Why We Should Still Compete in Safe Red Districts

Summary

---

The Find Out Podcast

Episode: Why We Should Still Compete in Safe Red Districts

Date: March 12, 2026
Hosts: Rich, Luke, Tim (Zach is out sick)

---

Episode Overview

This episode navigates the escalating chaos of Trump’s second term, the absurdities of current right-wing culture, and the hard strategic question: Should progressives still contest deep red (Republican) districts? The team uses their trademark irreverence and banter to break down the current state of American politics, from the carnage in Iran to cult-like behavior within the GOP, MAGA corruption, mass deportations, and the vital role of running opposition everywhere, even in “unwinnable” places.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter & Trump-Iran Press Conference Parallels

• The hosts start with light banter and stories, transitioning to politics by comparing Trump's handling of foreign policy questions to third graders' animal reports—unprepared, off-script, and sometimes nonsensical.
  • Notable Quote:
    "I realized it reminded me of Trump’s press conferences talking about Iran." – Tim (03:33)

2. Iran Bombing and Military Mismanagement

• The crew discusses recent U.S. bombings in Iran, the misleading public explanations, and the farcical inexperience of Trump appointees (“a 23-year-old in charge of counterterrorism”).
• Tim details the NYT’s report on bombing due to outdated data and general governmental dysfunction (04:49).
• Rich describes the firing of inspectors general and the “use it or lose it” Defense Department spending sprees:
  • "$93 billion spent in September alone, including $7 million on Apple products and $4 billion on cable television."
    (16:32 – 18:05)

3. Trump Era Corruption and Economic Inequality

• The hosts lampoon stories of Trump’s sycophant cabinet (e.g., Marco Rubio wearing shoes several sizes too big just because Trump gifted them), the bizarre cult of personality, and MAGA “role models” flaunting luxury goods despite working-class posturing.
  • Notable Quote:
    "How much of a sycophantic fucking nut do you have to be to wear shoes two sizes too big just to tell your orange daddy no?" – Luke (08:24)
• They cover Trump’s and his family’s ballooning wealth since returning to power, mainly courtesy of crypto scams:
  • "Oh, much more, because Eric is officially a billionaire now, and I think Barron is like a 100 millionaire." – Rich (12:04)
  • The comparison to billionaires like Elon Musk and Larry Page, and their minimal charitable giving. (13:39 – 13:58)

4. GOP Retreat & Domestic Consequences

• Discussion of GOP officials searching for an “off-ramp” in Iran as public opinion tanks due to economic (rising gas prices) and human costs.
• Increasing scrutiny over mass deportations and reports of human rights abuses in U.S. detention centers, including gambling on who would die by suicide next in facilities (24:28).
  • Notable Quote:
    "There was a $500 prize pool if they picked the person in detention that killed themselves next. That is so fucked up."
    – Luke & Rich (24:36–24:42)

5. Strategic Question: Running in “Safe” Red Districts

Should Democrats and progressives compete in districts they are unlikely to win?

• Rich brings up the special election in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old district (plus-37 Republican), raising the debate on where to invest limited resources (28:05).
• Tim argues that even losing valiantly can shift national narratives, force GOP resources into “safe” seats, inspire down-ballot and local engagement, and improve Democratic performance elsewhere:
  • Notable Quote:
    "A 10 or 15 point swing to the left is a massive win because one, that makes the Republican Party defend every single seat within that margin…" – Tim (29:36)
• The panel discusses the “reverse coattails” effect—strong local and down-ballot candidates increase turnout for statewide races (39:40).
  • Amanda Litman’s “run for something” organization cited as a model for building the bench everywhere.
• Debate over realism vs. optimism in messaging:
  • Tim: “I think we should be horrifically unrealistic. I think we should be absolutely reckless with our expectations and assume that we can and will destroy MAGA…” (41:24)

Segment Timestamps:

• Strategic debate begins: 28:05
• Deep dive on the logic and data of running in red districts: 29:36–37:46
• Locals & reverse coattails discussion: 39:40–43:20

6. The Culture of Right-Wing Social Media & Outrage

• The hosts joke about MAGA trolls, religious hypocrisy, “meanest people are always super religious”, and the surreal hostile environment online (26:00–27:32).

7. The Reality of War and Military Tech

• Discussion of increasingly detached wartime decisions ("toddlers with buttons that they push to kill people") and the decreasing likelihood of traditional “drafts” due to drone warfare. (46:00–49:36)
• "My understanding is... they’ve made drones that look like insects... so, yes, the need for [a draft]—there’s never going to be a war..." – Rich (49:07)

8. Hilarious Gym Anecdote (Comic Relief)

• Luke shares a saga from the gym: being reprimanded by an “entitled boomer” general manager over his anti-Trump conversation and “get fucked for charity” t-shirt. The story underscores MAGA fragility and boomer grievance culture, with a positive ending: the real gym manager wants to buy a shirt to support Feeding America.
  • Luke: "I have never—people who go to the gym without headphones scare me… do you not need to drown out the voices in your head? Because I do." (56:14)
• Full anecdote: 50:20–57:12

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Trump Press Conferences:
  "Guessing the answers on the spot—that’s normal for 8 and 9 year olds... but when your president’s up there..." – Tim (03:40)
• On Outlandish Pentagon Spending:
  "I think I saw it was $4 billion on cable television. I don’t know how the fuck you do that." – Luke (17:31)
• MAGA Shoe Obsession:
  "If you can’t say this gift doesn’t fit—leading the military or Secretary of State—you are so fucking cucked." – Tim (09:55)
• Mass Deportation Facility Betting Pools:
  "They’re literally betting on which person dies next..." – Luke (24:28)
• On Building Power Everywhere:
  "We should be horrifically unrealistic... because if people believe, it changes their behavior." – Tim (41:24)
• Gym Manager Showdown:
  "Just so we’re on the same page, I’m a general manager, and if you ever want to go anywhere in life, stop using the F word..." – Luke (52:35)

---

Key Timestamps

| Topic | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Parallels between Trump’s Iran policy & 3rd grade reports | 03:33 | | Outdated Pentagon targeting leads to bombing | 04:49 | | 23-year-old in charge of counterterrorism | 05:41 | | Shoe-size sycophancy, Rubio anecdote | 07:50-09:55 | | Trump & family’s net worth boom — crypto scams | 12:04-13:58 | | Defense Dept. $93B “use it or lose it”/lobster/Apple | 16:32-18:05 | | Mass deportation camps, suicides, crisis | 24:28 | | Strategic debate: Red districts & boosting everywhere | 28:05-37:46 | | Reverse coattail/Run for Something model | 39:40–43:20 | | On vibes, realism, and narrative setting | 41:24-43:20 | | War, military tech, and the modern draft | 46:00-49:36 | | Gym “Karen,” charity t-shirt, and boomer bliss | 50:20–57:12 |

---

Tone & Style

• Irreverent, casual (“shoot the shit with us”)
• Passionate, expletive-filled, always honest
• Directly targeted at left/progressive listeners but aware of the broader absurdity
• Blending hard facts and data with unserious banter, comic relief, and cathartic rants

---

Takeaway Themes

• Competing everywhere matters: Even in “unwinnable” districts, opposition campaigns shift public opinion, tie up GOP resources, and build a bench for the future.
• Narratives are powerful: Fun, optimism, and even “delusional” hope can be more motivating than cold realism.
• Trump-era politics = Absurdity on steroids: Immaturity, corruption, and cult behavior have real costs, from mismanagement at home to tragedy abroad.
• Engage locally to create lasting change—and have a sense of humor about it, or you might go crazy.

---

Noted Suggestion

• Buy the “Get Fucked for Charity” shirt — all proceeds to Feeding America. Even if it triggers a boomer at your gym.

---

Next episode preview:
Check out “Get Angry,” the Find Out Media’s new show for rapid-fire, uncensored news and cathartic rants.

---

For live interaction, tune in on Friday at noon for their (now rescheduled) live stream.

---

Transcript

[Luke]

Iran had Tomahawk missiles and it was their own Tomahawk missile that bombed that school.

[Rich]

Do you want to know how much Donald Trump's net worth has increased in the year?

