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The Elsa Kurt Show
Elsa Kurt is an American actress, comedian, podcast producer & host, social media entertainer, and author of over twenty-five books. Elsa's career began first with writing, then moved into the unconventional but highly popularized world of TikTok, where she amassed an organic following of 200K followers and over 7 billion views of her satirical and parody skits, namely her viral portrayal of Vice President Kamala Harris, which attracted the attention of notable media personalities such as Michael Knowles, Mike Huckabee, Brit Hume, and countless media outlets. She's been featured in articles by Steven Crowder's Louder with Crowder, Hollywood in Toto with Christian Toto, and JD Rucker Report. In late 2022, Elsa decided to explore more acting opportunities outside of social media. As of August 2022, Elsa will have appearances in a sketch comedy show & an independent short film series in the fall. Elsa is best known for her comedic style and delivery, & openly conservative values. She is receptive to both comedic and dramatic roles within the wholesome/clean genres & hopes to adapt her books to film in the future. #ifounditonamazon https://a.co/ekT4dNO
Elsa's Books: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B01E1VFRFQ
As of Sept. 2023, Author, Veteran, & commentator Clay Novak joins Elsa in the co-host seat. About Clay:
Army Officer
Clay Novak was commissioned in 1995 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served as an officer for twenty four years in Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, and Cavalry units . He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2019.
Warrior
Clay is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and is a Master Rated Parachutist, serving for more than a decade in the Airborne community. He was deployed a combined five times to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Leader
Serving in every leadership position from Infantry Platoon Leader to Cavalry Squadron Commander, Clay led American Soldiers in and out of combat for more than two decades.
Outdoorsman
Growing up in a family of hunters and shooters, Clay has carried on those traditions to this day. Whether building guns, hunting, shooting for recreation, or carrying them in combat , Clay Novak has spent his life handling firearms.
Author
Keep Moving, Keep Shooting is the first novel for Clay. You can also read his Blog on this website and see more content from Clay on his Substack.
Media Consultant
Clay has appeared on radio and streaming shows as a military consultant, weighing in on domestic and foreign policy as well as global conflict. He has also appeared as a guest on multiple podcasts to talk about Keep Moving, Keep Shooting and his long military career.
Get Clay's book: https://amzn.to/47Bzx2H
Visit Clay's site: Clay Novak (claynovak-author.com)
The Elsa Kurt Show
JD Vance's Rising Influence, Hurricane Resilience, and Global Political Dynamics
What if the future of the Republican Party lies in the poised hands of JD Vance? Clay Novak and I ponder this possibility as we highlight Vance's standout performance in a recent debate, suggesting he could be a frontrunner in the 2028 presidential race. We contrast this with our concerns about Governor Tim Walz's credibility, especially amidst allegations about his supposed presence during the Tiananmen Square protests. Our conversation takes a deep dive into the political tactics and strategies shaping both Republican and Democratic leadership, with a particular focus on the intriguing "Harris-Biden" versus "Biden-Harris" administration label.
We also explore the human impact of a Florida hurricane, sharing personal anecdotes of resilience and community support while examining the broader disaster response efforts. The episode tackles aesthetic influences in politics and the emerging dock worker strike on the East Coast, discussing its potential economic ripple effects. Politics isn't just about policy but also about presentation, and figures like Vance and Walz demonstrate how superficial factors can sway public opinion, especially with an election looming.
Wrapping up, we switch gears to global politics, touching on international leaders' strategic interactions with U.S. elections, including the civil discourse observed in the recent VP debate. We also offer a sneak peek into Elsa Kurtz's much-anticipated "Welcome to Chance," set to return next year, with captivating stories set in a charming New England town. Join us as we navigate through these multifaceted discussions, offering insights and inviting you to reflect on the leadership dynamics shaping our world today.
Modern-day politics discussion and analysis. Conservative Political Commentator Ryan...
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It's the Elsa Kurt Show with Clay Novak. Conservative views on world news Brought to you by the Wellness Company. Prepare for the unexpected and Refuge Medical. And now it's time for the show.
Speaker 2:Well, hey, friends, welcome back for another episode. Clay and I are ready to talk about all of the stuff and things. Right, clay?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think everybody, including me, is happy you're back.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 3:And that you know. You've made it through your first Florida hurricane, and made it through safely, so we're obviously all very happy about that.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3:And that we will talk about the hurricane, among all the other stuff, right after this. Right after this.
Speaker 2:Oh, hey, my friends, yeah, so we'll touch like super briefly on the hurricane and then we'll go in depth in it and a little bit more. But just to follow up on that, yes, my first. I don't know how it's possible, but that was my first Florida hurricane. We were so fortunate to have gotten very little effects from it. You know, high wind, um, some branches down and everything, um, you know. So we were very fortunate and we were just heartbroken, and still are heartbroken, for all of the people that have just lost so much. And, of course, we have so many people still missing. It's just a, it's just a devastating thing. So we're just super grateful um that that we did not. Um, you, you know no stories to tell and I'm happy to say that, very happy to say that. So, but, yeah, but before we get to all of that, let's kind of backtrack a little bit and go to the big, the big topic. Now I got to ask you any surprises for you on this.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my biggest surprise is JD Vance is the best public speaker on either ticket.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Period. He's better than President Trump. He's obviously better than your alter ego and clearly displayed last night how much better he is than Governor Walz.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, he was all night long he was on it. I think there's maybe one little fumble, but, but in a 90 minute debate to have maybe a little, one little fumble is extraordinary, right, so very put together. Um, that it surprised me and it wasn't. If you watch the this, the difference walls was, you know, every opportunity scribbling notes, scribbling notes. I don't think that I saw him take a single note, write a single thing. I might've missed it, but I didn't see it and it was just clean, well-spoken, very articulate, all night long, like it was. That amazed me. It really was exceptional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, let's stick with him for a minute. Yeah, and I and I can echo that easily, so poised, I loved, I loved his calm, respectful demeanor, everything about his presentation, the way he handled everything, the way he handled the fact checking. Right, how about that? That was spectacular. He just he was, dare I say it, he was presidential.
