January 14, 2025 • 36 mins
In the first hour of today's edition of Ryan Schuiling Live, Ryan looks at the Pete Hegseth hearings to confirm his Secretary of Defense nomination and the Democrats' crazy lines of questioning -- highlighting Kirsten Gillibrand in particular. Ryan also discusses Mayor Mike Johnston's horrific press conference following the stabbings on the 16th street mall.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
In short, I think Pete Hegseth kicked their asses today.
I mean it wasn't even close. They didn't lay a
glove on heg Seth, no mistakes, calm, cool, collected. I mean,
before the thing even started, you had this code pink,
you know, protester freak show, trying to disrupt the hearing.
That's a Democratic base, by the way, which probably explains
why the Democrats on the committee acted in such a
(00:21):
bizarre and unprofessional way.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I was appalled at some.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Of the way these senators handled themselves and some of
the lines of questioning.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I mean Tim Kaine.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Sounded like a sex pervert in his questioning of Pete Hegseth,
Bluementhal who lied about his service in Vietnam. Questioning heg
ss qualifications. You had Jillibrand, you had Warren, you had
Herono going on unhinged rants about things Angus King obviously
doesn't understand what it's like to fight terrorism, on and
on and on. Heg Seth was cool in the face
(00:50):
of this unhinged questioning.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
They made him look good today.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
It would be difficult for a Republican to vote against
heg Seth. After the Democrats unseemly mudslinging.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Today Scott Jennings CNN has this remarkable ability to put
a fine point on big events and do so in
very short order, in a very short turnaround. And he
did that what you just heard under one minute decimating
the Senate Democrats on that committee who beclowned themselves today
(01:19):
in that hearing, disgraced themselves today.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Not Pete Hegseeth.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Pete Hegseeth was magnificent today. He was everything you would
want him to be as the next Secretary of Defense.
Is exactly what Scott Jennings said. I watched this, almost
all of it in its entirety live in real time.
He was calm, he was composed. He kept his cool.
The others did not. A sure sign that you are
(01:46):
winning the argument is when you keep your cool, but
the person with whom you're debating does not.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Cursing.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Gillebrand went off the rails today. She didn't know which
way to shoot. It was a total metaphoric shotgun approach
rather than a targeted rifle, which in a hearing like this,
the ones the senators who you see, the members of
the House on committees that you watch, who are most
(02:15):
effective at this have a very targeted approach. They have
done their homework, they have prepared for this, they know
exactly what they want to ask, They've anticipated an answer,
and they have a reply ready to go. One such
person I would cite who was not on this committee
would be Senator Josh Hawley, Republican Missouri.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
The guy was an attorney general for that state.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He's remarkable and he knows how to conduct himself in
hearings like this. Ted Cruise is another one who's quite
good at this. The Democrats were horrible at this. The
gang that couldn't shoot straight. They didn't know which way
to attack. Pete Hegseth. It was very evident from the
start in my mind, and I've been watching these for
a lot of years. I remember the Olivia North hearings
(03:01):
in nineteen eighty seven. The Democrats got together little powow
a little gathering and said, look, Tim Kaine, you take
this line of attack. Gary Peters Michigan, you're more of
a moderate. You take this line of attack. Kirsten Gillibrand
you get worked up. You take this line of attack.
Masie Herono, well you're kind of stupid, but we'll have
(03:22):
you take this line of attack because it's a little
bit simpler for you. Truly, one of the most unintelligent
people ever to serve in Congress Senator Mazie Herono, Democrat, Hawaii.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I don't have any reservations saying that there.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Is a stock heap of evidence supporting that. I don't
even know where to begin today with all of this,
but Scott Jennings seemed like a really good place to start.
The place I'd like to end is Senator Mark Wayne Mullen.
Now he's been a little bit concerning at times. Republican Oklahoma.
(03:54):
A lot of Republicans when they get elected to the Senate,
you watch this happen, they kind of migrate into this
moderate muck and they're no longer principled conservatives. There's only
a handful of those who I would call either principled
conservatives or libertarians. Mike Lee comes to mind in Utah
is a conservative. Ran Paul comes to mind as one
(04:15):
a libertarian. There are very few, though, that don't get
pulled into the morass.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And I was really concerned about Mark Wayne Mullen.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I like him personally, but he was getting kind of
wishy washy on heg Seth in particular, but not today.
I think he earned his stripes today. I think he
proved himself today. He was awesome today. The Democrats again
not awesome. So let's start with well, yeah, Kirsten gilibrand
(04:47):
melting down. Now, keep in mind, I'm doing this one
for a reason. You heard what Scott Jennings was able
to do in one minute, crisp concise clear effectively dissecting
what the Democrats did over several hours. Of those five
and a half hours, was this entire hearing. Here's Kirsten
Jillibrandon her moment of glory. Each of these senators, mind,
(05:11):
you get five minutes, I believe, and this is how
she spent almost the exact amount of time that you
heard Scott Jennings speaking.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And hold on to your seats.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
So women you have denigrated, You have also denigrated members
of the LGBTQ community. Did you know that when Donas
don't tell was in place, we lost so many crucial
personnel over one thousand in mission critical areas.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
We lost ten percent of all our foreign.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Language speakers because of a political policy. You said in
your statement you don't want politics.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
In the DoD.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Everything you've said in these public statements is politics. I
don't want women.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I don't want moms. What's wrong with a mom?
Speaker 4 (05:50):
By the way, once you have babies, you therefore are
no longer able to be lethal. I mean, you're basically
saying women after they have children can't ever serve in
the military in a combat role.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
It's a silly thing to say. It's a silly thing
to say beneath the physician that.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
You are aspiring to to denigrate LGBTQ service members is
a mistake. If you are a sharpshooter, you're as lethal
regardless of what your gender identity is, regardless of who
you love. So please know this to be a true statement.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
How long into that fifty seven seconds did you tune
her out or did she start to sound like the
teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons. It was a mishmash
of everything. She's very hostile, obviously, but she's very frenetic,
not organized in her thought process, very emotional. Hey, I
know what that's going to sound like, but it's true,
(06:40):
and I'm sorry if that hurts it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's the truth. She was scattered. This was wildness.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Pete hegg Seth has never said anything of that sort
and how dares she Mark wayn Mullin will get to this,
But how dare somebody like Kirsten Gilibrand denigrate Pete hegg.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Seth his service. He put his life on the line.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
He serves side by side with women, with members of
LGBTQ whatever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I have not been there. I don't pretend to know
what it's like to be there.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But I do know somebody who has been there, and
that's one of my best friends in the world. David
hutch Tyson US Marine Corps.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
In the nineties, he was.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Involved in the taking out of Slobodon Melosovich. Thankfully he
was a step removed from the very front lines, but
he knows what was going down there. They were trained
for it. When you're in the heat of battle, when
the blank is going down and the bullets are flying,
you don't care who's next to you, what they look like,
(07:41):
who they sleep with. Can they save your life? And
that's all Pete Hagseth is talking about. We cannot afford
to adjust standards in our military to lower the bar,
with the purpose being increasing the quota of the percentage
of x number of women or x number of gays
(08:02):
or x number of trans that needs to go out
the window. For good those who serve rank and file soldiers, airmen, sailors,
marines in the military. All they want meritocracy and the
proverbial sense a brotherhood that includes women. But you know
(08:22):
what I mean, a fraternity that includes women, but those
who can fulfill the objective standards of our military that
we cannot lower them.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I look this up. This was somewhat concerning to me,
but overall it's not.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
There is a slight variance in the height requirement for
women in the military versus men. For women, you have
to be at least four foot ten. Now to me,
that's really short, and that's maybe too short. This goes
to supplies, equipment, uniforms. There needs to be a standard
deviation within which they can produce those in mass quantities
and not have to custom make you tailor this, that
(08:58):
or the other thing. People who are outside of that
main range, I would think a man should be probably
about five foot six to serve I'm talking like the
most dangerous front line combat roles. Who do you want
on that wall? To quote Colonel Jessup in a few
(09:20):
good men, it's lethality. It is lives are on the line.
