December 26, 2025 • 56 mins
To close out the year the 3WHH barflies recorded a special Boxing Day edition, in which, following the obligatory McDonald's news for John and a breaking story that indicates President Trump really does mean it about defending Western Christendom, we review our predictions for 2025 from a year ago (which, unlike the old McLaughlin Group predictions, turned out to be fairly good in most cases); then discuss what each of think is the most significant story of 2025, and offer predictions for 2026.
We couldn't make the Substack livestream work, but we're going to sort that out in the next week before our first show of the new season next weekend, which will be 2026!
We couldn't make the Substack livestream work, but we're going to sort that out in the next week before our first show of the new season next weekend, which will be 2026!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well whiskey, come and take my pain, moneys my brain.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Oh whiskey.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Why think alone when you can drink it all? In
with Ricochet's Three Whiskey Happy Hour, join your bartenders, Steve Hayward,
John You, and the international woman of Mystery, Lucretia, where
they slapped it up and David ain't too easy on
the show Tap got agive me.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And let that whiskey blow.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, Hi, everybody, Welcome to a boxing day taping of
The Three Whiskey Happy Hour, our last show of twenty
twenty five, where we're going to look back and look ahead.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Lucretia and John are with me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm still in the festive Christmas spirit, which is why
I have my Santa cap still on. Before we get
into reviewing the year and previewing next year, a couple
of breaking news items, one of great importance to you, John,
and one of importance to the world in general. John
McDonald's has announced today that they're going to be stepping
up their drive through game with an AI assisted box
(01:08):
to take orders.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
But I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I'm worried you might confuse them because I think
they probably think that you are an AI.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know, jurisprudence robot bot or something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
But I know the main problem is I've got so
many specialized things in my orders.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I don't think AI.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
But that's why I love the Kiosks. You know, now
you can say double meat, no butter salt.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, you know what a I should do is try
to predict my order before I get there.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, you know that may be coming.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Lucretia was going to say, you guys probably haven't seen
this movie either. Wayne's World Classic, Yes, Okaya. Steve said
he'd never seen Dodgeball.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I've never seen Dodgeball.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
My god, you guys, because it's I thought it was
was it was a bad movie.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
It's hilarious. It is the funniest movie you'll probably ever watch.
But that Wayne's World. There's a scene where they drive
up to the drive through and they're in the Mirthmobile
and they and Wade thinks he's being so clever, so
he gets to the speak to the microphone thing and
he says ane and coffee and the Cruelers, and the
(02:18):
next thing, you know, the thing reads it back to
him exactly like it was supposed to be. Yeah, that
is a funny predicting AI many years ago in Wayne's world.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, I think that's because although in an out Burger
claims to have been the people invented the drive through orders,
I first encountered it in southern California at Jack in
the Box where you talk to this little jack you know,
speaker with a you know, a clown on top of it.
And the sound quality was just like it's depicted in
the movie, was terrible.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
They'd say, why did you you know? They would go
back and forth, right, But.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I just shudder at the thought of Lucretia playing dodgeball,
which is the closest thing to the state of nature
I can think of. Imagine Lure should be Lucretia playing dodgeball.
She would pick pick on the She would pick on
the her closest rivals first, try to knock.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Them out of the game.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Always pick on the skinniest, tiniest little guy, and you
choose them last, so they're on the other team, you know,
and then they pick on them. Absolutely, that's the whole
theme of the whole It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I guess, Okay, I don't.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Play dodgeball anymore in school.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, I'm sure that's true. We did a lot when
I was in elementary school.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think in the Lucretia household they play with guns now,
not dodgeballs.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Rubber bullets though.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Maybe no wait wait wait, commercial advertising. We should get
these people to uh uh advertise on our podcast. There's
a company called Ace that makes this virtual headset that.
But you remember, my son's a national and a world
champion shooter. He says is the most realistic thing and
(03:59):
and one of the thing. So you shoot with his
headset on with a real you know, replica gun, and
everything about it other than the recoil, I guess you
could say, is absolutely perfect. And he has saved something
on the order of fifteen thousand dollars in AMMO wow
(04:19):
by practicing on this. So I'm just saying for all
of you shooters out there, it's a little bit, a
little bit of an investment to buy, but you will
save a lot of money and get a lot of
good practice in well, you know, when you normally couldn't
be out shooting. So okay, sorry, I'm done with the advertise. Okay,
that's actually a good advice.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, two more tidbits about McDonald's. I did not know
until I read a news story that McDonalds serves sixty
three million customers a day, and I think that's a
worldwide figure that is pretty amazing. And I also learned
that Sweden has the one and only ski through McDonald's
order window, which may be the best reason to go
(04:59):
skiing and wheating that I've ever heard. And then the
other thing, John, I think this may be relevant. Uh,
one of the things they want to do is in general,
but also to the drive up window, they're going to
emphasize more chicken products because I hear they want to
compete more with U Chick fil A and you know
the other people in the chicken wars.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And I don't know if you care about that or not,
because you seem pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah. No, they've had a lot of fried chicken.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
They got a lot of fried chicken things on in
many like these little snack rats are back.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
They have like a tortilla with one fried chicken piece. No,
it's like a fried chicken piece, just one. It's like
a one little chicken finger inside a tortilla and then covered.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
With sauce and stuff. They could just use a mc
rib piece and put it in there. It would be perfection.
I don't know why they haven't thought of this yet.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, but you know you're here where I am. McDonald's
was open on Christmas yesterday. I was driving by.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And it was a long line from the drive through.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, okay, all right, Yeah it was open on Chrismus.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
I mean being sick of turkey Thanksgiving turkey on Christmas, Yeah,
you'd be sick of it. But if you just cooked
the turkey and you're already sick of it, you need.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
No no amen.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So I know some people cook turkey at Christmas, and
I've always yeah I don't. I had a big standing
rib roast. Of course that turned out perfect with some
great way. But anyway, I think it's a plot of
big Turkey because they overproduced turkeys.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
For Thanksgiving and say, oh, you must have one for
Christmas too. All right, we'll leave that.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
From By the way, did people see the uh montage
that Steve sent out of his roasts over the years
and so did anyway notice the progression that over time
the rib got smaller and Steve got bigger.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, you know, i've gotta, I've gotta. I have an
X and Y axis graph.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Roll exactly or it was just by proportion.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Maybe the rib stays the same size, but Steve just
gets bigger.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah. Those were pretty old pictures, but I still like them. Yeah.
All right, now the serious news item.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And I don't know if you're following this, John, imagine
Lucretia is is shades of George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
You know what does that mean about?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
You know, Americans, We'll cross the river on Christmas Eve
to kill you, which in your sleep, right, So you know,
Trump yesterday ordered the US military to attack some the
ISIS bad guys in Nigeria explicitly on the grounds of
protecting the Christian population in Nigeria. Apparently I've seen it
reported with the approval or maybe the request of the
(07:36):
Nigerian Foreign Minister.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So this is interesting for two reasons.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
One is that it doesn't get a lot of coverage
in the media, and that's because the media is lazy
and they don't have any bureaus.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
In Africa anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
But you know, the growing Christian population in Africa is clashing.
What's happening Nigeria is happening in continent wide or is
going to happen continent and wide, and a lot of
people like Robert Kaplan, who does cover these stories, saying,
you know, the big religious battles like we had in
the Middle Ages is going to take place in Africa
over the next several decades. And so maybe this is
(08:08):
the opening salvo. But then the second point is, uh,
you know, it's the holidays. People were about busy or
not working. But you know there have been a lot
of unhappiness among the You might say the neo isolation
is right with Trump's moves first attacking Iran, then the
flotilla and action in Venezuela. And now I'll bet you're
(08:28):
going to see complaints that, oh yeah, now he's looking
for a forever war in Nigeria, right, that's the slogan
forever war. And you can go back and see like
the American Conservative magazine in particulars on the war path
against Trump being taken over by the neocons. Trump's actually
closet neo con all along, when in fact, if you
look closely, it seems to me, oh, I think it's dumb.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Worse, it's dumb. But Trump never said he was against
stupid wars. He didn't say he was against using American force.
And we saw on the first term war. Oh correct.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean the point is, I'm just saying we're going
to see some agitation by the sort of neo isolationist
part of the MAGA world about this, and I think
we've already seen that happening, and so this will add
to it as we go into next year.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Can I just make a couple of times before John
makes the intelligent ones? First of all, I'm very much
interested in the situation in Nigeria, in part because a
former priest in my church is he still is Nigerian
and a member of the Via Christe, which is very
(09:33):
active in Nigeria. Seven thousand Christians in Nigeria have been
targeted and killed by barbarian scumbag Muslims in that religious
war that you're talking about, and it hadn't gotten any
kind of any kind of publicity, I guess you would say,
(09:53):
any attention until by the way, our friend What's the
UN guy was National Security Advisor's actual name, John walt Waltz,
Michael Waltz, Michael Michael Waltz, John and Nicki Minaj who
first went with him to the UN to talk about
Nigeria and then was a turning point talk Nicki Minaj.
(10:16):
I mean, but she's I can't but I don't even.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Know who that is. She's a rapper.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
I take a rapper, and that's I knew exactly that
much too. I think there were a few things that
she did in the past that slightly offended me, but
I don't remember for sure. I can't tell the difference.
But she has been brave in the midst of all
of this to call to call out what's happening in Nigeria,
and you know who has been almost not completely, but
almost silent. The Pope. M what an embarrassment that is.
(10:47):
I mean, you know, we could debate all day whether
it's a neocon thing to go in and rescue Christians
who are being tortured and kidnapped and murdered by by
Muslim scum. But the Pope ought to be on this one. Sorry,
the Hope I'll be on this one day and night. Instead,
he is, you know, blaming Trump for refusing all of
the poor immigrants that are just like baby Jesus and
(11:10):
you know, stupid and and and kissing blocks of ice
for climate change.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
One of these days we're going to get an African
pope and that will be an interesting time.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
We'd have gotten Robert Sarah, I would have danced for joy.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thats right?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So, John, what do you think just the one off
or you have any prompting, any thoughts in the grand
strategist in you?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
No one is, isn't he being a bit of a
neo con I don't want to trigger trigger lucretia. But
the whole point of New Conservatism was to take into
account the nature of the regimes we were helping.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
And you know, the the Sir J.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
D vance Ran Paul view I want there the isolation
is just you know, a slur of sorts. But their
claim is we should be realists. We shouldn't try to
change domestic questions. We shouldn't care about what the regimes
are abroad.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
We shouldn't be helping people out of the goodness of
our hearts.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And aren't we doing that with Nigeria? We only care
because they're Christians. On the other end, I don't. I
can't think it's a it's going to be a consistent
part of our foreign policy here. We're going to intervene
all around the world to protect Christians. You know, we
haven't for example in the Middle East. You know, we've
(12:24):
let Lucretia. I don't think we referring this exactly, but
we've allowed the purging of Christians from all over the
Middle East, right in all these countries, No.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Just generally in the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
I'm just saying, I don't think, I don't know if
we're going to actually intervene and try to stop that
from happening and protect Christians all around the world.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
And then the last thing that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
To me is that, yes, the Christianity is growing in Africa,
but it's a particular kind of Christianity. It's not the
pro gay marriage Christianity in the United States, right right, Yeah, So,
and isn't that that you guys know more about this
than I do. But isn't it the African Christians who
are trying to pull their churches to the more conservative
(13:12):
traditional view of values. And so I wonder whether that's part.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Of what lucritious time.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Why the Pope isn't talking about it while you don't
hear a lot of complaints about it, what's going on
in Africa from church leaders because they're generally right, the.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Anglican Church or the Catholic Church.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
They don't know what to do about the rise of
a traditional religion in Africa.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Yeah, okay, I don't know about that. I mean, I
think I would probably put the emphasis the opposite direction.
