They're Not Spying--They're Just Sightseeing

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Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite cunt totem Bible clinging deplorable American. See ya. That's right. I love this American rap Todd Starnes. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed.

Welcome to a Friday edition of the Todd Starnes Radio Program, coast to coast on more than 100 outstanding radio stations and streaming live at ToddStarnes.com. Hello, fellow Patriots. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd Today. Privileged to be with you from the Liberty University studio. Join us on this coast-to-coast adventure if you would.

Call 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868. You know, yesterday was Groundhog Day, and Puxatani Phil saw his shadow, and therefore six more weeks of winter. Fun fact. For nationally syndicated radio talk show hosts, if they see their shadow on Groundhog Day, they don't have to come back till Monday.

So, that's the deal with Todd. He went outside, saw his shadow, and said, Well, I'm coming back Monday.

So, it's my pleasure to be with you here between now and then. Coming up in this hour, in just a few moments, in fact, we'll speak with Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn about this spy balloon in Montana. And that's where I want to start things today. And to be fair, it's not a spy balloon, certainly not. I mean, China says it is a, and I want to quote them because I'm sure it's accurate, it is a civilian airship.

used for research, mainly meteorological purposes. mainly meteorological purposes, and then they note that it deviated far from its planned course.

Well, it must have, because we saw it. They did not intend for us to see it.

So raise your hands out there, Starns Nation, if you believe this is just a civilian airship used for research.

Well, it may be civilian and it may be for research, but not the kind of thing that they're suggesting. They're not just checking out atmospheric conditions, folks. This is something we need to really address. And that's why I wanted to have Congressman Nunn on because of his military experience. He should be able to add some insight that I certainly don't have.

I understand the Pentagon and government officials saying, well, we can't just shoot it down over Montana because it's going to hit populated areas and we don't want our citizens to be harmed. I do understand that. But what I also understand is that this is a violation of our airspace. I also understand if it was one of our balloons or crafts or drones or whatever we put up there that was flying over Communist China. They would not hesitate.

And I'm not suggesting that we lower ourselves in terms of how we treat our people to how China treats its people. But the bottom line of this is. I don't care if it has happened before. That's one of the things we heard yesterday. I don't know if you saw people on the left were saying, well, this Republicans weren't upset when this happened during the Trump years.

Okay, if everything is going to be, well, it's not as bad as the Trump years, and that is their mindset, then we're going to get nowhere fast. But the bottom line on this is, you've got a surveillance craft. over the Continental United States. Flying over Montana. Still there, still recording data.

And all we know is the Chinese acknowledge that it comes from their country, and it's for mainly. meteorological purposes. I'm sorry, I'm skeptical, I don't believe it, and I think that something needs to be done.

Now the Secretary of State has canceled his trip to China because it would not be productive in light of this. Yeah.

Alright, well uh answer this then, folks. If this is simply some innocent Private Civilian airship that China has over here monitoring atmospheric conditions for weather. If that's the case, then why does Anthony Blinken stay home? It's obviously something else.

Now, I don't want us to escalate into something that could be a problem. By by all means But I am also saying we need to be paying very close attention, and hopefully our leaders are paying close attention and we just don't know the level of it. Because the way this is laying out Not the first time it's happened. It's over an area that may contain our. cruise missile launch locations.

Yeah, I really want China hovering over that. Again, this is not some kind of civilian sightseeing mission. as you're being led to believe. This is not Chinese pop culture fans who want to get a good overhead look of the Yellowstone Ranch in hopes that John Dutton makes his way to the barn for his morning ride. That is not why it is over Montana.

That might be why thousands of Americans go to Site C from a ground level. And that's fine. Great show, not the point. But the Chinese simply saying That it's a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes. I keep mentioning that phrase, folks, because that's the phrase they're using.

If that's the best they can come up with, You know it is far more devious and far more serious than that. Do we have stuff spying on others? I'm sure we do. I would hope we do. But when it's this obvious This is almost a shot across the bow, in other words.

It is almost this obvious what they're doing. And that's why I'm going to look forward to our conversation coming up in just a few moments with Iowa Congressman and veteran Zach Nunn on this topic. I'm also very interested in what you have to say, and we have time for your calls after the bottom of the hour.

So compose your thoughts and dial in now at 844-747-8868. It's 844-747-8868. Jeff Stein in the Liberty University studio today for Todd. We'll take the break now, talk to the Congressman on the other side. Thanks for being along on this Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show.

Honest and true, Todd Starnes. Yeah.

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Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd on this Friday from the Liberty University studio. 844-747-8868 is how you can connect with us, and we'll take your calls after the bottom of the hour. Joining us now, though, on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line is one of the freshman members of Congress who flipped a seat from blue to red. He is Congressman Zach Nunn from Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.

Congressman, thanks so much for being along on the Starns program. Jeff Stein here, up the road from you in Iowa. How are you? Jeff, we are doing great. Thank you very much for having us on today, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you and your listeners on the stream.

show sign show today. We've got a lot going on in Washington, D.C. We're working hard to address national security issues that have bubbled up here as well as trying to work across the aisle and find if we can get some Democrats who'd come on board with getting this economy started again.

So full dock. Absolutely.

Well, you are a combat veteran of the Air Force. I appreciate your service, and we all thank you again for that, your service then in uniform, now in Congress. But this China balloon thing, are you buying the story that it's a civilian airship doing meteorological research? Yeah, Jeff, not at all. This is a playbook messaging coming out of China's foreign ministry only because they got caught.

If that were really the case, they would have been giving us a heads up a long time ago. Look, I've flown you know, literally hundreds of uh surveillance operations with the US Air Force off the coast of Russia. in the Middle East. And one of the things we do is that we never infringe on a sovereign country's Airspace. That is a provoc.

a provocation that can lead to unintended outcomes, particularly on the recon side. One of the things I'm concerned about with this balloon is it's flying at you know upwards eighty thousand feet, but it has a solar array package on it that means it can dwell for a long time over places like Montana, where it currently is. the United States nuclear arsenal. one of our b basing operations is out. And it can collect not just Visually what's happening, much like a cheap or low-level satellite.

But they can also pick up signals intelligence and start to collect. Signals intelligence is this idea of acquiring information that is highly sensitive that can come out through communications or through telemetry and uh indicators in Intel that could give away potentially sensitive information From the United States, the Chinese government desperately wants and needs to get a closer look than what they can get from the satellite.

So, very concerning. And to your very excellent point, that I had not even considered. If there is an incursion or an invasion of sovereign airspace and it is accidental, Nations let each other know and give each other the heads up so that we don't escalate to a third world war, correct? And that just was not done here, which leads one to be suspicious. Absolutely.

And NORAD, our allies in Canada, saw this airship, as the Chinese are calling it. Approach over the Aleutian chain and come into not just a breach of the coast, but deep into the United States over sensitive targeted information. That looks very intentional by its very fact. We are encouraging I sit on the National Security Subcommittee. And China has long been one of those areas we are trying to message and encourage them to take an off ramp here towards escalation of hostilities.

This is going in the direct opposite. This is a provocation intended uh to get away with some things and then uh once caught try and play it down and push it back on the United States that we're being the provocateur. Zach Nunn, Republican, 3rd Congressional District of Iowa, joins us live on the National Todd Star and Show, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd Today. I have heard some on the left say, well, balloons cross in not all the time, but it's happened before. And why weren't Republicans upset when Trump was President and it happened?

Are we comparing apples to apples, or are they just sort of making stuff up there because they know that there's a deficiency in our defense system under this President and this Administration? Yes, unfortunately, Jeff, this is kind of a repeat of history under the Biden administration. We'll recall Back when he was vice president, Russia made incursions into then Ukraine and Crimea. Nothing was done. When he became president, he said multiple times.

There's nothing we can do. If Russia's going to invade Ukraine, it's going to fall apart. Only now is he talking about doing something a year later. Uh sending defensive weapons like Patriot SAM systems to defend against missile strikes from Russia. Here again, we see Democrats who are just kind of out to lunch on the security threat that's coming from very aggressive maneuvers out of China.

And that's not just in the physical threat of balloons or a buildup of the People's Liberation Army. But in the financial sector, I now serve on the Financial Services Committee, the amount of U. S. capital, our dollars, flowing into China that are building their economy Paying for not just their war machine, but their oppression of Uyghurs, paying for their extraction of rare earth material that is building batteries. and basically floating their economy at a cost to ours while our industries are pillaged from intellectual property thefts, from our ability to maneuver in the area and support our allies like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

So here's one of the areas where I think we can have some bipartisan agreements. We need to have a plan now to address a threat from China and not wait for it like we did in Russia a year later to come up with a plan on how we're going to deal with a potential adversary in the region. Should this airship be brought down? We heard the administration yesterday say there was no imminent threat, no reason to do it, don't want to jeopardize Montanans. I certainly understand the latter, but should the U.

S. take action to bring this down? I absolutely believe we should. It's a clear message to the Chinese that if they are going to have these errant airships, as they say, coming into U. S.

sovereign airspace, we deserve the opportunity to work on this together and do it safely. There's a couple of things we can do right away, Jeff. One, we can shoot it down directly, and that gives us two things. One, it gets the question answered pretty quickly, is this a meteorological device or is this a collection device? And I think we'll find out quickly that it is a collection device.

Two, a allows us to send a strong message to the Chinese that this is not happening on the U. S. watch. This can be a bipartisan response. And three, I would say there's very little danger in shooting this down.

