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In the aftermath of the 2024 election, America is even more divided than before. Half the country fears the end of democracy and the other half welcomes it. As America inches toward the brink of authoritarian rule, now more than ever, we must force ourselves to have the necessary conversation. Welcome to the necessary conversation. I'm Chad Kultgen, not in my regular office, as you might see. I'm what they call gallivanting.
With me is my sister, Haley Pop Pope. It's Pop. we It's Pop. we pronounce it? It's Pop. And my mom, Mary Lou Kultgen. Uh any ditties, Mom?
Uh yeah, I'd like to talk about uh my butterfly clip that I did, the backyard. Thank you, everyone, for looking in on that. I saw there were a lot of views. I made a couple mistakes on that. Let me [laughter] Let me backtrack.
Okay. Um I had said that the uh mimicking butterfly that looked like the monarch was called a queen. A queen kind of does, but it's really the viceroy. So, the viceroy mimics the monarch more than the queen. The queen has is more orange with spots. Um there are 70 different species of milk uh weed in North America, but [snorts] in Oklahoma and in my backyard, I have like five different species.
Um I forgot to bring up if you plant tropical milkweed, which is not is not a native. Once the migration starts from Canada going back down to Mexico, do cut that down. You need to get rid of that tropical because if not, they will stop and they will lay eggs, and then those uh butterflies will never make it all the way. So, the minute I see them migrate over my house, that milkweed, that tropical, is cut down.
And there's a lot of people that argue back and forth whether you should even have tropical, but I do have it to attract them coming the other way. Um our backyard is a way station, which I did have for that clip, but it didn't make it when someone edited it. Our backyard is way station number 31757. There are 260 way stations in Oklahoma, but there are 57,000 in the whole world, the global world. So, I'm very proud that our backyard is a way station. To have that, you have to have 6 hours of direct light, the food, uh the shelter for them, uh at least three or four
species of native milkweed, um and there are two different organizations. If you want to learn more, um monarchwatch.org and journeynorth.org. There you go.
Okay. And what are these organizations saying about how they are Uh What are these organizations saying about how Trump is now allowing monarchs to be killed?
They don't have anything on those websites, but they do track the monarchs and the numbers and we know that they're dwindling and down and it's sad. Yes.
Okay. Um as I've been gallivanting, I'm not sure that I have all of the proper news stories for this week. I do have six of them, but if I have left one out at the end of this, please feel free to jump in. Today, we're going to start with Trump lied about the reflecting pool. This week, Trump's lie about people vandalizing his reflecting pool project was exposed when the DOJ dismissed its felony vandalism case against David Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist. Prosecutors said newly received documents showed the damage was the result of a botched installation by a contractor, not vandalism. Prosecutors also pointed to the uh rush to complete
the project prior to the America 250 celebration around Independence Day, which is one of Trump's demands. Trump, without providing evidence, had alleged that the damage was caused by vandals, including a claim that somebody cut a 300-foot gash in the bottom of the pool with a box cutter. He has now publicly rejected his own DOJ's finding and chastised US Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the charges. So far, the project has cost around $16 million.
Crews have drained the pool for the second time in 3 months, and there is no projected date or time for when the repairs to the botched renovations will be complete.
So, why aren't we firing everybody? Everybody that was part of this lie. Yeah. Why aren't we just firing them? Well, let me ask this first, Mom. The DOJ [snorts] dropped the vandalism charges. Do you still think people vandalized the reflecting pool?
No. And I'm I don't No, I don't. No. Okay. am tired of talking about the damn pool. Uh fix it, be done with it, let's move on. It's ridiculous.
ready to throw somebody in jail for this. And Caroline Levitt, like everybody involved was 100% trying to convince you that like this man needed to go to jail. We have to find the people who did this. They knew that it that that wasn't the case. They just lied.
I I do believe now because I mean, but I saw little clips where like people were pouring things in the water. So, I was kind of believing some of that.
That's of hard. Those are lies. Okay. Well, I'm tired of the pool. Let's They need to stop it. The people lied. They lied to us.
No, not the people. Donald Trump. And he's still lying to you. Donald Trump is saying now that he does not agree with what his DOJ is saying.
Then he said saying that it was vandals. He is? Yeah, but he said not and he let the guy go. I thought he let the guy go.
His DOJ dropped the charges against this guy. He is saying, "I don't believe my DOJ." He's [ __ ] on his own DOJ now. He's still trying to say that it's vandals.
Yeah, it was an aunt. It was an aunt. Okay, so you are agreeing that Donald Trump is continuing to lie to you about this.
Yeah, X on that one. Yeah. So let's fire him. X on that one. So let's fire him. Let's add up the X's, right? And let's dump him. Dump Trump.
Well, you and I can't do that, but other people can. But you want to. But you want to. of X's. There's a lot of X's right now.
There doesn't need to be any more. Like you have enough. When are you just going to Let's dump Trump. But Mom, you're also kind of glossing over the important [ __ ] of this. Let me ask you this question. Why do you think Trump lied about the who was responsible for the reflecting pool damage?
I don't know. He wanted to get somebody other than himself to say it was their fault, not his. Yes, to keep you adversarial.
But it's not my fault. That's exactly what you're saying. Right, so and why would he want to do that? Because he wants to be the good guy, not the bad guy.
Right, he won't take accountability for any mistakes that he makes. The reflecting pool is just a small piece of a broader strategy that he uses with everything he does to deflect blame to literally anyone and everyone else in any capacity, even in this case when it means he is just outright lying and was willing to put a completely innocent person in prison for years because of something he did.
Right. That Does that not scare you? That he was willing to put this man in jail? This is just a US citizen minding his own business doing nothing and Trump was 100% willing to throw him in jail forever.