I cannot stress this enough now, if there is a
brand of Tarth, if there is a woman who can
fulfill the same standards as a man, can carry the
same load, can run the same speed, can do the
same tasks. I am very forward thinking in this, and
(09:40):
I think more so than some of the printed and
recorded comments that Pete Hagseth himself had, whether it be
in interviews or podcast or his book. There were some
things that I heard that, if they are true, they
concerned me slightly, not greatly, not enough to disqualify him,
not even close.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
But there's also a high range.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
You know David Robinson, remember him, the center for the
San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
He was in the Naval Academy, he served his four years.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, he's like seven foot one, and when he enlisted,
I think he was six foot nine. You have to
be within a certain range. There's a height limit on
the top end too. I would say typical fighting force.
I would want my infantry men and women to be
somewhere in the neighborhood about five foot six to six
foot force. That's just a rough estimate that can be
outside of that. Jony Ernst talked about why women serving
(10:31):
in combat was important to her, and she served and.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
She knows, and this was a key vote.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
A sticking point for Republicans was Joni urt is going
to be able to support Pete hegseth.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
My feeling coming out of.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
This hearing was the answer is yes, but I want
you to hear her for herself.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
It is incredibly important that I stress, and I hope
that if confirmed, you continued to stress that every man
and woman has opportunity to serve their country and uniform
and do so at any level, as long as they
(11:08):
are meeting the standards that are set forward. And we
talked about that in my office. I do believe in
high standards. Now, I was denied the opportunity to serve
in any combat role because I have a lot of
gray hair, and the policy has changed since then. Okay,
(11:31):
so I've been around for quite a while.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
She's a few years older than I am, Joni Ernst is.
I believe she was born nineteen seventy. I was born
in seventy four. I'm fifty. She's fifty four when she served,
maybe she was prematurely gray. But the other detail I
wanted to look up, not her gray hair, who cares?
Was her height? And this is unconfirmed, but what I
was able to find online this is, you know, kind
of a moving target. Maybe was that she was five
(11:55):
foot three. Now that's within the realm of you can serve.
You can serve carte blanche, you know, writ large in
the military in some capacity. But we're talking about frontline
combat capacity. And if she's five foot three and I
would guess buck twenty five, maybe I'm just a very broad.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Estimation. Just transfer that to a man.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And would you want a soldier in combat, a marine
at the front lines, an ABC et CE or all
that to be five three, one hundred and.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Twenty five pounds. I'm just putting that out there.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
If brand of Tarth again that example, Game of Thrones
could slam, dunk, pass, handle the ball like Nikola Jokic,
then we would have one in the NBA a woman.
There isn't one. Why if there are no women in
the NBA. It's competitive sport. Highest level jobs are.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
On the line. Money's on the line, A lot of
money's on the line. Lives are not on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
So if we do not have a female quota or
contingent or quote or whatever to assign to the NBA,
not WNBA. We don't have a w military. It's the military.
It's the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines. It's time to
throw out. Trump won. The Republicans won. They won for
(13:17):
a reason. The mealy mouth bs ends on Monday, and
I'll be there, and we need to cut to the
chase on stuff like this. We need to have frank
conversations about it. The politically correct bull crap is done.
That's over. That's gone, thank God. And Pete hag Seth
is going to usher in a new era for our military.
Recruitment numbers are already skyrocketing because Trump won, because there
(13:41):
were hundreds I believe military personnel who showed up today
on Capitol Hill in support of Pete heg Seth.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
And if he's a.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Little bit off in terms of whether or not he
wants to support women in combat, I think it comes
down to that sticking point with the point that he
was trying to make as I heard him, it was
that the standards were being lowered to increase the numbers
of whatever whatever group that you want to check the
box for DEI style.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
That cannot be done. That cannot stand.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
It is a fighting force of lethality, that is kill
or be killed on the battlefield, and we don't have
time for affirmative action on that. We don't have time
for DEI crap or equality that goes out the window
when you're on the field of war. Go back and
watch band of Brothers, go back and watch saving Private Ryan.
(14:39):
That generation was the greatest generation and women didn't serve
in combat back then.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And I'm not here to say whether it's right or
wrong if a woman could do it.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I am a strict meritocracy based person and analyst. I
try to divorce emotion entirely from this. Can they do
the same job regardless of gender? And if you're telling
me that a five three hundred twenty five pound man
is as strong, as qualified, as fast as whatever, if
(15:08):
a smaller guy can do that, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I think it's a higher bar to clear that.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
If somebody was an average height six foot tall, two
hundred pound man is just different. It just is, and
we need to stop pretending otherwise because lives are on
the line and that needs to be that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Point needs to be made.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I think Pete Hegseth was really clear in his answer here,
although he was called out on this being a discrepancy
from prior to his nomination by Donald Trump for Secretary
of Defense in his writings his most recent book.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
The War on Warriors, I believe it's.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Called andy in certain podcast appearances he had with Sean
Ryan and Ben Shapiro.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to
have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Senator, First of all, thank you for your service.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
As we discussed sensibly as well by privilege, and my
answer is yes, exactly the way that you caveated it. Yes,
women will have access to ground combat roles combat rows,
given the standards remain high, and we'll have a review
to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any
one of these cases. That'll be part of one of
(16:21):
the first things we do at the Pentagon is reviewing
that in a gender neutral way. The standards ensuring readiness
and meritocracy is front and center.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
But absolutely it would be the privilege of.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
A lifetime if confirmed to be the Secretary of Defense
for all men and women in uniform who fight so heroic.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
They have so many other options, they decide to put the.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Right hand up for our country and it would be
an honor to have a chance to lead them.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Love that answer, totally agree, totally support it. And as
I mentioned early on in this whole process of nomination
for Trump and his selected nominees, Pete hex seth Tho
was one of the ones I felt the most strong about.