Speaker 3:I do. I honestly, I said this last night he potentially put himself as the front runner for 2028. In 90 minutes, he is the heir apparent, clearly the front runner for 2028. Yes, 90 minutes. Yeah, he is the heir apparent, clearly the heir apparent for the Republican party. I can't imagine anybody else out there who is that put together. And oh, by the way, after he gets these four years of experience as the VP, like, there is going to be nobody more qualified than him. But yes, he is that guy, he's what they want him to be, which is he is the next generation, he's younger, he's you know, he's got all the tools. Yeah, very, very impressive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, super impressive, and I think that is for concerned Republicans, concerned Republicans, and it's realistic to be concerned Trump is how old?
Speaker 3:is he Seventy seven Eight yeah?
Speaker 1:OK, yeah.
Speaker 2:And and sure he is, you know, strong like bull, shows no signs of stopping or slowing down. But you know time is time, it is what it is and you know there there is always realities that you know someone in his age bracket, anything can happen. You need to be able to say, well, if God forbid, you know that happens while he's in office, at least we know the guy that's, you know, right behind him, can handle the job and we'll feel comfortable with him in that role and safe. You know, which is like the biggest thing here really, you know. So that would be the question probably to the Kamala supporters, which you know I say tongue in cheek because that's not a real thing Can you guys look at? You know you're looking at Walls as the guy that, if God forbid, something happened to the leader of the country. That's the guy you want running the show. You know think long and hard about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there was a lot of you know, shapiro regret last night. He was the other front runner that you're out of, out of Pennsylvania, yeah, the front runner for the for the ticket, and he is more put together than walls. So you know there was a lot of regret, buyer's remorse, whatever you want to call it, with falls last night, after it was over with I can promise you that Democrats in the know were sitting there going why? Why this guy? Why when we had Shapiro, was it this guy and, and you know it goes, it's a difference in, I think, methodology. I think that you know anybody who's been in business which in business, which obviously it's Trump's wheelhouse, that's what he does is you surround yourself with great people and really really smart business people make their number two as good or better than they are Right, because I hate to say it. Then they can relax a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah absolutely Smart leadership, right, yeah? And the Democrats are the opposite. They want their number two to be dumber than they are, so they're not a threat to the throne. Yes, and if you go back and you say I'm President Obama and I need a VP dumber than I am, and he picks President Biden, and the President Biden says I need a VP dumber than me, and he picks Kamala Harris, and then she says I need a VP dumber than I am, and we end up with walls. So that's you know. I think that's how they ended up where they are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you know that's actually the question I was going to ask you, Clay, like you know, if you could speculate. Why him? And I think you just hit it right on the head. I think that's in a nutshell.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's part of it. I think there was this assumption that he was going to appeal to Midwesterners, which he doesn't. No, he doesn't pull Midwesterners, you know, because he is, so he's further left than she is. I mean, if there's anybody that's close to communism, it's actually him, and so you know. You can say Midwest all you want, but like everybody else from states like Minnesota, he got elected by Minneapolis. He didn't get elected by the rest of the state, very much like Governor Pritzker in Illinois got elected by Chicago and Governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania got elected by Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. So he doesn't necessarily pull Midwest values into the mix, which I think not at all Right.
Speaker 3:But I you know, and he's a white guy you know, and I hate to say that there has to be a balance. But when you've got, you know, kamala Harris in and I'm not going to go down the President Trump route you know whether she's black or Indian or or, you know, caribbean or whatever you want she's. She's a woman of color and I think they look to balance the scales with a white guy. I just think they put the wrong white guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, just so they could appeal to everyone, right? You know in their mind, yeah yeah, the the whole touch on it just for a second the the whole debate over her ethnicity, her color, on its surface, absolutely it's a ridiculous thing to even be discussing, because you know realistically who actually cares and the only reason anyone cares is because she has been portraying herself as one thing which she's not. Potentially I don't really know. Candace Owen has been doing the deep dive on that you know, like real deep dive, you know, which was pretty wild.
Speaker 2:I mean, she's brought up some interesting stuff. I have not followed that that closely because, frankly, I don't care enough about that for it to be an issue. I get why it's an issue for people it's the lying thing, all of that. It's youering potentially. But the pandering is nothing new from them. I mean, we see it constantly. This is their game that they play and shame on everyone who falls for it every single time. So she's not new to this. She's just carrying on a tradition of pandering to whatever crowd she's standing or sitting in front of, you know. So I mean whatever. On all that, back to back to the debate.
Speaker 2:Um walls man, right from the beginning he looked like a deer in headlights. He looked yeah, it was bad, it was so, so bad and it was so definitive. You know, within minutes people were like oh yeah, well, this this is a foregone conclusion here. He tanked and Vance excelled, exceeded, probably even exceeded expectation for some people. You know, I don't know what everybody was expecting from him. I think anyone who has been following him and paying attention to him knows that this would have been the case. But you mentioned blunders before that Vance made, you know, maybe a slight misstep. I mean want to talk about missteps. I've got a couple for you. Let's see here's. Let me do the little one. This is very short.
Speaker 1:I've become friends with school shooters. I've seen it.
Speaker 2:What we all heard it. We all heard it that was a that was a, was a big like. If you were looking down, you went like this, yeah Right. Like that was wow, what a slip. And this one. This one's a little bit longer, but, but I want to be able to discuss it for everybody, so take a look at our walls.
Speaker 1:You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. But Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain that discrepancy? Yeah, and to the folks out there, I did get at the top of this. Look, I grew up in small, rural Nebraska, a town of 400, a town that you rode your bike with your buddies until the streetlights come on, and I'm proud of that service. I joined the National Guard at 17, worked on family farms and then I used the GI Bill to become a teacher, passionate about it, a young teacher, my first year out.
