Trump Hits Iran Hard, Worst Political Ad, Plus USMNT Has to Share its Winnings?! | 7-9-26

So as of right now, the numbers that we're getting here, U.S. military has struck roughly 90 targets in Iran. as the ceasefire is officially over between the United States and Iran. 604, good morning. It is great to be here starting off a Thursday morning with you on KCMO Talk Radio 957 FM in Kansas City, 102.9 FM in Topeka. Now week four with our Topeka simulcast. So U.S. officials said the strikes were aimed at Iranian military sites tied the missile drone and maritime threats. after attacks on commercial vessels in these trade of Hormuz. This is the right move by the president of the United States. It is. You could not have these terrorist thugs. I know, you know, yesterday he was calling them scum. Do you know what scum is? What else was he calling them liars and losers and low lives? But what they really are is even worse than that. They're terrorists.

Terrorists happen to be all those things. They're losers, their scum, their low lives, they're liars. Micro. Yeah, that's right. I forgot about that yesterday at the end of the show. What did he say that they're little micro guys or something like that? There was some reference there that we'll have to pull the audio from again. Yeah, it was good. It was hilarious. But anyway, they're terrorists. If you want to pick one word to describe these guys, they are terrorists. And we now sit here on July the 9th on a Wednesday morning, excuse me. And let's be honest, there's really no end in sight to any of this. There isn't. I mean, you can't tell me with any kind of confidence that you think this is going to be over by, fill in the blank date. You can't. I mean, 90 strikes last night. And you had to do it after the Iranians went out there and struck three ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. And the ships had to be evacuated, completely innocent ships. Now, Iran is like, well, they were going through a different part of the strait that we didn't fully approve. It's like, it's an open international waterway. fellas, that's not how this works. Okay? If we're in a ceasefire and we're working under a memorandum of understanding, then you know what? You got to just play ball here. And they chose not to do it. Now, here's what's interesting. The gas prices, or I should say the oil prices have not skyrocketed. We're looking at crude oil sitting at about 74 bucks a barrel up all of 50 cents this morning as we get the day started. So there's not been a massive spike as relates to oil prices thus far in the wake of what's happened here over the last 24 hours. But I still think that there's one blind spot for the precedent in all this. And I don't know if he's saying this because he's trying to stick to his own script. were if he actually believes it. But here's part of what he had to say late last night. The president got back to D.C. at about two in the morning on Air Force One after being in Turkey for the NATO summit. And here's part of what he had to say. We just hit him very hard. And I say we hit up 20 to 1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit him 20. And we did it last night. They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two. And when they hit, we hit back much harder. Are we returning to full-scale military conflicts, sir? I don't know. But win it very quickly. It's another way of doing. We have many ways we can win. But we've already won militarily. They have very little. They're very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. These guys, they don't want to make a deal. They don't want to make a deal. Okay, I've been hearing for three. Oh, they're dying to make a deal. Oh, they're just, oh, boy, they want them to deal so badly.

They would just love to make a deal. Now, the only guy that I can tell here that wants to make a deal is Donald Trump. Do you get the sense that anybody else involved here wants to make a deal? Can you point to any evidence that Iran wants a deal? I mean, I suppose they would take a deal on their terms. Anybody would. So I guess by that standard, they want to make a deal. But do they have any interest in a deal that is fair to the United States? I see nothing that suggests that. So I think that it's kind of Trump doing his Trump thing where he's sticking to the script of, oh, boy, these guys, I'll tell you what, they're going back to, you know, The 1600s, they are stuck in the Stone Ages. That was his line early in this conflict. And they just, they want to deal so bad. They seem to kind of like the Ropa Dope game they're playing right now. As far as I can tell, I think they like where this is all at. Yeah, I mean, they're getting their drones hit and some of their military bases, whatever is left to them. But they feel like they control the Strait of Hormuz. And they feel like they have the strings to pull to either end the war or continue it basically in perpetuity. That's what it feels like to me right now. So I'm glad the president went out there and did what he did last night. He really had no choice. Had he not gone out there and... sent some message to the Iranians, I mean, it would have made us as the United States of America look completely feckless, where we're under this ceasefire, we're under this memorandum of understanding, and these guys are out there, you know, bombing boats just because they don't like, we're exactly in the strait the boat may be located. And that's the long and short of what happened yesterday. So he had to respond. He got, you know, according to Fox here, 90 targets were hit last night by the U.S. military as Trump was coming back from Turkey to Washington, D.C. And he had no other choice. He had to do it. Now, what does this mean going forward? I don't know how any Republican in Congress, who two weeks ago was like, the memorandum of understanding is, you know, the greatest document in modern American military history and now be like, yep, it's all good. Everything's the same. It's like, no, that thing was never worth the paper it was written on. It never was. And now these guys that tried to sell this thing, I mean, they got a problem on their hands too, credibility-wise. So I don't know what they're going to do. I don't know what that play is going to be. But here's what I think is going to happen for the Republicans over the next few months. They are just going to go out there and they are going to basically call their political opponents communists. That's going to be their play.

