Minneapolis Catholic Church Shooting Full Breakdown, Democrats Mock Prayer, And Catholics Respond

Welcome back to LOOPcast. It's Tom, Erika, and Josh. The LOOPcast brought to you by The Loop, every Catholic American's favorite morning newsletter. We're back from our top secret retreat. It was a spiritual retreat, and I mean, Lord knows we needed it before hearing this news. So, I'm just going to say off the top, we're going to be covering this horrific mass shooting in Minnesota during a Catholic mass targeted at children. So, just up top, it's going to be explicit. So, just warning for anyone listening with kids in the car or anything like that, we're going to go through all of it, and then we're going to go through all of the reactions as well, and then we're going to get into Pope Leo talking about Christian politicians, across the words, some strong words there for the French that attended, and then shake up at the CDC, but of course, we got good news.

We got Twilight Zone. We'll need that good news today, and we're going to be ladening this episode with prayer. No other way to put it. Definitely what we need right now. So, really happy to be back with Both Erika and Josh. If people are curious what we're up to, go listen to the previous episode we did with our new president, Kelsey Reinhart.

It was fantastic. It was fun. She's hilarious. She's the best. So, if you need a little palate cleanser, go check that one out. Oh, and Tom left. If you want more about the future CatholicVote, I don't even know what to do about this at this point.

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Don't let dry and irritated skin keep you from finding peace. Thank you. To Nazareth Organics. Highly recommend. Excellent. Thanks, Erika. So, here's my plan of covering this, because it's heavy and insensitive. I want to just establish what we know now about the event, what we know now about the shooter, and then I'm going to get into some of the second-level reactions, as this did happen a few days ago, and now we've had time for politicians and pundits to get in on it.

I think it's all very revealing, but I'm just going to start up top with the facts. So, on Wednesday, 23-year-old Robert Westman fired through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church in South Minneapolis. Leaving two children dead, 8-year-old Fletcher Alexander Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Lillian Moiskey. I say that because I ask you pray for the repose of their souls and their families. And 18 people wounded, 14 of them children. One child is still in touch-and-go and critical condition.

Again, please ask that you pray for these families. The mass was being celebrated for the first week of school. Westman had blocked several of the exits with boards so that those inside could not escape. Westman died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. So, what do we know about this shooter? Robert Westman had legally changed his name to Robin when he was 17 years old because he identified as female. His mother worked for Annunciation Catholic School, but also signed off his name to change these documents.

She has reportedly refused to speak to the police and has hired a lawyer for herself. I believe I've seen some evidence that she really internally struggled with this transition. However, yes, on those documents, she officially signed off on changing this name. Westman attended at least three different high schools, ranging from a $25,000 per year all-male Catholic prep school to a no-nonsense military academy to a public high school from which he graduated in 2021. Robert was apparently fascinated by school shootings and Nazism since he was young and struggled with depression and suicidal ideation.

The reason we know this is because there was a YouTube video manifesto that was up. It's now been taken down. So, he scheduled a video to drop on the day of the shooting. It was 20 minutes long with images of the weapons he used and a video of him flipping pages in his journal, which was written in a strange fake Russian, I think I see Cyrillic, letters to mask what was written. People have now started deciphering it.

He also published a video showing his weapons, bullets, etc. with the target of an image of Jesus on it. The weapons and magazines had messages on them, including, for the children, F everything you stand for, suck on this, and where is your God?

I'm not even going to play the clip. It's really disturbing. If you would like to see it, go check it out yourself. Everything I'm saying is now verified. demonic is what comes to mind with much of this. So, the contents of this journal, much of the pages are full of rambling, praising other school shooters like Adam Lanza of Sandy Hook. There are diagrams of the church, which he stabs with a knife, detailed plans for what he wanted to do, as well as a disturbing self-portrait of looking in a mirror with a gun, seeing the devil staring back.

Quote, I don't expect forgiveness. I do apologize for the effects my actions will have on your lives. I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is. I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away. I know this is wrong, but I can't seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed, and I have been suicidal for years. Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against the world.

It seemed that he wanted the attack on the church when it was mostly full of children. He also writes about regretting his transition to female. So, the quote on that is, I only keep the long hair because it is Pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans. I wish I never brainwashed myself. I can't cut my hair now, as it would be an embarrassing defeat, and it might be concerning change of character that could get me reported.

It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack. Another quote, I regret being trans. I wish I was a girl. I just know I cannot achieve that body with the technology we have today. I also can't afford that. So, interestingly, pretty much right away, the FBI account and Director Kash Patel immediately released the name. So, we know it is this person. I think I have, I can share the exact tweet from DHS.

This surprised me because it was different than the treatment of the Nashville shooting, if you remember the Covenant School shooting, in which they covered it up and then did not release the manifesto. We seem to know just about everything pretty immediately. I'll share the tweet here.

From Kash Patel, we are aware of reports of a shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota. FBI agents are on scene. We ask everyone to keep potential victims, citizens, or law enforcement in harm's way in your prayers. The FBI will provide updates as more information becomes available. And then, I think he sent some updates. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. Two fatalities, 8-year-old, 10-year-old, in addition, 14 children, 3 adults injured.

The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman. Male born as Robert Westman, the FBI will continue to provide updates on our ongoing investigation with the public as we are able. So, that is what we know now. I also would like to share, as a part of the first tier of this story, what the mayor, Jacob Frey, said pretty immediately after this.

Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church. Hate that's being directed at our trans community. Anybody who is using this as an, using this...

As an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity. Now, he can shut up. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone. So, Josh, before you get into that. Give me a break. Every time some white dude goes, lights it up, and kills a bunch of people, we get a whole bunch of lectures about how white men are full of anger and hate, and we got to do something.

But apparently, the trans rage. That's been going on the last few years. We're supposed to just go, la, la, la, la, I don't see anything, I can't hear anything. Like, what? Like, give me a break. And also this idea, like the, I mean... So, I just want to say before we launch into it, because obviously we're all Catholic here, we all come from that perspective, but watching it break into mainstream news at this point has been interesting, because simultaneously, there's about half of the news...

Reporting on the fact that he was transgender, he identified as so, he changed his name, and now in his manifesto, he says these things, and then I've read a New York Times write-up where it didn't mention one time that he was trans. So, it's an interesting dichotomy where half the country views this as an extremely central part of the story, because if you look at the trends, there's been a lot of trans violence, specifically against Christian communities, and then the other half are saying, this has nothing to do with it.

Uh, but simultaneously has to use the correct pronouns or the way that they want to identify. So it's kind of a lose-lose. Yeah. Jake Tapper got in this situation where it's like, well, if you bring it up, it's bad. But also if you bring it up in the wrong way, it's bad. So that's the divide right now. Um, and then I guess just getting into the commentary, what's going on here. Well, and also like, it's not just the, the identification of this murderer that that's politicized.

Right. So like ABC, this ABC reporter referred to, quote, the name of President Trump written on the guns. Yeah. And not actually saying that the guy wrote on there, kill Donald Trump. Kill President Trump. Like, so like, if you didn't get that context, you might be thinking, oh, this is like a fan of President Trump. He's writing President Trump on the name of his gun. Like, dude, he wanted to kill Trump. So, this drives me crazy that they parcel out information in little morsels.

As if to intentionally mislead people, and then when you call them on it, like, we didn't say that. You're so full of crap, you do not hate the media enough. It's almost like they're lying. Yeah, it's just the immediate reaction from the left and the media seemed to have two points, right, two prongs. One was, don't talk to me about your thoughts and prayers, because, and the implication being that thoughts and prayers don't do anything, we need to take action. Which leads to the second prong, which is, this is about guns.

