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All right. Welcome, everybody. Good to have you with us. I'm Todd Stearns. Happy Wednesday to you.
We made it to Wednesday, and the good news is that the Republicans pulled out a victory last night in Tennessee in the 7th congressional district. And we're going to be talking to Congressman John Rose about that and a few other big stories in just a few moments. You know, again, we have a lot of local news to cover as well today. I want to say this, though. This ought to be a wake-up call for the Republican Party.
I don't think they're going to get it. I don't think they're going to understand exactly what just happened yesterday. But again, you're going to be hearing a lot of people playing around with numbers. But here are the facts. In 2024, the Republicans won that district in the House with a 21-point margin.
Last night, they won with a nine-point margin. When you look at every single county, the Democrats had a massive uptick of supporters, and that should be alarming to people. And one of the things that I will say about Afton Bain is that she campaigned on affordability, and that message certainly struck a chord in the 7th congressional district and especially in Nashville.
Now, this is insane. The woman said she hated Nashville. She hated country music. She thought men could give birth to babies. And she got triggered by people who prayed to Jesus.
and she still got nearly eighty percent of the vote in Davidson County.
So you say, well, Todd, what's going on in Nashville? Is it really that liberal? Yes, it is that liberal. I want to explain why. Over the past, I don't know, a decade or so, we have seen Nashville being transformed into something that is just, it's odd, it's weird.
It is no longer a southern city. And the reason why is you've got all of these Hollywood elites, you've got all of these folks moving in from California and other states. Not only did they pack their lunatic politics with them, but they're unpacking them in our state. I have been a big advocate for stronger border security here in the volunteer state. We can't keep letting these people into our state or else we are going to look like California.
So, look, this is a problem for the Republicans because we were running against her and not for something. And we really have nothing to run for because the do-nothing Congress haven't done anything worth campaigning for. I mean, it's. What are you going to do? Send me to Washington and we're going to do, we're going to do what?
What are you going to do? Republicans, you've got the majority. What are you people going to do? We're still waiting. We did our job.
We put you in office.
Now we expect for you to do something. And so, this ought to be a wake-up call. I don't know if they got the message, but Nashville, Nashville has changed. It is really not a southern city. I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to find a decent glass of sweet tea anywhere.
And most of the diners are serving bagels. I mean it's sad. You can't smear a biscuit, by the way. You just can't. It's next to impossible.
I'm just glad that Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones were not alive to see what the Invaders have done to Music City USA.
So look, while all that was going on, We had the Memphis City Council, and they're back at it. And man, did they screw the Memphis firefighters turning down this really meager two percent raise they were asking for? They deserve so much more. And so do our police officers. And the city council's pitching a hissy fit.
And the chief among them is Congresswoman Yolanda Cooper Sutton. And I want you to hear, well, let me explain what you're about to hear and what you're not about to hear. And kudos to the Daily Menfian because they got this. Before anybody else did.
So Cooper Sutton is very upset that the Memphis Fire Department dared to ask for a pay raise of a meager 2%. And she compared it. to rape So, we're, of course, I went right back to the tape. I'm like, I can't believe somebody would say something about that.
So, I went back, and it turns out that somebody at City Hall. Edited the real-time video. That was on YouTube. And you'll be able to hear the cut. You'll be able to hear where the edit is.
So they took out what she said about the firefighters raping the taxpayers. But you're still going to get an idea of how angry she is at the Memphis Fire Department. Let's take a listen. And so, what that tells me, and what that brings me to the point, is the behavior of handling money in this city has always been the same. And trying to do something different.
It's hard for people to change. We are in different times now. This is 2025. I think my colleague Councilwoman White and Carlisle specifically said we are in and different times. And this is my first this will be my second budget.
But it's always about and it's the same players, it's the same gatekeepers that comes here asking for money for a poor city. How bad? Pull the money from somewhere else. You can get it from somewhere else. But you all gotta, y'all gotta come differently next year's budget.
Because you're coming back next year. You're coming back for some more money. You're coming back. I know you're coming back. 'Cause guess what?
We're gonna find the money like we always do. instead of dealing with actual numbers and facts. We are not, this is not 1968, 1970, 1972, 73, 7, 4, 7, 5. This is 2025. And Memphis is still rocking and rolling the same exact way.
