You want to be an American.
Indio News Radio seven hundred WLW Mike Allen in for Slowney today. Oh, lots going on, you know. I just saw this this morning Australia. My daughter is in the in the army. She stationed there protesters in Australia. I guess what they did. They blocked a bus that was carrying the Iranian women's soccer team. Uh, they got out, they lost, and they exited the I think it's the
Women's Asian Cup this week. But I guess what happened is dozens of demonstrators knelt down or they laid in front of the bus outside the team's hotel on the Gold Coast. They were chanting save our girls and waving pre revolution Iranian flags. Now, just so you know, the pre revolution flag looks a lot like the one they have now, so he got to kind of look at
it closely. But here's the gist of it. Though five players asked for and were granted asylum by the Australian government after seeking safety amid fears of punishment in Iran. You think right as I was coming out the door this morning, I saw the Prime Minister of Australia don't remember his name talking about it, and he said, hey, you know, they got a home here, and so does the rest of the team if they should want to.
So he is going to grant them asylum. Now I read one thing where apparently he didn't want to do that at first, but they now are going to grant asylum, as I understand it to these five more hubbub with this team in a good way as far as I'm concerned. This team initially refused to sing the Iranian national anthem that was before the first match against South Korea, and they did that as a gesture of protest or mourning.
I guess what happened was President Trump when he found out or heard that initially they weren't going to grant asylum, he got on the Tom Tom's probably truth social and raised a bit of a ruckus and the Australian PM Prime Minister gave in. But you know what, it just demonstrates what you're dealing with here with Iran, And unless you're a total idiot, you realize this. These are horrible, horrible people. You know, I wouldn't want to be those five women if I went back to Iran. After not
singing the Iranian national anthem. There's just no way, Lord knows what they would do with it. But just curiously, you know, I know this thing's only about a day old, and perhaps I missed it. I didn't hear now or any women's groups screaming about that. And don't you find that really unusual? Of course, I say all of this with tongue firmly planted in chic They don't care. You know, if it's something that's not gonna make America look bad,
then they're not concerned with it. Such hypocrites. But we shall see how this plays out. But I'll tell you, I'd like to give all five of those young ladies a metal if I could, because they're brave. And there's a lot of people like that in that country that are brave, and you know, we've kind of set the table for them, and now it's time for them to take their country back. And tomorrow you probably already know, maybe you don't, President Trump is coming to Cincinnati, and
here's the deal with that. And by the way, we will be talking to Janis Heisel of the Epoch Times at nine point thirty. She is covering the event. The President's visit for the Epoch time, so we'll get the download from her what she knows about it. But he's going to visit Cincinnati and Hebrew, Kentucky, Kentucky on Wednesday, Tomorrow, March eleventh, Trump will be touring the Thermo Fisher Scientific and discussing Trump are Acts a government website that allows
people to buy discounted prescription drugs. And I'll tell you what I'm all for that. It's just a joke. I mean, every time I go and you know, I got to get a prescription filled, the price is different, or you know, they'll say, well, we build your insurance and they didn't cover it. And my rule of thumb on that is pretty much, if it's something that you really need, it won't be covered, So forget about it. Trump's going to be speaking at a public event while in Hebrew at
Verse Logistics Contract packaging facility. Don't know the purpose of that visit so far, but here's the deal. Everybody knows this. Northern Kentucky's kind of been a thorn in the President's side for a while. The region is represented in Congress by Tom Massey, who is always on the other side of Trump in these fights in the feud has really gotten pretty bitter, so I don't know that's going to be interesting to see. But again, as I said, Janis Heisel, the Epoch Times will be with us in just a
little bit to tell us about that. But anyway, he's going to speak at this pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing plant, Thermo Fisher that's near I guess the Northern Kentucky International Airport. He's going to be there. They don't know for sure what time yet, don't have an exact time. I'll tell you what. When I was in politics, I've had the opportunity to be involved in some of these presidential visits. It is a big deal. I mean, you just can't
imagine what goes into it. Coordination with traffic, security and those type of things. And President Trump kind of does things on the fly too, So I'm sure all those people got their got their things together and it'll work out fine. I wanted to talk to you just a minute because it's something that I didn't really even know about, and I try to find out what is trump Our ex Trump deal includes new direct to consumer website announcement, and as I said before, this is something it was
an issue in the campaign. It's still an issue. This is something that something has to be done about it because other countries don't have the issues that we do with respect to prescription drugs. You know, they don't have to mortgage their house to be able to get them. And I'll tell you what, I'm pretty much convinced the way this stuff goes is Tony is at the end of the chain here cashing in. And I say that somewhat with tongue planet in cheek, but at any rate,
here's the deal with the trump RX. It's expected to launch at the beginning of next year, so it's not enforced yet. It will allow patients to buy Pfizer drugs. Pfizer's the only company that's in so far, at a
discount of fifty percent on average. I'll tell you something, some of the prescriptions I've had to get fifty percent off is well, something that will be very, very welcome, and as far as Fiser goes, it will include a majority of the company's primary care treatments and some specialty brands. Pfizer's participation in trump our X is part of a greater agreement for the drug maker to lower costs for some I don't know how they figure this out, but
some American consumers. As President Trump tries to reduce drug prices to match other countries, and yeah, that's like I just said, We're the only country that goes through this nonsense. You know, you have a drug that you need, you go get it. You know, of course, oh it's sure doesn't cover it. But maybe one time when you go, it's thirty dollars. Well, then the next time you go, it's thirty two dollars. But then if you got your good RX thing on your phone, they'll lop another twenty dollars.
It's just a load of crap, it really is. And I am so glad that he's doing this, and I just hope that it goes beyond Pfizer. But anyway, Pfizer is also planning to invest in US manufacturing, which gives it a three year grace period. Here we go from Trump's tariffs on pharmaceutical products. By taking this bold step, we're ending the era of global price gouging at the expense of American families, and we're making America healthy again.
What mister president, And I'm glad you're doing that, and hopefully tomorrow we will be able to learn a little bit more about Trump RX and what sure would be nice if he could speed it up because as they said, it's not scheduled to go online until twenty twenty seven. Hey, let's do this. Let's take a quick break and we'll be back. Mike Allen in for Slowney, seven hundred wl W, down twenty two News Radio, seven hundred wl W. Mike Gallon in for Sloaney today. Tell you what I got
Fox News on obviously with the sound turndown. And I am glad I'm not traveling today, tomorrow or the next day whatever. What a freaking mess. And it all comes down to funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Democrats league, well, we'll show them, you know, we're gon we're gonna hang this noose over their head and they'll go ahead and cave on ICE. Well, the problem is ICE is already funded. I mean, here's the thing. I really wonder whether the Democrats think we're all that's
stupid and we can't figure it out. I've got some poll numbers here I'll tell you about in a minute. Kind of heartening but not surprising. But anyway, with respect to the airports agents have been grappling with partial paychecks. That's not good and soon to be empty paychecks if this shutdown persists. Here's the thing, the wait time. Now, I guess this was yesterday for travelers three point five hours,
three and a half hours. You know what, I always get to the I've traveled a couple of weeks ago, I get to the airport early. I don't mind doing that three and a half hours, and just for such a stupid reason. So if you go to the TSA website or their app, you won't find it because they paused operations on February seventeenth. There's something that pops up. I guess that says the site will not be updated until after funding is enacted, leaving travelers high and dry
when it comes to finding wait time information. It's just it's unbelievable, it really is. I mean goes on to say some individual airports track the security lines, wait times, things like that independently, So I guess what they're doing, what Homeland Security is doing. They're just pointing people in that direction, like, hey, call the airport directly. But I'm glad I'm not traveling, and get it. I get it. You know, there are delays mechanical otherwise, but this is
just stupid. It's stupid, and there's no reason for it. There's no reason for it at all. But I guess we shall see where that goes, all right, you know me. I love my polls. This one came out yesterday and it's somewhat surprising. Blood as far as I'm concerned, I like the way it came out. A new NBC News poll released I guess it was yesterday shows that President Trump currently holds a higher favorability rating than both California
Governor Gavin Newsom and Kamala herself. Here's the breakdown, and President Trump as these other two jokers, Kamala and Gavin, they're all what they referred to in politics as underwater. Trump is at forty one percent positive, fifty three percent negative, and that's a net loss I guess of twelve points. Kamala thirty four percent positive, fifty one percent negative. That's a net of seventeen. Gavin new some even worse, only twenty seven percent positive, forty five percent negative, for a
net loss of eighteen. So I mean, there you go. If the election were held today, if jdvans I think were the candidate, I think he would win. I wouldn't well, I almost don't want to say that, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it today. But I think that he would people, some people, not many. I think people are so busy with their jobs, with their family and other things that they just don't watch this stuff. I know they don't watch it as much as I do,
