The Enemy of July 4, 1776

Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature, a division of Esquire Bank. Signature takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether your business is looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature has the solutions for you. Call today at 773-467, 5600 to hear how signature can help your business grow and thrive. Esquire Bank, member FDIC. equal housing lenders. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Profft here. Hope everyone had a joyous 7.4.250 and all digits are present and accounted for. What did you think of the festivities storm marred as they were? 312-642-5600 alphawealthgroup.com call and text line. Those festivities at 250 in D.C. as well as previous day at Mount Rushmore. That was actually... the place where Trump gave more fulsome remarks on the occasion than after the storms, waiting them out and then coming on stage to say, of course, the show must go on. And I want to thank everybody because they did the right thing. They saw a lightning. And I said, there's no way if we have to speak in front of one person at 4 o'clock in the morning, I'm going to be here. There's no way we can be deterred.

And they estimated they had 375,000 people before everybody had to leave. And they now have 150,000 people. It's the craziest thing anyone's ever seen. At least. And I want to just thank you, and I feel so badly about some people they left that they couldn't get back. But you're very special people, and we have a very special country. Thank you very much. Indeed, some of those people that were evacuated, you know, as the president said, lightning, so we've got to clear the mall and the area, take shelter. And a bunch of people took shelter in the USDA building, Department of Ag. and sort of spontaneously broke out into a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, which was kind of cool. As I perused online, whether you perused online or experienced it in person, that was pretty neat. The drone sky art in North Richland Hills, Texas was super cool. That Cessna Flight over Ohio that took the path to spell out. Happy 250th with the outline of America, the United States of America as the border, the images that were projected on the sphere in Las Vegas. There was a lot of cool celebrations. But amid all the celebrations, of course, President Trump... certainly has something on his mind with an eye towards the midterms and beyond in terms of the threats the country faces, the internal threats. Earlier in the week, he sort of began addressing this, and it carried over into his considered and scripted remarks, particularly at Mount Rushmore. Whereas I said, I thought he gave an excellent speech for the occasion. But in terms of what his particular concerns are, well, even when the show resumed on 74250, he still was thinking about the rise of the communists in this country, those neo-Bolsheviks. And all these talks from the communists, they haven't got a chance. Not even a chance. We don't want communists in our country.

I mean, he was a little bit more glib on July 4th than he was during his time at Mount Rushmore, which was also well crafted in the sense that there was an opportunity for the president to express gratitude for the president's memorialized on Mount Rushmore, which he did. It was an interesting contrast to a speech we'll get to in a little bit. contrasting the gratitude and the historical perspective of President Trump to the ingratitude, the uncharitable remarks of, say, Zohran Mamdani, the commie, mayor of New York City, these communist ingrates and these identitarian simpletons, of course. emphasized from their perspective the faults of America on 7-4-250, just as they do every day. It's just not bad enough for them to leave, though, as you'll take notice of. But earlier in the week, Trump was talking about the threat that's posed. Because it's not socialism, it's really communism. They use the word social Democrat because it sounds so nice. It's really communism you're talking about. I think it's the biggest threat to our nation. There is, maybe since our founding. That includes World War I, World War I, September 11th. It includes the Pearl Harbor attack. I think this is the biggest threat to our nation. People will smile when I say that, but the smart people are going to say, you know, he's probably right. It's basically introducing communism into the United States of America. There's never been anything so dangerous. And that's a thread he picked up on and reiterated in his remarks at Mount Rushmore. Yet as we approach this magnificent anniversary, we see our American identity under a renewed attack, a generation after we fought and won the Cold War against the menace of communism. There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success. These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations. Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9-11. We're not going to let this happen to us. Believe me, we're not letting it happen. Because communism is the enemy of free people everywhere. Everywhere in the world, never works. It's the enemy of the Constitution. Above all, it's the enemy of July 4th, 1776. It is the enemy indeed. Even while the radicals and extremists attack our incredible history at every turn, they are silent on the miserable history of communism itself because it never worked.

Thousands of years, if you look at it, under different names, under somewhat different ideologies and systems. That system has led to more death and destruction than any system ever tried. It killed 100 million people just in the last century alone. Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil. But we will not let them win. They have no chance against us. Well, yeah, that certainly hopes so. It's a bit distressing as a Gen X or myself, you know, coming of age during the Cold War and the end of it. And the defeat of the evil empire that... You know, three decades later, the offspring of my generation are back at it. I guess that's what Reagan was referencing when he often made mention that freedom requires eternal vigilance. Each generation has to, the battle has to be taken up again. And so this is the case. But just accentuating the positive of a little bit more before we. go down this path of having to deal with the neo-Bolsheviks and their rallying point over the weekend, which was not the president's speech or anything celebratory about America, but as I said, Zohran Mamdani's very petulant, ungrateful, and banal speech. I mean, that's one of the things about Zohran Mamdani, much like Obama. There's a lot of hype, but when you actually listen to him, Speechify, It is positively pedestrian vanilla. But there is an undercurrent there that needs to be addressed because it's also dangerous. But again, accentrating the positive. Fox had some, Fox News Channel had some cool things going on over the weekend, including Brett Bear and then Brian Kilmeade, talking to... 103-year-old World War II vet, Corporal Wilbur Jack Myers, who had this to say to Brett Baer when talking about his service and his reflections on America 250. Europe, where sir? A detainter shooter of gunner in France, Holland, the founder de Beau, and Germany. How about that? Can I ask you, sir, how old are you are? I'm only 103. You're only 103. You're 103 young. How about that? What's the secret? How about that? Well, I was one of 13 children. I learned number six. They wrote seven girls and six boys. And I'm the best parents I could have. And they taught me how to live. That's awesome. What about when you say to people, America 250, what it means to you, today, what it means to you? Oh, it means that we just come through so many couples. Like civil words and things like that, to correct things the way we wanted it. We got it. We got it with it. And today I'm just so happy with this leader. All the people are prepared to be free and to be zero and to love America.

I love that. That's what we fought for. That's what we fought for. That's what we fought for. People celebrating the freedom, loving this country. And he sensed the enthusiasm that Corporal Wilbur Jack Myers still has for this country. And he's also got a set of working pipes, too. because he played out one segment of this special on Fox News Channel. with his rendition of God Bless America. Bless America, lands that I love, stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above, from the mountain to the prairie, to the ocean. Whitewood foam. God bless America. My home sweet home. God bless America. My home sweet. Yeah. Not bad for 103, huh? Hear about the big stories of the day, then talk about them right here on Chicago's morning answer, on AM 560. The answer. Signature, a division of Esquire Bank, offers Chicago businesses' relationship-first banking. Signature knows your name and your story because personalized banking still matters. I'm Dan Proft, and I know this because Signature is where I do my business banking. Hi, I'm Tony Patrick, CEO of Total Wall and a client of Signature. We produce high-performance materials used in exterior insulating finish systems and other stucco applications. Every growing business needs a strong team behind it. Over the years, Signature has been more than a financial partner. They've shared their knowledge, offered guidance, and connected us with trusted professionals who help strengthen our business. Their valuable extension of our team and a true partner. That's why I value my relationship with Signature. Signature helps local businesses succeed. Want to learn how Signature can help turn your business vision into reality? Call Signature, a division of Esquire Bank at 773-467-5600, or visit Signature.orgate.com. Esquire Bank, member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. Only the biggest stories. Only the biggest guests. And only the biggest opinions. This is AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning. Dan Proff here. Zoram, I'm Doni, the commie mayor of New York. Neo-Kami. Islamist gave a speech on the occasion of America's 250 because he's become the face of this neo-Bolshevik revolutionary party that people used to call the Democrat Party. And boy, are those who are not...

exactly aligned running scared governors from Maryland and Pennsylvania Wes Moore Josh Shapiro boy are they tiptoeing around the tulips they're worried you know how you know somebody's worried when you ask them a substantive question and you get a procedural answer like give you it before we get to the speech just give you an example what I'm talking about this was Josh Shapiro, responding to recitation of the musings of Zohran Mamdani acolyte Daryalisa, one of his brood that was successful in New York the other week and is on her way to Congress. Dana Bash reading the receipts, Josh Shapiro offering. Daria Lisa Avila Chevalier, she was a PhD candidate at Columbia, an organizer. She called for the abolition of prisons, open borders, and the deportations, even people convicted of violent crimes. She attended a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8, 2023, a rally that reportedly featured some real... anti-Semitic rhetoric, justifying the attack. How do you feel as a Democrat about someone with those views being in the United States Congress? Miller, her district voted for her. Yes, we understand the process. But I have profound differences from that particular candidate, you know, based on the citations that you read there. And she's not someone, you know, who seemingly... I would agree with on many things or that we share similar values. She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess as a socialist. Her voters in that district determined that she was the one they wanted representing. We get how elections work. What does that I tell you about your party? I think what our party has to go through that will be very healthy and something we've not really done since the 1992 election cycle is to have a battle over what we believe in. Yeah. Well, Josh Shapiro is quaking in his boots because he's not going to win that battle. And the approach that he and others who are not exactly comfortable with what's going on inside their party are taking will ensure that they don't win whatever battle they think is going to be waged a debate within the party to reestablish what we believe. They're going to roll over appeasers like Josh Shapiro. Of course they will. Wes Moore on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Breem, the governor of Maryland, even worse. He's also less skilled. Some within your party who are saying things like we should be ashamed of America. We should, the government should seize the means of production that we may be in some way deserved 9-11. What do you do with those factions of your party? Well, first, I say, you know, what the representative was saying is powerful and correct in the idea that making sure that we have an economy that works for everybody is something that is powerful. A lot of the stuff that I'm hearing about the labels and all kinds of stuff, I'm be very honest with you, it's a very Washington game because for people inside of communities that I'm in every single day, people just want...

candidates that actually working and getting things done. Uh-huh. Yeah. Just a label game. Well, you can put whatever label you want on it, address the substantive positions that have been taken and are being taken. Have been and are being taken. Like now, real time. The policy agenda. I mean, you can go to the DSA website. Have you not seen it? That's just, is that just labeling? Is that just an inside-the-beltway kind of game that people don't really care about? Well, they're going to care about it when these people get in power and they start pursuing policies consistent with what they said they would do. It's happening in New York already. $2.2 billion that Zohran Mamdani and his gal pal, C. Weaver, have set up to seize private property from landlords to relieve them of the responsibility of managing their private property. Very generous, as communists always are. So I'm saying, Wes Moore, I mean, I think he's trying to do an Obama impersonation. I think he just wants to be the face guy for the radical left. And, you know, if that advances his political fortunes, great. Josh Shapiro, I think, is betwixt in between, but he's caved before. He'll cave again. These are appeasers. Josh Shapiro caved to the teachers' union. He couldn't even stand up for school choice in Pennsylvania. Do you think he's going to stand up to where the zeitgeist currently exists in his party? Who will? The only one talking like an adult in that party and calling things by their proper names, you can say in that way labeling all you want, terming things as they actually are reflective of reality is John Fetterman. And right now he's contemplating the... sort of threshold that needs to be reached for him to consider jumping from his party altogether. But John Fetterman's not going to be quite enough, particularly when so many others are even enthusiastic. Not just sort of appeasing and tolerating with an eye towards. Let's just get past the midterms and we'll figure it out once we take power, which is what they're trying to do. Tamp down any sort of dissent. Give procedural answers to substantive questions. As you heard from both of those spinmeisters, both of those governor spinmeisters, and see if we can just get through this in power and then we'll have the ability to, you know, settle them down. You won't. You won't. But okay, that's the approach, just documenting it. So now back to Zohran Mamdani and what he had to say on the occasion of 250. What a bizarre visual he presented to. He's sitting at the Washington desk in Gracie Mansion that looks like it's turned the wrong way. All the drawers are on the outside. You can see on camera. I don't know. Maybe that's how Washington's desk was. constructed, but it looked bizarre. And then a handful of alleged new Americans shuffle out with little American flags, all looking dower. Not happy to be here. New citizens, not excited. And there's even one honky in the background. You know, it's nice to have the token honky. Everybody should have one in the shot. So they just stand there holding their little flags while he.

