The Dennis Prager Show LIVE

Hello, my friends, on this sad day after a shooting, mass shooting, killing, murder, this time Boulder, Colorado. And the evil— if the word means anything, the man was evil. Ahmad al- Alwi Alita. I have no idea what his motive was. I have no idea if it's connected to his probably being a Muslim. I don't know any non-Muslims who were named after Muhammad. Ahmad is a variation on the name Muhammad. There are three— two variations: Muhammad, Mahmoud, and Ahmad. I assume that they will explore his background and his tweets, if he did make any, and Facebook messages, etc. There is a gulf between most human beings and the truly evil. Most human beings allow evil I'm not talking about this type of evil, but are not evil. How does one do that is one of the great mysteries. Dostoevsky explored it in Crime and Punishment. It will forever be explored. People go shopping and never come back home. I have said on a number of occasions that God or nature, or both, have given us the inability to fully empathize. If we could fully empathize, feel— meaning feel the pain of the suffering of others, not know it and feel horrible about it, but feel it, we would of course go mad. How could it possibly— how could we possibly feel the pain of all these people, let alone the millions of the 20th century, the 100 million? That's not available to the human. It's a built-in protective shield, but you can feel for them. And if I may say, we're allowed to feel anger. I'll go further: I hate this man. And I know that many of you feel that you hate the sin and love the sinner, and Some of the finest people I know have that doctrine. I don't. Depends on the sin. I don't hate people who engage in sexual sin, for example. We would all much rather somebody visit a massage parlor than murder. Is that not fair to say? So not all sin is equivalent, as I have often said, and I have written, lectured, and studied theology all of my life. One hopes there's a hell. That goes against the prevailing humanistic doctrine of We all have the same fate. Really? If we all have the same fate, there is no just God in the universe. So I'm emoting. Totally, uh, appropriate to do so. I hate these people. Mental illness doesn't— I don't know if that suffices. Many mentally ill people don't murder, probably the same percentage as non-mentally ill people. Not everybody engaged in murder is mentally ill. Well, we'll find out more. Right now we only know the name. The policeman who came in to defend the people— want to give me his name? Because it is Officer Eric Talley. Thank you. To Officer Talley's family, you were given the blessing of a brave and courageous and wonderful human being. As a father and husband. Not everybody gets that, to be taken away one day like that. Again, I can, I can imagine, but I can't fully enter that space that you're in. What we know about Eric Talley— this is from where? Forbes. He was an 11-year veteran of the Boulder Police Department, the first officer on the scene responding to the mass shooting. Still want to defund the police, folks? So let me ask you a question: who's the more typical police officer? Eric Talley, or a police officer who has some racial animus and acts out on it unfairly and unjustly. By the way, that they exist is undeniable, but I have to say that virtually every situation I am aware of does not seem to vindicate the charge that we're talking about racist, trigger-happy, want-to-see-a-Black-person-die human being. Eric Talley is far more representative of the police in the USA than such a person who seems to be more of a caricature. Remember, in the case of Michael Brown, People are still saying at rallies, "Hands up, don't shoot. Hands up, don't shoot." I just saw it about a week or two ago, like it was ever said. It was never said. The police chief in Boulder 10 fatalities at the scene, including one of our Boulder PD officers by the name of Eric Talley, who's been on the Boulder Police Department since 2010.

He served in numerous roles supporting the Boulder Police Department and the community of Boulder.

And I have to tell you, the heroic action of this officer when he responded to this scene at 14:30 hours the Boulder Police Department began receiving phone calls of shots fired in the area and a phone call about a possible person with a patrol rifle.

Officer Talley responded to the scene, was the first on the scene, and he was fatally shot.

I also want to commend the heroic actions of the officers responding not only from Boulder PD but from across the county and other parts of this region. You realize there's a person with a powerful semi-automatic murdering human beings. Everybody in that store, and my heart goes out to not only obviously the families and friends and the individuals murdered, but it goes out to anybody who witnessed it. That's That is trauma. They— that, that's, that's one of the times the word survivor is appropriate. People use survivor for COVID. Did you know that if you had COVID, you're a survivor? Amazing. My son, my stepson, they're survivors. I, I never thought of that. But if you went through this in Boulder You are, uh, you are a survivor. That's trauma. And what happens? So he is murdering humans. Everybody is fleeing except the police, who run in, not out. And there are people who put up graffiti, 'F the police.' There are morons in Minnesota, in the city council of Minneapolis and elsewhere, who want to defund them? We'll be back. 1-800-PRAGER-776.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse. And our kids will pay the price. It needs to stop now. I'm Jerry Boyer.

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy, America's unique graduate program for leaders. Learn more at publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu. Turning now on the Charlie Kirk Show.

They don't think that America has the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength. Cut 91.

[Speaker:WANG YINGJI] Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the U.S. side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we make our position clear. So let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

You understand what they're saying here? They're saying that, oh, the United States doesn't have a position of strength. You mean after you destroyed our manufacturing base, debased our currency, spied on our cyber grid, they're lecturing us about strength? In one sense, they're right. But the fact that they have the cockiness to say that goes to show exactly where the international order is headed. And I'm going to tell you one thing that we should all be talking about when it comes to Joe Biden and China that we just seem to be forgetting and missing.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I am a teacher in an elementary school, and a lot of our professional development is on racism because our school is, um, very diverse, um, in that population. And one of the, um, professional development we had was on diverse books and the lack of diverse books. So basically the statistics they gave us was that, this is from 2018, that 50% of all children's books that are published are based on characters who are white. So 50% white, 27% are animals or other, you know, things besides people, 10% is based on Blacks, 7% on Asian Pacific or Asian people, 5% on Latinos, and then 1% on American Indians. And how this is an example of systemic racism and it's very hard to find diverse books.

First, my first thought, Mary, is who sat around and added them all up like that? I mean, that's just amazing to me. That's stunning to me. A good book is a good book. A good character is a good character.

Hi everybody. Like to remind you that given that mortgage rates are the lowest in my lifetime at any rate, and therefore probably in yours. You should very seriously consider getting a refi. Obviously, if you're buying a new home, you will be getting one, or however you work it, a cash-out refi, reverse mortgage. And I have been advocating these guys with Sierra Pacific Mortgage. Andrew and Todd for a year, since the beginning of the lockdown. They have been working. They never left their post. I get great feedback on them. Go to andrewandtodd.com or call 888-888-1172. Once again, that is andrewandtodd.com. No obligation, but these are the guys to entrust your financing of a home too. AndrewandTodd.com. I'm Dennis Prager. There's so many issues that are raised by these events. It's two in one week. They, they seem to happen in spurts. I don't know if they're ever connected. And of course there'll be more calls for gun control, which only means— I mean, literally only means that innocent people will find it harder to obtain weapons and ammunition. Bad people find a way to get them, right? So why don't we therefore teach people how to shoot back. Why would one not want that ability? Why would we want the state to enter, which we do— that's called police— why would we want that to be the only possible response when that means that some Innocent human beings— mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends— have already been murdered. I've always asked this question. It's on my list. God, I wish that thing went viral. 32 questions. I should just put it up, right? 32 questions people should ask to clarify how they think. One of my 32 questions is, do you think a shooter debating which school to murder children in, which, which school do you think he would be more likely to enter? One that had a sign, gun-free zone? Or one that had a sign, armed teachers and other personnel? The question in my mind is rhetorical. The sign saying to these individuals that there are people with guns will have the person move on to the naive school. And you have to be spectacularly naive to believe that gun-free zone prevents bad people with guns from entering. The level of naïveté is immeasurable. There are no perfect answers. I don't believe that teaching vast numbers of people how to deal with arms and allowing them to have them is the answer. I don't believe that confiscating as many guns as possible is the answer. Evil exists. There are 300— what are we up to, 330 million Americans? What are we up to right now? 330 million people. There are, there are probably, what, 100 million guns out there? There are more guns than citizens. Okay. Ironically, the number of mass shootings is is not gigantic in, in relationship to those two numbers. How many does it take? How many mass shootings are there in the last 10 years? Not in any given year. What would you estimate? 10? Do we do— I don't even know if there's 10 a year. Do we really have one every month? So, what, 6, 5? That means 5 individuals out of 330 million. That's all it takes. Evil— I've always said this, it's always good to remember— it is infinitely easier for an individual to do mass evil than for an individual to do massive good. Good is generally done on a one-to-one basis. Evil can be done on a mass basis. Like to know, in any event, Europe has 300 million people or so. Of course, they have much stricter gun laws. I'd like to know how often in the course— all of Europe I don't think nearly as much, but we don't tend to report it. People are not interested if there's a mass shooting in Slovenia. And there may not be. Certainly have terrible, terrible violence in Africa. Much of it is religious-induced among radical Muslims. They just kidnap young people, sometimes kill them, sometimes never return them, sometimes return them for ransom. The issue of evil is, is, is that a dividing line between the naive and the non-naive. My, my Weltanschauung, my worldview, is that I am moved and surprised more by great good than by great evil. How do you explain Officer Talley? Why is that explicable, right? The man runs into a situation in which he may die. He could have, I guess, waited for other officers to be with him. Nobody would have known the difference. Goodness is as much a puzzle as evil. Courage is a puzzle. These are elementary things that are not discussed, let alone learned. At your local school, they're teaching them about global warming.

Trending now on the Mike Gallagher Show.

Listen, I fight hard for what I believe in every day, but I also try to understand where somebody who disagrees with my ideology or my politics, where they're coming from. And so in a way, maybe, maybe you do the same thing and it kind of keeps us sort of out of the hot seat where we're not just trying to lob, you know, hand grenades to the other side, but we're trying to have a reasonable dialogue.

Yeah, I don't want any vitriol in my life. I work very hard to avoid it. One of the things I— of course, I talk about my dog a lot, Jasper. I have actually utilized my love for dogs to form relationships with people that I might disagree with politically. And that's been very gratifying, actually. I have a rule: no politics at the dog park. And also I've found the other thing is that if you ask questions, right? I ask a lot of questions. I'm curious. I love learning. I know you do too. This is why you do this job. You love meeting people and learning the issues. And I've also started listening to more podcasts. I'm thrilled that you're going to be doing a podcast. I will subscribe. I will give you 5 stars. Thank you.

Thank you.

And in the book, I list several podcasts for young people. To keep learning.

Yeah, yeah.

So that they can grow. I mean, there's a lot of ambition and talent and educated people in America. They want to succeed, but they got to work a little harder to get it. You know, you got to work competitive world, and you have to find a way to be different from your competitors.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on America First with Sebastian Burke.

This isn't, as some have portrayed it, as some kind of spontaneous, random, organic response to Joe Biden being president. This is being institutionally organized for the profit of the cartels, correct?

Absolutely. And the cartels understand what our politics and our policies are better than we do as Americans. And they knew where Joe Biden was leaning in his administration, and they were more than willing and more than ready to help accommodate those people to come across this country. Look, they don't just let people come across. On the other side, the cartel is regulated. They make these people pay. They give them children to, hey, hey, here, take this kid across with you. They're less likely to stop you.

So this is something that I want everybody to understand. I heard this from my friend, former Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan. They are using children. Children from the northern counties in Mexico as props so that groups of adults coming across can say, we are a family unit, so the feds have to treat them differently. Are you confirming that, Sheriff Lamb?

