The Matt Walsh Show - April 18, 2019


Ep. 242 - The Mueller Report Is Here And The Goal Posts Are Magically Shifting


Episode Stats

Length

45 minutes

Words per Minute

163.07133

Word Count

7,446

Sentence Count

398

Misogynist Sentences

11

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

The Mueller Report is finally here. It s been released, so why are we talking about it? Well, I think there are a few basic takeaways that we can already ascertain, and not ones that the left will necessarily like. Also, why are socialists so stingy when it comes to their own charitable giving? And finally, should teachers physically intervene when students are fighting in class?


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Today on the Matt Walsh Show, the Mueller Report is finally here. It's been released.
00:00:04.220 Nobody has read the whole thing yet, so then why are we talking about it?
00:00:07.500 Well, I think there are a few basic takeaways that we can already ascertain,
00:00:11.580 and not ones that the left will necessarily like.
00:00:15.400 Also, why are socialists so stingy when it comes to their own charitable giving?
00:00:21.220 And finally, should teachers physically intervene when students are fighting in class?
00:00:26.040 One teacher is getting flack for not intervening in a fight, which was recorded and went viral online.
00:00:32.300 I'll explain why I think the criticisms against this teacher are unfair.
00:00:36.740 So all of that and more today on the Matt Walsh Show.
00:00:42.540 Well, I know there's big national news happening right now,
00:00:46.620 but I did announce some big personal news yesterday,
00:00:49.060 which I will lead with briefly out of sheer self-indulgent narcissism.
00:00:53.720 We are expecting Walsh Child No. 4 in our house.
00:00:58.120 My wife is due in October.
00:01:00.400 We don't know the gender yet, and honestly, how dare you even think of asking me such a question?
00:01:07.460 Because, of course, our children are allowed to pick their own genders,
00:01:11.340 and their own names, and their own ages,
00:01:14.800 which is why my oldest is named Fart Poop,
00:01:18.640 and he's 6,000 years old, and his gender is pirate.
00:01:21.800 So, you know, we just, that's how we approach things.
00:01:26.340 Anyway, we're excited about that,
00:01:28.040 but arguably the bigger news nationally is the Mueller report,
00:01:33.620 which was finally released, a redacted version.
00:01:36.660 A lot is being made of the redactions,
00:01:40.300 but the vast majority of the report can be read.
00:01:44.680 I mean, you know, if you skim over it, most of it's there.
00:01:49.220 The stuff that's redacted is clearly omitted because of ongoing investigations,
00:01:53.880 although it is kind of fun and exciting to read a report with all these redactions and stuff,
00:01:58.660 because you feel like you're reading some sort of secret document or something.
00:02:03.860 But other than that, I don't think the redactions mean much.
00:02:06.160 Now, it is a 400-plus page report, two volumes.
00:02:10.760 It's basically like reading Crime and Punishment or something in terms of length.
00:02:15.580 So I have not read the whole thing, obviously.
00:02:19.000 It just came out a couple hours ago.
00:02:21.020 Nobody right now has read the whole thing.
00:02:23.440 And in fact, anybody who offers their opinion on this report
00:02:26.500 at any point over the next day or two
00:02:28.780 probably has not read the entire thing.
00:02:32.280 But the good news is that the report is very handily organized
00:02:37.760 so that you can look at the major conclusions and other parts of it
00:02:43.140 to get a general idea of what's going on.
00:02:45.180 Plus, we have Barr's press conference that he held this morning summarizing it,
00:02:50.080 plus the four-page letter that he put out summarizing it.
00:02:52.740 And I think all of that gives us an idea, a pretty good idea,
00:02:55.220 of what's going on in the report.
00:02:57.100 Now, in a perfect world, honestly,
00:02:58.580 I would just say nothing to you about the report at all right now.
00:03:03.220 I would just ignore it and talk about other things.
00:03:05.720 And maybe we would all just take a week to let the whole thing digest
00:03:09.960 and to really read it and take our time with it.
00:03:14.260 But that's not the way things work now.
00:03:16.220 And I don't really have that option.
00:03:19.240 So I will offer a couple of very basic general points about the report.
00:03:25.160 The report is, as I said, in two parts, two volumes.
00:03:30.220 The first volume deals with the collusion aspect of things
00:03:34.520 and also with Russia's interference in our election.
00:03:39.180 The second part deals with claims of obstruction
00:03:42.140 that Trump tried to obstruct the investigation.
00:03:44.800 As for the first part, it actually seems pretty simple.
00:03:48.860 Now, let me read Mueller himself summarizing,
00:03:54.440 if I could pull this up.
00:03:57.520 Mueller says,
00:03:58.820 the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign
00:04:02.660 conspired or coordinated with Russia,
00:04:05.340 with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
00:04:08.960 Okay.
00:04:09.240 So that's one half a sentence right there.
00:04:12.760 But it's, in a way, that's all you really need to know as far as collusion goes, right?
00:04:19.320 That they said there was, we did not establish,
00:04:22.280 there's no evidence that that collusion happened.
00:04:27.500 Now, obviously, the report doesn't say,
00:04:31.500 Trump is absolutely vindicated on this score.
00:04:34.860 He's an innocent man.
00:04:36.900 You know, leave him alone.
00:04:38.500 That statement is not in the report.
00:04:41.760 That statement wouldn't be in the report whether it was true or not.
00:04:47.380 Now, on the other hand,
00:04:49.760 it also makes clear that Russia did interfere in the election.
00:04:54.220 There was a coordinated campaign by Russia to try and help Trump get elected,
00:04:59.920 a campaign that they hatched for their own reasons.
00:05:02.900 And, you know, we can theorize about why they would rather have Trump than Hillary,
00:05:10.280 but they had their own reasons for it.
00:05:12.000 Trump had no hand in devising it.
00:05:14.000 There's no evidence at all that Trump was meeting with them
00:05:17.120 or sending people to meet with them,
00:05:18.680 hatching a plan about, hey, guys, how are we going to get me elected?
00:05:21.140 That's not what happened.
00:05:22.420 Now, that is what the left assumed happened,
00:05:25.740 and that's what they claimed for two years,
00:05:28.380 but that's not what actually happened.
00:05:30.300 And Mueller investigated this for two years himself
00:05:33.260 and did not find evidence of it.
00:05:36.540 How much did Russia's involvement in the election sway things?
00:05:41.580 Well, again, that's not going to be covered by this report.
00:05:43.840 That's not the point of the report.
00:05:45.620 I, you know, who knows?
00:05:47.100 It's all hypothetical.
00:05:48.300 I tend to think that Russia's involvement
00:05:50.020 probably didn't have that much of an effect at all.
00:05:53.640 Well, I think the, you know, the emails,
00:05:58.740 I really doubt that there were that many people
00:06:02.120 who were going to vote for Hillary,
00:06:05.360 but then the emails came out and they said,
00:06:07.120 never mind, I'm going to vote for Trump.
00:06:08.720 I think this was, the emails functioned
00:06:10.920 just as something for conservatives to talk about.
00:06:14.880 And they did help Trump in that way
00:06:17.340 because there were also scandals on Trump's end.
00:06:20.700 You know, you had the Access Hollywood tape
00:06:23.120 and all that kind of stuff.
00:06:24.720 Well, the emails gave conservatives
00:06:26.860 and conservative media something else to focus on
00:06:29.100 to try to change the subject.
00:06:30.460 So it did help him in that way.
00:06:32.320 There's no denying it.
00:06:34.320 But is it the reason he got elected?
00:06:37.560 You know, is that why voters in the Rust Belt
00:06:40.760 came out for Trump?
00:06:41.840 Is it because of that?
00:06:44.360 I tend to think not.
00:06:47.120 All right, so that's, really briefly,
