The Rod and Greg Show: Report on Misused Medicaid Funds; Defense of America 250 Celebration; Insight on Iran Rescue Mission

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, played a little golf on Saturday. Yeah, and
had a nice family dinner light yesterday.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yep. I watched a lot of TV and sports and
had a great, great weekend, good relaxing weekend. But Easter
weekend was good. Kids came home, we have hung out together.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good, it's good. Good weekend.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Holpe.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
You ladies and gentlemen had a great weekend as well.
You know, nothing stops though. We were all living by
this rescue mission rescue, a lot of fake news going out.
I kept sending out to friends. That's that's not true,
that's not true, that's fake because people strangely were writing
that they had been found or things. I think some
of that might have been intentional as we've learned more
about this operation and the misinformation that was purposely being

(00:43):
sent out to confuse Iran. But bet it was a
very eventful weekend.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yes, it was a lot going on. Well, and congratulations
today too to the crew of Artaments two. They've gone
farther into space than any human ever has.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
It's amazing. Question is coming back from that mission?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Uh is?

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Also?

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, Well, we've got a lot to get to today,
a busy Monday to get you caught up on what's
going on in your world here in a little bit,
will break down President Trump's news conference today. What is
he going to do tomorrow night. He's got a deadline
eight o'clock Eastern, six o'clock Mountain time as to what
happens in Iran. He's ready to take out the power
plans if he needs to do the infrastructure of that country.

(01:26):
He said he'll do it. He'll knock him back to
the stone age. We'll let you hear what he had
to say today. A little bit later on a new
report on misused Medicaid funds here in Utah, we'll explain
what's going on. Also, the state Board of Education did
something patriotic and they're being criticized for it makes a
lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
That's about That's about par for the course, stay, I guess.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
That makes a lot of sense. And then we've got
an expert who who who has trained for missions like
this one that took place over the weekend in I run.
He is going to join us and tell us what
it took. I mean, it is an absolutely amazing story.
So again, we got a lot going on today here
on the Roddy and Greg Show. In Utah's talk radio
one oh five nine can arres.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, folks, and I guess too. I'm just gonna give
you a little, a little bit of a hint, a
little little preview.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Mm hm.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
He might have something to do with our top top
gun school, Yeah, our prior weapons a little bit, you know,
the best of the best. It might have something. There
might be some connection there. And if that's the case,
then we're we're basically top gun. We're basically top gun.
Here for you to tell you how this whole thing
rolled out. Yeah, that's that's how we roll.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Right a weekend. Well, I just want to say, Greg,
and you know, I want to hear your feelings on this,
but I don't care if you like Donald Trump or
hate Donald Trump. I don't care if you like the
war or hate the war. You are I don't I
don't know the word to differy. You are troubled if
you can't take a second today to take pride in

(02:51):
the American military and what they did over the weekend,
because it is absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
It is it is and it's and and anyone that
would even say because I saw this would this is
so on brand for Europeans. Someone from Europe is like
they had to destroy three you know, see one thirties
you know for one to save one person. You're calling
that a success. Yeah, because we actually don't prioritize the
planes over the over the soldiers, these warriors that are

(03:19):
fighting for us. So yeah, we actually did without apology. Yeah,
euro trash. You can't even defend yourself for depending on us.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
The tradition of the American military for more than two
hundred years, we will not leave an American behind. And
boy they had two, you know, and they focus on
the rescue of the weapons officer, but there was an
earlier rescue of the pilot, that's right, and that was
another amazing feat.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
Man.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
We had a couple a couple of instances, you know,
the transpired from Friday till you know, late Saturday, Saturday night.
That it was it was tough going and there wasn't
a complete understanding of we knew that the planes had
been shot down, and then we didn't know the situation
or the canition of those pilots or the weapons what

(04:03):
do they call the weapons systems officer or something. Anyway,
it was a it was a harrowing a couple of
days and the and it was you knew it was
serious because usually President Trump goes down tomorrow Lago, there's
all these things, and he's talking to the press, and
it was door shut. Yep, everybody quiet, everybody working.

Speaker 5 (04:21):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
The leftist loons wanted to say he was at Walter reed,
he was going to die. This weird narrative on X
that was going out there, that was all conspiracy treated
But but what was really going on is that this
was an unbelievable mission, with all the odds against them,
of getting that far into the interior and being able
to save this this this weapons, this officer. Yeah, that

(04:46):
was in the plane.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Well after the President and the First Lady did the
Easter egg roll event at the White House today, which
by the way, was completely different from when Joe Biden
was there a year ago. Donald Trump actually knew who
the Easter bunny was. I guess had a conversation with them.
I don't know, something like that. But he had a
lot of fun with the kids. He took kids questions,
answered their questions, and then he went and had a

(05:08):
news conference with Ratlift, who's the head of the CIA,
Pete haig Seth, Secretary of War and Raising Kine. The
Joint chiefs of Staff they held held the news conference
today to kind of give us more details as to
what happened Saturday night in Iran and the rescue of
the second the second soldier left there. Here are a

(05:29):
few highlights a montage of what they had to say.
In this order, Trump, Ratlift, Haig Seth, and raising Kine.

Speaker 6 (05:35):
We could have ended up with one hundred dead as
opposed to one or two. It's a hard decision to make,
but in the United States Military, we leave no American behind.
We didn't want anybody to that. We have the best,
best equipment anywhere in the world. We didn't want anybody
examining our anti aircraft and other equipment. When you go

(05:56):
into these areas, you don't come out.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
We came out.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
God was watching us.

Speaker 7 (06:02):
Following the successful exfiltration on Saturday night, our intelligence reflects
that the Iranians were embarrassed and ultimately humiliated by the
success of this audacious rescue mission. It's the result of
unmatched training, superior technology, and unbreakable warrior ethos and sheer
American grit.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
That you will not be left behind.

Speaker 8 (06:25):
We will always come find you, and we will always
bring you home.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
That's General raising Kane, and he credited the two airmen
greg who were shut down and left alone in Iran
because of their will to live. Yes, and their will
that they knew, because of the tradition that we have
in this country, that we will come and get you. Yeah,
stay alive, you know, don't get captured. We will come

(06:51):
and get you. And they said, that's what drives all
these people who go through that training, that survival training
that they go through. They teach them just stay alive,
keep the will to live, and we will come and
get you. That's an amazing story.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
What's the seventh how how when they said that this
I want to call him a pilot, but he wasn't.
He was the weapons weapon officer ws what when he
had to when he ejected and parachuted down and he's
in the you know, he's deep inside of Iran and thereafter.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Him and he knows it two hundred miles inside.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Says that he had to scale seven thousand foot uh
feet up up up a cliff to get out of there.
What's what is seventh thought? What does that look like?
How far would that what would be comparable.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Certainly taller than the Empire State Building. Yeah, I'm much
that much taller. I mean, let's see Mount Olympus is
what nine thousand, think about nine thousand, So go on
about Tim. I'm not sure on.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Tim Loan Peak.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
I don't know on Loan Peak. But if you think
about this, Greg, he's doing that and he is injured.
He had to address and treat his own wound just
to be able to keep going. And they're taught to
do that.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
So I because I'm just trying to get my head
around that. Yeah, so I did that was I did
Lone Peaks eleven thousand and three, But that that took
us two days with scouts back the way back in
the day when I was a lot younger. But I'm
trying to think. So let's say, let's say you know
more than half of them to do while you're injured
to get there, uh in this and I'm sure it

(08:21):
wasn't a slow pace because of the.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
You know, they're coming after them and coming hard.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
And so then you had also the reports of the
CIA trying to create misinformation, which by the way, I
was get we were getting because we were being told
all kinds of stories over the on Saturday about the situation,
the condition of uh, there's just a lot of misinformation
flying around. But they were purposely trying to deceive the
i RG, the you know, the Iranian what do they

(08:46):
call them, the what's the name of their acronym for their.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Guard royal guards.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, anyway, they're trying to they're trying to slow them down,
confuse them, misdirect them. And they had a unique communications
and that they were able to shut down their communications
where they could in an encrypted way communicate with him
to keep him informed that they were aware and they
were tracking. But I'm told this is this story will

(09:12):
be a movie one day.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
We're just talking about who's going to start.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
It is an amazing effort to save this, all the
soldiers involved, all those that were involved. It's pretty wild.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well how the CIA deceived it. And as apparently they
had sent a number of aircraft to one area about
two hundred miles south of where the of where the
weapons officer was found, and the Iranians thing they were
looking down there and they were they deceived everybody and
the you know, it is simply an amazing story. And

(09:42):
like I said, I don't care what side you're on
in this political environment, in which we live. If you
can't take a moment to take some pride in the America,
in the American military, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
There's a side story in there that's that's getting lost
a little bit. But I think that President Trump brought
up in his press conference today and he's said, somebody
leaked that we had only saved one airman, and so
that told all of Iran there was one out there
that we had not retrieved yet, and he wants to
know who leaked that information.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
And he's mad.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
He's mad because it did threaten the life of the
second airman badly, because somebody leaked that they had only
recovered one of the two.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Well, coming up, we'll have more on this than the
five o'clock hour. We'll be talking with the retired US
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel more insight into this Iran rescue mission.
An absolutely miracle. That's what a lot of people are
calling it today. All right, great to be with you
on this Monday afternoon. It is the Roden greg Show
right here on Utah's Talk Radio one five nine knrs.
The President basically said, today, look, iron you have until

(10:40):
eight o'clock Eastern time six o'clock Salt Lake City time
tomorrow night to come to a deal or we're going
to go after your infrastructure. And there's a new development
of this story tonight come ary to us.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Social media and the Iranian State TV is now in
real time calling on Iranian children to surge to power
plants so they can be human shields against President Trump. Students, youth,
and almost everyone is invited to shield key infrastructure tomorrow.
That is the invite from Iranian State TV that everyone

(11:11):
go and huddle around key infrastructure, power plants, you name it,
to prevent them from being bombed. Awful nice about, No,
they don't value a lot. I wonder if any of
the Iranian the military's kids, instead of sending them here
to America like they did. The children are the mulist kids.
I wonder if they got them sitting at the power
plant waiting for tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Highly doubt it. I do, I do well. Last Thursday,
a reporter was released by the state Auditor. It took
a look at Medicaid funds here in Utah and what
I found is that about according to this headline today
in one of the media outlets, that five hundred million
dollars in funds intended for patient care went to administrative fees?
What is that all about? Joining us on our any

(11:52):
hour news maker line to talk more about that is
Tina Cannon. Tina is Utah State auditor. Tina. How are
you welcome to the Rod and Greg Show.

