July 11, 2025 • 36 mins
7/12/25 - Deadly Texas Floods And Warning System Scrutiny Top This Week's List
Host Doug Stephan along with Michael Harrison, Editor/Publisher of Talkers Magazine, review the most talked about stories and people on news/talk radio for the week of July 7th, 2025 through July 11th, 2025. Compiled by the research department at Talkers Magazine - The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media - www.talkers.com
STORIES
Host Doug Stephan along with Michael Harrison, Editor/Publisher of Talkers Magazine, review the most talked about stories and people on news/talk radio for the week of July 7th, 2025 through July 11th, 2025. Compiled by the research department at Talkers Magazine - The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media - www.talkers.com
STORIES
- Deadly Texas Floods / Warning System Scrutiny
- Epstein “Client List” Mystery
- SCOTUS Mass Firings Ruling / IRS Churches Ruling
- Judge Blocks Birthright Citizenship Order
- ICE Raids / Masked Agents Controversy
- Russia Bomb Kyiv / Trump-Putin Tensions
- Trump Tariffs
- Musk’s “America Party”
- Netanyahu-Trump Visit
- Iran Nuclear Capabilities
- Donald Trump
- Jeffrey Epstein
- Pam Bondi
- Stephen Miller
- Karoline Leavitt
- Vladimir Putin
- Elon Musk
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Greg Abbott
- Jerome Powel
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 4 (01:06):
Counting down what America is talking about? Welcome to the
Talk radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
All across America. The talk radio and the Voices of Freedom.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Don't stop talk short of an organized summit. Every week
we get together Michael Harrison and Doug Stephen. Michael is
the editor and publisher of Talkers magazine, has been there
since its inception, and we'll be there until the twelfth
of Never. I have been on the radio. It seems
I'll be here until the twelfth of Never as well.
(01:40):
Once Michael described me as being the last man standing.
Let's see if that happens at any rate. We're here
to talk about the world of news talk for the
week of July seventh to the eleventh, and so we
have ten stories as usual on the list, and we
have ten people who are on the list that we
will discuss in some way, shape or form, who have
(02:01):
been discussed in some cases nauseum. So Michael, let's hit
let's let's hit the clock. We'll keep here, go through
there to.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
The clock is ticking. And yes, number at number ten,
and I have been here since my inception as well.
That's a funny line. And here since it's inception number ten.
The Iran nuclear capabilities at number nine, the Net and
Yahoo Trump visit at number eight, Musk's America Party at
(02:31):
number seven, the Trump tariffs at number six, Russia bombs
Kiev and the Trump Putin tensions.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The two are not getting along.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
I guess Putin is not a cuddly, fuzzy, happy little
bear that.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Trump thought he was.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
At number five, we have the Ice raids, and we
have the Masked Agents controversy at number four. The judge
blocks the birthright citizenship order. At number three, the Scotis
that stands for Supreme Court at the United States Mass
Firing's ruling tied with the IRS Church's ruling. And we
have at number two Epstein's client list mystery and number
(03:11):
one the deadly Texas floods, tied with the warning system scrutiny.
And that's our top ten. Actually more than ten stories
squeezed in. And here are the ten people at number ten.
Jerome Powell number nine, Greg Abbott number eight, Benjamin that
Yahoo number seven, Elon Musk number six, Vladimir Putin number five,
(03:34):
the effervescentt Caroline Leott at number four, the friendly, happy,
go lucky Stephen Miller at number three, the great legal
mind of all time Pambondi. Jeffrey Epstein is at number two,
and Donald Trump is at number one. What a cast
of characters, What an array of stories, And here we
(03:56):
are again, what.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A bunch of f ups. In fact, look at these people.
It's just what is it. There's an old expression about
a free meal, they'd they'd follow up a free meal
or something along that line. And how the Epstein thing
even came back to the surface is such. I mean,
(04:18):
it does kind of point out to those who would
watch and listen who are not suck ups, that there
are a lot of people that have been appointed to
a lot of jobs here that don't know what the
hell they're doing.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
And and one of them, one of them was Elon Musk,
who now has a vendetta against Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
That I wonder.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Okay, so here's an idea. It must can start the
America Party and maybe you can go to Russia and
start the Russia Party. He could have two wins here.
Oh yeah, I think I joined the America Party once
I find out what their basic premise is. We all
want to belong to something, don't we. Don't you want
to belong to placing?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Michael, I'm place to go, you know, right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I belong to the I belong to the Heavy hundred
at Tarker's magazine. So I guess I already belonged to something.
I don't have to join anything else.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
Hey, congratulations on that everybody. If you want to see
the Heavy hundred, go to talkers dot com. And our
esteemed colleague Doug Stephen is once again on that list,
a list that he has never failed to make since
its inception thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Wow, I seemed to not be able to get on.
Is the Radio Hall of Fame list? But that's another
story for another day.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That's people pick at them.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yes, there's an idea, Okay, So mister Nettan, Yeah, who
came to town. It was a big state dinner and
they talked a lot about what is supposed to be
happening in the Middle East. I didn't get a takeaway
from that, did you? Is there a takeaway? Or was
there just a big dinner and we had a lot
of talk take away?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The take away?
Speaker 6 (05:59):
The takeaway is that net and Yahoo has enormous influence
on the world politics, on on the world situation, and
that the relationship between net and Yahoo and Donald Trump
is as complicated as the relationship between Trump and the
The two people involved in perpetuating the Russia Ukraine war.
(06:20):
H that's the takeaway. The takeaway is what's the relationship
this minute? And who's who's who's wagging the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
How real is that whole thing?
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (06:34):
You know you talk about references to old movies, which
sometimes you and I do remember the movie Wag the
Dog and they had they had a fake war to
distract from other things.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Justin was I never saw the movie, but I know
what it's about.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I think it wasn't a hackman in it wasn't.
It wasn't by Yeah, God love them all right. So
we're going to drill down into some of the important
pieces here, not that they aren't all important, but some
maybe what is that expression from nineteen eighty four? All
(07:14):
pigs are equal, but more some pigs are more equal
than other others.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So the story animals as that animal farmwork.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I never remember with nineteen eighty four or animal farm,
but it fits here. All the stories are equal, but
some are more equal than others. And I think one
of them that has you got lots of splaining to
do is number five. These agents that run in to
grab the bad guys and deport them and by the way,
(07:41):
believe me, there are plenty of bad guys who are
here illegally. I believe that, But there are also a
lot of people that have been set out a way
that ought not to have been But why do the
agents wear masks? Shouldn't they be identified? That's part of
the controversy which we will deal with in a matter
of moments here in the talk radio Countdown show deark
stout with Michael Harrison. The problem that you have right now,
(08:05):
what's the number one? Everybody has problems, your problems, I
have problems. We all have problems. What's yours? Is that
your weight?
