July 13, 2026 • 33 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time time sign time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Very Show is on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm getting emails about Jim Guidry, who is the uh
the head of vessels I forget his title at at
at Kirby Marine. What a great guy he is and
doesn't surprise me. He's from Bridge City, which is our
sister city with Orangefeld. We say city, it's not it's
a town, but and.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That he's a Guidry.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I've told you all alone that when you grow up
in Orange County you have more Thibodaux, Quibodeaux, Kibbideaux. That's
just my high school class A bears Guidry's, Trahun's or
Trey hann uh bergeron bourgeois. It it is. It is
(01:24):
Southeast Texas is really southwest Louisiana that just came across
that needed to work at the plant. Mike Shine is
with the is the executive director of the Greater Houston
Chapter of Texas Restaurant Association. Mike, before we get to
the effects of the World Cup, I want to actually
let's start there. There was hope and hype that that
(01:46):
the World Cup was going to bring in it was
going to rise rising tide would lift all boats, the restaurants.
It's going to be a big boon from then everybody's
looking for and up. Why do you First of all,
I guess it didn't happen, And why not?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Well, I think the complexity of our situation in Houston
is is that, you know, we're looking at what three
hundred and four hundred miles square miles in the city
of Houston, you know, eighteen thousand whatever square miles inside
our adi and so you go from fifteen thousand restaurants
or so or permit holders in the city of Houston,
but you got almost thirty thousand and our thirty mile
radius in terms of our community. And so people think
(02:22):
that when you say Houston, you know, they're thinking everywhere.
But that's not what happens in World Cups and Final
fours and Super Bowls. You know, the locations that are
either their activity or what they do or fit around
that situation. Meaning those that have a sports model, if
you will, or do television viewing and can tape or
(02:43):
pipe in the TV and have a sports bar kind
of scenario, they do exceptionally well regardless of where they're
located in the city of Houston. But unfortunately we're located everywhere.
There's some restrictions with FIFA. You cannot use the FIFA
name or logo, you can't use World Cup, have to
have permission for that with most people to do that.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
So you can only promote your.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Business in terms of saying, let's celebrate and watch soccer
if you will.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Obviously the locations.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
That we're in and around Edo, you know, around the FanFest,
in some downtown obviously because it's close to Itto, some
up along the Main Street corridor, if you are going
to NRG you know, some.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Of those did very very well.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
But those are the ones that theoretically, Michael are already
in business promoting sports watching, promoting hospitality in terms of
you know, maybe bears, cocktails on and so forth.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
They're the ones that are.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Able to capitalize the party.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Locations if you will.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
But again, as I said, you got you got fifteen
thousand restaurants just in the city of Houston proper, they're
not all geared to do that, and so I think
the community misunderstands that of what this is going to happen,
and I think our sitient misunderstands that in terms of saying,
if we promote this, We're all going to benefit. It
just doesn't happen that way.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I'm not opposed to promotion. I'm opposed to when we
spend time dollars that benefit a select few. I do believe,
you know, I'm not a bring the Olympics to Houston guy.
I do believe there is a residual value to in
(04:15):
this case, Houston, and I think this case probably more
so than the most events I've seen in the past,
where there was international exposure to the things about Houston
that we could not Our greater Houston Tourist Bureau could
not have have promoted Houston better. I do think there
are people who will come back. I think that that
the joy of Houston is not so much a tourist
(04:37):
town as say of Vegas or New Orleans used to be.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I think that there is some value to that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
But but you also have to feel for the folks
who get hyped up.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And I don't think it's accidental, Mike.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I think there is the impression, given that this, you know,
everybody's going to benefit from this. Well, this's just not true.
I noticed that that that several restaurants did say that
they did better. Michael Sambrooks a great guy. Pitt reds
that he did well with his barbecue, but not with Candente,
his his Text mex And I think.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Maybe, and that's next door, yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Right, And I got to tell you Russell Lebara, who
I know, you know, he's been your board member, who's
one of my best friends, and who I consider a
guy that will shoot straight with me on food. And
he'll tell me if he thinks the restaurant's not any good.
He thinks Candente is just fantastic for Text Mex And
for him to say that, but Sam Brooks said, you
(05:35):
would expect barbecue to do well because foreigners don't know
about Text mex but they do know Texas barbecue.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So maybe that had a lot to do with it too.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
I think a lot of people coming from Arica, even
in from America coming here to witness games, if you
it'll be a part of the festival, whatever it is.
They're looking for a Texas experience, and nobody can deny
that's what we're known for, is barbecue Mexican, if you will.
Those kinds of things, those are the kinds of venues
that already capitalize. But you take Michael's pitroom. It's already
exceptionally well known, so folks that came in here just
(06:08):
kind of followed along with what they already know about
his success. And so it worked that way. And there's
others too, you know, Kirby ice House. You know, those
guys have done exceptionally well as well, because they provide
a different kind of environment and so everybody kind of
flocked there and so forth. So it's a win for
the city in terms of who we are and the
great things that we do and the exposure Waburger got
and exposure Bucky's got, all those kinds of things. But
(06:30):
when you're talking about the city of Houston and surrounding areas,
there's way too many miles to say everyone's going to benefit.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Could something have been done better from your perspective to
spread that wealth because a lot of these bars and
restaurants were booked and you couldn't get in, the crowds
were outside, and then you had other folks who didn't,
you know, didn't see any benefit.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I don't know if you can address how we can
do that better, But I will tell you this is
that I think I think from I sat on several
Stakeholder Committee during this time. I'm not on was not
on the local host Committee obviously FIFA Host Committee, but
but I work with them, work with that committee a lot,
representing our association and industry. But I think everyone just
didn't know FIFA not to beat them up, not to
(07:13):
put them down. You know, they present this package and
said this is it. My word's not. There's greatest things
since sliced bread. It's going to be a win for you.
You're gonna have half million people coming, all those kinds
of things. So the hotel industry was told you're going
to have fourteen percent increase in terms of reservation rates.
You know, the restaurants are going to be in a boom,
et cetera, et cet et cetera. But forgive me, FIFA
doesn't know who we are and where we are. They
don't know how big we are. Not big, They don't
(07:33):
have any restaurants. We have many hotels and it just
didn't happen. And I'm fortunate and blessed enough to sit
on the Hotel of Lodging board as well, and they
just will tell you, yeah, we had some locations that
did exceptionally well, but they didn't meet the fourteen percent
in general.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
You know, they didn't get that number, if you will.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
And then they found that these tourists that were coming
in are fans from around the country and or the city,
or and or the state or.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
The multiple states.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
They didn't want to pay the downtown rates that the
four seasons are high, so they want to do something else.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
They were and so I don't know how you.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I don't know how you communicate that when this this
tournament's going on for years all over the world, and
knowing that every city is different, every.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
City go with me for second, Mike Shine. The other
problem with all those people coming in from all over.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Is they talk so funny.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
You are listening to Michael Barry's show.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Mike Sean is our guest. I don't know Mike Shine
that well. We we have had I have. I have
sent love letters to him on what a fan I am,
and everybody that I know worships him, and and other
operators who I respect. I think he's very smart. Garden
and Gun, which I don't subscribe to any longer because
(08:52):
I used to get about fifteen magazines, and my wife
and I went through this severe budgeting exercise which we
do every couple of years, I said, instead of figuring
out which magazine I'm gonna cut, I'll just cut them all.