You're greeting. And you want what you want because you think you can do it and you're wrong. I might not change. Oh, keep going. Yes, sir.
And so what that tells me. All right, so that's it.
Okay, well, it goes, it should have gone on.
So we'll get the full clip here. I'm just telling you. This woman's crazy. She's sort of like, I don't know, our version of Jasmine Crockett. They're on the Memphis City Council.
A couple of big questions here, and we've reached out to the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters and our legal team to find out if City Hall broke any sort of law by editing out the comments here, because that is an official record of the meeting that the Memphis City Council had. We want to know from City Hall, and we haven't heard back from them, and when we do, we will let you know. But we want to know who gave authority to have those remarks stricken from the video, who and who edited the videos? Because those people have to be held accountable for that. But the idea that asking, you know, Memphis firefighters and the unions asking for more money, comparing that to rape, is just grossly offensive.
And she keeps going on. At some point, she keeps calling them greedy, greedy, and talking about how. How God's going to get them. What the heck is that all about? I mean, that's insane.
So, Thomas Malone, and we host Behind the Badge, which is brought to you by the Memphis Police Association and the Memphis Firefighters Association. And Thomas Malone, one of the co-hosts, and he said, he was talking to the Daily Memphis. He says, she's sitting there pointing fingers saying, I'm greedy, and the firefighters are greedy. I don't think the firefighters are greedy. The firefighters are leaving the city in droves because they can find better jobs somewhere else.
Memphis Firefighters Association is trying to keep the firefighters here. My question this morning is very simple. Who do you stand with here? The Memphis City Council members or the firefighters? 901-260-5926.
Our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. This is Wake Up Memphis in the principal Toyota Memphis studio. This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturist with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Los Culturalistos with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.
Hey, Bowen, it's gift season. Ugh, stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for? Probably because they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired. Except for the guide we made.
In partnership with Marshalls, where premium gifts meet incredible value, it's giving gifts! With categories like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto, or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have. Check out the guide on marshalls.com and gift the good stuff at marshalls. Yeah. Friday night, I crashed your party.
Saturday, I said I'm sorry. Sunday came and trashed me out again. I was only having fun, wasn't hurting anyone. And we all enjoyed the weekend for a shame. All right.
Welcome back to Stearns Country, everybody. I'm Todd Stearns. Great to have you with us. And that voice you just heard, Walker Bowdry. And Walker is a student at Briarcrest Christian School.
And he's a member of Soundscape, which is their incredible music band. Walker not only is a great singer, but he is also K-Wham's play-by-play guy.
So you hear him every Friday night calling the games here on the Mighty 990.
So well done, Walker. Very, very talented guy and a great Group of musicians over there at Briarcrest. All right, welcome back, everybody. Great to have you with us here in the Principal Toyota Memphis studio. I want to go right away to our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line.
We're honored to have Congressman John Rose joining us. And by the way, Congressman Rose wants to be the next governor of the state of Tennessee. We're going to get to that in just a moment. Congressman, hope you're doing well today. I'm doing great, Todd.
Thanks for having me on the show this morning. You know, Congressman, would love to get your take on what happened in Middle Tennessee. First of all, a win is a win, but well, you know, we'll get to the butt in just a moment. Your reaction to Matt Van Epps winning the big race last night.
Well, very good to have Matt coming to Congress and to shore up our majority as Republicans in the House of Representatives, and he's going to do a great job. And I think it's reflective of the values of Tennessee. And I think you saw Tennesseans in the seventh district reject radical progressive politics last night and send a principled conservative who loves Jesus and loves Nashville and country music and doesn't want to burn down police stations. And so I think it's a good night for America. And I think it sends a message, despite the way the press is going to try to send this, it sends a message that there's not some blue wave sweeping across this country.
I think Tennessee and understand that the policies, the failed policies, the radical policies of the Biden administration are not right for Tennessee and they're not right for our country. And I think they pushed back against that strongly last night. And I'm excited for Tennessee, excited for Matt Van Epps. And I think it's a positive sign For the further implementation of President Trump's policies that are going to turn this country around and get us headed in the right direction. You sure about that blue wave, Congressman?
I'm not sure I agree with you on that. I mean, 80% of Nashville voted for this socialist loon. And when you look at the other counties, there were very big gains in Democrat voters this go around. Clearly, not enough. But again, Mark Green won that district with 20, you know, was plus 21 for Mark Green.