00:06:50.000 that's the collusion element of it.
00:06:52.560 And the big takeaway is, again,
00:06:55.320 Russia did interfere in the election,
00:06:58.920 but there's no evidence or no reason to believe
00:07:03.660 that Trump was involved in colluding at all.
00:07:08.580 The second section is more interesting.
00:07:15.160 Let me read the conclusion of that section.
00:07:19.040 It says,
00:07:20.460 because we determined not to make
00:07:22.560 a traditional prosecutorial judgment,
00:07:24.980 we did not draw ultimate conclusions
00:07:26.760 about the president's conduct.
00:07:29.660 This is in reference to obstruction.
00:07:31.880 The evidence we obtained about the president's actions
00:07:34.200 and intent presents difficult issues
00:07:36.400 that would need to be resolved
00:07:38.980 if we were to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment.
00:07:42.080 At the same time,
00:07:43.020 if we had confidence after a thorough investigation
00:07:44.820 of the facts that the president
00:07:46.080 clearly did not commit obstruction of justice,
00:07:48.540 we would so state.
00:07:50.160 Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards,
00:07:52.340 we are unable to reach that judgment accordingly.
00:07:54.640 While this report does not conclude
00:07:55.960 that the president committed a crime,
00:07:57.860 it also does not exonerate him.
00:08:00.220 So, Mueller leaves the possibility open
00:08:04.240 that Trump tried to obstruct,
00:08:06.460 but says that he can't arrive at that conclusion.
00:08:10.340 He's not arriving at that conclusion.
00:08:12.620 He does not conclude that Trump committed a crime.
00:08:15.980 He also doesn't conclude
00:08:17.800 that Trump didn't commit a crime.
00:08:19.200 Okay.
00:08:21.340 Which is, now, which is what we expected, right?
00:08:23.800 That actually is what,
00:08:24.900 if you were paying attention to what Barr was saying,
00:08:27.340 that's kind of what we expected.
00:08:28.500 And even before Barr said anything
00:08:31.040 or summarized the report,
00:08:32.240 this is kind of what I expected anyway.
00:08:36.400 It seemed clear to me after two years
00:08:38.660 and all the various leaks that were coming out
00:08:41.140 that this was not going to be a report saying,
00:08:46.500 here's evidence that Trump committed a crime.
00:08:48.920 And indeed, that is not what's in the report.
00:08:51.480 But I also never expected
00:08:53.480 that we were actually going to get a report
00:08:55.640 at the end of this that has conclusive statements
00:08:59.180 of the president's innocence,
00:09:00.720 whether or not he's actually innocent, right?
00:09:05.300 It's significant, though,
00:09:06.320 that the crime or potential crime
00:09:09.400 being referred to in that section
00:09:11.860 is not collusion, but obstruction.
00:09:15.780 So the conclusion thing is out the window.
00:09:20.000 There was no conclusion.
00:09:21.400 Collusion.
00:09:22.040 Which means that there's no underlying crime.
00:09:25.300 In other words,
00:09:26.260 Trump could not have been trying to obstruct justice
00:09:28.760 in order to stop people from finding out about collusion
00:09:31.420 because there was no collusion.
00:09:34.840 And that point really matters, I think,
00:09:37.640 because it goes to intent.
00:09:39.760 And this is what Barr said at his press conference,
00:09:42.220 and it's what Mueller mentions as well in the report,
00:09:44.720 that Trump may have been acting in ways
00:09:47.540 that arguably appear adjacent to obstruction,
00:09:52.260 but not out of criminal intent,
00:09:54.940 but out of anger and his sincere belief
00:09:58.560 that this was a partisan witch hunt.
00:10:00.380 Now, the left is,
00:10:03.620 when Barr said that in the press conference,
00:10:05.880 the left, of course, had a temper tantrum,
00:10:07.420 like they're in a constant state
00:10:08.780 of having temper tantrums.
00:10:10.000 It's like, well, what does that matter?
00:10:11.500 What is his intent if he was angry
00:10:13.160 and he was frustrated?
00:10:14.220 It does matter.
00:10:15.340 Of course, your intent matters
00:10:16.700 when we are looking at the possibility
00:10:23.060 of a crime being committed.
00:10:26.720 So, and again,
00:10:29.100 that is basically what I always kind of assumed,
00:10:35.000 and I think it's what probably a lot of us assume,
00:10:36.900 that Trump is not a secret Russian agent.
00:10:39.160 Now, I'm glad that we have this,
00:10:41.880 we have that kind of spelled out in the report now,
00:10:44.700 but I never really took that seriously.
00:10:48.020 It just didn't,
00:10:49.240 that just didn't pass the smell test for me.
00:10:52.260 The idea that Trump was, you know,
00:10:54.180 secretly devising this plan with the Russian government.
00:10:57.940 So he's not that,
00:10:59.980 but he is reckless and angry all the time,
00:11:03.720 and he's a loud mouth,
00:11:06.000 and he has just no prudence or discernment at all.
00:11:11.780 So, and that gets him into trouble.
00:11:13.460 And I already knew that also.
00:11:15.600 I think we all already knew that.
00:11:18.640 He's not a criminal mastermind.
00:11:20.880 He's just a reckless loud mouth,
00:11:23.120 which isn't good.
00:11:25.100 Now, I'm not one of these people that says,
00:11:26.320 oh, it's great, you know,
00:11:27.180 having a president out there
00:11:28.480 that's acting just like us.
00:11:30.900 Well, you know, I don't actually don't think
00:11:32.200 he is acting just like normal people.
00:11:34.520 Most normal people I know don't act like that.
00:11:36.360 And I don't think it's good for a president
00:11:37.980 to carry on that way,
00:11:39.140 but it's not criminal.
00:11:41.460 You know, these are,
00:11:42.300 that's something that voters can take into consideration
00:11:45.080 when it comes time to vote.
00:11:47.000 And if they don't want a president that acts that way,
00:11:49.380 they don't have to vote for him,
00:11:50.480 but this is not a criminal thing.
00:11:55.260 Let's look at one example from the report.
00:11:58.520 This just, I think, kind of encapsulates it.
00:12:02.640 This is one example from the report.
00:12:03.780 This is something that the left right now
00:12:05.780 is taking as proof of Trump's guilt
00:12:08.280 or as indication of his guilt.
00:12:11.780 But then when you look in full context,
00:12:13.940 you see what Trump was actually getting at
00:12:16.660 and what the point really is.
00:12:17.800 So let me pull this up.
00:12:19.380 It's just one little portion,
00:12:20.980 but I think it's pretty revealing.
00:12:22.920 So in the obstruction section,
00:12:26.720 we have this under the heading of evidence.
00:12:29.960 We have this.
00:12:31.060 It says,
00:12:31.460 On May 17th, 2017,
00:12:34.800 Acting Attorney General Rosenstein
00:12:36.880 appointed Robert S. Mueller
00:12:38.420 as special counsel
00:12:39.920 and authorized him to conduct
00:12:41.320 the Russia investigation
00:12:42.280 and matters that arose from the investigation.
00:12:44.760 The president learned
00:12:45.640 of the special counsel's appointment
00:12:46.720 from Sessions,
00:12:47.820 who was with the president,
00:12:48.840 Hunt and McGahn,
00:12:50.160 conducting interviews
00:12:52.100 for a new FBI director.
00:12:53.660 Sessions stepped out of the Oval Office
00:12:55.400 to take a call from Rosenstein,
00:12:57.440 who told him about
00:12:58.820 the special counsel appointment,
00:12:59.960 and Sessions then returned
00:13:01.180 to inform the president of the news.
00:13:03.340 According to the notes written by Hunt,
00:13:05.740 when Sessions...
00:13:06.960 I've got a cat walking around
00:13:10.120 in the background,
00:13:10.660 as you can see.
00:13:11.960 This is a very serious...
00:13:15.440 This is a professional opera.
00:13:16.780 I mean, I'm talking about
00:13:17.320 something serious here.
00:13:18.400 And this is...
00:13:18.900 We're talking about Russian collusion,
00:13:20.700 and I've got a cat walking around.
00:13:22.720 All right.
00:13:23.640 Where was I?
00:13:25.760 So, according to notes written by Hunt,
00:13:27.840 when Sessions told the president
00:13:29.540 that a special counsel
00:13:30.600 had been appointed,
00:13:31.700 the president slumped back
