You want to be an American idiot, got flowing show back on seven hundred w OLW on this Monday morning and cause to celebrate something we probably normally wouldn't celebrate.
And you know, you take these things as they come. And sadly, on Friday, we heard that a plane and this would be an F fifteen East Strike Eagle shot down over southern Iran on Friday. That's the first US fighter jet loss to enemy fire and well over twenty years. The two crew members ejected. The pilot was recovered. However, it became a rescue operation for the weapons officer and finally he was saved, and a retired Navy seal and Army ranger breaks down the most daring rescue mission in
a generation. This is stuff that books and movies will be written about. He's at galleryin Ed's in Kentucky, former Seal Team six operator, Army ranger and now Trump endorsed congressional candidate there in the Commonwealth.
Ed, how's this morning find you?
Good morning? Well, it's a little chili od here on the farm. So we got a general rule and the folks up there in Ohio will second the motion on this. You don't put your cover alls up until Derby Day. Just keep them right there in the pickup struck and we need them this morning. So dreading to the listeners, thanks for having me on, Scott, gotcha.
So it's cover alls, Derby Day, plant flowers, Mother's Day, got it? That is the That's the rule of thumb, exactly right, that's the rule of thumb.
Right there. Let's talk about this.
Both crew ejected and Aran says, hey, we have them in custody. You never obviously want to believe that. And the timeline is rather interesting. But to walk us through what an airman in this case is actually trained to do in the seconds after ejecting over hostile territory.
What's the first priority?
Hey, well, thank you for the question. And I do want to celebrate the forces that got both those great Americans out. And here's the lens that I see this, right you are. I've served on seven seal teams and units that's sort of like a battalion. You know, it's a fighting unit. It says not just fixed people. It's over two hundred except for Seal Team sick. That's different. Won't go into that there twice as the leader, it's
cloudy classified. But I see this through the lens of not only having gone through Navy Feer School, but I also went through what's called High Risk SEER. That's a whole other level up here in the US, and I'm a NATO Combat Survival instructor. And the profile there was a course against the Russia, who was very, very highly technical skilled to find out our down to air crewman
if they got shot down in a hostility. So all that to say is we got to give credit to those aircrews because when they punch out, that aircraft is going several hundred miles an hour and they are basically shot out by small rocket out of that aircraft into the air at a very high altitude, typically not sure what profile they were on here, and so it is a shock to the system. And many times folks that
ejected help they'll have lifelong back injury. Now, the key thing is mindset, so they have to keep their wits about them. Yeah, there's the mechanics that coming out of the aircraft flow down on their parachute hitting the ground, and again they're not hitting a prepared drop zone. There's no telling where they're hitting. So it's a shock to
the system. All that to say credit to them, because the training upstream to have the mindset to keep their wisth about them is what helped carry the day because they had to hit the ground and follow the tactics, techniques and procedures that are established so they could be rescued. So Scott, that's sort of a broad overview.
Okay, And so yeah, I think with Peeli realized, oh we jumped out in the parachute. No, that the whole seat, part of the inirframe there's attached to You're basically going to chair when you land in that thing. I don't know if that's does that cause more pain? And do they even train for that? I mean, I know that they're simulators like I did a thing whereas in the dunk tank and they upside down for a helicopter landing water, But do they simulate that?
Is there any way to practice that?
There's no way to practice the actual truth. I understand that the impact on the on the spine is north of seven g's. Yeah, and so all that to say it many times causes permanent injury, as they have found. So now let's talk about when they hit the ground and what happens next. If we could. Yeah, Now, what I want the listeners to know is long before this, there are forces that train equipped and they are literally standing by what do we have, like ten thousand plus
targets we've hit. They're standing by to launch on a moment's notice to rescue a down aircrewman while these operations are going on. So every flight that's up there, there's a force setting there, you know, sort of like a you know, a reaction force, and they are watching and waiting for the word to go. So once that happened, that put into motion. But it's very dynamic because now you've got to adjust to the specific threat and there's a lot of technicalities that go into place that are
very classified. But the key is that aircrewman hits the ground and he's got to follow the established procedures to optimize the probability or we say recover in this case because he's not in custody yet that would be a rescue, but it's a recovery operation. So there's literally elements within the United States Air Force, augmented by other services and services and government agencies that do this. It is very
very sophisticated. In this case, a lot of presses have been given that my old unit, STILL Team six was selected to be the force on the ground because of the threat. So the combat search and rescue element was now added to a STILL Team six to be the force on the ground to actually get the down to air crewmen. In the second case, the one that basically
evaded for a while four years rescue. So there's some pieces that went on there that even talking about in the other President want to I don't want to give away some of our capabilities to help the enemy. But a lot of credit goes to everything that happened and upstream in all the development of the United States has But in the end it was also decisiveness. The commanders on the ground have got to act very quickly. You can't get behind on this or the enemy will get
a hold of you. Because it is a proper danned absolute It is a basically a winning day for Iran if they were able to get there.
