The Matt Walsh Show - Ep. 426 - The Absurdity Of The Equal Rights Amendment

00:00:00.000 Welcome to the show, friends, neighbors, companions, consorts. I apologize for my

00:00:05.180 absence yesterday, not to get too graphic, but I did wake up Thursday morning a sweaty,

00:00:10.620 coughing, feverish mess. Fortunately, today I woke up just a sweaty, coughing mess,

00:00:15.360 but without much of a fever. So I think we can get through this. I'm going to give it a go. I

00:00:20.360 think we'll be okay. If I hack up a lung in the process of the show, don't be alarmed. I do have

00:00:25.120 a backup lung, so I should be fine. I really wanted to do the show today because I need to

00:00:32.040 talk about the Democrats in Congress trying to pass, trying to revive, I should say, the Equal 0.52

00:00:37.640 Rights Amendment. And you probably know, one of my favorite pastimes is to debunk the silliness of 0.85

00:00:44.680 feminists. And there is nothing sillier than the Equal Rights Amendment. Silly being one hell of 1.00

00:00:51.720 an understatement here. Before we talk about this, something that you need to understand,

00:00:56.980 if you don't already, which I'm sure you do, is that feminism has become the most vacuous, 1.00

00:01:03.780 useless movement known to humanity. These women, these feminists, are desperate to be oppressed, 1.00

00:01:12.920 but sadly for them, they live in the freest and most prosperous nation on earth. Very unfortunate for

00:01:19.300 them. Such is their luck. They want to be oppressed, but they can't be because they're free. And even in

00:01:25.760 the context of, even within the context of this free and prosperous nation, they are arguably among

00:01:32.260 the freest and most prosperous inhabitants inside it. So, but they can't abide this. They just can't.

00:01:38.360 They want to be persecuted. They need to be persecuted. And their greatest persecution really is that they

00:01:43.900 aren't persecuted, but they can't say that. So instead they go out looking for boogeymen to fight,

00:01:49.240 which brings us to the Equal Rights Amendment. There was an attempt in the seventies to get this

00:01:54.620 ratified, but it failed. Now Democrats are trying to pick it up again. And they're trying to do it

00:02:00.480 literally by picking up where they left off in the seventies. They needed one more state to ratify

00:02:05.080 in order to, to, to, to, to, to, to pass it. Now they have that state and they want to just

00:02:13.960 take that and run with it rather than going through the whole process of getting all the

00:02:19.100 states, all 38 that are needed, getting them all again. Now this, obviously it seems to me

00:02:24.760 from a procedure standpoint alone is totally illegitimate. It's been five decades. If you want

00:02:32.160 to do this again, you need to start from scratch. In fact, even Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

00:02:35.700 who is a fan of the amendment has said that if you want to do this, you got to start over. You

00:02:40.020 can't just, you can't just pretend the last five decades didn't happen. So that's the procedural end

00:02:44.980 of it. What about the amendment itself? Well, here's what it says. It says equality of rights under the

00:02:51.340 law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

00:02:56.120 Simple enough. Sounds harmless, right? On its own, except that at a minimum, just to begin with,

00:03:04.580 it's entirely useless and pointless. It's already illegal to discriminate based on sex.

00:03:09.640 This is already illegal. Not only is it illegal, but there are, there are no examples that anyone

00:03:14.520 can provide of actual legal sex-based discrimination against women. Not only that, but women in America

00:03:22.180 today have it very, very good. Better than almost anybody else. Point being, the system and the laws

00:03:30.740 are working quite well for women. So that this amendment, at a minimum, is redundant and useless. 1.00

00:03:39.020 But it's worse than that, of course, because it actually opens the door to a number of far-left

00:03:43.640 agenda items, which is why they want to pass it, and we'll talk about that in a minute.

00:03:46.780 Before we get to that, let's actually listen, lest I be accused of making a straw man out of my

00:03:52.780 opposite, or a straw woman, I suppose, out of my opposition in this case. Let's actually listen

00:03:57.000 to the Democrat women on the House floor explaining why we need this amendment. We're going to listen

00:04:01.800 to what they have to say. But before we do that, a quick word from Ancestry.com. You know, it's one of

00:04:10.100 the ways you can understand yourself and who you are and how you ended up here is to go back

00:04:16.440 and look at your ancestry and learn your family history. And that's what's so fascinating about

00:04:21.520 it, is that as you're learning about your family, you're also learning about yourself. Ancestry DNA

00:04:25.300 can reveal ethnic origins and provide historical details that bring unique family stories to life.

00:04:30.720 Ancestry DNA doesn't just tell you which countries you're from, but also can pinpoint the specific

00:04:36.580 regions within those countries, giving you insightful geographic detail about your history. So this is

00:04:41.600 very, this is, we're not, we're not just talking broad brush strokes. We're talking about very specific

00:04:46.240 information about your, your family history. You can trace the paths of your recent ancestors, learn

00:04:51.580 how and why your family moved from place to place around the world. No other DNA test delivers such a

00:04:57.380 unique and sort of interactive experience. It's easy to start making discoveries with Ancestry. You can grab

00:05:03.400 an Ancestry DNA kit, start a free trial to amplify your discoveries. And, you know, I've done this

00:05:10.660 myself and the first thing I could, at least for me, the one, the one thing that jumped out at me,

00:05:15.980 first of all, is how easy it is to do and how quick it is. I thought this would be a long sort

00:05:21.320 of drawn out process, but you send in the package very easy. They make it very easy on you. You get

00:05:25.380 the results back a lot faster than you think you will. And for me, it's been extremely illuminating to

00:05:30.180 see my own Ancestry sort of unfurled in front of me. You could start exploring your, your family story

00:05:36.800 today. Head to my URL at ancestry.com slash Matt to get your Ancestry DNA kit and start your free

00:05:42.940 trial. That's ancestry.com slash Matt. That's ancestry.com slash Matt. Okay. Now here are the

00:05:51.060 Democrat women in Congress explaining why this equal rights amendment is needed. We'll start with 1.00

00:05:55.540 the renowned legal scholar, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Here's what she has to say.

00:06:02.780 After nearly a century, the equal rights amendment is on the cusp of ratification.

00:06:07.880 At America's founding, women were intentionally left out of the Constitution. As second-class 0.99

00:06:13.280 citizens, we lack the right to vote, hold most jobs, or even own property. Today, we still receive

00:06:18.880 less pay for the same work, and we face violence and harassment just for being a woman. But the ERA 0.90

00:06:24.220 will prohibit all of that. In the eyes of our most sacred document, we will finally be equal.

00:06:29.120 Women's rights should not depend on congressional whims or who occupies the White House. 1.00

00:06:33.900 These basic fundamental rights must be guaranteed. But if we want to hand a more perfect union over

00:06:38.700 to our daughters, and I have two of them, we must seize this moment to end sex discrimination.

00:06:44.040 We owe it to the women who sacrificed before us and all of our daughters and sons who deserve a life

00:06:48.300 of true equality. So I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this resolution to remove the arbitrary

00:06:53.040 an outdated deadline for ratifying the ERA. I yield back. Okay, so what reason does she give us?

00:07:00.140 Women are paid less for the same work. Well, that's not true. Okay, that's a lie. And you're 1.00

00:07:06.900 going to hear this lie from every Democrat arguing for this amendment. In spite of the fact that even

00:07:12.820 aside from it being a lie, there's already an Equal Pay Act on the books. In fact, sex-based wage

00:07:19.100 discrimination is illegal from about 10 different directions already. And it's not like those laws

00:07:26.860 have proven somehow ineffective. Women are not paid less for the same work. The 70 cents on a dollar or 1.00

00:07:34.620 80 cents on a dollar, whatever figure they're pulling out of a hat, the way that they get that,

00:07:39.780 if it's based on any kind of reality at all, it's based on a broad comparison of all females versus 1.00

00:07:45.620 all males in all kinds of jobs. In other words, we're looking at the general average of what all

00:07:52.360 women make and comparing it to the general average of what all men make across the board.

00:07:58.280 This is most assuredly not comparing the same work. So when they say, you know, it's an unequal pay for

00:08:06.180 the same work, that is, again, that is a bald-faced lie. That's all it is. They're just lying to your

00:08:12.060 face about it, making no attempt to conform what they're saying with reality.

00:08:21.640 When you actually compare women and men doing the same work, the same kinds of jobs in the same

00:08:29.100 industries, and then you further control for factors like experience level, skill level,

00:08:37.600 hours worked, that sort of thing, the wage gap all but disappears. The only way to get this wage gap

00:08:45.740 is to make a comparison without taking into account the type of work, the industry, hours worked,

00:08:52.520 experience level, skill level, or anything else. The only way to get the wage gap is to ignore all of

00:08:58.300 the things that might reasonably explain a wage gap without sexism. So you have to throw those out

00:09:03.760 to begin with in totality and then look at the wage gap. In other words, the only way to see a sexist

00:09:10.720 wage gap is to assume going in that the only explanation for a wage gap is sexism and thus

00:09:17.840 discard everything else. And then what do you know? Look, we've just proven sexism. In reality, of course,

00:09:23.600 men, generally speaking, tend to work more hours. They tend to take on more dangerous jobs,

00:09:31.020 which often means higher pay. They tend to gravitate towards higher paying jobs. They tend

00:09:37.740 to prioritize higher pay more than women do, whereas women are going to be more focused on 1.00

00:09:47.100 having more time with their family and that sort of thing, which is great, by the way.

