11-24-25 FULL SHOW - Deborah Flora Fills In, Reacts To Democrats' Video To US Military

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Friend counterpart, I was saying to Aborah Flora, sitting in hoping
that you are already off to a wonderful start of
Thanksgiving week. I gotta just see, oh hey, there we go.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
So I have to say.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
One of the things that gets me is because I
love Thanksgiving, and I hope that Manning is having a
great time. I think she's having a sort of staycation,
which is the way it should be. I think just
kind of getting settled in spending time with family.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm one of those people that does not decorate for.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Christmas before Thanksgiving because we skip.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Over it all too often.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
You know, for me, Thanksgiving is really that time where
you pause.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
You take a deep breath.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
You say, Okay, I'm thankful for all of these things,
and it sets you up with the right attitude going
into the holiday season. That's why I'm not a I'm
really even a black Friday shop er, let alone a
black Wednesday night going through Thursday all the way into Friday,
which seems to be what it has expanded into. Well,

(00:58):
I'm so glad you're tuning in. I'm really glad that
we have this opportunity. And by the way, if you
are one of those people flying this week. Now that
we are back up and running, it looks like flights
are for the most part, back to normal. You know,
obviously this week is never normal, but I hope that
you also can take a deep breath. There was a
story coming up that you know, the FAA has been

(01:18):
asking and many other people have been asking, and Sean Duffy,
the Transportation Secretary, has been asking me just to be
kind of civil, and I hope that's the case. No
matter what you're dealing with, feel free to text me
with any stories of what you're dealing with at the airport.
Five six six nine zero. That's five six six nine zero.
Throughout the show, we're going to be talking about Thanksgiving.

(01:40):
We're going to be and feel free to text what
are you thankful for? Because I got some things I'm
going to share today and tomorrow. As see, I have
the opportunity to be in this seat.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
But let's let's kick it off. Let's let's talk about
some news.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
As many people know, one of the enduring news stories
is from what happened last week the six Democrats who
decided to release a video telling and reminding troops that
they have the right to not obey constitutional orders.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
That is no news. By the way. One of the
reasons why this is close to home.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
As many of you know, Colora US Representative Jason crow
was one of the members. The others were Senators Alissa Slockin,
Mark Kelly. There were representatives Maggie Goodlander, christ Delusio, and
Christy Hulahan, two from Pennsylvania, one from New Hampshire, all
putting out.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
This video that basically stated.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
You can if you're in the military, you can disobey
on constitutional orders. What's the problem with this? There are
many things. So Deborah Floor here sitting in for Andy Connells.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Some of you know, some of you may not. I
grew up in the military.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
My dad was a retired lieutenant colonel at Lowry Air
Force Base. I have many other family members who served
in the military. My husband was an eighty second Airborne veteran.
He is an eighty second Airborne veteran. It is an
ethos that I grew up with and always had this
understanding of the order, the discipline, the clear chain of

(03:16):
command in the military.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, there are many problems with this.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
A couple of the lines out of this video transcript
that I put together you have these lawmakers, all of
who served in the military, so thank them for their service,
but they have all people should understand why some of
these lines in that video are so troubling. They have
lines like Americans trust their military.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
But that trust is at risk.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
This administration is pitting our uniform military and intelligence community
professionals against American citizens.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
It goes on and it basically says, right now, the.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Threats to our constitutions aren't just coming from abroad, but
from right here at home. Problem number one, there was
no talking about what the specific issues.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Are with the constitution.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
In fact, here is a little clip from Jason Crow
Martha McCallum, and I gotta say love how Martha McCallum
just does not let him off the hook. It's going
to be a couple of things we're going to point
out about this, and Jason Crow has kind of been
relatively quiet since Andy's backed off a little bit. He's
also spread some other kind of troubling comments.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
About this video. We'll get to that, but let's listen
to this this clip first.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
No, that's unfortunate, Ben. See all the six these days,
people grab something and twisted and contorted and lie.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
You have grabbed something and twisted and contorted you have.
You know, you're you're talking to young members of the
American military, and you're not telling them specifically what it
is they should see as illegal. So you're putting ideas
into their head that maybe they're being asked to do
something illegal. And what we're seeing actually is recruitment rising

(05:00):
interesting in the military under the present.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Here's an interesting fact for you, Martha. Our men and
women actually are very smart, very incredible men and women
in our military. And our recent survey, well, apparently I
do because.

Speaker 5 (05:13):
Them for the United STI well, you know, you don't
think they can handle a reminder about federal law and
the u CMJ is what I'm hearing in a recent
survey showed that eight out of ten service members deeply
understand their obligation of lawful orders right, eight out of.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Ten, So we want to get that that should be
ten out of ten. But this is something that they're
trained on. You know, go and look at the training.
You maybe even go and participate or observe some of
the training that our men and women go through. It
is incredible.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
We expect a lot of.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
These men and women. They go through very intense rigorous
training because they're put an intense rigorous position, and frankly,
I bristle at the notion that that they can't handle
a suggestion or a reminder of what the law requires
them to do with the institution requires them to do.
You actually disparage them when you say that's a simple reminder,

(06:06):
that a simple reminder is something they cannot do.

Speaker 6 (06:10):
You're wrong.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
You're one hundred percent wrong. There you go.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
You are wrong, You were one hundred percent ron First
of all, Jason Crowth, you're listening. That was incredibly, incredibly
condescending to Martha McCollum, who has over her career as
a journalist repeatedly highlighted and talked about the amazing nature
of our US military. It was just a deflection point second,

(06:37):
over and over and over again. In this clip, Jason
Crow talks about the fact that our military is very
well trained on understanding what is called the Uniform Code
of Military Service.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
They are trained on it.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
They don't need six Democrats, whose video seems to be
politicizing this entire situation, to go around a chain of
command and to just put innuendos. This was absolutely unnecessary.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Because here by the way is.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
What the Uniform Code of Military Justice says. Any military
personnel can be held liable for obeying illegal orders. Examples
are targeting or intentionally harming civilians, torturing or abusing detainees,
falsifying operational.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Or legal records. Those are just a few.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
So point number one, they didn't need to be told
or reminded. They know this thoroughly from Jason Crow's own words.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Number two.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Other places in this interview, Martha McCallum did a very
good job, and others have actually been pushing on this
as well. I think we're seeing a slight resurgence of journalism.
I'm not holding my breath, but there've actually been real
questions being asked on outlets like CNN and others, which
has been good to see. The next thing is they
don't say anything specific, and in fact, when Jason Crow

(07:55):
was pushed about this, he said, oh, it had nothing
to do by the way, with the Trump administration having
the attacks on the drug boats in the Caribbean or
in the Pacific.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
No, instead, it.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Had something to do with and then he didn't say,
but he did bring up examples like Abu Grabe and
the Meli massacre all the way back to Vietnam. That
is air responsible to do this without even stating anything
of what it is about. So you see that you
also have this planting of a seed amongst our US

(08:30):
military by elected officials stating that you, by the way,
may be pitting yourself against the American people.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
The military. So many of.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Them sign up because they're willing to write that blank check,
not knowing if they're going to be asked to give
the last full measure devotion in order to protect the
American citizens fighting abroad, usually so they don't have to
fight it here to do that kind of disparagement planting
those seeds. And by the way, they could be set
up some of our military up for a very dangerous manner.

(09:03):
It is not something that is looking down on them
to see that. Martha McCallum is very right in this point.
This could lead certain individuals to disobey an order where
they could be held responsible if you introduce this kind
of doubt and the chain of command, and by the way,
the chain of command starts with the commander in chief

(09:25):
to the joint chiefs of staff down to the different
military leadership in each branch of service. Down to underneath them.
And so it goes in a very structured manner. We
do not need elected officials inserting themselves in that chain
of command and politicizing the entire thing. By the way,

(09:49):
Congress does have a role, which is the you know,
whenever war is declared, the Congress has to be a
part of it. They do not need to be speaking
directly to the military people and overseeing and overstepping that
chain of command. So no good excuse for that, which
is what we just heard. There is no good excuse.
One point I want to bring up switching gears here.

(10:10):
Martha McCallum talked about how enlistment is up, and it
is and that is something that is exciting. And I'm
going to have a great guest joining me at one
o'clock and that is retire Major General.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Joe Arbuckle, who is part of a group called Stars.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
And it was with Matt Lohmeyer getting a lot of
the wokeness out of the military, you know, having a
family member who went to the Air Force Academy. I
remember going down there and seeing the Falcon fly and going.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
To the games. We were there a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
Of course, cheering for Army this time because I'm married
into Army and though my dad was Air Force, we
were sharing at the game and it was a good one.
But right here in Colorado at the Air Force Academy,
just a couple of years ago, under the previous administration,
where this had been so infiltrated into our military, cadets
were being told that they they could not call their

(11:03):
parents mom or dad, but just parent one and parent two.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
That's how crazy it was.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Well, now that that is getting pulled out of the
military and getting rid of the things like.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
You know, C or T, etc. Why is that so
damaging to the military.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Because if what you're saying is, oh, the person next
to you, because they have more or less melanine in
their skin, could either be the oppressor or the oppressed,
and you're actually their victim, then what does that do
to that moment when you're on a battlefield and you're
supposed to have one another's backs, be a cohesive unit.
That was putting fissures in the very foundations of our military,

(11:44):
which by the way, has been one of the most
colorblind organ institutions in all of our American culture.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
In fact, I grew up on an Air Force base.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
I know that to be the case experientially as well
as from the structure that's been in place, So that's
been That is one of the reasons why enrollment is up.
Most people who join the military don't go in to
become social justice warriors. They go in to become real warriors,
to actually fight against threats to our constitution, foreign and domestic.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
That's what they join for.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Here's some positive things about our military. Many of you
may know that less than one percent of our country
serves as the military. So, by the way, just especially
this Thanksgiving, take a pie, take some cookies. You know,
adoptive family who their loved one may be serving overseas.

(12:42):
There are many different ways to support our veterans and
our military are active due to military during the holidays.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
So find out some of those ways and support.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Them and say thank you because less than one percent serves.
But where there had been a recruitment crises over the
last four years and the previous administration, it is going
like gangbusters right now, breaking recruiting roles since Trump took office.
And a lot of that, as we said, had to
do with getting some of the wokeness out and for instance,

(13:12):
in December twenty twenty four, one month after the election,
the army saw the biggest search of recruiting in fifteen years.
So that is already a pretty positive thing. Now, I
want to talk about something that I think isn't helpful.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
So I do believe that we've got to be fair
when we look at this.