This isn't about the shooter, this is about the gun that he had. And that much was made about the fact that the shooter attained these guns legally, which I have thoughts on. In a blue city, in a blue state. In a blue city, in a blue state with gun control laws. The city I was born in. And here's how he could do that. You're like, how would someone who is this crazy and has an online life that is easily searchable, like people knew within seconds.

Who this person was, what he was thinking, that this has been a long time coming. The reason being that transgenderism is no longer considered a mental defect, a mental illness, which is what it is. They're all over the gun books in Minnesota. I looked it up myself. All over the gun books are people with a mental illness, people who struggle with XYZ, are not eligible to purchase guns. This kid was clearly mentally ill for a very long time, and you witness the records of his mother, who seemed to be struggling with this, and you know when they walked into that physician's office and those therapists' office, the line that they give to parents is, would you rather have a dead son or a live daughter?

And she was, I will. Bet my life on it that she was pressured in that way from these medical professionals who, instead of pressuring the mother to shoot her kid up with hormones and let him grow his hair long and tell him, oh, yeah, you're really a girl on the inside trapped in a boy's body, instead of that, they should have said, red flag, this kid has a mental illness, suicide ideation, homicidal ideation, and never let him hear a gun. We don't do this for anorexia, right?

So, if a 15-year-old girl comes up to a... A guidance counselor or someone, their teacher in school, they notice someone who's like wasting away. Like, what happened to this little Rachel? She's like, she looks like skin and bones. They would try to find out what's wrong with her. Oh, well, I just, you know, this is what I decide. I want to identify as someone who's like going to die because I'm not going to eat any food. It's like, no, no, no.

We're not going to affirm that. We're going to say, let us help you. And the thought, you're right, they keep saying, oh, no, no, we have to affirm that, because it's part of the great sexual ideology of our time. We can't question anyone's sexual ideology or desires, and so we have to affirm it. This is the lie we have adopted as a society now. We affirm everyone's sexual identity.

When it comes to anorexia, we understand quite clearly this person needs help. They need to be affirmed. Their mind is at war with their body. It's the same thing that's going on with the transgender stuff, but we're just refusing to see it because we want to accept people and their sexual ideologies, their sexual desires, and it's not helping them. And this business of the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of California attacking Christians who are praying is so vile and disgusting.

It's like saying to the Christians that were in the Roman Empire, oh, these Christians, they're literally praying as they were crucified or eaten by the lions. What in the world has gone on in your mind and soul that you would attack Christians who are calling for prayer? The call for prayer is not closing our eyes and closing our ears and saying, la, la, la, la, I'm just going to pray, and I don't want anything to happen. They are saying.

That Christians like us who are calling for prayer want prayer and no action. Okay, I will bite. What action do you want? Do you want to confiscate every gun in the United States? Is that what you want? Because that is what it seems like you are saying, and you do not have the balls to admit it. Is that what you want? Do you want to get rid of all guns? How about this? How about as a starter, we get rid of the guns of anyone who is trans?

Sounds good. I think that would be awesome. If you're curious on what's going on here, so the ones that really made, I mean, the Gavin Newsom one, I just can't believe Gavin Newsom's on this kind of. trend upwards i guess on social media by being all sassy on twitter and uh so this is the most numbers he just came out today he shot up 12 points in the democratic primary he's he's leading he's number one right now so yeah democratic activists are loving it the number one candidate just said these children were literally praying as they got shot in response to i believe caroline levitt um talking about why it's important to pray for the victims uh jen saki's one made a lot of rounds too prayer is not freaking enough Prayers do not end school shootings.

Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and the prayers. And then Jacob Frey, don't just say we need thoughts and prayers. These kids were literally in a church praying. I don't understand. What do you want, Jen? What do you want, Mayor Frey? What do you want, Governor Gavin Newsom? Say it. What do you want? Do you want us all to get, every single person in the entire country, 99.9% of people who have guns and haven't done a damn thing, criminal, you want us all to turn in our guns?

Because, you know, we have stabbings in London. We're going to ban all the knives, right? No, but, sorry, if I could get beyond that, because you're correct, obviously. I think the problem is that the people that would stab or shoot someone are mentally ill. Like, normal people don't do this.

But it's so interesting to me, it almost feels like this has gone out. I know this happens every time, right? They're like, screw your thoughts and prayers. But I haven't seen it rise to this level of... Right, they whispered it before, but it almost feels like a talking point has gone out, or that there's a strategist who thinks that this is somehow a good idea.

It's never become more clear to me. One party is doing this. I saw the DHS account. I was laughing, tweeted out, pray without ceasing, and I thought of Padre Pio, and then other people were like, no, it's Paul from Thessalonians. Okay, let's not split hairs over that. The DHS account. Padre Pio was quoting Paul. Right. Well, he could have bilocated and got back there, but anyway, we're not going to get into that right now. But anyway, it's just never become more clear to me.

The divide, and if you're not seeing it, you're not paying attention. A major political party, the number one person in there, thinks that ridiculing prayer is a good talking point or somehow a dunk, and I'm sure it was just a sassy social media manager, whoever's been doing this kind of hot boy recovery, but...

That got greenlit. It's still up right now. It didn't get deleted. There's going to be no apology because he believes it. These guys deserve to go the way of the Whigs. This whole party deserves to go in the toilet and be flushed down. I'm not saying everything the Republican Party is doing is immaculate. I would never say that. Dude, I attack Republicans all the time, but these people are nuts, and I told you after they thought they were going to win this last presidential election.

And then they didn't, and then the question was, are they going to reform? Are they going to kind of like try to win back the middle? Because they're losing a lot of Hispanics. They're losing a lot of Black men. You know, they're losing the middle who thinks they're just toxic. I'm like, dude, they're going to double down.

100%. Just a point on taking political action. It was really interesting to me, the story that Mary Margaret Olihan dropped the afternoon after the shootings. This was Wednesday afternoon. She drops this story that it's, in fact, the people who pray. The people who pray first, who were calling for political action from the governor of Minnesota to prevent exactly the scenario that just played out. And here's what happened. After the Covenant School shooting, which was another trans shooter outside of Nashville, you remember that, a few years ago, we covered it.

So, after that shooting, Leaders of Catholic and Christian schools in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on behalf also of leaders of Jewish day schools and Muslim schools in the area, went to Governor Tim Walz, who was almost the Vice President of the United States. They went to Governor Tim Walz and said, after this, we are concerned. We receive threats. We are concerned that our students and our children are not safe. Would you please help us? Can we get some help so that we can be as secure as you make your public schools, right?

And the governor said in the meeting, Mary Margaret talked to the leaders who signed this letter. In the meeting, the governor said he was interested. And what happened? Nothing. Nothing happened at all. There was no help given. And so, it is ironic to me that the people who are characterizing Christians as just these like, you know, sit on the fence, fold your hands, holier than thou, we don't want to actually do anything. They were the ones calling for political actions, and it was the Democrat, the Democratic-run Minnesota government that's like, oh, thoughts and prayers don't do anything.

They didn't do anything either. They didn't do anything, and they were asked for very specific things that could have saved these children. But is it just naive of me that Jacob Frey, his city just has undergone a horrific tragedy in a Catholic church, so a major community as a part of a city. And he couldn't just say, yes, like, it's good. Like, yes, we should pray for, because prayer is just elevating your mind to God and lifting up those intentions. What bad could possibly come from that?

