12-30-24 - Jimmy Sengenberger Filling In For Ross

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Happy Monday, and I say happy Monday because
it's one of those weeks where you know you have
some more vacation time. Probably Jimmy Sangenberger in for Ross
Kaminski once more and again tomorrow as we round out
the year and bring about the new year. Good to

(00:24):
be with you on a very somber day in many respects,
because yesterday we had the loss of another president of
the United States, this one who just so happened to
go by the name Jimmy. It's the one thing about
his presidency that I think was particularly good. Well, along

(00:47):
with that Camp David Accords, that was very significant moment
bringing about peace between Egypt and Israel. Jimmy Carter not
known for or his tenure as president being a particularly
exceptional one, but known for his post presidency where he

(01:12):
contributed so much to community habitat for humanity work that
he did, and a lot of his international philanthropy, sometimes
meddling in ways that frustrated presidents and probably went overboard
in terms of some of the visits to countries like Cuba,

(01:35):
North Korea and so forth, and how he went about it,
but nevertheless, in his post presidency Jimmy Carter was greatly
admired for his status as just a genuine, good human being.
He had his faults. I think that there are some

(01:56):
concerns regarding his view towards Israel, and we saw that
with his desire to recognize Hamas. But by and large,
this is a man who clearly loved his family, loved
his wife roseland and really in that respect showed us

(02:18):
what a love truly can be. And there are a
handful of those that we have seen in the presidency,
Ronald and Nancy Reagan being another prime example. And there's
something wholesome, there's something very special about that. I do
want to take a moment, though, to look back at

(02:41):
the presidency of Jimmy Carter and this portion of his legacy.
I think it was really done very well by Brett
Bayer on Fox News. I've clipped a portion of the
segment that he put together regarding President Carter. I want
to share that and we will discuss the other side.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Hi, Jimmy Carter, do sell him this square.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
After the political trauma of Watergate, Jimmy Carter's squeaky clean
Baptist background appealed to many Americans as if to demonstrate
there was a new way of doing things in Washington.
He began his presidency on a frigid January day in
nineteen seventy seven, walking instead of riding the length of
Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, the

(03:25):
first president ever to do this. Born in Plains, Georgia,
in nineteen twenty four to peanut farming parents, Carter attended
the Naval Academy, earning the rank of lieutenant in nineteen
forty six. He married Rosalind Smith and returned to Plains
in nineteen fifty three to run the family farming business.
It was there that Carter developed an interest in politics.

(03:48):
He was elected state senator in nineteen sixty two and
governor of Georgia in nineteen seventy.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
I have a candidate for president.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
When he announced plans to run for president in nineteen
seventy four, Carter was large and unknown, but he managed
to win his party's nomination and edge out incumbent President
Gerald Ford by just two percent of the popular vote,
one of the closest margins in recent history. President Carter's
greatest triumph came in nineteen seventy eight, when he brokered

(04:17):
marathon diplomatic talks between Israel's Monochol began, and anwar sedant
of Egypt. The resulting Camp David Accords ended years of
fighting between the two countries.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking
and start walking, stop cursing, and start praying.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
The late seventies were a time of oil shortages, high unemployment,
and double digit inflation. Carter worked diligently to solve these problems,
but the economy slipped into a recession. Then an event
that would dominate the remainder of Carter's presidency, Iranian militants
captured and held fifty two American embassy employees hostage in Tehran.

(05:04):
Unable to negotiate their release, Carter ordered a rescue mission,
which ended in disaster. Eight American servicemen died when their
helicopters collided in the Iranian desert.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Americans and Iran were mistreated.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
In nineteen eighty, voters rejected Carter's bid for a second term, and,
to add insult to injury, on the day he left office,
the American hostages in Tehran were released to the new
Reagan administration.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yes they were that's again. From Fox News, and I
thought it laid it out quite well, the pitfalls and
a couple of the triumphs of the Carter years. But
of course his presidency was mired in malaise. Of course,
that is the word that was never used in his
famous speech where he talked about a crisis of confidence

(05:56):
that didn't really boost the confidence of the American people
in any way, shape or form. His administration was marked
with not much as far as success. But again, his
legacy afterwards is what is most significant, as we can
see that he is respected by folks across the political

(06:19):
aisle and across the globe. He was a critic of
his successors, including Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Barack Obama from
the perspective of a former president who always had a

(06:41):
little bit to say about others. And meanwhile, of course
he would engage in humanitarian work and more. I have
to say this too. I never lived a day in
the life of the Carter presidency. And one thing that
is really interesting is that nor has our incoming vice president,

(07:02):
who was born in the nineteen eighties. During the Reagan presidency.
I believe it was during the Reagan presidency, and he
wasn't around during Carter. I think, I think I'm right
there when it comes to JD. Vance, and that is yes,
I am, that's right. We both have August second birthdays. J. D.

(07:23):
Vance and I. He was born in nineteen eighty four
during Ronald Reagan. So we now will have a vice
President of the United States who was not alive during
the Carter years. But Jimmy Carter was a good man.
People could tell that from how he treated other people,
how he treated his family, his commitment to other human beings,

(07:44):
and really getting literally down and dirty in building homes
with habitat for humanity and the other works that he
did after his presidency. The tributes have come in many
from the former presidents and now, of course current president
in Joe Biden, who remain alive today as President Biden

(08:11):
remembered Jimmy Carter yesterday. So did Donald Trump, incoming President
of the United States, who noted the enormous responsibility that
American presidents carry and said it was a burden that
only the members of the very exclusive club of former
presidents could relate to the challenges Jimmy faced as president

(08:33):
came at a pivotal time for our country, and he
did everything in his power to improve the lives of
all Americans. Trump wrote on Truth Social that's his social
media platform. For that, we all owe him a debt
of gratitude, and that was very gracious from Trump, And
of course Joe Biden has known him for some fifty

(08:56):
years and had a little bit to say.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
This is a sad day, but it brings back on
an incredible amount of good memories. Today, America and the world,
in my view, lost to remarkable leader. He was a
statesman and humanitarian. And Jill and I lost to dear friend.
I've been hanging out with Jimmy Carter for over fifty years.

(09:22):
It dawned on me and I had countless conversation over
those years.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's just a little bit of President Biden's remarks yesterday,
as we all remember Jimmy Carter, thirty ninth President of
the United States and made Jimmy Carter rest in peace.
We'll have more on his legacy throughout the course of
the program as we dive into numerous topics with some

(09:51):
great guests and conversations and your participation on the KOA
common Spirit, health, text line at five sixty six nine zero,
just getting started at I'm Jimmy Sangenberger filling in for
Roskaminsky on KOA. Crimon back Little Rufus Thomas. Jimmy Sangenberger
filling in for Roskiminski today the pen ultimate day of

(10:13):
the year. It's such a fun word, meaning second to last,
penultimate day of the year. Can you believe it? I
could believe it somewhat as we continue here on KOA.
But what's even harder to believe, perhaps, is that Californians
actually decided that they want to gasp and force the

(10:37):
law and actually inflict penalties for crimes. The editorial board
in the Wall Street Journal, writing over the weekend, the
tidings of some comfort, if not joy, from California. Of
all places where serial shoplifters may be in for a

(11:01):
rude awakening under the state's Proposition forty seven, they've enjoyed
some leniency because stealing less than nine hundred and fifty
dollars in goods has been a mere misdemeanor that often
isn't prosecuted at all. But as the Journal rights, the
stay out of jail free cards have finally run out

(11:26):
at least for the worst habitual thieves. In November, sixty
eight percent of Californians voted for Prop. Thirty six, which
includes new penalties for repeat offenders, and took effect in
December eighteenth. Anyone with two prior theft convictions can face
a felony for the third offense, regardless of the value

(11:50):
of what they stole. Dittoh for those who steal property
with two or more accomplices. Now, I saw vid that
was trending going all about on social media that has
two people arrested, two young women arrested, and they're talking about, oh, yeah,

(12:14):
now it's a felony. One of them knew, the other
was like, what the heck, this isn't supposed to be
the case, and the others like, yeah, it's a felony now,
And you know what. Good. California, in some respects seems
to be ahead of the curve now because of a
citizen referendum, ahead of the curve from Colorado, where things

(12:37):
continue to be weak in terms of crimes and their
punishments and so forth. In this state, auto theft still
needs to be tightened up in terms of some of
the penalties and so forth. I say that has a
three time auto theft victim. By the way, same thing
with drugs. When they revised the FEEDNYL laws here in

(13:02):
this state, they tightened up just a little bit to
clean up some of the mess that the legislature had
made back in I think twenty nineteen. A few years
later they cleaned it up a little bit, but it's
still woefully, woefully inadequate. Maybe it'll just take some citizen
initiatives to get things the way they need to be

(13:23):
when it comes to setting penalties for law enforcement to
have more tools at their disposal. A little more from
the Wall Street Journal editorial. For years, career thieves have
taken advantage of Prop. Forty seven and sometimes robbed the
same store multiple times a day. Between twenty nineteen and

(13:45):
twenty twenty three, retail theft incidents surged in the state,
including by nearly seventy percent in Sacramento, sixty five percent
in Alamedia, and forty percent in Los Angeles, according to
the Public Policy Institute of California. Maybe not anymore. And

