Studies Show

Dennis Prager argues that phrases like "studies show" and "experts say" shut down critical thinking on the left. He cites 51 intelligence officials calling the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation and 17 Nobel economists claiming government spending wouldn't cause inflation as examples of how the left uses authority to suppress debate.
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Friends, whoa, you didn't hear the hello folks, you heard my friends. Hello, my friends, Dennis Prager here. What is it, the second day of June? Little mind-blowing. You know, people stop me And invariably, not always, but in very well— in this, invariably mean always, I guess. So it means no variation. So virtually all the time I say, would you like, would you like a selfie? Would you like a picture? Yes, they do. And it's, it's a lovely moment. One of the most common comments that I receive from strangers is that I give them some peace, and I give them some courage and hope, man. And that's very meaningful to me. And why do I tell you this? Because I analyze everything. That's my nature. And I ask, why do I do that? Not for everybody, of course, but for those many who have that reaction. So it's an interesting question. How does one give another peace, courage, etc.? So I think part— a big part of it is that people think they're alone, and, and that's easy to think If you believe in the American belief system, the American Trinity as I call it, E Pluribus Unum, liberty, and In God We Trust. Especially if you believe in In God We Trust, you really do feel alone in many cases, not in all. If you're a member of a religious community, I presume you don't feel alone, but nevertheless at your place of work, where many people have to hide who they are, what they believe, in order to stay employed in some cases, and certainly in order to have a relatively pleasant experience at work. And so people like me offer people a sense of, you're not alone. That's a big deal. Another big deal is that you hear rational arguments against the staggering amount of irrationality that governs life. One of the reasons that I remain a religious individual, because I don't accept much on faith, that's not my nature, I am reason-based, is in fact the anti-religious how generally awful they are. Not the non-religious, there are some wonderful non-religious people, but anti-religiosity is a fundamental aspect of leftism. Yesterday I read to you from the LA Times. The LA Times I should thank because they provide columnist after columnist to exemplify the rule that There is no decency or logic in general on the left. So this man wrote about how it is such a farce, these Judeo-Christian principles. After all, they defended slavery. Well, the principles did not defend slavery. There were Christians who did, but the Judeo-Christian Christian principles do not defend slavery. And because he's not terribly bright, he didn't ask the more important question, not who defended slavery, because it was defended all over the world, including in Africa, but who abolished slavery. And then it turns out to be your Christian or Judeo-Christian value-keeping people, value-preserving people. To not recognize how good America has been in comparison to other places— since I don't compare America to heaven, I— or to Imagine. I don't know how the tune goes. You know how the tune goes? John Lennon's Imagine. Have you ever sung on radio?
No.
Would you like to break that record?
No.
Okay, Sean, we almost got the living martyr to sing, but that would have been an act of martyrdom. Well, therefore— Yeah, I missed it. They're really not by much. I thought I had a chance. Now I don't know, I have to think about that. Did I think I had a chance? Yes, they imagine this, this place devoid— not, not just devoid of racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, etc. No, no, no. They imagine a place that is painless. A key to understanding the left— and it's not easy to understand people who insist that men give birth and that they should be allowed to to compete against women in women's sports is their aversion and fear of pain. The idea that life has pain built in is not something that people on the left have acknowledged to themselves, forget to others. Pain should be abolished, and the abolishing of or the abolition of pain creates immense pain, staggering, unprecedented amounts of pain. You mean there are people richer than other people? That's painful. See, I don't understand why that in and of itself is a moral problem, that there are people richer than me or you. It is a moral problem when the government makes the rich richer by closing almost all little shops, almost all small businesses, and keeping Target and CVS and the like open. That's immoral. But that's what the left actually supported. You little businesses, you small businesses, are unworthy of our attention and unworthy of survival. But the big companies, they're our woke allies. So back to my original question, why I give some comfort is one of the arguments is that you hear you're not alone, but another is that I provide intellectual ammunition, which is very helpful when good people have ammunition. Ammunition is a blessing. And intellectual ammunition is as necessary as other forms— not more necessary, but as necessary as other forms of ammunition— to protect one against bad guys. Some reflections on my life and you. So I have a view of the words experts say. Experts say is to the person of the left, and even to many