Why debate healthcare if disagreement means my death? (12-10-2024--Hour3)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 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 the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalinorshow.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.

[00:00:28] Just for your edification, I did spend this weekend reading social media posts about Syria. So now I am as much of an expert on Syria as I was on deep water submersibles. Okay. Oh, and also the Ukrainian Donbass region.

[00:00:53] Syrian President Bashar Assad, who looks kind of dorky, arrived in Moscow yesterday in a completely surprise twist of events. Who knew that he was so close to Pootie Poot? Yeah, he fled his country as rebel forces pushed into Damascus, the culmination of a lightning offensive that toppled city after city like dominoes.

[00:01:20] The last minute flight from Syria was a stunning end for the Assad dynasty, which ruled the Middle Eastern country with an iron fist for 50 years.

[00:01:32] President Joe Biden said, and that the collapse of a regime that killed and tortured thousands of innocent Syrians over the decades is a historic opportunity for the people to build a better future or be ruled by jihadists.

[00:01:49] We'll see, I guess, you know, whichever. It's like a 50 50 chance.

[00:01:54] Actually, it's probably not even that. No, it's yeah, it's probably going to be jihadist.

[00:01:59] By the way, I did just see this also.

[00:02:05] Naftali Hazoni or Hazonai.

[00:02:09] An Israeli fighter pilot turned combat special forces.

[00:02:15] Reporting that Israel conquered Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Syria.

[00:02:22] Its peak is about 2800 meters.

[00:02:25] Syria's capital, Damascus, is only 40 kilometers away.

[00:02:31] So that means it is now within range of Israel's artillery shells.

[00:02:38] Well, why did it take this mountain?

[00:02:41] Glad you asked, Pete.

[00:02:42] Well, let's go to Naftali.

[00:02:44] For decades, Israel's northern defenses were overshadowed by Syria's Mount Hermon.

[00:02:50] No longer.

[00:02:52] The most important natural fortress in the region is now in the hands of Israel.

[00:02:58] Israel did it quietly, driving into Syria's abandoned positions and taking them without a fight.

[00:03:07] In the past, Israel's radar units suffered from a significant blind spot,

[00:03:13] unable to see beyond Mount Hermon and parts of Lebanon from their position on Mount Meron.

[00:03:22] Not to be confused with Hermon.

[00:03:24] This is Meron or Meron.

[00:03:29] So you've got this taller mountain that blocks the view.

[00:03:34] And so that's the blind spot.

[00:03:36] They can't see through the mountain, right?

[00:03:39] So what Iran was doing was running low-flying drones to infiltrate Israel repeatedly

[00:03:46] because they couldn't see beyond the side of the mountain, okay?

[00:03:53] Once placed on Mount Hermon, Israel's radar will see far into both Syria and Lebanon,

[00:04:00] providing early warning of incoming low-flying jets and drones.

[00:04:05] Israel's intelligence can also leverage the peak, placing sensors to conduct surveillance

[00:04:11] and intercept enemy communications because a lot of the signals are sort of line of sight, right?

[00:04:19] The mountains, by the way, this was also one of the problems with doing communications

[00:04:23] and drone either, well, not rescues, but, you know, aid drops in western North Carolina

[00:04:32] after Hurricane Helene hit because of the mountains.

[00:04:36] And you can't, without line of sight, you can't run your drone onto the other side of a mountain.

[00:04:41] You have to go all the way around by foot, you know?

[00:04:45] Or, like, you would like to be able to just run a drone right over the top of the mountain,

[00:04:49] but you can't do that because once the drone gets on the other side of the mountain,

[00:04:53] you lose line of sight and the drone crashes.

[00:04:55] So if you can get a drone to, like, hover up in the air and act as a relay,

[00:05:01] and so that's what now this mountain will help Israel to do.

[00:05:07] The mountains also provide the perfect cover for Israel's special forces and spies

[00:05:13] who can now enter Syria more freely, conducting missions under the cover of darkness.

[00:05:19] As the sun rises, Mount Hermon casts a shadow over Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Lebanon,

[00:05:27] dominating the main road to their northern stronghold in the Beka Valley.

[00:05:33] I think that's how that's pronounced.