00:13:33.440 in his chair and said,
00:13:34.840 Oh, my God.
00:13:35.620 This is terrible.
00:13:36.680 This is the end of my presidency.
00:13:38.680 I'm effed.
00:13:39.880 Okay.
00:13:40.240 That's what...
00:13:41.040 That's what the president said.
00:13:43.920 The president became angry
00:13:45.460 and lambasted the attorney general
00:13:47.620 for his decision
00:13:48.360 to recuse from the investigation,
00:13:50.060 stating,
00:13:50.820 How could you let this happen, Jeff?
00:13:52.880 The president said
00:13:53.740 the position of attorney general
00:13:54.940 was his most important appointment,
00:13:57.180 and that Sessions had,
00:13:58.520 quote,
00:13:58.620 let him down,
00:13:59.600 contrasting him to Eric Holder
00:14:01.400 and Robert Kennedy.
00:14:02.860 Okay.
00:14:04.440 And then Sessions recalled
00:14:05.600 that the president said to him,
00:14:06.740 You were supposed to protect me,
00:14:08.140 or words to that effect.
00:14:10.320 Okay.
00:14:10.820 So,
00:14:11.820 you've got that part right there.
00:14:15.320 And that's the part that...
00:14:18.240 Just one little part of the report
00:14:19.640 that you're going to...
00:14:20.900 If you go on Twitter or Facebook,
00:14:22.080 you're going to see it all over the place,
00:14:23.320 and the left is making a lot of hay out of this,
00:14:25.060 saying,
00:14:26.000 Well, hey,
00:14:26.360 he found out about the special counsel
00:14:28.160 being appointed,
00:14:31.420 and he said he was effed.
00:14:34.320 Right?
00:14:34.500 He said his presidency was over.
00:14:35.960 Obviously,
00:14:36.620 that's an omission of guilt.
00:14:39.200 Well,
00:14:39.480 hold on a second.
00:14:41.320 And by the way,
00:14:41.920 even if that is what's going on
00:14:44.620 in this little anecdote,
00:14:48.560 nothing that I've just read to you
00:14:50.960 is obstruction of justice.
00:14:53.280 Now,
00:14:53.420 this is under the header of evidence,
00:14:56.340 or potential evidence,
00:14:58.040 I suppose,
00:14:58.600 of obstruction.
00:14:59.860 Nothing that he said here is obstruction.
00:15:02.820 Even if he is worried that he,
00:15:04.620 oh,
00:15:04.840 he is a secret Russian agent,
00:15:06.220 now they're going to find out,
00:15:07.060 and he says,
00:15:07.460 Oh,
00:15:07.880 oh my God,
00:15:08.360 this is terrible.
00:15:09.100 How could you do this to me?
00:15:10.640 That's not obstruction.
00:15:11.960 In what sense would that be obstruction?
00:15:14.740 But,
00:15:15.460 they leave out the next part,
00:15:18.280 and it's just the very next sentence.
00:15:20.020 They cut this part out.
00:15:21.040 It says,
00:15:21.540 the president returned to the consequences
00:15:23.300 of the appointment,
00:15:24.360 and said,
00:15:25.640 everyone tells me,
00:15:27.160 if you get one of these independent councils,
00:15:29.520 it ruins your presidency.
00:15:30.720 It takes years and years,
00:15:31.980 and I won't be able to do anything.
00:15:33.860 This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.
00:15:36.000 Okay.
00:15:37.900 So,
00:15:38.820 that's some necessary context,
00:15:42.420 and there's a reason why
00:15:43.660 you're going to,
00:15:44.800 you're going to,
00:15:45.260 that line about,
00:15:46.300 I'm F,
00:15:46.800 that's going to be all over the place,
00:15:47.840 it probably already is,
00:15:49.480 but they're going to leave out the next part.
00:15:51.960 So,
00:15:53.020 why did he think he was F'd?
00:15:56.040 Well,
00:15:56.260 he explains it.
00:15:57.000 It's not because,
00:15:57.980 oh,
00:15:58.420 they're going to find out,
00:15:59.960 you know,
00:16:00.220 the jig is up,
00:16:02.420 they're going to,
00:16:02.760 they're going to discover.
00:16:03.480 No,
00:16:04.000 it's,
00:16:04.280 he's worried about the political implications
00:16:06.660 of having an independent council
00:16:08.460 investigating you.
00:16:09.700 That's what he's concerned about.
00:16:11.620 It's the political implications,
00:16:13.620 and how this is going to harm his presidency.
00:16:16.180 And he was right to be concerned about those things.
00:16:19.760 So,
00:16:20.240 not only is this not obstruction,
00:16:23.040 but,
00:16:24.060 it,
00:16:24.320 it only,
00:16:24.880 I think,
00:16:25.480 reinforces his case.
00:16:27.300 That the thing he was worried about
00:16:28.760 was just the whole spectacle of it
00:16:30.560 and how this was going to hurt his ability
00:16:32.200 to get things done.
00:16:37.200 So,
00:16:37.740 that's the kind of thing we're talking about.
00:16:39.360 Trump was worried about,
00:16:40.520 about political implications,
00:16:42.140 and so whatever actions
00:16:45.140 he considered taking,
00:16:46.820 or did take,
00:16:47.640 or things that he said,
00:16:48.840 it was all on his part,
00:16:50.940 it would seem,
00:16:52.040 with the knowledge
00:16:52.880 that he didn't do
00:16:54.520 what they're accusing him of doing,
00:16:56.780 and he treated this thing
00:16:57.940 like a ridiculous fishing expedition,
00:17:00.420 which it turns out,
00:17:02.120 it was.
00:17:03.820 And that is the headline.
00:17:05.980 Now,
00:17:06.940 I'm not,
00:17:07.560 look,
00:17:08.460 I'm not a Trump apologist.
00:17:10.040 I think I
00:17:10.540 can claim that
00:17:12.500 and I have credibility
00:17:13.420 as someone who's not a Trump apologist.
00:17:15.220 I have no problem criticizing Trump.
00:17:16.600 I do it all the time.
00:17:18.180 And there's plenty of stuff
00:17:19.240 in this report
00:17:19.980 from what,
00:17:20.960 just from what I've read.
00:17:21.960 Like I said,
00:17:22.400 I've only read a small part of it,
00:17:23.820 but
00:17:23.960 there's plenty of stuff
00:17:25.940 in this report that,
00:17:27.400 yeah,
00:17:27.560 I wish the president
00:17:28.240 hadn't said that.
00:17:29.600 I wish he was,
00:17:31.100 you know,
00:17:31.420 could control himself more.
00:17:33.340 Even that reaction there,
00:17:34.820 yeah,
00:17:34.960 he was around people
00:17:35.780 that he trusted,
00:17:36.640 but still,
00:17:37.120 I mean,
00:17:38.080 the fact that we have a president
00:17:40.580 who just can't control his mouth
00:17:41.920 is,
00:17:42.660 it's,
00:17:42.960 I don't like it.
00:17:43.860 I wish that he could.
00:17:45.980 I wasn't one of those people
00:17:47.240 that during the campaign,
00:17:48.620 that's the thing they like most about him.
00:17:52.260 Well,
00:17:52.680 it's,
00:17:52.860 it is not,
00:17:54.080 that is not an advantage
00:17:55.320 for a president.
00:17:56.260 That is not a,
00:17:57.240 a,
00:17:57.580 a thing that helps,
00:18:00.100 right?
00:18:00.500 It gets in the way
00:18:01.280 as we're seeing.
00:18:03.140 So,
00:18:03.700 yeah,
00:18:03.980 there's,
00:18:04.300 it's,
00:18:04.740 it's,
00:18:05.060 it's not like every little thing
00:18:06.760 in this report
00:18:07.520 is wonderful for Trump,
00:18:09.380 politically speaking,
00:18:10.820 but,
00:18:12.200 there is no evidence of a crime.
00:18:14.600 He's not,
00:18:15.200 he's not being charged with a crime.
00:18:17.220 There is no conclusion
00:18:18.380 that a crime was committed.
00:18:21.120 There's no evidence of a crime.
00:18:23.180 And that's it.
00:18:23.700 That's the headline.
00:18:26.160 And all the rest of it,
00:18:27.420 even the,
00:18:27.860 even the potentially politically
00:18:29.960 damaging aspects of it
00:18:31.520 really won't affect him
00:18:33.300 because everything's baked
00:18:34.260 into the cake at this point.
00:18:35.320 If you already,
00:18:36.500 at this point,
00:18:37.420 we're now,
00:18:38.080 you know,
00:18:38.300 three years in,
00:18:40.120 you feel however you feel
00:18:42.140 about Trump.
00:18:42.960 If you hate him,
00:18:44.260 then you,
00:18:45.140 you're going to hate him.
00:18:46.260 You hated him before this report.
00:18:47.880 You're going to hate him afterwards.
00:18:49.700 Whatever is in the report,
00:18:50.860 you're going to see
00:18:51.540 in the most negative possible light.
00:18:53.100 And that's just the way it is.
00:18:53.880 So it doesn't even matter
00:18:54.660 what the report says.
00:18:55.600 If you love him,
00:18:56.640 if you're a,
00:18:57.060 if you're a huge Trump fan,
00:18:59.000 a Trump groupie,
00:18:59.920 then you loved him before the report.