[Luke]

Well, Elon's up 200 billion since the year since Trump's presidency started.

[Rich]

Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Find out podcast. We were just making jokes about 80s, what, 80s rappers.

[Tim]

We were doing our best 80s hip hop impressions.

[Rich]

These guys always try to throw me off.

[Luke]

Nobody's as good as me.

[Rich]

They always try to throw me off when I'm like, do this like grand entrance into the podcast and trying to be a serious operation here and I just get torn down every time. But anyways, welcome back, everybody. I'm glad you're following us after Tuesday's episode where we literally just talked about how everything Trump touches turns to and you were not dismayed enough to not come back. So we appreciate that. I think today will be a little bit lighter. Unfortunately, Zach is down with. Down with the sickness. That's a song from the 90s, isn't it?

[Tim]

Wasn't it?

[Luke]

It is.

[Rich]

And so you got the three of us today.

[Luke]

What's that?

[Rich]

Was that disturbed? Yeah, I think that's not, not my, not my favorite. But, but anyways, Rich wants to kick us off with a fun anecdote.

[Tim]

No, it's really fun.

[Luke]

So keep it under five minutes.

[Tim]

Nope, I will not do that. No. So yesterday my kid, my kid's in third grade and he had a animal report at school. And so my wife and I went and, and listened to his presentation about parrots and learned a lot of things and it was really fun in the process. You know, we're sitting there, the parents in the back of the room, and they stack up a bunch of kids. And so like, I think five kids presented different animals. And when you're hearing, you know, 8 and 9 year olds talk about and like usually exotic animals like the, the red eyed tree frogs and like the king cobras, it's always going to be funny because they know only exactly what they learned for the report. And then, and then they, and they can't, they can't ad lib, they can't go off script at all. And so we're sitting there and they get to this Q and A, like, so every kid talks for maybe like two, three minutes and then they get to the Q and A at the end and they take questions from their class. And that was the fun part, of course, for the adults because like I said, the kids don't know any more than what they literally wrote into their report. One of the kids actually was just reading the slides with her back to the class. It was the best thing I've ever seen. And as these kids are taking questions and the answers are just, you don't know what you're going to get. Like, one kid presented on zebras and somebody said, and she said, Zebras are 700 pounds. And then the question was, is every zebra exactly 700 pounds or some of them different weights? And she was like, I think some of them are different weights. And so that was the kinds of. Those are the difference there. It took a second. And this is appropriate, right? Like, so it's, it's, it's heartwarming because these kids are just experiencing one of the worst parts of adulting, which is public speaking. And then also answering questions that you didn't know were necessarily. Yep, becoming. And I had the most like, sick sense of deja vu though, as I was watching these. I was like, what does this feel like? And I realized it reminded me of Trump's press conferences talking about Iran.

[Rich]

I was wondering how you were going to connect these.

[Luke]

I'm impressed by that.

[Tim]

I'm impressed because it was in it. I wasn't going there looking for an in with, with the podcast, believe it or not. I was genuinely enjoying hearing about these different animals. But guessing the answers in some cases on the spot, that is normal for 8 and 9 year olds talking about animals that they literally just learned about in the last seven days. But when you hear your president up there saying, what did he say the other day? I don't know that much about it. I think it was a direct quote.

[Luke]

He did all of this off of a feeling, right? That's right. Kicking premonition.

[Rich]

Premonition, wasn't it? I thought they were going to attack us, so we did.

[Luke]

Well, he claimed that somehow, somehow Iran had Tomahawk missiles and it was their own Tomahawk missile that bombed that school twice.

[Rich]

Well, to be clear now, it's, it does seem pretty clear at this point that the US did, did bomb the school. As much as we tried to say it, it wasn't, but it got hit twice. So that's kind of difficult to say that two Iranian missiles failed at the exact same spot at the exact same time and landed in the exact same spot. Doesn't, really. Doesn't.

[Tim]

Yeah. The, the New York Times says has out today that a preliminary report shows that yes, it was, it was us and it was because we used outdated targeting data. So who would have thought that the same Pentagon who shot down a Mylar party balloon thinking it was a cartel drone was also using outdated targeting data.

[Luke]

Well, I read that we fired like a bunch of the counter targeting people two weeks ago.

[Rich]

Oh, we did?

[Luke]

Yeah.

[Rich]

Was that a Doge thing?

[Luke]

I don't know if it was a Doge thing or not. It was a dumb fuck thing to do, though. And now, now we're witnessing all these fucking. You know, they evacuated the Kansas City airport of the weekend. There's the bomb, like the quote unquote bomb palm threat that got diverted to Atlanta. And we're doing all of that. And we have a 23 year old in charge of counterterrorism attacks.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[Luke]

Prior work experience is gardening that.

[Rich]

Luke is a hunter. That. That sounds like hyperbole.

[Tim]

It's not.

[Luke]

Not a joke.

[Rich]

It's not. And actually, if you look his photo up, it's like literally like he looks like one of, like he's an evil character in some like Bat B. Like it's actually ridiculous.

[Luke]

It's.

[Rich]

The hair is like. And like he's got the.

[Luke]

He's got one eyebrow raised, by the way.

[Rich]

I have to break.

[Tim]

I want to bring up Kent.

[Rich]

No, no, it's. I don't remember what his name is, but he literally is 23, 24 years old.

[Luke]

He's 23.

[Rich]

Yeah.

[Tim]

I gotta. I gotta look this up. This is great.

[Rich]

Well, while you're doing that, a bit of an assignment. I'm a fugate, 22.

[Luke]

He's 22. So Luke's terrorism prevention.

[Rich]

You could be the next head of counterterrorism.

[Luke]

I know, right? That's. I think I'm perfectly qualified.

[Rich]

Well, I bet you would do a better job because I bet pretty much anybody would do a better job.

[Luke]

God, every time I see this picture, it pisses me off.

[Rich]

So there's a couple other things about Trump that came out this today.

[Tim]

One is on the picture. It pisses me off too. It's. It's terrible.

[Rich]

Yeah, we should. I think we're gonna have to show it. We're gonna tell our editors to put it up. Kyle, put it up. Uh, but did you guys also hear this, the floor shine story about Trump? So I just. I just heard about it today. Maybe it's been out for a little bit. So floor shines are men's shoes. They're like a mid level. Their shoes are like a hundred. I think in this story it was like $145. Apparently Donald Trump loves these shoes, and so he is obsessed with giving them to allies. And People in his cabinet, which is weird for him to give a gift to anybody because he doesn't care. But it turns out he also likes to guess the shoe size. So he guesses the shoe size and then he gifts them. But then here's the kicker. Everybody is terrified to not wear them because if they show up and some of these guys, to show you, like, who we're dealing with, I, apparently some of them are really angry because they're like, well, I like to wear Louis Vuitton dress shoes, and these are like cheapos. Louis Vuitton, for those who don't know, are probably high hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per pair of shoes. And these are the, these are supposed to be the guys caring about the poor and working class. But the funniest one is Marco Rubio. So Marco Rubio's pair are too big and he still wears them. And this is another one. We're going to have to put Kyle. We're going to have Kyle put this up. There's a photo of, of Rubio's back heel out of like, Ms. Is missing the back of the shoe by like an inch. Like, it has to just be flopping as he's, like, walking.

[Luke]

How much of a sycophantic fucking nut do you have to be to wear shoes that are minimum two sizes too big? I'll show you afterwards to tell your orange daddy. No, there.

[Rich]

It's, it's like literally like this.

[Tim]

Like, oh, I just found it.

[Rich]

Yeah, look how, look how much of a gap there is.

[Tim]

I can fit my whole thumb sideways behind his heel, right?

[Rich]

Yes. I swear, it's an inch. It's like an inch.

[Tim]

If I, if my kid feet swelling

[Luke]

so much that any size shoe fits him well.

[Rich]

And apparently he also said this is not appropriate, but it's what the president said is like, okay, you could, could tell a lot about a guy based on his shoes, his shoe size. And I'm like, you literally never got out of the 50s and 60s. Like, you just never, like dementia.

[Luke]

They, they, they get back to the spot where they feel most comfortable there. The same reason he says all that, that he would have said in the 80s and 90s.