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Ha?
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(08:36):
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So eighty six percent not a bad number out of
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(09:24):
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(09:47):
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All right, so back with Michael and Doug on the overview.
What's going on in the news talk world, the deadly
floods in Texas and the failure of the state government.
It looks like we talk about the failure. There are
(10:53):
wonderful stories of rescues of people that were in jeopardy,
but they're also I think at this point one hundred
and seventy people or more as we do this program
who are still missing, and I'm going to tell you
they're probably never going to find them because they're under
twenty feet of mud, which is a shame because and
then apparently the what's her face, the ex governor that's
(11:16):
the director of no FEMA. Yeah right, Miss Her first
name is Christie, right, christ Yeah. I always thought she
was a forgettable character. But under the circumstances, they couldn't
do anything until she gave the okay. And how many
lives did that cost?
Speaker 6 (11:36):
She took her time. She took her time. Yeah, So
I'm now now they're blaming Texas. They're blaming the states,
of course, rights the federal government, as if the federal
government does not have a historic role in dealing with
these type of natural disasters.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Now it's the state's and.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
FEMA has never had a great record, no matter how
you look at it, but you still need some of
that aid, it would seem in these modern times. One
of the things that came out is that there is
some company in Texas that has been seeding the clouds
there to make it rain more, because Texas has had
the last and fifteen years a lot of problems with drought.
(12:18):
They've had extreme weather to rain, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. So now the FEDS are saying, well, the
real reason there was a problem is because this guy
sent stuff up into the air and seated the clouds
and made the rain worse. So anything to deflect from
responsibility is that part of the modern era, everybody blamed
(12:40):
somebody else, that is, is that what we have going on? Well,
it's not us, it's you.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
A lot of finger pointing going on, right.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
But in the maintime, meantime, I got all those kids
that were in that Christian camp man. There are parents
thinking about this, and I'm going to bet that there
are a lot of MAGA supporters that are thinking, well,
where were these people? Why didn't they respond? Why didn't
they help? Good question. We're here in the business of
(13:11):
talking about the media, the news media and it's related
connection to news, talk radio and television. So did you
I looked around to see what was going on. It
looked like there were a lot of stations that were
kind of filling in for the lack of information from
any other source, which is usually the case, always been
(13:32):
the case. That's one of the arguments that the AM
and FM radio people are making before Congress. Is now
necessary it is to have this stuff in cars. But
they were the only outpost I think, weren't they in
a seed.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
Radio radio, you know, there were a lot of radio
stations in that area, and some of them really came
through quite notably, and some of them, you know, obviously were.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
On autumn, which is a problem.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
But radio came through, and radio continues to come through. KRLD,
YEP came through, YEP News Radio and Austin KJCE did
a very good job. The Texas State Network did it
very well. And you know, I'm sure there are more.
(14:27):
We're going to be sorting all that out. But clearly,
clearly between the fact that we have all of these
natural disasters and we're going to continue to and there
are all kinds of private disasters going on out there, obviously,
disaster radio. Obviously radio as a hedge against the tyranny
(14:48):
of big tech and the Internet and the digital era,
not to replace it, not to go back to the
twentieth century, but to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The AM FM over the air podcasting system that we
call radio has a tremendous value, tremendous value to the
well being of the population, and this should just serve
(15:11):
as a reminder of that, and people should not be
so quick. Whether they're car manufacturers or electronics stores, it's
all spectrum of participants in keeping radio alive into the
twenty five century.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You did a up close and far out interview a
podcast with the people from c crane and it's at
talkers dot com. We were talking about that last week.
How does that play into this?
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Well, I mean I did the best I could, you know,
and this happened even before the floods. We set this
thing up with one of the leading manufacturers of radios.
We're not talking about a producer of content. We're talking
about a producer of the radio, the actual you know,
where is device, the machine. And you get some tremendous
(15:59):
inns sites as to what challenges that business faces, and
also the role of tariffs. You know, you know why
you can't find American made radios anywhere. That's crazy that
if you had to go out now and buy a radio,
it would prove quite challenging.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, it would, in fact. Yeah, that's a very good point.
So and then the other question is whether the news
talk folks are relying on social media, whether a social
media relying on the information that comes off the radio
and television, The news talk World, or is it the
other way around, or maybe is it a mix of both,
(16:42):
And how does that play into the modern day coverage
of something like this.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Social media is killing everything.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
It's becoming the way most people, especially in certain age groups,
get their information, and it's subject to all kinds of misinformation.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Right, and that's part of what played into the stations
that relied on that and the hosts that didn't do
as well as those who are actually able to get
the straight story from the people that were on the scene. Okay, well,
there's another item of interest for you to think about
as we're talking through the story list this week on
the Talk Radio Countdown show, Radio Countdown.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Counting down what America is talking about. Welcome to the
Talk Radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
All across America, Talk Radio at the Voices of Freedom.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Don't stop talk. All right, we continue another half hour
of informative talk. I say that proudly Michael Harrison, the
editor and publisher of Talkers Magazine. This year, We'll have
Stephen JJ Wiseman later in this half hour to talk
about the number three stories this week, the mass Firing's
ruling and the Iris church is ruling from the Supreme
(18:05):
court that'll be coming up, and the birthright citizenship order
that was blocked by a judge. That's number four. This week.
Maybe we talk about the ice rays if we have time,
the whole idea. Let me go back to the coverage
the studios that are on alert twenty four hours a
(18:25):
day down there television radio in Texas because of the
floods that I was going to say unprecedented. That's probably
not the right word, but certainly in our time, in
our recent memory, I don't remember there being this kind
of I remember the deluge like in Vermont a couple
of years ago, but there wasn't the type. The toll
of human life wasn't as severe as it was here,
(18:49):
and it may be that that number isn't even good.