00:19:01.700 You're going to love him after.
00:19:02.440 Everything in the report,
00:19:03.520 you're going to see
00:19:04.080 in the most positive light possible.
00:19:05.260 So it doesn't even really matter
00:19:06.760 what the report says.
00:19:08.620 And if you're like me
00:19:10.080 and you're,
00:19:10.640 you know,
00:19:11.040 you try to take
00:19:13.780 a less simplistic
00:19:14.680 approach to Trump
00:19:17.140 where you,
00:19:18.080 you know,
00:19:18.540 you don't see him
00:19:19.240 as simplistically villainous
00:19:21.660 nor as a simplistically heroic,
00:19:25.080 but you're somewhere in between,
00:19:26.980 then,
00:19:27.420 you know,
00:19:27.780 again,
00:19:28.580 this report seems to kind of
00:19:30.120 fit into that paradigm.
00:19:33.760 So even politically,
00:19:35.660 I don't think that
00:19:36.520 this is going to have
00:19:37.420 any effect whatsoever.
00:19:40.280 If it does have some effect,
00:19:41.840 I think it will probably be more
00:19:43.520 on the positive end.
00:19:45.780 Because although the left
00:19:47.320 may want us to forget,
00:19:49.140 they may want to change the subject.
00:19:51.160 We are not going to be able
00:19:52.460 to forget that the thing
00:19:53.500 that they spent
00:19:54.060 the last two years talking about
00:19:55.320 was collusion,
00:19:56.060 collusion,
00:19:56.500 collusion,
00:19:56.900 collusion.
00:19:57.720 That's what they were talking about.
00:19:59.320 And the fact of the matter is,
00:20:01.060 if you look at the report,
00:20:03.620 he is essentially
00:20:04.920 vindicated of that charge.
00:20:07.100 Even if that word isn't used,
00:20:08.560 even if a word like exonerated
00:20:09.900 is not used,
00:20:10.740 essentially,
00:20:11.360 for all intents and purposes,
00:20:12.740 he is.
00:20:13.640 He didn't do it.
00:20:15.160 There is no reason to think
00:20:16.660 that he colluded with Russia.
00:20:19.620 And so,
00:20:20.460 if anything,
00:20:21.300 I think this probably
00:20:22.240 is going to help
00:20:22.720 because of that,
00:20:23.800 because that was their focus.
00:20:24.960 Now they're going to try to shift.
00:20:26.060 You can hear and see
00:20:27.760 the goalposts being uprooted
00:20:30.440 and dragged across the field.
00:20:32.900 They're shifting the goalposts now.
00:20:34.740 And now you're not going to hear
00:20:35.900 anything more about collusion.
00:20:37.140 Collusion's out the window.
00:20:38.600 Now you're going to hear
00:20:39.520 about obstruction.
00:20:40.440 They want this to be a story
00:20:41.420 about obstruction.
00:20:46.360 But that's not what this ever
00:20:47.980 was about for them.
00:20:49.040 It was about collusion.
00:20:49.840 And so that's got to be
00:20:52.300 the headline.
00:20:55.020 That there is no collusion.
00:20:58.120 And the case for obstruction
00:21:00.840 is obviously,
00:21:02.060 even before you read
00:21:03.380 that part of the report,
00:21:04.460 the case for obstruction
00:21:05.400 is going to be severely
00:21:06.720 undermined by the fact
00:21:07.940 that there is no underlying crime
00:21:10.280 that a person would be
00:21:12.340 obstructing to try to hide.
00:21:14.580 All right.
00:21:18.420 I did have a couple other things
00:21:19.860 I wanted to mention today.
00:21:22.360 Here's an interesting tidbit.
00:21:25.880 The charitable giving
00:21:27.060 of both Bernie Sanders
00:21:28.960 and Beto O'Rourke
00:21:30.580 have recently come under scrutiny.
00:21:34.300 Bernie's tax returns reveal
00:21:35.920 that he is now a millionaire,
00:21:37.640 but he gives a very small percentage
00:21:39.060 of his income to charity.
00:21:40.580 Beto also gives a small percentage,
00:21:42.240 and he was asked about it recently
00:21:43.720 at a,
00:21:44.620 I don't have the clip,
00:21:45.460 but he was asked about it
00:21:46.700 at a campaign stop
00:21:47.720 about the fact that he only gave like,
00:21:49.740 I don't know,
00:21:49.900 I think it was like a thousand bucks
00:21:50.880 or something,
00:21:51.320 I mean, two thousand bucks
00:21:52.060 to charity in 2017.
00:21:54.860 And his answer was that,
00:21:56.460 yeah, he doesn't give money
00:21:58.320 to charity,
00:21:58.820 but he has given the gift
00:22:00.280 of himself to society.
00:22:02.960 And so that's as good as charity.
00:22:04.800 It's even better than charity.
00:22:05.920 Now, I don't know
00:22:06.900 what that really achieves,
00:22:07.940 practically speaking,
00:22:08.820 for the homeless
00:22:09.440 and the destitute
00:22:10.100 who need the charitable giving.
00:22:12.240 But that's the answer
00:22:13.780 that he went with.
00:22:14.940 Now, usually I would say
00:22:16.140 that the charitable giving
00:22:17.300 of a politician
00:22:18.060 is really not a relevant issue
00:22:19.920 for us to consider.
00:22:21.320 That's between them
00:22:22.460 and their conscience and God.
00:22:24.440 But when the politician
00:22:25.500 is someone who frequently
00:22:27.260 rails against greed
00:22:28.560 and demands that our entire
00:22:30.820 economic system be transformed
00:22:32.600 so as to, as he claims,
00:22:34.100 take better care of
00:22:35.120 the less fortunate
00:22:36.080 and that liberty
00:22:37.380 and economic freedom
00:22:38.660 have to be curtailed
00:22:39.720 in that quest,
00:22:40.320 then all of a sudden
00:22:41.380 this person's own
00:22:42.580 charitable giving
00:22:43.300 or lack thereof,
00:22:44.240 I think, does become relevant.
00:22:46.280 And it is certainly relevant
00:22:48.000 in Sanders' case.
00:22:49.540 It's also relevant,
00:22:50.900 you know,
00:22:51.340 to a lesser extent,
00:22:52.580 but still relevant
00:22:53.220 with O'Rourke as well.
00:22:55.660 Because this is a very
00:22:57.040 significant flaw
00:22:58.260 in the socialist mentality.
00:23:00.600 This is where
00:23:01.380 they lose the game.
00:23:02.400 Because if you've got
00:23:03.760 a bunch of would-be
00:23:04.780 socialists in a country,
00:23:06.160 if you've got a bunch
00:23:06.760 of wannabe socialists,
00:23:07.620 people who would favor
00:23:09.240 socialism as we do
00:23:10.720 in this country,
00:23:11.940 according to the polls,
00:23:13.160 we have a sizable portion
00:23:14.260 of especially millennials
00:23:15.620 who claim that
00:23:16.860 socialism is the way to go.
00:23:20.560 Well,
00:23:21.160 then,
00:23:22.900 you know,
00:23:23.560 all of these people
00:23:24.740 could negate
00:23:27.080 the need for socialism
00:23:28.620 by instituting
00:23:30.260 a voluntary form of it
00:23:31.780 among themselves.
00:23:33.660 They could give
00:23:34.600 massive chunks
00:23:35.580 of their own wealth
00:23:36.300 to the poor
00:23:36.800 and the less fortunate.
00:23:37.680 They could give
00:23:38.220 as much in taxes
00:23:39.260 to the IRS
00:23:39.840 as they want.
00:23:41.820 They could have
00:23:42.660 their socialist utopia
00:23:44.160 right now,
00:23:45.120 but they don't.
00:23:46.280 And why is that?
00:23:47.040 Because for politicians
00:23:48.260 like Sanders,
00:23:49.260 this is what's revealed.
00:23:50.480 It's socialism
00:23:51.300 is about power.
00:23:52.680 If Sanders really cared
00:23:54.580 about the principles,
00:23:55.600 if we can even call them
00:23:56.400 principles,
00:23:56.860 of socialism,
00:23:57.780 then he would,
00:23:59.540 at a minimum,
00:24:01.140 be doing whatever
00:24:02.200 he could
00:24:02.720 in his own personal life
00:24:04.160 to live according
00:24:06.020 to those principles
00:24:06.820 and to enact them
00:24:08.140 in whatever small way
00:24:09.220 he can.
00:24:10.080 The fact that he's not
00:24:11.200 shows you that
00:24:13.360 for him,
00:24:13.820 socialism is about power
00:24:15.160 because a socialist government
00:24:16.760 is a powerful government
00:24:17.900 and so therefore,
00:24:19.200 the politicians
00:24:22.080 in a socialist government
00:24:23.000 are very powerful politicians.
00:24:24.860 And for socialist citizens
00:24:26.200 who do not,
00:24:30.740 who choose not to
00:24:32.580 give much of their money
00:24:35.760 away to the poor
00:24:36.680 or pay more in taxes
00:24:37.940 than they have to,
00:24:38.820 which, again,
00:24:39.540 they could do.
00:24:41.360 But you see that
00:24:42.400 socialism for them
