THE WAR OF THE INFLUENCERS: Tucker, Megyn, Candace vs Trump, Levin & Shapiro

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That's my! I love this American. Todd. Star. Yeah, well, hello, everybody.

Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Show. Great to have you with us today. Wow, these storms that blew through Texas and Tennessee, and now apparently setting their sights on the rest of the country, a good chunk of the audience under some sort of a watch or warning. And those, man, as bad as the storms were in the southern states. What you guys are dealing with up in the, wow, the Midwest with these blizzards, unbelievable.

Some of the images coming out of the Midwest.

So, all that to say, great to be with you today. Hunker down wherever you are, and we'll have a lot of fun together on the radio over the next three hours.

So, Our starting off point today is it's a little odd. President Trump has finally weighed in on these big social media battles.

Now, look, over the weekend, there was some weird stuff going down with Tucker Carlson and Iran, and Tucker suggesting that the CIA was somehow spying on his text messages. And Tucker was pretty fired up about this. And we're going to play some of that audio in just a moment. But let me just say that there are a lot of moving parts here. And I think we can I think I have finally figured out.

What's going on here? And it's not good.

Now It's important for us to put all of this in perspective and put it in within context.

So, so look, the reality is, most Americans are not on X. Most Americans are not on a lot of the platforms that Candace Owens and Megan Kelly. And Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson operate on. Even, I mean, yeah, they've got millions of people that watch their podcast, no doubt about that. But they don't represent the majority.

I don't even and they don't represent the majority of the nation or really the conservative movement. And if you want to drill down even the MAGA movement, But there's just a lot of hate and a lot of animosity out there. And I believe at the end of the day, all of this is driven by clicks.

Now here's what you need to know about social media. Right now, some of the larger influencers, and that includes yours truly, We are reimbursed. We are compensated for what we post on our social media platforms. A lot of people. to get into the algorithms.

And we don't do this, by the way, but a lot of people, to get into the algorithms, they'll post things that may not necessarily be true. And there's no punishment for that. There's no sort of retribution. And so a lot of these social media influencers that you see out there are posting things they know are not true because they don't care. They know there's no consequence, and they actually just want a paycheck out of it.

So remember, I've been saying this for years now: that there are many people in the conservative movement that simply get paid to be a conservative. And many times they won't even tell you that. You know, with us, we tell you who our sponsors are. And that's important because, as yes, we vet all of our sponsors and we support all of our sponsors, but it would be unfair to you if I was out there hawking some. Let's say we're talking about moon pies.

Moon Pies, they do not sponsor the Tom Stearns Radio Show, but they ought to, but they don't. But let's just assume for a minute that I'm talking 24-7 about how much I love Moon Pies. And I never disclosed the fact that Moonpies was paying me a lot of money to say that, then that is a trust and it's an integrity issue.

So, when you see people like the Tuckers and the Megan Kelly, let me just say this about Megan Kelly. She's never been a conservative, never, ever. And you have to go all the way back. A lot of people want to forget about the Fox News channel days and that failed TV show, the talk show, she did for NBC. Was it CBS?

It was one of the networks. where she embraced transgenderism, You know, they want you to forget. That they used to be on the exact opposite side of the issues that they currently represent. And the reason why is they realize there's money to be made in the MAGA movement, in the MAGA world. There's money to be made.

lucrative for these folks. And I'm not saying that there's, look, that's how they run their shop, and you can agree or disagree with that, but a lot of people are very disappointed. A lot of people are very shocked. At Tucker Carlson. And many people are saying, oh, this is not the Tucker that we all knew.

But it really is. Tucker's done his entire career has been like this.

So I'm not sure why people. Are suddenly surprised. That he's come out. Against President Trump. And the MAGA movement.

It's really odd to me that President Trump, or rather, that Tucker Carlson has done that.

So look, um there's been a lot of hate being directed at Mark Levin. And Mike Huckabee? And I I would say Ben Shapiro. Over Israel. And there is no doubt about it.

There has been a shift in the thinking about Israel within the Republican Party and within the conservative movement. No doubt about that. There has been a shift. And we can talk about why that shift happened. I think a lot of it has to do with very poor PR and marketing.

And a lot of people within the world of the Israel movement. Um They just took it for granted that future generations of America would be passionately supporters and defenders of the nation of Israel. of which we happen to be.

So anyway, President Trump is uh Is now coming out and saying that he is defending Mark Levin here. And Mark Levin, they've tried to crucify this guy. And here's the tell, okay? Here's the tell. The only people who haven't changed their positions are people like Todd Starnes.

And Mark Levin and Mike Hockabee. We've always. Stood our ground on the issue of Israel. And our views have never changed.

So, all of you people, and it's great to watch all of these folks out there saying, Starge, you've betrayed us. You're just, you're a, you're a, you're a shill for Israel right now. No, we used to support you. I'm the same Todd Starnes that I was. When I started this many years ago.

Many years ago. Mark Levin's position has never changed. The only people who have changed their positions Are the Candace Owens? And the Tucker Carlsons and the Megan Kellys and the Steve Bannons. And by the way, that crazy woman, the Catholic, who Carrie, what's her name?

Prajan. We'll get to her in just a minute.

So it's a big mess right now in the conservative world. And we're f if we're not careful, this is going to be problematic for us as we move into the midterms.

So anyway, the President now throwing his support behind Mark Levin, and he says that Mark Levin is truly the great a great American patriot who has been under siege by other people with far less intellect, capability and love for our country. The President goes on to say, Levin is far smarter than those who criticize him, but above all, he is a man of great wisdom and common sense who truly loves our country. Reading from the New York Post take on this. Levin and Kelly traded personal attacks over the weekend. She questioned the size of his manhood, ladies and gentlemen.

It's insane.

So the post goes on to say: the president suggested that Levin's critics were motivated by jealousy. Writing that those attacking the conservative commentator were jealous and angry human beings whose sway is much less than the public understands. Those that speak ill, this is a quoting from the president here: those that speak ill of Mark will quickly fall by the wayside. As do the people whose ideas, policies, and footings are not sound. And this is where I really want us to this is our jumping off point.

The President said this: they are not MAGA. I am. and MAGA includes not allowing Iran, a sick, demented and violent terrorist regime, to have a nuclear weapon to blow up the United States of America, the Middle East and ultimately the rest of the world. And of course, Levin is very grateful for the President stepping into the fray here.

Now what does this have to do with Tucker Carlson?

Well, a few days ago, Tucker, I think this is over the weekend or right before the weekend, Tucker released a very odd. Video. All right. And this is a smidge-long. We're not going to play all of it, but I want you to listen to what Tucker had to say.

So, the other day I found out that the CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report. The Department of Justice. On the basis of a supposed crime I committed. What's that crime?

Well, talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts.

So the crime under consideration apparently would be the Foreign Agent Act or something like that, acting as an agent of a foreign power. And I don't expect this to go anywhere. I'm not too worried about an actual criminal case against me for a bunch of reasons. One, I'm not an agent of a foreign power. Unlike a lot of people commenting on U.S.

politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty, and that's the United States, and have never acted against it. Its interests are the only interests I care about because I'm from here and I have. A lot of kids.

So that's not a concern. I've also never taken money from anybody. Don't need it, don't want it. And that's provable. And moreover, it's my job to talk to everybody all the time and try and figure out what's happening around the world.

That's literally what I do for a living. And I'm not going to stop doing that. Nor should I, I don't think. I'm also an American. I can talk to anybody.

I have no secrets to divulge.

So legally, I think the case is ludicrous, and I doubt it will even become a case. I'm bringing this up for a couple of reasons though. And they're pretty obvious. One is that countries tend to become more authoritarian in wartime. It's just the nature of war.

People are dying. The stakes are high. People's emotions have risen to a very high point, to a crescendo. And so there's much less tolerance for any kind of dissent. In the homeland.

The irony, of course, is the United States fights wars on behalf of freedom, but there's always less of it. Here in our country during war.

So that's a widely recognized phenomenon, and it's likely to happen now, too. Another point to make that is worth knowing is that the USIC, the intelligence agency, spy on Americans.

Now, you probably knew that, and it's been revealed a lot, including by Juliana Sange and Ed Snowden, both of whom are threatened with death for revealing it, but everyone knows. But it's probably a little more widespread. Then Most people understand, and it's outrageous. There's no justification for your government, which you own, you're a shareholder in it, you pay for it. To be violating your privacy like this.

But it happens all the time. And in fact, one of the reasons that CIA or people within CIA, just to be clear, it's a huge, sprawling, disconnected agency. What it does in a specific case doesn't represent what everybody in the building thinks, but there are some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel. And they have some latitude. And one of the reasons they pass on.

Criminal complaints, in effect, to law enforcement is to justify Warrants for spying. on Americans.

So that is an absolutely real thing.

Okay, let me jump in here. You got the gist of it here. And there are a couple of theories floating around, but first of all, you need to understand some facts about how the CIA actually works. First of all, the CIA cannot surveil an American citizen on American soil. That is not legal.

All right. So. There's that you say, well, if that's the case, how did Tucker know about all of this?

Well, first of all, the CIA is never going to call up somebody and say, hey, Tucker, We're illegally riretapping you. All right. That does not happen.

Okay.

So I don't think that he could have known. one way or the other. But here is another thought. Let's just say and Tucker admitted that he had been having conversations with the Iranians. Is it possible that the CIA was actually spying on the Iranians and they came across Tucker's text messages during their surveillance of the Iranians?

Yes, that is possible.