liberals— here is one example of where liberals and leftists do have a similar value system. They usually do not, but in this case they do. Liberals and leftists, when they hear the term experts say, or guess what I'm going to come up with? What is the other two words? What are the other two words along with experts say? Hey, that's my man! That is my man. You know, we need a reward room. We have a punishment room. We need a reward room. Do you like massages? Yeah, you know, I— he's not sure, which I should have predicted. Martyrs don't like massages. It's just such a non-martyr-like act. Anyway, he hit it. Studies show— ah, did you say study suggest? You were going to suggest— you were going to say study suggest? But I'm sorry, you would have gotten half a cigar. But you like massages. Yeah, and that's the killer. You wouldn't have gotten one. 'Cause its studies show. Suggest is not strong enough. Studies show and experts say. Expert— the experts tell us. That is to the secular left, or even the religious left, what thus saith the Lord is to religious people. Studies show. And experts tell us. So I read to you a few weeks ago, 51 heads of intelligence agencies in the United States signed an open letter that the Hunter Biden laptop was in fact Russian disinformation. In other words, virtually every single intelligence head in America lied on behalf of the Democratic Party and in order for Joe Biden to win. It was in October of the election year. I have another one for you right now. The real estate market is unbelievable. I've been through this with my own family. Home buyers have to go way above asking with cash offers to even be considered. So if you are relocating or need to buy a home before interest rates go up, contact Andrew and Todd at AndrewAndTodd.com. Their fast-track approval can help you write offers with no loan contingency so you can compete with cash buyers. Andrew and Todd aren't brokers, they're bankers who handle your loan personally from start to finish, so they're always in your corner. Go to AndrewAndTodd.com. Don't use one of those woke banks like Citibank or Chase. Andrew and Todd at Sierra Pacific Mortgage share your values. I work with them and suggest that you do too. Get started now. Go to AndrewAndTodd.com. Just answer a couple of questions and get real home buying solutions, usually on their first call. Go to AndrewAndTodd.com. AndrewAndTodd.com. I'm Dennis Prager. So I was telling you that experts say and studies show— those are magic words. They're religious terminology for people on the left, including liberals. When they hear that, they stop thinking. I mean that literally. I never consciously exaggerate. Never. Okay, that's, that's, that was an oath I took to myself when I began broadcasting. Don't exaggerate, because while it's effective the first 50 times, maybe people start realizing, oh, he's exaggerating, consciously or not, and that's not good. Those, those terms mean you do not have to think. Experts say wear masks, so you do not think. Studies show that human sexual identity is fluid, so you do not have to think. Oh really, you're not born a man or a woman? That's fascinating. I'm supposed to believe that because studies show. There's a whole host of it now that I think, right? Follow the science is another one. Follow the science is like, you know, observe the Bible. Follow the science. As if science is fixed. Hmm. By the way, I'm a big believer in following the science. However, science doesn't tell us what policies to pursue in every case. It just tells us— science tells you how viruses work, but it doesn't tell you whether or not you should lock down a society or not. And if society did say close schools, then science was in this case not only worthless but utterly and totally harmful to millions of kids, the victims of of the left-wing elite that run our country, not to mention teachers unions whose raison d'être is to hurt children. So it would seem. That's an exaggeration only in the sense that they don't think that's what they're doing. That is what they do. Okay, so I want to be very precise. Their reason for being is power and to further left-wing causes, but they have no concern for children, none whatsoever. If we follow teachers unions, we would hurt children, and we did follow teachers unions, and we did hurt children. So I have a new example of experts tell us, a new one. The Wall Street Journal pointed this out in an editorial. In September of 2021, so that would be, what, 6, 3, 9 months, 9 months ago, Nobel laureates in economics. Wow, in economics they won the Nobel Prize. They said not to worry about inflation by passing the Build Back Better, was the big one, right? That was the $3 billion Yeah, that in addition to the $1.9 billion, if I'm not mistaken. In any case, both of them of course were staggeringly inflation-creating. Now you understand, this is really important for you to hear. People who won Nobel Prizes in economics— what was the number of them? No, no, no, it was, uh, 17. 