Not so much that they're ignoring them for that reason,
but they're ignoring them because they themselves are in fact
woke and leftist and liberal. And we were hoping that
maybe Pope Leo would be different. We should have known better,
different than Francis. And you know, I think that unfortunately
(14:03):
the Pope falls into some of the same categories as
as Washington Leads who becomes swamp creatures that he wants
the adelation of the right kind of people. And this
is hard for me to say. Fortunately, not being a
cradle Catholic, I don't necessarily have the same sense of
veneration for the Pope that that I think maybe creative
(14:26):
cradle Catholics do. I find it easy to criticize him
when he deserves being criticized, and I'm probably got to
go to hell for that. But it's okay, I don't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, it's yeah, well, we'll put off him for another
day because we need to go to an ad break
for a wee get our main fla. I let's say
I think the jury is out yet, it's still early yet.
I think he's several not just to the right of
Pope Francis. I think he's politically naive as part of it,
but there's also some sciencemics background, like such as he
apparently was a registered Republican at one point when he
lived in Chicago, and there are other things about him
(15:00):
that I just think he's not very political and he
doesn't think about the theological political problem.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll put it that way, the way that Ratzinger Pope Benedict.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Did, which I thought was John Paul or John Paul correct, Right,
we had those two the best popes in the last
five hundred years, right in a row.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So we're spoiled.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But let's take a quick break for a sponsor, and
it better be McDonald's.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
That's all I'm gonna say.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
After all the free advertising we give them, and we'll
be right back and get into our main lineup for today.
All right, we're going to review in the show what
we think were the major events of twenty twenty five
and why, and then make predictions for twenty twenty six.
But first Lucretia went and looked up our predictions from
(15:45):
last year and has a scorecard.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So overview Lucretia, you have.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
A scorecard rather interesting. So give me a little time
on all of you. So we'll start with Steve because
he went first. He said Chicago was going to implode
because Brandon Johnson was such a ridiculously poor excuse for
a mayor. I think you mentioned that he had like
a nineteen percent approval approval writing. Leave it aside from him.
(16:10):
I'll come back to it. That some of the top universities,
that the top thirty, you said IVY League, Then you
mentioned Brown, john made fun of you said Brown's not
IVY League. That you said the top universities would would
kind of implode, that all of their senior leadership would
(16:31):
be replaced. Maybe it would be at the assistance insistence
of people like Bill Lackman who had stopped giving money
to Harvard. That kind of thing. That was your prediction.
And then you know, let me address that. I'll come
back to the very last one you made. So my
argument to you is you were partially right on some
of those things, but you know who wins the day
(16:52):
on those is Trump. Chicago did more or less implode,
But you know Trump, Trump made a big deal out
of it. And I suppose you could say that Pritzker
and Brandon Johnson have successfully I think it was last
week the court, even the High Court, said that Trump
had not made the case for why you should send
in troops right Chicago's Chicago is a war zone. There's
(17:16):
no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, there's that, but you're right.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But of course the part that I think about some
I think, by the way, the mode of our predictions
was sort of unlikely but possible things or things that
nobody thinks right.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Low probability, impossibility.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So you know, what Chicago was fighting over right now,
aside from the crime business, is whether they're going to
have a per employee head tax because their budget is
so far out of balance. And I mean, what a
stupid idea, But that's where they are, so they aren't
desperate shape, and I'm still right about that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
It's just how long is it going to take?
Speaker 5 (17:46):
So anyway, sorry, well, so I give you like a
half a point on that. Okay, I give you half
a point on the universities because they didn't implode on
their own. But Trump's attack on the I don't think
any of us would have predicted that Trump would go
after the universities like he did. I mean all of
us and when I've listened in the past were pretty surprised.
(18:09):
And it's been remarkably successful. It has not necessarily meant
the replacement of all of the woke IVY League university
presidents and provosts and so on. Like you know, your
prediction didn't say that was gonna happen, but but it
has made a difference. I mean, DEI, if you're gonna
do it and they still do it, you have to
(18:30):
hide it. You have to pretend that you're not doing it.
So you get some credit for that.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
One.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
You said that Trump's tariffs were going to cause a recession, and.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I said that John, You said there would be.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
A recession, Trump's tariffs would be a part of it,
but you thought that he actually might succeed when it
came to China. Yeah, and I think you were right
about that in the sense that China would cave on
a lot of things because they couldn't afford necessarily.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
To have a game.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, it's not to.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Europe for sure, and sold their cheap team mowed goods
to Europe instead of the United States in many cases.
But well, what do you think? Do you think Steve
was right that China would cave and did okave?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
On what? They haven't caved done anything. They're just pursuing
the same thing they've been doing before.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I think, I think the jury. I think this is
still a work in progress.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I'll come back to this point when we talk about
some twenty twenty five events.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Perhaps a little bit too soon.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
To tell, okay, but it has it has gone better
than I thought it as a generalman.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
What what where? Take the hat off and look on
the inside label and tell me what. I'm just curious.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
I'll see if I can find it. Do you keep
going in the meantime, if it's China.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
If it's China, I think that you have lost your prediction.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I don't see label anywhere.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Is this probably probably oh wait a minute, this one
it was probably made by els at the North Pole.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Oh yep, yep, made in Ningbo, China.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
There you go, there you go?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Crap?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Okay, all right, all right, So I'll go back for
a moment.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Before I moved back to John. This morning, there was
an article in the New York Post about the monstrosity
that is going to be the Obama Library. You know
the death star, right, and they were trying to sort
of push back, and it's the death stars. It's not
a death start. It's fourhands reaching to the sky. And
(20:29):
then the spokesperson for I guess the library whatever it is. Uh,
this is a quote. This is a direct quote because
you look at it, it's just this concrete monstrosity and
there don't appear to be windows anywhere.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This is what she said.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
There are not a lot of windows on the building.
But that's intentional because sunlight is just not a friend
well the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside
the build. So my commentary on that was a perfect
metaphor for the Obama administration. Sunlight is not a friend.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Wow. I thought it was supposed to be the best disinfectant.
That's the old Justice effect.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I mean, I just couldn't believe it anyway. Okay, back
to back to John John. Last year, you said that
Kamala Harris was going to run for governor. Steve made
fun of you because it was too far out and
it wasn't whether or not she would run, but whether
she'd win.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
That was really the prediction that I was wrong.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You're wrong on that. One. You said, you're right on
this one, that Mike Johnson would still be speaker because
he was suffering a little back then, And you were
right on that one. And then you said that five
senior cabinet level officials or advisor senior advisors will have
resigned from the Trump administration.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
By oh boy, was I wrong on that one?
Speaker 5 (21:53):
You were wrong. The only one was Mike Waltz. And
Steve came back and said, I think Trump was smarter
this time. So I think the only one was the
National Security Advisor, who then went to another senior position.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
So but it all, it's all made up for the fact.
I also predicted the Eagles would win the Super Bowl, which.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
You predict, so I don't care about all the other predictions.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
You predicted that the Eagles would win the Super Bowl
and that the Phillies would win the World Series.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
The Dodgers cheated. The Dodgers cheated.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
How do you what by signing? Who is the John
U of Major League Baseball?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
League?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You hit anything out of the park, right, That's what
I call you. And Richard Nepstey, I've been calling you guys.
Theani and Aaron Judge of the Conservative Legal War.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
So Steve gave me a hard time last year since
I had not made New Year's Eve predictions that we
could talk about last year the year before, but I
had made mid year predictions that turned out to all
would be true JD. Vans, et cetera. These were so
I made predictions last year. One was that Trump would
successfully either abolish or gut the Department of Education, and
(23:05):
to the extent that he was not able to abolish it,
he would turn it into a an entity that went
back to things like enforcing the real intent of Title
six and other things like that, you know, getting rid
of the nonsense of race conscious discipline and things like that.
(23:26):
So I think I went on that one, don't you guys,
You know, lots of things have gone from the Department
of Education. I said Trump would build the wall, would
finish the wall, I said Trump would finish.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I don't even know.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
I don't think so. But one of the things I
said was that, you know, finish is a tough term
to bring to the table here, because there are many
areas that actually you cannot put up a wall. There
are other areas where something other than a wall is
actually more appropriate. Sensors and things like that, And so
I would say that I get like seventy five percent
(24:06):
of this point because he has closed the border with
or without a complete wall, and that I went further though,
and I said, so, I think I get the whole
point that he would be so successful on stopping illegal
immigration that he would also be successful at some of
the worst dire effects of illegal immigration, like crime. You
(24:27):
got the what was it, what was her name? Lincoln
Riley Act passed. I even said that some some liberals
might go along with some of his policies on illegal immigration.
Got the Lincoln Riley at passed has stopped the flow
of fennel at least over the border, all of these
other things that Trump has successfully done because he shut
down illegal immigration, I predicted. So I get points on
(24:50):
that one. And that's about it. Other than the Phillies
did not win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
John, Yeah, well that was you know, confirmation bias was
motivated reasoning, you know, the usual setting.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
But that was the greatest Whenever the Philadelphia team loses,
it's because of the other sides cheating, by the way.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
You know I would have say about Arizona politics.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
You know, I would have I would have said prior
to this year that the greatest World series of my
lifetime was the seventies five series between the Reds and
the Red Sox, which went seven games and was really
an epic. You had the sixth game, six extra innings
hole run by Carlton Fisk, the famous image of him
cheering it out of the ballpark. I think this year's
was maybe the greatest of my lifetime. I mean, that
(25:36):
was an epic world series. I'm just gonna yes, and
you know, just speak. You probably didn't watch because your
phillies weren't in it.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
But I'm still upset.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
All Right, I did that one thing I forgot really quickly. Steve,
he did predict that this would be the year of
the McRib.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Okay, I did predict it would return, would return.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
All right, Let's take a very quick break for a
message from a sponsor or two, and then we'll come
back by reviewing twenty twenty five. All right, each of
us is going to pick out what we think is
the I don't know, not the most important story necessarily,
but certainly an important story to linger in our minds
for a while.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Let's start with you, Lucretia, because I think you're going.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
To be the most general, and then I think John
and I have more specific ones in mind.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
So yeah, I just think it's Trump.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah. The Trump effect, right, event of.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
The year is how successful Trump has been because none
of us, I think we're all that optimistic about his
attempts to clean up the swamp. We certainly didn't think
he was going to get rid of DEI in the
way he has. I think the fact that ah S
(26:53):
has just made it illegal, federally illegal to the extent
that that can be done to mutilate children, and they're
just all of these things that I don't think any
other politician could have done, but that I think open
up the world for future politicians who are, you know,
willing to follow in Trump's footsteps. Maybe that's JD. Van's
(27:14):
I don't know, nobody thought that Trump would be as
successful as he's been in foreign policy. Leave the neo
kon stuff aside. I don't think that, by the way,
just really quick comment to John's earlier comment. I don't
think that it's a regime change that he's looking for
in Nigeria, or that the it is the ideology of
(27:36):
the regime in Nigeria. It's the fact that a Christian
nation like the United States, at least with Christian roots
and traditions, cares about what happens to Christians elsewhere. They've
also proven they care about what happens to Muslims. What
for God's sakes, we went into the Balkans supposedly on
behalf of Muslims there against I don't know anyway, that's sorry, off,
(27:57):
So that's my that's my major. That and the price
of gold.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Oh, I think that's not necessarily a good thing, that's
by the way.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
But well, they good or bad?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
All I want to see is really quickly I read
even before you said we were going to do this,
the Spectator had a month by month oh yeah, sort
of compilation of the major things that had happened, and
it showed have gold went to two thousand, yeah, and
then a couple of months later gold went to three thousand.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
A couple of months later gold went to four thousand.