Speaker 9 (12:00):
I'm doing great? How are you?

Speaker 1 (12:01):
We're doing well? Tina? Tell us about this so report
that you issued on Medicaid funds and some of it
not going to patient care. What's going on?

Speaker 5 (12:11):
Well?

Speaker 9 (12:11):
This is a upper payment limit report which shows that
the administrative fees in these cases were at fifty one percent. Typically,
when we are auditing Medicaid funds, we would expect to
see an administrative fee between one and three percent. So,
as you can see, this is way outside of the
normal range for what I would expect to see.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Did you repeat that finding? Honestly?

Speaker 1 (12:36):
I think that Could you repeat that again? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (12:38):
That blows You said administrative fees as you audited, look
like they're at fifty one percent, when a one to
three percent administrative fee is what you should expect.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Is that?

Speaker 2 (12:49):
Did I hear that right?

Speaker 9 (12:52):
You heard that absolutely correctly. That is what the typical
fee ranges between one and three percent, and in this
case it's at fifty one percent. In addition to that,
we are we are seeing that the seed money that
is usually used to start these programs to draw down
the federal funding. Typically those are matching funds provided by

(13:13):
the entity. One percent of that seed money was then
drawn back to the to the administrative agency and used
within their facility and not in the nursing facility as intended.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
So that's it. So the match So there's the irony
about Medicaid expansion Obamacare expansion, is that for healthy adults,
the federal government has promised to reimburse up to I
think it's ninety percent of the Medicaid costs. But if
you are a child, or if you're infirm that that
what is it now? In Uta? Sixty percent or seventy percent.

(13:50):
So the difference when we say ninety or seventy we're
talking that the state has to come up with or
its sources. The ten percent or the thirty percent you're
saying at the match that they are identifying to qualify
for the federal funds doesn't go towards the care of
those that Medicaid.

Speaker 9 (14:09):
That's what I'm telling you that in one hundred percent
of the cases that we looked at, not some of
the time, not part of the time, one hundred percent
of the time that seed money was drawn back into
the non state government entity and used within their facility
and not in the nursing facility as intended by well
seed money. That's why it's called seed money.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, Tina, was this with certain hospitals, certain healthcare groups?
Who was doing this and was anyone ever monitoring any
of it?

Speaker 9 (14:41):
Well, it's it goes under two monitors, and so we're
the third that have looked at it. These are the
way the program is written. These cannot be state owned facilities.
They have to be municipal owned facilities. So we have
in the state of Utah we have several that are
municipally owned hospitals that they are then able to they

(15:02):
structure this program so that they are funding their own
facility instead of it going on to the nursing facilities
which they now own. So we have Beaver Valley Hospital
owns forty six care centers. When you think about rural healthcare,
you don't really think about a rural hospital owning this
many care facilities. But this is what it's created is

(15:24):
the desire and the impetus to then profit off of
the Medicaid program and use that within the administrating facility.
So it's part of that's why there are two sets
of recommendations. We recommend that the state tighten up the
rules and actually oversee correctly, and then it's a national problem.
So if this is what's happening within the state of Utah,

(15:47):
we expect that those members are even higher in the
other twenty two states where this is allowed to happen.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
We're speaking with Tina Canna Cannon, she's our Utah State
auditor about a report that's her office has put out
about the misused Medicaid funds. Uh and these and these
nursing centers, rural nursing centers what so again, Wait, they're
not rural.

Speaker 9 (16:07):
Some of these are are, so they're owned by a
rural hospital. But these are facilities that are in urban
and rural area. The facilities themselves are not rural facilities.
I see they're owned by in in all of the
cases they're owned by rural hospitals. But the requirement it
can be as long as it is a non state

(16:28):
owned government and tea, they can they can participate in
the upper payment limits program.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
So that's the Valley Hospital, Gunnison, Valley Hospital, Kine County Hospital.
Would all would would make you think these are rural facilities,
but they just have to be the owners of care
centers throughout the state. That's that's true exactly. So where
if it's when you hear these Medicaid dollars, the assumption
was and and I'm telling you there are lawmakers that

(16:55):
are operating under this assumption right now. Those are dollars
that are directed for the direct care of those that
are that qualify for Medicaid. What is happened? Fifty one
percent being used for administrative fees? What is that salaries?
Is that nice cars? Is that are they upgrading the
facility or they do you know what? Fifty one percent
of those dollars are being that are that are administrative?

(17:17):
That word is vague. What does the dollars actually jill match?

Speaker 9 (17:22):
That's a great question and maybe our next audit based
on the response on this one. So we it was
outside the scope of this. We did not go into
the facilities to look at what they were actually spending
the money on. You can if you google it, you
can find some interesting assumptions being made by press throughout
the state over what what they're actually using it on,

(17:43):
and it may be the subject of an additional audit
that we are fairly certain it's not going to patient care.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
So we'll be fascinating to see what you find out. Tina,
thank you so much for joining us, and enjoy the
rest of your day. Thank you, thank you, hey, thank
you for your work on any of our newslion. Tina Cannon,
Utah State Auditor. More the Rod and Greg show coming
up coming up in the five o'clock Cower, we'll talk
with the retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel. He's going

(18:09):
to dig into this unbelievable rescue mission that took place
over the weekend in Iran, and we'll get more details
about that and how what a challenge and what a
miracle this actually is in my opinion, I think a
lot of other people as well. But talk about patriotism
right now. Let's talk the Utah School Board, the State
school Board of Education. The word is that, I think

(18:31):
it was sometime last week held a celebration for America's
upcoming two hundred and fiftieth birthday that's coming up, of course,
on July fourth. It had all the makings of a
happy birthday song, right. They had cake and they had candles,
And apparently there were some people who didn't actually like
that idea. Greg, Yeah, apparently being patriotic is not a

(18:52):
good idea anymore.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, I think it's important that we find out what
was the offending language, what was so offensive, what would
cause the celebration two hundred and fifty years celebration of
our country, which, by the way, I'm we're in the
kind of in the middle of it. July is not
July fourth is not far away. And I remember seventy six.
I still remember it, and it seemed like he was
getting a lot more attention back then that by centennial year,

(19:15):
I think it was. But our state school Board was rightfully,
you know, acknowledging it. But you know, we always hear
this from the leftists. There's there's something about celebrating this
country and it's founding that they take offensive. So joining
us on the show is State school Board member Cole
Kelly to give us the dats, tell us what happened. Uh, Cole,
thank you for joining us on the Rodd and Grigg Show.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Hey, I appreciate you. Inviting me on.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
Maybe you could share what was it that you were expressing,
what were you communicating, and what parts fair or unfair
did somebody or some people take offense with.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah, well, I appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.

Speaker 8 (19:54):
Actually, our in our March board meeting, I'm going to
credit two board members, Jenny ar from District one and
then also Joanne Bruttin from District fifteen down in Saint George.
They they created a resolution that they and it was
a it was a it was an essay writing contest

(20:15):
for our students where students can can submit an essay
and have a chance to win some scholarship money celebrating
the two hundred and fiftieth birthday of our country. And
uh in that document, in that resolution they mentioned, you know,
the the Constitution, the connection to God, and the Christian
foundation of our country. And yeah, there were certainly a

(20:39):
lot of people that that took issue with that essay
contest and the writing of that resolution. And and then
here in our more recent board meeting, Jenny.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Earle had the board.

Speaker 8 (20:50):
Every every board meeting there's a different board member that
has a board member message and board member Earl she
you know she did a celebration of the two hundred
and fifty uh, you know, celebration of our country and
and and you're right. We we cut cake and and
saying happy birthday and blew out candles and uh and uh.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
It was it was a great it was a great opportunity.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
I'd be clutching them as you speak. I can't believe this, Cole.
Have you ever heard of a birthday party being in protest?
I have you ever heard anything like that?

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Goal?

Speaker 8 (21:23):
You know, it's it's interesting and and and you know,
it's it's it's important to respect all all opinions of
the different uh members of our community. And I'm willing
to hear them out, but I'm also happy to disagree
with them.

Speaker 6 (21:36):
You know.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
So here's here's what I want to know for those
that think that the history of this country and and
it's relevant aspects like freedom of religion, which you go
back to, you know, Plymouth Rock and you go back
to the you know how, what was the motivation and
that that right and freedom of self determination exercising uh
freedom of faith? It would be I think misleading or

(21:59):
deceiving to it the role of of our faith of
Christian faith of our of the Bible in the founding
of our country. To me, it'd be like if you
talked about the Shah of Iran being overthrown by the
you know, these clerics, these you know, theocratic Islamic republic clerics,
and you didn't want to mention any religion in the

(22:19):
in the in the and how that that regime changed
from one to the other. How could you even tell
the story as you're an educator, you're you're a school teacher.
How can you even begin to describe the founding of
this country if you have to omit all references to faith,
which I think would play a big part.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
You know, and and and that's that's what is important.

Speaker 8 (22:40):
Are recently actually are Utah legislature made it much more.
I would say that gave more freedom to educators to
really kind of express some of these things without fear
of of you know, having people come after them and
in different ways.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
But I teach financial literacy.

Speaker 8 (23:00):
I've been teaching it for almost twenty years now, and
you know, I think it's I'd be doing my students
a disservice if I didn't talk to them about tithing
and and and what taking ten percent from your income
and donating to donating to it to any organization does
to your budget. You know, it's I think it's an
important element to make sure that you you you address

(23:23):
some of those things and talk about the sacrifice of
donating to charities and donating to a religion and so to,
you know, to ignore those things, I think is irresponsible.
I think it's important for us to be able to
have open and honest dialogue about about religion, about the
role of religion and the separation of church and state

(23:44):
is sometimes very very something that's very hard in education
because it's important for us to understand that. Look, it's
never right for teachers to push any ideology onto their students.
But open dialogue and and having having an opportunity to
openly discuss things I think is important in the public

(24:05):
square and even in the classroom.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
Where does Cole, where does this resolution stand?