00:09:51.280 Men also tend to negotiate for more. Women are more reluctant to negotiate for a higher salary 0.96

00:10:01.300 during the hiring process. Now, there's nothing preventing a woman from negotiating for a higher 1.00

00:10:07.780 salary. There's nothing preventing a woman from taking on more dangerous jobs. There's nothing 1.00

00:10:12.000 preventing a woman from moving to North Dakota to work on an oil rig. A woman could do that. It's just 0.99

00:10:18.200 that almost no woman does do that because they don't want to. So all of these feminists saying, 1.00

00:10:24.320 oh, you know, we don't get paid the same. Okay, I don't see you going out to do these dangerous

00:10:27.880 jobs that men are doing and getting paid for them. You could do them. You just don't want to, 1.00

00:10:32.360 and that's fine. But admit that the reason you're not getting paid like that is because you don't want

00:10:37.620 to do the job. So this wage gap thing is absurd. It has nothing to do with sexism whatsoever.

00:10:44.360 By the way, are there examples of industries where, in general, men make more than women,

00:10:52.820 even within the actual industry itself? Sure, probably. There are also examples of industries

00:10:58.940 where women get paid more than men. The modeling industry, for example. The highest paid female 1.00

00:11:06.060 model makes like 40 or 50 times what the highest paid male model makes. A similar situation in the

00:11:12.880 reverse can be found in sports. And we hear about this all the time, that if you compare the highest

00:11:19.180 paid WNBA star to the highest paid NBA star, you're going to find a similar disparity, 40 to 50,

00:11:24.940 if not more, you know. Why are these disparities in place? Well, because female models are simply worth 1.00

00:11:31.600 more. They bring in more revenue. The market is more interested in them. Same for male athletes.

00:11:39.020 Okay, it's not sexism. It's the marketplace. Now, what else did Schultz mention as evidence that we

00:11:47.040 need an equal rights amendment? Well, she said women are victims of violence in America. Okay, true. 1.00

00:11:52.700 Actually, men are victims of at least some forms of violence more often than women are. Men are more 1.00

00:11:57.740 likely to be victims of homicide, for example. But in any case, violence against women is illegal. 0.99

00:12:04.400 It's already illegal to commit violence against a woman. We don't need an equal rights amendment to 1.00

00:12:10.680 prohibit violence against women because it's already prohibited. Yes, it still happens because 1.00

00:12:17.640 people break the law, but an amendment to the Constitution is not going to stop people

00:12:21.920 proactively from breaking the law. Okay, next we're going to go to Ayanna Pressley, whose arguments 0.96

00:12:28.940 for the equal rights amendment are about as crazy as you might expect. But first, a word from Ring.

00:12:36.020 You know, Ring is, it's so convenient and it gives you such peace of mind and security and protection

00:12:43.280 in the home that it's hard for me to imagine going back to a time when you didn't have it. I mean,

00:12:47.000 imagine going back to this barbaric primitive time when there's someone at your door and you actually

00:12:52.760 have to answer it physically in person. Okay? Imagine that. You have to get up, walk, or if

00:12:59.680 you're not at the house and someone knocks on your door, then that's just it. You'll never know. You'll

00:13:04.160 never know they were there. Well, that's not the case with Ring. Ring's mission is to make

00:13:08.800 neighborhoods safer. You might already know about their smart video doorbells and cameras that protect

00:13:13.240 millions of people everywhere. Ring helps you stay connected to your home anywhere in the world.

00:13:17.240 So if there's a package delivery or surprise visitor, you'll get an alert. You'll be able to hear,

00:13:21.360 speak to them all from your phone, from wherever you are in the world. You could be, you know,

00:13:27.620 8,000 miles away and you'll know there's somebody at your door and you can actually talk to them.

00:13:32.920 And, uh, and that's been, that's been my experience with Ring. It's, it's, you know,

00:13:36.780 one of the great things about it is, is just the simple convenience of it, of being able to

00:13:42.780 communicate with anybody who comes up to your house. Uh, even if you're not able to get to the

00:13:47.780 door, even if you're at home, but you can't get to the door, but there are the

00:13:51.180 plenty of times when there's someone at the door, I'm dealing with the kids. I can't get there. I've

00:13:54.540 got my phone. I can talk to them. That's great. But also again, it's a peace of mind, the security

00:13:58.480 of just knowing that you've got your eyes on what's going on around your house. As a subscriber,

00:14:03.420 you have a special offer on a Ring welcome kit available right now at ring.com slash Walsh.

00:14:08.120 The kit includes a video doorbell and chime pro, which is just what you need to start building a

00:14:12.460 ring of security around your home today. Go to ring.com slash Walsh. That's ring.com slash Walsh. Okay.

00:14:19.560 Okay. Here's a, here's what Ayanna Pressley has to say about the equal rights amendment. Listen,

00:14:26.020 the year is now 2020 and here we women are still in so many ways, not fully free, still shackled

00:14:33.920 today. I rise to affirm the humanity and the dignity of all women. I rise in strong, unapologetic,

00:14:41.740 righteous support of HJ res 79, which will strike the arbitrary deadline for ratification of the equal

00:14:49.040 rights amendment, an amendment that should already be the law of the land. Women are strong,

00:14:55.500 hardworking, bright, and resilient. We are the backbones of our families, our common communities

00:15:02.500 and our democracy. We do not live in checked boxes. We live in an intersectionality of lived

00:15:08.920 experiences and identities. Our issues are everyone's issues because our destinies are all tied.

00:15:16.260 Tomorrow's vote on HJ res 79 is a vote for the preservation of our collective humanity.

00:15:23.720 Despite our commitment to hard work, both within our households and on the job,

00:15:27.940 we're still paid less than our male counterparts. In addition to pay discrimination, we face pregnancy

00:15:33.860 discrimination, discrimination in the criminal legal system, sexual and domestic violence,

00:15:39.020 and inadequate healthcare access. But this isn't an accident. The American constitution is sexist

00:15:46.480 by its very design. First of all, can we just, uh, uh, can we back up? Did you catch where she said

00:15:53.660 we live in an intersectionality of lived experiences and identities? Did you catch that? We live in

00:16:01.720 an intersectionality of lived experiences and identities. Do you know what that sentence means?

00:16:08.160 Nothing. Doesn't mean anything. It has no meaning. It is a sentence without content.

00:16:13.480 These are just words thrown together as a signal. These are just a signal to other far leftists that

00:16:19.540 she's a compatriot of theirs. The phrase intersectionality of lived experiences and identities

00:16:24.100 means nothing other than, I am an enlightened leftist. Please listen to me and take me seriously.

00:16:30.540 Now, really it becomes, it's, that's what it's a signal to other far leftists, but to everybody

00:16:36.660 else, to normal people, to rational people, it becomes a signal of, I am a vapid, empty-headed,

00:16:44.360 um, person just spouting meaningless words to sound intelligent. Please don't take me seriously.

00:16:51.140 That's, that's how everybody else interprets it. But, uh, I mean, the moment you say intersectionality

00:16:56.500 of lived experiences, I'm just, I'm done. I'm not, like, I can't, I couldn't take you seriously at

00:17:00.940 that point. There's no way I could. Is there any such thing as an unlived experience? What's the

00:17:08.840 point of saying lived? What's the point of attaching lived to experience? Considering that by definition,

00:17:14.360 all experiences must be lived. If you had an experience, it means you lived it by definition.

00:17:19.940 Saying lived experience is like saying vehicular automobile. You're just, you're attaching words

00:17:27.600 to other words to sound smart, because you think that if you, if you make, if you use more words

00:17:32.420 than you need to, it's, it's, it's a sign of intelligence. It's actually quite the opposite.

00:17:36.980 In any case, what reasons does she give for the amendment, other than the fact that we live in

00:17:45.660 an intersectionality of lived experiences and identities? Well, she says the equal pay thing, 0.86

00:17:49.620 which we've covered. And then she says the constitution is sexist by design. This is false.