Speaker 1:I got the opportunity in the summer of 89 to travel to China 35 years ago, be able to do that. I came back home and then started a program to take young people there. We would take basketball teams, we would take baseball teams, we would take dancers and we would go back and forth to China. The issue for that was was to try and learn. Now, look, my community knows who I am. They saw where I was at. They look. I will be the first to tell you I have poured my heart into my community. I've tried to do the best I can, but I've not been perfect and I'm a knucklehead at times.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow. And just let me just repeat. The question was you said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. But reports say you didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain the discrepancy which she repeated the question?
Speaker 2:And you know, he's just, he tried, I know what he tried to do. He tried to do the Kamala Harris thing, the word salad, you know, let me, let me tell you, you know, if, if the question is you know, can you tell us how you're going to fix the problem? And she says something along those lines Well, well, let's talk about the problem and the root of the problem. And when you have the roots of a problem, you know, and she and I feel like they were like just do that, tim, and it'll be great. You got this. You know, you don't have to answer, just take up all the time and nobody will notice. And it didn't work because he did it so bad. It was so bad, he didn't confuse anyone, he just sounded so dumb and it was so blatant that you know he's trying to distract.
Speaker 3:He sounded like a knucklehead.
Speaker 2:He sounded like a knucklehead. I mean, he just and that's the other part of that Can you imagine? Do you want a vice president who just bumbles about and says well, I'm just a knucklehead, what can I tell you? Yuck, yuck, yuck, come on. I mean, that was disastrous.
Speaker 3:The difference between him and Vice President Harris is he knows he's a knucklehead. It's the only difference. She doesn't even realize how dumb she is. I mean that's part of the problem. He, you know the all shucks-y kind of homie kind of thing. You know the last time somebody played that game, uh, was president Carter, who just turned a hundred, by the way, first president to ever. You know reach that. But you know he, he did the. I'm just a Georgia peanut farmer, you know kind of thing. Um and it it played well in the beginning but really he was incompetent. You know, as a president, great diplomat afterwards, but as president he was terrible. And Walls tried the same trick and he's. You know, the reality is is like you said, he was trying to talk his way to cover up the sidestep, a lie that he's been another lie.
Speaker 3:Another lie that he's been another lie added, added to the list. But you know he he's a glory hound, he's a glory seeking person, he wants the attention and that's what drives all this. It's not him being a knucklehead, it's him, you know, not having the ability to, you know, deal with real life. Right, he was in China around that time, but not at that time. And for him I think it bothers him that he missed it which is like some weird FOMO thing, I guess.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 3:But it's the same thing as I went to combat no, you didn't. No, you didn't, everyone else did, but you didn't go. It's those kinds of things that you just can't trust the guy and that, right there, I'm just a knucklehead. Yeah, you are, and we can't have that wandering around the White House. It doesn't work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's no winning on this for you, Tim, because if you're a knucklehead, nobody wants you with the important task of being the second in command Absolutely not. And if you're not a knucklehead and you're just like and I like your I like that term, I think that fits perfectly A glory hound If that's what you are nobody wants you because you're basically a coward and then claim that you were in the action and then you get caught and this is obviously a pattern. This is not a guy, a human being that you want in any kind of leadership role, and it boggles the mind that he's even where he is at this point, Like it is mind boggling to the fullest extent that like who? Who looked past?
Speaker 3:that he's the pathological liar that has told a lie enough times that he believes that it happened In his brain somewhere. It has become the truth and it's almost you know. The other thing that stuck out to me and this is kind of in the same vein of the lie is you notice they stopped calling it the biden administration last night?
Speaker 2:wow, I actually didn't even notice that.
Speaker 3:That's how successfully they did that on my end well, and and and jd vance did it because he wanted her to own the problems and he did it masterfully. And and waltz waltz jumped in on it and they just calling it that the Harris or Harris Biden administration, not Biden Harris, if I was President Biden not that he's lucid at all, or even a week or something that late at night, but he is. I know he's upset. There's a rumor going around right now that he is upset because Vice President Harris isn't giving him enough credit in her, so he's not getting the pat on the back Now, like in the debate he basically got erased. I know that if somebody tells him that over his rice pudding at lunch he's going to be pretty mad, but it goes along with the lying that. You know. Again, jd Vance started it, but Walls jumped in on it, like yeah, you know. Again, jd Vance started it, but. But walls jumped in on it Like yeah, that's that's the Harris administration.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what a dodo really. What a knucklehead we'll just use his term, because that is the point, you know, I would imagine that. You know they haven't really started doing it yet, that I can tell. But it's going to become. They have to distance themselves from Biden because that's really the only way. You know, I don't think she can't, but I would think that would be their tactic to try, because you can't keep, you know, hitching your wagon to him and his failed policies. I mean, vance was calling him out left and right and you know. So this was an opportunity, for it should have been, I would think, an opportunity for walls. So this was an opportunity for it should have been, I would think, an opportunity for Walls. He should have said well, biden's policies, you know what I mean, and that would have been a moment to separate her. And he failed, he blew it.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, that attempt by her to separate herself you're right, that is the only tactic that leads to success is to say I was a vice president, he was a president of the Biden policies. But every you know she started with when I get into office, I'm going to fix this. And from the first moment she said it, everybody's like fix it now, fix it now. Yeah, that that's already failed. But just for an attempt to continue that line, yeah, wall should have been prepared to say you know, president Biden's, he should have been deflecting like he didn't get them because he didn't hit any of the points.