Speaker 10 (24:09):
Now?

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Does it?

Speaker 10 (24:11):
You know?

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Is it going to be part of the board meeting
or are they going to rescind it? Where where does this
all go? Cole?

Speaker 8 (24:18):
No, that that that it has been passed and and
that contest is moving forward and students at this time
can submit essays. There the UH it's a a scholarship
competition that our board has approved and and we encourage
students from all over the state to engage in it.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (24:36):
We encourage parents to to look at the qualifications and
encourage their students to research the founding of our country
and submit an essay that that they can be a
part of this, uh, this opportunity to earn some scholarship
money for their student.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Cole, keep up the work. We agree with you on
this one. Thank you, Cole, Yeah, thank you, appreciate it,
all right, Cole Kelly remember the Utah State Board of
Education a novel idea, have student's right an essay about
the founding of this great country of ours.

Speaker 11 (25:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
People that are going to be offended by all of
it need to just go find something else to be
offendive of this. We should be unapologetic about the founding
of this nation, including every detail.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah, you're right, all right, Moore. Coming up, it is
the Roden Grag Show with you on this Monday afternoon
right here on Utah's Talk Radio one oh five nine. Kanna,
it's good to be with you on this Monday afternoon. Well,
our good friends CNN Polling Guru Harry Enton has a
new poll out and it basically shows that Democrats are
likely to fail to regain control of the US Senate
if trends continue. Terrible news for the Democrats. Uh, They're

(25:39):
not very popular.

Speaker 10 (25:41):
No.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Anton showed today that although Democrats are still slightly favored
in generic congressional balance, it is not enough.

Speaker 12 (25:49):
Just take a look at this net favorability party I
had at this point midterm of years with a GOP president.
In twenty eighteen, Dems were up by twelve and two
thousand and six on net favorabillity which party you like more?
Dems are hit by eighteen. Republicans are actually ahead on
that favorability at this point by five points. So Democrats
are just simply put running behind their previous benchmarks, and
they'd be running well ahead of them if they want

(26:10):
to take back the United States Senate.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
Now. Axios Greg has the story out there today which
basically says the Democrats are going to take a look
at their twenty twenty positions as they gear up for
twenty twenty six and twenty twenty eight, and not the
positions they took in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Well, yeah, I think, yeah, think well, really say that
Axios is reporting that that's what they'd like to do.
Show me a base of these Democrats that will allow
them to do it. The guy that looks like he's
trying to be is be the normy in the crowd
is Senator Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. He's getting nothing but
grief from his partner. And I think that guy and

(26:48):
he votes a Democrat. Look at his votes ninety three
percent with Chuck Schumer. He as a supporter of the
AFLCIO Planned Parenthood. That's traditional Democrat votes and a lawmaker.
They're so mad at him for just being civil to
the president shaking his hand at the State of the Union.
Tell me that they're going to go back to twenty
if that's the climate that they're operating in right now.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Well, according to this story and actually is today, greg
leaders and would be leaders in the party have shifted
their views on border security, DEI crime, climate change, COVID
era lockdowns and more. I haven't heard any Democrats shift
their views as of yet, have you.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
Nope. In fact, the only guy I saw just recently
that Gegos the senator from the Democrats, senator from Arizona,
from Arizona, saying he may run for president on the
issues you just you just shared, but you don't have
a party, and you certainly wouldn't have a Democrat convention
where they're going to we're going to tolerate any of
that retreat on those issues of social issues that they

(27:44):
have spent a lot of time and money trying to advance.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, yeah, I mean the story the Democrats now one
change that they say they don't when they talk about energy, Now, Greg,
according to this story, it's usually about bringing down utility
rather than investing millions and billions of dollars into green
energy projects. See that shift, just a little bit of
a shift.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
A little bit inconvenient at times, and look all you
have to do. The Republicans, I think that they are
harming their own cause and I think they are chilling
turnout for you know, independence and Republicans who are frustrated
that they're not seeing enough of work or effort out
of Republican majorities in Congress and in the Senate. However,
when you listen to the Democrats long enough, they scare

(28:29):
the daylights out of you. You don't want them back,
you don't want them in charge. No, You've got that
con Congressman conn who's promised they are going to impeach
Trump if they get the majorities. He's out. They're going
to do everything in their power in the House, they'll impeach.
In the Senate if they could get a majority, they would,
they would convict him and remove him from office. Why
because he's because he's being the president and doing things

(28:52):
that they just don't like. It's political. There's nothing, there's
nothing that justifies it.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
And you know how difficult it is greg Once the perception,
once the image is in someone's mind, it's very difficult
to change. And the image of the Democratic Party right
now is their their pro choice. They want boys and
girls bathrooms, they want open borders, they want to attack
the rich. I mean that image that's tough to remove,
and that's going to be a tough sell.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
I think for the Democrats, well, the enforcing federal law
there against it, they've they've shown their colors where they're at.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
I just don't think that's where the American people are at.
In fact, when you see those polls that say that
the republic Democrats are una happier their party because I
don't think they're left enough, not that they've gone too far.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Left good being good thing all right. When we come
back after a news update, we'll talk with a retired
Air Force lieutenant colonel about what happened in Iran over
the weekend.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
This rescue mission is one that will be a movie
one day because it was unbelievable in scale and scope
and in risk. But we need somebody to break it down.
And I'm saying, can we get someone from Top Gun.
We got from the real Top Gun, like the real deal.
He is a pilot, he is an author, a speaker,
an entrepreneural. We're a podcast host and also help the

(30:02):
folks at Top Gun. Joining us on our newsmaker line
right now to talk about this is Markusara. Mark, how
are you and welcome to the Rod and Greg Show.
We looked so forward to talking to you this afternoon.

Speaker 11 (30:11):
Mark, Rod, it's great to be with you. How are
you guys doing today?

Speaker 1 (30:16):
We are doing. We're doing well.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
Mark.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
I want to get your initial reaction as more details
come out about this rescue mission, what took place over
the weekend.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
What are some of your general thoughts? Mark, I like
you like this. Give me a regular segment with him.
He already, he's already got it down. He knows, he
knows our listeners.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Well, what do you think, Mark, after the initial primal scream?

Speaker 11 (30:44):
You know what, rod I was working the night we
picked up Jessica Lynch, and you know what, that's what
everybody on the floor of the Combined Air and Space
Operations Center at Prince all Antana Air Base was doing.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
We all had our fists up. We're all screaming at
each other, okay, as.

Speaker 11 (31:04):
We watched her come out of that hospital on a
stretcher and be put into a Blackhawk call.

Speaker 4 (31:12):
Signed Prince six y one and move out. Okay, And
they were only in the hospital for like three minutes.
We're really really good at this.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
So so let me ask you that so when we
hear so, we've heard some details that have come out
since this. First off, it was the desire of our
military and the White House to not allow anyone to
not let anyone know that one one, the pilot had
been recovered, but the systems, the weapons system operator or
the aviator had not. That was that was information that

(31:45):
it's been in. I think President Trump today and in
the press conference said that they want to understand and
get to the bottom of who leaked that information, because
it's sent all of Iran or their military looking for
that other aviator, the aviator that had not been recovered yet,
and they're upset about that. So then you have the
story that that individual scaling seven thousand feet up a

(32:06):
terrain to get away and injured the CIA and their
attempts to try and misguy or just misinformation and mislead
the Iranian army away from from this this aviator. Maybe
you could just put some just put some context to it.
Because we're such amateurs. We see this on the in
the movies. We don't know, we don't know what that
even means what we're saying right now, and maybe give

(32:28):
it a human narrative that we can understand how risky
this was, or maybe it wasn't, maybe it was easy.
What's what was this? What was this really like?

Speaker 11 (32:38):
Can I give you an analogy I think that fits this.
You walk into a lion's den at feeding time. You
loudly announce your presence and you walk up to the lion.
You slap it in the face, You force its jaws open,
you reach down in its throat extract it's dinner. You

(32:59):
slap it in the face one more time on your
way out. That's kind of what a combat search and
rescue really is. Okay, Wow, it is extremely complex, and
you have to remember you're doing this kind of on
the fly, because nobody expects an airplane to get shot

(33:22):
down until it actually happens. And fortunately they were able
to pick the pilot up fairly quickly.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (33:31):
And the.

Speaker 11 (33:34):
Two real world combat search and rescues I've been involved
with were.

Speaker 4 (33:40):
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Goldfiend.

Speaker 11 (33:42):
Who later became Chief of Staff of the Air Force,
and an F fourteen that went down during the Second
Gulf War. And here's what we just showed our enemies.
Our people are so important that we will expend all
of our resources and spare no expense to come get you.

Speaker 4 (34:06):
And what that says to our service members, Rod, is.

Speaker 11 (34:11):
We will move heaven and earth to come find you,
and we will bring you home.

Speaker 4 (34:17):
We will bring you home alive.

Speaker 11 (34:20):
And unfortunately we've had to bring some people home that worn't.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, Mark, think of the.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
Mindset that that gives to people.

Speaker 11 (34:28):
Think of the mindset that people have now in our
military is they will come get me no matter what.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
Yeah, that's amazing, Mark, this was so complex. Not only
you have the rescue, you also have the CIA deceiving
the Iranians they thought he was somewhere else. You also
have an attack on the IRGC headquarters all going on
at the same time. Mark, that's unbelievable.

Speaker 11 (34:55):
And again, Rod, that sends a message, Okay, we we
will first come get our people, but if you try
and come mess with our folks, we're going to bring
hell down on Pondyu. All right, the four b ones,
Rod dropped almost one hundred two thousand pound bombs.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Wow, think about that.

Speaker 11 (35:18):
All right, the A tens and they're coming from England.
All right, all of this is choreographed down to you know,
just minutes and when the Wizzo Weapon system operator came
up on the radio and that burst of energy got

(35:40):
to our folks and go, okay, we got a pretty
good idea where he is.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Let's go get him.