00:17:54.660 Again, women have all the same rights that men do, and even some additional rights that we don't have, 1.00

00:17:59.600 such as the right to kill their children. If the constitution was sexist, that wouldn't be the case. 0.79

00:18:04.460 She also has, she also says that women are discriminated against in the legal system. 0.99

00:18:09.080 This is also false. In fact, women receive lighter sentences for the same crimes and are more likely 0.99

00:18:14.580 to receive no jail time at all for crimes that send male men to jail. And that is after controlling

00:18:21.500 for things like criminal history. Aside from that, she has a bunch of sort of general platitudes about

00:18:27.480 the horrors of being women in modern America. And I'll respond to those in a minute. But first, 1.00

00:18:32.280 let's add Rashida Tlaib into the mix. Thank you so much. I rise very proudly the first Muslim woman

00:18:39.520 ever elected in Congress in support of House Joint Resolution 79. I swear it's what's even more

00:18:46.900 interesting is what I've been hearing about is this obsession to control and oppress women in the

00:18:53.240 United States of America. And I cannot believe it's 2020. We're still debating the merits of equal

00:18:58.380 rights amendment. It's beyond time. I want you all to know this is about women of color, women with

00:19:04.660 disabilities, transgender women, immigrant women, all disproportionate. These women are affected by

00:19:09.720 issues like unequal pay, sexual violence, lack of access for health care and poverty. So much of what

00:19:16.700 we're doing here in trying to promote women's equality is about gender, racial and economic justice. 0.91

00:19:21.720 So I would ask you all know this, a no vote today is condoning oppression of women in the United

00:19:27.740 States of America. And I urge support and yield the balance of my time. Okay, so again, the unequal pay

00:19:34.900 thing. That's really all they have. And they don't even have that. She talks about violence against 0.99

00:19:40.500 women, which once again, is already illegal. We don't need an amendment for that. Did you know there's 1.00

00:19:46.140 also no specific amendment that makes it illegal to attack men? There isn't a specific anti-violence

00:19:55.100 against men amendment. Because that's already covered under the basic concept of human rights. 0.94

00:20:03.820 And every state in the country has laws against assault and murder. And there are federal laws

00:20:10.260 against it too. And everybody is covered by that, unless you're an unborn child. In which case,

00:20:16.720 women specifically have the unique power to kill you without any legal repercussions whatsoever. 1.00

00:20:23.020 And then she goes on, Rashida Tlaib as well, goes on about this oppression of women saying people are

00:20:28.280 obsessed with oppressing women. Who? Give me an example. Give me a real life, actual example in the

00:20:37.320 United States of oppression against women. Now, you could, of legal, legal oppression against women.

00:20:44.160 Now, you could give me many examples, which Rashida Tlaib seems reluctant to do. But you could give me

00:20:50.320 many, many examples in Muslim countries of legal oppression of women. That's a real problem. 1.00

00:20:55.380 But feminists aren't too focused on that. Instead, they want to find it in the United States. They can't 1.00

00:21:00.000 find it. Here's the reality. Now that we've heard the feverish fantasies of these ridiculous feminists, 1.00

00:21:05.560 the reality is this. Legally, women have, as I said, all of the rights that men have. You cannot 1.00

00:21:13.740 give me an example of a right that men have that women don't. I can, on the other hand, and have 0.96

00:21:19.940 already given examples in the opposite direction. One that I've already given, a big one, men have no 0.60

00:21:27.620 rights at all. They have no parental rights when their children are in the womb. That's a pretty big

00:21:33.360 example. Nothing like that exists on the other end of the spectrum. Discrimination. Well, I already

00:21:42.700 told you that statistics show that in the legal system, women get lighter sentences than men.

00:21:47.280 Can you show me legal discrimination going in the other direction? And this is to say nothing of the

00:21:51.460 family courts, where women are far more likely to be awarded custody in divorce battles than are men.

00:22:00.280 Now, you could argue that there's a reason for that. You could say that it's not about anti-male

00:22:07.060 bias. I mean, you can't deny that women are far more likely to be awarded custody. That's just

00:22:10.460 true. That's the truth. That's the statistical reality. But you could say, oh, it's not about

00:22:15.480 any kind of broad bias against males. It's just that you could argue men are less likely to fight for

00:22:23.260 custody. You could argue that if a child is going to be predominantly raised by one parent or another,

00:22:30.940 it's better, generally speaking, that it be the mother. You could argue these things. But if you

00:22:38.300 do, you'd be admitting, number one, that men and women are different and must therefore be treated

00:22:42.620 differently, even sometimes in a systemic sort of way, a legal way, and that it's possible to do that

00:22:49.980 in a way that is not bigoted. And then you would also be admitting that there could be non-bigoted

00:22:58.320 reasons for gender disparities. But if you admit that, then you have to go back to any gender

00:23:04.260 disparities where women are on the losing end, potentially, and ask yourself if this applies

00:23:09.420 to that as well. So if you're going to, and I have heard this justification from feminists 1.00

00:23:15.280 for this family court thing, where they say, for example, well, men are less likely to fight for

00:23:20.760 custody. I don't even know if that's true. But if it is, okay, let's go back to the wage gap.

00:23:26.540 Women are less likely to fight for a higher wage in the hiring process. 1.00

00:23:33.160 So if the one is not anti-male bias, then this is not anti-female bias.

00:23:39.420 And in terms of just the general condition of women versus men, here's what else I know.

00:23:45.540 Women, females, are more likely to graduate, more likely to go to college, less likely to get 1.00

00:23:52.220 suspended or expelled in school, less likely to be put on drugs for supposed mental disorders like ADHD

00:23:59.120 in their schooling years. Men make up the majority of murder victims, the majority of workplace injuries,

00:24:07.000 the majority of homeless people, the majority of drug addicts, and the majority of suicides.

00:24:14.300 So I'm not saying that women don't have their own challenges in society. 0.97

00:24:19.900 They do.

00:24:21.360 But men do as well.

00:24:23.340 And given everything I've just laid out, it's going to be very difficult to actually prove

00:24:28.240 that women somehow have it worse. 1.00

00:24:30.280 Have it so bad, in fact, that we need a whole new amendment to the Constitution

00:24:34.160 to remedy the problem.

00:24:36.420 I just don't think you can.

00:24:39.060 Now, I have given you real, actual, statistical, evidence-based examples

00:24:47.440 of unique ways that men struggle in society.

00:24:53.260 If you have similar examples for women, then present them.

00:24:56.900 But you notice that none of these people did.

00:25:01.340 They have lies.

00:25:02.600 They have half-truths.

00:25:03.720 They have platitudes.

00:25:06.860 They have no evidence.

00:25:08.520 And if they do, they haven't presented it.

00:25:11.720 Now, so what is the Equal Rights Amendment actually going to do?

00:25:17.880 Well, at best, it's just redundant and useless.

00:25:20.820 So at best, you've added an amendment to the Constitution that's redundant and useless.

00:25:24.060 But one thing we know about redundant and useless laws is that they end up getting exploited.

00:25:34.420 Because usually there's a reason why the people who are fighting for the redundant and useless law want it.

00:25:41.640 It's not just for symbolic reasons.

00:25:43.740 They intend to do something with it that they haven't been able to do with the current laws that are on the books.

00:25:49.160 So the law looks on the surface to be redundant, but actually it's not.

00:25:54.260 Because they're going to use it as a vehicle for something.

00:25:56.900 What are leftists going to use this as a vehicle for? 0.82

00:26:01.000 Well, a number of things.

00:26:04.060 First of all, this could be used as a justification, a legal basis,

00:26:10.160 for ending all sex segregation in every aspect of life.

00:26:17.320 Bathrooms, sports.

00:26:20.520 Those would be two big ones.

00:26:21.720 Now, we know this is something the left has been trying to do with respect to, you know,

00:26:28.200 to trans, quote unquote, trans women.

00:26:30.460 That would be men who are claiming to be women. 0.63

00:26:34.180 But you get rid of the segregation completely,

00:26:36.540 and now men don't even have to go through the trouble of claiming to be women

00:26:39.800 in order to get access to these spaces.

00:26:41.280 Why would feminists want to do that, thereby putting women, you know, in danger? 1.00

00:26:48.820 Well, that's a good question.

00:26:50.560 But many of them want to.

00:26:55.940 Of course, we know right away that women are going to be eligible for the draft 1.00

00:27:03.840 under a law like this, an amendment like this.

00:27:07.240 But I think the primary thing they're looking to do with this amendment

00:27:12.140 is to ensure government funding for abortion across the country.

00:27:18.360 Because what they're going to do is they're going to claim that, you know,

00:27:21.320 we have government funding for other medical things,

00:27:25.900 and not allowing it for abortion is now sex discrimination,

00:27:30.340 because women are the ones getting abortions, 1.00

00:27:33.540 and it's a legitimate, they say, medical procedure.

00:27:36.180 And so, according to this amendment now,

00:27:39.180 you're violating this amendment if you don't give government funding for abortion.

00:27:44.720 So I would say that ending sex segregation in bathrooms and sports,

00:27:48.960 putting women in the draft, that's probably more of a side effect. 1.00

00:27:53.320 I think there are some feminists who really want to do that. 1.00

00:27:56.880 Again, I can't imagine why, because it's going to be very harmful to women. 1.00

00:28:00.240 But we know that this is the irony of left-wing feminists, 1.00

00:28:07.300 is that they're constantly arguing for policies that are harmful to women. 0.97

00:28:11.620 I don't think that's the main point.

00:28:12.680 I think the real main primary point is this.

00:28:16.060 It's government funding of abortion.

00:28:17.960 So this would really be the government funding of abortion amendment.

00:28:21.480 And that's what they're trying to do.

00:28:22.680 All right, let's move on.

00:28:27.460 Okay, I needed to talk about this.

00:28:29.120 Do we have to?

00:28:29.760 Yeah, before emails, because this is a subject that's very important to me,

00:28:34.720 very near and dear to my heart, personally,

00:28:38.500 as a tall person who flies on planes a lot.

00:28:44.540 I don't know if you saw this video that was online yesterday.

00:28:46.620 It's a confrontation between two passengers on a flight.

00:28:50.020 The one passenger, the woman, is reclining her seat into a guy's lap. 0.59

00:28:54.300 He doesn't like that.

00:28:55.540 So he's punching the seat to register his protest.

00:29:00.660 Yet she keeps it reclined.

00:29:02.540 And anyway, watch this.

00:29:04.340 There you go.

00:29:21.440 Now, you could argue that they're both being jerks.