And I can give you the reasons why I already
have before, but the fact that he served on the
ground in combat, himself named the last Secretary of Defense
(17:09):
who actually did that. It wasn't a pencil pusher at
a desk on the fast track, and the officer's path
rather than the infantryman's path.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
And those of you have served, you know the difference.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
And that's not to denigrate those that don't serve and comment,
but it's a different animal altogether. And I have the
highest level of respect for those who serve, put their
lives on the line, protect the lives of others, trust
in that unit one another, to be able to have
each other's back. There is no better preparation for this job,
in my mind than that Gary Peters, Senator, a Michigan Democrat,
(17:45):
tried to frame it like this was a CEO job
of the US military, and Hegsa's response was a slam dunk.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
I'm just about trying to get things done, managing efficiently
and having the best people who have demonstrated that in
a art ourge organization. And I'm sorry, but I don't
see that in your background. There are a lot of
other things you can do very well. You're a capable person,
but I do you have not convinced me that you're
able to take on this tremendous responsibility with a complex
(18:16):
organization and having little or no significant management experience.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Senator, I'm grateful to be hired by one of the
most successful CEOs in American history.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Should I be confirmed? Boom?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Of course he's talking about Donald Trump, and it's Donald
Trump's judgment vision. He's the CEO of the entire executive
branch of our United States government.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Now he won that mandate.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Donald Trump did both popular vote in an electoral vote landslide,
and his choice was Pete hegseeth. These senators seem to
be forgetting that. The Democrats in particular seem to be
forgetting that. They got their asses blasted at the ballot
box on November fifth, they lost the Senate. They failed
to reclaim the House. They lost the for president by
(19:01):
a wide margin, and they think that their failed ideas
are going to win the day in a hearing like this,
the American people spoke loudly and clearly on November fifth,
and the result of that is the appointment of Pete
Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense. That is Donald Trump's choice.
And elections have consequences. As John McCain once said, will
(19:24):
go local mayor Mike Johnston a press conference last night.
The audacity of this is something to behold when we
come back on Ryan Shuling Live.
Speaker 8 (19:37):
Obviously, we are heartbroken for the victims of the stabbings
this past weekend, and we know this is an isolated,
exceedingly rare incident and the suspect is now in custody.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
How would you feel if you were the family of
the flight attendant whose throat was slashed on the sixteenth
Street mall. With the Mayor's comment right there, he has
this exactly backwards, and he did throughout this galling press conference,
which was embarrassing and disgusting and vile and horrible because
(20:15):
of its complete lack of empathy or concern or genuine
heartfelt condolences for those who were stabbed. There were four
of them and the two who lost their lives. For
a maniac who should never have been out on the streets,
he had priors, including as we talked about yesterday on
this show, he had chased after a maintenance worker at
(20:41):
a property where he was defecating and urinating and sleeping overnight.
Was told not to do so, he chased after that
maintenance worker with a knife. This was not out of
the clear blue that it happened. But Johnson has this backwards.
He can say, while it's exceedingly rare here in downtown Denver,
(21:01):
today's tragedy is an awful occurrence that should not have happened.
And I will do my level best as mayor of
your city to make sure it doesn't happen again. And
here's all the ways we are going to make sure
that happens instead. Mayor Mike Johnston turned this in macabre fashion,
truly dystopian, into a chamber of commerce sales pitch for
(21:25):
his city. The audacity in the gall of this guy.
Just listen to him yourself. We got these cutsar thanks
to Rob Dawson KOA News.
Speaker 8 (21:35):
We know that there is work to do we also
know that downtown Denver is getting more vibrant and more
safe every day. The success of the last year is
critically important.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Again, if you were the husband or the daughter of
the flight attendant who was slashed across the throat and
died on the sixteenth Street mall, would you say that
downtown Denver is still becoming more vibrant. There's a lot
of work to do, but I'll pay attention to this.
(22:07):
This is an outlier. Is that what people want to
hear after something like this. I was talking about this
with Rob Dawson, who's from New York. Can you imagine
Eric Adams, New York mayor, trying to sell this bill
of goods after a stabbing on the subway, saying, no,
overall things are okay.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Don't worry about this.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
You know, series of stabbings by a serial killer literally defined.
I was thinking about Mike Duggan, who's a relatively moderate
Democrat mayor of my home city of Detroit. Back in Michigan,
he would have been laughed off the stage here. This
would not go down. I'm telling you you people know,
if you know those of us that are from the
Upper Midwest, the rust Belt, if you're from Michigan. You
(22:45):
know people from Detroit. This blank would not stand. He'd
be laughed out of office. Plus the jacket he was wearing.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
What was that? It was like this light brown.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Kind of festive, fluffy jacket, like you what is that?
He was just getting started though he goes to the numbers.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
We're very proud of the fact that we saw the.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
You're proud of what?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
You're proud of nothing after a weekend with four stabbings,
you don't use this arena platform opportunity to say you're
proud of anything. You're embarrassed by this, even if it
is an outlier, lead, be an alpha.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
He is neither of those things.
Speaker 8 (23:35):
Mike Johnston, We're very proud of the fact that we
saw the historic reduction in our homicide raid last year,
the largest in more than ten years. We saw twenty
three percent reduction in shootings. We've seen here in downtown
a fifty five percent decline and drug related defenses, and
so we see that all of those are heading in
(23:57):
the right direction. And yet we also know that no
amount of crime is acceptable, and we will keep pushing
to make improvements every day.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
If you're Denver right, if you've voted for this clown,
or even if you didn't, if you live in Denver,
around Denver, I live around Denver.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I'm in Greenwood Village.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Is this what you want to hear after a stabbing,
series of stabbings, double fatality, that such and such homicide
rates are down thirty three percent, shootings, drug offences are down.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Experts.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I don't give one solitary crap about numbers statistics at
this point that are outlining a different story from what
we just saw with our own eyes. This is I
know the terms overused. This is textbook gas lighting. Don't
believe you're lying eyes, don't believe the evidence right in
(24:48):
front of you. And then he has Here's the Chamber
of Commerce part business is they loved the Sixteenth Street
mall even if people are getting stabbed.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
We've seen increased revenue from these blocks of the Second
Stream Mall that are open. Many of these retailers are
up almost thirty five percent.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
We've seen three times more.
Speaker 8 (25:08):
Releasing requests for folks who want to rent office space
on these blocks, three times more interested in the last
several months and in the last three years.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Cite your sources, give your evidence, provide examples. I would
like to hear from any of the business owners along
the Sixteenth Street Mall, current or perspective that may be
looking to invest there, what their thoughts and feelings and
reaction were to the stabbings over the weekend whenever they
feel that is good for business, if they're just as
(25:37):
pep in their step, just as excited as ever to
operate a business where this sort of thing is going.
And make no mistake, this is not an isolated incident.
And those of you who are brave enough to go
downtown and I do it, But I'm not brave.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I just maybe I'm stupid. You've seen the things that
I've seen.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
This should not be an entire shock or surprise based
on the trend lines that we've witnessed again with our
own eyes. Finally, Johnston gets to a commitment on an
increased police presence.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, thank you very much for that morsel.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
We will commit to increasing the number of police patrols
and police presence here in downtown and the weeks and
months ahead, making sure that the lived experience of the
city every day matches what we know the data shows,
which is a city growing safer and more vibrant, all
the time.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
We need to make sure that the lived experience of
those who just witnessed a stabbing, because this didn't happen
you know, in the middle of the night, that it
matches the statistics that are telling us everything's fine.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
We need to make sure that lived experience is.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
No longer attached to these outliers, as he puts them,
of crime, random crime. I might add, this is not
motivated by a drug deal gone wrong, or some ne'er
dwells that got in a knife fight, a couple of
homeless guys battling over whatever. No, these were innocents that
(27:02):
did nothing wrong, that did nothing nefarious, that broke no law,
that did not have this coming retaliatory or otherwise.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
It was a madman with a.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Knife somehow was able to get loose and stab not one,
not two, not three, but four different people on the
sixteenth Street mall of the week. What the hell is
going on down there? As John Fabricatory pointed out, where
are the mounted police? Where are the numbers of police
that we obviously need to reinforce downtown Denver and make
(27:34):
it safe. Do you feel safe when you go to
downtown Denver? Do you feel safer after a story like this,
But this was pure propaganda and damage control by Mike Johnston.
