Faith, Fear, and Finding Truth in Troubled Times

Clay and Elsa reunite after two weeks apart, revealing they've finally met in person after three years of friendship and two years of co-hosting. The pair reflect on how their different perspectives create the perfect balance for the show.

• Minneapolis school shooting reveals society's failure to address mental health issues and gender dysphoria
• National Guard deployment in cities shows immediate crime reduction but lacks sustainability without policy changes
• Cracker Barrel's rebranding disaster demonstrates the consequences of abandoning traditional customer base
• CDL language requirements debate highlights the importance of safety regulations for commercial drivers
• Ukrainian conflict continues as Zelensky refuses to negotiate despite Putin and Trump's willingness to end fighting
• Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce engagement demonstrates brilliant celebrity branding and marketing strategy

Keep moving, keep shooting. Prepare for the re-release of Clay's electrifying novel "Keep Moving, Keep Shooting," book one in his gripping Terry Davis series. Experience an edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless. Get your copy of this highly anticipated re-release dropping July 4th.

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Elsa Kurt: You may know her for her uncanny, viral Kamala Harris impressions & conservative comedy skits, but she’s also a lifelong Patriot & longtime Police Wife. She has channeled her fierce love and passion for God, family, country, and those who serve as the creator, Executive Producer & Host of the Elsa Kurt Show with Clay Novak. Her show discusses today’s topics & news from a middle class/blue collar family & conservative perspective. The vocal LEOW’s career began as a multi-genre author who has penned over 25 books, including twelve contemporary women’s novels.

Clay Novak: Clay Novak was commissioned in 1995 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served as an officer for twenty four years in Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, and Cavalry units . He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2019. Clay is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and is a Master Rated Parachutist, serving for more th...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's the Elsa Kirk Show, with Clay Novak serving up
trending news and conservativeviews Brought to you by the Elsa
Kirk Collection and RefugeMedical.
And now it's time for the show.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
So I'm looking at this guy on this screen here and
you look familiar.
Do I know you from somewhere.
I feel like it's been forever.
It's been like a million years.
It's been two weeks.
I know how are you Clay.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm good and it's been two weeks, but in those two
weeks we actually met in personfor the very first time.
I know it's weird, but afterthree years of three years of
knowing each other and two yearsof doing this podcast, elsa and
I finally met.
I don't know if y'all saw it onsocial media or not, but here
it is.
Here it is here is.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Clay and Elsa finally together in person for the
first time ever.
And I'm with you, clay.
I don't know how many peoplehad any idea of this, like I
don't think probably a lot ofpeople don't really even know
the backstory, because we'vewe've been so blessed to acquire
some new, new friends whofollow the show and join us on
here.
Um, so, very quickly, guys, um,clay, clay and I met, like Clay

(01:17):
said, like three years ago,right, Um, I interviewed you for
your book keep moving, keepshooting, the, uh, the original
version, and and here's where itgot kind of funny so we did our
interview is great, liked eachother right off the bat.
It was just a really easy time.
And then, you know, as whathappens, we didn't.
You know, we were friends onsocial media, I think, but

(01:39):
hadn't spoken to each other in awhile.
And then you had the idea toreach out and say hey, if you're
, you know, looking for a guestagain, I'd love to come back on
and, you know, talk some moreabout cause, yeah, I think
you're working on your secondbook and all that kind of stuff,
right?
And at that same time, in thesame timeframe that you uh sent
that email, I was in the thoughtprocess that I wanted to add a

(02:04):
co-host, because I was justdoing it by myself and you know
it was fine.
But it gets for me and maybeeven for you guys, the viewers
and listeners it gets a littleboring listening to just one
person blather on about theirthoughts and opinions and blah,
blah, blah, and I was like gosh,I'd really like a co-host, but
who?
I just don't know.
Who, who would I pick?
How do I even go about findingsomebody that would be

(02:27):
interested?
Oh, it's going to be such aprocess.
And then I opened Clay's emailand I went hang on a second and
I pulled up our interview and Iwent yeah, this guy is like the
perfect counter to me, to mypersonality, because we're very
different.
We have the same kind of valuesand you know, and beliefs

(02:47):
generally and all that kind ofstuff, but different
perspectives, different ways andeverything.
I'm like and that's I don'twant.
I don't want another who wantsanother me.
You know everybody is supposedto say we all do, elsa, we all
do, it's okay, it's okay.
Stop, guys, stop.
No, I'm kidding, um.
So so I was like, oh, this isperfect, this is a great balance

(03:08):
, and and so I, without reallyhonestly giving it more than a
few minutes of thought.
Um, I'd love to say I'm a bigdeep thinker like that, but I am
.
It's not impulsive, it's justquick decision-making.
Um, I was like Clay would beperfect, I'm going to ask him.
And I did.
And you were like are you?
Are you serious, right?
Did you actually think I waskidding, or?

Speaker 3 (03:28):
I thought so, but it was very, you know, a little bit
surreal.
And so I was like, yeah, yeahand but that it's been two years
.
And, truthfully, we it wasreally right about now because I
think we came back like I did,I think, one episode, and then
you were like, hey, I've gotlike two weeks of vacation plan,

(03:50):
which has now become normal forus every year in August, and
you were like, so we did the oneepisode and then and, and then
we've been back since then andit's been two years solid.
So but we've never met people.
Like never in all of that timeI've never met in person.
And I was, you know, up nearElsa a couple of weeks ago
seeing some family and saw anopportunity and we went and had

(04:13):
lunch together and, you know,had a blast.
Listen, we were sitting acrossthe table from each other.
It was literally just like this.
It was the exact same.
It was so funny.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
It was so abnormally normal.
Normal yes.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
That's a great, great description, but you know, we
took that photo before we leftand then you posted it and I
reposted and I was just tellingElsa this before we started
recording, I got more responsesfrom people that were like
that's a lucky guy, I wish I washim.
Blah, blah, blah.
Let me tell you, folks.
I will tell you that Elsa iseverything in person that you

(04:48):
see on the screen.
That's honest truth.
She is exactly what you thinkshe is.
It was great.
It was great to have lunch andgreat to meet in person.
Listen, in two weeks off we gota bunch of stuff to catch up on
.
Story time is great, but, uh,we got some stuff to talk about
yeah so I'm actually really gladthat we could.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I'm so glad we started a littlebit, a little bit light,
because we we have to jump rightinto something that's really
heavy, um, really upsetting, andum, I honestly I'll be honest,
clay, I was absolutely dreadingeven talking about this.
I have such a hard time Mother,grandmother, father, I have

(05:33):
that these people aren't dealingwith this reality right now,
and obviously we know that thatis not the case, especially in
what we do as part of our chosenjob here to talk about the

(05:55):
incredibly difficult, upsettingthings.
I know that everybody alreadyknows.
All of our watchers andlisteners already know the story
.
I will recap this very quicklyfor you.
A brutal act of violence shookMinneapolis, minnesota, this
week when a 23, I thought it was22, but I have here 23-year-old
biological male Robin formerlyRobert legal name changed, so
I'm referring to this person asRobin Westman opened fire at

(06:19):
Annunciation Catholic School,killing two children and
injuring 17 others before takinghis own life.
Despite claiming a transgenderidentity, the facts are clear he
was a man who targeted innocentkids in a house of God.
Federal investigators areweighing hate crime charges
against Catholics.
The tragedy has reignited thedebate over mental illness and

(06:42):
security in faith-based schoolsand the destructive culture that
lies and denies truth andenables this kind of chaos.
So that's my personal takeawayon that.
What are your thoughts, clay,and your perspectives on this,
please?

