Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Michael Pronseisee is the fellow who was a former mobster,
and the story goes that he was enrolled in a
pre med program at Hofstra University but was given the
opportunity to make some money for his family and his
father had just been sentenced to fifty years in prison
(00:21):
for bank robbery. This was nineteen sixty seven, and so
fronseise story goes, put in place a scheme to defraud
the federal government out of gasoline taxes in the early eighties,
at the age of thirty five. In nineteen eighty six,
(00:41):
Fortune magazine listed froanseise as number eighteen on the list
of the fifty most wealthy and powerful mafia Bosses.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Why do I tell you all.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Of this.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Because he was He was Bill Maher's guest on a
podcast he does called Club Random. Bill Maher is an
interesting cat because he is a classic white liberal and
people will get angry at me because they fall in
love with him because he says something about Obama mouthing
(01:13):
off for Biden being braindead or Kamala you know, being whatever,
And people get excited because our side loves it when
the other side says something that we agree with and
you have to be careful with that. That's how you
end up with bad Republicans because they know how to
push your button, because you get this validation when they
say something with which you agree. But anyway, he was
(01:35):
on this podcast with Bill Maher and he made a
statement I think was pretty good. And here's a guy
who understands crime. He was part of a criminal network,
and he says that the worst thing that Biden did
as president, of all the things, was to leave the
border open. And he's talking about all of the crimes
that filtered into this country that are so bedded down
(01:55):
like a tick in our country today. And I think
he speaks from a position of great authority when he
says this.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think he's right.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
This goes back to what I said about the worst
thing Biden did. He just gave into every bad impulse
from the fringe.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
That's not the worst thing Biden did.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Okay, said the worst. Asked for an answer with the worst, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Forget about him stealing the money and being treason it
is that was as a vice president. Well, okay, if
it's come back to when I was being nice no
Trump and saying no, no, no, no, before you say that
the worst thing Joe Biden did. The guy's got blood
on his hands for what he did at the border.
And a lot of people come in here to kill
people in this country.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
He did a terrible job with the border. Is it
enough that I agree with that? Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Why did he do it? Because he wanted to turn
every state blue. There was no other reason for it,
and so they would never lose another allow these people,
that's fair.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I don't know if that's so much as it is
something even worse that, let's hear it. Oh yeah, that well,
the left, the big their big their biggest problem. I
think they have many psychologically, but one is the the
you know, wine sipping liberals, the white liberals, the white liberals.
This is mostly they just have this crazy need to
(03:06):
beat themselves up about race in ways they do.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
That's it's so part of their identity.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
And of course it's so hypocriticals, like if you really
feel that bad, go switch houses with somebody in comfort.
I'm sure you don't live in your house in the
valley and you could live and that happen. No, of
course none. But so that's the thing is that they
did not want to be They so don't want to
be seen as racist, that it's somehow in their there.
This is again what they do that's so infuriating. They
(03:38):
go to the ultimate end of what's counterintuitive. Often we're
just dumb, and they go all the way to, well,
then we can't stop anybody from coming into the country
because that would be racist, and that's not racist, it's
just what every country has to do.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
I hear you, and I appreciate that, but I don't
believe that that that they worried so much about that
these people.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
They are trust me, this is my people. These are
my people.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Well know that the I know these people, Bill, They're
not even your people anymore, because you've said it right,
you haven't changed, the party has changed.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
They're not your people. What I mean is there are
people I know because I live here amid show business
in Hollywood, and I'll admit this to show business and
our community is the epicenter of the problem. It is worthy.
It's where the stupidity is deepest about this kind of stuff.
I mean, I'm a proud liberal.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
But do you think they really care about these people
that they they're bleeding hearts and they needed to come here.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
What they and no, I'm not saying they do. I'm
not arguing with you. Now. What I'm saying is similar
to what you're saying. It's so important to their identity.
They're what I call liberals in theory because I see
how some of them act like in day to day
with people with their assistance, that kind of stuff, and
it's so not liberal. It's it's just so and and
(05:02):
and you know, born to the manor, and you know
they're often very well to do and not afraid to
spend their money on the stupidest things. So, yeah, they're hypocrites.
Come on, they're such hypocrites, thank you. Yeah, yeah, they
really are. You don't have to know. Biden couldn't give it.
If Biden, if he showed anything about a sliver of
(05:23):
people here, we're not talking about all.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Differ He's at the head of the he was at
the head for four years.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Can And that's why the Democrats lost because they they
lost their touch with their own voters. They lost because
they're polishing their own vulnerable right, and they still haven't
gotten it because they're still fighting. There's still the the
We're going to probably talk about this on my show Friday,
the new head of the Democratic Committee, is it. And
(05:49):
they started the meeting like, okay, we have to We
lost an election terribly to the guy we could never win. Okay,
and he did it again. Okay, so we need a
new leader and a new way of doing things. But
first we must acknowledge that we are sitting on land
that was properly owning by the Chamash people. You're idiots,
(06:13):
you know. I did a whole bit on it in
my special, like really, either shut the upper give it back.
Those are the only two choices, and you don't want
to give it back. Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So my theory and I think it's based on sound foundation.
The only reason he opened up the boarder didn't care
who came in, who killed who, whose taxpayer money went
to spend it. He didn't care make every state blue.
That's it, You never mean that's that's again. The reason
why I believe you think that is because I have
a pretty good idea of what media you listen to.
(06:42):
So that's the kind of thing they say, and there
may be some truth to that, but you know, first
of what, it's a bad idea. You know why, because
the Latinos are voting for Trump now, but.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
They didn't know that they were so bad. I understand
thought it was going to go the other way. You're right,
he was going to go the other way. I'm not
sure that was the I think it's more the other
thing is we're not racist. Everyone should come here.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah, okay, everyone should come here, and every taxpayer should
should take that. They didn't know, they didn't calculate anything.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
As with everything, there's a sane middle ground. I mean
like when Trump says there are the rips, the criminals,
and they're reading they're reading the dogs. Okay, well they do.
We don't like it's sound funny, like nobody will just
come to the middle. Like absolutely most immigrants just want
a job and they're law abiding. But also you know
that that Venezuelan gang is not a boy band. You
(07:34):
know that I don't want them in my country.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
You're listening to Michael Berry show.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
We talked about the crazy liberals in California, but did
you know we have crazy liberals right here in Texas
And they had infiltrated the Texas State Historical Association until
our friend Judge Wise did something about it. He has
a great podcast called Wise on Texas. We spoke to
him yesterday, and you're going.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
To want to hear this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So when Elon and Doze started going into the federal government,
they started saying, hey, look, we're not going to do
any of this nonsense round and they found that the
federal government employees were working against them. When the President
issued the executive order that there will be no more DEI,
because that's what caused so much of our government to die.