He was more concerned with the perception of his city,
which he knows is in the balance, rather than the
victims whose lives were taken, rather than the four people
who were stabbed on Sixteenth Street. Mall, that's what Mike
(27:56):
Johnston was worried about. Slighting continues until morale improves.
Speaker 8 (28:03):
I have folks who say I don't like to come downtown,
I don't feel safe.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
And I say, really, when did you come downtown last?
And they say twenty twenty one. I say, okay, well,
this is a.
Speaker 8 (28:11):
Very different downtown than what you saw.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Three years ago, is it? Though? Is it better?
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I've been here since twenty eighteen. I've been going downtown
Denver since twenty eighteen. Do you feel safer in your
twenty twenty five whilst walking downtown Denver than you did
in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I cannot say that I do.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
And I'm a five foot ten fifty year old man,
and I'm not real cool going by myself.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Thankfully, this man exists. And brother, if you're a.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Listener to this show or this station, I want to
hear from you five seven seven three nine. I have
a feeling he's one of us, and God love him.
He's in downtown Denver. What are you doing down there, dude?
But anyway, I went to the trouble of cleaning this
up and it took some work. He just puts Mayor
Mike Johnston on blasts and it's glorious. Right. I saw
(29:09):
you in the Brave Encounter, Mayor, this.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Is your fault, Prime Loman.
Speaker 8 (29:14):
Democrats are burning the city down, he would.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
The city is burning, people are being butchered, is what
he said as he trailed off there, and his main
point hits home crime loving democrats are burning this city down.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Aimen to that. It's absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
And as Dan pointed out as we were texting back
and forth about this, Dan kaplis perhaps the most entertaining
part about that entire exchange. The gentleman responsible for signing
for the assembled crowd and media continued to sign. I
think what that guy was saying. You can see by
the look in his face. Maybe I don't know asl
(29:58):
but if those of you who do, if you can
con that, oh that would be just chef's kiss. At
the end of that your response, Mayor Mike Johnston totally
tone death press conference, not concerned about the actions that
went down, just trying to mitigate the disaster and minimize
the negative impact. It was a plot and it was
(30:19):
a foot for Mayor Mike Johnston there, and I felt
actually kind of bad for Ron Thomas, the Denver police chief.
Anything he said was going to be lost. And whatever
it was Mike Johnson was trying to do and prove there,
it fell flat. And I'm not the only one criticizing it.
And it's not just conservatives, Republicans or that Heckler who's
criticizing it. It was a bad look, it was cringe,
(30:42):
it was horrible optics, it was bad messaging. Whoever's advising
Johnson either got ignored or should be fired. And Johnston
is just a lightweight in every single sense of that term.
We'll take a time out, we'll come back, wrap it
up with your text five seven to seven three and
this hour number one still ahead. Hour number two, my
(31:03):
friend Suraj Hashmi will get into more detail regarding the
Pete Hegseth confirmation hearings today and.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Then also the love of his life.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
And I say that in quotes Jennifer Rubin the alleged
conservative opinion writer for The Washington Post. Well, she's quitting
wappo and she's got a new venture ahead. We'll discuss
that in our number two as well. Back after this
on Ryan Schuling Life, Brian Schuling with you. Your text
(31:35):
five seven to seven three nine, Ryan, wilst which I
used kind of ironically is pronounced wildst yes, And we
check this out to confirm that the texter is correct.
At Cambridge dictionary dot com the UK.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
They say it like this while while while well, okay,
we'll go with that, So thank you, Ryan.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Didn't Denver hire a security company because the cops couldn't
handle it. I don't know the details of that specifically.
I do know that the numbers in the Denver Police
Force are down. Recruitment has been an issue and a problem,
and who can blame anybody?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Do you feel supported if.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
You're Chief Ron Thomas, if you're any of the rank
and file officers who protect and serve on a daily
basis and put their lives on the line. I appreciate
all of you, But does the We're going to find
out Beth mccannon has gone.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank goodness, but you know, be.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Careful what you wish for right, there's a new district
attorney in Denver and neither were President. John Walsh is
his name at the press conference last night. If John
Walsh wanted to make a splash, my advice to him,
and I think I'd make a.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Pretty solid comms director because I know the lay of
the land here.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I would advise John Walls to say, look, new sheriff
in town. Kind of literally in your case, you're not
Beth McCann, maybe you want to maintain whatever. I know
he's kind of that ilk politically, but he can come
out and say it's a new day in Denver and
these sort of things. We're going to do everything in
my power to crack down on this kind of crime
on my watch.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
And it's day one, and here I am.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
He didn't really do that, at least he wasn't at
this press conference, and I think that's disappointing. But as
far as the security, I mean, we have seen it right,
defund the police, Denver police. The morale has taken an
enormous hit since the George Floyd riots and thereafter we
had some of the BLM crap going down downtown here.
(33:45):
I feel for Ron Thomas, the leadership there, he's between
a rock and a hard place. He's got to maintain
a relationship with the mayor, with the district attorney. I
don't know what Ron Thomas's politics are. I'm glad that
I don't should not be a political position to be
the chief of police for Denver. But you can't sit
here and tell me that the Denver Police feel like
they have all the support they could use, the reinforcement
(34:06):
that they could use, funding and otherwise we've seen Mayor
Mike Johnston jump at the chance to cut from city programs.
Now we're talking parks and rec and other things to
fund other pet projects like he has with the homeless
little huts and so forth, trying to get the numbers
up by a Christmas date. I believe it was by
(34:27):
the end of the calendar year, the first year that
Mayor Mike Johnston was elected. But it's all about image
with him, It's not about substance. And that's my biggest
criticism of Mayor Mike Johnston. To Ralph's point here, who
is fact checking Johnston's Denver crime statistics. I seem to
remember a high number of carjackings and a few murders.
(34:47):
Is he cherry picking to get the stats he wants,
like the rest of the Democrats. Short answer, Yes, Ralph,
I believe so. Figures don't lie, but liars. Figure I
went to the Paramount on New Year's Eve, January third,
with my friend and her two young boys.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Now I don't feel safe there.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Continuing now with Kimberly, says Ryan, I understand the overall
point you're making, but as a NATI of Colorado, I
can say, with personal experience, I do feel safer downtown
than I have since I was in my early twenties,
and given the sheer volume of people that have moved
here since then, that is remarkable. My guess is the
stat per capita is leafs and bounds better than before,
even with the tragic recent events.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
All Right, Kimberally, appreciate that viewpoint.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
You can't really put a defined left brain number on feeling,
and how do you feel going downtown. The number of
homeless has increased, the number of illegals who are going
around trying to wash windshields. I just had this happen
to me Aurora, that has increased. They are not vetted.
They're not vetted by the virtue of their status. They
(35:52):
are illegally here. They might have a hearing and at
that time it's adjudicated and determined whether or not they
are legitimately seeking asylum. But until that happens, or unless
that happens, we don't know. We don't know who is
in the city of Denver or Aurora, large part in Colorado,
a sanctuary state, anywhere in the United States, and we're
seeing the results of that, and that's what borders are.