Out of all the major things that happened in the world.
Because it was a you know, a worldwide look, not
just an American look, gold made it on there three times.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Now the interesting thing is, uh, usually well gold is
somewhat loosely correlated with the price of oil, or at least
it has been during the years of oil shocks. And
yet the price of oil has been sliding this year,
while incidentally, the normally when the price of oil slides,
the share prices of the big oil companies go down
to they haven't.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
They've been holding steady or up slightly, not as much
as the whole market, but they haven't gone down.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And I think that is also the Trump effect, because
I think it's the oil company saying we're not going
out of business in five years, like Al Gore and
Gavin Newsom want right. The Trump thing brought But let
me give you two other things. Particulars about this one.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
As you mentioned journing the swamp.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Federal employment is down the latest number by two hundred
and seventy one thousand people. I don't know how much
of that is doze or other things, but that's a
big number.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Two other numbers. One is the.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Most recent GDP report that surprised everybody. It came in
in four point eight percent for the last quarter, much
higher than expected. And now there's been a lot of controversy,
and I know what the Left's going to say, well,
this is Trump installing some flunky the Bureau of Labor
Statistics to give him happy numbers, and I don't think
that's true. And the reason why is the bulk of
(29:52):
the growth was from robust consumer spending. And skip over
a lot of details here, but that is the most
reliable data we get in data quality problems with the
inflate of the growth numbers in the last four or
five years, so I think the.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Numbers is going to hold up on revision.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And why this is significant is that it's something my
friend John Tammany points out that consumer spending is reflective
not only of just general confidence of Americans with disposable income,
but it's usually the result of economic growth that's happening
from subtraining way, you might say. In other words, when
you see a consumer led growth like this, that's a
(30:30):
very good sign for the economy going forward. It's suggested
lots of good things are happening behind the scenes. And boy,
the difference between four and a half percent growth or
three percent growth is huge for our fiscal outlook, which
is so dire otherwise. Second point I'll mention is this
news is just out in the last two three days.
The crime rate for this year has fallen fast. Murders,
(30:54):
armed robberies are all falling fast, in some of the
fastest rates in history. Now you can say, should well
this is partly well, it's a Trump effect. I'll just
go straight to the conclusion. Even in cities where he
didn't send in the national guard, you're seeing crime falling.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And I always like to point out the people.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
You remember all those riots in the sixties that were
happening every summer and so forth. They all stopped when
Nixon became president, all of a sudden, and then well
he campaigned on law and order.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Right there was a new sheriff in town.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
And I think the Trump effect accounts for a lot
of the fall and the crime rate we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
There are other things you can point to.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I'd add into the way Trump has been imploding the
climate cult.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You let that one out of your inventory, Lucretia, and
I can mention four or five hours, but that's enough.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I think that these really interesting things happening, and that's
because of direct policies, but also the indirect effect of
when you put someone like Trump in office that people
have to take seriously.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
John, Wait, but you didn't make a prediction there the
best story.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Oh well, oh I want me to do I don't
know if you want to comment on Lucretius.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
I know I thought we were going to do ours.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Yeah we can't. All right, I'll do mine next and
you can go third.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
I think the most important story of the year, and
it's going to loom larger going forward, was the assassination
of Charlie Kirk. And I mean it's on its own terms,
it was, you know, shocking and dramatic and horrible. But
I think going forward we are going to recognize, as
Helen Andrews writes in the current issue of The Clremont
(32:28):
Review of Books, that he was a once in a
generation figure who can't be replaced. He you know, I
have confessed before that I missed underestimated him when he
got started. I thought he was going to be another
Mileloianopolis or some campus provocateur. But no, he built an organization,
a serious organization, and inspired a lot of people in
(32:48):
a way that someone like, you know, a conservative campus speaker,
doesn't really do by themselves, right, And I could say
more about all that, but he's irreplaceable, And you know,
I'm worried about the.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Future of turn point only as an organizational matter. You know,
when a founder leaves.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
An organization suddenly was pushed out, there's often infighting.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It either will take one new or different direction or
it will fall apart over time. Right.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I mean, the Southern Christian Leadership Council was never the
same after Martin.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Luther King was killed, right, and I don't think exists anymore.
So I'm very worried about that and the larger fractures
that it's connected to.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
And so I think we're going to look back on
that as depending on how things go, as a real
turning point, and you know, a tragedy on the scale
of Martin Luther King or you know figures of that
kind from fifty years ago.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So that's my big story of the year. That's sicks out.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
I would say the biggest story of the year for me,
putting aside Trump, which Lucretia got to already, was the
strike on the Iranian nuclear program. And generally that's part
of the Israel winning the war in the Middle East,
which is despite all the predictions that striking Iran would
cause what did Tucker say, you know, hundreds of thousands,
(34:09):
if not millions of potential lives lost and the start
of World War three, and actually turned out to be
maybe the key event that helped bring peace on in
the war that was started back on October seventh.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
And again I'm not.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Potentially provoking lucretia, but it did show to me that,
you know, Trump is not a pure realist. He is
something of a neo conservative in the sense that he
cares about the regimes and our allies that we're helping
people we agree with here, not Christians, but Israel.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You know, realist strategists think it's crazy that we help Israel,
you know that we should all with the Arabs. But
I always thought the reason we help Israel is because
of the commonalities of the two cultures and countries and
the fact that we have this shared religious tradition. It's
all ideological, and so I've always it's a good example. No,
I mean, I just think it's I always thought realists
had a good case. If you're really a cold hearted realist,
(35:08):
you shouldn't you know, the United States should not be
allied with Israel. It's the smaller country surround about these
huge Arab countries. We would be better off, you know,
align with the Arab countries. But instead you've seen this
remarkable you know, alliance against Israel being built and led
now by against Iran being built and led by Israel.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
And John that that, well, that is just dumb. John.
I'm gonna let you explain to you why.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
There's a multifaceted answer. Let me go with this part
of it. You may want to add on, Steve. In
the first place, Iran has has already made it clear
that we are also their enemy, which makes them our enemy.
That's I mean, who cares about some stupid realist doctrine.
Iran is our enemy? Uh, what would you call it?
(35:59):
Islamic ideology, the kind that Iran practices is our enemy.
It is the source of evil in the world. Israel's
right to exist is threatened by that. But you know what,
maybe some days ours would be too. We have been attacked,
never by Israel, but we have been attacked by Muslim
(36:19):
countries over and over. I mean, never mind the whole
thing about Israel being the only source of Western civilization
in the Middle East. We care about, not ideology, that
we have a culture in common. In those squishy things.
We could all end up living like women do in Afghanistan.
(36:39):
If we don't recognize what the very real threats to
our freedom, it's not neo concert Oh, let's make the
wor I'll say for democrats, it's nothing like that. There
are enemy and in this case, the enemy of our
enemy is our friend Israel. There's a lot more to
it than that. But that's a simple answer to that.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'll add this, John, and give you an exit question,
which is from a realist point of view, I think
that to Israel and our alliance with them actually makes
those other Middle Eastern nations, the ones who were ambivalent,
like the Saudis, behave better and in the absence of Israel,
or if we tilted away from them, I think the
whole neighborhood would be much worse, not just for Israel,
(37:21):
but for us.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
What is that a You understand what I'm saying. You
agree with me, John, You should?
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Don't.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
I just don't.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I mean, look, the realists themselves say we should not
be allied with Israel.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
You go back to.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
The I'm not myself a pure realist, but remember in
the you know, the twenty tens, these realists came out
with these books claiming the only reason we're supporting Israel
was must because of some pro Israel lobby and remember
this in the United States, because other and their point
was because otherwise we should be supporting and they were basically,
(37:58):
you know, like building foundations for Obama's foreign policy and
milies right, they basically otherwise we should be supporting Sunni
Arabs but also making peace with Iran, right, And the
Iran Deal was the ultimate product of this realist approach.
So I'm not the one defending realism. I'm trying to
show that it explains why the Trump administration is not
(38:20):
this kind of realististrative despite what JD. Vance and Mega
people say.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
We are doing it because.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
For the reasons that the Lucretia stated. We do it
because we agree you said, because Israel's outpost of Western civilization.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Realists don't care about that.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Only you know new coons used newcons care about that.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Well, they want to go out Western civilization.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
So realist as you define it could would give the
exact same advice to any country that they happen to
be located in, because they don't care about the character
of either their regime or any other.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
How dumb is that well, well, they would say, for example, realists.
For example realists, and ram Paul I think has praised
this idea, had said I have said things like why
did the United States intervene in Europe and World War two?
Shouldn't we just let the Germans and Russians kill each
other and then take over? You know, they don't care
about the ideology of the other regimes.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Harry Truman said that in nineteen forty one too. By
the way, the first Neocon right. Well, look, I mean
two quick thoughts.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
One is I think Reagan offers the proof that sometimes
a certain kind of idealism is more realistic than so
called realists are. That's a long story.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
And then the other one is.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Not you John, but do realists really think that we
would get along better with Iran if we weren't allied
with Israel or any of the other radical countries over there?
I think it would be worse. But okay, here's an
exit question that we want to go to. A break
in our predictions for twenty six I think it's only halftime.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I think there's and there's.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Been stuff in the press in the last week that
Israel is talking to Trump administration about resuming the war
against Iran, and I think also resuming the war in
earnest against against.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Hamas in Gaza. I so what do you think are
you for resuming? Right?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
And I think and I think John Bolton had a
piece this week's that's not going to help you, ran no, no,
but I mean trying to point out the ways Iran
is rebuilding Hezbolah and Hamas and trying to rebuild its
nuclear program.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
So yeah, I don't think that it's permanently over.
Speaker 3 (40:32):
I think Israel's one, but you know, the struggle still
continues because Uranian regime is still the same.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
All right, Well let's let's go to a quick break
for a sponsor message and then we'll come back with
our predictions for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
And I've got some great exotic ones again.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
So don't I didn't know we were supposed to have predictions, but.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
I told you. I told you we were, John, you
weren't listening as usual?
Speaker 1 (41:00):
All right, looking ahead to the year in front of us,
We're going to do our predictions again and they range
from like you know, serious, like well unserious, like.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
The Phillies are going to win the World Series, but
you know something possible. I'm going to give you. I'm
going to give you two to.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Start off with, of a sort of medium prediction and
more exotic but possible in my mind.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
The first one is in this I.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Think you know seventy percent chance if you wanted me
to give odds, is that there's going to be a
collapse of at least one European government and maybe all three,
all three being the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. I
think here Starmer is going to be removed as Prime
Minister by his own party like the Tories did with
Margaret Thatcher in nineteen ninety one. Uh And I think France,
(41:41):
by the way, France, I did not know that France
is actually talking about it having a government shutdown American
style because they can't settle on a budget.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
I thought we were the only country that did that.
But good to see. And then Germany is in.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
All kinds of problems, and all three countries well, actually
England and France are both looking over their shoulder saying
we might need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
That's how bad things are getting in both of those countries.