Yes, 100%. And out in Collin County, Texas, at one of my, uh, one of my other fellow sheriffs out there, they do interdiction on the highways out there. He says no less than 3 to 5 times they have actually pulled cars over where the people in the front had no idea who the children in the back were, and the children in the back had no idea who the people in the front were. They know what our policies are. They're using that against us. They're using children, which is despicable. And honestly, where are these parents of these people?

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I just Portions of The Dennis Prager Show are brought to you by Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company. Ah, amazing how that helps, that little switch. Do you realize it's an eerie thing that sometimes overcomes me? Or overwhelms me is better. When I speak and the switch is up, I'm talking to one person. When the switch is moved to 45 degrees, I'm speaking to millions of people. Very eerie thing to think about. Well, I have reflected on the murders now in Boulder and the policemen. One more word about this. The, uh, the great— one of the few great thinkers of our time, George Gilder, said to me Or I read it. I don't remember if he said it to me because we've talked on a number of occasions, or he wrote it. His father was killed flying over Germany in World War II, and he was a little boy, and he said I really didn't grow up with a father, but I did grow up with a father. And that's correct. The memory of the father, the way in which he died, the honoring of him by the mother he had a father in his psyche, in his soul, not in his life, but in those two things. And either he compared or I compared that to a father abandoning children. Both didn't have the father, right? But there's no comparison between a father killed even by an illness and a father abandoning one's children. The actual existential fact of a situation is not the only determinant. There are so many factors involved. To the children of Officer Talley, you were given a gift of this remarkable man. By the way, there may have been remarkable men and women among the murdered. I just don't know. I don't know them. But to the children of the officer, You were given a gift, but not long enough. The only way I think people could look at such things— the premature death of a loved one— you were given a gift, but not long enough. I, I was given a gift of a friendship with a man named Frank Pastore. Frank Pastore is one of the most popular Christian broadcasters in the United States. He made two videos for PragerU. You can see his energy. He was a formal major league pitcher. Pitched for the Cincinnati Reds. I think he's the only Major League Baseball player to become a major league theologian. I think that's pretty right. Can't, uh, no other name comes to mind. Look, he was that good that we had him do two preview videos on, on God's existence, which is my specialty. And I thought he was magnificent. I learned from it. I spoke at his memorial service, and I remember one of the things that I said, that he— people, every speaker prior to me, or most speakers if not all, spoke about his being in a better place. These were committed Christians, and I completely understand that. So I said, you know, he may well be in a better place, but we're not. I remember looking at his family, and there was a— I think I wrote the foreword to his wife's book. And I think that hit a chord that needed to be said. Like to tell you, in light of pain— this is physical pain— if you have tingling in your extremities, like hands and feet, which I did much of my life, pins and needles type thing in my feet because of neuromas and went to a great doctor, nerve doctor Shulian in Los Angeles. He told me about vitamin B and other things. And anyway, I got inserts, started vitamin B. The inserts were a massive help. And then I learned of Nerve Renew, began taking it. And a year later, I threw away my inserts. That's how effective it is. Try it. NerveRenew.com. 2-week free trial, 1-year money-back guarantee.

Trending now on America First with Sebastian Gorka.

What is the reality for you and your deputies when it comes to the last 58 days in America? Have things changed for you when it comes to illegal migration in your county, Sheriff?

Oh, absolutely. And it's been a disastrous change. It is not a change that we welcomed or are enjoying, that's for sure. You know, immediately overnight, we started having I mean, the last 2 months we've had 40+ pursuits where they end in a bailout, which means that they run from us, they stop, they— everybody bails out of the vehicle into the desert. Typically they'll leave somebody behind. Like we had one where they— 12 people bailed out of the car and they left a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl behind because they know that we're going to have to deal with this unaccompanied minor while all of them go free into this country. Last week alone, we had— last Wednesday alone, we had 49 apprehensions in one day. human trafficking and drug trafficking into this country. And if you care about human beings, it shouldn't matter what party you are. If you care about protecting those people, then you should absolutely care about border security because the cartel is using these people to gain money. They're raping the women, they're using the children as pawns, which is clear as day right now. And they extort the men. human trafficking and drug trafficking into this country. And if you care about human beings, it shouldn't matter what party you are. If you care about protecting those people, then you should absolutely care about border security, because the cartel is using these people to gain money. They're raping the women. They're using the children as pawns, which is clear as day right now. And they extort the men.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Eric Metaxas Show.

I mean, we know the Media Research Center did polling and found out among people who voted for Joe Biden, something like 30% didn't know the Hunter Biden story. And those that heard about the Hunter Biden story said up to 17% of them would not have voted for Joe Biden if they had known. This we know for sure. This doesn't even— this isn't any kind of conspiracy theory. We know that journalists interfered with this election in a way that journalists have never interfered with an election in the United States before, by suppressing very pertinent information. And for your listeners and your viewers, you know, what is that pertinent information? And you know, it's almost like a joke actually, Eric. And I think this film actually, funny enough, will be funny and awfully sad and tragic and has a terrible—

Hello, my friends. Talking about good and evil, PragerU does a lot of good. Please help us continue to do that. We have a country and a civilization to save. I do not over-dramatize ever, but it's true. This is fundraising month. PragerU.com, 833-PRAGER-U. Have you folks heard about this Michigan restaurant owner?

Imprisoned?

Keeping her restaurant open? What happened? Oh, I thought you were shaking your head that it didn't happen. Yeah, no, no, I know. I thought maybe you learned maybe she wasn't. You're shaking your head out of despair. A Western Michigan restaurant owner was arrested before dawn Friday and hauled to jail. A dramatic turn in a months-long dispute over her persistent refusal to comply with orders and restrictions tied to the coronavirus. Marilena Pavlos Hackney, 55, will remain in jail until she pays $7,500 and authorities confirm that Marilena's Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland, Michigan, is closed, the judge said. Are you ready? This is what the judge said: she has put the community at risk. She has put the community at risk. Okay, so judge, people like you have put millions of people's livelihoods at risk, right? I'll have more about that in a moment. Each day, not each hour, but each day in my fundraising month, I have a member of Prager Force, people in their late teens and 20s, members of PragerU's organization, 15,000 now all over the world. Spoke to a young woman in Czech Republic. Just the other day. Couldn't get over her. Carolyn Klein is in, uh, I don't know where you are actually. I just know you teach music. You're 26. And, uh, where are you?

I am, uh, Gilbert, Arizona. I'm 25.

You're 25?

Yes.

Oh, that's important. 25, you know, we don't want you to— we don't want you to get older prematurely.

Yeah.

So you, you're a classical music teacher as well? Is that, is that what you do?

So I actually, I used to be a music performance major, but I already started getting gigs before I even got my degree. So I currently teach private lessons for string, bass, And I play in a group called Valley Youth Theater, and I play in the pit with the pit orchestra. And then, so I'm currently going to school as a history major to be a history teacher.

Wow, you're a Renaissance woman.

Yeah, I would say so.

I love that you would say so. That's a great response. I love when I compliment somebody because I never do it gratuitously, and they don't just say thank you, they say you're right. No, I really do like that. So you don't want a career in music?

I currently have a career. I perform, like I said, perform at Valley Youth Theater, East Valley Millennial Choirs and Orchestras, and I sometimes do some other gigs with some colleges like Grand Canyon University I've performed with. I've done something with Arizona State University, which is where I currently go to school at. I just get some calls and people pay me to play for a night.

One of my dear friends is a bass player with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Oh really? I actually know one of the, the principal for San Francisco Symphony, and that is Scott Pingel.

That's the man. You—

oh my gosh, you know who Scott Pingel was? That's so funny.

My wife and I just had, uh, had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago.

That's so— I, I remember I went to this, uh, program, or this camp, it's called International Society of Bassists, and I saw him and I chased after him up 3 flights of stairs and I asked him like, can you give me a private lesson for the day, and he said absolutely. I, I love that guy.

He's amazing.

That we would have this, this man in common is really a beautiful thing and wholly unexpected. So, you know, when we had lunch together, he had just performed in San Diego. He lives obviously in San Francisco area.

Yeah.

And he had just performed in San Diego at an outdoor concert, and He made sure to take the bass, a very expensive bass. This is from, I think, 18th century. And so he, he couldn't leave it in his car, so we had lunch with him and his bass.

Yep, that, yep, that sounds accurate.

It's not many, not many women play that instrument. It's generally more men in that section.

Yeah, I would say so.

So why, why pick history? It's— I think it's the most important subject. Why did you pick it?

So when I was younger, my parents really thought it would be important to bring us— me and my sisters. I have 4 sisters. I'm the middle child.

You have 4 sisters? There were 5 girls?

Yeah.

Are there any boys?

Any boys?

No boys.

No boys.

I would like to know how many families have had 5 girls or 5 boys. That is very rare.

Yeah, it's, it's pretty rare. But anyways, so history— my parents thought it would be really important to bring us to museums, so We went to the Egyptian Museum. We used to live in Northern California. They took us to that history museum up there, the Egyptian one. We've been to the Natural History Museum in New York, the Holocaust Memorial. I've even been to the Hiroshima Museum Memorial in Japan. So they thought that was very important at a young age to make sure that we go experience that. Out of all the sisters, I am the one that was just completely obsessed with reading, learning, like the books, Magic Treehouse books. I was obsessed with those. They had so much history. And so at— for a time I—

all right, hold on there because, uh, there's a lot to talk about and I want to hear about your affiliation.

Turning now on the Charlie Kirk Show.

I just got an email about someone who says they have to take mandated racial diversity seminar training or whatever it is. And all I have to say is that there is a piece of art, and I don't use that word lightly. That is so perfect, so funny, so politically incorrect that hits this perfectly. It's from the legendary show The Office. Now, The Office started as an unbelievably politically incorrect show, and then it got into this kind of like quasi-woke thing later on. But the episode Diversity Day with Steve Carell, it's so politically incorrect. Especially in today's time. I'm just gonna tell you something right now. If I dared repeat some of the lines here, it wouldn't even be an advertiser boycott. It would be an advertiser invasion. One of my favorite lines is Steve Carell looks into the— actually, this might be the pilot episode. You see, I am not an expert in a lot of things, but I am an expert in the central canon of the first season of The Office, because it all went downhill from there. I watched the later— the first season of The Office is so well written, as if they don't care about— they just said, we are going to swing for the fences, bottom of the 9th. We want this show to catch on, that they just took huge risks. Steve Carell famously said, as Abraham Lincoln said, if you are a racist, I will attack you from the north. I highly encourage you to check it out because we need to laugh about this stuff a little bit because people are emailing me, Charlie, what do I do about this diversity seminar? If you think you have it bad, check out Michael Scott who had to take the diversity class seminar.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Mike Gallagher Show.

Listen, I fight hard for what I believe in every day, but I also try to understand where somebody who disagrees with my ideology or my politics, where they're coming from. And so in a way, maybe, maybe you do the same thing and it kind of keeps us sort of out of the hot seat where we're not just trying to, to lob, you know, hand grenades to the other side, but we're trying to have a reasonable dialogue.

Yeah, I don't want any vitriol in my life. I work very hard to avoid it. One of the things I— of course, I talk about my dog a lot, Jasper. I have actually utilized my love for dogs to form relationships with people that I might disagree with politically. And that's been very gratifying, actually. I have a rule: no politics at the dog park.