17 recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences said that this— that as the government prints unprecedented amounts of money that it does not have, I might add, it will not increase inflation. It will not be an inflationary problem. These people won Nobel Prizes. Here is some of what they said. Because this agenda invests in long-term economic capacity and will enhance the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy, it will ease longer-term inflationary pressures. Get that? Giving Americans trillions of dollars will ease inflationary Pressures. That's, that's what they signed. Who are they? David Akerlof, professor of economics. These are all professors of economics. Georgetown University. Sir Angus Deaton, Princeton University. Peter Diamond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Robert Engel, New York University. Oliver Hart, Harvard University. Daniel Kahneman. Daniel Kahneman. Wow, that's depressing. That is depressing. I want to know why he did that. He had a reputation as very intelligent. Leftism overpowers intelligence. Princeton University. Eric Maskin, Harvard University. Daniel McFadden, Berkeley. Paul Milgram, Stanford University. Roger Myerson, University of Chicago. Edmund S. Phelps, Columbia University. Paul Romer, New York University. William Sharpe, Stanford University. Robert Shiller, Yale University. Christopher Sims, Princeton University. Robert Solow, MIT. Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University. And this is what Stiglitz said, September 20, 2021: Some have invoked fears of inflation as a reason to not undertake these investments. This view is short-sighted. Short-sighted. Wow. You print trillions of dollars, think it might increase inflation, but it's a short-sighted view that it will increase inflation. This is what one of the signatories wrote on behalf of the other 16. Experts say, studies show— we'll be back. The Dennis Prager Show. Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation. People are concerned about what the future holds financially. This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion. There's no better time than the present to move a portion of your IRA into precious metals. Gold and silver IRAs are more popular than ever, and dealers are advertising heavily for your business. You should know there's a right and a wrong way to set up your precious metals IRA. Mistakes cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in IRS fines. Nick Grovich, man I completely trust, owner of AmFed Coin and Bullion, has agreed to send you a concise report about how to set up your IRA and how to get the best bang for your buck. Nick and his team will be happy to help you set up your precious metals IRA or review your current account. Call AmFed Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, for your free IRA report and all your precious metals needs. AmericanFederal.com. That's AmericanFederal.com. Hello, my friends. I'm Dennis Prager, and it is my delight to welcome to the show Naomi Wolf. She has been present in my mind much of my life. It's hard not to be if you think about issues in life. One of the leading feminist thinkers in the country. And the question is, certainly my question is, has she reached the sort of epiphany with regard, with regard to life, in regard to her outlooks with regard to life? Naomi, first of all, welcome to the program. And secondly, I have a I have an opening comment which you are welcome completely to dissociate yourself from. I know I do. I tell every guest it is a non-issue to disagree with me.
In fact, I don't doubt that, which I appreciate. Thank you so much.
Thank you. So I daily, literally daily, note that there is a distinction between liberalism and leftism. That except for size of government, they have nothing in common. That conservatives such as myself, who grew up as a liberal Democrat— how could I not? I'm a Jew from New York who went to Columbia. There's no other possibilities available to me.
Indeed.
And I have virtually every value I had when I was a liberal and a Democrat. Today as a conservative Republican. So clearly, so clearly things have changed there, not with me. So my question to you is, would you identify yourself as an anti-left or non-left liberal?
Um, no, I think those— respectfully, I think those labels are meaningless in, in the time in which we find ourselves. I think events are turning all our institutions upside down and all of our relationships upside down. I think there's horrific dogmatism and Marxist rigidity coming out of the left, you know, the like of which I've never seen before, and I'm certainly opposed to that. But, you know, there— I think it's too simplistic to say to create a schism like that. I mean, basically, you know, the left should re-embrace the values that it used to have, which you grew up having, which I grew up having— free speech, bodily autonomy, you know, human rights, the Constitution. And something very alien has attached itself to the left and is kind of subverting it from within. So I put it like that. But mostly what I'd say, Mr. Prager, and you're such an important person to say this to, I feel is that, um, you know, it's really time for us to recognize that, um, both the kind of institutional Republicans and the institutional Democrats have betrayed the people of America in a particularly dramatic way in the last 2 years. And that, you know, we need to kind of form new alliances across party lines at the grassroots level to reclaim the Constitution, free speech, human rights, And I do think that mission transcends partisanship.
So let me first tell everybody that literally in the last few days your latest book has come out, The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians. The subtitle is The New Authoritarians: COVID-19 and the War Against the Human, which I couldn't agree with more. Interestingly, on the back of the book you have blurbs from Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Eric Metaxas. No blurbs from the folks on the left.
