The Matt Walsh Show - 'I Lived With A Stinkbug, AITA？' Matt Walsh Decides

00:00:00.060 There you are. Did you make another child cry?

00:00:03.220 Oh, it's not my fault the kids would cry, baby.

00:00:05.780 You're an asshole.

00:00:06.680 You're an asshole.

00:00:07.500 You are an asshole.

00:00:08.940 We are going right to M.I. the A-hole. 0.99

00:00:12.300 From Bob says,

00:00:13.380 Hey Matt, I have two M.I. the A-hole questions.

00:00:15.380 I travel occasionally for work and I spent some time in Kentucky.

00:00:17.720 When I returned home to Ohio, I apparently brought a stink bug back with me in my luggage.

00:00:21.960 The stink bug kept appearing randomly in our house,

00:00:24.760 and my daughter who loves bugs gave it a name, Roger.

00:00:27.400 My wife wanted me to get rid of the stink bug or put it outside in the freezing cold to die, 0.81

00:00:32.500 and I refused.

00:00:33.480 It's not hurting anyone and keeps to itself.

00:00:36.020 This poor bug has traveled across two states and successfully hid in our house for a month,

00:00:40.480 and my daughter even named it.

00:00:41.680 So I told my wife I would not let it go until it gets warmer outside.

00:00:45.960 I know this is a weird story, but am I the A-hole for allowing it to live peacefully in our home?

00:00:50.280 You're the A-hole for making me read that entire thing,

00:00:53.720 thinking that there was some sort of good punchline.

00:00:55.720 Why am I spending, it felt like, hours reading that story about a stink bug in your house,

00:01:02.160 and there's no, like, I thought the punchline ended up in somebody's food and they ate it,

00:01:06.380 or something like that.

00:01:07.600 Just kill the bug. 0.65

00:01:08.520 It's a bug, all right?

00:01:09.420 Just kill it.

00:01:09.960 You don't want stink bugs in your house, okay?

00:01:11.980 Those of us who have had real stink,

00:01:13.800 we've lived in parts of the country that have a real stink bug problem,

00:01:16.720 and we've had them in the house.

00:01:17.940 It's not cute, okay?

00:01:19.000 Just kill the damn bug, and it'll be fine.

00:01:21.000 They don't have feelings anyway.

00:01:22.460 They're not self-aware.

00:01:23.000 It makes no difference to the stink bug whether it's alive or dead,

00:01:26.660 so I don't know if that makes you feel any better, but that's just what you should do.

00:01:30.440 My second question is a little different.

00:01:31.780 Me and my dad are both huge fans of The Daily Wire, and especially you.

00:01:34.520 I'm a paying member.

00:01:35.300 My dad is not.

00:01:36.360 He listens to the free shows on YouTube every day.

00:01:38.140 He really wants to see your movie, What is a Woman?, 0.99

00:01:40.480 but I refuse to let him use my membership to watch it and tell him that if he wants to see it,

00:01:44.680 that he should support the company and get a membership.

00:01:47.000 Am I the a-hole for not letting him be a bum and watch it for free, 0.99

00:01:49.720 or should he have to pay for the membership?

00:01:51.620 Also, this is not a situation where he can't afford a membership.

00:01:53.920 He's just being cheap.

00:01:55.140 Okay, that's a much better story because it all comes back to me,

00:01:58.460 so it makes it more interesting.

00:02:00.180 No, you're not a day-hole on that one.

00:02:01.880 So you are a day-hole on one, not on the other, so they kind of cancel out.

00:02:05.640 But it's a bit of a controversy, and I hear this from people sometimes.

00:02:10.340 They want people to see What is a Woman?, for example, 0.98

00:02:12.040 or some of the other great content The Daily Wire is offering,

00:02:13.940 and it's like, well, should I just show it to them, let them have my password,

00:02:17.300 or should I make them get a membership?

00:02:18.760 And I think that if there's no financial obstacle for your father,

00:02:24.360 and he's a big fan and a supporter,

00:02:27.000 then he should get the membership and stop being a cheap ass. 0.53

00:02:30.480 You can tell him I said that.