because they're normal people. Anyway, these results are viewed as a warning sign, you think, for Newsom and Harris, who are both considered top potential Democratic contenders for the twenty twenty eighth presidential race. And I'll tell you what, if the Democrat Party can't do better than Kamala Harris and or Gavin Newsom, they deserve to get paddled pretty badly in the election. And of course the big thing's going
to be the upcoming midterms. But again, the takeaways from this thing, and this was an NBC News poll, by the way, usually pretty reliable, it's a warning sign for Newsoman Harris. As I said the same poll this I like this too, found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement ice with a net favorability rating. It's not favor a net favorability rating of eighteen. Underwater is currently more popular than
the Democratic Party, which sits at twenty two. After the hose job that the mainstream media and the Democrats have done to Ice, they are still more popular than the generic Democrat Party. You know what I mean. If that doesn't make them take pause and kind of look at things, than they deserve to lose everything. But the way Ice has been trashed and kicked around and maligned and lied about, there's still people still like them a lot more than
the Democrat Party, about four points more. Getting the Trump his net favorability is higher than those two jokers I just mentioned, but his own job approval is dipped slightly, falling from forty seven percent last year at this time to forty four percent in early March twenty twenty six, which we are in. Despite the low individual favorability for Democrat leaders, voters still narrowly preferred Democrats fifty percent over Republicans forty four percent for the midterms. I saw something
else yesterday too. Democrats are so ginned up for the midterms. They'll get everybody out, They'll get everybody out, and Republicans as always, are lagging behind. And if these maga Republicans don't get out and vote in the midterms. We're cooked. We're cooked. So just because Trump isn't on a ballot doesn't mean that it's not an important election. Anyway. We have to take a break for the news. But when we get back, as I said, we are going to be talking to Janis Heisel of the Epoch Times. She
is assigned to cover the president's visit tomorrow. Maybe she knows more than information and I just gave you, But we'll talk to Janis when we get back. Mike Allen in for Sloaney, seven hundred wl W. They we're back, Mike Allen in for Sloaney, seven hundred wl W. Well, like I said in the opening here, we are going to have a presidential visit tomorrow. President Trump is going to a place called, uh, what's it called? Uh, It's Trump is to speak Pharmaceutical Thermo Fisher Scientific. I knew
I had it. Then he's going to speak over in northern Kentucky as well, and that order might be flipped around. They didn't know for sure yesterday. But anyway, here to talk about it is the senior reporter for the Epoch Times, who is going to cover this event tomorrow, Janis Heisel. Janis, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
Yeah, this is actually Trump's first visiting our area since his second term as president began a year a little more than a year ago, and so it'll be interesting to see how all of this shakes out. Now that first event, as you mentioned, Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is in reading, he's going to be talking about Trump RIX and I think people will say it's so this is
the argument of the Trump administration. They're saying, look, Americans are paying the highest rug prices in the world, so there's they've negotiated but what's called most Favored Nation pricing agreements so that they can match the lowest price paid in other countries. And then through trump RX online, people are supposed to be able to get discounts of somewhere around forty percent up to ninety three percent again for medication prescriptions. So it'll be interesting to see how all
of that really plays out. It's really relatively new. I personally haven't listened to it a whole lot yet, but that's he's going to be talking more about that in I don't know exactly the timing the visit to Thermal push and scientific getting is not open to the public, and I believe it's also closed to the press. So I'll be focusing my efforts on that second visit, which I do know a little more detail on, and that
one is going to be in the afternoon. He will be at Birst Logistics, which is in Hebron, and so it's going to be I'm more like a like a like a I think a rally field to it, because public will be there, and so to be interesting to see how that also shapes out, especially because there's a little bit of a political fight going on there in that reason, because Trump and Representative Massey has left her heads with each other over a bunch of different policies
and some opposition that Matthew has made, and Matthew is now facing some opposition. Trump has endorsed a former Navy seal, you know, to kind of kick him out of office. So we'll see. I'm willing to bet there's probably gonna be some aspect of that come up that I don't know that one hundred percent.
I mean, do you think that president won't hold back on that?
I mean, well, you never know, but to a certain degree, if you were a betting woman. I bet he's gonna think I'm kind of that.
Hey, Janis, we got a terrible connection here. I don't know which side it's on. I can hear you a little bit garble, but we will soldier on and apologize to the listeners for that. I think, if anything, it's probably on our end. I wanted to ask you to as a local reporter here, have you ever covered a presidential visit or is this your first time?
Well, I've actually, as you know, covered Trump's campaign for his second term, but I do think this is the first time i've covered him as while he was sitting as a president. I did him long ago for a different publication.
I covered President Bill Clinton while he was.
In office, Okay, but I.
Haven't really covered sitting presidents, so to be something kind of newish for me, if I recall.
Correctly, Yeah, it'll be interesting. Hey, I wanted to talk about some pieces, some articles that you wrote for the Epoch Times, which your usual thorough, deep dive, really good. We talked about it, I think it was on Saturday, but I wanted to talk to you again about it. An article you did Iranians in US consider airstrikes has helped to liberate their homeland. And you talk to a number of women Iranian Americans, tell us what kind of
the temperature was for them. I know obviously they're supportive of what's going on over there, but just give me your thoughts on that real quick if you could.
Well, actually, it was the cheap reporters that were working on.
This, and we.
Interviewed men and women, so three of each. That wasn't necessarily by design. We were just trying to get anybody who would talk to us, who we could find across the nation, various states, And the bottom line theme from all of them, they were just so grateful for efforts to get them out from underneath the reviews that had so oppressed their people. These are people living in the United States who either regraded from that country or have relatives there or bold and so that was the bottom
line with them. And I got it too. The interview that I personally did, Like I said, so of my colleagues did interviews that I kind of wove it all together in story form. The one man a personally, he touched me veryly when he was telling me how he literally his voice was crackingly spoke to me almost in tears as he was saying how very much he respects the Irate and women who were removing the official Muslim uh you know, headcoming and body covering called a hijab.
They would that removing that is a punishable offense. Yeah, if they take that off and they're not wearing it in public, and they were removing those and burning those at the risk of not only find jail time or even det and how much respects has for those women, He said, they were so courageous for doing that. I don't think people in a country have a concept of what that must have been like.
Oh, I think you're right about that. We really don't. And I don't know if you saw it, Jana said, I think it broke late last night about the the five Iranian women on the on their soccer team that they are seeking and granted I believe asylum in Australia because they did not sing the national anthem or something, the running national anthem or something like that, and now the after some doubt, the Prime Minister of Australia is
granting them asylum. Did you see that yet? I don't mean to spring that on you, because it's great.
I did, but.
Deeply into detail on that one, since I haven't written anything about that one personally, but yes, I am aware of it, and from what I understand, I do remember seeing a.
Post from someone on the tree social.
I think something about the fact that we're several of these women who still feel the need to go back because they're worried about their family members. They literally are going to be targeted for some severe punishment from what I understand.
Yeah, I'll tell you what, I think. I'd make Australia my home until things settle down there if I were them. But hey, I get it, they're going to be with their families. Let me ask you this, in talking to these people, the women, the Iranian Americans, do they understand that it's up to them now? The citizens ever I ran to overthrow and take over their government. I just get a feeling that that's not a message that's really being pounded into much. What do you think about that?
Did you talk to any of them about that?
Well?
Yeah, and Trump did explicitly state that more than once when psychically, according to him, it's up to you, the Iranian people, to seize this moment because it may be your only chance in like generations. So because that Iranian regime has been in control for forty seven years, investing
that the forty step president is going after that. But literally under you know, the nuclear you know, enrichment and steps towards the nuclear bomb are really what President Trump had said, you know, incentivized this.
But you did.
Tell the Iranian people in the streets being told by the tens of thousands just for protesting, that help was going to be on its way. And then he said help was there, and they that's what they told me. They thought help was there. And I do think that, you know, they will try based on what I was told, but firepower weapons, these people who are just of I don't know any of that, so that is a big question mark as whether they will be successful, what they might need.
To be successful.
And I remember something It was jd Vance, the Vice it and saying, well, you never know about Israel. Whether I think he said we could not arm the people because you never know about Israel, and.
Response to a report question if I.
I'm not a hunt with JD.
Vance, But I do remember a person in the Trump administration. I'm pretty sure it was him, being.