The IMF doesn't have the money. My second exotic prediction,
and this one I think is like a forty percent chance,
(42:13):
but not impossible. So as you know, you may know,
in California we have.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
The jungle primary.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Everybody runs at once and the top two people go
to the election in November. In a democratic state like this,
this has meant several state wide elections recently where two
Democrats are on the November ballot. It was Kamala Harris
versus what Loretta Sanchez for Senate seven or eight years ago.
There is a chance that the governor's race in California
(42:39):
next November might feature two Republicans running against each other.
Speaker 4 (42:44):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Well, no it isn't, No, no, it isn't. Here's what
the polls right now showing the number one.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
And two people or two Republicans, Steve Hilton, the Fox
News commentator, who's running a serious campaign. And then there's
what I think, a sheriff from Riverside County who's polling
very well. The problem is is on the Democratic side,
you've got four or five ambitious Democrats. Tom Steier, Katie Porter,
I think video right, Gosa may run again, the former
mayor of la and they could split the Democratic vote
(43:13):
and the top two vote getters who might look between
the two of them, I only get twenty four percent
of the total vote, could be number.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
One and two.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
That will be a fun day because Democrats will freak
out and we have to change the constitution. They'll do
like they did with redistrict thing, and they won't be
able to at least not in time to change that
primary election result. But keep your eye on that. That
could be a fun day because Democrats will not be
able to sort out. Tom Stire is already running TV
ads because he's got, you know, all kinds of money
(43:41):
and anyway, that's my exotic prediction. There's two Republicans running
for governor of California.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Who wants to go next?
Speaker 3 (43:50):
I got a whole bunch of little ones. So I
think that the Republicans will lose the House. But I
don't think that's a top prediction.
Speaker 4 (43:59):
Okay, good, good good. We'll see all those fanboys going.
Lucretie always wins.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
Lucretia always wins right down this date and time and prediction.
But I think it's not going to be because of
the economy. I think the economy is going to do
very well, but that's because I think Trump's going to
lose the tariff case, and the reduction of tariffs is
actually going to be good for the economy. And Trump
will be smart and not try to reimpose worldwide tariffs.
(44:24):
He'll just do targeted tariffs, which is what he should
do under the law.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Before you go on, does that mean then that they
have to pay back all of that money?
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Yeah, we have to do refunds.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Be hard, but it'll help bring the inflation rate down,
which is really uh, you know, the thing that's sticking
it to Trump. So I actually think Trump's approval rating
is going to go up this year, but he's still
going to lose the House because you just second term
presidents always lose a House mid term.
Speaker 4 (44:49):
Here's another one says I had to think of these quick.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
I think that Trump is not going to pick either
Kevin Hassett or Kevin Warsh for the Chairman of the
Federal Reserve. We're going to be completely surprised and he'll
pick someone we're not talking about now, because that's just
the way he is.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
Right Like, oh, Lucretia, I know that.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
Remember he did want to point someone last time to
go back to the gold standard.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Well, no, he wanted to point Judy Shelton to the
Federal Board of Governors, and Mitch McConnell wouldn't push it through.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
He could have, but he wouldn't, and you know, there
you go.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Oh and then he also wanted to point our friend
Steve Moore also right, yeah, yeah, so the Eagles. So
I'm not going to predict on the Phillies winning the
World Series, but I will predict the La Dodgers will
not win the World Series, and deservedly.
Speaker 5 (45:39):
So Okay, two years ago, by the way, you predicted
that what's her name and the Chief and Taylor Swift
would break up.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
Yeah, oh yeah, well that could still I did on
one more and I think we will get a Supreme
Court vacancy this year.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Oh okay, because if.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
It looks more and more, it looks yeah, more and more,
it looks like.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
The uh, the Republicans will lose Congress. Then it'll be
the last time a conservative justice can step down and
be assured of being replaced by somebody of the same
ideological event. So if one of them wants to retire,
it's going to have to be this year.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Yeah, So you're thinking a conservative Oh.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
Yeah, no, conservative, Yeah, that's what I mean. No, No,
the three Liberals are gonna have to die. They're all
going to die in office. Yeah, I want to die
in office.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah. Can I just jump here.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
We've got a couple of audience questions related to what
we just said before I go to you, Lucretia. One
person asked about, Yeah, if the Starmer is thrown out
in Britain as prime Minister, will be replaced by somebody
more radical.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Good question. I'm not sure about that, probably, but I
think there'll be a civil war and Labor Party and
that's going to be interesting to watch.
Speaker 5 (46:58):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
And then briefly, it's hard to do briefly, someone said, can.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
We comment on the fracturing of conservatives over the Jewish question?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Right, as you know we call it these.
Speaker 5 (47:08):
Days, Right, it's actually promised to do something deep on that. Really,
that's a.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Better idea, right, Yeah, let's let's let's give that a
good fifteen minutes.
Speaker 5 (47:16):
Right.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
Yeah, that's important. That's much on my mind.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
And yeah too, Okay, we'll file that one away for
the first issue, first episode of the new year. I think, Lucretia,
your predictions are Republicans house, right, The Republicans will.
Speaker 5 (47:29):
Keep the House, and it's not necessarily Why not necessarily
because of the economy, although a good economy obviously is
going to be absolutely necessary for that to happen. But
I don't know that it would be sufficient. What is
going to be sufficient is that some of these other
things are going Trump is going to stop allowing the
(47:52):
mainstream media to continue to frame every narrative. He's getting
better and better at it. More and more new sources
of media are becoming what you might say is a
little pro Trump. I do think that that anti Semitism
divide in the Conservative Party might be a little bit problematic.
But I think that you are going to see Republicans.
(48:17):
There was a South Carolina state races for this special
elections for the state House, and they just trounced their opponents,
even though the opponents were fairly well funded. State House
South Carolina. I get it. But if Republicans didn't spend
any money on any of those special elections that occurred
in November, off your elections and special elections. So I
(48:41):
think that they will step up to the plate. They
will get their voters out there. Voters will be happy
about a lot of things that Trump has done, I
think the biggest, the biggest scam, the biggest gas lighting
that's occurred, is a supposed belief that people are upset
about the way Trump is handling deporteas. I have yet
(49:01):
to meet a person other than that my furniture mover,
who actually was upset about it, and that's because he
obviously doesn't know anything. And so I think that they'll
do a better job of explaining why it is we're
deporting people who are illegal. Steve had sent me something
about my elected droll in Arizona, Mark Kelly, who was
(49:26):
meeting with people who are here in the country illegally
to show his support for them, and at some point
people are going to get upset about it. Trump has
done a better job of pointing out that the rising
price of housing prices and other kinds of things, a
lot of that actually has to do with importing millions
(49:47):
of people into this country who need housing. And so
I think that this will all depend upon the Republican
Party getting on board and actually doing the hard work
that it's going to take. In a midterm election, it's
a turnout issue anyways, just like it is for you know,
off your elections and special elections. Okay, enough of that.
That's why we'll see if I'm right or if John's right.
(50:07):
I think that Arizona will elect Andy Biggs, who is
as you know right now, he's a Congressman.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
Helley for governor.
Speaker 5 (50:17):
And I think that as a result of that, it
will be very much like when Trump came into office
in January and started cleaning house. And I think that
Katie Hobbs and the Attorney General I forget their name
is kit May's whatever the I think, and the Secretary
of State, who is the election official here, they will
(50:40):
go to jail because I do believe that Mark Kelly
and Katie Hobbs, herself and the others were elected. I
believe this in my heart of hearts. There is more
and more evidence coming out of some really really shady
practices some we knew about at the time in Phoenix.
And the fact that they just shut downs in conservative
(51:01):
areas all across a Phoenix. The fact that they've now
discovered something on the earth of seven hundred thousand unverified
mail in ballots. You know, there's just on and on
and on. Of course, this gets no coverage. Our friend
Rachel Alexander has been very much on top of it.
So I think that Arizona at least will stop turning
(51:22):
purple and will turn back to red, and it will
be a wonderful thing, and I will be happy.
Speaker 2 (51:29):
Right, just turn back to red like it's supposed to be.
Speaker 5 (51:32):
Like it's supposed to be exactly. I mean, for God's sake,
we have open carry constitutional carry in Arizona, and somebody,
by the way, somebody's I'll say that for another time
because Steve's going to tell me we've got to move on.
But there's my prediction about Mark Kelly. I think. I
also think that they will actually have upped the game
on the investigation into him under the court martial, and
(51:54):
I think they will court martial in Okay, that's true.
I hope I'm not just wishful thinking.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah, that's the old motivated reasoning problem, but I get it.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
All right, Let's take a quick, last quick break and
then we'll come back and close out the show and
uh get us ready for the new year.
Speaker 2 (52:09):
So don't go away, all right.
Speaker 1 (52:16):
The bab blumpies have to be pretty busy these days,
aren't they, Lucretia, What have they got for us?
Speaker 2 (52:21):
First?
Speaker 5 (52:21):
Before I do that really quickly, in case Candice Owens
is watching.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
But okay, I.
Speaker 3 (52:28):
Think I think she's the one who's texting that Lucretia
is always right.
Speaker 5 (52:33):
These are gifts that came to me from the highest
intelligence official in the United States Army outside of the Pentagon.
I'm probably infiltrating those Christian groups too by going to church. Okay, sorry,
person who apparently hates you got your kid a recorder?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Oh yes, right, yeah, and then.
Speaker 5 (53:01):
Uh oh, your wife actually did want something for Christmas?
Mm hmm h jolly Neil de grasse Tyson, Is that
how you say his name? Yeah, it didn't matter, going
down people's chimney and telling kids Sanna isn't real. That
(53:21):
one's a little bit esoteric, but that's okay, Okay, this
one's for you, John.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
Oh.
Speaker 5 (53:24):
No, Russia forces invade Alaska while Norad distracted one one
last one? Uh this, I forgot to do this one
the other day. Woman beginning to suspect husband didn't start
shopping till yesterday. She opens can of Dinty more beef stew.
Speaker 4 (53:49):
That Moore is good, Steve.
Speaker 5 (53:56):
If you don't play Snoopy's Christmas.
Speaker 2 (53:59):
I did I did last episode?
Speaker 5 (54:01):
I thought you did Christmas wrapping.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
No, that was a week ago. I did this. I
did Snoopy for our Christmas Day episode out yesterday.
Speaker 5 (54:08):
So yeah, I just haven't made it to the end yet. Well,
of course, all right, thank you, all right, thanks everyone.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
John.
Speaker 3 (54:16):
I'll always drink your you need and buy more books
and Steve.
Speaker 4 (54:20):
What does AI tell us about twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
Well, first of all, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I was not telling us, but I will tell listeners
that we will have a new sign off scheme for
the new year. I'm not sure what it will be yet.
We'll figure it out the next week. Because the next
episode will be in twenty twenty six, John you will
be the rotating host of the next one, And so
I asked AI to provide us a New Year's toast
from John You.
Speaker 2 (54:44):
And here's what we got. Happy New Year. As the
clock strikes midnight, Remember time is flexible, definitions are negotiable,
and consequences are best review later by someone else. May
your resolutions be narrowly interpreted, your moral gray area is
generously what noted, and your accountability indefinitely postponed. If anything
(55:04):
goes wrong this year, don't worry. There's always a memo
for that, Here's to another year of optimism, selective memory,
and the comforting belief that if you readefine the rules
creatively enough, everything counsels the success. Cheers, Steve.
Speaker 4 (55:18):
I think you wrote that that wasn't Ai. Well, now
it's become clear all these.
Speaker 3 (55:25):
Ais you've just said there you've been writing, though I
really been writing them.