00:24:43.840 is about helping themselves,
00:24:45.660 not others.
00:24:47.560 Okay, so the whole thing
00:24:48.660 is inherently self-interested
00:24:50.560 and self-centered
00:24:51.400 and that's just what it is.
00:24:54.340 all of the moral,
00:24:58.800 the moral language
00:25:00.180 that they cloak
00:25:01.100 their socialist advocacy in,
00:25:03.880 all of that is bogus
00:25:05.000 because
00:25:06.860 whatever they're claiming
00:25:09.620 socialism would do
00:25:10.680 for this country,
00:25:11.440 they could start doing that now.
00:25:13.620 But they choose not to.
00:25:16.280 All right.
00:25:17.320 One other thing.
00:25:18.380 There was a video
00:25:19.020 going viral yesterday,
00:25:20.280 which I won't play for you
00:25:22.540 because I don't think
00:25:23.400 it's really necessary.
00:25:24.700 But the video is,
00:25:26.680 it's pretty familiar,
00:25:27.620 unfortunately.
00:25:28.060 It shows a fight
00:25:29.220 between two female students.
00:25:31.780 It looks like,
00:25:32.780 looks like high school students
00:25:33.760 at some school.
00:25:34.560 I don't know the details.
00:25:35.520 It doesn't really matter.
00:25:37.720 I call it a fight,
00:25:39.000 but what you see
00:25:40.300 in the video
00:25:40.980 is one girl
00:25:42.040 smack another girl
00:25:43.060 in the face
00:25:43.580 with a textbook
00:25:44.180 and then start pummeling her
00:25:45.760 while the,
00:25:46.280 while the girl's
00:25:47.280 sitting down.
00:25:48.120 And the victim
00:25:50.720 does not seem
00:25:51.480 like she's able
00:25:53.020 or willing
00:25:53.600 or interested
00:25:54.560 in defending herself.
00:25:56.080 So it's more of a beating
00:25:57.340 than a fight.
00:25:58.220 The point, though,
00:25:59.200 is that the students
00:26:00.460 are all sitting
00:26:01.420 and watching,
00:26:02.080 of course,
00:26:03.160 as they always do.
00:26:04.580 Some of it,
00:26:05.280 some of them
00:26:05.720 are recording it
00:26:06.500 on their phone
00:26:07.020 while the teacher
00:26:08.980 is yelling for people
00:26:10.360 to put their phones away
00:26:11.300 and he's telling someone else
00:26:12.600 to run
00:26:12.960 and go get the principal.
00:26:14.780 But he's being
00:26:15.580 widely criticized now.
00:26:17.140 It's a male teacher,
00:26:18.020 by the way,
00:26:18.940 a guy.
00:26:19.620 He's being widely criticized
00:26:20.940 for not physically intervening,
00:26:23.280 which in the video
00:26:24.060 he doesn't.
00:26:26.300 He's being called
00:26:27.140 a coward
00:26:27.700 and so on
00:26:28.560 for sending for help,
00:26:29.740 but not for physically
00:26:30.980 trying to stop it.
00:26:32.720 And you see
00:26:33.120 the teachers
00:26:33.820 get criticized
00:26:34.400 on this ground
00:26:35.980 pretty often
00:26:38.140 when you see
00:26:38.580 these videos
00:26:39.120 of fights in school
00:26:41.820 and everyone says,
00:26:42.300 well,
00:26:42.400 why aren't the teachers
00:26:43.020 stepping in?
00:26:44.100 Now,
00:26:44.400 I'm not shy
00:26:45.060 about criticizing teachers,
00:26:46.160 as you know,
00:26:46.760 but I'm going
00:26:47.880 to defend them here
00:26:48.660 because I think
00:26:49.520 a lot of people
00:26:50.400 just don't appreciate
00:26:51.480 what these teachers
00:26:52.580 are up against
00:26:53.280 and the situation
00:26:54.220 they're in
00:26:54.660 because here is
00:26:55.800 that situation.
00:26:57.320 At many of these schools,
00:26:58.480 fights like that
00:26:59.160 happen every single day,
00:27:00.920 constantly.
00:27:01.680 And they happen
00:27:02.220 every day
00:27:02.780 because awful parents
00:27:04.340 send their awful kids
00:27:05.780 to school
00:27:06.300 hoping that the schools
00:27:07.180 will do the raising
00:27:08.080 for them.
00:27:08.920 But schools
00:27:09.400 aren't equipped
00:27:10.020 for that.
00:27:10.600 Schools cannot be
00:27:11.780 foster parents
00:27:13.080 for your kids.
00:27:14.160 All the schools
00:27:15.380 can do
00:27:15.840 is just damage control.
00:27:17.500 All they can do
00:27:18.320 is just try to
00:27:19.300 control things
00:27:21.380 in the moment
00:27:22.020 as much as possible.
00:27:23.860 But we also live
00:27:24.840 in a very litigious society
00:27:26.240 and a society
00:27:27.300 where blame
00:27:27.960 is often cast
00:27:28.660 on the wrong people.
00:27:30.240 And part of the reason
00:27:31.060 for that
00:27:31.560 is that those awful parents
00:27:33.160 are also awful people
00:27:34.880 in general
00:27:35.480 and they will not hesitate,
00:27:37.440 therefore,
00:27:37.700 to try and ruin
00:27:38.620 a teacher's life
00:27:39.460 and career
00:27:40.080 or worse
00:27:40.900 if he,
00:27:42.660 in the mind
00:27:43.460 of the awful parent,
00:27:44.700 goes too far
00:27:45.600 in disciplining
00:27:46.460 their precious,
00:27:47.280 awful little child.
00:27:49.440 So what that means
00:27:50.300 is that a teacher
00:27:51.540 who makes physical contact
00:27:53.020 with a student
00:27:53.680 of any kind,
00:27:55.380 especially a male teacher
00:27:57.020 with a female student,
00:27:59.800 if he's trying to break,
00:28:00.700 even if he's trying
00:28:01.200 to break up a fight,
00:28:02.320 he could easily end up
00:28:03.700 fired,
00:28:04.560 sued,
00:28:05.000 in jail,
00:28:05.820 maybe all three.
00:28:07.500 And remember,
00:28:08.380 this crap happens
00:28:09.320 every day.
00:28:10.120 So if every teacher
00:28:11.280 just decided
00:28:12.040 to throw caution
00:28:12.820 to the wind
00:28:13.420 and open themselves
00:28:14.500 up to litigation
00:28:15.320 or legal penalty
00:28:16.680 every time there's a fight
00:28:18.240 and rush in there
00:28:19.460 physically
00:28:19.820 and try to break it up,
00:28:20.760 then after a week
00:28:21.380 there'd be no teachers left.
00:28:24.080 I do think
00:28:25.000 there are situations
00:28:25.760 where a teacher
00:28:26.340 is morally obliged
00:28:27.380 to get involved
00:28:28.140 even at the risk
00:28:28.920 of severe penalty
00:28:29.720 if, for instance,
00:28:31.400 a mentally
00:28:32.120 or physically disabled
00:28:33.820 student
00:28:34.180 is being physically assaulted,
00:28:36.300 which does happen.
00:28:37.480 And in that case,
00:28:41.840 I think it's,
00:28:42.960 you know,
00:28:43.300 whatever the consequences are,
00:28:44.720 you've got to step in.
00:28:46.260 And in this situation,
00:28:47.340 I have no idea
00:28:48.120 what the story is
00:28:48.780 between the two girls,
00:28:49.540 so I can't speak
00:28:50.340 specifically to it,
00:28:51.100 but I'm more interested
00:28:52.840 in just making
00:28:53.820 a general point here.
00:28:56.780 Most of the time,
00:28:58.600 fights between students
00:28:59.940 are not cases
00:29:01.120 of good guy
00:29:01.940 versus bad guy.
00:29:03.180 Most of the time,
00:29:04.160 it's not a case
00:29:04.980 of bully versus victim.
00:29:06.180 That's usually
00:29:06.980 not how it works.
00:29:08.220 Sometimes it is,
00:29:09.440 but usually not.
00:29:11.820 Usually,
00:29:12.540 you've got two
00:29:13.500 bad,
00:29:14.300 loud-mouthed
00:29:16.180 brats
00:29:16.740 who are going
00:29:18.100 after each other.
00:29:18.780 That's how most
00:29:20.140 fights work.
00:29:21.200 Even if one
00:29:21.940 is pummeling the other,
00:29:24.120 you know,
00:29:24.840 most of the time,
00:29:26.140 the one getting pummeled
00:29:27.280 is also a bully
00:29:28.700 and a brat
00:29:29.320 who just,
00:29:29.920 in this case,
00:29:31.020 is getting
00:29:31.700 the worst end
00:29:32.800 of the deal.
00:29:33.700 So,
00:29:34.180 my point is,
00:29:35.160 do we expect
00:29:36.580 a teacher
00:29:37.040 to sacrifice
00:29:38.500 potentially his
00:29:39.400 whole career
00:29:40.080 and his financial
00:29:42.580 security
00:29:43.480 and his freedom
00:29:44.380 in order to get
00:29:45.240 in between two
00:29:46.140 out-of-control brats?
00:29:48.440 No,
00:29:49.220 I don't.
00:29:50.840 And I wouldn't
00:29:51.840 if I was in that position.
00:29:53.060 No,
00:29:53.380 I'm not going to give up.
00:29:54.200 Do you think
00:29:54.540 I'm going to give up?
00:29:55.440 I'm going to put myself
00:29:57.180 in that position
00:29:57.880 for these two kids?
00:29:59.500 No.