But then also advocate for your lefty, whatever, progressive gun control thing. You know, you can have both and. I think what's remarkable to me about this is it's not there. They think we're nuts. They think we're crazy. They're like, how many school shootings do you need before you realize we got to get rid of guns? But they don't actually say those words, get rid of guns. They say, before we do action. Like the Bishop of Detroit said, super abundance of guns.

Give me a break, bro. You know, they don't just say it, because they know Americans are like, yeah, there are tens of millions of people in this country who have guns, and they don't go murdering people. Like, I've never had an impulse to murder. Like, what are you talking about?

Because, you know, maybe what we shouldn't do is have teenagers convinced that they need to mutilate their genitals, and then a few years later realize what a mistake they made, and they're filled with rage. Because here's the point I'd even make on the shooter, and I saw people talking in the chat, like, that, I...

There's nothing more violent and spiritually demonic than cutting yourself off from God and saying, no, you didn't create me. Somehow, to be convinced that you didn't create me as I am, I'm going to create a new identity unto myself, and what that does to you spiritually, mentally, and physically. It completely changes you. The greatest gift you are given by your Lord is your own body, obviously. And I, as a Christian...

I love Robert. Like, he needs, if he would have given the right guidance and the right advice at the right time, he wouldn't be in this situation. These lives would still be here, but again, all of the New York Times, the major medical organizations in the country, like, it's a great argument that government policies need to reflect the common good. How is the common good lived out for all of these kids that now have to detransition, or they get in a situation where they are literally In putting up manifestos, I'm too far down the road.

I don't know who I am. I regret this, and then they do something this insane, and his salvation is now obviously at question because he did this horrific event, but all of the little paths were laid before this in the most obvious, in the open, completely government-approved way for the past however many years this has been a problem, and the problem is both sides are at an impasse where unless the other side changes, nothing's going to change. Well, they're at a gas because they know the American people do not agree with them on confiscating of guns, and they know it's politically toxic, and they just keep hoping that they...

They go right up to that line, and they're so close to it. They're like, another violence. When am I going to do something? And they never say what the something is, but it's pregnant. The words are pregnant. We know what they mean. They want to get rid of, they want gun confiscation, but they just won't say it. And people are like, I don't know. My uncles, they all have guns. They all love hunting. They've never thought, oh, instead of hunting ducks and deer, I'll just go mow 20 people over and kill them.

Are you out of your mind? Most people are like, we've had guns in this country for 250 years. So, this is an evil problem. It's not a gun problem. It's an evil problem, and one side is being targeted, I like to put up. We have a tracker here. 500 attack on U.S. Catholic churches since May 2020.

Now, I think what's frustrating about this, too, is there's this narrative that it's, what, it's like psychological, classic, like, narcissism abuse by saying, oh, Catholics are playing the victim here, as always, right? Like, they're just trying to make it about them, whatever. Even as our churches... That is the biggest bullcrap. Christians in this country are so reticent to acknowledge when they are victims because, you know, we have been the majority for so long, it's almost like we're embarrassed, you know, like whites or Christians.

We don't want it a little unseemly, but it's like, dude, Democrats and trans really hate Christians, and are we allowed to say it out loud or not? I don't know. Yeah, I was going to say, too, Josh, to the point about the guns. Totally on target. The other place where the Democrats are totally out of line and out of step with the American people is the trans issue, as we are seeing in the men and women's sports movement right now. They're wrong.

Men and women's bathrooms. They are out of touch with what parents around the country want, even in blue states. And what I wanted to say about the transgenderism, Trump's getting a lot of flack because he made an offhanded comment that there are no transgender people, and he's actually right because none of us are born in the wrong body.

It's an ideology, and it is a false ideology, and it's an ideology that leads directly to violence. It needs to be stopped, because you think about what transgenderism is, and you put this well, Pogo, it's this idea that I'm going to do violence to my body. I'm going to change my name. My other name will be dead. It's like, it's suicide written into the script for transitioning. Like, you're going to be dead named. You're going to change your pronouns. That old person is dead, and then you have this rise of Trantifa.

Mr. Andy Ngo has done incredible research on the rise of leftist violence. Yeah, yeah. We'll go back to the first one, though. That one there says, protect trans kids, and it's got a knife under the word protect, right? Are you missing what he's holding?

Semi-automatic weapon. I understand that, but my point is that that's the same shirt that the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota was wearing. Peggy Flanagan. So, again, it's like, we're going to protect trans kids, we're going to affirm them as they mutilate their bodies, and we're going to protect them. If you come at them, we're going to come at you with a knife. But the knife is perfect, because in fact, the knife is used to mutilate their body. It's insane. And I think part of it is that for the last 50 years, if anything, conservatives have been Too deferential.

We're like, you know, it's really, you know, abortion is bad for you. It's not the solution you want it to be. It obviously kills the baby, and that's tragic. And also, it scars you. And other things about life where we're like, you know what? Honestly, that's just not a bad idea. Like, you know, we keep trying to tell them, and they're like, well, whatever, you know. Your crime policies are destroying these cities, so we're like, well, I mean, we've tried warning you, so we'll just move to the suburbs so our families will be safe, and so there's this element where we're like, okay, I mean, if you guys want to do destructive behavior and harm yourselves, I guess, but maybe what God is impatient with.

As conservatives who have been a little bit too much live and let live for the other side, as people are murdering their babies, as people are allowing cities overrun by criminals for killing and harming and stealing from people, as teachers and counselors and doctors are convincing children to mutilate their bodies, are we not our brother's keeper? Do we not owe it? To these children, to the people who live in inner cities infested with crime, do we not owe it to them to say, this must be stopped, even if it doesn't affect us personally as much?

But sometimes it will, of course, because the violence will spill over. Our churches will be harmed. Our children will get murdered as they're praying. And I really feel like it's time. To not just say what is true and say, well, actually, crime like that, you should put criminals in jail. Oh, and by the way, you shouldn't let whole neighborhoods just be torched. That we have to say, no, despite what all these people are doing, we have to make it not just end taxpayer funding.

Of child mutilation, as Donald Trump has done, and that is a great first step, but to make it illegal in all 50 states. Yes. You cannot do this to children. If you want to cut off your genitals at age 30, that is stupid.

We actually should try to, the law should actually not allow that either, but certainly, a 15-year-old, you cannot let that happen. Not in our country, not anymore. All of the recent... shootings where someone was trans all young 20s, late teens. I mean, this is a direct result of being raised at a young age in this way. Yeah. So, I've been very encouraged, again, here in the press conference, seeing J.D. Vance offer prayers, the DHS account, quoting Thessalonians. I've been very encouraged by that.

I guess what I'll say, but I'm going to end with Cardinal Burke's prayer on this, because I think it was great, but I will say, the line has been drawn. Anyone that you see that is mocking prayer in this instance, in the case of Gavin Newsom, would be a great one. Catholic, quote-unquote. These are people you can't... You can't reason with these people. You're not going to be able to, they need to be defeated. These are not people to work with.

These are people that need to be defeated. And the calls for civility, working together, the calls for civility need to be that these people should be rejected from political life, because they're the ones that are making civility impossible.

You want to come up with solutions, we can come up with solutions, but it is not mocking children that are being murdered as they are praying. Yeah, that is about where I draw the line. It is using other people of the same. About where I draw the line. So, I am going to end with the end of Cardinal Berg's shared word of consolation to the victims at Annunciation Catholic School and Church.