A lot of people don't even know what the right
number is of people who are still missing and feared dead,
as they say, So you know, you think about that
and what it does. I remember, Michael, this is a
quick story of my past and radio back in the
(19:11):
in the nineteen seventies, working for a local station here
in the Boston area, and the boss was concerned about
how we had some horrible circum snowstorm. I don't remember
what it was, but there's something that sticks in my
mind from that experience. Every day he was talking about
the ratings, he would say to us, can you imagine
(19:34):
how great a our ratings is going to be? We're
out there, we're covering. And I thought to myself, well, yeah,
that's what the business is all about. But is it really?
Is it public service? You know, you listen, what's the story?
The airwaves belong to the public. They don't belong to
the station. The stations just lease them and so then
they sell them amongst each other, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. But what's the most important thing here? The
(19:57):
most important consideration is that the ratings that we get
from all these people that are listening, or is it
the fact that we're being good public servants?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
I think I would know philosophical question that I don't
realize that we do in society. You know, why is
somebody to be a doctor? Why does somebody become a lawyer?
Why does somebody run for office? Are they there for
getting re elected and having benefits or are they there
to serve the public. This is the complexity of psychology.
(20:29):
And you know what motivates people. I would hope that
there's a degree of pride in the profession and something
higher than it just being transactional or just being for
the benefit of the dollar. But on the other hand,
if there's no way to make a living at something
and succeeding in serving the public doesn't in some way
(20:50):
pay off, well, that kind of goes against our capitalistic
instincts and the freedom of the marketplace.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
So we're always caught that in that paradox, in that kind.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Of well, we always and we've always thought about the
rating services as being inept. Especially we didn't like the results, so,
you know, and it's it's been proven through the years
that they really didn't do a great job. The people
who was Arbitron and now it's Nielsen.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Radio is a very difficult Radio was a very difficult
medium to accurately measure, as movies and books and records,
and you know, there was box office, there were units moved.
You know, they know how many were manufactured, they know
how many were delivered, they know how many were returned.
But with radio listening and to a certain degree television viewing,
(21:48):
it's done in secret.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
People.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
You know, the ratings police are not sitting there in
the living room or in the car with you, and
it's much more difficult to get an accurate handle down
to the you know, the granular. I love that word information,
So it's understandable. It's hard to rate radio, think about,
think about the process. And that's why the word estimates
(22:12):
is a very important word in deciphering radio and television ratings.
It's estimates, whereas you know, a newspaper circulation or a
magazine is much easier to track.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yep, right on, all right. Donald Trump has promised more
tariff letters going out this week, this coming week, and
so what is coming number seven this week? The tariffs
and the IYO back and forth, up and down, sideways.
I had some people here a business meeting during the week,
and three of the fellas afterwards, one and two of
(22:48):
them are big Trump supporters, and they know that. I
think some of the things that are being done are great, frankly,
but I can't stand on the side foolishness, the side hustle,
if you will. And one guy said to me very poignantly, Yeah,
he's a narcissist, Yeah he's a jerk. Yeah he doesn't
make any sense. A lot of times, but look at
(23:10):
all the things that are being corrected. And so I
didn't argue with that point because I agree that he's
a narcissist and a jerk and all those other things,
and that there are things that are being done. And
then but my next I would have taken a couple
of beats if I was having that conversation with somebody
on the air. But at what cost do we think
(23:30):
that it is worth? Is the result of whatever is
going on? Is the is the toll? It's taking a
worth all of the uh? You know, well, is that
going to contribute to the to the outcome? There are
things that absolutely had to be addressed and must have
must be addressed. But are you going to just like
(23:52):
the Supreme Court says, okay, fire whoever you want. Well,
if you fire FEMA, you have Texas. Maybe you don't
even have to fire a FEMA and you still have Texas.
So maybe the argument is, well, let's fire him because
they're not doing their job. Cover something else. Right, what's
the argument here, Michael.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Well, the argument is what's the remedy. It's like, you know,
a doctor might diagnose your disease but then give you
the wrong prescription. It's not just a matter of identifying
the problem. You have to be able to correct the problem,
and you have to do it without collateral damage. So
we've only got half a formula going here, and it's
(24:32):
not complete. Just because somebody identifies the problem doesn't mean
that they have immediately discovered a cure.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I just find it an interesting listening and reading this
week about some of those who are Magas supporters that
are calling out Trump and how he's contradicted himself and stuff.
You wonder how much of that is going to play?
And it's now that forever, it's forever. This stuff goes
(25:03):
on day and night, every day, every night, and and
we're already talking about the elections that are a year
and a half away. Ah, this is gonna happen. You
hear these stories all the time on various programs. Yep,
that's what's going to happen. They're going to be defeated.
They're going down. Man. Okay, is that interesting? I suppose
(25:25):
that it's interesting to listen to, But then of what
value is it? And do we have to be providing
people with value? Is the conversation just have to be entertaining.
It doesn't have to be true, does it? You and
I have had this conversation before. You really come down
hard on the side of we have to be telling
(25:47):
the truth. You can't mislead people.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
Oh yeah, otherwise the whole thing is worthless. Otherwise it's crap.
I I mean, I'm totally into the entertainment, totally into
all of the different aspects of what the media is.
But I do believe that the character issue is the default,
that the base of how successful our public policy and
(26:12):
our politics will be is based upon our character as
a people. And if we don't have good character and
we don't demand somewhere in there at least an attempt
to tell the truth, even though it may be controversial.
They maybe people have different interpretations of the truth. But
if they're setting out to deceive, specifically for their own gain,
(26:33):
and deception is their goal as opposed to truth, then
we have major problems. And I can't get behind that.
I walk away from the business after all these decades
if I had to.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
But isn't that what's going on with the left right
stuff on the radio and on television.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
That's what's happening, targeting audiences, giving them what they want,
give them a shot at dopamine keep them happy. But
fortunately I'm not convinced that's the entire picture at this
time point, although I am quite concerned to say the least.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
M Yeah, well, we all have a lot to be
concerned about. Frankly, let's talk about the visit from a
mister Netanyahu in a matter of moments. Here a reminder
about the specials going on this weekend. Go to talk
at to talk radio dot com, Good Dog, to top
loss dot com. When you go to talk radio dot com.
If you'd like as well, go to talkers dot com.