Okay, Mr. Prager, I will go there. It is true that I have been, you know, exiled from my people. That is true, and, and it's very sad. Um, you know, basically I started doing what I've done for 35 years. I did independent objective reporting after the pandemic started. And I was critical, you know, as you're supposed to be, on dicta that were unsubstantiated, whether it was from pharma or from government spokespeople. And I was especially critical of these lockdowns early on, which violate, you know, the Constitution, First and Fourth Amendments, violate human rights. Forced mandates that violate the Nuremberg Code. Um, and, you know, I was doing what I've always done, but unfortunately, uh, I did get deplatformed from every major, you know, social media platform, and I did kind of get attacked and ousted by, you know, liberal left media and circles because it happens that the people who are doing the tyranny right now are Democrats, right? And so there's a horrible thing going on in our country right now where on the left, yes, I'll say it, where you can't criticize our own people because then you're a traitor. And so paradoxically, again, I'm saying the same things I have for 35 years, support the Constitution, cherish human rights, you know, and weirdly, after I got ejected by my own tribe, the people who happen to want to have this conversation about threats to freedom of speech and threats to the Constitution happen to be conservatives and libertarians. I welcome, you know, the new friends. I do. I don't care. Like, I truly feel like I will talk to anyone about the Constitution, and I wish that it was a, you know, a group of an audience that included everybody. I do see more and more people in the center and even on the left realizing that the narrative they've adhered to are crumbling, but I feel very angry that people who are supposed to be humane, educated people in my demographic of background embrace the two-tier society, embrace lies, were slaves to pharma marketing nonsense that was easily disproven, and it's become a kind of cult. You know, I'm glad to have new friends, but I would like my old friends to wake up and join.
Yeah, it won't happen. So this is interesting. This is really important. And everything I'm saying comes from admiration because you have the rarest of human traits, courage. And I agree with so much of what you're writing these days. Her book, again, folks, is up at DennisPrager.com, The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, COVID-19, and the War Against the Human. So in light of what you said, I have two questions. One, why did you say that my division was simplistic since all your allies are on the right? I don't know why you and I have any difference about the division that exists today. And secondly, I'm just curious, other than Alan Dershowitz, can you name three liberals, let alone leftists, who agree with you other than people you know, you know, like your brother-in-law perhaps, but names that my listeners and I would know.
Just 3. Who agree with me about which, which part?
That we are suppressing everything noble in America, like the most noble of all, freedom of speech, and it's coming entirely from the left.
Yeah, you're right. I mean, you're right. That is, you know, I, I, this is what's happening, Mr. Prager, and, and it's heartbreaking. And we should know, can I just say, as Jews, we should know better, like We've been here before, right? What's happening is people are saying to me, "I really agree with you and I admire your courage, but I'm not going to say anything publicly because," and then they give me nonsense reasons, right? Like completely ahistorical reasons, not understanding the danger they're in by enforcing silence and conformity with tyrannical edicts. And so they'll say things like, I don't want to, like, they'll whisper, I don't want, you know, I won't be invited to my bridge club if I, you know, don't take the booster or raise questions about it, or I won't, you know, or if I speak up against the masking of children, including my own child, like these are people letting people mask their children. If I say anything, I won't be asked to join the PTA, or I won't, you know, I might get shunned in my, you know, child's soccer group. Or people say if I speak up against, forced mandates of injections, which a lot of people across the political spectrum really don't like because we're, you know, human beings with a sense of bodily integrity, which is how, you know, free will created us. Um, you know, they'll say, I, I would speak up, but I don't, you know, I don't want to get in trouble with my boss. My boss won't like it. So, you know, that's what's happening, and it's, it's a It's almost a cult. I mean, I've written about it as a cult, and people, you know, people on the left literally— I hear this across the country— they've been heavily propagandized by, you know, NPR and CNN and MSNBC and The New York Times, and really told a series of shocking lies. And the president lies, you know, he tells them shocking lies. And this is so relentless, whereas you and I exist in a more independent All right, let me remind everybody, the book is The Bodies of Others.