And, yeah, I mean, if prayer and fasting was not appealing before, I think now is the time with a lot going on in our world. So, on with it. May the sacred heart of Jesus pierce for our salvation, pour out his mercy upon the dead, his healing upon the injured, and his consolation upon every family and loved one afflicted by this tragedy. Let us, with renewed faith, pray for the conversion of hearts, that such acts of hatred may be transformed into occasions of grace, and that our nation may rediscover the path of peace found only in obedience.

To the law of God written upon every human heart, the law whose first precept is safeguarding and care of human life. Cardinal Burke. Based. Also to point out, today is the feast of the beheading of John the Baptist. John the Baptist being a martyr for the cause of true marriage and purity and our Lord. So, pray for us, St. John the Baptist.

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Thanks, home title lock. Okay, on to the next one. Poblio. Yesterday, Pope Leo spoke to a delegation of elected officials from the Diocese of, oh gosh, Erika, are you going to French? Oh, Cletaille? Whoa! Cletaille. From France. These politicians were visiting the Vatican on pilgrimage with Bishop Dominique Blanchet. In his address, the Pope urged Catholic politicians to integrate their faith into every aspect of public service. Paging Newsome.

Couldn't resist. A direct shot across the bow at the, you know, I'm personally pro-life, but when it comes to... Politics, I am not. So, I have some of the heater quotes from it. The first quote, the salvation that Jesus won through his death and resurrection encompasses every dimension of human life, such as culture, economy, and labor, family, and marriage, the respect for human dignity and life, health, as well as communication, education, and politics. Christianity cannot be reduced to a simple private devotion, for it entails a way of life in society imbued with the love of God and neighbor.

I love that, and every time a pope says something like that, you get the commie Catholics who are like, yes, no, recant every precept of the democratic national platform and understand it. It's like, no, dude, yes, I want faith in public life. That doesn't mean I want the demon crats. Come on.

Yeah, another quote, unite yourselves even more closely to Jesus, live from him and bear witness to him. There's no division within the personality of a public figure. There is not on one side the politician and on the other side Christian. Rather, there is the politician who under the gaze of God and his conscience lives out his commitments and his responsibilities in a Christian manner.

Yeah, and I think that's the, Josh, you can speak to this more, that that's sort of the great temptation of being in public life, right, is to cultivate one persona publicly in order to get ahead, and then to say, well, I can separate that.

From how I act in the privacy of my home or my own personal beliefs, that those don't have to be the same. And I think Christian politicians can be tempted to justify that with, well, if I can just gain the seat of power, sacrifice these points of my faith, if I make that divide, then when I get to this level of power, I'll be able to do more good for the world.

The trick, of course, of the devil being, well, once you get there, you've really changed. You've been changed by that whole process, and that lack of integration in your life and integrity is gone, and it's hard to recover that once you're, you know, being wined and dined every night in D.C. at the mixers and all that. So, I don't know. You could probably speak more to the particular temptation of the politician. Who was the first American? I feel like you brought him up before, but who was the first American to kind of bring the, for Catholics, like, oh, I'm just kind of...

I'm privately Catholic, but, you know. The president, yeah. President Kennedy, for sure. I mean, he had to do it in such a way where he was like, I'm not going to listen to the Rome and the Vatican, because he was worried that a bunch of Protestants would think, I can't trust a Catholic, he's going to take orders from the Pope. And it's like, brother, that's the least of your problems.

But, you know, his dad went through, you know, his dad who made money as a bootloader, drove through West Virginia, or, you know, it just crates of cash, and suddenly all these Protestants, Democrats in West Virginia were totally okay with the Roman Catholic Democrats, so go figure. But, yeah, so, I mean, again, that was the beginning of it.

You know, and I always love it when, because we have this memory of Kennedy, and it is such a happy memory. Nostalgia, the first Catholic president. And I love when he would say, oh, you know, if Kennedy were alive today, he would be a Republican. No, he would just be as communist like Gavin Newsom. He was only as lefty as he was allowed to be in 1960. People, he was, he brought Jesuit priests into the, you know, to visit with him in Massachusetts, and they were like plotting how to get.

They have a church that rules abortion, and this guy was bad news. The guy who cheated on his gorgeous, beautiful wife, he's somehow going to be a champion of all things Catholic? Yeah. No! Yeah. You know what? Kennedy is a great example of, if you're a hot dude, and you have a good enough photographer to follow you around, if you pass away, people won't remember the policies. They'll be like, oh, but look at, come on. He was a good Camelot, guys, and all the women go, oh.

In the 1960 campaign, he was running to the right of Nixon. I mean, he was saying, I'm more anti-communist. So, you know, Nixon struggled from that, because historically, not a hot dude. Hmm. Actually, I disagree with you. Whoa, okay. You think he was a hot dude? No, you look at Richard Nixon, 1946 to 1964, or whatever. He's a handsome fellow. I mean, Kennedy was more handsome, but Richard Nixon was a good-looking guy. We're just used to seeing him as president, where he's now gone older.

Okay. I mean, it's not a contest. Kennedy wins that, but you look at some pictures of Nixon when he's like 35, 40 years old. All right, I need to go through the Nixon archives. I've only seen him as president. So, I was like, yeah, okay, struggle. The problem was he didn't shave, and he didn't have makeup, and so when they recorded it for TV, he looked like he was sweating and old, and yeah. Yeah, that's what I remember.

Okay, always nice to hear that affirmed by... Because he won the debate on radio, or radio listeners said he won. Yeah, the people want you to do a series on Nixon. I love Nixon. All right, sweet. Let's get into the good news. Oh, boy. Hey, I'm going to do it. I'm going to make this my good news.

Taylor Swift. And Travis Kelsey are engaged. Pull up the picture. Turns out she... Guys, stop it. Just let me do my thing. All right. Taylor Swift's engagement becomes the most liked Instagram post by a musician in history. So, here they are. What a beautiful stage. I mean, look at the floral arrangement. I am not sure what that would possibly cost. It's kind of weird. My husband proposed in a living room, so I'm not... With AstroTurf carpeting from the 1960s. I mean, it was very romantic, but we were happy.

All right, so I love this. I am happy. Taylor has spent her entire career looking for a man to marry, and yeah, like, she talks left, but she has always lived right. Like, she wants to find the guy. She wants to find someone to get married and have babies. Stop it. Have babies. Just keep it. Zip it. And so, I'm happy for her. I thought it was interesting that this news dropped the day that this study... Came out from the Institute of Family Studies.

And what can I say? But maybe Taylor is finally on the road to happiness. I think she has a long way to go. Married women are more likely to report that life is enjoyable. Estimated share of U.S. women ages 25 to 55 who report that their life has felt enjoyable most or all of the time in the last 30 days. I can confirm. I really love my life. Married with children, that's 47% of us, versus unmarried without children is just at 34%.

So, big spread there, but it turns out- Okay, okay. I am very- This is just a setup for the breakup that's going to fuel our biggest- Okay, okay. A year from now. You're manifesting. Stop manifesting. Yeah, don't manifest, yeah. Don't manifest. Although, some people are estimating the potential baby boom that will follow this, because people are so easily influenced. But Josh, it could work out. And honestly, like, they have a good model in, what's the brother's name? Justin? Jason? Who's the brother?

