← Steve Deace Show
Loading summary
Transcript159 lines
- [00:02]
Steve Dace
It's the Steve Day show and here's what happened while we were away, brought to you by Another week, another would be Deal with Iran Rumors swirled all weekend about a supposed framework to a memorandum of understanding about a potential deal in principle regarding a gentleman's agreement on an expression of intention for a non binding pact regarding Iran, the nuclear weapons program and the Strait of Hormuz. Finally on Monday morning, President Trump unleashed this wall of text on his Truth Social page, basically updating the nation as to where things stand. Without reading the entire text wall, here are some of the top line points. Trump says the Iran nuclear negotiations are going well, but Trump demands a great deal or nothing, warning that failure could mean a larger conflict. As a condition of any deal, Trump says he's requiring Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to simultaneously join the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia and Qatar needing to sign first. He also floated the idea of Iran itself eventually joining the accords if it signs an agreement. All joking aside, the pressure Trump seems to be applying to Saud Arabia and Qatar specifically is notable. Right on cue, IRGC forces once again started causing trouble in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. According to centcom, the US Military struck missile sites and Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz citing self defense after Iran was caught laying mines in the strait and a missile battery targeted American warplanes back at home. Polls open in Texas today in some crucial runoff races. Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes on incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the US Senate runoff. Meanwhile, in the Texas Attorney General GOP runoff, Congressman Chip Roy is running against Texas State Senator Mayes Middleton, whom Roy has been hitting hard.
- [01:39]
Todd Erzin
The bottom line is you got to have somebody who's been there who's ready on day one. You can't have on the job training for probably the most important legal job in the entire country. And I believe that the Texas Attorney General is the most important legal job in the country.
- [01:51]
Steve Dace
You live in Texas. Get out and vote. Congressman Thomas Massie, fresh off his stunning primary defeat to a Trump backed challenger, told NBC News he's going to read off the names of the Epstein client list. Yes, Todd Blanch is violating the law. There's still millions of files they haven't released. We know from talking to the victims lawyers that their own 302forms haven't been released. We know the files have been over redacted. I have released at least three names of billionaires who are implicated in this. I don't think it's possible to get to convictions With Todd Blanche at the top and with the FBI director Cash Patel at the top because they've effectively both perjured by saying that there's nobody else in the files. Saturday at the White House close only
- [02:34]
Todd Erzin
for the two sides to remain far apart.
- [02:40]
Steve Dace
That's ABC News reporter Selena Wong doing a live TV hit near the White House as Secret Service fatally shot a gunman who opened fire at a White House security checkpoint behind her. A bystander was also hit but survived. The suspect, 21 year old Nazir Best of Dundalk, Maryland later died at the hospital. Little has been reported about the gunman's motive at the Vatican. Here is co founder of AI giant Anthropic during a summit with the Pope about the rise of the newest technological frontier.
- [03:06]
Todd Erzin
I am a scientist. I lead a research team that studies the internal structure of these models. What is actually happening inside them. And I will be honest. We keep finding things that are mysterious, even unsettling. We find structures that mirror results from human neuroscience. We find evidence of introspection. We find internal states that functionally mirror joy, satisfaction, fear, grief and unease. I don't know what that means, but I think it warrants ongoing discernment.
- [03:36]
Steve Dace
And finally on Sunday, a Gold Star wife who goes by the ex name of Cheryl Ann posted that if anybody was in the area of Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, she'd love to see a fresh photo of her late husband Alan W. Shaw and killed in action in February 2007 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cheryl Ann said, quote, there's just something about knowing people still stop by, still say his name and still remember. Well, boy howdy, did X ever come through as the Gold Star wife received hundreds of replies and scores of fresh pictures of her fallen husband's grave, notably from outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who placed her DNI challenge coin on the grave, saying it was an honor to do so. But Gabbard was not alone. Scores of otherwise ordinary people illustrated that America is still extraordinary. Taking time out of their lives to honor the husband of a stranger they've never met because they understand that man gave the last full measure of devotion to their country. Awesome stuff. And that's what happened while we were away.
- [04:37]
Todd Erzin
That's America right there. We're gonna have tons of America for you on today's show you don't wanna miss. We've got some questions for Congressman Thomas Massie. And it's, it's not the AI you have to fear, but the humans. I'll get into that. More here Next on today's Steve Day Show. And greetings. Happy Tuesday. Welcome to the Steve Day show here live and on demand on BlazeTV radio and podcast. I'm Steve Dase, he's Todders and he's Aaron McIntyre. Hope you had an opportunity to enjoy a great long weekend and remember to honor those that made this weekend and all the weekends we get to enjoy as Americans possible as well. We are brought to you by our friends over at Fast Growing Trees. They've got America's largest and most trusted online nursery. That's why they've got over 2 million happy customers. And here's the thing you need to know about them. You're going to get healthy, thriving plants delivered right to your door. And they're alive and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. And you're thinking, hey, I don't know what to do with them when they get here. They'll walk you through all of that with their trained plant experts. They'll help you not just plan beforehand, but then also how to care for them every step of the way. Right now they've got great deals on all their on all your spring planting essentials, including up to half off on select plants. But if you've never gone there before, you get another 20% off your first purchase with the code dace at checkout. That's an additional 20 off your first purchase with the code DACE@Fast GrowingTrees.comFast GrowingTrees.com offer code days for 20 off your first purchase offer valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Well, today is a big day. It's the release of my late, my 14th and latest book, why Independence Day? America is great because God is good. It releases today, the day after Memorial Day, just in time for America's 250th birthday. You guys made our, our lead up just incredible. We ended up being the number one new release Christian children's book in the country. A top 15 new release children's book in the entire country, regardless of genre. And I think, yeah, Friday on the Clay and Buck show was the first external interview I had done was Friday afternoon. So all we did was just talk to you guys and encourage you guys and you guys made that happen. Now there's a lot of external marketing happening today. I've got like five interviews today. All right. But you guys made the, the pre launch incredibly successful. So please keep it going. Get your copy today. Why Independence Day? America is great because God is good. Thank you so much. And next hour to Commemorate the end of our countdown to independence. You guys know about the recent trip I took to D.C. and the history that I got to see firsthand for the first time. And I am anxious to show you guys what I did on my, my, my class field trip to the nation's capital, what I saw, what I got to experience. And I'm going to share a lot of these visuals and videos and pictures with you guys coming up in the next hour of the show. You absolutely do not want to miss it. At the bottom of the hour, per tradition, every time one of these new books comes out, these children's books, we read it to you. We do a live reading right here on the show. We're going to do that for you for why Independence Day so you get a chance to sample exactly what's inside to see if it's something that you think your kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews would, would be blessed by. We're going to share that with you coming up at the bottom of the hour. But let's get to, gentlemen, what was inside of Aaron's montage, if you don't mind, and let me start back to front on the AI Front. Okay, this thought dawned on me this weekend. I saw a couple of videos from this guy from Anthropic speaking at the Vatican over the weekend about this. And here's what dawned on me. The problem is not that AI is godless. It's an object. It can only be godless. It's a tool. It can only be godless. That's not the problem. The problem is that most of the people coding it are godless. That's the problem. And one of the things having a biblical worldview provides you that is vitally important in this universe of ours is a limiting principle. Right off the get go, the two most important things you could ever learn in your entire life. Number one, God is God and I am not. Number two, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Those are the. Those are the two most important truths anyone within the sound of my voice anywhere in the world. Those are the two most important truths you could ever learn in your life. In that order. God is God and I am not. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Those are it two most important ones. And if you don't have those limiting principles, let me do this. Let me take those comments from the anthropic guy, remove those comments from him. Could not the same exact thing be said by a surgeon who's done all kinds of so called gender reassignment surgeries. And could that surgeon have not said, you know, we got into this and started tinkering with and experimenting upon the most innate, innermost parts of the human person. And we ran into some things that we frankly didn't, we didn't anticipate we were going to see. We, we, we, we've seen some things that frankly are kind of concerning. Could not the same thing be said?
- [10:43]
Aaron McIntyre
That or the inventor of MRNA technology?
- [10:47]
Todd Erzin
Perhaps if you don't have a limiting principle, you could give that speech about literally everything you do. Because without that limiting principle, someone will always rule. Something must always be worshiped. So if, if you don't have the limiting principle that God is God and I am not, guess who's probably going to be God? You. You. Right, we, we, we've never left the garden, folks. As a species, we're in always one of two places, the garden or the cross. Only in those two places at all times. As a species, we're at the garden, we're at the cross. Those are your two options. First, Adam. And the second one. Garden, the cross. Those are your two options. The problem isn't the technology, it's the technicians. This technology cannot create itself, can't code itself. It's not that AI is godless, it's that the humans making it are. One of the greatest minds in the history of the scientific method was Sir Isaac Newton. You know what his like great obsession and hobby was? Interpreting the scriptures, particularly the book of Revelation. Evidence that he understood a limiting principle. God is God and I am not. This world was made for us, but it wasn't made by us. There are things our Father is entitled as a father to keep to Himself that his children don't need to know, don't have to know. And by the demonstration of his love and justice, we should trust that he will tell us. The things though that we need to know and have to know that we can trust a God who wants to be known so much he left heaven to put himself into human form, beginning at the most vulnerable of stages, in utero, completely and totally reliant upon his mother for everything. And then that continued after he was born. He wants to be known. He'll tell us what we need to know, what we're, what we're able to absorb. He'll let us know. But if you do these things and you don't understand that, then yes, maybe I'll use the term summon. You'll summon all kinds of things that you'll find concerning thoughts on that.