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, just a little forewarning folks.
I'm pretty salty about this.
I'm pretty upset for a lot ofreasons my language might be a
little harsher than it normallyis.
When this happened, the firstreports came out, my brain did
what it does I went throughanalytics right away.
We've all learned.

(07:20):
I learned in the military foryears.
First reports are always wrong.
I waited.
I honestly didn't follow forprobably the first hour, maybe
two hours.
I learned in the military foryears.
First reports are always wrong.
So I waited.
I honestly didn't follow forprobably the first hour, maybe
two hours.
I didn't read anything about itother than headlines because I
knew the details were going tobe probably misreported or
misrepresented.
But my brain was cycling.
So it was initial reports ofMinneapolis, initial reports of

(07:42):
a Catholic school, and my brainwent to probably Somali, because
there's a heavy Somali Muslimpopulation, as we all know, in
Minneapolis.
So I went to domestic terrorismor terrorism in general, and
then you know the thoughts ofCatholics specifically, because
you don't see that often.
You know targeted religioussite.

(08:04):
So then I waited and everythingyou know, targeted religious
site.
So then I waited and everythingyou know kind of unveiled
itself with some clarity.
So then the reports came throughof a trans, you know,
individual, and then it wentimmediately to mental health,
which is what this is about.
And so you know, for those ofyou that do or don't know or
follow this, you know there's amanual for mental illness.
It's the DSM, I think.

(08:25):
Five is what it is.
Um, gender dysphoria, which iswhat leads people to a trans uh
procedure or trans lifestyle, isno longer classified as a
mental illness, which is tragic,because what it also says in
there is, while it's no longerclassified as a mental illness,
the people who suffer fromgender dysphoria and they've
renamed it to something else,something lighter, something

(08:47):
less offensive tend to sufferfrom significant other mental
illness issues or mentalillnesses, and that, and so you
know, they've clouded the issueby saying, yeah, they've got
mental issues, but this isn'tone of them, which I completely
disagree.
I think gender dysphoria,especially when it leads to

(09:07):
mutilation of your own body, youknow, is a mental illness.
That is a mental illness.
I think that we are, you know,softening this to the point
where we're excusing it.
There was a lot of follow-upyesterday about how many trans
or trans-associated people havebeen responsible for mass
shootings in the last few years.
The number is astronomicallyhigh if you haven't looked at

(09:28):
that.
And then immediately, of course, everybody turns around and
wants to pull guns instead ofsome of the key facts, which are
mental illness one.
Two parental responsibility.
By the way, this transitionstarted before this individual
was 18 years old, endorsed bythe parents, who I found out
this morning, and I don't knowif this I would assume 24 hours

(09:50):
or 18 hours afterwards, thisindividual's mother worked at
this school.
So now you've got a religioushate crime like there clearly
was motivation against eitherthe Catholic Church or the
mother who worked at theCatholic church.
You know I hate my parentsbecause they allowed me to do
this to myself.
We all know that there's.

(10:10):
You know, in a trans world,there's tons of stories of
regret that happened as thesepeople who transitioned as
children grow into adults.
I think that this person wassuffering from that and lashed
out.
You know, I think there was tonsof mental instability, anger,
issues, but of course, peopleand I'm taking a breath, people
like Jen Psaki and I've got alist of names in the back of my

(10:32):
head right now that I would liketo call her and others.
You know their immediatereaction is to blame guns and
not everything else associatedwith it.
And she, of course, also wentafter religion in a very
backhanded way.
I don't know if you saw hercomments, but it was the typical
thoughts and prayers aren'tenough, praying is not enough,
you know.
Basically she said yourreligion is irrelevant in this

(10:53):
discussion and that action needsto be taken.
Well, that's exactly what JenPsaki and people like her, the
liberal left, want.
They want to whitewash and ridthe nation of religion.
They want a godless thoughtprocess in anything and
everything that we do, and it'srelevant and it's apparent in
everything they say.

(11:13):
When you've got an adult likethis, who has severe mental
issues, who has no problemsgoing in and shooting and
killing children, this startswith the legitimization of
abortion.
I'm sorry, I don't care whatyour opinion is, but when you
start with it's okay to killunborn children, then all of
your belief system is basedthere.
The irrelevant value of humanlife goes out.

(11:36):
That is your baseline and Idon't want to hear any other
sympathy.
And I am so sick and tired ofthe excusal of the.
You know, oh well, thisperson's trans.
You know the mayor ofMinneapolis yesterday, you know,
was blaming Christians, wastelling Christians stop praying
to.
You know this is.
You know, stop blaming thetrans community.

(11:58):
Stop, you know, seriously, shutthe F up.
I'm tired of it, I reallyreally am.
Shut the F up.
I'm tired of it, I reallyreally am.
And everybody who is on boardwith this truthfully is sick.
They have serious, seriousmoral and ethical issues, and
Jim Kostacki is the epitome ofit right now, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Listen, if I nodded my head in agreement any harder,
I would have whacked myforehead on the microphone
because you are spot on, 100% ineverything that you just said.
I fully, fully agree and Iespecially love your reference

(12:38):
to justifying and excusing andaccepting normalizing because
they love that word normalizingabortion.
Yes, the devaluing of God-given, god-created life is
unacceptable in any way, shapeor form, and excusing and
justifying it is the beginningof the depravity, really.

(13:01):
And to allow and then we moveinto this agreeing with someone
with gender dysphoria that their, that their body, that they
were born in is wrong and badand they should mutilate it and
they should take hormones anddrugs and things to stop the

(13:22):
natural biological process ofyour body and your brain,
knowing we know now the impact.
We have enough cases and enoughstudies that have been done on
the long-term effects on this.
We witness what is happeningwith these people Mental illness
period, like that is what thisis.

(13:43):
It's not guns, it's not.
And, by the way, I'm not goingto.
You know, clay and I have had apretty longstanding agreement
that we're not going to giveplatform to these evildoers, to
these people showing the videosof the person.

(14:05):
They're out there, they're allover X If you want to see them.
We won't have our feelings hurtif you step away and want to go
watch those, and I'm notknocking you if you choose to
watch them.
We just agree that we're notgoing to be ones to give them
more of a platform than whatthey deserve.
I would rather give theattention to the victims and the

(14:27):
victims' families, and theother thing that I have been
doing and will always continueto do, despite the Jen Psaki's
of the world, is to pray for thevictims and for the families
and for the communities and forthis world and for this country
and everyone and everything init.
So, no matter what thesejackasses say to the contrary,

(14:49):
prayer is incredibly powerful,it is comforting, it is
effective, it does so much.
And for those that tell youthat your thoughts and prayers
are invaluable and they meannothing in cases like this, you
are incredibly woefullymisguided as to the power of

(15:10):
prayer and the purpose of prayer.
Prayer is not like rubbing agenie bottle and getting wishes
granted, and I think that'swhere some of these people tend
to get maybe willfully confusedabout it.
When we pray, we're not makingwishes to a genie.
We are praying for the outcomesand the things that we want,

(15:33):
but we are trusting in God andthat his will is greater than
our own and that his comfort cansustain us through the most
horrific moments and times inour life.
These are man-made incidents.
These are man-created, notGod-created.
God did not create whathappened here.