Speaker 2:I mean he tried. Certainly I think when he's looking down at his notes he's getting his little bullet points in, but he was so easy to rattle and lead like a puppy basically. And I think Vance is so profoundly smart that he disarmed him. I think he disarmed him. I think Vance is so profoundly smart that he disarmed him. I think he disarmed him. I think they anticipated a combative Vance for him to be kind of cutthroat and vicious and he was. But low key, you know what I mean. Like it wasn't overt, it was just kill him with kindness and facts basically.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and there was a lot. There was a lot of bipartisan. Hey, we both agree. Yeah, conceptually, like Vance did it a lot, you know, and he was very, you know, kind of all embracing. You know we both agree that this is an issue. We both agree that this needs to be fixed. We disagree on how to fix it. Right, you know he, he was, he didn't give Walsh any space, you know what I mean Like only when it got down to the absolute details and and truthfully, he had the details. You know he quoted, you know Vance quoted the Minnesota abortion law to the letter. Yeah, and Walsh was like that's not what it says. When, if you watch social media after that, like a 10 million people posted screenshots of the abortion law from minnesota, that was like, yeah, that's exactly what it says right, and vance came with all the receipts afterwards shortly after all the receipts, posted them, basically said here you go, everything I said is 100 factual, you know.
Speaker 2:so knock yourself out trying to dispute that. The only thing I wish he had kind of kicked back at Walls with that whole abortion issue. You know Walls of course was denying the whole late term abortions and all of that stuff. And there is a clip and if I still have it I'll put it up here.
Speaker 1:And my record is so pro-choice. Nancy Pelosi asked me if I should tone it down. I stand with Planned Parenthood and we won.
Speaker 2:And he wouldn't. So that's a real clip, I'll put it up there. So, yeah, I really wish that Vance had, you know, pulled that out of the arsenal, because that's a, you know, pretty silly, because he's trying to kind of downplay his hyper creepy pro abortion.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a. I think that what Vance went in with, because he, you know they used Walls, used the typical. It's almost like the State of the Union tactic. You know where they pull the name out of you know, out of history, and say, oh, you know right.
Speaker 2:Jane Doe blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 3:You know, you put a name to the, to the tragedy Right, and it humanizes it and it makes it a thing and I think what Vance Vance's strategy was you can't dehumanize it. So he was in a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a box, which he handled very, very well, very well. But but you know there was that whole like you can't dehumanize the issue and it's, you know, he handled it probably better than almost any Republican that I've heard in the last 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was smart in every possible way. I think that you know, had he come in with that hard you know, or that perceived hard Republican stance on that, that you know. And he didn't do that. He came in with a very gentle touch really, and and kind of like a um, uh, not, I don't want to say open ended, but an openness I guess I would say to like this is a conversation you know that we're willing to have and you know, and try and find some ground here where everybody can be as happy as everyone can be here, where everybody can be as happy as everyone can be with this. You know, made great points. He just, he just stayed. It was so refreshing to see. I would say it was one of the best debates I've ever watched, to be honest, with you in that arena, because it was a genuine debate.
Speaker 3:You know it wasn't you know, yeah, they, they, they both behaved themselves, which was nice. Yeah, you know, there was only a couple of, there was a little bit of, you know, exclude the moderators and like they, conversationally, were back and forth, which, you know, the moderators, as usual, were terrible, but they were smart enough at the right times to stay out of the way of that conversation and they really did kind of let it go and actually it became a debate forum and it was. It was nice. It was a nice change.
Speaker 3:You know, vance, with the, with the abortion thing, it's an interesting approach and he, he, the way the direction he took it was we have to find better family solutions, which you know is is a, you know, a softer, you know, stance than than you know anybody's on the Republican side has taken over the last 20 years.
Speaker 3:So that was good. But you know, he, I think his go-to cause I heard he said it enough, and I know that it's a little bit of a bumper sticker, but I think when he kind of got into a bit of a jam or he didn't really, which wasn't often, but if he wanted to make a point he kept going back to it's about the economy and the economy is driven and or it's messed up right now because of the border policy. No matter what they were talking about, I think in his head it was connectivity to the economy and then connectivity from the economy to bad border policy. He could draw in housing, he could draw in inflation, he could draw it didn't matter what it was. He could pull it into the economy, he could pull it into the border and he kept going after the border. So he was better prepared with his outs. You know, if you're a player with his outs, and waltz was.
Speaker 2:I don't know whose waltz's prep team was, but they were terrible, or maybe he is, or maybe he's just a knucklehead and it might be just the knucklehead that he claims to be, you know, he may be just exactly that, but yeah, um, vance was really really smart in in his choosing with, you know, his, his what do you call it again? What did you call it? His, not his fallback? What was it? Oh, his outs, his, what do you call it again? What did you call it? His, not his fallback, what was it? Oh, his outs, his outs. There you go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was very smart with his outs because they knew, or, yeah, they knew that, uh, you know, in those polls with people were, you know, getting these polls, that, um, that was where they were scoring very high that people really agreed that. You know, you, gotta, we got to do something about this illegal immigration problem that we have. So he knew that going in, so keep driving home the point that people really resonate with on both sides, like that. That was a universal sentiment from you know, whoever the heck was polled, that everybody's pretty much in consensus this is a problem, we're having a big problem. So, like you said, keep bringing it back to that. And he was able to make those ties, those connections. Like you said, housing. You know why housing is, and will continue to be, unaffordable for the American people, so on and so forth. So that was the guy's just amazing, I mean, I can't.
Speaker 3:His two big moments, though One was fact-checking. The fact-checkers, yes, I was awesome and he got them. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2:He got them so good they had to turn off his mic.
Speaker 3:Right. So that was one, and the other one was he was the first person that I know all of us have been kind of screaming this along the way, but he was the first person to say out loud where he's like. You know, governor Walz, I don't envy you.
Speaker 3:I actually I feel sorry for you, because you have to stand up here and you have to talk about how great her performance has been and hasn't been and you have to talk about how great her policies are and they're not, and you know they're not and I feel sorry for you for for being stuck on this bandwagon. You know what I mean. Like that whole um kind of it was like I'm not a rant, but it was just like that statement was so impactful, um, that it wouldn't matter what wall said after that for the rest of the night he it was just like yeah right, I'm sorry, buddy, you got, you got, you got fed the sandwich and now you got to eat it, you know?