- [13:54]
Steve Dace
Did you see. Speaking of revelation. And by the way, Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, if you're listening right now, I can't remember if they're still around. If you are listening and you're standing up, you should sit down. Did you see who Anthropic just hired? I think I sent this to you yesterday. Somebody who. With a last. For a top position. Somebody with a last name Carpathian.
- [14:13]
Todd Erzin
No, no, no. Is that the text you sent me yesterday? Because I have a few texts I haven't read yet. Is that the one you sent to her? Yeah, our text thread. Yeah. That can't be true. Come on, Carpathy. Come on, come on. Next thing you're gonna tell me is our first ever bisexual senator is her name's gonna be Sin Amma. Sin Ama. Our first homosexual presidential candidate. His name's gonna be but a Jig. But a Jig. Come on, man. It's not that obvious, is it?
- [14:43]
Aaron McIntyre
Is it? As I've said before, just a couple weeks ago, y' all have been given now a Rosetta Stone for interpreting AI. It. It was coveted MRNA tech. And it was also transgenderism. Those two things, if you don't have eyes to see. Now that at best, we're juggling chainsaws with this thing. I don't know what to tell you, man, because listen, Steve's absolutely right about his analysis there. Now, how we. How are we doing on that front? Corporately? Not only do we not have. It's not just the programmers, it's the overseers of the overseers. Like, can anybody be bothered to make sure the politicians, the people, etc. No. I mean, this is. This is the one ring. You cannot wield it for now. I. If we become those godly people, let's see what we can do. We ain't close to that.
- [15:49]
Steve Dace
Oh, if we were a godly people, I would. I would be. I would be beating down the gates full speed ahead into AI if we were a godly people. But we're not. We're not a godly people because I. I think a godly people would be able to be a little bit more resilient to maybe some of the eventualities that AI could bring about economically.
- [16:11]
Aaron McIntyre
I mean, as. I'm sorry, I thought you were finished your thought. Go ahead.
- [16:14]
Steve Dace
The way that I. I mean, I don't disagree with that analysis. And that's always going to be the. That's not new either. An algorithm in and of itself is not evil. But who programmed the algorithm? That's the conversation We've always had. What I've seen with AI is that much like the advent of a bulldozer or earth moving equipment, it can do things that would normally take a team of men with shovels a month to do, two months to do. It can do that, like that. Sometimes bulldozers are killed into, turned into killdozers. Like that one dude in Colorado who just demolished his whole town. Yes, that can be used for evil. But again, I think it is most likely just a tool. That's why, that's how I see it. Is it being used as just a tool right now? Is the design for it to be just a tool right now? That's where I think you get Todd's skepticism.
- [17:13]
Todd Erzin
Correct.
- [17:13]
Steve Dace
Baked in here.
- [17:14]
Todd Erzin
I mean, I use it on a limited basis almost all for just research to make it faster. I have to tell you, I'm in the middle of writing book 15 right now for next year. And I'm just things I want to make sure, you know, specific events that I'm citing and things of that nature. And I want to go ahead and make sure I've got those facts straight. And just the amount of time, how much quicker it is to do that research, to get those things done, to, to have those things documented, it's truly remarkable how much faster it is now to do all this stuff. I mean, this is googling stuff, you know, you know, on steroids. It's just. It is. You saw what Aaron was able to do. Now it takes a lot of prompting, a lot of creativity. I can't just say, hey, draw, here's this book. Draw. You know, give me a trailer, right? Aaron's got to go through, ask the right prompts, questions, edits things of that nature. But look how when you, when you guys see the promo to our book that Aaron put together and you see how close it is to the actual, you know, the same, you know, thematics and motifs that we use to, to draw and to design why Independence Day and how he was able to match that. That would have been utterly impossible for a show like ours just even two or three years ago. You'd need an extraordinary CGI level budget to do stuff like that. I mean, there are great possibilities with this for sure, but it's kind of a little bit like, well, giving a nuclear weapon to Iran, right? I mean, it's kind of a, kind of a. There's a difference between having, you know, a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a godly people and then having one in the hands of a godless People, and then an entirely different having in the hands of a demon, you know, of leadership that are complete and total demoniacs. Right.
- [18:55]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah.
- [18:56]
Todd Erzin
I mean, in and of itself. I mean, I would argue we need more nuclear energy, not less. It's cheap, it's cheaper, it's faster, more efficient. Right. We need more nuclear energy, proliferation, not less. Okay. As an energy source. Right. But the weapon, in and of itself is not godless. Who's going to. Who's going to wield it, and what are they going to do with it?
- [19:16]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah. And we've learned that those algorithms that Aaron talked about. Yes, in and of themselves, not bad, but the algorithms increasingly, are always bad in the same direction or wrong in the same direction. Also, movies. It's. It's not accidentally that Star wars just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. It's on purpose. They're using mediums, technology, entertainment, all of this. The same thing. It's not accidentally being bad. It's always being bad in the same direction. It's on purpose. Why do we think this is going to be any different? The Frankenstein monster is only going to get bigger, badder, and worse.
- [19:55]
Todd Erzin
In other words, we cannot outrun our own sinfulness as a species. We can. And if you are advancing and creating technology in recognition of that, that is one thing. If you're advancing and inventing technology in denial of that. That's another. That's another. If you're doing it in denial of that, you might say things like, well, hey, who cares about the job that'll cost us? I mean, things will be faster and more efficient. Except we're not automatons. We're made in the likeness and image of God. And, I mean, I don't know. I'd be willing to pay another dollar a pound for the meat at the deli if I knew actual Americans are working at the meat processing plant. Yes. Feeding families.
- [20:51]
Aaron McIntyre
Yes.
- [20:52]
Todd Erzin
Creating, you know, sustainable family structures to keep the country going. I'd pay another $150 a pound for that, wouldn't you?
- [20:59]
Aaron McIntyre
It's a citizenship tax of sorts. Yes.
- [21:01]
Todd Erzin
Because there's a. There. Because in the end, we're not just consumers of deli meat. Okay. We're, as far as we know, anyway. We're the only beings made in the likeness and image of God in this entire cosmos, entire universe, certainly, at least in this sector of the galaxy. So there's got to be more here than just a process. There's got to be more meaning here than just efficiency. It's Jeff Goldblum's scientist in one of the Jurassic park movies. They never stop to ask themselves, just because they could do a thing doesn't mean they should do that thing. And if you're going to invent the most immersive technology in the history of our species on steroids, but have no limiting principle at all, then, yeah, I promise you those limiting principles will still show up. They just won't be in the form of the ones you've rejected. And you're right, you're going to see all kinds of things that you're going to be concerned about. I have a question for Thomas Massie. Tell me. If you guys think this is fair, Why wait to tell us these names? Just tell us now.
- [22:23]
Aaron McIntyre
Just.
- [22:23]
Todd Erzin
Just tell us now. Don't you think if Thomas Massie had stood up and read off and he did give us three names, but they were already three names that were already publicly affirmed. They weren't three different names. There were already three names that we. That were already released. If you just stood up and read all these names. Odds that he wins his primary go up or down, do you think?
- [22:44]
Aaron McIntyre
Odds of winning Up? Yeah.
- [22:45]
Todd Erzin
Way up. Way up. Might. Might be enough to make it a lock, but certainly go way up. Fair.
- [22:52]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah.
- [22:53]
Todd Erzin
Okay. Why not just read him today? He's in Congress. He's in. He's in office for at least another six months. First day after the holiday. Read him today. You've got six months to use your seat as leverage to keep using that platform and pushing and pressuring. Lots of people want justice for the Epstein human trafficking sex trafficking ring. And a lot of them, frankly, are Republicans and Trump voters, frankly. So why not read them today, why not read them tomorrow? What are we waiting for?
- [23:26]
Aaron McIntyre
This is the great Occam's razor question of our time, isn't it? Now? One of two things, and they're both as far apart as possible. Either this thing is as much as she embarrassed herself, isn't it? What Pam Bondi said. This thing is so big that nobody can mention it because if they do, the whole thing just, you know, it's per our AI conversation. Everything just unravels. We no control over.
- [23:54]
Todd Erzin
He's. He's going or he's got nothing to lose. So just go ahead. Who cares if he doesn't? But who cares, then what incentive does he have to hold up the system?
- [24:01]
Aaron McIntyre
Conscious conscience being suicided himself. All the things that would be in something so big. Riddles. It's either that or it's the opposite. This thing is way more boring and way nothing more Nothing burger than most people are talking about. It's been a trumped up card all along. Aren't those the two most likely things now and then?
- [24:24]
Steve Dace
There are two forces here. It's like, well, why. Why on the one hand did the Bondi trump Department of Justice? Why were they just kind of slow rolling this, kind of sandbagging this for so long? That's one hand. And then the others, like Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, why did you just have some sudden interest in this? It can't. If you had deep underlying interest in this, you would have been tweeting about this for years. And it wasn't until relatively recently. It's the whole thing. I go back, I think our last show, it might have been our year end show last year. I think Todd and I had the same answer on one of the questions which was enough already. The Epstein stuff.