Speaker 11 (35:46):
And I'm telling you, kind of everything else around the
periphery kind of stops unless it's part of the deception
plan or it's part of the actual package going in
there to pick this gentleman up.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
So your analogy where you're slapped, You're you're going into
a lion's den and you're smacking them around, and you're
taking the dinner right out of their mouth, and you're
you know, and you're challenging them, and you're just I mean,
that's you can't describe anything that's more outnumbered and outgunned out.
You're just surrounded. You would think in a moment like that,
at least a layman like myself, you'd think you better
find a hole and hide in it and not breathe

(36:20):
because they're everywhere. What what circumstances would have required him
to traverse seven thousand you know, feet up, you know,
up a mountain side. If he's trying to hide and
he's completely surrounded.

Speaker 1 (36:33):
What what?

Speaker 2 (36:34):
What does that? Why? Why wasn't he hiding versus having
to continue to climb upward and trying to escape?

Speaker 4 (36:41):
You ask a really really good question. Okay, and you
have to remember, this guy's injured.

Speaker 11 (36:46):
It's from what I understand, he's either got a severely
sprained ankle or a fracture ankle. And you're thinking to yourself,
I have to endure this pain to get to a
point where not only can I hide, but the rescue
folks when they come in and get me, are not

(37:09):
exposed for any long period of time. And of course
who did we send in there? The Special Forces guy, Yeah,
welt the Force Seal Team six and they went up
there in what they call a six little birds, and
that means there's guys on benches on the outside of
this hilo and they land in there, and they're immediately

(37:33):
setting up a cordon around him, and they're waiting to
see be okay, who's coming up after him?

Speaker 4 (37:40):
And probably one of the guys is probably.

Speaker 11 (37:43):
A medic that's helping with his wounds and bandaging him
up and maybe splitting his ankle if it's true that
you know he's got a sprain or fractured ankle. And
then you also have as part of the team what
they call a Joint Terminal Attack Controller at JTACH, and
he's calling in violence like crazy. He's controlling the A

(38:05):
tens that are coming in and strafing any vehicle that
gets even close to the downed airman. He's managing the
four b ones up overhead. Okay, And you have to
remember the B one has three separate weapons bays, so

(38:26):
in this particular rescue, there's twelve weapons bays that hold
eight weapons each in this foreshow. Okay, all right, And
one of the things that we did during the Second
Gulf War was you can put different weapons in each
one of those bays. So you can put like the

(38:48):
penetrating two thousand pound bombs in the front, the fat
boy market e fours in the middle, and you can
put what we called sensor fuse weapon, which is an
area denial weapon in the back. You can really tailor
those airplanes based on the situation with the weapons that
you think that you'll need in order to perform this rescue.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
And what amazing rescue is, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
Yeah, it is.

Speaker 11 (39:15):
It's when you pull these things off. It's it's like
I said, you're on the floor.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
We got and we got them. Mark. We've got a
few more questions. We've got a few more questions to
ask you. Can we take a break and come back,
or have you got someplace else to go? Can we
come back and talk to you for a few more minutes.

Speaker 11 (39:37):
I'm I can sit here for an hour and talk
to you, if.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
You all right, Marcus, they're joining us on our newsmaker line.
We'll come back to Mark with more questions about what
happened over the weekend. Here on the Rodden Greg Show
in Utah's Talk Radio one oh five nine can or Rest.
It has been given several names already. One of them,
of course, is the Easter Weekend Miracle. We're talking about
the rescue of two Americans who were rescued behind enemy

(39:59):
line about two hundred miles inside enemy lines over the weekend.
Absolutely amazing story. And to talk more about this right now,
we continue our conversation with Mark Usara. He has a
retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel also has been involved
himself in some of these rescue efforts. Mark, welcome back,
Thanks for staying with us. Mark. The question I have
for you is the decision was made the planes that

(40:21):
originally had come in the C one thirties. I think
there was another plane there as well, got stuck in
the mud and the decision had to be made to
blow them up. Who makes a decision like that?

Speaker 4 (40:31):
Mark, You know, Rod, that's a great question.

Speaker 11 (40:34):
It goes up the chain and inside the command center
there's what's called a Joint Rescue Center, and they're obviously
coordinating all of the airplanes and all of the procedures
that are going on, and somebody in that chain of command,
you know, made that decision, and you know, you land

(40:56):
and you turn the airplanes around and get stuck in
the mud. Can't plan for that obviously. Yeah, And those
two airplanes had the four one hundred and sixty of
sort little birds in them, the little small helicopters that
actually went up to the top of the mountain and

(41:16):
picked up the colonel.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
Okay, this callsign is Ghost, I think or something like that.

Speaker 11 (41:23):
All right, And you know, Rod, those are all decisions
that are just being made really with the intelligence you've got,
all the things you've got in your head at that moment,
and it could be constantly changing because again, they're just
south of Isfahan, They're not very far from one of
their biggest cities, and there just happened to be some

(41:45):
type of airstrip there that they said, oh, look, you know,
we can use this in our rescue. But you know,
getting mired in the mud and everything. Of course they
didn't plan on, but it evolves and you just come up, Okay, well,
what's course of action number two? Well, we've got these
other airplanes that are lighter and they can go in

(42:07):
there and pick these guys up. So that's exactly what happened.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
So I recall in the Maduro extraction eighty eight minutes
they went in one of the pilots that had been
injured but still able to operate. The the his helicopter
was was a high ranking officer, someone of that that's
not just I mean it was it was a significant
someone to help plan the entire uh you know, extraction
in Venezuela. Going back to this operation, this colonel, do

(42:35):
kernels typically sit as weapons systems operators aviators in F
fifteen's going into into Iran. I was surprised that the
President noted we this isn't just I mean not, there's
no just but saying this is a highly respected, accomplished
and a battle you know, battle tested warrior that we
have in this kernel that that we have to extract.

(42:57):
So a colonel, is that is that a normal circumstan
I mean, I was surprised to see in the Venezuela
effort and in this one we have some of our
higher in command officers that are are actively involved and engaged.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
That's a great question too.

Speaker 11 (43:14):
And you know what, think about this, if you're a
colonel and you're standing on the sidelines on the Super
Bowl where do you want to be I want to
be in the backseat of an airplane that I'm extremely
familiar with, that I have flown through my entire career,
and I want to be out there with the boys
and girls that are, you know, taking the fight to

(43:36):
the bad guys. And so he went up on this
mission and you know it didn't turn out the way
that they had planned, but you know, we're not going to.

Speaker 4 (43:48):
Leave anybody behind.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
Yeah, Mark, this proves.

Speaker 11 (43:53):
This proves to everybody that into our adversaries, we're going
to move heaven and earth to come get you. And
it proves to all of our service members and those
that are associated with our service members, we will come
find you and bring you home no matter what.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
Mark, I want to ask you that because General Caine
brought that up during the news conference earlier today said
we must recognize the will to survive on the part
of these people involved in this. How is that reach
that will to survive? Is it because you know you
know that they're going to come get you no matter

(44:32):
what your circumstance. Where does that will to survive come from? Mark?

Speaker 11 (44:37):
Two things, and you brought up one of them, Rob
is you know, I know they will come get me.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
And the radio that he had.

Speaker 11 (44:47):
They knew that he was alive, they knew that he
was moving, and then he kind of went dark for
a while and he had some injuries that we're not
so sure about.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
It's going to be a great story, man. I really
want to see this movie, all right.

Speaker 11 (45:05):
And the other thing is you're not gonna let your
family down, and you're gonna do everything you can to
get back to your friends and your squadron and get
back to your family. This guy's an six, he's a colonel,
and he's out doing the job, all right, and he's
doing a job that he loves. And I flew tankers

(45:27):
for twenty four years case one thirty fix, just like
we've got here in Salt Lake.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
I loved every minute of it.

Speaker 11 (45:32):
Yeah, you know, and you know I tell all my friends,
I you know, I go around the world passing gas.

Speaker 4 (45:37):
For a living.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
That's one way to put it. I would give it
a higher elevated status in that, sir.

Speaker 11 (45:46):
But here's one of the things you have to understand
that goes. This is part of the mission planning of
a combat search and rescue like this, because you don't
know how long it's going to take to get the
survivor up off the ground, and so there's a lot.

Speaker 4 (46:01):
Of gas involved.

Speaker 11 (46:03):
And I found out from a good friend of mine
this morning that they moved a lot of airplanes forward
like the tankers that can't defend themselves, because they found
the kernel and they're going, we're going to get this
guy out, and we're going to move heaven and earth.

Speaker 4 (46:19):
To do it, all right.

Speaker 11 (46:21):
And when you see this and you hear the voice
on the radio of the kernel and everything, you are
extremely motivated at that point to go grab this guy
right and to go get him home and bring him out.
And look at all the things that we did in

(46:43):
order to do that. We destroyed two multimillion dollar aircraft
and four helicopters because they're mired in the mud and
we can't get him out. But we brought in three
other airplanes from AFT SOOC down at Hurlbert that were
that are lighter that we're able to land and get
everybody home.

Speaker 4 (47:04):
And we did it on the fly the fly.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
That's amazing, Mark, that is absolutely amazing. Mark. We love
your insight. Yes, thank you for your service. I think
we'll be talking to you again down the road is
this thing develops. Thank you, Mark and enjoy the rest
of the evening. Thanks for joining the Rod and Greg Show.

Speaker 11 (47:20):
Hey, Rod, Greg, thank you so much for having me on.
And thank you for you guys do for us in
the military.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
Well you're welcome.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Thank you for your service, sir, and thank you for
helping us our pleasure. We appreciate the insight and we
can hear your passion and we know warrior when we
hear one.