[Rich]

Yeah. Well, he's also 63, so of course he has shoe size that's over 10, right. So, like, it's very easy for him to be like, well, the big shoes is the big man. And it's like, yeah, they rolled out 16 wheelers in the White House in the last term and made you sit in it like a, like a six Year old. Because you were like, we had to distract you from doing other damaging shit.

[Luke]

They drove a fucking Tesla across the White House lawn.

[Tim]

These guys are supposed to be like tough alpha men. And if you. If you get a gift and you can't say, this gift isn't right for me, this gift doesn't fit.

[Rich]

That's.

[Tim]

That's really not alpha behavior. And if you're leading the military, your secretary of state, and somebody gives you shoes and you are so, like, what, cucked? Is that a. Is that a. I believe by Donald Trump so fucking cucked that you're sitting in the corner with your clown shoes. Literally fucking floating around in clown. Like, I'm. I'm. I'm looking at this photo and I'm just fucking laughing. If my kid walked out of the shoe aisle wearing shoes that fit like that, I would say, absolutely not. Get those back in the box and come back here and try on shoes that fit. Somebody needs to say that to Marco. It's embarrassing.

[Rich]

Well, and they.

[Tim]

The only way that I was a role models, right. For maga. Maga.

[Rich]

And also role models, these Maga Burly men wearing Louis Vuitton dress shoes.

[Luke]

Oh, my God.

[Rich]

Now, wear whatever you want. I don't care. But by their definition of what man is and what is not, which is, of course, I'd be a little fluid, I think is the word I would use. Louis Vuitton. Like, the first time I experienced Louis Vuitton, somebody I. Someone I know, it's like, parent had a bag and that they were like, whoa. And I'm like, well, what is that? And they're like, that's like a $15,000 bag.

[Tim]

I was like, it holds things so well.

[Luke]

I've had. Yeah, I bet it holds things infinitely better than the $100 bag. Yeah, that has never made sense to me.

[Tim]

I still, like, carry my groceries around or, like, my lunch around, like, in an actual grocery bag.

[Rich]

Oh, I used to. Instead of having a work bag, I would use my grocery bag. Yeah, I would just carry one of

[Tim]

those things, tie it off.

[Rich]

Know my favorite, though, is just because we know Marco Rubio, a little piece of him dies every day from selling his soul. So, like, for him to be the one with the floppy shoes, like, just walking around, like, is just. Is just perfect. Another thing that came out today, actually, it was Newsmax that reported this. Newsmax, which was one of the ones that had to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle defamation suits after lying about the 2020 election, reported that. Do you want to know how much Donald Trump's net worth has increased in the year that he has become president, in which barely. No, it's lower than that.

[Tim]

Two billion.

[Rich]

$1.6 billion.

[Luke]

Jesus Christ.

[Rich]

Which.

[Luke]

How much is the Trump family? How much is the whole Trump family's net worth gone up, though?

[Rich]

Oh, much more, because Eric is officially a billionaire, and I think Barron is, like, 100 millionaire.

[Luke]

And it's. All right.

[Rich]

Well, all of them, the majority of this is based off of the crypto scamming that they have been doing, which, to remind our audience, crypto is. Has never produced a single product. It is a purely speculative item. And yes, there are people who have gotten filthy rich off of it, but more like, as we've moved along, a lot of people lose their shirts because they try to get in late, and there's nothing you. There's nothing to learn.

[Tim]

It's a pyramid scheme. It's just.

[Luke]

So if you ever hear us. If you ever hear us start shilling for crypto, just know that they paid us exorbitant amounts of money, and we are selling our souls.

[Tim]

We have already become a lost cause. If we are. If we stop listening as well as

[Luke]

we start shilling for.

[Rich]

You remember when all of those. Those celebrities were shilling for, Was it SBF that Sam. The guy went to jail? Oh, yeah, I can remember.

[Tim]

Pride Free.

[Rich]

Yeah. And, like, they were getting paid, like, tens of millions of dollars, and then the people were like, well, why did you do that? And all the subjects like, well, I didn't know what I was. I just was paid. And I just, like, read it, like,

[Tim]

yeah, this is the deal.

[Rich]

That's exactly. But. But yeah, so Trump, you know, it's one of the things that gets sort of washed, like, wiped under the. Pushed under the rug is like, the corruption part because everything else is so bad. But, yeah, how do you make. I mean, because he was worth, I think, in the low billions before. So, like, he's gained, like, 80, 90%, like, value on his portfolio in a year.

[Luke]

Well, Elon's up 200 billion since the year since Trump's presidency started.

[Rich]

Well, Elon and Larry Page combined are over a trillion, and they're the two that give the least amount of money to charities of all billionaires.

[Luke]

Yeah, they might as well just, like, take one singular pubic hair. That's about the. The essential. That's about the amount that they give away.

[Rich]

I wouldn't have put it that way, but that's the way I would put it.

[Luke]

It's a piece of shit. It's useless.

[Tim]

It's not how much I value it personally.

[Luke]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I get.

[Rich]

I get you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and then going, going back, we got a. This bad switch back to Iran. But Trump also today said that there is basically nothing left to hit in Iran. So I don't know if he is trying to get an off ramp to get out of here, because America, the American public are so against this, but it kind of seems like maybe they are setting the stage for that. Possibly. But the Iranian regime is still in charge.

[Luke]

We replaced, literally went Khomeini.

[Rich]

Khomeini to Khomeini. And now. And now the one in charge, we've murdered his entire family, basically. His entire family. No news on whether we have destroyed any of the enriched uranium, which was sort of the whole point of this, about them not getting a nuclear bomb. So do we think he's going to keep going with this or do we think he's going to say, oh, we decimated them, victory.

[Luke]

He's tacoing.

[Tim]

Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, so they, the Republicans, they were all huddling, like, in Florida this week, talking strategy. And one of the things that, of the many things that are hilarious that that gently leaked out of those meetings is I don't like the way you

[Luke]

phrase that because that immediately made me think of his diaper.

[Tim]

That was the time like that.

[Luke]

I don't like that. Fuck you.

[Tim]

I think you like it. You can text me about it later. But was that he had been. Trump had been begged to find a way out, Find an off ramp, get the fuck out. And now all the headlines are like, you know, Trump hoping that this doesn't affect midterms, and Trump hoping that we can evade the economic pain. I'm like, dude, how little do you understand about the Middle east and energy prices to think that there is a scenario where you can behead an authoritarian regime and have it not have global consequences, including economic consequences. With energy prices, I mean, gas has gone up, what, 60 cents a gallon, 70 cents a gallon, like every day. It's like 12 cents more. So it will have gone up another dollar a gallon by the time but he hears this episode.

[Luke]

So, yeah, because I got a fucking road trip to do this weekend.

[Tim]

I'm pumped.

[Luke]

It's going to be great.

[Tim]

Get one of those Teslas.

[Luke]

No.

[Tim]

Real good.

[Luke]

No, I don't think I will.

[Rich]

This is where. More of a pro Rivian.

[Luke]

Well, Rivian podcast, but at least, but at least Hegseth spent $93 billion in September.

[Rich]

So let's talk about that.

[Luke]

So at least he did that.

[Rich]

There was a story that came out that the Defense Department spent. Was it 93 billion, $93 billion in the last month? Because the end of September is the end of the fiscal year in the federal government. It doesn't go January to December like most normal human beings. A lot of businesses do those off a quarter. A quarter off of what the calendar shows. But so in the federal government, there's a thing called use it or lose it, which is a terrible policy that we should probably look at, which essentially says you, if you don't spend your full budget in a year, the difference that you don't spend will come out of your budget the next year. So what does that mean? That means that nobody saves any money and they just spend. Because it's like, why not? And I, when I worked in the federal government, there was some of that as well, where it was like, well, you need a new chair, you need a new this. Which, you know, they don't spend a lot of money on these things. So, like, it's never like. But I think there were like $7 million on lobster tails.

[Luke]

I think I saw it was 4 billion on cable television. I don't know how the fuck you can do that. 4 billion.

[Tim]

They signed like one of those 700 year contracts.

[Rich]

Is that like us? There's a military network. I wonder if it's part of that.