(15:54):
He is not responsible for it.
Evil people are responsible forit.
People who promote evil and whoinstigate evil and who justify
evil are to blame here.
So we turn to God to comfort usand to guide us in our words
and our actions and ourbehaviors.
And yeah, I mean that is thepurpose and the power of prayer,

(16:19):
and I do think that prayer isone of the most powerful,
meaningful things that you cando.
So if anybody tells youotherwise, pardon me, but they
can suck it.
So sorry, I had to go lowbrowthere for a second.
Somebody will come at me forlike, oh, you were doing so good
, elsa, until you said that,listen, there's so much more
that the me in me and this is myphrase that I like to use the

(16:40):
me in me would like to say thevery same words that clay wanted
to say as well um, I'm yeah, soyeah, um, and I.
I learned from you clay in, intaking that pause in the
commenting and the sharing andall of that um, because, as, as
I've been open with before, Ihave bitten my own bottom in the

(17:04):
process of, you know, doingthat, sharing things too soon
and without knowing.
And I did as I researched someimages and things for this topic
, I came across the first earlypostings of what was happening
and, of course, it was a pictureand a name of somebody
completely different than who itended up to be and they're like
this is the you know reportedshooter and this is their name

(17:26):
and their picture and all thatstuff, and like it's just some
dude.
It's just some dude who hasnothing to do with anything.
But yeah, what it comes down tois that we have to actually
address the deeper issues here,which is the mental illness,
which gender dysphoria is ahundred percent a part of that,
that needs to be reinstated intothat, that those documents that

(17:46):
you were mentioning needs to beput back in there.
And, honestly, I think anyonewho is and maybe I'm, maybe I'm
getting wild here, but Ipersonally feel like anybody who
is performing these surgeriesand prescribing these altering
drugs and medications,medications and these parents
who are, you know, championing?

(18:07):
Championing this, um, I feellike it's criminal.
I, I feel like it's criminal.
I, I truly and genuinely do.
There needs to be a greater,broader accountability for the
mental decline that is happening, because it's not just like wow
, how did this happen.
There's a very clear path thatyou can see, because it's not
just like wow, how did thishappen.
There's a very clear path thatyou can see how it's happening.

(18:29):
So to deny it is just simplysticking your head in the sand
and pretending that that's notthe case.
And the other thing, clay, Iwanted to touch on with that is,
you know and this is definitelya big left and right divide
obviously I want to see armedguards outside of these schools.
I want to see armed, I want tosee people who are able to be

(18:52):
armed in these facilities,whether it's a school or a
church, whatever the case is.
Guns allowed, signs and rulesout of your spaces where they're
, particularly especially wherethere are children bullshit that
you don't think those kidsshould be protected at all costs

(19:13):
.
You're going to protect, uh,celebrities and politicians and
government people.
I mean, are you kidding me?
Right now, they're protected byarmed guards and gates and
walls and locks and all of thosethings, but our children, the
most precious thing on theplanet, is not going to be
protected.
Screw you, bullshit.

Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, and I'm, you know, I've always been an
advocate for the number onething that stops a bad guy with
a gun is a good guy with a gundone.
I've also said many, many timesthat there's an entire veteran
population that has, you know,that would love to be involved

(19:55):
in this type of protection.
And listen, I'm honest and Iunderstand who.
You know who I am and where youknow my background lies and the
people that I have served withover the years Not everybody
just because you're a veterandoesn't mean you're cut out for
that kind of work and therestill needs to be vetting done
and those kinds of things.
However, I think there's a lotof availability out there and a
lot of people who would want todo that, to take that on, and I
think it's appropriate at thispoint for all the reasons that
you said, which is, we guardeverything, up to and including

(20:17):
our money, with armed guards,but we don't guard our children,
and I think it's misaligned.
I think you know this is anenvironmental nature versus
nurture kind of discussion aswell.
The state of Minnesota isclearly a place that has some
issues environmentally and I'mnot going to blame everything on
Governor Walz.
Okay, as much as I would liketo, because the guy's a big
dum-dum and he's got his ownissues.

(20:37):
But you know this is wellbefore him and you know.
But it's nurtured by peoplelike him in that state, clearly
so.
And I'm not hating on all ofMinnesota, people don't freak
out.
But but if you live there, youprobably know and realize what
you're living in Very much.

(21:00):
Like you know people who livein and around New York City or
live in Southern California orlive outside of Chicago, like
those folks know that thedebacle that their states and
their localities are in, and I'msure if you live in Minnesota,
you probably feel it as well,especially if you're a
conservative.
So you know that that is a,it's an issue across the board.
You know, and, please, you knowJeff Psaki again comparing us I
think it was her comparing usto Europe like, oh, all these
European countries have figuredthis out.
Why, you know?

(21:21):
Yeah, I know, but they haveknife attacks every day and
they're hurt with it, right, youknow?
And, truthfully, for a bunch ofliberals who keep calling
President Trump a dictator, youwould think that getting rid of
guns is about the last friggingthing that they really want to
do, right?
So it's all disconnected andit's all messaging and it's all
bullshit because they just wantto get rid of guns.

(21:43):
You know, I'm not a conspiracytheorist to the point of where
this was a planned and plantedincident for that specific
purpose.
There are a lot of people outthere who are like that.
I believe this is, you know,just a simple case not simple,
but a case of, you know, mentalillness and a severe problem
with an individual, and that'skind of where we sit.
Let's not belabor this anymore.

(22:04):
This is a terrible topic and Ithink we did it all.
So not that we've got a lotmore light until maybe the end,
but We'll get there, guys.
We will.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
We've got a couple lighter ones.
We've got to get through thetough stuff first and to close
out, you know, for my Christianfamily out there, I want to
close out that topic with justsaying to you the Lord is near
to those who have a broken heart, and that is from Psalm 34, 18.
And that's a little stick it tothe Jen Saki's of the world.

(22:31):
So, yes, I close it out with alittle little faith and a little
snark.
Let's move on to the troops inour cities.
Law and order or politicaltheater.
You take it from the top, goahead.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
Yeah, so I'm not a fan of this and I know there's a
lot of folks who are fans ofPresident Trump and that are
fans of this, my, my.
The reason I'm not for this isbecause it's not sustainable,
clearly, in the short term.
There has been a massive impactin Washington DC.
All the stats show it.
Crime is down, violent crime isdown.
Um, you know, street vendorsare saying this is great, I can

(23:06):
actually walk around and not beworried about getting mugged or
or or whatever, and the impacthas been immediate.
Um, so that is that's.
I'm not against it for thatreason, but I'm against it
because the policy in the cityof Washington DC and as this
expands to other cities, whichis probably what's going to
happen until you change thepolicy, until you implement more

(23:29):
law enforcement you know,capability in terms of officers
or whatever it is, or even justpolicy and prosecution by
state's attorney, districtattorneys this doesn't change
unless you keep the NationalGuard there forever.
I wrote a blog about this thisweek and they can't stay there
forever.
None of us need them or wantthem to stay there forever, so

(23:49):
there has to be a bettersolution and, in the meantime,
most of those National Guardmembers are not trained to do
this.
And now we're going to arm them.
They've been authorized tocarry pistols and, in some cases
, rifles, and things have beenfairly quiet in Washington DC.
I would tell you, if it expandsto places like Chicago, it may
not stay quiet.
And now you've got these kids,these National Guard members,

(24:10):
men and women, standing onstreet corners who are now at
risk, and not just of gettinginjured but of injuring someone
else.
Right, and I know it's easy tosay that's what they signed up
for, but in a law enforcementcapacity and you understand this
as a cop's wife.
You know these kids are nottrained police officers.
They are not trained to enforcethe law.