Speaker 5 (47:36):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
All right, more coming up, it is the Rod and
Greg Show with you on Utah's talk radio one oh
five nine kN rs. President basically, he has told the Iranians
either open up the strait of her moves, get a
seats fire, or we are going to bomb the living
daylights at you.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
Yeah, and I think that the beautiful thing. I think
we're living in a unique time. I really don't think
you'll see a president. I don't think you have a
president that was understood or known by the American people
for forty years the way that Donald Trump was known
as you know, as a as a real estate mogul,
an author of.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Art of the Deal.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
And then you know, he builds the taj Mahal and
in Atlantic City puts on all these big prize fights.
He buys the New Jersey Generals in the USFL and
has herschel Walker as their big player. He won the
Heisman Trophy, and then he does the Apprentice. So this
is the guy that a lot of Americans had grown
up seeing in different capacities. And then he becomes president

(48:29):
and so there's just this like relationship with him, and
he travels this country and having you know, numerous you know,
rallies where he just loves being with the people. I
just don't think we're going to get it back. So
we're in this unique window of time. But one of
those details includes he does not use shuttle diplomac, He
does not use nice language. No, he wants you to

(48:50):
know how absolutely serious he is. And these social media
posts are in some way they inform us the American
people where are president is at on a situation. But
I think it's directly directed but right between the eyes
of these Iranian leaders, whoever's up the bat right now
and who's still left that he means business and I

(49:11):
think he's going to speak a language and with a
seriousness that I think they will understand or be afraid
enough to say, well, he's just crazy enough that he'll
do it.

Speaker 4 (49:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
Well, the legacy media over the weekend went crazy when
the President delivered a profane moarning I think it happened
yesterday as a matter of fact, to the Islamic Republic
of Iran, demanding the theatric the theocratic regime sees its
efforts to close the straight or horror moves. The President
basically said this, get ready, folks, Tuesday will be power
planned day and bridge day all wrapped up in one

(49:42):
in Iran. There will be nothing like it. Trump posted
Sunday morning, open the f and straight you crazy b words,
or you'll be living in hell. Just watch Praise be
to Allah, and the legacy media went crazy on this.
Greg he is. He's not talking the American people. He is,
you know, he's talking to the insane leaders in Iran,

(50:04):
and I think that's the only language they understand. So,
you know, is it different. You'd never find another president
before him using language like that. But he wasn't talking
to the American people. He wasn't even talking to the
Iranian people. I think he was talking to the Iranian
leaders and he was talking in their language because I
think we all agree. Leaders that kill forty five thousand

(50:26):
of their own, people that hang people, that throw gay
people off roofs. These people are insane. Yeah, and you
want to be insane that I can be as insane
as you are. So listen to what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (50:38):
You know, Dnesh Desusa had a great post. He said,
this post talking about the one you just read. I
He says, this post includes several figures of speech, including hyperbole, metaphor,
and irony, though a little gem that has written to
mystify the intellectually impoverished. And what he's saying is, you know,
because for how many years now, since twenty fifteen, people

(50:59):
have not been able to understand this president. They don't
understand him, or they just want to. Maybe it's purposely
they want to miss read or interpret everything the man does.
To Denesh Desus's point, he is using metaphors, he's using hyperbole,
he's using irony, He's using these figures of speech, but
he is hitting them as he's making as directive a
statement with all those figures of speech to make a

(51:22):
very strong point. And you either are on purpose not
understanding his ways up to this point, or you're as
he called it the intellectually impoverished, that you don't understand
what he's doing, because I understand it.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
I understand it.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
Right.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
He's he's saying, you guys are nuts. Well, let me
show you what I mean, maybe as nuts and as
un you know, don't don't, don't guess me, don't, don't
call me out, don't call my bluff. Because when I
say open it up by six pm Salt Lake City
time tomorrow, it damn well better be opened.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
And he means it, and so we'll see you see
what happens.

Speaker 1 (51:56):
He does mean all right. I want to get your
reaction to this, because you know, we talked last week
about Utah nice now nice people are well. This certainly
wasn't a nice text message. No, we're opposed. It's not
on the nice side. But it delivered a message. And
is anybody in our audience offended by this? I'm not.
I know where he's coming from. I know what he's

(52:16):
trying to do here. Didn't bother me at all. I
want to hear. We want to hear what you think.
Eight eight eight five seven o eight zero one yer
old triple eight five seven o eight zero one zero
on your cell phone dial Pound two fifteen. Say hey, Rod,
or leave us a message on our talkback line by
downloading the brand new iHeartRadio app. Your calls, your comments
coming up on the President's profanity that's coming up next.

(52:37):
Right now, let's get your news up to begin. Here
comes trun and Brag.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
A deadly crash involving two vehicles in Springville, leading to
road closures in that area tonight.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
Deep President can't do that. They don't understand who Donald
Trump is. After what four years in office in his
first term, now two years in his second term, they
still haven't figured this.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
Guy out far, Like, Hi, Kettle, I'm I'm pot you're black?
I mean, do you see the language they use.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
Let's go to the phone, Joey.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Yeah, Let's go to Ray, who's an American Fork?

Speaker 11 (53:08):
Ray?

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Thank you for calling the Ron and Greg show.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
Hey, thanks for having your show. I hate to tell
you guys this, but if anybody thinks that Donald Trump
and the Republicans won the last election cycle because everybody
loves Republicans, you're dead wrong. They won because people were
sick and tired of the malaise that we were dealing
with with the economy, with having a stooge in the
White House with Kamala Harris, who anybody from California knew

(53:36):
every bet she hopped, you know, from to the other
to get to where she was. We all knew it.
The problem is the Republicans have done nothing. We have
and you guys, you know, I hate to say this,
but you can't ignore depravity just because the party that's
involved in it is the party you support. We got

(53:57):
Thomas Massey, who's won life, dies, his childhood sweetheart drops dead.
There's been no definitive reason what caused your death? Within
a year, he's married to an intern twenty years younger
than him. No questions, no problem. We've got Tony Gonzalez.
We got Tony Gonzalez in Texas. That's a major loss,

(54:19):
major loss. He has to drop out because he's screwing
around with a married young intern who sets herself on
fire and burns to death. Okay, we got Trump, who,
whether he was involved with Epstein or not, this is
a huge, huge story because Epstein was involved with everybody.
We got his attorney general having a long history including

(54:42):
his father with Jeffrey Epstein. No questions asked. Now, we
got this situation in Ron bottom line is right here
in Utah. I'm not a resident in Utah. I'm here
helping with my mom. I called you guys a year
ago and told you this was going to happen right
now in Utah. We got fourth thirty nine a gallon
for gas. That's the most I've seen it since I've

(55:02):
been here. Yeah, California. Just talked to my wife. Almost
eight bucks a gallon.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
Oh okay.

Speaker 5 (55:08):
You think you think when the average person goes to
the store and buys eight items and it costs sixty
five dollars, you think that individual is going to vote
Republican when the only reason they supported that party was
because they thought it would make a difference to the
where they were live in their lives. You think they
care about Iran?

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Yeah? You make it good, Ray, I've We've got to
get some other comments, but it does make a good comment.
You and I have talked about this one of Republicans
done to earn a more control.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
Yeah, and I would say another two years control.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
I do too, But look, we have been critical of
this do nothing Congress in the Senate, that that bailed
out it and snuck out of town early, that that
is just I think that the voter motivation and the
get out to vote for normal, everyday Americans has been
chilled by the inaction or the bad actions of the
Senate in the House. So I agree with him there.
But this president, he's the only guy breaking a sweat

(56:00):
inside that town. So you'll never hear me complain about that,
because that guy is actually trying to get something done
and spend in political capital. Will do it?

Speaker 1 (56:06):
All right? You can make a comment on our talkback
line as well by downloading the iHeartRadio app. Let's go
to that line here. It's what one of our listeners
had to say.

Speaker 10 (56:15):
Good afternoon boys, President Tropp.

Speaker 4 (56:18):
This is exactly what I voted for. Somebody to take
the trash out.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
Now give us.

Speaker 11 (56:24):
Those kind words that Mitt Romney would have attempted to do.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
I mean, look, it's these are again. The thing that
I respect about this president is that he does spend
political capital. He doesn't look, oh you know, it's not
a decisions made out of fear, which so many people
elected people do, like where are the people going? So
I can lead him there, Let's do nothing, because nothing will.
You might get frustrated with nothing, but it definitely won't
offend like doing something hard, because something hard will come

(56:53):
with its critics. Every time you interrupt the status quo,
people come out of the woodwork against that. But that's
what it takes sometimes. And you don't see that kind
of political courage in our US Senate ore House, but
I do see it with this president, and that's who
I voted for as well.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
President's after president after president has tried to work with
the Iranians. They lie. Let's be honest, folks, they live,
and we try to appeach them and make knights with him.
Donald Trump sees it. He understands who these people are.
He understands that these leaders of this country will kill
their own people, it doesn't matter. They do not value life.

(57:28):
And Donald Trump is trying to show him a different way.
And the interesting thing about this, why hasn't he taken
out the infrastructure that's normally what would you would do
in a war. He hasn't done that yet. He's giving
him time to think about this. Yep, we'll see what
happens to side clock's ticking. Yep, it sure is all right.

(57:48):
Our number three of the rotting Greg show coming your
way to stay with us. My fifteen minutes away from
the tip off of the men's basketball Championship.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
Yeah, yucona Michigan tonight.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Yeah, I kind of like you come. I like like,
I like Michigan. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
And that was a disappointing game on Saturday because I
thought the Michigan Arizona Arizona game was going to be
a whale of a contest, and Arizona just didn't show up.

Speaker 2 (58:16):
Well, maybe because I watched Big twelve. I just thought
Arizona was such a stronger team. I just they've done
so well all year long. I thought there would at
least be a game. But it wasn't a game. They
just didn't show up.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
And we'll see what happens tonight. All right, Greg, A
day doesn't go by I think anymore. Greg, you see
this in the headlines as well, where you have someone
involved in a murder or a shooting or a DUI
related accident, someone who has been involved in this but
should be in jail, and instead a judge let him
out of jail, or a prosecutor didn't prosecute them. You
asking yourself what's going on.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
I'm telling you this catch and release just plague of
our criminal justice system. It started after COVID and actually
around the time of the what's his name, the guy
that George Floyd, Yes, sorry, George Floyd. I had a
brain cramp there. But after that things went off the
rails and we just started this catch and release and

(59:12):
the public safety has never been the same. Now with Trump,
we've seen our crime rates go down, but we still
have these activist judges that really put more sympathy towards
these dangerous and violent criminals than they do the victims.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
Yeah, they do. Well. Who are these judges who keep
setting criminals free? Joining us on our any hour newsmaker line,
he's been looking into this is our good friend, Zachary Faria.
He is a commentary writer with the Washington Examiner. Zachary,
how are you, and welcome back to the Rod and
Greg Show. Thanks for joining us tonight.