However, The administration has denied any of this as true. Axios has the story. And they're saying, no, no, no, no, this never happened. What's going on here? So our good buddy and a good friend of mine, Rob Martin.

So we've got three scenarios here when it comes to Tucker. First of all, Tucker, I mean, these are the options that Tucker. Met privately with President Trump in the White House and other Trump administration officials, and then conducted conversations with the Iranians. If, in fact, that is true and Tucker did that and Tucker shared information, that would be a violation of federal law. It would be considered treason.

Was he aiding and abetting a foreign enemy? I genuinely don't think that's the the story here. But there is another possibility. And this one may, I think, actually has legs. That Tucker just made all of this up.

And it would not be the first time that he's just made up these kinds of stories to portray himself. As some sort of a victim. Of the administration, which by the way is a very classic thing that Tucker does. But no, I I don't believe that he committed treason. I can't let my mind go down that pathway.

But what I am saying is that the social media influencer crowd, this is too much, folks. It's just I don't like talking about the other show hosts. We've got our own show to do. We do our own thing. But the problem here, I'm getting so many messages from folks over the weekend saying, what is going on here?

So, we're going to talk about it. If you've got questions, give us a call. You want to weigh in here if you have any concerns. I know many of you say we need to get out of Iran, and I hear you on that, and we'll get into more of that as well. 901-260-5926.

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By the way, New polling, new polling out from our friends over at the McLaughlin group and the McLaughlin poll. Has an interesting survey out. They asked Americans: how do you feel about the war against Iran? And right now, Americans in the McLaughlin poll supporting President Trump's actions 51% to 41%.

So that's a pretty significant poll that came out over The weekend.

Now, the reality is many other polls show the complete opposite of that.

So. You know, you can these polls are a dime a dozen. But the headlines: everybody is clearly rooting for Iran here on American soil. This is the AP analysis. Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels.

Is that true, ladies and gentlemen? Do you agree with that assessment? Because right now it looks like we're we're bombing Iran to kingdom come. According to the Associated Press, in the two weeks since the war started. The president is growing more agitated with news coverage.

And he has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war or how he will end it.

So we'll get into more of that coming up after the break. 901-260-5926. Is it time for us to declare victory and get out or do we finish the job? And if so, what is that job? 901-260-5926.

We'll be right back. Yeah. All right, welcome back, everybody. It is the Todd Starnes Radio Show. What an honor to have you with us today.

Dylan, you know, a lot of people are on spring break. This is like the season of spring break. And a lot of folks on the roads, the airports are insane right now. Did you ever go on spring break when you were a youngster? Yeah, we uh we typically went to the beach though.

But I'm like now that I'm older, like I feel like I just want to stay in more. I don't know. I don't want to go anywhere. You want a staycation? Staycation.

Yeah. So you're not a big were you down at the Gulf of America? We usually went to Florida. Wh I've actually never been down to the Gulf of America. Really?

This is breaking news. I've never actually, I lived in Mississippi my whole life, I never went south. Is that right? That's true. It gets better as you go south in Mississippi.

I've heard. Beautiful beaches. As a matter of fact, the prettiest beaches in the world, the Redneck Riviera is what we call that area, that swath of like Mississippi and Alabama. Yeah. And then the the Florida Panhandle.

Yeah, I mean, I've seen like the pictures down there, like the Biloxi area. Like, it looks not Mississippi at all.

Well, you know, spring break used to be a lot of fun, you know, right? You go down there and you go to the beach, you play volleyball, probably get a little rowdy, you know, in the evening times at the establishments down there. You know how it goes, you know, especially if you're a college kid, you're trying to blow off steam, and there were never really back when back in the 70s and 80s, you never heard of chaos happening at spring break. But man, nowadays, I was looking at some video from Daytona Beach, Florida. All you W, it's interesting.

We had incidents in Daytona Beach. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and in Houston, and even in Memphis, there was an incident over the weekend. But people, it's like they don't know how to behave in public anymore. And I was showing the video of what was going on down at Daytona Beach. Where you had thousands of shall we call them young scholars on the beach, causing all sorts of mayhem, multiple shots fired.

And you look at these videos and you think, wait a second, is that a Chuck E. Cheese? No, that's not a Chuck E. No, is that the mall? Is that the local?

No, that's not the local mall. Is that the Wa Wa? The 7-Eleven? No, no, no, it's Daytona Beach. It's like Okay.

No, it's not a red lobster either. No, I'm just telling you, it's no, and it's not a Walmart. This is insane. People don't know how to behave in public anymore. And I really feel, I feel bad for the good, uh, the good taxpayers of Daytona Beach and other communities because this is really getting out of control.

Now, in Houston, and you guys are going to have to help me out here on a Patriot Talk 920, but every year at this time, you guys host the big Houston livestock show and rodeo. It's called Rodeo Houston, and it is billed as the world's largest rodeo and livestock show. Oh, I remember years ago, Dylan, we were down in Fort Worth, Texas. I was speaking at an event down there, and Glascock went with us. And they have the steers that just like They're they're just walking down the street.

And uh there was one guy, and you could actually get up on top of a steer and have your photograph made. Oh, wow. Mounting a steer. I was hoping that you would say it was you on the steer. You know, I thought about it, but the steer looked at me and was like, Yeah, buddy, that's not going to happen.

Yeah, the steer was like, Gonna take a pass. It had a long day, but I think I get it. It's a long day. Heavy load. For the steer, that is.

So, anyway, over the weekend, they had the event. And according to all the news reports, all hell broke loose. And I will just tell you. That the same crowd that was rioting in Daytona Beach was the same crowd rioting in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was the same crowd that was rioting in Washington, D.C., in the Navy Yard. They were literally fighting with the National Guard there, the same crowd that was fighting and causing mayhem at the Tom Lee Park in Memphis, Tennessee.

And it's the same crowd, the same crowd that was. Causing Mahem and in Houston, Texas.

So a police officer Said, you know, enough of this. And he got on his social media platform. And I want you to listen to how he described the situation there in Houston. If you were wondering why the rodeo, the Houston rodeo, was shut down yesterday and people were kicked out earlier, they paid a lot of good money. to enjoy a rodeo carnivore and show.

I'm gonna show you. Stick around. I want to talk so much. But How do you go from fighting? to dance and And laughing at the same time.

I can make this up. But this is a trash behavior. Like Very, very trash. All their parents failed him. That's all I can say.

They have no upbringings. Why would you go to an event and act like that. You don't have your emotions attacked. That's Ah, garbage. Yeah, it is.

And they had to shut down the rodeo. And you know who I felt bad for? I feel bad for all the vendors. You know, these are hardworking folks. I mean, these are sort of blue-collar working-class folks here.

And many of them use the fairs like this and use the rodeo as a way to earn a lot of money. And you can't do that if people are fighting. And guess what's going to happen? Fewer people are going to start showing up at this rodeo as a result of all of this. And the videos are just really disturbing.

And I think this officer is onto something here. Why are parents raising their children to behave like animals? Why is that happening? This is, look, and I know it's an offense to animals because not even animals behave like this. This is savage behavior.

that we're watching in city after city after city. And I hate it for all the good people, all the business owners. The folks the families just out trying to have a good time.

Now, in their defense, Dylan, I will say this. That the incident happened at the carnival grounds, and it could be that the youngsters got confused and thought they were on board a carnival cruise ship. Which is why they committed all this man. Because let me tell you something. There's no way on God's green earth that I will ever get on board any sort of a cruise ship heading south of the border.

I don't want to get trapped on a boat. It's like prison on water. Can you seriously? Have you seen? I mean, it's not an anomaly.

I mean, that's what's happening right now. I feel bad for the cruise ship industry. Oh, yeah. And there are a few good cruise companies out there that do a good job. But, like, you know, the cheaper ones, the ones that people can afford, like, those are in rough waters right now.

Yeah. It's sort of like Spirit Airlines. Yeah. Pretty much. It's a cheap cruise.

You don't want to go. It's not like you can leave. Like, you can't. There's not a. You know, there are raft boats, but you can't just use them.

Well, if push came to shove. I mean, do you want the Houston rodeo happening on water? Because I mean, how many videos have we seen? That's nightmare fuel right there. Yeah, the whole thing is nightmare.

But here's the problem: nobody wants to address the issue here. Nobody wants to talk about the root issue, which is where are moms and dads? Why aren't they disciplining their kids? And by the way, why aren't the cops arresting all of these people? I mean that's that's what needs to happen.

And part of the reason is parents these days, their children are like, they're like God's gift to mankind.

So, their children can do no harm.

So, therefore, they never discipline their kids, and it's always everybody else's fault. It's never the fault of the children. By the way, there was video of a They spent, what, $60 million to renovate a park on the Mississippi River in Memphis. And over the weekend, there was this massive brawl. And there was the obligatory, you know, 400-pound G-O-G.

That would be gals of girth, a gal of girth. And then Dylan, there was a guy in a wheelchair. This is terrible. There was a guy in a wheelchair with one leg. And he abandons his wheelchair and he's hopping around on what we've got the video.

That's dedication to its finest degree. He's trying to fight people or breaking them. I don't know what he was doing, but he was hopping around on one leg. If I was him, I'd stay in the chair. I mean, you can run over people if they're on the ground.

You know, you have leverage there. You don't even know about it. Or if you're wearing like a prosthetic device, take it off. Take it off and use that as a battering ram. Don't bring a prosthetic leg to a gunfight.

And I'm watching the guy, and he's wheeling the chair around in the middle of the fight. And I'm like, he's no, he's not going to get up. Is he going to get up? And I thought maybe he had sprained his ankle. He didn't have an ankle.