Speaker 3:And and yeah, that's really what it was.
Speaker 2:Yep, sucks to be you. I feel bad for you, and Walls is such a dolt that he didn't know what to say. I don't think he knew how to handle that. I think what they mentally literally prepared for was nothing like what they actually got with him. I think they expected snarkiness and outright hostility and they were unprepared. They were unprepared and Vance is just way, way too smart for all of them. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:So we laid this out Now. Do you think any of that moved the needle last night?
Speaker 2:Do you think that moved the needle at all with voters, you know? Or just simple curiosity? It's hard to you know, we, we are by nature. We're a little bit on the superficial side, right? It's just a human nature thing. We like things that are packaged attractively and we just like it. Right? Obama is a perfect example of a wonderfully packaged pile of stuff. You know, but articulate, you know, and I hate to make the comparisons because it's apples and oranges, but I'm talking about an aesthetic, really, the aesthetic of JD Vance versus Tim Walz. I mean, if you went with that alone, if our superficial voters were going on anything, they would probably go. I like him, I like the way he sounds really smart. I'm going to vote for him. Let's face it, there is a portion of our voting population I don't want to say it's a huge portion, but they're not really voting on issues, they're voting on likability and I feel like Vance gave an incredible amount of likability, balanced with intelligence, and I think he was just the whole package.
Speaker 3:It sounds like.
Speaker 2:I have a crush on him? I honestly don't.
Speaker 3:I just think he's that good, I mean so moving the needle for this, for this election, even a little bit's going to matter.
Speaker 2:I feel like it really could have.
Speaker 3:Because in the six battleground states which are going to determine the election, yeah, they're going to be close enough where a 3%, a 2% needle shift is big. So if it moved it that much, I would tell you that. You know, while Walls in some places didn't, he may not have lost ground everywhere, but he didn't gain ground anywhere, like literally nowhere. So you know, vance may not have gained ground in some places, but he did gain ground in other places. So there there is a plus, I think, overall, to the Vance side. I did love, like you said, his purses likeability. They're calling it the Vance glance. Now, have you seen it it when he was?
Speaker 3:like turning and then he was like breaking the fourth wall and like I love it. It was brilliant, it was great, um, but I, yes, I agree with you that you know that I think there was a potential for a slight needle move which could be significant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, Cause if you think about your, if you think about your, your lukewarm Trump voters, that they're like I mean, I guess I'll, I guess I'm going to vote for him because you know I've got to. But maybe, you know, maybe I could be swayed the other direction if they come across. Good enough, I think Vance solidified for them Like no, no, no, because this guy's next. You know he's in the wings, I'm good with that, That'll work for me. And then you're undecided. I mean, we're always talking about the undecided voters, you know.
Speaker 3:What about October surprise? Right, they always talk about the October surprise.
Speaker 2:I know, I know.
Speaker 3:Do you think there's still one out there? Do you have any? Any prognostications?
Speaker 2:things have been going. I can only imagine that there will be Right. I mean, I really actually hope not. I would like for us to be done with surprises and shocks. You know, especially in light of you know, everything that's been going on with Trump, all these attempts you know, that's my mind, that's like the first place it goes to. You know that it just gives me. It just gives me anxiety. So I'm hoping for no October surprise, but I won't be surprised if there's a surprise. How about you?
Speaker 3:No, I think so. There has a potential and it comes from one of our next two topics. Where are we going next? The dock worker strike Is that next let's go there next, because I think this is the one that may generate a surprise, and I know that the Democrats are working to not. Association, which are the dock workers for the entire East Coast, went on strike. What is it? 36 hours ago now? Give or take a little bit, monday night at midnight or Tuesday night, whatever it was.
Speaker 3:So the impact of that if you don't know what a longshoreman is or a dock worker is that every container load, everything that comes in and out of the ports from Maine to Texas has stopped. None of that stuff is being loaded off, loaded off of ships or loaded onto ships. Now this you know this guy, harold Daggett. If you've seen this guy, he is the head of the Longshoremen's Union Association. Whatever it is, this guy is a mafia criminal. He has said out loud that he is going to. He is using this to get what they want and he doesn't care. It is really extortion, yeah, and what they're asking for? The two biggest things that they're asking for? One is, over the next six years, a 77% pay raise. Understanding that the lowest paid dock worker in the Longshoremen's Union starts at $81,000 a year. Wow, okay, wow. So starts at 81,000. Some of these guys are up over 200 K with overtime and those sorts of things. So they're asking for 77 total percent over six years. And they're talking. They're asking for one of their negotiating points is no more technology on the docks, so they don't want automated cranes, they don't want any of that stuff because they want the work. Right, yeah, so no automation. Massive pay raise Right, that's what they're asking for and, like I said, the Democrats and I said this.
Speaker 3:I wrote a piece on this before the strike happened. One, pistol Pete, the transportation Secretary, is MIA, as usual. What a surprise, what a surprise. But so what? The timing of this is? Most people are not going to feel the impact of this before the election. So the administration is going to allow the dock workers to strike because they can't. You know, the Teamsters were like, hey, we're not endorsing anybody, they can't afford to lose another union endorsement. Yeah Right, so they can't get in the middle of this. Kamala Harris is already sided with the dock workers.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they're hoping. They're hoping that the economic impact of this doesn't come until after the election. After the election, they don't care, they don't care, not at all. Right They've won or they've lost, and they don't give a crap. Yeah, so this has the potential to be the October surprise. If it swings in a significant direction against the Democrats, if the impact is felt, this could be the absolute crushing blow to Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really interesting to me. So this Daggett he endorsed President Biden but then he got mad at them as the strike drew closer. By the way, he made $728,000 last year as union president, plus another $173,000 as president emeritus of New Jersey local. So he's making the big bucks there, so he's not hurting at all. And the dockworkers union has donated more than $ point six million dollars to Democrats under this guy. So this is just wild to me. I mean, if this ends up, ends up backfiring against them, against her, really that that could be pretty wild. That could be pretty wild.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So for the average consumer, what you're not going to see right away, although it's already, there's a little bit of panic. Buying started and I'm not going to be I don't want to be the person to make this worse but there is. Know American, you know American produced. You know goods are are fine, they're not. We're not going to have a shortage, including perishables. So if it's us grown perishables, we're fine. Right, yeah, coming in. You're going to see a shortage of bananas. You're going to see a shortage of coffee beans. You're going to see a shortage of those kinds of things. Right to see a shortage of coffee beans. You're going to see a shortage of those kinds of things right Now.