Matt Van Epps plus 9.
Well, so I think you have to dig back and look a little bit differently at this. This is an R plus ten district. And that bad apps won by nine.
So I think he actually performed right in line with where the district is truly rated. I think we're seeing a false comparison. President Trump was up against a very weak Democrat, progressive Democrat last year.
So he outperformed in a major wave election where citizens and Americans were rejecting the failed policies of the Biden administration. And you also have to look back and think about how this district voted in 2018, the last midterm election. Was when Senator Marcia Blackburn was running for the United States Senate. She won this district by a half a point, Todd, by a half a point.
So Matt Van F, who's new to politics, comes in and wins this district by. By 18 to 20 times the margin that a veteran Republican was able to win it by just a few years back. And so I think that's the correct comparison. I think you saw Matt Van Epp perform just like he should have. In the 7th District of Tennessee, he was just up against a tough comparison of what Donald Trump was able to do running.
against a very weak Democrat last year. Do you have concerns, though, about the affordability? Because that was her message. And I think her message actually resonated with voters. Van Epps was literally running.
I mean, his campaign, first of all, was non-existent, you know, at least until a couple of weeks ago. And then they really hit the gas. And I think they did a great job coming into the home stretch. But really, his campaign message was don't vote for the socialist moron. Her campaign messaging was affordability.
And we keep hearing that from across the nation, Congressman, on our national show. What do the Republicans in Congress need to do to address that issue?
Well, I think obviously we need to make sure Americans understand that we understand that problem. And I think we can win on that because that's what we ran on last year. That's what President Trump ran on. We had four years of disastrous Biden inflation, Biden policies that led to runaway inflation.
So this affordability problem was created by the Democrats. And now, just as an arsonist might show up and try to be involved in putting the fire out, they're trying to blame it on the firefighters who are there working hard to put the fire that they set out. And so I think what we heard From Aston Bain, she was trying to sell this narrative that somehow, after having set the fire, she should be hired to put it out. And I think that Tennesseans. Are smarter than New Yorkers when it comes to that.
They didn't fall for that. They know that the Marxist policies of Doran Movdani and the ones that Afton Bain was trying to sell and that the liberal media across this country is trying to sell is not going to work.
So I just think about last week. I was in Memphis last week. On my way to Memphis, I bought gas for $2.39 a gallon, the lowest price for gas. Since President Trump was in office the last time. And that's why we saw prices coming down.
Yes, we've got a long way to go. We've got four years of bad policies that we've got to rectify and correct. We've got $38.5 trillion in debt, much of it accumulated during the runaway spending of the Biden administration. I mean, for goodness sakes, they had a bill that they call the Inflation Reduction Act that probably did more to cause inflation than any legislation in the history of this country.
So we know what Democrat policies lead to. They lead to runaway inflation. They lead to kitchen table problems for everyday Americans. And so President Trump's been in office for 10 months. We see prices down.
We see the cost of Thanksgiving come down. The Thanksgiving turkey. 16% cheaper than it was last year, eggs down 50% in this president's term in office.
So I think we see great progress, and I think we know who the people are that can solve this problem. And I think the voters of the Seventh District rejected my constituent last night. Afton Bain actually lives in my district. Oh, my condolences. She came out in Rhinestones last night, but nobody bought the charade that she was trying to sell that somehow now she is a Tennessee, and she's made it clear what her stripes are.
And they didn't confuse a donkey for a Tennessee walking horse. Oh, nice line there. Congressman John Rose joining us. Real quick on the gubernatorial side, and one final thought here. Mark Green.
He's responsible for all of this, and I just have a massive problem with folks who run for office and then just up and quit. I mean, especially in Congress, it's a two-year term for crying out loud. And I think it's unfair to the president, it's unfair to the caucus, and most importantly, I think it's unfair to the voters of Tennessee. When you get elected, finish your term in office.
Well, my dad taught me that when I was a little boy. When you take a job, you finish that job. And whether it's a United States Senator or a United States House member, when you hire on, you should finish the work that you started and only then should you look for another job. And so I do think it puts us in an awkward spot when we have to have these special elections. Obviously, the people of the seventh district lost their representation for a while.