Hi everybody. Once a day, each day of March, fundraising month for PragerU, I get to interview usually a PragerU member, PragerForce member. Carolyn Klein is in Arizona and she's studying history at ASU. What prompted you to join PragerForce?

Uh, so I, so I was dating this guy and he was fairly Republican and I was Republican as well, but I was not super interested in politics. But he started spewing all the stuff. He was really into Turning Point USA. So I looked up Turning Point USA and then there was these, I, you know, 3 hours later I stumbled upon the 5-minute videos for PragerU. First video I ever watched, which is also my favorite one, is the videos about Electoral College. And I was just hooked right off of that. And eventually I found the link for Prager Force, and I was like, oh, what's that? So I ended up joining, and I just love it. I think it's amazing.

Well, that's great. What a beautiful story. So I always ask Prager Force members their favorite one, and I think I'm keeping up the record that no, no one has mentioned one that somebody already mentioned, which I love. It means that, that there are so many favorites out there. But it's— I have to admit, by the way, I think I'm interrupting my own self. I hate that. But I want people to know that the most widely viewed PragerU video ever made is on the Electoral College. 50 million views.

I would say it's very educational, so helpful.

Well, have you ever been to a Prager Force event?

No, I wish. The only thing I've been to close enough was when Sabrina invited the Arizona Prager Force members to, um, that dinner a couple months ago.

Oh, did you go? And you went?

Yeah, I did go. That's actually how she set me up with this interview. I was telling her how obsessed I was with you and then Michael Knowles and Candace Owens. She was like, oh, that's so interesting. I was so excited when she said I could do this.

Is there such a thing as an unhappy Prager Force member?

I don't think so.

You are so impressive. I would love to hear you play the bass. Thank you so much, Carolyn Klein. That's— is that— there isn't a hint, right, of the anger and bitterness and the jadedness and the cynicism that pervades so many young people? We're doing good work. Please help us. PragerU.com, 833-PRAGER-U. And I continue with The Dennis Prager Show.

Trending now on The Hugh Hewitt Show.

The situation on the ground is certainly challenging, in part because we inherited a dismantled system that wasn't prepared for processing asylum requests that had left in place the Remain in Mexico program.

Where—

what do you make of Jen Psaki's it's all Trump's fault explanation?

Well, I hear a lot of blah, blah, blah. This is Biden's border crisis. It truly is. And whether President Biden is willing to say it or not, or Jen Psaki says it or not, it is a and with 23 years in the military and of course my service now on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, I see this not only as a humanitarian crisis, but it's also a growing threat to our national security. They have got to open their eyes. They've got to acknowledge this is not just a challenge. It is not just a big problem. It is a certified crisis.

Now, do you think they will do what is necessary, or is open borders the de facto policy of Team Biden?

I think it will end up being the de facto policy. And again, there's a lot of blah, blah, blah right now, but the extreme push from the left is to simply open our borders. And I heard her, you know, in her clip saying, oh, you know, we want these children to be safe, we want them to treated humanely. The humanitarian thing to do is not to have their parents hand them over to drug cartels and human traffickers and parade them through very dangerous, dangerous situations. It's to protect them in their homes.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Eric Metaxas Show.

Folks, I'm talking to Anne McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. You have a film that you are on the verge of making. It's called My Son Hunter, and it's about Hunter Biden.

When you think about it, this should be the opening skit on every Saturday Night Live.

I was just going to say, precisely, yes.

I mean, and look, I don't like making fun of alcoholics being Irish, you know. But the politics is so funny. I mean, this guy, as Ann said, you know, thrown out of the Navy, alcoholic, drug addict.

Gets a stripper pregnant.

Gets a stripper pregnant, who hasn't? He, you know, he goes to rehab, meets a homeless woman on the way into rehab called Bicycles because she's always got a bicycle, goes off and lives with her for 3 months. This is by his own admission. But the joke, the real joke here is Who did Burisma—

they did an international executive search, and who did they decide was the best person for their planet Earth after a deep dive, you know, in really checking out all the people available and doing all background checks? This is the one guy you want on your energy board.

He's a crack addict. He's filmed himself in pornographic acts and put it on the web. Jimmy Carter had a brother named Billy. Who was constantly getting Jimmy Carter in trouble. I remember this as a kid and thinking how embarrassing it would be to have somebody close to you in the family who's saying things and doing things. This is that times a billion. He's compromising. Imagine if Billy Carter had been talking to the Soviets. Imagine if Billy Carter had been doing back deals with the Soviets.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt figures. The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse, and our kids will pay the price. It needs to stop now. I'm Jerry Boyer.

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy, America's unique graduate program for leaders. Learn more at publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu. Turning now to the Charlie Kirk Show.

They don't think that America has the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength. Cut 91.

Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the US side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we make our position clear. So let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

You understand what they're saying here? They're saying that, oh, the United States doesn't have a position of strength. You mean after you destroyed our manufacturing base, debased our currency, spied on our cyber grid? They're lecturing us about strength. In one sense, they're right, but the fact that they have the cockiness to say that goes to show exactly where the international order is headed. And I'm going to tell you one thing that we should all be talking about when it comes to Joe Biden and China. That we just seem to be forgetting and missing.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I am a teacher in an elementary school, and a lot of our professional development is on racism.

I'm Dennis Prager, and I welcome you to my radio show. Which, by the way, is 3 hours a day. If you do not get a chance to hear all 3 hours, please know I give my best every hour, and I want you to feel that it is worthwhile to hear all 3 of them. You can hear all 3 of them and commercial-free by going to pragerutopia.com. Dennisprager.com. I spoke about Officer Talley last hour, the officer who was murdered running in to save lives. How do you feel about the people who write graffiti, 'F the police,' or call them pigs? They're scum. The people who write that are scum, just for the record. You may know some, and they may be people you actually love. People love scum all the time. You know how many murderers have girlfriends? But, uh, societally speaking, you're, you're the dregs of society when you writes such graffiti. So I spoke about Officer Talley. 6 children, if I'm not mistaken. 7 children. I was mistaken. So now I'll tell you about the murderer. Murderer is a 21-year-old, and his name is Ahmad Aliwi Alisa. And he is Assyrian, came to the United States as a kid. I don't know if that is in any way related to what he did, but that is his background. 21 years old. He, uh, he has a prior record of third-degree assault. And criminal mischief. According to the New York Times, it is not clear if he was convicted of a crime. What does third-degree assault mean? Do you have any idea? I assaulted you but not hard. It's a misdemeanor. What isn't a misdemeanor? Guess murder. Oh, I know what else. Not thinking that we are doomed by global warming. That's a crime. So he was known to the FBI because he was linked, it says, to another individual under investigation by the bureau. Now that's interesting. That hints at deeper stuff. Now another interesting thing is that he had— it was taken down right away, but he had #needagirlfriend. One post in 2019 said simply, #needagirlfriend. He'd studied computer engineering at Metropolitan State University in Denver. Page was taken down within an hour. I love this. Times many years ago decided to call violent criminals Mr. Did you know that? Yeah, they did that many years ago, decades ago. I find it repugnant within an hour of Mr. Elise's name being released by the authorities because it's part of the 'we're all in it together' and 'we're all equal.' We're not going to single out murderers to not have the appellation Mister. Anyway, who— I wonder who took it down. So I, I will not repeat everything I said last hour. There is evil on Earth. There has always been evil on Earth. Our task is to try to make people good. We have lost that task. The preoccupation is with making society good. But you cannot make a good society if you do not make good individuals. It's one of the areas in which the left has no wisdom. Preoccupation should be making good people, not social justice. Causes with individuals of poor character are a big danger to the society. If we restrict more guns, people like him will get a gun and there will be nobody to resist him. I wish that good people, innocent people, were more frequently armed. It's because it is— you can't on the one hand say, as liberal and left places do, look at this country with such an incredible number of mass shootings, and then on the other hand say, but we are so wrong to assume people should be armed. If you contend that we have this extremely high number of mass shootings, then people should be armed. Now, I could see somebody saying, look, these— this is terrible, but it, you know, it's dwarfed obviously by the danger of driving in a car. I mean, you know, I'll look at the list here. Well, who did Who did you give me this list from? Time magazine? What happened to my list? Do you have it? Of the mass shootings? Okay, here it is. 37 years of mass shootings in the US in one chart. This was from, let's see, updated August 7th of last year. So until that time in 2019, so Dayton, Ohio, 57 killed, 78 wounded. You remember that? That— I feel terrible that I don't remember that. That's a lot of people. Wait, wait, it does. Oh no, no, no, no, I'm sorry, of course not. It's 2019 through, through August I'm sorry, big, big boo-boo. They were 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 killed in that date. Anyway, 2019, 57 killed, 78 wounded. That was, uh, 2018, 80 killed. 2017, 117 killed. That was the big one there. There was one in Sutherland Springs, Texas. That was— and then, uh, oh, Las Vegas. That's why. That's the terrible one. To this day, nobody knows why that guy did that. It's one of the biggest mysteries. He seemed like a normal human being. God, what, what am I Incredible tragedy. Anyway, so even in a year which contained one of the greatest mass shootings ever, so we're talking about 117 people. So it's an interesting thing, isn't it, that we focus— I focus on it too, I mean, absolutely. But when you think of how many die in a car crash— was it 30,000-something? And in drug overdoses, like opioids, people addicted to painkillers or whatever they're addicted to. I mean, it's a small number in a society of 300 30 million. So it's a very— the evil is what makes it so unique. Uh, nevertheless, it's worth keeping in perspective that your— the chances of this happening to you are very, very, very, very small. Nevertheless, I'm a big one for, for fighting evil. I, I wish somebody had been armed there, knew how to use a gun, got a permit. Let the people who want to do these things wonder, gee, is anybody in there gonna fire back at me? All right, they'll find out stuff about them. And I will report that to you. I have much more as well coming up on my show, The Dennis Prager Show.

Trending now on The Eric Metaxas Show.

Folks, I'm talking to Anne McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. You, uh, have a film that you are on the verge of making. It's called My Son Hunter, and it's about Hunter Biden.

When you think about it, this should be the opening skit on every Saturday Night Live.

I was just gonna say, precisely, yes.

I mean, and, and look, I don't like making fun of alcoholics being Irish, you know. But the politics is so funny. I mean, this guy, as Ann said, you know, thrown out of the Navy, alcoholic, drug addict.

Gets a stripper pregnant.

Gets a stripper pregnant, who hasn't? He, you know, he goes to rehab, meets a homeless woman on the way into rehab called Bicycles because she's always got a bicycle, goes off and lives with her for 3 months. This is by his own admission. But the joke, the real joke here is Who did Burisma— they did an international executive search, and who did they decide was the best person for them?

On the planet Earth, after a deep dive, you know, in really checking out all the people available and doing all background checks, this is the one guy you want on your energy board?

He's a crack addict. He's filmed himself in pornographic acts and put it on the web. Jimmy Carter had a brother named Billy. Who was constantly getting Jimmy Carter in trouble. I remember this as a kid and thinking how embarrassing it would be to have somebody close to you in the family who's saying things and doing things. This is that times a billion. He's compromised. Imagine if Billy Carter had been talking to the Soviets. Imagine if Billy Carter had been doing back deals with the Soviets.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt figures. The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse, and our kids will pay the price. It needs to stop now. I'm Jerry Boyer.

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy, America's unique graduate program for leaders. Learn more at publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu. Turning now to the Charlie Kirk Show.