[Luke]

And there's like, I think it was 7 million on Apple products. And there's like another 686,000 in stakes.

[Rich]

Ribeyes specifically?

[Luke]

Yeah, Ribeyes specifically.

[Tim]

I mean, they fired all the cut. I mean, I fired all the inspectors general like over a. Well, right?

[Luke]

That's the thing. Right? Like, so they. I mean, he literally did the Michael Scott from that episode where he has a surplus on the Office and he goes and buys the fucking. He gets the fucking fur coat. That's exactly what he did. But I have not seen a single person, like, even the reporting I've seen, it's like, oh, okay, he spent like $1 million on steaks. He spent like $4 billion on cable television. He spent like $7 million on Apple products. Okay, where's the other 80 fucking $9 billion? Where did that go?

[Tim]

I could not figure out a way to spend that much money. I mean, besides like jets or like, like, could you buy like a. You could buy like.

[Luke]

It's crazy because we were just told that like, our stockpile was running somewhat low as we're bombing Iran.

[Rich]

Well, I assume that a lot of it is replacing munitions and things like that, because we have lost a lot.

[Tim]

But if they just put that on the list, like, 50 billion people would be like, yeah, that tracks.

[Rich]

Well, it's hard to, like, I mean, rich, as you said, they fired. So every department had this. This role called the Inspector General. And it is an independent watchdog to make sure that there's no fraud abuse at the various departments. Every administration bristles at it because, of course, like, they're independent, so there's no control over it, but kind of understood as a necessary thing in the federal government. And Trump fired all of them, so there are big balls.

[Luke]

We don't need them. Oh, is there.

[Tim]

I think.

[Luke]

I think he's still there.

[Tim]

I think he took him a.

[Rich]

Didn't I hear that?

[Tim]

Like, but within the government still.

[Rich]

Didn't I hear the three still at the government, the three F15s that were shot down is the equivalent of what they saved in Doge. Wasn't that. I think I heard that somewhere. Right.

[Tim]

That's a great subject because I was looking that up to potentially cover it in a video the other day. And so all the numbers are fairly top of mind. But NPR's analysis, which is correct, was able to prove that they saved $2.4 billion. Of course, Elon Musk, the max, he said, was 150 billion before. And that was, of course, after they cut it from 2 trillion to 1 trillion to 250 billion. So 2.4 billion is the. Is the max. Is the max on the one side of the budget, the balance sheet, the other side, they estimate, I think, 50 or $80 billion in lost tax revenue because of all of the lack of oversight. And so the net impact is like 20x30x in the red.

[Luke]

Yeah. And we killed 600,000 people.

[Rich]

Oh, abroad. Yeah. With USAID. With USA.

[Tim]

Right, right. And so, yes, if, if you do them, like, looking at what you could spend, like we talked about last time, we were spending every day in Iran, we were spending the equivalent of a full week of funding the va. There are all sorts of really fun comparisons like that. Like, you could build, like, you know, 10 schools a day in the United States for the price of. Of. Of Iran every single day.

[Luke]

I think I read you could fund free school lunch for a year just on what we did in Iran for every school in America.

[Rich]

Yeah. I mean, I think the estimates are like 800 to a billion dollars a day.

[Tim]

890 million a day.

[Rich]

890.

[Luke]

Which is crazy because, like, I think it was Zach, last episode that brought it up. The most expensive day prior to that was like 300 million. It was you okay, the war in Iraq.

[Tim]

The, the worst, the most expensive days of the peak of the war in Iraq were 300 million a day. Of course that was like, you know, adjusted for inflation, maybe it's like equivalent to 500 million a day or something, but. Right. Point is like two to three ads from day one. From fucking day one.

[Rich]

And don't forget that Kristi Noem gave out a no bid contract for $200 million to a company that had incorporated eight days before they won the contract for those ads.

[Luke]

Someday I'm gonna sit with fucking popcorn and watch her get convicted for that because there is zero doubt in my mind that some of that money came directly back to her pocket.

[Tim]

Trisha McLaughlin's husband was the C. Is the CEO of the Strategy Group. Strategy Group worked with Kristi Noem a ton in, in South Dakota. They. Everybody knew everybody. And, and so then they signed this or they give this no bid contract to a shell company which immediately subcontracted some undisclosed amount to the Strategy Group. So. And then Trisha McLaughlin resigned. And then four weeks later, three. Four weeks later, Kristi Nomas fired. And it's all related to the same thing. And Trump certainly knew about it, but claimed he didn't.

[Luke]

Well, he didn't like that.

[Rich]

He didn't like. He didn't like the ad because it was about her. That I believe. Because I, I believe he. He didn't like that because it wasn't him. They should have just a CGI'd him on a horse. Except no one would believe that he's

[Tim]

gonna say there's a lot.

[Luke]

He couldn't ride a horse if you paid.

[Rich]

I told you in the last episode, like, they literally like lined her up directly. They lined her up on Mount Rushmore. They laid her face like right next to it.

[Luke]

I need a big horse for him.

[Rich]

Well, probably get a lot of animal cruelty complaints because he's probably.

[Tim]

Yeah, it's not cruelty when it's like. What do they call it? Like, when you. When it's like, appropriate. Like when it's rightful, you know, peaceful. Like, I would want to be put down if Trump was riding me. That would be.

[Rich]

Oh, so okay, you're. Yes, it's like the Old Yeller scenario.

[Luke]

Don't worry, Rich. If Trump is ever riding you, I will you.

[Rich]

Well, that's something I never thought I would hear.

[Tim]

Take a picture first.

[Luke]

The White House chief of staff told us Republicans that they need to quit talking about Mass Deportation?

[Rich]

Yes. So this is something that came up

[Tim]

from these, this retreat.

[Rich]

I wish I would have loved to have been a fly on a wall at this retreat, because I'm sure it was just a shit show, but yes. The White House has told allies in Congress to stop referring to mass deportations. Why is that, you ask? Because nobody actually likes mass deportations out of the MAGA base. Like, it's like that's there's a reason why he's sitting in the mid-30s to high-30s. Because Americans keep seeing pictures of other Americans being murdered and other people being tased, ripped out of cars, 5 year olds being Tesla, tear gassing infants.

[Tim]

Like they got measles outbreaks and like half of the detention centers now.

[Rich]

Yeah, malnutrition. Like all of these things. Yeah. So the Montana one's closing down because they're building these, for lack of a better word, concentration camps all across the country. I mean, they are.

[Luke]

Those are literally betting on which person is going to kill themselves next. That. That was a report that came out this week.

[Rich]

Right.

[Luke]

There was a $500 prize pool if they picked the person in detention that killed themselves next.

[Rich]

That is so fucked up.

[Luke]

See, people use the word concentration camp and they're like, well, they're not dying in there.

[Rich]

Yes, they are.

[Luke]

They're just betting on who's going to do it to themselves first.

[Rich]

Measles, malnutrition, abuse, neglect, all of these things.

[Tim]

Liam Ramos made it like four days and he was lethargic, sleeping all of the time, vomiting and had diarrhea. And then the measles outbreak hit that facility before a fucking sitting congressman went and visited and finally used leverage to. To. To get him out. Tim's camera.

[Luke]

Tim hit that second camera now he's got the zoom out now.

[Rich]

No, my camera overheated, which I won't say the brand name because I don't want to get them, but like, this happens a fair amount anyways. If you're listening, you don't only do, though.

[Tim]

I feel like you're in, like, a carpeted closet. It's. What? How. How hot?

[Rich]

No, I'm in the basement of my place that the heaters are not on. It's like 65 degrees in here.

[Tim]

Fuck.

[Luke]

I just looked outside and it's snowing. It was 70 degrees yesterday.

[Rich]

Yeah, but, Luke, climate change isn't real.

[Luke]

This is fucking ridiculous.

[Tim]

Yeah, but how's the globe getting warmer if it's snowing outside?

[Rich]

Yeah, guys, we got all this snow this year. That must be climate change.

[Luke]

How could it possibly Be getting cold. Warmer. It don't make any sense.

[Tim]

It doesn't make sense.

[Rich]

Never heard you stupidly southern accent before. Maybe we got to create a character.