And then we had to go through this very messy special election. And so again, I think when you look at all the circumstances and you think about Matt Van Epp's Performing just in line with what this district was set up to produce, a ten-point victory. I think that's. I think that we saw Matt Van Epps produce under difficult circumstances, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving holiday, and he got a big win. And I think, if anything, it suggests that the narrative at the national level that somehow the Democrats are going to sweep across the country next year is just misplaced.
Now, they'll continue to try to sell it. And they have this favorable comparison to, you know, I mean, we should just point out that President Trump just shellacked, you know, his opponent last year in, you know, who was a very weak opponent, who was just, you know, installed to be the Democrat candidate. And so I think you have to look at it that way and understand the results last night looking through that prism. All right. Congressman, I got to leave it there.
We appreciate you calling in this morning. I know a busy day for you up on Capitol Hill. And we wish you the very best. Where can people go if they want to get more information on your gubernatorial campaign? Sure.
Just go to johnrose.com and you can find all of the links to our social media and see the advertising we've been doing and all the activities we've been traveling across the state. And hope you'll come there and hope you'll give me a chance to earn your vote for Governor of Tennessee. All right. Thank you very much, Congressman John Rose, everybody on Wake Up. Memphis Here in the Principal Toyota Memphis studio.
All right, got to take a quick break here. Again, our number 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. We'll be right back. This is Matt Rogers from Lost Culture Eastas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.
This is Boen Yang from Lost Culturalistos with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey, Bowen, it's gift season. Oh, stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for? Probably because they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired.
Except for the guide we made. In partnership with Marshalls, where premium gifts meet incredible value, it's giving gifts! With categories like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto, or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have. Check out the guide on marshalls.com and gift the good stuff at Marshalls. All right, welcome back, everybody.
This is Starnes Country here in the Principal Toyota Memphis studio. By the way, some exciting news for all of you folks, especially if you love firefighters, and we do, even though the Memphis City Council clearly does not. The Memphis Firefighters Association, local 1784, hosting Breakfast with Santa at the Fire Museum of Memphis. That's coming up on December 13th. And you're going to be able to get your tickets at thefiremuseum.com.
If you haven't been down to the Fire Museum, you got to go check it out. It's really nice. Tickets, $20, and you're going to have a great time. Your kids are going to have a blast. Again, Breakfast with Santa at the Fire Museum of Memphis coming up on Saturday, December 13th.
Also, Now is your time to enter the Mighty 990s Great Christmas contest. This is an opportunity for you to win one of the best gifts of Christmas from the best locally owned businesses in the Mid-South. And we have some wonderful gifts, courtesy of our friends at Pew's Flowers, Dingtal's Candies, Weimer's Jewelry, Pure Roast Coffee, and the Germantown Commissary.
So here's what we're going to do. The first four callers to 901-260-5926, you guys are going to get entered into the contest this morning. And you're going to want, look, it is all of these are incredible gifts.
So you're going to want to get in on the action. We're going to be announcing the winners next week.
So if you want to register for your chance to win these great gifts, we're talking about $50 gift cards, $100 worth of coffee. Give us a call, 901-260-5926, and you'll be able to enter your name into the contest. All right. It is a busy day. For a Wednesday, and it's always fun to hang out with our good friends from Strategic Financial Partners.
Guys, how's it going this morning? And we've got Adam Martin with us and Chris Loftus. And Chris, I'm alarmed at your attire this morning. Todd, I get asked all the time whenever people hear that I'm on your show, they said, You're on that show? It's like, that's a politics show.
That's boring. That's serious stuff. And I say, actually, we have a lot of fun on this show. And so today I wanted to emulate that a little bit.
So I'm wearing my Christmas jacket. You know, the Christmas parties are in full swing. And I feel like this just makes you the most noticeable person in the room when you wear something like this. You definitely stand out. Yeah, yeah.
And if you love cats, Wow, Robin Poffman would love it. She loves cats, and she would love your jacket. Yeah, this is a Santa Claus kitty cat jacket, I guess you could call it. Wow. All right.
All right. And you know, we were talking, I asked how your guys, how your holiday was. And Adam, you corrected me and said it was Thanksgiving, not a holiday. That's right. And Merry Christmas to all those out there.