(08:21):
And then we found out in short order that these bureaucrats,
they think it's their government. They don't believe you the
people should run things. They think, well, we'll just rename
things and then it won't be DEI. I often get emails,
and after the speech on Tuesday night, I did from
people who say, Czar, what's going on in Texas? You
(08:42):
got Jasmine Crockett, You've got Al Green making a fool
of himself, and you've got Dan Crenshaw, the Republican, he's
as bad as the Democrats. What is going on? And
I say, listen, let me tell you something. There are
real Texans and then there's everybody else. And we've got
our liberals too, and they are everywhere. I give you
(09:05):
a great example. So earlier today I call a friend
of mine. His name is Ken Wise, and I knew
Ken long before he was a very very very well respected,
beloved judge, but he was always a Texas history nut.
In fact, I had not seen Lonesome Dove. And most
(09:25):
of you know that Ramone's children are named Oliver McCrae
Robless and July Augustus Robless. And if you've seen Lonesome Dove,
you understand. So my friend Ken Wise, who was just
a big shot at a law firm at the time.
He and I shared a mentor fellow by the name
of Walter Zivley, and we were among the group known.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
As Walter's Boys.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I played tennis with Walter in the mornings at six
o'clock at the met Downtown in downtown Houston, and Ken
went out to his ranch and they hunted together. We
all had our own relationship with Walter, who was a
father figure and mentor and so much to all of us.
We lost him, but so Ken and I as fellow
Walter Zivly Boys, and I knew Ken's dad, Jim Wise,
(10:10):
because he was a big deal at University of Houston
when I was there. So Ken and I got to
be very very very close friends, and we each kind
of rose up in our careers and stayed friends through
it all.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
He was always a.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Texas history nut, and he was always learned reading, writing,
thinking about it. And he ended up creating a podcast
that has just exploded in popularity, and it's called Wyse
on Texas and it's Ken Wise talking about Texas. And
even though he became a judge, which is a full
(10:42):
time job in and of itself, he indulged his passion
for Texas history. And he's a great storyteller. So if
you have not heard his podcast, it's called Whys on Texas.
It's all about Texas history. It's not a money making thing.
He's got a day job. He already, like a priest,
took pay cut to be a judge in the first place.
He was making a lot of money as a lawyer.
(11:04):
But so I called him today because Texans know that
March sixth is a very important day in Texas history,
the Alamo fell. My son's name's Crockett because of Davy Crockett.
I mean, we're kind of into this. My wife was
a one hundred ninth Secretary of State in the grate
State of Texas. The first Secretary of State was Stephen F.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Austin.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
She sat at his desk. I mean, we're kind of
really into Texas. Texans are really really into Texas. Sorry,
everybody outside of Texas, you got to hear this. But
there is a point that is relevant to each and
every one of you. It's going to tie up the
two things I just talked about. So I call him
on the day of the Fall of Texas at the
Alamo to get his thoughts and considerations. And he has
(11:47):
been the president of the State Historical Society, so I
was calling him to talk to about all that in Alamo,
and he said, well, you might not know this, but
in my term as president, there were some woke folk
in the Texas Historical Society that would blow your mind
that in the state of Texas these people had because
(12:07):
when you take people's history away from them, when you
pervert their history, you pervert their children. And in twenty years,
you know the line, you own them. Lincoln had a
great phrase about that. So we have to be careful
what's going on not only in our schools, but even
in the Texas State Historical Society, a state that should
be the most conservative in the Union. Well, I have
invited him on to tell that story and to tell
(12:31):
about the Alamo. Judge Wise, why don't you first describe.
You've got about two minutes left in this segment, so
in two minutes, tell America what happened at the Alamo
and why it matters.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Well, Michael, great to be on with you. I think
the main Palomo was under siege for many days. This
was Santa Anna marching in to put down the rebellious Texans,
as he had done in several other provinces of Mexico.
Texas was merely one area of Mexico that was in
revolution at the time. So he marches person he's President
(13:06):
of Mexico in the community. General of the Army marches personally.
The San Antonio de Bejar and the Texans went into
the Alamo, which was the only which had become a
fort and they hold up there, and Santa Anas surrounded
him and raised a red flag on San Fernando Cathedral
indicating that everybody would be killed le siege hood. And
(13:30):
on March sixth, early early in the morning, before dawn,
they did the final assault against the Alamo, and despite
fighting bravely, all of the Texans were killed the fighters,
and that's what that happened on March sixth, eighteen thirty six.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Including Davy Crockett.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Why is David Crockett important?
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Including David Crockett and what's fascinating about Crockett? Of his
dreams the paper have been used to write to speculate
about how he died. The popular idea is that he
died fighting, and he was swinging his rifle at the
swinging his unloaded rifle at the Mexican troops. And there's
(14:15):
another account from a Mexican officer that claims that he
was captured and executed, and there are other accounts to
claim he's surrendered. Books have been written about that. As
recently as twenty twenty five. There's a new book out
about it. So in the new book concludes that he
died fighting. The point, of course, is not specifically how
(14:37):
he died. The point is that he did, as did
almost two hundred others well.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And he has been described, like Daniel Boone, as one
of the first great American heroes west of the Mississippi,
when you get past the Founders and before the Civil
War of this character that became the American frontiersman. As
you know and uh, I mean that's that's the spirit
I fell in love with more even than the Alamo,
(15:05):
was the David Crockett, which is what his real name was.
We call him David Crockett the Alamo. I mean the
the David Crockett of that that New York put a
play on that he went to see, the David Crockett
that was the most conscientious congressman of his day. Folks,
look that story up. We'll talk to Judge ken Wise.