(24:31):
They're being put in place toaugment the police department,
but if you're short, pick yournumber 2,000, 4,000, 8,000
officers when the National Guardleaves these cities go back to
what they were, and that's why Idon't like this as a solution.
It's soldiers on our streets aspart of law enforcement.
None of us should be happyabout this as a long term

(25:00):
solution, but the problem isthere is no other long term
solution, and that is mygreatest fear Right Now.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Those are great points, that's, you know I've I
have felt conflicted about it,you know.
You see, I agree.
You see, you see, the shortterm results, where the crime
stats are, have gone downdramatically, and that's, you
know, that's a big yeah, that'sexactly what needed to be done.
So, you know, I guess myperspective would be pretty

(25:26):
similar in that, like, listen,if we're calling this a reset,
like this, we just hit therestart button and just kind of
brought it back down to morenormalcy, I guess, more law and
order, wonderful.
But yeah, what's, what are thenext steps?
And how do you walk them backnow and give this power back to?

(25:46):
And I think I think the answeris that, you know, we have to go
to even the courts.
Like, we can't get the courtsto do what they're supposed to
do, which is lock up bad people.
They keep sending them out.
You know so.
And my heart, as, as is obvious, and of course you know and
anyone who knows anything aboutme, my heart always immediately,

(26:07):
automatically goes to lawenforcement, because they are
out there trying to do theirdamn job, which is make the
streets safer for people and forcitizens, and to just simply do
their job, and they do theirjob, and they do the job, and
then the courts let them outagain, and it's just this and

(26:27):
this has been going on.
This is decades long.
This isn't anything new.
This is why we've gotten towhere we're at Right, to why
it's so bad, exactly why we'vegotten to where we're at, right
To why it's so bad?
Exactly right, you know.
So, you know I guess the answeris is it even an answer?
Like the solution has to becomehow do we get the courts to do
what they're supposed to do?

(26:47):
And I know that that's, youknow, easy to ask and harder to
answer, because you know you'retalking about overcrowding in
prisons and this and that andhow we categorize crimes, and
you know, I know that this issuch a bigger conversation than
what I'm making it sound likehere, but it has to be addressed

(27:08):
Like we can't just go.
Well, that's really hard, Iguess we can't do anything about
it.
No, you kind of have to dosomething about it.
And you know and I love that, Ilove this as a first step, I
love this, as you know, whatfeels like the reset button for
you know, these cities and theseareas that are just so overrun
where people, you know, justdon't feel safe going out

(27:32):
anywhere.
So great, restart.
But make a plan for what's next.
And I don't know, clay, I mean,are they?
Have you heard anything likeokay, so here's, we've, we've
done this, we've got theNational Guard out there, we've
kind of restored the, the peaceand law and order here.
Next we're going to have youheard anything.
No, so, that is I agree that isa problem Like we need what's

(27:53):
next, like what do we do?
What are we going to allow thepolice to do?
You know, basically, myquestion is more of are we going
to allow the police to actuallydo their jobs, and are the
courts going to enforce the laws?
You know and I think that'sthat's kind of where I'm
standing on it that you know,are the courts going to enforce
the laws and if not, what are wegoing to do about that?

(28:13):
Right, I don't know.
What are we going to do?

Speaker 3 (28:14):
about that, right, I don't know.
Yeah, you know you've got, andPeople I've seen people like, oh
well, you know they'retargeting all of these blue
states when really crime ratesin red states are higher.
And the reality is is that youknow the crime rates in blue
cities inside of red states arewhere the problems are Right.
But when you've got a placelike let's just take, you know

(28:36):
you could take New York, youcould take Chicago, you could
take LA, where you've got a, youknow, democratic governor,
you've got a Democratic mayor.
I mean, listen, chicago hasn'thad a Republican mayor in over
100 years, 100 years, Right, um,so and and and again, a

(28:57):
democratic governor, ademocratic mayor.
You know the district attorneysand all those like all of that.
You know this is the result ofdecades and decades and decades
of of just decay, um, and that.
I hate to say this, but I thinkSeattle falling apart, portland
falling apart, san Franciscofalling apart, which they are,
as we've, we've talked about onthe show, um, is not enough.

(29:18):
One of our top five major metroareas is really going to have
to collapse for there to be thebacklash against local politics,
in other words, mayoralpolitics, to fix this.
New York was in the 70s was amess, right, and then you know
you had Giuliani and right, somethings changed and that was a

(29:39):
great.
But people have forgotten,right, people, people have
forgotten how bad that was andthe pendulum swing to better and
now they're swinging back theother direction and I think you
need to see that again.
In a place like Chicago or LosAngeles and you know to go back
to New York again, for thatmatter, to for people to take
this seriously, you know to, orback in New York again, for that

(29:59):
matter, to for people to takethis seriously, but there's no
exit strategy for the NationalGuard right now.
So I'm, I'm I'm dismayed thatthis is.
People are settling into this.
I don't like it.
We should remain uncomfortableand truthfully demand out of the
White House, who implementedthis, to say okay, like you said
, what's the next step, what'snext right, where do we go from
here?
We can't sit back and say, okay,everything's cool.

(30:19):
We're selling hot dogs on thestreet again.
That's great, right?
The National Guard's got to gohome at some point.
Like this can't be permanent,so we got to figure that piece
out before you know, before itbecomes permanent, and none of
us none of us should want that.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, I agree, I want to move on to
something I wouldn't.
I don't know if I'd call it fun, but is it even funny?
I mean it's.
It's kind of funny in the sensethat, wow, we are.
We are, as a society, spendinga lot of time talking about a
chain, restaurant, logo, chainchange, Like we are spending a

(30:56):
lot of time and energy investedin this and I, I didn't,
honestly, I didn't have a wholeheck of a lot to say about it.
So I wasn't saying anythingabout this, clay, for I don't
know, the first several days, ifnot longer, of this whole saga,
Frankly, because I didn't careand I just didn't.

(31:17):
I mean, like I feel a littlebad, you know, seeing how
emotional people got over thewhole thing.
I got, as you know, Clay, I gotan email from somebody.
Well, let me backtrack just atiny bit here.
I was perusing, which I don'toften do and I do very short
amounts of it.
I was perusing, which I don'toften do and I do very short
amounts of it.
I was perusing the commentssection of one of my videos and

(31:41):
someone had kind of had nothingto do with Cracker Barrel or
anything like that, and somebodyhad made the comment that, Elsa
, I haven't heard you sayanything about Cracker Barrel
yet.
I'm curious what your opinionis.
I'm paraphrasing, but that waslike the gist of it and I was
like somebody wants my opinionon Cracker Barrel.
I mean, who am I?