Yeah, he should be fired. He should be fired. The [ __ ] he's doing is like insane. The the whole thing needs to be done and over and forget it. It's ridiculous.
No, let's not forget it. Let's get rid of the president. Okay. Can I say one thing? This was not on our topics and I thought it was weird that you didn't Maybe you didn't see this in multiple um media outlets over in Iran, they ran this video clip um I guess it was propaganda to get Trump all upset. How to assassinate the first lady and Barron. Did you see that, Chad?
I didn't see it. It's probably not real. No, it was real because it I got on and snoop snooped it and whatever and it was for real.
you snooped it? No, snooped. I snoop snooped it and um it was an AI and it was a propaganda video that described how to assassinate her because of the stores where she went and then Barron was also at the end. They said it was released for uh psychological intimidation and to send a message to Trump.
Okay. When Dad and I viewed it, Dad was like, "Holy crap. He's going to get it now. [clears throat] The big one's going to drop now."
I never saw it, so I think it's not real. We're going to I didn't YouTube? It's all over YouTube. All right, I I don't know what you're talking about, so I'm going to have to pull a you on this. I'll look into that. Let me study [laughter] it. Let me look into it. I want to go back to this reflecting pool thing though cuz you're just glossing over this. This is a big [ __ ] deal. He was caught in a giant lie that was at the expense potentially of a completely innocent US citizen. His own DOJ has said it was a lie. We're
dropping the charges. He's still claiming that it was because of vandalism. He's still maintaining the lie. That doesn't in your mind it it you're like, yeah, it's an X and then you're ready to move on. But like
that he's crazy. If his DOJ said, "No." Correct. And you're you're you always just kind of gloss over all of these things that he does.
say? You [ __ ] You finally once and for all say, "Fuck Donald Trump." You don't have to go along with this [ __ ] Every [ __ ] X like there How many we got now? 293? What what does it going to take?
I don't know. He's [ __ ] as [ __ ] like through and through. Everything he does. But now I mean I'm not going to go as hard as Haley is going on you here, but you are this is one more thing that not only you're saying is an X. This one in my opinion is like we caught him red-handed. Even his own DOJ has turned against him. You see now that he was willing to imprison someone who had nothing to do with any of this and in fact it's his fault.
And that is just an X to you? Is he still your president? He's the president. That's a pretty big X. It should be a hell no.
I swear in the beginning I believed it. I believed somebody did do that. That's their intent. They tried to grift you. They lied to you to keep you in this state of like it's them, it's not me. It's always him.
Okay. But even think about the lie he told that someone took a box cutter and slashed a 300-ft cut in the bottom of the pool.
It's just so he's I never believed that one. I believe someone dumped something in there to change the nitrates into the water to make it a different color.
But now you know they didn't. And now you know they didn't. Right. So just [ __ ] denounce him. Over the pool? I'm not going to denounce him over that.
Over him continuously lying to you. Over the reflecting pool, which is of no importance to me right now? Exactly. Exactly. So take that face value. The reflecting pool is very small potatoes, right?
Compared to what's happening in thing, right? Right. was willing to send a man to prison for decades for something he did not do simply to make himself look a little better on the reflecting pool. If he's willing to do that for that, what do you think he's willing to do for the Epstein files? For the war in Iran? For any of the big things that he's lying to us about?
I don't think any judge would have allowed that to happen, for someone to go to prison over that. But now you're That's your second thing that you deflect back to. Well, fine, he did lie and said all this bad [ __ ] but no judge would have allowed it to happen. The The point is Trump is trying to do these things. He's now been caught in this lie blatantly. His own DOJ turned against him. And now he's saying, "Fuck you, DOJ. You're wrong. I'm right."
And then your your secondary kind of line of defense logically is to say, "Well, it wouldn't happen anyway." That doesn't matter. He's trying to make it happen. Hello?
Yes. I'm here. Let's move on to our next topic, World War III. [clears throat] [snorts] As we enter week 23 of Trump's illegal war with Iran, Saudi Arabia joined US strikes on Iran-backed militants in Iraq, killing at least 20, including five IRGC members. Jordan and Kuwait reported incoming Iranian strikes, and Egypt was hit by a drone attack of unclear origin. All while Trump is threatening fresh strikes this weekend on civilian infrastructure, a war crime.
China and Russia now are openly aiding Iran with technological and intelligence aid, including the location of US military operations and installations, making it easier for Iran to strike American targets. The war is deeply unpopular in the United States with only 28% of Americans approving of Trump's lack of strategy. Mom, you were, when Biden was in office, all the time, constantly worried that he was going to start another World War, that he was going to start a war with Iran.
China and Russia are now openly helping Iran and opposing US military actions, giving them intelligence about where to bomb our bases. How worried are you about another World War now?
Huge. Okay. Huge. And with that clip that you guys did not see, that said, "This is how we can kill his wife and son." Dad and I even watched it, and we said, "Holy shit."
Mhm. Now he's got something to get drop the big one on him. I'm really afraid. I really am afraid. You're advocating for a nuclear weapon to be used against Iran?
I'm not advocating for that. No, I don't want that. But now he does have a big reason. They're coming after his wife, his kid.
He created this mess. He created this. For them to come and kill his wife and kid. The fact that we are at the brink of World War III is Donald Trump's fault, 100%. And now you're focused on this propaganda that probably isn't [ __ ] real, when you should be focused on the fact that all of these other countries are getting involved. China and Russia are now aiding the people that Donald Trump is trying to [ __ ] blow up.
What do you think's going to happen? He created all of this. We are in this because of him. Do you think it's right though if we do just okay, we're over, we're done, we pull out, and we leave? And our Americans that lost their lives there, to me that was in vain. How can we do that to our American lives?
what you do? You hold Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and everybody responsible for their deaths. You hold them responsible for that [ __ ] You put them in [ __ ] prison.
