Lindstrom / Data Centers / Ferocious Bison

Who wants to take the first shot of trying to figure out what Brett Lindstrom is up to now? This is the guy who served Northwest Omaha and the Nebraska Unicameral over a couple of terms. Decided he wanted to run for governor. Didn't make it out of that primary. Jim Pillen did. He is our governor. And then Brett Lindstrom said, you know, I think I'd like to run for Congress. And after Don Bacon said he wasn't running for reelection, Brett Lindstrom said, I'm in. Bringer Harding said, I'm in. Lindstrom dropped out and changed his designation from Republican to Independent and is now... starting a petition drive to potentially get on the ballot to be governor in November. Jim, your analysis? With 116 days before the election. This one makes no sense to me. You forgot that. Remember, he challenged Lee Terry back in 2013 and did not do well in that primary against Lee Terry, who ultimately lost to Brad Ashford. But that's what happened in Brett Lindstrom's political. opus. This one is a bit puzzling, Scott, if the objective is to win. And maybe that's not his objective. It might be, you know what, I'm going to change the conversation away from a high... partisanship to inclusion. You're right. He gave up his Republican designation, but he went to nonpartisan, not officially independent. There's a little bit of a distinction there. But he's not technically an independent because that's a voter designation. He's nonpartisan. And this will be a monumental challenge. He doesn't have any of the things that you need to win a statewide election in place. He doesn't have a structure. He doesn't have a base of political... political support, there must be money behind him in some degree. He doesn't even have a spot on the ballot yet. which makes Rick Beard, the cannabis candidate, a better shot to win than Brett Lindstrom today. Legal marijuana now is the name of that party. That's right. And at least he's on the ballot. But Brett's not on the ballot. He needs 4,000 signatures by the 3rd of August, and 750 of them have to be from each of the congressional districts. Can he get the 4,000? Probably if he's got 100 people out there standing at the Walmart parking lot in Thedford, he'll probably be able to get $750 from out there. Is there a Walmart and Thetford? Well, something like that. But, you know, Brett's got, you never say no chance, but typically third-party candidates, and we've only had seven of them win a statewide election in this country since World War II. Usually when a third-party candidate emerges, it's because the other two are...

As Alvays used to say, rumdums. They either have a major legal issue, a major scandal, or some sort of major, you know, F up during the time they were in office that have caused people to say, no way, no way, no how. So he doesn't have that for this. That's how they get elected. Now, if he just wants to enter this race because he wants to demonstrate that a former Republican can be not so stridently one way or the other in a divisive political climate, which is what we have today, then okay, then that's an objective and God bless him for that. But I did the numbers last night. And if he gets 18% of the vote. Given that Ms. Carroll Blood got 35%, which to me says Lynn Walls, who's running for governor this year, could get 41%. If Brett Lindstrom gets 18%, and Mr. Beard gets 3%, than Lynn Walls is governor of Nebraska. I see this is one of three different paths. Either you do this because you feel like you can draw, you're just liberal enough, you can draw enough Democrats to come over to your side, you're just conservative enough, you can draw enough Republicans to come over to your side, and this is the kind of candidate who can be bipartisan and lead the people that we've been crying for for years. People always say that. How did that work out for Mike McDonald? People always say that. But the reality is, I don't think that's what voters are really thinking when they go to the polls, especially in today's political climate. So it's a great idea. I don't think that that's what we're doing here. Okay, that's path one. Path two. Path two is I want Lynn Walls to be governor and I want to siphon away enough votes from Jim Pillen to allow the Democrat Lynn Wallace to become the next governor of Nebraska. That's path two. Path three. And this is what I think is what they're thinking is the most likely path. This is not the Scott Voorhe's prediction of what's happening. This is what we do. We just speculate wildly. Here's my wild speculation as to why they think that they need to do this. I believe there are people out there who think that there's something going on with Jim Pillen. That's going to have him either be politically handicapped or off the ballot by November. And you want to have someone there to catch those votes.

Oh, I don't think that will happen, meaning I don't think he'll leave the race. And I don't imagine that there's enough nuclear energy inside of a bombshell to do that. But I do believe that he has some headwinds ahead of this election. There is a general disappointment in some circles around the state about the governor. It might be his personality. It might be his I'm in charge kind of guy. He's twisted a lot of arms over the last four years. There is a business. community reluctance to wrap their arms around him. And I don't know why that is because he shepherded a lowering of the income tax, which is something the Nebraska State Chamber has championed for a long time. And that's something certainly that the Omaha business community is champion. The property tax promise is going to come back and bite them. He's blown through a lot of money that was left over from the previous administration thanks to COVID, and we still don't have property tax relief. In fact, it's gotten worse. So there is a pothole or two that the gym bus can hit between here and November. The other thing that I think that Brett Lindstrom may be banking on Scott, which dovetails a little bit to your doors number one, two, and three is that there's just a general disappointment with the current political system in our country. And Donald Trump has something to do with that. There's just a lot of political fatigue. And so that may really hold down turnout. It's not going to be, I'm going to vote for the other guy. It's, you know what? If I miss Election Day this year, so what? I'm just not into it. That said, I think there is energy on the Democrat side because they got lapped pretty well in the last presidential election, and that might bring out more folks who typically wouldn't vote. I also will not, and I know this is going to sound strange, and some people I want you to process this, Rick Beard is going to get. votes. Okay? Now, not a lot. He's not going to win this election. No. But he could be the Ralph Nader to Jim Pillon. what he could be the Ralph Nader what he was to Al Gore in 2000 in Florida. Yeah, I was going to say he would draw more from those who are probably inclined to vote Democrat. He's of the legal marijuana now party. Potentially. But what he's liable to do is just get a percentage of the electorate. And the electorate may be down because it's an off-year election. I think the most likely path is that third one, which has an offshoot where Lindstrom gets the signatures to be on the ballot.