- [25:02]
Aaron McIntyre
Yes.
- [25:02]
Steve Dace
And it was because of this. There's making no heads or tails of it. It seems like. I don't know if we're ever going to get the truth of it. It certainly seems like we haven't so far. What truth there is, we don't know. I wish the whole thing would go away. And part of me also thinks maybe that's what they they with the scare quotes. Maybe that's where they want us to be. I don't know. It's just a black freaking hole.
- [25:33]
Todd Erzin
I agree that's essentially what it's become. But I just don't understand. If you want to be seen as Mr. Principal, you have nothing to lose. He's already faced mortality. His wife suddenly died, he's already faced that. Listen, I'm not the one going on Sunday morning show saying I'm going to do this. He is. If he had not said these things, I wouldn't be asking these questions. But you know, if, if, if you know the names and you're not saying them, why aren't you guilty of concealing and hiding pedophiles and pederast than like the Department of Justice is. Well, they're all redacted. Okay, well, you know, a lot of the women, a lot of the victims. I mean, how many times did we see him out, you know, outside of Congress with the victims of the Epstein ring in the last year? Right. Just walk up to him and say, hey, who, who did, who paid to have sex with you or, or was. Was permitted to use you? How do we get a list? I've got an idea. A couple easy steps we go. Ask the women who were abused who abused you. Write down their names. And you know what happens when you have a sequence of names on a piece of paper? What do we typically call that? A list. That's. That's. That's what a list is. Right. When you have a sequence of names or. Or items on a list, that's. That's. Or on a piece of paper, that's called a list. Correct. So I. He. I don't. The redacted thing's not an excuse for him because he's been able to have access to the victims himself in person.
- [26:59]
Aaron McIntyre
It's not.
- [26:59]
Todd Erzin
So just go up to him and say, hey, how old were you when they trafficked you? Because it is true that some of the women were just prostitutes that were hired. That. That is true. Okay, that's also true. So it's kind of a. You know, that's kind of the. There's a mixture here of this thing. Okay, but go up to the women. How old were you when you were trafficked? And tell us who you had sex with, and write the names down on a piece of paper. And then when you have a series of names, you have what we call a list, and then you can just read off the list. You don't need to worry about redactions.
- [27:27]
Aaron McIntyre
I believe this has been done many times over, and that's why I believe this list is either nothing or everything. It's the singularity of lists, or it's absolutely nothing. But people just see it as a political wedge and that they continue to use for reasons.
- [27:44]
Steve Dace
Do you think we could get AI to help us build a list?
- [27:48]
Todd Erzin
Interesting question. Let's try that.
- [27:53]
Steve Dace
I meant that sarcastically.
- [27:54]
Todd Erzin
Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, because I was. I'm like, well, now we found a use for good. Yeah, I'm in. I'm in. Yeah. Let's turn the. You know, let's turn the lack of limiting principles on pawn. Let's turn it right back around on the people who think they don't have any limiting principles. Right. Let's turn it around on them. I'm totally fine with that. I might. I won't have the time this week. I've got about 37 interviews this week for the new book, which is good, but I could see myself maybe at some point this summer on a. On a hazy, lazy, lazy, hazy day, messing around with the AI and see if you can come up with a credible list of who's likely were Epstein's clients.
- [28:30]
Aaron McIntyre
Go for it. But Thomas Massie spent a lifetime in Congress being the lone vote, not afraid to be alone. Standalone, which is why. But he won't name the names on this. It's again, it's because it's everything or it's nothing. He's done what you've said. I guarantee you. He and his people, they've asked the people in this and they've either looked at it and says, well, that's this is lame or oh my God, it is the glue holding the fabric of the universe together. It's one or the other.
- [29:03]
Todd Erzin
Then just give us the names then.
- [29:05]
Aaron McIntyre
But he can't. He thinks he's going to get killed or he's been.
- [29:09]
Todd Erzin
And what's the point of threatening to release the names then?
- [29:12]
Aaron McIntyre
Then we're back to it's nothing and it's not everything. That's. And what I'm saying at this point is way more reasonable.
- [29:22]
Todd Erzin
It's a very frustrating conversation.
- [29:23]
Aaron McIntyre
Yes, that's what Aaron said.
- [29:26]
Todd Erzin
It's a very frustrating conversation.
- [29:28]
Aaron McIntyre
We've gone backwards. We know less now than we did five years ago.
- [29:36]
Todd Erzin
Something tells me this won't be the only time we ask these questions.
- [29:38]
Aaron McIntyre
Probably not.
- [29:40]
Todd Erzin
When we come back, why Independence Day? America is great. Because God is good. Next, The steve day show. All right, back here on the Steve Day Show. You know one of the biggest lies we're seeing right now in consumer culture, this is always what happens when something edgy becomes trendy, right? It gets corporatized. So you see that with some of these natural personal care brands. They still act like they're small companies but they, they sold out to massive corporations and private equity firms a bit ago. Right. And so they're starting to seed in those, those cheaper chemical substitutes for the real ingredients. They don't do that at Van man though. They're going the opposite direction. They're one of the few that helped kick off the tallow movement and they've stayed committed to using real traditional ingredients instead of all that corporate filler. Their tallow bomb, it's made from grass fed tallow. And there's a reason why that matters. Because those fatty acids and tallow are nearly identical to the oils in our own skin that it naturally produces. So your body's going to actually recognize it instead of fighting it and you're going to notice the difference immediately. It absorbs better, lasts longer, doesn't leave you feeling coated in chemicals and there's no junk padding in it as well. And a little goes a long way. So give your eyes the care they actually deserve. Go to Van man dot shop Dace. Use the code DACE for 15% off your first order, when you do, that's Van man, just like it sounds. Van man, dot shop, slash dace. Code DACE for 15% off your first order. At Van Man. Real ingredients, no exceptions. Code DACE for 15% off your first order. Bandman Shop slash dace. Code Dace. Well, we've done this with all of the children's books that. This is the fourth one now that I have written. Why Thanksgiving? Why Independence Day? Richie Meets the Rainbow? Or why Easter? Richie Meets the Rainbow. And now, why Independence Day? America is great because God is good. So we're going to give you a live reading of this book. And so you get an idea to see what's inside of it, how it looks, to determine if you think it's a good fit for your children and grandchildren. Releasing today. Your niece and nephews. Releasing today. You can purchase your copy at Amazon. Why Independence Day? America is great. Because God is good. America is a special place to live. We are lucky to live in a free country where many people around the world wish they could live. But why is America so special? To understand what am what makes America so special, we have to go way back in time long ago to the beginning of another special land. A long time ago, God set aside a nation for himself called Israel. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, so God sent Moses to help free them from their captivity. To prove to the Israelites that Moses was the one he had sent. God did great miracles through Moses. Perhaps the greatest of those miracles was when he parted a giant sea to help his people escape the Egyptian army that wanted to hurt them. A few months after traveling to safety, God called Moses to the top of a very high mountain to give him another miracle. The Ten Commandments. These were the first words God had ever written by his own hand. And to show they were to be forever, God wrote them into a stone that could never be erased. These Ten Commandments told God's people for the first time what was right and what was wrong. And God wanted the Israelites to share these commandments with the rest of the world, too. Since God made us and loves us, he wanted everyone to know his ways so we wouldn't do bad things that harm ourselves or others. And you can see some of the great drawings that are there inside of our capitol. And that's why when you visit Washington, D.C. our nation's capital, you still see statues and paintings of Moses. Today, many, many years later. They are there to remind us that our laws are based on God's laws, for he knows what is right. And what is wrong better than anyone else. Since no one could possibly love us more than God does, we know he always wants what's best for us. And we are always better off listening to Him. But that's not the only important thing that happened in Israel that inspired America. Many years after Moses went up to the mountain to hear from God, God came down to earth to meet us in the form of a baby named Jesus Christ. While he grew up, Jesus lived a perfect life free of sin. He taught the Gospel and showed us how we should live our lives to honor God. He said that since we couldn't get to heaven, heaven came to us. This is why we celebrate Christmas and why we give each other Christmas gifts in honor of God giving us the greatest gift, his one and only son. Just as Moses freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, Jesus came and freed all of us from wanting to do bad things and disobey God. Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross, taking all of the punishment we deserved for the bad stuff we did and and still do ourselves, and still do to ourselves and each other. And then he rose again on the third day, the day we call Easter, to show that we can now live forever with God as long as we trust and believe in Jesus. After Jesus went back to heaven, he sent a special helper called the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. This helper allows us to understand God better and do good things. You can tell you have the Holy Spirit in you if you want to say no to bad things or if you want to ask God for forgiveness when you make a mistake. The Holy Spirit also makes us want to pray for others. It's like having a special friend inside you who always wants to help you be good. Now that his people had the Holy Spirit, it became easier to spread the message of Jesus all over the world. It was like a special gift that helped people understand and believe in Jesus. And even without things like TVs or computers, over the next 1,000 years, Christianity became the biggest religion in history, and it still is today. This shows that what they were saying was really true. Because only God's truth and power could make something spread so far without any fancy tools. But not everyone was happy that the message of Jesus was spreading all over the world. There were some powerful people who didn't know about God's love or didn't like his love because they wanted everyone to think that they were more important, like gods themselves. Because of this, some of the people who loved Jesus and wanted to follow him were treated Very, very unkindly. They were sometimes hurt or even put in jail for no good reason at all. One special group of these brave Christians who wanted more than anything to obey God was called the Puritans. It was also around this time that a brave and famous explorer named Christopher Columbus discovered what was called the New World. It was an entirely new continent that Christians had never visited before. Lots of brave explorer explorers sailed the big ocean just like Christopher Columbus. And guess what? This new land was given a special name that it still has today. America. Now, the Puritans were a group who loved God very much, but their king was very mean and wouldn't let them live the way God wanted them to. So with brave hearts and prayers, they decided to sail all the way across the big ocean to this new place called America. They hoped they could live happily ever after there, following God's rules without anyone being mean to them. The brave Puritans boarded a ship called the Mayflower. The journey was long and very scary, but they were excited to begin a new life and had faith that God would help. They finally landed and made their settlement in a place they called the Plymouth Colony and which later became part of the state of Massachusetts. After