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

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, 1.00

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, 0.87

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, 0.55

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 0.61

00:16:57.940 like a ridiculous fishing expedition, 0.75

00:17:00.420 which it turns out, 0.92

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. 0.99

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 1.00

00:25:43.060 in the face 0.99

00:25:43.580 with a textbook 0.99

00:25:44.180 and then start pummeling her 1.00

00:25:45.760 while the,

00:25:46.280 while the girl's 0.99

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 0.89

00:26:27.140 a coward 0.94

00:26:27.700 and so on 0.98

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 0.99

00:27:04.340 send their awful kids 1.00

00:27:05.780 to school 0.96

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 0.93

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 0.89

00:27:31.560 is that those awful parents 0.97

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 0.62

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 0.83

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, 0.99

00:28:08.380 this crap happens 1.00

00:28:09.320 every day. 0.99

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 0.50

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, 0.54

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 1.00

00:29:16.180 brats 0.98

00:29:16.740 who are going 0.98

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 0.99

00:29:28.700 and a brat 1.00

00:29:29.320 who just, 0.87

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 0.93

00:29:46.140 out-of-control brats? 1.00

00:29:48.440 No, 0.94

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 0.85

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, 0.98

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 0.97

00:35:02.740 a stupid point 0.85

00:35:03.420 by any means. 1.00

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 0.99

00:39:11.760 you are hypocritical 0.98

00:39:13.240 in one area. 0.99

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. 0.90

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, 1.00

00:39:49.680 if we don't kill the babies 1.00

00:39:51.260 then they're going to all 1.00

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 0.99

00:39:57.720 to kill a child. 0.97

00:39:58.760 Not that there could 1.00

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 0.96

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 1.00

00:42:18.720 function as a mother. 0.97

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 0.99

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 0.87

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

The Matt Walsh Show - April 18, 2019

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

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