politely in couched, quotidian language, rails against America. There is a term so often used to describe our nation and those who have shaped it. American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism, the conventional wisdom tells us, makes our freedom a little more free, is how we dug the Erie Canal and irrigated the West, is why children in faraway lands grow up dreaming of one day moving here. And yet the irony is that the story of America has so often been written by those who were told by others with power and influence and wealth that they were anything but exceptional. For generation after generation, we have been told that when the world has sent its people to our shores, it has not sent its best. It sent Puritans and Sikhs and Quakers and Muslims and Jewish people who were banished for praying the wrong way, worshipping the wrong gods, angering the wrong people. It sent peasants and serfs from slums and stettles who were treated as less because they hardly owned clothes, let alone land. It sent immigrants from whom power was something someone else had. We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else. The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here nothing is fixed into place. The frontier may be closed. We may have walked on the moon. But the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that work endures. And it belongs to us all. Yeah. That's that sort of appeal to the declaration is what I'm talking about in terms of the platitudinous nature of it and the disingenuous. platitudinous nature of it to boot um the uh tell is the characterization we're told america is exceptional because it's rich and powerful that's not the promise that's not the value prop of america nobody says that no a land of opportunity and prosperity because it's free yes that's a difference This is all couched in neo-Marxist rap. Robert Spencer, who runs Jihad Watch, had a good riff on this. And it's, you know, it's threaded throughout his unremarkable. remarks. Spencer writes, American Zohran Mamdani's views a sad place where heartless races, xenophobic plutocrats rule the roost and oppress the rest of us to the degree that you wonder why anyone from elsewhere would want to immigrate in the first place. Zohran Mamdani does hold out some hope in the end saying that the foes of these cruel tyrants can throw off their yoke and remake the unhappy land in their own image. And that, of course, is just what Zohran Mamdani has set out to do. And their own image has no relation to the founding documents they invoke conveniently. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy where only a select view are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less, the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin.

The rest of us they insist should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit. How small they are. How weak. How unoriginal. At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics and the cheapest. But time and again, including 250 years ago. Those forces of division have been vanquished by the forces of progress. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. More just identity and claptrap, but that's what you're going to get at the division. The they, they think this and they've always done that. Who's the they? Boogieman politics. Just classic boogeyman politics. I'll tell you what, though. It wowed Representative Ro Khanna. The plutocrat from California who wants to be president. I'm glad he did it. It's showing that the same country that produced Donald Trump produced Zohran Mamdani. And Zohran Mamdani, as you know, is a student of history. So it was significant. He did that with George Washington's desk, when New York being the first capital of this country. People often don't remember that. Zohran Mamdani knows that. And he was giving a powerful message of this linking back to our founding ideals that the Declaration says that we have. equality for every person and that this is a nation really that it's based on that creed and has welcomed immigrants and he's claiming that vision as true patriotism and inspiring and it's going to resonate across the country uh flim flammery as you've come to expect from Ro Khanna and and all of these professional pervaricators speaking of which david axelrod professional liar these eloquent words talking about memdanese speech These elegant words speak to me as the grateful son of a refugee who arrived here with his family, carrying little more than their hopes and dreams of freedom and a better life. Right. All they want is a chance. All we are saying is give us a chance. That's not all they're saying. Is that even what they're saying?

A good riff on this. You have to get the perspective of the approach here. And one trend you see with these neo-Bolsheviks is that when privileged foreign elites like Zohran Mamdani and his family come to America, they adopt the rhetoric and posture of... domestic identity and politics, specifically black victimhood politics, post civil rights era, black victimhood politics as practiced by our indigenous race hustlers, even though they share none of the actual experiences. They channel it because it's a power grab. That's the gambit. But they're displacing. Black politicians and leaders atop this hierarchy. Have you noticed? The Islamists. All while wearing sort of the, I mean, they're sort of doing it in black face, if you will, rhetorically. You could tolerate that metaphor. Post-colonialism, America, the colonizer. That doesn't have much domestic resonance. You have to translate that into the victimhood parlance that has become accepted within wide swaths of the American public. And that's what they do. That's what Zohran Mamdani is doing. That's what a honky like Katie Wilson does in Seattle. That's what Zohran Mamdani's back congressional candidates did. That's what the Ethiopian-born congressional candidate in Colorado is doing. What Jacob Frey does, the mayor of Minneapolis. So many examples of this. Tina and Joliet. Hi, Dan. Hey, I am so frustrated with the Democratic Party. I was a Democrat almost my entire life until I think Jeannie I may have been the first Republican I ever voted for. What? What about 2010? What about me in 2010? Sorry, I was asleep with the wheel back then. So I was on X the day after the election in New York, and there was a host of Jews lamenting back and forth about how lost they are that they feel like, you know, they're on an island. They have no political party to participate in anymore. They're lost. And I got into it with them saying, you have to be kidding me. You have an Islamanazi on one side, and you have a party that has embraced you, descended you, and supported you through the last six years of anti-Israel, anti-Jew attacks and rhetoric and increasing power from these Marxists who hate you. And you're lost. You don't know where to go with your vote at this point. I don't know what else has to happen. I know I've said it a million times. I'm just, I'm so disgusted with the American voter. And I keep trying to tell people, Zohran Mamdani won because only 7% of voters, or his three communist candidates won because 7% of voters showed up. And if we're going to make it that easy for them to waltz into office and ruin everything, you know, shame on us.

But my God, people, wake up. These are, he's dangerous. He scares the hell out of me. He scares me in a way. You know, I always thought Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was bad. This guy is a thousand times worse. Well, yeah, he's more skilled. Thanks for the call, Tina. That's the problem. So is Daria Lisa, the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Mini Me, but more talented. She used recently one praise from David Duke. And it's appropriate. They share in opposition to interracial dating. And that's what David Duke was congratulating Dara Lisa Chevalier on. He also congratulated Ilhan Omar and Zohran Mamdani M. Dhan Zohran Mamdani for their anti-Semitism. He didn't put it quite in those terms, but that's what he did. So there you go. David Duke, Zohran Mamdani M. Dani, Darya Lisa, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they're all in the same boat. And that boat needs to be sent out to sea to a distant land. This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The answer. Signature, a division of Esquire Bank, offers Chicago businesses relationship first banking. Signature knows your name and your story because personalized banking still matters. I'm Dan Proft, and I know this because Signature is where I do my business banking. Hi, I'm Phil Silverman, CFO of Chicago Atlantic, and a client of Signature. We provide capital solutions in markets where risk is often fundamentally mispriced and traditional financing can be limited. In Chicago Atlantic, success depends on experience, responsiveness, attention to detail, and an entrepreneurial mindset. That's exactly what we found with Signature. Their team understands how we operate, supports our growth, and delivers the kind of personal service that's increasingly rare in banking today. And that's exactly why we bank with Signature. Signature helps local businesses succeed. Want to learn how Signature can help turn your business vision into reality? Call Signature, a division of Esquire Bank, at 773-467-5600, or visit Signature.com. Esquire Bank, member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. This is Chicago's Morning Answer with Dan Proft on AM 560, The Answer.

AM560 Presents Real American Heroes. Real American Heroes. Today we salute you, Mr. Ordinary American. You never made headlines. You never sought fame, but your story helped build this country. Top of the morning, Dan Proff here. Yeah, our latest installment of, basically, unsung Americans, Mr. and Mrs. or Miss ordinary Americans, so sexist. People who were unsung or have been unsung in their lives, but whose lives are good examples of what makes America great. And interestingly, what makes America great was the topic of Dave Barry's. semi-quincennial essay. What Makes America Great trying to get to the bottom of it? Dave Barry, noted humorist. One of the best. He's almost 80 now. Still writing. It's great. Really, really good. One of my favorites. And he answers the What Makes America Gray question in much the vein of this segment. And I'll get to it, but this is also sort of an intersection of animal stories because... He gets sidetracked as he has wanted to do by a story of landscapers cutting down, you know, pruning some trees on his property. And they cut out a portion of a tree, you know, for hurricane season upcoming. He's down in the Keys. And a portion of the tree they cut down has a hole in it. and he hears, and so it's sitting on the ground, whatever, he hears some chirping, and he looks in and he tries to figure out what's going on, and it sounds like birds, and there were birds in there. So he doesn't know what to do with it, how to get it out, he and his wife trying to figure it out. So they call a bird rescue place. And he talks to some lady. This is about an hour from his house or so, says what he's got. And so she says, okay, bring the log. I'll meet you in this Walmart parking lot in Florida City. And I'll take the log. And I know who I can get this to deal with the baby birds that are lodged in this log since mom doesn't know where to find them because the home is gone.