[00:05:34] Several of Hezbollah's smuggling routes north of this mountain now have also been cut off.

[00:05:43] Back to the story here at the Washington Times.

[00:05:48] Factions inside Syria had been struggling to force out Mr. Assad for more than a decade

[00:05:54] during a bloody civil war that resulted in the deaths of more than a half million people

[00:05:59] and the displacement of six million others.

[00:06:02] Here is why I am giving you this information.

[00:06:06] We have about 900 U.S. troops based in Syria.

[00:06:10] Did you know that?

[00:06:12] There's probably more, okay?

[00:06:15] Like, far be it for me to suggest that the military and the intelligence agencies

[00:06:20] might be putting people into countries and not telling us,

[00:06:25] but I suspect the number may be more than 900 that we know of.

[00:06:29] They are there as part of an international mission to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State,

[00:06:34] which once ruled large swaths of the region.

[00:06:40] There is a really good time-lapse graphic of Syria,

[00:06:47] and it goes back like 15 years or something,

[00:06:50] and it shows by color coding.

[00:06:53] You've probably seen something like this similar to, like, World War II

[00:06:57] and, you know, the territory that is taken by the different actors in the conflict.

[00:07:03] And so the one I saw yesterday was of Syria,

[00:07:07] and, yeah, there was a point, remember, where ISIS under Obama

[00:07:11] had taken over, like, three-quarters of Syria.

[00:07:15] And then right around, I don't know, 2017 or so,

[00:07:20] I don't really know why, what happened.

[00:07:22] Something happened or whatever,

[00:07:24] and then all of a sudden ISIS just gets obliterated off the map.

[00:07:29] Russia and Iran played significant roles

[00:07:33] in propping up the Syrian government in recent years.

[00:07:37] Moscow's interest was in maintaining its air base

[00:07:40] and a naval base on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

[00:07:45] This is according to retired General Frank McKenzie,

[00:07:49] a former commander of U.S. CENTCOM, Central Command.

[00:07:53] Appearing on ABC's This Week, he said,

[00:07:56] quote,

[00:07:57] The Russians are going to be very hard to keep that,

[00:08:00] they're going to try, rather,

[00:08:01] they're going to try very hard to keep that base

[00:08:03] with whatever entity comes into power in the wake of Assad.

[00:08:08] The Iranians need Syria as a land bridge

[00:08:12] so they can move equipment into Lebanon

[00:08:15] in order to threaten Israel.

[00:08:18] So they're going to be very concerned about that.

[00:08:21] Iran's government released a statement

[00:08:23] saying that the future of Syria

[00:08:25] Syria is solely the responsibility of its people.

[00:08:28] And by its, they mean Iran.

[00:08:30] No, I'm kidding.

[00:08:31] They mean the Iranian mullahs.

[00:08:32] No, no, no, I'm kidding.

[00:08:33] They were like,

[00:08:34] Oh, it's up to you, Syrian people.

[00:08:36] It's totally your call here.

[00:08:39] Did you see the people?

[00:08:41] They went to the palace

[00:08:43] and they were ransacking the palace.

[00:08:46] You had other people,

[00:08:47] they went into the prisons

[00:08:49] and they were cutting out,

[00:08:52] breaking down walls in the prisons

[00:08:54] and freeing all of these political prisoners.

[00:08:56] And then you had a bunch of the smart ones,

[00:08:59] they went to the bank,

[00:09:01] like the Syrian National Bank.

[00:09:03] And you just see them,

[00:09:05] I mean, they're rolling out of there

[00:09:06] with duffel bags stuffed with money.

[00:09:09] Damascus collapsed only hours

[00:09:11] after one of the largest rebel factions,

[00:09:14] the Islamist military group

[00:09:16] called Hayat Tahr al-Sam,

[00:09:21] popularly known as HST or histamine.

[00:09:25] They announced that it had captured

[00:09:27] the strategic city of Homs

[00:09:28] on the way to the capital.

[00:09:31] So an Islamist military group

[00:09:33] has deposed the kind of,

[00:09:37] sort of secular dictator guy.

[00:09:40] I think this is a very beneficial turn of event.

[00:09:44] Look, I'm not, like,

[00:09:47] I don't have to root for one side over the other here.

[00:09:49] You know?