That you know, and I can see that happening too through Israel. I mean, they've got more to lose than we do. But I didn't want to just follow up on what you said. Trump's public announcements pronouncements on that issue. It's in your story, Jannis. In a video address, and I don't know who got to see that or what. In a video address, Trump told around citizenry to remain sheltered until the bombing cease, and then quote, when we are finished take over your government, this will probably be
your only chance for generations. And I just hope that they seize the opportunity for that, But I guess we'll have to wait and see it. What sure seems like they're primed for it.
Well those were his exact words, for sure, and you know he just he just kind of shook and said, we'll see what happens. I mean, I think he says something literally along those lines right after that statement. Ye kind of like, hey, it would be out of his hands.
After that shift gears on you here last week. You got this story. You've been on top of this Minnesota thing since jump and always so thorough and really let
us know what's going on. They had that hearing last week March the fourth I got to watch some of it the hearing with the Governor, Tim Waltz and Attorney General Keith Allison and man to say that they got raked over the coles as an understand, and I don't mean that in a negative way, some tough, tough questions that they really should have answered a little bit more fully. I think, can you kind of tell us about that Janis and the four takeaways that you had?
Sure? So, the chairman of the committee, which was a House oversight committee, basically said, you know, this is one of the most standout quotes in my memory from this hearing was while the whistleblowers were silenced, prasters got rich.
And so you know, there's some argument that you know, just like a football coach or a quarterback, how responsibility for what happens with the team or freshing with the coach In the same way, the governor and some of his supporters were basically saying, you know, you can't know everything. You can be in charge of every single little thing, but at the end of the day, you know, I will say Waltz, the Governor did say that the buck
stops with me. He has said that several times. So he was saying, Look, Comer was saying, look, being in charge of this. According to him and a lot of other testimony, people who were coming forward from these state departments and saying, warning, I am seeing lots of money flowing to this place, and they're not really justifying these funds, and they're just saying, well, there's Somalians who are running that business, so you know, you might be considered racist
or islamaphobic if we investigate. So just basically be quiet, so you know. And they were actually threatened and surveiled, and according to a lot of testimony, and there were apparently at least thirty whistle blowers who gave testimony in private sessions to members of Comer's committee.
About that eleven billion dollars. Thirty whistle blowers. Gee, I think something may be a miss up there in Minnesota. You're first out of your four things points that you make. Payments kept flowing after fraud alarms, and I've heard that ever since this thing started. Jais I mean, and you just kind of covered a little bit. They knew something was going on, but they kept throwing money at it. Anyway, Is that accurate?
That was what one of the things give out of the hearing. You know, Representative Byron Donalds, who's running for governor in Florida, was saying that, you know, agency leaders directly notified the governor's chief of staff by May of twenty twenty about concerns regarding this business called Feeding Our Future. It's a nonprofit organization that was paid to get provide
meals to kids. Yeah, well the payments get this went from three hundred and seven thousand dollars in twenty eighteen, which is a year before Waltz took office, to two one hundred million dollars three years later.
Wow after So that would have been in twenty twenty one, a year after the flat.
Alarms were raised, And donald and other people are going, what.
It's just unbelievable. And I still think it's a tip of the iceberg. But we'll see, and I want we're not going to have time for all of them. But the second point, whistleblower retaliation alleged and denied. That's something that you've looked at him and we've been talking about for a while. It seems to me that that's pretty much established now, is it not that the whistleblowers have
been kind of singled out. I think somebody said Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, almost thirty whistleblowers accused you and your administration of retaliation. Of course, Waltz denied it. What are your thoughts on that?
Well, not only those whistleblowers spoke directly to that committee behind the scenes, but there's that actually an x account that claims to represent get this, four hundred Minnesota state employees who are issuing statements over and over again. And ordinarily anybody can set up a Twitter account, right, so
you know x xcs Twitter. But you know, the thing is that state legislators have spoken to a lot of these people confidentially, and they have validated that account as being legitimately made up of people who are working or were in the past working for state government agencies in Minnesota. And so there was one lady who went very public. I've seen her name, and I chose not to name her in this article for a couple of different reasons.
But she was a.
Lifelong Democrat and was called racist. So again, Governor Waltz is a Democrat. But this lady, despite being a standploy, a lifelong Democrat, was called racist and her she got a different job, assignment at a not such a good job right after she blew the whistle on fraud.
Wow.
You know, so that lady has been public in multiple publications.
Yeah, I'll tell you what, there's going to be more of that too. And well that just kind of really makes you mad. Just the fear of being labeled racist, islamophobic causes people not to do anything about it, you know. Unfortunately, Janis as always we are out of time, but really appreciates you spending some time with us this morning.
Absolutely, I just want to encourage people to follow me on Janice Heisel. Last name is h I s l E. First name is Janis j A.
I see, all right, thank you so much. Janis really a great day. Mind you too. Well, I'll tell you what. When she does a story, she does a story, and that's the Epoch Times in general. And again, if you have had a chance, and I'm not working form or anything, but if you haven't had a chance to look at it, you should because it's a very very thorough publication. Hey, we got to take a break, but when we get back,
will it ever go away? Epstein Epstein Epstein Legal analyst Steve Gooden is going to talk to you about another Epstein issue, this one with a Cincinnati twist. So make sure you want to hear that. We will be back. Mike Gallen in for Slowny, seven hundred WLW.
You want to be an American.
TA News Radio seven WLW. Mike Allen in for Sloaney. Well, if you think we're done with Epstein, think again, this time with a local twist, some old, old old allegations against Epstein and also President Trump. But I mean it's as thin as it can be. But again, as I said, there is a local twist to it. Here to talk about it is legal analyst Steve Gooden. He is a partner with Porter Wright and he works on complicated civil and criminal cases. Steve, thanks for joining.
Us, Hey anytime, like, Hey, tell.
Us about this new thing that you found. As I understand, I didn't see it, and it's not really written about very much. It was one of the ones that the DOJ, I guess lost or something like that. Can you fill us in on all that?
Yeah?
Sure, Yeah, this is a really interesting twist and as you say, it may be absolutely nothing, but it's fascinating. Nonetheless, So the DOJ, Department of Justice released a handful of documents on Friday that were not, for whatever reason, originally produced with the rest of the Epstein files about six
weeks ago. And in those documents there are additional allegations about Epstein and Donald Trump from roughly to nineteen eighty three nineteen eighty four period, and what allegedly happened all occurred on Hilton Head Island in a series of long term rentals, and there was a woman who came forward along with her friend in twenty nineteen, according to these reports, called the FBI and said, look, we were I was sexually abused there by both Epstein and by President Now
President Trump provided some very graphic details I won't go into on the air.
But one of the things that caught my mind my.
Attention immediately in this last release is she references a Cincinnati area businessman who was involved in real estate in south in South Carolina and gives a very specific description.
Of him, and he is named in the files. I won't name him here.
There have been several newspaper reports in the Charleston, South Carolina area that have really delved into this and have tried to figure out, you know, whether or not they can substantiate.
We ate these claims.
Obviously, the person who made them has been identified as an actual person. For mother and friends have been identified, and it looks as though the FBI did do some follow up calls. This individual is also appears several other places now in the files. There are folks, you know, out on the internet who are searching through these millions of documents because it does seem as though this person who we believe most most of us believed to be dead.
You know, he's someone who has described as quote having gray hair and big ears, which isn't much to go on. But this individual, this woman.
Did name him.
You know, most news papers are not naming him at this point because it is now substantiated. But she listed him as a Cincinnati area business person with real estate connections, business in South Carolina, and someone affiliated with the local college. I will say that some of the other folks who have dug into this, and as well as myself, you know, it looks as though the person may be may be more of a Cincinnati person than or Columbus person than
a Cincinnati person. But it's fascinating, nonetheless, and I think it's going to be you know, opening up get a new sort of Pandora's box with local connections, particularly given you know.
The ongoing drama.
At Ohio State over the less wets Near connection with they think there is very he is much much more firmly established than this. But for the first time, you know, you plug in Cincinnati into the DJ surch engine, you're going to start to start to see some.
Stuff, you know, and and it is interesting the Cincinnati connection. And obviously I won't ask you to name that person he said he passed away? Am I right about that?
Well?
Who most of us believe it's a very common name, and so I'm trying to talk around it because if it's if it is the individual that most folks seem to think think it is his, you know, living adult children. So again, until something is substantiated in more detail, and this person is never criminally charged or anything of that name true, but the name can be found in the unredacted.
Files that were released last Friday.