But the reason I had him on was to tell
(15:25):
a story that you won't believe could happen at the
Texas State Historical Society, in the most conservative state, in
the historical society of a conservative history. How that thing
had run him up. Wokeism has infiltrated every sinew of
our society, and this story is going to be a
great example.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
This is the Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Judge ken Wise just stepped down a week or so
ago from being the president of the Texas State Historical Society,
and I've asked him to share this story with you
to understand that in every aspect of American society, wokeism
has infiltrated. It has managed to seep like sewage into
(16:09):
every aspect of our lives, our schools, our churches, our organizations,
our hoa's, our little leagues, every bit of it. Judge
ken Wise, why don't you tell us what you and
I think JP were up against in of all places,
the Texas State Historical Society.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Well, will let me begin. First of all, I hate
to do this to you, but I am a judge,
so I get to do this. It's the Texas State
Historical Association.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's the same thing your honor founded, objection.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Overruled, overruled, It's the same. It was founded in eighteen
ninety seven. And that's an important story because George Garrison
was the history professor, the only one at the University
of Texas, and he decided that Texas needed to organize
and preserve its history because by eighteen ninety seven we'd
(16:59):
had a lot of it and it was very interesting
and it is unique among the fifty states. And so
he gathered some political leaders. He gathered people like Orn Roberts,
who had been governor in chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
He gathered some ladies. He gathered ripped Forward, who was
a famous Indian fighter and Texas ranger, and other and
(17:21):
Guy Bryan, who was an early Texas settler, very prominent citizen,
and what he realized was Texans are different about our history.
We are much more zealous in guarding our history because
it affects the development and present state of our society.
That spirit of Texas that I love so much and
(17:42):
I know you do too, and we talk about and
think about that is a direct result of the unique
history of Texas. So not only is it important to
apply the discipline of academic history to our historical preservation,
but it's also in important to include people who are
not academic historians, because not only is it just as important,
(18:06):
they are also very eager and enthusiastic and capable about
promoting and celebrating our history. Professor Garrison knew that, and
so he brought that combined group together to form the
Texas State Historical Association. And through our entire history, it
has been combined between people who just love history for
(18:28):
history's sake and people who practice academic history. And unfortunately,
in some recent years, just a few people really got
that off track and started to claim that they were
the only ones that knew what history is about and
how to do it, and all that sort of thing,
(18:49):
and that's just not true. And they happened to share
the philosophy that you just described, which is poisonous. And
so some conduct occur that was in violation of our
bylaws and it was intentional, and they were warned against it,
and including by me personally, because I you know, I've
(19:10):
been to Judge twenty two years. I know exactly how
these things play out. And we didn't want the Association
to have to be in a courtroom. But in twenty
twenty three, the Association was in a courtroom. There was
no other option. And our executive director JP Bryant has
done more to preserve Texas history than any single individual
(19:30):
in this state. You know, he was our executive director
at the invitation of the board, and he had to
file aw lawsuit, and of course that resolved very quickly
and in favor of the association. And then a bunch
of people, instead of working it all out, just up
(19:50):
and quit, and which is fine, because you know, that's
just the way certain people chose to behave But.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Judge, let me now, let me ask you, so, if
I'm sitting in Seattle or upstate New York, or Tampa
Bay or Tampa, Florida right now listening to this, and
I go, Michael, why are you talking about an organization
that preserves Texas history? Because I think this is a
great example of what's happening in every organization and every household,
(20:19):
every school, every corporation in this country. Talk a little
bit about what exactly they were doing. Get a little
granular for.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Me if you would, all right, the bylaws of the
State Historical Association, which are available online for anybody to see,
contemplate the balance of the board of directors between academic
members and non academic members, and that goes right back
to eighteen ninety seven and the notion that I've described
(20:48):
that we need to include everyone in our history and
the promotion of our history and the study of our history.
Certain people who were in leadership at the time tried
to unbalance well, they did, in fact unbalance that board
so that academic members dominated. And that doesn't sound like
(21:09):
a problem, and it probably shouldn't be a problem, but
certain particular academic members had the attitude that I described earlier,
and only one point of view was important and any
other point of view was not going to be tolerated.
And so that's what led to the litigation, and the
judge ruled immediately the board was unbalanced and was required
(21:32):
to be balanced. And that's what happened. And it takes
people to stand up to whatever the problem is, just
like those people did at the Alamo one hundred and
eighty nine years ago. Was certainly their situation was more severe,
but you've got to stand up for what you believe in,
it for what is right, and in this case, it
(21:54):
was right there on the page. So we did, and
the association prevail and balance was restored, and we fixed
the bilaws to make it perfectly clear. Hopefully this won't
happen again. But so that's what happened.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
It's so frustrating because I see this. I see how
many families have been torn apart. I have friends who
had a fellow called a couple of days ago and
he said, Michael, you don't understand how much harder it
is for blacks who support Trump than it is for whites.
He said, at family gatherings, I've got family members who
say I'm a sellout, which, you know, white we don't
(22:38):
accuse fellow white people of being a sellout if we
don't like their politics. But you know, these people say
the nastiest things to folks, and I see organizations in
tumult and all this, and it's this woke virus has
just poisoned the harmonious relationships of decades and it drives
(22:58):
me nuts. This This was not how you should have
or how JP should have to spend their time running
this organization. But it's not unlike what's going on. I've
seen churches torn apart over this kind of nonsense, and
it just breaks my heart because what it means is
it's a distraction from the core mission. Your mission was
(23:18):
to extol the virtues of Texas history and share them
and educate and bring a new generation into it. And
instead you're having a fight amongst yourselves.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Well that's right, and history, Texas history belongs to everybody.
And let me make it clear for the listeners, this
was just a few people, a very small group. Not
all academics were like this at all, and some non
academics were, So it's really not about that. In fact,
I'll tell you, I'll give you an example, and maybe
(23:49):
this will inspire somebody out there facing this problem. This
happens to be in the history space. But I kept
hearing the term when I joined the board amateur historian
or lay historian in a pejority as if someone hold.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Right there in draft, because this is not a quick one.
I want you to this is important. Wait right there,
Judge Kim Wise.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Is a recession is when your neighbor loses his job.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
A depression is when.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
You lose yours, Michael Verry.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
We are talking to Judge kin Wise, in addition to
being an esteemed member of the Texas Judiciary is up
unto us up until a week ago, the president of
the State Historical Society. He has a podcast which I
highly recommend to you called Wise on Texas. You don't
have to be a Texan to enjoy Texas history. Heck,
(24:44):
I read about Alabama history in Louisiana history and Mississippi
history in California history. And obviously I'm not from there.
But he tells stories, and you know, I love storytelling.
I'm a believer in storytelling. Teach your kids to tell stories.
Courting a woman is telling a story, your own story,
so she picks you out of all the other guys.