So she's like, I can do it right now because I'm, right now I'm feeding baby raccoons. Okay. So anyway, they set a time to meet, and Dave Bari Weiss goes over there and hands off the baby birds to her, and ultimately they, you know, stay in communication. She gets the birds to a bird rescue place, and also all that ends well. And I just, the run-up, because the what makes America great, according to Dave Barry, includes a reference to this. So I want to make sure you understood the reference. What I would have written, writes Dayberry, if I hadn't been distracted by the story I'm just telling you, is in brief this. What makes America great prepare for a searing insight is Americans. I don't mean American politicians. I mean, everyday, hardworking, generous, friendly, decent Americans who I believe greatly outnumber the idiots. I mean, the people who hold the door for you and say thank you when you hold the door for them, and buy Girl Scout cookies, even though they already have some at home, and never buttoned line, and it will lend you their jumper cables. And we'll take the trouble to lower a log gently to the ground instead of dropping it because there might be critters inside. And we'll take the time out from bottle feeding a dozen baby raccoons to schlep five miles in the rain so they can take custody of three baby woodpeckers. And all the other millions of small but good things that millions of Americans do every day. Which is not to say we can't be better, but I sincerely believe, and I'm a professionally cynical old guy of 79, that were pretty good. So happy birthday to us. That was... Dave Barry. So now to the local stories. Let's start with a contribution from Will from Skokie, who is a semi-regular caller to this program. He sent this email about Miss Pinta. This is 1960s Southwest Side Chicago. I went to Catholic School located in the predominantly Southside Irish neighborhood in Chicago when I was in third grade. I was in third grade when I met a teacher, new to the school and just out of college. Her name was Miss Pinta and she was cute. She was my first crush. Back then, part of our studies was civics learning about government and history. Our neighborhood was inhabited by a large number of people who worked in middle management for the city. So this was considered important to kids who heard a lot about local politics. We were reading a book about Chicago's history, Fort Dearborn, Dusabal, what the four stars in the city's flag stood for, all that sort of stuff. One day we read in the book where Mayor Daly, the first, was quoted as saying, Chicago is a melting pot, quote unquote. Ms. Pinta turned toward the class and explained what a melting pot was. Then she said something to us, good Southside Irish kids, that we found to be great heresy. She said, I disagree with the mayor of Chicago. Chicago is not a melting pot, she said. As many of the kids made the sign of the cross trying to ward off her evil statement, the teacher then proceeded to prove her point. She pulled out an electric hot plate and double boiler that she had pre-positioned.

She said everyone who has crans, everyone has old crans, broken ones or ones you don't use, who has them come up here and put them in this pot. We're going to melt them, she said, with a knowing twinkle in her eye. We brought up our crayons and she melted them right before our eyes. As we crowded around our desk watching the gooey fluid form, she turned to me asking, now what color is that? I responded in a typical kid fashion. Kind of looks like puke green, like someone Ralphed Bad. She giggled. It's a very interesting description, Billy, and very true. She then asked us all to retake our seats, but Chicago is not a pile of vomit, is it? She turned and from behind her desk pulled out a large picture of what looked like a stained glass window. I learned later that was a picture of the famous Rosetta window in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. As she pointed to the picture, she explained, America is not a mixture of color. Each of us, like each piece of glass here, has our own color, not only the color of our skin, but also like the color of our religion, job, family, ethnic background, and all the other attributes that define us. Each piece of glass has its own color and is beautiful all by itself. But when these pieces of glass come together, as they are arranged in just the right way, they make something larger and a great deal more beautiful than any one piece. It took me a while to realize the deep teaching this was, Will from Skokie, on Miss Pinta. This is third grade. Do you think that sort of lesson is provided third grade, even in Catholic schools today, I would depressingly observe? Okay, thanks, Will from Skokie, Miss Pinta.

Pat Coteric. I just got a text over the weekend from her husband, Ed. He was cleaning up Pat Cotteric from Palatine Township. She was, she's passed. And Ed just texted me, and I want to make sure I have the text. that he was cleaning up her phone and saw, you know, my number in there, maybe it's a text from years back talking about politics or something, which is what I used to talk about with Pat. And so he sent me this note about her. If I can find it. Golly gee, I had it. Show prep live. Yep, got it. Clean up my wife's phone, emails, text phone numbers. We listen to you daily over the years. I'm pretty sure you dealt with Pat politically as she was a political junkie and a delegate to the last convention. Anyway, she passed after 15-month hard-fought battle with AML leukemia. and her obituary is still online. It describes her life perfectly. Just Google it. You can read it. Just trying to let folks who knew Pat know she passed, take care. That's Ed's Tertric, Pat's husband. And I did pull up her obit because she was a great lady, great conservative, bundle of energy. She was also Ed's wife for 50 years, a loving mother of Ashley and Scott in the late Jeffrey. grandmother of Madison, sister of Kathleen. The battle with leukemia is mentioned. Even on the most difficult days when asked how she was feeling, her response never changed, always good. Our unwavering optimism reflected the strength and grace with which she lived her life. Steadfast in her faith, Pat, Patricia, was ready to meet her Lord. She was a devoted member of her Bible study group for close to 40 years, finding deep joy, fellowship, and purpose in her spiritual walk. She was known as a political junkie and became passionately involved over the years in many charitable religious and outreach programs. And most meaningful to her was reaching a treasure milestone, celebrating 50 years of marriage with Ed, surrounded by family and friends. A goal she proudly and joyfully fulfilled. Pat Soteric. And she was a friend of mine, so. I add that as well when she is missed. All right. This is another friend by extension. So this was submitted. Hannah Semba was submitted by her son-in-law. This is a friend of mine's mother. My friend is Dr. Bob Semba. He's a retired orthopedic surgeon. People listening, probably a lot of people know him. He's beloved figure. Edgewood Valley Golf Club. He's also down with Meadow, Florida, and Naples. And a remarkable guy, great family. And the son-in-law is funny. So the subject is Bob Semba's mother. It was a remarkable person. I did not ask Bob for permission to send this. It's not very Japanese to boast, but as...

But I as Hannah's sole son-in-law and a white guy can get away with it. So here you go. Hannah Semba. She spent her later years ensuring that younger generations understood the injustice of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. She died in March of this year just a couple of weeks before her 100th birthday. She was 15 years old when news arrived at her family's small house in Conway, Washington. On December 7th, soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, of 41, soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she recalled hearing her brother shout, were at war, we're at war with Japan. Within a few months, her family would be forced to sell their few possessions, abandon their home, and relocate to government prison camps and experience that shaped the rest of her life. Hannah was one of seven children born to... Japanese immigrant parents who grew potatoes at tenant farmers in the Skagit Valley in Washington State. After the war broke out, we learned that the FBI was going to people's homes and taking the Japanese immigrants. We were so frightened, she recalled. We didn't have a telephone and got no notice before they arrived at the house. We heard rumors from the Japanese in Seattle that the FBI would take family photos and keepsakes. My mother dug a hole in the backyard and buried all the pictures. When the FBI did come, they told us we couldn't travel more than five miles and had to be home by 8 p.m. with lights out. Since we couldn't go beyond five miles, we couldn't go to high school anymore, she recalled. Within weeks, executive order, 96, authorized the force removal and incarceration of approximately 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast into designated prison camps scattered across the dusty interior of the western U.S.

At the end of the war, following more than three years of incarceration, well, actually, I should go back here, I'm sorry. The Haino family was originally assigned to the Tool Lake California camp and then transferred to the Hart Mountain Wyoming camp. As a college-bound teenager, only a handful of colleges were willing to admit Japanese American students from the camps on educational leave permits, and she was accepted to... McAllister College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1943. At the end of the war, following more than three years of incarceration, the remainder of the Huyano family relocated to Minneapolis to restart their lives. And by the way, that's where my friend, Dr. Bob Zemba, went to college. In 1951, Hannah Mary Tom Samba, whom she met at the University of Minnesota, where she received green nutrition and completed medical school. And he completed medical school. Executive Order 9066 had also forced Thomas to leave the University of Washington as a freshman. And he was sent to the Tool Lake camp before attending Dakota Wesleyan on an education pass. They settled in Minneapolis to raise a family. Of the many lessons in life, I believe education is the most crucial. When we left the camp, we were so determined that we would rise above what happened that we made sure our children were well educated. That's what I'm most proud of, said Hannah. All four of her children became physicians. Hannah rarely spoke about her wartime incarceration until later in life. She said, I was ashamed of my own ethnicity. You carried this guilt of what did I do to deserve this? You're in a state of confusion. Why are we here in prison camp? I'm an American citizen. She made it a mission to share her story with students, volunteering her time, and memoirs through the Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Public Radio, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Minnesota Star Tribune, and the oral history project at St. Olaf College. Though she never returned to Skagit Valley, the Mount Vernon School District did not forget Hannah. In 2021, 77 years after she was forced to leave, She was invited back to Mount Vernon High School in Washington to finally receive her high school diploma. This story must be told. Could it happen again? Yes, in some ways it's happening now, she said. In sharing her story, Hannah hoped future generations would learn from the mistakes of the past. No matter what are authenticity, she said, we should remember that we are all equal, we are all Americans, and we must stand together. Hannah Semba. It's great. Great. And this is also, I mean, it's interesting reflections, and we talk about this all the time because the left loves to obsess about the dark periods in American history where terrible decisions were made by executives, by judges, and obviously the Japanese internment camps, FDR, was one of those dark periods. A terrible decision was made, terrible injustice committed. So we can tackle those things and still put them in the context of what we did to remediate the wrongs that were committed, the lessons that we learned and applied, and what the country is today. The country is not 1941 America. The country is not 1963 America.

And those forces, those neo-Bolshevik revolutionaries that we were just talking about like Zohran Mamdani last hour, want to freeze frame or go back like the 1619 project did and say the original sin of slavery hardwired, you cannot scrub it from your... You cannot ever absolve yourself or move past it because it's in your DNA as a country. And thus, by extension, all of those who fit into the oppressor camp versus the oppressed, the privilege versus the unprivileged. That's the big lie that the left tells. So you confront things honestly and you hash them out and you offer recognition and recompense to the... to the extent possible and appropriate, and then you'd be better. But this has nothing to do with what Zohran Mamdani was saying about being unwelcoming to the stranger and all this other leftist pablum that they spew. For example, just another one, this is not, as you'll hear, local to Chicago, but it's worth hearing. Great story. I don't think you're going to find any conservatives who will not celebrate the admission into this country formally as an American citizen of a West African gentleman. That's Ray Hales. Marine Corps Sergeant Diakaria Sangri. I've loved this country since I first got here. So it's amazing. I've been in the Marine Corps for almost six years now. I've been deployed a lot of field ops. It's just amazing feeling. It's just amazing. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to interview me. Thank you. Thank you. I'm from Guinea, West Africa. I came here when I was a little kid. I went to school. I graduated high school. I went to Military Magnet Academy. It's a small school in North Charleston. It's a military school after that. I went to college a little bit, you know, student loans. So I was like, okay, let me join the military. I always wanted to join the military. Join the military end up working out great for me. I promoted the sergeant in less than three years. I got accepted into the Commandants Retention Program, right? So that's amazing. I've just been blessed. I've just been blessed. It's been a long time. It's been a long time. I want to say thank God. I think my parents. You know, my parents work hard. Shout out to my mom. She came here, self-employed, work her butt off, man, to get me here and get me this opportunity. So I want to say, thank you, Mom. You're watching. Thank you. My stepdad, amazing, amazing, man. Amazing man. He's at work right now. He works double shifts. Just thank you, man, for making me the man I am. Thank you so much. Thank you. Shout out to my unit, AIB. Withick. Hey, what's up, brothers? They should be here today, but I only got two invitations. But, hey, thank you, the American Dream. Thank you.