So don't get it anymore. But let me give you
their review of Mike Shine. Out of the box. Houston
chef Mike Shine pours this Louisiana made syrup over everything.
(09:15):
The Texas Restaurant Tour in parts sweet notes of nostalgia
with stems. Growing up in Dallas, Mike Shine washed his
people all dip bread and biscuits and what looked like
molasses and wash it down.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
With black coffee.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Today, the chef and founder of Texas Food Group, and
it talks about Frank's Americana Revival and that was, of
course my old neighbor of Frank Crpedo's restaurant. Another one
in Voyage magazine talking about how great he is. And
you just if you look up Mike Shine, which is
spelled exactly like you think s H I n E.
(09:47):
There are people who will tell you how good he is,
how respected he is, what a great operator he is,
what a great chef he is. And yet, as I've
said over and over again, like every other restaurant, it closed.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that's not a failure.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That's the reality, and it's almost seemingly an inevitability. That's
why when you see the Papasas and Ftita's and Ibarra's
who managed to run these restaurants for so long.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It's the exception to the rule.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
But when you talk about closing Frank's American a revival
in twenty twenty three, how much of that, if you
were to assign a percentage, was the COVID overlap and
people stopping.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
People don't eat out as much as they used to
after COVID.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
You know that, Michael I would say probably is at
least half the decision that I made is based upon that.
That's spent a lot of time on the numbers. You know,
my restaurant at Franks, we were doing somewhere around four
million dollars a year in annual revenue. In the first
nine months of twenty twenty during the COVID lockdown as
we call it, I lost them almost two million dollars
of that normal annual revenue compared to the year before
twenty nineteen. That's that's almost a forty six percent drop
(10:47):
in my revenue, and so we obviously had to scramble
the other complication has to do with leasing. I mean
every the vast majority of eighty nine percent of the
restaurants in the Houston marketplace or least properties, and so
you've got to deal with a landlord. So using our
situation not to beat those guys up as the landlord.
You know, they didn't help me during COVID at all.
I lost a million nine in revenue, but they still
(11:07):
got one hundred percent of their rent. And in that
particular community, meaning the River Roast community, I'm paying more
of the highest rates person work foot of anybody in
the city, and so they got paid. I didn't, and
they didn't do anything to help me. So as my
least term came up, and my situation is very much
like many others, I just said, if you can excuse me,
do an extension at a better rate, pardon me, then
(11:29):
I might be able to work through another rate here
and stay for a few more years, which is what
we wanted to do. But they wouldn't. They have loan
covenants on the property that I bought. They have long
covenants with those loans that they have, and so I
just said, I don't want to do that, and so
I made the hard decision to close it.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
But that issue is is.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That that twenty twenty issue devastated our industry. Yes, the
Cares Act gave us the opportunity to bring in money
if you will and PPP, you know, all those kinds
of things, but that really went to our employees. If
you utilize the Cares Act to get some cash into
your business, you had to take a loan and you
had to guarantee that loan personally, which I did and
(12:05):
every operator has to do that. It just got to
the point and said, it doesn't make any sense. And lastly,
I'll say, you know, with my forty years experience in
this industry and my consulting background and all the restaurants
I've owned, I got to a point where I was
not sure that I could navigate the challenges that were
coming based upon that closure. Dining habit change is frequency
of habits, those kinds of things, and I just said,
(12:26):
at my age, I don't think I want to roll
the dice anymore. And not really that simple.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
How much of that also was the concept y'all were
a white tablecloth, you were big portions, you were I
would have compared you, and I don't know if you
liked this or not, but kind of to a Lorenzo's
of you know, these shops and these big I loved
your food. I thought it was fantastic. How much of
that is people have moved away from.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
That significant nowt of that?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
I mean, we had a significantly high ton of a
high high check average, but higher.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
We did have great value.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But there was a change you could see that we
you know, we had the river Oaks Country Club folks
that were coming in when the club was closed on
those days that's where they were going as to us,
and then a couple other days, and we were looking
at people on average families here in Texas, specifically in
the Houston area eating out about four and a half time,
four point three times a week.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Now we knew it was changing. Now they're eating at home.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I told my wife during COVID, they just changed our
business forever because now people are going to eat at home,
find out they love each other, their wives are going
to cook with each other. Dad's gonna cook, Mom's gonna cook.
They're not going to go out anymore. And that's exactly
is what's happened over the last five years throughout the country,
specifically in Texas, and so there's no stage here in
me and Michael trust me.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I was a guest.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I had a hump punch, and unfortunately my hunch was right.
But I guess for me, I just took my lumps,
you know, wrote the check, did what I had to do,
and just got out of it. And so everything has
to do with that. And so every decision today is
based upon what's happening today. We're just not the same
industry and the economics aren't the same or society.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I talked to Russell Lebar a lot, because when I
see a study or report, or if I try a restaurant,
I'll send him stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And he's very, very objective.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
About giving his opinion, even if it's a quote unquote competitor.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
He doesn't use that word. He wants everybody to succeed.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
But one of the things that we talk about a
lot is the expectation of the diner, the infrequency of
eating out, the change in what people don't want.
Speaker 6 (14:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I talked to Matt Bryce, a Federal American girl a lot,
Charles Clark at Brassmy nineteen. But Matt is I mean,
MAT's going to work until the day he dies. To
make it succeed. But man, that's just such a tough space.
And he's doing well, but my goodness, that space is
not what it used to be. You know, when I
came to Houston in eighty nine, there were a lot
(14:41):
more people in that space than there are today, and
most of them have fallen away. And they were good operators.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Correct, That's correct, and that is the crect. It's a
challenging market. Some Again, I sent my entire life in
this industry. I've been very blessed the win or a
lot more than the losses. But again, at some point
got to make some decisions personally. Age has a lot
to do it with me.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
But even the young folks in the said is hit.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
I say, anybody under fifty in our world anymore, Michael,
But you know, they all have to make some tough decisions.
I'm in a position now where I can help guide
fight for them. I'm working in the advassy community, which
we do in the Restaurant Association.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
Great deal.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
You know, I have relationship with the mayor and the
city council, and when they have issues with permitting or
or a health department or whatever, they're calling my office
and we you know, get on the phone, pull every
favor that we have, and as a former city council member,
you'll understand that process. You know, that's where I can
benefit and that's where I can help. But I'm not
really in a situation any more where I'm just writing checks.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
No money's coming in, we just keep going.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
But I think that's you have a great position of value,
like mister Miagi that that And Russell always says that
his greatest success was his failure.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
You know, he had a big failure and he talks
very openly about it.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
And and Tilman's had failures, and the Papases have had failures,
and I think it's very important to have those failures.