(25:06):
Selling things is a story a pastor is a storyteller, Well,
Ken Why is a hell of a good storyteller, and
he knows Texas history inside and out because he's a
constant student of it. So we're talking about how the
Texas State Historical Society, like every other organization in America,
was infected by a handful of liberals who were very
aggressive and they dig in like a tick. And his
(25:30):
story of what happened there. So with that in mind,
go ahead, judge.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Well, what I was going to say is that it's
important to understand history is almost infinite in its scope.
I mean, every part of Texas history is important, and
Texas has experienced its share of problems and problematic history,
and so it's really not about keeping the bad stuff out.
(25:58):
That's not what this is all about. What it's about
is including everything. And that's the problem. Certain viewpoints want
to exclude things, and you can't do that because you
don't get a fair picture of your society. And history
is not very useful if it's not inclusive of every
part of your history. And that's what ended up happening
(26:21):
is certain people wanted to exclude other points of view
and that just should not be done. But it went
beyond that, and they tried to misman did in fact mismanage,
mishandle the association. The court saw it for what it was,
and we've got it back on the right track now.
(26:43):
And the example I was going to give was I
kept hearing, or kept being called, among others, amateur historians,
as if that's something less than somebody who cares a
lot about history. So I enrolled in graduate school to
get a master's in history, which I will finish in
May of this year. Because I was going to just
(27:05):
put that right to bed. I mean, you and I
both share a law degree, which is essentially a PhD
on steroids, but I'm want a master's in history, So
we're going to take out.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I don't want to make you feel a lesser man
by any measure, but as you know, I.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Have two dogs trees. Yeah, no, I think listen.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I don't think you have to go to a university
to learn.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I have people.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I got an email this morning from somebody who referred
to your podcast as a university experience. We just put
my dad in an assisted living center, and so my wife.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Said, hey, you got to get up here at two.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
O'clock in the middle of the in between my morning
and even show.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Got to get up here at two. Your dad's excited.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I'm taking him to a Texas history lecture. So I
raced over there out of the studio. Ramon said, what
are you doing? I got to go to this lecture
with my dad. So it was his second or third
day at the new facility, and we're sitting in there
and there had to be one hundred assisted living residents
listening to this woman talk about the Battle of Santa
Cento and my dad. I reached out and held his
(28:03):
hand and my dad was clinching at points that we've
talked about, you know, together the eighteen minutes. Every time
she would say, all right, and what did we call
the two things that they you know, chanted or that
their war cries? They went in and.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
All the people cheered out.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It's exciting, I mean, and my wife afterwards said, it's
like your dad gets to go to the university, never
got to go to, you know. Hearing you talk and
listening to your podcast, it's called whys on Texas. People
who study lifelong students, I don't mean getting a degree,
people who study as long, who read, who engage, who learn,
who watch documentaries. They're happier people. You're using a part
(28:41):
of your brain. That's very positive. But anyway, I'm sorry,
go ahead.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Sir, No, No, that's I'm glad to hear that story.
People love Texas history. I give well over one hundred
talks a year from seventh graders on up to assisted
living facilities. People love to hear it. They never get
sick of hearing it. If you hear as much history
of wherever you live as possible, you're going to be
(29:05):
a better citizen of wherever you live. And that's just
the way it is, and I think it's really important.
There are times of upheaval in all societies where some
would argue we're in a time like that nationally, Well,
we better go back and study what works and what doesn't.
And everybody's story deserves to be told. Now, I'll tell
you there were time periods when everybody's story wasn't told,
(29:27):
and hopefully we're through those time periods, and everybody's story
deserves to be told. And this is a wonderful country
and a wonderful state, and it's important for all historians,
amateur or not, to get out there and learn and
tell these stories. The real stories. I mean, you got
to do your research. You got to do it well.
You've got to write well, you got to speak well
(29:49):
and tell the truth. And I don't get something, get
somebody something.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
You used elier that folks tried to create barriers. They
like everybody likes to be a gatekeeper, to give themselves
all the authority. They don't want a big tent. And
you said they would refer to people as amateur historians
because they're not experts. They don't have a certificate on
the wall.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
I'll tell you we've seen that in media judge wise.
We've seen how the citizen journalists who you know, the
blog or the and I'll tell you this, some of
the best true journalism coming out today is being done
by citizen journalists. And the Trump administration recently recognizing that
and saying, hey, the Associated Press is not going to
(30:33):
decide who is going to report on what we say
every day to the people while in the White House.
We're going to pick some citizen journalists to do that
because they're putting out good work. So I think you're
seeing this, and this is why I asked you to
be our guest. This isn't about the Texas Historical Society
or association. You can go read that for yourself. This
is about caring enough about every aspect of life, your church,
(30:56):
your school, your household, your workplace to step in and
say we're not going to allow wokeism, We're not going
to allow nonsense. We're not going to perpetuate that problem.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You know, a.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Judge like this, it would have been easier for him
not to take on this fight. So to do it
is because you do it, because it's the right damn
thing to do.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
I'm not sure, and I want to give.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
What I'm not sure you want to add to J. P.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Brian, Yes, go ahead, please.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
I want to give JP Brian a lot of credit.
The board, unanimously, everybody on the board invited him to
be the executive director of this association at a time
where it was critical, and he did it. And he
has spent a ton of time on this and has
done a great job. He's working on the details. We're
in better financial shape than we've ever been. We went
(31:48):
from publishing measily one book a year that now we've
got four we're going to publish this year. We published
a Southwestern Historical Quarterly uninterrupted since in eighteen ninety seven.
Then we've got now over one hundred articles. And I
don't want this to be academic versus non academic. That's
(32:09):
not it. Academic history is critical. The disciplined practice of
history is critical and be done in such a way
that's inclusive and useful to the population. And we just
had a few people that lost sight of that, and
(32:29):
that's unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
And guess what, that's where you step in and step up,
Judge Knwise, Thank you've been our guest. And I want
to tell every single one of you out there, whatever
state you're in, whatever you're doing in life. This woman
who spoke to my father's assistant living facility where all
the folk, she wasn't a history teacher, she wasn't a
university professor. She was a woman who started reading and
(32:52):
she wanted to share what she learned with all the residents.
Teach a Sunday school class at your church. Don't be
a well I could never do that.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes you can. You are called to give back.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
These talents are yours to share. I don't add your
light under a bushelver Mom
Speaker 2 (33:08):
We eld us has let us for day thank you,
and good night.