[00:09:51] That's a false choice,

[00:09:52] a false dichotomy.

[00:09:54] You have to either like Assad

[00:09:56] or you have to like these Islamist militants.

[00:09:58] No, really, I don't.

[00:10:02] I don't have to like either one of them.

[00:10:04] The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center

[00:10:06] has identified HIST

[00:10:08] as a coalition of northern Syria-based

[00:10:11] Sunni Islamist insurgent groups

[00:10:14] that emerged from the Nusra Front.

[00:10:17] You remember that name?

[00:10:18] The Nusra Front?

[00:10:21] Yeah, that was Al-Qaeda.

[00:10:24] They're still there.

[00:10:25] Yeah, that was their branch in Syria.

[00:10:28] Nusra Front.

[00:10:29] Led by Abu Mohammed al-Ghalani,

[00:10:32] the HST is thought to have

[00:10:33] between 5,000 to 10,000 members.

[00:10:35] The U.S. and other governments

[00:10:37] have designated HST

[00:10:38] as a terrorist organization.

[00:10:41] So, we got that going for us now, too,

[00:10:44] in Syria,

[00:10:45] with our 900 troops stationed there.

[00:10:47] For over a month now,

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[00:11:50] Yeah, kind of bouncing

[00:11:51] all over the place

[00:11:52] because lots of stuff

[00:11:53] happening today.

[00:11:55] Daniel Penny was acquitted

[00:11:57] up in Manhattan

[00:11:59] and the person of interest,

[00:12:02] a.k.a. the suspect,

[00:12:05] of the murder

[00:12:07] of the United Healthcare CEO

[00:12:08] was nabbed in Pennsylvania

[00:12:10] and we've got a name now,

[00:12:13] Luigi Mangione.

[00:12:14] Not kidding.

[00:12:15] That's his name,

[00:12:17] Luigi Mangione.

[00:12:20] And somebody pointed out here

[00:12:22] he was anti-capitalist,

[00:12:24] anti-corporatist,

[00:12:26] yet we got the,

[00:12:29] right,

[00:12:30] he was identified

[00:12:31] at the Starbucks

[00:12:32] and then apparently a tip

[00:12:34] came in in Pennsylvania

[00:12:37] that led to his arrest

[00:12:38] at a McDonald's.

[00:12:40] Some elderly guy

[00:12:41] at a McDonald's

[00:12:42] recognized him

[00:12:43] and called the cops.

[00:12:46] So for an anti-capitalist,

[00:12:48] anti-corporatist,

[00:12:50] leftist,

[00:12:51] like what,

[00:12:54] I know the McRib is back.

[00:12:56] I know that.

[00:12:56] So I don't know

[00:12:57] if that's what he was going for.

[00:12:58] But,

[00:12:59] I mean, come on.

[00:13:01] This is what I mean,

[00:13:01] like if you,

[00:13:02] I don't believe these people

[00:13:03] can actually believe

[00:13:04] these things.

[00:13:05] If you,

[00:13:05] if you're so anti-capitalist

[00:13:07] and anti-corporate,

[00:13:08] what are you going to Starbucks

[00:13:11] and McDonald's for?

[00:13:13] Maybe he thought Trump

[00:13:14] was still working

[00:13:15] in the drive-thru.

[00:13:16] I don't know.

[00:13:17] I don't know.

[00:13:20] I got a message here

[00:13:21] from Russ.

[00:13:22] What is it

[00:13:23] with all of these kooks?

[00:13:24] They plan their twisted crimes

[00:13:26] so carefully,

[00:13:27] but then write out

[00:13:28] a manifesto

[00:13:29] that,

[00:13:29] if discovered,

[00:13:30] would totally lay out

[00:13:31] their entire motive

[00:13:32] and remove

[00:13:33] all reasonable doubt.

[00:13:36] Well, because

[00:13:37] I think you,

[00:13:39] the people that do this,

[00:13:40] and this is

[00:13:42] one of the hallmarks

[00:13:43] of left-wing terrorists,

[00:13:46] they are,

[00:13:46] they're sort of

[00:13:47] over-educated,

[00:13:49] you know,

[00:13:51] raging narcissism,

[00:13:52] and so they want

[00:13:53] everybody to know

[00:13:54] why they did it

[00:13:56] because they feel

[00:13:57] completely justified in it.