They make us much better and I think they make
you a much more wise connected advisor, advocate, mentor to
these restaurants because I will to eat out almost every night,
(16:11):
and we love to eat out, and I want them
to succeed.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Mike Shine, big fan, thank you, thanks for being our guests.
Allow me to introduce myself.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
My name is MITCHA Michael Berry Genius.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Is this the Johnny Paycheck cover of the Great Tracy
Bird Song? So Justin Van Sant had a birthday yesterday
and today, Richard Drake, Stacy Trumbull, and our own Ramone
Robless had their birthdays, and Robert Reese sent a picture of.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Let's see how you find.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Robert rees sent a picture of him and Ramone in
the back seat of some cab going somewhere. I don't
know where they were going. Ramona has a sprite. Rob
has what looks like an old Fashion or some other drink.
I've never understood wh my grown men drink old fashions.
I understand why women do. Women can't drink a bourbon straight,
(17:14):
but for a grown man to drink old fashions, I
don't understand that. I want some bourbon, which is really
great and with a great burn, but I want you
to feminize it for me. Pour a bunch of sugar
and other stuff. If somebody comes to my house and
asks for a old Fashion and they start getting near
(17:36):
the Blantons new new new hold on, I got some
rot gut for you. I'm not wasting good bourbon on
something that's just going to be watered down. That's crazy. No,
we're not doing that. And if anybody ever tries to
put a coke in a good bourbon, I jump in
at that moment as well. Now what I should say
(17:57):
is here is my bar, partake of it because I
am the host and you can have what you want.
It's just it feels perverted to the point that it
should not be allowed. But in any case, So there's
Rob with his sissy, drink some old fashion or something,
and they're sitting in the back of a car, and
(18:20):
he sent a picture of Ramone when they had been
together at some point on Ramone's birthday years ago, and
Ramone sent back and said, I didn't show it, but
that was the trip I had the humongous hemorrhoid. I
was in pain the entire trip. Well, at least he
didn't ruin the trip for everybody else by saying I'm
(18:43):
in pain. I have a hemorrhoid. He did the show
one day on the worst day of his hemorrhoid pain,
and he came in and he told me how bad
it was hurting, and he said, I'm not sure I
can finish for the day.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And I said, how bad is it? He said, it's
really bad.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I think I'm bleeding, and so I said I walked
in and said, well, well let me see, and he
stood up and kind of turned his butt to the
side and he was flying the Japanese flag. There's no
doubt he was. He was in real pain. All Right,
we've put it off long enough. I'm well aware I'm
(19:27):
going to make a lot of you unhappy. It won't
be the literally everything I do make somebody unhappy, But
I'm going to open the phone lines and I'm going
to allow you to offer a quick response to the
death of Senator Lindsey Graham. Seven one three nine nine
nine one thousand. Seven one three nine nine nine one thousand. Now,
while the phone lines are coming in, and Jim, you
(19:47):
don't have to screen them. Just when somebody calls in,
just take the name and put it and tell me
who it is and put them on. You can interrupt me.
Seven one three nine nine nine one thousand. So I
did not like Lindsay, and I'm not going to tell
you I did now because he died. And I have
(20:08):
a problem with this idea that when someone dies we
make them out to be a hero. Except we don't
do it for my mom, or we don't do it
for your uncle or your dad. We do it for
elected officials. I don't like this. I don't think it's
(20:28):
good for our society. I'm not jealous. I don't want
people to say nice things about me when I die.
If they do, I want it to be because they
liked me. I did something for him. I mentored him,
I helped him, I opened doors for them, I got
him a job, I gave him good advice, I gave
him a ride. I did something nice. I don't want
(20:49):
people to say, well, he was famous to the extent
that I am, and therefore he's a great guy. I
don't think Lindsey Graham was a great guy. I think
he was a very bad person. And I don't care
of President Trump says he was a patriot and all that.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Some of you don't seem to realize that Trump will
say somebody's a patriot on Monday, and on Tuesday tell
you he's a dirty dog, the lowest of them on
and on Thursday he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Again, that's fine.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
You're welcome to have your opinion of Lindsay Graham, and
I'm welcome to have mine.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I know I'm supposed to say because he died, he's
a great guy, and I understand that. For really polite people,
that's what you do, it's not what I do. I
don't say Hitler's a good guy, and I won't say
Obama's a good guy when he dies, and I won't
say Biden's a good guy when he dies. Because they
were bad people who caused a lot of harm to
the little people who didn't get a voice to say
(21:41):
that guy's a bad guy.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Who is it?
Speaker 3 (21:43):
I'm sorry?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Who's the caller, Jim Santiago?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're up?
Speaker 9 (21:49):
Go ahead, hey man. So man, I'm pretty kind of
sad because mister he died, man, and he was the
support of Israel. You know, as far as my concerns,
nobody went as hard as he did for Israel. My
condolencence to him, but we need somebody else to fill
up the seat.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
That was what he was doing, and what was he doing.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
Because it was supporting America, supporting our greatest ally.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
What do you mean?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I'm asking you.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
A right to you what other word doing?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So when you started you said he was supporting Israel,
and then you switched over to supporting America.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
Right, because it's America is real first?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Right, I don't know, you tell me.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
Well, yeah, it's America is real first. It's one of
our greatest allies.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
One of one of our greatest ally.
Speaker 9 (22:51):
Oh, one of our greatest alites.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Okay, who would be our greatest ally to this point?
Speaker 9 (22:58):
Only him?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Okay, Okay, Jim, Who's next? I don't know if you're serious, Janis,
you're up, Go ahead.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
I don't celebrate Lindsey Graham's death, but I do celebrate
that he is no longer able to get us into
wars with his blood left.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yes, that's where that's my position, that's my primary position.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Thank you for the call. We're also getting talk about
the hype that people are willing to believe again and
again and again.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I'm not here to reaffirm what you already believe, folks.
I'm here to question the narrative that's given to you
that sometimes turns out not to be true.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Let me say this.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We're now hearing that we should mourn Lindsey Graham over.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Things he did.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
And the thing he did was that he was trying
to get the Save Act passed. He was in the
Senate for twenty four years. He was no more trying
to get the Save Act passed than John Cornyan was
trying to get the Save Act passed. Then John Thune
(24:21):
is trying to get the Save Act passed. Then Mitch McConnell,
who's already dead, was trying to get the Save Act passed.
They weren't trying to get the Save Act passed. Thune
has said again and again, we're not gonna pass it.
Grimnesty wasn't trying to get the Save Act passed. But
now we're gonna hear that he was. And guess what,
(24:43):
I'll call me a bad guy. I'm fine with it.