There was no leg there. Were you cheering for him in this battle here? You kind of have to. Yeah, you do. You kind of have to.

Yeah. Only in Memphis. I'm like, $60 million. $60 million for what? We should have just built an MMA fighting ring down there.

Seriously. Let everybody have at it. But what's going on in society, ladies and gentlemen? Like for Winston Salem, and I just I especially hit it for all of our WSJS listeners because you guys have a beautiful, beautiful community. But a lot of businesses are just done.

They're saying it's almost impossible to operate in the downtown area because of all the fighting.

So at what point, as a matter of fact, police now In Winston-Salem are shutting down the large gatherings of unsupervised youths. in downtown. The police chief now calling on the public. to intervene. Over the weekend, a crowd of some 200 youths reading from the reporting from WGHP.

And whence been Salem? Miller's on trade bar manager, Chris Smith, said he was working at the bar alone when he first heard the commotion. Early on in the evening he said everything was nice and okay and fine, just a lot of people on the street, unusual for a Wednesday night. Police responded to numerous calls. for trespassing, fights, and disturbances, The sports bar had to close its doors earlier than usual.

So, you see what's happening here? This is impacting business.

So how do we fix this, ladies and gentlemen? 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. Apparently, they were using those scooters. Have you guys seen those scooters that you can, I guess, lease the scooter and you've got grown people like scooting around on the scooters?

They were using the scooters And as as weapons, and they were throwing the scooters at people. Just across the street, Cheesecakes by Alex Twin City Shift leader Jada Carter said their store hours saved them before the youth activities became too much. Oh, that's what they're calling you now. Youth activities. Gotcha.

What a brawl What a mess, ladies and gentlemen, and of all places Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Police say these types of gatherings become a trend nationwide when temperatures begin to rise. That's why officials are calling for parents in the community to keep teens engaged and safe as we get into the summer months. Here's what the police chief had to say. Curious to hear your thoughts on this one.

They said it was an unsanctioned party planned for high school age kids out on spring break.

Now it's a long statement. I don't want to read all of this. But he says the chief says, we are now dealing with the same problem we faced last summer, unsupervised juveniles. I come before you again with a similar message. Our Ute are the most precious asset we have in our community.

They are our future.

Well, if that's the case, may I recommend that we start putting belt to ass to the assets? of our country. Because that's the only way this is going to get resolved, is for parents to start acting like parents. and beating the living daylights out of their children. In a loving way, of course.

But I'm telling you. If I had been engaged in anything like this, I can tell you, my mom and dad would have been down there. Down there with the belt off already. and I'd be begging the police to arrest me. And that's really the kind of fear of God we need to instill into these little evil heathen children.

And that's what they are, they're heathen children. Unbelievable. All right, we got to take a break. 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Start Show.

All right, welcome back, everybody. This is the Todd Sterns Radio Show.

Someone just sent me a photograph from Michigan. And the snow drifts are higher than the house. That's how much snow they've been getting up there. Unbelievable. I don't know how you guys do it.

Jeez Lou, we got an inch of snow and we shot everything down here. I can't even imagine having snow drifts, you know, 15 to 20 feet tall. Good lord. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5262.

5926. President Trump just a few seconds ago announcing that the Kennedy Trump Center is going to be shut down for the next two years. The President says they didn't realize just how bad it was. And the previous administrations just turned a blind eye to what was happening at the Kennedy Center as far as the structure it goes, the building itself. And it's a complete mess.

So they're pretty much going to have to rebuild the thing. And the president says that's going to take about two years. Also, there was some question about whether or not Rick Rinnell was going to remain on board. He's actually at the meeting, so you can read into that what you want to. But there you go.

Kennedy Senator, Kennedy Center rather, shutting down. You know, a lot of groups have been canceling, so they were having a hard time actually finding groups that were willing to come in and perform.

So Yeah, no, the Oscars No, Dylan. I did not watch the Oscars last night. I Normally, I take one for the team. I am in the final edits of the book, and I thought, you know what? I can't be bothered.

I don't want to get riled up last night. And honestly, I forgot they were even holding the Academy Awards. It was just really sort of ho-hum. But there was an interesting moment, and we pulled some audio, and I'll share that with you coming up in the next hour of the show. By the way, speaking of my book, yes, very excited.

The endorsements are coming in: President Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson. We got Congressman David Kostoff sending in a message, and so we're very, very excited about that. It's called The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America, and you can get yourself a copy wherever you get your book.

So, pre-order today. Let's go to the phone lines. Clyde in Texas. Clyde, what's on your mind?

Well, sirs. Glad to be here and talk to you. Anyway, yeah, you're talking about these 200 teenagers getting in trouble up there at Salem Winston. Winston-Salem? Anyway.

My care is what do we what do we have as kids that they don't have today? They don't enforce the current view. They got to enforce that curve. You make them in the house at 10 o'clock, take them to jail, make the parents come down, pay a fine, and get them out. And I guarantee the parents will start paying attention.

Clyde, I like your idea. And you know what? You raise a good point. I think kids today have a heck of a lot more than we had. We didn't have our own private phones, we didn't have our own private computers.

Right? We want to make a phone call. We went down the number on our little old landline. We certainly did. And also, our parents had a rule: you got to get back home when the street lights come on.

Right. That's it. Clyde. We've got to introduce him any belts on that incident. You know, I think that's the biggest problem: we're not using belts.

And that's a big problem. Kids just don't, they're not disciplined. And parents, you got to do your job. All right, we got to take a break. Clyde, thank you for that call.

901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starr. Shut this, that's right.

I'm sorry. There's American And hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Cearns Radio Show. Happy to have you with us today on this Monday edition of the program. By the way, our telephone number, 901-260-5926, that's 901-260.

five nine two six I'm curious to hear your thoughts about this story. A mom went on social media and she's really frustrated. She said that her daughter is really not learning a lot in her local public school. Provided for by your tax dollars, by the way. And she goes on to say, and we'll play this clip here: that only one out of every four children in this child's math class.

actually speaks English. Take a listen. I'm about to ask what I'm not supposed to ask. Why is one of my children in a class. where she's one of four kids that speaks English.

In math. And she doesn't get to learn math. Because there's 20 plus other kids who don't know English, and the teacher has to accommodate them. And I'm not blaming the teacher, I actually feel really bad for the teachers. Why?

Why am I paying property taxes? Why am I paying income tax? Why am I paying taxes for anything for my children to have the right to a free and public education, which, by the way, they constantly are trying to take the ability for us to homeschool and all that stuff away? To make them go to public school, but then when they go to public school, this is what they get. You don't get to learn math because You know English, so you just don't get to learn math.

What? Yeah. So it turns out that this is a big problem in many public schools.

So you've got the last count, well over 6 million children in our nation's public education system do not they don't speak any English. And so now these schools have to go out there and have to find ESL teachers. That's English as a second language student. It's a teacher, by the way. That's nearly 11%, by the way.

When you look at the 6 million, that's nearly 11% of the total public school enrollment. That can't speak English.

So what happens is many public schools and they don't have a lot of money. You know, there's just not a lot to go around. And so instead of, say, hiring an additional math teacher or a science teacher, they have to go out there and hire these ESL teachers, English as a second language teacher, because these kids have to learn how to speak English.

So, again, it goes back to the idea that it's not just the illegal alien children here, right? It's taking away from the law-abiding American children. The resources. The money that it's it's costing to educate all of these kids who do not speak our language. And it is a growing, growing problem.

And by the way, this is not just happening in the big cities. This is happening in smaller communities as well.

So I feel bad for this, mom, but I think a lot of people are now beginning to wake up and realize: wait a second. This is not good. Talking about the illegal immigration. we're not able to accommodate the millions of people that came here from Spanish speaking countries that have completely overwhelmed our nation's education system. And that's what's really going on here.

All right, 901-260-5926. Our telephone number, that's 901-260-5926. Speaking of that, you folks in Houston, Harris County, Texas. A brand new report out that they caught an illegal Voting in the 2024 election. Take a listen.

Federal investigators say a British man knowingly broke U.S. election law. According to court documents, Samuel James Hall, described as a non-U.S. citizen, is accused of voting in the 2024 general election, casting a ballot in races for president, vice president, senate, and the House of Representatives, despite allegedly knowing he was not eligible to vote. The Harris County Tax Assessor, Collector, and Voter Registrar's Office tells ABC 13 it first learned Hall was on the voter rolls last June, seven months after the election.

Officials say they notified him and that Hall then canceled his own registration. The registrar says he was removed from the voter rolls and is not currently registered to vote in Harris County. Writing in a statement, as this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to share more at this time and remain committed to ensuring that the voter registration rolls are up to date and that only eligible citizens are enrolled and part of the The process. ABC 13 asked how Hall was able to register to vote in the first place, since that is the key issue, but we have not gotten that answer. Last year, the Texas Secretary of State says it identified 33 people who may have illegally voted out of nearly 11.4 million ballots cast in that election.

33 votes, ultimately not enough to change the outcome of any election. In this case, the FBI's Houston Field Office says Hall made his initial federal court appearance Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty. Court documents show he posted Bond. Hall's attorney declined to comment when ABC 13 reached out, but his client now facing a penalty of up to one year in federal prison. But, but, but, but wait, wait, wait a second here.

I thought the Democrats told us this never happens. That there's never been an incident of anybody voting in an election that was not allowed to vote in an election. That's what they told us.

Now, my question, and it's a great question that ABC asked: how was this guy allowed to vote in the first place? That has to be investigated. But my other question is: how many other people? We're able to vote that we don't know about. They're trying to dismiss this as a one-off.