They don't think that America has the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength. Cut 91.

Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the U.S. side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we make our position clear. So let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

You understand what they're saying here? They're saying that, oh, the United States doesn't have a position of strength.

You mean after you I really like this one. Who's doing this? You know, again, let's give him some credit here. Solomon Burke. What is the genre of this music? Anybody want to give a hazard, a guess here? Is it R&B? All right, y'all. Rhythm and Blues, for those of you who don't know. Some of you think it's Robertson and Belgrade, the name of a law firm, but it is not. By the way, I want to remind you I am taking you along with my colleague and friend Mike Gallagher to Israel in October. You will really want to go. You need to get away. You need to be with kindred spirits, and you need to visit Israel. There's a banner, Stand with Israel banner, at the DennisPrager.com website. Okay, all 1-8-PRAEGER-776. This was the first officer in Boulder killed in the line of duty in 27 years. Amazing. An amazing statistic. 7 kids And the wife, my God, the wife. You know, my first reaction during that moment of silence that I just had was I wish I could hug her. And then I thought, nah, it wouldn't help. I don't think it would help. What does help? Who knows what does help? Well, there are things that help ultimately. But father of her kids or her partner, her lover. Murder is a uniquely evil act. I am so passionately for capital punishment that it just I've never lost it, intellectual and moral and rational passion, that half this country at least, and certainly it's well-educated, think that it would be evil to take this monster's life or the guy in Atlanta or any of these people. They, for some, there are some, a lot of people, the well-educated in particular, who believe that this guy who did this deserves to live. He takes— how many people's lives did he take, huh?

10?

He takes 10 people's lives, shatters the life of so many, but we're not going to take your life. Living Martyr said during a break, he should have his day in court. Literally, his day. As far as I'm concerned, I wish he had a trial next week and were executed 2 weeks from now. There's no doubt about the guilt. Of course I believe there should be a trial. Of course. I'm a big believer in the biblical phrase, 'Those of you who love God must hate evil.' It's a directive. English does not have a command form in its verbs. Hebrew does. So you are commanded to hate evil. Doesn't get purer than this. Not to mention, the guy comes from Syria. Isn't it elementary that he would like overflow with gratitude to America? We save you, your family, from that horrible civil war. We give you everything treat you beautifully, and then you murder us? There's a special scum area in hell. There are different areas in hell. This is a special one. Come to America and then murder people. Oh, okie dokie. Vince in Buffalo, New York. How do you do?

Hello.

Hi Dennis, how are you today?

Okay, thank you.

You, uh, you were talking a little bit earlier, you were asking why, um, the people who are your fans who listen to you are not, uh, not angry, not, um, not mean and vindictive. And I, and I think it has to do with the fact that, that you so often talk about opportunity and, and gratitude. And those are things that are not— you don't find a lot of that on the— in the United States in media or most places. And there's a certain element of understanding that if we are so lucky, we are so incredibly fortunate, it's very, very difficult to be angry. And, you know, my wife, I I do get angry sometimes in writing different things, but it's because I write about people who, who take for granted that which we have and don't understand that the left is essentially trying to kill the goose that has laid the golden egg that has fed us for so long. And you just mentioned, you said for people who love God, they must— I don't remember how you phrase it.

Hate evil.

And so to the degree that people like me and the people who are fans of yours do hate, it's not hate a person, but it's hating the fact that somebody's trying to destroy that which we are so fortunate to have.

That's right, my friend. Look, every time you join the left, You get— you're awarded a PhD in ingratitude. It is the defining element of leftists. They're— every single one, every single one, there is no exception, is an ingrate. Not liberals, I'm not talking about liberals. Liberals are just naive and allow the left to do its evil, which is bad enough, but they're not like that. A lot of liberals are grateful to be American. Conservatives overflow with gratitude for being American. That's correct. And it is reflected in many of the calls. That is right. Gratitude is the biggie. Our Syrian émigré did not have gratitude, did he? And she's not a murderer, but our Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Well, she's the one, she's the Palestinian. Who's the Somali? Oh, it is Ilhan Omar? Oh yeah, Rashida Tlaib is the Palestinian. Well, both of them are ingrates. The Dennis Prager Show, live from the Relief Factor Pain-Free Studio.

Trending now on America First with Sebastian Gorka.

This isn't, as some have portrayed it, as some kind of spontaneous, random, organic response to Joe Biden being president. This is being institutionally organized for the profit of the cartels, correct?

Absolutely. And the cartels understand what our politics and our policies are better than we do as Americans. And they knew where Joe Biden was leaning and his administration, and they were more than willing and more than ready to help accommodate those people to come across this country. Look, they don't just let people come across. On the other side, the cartel is regulated. They make these people pay. They give them children to, hey, hey, here, take this kid across with you. They're less likely to stop you.

So this is something that I want everybody to understand. I heard this from my friend, former Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan. They are using children from the northern counties in Mexico as props so that groups of adults coming across can say, we are a family unit. So the feds have to treat them differently. Are you confirming that, Sheriff Lamb?

Yes, 100%. And out in Collin County, Texas, one of my, one of my other fellow sheriffs out there, they do interdiction on the highways out there. He says no less than 3 to 5 times they have actually pulled cars over where the people in the front had no idea who the children in the back were, and the children in the back had no idea who the people in the front were. They know what our policies are. They're using that against us. They're using children, which is despicable. And honestly, where are these parents of these people?

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I just get tired of people blaming racism for any time there's statistical differences along race and ethnicity. And you brought up the case in point about the NBA and NFL. We as Black people were overly represented in these areas, and yet we'd never hear, "Boo, that that's racist." But everywhere else, We scream racism. And I just wish that we would just go a little bit deeper in the analysis whenever we see these things. What is it in the culture? What is it in the way that we're bringing up our children in society that's promoting people to go into certain areas and occupations? Like that, I feel, would be much more useful and helpful rather than just saying, oh, racial inequity or racism. I'm saying this as a Black woman. I attended Ivy League schools. And I always felt in the back of my mind, um, are you judging me because you think I'm here and I didn't deserve it? Whenever we do that and we eliminate merit-based systems, it always makes those of us who are trying to work hard feel like people are judging us as if we didn't work hard to get here. Well, thank you, Larry.

Bonnie, thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. I went to an Ivy League school too. Uh, my girlfriend was a dancer. She tried out to be a cheerleader and she didn't make it. and I went to a game, I think one game, and all the cheerleaders were Black even though virtually all the players were white. Uh, merit-based, these white girls, she told me, just couldn't do the steps they were doing. But nobody complained. Nobody said we got to have a race-based determination for cheerleaders, we have more white ones.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the H—

Hi everybody, you're listening to The Dennis Prager Show. Now let's see, this is March. The lockdown began a little over a year ago. I wrote last March that it was the greatest mistake in world history. I made sure to to clarify for those who were not— those who went to college and needed clarification that mistake is not the same as evil. And there have been really erudite voices about the lockdown, quite aside from my own, and know more about it. One of them is Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, a free market think tank. And let's, let's talk right now. Phil Kerpen, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show.

Hey, great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

So was I premature in my assessment of lockdowns?

No, I think you were exactly right. And you know, the tragedy of this whole thing is we knew, we knew We knew that it would be massively disruptive, that it would cause panic when what we needed was calm, and that the costs would greatly exceed the benefits, which would be near zero. We knew that because every pre-pandemic planning guidance that existed told us that. And we have this entire field of public health— this is like, you know, their big event that they prepare their whole career for. and we had, you know, stacks and stacks of papers and planning documents, everything that said keep society well-functioning, keep things calm, do not shut things down. And then when their big moment came, they choked and they recommended the exact opposite of what all of the evidence and all of the data in their entire field of study had recommended up to that point.

The mistake is almost universal, correct?

There are a handful of exceptions. Sweden, most famously, in Europe. Belarus. Brazil, to a certain extent.

Tanzania.

Some U.S. states. But not many. It's been— you know, there was a panic that swept the world. And it's interesting, Dennis, because one of the best predictors of when countries entered lockdowns was what nearby countries did. Countries did, much more so than any of the virus metrics. And so I think the lockdowns had a sort of panic contagion of their own, sort of, sort of.

So what do you think, given that the handful of conservative/right-wing leaders, Modi in India and Netanyahu in Israel, given that they went full lockdown as well, what What do you think animated virtually every country's leader into ruining their country?

Well, I think there were— there was an asymmetric incentive for politicians, because if you take what's perceived as the most draconian possible actions, these severe lockdowns, then whatever happens, you cannot be blamed for from the standpoint that you— maximum effort, you did everything you could.

I don't want deaths on my watch.

Right, exactly. If you don't, if you don't act, if you say, you know, we're going to let this play out, I don't think it's going to be helpful to take draconian actions, well then every single death that happens gets blamed on you, even if there are fewer of them than there would have otherwise been.

That's right.

You have this incentive problem. And by the way, we saw this very vividly in the United States because what happened to the governors who deviated from what became the lockdown orthodoxy? People like Noem and DeSantis got blamed for every single death on the way up the curve. And then the media disappeared. Their downside of the curve was exactly the same as in places like, you know, New York and New Jersey. But where those governors got praised every day for supposedly conquering the curve and their great heroic measures. In the non-lockdown states, the downside of the curve just didn't get covered at all. It got ignored like it didn't even happen.

I would like to play for you, Sean. Can you dig up the, the Governor Cuomo line which caused me to— very little causes me to have an increase in heart rate, but When Governor Cuomo said this after the lockdown, "If it saves just one life, I'll be happy." There you go. But the truth is, he articulated what virtually every world leader felt.

Yeah, well, I mean, the The real tragedy of New York and, you know, the 5 or 6 other states with the worst death tolls is because they believed in computer models rather than looking at what was right in front of their faces, they became so obsessed with clearing hospital beds for this massive influx of patients from the general population that the computer model said was coming that they sent highly infectious patients into nursing homes.

Well, let me talk to you about models. Oh, I can't wait to talk to you about models. Phil Kerpin, president of American Commitment, and I'll tell you where you can read him on the internet. In the meantime, I want to relieve your pain. I'm into that. I really am into that. I can't stand gratuitous pain. It is pain from life, that's not gratuitous, but pain from aches that you you could conquer with a supplement rather than a prescription? Relief Factor. Go to relieffactor.com if you're skeptical, and you have every right to be skeptical. I was. I didn't even want to advertise a painkiller. As I was about to say no, my wife told me it had conquered her knee pain for years. Then I said, you mean there's something about you I didn't know? And it caused a whole marital issue. ReliefFactor.com, 800-583-84.

Trending now on America First with Sebastian Burke.

What is the reality for you and your deputies when it comes to the last 58 days in America? Have things changed for you when it comes to illegal migration in your county, Sheriff?

Oh, absolutely. And it's been a disastrous change. It is not a change that we welcomed or are enjoying, that's for sure. You know, immediately overnight, we started having I mean, the last 2 months we've had 40-plus pursuits where they end in a bailout, which means that they run from us, they stop, they— everybody bails out of the vehicle into the desert. Typically they'll leave somebody behind. Like we had one where they— 12 people bailed out of the car and they left a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl behind because they know that we're going to have to deal with this unaccompanied minor, uh, while all of them go free into this country. Last week alone, we had— last changed, you know, and what I keep telling people. This isn't about immigration anymore. This is about human trafficking and drug trafficking into this country. And if you care about human beings, it shouldn't matter what party you are. If you care about protecting those people, then you should absolutely care about border security. Because the cartel is using these people to their.