(27:26):
You can find the list of stories and people that's
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at top loss dot com. So, mister Netanya, who comes
to town? Sounds like a movie, doesn't it. Mister somebody
comes to town and they have a state dinner for
them and there's lots of talking going on. There has
been even since Trump became president, has been this back
(28:10):
and forth. At first Netanya thought he was on his own,
and then Trump assured him that he wasn't. But isn't
Trump pretty much pretty of all of the things that
he's inconsistent about, hasn't he been very consistent about Israel
and the connection maybe because of the connection that the
(28:31):
that the Republicans or more conservative folks have with Israel.
And I've always wondered why that is. You and I
went to Israel once together, just the two of us,
and we spent a week talking to people, going to
the canesset and it was even you know, we've talked
before about meeting Netan Yahoo and what that experience was
all about, but it felt different. It felt like there
(28:57):
was at that time, there certainly was disagreement, like we
have here, various parties. They've got all kinds of parties there,
And so I guess I wonder sometimes whether it isn't
even this kind of stuff isn't just for show? Is
it a big show? He comes to town, Why does
he have to come to Tack, get on the phone
and talk to the president. What's coming to Washington, going
(29:20):
to do to help fix the problems in the Middle East.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
Well, the word show is a keyword here. And you
and I talked a little bit earlier about Wegg the
Dog and the impact of showmanship and displays and all
of these symbolic happenings to either distract the press or
(29:46):
form public opinion or support. And you're right, the show
aspect of it leaves a lot to be desired. And
the idea that we conduct, we conduct so much of
our marketplace of ideas activities on things called shows. I
always think about that. Well, I saw the President talking
(30:07):
on the so and so show. It's like, all of
these these conversations, all of this deliberation is taking place
on shows as opposed to symposiums, as opposed to meetings, summits,
you know, conclaves, shows, So that the whole show business
(30:29):
element dominates our politics at this point in time. And
as a result, there's a friviality of this sexual word.
It's frivolous on a certain level that it's very disturbing.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Mm I like that word friviality. As of this moment,
it's if Trump can just come up with pronouncements, Mike
can't we today as of this moment, friviality is a word.
You can take it to the bank. How's that all right?
So Michael Harrison from Talkers magazine here on the Talk
Radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
We're counting down what America is talking about. The Talk
Radio Countdown Show continues.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Talk Radio Countdown, and so it does. There are three
juicy items on the story list this week published at
talkers dot com for the listening and dancing pleasure of
those who listen to this program and for those I
want to know what's going on. Number of three, four,
and five all are juicy. I know. Three is the
(31:37):
Supreme Court and the church is ruling and the mass firings,
and it looks like the I think the Defense Department.
I saw a couple of things where they're already going
to start to fire a bunch of people, get rid
of them. I think that this is what is the
State Department as a leader. As we do this program.
(31:57):
The announcement came from Marc Rubio, You're fired. They got
that from Trump when he was on the Apprentice, right.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Interesting Supreme Court decision and you know
a lot of the times and I'm glad you asked
about it, because the media may not necessarily report it accurately.
The decision court just maybe it was an emergency order.
And kind of interesting was the fact that the court
(32:28):
did not indicate what its vote was, and they weren't
necessarily voting on the entire question to say whether Trump
has this power. But what they did say was that
it appeared that he would win on a later appeal,
and so therefore they would not issue an injunction to
stop him at this point. To me, one of the
more interesting aspects of this, Justice Jackson wrote a stinging dissent,
(32:55):
so we know that she voted against it, and said,
how the Court is just turning over to the president
all kinds of authority and doing away with what the
Constitution says the role of Congress would be. But it
also appears that judges Judge Justice Santa Mayor, one of
the progressives on the court, voted with the majority on this.
(33:16):
So technically, yeah, it doesn't mean that he has this power.
It does mean that they can't temporarily stop it. However,
one of the arguments, and it was a colorful language
used by one of the lawyers in this was saying
The problem with this is if you give this order
in this power, now, it's impossible to unscramble the egg.
(33:39):
And so if he's going to be able to make
all of these kinds of thousands of cuts without any
kind of congressional input, it would be very difficult to
change that later. And let's look at where some of
those cuts people are seeing. You're seeing it in Noah,
which deals with the weather, and there have been questions
(33:59):
about whether there were proper personnel to make warnings. In Texas. Uh,
there were cuts, uh, draconian cuts in FEMA. And we're
going to see how quick FEMA is there to resolve things.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (34:11):
The safety net provided by a lot of these uh uh,
these these agencies like VA is being gutted and people
aren't going to see that for a while, and then
it's going to come as a hard lesson.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
And the church is ruling, what do you make of that?
The I R s and and that that whole it
is a fiasco, seems it is.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
And you know, once again this is this is a
pandering of Trump to what he considers his base and
overturning really literally centuries of of rulings as far as
separation of church and state, and churches have exemption, but
that generally would not allow them to act politically. But
(34:53):
now they're saying no, they can. You know, so many
of his decisions like really they Similarly, the focus on
transgender there are so few transgender people, but this becomes
a major part of his agenda, and a lot of
it is just to appeal to supporters instead of looking
(35:14):
at really issues of much greater import including going into
health and human services. We have measles at a level
that it hasn't been seen in twenty five years. If
we get another not if when we get another pandemic,
if it comes during this Trump administration, we're not going
to be ready and it's all going to be the
(35:35):
fault of Trump and Kennedy.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
What about the ruling that requires the agents to unmask
and have some identity on them. Isn't that something that
is appropriate?
Speaker 7 (35:47):
Yeah? I do think it is, And you know, it's
one of these things they sometimes. I remember teaching us
in law school is that the strongest laws are the
ones that are unwritten and everybody knows just to follow.
So the fact of having masked law enforcement and masked
ice officials is just another way of both creating fear
(36:09):
in the public and also really to insulate them from
any kind of responsibility. So these are all serious, serious
things that right now the courts are just letting go through.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
All Right, Steven JJ Wiseman here with Doug Steff and
my hats off as we end the program to that
Coast Guard officer who saved one hundred and fifty people
during the Texas floods this past week. It's the Talk
Radio Countdown Show, The Top Radio Countdown.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
The Top Radio Countdown Show is a production of step
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Speaker 4 (01:06):
Counting down what America is talking about? Welcome to the
Talk radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
All across America. The talk radio and the Voices of Freedom.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Don't stop talk short of an organized summit. Every week
we get together Michael Harrison and Doug Stephen. Michael is
the editor and publisher of Talkers magazine, has been there
since its inception, and we'll be there until the twelfth
of Never. I have been on the radio. It seems
I'll be here until the twelfth of Never as well.
