If you're a Republican, get off the Canes band wagon! | Hour 1

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all of the links, become a patron, go to dpekclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for your support. So your outrage of the day today, if you are in North Carolina, this is a very localized outrage, okay, But the outrage of the day today is the use of an AI image in a political campaigns tweet. I'm gonna give you some time here to start getting angry, so just let it start boiling up inside of you that there is an AI image that was used in a tweet that was sent out by a political campaign, probably by a staffer that manages the Twitter feed for the candidate. All right, are you sufficiently all right? You get getting worked up? Okay? Yeah? AI image? This is outrage and also tangentially, but I think probably more important to us is that if you are a Republican, you are I guess supposed to. Now, get off of the Hurricanes bandwagon. Get off. You don't belong here. This is our team. We've been watching it. We know how to pronounce the players' names and such. I do not. Okay, I do not. I will tell you now. I am to be fair. I am a registered, unaffiliated Okay, So I think I am allowed to support the team without knowing any of the players on the team. I do not know any of the players on the team, and I'm not gonna be shamed for that. I will not be shamed for that. I don't know. Look, I would like that the New York Knicks to win the NBA championship. Because I grew up a Knicks fan. Now I could name you players of the Knicks teams that I watched as a kid. However, I don't know any of their names now. I quit watching the NBA a long time ago. I don't know any of the hockey players' names, like really any I think like Wayne Gretzky, I know that one. Mariole Meeux. Was that a race car driver? No? No, no, that was a hockey player, right right? I think that I think I have exhausted the knowledge base of hockey players. Oh no, GORDI, howe I remember that one and not that I remember him. Look, I don't I don't watch hockey. I'm not ashamed of that. You can't shame me like I, along with three hundred and forty nine million other Americans do not watch hockey. I'm sorry that hurts people's feelings that really love hockey. Okay, that's fine. You can really love hockey, you can really love the WNBA. I can't name any of those players, no, wai, what's the who's the coach? She was a player and then she became a coach, so USC what's her name? Don Staley? See, I didn't even remember it, but I do know it. I have heard her name. And then there's that chick that's playing now that she's constantly getting abused. She's getting beaten up every game she plays for, like IOWA or something, Caitlin Clark. Right, because those names broke through in a news cycle of some kind, right, that's it. I carry no shame for not knowing more players' names. In fact, this point was made very well by the philosopher Bill Barr or Burr, Sorry Bill Burr. Bill Barr was the former Attorney General Bill Burr. He pointed this out to a crowd that gathered they'd actually paid to hear his philosophy espoused from a stage televised on like HBO Comic Relief or something anyway, and he's up there and he's like, you know, hey, yeah, something about the WNBA, and everybody goes crazy. They all start cheering and all of this, and then he says, okay, ladies, name a few players from the WNBA, and of course everybody starts laughing because they can't do it. So like there's this signal that you send that like I'm for this thing, but you don't know anything about it, right, And that is what being on the bandwagon for a team is. You're sending a signal that like, I'm for this team, but you don't know anything about the team. You don't follow it. But it's a local team, it's a hometown team. You want them to win. They're in the championship game. Or as a one former host referred to it as the the super Bowl of hockey. All right, even I know it's the Stanley Cup. Okay, I know that it's called the Stanley Cup mainly because it crosses over, and I see players like taking this thing everywhere and like drinking out of it, swimming at the beach with it. Whatever. That's one of the traditions. I spend I think, like an hour or two talking about the US Olympic hockey victories a couple of months ago. And I don't remember any of their names either. And they had a bunch of vowels in their names. The people who are playing in the NHL. I mean there's like seven vowels spread across the entire ice rink. Okay, makes it very difficult for me to remember the names. As anybody who listens to this program knows in my pronunciation skills like this, this should track. Okay, So here is the outrage of the day. The story is, this is a very important story, by the way, very very big deal. Okay. Michael Wattley, Republican candidate for US Senate posted up well, his campaign posted up onto the Twitter machine. This would have been what two days ago? Was that the first game? How many games have they played in the Super Bowl of Hockey? They've only played the one. They don't play every other every night? Do they not play every night? They play every other night? Okay, see, I don't even know that, all right, So they're playing tonight, this would be game two. I believe they