(36:14):
Tom Holman is coming in to clean up. Time is
done for our number one, But Saraj Hashmi is straight
ahead and we have a.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Lot to talk about Stick and State. Oryan Schuley Live
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
In short, I think Pete Hegseth kicked their asses today.
I mean it wasn't even close. They didn't lay a
glove on heg Seth, no mistakes, calm, cool, collected. I mean,
before the thing even started, you had this code pink,
you know, protester freak show, trying to disrupt the hearing.
That's a Democratic base, by the way, which probably explains
why the Democrats on the committee acted in such a
(00:21):
bizarre and unprofessional way.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I was appalled at some.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Of the way these senators handled themselves and some of
the lines of questioning.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I mean Tim Kaine.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Sounded like a sex pervert in his questioning of Pete Hegseth,
Bluementhal who lied about his service in Vietnam. Questioning heg
ss qualifications. You had Jillibrand, you had Warren, you had
Herono going on unhinged rants about things Angus King obviously
doesn't understand what it's like to fight terrorism, on and
on and on. Heg Seth was cool in the face
(00:50):
of this unhinged questioning.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
They made him look good today.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
It would be difficult for a Republican to vote against
heg Seth. After the Democrats unseemly mudslinging.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Today Scott Jennings CNN has this remarkable ability to put
a fine point on big events and do so in
very short order, in a very short turnaround. And he
did that what you just heard under one minute decimating
the Senate Democrats on that committee who beclowned themselves today
(01:19):
in that hearing, disgraced themselves today.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Not Pete Hegseeth.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Pete Hegseeth was magnificent today. He was everything you would
want him to be as the next Secretary of Defense.
Is exactly what Scott Jennings said. I watched this, almost
all of it in its entirety live in real time.
He was calm, he was composed. He kept his cool.
The others did not. A sure sign that you are
(01:46):
winning the argument is when you keep your cool, but
the person with whom you're debating does not.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Cursing.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Gillebrand went off the rails today. She didn't know which
way to shoot. It was a total metaphoric shotgun approach
rather than a targeted rifle, which in a hearing like this,
the ones the senators who you see, the members of
the House on committees that you watch, who are most
(02:15):
effective at this have a very targeted approach. They have
done their homework, they have prepared for this, they know
exactly what they want to ask, They've anticipated an answer,
and they have a reply ready to go. One such
person I would cite who was not on this committee
would be Senator Josh Hawley, Republican Missouri.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
The guy was an attorney general for that state.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He's remarkable and he knows how to conduct himself in
hearings like this. Ted Cruise is another one who's quite
good at this. The Democrats were horrible at this. The
gang that couldn't shoot straight. They didn't know which way
to attack. Pete Hegseth. It was very evident from the
start in my mind, and I've been watching these for
a lot of years. I remember the Olivia North hearings
(03:01):
in nineteen eighty seven. The Democrats got together little powow
a little gathering and said, look, Tim Kaine, you take
this line of attack. Gary Peters Michigan, you're more of
a moderate. You take this line of attack. Kirsten Gillibrand
you get worked up. You take this line of attack.
Masie Herono, well you're kind of stupid, but we'll have
(03:22):
you take this line of attack because it's a little
bit simpler for you. Truly, one of the most unintelligent
people ever to serve in Congress Senator Mazie Herono, Democrat, Hawaii.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I don't have any reservations saying that there.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Is a stock heap of evidence supporting that. I don't
even know where to begin today with all of this,
but Scott Jennings seemed like a really good place to start.
The place I'd like to end is Senator Mark Wayne Mullen.
Now he's been a little bit concerning at times. Republican Oklahoma.
(03:54):
A lot of Republicans when they get elected to the Senate,
you watch this happen, they kind of migrate into this
moderate muck and they're no longer principled conservatives. There's only
a handful of those who I would call either principled
conservatives or libertarians. Mike Lee comes to mind in Utah
is a conservative. Ran Paul comes to mind as one
(04:15):
a libertarian. There are very few, though, that don't get
pulled into the morass.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And I was really concerned about Mark Wayne Mullen.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I like him personally, but he was getting kind of
wishy washy on heg Seth in particular, but not today.
I think he earned his stripes today. I think he
proved himself today. He was awesome today. The Democrats again
not awesome. So let's start with well, yeah, Kirsten gilibrand
(04:47):
melting down. Now, keep in mind, I'm doing this one
for a reason. You heard what Scott Jennings was able
to do in one minute, crisp concise clear effectively dissecting
what the Democrats did over several hours. Of those five
and a half hours, was this entire hearing. Here's Kirsten
Jillibrandon her moment of glory. Each of these senators, mind,
(05:11):
you get five minutes, I believe, and this is how
she spent almost the exact amount of time that you
heard Scott Jennings speaking.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And hold on to your seats.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
So women you have denigrated, You have also denigrated members
of the LGBTQ community. Did you know that when Donas
don't tell was in place, we lost so many crucial
personnel over one thousand in mission critical areas.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
We lost ten percent of all our foreign.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Language speakers because of a political policy. You said in
your statement you don't want politics.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
In the DoD.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Everything you've said in these public statements is politics. I
don't want women.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I don't want moms. What's wrong with a mom?
Speaker 4 (05:50):
By the way, once you have babies, you therefore are
no longer able to be lethal. I mean, you're basically
saying women after they have children can't ever serve in
the military in a combat role.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
It's a silly thing to say. It's a silly thing
to say beneath the physician that.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
You are aspiring to to denigrate LGBTQ service members is
a mistake. If you are a sharpshooter, you're as lethal
regardless of what your gender identity is, regardless of who
you love. So please know this to be a true statement.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
How long into that fifty seven seconds did you tune
her out or did she start to sound like the
teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons. It was a mishmash
of everything. She's very hostile, obviously, but she's very frenetic,
not organized in her thought process, very emotional. Hey, I
know what that's going to sound like, but it's true,
(06:40):
and I'm sorry if that hurts it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's the truth. She was scattered. This was wildness.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Pete hegg Seth has never said anything of that sort
and how dares she Mark wayn Mullin will get to this,
But how dare somebody like Kirsten Gilibrand denigrate Pete hegg.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Seth his service. He put his life on the line.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
He serves side by side with women, with members of
LGBTQ whatever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I have not been there. I don't pretend to know
what it's like to be there.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But I do know somebody who has been there, and
that's one of my best friends in the world. David
hutch Tyson US Marine Corps.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
In the nineties, he was.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Involved in the taking out of Slobodon Melosovich. Thankfully he
was a step removed from the very front lines, but
he knows what was going down there. They were trained
for it. When you're in the heat of battle, when
the blank is going down and the bullets are flying,
you don't care who's next to you, what they look like,
(07:41):
who they sleep with. Can they save your life? And
that's all Pete Hagseth is talking about. We cannot afford
to adjust standards in our military to lower the bar,
with the purpose being increasing the quota of the percentage
of x number of women or x number of gays
(08:02):
or x number of trans that needs to go out
the window. For good those who serve rank and file soldiers, airmen, sailors,
marines in the military. All they want meritocracy and the
proverbial sense a brotherhood that includes women. But you know
(08:22):
what I mean, a fraternity that includes women, but those
who can fulfill the objective standards of our military that
we cannot lower them.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I look this up. This was somewhat concerning to me,
but overall it's not.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
There is a slight variance in the height requirement for
women in the military versus men. For women, you have
to be at least four foot ten. Now to me,
that's really short, and that's maybe too short. This goes
to supplies, equipment, uniforms. There needs to be a standard
deviation within which they can produce those in mass quantities
and not have to custom make you tailor this, that
(08:58):
or the other thing. People who are outside of that
main range, I would think a man should be probably
about five foot six to serve I'm talking like the
most dangerous front line combat roles. Who do you want
on that wall? To quote Colonel Jessup in a few
(09:20):
good men, it's lethality. It is lives are on the line.