[00:13:59] They're making their case.

[00:14:00] I'm the martyr

[00:14:01] and here's why I did it

[00:14:03] and probably suspected

[00:14:04] that he may end up

[00:14:05] in a shootout

[00:14:06] with police

[00:14:06] and be killed,

[00:14:07] and so he could not

[00:14:09] obviously go to the grave

[00:14:11] without everybody

[00:14:12] knowing how smart

[00:14:14] he was

[00:14:14] and how enlightened

[00:14:17] he was

[00:14:17] on all of these things

[00:14:18] and so I think

[00:14:20] that's,

[00:14:21] it's something

[00:14:22] in the,

[00:14:23] in the psyche.

[00:14:27] But yes,

[00:14:28] if you don't,

[00:14:29] I mean,

[00:14:29] if you get taken

[00:14:29] into custody

[00:14:30] and now you're going

[00:14:31] to stand trial,

[00:14:32] yeah,

[00:14:32] that manifesto

[00:14:33] is going to be bad.

[00:14:34] Your defense attorney

[00:14:37] is going to have

[00:14:37] their work cut out

[00:14:38] for them.

[00:14:39] It's going to be difficult.

[00:14:41] Also,

[00:14:41] I found out,

[00:14:42] thank you,

[00:14:42] Steve,

[00:14:43] who checked into this,

[00:14:44] these are the pressing issues

[00:14:46] that we investigate

[00:14:47] during the program.

[00:14:48] Mario and Luigi,

[00:14:49] they are brothers.

[00:14:51] Mario and Luigi

[00:14:52] are brothers

[00:14:53] and their last name

[00:14:54] is Mario,

[00:14:59] which is really stupid.

[00:15:01] I grew up playing

[00:15:03] Super Mario

[00:15:04] and I did not know

[00:15:06] his name was

[00:15:06] Mario Mario.

[00:15:08] That's crazy.

[00:15:10] Mario.

[00:15:10] what kind of,

[00:15:11] I mean,

[00:15:11] what kind of,

[00:15:12] like,

[00:15:14] uncreative parents

[00:15:15] do you have?

[00:15:16] Your last name

[00:15:17] is Mario

[00:15:17] and you're like,

[00:15:18] yeah,

[00:15:18] you know what,

[00:15:18] I like that name so much

[00:15:19] we're going to give it to him

[00:15:20] as a first name too.

[00:15:22] And then the other one's

[00:15:22] Luigi Mario.

[00:15:24] Like,

[00:15:24] when you're calling

[00:15:25] the kids,

[00:15:26] like,

[00:15:26] hey,

[00:15:26] Luigi Mario

[00:15:27] and then the,

[00:15:28] what if you're in trouble

[00:15:29] and your mom uses

[00:15:29] your whole name

[00:15:30] and then it's

[00:15:31] Luigi Mario

[00:15:32] and then Mario

[00:15:32] comes along too.

[00:15:33] Not you,

[00:15:34] Mario,

[00:15:34] I was talking to Luigi.

[00:15:36] Mario,

[00:15:36] it's just stupid.

[00:15:37] Just so dumb.

[00:15:37] All right,

[00:15:38] hey,

[00:15:39] real quick,

[00:15:39] if you would like

[00:15:40] to get your product

[00:15:41] or service

[00:15:41] in front of about

[00:15:42] 10,000 people

[00:15:43] multiple times a day,

[00:15:45] send me an email

[00:15:46] at pete

[00:15:46] at thepetecalendorshow.com

[00:15:49] and ask me about advertising.

[00:15:50] It's super affordable,

[00:15:52] it's baked into this podcast

[00:15:53] forever,

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[00:15:54] have a higher conversion rate

[00:15:56] than other social media platforms

[00:15:57] making it the best bang

[00:15:58] for your buck.

[00:15:59] Send me a message,

[00:16:00] pete

[00:16:00] at thepetecalendorshow.com

[00:16:02] and I can show you

[00:16:03] how it works,

[00:16:04] run the numbers with you.