Speaker 4 (55:31):
This is some kind of Hayward prototype.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Ai.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
No, it's I wish I mean that went back that.
Consider you a lot more work if I could, but
so far behind. Okay, by everybody, happy to your listeners,
we will.
Speaker 2 (55:44):
Soon sign by. Ricochet joined the conversation m HM
Well whiskey, come and take my pain, moneys my brain.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Oh whiskey.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Why think alone when you can drink it all? In
with Ricochet's Three Whiskey Happy Hour, join your bartenders, Steve Hayward,
John You, and the international woman of Mystery, Lucretia, where
they slapped it up and David ain't too easy on
the show Tap got agive me.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And let that whiskey blow.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, Hi, everybody, Welcome to a boxing day taping of
The Three Whiskey Happy Hour, our last show of twenty
twenty five, where we're going to look back and look ahead.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Lucretia and John are with me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm still in the festive Christmas spirit, which is why
I have my Santa cap still on. Before we get
into reviewing the year and previewing next year, a couple
of breaking news items, one of great importance to you, John,
and one of importance to the world in general. John
McDonald's has announced today that they're going to be stepping
up their drive through game with an AI assisted box
(01:08):
to take orders.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
But I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I'm worried you might confuse them because I think
they probably think that you are an AI.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know, jurisprudence robot bot or something like that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
But I know the main problem is I've got so
many specialized things in my orders.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I don't think AI.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
But that's why I love the Kiosks. You know, now
you can say double meat, no butter salt.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, you know what a I should do is try
to predict my order before I get there.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, you know that may be coming.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Lucretia was going to say, you guys probably haven't seen
this movie either. Wayne's World Classic, Yes, Okaya. Steve said
he'd never seen Dodgeball.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I've never seen Dodgeball.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
My god, you guys, because it's I thought it was
was it was a bad movie.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
It's hilarious. It is the funniest movie you'll probably ever watch.
But that Wayne's World. There's a scene where they drive
up to the drive through and they're in the Mirthmobile
and they and Wade thinks he's being so clever, so
he gets to the speak to the microphone thing and
he says ane and coffee and the Cruelers, and the
(02:18):
next thing, you know, the thing reads it back to
him exactly like it was supposed to be. Yeah, that
is a funny predicting AI many years ago in Wayne's world.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, I think that's because although in an out Burger
claims to have been the people invented the drive through orders,
I first encountered it in southern California at Jack in
the Box where you talk to this little jack you know,
speaker with a you know, a clown on top of it.
And the sound quality was just like it's depicted in
the movie, was terrible.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
They'd say, why did you you know? They would go
back and forth, right, But.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I just shudder at the thought of Lucretia playing dodgeball,
which is the closest thing to the state of nature
I can think of. Imagine Lure should be Lucretia playing dodgeball.
She would pick pick on the She would pick on
the her closest rivals first, try to knock.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Them out of the game.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Always pick on the skinniest, tiniest little guy, and you
choose them last, so they're on the other team, you know,
and then they pick on them. Absolutely, that's the whole
theme of the whole It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I guess, Okay, I don't.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Play dodgeball anymore in school.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, I'm sure that's true. We did a lot when
I was in elementary school.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think in the Lucretia household they play with guns now,
not dodgeballs.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Rubber bullets though.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Maybe no wait wait wait, commercial advertising. We should get
these people to uh uh advertise on our podcast. There's
a company called Ace that makes this virtual headset that.
But you remember, my son's a national and a world
champion shooter. He says is the most realistic thing and
(03:59):
and one of the thing. So you shoot with his
headset on with a real you know, replica gun, and
everything about it other than the recoil, I guess you
could say, is absolutely perfect. And he has saved something
on the order of fifteen thousand dollars in AMMO wow
(04:19):
by practicing on this. So I'm just saying for all
of you shooters out there, it's a little bit, a
little bit of an investment to buy, but you will
save a lot of money and get a lot of
good practice in well, you know, when you normally couldn't
be out shooting. So okay, sorry, I'm done with the advertise. Okay,
that's actually a good advice.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, two more tidbits about McDonald's. I did not know
until I read a news story that McDonalds serves sixty
three million customers a day, and I think that's a
worldwide figure that is pretty amazing. And I also learned
that Sweden has the one and only ski through McDonald's
order window, which may be the best reason to go
(04:59):
skiing and wheating that I've ever heard. And then the
other thing, John, I think this may be relevant. Uh,
one of the things they want to do is in general,
but also to the drive up window, they're going to
emphasize more chicken products because I hear they want to
compete more with U Chick fil A and you know
the other people in the chicken wars.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And I don't know if you care about that or not,
because you seem pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah. No, they've had a lot of fried chicken.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
They got a lot of fried chicken things on in
many like these little snack rats are back.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
They have like a tortilla with one fried chicken piece. No,
it's like a fried chicken piece, just one. It's like
a one little chicken finger inside a tortilla and then covered.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
With sauce and stuff. They could just use a mc
rib piece and put it in there. It would be perfection.
I don't know why they haven't thought of this yet.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, but you know you're here where I am. McDonald's
was open on Christmas yesterday. I was driving by.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And it was a long line from the drive through.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, okay, all right, Yeah it was open on Chrismus.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
I mean being sick of turkey Thanksgiving turkey on Christmas, Yeah,
you'd be sick of it. But if you just cooked
the turkey and you're already sick of it, you need.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
No no amen.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So I know some people cook turkey at Christmas, and
I've always yeah I don't. I had a big standing
rib roast. Of course that turned out perfect with some
great way. But anyway, I think it's a plot of
big Turkey because they overproduced turkeys.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
For Thanksgiving and say, oh, you must have one for
Christmas too. All right, we'll leave that.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
From By the way, did people see the uh montage
that Steve sent out of his roasts over the years
and so did anyway notice the progression that over time
the rib got smaller and Steve got bigger.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, you know, i've gotta, I've gotta. I have an
X and Y axis graph.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Roll exactly or it was just by proportion.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Maybe the rib stays the same size, but Steve just
gets bigger.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah. Those were pretty old pictures, but I still like them. Yeah.
All right, now the serious news item.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And I don't know if you're following this, John, imagine
Lucretia is is shades of George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
You know what does that mean about?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
You know, Americans, We'll cross the river on Christmas Eve
to kill you, which in your sleep, right, So you know,
Trump yesterday ordered the US military to attack some the
ISIS bad guys in Nigeria explicitly on the grounds of
protecting the Christian population in Nigeria. Apparently I've seen it
reported with the approval or maybe the request of the
(07:36):
Nigerian Foreign Minister.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So this is interesting for two reasons.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
One is that it doesn't get a lot of coverage
in the media, and that's because the media is lazy
and they don't have any bureaus.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
In Africa anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
But you know, the growing Christian population in Africa is clashing.
What's happening Nigeria is happening in continent wide or is
going to happen continent and wide, and a lot of
people like Robert Kaplan, who does cover these stories, saying,
you know, the big religious battles like we had in
the Middle Ages is going to take place in Africa
over the next several decades. And so maybe this is
(08:08):
the opening salvo. But then the second point is, uh,
you know, it's the holidays. People were about busy or
not working. But you know there have been a lot
of unhappiness among the You might say the neo isolation
is right with Trump's moves first attacking Iran, then the
flotilla and action in Venezuela. And now I'll bet you're
(08:28):
going to see complaints that, oh yeah, now he's looking
for a forever war in Nigeria, right, that's the slogan
forever war. And you can go back and see like
the American Conservative magazine in particulars on the war path
against Trump being taken over by the neocons. Trump's actually
closet neo con all along, when in fact, if you
look closely, it seems to me, oh, I think it's dumb.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Worse, it's dumb. But Trump never said he was against
stupid wars. He didn't say he was against using American force.
And we saw on the first term war. Oh correct.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean the point is, I'm just saying we're going
to see some agitation by the sort of neo isolationist
part of the MAGA world about this, and I think
we've already seen that happening, and so this will add
to it as we go into next year.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Can I just make a couple of times before John
makes the intelligent ones? First of all, I'm very much
interested in the situation in Nigeria, in part because a
former priest in my church is he still is Nigerian
and a member of the Via Christe, which is very
(09:33):
active in Nigeria. Seven thousand Christians in Nigeria have been
targeted and killed by barbarian scumbag Muslims in that religious
war that you're talking about, and it hadn't gotten any
kind of any kind of publicity, I guess you would say,
(09:53):
any attention until by the way, our friend What's the
UN guy was National Security Advisor's actual name, John walt Waltz,
Michael Waltz, Michael Michael Waltz, John and Nicki Minaj who
first went with him to the UN to talk about
Nigeria and then was a turning point talk Nicki Minaj.
(10:16):
I mean, but she's I can't but I don't even.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Know who that is. She's a rapper.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
I take a rapper, and that's I knew exactly that
much too. I think there were a few things that
she did in the past that slightly offended me, but
I don't remember for sure. I can't tell the difference.
But she has been brave in the midst of all
of this to call to call out what's happening in Nigeria,
and you know who has been almost not completely, but
almost silent. The Pope. M what an embarrassment that is.
(10:47):
I mean, you know, we could debate all day whether
it's a neocon thing to go in and rescue Christians
who are being tortured and kidnapped and murdered by by
Muslim scum. But the Pope ought to be on this one. Sorry,
the Hope I'll be on this one day and night. Instead,
he is, you know, blaming Trump for refusing all of
the poor immigrants that are just like baby Jesus and
(11:10):
you know, stupid and and and kissing blocks of ice
for climate change.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
One of these days we're going to get an African
pope and that will be an interesting time.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
We'd have gotten Robert Sarah, I would have danced for joy.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thats right?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So, John, what do you think just the one off
or you have any prompting, any thoughts in the grand
strategist in you?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
No one is, isn't he being a bit of a
neo con I don't want to trigger trigger lucretia. But
the whole point of New Conservatism was to take into
account the nature of the regimes we were helping.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
And you know, the the Sir J.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
D vance Ran Paul view I want there the isolation
is just you know, a slur of sorts. But their
claim is we should be realists. We shouldn't try to
change domestic questions. We shouldn't care about what the regimes
are abroad.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
We shouldn't be helping people out of the goodness of
our hearts.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And aren't we doing that with Nigeria? We only care
because they're Christians. On the other end, I don't. I
can't think it's a it's going to be a consistent
part of our foreign policy here. We're going to intervene
all around the world to protect Christians. You know, we
haven't for example in the Middle East. You know, we've
(12:24):
let Lucretia. I don't think we referring this exactly, but
we've allowed the purging of Christians from all over the
Middle East, right in all these countries, No.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Just generally in the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
I'm just saying, I don't think, I don't know if
we're going to actually intervene and try to stop that
from happening and protect Christians all around the world.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
And then the last thing that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
To me is that, yes, the Christianity is growing in Africa,
but it's a particular kind of Christianity. It's not the
pro gay marriage Christianity in the United States, right right, Yeah, So,
and isn't that that you guys know more about this
than I do. But isn't it the African Christians who
are trying to pull their churches to the more conservative
(13:12):
traditional view of values. And so I wonder whether that's part.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Of what lucritious time.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Why the Pope isn't talking about it while you don't
hear a lot of complaints about it, what's going on
in Africa from church leaders because they're generally right, the.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Anglican Church or the Catholic Church.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
They don't know what to do about the rise of
a traditional religion in Africa.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Yeah, okay, I don't know about that. I mean, I
think I would probably put the emphasis the opposite direction.