00:29:59.760 As long as nobody's
00:30:02.580 getting killed
00:30:03.060 or something,
00:30:04.000 I wouldn't expect
00:30:05.020 teachers to make
00:30:05.600 that kind of sacrifice.
00:30:07.200 Why should they?
00:30:09.800 Again,
00:30:10.240 I don't know
00:30:10.480 if that was the case
00:30:11.020 in this particular instance,
00:30:12.080 but generally speaking,
00:30:13.740 we have to understand
00:30:15.520 what teachers
00:30:15.960 are up against.
00:30:17.140 They've got bad kids,
00:30:19.180 bad parents,
00:30:20.520 a bad system,
00:30:22.220 and their hands
00:30:23.140 are tied behind their backs.
00:30:24.580 There's nothing
00:30:25.100 they can do
00:30:25.600 or are allowed to do.
00:30:26.840 So what do we expect
00:30:28.880 them to do?
00:30:30.340 They are,
00:30:30.920 in many of these schools,
00:30:33.820 especially in the worst,
00:30:34.960 you know,
00:30:35.580 the worst sorts
00:30:37.660 of these kinds of schools,
00:30:39.660 public schools,
00:30:40.820 there's just,
00:30:43.320 they are put in
00:30:44.540 a really impossible situation
00:30:46.200 where they are
00:30:46.980 constantly facing
00:30:48.180 scenarios
00:30:49.500 where there's
00:30:50.380 no good option
00:30:51.200 for them.
00:30:53.260 And
00:30:53.560 so what do we expect?
00:30:56.840 And this,
00:30:57.360 look,
00:30:57.580 this is the inevitable
00:30:58.760 result.
00:30:59.680 When you live
00:31:00.160 in a litigious society
00:31:01.280 and,
00:31:02.200 you know,
00:31:03.260 everyone,
00:31:04.060 no one takes
00:31:04.700 personal responsibility,
00:31:05.980 everything's being recorded
00:31:07.040 all the time,
00:31:08.480 and you know
00:31:09.960 that parents
00:31:11.120 will usually
00:31:12.640 take the side
00:31:13.460 of their own child,
00:31:14.600 even if their child
00:31:15.380 is clearly in the wrong,
00:31:18.420 when you're
00:31:19.320 in that position,
00:31:20.040 it's just,
00:31:20.560 you know,
00:31:20.980 after a while,
00:31:22.240 you're going to start
00:31:24.420 protecting yourself
00:31:25.700 a little bit,
00:31:26.220 and you should.
00:31:30.520 And believe me,
00:31:31.540 I mean,
00:31:31.780 there are,
00:31:33.260 you know,
00:31:33.860 any teacher
00:31:34.740 could tell horror stories,
00:31:37.720 but
00:31:37.880 don't think for a minute,
00:31:39.940 I mean,
00:31:40.180 if a teacher
00:31:41.520 gets involved
00:31:41.980 in a fight
00:31:42.460 and then
00:31:43.340 himself gets
00:31:44.320 assaulted
00:31:44.720 in the process
00:31:45.520 and this happens
00:31:47.600 all the time
00:31:48.500 and then
00:31:50.860 tries to
00:31:51.340 physically
00:31:51.680 restrain
00:31:52.300 the student
00:31:53.180 who is
00:31:53.440 assaulting him,
00:31:54.720 the parents
00:31:56.000 of that student
00:31:56.800 in many cases
00:31:58.780 will claim
00:32:00.340 that,
00:32:00.820 no,
00:32:00.940 their child
00:32:01.400 is the victim
00:32:01.940 and now
00:32:02.620 they're going
00:32:02.880 to sue.
00:32:03.320 I mean,
00:32:03.560 that's what happens.
00:32:06.580 All right,
00:32:07.300 let's go to
00:32:08.460 emails,
00:32:09.440 mattwalshshow
00:32:10.340 at gmail.com,
00:32:11.220 mattwalshshow
00:32:11.720 at gmail.com.
00:32:13.200 We'll do a couple
00:32:14.180 of emails here.
00:32:14.820 It says,
00:32:15.980 this is from Michael,
00:32:17.260 it says,
00:32:17.400 good sir,
00:32:17.940 I listen to your show
00:32:18.580 every day,
00:32:19.040 most of the time
00:32:19.480 I agree with you,
00:32:20.060 however,
00:32:20.380 your statement
00:32:20.740 about McDonald's
00:32:21.660 being the best
00:32:22.260 fast food
00:32:22.780 is just wrong,
00:32:23.720 Chick-fil-A is superior,
00:32:25.260 chicken so tasty
00:32:26.080 will always be better
00:32:27.120 than McDonald's.
00:32:28.720 Keep up the good work.
00:32:29.800 Michael,
00:32:30.220 it goes without saying
00:32:30.780 that Chick-fil-A
00:32:31.200 has the best
00:32:31.660 fast food chicken,
00:32:32.800 but they're one-dimensional
00:32:34.160 because all they do
00:32:34.860 is chicken
00:32:35.280 and honestly,
00:32:36.320 the only really
00:32:36.940 excellent item
00:32:37.660 on the Chick-fil-A
00:32:38.560 menu is the chicken
00:32:39.700 sandwich.
00:32:41.440 Their fries
00:32:42.220 are overrated,
00:32:43.040 I'm afraid to say.
00:32:44.200 Their salads
00:32:44.680 are mediocre,
00:32:45.560 their wraps
00:32:46.200 are actually bad
00:32:47.580 so they earn
00:32:50.620 an A-plus
00:32:51.060 on chicken sandwiches
00:32:51.800 but then they get
00:32:52.280 like C's and D's
00:32:53.040 for everything else
00:32:53.540 whereas McDonald's
00:32:56.300 is just a,
00:32:57.200 McDonald's doesn't
00:32:57.960 get an A-plus
00:32:58.500 on anything,
00:32:59.320 right,
00:32:59.560 but they get
00:33:00.260 a solid B-plus,
00:33:01.700 you know,
00:33:01.900 maybe B,
00:33:02.520 B-minus
00:33:03.160 on everything.
00:33:04.140 Everything they do
00:33:04.720 is a B,
00:33:05.180 B-minus,
00:33:05.980 you know,
00:33:06.320 by fast food standards.
00:33:09.420 They don't have
00:33:10.080 the best chicken,
00:33:10.740 that's Chick-fil-A.
00:33:11.820 They don't have
00:33:12.180 the best hamburgers,
00:33:13.040 that's Hardee's.
00:33:13.640 They don't have
00:33:13.940 the best fries,
00:33:14.740 that's Arby's.
00:33:16.340 But they just,
00:33:17.560 they're just solid
00:33:18.240 in every area
00:33:18.920 and they know
00:33:20.320 what they're doing
00:33:21.160 and they get you
00:33:22.120 in,
00:33:22.280 they get you out
00:33:22.820 and so that's why
00:33:24.100 when it all comes
00:33:26.040 down to it,
00:33:27.360 McDonald's is,
00:33:28.720 McDonald's is
00:33:30.280 the king of fast food
00:33:31.440 for a reason.
00:33:31.920 I think they actually
00:33:32.460 are,
00:33:32.860 they actually are
00:33:33.520 number one.
00:33:35.860 Let's see here.
00:33:38.620 Let's see.
00:33:39.500 This is from
00:33:40.840 Nathaniel says,
00:33:43.740 Matt,
00:33:44.440 I loved your argument
00:33:45.120 for beautiful churches.
00:33:46.560 I have been saying
00:33:47.200 that this is one
00:33:47.840 of my biggest problems
00:33:48.680 with the Protestant tradition.
00:33:50.940 I myself am
00:33:51.920 a non-denominational
00:33:53.280 Protestant.
00:33:54.040 However,
00:33:54.380 I think you probably
00:33:54.960 mischaracterized
00:33:55.840 the point about idols.
00:33:57.060 I agree that nobody
00:33:57.860 is worshiping
00:33:58.460 the Notre Dame
00:33:59.020 as a god,
00:33:59.720 but it is possible
00:34:00.880 to elevate beauty
00:34:01.800 too highly
00:34:02.480 and worship beauty
00:34:03.700 itself as an idol
00:34:04.580 rather than god.
00:34:05.960 We need food
00:34:06.720 in our lives
00:34:07.360 just like beauty,
00:34:08.100 but millennials
00:34:08.540 in almost every major city
00:34:09.620 have turned food
00:34:10.260 into an idol
00:34:10.900 and worship at the church
00:34:11.900 of the next hip restaurant
00:34:13.160 and join in the liturgy
00:34:15.580 of brunch.
00:34:16.920 The liturgy of brunch
00:34:17.720 actually sounds
00:34:18.280 kind of appealing.
00:34:20.200 I just think
00:34:21.020 you probably missed
00:34:21.540 the point of their argument
00:34:22.520 or at least
00:34:23.020 the better point
00:34:23.740 they should have made.
00:34:24.800 I love your show
00:34:25.380 and thank you
00:34:25.960 for the work
00:34:26.580 you put into sharing
00:34:27.540 good philosophy
00:34:28.160 and theology.
00:34:30.080 He's responding
00:34:30.860 to a point
00:34:31.420 I was making
00:34:31.800 about we need
00:34:32.420 beautiful churches
00:34:33.080 and there are
00:34:33.460 some Christians
00:34:33.980 who argue that,
00:34:34.580 well,
00:34:34.640 if you've got a bunch
00:34:35.060 of statues
00:34:35.640 and art
00:34:36.300 and everything
00:34:36.620 then it becomes
00:34:37.400 idol worship
00:34:38.100 of the statues
00:34:39.240 which I think
00:34:41.580 is honestly
00:34:42.140 kind of an absurd
00:34:43.160 criticism
00:34:43.820 because nobody
00:34:44.780 in a Christian church
00:34:45.780 is worshiping a statue.
00:34:47.420 That's just not
00:34:48.240 an inclination
00:34:48.820 anyone has.
00:34:50.340 We know
00:34:51.040 that the statue
00:34:51.600 itself is not god.
00:34:52.800 We know that.