arriving, they wrote rules for how everyone should live together. They called it the Mayflower Compact. This was important because it marked the beginning of the country we live in today. And if you look at some of these drawings here, you can see the ratification of the Mayflower Compact. You can see the thirteen colonies. As more and more Christians follow the Puritans example and came to America, they started communities that were called colonies. Eventually there were 13 colonies and each and every one of them represented Christianity in their own unique way. But just like what happened in England, the more Christianity spread in the American colonies, the more the king who owned the colonies became angry. This is because the more we study God's word, the Bible, the more we want to be free as God made us to be and not have to follow rules different from God's. One day, some of the Americans wanting, whoops, skip my page just a second. Here we go. Oh, here we go. Since we have God's spirit in us now to teach us right from wrong, we don't need government rules as much as we used to. Sure, we still need things like the police to protect us because there are still bad people doing bad things. But we don't need a king to act like he's a God when we already know the one true God. So one day, some of the Americans wanted to send a message to the king to stop ignoring them and treating them so badly. So they dumped a bunch of the tea he owned into the harbor. This became known as the Boston Tea Party. Instead of listening to their concerns, the king became even meaner than he was before. He made it so that the things people needed cost way more than they could afford. He even made people keep his soldiers with guns in their homes. After a long time of the king treating them badly, a group of people came together from all 13 colonies to talk about what to do about the mean king. These patriots became known as the Founding Fathers. Finally, they all met up in a city called Philadelphia. And on July 4, 1776, they agreed to what became known as the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was important because it reminded us that as God's people, we have to obey God first. Even if a king tells you to do something that God says is wrong, you should obey God instead of the king. Since the mean king was forcing the colonists to do things that disobeyed God, they were forced to defy the king by writing the Declaration and forming their own country based on what God says. These 13 colonies were called the United States of America. This was the day the country you are blessed to be born into and live in began. And it's. And it's also why we've been celebrating Independence Day on the fourth of July ever since. But just like the Pharaoh with Moses, the mean king did not want to let God's people go. So he brought his army to America to try to take it back over. They were called the Redcoats for their bright red and scary uniforms. And they were the most powerful army in the world. At the time. Nobody thought our Founding fathers had a chance, but they had a secret weapon, what they called providence or the will of Almighty God. Throughout the war for our independence, things just seemed to happen that were so lucky, it had to mean that God was doing it. Like when the great General George Washington miraculously crossed an icy river on Christmas night without being seen or heard and was able to surprise the enemy soldiers. It took almost five years to win the war for our independence. And there were times it seemed as if hope was lost and the mean king in his redcoats would win instead. But it was a blessing in disguise that our founding fathers had less soldiers and fewer guns, cannons, and ships than the enemy because it forced them to use other weapons, like the power of praying to almighty God for him to help create a country that would bless his name. All throughout the world, God answered their prayers. And sometimes in funny Ways. For example, this is one of the few times in history that the French were actually brave and courageous enough to come to our aid. There's no way that would have happened without the will and power of God. We usually have to save the French. Our Founding Fathers, the Christian men who won the war for our independence. Did I skip a page, Aaron? Yes, I did. Let me go back. Finally, In January of 1781, the final battle was won in Yorktown, Virginia. The redcoats gave up and went back home to England. The United States of America was free. Our Founding Fathers, the Christian men who won the war for independence, immediately got back together to pray to God for wisdom and to write the rules for how our country should live in ways that honored God. Just at the peer incident. Once done, they came up with what they called the Constitution. And it remains the law of our land to this very day. Our Founding Fathers wanted our country to be a shining city on a hill bright and tall for the rest of the world to see. They wanted to inspire people in other parts of the world to follow their example and be free. This is why, other than Christ's Church, where you go to Sunday school and nothing else has done more to spread Christianity and God's Word throughout the world than America has over the last 250 years. They also wanted future generations of Americans to always remember the true meaning of Independence Day and celebrate it. Founding Father John Adams suggested Independence Day should be celebrated not only with prayer and devotion to Almighty God, but also with what he called illuminations. You call them fireworks. And that's why we still set off awesome fireworks in the sky every July 4th. As you can see, our Independence Day isn't just the most important day in American history. It is one of the most important days in all of world history. Because of what the Founding Fathers believed and fought for. America never would. America would have. Would have, never would because never would have happened. And without Almighty God. Which means America won't be able to continue without Almighty God either. Previous generations understood it was their duty to honor God and keep America free. And now it is your turn. So, with a couple of flubs there, that's why Independence Day, America is great. Because God is good. You can get your copy today. Releases today. Launches today. But you can get your copy@Amazon.com that's the ranking that counts the most. Everything else is an algorithm that's frankly tanked and fixed. Amazon is just strictly how many books did you sell? No frills. That's it. And that's why that's the chart that matters the most. So you guys have made this a very successful pre launch. Thank you very much. Today is day one of the launch. Why Independence Day? America is great because God is good. Available now at Amazon. What do you guys think?
- [44:49]
Aaron McIntyre
I think adults reading this to their children multiple times, thought bubbles are going to go off in their head. And the way you connect so much history to things that we've just come to take for granted, but the roots go so deep. Pay attention to those thought bubbles, parents and follow up because there are now a hundred books that I bet that you'll think I would like to learn more about that topic. The only question now is, what will you do about that? Because I believe that it's not just kids who can benefit from this. I think it's obvious a lot of adults need this to be the beginning of a great journey of their own. Yeah.
- [45:37]
Steve Dace
If you've ever been been up at night, sleepless night, thinking, how in the world could I communicate to my child 3,000 years of history in a way that they had understand, well, wonder no more. It's not, you know, something that we think about when we're shooting off fireworks, but why do we get to do these fun things on the 4th of July? Why do we get to shoot off fireworks on the 4th of July? Moses. It goes all the way back to that. The history that is so smoothly wound there throughout the story of our country, the story of our heritage. That is a tall order, trying to communicate that to kids. And I think you nailed it.
- [46:23]
Todd Erzin
Well, thank you very much. And it was a true honor to be asked by my publisher, Post Hill Press, to get to do this trilogy several years ago. And remember, they originally said, hey, shortly after Russia's passing, he had a lot of success doing history books for kids. You know, have you thought about, you know, trying to maybe do some of that? And I'm like, I mean, I can't, can't, you know, shake the dust off of Russia sandals. So I said no. But then I got to thinking about it the next day and I said, you know, what if we did something unique and it was America's Christian heritage instead? And they loved it. And so we planned for it to be a trilogy, but it was always good to depend, you know, your trilogy is always depend on the success of the first one. Why Thanksgiving and why Thanksgiving became a national bestseller. So that meant we were going to go ahead and do a trilogy. And so we did why Thanksgiving in 2022? Why Easter in 2024? And this was always going to be the conclusion for America's 250th birthday. Why independence Day? America is great because God is good. And it's available starting today. You can order your copy today. And next hour, we're going to go through more of this history of how God has been good to America because I got to see a lot of it in person firsthand in my trip to Washington, D.C. last week. I'm gonna let you, I'm sure my photos and videos of what I saw on my field trip to our nation's capital and hopefully will inspire you as it inspired me. We're gonna do that next year. Stay tuned. All right, back with hour two here on Blaze tv, Radio and podcast. I'm Steve Dase with Todd erzin and Aaron McIntyre and you can let us know what you think about what we think via the stevedace.com inbox. Take advantage of that by emailing the show steve@stevedace.com d e a c e like us on Facebook. Me we and Gab. You can follow me at Steve Day show on X Instagram and TikTok. Subscribe to our YouTube channel at day show on YouTube. And then if you would not mind, if you are a podcast listener, thank you because you guys are the biggest part of our audience. If you've yet to do so, leave us a five star review or maybe it's been a few years since you've done it. See if they'll let you leave another one we can double up like the Democrats do. You can also. And thank you for all of you that have done that. Tens of thousands of you have given us five star reviews on various platforms combined. Thank you and many more of you. Otherwise that wouldn't be enough to keep us employed. So many more of you if it subscribed or followed. If you're on Apple itunes, then that makes sure you never miss an episode in your podcast feed. So thank you for that as well. And thank you for our friends over at Kexi. Father's Day is coming up and dad does not want flowers. What dad wants, at least that's what this dad wants, is the peanut butter marshmallow cookie from our friends over at Kexi. They've also got a s' mores cookie and more. So many great flavors for Father's Day and these are limited and you've got to order by June 14th to ensure they get delivered by Father's Day. Plus they have a tendency to sell out of these boxes. All right, so go to kexi.com to get your Father's Day box k e k s I kexi.com get flowers for dad. They also come in a box, but they're cookies and they're great ones. Take it from me, I am a cookie connoisseur. I think that's pretty obvious. Don't say anything sensitive. K e k s I kexi.com and get your father the Father's Day gift he really wants. These awesome cookies@kexi.com so I thought on the heels of sharing my latest book with you, which launches today, I thought we'd, we'd spend the hour here talking about some of the stuff that I got to see when I was in Washington, D.C. some of the heritage tour with the speaker and share some of that with you guys here. During this hour, I think there's some really cool stuff, history I've never witnessed firsthand. I've seen some of it maybe online or pictures and books when I was growing up, but I'd never seen it firsthand before. And they, they just don't let visitors around as much as they used to. The, the Republicans are better at it than the Democrats were when they were in charge post Covid. But you still as a public, and given the amount of times that Republicans are being shot at these days, I'm not sure we blame them. But as a public, you just don't get as much access to these historical relics and artifacts that are part of our nation's history as much as you used to. So I'm going to share some of that with you guys as well. But for one final time, we're going to count down to independence as we are now at launch day for my new book, why Independence Day? America is great because God is good. Here's a preview.