Not so much that they're ignoring them for that reason,
but they're ignoring them because they themselves are in fact
woke and leftist and liberal. And we were hoping that
maybe Pope Leo would be different. We should have known better,
different than Francis. And you know, I think that unfortunately
(14:03):
the Pope falls into some of the same categories as
as Washington Leads who becomes swamp creatures that he wants
the adelation of the right kind of people. And this
is hard for me to say. Fortunately, not being a
cradle Catholic, I don't necessarily have the same sense of
veneration for the Pope that that I think maybe creative
(14:26):
cradle Catholics do. I find it easy to criticize him
when he deserves being criticized, and I'm probably got to
go to hell for that. But it's okay, I don't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, it's yeah, well, we'll put off him for another
day because we need to go to an ad break
for a wee get our main fla. I let's say
I think the jury is out yet, it's still early yet.
I think he's several not just to the right of
Pope Francis. I think he's politically naive as part of it,
but there's also some sciencemics background, like such as he
apparently was a registered Republican at one point when he
lived in Chicago, and there are other things about him
(15:00):
that I just think he's not very political and he
doesn't think about the theological political problem.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll put it that way, the way that Ratzinger Pope Benedict.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Did, which I thought was John Paul or John Paul correct, Right,
we had those two the best popes in the last
five hundred years, right in a row.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So we're spoiled.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But let's take a quick break for a sponsor, and
it better be McDonald's.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
That's all I'm gonna say.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
After all the free advertising we give them, and we'll
be right back and get into our main lineup for today.
All right, we're going to review in the show what
we think were the major events of twenty twenty five
and why, and then make predictions for twenty twenty six.
But first Lucretia went and looked up our predictions from
(15:45):
last year and has a scorecard.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So overview Lucretia, you have.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
A scorecard rather interesting. So give me a little time
on all of you. So we'll start with Steve because
he went first. He said Chicago was going to implode
because Brandon Johnson was such a ridiculously poor excuse for
a mayor. I think you mentioned that he had like
a nineteen percent approval approval writing. Leave it aside from him.
(16:10):
I'll come back to it. That some of the top universities,
that the top thirty, you said IVY League, Then you
mentioned Brown, john made fun of you said Brown's not
IVY League. That you said the top universities would would
kind of implode, that all of their senior leadership would
(16:31):
be replaced. Maybe it would be at the assistance insistence
of people like Bill Lackman who had stopped giving money
to Harvard. That kind of thing. That was your prediction.
And then you know, let me address that. I'll come
back to the very last one you made. So my
argument to you is you were partially right on some
of those things, but you know who wins the day
(16:52):
on those is Trump. Chicago did more or less implode,
But you know Trump, Trump made a big deal out
of it. And I suppose you could say that Pritzker
and Brandon Johnson have successfully I think it was last
week the court, even the High Court, said that Trump
had not made the case for why you should send
in troops right Chicago's Chicago is a war zone. There's
(17:16):
no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, there's that, but you're right.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But of course the part that I think about some
I think, by the way, the mode of our predictions
was sort of unlikely but possible things or things that
nobody thinks right.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Low probability, impossibility.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So you know, what Chicago was fighting over right now,
aside from the crime business, is whether they're going to
have a per employee head tax because their budget is
so far out of balance. And I mean, what a
stupid idea, But that's where they are, so they aren't
desperate shape, and I'm still right about that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
It's just how long is it going to take?
Speaker 5 (17:46):
So anyway, sorry, well, so I give you like a
half a point on that. Okay, I give you half
a point on the universities because they didn't implode on
their own. But Trump's attack on the I don't think
any of us would have predicted that Trump would go
after the universities like he did. I mean all of
us and when I've listened in the past were pretty surprised.
(18:09):
And it's been remarkably successful. It has not necessarily meant
the replacement of all of the woke IVY League university
presidents and provosts and so on. Like you know, your
prediction didn't say that was gonna happen, but but it
has made a difference. I mean, DEI, if you're gonna
do it and they still do it, you have to
(18:30):
hide it. You have to pretend that you're not doing it.
So you get some credit for that.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
One.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
You said that Trump's tariffs were going to cause a recession, and.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I said that John, You said there would be.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
A recession, Trump's tariffs would be a part of it,
but you thought that he actually might succeed when it
came to China. Yeah, and I think you were right
about that in the sense that China would cave on
a lot of things because they couldn't afford necessarily.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
To have a game.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, it's not to.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Europe for sure, and sold their cheap team mowed goods
to Europe instead of the United States in many cases.
But well, what do you think? Do you think Steve
was right that China would cave and did okave?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
On what? They haven't caved done anything. They're just pursuing
the same thing they've been doing before.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I think, I think the jury. I think this is
still a work in progress.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I'll come back to this point when we talk about
some twenty twenty five events.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Perhaps a little bit too soon.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
To tell, okay, but it has it has gone better
than I thought it as a generalman.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
What what where? Take the hat off and look on
the inside label and tell me what. I'm just curious.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
I'll see if I can find it. Do you keep
going in the meantime, if it's China.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
If it's China, I think that you have lost your prediction.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I don't see label anywhere.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Is this probably probably oh wait a minute, this one
it was probably made by els at the North Pole.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Oh yep, yep, made in Ningbo, China.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
There you go, there you go?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Crap?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Okay, all right, all right, So I'll go back for
a moment.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Before I moved back to John. This morning, there was
an article in the New York Post about the monstrosity
that is going to be the Obama Library. You know
the death star, right, and they were trying to sort
of push back, and it's the death stars. It's not
a death start. It's fourhands reaching to the sky. And
(20:29):
then the spokesperson for I guess the library whatever it is. Uh,
this is a quote. This is a direct quote because
you look at it, it's just this concrete monstrosity and
there don't appear to be windows anywhere.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This is what she said.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
There are not a lot of windows on the building.
But that's intentional because sunlight is just not a friend
well the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside
the build. So my commentary on that was a perfect
metaphor for the Obama administration. Sunlight is not a friend.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Wow. I thought it was supposed to be the best disinfectant.
That's the old Justice effect.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I mean, I just couldn't believe it anyway. Okay, back
to back to John John. Last year, you said that
Kamala Harris was going to run for governor. Steve made
fun of you because it was too far out and
it wasn't whether or not she would run, but whether
she'd win.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
That was really the prediction that I was wrong.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You're wrong on that. One. You said, you're right on
this one, that Mike Johnson would still be speaker because
he was suffering a little back then, And you were
right on that one. And then you said that five
senior cabinet level officials or advisor senior advisors will have
resigned from the Trump administration.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
By oh boy, was I wrong on that one?
Speaker 5 (21:53):
You were wrong. The only one was Mike Waltz. And
Steve came back and said, I think Trump was smarter
this time. So I think the only one was the
National Security Advisor, who then went to another senior position.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
So but it all, it's all made up for the fact.
I also predicted the Eagles would win the Super Bowl, which.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
You predict, so I don't care about all the other predictions.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
You predicted that the Eagles would win the Super Bowl
and that the Phillies would win the World Series.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
The Dodgers cheated. The Dodgers cheated.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
How do you what by signing? Who is the John
U of Major League Baseball?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
League?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You hit anything out of the park, right, That's what
I call you. And Richard Nepstey, I've been calling you guys.
Theani and Aaron Judge of the Conservative Legal War.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
So Steve gave me a hard time last year since
I had not made New Year's Eve predictions that we
could talk about last year the year before, but I
had made mid year predictions that turned out to all
would be true JD. Vans, et cetera. These were so
I made predictions last year. One was that Trump would
successfully either abolish or gut the Department of Education, and
(23:05):
to the extent that he was not able to abolish it,
he would turn it into a an entity that went
back to things like enforcing the real intent of Title
six and other things like that, you know, getting rid
of the nonsense of race conscious discipline and things like that.
(23:26):
So I think I went on that one, don't you guys,
You know, lots of things have gone from the Department
of Education. I said Trump would build the wall, would
finish the wall, I said Trump would finish.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I don't even know.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
I don't think so. But one of the things I
said was that, you know, finish is a tough term
to bring to the table here, because there are many
areas that actually you cannot put up a wall. There
are other areas where something other than a wall is
actually more appropriate. Sensors and things like that, And so
I would say that I get like seventy five percent
(24:06):
of this point because he has closed the border with
or without a complete wall, and that I went further though,
and I said, so, I think I get the whole
point that he would be so successful on stopping illegal
immigration that he would also be successful at some of
the worst dire effects of illegal immigration, like crime. You
(24:27):
got the what was it, what was her name? Lincoln
Riley Act passed. I even said that some some liberals
might go along with some of his policies on illegal immigration.
Got the Lincoln Riley at passed has stopped the flow
of fennel at least over the border, all of these
other things that Trump has successfully done because he shut
down illegal immigration, I predicted. So I get points on
(24:50):
that one. And that's about it. Other than the Phillies
did not win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
John, Yeah, well that was you know, confirmation bias was
motivated reasoning, you know, the usual setting.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
But that was the greatest Whenever the Philadelphia team loses,
it's because of the other sides cheating, by the way.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
You know I would have say about Arizona politics.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
You know, I would have I would have said prior
to this year that the greatest World series of my
lifetime was the seventies five series between the Reds and
the Red Sox, which went seven games and was really
an epic. You had the sixth game, six extra innings
hole run by Carlton Fisk, the famous image of him
cheering it out of the ballpark. I think this year's
was maybe the greatest of my lifetime. I mean, that
(25:36):
was an epic world series. I'm just gonna yes, and
you know, just speak. You probably didn't watch because your
phillies weren't in it.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
But I'm still upset.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
All Right, I did that one thing I forgot really quickly. Steve,
he did predict that this would be the year of
the McRib.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Okay, I did predict it would return, would return.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
All right, Let's take a very quick break for a
message from a sponsor or two, and then we'll come
back by reviewing twenty twenty five. All right, each of
us is going to pick out what we think is
the I don't know, not the most important story necessarily,
but certainly an important story to linger in our minds
for a while.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Let's start with you, Lucretia, because I think you're going.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
To be the most general, and then I think John
and I have more specific ones in mind.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
So yeah, I just think it's Trump.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah. The Trump effect, right, event of.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
The year is how successful Trump has been because none
of us, I think we're all that optimistic about his
attempts to clean up the swamp. We certainly didn't think
he was going to get rid of DEI in the
way he has. I think the fact that ah S
(26:53):
has just made it illegal, federally illegal to the extent
that that can be done to mutilate children, and they're
just all of these things that I don't think any
other politician could have done, but that I think open
up the world for future politicians who are, you know,
willing to follow in Trump's footsteps. Maybe that's JD. Van's
(27:14):
I don't know, nobody thought that Trump would be as
successful as he's been in foreign policy. Leave the neo
kon stuff aside. I don't think that, by the way,
just really quick comment to John's earlier comment. I don't
think that it's a regime change that he's looking for
in Nigeria, or that the it is the ideology of
(27:36):
the regime in Nigeria. It's the fact that a Christian
nation like the United States, at least with Christian roots
and traditions, cares about what happens to Christians elsewhere. They've
also proven they care about what happens to Muslims. What
for God's sakes, we went into the Balkans supposedly on
behalf of Muslims there against I don't know anyway, that's sorry, off,
(27:57):
So that's my that's my major. That and the price
of gold.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Oh, I think that's not necessarily a good thing, that's
by the way.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
But well, they good or bad?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
All I want to see is really quickly I read
even before you said we were going to do this,
the Spectator had a month by month oh yeah, sort
of compilation of the major things that had happened, and
it showed have gold went to two thousand, yeah, and
then a couple of months later gold went to three thousand.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
A couple of months later gold went to four thousand.