Montana's a big space, we know roughly where it's going to fall. we're not putting it over a populated area. It's roughly one hundred pounds of equipment that will be coming out of the sky, so we do want to make sure that we're safe. But most importantly, we want to be able to be firm now than when we have literally hundreds of these things potentially being sent to the United States all under a pretense of meteorological surveillance. Congressman Zach Nunn of the state of Iowa joining us on the Todd Starn Show.

A couple of more minutes with the Congressman.

So As a combat veteran, as someone who understands intelligence. Is it appropriate for these Democrats in the House to complain about some of their members being kept off committees, in particular Schiff and Swalwell from the Intel Committee and Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee? There certainly was a lot of loud speech making in the chamber that you saw this week on that latter issue. Yeah, I you know, so I am perplexed. why any American, regardless of party, wants to have someone on the very sensitive intelligence committee who has had a relationship With a Chinese spy, as Swalwell did.

a long period of time. There's a lot of different committees, and the speaker has been very clear on this. If the people from California want to keep Eric Swalwell in office, fine. He can serve on other committees. He does not need to have access to the nation's most.

Sensitive secret. Look. I'm a squadron commander for an intelligence squadron, and one of the things that we have removed people's security clearances for are just the appearance that they may have been. Breach or approach or are compromised.

So, for a lot less than what Adam Schiff, Eric, Representative Swalwell. or Representative Omar have done, we have removed clearances. One of the things that surprised me most, Jeff, was coming into Congress as somebody who's had access to above top secret classified information. I go through a battery of reviews every year, including counterintelligence polyographs, to make sure that I am a sound source that can this information can be shared with. When you get to Congress, there's none of that.

You basically are handed a classified document and said, Hey, this is restricted Most of these folks have never even Seen classified, let alone know how to handle it, how to manage it, how to protect it. Maybe some of the reasons we're seeing classified ending up in a Presidents and former President's personal dwelling. But the challenge here is that anyone who has access to the information needs to also be held responsible for their actions on what they do with that. And clearly, former Chairman Schiff, who used information undisclosed to intimidate and basically, as the speakers highlighted, provide false information to others. or manipulate that information needs to be held accountable.

So I think it's very clear those two absolutely have to be off the intelligence committee, which they are. And then to your last point on Representative Omar, who has made repeated anti-Semitic statements against our Jewish friends and the Jewish state. It is her freedom of speech to do that. But it's also the freedom of the House of Representatives to decide that she no longer gets to be America's leading voice on the Foreign Affairs Committee and have access to highly sensitive information in that capacity. Unlike what the Democrats did when they kicked.

Republicans off every single committee with no appeals process and no ability to ever serve again. They've now served their two years, I'll say, in the penalty box. This is very clear that the speaker has said there is an appeals process. We are going to kick people off who are potential threat to national security and sharing information on in a manipulative manner. I think that's absolutely reasonable, and most Americans very much agree that our national security exceeds any freedom of speech, exclamations or political assaultations by candidates.

Congressman Zach Nunn from Iowa, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate your time. We're back after a short break. Jeff Stein in for Todd on the Todd Starn Show. I've noticed that when I go to the shopping mall and buy one of the towels, they just don't seem to work very well.

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Again, mypello.com. Promo code STARNS. Welcome back to the Todd Stern Show from the Liberty University Studio. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. We'd love to hear from you at 844-747-8868.

Hope you were able to hear that conversation with one of the real bright lights in this young group of Republicans that have taken over the majority. Congressman Nunn, still a lieutenant colonel in the state National Guard, splown combat missions, and just right on top of this issue in so many respects. If you missed it, well, just wait till this show's over because you can get the Toddcast podcast by going to ToddStarnes.com. Give the team some time to get it posted after the show ends in about two and a half hours. And then you can listen to this segment, download it, share it with friends, whatever you like.

Podcast of this program by going to ToddStarnes.com. And he joined us, Congressman Nunn did, on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line with all this stuff going on. I mean, a Chinese balloon, and I've got an update on that to give you in a moment. But with everything that we see in our society these days, now more than ever, it is important to support companies and organizations that share our values. And that's why Patriot Mobile is so important.

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So here is an update. As we've been doing this program, the Pentagon has been talking about this Chinese balloon. We now know that the Secretary of State has postponed his upcoming trip to China, saying it would not be productive. for him to go there. The Pentagon today says this is a surveillance balloon that violated U.S.

airspace and international law. The Pentagon has officially rejected China's earlier claim that this is a civilian airship for research, and it just deviated off course.

Now the Pentagon tells us that this balloon does not present a current threat, and they are monitoring. Not a threat to people on the ground, not a significant intelligence gathering risk. The President took Other officials advice to not shoot the balloon down. You heard our guest in the last half hour, a member of Congress, say, we ought to bring that down right away. They cannot tell us exactly where the balloon is right now.

This gives us great confidence, does it not, Starnes Nation? It's expected to remain above the US for a couple of days. They're going to continue to review options They cannot give us a specific location, but the balloon is now above the central continental U. S. moving eastward.

So, Montana, you may be out of the clear. Or maybe out of the danger, you're in the clear. Those of us here in the Midwest, in God's country, oh, good night. What's that up in the sky, Johnny?

Well, apparently it's a Chinese surveillance balloon, and it's coming to a city near you soon, and that is not something that we really need. All right, so there you go. That's the latest on the balloon. 844-747-8868 is how you can connect with us and give us your thoughts on this. I mean, what should we do?

in response. I'd love to hear your comments. I don't want to start World War III by any stretch, but I also. Don't want the Chinese just taking advantage. As they have been doing in so many aspects of the relationships we have with them.

Now, on my daily program in the state of Iowa on radio station KXEL. We have a poll question every day. And I'm going to invite you folks in Starnes Nation to weigh in. Miss Grace has been kind enough to put the link on the live show blog.

So if you go to ToddStarnes.com and click on the live show button there on the main page, there's a link so that you can vote in the poll. And here's what it says. Question was: China says the balloon over Montana is a civilian meteorological airship, your reaction. And I got a half dozen options here. Totally believe them.

They're credible. B. This is a direct invasion of US airspace and it should be shot down. See, even if their story is true, it should still be taken out. D, let's not get hasty.

We need to monitor but not escalate things. E, it's happened before, just relax, or F, something else altogether I didn't think of.

So give us your thoughts on this Balloon that is monitoring the US, thanks to the folks. At the Chinese um I was going to say at the Wuhan lab. I'm not sure they're as broad in the scope of their devastation on the world. But give us your thoughts. Go to ToddStarnes.com.

Click on the Live Show blog. You can weigh in on my poll, which is at kxel.com, my home station. Or let's get some immediate reaction from you at 844-747-8868. 844-747-8868. As this is all going on.

We're supposed to believe that these nations. China in particular does not pose a threat to us. We are being led to believe that classified documents just kind of floating around people's briefcases and Old cardboard boxes in the garage and a desk drawer, and probably lining a birdcage. It's okay. It's okay that these classified documents are all over.

Nothing to see here. I would suggest we should have some grave concerns. about how secure our nation is. And I don't want to get into a whole laundry list of examples of times when we were vulnerable. We certainly know nine eleven.

We still don't know the truth of how. Prepared, we were, or how much intelligence we had or should have had about it. At this point, how do we prevent these things from happening again?

Well, I don't know that you prevent things from happening when a Chinese surveillance vehicle is just floating across the continental U.S. I don't know that you protect the nation. by having classified documents available To someone who has ties to all of these foreign nations, and yes, we're talking about Hunter Biden again. It came out in the news this week that in another show of one of the more incredulous. arguments that's ever been made.

Hunter Biden's legal team came out this week. With regard to the infamous laptop. and said We want the Justice Department to investigate this. Isn't that just wretch? They want the Justice Department now to investigate.

Not in terms of the use of drugs on these sex videos, not the documents that talk about payouts. from foreign nations To Hunter and his uncle and the big guy. No, they don't want the Justice Department to investigate that. They want the Justice Department to investigate the fact. That we know about it.

That Hunter, in whatever state he was in, and I have empathy, great empathy. for people who have substance problems. But the actions you take afterwards Well, his actions are certainly Lessening my empathy, let's just put it that way. You take your laptop in to be repaired. You don't pick it up within a certain period of time.

It's deemed to be abandoned. And we're going to talk more about this with a legal expert next hour, but I want to set it up now because he's abandoned the laptop. He then says in interviews: I don't know if it's mine, I don't even know.

Well, how are there drug and sex videos that star you on it? Boy, it beats me, man. That's a heck of a note. Nothing to see here, Jack. I mean, there's a hereditary thing in the Biden clan.

So this week, now they say they want a Justice Department investigation to see how it is that that private material ever surfaced. But But, and this is the the rich part. They're not admitting that it's his. Yes, you heard that right. At the very same time, they are asking the Justice Department to investigate.

How the material on this laptop got into, in essence, the public view. They're not conceding that it's his material. It's literally like saying If I'm the lawyer representing someone accused of murder, it's like me going to the jury and saying, My client did not shoot that woman, but if you think that he did, it was self-defense. Those are mutually inconsistent. You either didn't shoot or Or you did shoot, but you had a good reason, namely self-defense.

It it's a preposterous position to take from a legal standpoint. But that's what we're getting Out of the Hunter-Biden legal team. We're not saying this material is his, but why don't you find out how it came to be? Because, you know, Stay off of his stuff. And then these threatening letters for civil damages against journalists and anybody else who came into contact with the magic hard drive.