[00:16:05] Again,

[00:16:05] that's pete

[00:16:06] at thepetecalendorshow.com

[00:16:08] Luigi is Mario's

[00:16:11] younger

[00:16:12] but taller

[00:16:14] and thinner,

[00:16:15] I would submit,

[00:16:17] twin brother.

[00:16:22] I'm down the rabbit hole

[00:16:24] here,

[00:16:24] people.

[00:16:26] He was the secondary

[00:16:27] protagonist

[00:16:28] of the Super Mario

[00:16:29] franchise.

[00:16:32] He has lived

[00:16:33] in Mario's shadow

[00:16:34] throughout his entire life,

[00:16:35] developing both cowardly

[00:16:36] and heroic tendencies.

[00:16:39] He has helped

[00:16:40] and fought alongside

[00:16:40] his brother

[00:16:41] on many occasions.

[00:16:42] Mario Brothers

[00:16:44] marks his first appearance.

[00:16:46] Right,

[00:16:46] so the first appearance

[00:16:47] of Mario

[00:16:48] was Donkey Kong.

[00:16:51] It was just Mario

[00:16:53] and Donkey Kong

[00:16:54] who,

[00:16:55] by the way,

[00:16:55] at the time,

[00:16:56] did not have

[00:16:57] the bow tie

[00:16:58] or whatever,

[00:16:59] or the tie.

[00:17:01] They put that in

[00:17:02] for Game Boy.

[00:17:04] I'm telling you,

[00:17:05] I'm down the rabbit hole.

[00:17:06] I did not expect

[00:17:07] to be doing this

[00:17:07] kind of research

[00:17:08] during the program.

[00:17:10] But,

[00:17:12] apparently Luigi,

[00:17:13] because that's the name

[00:17:14] of the guy

[00:17:14] that they just

[00:17:15] took into custody

[00:17:16] for the murder

[00:17:17] of the United Healthcare CEO,

[00:17:19] his name is

[00:17:19] Luigi Mangione,

[00:17:21] and shocker of shockers,

[00:17:22] he is exactly

[00:17:23] what I thought

[00:17:23] he would be,

[00:17:24] which is,

[00:17:25] you know,

[00:17:26] this leftist

[00:17:30] and went to

[00:17:31] a $40,000

[00:17:32] a year prep school,

[00:17:33] went to

[00:17:34] an Ivy League

[00:17:36] university,

[00:17:38] spent

[00:17:40] probably

[00:17:40] close to a quarter

[00:17:42] of a million dollars,

[00:17:43] probably more than that,

[00:17:44] in tuition,

[00:17:46] right?

[00:17:47] Meanwhile,

[00:17:47] railing against

[00:17:48] the cost of healthcare.

[00:17:50] Like,

[00:17:50] dude,

[00:17:50] you're sucking up

[00:17:51] all this money

[00:17:53] for

[00:17:53] your degree

[00:17:55] in,

[00:17:57] I think it's like

[00:17:58] computer science

[00:17:58] and stuff.

[00:18:03] Do you think he played,

[00:18:04] like,

[00:18:05] when he was growing up,

[00:18:06] do you think he played

[00:18:06] the character of Luigi

[00:18:07] in, like,

[00:18:08] Mario Kart?

[00:18:09] You probably have to.

[00:18:10] If your name is Luigi,

[00:18:12] you probably have to play

[00:18:13] the Luigi character.

[00:18:14] I mean,

[00:18:15] if I,

[00:18:15] I mean,

[00:18:16] unless it was,

[00:18:16] like,

[00:18:16] a really lame character.

[00:18:17] Like,

[00:18:18] if I was playing a game

[00:18:19] and there was a character

[00:18:20] named Pete,

[00:18:21] I would play that character

[00:18:22] because it's just easy.

[00:18:24] And,

[00:18:24] but unless it was

[00:18:25] a lame character,

[00:18:26] then I wouldn't play

[00:18:27] that character.

[00:18:30] Um,

[00:18:33] okay,

[00:18:33] I'm gonna do it.

[00:18:34] I'm gonna do it.

[00:18:36] Gary,

[00:18:36] welcome to the show.

[00:18:38] Hey,

[00:18:38] how you doing?

[00:18:39] Hey,

[00:18:39] I'm alright.

[00:18:39] What's up?