00:34:53.620 It's just a statue
00:34:54.240 but it's beautiful
00:34:55.040 and it symbolizes
00:34:56.780 something
00:34:57.120 and it makes us
00:34:57.700 think of that
00:34:58.280 which it symbolizes.
00:34:59.820 So I understand
00:35:00.440 your point,
00:35:01.420 Nathaniel
00:35:01.820 and it's not
00:35:02.740 a stupid point
00:35:03.420 by any means.
00:35:04.700 when you broaden it
00:35:06.000 to talk about
00:35:06.760 the kind of
00:35:09.160 other forms
00:35:10.260 of idol worship
00:35:10.880 in our society,
00:35:11.660 I agree with that
00:35:12.660 but I do think
00:35:14.000 that the whole
00:35:14.780 people turning
00:35:16.320 things into idols
00:35:17.360 criticism
00:35:18.320 is sometimes
00:35:19.820 overstated.
00:35:21.380 What I mean is
00:35:22.160 how can you tell
00:35:23.720 the difference
00:35:24.220 between someone
00:35:25.020 just really liking
00:35:26.620 something,
00:35:27.720 really appreciating it
00:35:29.200 and turning it
00:35:30.600 into an idol.
00:35:31.960 I think often
00:35:32.680 from the outside
00:35:33.380 you can't really
00:35:34.140 tell the difference
00:35:34.800 because you can't
00:35:35.840 know their heart
00:35:36.560 and we can sometimes
00:35:38.380 confuse the former
00:35:39.460 with the latter
00:35:40.060 or the latter
00:35:40.660 with the former
00:35:41.360 so that's the problem.
00:35:42.720 You mentioned
00:35:43.020 the hipster foodies,
00:35:44.540 right?
00:35:45.000 Well, yeah,
00:35:45.600 some of them
00:35:46.000 may make an idol
00:35:47.100 of it I suppose
00:35:47.720 but I think
00:35:48.160 some people
00:35:49.340 just really like food
00:35:50.380 and they're interested
00:35:51.500 in it
00:35:51.840 and they like
00:35:52.420 to learn about it,
00:35:53.080 they like to try it,
00:35:53.940 it's an interest
00:35:54.420 they have,
00:35:54.780 they like to cook it
00:35:55.460 and that's fine.
00:35:57.640 It's fine to have
00:35:58.440 that passion.
00:35:59.220 It's not idol worship.
00:36:00.880 That's good.
00:36:01.760 I would say
00:36:02.540 that something
00:36:02.980 becomes an idol
00:36:03.800 when it takes
00:36:04.560 an undue priority
00:36:06.040 over other things
00:36:07.940 in your life
00:36:08.500 that should be
00:36:09.440 more important.
00:36:10.180 So a guy
00:36:11.340 who would rather
00:36:12.020 play video games
00:36:13.140 than be with his family
00:36:14.860 is,
00:36:15.740 has turned video games
00:36:17.480 into an idol
00:36:18.180 not because he thinks
00:36:19.400 that the video game
00:36:20.120 is God literally
00:36:21.160 but just because
00:36:21.940 he has put it above,
00:36:24.360 he has put it
00:36:24.840 in a place
00:36:25.280 where it doesn't belong,
00:36:26.700 he has put it above
00:36:27.320 other things
00:36:27.920 that are more
00:36:28.360 objectively important.
00:36:29.280 So does anyone
00:36:31.760 really sort of
00:36:33.820 downgrade
00:36:34.720 more important things
00:36:37.400 so that they can focus
00:36:38.360 on beautiful artwork
00:36:39.520 and icons
00:36:40.340 and statues
00:36:41.020 and so on at church?
00:36:42.960 Is anyone
00:36:43.720 in church going,
00:36:45.200 well,
00:36:45.700 I can't think about
00:36:46.400 God right now
00:36:47.220 because I'm just
00:36:48.080 blown away
00:36:48.600 by this statue?
00:36:50.160 I mean,
00:36:50.460 maybe,
00:36:50.900 it's possible
00:36:51.700 but I think
00:36:52.960 the whole point
00:36:53.880 of religious art
00:36:54.660 and icons
00:36:55.260 and statues
00:36:55.760 and stained glass
00:36:56.540 along with the music
00:36:57.680 by the way
00:36:58.060 is to elevate
00:36:59.200 our spirits,
00:36:59.940 our minds
00:37:00.320 and bring us closer
00:37:01.300 into communion
00:37:01.940 with the divine.
00:37:02.780 That's what it does.
00:37:04.440 So when you see
00:37:06.780 a beautiful,
00:37:09.040 so the Pieta,
00:37:11.340 I think the most
00:37:14.260 beautiful sculpture
00:37:15.500 ever sculpted.
00:37:17.960 but when I look
00:37:19.960 at that,
00:37:21.360 yeah,
00:37:22.640 there is a moment
00:37:23.340 of just marveling
00:37:24.440 at the skill
00:37:26.060 and the beauty
00:37:27.780 of it
00:37:28.200 and what must
00:37:29.780 have gone into
00:37:30.500 carving this thing
00:37:32.040 out of a block
00:37:32.760 of stone.
00:37:34.560 So there's that
00:37:35.060 but then very quickly
00:37:36.020 your mind
00:37:36.980 goes to thinking
00:37:39.060 about
00:37:39.540 what this statue
00:37:41.180 represents
00:37:41.700 and what it depicts
00:37:42.680 which is the
00:37:44.000 mother of Jesus
00:37:45.880 holding him
00:37:46.760 in her arms
00:37:47.700 after he was
00:37:48.120 taken down
00:37:48.420 from the cross
00:37:48.800 and so you start
00:37:49.200 thinking about that
00:37:49.800 you think about
00:37:50.200 the cross
00:37:50.600 you think about
00:37:51.020 this and that
00:37:51.420 so I think
00:37:52.420 that's what art
00:37:53.020 does
00:37:53.380 and that's why
00:37:54.840 it's good to have
00:37:55.420 it in a church
00:37:55.940 because it makes
00:37:56.700 you,
00:37:58.080 yeah,
00:37:58.820 you think for a moment
00:37:59.540 about the thing
00:38:00.060 itself if it's beautiful
00:38:01.000 but then it quickly
00:38:01.840 brings your mind
00:38:02.660 to the greater thing.
00:38:04.340 as I mentioned
00:38:07.320 I really think
00:38:08.100 that if we're worried
00:38:08.840 about art
00:38:09.520 distracting from God
00:38:10.980 at church
00:38:11.620 or becoming an idol
00:38:13.000 as it were
00:38:13.600 the real worry
00:38:15.040 is not with paintings
00:38:16.060 or sculptures
00:38:16.700 which people look at
00:38:18.920 and appreciate
00:38:19.560 and then almost
00:38:20.520 inadvertently
00:38:21.040 from their minds
00:38:21.800 they,
00:38:22.460 you know,
00:38:23.840 from there
00:38:24.340 they begin thinking
00:38:25.300 about other things
00:38:25.800 I think the real worry
00:38:27.100 is not with that
00:38:28.200 but with music
00:38:28.840 which is also art
00:38:30.340 in a church,
00:38:30.960 right?
00:38:32.160 Now,
00:38:32.640 music can really
00:38:34.540 become an idol
00:38:35.220 I think.
00:38:36.860 It can really become
00:38:37.680 essentially the point
00:38:38.820 of the whole experience
00:38:39.720 and the church band
00:38:41.040 becomes like a mini rock band
00:38:43.700 and they're all
00:38:44.560 little mini rock musicians
00:38:45.960 who are glorifying themselves
00:38:47.760 rather than God.
00:38:49.120 That can happen
00:38:50.220 and does happen
00:38:50.980 and it is in my mind
00:38:52.560 a much greater concern
00:38:53.500 than some inanimate sculpture
00:38:55.720 becoming anyone's idol.
00:38:57.080 I think it's much more likely
00:38:58.360 that the band leader
00:39:00.060 or even the pastor
00:39:02.100 will become
00:39:03.180 an idol.
00:39:05.260 All right.
00:39:07.140 This is from Taylor
00:39:08.580 says,
00:39:09.700 Hi Matt,
00:39:10.060 I agree with most
00:39:10.720 of what you say
00:39:11.220 but I think
00:39:11.760 you are hypocritical
00:39:13.240 in one area.
00:39:13.980 You say you want
00:39:14.580 to reduce abortions
00:39:15.580 which will probably mean
00:39:16.480 more children up
00:39:17.220 for adoption
00:39:17.700 but you would rather
00:39:19.160 leave children
00:39:19.800 in orphanages
00:39:20.580 than allow loving
00:39:21.440 gay couples
00:39:21.920 to adopt them.
00:39:22.760 Do you really think
00:39:23.320 it's better for a child
00:39:24.100 to be in a foster home
00:39:25.100 than adopted
00:39:25.600 by a gay couple
00:39:26.440 and how does this work
00:39:27.940 with your pro-life beliefs?
00:39:29.460 Taylor,
00:39:29.820 so I think there are
00:39:30.500 a few things here
00:39:31.140 we have to work through.
00:39:32.200 First of all,
00:39:33.580 the hypothetical abolition
00:39:34.560 of abortion
00:39:35.160 would not result
00:39:36.660 in a whole bunch
00:39:37.540 of babies stuck
00:39:38.260 in purgatory
00:39:38.900 in the system
00:39:39.500 for years on end.
00:39:40.780 There is no problem
00:39:41.840 in this country
00:39:42.760 with babies
00:39:43.920 not finding families
00:39:45.040 to adopt them.
00:39:45.780 That's a myth
00:39:46.360 and that's something
00:39:47.420 you hear from pro-abortion