I celebrate Christmas in my household. You know, we have a rule here on the Mighty 990. If it's not, if you're, for example, I'm not going to name the town, but they have a holiday parade. We will not promote that because if you don't know the name of the holiday that you're celebrating, then something's wrong with you.
So like Bartlett, they're doing their big Christmas parade, and we salute Bartlett.
So if you're doing a Christmas parade, we're in. If you're doing just a holiday, yeah, you'll need to go to NPR for that. Bartlett's where I live, so I'm happy that they're doing it right. Right. It's going to be a lot of fun.
So, and that's coming up this weekend, and we're going to have some folks on to. Talk about that. You know, all this week is like giving, like yesterday was giving Tuesday. And today we're talking about giving the gift of a lifetime.
So very clever fellas kind of tying in, you know, the Christmas shopping.
So let's talk about, what is it, juvie policies. That's not like juvenile haul. It's like going to juvenile. No, no.
So this is the name says it all for those that are considered juveniles. This is an opportunity. I think we actually had a caller call in one time where he had one of those juvenile policies. It's a whole life life insurance policy that has a lot of bells and whistles.
So bells go along with a Christmas theme, too. I like it.
So anyways, this is an opportunity. If you're thinking about what should I give my kids this year for Christmas, and you're like, you know, I don't want to give them those Pokemon cards. They're just going to play with them for a year and then we'll be buying some more next year. This is an opportunity to give them something that lasts their entire lifetime. And you can do it based on your budget.
There's no expensive pre-processing. premium that you have to pay, we can design it to fit your budget. And by the way, I want to give out the number, folks. If you have a question for Adam or Chris, our friends at Strategic Financial Partners and their website, strategicfinancialpartners.com, you can give us a call, 901-260-5926. Again, that's 901-260-5926.
So let's talk about the process here. And first of all, why in the world would you want to get insurance for your kid? That's a great question.
So it's about a lasting financial impact. Typically, when your child is the healthiest they're ever going to be, when they are a juvenile. You know, obviously, juvenile doesn't necessarily mean, oh, you're in trouble. No, it just means that they're a minor, right? We also like to make sure they understand: hey, this can create a financial legacy.
This is you imparting on them that financial planning matters, and you're giving them an opportunity to get a leg up where you might not have had that opportunity. Say that they're getting out there when they're 18 years old, 20 years old, they're getting married, they're going through college, they're going to school or getting a house.
Well, the last thing anybody, Todd, and I think Adam will agree with me on this, wants to think about is life insurance. Man, am I covered or not? You're taking that issue away from them of saying, Hey, don't worry, we've got you covered on this. Adam and I see this nine times out of ten with a lot of people who don't realize that their parents or grandparents have done this. For them.
Just recently here in the past couple of weeks, we actually had a young man we were working with who's about to go into the military. He's trying to make sure he's he's got coverage.
Well, come to find out, we're going through this process and he realizes, wait a minute, my grandfather took out a life insurance policy on me that has me set up for like the next 40 years.
So let's talk about that and the long-term benefits of doing something like this. And what age would you I mean, is this something like kid is born, boom, you got a policy?
So is the kid's born, you have to wait at least 15 days before you can do a juvenile policy on your newborn. I have a nine-month-old. I'm going to do this for her. Here's the reasons why. Is that we're starting to see like exclusions on life insurance policies for kids who had to take attention deficit disorder medication.
How many kids have to take ADD medication?
Well, they say that, that could affect their mental acuity.
So, that's obviously making premiums more expensive. We had things like COVID.
Well, we're now starting to see like long COVID effects, and those are being considered in the underwriting process.
So, these policies allow the child to increase their death benefit at different milestones in their life.
So, they get married, there's obviously a need to have more life insurance because we want to take care of our spouse. They go and buy a house.
Well, we just increased our liabilities. If something happens to us, we need to be able to pay that off. They can increase it, and they don't have to go through the underwriting process that's insured from their day of payment. Purchase. It's also about locking in your future insurability.
I mean, so many people, especially younger people, Adam mentioned, all these medications are out there right now. And we're going into this process as young adults behind the curve. This allows you to not have to worry about that because you're taking where you stand as a child, or if you're a parent or grandparent, you're giving them the opportunity to not have to worry about that. Here in the studio this morning, Adam Martin, a financial advisor, and Chris Loftus, financial services rep at Strategic Financial Partners, the website strategicfinancialpartners.com. And if you have a question for the guys, give us a holler.