00:29:26.320 They're both being childish.

00:29:27.240 Some people have asked, why didn't the guy simply ask her to put the seat back up

00:29:33.440 rather than punching her seat? 0.73

00:29:34.600 Well, maybe he did.

00:29:36.840 How do we know he didn't?

00:29:39.760 We're doing this thing again where we see an out-of-context clip on the internet

00:29:43.360 of an altercation between two people, and it's 10 or 15 seconds long.

00:29:48.600 And we assume there's no other context whatsoever,

00:29:51.520 which always ends up being incorrect,

00:29:54.720 because there's always some kind of context,

00:29:56.520 whether that context will ultimately absolve one person or another.

00:30:00.460 That's a different question.

00:30:01.320 But there's always going to be a context for what you see.

00:30:03.700 It's not like it just happened randomly out of nowhere.

00:30:06.520 So I agree that he should have asked her to put her seat up.

00:30:10.760 If he didn't ask and instead just started punching it at her seat,

00:30:13.880 then yes, he's a jerk. 0.60

00:30:15.420 But so is she.

00:30:16.780 If he did ask and she refused or ignored him,

00:30:22.300 which is a situation that many of us have been in in the past,

00:30:26.080 I've been in it, where you ask nicely,

00:30:28.340 hey, would you mind putting your seat back up?

00:30:29.620 You're right.

00:30:29.980 You know, you're in my space.

00:30:30.900 I'm sure.

00:30:31.720 And they just ignore you.

00:30:33.700 So if he asked and she refused or ignored him,

00:30:36.260 and then he started punching the seat,

00:30:38.240 well, then he is a hero.

00:30:41.060 Speaking of equal rights,

00:30:42.180 he's a pioneer for the equal rights of tall people on planes.

00:30:45.720 This is the point.

00:30:49.280 Yes, the seats on most planes have a recline function.

00:30:52.740 But most planes also come with no spare legroom,

00:30:56.500 especially for taller people.

00:30:57.920 And by taller people, I don't mean seven feet tall.

00:31:00.680 Okay?

00:31:01.060 I just mean slightly taller than average.

00:31:03.640 If you recline your seat and there is someone behind you,

00:31:07.660 you are, especially if they're over, let's say, 5'8",

00:31:10.720 you are completely taking away all of their spare legroom.

00:31:15.580 And now their legs are going to be pushed up against your seat. 0.88

00:31:19.880 And if they need to, like, do some work on a laptop or something,

00:31:24.840 forget it.

00:31:25.440 They're not going to be able to.

00:31:26.680 Because they can't even open up their laptop enough

00:31:29.500 because your seat's right in their space.

00:31:31.040 You have removed that possibility.

00:31:32.700 So what you're doing is,

00:31:36.360 in order to increase your personal comfort by a minimal amount,

00:31:41.180 you are robbing someone else's comfort

00:31:44.360 by a relatively significant amount.

00:31:47.640 And if you don't think it's significant,

00:31:49.260 then try flying for six hours

00:31:51.100 with your knees jammed up against somebody's seat

00:31:53.000 and tell me that it's not a significant discomfort.

00:31:56.520 So you are increasing your own comfort minimally

00:31:59.640 by removing significantly the comfort of somebody else.

00:32:05.860 How could this be justified

00:32:07.560 in favor of the seat recliner?

00:32:11.760 Because the seats can recline,

00:32:14.500 therefore it's okay to recline them?

00:32:16.360 That's the argument I've heard.

00:32:17.500 There's a whole debate now online

00:32:18.820 about who's in the right, who's in the wrong.

00:32:21.180 And everybody trying to take the woman's side,

00:32:23.240 the entire argument seems to boil down to,

00:32:25.640 well, the seats can recline,

00:32:27.020 so that means it's okay to recline them.

00:32:28.620 What kind of logic is that?

00:32:30.660 That is the logic of my three-year-old.

00:32:33.280 I can do this,

00:32:34.600 therefore it's okay for me to do it.

00:32:37.980 See, a three-year-old doesn't understand

00:32:39.880 that there are a lot of things you can do

00:32:42.600 and yet shouldn't.

00:32:44.360 Adults are supposed to understand that.

00:32:46.660 Yes, you can do it,

00:32:48.520 but you shouldn't.

00:32:49.660 Just like if you're sitting on the aisle or window seat

00:32:54.820 and there's someone in the middle seat,

00:32:56.800 you can take both of the armrests.

00:33:00.000 I mean, the window guy and the aisle guy

00:33:03.580 can take both of their armrests,

00:33:05.320 thereby depriving the middle guy

00:33:07.500 of any armrest at all.

00:33:08.640 You could do that,

00:33:10.300 but you shouldn't.

00:33:11.900 You can slam a door shut in somebody's face

00:33:15.400 rather than holding it open for them.

00:33:16.900 You can hit the button to close the elevator

00:33:18.860 instead of hitting the button to keep it open

00:33:20.660 as a person's running to it to get on.

00:33:24.500 You can use FaceTime loudly at a coffee shop

00:33:27.160 while people are trying to work.

00:33:28.800 There are so many things you can do.

00:33:30.260 You can swerve into a parking space

00:33:31.940 right as somebody's about to back into it.

00:33:34.220 You can ditch your shopping cart

00:33:35.680 in the middle of the parking lot.

00:33:37.020 There are so many things you can do

00:33:39.000 and yet you shouldn't

00:33:40.320 because we live in a society,

00:33:42.420 a civilized society,

00:33:43.600 and if you care about not being an a-hole, 0.59

00:33:46.160 if you care about being a decent human

00:33:47.720 and not a jerk,

00:33:48.860 then you don't do these things that you can do

00:33:51.400 because they're inconsiderate

00:33:52.880 and they're boorish and they're rude. 0.79

00:33:55.440 Reclining your seat is one of those things.

00:33:57.680 Yes, you can do it.

00:34:00.980 The seats have that function.

00:34:02.120 They shouldn't have that function.

00:34:04.880 But what you are saying is,

00:34:06.820 just so I can have this little bit of comfort,

00:34:09.220 I'm going to make the person behind me

00:34:10.820 extraordinarily uncomfortable.

00:34:14.040 There's no justifying that.

00:34:16.060 There just isn't.

00:34:19.560 And this is why,

00:34:21.700 when I am dictator of the country

00:34:24.080 and my rule begins,

00:34:26.720 finally, mercifully,

00:34:28.540 I am going to take

00:34:30.020 everyone who reclines their seats on airplanes,

00:34:32.800 everyone who ditches their shopping carts

00:34:35.340 and parking lots,

00:34:36.720 everybody who uses FaceTime in public,

00:34:39.180 I'm going to round them up

00:34:40.860 at gunpoint,

00:34:42.960 stuff them into a capsule,

00:34:45.020 and shoot them directly into the sun.

00:34:48.920 You know what?

00:34:50.300 Maybe not even the sun.

00:34:51.440 I'll be merciful.

00:34:52.040 I could shoot you,

00:34:52.700 if you want to go to a different planet,

00:34:53.740 you know,

00:34:55.300 you want me to shoot you to Mars?

00:34:57.180 Mars might be a little too close.

00:34:58.340 You want me to shoot you to,

00:34:59.240 I don't know,

00:35:00.740 Neptune?

00:35:02.480 Or something?

00:35:03.740 We could talk about that.

00:35:06.500 But,

00:35:06.980 you just,

00:35:10.960 you are rude on a level

00:35:13.600 that means you're not fit

00:35:15.360 to live among civilized people.

00:35:17.840 All right.

00:35:21.020 Now,

00:35:21.540 I want to read some,

00:35:22.540 some emails.

00:35:24.160 But,

00:35:24.640 before we do that,

00:35:25.420 a quick word from our

00:35:26.460 good friends

00:35:28.100 on,

00:35:29.360 over at Rock Auto.

00:35:30.700 You know,

00:35:30.840 I tell you about Rock Auto all the time,

00:35:32.620 and I'm a huge fan of,

00:35:34.480 of what they provide.

00:35:36.360 And I just think that

00:35:37.560 going into an auto parts store,

00:35:40.540 if you're in trouble with your car,

00:35:42.120 if you need,

00:35:42.800 if you need anything for your car,

00:35:44.400 going in physically to an auto parts store

00:35:46.600 in the internet age

00:35:48.020 just doesn't make any sense at all.

00:35:50.240 Because what I'm always pointing out is that,

00:35:51.920 and you know this if you've been to one,

00:35:53.540 most of us have,

00:35:55.140 that,

00:35:55.780 nine times out of ten,

00:35:57.840 what you're looking for,

00:35:58.880 they don't have,

00:35:59.420 they got to order it.

00:36:00.840 And so you're going through this whole process,

00:36:02.500 there's no point.

00:36:03.840 Why not just go to rockauto.com?

00:36:05.760 It's a family business

00:36:06.740 serving auto part customers online for 20 years.

00:36:08.940 Go to rockauto.com

00:36:10.140 to shop for auto and body parts

00:36:11.660 from hundreds of manufacturers.

00:36:13.120 They've got everything from

00:36:13.860 engine control modules,

00:36:15.040 brake parts,

00:36:15.600 tail lamps,

00:36:16.060 motor oil,

00:36:16.920 new carpet,

00:36:18.440 whatever kind of car it is,

00:36:19.640 whether it's the car you drive around every day

00:36:21.680 or it's an old classic

00:36:22.760 or whatever it is,

00:36:23.980 everything you need

00:36:24.960 in a few easy clicks

00:36:25.940 delivered directly to your door.