Speaker 3:Can they move it all to the West Coast? Possibly? Is there going to be some loss of product? You know on its way, probably. But what the economic impact is going to be when exports are no longer going out, right, we're not going to have critical shortages of, you know, need to have things to live, to survive, at least in the near term.
Speaker 3:But our agriculture, the wheat, the corn, the soybeans, all that stuff that gets exported if it doesn't go out and it goes bad? Oh, by the way, it's harvest time for those of you that don't understand how that works. Right, that stuff's all got to go and it's got to go. So our agriculture industry, all the way down to the individual farmer, is bracing for a catastrophe, because this stuff has the potential to be completely lost Again. We'll have it here in the United States and it'll drive prices down, which will be nice if they can't export it. But if they can't export it, it's an economic disaster for the agriculture industry. So you know, this strike is, you know, again, probably not going to feel the immediate impact, but if panic buying starts and you start to see shortages in the stores, it could turn very bad for the Democrats.
Speaker 2:Has Trump spoken out yet on how he would handle this? You know?
Speaker 3:I haven't seen anything. Um, you know, he's always pretty uh, he's pretty cautious. Yeah, most of the union guys in and around the tri-state area really like him. Um, and you know, this may be another one of those um instances. Very much, you know, and we're going to talk about Israel here in a minute but where he could be the guy that walks in and goes listen, we got to stop, you know, and he cuts the deal himself. He has that potential.
Speaker 3:He also has which Kamala Harris doesn't have, that he has the Reagan, you know, set of stones to be like okay, you're all fired, right, right, it's a national emergency. We're putting the country itself at risk. We're not fired, right, right, national emergency. Yeah, the country itself at risk. We're not going to tolerate this stuff. Yeah, you know, kind of in the same vein of how Reagan handled the air traffic controllers, you know, trump may just be like hey, listen, if you guys pick it and you don't go back to work and you stop things from, if you stop progress, we'll just start arresting you. You know what I mean. Like he's the guy that will go in there and through the BS and get this thing fixed Right. So, no, I haven't seen anything from him. But he is a guy again. He has the. He has the. You know gravitas to walk in there and fix it.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely, oh boy. Well, obviously that's going to be one we're all going to be watching anxiously and, to be honest with you, a little angrily too. My feeling after hearing all that is kind of like, how dare you? You, son of a guns, you're making money hand over fist, yeah, wow yeah, and with the knowledge and the don't give a hoot that it could and would cripple our economy, like, really, you know, it's a bad look, bad optics, if you ask me. But what do I know?
Speaker 3:Let's get back to your hurricane.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, that hurricane. So, yes, so uh, you know, as we said in the beginning, my very first Florida hurricane. Still don't know how that's even possible, with as many times as I go Um, my whole life really have been going to Florida very regularly, so I don't even know how that's possible. But just wow, wow, heartbreaking. I actually hesitated to even post anything after. You know, people were asking how we fared and everything.
Speaker 2:So we were on what they call the dirty side of the hurricane. So we were actually expecting, we were expecting a lot of damage. We were just anticipating it. They, they did all that, but they have a farm I've mentioned that many times, I'm sure a farm and horses and you know all that. So, yeah, I mean, they made all, as as you should made, all the preparations and we were just incredibly fortunate that it was totally fine. But so so many areas did not fare as well at all. That's like totally an understatement, as we're talking just some pictures from various areas. I mean this is just so, so sad. People have lost everything. There's still people missing. I heard and Clay correct me on this I thought it was a lot higher, but the number I keep seeing is that right now between 150 and 170 confirmed dead and I actually thought it was not. That that's not bad enough, but I actually thought it was higher than that. Have you heard different numbers?
Speaker 3:No, I heard 160. So I think we're in the same, obviously we're in the same wheelhouse, but it's yeah, I mean, that's confirmed. You know what the missing number is. Like you said, there are a number of people still missing, so that number is going to continue to climb, you know, and it.
Speaker 3:So this stretched obviously up the Gulf coast and then into Georgia, and then into the Western Carolinas which got smashed, and so you know, you've got all of the, all of the normal things that come with this type of, you know, natural disaster. Yeah, you've got the flooding, you've got the loss of power, you have the no cell phones, you have the, the, the loss of property, that you know all of that. And then obviously, the death, death toll rising, people missing, those sorts of things, and the states are doing everything that they can, as fast as they can, in reality, you know. So something to understand about the national guard is like when, when there's a hurricane that rolls through Georgia, while the Georgia national guard does respond in some sort, most of the members of the Georgia National Guard have been impacted by the disaster itself, so they don't get called right, so they're looking for help from Kansas and Missouri and, you know Ohio and those kinds of places. So, you know, you've got that and that takes a little bit. It takes a little bit of time. You've got some. You know stuff've got that and that takes a little bit. It takes a little bit of time. You've got some stuff that's got to happen. I know there are people with civilian helicopters that have been flying crazy operations to try and rescue people, to provide relief. You know, food and water and first aid and those kinds of things.