(32:02):
I'm losing my headphones here.
You know, who am I todisappoint somebody who wants my
opinion that I just love togive.
So I, you know, I gave thewhole thing a little bit of
thought and I kind of justevaluate my thoughts and
opinions on this and I was like,okay, so let's see, I have been
to Cracker Barrel maybe threeor four times in my life.

(32:26):
My opinion is that you know,it's cute and quaint and like,
this is the gist of what Iposted.
Basically, you know it was cuteand quaint.
The food was kind of justaverage.
You know it's like stuff that'slike pre-made and heated up, I
think.
You know.
I'm sorry Cracker Barrel ifthat's not correct, but that's
kind of how it seemed.

(32:47):
I don't know, Maybe it is madefresh, I don't know.
Sorry, guys, because people, asyou're going to find out, get
very emotional about this.
As you're going to find out,get very emotional about this.
I thought the times that I'vebeen there that I can recall the
staff was very nice andfriendly.
I personally thought the littlestore to the side of the place
was, you know, overpriced.
But cute stuff in there it'sjust not stuff that I would buy,

(33:10):
but it was a prettyunderwhelming impression.
I'm not really knocking it, butI'm also not like raving about
it either.
It's just whatever to me.
They are not going to, theydon't vote for me anymore, they

(33:34):
don't endorse me and they don'tlike me and they're mad at me
and they're getting.
They're not going to follow meanymore because of the terrible
things that I said about CrackerBarrel, which is like an
institution and, you know, aniconic, like I don't know.
My opinion first of all, wasthat valuable?
I will be more careful.
I will be so much more carefulwith the weight of my words
going forward.
Like it was the most bizarrething to me and you know I bring

(34:07):
it on myself by by making myemail address accessible to
people.
It was kind of meant as alisten.
This is business, this is myjob.
This is my business.
This is what I do for a living.
I know that there are people inthe world that do not consider
what I do and what you do, a jobthat it's not real work.

(34:30):
I'm sorry to disappoint you andto anger you further, but it is
actually a job.
I spend many hours a day everyweek doing this stuff.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
But that's from my emails there that was Mr Elliot
which we posted on social media.
No, I still think we shouldhave on the show.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Come on the show.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
Yeah, but so, interestingly enough, folks, so
we're this.
We haven't done this yet.
This is oddly Thursday morning,thursday morning, so you're
going to see this tonight.
This is oddly Thursday morning,thursday morning, so you're
going to see this tonight, butThursday morning we're recording
this.
I did in our normal rhythm withElsa.
I sent a list of topics onMonday and of course, cracker
Barrel was one of the top two orthree on the list.
It was even before theMinnesota incident yesterday,

(35:09):
which we added this morning, bythe way, but you know Cracker
Barrel was on there and from thetime that I sent that on Monday
to this morning, thursday, thiswas all flip dope, right.
Cracker Barrel has reverted.
They are going back to theirold logo.
I don't know if they're goingto.
You know they had a handful ofrestaurants that had been
converted from this old likeseery, you know antique crap
hanging on the walls.

(35:30):
That was their vibe.
It always was, yeah, but they,you know know, they kind of
whitewashed it a little bit.
They went to a lighter color,gray, and some other things, and
you know.
So I don't know if they'regoing to flip those restaurants
back or not, but they are goingback to the old um logo.
But I read a thing yesterday andthis was about an investor, um,
and and I'm not going to tryand remember his name I do know
that he is a um, high, high endinvestor, uh, investor in

(35:54):
Cracker Barrel.
I know that he owns some otherthings, the guy's a high money
guy.
But in 2024, this CEO, who'sresponsible for all this, came
out and sent a letter to theshareholders and was like hey,
these are all the things thatwe're going to do, and a lot of
it was.
You know, make friends with theLGBTQ community.
You know, make Cracker Barrel asafe space, blah, blah, blah,
blah.

(36:15):
And he like threw a conniptionthing.
He was like this is crap, thishas nothing to do with our
business, this has nothing to dowith our business model, this
is not the targeted audience,you know, and all this other
stuff.
And he told he wrote some likeeither seven or 11 page letter
in response to her you knowstate of the company.
He warned everybody a year agothat this was going to be a

(36:36):
disaster.
Sure enough, and sure enough,it rolls around and it happens.
And then there's been thisquick turnaround on, you know,
on, basically because of the youknow the outcry from the the
customers on.
They don't like this.
And listen, I get it.
You know, if you're a, I likethe food.
It and listen, I get it.
You know, if you're a, I likethe food.

(36:56):
It's very like everything'scovered in gravy, which.
I'm a huge fan of, but I had agood friend of mine that I used
to work with, who was a manager,managed a Cracker Barrel and
they have a great.
Cracker Barrel is actually alot of companies model their
manager development programafter Cracker Barrel because it
is very thorough, it's veryintense and they take it very,

(37:18):
very seriously.
So there's some great businesspractices in Cracker Barrel.
You know the store's cool.
You know whatever Like ifyou're a Gen Xer, like every
candy from when you were a kidis in there, which is kind of
awesome.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
But yes, the other stuff you can get everything in
there, from like beard balm to,like you know, an apron with a
tractor on it right andeverything.

Speaker 3 (37:40):
Yeah, it's cute stuff in there.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
It's maybe, maybe because I'm not a famous person.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
Yeah, yeah, this was a horrible business decision for
that audience.
What they should have done wasconcentrate on the other pillars
in her letter, which werehigher quality customer service,
higher quality food you know abetter kind of, you know
environment or company culture,and they should have put their
effort into that instead of therebranding and everything else.

(38:04):
And clearly that part of it isbackfired and, after losing
hundreds of millions of dollarsin stock value and revenue,
they're getting killed and andso what?
What people don't realize, whythis money guy flipped out a
year ago was because crackerbarrels revenue over an 11 year

(38:26):
span.
Like was it added a billiondollars in revenue but their
profit decreased.
Like they were still profitablebut their profit went from.
They were still profitable buttheir profit went from.
You know, let's just call itlike it went from maybe 175
million to you know like 142million, even though their
revenue, their intake, went upby a billion dollars.

(38:49):
They're, you know they're yeah,it's crazy.
So he was like this is notfixing the problem.
We have a problem.
This is not fixing the problem.
We have a problem.
This is not fixing the problem.
And you know she proceededforward and the question is is
how long until she resigns or isfired, now that they have said,
hey, we're going backwards onthis, we're going back the old
man in the barrel, et cetera.
So keep your eyes on CrackerBarrel, folks.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, it's that whole.
You know, woke mind virus Likeyou know, woke mind virus.
Like you know, this is, this iswhat happens.
Like you know, you hiresomebody who is incapable of
reading the room and think thatthey're going to fix the problem
.
You can't even.
You don't even, you shouldnever even been hired.