because they can't really talk about, you know, whatever's going on with this war unless something magically does happen over these next few weeks before we get to the fall, which would be surprising to me. I think we're going to be in this kind of awkward phase of nothing happens, then something happens, then there's a bunch of bombings back and forth for 24 to 48 hours, then nothing happens for a couple of months or at least a couple of weeks. That's where I think we're at here for the next few months. So really it's going to be, if you're the GOP, hey, maybe you don't love the job that we're doing, but we're the tallest midget in the room. That's going to be the play. You don't have to love us, but you can't elect those guys. You can't elect the people that are self, that literally are calling themselves socialists. You can't, you can't do it. That's what they're going to say. That's going to be the case that they will end up making. It might work. You know, I want it to work. I'm not going to lie. I want it to work. I prefer that. I don't know if it's going to work. I just don't know if it's going to be enough. We'll have to wait and see. If there is anything else that gets going this morning, the president, I guess he's got things planned for 8 o'clock this morning. I have no idea what time of day it is in Turkey right now and where his body clock is at. But it's not clear to me. Trump really cares about what time it is wherever he is. He seems to just like adjust to wherever he is without having to adjust his body clock. I don't know how he does it. I mean, I go from here to the West Coast. I go from here to the East Coast, and I'm knocked out for a couple days. I got to like readjust my body clock a little bit. I don't know how he does it. But anyway, he's got stuff planned for 8 o'clock Eastern time this morning, so we'll know next hour what exactly, you know, he's up to as he gets his Thursday morning started in the wake of the bombings that took place last night against Iran. The breaking news, once again, 90 strikes by the U.S. against Iran after Iran reopened fire on the Strait of Hormuz a couple of days ago. 913-4087-957. is the text line and the studio line here on KCMO Talk Radio. Coming up, it might be the worst political ad I've ever, well, not ever seen. We've seen some bad ones, but definitely the worst I've seen here recently. And it's knocking one of my favorite food items in the ad. I will play it for you next on KCMO. You guys like fortune cookies in there? Are you a fan of fortune cookies, John? Sure. Okay. Mark, you a fortune cookie guy? Oh, yeah. Okay. I was going to say, who doesn't like a good fortune cookie? Well, the minute you go after fortune cookies and your political ads, I'm out. Okay? Now, why would a politician go after a fortune cookie? Where do you get your fortune cookies? Your Chinese food.

So what are we going back to post-World War II? Really going after the Japs here? What are we doing? I wanted to use the Google machine to see if they, in fact, came from China, which, of course, they don't. No, no. I saw it last night, and I was like, I wanted to double check, too. I'm like, I'm pretty sure these actually don't have any Chinese roots. I think it's just kind of like a made-up American invention. The largest manufacturer wanton food is in Queens. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It's like this is, this is everything you'd expect out of like, you know, some cartoon character in Tennessee being like, oh, the China guys won't take my land. I'm going to crumple up some fortune cookies here on my ad. And then bang at the end. Oh, that's right. Yeah, there's the big, big, you know, gong bang at the end. Oh my gosh. What's going to be next? They're going to put like Moulon in one of the ads and be like, Moulon's not buying our farmland here in China. Or in a Tennessee. You go buy your own land. What, what? Oh my gosh, it was so painful and so awkward and so cringe. Boy, that's a tough one to swallow. It really is. I could think of about 20 other graphics you could have done to convey the same message, right? Yes. Yeah, I mean, could I get a picture of President Xi Jinping? I mean, that's a scary son of a gun right there. Oh, just a classic outline of the China borders. Yes. Right? With a big X. Yeah, exactly. I mean, you could AI this stuff in five seconds and get better ideas than, you know, the Southern white lady crumpling up. Chinese fortune cookies as if to send a message to China. Oh, boy, that's so. You must have. But hey, we're getting to that silly time of the year. We really are. You know what a good ad is, though? How about this from Philip Sarnicky? He's running for governor here in Kansas. He's got a new ad that he's rolling out. And I saw it on social media. I've seen it on TV. It should be on radio. I mean, you know, I know these politicians love to see themselves on the television screen. But it's like, guys, you got a much better ROI on this, putting it on talk radio. where you know people are going to vote, then just pissing into the wind by putting this on random TV stations. But anyway, I digress. Here's the new ad for Philip Sarnicky, who wants to be the next governor of Kansas. I'm Philip Sarnicky, a businessman running for governor against a pack of career politicians. With these guys in charge, the Kansas economy is crumbling. Education is declining. and wages are decreasing. But not everything's going down. Property taxes are way up, and we have more abortions than ever. But these career politicians take no responsibility for anything. They have excuses for everything. It is time to clean house. If you're trying to stand out, that is a great ad from Philip Sarnicky. A great ad.