I don't think it's a one-off. I think there are a lot of people voting in those Texas elections who are not supposed to be voting.

meanwhile speaking of Texas. Dan Crenshaw is on the war path. You know, he got booted. Out of the Republican primary. And so, anyway, he's out for blood.

This is Congressman Crenshaw calling out MAGA. Last time you were with us, we spoke about you felt the need for moral clarity. That was a phrase you used for some within your own party, specifically around anti-Semitism in this country. I want to read for you a few things that some Republican lawmakers said this week. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said, America is a product of English Christian culture.

Muslims don't belong in American society. Florida's Randy Fine said we need more Islamophobia, not less. Fear of Islam is rational. And Senator Tommy Tupperville of Alabama posted a picture of the 9/11 attack next to the New York City mayor at dinner breaking his fast at Ramadan with the phrase, the enemy is inside the gates. What do you think of this language and should Republican leaders speak up about it?

I still think it's fairly fringe. I mean, the truth of the matter is, radical Islamism is bad. But that's not what they said. But you know, that that's not a mainstream that's not a mainstream narrative by by any stretch. I I think trying to to fight it internally will probably gives it more m a lot more Air than is necessary.

We've seen that to be the case. There's a Republican conflict ongoing right now over Israel. And the anti-Semitism issues. And so, you know, one could make the argument that speaking out against it has only inflamed it.

So look, I still think that's very fringe. I don't think that's that's that's certainly not the administration's position. And look, we're going to go after radical Islam. That's why we need to fund agencies like DHS. And that's what we're going to do.

Okay, so Congressman Crenshaw believes that all of you folks that are concerned about Islam, you are fringe people, and that there's no reason for us to be worried about a Muslim majority in the country.

However, I would direct your attention to what's happening overseas right now in the United Kingdom. Where Muslims are getting very close to becoming the majority. They're wielding way too much influence in the culture, so much so that there is a story circulating on British television. About public schools in the UK telling children not to draw images of Jesus Christ. And the reason why is they're afraid that drawing images of Jesus Christ may cause offense to Muslim students.

Take a listen. We found out that a document called Sharing the Journey, Face Sensitivities was sent to head teachers in the North to tell them that figurative imagery of humans is considered Um Blasphemy? Blasphemy for Muslims that they should start considering to protect their Muslim and other faiths.

So, for example, they should have single-sex women, not mixed women. But they should also not give children roles in nativity plays that might make them feel uncomfortable. And they shouldn't, in lessons, use drawings of Jesus because Jesus was actually a prophet for Islam, and that might upset everybody.

Well, I'm a Christian, I love drawings of Jesus, and my friend Bernie has a very talented daughter called Isabel Spoffoth, and she actually paints Jesus like this. I think we've got a picture here to show everyone. Beautiful. That is actually Isabel sitting at the front there.

So talented. I've got a Christmas card from Bernie, which is one of Isabel's drawings, and Alice actually has it in her religious part of her playroom, which she I need to give Bernie my address so I can get one of these printouts. I really do. Bernie, your daughter is so talented, Isabel. You are an incredible talent.

And you can actually see Isabel's drawing on Bernie's Twitter, which I think is Artemis for now. That's correct. It is indeed.

So we are a Christian country. We're going to draw Jesus in schools. Yeah, well, good for you, ma'am. Meantime, a woman in England claimed in public, she was at a public gathering, and she said that England is a Christian country and did not want to hear about the Quran. She was immediately arrested by British police.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what Sharia looks like. Just FYI. There were other schools including one here in the United States. Where uh during Ramadan The Muslims are not allowed to eat, so they fast. And there have been some schools in the UK that have Told Christian students they are not allowed to eat snacks.

They're not allowed to eat food because it might offend their Muslim classmates.

Now, this lady writing in, and she is over in the I believe this is in New Mexico. She says, I work in a public school. The first and second grade lunch period remains the same during Ramadan. A few kids in the third and fourth grade lunch period choose to take their books and iPads to the auditorium. rather than enter the lunch room.

By fifth and sixth grade, many, most Muslim kids choose to fast, and many of these schools are now making public accommodations. For these Muslim kids. By the way, accommodations that are not made to Christian children either in the UK or here in in the United States.

So anyway, curious to hear your thoughts on this. Um I want to read this to you. A lady said, My neighbor is the substitute teacher. She worked at a school this week that was not allowing snack time for any child, and no child could have his or her water at their desk because some Muslim students were doing Ramadan. In Phoenix, Arizona.

One set of rules. And we have to follow them. And if they run contrary to the teachings of Islam, we're not allowed to do it. You got to pay attention to all of this, folks, because it is all leading us to a very, very bad place in American history. All right, got to take a break here.

901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. All right, welcome back, everybody. This is the Todd Stearns Radio Show. Let's go right to the phone lines, Atlanta, Georgia.

Cynthia joins us. Hi, Cynthia. What's on your mind? Hi.

Well, I'm listening to your comments and wanted to add to it. I do have Muslim friends, so I get a lot of insight. Number one, our schools are government schools. There's a Department of Education. These are government schools.

We have in this country a separation of church and state. Muslim is a religion. It's a separation of church and state. The state schools should not be affording Any religion. Um Extra niceties.

Let's put it like that. The Catholics were not allowed to have. extra niceties in the school system, and they started their own schools. There are Baptist schools here in Atlanta. That do not believe in some of the things going on in the school system, and so they start their own school.

Muslims need to go to the Muslim school. We have a large contingency of Muslims here. In the Atlanta area. With that in mind, one of my Muslim friends told me after 9-11: your people will forget 9-11. We will not.

Generation after generation, we will take you over. We won't take it by the sword. We'll take it by the womb. He had seven children. My children are having one, two, and three children.

They will take us over by the womb, and they mean to do it. And that's why they're in the school system changing things now. Yeah, I will say this, Cynthia, that the Constitution does not, that phrase, separation of church and state, is nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. What it does say is that Congress will not make any laws respecting an establishment of religion.

And when you are forcing the children to fast alongside their Muslim classmates, you are forcing a religion on the children in that classroom. And that's where I have a problem. You are correct. And that's why there's Muslim schools. If you do not agree with the schools, the government schools, then you take your child out and you put him in a Baptist school, or you put him in a Methodist school, or you put him in a Muslim school or a Catholic school.

If you want specialties, if you want special niceties to come to you or rules to come to you, Do not expect every other child in the classroom to take care of it for you. You take your child and you pay for that nicety that you're asking for your child and you put him in a private school. But Cynthia, in in the area that you live, you're telling me that even in the Atlanta area, you guys are seeing a a very large increase in the number of of Muslims. Of course.

Well, you have to look at it this way. Obama, when he started bringing in. People into the country. He settled them in Kentucky. He settled them in.

Minnesota. He settled them in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He settled them in South Carolina. Thousands. It it it has been a plan for quite some time.

His plan is to change. United States, the very United States of America. And he's doing it silently, quietly. You hear something about it every so often. But if you talk to them, I'm they'll tell you.

We will take you over. If done by the sword, by the wound. And you know, when he first said that to me, I was like, What exactly does that mean? Then I started recognizing he had three different wives, each one had three to five children. You beat out my three kids.

You know, and these young people that are saying, Well, we don't want to have any children.

Well, there's a Muslim sitting over there having five and six. They will take us over by voting. They'll just take us over. Yeah, it's a fair point. I mean, it's a matter of numbers, and it really is a numbers game.

And look, I think you're wise, Cynthia, to remember what Obama said he was going to fundamentally transform America. That was not meant for just the eight years of his presidency. He was literally laying the groundwork For this to continue for at least a generation.

So I would say, and I think that I saw a number by 2030, maybe you're going to see in many parts of the country a Muslim being the dominant religion just simply as a result of the birth rate.

So, Cynthia, appreciate that call. We've got to run for a break. You've given us a lot to think about.

Well, there you go. 901-260-5926. Our telephone number that's 901-260-5926. Got to take a quick break. This is the Todd Stern Show.

All right. Honored to have our good friend Congressman Scott Desjarlay, who represents the Chattanooga area in Congress. He joined us on News Max Friday night. Here's that conversation. Good to have you with us this evening, Congressman.

So I'm going to ask you that question. Why is it this guy was not booted out of the country after he was set free from prison?

Well, there's so many cases like this, and I'm afraid we're just going to see more and more. We knew when President Biden opened the border and 20 million people poured through, there's two to three million gotaways. Yeah. didn't want to turn themselves in and get all the freebies that go along with coming into this country. And so it's not a surprise that these things are happening.

And just again and again in liberal states and counties. Corrupt people are being released onto the streets, and we see them committing crimes over and over again. Congressman, there has been a lot of concern among your colleagues up on Capitol Hill about sleeper cells. Is that what we're watching here? I mean, we had the Austin attack.

We had New York City, Michigan, we had Old Dominion University. Is that what we're looking at?

Well, we've been expecting this again ever since the open border, and now with the war in Iran. The impetus is there for these people to strike, and that's the whole point of them being sleeper cells. They're going to rise up at the right time. And I suspect almost every day or two that we're going to see this type of activity going on around the country. We need to be hyper-vigilant.

Should be an absolute no-brainer for Democrats to fund DHS. There's no time I can think of. We need Homeland Security at full strength. And why they're using this as a political football is beyond me. Yeah, there was, I want to go back up to Michigan for a moment.