Speaker 6 (59:40):
I'm good.

Speaker 4 (59:41):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
All Right, you've dug into this. What have you found out? Because,
like I said, you hear stories almost daily anymore, somebody
being let out of jail by a judge and they
go commit a crime. What is going on? Zachary?

Speaker 10 (59:54):
Yeah, so you have this situation we've noticed with district attorneys,
so in the past few years, everyone started see these
district attorneys that came into office around twenty nineteen twenty
twenty who were basically defense attorneys getting into the district
attorney role so they could start implementing criminal justice reform
without having to do any of the legislative legwork. And
what we're starting to see now is you're starting to

(01:00:15):
see a lot of judges that are pretty much the
same thing. You have judges who are either literally defense
attorneys or who just have the same kind of thought
process of a defense attorney getting into office as judges
and then using the discretion that judges have when it
comes to sentencing or pre trial release to start letting
criminals out of jail, criminals who have not or who
have proven that they do not deserve the leniency.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
So, you know, we suffer from this. Even in a
red state like Utah, we have activist judges who there's
a lot of catch and release. We've had high profile
murders that were from people that should have had had
no business being out amongst the public. They should have
already been incarcerated and locked away and even in some
cases deported. Our issues. We have this this farce of

(01:00:58):
an election called a retention election, where they're there's almost
zero information about a judge or list of judges that
we are asked as Utahns and voters to either retain
or not, and those it's like set between sixty seventy
five to eighty five percent retention rate. More than ninety
nine percent of these judges do get retained. There's no

(01:01:18):
real election that ever has percentages or looks like that.
How do you bring transparency to the judiciary where these
catch and release practices and the things that these judges
are doing that are soft on crime and making the
streets more dangerous. We can let voters know, at least
in Utah, know what the history of this judge is
before you vote to retain or not. What can we
do about that?

Speaker 10 (01:01:38):
Right, So, there's really two solutions I have, and I
think it would be wise for the Republican Party to
pursue both. The first one is that the Republican Party
needs to start putting this as a top priority and
they need to start informing voters in local elections and
city elections and district elections, whatever they may be. They
need to start informing them about some of these judges
and start actually whipping up votes against them in those

(01:02:00):
kind of retention elections that you're talking about. The second solution,
because obviously that's a lot of work, especially for a
party that has a limited amount of money to spend
on elections across the country. The second solution is that
Republican legislature, legislators in the state legislators need to start
removing discretion from these judges. So when you have judges
who are, for example, putting career criminals on an ankle monitor,

(01:02:23):
and then when the criminal violates the ankle monitor, they
just put them on another ankle monitor, that discretion needs
to start being removed. And Republicans need to start going
back to putting hard limits in place when it comes
to pre trial release, when it comes to sentencing, when
it comes to mandatory minimums, those kind of things.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Let me ask you this, zech, are lawmakers a bit
reluctant at times to get tough on judicial candidates in
the vetting process and the hearings. Are they a little
bit reluctant to get after them.

Speaker 10 (01:02:51):
That's certainly possible. It's also the case that a lot
of these judges that work on the state level, the
district level, the local level at them don't even have
to go through appointments. A lot of them do get
in through They'll get in through an initial election and
then stay in through attent reattention elections like you guys mentioned.
So there's a lot that goes into it. And I'm
not going to fault a lot of Republicans for being

(01:03:15):
overwhelmed by the number of judge appointments at certain in
certain states. But the answer to that, the easy answer
to avoid even having to think about that, is to
just start removing the discretion that those judges have. So
even if you have these soft on crime judges being
put into office, their hands are tied based on what
state law says that they have to impose.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
I heard an attorney share with me an interesting take
on judges. They said, you know, no one becomes a
judge without lobbying or being political to some degree. They
just don't cherry pick people out of the blue. People
have to let them, let it be known that they're interested,
that they have some type of political effort to be
on a list, and then it's a And then this
attorney said that a lot of very successful judges don't

(01:03:56):
want to be judged or attorneys don't want to be
judges because it's a mass a pay cut, it's a
change in lifestyle, it's something about likely for if they
are successful in their legal practice. Those two things of
being political seeking it out and maybe not having a
very as successful of a firm creates kind of a
natural selection that's not actually good in terms of your

(01:04:17):
pool of judges. Does that sound accurate to you or
is that just being too cynical?

Speaker 10 (01:04:24):
Absolutely, because what you get there is if you're not
going in it for sort of the financial part of it,
and if it's something where people are lobbing for, you're
creating a system where it's people that are very political
who are wanting to push.

Speaker 1 (01:04:36):
A message or to push a movement.

Speaker 10 (01:04:38):
That's the people who are seeking out those kind of positions.
So again, like I said, the best way to get
rid of that is just to remove the discrestion that
these judges have. So you have these politically motivated people
who see that they do not have the power to
take a judge's spot and use that power to reform
the system from the inside, and you start funneling them
back to where they belong, which is running for political
offices trying to come to sense attorneys that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (01:05:01):
Well, you go back to a coming you made earlier
as well as Zachary, where you have these liberal prosecutors
who then decided we think we want to move into
the judiciary and be a judge. Is that a planned effort?
Is it all part of an overall nationwide plan? Thank
you George Soros or someone else behind this, Zachary, That.

Speaker 10 (01:05:22):
Part is hard to say. So when it came to
these sort of criminal justice reformers going into district attorneys races,
that was very much an orchestrated thing. George Soros was
pumping a lot of money into these campaigns, and you
had these candidates sneaking in with big financial backing and
races that usually didn't gain as much national attention as
they do now. Thankfully, When it comes to judges, it's

(01:05:43):
hard to say. There are a lot of judicial elections
across the country that people just can't pay attention to,
so all it takes. For example, one of the judges
I wrote about from Wisconsin, she ran unopposed. She was
a defense attorney, that was her job, and she talked
about when she got elected that she was going to
reform the system from the inside. She ran against nobody.

(01:06:04):
So it's just the sort of thing where you have
these politically motivated people who see openings and decide to
just throw their hat in the ring, and no one
else runs against them.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
Well, the question what do you recommend the voter? Does?
I know you gave us a couple of ideas on
making it a top priority in some of the vetting,
But as voters out there, does it just come down
to being informed and seeing what these judges and these
prosecutors are up to.

Speaker 10 (01:06:27):
Yeah, difficult, but voters are going to have to take
some responsibility for themselves as well. You have to go
look up these candidates beforehand, before you even go into
the ballot box. You should look at what elections are
up and what candidates are on the ballot. I live
in California, so I do benefit from vote by mail.
So when I have my ballot in front of me,
if there's candidates and races I don't know, I'm going

(01:06:47):
to look them up and find anything. And if I
can't find anything positive, I'm not going to back them.
I'm not going to vote to retain them. I'm not
going to support them over a challenger. That's just what
it's got to be. So voters do need to take
some responsibility, and you have to be in formed at
all times.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
Zachary, thanks for joining us tonight. Good luck living in
the People's Republic of California. We waste you all the bed. Zachary,
thank you, thank you for having me all right, joining
us on our newsmaker line. Zachary Faria. He is a
contributing columnist with the Washington Examiner're talking about the judges
who keep setting criminals free. I have noticed one thing,

(01:07:22):
Greg during this election cycle. It's already started on social media.
I see more people posting the decisions made by local judges. Yes,
have you noticed that? One way they're drawing attention to
these judges saying, hey, if you're going to retain them,
you need to know some of their records are a
part of their record.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
ANOU, When when a judge gets first gets confirmed, they
have a retention election, that's I think two years after
that that's pretty quick, and then after that it could
be six to ten years you could get another crack
at deciding. So there's been a lot of attention over
the two State Supreme Court justices that will be up
for retention election in November. The discussion about whether those
two ought to be retained or not has already begun.

(01:08:01):
And I've seen those posts, and I think it's going
to take some of that organic uh messaging and communicating
with each other, because the system is designed to give
you almost zero information. That's not that's not a mistake.
It is meant to be done that way.

Speaker 3 (01:08:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:15):
Yeah, Well, just do like you and I do. Just
vote no one.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
I vote in every single one on ever one.

Speaker 3 (01:08:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
Yeah, it's it all right, mare coming up the Rod
and Greg Show with you on this Monday and Utah's
Talk Radio one oh five nine KNRS. Story out over
the weekend that US crewde oil production hit a record
thirteen point six million barrels per day in twenty twenty five,
rising three percent as oil prices strengthened, signaling a more

(01:08:41):
robust global outlook for the oil and gas industry. So,
for producing more oil than we ever have before, why
are gas prices here in Utah? Now? What did I
hear today about four to sixteen a gallon? Yeah, it's
because we he confuses people.

Speaker 2 (01:08:54):
It's because it's a global commodity it's because it's over
one hundred bucks a barrel globally. That's the that's the
as the supply in the straight or Her moves has
been interrupted. It even though we have all the supply
we need in the United States, we're tied to that
global press Kamandi, which we got to quit. I mean,
I don't know. Trump seems to have found a work

(01:09:16):
around us for a lot of things. I don't know
how in the world we're still stuck on one hundred
plus dollars a barrel of gas of crude oil when
we have more than we know what to do with.
We're a net exporter and probably the strongest we've been
in a long long time.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
Yeah, we were not here on Friday, but the unemployment
figures came out Friday. Boy did they blow people away.
The March employment report beat consumer forecast by sixty thousand
payroll games last month. According to Facts At, the unemployment
rate dipped to four point three percent in March, down
from four point four percent. It was absolutely amazing the

(01:09:49):
jobs report that came out on Friday. You and I
were off Friday, didn't get to talk about this, but
it blew people away.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
Yep. Well, I do. I think that the challenge that
we have is that there was such a whole dug
by the Biden administration and you're digging out of it.
And when you see inflation, even though it's two percent,
or it's not Biden's nine to five four, whatever it
may be, that two percent is still adding on top
of what's already increased in price. So you're still seeing

(01:10:15):
that increase even if it's like gaining weight. If you
gained nine pounds and you gain two pounds the next
year or the next quarter, you didn't lose nine down
to two, you've gained two more pounds on top of
the nine. It's our income, it's the income. Household income
has to grow faster than inflation. That's how you get
out of this.