We don't end up with wide open borders in constant
wars and a deficit debt will never pay back because
of only the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
The Michael Barry.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Show shop tone indicates everything is righty for your call.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Let's go straight to the calls because I want to
get as many on as possible, and if I don't
get to you live during the segment, to hang with me.
We'll record some of these off air and use them
for this evening as well. We'll go Kevin, Joe, Gay, Dave, Scott,
and John in that order. After a call hangs up,
if you want to call in, I'm going to take
some calls for another twenty minutes after the show, So
(25:26):
if you want to keep calling in even though we're
late or going.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Off the air.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
If you keep calling, We're going to keep taking them
because I do want to get some feedback on this.
Seven one three, nine, nine, nine, one thousand. We'll start
with Kevin, Joe Gay, Dave, Scott, and John and not
order Kevin go.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I think two things can exist at once. I mean,
I don't wish anybody dead. However, I don't think he
should be celebrated as any kind of champion for the
Republican Party. There was never a war that man never
wanted to get into. He always was pro war, quick
to send sons and daughters to die. He had none
to give. I think he's a problem with Washington, a.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
Typical aristocracy who in front of the camera likes to
champion all of these supposed Republican values he has, and
then probably behind closed doors of smoking cigars, drinking cognact
with Pelosi and Schumer and the bunch. So yeah, I
don't get this. We have to celebrate these politicians like
their kings. I just thought, I don't get that at all.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I don't know that cigars is what he's smoking. But
you know, he we thank you for the call. There
is this thing in America that has been pushed by
the elected officials that they are the upper class, they
are the aristocracy. We must respect them and honor them.
(26:44):
And then they play the game to keep us engaged
in their game. They play the sport of attacking each other.
And then you find out that they're all best friends, right.
Speaker 10 (26:57):
And then and then the game continues, and then they die,
and then, oh, my goodness, the whole nation must want
must mourn, and this is our royalty.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
And that is a horrible, horrible.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Way to conduct public policy because at the end of
the day, and this is what gets forgotten, these are
not people to pay ten thousand dollars for a table,
when the real point is you're getting a gripping grin
photo so you can put it up in your office
and when people come by, you're a rich and powerful
person because look at the connections you have, when really
you're just shaking these people's hands and paying for their process.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
But that's what people do. They worship these people.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
They get so angry at me for criticizing these people,
and then once they're dead, then they all coalesce and go, oh,
he was the greatest thing ever. You called him an
SOB last week repeatedly, you which which one is real?
Why don't we admit there's a political class and they're
up there and we're we're down here.
Speaker 6 (27:57):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Codevilla was the author of the of the article that
Rush read that I think changed a lot of people's
minds about all of this, once you understood it's not
left versus right. It's not republicans versus democrats. It's the
political process that the practitioners versus us and keeping us
(28:18):
engaged and keeping us from revolution. And so no, I'm
not going to say he's a good guy when, as
you said, he just wanted to send our boys off
to war.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
That's all he cared about. Joe, You're up, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
Sir, Yeah, moreans are.
Speaker 7 (28:30):
I want to echo what Kevin said. He's a warmonger,
and it's sad that anybody dies, obviously, but yeah, there's
no worship things somebody like that that. It's all he
wants to push is war, war, war, So that's all
I got to say. I have echo what Kevin said, So.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Thank you, brother.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
The fascination for and constant advocacy of war was disturbing
on a level that we made fun of it as
if that was his porn. We're not the only ones
to have done that.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
There are a lot of other people to do that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
For the people who.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Think that warmongers are somehow tough or patriotic, spend a
little time at Camp Hope. You know who's tough and patriotic.
The guy from Willis High School or Crosby High School
or w b Ray High School or Klein High School
who signs up and goes off to war and suffers
(29:41):
through war and comes home. That's who's tough, right, And
you will find that those guys are buying large, not
warmongers anymore. And those guys did not respect the warmongers,
Lindsey Graham being the worst among them. This guy wanted
us in constant wars all the time. When you study empires,
(30:01):
and we are a soft empire, there's no question about that.
Our cultural influence capitalism is how we have exerted dominance
over the world, not not dominion through colonies the way
the British did. But if you want to diminish and
destroy an empire, to quote Ben Franklin, then you extend
that empire through foreign wars. Costly foreign wars. History is
(30:26):
replete with example after example after example of Alexander the
Greater Kubla Khan or Genghis Khan, or the Romans or
anyone else who are King George, who extend themselves too
far into wars they can't afford and deplete their treasury
and their greatness, and the empire collapses. And it could
happen to us as well. Gay Dave, I'm gonna come
(30:48):
back to you, So just hang Ted, I know you'll
stay with me.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Scott, you're up.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
And Michael, I'm not going to repeat all the things
that're been saying, but can we be honest that President
Trump has been running with great as presidency. I mean,
this has been an absolute disaster and nobody will say it.
Trump is this warning. I RAN's going to be his legacy.
It is the Rubio Hegseth. They're all part of the
same cabal man. They all make money from the industrial
(31:15):
military complex. This is just one of many things that
I mean, they were art rivals. In twenty sixteen, I
left the Republican Party when I moved to Texas and
Ron Paul was my congressman. I never voted for Republican
until for president, until twenty twenty, I voted for Trump.
I voted for again in twenty four. Man, I'm freaking out.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
I'm out.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
I'm hoping Tucker Carlson and those guys create something we
get Thomas Massey back. The fact that Trump went all
guns against Massey with the Lindsey Graham cabal, It's been disgusting, man,
and I'm done. I'm over it. I'm not voting for
call Ico, but I'm not voting for Paxton either. I'm
going third party. I'm voting libertarian again. Never thought i'd
(31:56):
say it, but I'm back in it. I'm disgusted. That's
all I got to say.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Why do you think Lindsey Graham went after Thomas Massey.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Because Thomas Massey didn't want more He was against spending.
He had he had three major principles and that was
that was our debt.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
He didn't want any foreign wars.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
And then he became against the Epstein files. He wanted
those release based on what Pam Bondi had said was
in it. And those three things got him.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
To kaboot by the by Apak.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
And the Paul Singer billionaires that made all the money
off the Venezuelan oil deals.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
So that's what.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
Got Thomas Massey out, and I hope he runs for
president in twenty twenty eight. He's got my full support,
and I think he's got a movement behind him. I
think he's going to have Tucker. I think he's going
to have Joe Rogan, Theo Vaughn, all those podcasters that
get millions and millions of listeners. And it's gonna be
(33:02):
the Fox. It's gonna be them against the Fox News boomers.
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
It's going to be interesting to see if he runs
for the Senate seat that that Mitch McConnell after August
third will will when his death is announced after August
third and that seat becomes open because Massy. I don't
(33:27):
know that Massey can win that seat. Thank you for
the call.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
By the way.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
I don't know that Massey can win that seat, but
I know he can have a very very disruptive force
in who is chosen, which will be quite interesting day.