But if Pilling is not somehow derailed between now and the point where Brett could hop off this train, Brett does not end up on the petition. He decides, yeah, I got the signatures, but I don't want to be on the petition, which is a likely path. We got a lot to talk about throughout the morning. Let's get to the 1110 KFAB certified transmission sports brief now. Here's Jim Rose. Okay, Scott, good morning, everybody. If you weren't sure we were in Philadelphia last night, check this out. Staying short compact, trying to keep his hands above the ball really, really good. I think that's the first time he kind of like was just late. Wasn't so much he overswung. He was just a little bit late. But he's keeping the barrel above the ball. He's doing, he's calm. What you miss there is that a kid dropped a ball and the fans in the stadium booed the kid for missing the ball during the home run derby. Welcome to the city of Brotherly Love. To make it even more fun for the fans, Jim Jordan Walker, the St. Louis Cardinals, won the thing. Listen to the boost.

The guy hit homers in each of his last six final swings, and he takes us into tonight's All-Star game as the home run derby champ. Topped Phillies, All-Star, Kyle Schwabber, by one home run. See how it goes tonight for the game? The stars will be out. Christopher Sanchez of the Phillies will start for the National League against the American League's Dylan Cs of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Royals have a starter. Shortstop, Bobby Whitt. Dylan Carey, the Husker Baseball All-American, snubbed in the MLB draft, is getting a shot. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Mets yesterday. The game is humbling. He may have heard the cheers in Lincoln, but he is starting at the bottom all over again. Are the odds that stacked against him? Sure, but he's used to it. Husker football gets another five-star quarterback. Rivals.com gave verbal commit Trey Taylor the fifth star makes Taylor, who is playing for Millard South this season after transferring from a high school in Chicago, the consensus top quarterback in the high school class of 2027. That's a lot of pressure on a kid who has yet to take a snap in a Husker football practice. Dylan Ryola was a five-star too. Spain, France, England, Argentina. They are your semifinalists in the World Cup. Final four match number one is tonight, the French and the Spaniards from Arlington, Texas. This is a rematch of the semis two years ago, won by Spain, two to one. These are the top four teams in World Cup soccer. Cinderella's are all gone. from the alumni dishonor role. La Gerald Vic, who played a lot on KU's 2018 Final Four basketball team, was arrested in Memphis. He's accused of shooting a man in the back after an argument, July 4. This on top of another felony charge of breaking into the apartment of a former girlfriend. Sports is news on Nebraska's News Weather and Traffic Station. I think we're learning a lot about Jim Rose this morning. He is the only person in Nebraska media who has twice in the same hour mentioned the political ambitions of Rick Beard of the Legal Marijuana Now Party. He does have some cute signs. They're very cute signs. He got some political signs out there. He had them out last time. And what did he get anywhere approaching 2% of the vote last time? 3% of the vote last time? No, but see, this is after, that was before we, the people voted. for legal medicinal marijuana in this state that has been foot dragged by the administration. Right. But if you vote for governor, the head of the legal marijuana now party, does that make marijuana legal in Nebraska? No, it just has a very powerful advocate. Look, medical marijuana is legal in Nebraska. It just hasn't been implemented yet. But if you go on his website, now, Rick's a wine.