(39:37):
Like question number one do youunderstand our demographic?
Like here's, like, let me, letme write your questionnaire for
your, your prospective CEOs.
Do you understand ourdemographic?
Do you know who, since I was,you know, reprimanded so
aggressively for my opinionsthere, you know, I have been

(39:58):
reading a little, a little bitmore and it's actually very,
very charming the, the therewere people who put in the
comments section were sogracious to put in the comments
section their stories of theirexperiences in Cracker Barrel
and what Cracker Barrel actuallymeant to them and means to them
, and it's.
It was actually very sweet andvery touching that, um, cracker,

(40:18):
like there were a lot oftruckers that came in and said,
listen, that is where I would go, uh, you know, on those long
halls, um, that's where I wouldstop for my meals and it was
like a little slice of home.
It felt like home cooking andatmosphere and it made me feel

(40:40):
better and it made me feel goodand that like touched my heart.
I'm like, oh, now I feel reallybad about being kind of flip
about this and like whatever, Ididn't know.
So I do apologize again, likethis time more genuinely, that,
Listen, I did not know theeffect.
I'm not from the South.
I know Cracker Barrel just cameto my area.
Well, it's probably been aroundfor like a decade or more, but
I remember when it came to ourarea and I was like what the

(41:01):
heck is Cracker Barrel?
I didn't even know.
So forgive me for my ignorance,guys.
But yes, but it's okay.
It's technically okay that Idon't know.
I don't work for Cracker Barrel, I'm not making decisions on
their stuff and things, whichyou should all be thankful for.
But yeah, if you want torebrand, if you want to update
that logo, just like keep theessence of it and just make it a

(41:24):
little newer looking.
You know, I don't know, keep Ithink it's Uncle Herschel, I
think is the guy, the guy in thebarrel.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
I think you're right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yep, you know, keep him, keep the barrel, keep
everything, just brighten it upa little bit.
You know, keep him in hisoveralls.
Don't even change the overalls,but just refresh.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah, there's nothing .
There's nothing.
It's a business decision and Iget, rebranding is what it is
and companies need to go throughthat.
And actually I give CrackerBarrel, the corporation, whoever
it is some props, because theywere a lot quicker to respond
and rebound than, say,anheuser-busch yeah Right, and
some other companies who havesuffered from the go broke Right

(42:01):
, you know they heard loud andclear and they were like all
right, ceasefire, we're not.
It's been a horrible week,let's stop doing this.
So good for them.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
Right, and you know, and this is not in the thing
that they and for several of thetopics our first topic and and
this one is, well, you know, theleft will automatically go to,
you know, a.
This is trans hate, this islgbtq hate, this is, you know,
all the phobias that they, youknow, blah, blah, blah phobia.
Uh, no, it's not, it's, it's alove and an appreciation for
traditional values.

(42:30):
Uh, for, and you can do and behowever you choose to be.
I don't hate you for it.
Um, in fact, I love you and Iwant the best for you and I want
you to have your best lifepossible and all the love in the
world, and I want your mentalhealth to be great.
So it's not about that.
It's about you can like whatyou like, we can like what we

(42:52):
like, and if Cracker Barrel hasalways appealed to a certain
demographic, a certain crowd, sothat's who you're focusing on
those.
Everybody else is, everybody'swelcome, everybody is welcome,
but this is the key audience forthat.

Speaker 3 (43:06):
So that's who goes there.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yeah, that's who goes there you know, and it's not
that nobody else is welcomethere, but you attract who you
attract.
I mean, stop making it up.
Everything has to be a thing,so exhausting Clay.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
All right, all right, we spent a lot of time on
Cracker Barrel.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
We got to move on.
Less fun.
Again we're bringing it.
We're like we're on a rollercoaster today.
With this right we're goingback down.
This is awful oh my goodness,awful awful this is.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
You know, folks, this is a lot of things, um, but
this is a direct result of youknow, uh, the immigration policy
, the previous administration.
Okay, this individual came here, uh, indian, had a co-driver
with them.
For those of you, I'm sureeverybody's tracking this by now
.
But you know, tractor trailer,long-haul truck driver made an
illegal u-turn, crushed a aminivan with, killed a family of

(43:57):
three and then immediately fledback to California.
This happened in Florida.
Right, caught, the guy broughthim back to Florida, found out
that illegal immigrants, foundout that California illegally
gave him a CDL.
You know all of the things thatyou know, we knew and assumed
was happening as a result of thepoor immigration policy based

(44:19):
on the last administration.
This guy is it?
So?
And now we're turning it back.
Right, the guy's going to getdeported.
I think.
I think that the state ofCalifornia should be held
somewhat responsible for issuingthe illegal CDL to this guy.
And and I am a fan, I know, Iknow people say we keep taking
jobs away from non-Englishspeakers, but if you can't know

(44:44):
and understand and read therules of the road in the United
States, then you shouldn't bedriving.
This is not about your abilityto speak English.
It's about your ability to knowand understand the rules
associated where you can riskthe lives of, say, a family of
three and a frigging minivan.
So you know President Trump andSecretary of Transportation
Duffy, you know who's saying gotto speak English to drive a

(45:05):
truck?
Great, I think it should be thatway.
You know you can't drive aroundand other you would be
surprised.
But if you have never been toanother country and tried to see
what it's like to get adriver's license, even for a
passenger car in another country, good luck.
You actually, in Germany, youhave to be able to read and
write German because you have tobe able to understand the right

(45:26):
signs.
It's all of those things thatyou know.
People here in America are likeoh, this is targeting illegal
immigrants.
Yeah, it is, but it's thesafety fact.

Speaker 2 (45:35):
Right, yeah, so you know, I think the overwhelming
problem I think that we have inthis society, in this country,
is that we live in this and I'mbeing a you know, this is
obviously a generalization whenI say this we, when I say we, we
live in this bubble where weare so grossly unaware of the

(45:56):
policies and the rules in othercountries and we think that
these expectations are so insane.
You know that we should haveborders, that we should have
these rules, that you shouldhave to be able to speak English
in order to get your driver'slicense, especially a CDL
license, I mean any licensereally but you know, there's

(46:16):
this perception that this is acruel and unfair thing and
un-American and and all of that,all of that.
And I mean, like you said, toecho you, clay, look at every
other country.
These are matter of course,actions and rules and guidelines

(46:38):
and laws that they have, andwhy should we not Like?

Speaker 3 (46:40):
it's just bizarre to me Clay and listen, we're not
folks, we're not talking out ofboth sides of our mouth.
Because I said earlier, youknow Jeff Seth.
He's like hey, we, you know,europe's figured out how not to
have mass shootings.
Um, why can't we followeurope's you know example?
And we both were like no, we'renot europe, this is you know.
And then we turn around we sayyes, it's hard to get a driver's
license in germany.
You know, we should followgermany's example.
I, I get it.
It sounds a little two-faced,but but there is some

(47:03):
practicality and some commonsense that needs to be applied.
And that's exactly what we'retalking about.
If you can't understand andread road signs and you can't
read the manual and take thetest that says you know, here's
how to be safe on the roads,then you shouldn't be driving.
And that's that's really theissue.
And don't even get me started.
I don't know if you saw thisthing with this little girl

(47:23):
defending her sister with aknife, who got arrested.
Did you hear about this?