But Mom, also what are you talking about? If you're saying that the right now you view any American loss of life in the war in Iran as in vain, right?
Not in vain if we don't if we don't do what we set out to do, it is. And what did we set out to
What did we set out to do? What were we supposed to be doing there? To help the good people to get rid of the bad people.
And so how how is bombing their their uh He wants to take out their bridges and their electricity. How is that helping the people of Iran?
Getting rid of the bad people, I guess. How does that get rid of the bad people? How does getting rid of their their their way out of there, their way across borders? How is taking out bridges and electricity helping people and getting the bad guys? How is that helping?
That part I do not know the answer to. That is just cruelty. That is Donald Trump at his core. He is a cruel [ __ ] dictator.
I think he's trying to make them surrender to us by doing that. But you're you're talking about saying he now has a reason to drop the big one in quotes, where you believe he should go and then blow more [ __ ] up. How do you think that uh de-escalates a possible world war that now has China and Russia openly aiding Iran?
Yeah, it does not. Correct. So, now the very thing that you feared most about Joe Biden starting war with Iran that would lead to a third world war, Trump is literally doing it now. That was one of the things you hated most about Biden. Now Trump's doing it. Do you hate it just as bad from Trump?
Yes. Yes. Okay. So, you can see that Trump then Of course I do. is doing something that you feared Biden would do. One of the reasons you hated Biden is now something Trump is doing.
So, do you hate Trump? Mhm. I hate what he is doing right now in this war. I have told you that. Okay. You hate everything he's doing.
Yeah, so far we we haven't really found Sorry, go ahead, Mom. I hate that we're losing lives. I hate the war. I want it to be done and over somehow and I don't I don't see the end yet.
If this was Joe Biden, if Joe Biden had done all this [ __ ] you would denounce him as your president. I can say that with certainty.
You denounce him as your president. I don't like the way the war's going for sure. But you denounced Biden as your president and he didn't do any of this stuff. You denounced him on the basis that he might do these things or you thought that he might do these things or that he was falling asleep all the time. Well, somebody else is doing that, too.
Toward the end of his presidency, I really do not think he was running our country. I really felt um Obama was Uh-huh. telling him what to do from a distance. I really do or telling the cabinet what to do.
Okay. That's fine. But but how was the country running then? What? When Biden was president? Do you think we're in worse shape now than we were when Biden was president?
I think right now the world is out of control. I'm I'm asking about the world. Do you think America is in worse shape now than it was when Biden was in office?
I think there's more crazy people and I do think it's a little bit worse. Yes. Right. That's Donald Trump's fault. You can draw a straight line from basically every problem we have in this country right now or everything comparatively as a problem. Uh rising prices of everything, gas, groceries, blah blah blah. That's because of Trump's tariffs and his uh horrible relationships now with all of our trade partners globally.
The war in Iran. Obviously, he started that without congressional approval. Nobody thinks it's a good idea. Nobody's ever thought it was a good idea. He has no exit plan and now he's just do doing his daily threats on Twitter. I'm going to bomb your bridges. I'm going to blow you up. All this [ __ ] [ __ ] Uh this reflecting pool thing. He's he's now willing to jail people uh innocent people to make himself look better. ICE. You don't like what ICE is doing. They're again rounding up people.
I I saw a bunch of videos uh this week about it. Where they're just [ __ ] uh forcing people down in the streets who are here legally, not US citizens, but on their way to get that status. And uh they're just rounding up whoever they can. So all these things are because of him. Policies he has implemented, things he is doing.
And we do have closed borders. Thank god. Mhm. Did you see what happened in Spain? Yes. Yeah. So thank god we have closed borders or that could be happening to our country.
Okay. Fine. And it did. All [laughter] right. We've got closed borders, right? Yes. We have a war in Iran. We have escalating prices on everything. We have uh pedophiles being protected by the United States government in the Epstein files. We have ICE in the streets killing people without repercussion. All of this you think is worth, in quotes, closed borders?
I like our borders are closed. Just I did Yes, I do. And you just polish over that. No, I'm not polishing over it.
Yes, you do. You don't think about that. No, think about that. They are protecting grown men who raped children. That alone should have you concerned. That is more important than closed borders, in my opinion. Finding all of these people that raped children, trafficked children, that is more important than closing the [ __ ] border.
Of course, I don't agree with what you're saying. You You don't agree that they're protecting pedophiles? No, I I agree that that is not right.
Okay. That is more important. That is the most important thing happening in the United States is that there is a cover-up of the [ __ ] Epstein files because Trump is in them. The president of the United States is part of that ring. That is why we don't have all the information. That is why we don't have all the names, because he's part of that ring.
That's your opinion right now. No, it's not. We know that his name, even in the unredacted stuff they released, has appeared more than anyone else. They did, just this week, I didn't put this on the list, um but a judge ordered the DOJ to turn over unredacted files to that judge. That judge now has them and is reviewing them. But what is in those files, who knows?
Like, did they give the judge all of the redacted files? We don't know. It's It's very clear that Trump, his DOJ, Todd Blanche, they are all trying to protect whoever is in those files. How could you think it was anyone else other than Trump, knowing that he's already in the unredacted [ __ ] that many times? And every time he even this week he came out and was like, "I can speak about the Epstein files because I'm exonerated, so it's fine."
Every time he speaks about them, he mentions that he's not guilty. He's exonerated. That's been proven. Why would he have to say that all the time?
I don't know. There's something else he hadn't brought up. Did you see where Trump it is so bad that the truck drivers that do not have the correct licenses that should not be in those trucks, he is doing stop checks, going to pull them out, and guess who he's putting in there to drive?
Elon Musk. Our veterans. Okay. Our veterans. How do you think that you Yeah. How do you think real. He was on TV about it.