They're going to sue, they're threatening to sue for defamation and invasion of privacy and every other claim they can think of. But yet point out We're not saying it's his. We're not admitting that it's his property. But if you use it, we're going to sue you. It would be laughable if it weren't so embarrassing.

If it weren't so embarrassing that people are making these arguments with a straight face. The last time, or one of the last times I was with you, Starns Nation, I pointed out that. Hunter Biden was going to court to have his child Obligation reduced for the child that was conceived with a girlfriend out of wedlock and that no one in the family acknowledges. Judicially, it is determined that he's the father and he's paying child support, but you will not see one word in any bio. You will not see that child in any photos with the family because they have abandoned the child other than stroking a check once a month.

But he wants his child support reduced, and he wants to make sure the child does not carry his name. Here's my issue. Obviously, I have several, but here's my issue. Given the potential For Harm to his livelihood His freedom, if there are criminal charges, and how it might bring down an entire presidency. Given the possibility That if Even a small fraction of this stuff on the Hunter Biden laptop and his demeanor, even if a small fraction turns out to be true.

It could have these big consequences in court, etc. Why wouldn't you lay low? Why would you go file actions in court that make you look like a jerk? And I'm sanitizing the phrase because this is a family show. What kind of person goes on the offensive like that?

when so much is at stake, The kind of a person who can't imagine they'd ever get caught, Because they're privileged and they're part of the elite. That's who.

Now we'll talk more about that legal issue after the top of the hour. 844-747-8868 is how you can join us in the Liberty University studio. And I hope you do it after we take this short break. I'm Jeff Stein, In for Todd, and this is the Todd Starn Show. Call and talk with Todd Mao 844-747-8868.

Thank you for calling. This is the Todd Starn Show. Mm. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd from the Liberty University studio.

I've got a couple of minutes before the top of the hour, so let's go to the phones. Ernie, you're listening on the talk station in North Carolina.

Well, you already knew that, but now America does. What's on your mind today, Ernie?

Well, what's on my mind is this so-called meteorological balloon. I would like to remind folks that probably weren't even born when this happened about 60-some years ago. United States overflew Russia in a spy plane, piloted by one of our civilians. And Rightfully so. The Russians had every right to shoot it down and they did.

That's Francis Gary Powers, correct? You're talking about the Francis Gary Powers. Yep. Yes, sir, I am. And How we should not assume that this is this balloon is a meteorolog meteorological Experiment.

I think it would be safe to assume there's some espionage going on. And I have no idea why we haven't brought it down yet. And we can, we should, and maybe we can analyze what comes down. What's the worst thing could happen? It was a weather balloon, so what?

You didn't have a right to be flying it over our airspace. Are you afraid that if we take that action, there could be harm to American citizens from the debris? That is something the Pentagon mentioned yesterday. Does that harm outweigh the harm of the espionage? Oh, I think that's Cogwash.

It was over over Montana I think the chances of that debris doing any harm almost in almost infinitesimal. Are you concerned that if they do shoot it down, China, which of course says it's a meteorological balloon, that China might take offense and then all of a sudden we've got a real fight on our hands at the same time we've got our forces helping the Ukrainians? My opinion is they won't do a doggone thing about it. But that's just my opinion. Is it because of the fact that oh gosh, they got caught, so therefore, they they're not going to pursue it?

Is that what you're thinking, that they they just don't have the stomach for it either, and they got caught and they'll just go away? Yes, pretty much. Pretty much. That's a real interesting thought. That's a real interesting thought.

And I'm so glad you invoked the name of Francis Gary Powers that you two. Flyer was brought down in Russia, and we know how that whole thing ended out from history. Ernie, thanks so much for calling in. Thank you for listening and for calling in from North Carolina on this Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show. The concern that the administration has expressed is that they don't want to accelerate or escalate.

any dispute. But I think Erdie makes an excellent point. The Chinese are in the wrong. They're only discussing it because they got caught. Because they got caught, they might be just as willing to forget about it as we would be, provided we do something to stop the continued data collection.

And again, what did we hear from the Pentagon today? They said that this is making its way eastward across the country and is now over the central portion of the United States.

Well, that doesn't give me much comfort. And it also shows that either the thing has no control mechanism, Or That they are choosing to let it continue its course across the entire country. With solar panels for energy for however long it likes. That's of great concern, friends. And I think you share my views.

Hey, thanks for being along for this hour. We have two hours left. Take a break now, Jeff Stein in for Todd on the Todd Starn Show. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's conservative blowtorch. That's it!

That's right. I love this American rap. Oh, the start. Right. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed, we welcome you to hour two of the Todd Starnes Radio Program on this Friday, coast to coast of more than 100 outstanding radio stations, streaming live at ToddStarnes.com.

Hello, fellow Patriots. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd today from my home base at the 50,000-watt Blowtorch News Tark 1540 KXCL in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa, Iowa's home for the Todd Starnes Show. Great to be with you from the Liberty University studio. We'd love to have you join our conversation 844-747-8868. eight four four four four four four four four four four four four seven four seven eighty eight sixty eight And I know we have Bob and Scott both on the line.

Hold tight, gentlemen. We'll get to your calls in the next segment, along with the rest of you who want to talk about these important issues. But now I want to go to the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line to speak with a returned guest. Dr. Wendy Patrick is an attorney and nationally known news analyst.

She's online at WendyPatrickphd.com. Dr. Patrick, good to talk to you. How are you? Hey, it's always a pleasure to join you.

I always appreciate your analysis because you have the perspective as a news analyst and the background as a lawyer to help make sense of some of these things. I want to talk about something with you that I set up the last hour, and that has to do with Hunter Biden's legal team and some letters that they've been sending out this week concerning that laptop that they're still not admitting is his. That's the first part that I found interesting. They're on a full frontal assault, but not admitting it's his. How did you react to some of these reports?

I think the same way you did and the same way the readers did is the first letter, the 14-page letter was very clear about complaining about compromising Mr. Biden's personal data, circulating it, sharing it with people that had no right to see it, et cetera. And then the second letter seems to suggest that the first letter shouldn't be interpreted as we all interpreted it. The second letter basically said we're not agreeing that it's his.

Now obviously, nobody's on the road. This isn't testimony. This is, as you point it, a full frontal assault. taking the offensive by the lawyers. What everyone probably recognizes is they can't have it both ways.

There's no standing if it's not his laptop. You can't represent someone sort of in the abstract as if I have your property, I shouldn't be able to share it, but I'm not sure I have the property.

So it becomes a logical dysfunctional argument. And I think that has made more news, ironically, Jeff, than the original letter.

Well, that's the thing, too. It's a matter of. I can understand why they, well, first I find it ironic that now they want the Justice Department to investigate. They sure didn't want the Justice Department involved in 2020, to be sure, but I likened it to a defense attorney saying to a jury, my client did not shoot that woman, but if you find that he did, it was self-defense. You can't have it both ways.

You know, just before I was a prosecutor, I was a criminal defense attorney, and that was always so tricky. How do you navigate inconsistent defenses? Here, it would basically be it's not my laptop. But if it is my laptop, it should not have been compromised. But this begs the question, you talk about the timing.

Why bring it up at all and thrust Hunter Biden back into the news?

Now people are saying, oh, it just distracts from the investigation into Joe Biden's confidential information. But you know, it all comes full circle because Hunter Biden was at that house too. with access to that garage and the Corvette. And I have to tell you, if a locked garage kept out thieves, Jeff, I'd be out of the job as a prosecutor.

So you can kind of conflate the two issues and you wonder whether or not the timing helps or hurts the Biden administration. This is something that I guess I don't understand, and they don't take advice from me, and they don't have me as hired counsel.

So, you know, everybody can take this for what it's worth, but. Hunter Biden is under increased scrutiny. If for no other reason than Republicans are in control of the House.

So, why would you go out and file to have your child support lowered, resist having your child take the Biden name? That was over here.

Now you've got this very public. We're not saying it's his stuff, but if it is, hands off. I don't understand. The idea of Waving your arms in the air to attract attention when maybe a lower profile would be smarter. Yes, you started off with something very interesting, Jeff, that they don't take advice from you.

Do you know how many lawyers and public figures actually take the temperature of the court of public opinion? It is a place that I think even former President Trump used to float ideas and gauge feedback. There's probably a lot of truth to the reality that when they wrote that first letter, I mean, they were basically saying, look, you know, we represent Hunter Biden and you've exploited his private information. But then obviously had to also account for the reality that they can't claim it's this computer and Hunter Biden hasn't said it is. Remember, he gave that one interview and it's played again and again, the laptop quote could be mine.

But he has been incredibly opaque. About this entire scandal. He has said nothing. He lets his lawyers talk for him, court filings, other ways, but he himself has been very silent. Silence is not golden.

Hunter Byland, given the scrutiny, now that we have the the Republican majority. But of course, given how poorly he performed, in my view, in the couple of television interviews, maybe silence does help, because otherwise you're just going to get yourself in trouble. That's right. And his lawyers are very high profile and no doubt very smart. And so they probably have instructed him that he should probably lay low.

And I have to say, Jeff, I actually had John Paul McIsick on my radio show a couple of weeks ago, and he finds himself back in the news over the last couple of days because of the letters and the increased scrutiny. Again, I know the shop is closed, but I mean, you're the guy that just owned a computer shop, and you and I both know people probably that used to go to that shop. I mean, lost property, things that are left. Everybody is going to be taking a very close look at things that are left or abandoned and what do you do with them now? Because this is the kind of thing that might happen.

And I do want to talk about that, but let's remind the audience I'm speaking with national news analyst attorney Dr. Wendy Patrick. Her radio program, today with Dr. Wendy, Saturdays at 6 Pacific on the Answer San Diego. I listen to it on the stream.