[Luke]

Always the. Every time I get some idiot mentioned you in a video on Tick Tock, I always watch them because I get a kick out of them. And it's always some fucking three tooth inbred trailer trash idiot telling me about shut up, you stupid lib tard. Nobody asked. And it's like, how about you go die in a hole, you idiot.

[Rich]

I wish that. I wish that the apps would actually say some idiot tagged you. Like if it's based. If they could like read it and

[Luke]

realize how stupid, they might as well

[Rich]

say that some more on.

[Luke]

Well, it's like MAGA Lover 2024 tagged you in a video and it's like, oh, I wonder how this video is going to.

[Tim]

Maybe he's one of the reasonable ones.

[Luke]

Yeah, I know, right? He's got a picture of like Joe Biden in a bat in the back of a truck.

[Rich]

Yeah. With a let's go Brandon sign or something.

[Luke]

I'm sure this video is going to be well worth my time.

[Tim]

Donald Trump and Jesus riding pony bareback on the side of the along.

[Luke]

The scary ones though, the scary ones are when it's like just a person's first and last name and they have like a professional headshot.

[Tim]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you go, kids in all their

[Luke]

photos, they've got like 15,000 followers and they, they're like, they think they're the next Charlie Kirk and they do like a minute and a half like attempted debate on you. It's like I could sit here and trash you and. But if I did that, it would just bring more people to your page. Well, I'm not doing that.

[Rich]

And also the most horrific comments when you click on the profiles, there's always a cross in the bio.

[Luke]

Oh my God. Every fucking time.

[Rich]

Always.

[Tim]

The meanest people are always super religious.

[Rich]

Yeah.

[Luke]

The.

[Rich]

The purple.

[Luke]

Not all Christians, but it's always a Christian.

[Rich]

Right. Yeah, it's.

[Tim]

You know, it's so Mass deportations.

[Rich]

Oh yeah. Those bad.

[Luke]

Yeah.

[Tim]

We.

[Luke]

Well, no, but that Rich laughed at mass deportations.

[Rich]

Yeah. That's all we're. Yeah. No context. Find out.

[Tim]

Just.

[Rich]

That'll be a new.

[Tim]

That'd be really helpful. Post that on threads.

[Rich]

You're fucked.

[Tim]

And we'll see how. I think people assume positive intent on threads. I don't, I don't think that they would read into that inappropriately.

[Rich]

Rich is. Don't say anything highly Sarcastic right now,

[Tim]

Tim can't stop getting in trouble. Anyway.

[Rich]

Well, let's talk about it. No, no, but the, so the, so the mass deportations came out because they said don't mention them because the polling is so bad on it and the polling is so bad on Iran. Which leads to this next conversation where I might have gotten in a little trouble where. So Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned two months ago. And so last night was, we're recording this on Wednesday. Last night was the special election. There were 20, 18 or 20 Republicans running and one or two Democrats. So the Democrat, quote, unquote, won the first round. But Georgia has a runoff system. So if you don't get 50%, so they're going to, the Democrat is, is going to be running against the second place finisher. And there's been quite an out rage on threads between the folks who are like, excited about the prospect of flipping it and some the people who, you know, I have studied this stuff for a long time and are seeing that there were 18 Republicans. And so like all 17 of those candidates, votes are highly likely to go to the winner. That in a district that Democrats have never gotten above 35% in the last like 10, 15 years, pointing out that this is probably not a flippable seat as it was a plus 37 for Donald Trump at 24. But here's a debate for the crew. Should we be pointing that stuff out or should we be cheerleading and using this for boosting enthusiasm for candidates across the country?

[Tim]

Both, I think, pointing out it's, it's, it's like, where are you going with the facts, with the details? Because this is how I look at everything when I, when I, they're having the same conversations in Texas with Talarico. Is backing Talarico a lost cause for the left because of how expensive Texas is. And I'm like, yeah, that sounds like a question that like an insider strategist would ask, because that's the first place they go is like, how are we spending our money and is it worth it? I think, you know, especially as people with a podcast, with videos, with big, with a big reach, we have to be extremely mindful of how, of the guidance we provide. But I think you can do both. Where you can say, listen, like, this is a plus 37 district, a 10 point, 15 point swing to the left is a massive win because one that makes the Republican Party defend every single seat that's within that margin across the country. They, they all start panicking. They'll go into defensive mode. They start spending Money and they become less capable of going on the offense. In swing districts, the ones that are, you know, that would. Where they think that they can maybe have a chance. And so I think coming out and saying things like this is a lost cause or there's no way we flip this, that you don't have to say that out loud. That can be true. That of course we're not going to win everywhere we want to win. But if people stay home and they don't vote because they think it's a lost cause, then those margins don't move. And then the narrative starts to shift back and say, oh, are Republicans gaining ground back in the reddest counties in Georgia? No, we want that to be an 8 point loss instead of a 37 point loss. And if, if we can pull it by 30 points like we've pulled other seats by 30 plus points, that is a massive win. That is what matters. And that then resets the narrative to Republicans need to defend anywhere where they're not ahead by more than 20 points. And that is a fucking disaster for the Republican Party. In the House.

[Rich]

I think Senate is special.

[Luke]

I think realistically, my bet is that the, the Republicans focus immensely on the Senate and 26. Yeah, I think they're going to let the House cards fall where they may.

[Tim]

Yeah, yeah. There's no way. I mean, come on, they're, they know

[Luke]

they are absolutely fucked if they're going

[Tim]

to lose the house by house. 30 or 40 seats like the House is. They're piling up. They're piling up more, more retirements every day. Kevin Kiley, I think his name is from California.

[Rich]

Just California?

[Tim]

Yeah. From Republican to Independent. He said, well, I'm going to still go to caucus with the Republicans. I'm like, so what's the point of this?

[Luke]

But, so what's the difference?

[Tim]

He's the guy who's retiring, who might not live. He's very ill, and he might not live until the next Congress is sworn in.

[Rich]

Oh, who's that?

[Tim]

I think he's from Florida. He's an older guy.

[Luke]

Oh, oh, he's a geriatric. Of course he is.

[Tim]

Of course.

[Luke]

Let me guess, he splits his time between DC and the nursing home and

[Tim]

Mike Johnson is begging him not to retire early. I'm like, this guy's probably, he probably has less than 12 months on the planet and Mike Johnson wants him to stay in the House so that Mike Johnson doesn't literally lose the gavel before the next Congress is sworn in. If he loses two or three seats they, they. It automatically triggers a vote for a new speaker of the House. Like Mike Johnson could lose his job in the next six months if more people retire. I would leave early, giggle.

[Rich]

That would be a legal reason why

[Tim]

they don't want the SAVE act back in the House. They can't. They're already paralyzed and he could lose his gavel. So, no, they. They know that was the lost cause. But yes, I agree, Luke. I think if we can get them to defend Texas after spending 100, $200 million just to defend the primary for John Cornyn in that, assuming he makes it out, and then they have to spend another 2,300 million dollars defending a Republican incumbent from James Talarico, that is a price well worth paying for us. And I think we can win Texas.

[Rich]

My concern is more for, like, so in this district in 2022, Democratic candidate Marcus Flowers raised $16 million for that district. Same district hasn't changed. He lost by 31 points. So that, that's when I talk about, you know, that not probably being winnable. You know, obviously that was a midterm for a Democrat. So that's not like, because Biden was in office, it's not the greatest, but like, yeah, $16 million in a district like that, that is not an expensive media market. And to lose by 31 points just shows some of these districts are just very, very difficult. It would be like a Republican beating winning the Jerry Nadler seat on the Upper west side in New York City, which is like, as deep blue as it possibly could get.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[Rich]

Which is kind of funny because there is a former Republican running in that race. But that is. Was really my only point is that, like, we should. We should fund candidates everywhere, but, like, we also should be realistic. And, you know, I was saying, like, if you only have $25 to spend in this election, I wouldn't put that $25 in that Marjorie Taylor Green district. I would put it in a place that's at least a Republican plus 15 or lower, because those are the people. Like, if we get. If we win plus fifteens, that's a 4050, 60. So swing. If we win plus 37s, there's basically no Republicans left in Congress, which is just not like, I think the feasible.