(01:40):
Once Michael described me as being the last man standing.
Let's see if that happens at any rate. We're here
to talk about the world of news talk for the
week of July seventh to the eleventh, and so we
have ten stories as usual on the list, and we
have ten people who are on the list that we
will discuss in some way, shape or form, who have
(02:01):
been discussed in some cases nauseum. So Michael, let's hit
let's let's hit the clock. We'll keep here, go through
there to.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
The clock is ticking. And yes, number at number ten,
and I have been here since my inception as well.
That's a funny line. And here since it's inception number ten.
The Iran nuclear capabilities at number nine, the Net and
Yahoo Trump visit at number eight, Musk's America Party at
(02:31):
number seven, the Trump tariffs at number six, Russia bombs
Kiev and the Trump Putin tensions.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The two are not getting along.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
I guess Putin is not a cuddly, fuzzy, happy little
bear that.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Trump thought he was.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
At number five, we have the Ice raids, and we
have the Masked Agents controversy at number four. The judge
blocks the birthright citizenship order. At number three, the Scotis
that stands for Supreme Court at the United States Mass
Firing's ruling tied with the IRS Church's ruling. And we
have at number two Epstein's client list mystery and number
(03:11):
one the deadly Texas floods, tied with the warning system scrutiny.
And that's our top ten. Actually more than ten stories
squeezed in. And here are the ten people at number ten.
Jerome Powell number nine, Greg Abbott number eight, Benjamin that
Yahoo number seven, Elon Musk number six, Vladimir Putin number five,
(03:34):
the effervescentt Caroline Leott at number four, the friendly, happy,
go lucky Stephen Miller at number three, the great legal
mind of all time Pambondi. Jeffrey Epstein is at number two,
and Donald Trump is at number one. What a cast
of characters, What an array of stories, And here we
(03:56):
are again, what.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A bunch of f ups. In fact, look at these people.
It's just what is it. There's an old expression about
a free meal, they'd they'd follow up a free meal
or something along that line. And how the Epstein thing
even came back to the surface is such. I mean,
(04:18):
it does kind of point out to those who would
watch and listen who are not suck ups, that there
are a lot of people that have been appointed to
a lot of jobs here that don't know what the
hell they're doing.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
And and one of them, one of them was Elon Musk,
who now has a vendetta against Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
That I wonder.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Okay, so here's an idea. It must can start the
America Party and maybe you can go to Russia and
start the Russia Party. He could have two wins here.
Oh yeah, I think I joined the America Party once
I find out what their basic premise is. We all
want to belong to something, don't we. Don't you want
to belong to placing?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Michael, I'm place to go, you know, right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I belong to the I belong to the Heavy hundred
at Tarker's magazine. So I guess I already belonged to something.
I don't have to join anything else.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
Hey, congratulations on that everybody. If you want to see
the Heavy hundred, go to talkers dot com. And our
esteemed colleague Doug Stephen is once again on that list,
a list that he has never failed to make since
its inception thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Wow, I seemed to not be able to get on.
Is the Radio Hall of Fame list? But that's another
story for another day.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That's people pick at them.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yes, there's an idea, Okay, So mister Nettan, Yeah, who
came to town. It was a big state dinner and
they talked a lot about what is supposed to be
happening in the Middle East. I didn't get a takeaway
from that, did you? Is there a takeaway? Or was
there just a big dinner and we had a lot
of talk take away?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The take away?
Speaker 6 (05:59):
The takeaway is that net and Yahoo has enormous influence
on the world politics, on on the world situation, and
that the relationship between net and Yahoo and Donald Trump
is as complicated as the relationship between Trump and the
The two people involved in perpetuating the Russia Ukraine war.
(06:20):
H that's the takeaway. The takeaway is what's the relationship
this minute? And who's who's who's wagging the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
How real is that whole thing?
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (06:34):
You know you talk about references to old movies, which
sometimes you and I do remember the movie Wag the
Dog and they had they had a fake war to
distract from other things.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Justin was I never saw the movie, but I know
what it's about.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I think it wasn't a hackman in it wasn't.
It wasn't by Yeah, God love them all right. So
we're going to drill down into some of the important
pieces here, not that they aren't all important, but some
maybe what is that expression from nineteen eighty four? All
(07:14):
pigs are equal, but more some pigs are more equal
than other others.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So the story animals as that animal farmwork.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I never remember with nineteen eighty four or animal farm,
but it fits here. All the stories are equal, but
some are more equal than others. And I think one
of them that has you got lots of splaining to
do is number five. These agents that run in to
grab the bad guys and deport them and by the way,
(07:41):
believe me, there are plenty of bad guys who are
here illegally. I believe that, But there are also a
lot of people that have been set out a way
that ought not to have been But why do the
agents wear masks? Shouldn't they be identified? That's part of
the controversy which we will deal with in a matter
of moments here in the talk radio Countdown show deark
stout with Michael Harrison. The problem that you have right now,
(08:05):
what's the number one? Everybody has problems, your problems, I
have problems. We all have problems. What's yours? Is that
your weight?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Ha?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Would you like a solution to that problem? You can say, well,
there are all these drugs that are being advertised on
radio and television everywhere, and I'm thinking of taking one
of them. Okay, not a bad idea because they've had
some results that are good. But you know what the
results will be in twenty years, because they haven't been
able to test it to know whether it is going
(08:36):
to have some impact on you other than something that
was good down the road twenty years. I'm not calling
to question your decision, but I'm suggesting that you take
an approach that maybe adds to the success quotion and
maybe you don't have to become so dependent on the drugs.
And that's using a product called calitron c a l
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(09:00):
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their products over that thirty year period because they're all natural.
Nothing is some. In a wonderful world, it'd be one
hundred percent success rate, but sometimes the chemistry doesn't work.
So eighty six percent not a bad number out of
one hundred are successful in losing weight and keeping it
(09:24):
off the non toxic way. I say that because no drugs,
no stimulants, none of that stuff, and yet it still
goes to work, rebuilds you, helps rebuild your core as
you are perhaps exercising whatever it is that it takes
to put the whole package together. May I suggest you
go to their website toploss dot com and see how
(09:47):
this program is going to work with you to help
you lose that weight and more importantly, keep it off.