So, you're telling me that if your first language is Spanish, that you don't know how to drive a [ __ ] car? I didn't say that at all. I said people that do not have the correct licenses to be driving those trucks.
Right. How do you think a person who does not have the correct license gets behind the wheel of one of those trucks? How does that happen?
Right. Your governor gives them the licenses in California. Okay. To get that license, you have to go through training. Extensive training to be able to drive a semi truck.
Apparently not in California. Okay. Yes, that is a lie. That's a lie. Just like you have to take all these tests to become a driver.
Mhm. Same goes for any kind of truck, machinery, like you must pass tests. That is not what I've read, but Well, what you've read is incorrect. You cannot drive a semi truck without having that license. To get that license, you have to go through extensive training because obviously a semi truck is not like driving your car. It's a a much bigger machine that has a lot more bells and whistles, and you got to know what the [ __ ] you're doing with that machine.
You cannot get that license unless you have not only gone through the training, you have to pass the course. You have to pass the training.
Well, that's the logical story. It should be that way. It is that way. It is that way. somehow your governor who? [ __ ] Smokey Joe?
[laughter] Somehow your governor gave people licenses they should not have. We talked about this before in another podcast. not true. But like you are, Mom.
Snoop it. I'll snoop I'll snoop you. Yeah. [laughter] Please snoop that. Um all right, let's move on. Speaking of snooping something, we all need to start snooping Mitch McConnell. This week Mitch McConnell's office released a second proof of life photo showing the senator alongside his wife Elaine Chao, uh which the office said was taken this week. The photo came with an official statement in which McConnell said he is quote working hard to return to the Senate and is still undergoing intense physical therapy. He has been hospitalized since June 14th after a fall at his DC home. He's missed 38 roll call votes and has done no media
interviews since or made any public appearances. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has called on McConnell multiple times to release more information about his health or make some kind of public statement or appearance. Most people believe the photos released by McConnell to be AI-generated or digitally altered in some way. The deadline for McConnell to be cleared to be declared unfit for office, triggering a special election in which Trump enemy Thomas Massie could run, is tomorrow.
Mom, why do you think Mitch McConnell can't make a video just saying, "Hey, I'm alive. I'm in the hospital. I'm doing some stuff."?
I don't think he's dead like what you guys think he is. Then why can't he make a video? I think he's in rehab.
You've we've had a family member in rehab. Okay? Yes, been in rehab. He could definitely make a [ __ ] video. Yes, he can.
Right. He said he can't. So, why I Mitch McConnell? I don't know, but when I Googled when I Snapchat not Snapchat when I chat GPT not Snapchat. [laughter]
When I snapped I heard say and snooped it. Hesbeth It is important to note that August 3rd is the only relevant is only relevant relevant [laughter]
relevant Hesbeth snooping on a Hesbeth. relevant Stop it. I've had bad days. If the seat becomes vacant, for example, if he resigns or dies.
Right. he is simply still in rehabilitation No. he can remain a senator. There is no legal consequences tied to April 3rd. He can continue to recover while retaining his seat even if he is unable to return to the Senate immediately.
You can't That's what they're going to do. The August 3rd date triggers a special election in which Thomas Massie, although I think he said that he wouldn't run anyway, but Thomas Massie could run and and he's a huge anti-Trump guy. So, they're trying to kind of beat out the clock.
Drag it out, yeah. They have to keep him, quote, alive until August 3rd and then once that date passes, there can be no special election and it will just go into the normal midterm election where the the Republicans that primary Thomas Massie can run and Thomas Massie has no shot.
I can't wait to see how they spin this because you know it's going to be a death announcement halfway through August or at the end of August.
Yeah. How are they going to spin that? He went from like, "Look at me taking photos with my wife. I'm just recovering." to [ __ ] death.
They don't have to spin it. No one It's like, "What can be done?" No one's doing anything about this. That's the whole point that I don't think like still Democrats don't understand. The Republicans don't give a [ __ ] They are lying straight to our faces 24/7. This thing with Trump and the reflecting pool is proof of that. He's still lying even after his own DOJ is like, "No, no evidence. We're dropping all the charges." He's like, "Fuck you. It was still box-cutting vandals."
They don't care. As long as they are still in power, that's all that matters. And so with this Mitch McConnell thing, it's like, "Lie, lie, lie. AI-generated image. AI-generated image." Mom, do you think that those two images you've seen those images of him? Do you think they're real?
They look a little fishy. Okay. So why do you think they'd be putting out fake images of him? Maybe he can't sit up, but he's still in rehab.
Mitch McConnell can't come to the phone. Why? Cuz he's dead. I don't think they would lie to us that way. You're out of your [ __ ] mind. You know that they're lying. You know it.
We'll see. I don't think he is. I really don't. The [ __ ] dude has rigor mortis by now. He is [ __ ] gone. He's done.
Do you think, Mom, any senator should be able to miss 38 roll call votes in a row and still have their job? Absolutely not.
No. Okay. So you think Mitch McConnell should be fired at the very least? Probably. Replaced. Okay. Interesting. Um I personally think he is pro- maybe not like dead, but is definitely in a kind of medical state that has rendered him incapable of ever doing this job again, and they are just trying to run out the clock. That's the only thing that makes sense here. Otherwise, we would have a video of him at the very least, a 10- to 15-second video just saying like, "Hey guys, I'm I know I haven't been in in the Senate for a minute. I'm battling some health issues, but I'm getting
better, and I'll see you soon." Something like that is all he's got to do. Nothing. The only thing we've had are two people have said they had a phone call with him. I forget who the other one was, but one was Scott Jennings, who's a Republican talking head on CNN. And it was like, "I had a phone call with him for 17 minutes." And he gets this this fake bravado like, "I'm outraged." kind of thing. All the same playbook that all Republicans do.