Out of all the major things that happened in the world.
Because it was a you know, a worldwide look, not
just an American look, gold made it on there three times.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Now the interesting thing is, uh, usually well gold is
somewhat loosely correlated with the price of oil, or at least
it has been during the years of oil shocks. And
yet the price of oil has been sliding this year,
while incidentally, the normally when the price of oil slides,
the share prices of the big oil companies go down
to they haven't.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
They've been holding steady or up slightly, not as much
as the whole market, but they haven't gone down.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And I think that is also the Trump effect, because
I think it's the oil company saying we're not going
out of business in five years, like Al Gore and
Gavin Newsom want right. The Trump thing brought But let
me give you two other things. Particulars about this one.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
As you mentioned journing the swamp.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Federal employment is down the latest number by two hundred
and seventy one thousand people. I don't know how much
of that is doze or other things, but that's a
big number.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Two other numbers. One is the.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Most recent GDP report that surprised everybody. It came in
in four point eight percent for the last quarter, much
higher than expected. And now there's been a lot of controversy,
and I know what the Left's going to say, well,
this is Trump installing some flunky the Bureau of Labor
Statistics to give him happy numbers, and I don't think
that's true. And the reason why is the bulk of
(29:52):
the growth was from robust consumer spending. And skip over
a lot of details here, but that is the most
reliable data we get in data quality problems with the
inflate of the growth numbers in the last four or
five years, so I think the.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Numbers is going to hold up on revision.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And why this is significant is that it's something my
friend John Tammany points out that consumer spending is reflective
not only of just general confidence of Americans with disposable income,
but it's usually the result of economic growth that's happening
from subtraining way, you might say. In other words, when
you see a consumer led growth like this, that's a
(30:30):
very good sign for the economy going forward. It's suggested
lots of good things are happening behind the scenes. And boy,
the difference between four and a half percent growth or
three percent growth is huge for our fiscal outlook, which
is so dire otherwise. Second point I'll mention is this
news is just out in the last two three days.
The crime rate for this year has fallen fast. Murders,
(30:54):
armed robberies are all falling fast, in some of the
fastest rates in history. Now you can say, should well
this is partly well, it's a Trump effect. I'll just
go straight to the conclusion. Even in cities where he
didn't send in the national guard, you're seeing crime falling.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And I always like to point out the people.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
You remember all those riots in the sixties that were
happening every summer and so forth. They all stopped when
Nixon became president, all of a sudden, and then well
he campaigned on law and order.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Right there was a new sheriff in town.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
And I think the Trump effect accounts for a lot
of the fall and the crime rate we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
There are other things you can point to.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I'd add into the way Trump has been imploding the
climate cult.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You let that one out of your inventory, Lucretia, and
I can mention four or five hours, but that's enough.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I think that these really interesting things happening, and that's
because of direct policies, but also the indirect effect of
when you put someone like Trump in office that people
have to take seriously.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
John, Wait, but you didn't make a prediction there the
best story.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Oh well, oh I want me to do I don't
know if you want to comment on Lucretius.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
I know I thought we were going to do ours.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Yeah we can't. All right, I'll do mine next and
you can go third.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
I think the most important story of the year, and
it's going to loom larger going forward, was the assassination
of Charlie Kirk. And I mean it's on its own terms,
it was, you know, shocking and dramatic and horrible. But
I think going forward we are going to recognize, as
Helen Andrews writes in the current issue of The Clremont
(32:28):
Review of Books, that he was a once in a
generation figure who can't be replaced. He you know, I
have confessed before that I missed underestimated him when he
got started. I thought he was going to be another
Mileloianopolis or some campus provocateur. But no, he built an organization,
a serious organization, and inspired a lot of people in
(32:48):
a way that someone like, you know, a conservative campus speaker,
doesn't really do by themselves, right, And I could say
more about all that, but he's irreplaceable, And you know,
I'm worried about the.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Future of turn point only as an organizational matter. You know,
when a founder leaves.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
An organization suddenly was pushed out, there's often infighting.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It either will take one new or different direction or
it will fall apart over time. Right.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I mean, the Southern Christian Leadership Council was never the
same after Martin.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Luther King was killed, right, and I don't think exists anymore.
So I'm very worried about that and the larger fractures
that it's connected to.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
And so I think we're going to look back on
that as depending on how things go, as a real
turning point, and you know, a tragedy on the scale
of Martin Luther King or you know figures of that
kind from fifty years ago.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So that's my big story of the year. That's sicks out.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
I would say the biggest story of the year for me,
putting aside Trump, which Lucretia got to already, was the
strike on the Iranian nuclear program. And generally that's part
of the Israel winning the war in the Middle East,
which is despite all the predictions that striking Iran would
cause what did Tucker say, you know, hundreds of thousands,
(34:09):
if not millions of potential lives lost and the start
of World War three, and actually turned out to be
maybe the key event that helped bring peace on in
the war that was started back on October seventh.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
And again I'm not.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Potentially provoking lucretia, but it did show to me that,
you know, Trump is not a pure realist. He is
something of a neo conservative in the sense that he
cares about the regimes and our allies that we're helping
people we agree with here, not Christians, but Israel.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You know, realist strategists think it's crazy that we help Israel,
you know that we should all with the Arabs. But
I always thought the reason we help Israel is because
of the commonalities of the two cultures and countries and
the fact that we have this shared religious tradition. It's
all ideological, and so I've always it's a good example. No,
I mean, I just think it's I always thought realists
had a good case. If you're really a cold hearted realist,
(35:08):
you shouldn't you know, the United States should not be
allied with Israel. It's the smaller country surround about these
huge Arab countries. We would be better off, you know,
align with the Arab countries. But instead you've seen this
remarkable you know, alliance against Israel being built and led
now by against Iran being built and led by Israel.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
And John that that, well, that is just dumb. John.
I'm gonna let you explain to you why.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
There's a multifaceted answer. Let me go with this part
of it. You may want to add on, Steve. In
the first place, Iran has has already made it clear
that we are also their enemy, which makes them our enemy.
That's I mean, who cares about some stupid realist doctrine.
Iran is our enemy? Uh, what would you call it?
(35:59):
Islamic ideology, the kind that Iran practices is our enemy.
It is the source of evil in the world. Israel's
right to exist is threatened by that. But you know what,
maybe some days ours would be too. We have been attacked,
never by Israel, but we have been attacked by Muslim
(36:19):
countries over and over. I mean, never mind the whole
thing about Israel being the only source of Western civilization
in the Middle East. We care about, not ideology, that
we have a culture in common. In those squishy things.
We could all end up living like women do in Afghanistan.
(36:39):
If we don't recognize what the very real threats to
our freedom, it's not neo concert Oh, let's make the
wor I'll say for democrats, it's nothing like that. There
are enemy and in this case, the enemy of our
enemy is our friend Israel. There's a lot more to
it than that. But that's a simple answer to that.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'll add this, John, and give you an exit question,
which is from a realist point of view, I think
that to Israel and our alliance with them actually makes
those other Middle Eastern nations, the ones who were ambivalent,
like the Saudis, behave better and in the absence of Israel,
or if we tilted away from them, I think the
whole neighborhood would be much worse, not just for Israel,
(37:21):
but for us.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
What is that a You understand what I'm saying. You
agree with me, John, You should?
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Don't.
Speaker 4 (37:28):
I just don't.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
I mean, look, the realists themselves say we should not
be allied with Israel.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
You go back to.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
The I'm not myself a pure realist, but remember in
the you know, the twenty tens, these realists came out
with these books claiming the only reason we're supporting Israel
was must because of some pro Israel lobby and remember
this in the United States, because other and their point
was because otherwise we should be supporting and they were basically,
(37:58):
you know, like building foundations for Obama's foreign policy and
milies right, they basically otherwise we should be supporting Sunni
Arabs but also making peace with Iran, right, And the
Iran Deal was the ultimate product of this realist approach.
So I'm not the one defending realism. I'm trying to
show that it explains why the Trump administration is not
(38:20):
this kind of realististrative despite what JD. Vance and Mega
people say.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
We are doing it because.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
For the reasons that the Lucretia stated. We do it
because we agree you said, because Israel's outpost of Western civilization.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Realists don't care about that.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Only you know new coons used newcons care about that.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Well, they want to go out Western civilization.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
So realist as you define it could would give the
exact same advice to any country that they happen to
be located in, because they don't care about the character
of either their regime or any other.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Yes, that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
How dumb is that well, well, they would say, for example, realists.
For example realists, and ram Paul I think has praised
this idea, had said I have said things like why
did the United States intervene in Europe and World War two?
Shouldn't we just let the Germans and Russians kill each
other and then take over? You know, they don't care
about the ideology of the other regimes.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Harry Truman said that in nineteen forty one too. By
the way, the first Neocon right. Well, look, I mean
two quick thoughts.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
One is I think Reagan offers the proof that sometimes
a certain kind of idealism is more realistic than so
called realists are. That's a long story.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
And then the other one is.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Not you John, but do realists really think that we
would get along better with Iran if we weren't allied
with Israel or any of the other radical countries over there?
I think it would be worse. But okay, here's an
exit question that we want to go to. A break
in our predictions for twenty six I think it's only halftime.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I think there's and there's.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Been stuff in the press in the last week that
Israel is talking to Trump administration about resuming the war
against Iran, and I think also resuming the war in
earnest against against.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Hamas in Gaza. I so what do you think are
you for resuming? Right?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
And I think and I think John Bolton had a
piece this week's that's not going to help you, ran no, no,
but I mean trying to point out the ways Iran
is rebuilding Hezbolah and Hamas and trying to rebuild its
nuclear program.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
So yeah, I don't think that it's permanently over.
Speaker 3 (40:32):
I think Israel's one, but you know, the struggle still
continues because Uranian regime is still the same.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
All right, Well let's let's go to a quick break
for a sponsor message and then we'll come back with
our predictions for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
And I've got some great exotic ones again.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
So don't I didn't know we were supposed to have predictions, but.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
I told you. I told you we were, John, you
weren't listening as usual?
Speaker 1 (41:00):
All right, looking ahead to the year in front of us,
We're going to do our predictions again and they range
from like you know, serious, like well unserious, like.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
The Phillies are going to win the World Series, but
you know something possible. I'm going to give you. I'm
going to give you two to.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Start off with, of a sort of medium prediction and
more exotic but possible in my mind.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
The first one is in this I.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Think you know seventy percent chance if you wanted me
to give odds, is that there's going to be a
collapse of at least one European government and maybe all three,
all three being the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. I
think here Starmer is going to be removed as Prime
Minister by his own party like the Tories did with
Margaret Thatcher in nineteen ninety one. Uh And I think France,
(41:41):
by the way, France, I did not know that France
is actually talking about it having a government shutdown American
style because they can't settle on a budget.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
I thought we were the only country that did that.
But good to see. And then Germany is in.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
All kinds of problems, and all three countries well, actually
England and France are both looking over their shoulder saying
we might need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
That's how bad things are getting in both of those countries.
The IMF doesn't have the money. My second exotic prediction,
and this one I think is like a forty percent chance,
(42:13):
but not impossible. So as you know, you may know,
in California we have.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
The jungle primary.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Everybody runs at once and the top two people go
to the election in November. In a democratic state like this,
this has meant several state wide elections recently where two
Democrats are on the November ballot. It was Kamala Harris
versus what Loretta Sanchez for Senate seven or eight years ago.