It's not an endorsement. Okay, relax. I'm just sitting here and saying that that ad, when you're trying to separate yourself in like a 10-person gubernatorial primary and you're the guy who's the outsider and you're sitting there and you're saying, hey, these people have been here forever and most things have, or a lot of things have gotten worse and gone down. And oh, by the way, the things that have gone up. Or what? Oh, your property taxes. And these people have been in charge forever? That's, that's pretty good. Okay? That is pretty good from Philip Sarnicky. And that's an ad that I think is going to resonate with Republican primary voters in the state of Kansas. There's a lot there when they show photos of Scott Schwab and Vicki Schmidt and Ty Masterson, who are all running. And listen, I like all these people. It's just an effective ad. It separates him from the pack. And that's why I think we've got a two-horse race right now in Kansas with Ty Masterson and Philip Sarnicky. All right. Mike in Kansas City, go ahead. Yeah, I have a picture of Chikom Spy Fang Fang. And the caption is, we're not going to let the Chikoms do to us what a Chinese spy Fang Fang did to Eric Swalwell. Yeah, that's right. Eric Swalwell, who was sleeping with a Chinese spy back in his days on Capitol Hill, right? That's well done there, Mike. Yeah, a little bit of, I was. Thinking of a different word, but I know if I could say it on the radio. Yeah, let's not do that. Let's not do that. Also refers to fastener. Yeah, yep, yep. They were having a good time. Thanks, Mike. Have a good day. Woo, boy. 913-4087-957. Coming up next. How much money does Team USA have to share after the World Cup next? The get-in price right now for Argentina and Switzerland here at Arrowhead on Saturday night is $2,300. Unbelievable. And Argentina is a big favorite in that quarterfinal coming up on Saturday night, 8 o'clock on Fox. Now, with Team USA obviously done after their loss to Belgium, this came out, and I thought it was so absurd and so bizarre. that the U.S. men's national team will have to share its earnings with the women's soccer team. What? Why?

That's all a couple of years old of Megan Rapino and all this stuff about equal pay. And I didn't realize they'd actually redone the contracts or the, what would that be a player's agreement or something like that? Yes, collective bargaining agreement. There we go. In 2019, members of the women's team sued U.S. soccer. Yeah, that was Megan Rapino. Accusing the Federation of Gender Discrimination. A settlement followed back in 2022, along with new collective bargaining agreements for both teams. The key piece was the decision to pool and split World Cup prize money, a structured designed to address the gap between FIFA's payouts for the men's and women's tournaments. So now, you know, the men get to the round of 16. The women have obviously won World Cups here in the United States multiple times. The men have not. But, you know, they get more money. And the reason they get more money is not because of what's hanging between their legs. That's not why they get more money. They get more money because of advertising dollars that can be generated in the Men's World Cup versus the Women's World Cup. That's it. That's the game. That's all that matters here in any of this. It's why the NFL obviously makes a tremendous amount of money. You know, you get these AFC NFC championships that are pulling in 50 million viewers. And it's why the WMBA, which is starting to make more money because of Caitlin Clark, doesn't make the money of the NBA. It's just simple basic economics. Yeah, it's similar to the NBA-W NBA thing. I believe the men play quite more frequently and earn money more frequently altogether on top of it. So the men are earning $16 million from FIFA for reaching the round of 16 after they lost to Belgium 4 to 1. But that money is going to be shared with the women's national team. Now, U.S. soccer keeps 20% of that prize money. The remaining 80% is split evenly between the men and the women player pools, meaning each team is set to receive $6.4 million. based on the 26-player roster that comes out to roughly $246,000 per player. Now, the women's share will not be paid immediately. Why is that? The final roster has not been selected for the 2027 Women's World Cup, which is taking place in Brazil. That's once again next summer. Until then, the money owed to the women will sit in an interest-bearing account with that interest also split. between both player pools. So that's how this is going to work. That is so bogus. Somebody who's not even on the team will get a cut. That's insane. And that's not about being anti-women sports. I mean, that is, listen. There's a time when socialism works in sports like the salary cap in the NFL is technically socialist, but I like it because it creates an even playing field. Socialism in sports is the only time I really like the idea of socialism because we want to create a competitive environment where a rising tide lifts all boats. But this, you're just giving people money who literally did nothing, had zero impact on what the men's team just did, none whatsoever.