We understand that Alyssa Slotkin, she's the Democrat senator from those parts, says Homeland Security should be funded. But here's the problem. She actually voted against funding it yesterday. Take a listen. Certainly, we need to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and we need, in my view, to cut away all the conversation on ICE, which is its own conversation, from all the core missions of the Department of Homeland Security.

But they're essential. They're on the job. They're working today.

Okay, so when the terrorists are in your congressional district or operating in your state, the Democrats say, oh, yeah, we got to fund DHS. Yeah, I know Elise well. We served on Armed Services Committee together. You know, she gets it. She's a great mind when it comes to the military and was a great member of armed services.

And so for them to continue to cling on to this Minnesota ICE optics that they, you know, it frankly, you know, it didn't look good. We had two people killed there. Trump has taken steps to correct that. They changed the way they were operating. They replaced Christy Millen with Mark Wayne Mullens.

And so their first shutdown was all about the Epstein files. We got to release those. This shutdown is trying to get political mileage out of what happened in Minnesota. And I mean, it's ironic that ICE is funded. What's not funded is TSA, Coast Guard, Homeland Security.

So they're playing this game trying to get as much capital. It's almost like they're January 6th now. They're going to use Minnesota or their George Floyd moment. They're going to use this to gain score political points on an election year when people are literally dying and we're going to see more of this. We need to be hyper-vigilant and this is not the time to be playing games.

All right. I want to bring up Congressman Andy Ogles from your state there in Tennessee in the middle represents a district in the middle part of the state. He wants to see massive immigration overhaul. Here's what he wrote on X. I'm preparing a monumental bill that repeals the Heart Seller Act of 1965, which allows immigration from the eastern hemisphere.

This would be a pretty significant change if it happens. Do you support Congressman Ogles and his efforts here?

Well, yeah, I'll tell you what, I've been an advocate for better vetting for a long time. Newsweek wrote an article about five or six years ago when we had the disastrous Afghan withdrawal about the 14 heartless. members of Congress that voted against letting all these Afghan interpreters come in.

Well, we know that there was a lot more than just Afghan interpreters that were jumping on those planes. And sure enough, years later in DC, we see Afghan national shoot and kill a female National Guard and shoot another National Guardsman in the head. And then ironically, Newsweek writes an article praising those who had the foresight to vote against such a thing.

So I think Andy's trying to do the right thing that we need to vet people from unfriendly countries. And why are we letting them in? They're not coming in legally. And those should be the ones that we're targeting first. It's just that they're hard to find.

The problem is the gotaways just walked across the border or came in in any number of ways and they're harder to track. But Homeland Security and our other agencies are doing their best to track them down. All right, that was Congressman Scott Desjarlais from Tennessee on the Newsmax show. I want to give you an update real quick here: a new study. Uh, that is out.

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Well, I um Want to play some audio here? This is a crazy story. out of Pennsylvania. Where a school district Took great issue with a longtime bus driver, this guy, a retired cop, and he was wearing a MAGA hat. And they told him the hat had to come off.

Got number three. Is this hat worth the heartache? To me it is. If that wasn't a condition of my employment, I'd be back to work tomorrow. I miss the kids.

Those kids and I had a great relationship. But a complaint from one of Mr. Dave's Bus73 students about his Make America Great Again hat has brought that relationship to a screeching halt. I get a phone call from my boss at Christ Transportation. And she contacts me and says, hey, listen, I'm going to buy you a hat.

An American flag hat because the school district has deemed that they don't want you to wear the Make America Great Again hat. Dave Bonhoff, a retired Baltimore County police officer, turned Littlestown area school bus driver, says he chose to walk away before afternoon drop-off, claiming the district and Christ Transportation violated his freedom of speech. There's nothing in this hat that says anything about partisanship. What do you say to people who may argue that the hat is pretty synonymous with President Donald Trump a political figure. I would say that they're incorrect.

I would say that making America great is what we should all strive to be. Anybody who doesn't want America to prosper, I take issue with them. Al Moyer, Littlestown area's superintendent of schools, clarified over the phone that Bonhoff was an employee of Christ Transportation, not the district. All right, there you go.

So the guy said, Yeah, forget this. And he's not going to be driving a bus if he can't wear his MAGA hat.

Now, the good news is that one of the state lawmakers in that area Has now weighed in Dave Mastriano, and Dave has been a guest on this program before. Great guy. And Dave says, Hey, hold up for a second here. There's nothing wrong with what this guy did. Free speech does not exist only for views that are popular.

And he's got a great point here. He says, Freedom of expression is not granted by bureaucrats, administrators, or activists. And the reality is that the U.S. Constitution affords Mr. Bonhoff the right to wear that MAGA hat wherever he sees fit.

Period.

So we'll keep you updated on that story. I suspect we may be seeing this one going to the courts. All right, we've got to take a break here, folks. 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show.

Dylan, I'm curious. Have you ever had a fileto fish sandwich at McDonald's? You know, I try to avoid the fileto fish. Really? At McDonald's?

Why do you not like the fileo fish?

Well, I don't trust that it's actually fish. That's the basis of my really so you think it's like fake fish meat?

Well Yeah, it's like how I view spam or how I view some hot dogs. I don't believe it. I love saying the name of it, Fileo Fish. It is clever. Yeah, it is.

It's clever for me to eat it.

So, McDonald's is making some headlines with their fileo fish. And I've got some good news for you. It actually is fish. Yeah, it probably is. No, it is fish.

I believe it. I believe it. We have a definitive story in the infectious diseases section of the. USA Today newspaper. This is the headline McDonald's Fileo Fish May Have Gross Surprise Inside.

And it's normal.

So of of course during Lent, you know, fileto fish becomes incredibly popular because I guess what the Catholics and Episcopalians who celebrates Lent? But I think that's it. The process.

Okay, I hold on. We're a Baptist, we eat all the time. Yeah. I don't do the Presbyterians. I don't know what the Presbyterians.

I don't know. I just don't.

So I don't know if anyone else.

Somebody will fact-check me here. I don't want to start a religious war. But anyway, a lot of people love to go to McDonald's for Lent for their filet of fish sandwich. And by the way, this is an interesting little story here, but the sandwich itself was actually created by a McDonald's franchisee who was operating a restaurant in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Cincinnati. And this was, gosh, when was it?

Back in 1962 when Lou Groen. Brought the very first McDonald's franchise. Into the city. And so back in the day, there was a rule. And when it came to McDonald's, you were not allowed to add anything to the menu.

And that was a big problem early on with McDonald's, is that when they started franchising, the franchises would add things like fried chicken and tacos. And so Ray Kroc had to come in. and put a stop to all of that. And so, anyway, this guy, Lou, the franchise owner in Cincinnati, said we got to figure out something because our business is getting killed here during the 40-day period of fasting.

So, he created the filet of fish sandwich as an alternative. He came up with the batter, came up with that tartar sauce. You could put that tartar sauce on a flip-flop, and I would eat it. I love the tartar sauce. And then he took it to McDonald's right to the head honcho, Ray Kroc.

Ray Kroc actually favored a grilled pineapple sandwich as an alternative, but the filet of fish literally has gone on to be one of their most popular sandwiches, hundreds of millions of sandwiches every year. Here's the problem. Apparently A Reddit user posted photos of a worm that was found inside a filet of fish sandwich. And you know why that's a good thing, Dylan? No, I don't know why that's a good thing.

It's a good thing. According to Matthew Spina at the tasting table. It's a sign that the fish was actually caught in the wild. Oh my god. Commenters on Reddit said, Well, now we know it's real fish.

Yeah. There's a crazy standard of operation there. Another said, My exact thought: I've worked fish markets, fish have parasites. No, is this true? Have we been able to verify this?

Mm-hmm. This is giving me more reason not to eat this, by the way. I don't know if you're trying to convince me. I'm sure you're not. But wait a second.

Does that violate the meat standard? Because technically, the worm is not, is that covered? I don't know. I I don't know. I'm not sure this is accurate.

I'm not buying with a Reddit person because, again, why would if, in fact, you do have, they say it's a type of round worm. That is found in saltwater fish like cod, pollock, halibut, and flounder. If you found the worm in your patty. But This is the scenario I need you to So like the tartar sauce, if the tartar sauce was on the fish fillet, but you did find the worm. Would you still eat the sandwich?

Projectile vomiting would ensue.

Okay.

Yeah. Immediately.

So that means you would eat it. No, well, if I knew the worm was in the sandwich. With the tartar sauce. No. Oh, okay.

Okay.

But I wouldn't on a flip-flop I would. Right. Let's go to Tom in Collierville, Tennessee. Tom What's on your mind? Boy, your show is on fire today, Todd.

You upcoming a lot of stuff.

So I'm Catholic, and this is Lent for us Catholics around the area.

So we don't eat meat on Friday. And when y'all started talking about the McDonald's filet of fish sandwich, I'm like, please don't tell me. That there's something else besides meat in it. Because I'm going to eat a lot of fish. And I got a fun fact for you.

Back in the day the Vatican classified the capybara as fish rather than meat, because there wasn't a lot of meat or fish, good fish, in Venezuela.

So they were allowed to consume Caffyberra.

So they they classified it based on fish, now they're aquatic lifestyle, not the biological classification. Is that right? So you're able to do that?

Well, I guess if you're the Pope, you can do that kind of thing, I suppose. Yeah, I don't know where we're going to be able to find the capybara around here and eat it, but Will them to try. Yeah. Dylan, your thoughts on that? I would eat a capybara over a fish filet.

I don't know. That's my hard take. Wow. Good afternoon. Tom, thanks for the call there.

And What is that? Capybara? Yeah. It's not it's not a fish. It's like a mammal.