play. It's like a best of forty five. I think otherwise known as the season because their seasons are so crazy. It's like anyway, no, it's like a what is it a best of five or seven? Seven? Okay, so it's a best of seven. And they played the first game two nights ago, and the Hurricanes lost. The North Carolina or do they call them the Raleigh or just Carolina? Just Carolina, thank you, Bernie. Bernie is the sports head here. He fills in the blanks here. So the Carolina Hurricanes lost in the first game. They lost their first game to Las Vegas. I don't know the name of their team, and I don't know any of the names of the people on their team, nor do I care to, because after the seventh game, if it goes that far, I won't need to know any of their names. I'm not watching the games. So that being said, go Hurricanes. I would very much prefer that the Hurricanes win over Las Vegas because I am a North Carolinian. I have lived in North Carolina for like thirty years. I would prefer to see the Carolina teams win, So I say, go Kaines. But I may not be able to do that because if I can't name at least three players on the team, then I think I am to be mocked until I exit the bandwagon. Okay, fine, I'm off, Good luck, have fun. See that's how that happens, Folks, like you're attaching. You're attaching mockery and shame to people who are wanting to pull for. Something that is unifying. Because Michael Watley sends it or his campaign, I don't know if he sent this tweet himself. I doubt it because there's a big image, and I don't think that it's a productive or efficient use of a candidate's time for them to be creating graphics for their Twitter feed. I feel like that's something that they outsourced to, like an intern or a campaign staffer, you know. So Michael Wattley's campaign sends out this thing. It says let's go Canes, and then it has this image and it says game day Carolina Hurricanes versus. And then there's just an image of a gladiator helmet. What are they like the Vegas Romans or something? What are they the Golden Knight. That's the that's the Army. Okay, I thought Army. I thought they were the Golden Knights. They are, so what you just get to steal because this is a new team right as far as I know, ICE has only been introduced to Las Vegas like within the last twenty years. So how is that? How do you get away with stealing their name? Was this like what a burger? Okay? Stanley Cup? Sorry too soon? That's fair. Stanley Cup Final game one, puck drop, eight pm Eastern time. Let's bring the cup back to NC. Good luck Canes. North Carolina is behind you. And then it says Wattley USN. And then here's the offensive part. Here's the part you got to be outraged about. There's an image of a player, but nobody knows who the player is because apparently it was created by a I. You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you. And they will tell others to come. Who you are visit Creative video dot com. So democrats and media, But I repeat myself, they are now all in on the fake fan Michael Wattley. He doesn't even like the Hurricanes. So I've just posted a call out on Twitter to ask, like, please provide me the evidence where Michael Wattley has claimed to be a superfan of the Carolina Hurricanes. Because I've not like, I don't remember seeing it. Now, I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I would just like to see it because if you're if you're saying that his campaign staff should not have used an AI generated image for the post about, you know, supporting the Hurricanes in game one, and you're then going to try to parlay that into some sort of like. He doesn't even know what he's talking. About kind of thing, like, well, first off, it's the campaign that did it. Number two, I also saw in the original post a whole bunch of leftists are in there wanting to know and tagging the Hurricanes like, you know, did you get did you get authority to use these images? Right? So, had they used an actual image of. One of the Hurricanes players, I guess then they probably would have been slammed for that. So they used an AI generated image which is not apparently of a player. I mean, it looks like a player, but it's not a real player. And so that's the outrage now. Whereas so here's so Wattley does a campaign stop. They're doing an event about like economics and the no tax on tips, and they're doing all that. He's got this campaign event at like some local business somewhere. And Brian Anderson, formerly of several news organizations. I think he was like an intern or something over at the News and Observer. He went over to wil That ended acrimoniously with him making all sorts of insinuations about like the management and like the being directed to do things or something. We have very Scott Pelly ish, which we'll get to Scott Pelly today too. I know it's it's a full agenda today, But Brian Anderson thinks that the most important story of the day is this Hurricane story and the way that the Democrats will be able to parlay this. This is what Nancy Pelosi explained as the wrap up smear. Right, You push a certain thing out there, and then media does a story on it, and then the campaign uses that story in order to advance or to merchandise, as Pelosi said, to merchandise the smear. And so that's the role that the