Speaker 3:No-transcript. But I mean this is, this is horrific because these are parts of the country that don't deal with hurricanes. Right, carolinas, I've been in the Eastern part of the Carolinas when hurricanes have rolled through and those people know what they're doing. Right, yep, get to the other side of the mountains, and they don't deal with this. No, parts of Georgia Same thing. This is. It's compounded by, you know, people not being prepared for this because it's not a thing. Sure, prepared for this because it's not a thing. And President Trump acting presidential. The day after it happened he flew in. He put up $25 million out of his own pocket and started a GoFundMe that was up over another couple of million dollars.
Speaker 2:I was going to say that the first number I saw was like 900,000. In a matter of like hours, and you know so he, he was in there acting presidential um.
Speaker 3:President Biden was asked on Monday at a press conference yeah, why he wasn't I think it was Ducey why he wasn't, why he wasn't at the white house commanding, controlling him, or vice president Harris? Yeah, you know, and he, he did what, what the grumpy old man does.
Speaker 2:He snapped back and said I was commanding.
Speaker 3:I was commanding. I was on the phone for two hours yesterday when everybody there's tons of pictures of him laying on the beach.
Speaker 2:Yes, so again we have an absent administration.
Speaker 3:Right, continue, much of the same, but you've got the one guy acting like a president who is not yet the president, Right, right, and he's standing in the middle of where people need him to be. Yep, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you still have your Trump haters. That all they see, that and all they say it's a photo op. Really no, the photo op is Kamala Harris with her head in her hand. You know, for taking a picture and pretending like she's, you know really hard you know it looks like you're about it. Looks like you're bored like. Whoever said that's the picture is an idiot you know, did you see that?
Speaker 3:that as soon as that picture came out, somebody was like hey, you have to plug the cord into the phone and oh, by the way, there's no writing on that paper. So total staged photo op total stage, yeah, oh it Just exactly what happened when she went to visit the border.
Speaker 2:Same thing what they say, she was there for like 20 minutes, took her pictures, pretended to be really interested, and then as soon as the cameras were done, she was out of there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, horrendous people. Yeah, president Trump, down there and listen. He's not down there slinging cinder blocks, helping people dig out of their house. If people expect that from him, they're expecting too much. They're expecting too much regardless.
Speaker 1:It's silly.
Speaker 3:He's down there. He's walking around, hold out the checkbook, yep, but he was at least there. He's not the president Right and he's not even in any office of any kind, right, right. And there were people upset because, you know, especially right there in Georgia, they were paying deference to him as if he was the president. And there are people who are really upset about it and it's like well, listen, the real president's not coming down here.
Speaker 2:So yeah, absolutely yes, yeah, these are. These are major, major events that you know, I would think have to be affecting undecided voters. It has to be even, maybe even some of the decided voters who said you know I'm voting for you know, maybe flip them over, but and it's, it's just truly again the word of the night for me. It's just truly again the word of the night for me. Baffling, Like how are you are running for president, talking about Kamala? You are running for president, you're, you're tasked with getting voters to to vote for you. You should be show, you should be showing your face at things. You should be doing press conferences, you should be out ahead of all of this at every turn and you know making the show of it. You know, because we know with her, it's a show and they're not doing any of these things.
Speaker 3:She doesn't understand leadership, and that's. That's the difference. President Trump understands leadership, he does I. You know. I wrote a blog a couple of years ago at the train derailment right you know I.
Speaker 3:Crystal Pete was also not at. But you know, good leaders in the military understand something called the point of friction. Right, and it's not necessarily where the battle's going to be or where the you know, it's the point where you know there's going to be the most friction and that you as a leader can, you know, de-conflict that and make things go smoother. Right, and, and that's what president Trump understands, he goes down to Georgia. He's not there, he doesn't. He doesn't get in the middle of things, he doesn't. You know, he takes a quick tour, he sees how bad it is, he understands, he commiserates with people a little bit, he writes a check and and then he, and then he leaves, but he just he shows his face and that alone sometimes is uplifting, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I. Just how many more times can this administration drop the ball? And yeah, I mean it's been, it's been every time, every circumstance, you know, another big, big ball drop that has been from the moment since October is this. I mean this stuff.
Speaker 3:So you know, expanding their offensive. For those that aren't tracking. So obviously they've been fighting Hamas, you know, in the occupied territories, inside of Israel itself. So Gaza, west Bank, et cetera. Hamas is an Iran backed terror organization. You can say they're the government for the Palestinians elected government, which they are. They're still a terrorist organization.
Speaker 3:Right, hezbollah, which is another Iranian backed terrorist organization, operates out of Lebanon. Right, and so they have been. You know, sworn enemy of Israel have been poking their nose into this. They've been launching strikes out of Lebanon, you know, into Israel, and Netanyahu finally said I've had enough. And you know there were some pretty extensive strikes. You know, I don't know if you've seen it, but there is a great graphic of the entire top three levels of the Hezbollah chain of command and every picture has got a red X over it because they killed all of them. They're all gone, right, so you know Hezbollah has been crippled. And then they started ground selective ground invasion, again into Lebanon, and as a result, so you've got the two Iranian bacteria organizations. Oh, by the way, they also struck some Houthi targets down in Yemen, another Iranian bacteria organization.
Speaker 3:And so what you got was last night, or the night before yesterday, during the day last night there, iran launched a hundred missiles. Just like last time. They launched them, they had to fly over Iraq, they had to try to get to Israel. Half of them were destroyed en route by us posted air defense. That's forward in theater. And then the rest of them hit the iron dome, and I think, the only one that caused any injuries. There were no Israeli casualties. One rocket or one missile landed in Gaza for crying out loud and there were some minor injuries because of that, so wounded Palestinians as a result. So Israel's dealing with all this and in the meantime, we find out that Biden hasn't spoken to Netanyahu in months.
Speaker 2:Months. I just this is crazy. How, how is this even possible? This is the most I mean. I don't want to call it inept, I mean it is inept, but how does anybody explaining this? It's like it's like literally nobody cares, like nobody cares.