So if it's the person that most people think seem to think it is the person that has been deceased for some years.
You know, another interesting thing in the article that you sent me from the South Carolina newspaper, I'll just read that a couple of sentences here. Months later, she was charged with six counts of forgery for writing bad checks. That's the mom you're talking about there, right, Okay, for writing bad checks, a crime she had been accused of
in the past as well. Signing off on the charges was then solicitor, which is prosecutor then solicitor rand Hoff Buster Murdo Junior, the dude who was convicted of murder his wife and his son. So, I mean, that's a kind of an interesting little twist on that.
Oh yeah, it's insane if you if you dig into the whole report, the there's this this gentleman who was either from Cincinnati or Columbus was dating her mother and then also you know, became involved with her when she was thirteen and fourteen.
That's what she alleges anyway. So and then the mother.
Obviously ended up going to jail for embezzling from her real estate business and later blamed the embezzlement on her need to raise money to pay off Jeffrey Epstein, who allegedly had photos of her daughter. It's very sordid. And then, yes, the prosecutor who put her in jail, for embezzlement, later went to prison himself for murdering his wife. So you know, Hilton had Charles you know that say they do things differently down there.
I suppose, yeah they do. I mean everything that I've watched about that. It's interesting too, as those people kind of ruled the roost down there, the murders. But I don't know, I thought that was an interesting twist. Just a couple more questions on this and then we'll move on. Do you, I mean, what is your best guest, Steve Gooden, as to when, if ever, all this Epstein stuff is going to stop. I mean, and it's a two parter.
And don't you think just as a general rule or principle whatever, that if the Democrats had something on Trump, they sure as hell would have trotted it out before the election.
I mean, look, I mean, first and foremost, if there was a criminal case to bring against Donald Trump, I think that it would have been brought a long long time ago. I mean, as we saw in the pier between the two terms. I mean, they brought criminal charges against him that were baseless. I mean, I still think the mortgage fraud case was ridiculous. You know, some of the Jack Smith stuff also was totally overblown. Most of
it fell apart in court. If they had an actual, live witness with credible details, you know, I can't imagine the case wouldn't have been brought forward. I mean this, according to these documents, this individual, this woman was interviewed as many as four times by the agents in twenty nineteen.
So if they really.
Had something there, any kind of corroborating evidence, you know, that would be I would have to imagine that that kind of a case would have been brought forward. Now that being said, there are things, you know, that do according to this Posting Courier piece, which is the big newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, there are some things that she says that do line up. I mean, she references going to a concert and seeing Jeffrey Epstein, and they
found evidence that concert actually did occur. You know, they found some evidence that supports of her mother was involved in this real estate business that she mentions, in which Jeffrey Epstein was a client and I think at one point an investor. So there are some things there that indicate some of the story is true, but so far, no one's produced any kind of flight logs or any
other eyewitnesses that would connect the president there. So I don't think there's much of a question that Jeffrey Epstein, prior to having his private island, went to places, you know, like his ranch in New Mexico and places that he would rent and Hilton had to do, you know, his his illegal activities. But really, there isn't anything there in regards to the President that I don't think hasn't already
been talked about. There are specifics, there are details, and again if you look at the actual documents that are now available online, that's very.
Graphic and terrible.
But you know, it really is something that's something that he's long denied, and that these kinds of allegations have floated around him for many many years. You know, the only thing that has ever been substantiated in a court of law really was the Egene Carroll case where she sued him Civilly prime reially for defamation in that case, but the defamation was based on his denial of whatever sexual encounter they allegedly had at a department store many
many years ago. So, I mean, these things have floated around him. You know, he obviously kind of lived this playboy lifestyle and when he was younger, particularly and you know, by his own mission, and I think that that opens a person up to this kind of speculation, But there really isn't anything here that's going to change anybody's mind. And really just I think it's just a reflection of how divided the country is at the end of the day.
I mean, there is actual a poll this morning there's a significant plurality of people who believe that the invasion or our attack on Iran, or Iran has been was solely designed to deflect attention from the Epstein files, which you know, I mean there's there's you know, there's something like forty percent of the public apparently believes that or if you can believe the polling. So so that just kind of reflects just how how divided the country is.
And I think, you know, and wh when you look at the Epstein files, you're going to see what you're looking for. If you hate Trump, you're going to see evidence that he's a you know, a rapist and pedophile. If you if you love Trump, you're going to look at the files and you're going to see evidence that he was being persecuted and gossiped about in a way that's improper. And then there's a lot of us who look at it and and don't know what the hell to make of it all, to be honest.
And then one more, a lot of us look at it and wish it would just go away, because it's a it's a side issue, if you will, and I know for the victims it's not. But the man needs to run the country and also do what he needs to do in the world. I just wish it would
go away, but it's not. Hey, let me let me kind of change gears here at political of course, you being a former Cincinnati City Council member and also the chair of the Rejuvenated Charter Party, I understand we had a couple more incidents downtown over the weekend, brawls and things of that nature. I didn't see it, But tell me what you know about that, Steve, Well.
Yeah, you know it.
It was kind of an interesting weekend and kind of what's happened, I think really since last summer when we had the horrible incident during the that became like an international incident at the Cincinnati Music Festival on Fourth Street, where you had this large brawl which is still snaking its way through the court. What's kind of happened is a lot of folks on social media now sort of tracked these fights and incidents downtown.
And there are more of them, I.
Think than a lot of folks realize. They don't always make it on the news, but a lot of people record these things on their phone. So there were at least two in the last seventy two hours. There was a large brawl with a bunch of teenagers down at a concert near the Brady Center. And then there was another large brawl involving about twenty to thirty people down by the library yesterday. And these are things that unfortunately you can get on Facebook or Instagram now and track.
They're not making a lot of the local news, I think, and even by the time sometimes the police respond that they're they break up quickly. But there have been two more large scale brawls that have been I think very well documented. One of them did get some news coverage, the one at the concert, but it just continue used to be an issue and it continues to be.
I think they're really.
Really hanging around then these are these are not in the middle of the night. I mean the one yesterday was. You know, it was at three pm near a bus stop. So I mean, these are things that are occurring right in the middle of the business district, right in the middle of the work day, and it does beg the question about, you know, how the city is deploying our police department. I mean, we had a large festival called Bockfest Jim Tarbell originated to back in the nineties. I
had a record turnout. I was down there on Friday to watch the parade and no issues at all.
I mean they had police.
Everywhere and it was very well organized and very well thought out. So we can when we when we have a large scale event, do a great safety plan and keep people safe. But you know, I didn't see any evidence of any kind of arrests or anything associated with that large scale festival. Uh So, you know, but it's continuing to be an issue. And now I think is the weather is turning. You know, we had the awful
event at Riverfront Live two weeks ago. You know, we're just everyone I think is just braced to see what kind of a spring and summer we're going to have here. I don't think this, you know, this is over. I think for downtown and what it means for downtown is a very sad thing.
It is. It is. I mean, the millions, billions of dollars invested in downtown and you got to deal with this. We got a couple more minutes left. Is it true that the proposed city budget will cut public safety by five percent? Because if it is, I mean, my head spinning. What do you know about that, Steve?
Well, that's where we are right now.
I mean, the city is facing a twenty nine million dollar deficit, and the early indicate the early plan is to cut all departments, including the police department, five percent, you know, and obviously we're going absolutely the wrong direction there, you know, especially coming out of last summer with our
incredible uptick in gun violence. And I know the city argues that, you know, crime across all categories is you know, arguably down city wide, but the uptaking gun violence and Downtown OTR and Orthern OTR, especially in the West End, it was up over over fifty five percent in those neighborhoods, and it was just a you know, a rib a terrible period and really you know, resulted in ultimately, I mean, I know they're arguing otherwise, but common sense tells you.
That's why they ultimately suspended the police chief and brought in n interim to try to try some of these strategies. So the idea that they're you know, that we're trying to do something with fewer officers, are actually perhaps you know, cutting even some of the technology and trying to find that five percent.
We don't know.
I know King Kober from the FOP has been out publicly stating that in his view, this is just a negotiating tactic. But you know, having worked on multiple city budgets, I can tell you you know, it is structurally imbalanced. There's a requirement to balance it, and they're going to
be looking every way they can to do that. So the idea that we may actually have fewer resources in the police department despite this up ticking gun violence is a very real possibility, and it's just a it's a very sad, sad state of affairs.
I don't know how else how else to put it.
I will say this, and I never I'm not you know, we've been I've been very critical over the years of how our current city manager is shure a long handled a lout of matters. But I will say this, in your credit. She actually preemptively declined to raise this ship. They just reviewed, you know, they reviewed her and gave her a great review with with with much of which I would respectfully disagree.