media plays for Democrats. Remember when the scandal involves a Republican, the scandal is or the story is always the scandal. And so that's the template they're running off of the story. Is that Michael Wattley himself put an aiimage up there and then when asked to name his three favorite Hurricanes players, he, along with like ninety nine percent of all North Carolinians, could not name three players. Okay, that's the scandal. That's the story. That's all we're gonna focus on. We're not going to focus on, you know, the fact that nobody watches hockey. And I'm sorry hockey fans. I am, I am sorry. I like I don't. I don't tune in to watch hockey games. I just don't. I don't denigrate anybody who does. I don't denigrate the sport. Those guys are really tough. It's very difficult sport to play. I don't know why it hasn't caught on more so, but it just hasn't. So most people don't watch. I mean, the vast majority of people do not watch hockey. However, I would submit that they vast majority of North Carolinians would prefer to see the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup. Good for them, source of pride. Yay Carolina, Yay for you you Jack asked, yay for you, you hockey fan that loves the Canes or is there called the Caney Acts, right, which is a great that's a great name for fans. It's like, yay for you guys because you really wanted this. You're from North Carolina. I will celebrate with you in your happiness right like that. But now now, if you're gonna make me choose that, I'm either on the side of Roy Cooper, sorry Cooper, my good friend Ray because he's. A real fan. And if you're not a real fan, then you could just pound sand Okay bye, like I'm out, like because I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. I don't care. So here is what Brian Anderson opted to hound Michael Wattley about during this campaign. Stop when after it's uh, they do the presentation, they do the interviews and less and then afterwards he gets up in the media like swarm him, and Anderson is like muscling his way in the pack of journalists or journalismers as the case, maybe to get the real Scoop. I saw you post about the Carolina Hurricanes. Yep, who are your three favorite Hurricanes players? You know, I think we like them all. Don't have a favorite player. Look, I think that that's a team that's loaded. They're playing offense really well. I'm excited about how you and what about the graphic that was created yesterday? How that come about? And that's just a graphic that. We bring it. You used Ai for the graphic. Was that intentional? And can you talk about that as far as like the Kings and you know, using their name or whatever, if there's any kind of issue there. Well, look, I want to see the Carolina Hurricanes win. I think it's absolutely great for the state. And I think it's fun that they're in the Stanley Cup finals. And and you know, we did use aif get. Thanks guys, last chance, last chance, give me three day. He give me three dads and then he walks away, but that's not enough. Apparently Brian Anderson chased him out into the parking lot, still trying to get do. We demand to know if you can name three players? So then later on he's like he's following Watley all around the room as Whiley's doing you know, meeting and greeting and you know, shaking babies, kissing hands and stuff. And then the video that Anderson posts up does a jump cut to this. Yeah, no, Jacob's Slaven. I think that that this is a guy who has an outspoken faith in God. He works hard every single day and kind of represents the best of the sport. Did anyone tell you say, Jacob Slavin, We're good. Okay, Jacob Slavin? Is he? Is he an actual player? He played on the Olympic team. Okay? And do we know does he have a faith? Profound faith in God? Bernie doesn't know. I got. I finally asked a sports question that Bernie doesn't know the answer to. So Bernie, you are no longer allowed to pull for the Hurricanes. I'm sorry. I don't make the rules, man, I'm sorry. Don't get angry. I'm just saying, these are the rules. If I can't answer every single question that you're asking, like, I would love to know what Brian Anderson's depth of knowledge is on, Like, I don't know third string tight end for the Panthers. Do you not know that? Tell me? The public demands to know. So he eventually does name a player, but Brian Anderson suspects that somebody told him the answer. Even if he did, who cares Brian? No. See, here's the thing. Democrats think that this is their barbecue moment, their Cal Cunningham barbecue moment. They really really want this to be the Cal Cunningham barbecue moment. How do I know this? They've said that they've said it. He said it. All right, we'll get to chapter two in a moment. Democrats and media, but I repeat myself, they really, they really are hoping that this is the Cal Cunningham barbecue moment for them. For folks who don't know, Cal Cunningham was running against the incumbent US Senator Tom Tillis a couple of years ago, and he was supposed to be the one that was going to knock off Tillis and bring one of these Senate seats back over into the Democrat column. And well, but then he got busted having the affair with a fellow service member's wife while they were overseas. And that's like they call that being a Jodie, I