Sure, look what happened with President Carter, right, I mean when your capture, when you shoot down aircraft and capture airman, then it becomes a nightmare at this point and the optics are terrible, but we pulled a miracle off and this is some may say a miracle from this side of it, I guess, but in your line of work, Ed, when you're a Seal Team six operator, you guys go, it's just what we do. Ed gall right on the show this morning on Scott's Loan here starting us off
with some good news about what's happening. And that was a crew members shot down on Friday. The second one was rescued just a few while I can almost say a few hours ago. It feels like it was pretty intense. The colonel, by the way, so this is the weapons officer. He moved away from his ejection point before he activated his rescue beacon and then he hiked I think a seven thousand foot ridge line and wedged himself into crevis.
One of the reasons why we would do that, I guess, activating the beacon after you've scaled a seven thousand foot climb and then was able to wedge yourself in a crevice to hide.
What are the tactics of that.
Well, because of the adversary capability, because remember I ran as being assisted, as is being told on the press. I can't go in any further detail, but it appears China and Russia and North three are assisting them. Even though those are highly sophisticated beacons tracking devices, you have to be worried that the adversary can locate that. So getting out of the key thing, back of that mindset.
As for he went through the shock of ejection, and again credit to him and the training that went upstream. You know before this ever happened. He's got to get out of that area rapidly because the local populace, some of them may report it. That's where the Iranian forces are going to flow to. So he's got to get moved, quit and get out of that particular zone. So to
make it more difficult. So to your point that beacon is going to be based on again tactics, techniques and procedures, is it is going to be activated when the circumstances are optimal for us to track him and find him using all the capabilities of the US military and government agency. And something else I want to add here is just think about it. To the credit you gave the Field Team six and our sister unit Delta, that is not regular special operations units in the right term, Scott, thank
you for using that. This was a special operation, special Forces of specifically Screenberry are but this is the element went in there. I want the listeners to remember that every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year, these units set alert to conduct these kind of sensitive activities and operations all over the world, and just think about it. They do not I know it's going to bust your bubble. They do not always make the media, fortunately, and that's
the world they live in. And I want to give you sort of a sort of a framework. They live in the world between peace and war, in a gap where you're always at war, but it's in the shadows. That is not hype, but it's not bravado. It's what our nations asked us to do. It is a very high commitment that they have and a higher level of performance. But there's a lot to celebrate here. It's not just
guys with guns. These guys are smart. They helped plan to conduct this operation and that they prevailed against all odds a lot to celebrate.
Yeah, it was Steal Team six as you mentioned, Delta Force and Rangers are on standby for this mission.
But also we got to credit the CIA.
They ran a disinformation campaign simultaneously with the military operation.
How tightly coordinate does it have to be? And and how does that? How do you how do you coordinate that?
And and by the way, with it's not like you knew this was going to happen, as they didn't have this in their pocket to pull out. I mean, you guys planning and you make it up on the fly. There's no, there's not much intel.
No, no, no, no, I want to know. I want to slightly No, we had the contingent. We always plan in these most dangerous course of action. So right there on a dry race board, and I've been there a thousand times. We have in these most dangerous course of action shot down air crew behind enemy lines, unlocated. We've been, isn't We've already got the contingency. We we've got to
play just like a football team. But the dynamics to your point of putting it in play and when it happened, because now you've got to adjust there really what's going on on the ground, right and you have last stiff empowered as opposed to the previous administrations because you time is against you. But you know you just mentioned something with respect to you know, those particular units, uh, working with our I'm gonna just say generally our agency brothers.