Dave and John Han tight with me. We'll get to
in just on
It's that time time sign time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Very Show is on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm getting emails about Jim Guidry, who is the uh
the head of vessels I forget his title at at
at Kirby Marine. What a great guy he is and
doesn't surprise me. He's from Bridge City, which is our
sister city with Orangefeld. We say city, it's not it's
a town, but and.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That he's a Guidry.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I've told you all alone that when you grow up
in Orange County you have more Thibodaux, Quibodeaux, Kibbideaux. That's
just my high school class A bears Guidry's, Trahun's or
Trey hann uh bergeron bourgeois. It it is. It is
(01:24):
Southeast Texas is really southwest Louisiana that just came across
that needed to work at the plant. Mike Shine is
with the is the executive director of the Greater Houston
Chapter of Texas Restaurant Association. Mike, before we get to
the effects of the World Cup, I want to actually
let's start there. There was hope and hype that that
(01:46):
the World Cup was going to bring in it was
going to rise rising tide would lift all boats, the restaurants.
It's going to be a big boon from then everybody's
looking for and up. Why do you First of all,
I guess it didn't happen, And why not?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Well, I think the complexity of our situation in Houston
is is that, you know, we're looking at what three
hundred and four hundred miles square miles in the city
of Houston, you know, eighteen thousand whatever square miles inside
our adi and so you go from fifteen thousand restaurants
or so or permit holders in the city of Houston,
but you got almost thirty thousand and our thirty mile
radius in terms of our community. And so people think
(02:22):
that when you say Houston, you know, they're thinking everywhere.
But that's not what happens in World Cups and Final
fours and Super Bowls. You know, the locations that are
either their activity or what they do or fit around
that situation. Meaning those that have a sports model, if
you will, or do television viewing and can tape or
(02:43):
pipe in the TV and have a sports bar kind
of scenario, they do exceptionally well regardless of where they're
located in the city of Houston. But unfortunately we're located everywhere.
There's some restrictions with FIFA. You cannot use the FIFA
name or logo, you can't use World Cup, have to
have permission for that with most people to do that.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
So you can only promote your.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Business in terms of saying, let's celebrate and watch soccer
if you will.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Obviously the locations.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
That we're in and around Edo, you know, around the FanFest,
in some downtown obviously because it's close to Itto, some
up along the Main Street corridor, if you are going
to NRG you know, some.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Of those did very very well.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
But those are the ones that theoretically, Michael are already
in business promoting sports watching, promoting hospitality in terms of
you know, maybe bears, cocktails on and so forth.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
They're the ones that are.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Able to capitalize the party.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Locations if you will.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
But again, as I said, you got you got fifteen
thousand restaurants just in the city of Houston proper, they're
not all geared to do that, and so I think
the community misunderstands that of what this is going to happen,
and I think our sitient misunderstands that in terms of saying,
if we promote this, We're all going to benefit. It
just doesn't happen that way.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I'm not opposed to promotion. I'm opposed to when we
spend time dollars that benefit a select few. I do believe,
you know, I'm not a bring the Olympics to Houston guy.
I do believe there is a residual value to in
(04:15):
this case, Houston, and I think this case probably more
so than the most events I've seen in the past,
where there was international exposure to the things about Houston
that we could not Our greater Houston Tourist Bureau could
not have have promoted Houston better. I do think there
are people who will come back. I think that that
the joy of Houston is not so much a tourist
(04:37):
town as say of Vegas or New Orleans used to be.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I think that there is some value to that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
But but you also have to feel for the folks
who get hyped up.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And I don't think it's accidental, Mike.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I think there is the impression, given that this, you know,
everybody's going to benefit from this. Well, this's just not true.
I noticed that that that several restaurants did say that
they did better. Michael Sambrooks a great guy. Pitt reds
that he did well with his barbecue, but not with Candente,
his his Text mex And I think.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Maybe, and that's next door, yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Right, And I got to tell you Russell Lebara, who
I know, you know, he's been your board member, who's
one of my best friends, and who I consider a
guy that will shoot straight with me on food. And
he'll tell me if he thinks the restaurant's not any good.
He thinks Candente is just fantastic for Text Mex And
for him to say that, but Sam Brooks said, you
(05:35):
would expect barbecue to do well because foreigners don't know
about Text mex but they do know Texas barbecue.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So maybe that had a lot to do with it too.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
I think a lot of people coming from Arica, even
in from America coming here to witness games, if you
it'll be a part of the festival, whatever it is.
They're looking for a Texas experience, and nobody can deny
that's what we're known for, is barbecue Mexican, if you will.
Those kinds of things, those are the kinds of venues
that already capitalize. But you take Michael's pitroom. It's already
exceptionally well known, so folks that came in here just
(06:08):
kind of followed along with what they already know about
his success. And so it worked that way. And there's
others too, you know, Kirby ice House. You know, those
guys have done exceptionally well as well, because they provide
a different kind of environment and so everybody kind of
flocked there and so forth. So it's a win for
the city in terms of who we are and the
great things that we do and the exposure Waburger got
and exposure Bucky's got, all those kinds of things. But
(06:30):
when you're talking about the city of Houston and surrounding areas,
there's way too many miles to say everyone's going to benefit.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Could something have been done better from your perspective to
spread that wealth because a lot of these bars and
restaurants were booked and you couldn't get in, the crowds
were outside, and then you had other folks who didn't,
you know, didn't see any benefit.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I don't know if you can address how we can
do that better, But I will tell you this is
that I think I think from I sat on several
Stakeholder Committee during this time. I'm not on was not
on the local host Committee obviously FIFA Host Committee, but
but I work with them, work with that committee a lot,
representing our association and industry. But I think everyone just
didn't know FIFA not to beat them up, not to
(07:13):
put them down. You know, they present this package and
said this is it. My word's not. There's greatest things
since sliced bread. It's going to be a win for you.
You're gonna have half million people coming, all those kinds
of things. So the hotel industry was told you're going
to have fourteen percent increase in terms of reservation rates.
You know, the restaurants are going to be in a boom,
et cetera, et cet et cetera. But forgive me, FIFA
doesn't know who we are and where we are. They
don't know how big we are. Not big, They don't
(07:33):
have any restaurants. We have many hotels and it just
didn't happen. And I'm fortunate and blessed enough to sit
on the Hotel of Lodging board as well, and they
just will tell you, yeah, we had some locations that
did exceptionally well, but they didn't meet the fourteen percent
in general.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
You know, they didn't get that number, if you will.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
And then they found that these tourists that were coming
in are fans from around the country and or the city,
or and or the state or.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
The multiple states.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
They didn't want to pay the downtown rates that the
four seasons are high, so they want to do something else.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
They were and so I don't know how you.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I don't know how you communicate that when this this
tournament's going on for years all over the world, and
knowing that every city is different, every.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
City go with me for second, Mike Shine. The other
problem with all those people coming in from all over.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Is they talk so funny.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
You are listening to Michael Barry's show.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Mike Sean is our guest. I don't know Mike Shine
that well. We we have had I have. I have
sent love letters to him on what a fan I am,
and everybody that I know worships him, and and other
operators who I respect. I think he's very smart. Garden
and Gun, which I don't subscribe to any longer because
(08:52):
I used to get about fifteen magazines, and my wife
and I went through this severe budgeting exercise which we
do every couple of years, I said, instead of figuring
out which magazine I'm gonna cut, I'll just cut them all.