(14:05):
then they happen to talk about that viral video that
I just mentioned as well. By the way, this is
indeed no thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom, who said in
September that Prop thirty six quote takes us back to
the nineteen eighties mass incarceration and promotes a promise that

(14:25):
can't be delivered. Yep, that's Gavin Newsomforia, the guy who
would love, love, love to be president. You can see
him run for president in four years for sure. I'm
Jimmy Sangenberger filling in for Ross Kaminski on the other side,
a conversation with Communication Guru Rashini Raj Kumar as we

(14:48):
look back a little bit at Jimmy Carter and the
idea of a bygone era of politics as talked about
by President Biden and Moore. She's a phenomenal guest keeping
right here as we can on KOA. My thanks to
Shannon Scott for plugging in some bumper requests from yours truly,
Jimmy Sangenberger as I fill in for Ross Kaminsky on

(15:10):
the penultimate day of the year. This is thorp Jorn Risager,
who is a Danish blues musician and songwriter. What a
fun and funky song. As we continue right here on
k o A, the big news of course yesterday that

(15:33):
at the age of one hundred, remarkable first president to
reach one hundred years of age. Jimmy Carter passed away.
There's much to talk about with his legacy, including this
comment from President Joe Biden, who has known Jimmy Carter

(15:56):
for over fifty years.

Speaker 5 (15:57):
Today's we're all somewhok at Jimmy Carter and c man
of a bygone era, with honesty and character, faith and
humility mattered. But I don't believe it's a bygone yet.
I see man not only of our times, but for
all times, someone of whom embody the most fundamental human
values we can never let slip away, although sometimes it

(16:18):
seems like it is, or may never seems like again,
we'd all do well to try building a little more
like Jimmy Carter.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Is Jimmy Carter a representative of a bygone era in
American politics? What about his legacy and the Malaise speech
and how that was received? And also how do we
look back at twenty twenty four and ahead at twenty
twenty five. Rashini raj Kumar is a crisis strategist, c

(16:46):
suite advisor, and licensed attorney with core clients that include
Fortune five hundred brands and their leaders. She is the
host of the Crisis Files weekly podcast, which is in
pitch stage for ten and Rashinie Raj Kumar joins me. Now, Rashinie,
welcome back to Koa and Happy New Year.

Speaker 6 (17:07):
Happy New Year, Jimmy is so wonderful to be with you.
And hard to believe it's the last couple of days
of the year.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yes it is, it is. The time has flown by,
and I'm wondering how in the world did we just
about get to twenty twenty five. We'll get to that
in a moment. Let's start with the one president to
go by the name Jimmy, which I sure appreciate. Nothing
against James Madison or James Buchanan, but it's one thing
I've always liked about Jimmy Carter is something about that

(17:36):
name Jimmy. I don't know what it is, but we
heard right there, string to it right, it really does.
We heard right there President Biden talk about a bygone
era represented by Jimmy Carter. Do you think that that
is an accurate assessment what he said, and that he
also said it's not exact, He's not exactly from a

(17:57):
bygone era, we can still do this sort of thing.

Speaker 6 (18:00):
I think we could still do this. What I would
love is the ethics, the integrity that was just part
of the DNA of Jimmy Carter. I hope that all
of us as Americans, but especially our leaders, can be
inspired by that because his integrity and ethics are just

(18:22):
so pervasive and so well known. It was just part
of his personal brand, and so to some degree there
were more and more who lived that way. Even if
they weren't as ethical, they still lived with a little
more decorum between the parties and among their own party.
So I would love to see the inspiration and maybe

(18:43):
in his passing kind of in a way symbolic as
the last Sunday of the year, the last church going
day if you're a Christian of the year. Jimmy Carter
passes before three weeks before a new president comes into
office and the current Democrat says goodbye, it's pretty symbolic,

(19:04):
and maybe he is trying to give us something, even
in his death, something aspirational that we can all go
into twenty twenty five with.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Do you think that it is by gone that we
have sort of lost what we had in those decades.

Speaker 6 (19:21):
Yeah, I do. I think there were some things from
those decades though that we could keep in the past,
and that is, you know, there have been strides for
women's rights, minority rights, other things. I think some of
those things, how they were when Jimmy Carter first became
a politician in Georgia that we don't want to return to,
but so much of what he stood for and how

(19:43):
he behaved, and how people and politicians coming up with
Jimmy Carter behaved as far as trying to work across
the aisle and work on compromise and really try to
look at people in a non discriminatory way. Those are things, sadly,
that are of a bite on era that I think
could be and should be resuscitated.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Now I would be remiss as we reflect a little
bit on Jimmy Carter if I didn't ask you, as
the host of the Crisis Files, about a seminal moment,
one of the most seminal moments in Carter's administration when
he gave a speech that it goes by a word
that was never used in the speech. It's called the
Malaise Speech, but he literally uses the word crisis in

(20:28):
talking about a crisis of confidence. I want to play
about a minute of this speech and then get your
expert take on its significance.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis
that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit
of our national will. We can see this crisis in
the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives,
and in the loss of a unity of purpose for

(20:57):
our nation. Of our confidence in the future is threatening
to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.
The confidence that we have always had as a people
is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb and

(21:20):
a dusty book that we read just on the fourth
of July. It is the idea which founded our nation
and has guided our development as a people. Confidence in
the future has supported everything else, public institutions and private enterprise,
our own families, and the very constitution of the United States.

(21:44):
Confidence has defined our course.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
The beginning of the end of the Carter presidency. They say,
from this speech and his reaction to the way the
public was approaching the energy crisis and more, looking back,
how do you view this speech?

Speaker 7 (22:01):
Wow?

Speaker 6 (22:02):
I mean it was really prophetic, wasn't it. I mean
you could almost PLoP down those same words into twenty
twenty four United States of America because there is a
crisis of confidence in the future, and we saw so
many of those narratives happening around the election this year.
But I think what Carter stood for, what he continued

(22:24):
to stand for, definitely after leaving the presidency, was that
we can have hope for the future. And he built
the rest of his life and his legacy on giving
back and public service and that injection of public service
that we could all do for our own country and
for our own communities. I mean, it's really amazing that

(22:45):
he used that term crisis and crisis of confidence, Jimmy,
and I'm so glad you brought that out today because
we see that things do change, but a lot of
things stay the same. And I do think that one
of the beacons in world is the United States of American.
Even though we've gone through various crises the last decade

(23:07):
and lapses in our confidence as a nation and in
each other, we have the seeds and we have all
the ingredients to get that back and to be more robust.
And one of the things I want to say too
about Carter's legacy, you know a lot of times people
say he was not an effective president because of the
the around hostages, all of the different things. But there was,

(23:28):
I want to say, about six weeks ago, a wonderful
column in the Wall Street Journal, and it was someone
who had been both a Republican and Democrat in the
House or the Senate during the time of Carter and
so really had a lot of experience with Carter. And
he wrote how President Carter was responsible for deregulating a

(23:49):
lot of spaces to take for granted today, And one
of my favorite examples is the airline industry. There was
a time when only the elite could fly and now
almost anyone can get on a plane. And it was
because Jimmy Carter deregulated that industry and brought in the
price competition and making it an affordable thing for most

(24:11):
Americans to be able to do. And that was just
one example of many. Because I was a child when
he was president, I don't remember, and it was really
really interesting and insightful reading about all of those things
he did in that short one term.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, it was the airline, rail, and trucking industries and
increasing competition, productivity more as a result of that, and
so that is one aspect of his legacy as a
president that actually was good. There were a few, the
Camp David Accords quite significant, but folks really look back
at his post presidency. Even a one listener texting in

(24:49):
on the KOA Common Spirit Health text line in five
sixty six nine zero saying Jimmy Carter is one of
the worst presidents in history. But he says, I'll give
you that Jimmy did good after his presididency and had
some of a moral compass. And that is something that
I think everybody's talking about, is the dichotomy between his
presidency and his post presidency and how you can see

(25:13):
a human being act after defeat and continue for decades
and decades on A real quick final thought on President Carter.

Speaker 6 (25:22):
Yes, well, I think he always had a moral compass.
I just think a lot of things were going against
him during his presidency that most of the country didn't
always see it because we were so thrown by inflation,
by the oil crisis, by the hostages being taken. So
I am happy for him that he and Rosalind did
so much post presidency. What they did for not on

(25:45):
the United States, but for the entire world, I think
is something that he can be very happy where he
is now. Sure his legacy is strong.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
Rashidi Raskummar our guest host of The Crisis Files podcast
the Crisis Files dot Com. Rashini, when we look at
this year now and look back at twenty twenty four
and the level of intensity that our politics have gotten,
how do you look through that lens And maybe there's

(26:19):
a little bit of a lens of history there too,
but look back at twenty twenty four, especially from this
idea of crisis, that we are almost in a state
of perma crisis as a nation. And we saw that
bear out and the American people said, you know what,
we really need change, even if it means going back
to the guy before this guy in Joe Biden, now
going back to Donald Trump.