Maybe you want to find out where Chris got his awesome Christmas coat. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. Let's talk about legacy because this is about creating a legacy. Is that right, Adam? That's correct.
Yeah. So, you know, obviously the death benefit on a life insurance policy is not taxable to the beneficiary.
So that's one of the first conversations that we have. But I also want you to think about These things are what we call a Swiss army knife.
So let's just say we get out to age 25 and you want to buy a house and you're like, where do I get this money? The cash value that these policies create, and you know, some of them are participating. Our policies that we write are participating, so they get dividends. They're not guaranteed, but we do pay them pretty regularly. And so, you know, when you look at where do I get this money to put a down payment on a house, that policy could be a very good place to do it.
And another thing, Funding for college. These aren't written with restrictions like a five two nine where you have to spend the money on books and supplies and qualified educational expenses. If what you want to do is purchase a car because you go to a commuter school, That's not You know, subjected to any penalties, let's get the cash from our policy and buy the car instead of being subjected to whatever interest rates are at a bank. All right. People are curious.
What's the first step here? What do they need to do to even just explore looking at getting a Juvie policy?
Well, it starts with calling us or calling your financial professional. Obviously, the key component here is having a child or a juvenile to do this on. But start with asking yourself the question over the holiday season, hey, how do I want to give my child the advantage going forward? How can I start allowing them to build an asset that is going to benefit them in the long run? Once you figured out that, figured out, hey, what direction you want to go in, call us.
Call us at Strategic Financial Partners or call your financial professional, your trusted family financial professional, and have that conversation with them. What does this look like for me? How does this help my child and their goals and what they want to do? And that's how the process starts. That starts without application.
And it's a pretty simple process in terms of underwriting because they're all going from the same metric. All right. Guys, if they want to reach out, Adam, what's your number? 901-260-2438. And, Chris, where can they reach you?
They can reach me at 901-260-2414. All right, good stuff. Guys, good to see y'all. Are you doing Christmas? Do you have a Christmas jacket?
Nope, I'm pretty basic, so no kitty cat jackets for me. I hear you. See, I'm single, so I'm able to get away with more stuff like this. I don't have to worry about it. There could be a reason for that.
Yeah, it probably is. You're probably right. Yeah, but I can walk out of the house and I have to worry about somebody saying, nah, you can't wear that. I love it. All right, guys, good to see you.
Again, Strategic Financial Partners, they're going to take good care of you. They'll also give you some fashion guidance as well. That's free. Again, StrategicFinancialPartners.com. Go and check them out.
All right, fellas, we'll see you next Wednesday. All right. Merry Christmas. All right. Merry Christmas.
Hang tight. We'll be right back, everybody. This is Matt Rogers from Lost Culture East. That's with Matt Rogers and Boen Yang. This is Bo and Yang from Lost Culture East.
This is Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey, Boen. It's gift season. Stressing me out. Why are the people I love so hard to shop for?
Probably because they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired. Except for the guide we made. In partnership with Marshalls, where premium gifts meet incredible value, it's giving gifts! With categories like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto, or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have. Check out the guide on marshalls.com and gift the good stuff at Marshalls.
Mm-hmm. Evil runs around this town undercover, looking for a soul to take. But they better stay away from the righteous harmony The hell is on their pay Cause I can see you around the corner and I know you're coming If you had any sense you'd run But you ain't got a clue what a daddy will do better give your soul to Jesus while I get my God You better give your soul to Jesus before I give mine to God.
Some pretty powerful lyrics right there, folks. Really a haunting message and a powerful message. The name of the song The Righteous Hunter A parent's declaration of war against those who prey on our children. Um Wow, powerful. I'm going to go to the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line, the man behind that song, playing that guitar, John Rich.
John, good to have you back with us, my friend. Hey, Todd, good to be with you again, sir. And congratulations on the song. And I want to get to that in just a moment, but we have been following this crazy news. This election in the 7th congressional district, you and I were big fans of Jody Barrett in the Republican primary.
I believe he was the America first candidate in that race. And it seems like the Republicans are really freaking out now, John. What's going on? What's your take on things? Uh I think you I think you kind of nailed it.