Speaker 6 (13:30):
Well.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
I think that this video put out and it seems
to be very much politicizing our military, which is one
of the number one things that they are told not
to do. They serve because there's a chain of command
and the commander in chief, whether they're a Democrat or
a Republican, they follow the orders all the way down,

(13:51):
and they do know very well to not obey unconstitutional orders.
They're already trained on that. But here is something I
do have to just say. I don't think was a
helpful response. I think the shock of this video was
so much so that there's a little grace to be
giving there.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
But when President Trump said in his truth social.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Post that this was seditious behavior punishable by death, just
want to clarify a few things because I hate when
something's happened and then there is a you know, a
misguided quote.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
That comes out there oftentimes.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
So people you just want to take their phones away
from them, and in this case it was President Trump,
and that becomes a story. But let's just clarify a
couple of things. What is sedition Actually, sedition is something
from the United States Code, section two three eight four.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Not expecting you to look it up.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
I did, so you don't have to, by the way,
if you're tuning in Deborah Flora sitting in here for
Mandy Conna, looking forward to a great show today and tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
But really, seditious conspiracy.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
Is outlined as speech or actions and further as furtherance
of a conspiracy to overthrow, a pose, destroy, or wage
war against the federal government. This alacy did not fall
into it. And capital punishment is not for that anyway.
It's punishable by fines and imprisonment for up to twenty years. Treason,
on the other hand, that's a whole other subject.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
So want to clarify that.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
But one other thing I want to turn to you
on this subject because it just leads from one story
to the next story to the next story.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
Jason Crowe said that he denied that.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
This video that they put out the six Democrat was
related to the.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Military strikes on drug boats and the Caribbean.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
Then Pacific, because he wouldn't say what it actually was about.
He said, there's been comments, Well, a comment is not
in order, so there was nothing to point this actually too.
But Jason Crow actually introduced a War Powers continuing resolution
to block President Trump from ordering strikes on drug traffickers
and the Caribbean. Now, I'm not a constitutional lawyer. I

(15:52):
do love the Constitution. I studied all the time, but
I do think that he can't say one thing and
then the other. And by the way, the Justice Department
concluded that that was not an overreach and that troops
that were following those orders, taking strikes on drug boats,
are obeying constitutional orders. And one of the things I

(16:15):
have to say is when we hear about the fentanyl
deaths here in Colorado, I'm all four, by the way,
doing whatever it takes to stop these shipments from coming in.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Because just a little bit of history, the British.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Opium Wars against China is something that China has remembered
and learned from late eighteen hundreds. I believe it was
Great Britain one to destabilize China, and what did they do.
They started pumping drugs into China to destabilize it. Well,
I've been down at the border. I've talked to the

(16:50):
border patrol agents. I was there in twenty twenty three,
and a lot I learned from that. But as we
all know, and we've all heard by now, probably China
has been providing all of the precursor materials for fentanyl
into our country, partnering with the drug cartels, which really
should be considered I believe to be a military organization,

(17:12):
a narco terrorist military organization that controls a large portion
of Mexico as well as the southern border, although that
is changing on our side.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Of it for sure, which is great.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
And so when you see this coming in to destabilize
our country, I do think it is the job of
the commander in chief to take it seriously. Weapons come
in many forms, and this is certainly one of them.
Let's not forget, by the way, fentanyl is the number
one cause.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
Of death for eighteen to forty five year olds in
our country. Number one.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
That's based on some data mining that certain organizations fighting
against fentanyl deaths have taken from the CDC. Number one
cause of death for eighteen to five forty five year olds.
If that is preventable from coming into our country, if
we can do our park to stop the supply as
well as work on the demand here, then I'm all
for that. And here in Colorado, by the way, we

(18:11):
have a huge problem, huge problem. We are the drug
distribution capital of the United States of America. When it
comes up through the vorder up I twenty five and
out I seventy. So not sure what Jason Crow's talking
about in the video. He refuses to say, but I
would say, even though he's trying to pass a bill

(18:32):
to stop the drug boat attacks.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
I'm all for them. I have taught to too many people.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
Whose children eighteen nineteen years old have taken one pill
they thought was a perkoset or something else and it
ended up being a pill that was laced with fentanyl
and fake. Time for this scourge to stop. There was
one mother who spoke out when her two sons died,
and she said, this is an active war. Talking about China,

(19:02):
act like it do something. Well, that's what this president
has done. When we come back, we're gonna talk a
little bit more about this ventanyl and what's happened in
Colorado about the record historic drug find and bust that
happened right in my own backyard in Douglas County. Don't
go anywhere. I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell

(19:28):
and Mandy hoping she's already having a wonderful Thanksgiving week
and hope.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
You are as well.

Speaker 7 (19:33):
Well.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
We kicked out the show talking about the video that
was put out by the six Democrats directly to military personnel,
saying that they are obligated.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
To not obey on lawful orders, which they know.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
Appreciate this listener who texted in and says, when a
service member joins the military, they take the oath that
reminds them that they will not that they will only.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Follow lawful orders.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Secondly, every time they re enlist or are advanced in ring,
they take that oath again. It is hammered to every
member of the armed forces. They don't need grand standing
politicians to remind them of that when really they have
another motive.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Which is to cause disruption or disloyalty. Very good point.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
And what is interesting is Jason Crow in that iny
of You we played with Martha McCallum, he said it himself.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
He said over and over again, they're very trained in this.
They very much know that. One listener.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
I think, I don't know if they're tying this to
our military, but they said that, I know very few
people who know anything about the Constitution. That doesn't make
them stupid. They just don't care. Well, that is unfortunately true.
Many people don't know much about the Constitution or the
Uniform Code of Justice, but people in the military do

(20:54):
for the most part. And I would say, well, I
don't like to say stupid. I would say it is
very unwhy for any citizen in the United States to
not learn the Constitution. Unfortunately, it's not taught in schools
very well anymore. When there was a move from teaching
civics and education to teaching social studies, which can be
loosely defined as anything dealing with social interaction, that's why

(21:18):
it could be about some obscure thing in.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
A different country at a different period of time.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
I think we need to get back to teaching civics,
to teaching the basics of the Constitution, because it is
a miraculous document. It has lasted and endured more than
any other such document in the.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
History of the world.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
It has led to the greater freedom and prosperity of
people really helped develop the middle class.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
That was not a thing known to it before the Constitution.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
There was basically a history of monarchs and subjects of
lords and serfs.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
That's kind of how I went slavery and tyranny.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
I do agree with that comment that unfortunately a lot
of people don't know it, and I hope that they
do learn it and by.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
The way, well, and also hope the elected officials who
did that video also know the Constitution.

Speaker 7 (22:12):
Now.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
I used to say when I'd run for office, that's
something I'd like to pass, is that every person elected
to office, from local to federal.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Has to know the Constitution.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
I think if we did that, unfortunately, we would see
many in the nation's capital that would fail.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
That needs to be changed and.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Granted, and I don't know exactly the mechanism, but we
need to understand the Constitution. That is the oath by
the way, that our elected officials and our military pledge
to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
So that is that's some of the comments coming in.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
I'm going to read a couple more or oh about
President Trump's comment, which I did call out. I said
it was unfortunate when he called this sedition and deserving
the death penalty. One listener texted, so, our president was
quote shocked, and therefore it's okay that he once again
went hysterical and could very well spur some crazy person
to go after these veterans.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
No, it is not okay, and I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
We need to lower the language coming from all directions
that use extreme language you to describe others that can
spur people on. We have seen it political violences on
the rise, and it needs to end. But now I
want to get to the subject we were transitioning to,

(23:42):
because there is a lot in the news about ventanyl,
both the drug boats that have been been being targeted
by the military. We can debate that at another time.
But one thing that is interesting, I want to need
to read this from another listener time talking about fentanyl.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
What a scourge it is.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
This listener said, my son is a paramedic, Endmverer. Maybe
Jason Crow should talk to him about how many fentanyl
desks he has seen over the last several years. As
an attack on our youth and our young people, and
it's killing them. Every day, I shared a story before
the break of a mom that spoke. I believe her

(24:23):
name is Rebecca Kessling. I had had her on his
show previously. She testified a few years ago in front
of Congress when it came to the fentanyl situation, and
she said her two sons died because they took a
pill that they thought was a percoset and it was
laced instead with a fatal dose of fentanyl. Now, one

(24:48):
listener said, maybe those people you say you notion and
be taking any drugs not prescribed to them, then they
won't get laced pills either. Yes, certainly, as a mom,
I've our kids over and over again.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
Don't even touch something that you.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
See on the street, which there used to be stories
of people putting fentanyl on different things, because it's there.
But should a young person die if they think that
they are taking one pill of a percocet. No, that
is an extreme element of what has happened. And let's
just put in perspective. By the way, as we were saying,

(25:26):
fentanyl deaths are the number one cause of death for
eighteen to forty five.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Year olds, So that is something that we need to remember.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Seventy five percent of all overdose deaths are from fentanyl.
Over a quarter of a million Americans have died since
twenty eighteen and unforetly gone. I'm sure that has gone
up since I took that statistic. Well, how does that
come close to home? A couple of headlines of what's
going on. First of all, last week in Douglas County.
I live in Douglas County and Highlands Ran the largest

(26:01):
drug bust of its kind happened.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
In Colorado history, and.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
It was the sixth largest single seizure of fentanyl pills
in US history. One point seven million fake pills containing
fentanyl were found and over twelve kilograms a fentanyl powder.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
I mean, it's almost.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Like a I don't know, a television episode of how
this happened. The original owner of the storage unit was
taken into.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
Custody by the DEA in April.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Someone then, when it was foreclosed on because the payments
were not getting made anymore, purchased it and a legal
auction opened the doors and there it was.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
So just think about that one point seven fake.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Pills right in Highlands Ranch, and you know, raising teenagers
who are now twenty and twenty one in Douglas County.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
You better believe when this ventanyl skurts started just.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Exploding on the scene, parents like myself and our kids.
Thankfully we're not involved in dangerous behavior, but one mistake
could lead to the death of and has led to
the death of so many people, a quarter of a
million people so far.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
That's not okay.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
That's why, as you heard earlier in the news, there
is a BALID initiative that Advanced Colorado has just submitted
the signatures for, and I think it's one that we
should all get behind when it makes it onto the ballot,
they obviously have to go through the process make sure
the signatures are valid. But what it would do is
basically increase the penalty for fentanyl manufacturing, distribution, and possession.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
And that's important because the reality is there was a
twenty nineteen law by our own.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
Legislature that reduced penalties for possession of up to four
grams of the drug from a felony.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
To a misdemeanor. This happens far too often. I am
grateful that we live in a state where we do
have the.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
Ability to have ballid initiatives because a couple of points
are this is one of the valid initiatives that's going
to override really bad policy in Colorado, and don't buy
the headlines.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
You'll see a study from the.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
Common Sentence to you will talk about it when we
come back from this break that shows that, yes, recidivism
rates how often prisoners go back to gel has plummeted
in Colorado. That would be great if it indicated true
gain and rehabilitating prisoners. What it doesn't talk about is
how violent crime is still skyrocketing. Part of it has