It's like a wombat almost. Oh my word. Why would you put a wombat on the menu? I'm not eating a wombat.

Well, the Pope liked it, so. You see, this is why I'm Baptist. We eat everything, we eat steak. We do eat steak. You know, it's funny.

I was trying to figure out why everybody in line, because you know, when you're in line at the McDonald's, you hear people ordering, and everybody was ordering filet of fish.

So I guess we got a lot of Catholics in the neighborhood. I just don't believe it. I don't believe it. What, that we have Catholics in the neighborhood? No, that everyone is ordering fish fillet.

No, they are because, well, if you're a practicing Catholic, you can't eat meat, so you got to eat the fish. What about chicken? Are you guys allowed? We should have asked Tom, the Catholic, from Collierville, if we could, if they're allowed to eat chicken. Yeah, what's on the list?

Yeah. The do's and don'ts. Oh, my Lord. And then you got the nuns with the rulers. Yeah.

And that's a tough religion, I'm telling you. It's a lot going on. Oh, who's our guy? You know who would know? Our Wolf River popcorn guy, Jim the popcorn guy.

Yes, he would know. He would know. He's Catholic. By the way, someone told me that the bishop, the Catholic bishop in Memphis, used to be a Baptist. Oh wow.

Yeah. I got to beat this guy. Yeah. He probably has a really cool story. All right.

Well, I'm sure somebody will help us. Is there like a list of things? Do you guys do that? Does the church release the list, or is it something ingrained in you? from the the early days.

Like, you know, you're five or six years old and you, you know, want a, you know, want a cheeseburger from, like, Burger King, and the next thing you know is, you know, you got the nun wrapping your knuckles. Is that a thing? I don't know. Everything I learned about the Catholic Church, I learned by watching the Blues Brothers.

So the theology may be a smidge off. Just maybe. Just a smidge. Yeah. Wow.

All right. 901-260-5926. Our telephone number. Hey, folks, head over to our website. We have some great resources for you.

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That's right, I know. Love is American. Touch. Star. Oh, well, hello, everybody.

Welcome to the Todd Sterns radio program. Great to have you with us today. Continue our conversation about Lent.

So Dylan, I um Dylan, I had to go through and I Had to do some chat GPT-ing. And we've got some intel. Apparently the rules change every year. This is too much. This is why I'm glad I'm a product.

That's a lot. It's a lot. You got to keep up with everything.

So here's, by the way, Beth, the lovely Beth, who is the booker for the Newsmax TV show. Uh she sent me a note. Todd, I was raised Catholic. We could not eat chicken on Fridays and Lent. Oh, okay.

I don't know about that. That's not too bad. Yeah. So it's not like you can't, like, eat meat like the all the time, right? That's where I'm confused.

So, Catholics can eat the following things during Lent: salmon, tuna. Code. Tilapia. Wombats No, I'm just kidding, the kidney wombats.

Okay.

Crab, lobster, clams, and oysters. You're also allowed to eat oh, well, you know what, if you could do shrimp, I'm good. You know, I could be a Catholic. This doesn't sound too bad so far. Vegetarian beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, nuts, and seeds.

Okay.

Uh dairy, you get still get to drink milk, eat cheese. Yogurt, butter and eggs. Then you got the pasta, rice, bread, cereals.

Okay, this is not bad. Um and most people you can eat you're supposed to you're supposed to be meatless on Wednesday and all Fridays.

Okay.

You know why I drive by Central BBQ on the way home every day, yeah, and my catalog-I don't know what happens, but it immediately turns into the barbecue. I understand that, yeah.

However, if you're a pregnant woman, if you're old or you have a health condition, you're exempt from the rules. Oh. Wow. There you go. Just get pregnant.

There you go. All right. So, well, thank you, Miss Beth, for. For clarifying the rules and regulations there. Did they give you a manual?

I wonder. Yeah. Like a PDF you save on your phone. All right, we've got a lot going on this hour of the program. An honor to have you with us.

And I want to welcome on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line our good friend Steve Gill. He is the publisher of TriStarDaily.com. Steve, hope you're doing well today. Thanks for joining us. And well, they may give you a menu, same sort of thing that lets you know exactly what you're allowed to eat.

Yeah, good point there. Steve, we're going to put you on. We've got a super bad connection, and we're going to try to get that worked out. And we'll get back to Steve in just one moment. All right.

We had an interesting conversation with a guy running for office in. The great state of Georgia, and you guys in Georgia are dealing with a lot of stuff when it comes to your Republican politics. And I don't know if that, you know what? It's not an anomaly. I mean, I think this is happening.

All over the nation, as Republicans sort of, I don't know, wage war on each other. It's sort of a weird thing. But anyway, there's a guy running for office. He's running to be the next lieutenant governor. And he's put out this video, which I think is both hilarious and horrifying.

But now everybody's accusing him of being Islamophobic. And they're calling for him to pull out of the race. The guy's name is State Senator Greg Dolezal. And the video, he released a campaign ad, and it depicts Muslims terrorizing white Georgia residents. And then the entire ad ends with the message Keep Georgia Sharia free Now mister Dolozah is from Cumming, Georgia, and he characterized Moslems as invaders who would rather pillage our generosity than assimilate.

He was a guest on my Newsmax TV show. By the way, one state representative, Ruwa Roman, one of only two Muslims in the Georgia House. said that she was appalled, and said that he should be removed from the race. Also, wants an apology. Let's take a listen to the interview.

I'm just curious, what's been the reaction to that video around the state of Georgia?

Well, it depends who you ask, Todd. There's certainly people that hate it, but there are a lot of people who recognize that the message behind the video, while the video may make people uncomfortable, the message behind the video. is the exact posture that we should be taking in America. We cannot allow the invasion of foreign laws into our courts. We cannot have parallel legal systems set up with these parallel tribunals where people adjudicate cases with.

Systems of law that don't comport with the United States Constitution.

So I would say in my world, it's been 80-20 positive, but certainly I'm probably hearing from more Republicans than Democrats. That's probably to be expected as well.

Well, it's my understanding, too, that you've actually been asked to drop out of the race for LG. What say you to that? Tom, we're not going to go anywhere. I certainly don't take advice from the Senate Majority Leader and the other folks that want to hide their heads in the sand. You know, it's actually sad that in the very week that we released this video, we had three separate terrorist attacks on American soil conducted by individuals who have sworn their allegiance to a foreign terroristic organization.

Some of them Should never have gotten out of jail. Frankly, should have been tried for treason. If you swear allegiance to ISIS and you're doing the work of ISIS, you should either be denaturalized and deported, or frankly, you should be tried for treason and hung in the town square. But this individual was let out early, was recommended for a 20-year sentence, didn't even serve half of that. And now we've got a fine gentleman, an old Dominion by the name of Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw.

You know, this guy survived multiple tours of duty, hundreds of flight hours, but couldn't survive a classroom in America where we have. Foreign elements seeking to kill ROTC students. Yeah, and what does it say about those ROT cadets who apparently killed the guy, the jihadists, with their bare hands? God bless those kids and certainly hope that we see them honored by President Trump. What say you to that?

I completely agree. Apparently, this individual walked in the room, asked if it was the ROTC classroom. And opened fire and then suffered the death, like you said, at the hands of these ROTC members. I was given swift justice. I think there were 22 stab.

wounds that he incurred and and their successful attempt to neutralize the threat. And frankly, that's how I hope that all Americans would respond to these animals who are seeking to come into this country or are already in this country, but have sworn allegiance to these foreign entities that want to see death to America. And it's frankly high time, Todd, that Every elected official recognizes the threat that we are under. The idea that we are not funding the Department of Homeland Security in the midst of these terrorist attacks on our soil is shameful. It's a complete dereliction of duty by the Democrat Party, and it should be something that should be universally condemned by every single elected official in America.

I mean, look, this is a difficult thing that we're going to be talking about. And I don't know if you heard our last segment here, but there is a lot of passion here. The reality is the Islamists, when they gain control of a country, that's bad news for Christians, for Jews, for members of the LGBT community. And all we have to do is look at country after country in the Middle East, look at world history. We are not learning lessons here, sir, and this is what greatly concerns me.

Yeah, we have a 250-year-old history here, Todd, of recognizing Equal value, equal rights for individuals. You certainly come a long way on that quest. But Sharia law does not seek to adjudicate life on a daily basis in the same way that we would say comports with the United States Constitution. And there are. This is a tough, uncomfortable issue because we do want to be a country who welcomes everyone.

That's part of our ethos. We want to welcome people here. But we have to recognize that there are some people that want to come here with the sole intended purpose of overthrowing this country. And so those are not people that you can welcome into this country. You know, President Trump was ahead of his time when he banned individuals from countries that hate America, who have sworn allegiances to America.

He had banned the immigration from those countries. I think that it's something that we should look at again. We cannot allow ourselves to have this suicidal empathy that allows us to welcome people into this country that would slit our throats. Yeah, and it's a great point. The state senator brings up.

And again, when you look at the The numbers of mosques that are being built in the country, the numbers of Muslims that were imported into the United States. It does make you wonder, are we, you know, are people willing to To assimilate? That's the big question. All right, I think we've worked out our tech issues. Let's bring in Steve Gill on our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line, Steve Publisher of TriStarDaily.com.

Steve, good to have you back with us. I I will say this, as we it does seem to be the big issue that's impacting Congress right now. They've got a Sharia free caucus, which is what the fastest growing caucus up on Capitol Hill. Do you anticipate this actually being a real and authentic issue on the campaign trail? Absolutely.