To gain money.

changed.

You know, and what I keep telling people, this isn't about immigration anymore. This is about human trafficking and drug trafficking into this country. And if you care about human beings, it shouldn't matter what party you are. If you care about protecting those people, then you should absolutely care about border security, because the cartel is using these people to gain money. They're raping the women. They're using the children as pawns, which is clear as day right now, and they extort the men.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Eric Metaxas Show.

I mean, we know the Media Research Center did polling and found out among people who voted for Joe Biden, something like 30% didn't know the Hunter Biden story. And those that heard about the Hunter Biden story said up to 17% of them would not have voted for Joe Biden if they had known. This we know for sure. This doesn't even— this isn't any kind of conspiracy theory. We know that journalists interfered with this election in a way that journalists have never interfered with an election in the United States before by suppressing very pertinent information. And for your listeners and your viewers, you know, what is that pertinent information? And you know, it's almost like a joke, actually.

Hello, my friends.

Now, we go—

Hello, my friends. A real expert on lockdowns, Phil Kerpen. @PhilKerpen, is that correct for Twitter?

Uh, it's just the last name, Kerpen. K-E-R-P-E-N. Good.

@Kerpen. Okay, that's very important. And president of American Commitment, a free market think tank. The devastating impact of the lockdowns downs. And your theory as to why leaders left and right did it is exactly what I have surmised. The— they don't want to be responsible, held responsible. That's the important point. And who would hold them responsible for these deaths? The media. So in effect, it's the media that has destroyed the economies and the well-being of societies. Is that fair to say?

Uh, yes, I think the coverage has been disgraceful. I think the media has bullied politicians essentially into making a lot of very bad decisions. That said, you know, ultimately the political leaders still make the decisions, and so the media can create the incentive structure easier for them to make bad decisions, but let's not let them off the hook.

Okay, I'm with you. And let's not let off the hook the, the modelers in the science community.

Yeah, the models have been horrendously wrong. And as I mentioned there before the break, with tragic results, uh, with Governor Cuomo and several other governors basically sacrificing seniors in large numbers because they thought they needed the hospital beds for this big influx of non-seniors that never came. And, uh, we have steeply higher, in my judgment, nursing home COVID deaths in the states that did that— New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts— than we otherwise would. And that's why the overall COVID deaths in those places are, are some, some of the highest in the world.

Have you studied Sweden?

I have looked at Sweden, and they We did have a nursing home problem very early on there. It was a little bit different than the one in those states here. It was, it was more related to staffing issues, and they have a lot of low-paid staff that basically walked off the job early in the epidemic. But other than early problems in the nursing homes, they have very little COVID deaths compared to other countries in Europe. And I think the low-stringency approach has generally been vindicated. And, of course, got much less economic damage and much less sort of social, emotional, and societal damage because of these—

That's right, and kids stayed in school the whole time. Kids, kids. What's your take on mask wearing?

I think there is very little evidence that there's any benefit from it. And, you know, if it were— you know, it's interesting because you look at sort of the CDC studies that they've put out out. And they claim— they claim a very small benefit. And yet it gets sort of distorted through this media lens and into sort of peer pressure to be this sort of, you know, massive high-impact thing that can stop the virus cold. And if that were true, we would not have had anywhere near the results that we've had in places with very, very high mask compliance, and the virus just continues to spread anyway. There may be a very, very slight benefit, but it's not, you know, there's a, you look at sort of the literature review from the World Health Organization, for instance, which has done a much better job than our own CDC, which says a lot because the World Health Organization is not particularly competent itself, but they've generally done a much better job than our CDC. And they basically conclude that there's a, they have a low confidence confidence in a small effect from masks. I tend to think that it's essentially no effect because it's a highly infectious virus that's spread by aerosol transmission. Do you wear one outdoors? Outdoors, there's very little transmission outdoors because you can't have high concentrations of the virus. The aerosols get dissipated very quickly.

So do you wear one outdoors?

Follow the local rule and custom such that I won't get ticketed and so forth. So, but I don't really wear it outdoors because if you read the mayor's mask order here where I live, it says wear it outdoors if you are likely to be within 6 feet of someone for more than a fleeting time. So I just make sure my time interacting with people stays fleeting and I do not wear it.

Well, you're a better citizen than I. I refuse to wear a mask outdoors and I am looking forward to being arrested. I announced that a year ago.

The outdoors is very strange, as is the masking of children, which—

oh, that's beyond belief. That is beyond belief. I'll tell you, I have to put up as one of the 10, aside from horrible pictures of murder, the most— one of the 10 most depressing photos I've ever seen was of the President of the United States and the the Vice President of the United States. Is it correct both had COVID? Or I know the president— they're both fully vaccinated. I'm sorry, yes, both vaccinated and both wearing masks.

It's bizarre. You know, they say we're doing it to model for people, but what are you modeling for them?

They're modeling fear and irrationality.

Yeah.

It's, uh, it's very strange. You know, I'm hoping that when we get to the end of his 100-day mask challenge, he'll declare victory and move on rather than try to extend it.

Well, hope— I can't— I never speak out against hope. As I heard once in a great line, there's always hope, there's no chance. That's— but that's a separate story. So how do people, uh, read of your stuff?

Well, I do a free daily newsletter with Steve Moore and John Fund at Committee to Unleash Prosperity.

Oh, wow, that's a high-powered team, the three of you. Where do you do that?

People like it.

Wait, where do you do that?

People like it, it's pretty good. It's committeetounleashprosperity.com. And you can sign up for that, it's free. We send it every day, sort of in the lunch hour, basically. And it's, uh, it, it's not just COVID. We also cover kind of, you know, tax and spending and energy and other sorts of things. But it's, uh, kind of started out, we started it about a year ago now. It started out being all COVID and it still has a pretty good amount of that mix in.

And that's great. Yep. Well, thank you so much. I hope you get a lot of my listeners to read your stuff.

That would be terrific. And thanks for having me.

You're welcome. Did you see that photo, my dear, dear listener? Two people vaccinated against COVID wearing a mask to be models. But why are they not modeling pure non-scientific irrationality? Back in a moment.

The Dennis Prager Show, live from the Relief Factor Pain Free Studio. Trending now on the Eric Metaxas Show.

Folks, I'm talking to Anne McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. You, uh, have a film that you are on the verge of making. It's called My Son Hunter, and it's about Hunter Biden.

When you think about it, this should be the opening skit on every Saturday Night Live.

I was just gonna say, precisely, yes.

I mean, and, and look, I don't like making fun of alcoholics being Irish, you know. But the politics is so funny. I mean, this guy, as Ann said, you know, thrown out of the Navy, alcoholic, drug addict.

Gets a stripper pregnant.

Gets a stripper pregnant, who hasn't? He goes to rehab, meets a homeless woman on the way into rehab called Bicycles because she's always got a bicycle, goes off and lives with her for 3 months. This is by his own admission. But the joke, the real joke here is Who did Burisma— they did an international executive search, and who did they decide was the best person for them?

On the planet Earth, after a deep dive, you know, in really checking out all the people available and doing all background checks, this is the one guy you want on your energy board?

He's a crack addict. He's filmed himself in pornographic acts and put it on the web. Jimmy Carter had a brother named Billy. Who was constantly getting Jimmy Carter in trouble. I remember this as a kid and thinking how embarrassing it would be to have somebody close to you in the family who's saying things and doing things. This is that times a billion. He's compromised. Imagine if Billy Carter had been talking to the Soviets. Imagine if Billy Carter had been doing back deals with the Soviets.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt figures. The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse, and our kids will pay the price.

Regarding masks, there's a video we should put up about— I think it's a doctor vaping through mask, and all the— you see all the vapor come out. It's— we are living If there's ever been a non-science-based time, it is thanks to what left has done to medicine. Oh, wear masks, don't congregate, but if you demonstrate for social justice, that's a health issue. Remember that? Thousands and thousands of people in the sciences wrote that. The corruption of Scientific American and almost every major medical publication. Is continuing. This is quite a time that we are all living through. President wears a mask even though he got a vaccination. May I ask what the hell the vaccination is good for if you still have to wear a mask? Well, Dr. Fauci told him to do it. It's all that matters. Well, thousands of people in Switzerland, bless them. You never know who's gonna come through. Sweden. Who would have predicted Sweden?

Who?

The liberty lovers of Sweden and the liberty deniers of America. Thousands of people. This is from Swiss Info from yesterday. 2 days ago, and not many people in the U.S. read Swiss Info regularly, so it might be news to you. Thousands of people have protested in the northwestern Swiss town of Liestal— thousands— against restrictions introduced to curb the epidemic. Nearly 8,000 took part in the silent protest, according to journalists' estimates. Well, well, some held up signs reading, "Enough is enough." Yes, genug ist genug. That's right. "Vaccines kill and let love be your guide, not fear." There you go. Give them some of their own language back. This— the protest included speeches by coronavirus and vaccine skeptics. The most skeptical people about the vaccine are the people who promote it. Oh, it's, it's not that effective, wear a mask afterwards, right? Oh, it's not that effective, everybody has to get it. But why isn't it enough if you get it? That'd be the first vaccine in history That doesn't work if others aren't vaccinated. Tell me where I'm missing something here. Ultimate issues of our coming up with a special guest.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt figures. The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse, and our kids will pay the price. It needs to stop now. I'm Jerry Boyer.

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy, America's unique graduate program for leaders. Learn more at publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu. Trending now on the Charlie Kirk Show.

They don't think that America has the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength. Cut 91.

Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the US side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we make our position clear. So let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

You understand what they're saying here? They're saying that, oh, the United States doesn't have a position of strength. You mean after you destroyed our manufacturing base, debased our currency, spied on our cyber grid? They're lecturing us about strength. In one sense, they're right. But the fact that they have the cockiness to say that goes to show exactly where the international order is headed. And I'm going to tell you one thing that we should all be talking about when it comes to Joe Biden and China. That we just seem to be forgetting and missing.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I am a teacher in an elementary school, and a lot of our professional development is on racism because our school is very diverse in that population. And one of the professional development we had was on diverse books and the lack of diverse books. So basically the statistics they gave us was that— this is from 2018— that 50% of all children's books that are published are based on characters who are white. 50% white, 27% are animals or other, you know, things besides people, 10% is based on Blacks, 7% on Asian Pacific or Asian people, 5% on Latinos, and then 1% on American Indians. And how this is an example of systemic racism and it's very hard to find diverse books.

First, my first thought, Mary, is who sat around and added them all up like that? I mean, that's just amazing to me. That's stunning to me. A good book is a good book. A good character is a good character. Huckleberry Finn had all sorts of references and N-words in it, but it was about a bondage between a black man and a young white boy, and it was a wonderful story. How that's become racist is beyond me. The other point I want to make is presumably all of this is to make sure the kids have good self-esteem. As I've said on my program, going back over decades. Black kids have higher self-esteem than white kids. Black girls have higher self-esteem than white girls. Black boys have way higher self-esteem than Asian boys and Asian girls. So if this is all about making sure that black boys and black girls have self-esteem, mission accomplished.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Mike Gallagher Show.