But I will say to her credit that.
You know, unlike we we've had other city managers over over the years, who have you know, who've been you know, pretty consistently always bumped up and paid based upon you know, the metrics and city users. But I thought her doing that actually was a signal that they are really looking at making some cuts and and uh and trying to try to get out in front of that and actually being cognizant of the morale issues that these cuts could
cause at city hall. So you know, I want to give credit where it's due if they really are in a budget cutting mode where it looks like they're going to have to be her foregoing any kind of increase. You know, it did send I think a powerful signal that they're serious about.
That, right.
Yeah, and surprising too, Steve. We're out of time, but is always really appreciated, and please.
Keep us posted absolutely you take care of it.
Okay, you too, thank you. Thanks, you know, talking about cutting a police budget by five percent, that means layoffs, and having been on the receiving end of a police layoff back a million years ago, that ain't fun. It's just not But I guess we'll have to see what happens. Hey, we got to take a break, but when we get back, we're going to talk to Mark Tapson. This guy has a op ed piece out that defines the left and liberals in general better than I have ever seen before,
and I'm looking forward to talking to him. His name is Mark taps We will talk to him when we get back. Mike Allen in for Sloany, seven hundred WLW. It is ten thirty eight News Radio, seven hundred WLW. Mike Allen in for Scott Sloan. I'll tell you what this next guest. If you were here, I'd be giving him a medal. He put together for Front Page magazine a piece entitled the Left is a Basket of Miserables, and I just want to read the first paragraph of
it and then we'll talk to him. When hockey player Jack Hughes slapped the winning goal against Canada recently to bring home Olympic gold for the United States for the first time since the nineteen eighty miraclew on ice, all America exalted, all except, of course, the bitter miserables of the left. And with that, let me enter Mark Tapson. He is the Shilman Fellow on Popular Culture at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center. And I'm telling you, Mark, that's as good a description as the left the whole article, as I've ever seen.
Thanks Mike, Yeah, you know, I was kind of playing with the the pejorative that Hillary Clinton infamously slapped on the right, which is that we're a basket of deplorables, which is a horrible thing to say, but it occurred to me, especially after this Olympic victory, that the left should be referred to as a basket of miserables because
these people are relentlessly discontented. They're relentlessly bitter and relentlessly angry that they live in a country that does not match the utopian vision they have of a social justice perfect world, and that kind of politicize, that kind of political forever drives them to politicize every single aspect of their lives and our lives too now, because we're dragged into it. Remember that slogan from the seventies, the personal
is the political and vice versa. That's what has brought our country to this current situation where Americans can't even be brought together anymore by sporting events that were divided on every single thing, from sports to bathrooms. And that's the reason that the left is miserable all the time. It's because leftism, by its very nature, requires its adherents to be to live in this kind of perpetual grievance
and discontent about everything. So it's yeah, So while conservatives exulted over this Olympic victory, the left had at best mixed feelings about it. They have this kind of cognitive dissonance, as they called it, about simultaneously feeling good about your country and feeling proud of the Olympic team and and hating at the same time the Trump administration.
And they got to bring that in. Let me ask you this, Mark, were you surprised by.
Any of that?
Not at all.
But it's in fact I found it kind of amusing the degree to which they they were wringing their hands over how to deal with this cognitive dissonance. There was a huff Post article that I was kind of spun off of which talked about this cognitive dissonance, and the writer even spoke with a few clinical psychologists. One of them said that that it was an increasingly it was one of the main topics that she held space for,
as she called it, in therapy. And I thought, well, it's because progressives are They live in this kind of psychological turmoil constantly. They can't just live normal lives. And the right understands. You know, this is a major difference between right and the left. The right understands that the government is not America, that political administrations come and go, but America, the country that we love, is sort of
above and beyond all that. The left cannot make that distinction, and so they struggle with the fact that they live in under this fascist, totalitarian Trump and yet they're supposed to feel good about the Olympic victory. So it's a real psychological conundrum for them, and unfortunately, the right tends to get dragged into it.
Yep. Well, and here's the other thing I know from my years of being involved in all this stuff. If you get into an argument or even a discussion, although that's rare because they turn it into an argument with
a liberal, they will never admit they are wrong. About anything, And you can't have a constructive dialogue with somebody that just sits there so arrogantly and well, you're wrong about that, you're wrong about that, And I don't know what you do about it, or if you can do anything about it.
I don't think you can do anything about it. Actually, as someone put it, and I can't recall who. I think it may have been, Victor Davis Hanson, but you can't reason someone out of a position that they didn't reason themselves into.
I love that.
I think even you know, people like Charlie kirk Aside, who you know, was able to go out and and try to debate people and actually changed a few minds. Apart from that, I think it's literally impossible to have a reason debate with the left because, as you put it, they they simply cannot admit and will not admit that their positions might be wrong. Right, Yeah, it's they and they also so they just they never play defense. They never are thrown on the defensive. They always always play offense.
And that's that's a lesson that conservatives actually need to take the heart, no.
Question about it. And you know, I mean I've been arguing with them for a long time. And you know one other thing too, and I can personally attest to this unfortunately, I mean, it even infects families and relationships between family members. And you know, let's just say, oh it's me if I say, you know, family is way up here and politics is way down there. That's just a foreign concept to them. You know, it's like you said, everything has to be about politics.
Well, you know, every holiday that rolls around, especially Thanksgiving, when families across America tend to get together and you know, celebrate this country. Every time a holiday like that role around, the left puts out a bunch of articles about this is how you should talk to your your racist uncle about why he's wrong, and it's it's so tiresome and
it's so antagonistic, that is, it's really pretty disgusting. But their aim, of course, I mean, the far left's aim is to divide and conquer, and it's especially hell bent literally on dividing and breaking up families because that's that's the that's the ultimate goal of neo cultural Marxist is the abolition of the family, as Karl Marx put it very bluntly. So that's every time a holiday rolls around.
You're reminded that they have made politics the center of their lives, and if you disagree with them, even if you're related or even closely related, they'll cut you off if you don't reject the opinions they disagree with.
Let me tell you that is you wouldn't know how accurate that is, just the way they are. And one thing about them too that I enjoy, and I've enjoyed through the years, it's fun to piss them off. And it's really kind of easy too. I get people calling into this show and my Saturday show Lives, and every once in a while they'll call, and I like when they do. But you know, when they start yelling and screaming, it's really easy to set them into orbit. And you know that's kind of fun.
Well, Conservatives tend to come at them with facts, yeah, and you know, real world concepts, and that's not the world that the left lives in the world lives. The left lives in this world of this utopian vision of theirs in which everything can be deconstructed and reconstructed according to the way they believe the world should be. So human nature, for example, which conservatives just accept as a fact of life.
That's not a real thing for the left.
The left believes that there is no such thing as human nature, that everything is socially constructed, and therefore you can anything that's faulty about human nature, you can break down, deconstruct it, get rid of it, and socially engineer a more perfect society. And so they live in this impossibly unrealistic world that just drives them to constant bitterness and frustration and discontent.
No question about it. There are so many things in this op ed piece that I absolutely love. But just bear with me. I want to read another paragraph. It's a relatively short one, talking about Trump derangement syndrome. One such Trump derangement syndrome sufferer tweeted about the Olympics. Quote Trump did this. He made it impossible to be proud of anything American. It's straight up embarrassing and shameful to be an American. Now, f Trump f ice this whole
corrupt administration, The Bitter Miserable concluded. The Bitter Miserable concluded in the less profane in articulate style. And you are so so right about that, Martin. I mean, it's always got to be tinged with either obscenity or some kind of anger. I mean, you've got to give them one thing. The Left, they're consistent, consistently wrong.
Yeah, the whole profanity thing. I'm constantly pointing out. Part of the reason for that is because they despise bourgeois or middle class values and they love profanity.
They're constantly spewing it.
Because they love to sort of throw that in the face of more restrained, conservative minded middle class people.
They love to attack that value.
And also the other thing is they're just not good at articulating their positions because because they can't rationally defend those positions, so they're just reduced to spewing f words every chance they get. And it's it's completely ineffective as a as a debating tool. But because it's just that's the point of it is that it kind of shuts down debate.
You're right, and we're getting so crass in this society, not just politically but everything. And you know, I mean fifteen, twenty twenty five years ago, if you would have seen that, my god, I mean, the FCC probably would have jerked the license of a talk show host that said something like that. But you know, it's acceptable now, let me ask you this, It's probably the hardest question of all.