Um meanwhile, he couldn't talk tell us what Mitch McConnell said on that call. I don't whatever the call was, maybe he connected to Mitch McConnell's phone for 17 minutes, but I don't think Mitch McConnell did any talking.
I think it's all just a lie. They're just lying. I do, too. He got a payday and he lied about it. I think so, too. Um let's simmer down. This week, the simmer down news is my gallivanting.
Yes. Any questions? Where are you? Right now, I'm in Paris. Next question. Are you to any of the fires? No. You wearing sunscreen?
Uh I'm wearing a cowl. I'm wearing a black hooded jacket that I cover my entire head and uh body with when we go outside. And people people [laughter] One person specifically is embarrassed by it.
What is the most fun thing you've done? Uh today we went to Serge Gainsbourg's house. Um and it was really cool. They turned it into a museum. You walk through. It's a guided tour. His daughter is doing the a little voiceover about what it was like to grow up with him and all this kind of stuff. It was really really cool. Kind of creepy, um but very neat, as well. But we've also done just some like basic touristy stuff. Eiffel Tower.
Um we tried to go to the catacombs. We did the Louvre last time. Um we tried to go to the catacombs, but it was sold out or whatever. We couldn't get a ticket. So, we just left.
cool. Yeah. Been going on a a of metros, walking through a lot of clouds of BO. That's been fun. And smoke, right? A lot of people smoking. Apparently.
More vaping than smoking, but yeah. Um has it been Huh? Would you like to live there someday? No. Have you So America is better?
Yeah, I like Los Angeles. Have you been able to find vegan cuisine very easily? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that hasn't been too tough. That's good. That's good. Any pastries?
Um yeah, we've eaten some pastries, a lot of bakeries. We went to this one bakery. There were [snorts] I thought of you, obviously. There were literally bees everywhere in the bakery, like on the pastries and stuff, and I was like, "Now this is a hive bakery."
Ah, croissant with a bee. Croissant will sting. Exactly. Okay. Uh but no, it's been pretty good. We went to see a movie. I saw The Odyssey while I was here.
How was that? The movie theater-going experience, we went to kind of a multiplex, like an AMC equivalent, you know. Uh-huh. Very interesting. I mean, I'm spoiled in Los Angeles, obviously. Wasn't great. The projection was very bad. It looked bad, and the theater itself was kind of just like run-down and shitty. The movie
[snorts] B minus. Huh. Spider-Man came out yesterday. Yeah, it did very well. I saw that. Um but overall pretty good. It's been a pretty good trip so far.
Would you stay longer if you could? Um no. [laughter] Okay. All right. [gasps] Let's move on to our fourth topic. This is another one of Trump's lies. This week he lied about American casualties. This week Trump altered the actual number of American deaths in Iran in an effort to make it look like fewer troops have been killed in his botched war. The four American troops killed during renewed US-Iran fighting are no longer listed in the Defense Department's official Iran war death toll. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the quote Iran military conflict had claimed 18 lives, but by Wednesday
the Pentagon uh system's figures fell back to 14 dead and 420 wounded. When the New York Times first reported that four US deaths had disappeared from the casualty reporting website, the Pentagon called it a quote temporary data disruption. It later emerged the deaths had been classified three separate ways on the Pentagon system. Separately, three military officials told the Times uh the official count had been changed from 18 to 14, and the Pentagon couldn't fully explain why.
Mom, why do you think the Pentagon reduced the number of deaths of American soldiers in Iran? I think in any war with ongoing casualties and deaths, it's hard to count. I mean, even like Vietnam war, they couldn't count daily like that.
What? Um when I Googled myself on three different sites, it was 18 that had been killed and 600 wounded. So, my numbers are different than what you guys have pulled up.
but you have 18 I mean, I wrote this uh yesterday. Those numbers might have been like upgraded today. The 18 deaths though, you do have that. That's what Trump tweeted as well, and then it got reduced to 14 the next day.
That is strange. I don't know. That's strange. Well, why why would they be doing that? What's one reason that you can think of?
it look better than it is. Yes, to lie. To deflect blame. To make it look like this war What's going on over there?
I'm going to ask right now. Who? What are you doing? Who are you asking? I'm asking my um Snoop. Chat GPT. Okay. How many deaths are
Chat GBT is not a reliable news source, just to let you know. Why not? Also, like what [sighs] What a slap in the face to those four people and their families.
Yeah, exactly. Like Jesus Christ. Can you imagine like you give your [ __ ] life for the country and like your son, your daughter, your husband, your wife, like somebody has died and to diminish it, you know, like you don't even list their names. Like that's [ __ ] disgraceful.
Forget even dying for your country. You gave your life for Trump's stupid war. Exactly. As of today, August 2nd, there is no widely confirmed reports of new deaths in the ongoing war in Iran. News today has focused on diplomatic efforts with President Trump saying he would hold off an additional US air strike. The total death toll still remains at 18 servicemen killed since the war began.
Okay. And that is very sad. So, right. We now have evidence that they have lied about this number. They tried to downgrade it to 14. So, even as you're getting this number, 18, do you think it's possible more people have died that they're not telling us about?
100%. Maybe. 100%. And I didn't go on the White House page. I don't I don't have time to do that. You'll yell at me.
Who will yell at you? Nobody's going to yell at you. No, you can look at it, but I mean the White House page is like it's Pete Hegseth posting that uh war propaganda of like soldiers being like, "Send me. Send me." Have you seen that [ __ ] that he's posting?
Yes, [ __ ] disgusting. campaign. Where's the picture of Barron Trump? Right. Who by the way, I don't have this on here, but he now is being involved in all this crypto scam [ __ ] with his parents, too. So, he now is making [ __ ] loads of money off of crypto scams, insider trading.