Speaker 2 (47:26):
I did not.
I did not.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
Yeah, so I think Scotland.
It's in the UK.
A man stalking, filming twoyoung girls 14-year-old,
12-year-old and you know,filming with his phone and kind
of coming up to them and it wasclearly an uncomfortable
situation.
The older sister, 14, pulledout her knife and said get away

(47:51):
from my sister, Stop filming usand threaten the guy Right.
You know who got arrested the14-year-old girl, Of course,
Because she was carrying a knife.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Right, un-freaking-real Right.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
So that's not what we're talking about, folks,
right, we're talking about somecommon sense.
Read the driver's manual, beable to pass the test, read the
road signs in English.
And for those of you that say,well, why don't they just have
the test in Spanish?
Or why don't they just have theroad signs aren't in Spanish,
folks, the road signs are inEnglish.
Nor should we go back and redoeverything in multiple languages

(48:22):
.
Not a thing.
So the reason it's not inmultiple languages to take the
test is because the right signsare in English, they're always
going to be in English and youhave to be able to read.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
English and, by the way it's, I mean you want to
even simplify it even more.
The majority of these signs aresymbols.
Like if you can't understand,if you don't know what those
symbols mean, like you don'teven know.
Like, fine, you don't want tolearn English?
Ok, fine, not really, but youknow, just go with me.
Learn the symbols.

(48:51):
Like how did this guy pass thistest?
How did he pass the test?

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Like someone explain that garbage, if you, if well,
he didn't pass the test.
He got those license illegally,obviously, as we know now.
But also if you've ever drivenin the Middle East, I know this
guy was Indian, as we know now.
But also if you've ever drivenin the Middle East, I know this
guy was Indian.
But you know Saudi Arabia, iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, like
I've seen and been on thoseroads.
And let me tell you somethingthey don't follow.

(49:17):
I would be surprised to haveroad rules, but they certainly
don't follow.
So that's a culture issue aswell.
But regardless, I'm on boardwith this Department of
Transportation.
You got to speak English to geta CDL vehicle drop truck.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:30):
Should be a way.
That's the way it is.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Yeah, yeah, y'all can argue it all you want, but
that's the fact.
I don't care, I don't care,let's see.
Okay, so this, this one.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
I surprised you with this one, didn't I you?

Speaker 2 (49:42):
did.
I'm like I read it, you know,and I, what I do is I I like
copy it and I put it into there,Like there's a whole process I
go through and then I plug it into do my research and I kind of
just did it like on autopilot.
You know just that initialprocess of it.
And then I read it again.
I'm like I'm sorry, wait whatI'm, I'm what.

(50:03):
Go ahead, clay, tell themwhat's going on.

Speaker 3 (50:05):
Listen, this is going to this is also going to bleed
into our next topic, so we'lljust go one into the other.
But this has to do with the warbetween Ukraine and Russia and
really what you've got isRussian soldiers right, are
paying each other.
This isn't like shoot me in thefoot so I don't get drafted.
This is on the battlefield,shoot me so that it looks like I

(50:26):
was wounded in combat and I getall the benefits that come
after Right.
So this is like out of the youknow, out on the battlefield,
one guy pay you know, preplannedpays a fellow soldier, however

(50:54):
much it's a lot of money Rightto shoot them in the course of,
you know, a war so that they canget sent home and draw all the
benefits of their VA, theRussian VA system which they
have.
And this is a thing now likethis is legitimately drawing
enough attention that it's beingreported globally.
Like I can't fathom.
This is like when you have aconscript army.
This is what happens.
So for all of you that are likewe should institute the draft
in the United States, this isthe kind of stuff you get.
So yeah, but again, now thisbleeds into the next.

(51:16):
So what did you think of thiswhen you read this.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Well, I mean and apparently it's my standing
reaction here I can't help butlaugh.
And I know it's not funny, guys.
Oh it is funny.
No, it's funny, thank you.
Thank you.
I know that I have a terriblesense of humor.
I find terrible things funny.
I've passed this terrible gene.
Can I segue for one very quick?
How we do it?
I'm going to my grandchildren.

(51:54):
The two-year-old and theone-year-old were fighting over
real estate on the chair with mydaughter, with their mommy, and
the two-year-old had won in thereal estate game and the
one-year-old was climbing he'slike a little spider monkey and
he was climbing up the chair.
Essentially it's like one ofthose recliners.
And the two-year-old kind ofgave him a gentle nudge with her
foot to help him off, to whichhe landed on his head.

(52:16):
He's fine, guys, he's fine.
But the two-year-old and I kidyou, not the two-year-old
watched this happen and went,laughed her ass off at him
falling and I looked at mydaughter and I said I'm so sorry
she gets it from me.
So that tells you.
That tells you how rotten myhumor is.
So I'm sorry that I found thisfunny.

(52:36):
I feel better that you found itfunny too.
It's, you know I.
There's layers to it Certainlythat you're like, wow, that's,
that's really.
Where's the valor there?
But you made such a great pointon that Clay Things that I
don't think about when it comesto this kind of stuff.
That like this is what happenswhen you're basically forcing
people to fight in a battle, ina war that they want no part of.

(52:58):
They're going to try and findways to get out of it.
So I find it oddly brilliant ontheir part.
So it's equal parts awful,hilarious, brilliant and a shame
.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
I think I covered it all right, All of those things.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yeah, all right, so we can roll right into this guy
right here.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
You know, maybe you can take the lead.
The short version on this isZelensky has come out and said
no matter what President Trumpsays, no matter what Putin says,
he is the one who's going todecide when the fighting ends.
And you know, folks, we've allbeen rooting for this.
President Trump, especially,has said this from the campaign.
He just wants the killing tostop.
We all want the war to end.
You know, Americans have askewed perspective on this,
because for the last I don'tknow since the end of World War,

(53:42):
I really we have stopped takingthe loser's stuff.
Like warfare changed in the20th century, where it was like
you win, you get the loser'sstuff, you get their land, you
get all their riches.
We don't do that anymore.
And Americans think that's howwarfare goes, and it's not true.
And so, really, the negotiatingpoint that President Trump has

(54:03):
been trying to make is thatUkraine's going to have to give
something up for this to stop.
That's just the way it's goingto be.
And oh, by the way, a centuryago that's exactly what happened
to warfare.
But Zelensky has said he is theone who's going to decide when
the fighting stops.
And let me tell you, folks,this guy has no vested interest
in this war ending, because assoon as the war ends, Ukraine
holds elections and he comes outof power, and that is the last

(54:25):
thing that he wants, Right?
So this is not ending anytimesoon, as much as President Trump
wants it to, and, truthfully,even President Putin, who's
dealing with knuckleheadsshooting each other to get VA
benefits Right he knows this isgoing on Right, Like he's trying
to deal with that stuff.
As much as even he wants it toend, it's not going to happen
because you know combat sweatermonkey boy is is not going to

(54:49):
allow that to happen, because hecomes out of power when it does
and the guy's a piece of trash.
Stop making him a hero.
He is far from it.
He has nothing.
He doesn't care about theUkraine.
He doesn't care about Ukrainianpeople.
He's a failed comedian whosomebody put in a position of
power that he doesn't want togive up.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
Yeah, he's just a.
He's an actor playing a roleand probably getting incredibly
wealthy doing it.

Speaker 3 (55:11):
Oh yeah, billions would be, billions would be.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
You know that little tiny man is just stockpiling
that cash like Midas, you know,yeah, it's crazy, it's so
disappointing, Like I feel.
Like you know, everybody sitsaround the table there, you know
, and everybody's all ready to,you know, to sign away and just
be done with this.
And then you know, he's the guyin every office meeting that's
like I just have a question andeverybody know I'm, like, you

(55:45):
know, downplaying it andeverything.
But at this point, like I it ismy nature I have to.
I got to find something tolaugh about here with this.
So, yeah, that he just sucks sobad I can't stand, Can't stand.
What did you call him again?
Monkey?