Dan Proff, Chicago's morning answer. It's news, opinion, insight. This is Chicago's morning answer. An AM 560. The answer. Sports and politics and sports and politics and sports and politics and sports and politics and politics and intersections. Arrogance and ignorance. Intersection. All right. On this installment, I guess we have to tackle this World Cup controversy that President Trump has apparently instigated involving Phelaren Belogan, which I thought was like a weapon that Palantir was developing until I learned he's a member of the U.S. men's soccer team that's playing the John Claude Van Damns tonight. So this guy got one game suspension for stepping on the ankle of an opponent in the previous contest. Do I have that right? You get suspended for a game in soccer if you step on your opponent's foot or ankle? You don't get suspended for flopping when you're not touched? Anyway. That's what happened, as it's been reported. On Sunday, that would be yesterday, Phelaren Belogan had his red card suspension revoked through, as the Wall Street Journal reports, a process that is shrouded in mystery and already dripping with controversy. So he's playing tonight, and I guess this is a material player to the team that enhances America's chances. against the Van Damns. And so it's drawing reaction because it seems like Trump interceded here. See, why don't he just like call Mark Rudy, you know, NATO Secretary General? He's a Belgian. Just call him to call the Infantino, the FIFA guy. The Belgian Soccer Association is astonished, quote unquote. that this has occurred, and they are examining all avenues to appeal or change the decision back to the original decision. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I mean, the comments, you know, again, this is not my bailiwick. But the comment suggests that maybe the initial punishment was that was meted out. The one gave suspension when you're to the round of 16 was overly harsh. But by the same token, you don't want politicians interceding to put their thumb on a sports league commissioner and, you know, derive a benefit for their national team that... smaller, less politically potent countries. Like, could, if a Philogen, whatever, Bologan, had, if he had been a player for Cape Verde, would he have gotten the same treatment if the president of Cape Verde had called Infantino and said, you know, that's a little harsh and we're playing the Belgians and we need a full complement of players.

312-642-2-5600. I assume that's the Alfawealthgroup.com call and text on. I assume there are some people listening despite my admonitions against soccer are still soccer fans. Halfback passes to the center. Back to the wing. Back to the center. Center holds it. Holds it. Holds it. Yeah. A preview of tonight's game. By the way, just since we're on the topic, some things I have picked up, not intentionally. I am sort of following some of the World Cup fans from the various countries represented who've made their trek over to America and are enjoying themselves. And even to the point of disappearance, a British dude who went missing for 10 days. found in a pub blissfully unaware that people were looking for him. Now, I mean, that's an excursion. That's the kind of thing I like to see. And that's one of the things you can do in America is disappear. You don't have Big Brother tracking your movements like you do in some countries. But just before I get to more of the fans, this guy, this Norwegian, Erling Holland, Halland. I guess he scored two goals against Argentina yesterday in the round of 16 making, I think that's the most goals ever scored by one player in a World Cup game. And I think that may be the highest scoring, two nothing, maybe the highest scoring World Cup game in World Cup history. I don't know. But he's got a $320,000 Birkin bag collection. So one of, I guess, he's one of the sports best, one of the world's best. And he collects purses? And you're trying to tell me about soccer? This match will determine once and for all which nation is the greatest on earth. Mexico or Portugal. Now, the one thing I will say, just in terms of the fans, which is great, I mean, I can't get enough of, like, the Japanese soccer fans in a Bass Pro shop trying out all the guns, for example, and just wow that they have access to all of these weapons, theoretically, if they were, you know, in this country and able to legally purchase them. But just the fact that they are allowed to, you know. take him out for a test drive is remarkable to them. It's just interesting to watch. But how about this guy, Sebastian the German? Sebastian the German has so enjoyed his experience, and I guess he's mainly been in Boston because this is an NBC affiliate in Boston that's reporting on this. He so enjoyed his experience in America following, ostensibly the German World Cup team. He doesn't want to go back. That's what he's really. getting misty-eyed about going back to Germany. Sorry, sir, right? It makes you cheeria. Why? Why? Help us understand. Why is this so impactful to you? Sebastian Krauss never imagined his trip to America would be so emotional. You're human. Happy tears.

in just a few weeks being here. I fall in love with this country and this was so emotional. I even cried in the stadium. It's a huge departure from what he was expecting before traveling to follow the German soccer team in its World Cup run. To be honest, I was a bit... scared or had the fear to travel to the United States. News about shootings and criminals and that the country is not safe. Bob takes us home. It's great. America is great. Sebastian met a group of strangers who offered him a ride to his hotel. What is the best city? Boston. That's Bob's series and his family. New Englanders who showed a group of Germans that Boston is warmer than some might believe. Bob, thank you to love USA. Enjoy your time in the U.S. To me, I watch. to read you by myself maybe 40 times. I had tears in my eyes. Sebastian was more upset about the prospect of leaving America than Germany being eliminated from the tournament. There you go. And now these, you got these, some countries calling for, and fans calling, America should never host the World Cup again after this red card controversy with Flo Bologan. Really? Well, the fans will revolt. The fans, I mean, the Scots alone. seemed to be having a good old time here. Jim in Crown Point. You know, we're heard of a conundrum now. Trump, he has a black player reinstated because Deepa was racist against him. So Trump is actually helping a minority. Okay. I don't think he claimed racism. I think he just claimed bad call. But, yeah, I mean, if you want to force, if you want to force feed it through that lens, I suppose one can do that. What's with the Norwegian with the purse collection, though? Seriously. Dan Proff, Chicago's morning answer. The stories you need to know to start your day. This is Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. Another great story. Incredible story. An immigrant story too. Much to the chagrin of the identitarian neo-Bolsheviks and their adjut prop. Rishi Sharma, Rishi Sharma's parents came from India. He's 28 years old, gives us hope for young Americans too. And he has spent the last 10 years of his life the time he graduated high school interviewing World War II veterans. The story of Rishi Sharma, CBS. The last 10 years, I've been on the mission to interview every single World War II combat veteran. And I've quite honestly spent every single day of the last 10 years doing that. Amazing. I first met Rishi in 2016. Just out of high school, he was already deeply interested in World War II books, but was just beginning to realize the living history all around him.

They're real superhero World War II vets out there, and I want to meet them. So Rishi started driving around his Southern California neighborhood. Every single day. To record interviews with these vets. He then expanded his outreach. This is a map of all the places that I'm planning to go to. This is a multi-year trip, right? Oh, yeah, I'm going to be on the road for years. It's now been 10 years. This looks really good. Today, he's interviewing 100-year-old Marine veteran Nils Mochler of Yorktown, New York. Nils was a combat intelligence scout. His first battle, one of the bloodiest in marine history, and one of the most inspiring, Iwo Jima. What did it mean to you, seeing the American flag being raised? Well... The hair on my arm still stands up when I think about it, how beautiful it was. Rishi's project is funded by donations. The recordings, posted online and given to the families. I thought I was going to die. So far, Rishi has done 3,000 interviews and counting. I'll never forget landing on Omaha Beach. Although, counting much more slowly now. When I first met Rishi a decade ago, there are about 700,000 World War II veterans still alive. Today, only about 30,000 remain. And Rishi says when they're all gone, probably in the next decade or so, America will lose a lot more than just a bunch of old war stories. Because for so long they've been the moral compass of our society. Just the advice that they impart silently steers the ship of this country. This weekend, we get to celebrate 250 years as a nation. And Rishi reminds us that is not by accident. It is thanks in large part to that generation of sacrifice and moral clarity we call the greatest. Indeed, he's crossed all 50 states and half the world. Additional reporting on Rishi Sharma's 10-year Odyssey to interview all these World War II veterans. It's remarkable. He asks men for a few hours of their memories, and he hands the entire recording to their families for free. And the mindset he has is somebody who, I mean, you just heard how mature he is and appreciation he has for history and its importance, particularly against elements that would erase our country's history. that you saw on display all weekend. He does so, so that 200 years from now, a great, great grandchild will know not just their hero's name, but how he laughed, how he cried, and what he sacrificed. And Rishi has no military family. As I said, his parents immigrated here from India. This is somebody who came to this country, family, right way, and has gratitude. I mean, real gratitude, next level gratitude. Incredible. Great story and great project, Rishi Sharma. If you want to donate, Rishi Sharma, S-H-A-R-M-A, is his name, worthy of it. There's only one radio show in Chicago talking about today's biggest stories and telling you what they really mean. That show is this one. Chicago's Morning Answer, an AM-560, The Answer.

This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Profft here. Big turnout for the homine funeral in Tehran over the weekend. Red flags of revenge, waved, slogans shouting, shouted, including no compromise, no surrender, only revenge. Uh-huh. Our new partners in peace turning over no leaf. The IRGC Cuds Force commander Esmail Connie, Americans should know their place and avoid confronting the Muslims. Trump is trembling. The U.S. should not only fear not only whore moves, but many other locations as well. No match for the for Hezbollah and so forth. The words of the Quds, IRGC Quds Force Commander. And mediator or part of the mediation team facilitating the quote unquote peace talks. Pakistanis? Here's what Pakistani Prime Minister Shabash Sharif had to say about the late Hamanae. Ayatullah Hamani was a great scholar, a great leader, who showed resilience. courage, patience and vision, and served Iran with his utmost dedication and unwavering commitment. Millions of Muslims, not only in Iran, but around the globe, will remember him as a leader, his relations. And thousands of Iranian brothers and sisters were marty out of extreme aggression. Pakistan and Iran are two brotherly countries. Our hearts beat together and we will stand together. We shall march together under all circumstances. Wonderful. It sounds like an honest broker. Huh. Others in attendance at the funeral, including a number of American neo-Bosheviks, including former Elizabeth Warren staffer and somewhat of a cause-seleb in neo-Bolsheviks. She now apparently is in Lebanon working for Islamists. Kala Walsh. He was a leader to all people of the world who struggle against imperialism, against arrogance, against Zionism, against genocide. To me, he was the greatest anti-imperialist leader to have lived during my lifetime.

A social studies teacher and elected official in Orange County, Vermont, who's also a higher up in the American Communist Party, Christopher Halali. Hi everyone, it's Christopher Halali. High bailiff of Orange County, Vermont. July 4th, 2006 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. And it'll be celebrated in the U.S. tonight with fireworks and with great pomp and circumstance. But as an American citizen, and more importantly, as an Iranian American, I'm here in Tehran as part of the funeral and the ceremonies. to commemorate the life and legacy of Imam Ali Khamenei and his family and to give him his final send-off in Mashad at his burial. You might be wondering what an elected U.S. politician is doing in Iran at this point. I'm here for the sole purpose of defending Iran and for showing my solidarity and support for Iran, for the revolution, and for our unity at this time, against imperialism and against Zionism. So this 250th anniversary, I'm not in the U.S. I'm here in Iran, and there's no other place I'd rather be. Well, don't hurry back on our account. Moscow-backed journalist American, Jackson Hinkle, part of the American delegation to the Haman A funeral. I came here as an American to say that I fully reject the crimes of the U.S. Empire and the Zionist entity against the good people of Iran. The United States right now is waging a war against God, and we know that they will never be successful. Azora M.Dani was unavailable. He had to give an anti-American July 4th speech back in New York. And his wife was unavailable because she was on an Islamist retreat in Spain. I'm sure they would apologize to the regime in Tehran for not making it. Send their regards, though. The Pakistanis and the Qataris are partners in peace. It seems like the only Gulf state that didn't send a delegation, or very publicly didn't, was UAE. Mm-hmm. Yeah. How's it going there? For more on this, pleased to be joined by Stephen Bucci, served America for three decades as an Army Special Forces and Top Pentagon Official, now visiting Phil and the Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Stephen, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. It's always a pleasure to be on the show. So listening to those takes, that's not terribly inspiring.