Speaker 6 (26:41):
We are definitely in a state of perma crisis. I
don't see that changing for a while. But one thing
that twenty twenty four and the whole election and all
its narratives and then the final conclusion has brought us
is that both parties, the Republicans the Democrats, were pretty
out of touch with the American people. And what this
selection cycle showed us is you can't just cram a

(27:03):
candidate down the American people's throat. You can't have a
sitting president be lazy and have his eye off the
ball and even questioning whether he's running the nation. And
it's going to just get by. I mean, the American
people are going to stand up and fight for themselves.
And that's what happened with the twenty twenty four election.
And yes, it did mean going back to a former

(27:25):
president who's a controversial guy, very large personality, not a
lot of people like him.

Speaker 8 (27:29):
But we shall see.

Speaker 6 (27:31):
He's made some interesting as well as some courageous selections
for his cabinet positions. We'll see what happens with whether
all or if any, I think many will get confirmed.
But really going for the populism of the nation, not
the entrenched politics of the nation, that's what I see

(27:55):
Trump has meant for the country. And that is what
the Democrats need to take as a lesson. And you know,
I'm a centrist. The Democrats have to take as a
lesson that their vision, their plans, their strategy failed. Don't
go back to the same thing. Take the lessons. That's
what happens when you're the losing party. In life and politics,

(28:17):
and sports. You take the lessons of the loss and
you come back, hopefully like a phoenix, even better, and
you don't sit there and throw mud at the victors.
You move on and you try to have your own
victories moving forward. So that's what I would like to
see both parties doing. Definitely, the Democrats have some lessons,
but the Republicans also have some lessons because they are

(28:39):
not a unified party right now. Even if they are
controlling our government coming into twenty twenty five, they're not unified.
So both parties need to listen to what the American
people said, even no matter who they voted for, Listen
to what they said.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
You know, you touched on something that made me think
about the dak between Biden and Trump and how we
are viewing them right now. Trump seems to be almost
like the quasi president into this moment, as Biden is
hardly out in public at all. I can't remember the
last time since the election that I saw him until
yesterday when he spoke about Jimmy Carter and his passing.

(29:21):
Harold Ford Junior, a Democrat former congressman on Fox News
made it and observation I think was very pointed and
important about the way that Trump is sort of dominating
things at this moment.

Speaker 9 (29:32):
I give President Trump a lot of credit. President Biden
is kind of off the scene here. President Trump is
dominating things, and he is bringing the most successful, the
wealthiest people to Americans, that is, to mar A Lago,
and I hope as he brings these foreign leaders that
he understands, and I'm sure he does, that these are

(29:53):
not real estate projects. These are serious people, wealthy people,
successful people, many of them elected leaders.

Speaker 7 (29:58):
And I think the.

Speaker 9 (29:59):
American people, including me, or giving him the benefit of
the doubt as he tries to make our border more
safe and secure, as he tries to ensure that prices
come down for everything from groceries to insurance and obviously
gas is coming down a little bit now, but to
everything that we buy. So he will continue to get
the benefit of the doubt, the president, and I think
the country will be looking to see who shows up

(30:19):
for New Year's Eve.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
What do you make of that?

Speaker 6 (30:23):
Yeah, well, it says a lot because that's coming from
someone within Biden's own party. And it is very interesting
to think about the visuals that have been happening. You
know how important optics are. I was stunned when Donald
Trump was the one who went to the Army Navy
game and not President Biden. I mean, that was a

(30:46):
really bad sign for Biden. And what I would say
is Biden has created some of his own sad ending
to his political life. This legacy. It could have been
such a much better legacy. Let's put it that way,
had he not tried to run again, had he not
even run in the first place for president. But here
we are now at kind.

Speaker 8 (31:08):
Of the lowest of the low.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
I have to feel some sympathy for Biden, but really
nothing else because he floated in it and he made
that happen. But hopefully what we're seeing is the country
can just move forward, unify. And what I'd like to
see from Donald Trump and his team is that they're
not going to mudsling against the Democrats. That Trump will

(31:32):
continue He said at one point, whether you voted for
me or not, I'm your president. Especially if you didn't
vote for me, I'm still your president. And I really
hope that he will live that out.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
Jimmy one other thing going into twenty twenty five is
we wrap up with you Rashii Raj Kumar is look
that crisis of Confidence speech from Carter. Sure it was
a phrase that resonates, but that speech was known as
the Malaise Speech because the American people didn't resonate with it.
They felt that he was utterly tone deaf and out
of touch with them, and that eventually helped lead to

(32:04):
Ronald Reagan winning in the nineteen eighty presidential elections. So
when you look at whatever crises Trump will face starting
next year, because we know genuine crises will develop and
probably pretty quickly under the next Trump administration, how would
you advise a President Trump or others to speak to

(32:25):
the American people when it comes to a crisis to
give them a boost and confidence while also maybe occasionally
recognizing and acknowledging the gravity of the situations that they face.

Speaker 6 (32:38):
People want transparency, people want honesty. So no matter who
you are, and especially if you're the president of the
United States, you need to be transparent and honest. It
doesn't mean you're giving away all the nuclear codes, but
it does mean when something is dire, you say, this
isn't a great situation. We're working on it. Here's what
I can tell you now. The team will be able

(32:59):
to tell more later. It's not really rocket science. And
so sadly the current administration has been lying and not
transparent to us, and at some point that kind of
strategy is going to be something that the American people
see through, and they did see through it. So my
advice is absolutely, stay honest, stay transparent, stay real. Those

(33:21):
are things that usually down and Donald Trump did well. However,
the honesty piece, sometimes he tends to exaggerate. I think
some of that he could sort of just calm down
a bit. But stay honest, stay transparent, stay stay real,
and the American people will forgive you for things and
they will be on your side.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
It will be fascinating to see what happens with the
start of the second Trump presidents again, the first president
since eighteen ninety two with Grover Cleveland to win a
second non consecutive term. Rashmi ras Kumar, host of the
Crisis Files podcast. Check out the website for all the podcasts.
What number are you on? Now?

Speaker 6 (34:01):
We are I'm glad you asked casepell number one, twenty
eight hot takes and this is myself with two members
of my crisis squad, giving our predictions for twenty twenty five.
So I hope all your listeners check it out on
the crisispell dot com or where they find podcasts.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yes, this most especially that iHeartRadio app. Rashini Raj Kumar,
thanks so much for joining us in Happy New Year,
my friend. Appreciate your takes this year, you too, Thanks
Jimmy once again, Rashini Raj Kamar the Crisis Files at
dot com joining us. Jimmy Sangenberger in for ros Kaminsky.
Two more hours up ahead as we continue on KOA.

(34:39):
Time now for the second hour. Jimmy Sangenberger in for
ros Kaminsky. Rounding out the year today and tomorrow on
koh A. Great to be with you for that round
out of the year as we continue on the program. Look,

(35:02):
there is a lot of talk during the holidays, rightly so,
about compassion, about the spirit of love and kindness and
helping others. So when Christmas and Hanukkah crossed paths last Wednesday,
that shared spirit felt especially poignant amid a season of

(35:28):
the year that always calls for compassion and for those
tenets of goodwill towards men and women get When it
comes to the border, the Southern border crisis and the

(35:49):
declarations from President elect Donald Trump and Tom Holman his
soon to be borders are critics can claiming that the
incoming administrations plans on immigration betray that value of compassion,
that somehow, with this talk of mass deportation and cracking

(36:13):
down on illegal immigration, it is the antithesis of compassion.
We see histrionic claims of migrant internment camps, but those
sorts of claims are exaggerations and as exaggerated as they

(36:34):
are detached from reality. What is the truth here as
we look at what's going to happen in now what
twenty two days when Trump takes office, is that his
team is targeting crimes that are tied to illegal immigration
and focusing on those crimes and those criminals and those

(36:57):
who've already been set for deportation. And when it comes
to the criminals, we're particularly talking about the likes of
Trende Ragua, the Venezuelan gang, and the Sineloa cartel. And
this really is an overdue focus that we did not
see under Biden on dangerous transnational gangs and violent criminals

(37:22):
that just keep exploiting US policies. We've seen for over
a year the city of Aurora and their police have
known that TDA, which if you'll recall, declared Denver is
its American headquarters, infiltrates migrant caravans, and they smuggle drugs,

(37:45):
traffic humans, extort, kidnap victims. We've seen that at apartment
complexes in Aurora. In fact, over one hundred TDA members
reportedly operate in Denver. And this is because of, in particular,
the ability for them. There's a power vacuum that they

(38:05):
exploit with Colorado's sanctuary city and sanctuary state policies, a
statewide or a sanctuary and rent guarantees that have been
provided by nonprofits who've gotten federal funds. And then said, Okay,
we're going to guarantee migrants have a place to stay

(38:26):
and we'll subsidize their rent. We've essentially created a modern
Wild West in our own backyard. Now. Tom Homan and
we talked about this a bit last week. The incoming
borders are made it clear that your days are numbered.
He said, my gang's bigger than your gang, and we're

(38:49):
going to take you out of the country. And this
is particularly dubbed Operation Aurora after what's happened in Aurora.
And Trump announced this when he came for his event
and speaking engagement in Aurora. The thing is that this
Operation Aurora is going to focus on public safety and
national security threats. As Homan is stressed, it's going to

(39:12):
target criminal enterprises, especially gang members and violent offenders. I
talked to here on KOA earlier this month. I think
it was this month with John Fabricatori, who was the
former Denver ICE director, who anticipates ninety percent of ICE
operations will focus on criminals, like six hundred thousand convicted

(39:35):
or charged criminals on the so called non detained docket
and one point seven million migrants already ordered for deportation
but they're here in the US. Now, here's the thing.
Sanctuary jurisdiction like Colorado, ties the hands of law enforcement,
makes it so that they can't actively cooperate with ICE,

(39:56):
shielding the offenders and putting the public at risk. But
here's the thing. Enforcing the law isn't like Tianaman Square
in China or FDR style Japanese and tournament camps. That's
something that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has absurdly claimed. It's

(40:20):
really about protecting not just Americans, but vulnerable America, vulnerable
migrants alike. So a couple things have happened recently. Just
last week, the Denver District Attorney's office indicted seventeen suspects
on two hundred and twenty two counts of vehicle theft, menacing,

(40:43):
drug smuggling, and identity theft. It's a nine and a
half million dollars sophisticated operation of the Cineloa cartel. And
then we all know the story from just a couple
of weeks ago of trend' Aragua terrorizing other migrants in Aurora.