Travis? Ah, they're annoying, too. Come on, man. Jason Kelsey and his wife. His wife's podcast is so annoying. I don't listen to women's podcasts. Exactly. We need a tariff on podcast mics for most of the country. Can I, oh, I'll add this. Josh, you'll think this is funny. Apparently, she went to Nebraska, played Cincinnati, and Travis went to Cincinnati, so they went to it. It was their first public appearance as an engaged conference. Yeah, and someone tweeted, like, going to a non-conference, like, away-from-home game and a meaningless game at the beginning of the season for your man.

This isn't PR. This is love. Yeah. I'm here with it. I'm here with it. But, remember the love story, her first big, like, big, big hit, love story, Romeo and Juliet. No, I don't. I don't know. I hope they have. I don't know. I don't listen to her songs. What do you mean I know? No, no one knows. Don't you have daughters?

None of them listen to Taylor Swift. And Josh says that as a point of pride. Hey, also, good news, though. Josh was correct on young Richard Nixon. Our producer is now swooning over young Nixon pictures. Look at this. What did I say? I mean, you're right. Actually, he's really good looking. Okay. You're right.

I love those old football uniforms, the belt and like a big cargo, like the baggy pants. I stand corrected, Nixon. They're called paper bag pants. Look at that jawline on a young person. Dude, I'm telling you, brother. I feel like that's kind of a part of becoming president.

You kind of got to have a look. Presidency does not often attract ugly humans. That is just true. We've had some exceptions. Especially since television. TV era. Right, right, right. We've had some exceptions before the TV era, and that's no-cat. Who's the guy who got stuck in a bathtub, Josh? Come on. Taft. Yep.

I love it. Also, James Madison wasn't a particularly good-looking guy. Well, the paint... He's also like 5'2". Short King. Yeah. Short King, bad president. But father of the Constitution. Yeah, someone said Josh Nixon series confirmed. Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter wasn't, maybe, again, now I got to look up all these young pictures, I guess. Jimmy Carter was not ugly. He was stupid. He was not ugly.

Yo, dude, yeah, we just need Josh's takes on the physicality of all the presidents. I love you, Josh. That could be a whole episode. Oh, man. What's his good news, though? Bill Clinton was a handsome guy? Yes, he was a, yes, he's probably the most. Al Gore is a little too stiff, but he's not ugly. All right, I'm going to reign this in. You know who else was a good-looking guy? Who?

PJP2, who was from Poland, which may or may not segue directly into Josh's good news. Oh, yeah, young JP2, yeah, definitely a handsome guy. Moving it on. Look at our guy. Oh, talk about a good-looking guy. Josh Mercer got the nice tie on.

Josh, would you like to tell us about your Poland trip? It was a lot of fun. So, there is a picture of me for the video listeners, audio listeners. This is a picture of me being interviewed by Polish television.

I also made the front cover of the Polish Catholic newspaper. It was kind of funny. Are there more photos in the set, though? I thought there should be a few more. Let us see what else we got there on that. No? Maybe not? Wait, you need more photos? Well, there's... On his Facebook. Oh, here we go. Yeah, click it. Pogo is not Facebook literate. Okay, so this is important here. Okay, so we're at a shrine here in Svacicina, a shrine dedicated to St.

Andrew Bobola, a great Polish patriot, and you see the picture of me and these other guys behind me, there was a letter that was written, shared principles that... I, as a representative of CatholicVote, signed with these Catholic activists in Poland. It was also signed by the presidential candidate who was trying to get elected, and these guys said, your decision, CatholicVote decision, to partner with us and to agree on these principles like religious freedom, parents are in control of the children, pro-family policies, all this kind of stuff.

He said, you signing that letter with us and lending your hand, the guys, the Catholics who elected Trump, were going to help get these Catholics elected, Nowroski, and he won, and he won by like less than 1% or something like that, about 1%. So, they said, thank you, CatholicVote, you helped us convince Catholics. To really give Carol Noroski a chance. And so, that letter that I signed, that the presidential candidates signed, that these Catholic activists signed, that's behind me. It's on the wall of the shrine.

It's like three feet. Oh, it's huge. Yeah, beautiful. Josh, also, I don't know if you're a computer fan or there's air conditioning or something, but you sound underwater. What? I sound what? Okay, you're good now. You sound like you're in Poland. Well, there's an airplane that flew by. What do you want me to do? Oh, that was it, yeah. Okay, so then... But, like, let's see if there's any other photos on there. I think we have a few more. Yeah, there's the letter.

You can see the letter bigger there, you know. Josh in the Pollocks. And there's the statue of St. Andrew Boblo. Okay, so here's the thing. The mayor of the town nearby this, he gave me a medallion celebrating the 35th anniversary.

I guess, of the county, because basically after communism, so it's kind of a nice medallion. Yeah. It's kind of cool. And then he gave, of course, these people are so proud. You know, I love it. Yeah, I'd also like to remark, you didn't bring anything for me, even though I asked, but that's all good. We're working on that. All right.

He gave me this beautiful, massive coffee table book. Oh, wow. It's thick. Wow. And it's like everything about... Like, the geography, the famous buildings in this town. The churches are just amazing. The churches are the best. All the wildlife. And by the way, they love this. Like, if you give me another one of this town, it's a nice little town in the forest. What is that? It's a statue.

Of an alligator. In Poland? What? There's a statue on the back, too, of the alligator. Polish gators. And then they give me a postcard. And the postcard's got the alligator. And then it's got the caricature of a cartoon alligator. And they gave me the caricature of the cartoon alligator bar of soap. So, are you going to explain where they found alligators in Poland?

Well, you see... Is there lore? The alligator is the monster of the Nile. Right. I'm like, oh, okay. Well, you have to understand, not the Nile River in Africa, the Nile River in their town. I'm like, what? I'm telling you, a pop can wouldn't have as much fluid as this tiny little stream has. It's like a trickle. You could run across it and not get wet. It's like so tiny. It's so tiny that they call it the Nile, ironically. The Nile River.

I'm like, I love these guys. They're just making fun of it. So, then afterwards, can I tell you this? I went to a rock concert. They had this rock concert, and they're like, it's the Psalms of David. We want to celebrate the blessed Ulma family. So, this is a pretty tragic story. The blessed Ulma family, mom and dad, they had six kids, the seventh in utero, and they were harboring Jews in their house to make sure they wouldn't get persecuted and killed.

The Nazis find out about it. They come into the Ulma family home. They find out that they're doing this. Boom. Boom. And they murder the mom and dad, and they send off the Jews to the death camps, and then the soldier says to the commandant, like, what do we do with these kids? Six kids here. And the commandant says, we don't want them to be a burden on the community. And so they pull out their guns, and they shot each one of these children all the way down to, like, you know, two years old.

Murdered them all. Murdered the whole family. And so, this town of Markowa, Poland, they want to keep celebrating the legacy of the Olmos, and so they have a museum dedicated to their memory, and they want to celebrate the just Poles that fought against the evil, bloody Nazi regime, right?

And so, they started about 10 years ago to do a concert in this town. And they call it the Psalms of David, and they bring in, from all different countries, they bring in, they brought, they had somebody from the United States, they brought in people from Italy, they would bring in Jewish performers to sing songs, religious songs, they brought in Christian performers to sing songs, and it was just, you know, a great, beautiful memory.

Uh, to celebrate the Ulma family. And so they said, we're having this concert. We'd like you to come. I said, sure. You are VIP CatholicVote. You are VIP. We'll put you in the front row. I said, Oh, that's awesome. That's cute. I mean, was it. Concert. Is it inside? Is there 80 seats or what? Yeah, what's the deal? Dude, it was outside. 5,000 people were there. Heck yeah. I'm like, what?