So don't get it anymore. But let me give you
their review of Mike Shine. Out of the box. Houston
chef Mike Shine pours this Louisiana made syrup over everything.
(09:15):
The Texas Restaurant Tour in parts sweet notes of nostalgia
with stems. Growing up in Dallas, Mike Shine washed his
people all dip bread and biscuits and what looked like
molasses and wash it down.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
With black coffee.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Today, the chef and founder of Texas Food Group, and
it talks about Frank's Americana Revival and that was, of
course my old neighbor of Frank Crpedo's restaurant. Another one
in Voyage magazine talking about how great he is. And
you just if you look up Mike Shine, which is
spelled exactly like you think s H I n E.
(09:47):
There are people who will tell you how good he is,
how respected he is, what a great operator he is,
what a great chef he is. And yet, as I've
said over and over again, like every other restaurant, it closed.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that's not a failure.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That's the reality, and it's almost seemingly an inevitability. That's
why when you see the Papasas and Ftita's and Ibarra's
who managed to run these restaurants for so long.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It's the exception to the rule.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
But when you talk about closing Frank's American a revival
in twenty twenty three, how much of that, if you
were to assign a percentage, was the COVID overlap and
people stopping.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
People don't eat out as much as they used to
after COVID.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
You know that, Michael I would say probably is at
least half the decision that I made is based upon that.
That's spent a lot of time on the numbers. You know,
my restaurant at Franks, we were doing somewhere around four
million dollars a year in annual revenue. In the first
nine months of twenty twenty during the COVID lockdown as
we call it, I lost them almost two million dollars
of that normal annual revenue compared to the year before
twenty nineteen. That's that's almost a forty six percent drop
(10:47):
in my revenue, and so we obviously had to scramble
the other complication has to do with leasing. I mean
every the vast majority of eighty nine percent of the
restaurants in the Houston marketplace or least properties, and so
you've got to deal with a landlord. So using our
situation not to beat those guys up as the landlord.
You know, they didn't help me during COVID at all.
I lost a million nine in revenue, but they still
(11:07):
got one hundred percent of their rent. And in that
particular community, meaning the River Roast community, I'm paying more
of the highest rates person work foot of anybody in
the city, and so they got paid. I didn't, and
they didn't do anything to help me. So as my
least term came up, and my situation is very much
like many others, I just said, if you can excuse me,
do an extension at a better rate, pardon me, then
(11:29):
I might be able to work through another rate here
and stay for a few more years, which is what
we wanted to do. But they wouldn't. They have loan
covenants on the property that I bought. They have long
covenants with those loans that they have, and so I
just said, I don't want to do that, and so
I made the hard decision to close it.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
But that issue is is.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That that twenty twenty issue devastated our industry. Yes, the
Cares Act gave us the opportunity to bring in money
if you will and PPP, you know, all those kinds
of things, but that really went to our employees. If
you utilize the Cares Act to get some cash into
your business, you had to take a loan and you
had to guarantee that loan personally, which I did and
(12:05):
every operator has to do that. It just got to
the point and said, it doesn't make any sense. And lastly,
I'll say, you know, with my forty years experience in
this industry and my consulting background and all the restaurants
I've owned, I got to a point where I was
not sure that I could navigate the challenges that were
coming based upon that closure. Dining habit change is frequency
of habits, those kinds of things, and I just said,
(12:26):
at my age, I don't think I want to roll
the dice anymore. And not really that simple.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
How much of that also was the concept y'all were
a white tablecloth, you were big portions, you were I
would have compared you, and I don't know if you
liked this or not, but kind of to a Lorenzo's
of you know, these shops and these big I loved
your food. I thought it was fantastic. How much of
that is people have moved away from.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
That significant nowt of that?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
I mean, we had a significantly high ton of a
high high check average, but higher.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
We did have great value.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But there was a change you could see that we
you know, we had the river Oaks Country Club folks
that were coming in when the club was closed on
those days that's where they were going as to us,
and then a couple other days, and we were looking
at people on average families here in Texas, specifically in
the Houston area eating out about four and a half time,
four point three times a week.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Now we knew it was changing. Now they're eating at home.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I told my wife during COVID, they just changed our
business forever because now people are going to eat at home,
find out they love each other, their wives are going
to cook with each other. Dad's gonna cook, Mom's gonna cook.
They're not going to go out anymore. And that's exactly
is what's happened over the last five years throughout the country,
specifically in Texas, and so there's no stage here in
me and Michael trust me.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I was a guest.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I had a hump punch, and unfortunately my hunch was right.
But I guess for me, I just took my lumps,
you know, wrote the check, did what I had to do,
and just got out of it. And so everything has
to do with that. And so every decision today is
based upon what's happening today. We're just not the same
industry and the economics aren't the same or society.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I talked to Russell Lebar a lot, because when I
see a study or report, or if I try a restaurant,
I'll send him stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And he's very, very objective.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
About giving his opinion, even if it's a quote unquote competitor.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
He doesn't use that word. He wants everybody to succeed.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
But one of the things that we talk about a
lot is the expectation of the diner, the infrequency of
eating out, the change in what people don't want.
Speaker 6 (14:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I talked to Matt Bryce, a Federal American girl a lot,
Charles Clark at Brassmy nineteen. But Matt is I mean,
MAT's going to work until the day he dies. To
make it succeed. But man, that's just such a tough space.
And he's doing well, but my goodness, that space is
not what it used to be. You know, when I
came to Houston in eighty nine, there were a lot
(14:41):
more people in that space than there are today, and
most of them have fallen away. And they were good operators.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Correct, That's correct, and that is the crect. It's a
challenging market. Some Again, I sent my entire life in
this industry. I've been very blessed the win or a
lot more than the losses. But again, at some point
got to make some decisions personally. Age has a lot
to do it with me.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
But even the young folks in the said is hit.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
I say, anybody under fifty in our world anymore, Michael,
But you know, they all have to make some tough decisions.
I'm in a position now where I can help guide
fight for them. I'm working in the advassy community, which
we do in the Restaurant Association.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
Great deal.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
You know, I have relationship with the mayor and the
city council, and when they have issues with permitting or
or a health department or whatever, they're calling my office
and we you know, get on the phone, pull every
favor that we have, and as a former city council member,
you'll understand that process. You know, that's where I can
benefit and that's where I can help. But I'm not
really in a situation any more where I'm just writing checks.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
No money's coming in, we just keep going.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
But I think that's you have a great position of value,
like mister Miagi that that And Russell always says that
his greatest success was his failure.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
You know, he had a big failure and he talks
very openly about it.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
And and Tilman's had failures, and the Papases have had failures,
and I think it's very important to have those failures.