00:39:48.200 people all the time.
00:39:48.960 They say,
00:39:49.100 well, hey, look,
00:39:49.680 if we don't kill the babies
00:39:51.260 then they're going to all
00:39:52.700 be in the system forever.
00:39:53.660 even if that was true
00:39:56.340 it's a really bad reason
00:39:57.720 to kill a child.
00:39:58.760 Not that there could
00:39:59.480 ever be a good reason.
00:40:02.500 But it's not true.
00:40:04.040 Now,
00:40:04.680 there are children
00:40:06.360 who sadly,
00:40:07.100 tragically end up
00:40:08.100 in the system
00:40:09.360 sometimes
00:40:10.000 until they're 18
00:40:11.840 and are never adopted.
00:40:12.980 but those are children
00:40:15.360 who end up
00:40:16.020 in the system
00:40:16.660 when they're older
00:40:17.980 like when they're 6 or 7.
00:40:19.300 It is hard
00:40:20.000 to get a 6 or 7 year old
00:40:21.440 kid adopted
00:40:22.260 unfortunately.
00:40:24.260 But
00:40:24.500 the
00:40:25.860 rush of new
00:40:29.620 children
00:40:30.440 into the system
00:40:31.080 that would happen
00:40:31.640 from abolishing abortion
00:40:33.280 these would not be
00:40:34.000 6 year old kids.
00:40:34.960 These would be infants.
00:40:36.260 And there is no problem
00:40:37.400 with getting infants adopted.
00:40:39.120 There's a
00:40:40.080 waiting list
00:40:41.280 50 miles long.
00:40:42.980 of people
00:40:43.720 who are just
00:40:44.380 waiting
00:40:45.080 to adopt an infant.
00:40:46.760 So there's
00:40:47.200 absolutely no problem
00:40:48.360 with that.
00:40:49.560 So if we ended up
00:40:50.520 with
00:40:50.980 100,000
00:40:52.420 new infant
00:40:53.280 infants
00:40:55.040 up for adoption
00:40:55.720 who would have
00:40:56.120 otherwise been aborted
00:40:56.980 all of those infants
00:40:58.440 would get adopted
00:40:59.040 in pretty short order.
00:41:01.900 So
00:41:02.140 there's that.
00:41:06.600 So this idea
00:41:07.460 that we would need
00:41:08.060 to expand adoption
00:41:08.960 to gay couples
00:41:09.600 in order to get
00:41:10.080 all the kids adopted
00:41:10.800 just not true.
00:41:12.980 The second point
00:41:13.980 is that
00:41:14.560 in my mind
00:41:17.340 every child
00:41:18.500 needs
00:41:19.680 and deserves
00:41:20.580 a mother and father.
00:41:24.200 And that's
00:41:25.000 a biological need.
00:41:26.300 There's a reason
00:41:26.980 why
00:41:27.540 every child
00:41:29.600 in history
00:41:30.280 every person
00:41:31.040 in history
00:41:31.620 has been created
00:41:33.220 by a mother
00:41:34.060 and father.
00:41:34.460 So even
00:41:35.420 if you don't
00:41:36.080 want to use
00:41:36.440 the word
00:41:36.720 God
00:41:37.180 let's say
00:41:38.820 nature
00:41:39.440 clearly
00:41:41.260 intends
00:41:41.880 for every child
00:41:43.440 to have
00:41:43.900 a mother and father
00:41:44.760 which is why
00:41:45.860 every child
00:41:46.260 does have
00:41:46.620 a mother and father
00:41:47.160 even if their
00:41:47.820 mother and father
00:41:48.320 are
00:41:49.040 unable
00:41:50.600 or unwilling
00:41:51.240 to care for them.
00:41:53.200 So what I would
00:41:53.760 ask you is
00:41:54.520 if we're talking
00:41:57.280 about gay adoption
00:41:58.060 which of the two
00:42:00.140 is expendable
00:42:00.820 in your mind
00:42:01.280 mother or father?
00:42:02.080 I mean
00:42:03.720 you clearly think
00:42:04.380 that one of them
00:42:04.940 is expendable.
00:42:06.160 So if we're talking
00:42:06.860 about two gay men
00:42:07.620 adopting a child
00:42:08.240 so you think
00:42:08.600 the mothers
00:42:09.020 we just
00:42:09.400 you know
00:42:09.700 he doesn't need
00:42:10.700 a mother.
00:42:11.220 A guy can do that.
00:42:14.560 Well here's the thing
00:42:15.400 a guy can't do that
00:42:16.640 actually.
00:42:17.580 A man cannot
00:42:18.720 function as a mother.
00:42:21.140 And so
00:42:21.680 a man can be
00:42:24.060 a very loving father
00:42:25.260 but he cannot
00:42:26.680 be a mother.
00:42:27.340 That is just
00:42:27.740 not a role
00:42:28.420 that he can
00:42:28.800 biologically fulfill.
00:42:30.960 And there is a
00:42:31.920 certain
00:42:32.760 there are certain
00:42:33.300 emotional
00:42:33.980 psychological needs
00:42:35.840 that a child has
00:42:38.140 that if he doesn't
00:42:39.820 have a mother at home
00:42:40.680 will not be met.
00:42:41.980 Now that doesn't mean
00:42:42.600 that he's doomed
00:42:43.120 doesn't mean the child's doomed
00:42:44.120 doesn't mean the child
00:42:44.940 is going to
00:42:46.220 you know
00:42:46.500 can't end up being
00:42:47.900 happy and fulfilled
00:42:48.720 in life
00:42:49.160 but
00:42:49.460 he will be happy
00:42:51.540 and fulfilled
00:42:52.300 in spite of
00:42:54.420 that disadvantage
00:42:55.320 because it is
00:42:55.880 a disadvantage.
00:42:57.820 So that's the point
00:42:58.900 you know
00:42:59.100 there are plenty
00:43:00.080 of people that live in
00:43:00.980 plenty of kids
00:43:01.840 that are in
00:43:02.120 single parent homes
00:43:03.560 and
00:43:04.680 now
00:43:05.560 many of those kids
00:43:06.700 will end up
00:43:07.780 with very difficult lives
00:43:08.780 but
00:43:09.740 some of them
00:43:10.460 will
00:43:10.780 in the end
00:43:12.640 end up being
00:43:14.460 perfectly well rounded
00:43:15.440 well adjusted
00:43:16.100 people
00:43:17.180 but it will be
00:43:17.840 it will be
00:43:18.640 in spite of
00:43:19.900 that disadvantage
00:43:21.700 it is definitely
00:43:23.940 a disadvantage
00:43:24.680 to be deprived
00:43:26.680 of
00:43:27.100 a mother or father
00:43:28.020 and what I'm saying
00:43:28.840 is
00:43:29.100 if you've got
00:43:30.540 a kid
00:43:30.800 in the system
00:43:31.480 rather than
00:43:34.580 sort of like
00:43:35.140 settling
00:43:35.780 and saying
00:43:37.660 well you know
00:43:38.440 we'll probably
00:43:38.960 never find a mother
00:43:39.720 for this kid
00:43:40.340 so we'll just
00:43:41.560 you know
00:43:42.100 we'll settle
00:43:42.980 for that instead
00:43:43.760 two dads
00:43:44.760 good enough
00:43:45.660 it's really not
00:43:47.540 though
00:43:47.820 you could have
00:43:49.980 ten dads
00:43:50.500 there are no
00:43:51.800 number of dads
00:43:52.680 that are going
00:43:53.360 to amount
00:43:54.460 to
00:43:54.960 one mom
00:43:57.120 just like
00:43:58.400 there are no
00:43:58.780 amount of women
00:43:59.540 that are going
00:44:00.220 to amount
00:44:00.580 to one dad
00:44:01.180 because the dad
00:44:01.840 also fulfills
00:44:02.860 certain
00:44:04.080 emotional
00:44:05.360 psychological
00:44:05.860 needs of the child
00:44:06.620 and child
00:44:08.500 needs and
00:44:09.300 deserves both
00:44:10.180 and so that's
00:44:11.020 my point
00:44:11.420 doesn't really
00:44:13.340 matter how
00:44:13.800 you know
00:44:14.140 whatever you
00:44:14.740 feel about
00:44:17.160 homosexuality
00:44:19.220 or you know
00:44:20.060 gay marriage
00:44:21.020 or whatever
00:44:21.420 it's almost
00:44:22.320 like you could
00:44:22.680 put that issue
00:44:23.100 to the side
00:44:23.680 because this
00:44:25.620 is about
00:44:26.140 the needs
00:44:27.620 of the child
00:44:28.100 nothing really
00:44:30.940 political
00:44:31.360 about it
00:44:32.100 all right
00:44:33.020 we'll leave it
00:44:33.440 there
00:44:33.740 thanks for
00:44:35.700 watching everybody
00:44:36.180 thanks for
00:44:36.540 listening
00:44:36.780 enjoy your
00:44:38.960 night spent
00:44:39.820 reading the
00:44:40.680 Mueller report
00:44:41.220 although honestly
00:44:41.920 I think there
00:44:42.260 are better ways
00:44:42.720 to spend
00:44:43.040 your night
00:44:43.340 Godspeed
00:44:51.420 I'm Michael
00:44:58.060 Knowles
00:44:58.320 host of the
00:44:58.800 Michael Knowles
00:44:59.360 show
00:44:59.640 Attorney General
00:45:00.340 William Barr
00:45:01.000 has released
00:45:01.560 the Mueller
00:45:01.900 report
00:45:02.280 with relatively
00:45:02.940 few redactions
00:45:03.780 he gives a
00:45:04.300 highly entertaining
00:45:05.180 press conference
00:45:05.920 on the details
00:45:06.880 of its release
00:45:07.740 we will analyze
00:45:09.020 all the relevant
00:45:09.680 sections
00:45:10.100 the good
00:45:10.500 the bad
00:45:10.840 and the ugly
00:45:11.220 check it out
00:45:11.700 at dailywire.com
00:45:12.680 thank you