[00:18:40] Okay,

[00:18:41] I used to know somebody

[00:18:42] from Long Island.

[00:18:43] He comes from Babylon.

[00:18:44] His name was George George.

[00:18:46] I knew,

[00:18:47] uh,

[00:18:47] John Johnson.

[00:18:49] Okay,

[00:18:50] and did you know that,

[00:18:51] uh,

[00:18:51] George Foreman's,

[00:18:53] he's got three,

[00:18:54] four,

[00:18:54] or five sons.

[00:18:54] They were all named George?

[00:18:56] Yeah,

[00:18:56] he,

[00:18:56] and he had,

[00:18:57] like,

[00:18:57] a bunch of kids

[00:18:58] and,

[00:18:59] like,

[00:18:59] half of them

[00:18:59] were named George.

[00:19:01] Yeah,

[00:19:01] and every son

[00:19:03] was named George

[00:19:03] and then one time

[00:19:04] there was an interviewer,

[00:19:05] interviewed,

[00:19:06] and asked him why.

[00:19:06] He says,

[00:19:07] well,

[00:19:07] when I need somebody,

[00:19:08] all I have to do

[00:19:08] is yell,

[00:19:09] George,

[00:19:09] somebody better show up.

[00:19:12] That does,

[00:19:13] look,

[00:19:13] there's an efficiency there

[00:19:14] that really is unparalleled.

[00:19:17] Yeah.

[00:19:17] I mean,

[00:19:18] that's where his mind is at.

[00:19:20] I think that was pretty smart

[00:19:21] of him in many ways.

[00:19:23] Yeah,

[00:19:23] I mean,

[00:19:23] it's terrible for the kids,

[00:19:24] but for him,

[00:19:25] it worked out pretty well.

[00:19:27] Yeah.

[00:19:27] I guess it was George two,

[00:19:28] George three,

[00:19:29] George four,

[00:19:30] who the hell knows?

[00:19:30] Yeah,

[00:19:31] yeah,

[00:19:31] you would have to number them

[00:19:32] at some point,

[00:19:33] maybe different middle names

[00:19:34] just for legal purposes.

[00:19:35] Yeah,

[00:19:36] Gary,

[00:19:36] I appreciate the call.

[00:19:37] That is true.

[00:19:38] Yeah,

[00:19:38] I don't know.

[00:19:39] I don't know why people do that

[00:19:40] to their kids

[00:19:41] with these names,

[00:19:42] you know,

[00:19:45] um,

[00:19:46] like Assad,

[00:19:48] like that guy.

[00:19:50] Uh,

[00:19:50] like that's,

[00:19:51] no wonder he turned into a despotic tyrant

[00:19:54] with the last name like that,

[00:19:56] but he fled Syria.

[00:19:58] He's in Russia now.

[00:19:59] Oh,

[00:20:00] and Israeli military troops

[00:20:02] have confirmed

[00:20:03] that they had redeployed forces

[00:20:05] into the buffer zone

[00:20:06] between Israel and Syria,

[00:20:08] known as the Golan Heights.

[00:20:11] So they have taken the Golan Heights.

[00:20:13] Israel has,

[00:20:15] uh,

[00:20:16] the abandoned Syrian army positions

[00:20:19] on the Golan Heights

[00:20:20] will be occupied

[00:20:21] until the leadership vacuum

[00:20:23] in Damascus is filled,

[00:20:24] says Israeli prime minister

[00:20:26] Benjamin Netanyahu,

[00:20:27] which I'm going to go out

[00:20:29] on a limb and say

[00:20:30] that if it's Al Qaeda

[00:20:31] that takes over,

[00:20:32] yeah,

[00:20:33] you're probably not getting

[00:20:33] the Golan Heights back.

[00:20:35] And so that's,

[00:20:38] yeah.

[00:20:39] Think about,

[00:20:40] I mean,

[00:20:41] what was it the,

[00:20:42] I forget,

[00:20:43] I'm not up to speed

[00:20:44] on all of the,

[00:20:45] the various Israeli history

[00:20:48] and,

[00:20:48] you know,

[00:20:48] what the,

[00:20:49] what they celebrate,

[00:20:49] but like the six day war

[00:20:51] and like all of the different wars

[00:20:53] and they,

[00:20:54] they take,

[00:20:55] they take the land

[00:20:56] and then they celebrate it

[00:20:57] for like years and years and years.