They make us much better and I think they make
you a much more wise connected advisor, advocate, mentor to
these restaurants because I will to eat out almost every night,
(16:11):
and we love to eat out, and I want them
to succeed.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Mike Shine, big fan, thank you, thanks for being our guests.
Allow me to introduce myself.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
My name is MITCHA Michael Berry Genius.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Is this the Johnny Paycheck cover of the Great Tracy
Bird Song? So Justin Van Sant had a birthday yesterday
and today, Richard Drake, Stacy Trumbull, and our own Ramone
Robless had their birthdays, and Robert Reese sent a picture of.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Let's see how you find.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Robert rees sent a picture of him and Ramone in
the back seat of some cab going somewhere. I don't
know where they were going. Ramona has a sprite. Rob
has what looks like an old Fashion or some other drink.
I've never understood wh my grown men drink old fashions.
I understand why women do. Women can't drink a bourbon straight,
(17:14):
but for a grown man to drink old fashions, I
don't understand that. I want some bourbon, which is really
great and with a great burn, but I want you
to feminize it for me. Pour a bunch of sugar
and other stuff. If somebody comes to my house and
asks for a old Fashion and they start getting near
(17:36):
the Blantons new new new hold on, I got some
rot gut for you. I'm not wasting good bourbon on
something that's just going to be watered down. That's crazy. No,
we're not doing that. And if anybody ever tries to
put a coke in a good bourbon, I jump in
at that moment as well. Now what I should say
(17:57):
is here is my bar, partake of it because I
am the host and you can have what you want.
It's just it feels perverted to the point that it
should not be allowed. But in any case, So there's
Rob with his sissy, drink some old fashion or something,
and they're sitting in the back of a car, and
(18:20):
he sent a picture of Ramone when they had been
together at some point on Ramone's birthday years ago, and
Ramone sent back and said, I didn't show it, but
that was the trip I had the humongous hemorrhoid. I
was in pain the entire trip. Well, at least he
didn't ruin the trip for everybody else by saying I'm
(18:43):
in pain. I have a hemorrhoid. He did the show
one day on the worst day of his hemorrhoid pain,
and he came in and he told me how bad
it was hurting, and he said, I'm not sure I
can finish for the day.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And I said, how bad is it? He said, it's
really bad.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I think I'm bleeding, and so I said I walked
in and said, well, well let me see, and he
stood up and kind of turned his butt to the
side and he was flying the Japanese flag. There's no
doubt he was. He was in real pain. All Right,
we've put it off long enough. I'm well aware I'm
(19:27):
going to make a lot of you unhappy. It won't
be the literally everything I do make somebody unhappy, But
I'm going to open the phone lines and I'm going
to allow you to offer a quick response to the
death of Senator Lindsey Graham. Seven one three nine nine
nine one thousand. Seven one three nine nine nine one thousand. Now,
while the phone lines are coming in, and Jim, you
(19:47):
don't have to screen them. Just when somebody calls in,
just take the name and put it and tell me
who it is and put them on. You can interrupt me.
Seven one three nine nine nine one thousand. So I
did not like Lindsay, and I'm not going to tell
you I did now because he died. And I have
(20:08):
a problem with this idea that when someone dies we
make them out to be a hero. Except we don't
do it for my mom, or we don't do it
for your uncle or your dad. We do it for
elected officials. I don't like this. I don't think it's
(20:28):
good for our society. I'm not jealous. I don't want
people to say nice things about me when I die.
If they do, I want it to be because they
liked me. I did something for him. I mentored him,
I helped him, I opened doors for them, I got
him a job, I gave him good advice, I gave
him a ride. I did something nice. I don't want
(20:49):
people to say, well, he was famous to the extent
that I am, and therefore he's a great guy. I
don't think Lindsey Graham was a great guy. I think
he was a very bad person. And I don't care
of President Trump says he was a patriot and all that.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Some of you don't seem to realize that Trump will
say somebody's a patriot on Monday, and on Tuesday tell
you he's a dirty dog, the lowest of them on
and on Thursday he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Again, that's fine.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
You're welcome to have your opinion of Lindsay Graham, and
I'm welcome to have mine.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I know I'm supposed to say because he died, he's
a great guy, and I understand that. For really polite people,
that's what you do, it's not what I do. I
don't say Hitler's a good guy, and I won't say
Obama's a good guy when he dies, and I won't
say Biden's a good guy when he dies. Because they
were bad people who caused a lot of harm to
the little people who didn't get a voice to say
(21:41):
that guy's a bad guy.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Who is it?
Speaker 3 (21:43):
I'm sorry?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Who's the caller, Jim Santiago?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're up?
Speaker 9 (21:49):
Go ahead, hey man. So man, I'm pretty kind of
sad because mister he died, man, and he was the
support of Israel. You know, as far as my concerns,
nobody went as hard as he did for Israel. My
condolencence to him, but we need somebody else to fill
up the seat.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
That was what he was doing, and what was he doing.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
Because it was supporting America, supporting our greatest ally.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
What do you mean?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I'm asking you.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
A right to you what other word doing?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So when you started you said he was supporting Israel,
and then you switched over to supporting America.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
Right, because it's America is real first?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Right, I don't know, you tell me.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
Well, yeah, it's America is real first. It's one of
our greatest allies.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
One of one of our greatest ally.
Speaker 9 (22:51):
Oh, one of our greatest alites.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Okay, who would be our greatest ally to this point?
Speaker 9 (22:58):
Only him?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Okay, Okay, Jim, Who's next? I don't know if you're serious, Janis,
you're up, Go ahead.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
I don't celebrate Lindsey Graham's death, but I do celebrate
that he is no longer able to get us into
wars with his blood left.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yes, that's where that's my position, that's my primary position.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Thank you for the call. We're also getting talk about
the hype that people are willing to believe again and
again and again.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I'm not here to reaffirm what you already believe, folks.
I'm here to question the narrative that's given to you
that sometimes turns out not to be true.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Let me say this.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We're now hearing that we should mourn Lindsey Graham over.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Things he did.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
And the thing he did was that he was trying
to get the Save Act passed. He was in the
Senate for twenty four years. He was no more trying
to get the Save Act passed than John Cornyan was
trying to get the Save Act passed. Then John Thune
(24:21):
is trying to get the Save Act passed. Then Mitch McConnell,
who's already dead, was trying to get the Save Act passed.
They weren't trying to get the Save Act passed. Thune
has said again and again, we're not gonna pass it.
Grimnesty wasn't trying to get the Save Act passed. But
now we're gonna hear that he was. And guess what,
(24:43):
I'll call me a bad guy. I'm fine with it.