Speaker 3:Well, I could tell you who stopped caring, and that's Netanyahu. He doesn't care what the United States thinks right now, because he knows the administration's a joke. He knows that they, you know, he I think he would probably take a phone call from secretary of defense Austin. Right, he might take a phone call from the secretary of state, but right now he would. That would just to humor them. Yeah, he does not care what our opinion is. No, because we've offered nothing, literally nothing, to help them. No, we've played both sides against the middle. We've been fence riding this whole thing and he's done screwing around with it. So you know, and good for him, this is piss, poor diplomacy on our part, really really bad, and it just is icing on the cake to every other bad thing that's going on right?
Speaker 2:now, Right, yeah, Well, you know, you have Netanyahu going over to Mar-a-Lago to hang out with Trump. Have that conversation with him. You have Zelensky showing up meeting with Trump.
Speaker 3:I mean, these are you know that didn't go well, by the way.
Speaker 2:No, it didn't, but he still showed up, still went and talked to him. I don't think he left happy. You know, that's very interesting, very interesting that they're like, well, we're going to have to deal with him. So I mean, I think that's to me that's a clear sign that they all believe who the next president is going to be. Otherwise why would they bother? Why bother?
Speaker 3:No, they, they know, I think, you know, outside the United States, they look inward and everybody pays attention to our elections. I mean there's no, they have to. You know everybody, every, you know ruler in the modern world, you know that has really everybody pays attention to our elections. So, and I think that they all know that Trump is the, you know he's the front runner and he is likely going to be the winner. And so they're starting to build those bridges back for those that don't have them. And you know, I actually saw a great article the other day when they polled, not polled, but they talked to some diplomats from other countries.
Speaker 3:Because there is this perspective, you know, kamala Harris said you know other, the rulers of other nations are laughing at us. You know, they're laughing at us because of Trump. They're laughing at Trump, they hate Trump, they don't care. They don't care In the sense of they have no control and they know that they have to deal with whoever wins the election. Right, and for them, you know, that's par for the course. They know that we turn over leaders every four to eight years. They know that there's a pendulum swing every time it happens. The rest of the world is used to it because it affects them. But as far as them being emotional about it, they're not emotional about it, not even at least.
Speaker 2:No, they're just waiting to see how it's going to affect them and what they need to do for their own preservation and success and economic growth and all of those things. It's like, okay, well, like you said, we don't have a choice, we're going to work with whatever we got. So whatever's next, it'll be what it'll be. But oh, my goodness. Well, we didn't bring a single bit of good news, did we? Well, I mean, kind of JD Vance kicking ass, that's good news, right, it was a single debate.
Speaker 3:Let's just put that it was two grownups standing on stage, not slinging mud at each other. Right right, and that's all any of us want.
Speaker 2:I'll take that as good news. You're right, I like that, you know. Just to kind of like sum up everything, the VP debate was a success for Americans, I think. Right, I think that was a success for us to show, to remind us that this can be done with civility. You can land those zingers, you can get your point across, you know, without being trashed.
Speaker 2:Basically, hurricane, obviously we're all watching anxiously. If you're a praying person, you know you pray for these people and if you're a person of action, do what you can. Trump's, of course, got that GoFundMe. If you're able to contribute to that, you know, do it. So many great people out there, always when you have crisis like this, that's when you see humanity come out. So if there's any kind of silver lining to such an awful catastrophe, it's the people that come out and, you know, just offer help. So that's incredible to see there's some good news there. Right, adding a little bit more. We're finding it, we're finding it and putting it out there. Right, doc, worker, strike man, oh man, we're all going to be watching that anguishedly. Don't go and buy all the toilet paper, guys. Don't do it, come on. You just you exasperate the problem tremendously by doing things like that. We're all going to be fine, so just calm down. Did we hit them all? And, of course it. We keep watching and praying for everyone affected there. Oh, my goodness, it's been quite a week, as usual. And, by the way, clay, as always, I have to say thank you for holding down the fort. Lastly, you slayed. The numbers were phenomenal, sir. You did a wonderful job.
Speaker 2:I have been sharing, so people have been leaving comments in my comment section about the 700. Oh, yes, yes, and they're leaving comments there and of course they're from the left, like well, 700. I'm like yeah, here's this link. Go watch this. I think you need a little schooling and I've been sharing the link to the show so hopefully they go and watch it because it will give them insight that they simply did not have before or at the time of writing those comments. So I hope they go and watch that show again, or at least that portion of it, to get schooled. So thank you for that. You gave me material to give to people and I don't even have to say a darn word. Just go watch this. Yeah, just three words Go watch this.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, great job, thank you, and, as usual, guys, I do this to Clay in an embarrassingly high number of times where I say, like days before did I even give that much notice? What a jerk, right? I'm like, hey, guess what? I'm going to Florida tomorrow. We can't, we can't record because I'll have screaming babies all around me. And you know, and Clay's so gracious, every time he's like no worries, I got it, I'll take care of it, and he does like a boss every time. So, thank you. I wanted to give you a public thank you for what you do. I appreciate it. You're welcome. I'm happy to do it. Awesome, all right, guys.
Speaker 2:Before the show we talked about what we weren't talking about tonight. So I'm thinking our next episode. We're going to touch on this whole P Diddy. I even hate saying the name. It's so stupid, yeah, so gross, so skeevy. I think we're going to touch on that next week. I'm sure other things will come up that we'll have to cover as well, but I think that's going to be one of them, guys. So we'll have a lot to say about that, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure. I think we're in the something's got to drop in that case and I think we're in that timeframe where that'll happen. So we will touch on that next week. Hey, listen, you know Elsa said it about the hurricane If you can give money, please give money. If you can give goods you know donate goods please do that. If you can donate your time and you're available, please do that. Whatever you can give is definitely appreciated. For those of you that don't deal with that sort of stuff, I would recommend you maybe live a little bit better prepared. I advise everybody that. But regardless of everything else from me, as always, we will see you next week and keep moving, keep shooting.
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