The Dollop Episode 697: Bo Gritz – Part Two

Podcast: The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Episode: 697 - Bo Gritz - Part Two
Date: August 19, 2025

Episode Overview

Part two of the multi-episode saga on Bo Gritz finds comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds diving deeper into the career and wild aftermath of “war grifter” Bo Gritz. Picking up in the early 1990s, the episode covers Gritz’s increasing notoriety after failed POW rescue missions, his bizarre evidence for Congress, recurring government entanglements, drift into conspiratorial thinking, and dalliances with America’s far-right. The duo’s trademark irreverence punctuates a tale blending absurdity and real danger at every turn.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bo Gritz's Congressional Moment & “Bone Evidence”

• Gritz presents “evidence”: He brings a bag of bones to the US Embassy in Thailand, purportedly from POW camps.
  • Outcome: The bones are shown by Richard Armitage to be pig bones, not human remains, making a mockery of his claim.
  • [05:55] Gareth Reynolds: “So he's standing in the way of the bone bag. Which is what I call my scrotum.”
• Failed photographic evidence: At a key hearing, when asked for photographic proof, Bo claims he used the wrong setting and the film didn’t turn out.
  • [07:07] Dave Anthony: “He used the wrong setting on the camera, and the pictures hadn't turned out.”

2. Resistance & Sabotage—Government Pushback

• Reagan administration allegedly spies on Gritz: Ted Sampley claims he was approached to spy for the government on Bo—an indication that both government resentment and paranoia around him were real.
• The government is caught between not wanting to appear callous about POWs but also wanting to curb Bo’s outlandish, damaging antics.
  • [10:54] Dave Anthony quoting Col. Earl Hopper: “This was a stab in the back, a perfidious act, in my opinion.”

3. The Grift Grows: Failed Missions & Operation Broken Wing

• Gritz plans another raid, "Operation Broken Wing," this time allegedly to rescue a POW with a broken leg.
  • Claims of rendezvous on the Mekong river, boat chases, and hints of sabotage are met with more farce than fact.
  • [15:22] Dave Anthony: “Boom. A powerboat came out of nowhere and ran over the three dinghies. But the POW survived. But they were now forced to turn zombie... POW. They were forced to turn around and head back to prison.”
• Gritz blames media leaks for rescue failure, not implausibility of narrative.

4. Bizarre Career Turn: Training Mujahedeen, CIA Connections

• Gritz, in Nevada, is training Afghan mujahedeen—the group that would become the Taliban.
  • [17:51] Gareth Reynolds: “He is legit training the mujahideen, who is letting that happen.”
• Ties to Iran-Contra-era operatives abound, including Oliver North, Armitage, and Tom Harvey.

5. The “World’s Greatest Drug Lord” & Unintended Exposés

• Sent to check for enslaved POWs, Gritz barges into the Golden Triangle camp of drug lord Khun Sa.
  • Instead of confrontation, Khun Sa gives on-camera accusations that the CIA (naming names) buys his heroin and launders money through Australian banks.
  • [25:08] Gareth Reynolds: “See, here’s why he’s telling the truth. He’s like, I’m the drug lord. Why would I need POW slaves?”
  • Gritz sends this evidence to the White House but is rebuffed:
    [28:30] Dave Anthony: “Bo, there's no one here who supports that.”
• Irony: His fake mission discovers real CIA/narcotic collusion—met with official silence.

6. Legal Harassment, Dr. Death, and Brushes with Iran-Contra

• Gritz’s cohort, “Dr. Death,” is arrested and railroaded into prison before the Iran-Contra scandal even broke.
  • [35:29] Dave Anthony: “Now this is before the scandal broke, so they're accusing him of doing Iran Contra before Iran Contra was mainstream.”
• US authorities pursue Gritz himself for passport violations, but bring the wrong charges—possibly on purpose, leading to dismissal.
  • [40:08] Dave Anthony: “There's no way they didn't do that on purpose. The US Attorneys are so fucking on top.”

7. Into the Rabbit Hole: Conspiracies & Late-’80s Paranoia

• Humiliated and embattled, Bo dives into conspiracy literature, embracing ancient aliens, creation of AIDS by the government, and MKULTRA Jonestown theories.
  • [41:39] Dave Anthony: "The Gods of Eden is about how ancient aliens created war and religion as population control..."
  • [42:53] Bo’s quote: “I think we’re going to see a literal mark of the beast. I think it’ll be part of the globalist cashless system.”
• Increasingly aligns with Christian identity, moral panics about barcodes, and Mark-of-the-Beast rhetoric.