And now you have to figure out why you need to share the money. That's absurd. If I'm understanding this correctly, if the women win, or no matter what the women do next year, they still have to split with the men, right? Correct. So they'll give money back, kind of. Yes. Now, I'm glad you brought that up there, Mark, because here's the financials behind that. The U.S. Women's National Team earned $1.87 million. for reaching the round of 16 in 2023. The men earned $16 million for reaching the round of 23. So the men earned 8x, the women. Once again, that's not because FIFA's sexist. It's got nothing to do with that. It's simply because... There's more advertising revenue tied up with the men than the Women's World Cup globally. Now, here in the United States, you know, you can make the case. I mean, the numbers the other night were amazing. 40 million people tuned in. But the women's national team is arguably more popular with some bigger stars here in the States because they're just better. It will be interesting when that... reaches more equitable to see if, oh, maybe we better change that back. How about you keep yours and we'll keep ours? Just to your point. That's never going to happen. It certainly draws quite a bit of viewers here in the U.S. when they're involved. Exactly. But globally, the men's tournament obviously just as much more popular. That's why the payouts are bigger. But I couldn't believe, I knew that there was some like collective bargaining where the women got some money. I didn't realize the players on the roster. for next year's World Cup are literally going to get handed a $246,000 check for doing absolutely nothing other than doing the same thing that I was doing and you were doing, which is just watching the games on TV. I think a few of our Casey current players will get some of that money. I think we have three or four that might make the team. Oh, really? So it's something they keep an eye on. Okay. Well, you know what? Well, you know what? Well, you know what? Now we know while they'll be driving Bentley's to the games here coming up next season. When they clear their quarter million dollar check for doing absolutely nothing. That is absurd to me. But you know what? Megan Rapino got her way. I love how it's like... Girl power, but give me your check. These two things don't really jive together, okay? They don't. And I'm the father of three daughters here. Okay? And I still think that that is totally absurd. Now, what's also absurd is what's going on here in Kansas City as it relates to hookups with visitors. Now, this doesn't apply to this show, okay? Because we're all happily taken and happily married. But Kansas City, a new survey finds that Kansas City leads every other World Cup host city in the United States when it comes to dating our guests. Nearly six and ten Kansas City singles say they've already dated or hooked up with a World Cup visitor. And apparently Kansas City singles have a preference for... Did you guys see the story?

I just saw the headline. Oh, okay. Which country do you think Kansas citizens prefer when it comes to their significant others? Not just women, but also, I guess, men. Cuts both ways. The Dutch? No. No. No, sorry. I was going to have to go to the Argentinians. Yeah. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They've been here the longest. Argentinians it is. Kansas citizens love their Argentinians. It found that 86% of Kansas City singles say their dating or hookup activity has increased since the tournament began in June. That's the highest level of extracurricular activity seen and heard of in any of the U.S. host cities. This according to datingadvice.com that released the survey. The Dutch March was more family friendly, I guess. Well, that's what you saw, Mark. Yeah, as far as I saw, midday. You saw the midday family friendly side of the Dutch March. Dutch March took on a whole new meeting at 2 o'clock in the morning. There never was a camera inside the bus. So in Dallas, dating activities only up 70%. In Miami, it's only up 69%. All right. But here in Kansas City, it's up 86%. The website pulled 1,000 single adults in 11 U.S. host cities ages 18 to 79. 79. Who's in the house? Stuart Rosdale, where are you, buddy? Looks like they excluded Congress. Yeah, yeah. Public health officials in Kansas City and other host cities made plans to monitor a long list of health concerns during World Cup events. STIs among them because of the activity that is known to rise at big events like this. Now we know why Toronto is handing them out at their fan fest. Yes, they were handing out what Jimmy Hatch there over in Toronto for the big event this summer. So here's what else Kansas City singles shared about their World Cup adventures. 74% say the World Cup has made Kansas City a more fun place to be single. Well, no kidding. 78% have matched with someone on a dating app during the tournament. 38% say learning about another culture is a big attraction. Yeah, I'm sure it is. I'll open up that Rosetta Stone baby. I just need to know a few words. Teach me a few words and we'll be off to the races. Unbelievable. Oh, well, good for you, Kansas City. I couldn't be happier. But you know what? If the singles in Kansas City are having a good time, hey, I guess everybody wins, right? No one in this show knows anything about anything going on here. as it relates to this single scene in Kansas City right now. But it all ends on Saturday after the final game. So then it's back to normal. Fourth of July, I was at the zoo and I saw a lot of Colombians there with families and stuff like that. Oh, good. Very cool. Very nice. Again, more family friendly with the Colombians than singles. Well, maybe it's too, like who's coming here from these different countries and who's got more single people coming here. Yeah. You know? The Argentinians might have a more robust single crowd than say the Colombians that are more family friendly. I don't know.