00:02:31.680 Did you notice that big tech companies today are masquerading as private companies?

00:02:35.360 Are we supposed to believe that a big tech wolf has now turned into our sweet grandma?

00:02:39.760 Big tech literally feeds on your information by collecting and selling off your data.

00:02:43.900 They can't stop themselves from looking at what you do online.

00:02:47.020 That's why to protect myself against big tech's prying eyes, I use ExpressVPN.

00:02:50.980 When you use the ExpressVPN app on your computer or your phone,

00:02:54.120 you're hiding your unique IP address.

00:02:56.080 Websites can't use that address to find out your real location or track what you do online.

00:03:00.760 On top of that, ExpressVPN encrypts and reroutes 100% of your online activity

00:03:04.060 so your internet provider, Wi-Fi admin, and hackers can't see it.

00:03:07.720 Best part, though, is how easy it is to use.

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00:03:11.580 One ExpressVPN subscription covers up to five devices at the same time,

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00:03:23.780 Visit expressvpn.com slash Walsh right now to get three months for free.

00:03:27.760 That's expressvpn.com slash Walsh to get protected.

00:03:31.120 Expressvpn.com slash Walsh.

00:03:33.620 From Zachary,

00:03:34.620 Dear Matt,

00:03:35.100 My wife and I got married after only knowing each other for a few months.

00:03:38.120 I told her we should wait, but she insisted.

00:03:40.340 She had three kids going in, and I have one.

00:03:42.360 Everything went fine until it came time for parenting strategies to present themselves.

00:03:46.380 Both our sons had suffered tremendously mentally from what I believe was our inability to be cohesive.

00:03:50.960 I told my wife we needed to be firm, and what we agreed upon together is how to parent and not sway.

00:03:56.140 I would periodically find out that she would not enforce our rules when I wasn't around,

00:03:59.800 which resulted in many arguments behind closed doors.

00:04:02.360 I ultimately told her that I couldn't do this anymore if things wouldn't change.

00:04:05.380 The deciding event was when my son was physically beaten up by her son,

00:04:08.800 and she believed her son acted in self-defense,

00:04:10.600 to which I reiterate that we don't condone violence of any kind in our household,

00:04:13.600 and both should be punished.

00:04:14.660 She didn't agree, so I declared that I wanted a divorce and swiftly moved out with my son.

00:04:18.880 And am I the a-hole?

00:04:21.500 Yes.

00:04:22.320 Yes, you are.

00:04:24.460 As always with these things, I must begin with a disclaimer that I'm only getting one side of the story.

00:04:30.300 But in this case, I'm getting your side of the story,

00:04:33.060 and so I have to assume that you're giving me the most generous version of events,

00:04:38.560 most generous to yourself, because that's what people tend to do, right?

00:04:41.220 And even based on that, I would say that, yeah, you are being the a-hole. 1.00

00:04:46.440 On a number of levels, Zachary, first of all, you don't threaten divorce like that.

00:04:52.220 You don't use it as a weapon in an argument, and you did that.

00:04:57.580 And you use it as a weapon in an argument over parenting strategies,

00:05:01.080 which is the kind of thing that every married couple has disputes about that, okay?

00:05:06.820 They might be, some disputes are more serious than others, depending on what exactly is the subject of it.

00:05:14.500 But every married couple, this is like a tension that you have.

00:05:17.280 You're different people, and so you'll have slightly different ideas about how to parent,

00:05:22.480 and what's the best way to handle certain situations, and what should punishments be,

00:05:26.480 and what sort of things should be punished, and all that kind of stuff.

00:05:28.500 To throw out a divorce threat is way over the line,

00:05:33.820 and then you actually moved out of the house and said you wanted a divorce

00:05:36.480 because you disagreed on a parenting thing.

00:05:38.240 I mean, you're married.

00:05:39.820 You made a vow to this woman. 0.98

00:05:42.440 You made a promise, and that's supposed to mean something.

00:05:47.500 Okay, it should mean something because you made the promise and you made the vow.