00:36:28.180 It's very easy to navigate the site.

00:36:30.780 Very simple.

00:36:32.800 And they got a lot of unique parts

00:36:34.580 that maybe you can't find other places.

00:36:36.440 And it's also reliably affordable and cheap.

00:36:40.300 You're going to find the cheapest options you can

00:36:42.280 at rockauto.com.

00:36:44.060 Amazing selection.

00:36:45.140 Reliably low prices.

00:36:46.160 All the parts your car will ever need.

00:36:47.780 Rockauto.com.

00:36:48.640 There's no reason to go anywhere else

00:36:49.860 than rockauto.com if you need auto parts.

00:36:51.620 Go to rockauto.com right now.

00:36:53.320 See all the parts available for your car or truck.

00:36:55.460 Write Walsh in there.

00:36:56.460 How did you hear about us?

00:36:57.520 Box.

00:36:58.020 So that they know that we sent you.

00:37:02.620 Okay.

00:37:03.740 All right.

00:37:04.300 My voice is holding up relatively well

00:37:07.980 as we go to emails.

00:37:10.660 This is from Daniel.

00:37:11.960 Says,

00:37:12.280 Matt, this is urgent.

00:37:13.940 My dad is legit eating peanut butter with mayonnaise.

00:37:17.300 What in the world do I do?

00:37:20.160 Well, Daniel,

00:37:20.940 the first thing I would say is calm down.

00:37:23.140 Don't panic.

00:37:25.560 There may be a reasonable explanation.

00:37:29.180 Maybe your dad is engaged in some sort of performance art.

00:37:33.160 Okay.

00:37:33.840 It's possible.

00:37:35.500 So the first thing I would do is I would ask him.

00:37:39.720 Give him a chance to explain himself.

00:37:42.560 And I really think that's important.

00:37:44.500 That's what I'm talking about.

00:37:45.140 It's all about context, right?

00:37:46.180 I was just saying before.

00:37:47.180 And so maybe there's a context.

00:37:49.680 Could be performance art.

00:37:51.280 Could be a science experiment.

00:37:54.220 Could be some sort of penance.

00:37:57.120 I don't know if you're Catholic,

00:38:00.340 but maybe your dad went to confession,

00:38:03.180 confessed some horrible sin,

00:38:04.800 and the priest said,

00:38:06.060 as penance,

00:38:06.640 I need you to go home and eat peanut butter with mayonnaise.

00:38:08.400 That's possible too.

00:38:10.200 So I would ask him,

00:38:11.700 if what you discover is that he's eating peanut butter with mayonnaise

00:38:14.280 because he likes it,

00:38:15.720 well, now it's time to put dad in a home, I think.

00:38:18.680 He is just not, you know,

00:38:21.460 I don't know how old you are.

00:38:22.520 It's possible your dad's like 50,

00:38:23.660 but however old he is, I don't care.

00:38:27.520 It's just, he is not,

00:38:29.220 someone who eats peanut butter with mayonnaise

00:38:30.680 just, and does it because they enjoy it.

00:38:35.820 You know, this is a form of self-destruction

00:38:39.460 that I think at that point

00:38:42.260 you would need to get medical professionals involved.

00:38:44.600 So thank you though for that email.

00:38:47.180 My thoughts and prayers are with you

00:38:48.780 and your family during this time.

00:38:51.700 This is from Amanda,

00:38:52.640 says,

00:38:52.920 my sister has always struggled with her mental health. 0.70

00:38:55.580 We were raised in a dysfunctional family,

00:38:57.240 but us siblings have always managed to stay close throughout adulthood.

00:39:00.480 However, as I've healed and moved on,

00:39:02.440 my sister's declining mental health is getting harder and harder to tolerate. 0.63

00:39:06.020 I have a family and I'm happy and I feel more and more

00:39:08.280 that I shouldn't keep justifying the drama she brings into my life.

00:39:12.740 She lies almost constantly.

00:39:14.060 She's actively trying to ruin siblings' marriages. 1.00

00:39:16.780 She lies about abuse. 0.94

00:39:18.080 She spreads rumors about infidelity within the family. 0.97

00:39:20.820 She hates that I'm religious

00:39:21.820 and she spreads rumors that I'm being forced into it by my husband.

00:39:25.120 And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

00:39:26.400 She's addicted to drama.

00:39:27.420 She can't go five minutes without telling an obvious lie.

00:39:29.700 She explains away every confrontation,

00:39:31.340 never takes responsibility.

00:39:33.000 I think she could be classified as delusional,

00:39:34.900 telling people she's a psychiatrist when she's never been to school.

00:39:37.940 She's been spiraling and her marriage is ending

00:39:39.900 and she has alienated almost everyone in her life.

00:39:42.240 I'm almost all she has

00:39:44.040 and I feel immense guilt at the thought of abandoning her,

00:39:46.060 especially when she seems so sick in her mind.

00:39:48.600 But I'm at my wit's end.

00:39:49.680 What should I do?

00:39:50.320 I need a non-emotional perspective.

00:39:52.880 Well, Amanda, I can only go based on what you've told me

00:39:55.980 and there are two sides to every story

00:39:58.300 or at least most stories anyway.

00:40:00.700 But I can't imagine what the other side of this would be.

00:40:04.140 But if what you're telling me is totally accurate

00:40:07.280 in terms of how it represents your sister,

00:40:10.200 not accusing you of lying,

00:40:11.300 but of course in family disputes,

00:40:12.560 things get emotional and people can find it difficult

00:40:15.880 to see past the emotions of it.

00:40:17.740 But if that's all accurate,

00:40:20.260 then I would say you should drop this person

00:40:23.800 from your life like yesterday.

00:40:29.560 It's not even a difficult decision to make.

00:40:31.840 It may be emotionally difficult,

00:40:33.240 but in terms of knowing what the right thing to do is,

00:40:36.260 this to me seems obvious.

00:40:37.400 Because your relationship with your husband

00:40:41.500 and your children is way more important

00:40:43.980 than your relationship with her.

00:40:46.620 And if she is coming in between marriages, 0.81

00:40:49.380 she's trying to destroy families, 1.00

00:40:51.640 that's it.

00:40:53.420 That's done in my view.

00:40:56.720 Maybe you don't have to write her off forever,

00:40:59.000 but for now, until she gets her act together,

00:41:02.700 if she ever does,

00:41:04.820 I wouldn't have a damn thing to do with her.

00:41:07.720 Period.

00:41:09.740 Lying, 0.99

00:41:11.660 claiming that a sibling was unfaithful

00:41:14.520 to try to break up a marriage,

00:41:16.100 that's a one-strike-and-you're-out kind of deal.

00:41:19.040 It's one of the worst things

00:41:20.280 you could do to somebody.

00:41:23.420 That's not one of those things

00:41:24.420 where you patch it up

00:41:25.920 and you try to move on from it.

00:41:28.840 No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

00:41:31.340 That's one of those things

00:41:32.260 where you have to get the hell away 0.71

00:41:33.840 from this poisonous, toxic person.

00:41:37.400 And by the way,

00:41:38.440 I don't think that mental illness

00:41:40.380 gives people carte blanche

00:41:41.840 to be narcissistic a-holes, 0.80

00:41:43.520 to be terrible humans.

00:41:46.220 I think that those two things

00:41:48.060 are in some ways separate.

00:41:49.500 I mean, mental illness is a real thing.

00:41:51.480 But character defects are also a real thing.

00:41:56.580 And character defects

00:41:57.560 is not a medical condition.

00:42:01.100 It's just that you have a bad character

00:42:02.980 because you've chosen

00:42:03.840 to be a terrible person.

00:42:06.240 And so your sister may well have

00:42:10.160 psychological problems,

00:42:11.440 but there's also a separate issue

00:42:13.780 in that she just sounds like a bad person.

00:42:17.220 Even separate and apart

00:42:18.520 from the mental issues.

00:42:22.200 Trying to break up somebody's marriage

00:42:24.120 like that, that's not a,

00:42:26.020 you know, I don't see that

00:42:26.920 as a symptom of a mental disorder.

00:42:28.680 I see that as a symptom of

00:42:29.880 you're just a horrible human being.

00:42:31.180 And so you just,

00:42:34.780 you can't be around it.

00:42:35.760 In fact, even if you could argue

00:42:38.140 that this is all

00:42:39.140 because of mental disorder,

00:42:40.540 so it's not her fault at all,

00:42:42.400 even if that was the case,

00:42:44.380 there's still no reason

00:42:45.960 for you to be around it.

00:42:47.040 Because there are more important

00:42:48.220 things in your life,

00:42:49.080 there are more important relationships.

00:42:51.260 Your husband is more important

00:42:52.700 than your sister

00:42:53.280 in terms of your relationship to him.

00:42:56.380 It's more important

00:42:57.460 to protect your relationship

00:42:58.380 to your husband

00:42:58.800 than it is to protect

00:42:59.440 your relationship to your sister.

00:43:00.360 your relationship to your children,

00:43:02.560 again, more important.

00:43:04.220 So that's what I would do.