[Tim]

The difference is, though, that dollars aren't votes. I mean, we spent a billion dollars on Kamala Harris and we 2 and 2 billion on Kamala Harris in a very short period of time. And. And it was a fucking disaster. I think taking that same line of thinking, if you've got $25 to spend. If you donate it to somebody, who closes the gap by 20 or 30 points. But they still lose. But that inspires a bunch of other people to donate money in their own, in their own case, in their own local races or go out and, and run for office because they think maybe they have a chance to win where like Democrats don't have a right to win. I think it's kind of like Howard Dean's 50 state strategy. It was very effective. Even we didn't win all 50 states, but Barack Obama won like North Carolina, he won Indiana. Like we have friends and family in red states and blue states across the country. If you lift the whole narrative together, it has this greater than the sum of its parts effect on the public mood, the public sentiment. I think that's one thing that Trump did really well. He had no ground game. They spent a lot for like third parties. But Trump ran famously terrible campaigns. He just drove around and went to rallies and gave people merchants. And because he treated it like a coast to coast rock tour and not a political campaign, I think it got a lot more people engaged and then they were like, well, you know, Trump, at least he's different, you know, and it kind of contributed to the whole he's not a normal politician narrative. And he won way fucking too many votes.

[Luke]

He's a straight talker.

[Tim]

Right.

[Luke]

Which is really just code for he lets me be the asshole that I want to be.

[Tim]

Yeah, yeah. He says all the quiet parts out loud. And I love that.

[Rich]

Yeah. I mean, I think your point about lifting all boats makes sense. Like if the Democrat were a. So there has been two general elections in that district where, where Democrats lost or got into the 30 percentage, the 30 to 40% range. Twice this was special election would be the third time. He got 37% of the vote yesterday. If Democrats get 37% of the vote in that district in November, Jon Ossoff wins that race. So in that, those, those cases, that's where exactly what you said, like in the closing the gap stuff, it totally makes sense because if you have someone you believe in and maybe you don't really care about the top of the ticket, but you know this guy, maybe you show up and then you just check all the Ds, which is generally how people vote. That, that to me makes a lot of sense. So anyways, I'm trying to find this guy's name.

[Tim]

I can I check all the Ds anytime I get a chance.

[Rich]

Sean Harris. I'm sorry? His name is Sean Harris and his his threads account is Sean Harris 4G A F O R G A. So if you want to go follow him, do that.

[Tim]

Yeah, Tim. Just to pull that out because I think that's a really, really, really good point. And my head hadn't even gone there yet. I know the people running for my city council. Like, I know them personally. They're not fancy people. They get paid like $12,000 a year to be on the city council. I know the state senator and state representative. I personally know this. Again, these are not. These are not fancy people. This isn't elbow rubbing. These are. It's because they like, they work, you know, at like they might run like a tire store or some shit. Like, these are very regular people. Right. I know those people and I will go and vote for them. And so the coattails really go a lot of different directions. I don't go vote because Beyonce endorsed somebody or because, you know, even Barack Obama or somebody endorsed somebody. I go vote for all of the best people on the, on the ballot that I know. And if I've got one person who's probably a safe bet to win, it's maybe more tempting to not vote and be like, now they're going to be fine. But if I've got three, four, five people and two of them are in a close race, I am one fucking hundred percent going and voting. I'm blocking out the day. My wife and I are going to go together. We're going to vote for everybody. We're going to talk about our ballot beforehand like it is happening. And everybody will get the vote that that is needed. Which is a peer pressure. Absolutely, yeah. Get your ass out to vote. You get texts on, on election day, go fucking vote. Having somebody locally, having somebody on the running for Senate, having somebody in the presidential ballot, obviously they're all on the same ballot. And if you're in the polling place and you're voting for, you know, two, three, four candidates you're excited about, that lifts all of them. It's not just about having a strong name at the top of the ticket. Like, like we sort of conventionally think might, might actually be more effective to have people, you know, personally on the ballot, come to think of it.

[Rich]

So this is the model that run for something, the group that trains progressive candidates has and they make the case. And Amanda Litman, who runs it, makes this case online a lot. It's like the reverse coattails idea because it used to be like, there used to be a. The way voting used to be. You like there was just this ticket, you would vote everybody straight on one ballot, and it would really be based on the top of the ticket, especially in presidentials. I do think you're right that it's reversed now, because if you know that person, you're like, well, they need my support. Because there's only like, a couple hundred people that vote in these elections. Like, that incentive is stronger than, say, well, I know my candidate at the national level is either going to win or lose. And so, like, you know, whatever. That's why we need to run candidates everywhere. And that's why I'm not. I'm not like, saying, don't support Sean. I'm saying, like, if you only have a limited amount of money, I would argue giving it to run for something is the smartest play. That's all. I mean, I just want to make sure that the money's not being diverted to that, to, like, sort of those Hail Mary situations rather than races that, you know, we could win, but we should be running everywhere, which is. Which is 100% right.

[Tim]

I think I come more from the, like, whatever gets you excited in politics, whatever gets you engaged. If that's an initiative, a ballot initiative, if that's volunteering, if that's working at the polling station, if that's voting or donating to support anyone who gets you really excited to be engaged in politics, like, that's my. That's my 1A. That's. That's my absolute top priority for everyone. Because I think when you learn more, you get engaged, you know the candidates, you understand how the mechanics work. I think the rest comes pretty naturally versus trying, like, being told what to do. It's kind of like the movie Inception when someone else tells you what to do, like, automatically want to do the

[Rich]

opposite, want to do the opposite.

[Luke]

You don't want to do that shit.

[Rich]

Same.

[Tim]

And so, like, I just. I don't know, I try to get people hopeful and then. And then hope that it works out. And you said one thing, though, that I got to push back on. You said we should be realistic. I think we should be horrifically unrealistic. I think we should be absolutely reckless with our expectations and assume that we can and will destroy maga. Every single place that we can destroy maga. Because if people truly believe that it will actually change their behavior, it'll make them more likely to go do things, of course, after the fact. Once everything's done, everything's done. But in the lead up to it, we can actually manifest different versions of outcomes based on how people feel. It's not in the data, it's not in the fundraising. You know, it's the vibe voting or whatever. Like, Trump did this really well, tell

[Luke]

people their vote doesn't matter. They think their vote doesn't matter.

[Rich]

Right.

[Tim]

And then. And then the rest of the behaviors that you don't see, besides the votes and the donations, they are also affected. But we're not. No, nobody's watching those closely. So you don't see it as well?

[Rich]

Yeah, I just, I. I think you're totally right. I think in this particular case, I've seen a lot of people being like, we could win this seat. This is like, gettable. This is. And it's like, you know, these, these districts have been horribly gerrymandered for a particular reason.

[Tim]

To make it, we have to fix gerrymandering.

[Rich]

So, like, because the other part of the problem, right, is that you don't also want to give people false hope. If they're always, like, super excited, super great. And then, like, you know, somebody loses by 30 points, that's demoralizing as well. That's all. I mean, I think we should be playing everywhere. And you're right, like, locals matter. Like, maybe in that district, getting to 37% elects a city council member somewhere that there's never been a Democrat. Right. And then you start to build a bench because people are winning. You can't build a bench if everyone loses. Right. So, like, that. That part totally makes sense. I'm just like, when I say realist, I mean plus 37, like Trump would probably have. And I don't even think this would do it. You probably would have to, like, unalive somebody live on TV that, like, didn't, like. I don't even know if that would do. I'll be honest, I don't even know if that would do it.

[Tim]

He said.

[Luke]

He said it.

[Tim]

He said he could.

[Luke]

He said he could kill somebody on Fifth Avenue.

[Rich]

And I know that theory hasn't been proven wrong, not by the way he.

[Luke]

I mean, it was his administration school twice. Twice. And there are still war hawking neocons that love it.

[Rich]

Oh, well, Lindsey Graham's already moved on to Cuba.

[Luke]

Every speech that Pete Kegsbreath makes, it sounds like slam poetry about killing brown people.

[Rich]

Well, that's why that. The SNL skits that they do with him now are so effective.