You know how many times he said it now? I think it's 4. I think he has accidentally called his vice president president 4 times. What do you think the mainstream news media would be doing if Donald Trump accidentally called Mike Pence President Pence 4 times? They would be on a 24-hour vigil for when they were going to put a, you know, a straitjacket on Trump and take him out of the White House into the local mental institution. But when Joe Biden does it, well, it's Joe Biden. Wait, let me guess, is it his stutter again? He's got this stutter that everybody says, his defenders say, is the reason he can barely speak in like complete paragraphs. He's worried about his stutter, is that— here it was, cut one, Joe Biden talking about a vaccination center in Arizona. Listen to how he describes the Vice President of the United States.

Now, when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope.

Yes, dose of hope. We're going to need it because when you watch the news, it sounds like we're all still dropping dead from COVID everywhere.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

So there are, there are a number of reasons that we need to tighten things up at the border.

Human trafficking and guns, but also this issue of opioids and heroin and crystal meth and other drugs.

And then of course the issue of the overwhelming number of people that have rushed to the border because the Biden administration made so many changes in policy.

Now, Jen Psaki addressed this from the White House podium yesterday. Cut number 3.

Well, the situation on the ground is certainly challenging.

I was mentioning to my wife yesterday that this hour has taken off in a greater way than I ever anticipated. It was a gamble to have an hour each week. It wasn't a gamble to have a male/female hour. It was not a gamble to have a happiness hour. It's not a gamble to have Colin with Whatever's on Your Mind hour. But this was a gamble, and it has paid off. People increasingly, over a decade, have come to love it. This talk about the great issues of life, secular, religious, philosophical. So today is even a different aspect of an ultimate issue. I'm Dennis Prager, and I welcome you I have guests, I wonder, of the 52, well, let's say I do 48. Of the 48 Ultimate Issues hours, what would you say we have guests? One, one-fifth of the time? One, one-sixth? Yeah, one, one out of six, maybe. Pretty rare. And I have a guest today, and the subject, you would not think would be an ultimate issue. But first of all, this guy's a thinker, so that helps. And I've known him for many years. That's not why he's on. I don't have people on because I know them many years, just for the record. 99% of those I have on, I never knew. But I have known him. Full disclosure here, he actually— we should talk about it at some point— he directed my first video, For Goodness' Sake, which you could still see for free on the internet if you put in For Goodness' Sake and Google it, as they say. And it is— you must show it to your kids 'cause it is a great, great video with some of the biggest stars of Hollywood, directed by David Zucker, who was my guest. And I am the quote-unquote star of it, who could not memorize one line.

Do we have cue cards?

Wait, that's my cue card. Is this mic on? You can put it on now.

'Cause I can't stop talking.

Yeah, we mentioned that earlier. David Zucker is, I guess, still best known for the legendary, truly legendary comedy that he and his brother Jerry Zucker wrote, and a third party, correct?

Jim Abrams.

Yeah, and Jim Abrams. Airplane! Land for another 2 hours. Fog has closed down everything this side of the mountains. We've got to get through to Chicago. I must— I don't know how many times I've seen that film. And then you did, of course, the Naked Gun series, right? A whole series of film. And Basketball. Baseball. See, you didn't know I remembered all this.

Yeah, that's It's my son's favorite movie.

Is that right?

Yes. And despite every movie I've done, and some of them are classics, when he went to college, when his friends found out your dad did Basketball, that was the big deal.

That was the big deal.

That was the big deal.

That's so interesting. Now, why would he be on an Ultimate Issues Hour? I said, well, he's a thinker. That's one reason. But I want to talk to you about comedy for a a good chunk of this and its role in life and what has happened to comedy in the United States. Because this is— it's a very important thing, I think. Tell me, and you know from listening to my show, it's totally okay not to agree with me. And certainly this is not my field. I've never directed a movie, but it would seem to me, let alone written one. It's easier to make an audience cry than laugh.

Well, yeah, I would agree with that. And it's because, you know, crying isn't often out loud. You can tear up and be equally emotionally affected as you are when you laugh, but the laughter is out loud. And one of our standards, I mean, that we we've done for all these years is that, you know, it has to get a laugh. One of our rules is merely clever doesn't work.

Oh, very interesting.

Yeah.

So, well, all right, but, but, but you agree with me, it is tougher.

I mean, it's tougher.

Yes, there are far fewer comedies than dramas, especially now.

I mean, we, we recently, before the whole lockdown struck, we did a screening at at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood of Airplane! and it was packed. It was like 1,200 people there and they laughed all the way through. Jerry and Jim and I did a Q&A at the end of it and one of the questions, and it always gets asked, is, "Could you do Airplane! today?" And I thought for a second and I said, "Sure, just without the jokes." That's a great line.

That is a great response.

Yeah, and that encapsulates what it's like in 2021.

I don't know how comedy would be done today. In part, it's poking fun, and by all of the fun that you did is good-natured. It's not malicious, right? But, you know, what was it, where two Blacks are speaking and then there were subtitles?

Right now, that was— I mean, Paramount even had had some, some trepidations about re-releasing the movie in the— this, this 40th anniversary year of Airplane! because, you know, the black dudes. And, you know, why should that be?

Or the people lining up to slap the woman who's screaming.

That's right.

All—

everything seems— it's so sensitive. And the thing is, audiences aren't that sensitive about it, but studio boardrooms are. So, you know, in In— back in 1980, we pitched the Airplane script to, you know, a dozen studios. Everyone turned it down. There was only one guy who saw it and thought, well, yeah, this, this is funny, let's take a chance on it. And that was Michael Eisner, who was the president of Paramount at the time. And so— and, and I don't think there was a consideration, uh, you know, about any of that, right?

Right.

Yeah, is it racist? Is it misogynist?

Yeah, the consideration was, I mean, we were doing something kind of unprecedented. We're gonna do a comedy without comedians, and we wanted first-time directors and 3 directors. So that, that had never been done. So it was pretty gutsy for, you know, Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was there at the time.

How much did they end up making on your film?

Well, the budget was about $3 million. And it made $80 million domestically and another $80 internationally. And, you know, we had probably the worst deal in the world because it was first time everything, right? But the studio couldn't hide the money fast enough, so we did see some profit participation.

I know that's a line in your ebook which we're gonna come to, that they, they couldn't hide it. They couldn't hide it so fast. Fast. Were you surprised at the reception? I mean, it's now considered classic.

Yeah, don't we— I get asked that question, was I surprised at the reception for Airplane? But the truth is, for 10 years we had been trying to get that movie made, you know, and, and we had been saying to everybody, this is going to be a big hit, this is going to be great. And then, you know, the, the hard part was getting some studio to back it. When they finally did, movie comes out, it's a big hit. We weren't surprised. We said, yeah, we told you, right?

It should be. It should be. So no, no, it makes sense. That's right.

But I, but what is surprising is 40 years later, it's still the— how it's grown and it's, it's, you know, the reception it gets now is amazing.

But you couldn't make it now.

Probably not, because It's— and because of the— getting it through a studio boardroom, it's just everybody's too sensitive.

So what, what has comedy become?

Well, there's no good movie comedy. There's— you could— I can't name a good movie comedy. I mean, I can name one that I went to, you know, 10 years ago. Uh, there was a movie called Bad Grandpa, and there was a movie called Bridesmaids, and those were funny. And I think they took chances and and they were out there. But now, really, if you really want to laugh hard, you have to look at television. And I know of one— and I'm not talking about sitcoms. Uh, there's a, there's a show called, uh, Impractical Jokers, which is— that, that has me laughing. Have you ever heard of them? There's this group of 4 guys who do pranks, and that's allowable. It's allowable. And they get it. They prank people. I don't know if— I've gotten to know them personally, but I don't know that they're under any restrictions, but it seems like they're not. They—

and they just— All right, Comedy in the Human Condition with David Zucker of Airplane, Naked Gun, Basketball, and a new ebook.

You know what, trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I just get tired of people blaming racism for any time there's statistical differences along race and ethnicity. And you brought up the case in point about the NBA and NFL. We as Black people were overly represented in these areas, and yet we'd never hear boo that that's racist. But everywhere else, We scream racism. And I just wish that we would just go a little bit deeper in the analysis whenever we see these things. What is it in the culture? What is it in the way that we're bringing up our children in society that's promoting people to go into certain areas and occupations? Like that, I feel, would be much more useful and helpful rather than just saying, oh, racial inequity or racism. I'm saying this as a Black woman. I attended Ivy League schools. And I always felt in the back of my mind, um, are you judging me because you think I'm here and I didn't deserve it? Whenever we do that and we eliminate merit-based systems, it always makes those of us who are trying to work hard feel like people are judging us as if we didn't work hard to get here. Well, thank you, Larry.

Bonnie, thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. I went to an Ivy League school too. Uh, my girlfriend was a dancer. She tried out to be a cheerleader and she didn't make it. Uh, and I went to a game, I think one game, and all the cheerleaders were Black even though virtually all the players were white. Uh, merit-based, these white girls, she told me, just couldn't do the steps they were doing. But nobody complained. Nobody said we ought to have a race-based determination for cheerleaders, we have more white ones.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

The situation on the ground is certainly challenging, in part because we inherited a dismantled system that wasn't prepared for processing asylum requests, that had left in place the Remain in Mexico program. Program where—

what do you make of Jen Psaki's 'it's all Trump's fault' explanation?

Well, I hear a lot of blah blah blah. This is Biden's border crisis. It truly is. And whether President Biden is willing to say it or not, or Jen Psaki says it or not, it is a crisis. And with 23 years in the military, and of course my service now on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, I I see this not only as a humanitarian crisis, but it's also a growing threat to our national security. They have got to open their eyes. They've got to acknowledge this is not just a challenge. It is not just a big problem. It is a certified crisis.

Now, do you think they will do what is necessary, or is open borders the de facto policy of Team Biden?

I think it will end up being the de facto policy. And again, there's a lot of blah blah blah right now, but the extreme push from the left is to simply open our borders. And I heard her, you know, in her clip saying, oh, you know, we want these children to be safe, we want them treated humanely. The humanitarian thing to do is not to have their parents hand them over to drug cartels and human traffickers and parade them through very dangerous situations. It's to protect them in their home.

Talking about comedy on this Ultimate Issues Hour, I want to tell you of a new film that is out called Church People. Executive director and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell It's a hilarious new faith-based— faith-based comedy, that is not common— Church People, starring— tell me if I got every name right, Sean— Thor Ramsey, Stephen Baldwin, Donald Faison— I got it right— and Joey Fatone. Yep. And special guest appearance from Mike himself. Church People is a hilarious and heartwarming reminder that the gospel is enough. It all starts when America's youth pastor Guy Sides realizes he's stuck in the megachurch marketing machine and wants to find his passion again. Church People. You can stream Church People starting, starting March 22nd. That's this week. Also, it's now on at SalemNow.com. Watch Church People at SalemNow.com. The importance of laughter is huge. I mean, you know, who wrote the book Laughter is the Best Medicine? It's an old classic. Did you ever hear that? Norman Cousins, I think, right? Oh, Norman Cousins? Might have been. He was a major literary critic. And David Zucker is one of the greats at that. As a director and as a writer. Of course, he, his brother, and Jim Abrams wrote Airplane, which propelled them to great stardom, which they deserved. Couple of brothers from Wisconsin. Did you always want to write movies? Was that it from the beginning? That's—

it's a good question. You know, when you grow up in Milwaukee, you know, which is in the middle of the Midwest, uh, you don't really dream of becoming a Hollywood director. You know, when I was in high school, I thought, oh, I wanted to do— create funny TV commercials. And, uh, but, you know, we started a little theater called Kentucky Fried Theater, and then it—

when we did Milwaukee—

in, yeah, Milwaukee, on the campus at, uh, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We did that for a year, and then it got such such a great reaction that we decided to move the show out to LA and try to get on the Johnny Carson Show. And that's, that's what we did. So it kind of happens a month and a year at a time.