bar operator here in Omaha. This is not a serious candidate for office. But he believes in a lot of, he's a libertarian by nature, I think, and he believes that medical cannabis and cannabis crop, the cannabis crop will address a lot of our economic issues. And he's right about that. It could generate massive, massive amounts. Now, he doesn't address some of the negative things that come from people basically getting stoned all the time. But there is a growing population of people in the country that believe in this. Oh, yeah. But more importantly than that, Scott, I just think there is a cadre of people who say, look. I voted for this. I want this. And this guy is on my side. And I don't like any of these other candidates. And in a midterm election, you tend to get the activists out, the ones who just say, I'm going to make a statement. I'm going to vote for Rick Beard, not because I think he'd make a great governor. But because I don't like these other people, number one and number two, I've voted for medical marijuana in this state, and it hasn't happened yet. Now, it's on the road to happening, but it's taken a while. And that's why I think it's possible he could get two, two and a half, three percent. There are a lot of people who love to sit around and smoke weed and make their problems go away and just kind of live that lifestyle. And if you ask them when Election Day is, they would say Buffalo. So good luck getting them out to vote. By the way, don't knock it until you. try it. I've tried it. Not today. Not in this decade. Not in the last decade. What decade are we in? We're in the 2020s. Maybe the previous decade. Okay. And the 90s. I was a teenager. My mom said try everything. I think she was talking about Brussels sprouts. Got this message via the Zonkers custom was inbox from Dave says Brett Lindstrom, the Gavin Newsom of Nebraska politics. No, he's not the Gavin Newsom of Nebraska politics. But he does have a brand issue, not sure exactly what he is. I think he's conservative. I think he's baseline a conservative Republican. He's not a libertarian. He's not a Freeman. But I think he's a country club Republican. He's much like Brinker Harding. He's a traditional Republican who just believes in some of the bedrock conservative Republican principles of the last 75 years. And that's fine. Okay. But his voting record would be of some concern to those who. you'd have to convince as much. The death penalty vote is a big one. And it wasn't the death penalty vote because you can give him slack on religious grounds. But when he voted to override the veto, then it's political. And I don't think that was helpful. The other issue with Brett is he's not been very successful in elections. Like I said, he challenged Lee Terry. That didn't go well. He did win those two legislative races.

You know, that's swimming in the shallow and political in our state. He spent a lot of money and a lot of time and finished third in the race for the GOP nomination for governor in 2022. And then this business with the House race that lasted five months. 26% of that Republican primary vote. And pill in one with 33%. So it's not like he lapped the field. And in case anyone's like, who was second? Charles Herbster was. The Herbster won a lot more counties. But the issue involves, in my view, the issue involves, I don't know what this guy is, I don't know who this guy is, I don't know what I can count on with this guy. And the dalliance with the run for Congress was misguided. I don't know why anybody with young kids would want to be a member of the United States Congress. It's a horrible job. It's 60 hours a week. The travel back and forth from the district to D.C. is draconian. And you're raising money seven hours a day. Well, I'll let him deal with his family dynamic. I think Brett Lindstrom is a guy who everybody likes. Well, if you've met him, you do. He's a smart measured guy and everybody likes him. I think I like him. This, maybe I'll go this way. Maybe I'll do this and all that. It raises questions as to exactly who he is politically. Now, here's the assessment of Lynn Walls, who would stand to gain the most if he got into this race. Senior advisor, we don't even have a statement from the candidate herself. Who's running her campaign? A senior advisor to Lynn Walson, a statement to the Nebraska examiner, says Brett Lindstrom is a lifelong conservative Republican whose record speaks for itself. He is no moderate. Lynn Walls is the only candidate with the viable path to defeat Jim Pillon. Look, that's the dumbest thing. They should be funding Brett Lindstrom's campaign because if he gets in, he's going to siphon votes away from Pilling more than he would from Walls. And Lynn Walls is the next governor of Nebraska. These people are idiots. Like I said, I ran the numbers. If Carol Blood, who ran virtually a stealth campaign against Jim Pillon, and that's when people didn't really know Jim, except other than he was number 29, who saved the Oklahoma and Alabama games back in seven. 78 and 77. She got 30, almost 36% of the vote. And if she gets 36% in that election, then Lynn Walls can get 41 or 42% this time around, unless she just falls off the truck. She gets 41 to 42%. So if Lindstrom gets 15% to 18% and Mr. Beard gets 2%. then Lynn Walls may be taking the oath of office in January. Rick Beard is not a factor in this election. Okay, well, they said the same thing about Ralph Péter Magyar in Florida. I like his science. I like his science. They're very cute. We learned yesterday we were enlightened by the governor of South Carolina that the individual tapped to fill out the rest of Senator Lindsey Graham's term after he died over the weekend will be his sister. This is a nice note. I didn't think that they would go this route.