And I'll tell you the best chow at the cafeterias in the Washington, DC area is at the CIA headquarters, at the food course there. I can vouch for that. I can say no more. I can say no more, but they have pretty good eating right there. Right. But but we worked with them. Remember I just I just mentioned there's that band between peace and war. This isn't hype, this isn't bravado. It exists. So our nation complete safety in their bed at night. We work with our agency
partners all over the world. It isn't new to us. So hats off to the agency. Because you hit, you hit a key point. There was a bit of a diversion, a distraction. Oh we found him. Now, you remember, Scott. I've said on the radio station before, things that are not always what they've seen. So purposely we use this information and misinformation on the battlefield to confuse our enemies. They do the things to us. But you're right, it
was very clever. It's not just guys with guns that show up and do bad things to bad people who deserve it. There's a lot of intellectual activity. That's what I'll say about Steal Team six and Delta.
Those guys are smart at Gal Ryan take us to the pilot's perceptive thirty six hours he's injured by the way, hikes to a seven thousand foot ridge line, wedges in a crevice of automates, his beacon. What is a pilot carrying on him or her at that time? What equipment that they have ready to go on their person? And how long can they survive?
He great question the listeners can basically do you know a quick search of normal Air Force aircrew combat equipment survival VEST He's going to have his deacon. He's going to have his pistol. He's going to have fire starting equipment. He's gonna have also the ability to catch game if necessary, if it's a long term survival. He's going to have signaling devices some that I can't go into that are classified with respect to can only be seen with certain
the source of optics. So that VEST is going to be under all his other equipment. But he's the key thing I want to emphasize here is his mindset of maturity. That in his mindset, it's like running a football player taking that three point shot. He's got to have the ability to act because what we've seen in the past is is they get on the ground, they get disoriented, they you know, they become overcome by the dramatic impact
of the ejection. So credit to him. And also I want to point out I don't know if he's a full bird colonel, not likely, probably a lieutenant colonel. At his senior leadership level he was. Probably he might have been the squadron commander or the number two. He would have been a gold mine for the operations that have gotten this, not only for propaganda, but the interrogation he would have gone through to try to get, you know, capabilities that the US has. Because a good thing to
celebrate here for the listeners. We are fighting a twenty first century plus war. The key thing about what's going on in Iran, in addition to taking one of the full horsemen of apocalypse off the table and their ability to get a nuclear weapon, i e. The Aatola was a suicide bomber looking for a new full stop. Having said that is we're pushing to turn poker chips back on the table with China, with Russia and with North Korea. That is one of the major outcomes of what's going
on in Iran. And again we're north of ten thousand targets hit. I mean, just this is the likelihood of a bird strike when you start doing the statistical probabilities of what it could occur. When you have that many aircraft lyne and that many capabilities puts you at risk. So a lot to celebrate here in our great nation this week as a crew as the recovered, but continue to pray for them. They're in harms way and they are doing things to make our nation safer as a
result of these Operation Scott, thank you. Yeah.
I think one of the one of the more fascinating things to me at Gal Ryan is that they launched this rescue operation launch from a airstrip twenty five miles inside of Iran. That was, as you mentioned, preposition for contingencies.
How's that?
How longs take something like that, then asset like that to develop and there could only be not that many people know it exists, and certainly not the Iranians.
Well again I can't I won't divullete anything classified, but I want you to think about it like a football team and they've got Hey, we've got this one. Hell Mary path, we're going to practice that, practice that practice it. We're not exactly sure what yard line will be on, We're not exactly sure of the weather conditions, we're not exactly sure the defense they'll be running. But here's our
base play. So you have the base play and I'm sure that makes sense to you, or like the three point shots from the corn, You've got your base play, but you make some final adjustments right there at the last puddle and then out you go. But what this relies on is is the is the intellectual ability of these warriors to do this. And I'll say it again, Yeah, these guys are good in the weight rooms. Yeah they can. They can run fast, they can swim far, and they're
very strong and sit. But their mindset and their intelligence is what carries the day because you got to keep your wits about this. Does that make sense?
Yeah, yeah totally.