00:43:06.020 Just, I would have nothing

00:43:07.700 to do with her whatsoever.

00:43:08.600 Cut her off completely

00:43:09.380 and tell her why.

00:43:12.280 It sounds like you've got

00:43:13.180 many, many very good reasons.

00:43:16.100 And I would tell her that

00:43:17.240 and I would not talk to her

00:43:18.980 for a while.

00:43:20.920 Okay.

00:43:23.120 Now, we talked,

00:43:24.800 last show I did,

00:43:25.640 we were talking about bullying

00:43:26.600 and what we should teach kids

00:43:30.320 in terms of how to stand up

00:43:31.320 to bullies.

00:43:31.940 And I made the argument

00:43:33.860 that we need to teach our kids

00:43:35.880 not to be doormats

00:43:36.920 and to fight back

00:43:38.000 against bullies

00:43:39.500 rather than always telling them

00:43:40.780 to, quote,

00:43:41.300 be the bigger person

00:43:42.260 and run away,

00:43:43.040 tell an adult.

00:43:44.380 I got a lot of emails

00:43:45.260 in response to that.

00:43:46.380 So I'm going to read

00:43:47.180 a few of them

00:43:48.640 kind of in a row

00:43:49.700 and then I'll have a general

00:43:50.960 response to all of them.

00:43:51.940 So, okay,

00:43:52.700 this is from Ben.

00:43:53.540 It says,

00:43:53.780 Hi, Matt.

00:43:55.460 I enjoy listening to your show.

00:43:58.880 I think your stance

00:43:59.900 on the bigger man

00:44:01.100 is exactly right.

00:44:02.080 I was verbally bullied

00:44:03.040 a lot when I was a kid

00:44:03.920 and was taught by my parents

00:44:05.260 and teachers

00:44:05.700 to be the bigger man

00:44:06.540 and not say anything.

00:44:07.900 Additionally,

00:44:08.360 I employed the,

00:44:09.320 God bless the Catholic Church,

00:44:10.780 but man,

00:44:11.140 the Catholic schools

00:44:11.660 are a nightmare.

00:44:12.880 Additionally,

00:44:13.280 I employed the tactic 0.96

00:44:14.100 continuously,

00:44:15.840 excuse me,

00:44:16.480 to join in

00:44:17.900 with the bully

00:44:19.340 on insulting myself

00:44:20.420 to beat them

00:44:21.000 to the punch,

00:44:21.480 if you will.

00:44:22.220 It was hell

00:44:22.860 and I developed

00:44:23.420 some serious personal

00:44:24.340 and relational problems

00:44:25.180 with my peers

00:44:26.280 because I was never taught

00:44:27.360 to stand up for myself.

00:44:28.820 It is only now

00:44:29.620 after going to therapy

00:44:30.420 for a while

00:44:31.040 that I have been able

00:44:32.160 to move past

00:44:33.000 that hurt for my peers

00:44:34.040 and be able to stand up

00:44:34.720 for myself.

00:44:35.180 I totally agree with you

00:44:36.160 that parents need

00:44:37.040 to teach their kids,

00:44:38.020 sons especially,

00:44:38.620 to stand up for themselves.

00:44:39.880 If they do not,

00:44:40.480 then I can personally attest

00:44:41.540 that those kids

00:44:42.360 will have a hard time

00:44:43.180 being respected

00:44:43.780 by their peers

00:44:44.420 and feeling secure

00:44:45.480 in masculine relationships,

00:44:47.620 friendships.

00:44:48.340 Again,

00:44:48.860 thank you for sharing this.

00:44:50.580 My wife is pregnant

00:44:51.580 with our first

00:44:52.100 and I hope

00:44:52.400 that I can support

00:44:53.060 my child

00:44:54.340 the way that you have.

00:44:59.200 So that's from Ben.

00:45:01.140 Okay.

00:45:02.280 That was an agreement.

00:45:03.920 Not all the emails

00:45:04.800 were an agreement

00:45:05.380 as you might expect.

00:45:06.600 This is from Leo.

00:45:07.540 Says,

00:45:07.760 Hi, Matt.

00:45:08.340 It's Leo.

00:45:09.440 First,

00:45:09.720 I would like to mention

00:45:10.260 that you are my favorite host

00:45:11.440 from all the Daily Wire shows.

00:45:12.960 You mentioned on the last show

00:45:13.980 the topic of standing up

00:45:15.000 against bullies

00:45:16.380 and that it will make you

00:45:17.320 a bigger man by doing so.

00:45:19.480 I've been listening to you

00:45:20.400 for not too long

00:45:21.320 and I formulate an opinion

00:45:22.400 that you are just

00:45:23.160 a nominal Christian.

00:45:24.320 It saddens me

00:45:24.960 since I very much enjoy

00:45:25.980 listening to your arguments

00:45:26.880 and how you base them.

00:45:28.460 I would love and be happy

00:45:29.380 to be disproven

00:45:30.380 even though I know

00:45:31.060 you don't care

00:45:31.780 what me or other people

00:45:32.680 think about you

00:45:34.700 nor should you.

00:45:35.860 Christ teaching on this topic

00:45:36.840 is so clear in my opinion.

00:45:38.260 Turn the other cheek,

00:45:38.940 for instance.

00:45:39.900 I was quite surprised

00:45:40.980 that a mere,

00:45:41.720 nay,

00:45:42.000 elementary Christian idea

00:45:43.160 hasn't even been considered

00:45:45.160 by you,

00:45:45.780 a self-professed Christian.

00:45:47.380 When you made your argument,

00:45:48.800 I was tempted to bash you

00:45:50.360 with all the passages

00:45:51.100 from the Bible

00:45:51.700 that come to mind

00:45:52.620 but it wouldn't be consistent

00:45:53.480 with my argument

00:45:54.000 that you are a nominal Christian

00:45:55.460 so I'm not going to.

00:45:57.060 In my experience

00:45:57.840 as someone who was bullied

00:45:58.720 a lot in school,

00:45:59.600 I have been able to develop

00:46:00.420 a way of not getting bullied

00:46:01.640 that is just ignoring the bullies.

00:46:03.520 It's simple as that.

00:46:04.580 Bullies will always 1.00

00:46:05.180 pick on someone

00:46:05.840 they know they can beat physically.

00:46:07.820 In that regard,

00:46:08.800 they are, quote,

00:46:09.360 smart.

00:46:09.900 I have tried retaliating,

00:46:10.960 like you said,

00:46:11.520 kids should 0.99

00:46:12.120 but got my ass kicked 0.96

00:46:13.420 every time.

00:46:16.920 And this goes on.

00:46:18.060 That's the gist of it.

00:46:22.260 This is from Isaac,

00:46:23.520 it says,

00:46:24.180 wow,

00:46:24.560 such stunning pillar

00:46:25.840 of ethics you have

00:46:26.940 with your stance

00:46:27.460 on insulting back.

00:46:29.160 After all,

00:46:29.860 the Bible teaches us

00:46:30.880 that our self

00:46:31.500 and image of ourselves

00:46:32.760 is very important

00:46:33.820 and that when people

00:46:34.900 trample on you

00:46:35.640 that you should trample back.

00:46:37.060 Meekness,

00:46:37.520 humility,

00:46:38.020 turning the other cheek,

00:46:39.160 many would say

00:46:39.720 is virtue

00:46:40.140 but is almost certainly

00:46:41.040 just cowardice.

00:46:41.940 Keep up the strong

00:46:42.620 moral stance

00:46:43.220 for the exemplification

00:46:44.000 of the self.

00:46:45.620 Sarcasm aside,

00:46:46.400 I find your statement

00:46:47.100 that if you don't insult back

00:46:48.400 when people insult you

00:46:49.260 because you're a coward

00:46:50.260 is so absurdly false,

00:46:51.600 I can't believe

00:46:52.100 you actually think that.

00:46:53.400 As someone especially

00:46:54.280 bullied in my life,

00:46:55.540 I have had the overwhelming

00:46:56.560 desire to insult

00:46:57.520 slash fight back

00:46:58.360 and it takes strong willpower

00:46:59.560 to reel those desires in.

00:47:01.560 Are you really going to tell me

00:47:02.620 in your experience

00:47:03.380 where you have

00:47:05.280 insulted people in your life

00:47:07.300 or got into arguments

00:47:08.220 with others,

00:47:09.560 got into arguments

00:47:13.140 with others

00:47:13.660 that get personal,

00:47:14.720 don't insult

00:47:15.220 slash yell back

00:47:15.900 but rather just cower away.

00:47:17.380 I don't deny that people

00:47:18.260 don't insult back

00:47:19.180 when insulted

00:47:19.700 but I think you have

00:47:20.500 the motivation

00:47:21.080 completely wrong.

00:47:22.420 The more obvious reason

00:47:23.480 is they think that

00:47:24.220 insulting back

00:47:25.120 will lead to more insults

00:47:26.660 and more people

00:47:27.300 thinking less of them

00:47:28.240 than if they stay quiet

00:47:29.480 which is still wrong

00:47:30.900 because it is motivated

00:47:31.940 by self-interest.

00:47:33.480 All the best.

00:47:35.380 Hopefully you change your mind

00:47:36.420 or at least come up

00:47:37.040 with a reasonably

00:47:37.560 measured response.

00:47:38.800 Okay.

00:47:40.900 So,

00:47:41.620 you get the gist of it.