I cannot stress this enough now, if there is a
brand of Tarth, if there is a woman who can
fulfill the same standards as a man, can carry the
same load, can run the same speed, can do the
same tasks. I am very forward thinking in this, and
(09:40):
I think more so than some of the printed and
recorded comments that Pete Hagseth himself had, whether it be
in interviews or podcast or his book. There were some
things that I heard that, if they are true, they
concerned me slightly, not greatly, not enough to disqualify him,
not even close.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
But there's also a high range.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
You know David Robinson, remember him, the center for the
San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
He was in the Naval Academy, he served his four years.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, he's like seven foot one, and when he enlisted,
I think he was six foot nine. You have to
be within a certain range. There's a height limit on
the top end too. I would say typical fighting force.
I would want my infantry men and women to be
somewhere in the neighborhood about five foot six to six
foot force. That's just a rough estimate that can be
outside of that. Jony Ernst talked about why women serving
(10:31):
in combat was important to her, and she served and.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
She knows, and this was a key vote.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
A sticking point for Republicans was Joni urt is going
to be able to support Pete hegseth.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
My feeling coming out of.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
This hearing was the answer is yes, but I want
you to hear her for herself.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
It is incredibly important that I stress, and I hope
that if confirmed, you continued to stress that every man
and woman has opportunity to serve their country and uniform
and do so at any level, as long as they
(11:08):
are meeting the standards that are set forward. And we
talked about that in my office. I do believe in
high standards. Now, I was denied the opportunity to serve
in any combat role because I have a lot of
gray hair, and the policy has changed since then. Okay,
(11:31):
so I've been around for quite a while.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
She's a few years older than I am, Joni Ernst is.
I believe she was born nineteen seventy. I was born
in seventy four. I'm fifty. She's fifty four when she served,
maybe she was prematurely gray. But the other detail I
wanted to look up, not her gray hair, who cares?
Was her height? And this is unconfirmed, but what I
was able to find online this is, you know, kind
of a moving target. Maybe was that she was five
(11:55):
foot three. Now that's within the realm of you can serve.
You can serve carte blanche, you know, writ large in
the military in some capacity. But we're talking about frontline
combat capacity. And if she's five foot three and I
would guess buck twenty five, maybe I'm just a very broad.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Estimation. Just transfer that to a man.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And would you want a soldier in combat, a marine
at the front lines, an ABC et CE or all
that to be five three, one hundred and.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Twenty five pounds. I'm just putting that out there.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
If brand of Tarth again that example, Game of Thrones
could slam, dunk, pass, handle the ball like Nikola Jokic,
then we would have one in the NBA a woman.
There isn't one. Why if there are no women in
the NBA. It's competitive sport. Highest level jobs are.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
On the line. Money's on the line, A lot of
money's on the line. Lives are not on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
So if we do not have a female quota or
contingent or quote or whatever to assign to the NBA,
not WNBA. We don't have a w military. It's the military.
It's the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines. It's time to
throw out. Trump won. The Republicans won. They won for
(13:17):
a reason. The mealy mouth bs ends on Monday, and
I'll be there, and we need to cut to the
chase on stuff like this. We need to have frank
conversations about it. The politically correct bull crap is done.
That's over. That's gone, thank God. And Pete hag Seth
is going to usher in a new era for our military.
Recruitment numbers are already skyrocketing because Trump won, because there
(13:41):
were hundreds I believe military personnel who showed up today
on Capitol Hill in support of Pete heg Seth.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
And if he's a.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Little bit off in terms of whether or not he
wants to support women in combat, I think it comes
down to that sticking point with the point that he
was trying to make as I heard him, it was
that the standards were being lowered to increase the numbers
of whatever whatever group that you want to check the
box for DEI style.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
That cannot be done. That cannot stand.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
It is a fighting force of lethality, that is kill
or be killed on the battlefield, and we don't have
time for affirmative action on that. We don't have time
for DEI crap or equality that goes out the window
when you're on the field of war. Go back and
watch band of Brothers, go back and watch saving Private Ryan.
(14:39):
That generation was the greatest generation and women didn't serve
in combat back then.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And I'm not here to say whether it's right or
wrong if a woman could do it.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I am a strict meritocracy based person and analyst. I
try to divorce emotion entirely from this. Can they do
the same job regardless of gender? And if you're telling
me that a five three hundred twenty five pound man
is as strong, as qualified, as fast as whatever, if
(15:08):
a smaller guy can do that, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I think it's a higher bar to clear that.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
If somebody was an average height six foot tall, two
hundred pound man is just different. It just is, and
we need to stop pretending otherwise because lives are on
the line and that needs to be that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Point needs to be made.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I think Pete Hegseth was really clear in his answer here,
although he was called out on this being a discrepancy
from prior to his nomination by Donald Trump for Secretary
of Defense in his writings his most recent book.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
The War on Warriors, I believe it's.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Called andy in certain podcast appearances he had with Sean
Ryan and Ben Shapiro.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to
have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Senator, First of all, thank you for your service.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
As we discussed sensibly as well by privilege, and my
answer is yes, exactly the way that you caveated it. Yes,
women will have access to ground combat roles combat rows,
given the standards remain high, and we'll have a review
to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any
one of these cases. That'll be part of one of
(16:21):
the first things we do at the Pentagon is reviewing
that in a gender neutral way. The standards ensuring readiness
and meritocracy is front and center.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
But absolutely it would be the privilege of.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
A lifetime if confirmed to be the Secretary of Defense
for all men and women in uniform who fight so heroic.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
They have so many other options, they decide to put the.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Right hand up for our country and it would be
an honor to have a chance to lead them.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Love that answer, totally agree, totally support it. And as
I mentioned early on in this whole process of nomination
for Trump and his selected nominees, Pete hex seth Tho
was one of the ones I felt the most strong about.
And I can give you the reasons why I already
have before, but the fact that he served on the
ground in combat, himself named the last Secretary of Defense
(17:09):
who actually did that. It wasn't a pencil pusher at
a desk on the fast track, and the officer's path
rather than the infantryman's path.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
And those of you have served, you know the difference.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
And that's not to denigrate those that don't serve and comment,
but it's a different animal altogether. And I have the
highest level of respect for those who serve, put their
lives on the line, protect the lives of others, trust
in that unit one another, to be able to have
each other's back. There is no better preparation for this job,
in my mind than that Gary Peters, Senator, a Michigan Democrat,
(17:45):
tried to frame it like this was a CEO job
of the US military, and Hegsa's response was a slam dunk.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
I'm just about trying to get things done, managing efficiently
and having the best people who have demonstrated that in
a art ourge organization. And I'm sorry, but I don't
see that in your background. There are a lot of
other things you can do very well. You're a capable person,
but I do you have not convinced me that you're
able to take on this tremendous responsibility with a complex
(18:16):
organization and having little or no significant management experience.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Senator, I'm grateful to be hired by one of the
most successful CEOs in American history.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Should I be confirmed? Boom?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Of course he's talking about Donald Trump, and it's Donald
Trump's judgment vision. He's the CEO of the entire executive
branch of our United States government.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Now he won that mandate.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Donald Trump did both popular vote in an electoral vote landslide,
and his choice was Pete hegseeth. These senators seem to
be forgetting that. The Democrats in particular seem to be
forgetting that. They got their asses blasted at the ballot
box on November fifth, they lost the Senate. They failed
to reclaim the House. They lost the for president by
(19:01):
a wide margin, and they think that their failed ideas
are going to win the day in a hearing like this,
the American people spoke loudly and clearly on November fifth,
and the result of that is the appointment of Pete
Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense. That is Donald Trump's choice.