You, you were on the Johnny Carson?

We were on the Johnny Carson Show.

How was that?

It— well, we weren't very good. So, uh, you know, we thought we were a performing group, and our stuff came off better in our live theater than it did on a TV screen. And so the audience in the— at the show loved it, but, you know, at, uh, you know, over TV it didn't come off.

So he never re-invited you?

Well, we did. We got back one more time.

And how did you find Johnny Carson?

Well, he was— we didn't meet him because, uh, he— we were bumped the first show, so we didn't get to be on when he was on. So Joey Bishop was on.

Oh, you It was a guest host.

It was a guest host.

Oh, interesting. Yeah.

And then the next time, like, it was Bert Convy or something. These are names that are lost to history now.

In keeping with the theme— yes, exactly. In keeping with the theme of Ultimate Issues, I, I, I believe that comedy is a service to humanity, and, uh, it's, it's hard to It's hard to— as I said earlier, it's much easier to make people cry. Just show somebody dying prematurely and you cry.

Right.

But to make people laugh— but that's natural to you, correct?

It is, because, you know, we grew up in a family that really appreciated humor. I mean, Jerry and I were very lucky, and I suppose Jim was too with his dad, but our dad would say hilarious things but with a straight face. He didn't know a joke. He didn't know how to tell a joke. My Uncle Bob could tell jokes, but my dad didn't know any jokes, but he was very funny.

By the way, is there anyone who doesn't have an Uncle Bob? I think it comes with the title Uncle.

Uncle—

there's an Uncle Bob, right?

It just— it's just inevitable.

And he— there's a joke in Kentucky Fried Movie that I got directly from—

did you have an Aunt Sarah?

I I suppose, yeah, no, my grandmother was Sarah, so she was aunt to a lot of my cousins.

Thank you for bailing me out.

I'm trying to make you look better.

Yes, that's a big deal. So we were talking about, is it difficult today, and you don't even know if Airplane could be made today. When you speak to people in Hollywood, are they afraid?

You know, I don't speak too much to people in Hollywood, but because, you know, my friends are all my friends from Wisconsin. We get together Sundays to watch the Packer games. But, you know, I have a couple of scripts which are— and I have a manager and I have an agent. And, you know, we're trying to get these things done. Spoof of the James Bond, Bourne Identity, Mission: Impossible. And, and so that's— and it's— I think it's outside this whole controversial PC stuff. It's because it's a spoof. I think spoof is outside of that.

So they, they would allow— I still don't think Airplane could be made today.

No, Airplane, you're probably right, it couldn't. There's too much, there's too much— it was racial stuff and, and sex stuff.

Sex stuff.

It's not Sex, the Act, but about the sexes.

Yeah. And it actually— Airplane probably would be rated R today, and it was PG at the time because PG-13 hadn't even been created yet.

Well, today it would come with a warning. Oh yeah, that there's white supremacy, misogyny, well, all these— homophobia. I don't even know why I'm just throwing out labels.

All these these topics that didn't exist in 1980.

Exactly.

So it's tougher. However, I have two scripts that are just totally, you know, blitz right through that whole thing, and, and, and we won't be affected by it because it's spoof. The other is a, a film noir.

That, that is— oh, I love film noir. That's my favorite genre.

The—

that may be then the only area that still kosher? Spoof.

A spoof, I think, is immune.

That's, uh, that's good to hear if that is the case. So I know, uh, I know you, as I mentioned earlier. That's not why you're on, but I do know you. And, uh, it's interesting to, to the extent that you want to talk about it, your own philosophical political evolution, right? Well, tell us about that.

Well, I grew up in, you know, in a blue state surrounded by other blue states. No red ever penetrated it to, you know, where I grew up. And then, and I pretty much remained, you know, very much a Democrat, voted for Democrats until 9/11. And I think that converted a lot of people because it did. What happened was I saw the reaction of, of both parties, and I think it was Clinton who said— and I voted for Clinton twice— he said, uh, what have we done to deserve this? And the other side, the Republicans, were going, this is just pure evil, we have to fight it. So that started making sense to me. The other thing was, I mean, I have to say, I, you know, I've known you since 1984 and listened and, you know, read stuff. And, and I think you worked on me, not consciously, but, uh, that did work on me for all those years.

Good to hear.

Yeah, for 20 years. And then I, yeah, I finally flipped.

Trending now on the Charlie Kirk Show.

I just got an email about someone who says they have to take mandated racial diversity seminar training or whatever it is. And all I have to say is that there is a piece of art, and I don't use that word lightly, that is so perfect, so funny, so politically incorrect that hits this perfectly. It's from the legendary show The Office. Now, The Office started as an unbelievably politically incorrect show, and then it got into this kind of like quasi-woke thing later on. But the episode Diversity Day with Steve Carell, it's so politically incorrect, especially in today's time. I'm just going to tell you something right now. If I dared repeat some of the lines here, it wouldn't even be an advertiser boycott. It would I'd be an advertiser invasion. One of my favorite lines is Steve Carell looks into the— actually, this might be the pilot episode. You see, I am— I'm not an expert in a lot of things, but I am an expert in the central canon of the first season of The Office, because it all went downhill from there. I watched the later— the first season of The Office is so well written, as if they don't care. About— they just said, we are going to swing for the fences, bottom of the 9th. We want this show to catch on, that they just took huge risks. Steve Carell famously said, as Abraham Lincoln said, if you are a racist, I will attack you from the north. I highly encourage you to check it out because we need to laugh about this stuff a little bit because people are emailing me, Charlie, what do I do about this diversity seminar? If you think you have it bad, check out Michael Scott, who had to take the diversity class seminar.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Mike Delliger Show.

Listen, I fight hard for what I believe in every day, but I also try to understand where somebody who disagrees with my ideology or my politics, where they're coming from. And so in a way, maybe, maybe you do the same thing and it kind of keeps us sort of out of the hot seat where we're not just trying to, to lob, you know, hand grenades to the other side, but we're trying to have a reasonable dialogue.

Yeah, I don't want any vitriol in my life. I work very hard to avoid it. One of the things I, of course, I talk about my dog a lot, Jasper. I've actually utilized my love for dogs to form relationships with people that I might disagree with politically. And that's been very gratifying actually. I have a rule, no politics at the dog park. And also I've found the other thing is that if you ask questions, right, I ask a lot of questions. I'm curious. I love learning. I know you do too. This is why you do this job. You love meeting people and learning the issues. And I've also started listening to more podcasts. I'm thrilled that you're going to be doing a podcast. I will subscribe. I will give you 5 stars.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And in the book, I list several podcasts for young people to keep learning.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that they can grow. I mean, there's a lot of ambition and talent and educated people in America. They want to succeed, but they got to work a little hard to get it. You know, you got to work. Competitive world, and you have to find a way to be different from your competitors.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on America First with Sebastian Burke.

This isn't, as some have portrayed it, as some kind of spontaneous, random, organic response to Joe Biden being president. This is being—

Hi everybody. A very different Ultimate Issues Hour and a nice change In that we're talking about comedy with one of the great comedy writers and directors of our generation, David Zucker, of Airplane!, the Naked Gun series, Basketball, and in my opinion, the magnum opus of your life, For Goodness' Sake. Ah, yes, yes, folks, I just need to tell you, it's very touching to the three of us in this room, because it's because of you that I, that I met— well, and Rich Markey. You and Rich Markey are the reasons that I met Alan Estrin.

Yeah, and Rich was also the reason I met you. Rich had seen your— some, something you did on JTN, and he said, you got to see this guy. And then we had a mutual friend, we had a dinner at somebody's house, you know.

Anyways, well, it all It all ended up with this— I'm very proud of it. When I look at it, I still laugh. And that is, it's a video, about a half hour, 20 to 30 minutes. A lot of stuff was cut out, like O.J. Simpson.

Yeah, he's like, only I would have done a goodness video starring O.J. Simpson. That's funny.

I, I tried. We all worked with O.J. Simpson. Yeah, that's a tidbit of Prager trivia people would not be aware of. Anyway, you could see it on the internet. David directed it. David, I need to tell you, it's called For Goodness Sake, Folks. Your kids, you, everyone, you'll love it as an adult, but I want your kids to see it. It's, it's a hilarious video basically my ideas on goodness. So there was a scene, if people were to ask me what was the most difficult moment of your life, I could think of 3 or 4 things. One of them, like one was smuggling out anti-Soviet documents from the Soviet Union at midnight and being, you know, taken out of the train at the Romanian border. But up there with that was a scene in For Goodness Sake, which I was told, Dennis, it's too complex, we can only film it once, get it right the first time. Which is okay, I, I like to get things on the first take anyway. However, behind me, Mrs. McGillicuddy, or whatever her name was. Mrs. O'Malley falls out of a window— it's, it's of course a dummy— into a garbage bin. Yeah, I know what's happening behind me, and David Zucker is behind the camera cracking up, just cracking up. And I'm supposed to deliver my lines completely straight face with Mrs. O'Malley falling into a garbage bin behind me.

It's, it's, uh, it's the whole thing just cracked me up. It remains the funniest scene in that, in that whole movie.

But, uh, see, there we are, straight face. Thank you.

Okay, straight face Prager, you know. And then behind—

that was so difficult.

You—

I don't remember who else was behind the camera, but I remember you just laughing yourself silly with this woman falling into a garbage can behind me, and I kept a completely straight face. Did you realize what achievement I had accomplished?

No, I don't care about the actors. Yeah, and Leslie Nielsen tells the same story, that he'd try to concentrate and he'd hear David giggling in, you know, at the monitor.

I know, it's not fair.

It's not fair.

No, absolutely, absolutely not.

A lot as a piece.

Did you have fun directing that?

I did.

You know, it was tremendous fun. I've, I've had fun directing, you know, all the movies. It's just right.

Well, you enjoy life.

I do, I, I do. And, and imagine I can work, uh, and, and the, the test of whether I got it right or not is if I laugh. I mean, I have to laugh on the set as we're, as we're shooting it.

That's important to you. Yeah, that's your nature. Look, everybody has— but it's a gift to others because you, you make us happier. Laughter is very, very important. Now, having said that, and he, he's totally free to take the microphone, having said that And this is serious. This is— I, I rib the Living Martyr a lot on the show, but now I'm not. So I will even call him by his given name, Alan. You don't laugh a lot, is that fair to say?

I—

yeah, I can make Alan laugh though, but go ahead.

You can make him smile, which we, the rest of us, consider a giggle. But it is an interesting thing Do you miss it, Alan? No. No. He finds the question essentially meaningless. Relief factor. Ah, that's a good point. The man knows his work. We'll be back on the laughter issue. How can I miss what I've never experienced? How could he miss what he never experienced?

That's a great line.

I make up for it. Yes, that's the way it works. Hey, listen, relieffactor.com, 800-583-84. It's very simple. You'll know in 3 weeks if it works. That's a pretty honest maker of a product. Doesn't work in 3 weeks, don't bother buying anymore. Simple as that. So try it for 3 weeks, $19.95 plus shipping, and That's it. It's all you need to know. ReliefFactor.com, 800-583-84. For the record, I took my little packet of it already today. We return on The Dennis Prager Show.