No, you know, these American communists are a bit of a problem, which is why Trump addressed them multiple times, not by name, but by philosophy and activity over the weekend in the July 4th 250 festivities, which I thought was appropriate, actually. But I'm setting aside those. you know, red diaper nitwits. The Pakistani, the Pakistani prime minister, I mean, he's got a very stylized view of Hamanae, and he is part of the, I mean, it's at his sanction that we have Pakistanis trying to broker a peace between Iran and the United States. We being taken for a ride here. Isn't that fairly clear? Well, you know, the Pakistanis have a long and storied histories of playing both sides against the middle. They have done that repeatedly. They're technically one of our friends and allies, but they have a very strong radical element inside their country. I mean, their intelligence service, we knew, was supporting the Taliban at the same time. Their military and their political leadership was helping us during the war on terror against the Taliban. So this is not surprising. They, you know, they're buddies with the Chinese because the two of them hate the Indians. They're buddies with the radical Islamists because they got a bunch of their own.

set up. You need to dig a little deeper. You don't necessarily have to reject it. Maybe it'll be helpful to us. But you can't just go, oh, okay, the Packies agreed to this. We're good with that. They're our friends because they're not just our friends. They're friends with Iranians. They're friends with the al-Qaeda. They're friends with the Taliban. Yeah, they are not an honest broker for anybody but themselves. And the turnout in Tehran for the homane funeral, I mean, I don't know how much of that was at a point of a gun. So it's always hard to take, you know, state propaganda at face value. But, you know, if even some approximation of that is real, it doesn't exactly speak to a country that is ready to revolt and throw off its Islamist leadership. I'm not sure about that, Andy. This is, again, this is just like, you know, people turning out and, you know, outside the Kremlin when one of their leaders died or, you know, when Tim Shoeun's, you know, father and grandfather died, everybody was wailing and just, you know, so broken up and they're all going, these guys suck. You know, we don't want them, but we're stuck with them. That is not. motion on the part of anybody. There might be a small percentage that are sad because they actually have believed the crazy propaganda. They're spoon-fed from birth. But most of them, once they get to be adults, figure out, yeah, this is, we don't have that good a deal here. But they're not going to put themselves at risk in a public way like that by refusing to go and behave according to the script. So I wouldn't write off the Iranian people because. some of them were out there in that square doing the performative art. It's kind of like being a Democrat, you know, politician in America. You may disagree with the communists that are coming into your party, but that seems to be the coming phase, so they're just going to go along with it. It's unfortunate, but that's what you see. There's reporting in multiple outlets that, to no one's surprise, exactly. Iran is planning on imposing tolls in the straight. Just. you know, the timing of it is what is in question. And so, you know, there are, there's the suggestion that, yeah, obviously we, we understand the Trump administration's posture towards this issue as it pertains to the midterms. But after the midterms, there's still likely will be an opportunity to impose our will in the straight. And maybe at that point, the Trump administration would consider taking it. Yeah, I think that's their dreaming on that one. The Trump administration is not ever going to accept the Iranians giving people tolls or forcing them to do their bidding when they go through the streets. That is not going to happen. Now, if our administration changed today, if this wasn't a...

by election coming up was the presidential election, I'd be concerned because I think if the other party got in, they'd say, oh, what's the big deal? The Iranians are reasonable. We can deal with them. Let's, you know, let them happen. I don't think that's going to happen in the next two and a half years. Well, that would require some sort of response and that the administration seems loath to offer much of a military response, at least to this point. Well, And again, it's probably because they're still sorting out, okay, who is saying that? Is it the real people in charge? Is it the people that are one-third in charge? Is it just some crazy public affairs guy making the comment? The Iranians are good at this. I'm not saying this has happened by accident. There's calculation in their public, you know, the various public responses on one hand telling the negotiator, sure, we'll do that. On the other hand, you know, saying completely the opposite, still doing the death to America. And, oh, no, no, we own the straits kind of positioning. But they're doing it all with an eye to see what the Trump administration is going to do. And, you know, trust me, I'm with you. I can't understand why President Trump has had the patience to let this go this far. I think it was.

more radical elements of their structure, they need to go. They're clearly not going to change. So we need to go back to work and take them down. And I'm sorry that sounds bellicose to some people, but you can't trust the Iranians. They habitually lie. There's no restriction from them lying in their theology or... why we think they're not going to do that. I don't know, but it needs to stop and we need to stop. Someday maybe I'd love to hear JD Vance explain why he thought or maybe still thinks that the Iranian leadership was really interested in turning over a new leaf and they recognized the last 47 years of their conduct who has been a big mistake and they're going to re-re posture themselves vis-a-vis America. I mean, what? What could he possibly have been thinking to say something so ridiculous, so indefensible? I mean, it's really embarrassing, frankly, to me. It's kind of an aspirational comment. You know, if you say it, you hope maybe people will say, well, okay, that's what we're going to do. Oh, wait, come on. How polietis is that? I mean, good grief. I'm with you. I don't think that's going to move them. And in fact, when you do that with the Iranians, it just encourages them to do more bad behavior. I don't think it's worth it. And I think J.JD Vance is smart enough to know that. So, you know, unless there's some deeper.

That makes no sense. I have a feeling he's going to have to recast that in a few years the same way he recast referring to Trump as a Nazi when he joined on as the BP. I wanted to get your take on this to our partners in peace there, the Iranians. There's a report that indicates the Iranian Quds Force as part of the IRGC. has established a unit called Muktar that is working with Mexican drug cartels and elements of the Iranian diaspora to plan assassinations against U.S. officials, perhaps even the president. I would say I would have been very surprised if anybody could tell me with certainty that that was not happening up to this point. I think those guys have been doing that for a long time. cartels are a national ally for the Iranian, particularly through the cuts force, that they, you know, they hate us. We're a hindrance to their business. They're very motivated and they're very well armed and equipped and definitely funded. It's a dangerous situation, and it's one we need to be addressing, and I think we are addressing as far as our intel services. There's no Pollyanna on that aspect, in my opinion. We're watching those guys. We're looking for that to happen. I think anybody in the Iranian diaspora that does not have massively good anti-Iranian regime credentials is probably... being watched like a hawk and probably the people that do have the credentials are being watched like hawks it's yeah that is a big danger so yeah i hope it includes that social studies teacher from vermont that's over there right now a mourning the loss of homine the turks here we go again another partner nato partner the turks this will yeah Something that the DC Press Corps and the left will have to quickly scurry by. Turkey blocks American LGBTQ plus crews from docking, citing moral standards. I guess there's not going to be any pride parades in Istanbul this year under Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Real surprise. What about selling F-35s to the Turks? Is that a good idea? You know, in my opinion, no, it's not. That's a bad bet. You know, I mean, if the Turks get them, you know, I don't think that's some secret way to get F-35s to Iran or anything else. They also know we can go in and take out those planes at any time. But the, you know, the Turks under Recep Tayyip Erdogan are, you know, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's a Muslim brotherhood guy. He is not a Western-leaning, you know, at a Turk kind of Turkish leader. a throwback to, you know, he wants to have the Ottoman Empire again. He really believes the Turks are ethnically, intellectually, spiritually, above all the rest of the Muslims, and that, you know, much like the Persians who want to, they think they should be in charge of the Middle East because they were at one time. They, the Turks want to be in charge of the Middle East again.

they were in charge at one time. And Recep Tayyip Erdogan has no problem talking out of both sides of his face. He cannot be trusted. That alone would give me some reticence about passing our most advanced aircraft technology to him. I don't care if it comes with a pile of cash. And Turkey doesn't have the kind of cash. special deals that NATO members get, and I don't think they are earning that and have not the entire time Recep Tayyip Erdogan's been in power. Stephen Bucci served America for three decades as Army Special Forces Officer and top Pentagon official, now a visiting fellow in the Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Stephen, thank you as always. It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me and have a great week. You too and Stephen joined us on the Elf Wealth Group.com. The more you listen, the more you'll know. This is Chicago's morning answer. Morning answer. On AM 560, the answer. Time now for another reason why. Dan Proft is single. Top of the morning, Dan Proff, here I gather in. Big doings this weekend, Taylor and Travis got hitched. And as I said, before the news, nobody likes a celebrity wedding more than me. Our royalty. That's what I'm told. Now, again, I don't take the politics of a Taylor or a Travis seriously. It doesn't bother me that the... carbon footprint of Taylor Swift's Mega Mansion and all that went into the production of the wedding at MSG. is bigger than the average person's carbon footprint. Just for that day. Bigger than the average person's carpet footprint for an entire lifetime. That doesn't bother me. And that she, you know, previously talked about climate change being a real problem. And she encouraged young people to do something about it because she was trying to find her, you know, civic voice. She's a silly girl. It doesn't bother me. I mean, I don't really, her music is not really my thing. But. You know, you just discount this when we talk about something. Just like Travis Kelsey with the Chiefs, you know, I have to discount the fact that he did some schlocky Vax mandate spot for Pfizer. You know, when I think about, you know, how good a tight end he has been in the NFL over his career. You have to separate. I mean, for example, like Alicia Keys over this weekend. who's soulful, bluesy, in some instances, musical stylings I do like. I mean, I see this clip and I just have to guffaw. Did you know that it's been a hundred years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced? And now, still, women don't have an explicit guarantee to equal rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Can you believe that? I couldn't even believe that was real. It's not. That's why you don't believe. I mean, women are not asking for special rights, just equal rights. Yeah. Let's turn outrage into authorship. If it's a 250th celebration of the country, isn't it time to update some things? What rights or guarantees do you feel all women should have in America? It's a good question. I'm not here to speak for you. I just want to pass you the mic. So have your say at people's Bill of Rights 250.org. Not red, not blue. Just you. Yeah. Oh. Sending you big love. And right back at you, Alicia. Yeah. So, I mean, that's, you know, that's a punchline. There's no point in spending a lot of time. on Alicia Keys or Taylor Swift or Travis Kelsey in their politics. More interested in their relationship. And, of course, who was there and who they wore. I guess it was Christian Dior, Hakoutur, for both. The over-under on when Travis Kelsey will be the subject of a Taylor Swift breakup song. 312-642-5600 AlphaWealthgroup.com call and text sign. I mean, I know some of these celebrity... Marriage is last, but it is worth noting this from Buzz Patterson, who's a columnist over at Red State, that Travis apparently signed a 40-page pre-up that includes an infidelity clause that costs him $20 million per violation. Well... And Buzz Patterson's commentary, by the way, I love summer romances. Yeah, it's really something, isn't it? 20 million dollars per violation. Let's see, she's probably worth a billion and a half. You have that and then you take out, you back out 20 per violation. I mean, you know, not that he's hurting for money. He's had a nice career in the NFL, but, you know, her money is next level generational. not bottom floor generational like Travis's. Anyway, I'm sure people were gripped by this and were interested to see who showed up, who all the fancy friends are. Bradley Cooper was there. Apparently, Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Banks, Ethan Hawke, Jason Sadecas, Zoe Kravitz, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba. Sure. I mean, it's the social events of the season. Adam Scott, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Liam Hensworth, Selena Gomez. That's her best friend, apparently. And her brother, what does her brother do? I'm just curious. Her brother, I guess, was her best dude as opposed to having a, what they call it, made of honor, right? Yeah. I got to say, even for people with this much cash, I still find all the pageantry of these weddings, such a colossal waste of everybody's time and money. But I'm not a silly heart like Travis and Taylor and that 40-page pre-nup. Pre-ups? Thoughts on those? We'd probably tackle this before. I'm actually not a pre-up fan.