(41:03):
In particular, one case had two Venezuelans who were kidnapped,
pistol whipped and tortured inside one of the apartment complexes
so that they could delete a cell phone video that
one of the victims had taken. And in fact, the
chief of police now in Aurora, Todd Chamberlain, called this

(41:24):
a situation quote where these suspects have basically victimized people
of their own ethnicity based upon the fact that the
immigrant population does not want to come forward or be
involved in conversations with law enforcement because they feel retribution.
Now we know that some of the suspects there are

(41:47):
have been identified as trendy at Agua members including in
the viral video that went out of that apartment where
you had six armed individuals, most of them armed, go
into in a part to search and walking around in
there and going to that. You remember that viral video.
A couple of those in this arrest were in that video. Now,

(42:13):
I write in my column Friday for the Denver Gazette,
a compassionate border crackdown is coming. How is it humanitarian
to deny the existence and gravity of transnational gangs terrorizing
migrant communities as so many Colorado leaders have. How is
it just to refuse to hold criminals accountable? How is

(42:35):
it humane to mislead the world into believing illegal entry
guarantees food, shelter, and medical care. The compassionate thing is,
folks to enforce the law, and sanctuary jurisdictions like Colorado
need to get out of the way. You need to
consider reality here, and compassion without reality breeds. You got

(43:01):
to balance altruism with practicality and ensure the true compassion,
which includes consequences for criminals, even deportation. That is true compassion,
not the idea of let's just shield people who don't
belong here even if they commit crimes. Came here illegally

(43:24):
and then committed violent crimes, or have been judged by
a judge already after hearing their case to be deported Safer,
stronger communities are necessary, and that's true compassion here. So
this is a compassionate border crackdown on the way Overdue
for a break, I'm Jimmy Sangenburger filling in for Ross Kaminsky.

(43:47):
Keep it right here as we move along on KOA
Groven back some funky music as we continue. Jimmy sang
in Burger in for Ross Kaminsky here on ko A
text coming in from the KOA Common Spirit health text line.
I guess I didn't use the term illegal immigrants during

(44:09):
the course of my monologue at the top, so I
was told to quit being so politically correct. No, I agree,
they're legal immigrants. I'm not sure why I didn't say
that term. If I didn't, Kevin, it's pretty clear, but
it's the reality, and especially when it comes to the

(44:31):
criminal illegal immigrants, they need to go. And same with
the people one point seven million who are already here
have been here despite being adjudicated for deportation. Judges said
you're gone, but they're still here. Another text coming in.

(44:51):
What would happen to the city of Aurora if they
did cooperate with ICE and deport You know, that's the
thing with deportation. Even if they cooperated with ICE, Aurora,
any of these cities wouldn't be involved in deportation. They
would be notifying consistently, Okay, they pick up a suspect

(45:14):
and this individual is a criminal alleged and they are
here illegally. They should be reporting that to ICE. And
if I says okay, we need this person to cooperate
with them in terms of the proceedings, that's really what
is being impeded. But the question here from the listener

(45:36):
is is there any sort of legal sanction that would
happen to them? You know, I don't actually know what
kind of legal consequence there could be. For sake, Castle Rock,
which is already declared that they will cooperate with ICE,
how the punishment or consequence would be from the state.

(45:58):
My guess is there would be some kind of lawsuit,
a court would order them to comply, and if they didn't,
maybe there's some sort of a financial consequence. But really
they would go to court and get to seek a
judicial order to comply with the state law. But then
what happens from there, I'm not clear on five six

(46:22):
six nine zero is the KOA Common Spirit health text line.
If you have any ideas in that regard. We're gonna
take a break on the other side as we continue,
entertainer voice actor Jimmy Viles will join me. We're gonna
have some fun as we round out the year. Keep

(46:45):
it right here as we continue, Jimmy Sangenberger in for
Ross Kiminski. I'm KOA. I'm feeling good, just like the
fabulous Thunderbirds. Jimmy Sangenberger back with you, filling in for
Ross Kiminski. My foot is just tapping along so fast
you can't see it, but I'm having a great time.

(47:07):
I hope you are too. As we continue on k
o A, where I am very pleased, honored, and privileged
to have the phone. Two former presidents of the United States,
George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, joining me exclusively here.

(47:30):
Mister President's, welcome to the show.

Speaker 7 (47:35):
Jimmy Hello, Johnny, Johnny Hello.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
It's it's Jimmy, mister president.

Speaker 7 (47:42):
No, it's George.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
No. No, I'm Jimmy, sir.

Speaker 7 (47:46):
Oh well, Jimmy Mushromberg.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Sangenburger. Well, no, no, sir, it's me, Jimmy Sangenberger.

Speaker 7 (47:55):
Well then who's this Johnny Philler?

Speaker 1 (47:57):
I don't know, must be your caddie. But sir, it
is an honor to have you on, both of you
on I think you were what you're golfing atmar A Lago?
Do I understand that correctly?

Speaker 8 (48:09):
Well, yes, sir, that is correct.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
So I have to ask you, and maybe I can
ask this to President Bill Clinton, because you have gone
through a transition, a transfer of power before handing over
the reins. We have that coming up in just a
few weeks. What can you tell us? What are your
reflections on a peaceful transfer of power?

Speaker 8 (48:34):
Well, hey, Jimmy, yeah, Well, well let me tell you something.
It's very very important. A peaceful transition of power is
one of the most important things that Heck, when I
got into the White House, one of the first things
I did was transfer all the power to Hillary and
it sure made for a peaceful first year, well mostly
for first term there, mostly mostly peaceful.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
And President Bush, how about you, You had the opportunity
to take over. The transition was brought to you when
you took office. Tell me about that, sir.

Speaker 8 (49:09):
Oh yeah, yeah, he went as smooth as silk. We
we we got her done, no problem. Now I'm ready
to hand over the rings to prison and to prison
and Trump a second time here.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
Yeah, I'm sorry, sir, but that's would be what President
Biden is doing. But but you had the rains turned
over to you after Bill Clinton, right.

Speaker 8 (49:33):
Oh yeah, yeah, of course, yeah, no prob Yeah, that
went smooth as silk. Yeah, no problem, right there.

Speaker 7 (49:41):
We we handed over the page.

Speaker 8 (49:43):
Very important, Jimmy. You know, I think it's one of
the most important things that we do is make sure
that there's peace maintained.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
You know, yes, I would agree, ladies and gentlemen. This
is uh, this is Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
of course, right, but really we have My good friend
is Jimmy with an ie, Jimmy Viles, man of over
five hundred voices, joining us here on KOA.

Speaker 8 (50:12):
Jimmy, welcome, Hey, thanks, Why how's it going.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
Going pretty well? I E happy new year too. You
are looking forward to twenty twenty five?

Speaker 8 (50:24):
Me too as well. No, uh yeah, it's gonna be
It's gonna be an interesting year. Huh.

Speaker 7 (50:30):
I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
I can't wait it Really, it's gonna be quite a
big one. Hey, before we get into I want to
talk about a bunch of different things. Here. We were
just you know, having some fun with two former presidents.
We would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge a former
president who just passed away yesterday at the age of

(50:52):
one hundred. And he just so happens to be named
Jimmy like you and I, but in one of the
great feats of his life, he spells Jimmy correctly with
a win, not an ie.

Speaker 7 (51:05):
I blame his parents.

Speaker 8 (51:06):
He's from the South too, That's where Jimmy with an
I E was came from. Man, I don't I don't
get it.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
That's interesting. But let's talk about Carter for just a moment.
What do you make of his passing in a legacy?