I saw this story here from Costco as they are ending sales discontinuing two of their Kirkland signature craft beers, including an award-winning brew that fans have called one of the best loggers on the market. They're discontinuing their highly prized Kirkland signature Helles Lager. and a Kirkland signature vintage ale, according to Kraft Business Daily. This news breaking yesterday, the beers were co-branded with Oregon-based craft brewery. And the company announced the decision here in the last couple of days telling distributors that they are done on this deal with Costco. Production slated to scale back as soon as this month, the beers expected to disappear from most warehouse locations by September or October. Here's the good thing in Kansas City. The Casey Beerco, Helles, is my favorite Hellest that I've ever had. I think a tremendous Hellas beer at Casey Beer Co. Whenever we've gone, John, that's what I've always gotten over there at Casey Beer Company. So I think that you're going to have some options. I know that you've got, you like, what, the Dunkel over there? Pilsner is my favorite. Oh, Pilzner. I go, yeah, I like half a Vison. Oh, that's right. That one's excellent as well. It was one in the spring. slip in my mind here and know it's kind of seasonal and it's a good one. Yes. Well, I mean, they got, I saw they're opening up their operation there in Lenox. I drove by that the other day. And I think it's like Pury Star Parkway and Ridgeview somewhere around there. So they've got their second location here coming pretty soon. There we go. There you go. Mybach. Very nice. Well, that's happening. And meantime, at the Midtown Costco here in Kansas City, that's been a, that's been a sore subject for folks in Midtown, Kansas City. So the company is going to turn that location from a traditional Costco warehouse into a business center. And what's going to happen is that it's going to close temporarily this fall and plan to reopen in the spring. Now, what that means is the pharmacy, the optical center, the food court, and liquor sales are all going away. if the Costco warehouse becomes a business center at the Midtown location in Kansas City. They will go from 250 employees to just 90 employees. However, they do need the Kansas City, Missouri City Council to sign off on these changes. So they're going to need City Council to basically say, yes, you guys can do this. There's some rezoning issues at play. There's no way the city council is not going to go along with this. There's no way. They're going to go along with this. They're going to let Costco do it at once. And frankly, they should. They should. I know there's been a lot of consternation from people in that part of town saying, hey, this is where I go for my pharmacy. This is where I go for, you know, my eye center, the optical center that they've got there. I get that.

but Costco's made a business decision. And as someone said the other night, they had this big town hall the other night. And one of the guys, and I'll actually play the clip here from Fox 4, one of the managers was like, listen, we either do this and turn this into a business center, they're still going to have produce, they're still going to have, you know, food and whatnot. They just won't sell booze. They won't have the pharmacy. They won't have the optical center and they won't have the food court. which means that $1 hot dog, which I've never eaten. But I think if my dad lived by a Costco that got rid of the hot dog, he'd burn the place down. He'd be so pissed. But, you know, they're not going to have that. But they're still going to have everything else that you'd want at a Costco. So, you know what? I don't think this is necessarily as big of a deal as some people are making it out to be. I kind of look at the counter side. I'm like, what happened with Costco? Why did you get into bed with somebody here where you have to run your plans by them? Well. You mean city council? Yes. I'm like, when I saw the story, I thought, what do they have to do with it? I think it's just exercise your business model and do what you do and they should be happy. You're not leaving. Well, that's a good point. Yeah, Kansas City should be happy. That's why they're going to approve it. It's something to do with the rezoning. That's my understanding. Yeah. So I'm right with that. But to your point, I agree. That's what I'm saying. You want some of these increment financing and things so you get into bed with the deal. Now they kind of run you. Exactly right. Let's go to Mitch. He's in Kansas City on KCMO Talk Radio. Mitch just had his first kid. Congratulations, Mitch. You open up that Trump account yet, big guy? Pete, we haven't had the kid yet due in August. So coming up here in a few weeks, first kiddos on the way. But anyways, just wanted your opinion on something. I thought all the conversation around that was interesting. I'm a three-time Trump voter, support him and the large majority of things that he does. But how do we think that these Trump accounts are not just another form of socialism and giveouts in a time when we should be cutting back on those types of things? You're talking about like the thousand bucks? Yeah. You know, I've heard that. Some people saying, oh, now you embrace socialism because you're a fan of the Trump account. Here's, I view it as a very cheap way to try to teach people financial literacy. And considering we spend tens of thousands of dollars per year per student for public education in this country, spending $1,000 one time per kid to hopefully have their parents open up this account and teach them the value of compound interest. To me, that's one of the best ROIs we could possibly try to achieve in this country. True. I suppose time will tell. We'll see. But that answers, you kind of beat me to it. My next question was going to be, if it's so great, why don't we give $5,000 or $10,000 per person? You know, where's the cutoff? Yeah, no, listen, I get that. I get that. In a perfect world, and I don't think we live in one, Mitch. And by the way, when's the kid do? August 28th. Oh, my birthday's the 24th. I hope he or she, do you know yet?