believe, and that's like, oh, that's very bad. I mean, the affair is bad, obviously. But and then there was like during the campaign, by the way, this was occurring during the campaign, But the barbecue moment is that his campaign took a picture of him Chuck Schumer style, in front of a gas grin, like a barbecue grill on your back deck, and he's ran a little apron and he's got a spatula in his hand and there's nothing on the grill and he's standing there saying something like, you know, love me some Carolina barbecue or something like that, talking about Carolina barbecue. The slight problem is that you don't cook barbecue like that on a gas grill that's pulled pork, right, so you're not grilling that. That that grill. It's much like Chuck Schumer's thing where he's like, you. Know, getting ready to am I out to a cookout or whatever, and he's standing in front of a grill and he's got all of these raw hamburger patties with with slices of cheese on them, like, that's not how you cook a hamburger. So this became a source of mockery of Cal Cunningham. And so that's what Democrats hope this becoming Brian Anderson, who now he freelances and he does some work for the Assembly Assembly n C or ncassembly dot com whatever, which is a you know website where a lot of like old reporters that got squeezed out of shrinking newsrooms go when they write freelance stuff over there. And so this is the big story, This is the big story that we all have to pay attention to. That Michael Wattley was asked to name three of the players on the Carolina Hurricanes and he could not. And this shows something I'm not actually I'm not actually really sure what it shows because he just his campaign put out a tweet that said, go kains. He has not, as far as I know, Michael Wattley has not been running around claiming to be the biggest Hurricanes fan. Okay, I don't care if he can name three players on a hockey team. That is not a qualification for US Senate. The barbecue thing that Cunningham did does not disqualify him from serving in the US Senate. I would submit that it shows a level of ignorance that you don't realize that you shouldn't be taking this picture, right, you shouldn't be taking the picture. But what did the campaign put out? They put out a They put out a tweet that said, Gokaines, bring the Stanley Cup back to North Carolina. Like that's a message of support, Like, what's the problem here? Well, it's the AI, right, But if it wasn't AI, then you guys were also saying the media was also saying, well, did you have the rights if you used is that a real When they first thought it was a real picture, they were like, did you get the right from the Hurricanes? Aren't you violating some laws or rules or something? And then it turns out it was AI, probably done to go around or avoid the very kinds of questions that the media first started asking that you just heard asked in that gaggle after a campaign stop. So they used AI. But then people are like, why are you using AI? Okay, so if he uses AI, that's bad and if he doesn't use AI, that's bad too. In other words, shut up, which is basically the tactic of the left on all issues. Shut up. So if you really. Want to make me choose candidates based on their affinity for a sports team, I'm just going to ignore the sports team. It doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't matter. Now, if somebody was out there claiming to be the biggest you know, Caney act there is, and then turns out they don't know anything about the sport, they don't know the team, whatever, then okay, that that would be more along the lines of the barbecue picture from Calcunningham. However, all he said was go Hurricanes, and in fact he didn't say it it's one of his campaign people, no lies detected and when asked if it was Ai, he said, yeah, it was Ai. So Roy Cooper's campaign pouncing seizing, I'm just kidding. Only Republicans do that. It's always great to welcome new knes Fans, is it, though, because that sounds sort of like an insult. Sounds like a bit of a joke. You know. Tyler Voight, he's the state director of Americans for Prosperity North Carolina, had him on the show here and he says, it's incredible the stories I read about the questions that some candidates get asked. But it is apparently impossible to ask Roy Cooper about Graham Plattner. Just impossible. That's a fair question. No, I would submit it is how come Roy Cooper doesn't have to play defender disavow? How come he gets to skate on that no pun intended? Well, we all know the reason why. It's because defender disavow is the only is a game that only Republicans are forced to play by media. And by the way, the Cooper campaign has now put out a transcript of the audio that I just played for you that Brian Anderson posted on to two and he's getting all the clicks. I'm sure he's super excited. Don't get any on you. So they put out a transcript about this that we're like, we're supposed to pay a lot of attention to this hurricane scandal. But as Tyler Voyd points out, this is the only way we can get Roy Cooper to respond to hurricanes. Yeah, how about that? How about that story? How about asking Roy Cooper about his lack of response, his terribly, woefully inadequate response to three hurricanes in North Carolina. We get it, he's a sports