And of course, the mayor's brother is the one who runs the festival, and he says... Did you play lead guitar? No, but I did get invited on stage. Oh my gosh! Did you crowd surf in Poland? I'm telling you, man, it was tight. They said, listen, to celebrate Polish heritage and to remember the Ulma family, every year, we invite a family with seven children. To come on stage, and we give them this prize, this award, so that no one will ever forget the blessed Ulma family.

They were beatified two years ago, and they said, you are a CatholicVote, and you have six children. You come on stage, yes? You give this award to this family. No way. Josh, you're kind of a hit in Poland.

Oh, my God. And they gave you a book on the Olma family. Josh, can you tell them I have seven children? You got to tell them. Yeah, tell them. I want to go next year. Well, they do honor Polish families. If you want, like, some Polish citizenship. Lithuanian? I've got the Lithuanian, my dad. Yeah, I got no Polish. I just got respect from Perogies. Oh, that's not even. I forgot the last thing. Ah.

Show and tell with Josh. So, at the concert, the concert gets done, they bring all the performers back to like a banquet, like a VIP reception, and they're like, you come with your VIP. Okay, you know, whatever. And I'm eating these pierogies, and this food is obviously so great. Do they give you like svitska?

I mean, if you can't pronounce it, I ate it. So, yeah. And I get in there, and they're like, they gave this beautiful award of the Oma family to each of the musicians, you know, the violinists, the pianists, the singers, everyone. And they get done, and I'm like, that's really kind of cool. And then the head of the festival is like, Joshua, come here.

The guy doesn't even speak. I had a translator everywhere I went. No one spoke any English. So, he gives me this. Oh my gosh. Whoa. Handshake emoji. This is huge. This is not a handshake representing Jews and Christians working together. That was the theme of this town. You know, and the symbol of the cross and the Star of David, right? And then this comes off. Oh, my God.

No, what is this? This is amazing. Oh my gosh, is that the Oma family? It is the Oma family. Whoa. Whoa. It's carving, huh? What's all that writing? And there's a poem, and it starts out in black, and it becomes red with blood, you know, the idea. This is so cool. And commemorating the family, and on the other side, it's got, you know, I'm trying to be, this is so huge. I mean. Yeah, how much does this weigh? How did you get this on the plane?

That's a good question. You hold that thought for a moment. All right, okay. And in this chapter of. Gospel of John, and then the listing of every family member, the day they are born, and of course, everyone in the only family sharing the same day in which they die.

It is just amazing. Wow. So, here is what happened. I mentioned that my beautiful, gorgeous wife, raised by a Polish woman, runs a Marian shrine in northern Michigan. And started by a pious Polish woman. They heard that, and they're like, we need to give this man one, too. So, if anyone wants to see this, come to the Marion Center in Petoskey. You get to see this beautiful little... Sold. I'm headed to Petoskey. That is awesome. I mean, it's amazing. So, I get this.

I get the... Slow clap. The coffee table book. Show and tell with Josh. The Alligator guy. Smashing success. Another guy handed me seven massive textbooks about history, heritage, all in English, and I am like, how am I going to get any of this stuff home? This is crazy. So, I get back from the concert to my hotel room at 1 a.m., and my flight is the next day, and I am thinking to myself, this...

This work of art, it was bigger than my suitcase. So, I'm like thinking, what do I do? So, I go to the front desk, and I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to get this home. But see, the word went out, the owner of this hotel was like, totally, he just thought I was the greatest thing ever. I don't know why, okay? But like, the first night I'm there, the hotel owner is there with his son, and I'm there with my translator and the other, like, two or three other activists, and we're all talking.

And his son got a little bit of pride in him. He's like, yeah, you, Mr. Catholic, you love the Catholic stuff, but then he starts going attacking the faith. Okay, whatever, and you can tell the father who owns the hotel is like so embarrassed.

Uh-oh. Well, you know, I held my own. I said a few things back, and I just said to the son, listen, someday, 10, 15 years from now, you're going to read something, and it's going to make you think twice and think maybe there is a God, and maybe there is this thing, and you won't be afraid then.

You're a proud, strong. Polish man, and you're like, you know what? If this is true, I'm not afraid. And the dad kind of goes, right? So, every time I saw his dad for the next three, four, five days, he's like, anytime you want to come to this, you stay in the hotel.

You bring your whole family. You stay as long as you want. Anytime you want. I am like, okay. Yes. He said it once. It is sort of like a whatever. He said it like seven times. How did we? I come up to the front desk. I am like, I have to get this home. What room are you? 26. We will take care of it.

How did we not send a film throughout for this? I know. This is amazing. What a blown opportunity. I wake up the next morning to get breakfast. Of course, this is not your average, typical American hotel crappy breakfast. It's Polish. I mean, the kielbasa, the scrambled eggs. I don't care. They called it wrong. It tasted delicious. Everything was just awesome. I mean, I ate like a pig. I mean, it was great.

But I come down to the front desk, and it's right there. They got the whole thing boxed up with tape and everything, and it was just a sight to be seen. These guys, everywhere, they loved. They love Catholic votes. It is not like it is Josh Mercer they love. I mean, come on. No, you are Mr. CatholicVote. To them, they are the guys. These are the guys. These are the experts who got Trump elected. They helped us get Naraki elected here in Poland.

I mean, these guys were everything. It was awesome. It was pretty cool. By the way, it was funny. One time, I am there with these activists, and the guy goes, watch out. She is the troublemaker. I said, what do you mean the troublemaker? Oh, no, the terrorist. I'm like, wait, what? What are you saying, though? Yeah, she spent a few years in jail in the 70s. Oh, the communists threw her in jail. Why did they throw her in jail?

She tried to blow up a statue of Vladimir Lenin. I'm like, are you serious? This is my woman. So, I got a photo taken with her, of course. Yeah, go get an autograph. Go tear her up. It was awesome, dude. Dang.

These are good people, the hardy people. Where do I even go from here after that story? I feel like we've peaked. They brought in a bunch of popular American conservatives for the presidential inauguration. That was about four or five weeks ago. But they brought me in for the strategy sessions, like, okay, what do we do now? To actually do the work. Yeah, that's you, Josh. Let me tell you about the loop. Let me tell you about activism.

They loved it. Are we going to give them a polished loop? We're going to give them scrambled eggs. Scrumbled? All right. They were delicious, brother. Because this is the new tradition on the show, we'll probably be doing one of these a day. This is Jimmy Carter as a young man. Oh, here we go. Yeah, I mean, not bad. Not bad. Yeah. So, Rosie made me do it. We all look better when we're 25, that's for sure.

It's not like he's super ugly. He's just a wimp. I guess we'll see how I age. Okay, my good news, CaliVote, you know, worldwide. Look who it is. Brian Birch. Oh, Mr. Ambassador. Brian Birch and the gang arrived in Rome. Here's Welcome to Rome right in the airport. I got some pictures.

Got the whole fam? Yeah. Sarah looks amazing for having just been overnight on a plane. That's great. Good job. People are laughing at this one. I love this picture. Within you are two wolves. One is an ambassador, and then one is his daughter. Not impressed.

She's got her hands on her hips, and she's like, Dad, what have you done? Yeah, and then she's also hiding because his wife's hand is holding something behind her, and people are confused, like, oh, yeah, it's another child.

They're going to need to expand the residence for sure, but just adorable. Super happy for Brian, well-deserved. He's off to do big things, so I thought I'd throw that in there as my good news. Everyone very excited and happy for Brian.