Right. Wow, did not know that. family is corrupt. They all belong in [ __ ] prison. Okay. Every one of them. All right, moving on. Flock cameras. Have you heard about Flock cameras, Mom?
Yes. I did not, but then I researched it and I have some right here in the city I live. I had no idea.
You probably have a bunch. As the American surveillance state grows, Flock cameras have taken center stage in the argument for privacy. Flock Safety is the largest provider of AI-powered cameras that record every passing car, cataloging make, model, color, plate number, bumper stickers, even scratches, and they upload it to a nationwide database that any agency with Flock with a Flock contract can search with no oversight. So, that's cops, that's Palantir, that's any government agency. We don't get to see that footage. So, if we want to see bad [ __ ] cops are doing or we want to see where government people are going and what
kind of bad [ __ ] they're doing, [ __ ] you, you don't get to look at it. It's only them who use it to look at us. This week court records came to light that revealed a Texas deputy in May used Flock's network to hunt a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion, logging the reason as {quote} "Had an abortion, search for female." The search swept 83,345 cameras across 6,809 networks, reaching into Washington and Illinois where abortion is legally protected. Under Trump, the number of Flock cameras in the US has risen from 6,205 in January 2025 to 116,084 by July 2026, an increase of roughly
110,000 Flock cameras. People have sawed Flock cameras down in New York, thrown paint on them in Oakland, and rammed a truck into them in Idaho. While cities including Los Angeles and Denver have dropped contract with the company. Um Mom, do you think the police or anyone should have access to be able to track everyone?
No. No, that was a lot of information. I thought when I first read about it, it would help Haley find out who car keyed keyed car keyed her car.
You know, you said By the way, for that car keying, didn't you say one of the people who that got their key card has a Tesla?
Yeah. Teslas have cameras all over them. They should have footage of it. Um I'm I had There's a detective that's on the case. There's eight cars involved now, and I do believe that there is a suspect, maybe. They're finding some [ __ ] so
They better run. They better run and hide. Could that camera find him? What a Flock camera? Yeah. Uh I mean, potentially. If there was one there. Yeah.
But you're missing the the bigger issue is not that they're going to use Flock cameras to find the person who vandalized Haley's car. They're using it to track down a woman who had an abortion potentially in a state where it's legal.
Right. I I understood what you said. I misunderstood what the cameras were used for. That's like That's like some [ __ ] Handmaid's Tale [ __ ]
Yeah. Yeah. It's Yeah. A surveillance state. They're just watching you, waiting, hunting you down even. I know. Not good. So, Mom, why do you think the number of Flock cameras has increased by over 80% under Trump?
They're trying to find out more things about people, I guess. No, you're not hearing the question. What? Why Why has the number of them exploded with over 100,000 new cameras going from 6,000 to 110,000 under Trump.
Trying to find people coming after him, maybe? You're You're not getting it. No, I'm not. I guess not. This company, Flock Safety They can't put these cameras up without approval from state and federal government. So, he's allowing this company to put their cameras everywhere. He allows Palantir. He asked Palantir this week to create a database of every human being in the United States. He wants to have a surveillance state so that he can find anybody at any time and say, "That's a criminal." Just like the guy who was at the reflecting pool doing nothing.
"That's a criminal. Put him in jail. He vandalized a reflecting pool. He's antifa. That's a leftist terrorist." Whatever. He just needs to know where people are so that he can get them and do whatever the [ __ ] he wants with them. It's like ICE, too. They're just rounding up whoever they want, throwing them in half handcuffs, putting them in prison, and and throwing away the key.
None of these people are criminals. Do you see the parallels between this and Nazi Germany now? Do you like understand what's going on? Not with cameras. This is It's like a ramped up Nazi Germany because we have AI tech. You don't understand it? I see what you're trying to tell me, but I don't I don't see it quite like that.
You are being I mean, this already happened. This is what Edward Snowden tried to kind of like unveil to us all. The NSA already has technology where they can just type in your name, enter, they can essentially watch your computer, cell phone, any device you have. They can look at anything on it. All your emails, messages, where you're going, what you've bought, what you're watching, what you're listening to.
That's what Edward Snowden was trying to warn people of. And that's why he had to flee the country um because he basically did a a whistleblower thing where he was like, here's what the NSA is doing. That is obviously classified information, but it was important information to let us all know what our own government is doing in terms of surveilling us. Now, it's out in the open. Now, uh companies like Palantir, like Flock Safety, are making deals with Trump to put their [ __ ] in everything so that they can collect all of the data, watch all of us all of the time, and then
Trump will be able to use that or whoever's in charge will be able to use that technology, that database, and that level of surveillance to pinpoint anybody they want, and find anything they want on us. And you go to jail, and you go to jail.
I can't imagine that being able to be perfected and happen with all of the people. I really can't. it now. What are you talking about?
I just I don't know. It's like over my head, I guess. How is it over your head? That every person could be identified in the whole United States
Yeah. by a camera. Yes. With facial recognition technology. They already have this in New York. The cops have a system like this that they use right now. So, if they have like a suspect and they have a picture of a suspect, they throw it into this [ __ ] thing, and it's like, where is that person? And it goes into all the public cameras, and they're like, there it is.
There's the person. And they get the wrong people, too. I do remember a story about that where they got the wrong guy. Yeah.
I don't know that I've seen that story, but th- this technology already exists. What what this story that I'm trying to explain to you is Trump is like throwing gasoline on it and getting rid of any kind of government regulation for these companies that want to have surveillance of every US citizen because he's making money off it. He's benefiting from it. When he, for example, buys stock in companies that give technology to Palantir 2 weeks before he allows Palantir to make the deal to get those technologies, he has made more money in this last year than he has made, I believe, in his entire life
combined. Wow. Yeah. You don't think that's a little suspicious? That's a lot suspicious. Yeah. He's a criminal. All right, moving on, I guess.