Because they want, obviously, a Republican to fill that seat. So the Republican governor of South Carolina in pushing for someone to win the Republican primary and then the vote as a Republican in November, I would think would put someone in there who would have a leg up on the job by already serving in the job. But this is a... It's a really nice thing to do for the Graham family. If people aren't aware, Lindsey Graham raised his little sister. Their parents died when they were very young. Well, she was 13. He was 17. And he actually became her legal guardian so that she could have, or that she could receive his military benefits. Correct. That's an amazing thing that, how many of today's kids? would do something like that, would be in a situation where they would do something like that. Well, it wasn't just after her parents died. Their parents died. He really kind of raised her, too, because they were both hardworking folks. They ran a pool hall on a bar, and they lived in a one-bedroom apartment behind the pool hall. So as you listen to her, she would say, this guy taught me to ride a bike, this guy taught me to tie my shoes, this guy was really like my dad. So to that extent... These two were extraordinarily tight. Now, he did finish high school and he went to college and joined the Air Force, the ROTC program. At the time, he arranged for her to live with an aunt until he could take over her needs as she grew up. So they did have other family, but I think this is really cool. I think it's really special. And here's the thing about South Carolina, Scott. It's redded than the South Stadium on fall Saturdays. You're going to have to have a real dummy blow that race if you're a Republican. And if you look at the, well, it's happened. But if you look at those who are vying for the primary, and I think the primary is in a couple of weeks, or they're going to have the special election to find a replacement because he won the primary last spring. you know, you're going to get somebody who's not going to have a problem holding on to that seat. Yeah, and as far as what she brings to the table, it's not just that she is Lindsey Graham's sister. She's worked with people with disabilities. Yes. The last several years, she's been the commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. She has some idea what it takes to lead groups and to serve in government. And so I don't think she's, I mean, she's there as a placeholder. I don't think that she's like, I kind of like this. I like the taste of this U.S. Senate thing. She ain't going to do that. I want to stick around. I don't think that's the case with her. No, and this also gives some stability to his staff. This means they have six months to find another job or. warm up to whoever wins the primary to try to keep their gigs in D.C. So that's nice for them. She will do exactly what the White House tells her to do or exactly what the staff there for Senator Graham will do. She will not be the power broker that he was.

She will vote yes on issues that matter to Republicans. I'm sure John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, is going to be very, very advisory to Lindsay's sister. And yet it also speaks to, I think, a lot of respect for him and what he meant to Republicans and to the president. It's a nice celebration of his life. And to Henry McMaster, who is the governor of South Carolina, who was also very close to Lindsey Graham. And ladies and gentlemen, it is now time here on Illinois. 1110 KFAB for a straight of Hormuz update. Here's your straight of Hormuz update. It's not Bono or Chasity Bono. I forgot who sang that one. The Strait of Hormuz update. That's you in the shower, isn't it? I don't think so. This is a horrible singing voice. That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. President Trump has been floating the idea of charging a 20% toll on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, the most famous straight. of all time, perhaps. And he says he's not joking. He says he's very serious about implementing it. A White House official tells the news outlet semaphore. The report adds that Trump has been musing about the idea since April, although he was apparently talked out of it, but I think that President Trump is out on some of these people who are negotiating on his behalf. And I don't know that he completely blames the U.S. negotiating team, including the vice president. I think he's just tired of the Iranians. Who are we talking to? What does the matter with these people? We're giving them everything they could ever possibly want. And they continue to start blowing up. cruise ships and sending out drones and striking some of these, not cruise ships, but cargo ships through the strait, and I'm just tired. And who's stopping me from blowing the entire place up? Yeah, we don't see, we don't usually see a Princess of the Sea cruise liner in the Straits of Hormuz. Now, probably not for a while anyway. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month said no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees. on an international waterway. That is existing international law. Now Iran said, yeah, well, we're going to do it. Then President Trump said, well, you do it. We're going to do it. We'll charge a 20% toll on cargo. Let's see who's in charge of this straight. Tehran has responded sarcastically to the suggestion by President Trump. He says 20% is too much. We will be more fair. We'll charge less than 20%. Like most things the president does, he throws something out there and says, all right, we're going to negotiate. Here's what I want you to give me. I want the stars and the moon and the sun. Oh, Mr. President, we couldn't possibly. All right. What the president wants is a couple of those stars. But he's going to throw out this first negotiating point to try and get to where he wants to go. So I think what he wants, I know what he wants.

He doesn't want any tariffs on any of those ships, especially the oil tankers, going through the Strait of Hormuz. A 20% charge in case you're thinking, well, how much is that? A 20% charge on cargo value. If you've got a large oil tanker... That could add over $30 million to a large oil tankers trip. And who's going to pay that? It's not going to be the oil company. It's going to be the American people. Speaking of what's going on with oil, it is up right now in early trading on this Tuesday. It's about a point and a half. Sitting, though, still under $80 for a barrel of crude oil. Then why did I just pay $4.55 a gallon for gas yesterday? Lucy, I completely agree with you. We were up. How much do you think oil topped out at this year? In early April, it was $111 for a barrel of oil. Right now, it's less than $80. I can buy half that barrel. Why am I paying about as much in gas now? as I was in early April. Right. Retailers. You know my answer on this. No, it's not the local gas station. Who is it? It's the liars and the thieves and the cheats and the oil speculation market who say, well, you know, the president just blew up a couple of things in Iran, and that could cause the entire world to be swallowed up into World War III and no one will have oil. And they think that on a Tuesday. And then 24 hours later, they're like, Oh, okay. Well, the world didn't blow up yesterday. Maybe oil prices can come down a little bit. What about gas prices? Well, let's hold off on gas prices. There are a few people who are pulling the strings on this through artificial means, and we, the consumers, are the ones who take it directly in the tailpipe. Traffic. I'd rather have a banana. They're not going to fall for the banana and the tailpipe. Beverly Hills Cop. Here in Omaha, they have named the future Omaha North High School Stadium after the longtime principal and teacher who spent more than 50 years with the Vikings principal Haynes, Gene Haynes. And he was there for the... the dedication ceremony yesterday. And let's see, he says, quote, he said, quote, this is quite an honor. And I will continue to cherish the moments of the Omaha public schools. And I feel no ways tired. He quoted Hillary Clinton on that one. I don't feel no ways tired. Oh, boy. I'm too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. Oh, my God. He quoted Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton from the Tony suburbs of Chicago through the Jim Crow South all the way to a second place finish in the presidential race. Gene's a great guy and a dedicated North Omaha dude. This is richly deserved in my view.