Where do you see this headed Mark taps and is it ever going to be where they're I don't want to say reconciliation, but maybe at least you're able to have a discussion with someone on the other end of the political spectrum, or do you think it'll get worse? Well, I hate to be I wish I could be more.
I'm a little more.
I mean, I'm.
Personally kind of optimistic in the long run, but in the short run, I'm very pessimistic. I think we're headed. Look, we're we're already in a hot civil war. We're not you know, we're not just at each other's throats or verging on civil war. We're already in a civil war in which one side is waging violence against the other side.
So I think it's just going to get worse until the far left, which currently controls the Democrat Party, is somehow burns itself out, or we just or the right just successfully confronts it over and over again until it's spent. Because there's no reconciliation. There's currently no reconciliation between right and left. Were with each other on every single issue. There's a grand canyon sized gulf between us at the moment.
It just cannot be bridged by dialogue alone. I think the far left has to be destroyed and we have to get back to a country in which.
We might be at odds with each.
Other, even vehemently so, but that we're not in a civil war and we're not committing violence against each other.
That's got to go, no question about it. I'm going to end this interview with again just reading a couple of paragraphs. That's the end of your piece, which again I will tell my listeners it is from Front Page magazine. The left is a basket of miserables. Okay, here's the end of it. As one conservative ex user commented about the about the where do they get okay, about the purporting cognitive dissonance, and you were talking about that. If you can't separate things, you need to work on your
adulting skills. Sound advice. This is this is the weenie. If you will, Oklahoma Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, and he's the one that will now be he'll have the job that Christy Noam had with respect to Ice. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen responded on next to the huff Post piece, and as you said, that's where you know you were kind of answering that quote. And this is Senator Mullen.
If you can't be excited about winning gold at the Olympics, including in overtime versus Canada, you don't have a pulse. Some people will pick victimhood and being miserable over having an ounce of patriotism. Good luck, And the last thing response to that, Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, was a little more blunt. Get the hell out of my country, USA, USA, USA.
Thank you so much, Mark for right reading that. I'm tempted to take it home and frame it, and I want as many people as I can to read it, because in I don't know, four or five short pages, you nailed it, absolutely nailed it. Thanks Mike.
I appreciate that.
Okay, anything you want to say before we get out of here, How people can get ahold of you?
Well, a couple of places. One you could go to my substack. It's Mark Tapson dot substack dot com. And also go to front pagemag dot com, which is the flagship website of the David Horwitz Freedom Center, which I write for.
Okay, thank you so much, and hope we can call on you again.
Sounds good. I'd look forward to it.
Okay, thank you all right. You know, I can tend to maybe exaggerate sometimes I'm not I'm not on this one. I read so much of this stuff, but this one just nails it, absolutely nails it with respect to the Left and how they conduct themselves. And we're never going to have any kind of dialogue with one, not budging an inch because they think they're always right about everything. It just ain't gonna work anyway. We need to take a break. But when we get back, boy, I'll tell
you what I used to think. There were two places in the world where you had to behave yourself. One is church and the other is a courtroom. Not so anymore. When we get back, we're going to talk to Judge Brad Greenberg about what's going on down the courthouse, not just our courthouse, but all around the country. We'll do that when we get back. Mike Allen in for Sloaney seven hundred WLW.
Do you want to be an American Idiot?
Home of the Reds seven hundred WLW. Mike Allen in for Sloaney. Well, you know, like I said in the intro coming out of the news or before the news here, I always think there are two places where you have to behave yourself. You have to behave yourself. That's church and the other one is a courtroom. Well you can throw church out now with Don Lemon and others invading a church, and the court room is having their problems too. Here to talk about it is Judge Brad Greenberg of
the Hamilton County Municipal Court. He served in UNI court since two thousand and six. He also presides over the Hamilton County Veterans Court, which is a great great court. He represents Judicial District five, and I think people should know the districts and which judges you can vote for. District five include Sycamore Township, Simms Township, Loveland, Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sharonville, Madera, Indian Hill, Reading, Deer Park, Springdale, Glendale, Evendale and Terrace Park.
Here to talk about a great piece that he authored just I don't know about a week or so ago, a little bit more than that. It's entitled there must be zero tolerance for violence in our courts, And he's so right judge, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Hi Mike, thanks for having me on and it's great to be with you.
Thank you. Judge, Tell me what prompted you to write the op ed that you did. I know there was an incident a few weeks before that where people really got out of hand at the courthouse, but before anything. I mean, I agree with you one hundred percent, but what prompted you to write it?
So you're right.
On February twenty fourth, there was a big crowd in Judge Robert Winkler's courtroom as a defendant was pleading guilty in a murder case and he was being sentenced to prison. And as the defendant was being escorted out of the courtroom, a member of the victim's family actually attempted to attack him in the hallway. And at that point it was on and we had a full fledged melee at the courthouse. And I'm sorry to go eighteen deputies.
They responded, WHOA wow, it's a heck of a lot of deputies that maybe not that bad, but this is becoming something that is a problem. Now. I started going in courtrooms a million years ago, and man, you've never saw anything like that. But across the country, it sure seems like we're seeing more of it. Why do you think that is?
You know, it's like all things across our society, just behavior has been getting worse. You see it on airplanes, you see it in churches, and unfortunately, you see it in the courthouse.
You do.
And I did a little research for this, and according to AI, surge in judicial threats. There is a surge in this, and it is it's getting to be a situation where more and more judges in every court are going through this. I mean, does the Sheriff's office, I'm sure they do, but does anybody keep tabs on how many we have of these? In Hamilton County?
The sheriff McGuffey is keeping tabs on it. We've met with her, had discussions about it. And you're right, the threats, the emails, they've increased over the years.
Yeah, it's I mean, I don't know, It's just something that I had hoped i'd never see again, but it's something that happens all the time. UNI court's a little bit different. I used to call it, respectfully, the McDonald's of the justice system, because you got to crank it pretty fast, but you got to do it right. So it tends to attract a lot more people. If someone judge acts up in your courtroom, is it an automatic contempt citation from you or do you think about it?
Because I know from my three years on Unie court sometimes that's kind of a hard decision to make.
Can be a hard decision, but I think the duty is on the judge to order right. The sheriff's do a great job, but the judge plays a role too.
And if someone is really acting up and creating a danger in the courtroom, in my courtroom, at least, I would normally hold them in contempt of court and they would face a jail sentence if it's a first offense, up to thirty days in jail.
Hey, tell us what contempt. The penalty for contempt is. I know it's somewhat fluid, I guess, but let's just say somebody acts up in your courtroom and you think it's inappropriate and want to do something about it. What is the penalty for criminal contempt?
So for a first offense, the maximum is thirty days in jail in a two hundred and fifty dollars fine, and then for a second offense up to sixty days in jail or five hundred dollars fine, and then for a third offense in any subsequent offense, ninety days in jail in one thousand dollars fine. But it is rare that contempt a coret sentences are imposed, but it is a possibility.
And it's getting more frequent. I'm afraid you know. I did a little research for this year, honor, and found a from June twenty seventh, twenty twenty four, an article from judges dot org. Over half of judges report threats environment affecting mental health. And the whole purpose of this this piece is that this is something that's putting a strain on judges. Just let me quoted one. This is
one random judge quote. Society continues to be less civil in the norms of respecting authority, or figures that represent authority are being eroded close quote. I think that's something that pretty good, don't you.
I agree it does, and you know we I understand emotions can run high in the courthouse. It is important that decisions are being made that affect people's lives. But there's no excuse to act a fool in the courthouse. And you know if you do, you should be expect to face some consequences.
Do you, And I don't want you to get in any trouble with your fellow judges, But do you believe that some judges just let it go and don't do anything about it, which of course is their call to make.
Yeah, I do.
We have a lot of new judges in the in the courthouse over the last several years, and you have to. As I said, it's the main responsibility is on the sheriffs to keep the peace, but the judges have a duty too, and we have to to back the sheriffs h and help maintain order in the courthouse. And judges
should be imposing contempt to court inappropriate circumstances. And also the offender should also be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if they commit a crime while they're in the courthouse.
Yah, you just you have to. I mean, in some murder cases up in common and please that I've been involved in and others that I just heard about, it's really a problem up there because of a judge you know, gives you a healthy sentence, you know, twenty to life or whatever. It's going to rile some people up and just the thought of well, I'm not going to take this out in the hallway and talk to my family member friend, I'm going to just open my mouth and
start running my mouth right here. And we did have a former sitting judge do that. I was there to see that, and I'm talking about Tracy Hunter. That was just appalling for the public to have to see that.