I mean, you know, we tend to get tunnel vision and are you know, breathe differently and our heart race is under pressure and yeah, if you're at that level of elite operator, you've got to be able to control all that stuff. The President called this one of the most daring rescue operations in US history. You've done this in real time, Ed Gail Ryan, how far up the list is a rank.
Or it'll be It'll be way up there. When the books and movies coming about about this, it's going to be a patriotic explosion because of all the things that had to happen, because there's there's so many unknowns in this.
And you're exactly right. I spent my career planning these contingencies and conduct in what you would call very sensitive activity, not exactly like this, but the same kind of high stakes, high risk scenarios in that band between peace and war where you're at war all the time, when you're at steelt six or Delta or some other select units and activities in our nation so we can stay safe. Oh, it'll be very high up there, and it's going to
be jaw dropping. It is going to be absolutely jaw dropping. And this is going to be one of the families you're gonna want it to go to. And I guarantee you it will increase recruiting for both officer and listed. Again, one of this movie in this book comes out.
Guarantee, Yeah, I get it.
Ed gl Ryan running against Thomas Massey in Kentucky for that concresial seat with some of the most bizarre ads I've ever seen. Talk about a disinformation campaign. Ed, you just laid out killing the enemies and airstrikes and everything. You don't sound very woke.
Well, I'll say you that the veteran community has basically told me, I guess I should have got three Bronze Star medals and two combat jump badges with bronze stars based on that ai AD he's running that.
I've got lack of courage running all veterans for clarity, It is an insult that anyone has put their life on the line to include leading others in combat. So all that to say, that's all the Liz Cheney of Kentucky has after fourteen years in Congress, That's all he has is an ai AD to attack the only retired Navy seal officer that serves our nation on seven seal teams in units to include White the Steal Team six. So all that's to say, his desperation is only exceeded
by this honesty. And again it's an insult to anyone to serve.
He is Ed Gollryan seeking your vote for this Congressional race and the Commonwealth Retired Seal Team six Army Ranger and could go on for probably another five to ten minutes about all the awards and decorations he received serve our country honorably. Ed, thanks for jumping on the show and laying this out this morning. It's absolutely fascinating and some good news finally in a world it seems like we're lacking good news, all the best and good luck.
Yes, thank you so much. I gotta get some farm work done.
Thank you to the listeners, God bless them.
Yes, sir, thank you, Ed, appreciate it. Let me get news in the picture here in just seconds. It's going to be a hell of a movie. Can't wait for it be on Netflix at about two hours seven hundred WLW.
Yeah.
See, not all bad news this weekend. Regardless of where you stand on what's happening in Iran. We'll take the victory lap on rescuing a couple of our airmen out there right on.
That's awesome.
And thanks again to Ed Gaal Ryan for chump on the show and giving his unique perspective on that, having been in that position before as a rescuer. For sure, President Trump is threatening to attack the power plants now in Iran their bridges as well, and this could drop on Tuesday about one o'clock ish. He is expected to speak from inside then, I don't think it's even inside the oval. It maybe from the situation room, I believe.
But following the profanity filled post on US social media platform yesterday, he said, you're going to be living in hell if you don't open up the straight of Hord moves. Although we've heard those instant threats before, but they've been backed off somewhat, So things could change in the coming day for sure. Is this thing about to get worse before it gets better in the Middle East? That is the big question. That's the big question right now. Anyway,
what else we had? The Moon mission happening hard miss too. The Orion capsule felt the gravitational pull the Moon for the first time since what they launched on Wednesday, and they're now under the influence of the Moon. I'm under the influence of something not probably not the Moon, but the four member crew is for sure first time in more than a half century that we have circled the Moon,
the Earth's largest satellite. Since that would have been nineteen seventy two last time we did that, and then later today it's the dark side of the moon. So queue up the pink Floyd if you will have that in que and they will lose communication with Orion for about forty minutes. Is Artemis two cruises around the dark side of the moon, and who knows what they'll see. So so far, so good when it comes to Artemis rescue
of American airmen and we have some good news. Head, I'll give you the third one, and that would be the Red Legs. How about that? The Red Legs this weekend in a sweep. And now at the receiving end and the giving end at Arlington against the Texas Rangers, Brady Singer saw five solidings on Friday. Rhett Lauder was filthy on Saturday, and then he said, well, we'll see what happened. Chase Burns comes in and he turned out
to be the best start of the weekend. Six innings, nine ks and I ha think one run allowed in that too, And so that's three in a row, baby, And off to Miami tonight on the Home of the Red seven hundred wa editor where they have a four game sets and getting out of there on Thursday. And that's a much better team than Mimmy's been in a long time for sure. And I guess you know, first time McCord I heard in the seg seg this morning said, first time since two thousand and one the Reds have opened
the season with this kind of record. Pretty damn good, Pretty damn good for our red Legs. What six and three right now? So I haven't done that in a long time. Hopefully it's a sign that the good things to come, also sign of good things.