[00:20:58] Think about

[00:21:00] the parties

[00:21:01] and the celebrations

[00:21:01] that Israel's going to be having

[00:21:03] for like decades to come.

[00:21:06] They already have a lot of holidays.

[00:21:07] I just want to throw that out there.

[00:21:09] They have a lot of holidays.

[00:21:10] They celebrate a lot

[00:21:11] of different things.

[00:21:12] And so,

[00:21:12] or they recognize,

[00:21:14] I shouldn't say they celebrate

[00:21:14] because some of them are,

[00:21:15] are grim,

[00:21:17] uh,

[00:21:17] remembrances.

[00:21:18] But,

[00:21:19] uh,

[00:21:19] I just,

[00:21:20] yeah,

[00:21:20] I feel like,

[00:21:21] I feel like this one's going to go down

[00:21:22] in the history books,

[00:21:24] like this whole period,

[00:21:25] the last year or so.

[00:21:26] I got a feeling they're going to be

[00:21:29] marking these,

[00:21:30] uh,

[00:21:30] victories,

[00:21:31] these military victories for a while.

[00:21:32] So good job,

[00:21:35] Hamas and Hezbollah.

[00:21:37] You guys got immortalized.

[00:21:39] You got posterized.

[00:21:41] Uh,

[00:21:43] so apparently YMCA is not a gay anthem.

[00:21:46] Did you know this?

[00:21:49] I just found this out.

[00:21:50] All right,

[00:21:51] but hang on,

[00:21:51] let me go over and get Ed on first.

[00:21:53] Hello,

[00:21:53] Ed,

[00:21:54] welcome to the show.

[00:21:56] All right,

[00:21:57] man,

[00:21:57] I appreciate a great show today.

[00:21:58] You were talking about

[00:21:59] the Daniel Penny,

[00:22:00] uh,

[00:22:01] case.

[00:22:02] I wonder sometimes,

[00:22:04] Pete,

[00:22:04] do we really understand what's going on?

[00:22:06] But I do not think Bragg is that stupid.

[00:22:08] I actually think he's a very bright person.

[00:22:10] I think he knew,

[00:22:11] uh,

[00:22:12] the case that he brought against Donald Trump

[00:22:14] was a low percentage that it was going to be overturned on appeal.

[00:22:18] And I think he knew the same thing about this case also,

[00:22:22] when,

[00:22:22] uh,

[00:22:22] they dismissed the manslaughter without coming to,

[00:22:26] uh,

[00:22:27] a jury verdict.

[00:22:27] That,

[00:22:28] that just about guaranteeing it to overthrow.

[00:22:30] But I'm wondering if he actually getting what he wants.

[00:22:34] If you remember,

[00:22:35] black lives matter was much more about Marxism than they were about black lives.

[00:22:40] So if he trying to create a division and actually bring a war across the United States,

[00:22:47] so he can,

[00:22:48] I don't know,

[00:22:49] possibly see his vision come to fruition for the United States.

[00:22:53] I don't know that speculation is,

[00:22:55] uh,

[00:22:56] is very expansive and assumes a lot of things.

[00:23:00] So I,

[00:23:01] I,

[00:23:01] I suspect that he knew both of the cases he brought against Trump and Penny were weak.

[00:23:06] Um,

[00:23:07] but it served his purpose,

[00:23:08] which was to signal to the people that put him into office,

[00:23:12] barely,

[00:23:13] barely,

[00:23:13] he barely won that race.

[00:23:15] Um,

[00:23:15] and so I suspect that it was a play for those base voters that he needs to shore up.

[00:23:21] And so he can always say like,

[00:23:24] I did these things.

[00:23:24] And if somebody else came along and overturned it afterwards,

[00:23:28] then he just uses that as fodder for his campaign also.

[00:23:33] Um,

[00:23:33] and then if he's obviously successful,

[00:23:35] then he gets to tout his success.

