Ringing in the Political New Year Scandals, Debates, and Mar-a-Lago Tales

Happy New Year, listeners! Despite our winter colds, we've returned with a scalding cup of political tea that you won’t want to miss. We start by sifting through the unexpected twist of Chris Christie's political about-face, unraveling the threads of his departure from the race. Then, we set the stage for a heated viewership duel: a CNN debate with DeSantis and Nikki Haley on one side, and a Trump town hall on Fox on the other. Trust us, the implications are as juicy as the political banter.

As we navigate through the stormy seas of politics, we pause to discuss Secretary Lloyd Austin's  decorated career which now contrasts with his questionable health related decision. We're pulling back the curtain on the recent revelation of his prostate cancer diagnosis and the secrecy that shrouded it, probing the serious questions this raises about trust within our government's chain of command. Meanwhile, the Epstein flight logs have dropped like a bombshell, scattering high-profile names across the public's radar. We're here to dissect the fallout and give you our unfiltered thoughts.

Our conversation doesn’t end there. We're also casting a wary eye on government agencies and their tendency to enforce preferences over policies, a trend that could have lasting effects on our political landscape. And if you think we’d forget about our New Year's Eve escapades, think again. We've got tales to share from the glittering halls of Mar-a-Lago, where Elsa rubbed elbows with the likes of Jason Scheff and even dabbled in a little impromptu performance art. So, buckle up for a ride that promises to be as lively and engaging as the year ahead.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, hello, hello, hello strangers. How is everybody doing? I hope the answer to that is fantastic. It is the start of a new year. We have missed you. We are so excited to be back, Even though Clay and I both have nasty colds. I'm sure you're gonna be hearing it in our voices and maybe coughing up a lung here. No, I'm kidding, we're not gonna do that. That would be so gross and really scary. But, Clay, hi, happy new year.

Speaker 2: 0:32

Happy new year to you. You've been a busy lady. We're gonna talk about that. Looked like you had a good new year and you welcome back all of our listeners and viewers, and I actually had somebody walk up to me at work earlier this week and go where are you, ben, what's going on? Where's the show? So what a great feel good kind of thing and happy to be back.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Absolutely yes, and so much has been going on just over the past 24 hours. So much has been going on and, of course, over the past several weeks we've been gone. What three weeks?

Speaker 3: 1:08

Maybe a couple months. Yeah, pretty close.

Speaker 1: 1:11

Yeah, so there's a lot of things going on. We're gonna touch on all that, and then I have some stories to tell about new years that are out of the ordinary, so we'll get to that afterwards, but let's talk about all of the things that are going on right now. Number one, which is probably the absolute most recent, is Chris Christie dropping out. Pretty sure that was after he said he was gonna stick it through to the end. Am I making that up? Did he say that?

Speaker 2: 1:39

No, no, you and I called this a couple of weeks ago that he had to be. It made the most sense that he was the next one to drop out, even though he did say he was sticking it out to the end, and he is stubborn as he is. But yeah, I mean, he bailed just this evening, I think just within the last couple of hours, I guess, had some nights not so nice parting shots. He got caught on a hot mic. I don't know if you saw that.

Speaker 2: 2:06

He said that Nikki Haley was gonna get smoked and that DeSantis is petrified Now. I mean he said that, but he also just dropped out so he can criticize those that are still in the race all he wants, but he didn't have the fortitude to stick it out. So you can cry like a baby if you want to, but it's very unbecoming. Not that Chris Christie is very becoming anyway, but that's not helping his image.

Speaker 1: 2:32

No, not at all, and of course, it's not surprising. This is exactly what you would expect from him and exactly why people don't like him. He was never really in the running and I'm amazed that he was. I shouldn't say that. I mean, obviously he made it as far as he did, which is more than other people, but that alone amazes me, because I find him wholly unlikable and just so unlikable, and so, yeah, I feel like it's kind of like good riddance, and don't let the door hit you in the caboose.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yeah, the size of that caboose as well.

Speaker 1: 3:10

Yeah, I can't miss him. Can't miss him. Oh, that was me. You were not supposed to say mean things like that we did it.

Speaker 2: 3:15

But, elsa, I know we're out of practice, I know it's been like three weeks. Where's the intro music?

Speaker 1: 3:20

Oh my God, I forgot our intro music. Ah, oh my gosh. All right guys. Yeah, thanks, see, this is why I cannot do the show without Clay. I'd just go in here all willy-nilly, but thanks to Clay, we got our intro music. Here it is, let's hit it there. It is there it is. Thanks, thanks, clay. Thanks, you know, I just I'm so, I am so out of it. I mean, I can't even, I can't even pretend like I'm not. So you're going to, you're going to carry this show from A to Z, I'm pretty sure.

Speaker 2: 4:13

Now you got all the stories. The stories are what everybody's tuned in in for.

Speaker 1: 4:17

The stories are good. I got to admit the stories are good. I can't wait to share with you it's, it's, it's. So. It's actually going to be really good for me to tell the story in like chronological order, because it's I've only been telling like bits and pieces of it. So it's going to be good to just like purge the whole thing and maybe I can wrap my brain around it. But we'll get to it. We're not there yet. We're not there yet, sue. How else do we want to talk about? We want to talk about what's going on tonight. Clay DeSantis.