- [51:28]
Steve Dace
Every Fourth of July, we light up the sky. We wave our flags, we celebrate. But if your kids asked you why, could you tell them the real story? It's a story that starts 3,000 years before 1776. A story most people have never heard told this way. A miracle in the desert, A miracle on Christmas night. Commandments carved in stone, A constitution written on paper. What's the connection? This 4th of July, give your family the story they've never been told. The one that explains everything.
- [52:20]
Todd Erzin
I'm not sure I have said this enough, but Aaron, that was just an outstanding promo that you put together. I mean, you, you matched the, the artwork and, and everything that we drew this book with in the animation there that you put together.
- [52:36]
Steve Dace
It was a fun project. It really was.
- [52:37]
Todd Erzin
And you did a great job. You can tell man, you did a phenomenal job. So thank you. So it's out today, releasing today. It's the number one best selling new release Christian children's book in America right now. It's one of the top 15 bestselling new releases, children, new release children's book of all genres in the entire country. So we've had a very successful pre launch. Today though is the actual launch. Why Independence Day. America is great Because God is good. It's your official book for America's 250th birthday and for the last couple weeks. Getting ready for today, Todd, you've been counting down your top 10 events, counting down to independence. And today we've reached number one, Independence Day.
- [53:21]
Aaron McIntyre
And the pursuit of happiness is forever linked to the man who penned the Declaration of Independence, A sinner. Like the rest of us, Some of the best and the worst of the human condition has been attached to Thomas Jefferson by either being literally carved in stone or ridiculed as a lusty slave owner of unparalleled hypocrisy when it comes to the so called rights of man. So what is the truth behind the legend who was elected to the colonial Virginia legislature at the age of 26 in 1769 and a mere seven years later was authorized one of the most important political documents in all of human history? Well, for starters, his fellow committee of five members who were appointed by the second Continental Congress to draft the Declaration deemed him the most well equipped to do so. As both a thinker and a writer, that includes two men you may not be very familiar with, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, but it also includes John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. That's what they call a flex. Two of the greatest founding fathers with incredibly healthy egos got out of the way for a man in his early 30s to achieve the glory that would benefit them all. Jefferson had first become well known for his abilities when a pamphlet under the title A Summary View of the Rights of British America was published by his friends in Virginia. Much like Steve Dase in his early career, he was viewed as too aggressive and radical for the times by those more entrenched in the spirit of the age. The pamphlet was distributed broadly in America and Britain, and according to Jefferson, it procured me the honor of having my name inserted in a long list of traitors in a bill of attainder that guaranteed my execution. Jefferson told George III in that pamphlet that kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people. Open your breasts, sire, to liberal and expanded thought. Let not the name of George III be a blot in the pages of history. There are extraordinary situations which require extraordinary interposition. And exasperated people who feel that they possess power are not easily restrained. Within limits, regularly, strictly regular. End quote. So was that just the bravado of a man trying to make a name for himself or getting ahead in life? Was Jefferson really a hypocrite who helped lead people to war without fully believing what he said? Hard to square that with those people voting for him to be their president for the first of two terms when he explained what he meant by the pursuit of happiness in his inauguration in 1801. A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement. And shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. And this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. And then, finally, just one year before his death, which miraculously occurred upon the 50th anniversary of independence on July 4, 1826, alongside with none other than John Adams, he said, quote, the object. The object of the Declaration was not to find out new principles or new arguments never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before, but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent. And to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing. It was intended to be an expression of the American mind. For Jefferson and for the rest of us. The closer that mind is to the mind of God, the. The more we are bestowed with blessings rather than curses for those with ears to hear. Finally, let them hear.
- [57:09]
Steve Dace
That was tremendous, Todd.
- [57:10]
Todd Erzin
It was, and you did a good job honoring, I mean, I think, one of the greatest treatises ever written merely by human hands. Whatever is a line between the utmost of human potential meeting the gravity of a historic moment. And then we cross a line into what is, in what isn't divinely inspired. This is. This is. I think the Declaration comes as close to that line as I think maybe we've ever seen in the history of our species. It is a. It is a truly profound and. And transcendent work from those who were not transcendent, just mere mortals. In fact, I would not even rule out that it had some level of divine inspiration given what we saw from this nation over the course of its next 250 years, the amount of goodness that it stood for, that it fought for, the amount of benevolence that it has shared with the rest of the world. But it's a truly profound work. And we used to do this every July 4th. I haven't done it the last few years, but I think you may have inspired me to do our 4th of July show again when we get to the Independence Day holiday and to walk everybody through kind of section by section, what the Declaration of Independence is really all about. Because it is an. It's an incredible work. I mean, I, I could argue, short of anything. Not in the scriptures themselves. No, no, no. Nothing written by human hands has done more to inspire our species than that particular work has. Truly incredible. And, and this brings me to the trip that I took last week and why I want to share it with you guys, because I, I wasn't going to take this trip. I got asked at the last minute. I only had about 10 days, two weeks notice of this trip. And I've just got a lot of different irons and everything in the fire right now just to go halfway across the country. And I, I feel bad about you guys. I mean, you've got kids at home. Aaron has even younger kids at home. So every time I have to do this, it doesn't just put a strain on my family, but you guys as families at the exact same time. Right, but.
- [59:29]
Aaron McIntyre
And we insist, you have to go this one.
- [59:31]
Todd Erzin
You insisted I should go. Yeah, you did. And so did my wife. And it kind of felt like, pardon me, pardon me. I've been invited on these kinds of things many times over the years, and I kind of felt like if I don't say yes, eventually they're just going to stop asking. Right. And I had no idea until I got there, really, how much I needed this. And I needed a reminder of what this is all about. Why are we trying to save this country? It's a very unique position for believers to be in, by the way. Believers have never really been in a position where they felt a compulsion within their faith to. To save a particular nation before, maybe a particular way of life, maybe a particular culture, maybe a particular community, if it's founded and birthed in Christian principles. But what is it about this country? What is it about this country that I, I can sit here today and at least as far as my conscience is concerned, have no second thoughts whatsoever as a believer and as someone that has gone out of my way to see if there's. Is there a way to do this? And Never sell out Is there a way to do this? And never grift Is there a way to do this? And oh, at the end, owe nobody anything When I'm done, is there a way to broadcast? Brought to broadcast from a narrow road? Those are all things I sought out to do when I started in this 20 years ago, and especially when I started nationally 15 years ago. And I wasn't sure that the answers to any of those questions were yes, let alone all of them. I just knew I was going to die. It was either going to work or I was going to die trying. I wasn't going to do this another way. And I think when you're in the fight and you're in the mess, you sometimes don't have an opportunity to see the forest of the trees and see the big picture of everything. And that's why I really needed to just take a quick break, go out to D.C. for about 48 hours and just see for myself what is this heritage we are fighting for? What does the good, the true and the beautiful look like within our culture? And I took a lot of pictures and videos, and I'm going to share with you several of them from my trip to D.C. my field trip that I never got to take when I was in school, my field trip to Washington, D.C. and I want to start by thanking the folks that put this together, including our friend Matthew Farace and Lucas Miles over at TP usa, Faith, who took the the selfie that you're about to see as we are now walking as a group out to the Capitol. Beautiful weather. Could not have asked for better weather. Low 80s, no humidity, nice breeze. It was picturesque day in Washington, D.C. and it was just a great group of patriots to get to share this with. My only regret from this trip, my wife just could not go at the last minute. Her counseling hours are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Everybody stops scheduling things on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please, can we not schedule everything on a Tuesday and Wednesday? Is that possible? All right. Everybody wants to schedule their stuff on the two days I can't bring my wife. You know, my wife's. I mean, she's dealing with people with marital issues and they're on the cliff emotionally. So it's kind of hard just cancel at the last minute. But that was my only regret. It was great to be able to share this with this group of patriots from all over the country, including names of people that have been on this show, names of people many of you would know, and then get to share a dinner afterwards and Compare notes. I had one gentleman that I did not previously know, and I'm not going to out him, but it was interesting. He is a secular Jew by his own admission. I won't name the show that he's on either because I don't want to out him. But he's on another show and it's a pretty big show. But he was very anxious to talk to me about Christian apologetics and how that works and what that means. And him and I had a good 20, 25 minute conversation about all that. And I walked him through his own religious tradition and how these were all foreshadowings and precursors to mine. Pointing to. All right, they were pointing to Jesus, that the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, the whole thing is about Christ. It was just a really cool conversation to get to have. And there were lots of cool conversations. And I got to sit next to our dear friend and sister, Megan Basham. I met her husband for the first time. He came and got to hear her say that for now she's cancer free. So that's excellent news.