We don't end up with wide open borders in constant
wars and a deficit debt will never pay back because
of only the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
The Michael Barry.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Show shop tone indicates everything is righty for your call.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Let's go straight to the calls because I want to
get as many on as possible, and if I don't
get to you live during the segment, to hang with me.
We'll record some of these off air and use them
for this evening as well. We'll go Kevin, Joe, Gay, Dave, Scott,
and John in that order. After a call hangs up,
if you want to call in, I'm going to take
some calls for another twenty minutes after the show, So
(25:26):
if you want to keep calling in even though we're
late or going.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Off the air.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
If you keep calling, We're going to keep taking them
because I do want to get some feedback on this.
Seven one three, nine, nine, nine, one thousand. We'll start
with Kevin, Joe Gay, Dave, Scott, and John and not
order Kevin go.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I think two things can exist at once. I mean,
I don't wish anybody dead. However, I don't think he
should be celebrated as any kind of champion for the
Republican Party. There was never a war that man never
wanted to get into. He always was pro war, quick
to send sons and daughters to die. He had none
to give. I think he's a problem with Washington, a.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
Typical aristocracy who in front of the camera likes to
champion all of these supposed Republican values he has, and
then probably behind closed doors of smoking cigars, drinking cognact
with Pelosi and Schumer and the bunch. So yeah, I
don't get this. We have to celebrate these politicians like
their kings. I just thought, I don't get that at all.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I don't know that cigars is what he's smoking. But
you know, he we thank you for the call. There
is this thing in America that has been pushed by
the elected officials that they are the upper class, they
are the aristocracy. We must respect them and honor them.
(26:44):
And then they play the game to keep us engaged
in their game. They play the sport of attacking each other.
And then you find out that they're all best friends, right.
Speaker 10 (26:57):
And then and then the game continues, and then they die,
and then, oh, my goodness, the whole nation must want
must mourn, and this is our royalty.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
And that is a horrible, horrible.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Way to conduct public policy because at the end of
the day, and this is what gets forgotten, these are
not people to pay ten thousand dollars for a table,
when the real point is you're getting a gripping grin
photo so you can put it up in your office
and when people come by, you're a rich and powerful
person because look at the connections you have, when really
you're just shaking these people's hands and paying for their process.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
But that's what people do. They worship these people.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
They get so angry at me for criticizing these people,
and then once they're dead, then they all coalesce and go, oh,
he was the greatest thing ever. You called him an
SOB last week repeatedly, you which which one is real?
Why don't we admit there's a political class and they're
up there and we're we're down here.
Speaker 6 (27:57):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Codevilla was the author of the of the article that
Rush read that I think changed a lot of people's
minds about all of this, once you understood it's not
left versus right. It's not republicans versus democrats. It's the
political process that the practitioners versus us and keeping us
(28:18):
engaged and keeping us from revolution. And so no, I'm
not going to say he's a good guy when, as
you said, he just wanted to send our boys off
to war.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
That's all he cared about. Joe, You're up, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
Sir, Yeah, moreans are.
Speaker 7 (28:30):
I want to echo what Kevin said. He's a warmonger,
and it's sad that anybody dies, obviously, but yeah, there's
no worship things somebody like that that. It's all he
wants to push is war, war, war, So that's all
I got to say. I have echo what Kevin said, So.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Thank you, brother.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
The fascination for and constant advocacy of war was disturbing
on a level that we made fun of it as
if that was his porn. We're not the only ones
to have done that.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
There are a lot of other people to do that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
For the people who.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Think that warmongers are somehow tough or patriotic, spend a
little time at Camp Hope. You know who's tough and patriotic.
The guy from Willis High School or Crosby High School
or w b Ray High School or Klein High School
who signs up and goes off to war and suffers
(29:41):
through war and comes home. That's who's tough, right, And
you will find that those guys are buying large, not
warmongers anymore. And those guys did not respect the warmongers,
Lindsey Graham being the worst among them. This guy wanted
us in constant wars all the time. When you study empires,
(30:01):
and we are a soft empire, there's no question about that.
Our cultural influence capitalism is how we have exerted dominance
over the world, not not dominion through colonies the way
the British did. But if you want to diminish and
destroy an empire, to quote Ben Franklin, then you extend
that empire through foreign wars. Costly foreign wars. History is
(30:26):
replete with example after example after example of Alexander the
Greater Kubla Khan or Genghis Khan, or the Romans or
anyone else who are King George, who extend themselves too
far into wars they can't afford and deplete their treasury
and their greatness, and the empire collapses. And it could
happen to us as well. Gay Dave, I'm gonna come
(30:48):
back to you, So just hang Ted, I know you'll
stay with me.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Scott, you're up.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
And Michael, I'm not going to repeat all the things
that're been saying, but can we be honest that President
Trump has been running with great as presidency. I mean,
this has been an absolute disaster and nobody will say it.
Trump is this warning. I RAN's going to be his legacy.
It is the Rubio Hegseth. They're all part of the
same cabal man. They all make money from the industrial
(31:15):
military complex. This is just one of many things that
I mean, they were art rivals. In twenty sixteen, I
left the Republican Party when I moved to Texas and
Ron Paul was my congressman. I never voted for Republican
until for president, until twenty twenty, I voted for Trump.
I voted for again in twenty four. Man, I'm freaking out.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
I'm out.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
I'm hoping Tucker Carlson and those guys create something we
get Thomas Massey back. The fact that Trump went all
guns against Massey with the Lindsey Graham cabal, It's been disgusting, man,
and I'm done. I'm over it. I'm not voting for
call Ico, but I'm not voting for Paxton either. I'm
going third party. I'm voting libertarian again. Never thought i'd
(31:56):
say it, but I'm back in it. I'm disgusted. That's
all I got to say.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Why do you think Lindsey Graham went after Thomas Massey.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Because Thomas Massey didn't want more He was against spending.
He had he had three major principles and that was
that was our debt.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
He didn't want any foreign wars.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
And then he became against the Epstein files. He wanted
those release based on what Pam Bondi had said was
in it. And those three things got him.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
To kaboot by the by Apak.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
And the Paul Singer billionaires that made all the money
off the Venezuelan oil deals.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
So that's what.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
Got Thomas Massey out, and I hope he runs for
president in twenty twenty eight. He's got my full support,
and I think he's got a movement behind him. I
think he's going to have Tucker. I think he's going
to have Joe Rogan, Theo Vaughn, all those podcasters that
get millions and millions of listeners. And it's gonna be
(33:02):
the Fox. It's gonna be them against the Fox News boomers.
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
It's going to be interesting to see if he runs
for the Senate seat that that Mitch McConnell after August
third will will when his death is announced after August
third and that seat becomes open because Massy. I don't
(33:27):
know that Massey can win that seat. Thank you for
the call.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
By the way.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
I don't know that Massey can win that seat, but
I know he can have a very very disruptive force
in who is chosen, which will be quite interesting day.
Dave and John Han tight with me. We'll get to
in just on
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