we're not finding out. Oh, man. That's a bold strategy, cotton. I like it. All right, Mitch. Yep, we're sticking to our guns. You got this far. Way to go. Hey, have a great day. Thanks, Pete. I understand that. You know what? I think this is a... relatively cheap way to go about doing it. We are always here for you at 9-13-408-7-95-7. I'll get to this clip here from yesterday coming up. We'll get to you. Allie is on K-CMO Talk Radio. Good morning, Allie. What's going on? Good morning. How are you doing this morning? I am doing well. How are you? I'm getting a little hot under the collar about the comment that you made about those of us in retirement age that are sucking on the teeth of the government funds. And, you know... We actually paid into that fund and it was actually Congress that stole the money out of its use for other appropriations. So, you know, I really don't think that that's a fair assessment of those of us that have paid in, expected our money to be blocked off and to be invested so that it was actually our money and, of course, what our employees put in as well. that would not drain the federal government, but was supposed to be, as Al Gore said, put in a lockbox. So, yeah, just don't really appreciate. Do you think it's a well-thought-out system in general? I think that if it had been... I think that if it had been... regulated and run the way it was supposed to have been, you know, even if we had, in the original setup, had actually set it up like... an investment individually for each person. I think it would have been great because... Well, yeah. So you're basically saying if Social Security wasn't Social Security, it'd be really good, which I agree. If it was a privatized system where you had your own account, it would be much better than this current system, which hasn't really... which operates on a deficit and has for the last several years because we don't have... the worker bodies right now to pay into the system to really pay off the people or pay the people that are right now, you know, on social security. It's not a knock on you. You did nothing wrong. I just don't, the system is, is a failure of a system. However, I think that if Congress...

and kept their fingers off of the money that had been paid into by the workers. I don't know that the system was wrong. I think that Congress saw shiny paper in the money that was in our accounts and said, hey, this is our money. And so from the very beginning, they have not kept that money separate like it was supposed to be kept. I don't think it was a bad system. I think that, you know, even at like the lowest interest rate that it would have been paid, that it would have been an actual viable system. But Congress couldn't keep their money off of money that really didn't belong to them. Here's what I would say, Allie, and I do appreciate the call. Whenever I critique Social Security, it's in no way a criticism of anyone who's taking it. You should, obviously, you take it. But it's more a criticism of the way the government set this thing up to obviously try to, air quote, take care of people. In the end, you know, you have a system that is not solvent. is not a net positive for people. And, you know, it's a little inaccurate to say that Social Security has, you know, been robbed by Congress because the public data shows that every dollar of Social Security's surplus is fully accounted for. The problem is there hasn't been a surplus in forever. So there's a lot of problems with the system, and it's why I don't like it. And no one who takes it is at fault for that. It's just the government, as always. that's at fault for it. So that's always been my beef on the deal. Roger Marshall, let me get to this here. He said this yesterday on the show about Pastor Adam Hamilton, who he's most likely to face in the upcoming U.S. Senate race. I was shocked when Roger Marshall said this. Well, it's not surprising. You recall the last election, Chuck Schumer contributed about $30 million. We were out spent $3 to $1, $4 to $1, and still won by double digits as well. You know, I think we're kind of actually rooting for Adam Hamilton to win that primary. is going to be a horrible general candidate for them. I think he's going to have a really hard time playing his... his wokeism across the rest of the state. Anything outside of Johnson County and outside of Lawrence, I just don't think his focus on DEI and being woke and those types of things are going to play well across the rest of Kansas. So we're kind of quietly rooting for him and we'll see what happens. I think he's going to have a harder time getting out of that primary, though, than he ever imagined. That was Roger Marshall yesterday.