00:47:42.520 A lot of emails saying

00:47:43.860 turn the other cheek

00:47:44.620 and why didn't I

00:47:46.260 take that into account

00:47:47.280 when I'm saying

00:47:47.920 fight back against bullies.

00:47:49.780 I'm aware, yes,

00:47:50.800 the Bible says

00:47:51.360 turn the other cheek

00:47:51.980 but

00:47:52.380 we understand

00:47:54.320 that this is not a maxim

00:47:55.620 that can be applied

00:47:56.680 generally,

00:47:57.520 universally

00:47:57.920 to every situation.

00:48:00.220 For example,

00:48:00.920 I assume you'd agree

00:48:01.800 that we shouldn't

00:48:02.660 simply turn the other cheek

00:48:04.020 when a loved one

00:48:05.660 is being mocked

00:48:06.540 or abused.

00:48:07.480 In that case,

00:48:08.560 we turn our face

00:48:09.780 towards the situation

00:48:10.900 not away.

00:48:11.640 That's what we should do.

00:48:13.220 This shows that

00:48:14.300 obviously

00:48:14.840 turn the other cheek

00:48:15.780 is something that

00:48:16.500 we need to understand

00:48:17.740 with some nuance.

00:48:19.420 Especially when you consider

00:48:20.360 that the Bible

00:48:20.960 is chock full

00:48:22.300 of people

00:48:23.140 most assuredly

00:48:24.060 not turning the other cheek.

00:48:25.300 And this includes

00:48:27.600 insulting people

00:48:28.640 as Paul was prone

00:48:30.320 to do.

00:48:31.880 It also includes

00:48:33.200 killing people

00:48:34.580 and not always

00:48:36.160 in direct self-defense

00:48:37.160 either,

00:48:37.680 by the way.

00:48:39.640 These are things

00:48:40.800 that happen

00:48:41.300 in the Bible

00:48:41.780 sometimes with

00:48:43.220 either the

00:48:45.260 explicit endorsement

00:48:46.940 of God

00:48:47.520 or implicit.

00:48:48.280 So,

00:48:50.620 I reject the idea

00:48:52.160 that the Bible

00:48:52.640 calls for us

00:48:53.320 to be meek

00:48:53.920 and mild

00:48:54.480 in all situations.

00:48:56.500 It certainly does not.

00:48:58.540 And such a view

00:48:59.240 cannot survive

00:49:00.200 an honest reading

00:49:00.860 of the text.

00:49:01.400 That's the problem.

00:49:02.460 When you come up

00:49:03.100 with this,

00:49:03.700 come away with this

00:49:04.300 very simplistic idea

00:49:05.700 that the Bible

00:49:06.620 calls for us

00:49:07.320 to be peaceniks

00:49:08.100 basically.

00:49:09.740 Never responding

00:49:10.800 in kind

00:49:11.340 at all.

00:49:11.960 Never shouting,

00:49:13.240 raising our voices,

00:49:14.100 getting angry,

00:49:16.220 using violence

00:49:17.260 or whatever.

00:49:18.120 It just,

00:49:19.100 yes,

00:49:19.560 if all you do

00:49:20.820 is read the Sermon

00:49:21.780 on the Mount

00:49:22.140 and nothing else

00:49:23.340 in the entire Bible,

00:49:25.240 then I can see

00:49:25.980 where you come up

00:49:26.420 with that impression.

00:49:27.420 But the rest

00:49:28.460 of the Bible exists.

00:49:30.360 So,

00:49:30.780 unless you think

00:49:31.500 the Sermon on the Mount

00:49:32.100 cancels everything else out

00:49:33.960 that came before it

00:49:35.640 and some of the stuff

00:49:36.240 that even came after it,

00:49:37.980 such as in Paul's epistles,

00:49:39.580 unless you think that,

00:49:40.720 then I don't know

00:49:42.900 how you can come away

00:49:44.300 with that impression

00:49:45.120 that that is all

00:49:47.120 the Bible wants us to be,

00:49:48.440 is peaceniks.

00:49:51.260 So,

00:49:51.700 I think it comes down

00:49:52.480 to context.

00:49:53.960 That's what I get

00:49:54.760 from the Bible.

00:49:55.920 When I look

00:49:56.620 and I see

00:49:57.000 turn the other cheek,

00:49:57.820 but then I also see,

00:49:59.220 you know,

00:49:59.640 much more aggressive tactics

00:50:01.480 endorsed

00:50:02.060 or even used.

00:50:03.700 Jesus himself

00:50:04.380 uses aggressive tactics

00:50:05.520 at some points,

00:50:06.220 flipping tables

00:50:06.820 and so on.

00:50:08.340 And more aggressive tactics

00:50:09.640 than that,

00:50:09.920 especially in the Old Testament.

00:50:10.980 Okay,

00:50:11.340 so when I see all of this,

00:50:12.580 and I'm trying

00:50:12.880 to make sense of it,

00:50:13.500 the only thing

00:50:14.920 I can determine

00:50:15.680 is that it comes

00:50:16.620 down to context.

00:50:19.780 Now,

00:50:20.380 Isaac,

00:50:21.180 you said that your decision

00:50:22.980 not to respond

00:50:23.720 to your bullies

00:50:24.240 was not motivated

00:50:24.980 by cowardice.

00:50:25.960 You say it's because

00:50:26.660 you had strong willpower,

00:50:28.160 but then you admit

00:50:29.340 that really the reason

00:50:30.580 you didn't respond

00:50:31.220 is because you didn't

00:50:31.840 want to be insulted

00:50:32.540 even more.

00:50:33.960 So,

00:50:34.420 do you see where

00:50:34.840 I'm going with this?

00:50:35.760 That's the same

00:50:36.500 as someone who doesn't

00:50:37.160 punch back 1.00

00:50:37.860 because they assume

00:50:38.940 a return punch 0.79

00:50:39.720 will only lead to

00:50:40.360 more punches

00:50:40.880 from the bully.

00:50:41.440 This isn't willpower,

00:50:43.140 Isaac.

00:50:43.780 That is indeed cowardice.

00:50:46.240 It's not courage.

00:50:48.340 And I'm not saying

00:50:49.260 that responding

00:50:50.080 is always the right thing.

00:50:51.960 There can be situations

00:50:52.960 where you just can't respond

00:50:54.140 or it'd be very foolhardy

00:50:55.260 to respond

00:50:55.860 depending on the situation.

00:50:58.460 But,

00:50:58.840 I am saying

00:51:00.980 that what you want

00:51:02.420 to consider courage

00:51:03.580 and willpower

00:51:04.480 simply isn't.

00:51:05.580 I'm sorry.

00:51:06.220 It is cowardice.

00:51:07.640 And I know

00:51:08.200 that's a harsh thing

00:51:08.860 to say to someone

00:51:09.480 who was bullied,

00:51:10.120 but there it is.

00:51:11.440 And we've all been bullied,

00:51:12.840 okay?

00:51:13.880 But yes,

00:51:14.560 you chickened out,

00:51:15.540 it sounds like,

00:51:16.240 a lot in your life

00:51:17.400 by your own admission.

00:51:20.740 But we all have.

00:51:22.120 Okay?

00:51:22.360 I have.

00:51:23.380 I can distinctly remember

00:51:24.360 times in my life

00:51:25.240 where I was being

00:51:26.120 insulted,

00:51:26.960 mocked,

00:51:27.340 ganged up on,

00:51:27.940 whatever,

00:51:28.340 especially in school.

00:51:29.580 Everyone went through

00:51:30.180 stuff like this.

00:51:31.300 And in some of those situations

00:51:32.340 I didn't say anything.

00:51:33.220 I just absorbed it,

00:51:34.140 took it.

00:51:34.700 Was this courage?

00:51:35.780 I told myself afterwards

00:51:36.900 it was.

00:51:38.800 You know,

00:51:39.060 I told myself

00:51:39.540 I was being the bigger person.

00:51:40.580 I was being mature.

00:51:43.100 But I know the truth.

00:51:45.120 No.

00:51:45.500 It was a total lack of will.

00:51:47.960 It was submission.

00:51:49.140 It was cowardice.

00:51:51.280 The bigger person stuff,

00:51:52.760 the willpower stuff,

00:51:53.680 that is after the fact

00:51:55.000 rationalization

00:51:56.360 of cowardice.

00:51:59.480 Listen,

00:52:00.480 I'm not saying

00:52:02.380 that when someone

00:52:03.320 insults you

00:52:04.200 or bullies you

00:52:04.880 that you should seek

00:52:06.160 to destroy their lives

00:52:07.380 and tear them to shreds

00:52:08.680 and, you know,

00:52:09.160 destroy everything.

00:52:10.000 I'm not saying that.

00:52:11.880 Okay?

00:52:13.260 That's not what I said.

00:52:14.760 All I said is that

00:52:15.540 we should teach our kids

00:52:16.480 to stand tall,

00:52:18.040 to give back

00:52:18.740 what's dished to them,

00:52:20.020 command respect,

00:52:21.220 and not shrink away

00:52:22.220 from confrontation.

00:52:23.600 And this idea

00:52:24.480 that you should never

00:52:25.200 respond to an insult

00:52:26.140 with an insult

00:52:26.660 is wrong.

00:52:27.380 I'm sorry.