Speaker 1 (01:10:31):
Yeah. Speaking of the economy, the CEO of JP Morgan Change,
Jamie Diamond, issued a thinly veiled as they're describing in
greg warning to New York City Mayor Zulander Mundani. He
basically said, crushing Texas and red tape are already sparking
a large exodus of business out of the Big Apple,

(01:10:53):
and I think it's going to continue.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
I do too. I do. There'll be an exodus out
of there. Look outside of leftist university professors, where does
any of this work. It doesn't. It's the only it's
the only fantasy land that where communism, socialism, collectivism, you
name it. The only place it works is in the
brains of these higher ed people that couldn't get a
job in the real world and go back into high
ed and teach because they can't. They can't do. Yeah,

(01:11:17):
those that do do, those that can't teach. And that's
you know, and especially the universities and how they're radicalizing
our young people. I uh, you know, that's the only
place you're going to hear a straight faced advocacy for
socialism or worse.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
Well, I wonder, Greg, what's going to wake up New
Yorkers for crying out loud? They put this guy in office,
And did you say, what were the stories last week?
I said, he's hired several of his cronies to head
various agencies or new offices to the tune of two
hundred to three hundred thousand dollars a year for many
of these these people he's selected.

Speaker 2 (01:11:51):
Oh, he's raising taxes on everyone, including the poor people.
He said he wasn't going to raise him on. He's
raised on everyone.

Speaker 1 (01:11:56):
Yeah, yep, yeah, all right, data centers here go. The
liberals are having a field day. The state of Maine
has announced that it is going to declare war on
data centers. Maine is about to become the first state
in the country greg to ban data centers. Okay, which
you said, Maine Main. Yeah, I'll tell you what, Maine, Maine. Uh,

(01:12:18):
you can ban data centers. What you should be doing
is saying you got to come up with your own power.
You can't take it from the public grid that the
rest of us are using. Which that's that there is
a that small what do they call the SMRs, the
small modular reactors.

Speaker 2 (01:12:31):
Whatever they are, There is a way to do it
where these data centers can come up with and generate
their own power. So you don't want to chase them
out of your state, but you do want them to
stay away from your power grid. But on the upside,
I don't know if you saw this, Rod, but the
main Supreme State Supreme Court has said that that rank
choice voting in general elections is unconstitutional state constitution not

(01:12:54):
see that. So I think that's good. I mean, that
was a good that's a good ruling that rank choice
voting and their least according to their state constitution Maine,
is not constitutional and it will not find its way
into their general election ballot, which I like.

Speaker 1 (01:13:06):
But yeah, but banning data center.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
Oh please, Yeah, that's well, that's that's they'll cut off
their nose despite their face. There's got to be a
way to work with it, because that is the future.

Speaker 1 (01:13:17):
That's what's coming. It is coming. All right, We've got
a lot more to go. Another half hour coming your way.
We're going to talk about the entitlement behind affordable childcare.
What is the real story behind all of this and
where is it leading. We'll talk about that coming up
on the Monday evening edition of The Rod and Gregg
Show right here on Utah's Talk Radio one O five
nine kN R S North Bounty. That first day back

(01:13:39):
of work, it's never easy.

Speaker 2 (01:13:40):
Is it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:41):
No, No, it is, but we're here, we're plugging away.
We're here with you each and every day.

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
I always thought Mondays i'd be most that's my most
rested day, but I end up being tired of it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:52):
It does happen on Mondays. I think we're going going
going so much during the weekend that we hit Monday.
We need another day. Yeah, and we took of fact.

Speaker 2 (01:14:01):
And I don't I don't want Queen B to be
hearing this thing and like I'm some workhorse. Over the weekend,
I like the lounge, I watch sports, I had other
you know, conferences. I had a lot of TV watching
this weekend. But I tell you I'm tired today.

Speaker 1 (01:14:11):
Did you do any work over the weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Well, it depends on your definition of work.

Speaker 11 (01:14:15):
I think.

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
I you know, I continue to a labor No, not.

Speaker 2 (01:14:19):
Any, not even a little bit. That's because it's my weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:14:23):
I'm I'm worked in the yard all day Friday. The
weather was good. I got on worked in the art.
I like getting my hand.

Speaker 9 (01:14:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:14:29):
I was gonna say, you, you don't have to do that.
You let yourself do that.

Speaker 1 (01:14:32):
You don't have to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:33):
You look at you. You're the master of your industry,
your captain of industry. You don't have to do that.

Speaker 1 (01:14:38):
Yes, I do. I enjoy joy.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
I enjoy. I feel like I work all all week
long and so that I can enjoy the weekend and
just relax.

Speaker 1 (01:14:47):
And you call this work, I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
Busting a pick right now, Yes, sir, Yes, sir, I'm
working hard. I need to get to the truth of
the matter of what's happening, and that does take a
lot to break it down.

Speaker 4 (01:14:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
Now, now, how many years did you serve in the
state legislation?

Speaker 2 (01:15:00):
Sixteen?

Speaker 1 (01:15:01):
Sixteen years? Yes, how many times did you hear in
your sixteen years? Childcare is just too expensive? We've got
to do something about it every year, every year?

Speaker 2 (01:15:12):
Right interruption? Yeah, well, not just that, but public education
was never funded enough. Oh everything, We never have enough.
We're doing it's terrible. Why not enough money? Okay, here's
more money. How are we doing this year?

Speaker 1 (01:15:24):
Terrible?

Speaker 2 (01:15:24):
Why not enough money? That circular argument is used everywhere.

Speaker 4 (01:15:28):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
Our next guest wrote a great article for The Blaze
called the Harmful Entitlement behind Affordable Childcare, and he's joining
us on our newsmaker line right now to talk about it.
His name is Joshua Slocombe. He's a podcast host also
a contributor to The Blaze. Joshua, how are you, and
welcome to the Rodden Greg Show. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 13 (01:15:47):
Joshua, Thank you, gentlemen, happy to be here.

Speaker 12 (01:15:49):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:15:50):
Let me ask you this, Joshua. You know you wrote
about this the cost of childcare is the single biggest
obstacle for working moms and working families. What's your responsible
they claim, that's what they claim. What's your response to it.

Speaker 13 (01:16:07):
My response to that is it's absurd, it's abnormal. It's
out of step with history, and somehow we modern people
have convinced ourselves that the normal way of raising children
is not to raise them but to give them to
quote unquote professionals, so that both mom and dad can
go out and have high flying careers, and especially mom
because if she has to raise her own children, then

(01:16:29):
it's sexism. I say, that's all nonsense.

Speaker 5 (01:16:32):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
And I think that today where you have mobile you
can work from home, that you have teams, meetings, there's
a lot of different ways to work, it would lend
itself for a parent, especially I'm thinking single parents to
be home. So you've got that variable. But here's the
other variable. Has been the left kind of trapped people
in this where if they were to get a small raise,

(01:16:53):
it wouldn't amount to the benefit of childcare they're losing.
They wouldn't be able to go get that by their
own pay check, so it almost it's almost a disincentive
to work or to see a raise, because they've created
these cliffs in social programs that really create a permanent underclass.
So I guess working working from home and being more
empowered to do so, but also the trap of the

(01:17:17):
underclass that social programs create. Are those just still raging along?

Speaker 1 (01:17:21):
Are they?

Speaker 2 (01:17:21):
Are they slowing down at all?

Speaker 10 (01:17:24):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (01:17:24):
I it doesn't look to me like it's slowing down
at all. It looks to me like it's accelerating. And
I'm a product of that. I mean, I grew up
in a home, a broken home, divorce, domestic violence, single mother,
resentful feminist, single mother who ended up dropping out of
the workforce and paying for everything on welfare, and then
complaining that the government wasn't good enough to single mothers

(01:17:47):
and everything was terrible. I have seen from the inside
how this rots people. It SAPs their ambition, It allows
people to shirk their responsibilities, and the people who lose here.
This is really what I was thinking about when I
wrote this article. We have got to put the needs
of children back in the center of the conversation. It

(01:18:09):
disturbs me deeply how we talk about this, because we
talk about this with out regard to what children need.
We talk about adult narcissistic desires. Adults call them needs.
We need childcare. Now, your child needs you. Your obligation
is to your child, not to you. Know your ambitions. Now,

(01:18:31):
of course, we know that there are many people, there
are many families who have to have two incomes. It
shouldn't be that way, but it is that way. I
do understand that they exist. But a whole millions of
people in this country claim that they need to incomes
to get by, and they don't need them. They need
them because they think that the minimum lifestyle is a

(01:18:53):
three thousand square foot house, separate bedrooms for every child,
two brand new SUVs in the driveway, money for soccer
practice and gymnastics needs. These are not basic needs. They
are they're frankly aristocratic luxury desires. And I think we
need to get back to understanding that children need to
be raised by their parents, and they need stability. They

(01:19:16):
don't need an abundance of material possessions.

Speaker 1 (01:19:18):
Joshua, thank you so much for bringing up the children,
because I think they are an important part of this
discussion that really never gets discussed. Why don't we bring
up the impact on children, Why don't we bring that up.

Speaker 13 (01:19:30):
I'm afraid that you're not going to like my answer.
And this is the answer that I give on my
show every week, and it's all through my writing. We
have become a nation of clinical narcissists. And I mean
that I'm not using it metaphorically. I mean it literally.
We are the most intensely self centered, immature, narcissistic people
that we could possibly be. And even decent people, even

(01:19:54):
people who mean well, moms and dads who mean well,
have been seduced by this idea that do what you will,
no boundaries, no barriers, do what you want in your life.
This is especially true for women. Women have been given this.
It has stoked this sense of inadequacy in how many

(01:20:15):
times have you talked to a woman, You ask her
what she does, and she's ashamed to say. She'll say
something like, I'm just a mother. I'm just a wife
and a homemaker. There's something wrong with that. Mother and
homemaker is probably the most important vocation on earth, and
we have degraded it, and we have made women who
do it feel like they are low status, and so

(01:20:37):
they feel like, I mean, I can hear my mother,
I can hear the echoes of my mother yelling in
my childhood, saying I could have been somebody if I
hadn't been saddled with three kids and no man to help.
Now that's extreme, I know, and not everybody's like that,
but that idea is running through all of this.