It is you know, we have jurors that come to the courthouse, we have victims that come to the courthouse, and everyone should feel safe when they come to the courthouse and not to not have to see or be a witness to crime or foolishness or misbehavior. And the judges need to step up and maintain order themselves.
Let me ask you this. I mean, this is something from the research I've done, this is something that is going up. Also, the actual threats to judges. Obviously a judge has to take those seriously, but it seems to be there's an increase in that. Have you ever had that situation judge that you want to talk about or do you think that's something that's increasing too.
It is increasing. I think it's judges are much more accessible because of the Internet, so it's very easy to find a judge's email or even a judge's home address. So it's pretty common now for judges to receive threatening emails or harassing emails, and it's just part of the job, unfortunately, is having to deal with that, and judges need to be able to protect themselves.
There's no question about it, and I think be vigilant too, Judge. I mean, you know the mental state of some of the people that come before you as a judge, and that's not a knock on people that are having problems, but I don't know that from the judges I've talked to, it just seems like it's increasing. Judge, Do you have anything else to say on this subject. I'm going to turn it over to you at this point because I've asked the questions I wanted to ask.
Well.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk about this because, as you said at the beginning, you know, church and court are the two places where you're expected to behave and it's unfortunate that things have been trending in the wrong direction the last thirty years. I've been in the courtroom for thirty years. The last pointy is a judge, and things have been going in the wrong direction. But you
know it's up to the judges to maintain order. And if you, you know, come into my core room and you are planning on causing trouble, you better bring a toothbrush.
I like that. I like that. I lied one more question. Are you seeing I don't know, say, over the last ten years or so, a decrease in the number of cases in municipal court.
We have seen a decrease and that's probably some of that is a good thing. We get less d UI's in court, and I think that's a function of uber and left and just general education about the dangers of drinking and driving. So I think it's a good thing when there's when there's less less.
Cases, no question about it. And with respect to DUIs my twenty years of a criminal defense practice, in the last ten years or so, they have really dwindled because I think these young people are smart enough to you know, call an uber or find another the way home. Besides that, and again, uh, if you lose, if you lose clients that way, it's a good thing. Judge. I really appreciate it.
I really appreciate you coming on. You have an open invitation to come here and talk to me and my listeners anytime something comes up.
Thank you, Mike, thanks for having me on my pleasure.
Thank you, Judge by by all right, Judge Brad Greenberg, And I gotta tell you I didn't want to embarrass him. He's definitely one of the good ones. I appeared before him a number of times as a criminal defense attorney. And you know, he's not a guy that talks a lot, and judges the less they talk, the less they get themselves in trouble. But fair, Uh, you know, the old thing, fair and firm. And I just can't say enough about Judge Brad Greenberg. And I know he's up for election coming up soon.
Uh.
That wasn't the reason I had him on, because it is a very good topic. But anyway, bottom line, I take a heck of a lot of the Honorable Brad Greenberg of the Hamilt County Municipal Court. Hey, we got to take a break, but we'll be back. Mike Allen in for Sloaney seven hundred WLW. Hey we're back, Mike Allen in for Sloaney, seven hundred WLW. I'll tell you what Judge Greenberg was great, and I just I can't say how much that I admire him for the job
that he does. And unfortunately, I think you're going to see those things, the incidents in the courtroom continuing, and again, as the thing that I've read from my research, it's a function I think of the society becoming more violent, more crass. I mean, if you can't stand before a judge, I don't care if it's for a parking ticket or a homicide case. You just behave yourself, you know. I mean, it's not that much too much to ask. And I
was glad to hear him say that. The response to what happened, the one we've talking about a few weeks before that, eighteen deputies responded to it so and I can't say enough about them too. I mean, the deputies that are in the courtroom every day, they've got a tough job, and people are screened as they come in, but I mean, you never know when something is going to get through, and judges need to know, lawyers need to know, Litigants need to know that they are being protected,
especially when it comes to jury trials. I mean, you think it's hard getting jurors now if this thing continues, it's going to be even more difficult to get them. They just don't want to serve, They don't want to go down there. And then they read things like was in the paper a couple of weeks ago from Cameron Knight. Families fighting at the Hamilt County Courthouse on February twenty fourth drew a large police response and resulted in multiple charges.
Good Two groups of people at the courthouse for a hearing had a confrontation inside, prompting police and SHARE's deputies to respond to help courthouse staff. And you know, that's what happens, and it's usually families. You got one family, then you got another family. You know, I guess, kind of like a Hatfield McCoy's deal. And if it doesn't go to one the way one of the families wants, well, then you know, let's act up in the courthouse. And you know, as the judge said, you have to come
down hard on people like that. You have to. When I was a judge, I mean, it's gosh, I guess, oh, from probably eighty nine, no, yeah, eighty nine to I guess ninety three or something like that. I don't remember ever seeing one of those things. Happen in my courtroom. Maybe it did and I forgot about it, but you just didn't see it then. And especially in Room Ay, that's the big room where they do all the arraignments, where you could have two three hundred cases on the
docket in one morning. That's where people tended to act up. But again, you just got to come down hard on them and make sure you make an example of them. And I think judges are starting to get that. You know, the one thing I got into with the judge a little bit, but are threats to judges online, threats, letters
to their home and that type of thing. That is something that is extremely serious, and I think law enforcement realizes that, hey, we got to take a break, but when we get back, we're going to talk to Christopher Smithman. Haven't talked to him in a while and want to kind of catch up with him. I want to ask him too about the goings on in city council. A lot of things happening with The one thing that that Steve Gooden kind of tipped me off on is the
proposed five percent cut. I'll tell you what I know this from personal things that happened to me in nineteen seventy six. The first thing they go after is the police budget, so I certainly hope there's not going to be layoffs. But anyway, we'll talk to Christopher about that and other things. Mike Allen seven hundred WLW. Hey, we're back. Mike Allen in for Scott Sloan. We haven't checked in with our friend Christopher Smithman in a while and wanted to see how he's doing. I need to get his
opinion on some things. Christopher, thanks so much for calling in this morning.
Mike, Thank you so much for having me on.
My Pleasure, My pleasure. Hey, I gotta ask you, and I know this isn't obviously a local topic, but I'm really interested and I'm sure my list are too. Your thoughts on the war that broke out, and I know everybody is praying for, you know, the people involved in it, but your.
Thoughts, well, my heart first goes out to the seven Americans that lost their life in Kuwait, and that's a part of war, and we don't we don't often see American soldiers, servicemen, men and women coming home. So my heart like yours, and I know that a lot of those a lot of those servicemen and women came from Iowa, not all of them, they certainly are bearing a burden here,
so my heart goes out to their families. My other connection is I have a son that's that has served and is in the Guard himself now, and my father served. I have a brother.
Who has served.
I have not served, But I think this is that moment where all of us as a country have to wrap our arms around being an American and support the White House and support our country in this moment. You know, I've been watching the senators and the congressional members who
seem to continue to second guess what is happening. Let me just remind everyone that this has been going on for forty seven years through many different presidents, Democrats and Republicans, and this is a country that whatever the account is of the number of civilians that they killed who were protesting ten thousand to thirty six thousand, we really don't know what the number is, but we know that it's tens of thousands of people who are slaughtered in the streets.
So there's a humanitarian issue going on. We know that this is a country that has been sponsoring terrorism all around the world, but specifically targeting Americans and specifically American servicemen and women. And this is a country that said that they wanted a nuclear weapon and wanted long term missiles in order to reach the United States and anybody who stood against them, including Israel. My point in saying all of that is that we have to, as Americans,
in my opinion, carry the flag today. You know, respect those who are losing their life and who are on the front lines and have the potential of loss of life our military, and support the president in this decision to go in and decide that he and and those in the CIA, those generals that are around him, that this was the moment that we needed to take. And I don't like second guessing our country. These are tough decisions with a lot of movie parts that I don't
have enough information. That's why we elect people and put them in positions like Alan to make these decisions for us. But what I will tell you is I'm all American. I'm on the American team. I'm not on the team of Iran. I'm on the team of this country. And
I want to see us win. I want to see us to get out as like everybody probably listening I want us to get out as quickly as we possibly can, but I want us to spend the time that we need to be there so that we don't have to come back and do this again.
No question about it. I've got a daughter. She's a captain. I'm sorry, well should get mad. She's promoted to major in the Jag Corps. She's stationed in the Wow.
Look, don't don't mess up her rank.