[Luke]

Well, it's like, it's the. We are the most lethal force that has ever. Lethal. Our bullets are the most lethal. And the bombs, they go boom. It's like, dude, you couldn't even do this shit when you were a fucking weekend host. Why are you here now?

[Tim]

What?

[Rich]

Because he does whatever Trump wants?

[Tim]

I think people are realizing what lethal means now. You know, when. When you talk about having a lethal military, like, that's like watching an action movie. It's like you're speculating like, oh, that, yeah, sure, of course you should have a powerful, lethal military, whatever. But when you call yourself the Department of War and the Secretary of War and then you go. And you. You lethal a school full of 170 kids in Iran, this isn't something that's, like, happening other outside of the world of war and lethality. This is literally exactly what he's talking about. He's talking about just bombing and missing and killing and destroying and. And that, like, this is what happens when you call yourself the Secretary of War and you talk about lethality. It's indiscriminate violence. And that is what we're getting from.

[Rich]

Right. How many. How many girls were killed in that? 150.

[Tim]

50, I think. Yeah. And like 170 total people.

[Rich]

We've all. We've also heard that apparently 150 troops have been wounded on top of the seven that have lost their lives in drone attacks, which we also. Maybe we talked about this on Tuesday. You know, the Ukrainians were trying to help us out with that months. Seven months ago. They were like, we found a cheap way to knock out drones out of the sky. And Luke's best friend, Pete Kegseth. Am I supposed to say Kegseth's breath? Keg's breath said, no. And then we got droned and a bunch of Americans got killed. And then we went back to the Ukrainians when we were like, just kidding. Can we have that now? I mean, it just shows. Like, they keep talking about they're just like, lethal force and strategic and d. And it's like they are toddlers with buttons that they push to kill people. Like, there's no strategery, for lack of a better word here.

[Tim]

The fact is Zelensky and Ukraine are still defending themselves. Like, that didn't end just because Iran began. And. And he's sent trained. Trained teams to the Middle east to help teach the, I don't know, Allied forces, United States and UAE and our allies, Qatar, Bahrain, they taught them how to deal with these Iranian drones. You think that maybe when, like, Zelensky was in the White House being scolded by Trump, maybe they could have made a little bit of time right, for. For not dressing right. They could have made A little bit of time to say, hey, like, we're gonna. Like, we're gonna have this war in Iran. Of course, they weren't thinking about it back then. Well, they did attack Iran last summer. So, hey, we're gonna have this war in Iran. You have a lot of experience fighting Iranian drones. Do you think that Pete Hegseth even knew the drones that Russia was using to attack Ukraine were. Were Iranian drones? Like, do you think that their intel even went that far? They probably just thought it was Russian drones. I'm sure Ukrainian or. They're all. They're all Iranian drones.

[Rich]

Well, I'm sure that the intel said that. I have no idea if they actually process that information, because with Trump, you can't give him anything longer than a page, which we found in the first terms. There has to be pictures. So maybe it was like a big circle with a drone on it. And maybe they just wrote Iran across it. And they handed him a piece of paper and he passed.

[Tim]

And he's like, now explain to me the difference between Russia and Iran. Like, I'm five. Yeah.

[Luke]

You know, the only good thing about being in this spot, but being as young as I am, is that I don't have to sit there and like you guys do. Where in the early 2000s, you're like, oh, my God, the dumbest fucking person possible is leading us to war in the Middle east. And now 20 years later, you're like, oh, there's an even dumber that is leading us to war in the Middle East. That.

[Rich]

I have seen that sentiment before, and it is 100% correct. And I'm not convinced that we've seen, you know, if MAGA wins, we haven't seen the dumbest one. That's the crazy part. I mean, we have to stop that now. But like, you be careful what you say, because you may be in the same boat as we are.

[Luke]

I still got like another 12 years of the draft.

[Tim]

I'm.

[Rich]

Oh, yeah. I don't have to care. I don't have to worry about that. I also don't think he did. They did. They did not take that off the table. But like most.

[Luke]

Because they're afraid of the fragging. That would be insane amount of fragging.

[Rich]

That's how they get into the 20s. A draft like that. That probably like. Because again, you know, the people who they're going to draft are people who are not going to college.

[Tim]

Yep.

[Rich]

And do not have daddies that can get them five deferments for a bone. Right. So it's going to actually affect a lot of mega. Now they're not going to do it, but like, there's no. I mean, there's just like Congress would

[Tim]

have to pass a law.

[Luke]

There's no way implementing a fucking universe.

[Rich]

Nope. I don't. I don't think we will ever see a draft again.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[Rich]

To be honest, I just don't like, there's too much like now that there's too much information out there and like people have access to it that like, you know well.

[Tim]

And we don't need millions of people.

[Rich]

No, it's drones.

[Tim]

When you have drones and jets and subs, you don't need. You don't. They have 10 million people onto a shore.

[Rich]

My understanding wars are fought anymore is that they've got drones that are the size of dragonflies now. And they've made drones that look like insects so that when they're flying around, you don't have like. I think this. They had these in Iraq or in Afghanistan maybe. I don't think they're not attacked. They listen.

[Tim]

They're like.

[Rich]

That's.

[Tim]

But.

[Rich]

But they like little tiny missiles. But, you know, so. Yes. The need for. There's never going to be a war in which two lines of infantry stand on each other's side and they take turns who's gonna. Who. Who's gonna die fastest, basically. Right. Because they just get mowed down. Or storming the beaches of Normandy would never happen ever again. Like, that's just not. Thank God.

[Tim]

So, no, there will be no Fire12,000 Tomahawk missiles at all the installed guns on the beach. And then you walk onto the shore anyway.

[Rich]

Okay.

[Tim]

Why. How do we find our way back to something sad?

[Luke]

I don't know. I can end it on my story from yesterday. You were there for part of it. Rich.

[Tim]

Let's go.

[Rich]

Let's hear it.

[Luke]

Well, so Mr. Rich and I were on the phone yesterday shooting the. And I went to. I was at the gym and I got to the gym and was doing a soliloquy. So I was like, all right, I'll just go in and do my cardio while I'm on the phone with Rich. And so I get in there, I get on the treadmill, I'm walking, and I have one headphone in only one explicitly to make sure that I am not being too loud. Because I hate it when people are really loud in the gym. I hate when people sing to themselves.

[Rich]

I hate that

[Luke]

there's a woman on the treadmill next to me and there's a dude on the Other side. The dude has never didn't. I, Like, I've been introduced to the guy before. We're kind of like, we know each other's names. And the woman to next me is walking backwards on the treadmill, and she has no headphones in. And I noticed a couple times as Rich and I are talking that she, like, looks over at me, and it's. It's important to note that there was some shit talking of Donald Trump in this conversation.

[Tim]

Oh, yeah.

[Luke]

And this woman looks over, and she kind of, like, gives me the side eye. I'm like, all right, whatever. Sorry. And, like, I tone it down a little more. Like, I talk a little quieter, and nothing. And then I hear, like, this big. And she hits the emergency pause on the. On the treadmill, and she moves down a row, like, a whole 12, 15ft away from me. I'm like, oh, okay, Somebody's in a tizzy. She's mad that I'm talking Trump. And then another guy comes and takes her spot, like, five minutes later. And Rich is still. And so we're still.

[Tim]

You were part of this.

[Luke]

I was also part of this.

[Rich]

And.

[Luke]

And so it's like Rich and I are just about talking, and I'm like, walking, walking, walk. And then I look down, and the woman is, like, right next to me, and she's like, excuse me. I like. So, like, I muted myself on the conversation. I'm like, hey, what's up? And she sewed. I just want to tell you that you're being really rude. And I said, what? And she's like, you are talking so loud on the phone, and you are. I'm sure you're disturbing both people next to me. And. And I just want to tell you that you're being rude. And I said, okay, I'm sorry. And then she goes. And just so we're on the same page, I'm a general manager, and if you ever want to go anywhere in life, you'll stop using the word like and the F word so much, because I would never.

[Tim]

I didn't hear this part.

[Luke]

And I was like. I said, oh, I'm sorry. And it took everything in my power not to just be, like, get fucked. That there was as much as I could do. And so. So then. And it gets. It gets better because she came back for seconds when I was on the treadmill, I had a hoodie on, and underneath, I had my get fucked for charity shirt on. And so I. I get off the treadmill, and I go down to do my lift part, and I Do my lift.