Speaker 8 (51:19):
Well, first of all, our I p uh President Carter,
uh I uh. I honestly feel that he was one
of the nicest, most generous human beings ever. The stuff
he did with habitat and habitat for humanity was unparalleled.
Out there. He'd get out of the hospital and go start,

(51:41):
you know, building houses. I don't care if he did
it for you, know if he just swung the hammer ceremonious,
so he was still instrumental and building a lot of
a lot of homes for the needy and doing a
lot of good charity work. So I think he was
a great, great man. I didn't care much for his policies.
He didn't vote for him.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Hey, yeah, that's how it goes. I mean that is
the folks are really talking. We've talked about it on
the program today about how his presidency and his post
presidency people view him very differently. And I agree with you,
and may he rest in peace. A really fine man
who was not a good president, but he showed the

(52:26):
way to be and live your life with dignity and
with grace. So Jimmy Viles, Jimmy with an Ie your voice,
actor extraordinaire, man of over five hundred voices, Right, yeah, you.

Speaker 8 (52:40):
Know it doesn't matter, right, We've talked about this before.
I don't think I can get the job if I
can do five hundred and one voices. If I couldn't
get it if I can do five hundred. So I
just quit kind of count every every time a new
let's say, animated series comes out, I get to do
you know, I get to add five more voices to
the list. You know, Oh great, here comes another you know,

(53:01):
here comes Bob's burger. I can I can now start
doing stuff up that show. And of course for years
did Simpsons and like thirty voices off of the Simpsons.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Anyways, give give us a couple of samples from the Simpsons,
will you?

Speaker 8 (53:18):
I Smithers, who's that Kruben hoots goop leagas he like
the cood of his jube. That's mephistophally Son. He's your
two o'clock. Put him in the p roo. Already done, sir.
I don't know who your kids are, but I like
your magic pixure. Drake, what a day Homan made me?

(53:41):
Give him a spongeback guyas aful You didn't have a
heart attack Homer cardiat episode? Hey battle Edy swallowed the baby?
Oh Park, did you.

Speaker 7 (53:53):
Are so busted?

Speaker 8 (53:55):
If you're happy and you know it, it's the same
and so on and so forth.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
Yeah, I know, does you didn't do Homer in that mix? Though?
Why not?

Speaker 7 (54:04):
Because anyways gave him for last when you always got
to ruin it Berger?

Speaker 8 (54:10):
When when I are going to come to blow next time?

Speaker 7 (54:12):
I had enough of yourn gent what I didn't I
love you.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
What amazes me the most is that you went from
voice to voice to voice there. How do you do that?

Speaker 8 (54:28):
I don't know. Some to quote a Christmas story. Some
some artists working oils, others in clay. My old man
wove a tapestry of a obscenity that hungover anyway. I
I just it's just. For instance, one of our mutual
friends has a very different skill set than I do.

(54:50):
He's great at improv and I am just I am
not that great an improv. But I think that one
of my harder skills and hard practice skills is being
able to switch over. I could probably do thirty in
a row if you let me go on, And it's

(55:11):
not difficult to keep them apart, because I keep the
character in my mind and I picture them saying that,
you know, I'm so familiar with with the Simpsons that
that's easy to do. Uh. You know, even hopping back
and forth from from George w to UH to decent
Bill Clinton. You know, that's that's fairly easy to do.

(55:31):
And you can even through in a reading.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
But yeah, Jimmy Viles joining us, Jimmy, Jimmy tations dot
Com is his website. Uh Jimmy. When we have over
the years, we've done a lot of different things on
the radio, and when I ran a nonprofit, we did
some videos, created some characters and so forth. One of
the things that's so interesting to me is the creation

(55:58):
of a character or of voice versus doing an impression
or a complete impersonation. You have four different ways of
breaking down how different characters can be. Walk us through
that as a voice actor.

Speaker 8 (56:16):
Okay, assimilation, characterization, impression, impersonation. So when you're I always
say I'm an impersonator, but not like not like RuPaul,
I'm an impressionist, but not like Shalvador Dally. Uh, I
am an impersonator. Will will take on the characteristics. Will

(56:43):
will show you mannerisms and things like that. An impression
is purely voice. You just you're You're you're an impersonating.

Speaker 7 (56:49):
A voice.

Speaker 8 (56:50):
Characterization is when somebody gives you a picture or a
storyline and says, I want you to develop this voice
for this character. It's an octopus with a monocle and
a top hat and a king, and we want you
to give him. So you'll you'll say, okay, well does
he sound English, so forth and the well not necessarily English,
but give us another English. No, no, no, perhaps he's German.

(57:18):
Maybe they sound him a little sigmund food. Yeah, you know,
and uh and.

Speaker 7 (57:24):
Can you make him Southern?

Speaker 8 (57:25):
I was like, oh yeah, I'll say, yeah, you know what,
can make them sound kind of like horn labelhorn a
little bit, and then we'll work on that. Oh yeah,
that's the way we want to go. We'll tell them
into a Southern gentleman, so that that then his characterization
then assimilation as you're familiar with those. I just said,
a Southern gentleman sounds like.

Speaker 7 (57:42):
This California wood. He sounds like this first thing out.

Speaker 8 (57:47):
Of his mouth.

Speaker 7 (57:49):
So that's what they call him California.

Speaker 8 (57:50):
Would a guy from up near Kenny Bunggport, obviously it
sounds like this, you know, and and so on. You uh,
you take a region or you know, everybody when you go,
I want you to do Australian English, Uh, Scottish and
Irish right in a row. And you can do it

(58:13):
just like channel and characters and you can go, you
can go English. You can sound a little deep like
John Preece for your English. And then they do Scottish
and so you got to roll your rs and your
picture grams keep it really or bustard and then you
picture they go Irish and you go, oh, well, you know,
I'm channeling a Leprechaan. We are to don't you know what?

(58:33):
There's something and uh and of course Australia and you
gotta go immediately gave crocodilelantic. Yeah, and that's and that's
how it's done.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Amazing, amazing, and we've done that. We had a character
billow Goods that was for example, selling selling the uh
the scam wow the tariff towel, or selling student loans
and you know, you we walked through this process of characterization.
Here's sort of the image we had for this guy,

(59:04):
and then we fletch out what his mannerisms, his voice, voices,
all of that.

Speaker 8 (59:09):
Yeah, and I remember you say, and you know, as
the director, your your part is almost more important than mine.
As the director. Your your job then was to go, okay,
I want him to sound similar to you know, what's
what's he looked like? First of all? And I'm like, well,
he's got a cheesy mustache and he's got you know,
and he's got in and we finally decided kind of

(59:30):
like a ban Acroyd from Blues Brothers, Jimmy Singemberger's favorite
movie there, you know, and so we made Bill of
Goods kind of sound like that. There. We give him
the colored glasses and the mustache. Ye sounded kind of
like the guys from the super Fans from Saturday Night Live,
you know, with the I just got a pork chat
ladged in maritory, you know, the bears. So and you

(59:53):
were like, you know, yeah, that's that's it. That's it. Now,
let's work on his mannerisms. So we worked on a characterization,
an assimilation, and an impression.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
Oh yeah, rolling, rolling. Sometimes they all get grouped together again.
Jimmy Viiles joining us here on KOA. I want to
talk about one or two story experiences that you've had
and then and then get to one other other thing.
But on Friday, we spoke with a long standing comedian
out of the Boston area, Chains Lankedin, who had some

(01:00:26):
fun stories regarding Rodney Dangerfield and his experiences with him.
You have a fun Rodney Dangerfield story that I'd love
for you to share.

Speaker 8 (01:00:36):
Well, I actually have two of them. One of them
was when he was in Denver filming Ladybugs Right, a
movie where he was a soccer coach. I got to
be in an extra in that movie. I never saw
Rodney on set or anything, but I was part of
the crowd scene. Very cool, and I got paid. I

(01:00:58):
saw him distantly, you know, on the other side of
the film production. But yeah, so that was kind of like,
I'm like, well, I that was like my first real
kind of brush with greatness when I first got into
the business and it was just being an exter. I
was also a nextter in the Steven Sagall movie and

(01:01:18):
die Hard too when it was filmed out at Stapleton
when they so the movie extra in a couple of places.
So Rodney fast forward, I don't know, fifteen years. I
go and my girlfriend breaks up with me on my birthday,
two days before my birthday, and on my birthday I

(01:01:39):
was going to be all alone, and I'm like, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:01:40):
I'm gonna go do something fun and none of those.

Speaker 8 (01:01:42):
I'm feeling all sorry for myself. So I go to
what was called Ticketmaster select a seat at the time
at Peaches Records and Tapes for Crying outside and I
go in there and I go, do you have any
tickets for Robnie. It's Tniet at the Paramount, and I
don't have any hope if there's any tickets left. And
the guys like ohing, and they have a couple in
the mezinine and he's like, oh, look, these weren't here

(01:02:03):
ten minutes ago. Uh, these are Rodney tickets in the
third row. You want you want one? I got one,
I got one. I got two in the front row
in the aisle. And I go, yeah, well I'm gonna
be alone. Yeah, so I'll take one. And you know,
radio stations, they they don't they don't give him away,
so they give him back to the promoter to to
resell day up. So that's where that came from. So

(01:02:25):
I'm in the I'm right there, and i'm uh and
in the front row, the third row in the aisle,
and I'm taking notes, and Ronnie's going through his whole act, right,
he's still there. Yes, please, you're you're wrapped it. And

(01:02:46):
Rodney's going through his whole act and I'm and I'm
drawing a little marks in my book. I wanted to
find out how many jokes Rodney told and how many laughs?
You know, how many laughs? And uh, and I mean,
and I'm writing down keywords and Run comes over and.