I think when you've seen just in the last couple of weeks the number of radical Islamists who've conducted terrorist attacks in this country, well, by the way, Department of Homeland Security is at limited numbers because the Democrats are refusing to pay them, while people are being blocked from efficiently getting on and off airplanes because the Democrats are refusing to fund TSA. We're putting ourselves at risk while our enemies, mainly these Islamists who are trying to kill in the name of Allah, are successful in many of these cases. And it's interesting that folks like the senator you were just talking to, Andy Ogles, Congressman Andy Ogles, Tommy Tuberville, senator from Alabama, they're under fire for criticizing the radical Islamist agenda in this country while nobody is listening to the imams in this country and in London who were specifically saying, we're going to take over, we're going to kill you. Religion allows us to rape unbelieving women. They're telling us what they're going to do.

They're telling us what they're doing. And yet, the ones who are criticized are like your guest, the senator, Tommy Telberville, Andy Ogles, and others, who point out that Islam is antithetical to the values of a democratic, free, modern, civilized society. Yeah, look, it is interesting that they're the ones that are coming under attack here when, in fact, you've got so many imams out there, and it's hard, especially when you're watching what's happening in social media, it's hard not to conflate the issue here. But the reality is you have a lot of imams that are preaching hate, that are preaching death to America in the country. And Steve, unfortunately, we have got a super bad connection.

We're going to try to get that worked out. But again, Steve Gill with us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. I'm very sorry about that, folks, but bear war. With us. All right, we've got to take a break here.

901-260-5926. Our number, that's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Starn Show. Uh Dylan, how many years have you guys been married now? Is it two years yet?

Not yet. It'll be two years in September. I need to ask you a personal question. Yes. Just between you and me, and the millions of people listening to the program right now.

Honeymoon. Where did you guys go for the honeymoon? We went to the Dominican Republic.

Okay, did your mom and dad enjoy the trip? Uh did they enjoy Our honeymoon? Yeah, did they come along with you on the honeymoon? No, I can't say that they did. They did.

What about the in-laws? Nope. Not them either. Really? Yeah.

Why not? Believe it or not.

Well, you know, the honeymoon's typically for you and your spouse. Oh, that's where you are wrong, my friend. That's why you are wrong. I wonder what's next. Here's a headline from the Wall Street Journal: Why my Mom is Coming on the Honeymoon.

Oh, no. It's the latest trend among Gen Zers. No, this cannot. Yes, couples are inviting their parents and other relatives on post-wedding trips. Known as honeymoons.

Okay.

Wow. Why? Wow. What is wrong with this generation? This is from the Wall Street Journal.

When Deanne Peterson told friends she was going on a honeymoon, they were confused. The seventy four-year-old had not mentioned getting married. Peterson explained that she was going to accompany her daughter and son-in-law on a two-week safari in Zimbabwe and Zambia. An extended silence ensued. You know, I can believe that.

Yeah. Yeah, me too. It's not as unusual as you or Peterson's friends might think. Couples are inviting relatives. On their honeymoons, saying they have a lifetime for romance and solo travel, but a finite period to spend with their families.

They're calling them family moons. Peterson's daughter, Robin Dixon, said her friends were aghast when she told them about the plan to bring her mom. Friends of the groom chided him with mother-in-law jokes. They both insist the invitation felt natural. Really, though, is that true?

I mean, the first, you're plotting out your honeymoon and you're like, I wonder where the mother-in-law wants to go. Yeah, this can't be the groom's idea, right? This cannot be his idea. The parents of the group, Alex Dixon, were invited to, but they declined. Smart.

Saying, well, here's the reason why. Saying they would have come if the couple had chosen another location like the south of France. My gosh.

Well, who wants to get eaten by like a wild animal? Like a wombat. This is so weird. Do they eat people? Wombats?

No, they poop squares, though. Ah! Yeah. I I'm sorry. It's true.

Google it. It's true. It's cubes, actually. Yeah, it's 3D. Uh geez a loo.

So uh Bringing the in-laws, continuing with the Wall Street Journal, bringing the in-laws is part of a broader redefining of the traditional honeymoon where newly married cocoon themselves from the outside world. There's the buddy moon in which newlyweds invite friends on vacation after the wedding. And there's also the post-destination wedding extension. Oh, they did a Medea movie about that. Yeah.

It was not very funny. Romance is dead. Family mooners say the presence of moms and dads don't have to douse the flames. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it would. What kind of family is this?

This family dynamic has to be very close. Honey, honey, what are you doing in there? Honey, can you come out? The doors are locked. I don't want my family near any moon that I have.

What's that banging noise? Mm-hmm. Julia and Stefan Kuhn were brainstorming honeymoon locations when her parents, Eileen and Myron, mentioned they were planning an anniversary trip to South America. Eileen casually suggested they do a honeymoon anniversary trip. Not wanting to be left out, Julia's younger sister joined, You know what, bring grandma and grandpa, too They're saving money.

Invite them all. And if you don't know if you're the crazy, you know, have you ever been to a wedding? Yes. And you've got all these relatives, and so you always. It's like the The weird relatives always get stuck at like the back table.

Right, yeah. And if you don't know that you're at the back table, then you are one of the weirdest. If you're wondering, yeah. If you're like, if you're like, who is the crazy. Who's the crazy uncle?

This is all very strange. I can't believe this is actually a trend. This is like the worst thing ever. I've yeah, I'm just curious if any of our listeners have done something like this where they all just it's like a family vacation. We used to do that, but we would go down to like the pink porpoise.

Nobody was getting married. Yeah. Mm. Also, another interesting story involving a Gen Z, and we're going to get to this after the break, but apparently there is, they're calling it fridge cigarettes. They're saying that Gen Z is now gulping down gallons of Diet Coke instead of smoking cigarettes.

How to deal with stress. Is that true? 901-260-5926, our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show.

All right, welcome back, everybody. This is the Todd Stearns Radio Show. So Yeah, this is a crazy story, but apparently Gen Z is dealing, their generation is stressed out. And uh No, I I'm sure it's a it's a variety of issues. But anyway, the good news here is that the Gen Zers are choosing not to.

Smoke cigarettes, I guess, to calm their nerves. It's a bit of a frazzled generation, if you will.

So, anyway, there's a new thing that young people are doing, and it's got a it's a term now, Dylan. It's called a fr it's if you're walking around, and let's say the lovely Miss Helen says, Man, I could use a fridge cigarette. You would normally think, oh, somebody keeps the Marbury's in the refrigerator. It's a safe it's a safe place to put them, I guess. Yeah.

That's what I would think. Cool menthol or something. I don't know. But no, that would be wrong. That would be incorrect because it's actually a Gen Z slang term for an ice cold canned of Diet of Coke.

Okay.

Did you know this? No, this is actually the first time I've hearing this. This is from Fox News. The mid-afternoon cigarette cigarette break has taken a new form. For Jinzy with a sweet bubbly twist.

The fix is diet soda, particularly diet coke. Chilled to perfection. It's a tick tock trend, just a little something to take the edge off.

Now, does diet co-cause cancer? I'm trying to keep up with what causes cancer. See, I heard that when I was a kid. Yeah, are you more likely to get cancer from smoking cigarettes or drinking Diet Coke? Yeah, they told us, like, oh, you're on Diet like Diet Coke gives you cancer, because they were like, it's not any better.

That's what they were saying, right? They're like, Diet Coke's not any better than actual Coke.

So then I'm like, well, what's the point? And then they came out with Coke Zero. And who knows what Coke Zero is because It still tastes like Coke to me, so I don't know.

Well, by the way, speaking of ice cream, there is a new study out that says ice cream is actually linked to surprising health benefits.

So they told us that eating ice cream was bad for you, but apparently it's good for you. Interesting. SciTech Daily has the story, and they said that eating people who ate more ice cream sometimes had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. I just Okay, who are these scientists? Probably not Bluebell, right?

Yeah, they're they may work for Bluebell. Ice cream scientists say, yeah, come on, just eat a pint. Very healthy. Don't worry about that. Don't worry about the fact you've lost feeling in your left side.

It's all good. That's just the brain freeze. Just the brain freeze.

So anyway, back to this. Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist. Based in New York City. And he said that. Fridge cigarettes.

work because Diet Coke can act as an emotional stand-in. I'm telling you, there are a lot of emotional problems with this generation. Yeah, we we always like to find something.

Something to ease the pain. It becomes a way for people to pause, reset, or reward themselves. I would never reward myself with a dike of or a tab. Ooh. Ugh those those pink They're like Pepto-Bismol colored cans.

Mother, my mom used to chug those things. She also smoked. You guys also ate the AIDS or whatever. What was it? Oh, yes.

AIDS were very popular back in the day. There's like an ad that said, I love AIDS. Yeah, everybody loves AIDS. Yes, they're very delicious, and the weight comes off with AIDS. It does indeed.

Could you imagine though and by the way, just in case anybody reports us to the human rights campaign, we're talking about the diet the diet candy. It's a delicious caramel. It's a square caramel, by the way. And you pop them in, and they were called AIDS. Yeah, don't know why they're called AIDS.

Well, I wasn't alive to know why they're called AIDS, but. You know. 'Cause wasn't AIDS like the actual AIDS before AIDS? Yes. So it was sort of co-opted, I think.

I don't know. You should know this is what you ate. But the problem was, a lot of kids would go into their mom's cabinet and they're like, oh, candy. And so they'd start chowing down on the AIDS. Yeah.

So, anyway. What an unfortunate name, though, because once AIDS came out as a disease, Well, the candy sales I think dropped off. Yeah. Just a smidge. I can imagine.