Trending now on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

The situation on the ground is certainly challenging, in part because we inherited a dismantled system that wasn't prepared for processing asylum requests that had left in place the Remain in Mexico program where—

What do you make of Jen Psaki's it's all Trump's fault explanation?

Well, I hear a lot of blah, blah, blah. This is Biden's border crisis. It truly is. And whether President Biden is willing to say it or not, or Jen Psaki says it or not, it is a crisis. And with 23 years in the military and of course my service now on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, I see this not only as a humanitarian crisis, but it's also a growing threat to our national security. They have got to open their eyes. They've got to acknowledge this is not just a challenge. It is not just a big problem. It is a certified crisis.

Now, do you think they will do what is necessary, or is open borders the de facto policy of Team Biden?

I think it will end up being the de facto policy. And again, there's a lot of blah, blah, blah right now, but the extreme push from the left is to simply open our borders. And I heard her, you know, in her clip saying, oh, you know, we want these children to be safe, we want them treated humanely. The humanitarian thing to do is not to have their parents hand them over to drug cartels and human traffickers and parade them through very dangerous, dangerous situations. It's to protect them in their homes.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Eric Metaxas Show.

Folks, I'm talking to Anne McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. You, uh, have a film that you are on the verge of making. It's called My Son Hunter, and it's about Hunter Biden.

When you think about it, this should be the opening skit on every Saturday Night Live.

I was just gonna say, precisely, yes.

I mean, and, and, you know, I don't like making fun of alcoholics being Irish, you know, but, and, but the politics is so funny. I mean, this, this guy, as Anne said, you know, thrown out of the Navy, uh, alcoholic, drug addict, gets a stripper pregnant, gets a stripper pregnant, who hasn't, uh, he, um, you know, all, all He goes to rehab, meets a homeless woman on the way into rehab called Bicycles because she's always got a bicycle, goes off and lives with her for 3 months. This is by his own admission. But the, the joke, the real joke here is who did Burisma— they did an international executive search and who did they decide was the best person for their planet Earth after a deep—

I think that the nature thing is—

yeah, I got it.

And let me say a word about that video. We are so given to teaching that a lot of times what you don't expect happens at PragerU. How many people would expect a Guatemalan woman, not Guatemalan American, Guatemalan, she lives in Guatemala. She does a show in Guatemala on TV. And she is doing what? Something on immigration? No. Something on Hispanics? No. On Ayn Rand. She's a free thinker. So it really is not what you would expect. Plus she's beautiful. And it's part of her success. But she's brilliant. I mean, she's simply brilliant. And she's a free thinker and she loves freedom. It's really worth watching. And it is fundraising month for PragerU. In fact, one of the reasons we had David Zuckerman is because he pledged $25,000 to PragerU.

And I'm very happy to do that, Dennis, for you. I assume it goes right into your pocket.

It does go into my pocket.

Oh, good. That's why I did it.

Unfortunately, the living martyr has access to my pockets, so it's— it ends that possibility. Anyway, it is fundraising month, and I thank you. You are the audience that made PragerU possible. Our first fundraising was with my listeners. We're doing good stuff. And anyway, your kids watch it, right?

They do, yeah. I send them the videos. They're in college, and I send it to them.

Well, I'm very touched and happy to hear that. So David Zucker is my guest. It's a very different Ultimate Issues Hour and one deeply necessary. The importance of laughter and comedy, which is part of his nature, and of course the Airplane, the Naked Gun series, basketball, and now you've come out with an ebook which I had the delight to look at. And I say look at because it's more looking than reading.

That's why I figured you'd get through it, because it has pictures and captions.

And yes, it's like the Daily News, you know.

See, he laughed.

No, he smiled. I was right. No, no, you were wrong and I'm right. He smiled. All right, you consider a smile from him to be uncontrollable laughter? I agree with Dennis.

I'm a glass half full guy.

You are three-quarters full.

Okay.

Yes. Yeah, I love, I love gratitude. I really do. And I love you. I mean, you're a special human being. Thank you. And, and give a big hug to your brother.

I will.

Because I deeply appreciate him, his work, his role in my life. And I wanted to say that publicly. By the way, I had him on for a movie I think is totally hilarious. Rat Race. Oh yeah, Rat Race. Yes, I thought this very very funny. Okay, so you put out an ebook and the title is Before the Invention of Smiling.

Because all these ancestor pictures, they're just so— I guess they're like Alan, you know. I never saw them face to face. And that happened to be one of the captions. It was a picture in the book of my grandfather, probably at his bar mitzvah in a still Russia, and his father, and they're just so stone-faced.

Well, let me just say on behalf of your grandfather that bar mitzvahs in Russia under the czar were not happy events. Just for the record.

There's no picture, but there is a picture of the yeshiva that he went to. Is that right?

No, you're— I can't believe you have so— I don't have anywhere near that number of family pictures.

Well, I actually, I used a picture from the internet. God bless the internet, you know, of the yeshiva.

Oh, the yeshivas are there.

And there's literally 100 kids in it. And I say the caption says, Leo Zucker is 5th row, you know, 13th from the right, you know.

Right, I know, I love— the pictures were amazing. So you had a happy childhood?

I did, but it's not— it isn't so much about my childhood.

No, it isn't.

It's a— it's, you know, my— I used to listen to these stories that my grandmother would tell, and I'm interested, you know, I'm very devoted to family, and I love history. So my grandmother was one of 8 brothers and sisters who came from Hungary, and none of them talked about it. My grandmother was the only one, and I was the only I was the only one of her 10 grandkids who listened. And so I finally, you know, when I was about, you know, 40, I went back for a visit to Milwaukee from LA, and I got the whole story on tape. And then 20 years later, I had a transcript made. And by that time, my kids were able to hear the story. And so I did a children's book. And I didn't— I wasn't satisfied with that. So I let it go for 10 years until 2 years ago, and then I read the transcript, and it's fascinating, in my grandfather's voice. And so that's what I used, and I hired my storyboard artist, Gary Thomas, and then another artist, Cynthia Angulo, to do the drawings where pictures weren't available.

Normally, that would not succeed, but you made it succeed. Partially because of the humor, partially the photos and the drawings. I mean, everything contributed, obviously. You, uh, you think— well, let me ask you, obviously, how do people access this?

Oh, well, it's, it's— you can get it on Amazon. Um, you can read Amazon eBooks via the Kindle Library app on any device, Apple iPad or on Android and Windows tablets.

Oh, it's up at DennisPrager.com, The Connection? Yeah.

If you own a Kindle device—

Yeah, well, you don't even own it. You just download it. It's free.

Yeah, but a Kindle device will only show it in black and white, but it's worth it to get it in color.

Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, how do you get it in color?

If you view it on any other device, it'll be in color.

Oh, really? That's very interesting. I didn't know that. Okay. Anyway, The Connection is up at DennisPrager.com.

But there's a great picture that I discovered in just in the last couple of years. It had been a color slide, and it was taken when I was 4 years old, and I'm standing on a chair in between my grandfather and my father, and my father and I are wearing bow ties. I probably had one of those clip-on bow ties, right? This is like in 1952 or something, and my grandfather is standing beside me with— and he had converted his necktie—

that is the largest bow tie I have ever seen outside of a circus—

into a ridiculous-looking bow tie.

And you have a hilarious comment there.

That's why it's fun, because it's a straight face.

We'll be back, final segment with David Zucker, Ultimate Issues Hour. I can't believe the guy wore it.

This is Jerry Boyer of Town Hall Finance for TownHall.com. The Congressional Budget Office just released its new debt figures. The national debt this year will top 102% of GDP. This has only happened twice before, both during World War II. This number does not count the proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, nor does it count the money which was borrowed from Social Security, since that's considered intergovernmental debt. Debt levels this high break the intergenerational covenant that we have with our children and grandchildren. FDR borrowed to defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Money well spent. Reagan borrowed to defeat the Soviet Union. That was also money well spent. These great projects made the world better for future generations. But our political class is not buying victories against international threats. They are buying political victories for incumbents. This is nothing more than fiscal abuse, and our kids will pay the price. It needs to stop now. I'm Jerry Boyer.

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy, America's unique graduate program for leaders. Learn more at publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu. Turning now to the Charlie Kirk Show.

They don't think that America has the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength. Cut 91.

Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the US side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we make our position So let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.

You understand what they're saying here? They're saying that, oh, the United States doesn't have a position of strength. You mean after you destroyed our manufacturing base, debased our currency, spied on our cyber grid? They're lecturing us about strength. In one sense, they're right. But the fact that they have the cockiness to say that goes to show exactly where the international order is headed. And I'm going to tell you one thing that we should all be talking about when it comes to Joe Biden and China. That we just seem to be forgetting and missing.

Keep up with what's trending. Subscribe on YouTube today. Trending now on the Larry Elder Show.

I am a teacher in an elementary school, and a lot of our professional development is on racism because our school is very diverse in that population. And one of the—

All right, all right, y'all. I have enjoyed this beyond words. Airplane, I just learned, makes sense to me, is always listed as one of the top 5 comedy films ever, ever done. And one of the three writers is with me, David Zucker, his brother Jerry Zucker, and their friend Jim Abrams. From childhood in Milwaukee, correct?

Right. We went to the same high school. Our fathers were partners in the real estate business.

Whose father was not in the real estate business?

Or the clothing business.

Or the clothing business. Yes, that's so true. Yeah, well, this has been an Ultimate Issues Hour about many things, but the primary aim was to speak about the importance of laughter in life. You know, we were talking about the living martyr who rarely laughs, and here was Adam Carolla's description of my producer. We— that was a spontaneous—

that's really good. That—

I love that you laugh at a fellow comedian.

No, it's like these obscure references.

That's it, they work. Uh, that's right.

Yeah, uh, Dennis Miller pulls out about these obscure references and it cracks me up also.

Yes, no, of course.

You know, he once said, referenced Raleigh Coupon Furniture. I mean, who, who remembers that?

I don't.

Yeah, okay. Well, you young—

so by the way, so are you still working?

Yeah, I'm still— yeah, I'm working on— I'm pitching two television series. One is a, uh, is an starting a national basketball league. And so, and so we're working on that. And the other is a spoof on a reality show, which I'm pitching. So, you know, we'll see what happens. And of course there's the film noir movie that I want to do as a television series.

So serious film noir?

Well, no, it's funny.

A comedic film noir.

It's comedic film noir.

Oh, yeah.

Well, that's a hard thing to imagine, but you could pull it off.

Oh yeah, no, I'm sure I could.

So your kids, they know how much you enjoy life?

Oh, they definitely do. Yeah. Yeah, we just visited them in— at their college, and it was just so great meeting all their friends. And I just enjoy, you know, joking around and, you know, telling—

to have a happy parent is a blessing. That's one of the reasons I do a Happiness Hour. But well, this was great. I want to remind you all, we met making a video called For Goodness Sake. It's free. You can see it on the internet. You will see a much younger me, but it's obviously me, and it is a great series of vignettes about David Zucker, you are a joy in everybody's life.

Well, the feeling is mutual, Dennis. Thank you for having me.

My joy. Thank you. All right. Great.

It was great.

Trending now on America First with Sebastian Berger.