I think that um you know, Van Eps. you know, he has good qualities about him, but I think that there was also baggage with him. You know, there was a history with him in the state. that a lot of Republicans and Conservatives were not for. And when he won the primary, The problem you may be looking at is that you have uninvigorated voters, like conservative voters that.
aren't real hot on Van Eps.
Now that being said... We don't want to have Uh Aston Bain. Sitting in that seat. No, thank you.
So, I hope people show up and vote and vote red and keep her out of that seat. But I do think that's. What you said there is correct. I mean, that was quite a primary. There was a lot of.
A lot of hard fists and a lot of bloody noses given in that primary. Yeah, no doubt about it. But I think, again, we've got to figure out a way to, you know, when President Trump is not on the ballot, we've got to figure out a way to make sure that we're picking the right candidates and the people that are going to advance that agenda. Otherwise, you know, it's getting to be a dangerous time in our country. And I know you write a lot about that now.
It just seems like with your songs, John, it's, I don't know, maybe I'm not reading this right, but there's depth and there's something else going on with the songs that you've been writing lately.
Well, I think that The world is um becoming more serious by the minute. And I think that the superficialness of most music, not all, there's there's a few that have some gravity, but ninety nine percent of the songs out there, they're fun to listen to, they get you through the day, but they don't really give you something to hang on to or make you think. And that's kind of the mode I'm in these days, is there's so many things that are so important. That, as a songwriter, that's kind of what's on my mind. And as a songwriter, you write what you're thinking about.
And knowing that the issue of child trafficking in America is to the tune of now 36 million reports sent in in the past twelve months to the Department of Homeland Security.
Now you heard that number right. 36 million. reports in twelve months of children being targeted online by child sexual predators. I mean, is there a bigger issue? than that.
I don't think so. And so I thought it was time that A song was written from a parent's point of view, directed Exactly on the predators. Like speak to them directly. Call them out. Tell them we can see them and tell them what's going to happen to them if they come for our kids.
And that's that's a hell of a thing to write a song about, Todd. I mean That's not your average. subject, but It's what I am concerned about because I've gotten to understand it so well. I thought that that song needed to be written.
So The Righteous Hunter, it came out three days ago. It's already over a million views on the video. on my ex channel at John Rich. Tucker Carlson just covered it. and his latest podcast and Now I'm talking to you.
So I appreciate the opportunity to speak about it. No, it's an honor to do that. And folks, we've got the video and we're sharing it on all of our social media platforms. And you need to watch this. First of all, everything you do is so well done.
Your work of late just reminds me of Johnny Cash and some of the, you know, I mean, he really just bore his soul in his music, and you're doing that now. And again, for a topic like this, you know, most people, when they think of country music, you know, we're way down yonder on the Chattahoochee. You know, this is some deep stuff you're diving into here. For country music, the country music artist that I respect the most. are the ones that Said it so plainly.
and simply Yeah. that there was no doubt what they meant by it, what the point of it was, And that's the kind of songwriter I want to be. That's how I want to be known. I want basically what I'm thinking is probably what millions of people are thinking. I just have the ability to put it into a song form.
and put it out there. And I think that that's a responsibility for a guy like me. You know, I can't believe that I'm thankful I don't have a record deal, and I'm thankful I don't have a publishing deal. I mean, if you'd have told me that. 10 years ago, John, someday you won't have a record deal or a publishing deal and you're going to be happy about that.
I would have said you were crazy. All right. That is some of our interview we did with John Rich. You can get the entire interview. We talked to him for about 15 minutes, and you can get that over at toddstearns.com.
If you haven't already done so, you should consider downloading my daily podcast. And we have a lot of great long-form interviews and content for you there. But John Rich's brand new song, just really, really incredible. All right. We have got a busy day.
President Trump addressing the nation later this afternoon from the Oval Office. We will keep you updated on that, and we'll bring those remarks to you live here on the Mighty 990. And then, of course, at 11 o'clock, the Todd Stern Show kicks off three hours of national conversation. We always love hearing from our KWAM listeners, you guys calling in and offering your great commentary. And you'll be able to do that starting at 11 o'clock.
Been a lot of fun. Tomorrow, another chance for you to enter our big, big Christmas contest. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Folks, get out there. Have a great week. And be sure to check out kwamradio.com. This is Starring's Country, the principal Toyota Memphis studio. This holiday season reached for the one butter that never disappoints.
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