Billy wants some AIDS. No, mommy. No, I don't want any AIDS. There was a great commercial. You should look that up.

I think we've played it once before on the show.

So, going back to this story, the psychology expert noted that cracking open an ice-cold diet Coke is a sensory experience, much like smoking. The crisp sound, the carbonation, and the cold hit all offer a quick, reliable burst of stimulation or relief. You know what happened to me over the weekend? I was drinking a Dr. I only drink Dr.

Pepper on the weekends now because I'm on the diet and whatnot. And I don't know what happened. This happens every single time I open up a Dr. Pepper, it like sprays all over the place. I guess That was a I guess you could call it a reliable burst of stimulation.

See that actually is a reward though because you're holding off. the Dr. Pepper until the weekend.

So that actually is a reward. This is like You're going into your fridge to get a cigarette every two hours. Oh, and there lies the warning. There it is. The psychoanalyst says when Diet Coke becomes a daily emotional crutch, it can reinforce dependency patterns.

Particularly if it's being used to manage anxiety, suppress appetite, or avoid discomfort.

Well, on the On the plus side, a six-pack of Diet Coke is cheaper than I don't know meth. Indeed. There's worse things to be addicted to. Or weed. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number.

That's 901-260-5926. All right, we've got to talk about what's happening down in Trustville. Alabama pardon me, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, The home of the University of Alabama. They have a public library down there. And for the past year, the local chapter of Eagle Forum, which is a great conservative organization, has been holding their monthly meetings at the public library.

They have a little room, a community room. People can rent out the community room. And so they agreed to do so.

Well, anyway, the librarians came over and said, oh, we didn't realize you guys were Christians and we're not allowed to rent the room to any religious people.

So now they've got a lawyer, they've got Elias Defending Freedom representing them. Becky Garritson and Travis Barham were on my Newsmax show to give us the lowdown of what actually happened. Take a listen. Joining me now, Becky Garritson, the executive director for Eagle Forum of Alabama, and Travis Barham, Senior Counsel for Elias Defending Freedom. Good to have you with us.

Becky, I am just shocked. Eagle Forum, of all folks, you are good, decent folks. Folks, what in the world happened at that library? That's right. Thank you so much for having us.

You know, we've been meeting in their library. They gave us permission to meet for a year. We've been meeting there. And then all of a sudden, out of the blue, they tell us that due to the social and political climate, we will be canceling all of your future upcoming dates. And they pointed to their policy that says if you're religious or sectarian, you're not allowed to use their space.

We were shocked. That is a clear violation of our constitutional rights.

So we sent them a demand letter, hoping they would see the policy was wrong and do something about it and rescind their decision. That didn't happen, and here we are. Travis, I'm really surprised to hear this news. First of all, Dude, it's Alabama. Second of all, they've had drag queens and all sorts of crazy stuff going down in those libraries.

You're going to tell me that Eagle Forum is the problem, child, here? It is absurd, and it's blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has been clear time and time again that public spaces have to be open to all groups on an even-handed basis, religious and secular groups, given the same access. And if the government tries to exclude a religious group simply because it's religious, that's discrimination and that violates the First Amendment. Beggar, I'm curious.

You know, your organization, and again, it is Alabama, but that's a lesson here because it can happen in any state in the nation, including a conservative Christian state like Alabama. That's right. And that's why we took a stand because we felt like if they can do it to us, they're going to do it to others. And we need to stand up for those other groups as well so they don't come to the same fate. Travis, I'm curious, let's get down to the legalese here.

What does the law say?

Well, the law says very clearly that if the government opens up a meeting space, it has to give religious and secular groups the same access to that space. The Supreme Court has said that. in cases dealing with public universities, with public schools, with government programs that give schools shredded tires for their playgrounds.

So it's been clear time and time again that if you exclude, if the government excludes a religious group from a program simply because it's religious, that violates the law, that's unconstitutional, and that's what needs to get changed here. And for Eagle Forum, folks, the message here is: don't back down, don't go away quietly into the good night. Indeed. It's wonderful to see groups like Eagle Forums taking a stand here. And we hope that the court system is going to vindicate their stand by striking down this policy and allowing the group to come back in.

Or we hope that the library comes to its senses and realizes, hey, we need to change our policies to line up with the Constitution. Yeah, Ms. Derekson, your reaction to that as well. Yeah, that's the outcome that we're hoping for. It's a great place to meet.

It should be available to everyone. We had a great relationship. Our group leaders and their staff, everything was fine.

So it was shocking to us. And we hope they'll hurry up and turn their decision around and change their policy. Becky, I'm curious, is this the first time that you guys have come under fire like this? For meeting, yes, we have action groups that meet across the state, most of them monthly, all over communities across the state. And this is the first time we have actually been kicked out of a place just especially for religious reasons.

That really shocked us. All right, Washington State. Man, are they in a world of hurt? Democrats are now going to be raising. Taxes.

Also, in Seattle, it has literally crippled business in the downtown core.

So the downtown Seattle Association had a big meeting about this. The president and CEO, a guy by the name of John Scholz, And he is annihilating this so-called progressive tax. I want you to take a listen to this. But as we've seen crime decrease in the core of downtown, we have seen it shift and we have seen it increase in other neighborhoods. It's up in Belltown and it's up in the Chinatown International District.

Job growth in our city last year softened. We lost jobs. And over the last five years in downtown Seattle, we've lost 37 jobs. We're going in the wrong direction. And meanwhile in Bellevue, They've been adding jobs.

12% job growth over the same period compared to Seattle here. And I want to be clear, I'm not rooting against Bellevue by any means. And I think we've got some Bellevue friends in the House today. I saw Joe Fane, the CEO of the Bellevue Chamber earlier. I want Bellevue to succeed, and I'm also rooting for Seattle.

And waving the flag here that we're going in the wrong direction after 20 years of incredibly steady job growth. And over this period where we've seen a decrease in jobs, We've seen a record increase in taxes that employers in the city of Seattle are paying. That employers aren't paying in Bellevue and other cities in our region. We have become an outlier when it comes to the cost of doing business in our city. In total, over the last three years or so, there's a billion dollars in new taxes that employers based in the city of Seattle are paying that they weren't paying five years ago, and that they're not paying in Bellevue and other parts of our region.

This, along with Hybrid work and some of the continued shifts in the tech economy has contributed to an office vacancy rate in downtown Seattle of plus 30%, a historic number. And this reality is driving down the value of commercial property in our city. and particularly in downtown, driving down the value of office buildings. The ten buildings that were worth the most in 2022. Lost more than half their value when you compare their number today to that period.

Just six years ago. Excuse me, four years ago.

So, that reality of the commercial values declining in our downtown. In a city that is heavily dependent on property taxes, that has put property taxes for universal preschool and For transportation and for education, and we will have a library levy on the ballot. This is a way in which we've raised revenue through the property tax. The reality of a declining tax base on the commercial side shifts The tax burden. To renters, owners, and small businesses through their triple net leases.

These taxes that have been proposed and adopted over the last three or four years have been articulated as progressive revenue. But let me tell you the results of what is happening here. Of this massive tax shift to renters, to homeowners, to small businesses in the city of Seattle, there's nothing progressive about that. And that has been the effect. And I will say.

We don't need more business taxes in Seattle. We need more businesses in Seattle paying taxes. That's how we strengthen the tax base. We fill these vacant storefronts. We fill the vacant floors in our office buildings.

We drive up those commercial values. We take some of the burden off of renters and owners and small business. We grow the pie. We create jobs. We create opportunities.

And we have to recognize we're in an incredibly competitive environment when it comes to the choices that employers have within the city, within the region, and within the state. They don't have to be here. We want them here, and there's great reasons for them to be here. We have incredible talent. This natural beauty and incredible downtown.

We have to every day recognize how competitive of a landscape we have. And we have to accept the box score. You know, I believe that And it's been said often over these last few years that democracies don't survive without a shared set of facts and a shared reality. And neither do downtowns.

So we need to accept the facts and the reality of where we sit today. and the choices that employers have. Yeah. It's look, I'm glad to hear this kind of language coming out, and that's really where it's going to have to come from from the business community and especially the small business owners. You know, and he's absolutely right about who's going to end up bearing the brunt of all of this.

You know, let's just say that the property taxes are going to be increased, and that's been a big issue with a lot of medium-sized communities. And the fact of the matter is, the landlords are going to pass along whatever those costs are to the people that are renting.

So you can expect for rent prices to go up no matter where you are.

So until these towns and communities get a hold on their spending, Nothing is going to change. And prices are going to continue to go up.

So, look, we've got a great show tonight, 5 o'clock Eastern on Newsmax, the Todd Stern Show. You can watch us on Newsmax 2's live YouTube channel, also on a number of OTT platforms.

So, you can just check your cable listings for that. Senator Tommy Tumberville joins us right out of the gate, and he's going to be talking about the Sharia caucus, the anti-Sharia caucus that has developed, is now the fastest-growing caucus up on Capitol Hill, well over 50 members.

So, we'll be talking to the Senator about that. Also, efforts in the Senate to get the Save America Act passed. We understand that there have been some new developments there with Senator Schmidt out of Missouri.

So, we're going to keep you updated on all of that. It's going to be a lot of fun tonight. And, of course, Tracy Burns is going to be along. She's got a brand new book out that shows you how to deduct everything on your income taxes. That's going to be a great segment as well.

All right, we've got to scoot out of here, folks. It has been a great, great show today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for calling in. Get out there, folks.

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