I think it's taken way, way too long for North to get their own stadium. They've had to play in other people's parks for a long time. That school's been around since the 20s, but not to have their own facility is really hard to believe. Where are they going to put it there? I'm not sure where it is, but they've got the land for it. They've annexed something to get it out. Yeah, I guess. They build it on top of the school. Yeah, North. North has a rich sports tradition. They really have had some great, great athletes down through the years. Beautiful school. It's a great gym. Yeah. And Mike McGee is the most prolific score of basketball in the last 50, 60 years. But are we just going to gloss over the fact that I might be speaking out of turn. But Principal Haynes didn't retire from Omaha North High School because he thought, oh, 50 years, that's enough. Like some people do, Gary Saddlemire, he got tired of Dr. Cheryl Logan's stuff and didn't want to deal with her anymore and said, fine, I'll leave. And that's what I heard. Well, I might be wrong. I'm not familiar with that scenario, but I can imagine it knowing Cheryl Logan as I do. Among those paying tribute to Senator Lindsey Graham on the Senate floor yesterday was Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. I was no stranger to being the butt of his jokes. Senator Graham loved to tell people how frugal I was. And if I were ever to open my billfold, dusts. Dust and moss would come out of it. I don't know how many times I've heard that. Senator Graham always brought a smile to your face and levity to the halls of Congress. Senator Graham was no stranger to my home state of Iowa as its first in the nation for presidential elections in the year 2016 when he announced he was going to run for president. I had the privilege of showing him around a time or two during his campaign for president, and he was a fan of the good people of my state of Iowa, identifying with our shared values of hard work, of faith, and genuine care for one another. That is Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. They served together in the United States Senate. Graham was there 25 years. 24 years. Yeah, and Chuck Grassley was there a few years beyond that. But then, you know, longtime cohorts there. Yeah, what up to is? Hey, kid. Yeah. You think you're old. But, yeah, Chuck Grassley is an American treasure. You people in Iowa got a great one, and you've held on to them for a long time. He's just the kind of common sense, you know, politician that we really don't have anymore. He's not a publicity hound. He's not trying to make...

you know, headlines or raise money or get clicks on his social media page. He just goes out there and does the people's business, follows the rules, tried to get along with people. And I imagine the quip there about, you know, if I ever open my wallet, dust would come out. I don't see Senator Chuck Grassley as being the person going, all right, beer on me. I'll take the bill. Okay, give me the bill. Yeah, you don't hear that. We're staying in the best hotel. I don't know. You know, who knows how much longer he can go? It seems inconceivable. Forever. Even though he declared on Election Day last year that I'm running for re-election in six years, that's probably not actually going to happen. Nevertheless, I think a lot of a lot of... members of Congress and this is frustrating to American people because they see these guys say really mean things about each other all the time on television but then when you ask him hey what's it like you know he's a great guy we get along all the time we have to well then why would he say those things about you publicly why would you why would you say things about him or her publicly When the lights are off, you guys sit around, crack jokes, go to each other's kids' functions and act like real friends. Well, why don't you do that for the people and get the business done so that we don't have these constant fights? Now, you're over there watching an AI video of a Buffalo at Yellowstone flipping Mitch McConnell high into the air. Well, Elaine Chowher, his wife is wearing a New York Jets jersey. He's chasing out around, getting chased around by a buffalo. He's wearing jeans and suspenders. Buffalo grabs him and flings Mitch McConnell in the air like the video we saw the other day. This is a video that I think a lot of people have seen. Lucy, have you seen the video yet of this? Technically, it's a bison flipping this grandfather through the air. I have seen that. Yeah. So here's what. we're learning about this. It's a guy who was... watching an agitated bison from a safe distance. He was more than 100 yards away. There was a car, though, that had paused to take pictures of the bison, and then the bison got all upset about there. There was a pickup that seemed to set the animal off. And so these guys are about 100 yards away, which Yellowstone in the parks district out there says is a safe distance. And this bison turns around, sees them. And they're fast. They can run about 35 miles per hour. And this grandfather could not. So this bison goes over there. He's going nuts on this tree. The grandfather's hiding on the other side. And then here it comes around. It hooks Grandpa and throws him through the air. He goes flipping helplessly through the air. They figure he was probably, I mean, he was.