guy, he loves the sports fantastic, don't care. How do you respond to a hurricane? Well, it took over a decade to start building houses from hurricanes Florence and Matthew. We got people still not in houses. It's been over a decade. Anybody want to ask them about that hurricane scandal. The Cooper campaign is out with a press release and all it is is media headlines and quotes from people bashing Michael Wattley. Just ask good questions. My favorite is the quote from the lefties who were sportsers, sports reporters, people's whatever, who By the way, as a group, they are even further to the left than your regular news reporters. They're just terrible sports reporters in general, not all of them, hashtag not all sports reporters, but like the vast majority of them, I have very little use for. In my experience over almost thirty years, whenever there were crossover stories like the new arena being built in Charlotte, losing the Hornets, the HB two stuff, whenever sports reporters showed up to start asking questions and doing their stories and stuff, It's like. God, you guys suck. You're just so bad at this, and you're so partisan, so leftist. Anyway, This from the Ov's and Giglio podcast. Okay, I don't know who Dmitri Ravenos. Is that a player, Dmitri Ravenos, Rabinos, Rabamos whatever. Wiley doesn't give a crap about Raleigh. He's he clearly doesn't give a crap about Western North Carolina. Where's the appeal for this guy? That's what you took from a post that said go Canes. Okay, yeah, look, if you don't want, if you don't want people to celebrate with you and make it like a really cool thing, a unifying event, message received jerks. TJ says, I've been a kenneye ac since day one. I'll never understand fans that pooh on New fans while complaining about an empty arena mid season. Hell, yes, we need bandwagon fans. That's how most fans are created. TJ is exactly right on both counts. That's how you grow your fan base. You have success, people start paying attention, they become fans. Don't you want the arena to be filled with fans? Why? Why are sports people the only ones that don't understand this good grief? No, because what it is is their politics is first, that's the religion. By the way, there is I've encountered some of this too, with like Second Amendment stuff. Whenever you're talking about guns or some incident or whatever. If I and I'm pro Second Amendment, I've advocated for, you know, various things regarding the Second Amendment and all of this for years. And then one time if I mess. Up and I say something like a clip instead of a magazine, I get bombarded with people who are yelling at me about a clip isn't a magazine and blah blah blah. And I always try to say, like guys, you're in this world to the casual fan of the Hurricanes or hockey, or people who don't even pay any attention to it at all. They don't understand this stuff, and when you attack them for not knowing something that you do because you're a super fan, you just drive them away. And that's why your sport that you love so much is only pulling a million views. Seriously, like you are part of the problem. So Doug says, Pete, I'm so impressed that you knew Gordie Howe. He's my favorite player and he's the first ornament that goes on our Christmas tree every year. Nice nine eight Oho number says, that's why I gamble. I'm not rooting for the Hurricanes because I jumped on the bandwagon. I'm rooting for them because it's worth one hundred and fifty dollars to me. That's fair. I read TJ's I'm just going through the text line, Jim says. So the Democrats are against Wattley using an AI generated non player in his message, but if he had used the image of an actual player, they'd be all over him for implying that his campaign is endorsed by that player. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Pretty much, the reporter Brian Anderson has successfully asked Wattley more about Carolina hurricanes than he asked Cooper about shutting down businesses during COVID or his response and being out of state during Hurricane Helen Jake says, Jacob Slavin has a very devout and open relationship with God. I can't remember his denomination, but he's been very open in public about it. Thank you, Jake. So the media can't utter the word hurricane for many years to ask Cooper about how he managed the response to them, but they can for this. That's Democrat privilege exemplified. Maybe ask Cooper his favorite three families that they got rehoused in the first year of the relief programs. Yeah, with a G, says Hockey regarding Hockeygate or maybe Cainegate. I could not possibly. Care any less, And I really hate when people say they could care less. That's so annoying. Yeah it's Yeah, it drives me nuts too. I could not care less. Beth's favorite Russ says you're not gonna believe this in the Raleigh hearing on the death of the six year Old Girl Today. Gary, not my fault. McFadden testified that it was not his fault. I actually, I do believe that. I do absolutely believe that Walt asks. Does it seem like the leftist media is petty and condescending. No, look, there's a reason why they sound like that. It's because they are all right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetekallanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone. M hm.