Speaker 7 (01:03:00):
Goes, look at this guy.

Speaker 8 (01:03:02):
He's gonna use my act in Cleveland to Mark and
I go, no, Rod, and I only steal good material. WHOA,
I opened it up right. Then he goes to me,
he says, I'm alone. He goes, save your breath. You're
gonna need it to blow up your date. So there,
and then he insults my mother, my sister, my city,

(01:03:23):
my aunt, my.

Speaker 7 (01:03:26):
You know, yeah, and uh and he just that's.

Speaker 8 (01:03:31):
Just And I was so I was so excited that
he went on and he was having such a good
time that he did. He did almost three hours and
never stopped, never stopped.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Once and constantly getting those laughs. You've told me Jimmy
Viles our guest Jimmy tations dot Com with an I
in there and two m's obviously U Just finally, Jimmy,
I want to ask you. Politics of being entertainer is
an interest thing because it's just known, as you know,
it's a left wing medium. You see people who meet

(01:04:06):
people who are liberal all the time. There's not necessarily,
at least a perception of too much diversity. And you
lived in Colorado for many many years. You moved back
to Florida just not too long ago, a year or
two ago. Kind of talk to me about the politics
of things and beaten Florida and the companies of Universal Disney.

(01:04:28):
We've got a few minutes. What's your sort of reflection
on that side of the entertainment world.

Speaker 8 (01:04:34):
Well, I it is true. I moved to the Free
State of Florida kind of on purpose. I got a
little tired of being just kind of ostracized for my
political views. And I don't think that being an entertainer
has anything to do just like you know, quite frankly,
I don't feel anything that a person does in the

(01:04:57):
privacy of their own home is anybody's business, So I don't.
I really got sick of be an ostracized and attack
and everything. Plus I came down to work for Disney,
and I came down to work for Universal, and it's
been three years, it'll be four years I've been down.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
That's incredible.

Speaker 8 (01:05:16):
Yeah, And uh, you know, and of course Disney is
Disney and Universal is owned by MSNBC, and I aligned
with either one of those too much right now, So
I'm just kind of doing my own thing. I'm i
have had auditions just recently for Santa. They they chose

(01:05:38):
a kind of a different Santa than the direction I represented,
which which.

Speaker 1 (01:05:44):
We had represented on this show last week. I think right,
or at least close enough for of.

Speaker 8 (01:05:49):
Course, which is a UA tradition for us, which is
which is great. You know that's what eight years.

Speaker 1 (01:05:56):
Maybe, yeah something something at least at least least huh.

Speaker 8 (01:06:01):
Yeah, so yeah, so but I still, I mean, I
will work for them. I'll take their money. I'll take
their money. I just I wish they would keep politics
out of entertainment and vice versa.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
Yeah, it is, it is.

Speaker 8 (01:06:16):
It obviously didn't work this last election. All the celeberty
endorsements in the world didn't didn't work.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
Ate that the truth, Jimmy Viles, anything that you can
sort of wrap up the the segment with, as we
before we let you.

Speaker 8 (01:06:31):
Go, my friend, Well, I just want to tell everybody
peace on earth. Man. Let's let's have a wonderful new year.
Let's all come together and make this happen. Let's make
America even better than.

Speaker 7 (01:06:46):
It was before.

Speaker 8 (01:06:47):
And as I like to say, let's make America great
again some more. And will we'll there you go hope
and pray that all the differences in this country can
be putting back and America put first and go forward.

(01:07:08):
That's that's there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:09):
You go.

Speaker 8 (01:07:10):
New Year's resolution, it's to make that happen.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
Jimmy Viles, he's on the socials and you can check
out his website Jimmy tationsded dot com. Two ms and
just just an I in there even though he's I
E for Jimmy Viles. Happy New Year, brother, Thanks so
much for joining us today. Really appreciate it too too.

Speaker 8 (01:07:29):
Oh yeah, you can go to Spoof podcast dot com.
You can go to spoof and hear all kinds of
good stuff over there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
There you go. Very cool once again. Jimmy Viles. He
likes to say he's not only vile, he's plural, and
that's so true. I'm Jimmy Segadberger in for Ross Kaminsky.
One more hour up ahead is the time is flying by.
We'll pick up the conversation on the other side here
on KO a third and final hour of the penultimate

(01:07:59):
show of The Ross Kaminski Show. Jimmy Sangenberger filling in
for Ross today and tomorrow, rounding out the year. Thanks
for being along. For the ride here on Koa as
a Maga civil war seems to be brewing, possibly in

(01:08:22):
more ways than one. By the way, as Speaker of
the House, Mike Johnson may end up facing some pushback
from within his ranks. Who knows if there could be
a battle for the speakership and if Trump will weigh
in in one direction and probably back Johnson. But others

(01:08:43):
may say, who are in the House may say wait
a second, not not so sure, which could throw the
whole process of going through and counting the electoral votes
and ratifying the count making it official for Trump. That

(01:09:04):
could be delayed. But I'm not talking about that Maga
civil war. I'm talking about the one that began last
week with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami both touting the
virtues of the H one B visa program that allows

(01:09:26):
high skilled tech workers to come to the United States
on this visa and obtain jobs. Now, as others have
pointed out, just to note about the H one B
visa program in the United States, it tends to be

(01:09:47):
that the best and brightest in our society often end
up in finance, or maybe they become lawyers or doctors,
not necessarily going into the tech space as much. Whereas
in a country like India, where a lot of H
one B VISA immigrants come from, they tend to be

(01:10:14):
in the tech space their most intelligent people. And so
that's part of why this program exists, so that businesses
can be able to find employees or temporary workers who
have the skill sets that they need, and ideally they

(01:10:35):
go for Americans. But Americans aren't always available or affordable
for businesses, especially small businesses or smaller sized companies as well.
But so last week Vivek Ramaswami made a post and
we talked about this on Friday, in which he said,

(01:10:55):
in part, the reason top tech companies often hire foreign
born and first generation engineers over Native Americans, and that's
not talking about Native Americans, but Americans who are born
here isn't because of an innate American IQ deficit, a
lazy and wrong explanation. A key part of it comes

(01:11:16):
down to the C word culture. Our American culture has
venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long, at least
since the nineties and likely longer. That doesn't start in college,
it starts young. And then he calls for a spot
Nick moment. Now, two things were really going on here.

(01:11:39):
Number one, Vivegue was wrong on a lot of the
cultural stuff that he was saying. He had a couple
of points. We talked about this on Friday. Check out
the podcast if you missed it. I think we had
a good discussion. But then the second thing is he
was providing an additional some justification for or H one

(01:12:00):
B versus. I don't necessarily like how we went about that,
but his point and that of Elon Musk is well taken.
In fact, President Trump about to take office has also
adopted that position, making it very clear that he supports

(01:12:22):
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami in their standpoint here, saying quote,
I have many H one B visas on my property.
I've been a believer in H one B. I have
used it many times. It's a great program, he said,
according to The New York Post, noting that he has

(01:12:45):
always liked the visus. So Trump, Elon Musk, vive all
aligned here, but other people on the right calling them
out and blasting them, including folks on the far right

(01:13:06):
like someone by the name of Laura Lumer blasting Trump
for his position here and a lot of other people
who are taking the position that, you know what, this
should not happen. Steve Bannon, another one senior guy close
to Trump before they have argued, look, this sets back Americans,

(01:13:34):
this hurts some disadvantages Americans. But that's not really the
case here. When you look at H one B VISUS
businesses again need to have the opportunity to find the
labor that they need. Ideally that would be Americans. But

(01:13:55):
the notion that the all knowing, all powerful of federal
government should step in and say we want to require
you to go to Americans first and then go to
H one B as an example, or put some other
impediments because we want to put American citizens first in
the line. I get the sentiment there, but it doesn't

(01:14:18):
work out. In reality. That kind of micromanagement from the
government is harmful, counterproductive. It will set us behind. President
Trump has said, look, we want college graduates to get
more of a fast track to immigration into this country,
getting a green card, so that they can contribute to

(01:14:40):
our society in terms of our technological prowess, the capabilities
that we have to compete against China and other countries
that relying upon a society that doesn't necessarily have all

(01:15:02):
the workers that are needed isn't gonna cut it. You
need to have the best and brightest from around the world.
That's Trump's mentality. I tend to agree with Trump on
that score. But this Maga civil war, as the media
is calling it, is catching the attention of the likes
of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who put out on x

(01:15:25):
formerly Twitter, good to see Trump embrace Elon's position. Hard
working immigrants should continue to be a part of our
great nation, from Silicon Valley to the Central Valley. We
are better off when we have competition and top talent
from farm workers, construction workers, CEOs and beyond. I hate

(01:15:47):
to say it, I tend to agree with him on
that point, but he's jumping into this to make Hay
out of a split and to try and deepen or
widen that split. Listener texts coming in on the KOA
Common Spirit health text line at five sixty six nine
zero h one B is important. Vivike was wrong to