Well, he's no longer quietly rooting for it if he says it on the radio. That was my first take. And then the second part of it is Roger Marshall's the favorite. He should be the favorite. You know, Trump's won the state by 15 points. Republicans have not lost a U.S. Senate race in the state of Kansas in 100 years. I just hope that Roger Marshall is running through the tape in this race. Because if there is someone that mildly concerns me, it would be Adam Hamilton. And it's part of a broader plan the party has that I'll explain next and then ask Mundo anything at 845. McGraw is going to be in town for our America 250 event that we are hosting on September 16th. Guy Benson will be here. And Vince Colonnese will be here. And yes, McGraw-Milhaven will be here, along with myself and Kevin Keatsman, Mark, John, the whole team. We're going to be a boulevard on September 16th. Tickets are selling quickly. I actually had to send all the guys a text yesterday. I said, fellas, I need some new copy from you because tickets are moving faster than we expected. So we've got to let people know that in your shows, in each of their shows, that these tickets are moving. And if you want to get them. You got to buy them now. KCMO TalkRadio.com. Is my new America 50 Royals hat going to be acceptable at the event, do you think? I have not seen the hat. Oh. Well, I'll wear it tomorrow. Wear it tomorrow. But I guess before I even see it. I was going to say no, Mark, because I'd like you to look presentable at this event. But then again, I want you to represent what you are on the show and you wear a hat every day. So you should probably wear a hat to the event so people get a feel for, you know, who you are. It's seldom that he doesn't wear a hat. And so when he doesn't, it's kind of like when your dad shaves and you're like, wait, what? Yeah, yeah. That's right. The only time Mark doesn't wear a hat is when we have a Zoom call with the CEO of the company. That's like the only time when I see Mark without a hat on, I'm like, wait, what's going on today that I don't know about? Oh, that's right. The CEO is zooming in from New York City, so we should probably look presentable. Yeah, sometimes it'll be that or, you know, the politics and a pint. I'll go out without a hat sometimes. Yes. Occasionally. Occasionally. I'll credit Mark, too. It's never backwards. No, no, no, no, no. And there's always a theme to it. Mark always makes sure the hat matches the shirt, ties into something going on in the sports world. No, there's always a reason. No hockey jersey baseball hat. He's not just throwing on a hat because his hair looks like crap. He's throwing on a hat to tie into his outfit for the day. Absolutely. He thinks through it. Absolutely. I think a suit and a 250 hat will be nice. Oh, that would look sharp, Mark. That would look real sharp. Fitted suit or going to be a little loose on you? When's the last time you put on a suit? Oh, man, I only have a couple suits, so I might have to get it tailored up. Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, tickets are on sale. KCMO TalkRadio.com. Join us, you can buy a table as well. You can buy the table with Keatsman, Colin A, Sky Guy Benson. If you want to buy the table with me, I guess you could do that as well. But that's going to be a good time. So grab your tickets now before September 16th. Two days after the Chiefs opened up the season against the Broncos.

So that's going to be a banger of a week here in Kansas City. I think Guy Benson's going to come in for the game as well. So we should have a good time. So right before the break, I mentioned that Roger Marshall cannot overlook Adam Hamilton in this Kansas U.S. Senate race. And I get, you know, Marshall saying, hey, we're rooting for Adam Hamilton. We want him to be the candidate that we go up against. And, you know, listen, I like it. It's like when the chief say or in sports, you're like, I want their best. I want to play the best team. I want to beat the best. Politics is kind of different because you really don't. You want to beat the easiest person. Listen, let's be honest. One of the great gifts for Trump is that he's gone up against Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, two of the most unlikable people in American political history. It's just a fact. If Trump went up against Obama, the outcome might have been a bit different. But he went up against Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. And it is not going to get much easier. than going up against those two. I'm not discounting his wins. I'm just simply saying that he got two great candidates or really awful candidates to run against. What I'm sensing here is that in the Democratic Party, they're going to try to lean in to try to win back some people of faith in particular. They're going to lean into the pastor card here. whether it's Adam Hamilton in Kansas or something else I saw yesterday. Raphael Warnock, U.S. Senator Reverend, air quotes, yes, that kind of a reverend. Show some R-E-S-P-I-C-T. Reverend Raphael Warnock is fueling 2028 speculation. He released a new book, his second since his 2021 victory. How is a U.S. Senator to write two books in five years? What do you possibly have to write about? They don't do anything. What are you writing books about? How little you do in Congress? And that's true for all of them. He's traveled to battleground states like Minnesota and Nevada this year. He's led high-profile campaigns against Donald Trump's agenda. And he's a frequent presence on the national news. None of it amounts to a presidential campaign, but allies say he's using his platform to shape the national debate. And while Raphael Warnock has given no public indication he intends to run, he's also declined to rule out a future White House campaign as he checks many of the boxes that have helped launch past White House bids. So that's interesting to me. Because you look at kind of what they think they need to do to win back some people in the middle, win back some faith-based people, win back, let's say, some black voters who have shifted to the right a little bit in some cases. Leaning in to the idea of a reverend like Raphael Warnock, leaning in and trying with someone like Adam Hamilton, a pastor here in Kansas. It's a smart political play.