[Tim]

And I.

[Luke]

During the course of the lift, I take my hoodie off. And so, like, it's plainly visible. And so I go. I am walking to switch machines, and she's there, and I see her. She looks at the shirt and it's like her fucking head exploded. And I'm like, oh, fuck, it's not done now. And so I do some more lifting. Do some more lifting. And then I go to get in the locker room to leave, and I see the lady behind the front desk come out. And I'm like, oh. And she comes over. She's like, excuse me, we've had a complaint about your shirt. And I put my hoodie back on. She's like, I need to see it. And I was like, okay. So I take the hoodie off. And she's like, do you mind explaining what it is? And I said, yeah, I'm an influencer. Get fucked is my catchphrase. This shirt feeds people. And the lady goes, oh, well, where do I get one?

[Rich]

And I was like, oh, she did?

[Luke]

Yeah. And I was like, oh, that's cool. And she was like, I just want you to know that the lady who reported you, she did report you, but we've had a lot of problems with her before.

[Tim]

Oh, man.

[Luke]

Don't take it, like, don't take it to heart. And I was like, I appreciate that, but it's just like. Kidding me. Entitled boomers are the fudgeing worst.

[Rich]

I'm. I love the. I'm a general manager. Is that supposed to be a general manager of what? Yeah, what are you a general manager? Yeah, like, like of a professional sports team or like a restaurant.

[Tim]

Her stay at home. Right.

[Luke]

Like, I mean, school. It positively enraged me. I haven't benched 225 with that speed in months because I came off that treadmill so fucking angry.

[Rich]

Luke, where can people purchase this shirt?

[Luke]

You can get the get fucked for charity that enrages boomers, apparently.

[Rich]

Maga Boomers. Maga Boomers. Don't love them all. Don't love them all together. That's true.

[Luke]

That's fair. That's fair.

[Rich]

Yes.

[Luke]

And it goes to Feeding America.

[Rich]

We don't make a dime off of these shirts if all the proceeds go to Feeding America. We do make a dime off our other merch, which I also highly recommend you purchase because we have.

[Luke]

They are both awesome. Yes.

[Rich]

They're all made in America, all of that stuff.

[Tim]

And.

[Rich]

But the Feeding America one. Yeah. Is really, really important, especially with such. You know, Luke decided to do this after Trump decided to cut billions in assistance for poor working class families. So it's the least we can do. And you also like people. People love the slogan, as long as you're not a maga boomer. I guess.

[Luke]

I'm convinced she was just pissed that we were talking Trump. Oh, yeah, well, if they.

[Rich]

If she's complained before, then that's.

[Luke]

Well, the other thing is, I asked the two people on the treadmills next to me before I got off, I was like, hey, I. That lady ripped me a new. Was I disturbing you at all? And the guy I know, he goes, no, I. Dude, I didn't even hear a word of your conversation. And the other guy goes, nope. It was like, well, shocker. Both of you guys have headphones in when you're on the treadmill that's three feet away from me. I could be talking in a, like, subdued voice and you would still hear it.

[Rich]

Also, gyms are loud. Yeah, they're loud, right?

[Luke]

New to the real world.

[Rich]

Music, equipment banging. Like, the machines running. Like, if you have, you know, if she has extreme, extreme sound sensitivity, headphones or earplugs are the. Are the thing that she would need. But it sounds like you're right. She just didn't like your politics.

[Luke]

I have never. People who go to the gym without headphones scare me. Like, do you not need to drown out the voices in your head? Because I do.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[Rich]

Otherwise it's just get, get, get. Exactly.

[Luke]

It's like a constant rage. I.

[Rich]

When I used to work out, I didn't. Because. But it was like a. I used to do Orange Theory, which is like a class. You have to listen to the instructions. So, like, that's a little bit different. But they pump music. It's loud as in there. Like, if somebody was like, singing or. Well, if they talked, it'd be weird, but, you know, you wouldn't be able to hear any of that. But we also have no. So I think there's a. No cell phone policy in the. In that gym too. But that's different. Just a regular gym.

[Luke]

Took a nice picture of me and I was like, thanks.

[Rich]

She took a picture.

[Luke]

I was like, what are we doing here? Oh, my.

[Tim]

Probably shared it with the. With the manager. She's a manager, and she spoke to the manager.

[Rich]

General manager.

[Luke]

She's a general manager.

[Rich]

General manager.

[Luke]

She went up to the men. She was like, I'm also a general manager.

[Rich]

I really. I. I wonder if she's actually the assistant to the general manager.

[Luke]

Crazy thing is, I worked at that gym and, like, I. That's proof I can be hired by, by, I mean, the lady that.

[Rich]

The lady who received the complaint came over and asked where she could get your shirt. I think you're probably going to be okay.

[Luke]

I think I'm fine.

[Tim]

I think you're okay.

[Rich]

So anyways, folks, you should buy that and help Beating America and maybe don't wear it to gyms in red areas. Maybe.

[Tim]

No, you'll send. You'll sell more to the, to the, the gym manager.

[Rich]

That's true. Even in those big red areas there are blue people.

[Luke]

So I'm thinking about bringing the manager one just because she was cool.

[Tim]

I was gonna say you should. You should. I was gonna say you should. You should take one and put it on her treadmill next time she's there for her as a gift.

[Luke]

Yeah, that'd go great.

[Tim]

But now I'm thinking you should do a Get Karen for charity and then you can put the Get Karen shirt on her treadmill. She'd wear it everywhere.

[Rich]

Or, or maybe just stay away from her.

[Luke]

Yeah, I'm hoping not to have any, any more interactions with her.

[Rich]

Yeah. So everybody, do not, do not engage with people in the gym.

[Luke]

People are crazy. You never know.

[Rich]

You never know and you just don't need to do that. But anyways. All right, we've hit an hour. Three of us got to an hour. That's pretty good.

[Luke]

That's impressive.

[Rich]

I think we're gonna stop. Oh, couple things. So, Luke, when the. By the time people have read, have listened to this, Get Angry. When we get our. The Find Out Media's second show, Get Angry with Luke and country artist Brian Andrews will be live. What is the first episode about, Luke?

[Luke]

Basically, it's a debut. We went through about a week's worth of news at rapid fire rate. So if you don't want a soliloquy, that's the place to go. Zach, who is also like doing some producing on it, described it as a 30 minute brick of anger thrown directly at your face, but only at the bad people. I think the first title, the title of the first one is the podcast that MAGA Will Come to Fear.

[Rich]

Oh, I like that.

[Luke]

I like it too. It's pretty fucking sweet.

[Rich]

So you can find that by searching Get Angry and Find Out Media. Probably you can find it on our YouTube substack. There's a subset page for it. I think specifically it's on Apple and all those things, but it's not actually posted yet. So that's why I'm acting a little vague, because I'm not 100% sure where everything is, but it is going up today, which is Wednesday. So by the time you listen to this, which is Thursday, you will be able to check that out. So you listen to this and then you run over and listen to that one. And then we've got four other five other shows coming in the next few weeks, so I don't remember which one's next, so we're not going to talk about it. But this. Go check that one out. It's. It's great. If you don't like the F word, don't.

[Luke]

You're not. 97 times in 30 minutes.

[Rich]

Yeah, so it's. It's because they're angry. Because they're angry. So justify. All right, folks, well, thank you for listening. We hope Zack gets better, feels better soon. Don't forget to check out our substacks and get some memberships to support us so we get the lights on and keep building new shows and building more content to help move people to our side. With that, have a wonderful weekend and we will be back on Tuesday. Oh, no, sorry. One other pitch. I'm doing terrible today. We are moving our live streams from Wednesday nights because it turns out all of us that have kids, it's difficult to do at night. So we are going to do these on Fridays. So this Friday, meaning tomorrow at noon, we will be going live to talk about the week, answer your questions, all that sort of stuff. So just wanted you to know we switched those because it was basically impossible to get everybody together. So now we're going to do it during the day. So check us out on Friday on the. On our YouTube channel. So with that, now I really mean goodbye and have a lovely weekend.