(01:16:15):
both Bannon and Vivike wrong, and Vivike's analysis of why
I think he's where he's wrong in getting to the
correct sort of position. So he is possibly right, But
wouldn't it be better to lift up Americans versus importing
tons of cheap labor? Comes in another text? Okay, So yes,

(01:16:37):
of course, that's why we need to improve our education
system so that American students are better equipped to take
those jobs and these companies often needing to look elsewhere
to fill those roles. We'll be able to find people
who can fit the job. Now, that is reality that

(01:16:58):
you don't. Again, our best and brightest tend to go
into finance, tend to go into law, tend to go
into medicine. They're not necessarily in tech as much. And
so yes, the way to lift up Americans is to
improve our education system and make it more possible for

(01:17:19):
them to succeed. This isn't just about cheap labor. This
is about having people to get the jobs and letting
businesses have the latitude to make that decision. What do
you think? Five six six nine zero is the number
for the KOA Common Spirit Health text line. I'm Jimmy
Sangenberger filling in for Ross Kominsky. Keep it right here
on KOA, the great late Greg Allman and the Almand

(01:17:43):
Brothers band. As we continue, little Midnight writer Jimmy Sangenberger
in for Ross Kaminsky on KOA, and here is an
aspect of Carter's legacy that I didn't know about. And
I don't know whether to feel that this like this
is really cool or a little bit despondent because of

(01:18:07):
how his presidency turned out. And I'm not a fan
of those four years, even though he was a mighty
fine man, as we talked about and made Jimmy Carter
rest in peace. He was indeed a very good man
in his post presidency, did a lot of good in
many respects. But he got the Almand Brothers support when

(01:18:28):
he ran for president in nineteen seventy six. Like literally,
Greg Allman was even there on the first day. I
found this little cut from an interview with Conan O'Brien.
You were invited to the White House that day. One
of the first things that President Carter does two hours

(01:18:49):
into his presidency is invite you to the White House.

Speaker 8 (01:18:52):
Is that right?

Speaker 6 (01:18:52):
Right?

Speaker 8 (01:18:52):
For dinner?

Speaker 1 (01:18:54):
His first dinner. I mean, that's Greg Allman first night,
go to dinner at the White House of the first night.
That's pretty crazy. But there is much that has been
done about Jimmy Carter's Rock and Roll Legacy. There's a
documentary that came out several years ago. There's a piece

(01:19:16):
from last year entitled Jimmy Carter's Rock and Roll Legacy
from The New Yorker, and there was a close relationship.
They actually campaigned, did some rallies for him. I think
that is one of the earlier instances of musical performances
being done for political figures. We saw Biden try that

(01:19:38):
with much failure this go around, but it is something
that has happened quite a bit. It seems that Carter
might have led the way just a little bit on that.
A fascinating piece to the legacy of Jimmy Carter, who
again passed away yesterday at the age of one hundred,

(01:20:01):
which in itself is historic first president to reach the
age of one hundred a full century before passing away. Listener,
techs have been coming in via the KOA Common Spirit
health text line at five six six ' nine zero, Jimmy,
Sometimes foreign workers are preferred because they will work for less.

(01:20:24):
Whatever benefits the Big Three will be rationalized by them,
regardless of whether it is hypothetical or not. A hypocritical
or not. Yes, I understand, and that's fair. That's a
fair point. And for some companies, you know, they need
someone who will work for less because they're a smaller business,

(01:20:45):
But of course they're going to have that sort of factor.
But that's not the only thing. A big element of
this really is you need to have the people there
to do the job and do it well and get
it done. And that is in part an indictment of
our education system that has failed here. Although you have

(01:21:08):
this text coming in, the problem is an Americans not
getting the right education, although I would say they aren't
getting the right education in many respects. The problem is
the American kids coming out of college thinking they are
entitled to one hundred thousand dollars a year to start off.
H one B recipients are much more realistic about what
the pay scale is. That is a very valid point,

(01:21:31):
and I think something that we need to keep in mind,
especially as kids go to college and then graduate from
college with these sorts of expectations. I'm Jimmy Sangenberger filling
in for Ross Kaminski when we come back on the
other side. He was fired from Denver Public Schools after
blowing the whistle on a student that was in the

(01:21:53):
school building at his school where he was a principal,
despite having been charged with attempted murder. Now the whistleblowers
lawsuit against the district is moving forward in court, and
Kurt Dennis joins me in studio for an exclusive, in
depth conversation as we move along into the final half

(01:22:14):
hour right here on KOA. Sometimes I feel like big
Head Todd and the monsters are singing about Denver Public schools.
I don't know what it is. Jimmy Sangenberger back with you,
filling in for ros Kaminski today on KOA as well

(01:22:34):
as tomorrow. One of the big issues that I have
written extensively about in my columns for the Denver Gazette
that come out Tuesdays and Fridays, that I have talked
about on the radio over the years, spoken in various capacities,
is the failures, repeated failures of Denver Public schools, from

(01:22:57):
everything to academics to school safety to the school board
acting like adults, which all too often we have not
seen Denver's school board act like adults, nor have we
seen the administration, particularly Superintendent Alex Morrero, act in a

(01:23:19):
way that is appropriate for the office of the Superintendent,
leading Colorado's longest largest school district in terms of ensuring
academic outcomes, in terms of insuring student safety, you will
recall in March of twenty twenty three last year, there

(01:23:40):
was a shooting inside East High School in Denver Public Schools.
A student had shot two deans, who thankfully survived, although
tragically the student took his own life later that day.
And this happened in the course of a routine pat

(01:24:00):
weapons pat down that happened in the district at a
number of schools and continues to happen in the district
the number of schools, and this was being conducted by
these two deans, and it was a tragedy that woke
up so many parents in the district. But two days

(01:24:22):
after the student shot two deans inside East High School,
my guest in studio, Kurt Dennis, had enough. Then, the
principal of mccauliffe International School, he went ahead and blew
the whistle publicly exposing DPS's refusal to act on another
chilling warning. In a March twenty twenty three interview with

(01:24:44):
nine News, he revealed that he'd repeatedly urged Denver Public
schools to remove a student who'd been charged with attempted murder,
asking them to expel or transfer the student to online learning.
In fact, a Denver Police youth violence coordinator attended a
district meeting and warned that under no circumstance should the

(01:25:04):
student be in school with others. Dennis, though, had pleased
that fell on tone deaf ears and Kurt Dennis joins
me in studio. Now, Kurt, welcome to the Show's good
to have you. Thank you, Jimmy, thank you for taking
some time today. I really appreciate it. You have a
lawsuit that is now proceeding against Denver Public Schools. We'll

(01:25:25):
get to that in a moment. That's a big reason
why I'm having you in studio today. But I want
to ask you to talk about the situation and the
lead up to and ultimately your decision to go public
about something you saw that was very wrong in having
a student who had been charged with attempted murder stay

(01:25:45):
in classrooms with fellow students. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 10 (01:25:49):
So, we had been notified by the Denver County's District
Attorney's office that one of our students had been charged
with multiple felonies or I believe eight or nine total,
and these felonies were related to weapons offenses and most
significantly an attempted murder charge. And when we were notified

(01:26:15):
of this, we immediately went to the school district and
we requested an expulsion hearing because we didn't feel as
appropriate to have the student facing attempted murder charges to
be attending classes in person at our school, and so
we requested that expulsion hearing and our request was denied.
We were told that the student was to return to

(01:26:38):
learning as soon as possible and that they were to
be placed on a safety plan. And the safety plan
is something that's common in them for public schools where
when a student has made a threat or has been
charged with some type of crime that would be of
concern for student safety, that the school leadership, along with
mental health team and security would put together their plan

(01:27:00):
for how to educate that student safely at the school
in person. And we had already had a plan in
place for this student due to a notification of charge
for a crime several months prior, and we were told
to create a new plan. And so the plans are

(01:27:24):
tailored to the individual students' needs and the school's needs,
but they're problematic. There's only so much a school can
do to make sure that everyone's safe, and typically what
a plan would look like is that when a student
arrives to school, they are to checking immediately with the
nearest adult and they're escorted to the office where school

(01:27:44):
staff members would conduct a pat down in a search
of the students belonging to make sure that they're not
a possession of a weapon. In addition to that, then,
in the most significant cases, the student, once they're cleared,
is then escorted by an adult staff member to their
classes and they are supervised as they moved throughout the

(01:28:08):
building during the school day at all times. The plans
are problematic and that they're really difficult to enforce. You know,
in our Ptico situation, we had a staff of around
one hundred with sixteen hundred students, and so having to
dedicate one staff member to one student during the school
day is challenging. In a big school, it's easy for

(01:28:30):
students to get lost, you know, whether intentionally here or accidentally,
but to to not be supervised at all times, and
so we weren't comfortable with our ability to implement the
plan in a way that ensured that that student was safe,
but also all the other students and staff and the
school were safe as well. So we expressed our concerns

(01:28:53):
at multiple levels. When we were denied the request for expulsion,
we then asked that the district placed the student and
online mind setting so that the student could continue to
access their education, which is their right, but in a
manner that's safe for them and save for everyone else
at the school. Our request to transfer to the student
to an online school is to night as well. So

(01:29:14):
this took place over a couple of months period, you know,
multiple meetings with district officials.