That's why people are using it with the drugs, because
the drugs don't. You don't keep it eye. You't only
keep taking the drugs Ductlets say ninety days, and that's it.
Don't take it anymore. And then what do you do.
You have to keep yourself from losing, to keep yourself
from gaining the weight back, you go on Caldron. I
(10:10):
think my argument is pretty convincing. Let's see what you do.
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All right, so back with Michael and Doug on the overview.
What's going on in the news talk world, the deadly
floods in Texas and the failure of the state government.
It looks like we talk about the failure. There are
(10:53):
wonderful stories of rescues of people that were in jeopardy,
but they're also I think at this point one hundred
and seventy people or more as we do this program
who are still missing, and I'm going to tell you
they're probably never going to find them because they're under
twenty feet of mud, which is a shame because and
then apparently the what's her face, the ex governor that's
(11:16):
the director of no FEMA. Yeah right, Miss Her first
name is Christie, right, christ Yeah. I always thought she
was a forgettable character. But under the circumstances, they couldn't
do anything until she gave the okay. And how many
lives did that cost?
Speaker 6 (11:36):
She took her time. She took her time. Yeah, So
I'm now now they're blaming Texas. They're blaming the states,
of course, rights the federal government, as if the federal
government does not have a historic role in dealing with
these type of natural disasters.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Now it's the state's and.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
FEMA has never had a great record, no matter how
you look at it, but you still need some of
that aid, it would seem in these modern times. One
of the things that came out is that there is
some company in Texas that has been seeding the clouds
there to make it rain more, because Texas has had
the last and fifteen years a lot of problems with drought.
(12:18):
They've had extreme weather to rain, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. So now the FEDS are saying, well, the
real reason there was a problem is because this guy
sent stuff up into the air and seated the clouds
and made the rain worse. So anything to deflect from
responsibility is that part of the modern era, everybody blamed
(12:40):
somebody else, that is, is that what we have going on? Well,
it's not us, it's you.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
A lot of finger pointing going on, right.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
But in the maintime, meantime, I got all those kids
that were in that Christian camp man. There are parents
thinking about this, and I'm going to bet that there
are a lot of MAGA supporters that are thinking, well,
where were these people? Why didn't they respond? Why didn't
they help? Good question. We're here in the business of
(13:11):
talking about the media, the news media and it's related
connection to news, talk radio and television. So did you
I looked around to see what was going on. It
looked like there were a lot of stations that were
kind of filling in for the lack of information from
any other source, which is usually the case, always been
(13:32):
the case. That's one of the arguments that the AM
and FM radio people are making before Congress. Is now
necessary it is to have this stuff in cars. But
they were the only outpost I think, weren't they in
a seed.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
Radio radio, you know, there were a lot of radio
stations in that area, and some of them really came
through quite notably, and some of them, you know, obviously were.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
On autumn, which is a problem.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
But radio came through, and radio continues to come through. KRLD,
YEP came through, YEP News Radio and Austin KJCE did
a very good job. The Texas State Network did it
very well. And you know, I'm sure there are more.
(14:27):
We're going to be sorting all that out. But clearly,
clearly between the fact that we have all of these
natural disasters and we're going to continue to and there
are all kinds of private disasters going on out there, obviously,
disaster radio. Obviously radio as a hedge against the tyranny
(14:48):
of big tech and the Internet and the digital era,
not to replace it, not to go back to the
twentieth century, but to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The AM FM over the air podcasting system that we
call radio has a tremendous value, tremendous value to the
well being of the population, and this should just serve
(15:11):
as a reminder of that, and people should not be
so quick. Whether they're car manufacturers or electronics stores, it's
all spectrum of participants in keeping radio alive into the
twenty five century.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You did a up close and far out interview a
podcast with the people from c crane and it's at
talkers dot com. We were talking about that last week.
How does that play into this?
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Well, I mean I did the best I could, you know,
and this happened even before the floods. We set this
thing up with one of the leading manufacturers of radios.
We're not talking about a producer of content. We're talking
about a producer of the radio, the actual you know,
where is device, the machine. And you get some tremendous
(15:59):
inns sites as to what challenges that business faces, and
also the role of tariffs. You know, you know why
you can't find American made radios anywhere. That's crazy that
if you had to go out now and buy a radio,
it would prove quite challenging.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, it would, in fact. Yeah, that's a very good point.
So and then the other question is whether the news
talk folks are relying on social media, whether a social
media relying on the information that comes off the radio
and television, The news talk World, or is it the
other way around, or maybe is it a mix of both,
(16:42):
And how does that play into the modern day coverage
of something like this.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Social media is killing everything.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
It's becoming the way most people, especially in certain age groups,
get their information, and it's subject to all kinds of misinformation.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Right, and that's part of what played into the stations
that relied on that and the hosts that didn't do
as well as those who are actually able to get
the straight story from the people that were on the scene. Okay, well,
there's another item of interest for you to think about
as we're talking through the story list this week on
the Talk Radio Countdown show, Radio Countdown.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Counting down what America is talking about. Welcome to the
Talk Radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
All across America, Talk Radio at the Voices of Freedom.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Don't stop talk. All right, we continue another half hour
of informative talk. I say that proudly Michael Harrison, the
editor and publisher of Talkers Magazine. This year, We'll have
Stephen JJ Wiseman later in this half hour to talk
about the number three stories this week, the mass Firing's
ruling and the Iris church is ruling from the Supreme
(18:05):
court that'll be coming up, and the birthright citizenship order
that was blocked by a judge. That's number four. This week.
Maybe we talk about the ice rays if we have time,
the whole idea. Let me go back to the coverage
the studios that are on alert twenty four hours a
(18:25):
day down there television radio in Texas because of the
floods that I was going to say unprecedented. That's probably
not the right word, but certainly in our time, in
our recent memory, I don't remember there being this kind
of I remember the deluge like in Vermont a couple
of years ago, but there wasn't the type. The toll
of human life wasn't as severe as it was here,
(18:49):
and it may be that that number isn't even good.