Michael Pronseisee is the fellow who was a former mobster,
and the story goes that he was enrolled in a
pre med program at Hofstra University but was given the
opportunity to make some money for his family and his
father had just been sentenced to fifty years in prison
(00:21):
for bank robbery. This was nineteen sixty seven, and so
fronseise story goes, put in place a scheme to defraud
the federal government out of gasoline taxes in the early eighties,
at the age of thirty five. In nineteen eighty six,
(00:41):
Fortune magazine listed froanseise as number eighteen on the list
of the fifty most wealthy and powerful mafia Bosses.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Why do I tell you all.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Of this.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Because he was He was Bill Maher's guest on a
podcast he does called Club Random. Bill Maher is an
interesting cat because he is a classic white liberal and
people will get angry at me because they fall in
love with him because he says something about Obama mouthing
(01:13):
off for Biden being braindead or Kamala you know, being whatever,
And people get excited because our side loves it when
the other side says something that we agree with and
you have to be careful with that. That's how you
end up with bad Republicans because they know how to
push your button, because you get this validation when they
say something with which you agree. But anyway, he was
(01:35):
on this podcast with Bill Maher and he made a
statement I think was pretty good. And here's a guy
who understands crime. He was part of a criminal network,
and he says that the worst thing that Biden did
as president, of all the things, was to leave the
border open. And he's talking about all of the crimes
that filtered into this country that are so bedded down
(01:55):
like a tick in our country today. And I think
he speaks from a position of great authority when he
says this.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think he's right.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
This goes back to what I said about the worst
thing Biden did. He just gave into every bad impulse
from the fringe.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
That's not the worst thing Biden did.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Okay, said the worst. Asked for an answer with the worst, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Forget about him stealing the money and being treason it
is that was as a vice president. Well, okay, if
it's come back to when I was being nice no
Trump and saying no, no, no, no, before you say that
the worst thing Joe Biden did. The guy's got blood
on his hands for what he did at the border.
And a lot of people come in here to kill
people in this country.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
He did a terrible job with the border. Is it
enough that I agree with that? Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Why did he do it? Because he wanted to turn
every state blue. There was no other reason for it,
and so they would never lose another allow these people,
that's fair.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I don't know if that's so much as it is
something even worse that, let's hear it. Oh yeah, that well,
the left, the big their big their biggest problem. I
think they have many psychologically, but one is the the
you know, wine sipping liberals, the white liberals, the white liberals.
This is mostly they just have this crazy need to
(03:06):
beat themselves up about race in ways they do.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
That's it's so part of their identity.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
And of course it's so hypocriticals, like if you really
feel that bad, go switch houses with somebody in comfort.
I'm sure you don't live in your house in the
valley and you could live and that happen. No, of
course none. But so that's the thing is that they
did not want to be They so don't want to
be seen as racist, that it's somehow in their there.
This is again what they do that's so infuriating. They
(03:38):
go to the ultimate end of what's counterintuitive. Often we're
just dumb, and they go all the way to, well,
then we can't stop anybody from coming into the country
because that would be racist, and that's not racist, it's
just what every country has to do.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
I hear you, and I appreciate that, but I don't
believe that that that they worried so much about that
these people.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
They are trust me, this is my people. These are
my people.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Well know that the I know these people, Bill, They're
not even your people anymore, because you've said it right,
you haven't changed, the party has changed.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
They're not your people. What I mean is there are
people I know because I live here amid show business
in Hollywood, and I'll admit this to show business and
our community is the epicenter of the problem. It is worthy.
It's where the stupidity is deepest about this kind of stuff.
I mean, I'm a proud liberal.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
But do you think they really care about these people
that they they're bleeding hearts and they needed to come here.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
What they and no, I'm not saying they do. I'm
not arguing with you. Now. What I'm saying is similar
to what you're saying. It's so important to their identity.
They're what I call liberals in theory because I see
how some of them act like in day to day
with people with their assistance, that kind of stuff, and
it's so not liberal. It's it's just so and and
(05:02):
and you know, born to the manor, and you know
they're often very well to do and not afraid to
spend their money on the stupidest things. So, yeah, they're hypocrites.
Come on, they're such hypocrites, thank you. Yeah, yeah, they
really are. You don't have to know. Biden couldn't give it.
If Biden, if he showed anything about a sliver of
(05:23):
people here, we're not talking about all.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Differ He's at the head of the he was at
the head for four years.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Can And that's why the Democrats lost because they they
lost their touch with their own voters. They lost because
they're polishing their own vulnerable right, and they still haven't
gotten it because they're still fighting. There's still the the
We're going to probably talk about this on my show Friday,
the new head of the Democratic Committee, is it. And
(05:49):
they started the meeting like, okay, we have to We
lost an election terribly to the guy we could never win. Okay,
and he did it again. Okay, so we need a
new leader and a new way of doing things. But
first we must acknowledge that we are sitting on land
that was properly owning by the Chamash people. You're idiots,
(06:13):
you know. I did a whole bit on it in
my special, like really, either shut the upper give it back.
Those are the only two choices, and you don't want
to give it back. Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
So my theory and I think it's based on sound foundation.
The only reason he opened up the boarder didn't care
who came in, who killed who, whose taxpayer money went
to spend it. He didn't care make every state blue.
That's it, You never mean that's that's again. The reason
why I believe you think that is because I have
a pretty good idea of what media you listen to.
(06:42):
So that's the kind of thing they say, and there
may be some truth to that, but you know, first
of what, it's a bad idea. You know why, because
the Latinos are voting for Trump now, but.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
They didn't know that they were so bad. I understand
thought it was going to go the other way. You're right,
he was going to go the other way. I'm not
sure that was the I think it's more the other
thing is we're not racist. Everyone should come here.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah, okay, everyone should come here, and every taxpayer should
should take that. They didn't know, they didn't calculate anything.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
As with everything, there's a sane middle ground. I mean
like when Trump says there are the rips, the criminals,
and they're reading they're reading the dogs. Okay, well they do.
We don't like it's sound funny, like nobody will just
come to the middle. Like absolutely most immigrants just want
a job and they're law abiding. But also you know
that that Venezuelan gang is not a boy band. You
(07:34):
know that I don't want them in my country.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
You're listening to Michael Berry show.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
We talked about the crazy liberals in California, but did
you know we have crazy liberals right here in Texas
And they had infiltrated the Texas State Historical Association until
our friend Judge Wise did something about it. He has
a great podcast called Wise on Texas. We spoke to
him yesterday, and you're going.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
To want to hear this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So when Elon and Doze started going into the federal government,
they started saying, hey, look, we're not going to do
any of this nonsense round and they found that the
federal government employees were working against them. When the President
issued the executive order that there will be no more DEI,
because that's what caused so much of our government to die.