Naomi Wolf is my guest, and the book is up at my website. We'll return in a moment. Towels just don't seem to dry you anymore. They feel soft and lotiony in the store, but you get them home and they don't absorb. Well, Mike Lindell at MyPillow found that out around 2006, and towels changed forever. He found the best towel company right here in the USA. They have proprietary technology to create towels that feel soft but actually work. And that happens to be true. I use them. They are all made with USA cotton and they come with the MyPillow 60-day money-back guarantee. 6-piece set, 2 bath, 2 hand towels, 2 washcloths. Regularly $109.99, now $39.99. Just go to mypillow.com and click on the new radio listener specials and get deep discounts on all MyPillow products, including the towels. Specials by entering the promo code Prager, or call 800-761-6302 for these great radio specials. MyPillow.com, promo code Prager. My guest, Naomi Wolf, one of the most prominent feminists, the most prominent thinkers of our time, a lifelong liberal and Democrat. And still considers herself a liberal. I'll ask her about Democrat in a moment. She doesn't have to answer. Her book is The Bodies of Others, and it has approbation at the back by, for example, Tucker Carlson. Naomi Wolf is one of the bravest, clearest-thinking people I know. The reason you hear the forces of repression and desperately So desperately trying to dismiss her is because she is right. Let me give you a quote from her book. The helter-skelter desertion of classical liberalism's modern civilization's most cherished post-war ideals, the sudden abandonment of post-Enlightenment forms of critical thinking, the dilution of parents' sense of protectiveness over the bodies and futures of their minor children, The acceptance of a world in which people can't gather to worship. Some of the things that she describes as having happened. Again, the book is The Bodies of Others, and it is up at DennisPrager.com. So you don't have to answer, but I, I couldn't resist. And I, I'm not sure I could show up at home, my wife wouldn't let me in if I didn't ask you. And, and so, uh, are you still voting Democrat?
You know, no, obviously not right now.
Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know what you would say. I, I've had people who've come to some of your realizations and it's still too tough for them to vote Row A as opposed to Row B, or however it's done anymore, Republican and Democrat. Wait, wait, hold on, we're not hearing you all that clearly. We're, we're trying. Yeah, I think we need to go back to the phone, folks, because I want you to see Naomi Wolf, because she— at the Salem Pod— no, the Salem News Channel, you can see my show, and sometimes you can see my guests. But that wasn't clear, my friends. So it's radio. Audio is significant. I'll read to you another thing from her while we get her back on the phone. In this moment when freedom itself is in the balance, when the alternative is servitude forever, this decision on whether to speak up makes all the difference. Tyrannies only fall when there is mass resistance. You hear that, folks? History is clear on this. When it is just a few, well, they are marginalized, silenced, smeared, or when things go far enough, arrested. What matters most is that enough people stand up and resist all at once. And that is exactly what what we are doing. It is exactly what many conservatives are doing and almost no liberals are doing. They will prefer to remain, as Naomi Wolf said, in their bridge club. And that's not a cute line. That is true. So I have you back happily on I wish people could see you, but another time.
Yes, exactly.
By the way, where do you live?
We now live in the Hudson Valley, about 2 hours north of Manhattan.
Well, you'll have more kindred spirits there than you would in Manhattan.
Yeah, I mean, New York is still a straight-up tyranny. Our governor keeps extending emergency law every 30 days, so we're not out of the woods yet. But yes, Manhattan has become— look, you know, Mr. Prager, I can't go indoors in Manhattan. I mean, it is literally still a— with the equivalent of Jim Crow laws.
Hold on, we're having now phone problems. I'm sorry to say.
No.
Oh, Sean, we got it. We'll have to call her back. I want to hear every word, and I want my listeners to hear every word. I didn't. So I would call her back. Is that— are you aware of that? You can't go indoors. Oh, if you're— well, you can't go to a Broadway show if you're not masked. You can't go to a concert if you're not masked. I wonder if you can go into a museum. I wonder what it is with schools. But of course, every big city in this country is governed by moronic ideas. As I've noted to you on many occasions, and I note in my Bible commentary of Genesis, every time the Tower of Babel is mentioned, it is mentioned in conjunction with the city attached to it. 3,000 years ago, the Bible knew the problem of idiocy coming from cities. I don't know of many exceptions to that. Almost all moronic ideas emanate from big cities. And now that has been the case in the 20th century and now in this one as well. To understand that is to appreciate what happens when you go there. I grew up in New York, and as I say, I didn't move, I fled. Unfortunately, I fled to a place that has caught up with New York, Los Angeles, but I now live outside of that. So good, we're back with you, Naomi, and forgive— well, there's nobody to forgive, it's just the way technology works.