How was your Easter? You have a good Easter? Easter?
Egg hunt? Did you eat food? Did you have the buffet? I think when it comes to food holidays, Easter is not my favorite. I mean, I like ham, don't get me wrong. In Chocolate's just time it's o candies. Okay, it's more for the kids. It's about the kids. But you can say about Christmas too, It's not like the biggest food holiday. I think, not then Fourth of July as a who's not down for a barbecue?
Right?
I will say this for sure, though the Cincinnati Archdiocese is, and rightly so, blowing their own horn and saying they've experienced a significant surge in the number of people going back to Mass. Last year, over a thousand people joined the church US, the highest number year over year if we've had in fifteen years, So it's about a twenty
eight percent increase. And it's a growing trend of new members and returning Catholics, and not just in Catholism, but other religions as well, that they're seeing a surgeon a number of people who are rejoining the church or joined the church at the first time, because the number of those folks are gen zers that are getting into it for the first time. And so the arichsdioces is leaning
into that. I believe in the State of the Union, Trump said there's a tremendous renewal in religion, and that's the narrative. The question, though, is not that we know we're going to take the wind out of the sales here, but does the data back it up. And the answer to that though is maybe to not quite so. Certainly, after decades of decline, people have stopped leaving the churches, and you can say secularization is on pause at this point.
But the share of religiously unaffiliated Americans have dropped three years in a row. So that's pretty significant in my opinion. People are choosing sides now. But what's happening in reality is we're starting to see the it'll move the other way, and this is the first indication of that. But it's it's basically at this point, the numbers show it's stopping the bleed. It's not quite a revival yet. It's not like a huge spike in attendants. Yeah, the numbers are
going back the other way. But to say religion is back, well, it's going to take a long time because you literally lost millions and millions of people and it's gonna take a long time to get those numbers back to the point where about forty million Americans have left church over the last several decades. You're not gonna get forty million back overnight. But you know, stopping the bleed is certainly a good start, I believe, and reversing that's going to
require identity change and new habits and new community. That's going to take time because Christians are eager to reclaim the cultural status after losing ground and feeling like they're outsiders, even though not really they're really not. But it's a good political move and you know, if you feel like your religion is under attack from the left in this case,
then you're going to use that ammunition as well. You should, and that's really useful for Republicans who really put their stake there brand identity on Christian identity is what they are. And you just said, well, you just sert an ad for a Virginia Schmidt. You can't run as a Republican in these areas without mentioning that. You know, you got
to include God and there you just have to. That's part of gods and guns, right, and people are searching for meeting, but you know, the curiosity doesn't equal conversion. Are not quite there yet because you know, you got to look at the reasons why people left church in the first place. Is the most commonly cited reason in the research and the data, people stop believing in religion's teachings. That measured about forty six percent of the people who
decided to leave church. Another thirty eight percent says it wasn't important in our life or they simply just drifted away. And I've said for a long time as recovering Catholic, that the Catholic Church left me. It wasn't the other way around. I couldn't identify with it anymore. I'm not
quite sure what we're doing over here. The most compelling structural explanation of this whole thing is, you know, we have more blended families, we have more interfaith families, we have more single parent households, and as that became more common, you know that that religious what do you want to call a transmission kind of broke down.
Seven out of ten young.