Because I guess if I, you know, could allow myself to be frauded into this decision, then I deserve to pay a penalty when it goes sideways. That's how I look at it. It's, you know, it's the sort of accountability mechanism that's built in. It's a bad decision making. Glenn in Orlando, your Chicago's money. Yeah, good morning, Dan. I was just thinking about Alicia Keys, and what would be her opinion of men and women's sports? I don't care. Yeah, I don't, I don't care. Just like, again, I don't care that there was high security, you know, I think a lot of NYPD, too. I don't know if she's and he or foot in the bill for that or whatever, but, you know, it didn't. didn't take sort of the open borders posture when it came to attendance at her on her special day. But again, you know, that hypocrisy is their privilege for being our royalty, for being American royalty. I'll tell you something else that's more disturbing than all of that pageantry in a moment. Marty in Naperville. Yeah, I wanted to let you know there. And you mentioned a celebrity that was there. She committed suicide. Reese. Um, what's your name, Reese? Committed to us. Reese. Reese. Yeah, Reese. No, with their knife. Sorry. Oh. Oh. Oh, my God. A little leftover dad humor from the weekend. I hope you use that at your Taylor and Travis watch party. I fell right into that. I didn't know where you're going. Very good. Bill, Northwest Side. Yeah, Dan, everything that Travis Kelsey, all of his fame and fortune and everything he has going for himself, he owes to one person. And that person is Patrick Mahomes. Without Patrick, I don't think too many, we would know too much about him or he would be as famous as he is. Well, sure. I mean, without he, yeah, does Patrick Mahomes make the players around him better? Of course. You know, but Travis Kelsey makes Mahomes better, too. He's got a reliable receiver he's had for the last decade. I mean, that whole thing. Yeah, for sure. Patrick Mahomes is, you know, a premier talent. So, of course, he makes the players around it better. But it doesn't take away from the fact that Kelsey's numbers tell you that he's a Hall of Fame tight end. I mean, that's a thing. Text 815, move on. I'll move on when I'm good, damn, and ready to move on. That's when I'll move on. We're talking about American royalty here. Have a little respect for Travis and Taylor and their special day. But the thing that's a little bit more concerning to me than the pre-nup or the glitz and glam of a celebrity wedding on that level. It's like, I mean, that is, you know, the equivalent of our Charles and Die, isn't it? The situation among trophy wives. There's an analysis that's been done that finds the trophy wife is on the wane. A paper published in 2013 by a group of Dutch social scientists examined the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. The authors that found found that men on the list were on average seven years older than their wives compared with an age gap of just two or three years in the population as a whole.

Those who had remarried on the fourth hornetless had wives more than 22 years their junior. But now, according to the economist, the phenomenon is disappearing. What's happening? The disappearance of the trophy wife is concerning. They looked at several years of census data from the University of Minnesota Population Center. They do good work. We filtered the sample to include only married heterosexual couples in which the husband reported an income. We started the couples into groups according to the husband's income from the poorest to the richest and calculated the average age gap in each group. Methodology sounds sound. In 1980, one in 12 husbands with an income in the top 1% was married to someone at least 10 years younger. compared to one in 17 among the total sample. You got to have cash to carry off the trophy wife. That's the point, right? However, things have changed. By 2024, the richest group, the top 1% did not differ from the average. What is happening to the trophy wife? If anybody has a explanation or thought as to an explanation, please do share. This is very concerning. Although, you know, the trophy wife, as somebody once remarked to be on a golf course, yeah, I got remarried and I married a trophy wife, but it wasn't first place trophy. Bill Joaquin, you're on Chicago's morning answer. Hey, man, what a great comment that was. Yeah, it is a great comment, isn't it? Yeah, you got to make sure you look at the trophy. Don't just take any old trophy. Exactly. Yeah, my trophy wife is still on my mantle. And so, yeah, so, but hey, I give the Travis, I have the, well, the wedding of the, our new king and queen of the United States. I give them at least two years before something explodes. And they're no longer the. The wedded bliss couple that they were meant to be. So you guys are the best, man. Two years? Two years is your over under? Exactly. Two years is my over and under. Man, that's a long time. And boy, Hollywood time. I don't know. I'd be surprised if they make it a year. But, hey, you know, maybe it'll be like a Tom and Rita thing. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson. You know, maybe they'll go to the distance. I don't know. It just doesn't. I don't. I don't know. You know, the trophy husband thing, too, because I know there's this idea, oh, yeah, you know, like Liz Taylor and Lori Fertensky, you know, that doesn't happen. Yeah. In fact, nearly 8% of married men at the bottom of the income scale are at least 10 years older than their wives compared with 5% in the middle. So this idea that lower... earners could be boy toys for the what yeah yeah I don't know I'm not so concerned about trophy husband is that somebody else's problem I'm more concerned about the trophy wife thing Chris in Elmont Park

Yes, after all the hoopla and spectacle and attention they want from this wedding, it will be interesting when the marriage tanks that they ask everybody for their privacy so they can deal with it. Yes, exactly. Please respect us. Yeah, thanks for the Congress. Perfect, right? But make a big public spectacle because everybody's got to look at us. But hey, hey, hey, please respect our privacy for goodness sakes, you know. Oh, the paparazzi. Oh, the fans. They're so put upon. Yeah, right. Text 247, look who officiated. Yeah, Adam Sandler officiated. And I saw some crazy stuff online as you're wanted to see if you spend too much time on social media. Suggesting, you know, Taylor Swift is like a Zionist maga because Adam Sandler officiated the wedding. How serious is a wedding, frankly, if Adam Smith, Adam Smith. Adam Sandler is officiating it. That, to me, alone, smacks of doom. Rick, Downers Grove. Good morning. I know why the trophy wife thing is kind of tapering off because it takes more than, well, these women nowadays, first off, they're obnoxious and narcissistic, and it takes more than just be able to stop your case during a pair of yoga pants and jump around. It's interesting guys. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. Thanks to the call, Rick. Good perspective. In the Catholic Church, a prenuptial agreement is immediate grounds for an annulment because it... demotes the sacrament of marriage to mere human terms. Yes. Well, that's another reason why I'm not keen on prenuptial agreements, not that I have to worry so much about that. But, yeah, good point. Thank you for that.

Travis Kelsey is one IR list away from being single again. Yeah, right. If she can't be in the box watching him play and having the NFL fans' attention fixated on her on Sundays too, then, right? Maybe it's time for her to look for a new and improved tight end. More ways than one, if you know what I'm saying. And I think you do. Ron and Sycamore. Hi, Dan. About 25 years ago, I had a co-worker who was Greek, and she had a big, fat Greek wedding. She spared no expense on anything. Within a year, they were divorced. Yeah, thanks for the call. I mean, I just, I don't, even if it's, if it's great, they're a great couple, they're going to go the distance and everybody's 100% I just spend all that money on it. It's just like, especially if they're younger, like just, you know, take the cash equivalent and buy a house or start a business or do something productive with it. These weddings, these garish weddings are so self-indulgent. But hey, that's just me. And again, I'm not. The romantic type like Taylor and Travis. Dan Proff, Chicago's Morning Answer. This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The answer. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft, an AM 560. The answer.

Top of the morning, Dan Proft here with our friend Jim Perry. I want to start local for a minute because he's a Chicago guy too, even though his outlook is global. And the story out last week that Do It Best is relocating True Values headquarters from Chicago to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Do It Best Group acquired True Value out of Chapter 11 two years ago. and now they're pulling true value out of Chicago and consolidating everything in Fort Wayne, the CEO of Do It Best, just saying, it's a team-based environment, proximity, the ability of people together for a critical decision-making body, it's really necessary in our space to do it that way, and it just works better. You know, well, sensibly, you could consolidate operations in Chicago, but they don't want to do that. You know, and this comes upon announcements of Morton Salt going to Missouri and John Deere completing a 1.2 million square foot manufacturing facility and Crown Point and other companies that have one foot out the door like State Farm down in Bloomington, companies that are going to go, everything I understand, like Weather Tech, which would be a big loss to – Bollingbrook and the jobs that weather tech provides in that area in Will County, Will County area. And it's just going to keep going. And the response, I saw this report about true value being moved to the Do It Best HQ in Fort Wayne. And the response is Senate Republicans are proposing a legacy tax credit to try to move something to the governor's desk that would encourage longstanding companies, you know, like the bears, to stay. I mean, really? Republicans are just so inept. That is such small ball. You think that's the problem? How about this? You should tell company, you should be honest. Try that. Just try, just try for once. You should leave unless we can do big things because we know. All you have to do is have a conversation with some of these CEOs or founders. We know that it's a structural problem. And a temporary tax credit, you know, or even a tax credit that you could extend out on the margins doesn't solve the fundamental structural problems with locating, much less expanding a business in Illinois. So how about going big as opposed to telling people in the Titanic, look, if you don't use one of those lifeboats, you know, we'll give you an extra night in your state room for free. You're sort of missing the point. You're not responding to the exigency of the matter, you know? For goodness sakes.