[laughter] Uh the sixth topic I have today on our list is the Fauci hearing. This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator Rand Paul, for a hearing on COVID-19's origins and the pandemic response. For nearly 3 hours, Fauci declined to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times. The dynamic was sharply partisan.
Republicans, led by Paul, rehashed claims that COVID emerged from a lab in Wuhan rather than transferring naturally from animals and criticized Fauci's pandemic recommendations. Uh Republican senators repeatedly tried to goad him into responding, which he did not do. Democrats defended him, casting the hearing as an effort to entrap him into perjury, and top Democrat Gary Peters accused Republicans of, {quote} "relitigating history and scapegoating one person." Fauci holds a pardon, but his legal team concluded he shouldn't answer any new questions because Republicans had implied the pardon wouldn't apply to new statements.
Um did you watch any of this hearing, Mom? See any clips of it or anything? Yeah, it was [ __ ] clips where he refused to answer.
Yeah. The way that they treated him, specifically there was one guy that like was cussing at him and [ __ ] Yeah. The treatment was like unbelievable.
Well, he's a criminal for starters. What's the crime? What did he do? The crime is that he lied to us where the virus came from. That he lied to us that 6-ft social distancing had to be done. He made that up himself. That masking was effective. Um, we had a mental health crisis when he did this to our country. There were more youths that committed suicide than deaths from COVID.
There was more domestic violence during the time that he locked us down. Uh, vaccination was made very quick. It was not A lot of people said it was not safe. Some people said they died from it. And we do know people died from COVID, too. But just the way he handled it, I I I think it was very bad. And I think I would call him a criminal.
So, let me There's a lot that you just said there. Let me ask you about You said when he locked us down. Right.
Meaning when we all had to stay in our houses and quarantine. Right. So, do you think that he did that to the whole world?
He did it to the United States to start. And then every other country did the same [ __ ] because this was a [ __ ] pandemic.
He was not transparent to us where the virus came from to start. on. Hang on, Mom. Let's stay focused on this. [snorts] Do you think Fauci was responsible for quarantining the entire world?
No. Okay. So, then we can erase that one from the list of the things the complaints that you had. We can get rid of that one, right? Cuz the whole world did that.
Right. They They just followed what he said to do. When in fact we didn't know what to do. I'm not I'm not I'm not I don't think that's right. I don't think that's right. We were not the first country to quarantine.
And we were certainly not the There were lots of countries that were still under quarantine when we were released to go out in the public.
China was the first country to enact large-scale quarantine and lockdown during COVID, specifically locking down the city of Wuhan. Um and on and on after that. It was not us.
He misled us saying that that was from a virus from dead animals or whatever, when in fact it was from that the lab that leaked it.
No, there there still is no evidence either way. Nobody knows. And certainly there is very definitely, I think, some kind of cover-up being done by the Chinese government in regard to that, uh where it actually came from or whatever, but nobody actually knows. And what you're talking about with the vaccine killing people, there's no evidence of that. The only evidence we have about how the vaccine affected pandemic or affected people who who had COVID was that it actually reduced mortality rates.
Just like any vaccine. Think about influenza. Think about all the vaccina- vaccinations that we get as children. At one point in time people died from those. They no longer die from those things because we have vaccinations. What was he to do? What were we supposed to do?
Yeah, I didn't not want a vaccine for COVID? You want it to just run rampant? I didn't take the vaccine. I thought it was made too quickly, too fast, and I was willing to get the virus, to let my body try to overcome it than take a vaccine that I didn't know what was in it.
That's insane. Your father and I did not take the vaccine. You know this. That's crazy. And we made it through. We did I did get COVID and so did your dad.
Well, I took multiple I took multiple vaccines and nothing happened to me. Okay, ask your brother. I took multiple vaccines and also got COVID.
[laughter] I mean, yes, I also got COVID. And he also had the room spinning around and became very sick. What? On the booster. You told me on the booster you became very sick.
almost died getting the vaccine. The room was spinning. that is a a massive exaggeration. It did make me a little sick, but as any vaccine can do.
Okay, whatever. Okay, whatever, but I didn't That happens when you get like the flu shot. No, it does not with me. I get flu shots, I get pneumonia shots.
Fine, it happens to other people. Like you get a little hit of that virus. Well, I happen to know one of dad's friends died from the vaccine, got blood clots in the lungs, it was gone 6 months later.
I'm sure there were underlying health conditions there. No, not really. Yes, you don't just go out like that. Okay. I know people died from COVID, too, and I'm sorry about that.
So, why do you think Republicans called this hearing uh with Fauci? Because they believe that it wasn't handled correctly and they wanted they just wanted some answers out of him that he wouldn't give. He wouldn't even give answers what 110 times?
Yeah. You know who else doesn't You know who else doesn't give answers? If he had nothing to hide, he would tell the truth. He would tell him give him the answer.
Ooh, interesting. Now, will you apply that same logic to Donald Trump and the Epstein files? How many times [snorts] did he plead the fifth?
Donald Trump? Yeah. Every time the Epstein files are brought up. I've been exonerated, move on. He literally said we need to move on as a country from the Epstein files.
Well, Fauci wouldn't answer damn questions, so Neither will Trump. Why won't Trump Trump already explained why he won't answer questions. Why? He's been pardoned. So, if he says literally anything, they're going to try to put him in prison, where he does not belong, by the way. I thought you meant that's why Trump
But but Mom, you said if if he's not guilty, he should be able to answer these questions. So, can you apply that same logic to Trump and the Epstein files?
Yeah, he answers. He says, "I'm not guilty." Okay. Fauci didn't say that. Right. But Trump's name is in the Epstein files more than anybody else. You think he's not not guilty? You're just going to take him at face value? You already know that he lied about the guy at the reflecting pool, was willing to put that guy in jail forever. Right. A lie.