That she's she's in the jag corts. And and the thought would be initially, well, you know, lawyer, they're not going to do anything. I'm gonna tell you something. The Army now takes their jag officers with them when they go out in the field for the real deal. So you know, she's obviously in my in my thoughts and of course in my prayers.
But really, let me thank her for her service, Mike Allen publicly for everyone, because anybody that is serving, because when we're talking about incident of drones attacks, which is what happened on Kuwai Base, anybody is at risk. So we thank your daughter for her service to our country.
Thank you. Hey, I wanted to talk to you too. I had Steve Gooden on earlier we talked about some legal things. But of course Steve a former Cincinnati City Council member and chair of the Revitalized Charter Committee, so he knows what's going on down there. He's talking about a five police cut, well, a five percent I think across the board cut. And I know you're not down there anymore, former Vice mayor and chair of the Law
and Public Safety Committee. But your thoughts on that, Christopher, Well, you.
Know, the first responsibility of the mayor and members of council is the public safety. And we've seen a big spike in violence even over the last ten days, the mass shooting that we had of nine people approximately, I think eleven people shot in the last seven days. Three did and so this is not the time for counsel or for the mayor to say we need to reduce
funding in public safety. It's the exact opposite. And because we're having issues with retention, meaning our ability to recruit is one issue, but our ability to keep those seasoned officers right now who are in drop and a lot of people don't even know what drop is, but we've got officers that are two years and three years in the drop. They can walk away right now. Today if they want to. And so what we're seeing is we're losing more officers than we are bringing in our recruit classes,
and we're having a difficult time doing recruitment. And it doesn't help when you have a mayor and a council and an administration that in the most subtle ways and sometimes the most obvious ways, Mike Allen, they send the message that they don't support our police officers. And so families out there like mine. You know, if I had a child, of course I won in the military that said hey, I want to serve, I want to be
a SINSI police officer, I certainly would support it. But I would absolutely say, listen, you've got to know what you're getting into. Oh yeah, because you know what you're making that split second decision right the entire your entire family could be on the line here the way people
go at you when you're making those decisions. So I think this is going to be a very dangerous summer based on what we're seeing happening coming out of the winter already, the violence, and I think it's the wrong message and the wrong time for this councilor mayor to talk about cutting five percent of police or fire.
You know, I mean, if that happens, and I can attest to this from personal knowledge about one hundred years ago, if it's across the board five percent cut, cops are going to get and firefighters too are going to get laid off, and just the opposite is needed in this city.
No, it absolutely is. And what you'll see in the summer is, you know, it's almost like schizophrenia because then you'll see them increasing overtime and demanding that we've got to put a million dollars in overtime.
But you're you've.
Already released so many police officers, so there's no one there to actually get the overtime. This is a big decision. And let me let me clarify to the public.
You know, when you hear.
Someone say, well, don't do the five percent cut, and Mayor John Crolly and I would go through this all the time. Where do I think we should do some reducing Where were some of those reductions happened in order to save money. Well, one is operating the streetcar. This was a topic of discussion over a decade ago, and the discussion was around two points. One was how do we build it so we issued ninety four plus million dollars of debt, which we charged them our credit cards
to the max in order to do that. And then the operation Mike Allen of the streetcar, which is now north of five million dollars per year. And so that is a that is arecked competition to the operating budget operating the streetcar. And so if this council and mayor are really serious about making changes, they would say, listen, our pet project down here. We're spending five million dollars a year. Is operating the streetcar more important than police
and fire? I would say, if you went out and talked to our fifty two neighborhoods, they would say, let's make sure that our safety is first. Let's cut the operation of the streetcar, if we even have to bring it down to zero operation, but let's reduce the hours so we at least show the public that before we raise their taxes, we're willing to make some serious decisions.
We also know that contract to Irish ROLLI another six hundred and fifty thousand dollars going out of the door, right, but with very little oversight or understanding of what our ROI. So I'm saying you can get your arms almost around six million dollars just in those two decisions. So it's difficult to say we need to cut five percent. We need what the City Hall and City Council, what they really need to do is make some tough decisions.
Mike allup, no question about it.
You know.
I'm just sitting here thinking with respect to the streetcar, I just wonder if there's a way that the city could privatize that. I mean, not only to you know, not have to spend all that money on it, but also maybe recoup some money. Has that ever been talked about or in your opinion, is that something that's feasible.
I'm smiling and I'm saying I don't think it's feasible, but let me can I'm trying to make you laugh when I say, let's the two of us pull our money together. Do you think that we would pick a street car? Because no, I don't know, man. I think it's a losing proposition. I don't think there's too many people out there that would say, hey, man, I'm stepping up to buy the street car, privatize it, and we think we're actually going to get our money back. I think it's I think it's a money pick.
That's a good point, and you are one of the premier financial advisors in this city. I'll take I'll take it at that, Christopher.
All I'll say, Mike is that that that city council has to look at our budget. I understand as a thirty one or thirty two million dollar deficit. So we understand that, but what we don't want to do is impact the basic services that the public we really depend on, and that sanitation, that's our fire department, that's our police department, and all of us know that these contracts are up for renegotiations. So what happens also, Mike calend is the
city starts posturing that they're poor for two reasons. One, they have a desire to raise taxes. So part of this is to scare us into a position if we put something on the ballot it says that we need to raise taxes, we need you, the public a support, or we're going to cut your police and fire. So some of this is grand standing from the mayor of council.
The second and the second thing is that they know that the police, the union and fire and our ass from union and our code unions they're all moving into the position of starting to negotiate their contract. So what also happens is the city starts posturing I'm poor, I'm broke, I don't have any money, and you're going to see
those those people who are arbitrating. This discussion sable. But you're spending say one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for this outside contractor we don't know you're operating the streetcar at five million dollars. You say you want reparation here for housing, and you're moving five million dollars over that. How are you saying that you're broke but you continue to spend all of this money out here. You've got a mural outside of your city hall that says, hey,
black lives matter. Maybe you're going to spend a million dollars to bring that back to Like, my point is that when we get into those negotiations, the city always positions themselves as if they're broke, and you and I know that they're not. There are pet projects that they have to say we can't do in order for us to focus on the things that the fifty two neighborhoods in Cincinnati say they believe in.
Right now I get that. Let me ask you this, and this is I'm just out of curiosity. The railroad money, I know that has to be used for capital, and obviously police and fire aren't capital. But is there a way that the city could perhaps move some money around? Uh, you know, you see what I'm saying, to get some capital funds, but also you know you would be able to free some up for police and fire. Does that make any sense?
No, they can't. They can't do it. Those capital dollars from the railroad I think there were thirty four million we were getting a year. I was absolutely against sale of our railroad for one point six billion dollars. But it's it's it's water under the bridge. Now they've done it. But those dollars are for for for capital on projects. They can't pull that money in for operating. So that's just a hard no. Those those are two zebra pots, and those are restricted dollars for our for our capital.
The problem that you and I are seeing is our roads are horrible. Driving down the streets, Mike Allen and I feel like officer is going to pull me over for a DUI because I'm dodging potholes. I don't want to blow my tires out. And I know if I blow my tire out that the city is not going to repair my tire. So I'm saying our roads in the city of Cincinnati. There are two things that if any member of council listening to me and they care what I think about are are this? Are are our
current mayor. One is our potholes in our streets need a lot of attention, yep, and that would be very helpful. And number two, our city is dirty. We need to clean up Cincinnati. I travel other places and I go why is our city? I'm talking about our highways, our our individual cut throughs, our roads in the city, say to say, why are we living in such a dirty city and a city where our infrastructure.
Seems to be falling apart.
So my point is that those railroad dollars, there's a big use for them. We need to get them out the door, to be of those dollars out of the door, and we need to get our roads repaired. I am tired of dodging potholes.
Mike Allah, Yeah, you're right. And the one that they did finally do after so much complaining was Sunset Avenue. But that's about the That's about the only one I could see. Anyway, Christopher, really appreciate catching up with you, and we'll definitely do it again soon.
Well, Mike, people can follow me on the X. I say this because I want people to connect with me and I want to connect with them at vote Smitherman. Thanks Mike, Alla follow me on.
All right, thank you, my friend. All right, thank you brother, thank you, thank you. Take care too. Always good to catch up with Christopher. I'll tell you what. I just wish that man was mayor, or at least on city council. But hey, my grandmother, my old Irish grandmother, had a saying that went wish in one hand, I'm not going to say in the other and see what which one fills up first. So anyway, we are out of here. I want to thank my producer Dave Keaton uh and
thank Scott for letting me feel in for him. Mike Allen seven hundred WLW