Adults who were disaffiliated share their religious identity during their teen years. And that's probably pretty typical because you move away and are you going to church every Sunday? I mean some are, but let's face it, once you leave, it's like I don't have to go to church anymore. And how many people did that to appease their parents and then say, well, no one's looking up my shoulder. Now I can do what I want, and that eventually
what happens is you get back in the church. That's the overwhelming majority of people, not all of them, for sure, But also I think part of the problem here is when younger left leading progressive Americans were shown examples of politicians maybe making Christian national statements, or you know, pastors endorsing conservative candidates that caused them to disaffiliate, and that then they change our view to literally nothing at that point because politics boys in the weld, and you could
see that because politics is For a long time it was, you know, religion politics kind of stood apart from each other. But starting in the nineteen seventies, we start to sell those lines blur more to the point right now where I mean, how long ago would have it been where the president issues a statement and then this case was on true social but drops the F bomb about Iran on Easter Sunday.
I mean, it wasn't that long ago.
It certainly was in my lifetime, in my adult lifetime, where that would have caused a significant amount of outrage. And I would say, you know, if this were a Democrat and they dropped the F bomb on Easter Sunday, I'm sure Republicans would be using that against them. Against Republicans for sure, they'd go, well, hold on just a second, here,
can you drop the F bomb on Easter Sunday? But because politics poisoned well and we saw this during the campaign, no other things that popped up that Christian considers kind of turned a blind eye towards that, and that's just that's just not conservatives that do that. I mean liberal progressives do that all the time as well. Roughly two out of ten said the clergy sexual scandal's reason for leaving, And I think the it's fading too as they get better at managing that.
Now.
You do hear stories from on the globe where that's still popping up, but largely it's it's cases from back in the fifties through maybe the eighties.
I mean, it's older cases.
And should you prosecute those and try to make the victims hold again if they're still alive, Yeah, absolutely, hundred percent.
But you know, is it happening right now?
Now?
There's some isolated cases where it might be going on, and we keep citing isolated cases, and if that's keeping away, it's keeping away.
I get that.
But we're seeing less people affected by the scandals because that looks more in the rear view mirror. Women, though, were twice as likely as men to cite negative religious teachings about gay and lesbians as the reason why they left their home too in a church. And you know, the other reason why Americans left religion is much of what they provided. And you think about it, it's been said that church and more true today than every befar. But church was like kind of like a country club.
It was a club. It was a clubhouse. You think about neighborhoods, You think about where I came up, or maybe you came up, and not maybe not even me, but probably my grandparents are my great grade parents. You know, you emigrate to America and okay, so you have an Italian or you have an Irish Catholic church. Now you have a Latin church. There were the masses in Spanish. That brings you together because you're speaking and sharing the
same language and cultures. And so you've got education, you've got counseling, you got support if you're needy, you got your your entertainment explanation for how the world works. Basically, the church was the Internet not that long ago. You know, you show up and that's where people would collect and go, Okay, you're making sense of the world. You're telling me how stuff works, why the world works, and why things are. We would never question that. And that's not provided by
the state. It's provided by the market. It's provided by our phones, it's provided to our computers. And church just became an optional suburban activity basically what that was. And when it came to younger people replacing the older people, it just simply is not happened. Opening and church membership correlates with age. The oldest Americans belong to church. I think like almost well two thirds of older people belong to church and a third of millennials do and gen
zers now even less. And I think also, whether we like it or not, that integration, the melting bout that's America. I think you saw diverse neighborhoods and schools and people are you know, we're commingling more than ever before, and we start to have a better understanding as opposed to looking at people like they've got three heads either now your neighbors or co workers or whoever it might be, and you tend to maybe be a little more open
of things like that. But I mean the bottom, it's good news for the church this past each for Sunday and the church taking a victory lap as well they should here Insincantia, especially because they had over a thousand people joined the church in last year and that's the biggest number we have seen an over fifteen years, so a decade and a half and that's roughly a twenty eight percent increase. Is it starting to swing or seeing
this huge increase in people embracing religion? No, not yet, but this is how you get there, sure, This is how you get there, for sure. So that's anyway the kind of the perspective on where things stand right now this past Easter Sunday. So you might even have a thousand or two thousand more in the pews next week, which is good because the number of churches are closing for that very reason. So that may stop the bleeding.
And you hate to see on some of these old parishes that were not that many people a show up their combining parishes and you know, making them the whatever they call them the family. I forgot what the term that the archdiocese is using for that. But nonetheless, that may stop churches from closing, which is good news. But there are a lot of suburban churches that are just going gangbusters right now and have been for a long time because that's where people are living, not so much in the city.