He was, but the judges wouldn't. Okay. Jesus. Um I think that wraps up our show. That's all that I had on my list. Um I hope that I got all the most important things. Like I said, it's interesting when you're out of the country, the news that reaches you is like slightly different, you know. Um I know that there are a bunch of big things happening. There are fires in Spokane. I'm sure you've seen those.
Horrific. Uh-huh. Um I've seen some stuff about Max Miller, that guy who's a a Republican senator, and the accusations of abuse. Um Oh, right. The one who threw like scalding water on his wife and broke his 2-year-old's collarbone.
Yeah. And the Republicans are just like, "Well, I don't know. He's a good guy. Well, I don't know about that. He's fine." Right.
Um anyways, Mom, uh that wraps up the the rest of this show. Mom, you have something you wanted to say. Well, let's say we love each other. I love you, Chad. I love you, Haley. I love you, Bob. Bob's getting better.
I love you, Haley. I love you, Mom. And I love Dad, too. I love you guys and Dad. [snorts] I am go- I'm going to talk about a girl. I'll try to get through this. I can do this. Juliana Joy Curry.
[snorts] She was a beautiful young lady, my best friend. I don't even know why she was my best friend. I'm 71. She was 26. I want to make a tribute when I talk about her today. She was on our podcast. She's my mega friend. Uh she was loyal to me and Shiny. She helped me ride Shiny. She helped me get whatever I needed at the barn, her and her boyfriend Aaron.
Um she was on, when she was younger, a scholarship in Kansas, a rodeo girl. She uh did the breakaway roping. She was really good at that. The first time I ever met her, I saw her come out of a tack room
[snorts] um at a barn. I go, "Wow, who is that? I want to be just like her." She had on blue jeans that were rolled up like the cowgirls do, and I stuck out my hand. I said, "Who are you?" I said, "I'm Mary Lou." She said, "I'm Jewels." I said, "Wow." I said, "I love those jeans." She said, "Thanks." I said, "What are you doing here?" She said, "I'm going to just do a few trail rides." I said, "You are so good.
They're going to use you for a lot of things." And from there, she became an instructor. She did trail rides. She did lessons. She did summer camps. She was so good, they used her with all the horses, and she fed horses there, too. She taught me a lot about riding. She taught Shiny a lot and made him become a better horse. She was the first one that came to our house after Dad got home from the hospital once and brought us some food.
She brought her dog. Uh so, she was our first visitor at home. I have so many happy memories with her and every time I had been with her we laughed and laughed and laughed. We never talked sad stuff. We did talk politics. She believed the same things I did which is very odd because she's so young. Um like I keep saying, why was she my kindred soul? I don't know. We loved animals, I guess. We loved horses. We loved politics.
Um and she loved our podcast. She would always say, Mary Lou, say what you want to say. Aileen and Chad are kind of beating you down, but say what you want to say back to them. But be careful with the words you use. Um I was, like I said, honored that that she was my friend. Each time she left the barn I'd say, thank you, Jules. We love you. Shiny loves you. And we'd hug.
She was young, smart, full of life ahead. She passed away yesterday. She loved Aaron, her boyfriend. She couldn't wait to marry him and have babies. She loved her family, her niece and nephew that I always got pictures of. She loved her job as a paramedic and she was studying to be a physician's assistant. She shared food pictures with me all the time. We loved to go eat Mexican food. Bob would take us out. Margaritas.
Two sips for me, I was under the table. We were laughing. Her signature color, of course, is pink. If you have a best friend and you don't know their signature color, you don't have a best friend.
[laughter] I'm so glad that we rode Shiny together. I'm so glad I got to spend such great times with her. Life is never given. Each second that we live is a blessing. If you are thinking about talking to a family member, if you're thinking about talking to somebody that you haven't, if you're thinking about telling someone you love them, tell them today. Go have shenanigans. That's what Jewels and I did.
One time we went to a barn and she'd always take me to new barns when I needed to be um packed up and go. One time she took me to a new barn, there was no bathroom. We had to pee pee in a coffee cup and we were in a coffee can outside. Those are the kind of shenanigans we did. Um I know she believed in God. We talked about it.
I know she's a better believer than I was, so now I want to be better. I know she's in heaven. I know I'm a better person because of her. I'll miss her greatly. I was supposed to ride horses with her today. She was supposed to ride my shiny. And what happened? She had heat exhaustion
[snorts] down at her job, then she came back hydrated, went back down. She thought she was doing okay, but some kind of bacterial infection got into her brain. They care flighted her back to Oklahoma City. And they made the decision on Saturday, yesterday about 1:00 and I got the call from Aaron. She loved her boyfriend and he loved her. We will miss you, Jewels. Greatly.
Damn, I'm really sorry, Mom. I I've met her a couple of times and and obviously she was on the show. It's such a sad story and uh
And I'm able to do this because my brain is not allowing me to even think yet that this has even occurred. Mhm. Even though I've gotten phone calls, I've talked to everyone, my brain's not allowing me to grasp it yet. It will later, I guess I'm in denial.
Like anybody dying is always sad, but someone so young is like the worst. 26. Mhm. Sympathy to her family, sympathy to her brother, sisters and Aaron. And her horses and her puppies and they will all be taken care of. And um I'll miss you, Jewels.
Yeah. Our our sympathies to the family as well. It's uh a really just horrible story. Um but thanks Mom for doing the show today. I hope at least talking to me and Haley, you know, was helpful to some degree. We do love you. We're here for you.
I know. Okay. And we'll be back next Sunday. I sent you a picture of her, too, if you want to put it up later.
Yeah, I got a bunch of them from you. I'll I'll put them all in this thing. Okay. Bye. Bye.