- [64:40]
Aaron McIntyre
Amen.
- [64:41]
Todd Erzin
And she was the one person at the table that didn't care how much she ate because the doctors are very adamant that she needs to eat some more food now. All right. To put some weight back on after the toll it's taken on her body to fight cancer over the last couple of years. So it was just a. It was just a great group of people there getting to tour the Capitol,
- [64:59]
Aaron McIntyre
man, before you say anything else, this. As long as I've known you, you've had a special hatred in your heart for Washington, dc.
- [65:07]
Todd Erzin
This is very true.
- [65:08]
Aaron McIntyre
And that you are talking.
- [65:09]
Todd Erzin
I mean, I got inspired to write a book about a demonic takeover, America, the first time I went to Washington, dc. True story. Yes.
- [65:14]
Aaron McIntyre
This. This is just awesome. It's so refreshing. I. If it wasn't for my daughter's state track meet, I would have made you take me on this one because I, I love Washington, D.C. and I think
- [65:27]
Todd Erzin
we, we have this. And your daughter, by the way, crushed it at the state. Let's.
- [65:30]
Aaron McIntyre
It was. Thank you.
- [65:31]
Todd Erzin
Let's not bury the lead here. Congrats and family again.
- [65:33]
Aaron McIntyre
You take me on many, many great trips and I'm lucky to go. I would have been like, what do I got to do to go on this one? Because we need to fight for the city. We absolutely have to. And the fact that, you know, for four reasons you have arrived at this place with this city is a very good thing because you were a pretty damn Good fighter when you hated the place. I want to see a fully unleashed Steve Dace when he loves that place.
- [66:01]
Todd Erzin
That's a, that'll preach right there. So let's get into some of the history I got a chance to see firsthand here. This, there's a lot of these paintings, but the first one I want to show you here. I mean this hearkens back to the first book in our trilogy on America's Christian heritage, why Thanksgiving? Here we see the pilgrims hashing over, praying over the scriptures, hashing over the Mayflower compact. This is one of the paintings at the Capitol rotunda. It is. And, and by the way, almost all of these paintings are religious in nature. Hearken specifically to Christianity in some way, shape or form. And it's, it's adorned all over the history of our capital. One of the things you see when you get to the Capitol is, is that it's always being painted 2424. It's, it's always being painted year round, except for holidays because they have to keep updating it over and over and over again. So they're just constantly working through different sections of the Capitol to keep renovating it, to keep it painted, to keep it fresh. It is the. We could do an entire two hour documentary on all the Christian iconography at the U. S. Capitol that's embedded in the stones. I'm not talking like, well, the Republicans are in charge. No, I'm not talking like things they just wield it in. Okay. I mean, that's embedded into the structure in and of itself. Okay.
- [67:23]
Steve Dace
That was one of the things that, if I can interject, that sounds amazing. It's one of the things. I brought this up on a number of occasions. The Catholic architecture is one of the things that made me really appreciate at the very least the aesthetic of Catholicism that no, they're not just beautiful arches for beautiful arches sake. No, there's not just 12 pillars in the atrium or what have you for. They just tripped all over themselves. No, everything is intentional and that's what makes it so beautiful.
- [67:52]
Todd Erzin
Right. That's a great comparison right there for sure. All right, next, this painting here, this is George Washington accepting the surrender of lieutenant General Cornwallis from the redcoats at Yorktown. There's actually, there's two different Washington paintings of him accepting the surrender of the British in the rotunda.
- [68:14]
Aaron McIntyre
All right.
- [68:14]
Todd Erzin
But this is the one with general Cornwallis at Yorktown and which officially ended the American Revolution.
- [68:29]
Aaron McIntyre
We were, my family and I were talking about for the 250th trying to find a way to get to D.C. and it's going to just be so expensive during that time.
- [68:37]
Todd Erzin
We got to see some of the setup of what is coming. If there's anything that the Trumps know how to do. Yeah, it is. Throw a party.
- [68:43]
Aaron McIntyre
I know.
- [68:43]
Todd Erzin
And this is going to be quite a party.
- [68:45]
Aaron McIntyre
I would love to be.
- [68:46]
Todd Erzin
I mean, I was just in D.C. a month and a half ago for America Reads the Bible, and they were just beginning to put this stuff up. A lot of it you can already see. They're, they're, they're, they're going to do this thing, right? Yes. All right, next. This is, this is my favorite one in the Capitol, and it's one of the most famous ones inside the Capitol. This is the signing of the Declaration of Independence right here.
- [69:15]
Aaron McIntyre
Well, that's the Committee of Five right there.
- [69:16]
Todd Erzin
Yes, it is that. That's a precursor to the story you just told right there. Yes. And it's breathtaking to see this in person, but that's the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thoughts on that?
- [69:33]
Steve Dace
And you see paintings like this, and you really, like, take time to look at it. You're struck not just by the men, the main subjects around that table, all of the other men in that room, everything they had seen, everything that they had written, the lives that they have lived. It would take you probably hundreds of years to document any of it if it was documented whatsoever. And you just, you are struck again by what you were talking about earlier. Steve, how could you attribute the founding of this country to anything other than God's sovereignty and divine intervention and Providence?
- [70:20]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah, One thing only recently I've kind of psychologically adapted myself to do when I see things like this is make sure I look at it through the eyes that you just looked through earlier when you complimented Aaron for the AI that he used, but the what it takes, the craft. You can look at these pictures. They're old pictures. The quality of the craftsmanship, the painstaking detail to do things like that.
- [70:50]
Todd Erzin
These paintings, by the way, are enormous. The pictures on your screen are not doing them justice.
- [70:53]
Aaron McIntyre
Exactly. It's really important. Like, we, we've just so lowered the bar what human beings are capable of when they give heart, mind, body, soul to God. And you just looked at that.
- [71:07]
Todd Erzin
Aaron, can you put that one back up there for just a second? This, this picture right here disproves Karl Marx. Now, Marx is going to come, what, 50, 60 years after this, but this disproves Marx entire read of history, because Marx entire read of history is the haves versus the have nots. Essentially, he took a Darwinian ethic and just added to it the struggle for survival of favored races. Now why do I say that? Because all the men in this room, the guy who signs this document first pledging his life, fortune and sacred honors is John Hancock. He's the richest man in the colonies. Probably every one of these guys is the elite. They are the elites. They are the landowners, they are the Ivy League educated. They are the wealthy. They are the elites. They know when they do this. You guys, I know a lot of you saw the. The thing that Paul Harvey did many years ago on the founders and what happened to all of the 56 signers of this document. But they knew it was going to be on their plantations where this war would be fought. They knew it would be their lands that would be desecrated, that would be burned, that would flow with blood. They knew. They knew history is not as simple as the haves versus the have nots. And we have to be very careful with that level of language in our day and age because we're not here without these elites. What's difference? Well, the elites in our age are godless. The elites in this era weren't. That's the difference. Some. A couple of the people I got a chance to see and hang out with in D.C. for a couple days, two of them have been. Both of these guys have been on our show just recently. You see Frank Turek, who was one of Charlie's pastors and one of kind of his traveling apologist. I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. He's a frequent Ask Me Anything tpusa faith speaker around the country. And by the way, a really cool dude. If you get a chance to know Frank. And then Stephen Meyer, who we just had on recently, who is the guy behind the hit documentary the Story of Everything which goes. Which is beautifully made and goes right after the scientific community's godless materialism with its own science and is very well done. So had a chance to out there on the speaker's balcony take a picture with these two guys and had a chance to hang out with them along with several other people. People in our audience would probably know
- [73:45]
Aaron McIntyre
this is the picture. I've been in the rotunda. I've seen those paintings. I would love to go back again. All everything about DC is repeatable and it's also, you know, all free too, which is like it it for family vacations. But it's when I looked at this picture, when I went, you magnificent sob. That's. That's cool. I mean, look at this bout is
- [74:07]
Todd Erzin
where they're supposed to do presidential inaugurations. We stopped doing them there this last cycle, though, because Democrats just can't stop shooting at Trump.
- [74:15]
Aaron McIntyre
The amount of history you were just talk about standing on the shoulder of giants. I mean, right there, that's it.