You can too. She joins us on the Todd Starnes radio program.

So when you take an item in, in my family growing up, we had a car business, and so there was the repair shop. And you'd see signs when you take things into a computer shop, the dry cleaner, items left after X number of days are deemed abandoned, or something along those lines. That's really what was happening with this computer. And I wonder if they ever do get to an issue of ownership. If the bailment theory, the concept of it was deemed abandoned, you no longer can claim ownership, I think that plays a role, does it not?

I think that plays a role. I also think the status of Hunter Biden as a public figure plays a role. There are lots of unique circumstances surrounding the fact that it's Hunter Biden's laptop, of course, if in fact it is, that distinguish this fact pattern from, you know, I left a suit at the cleaners too long, I forgot about it, and now it's theirs. I it's very different in terms of Who had access to look at it also? Because unlike my forgotten shirt or suit.

A laptop contains, for most of us, much of our private information. Unless you're just talking about some gamer that only uses it to log on to apps and Google Drive, someone most of us have an enormous amount of private information on a laptop. And if, in fact, he signed his name, Hunter Biden, they would know that it was his. And it just raises some unique issues that I think, regardless of how this case shakes out, are going to play a role legally in how a court or even a jury, if it goes that far, were to ever view these facts. And I'm glad you mentioned that, Wendy, because I think from my own perspective, and I'm sure the audience is the same way, I don't know how many laptops do you have just hanging around the house that you can't keep track of them all?

That's how this is perceived to me. It's like, oh, it might be on my laptop. If my laptop's missing, I know it pretty quickly.

Well, we always joke that I would rather have somebody steal my car than my laptop because they get less sensitive information out of my glove box than they would if they were able to break into my laptop. And most people feel that way. They store everything there. They carry it around with them. They treat it like gold.

And if you were to take it to a repair shop, boy, you would probably ask, you know, how long I'll wait outside. I mean, you know, most of us would behave that way.

Now, I don't know how many laptops Hunter Biden has, so maybe it's different if you have a lot and you've you've imaged the information. But this letter, the lawyers are really looking at what information was improperly shared.

So it becomes more about what did you do with the sensitive information, if in fact it was. We still are not 100% clear. Although, Jeff, we've gotten a flavor of some of the information on the laptop, and that is what has really sparked public interest. What else is there? And as you note, there are some things on there that purport to be him doing things that are not quite legal.

If you claim that it's your computer, then you run the risk of just admitting that you were engaged in illegal activity and yourself took the video of it, and certainly no lawyer wants their client in that position. No, certainly not. And there's all kinds of technicalities involved in imaging computers and dating photos and proving ownership and all the rest of that. But the mere public embarrassment and reputational consequences, particularly going into another election year, when by all means we're waiting for Joe Biden to declare he's running in twenty twenty four, the complications involved in this make it even more curious that this has been raised when it has.

Now the lawyers are probably thinking, we know this is going to come up. We're going to get out in front of it now, be proactive about it. And as this case progresses, I'm no doubt you and I will be talking again about whether that appeared to be the best strategy. Always insightful when we are able to bring you on the radio. Thanks so much, Wendy Patrick.

Appreciate it, and we'll get together again soon.

Sounds good. Thank you, Jeff. doctor Wendy Patrick, attorney and national news analyst, WendyPatrickphd.com is her website. She's on the Twitter machine at Wendy Patrick PhD. And she joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line.

844-747-8868. That is how you can join this coast to coast conversation, and we'll take your calls after this next break. If you're on the line, hang on. I'll be right with you. Jeff Stein in for Todd.

This is the Todd Starn Show. It's the Todd Starns Radio Show. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. I'm Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today from the Liberty University Studio, 844-747-8868. That's how you can join us.

Dylan will pick up the phone, take down your information, and let me know you're there. I think Bob is on the phone from Collierville, Tennessee. He listens to this program on the flagship, the Mighty 990 KWAM. Bob, thanks for joining the show. What's on your mind?

First, just to comment on the last segment with the Hunter Pident laptop. There's a possibility I haven't heard floated. out there yet. And I just want to toss it out there as food for thought. Sure.

Hunter has always been Patsy for the Biden crime family. There's a Strong possibility. that this whole thing with the laptop was designed from the beginning to be used to throttle up and throttle down As a distraction politically from the real issues that are taking place. in this country that we have to come to grips with.

Okay. crisis. We've got a war looming in Ukraine. We have a divided Republican Party right now. There are much bigger fish to fry than Hunter Biden's laptop, and it seems to me that this is just being milked along to string along the public and grab their attention.

So there's a possibility. And I want to let you get to the other point. The only thing I'd say is, I can I'd put nothing past the Biden crime family. And so sacrificing Hunter would not I would not put that past them. The only thing about it is there do does appear to be some documents on there that could implicate Papa Joe in all of this cash for influence scheme.

And frankly, I think the Democrats who want to see him exit stage left and not run again. They're not going to push back on a lot of this investigation because the key to me for the Democrats is we want Joe to be injured just enough that he can't run, but not injured so much that he has to leave office and leave us with President Kamala. But again, that's just my conspiratorial view. Your other point, sir. Yeah, all all kinds of possibilities there until the truth comes out.

The other thing was on the this Chinese balloon.

So uh A thought on this. If, in fact, this is some form of intelligence gathering system. that has found its way into our airspace. First of all, We already have the precedent to take it down because it does present a hazard to aerial navigation.

So it's not like we need anyone's permission. Remove it.

However, as long as it's operating. We also have the opportunity to gather an awful lot of signals intelligence about how. the Chinese would use such a device, so there's some value in keeping it running for a bit. And of course, third, if you're going to take it down, you want to bring it down intact.

So you can reverse engineer it and see what exactly this is. There's a possibility this is all just a design by the Chinese to see how America would react. On the other hand, it is If it's a real intelligence gathering platform, we really want to take a close look at it and see how the thing works.

Some excellent thoughts there, Bob. I really appreciate you weighing in. Thanks for calling in from Collierville, and appreciate you listening to the Todd Starn Show. And he brings up some excellent points on this, and this gives me the opportunity to. Point to an update that Miss Grace forwarded to me as we've been talking.

So we now believe the U.S. Department of Defense believes that this Chinese spy balloon. has the ability to maneuver. and has changed direction.

Okay, so I guess those civilian airships. Researching meteorological conditions Wow, they're pretty advanced Yeah, okay. literally, Pentagon Press Secretary says it can be maneuvered in its change direction. Last we knew it was coming over the central part of this United States away from Montana, which led the host of this program, one Todd Starnes, to post on the socials on Twitter I reckon a couple of gun-totin' good old boys in a pickup truck from the Volunteer Stay would be more than happy to take out the Chinese spy balloon. He's not advocating it, he's just pointing out a fact.

Well stated, Mr. Starnes, as always. It's one of these things that, to Bob's point on the phone a moment ago. If you're able to get this, And be able to see what it can do, that could help us simply blasting it to smithereens. takes care of an initial issue, but it doesn't help us broadly.

And a caller in the past hour pointed out, remember when Fran Francis Gary Powers and his plane went down over Soviet airspace? They had one of our planes, and they could reverse engineer, and they could look at it, and they could determine how to use it against us.

So, there are a lot of things going on here.

So, we have to be careful not to jump to conclusions. But I really don't know if even this administration is willing to believe the original Chinese story. They have said publicly they don't buy it. Which is, you know, a darn sight better than I figured they might do. What do you think ought to happen with regard to that balloon?

If you go to the. Live show blog at ToddStarns.com, right there on the main page. You click on that. And there is a link to a poll that I set up on my radio station website of what should we do with this balloon. Do you believe the Chinese?

Should we shoot it down? Should we be a little more measured? Go ahead and click that link at ToddStarnes.com on the live show blog and let us know your thoughts, and we'll get to the next video. Keep that up over the weekend if you're interested, and I'll give you an update on how that's progressing. before we get done in this program today.

All right, last hour, we spoke with a member of Congress, Representative Zach Nunn of Iowa, about Elon Omar being tossed off of the Foreign Affairs Committee And again, as a veteran, as a Current Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard, he talked about how sensitive information was. We're going to talk. With a senior editor for the Federalist on this topic and why it's probably a good idea that Representative Omar was, in fact, removed from the committee. That is coming up in about five minutes. Your calls as well as we continue.

I'm Jeff Stein, in for Todd, and this is the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. I'm Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today from the Liberty University studio. 844-747-8868 is how you can connect with us. We have a couple of callers waiting.

Stand by, folks. I want to talk to both of you, but. First, we are going to go to the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line and a conversation with David Harsani. Mr. Harsani is Senior Editor for the Federalist Online at thefederalist.com.

Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd Starnes. Mr. Harsani, how are you? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.

You have written on this topic of Elon Omar and being tossed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. What I was seeing on the floor of Congress was quite a reinvention of the whole situation. That at least was my view. Give us yours. Yeah.

Well, yeah, absolutely. There was a um You know Most of it was just seemed like theater, really. The the you know, the just the exag the tears and the exaggerated uh anger and and all of that feigned anger.