And elections have consequences. As John McCain once said, will
(19:24):
go local mayor Mike Johnston a press conference last night.
The audacity of this is something to behold when we
come back on Ryan Shuling Live.
Speaker 8 (19:37):
Obviously, we are heartbroken for the victims of the stabbings
this past weekend, and we know this is an isolated,
exceedingly rare incident and the suspect is now in custody.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
How would you feel if you were the family of
the flight attendant whose throat was slashed on the sixteenth
Street mall. With the Mayor's comment right there, he has
this exactly backwards, and he did throughout this galling press conference,
which was embarrassing and disgusting and vile and horrible because
(20:15):
of its complete lack of empathy or concern or genuine
heartfelt condolences for those who were stabbed. There were four
of them and the two who lost their lives. For
a maniac who should never have been out on the streets,
he had priors, including as we talked about yesterday on
this show, he had chased after a maintenance worker at
(20:41):
a property where he was defecating and urinating and sleeping overnight.
Was told not to do so, he chased after that
maintenance worker with a knife. This was not out of
the clear blue that it happened. But Johnson has this backwards.
He can say, while it's exceedingly rare here in downtown Denver,
(21:01):
today's tragedy is an awful occurrence that should not have happened.
And I will do my level best as mayor of
your city to make sure it doesn't happen again. And
here's all the ways we are going to make sure
that happens instead. Mayor Mike Johnston turned this in macabre fashion,
truly dystopian, into a chamber of commerce sales pitch for
(21:25):
his city. The audacity in the gall of this guy.
Just listen to him yourself. We got these cutsar thanks
to Rob Dawson KOA News.
Speaker 8 (21:35):
We know that there is work to do we also
know that downtown Denver is getting more vibrant and more
safe every day. The success of the last year is
critically important.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Again, if you were the husband or the daughter of
the flight attendant who was slashed across the throat and
died on the sixteenth Street mall, would you say that
downtown Denver is still becoming more vibrant. There's a lot
of work to do, but I'll pay attention to this.
(22:07):
This is an outlier. Is that what people want to
hear after something like this. I was talking about this
with Rob Dawson, who's from New York. Can you imagine
Eric Adams, New York mayor, trying to sell this bill
of goods after a stabbing on the subway, saying, no,
overall things are okay.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Don't worry about this.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
You know, series of stabbings by a serial killer literally defined.
I was thinking about Mike Duggan, who's a relatively moderate
Democrat mayor of my home city of Detroit. Back in Michigan,
he would have been laughed off the stage here. This
would not go down. I'm telling you you people know,
if you know those of us that are from the
Upper Midwest, the rust Belt, if you're from Michigan. You
(22:45):
know people from Detroit. This blank would not stand. He'd
be laughed out of office. Plus the jacket he was wearing.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
What was that? It was like this light brown.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Kind of festive, fluffy jacket, like you what is that?
He was just getting started though he goes to the numbers.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
We're very proud of the fact that we saw the.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
You're proud of what?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
You're proud of nothing after a weekend with four stabbings,
you don't use this arena platform opportunity to say you're
proud of anything. You're embarrassed by this, even if it
is an outlier, lead, be an alpha.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
He is neither of those things.
Speaker 8 (23:35):
Mike Johnston, We're very proud of the fact that we
saw the historic reduction in our homicide raid last year,
the largest in more than ten years. We saw twenty
three percent reduction in shootings. We've seen here in downtown
a fifty five percent decline and drug related defenses, and
so we see that all of those are heading in
(23:57):
the right direction. And yet we also know that no
amount of crime is acceptable, and we will keep pushing
to make improvements every day.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
If you're Denver right, if you've voted for this clown,
or even if you didn't, if you live in Denver,
around Denver, I live around Denver.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I'm in Greenwood Village.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Is this what you want to hear after a stabbing,
series of stabbings, double fatality, that such and such homicide
rates are down thirty three percent, shootings, drug offences are down.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Experts.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I don't give one solitary crap about numbers statistics at
this point that are outlining a different story from what
we just saw with our own eyes. This is I
know the terms overused. This is textbook gas lighting. Don't
believe you're lying eyes, don't believe the evidence right in
(24:48):
front of you. And then he has Here's the Chamber
of Commerce part business is they loved the Sixteenth Street
mall even if people are getting stabbed.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
We've seen increased revenue from these blocks of the Second
Stream Mall that are open. Many of these retailers are
up almost thirty five percent.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
We've seen three times more.
Speaker 8 (25:08):
Releasing requests for folks who want to rent office space
on these blocks, three times more interested in the last
several months and in the last three years.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Cite your sources, give your evidence, provide examples. I would
like to hear from any of the business owners along
the Sixteenth Street Mall, current or perspective that may be
looking to invest there, what their thoughts and feelings and
reaction were to the stabbings over the weekend whenever they
feel that is good for business, if they're just as
(25:37):
pep in their step, just as excited as ever to
operate a business where this sort of thing is going.
And make no mistake, this is not an isolated incident.
And those of you who are brave enough to go
downtown and I do it, But I'm not brave.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I just maybe I'm stupid. You've seen the things that
I've seen.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
This should not be an entire shock or surprise based
on the trend lines that we've witnessed again with our
own eyes. Finally, Johnston gets to a commitment on an
increased police presence.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, thank you very much for that morsel.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
We will commit to increasing the number of police patrols
and police presence here in downtown and the weeks and
months ahead, making sure that the lived experience of the
city every day matches what we know the data shows,
which is a city growing safer and more vibrant, all
the time.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
We need to make sure that the lived experience of
those who just witnessed a stabbing, because this didn't happen
you know, in the middle of the night, that it
matches the statistics that are telling us everything's fine.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
We need to make sure that lived experience is.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
No longer attached to these outliers, as he puts them,
of crime, random crime. I might add, this is not
motivated by a drug deal gone wrong, or some ne'er
dwells that got in a knife fight, a couple of
homeless guys battling over whatever. No, these were innocents that
(27:02):
did nothing wrong, that did nothing nefarious, that broke no law,
that did not have this coming retaliatory or otherwise.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
It was a madman with a.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Knife somehow was able to get loose and stab not one,
not two, not three, but four different people on the
sixteenth Street mall of the week. What the hell is
going on down there? As John Fabricatory pointed out, where
are the mounted police? Where are the numbers of police
that we obviously need to reinforce downtown Denver and make
(27:34):
it safe. Do you feel safe when you go to
downtown Denver? Do you feel safer after a story like this,
But this was pure propaganda and damage control by Mike Johnston.