Pathetic. Think big. Big ideas and go promote them. Put a marker down and go sell it. Provide contrasts, not backroom deals with these. neo-Bolsheviks in charge of this state that are driving business and people away. If this is how it's going to be, what you should say, Republicans, if this is how it's going to be, if this is how you're going to choose, this is the leadership you're going to choose, then leave anybody who can should. That's my honest to good advice for your economic future. If that's the choice we're going to make again and again, the people you see in office now in the city, in the county, in the state, if that's what we're going to stick with, then get the hell out of here for your own good. Don't say we didn't warn you. How about that for a conversation starter? For more on this and other macroeconomic matters, James Perry, founder, CIO, Pary International Capital Partners, joins us. Jim, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. Thank you, Dan. Good morning. Morning. So when you talk to, you know, people in and around Chicago, including CEOs and hedge fund guys and, you know, all the financial services, people that you talk to, either that are here or we're here, have an opinion about here, what do they say? The business owners in the city of Chicago, and I'm talking about guys I know who are working in the executive suite. are actively pursuing alternative headquarters and production facilities outside of the state. And the reason for it is a trend in democratic socialism, which is a nice way of saying communism or Bolshevism, is on the rise. And it's on the rise in the big cities, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, places like this. And it's anathema to free market capitalism. They think state control is a better deal because they have more power. And I think that rightly, any company that is a public company that has the value of its shareholders at the top of the heap have a responsibility to not decrease profit margins, but to increase profit margins. by escaping from a tax regime, which is negative for the company's growth. The New York State tenant block, which was headed by C. Weaver until she joined the Zohran Mamdani administration in January to take the outside agitation inside the city government. If the landlords can't maintain their buildings, tenants will. The mayor's housing plan directs $2.2 billion to take housing off their hands. Relieve them of their housing. Tenets are organized to defend our communities and reclaim our homes. I mean, now you've got, because they're institutionalized, you've got $2 billion that they're going to use to basically seize property from landlords in New York City. And if that doesn't send a chill, not just to...

private property owners, but to the business community, too, I mean, if they're going to come for landlords, you don't think they're going to come for you? If they're going to, if they're going to pillory Ken Griffin or Jamie Dimon, you don't think they're going to come for you on Wall Street? Yeah, they're coming, and it's very trendy, and it's probably, we haven't seen peak insanity yet, wait until November. Right, right. And in terms of like the rise of, you know, neo-Bolshevikism. So when you, when the response from the alleged opposition party, whether it's to New York or Illinois, is something as tepid as we'll try to, you know, move this tax credit on the margins, you've got to be thinking and talking structural. You're up against an enemy that is operating at the structural level. So that's where you have to operate, the structural level. We're going to propose to completely, you know, it's a sort of a common sense counter-revolution to these Bolshevik revolution. revolutionaries. And that means we're going to forget, you know, returning the state income tax to where it was pre-runner. We're going to zero out the state income tax. We're going to reduce the corporate. We're going to do what Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida and propose a ballot initiative. The first $250,000 of your assessed valuation on your home is property tax free. We're going to do big things because that's what's required to send a big message to businesses and residents alike, productive people, that this is a place that you want to be.

It's not happening because the leadership in this city and this state don't want it to happen. It's the simple as that. And meanwhile, I mean, not just what's going, but the opportunities that are being missed, the opportunity costs that, you know, that you don't, you can't measure so you don't know what you're missing. But, I mean, we do know that we're missing a revolution, a positive revolution. I'm talking about technological AI. This is what. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, you know, the world's most profitable, the world's richest company, essentially the highest market cap in the world, $5 trillion company. This is what he had to say about what's happening. Well, let's use one example. I grew up in a generation where we didn't have calculators. I don't remember the last time I did long division. We don't have to do algebra anymore. We don't do surface integrals. We don't do calculus. All of those things are now done by computers. Somehow, everything that I grew up learning is now replaced by computers, and I still find myself insanely busy and working as hard as ever. The purpose of jobs have not fundamentally changed. The purpose of a doctor has not changed. It's to help diagnose disease, bring wellness. The tools they use... to do that job will be different. So I think what you're describing is creative destruction. At the advent of the car, we could not have imagined what the next job would be for the buggy whipmaker. He would have looked at a bleak future. He perhaps found some other job, a new job that we couldn't yet envision. You, if anyone, can envision what the next 5, 10, 15 years looks like. So what skills will be valuable to humans? Well, one of the things that we, in the next 10 or 15 years, we're going to be building a lot of infrastructure. The first thing has happened is because of AI, the number of new chip plants and computer plans and data center plans that are being created around the country has just grown tremendously. electricians, construction, welders, technicians, networking engineers, all of these jobs are now in huge demand. We've created about half a million of them. We're probably going to create a lot more. The shape, the re-industrialization of the United States is going to change the shape of culture. We're going to have a lot more construction workers, a lot more builders and makers, which is fantastic. And there's actually, Jim, just to follow up on Jensen Huang there, there's a new paper out by a couple of, you know, eggheads that work at Econ Labs that finds, they looked at 21,000 businesses to measure workforce data, 21,000 U.S. businesses to measure AI's impact on jobs. And they found that firms that adopt AI heavily grow headcount 10% over two years following adoption. while low adopters see no statistically significant change. You're growing headcount because your business is growing and you're trying to keep up. Now, that may not be forever, but at least in the short term, the idea of, you know, all white collar jobs being eliminated in the next 24 months seems unlikely.

Yeah, I mean, this is a central tenant to the Industrial Revolution, which we're undergoing right now. And it's funny, you know, you talk to economists, and they're all bearish. But then if you talk to the founders, they're as enthusiastic as possible. And the trouble is that the narrative... around this industrial revolution, which we're in the midst of, it's a lot of noise, and it's a lot of fear, and it's not a lot of facts. And I think if you really just look at the facts, you can see that the economy is doing very, very well. The labor situation in the state has never been better, and corporate profitability continues to surprise on the upside. And the broadening stock market is really the best sign that says that, you know, the AI Industrial Revolution isn't just Denson Wang and in his ilk. It's really, you know, industrial companies as well. I think... I was looking at some statistics, so I thought we were going to be speaking last week. But, you know, last week, there was a ton of information that came out that's all kind of under the surface. And the bottom line is that, you know, durable goods orders and job openings and fewer people getting laid off and all this of the stuff, every single number is up. Industrial production was up 10% in the first quarter. You know, I mean, we haven't had an industrial production number like that in decades, I don't think, you know. So the naysayers about what the economies are doing. It's a little bit tiresome, and the trouble is you see it and read it all the time. And our job, you know, as investors and people that explain the investment part of our lives to your listeners is get to the facts, tell the truth, and let the numbers speak for themselves. And if you do that, you'll see that the economy is expanding, employment is growing, home prices, although not equally up all over the country. are still doing very well. And again, I always go back to the same thing because we talk about employment a lot, but, you know, the labor force in this country has never been larger. and has never been more profitable. Their earnings are up higher than they ever been before. And that's with a loss of something like 350,000 government jobs, which, you know, is a really good thing. So I think we're on the right track here, despite all the naysayers. Is there anything that does particularly concern you that you're watching closely because it could be an indicator of choppier waters? Yeah, I always worry about things.

You know, we're skeptics and we always want to be proven to. I think one of the things that I've been spending a lot of time with recently is the whole idea of... tokenization and the ability to run large language model and the amount of capacity available to do that. And there's a great chart. It's called the Silicon Data Token Expenditures Chart, right? And you get used to hearing that. You can hear it a lot more. And it basically indicates how much. enterprises are willing to pay by tokens, right? A token is sort of like one million. operations, what they're willing to pay for compute. And the trouble with that is it's been peaking. It's been peaking since it started, you know, two and a half three years ago, peaked in May, and now compute prices are starting to go down. And people are saying, well, that's the end of the AI revolution. We've got construction and data centers that's clearly peaked, and people aren't going to pay for this anymore. One of these guys, Andrew Feldman is a CEO of a company called Ceribus, which went public in May. And he was saying that, you know, oh, just do the math. There's 47 million programmers out there, and they're all spending $100,000 on tokens. Do the math. That's a GDP that's going to go up 50% a year for 10 years, and our company's going to be in the middle of it, which is very flimsy math. I think the problem is, you know, once prices go up, markets tend to figure out how to get things cheaper. And there may be 47 million programmers out there, but very few of them have a budget that's going to allow them to spend, you know, $100,000 on token. It's going to be more like $1,000 on tokens. So the price of compute is going down. And some people would argue that that's a negative for companies like NVIDIA. But really, if you think about Devin's paradox, pricing of compute really is down about 90% since the beginning of the chat GPC era. But it's up 25% in the last year, and that's, of course, B. So I think you have to really be careful about how efficient. the AI build-out is and how quickly or slowly return on investment can be expected by investors. Make sense? Yeah, but I mean, the idea that we're at peak AI with respect to the infrastructure piece of it, I mean, you know, how many data centers are online as compared to those in pre-planning? Right.

The numbers are a little bit sketchy, and you have to be a little bit tricky with it because sometimes people have small data centers. But I guess if you just kind of broadly think about it for sort of a 20-second conversation, there's something like... 5,000 data centers in the country. And I think the number of data centers that are in the planning stages are three-quarters or three times more than the ones that are actually operational. Right. So the idea that we're at peak construction and data centers comes from, you know, community organizers that scream about having a buzzing factory around the street, around the corner from their house. even though they're three blocks from the interstate and they can hear cars going by all the time. So, again, that whole narrative is a little bit sort of, you know, you just hear these things and you just kind of go, you know, what is wrong with you? But the point is, data setters can't go everywhere, right? And they're not going to go in suburban Chicago, right? That's going to be harder, especially in Cook County. But I read something a long time ago that said the... the actual amount of developed land in the United States. is actually, and that's something with at least a parking lot on it, right? It's 3%, right? So this is a really big country, and there's a lot of places out there that have access to cheap energy and cheap water and land and can be used to build data centers, and it's all going to work out just fine. It's going to take a little bit longer because we've got guys like J.B. Pritzker who says, not in my backyard, you know? Yeah, because I'm running for president. The distribution of your portfolio at present would indicate where you think things are going, particularly in the equity markets? Yeah, that's right, always. I put my portfolio on my weekly report every day, and if you know what I own, you know what I think, right? And I'm heavily weighted into the stock market. We've had something like 23 or 24. And that's at 26th all-time highs so far this year. I expect that will continue to happen in the second half of the year. The Industrial Revolution and GDP in general is clearly being driven by the AI super cycle. And I think we're in the early stages of it, Dan. I think we're in kind of, you know, the second inning or something like that. So I really believe it's going to get a lot better. I think it's going to increase productivity, and I also think it's going to increase jobs. So all the naysayers about instructions of jobs have been proven completely incorrect over the last year. The economists are still saying it's going to be a nightmare. But, you know, you talk to the founders. Oh, and again, here it is. We talked about this last time I was on. You know, this whole idea of these opinions and polls about how things are going.