(08:21):
And then we found out in short order that these bureaucrats,
they think it's their government. They don't believe you the
people should run things. They think, well, we'll just rename
things and then it won't be DEI. I often get emails,
and after the speech on Tuesday night, I did from
people who say, Czar, what's going on in Texas? You
(08:42):
got Jasmine Crockett, You've got Al Green making a fool
of himself, and you've got Dan Crenshaw, the Republican, he's
as bad as the Democrats. What is going on? And
I say, listen, let me tell you something. There are
real Texans and then there's everybody else. And we've got
our liberals too, and they are everywhere. I give you
(09:05):
a great example. So earlier today I call a friend
of mine. His name is Ken Wise, and I knew
Ken long before he was a very very very well respected,
beloved judge, but he was always a Texas history nut.
In fact, I had not seen Lonesome Dove. And most
(09:25):
of you know that Ramone's children are named Oliver McCrae
Robless and July Augustus Robless. And if you've seen Lonesome Dove,
you understand. So my friend Ken Wise, who was just
a big shot at a law firm at the time.
He and I shared a mentor fellow by the name
of Walter Zivley, and we were among the group known.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
As Walter's Boys.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I played tennis with Walter in the mornings at six
o'clock at the met Downtown in downtown Houston, and Ken
went out to his ranch and they hunted together. We
all had our own relationship with Walter, who was a
father figure and mentor and so much to all of us.
We lost him, but so Ken and I as fellow
Walter Zivly Boys, and I knew Ken's dad, Jim Wise,
(10:10):
because he was a big deal at University of Houston
when I was there. So Ken and I got to
be very very very close friends, and we each kind
of rose up in our careers and stayed friends through
it all.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
He was always a.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Texas history nut, and he was always learned reading, writing,
thinking about it. And he ended up creating a podcast
that has just exploded in popularity, and it's called Wyse
on Texas and it's Ken Wise talking about Texas. And
even though he became a judge, which is a full
(10:42):
time job in and of itself, he indulged his passion
for Texas history. And he's a great storyteller. So if
you have not heard his podcast, it's called Whys on Texas.
It's all about Texas history. It's not a money making thing.
He's got a day job. He already, like a priest,
took pay cut to be a judge in the first place.
He was making a lot of money as a lawyer.
(11:04):
But so I called him today because Texans know that
March sixth is a very important day in Texas history,
the Alamo fell. My son's name's Crockett because of Davy Crockett.
I mean, we're kind of into this. My wife was
a one hundred ninth Secretary of State in the grate
State of Texas. The first Secretary of State was Stephen F.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Austin.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
She sat at his desk. I mean, we're kind of
really into Texas. Texans are really really into Texas. Sorry,
everybody outside of Texas, you got to hear this. But
there is a point that is relevant to each and
every one of you. It's going to tie up the
two things I just talked about. So I call him
on the day of the Fall of Texas at the
Alamo to get his thoughts and considerations. And he has
(11:47):
been the president of the State Historical Society, so I
was calling him to talk to about all that in Alamo,
and he said, well, you might not know this, but
in my term as president, there were some woke folk
in the Texas Historical Society that would blow your mind
that in the state of Texas these people had because
(12:07):
when you take people's history away from them, when you
pervert their history, you pervert their children. And in twenty years,
you know the line, you own them. Lincoln had a
great phrase about that. So we have to be careful
what's going on not only in our schools, but even
in the Texas State Historical Society, a state that should
be the most conservative in the Union. Well, I have
invited him on to tell that story and to tell
(12:31):
about the Alamo. Judge Wise, why don't you first describe.
You've got about two minutes left in this segment, so
in two minutes, tell America what happened at the Alamo
and why it matters.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Well, Michael, great to be on with you. I think
the main Palomo was under siege for many days. This
was Santa Anna marching in to put down the rebellious Texans,
as he had done in several other provinces of Mexico.
Texas was merely one area of Mexico that was in
revolution at the time. So he marches person he's President
(13:06):
of Mexico in the community. General of the Army marches personally.
The San Antonio de Bejar and the Texans went into
the Alamo, which was the only which had become a
fort and they hold up there, and Santa Anas surrounded
him and raised a red flag on San Fernando Cathedral
indicating that everybody would be killed le siege hood. And
(13:30):
on March sixth, early early in the morning, before dawn,
they did the final assault against the Alamo, and despite
fighting bravely, all of the Texans were killed the fighters,
and that's what that happened on March sixth, eighteen thirty six.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Including Davy Crockett.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Why is David Crockett important?
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Including David Crockett and what's fascinating about Crockett? Of his
dreams the paper have been used to write to speculate
about how he died. The popular idea is that he
died fighting, and he was swinging his rifle at the
swinging his unloaded rifle at the Mexican troops. And there's
(14:15):
another account from a Mexican officer that claims that he
was captured and executed, and there are other accounts to
claim he's surrendered. Books have been written about that. As
recently as twenty twenty five. There's a new book out
about it. So in the new book concludes that he
died fighting. The point, of course, is not specifically how
(14:37):
he died. The point is that he did, as did
almost two hundred others well.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And he has been described, like Daniel Boone, as one
of the first great American heroes west of the Mississippi,
when you get past the Founders and before the Civil
War of this character that became the American frontiersman. As
you know and uh, I mean that's that's the spirit
I fell in love with more even than the Alamo,
(15:05):
was the David Crockett, which is what his real name was.
We call him David Crockett the Alamo. I mean the
the David Crockett of that that New York put a
play on that he went to see, the David Crockett
that was the most conscientious congressman of his day. Folks,
look that story up. We'll talk to Judge ken Wise.