A lot of people don't even know what the right
number is of people who are still missing and feared dead,
as they say, So you know, you think about that
and what it does. I remember, Michael, this is a
quick story of my past and radio back in the
(19:11):
in the nineteen seventies, working for a local station here
in the Boston area, and the boss was concerned about
how we had some horrible circum snowstorm. I don't remember
what it was, but there's something that sticks in my
mind from that experience. Every day he was talking about
the ratings, he would say to us, can you imagine
(19:34):
how great a our ratings is going to be? We're
out there, we're covering. And I thought to myself, well, yeah,
that's what the business is all about. But is it really?
Is it public service? You know, you listen, what's the story?
The airwaves belong to the public. They don't belong to
the station. The stations just lease them and so then
they sell them amongst each other, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. But what's the most important thing here? The
(19:57):
most important consideration is that the ratings that we get
from all these people that are listening, or is it
the fact that we're being good public servants?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
I think I would know philosophical question that I don't
realize that we do in society. You know, why is
somebody to be a doctor? Why does somebody become a lawyer?
Why does somebody run for office? Are they there for
getting re elected and having benefits or are they there
to serve the public. This is the complexity of psychology.
(20:29):
And you know what motivates people. I would hope that
there's a degree of pride in the profession and something
higher than it just being transactional or just being for
the benefit of the dollar. But on the other hand,
if there's no way to make a living at something
and succeeding in serving the public doesn't in some way
(20:50):
pay off, well, that kind of goes against our capitalistic
instincts and the freedom of the marketplace.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
So we're always caught that in that paradox, in that kind.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Of well, we always and we've always thought about the
rating services as being inept. Especially we didn't like the results, so,
you know, and it's it's been proven through the years
that they really didn't do a great job. The people
who was Arbitron and now it's Nielsen.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Radio is a very difficult Radio was a very difficult
medium to accurately measure, as movies and books and records,
and you know, there was box office, there were units moved.
You know, they know how many were manufactured, they know
how many were delivered, they know how many were returned.
But with radio listening and to a certain degree television viewing,
(21:48):
it's done in secret.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
People.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
You know, the ratings police are not sitting there in
the living room or in the car with you, and
it's much more difficult to get an accurate handle down
to the you know, the granular. I love that word information,
So it's understandable. It's hard to rate radio, think about,
think about the process. And that's why the word estimates
(22:12):
is a very important word in deciphering radio and television ratings.
It's estimates, whereas you know, a newspaper circulation or a
magazine is much easier to track.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yep, right on, all right. Donald Trump has promised more
tariff letters going out this week, this coming week, and
so what is coming number seven this week? The tariffs
and the IYO back and forth, up and down, sideways.
I had some people here a business meeting during the week,
and three of the fellas afterwards, one and two of
(22:48):
them are big Trump supporters, and they know that. I
think some of the things that are being done are great, frankly,
but I can't stand on the side foolishness, the side hustle,
if you will. And one guy said to me very poignantly, Yeah,
he's a narcissist, Yeah he's a jerk. Yeah he doesn't
make any sense. A lot of times, but look at
(23:10):
all the things that are being corrected. And so I
didn't argue with that point because I agree that he's
a narcissist and a jerk and all those other things,
and that there are things that are being done. And
then but my next I would have taken a couple
of beats if I was having that conversation with somebody
on the air. But at what cost do we think
(23:30):
that it is worth? Is the result of whatever is
going on? Is the is the toll? It's taking a
worth all of the uh? You know, well, is that
going to contribute to the to the outcome? There are
things that absolutely had to be addressed and must have
must be addressed. But are you going to just like
(23:52):
the Supreme Court says, okay, fire whoever you want. Well,
if you fire FEMA, you have Texas. Maybe you don't
even have to fire a FEMA and you still have Texas.
So maybe the argument is, well, let's fire him because
they're not doing their job. Cover something else. Right, what's
the argument here, Michael.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Well, the argument is what's the remedy. It's like, you know,
a doctor might diagnose your disease but then give you
the wrong prescription. It's not just a matter of identifying
the problem. You have to be able to correct the problem,
and you have to do it without collateral damage. So
we've only got half a formula going here, and it's
(24:32):
not complete. Just because somebody identifies the problem doesn't mean
that they have immediately discovered a cure.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I just find it an interesting listening and reading this
week about some of those who are Magas supporters that
are calling out Trump and how he's contradicted himself and stuff.
You wonder how much of that is going to play?
And it's now that forever, it's forever. This stuff goes
(25:03):
on day and night, every day, every night, and and
we're already talking about the elections that are a year
and a half away. Ah, this is gonna happen. You
hear these stories all the time on various programs. Yep,
that's what's going to happen. They're going to be defeated.
They're going down. Man. Okay, is that interesting? I suppose
(25:25):
that it's interesting to listen to, But then of what
value is it? And do we have to be providing
people with value? Is the conversation just have to be entertaining.
It doesn't have to be true, does it? You and
I have had this conversation before. You really come down
hard on the side of we have to be telling
(25:47):
the truth. You can't mislead people.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
Oh yeah, otherwise the whole thing is worthless. Otherwise it's crap.
I I mean, I'm totally into the entertainment, totally into
all of the different aspects of what the media is.
But I do believe that the character issue is the default,
that the base of how successful our public policy and
(26:12):
our politics will be is based upon our character as
a people. And if we don't have good character and
we don't demand somewhere in there at least an attempt
to tell the truth, even though it may be controversial.
They maybe people have different interpretations of the truth. But
if they're setting out to deceive, specifically for their own gain,
(26:33):
and deception is their goal as opposed to truth, then
we have major problems. And I can't get behind that.
I walk away from the business after all these decades
if I had to.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
But isn't that what's going on with the left right
stuff on the radio and on television.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
That's what's happening, targeting audiences, giving them what they want,
give them a shot at dopamine keep them happy. But
fortunately I'm not convinced that's the entire picture at this
time point, although I am quite concerned to say the least.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
M Yeah, well, we all have a lot to be
concerned about. Frankly, let's talk about the visit from a
mister Netanyahu in a matter of moments. Here a reminder
about the specials going on this weekend. Go to talk
at to talk radio dot com, Good Dog, to top
loss dot com. When you go to talk radio dot com.
If you'd like as well, go to talkers dot com.