- [74:24]
Todd Erzin
I mean, when we went to the White House last year, Aaron, remember, I signed my name in wrong. And so we had to go through the security process again. The day I went back to meet the VP for the first time.
- [74:32]
Aaron McIntyre
That was great.
- [74:33]
Todd Erzin
And I had to pee so bad outside the guard shack for 45 minutes before they finally let me in. And when they finally let me in, they got me to a bathroom right away in the West Wing. And I just had to stop. I mean, I mean, literally, on one end is the Oval Office, on the other end is the VP's office. And I. I'm sitting there taking a leak, and after the initial relief that I didn't pee my pants outside. All right, it dawned on me. I'm looking around, I'm like, who else has gone to the bathroom in here? Like in the middle of a major crisis, a major event, just had to take a. To, you know, I mean. Yeah, it reeks with our history and legacy and heritage. It reeks with it.
- [75:09]
Steve Dace
Man, that's a beautiful view as well. Especially the. I mean, just compositionally, the clouds and the sun breaking through in the background there amidst Washington. This was late afternoon, I would assume, because that's looking west, isn't it? Just a beautiful shot. And then you kind of get an appreciation. You can kind of see it from Maps if you go on Google Maps, but you get more of an appreciation there for how planned this city was. You see the two streets there flanked on Turek's right shoulder and your left shoulder leading right to the Capitol.
- [75:42]
Aaron McIntyre
That's.
- [75:42]
Steve Dace
That's emblematic of a city with a plan that was planned to a T. That's really cool shot.
- [75:49]
Todd Erzin
All right, this might be my favorite shot. The next one here. So John Quincy Adams. Lots of, Lots of famous members of Congress have a plaque on the floor where their seats were. Okay, so we're in the hall where the, the. Where Congress used to sit. Okay. John Quincy Adams remains the only former president to go back and get reelected to president. Re elected to Congress. And a lot of it was over the, the abolition, the slavery issue. He brought it up every year. Every year, Every year. It got voted down every single year. One of his aides once asked him, why do you keep doing this? We're gonna lose. He goes, hey, duty is ours. Outcomes belong to God. One of his most famous lines. Well, right here at his desk is where he suffered the. Right there, this spot right here is. He's passionately arguing for abolition and in the middle of it has a heart attack. And it's right here at his desk. And they take him into this back room and put him on a couch, which is still in this back room. This couch is still there. Now, they've reupholstered it several times over the years, but the, the original couch is still there where they put him in there to try to see if they could help him. And, you know, we're dealing with, you know, early 19th century, mid 19th century medicine here, right? And so they can't. Plus he's 80 years old anyway. And over the course of the next 24 hours or so, he just kind of slowly faded away and died on this couch in this back office there. But this is the spot where he set, after all of his terms or during all of his terms, argued for abolition during all of those, all of those sessions futilely. And this is where he had a heart attack and that killed him while he was arguing for abolition and against
- [77:29]
Aaron McIntyre
slavery one final time, embodied in the movie Amistad. Just an incredible movie, one of Spielberg's all time underrated movies.
- [77:37]
Todd Erzin
This was, that was very. That was, that's maybe the favorite picture that I took because of what the symbolism behind that is. All right, we're just getting started. Much more to come and share with you here when we come back. Stay tuned, The steve day show. All right, back here on the Steve Day show, and we are powered by pocket hose, the world's number one expanding garden hose. Their brand new pocket or their brand new product is the pocket Hose Ballistic. The number one expandable hose in the world. It's super lightweight, easy to manage, easy to store, no more kinks. It works beautifully. Great water pressure. At the same time, great. Reinforced with liquid crystal polymer. That's the stuff they use in bulletproof vests. So it's got this anti burst sleeve that is five times stronger than steel. And then it comes with the pocket pivot that gives you total freedom of movement at the spigot with a 360 degree rotation. So you're not tripping over yourself. You're not having to maneuver it all the time. It's one, it, it moves with you, it follows you as you move. It is. This is the, the garden tool version of TiVo. Like, why'd we wait so long to invent this? The first time I got to use this, it blew my mind. I love it. All right, so right now, for a limited time, when you purchase the pocket Hose ballistic, you're going to get a free 360 degree rotating pocket pivot and a free thumb drive nozzle. Just text DACE to 64,000. That's DACE to 64,000. For your two free gifts with purchase. That's DACE. D E A C E to 64,000. DACE to 64,000. Message and data rates to. They do apply. All right, let's continue on. All right, next here you're going to see there's only three of these ever made. This is one of the three original presidential portraits of Thomas Jefferson, the man that you just honored who penned the Declaration of Independence. There's only three of these, and this is one of them. Now, you've probably seen this picture a lot, but only three of these prints were actually ever painted. And this is one. There's a lot of duplicates, but this is one of only three originals, like
- [80:07]
Aaron McIntyre
I said, chiseled in stone, you know, just hanging on walls. Like, you know, we think of the. I mean, that's our. These are our Mona Lisas.
- [80:19]
Todd Erzin
Yeah. And the picture I took from that angle, can you see kind of the light coming into. That's almost like a halo effect. I did not intend that. All right. And then I thought, well, let me get a better angle where that lighting's not in there. And then I thought, no, I kind of like that lighting in there. It's kind of symbolic there. So I left it there
- [80:40]
Aaron McIntyre
in thinking about the whole train of thought I had for the two weeks of writing what I was talking about. You know, these. It's so important. Like, what we got was because we believed in God. But if you read about these men, they. To deify them is to miss the whole point. Just like when you read the Bible. Again, these are. I don't think we read the Bible and we truly, truly understand how broken the people of God were. They were chosen because they were utter reprobates. And, and like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, there's a lot to not like about the man at certain times where they show their backside. But yet, well, they.
- [81:24]
Todd Erzin
They didn't like each other for quite a long time.
- [81:26]
Aaron McIntyre
Look at what, look at what they accomplished. You. It's. It's ultimately just about who do you bend your knee towards?
- [81:35]
Todd Erzin
And if you read their writings, they echo what you just said. They constantly gave credit to Providence. They constantly said this could not happen without Providence. This can't keep happening. This won't sustain without Providence. They. They were adamant about that from the. From stem to stern, from the beginning, in the middle of it, and then in the aftermath, constantly. There are lots of great statues inside the Capitol Rotunda. This, though, this one kind of took my breath away is this white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, the man who saved the Union. To be brutally honest with you, I think I was more impressed with this than when I was in D.C. about a month and a half ago and went up to the Lincoln Memorial. I thought that was a. It was cool to go up there and all. Okay. But this felt. For whatever reason, this felt a lot more personal to me.
- [82:29]
Aaron McIntyre
Man. I love whatever this trip did to you, and I mean it. I. I always thought you were. You were cheating yourself somehow. And I know you always had to roll your sleeves up and get in to the worst side of D.C. and the worst side of human nature, but this is. There. There is power in the experience that you had. You are. You seem to be tethered to whatever. What. What's the video game language leveled up or something like that?
- [83:06]
Todd Erzin
Yeah, leveled up. Listen, I was reminded why we're doing this. I got my battery recharged to some degree. I was reminded why we are doing this. Yeah.
- [83:22]
Steve Dace
I just think sometimes, whether it's. I mean, you can. I think it's human nature, you build something or someone's up in your mind that you've never met, that maybe you've admired from afar, that maybe you have been impressed with from afar, and you get there and you're reminded, yes, this is really cool. Or you meet the person, and that was really cool. But there's something that subtly happens where you realize and you understand. And when you walk in the halls, where some of these people have walked before, they were really there. They were real people really there. The John Quincy Adams thing, it solidifies in your mind. They're not legends, just legends.
- [84:02]
Todd Erzin
Yes.
- [84:03]
Steve Dace
They're not deities, like Todd said. They're human beings.
- [84:06]
Todd Erzin
It's true. All of it.
- [84:07]
Steve Dace
Yes.
- [84:08]
Aaron McIntyre
Yes.
- [84:08]
Todd Erzin
Yeah. Right on. I mean, what are Lincoln's. Some of Lincoln's most famous words. All right, that. So the government of the people, by the people, and for that. For the people will not banish, you know, will not perish from the earth. As far as we know. We are the last, best hope for humanity this side of eternity. As far as we know. All right. Here's some video of the capital. Of the capital rotunda, including the apotheosis of Washington or George Washington ascending into heaven. That's the painting you see at the roof of the Capitol. And then you get a chance to see how ornate. This gives you a much better idea of how large some of the paintings were that we showed you as well. And to be there after hours, outside of the normal hustle and bustle, just really gives you an opportunity to soak all of this in.
- [85:15]
Mike Johnson
But if you look under the table, Jefferson is stepping.
- [85:20]
Todd Erzin
I mean, that's still shot right there. That painting in person. Again, that doesn't do it justice. I'm trying to zoom in on my phone. This is way up high. But that shot right there, zooming in on the ascent of George Washington ascending into heaven, that is Sistine Chapel level stuff. That's just. I mean, it's breathtaking to see it in person.
- [85:42]
Aaron McIntyre
I feel like Samwise. The speech at the end of the two towers. There's good in this world, Mr. Frodo, that's worth fighting for. You know, that's. That's why going to this place is so important.