But the reason I had him on was to tell
(15:25):
a story that you won't believe could happen at the
Texas State Historical Society, in the most conservative state, in
the historical society of a conservative history. How that thing
had run him up. Wokeism has infiltrated every sinew of
our society, and this story is going to be a
great example.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
This is the Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Judge ken Wise just stepped down a week or so
ago from being the president of the Texas State Historical Society,
and I've asked him to share this story with you
to understand that in every aspect of American society, wokeism
has infiltrated. It has managed to seep like sewage into
(16:09):
every aspect of our lives, our schools, our churches, our organizations,
our hoa's, our little leagues, every bit of it. Judge
ken Wise, why don't you tell us what you and
I think JP were up against in of all places,
the Texas State Historical Society.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Well, will let me begin. First of all, I hate
to do this to you, but I am a judge,
so I get to do this. It's the Texas State
Historical Association.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's the same thing your honor founded, objection.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Overruled, overruled, It's the same. It was founded in eighteen
ninety seven. And that's an important story because George Garrison
was the history professor, the only one at the University
of Texas, and he decided that Texas needed to organize
and preserve its history because by eighteen ninety seven we'd
(16:59):
had a lot of it and it was very interesting
and it is unique among the fifty states. And so
he gathered some political leaders. He gathered people like Orn Roberts,
who had been governor in chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
He gathered some ladies. He gathered ripped Forward, who was
a famous Indian fighter and Texas ranger, and other and
(17:21):
Guy Bryan, who was an early Texas settler, very prominent citizen,
and what he realized was Texans are different about our history.
We are much more zealous in guarding our history because
it affects the development and present state of our society.
That spirit of Texas that I love so much and
(17:42):
I know you do too, and we talk about and
think about that is a direct result of the unique
history of Texas. So not only is it important to
apply the discipline of academic history to our historical preservation,
but it's also in important to include people who are
not academic historians, because not only is it just as important,
(18:06):
they are also very eager and enthusiastic and capable about
promoting and celebrating our history. Professor Garrison knew that, and
so he brought that combined group together to form the
Texas State Historical Association. And through our entire history, it
has been combined between people who just love history for
(18:28):
history's sake and people who practice academic history. And unfortunately,
in some recent years, just a few people really got
that off track and started to claim that they were
the only ones that knew what history is about and
how to do it, and all that sort of thing,
(18:49):
and that's just not true. And they happened to share
the philosophy that you just described, which is poisonous. And
so some conduct occur that was in violation of our
bylaws and it was intentional, and they were warned against it,
and including by me personally, because I you know, I've
(19:10):
been to Judge twenty two years. I know exactly how
these things play out. And we didn't want the Association
to have to be in a courtroom. But in twenty
twenty three, the Association was in a courtroom. There was
no other option. And our executive director JP Bryant has
done more to preserve Texas history than any single individual
(19:30):
in this state. You know, he was our executive director
at the invitation of the board, and he had to
file aw lawsuit, and of course that resolved very quickly
and in favor of the association. And then a bunch
of people, instead of working it all out, just up
(19:50):
and quit, and which is fine, because you know, that's
just the way certain people chose to behave But.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Judge, let me now, let me ask you, so, if
I'm sitting in Seattle or upstate New York, or Tampa
Bay or Tampa, Florida right now listening to this, and
I go, Michael, why are you talking about an organization
that preserves Texas history? Because I think this is a
great example of what's happening in every organization and every household,
(20:19):
every school, every corporation in this country. Talk a little
bit about what exactly they were doing. Get a little
granular for.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Me if you would, all right, the bylaws of the
State Historical Association, which are available online for anybody to see,
contemplate the balance of the board of directors between academic
members and non academic members, and that goes right back
to eighteen ninety seven and the notion that I've described
(20:48):
that we need to include everyone in our history and
the promotion of our history and the study of our history.
Certain people who were in leadership at the time tried
to unbalance well, they did, in fact unbalance that board
so that academic members dominated. And that doesn't sound like
(21:09):
a problem, and it probably shouldn't be a problem, but
certain particular academic members had the attitude that I described earlier,
and only one point of view was important and any
other point of view was not going to be tolerated.
And so that's what led to the litigation, and the
judge ruled immediately the board was unbalanced and was required
(21:32):
to be balanced. And that's what happened. And it takes
people to stand up to whatever the problem is, just
like those people did at the Alamo one hundred and
eighty nine years ago. Was certainly their situation was more severe,
but you've got to stand up for what you believe in,
it for what is right, and in this case, it
(21:54):
was right there on the page. So we did, and
the association prevail and balance was restored, and we fixed
the bilaws to make it perfectly clear. Hopefully this won't
happen again. But so that's what happened.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
It's so frustrating because I see this. I see how
many families have been torn apart. I have friends who
had a fellow called a couple of days ago and
he said, Michael, you don't understand how much harder it
is for blacks who support Trump than it is for whites.
He said, at family gatherings, I've got family members who
say I'm a sellout, which, you know, white we don't
(22:38):
accuse fellow white people of being a sellout if we
don't like their politics. But you know, these people say
the nastiest things to folks, and I see organizations in
tumult and all this, and it's this woke virus has
just poisoned the harmonious relationships of decades and it drives
(22:58):
me nuts. This This was not how you should have
or how JP should have to spend their time running
this organization. But it's not unlike what's going on. I've
seen churches torn apart over this kind of nonsense, and
it just breaks my heart because what it means is
it's a distraction from the core mission. Your mission was
(23:18):
to extol the virtues of Texas history and share them
and educate and bring a new generation into it. And
instead you're having a fight amongst yourselves.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Well that's right, and history, Texas history belongs to everybody.
And let me make it clear for the listeners, this
was just a few people, a very small group. Not
all academics were like this at all, and some non
academics were, So it's really not about that. In fact,
I'll tell you, I'll give you an example, and maybe
(23:49):
this will inspire somebody out there facing this problem. This
happens to be in the history space. But I kept
hearing the term when I joined the board amateur historian
or lay historian in a pejority as if someone hold.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Right there in draft, because this is not a quick one.
I want you to this is important. Wait right there,
Judge Kim Wise.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Is a recession is when your neighbor loses his job.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
A depression is when.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
You lose yours, Michael Verry.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
We are talking to Judge kin Wise, in addition to
being an esteemed member of the Texas Judiciary is up
unto us up until a week ago, the president of
the State Historical Society. He has a podcast which I
highly recommend to you called Wise on Texas. You don't
have to be a Texan to enjoy Texas history. Heck,
(24:44):
I read about Alabama history in Louisiana history and Mississippi
history in California history. And obviously I'm not from there.
But he tells stories, and you know, I love storytelling.
I'm a believer in storytelling. Teach your kids to tell stories.
Courting a woman is telling a story, your own story,
so she picks you out of all the other guys.