8. Far-Right Dalliances, Fringe Presidential Runs

• Converts to Mormonism with his much-younger wife as they entrench in fringe survivalist and right-wing circles.
• Runs for VP on the Populist Party ticket—unwittingly signing up with KKK Grand Wizard David Duke before dropping out.
  • [47:04] Bo: “I didn’t know anything about the Ku Klux Klan.”
• Later runs for president himself, campaigns as a populist (with anti-interventionist bona fides) but veers into anti-Semitic tropes, conspiracy circles, and partners with Christian Identity figures.
  • [50:58] Bo’s quote: “If we’d have stayed out of Guatemala... Guatemala would not have lost tens of thousands of people killed by CIA-supported and inspired police action.”
  • Slogan: “Guns, God, and Gritz”

9. Lizard People, Alien Commanders, and Surrealist Campaigning

• Bo’s VP candidate persuades him to meet with “Hatton,” an eight-and-a-half-foot reptilian commander in the mountains.

  • [53:18] Dave Anthony (reading): “...Cy says, now, I just want to verify this. Hatton himself is going to walk in and meet us. And the person said, yes, he'll be here.”

• His campaign devolves further as staffers claim CIA is out to get them; others dismiss it as local gang crime.

10. Christian Identity Extremism

• Gets involved with Pastor Pete Peters and the explicitly anti-Semitic Christian Identity movement.
  • Differences arise over Peters’ call for “death penalty for homosexuals”—Gritz initially resists, but then slides into “first-degree homosexuals” rhetoric.
    • [58:28] Dave Anthony (reading Bo): “There are first-degree homosexuals who probably should be skinned alive. You find them in San Francisco…”
  • Both hosts mock and recoil at the escalation.

11. Setting Up for the Climax: Ruby Ridge

• The episode ends as Gritz is about to become a key figure in the Ruby Ridge standoff—setting up for Part Three.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:26] Gareth Reynolds: “He basically answers the question, what if Steven Seagal was a war grifter?”
• [06:12] Reynolds: “You know what's great about this guy is... he's lazy. Lies.”
• [14:39] Reynolds, on Bo’s POW rescue logic: “You're gonna see them in five minutes. Why don't you just call them to say what’s up?”
• [28:30] Dave Anthony (White House response to drug lord evidence): “Bo, there's no one here who supports that.”
• [47:04] Bo: “I didn’t know anything about the Ku Klux Klan.”
• [54:38] Dave Anthony: “Obviously, it’s not a great campaign.”
• [57:05] Anthony: "He and Bo and all their friends were, in fact, the real chosen people."
• [58:28] Anthony (reading): “…there are first-degree homosexuals who probably should be skinned alive. You find them in San Francisco…”

Chapter Timestamps

• [02:01] – Picking up with Bo's return from his latest “mission.”
• [03:16] – Congressional subcommittee, “bag of bones” evidence, and pig bone revelation.
• [07:48] – Ted Sampley called to spy on Bo for the Reagan administration.
• [12:29] – The farce of Operation Broken Wing and failed POW rendezvous.
• [17:51] – Bo Gritz training Afghan mujahedeen/Taliban in Nevada.
• [21:10] – Meeting Khun Sa the drug lord and CIA drug collusion revelations.
• [35:29] – Arrest of “Dr. Death” and ties to Iran-Contra.
• [41:07] – Descent into conspiracy theories post-trial.
• [45:19] – Shift to Mormonism, populist party runs, and David Duke “mix-up.”
• [51:02] – Gritz’s contradictory anti-interventionism and campaign slogans.
• [53:18] – Trip to meet “Hatton,” the lizard person commander.
• [56:30] – Connection to Christian Identity and white supremacy.
• [60:45] – Set up for Ruby Ridge and episode close.

Tone and Style

Throughout, Dave and Gareth use irreverence, sarcasm, and biting parody to underscore the absurdity and danger of Bo’s actions and the government response. They are particularly unrelenting about the grifter aspects of Gritz’s career, the incompetence and complicity of US officials, and the spiraling paranoia that defined the period and Gritz’s mind.

Final Thoughts

This episode chronicles the mid-career unraveling of Bo Gritz: from celebrity war grifter to conspiracy-peddling fringe icon. While their delivery is comic, the hosts pull no punches in exposing the underlying tragedy: how delusion, credulity, and power can produce not just chaos—but real consequences. The story continues into the notorious events at Ruby Ridge, to be covered in the next episode.