Speaker 3 (56:00):
Combat sweater Monkey boy.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
That's a.
That's his new name.
Name now forever.
I'm even going to make a meme.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
I'm going to make a meme of that.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
Oh, okay, listen, we saved the best, the most
important, epic breaking news.
I need everybody to calm down,okay, calm down.
But oh my God, taylor Swift andTravis Kelsey are engaged.
Yeah, I know, you could tellthat I was not serious about

(56:33):
caring.
Listen, congratulations to them.
I think it's lovely andwonderful.
I, the most brilliantly brandedcouple on the planet, the
billionaire pop star and thehunky I mean not to me but

(56:56):
apparently to other people hunkyfootball player guy, and their
whirlwind, charming romance hasculminated to the engagement of
what appears to be theengagement of the century.
Like.
This is the biggest news.
We have major mainstreamplatforms gushing over this,

(57:18):
like, like, fangirling so hardand I have Did you hear about
the college professor that hadto stop class.

Speaker 3 (57:27):
This was a man, a male college professor.
The announcement came whilethey were in class.
He had to stop class and he leteverybody out.
He was so emotionallyoverwhelmed.
Oh my, this is insanity.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
It is bonkers.
And I mean, listen, I have zeroTaylor Swift hate.
I know people love to hate onher.
I have teased and made lightfun, not actually of her, really
actually of her rabid fan basehow they go like absolutely
bonkers.
If you even hint at sayingsomething vaguely negative about

(58:03):
her and I did once and theycame for me, it was and it
wasn't.
It was more about not making.
It had to be Elliot.
Now I'm going to go back.
I bet you it was Elliot.
He started the whole thing.
It was like I think I made avideo about basing your vote on
what a celebrity says and I usedher as the reference and I
simply said maybe don't votebased on a girl, a girl whose

(58:28):
all her songs are based on badchoices of men.
You know, it was funny.
It wasn't even originals.
Other people said it.
I just said it slightlydifferently.
And they're like how dare you?
They got all Greta Thunberg onme.
Like how dare you Listen again,congratulations to them.
You know, obviously this washuge.

(58:48):
It is fascinating.
So gq hailed the announcementas a pr coupe, so smooth.
It wasn't just an engagement,it was the launching point for
swift's upcoming album, the lifeof a showgirl, uh, and they,
they called it a brandingsymphony sealed with a ring.
And you said which I, which Ididn't know that he has a
clothing line, he has a clothingline.

(59:09):
Yeah, okay.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
Yes, he has a clothing line.
I don't remember what it's,it's true, true colors, I think,
and spelled stupidly like witha K, you know.
And they're doing a collab withAmerican Eagle Outfitters.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
Very interesting actually.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Very interesting right.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
That's fascinating to me Of all of this.
That's probably the mostinteresting thing of it.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
That dude is about to sign a prenup that's about as
thick as the Yellow Pages.
He is clearly fodder for thenext album, because we all know
how she operates.
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
I wonder if everybody's going to love this
album as much, because I wouldimagine all the songs they won't
even listen to it.

Speaker 3 (59:49):
They won't even listen to it.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
no more, it's going to go right to number one,
double triple platinum.
You know, whatever the highestthing is, listen, you know I
watched her years ago.
I haven't watched any of thenetwork shows in many, many
years but I used to watch theVoice.
That's the one I used to watchand she was and I remember this
very distinctly because I wasvery impressed and I didn't have

(01:00:11):
really an opinion of her before.
I liked her well enough,whatever but she was like a
guest mentor or something likethat.
I forget exactly what they callthem, but a guest mentor for
the contestants.
And the advice and critiquingthat she was giving these young
wannabe stars, singers, was kindof amazing.

(01:00:34):
Like she's actually prettybrilliant in her lane, like she
is exceptionally smart in whatshe does.
I don't know about any otheraspect of it.
I don't know anything about herListen you don't get to be a
billionaire.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
You don't Right Like aspect of it.
I don't know anything about her.
Listen, you don't get to be abillionaire.
You don't Right Like she is abusiness billionaire.
She's not just a talentedbillionaire, she is a business
billionaire.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
That girl is not dumb , no, I think she is musically
brilliant in knowing what sells,what works.
So I give her tremendous propsand credit, and for that, and
she's marrying a big, dumbanimal.
A big dumb animal.
Good on her.
Good on her for you knowfeeding the animals.

(01:01:16):
Good girl for.

Speaker 3 (01:01:17):
Listen, folks.
I'm calling.
You're hearing it here first.
I'm making one of mypredictions.
Super Bowl halftime show TaylorSwift.
You're hearing it here first.
It's coming.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
I feel like it's got to be.
How could it not be?
How could it not?

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
Oh, by the way, they're the new Harry and Meghan
.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
Yes, yes, don't tell.

Speaker 3 (01:01:36):
This is the biggest engagement since Harry and
Meghan, and the wedding will bethat large, like it will be a
media event.
Oh my goodness.
Yes, large, it will be a mediaevent.
Oh my goodness, you can seethat coming as well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
I can honestly tell you that I will not watch it,
but I will watch all the clipson TikTok or wherever.

Speaker 3 (01:01:54):
I bet they televised it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
No doubt You're not going to miss that opportunity.
It makes sense, Smart girl,they will not miss that
opportunity at all.
Again, I'm not knocking it.
Good on you, Listen.
Use the opportunities that areput in your path or that you've
created for yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
Go girl go, you know yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
That's it Right.
I mean, that's all we got.
That was.
That was really good we.
I think we had a really nicebalance.
I'm like commending us, I'mcritiquing our, critiquing our
performance.
I think we did a marvelous jobOf navigating the roller coaster
.

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
Knocked the rust off after two weeks of rest and
we're back at it, folks, we'reback again.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
Yeah, we came back fresh.
We are super excited to be backwith you guys.
We missed you.
We missed each other.
This is like our thing.
This is what we do every week.
We talk about the stuff andthings and, yeah, and Clay, you
know, teaches me things that Ididn't know before and gives me
a different perspective, and Ilove it, and I teach Clay all
about Taylor Swift and theimportance of her life, and it's

(01:02:51):
a very good balance that wehave.
But, yeah, so, guys, pleasejump in the comments section.
We'd love to hear from you,love to chat with you in there
and see what you think abouteverything.
You know, even when you don'tlike it, like Elliot, you know
it's all good.

Speaker 3 (01:03:07):
It's all good.
Clay, you want to close themout?
Hey, folks, happy to be backand we're right back in it.
Things don't slow down, even inthe two weeks we were gone and
we appreciate you guys coming onand joining us and, like Elsa
said, jump in the commentssection, tell us that we're
crazy or that you love us, wedon't care which.
And until next week for me,keep moving, keep shooting.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
Take care guys, prepare for the re-release of
Clay's electrifying novel Keepmoving, keep shooting.
This is book one in hisgripping Terry Davis series.
Experience an edge of your seat, thriller that will leave you
breathless.
Get your copy of this highlyanticipated re-release.
It drops July 4th.
Don't miss it.
She's the voice behind theviral comedy, bold commentary

(01:03:44):
and and truth-packed interviewsthat cut through the chaos.
Author.
Brand creator.
Proud conservative Christian.
This is Elsa Kurt.
Welcome to the show that alwaysbrings bold faith, real truth
and no apologies.