So You know, ignoring the fact that this woman was not just merely critical of Israel, as most of these defenders say, that she had. spread um sort of anti Semitic tropes around. But also she's on the Foreign Affairs Committee and she had once compared the United States, the Hamas and the Taliban. She had claimed that people who supported Israel were in it just for the money, things like that. She claimed that.

uh you know, American politicians had to um had to pay give an oath to another country, things like that. I mean, she's just clearly not either intellectually or morally prepared for that position. Your article posted at thefederalist.com, and I love this, the title Local Congresswoman Accidentally Spends a Decade Being an Anti-Semite. I mean, it's truly one of these, as I said, it's a reinvention, but. Uh she has the right to freedom of speech, but they also don't have to Seat her.

I mean, there's a responsibility to free speech, and this is one of the fallouts from that, I suppose, but they don't want to take that. They also they created this precedent when they were taking people off of committees or denying them committee assignments simply for the things that they said. you can't create this it reminds me sort of of Harry Reid when he destroyed or blew up the judicial filibuster. They want to live Democrats by a different set of rules. They create precedents.

They get angry when those pre when the same thing is done to them. I think there are very good reasons to take Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off intelligent. And there's a good enough reason to take Omar off of foreign affairs. Especially the first two I think are especially Important because both of them, for very different reasons, shouldn't be near any kind of U. S.

intelligence. But the latter is also, in some sense, Payback, and that's okay. You can't unilaterally disarm in politics, or you're going to get, you know, you're going to get destroyed. David Harsani is senior editor for The Federalist. Several articles under his my line at thefederalist.com.

And I thought this this um Selective coverage by the formerly mainstream media was interesting because, again, the party line of the squad was: she is only being. taken off the committee because she's a woman of color. Ignoring that two white men were tossed off other committees the day before. I mean, it's just simply. uh the the the narrative that is that is so Gleefully lapped up by these failing news organizations that apparently are going to double down on this all the way to bankruptcy.

Well, yeah. And then, you know, they they uncritically repeat things that Democrats say Jakeen Jeffries said, for instance, that they that she had said she had apologized and that the the that Congress had got the word he used, maybe unequivocally Unequivocally condemned her in a, you know, I guess two years or three years, or actually, maybe a few years, four years ago, I'm not sure. Wi with a resolution, but that's not true. When when this all came to the fore, they they the Democrats watered down some resolution. They never mentioned her.

By name, they never mentioned anything she said. They, you know, they made it about all kinds of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism. You know, they threw everything in there. When you have everything, it really means nothing. And they never condemned her.

And uh frankly Jewish Right. Democrats? initially said some stuff, but they won't condemn her anymore either. And she's just allowed to say what she wants without any pushback.

So I think that that That reflects very poorly. on people who value part partisanship above all things. And there's a lot of those types of folks in DC right now. You mentioned something in your most recent article posted yesterday on this topic at thefederalist.com. And it's something that.

I rail against when I look at associated press coverage. And you point out that when Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from committee assignments, the news coverage said it was the House doing it. But yet, when it was Representative Omar being removed from a committee, it was House Republicans. That's no accident, is it? No.

Now, obviously, these are party largely party-line votes, as most things are. There is a distinction there's a distinction, for instance, to be made between removing Adam Schiff from Intelligence Committee, because McCarthy could have did that unilaterally, did not need all of the House, and the entire House voting for something. It's not a I mean, Republicans are the majority now, but it is not a Republic I mean, AP is supposed to be a straightforward, unbiased news source. It's not the Republican House. Republicans in the House, the House taking a vote.

Yes, mentioning that it was a party line vote is certainly part of the story. but only in one case is it so important that it needs to be in the headline. They do other things like that. I noticed that in the story they they called um Uh Marjorie Taylor Greene, you know, a hard right conservative.

Well, isn't Omar a hard left? Progressive. I mean, I don't know how far how you can be farther left and be in American politics than she is. And yet they never describe In that way. In fact, I couldn't find a single Congress person described as hard left ever in Associated Press history.

And they used to be the gold standard sort of straight down the line wire service journalism. They were an incredibly important. in this country, and now they're basically useless.

Well, I completely agree. And it's I I would see things where they would talk about a state legislature. And when Republicans had the majority, it was a Republican controlled Senate But when Democrats had more than fifty percent, it was the Democrat-led Senate. And it was just uniform that way to where it can hardly be an accident. Yeah, well you know you know, I think A lot of this is driven by the prison people see things through.

And for many people on the left, they just don't see what they do as partisan or political at all. What you do is culture war. What you do is political. what you do is a wedge issue, all that sort of stuff. But what they do is just common sense.

So they don't even see it as political. They just can't view they don't view the world that way. And it's a shame that they can't ever I mean, now I think mostly it's activism, frankly, but it's a shame that even the people who are biased and not activists can't see the world through someone else's eyes occasionally. That truly is something that you really hit a point there to me anyway, that in the past, you used to have your opinion, you could have a meaningful discussion, and you could allow for the fact that different people may have different views. we do not have that kind of civil conversation anymore.

I mean, it the other side, quote unquote, the other side just can't imagine anyone not agreeing with them. And that's really to our detriment, is it not? Of course. It's an authoritarian instinct that's been going on maybe really picked up. It's always been there on the left, in my opinion.

And it really picked up after Donald Trump won the election, gave them an excuse to stop pretending. Um you don't have to Like Donald Trump to see that that's true. You don't really even want to, you know, you don't need preferable coverage for Donald Trump to know that's true. I just want equally skeptical coverage of all people in power. I want to know the facts, and you can color that with your opinion.

I mean, we always when I was growing up or when I was young, I'd have to read between the lines when you read the New York Times or something, but at least you got basic facts. And now, are the biggest Spreaders of conspiracy theories in the sense that the most consequential spreaders of conspiracy theories and false facts. Are quite often the major media outlets.

So that is a huge problem in this country. And then when they make a mistake, which I If we give them the benefit of the doubt, like with the Hunter Biden story and they ignore it and work against it. And then they see it is true. They don't turn around and then Cover it with any gusto or say, oh, hey, we were wrong, or make corrections. They just move on like nothing happened.

And that is a serious problem. David Harsani is senior editor for The Federalist, author of five books, the most recent called Eurotrash. He joins us on the Todd Starn show, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. A couple of more moments as you look at this and everything you just stated. I mean, that's such a smart point.

You used to at least believe the basic facts, but now facts are even in question with some of these media outlets.

So with regard to the Democrat hysterics in Congress about these committees, Is that pretty much going to blow over and the left's going to look for something else? Or are they going to keep coming back to this? Is the President going to mention it Tuesday night at the State of the Union or what? I don't know. I it will blow over.

There'll be a new hysterical there'll be a new meltdown next week over something else because it's the only speed that they know these days. It's never Tax cuts will kill you, the net neutrality will kill you, Russians will kill you. Yeah, it's like it goes from one to the next. I'm sure I suspect the President will do something subtle in mentioning it. You know, in some way he'll allude to it, probably won't just.

paid out right. And uh, you know, to make to make his point, and that's what I suspect, but who who knows with him, you know, he he made that speech uh in November or whenever it was, where it basically called anyone who didn't vote Democrat Fascist.

So you never know what he's going to say, but I suspect it'll be more subtle. But you're right. Never know. Could be a headline right there where he just grabs the microphone and starts wandering around the room like these other events have been. Mr.

Harsani, a privilege to talk with you, sir. Thefederalist.com is where we see your work these days. Thanks so much for being on the Todd Starn Show. It's a pleasure. Thank you.

David Harsani and again the federalist dot com and a couple of interesting posts. The one that he posted yesterday on the aftermath of the Omar removal from the committee and the one before that talking about the reinvention of Ilhan Omar. Under the title, Local Congresswoman accidentally spends a decade being an anti-Semite. I always appreciate humor like that, to make a very serious point. And he joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line.

Join us now by calling 844-747-8868. We'll take this break. If you're on the line, hold on. I'll get to you right afterwards. Jeff Stein in for Todd.

Thank you for being along on this Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein in the Liberty University studio filling in for Todd today, 844-747-8868. I love it when you folks call in. for a number of reasons.

Mainly, it's because the programs that I do at my station, KXEL in Iowa, I interview people. Just like you heard with our last segment, but I don't have the ability to take calls. I don't get to interact directly on the phone with those of you listening. And so being here gives me that opportunity.

So let's go now to the phones. And Nicole is listening to the program on the talk station in North Carolina. Nicole, Jeff Stein in for Todd. Thanks for calling. What's on your mind?

How are you, Jeff? I am excellent. Better now that I'm talking to you.

Okay, here we go. I have a two parter here. I told Gil, and I should have told Gil I have a two parter. But first, with the balloon. This is amazing.

How long do you think that balloon would be up in the air if Trump was in there? About five minutes. Don't you think? Oh my god it was a Wouldn't even make I mean, this is I mean you you can't I I've never seen anything change when when when Biden j came into office. The whole World.

I mean the whole car. Just went into what happened? It just like. Ooh. It's like you woke up in a in a nightmare.

A nightmare. A nightmare. Well, and do you think that the Chinese would have even tried it with Trump in office? I say no. Oh, no, no, no, no.

They you know why? Because they ha not only did they fear him, but they had respect for him. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I mean, part of respect is fear. And it's peace through strength. I mean, it's the Reagan doctrine for crying out loud, don't you think? Exactly. And you know, like I'm saying, it's flying around.

And you know, I like I Todd's funny, just get some good old boys. But I'm telling you, we we we had a good old boy in office.

Well, nobody wanted them, right? We had a good old boy in office.

Well, the elites didn't want him, and those who counted the votes didn't want him, but that's a whole different issue. You know, when I saw the news and told you all that it was coming across the Midwest, I almost said something like, You know, you get over the Midwest, we might take it down ourselves. And I thought, no, I don't want to stir anything up because I'm sitting in for Todd. I don't want to cause trouble. You know, it's like borrowing somebody's car.