00:05:50.320 You should also want to demonstrate to your son what it means to be a man of your word.

00:05:54.960 And so you fight for your marriage, and you try to work through this.

00:05:59.000 It's not like what you've told me about here.

00:06:00.840 This is not, there is nothing about this that's really, you know,

00:06:04.400 we hear about irreconcilable differences, which I don't believe in that really,

00:06:07.600 but this definitely is not irreconcilable.

00:06:10.740 And also, I got to tell you, I think you're wrong too when it comes to this situation with your son.

00:06:17.420 And first, I mean, it's a problem that you're referring to as her son and my son, okay?

00:06:21.740 You're married, so they should both be your sons.

00:06:25.020 But this dispute between the two boys, I think you're wrong on this.

00:06:28.400 Now, I don't know who's actually a fault.

00:06:30.140 I have no idea.

00:06:31.020 But if it's true that your son attacked his brother and that his brother was defending himself,

00:06:38.800 then that matters.

00:06:39.940 I don't know if it is true, but you're saying it doesn't matter at all.

00:06:43.380 That if you engage in violence at all, you're equally punished.

00:06:45.720 Really?

00:06:45.920 So if a kid goes along and instigates it and initiates the violence by punching another kid

00:06:51.660 in the face and that kid responds, you think they both should be equally punished as if

00:06:56.000 they're both equally in the wrong?

00:06:57.580 They clearly are not equally in the wrong.

00:06:59.360 It does matter who started it.

00:07:01.180 This idea that it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter who started it.

00:07:03.140 What do you talk?

00:07:03.420 Of course it matters who started it.

00:07:04.860 Now, if someone else starts it, that doesn't mean that whatever you do in response is automatically

00:07:08.840 justified, but it does matter who started it.

00:07:11.660 That is a detail that really matters.

00:07:14.360 It matters morally.

00:07:15.780 I mean, in a court of law situation, it matters legally, and it should matter.

00:07:21.040 So I just think you're wrong across the board.

00:07:24.160 I've got to be totally honest with you.

00:07:25.520 All right.

00:07:27.480 Finally, from Dan says, Matt, you seem like the best person to ask if I'm the asshole

00:07:32.200 because my situation is about a conversation about a video on YouTube.

00:07:35.660 An acquaintance of mine posted a group chat that her TEDx presentation was live on YouTube.

00:07:40.780 She asked people to check it out, like, comment, and share.

00:07:43.900 The message was during the work day, and I write code for work.

00:07:46.400 After about 40 minutes after she sent the news, I had a moment where I could listen to the

00:07:49.620 video while I worked.

00:07:50.420 I noticed that the TEDx people made a mistake when editing the video and left a portion that

00:07:54.100 was not supposed to be there.

00:07:55.520 The bit that shouldn't have been included showed the acquaintance getting upset with

00:07:59.040 herself for messing up her line.

00:08:01.340 Then it cuts to her repeating herself and saying her lines correctly.

00:08:04.720 I sent the following message, quote, around 5.03, they left in a part where you get upset

00:08:09.360 with yourself for messing up.

00:08:10.720 I recognize that my message was short, and I'm not a YouTuber.

00:08:12.980 I don't know the level of involvement in fixing an editing error.

00:08:16.640 I intended to provide the exact timestamp and the issue as quickly as possible so that

00:08:20.800 she could have the necessary information if she would contact them to fix it.

00:08:24.180 Her response was, quote,

00:08:25.520 You're actually the worst.

00:08:27.340 Actually.

00:08:28.680 I let things go, but someone else said, why?

00:08:30.900 Sometimes we should just keep things to ourselves.

00:08:32.640 I responded, I figured maybe they could fix it.

00:08:35.100 I understand how my message's brevity could be misinterpreted.

00:08:38.200 Am I the a-hole for not spending more time to develop a longer message?

00:08:41.740 Maybe I'm the a-hole because I shouldn't have been, I shouldn't have provided any feedback

00:08:45.340 unless I also had the time to write a lengthier response that included uplifting language.