This story says eight feet. There's no way that he was only eight feet. He was eight feet above the buffalo, and the buffalo is pretty big. So I'm saying it's probably 15 feet through the air. But he fell down and had multiple broken bones and other significant injuries. And this is concerning to me. because I'm going to be in Yellowstone here in about a week from now. I'm taking my family on the Great American Road trip. I will be gone next week. Gary Saddlemire will be here Monday through Wednesday, Jim and Lucy next Thursday and Friday. And I'm going to try not to get stampeded by various buffalo bison or Colorado fans. Because that just means more work for us. If you get gored by a buffalo, that just means a lot more work for us. That is my first thought. And the other thing is when they're making love, leave him alone. Because apparently that's what was happening. Wait, wait, wait. Let me write this down. This guy, this guy went up there with his camera, was a voyeur, and was looking to Buffalo Love. And that's when the male says, get out of here. You know, get out of my kitchen. And then he chased him and threw him in the air 15, 20 feet. I think the description you used there is hardly what the female bison would describe it as. But. Hey, good morning, guys. Want to comment about the guy that got hit by the bison. When we took a bison tour in South Dakota, they said not to get it out of the vehicle because if you're in a vehicle, you appear to be a bison. When you're walking around, you appear to be a target. Have a good morning. Yeah. We're driving around in the Black Hills up around Mount Rushmore. Kids are little. and there's a bison on the side of the road. I admit, I did not know that much about the bison at that time. So when my wife said, pull up alongside it, I want to get a picture. I thought, well, that's kind of like a cow. So we pulled up alongside it. My wife hangs out the passenger window a little bit to get a picture of this bison. And I'm watching just... Closely enough is the driver just in case something gets stupid. This bison swung its head at our car. I saw it coming, took evasive maneuvers through the wheel over to the left, almost spilling my wife out the window to the right, and then gunned it. My wife was still in the car. So I gun it down this dirt road. I look in the rear view. This bison is chasing after us and fast. Turns out our vehicle is faster. We got out of there, and that's how I learned. Oh, these aren't cows. These are angry, hairy beasts, and they're dangerous. You don't think about things like that. I didn't. But I will know. Like I said, we're going up. We're doing the Great American Family Road trip. We're going to go to Mount Rushmore and then on to Yellowstone and then down through Grand Teton National Park. And it's going to be a heck of a day. We're going to drive really fast. Can we stop and look? Nope, got to go. Scott at kfab.com and the Zonkers Customwoods inbox, a few emails that came in today. This one from Chris says, hey, Scott.

I get tired of listening to those Democrat ads against Pete Ricketts. They are so full of, can't use that word. They didn't seem to care when prices were high under Joe Biden. That was fine. But when it's Trump, God help us. Anybody who thinks the Democrats would do a better job and make prices come down are a fool. That's the assessment from Chris. And then this one from Joe, also a political email. It says, Assuming Brett Lindstrom. Gets 4,000 signatures to be on a ballot for governor and ends up being on the ballot here in the November general election. From whom does he take votes? Walls, Pilling, or Beard? Discuss amongst yourselves. Thanks, Joe. Yeah, we talked about that a couple of hours ago. Let's reset that right now in case you're just like, wait, who? Why? Lindstrom decided yesterday that he was... looking to get signatures together to put him on the ballot as a nonpartisan candidate for governor in the state of Nebraska. He needs to get so many signatures. He needs to get them fast. If he is motivated, and I don't think he would make the statement yesterday that he did if he weren't serious and motivated, I think he wants the signatures to give him the option to run for governor. Should something happen to Jim Pillon that derails his chances or knocks him off the ballot? I think that's the calculation here. But to answer Joe's question, he takes votes away from Jim Pillar. Yes. He does not take votes from Lynn Walls. This would be the greatest thing to happen to the Walls campaign. It could be. To make people forget that Tim in Minnesota is also. Cousin. It's a sure-tailed cousin of Lynn Wall's. Well, Lynn Wall's husband. Yeah.

There's a couple of pitfalls in your analogy there, Scott. The first one is it's not going to be cheap to collect 4,000 signatures. Not his money. Well, this is the point. If you go out asking people for money... All right. Now, Dan Houghton, who founded Builder Trend, was a big supporter of Brett Lindstrom the first time around. He wrote a large check for Lindstrom to run for governor back in 2022. If you start going back to those guys and say, I need money to run for governor, and they give it to you, and you launch a campaign, then you decide, no, I don't think so. That doesn't sound like Brett Lindstrom to me. If he gets into this, he'll be in it to win it, and he'll be in it until the finish. I believe that to be the case. Otherwise, you're dealing with somebody who has integrity problems. And once you get branded as somebody that acts one way and talks another, you're finished politically. Now, I don't know what his future politically is anyway, but who can predict the future? I can say this. If he does something like that... where he launches it, gets on the ballot and says, eh, you know, thought about it over the weekend, decide, no, I'm out. That's the kind of thing that buries you politically in all circles. In fact, that can hurt you personally and professionally in whatever line of work you're in. So I don't think that will happen with this guy. How does he endure himself to what you would think would have to be his political base, whether he identifies as somewhat conservative or not? He was a Republican. He switched to nonpartisan after dropping out a congressional race this spring. But if you're going to win statewide Nebraska... You got to be Republican. Well, you have to be conservative. Now you come out there and you knock. I mean, if you and Pillen are on the ballot at the same time, as I said, Lynn Walls becomes governor. How does that endear yourself to a base to do anything politically in the future? Well, he may believe this, and I think there is a trend in this direction. When you look at how elections are beginning to turn out, not just in Nebraska, but around the country, there is a movement to a greater independent class of voters, those who don't. registers Republicans, don't register as Democrats. They believe in some things of each party, but they don't believe dogmatically in either one. He may believe that there is a growing population of independents who don't want to vote for a Republican for whatever reason and don't want to vote for a Democrat because they think this is the second coming of Vladimir Putin Lennon. The truth is, I don't know that that's enough of a base to win unless there is something that really bad happens to the pillen campaign. And you articulated last hour that he does have some headwinds. There are some things brewing about his time as governor that might cause people to say, uh-uh.