Exactly, exactly. Yeah, no, I was just saying that, um, well, California where I grew up is, is a horrific, you know, cesspit of tyranny, and the bodies of children are being targeted. Um, you know, children are— there are bills that you know, we've been fighting that will force children— allow children to make their own decisions about their healthcare, you know, if they're over the age of 12. And we fought hard to keep children from being injected just to go to school in some parts of California. And I don't recognize it anymore.
And by this—
by the same token, in New York City, I was saying that I was in a hotel 6 weeks ago, and I literally could not sit at a lunch counter lawfully. And so I just sat at the lunch counter.
Why couldn't you? Because why?
Because I'm not vaccinated, which is nobody's business but my own.
Of course. But that is still in effect in Manhattan.
It was as of 6 weeks ago.
Yeah.
Wow. All right. Hold on there, if you would. The book is The Bodies of Others. Naomi Wolf is the author. The book is up at DennisPrager.com. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are charging you a premium fee every month for data you don't use. Stop paying for things you don't use. Instead of paying $89 a month to your current provider, pay just $20 to PureTalk for what you actually need. I made the switch. I didn't know what I was getting. I was testing it out to see if I could endorse this company. Am I gonna drop calls, have slow internet? Well, I can tell you firsthand, the 5G service is that good. Switching to PureTalk was that easy. If you've been sitting on the fence, time to take the leap and start saving money every month. Just dial #250 and say Dennis Prager, and you'll save an additional 50% off your first month. With PureTalk's no-risk money-back guarantee, You won't regret this. Dial #250 and say Dennis Prager, sign up and save an additional 50% your first month. Okay everybody, Dennis Prager here. If you missed the last hour, you can always hear every one of my hours without commercials at pragertopia.com. That's utopia with a Prager. pragertopia.com. It's tough to hear all 3 hours for many of you, and this is a convenient way to hear it anytime you want. Share it with others, etc. PragerTopia.com. And Naomi Wolf was my guest last hour. Naomi Wolf's a lifelong liberal feminist, major thinker on the liberal— in the liberal world. And has now come out against the predations of the left, the suppression of liberty, whether it's speech or health matters. She correctly called this vaccine not a vaccine, which is correct, and that it is experimental, which is correct. Two reasons I didn't take the vaccine. I never urged others not to. All I said was we need the freedom to choose whether we take it or not. Why you would give it to any young person is, in my opinion, however, that is not just a matter of choice. That is a matter of a, a morally and medically indefensible position to give a vaccine to— this so-called vaccine to a young person. As the Washington Post reported a few weeks ago, and I read to you, and I reaffirmed the Washington Post, more Americans under the age of 65 have died of suicide, died of suicide last year than of COVID Many of these suicides were induced by the lockdown, which I said in the beginning was the greatest mistake in history. I said it wasn't, I wasn't comparing it to evils. It was the greatest mistake. Did a lot of evil, but I still call it a mistake. And I also said all of this in 2020, in the first half of 2020. It's all up on the internet that it was a dress rehearsal for a police state. I still believe that Harvard Totally understandably for Harvard, invited the Prime Minister of New Zealand, woman who said that if you don't hear something from the government, it isn't true. I've played that about 20 times on my radio show. She was the heroine for Harvard. The left views government the way religious people view God. Infallible, all-powerful, should be all-powerful. And that's the, uh, that's one of the biggest parts of the conflict between the Judeo-Christian world and the left. Who should have the power, the individual or the state? All right, San Diego, Romana. Hello.
Hi, hi, good morning, Dennis.
Hi, sir.