Speaker 2: 4:46

On CNN. Well, there's two things actually. Cnn has a two-headed debate. It's DeSantis and Nikki Haley, just the two of them. I guess Vivik didn't qualify under whatever conditions they were having, so he's he's not on it and and has been complaining ever since he was told he's not on it. Go figure.

Speaker 2: 5:07

But we also have on Fox same time, a Trump town hall. So ratings, competition, you know. And then you know I don't think you know we've talked about this before we both prefer that President Trump participates in the debates. We would rather see him, you know, up there discussing against the other candidates. But I think this is a little bit over the top in the sense that now you've got people you know who are, you know avid Trump supporters who, truthfully, are not going to pay attention to the other candidates at all tonight, not to listen to a single thing that they have to say. Right, because of the competition and ratings and shows, which I'm sure was purposeful. I know it's politics, but you know it's. I think it takes away a lot from from what's going on, but we do have both of those things going on, and then, obviously, chris Christie dropping out, so we're really down to President Trump plus three right now.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Right, yeah, and speaking of, you mentioned Vivek. He's you know, he's made a lot of waves. He's definitely very vocal, very outspoken. He says a lot, if not all of the things that people want to hear, particularly like Trump supporters. I feel like he's you know again and I've said similar in the past that I feel like he is, you know, like a Trump parrot in a lot of ways, just a, you know, maybe a better spoken one. He definitely has a impeccable and I will give this to him he has an impeccable delivery. The man is really on fire as a speaker. But I have learned from Obama to not trust, to not trust that so much. So, you know, I don't I still don't really quite know what to make of him, if I like him or not. My gut tells my gut tells me no.

Speaker 2: 7:02

It. Just I think he's gunning for the VP job. Yeah, I don't think he's running for president. I know. I think he is smart enough to know that. You know the chances unless unless president Trump gets convicted of something, which I don't see that happening either you know that he's gonna be the Republican candidate and he's gonna need a vice president, and I know that both the Santas and Haley are either not gonna take that job or probably not even be offered that job. So I think that's what he's doing. He's gunning for the VP job and and let's be honest, president Trump already has one term under his belt. It's not like he gets two more. You know, even if he gets elected, that's only one more, and then the Republicans are obviously gonna want to continue to keep somebody in office. So he's poison himself. You know, probably, if he's running in all honesty, if he's running for the VP role, he's, you know, setting himself up for a run at the White House in 2028. It's, it's really actually probably a good strategy on his part.

Speaker 2: 8:01

I think, so he's doing. But I believe that's what he's doing, because he does yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:08

All the time, right, do you think? Do you think Trump would Pick him? Because, like, I almost feel like he wouldn't, because I I feel like, like, if I'm thinking, if I'm thinking like Trump, I'm thinking this guy is kind of an upstager and I don't know if he would want somebody Like that you know, it's a good question because, I mean, if you think back to his administration, he fired people on the regular, right?

Speaker 2: 8:39

I mean it was almost like on on the daily. It seemed like he was firing people. You can't fire the vice president, right? That's not how that works. Yeah, so he, he. I think that, while Vivik is Trying to become the vice president because he knows that he's not gonna be the president, I don't know. I think President Trump's vice presidential candidate, if he gets selected, you know, if he is the Republican candidate for presidency, I think his VP is gonna be somebody out of the blue. I really do. I think it's gonna be somebody that yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:15

Visit that hell. It might be his daughter, I mean, who knows, but I think it's gonna be that that is not on anybody's radar Right now. That's my guess.

Speaker 1: 9:26

I agree with you, claire. I yeah, I feel like that would actually make the most Sense for him. You know, I knew you're all different things swirling around. You hear Carrie Lake's name Dropped a lot and I, and I think she made it pretty clear that she's not going anywhere right now. She wants to stay right where she is, so she's, I think she's kind of, you know, distance herself from that concept, that idea. I've heard a few people drop a Alina Habba's name, his attorney there, that they'd love to see her. You know, take that spot, I that's. You know that's not gonna happen, but it's just interesting to see the names that people throw out as as possibilities. And you know, I guess he'll keep us guessing up until he's ready to tell us who he's gonna pick. You know who he would pick.

Speaker 2: 10:14

Yeah, and I've heard and I think she's dispelled it to you. Kristi Noem's name has been out there a number of times.

Speaker 3: 10:21

Oh right.

Speaker 2: 10:22

Yeah, I think, I think she is. She's almost Sarah Palin, I hate to say it, she's. She's a good State-level politician. She's in a place that is so conservative it's not even funny, you know right. So it's not a difficult. Yeah, everybody's on the same sheet of music. You know I'm not taking anything away from her. You know she's governing very well. Her state is doing very well. Sure, it's not DC, it's that's, that's not it. So I don't, I don't think she is, I don't think she wants the job, but I also don't think that's who he's gonna offer it to. So, mm-hmm, it'll be. That's a fun. Wait and see is to see who his VP candidates gonna be.

Speaker 1: 11:06

Yeah, I really is.

Speaker 2: 11:07

I don't think it's anybody on the radar at all.

Speaker 1: 11:09

Nope, I don't either. I, I do. I do think it's going to be a woman, though.