[00:23:36] So from a,

[00:23:38] from a,

[00:23:39] uh,

[00:23:39] a game theory standpoint,

[00:23:41] it's a win-win for him because there's no,

[00:23:43] there's very little downside because outside of New York,

[00:23:46] like what,

[00:23:47] like,

[00:23:47] so what people are criticizing him for it.

[00:23:50] So what?

[00:23:50] He doesn't care.

[00:23:52] He,

[00:23:52] those aren't the people that elected him.

[00:23:53] So I appreciate the call.

[00:23:55] And I think that,

[00:23:56] yeah,

[00:23:56] I mean,

[00:23:56] I,

[00:23:56] I don't think he's stupid.

[00:23:58] Um,

[00:23:59] I agree with you there.

[00:24:00] I don't,

[00:24:01] but I have no evidence to say that there's some sort of larger race war.

[00:24:05] He's trying to prompt,

[00:24:07] um,

[00:24:09] right.

[00:24:10] So Victor Willis,

[00:24:11] the lead singer and songwriter of the village people,

[00:24:14] he has clarified that the hit song,

[00:24:16] YMCA,

[00:24:18] not a gay anthem,

[00:24:20] not a gay anthem,

[00:24:22] and that his wife will pursue legal action against anybody perpetuating the claim.

[00:24:29] Willis thanked president elect Donald Trump for reviving the song's popularity in a lengthy Facebook post the other day,

[00:24:35] noting its rise to the top of the charts after Trump used the song in his presidential campaign.

[00:24:39] The singer also expressed frustration over the persistent quote misguided framing of the song as pro gay propaganda.

[00:24:49] He said,

[00:24:50] come January,

[00:24:50] 2025,

[00:24:51] my wife will start suing.

[00:24:53] I don't know why his wife has to do it.

[00:24:55] Like he can't sue.

[00:24:56] What's up?

[00:24:57] I don't know.

[00:24:57] Anyway,

[00:24:58] my wife will start suing.

[00:24:59] Maybe she's a lawyer.

[00:25:00] Each and every news organization that falsely refers to YMCA either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the

[00:25:09] story that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem.

[00:25:13] He said,

[00:25:14] there's been a lot of talk,

[00:25:15] especially of late,

[00:25:16] that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem.

[00:25:19] As I have said numerous times in the past,

[00:25:21] that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay.

[00:25:27] Wait a minute.

[00:25:29] Oh,

[00:25:29] and some,

[00:25:30] not all of the village people were gay,

[00:25:32] and that the first village people album was totally about gay life.

[00:25:35] To that,

[00:25:36] I say once again,

[00:25:37] get your minds out of the gutter.

[00:25:39] It is not.

[00:25:41] He says he wrote 100% of the lyrics,

[00:25:43] and the writing partner,

[00:25:45] Jacques Morali,

[00:25:46] wrote the music.

[00:25:48] I knew nothing about the Y being a hangout for gays when I wrote the lyrics to YMCA,

[00:25:54] and Jacques Morali,

[00:25:56] who was gay,

[00:25:57] never once stated that fact to me.

[00:26:01] I wrote YMCA about all the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco,

[00:26:06] such as swimming and basketball,

[00:26:08] track and cheap food and cheap rooms.

[00:26:10] And when I say hang out with all the boys,

[00:26:13] that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging out together for sports,

[00:26:19] gambling,

[00:26:19] or whatever.

[00:26:20] There's nothing gay about that.

[00:26:22] However,

[00:26:23] I don't mind that gays think of the song as their anthem,

[00:26:26] he says,

[00:26:27] but you'd be hard pressed to find YMCA on their playlist at any gay club,

[00:26:32] or parade,

[00:26:33] or other gay activity,

[00:26:35] in a way that would suggest it's somehow an anthem to the community.

[00:26:41] Just stop talking, dude.

[00:26:43] Just stop talking.

[00:26:44] All right,

[00:26:44] that'll do it for this episode.

[00:26:46] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:26:47] I could not do the show without your support,

[00:26:49] and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:26:52] So if you'd like,

[00:26:53] please support them too,

[00:26:55] and tell them you heard it here.

[00:26:56] You can also become a patron at my Patreon page,

[00:26:58] or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:27:01] Again,

[00:27:01] thank you so much for listening,

[00:27:03] and don't break anything while I'm gone.