I, I called because, uh, I was listening earlier to your interview with Miss Stanley Wolf, and I was, uh, I'm so— I'm just admiring her for her courage, as you stated, was the most amazing thing, especially in, in the times within which we live. And I had to call and let you know about the horrible things that we've experienced here in San Diego with my youngest daughter. Back in March, mid-March, we, we were told that she did not have a couple of vaccines, and I said, well, she had an adverse reaction. I sought and was able to get a permanent medical exemption for two of them that was on file at her school for five years. They informed me that somehow, because they didn't have a health tech, it fell through the system in August, and therefore we needed to pick her up, and they were escalating things as if she she was, you know, a walking disease. And I said, just a moment, she's in robust health, she hasn't had any issues, um, what, what is the urgency? And they said— and I'm certain that it's coming from the Marxists in the state that have taken on a very just unreasonable approach— and they said she has to have these 2 or 3 vaccines, plus, um, they said, uh, excuse me, the exemption that she has on file. And this is unbelievable, heart-stopping stupidity that only a leftist can come up with. They stated that the exemption will no be considered valid, and, and they're invalidating it. I said, oh, by what criteria and by whose authority? I said, it's not from the doctor that issued it. And they said, because when they had to come up with something, so they said that they were told that when she enters a new grade span, it's going to be viewed as expired. So I said, you're telling me that now my child and I have to assume a risk in order for her to attend school with her peers with whom she's been since kindergarten, and And if I don't comply, they basically kicked my daughter out of school and it devastated her and just unreasonable. And I said, look, there's 2 and a half months of school left. Surely we can come up with a reasonable compromise. Give me the name of the person or persons that's giving you this order. They said, then they told me that I went on a search to get another exemption. I said, so now you want me to get another exemption stating the same thing that the current one says, except now they devised a method where they are putting the pressure on doctors limiting the number of exemptions they can write. And it's no, no longer between me and my doctor and my child. Now doctors have to go online to a system called CAIR, which is California Immunization Registry, and they have to submit it to a clinician that I had never seen or spoken with that evaluates what the doctor wrote and either denies or accepts it. And they stated that because my daughter's reaction apparently was I was told it was neurological. They were saying it wasn't severe enough to warrant her being exempted from, from these other vaccines.
Well, what were they? I'm curious, what specific vaccines?
The MMR and polio. Polio was the one that triggered the neurological reaction. And I said, I don't ever want to see what I saw in my child again. And I'm not parenting with the state. They don't even want to reason with me. And I said, so you— they wouldn't even let her on to pick anything up. And I said, what is this? Fanaticism, this fanatical adherence to what the state wants. They should have called me and said, look, we're going to deny this that's been on file for 5 years, and then talk to me about it, like, what's, what's going on? They did not. And then they were, they were putting the pressure on us, and they're punishing my child, punishing me because I didn't comply. And so finally, after about 3 weeks, Dennis, uh, they said there was an attendance issue. So we pulled her out and put it— put her in an exclusively um, online, uh, program. But she, she was, she was stunned that this is happening in our street.
That's right, we're all stunned. That's correct, it's quite a story. Just curious, if you have a polio vaccine, what do you care if the next kid doesn't? Doesn't the vaccine protect you against polio? Isn't that the point? Am I— no, I'm not. I'm looking at my producer here because I'm thinking, am I The theory is that if more and more kids don't— yeah, if more and more kids don't, then that'll mutate. And then that'll mutate. That's the theory. The vaccine— the, uh, the disease— yeah, then the vaccine won't work. I see. All right, just curious what the thinking is. Uh, let's see here. Bill in La Cañada, California. Hello.
Hey, Dennis.
Hi.
Earlier you were speaking of speech suppression by the left. I'm a former LA Times writer from the '80s and '90s before it became Pravda. And, uh, last Thursday, May 26th, your hometown paper, the La Cañada Flintridge Outlook, had a headline on the letters page, page 6. It says 'Prager's bigoted comments not welcome here,' unquote. But then no letter follows. Did you or your wife see that? And so much for the First Amendment.
Wait, they didn't list— there was no letter saying Prager's negative comments not welcome?
No.
So it looks like an editorial comment. I'm looking, there's no— absolutely no letter.
That's fascinating.
Any comments?
Well, I did a report that the La Cañada Facebook, the biggest Facebook page in La Cañada did not allow the rabbi who invited me to speak in La Cañada at his Chabad house. He was the first Jewish institution in La Cañada history to open there, and I volunteered to give a speech. We had a very big turnout, and in order to support his opening, and he was not allowed to advertise the fact that I was coming to speak.
So then who's the bigot? It sounds like somebody else is the bigot.