(28:44):
to do with this drug trade and being right up
by twenty five and ride.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Out is seventy.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Okay, want to hear more comments from you. Five six,
six nine zero. We're heading to a break. I'm Deborah
Flora sitting in.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
For Mandy Connell.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
And for Mandy Connell, we are jumping through the headlines
here on a Monday before Thanksgiving. Hope you were getting
ready to just have a wonderful time with your family.
Coming up at the top of the hour, we're going
to have retired Major General Joe Arbuckle joining us. It's
going to be a great continuation of that conversation about
the video put out by Jason.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Crowe and the other Democrats stating.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
Speaking directly to the military, jumping through the chain of
command and advising them of something that they've been repeatedly
trained on, which is that they do not need to
obey unlawful orders. We moved from that to fentanyl. What's
going on here? I want to read a comment by
a listener because I just really think it's a big
point that needs to be addressed when there is this

(29:45):
kind of Oh goodness, gracious, how do I even describe it?
Just confusion of points. This listener texted, why is ventanyl
more important to you than children killed by gun violence?
Do you want to take fentonel off the streets, but
you want to give everybody guns. Let's make a couple
of points here. First of all, that is a complete

(30:07):
confusion of the facts. I am very, very concerned about
mass shootings and the death of children, particularly in schools,
and here's an important statistic.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
To know on that front.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Well, by the way, studies showed that ninety four percent
of mass shootings happen in gun free zones. When you
see these kind of perpetrators, they may be evil, but
they're not stupid.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
It's why they target schools that are gun for years.
That's why in Colorado. I grew up in Aurora.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
The Aurora theater shooter went back on pasted multiple theaters
that were where people are allowed to conceal carry and
went to one that was a gun free zone. If
we want to look at when it comes to crime
shootings like the terrible things that happened in Chicago to
young people there and people of every then let's look

(31:01):
at the policies that are in place, because some of
the greatest crime, highest number of shootings, such as in Chicago,
happen in cities and states that not only have very
strong gun policies, but they have week on crime policies
That ties right into what I teased.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
Before the break, which is in Colorado.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
There's a report that just came out from Common Sense
Institute that talks about how while recidivism, race and colorad
have gone down, which is a good thing, we all,
I think, would want people to go to prison to
have a chance, if it's a crime, worthy of being
released again at some point and be rehabilitated so they
can come back and be contributing members of society. That's

(31:44):
a good point, But what aren't they pointing to while
that statistic is true.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
This is also true.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Violent crime in Colorado is going up. And why is
that If we're going to talk about innocent people being
killed or hurt by violent crime, Well, we can trace
it back to legislation. The legislation that we can trace
it back to, by the way, is a Senate Bill
fifteen one twenty four that lessened the penalties.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
And allowed pro officers to use short term jail stays.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
There's another Senate bill nineteen and twenty nineteen that reduced penalties,
often requiring certain actions to only have a warning.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
There are many ways that crime increases in areas.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
But you can almost always point it back to soft
on crime policies. That's the truth here, and as we
enter into an election year next year, we need to
listen really carefully. We also need to hold the legislature
accountable because many of the ballot initiatives that are now
moving their way to we the people to vote on

(32:52):
are because our legislature would not do it. This one
we were just talking about from Advanced Colorado to increase
the penalties on fentanyl.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Ownership use distribution.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
There's another one that is going to make it, I believe,
to the ballot, which increases the penalties on child trafficking.
Why because our legislature lowered the penalties. That's the correlation
that we need to look at, and it's a very
important thing to do that. So as we're looking towards

(33:27):
these things next year, preparing ourselves for once again the
legislature to open up, I only chuckle in a very
kind of, you know, sad way, because I think the
best time is when they're not causing more issues being open.
I wish that it was like other states where maybe
our legislature met every other year in a reduced period

(33:48):
of time. But let's be demanding some things that actually
will make Colorado lives better, that will stop the death
from fentanyl, that will reduce the deaths of individuals and
of children in.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
Particular, and let's look at real correlation.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
Well, when we come back, I'm going to be joined
by retired Major General Joe Arbuckle. We're going to talk
about what is going on our military, both including the
increased enlistment that's going on and his thoughts about that
video that was released by Jason Crowe and many other Democrats.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
So don't go anywhere.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
I'm Deborah Flora sitting in for Mandy Connell, hoping that
you are already having a wonderful Thanksgiving week. I am
sure looking forward to it, but enjoying our time right now.
Will want to jump right into it because we have
been talking about this video that was put out by

(34:47):
Jason Crow and five other Democrat senators and representatives talking
about well really speaking directly to military, saying and encouraging
them to not obey illegal orders which they already know
to do. And while I grew up in the military,
I thought, you know what, let's put this in perspective

(35:08):
with someone who has seen the chain of command at
every level. My guest joining us now is retired Major
General Joe R.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Buckle. Highly decorated.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
He commanded units in the US and overseas at every
rank from lieutenant to major general.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Served in the Army for thirty two years.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
He's also part of the Organization's Stars, which has helped
get a lot of these undermining policies out of our
military recently.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Joe, thank you so much for joining us. I really
appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (35:40):
Thanks Deva, It's always a pleasure to speak with you
and be on your show.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
Well, thank you so much. Well, Sir, I want to
just get your perspective on this.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
We were talking in the last hour about, you know,
the Uniform Code and all that this has to do
the Uniform Code of Military justice. But I want to
start with this as someone who served for thirty two
years and led at all levels of our military.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
What were your thoughts when you saw this video?

Speaker 6 (36:09):
Okay, there's some things I can't say on the air,
but let me use some Agiti just totally disgusted, Debri.
I mean, what they did, in my opinion, is despicable
and inappropriate, and it's also dangerous to our military. Along
those lines. Coincidentally, about thirty minutes ago, I seved an

(36:31):
email with a statement from our Secretary of War, Pete Hegsef,
which is very relevant to what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
Now.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
I can read a couple of statments from them if
you like. It's interesting. The Secretary of War pet Hesef
calls this the seditious six, those six people involved, and
he says the video made by the Editi six was despicable, reckless,
and false, encouraging the warriors to ignore the orders of
their commanders. In their minds, every aspect of good order

(37:02):
and discipline, they're fully screed, so doubt and confusion which
only puts our arriors in danger.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (37:09):
And yeah, so you know he's right on with that,
and in fact, there's an official Department of War statement
about this that's attached to his text.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
Yeah, from your from your perspective understanding why the soldiers
and military personnel obeying the orders of their superiors. Obviously
we're not talking about unlawful orders. Why is that so
dangerous when you plant that seed that you know that
might cause them to disobey the orders?

Speaker 6 (37:37):
Sure, because it undermines a chain of command what we
call a military good order and discipline, And the military
is unique among all of our institutions, as you obviously know,
because it is absolutely essential to have a solid disciplinary
system in the military for it's a function because in

(37:57):
some cases orders have to be given which will cause
our troops to die as they execute those orders. So
there can be no doubt in the confidence that the
sub orders have in their superiors about the good orders
and discipline and the fact that the orders are legitimate
and not also added that real quickly from day one,

(38:19):
military members are trained and educated on on legal orders
and illegal orders. And they are told us was in
the statement correctly that there is an obligation that we
all have not to obey in a legal order. Yes,
and in my experience, the very very few of those
ever occurred.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
Well, obviously, because when Jason Crow was pushed on this
represented here in Colorado, he did not say there was
anything specific, and then he mentioned things like Abu grab
and the Meli massacre, which have nothing to do with
anything that is happening right now from your perspective, Is
there anything right now that our command are in chief

(39:00):
or our military are asking the you know that our
great members of military to do that is unlawful.

Speaker 6 (39:08):
No, nothing that I see, And I'm pretty certain that
that would not happen because that would be stopped, if anything,
we're attempted in that direction. In fact, my opinion is,
what's behind all this, obviously besides being political fitter, is
that many on the left are objecting to President Trump's
orders to activate the National Guard to assist our law

(39:32):
enforcement officials in many Blue cities and in particular Ice
as they are engaged in arresting the illegal criminals and
so forth. Now, I need to point out that our
National Guard cannot get involved in law enforcement actions per se.
They are there to assist in other ways such as

(39:52):
securing facilities, logistics and so forth. And the other thing
I think that they're objecting objecting to here, evor is
that the actions we're taking to destroy narco terrorists that
are driving to both bringing you know, the illegal drugs
United States, which are a direct threat to our citizens.

(40:13):
And that's perfectly within the president's right. In fact, his
main responsibilities commander in chief and president is safety and
security of our people.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, thank you, because that is a point that you know,
that keeps getting brought up. There's such a confusion or
a lack of clarity about the fact that our our
reserve troops that what they're doing our National Guard, I mean,
they're protecting buildings in these cities and federal locations, they're
not getting involved in the actual policing when it comes

(40:42):
to the ICE efforts. So that's one point of clarity,
and then the other ones. A lot of people do
bring up this attacking of the drug boats, and I'm
glad you brought that up. Can you clarify even more
if someone were to say to you that is not
legal they you know, they we don't know for sure
that they've got drugs on it beyond the purview of
the commander in chief.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
What would you say to that, Well, a.

Speaker 6 (41:05):
Couple of points. Number one is we've had what about
six hundred thousand Americans died because of fentonol and that's
what's on those voats for the most part, and it
is a direct threat to the security and safety of
our citizens. On top of that, these are terrorist organizations,
and you know, basically they have been declared that way,

(41:26):
and so we have to treat him as basically wartime criminals.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
In your thirty two years of service, and if you're
tuning in Deborah Floor sitting in for Mandy Connell, my guest,
retired Major General Joe Arbuckle, in your thirty two years
of service, have you ever seen something like six elected
officials speaking directly to the military in a video and

(41:52):
going around the commander chief and then therefore the proper
chain of command below him.

Speaker 6 (41:57):
I've never seen such a thing, though, as you know,
President Trump has called it subversity. I believe in the
Secretary of Wars using that term. And by the way,
I wanted to find out a good definition of that
before coming onto your show. There is eighteen USC Code
eighteen UC Code on chapter one one five that deals
with the treason, sedition, and subversity activities, And specifically there's

(42:20):
a capture about military or armed forces. And here's what
I says, think about this and the actions of six
sixty took whoever with the intent to interfere with, impair
or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military
or naval force the United States, because I want to say,
and they advise council urge or in any other manner,

(42:40):
costs or attempts to cost insubordination, disloyalty, and mutiny or
refusal duty by any member of the military or naval
forces is subject to the following penalties. That sure looks
like it fits what we're talking about here, Wow, lawyer,
but it certainly sounds that way.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Well, it sure does.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
And that's a great point you're bringing up, because sedition
is extreme, treason is extreme, but subversive actions. One of
the things that that so troubled me by the video
that the these six Democrat lawmakers put out is it
attacks the morale of the military. It basically is saying
you are standing against the American people on the American

(43:19):
or people are losing their trust in the military. That's
that's an absolutely morale breaking situation. And then there is
an encouragement, as you stated, so that there that our
military already knows what they're they're supposed to obey or
not obey. This was not needed and certainly seems like
a rather subversive action. Before I let you go, Major

(43:45):
General Retired Joe Arbuckle, I want people to know who
I'm speaking with here.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
I just call you sir or Joe.

Speaker 7 (43:51):
But there we go.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
One one thing that Martha McCallum brought up, and you
and I've discussed this before when we talked on Veterans
Day on our sister's station here. Our military enlistment is
going through the roofs despite this subversive kind of message
is going through the roofs, and a lot of that
is getting the wokeness out of the military.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Can you address that real quickly and tell people about Stars?

Speaker 6 (44:16):
Sure? Thanks a lot.

Speaker 7 (44:17):
Now.

Speaker 6 (44:18):
Stars is a volunteer organization composed the leadership is compretactly
retired senior military and we're a nonprofit. We have had
two major goals in the passing still have those today.
One was to get rid of the illegal COVID vaccine mandate,
and now we're seeking remedies for those that were harmed
by being forced to take that vaccine. The second thing

(44:40):
is we have a goal to get rid of DEI
from the military, and as you know, we've made great
progress in that on the surface, I mean, all the
surface stuff for DEI has pretty much disappeared. However, it's
been a doctor dad inside our military for so many years,
going back to about two thousand and eight at least,
that is going to take some time to reorient some

(45:02):
attitudes about it. So online is great progress going the
right direction. We have some work to do on that.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
Well.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
Thank you for all you do.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
You continue to serve and represent really the heart of
our great military that I admire, And regardless of the
recklessness and subversive nature of that video, I trust our
amazing military is able to navigate that. But I'm glad
for you calling it out and for helping restore our
military force doing what it's supposed to do defend and

(45:33):
protect the marring of people in the constitution of the
United States. Thank you so much, Joe, I really appreciate
you joining us.

Speaker 6 (45:39):
Well, thanks there, it's always a pleasure. You're a great
patriot and wishing you a great Thanksgiving and all your
listeners are the same you too.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
God bless you and happy Thanksgiving to you.

Speaker 6 (45:49):
Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
Thanks amen.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Well, that was a retired Major General Joe Arbuckle joining
me to talk about the video.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
He just brought up something very interesting.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
I know that there have been terms like sedition and
treason when it has come to the video that was
put out by the Six Democrats, but I think he
brought up something that is interesting. I'm looking at it
right now, and there is a section in this Military
Code that it says activities affecting.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Armed forces generally, and here's what it describes.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
Because I don't think what happened was a level of
sedition or treason, but it did fall under this. Whoever
with intent to interfere with, in pair, or influence the loyalty, morale,
or discipline of the military and naval forces of the
United States goes on and says will face certain penalties.

(46:44):
And by the way, I'm not calling for this, but
it said be shall be fined on this title or
in prison not more than ten years I really listening
to that video. I really believe and I'd love to
hear from you five six six nine zero that it
falls fell under an attempt intend to interfere with, impair

(47:05):
or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline, just the morale itself.
By the way, think about you are someone that has
written the blank check saying I will give my life
for this country if that is what it comes to.
And you have six elected official senators and representatives who

(47:25):
are basically in the text of this video saying that
the Americans are losing trust in their military and insinuing
that they may be on the wrong side against the
American people that is, at the very least impacting their morale.
Something to think about, something to look into.

Speaker 5 (47:44):
You.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
Well, here's one positive story out of Congress. We'd like
to share those whenever we can. This one is when
we think about the Constitution, which earlier in the show
we talked about how it is such a mira miraculous document.
In fact, Daniel Webster said, miracles do not cluster. That
which has happened once in six thousand years may not

(48:06):
happen again. Hold fast to the Constitution, for if we
do not. There may be chaos in the world. That's
your memory might be, you know, approximately that quote, but
that's the idea. I do think our constitution is miraculous
and it puts into place the protection of a system
that really is the wonder of American history, and it

(48:29):
is based on freedom.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
And one of those freedoms is free market.

Speaker 1 (48:34):
Capitalism, the ability to sell and to trade, to run
your business without interference of the government. The government is
supposed to do one thing, and that is protect the
rights and the safety of its citizens. And in that
is basically infrastructure and things like that that create the
environment for Americans to just go about their business. Literally,

(48:57):
what is antithetical to that, socialism, call it democratic socialism,
if you want to call it whatever you want to.
Socialism is actually antithetical to the Constitution of the United
States of America. That's why I'm really so pleased that
a GOP represented Maria Salazar help lead the passage of

(49:18):
a resolution right by the way, when New York Mayor
elect Zaraon Mamdani was about to meet with President Trump
and the resolution, eighty six Democrats also.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
Voted for it.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
It passed two hundred and eighty five to ninety eight
in the House of Representatives, overwhelming Lee voted in favor
of a resolution condemning socialism this past Friday morning, with
several Democrats crossing the aisle.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
To rebuke socialist policies in the US.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Well, I think part of that, by the way, is
because there's an existential threat in the Democrat Party if
it continues this way, it is going to be their
far left flank that is starting to gain the momentum.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
And let's be clear what socialism is.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Socialism has greater control of the means of economic production
within a society.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
It's not full blown onto communism, but it's a very
very big step there versus what we believe, which is.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Part of individual liberties and individual rights to.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
Your property and the product of your property.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
Small businesses are the wonder juggernaut of our country, and
right here in Colorado, by the way, we're leading the
way on more regulations coming down hard on individual businesses.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
I mean, some are good.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
I'm very glad by the way we've gotten rid of
the brown cloud here, but others are really just way
government overreach.

Speaker 2 (50:54):
And then socialism takes it even further.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
Well, we're about to have an experiment right now in
New York City, because if Mom Donnie even does one
fraction of what he said he was going to do,
then we're going to see socialism being experimented on in
an even bigger way in one of our nation's largest cities.
But I'm happy to see that this resolution denouncing socialism

(51:18):
past Friday morning, two hundred and eighty five to ninety
eight in the House of Representatives.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
And what did it bring up?

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Well, many examples such as the famine mass murder that
has been led to under socialism under Cuba Castro in Cuba,
Chinese ruler about Saidang, you go.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
On and on Venezuela regime of Maduro.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Wherever it has been tried, it has caused suffering of people.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
Just look at Venezuela for a moment.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
It was on the precipice of becoming one of and
it already was one of, if not the most wealthy
country in certain South America, but one of the wealthiest
in the Western hemisphere, well in its way, sitting on
incredible riches, oil, gemstones, natural resources. And then what happened, Well,

(52:14):
they went from all of that prosperity to electing Maduro,
electing a socialist constitution. It all comes back to our
constitution and within twenty years, that's all. It took twenty
years to destroy. That country went from one of.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
The wealthiest, prosperous.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
You saw people's lives being bettered to within twenty years
you are stories of famine, of riots, of people, you know,
having to eat anything they could find around them, as
far as animals, and all of that unrest.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
That's what socialem does.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
And to any Democrat socialist who's listening right now five
six six nine zero, I want to ask you this,
How in Heaven's name do you think that America people
are so much better than everyone else in the world
that we will just somehow do it differently.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
That's what I hear. On the other side, you can't
do it differently.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
It is a structure of top control of the economic
means in our country. Yes, there's still private ownership of businesses,
but how does that really work out? The government would
then tell a business, no, I'm sorry, you have to
produce x widgets, you have to produce this amount. You
need to put the price down to this level. Anyone

(53:33):
who's ever owned a business understands why that does not work.
So good for the two and fifty two hundred and
eighty five who voted against that, with eighty six Democrats
joining in.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
I wanted to where are the ninety eight that.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Did not vote to say that socialism is not good?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
That's what we really need to be asking.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
And as I was saying, I do think there is
a huge problem on the Democrat side of the aisle.
If they allow themselves to be pulled further and further
and further to their fringe flank, they're going to see
a complete step away from even those who would be

(54:16):
considered moderate, blue dog centrist Democrats who understand we can
argue about.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
The rate of taxes, but at the end of the day, if.

Speaker 1 (54:26):
Government controls the means of economic production and sets those standards,
we will not be far behind. I gotta tell you,
Thanksgiving week, I think about all the things I'm thankful for.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
I try to do that every day.

Speaker 1 (54:40):
Actually it's a great exercise. But I am thankful for
the US Constitution. I am thankful for a military that
takes their oaths to protect and defend it.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
And I'm hoping and am thankful.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
For citizens who vote for representatives that understand.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
That we need to do more of it.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
Socialism has never worked ever once. Okay, we're going to
continue this conversation. We come back, want to hear from
you five six six nine zero five sixty six nine
zero Debrah, floor is sit again for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Well, we've been talking a.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Lot about one of the you know, enduring news stories
right now, which is these six Democrat lawmakers who have
put out this video and had a great conversation with
General Joe Arbuckle, retired major general with thirty two years
of service, highly decorated. He brought up a point that
when you look at it, I do not believe that

(55:39):
it falls under sedition or you know, or treason obviously,
and I think that is an overreach and a dangerous
political thing to do to call it that, because that
does push the butt crazy buttons of the crazy people
to get out.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
There and do something they shouldn't do.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
But it does fit under a certain definition that is
un under these guidelines. And it says activities affecting armed forces,
and it says whoever when the United States, Uh no, no, that's.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
About that's about being at war. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (56:09):
There's another passage that talks about whoever with intent to
interfere with, impair or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline
of the military or naval forces of the United States,
and then it goes on to talk about penalties. And
when you look at it, this video that was put out,
most definitely, if you didn't even want to say that

(56:29):
it was trying to influence the or effect the discipline
of the military, which one could say would because it's
going around on the chain of command, it does most definitely,
and I don't think anyone could argue with this attacks
the morale of the military. In that video, it actually
was telling the people in our military that the American

(56:53):
populace were losing trust in them, that they're on the
wrong side of this and they could be against US citizens.
And that is definitely attacking the morale of people who
take an oath to put their lives on the line
for the American people. So I think that's a very
interesting thing. It's going to be interesting to see how
this unfolds. Senator Mark Carey Kelly, excuse me, of Arizona.

(57:16):
There's a headline I've just seen where the Pentagon is
contemplating taking action.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
Against him, and I would guess if.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
They did, it would be under this particular code about
undermining the morale or the intent to influence the military.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
So very interesting that will keep unfolding.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
But I want to read some listener comments because you
guys are really chiming with some great things. One listener
touched and said the video by Democrats, including Representative Crow,
was time to take advantage of any lingering displeasure with
the government because of the shutdown and pay issues. Further,
the message we have your back told troops they'll be
safe from consequences because Congress has their back. A couple

(58:01):
of other listeners pointed out that the real audience of
this was not necessarily the military, but voters instead. We
also then talked about how the oath that is taken
is for the Constitution of the United States of America
and began to talk about the beauty of the Constitution
of the United States of America and how this Friday,

(58:23):
right when mom Donnie was about to meet with President Trump,
there was a majority two one hundred and eighty five
to ninety eight members of the House of Representative voted
to denounce socialism.

Speaker 2 (58:37):
We talked about why it does not work.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
One listener texted this about humans would take advantage of
not having to achieve or to be accessible. So then
it's just simple math equation. That is the problem when
you begin to move towards socialism or communism, the more
extreme form of socialism, but there is a similarity.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
The government gets to come in.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
There is a elite group of people, an oligarchy, that
gets to determine, in the case of communism, everything basically
when it comes to the economic, civil, public, legal lives
of the individuals. Under socialism, they get to really drive
economic policy top down.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Therefore, they get to tell.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
Businesses what they have to produce, how much they have
to produce, if they need to lower their prices.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
It just doesn't work.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
And I think it's interesting because Thanksgiving Week something to remember.
Never ever in the history of mankind has socialism or
communism ever worked, unless you consider being a despot and
taking control over everyone else working in some way. Maybe
that worked for one or a handful of people on oligarchy,
and this Thanksgiving Week it's very interesting to remember. I

(59:52):
remember growing up my father, who was a lieutenant colonel
in the Air Force, used to tell me this frequently
around the.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
Time of Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Tell not just me, but all my siblings that we
talk about it around the table. How the Pilgrims when
they first landed on Plymouth Rock, their first form of
government was dictated because they had to have the permission
of the monarchy, and with that they had to treat
it like an economic enterprise and investors. But what was

(01:00:22):
mandated by that, what was mandated by their original charter,
was that everything would operate communally. Everything was owned collectively
by everyone, and everyone was called to work.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
And what happened the story of.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Thanksgiving isn't just that so many of them died along
the way was quite devastating to say the least.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
But why did Squando have to come along and save them?

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
Not only because of sickness and illness and the hard
situation and them being in a new environment, but because
William Bradford, one of the signers of the original Mayflower Compact,
he was unatically voted to be the second governor of
the Plmot's settlement. He observed what happened under this kind
of communal socialist kind of setup that was their original

(01:01:11):
governance document. What happened was, and this is in his writings,
he said, some settlers do not work willingly and others
not honestly.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
The listener who's day that said it perfectly.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Why does socialism and communism, at the end of the day,
not actually work because it goes against human nature.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
If someone else is.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
Telling everybody what they have to do, their motive for
working is lessened, or their freedom to do what they
they know to do best for their business is inhibited.
When you get to communal ownership, it takes away the
natural human desire to work harder and see greater reward

(01:01:54):
for your efforts. What they basically saw was marx re
stated by the way in the days of the Pilgrims,
there was not Marxist theory, but he said from everyone
according to their ability, to everyone according to their need. Well,
it doesn't take long for people to realize, oh, I
can just say I need more, but I can't work
as hard, and I'll just let everyone else do the work.
It grinds to a halt. That's what happened. The first

(01:02:19):
Pilgrims here in the United States threw that out, came
up with a new charter that had at its heart
private property ownership.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
And what did they see.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
They ended up seeing everything turn around the crop started
doing better.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
Everybody had to provide.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
For their own family, They were responsible for their actions,
and they flourished.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
It's a huge part of it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
Many of you've heard my Let me tell the story
that I had been in the Soviet Union. I've been
in East Germany before the wall came down, far beyond
East Berlin, where they tried to make it look as
good as possible. And even in East Berlin at the time,
the produce we would see and the lack thereof, was

(01:03:05):
so such a stark contrast to the prosperity in the
United States of America. And then I'd go further back
into Leipzig and Dresden, and then I end up in
the Soviet Union, and what I would see was an
economic system that had completely broken down because it took
away any natural incentive. Government will just take from one

(01:03:27):
group and give it to another. Doesn't matter how hard
you work, you'll get the same as everybody else. And hey,
if you don't work, you'll still get the same as
anyone else.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
So I thought I would experiment a little bit with
actually what that kind of a situation was like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
And I remember standing in a line for bread and
by the time I'd spend an hour when I was
there visiting and didn't have to live under this day
by day barely got you know, maybe one half way
up to the line.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
And what happened.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
The people inside just decided they didn't want to work
anymore and they left no consequences.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Wasn't there money being made?

Speaker 1 (01:04:02):
The same thing happened in a shoe store I went to,
where I went through an hour and a half process.
They have to employ everybody, so it took eight people
before I finally got to the end of the process
and they told me, oh, guess what, we're all out
of shoes. Yeah, it just doesn't work.

Speaker 7 (01:04:19):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
I got ahead to a break.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
When we come back, we're going to share a little
couple of lighthearted stories because this is a holiday week,
but it's a great opportunity to talk about what works,
what we have to be thankful for. And I got
to tell you I am thankful for the US Constitution
and for those who will pledge to uphold it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Don't go anywhere. I'm Debrah Flora sitting in for Bandy Connell.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
We do want to get to just like a lighter
story in a moment, but so many great listener texts
that I want to jump off and share a few
of them. The top story that we have been talking
about is this video by the six Democrats Senators and
representatives Jason Crow right here in Colorado, among others. This

(01:05:04):
video that with this information, by the way, that the
special guest we had at the top of the hour
encourage you to listen to it when the podcast is posted.
We had retired General Major Joe Arbuckle, and he pointed
out that the us COE, the US law that potentially
was broken with this video, is not the treason or sedition,

(01:05:26):
and I do not believe we should use any of
those terms because that is hyperbole. I mean, in the
spirit we can discuss about that, but really it's this
other part of the code that talks about subversive actions,
and it says whomever with intent to interfere with impair
or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military
ennaval forces of the United States the video, and it

(01:05:49):
goes on to talk about what that looks like, and
there are legal and fine penalties for its possible imprisonment.
The breaking news, by the way, is that the Department
of War announced that it has opened a formal review
into allegations of miscontact against Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Now why Mark Kelly and.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
Not the other five just did a quick research on
this during the break because this is breaking news. One
of them slot Kin, Senator slot Kin, she was with
the US Intelligence Department.

Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
I think the CIA. I believe that's what she was with,
So it doesn't apply there.

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
And it says the other the other four that were
in this that were military or not retired military, so
it does not impact them. However, there is law in
the US Military Code that when you retire from the military,
you are still held to certain standards. You're still bound
by parts of this code, and that what they've done before,

(01:06:50):
and they can do if they choose to, is bring
somebody back out of retirement, which they could do with
Senator Mark Kelly and then have a court martial.

Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
Don't know that's going to happen.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Haven't really had the time to think about it, but
I do think it's important to understand the weight of it.
Then we began to talk about how socialism does not work,
how it did not work with the original Mayflower Compact
with the Pilgrims, and one of the reasons why they
were struggling so much with terrible hunger and a failing
situation until they changed into one. They redid their compact

(01:07:23):
and it became more about private property. So there's so
many lessons about this, but I want to share some
of the listener comments about both of those points.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
I really like this.

Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
One person said, whether or not socialism works because I
was talking about how it does not work because of
human nature. One listener said, whether or not socialism works
is irrelevant. It is objectively immoral, and it's forcible interference
and the voluntary exchanges of goods and services and associations
between individuals. It's incompatible with the free society. I wholeheartedly

(01:07:55):
agree with that. I believe the only moral economic system
is free market las a fair capitalism, because it allows
the freedom of people to choose to engage with one another,
to set their own prices, to say this is worth
that I buy my free will autonomy, enter into this
business agreement with you, and it's the only one that

(01:08:17):
has worked because of that as well. So I agree
with that and thank you for pointing that out. Wholeheartedly agree.
Another listener texted, every economic system has naturally evolved, except
socialism communism. It must never be imposed on people, therefore
it cannot work.

Speaker 2 (01:08:34):
Never agreed, Let's see some others. One person was.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
Trying to say that free market capitalism has led to
the starving of children, and I just ask for a
little perspective here. Yes, I believe that we need a
safety net one hundred percent. No one is disagreeing with that.
It needs to be a safety net, but checks and balances.
It should not be permanent able body. People would absolutely

(01:09:02):
be required to look for and do work because they
need to take care of themselves. But when you look
around the world where children are truly starving, they may
be underprivileged here they may be a little bit short
on food.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
And we need to work on that for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:09:18):
But under free market capitalism, children have been protected more
than any other system. If you want to see systems
that don't work where people starve, look at socialism, look
at communism, Look at third world countries where they do
not even have access to a stable form of energy,
and that is where you see true poverty. Time for

(01:09:41):
us to look outside and gain a little perspective.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
So much to be thankful for.

Speaker 1 (01:09:44):
I got to head to a break though in the
final hour we will talk more about what we're thankful for,
and I want to hear from you on that five six,
six nine zero. I'm Debah Floor sitting in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 5 (01:09:56):
The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock
Accident and Injury.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
No, it's Mandy Connell.

Speaker 3 (01:10:09):
Nine seven SAT waiting say can the nicety through prendyconnell.

Speaker 2 (01:10:20):
Sad base. Welcome back to the Mandy Connell Show.

Speaker 1 (01:10:25):
This is Deborah Flora sitting in for my good friend
Mandy Connell, who I hope is already having a wonderful
Thanksgiving week. I'm already enjoying it. It's great to be
here talking with you. Even though we are talking about
some some heavy topics, but in the midst of them,
there are some really good news stories. And I would
put this in good news because it is law enforcement

(01:10:46):
achieving something, even though it highlights.

Speaker 2 (01:10:48):
A larger problem than I think we all know.

Speaker 1 (01:10:50):
And what I'm talking about is that last week in
Douglas County Highlands Ranch in my backyard I live in Parker,
but the largest drug bust of its kind in call
Colorado history happened one point seven million fake pills containing fentanyl.

Speaker 2 (01:11:06):
Were recovered and retrieved.

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
Well, one of the people that was right there in
the forefront of that, and I have to say I'm
not unbiased because he is my sheriff and a friend,
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly is joining me now.

Speaker 2 (01:11:19):
Darren, thank you for joining me on the show.

Speaker 7 (01:11:21):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:11:22):
Absolutely Well, let's talk about this. This is like something
out of a TV show where.

Speaker 1 (01:11:28):
The background if you don't mind sharing it, What is
up with the storage container?

Speaker 7 (01:11:33):
Well, on Tuesday, November eleventh, we had a citizen call
into us and let us know that they had just
purchased a storage unit at auction for two hundred and
fifty bucks. And then when he got into the storage unit,
he quickly discovered that the storage unit was full of
suspected sentinel.

Speaker 2 (01:11:49):
Wow, two hundred and fifty dollars. I am not a
drug dealer, nor have I ever been, nor I will
I ever be.

Speaker 1 (01:11:54):
So I don't know how much value that actually had
an illicit reasons, but for two hundred and fifty dollars.
And it's my understanding that the original owner was taken
into custody by the DEA, which was why this was
up for auction.

Speaker 2 (01:12:08):
Is that correct?

Speaker 7 (01:12:10):
Yeah, that is correct. I mean we can't take credit
for this thing, and certainly we're not trying to right.
The citizen immediately realized that there was a big problem.
We with our federal partners, the DEA, were able to
connect this to another ongoing case that the subject had
been taken into custody on. But the fact is we
still had one point seven million counterfeit pills, another twelve

(01:12:31):
kilos of fednel powder, so the precursors of course to
making these pills. And then we also seize two point
five pounds of meth with the leisure.

Speaker 2 (01:12:40):
You know, it's so important.

Speaker 1 (01:12:41):
It's something that you and I've talked about many times
on the air and off about Douglas County.

Speaker 2 (01:12:47):
You know, I twenty five goes right up.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
It makes Colorado one of the drug distribution capitals coming
up the border. I twenty five out I seventy everywhere else.
What do you see the unique challenges that we have
here in Colorado when it comes to vent and other drugs.

Speaker 7 (01:13:02):
Well, just the reputation that Colorado has and quite frankly
does with the soft on crime, whether you're talking drug
crime or any other types of crimes. You know, a
lot of criminal charges were reduced from felonies to misdemeanors
over the years, and so again with the sanctuary policies
of the city and County of Denver and everything that

(01:13:24):
goes with it, Colorado has become an even larger hub
for drug distribution.

Speaker 2 (01:13:30):
Yeah, indeed it has.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
And you bring up an interesting point because crime, violent
crime as well as obviously the drug crime that we're
talking about is up in Colorado, and so many things
have to do with the bad policies under the Dome
in Denver. You know, Sheriff Weekly Douglas kind of sheriff
is joining me. I'm Deborah Floor is sitting it from
Mandy Connell.

Speaker 2 (01:13:51):
Darren.

Speaker 1 (01:13:52):
You have testified numerous times under the Dome about these
things and the lessening of penalties. One of the things
that we have, which is great ast value initiatives and
advanced color has announced that they have enough signatures that
it's got to be counted. But for this balot initiative
to increase the penalty for fentanyl possession, distribution, et cetera.
Can you talk about that and how that can make

(01:14:13):
a difference.

Speaker 7 (01:14:15):
Yeah, it's going to require actual mandated jail time in
prison time for people that knowingly distribute fentanyl in our state,
and for those people that are users, it's going to
require mandated treatment program. So instead of just catching release,
there's actual consequences for making decisions. And a lot of

(01:14:36):
people are like, well, you to share if you can't
arrest your way out of this problem. Well, here's the thing.
If you're incarcerated, you can't keep selling dope. And if
we make enough examples out of these drug dealers that
are killing my citizens and lock them up, maybe people
will think twice before they decide to get in the
drug business.

Speaker 2 (01:14:52):
Yeah, the other side makes no sense.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
So just have no deterrence, and somehow people are selling
going to say, hey, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore.

Speaker 2 (01:15:00):
There have to be a deterrence where either a nation
of laws or or not.

Speaker 1 (01:15:04):
And I love the fact that when it comes to
ventinyl users there is mandated treatment because we've seen time
and time again, whether it's Vancouver was one of the
first injection sites, they've tried it in Denver, just assisting
in that addiction sure doesn't help.

Speaker 2 (01:15:21):
The death rate actually goes up. There are other laws that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:25):
Have softened the penalties for crime and have increased crime.
You and I talked about this before on the air,
that there's a Common Sense Institute report showing that while
recidivism is down, which is something we would want if
it meant real change, violent crime is up in Colorado.
What's going on with those two different sides of this equation.

Speaker 7 (01:15:48):
Well, I really think they just keep moving the goalposts
and it makes it more and more difficult regardless of
what type of crime they've been convicted them for anybody
to do any jail time or prison when they commit
these offenses. So when you say that recidivism is down, well,
is that because you turned all the felonies into misdemeanors
and they're no longer eligible to go to prison or

(01:16:10):
even be arrested for that matter. So again, we're talking
two different scenarios, two different points in time, and it's
real hard to track those real numbers when you're talking
two different points of time and you're changing the statutes.

Speaker 2 (01:16:24):
Yeah, without a doubt.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
And there are laws that we talked about I talked
about earlier on the show from twenty fifteen twenty nineteen
that lesson the penalties, one lessening some things to even
just be warnings. Another ballot initiative, by the way, I've
had Mark Ozgeist on the show before, that would increase
the penalty for sex trafficking for children, child trafficking. We've

(01:16:48):
got to take it to the people because that has
a soft penalty and the legislature has refused to make
it a more higher level penalty. You know, you were
on Fox News and other outlets talking about this this
huge ventinyl drug bust that happened, and Jared poul As

(01:17:09):
they quoted him as saying, quote, I think the color
of Bureau of Investigation and our federal partners for working
with us to get criminals off the colrad off Colorado streets,
out of our communities and sure Colera ends and families
are safe. From your perspective, it doesn't seem like whether
it's the governor or the legislature, real work has been
done to keep our streets safe.

Speaker 7 (01:17:31):
What you thought alip service. It's all lip service. At
the time that he's been the governor, our state has
gotten less safe. People are starting to leave Colorado now
because of the crime. He's the one who's signing all
these crazy bills into law. It's his responsibility. It's his
signature on the bill that turns it into law. So
for him to say that he's supportive of law enforcement

(01:17:52):
into putting these criminals behind bars, you know, again, it's
his actions don't mirror the things that the things that
he is saying, and the Colorens know it. Yeah, they
see it every day and that's why this status turned.

Speaker 6 (01:18:05):
The way that it has.

Speaker 1 (01:18:07):
Yeah, it's true, we've actually had more people leaving Colorado.
You know, if it's just from a congestion standpoint and
a wine to keep it having open spaces, that's fine.
But that's not the reason why they're leaving. They're leaving
because of the crime and the economy. Well, Darren, thank
you so much for joining me. Thanks for the work
you do. As we often say, it's only stupid criminals
that actually go through Douglas County. So I'm glad that

(01:18:30):
this is one more time where good law enforcement has happened.
I really appreciate it. And Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Speaker 7 (01:18:37):
Happy Thanksgiving to you, and thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:18:39):
You got it god us.

Speaker 1 (01:18:41):
Well, that was my guest Sheriff Darren Weekly talking about
this huge drug bus that happened. As he said, you know,
a lot of this had to do with the DEA
being involved. The person who owned this storage unit was
taken into custd by the DEA in April. It would
then went into a basically foreclosure because it wasn't getting

(01:19:02):
paid off.

Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
Somebody bought this storage unit for two hundred and fifty dollars.
Two hundred and fifty dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:19:08):
That's pretty crazy when you think about what was inside
of it, and good on this individual for then making.

Speaker 2 (01:19:15):
Sure that they reported it right away.

Speaker 1 (01:19:16):
That's that's one point seven million fake ventanyl pills that
are not out there poisoning our children and others around
our state and around the country. Honestly, when you look
at that kind of a level, and we talked earlier
about the scourge of fentanyl, it is the leading cause
of death according to several studies for those eighteen to

(01:19:39):
forty five.

Speaker 2 (01:19:41):
We can't pussy foot around with that.

Speaker 1 (01:19:43):
The fact that we have to have a ballot initiative
to increase the penalties is criminal, and there you go,
pun intended.

Speaker 2 (01:19:50):
It is criminal.

Speaker 1 (01:19:50):
That should have been a law that was changed in
our legislature, and we're going to have to make sure
that we get behind these ballot in that we then
look at what's going on under the dumb In Denver,
I had a couple of listeners that were texting that
just cannot seem to connect the dots.

Speaker 2 (01:20:09):
Why is crime so bad in Chicago, It's because of
the laws.

Speaker 1 (01:20:15):
Why is crime so bad here in Colorado? It's because
of the laws. We need to look at that.

Speaker 2 (01:20:21):
We're going to head to a break. When we come back,
we'll continue.

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
I'm Devor Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell. I hope
you are having a great Thanksgiving week, sitting in for
my friend Mandy Connell, who is already enjoying that time off.

Speaker 6 (01:20:35):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:20:36):
Wanted to jump to something. We've got a short segment here.
I just every some of them.

Speaker 1 (01:20:40):
There's just a story that sticks out to you as
a very strange one. And I want to talk about
this story because many of you may have seen that
there was a cat attack on a freeway. Now I
do need to, you know, define this a little bit more.
It happened in North Carolina. There was a driver who
was driving along and a cat literally dropped into her

(01:21:03):
windshield and shattered it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:05):
She called nine one one, and she said this, and
this is the direct quote.

Speaker 1 (01:21:09):
You may not believe me, but I just had a
bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield. Now, the
dispatcher was not meaning to be funny necessarily, But then
the dispatcher asked, is a cat still alive?

Speaker 2 (01:21:23):
That would be miraculous.

Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
That would be a cat not only with nine lives,
but with twenty seven lives or super super human. I
don't know if you could call it superhuman super feline.

Speaker 2 (01:21:33):
That's what it would be. The driver, you know, joking
aside is fine.

Speaker 1 (01:21:38):
The cat was dropped from what they suspect, We don't
know for a fact, a bald eagle.

Speaker 2 (01:21:42):
Because the highway was.

Speaker 1 (01:21:44):
Near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reminds me of
a funny story when my husband and I went up
to Alaska, and you hear unusual stories about different places
in this amazing country we call the United States of
America because it is so diverse and land mass and
weather patterns and lifestyle and all these sorts of things.

(01:22:05):
In Alaska is obviously so beautiful. But we can one
up the dropped cat attacking the car on.

Speaker 2 (01:22:12):
The freeway story.

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
We actually heard that probably the only known case of
this a salmon forcing an airline jet to land because
what happened was the plane was taking.

Speaker 2 (01:22:25):
Off in Alaska.

Speaker 1 (01:22:27):
As they were beginning to take off, a salmon dropped
onto the windshield and shattered the window.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
Once again, who was a culprit?

Speaker 1 (01:22:37):
It was a bald Eagle based suspect who dropped it.
The plane had to land because it could not continue.
So just some unusual things like that, I want to
hear from you five six six nine zero. What's the
strangest thing you've probably seen either on the freeway or
you know, in the airport. If you're in the airport
right now, you might be saying some unusual things. But
hopefully you're having a better time than you would have

(01:22:58):
last week with the shutdown, So hopefully that is getting
back to normal. One of the movies that we like
to watch this time of year is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,
and that is probably one that many people have had
glimmers of with the shutdown, and we're getting back to normal.
It'll still be pretty crazy and pretty busy, but hoping

(01:23:19):
it gets better as we go along.

Speaker 2 (01:23:22):
When we come back, we're gonna share some really good.

Speaker 1 (01:23:24):
News stories there are some good news, and this week,
of all weeks, when we think about what we're thankful for,
we truly have so many things to be thankful for. Yes,
we talk about the crime, we talk about the pentanyl,
we talk about the economy, but there's even some bright
spots in the economy.

Speaker 2 (01:23:41):
We're gonna talk about that when we get back. Don't
go anywhere. I'm derbah Flores sitting in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 7 (01:23:48):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:23:48):
I was telling the unusual story of the cat attack.

Speaker 1 (01:23:53):
The cat died bombing attack in North Carolina, all joking inside.
The cat did not survive, So if your cat lover,
I'm very sorry about that. But talking about that odd story,
sharing a story similarly, by the way, if you miss
the story, it was dropped by a bald eagle on
someone's car.

Speaker 2 (01:24:08):
I know the cat did not survive.

Speaker 1 (01:24:10):
And we heard a similar story when we were in
Alaska of a plane that was forced to land because
it was dive bombed by a salmon that hit the
windshield and cracked it. And those suckers, can you know,
gain some momentum when dropped from high enough by bald eagles.
But I did ask the question, what is the strangest
thing you have probably seen on the road or if

(01:24:32):
you were, you know, taking off on an airplane. And
one listener said, once I was driving a semi in
the mountains when a very large cow dropped a large
rodent of some kind on my windshield. It happens, Well,
there you go. Okay, you never know what's going to happen.
Speaking of large rodents, I've got one other weird animal
story to share. I was at a national education summit

(01:24:55):
for school choice last week in New Orleans, of all places,
and they were talking about they have these unique rodents. Yes,
I'm starting to think of now, Princess Bride. I don't
remember the acronym rodents of unusual size, whatever that terminology is.

Speaker 2 (01:25:11):
Anyway, they actually have them in New Orleans. There you go.
Don't know what they're called. I think it's kind of
a Cajun French name. Okay, we're gonna switch gears here.
We're going to wind up the show with some good news.

Speaker 1 (01:25:23):
I do encourage you to listen to the podcast later
if you missed any of it. We had retired Major
General Joe Arbuckle on the show to talk about this
video that the six Democrat lawmakers put out and how
it actually might be a violation of not it's not
treasonous necessarily seditious, but subversion. And Senator Mike Kelly actually

(01:25:47):
there may be a motion to have some kind of
consequence because he is a retired military individual. Four of
the Democrats were not retired, so it's an apply to them,
and one other was in the intelligence service.

Speaker 2 (01:26:01):
So that was a great interview.

Speaker 1 (01:26:03):
We just had Darren Weekly on talking about the huge
fentanyl drug busts.

Speaker 2 (01:26:08):
That happened in Highlands Ranch.

Speaker 1 (01:26:09):
One point seven million, one point seven million fentanyl pills
fake pills were discovered and are off the streets.

Speaker 2 (01:26:19):
Thank goodness.

Speaker 1 (01:26:20):
You know, I think about Thanksgiving and all we have
to be thankful for raising two young adults.

Speaker 2 (01:26:25):
Here in Colorado.

Speaker 1 (01:26:26):
They're now twenty and twenty one, but always always being
afraid of what might be out there in the streets,
and so I'm thankful that one point seven million pills
are not going to.

Speaker 2 (01:26:36):
Be taken that could have led to deaths.

Speaker 6 (01:26:39):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:26:39):
One of the other things that you heard during the
break was with the news. It was about the price
of gas going down.

Speaker 2 (01:26:45):
That is good news.

Speaker 1 (01:26:46):
There are some really good economic markers.

Speaker 2 (01:26:50):
That I want to share now.

Speaker 1 (01:26:51):
I want to I want to couch that by saying,
unfortunately not experiencing it as much as we could right
here in Colorado. I mean, if we learned anything about
the last election, it was that it really is all
about cost of living. You know, there's that old phrase,
it's the economy, stupid, Well it is the economy. It

(01:27:12):
is cost of living that is foremost on people's minds.
So I want to share both the local picture but
also the national picture, which is heading in the right direction.
Darren Weekly, the sheriff, was talking about people leaving Colorado,
and they are despite Jared Polis saying that you know,
his administration here in Colorado supports law enforcement. Well, violent

(01:27:35):
crime is up in Colorado. That's one of the things
that is causing people to leave this state. Another thing
is the cost of living. A four hundred and fifty
thousand people left Colorado and the last year, meaning population
growth has declined by fifty three percent in the last decade. Now,
I wanted the first people to say we couldn't. We
should not just keep building and building and building, and

(01:27:57):
not just have people keep coming here, particularly when we
need to look at water sources, and I mean that's
one of the very first markers of where you build
anything in civilization, is there a water source. Well, I
think we've maxed out in many ways. But the reason
why people are leaving is not a good reason. Because
people are leaving, one of the predominant reasons being stated

(01:28:19):
is the cost of living. That's a net loss in
one year of nearly ten thousand individuals. Here's what's going
to be challenging about the economy here in Colorado, and
then I'll get to the good news of the national picture.
But in Colorado, what they are seeing is those who
are moving in are predominantly millennials with a higher income stream.

(01:28:39):
That's why they're able to buy more expensive housing houses
and maybe even just buy houses period.

Speaker 2 (01:28:45):
So that's not going to allow those prices to go down.

Speaker 1 (01:28:48):
Who's leaving Those moving out are Gen X and then
Baby boomers, those who are younger, and those who are
older who cannot afford the current cost of housing. So
the wealthier moving in being up cost but we're still
having a greater net of people leaving. Well wait, mit,
who calculates what a living wage is?

Speaker 2 (01:29:10):
They do that?

Speaker 1 (01:29:11):
What would be required to live and meet your most
basic needs. Let's look at the Denver Mantro area because
it is one, unfortunately, of the most expensive in Colorado
as well as the highest.

Speaker 2 (01:29:21):
Crime So it's a lose lose from that front.

Speaker 1 (01:29:24):
But according to MIT, the cost of living in Colorado
for a single person is around eighty five thousand dollars
that's just to pay for basic needs. For a family
is between one hundred and thirty one hundred and fifty thousand.
That's way above what the average income is. That's why
people are feeling the pinch so much. The state's economic

(01:29:45):
growth growth. Colorado's economic growth has fallen from fifth in
the nation we used to be fifth in the nation
for economic growth to forty first in the nation. Coming
up as we prepare for election season for many state
wide offices, including governor, senator, you know, ag all of that,

(01:30:08):
we need to look at the facts. What has actually
happened with our economy and you know, let's we just say, oh,
that's because so many people are moving in. As I
just said, a lot of the people who are moving
in are more predominantly from a wealthier income bracket. The
College Chamber of Commerce has a reason why they think
we have dropped from fifth to forty first and economic

(01:30:30):
growth because we rank number six in the nation for
the amount of heavy burdensome regulations on businesses. And let's
just always remember, no matter what politicians say, government does
not create jobs unless they just grow the size of
government and keep hiring more and more federal workers or

(01:30:50):
government workers state, whichever level. No, only businesses actually create jobs.
And we are now six in the nation for regulations
on businesses.

Speaker 2 (01:31:00):
What does that do? That drives up the cost of everything.

Speaker 1 (01:31:03):
I was talking to someone who is a contractor building
homes and the sheer inflation which far outpaced any other
inflation of what it costs just to build a home.

Speaker 2 (01:31:15):
The matter of regulations, the hoofs that they have to.

Speaker 1 (01:31:18):
Jump through, increases costs exponentially. So you know, I'll just
hear one story so we can personify this, because when
we talk about regulations and businesses, it's reflecting individuals. I
knew and this was a few years back, so imagine
the price is going up even more. Someone that owned
a historic drive in movie theater that, by the way,

(01:31:40):
doesn't exist anymore because it was too expensive. An unelected
government bureaucrat who goes around and looks at businesses to
see if they comply with regulations told her that this
small sink far behind where any customer would be coming,

(01:32:00):
that only employees use needed to be replaced at a
cost of ten thousand dollars. Couldn't cite this specific regulation,
just one more way that regulations crushed a small business
that doesn't exist anymore. Now that's the news here, but
nationally things are beginning to turn around. I just feel

(01:32:21):
like Americans need to have a little patience and a
little understanding that when we were being driven high in
inflation over four years, driven into the ground when it
came to the economy, you don't turn it around just
in nine months. That's kind of what we're looking at
from when the new administration has taken place. But we

(01:32:43):
see all the markers of things improving.

Speaker 2 (01:32:46):
You were just hearing about how gas prices are hitting
a low.

Speaker 1 (01:32:50):
As of Labor Day. They were at a five year low,
as we just heard on the news, here is down
fifteen cents in Colorado, some areas.

Speaker 2 (01:32:57):
Below two dollars. That's important.

Speaker 1 (01:33:00):
I'm honored to serve on a board of a scholarships
that gives out scholarship money to underprivileged students.

Speaker 2 (01:33:07):
They used to not be able to oftentimes.

Speaker 1 (01:33:09):
Even accept the scholarship because the cost of gas was
too much. It was prohibitive to even drive their child.
Families who were struggling to a better school academically wise,
more reflective of their values because gas was too high.

Speaker 2 (01:33:25):
So when we're talking.

Speaker 1 (01:33:25):
About it dropping down, that's real relief for real people
every day just trying to make ends meet.

Speaker 2 (01:33:34):
So that's good news. Where else are we seeing improvement nationally?

Speaker 7 (01:33:39):
Well?

Speaker 2 (01:33:40):
The US job market is improving.

Speaker 1 (01:33:42):
The US added far more jobs in September than it
was expected one hundred and nineteen thousand new jobs when
Wall Street only estimated fifty thousand. That's two and a
quarter times or two and a half times more than
was anticipate paid it. That was a quick mass, so
don't hold me to that. But nearly one hundred and

(01:34:04):
twenty thousand new jobs in the job market, and the
report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics or the
Buer of Labor said employment continue to trend up in healthcare,
food services and drinking establishments, and social assistance. Where they
said there were job losses was in transportation and warehouses,

(01:34:27):
and in federal government. I for one, am okay with
it getting cut down in federal government because less we forget,
we have a multi trillion dollar deficit that we have
got to take into hand or we were going to
be handing it on to the next generation, which is
both immoral and sustainable.

Speaker 2 (01:34:48):
So that's good news.