Speaker 1 (01:29:20):
And occasionally even police.

Speaker 10 (01:29:22):
Police attending, you know, sharing information with us, and you know,
submitting their opinions and input as well. So you know,
after a lot of deliberation and frustration, you know, I
collected evidence and basically held onto it and I told myself,
you know, something happens where somebody gets hurt because of
this policy or the district stands on these issues, that

(01:29:44):
I'm going to come forward because in my mind, I
think parents have a right to know that if that
their child is attending school with an individual who has
demonstrated the ability to secure a weapon and a willingness
to use that weapon against another human being. And and
so when the incident at East happened, I'd had enough.

(01:30:06):
I gathered the evidence that I had accrued over the
previous few months, and I took it the nine News,
and that's what I came forward.

Speaker 1 (01:30:14):
To be clear. One thing that the synergy here is
the East High School shooter was on probation for weapons
violations and had previously been expelled from another district. DPS
though kept him in school until the tragedy struck. And
so it would seem that that provided that impetus. Okay,
I can't keep quiet anymore because this is something that's

(01:30:35):
not going anywhere. You're pleased, correct, Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:30:38):
So, I mean they're basically putting school leaders in an
impossible situation, right. You're you're being asked to ensure that
a student who has a history of violence is safe
and that their classmates and staff are safe, which is
a tall task. And at the same time, you're you're
asking them to not share any of this information with anyone.

(01:31:03):
And so you know, in my situation, had the student
that we were working with hurt somebody, that would be
on me, right, And so I couldn't live with myself
if that were to happen, And the alternative was to
come forward with the hopes of provoking a discourse, you know,

(01:31:24):
between the community and the district around this policy and
ideally some reflection and introspection on the part of the
school board in the district leadership around this policy and
the fact that it should be changed.

Speaker 1 (01:31:38):
Kurt Dennis joining us here in studio now, former principal
at mccauliffe International School, which is what grade levels by
the middle school six, seven and eight middle school. So
blowing the whistle as you did ended up costing you
your job. Talk to us about that and and what
that investigation entailed and how it came about that you

(01:32:00):
were fired from your position as the principal.

Speaker 10 (01:32:02):
Sure so so as I said, I mean, my intention
in coming forward was to hopefully bring about change and
safer schools for our kids. The response that I got
from the school board in district leadership was disappointing and
that rather than focusing on the policy and student safety,
they chose to focus on me and and they terminated

(01:32:26):
me in June end of June in twenty twenty three,
and did a lot of things to you know, disparage
my character, uh to call in the question my integrity,
and you know, it's significant cost to myself and my
family in terms of both social and emotional impact, but

(01:32:47):
also in terms of economic impact as well.

Speaker 1 (01:32:50):
And so.

Speaker 10 (01:32:52):
You know, and if it's even more frustrating, I think
is just the fact that I don't I'm not certain
anything has changed, honestly, Jimmy, I don't know if if
DPS has taken any measure to ensure that students who
are being charged with violent crimes are being educated in
a way that is safe for that student and for
kids in their schools.

Speaker 1 (01:33:10):
Let's emphasize this point, and I've made it many times.
You're making it here, Kurt Dennis. What you are pushing
for with so many parents and DPS have pushed for
a lot of growing numbers of people have advocated for,
but the district hasn't seemed to do, is just an
alternative pathway ensure that a kid gets the education that

(01:33:31):
they deserve, that they are supposed to get, but do
it in a way that is safe for them and others.
It's a balancing act exactly. Yep.

Speaker 10 (01:33:42):
And so just to be clear, I completely agree that
every student is entitled to an education. Yeah, right, but
it's not a one size fits all education. There's multiple
ways to educate children. In Denver Public Schools. There were
alternative options for this student, one being homeschooling. DPS has
a homeschool program where educator goes to the child's home,
usually because the student is sick, and educates that student

(01:34:06):
in person at home. There's online school, which we learned
a lot about during the pandemic and got fairly good at.
And DPS has an online school that could educate kids
as well, and so, and then they do have programs
for students who are adjudicated youth and and so. I
don't know why those options aren't being considered for students

(01:34:28):
in these situations. I think that if you look at
other districts in the state of Colorado, I think that's
the response that they implement. I'm not sure why Denver
Public Schools is different.

Speaker 1 (01:34:37):
So you had blown the whistle, you ended up being
fired in the school board ratified that decision in a
vote to fire you from that position. You have a
lawsuit that is moving forward. Just as of last week
court ruling ay or within the last couple of weeks, yes,
this case can move forward. What are the what's the

(01:34:59):
crux of the law suit that you brought against the PS.

Speaker 10 (01:35:01):
Yeah, so primarily we filed before claims, first being that
my First Amendment rights were violated when I spoke out,
and how the district responded that there was retaliation, that
my Fourteenth Amendment rights were due process rights were violated
as well, and then finally that I was defamed. So

(01:35:22):
those are the four major claims that we filed in
our lawsuit on September fifth of twenty twenty three, and
fortunately the judge agreed that we had standing our basis
for these claims and we're moving forward.

Speaker 1 (01:35:33):
Now. This retaliation piece is very important because fear of
retaliation will silence educators, silence administrators. I have talked with
anonymous educators, teachers, staff alike who have said, you know what,
I don't want to be You can quote me on
these things, but I don't want to be named because

(01:35:54):
I fear that sort of retaliation and that culture to
me of timidation. When you have these kinds of reckless
disciplinary policies and we're hardly scratching the surface, here is
a dramatic problem that extends that we had here on
Koa a few months back, a mother who who's suing

(01:36:15):
DPS after having been charged with a crime because of
something that she was accused of at a school board meeting.
This is the case of Kristen Fry. Absolutely ridiculous, but
another instance of retaliation. We can't have that in our
public schools, especially when we're talking about safety. In my view, no,
I agree completely.

Speaker 10 (01:36:36):
I mean, if you want schools to operate in as
safe as manner as possible, you have to have full
transparency and you have to have school leaders that are
able to speak up and speak out when they have
concerns and not be afraid of retaliation or losing their
jobs or being punished because their opinion or their perspective
differs from that of the school board or the superintendent.

Speaker 1 (01:36:55):
What is the response that you felt from the public,
Because to me, we had the killing of a seventeen
year old student named Luis Garcia. There's a lawsuit against
DPS in that regard as well, in February of twenty
twenty three outside of East High School. Then we had
the shooting at East. We had the concern that you
brought up in mccauliffe or the shooting in East I

(01:37:19):
should say, and then the issue there. So after that,
I saw a big turn from parents who got active.
What kind of response have you seen both to your
case and to what's been going on in dps ritt large? Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:37:31):
I mean the response from community was incredible. You know,
the parents joined the community groups, the participated in protests,
went to community meetings, sign petitions. I think we had
over six thousand signatures by the end, you know, regarding
their concerns, and so I think that, you know, the

(01:37:51):
response from community is overwhelming. I think that what's a
little overlooked is the fact that, you know, there was
a board election shortly after that, and in the school
board members who are up for reelection, we're not re elected,
and so I think that more than anything, it wasn't
even close. So I think that more than anything, people
spoke at the ballot box as well about how they

(01:38:13):
felt about the decisions and the behaviors of the school board,
and that was quite apparent.

Speaker 1 (01:38:17):
I got about thirty forty five seconds for you here,
Kurt Dennis, as we wrap up. Is there anything you
want to add or share with folks today?

Speaker 10 (01:38:28):
No, I mean, I'm grateful for the opportunity, Jimmy to
share my story. And you know, we've had to be
quiet for a year and a half now, and as
David Laying, my attorney says, kind of play defense. But
now we've been given the green light by a federal
judge that we can start play offense. And so I'm
looking forward to, you know, seeking justice not just for myself,

(01:38:48):
but for my family and for my community.

Speaker 1 (01:38:50):
This will entail now in the discovery process, things like depositions,
exchange of documents, and so forth exactly, so we will
watch this case with great interest. My column in the
Denver Gazette tomorrow is also on this case, so be
sure to check that out. Kurt Dennis, best of luck
to you. Thanks for joining us today and for speaking out.
Appreciate you coming on. Thank you, jim, I appreciate it. Well.

(01:39:13):
We are wrapping up the show today. Tomorrow a very
special program as I fill in one last time for
the year of twenty twenty four, with twenty twenty five
two days away, can you believe it? Among the program guests,
the special guests we have tomorrow, I will be joined

(01:39:36):
by Biff Gore, the Ambassador of Soul. He's a pastor,
father of seven. He's a military veteran and got very
far on season six of The Voice. We're gonna have
a great time with Biff tomorrow. I want to go
out sharing a tune that we had done live on
the radio last year. This is one of Biff's original tunes.

(01:39:58):
And then coming up next Flora with her special guest
Riley Gains as Deborah fills in for Mandy Connell. We'll
see it tomorrow. Have a great day, enjoy this peppy tune,
and may God bless America.