Well, we all know who the bigot is, of course. By the way, they never give an example. I'm always curious what my bigotry is. It's really, you know, they don't have to support the charge. You know, I was opposed to same-sex marriage. That's the one that comes up up if they ever cite anything. I don't know why that makes you a bigot. Was, I guess, Barack Obama was a bigot all his life until his last few years in office? My gay friends don't think it's bigoted. I just spoke at the bar mitzvah of a gay couple's child. Back in a moment. All right, let's see here. Let me summarize a couple of calls. And, uh, Daniel in South Jersey says that I'm wrong about saying the Nazis are on the right. You're right and I'm right. I didn't say the Nazis are on the right. Let's put it this way, I do say the Nazis are on the right as shorthand because they're, they're, they're both left and right. I'll explain that and then I'll just move on. Nazism stands for National Socialism, so that is clearly left-wing. The national is right-wing, the socialism is left-wing. That's basically what it's about. Marxism does not recognize nationalism. Marxism hates nations because nations take away from the class struggle. Because if the German worker is— is— has allegiance to Germany and the Russian worker has allegiance to Russia, then, then they'll fight each other, whereas they should both be fighting capitalists. I think I've made it pretty clear. That's the reason that it is not honest to say that Nazism was left-wing, and it's not honest to say it's just right-wing. It's both. The socialism is left, the nationalism is right. Okay, nevertheless, my point was the more important point. With that one exception and Iran, All the totalitarianism, virtually all totalitarianism of the 20th century was left-wing. How many kids know that? How many kids in college, in any college, know that all genocides except for the one in Rwanda were caused by governments? And yet they want a bigger and bigger government. David Horowitz, the great, great courageous man who understood the left as well as anyone living, grew up a communist diaper baby with his communist parents. Yes, they were party members. And he said all the time, the left is communist. He didn't say it about liberals, he said it about the left. Leftist communist. And he was right. Turns out he was right. Very important. 1-800-PRAGER-776. St. Petersburg, Florida. Henry, hello.
Yeah, hi Dennis. I, I wanted to respond to something you were talking with Naomi Wolf about, the difficulty of, uh, New York City and the mask policy. In April, I wanted to go to the Met from Florida to New York just to see Nadine Sierra in Lucia di Lammermoor. But when I called the Met box office, they told me I was going to have to wear a mask watching the performance. So I asked a few questions because it sounded kind of silly. And then they told me, well, but during intermission, you can go to the bar and you can have drinks and eat food. Well, that made it even more silly. So I decided to cancel my trip because I later found out, I got an email on my email saying that the performance of Lucia was going to be in movie theaters. So I went to see it in St. Petersburg in the movie theater, but I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't go.
By the way, the members of the orchestra in the pit The, uh, the opera orchestra, do they wear masks? Do you know?
Well, I— now, now you're asking me. We have to go back to that video, but I think maybe they did, but the conductor didn't.
Oh, you know how many people he killed? Oh my God, death by conductor. Well, thank you. You've made a wise choice sitting in the theater and watching it. That's exactly right. Okay, let's see here. Oh yeah, Ambler, Pennsylvania. Nancy. Hello, Nancy.
Hi, Dennis. Hi. I really like that Naomi Wolf did not agree to classify herself as either liberal, leftist, or whatever, but I have a regular problem when you routinely try to draw a distinction between leftists and liberals? Because if the liberals are always voting with the left, then there's really no difference between them.
No, I don't think that that's a logical inevitability. There's no difference in how they vote. That's not the same as there's no difference between between them. I mean, to give a much weaker example, a libertarian and a religious conservative have differences, but they both vote Republican, except for the foolish libertarian who votes for the Libertarian Party. That's a truly stupid person. Well-intentioned, but so what? Well, intentions mean nothing. So what they do is they just give the Democrats a vote by voting for the Libertarian Party, by removing a Republican vote. But sure, there are differences among people who vote the same. And we have no chance to win over liberals if we say you're identical to a leftist. It's over then.
Well, then why not just call them Democrats? Because they're voting Democratic.
I do call them Democrats. But nevertheless, there are two types of Democrats: liberals and leftists.
I don't think there's a distinction anymore in today's world.
Well, I'll give you one of my famous distinctions. There is no liberal who agrees with an all-black dormitory at Columbia University or an all-black graduation at Columbia University. That's a huge difference. And the more we emphasize these differences, the better chance we have to win liberals over to our side. If we just say you're as scummy as the left, then they say screw you.
Well, that's what they say about people on the conservative side, and I appreciate your kind heart, but I don't have the kind—
No, no, it has nothing to do with a kind heart. Zero. I just want you to know I appreciate the compliment. I do have a kind heart. My position on the liberal Left distinction has nothing to do with kindness. It is intellectually valid, and it is also an extremely important tactic in trying to do what might be impossible, I agree, convince a liberal that the left is his enemy, not the conservative.
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