- [85:57]
Todd Erzin
You know, what it felt like to me is one of Jeremiah's ancestors was the prophet Hilkiah, and he's the weeping prophet. Jeremiah is the weeping prophet. One of his ancestors was the. The Hilkiah, the priest. Now, who is he? Hilkiah the priest is the guy that goes into the temple one day to clean everything out. And he finds a scroll, the book of the law, likely Deuteronomy, which means giving of the law or the second law or another law. That's what Deuteronomy means. And so it's likely that's what he finds. And he starts. He opens up, starts reading it, and they got all these pagan relics and stuff infesting God's house. And he reads this and he's like, oh, oh. And he takes it to this very young king by the name of Josiah. He says, I've got some very bad news. All right, we are. We are on the edge of a knife here. We gotta. We gotta do some work. Okay? But hidden. My point being is hidden in and around all the things that were distracting and tempting the Israelites of that era, their heritage and legacy was still right there the entire time. And what happens is Hilkiah takes the information of Josiah. Josiah is the last great king of Israel. And he even goes to the high places and tears them down. Sparks the last great revival of the Jewish people before their diaspora. And That's a little bit how I felt like, you know, because we're sitting here, out here from the outside in, going through all the filth in that city all the time. All right. To now get inside the temple and see, oh, the law is still here. The heritage is still here. The word is still here. You see what I'm saying? That's kind of what it felt like to me.
- [87:41]
Aaron McIntyre
That's why the last language I used is, do you have ears to hear? Do you have eyes to see? Because if you're a citizen, that's what you can have, and that's what you must have. Not only to go to this place and say, I am so lucky to be a part born into this nation, but now what must I do?
- [87:59]
Todd Erzin
Right.
- [87:59]
Aaron McIntyre
Not be. Yes. Duty is both doing things that you necessarily don't want to do, but it's also like, I. It's just a. I get to do this. Yep. I get to be part of it.
- [88:11]
Todd Erzin
We had dinner inside the Capitol Hill dining room. We are. We're going to be the last group to eat in this room for about two years. They're renovating that next. Okay. Behind me now, you see another famous painting. This is from the second Continental Congress, including George Washington there, front and center. This is now the receiving of the draft of the Declaration of Independence. This is when they received the draft. And it's the. And this again, this picture doesn't do it justice. This painting is the. Is like almost the entire back wall in the Capitol Hill dining room.
- [88:46]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah. Those paint. And it's funny, when you go back to the Rotunda, the paintings are enormous, but the rotunda, actually, it is smaller once you're in the middle of it than you think it would be in pictures. Did you have that feeling?
- [88:59]
Todd Erzin
Well, we got to go sit on the House floor. It's. Remember we went to the White House press briefing, like, holy cow, this thing is tiny. Tiny. And it's. And it's hot. Right. Okay. I couldn't believe how claustrophobic the House floor actually was. How do they fit everybody in there for a State of the Union and everything else blows my mind. It was way smaller.
- [89:17]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah.
- [89:17]
Todd Erzin
Than I envisioned looking at it on TV all these years.
- [89:19]
Aaron McIntyre
And I think there's paradox in that. The intimacy of it, along with the. The giants who have been there. It really operates on several levels.
- [89:28]
Todd Erzin
One area that we were not allowed to film or take pictures was the private prayer room that is located exactly halfway between the Senate Majority Leader's office and the speaker of the House's office, and that is considered a very, very sacred place. A lot of behind the scenes for many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years, a lot of behind the scenes, bipartisan, nonpartisan prayer from leaders have gone on in this room during times of crisis and things of that nature. And then coming out of that room, Speaker Mike Johnson took us over to the Billy Graham statue. And I wanted to share this video
- [90:07]
Mike Johnson
with you guys, the actual speaker's office, because there's some really neat historic things in there. We're gonna go by the house, the chapel that we use, the leaders chapel, which most people have never seen before. We'll go to the balcony so you can get the greatest photo op in all of Washington right there. But I wanted to just stop at one statue anyway. As you know, all states have two statues, and on occasion, they'll switch them out for history. And so over the last several years, we've had a lot of statues change out. It just so happens in the last three years, I think I've. I think I've presided over maybe four or five of these ceremonies because the speaker does that. Well, one of them I got to do was. Was Billy Graham, North Carolina, finally decided to give a proper recognition to what I think is probably their favorite son. But. But they brought it in, and it's an extraordinary statue. And the whole family was here for the ceremony. And a couple hours before we were doing this was. We filled statuary hall, and a lot of, you know, famous evangelists and Christian artists, recording artists and all were here for this. But. But Franklin Graham came into my office two hours before the ceremony started, and he said, I won't do his accent, because I can't. I won't do anything.
- [91:10]
Todd Erzin
I should.
- [91:11]
Steve Dace
In the front row on yes, Downloading.
- [91:13]
Mike Johnson
But he said. He said, speaker, we wanted to bring you something we thought you might want to see before the ceremony. I said, what's that? And he pulls out of this little briefcase Billy Graham's study Bible.
- [91:22]
Todd Erzin
Okay.
- [91:23]
Mike Johnson
And he hands it to me. And I'm like, you know, it's like the. Like the Shroud of Turin or something. He said, you could just. If you wanted to spend a little time with that, we'll be back, you know, we'll see, in a couple hours. So he leaves me with Billy Graham study book. So I was flipping through it. I mean, wow.
- [91:37]
Todd Erzin
It's got his.
- [91:38]
Mike Johnson
His handwritten study notes and next to passages of scripture. I took a bunch of screenshots. I don't know if it's legal or not, but I did it anyway. Some of my favorite passages, and then I turned it back in. So in the end, the ceremony, I used his. Billy Graham's Bible to cite the scripture as we dedicated the statue. And one of my staff members got a really awesome shot where I'm. I'm standing. It just so happened. I'm standing just like this, pointing to his Bible, just like that. And it shot up like this. It's my favorite photo of all time.
- [92:04]
Todd Erzin
But.
- [92:04]
Mike Johnson
But what an icon. I mean, what a great representative for the state of North Carolina. We thought we did the ceremony in statuary hall, and I had not been doing it long enough. I thought he was going to be like. It was. It was set right by the door where he walked through, where, you know, thousands of people every day walk through. It would have been the most prominent statue. And I was like, what a fitting place. And I went on and on about what a great spot for Billy Graham. And then they moved him to the crib. I was going to start World War III over this. And then the North Carolina Statue Commission or whatever says, no, we chose it intentionally. We wanted it to be right here in the most prominent place where people walk through. And so I can't argue with the people who put it there. But that's. That's pretty awesome. Yes, exactly. Right.
- [92:46]
Todd Erzin
So I want to also say this. I saw. Spent several hours with Mike Johnson, saw a completely different aspect of his personality. That kind of reminded me a little bit of what you guys are saying about me.
- [92:57]
Aaron McIntyre
I was just gonna.
- [92:58]
Todd Erzin
Completely divorced. Away from the minatia. We don't have the votes. We can't do anything. We have. No. We have the smallest majority of all time. Senate sucks. Even if we. Then when we do. Listen, if there's one side of the chamber that is actually doing anything good, it's the House. Things like. But it's gonna die in the Senate as well. Get him away from the process and the day to day and have him talking about the deeper meaning of everything. I just shared with you guys. And that's an entirely different individual. Entirely different. I mean, his. His level of reverence for the history of our heritage was infectious, for sure. All right, guys, I'll let you sum it up here.
- [93:37]
Aaron McIntyre
The same thing. And that he's the speaker of the House. Fair to say he's got stuff to do. You know, I mean, he looked like every ounce of him, his attention, his energy, his spirit was in talking to fellow Americans about how blessed we are.
- [93:55]
Todd Erzin
And that's just a snapshot. There was several hours where he was just like that the entire time.
- [93:59]
Aaron McIntyre
Yeah, well, now go and do likewise because it's a great damn country and there's a real risk of it not being that way for long.
- [94:10]
Steve Dace
That was kind of what I was thinking about when watching the video of the Rotunda and hearing House Speaker Mike Johnson speak is that, yeah, we've got it pretty good, really good, in fact, in the long arch of history, the best. So the number one thing that I thought of is how do members of Congress go to work every day in this history, seeing this history every day and then vote sometimes the way that they do? And I think the answer is because there's a spiritual battle taking place every single syllable of every single day. And so as much as we loathe and detest some of these people on Capitol Hill, they need our prayers even, yes, even the Democrats, even the most left wing ones, they need prayers. But what this country needs the most, as Todd just said, is action as well. Do we really understand the best that we've had it, that we do have it the best? Do we understand what it takes to pass that to the next generation? Do we truly understand that? And that's going to be the question of every generation, not just this one.
- [95:27]
Todd Erzin
Amen. Very well said. And as a final note, one of the things Speaker Johnson told us is that over the years we're down to now just a couple of Democrats come to the bipartisan Bible studies now. And the couple that do has to be top secret, can't let their base know that they come because they know what the backlash will be for them showing up. So, Aaron, you're right. It is a spiritual battle. Well, I hope that you were as encouraged as I was, getting to see it firsthand with me. Sharing it with you. Back at it again tomorrow noon to Eastern right after Glenn Beck right here on Blaze TV. Until then, go hard. Romans 8:28.