Speaker 2: 11:15

Yeah, I know why right, I agree with you.

Speaker 1: 11:18

Yep, I feel like I would be a brilliant move for him, for him to choose a female. You know, yeah, no, that's, that's just what I think. So we will see, we'll see. I guess we could keep guessing all day long, and and we won't know until we know we have been right. A lot though we have been, we have been. So I'm gonna stand on that and say and say that's, that is where we're Standing on right now.

Speaker 2: 11:43

Woman all right, we'll go with that. All right, perfect, I love it. It's gonna be a woman. We'll narrow yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Yes, absolutely. So when we'll come back to this, I'm gonna like earmark this, this episode, so we can come back to it for the I told yeah. Yes, what else is going on? There's some other big stuff going on. Secretary defense yes.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Yeah, so you know I Known not well, but I have been in and around. I Refer to him as general Austin. I know he's secretary Austin, but I knew him as an army officer all the way back to when he was a colonel is when I first met him. I've had a number of interactions with him over the year I had as an army officer. I had the utmost respect for general Austin. I really did classy, classy guy, very, very smart, charismatic leader. Anybody and everybody that ever worked for him when he was in uniform loved it, and I and I I did too, and I know that while he was in uniform Across the force, it utmost respect I he was.

Speaker 2: 12:49

If everybody remembers correctly, he was, you know, granted that waiver because there's supposed to be a time lapse between retirement from uniform and, you know, becoming the secretary and he was given a waiver and allowed to assume that post In less time than is required in separation. There's a reason for that. There's a you know a lot of reasons for it actually, but I personally have not been Overly happy with secretary Austin's performance in that job, which is heartbreaking because, again, I really did like him as an army officer. So this latest thing, with him going to the hospital and I don't know if you saw, but they finally came out with his medical condition, his diagnosis, I think today or maybe late yesterday.

Speaker 2: 13:35

He has prostate cancer, which is terrible. But what? What hasn't been handled well, obviously, and what's you know come to light, is the fact that this has been kept a secret, which in and of itself is not necessarily I won't say it's not even, it's not even uncommon, but he kept a secret from the wrong people and and it and listen, if the secretary defense is making trips to the hospital for prostate cancer One, there's a lot of people that know. Yes, so that means there's a lot of people who were in on the secret and somewhere along the way, you would assume, somebody raised their hand and said you know, hey, sir, we probably need to tell the president this like somebody needs right right.

Speaker 2: 14:23

I Will tell you that that there is the secretary defense all and I don't know who it is right now. I probably should look it up. But the secretary defense has a three-star General or admiral in his pocket all the time. It's the senior military advisor to the secretary and that is his direct linkage into all of the services. Not he has all the service chiefs, but he has a three-star that that is with him all the time. That person, if no one else, should have provided him that advice. Sir, we need to tell Whoever it is, the president, white House chief of staff, whatever the criteria is that the president has laid down, and and my belief is that His I don't think it's a pride thing. I really think in his heart of hearts he thought he was doing the right thing and I think it probably got out of control quickly Because if, if I understand it the course of events, he went in to have it treated and then had to go back to the emergency room.

Speaker 3: 15:25

Yes, I think the treatment.

Speaker 2: 15:27

In the treatment everything was okay, but it was the Run back to the emergency room in the aftermath that really caught everybody by surprise, I know, by the way, they didn't tell anybody. So there's, there's a couple of issues here. One you know, general Austin, secretary Austin knows better, truthfully, just calling it like I see it, if he had a subordinate that did that to him and it's not just him, but I mean, I know him well enough to know he would have taken it not well. There would have been some, you know, coaching, if you want to call it that, there would have been some coaching that went on. I'm rightfully so, yes, but my, my other question is is, or my other concern is, why? Why does?

Speaker 2: 16:19

What is the criteria that the president has for his cabinet? Like, we used to have something called when I was deployed. We would have something called wake-up criteria, so nobody can stay away 24 7365, right, everybody's got to sleep. So if the commander, the boss, goes down and they're asleep, you would have a list. You'd have a matrix laid out there would say if this happens, this, happens, this, any of these seven things, you have to wake up the boss. Whatever it is Sure, firefight, somebody gets killed, the vehicle accident, whatever it is, there's got to be similar criteria. At the president the administration is laid out for the cabinet that says if any of these things happen you have to notify the president. Right, and you would imagine you know sick, terminally ill, not terminally it, well, maybe is, I don't know, but you know right, extended stay in hospital medically Capacitated.

Speaker 2: 17:14

Those kinds of things have got to be a must alert to the White House. Yes, you would think.

Speaker 2: 17:20

You would think yeah absolutely oh Right, yeah, this whole thing, especially with everything going on in the world Ukraine and Israel, and you know I mean you know there's been strikes going on in Iraq and Syria and all kinds of other stuff going on there's, I don't know if this DOD the Pentagon, the Secretary himself decided that they didn't want to upset the apple cart and, like you know, or did they not trust the president, or did they not trust the White House, or did they you know, we're in the decision by the secretary, because that's really who it rests on. Somewhere along there, secretary Austin said we're not telling the president. Yeah, it had to happen, right, Nobody just decided that for him. So what in his brain made him say I'm not telling the president? This is going on?