00:52:27.780 I don't think

00:52:29.340 there's any real basis

00:52:30.160 for it

00:52:30.700 other than an absolutist

00:52:32.200 and simplistic reading

00:52:33.420 or misreading

00:52:34.220 of some of the texts

00:52:35.980 of the Bible

00:52:36.600 while discarding

00:52:38.140 many of the other

00:52:39.360 parts of the Bible.

00:52:42.920 So,

00:52:43.960 again,

00:52:45.280 context is key.

00:52:47.700 And I'm also saying

00:52:48.860 that with our kids

00:52:49.540 and school especially,

00:52:50.840 you know,

00:52:51.280 that is a context

00:52:52.680 where a little backbone,

00:52:54.860 a little bit of a quick wit,

00:52:56.380 a sharp wit,

00:52:57.020 is called for

00:52:58.360 and is right.

00:53:00.160 You know,

00:53:00.840 why do we think

00:53:01.600 we have a bullying epidemic?

00:53:03.340 Maybe it's because

00:53:04.120 we've given bullies

00:53:05.060 free reign

00:53:05.880 by teaching our children

00:53:07.380 to wilt in their presence

00:53:08.700 like fragile little tulips.

00:53:10.500 Maybe that's the reason

00:53:11.580 or part of the reason.

00:53:12.920 And as one of the emails

00:53:13.900 mentioned,

00:53:15.420 it's not even true

00:53:18.240 that failing to respond

00:53:19.760 to a bully

00:53:20.200 is the prudent

00:53:20.820 or safe course

00:53:21.500 most of the time

00:53:22.140 because otherwise,

00:53:23.740 you know,

00:53:24.260 you might risk escalating.

00:53:25.620 Like,

00:53:25.720 that's the,

00:53:27.020 that's the one argument

00:53:28.880 you could make

00:53:29.540 for not responding

00:53:31.140 to a bully

00:53:31.540 is that if you respond,

00:53:32.700 you're going to escalate.

00:53:33.900 That's got nothing

00:53:34.540 to do with courage,

00:53:35.160 though.

00:53:35.300 That's just prudence. 1.00

00:53:37.120 And that might be true

00:53:38.280 sometimes,

00:53:39.300 but often it's not

00:53:41.200 because bullies bully

00:53:43.680 because of the high

00:53:45.020 they get

00:53:45.680 from domination

00:53:47.100 and power

00:53:48.020 over another person.

00:53:49.400 If you make yourself

00:53:50.880 a reliable source

00:53:52.340 of that high,

00:53:54.180 they'll keep coming back

00:53:55.480 to you for a fix

00:53:56.440 and suddenly

00:53:57.800 this idea

00:53:58.280 of the high road

00:53:59.200 takes on a new connotation.

00:54:02.240 And when you're

00:54:02.960 in an environment

00:54:04.000 with the same people

00:54:05.340 for years and years

00:54:06.160 like our kids are

00:54:06.780 in school,

00:54:07.460 if you make yourself

00:54:09.540 a reliable source

00:54:10.860 for that,

00:54:12.100 for that fix,

00:54:12.800 for that high

00:54:13.320 that bullies get,

00:54:14.580 it's going to make

00:54:15.800 your experience

00:54:16.600 unrelentingly miserable.

00:54:18.700 Why do certain kids

00:54:22.680 get bullied relentlessly

00:54:23.680 all throughout school?

00:54:24.600 It's because they are

00:54:25.260 easy targets.

00:54:26.900 And a kid who was

00:54:27.480 an easy target

00:54:28.160 for 12 or 13 years

00:54:29.280 through all of his

00:54:30.000 formative years

00:54:30.620 of childhood

00:54:31.120 who was just

00:54:32.060 torn down

00:54:32.960 and belittled

00:54:33.800 and mocked

00:54:34.680 every day

00:54:35.360 ruthlessly,

00:54:37.100 a kid like that

00:54:37.980 is going to have

00:54:38.460 serious psychological damage

00:54:39.860 for the rest of their lives.

00:54:40.980 They aren't going to be

00:54:41.560 stronger for it.

00:54:43.080 They aren't going to be

00:54:43.960 better for it.

00:54:45.280 They aren't.

00:54:46.060 experience of being

00:54:48.380 a weak submissive

00:54:49.760 does not make you strong.

00:54:53.340 It just makes you weaker.

00:54:58.020 They're going to be

00:54:58.720 worse for it.

00:55:00.380 The only way,

00:55:01.340 I mean,

00:55:01.540 we could have all

00:55:02.140 the anti-bullying

00:55:03.100 policies and measures

00:55:05.760 and PSAs

00:55:06.700 and seminars

00:55:07.440 and we could do

00:55:07.900 all of that

00:55:08.440 that we want.

00:55:10.260 But at the end

00:55:10.860 of the day,

00:55:11.360 when our kids

00:55:11.880 are actually in school

00:55:12.760 experiencing this

00:55:13.580 on a day-to-day basis

00:55:14.480 and trying to get

00:55:15.260 through the day,

00:55:16.060 the only reliable

00:55:18.740 protection we can

00:55:20.560 give them

00:55:21.020 is to teach them

00:55:22.060 to have the courage

00:55:23.360 to stand up

00:55:24.560 for themselves.

00:55:28.280 And if they do that,

00:55:29.760 you know,

00:55:29.920 it's not going to be perfect.

00:55:30.940 It's not like they're

00:55:31.480 never going to have

00:55:32.440 anyone coming after them.

00:55:33.320 But if they make it

00:55:34.920 clear to the bullies

00:55:35.720 that,

00:55:35.980 listen,

00:55:37.100 yeah,

00:55:37.520 you could try it with me,

00:55:38.900 but it's not going to be easy.

00:55:40.660 And you might end up

00:55:41.560 embarrassing yourself

00:55:42.480 in the process.

00:55:43.960 But if they make it clear

00:55:46.060 a kid who does that,

00:55:48.180 it's going to experience

00:55:49.200 bullying a lot less.

00:55:50.960 They're going to have

00:55:51.520 a lot more confidence

00:55:52.340 in themselves.

00:55:55.040 And I think that's what

00:55:56.340 we should want

00:55:57.220 of our kids.

00:55:57.700 And I think it's what

00:55:58.240 Jesus wants

00:55:58.900 of our kids too.

00:56:02.580 I don't think

00:56:03.320 Jesus intends

00:56:04.160 for our kids

00:56:05.000 to be just

00:56:06.080 torn down

00:56:07.160 and ripped apart

00:56:08.040 for 12 to 13 years

00:56:09.180 of their formative

00:56:09.740 childhood years

00:56:10.580 and come out

00:56:12.480 as someone

00:56:13.360 with no sense

00:56:14.740 of self-worth

00:56:15.320 or anything at all.

00:56:15.900 I don't think

00:56:16.480 that's what Jesus

00:56:16.960 wants for our kids.

00:56:18.360 I really don't.

00:56:21.240 All right.

00:56:22.440 And we will

00:56:23.220 leave it there.

00:56:23.820 But thanks for

00:56:24.220 all the emails

00:56:24.820 for that interesting

00:56:26.020 discussion.

00:56:26.900 And have a great weekend,

00:56:27.900 everybody.

00:56:28.240 Godspeed.

00:56:28.600 If you enjoyed

00:56:32.540 this episode,

00:56:33.180 don't forget to subscribe.

00:56:34.200 And if you want

00:56:34.800 to help spread the word,

00:56:35.880 please give us

00:56:36.360 a five-star review.

00:56:37.640 Tell your friends

00:56:38.100 to subscribe as well.

00:56:39.100 We're available

00:56:39.500 on Apple Podcasts,

00:56:40.780 Spotify,

00:56:41.800 wherever you listen

00:56:42.420 to podcasts,

00:56:43.040 we're there.

00:56:43.440 Also, be sure to check out

00:56:44.360 the other Daily Wire podcasts,

00:56:45.700 including the Ben Shapiro Show,

00:56:47.020 Michael Knowles Show,

00:56:48.040 and the Andrew Klavan Show.

00:56:49.420 Thanks for listening.

00:56:50.320 The Matt Wall Show

00:56:51.040 is produced by Sean Hampton,

00:56:52.960 executive producer

00:56:53.740 Jeremy Boring,

00:56:55.000 supervising producer

00:56:55.780 Mathis Glover,

00:56:57.000 supervising producer

00:56:57.760 Robert Sterling,

00:56:59.060 technical producer

00:56:59.740 Austin Stevens,

00:57:01.040 editor Danny D'Amico,

00:57:02.820 audio mixer

00:57:03.380 Robin Fenderson.

00:57:04.800 The Matt Wall Show

00:57:05.520 is a Daily Wire production,

00:57:07.100 copyright Daily Wire 2020.

00:57:09.260 If you prefer

00:57:09.840 facts over feelings,

00:57:10.980 aren't offended

00:57:11.580 by the brutal truth,

00:57:12.680 and you can still laugh

00:57:13.520 at the insanity

00:57:14.260 filling our national news cycle,

00:57:15.960 well, tune in

00:57:16.420 to the Ben Shapiro Show.

00:57:17.580 We'll get a whole lot of that

00:57:18.600 and much more.

00:57:19.520 See you there.

The Matt Walsh Show - February 14, 2020

Ep. 426 - The Absurdity Of The Equal Rights Amendment

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript