you can plan it, what would it be? It's gotta be walleye, right?

[Pete Stauber]

You know what? It'd have to be just a Sammy's Pizza, you know? Sammy's Pizza.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah.

[Pete Stauber]

Pepperoni, green peppers, onions, tomatoes. Sammy's Pizza.

[Josh Holmes]

I didn't see you going that route, but that's a good order.

[Pete Stauber]

That's good family size.

[Josh Holmes]

So look, hockey, star cop, congressman. You had a lot of experiences. With the benefit of retrospect, there's probably one or two things that you're. You were super interested in. You think you could have done, didn't have the time because you're doing all this other stuff. If you look back on your entire life, what do you think it would be?

[Pete Stauber]

It's interesting. It's a great question. And I. I say this in jest. If I wished that, I would have studied harder for my ACT test.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna cut that.

[Pete Stauber]

As it was, things worked out right. Because when I was in high school, I. I just wanted to get through with that test and get to lunch. Right.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Pete Stauber]

Little did I realize that was an entrance or part of the entrance exam into schools and stuff.

[Michael Duncan]

So. Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Turns out they care about, like, learning and stuff. Like, I don't know, guys. A hell of a hockey player.

[Michael Duncan]

Get through with a lot of that.

[Josh Holmes]

That's really good. All right, so last question. Our view is that almost every successful person at some level is motivated by the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

[Pete Stauber]

In a Jim McKay, ABC Wide World Sports.

[Josh Holmes]

The way he presented it, it was like, thrill of victory, you win. Agony and defeat, you lose. Our view is the motivation is the key component about what takes the next step in your life. What is the motivation that you use to do that extra thing? And if you're a successful person, you have to be motivated by something. The thrill of victory person is usually like a Phil Mickelson type or somebody who just thinks they can do it. It may not be the smart play, but they just think they can do it. Agony of defeat is typified by Michael Jordan. He had to invite and invent slights against him in order to take his game to the next level and work that much harder. Where do you think you Find yourself on this spectrum.

[Pete Stauber]

I'll just give you the hockey analogy. I wasn't that good.

[Josh Holmes]

That's nonsense, by the way.

[Pete Stauber]

No, listen.

[Josh Holmes]

The only lie he's told.

[Pete Stauber]

But I worked harder than anybody because I had to make for the lack of talent. I had to make it up with my strength and my speed. Because the hockey, it didn't come to me as easy as some of the great players. Right. I mean, they can play the game in their head. And for me, it was hard work. If we had to do 15 sprints, I did 17 because the guy behind me, I didn't want him to take my position. I wanted to make the team. Even as a.

[Josh Holmes]

Feels agony.

[Pete Stauber]

Even as a captain on a national championship team, I was still. Every practice, I was every single practice, in my mind, somebody wanted to take my spot. And you have to do that. And it's transferred into Congress. I still knock on doors. People said, what do you do? Knocking. I want to face to face. I'm asking for your vote. You trust me with that vote. I'm going to ask you personally. And hard work is always equalizer. The only time success comes before. Before sweat is in the dictionary. And that's kind of my motto.

[Josh Holmes]

He's an agony guy.

[Doug]

Yeah. Yeah, right.

[John Ashbrook]

Our kind of fella.

[Josh Holmes]

He's our kind of fella. There's a 50. 50 split. But. But, you know, like, you've got three Minnesotans.

[Pete Stauber]

We could take on anybody.

[Josh Holmes]

Minnesotans over index on agony, by the way. I mean, our vice.

[Doug]

I think it's a Midwestern thing.

[Michael Duncan]

I think it is.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah. But here's the thing.

[Michael Duncan]

You.

[Pete Stauber]

You have. I think you're right. You have the Wild. They're surging right now with a trade with Quinn Hughes.

[Josh Holmes]

Incredible.

[Pete Stauber]

I mean, I just. I'm a Minnesota sports fan and you see the Wild, they're winning these close games and. And I want to be going down to the. To the. We used to call it the xl, but now it's a grand casino arena. I want to go down there on a playoff game. There's nothing better than that atmosphere down in St. Paul, Minnesota. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Pete Stauber]

Walking across 7th Street.

[Josh Holmes]

Remember going to the old Civic center with the clear boards.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

With the state tournament. What a. What a delight.

[Doug]

And Hughes is on the. The Olympic team.

[Pete Stauber]

Yep.

[Doug]

One of the two on the Wild that are on the team. Have you talked to anybody on that Olympic team? Because, you know, they're. They're starting up here later this week.

[Pete Stauber]

No, but here's a question for you. Here's a trivia question. You give me the question, right? In 2018 in Pyeongchang, who was the women's Olympic hockey coach, the gold medal coach?

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, I don't know. I don't know.

[Pete Stauber]

You don't know? My younger brother Rob.

[Doug]

No.

[John Ashbrook]

Are you kidding? Really? Get out of here.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah, he was. He was a great gold medal.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, he should have done a couple more victory laps on that deal. That was a hell of a team.

[Pete Stauber]

He did. And, and. Well, on December 12th, when we brought the. The 80 Olympic team to the White House, my younger brother Rob was my guest.

[Josh Holmes]

That's awesome.

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So there's Elvagoli.

[Pete Stauber]

He's. He's a. He's the biggest, most fiercest competitor that I've ever played against.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I believe, you know, I believe that. Watched him a lot growing up. Last prediction on this hockey. Team usa. Team USA Just getting started here.

[Pete Stauber]

They're going to be in the gold medal game. Yes, they're going to be in the gold medal game, and it's going to be a great game.

[Michael Duncan]

Canada.

[Pete Stauber]

What's that?

[Josh Holmes]

Team USA and Canada gold medal game?

[Pete Stauber]

Yeah, I think so.

[Michael Duncan]

I think.

[Josh Holmes]

I agree.

[Pete Stauber]

And listen, I mean, any. Any hockey game at that level is the best of the best. It's going to be a great game to watch. That's my. That's my hope. I love it.

[Josh Holmes]

I love it. Pete Stauber, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.

[Pete Stauber]

Thank you very much. It's been my pleasure.

[John Ashbrook]

You always love having a guy like that in who has such a variety and background with hockey, was a cop, you now in Congress, big family. I mean, he is. I mean, everything that you've always described about northern Minnesota. Yeah, this guy is it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, he is it. And he's a smart guy and he's doing a lot of good work. And I'm happy we've got him there because, you know, this is kind of one of the reasons we wanted to have him on is what I was saying to you a couple of times is like, you would get the impression based on the news cycle over the last month that Minnesota sort of monolithically lost their fucking minds. And like, guys like Pete are. Those are the people I grew up with. And so we just needed.

[Doug]

Well, and also, like, kind of quite the opposite, really, when you think about it. I mean, as you said in the interview, Holmes, that used to be blue area. They used to be union households. They used to vote for the Democratic Party. This is a real change. Sea change during the Trump era is places like the iron rage going red. Yep and like people like Pete you know who obviously match the district know these people are critical to that coalition and selling that totally.

[Josh Holmes]

I bet he can hockey fight like a motherfucker still don't you think? Oh Stauber boys you didn't want to mess with them back in the day. Listen appreciate Pete Stauber a fantastic show our question of the day bad bunny might have been the worst halftime show what do you remember as the best or your favorite halftime show like and subscribe we read all of your comments and get back to the very next episode with that fellas I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

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