Speaker 2: 18:22

That's lack of faith in the president, presidential lack of faith in the Department of Defense. Which direction is it going? I don't understand, and there's a lot of questions that need to be asked. I think, unfortunately, the reaction of impeach him, which is already starting have you seen this? They're already the Republicans in Congress. Actually, I think even one or two Democrats in Congress are talking about impeaching the secretary. I think there's some investigation, some questions that need to be asked in the course of that, before an impeachment starts, but it's all very disheartening. To have that big of a disconnect on a personal level between the president and the secretary of defense is very frightening and I really, really would like to know why Secretary Austin decided not to tell the president, because that is the question, it's not whether he should have or if he shouldn't have, but why.

Speaker 1: 19:19

Why didn't he? And obviously I mean it's probably an understatement that that is embarrassing for the White House to not know something. That's pretty critical information, pretty important information. So now they're in the position of saving face. I mean, that's pretty much sums up this administration and this presidency saving face and failing miserably constantly.

Speaker 1: 19:47

And this is yet another embarrassment for them, and one that again, to echo you, begs the question of why, why would he not tell them? And it does lead you to think, well, is there mistrust there on his part? And that certainly gives us a whole taste of further mistrust. And yeah, it's very curious and once again, as is consistent with this administration, are we ever going to get the answer? Are we ever going to know what went on here, what transpired that made this such a bizarre series of events? Really, I mean, because that's what it is it's bizarre that this would even happen. So, on one hand, listening to you talk about your firsthand knowledge of him, you almost do have to kind of go well, he must have had a really good reason. So what's the reason?

Speaker 2: 20:44

Yeah, Unfortunately, I do think. I really do think at the end of all of this, and probably within the next, probably within the next week, secretary Austin is going to be out of a job. Even the deputy sec death didn't know. Which is a bigger problem. So I do think, whether it's by resignation or by termination, I think within the next seven days Secretary Austin is going to be clearing out his office and heading back to the house.

Speaker 1: 21:22

I think he's going to be done.

Speaker 2: 21:24

Yeah, and so we'll never get the answer to just what you just asked. Yeah, we'll never get the answer of why, until he writes a biography, or somebody writes a biography and it comes out in that, which most of the secretaries do.

Speaker 1: 21:38

But we won't know Exactly. Biography We'll hear it in that. We'll hear it in the memoir.

Speaker 2: 21:43

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 21:45

That's so crazy to me the whole thing. But I think you're right. I can't imagine there's no other resolution here. He has to. Is resigning an option?

Speaker 2: 21:57

I don't even know is resigning would be an option yeah, 100%. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:01

So one of those two things right. He's either going to be impeached or he'll resign. I guess resign before he gets impeached, who knows. But either way it's not good for him, it's not a good look for the White House, it's just not a good look at all, and it leaves a lot of questions and concerns, serious concerns, as to how that series of events even transpired.

Speaker 2: 22:25

So that'll be another one to watch. And the timing of it, the tumultuous everything going on in the world. That's a job you can't just walk into. You know what I mean? Right, I don't care they could move the deputy secretary up. Yeah, they're not going to be able to walk into his office and take over day one and know everything he knows and do everything he does. It's just impossible. I don't care who you are, yeah, so you know, with everything going on in the world right now, the timing, you know, other than us being in, you know, direct fire, conflict kind of stuff there couldn't be a worse time to have something like this happen. So, right, and I do think, yeah, within the next week or so, he's going to be done, which is sad, but I think that's the course that's going to take.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Well, you know, I tell you what what's. So we're recording on the 10th. It's the 10th right now, and so we are 10 days, and when you guys see this it'll be the 12th day of January. We are right now, in this moment, as we're recording because I want accuracy here, we are in the 10th day of the new year of January of 2024.

Speaker 1: 23:37

And this bingo card is so full of things that we did not put on our bingo card. So all of the ones we just mentioned, all of the things that have gone in, there's so many more things that my head could probably explode with trying to go down that list. So we're just touching on little bits of stuff and things here, and one of the things, of course, that's been very big news is the Epstein list. I mean, that's another one on the bingo card there that has been talked about for so long now that I don't even know if anybody actually expected anything to happen with that.

Speaker 1: 24:18

But the flight logs are being, or have been, released. Not all of them. I think there's still tons and tons of things to be released. But there were not many surprises on it because lots of things had been leaked or suspected already for some time. Bill Clinton, of course that name was zero. Surprise to hear that he was on that list and tons of celebrities and all kinds of notable people were on those lists. And now the arguments start over. Well, if they were just discussed or on the flight log, and there are people, now there are like thousands of pages of documents and there are people who are combing through it meticulously, reading everything, and thank them. I thank them for that because I'm certainly not going to do it.

Speaker 2: 25:16

I can't, I just can't, I just can't put it on my face, the one that's blowing everybody's mind, which nobody saw coming, which is just the creepiest thing of all of this, is Stephen Hawking. Like what?

Speaker 3: 25:30

like.

Speaker 2: 25:32

I don't know. I haven't read all the documents, I don't want to read all the documents, but the fact that Stephen Hawking is involved in all this at all was that you want to talk about left field Like that one nobody saw coming. That's the craziest thing, I think. Prince Andrew we all kind of knew, bill Clinton knew, you know there's some other folks that I don't think are surprises to anybody, but Hawking, really Like that, that one I think, and there's been a lot of social media, internet memes and all of those things that have been ridiculous, but that one, I think, was the only real shock out of it.