I got to try to stay on the road. And then he, of course. you know, just hits it out of the park with that. What else was on your mind today? The second the second point of my uh why I called you is because g I'm I'm gonna get on to the Hunter um Biden thing.

Now, okay. You know, people say, Oh, you know, that's nothing, that's nothing. Could you imagine if that was Donald Jr. or Eric? Yes.

Could you imagine this pa it would be no news? I mean, it would be everywhere. I mean, my God in heaven, it is Hunter's laptop. I've seen laptop from hell. I don't know if you did, I've seen it.

Yeah.

It is disgusting. I don't care. He's got a he I you know what? I know a lot of people with problems. But you know what?

He was also making deals High as a kite. With China. Wi Ukraine? I mean, my God in heaven. Joe?

The homes that Joe lives in. They're hunters' homes. They're not Joe's. Hunter did everything for the big guy.

Well, right down to paying rent, quote unquote, at a huge amount a month.

Well, and it's also nothing more than laundering. It's money laundering. I mean, we'll call it rent, but it's simply a payoff to try to avoid taxation at the full rate. My God, you cannot I mean, I've never I mean, I know there's corruption everywhere. I know what this is really bad.

I mean, we're we're really my God in heaven. The Biden family, I mean, Joe, I I mean, I'm sixty-three years old. I've known Joe, he's the son when he was in the Senate in the seventies, when he first started up. The guy is The guy lie anymore. Pinocchio has nothing on this guy.

Well, you're right, Nicole. You're right. Thanks so much for calling in from North Carolina. I don't want to have you start another thought, and then we get cut off at the end of the hour.

So I'm going to let you go there, and I'll pick up with what you were talking about. And if you're on the line, by the way, stay there, because right after the top of the hour, we're going right to phones.

So be sure to call now. We have some lines at 844-747-8868. If you're on the line now, Dave, Gary, I'm looking at you, just stay there. We'll be right to you right after the top of the hour. But to Nicole's point, okay, I'm here in the state of Iowa, right?

This is the first of the nation caucus state until the National Party screwed everything up. But that's another conversation we've had previously.

So Joe Biden knows his way around the state. I have talked to Joe Biden. I have met Joe Biden. And first of all, the guy we see there at the podium is a shell of what he was, and it's tragic. I don't find it funny anymore when he's up there shaking hands with the air or whatever it is, because it's so tragic to see that happen to a human.

It's so tragic that his people Put him up to it. I mean, it's ridiculous, but the fact that he's dropped out of presidential races in the past because he couldn't tell the truth and plagiarized, ugh. But he won, right? Sure, he did. All right, another hour of the show coming up.

Jeff Stein in for Todd. Come on back. Hour three of the Todd Starn Show, straight ahead. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starnes. That's right.

I love this American ride. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed, welcome to our number three of a Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show. Coast to coast of more than 100 outstanding radio stations streaming live at ToddStarnes.com. Hello, fellow Patriots. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd today from Iowa's home for the Todd Starn Show, my home base at News Talk 1540 KXCL in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, the 50,000-watt blowtorch, scorching Middle America with accurate news and reasonable views.

Always a privilege to join you from the Liberty University studio. Lots of you want to talk about this Chinese balloon, and we're going to get to your calls in just a moment, right after I tell everyone the number where they can join this coast-to-coast conversation. It's 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-888. Dave, you called in on that number from North Carolina, where you listened to the Starring Show on the talk station.

Thanks so much for waiting so long. I appreciate it. What's on your mind? Yeah, it's okay. It's only been a I don't know, day and a half.

But no, seriously, on the balloon, on the balloon. It first of all you know, we started up the Space Force. Money well spent.

Now we've got a slow moving high altitude balloon that we're doing nothing about with a whole new branch designed to take care of it.

So here's the thing. Every time something like this happens, It happens. People run in circles as fast as they can. They wave their hands in the air. And then it's over.

And then the next time there's a There's more panic. And then the next time they say, I can't believe the Chinese are doing this. And we need to really get stern with them.

Well, first of all, Why don't we have a plan in place for this? It's this is a Space Force issue. It's at eighty thousand feet. Secondly, This is a learning experience. It has happened.

How many people are doing what to take care of it now? We're not hearing anything about a solution. All we're hearing about is problem. That's the new administration's way of doing things. we will pound a problem to death and never whisper anything about a solution.

So why don't we have a huge mirrored parabolic dish Shooting the worst of every kind of music through a laser beam up to that.

So that The the mirror and dish. drives all the sunshine away from the solar panels. And every bad song, every written, is sent up to whatever recording device that has. I mean, there's got to be something that somebody's already thought of that is just not in place. We're just not doing it.

Well, there ought to be a way to jam this, don't you think? I mean, we should have the technology that if they're extracting data. You know, there's got to be an electronic way to jam the thing short of uh fouling the atmosphere with bad music. The last SpaceX uh or whatever the last satellite or the last rocket that went up had over three hundred communication satellites on that one rocket. Yeah.

So we've got enough instruments up there that we can drive signals You know, we're doing stuff now that 30 years ago was unthinkable on our telephones.

So the technology is there. Here's what I don't the two things that I can't put together. One, The current administration is doing nothing about it except talking about it. And two, I've seen a lot of meteorological balloons in my lifetime. And they've changed.

This is the first one that I know of that is in the shape of a party balloon that says made in China on one side and thank you, Hunter, on the other side. Did they go get that at Party City over there in North Carolina? Did they stop there and get a helium-filled balloon? No, I'm quite sure that this was probably ordered One of the online people in DC probably ordered it direct from China, and you know, that'll be the next. this is if we park the USS Ronald Reagan In the ocean between mainland China and Taiwan, they would say, You've got a warship invading our waters.

Well, if we put a sailor on each side with a fishing pole, we could say no, today it identifies as a trawler. That's it, yes. It would be the same thing. Right. So A spy device is a spy device.

And if they say, well, no, we're just collecting weather.

Well, you know what? It's like all these people taking their private jets to somewhere to have a meeting when they've been promoting go to meeting.com forever. You know, it's the thing. Uh the Chinese can can Google the weather channel and get whatever info you know. Call uh Jim Cantori and ask him, you know.

Well, he certainly has seen it all. All right, so do you think the administration is incompetent or on the take? I think it's a combination of both. I you know. Look at that.

First of all, Norad got involved in the approach of this thing. Why didn't we raise a security level? Why didn't we do You see what I'm saying? This is always we do nothing. We're going to talk about it.

We've got this problem. We got we're bringing more people in. We're ordering late night pizza. We're filling up the flip charts and we're coming up with all this data. Ross Perot once said If you see a snake You don't form a committee on what to do when a snake appears.

You kill the snake. And I'm out here on the coast, so I don't kill snakes, but Um But you see what I'm saying? It's that simple. Government will form a committee on what to do about balloons. And we will have two or three more Chinese balloons go across our nation, and people, well, we need more committee members, we need to do this, we need to do that.

And I see it down to the county level here in North Carolina. That's why Mark Robinson has to be our next governor because these people are just getting. Yeah.

I'm ready to leave. It is stupid down to the county level. But at the government at the top of the pinnacle of the pyramid, it is the worst. Ooh. First of all, Joe isn't running anything.

I don't know that Joe knows that there's a balloon out there. You know what I'm saying?

Well, he probably figures it's somebody's birthday, and so he's looking for the cake and ice cream. I don't know what it is. Dave, these are excellent thoughts, and I'm so glad you hung on for the last day and a half. I hope somebody brought you some food and water so that you wouldn't wither away. But thanks so much for calling the Todd Starn Show.

I've got a tent on a sidewalk in L.A. waiting for me, so I'm good.

Okay, well, you're set. You're all set. That's outstanding. Thanks for making the call. 844-747-8868.

Jolene is on the phone, and she listens to this fine radio program on WSIC in that same state of North Carolina. Hello, Jolene. Good to talk to you. What's on your mind? No, I was just wa Wandering.

Why can't they, um No Take those drones and put some kind of rope around that thing, somewhere around it. It t it's got to have a To where they can figure out how to put some kind of ropes around it and see if they can pull it a little bit and see what it does. And if they can pull it on out to the uh to the ocean Have a vacation. Just bring it on in, right? Have the people in hazmat suits and find out what what that thing's all about.

Well, I got another suggestion. All right, go ahead. Put Spim Cannon. panels, some kind of panels on the ground there where it's at. the uh that well whatever kind of uh technology it's using Uh if it's spying on Something down there under the ground or around there in that particular area.

Can they not put something that will be reflective to whatever kind of signals they're using? Technology they're using so that it's going to bounce that back up into their field. See, that would make sense to me, and that's what Dave was talking about, too. I mean, can you block the solar panels from getting any sort of energy? Can you jam the transmissions?

Can you send another signal that makes it worthless? You know, the thing is, given how high up, I don't know that we can get drones up there, but the idea of somebody lassoing that thing and bringing it down to a level where we can take a look at it, I like that idea. You would like to think there's a way to do all of this. But I don't know if Our government is doing more than we know. Or, you know, behind the scenes, if they're doing this kind of stuff, or if we just don't simply know how to do this common sense stuff.

Yeah, you would think. Oh well.

Well, I appreciate you calling in, Jolene, and expressing your view because it's the same one so many people are having. Shouldn't we be doing something about this? What can we be doing? Bob, you're calling in from Georgia on the great Starnes affiliate WDUN. Thanks for calling the Todd Starnes Show.

Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. Bob, what's on your mind?

Well, I I'd heard earlier somebody saying that They wouldn't have done this if Trump was in there. Yeah.

They wouldn't have because Trump would have been making love with the leader. Remember he was in love with Kim Jon-on Well yeah, but this is China. Not North Korea. I know it, I know, but he'd figure out a way. I hope you easy to know by.

And he probably owns property in China. Do you think that this administration's any different? I don't know. I I know that what they're doing as far as Jobs. creation Is is The best in history.

and the lowest unemployment since nineteen sixty nine. We should be talking about that, not a balloon. And what if the balloon oh what if the balloon is filled with uh nuclear weapons or WMDs or something?

Well, see, that's a problem too, so that's why you have to talk about it a bit. But are you concerned about the fact? And you're right about the unemployment rate. Are you concerned about the fact that the labor participation rate? has not been this low since the recession in the Nixon era.

I mean, this thing is down to the low sixty percent. We have so many people who have dropped out of the market That's what's playing into the unemployment rate being so low. Should we be concerned that our labor participation rate is less than two-thirds of the population? I see there's a reason why I I should have known that. There's a reason why it is not good for Joe Biden, I'm sure.

Well, it's a matter of if you've got so many people dropping out of the labor force. The unemployment rate does not include people who've dropped out.

Okay, so you've got so many people who are not looking for work either because they they've given up. or because The benefits they receive from not working Make it more of a good deal, if you will, to not work.

Now, I think work has great value, that's not the point. But if you're just looking economically, if you're paying somebody more to not work than you are to work. That gets to be a problem. That's how your labor participation rate goes down. But I mean, do you think that the economy is better now than it was pre-COVID in the Trump era?

Do you think the economy, Bob, is better now? It's come along. And the the l lady earlier said that, uh Biden probably doesn't even know there's a balloon up there. That is a bunch of bull Lamarcky.

Well, my friend. The President of the United States knows there's a balloon from China floating over. Bob, thanks for the comments. We've got to take a break. I just looked up at the clock, and I'm well past the time, and I'm sorry about that.

I do appreciate that you called in at the top of the hour to talk with us about this.

Well, the concern about this president has to do with cognitive ability, and I say that, and I mentioned it last hour, as somebody who had met him, reported on him, interviewed him, talked privately with him. I'm not boasting, I'm just saying I have had that experience. And it's uh it's a far cry. It's a far cry from what it was. All right, Matt, you're on the line, but I said we need to take a break, and we are well late on it.

And Kyle's going to pull the plug if I don't take the break now. But I'd love to hear from the rest of you as well. 844-747-8868. Join the conversation. Jeff Stein in for Todd.

This is the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. As always, Kyle doing a wonderful job at the controls of the mighty world with fine rejoin the music that's helping us get through our Friday. Dylan taking care of all the calls. And I think, if I'm reading my notes right, I have one caller left on the line.

Miss Grace with a great lineup of guests, as always. And again, thanks to all of you in Starnes Nation for being a part of the radio program today. Matt is in North Carolina. He called us at the Liberty University Studio Line, 844-747-8868. Matt, what's on your mind today?

Hey, Jeff. Good to talk to you. You too. How's your weather in Iowa? Oh, it was twelve below zero this morning.

Thanks for reminding me. And I think it's just now cr it's just now cruised up to a whopping two degrees above zero.

So we're living life here, my friend. We're living life.

Well Wow. That's what's going to happen in the Northeast, I believe. But here's my quick point: Yes. My brother told me today. Dead.

Thank you. Public citizenry has been Had to alert the authorities. They saw the balloon. And No one saw anything. Lakers Forest Government.

And uh totally alerted them. And number two, That's a Chinese so-called weather bloom. We know that. But um number two Todd had a very amusing Joke there.

Some good old boys in Tennessee might take it out. Yes. I like to shoot a guy that can shoot something that's almost 16 miles high. Yeah, but you know.

Well, oh, Todd is hilarious, but you gotta think, you probably know somebody who would try that, don't you? Probably so. I just saw, by the way, and I want to make sure I get this right: the National Weather Service in Kansas City has tweeted images. Of a large balloon in the Kansas City area, actually, the suburb of Pleasant Hill, if you know the area, it's south of Kansas City. And so.

they are confirming it is not a National Weather Service weather balloon.

So if you're tracking this is kind of like Santa on Christmas Eve. You're tracking it's not I mean, Santa is a good thing, this isn't, but apparently it's over Kansas City. I don't know. Do you think we should bring it down?

Well, I'm sure there's a plenty of cornfields or w or f empty farm fields out there. If somebody knew what they were doing, they could take it down. Player. I tell you, we've got some open ground here. But not a hillbilly with a 22 rifle, of course.

All right, Matt, that's a fair point, but you're right, Todd. Todd's comment was outstanding, and I appreciate you holding on. Thank you, Matt, for calling in from North Carolina. Steve listens to this program on the KWAM radio app, and if it's not on your phone, you're missing out. Steve, thanks for calling in from Arkansas.

What's on your mind? I was just thinking about I'm surprised that Biden has let the balloon stay up there because it's kind of cutting in on his and Hunter's gig. That spy balloon may be getting free information that he's they're not getting an opportunity to sell to the Chinese.

Well, now, how do you know that he didn't get paid just to leave it alone? I mean, I'm willing to go down that road. That that is an option, but uh He he would have more control over it if he sold it to an item at a time instead of letting them gather it theirself.

Well, you know How much money is enough money, though, Steve, if you think about it? How much money has the Biden crime family made already? Do they need to maximize all of this?

Well, the way his lawyer bills apparently are starting to rack up over these documents and stuff, that may have changed here lately. That's very true, Steve. Thanks so much for making the call from Arkansas. And again, You go to whatever, I mean I have Android. I don't have an iPhone.

You know what the i stands for in iPhone? I have too much money and I'm going to overpay for a device. But that's a different issue. I have an Android. I went to the Google Play Store and I downloaded the KWAM radio app.

It's right in the phone I'm holding right now.

So you can listen to the Mighty 990, the flagship of this radio station, with great conservative talk programming whenever you like. That's how Steve picks up the program. It's KWAM Radio. That's what you search for for the app. On the other side, we'll hear about people fighting give, send, go.

It's an interesting topic. Jeff in for Todd on the Todd Starden Show. Welcome back. This is the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd on this Friday from the Liberty University studio.

844-747-8868. Phones have been absolutely on fire today, and we'll continue with your calls in the next segment. But right now, I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line, and we are joined by Heather Wilson. She is one of the founders of GiveSendGo.com, the freedom fundraising platform. Ms.

Wilson, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. Thanks for joining us on the Starn Show. How are you today? I am doing well. How are you?

Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

I have spoken with your brother Jacob, one of the other co-founders on my program in Iowa before. First time you and I have had the privilege of speaking. I'm sure the audience is aware, but you tell us the story of how Give, Send, Go came to be. Sure, about eight years ago, my brother and another sister and I were talking about the newly. Founded thing called crowdfunding.

We were seeing GoFundMe start taking off, and we thought, what a cool idea. To let people easily raise money for the things that were as important to them. we thought as a Christian family, what if we were to combine sharing hope with people while they were fundraising? And Gifts and Go was born. And eight years ago, we started.

We've been walking it out, growing year after year. In the last couple of years, we've seen some explosive growth. as Gift Then Go has made its its name in the world. And you've become soul Popular as an alternate source for those who believe in freedom and believe in the causes that are otherwise stifled by that other one you mentioned, that I'm not even going to repeat its name. But because of your success, now there are folks who are slamming you, and it's really kind of disgusting stuff as far as I'm concerned.

But let's talk about this attack against your business, your entity, by the Anti-Defamation League. It's absolutely astounding when that came out. A whole. Article about that's just filled with falsehood that was never confirmed by us. They quote all these numbers.

I have no idea where they're getting their information, but they're touting it like it's all true. And we would have loved to just have a a conversation. Most people, when they want to hear or they're writing a news article or something about us, they reach out to us and we're happy to have conversations because that's how truth is found.

So, the bottom line for those who are not aware, the Anti-Defamation League. Issued a quote-unquote report claiming that you raise money for extremist groups. Was that defined in any way, or is this just, and again, you don't even know where they came up with this $5 million number, right? True. You know, we we actually just put out a press release ourselves in in rebuttal to this because we said who Who are?

The extremist groups you're talking about. You can't Everybody could be extreme. We each have things in our own lives that we might be extremely passionate about. Maybe you're a health buff and you go to the extreme of working out all the time. You know, who labels what is extreme and what's not?

The couple, you know, they threw out some numbers and some campaigns. Um It was just absolutely absurd that they came up with this number and then tried to tout us as this terrorist, that we are funding terrorists and extremists. and didn't really give any facts behind it.

Well, they didn't need to because there are willing accomplices in the formerly mainstream media who would just parrot it because, oh, good, somebody got some dirt on Give Sengo, and we're trying to keep them from being successful. I mean, that's what it really comes down to. But I love the point that you folks do make in the rebuttal: that they've defined extremist groups, or they've said you deal with extremist groups, but they don't define it in any way. And we're just supposed to, I guess, know what that means. That just seems very shallow.

It is shallow. They use kind of threatening words and words to invoke fear in people. And that's all this article was. It was an article to invoke fear to say, we're going to. Usher some control over how you think.