specifically the suspension of some laws involving no-bid contracts that have not gone away. And what that does is sow seeds of doubt and a little bit of frustration in the minds of some voters. The other thing is, Scott, these midterm elections are depressed turnouts. And I don't know how the Republicans can do it, but they have got to convince their people to come out and vote, even though Trump isn't on the ballot. And they think, ah, the Democrat isn't going to win. All you need to do is ask Gene Stothert about that. Gene Stodthard should not have lost, but she lost because Jane Kleb, the director of the State Democrat Party, very wisely kept any Democrat from running against Don Roe and Brinker Harding in those key Western Omaha City Council districts, which depressed turnout. They didn't have an opponent. And number two, the streetcar. Okay. Well, they didn't come vote for John Ewing. They just stayed home. Same thing happened to Hal Dobb when Jim Settle beat him. So you've got to somehow Republicans have got to motivate their base. Look, you got to come out and vote for me. I know you're not happy with things. I know that, you know, we made promises we haven't kept and all that jazz. But it's this. Not me, it's this. And do you really want that? That has to be a lot of their motivation. I know people say, I want someone who can go across both sides of the aisle and work to bring people together and build bridges and all that. The people who are motivated to go vote in this midterm election and this political climate, they are not that voter. dare not. And that's not what Lindstrom needs if he ends up being on the ballot in November. I think the calculation is that Pilling will have some mud on him and maybe would drop out of the race. That's got to be the calculation. Or you just really want Lynn Walls to win because that's what happens if Lindstrom is on this ballot. I will say this. One more thing before we move on to the next break. The last two, three weeks of that campaign for governor in the Republican primary in 2022, you saw a lot of negative ads against Brett Lindstrom in support of Jim Pillen. They came from Pete Ricketts, who at the time was the governor. And Pete came on this show and said, I'm exercising my right to free speech. I'm just like anybody. I can say this and I can say that. And he's right about that. That's right. It's a little untoward, but he's right about it. This may be a little payback. He might say, you know what, I really don't want to be an elected official, but I'm going to mess this up for this guy. Well, you're wrong about one thing. We don't break. That's right. We only lie in wait until the next segment. In the inbox here, the Zonkers Customwoods inbox, this one sent to Scott at kfab.com. from Chris that says, I can tell you the reason I've considered not voting in elections as a Republican, and I feel the sentiment is how a lot of Republican voters feel. We vote these people into office, and they don't do a damn thing to actually fight the other side. I'm looking at you, Don Bacon. You said that I represent all the people well until these squishy Republican politicians realize that the other side has no interest in working with us. We might as well...

get more motivated to come out and vote for you. All right. That's from Chris. Well, I don't know that that's true. That's the perception. Don Bacon did a lot for off at Air Force Base and Sack and all these other places. So, I mean, it's not like he didn't do anything. And he did stand up and fight Democrats. But perception is a purple district. What it is. Yeah, that's. Is perception reality? Is reality perception? Is this time for the 1110 KFAB certified transmission sports brief? I don't know the answers to these questions. I still don't know what I think about data centers. Now the accusation is that data centers are using too much water. Are we going to run out of water because of data centers? The water that data centers uses. which I presume is the cooling, the big computer equipment that they use for the data centers. You've got to run the water through there. Is that not recyclable? It is in some cases, and not all cases. They do use a lot of water. They capture a lot of water. And, yeah, in many cases, some of that water is recycled. There are two real issues with the data centers, Scott. The first one is the water issue. The second one is energy. What are they using to power the doggone things? And it is really not healthy for OPBD to have data centers because OPBD needs to power houses and businesses and streetlights and ball fields. Well, President Trump said he wants any new data centers to have their own energy source. The latest one here is in Cass County where Tanaska, which is an energy company. wants to put a data center and use more than 1,300 acres of Cass County farmland along Highway 75. I'm not sure where down there along Highway 75, but you got the room. Probably not far from Plattsmouth. If you don't want to farm it, and someone apparently was more than happy to say, yeah, you want to pay me for this land, this amount of money, you can have it, put whatever you want on there. And the concern lately has been where they're going to use all the water. Are we going to run out of water because of data centers? Well, I don't know. Probably not. But it stresses the water table, especially during high drought areas and eras. Right now we're a little bit low on water around here, and they're really low on water in other parts of the state. And that's one of the reasons that they're talking about halting a data center build out there in the sandhills. because that aquifer is responsible for water and a lot of crops. And if we start draining the aquifer to handle data centers, what's going to water crops? I think these are all important questions. This is the one thing you need to remember. Data centers are not good for economic development. They don't employ a very many people. Now, they're really good for the Trenton Magid who sells the land. They're really good for the guy who owned the land. Grow Omaha host Trent and Megan under the bus. He sold some property for data centers it has in the past. It's really good for him. It's really good for the guy who owned the land.