(27:26):
You can find the list of stories and people that's
published there every week. And at the Caltrin website you
go find the specials of the weekend. Use the DOUG
code on all orders over fifty dollars and you can
see how they put together three and three. There's a
three pack of Caltrin with various other things that will
help you lose weight and keep it off and keep
(27:48):
your body in tip top shape. Check it out please
at top loss dot com. So, mister Netanya, who comes
to town? Sounds like a movie, doesn't it. Mister somebody
comes to town and they have a state dinner for
them and there's lots of talking going on. There has
been even since Trump became president, has been this back
(28:10):
and forth. At first Netanya thought he was on his own,
and then Trump assured him that he wasn't. But isn't
Trump pretty much pretty of all of the things that
he's inconsistent about, hasn't he been very consistent about Israel
and the connection maybe because of the connection that the
(28:31):
that the Republicans or more conservative folks have with Israel.
And I've always wondered why that is. You and I
went to Israel once together, just the two of us,
and we spent a week talking to people, going to
the canesset and it was even you know, we've talked
before about meeting Netan Yahoo and what that experience was
all about, but it felt different. It felt like there
(28:57):
was at that time, there certainly was disagreement, like we
have here, various parties. They've got all kinds of parties there,
And so I guess I wonder sometimes whether it isn't
even this kind of stuff isn't just for show? Is
it a big show? He comes to town, Why does
he have to come to Tack, get on the phone
and talk to the president. What's coming to Washington, going
(29:20):
to do to help fix the problems in the Middle East.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
Well, the word show is a keyword here. And you
and I talked a little bit earlier about Wegg the
Dog and the impact of showmanship and displays and all
of these symbolic happenings to either distract the press or
(29:46):
form public opinion or support. And you're right, the show
aspect of it leaves a lot to be desired. And
the idea that we conduct, we conduct so much of
our marketplace of ideas activities on things called shows. I
always think about that. Well, I saw the President talking
(30:07):
on the so and so show. It's like, all of
these these conversations, all of this deliberation is taking place
on shows as opposed to symposiums, as opposed to meetings, summits,
you know, conclaves, shows, So that the whole show business
(30:29):
element dominates our politics at this point in time. And
as a result, there's a friviality of this sexual word.
It's frivolous on a certain level that it's very disturbing.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Mm I like that word friviality. As of this moment,
it's if Trump can just come up with pronouncements, Mike
can't we today as of this moment, friviality is a word.
You can take it to the bank. How's that all right?
So Michael Harrison from Talkers magazine here on the Talk
Radio Countdown Show.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
We're counting down what America is talking about. The Talk
Radio Countdown Show continues.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Talk Radio Countdown, and so it does. There are three
juicy items on the story list this week published at
talkers dot com for the listening and dancing pleasure of
those who listen to this program and for those I
want to know what's going on. Number of three, four,
and five all are juicy. I know. Three is the
(31:37):
Supreme Court and the church is ruling and the mass firings,
and it looks like the I think the Defense Department.
I saw a couple of things where they're already going
to start to fire a bunch of people, get rid
of them. I think that this is what is the
State Department as a leader. As we do this program.
(31:57):
The announcement came from Marc Rubio, You're fired. They got
that from Trump when he was on the Apprentice, right.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Interesting Supreme Court decision and you know
a lot of the times and I'm glad you asked
about it, because the media may not necessarily report it accurately.
The decision court just maybe it was an emergency order.
And kind of interesting was the fact that the court
(32:28):
did not indicate what its vote was, and they weren't
necessarily voting on the entire question to say whether Trump
has this power. But what they did say was that
it appeared that he would win on a later appeal,
and so therefore they would not issue an injunction to
stop him at this point. To me, one of the
more interesting aspects of this, Justice Jackson wrote a stinging dissent,
(32:55):
so we know that she voted against it, and said,
how the Court is just turning over to the president
all kinds of authority and doing away with what the
Constitution says the role of Congress would be. But it
also appears that judges Judge Justice Santa Mayor, one of
the progressives on the court, voted with the majority on this.
(33:16):
So technically, yeah, it doesn't mean that he has this power.
It does mean that they can't temporarily stop it. However,
one of the arguments, and it was a colorful language
used by one of the lawyers in this was saying
The problem with this is if you give this order
in this power, now, it's impossible to unscramble the egg.
(33:39):
And so if he's going to be able to make
all of these kinds of thousands of cuts without any
kind of congressional input, it would be very difficult to
change that later. And let's look at where some of
those cuts people are seeing. You're seeing it in Noah,
which deals with the weather, and there have been questions
(33:59):
about whether there were proper personnel to make warnings. In Texas. Uh,
there were cuts, uh, draconian cuts in FEMA. And we're
going to see how quick FEMA is there to resolve things.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (34:11):
The safety net provided by a lot of these uh uh,
these these agencies like VA is being gutted and people
aren't going to see that for a while, and then
it's going to come as a hard lesson.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
And the church is ruling, what do you make of that?
The I R s and and that that whole it
is a fiasco, seems it is.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
And you know, once again this is this is a
pandering of Trump to what he considers his base and
overturning really literally centuries of of rulings as far as
separation of church and state, and churches have exemption, but
that generally would not allow them to act politically. But
(34:53):
now they're saying no, they can. You know, so many
of his decisions like really they Similarly, the focus on
transgender there are so few transgender people, but this becomes
a major part of his agenda, and a lot of
it is just to appeal to supporters instead of looking
(35:14):
at really issues of much greater import including going into
health and human services. We have measles at a level
that it hasn't been seen in twenty five years. If
we get another not if when we get another pandemic,
if it comes during this Trump administration, we're not going
to be ready and it's all going to be the
(35:35):
fault of Trump and Kennedy.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
What about the ruling that requires the agents to unmask
and have some identity on them. Isn't that something that
is appropriate?
Speaker 7 (35:47):
Yeah? I do think it is, And you know, it's
one of these things they sometimes. I remember teaching us
in law school is that the strongest laws are the
ones that are unwritten and everybody knows just to follow.
So the fact of having masked law enforcement and masked
ice officials is just another way of both creating fear
(36:09):
in the public and also really to insulate them from
any kind of responsibility. So these are all serious, serious
things that right now the courts are just letting go through.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
All Right, Steven JJ Wiseman here with Doug Steff and
my hats off as we end the program to that
Coast Guard officer who saved one hundred and fifty people
during the Texas floods this past week. It's the Talk
Radio Countdown Show, The Top Radio Countdown.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
The Top Radio Countdown Show is a production of step
On Maltam Gift, produced by mob K Sound and Recording
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