Speaker 2 (01:20:54):
Right, Yeah, you know, I maybe my algorithm's just Joshua.
Maybe my algorithms just showing me that, you know what
I want to see. But it seems to me that
some women, especially where education educational choice options are becoming
spreading across this country, where you can get a scholarship
and deliver education in very different ways which would allow

(01:21:15):
for a parent to stay home. The mobile work opportunities
that are there. There's a lot of women I'm that
I'm reading about that is discovering this this truth, saying
you know what I was lied to. I was told
I needed a career, and I am looking around and
I am with my child or children, and this is
the happiest I've been in a long long time. And
they're saying it, and so is there any I just

(01:21:39):
I want to believe that that is a movement, that
is there's the technology or whatever. Twenty twenty six looks
like the opportunity for parents to have one one of
the two, or if they're a single parent, to be
able to stay home or to be with their child children.
More is actually coming to fruition, am I just is
it just wishful thinking?

Speaker 13 (01:21:59):
I don't know. If it's wishful thinking, then I share
your wish. I hope that this is something we're coming to,
and I think there's a good possibility. Only time will tell.
We're gonna have to see where we go. But I
do get a sense. I mean, you know, I've made
I've made my my sort of work to talk about
these problems because I do think that what ails our

(01:22:19):
society right now boils down to what we call pathological narcissism.
I think we're morally and spiritually distorted right now. And
I say this as a former leftist, a former Wokie,
and one of those people who voted Democrat until I
woke up ten years ago and started to see the
world differently. So and if that happened to me, I'm
seeing it happen to other people too, And they're saying,

(01:22:41):
something fundamental is missing from my life. And what that
is is a commitment to family, a commitment to upright living,
to putting children's needs first, and for letting go of
materialistic and egotistical expectations that the modern world tells us
we need. And you know that doesn't mean that we're
not going to go back to We're not going to

(01:23:04):
have June and Ward cleave, but we're not going to
go back to this. Frankly, I wish we would go
back to the pioneer days because I think the English
family is a really way to raise children and live
your life.

Speaker 4 (01:23:15):
But we need to go back to.

Speaker 13 (01:23:16):
Something that incorporates those historical norms that were healthful for
us spiritually and financially and as families. And I think
we might be on the cusp of that because I'm
hearing from these people too. I'm not the only former
liberal who woke up. They come to me too, I
hear it.

Speaker 1 (01:23:32):
Yeah, yeah, Quick question, is is there one thing we
could do immediately to fix I mean, it's a very
complex problem. Maybe maybe it isn't. Was there one thing
you would do to fix it right away? Josh?

Speaker 13 (01:23:44):
It would take waving a magic wand and I'm probably
not going to get it, But one thing I can
think of is get rid of no fault divorce.

Speaker 2 (01:23:50):
H I like that.

Speaker 1 (01:23:52):
Interesting. Interesting, Josh. We appreciate your time, We appreciate your
efforts in this regard. Thank you. We'd love to get
you back out again. Thank you, Josh.

Speaker 5 (01:24:00):
Happy to thanks guys all right.

Speaker 1 (01:24:02):
Joining us on our news Banker line, Joshua Slocum has
some very very good, interesting ideas. Yeah, you know, my
wife said to me, this was years ago, Greg, we
did have we did have electricity then. But on the frariy, no,
this is not. But when we got married, she says,
when we have our first child, I'm done working.

Speaker 2 (01:24:23):
Yeah, and she she was, no, I got that memo.

Speaker 1 (01:24:27):
Did you get that memo too? She loves being a homemaker.
That's what she's always wanted to do, was raise our children.
She's done a fantastic job. But I know there are
a lot of people out there in very similar situations.
It wasn't easy. We don't have boats, we don't have
you know what in our garage, but we live a
comfortable life.

Speaker 2 (01:24:45):
You know, I was, I was. I came a little
bit not understanding any of that. I was raised by
a single mom and a single grandmother, and so you know,
having both of us work when we had our first child.
It just seemed it didn't seem out of the ordinary
for me, especially in a two parent home versus a
one parent home. But I was I was given that
talking to like, hey, you know what, this is where

(01:25:08):
I want to be and it's not you know, not
carrying you And I'm like, hey, you know what, that
makes sense? I got to step up and look to
anyone out there. I know it's how expensive life is
right now, but I'm going to tell you you just
reverse engineer from you know you you work that part
out with your your spouse and raising your kids because
I know that whatever those luxury issues are, the ability

(01:25:30):
for your your to have someone home with the kids
it helps raise them. I think we're we have good
kids because of the decisions we made. So it wasn't
easy then and I know it's not easy now, but
I think it's worth it.

Speaker 1 (01:25:41):
I cannot tell you how many times she'd be home
and she could detect instantly where one of our sons
had a bad day. Yeah, and she was there for
and that is so important.

Speaker 2 (01:25:51):
And for us, it's having our kids friends. They could
come to our home and be around our house so
we could know who their friends are and things because
you've got you have someone that's home that can.

Speaker 1 (01:25:59):
Be that very very important more coming up. Final segment
of the Rod and Greg Show with you on Utah's
Talk Radio one O five nine ok n R S.
I'm citizen in Hughes and I'm Rod our Keet. I
did not I was not aware of this challenge Greg,
and apparently it's getting some pushback. But Chick fil a
Okay invited people to come into the restaurant have a
meal a phone free challenge. I've heard about this. Have

(01:26:21):
you heard about I hadn't heard about this where you
you put your phone in what it's called a guess
a chicken coop, and you sit down, you have a meal,
and you don't use your phone. I've heard about it,
and they've been criticized for it.

Speaker 2 (01:26:34):
They shouldn't be. It's a really good idea. I don't
think I could do it, but I but I endorse it.
It's like a lobotomy. You take my phone away, I
might run walk into walls to be scary.

Speaker 1 (01:26:44):
Oh you and I am too, But we kind of
have to do we not.

Speaker 2 (01:26:50):
I think we have to know what's going on. But
that's my excuse I'm sticking with it, but you know,
years and years and years and years ago. I'm talking
when my kids were young, we were at a we
were at literally at Chick fil A. I was sharing
this with my wife, Queenbee, about when we walked when
we saw that article, and she has said to me,
and again this had to be maybe I don't know,
fifteen years ago, she said, look at that mom, And

(01:27:13):
there was a mother and a child that at Chick
fil A. They're in one of the boots and you
could see the little child talking to her mother and
she her head was just.

Speaker 1 (01:27:22):
In her phone, her mom's head she was.

Speaker 2 (01:27:24):
Just looking and she was scrolling. And this is a
long time, this is before it was the way it
is now, but it was still distracting then, and the
little girl was trying to talk to her mother, and
the mother was just lost in whatever she was staring
at on her phone and texting or whatever she was doing.
And Christa pointed that out to me, and that stuck
with me. I mean, it's always stuck with me, that
that sight of seeing that seeing as child trying to

(01:27:45):
reach out to her mother and not her mother just
being completely oblivious to it. Because the phone was just
where all the attention was was going. So it's not
gotten better since then, It's not become a better sence.

Speaker 1 (01:27:55):
You know, if I'm amazed with Greg when it comes
to phones and social media, how much time you waste
on them.

Speaker 2 (01:28:02):
You can lose track of time. But I mean, I
already have time blindness. It's a disability. I deserve accommodation,
but no, I already have it. Then you just get
on that. You get sometimes you lose time.

Speaker 1 (01:28:13):
I can sit down and maybe I've got five minutes
and now I'll look five minutes, I'll turn around it's
twenty five minutes later. Yeah, and I'm going, Holy, what
a time waits and.

Speaker 2 (01:28:22):
Ladies and gentlemen. The reason Rod does this is because
all day after our show production meeting, because news never
holds still, Rod is always sharing with Eray or myself
starting news things coming on because we got a show
to do it. It's starting four and we got to
be on top of it. So you do look at you,
You and I look at it a lot, a.

Speaker 1 (01:28:43):
Lot, and we kind of have to stay up on things.
Shouldn't be an excuse.

Speaker 2 (01:28:47):
So what does Chick fil A have an exception for us.
Can we have a no?

Speaker 1 (01:28:50):
Okay, no, you go. You got to put in the
chicken coop? Sorry about that.

Speaker 2 (01:28:53):
Hey don't appreciate our plate.

Speaker 1 (01:28:55):
Does the name Steve Croft ring a bell.

Speaker 2 (01:28:58):
Craft?

Speaker 11 (01:28:59):
Is it?

Speaker 2 (01:29:01):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
Longtime CBS news veteran Okay, worked on sixty minutes for
thirty years. Okay, I didn't realize this. He was interviewed
by Bill O'Reilly on Bill O'Reilly's podcast. He said he
hated it. He hated what working at CBS sixty minutes.
He said, they are nothing but vultures, really, you know,
and you'd get a story, you work your tail off,

(01:29:24):
and someone would button in front of you and get
their story on the air before you got your story
on the air. He said, he hated it.

Speaker 2 (01:29:30):
You know what. The guy so the image of who
I had in my mind, it is who I so. Yeah,
Steve Kraft. If you were to google him and look
at the image, you'll recognize his face right away.

Speaker 1 (01:29:39):
Yeah. And the Clintons went after him. He did the
tough interview with Bill Clinton and Hillary where he hit
him directly. They were thinking they're going to get a
softball interview from CBS. He said, tell me about all
these affairs. Bill allegedly, Yeah he was good. Hillary didn't
like that, said he hated it. All right, That doesn't
for us Tonight, Head up, shoulders back. May God bless
you and your family in this great country of hours.

(01:30:00):
We're back tomorrow at for. Have a good Monday evening,

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