Speaker 1: 26:12

Yeah same, yeah same. I don't think you're right. I don't think anybody else has really surprised me all that much. Disappointed me certainly Cause you still hold out some hope that some of these people aren't absolute garbage. And nope, nope, they are, they are so it's. You know, it's still still disappoints me a little bit. That little tiny flicker of hope that I have for their humanity just gets dimmer and dimmer and it's pretty much out. But yeah, not too many surprises, except for that one Huge surprise, huge disappointment thus far for the left, is that Trump's name, while he was mentioned.

Speaker 2: 26:56

Yes, you know, he acknowledged that.

Speaker 1: 26:59

Yes, he was mentioned, but in the context of he voluntarily spoke to prosecutors, I guess, about what he knew and was never disposed, deposed. I can't talk. You know, everything he did was voluntary, offered up whatever information he knew. That was confirmed by other people, notably James Patterson. The author confirmed some things that Trump said and he's not on those flight logs. So I know that makes them mad and they refuse to, you know, accept that there's still. There's still hope in beyond, beyond hope that he's on there and you know there's still lots of things to be released. Certainly anything can happen because we don't know. But so far they're coming up empty-handed and I know that makes them very, very disappointed, which you know, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 28:01

The whole thing is just so gross and you know what I hear a lot of in regards to this whole thing is that, you know, stopping so impressed that they released what they did, because let's talk about what they haven't released, you know, let's talk about what's not happening. There are no arrests. No, you know, none of these people are going to prison, none of them are anything. Nothing is actually happening to these people. So what did they give us? You know, just to just threw us a bone, just to shut us up and say, okay, here we'll give them this, we'll give them all the names that they already knew, give them a couple of shocking ones. So they'll talk about that. But you know, let's distract them from everything else, so not as impressive.

Speaker 2: 28:48

Listen, they haven't even taken President Clinton's passport. He was in Mexico. He was in Mexico with what's his name, from California playing golf, just a couple. So he's still international travel, he's still doing whatever he wants to do.

Speaker 2: 29:06

This is all, as you know, circumstantial right, right, and we are a nation where you are innocent until proven guilty. Okay, and I am fully on board with that. Now I will tell you that that's not a two-way street, right? You know President Trump, you know we can talk about him being removed from ballots for nothing at this point. Nothing, right? He has not been. He has been accused, has not been convicted.

Speaker 2: 29:39

And let's be clear, because I have, I know people, and I've seen this from a number of people on social media he was held liable in a civil court, which is not a conviction, okay, right, very, very different, very different. So, was it for sexual abuse? Yes, it was. I'm not arguing that that's what he was held liable for. That is not a criminal conviction, right? So the idea that he's being removed from ballots is a violation of our constitutional rights, especially specifically in the states where it's happening. Those voters, although they can still do a write-in, you know, kind of thing, but the fact that they're being removed he is being removed arbitrarily based on nothing other than accusations, right and charges. Filed convicted of nothing is really one of the greatest constitutional violations going on right now that nobody's talking about.

Speaker 1: 30:45

No, no, they're not. They'd rather not just ignore that. Just ignore that, don't look over there, don't pay any attention to what's happening. And you know, and these never Trumpers, these people who hate the bad orange man, they love it, they think it's the greatest thing. Because they're not thinking ahead, you know, they don't realize what the implications of that could be. So anyone, anyone, at any time, could be subject to the same treatment, whether you like them or not. So you know, when it happens to your guy, is it gonna be so great, is it gonna be so awesome? You know? So, yeah, that's-.

Speaker 2: 31:22

Listen, about a year and a half ago, when they raided Mar-a-Lago, you know, showed up with, you know, fbi agents and blue and red lights, and you know all that craziness that went on over some top secret documents.

Speaker 2: 31:40

I wrote an article about how the Department of Justice had been weaponized straight up, and that was again a year and a half ago, and I don't like using that term, but that's exactly what was going on. And the point of my point on that day a year and a half ago, was exactly what you just said, which is it's all well and good right now, until and this was before, maybe it was even long whenever, however long ago that was, I guess it was a year and a half but when the tables turn and the other parties in charge and the Republicans start doing the exact same thing, you're not gonna like it. And I had all kinds of people, all kinds of people telling me oh, those people all take oaths, they're doing what they believe to be true. There's no way there's any corruption going on, there's no way they're being manipulated or weaponized. Well, we all know.

Speaker 1: 32:37

Now, 18 months later, that that's exactly what was going on, exactly what was going on.

Speaker 2: 32:41

Exactly oath or not, right? I don't buy any of that crap. To be honest with you, as a guy who took an oath multiple times along the way, that's only as good as the person who's taking the oath. There's a lot of lip service paid to that kind of stuff, so this is the same thing. It's exactly what you said. When the tables are turned and this is happening in the other direction, they're not gonna like it and that's why they're not thinking ahead. They're not, and this is where dictatorships come from. This is where all autocracies, all that stuff, starts to be generated from. Is the misuse of government agencies to enforce not policy but preference. Yes, that's not how this country works.