There is a chance that the governor's race in California
(42:39):
next November might feature two Republicans running against each other.
Speaker 4 (42:44):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Well, no it isn't, No, no, it isn't. Here's what
the polls right now showing the number one.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
And two people or two Republicans, Steve Hilton, the Fox
News commentator, who's running a serious campaign. And then there's
what I think, a sheriff from Riverside County who's polling
very well. The problem is is on the Democratic side,
you've got four or five ambitious Democrats. Tom Steier, Katie Porter,
I think video right, Gosa may run again, the former
mayor of la and they could split the Democratic vote
(43:13):
and the top two vote getters who might look between
the two of them, I only get twenty four percent
of the total vote, could be number.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
One and two.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
That will be a fun day because Democrats will freak
out and we have to change the constitution. They'll do
like they did with redistrict thing, and they won't be
able to at least not in time to change that
primary election result. But keep your eye on that. That
could be a fun day because Democrats will not be
able to sort out. Tom Stire is already running TV
ads because he's got, you know, all kinds of money
(43:41):
and anyway, that's my exotic prediction. There's two Republicans running
for governor of California.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Who wants to go next?
Speaker 3 (43:50):
I got a whole bunch of little ones. So I
think that the Republicans will lose the House. But I
don't think that's a top prediction.
Speaker 4 (43:59):
Okay, good, good good. We'll see all those fanboys going.
Lucretie always wins.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
Lucretia always wins right down this date and time and prediction.
But I think it's not going to be because of
the economy. I think the economy is going to do
very well, but that's because I think Trump's going to
lose the tariff case, and the reduction of tariffs is
actually going to be good for the economy. And Trump
will be smart and not try to reimpose worldwide tariffs.
(44:24):
He'll just do targeted tariffs, which is what he should
do under the law.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Before you go on, does that mean then that they
have to pay back all of that money?
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Yeah, we have to do refunds.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Be hard, but it'll help bring the inflation rate down,
which is really uh, you know, the thing that's sticking
it to Trump. So I actually think Trump's approval rating
is going to go up this year, but he's still
going to lose the House because you just second term
presidents always lose a House mid term.
Speaker 4 (44:49):
Here's another one says I had to think of these quick.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
I think that Trump is not going to pick either
Kevin Hassett or Kevin Warsh for the Chairman of the
Federal Reserve. We're going to be completely surprised and he'll
pick someone we're not talking about now, because that's just
the way he is.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
Right Like, oh, Lucretia, I know that.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
Remember he did want to point someone last time to
go back to the gold standard.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Well, no, he wanted to point Judy Shelton to the
Federal Board of Governors, and Mitch McConnell wouldn't push it through.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
He could have, but he wouldn't, and you know, there
you go.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Oh and then he also wanted to point our friend
Steve Moore also right, yeah, yeah, so the Eagles. So
I'm not going to predict on the Phillies winning the
World Series, but I will predict the La Dodgers will
not win the World Series, and deservedly.
Speaker 5 (45:39):
So Okay, two years ago, by the way, you predicted
that what's her name and the Chief and Taylor Swift
would break up.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
Yeah, oh yeah, well that could still I did on
one more and I think we will get a Supreme
Court vacancy this year.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Oh okay, because if.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
It looks more and more, it looks yeah, more and more,
it looks like.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
The uh, the Republicans will lose Congress. Then it'll be
the last time a conservative justice can step down and
be assured of being replaced by somebody of the same
ideological event. So if one of them wants to retire,
it's going to have to be this year.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Yeah, So you're thinking a conservative Oh.
Speaker 3 (46:28):
Yeah, no, conservative, Yeah, that's what I mean. No, No,
the three Liberals are gonna have to die. They're all
going to die in office. Yeah, I want to die
in office.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah. Can I just jump here.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
We've got a couple of audience questions related to what
we just said before I go to you, Lucretia. One
person asked about, Yeah, if the Starmer is thrown out
in Britain as prime Minister, will be replaced by somebody
more radical.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Good question. I'm not sure about that, probably, but I
think there'll be a civil war and Labor Party and
that's going to be interesting to watch.
Speaker 5 (46:58):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
And then briefly, it's hard to do briefly, someone said, can.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
We comment on the fracturing of conservatives over the Jewish question?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Right, as you know we call it these.
Speaker 5 (47:08):
Days, Right, it's actually promised to do something deep on that. Really,
that's a.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Better idea, right, Yeah, let's let's let's give that a
good fifteen minutes.
Speaker 5 (47:16):
Right.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
Yeah, that's important. That's much on my mind.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
And yeah too, Okay, we'll file that one away for
the first issue, first episode of the new year. I think, Lucretia,
your predictions are Republicans house, right, The Republicans will.
Speaker 5 (47:29):
Keep the House, and it's not necessarily Why not necessarily
because of the economy, although a good economy obviously is
going to be absolutely necessary for that to happen. But
I don't know that it would be sufficient. What is
going to be sufficient is that some of these other
things are going Trump is going to stop allowing the
(47:52):
mainstream media to continue to frame every narrative. He's getting
better and better at it. More and more new sources
of media are becoming what you might say is a
little pro Trump. I do think that that anti Semitism
divide in the Conservative Party might be a little bit problematic.
But I think that you are going to see Republicans.
(48:17):
There was a South Carolina state races for this special
elections for the state House, and they just trounced their opponents,
even though the opponents were fairly well funded. State House
South Carolina. I get it. But if Republicans didn't spend
any money on any of those special elections that occurred
in November, off your elections and special elections. So I
(48:41):
think that they will step up to the plate. They
will get their voters out there. Voters will be happy
about a lot of things that Trump has done, I
think the biggest, the biggest scam, the biggest gas lighting
that's occurred, is a supposed belief that people are upset
about the way Trump is handling deporteas. I have yet
(49:01):
to meet a person other than that my furniture mover,
who actually was upset about it, and that's because he
obviously doesn't know anything. And so I think that they'll
do a better job of explaining why it is we're
deporting people who are illegal. Steve had sent me something
about my elected droll in Arizona, Mark Kelly, who was
(49:26):
meeting with people who are here in the country illegally
to show his support for them, and at some point
people are going to get upset about it. Trump has
done a better job of pointing out that the rising
price of housing prices and other kinds of things, a
lot of that actually has to do with importing millions
(49:47):
of people into this country who need housing. And so
I think that this will all depend upon the Republican
Party getting on board and actually doing the hard work
that it's going to take. In a midterm election, it's
a turnout issue anyways, just like it is for you know,
off your elections and special elections. Okay, enough of that.
That's why we'll see if I'm right or if John's right.
(50:07):
I think that Arizona will elect Andy Biggs, who is
as you know right now, he's a Congressman.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
Helley for governor.
Speaker 5 (50:17):
And I think that as a result of that, it
will be very much like when Trump came into office
in January and started cleaning house. And I think that
Katie Hobbs and the Attorney General I forget their name
is kit May's whatever the I think, and the Secretary
of State, who is the election official here, they will
(50:40):
go to jail because I do believe that Mark Kelly
and Katie Hobbs, herself and the others were elected. I
believe this in my heart of hearts. There is more
and more evidence coming out of some really really shady
practices some we knew about at the time in Phoenix.
And the fact that they just shut downs in conservative
(51:01):
areas all across a Phoenix. The fact that they've now
discovered something on the earth of seven hundred thousand unverified
mail in ballots. You know, there's just on and on
and on. Of course, this gets no coverage. Our friend
Rachel Alexander has been very much on top of it.
So I think that Arizona at least will stop turning
(51:22):
purple and will turn back to red, and it will
be a wonderful thing, and I will be happy.
Speaker 2 (51:29):
Right, just turn back to red like it's supposed to be.
Speaker 5 (51:32):
Like it's supposed to be exactly. I mean, for God's sake,
we have open carry constitutional carry in Arizona, and somebody,
by the way, somebody's I'll say that for another time
because Steve's going to tell me we've got to move on.
But there's my prediction about Mark Kelly. I think. I
also think that they will actually have upped the game
on the investigation into him under the court martial, and
(51:54):
I think they will court martial in Okay, that's true.
I hope I'm not just wishful thinking.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah, that's the old motivated reasoning problem, but I get it.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
All right, Let's take a quick, last quick break and
then we'll come back and close out the show and
uh get us ready for the new year.
Speaker 2 (52:09):
So don't go away, all right.
Speaker 1 (52:16):
The bab blumpies have to be pretty busy these days,
aren't they, Lucretia, What have they got for us?
Speaker 2 (52:21):
First?
Speaker 5 (52:21):
Before I do that really quickly, in case Candice Owens
is watching.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
But okay, I.
Speaker 3 (52:28):
Think I think she's the one who's texting that Lucretia
is always right.
Speaker 5 (52:33):
These are gifts that came to me from the highest
intelligence official in the United States Army outside of the Pentagon.
I'm probably infiltrating those Christian groups too by going to church. Okay, sorry,
person who apparently hates you got your kid a recorder?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Oh yes, right, yeah, and then.
Speaker 5 (53:01):
Uh oh, your wife actually did want something for Christmas?
Mm hmm h jolly Neil de grasse Tyson, Is that
how you say his name? Yeah, it didn't matter, going
down people's chimney and telling kids Sanna isn't real. That
(53:21):
one's a little bit esoteric, but that's okay, Okay, this
one's for you, John.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
Oh.
Speaker 5 (53:24):
No, Russia forces invade Alaska while Norad distracted one one
last one? Uh this, I forgot to do this one
the other day. Woman beginning to suspect husband didn't start
shopping till yesterday. She opens can of Dinty more beef stew.
Speaker 4 (53:49):
That Moore is good, Steve.
Speaker 5 (53:56):
If you don't play Snoopy's Christmas.
Speaker 2 (53:59):
I did I did last episode?
Speaker 5 (54:01):
I thought you did Christmas wrapping.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
No, that was a week ago. I did this. I
did Snoopy for our Christmas Day episode out yesterday.
Speaker 5 (54:08):
So yeah, I just haven't made it to the end yet. Well,
of course, all right, thank you, all right, thanks everyone.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
John.
Speaker 3 (54:16):
I'll always drink your you need and buy more books
and Steve.
Speaker 4 (54:20):
What does AI tell us about twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (54:23):
Well, first of all, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I was not telling us, but I will tell listeners
that we will have a new sign off scheme for
the new year. I'm not sure what it will be yet.
We'll figure it out the next week. Because the next
episode will be in twenty twenty six, John you will
be the rotating host of the next one, And so
I asked AI to provide us a New Year's toast
from John You.
Speaker 2 (54:44):
And here's what we got. Happy New Year. As the
clock strikes midnight, Remember time is flexible, definitions are negotiable,
and consequences are best review later by someone else. May
your resolutions be narrowly interpreted, your moral gray area is
generously what noted, and your accountability indefinitely postponed. If anything
(55:04):
goes wrong this year, don't worry. There's always a memo
for that, Here's to another year of optimism, selective memory,
and the comforting belief that if you readefine the rules
creatively enough, everything counsels the success. Cheers, Steve.
Speaker 4 (55:18):
I think you wrote that that wasn't Ai. Well, now
it's become clear all these.
Speaker 3 (55:25):
Ais you've just said there you've been writing, though I
really been writing them.
Speaker 4 (55:31):
This is some kind of Hayward prototype.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Ai.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
No, it's I wish I mean that went back that.
Consider you a lot more work if I could, but
so far behind. Okay, by everybody, happy to your listeners,
we will.
Speaker 2 (55:44):
Soon sign by. Ricochet joined the conversation m HM
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