And it's really good for the energy company because they sell a lot of energy. Well, hold on. But it's not great, and they do pay taxes. I don't know if they qualify under some, you know, tax incentive things in Nebraska for building something that large, but they don't employ very many people. And that's what you need to focus on when you start talking economic development. How many people are going to need jobs here? Did you bring your horses with you into the studio? Because I'm going to ask you to hold them. Not yet. They're right outside. Back up to the reasons why so many data centers are being built or proposed. And that is, apparently, we have demanded that we need to house all of this data. And we need to have all these computations and all the AI and we need to have all the storage and we need to have all this power. And that's why they're doing data centers. It's not like you set up a data center. And then, you know, Joe Consumer goes by there and goes, yes, I'd like to buy some data. What do you got on sale? No, it's not that. This is because of us. This is our needs. This is what we say that we want and we need. So they're not going to build these things. And then we're not going to have the storage for this. We're not going to have the speed for that. We're not going to have the capability for that. Who would be the first people complaining? We will. Well, but here's the thing, Scott. One of the reasons you've seen this big, big push in the last year is because Wall Street has sold a ton of this future AI infrastructure. There are, at last check, $300 billion has been invested in AI buildouts and infrastructure. Now, if you talk to really smart financial people, they'll say, when somebody offers you a bunch of money to invest, you've got to run it out the door. Now, there is a huge question. I think this is one of the reasons you can talk to a financial planner that'll tell you for certain that we've seen a drop in the NASDAQ, is that now people go, well, what's the ROI on the $300 billion? Okay, all of these AI companies, the big ones, the big publicly traded on the NASDAQ have put out opportunities for people to invest in AI. So this is the AI buildout, but we still don't have a definitive answer on ROI. And this is when people get into trouble because they want to be a part of this big AI revolution. They want to get in on the ground floor. So they invest a ton of money in AI buildout. Do we need the capacity right now? I don't know. Maybe. But we may not need it for a while. That's the issue. But when you have all of this investment capital going to AI buildouts, that's where you're getting these overnight data centers built. They've got to do something with the money. By the way, the NASDAQ is fine. It's up almost 7,000 points in the last year. Well, it is, but you've seen it drop in the last three months. Because the first quarter was huge. People got crazy on AI buildouts. And maybe it's a good investment. I'm not an investment counselor call your favorite one. But that's a big part of why we're seeing overnight data center. People have to do something with this money. NASDAQ is just fine. It's actually in the last three months. It's been climbing steadily. Took a big dump in January, February, March.

Yeah, well, but that's not the last three months. Here's what's coming up. Thank you. Here, you bet. Just in case anyone's, you know, buy, sell, buy, sell. Look, I'll tell you what's happened in the last three months is this concerted effort by these consumer outlook protection groups to oppose data centers. I don't even know if they know what they're talking about. Probably not. And I'm the first one to admit, I don't think that I know what I'm talking about. I'm just trying to ask the questions and trying to feel my way through this because... They're apparently building data centers for some reason, and that's because we and our uses, our needs, have demanded as much. So we'll, I don't know. We have water. We have water in the ground. We're not going to run out of water. It's like, don't build that water park. We're going to run out of water. It recycles. Don't turn your sprinklers on. It recycles. Morning, guys. With the data centers, you know, in Cass County, Odo County, they're talking about. We just don't want them in the country. The country is the country. You know, farm grounds, fields, pastures. That's where our food is made. Cattle, hogs. There's a place for everything. Dana Sutter's are not for us. All right. So the anti-data center movement seems to be like the anti-pipeline movement. We just don't want them here in this area. Well, you barely even know that they exist. Except for the water and the electricity. Right. Now, unless they use their own electricity, they create their own energy, and the water is recyclable. I got a lot of people emailing and going, yeah, it's essentially it's a... recyclable water feature that they have in these data centers. Now here's another assessment. It comes from Kathleen. It says China. China is actively investing in anti-data center movements here in the U.S. While they build them like crazy, they know that the success of AI is dependent on... data centers. So China is that that guy who just sent that message there via the talkback, Mike, didn't sound like Xi Jinping, but he might be masking his voice. It's probably AI. So there might be something to that too. Just a lot of food for thought. Never know. Breakfast time after all.