(25:06):
Selling things is a story a pastor is a storyteller, Well,
Ken Why is a hell of a good storyteller, and
he knows Texas history inside and out because he's a
constant student of it. So we're talking about how the
Texas State Historical Society, like every other organization in America,
was infected by a handful of liberals who were very
aggressive and they dig in like a tick. And his
(25:30):
story of what happened there. So with that in mind,
go ahead, judge.
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Well, what I was going to say is that it's
important to understand history is almost infinite in its scope.
I mean, every part of Texas history is important, and
Texas has experienced its share of problems and problematic history,
and so it's really not about keeping the bad stuff out.
(25:58):
That's not what this is all about. What it's about
is including everything. And that's the problem. Certain viewpoints want
to exclude things, and you can't do that because you
don't get a fair picture of your society. And history
is not very useful if it's not inclusive of every
part of your history. And that's what ended up happening
(26:21):
is certain people wanted to exclude other points of view
and that just should not be done. But it went
beyond that, and they tried to misman did in fact mismanage,
mishandle the association. The court saw it for what it was,
and we've got it back on the right track now.
(26:43):
And the example I was going to give was I
kept hearing, or kept being called, among others, amateur historians,
as if that's something less than somebody who cares a
lot about history. So I enrolled in graduate school to
get a master's in history, which I will finish in
May of this year. Because I was going to just
(27:05):
put that right to bed. I mean, you and I
both share a law degree, which is essentially a PhD
on steroids, but I'm want a master's in history, So
we're going to take out.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I don't want to make you feel a lesser man
by any measure, but as you know, I.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Have two dogs trees. Yeah, no, I think listen.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I don't think you have to go to a university
to learn.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I have people.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I got an email this morning from somebody who referred
to your podcast as a university experience. We just put
my dad in an assisted living center, and so my wife.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Said, hey, you got to get up here at two.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
O'clock in the middle of the in between my morning
and even show.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Got to get up here at two. Your dad's excited.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I'm taking him to a Texas history lecture. So I
raced over there out of the studio. Ramon said, what
are you doing? I got to go to this lecture
with my dad. So it was his second or third
day at the new facility, and we're sitting in there
and there had to be one hundred assisted living residents
listening to this woman talk about the Battle of Santa
Cento and my dad. I reached out and held his
(28:03):
hand and my dad was clinching at points that we've
talked about, you know, together the eighteen minutes. Every time
she would say, all right, and what did we call
the two things that they you know, chanted or that
their war cries? They went in and.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
All the people cheered out.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It's exciting, I mean, and my wife afterwards said, it's
like your dad gets to go to the university, never
got to go to, you know. Hearing you talk and
listening to your podcast, it's called whys on Texas. People
who study lifelong students, I don't mean getting a degree,
people who study as long, who read, who engage, who learn,
who watch documentaries. They're happier people. You're using a part
(28:41):
of your brain. That's very positive. But anyway, I'm sorry,
go ahead.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Sir, No, No, that's I'm glad to hear that story.
People love Texas history. I give well over one hundred
talks a year from seventh graders on up to assisted
living facilities. People love to hear it. They never get
sick of hearing it. If you hear as much history
of wherever you live as possible, you're going to be
(29:05):
a better citizen of wherever you live. And that's just
the way it is, and I think it's really important.
There are times of upheaval in all societies where some
would argue we're in a time like that nationally, Well,
we better go back and study what works and what doesn't.
And everybody's story deserves to be told. Now, I'll tell
you there were time periods when everybody's story wasn't told,
(29:27):
and hopefully we're through those time periods, and everybody's story
deserves to be told. And this is a wonderful country
and a wonderful state, and it's important for all historians,
amateur or not, to get out there and learn and
tell these stories. The real stories. I mean, you got
to do your research. You got to do it well.
You've got to write well, you got to speak well
(29:49):
and tell the truth. And I don't get something, get
somebody something.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
You used elier that folks tried to create barriers. They
like everybody likes to be a gatekeeper, to give themselves
all the authority. They don't want a big tent. And
you said they would refer to people as amateur historians
because they're not experts. They don't have a certificate on
the wall.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
I'll tell you we've seen that in media judge wise.
We've seen how the citizen journalists who you know, the
blog or the and I'll tell you this, some of
the best true journalism coming out today is being done
by citizen journalists. And the Trump administration recently recognizing that
and saying, hey, the Associated Press is not going to
(30:33):
decide who is going to report on what we say
every day to the people while in the White House.
We're going to pick some citizen journalists to do that
because they're putting out good work. So I think you're
seeing this, and this is why I asked you to
be our guest. This isn't about the Texas Historical Society
or association. You can go read that for yourself. This
is about caring enough about every aspect of life, your church,
(30:56):
your school, your household, your workplace to step in and
say we're not going to allow wokeism, We're not going
to allow nonsense. We're not going to perpetuate that problem.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You know, a.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Judge like this, it would have been easier for him
not to take on this fight. So to do it
is because you do it, because it's the right damn
thing to do.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
I'm not sure, and I want to give.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
What I'm not sure you want to add to J. P.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Brian, Yes, go ahead, please.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
I want to give JP Brian a lot of credit.
The board, unanimously, everybody on the board invited him to
be the executive director of this association at a time
where it was critical, and he did it. And he
has spent a ton of time on this and has
done a great job. He's working on the details. We're
in better financial shape than we've ever been. We went
(31:48):
from publishing measily one book a year that now we've
got four we're going to publish this year. We published
a Southwestern Historical Quarterly uninterrupted since in eighteen ninety seven.
Then we've got now over one hundred articles. And I
don't want this to be academic versus non academic. That's
(32:09):
not it. Academic history is critical. The disciplined practice of
history is critical and be done in such a way
that's inclusive and useful to the population. And we just
had a few people that lost sight of that, and
(32:29):
that's unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
And guess what, that's where you step in and step up,
Judge Knwise, Thank you've been our guest. And I want
to tell every single one of you out there, whatever
state you're in, whatever you're doing in life. This woman
who spoke to my father's assistant living facility where all
the folk, she wasn't a history teacher, she wasn't a
university professor. She was a woman who started reading and
(32:52):
she wanted to share what she learned with all the residents.
Teach a Sunday school class at your church. Don't be
a well I could never do that.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes you can. You are called to give back.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
These talents are yours to share. I don't add your
light under a bushelver Mom
Speaker 2 (33:08):
We eld us has let us for day thank you,
and good night.
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