He was more concerned with the perception of his city,
which he knows is in the balance, rather than the
victims whose lives were taken, rather than the four people
who were stabbed on Sixteenth Street. Mall, that's what Mike
(27:56):
Johnston was worried about. Slighting continues until morale improves.
Speaker 8 (28:03):
I have folks who say I don't like to come downtown,
I don't feel safe.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
And I say, really, when did you come downtown last?
And they say twenty twenty one. I say, okay, well,
this is a.
Speaker 8 (28:11):
Very different downtown than what you saw.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Three years ago, is it? Though? Is it better?
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I've been here since twenty eighteen. I've been going downtown
Denver since twenty eighteen. Do you feel safer in your
twenty twenty five whilst walking downtown Denver than you did
in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I cannot say that I do.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
And I'm a five foot ten fifty year old man,
and I'm not real cool going by myself.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Thankfully, this man exists. And brother, if you're a.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Listener to this show or this station, I want to
hear from you five seven seven three nine. I have
a feeling he's one of us, and God love him.
He's in downtown Denver. What are you doing down there, dude?
But anyway, I went to the trouble of cleaning this
up and it took some work. He just puts Mayor
Mike Johnston on blasts and it's glorious. Right. I saw
(29:09):
you in the Brave Encounter, Mayor, this.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Is your fault, Prime Loman.
Speaker 8 (29:14):
Democrats are burning the city down, he would.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
The city is burning, people are being butchered, is what
he said as he trailed off there, and his main
point hits home crime loving democrats are burning this city down.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Aimen to that. It's absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
And as Dan pointed out as we were texting back
and forth about this, Dan kaplis perhaps the most entertaining
part about that entire exchange. The gentleman responsible for signing
for the assembled crowd and media continued to sign. I
think what that guy was saying. You can see by
the look in his face. Maybe I don't know asl
(29:58):
but if those of you who do, if you can
con that, oh that would be just chef's kiss. At
the end of that your response, Mayor Mike Johnston totally
tone death press conference, not concerned about the actions that
went down, just trying to mitigate the disaster and minimize
the negative impact. It was a plot and it was
(30:19):
a foot for Mayor Mike Johnston there, and I felt
actually kind of bad for Ron Thomas, the Denver police chief.
Anything he said was going to be lost. And whatever
it was Mike Johnson was trying to do and prove there,
it fell flat. And I'm not the only one criticizing it.
And it's not just conservatives, Republicans or that Heckler who's
criticizing it. It was a bad look, it was cringe,
(30:42):
it was horrible optics, it was bad messaging. Whoever's advising
Johnson either got ignored or should be fired. And Johnston
is just a lightweight in every single sense of that term.
We'll take a time out, we'll come back, wrap it
up with your text five seven to seven three and
this hour number one still ahead. Hour number two, my
(31:03):
friend Suraj Hashmi will get into more detail regarding the
Pete Hegseth confirmation hearings today and.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Then also the love of his life.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
And I say that in quotes Jennifer Rubin the alleged
conservative opinion writer for The Washington Post. Well, she's quitting
wappo and she's got a new venture ahead. We'll discuss
that in our number two as well. Back after this
on Ryan Schuling Life, Brian Schuling with you. Your text
(31:35):
five seven to seven three nine, Ryan, wilst which I
used kind of ironically is pronounced wildst yes, And we
check this out to confirm that the texter is correct.
At Cambridge dictionary dot com the UK.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
They say it like this while while while well, okay,
we'll go with that, So thank you, Ryan.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Didn't Denver hire a security company because the cops couldn't
handle it. I don't know the details of that specifically.
I do know that the numbers in the Denver Police
Force are down. Recruitment has been an issue and a problem,
and who can blame anybody?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Do you feel supported if.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
You're Chief Ron Thomas, if you're any of the rank
and file officers who protect and serve on a daily
basis and put their lives on the line. I appreciate
all of you, But does the We're going to find
out Beth mccannon has gone.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank goodness, but you know, be.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Careful what you wish for right, there's a new district
attorney in Denver and neither were President. John Walsh is
his name at the press conference last night. If John
Walsh wanted to make a splash, my advice to him,
and I think I'd make a.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Pretty solid comms director because I know the lay of
the land here.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I would advise John Walls to say, look, new sheriff
in town. Kind of literally in your case, you're not
Beth McCann, maybe you want to maintain whatever. I know
he's kind of that ilk politically, but he can come
out and say it's a new day in Denver and
these sort of things. We're going to do everything in
my power to crack down on this kind of crime
on my watch.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
And it's day one, and here I am.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
He didn't really do that, at least he wasn't at
this press conference, and I think that's disappointing. But as
far as the security, I mean, we have seen it right,
defund the police, Denver police. The morale has taken an
enormous hit since the George Floyd riots and thereafter we
had some of the BLM crap going down downtown here.
(33:45):
I feel for Ron Thomas, the leadership there, he's between
a rock and a hard place. He's got to maintain
a relationship with the mayor, with the district attorney. I
don't know what Ron Thomas's politics are. I'm glad that
I don't should not be a political position to be
the chief of police for Denver. But you can't sit
here and tell me that the Denver Police feel like
they have all the support they could use, the reinforcement
(34:06):
that they could use, funding and otherwise we've seen Mayor
Mike Johnston jump at the chance to cut from city programs.
Now we're talking parks and rec and other things to
fund other pet projects like he has with the homeless
little huts and so forth, trying to get the numbers
up by a Christmas date. I believe it was by
(34:27):
the end of the calendar year, the first year that
Mayor Mike Johnston was elected. But it's all about image
with him, It's not about substance. And that's my biggest
criticism of Mayor Mike Johnston. To Ralph's point here, who
is fact checking Johnston's Denver crime statistics. I seem to
remember a high number of carjackings and a few murders.
(34:47):
Is he cherry picking to get the stats he wants,
like the rest of the Democrats. Short answer, Yes, Ralph,
I believe so. Figures don't lie, but liars. Figure I
went to the Paramount on New Year's Eve, January third,
with my friend and her two young boys.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Now I don't feel safe there.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Continuing now with Kimberly, says Ryan, I understand the overall
point you're making, but as a NATI of Colorado, I
can say, with personal experience, I do feel safer downtown
than I have since I was in my early twenties,
and given the sheer volume of people that have moved
here since then, that is remarkable. My guess is the
stat per capita is leafs and bounds better than before,
even with the tragic recent events.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
All Right, Kimberally, appreciate that viewpoint.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
You can't really put a defined left brain number on feeling,
and how do you feel going downtown. The number of
homeless has increased, the number of illegals who are going
around trying to wash windshields. I just had this happen
to me Aurora, that has increased. They are not vetted.
They're not vetted by the virtue of their status. They
(35:52):
are illegally here. They might have a hearing and at
that time it's adjudicated and determined whether or not they
are legitimately seeking asylum. But until that happens, or unless
that happens, we don't know. We don't know who is
in the city of Denver or Aurora, large part in Colorado,
a sanctuary state, anywhere in the United States, and we're
seeing the results of that, and that's what borders are.
(36:14):
Tom Holman is coming in to clean up. Time is
done for our number one, But Saraj Hashmi is straight
ahead and we have a.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Lot to talk about Stick and State. Oryan Schuley Live
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