00:08:49.380 Ultimately, even though I can understand how my message could be misinterpreted, I don't think

00:08:52.780 her reaction can be interpreted in any other way other than rude.

00:08:56.260 You make videos constantly for public consumption.

00:08:58.660 Do you think my feedback is helpful at all?

00:09:02.740 This is a hard one for me to judge, actually.

00:09:05.600 I know you think that I'm a perfect one to judge because I make content all the time,

00:09:08.220 and so I get feedback from people all the time, and that's true.

00:09:11.160 But that also has made me, I'm just, I'm not a normal person when it comes to this kind

00:09:16.100 of, because I put creative content out into the world every single day.

00:09:19.840 And so for most people, you know, she did a TEDx, and she felt very excited about it,

00:09:24.200 and this might be the first time she's ever had a video that's on YouTube, right?

00:09:27.560 And so this was like a bigger deal to her, and so she wanted a bigger response.

00:09:32.400 Now, I think putting you in a position where you have to watch someone's TEDx presentation,

00:09:37.860 that already makes her the a-hole. 1.00

00:09:39.900 Like, that puts you in an awkward spot.

00:09:41.920 And if you have a TEDx presentation, yeah, your friends and your family, you can send

00:09:46.360 it to them, and you can burden them with that.

00:09:49.840 But to put an acquaintance in a spot where they have to watch it.

00:09:52.660 So like, I'm already kind of on your side because she shouldn't have done it.

00:09:56.200 So she's the a-hole just for that alone. 1.00

00:09:58.040 Don't, like, nobody wants to watch your TEDx talk.

00:10:00.440 Nobody does.

00:10:02.020 But the only people who should have to watch it are those who are close to you,

00:10:07.400 but your acquaintance, you shouldn't make them do that.

00:10:11.000 However, because I make content all the time, I appreciate just, like, quick, basic feedback

00:10:16.740 like that.

00:10:17.340 And if there's an error somewhere, something that needs to be cut out, and someone says,

00:10:20.940 oh, you know, you messed up that part.

00:10:22.480 Like, I'm fine with that because I don't need all the big speech.

00:10:25.860 I don't need you to pretend.

00:10:26.820 I don't need you.

00:10:27.620 Well, that was great.

00:10:28.340 I loved it.

00:10:28.720 No, just get to the point.

00:10:29.640 Like, if there's something there that I can change, you know, like, just tell me, okay?

00:10:33.500 That's how I feel about it.

00:10:34.540 But I think for most people, when you make something creative, it's kind of a vulnerable

00:10:40.340 spot.

00:10:40.980 You know, you're putting yourself out there.

00:10:43.420 And so if you're going to give feedback, especially if it's to a woman, you know, then if you want

00:10:51.480 it to be received well, then, yeah, it does help to preface it with something.

00:10:54.760 So you could have said something like, this was great.

00:10:57.140 You're such a great public speaker.

00:10:58.360 By the way, not sure if it's something that could be fixed, but there's a little flub

00:11:03.260 there at 503.

00:11:04.120 Maybe they can cut it out.

00:11:05.180 Something like that probably would have been received a little bit better.

00:11:08.340 Just add the, you know, that's what they're looking for.

00:11:10.920 It's just that she's looking for, there's only a reason.

00:11:12.460 Look, nobody, here's the other thing.

00:11:13.700 Almost nobody really wants honest feedback about anything.

00:11:16.820 Nobody really.

00:11:17.340 They say that, but they don't really.

00:11:19.240 They just want you to compliment it.

00:11:20.740 And especially if it's something creative like that, they just want to be complimented.

00:11:23.980 So you're borderline.

00:11:29.420 I don't know.

00:11:29.740 I'll give you a, it's borderline on the edge, but she mainly, but she, she wins out as the 1.00

00:11:35.840 a-hole here for making you watch the TEDx in the first place.

00:11:39.380 That's how I, that's how I'm going to King Solomon this thing.

The Matt Walsh Show - June 19, 2023

'I Lived With A Stinkbug, AITA？' Matt Walsh Decides

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