Speaker 1: 33:29

Yes, and it's incredibly disheartening to know that so many people can't see this, refuse to see it and simply don't care because they're getting their way right now. The short-sightedness of everything that is going on right now, the lack of educated, intelligent, free thinking, basically critical thinking, really is what is running rampant right now and running everything, and that's frightening because you're talking about a huge portion of the population who are existing under this lockstep. Do whatever the government tells us mentality and the mainstream media, and just they're right. Everybody else is wrong. You're crazy. You're what is it? Conspiracy theorist? You're all of the things, every name they can come up with. Yeah, it's scary. We're truly and deeply and I hate to be so somber because you know I love being silly, but we are truly, seriously, very, very desperate, dark times that.

Speaker 2: 34:42

Yeah, it's coming. I think the real first indicator that many people missed was during COVID, when they were using OSHA to enforce right, so you've got a non. Right, they were using OSHA safety regulations to shut down. Businesses to shut down. It was them. And then the Department of Health and Human Services right, these aren't law enforcement bodies, these are people who write fines. But that's what they were doing.

Speaker 2: 35:17

They were using organizations and agencies outside of law enforcement to enforce their will, to impose their will on the American public. Where there was no accountability, motors didn't have an opportunity to say no, because it was a policy put in place by an agency. And that's what we're getting to. Atf has overstepped multiple times, been slapped down on the regular right, they're not a lawmaking body, contrary to what they believe. Where they believe they know what's best for the American public and they impose regulations that they just start to enforce doesn't work that way. So those are the things that we've all got to pay attention to, because that's the new wave. The new wave is we impose our will through non-law enforcement or non-regulatory, non-legal means and we're not passing laws.

Speaker 2: 36:14

And again we're a nation where laws matter. You're innocent, you're proven guilty and we enforce the laws around the books and we don't just make them up. So, yeah, it's very challenging right now and I'll be honest with you if November comes and the administration doesn't change, things are gonna get really really bad, really really fast, because then he's a lame duck president.

Speaker 2: 36:42

He's a lame duck president and all he's gonna try and do is push through as many things. He's gonna take away your oven. He's gonna take away your hot water heater. He's gonna take away your stove top. He's gonna take away as many things as he possibly can, because he knows he's only got like four years left. He's gonna do what he can possibly do Legal, illegal, it doesn't matter. He's just gonna Doesn't matter doesn't matter, they've already.

Speaker 1: 37:02

Covid was the great experiment for them. The lockdown there, that was the great experiment. Let's see how far we can go with this, let's see how much control we can actually take. That they'll let us take, and they were shown.

Speaker 2: 37:19

They were shown quite well, the scary part is if the parties turn in November and whether it's President Trump or somebody else. But if it's President Trump back in the White House, my greatest fear in that and again, you and I are not Trump fan, trump supporters by that's not where our first inkling lies, although you may have got a change after New Year's We'll have to talk about that in a minute, but I don't believe so. But anyway, my fear is that the retribution if he gets back into office in November and then in January is truthfully back in office is that all hell's going to break loose and that he is going to, with Venom, take it out on everybody that wronged him during these four years which is going to be as counterproductive as what President Biden is likely going to do as a lame duck president.

Speaker 2: 38:18

Actually, Trump would be a lame duck president as well. He's only got four years in there, so he's going to do what he can too. I just I really hope for the sake of all of us normal people that it doesn't turn into that, but unfortunately, I think that's where it's going to go, one way or the other.

Speaker 1: 38:35

Yeah, I mean, I really I can't imagine it going any other, because the hostility on both sides, the hostility in the contempt on both sides, is so deep and so strong. I don't, I agree with you again, clay. I mean I agree with you a lot. Yeah, I'd love to argue with you a little bit, but I just you're spot on. You know, and it's true, I think, should it be Trump, the opposite side, the never-Trumpers, the Trump haters, they will just stir that whole, you know, toxic stew and it's going to be unleashed tenfold and, like you said, he is going to be out for vengeance as well. So there is, there's no, there's no good coming for a long time.

Speaker 2: 39:29

You know, no, I am fearful, no matter what the outcome is in November. I think the only is, if it's somebody who's not either one of those two. That's probably our only. Our only hope is Kennedy slides in as the independent or some way out from that.

Speaker 2: 39:47

We're not, you know, I not that I hope ill will on anybody but you know, if President Trump gets removed from the ballot or President Biden dies or something odd happens and we get somebody else other than the two of them, yeah, that's the only way I think is a way out of this.

Speaker 1: 40:04

Yeah, it would have to be something, you know, radical and and blocking. That's honestly the only way I could. I could foresee the tide turning into something potentially more middle-grounded. But we're not a nation of that. I mean, we're not a world of balance, we're just not. We're. We're in a constant state of pendulum swinging. You know it's, and it always swings too far one way and then it swings too far the other way. And you know, and I don't know, that that is, I don't know if it's within our capabilities of changing that. You know, and I would love it if that were the case. But boy oh boy, history is not shown otherwise. So I guess we're, we're in that that dark wait and see period of what's going to happen. Crazy, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 40:56

That? That what's the? What is it? The doomsday clock.

Speaker 1: 41:00

Yes, yes.

Speaker 2: 41:01

Right, you should probably pay attention to that thing. That that might that might be telling over the next few months. We'll see what happens. Yeah, you are kidding. Speaking, speaking of your, I want to hear the story. Listen, I for those of you that don't follow Elsa on social media she went. She went down to Florida. I'm not going to steal her thunder on this, but she went down to Florida and she ran into some celebrities over New Year's.

Speaker 2: 41:28

One of them I thought was was awesome. Again, we won't. You're going to tell the story. One of them shocked the hell out of me and I thought it was great, and I'll let you tell the the chronological story and then I will jump in and say the one that surprised me, which I loved.

Speaker 1: 41:45

Okay, all right. So, my friends, well, should I start it with a picture? Let's see. Let me start it with a picture. No, I'm not going to do that, I'm not, I'm going to build up to it, but you may already know.

Speaker 1: 41:59

So, about a month ago, my, my, maybe manager I call him my maybe manager, I'm in conversation with a management company reached out and said hey, what are you guys doing New Year's Eve? I said, oh, we're probably. You know, I was honest, I don't care. I said, well, we're probably going to be, you know, feet up on the couch and just chilling. And he said, okay, well, if I can, I can get you two tickets. Do you want to come to this New Year's bash at Mar-a-Lago? Was my reaction, and I said, well, yeah, sure that that would be cool. Okay, he says, all right, I'll get back to you in about a week or so and let you know if I was able to put this together. Okay, week, week goes by, I don't hear from him. I think, all right, that's okay, that's okay, no big deal. No big deal. You know, I was, wasn't, wasn't thinking I was going anyhow. And so we go to Florida, anyhow, because the grand babies are there, as you know, and it's two days before Christmas and my phone rings and it's the manager and he said, hey, just check it in, making sure you're good for three, three nights, four days over in Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago for New Year's. And I said, I'm sorry, what? Three, three, three days and and our four days, three nights? Yeah, sure, no, no problem.

Speaker 1: 43:19

Well, there was a little bit of a problem. You know, we were in Florida already with no formal clothes, nothing like nothing. We're, we stay on my kids, they have a farm and you know, so we're in farm clothes all week. You know that's where we're wearing, and so we're like, okay, so we're just going to go and buy two days before Christmas, we're going to hit all these stores and we're going to buy all of this stuff. So we did, we managed, we got all of the things we go now, mind you, this is all a complete shock. When he first said that, I thought it was going to be just, you know, new Year's Eve, that's it. No, this is, this is three days of, of lunch, like fancy lunches and dinners, and and Trump and all of this stuff. So we are, we are like shell shocked going into this and and completely emotionally unprepared for everything that that went on.

Speaker 1: 44:19

And the the very first day, the first full day. This is what happened. Hang on, I got to find her for you. My scrollie scrollie won't work. Oh, here we go. Well, this happened on the first day. Yeah, that's, that's little old me with the Trumpinator and great story with that.

Speaker 1: 44:43

We were at his golf course there, the Trump International Golf Course, and we had our nice fancy lunch and he was not part of that. He was out there golfing and we went out there to take some pictures and you know, just kind of look around and somebody said, oh, trump is actually playing golf, he's right out there. So we were taking pictures and video and we're, all you know, like, oh, that's so cool, we didn't expect to see him today. And the next thing we know he comes right in and around, right up in front of us, and we're still thinking, oh, he's just going to drive by and wave, and that's cool, you know, we'll get some great pictures. And there he goes.

Speaker 1: 45:20

Well, he stops and the first thing he says to us is you know, if, full, full Donald Trump personality, full blown. And you know, we got a good chuckle out of that and we're still thinking, well, that's it, you know he's going to move on. Nope, he gets out and says you want to take some pictures, let's take some pictures. You know, group pictures. And then we all again we're trying to be polite, this is, you know, president Trump and we start kind of dispersing. He goes we're not done yet. Who wants to take more pictures? We're like well, yeah, so we're all. You know we got to take as you saw Well that was cool and we figured, well, nothing can top that.

Speaker 1: 46:03

That was, you know, probably the pinnacle of this whole unexpected event and it just got more elaborate and more amazing. And we're still in shock. We're still in shock. When you talk about wealth, and you know, just wealth, nothing prepares you unless you live that life. Nothing prepares you for what Mar-a-Lago looks like on the inside. It is so ornate, it's like a medieval castle, it's just wild.

Speaker 1: 46:43

And you know, I have to say, whatever your opinions are anyone people watching whatever your opinions are on Donald Trump as a person, as a president, as you know, whatever as a public figure, whatever you might think of him, you can't take away the fact that it's really an amazing moment to actually meet a president Like that's cool, that's cool. You know, whether you like him or not, it's still really really cool. And there are, you know, as we've talked about him so many times, there are things that we like and there's things that we don't like. I love, you know, I love him for his policies, but he's a charismatic guy, he's just, he is larger than life when you meet him and he was an incredibly gracious host. I just made a video the other day.