Speaker 1 (01:34:49):
Here's another bit of good news when it comes to
what we're looking at for the economy. Walmart not necessarily
known for, you know, being a big statistical presenter of information,
but they do an annual report of what a Thanksgiving
dinner costs, and they have stated that this year Thanksgiving

(01:35:11):
dinneral cost twenty five percent less than last year.

Speaker 2 (01:35:15):
Now have to be transparent. According to some critics of
that report.

Speaker 1 (01:35:20):
That Walmart has about Thanksgiving prices going down, they did
not do it exactly the same way.

Speaker 2 (01:35:26):
It was not the same amount of.

Speaker 1 (01:35:27):
Items, it was not the same exact items, So it
is not an exact study. We don't turn to Walmart
for that. This is more kind of a anecdotal evidence.
By the way, if you're tuning in, Deborah Flora is
sitting in for me Andy Connell this Thanksgiving week and
I'll be back in the chair tomorrow. Look forward to
continuing the conversation with you. But even though Walmart may
not have been an exact marker on this, saying that

(01:35:50):
this year Thanksgiving dinneral cost twenty five percent less, even
economists at some of the nation's largest largest banks found
that a basket of Thanksgiving grosser is will cost less
than last year by varying percentages.

Speaker 2 (01:36:04):
The bottom line is this, prices are going down. We
need to give it time.

Speaker 1 (01:36:10):
But honestly, when you look at what we came out
of over the last four years, that's a pretty quick
change that we're beginning to see.

Speaker 2 (01:36:18):
Are we wearing need to be yet? No, we need
to keep seeing the FED.

Speaker 1 (01:36:23):
Driving down interest rates so people can buy and sell
their own homes, their own properties, so that things you know,
such as loans cost less.

Speaker 2 (01:36:32):
So there's a lot of work to be done, but
we're headed in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (01:36:36):
What I do find interesting about Thanksgiving dinner? Feel free
to text in five six, six nine zero what are
your Thanksgiving plans?

Speaker 7 (01:36:42):
Now?

Speaker 1 (01:36:42):
I got to tell you, I am very blessed. I
have many things to be thankful for. One of them
is my husband is an amazing cook. I think because
he was single long enough that he learned how to cook.

Speaker 2 (01:36:52):
I just am not.

Speaker 1 (01:36:53):
I have kind of a you know, brain cramp every
time I think about cooking. But I can set a
mean table and I to clean up, so we're a
good team.

Speaker 2 (01:37:02):
But we get to enjoy a beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:37:05):
Thanksgiving spread compliments to his culinary efforts, and as well
as our daughter, who he calls his little chef. She
also helps cook as well, and we're just blessed by that.
But I'm reading what different people are making decisions about now.
It's not as bad as it was under the Biden administration.
When I was on the air doing my own show

(01:37:25):
at that time, I would hear from people who would
have to go in on a set and fixed income
with the horrendous inflation and decide do I get regular
milk or powdered milk?

Speaker 2 (01:37:35):
Do I get protein or not protein? Can I afford
this or so? We're much better than that.

Speaker 1 (01:37:41):
But even so, I don't think Americans have caught up
with the fact that we're heading in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (01:37:46):
We've got a long ways to go. Still.

Speaker 1 (01:37:48):
Sixty eight percent of Americans are expecting Thanksgiving to be
more expensive due to inflation. That's understandable. We're getting used
to things going down. It's that's going to be less expensive.
But one out of four Americans say they're going to
skip it all together.

Speaker 6 (01:38:03):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:38:03):
I don't have the you know, the breakouts of this
study to find out, is it something?

Speaker 2 (01:38:08):
Are those single people? Are those people that will be working?

Speaker 1 (01:38:11):
I don't know, but one out of four it makes
me pause for a moment and think this week, think
about maybe someone you know who may not have a
place to go and invite them over for Thanksgiving. That
twenty five percent may just be people that don't have
somewhere to go, and maybe they're not celebrating it for
that reason. When during my temporary insanity period and we

(01:38:34):
were in LA, a lot of single actors that were there,
and some of them were our babysitters when our kids
were young.

Speaker 2 (01:38:40):
And we would have what we would call the orphan Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 (01:38:43):
We'd have our kids, our family, and then we'd invite
you know, four or five sometimes single people to come
and join.

Speaker 2 (01:38:51):
Us for Thanksgiving. I think that would be encouraging to do.

Speaker 1 (01:38:54):
One out of four planning to skip it all together.
Thirty eight percent are planning to roast ache instead of
a turkey. That's a way to save money. I certainly
think a way to save money is not to have
a true ducan. That is how many types of meat
all in one. And my husband I go back and
forth on this. I know it's a you know, football
staple that we're always made popular by one of the

(01:39:14):
top football pundits and spokespeople.

Speaker 2 (01:39:18):
But to me, that's just kind of unnatural.

Speaker 1 (01:39:20):
It's probably more expensive too, because multiple kinds of meat
coming together. Text of five six six nine zero. What
are you planning on having for Thanksgiving? You know, what's
your tradition. We'll talk about this tomorrow, so be planning
ahead as well as what your favorite Christmas movies are.

Speaker 2 (01:39:34):
We're going to plan.

Speaker 1 (01:39:34):
Ahead for that as well, because we watch our first
Christmas movie the Friday after Thanksgiving. Here's other ways that
people are looking to, you know, save money this Thanksgiving.
This study said that thirty percent are considering opting for Burger's,
pizza or fast food instead of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

(01:39:55):
I'm not judging, just saying I'm grateful we're gonna have
a big fat turkey. You know, it really brings me
to the closing comments for this show, We're gonna talk
more about tomorrow. You know, I think perspective is one
of the most needed commodities in our culture today. And
what I mean by that is understanding just how blessed

(01:40:15):
we are to live this country. That is really something
to think about when you look in other countries, and
I really do wish that we could we could somehow
figure something out where every young person maybe goes and
volunteers on a mission trip, or or goes and serves
with the Peace Corps, or serves appeared in the military,

(01:40:36):
or does something where they travel abroad and gain some
perspective on how great.

Speaker 2 (01:40:43):
This country is.

Speaker 1 (01:40:44):
When I hear some textures today when we're talking about
the juggernaut that has been free market capitalism and how
it's actually created a middle class lifted more people out
of poverty. There are studies that are showing this in
areas that have been impished in Africa, where just giving
individuals the right to own their own property, to freely

(01:41:06):
sell and trade and buy is lifting communities out of poverty.
Anyone who doesn't recognize that or understand what has happened
in the miracle of this country lacks perspective.

Speaker 2 (01:41:19):
Travel somewhere else, see what else is going on.

Speaker 1 (01:41:22):
You know, I was sharing the fact that I am
grateful that we've had I think it's two hundred and
eighty five members of the House of Representatives. I think
ninety eight voted against us, but two hundred and eighty
five that voted to denounce socialism. It has not worked
anywhere has been tried. One listener pointed out something that
I whole hearty believe. It's also a named moral system

(01:41:43):
because it allows the government to dictate the freedom of
what individuals do with their own businesses, and they know
their business better than the government. When I think about
what we can be grateful for, I think about our
constitution and that ties.

Speaker 2 (01:41:57):
In with the military that serve and take oaths to
protect and defend it.

Speaker 1 (01:42:01):
There is a quote by Daniel Webster, and I'm not
going to remember the exact quote, but he talked about
the miracle of our American founding and the constitution that
protects actually doesn't protect it, because our military does that,
but it delineates the rights that are not given by government,
that are given by our creator. And he says about

(01:42:25):
that amazing document about the miracle of our constitution, And
he says this, he says, and I found.

Speaker 2 (01:42:34):
The exact quote. Miracles do not cluster that which.

Speaker 1 (01:42:38):
Has happened, but once in six thousand years cannot be
expected to happen. Often such a government, once gone, might
leave a void to be filled for ages with revolution
and tumult, riot and despotism.

Speaker 2 (01:42:53):
That is so true.

Speaker 1 (01:42:54):
We've inherited a miracle in our constitution, and I for
one am so grateful for it, having seen the alternative
in the Soviet Union, having seen the alternative in East Germany,
far beyond the wall in Leipsig and Dresden that did
not even get.

Speaker 2 (01:43:10):
Rebuilt after World War Two.

Speaker 1 (01:43:12):
Dresden still when I was there and the wall was
still up, was still in shambles because no money was
given to rebuild it. We have a lot to be
grateful for, So when I look at it, I'm grateful
for that. I'm grateful for being born in this country.
I'm grateful for family. By the way, there is an
interesting report showing that motherhood is somehow coming back into

(01:43:36):
vogue again. Well, for me, it never went out of vogue.
I mean, I sure as heck don't think it has
helped much. When you have a society that refers to
people like myself as birthing people, Well, I am not
a birthing person. I gave birth I thirty one and
a half hours of labor the first time, So yes,
that definitely is something I do recall. But I'm a

(01:43:56):
mother and I am grateful for that. I am grateful
that young women are beginning to wake up. There is
a why we have had our birth rate dropping the
United States of America. There seems to be a trend
with this younger generation. Charlie Kirk talked about it Erica.
Kirk continues that work. Not only is a younger generation
more traditionally minded, more leaning towards faith, and more conservative

(01:44:20):
than previous generations, they're re embracing.

Speaker 2 (01:44:22):
The things that really matter.

Speaker 1 (01:44:23):
And that's really what Thanksgiving is for me, at least,
to sit around a table with the people I love
and hold dear, the blessing and the privilege of being
a wife and a mother, living in a country where
we're free to worship, Sit at that table, count our blessings,
pray beforehand, thank God for this country that we have inherited.
All of those things are tremendous blessings, but none of

(01:44:48):
them are greater than a realization that we live in
a country based on what I believe as a Christian,
the Judeo Christian founding, that our rights come from our creator.
People are created with intrinsic value, therefore individual rights. Government
has one job to protect the rights and the safety
of its citizens. And because of that, if government gets

(01:45:10):
it out of our way, we can run our businesses,
we can provide for our families, we can protect our
homes and our families. I do believe in the Second
Amendment thoroughly, and we then can worship freely. Whether you
are a Christian, whether you're a Jewish, whether you are
a Muslim, as long as it's not your real law

(01:45:31):
that conflicts with their constitution, whether you are not a
person of faith, that is our right in this country.

Speaker 2 (01:45:38):
Is that amazing?

Speaker 1 (01:45:39):
That's a whole lot to be grateful for. We're going
to continue that. I'm so grateful I get to sit
in this chair again tomorrow, and I want to hear
from you. Start preparing before tomorrow. What are you grateful for?
What are your favorite Christmas movies? What are you going
to be cooking? And what is your favorite dessert? Those
are the pressing questions.

Speaker 2 (01:45:59):
To for tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:46:01):
Well, thank you so much for this time today. I
am Deborah Flora sitting in for Mandy Connell. God bless
you and Happy Thanksgiving Week.