I mean, I have to say, like, I felt like, you know, I was treated, my wife, like, I was treated like a prince when I went to Poland. I said, you don't understand the half of it. I land in Chicago, and who picks me up from the airport and drives me around? Ambassador Brian Burse.

Like, my driver's the ambassador. Who am I? Well, you're in the need of no basis, buddy. I also was so mad about that because... We all went to bed at the retreat at like 9.30. It was a spiritual retreat. We weren't throwing it out. Everyone was tired. What happened, people? Come on. A sight unseen. Josh shows up at 10, and he calls me. I didn't even see the call, because I was asleep. You went to bed, and I was up for 24 hours in a row.

I was ready to go for another two. Well, you just came back from being Mr. CatholicVote in Poland. You're on a high. You're on a high. I was spiritually sound. I was ready for sleep. It was the scrambled eggs. It was the scrambled eggs. They lace them over there. Okay, I mean, Josh, didn't you have a hard out at noon?

Whatever. That's my point. There's no way my kids are packed and ready to go. I mean, we said we'd talk about the CDC. To give you the cliff notes of this, basically, so the HHS fired CDC Director Susan Monterrez earlier this week.

Here is RFK Jr. talking about this purge. Now, what's interesting about this... This was actually who they appointed. The first person they tried to appoint got pulled by Trump, and so this is the second choice, and to my understanding, this was very much done with Senator Bill Cassidy, who was like, all right, Bill Cassidy was the one they needed to flip on it, therefore, this is Bill Cassidy's pick. If you do it, Bill Cassidy would vote for it, so he did, and so you get her, and so here's what RFK Jr.

has to say about the resignation in CDC. Today, on CDC's website, right now, they list the 10 top advances, the 10 greatest advances in medical science, and one of them is abortion. The other is, another is fluoridation, another is vaccines. So, we need to look at the priorities of the agency, if there's really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency.

And we need strong leadership that will go in there, and that will be able to execute on President Trump's broad ambitions. So. So, it started a chain reaction. So, she was fired. Four other senior CDC officials resigned, filing her ouster, including Dr. Deborah Howery. She is the CDC's chief medical officer. Dr. Daniel Jernigan oversaw the center that oversees vaccine safety. Dr. Jennifer Layden, who led the Office of Public Health Data, and Dr. Dimitri Deskalakis. Yeah, the guy who posts and all those erotic, satanic stuff.

You are bearing the lead. This is what he looked like. I'm going to leave, brother. I'm going to leave right at the service, bro. Yeah, he was the monkeypox czar within the CDC, so tough. And then in his resignation letter, he said pregnant people.

So, I got you. Definitely an expert on women right there. Scott Jennings talking about that on CNN is my toilet zone. I mean, that's the whole point. Oh, sorry, sorry. Yeah, okay, then I didn't bear the lead. But that being said, my general read on all this, when someone takes over an agency that, I mean, if I had to have the public vote on the least popular agency in the federal government, the CDC is probably top of the list, and people don't get fired after.

Like, outright lying to the American public on just about every dimension of the COVID pandemic? By the way, it's not the most hated. IRS would still win. Yeah. But the point of it is... Not for me. No, I guess not for me. You're saying if you ask the American people. If you ask me, I'd CDC. Yes, but my point would be like... Never did.

The IRS has always been the most hated, and then other agencies like, well, I don't know, fine, sure, fine. That is the one that went from, yeah, that sounds important, that sounds pretty good, to being very negative. That is the one that had the biggest spoilage over the last 15 years, where most people just generally had positive things to say about it, and now it took a very big turn for the worse, precisely because they engaged in hostile actions to the American people and completely politicized themselves, which is...

The point of that clip. Right, and so if you have these people that hang on from administration to administration, a.k.a. the deep state, there needs to be heads of that role, and none of the heads are rolled. So, this is, to me, it's like, fantastic. These people are responsible. It's good. Right. I'm like, this is the best news I've ever heard. I'm like, I wanted these people to quit. Right. And you'll see that what a role would have been Fauci, but he quit before they could do it.

Right, exactly. You can't fire me, I quit. Yeah, no, and the point is, too, I mean, this is being reported in the mainstream media as, well, he fired her, but she was Trump's pick. She has been. In public service is the polite way of saying it. She has been there under HHS. She started with Biden and Becerra. Javier Becerra, if you remember her, he appointed her in 2022, but she also, even before that, going back years and years, she's been consulted on national health security and international affairs, medical preparedness policy.

So, she was in there for like, oh, if a public health crisis Hits, or we get bioterrorism, COVID. She has been in there from the beginning, and I think what you're saying is, Josh, is absolutely. Look, if we're going to change the culture, we have to start getting people out of there who have been just deep state careerists. Well, and again, this notion, well, wait a minute, Trump appointed her like four years ago. Why do they think that's like a winning argument?

Just go ahead. That would be the perfect question to ask Trump. Well, wait a minute. Why is this person being fired from the administration when you recommended her five years ago? And you'd be like, well, someone recommended me to her, and now I realize she sucks. Like, why is this?

They think this is such a gotcha. I know. Guys, this is not that smart. Yeah, exactly what I voted for. I just think the scope of people, they just do not understand how career bureaucrats, they stay forever. They stay forever, they never get fired, they cash a huge paycheck, and they make massive decisions that have implication on everyone's lives. The benefits are... 25-30% income and benefits are 25-30% better than the private sector. Why would they ever leave? And they get pensions.

And they do like a third of the work. Right. So, in the case of the CDC, if I were in the private sector and I lied about their origins, I'm trying to do an analogy here. If I were to grade an employee based on performance of how the CDC acted from 2020 to 2023.

I would have, you'd be under a jail, practically. Like, that would be how, so, all of those people, I think. There's no one even, and of course, what happened, like, people did their little parade, all the CDC employees got out there and clapped as they went out, and like, I don't remember any of you protesting and, like, resigning in protest over locking kids away from school for two years, harming them irreversibly, or when people weren't able to visit their loved ones who were dying in hospitals, or when you strapped people up to ventilators that actually killed them.

Or you actually lied about the origins of this that affected the entire country, so you know what I mean? Like, the six feet rule you made up. Like, what about this is real? You forced the vaccine on us that didn't work, obviously, and then all the boosts that came after. Should I go on? I mean, nothing they did was correct. Okay, so this clip is like six minutes long. You can cut off at any time you want to, but like, Scott Jennings brings up this point, like, where the CDC person leaves, and then a bunch of other people leave, including that guy with the pentagram that's like, I guess, tattooed on his body or whatever.

Bondage stuff. Home erotic photo shoot, and he quit, and he referenced pregnant people in his letter, and Scott Jennings is like, yeah, I'm glad he quit. Scott Jennings' whole shtick is just saying really obvious stuff, and then people freaking out. This is stuff that affects real people's lives. Vaccines, you know. Or national immunization awareness. Yeah, immunization. I hear criticism from this person. I just have to say, he did use the term. Pregnant people in his resume. Oh, come on. I'm sorry.

If that is like the way you're presenting it for me, I have questions about your credibility. Scott, it's so amazing. I love his face. We are talking about this guy. This guy is not credible to me. That's all I'm telling you. Scott, are you serious? Come on. Are you serious? Yes, he did write it. Of all the things that we're talking about here. Immunizations, vaccines, autism, the research on communicable diseases, on cancer, and you are the most concerned about someone's use of the word people.