Speaker 1: 47:35

You know a lot of people were asking for, like the gossip, the scoop, the dirt, you know, like anything you saw that was. And my feeling on that is, you know, sorry to disappoint guys even if there was gossip, even if there was dirt to share, I wouldn't, because I'm a firm believer in if you go and eat someone's, if you go in someone's home and you eat their food and you drink their, their wine, you have to be a special kind of jerk to talk crap about them. You know so I couldn't. So even if I had dirt which I honestly don't even if there was, I wouldn't share it because I just integrity. It's just about, you know, integrity and and being decent and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2: 48:18

But incredible, incredible host, incredible I got one question for you for your time with President Trump. Did you because I'm sure I'm not the only person that's wondering this and I'm not the only person that asked this Did you do the impression?

Speaker 1: 48:33

I hate to disappoint everybody. I did not do the impression for him. I did the impression there.

Speaker 3: 48:39

I don't know why people are always accusing Joe and I of fighting with each other because we are not okay. Just just to prove it, okay, we are here at a place called, apparently, the lion's den and I I don't know why they call it that. It does not look familiar to me, but it seems to be a lovely crowd of people. So I'm just going to have a good time, okay.

Speaker 1: 49:14

I did. I was. I was Kamala at Mar-a-Lago, which was just so wacky in itself. So I did that and the whole thing was so wild. I was not expecting to perform at all, but at one of our dinners one of the one of the people there he's a entertainer, his name's Matt Mauser and he's absolutely incredible and I'm going to put something up for you to go check him out, because he's just incredible, incredible entertainer singer and I did the impression for him, he asked for it and I did it for him and he said oh, you got to get up on the stage and do it. And this was at dinner at a really nice restaurant and they had entertainment for us that night. And so I got up there impromptu and actually did a little Kamala for them.

Speaker 3: 50:03

And Joe and I are going to do our best to make this a better place for all of you, because we will make America great. Okay, oh wait. No, I'm sorry, that's not us. That ain't how have a great evening everyone.

Speaker 1: 50:23

I wish like crazy for me.

Speaker 2: 50:26

Crazy for me.

Speaker 1: 50:28

It was. It was so wild.

Speaker 2: 50:32

So I'll tell you that. I'll tell you this. The picture I saw that you posted that shocked me. That I thought was just rockstar awesome, Especially for the audience. Ben Eliza was very cool In our heat range.

Speaker 1: 50:42

He closed out. He closed out the New Year's Eve party and he came out and everybody lost their ever loving minds, like it was the, the dance. Let me tell you that dance floor was never empty the entire night. Our table was directly almost directly, I think across from Trump's table, which was, you know, cool. I will say we never, I never walked over there. I never walked over to like go bother him.

Speaker 1: 51:09

But I was dying to, but I didn't, because I felt like I, you know, I got my, I got my time, I got my face time with him. So I want to be like that, you know, that creeper, just like lurking around, you know with your phone, like trying to take pictures. But but yeah, it was, it was an unforgettable, probably once in a lifetime experience. If it happens again, that's just. You know, that's just icing on that cake, but yeah, definitely one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And I cannot believe I managed to find a ball gown in, you know, short order, like that. So just, everything was fortuitous, it was, it was great, it was great.

Speaker 1: 51:53

So love them or hate them. It was awesome.

Speaker 2: 51:55

Listen, that's a, that's a story that you, you will have forever. I mean that's, that's really really good stuff. You got a chance to meet people like that. You don't turn that down ever.

Speaker 1: 52:04

No, you really don't. And I and I will also say that these were some of the most lovely, gracious, nice, wonderful people and the manager put us with. You know, he's got. The man is is such a skill for knowing who should go where and do what, and he put us with just the the sweetest, most amazing people.

Speaker 1: 52:29

It was so cool for my husband, who's you know a musician on the side, he's a drummer, he's in a whole bunch of bands and we were so blessed to be put at a table each night with fellow musicians, people that you know he really he got to just have like really cool casual conversations with the Jason Chef. He's the lead singer, or was the former long time lead singer of Chicago, saying all of the big hits and he performed that night too and just such a down to earth, sweet, kind guy and him and my husband were just chatting it up and my husband was so cute. He's like I was just talking to Jason Chef. How cool is that? So it was really nice, it was awesome, it was a great experience.

Speaker 2: 53:14

Yes, very nice, good way to bring in the new year.

Speaker 1: 53:17

Good for you. Yeah, it sure was, so I look forward to seeing all the comments about Trump after this.

Speaker 2: 53:25

You'll get them, I'll get them, I'll get them.

Speaker 1: 53:28

I'm getting them already on the short video. So, yeah, I'm sure, whatever y'all bring them, I don't care. Yeah, no big deal. So we're going to have tons and tons of things to to talk about over the weeks. I'm going to spend the whole next week catching up on all of the things going on in the world, and we're going to bring some new cool stuff to you next week. I don't know what it is. Do you have any ideas? No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2: 53:58

So much can happen in a matter of days. We've never been without material, never. We've never missed a show. It's not because there wasn't stuff to talk about, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 54:07

Exactly, yeah. So we're here both with colds, trying our darndest not to cough the whole time and sniffle and whatnot. So, yeah, no, we're. We don't like missing a beat. So we will definitely be back for you next week with more fun stuff. Clay, you want to take them out?

Speaker 2: 54:27

Hey, as as always, folks, happy new year and always, always, always happy to be part of this team. I love doing this show with Elsa every week and for me, keep moving, keep shooting.

Speaker 1: 54:41

Take care, guys, see you next week.