I'm not sitting here saying that it's definitely going to work. I don't think it will necessarily work in Kansas. It might get them closer than they've been. It's possible. But, you know, it's not horseshoes. Close doesn't really matter. But you're seeing the strategy here. They realize where they're weak. They're weak with faith-based groups and individuals, especially Christians. So they say, hey, maybe a guy like Raphael Warnock and George is the play. Maybe Pastor Adam Hamilton and Kansas is the play. That's the goal here. And even this guy, Graham Platner, that dropped out of the race in Maine yesterday. You may have seen that headline. He was the Democratic nominee in Maine dropped out of the race against Susan Collins because he had all these awful allegations against him. He finally realized he had to go. He was kind of what they thought they needed in a place like Maine where he's kind of this rugged guy. He's got some facial hair. You know, he looks like a dude's dude. They kind of, they kind of create these caricatures of what they think people need to look like and how they need to present themselves to win back certain groups. Oh, this guy won back white male voters. Yeah, until he realized he's a total freak, right? And then you kind of have yourself in a tough spot. But here's the beauty of Trump and all this. Trump never fit any of those boxes. He'd never really checked any of them off. You would never have looked at Trump as a New York City real estate guy and be like, oh, he's going to connect with the average dude in Kansas or Missouri. or Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, you wouldn't necessarily look at him considering he's always in a tie, suit and tie. I mean, you never see Trump without the suit and tie. Once in a while he's without the tie. And the only time he's without the suit is when he's playing golf. Like that's it. And that's just because he is who he is. He's not trying to be somebody he's not. He's not like trying to listen to the consulting class and oh, you got to wear a pair of boots when you go to Texas. He doesn't, he just, he's, and it's so obvious. He just plays to his strengths. He doesn't try to be someone that he isn't. And too many times in politics, it's true on both sides, but too many times in politics, people try to be something they're not because they think it's what the voter wants. But they never give people enough credit for being smart enough to sniff out their BS. And it's continuing to be one of the great... strengths of Trump that no one gives him enough credit for. And in the meantime, you have these people running around being like, well, we check off this box and that box and that'll win over this group and that group. It's like, guys, you're over complicating this. I know you have a job to do, but you're really overcomplicating this. He's not a McDonald's worker, Pete. Yeah, exactly. See, in that situation, though, he didn't put on the uniform. He was working as Trump, to your point. Yes, he had the suit on.

And he put on, I think he put on a little bib over the top of the suit. Right. You know, just like the trash thing, you get the yellow vest. Yeah. Trash truck thing. So, yeah, he's done those pictures. But it's actually him placing himself in our world. Yes. Bingo. That's exactly right. I'm trying to say, I'm part of your world. No. I come to your world bearing gifts. Exactly how he does it. And that's part of the genius of it. Jim Rome takes on sports. I will always have a complicated relationship with this game. But people evolve. So do sports. Do not make me regret this. Do not make me devolve. Back to that guy that so many clones wish that I still was. And do not embarrass the entire country. Now, I can go back. I can get there fast. Lose tonight. And you got a real problem. Do not blow it. The Jim Rome Show podcast. You've been warned. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Scrolling with Haley, join Haley Caronea as she scrolls through the biggest headlines. If you haven't watched this show before, we do blind reactions. I have not seen these videos, so I am seeing them for the first time with all of you. We're going to implement the tinfoil hat time segments and all the stuff you know and love. And I'm going to finish the show and answer some of your questions. Someone asked me, what made you get into podcasting, and I was producing podcasts for other people. And I was like, I could do this for myself. And here I am. Scrolling with Haley, follow and listen on your favorite platform. Hey, I'm Chris Van Fleet. Go behind the scenes and beyond the headlines with the biggest names in pro wrestling and beyond. Jeff Jarrett, great to see you. In this business, the story behind the scenes, so much more entertaining than what you see on camera. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman. Mr. Heyman. You are a master at the little things. That's how you turn good into great. What does it take to achieve greatness? Whatever it takes I'm willing to do. That's an Emmy winning performance. How about it? Insight with Chris Van Fleet. Follow and listen on your favorite. platform.