And if we make these words sound scary enough, you guys will believe us, the general public. You'll believe us. We can and you'll not use Gift Spend Go because up until now, They can't control us, and that is the The fear that these big platforms have is that we're not falling, gifts and goes not falling in line when. Facebook and all the other platforms are saying, hey, shut these down. And we say, no, we're not going to shut them down.

This is one of the things that, and that was the point. And again, we're speaking with Heather Wilson, one of the three siblings who co-founded Give, Send, Go, online give, send, go.com. And this is one of the things that you have this vehicle to do so much good for people, and you're allowing it to happen as opposed to imposing your own views like the others and then kicking people off a platform. I think that's how I understand it. That is exactly what is happening.

We are saying we might even disagree with you. But we will allow you to have a voice. We feel that the Suppression of speech. is more dangerous than the speech itself. No one can say anything dangerous enough that's more dangerous That asked taking away people's rights.

to free speech. I'm going to ask a question and I don't know the answer, and frankly, I don't know if you know the answer. Have you ever had a situation where you had to remove an account either because of fraud or because of viewpoint differentiation or anything?

So, we have a couple of things on Gifts and Go that we will not allow on our platform. Obviously, if it's evident broad, someone is scamming the banking system, using stolen credit cards, yes, we removed that right away.

So we are very vigilant about that. As far as taking something down because we didn't don't agree, there's only a couple of things that we actually have pinpointed that we won't allow on GetZengo as a baseline, and that is murder.

So you can't raise money to get a gun and go kill somebody. And we also don't allow murder in the womb. Because we believe life begins at conception. And so, if someone wanted to come on our platform, like the Church of Satan did, and start a campaign. For ritual abortions.

We said no, sorry, you can't we don't allow murder on Git Zengo. I started to laugh, and you're being very appropriately serious. But when you said, We don't allow people raising money for murder, and I thought, well, goodness, how horrible of you people to not allow such narrow-minded people. That's it. You're the extremist, and just made the point.

Tell us, if you would, Heather Wilson of GiveSendGo.com, what are some of the normal examples of where your platform has allowed people to get to a point they otherwise could not? Oh, I could talk for hours on this. There are thousands of campaigns that people can view by just going to getzango.com. If you actually want to check it out for yourself and not just believe what you read, Go to Gifts and Go, and there are thousands of campaigns for medical bills, for ministry opportunities for churches and organizations that are doing good in this world, for people who maybe are helping their neighbor in need. Our whole goal here at Gifts and Go is to share hope with people in some of their hardest times.

Now, in that, we have to decide: will we allow people freedom? Even if we disagree and we say we will, but For the most part, the campaigns on Gibson Go are touching, incredible stories that give. hope to this world that we're not as bad as but a lot of the news Try to tell us. We see people. making a difference in their communities again and again and again.

Go check it out.

Well, it's a place that I go to regularly, and we support entities that use givesendgo.com, at least on my program. And I think folks listening are well familiar with it. And this attempt to bring you folks down for being successful under the guise of extremism is another cancel culture atrocity, frankly. And I'm so glad that you took the time. And I know you're traveling today and getting off a plane or getting on a plane, and yet you still made time for us.

And I appreciate it greatly, Ms. Wilson. Best of luck, and God bless.

Well, thank you, because it is shows like yours that help us keep going, that spread the word, that help us get the news out to everybody, that Give Van Go is a place to share help and hope with the world.

So thank you so much for having me. Have an excellent weekend. GiveSendGo dot com co founder Heather Wilson, one of three siblings who put this together not even a decade ago. And this past week, it was the Anti Defamation League which said that they were just raising money for extremists without Evidence or without any sort of definition of what that means.

So, once again, it's givesendgo.com, not one of those other sites, don't you know? 844-747-8868 is how you can reach us. We spoke with Heather Wilson on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line. Again, she was kind enough to join us in between travel and other appointments today. Patriot Mobile, what a great entity, a great patriotic organization, and you well know that another one of those is my pillow.

Mike Lindell and the folks at My Pillow. Uh these are folks who what a what a tremendous success story. coming up with an idea, becoming wildly successful, and persevering despite The slings and arrows because of people who don't agree. with the political viewpoints. And I have said this before, and I don't get anything for this, but I mean, once I switched to my pillow, oh my goodness, what a change!

What an absolute change! I used to have a horrible time sleeping. And my wife said, Why don't you try one of those pillows they advertise on shows like Imus's? And honest to goodness, I said, ah, you know, because I'm the grouchy old guy. No, that would never work.

So she bought a my pillow. I tried it, and it was a miracle. It truly was a miracle. I just slept through the night. It didn't hurt.

My neck didn't hurt. And I did a public speaking tour last year about this time. I did not take it with me on the road, and boy, did I regret that.

So, the products are tremendous, but I want to talk to you today. I mean, I've had this love of the pillow itself, the original product, but there's so many things there. including towels. And I used to hate shopping for towels.

Well, first of all, I'm a guy, so I hate shopping for things like that. But we'd go to the store and you'd okay, this seems this seems like it'd be good. And well, it might look nice, but it wasn't absorbent. or it was really difficult to keep up. It just wasn't worth it.

And so, towels, we just kind of got used to the fact that they're kind of a problem.

Well, that's not the case with the My Pillow Towels. They actually work. They absorb. They don't just push water around. You can actually dry yourself off and be dry.

It's an amazing concept, isn't it?

Well, it's no less than you'd expect from Mr. Lindell and the folks at my pillow. They have a six-piece towel set that we want to tell you about today. That includes two of the bath towels, two of the hand towels, and two washcloths. Variety of colors, anything that'll suit you.

And you can get that six-piece set. for only thirty nine ninety eight, I mean this is nuts. It's not a typo. $39.98 for all six towels. But in order to do that, you have to use the promo code STARNS.

So go to mypillow.com, click on the Radio Listener Special. All MyPillow products come with a 10-year warranty. They all have their fantastic 60-day money-back guarantee.

So to get the six-piece set of MyPillow towels, That's two bath towels, two hand towels, two washcloths, everything you need for the main bathroom. Just go to mypillow.com, click on the Radio Listener Special, enter the promo code STARNS, or you can call them 800-839-8506. And again, promo code STARNS at mypillow.com. Your call is when we come back. Jeff Stein in for Todd, and this is the Todd Starnes Show.

Uh Welcome back. Final segment of a Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd from the Liberty University studio. Thanks to all of you who called in today. I think we can probably sneak somebody else in if you get in quick at 844-747-8868.

A lot of conversation today about that balloon. which apparently now entered US airspace. We now know this on january twenty eighth. Which would have been, what, last Saturday? left it the next day and then re-entered over northern Idaho on Tuesday.

US officials say it is very much intentional and not just a weather balloon off course. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Biden should shoot it down. That it is the president's weakness that is provocative, not the potential of shooting it down. Remember, the administration said, Well, we don't want to shoot this down. That could be seen as a provocative action.

And Pompeo is saying, Well, it's the lack of leadership in the White House that's provocative. And the National Weather Service in Kansas City says at last count, it was moving over the show-me state on its way to the east.

So coming to a neighborhood near you. Is this Chinese balloon this spy balloon? For crying out loud, CNN is even calling it a spy balloon.

So I mean, I guess the bloom is off on that. Chinese spy balloon over the US.

Well, that is what it is, but I'm surprised that CNN would actually say that. The President was first briefed about it on Tuesday, and they promised that he's getting regular briefings.

Okay, that's great. The Secretary of State will not be going to China now because it would not be appropriate A lot of words, lot of words, not sure of what action. But here's your typical United Nations response to all this. A spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said the UN is concerned whenever there are heightened tensions between China and the US. Here's the direct quote from the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General: quoting: On this particular incident, obviously, the two will have to navigate it.

But given the global leadership position of both countries, I think it is incumbent on them to do whatever they can to lower tensions. First way you lower the tension is not to fly a spy balloon over our country. Let's start with that. I mean, the UN statement, I understand they're trying to play to both sides on this. But we didn't start it, to my knowledge.

So, how about a little, hey, uh, China, this is apparently able to be navigated and maneuvered. How about you turn it around? How about you hit the disintegrate button? I mean something. No, no, you you countries work it out.

Lower tensions.

Okay, we'll just acquiesce and have this China spy balloon with solar panels so that it can go God knows how long over our country. We'll just let that happen.

Well, I guess that would lower the tension. Holy cow We are in such trouble We are in such trouble. But let's close with something that's unrelated to all of those things. I saw this story. And I don't I I don't know.

the coach of the Duke University College women's basketball team. Cara Lawson is her name. She has come out and said her team played with a men's basketball for the first half of a loss to Florida State last Sunday. I guess basketballs are gender specific now. No, that's not the case.

There's different size. The women's ball is smaller than the men's ball. I didn't know that.

Alright, so that shows you how out of it I am. The 16th ranked Blue Devils lost to the Seminoles 70-57 in Tallahassee. And the coach says it's embarrassing for our sport that a men's ball was put into the women's game and the players were complaining about it and finally it was figured out.

Okay. Here's the only thing I would say about that. Didn't the other team have to play with the same incorrect basketball? You're complaining about the fact that your team lost because the wrong basketball was used. But the other team had the same problem.

It's like when a team complains You know, in hockey, oh, the ice was soft, or in football, you know, rainy conditions. Both teams are playing under those same adverse conditions. I okay. Anyway, I really have been upset today, haven't I? I've been just, you know what it is?

I changed coffees. I changed to a different type of coffee today. I can already tell, I've already gone through the construction worker thermos that I have here.

Well, thank you for putting up with my rants. Jeff Stein, thank you, Todd, for letting me sit in on this edition of the Todd Starn Show.