If you look at the employment report, 30% of Democrats believe that AI is going to be terribly destructive and terribly bad for the economy are good. The numbers of Republicans, sorry, the number of Democrats that look favorably upon this are down to 30%, where Republicans are at sort of 50%, and founders of companies, the guys that are at like 80%. So listen to the guys that are doing things, not the people that are sitting there on a soapbox, talking about things and narrating the way they want some sort of... socialist utopia to be. It doesn't work that way. And, you know, I talk about being a bond investor all the time, but, you know, the bond market doesn't care about narratives. It cares about getting paid back, right? And nobody in government thinks that way. So the bottom line is the AI revolution is here and it's real. The industrial side of the economy is doing well. We're overweight that. The technology sector is driving everything. And you have to have a certain little sort of position in the industrial side of the economy. And then, of course, on the retail sales side, you know, we do have an economy where if you're an owner of a house or a portfolio, you're pretty happy. And if you don't, you're kind of in trouble because you're not keeping up with inflation, which is spiked up because of this mess over the Middle East. But by and large, I think corporate earnings are going to start coming next week. I don't know if you've seen the forecast on it, but, you know, the S&P 500, in terms of earnings, they're supposed to be up over 20% again for the second quarter in a row, which has not happened for a long, long time. And profit margins are running at 15%. So the stock market, is it expensive? You bet. Is it more valuable than it was last year? Yes. Will it be more valuable next year? Of course it will. And the reason for it is the valuations, price, earnings, multiples are actually shrinking. And some people look at that negatively, but I just say earnings are going up faster than prices in about three quarters of the SEP 500. So if earnings drive equity prices, then investors should be confident and comfortable that despite some sort of wild dislocation and momentum changes and that sector flipping around here and there, software goes down, semiconductors go up. That happens all the time, you know. Meta is down now and Apple's up now. Well, you know, year ago it was the opposite way. So nothing moves in a straight line. The bottom line is that the U.S. economy is doing well. I just saw last night that the BIS said that the global economy forecast for growth is over 3% for the year. And it was down to 1% as recently as March 1. So I think...

Don't get too fuss about the narrative that you hear on TV because it's negative. And look at the data and the facts and the truth and recognize that the U.S. economy is growing. It's the most innovative and creative and strongest economy in the world. Money is flowing into this country. The dollar is very firm, especially against its two major crosses, the yen and the euro. And the emerging market currencies are falling too. So money's flowing into the country. Money's flowing into the U.S. stock market. And investors are being rewarded because earnings are rising faster than costs. So I think you know what I'm saying. That's pretty basic. James, James Perry, appreciate the summation. James Perry, founder, CIO, Perry International Capital Partners, very thorough as always. Jim, thank you very much. You bet, Dan. Thanks. Have a good week. You too. And he joined us on the alphawealthgroup.com answer line. The stories you need to know to start your day. This is Chicago's morning answer. On AM 560, the answer. If you're looking for the latest news, insight into what it means, and the sharpest opinion, there's only one station in Chicago where you can turn, and it's this one. We're AM 560. The answer.

Top of the morning, Dan Proft here, and U.S. Attorney to the Northern District, Andrew Boutros, boy, there's a guy who's been needing a win for some time. Been a little bit of a messy tenure, to say the least. But late last week, big announcement about the impact of Operation New Dawn, which was a multi-jurisdictional. 11 federal agencies coordinated by federal prosecutors going after individuals suspected of offenses like murder, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, child exploitation. This began around May 1. I thought crime was down. Why do we need this coordinated Fed response? Anyway, this was the announcement. Hi, Aisha, a new dawn for fighting crime. That is how the U.S. attorney here is describing this new anti-violence federal push, and he says what he's doing is unprecedented. To our knowledge, this has never been done before in the northern district of Illinois. And making the operation badgeless created shared accountability and unified, mission-minded, anti-violence work starting in the spring and continuing into the summer. Officials say within the last 60 days or so, 179 people have been charged in 140 newly filed cases. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros calling this operation, quote, badgeless because it required the work of multiple different agencies, including HSI, FBI, DEA, and ATF. 305 fugitives apprehended 24 abducted children located and reunited with their families. And Boutros offered this additional commentary on the Cook County judicial system. That's the need to need and desire to level these criminals up to the federal system. We've got a problem with the Cook County judges. And more beauty to start reporting on that. Because what you see are people who are violent offenders, repeat violent offenders, that the Cook County judges decide to release on pretrial conditions. Yeah, or they get light sentences like the guy who served time for a CTA hammer attack who was charged over the weekend with another robbery on the red line, one of those murder trains that we feature in Chicago. How's Charles Beach doing? New guy, another new guy, same as the old guy sort of situation. For more on the topic, another law and order related matters. John Garito joins us, former Chicago Police Lieutenant in the 16th District. and president of the Garido Stray Rescue Foundation, garido strayrescue.org, is his animal shelter. John, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. Good morning, Dan. So Operation New Dawn, I mean, this isn't the first time that the feds have come in over the top, either working with the locals or working parallel to them. So do you read anything in particular into Operation New Dawn now that it has been unveiled? Well, I think it just shows that our Illinois justice system has been nothing but a systemic failure. And a lot of people will like to point just to the Safety Act, all the legislature. Now, our legislature here in Illinois for decades has been doing everything but keeping our communities safe, whether it's the concurrent sentencing of violent criminals.

or only allowing them to serve, you know, giving them good credit, so good time credit. So they have to serve 50% of their time or any of that stuff in, like, the Safety Act. But then you've got judges that either are completely incompetent. They have no business being on the bench or that just are so, so weak-minded that they just feel like these offenders, oh, they deserve a not just a second chance, but a 15th chance, a 20th chance. And then we used to have Kim Fox, which was the triple threat of then the state's office that was really more of a defense office or a defendant's office. They did nothing. And she set the bar solo that all you do is show up to work now and do a great job. Now, Eileen Burke, I'm glad she's there and she's doing a good job, but she definitely needs to do more. Yeah, I mean, you know, it doesn't seem like there has been a paradigm shift. I mean, maybe it's, there's been improvements on the margins, but it really depends on which class X category of crime you're looking at. I mean, it seems to me like with Beach and the problems with electronic monitoring, with the decisions being made by judges, both, you know, across the board, as you just described, not limited to, but including the Safety Act. I mean. And by the way, Eileen Burke made a pronouncement that she supports the Safety Act. So that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence that there's a paradigm shift happening here, which is apparently what's required, seems to me. Right. Like I said, I mean, she needs to do it definitely a lot more. She's definitely done some good stuff while she's there, but she definitely needs to do it more. But I think it still circles back to the judges. We do have laws on the books that allow them to even sidestep the Safety Act to a certain extent. Yet they refuse to, or they'll just. default to, oh, because the Safety Act, they have to do this when they're actually interpreting the law wrong. They can still, in detention hearings, they can still detain people. They can still, for sentencing, they don't have to give concurrent sentences. They can give consecutive sentences. They actually keep people in jail longer. There's also, the legislature can go in and change, well, they're not going to change anything, but they should change so we have more crimes that we have to serve 85 to 100 percent truth in sentencing. But they just refuse to do it. But going back to the judges, these judges need to step up. We had the Thomas Martel case. This guy was microwaving eight-week-old kittens. And Judge Zucker-Durmer offered him a four-and-a-half-year sentence. Judge Cantor honored that four-and-a-half-year sentence. And because he was on electronic monitoring for three years, he literally walked in and out of jail in one day. So now this, you know, this monster is out on the street because, again, our system let them walk away with only pleading out to one kitten and only having to serve four and a half years. You got two sentences, but they're served concurrently, so he's done. And we should mention that John Garito is also an attorney, so he's familiar with... The law, in addition to his familiarization through being a police officer. The impact of Chief Snelling's announcement that he's retiring effective July 15th, how did you react to that news when it came over the transom last week?

a tough job. You're essentially, you've got your, the mayor's thumb on you at all times. And depending on who the mayor is, you can determine how tough that job is. And I can only imagine working under Brandon Johnson, it has to be almost impossible. So there's no doubt that there are some people that will, there are a lot of officers out there that, you know, say that, you know, smelling improved morale and whatnot. But you can only do so much of the superintendent based on who the mayor is. So, will it, more importantly is who's next? You know, who's Johnson going to put in next? Yeah, which social worker? Yeah, exactly. So going forward, that's really the big question. I mean, I wish smelling well, but the big question is who's up next? And cops shot over the weekend and then the mass shooting on the west side. When cops were unseen, it didn't seem to dissuade anybody. But the initial thing, the cops shot, like some guys in a makeshift go cart and menacing the neighborhood, cops try to pull them over and it turns into a firefight. I mean, that's just sort of like sign of the time. I mean, thankfully the two officers are okay, but that's just sign of the times. I mean, even something as absurd as that turns into a firefight.

throughout over and over and over is the lack of accountability. And it's getting to the point now where a new generation has never experienced accountability. And so now they have no problem raising a weapon up on officers or they have no problem when they have these teen takeovers. You could put 10,000 police officers down there. And unless they're actually going to be locking anybody up or dragging them in for curfew, they're not going to, they don't care. They're going to still be jumping up on top of buses and twerking in the street and breaking things and doing whatever they want to do because they know there's no accountability, nothing's going to happen to them. Yeah, I mean, we saw some of that over the weekend in other cities too, the same sort of general level of disrespect and lack of fear of police. North Charleston, I don't know if you saw that team take over. It was a melee where you had a bunch of young people like attacking police officers, punching, kicking. This was like three, four officers, female officer got, you know, got whacked around pretty good. In New York, there were pictures of, again, young people, teen takeover type situation, spraying and throwing water on police and stuff like that. Obviously, that was not as violent. But the North Charleston thing is like, I can't, I just, it's one of those things where people of a certain age, you can't even. You can't even contemplate that you and your friends would attempt something like that with police back when we were growing up. Yeah, well, that's the TikTok effect, right? They are just, they see what's happening in other cities. So they're all learning that, hey, let's push the envelope. Let's see what we can do. Let's see what we can get away with. And they're all trying to top each other to see how defiant they can be with the police. And sadly, in many of these cities. These mayors will not allow their police departments to take action and to do something about it. Or here, you know, they won't even hold parents accountable. They're aldermen. They voted down an ordinance to actually hold parents accountable for, you know, allowing these teams out there. They just, these politicians just don't have the stomach to do anything. Do you see any politician that has entered the mayor's race for next year or is threatening to that? you know, fits that bill or is offering some of the, some of the right statements, I guess. The bar so low. Yes, I do, but before I even get to that, the problem that we have here is too many people jumping in the race. They're going to split the vote. I mean, you can go down the list between Quigley, Lexi Junulius, Pappas, Mendoza. I mean, you've got so many people that in it. I'm afraid that they're going to split the vote. They're going to end up pushing into another runoff. I don't think Johnson's going to make the runoff. And then we could actually, possibly, if you can believe it, get somebody worse than Johnson.

Every time in a runoff, people stay home and they don't vote. Last time a million people did not vote in the runoff. But other crew that's out there like now, I do like Susanna Mendoza. She comes from a police family. I worked with her brother. She definitely, I believe, I believe that she definitely would step up and do the job. John Garito, former Chicago Police Lieutenant, 16th District, president of the Garido Stray Rescue Foundation as well. If you. are in need or desire for a furry friend. Garridostrayrescue.orgor. Garito strayrescue.org. John, thanks as always. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you. And John, join us on theelfwealthgroup.com, Anseline. This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's Morning Answer on AM 560, The Answer. Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature, a division of Esquire Bank. Signature takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether your business is looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature has the solutions for you. Call today at 773-467, 5600 to hear how signature can help your business grow and thrive. Esquire Bank, member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.