Yeah, because you were just complaining about the politicization of science, and I can't think of politicization of science more than that, or what some of these people say. Where do we go from here, guys? Yeah, these women. And then they're pretending as though immunization has somehow been this slam dunk. Well, and it's like, they're saying, now you must defend all of the most eccentric positions that were ever held by Bobby Kennedy Jr., and he's like, I'm just condemning this guy who thinks men can get pregnant.

Yeah, and wears bondage at photo shoots and puts it on Twitter. Yeah, remember the nuclear energy guy who was just stealing luggage? Yeah. They're like, no, we've got to keep him. What? Yeah, that wasn't concerning to you the first time you did it? A bald head, a mustache, women's face all over the place. Yeah, I know. These are mentally disturbed people, and they're doing science for us? Yeah, like, that concerns me, and it should you, too, Abby Phillips. Yeah. All right, Erika, what you got?

Oh, gosh, I have, you know. We talk a lot about Democrats and, you know, deception, and, you know, trying to, like, it's almost like they're lying, and sometimes I see a video like this, and I think maybe it's also that they're just not that smart. So, we got this this week from the L.A. City Councilwoman, who's Imelda Padilla. She's explaining her plan to solve the housing affordability crisis in L.A., and, I mean, this is... It's almost painful to watch. Awesome clip.

And Scott Wiener over here. Oh, yeah. There he goes. Wiener. Wiener dog. That's important, but are you focused on what will ultimately make California affordable for the people in your district? Well, I am, by law. I really have no jurisdiction anymore because it's an ED1, right? But we still, as a team, got together with the developer, the high school across the street, other stakeholders, and instead of building something that was potentially six stories, we got it down to three stories. And we also got the developer to also work with us to make sure that it helps the families of the area.

We also said, you know, instead of a ton of office space, we do want you to also incorporate a few more parking lots and EV chargers. So, yeah, I mean, there are some developers that have built housing where it looks like a big... This face is awesome, right there. Yeah. Right there. Look at this face. He's just like, I can't believe she's saying that. So, wait, Erika, can you translate? That was almost... Okay. If you can't listen closely... So, her plan is that in order to address housing affordability for families, instead of building more housing units with six stories, they're going to build...

There are fewer housing units with only three stories, and as soon as she gets into that, we have developers who, instead of office space, I was thinking, oh, instead of office space, we're going to have mixed use with housing. She goes, parking lots with EV chargers, and I'm like, lady, economics 101, back to whatever happened to penny candy.

This is not how you bring costs down by having less of a product, supply and demand. And the people will flee California because they can't afford it, and they'll move to states like Texas and Colorado and try to make those states blue. Yay, yay. Well, Colorado's already blue, but didn't California? No, so that podcast was like, aren't they, was it Pod Save America or some kind of, it was a super liberal podcast that they had them on, and even they were kind of like in shock.

And it is just an extra layer of funny to be like, oh no, the consequences of just about everything I advocated for. I realized this is my playpen, where the solution to housing affordability needs to be couched in EV chargers and less housing.

It is a direct result of the type of people that you use. I just think, though, that people who leave California because it has become a crime-ridden hellhole with no affordable housing. They should be allowed to move to whatever state they want to, of course, but maybe they can't vote for four years in the new state.

It's like new converts. It's like your new converts chill out for a little bit. Yeah, take a beat, honestly. I would have liked that in New Hampshire when all the Bostonians moved into New Hampshire and turned it blue for a few years. Hopefully, we're coming back, but I like it, Josh. Okay, so I'll round it out. Everyone's favorite.

I'm watching back the teachers unions. I love a good teachers union. Let's do it. All right, all right. What do we got? Oh, man. Teachers unions dump more than $43.5 million into liberal advocacy democratic PACs, okay? So, parents defending education. They went through IRS. This is all publicly available information.

So, they went through union disclosures on the Department of Labor. And they found out that that amount of money went to causes such as gun control measures, supporting racial equity, and gender transitions for minors, as well as abortion access.

Nearly 40% of the NEA's budget goes towards political advocacy. These are directly from union dues. So, the reason they're able to use union dues that go into the treasury to then spend on causes like this is because it's not directly to candidate funds, so it'll go to things like the Trevor Project, which is controversial because it supports all the gender transitions and anonymous communication with minors over sexual identity, etc., etc.

I think, rightfully so, some people are going to be asking questions. I mean, Randy Weirgarten spent her entire time trying to keep schools closed. Now, look, I come from a family of teachers. Some are part of unions. My dad, funny story, was kind of like the Ron Swanson of his. I am pretty sure he became a rep just to sabotage it.

Their purpose is not for children, so whenever people bring up, oh, well, they're not, this isn't good for children, they are to represent the teachers. But 99% of the contributions are going towards Democrat funds, like going towards Democrat causes. It's not even for the teachers. It's for the politicians. Right, and there's some states where you're actually legally required to be a part of teachers' unions.

So, this kind of reminds me of all the stuff that Trump kind of cut back at. I know the number. I mean, 43.5 is still a crazy number, but when he just slashed all the funding to NGOs that were going through USAID and all those other things.

Like, if you can, I would just not donate to your teacher's union or probably have a serious discussion about, hey, I don't want my union dues going to the Trevor Project, because that's where they end up. Yeah, I mean, we have right-to-work states some places, but a lot of places they don't, and so, yeah, it would be nice.

It would be nice for Trump to enforce the 1988 Supreme Court ruling on this, and we could put the screws on it. Yeah, I think it's time. I mean, if that's what you're up to the last two years, I mean, that's a lot of money going towards. And doesn't every teacher say, like, oh, remember all the times I had to out-of-pocket pay for, like, crayons and stuff? Right. Like, that would be a good use of money.

Yeah. Now, maybe don't give teacher union dues to these teachers unions that spend money on abortion. Now, let the teachers keep the money so they can have more money for crayons. That sounds great. That's a novel idea, Josh. I think you might have cracked the code.

Okay, good episode, guys. So, show notes. We are going to record something for Monday. So, Monday is Labor Day. Hope you guys are enjoying a day off. We will still have something to keep you company. It will not be live. We're going to pre-record it, just a heads up.

So, it will be fun. Tune in, of course. And then, back to normal next week. So, if you want to help us out, join the Champions Club, best way to support us, CatholicVote.org slash champions, and leave some reviews. Apple Podcasts and Spotify helps out a lot. Erika had a fantastic edition of The Deep.

Spicy. Yeah. I stepped in it, guys. I was going to say, in an Erika fashion, she handled something completely non-controversial and not in vogue at all. It's about this phenomenon of two men feeling entitled to children. Yeah. Or two women, for that matter. Yeah. So, go check it out. It's fantastic. You need these talking points if you have liberal family members. You just need the talking points. Very helpful. Or you watch the video. It's short this week, just 10 minutes of your time.

That's all you need. But you need this if you ever have people tell you things like, oh, there's no difference in outcome between children of gay parents and children of heterosexual parents. Wrong. False. And Erika, correct. So, yes, go check that one out for us. That helps us out a lot. But, yes, we're going to end with a prayer. And, again, catch all of this. Pray for the families involved in Minnesota, especially to repose the soul of those who have died.

So, we're going to do our daily prayer, prayer over our children. In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Lord, watch over our children as they sleep. Surround them with your angels and fill their dreams with your love. Heavenly Father, grant our children the wisdom to make choices that align with your will and bring glory to your name. Lord, bless our children with good health, both in body and in spirit. May they grow strong and resilient under your loving care.

Amen. St. Thomas More, St. Fidelis, Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us, and we'll catch you guys on Monday, pre-recorded, and then Wednesday live. Peace.