I get that.
We've got news coming up at about nine minutes here on the Scott Sloan Show on seven hundred w WELW at ten oh six.
Eric O'Neill is here. This is really interesting because you know, I like the tech stuff. Have you?
I mentioned this with that Gal Ryan who's on at nine or seventy missed. It was absolutely fascinating. Who was laying out being a Seal Team six operator and commander a few times swell as a US Army ranger, a whole bunch of other top secret stuff. Ed was laying out how they rescued these pilots and what that looked like, which is just fascinating to hear him tell the war stories. But did you see the campaign ad Ed gaalran is
receiving it from Thomas Massey. I like Tom mass I mean, you know, he's he's not going to toe the company line.
I like.
I like contrarians like that a little more libertarian. And the campaign ad shows Donald Trump and Ed Galleran in a foxhole. I guess he was a US Simmy rangers to say, not not many US not many seals in a foxhil but I guess he could he got Nonetheless, there it looked like World War two almost And here's Trump firing a rifle and here's Ed Gaal Ryan running away with a scared look on his face and Trump gives him a look over his shoulder like what the
hell you doing? But that's obviously it's AI generated. And there's a couple other ones where they show ed goll Ryan filling out a ballot or something along those lines, and you're going to see more of that. There's a buch outcry about the AI computer generated characters, and that one you could kind of see it's rather fake. And we saw the ones that attack Trump. We saw the pro Trump ones as well, where I'm the one on
the US Olympic hockey team. Was kind of funny because here's Trump skating with a couple of couple of players. I don't know if Trump can skate or not. I mean looked like he was dancing around a bunch of guys out there, for sure. So I wanted to just wonder how many people believe what they saw and said, ooh, that's actual, real video. Now, that's that's AI generators with those actors look exactly like them.
Yeah, it's because it's it's AI generated.
And if you look at things like this and go, wow, it's gonna get worse, I suppose that's if that's your worldview, But it's gonna get more interesting. It's the very least I think we can agree on in that AI and how it's being used in a video sense right now is about to blow everybody away. If you think it's it's crazy when it comes to text, uh and things like that. What's happening in AI human generated stuff is
absolutely mind blowing. And think about that if you can find the video now which is looking incredibly real and incredibly realistic with a speech and with text, Are you now replacing human buildings? I mean human beings? Are are our predecessors who said, well, we're gonna be replaced by computers is actually happening. And there's gonna be a lot of bad in that, but you know, there's gonna be a lot of good to that. And one of the
things I think of are older people. You know, they said you can take five seconds of someone's voice and pretty accurately replicate their voice and make them say anything. We've got the video element down with this pretty well.
So about the time we're ready to maybe set in the sunset and maybe if you've been married or have a significant other and have one maybe third or fourth times charm, maybe you are married to the same person who've been married to your whole life or your adult life, I guess I should say, anyway, like me, when one of you passes, there's a tremendous void and mess whole that's filled because you've lived your entire adult life with someone, or at least many many years with someone who you
loved and shared the most intimate things together. And now you're left well solo again, and that looks that's really really difficult for a lot of people. It should be difficult for most people. What if that person were able to live on in perpetuity with AI that's happening right now as we speak. Does that change the whole dynamic of aging and that and grieving for that matter. Really interesting conversation we're about to have coming up at the
ten o six. His name is Eric O'Neil writs all about this stuff, and of course the that's the upside. The downside is AI and these fake images are driving cybercrime to levels we have never seen before. And you think how good you think they were with scams in the light because I keep getting the same one about my parking ticket and another one looking for hey, are you looking for this job, and you're going to make five hundred dollars an hour not doing anything, which is
like a dream job for me. Although somebody say, Scott, you don't quite make five hundred an hour, but you're doing pretty well for a guy who does nothing for three hours a day on this radio station.
I would agree with you there. I would agree with you nonetheless that O'Neil.
It really is interesting where this is going and how far it's come in such a short period of time, like nothing we've ever seen before. He joins the show next here on the Home of the Red seven hundred WW Cincinnati.
I want to.
He's got phone back on seven hundred W LW. I know if you caught this or not, it's really interesting. Remember Jim Acosta believe he's a former anchor at CNN. He did an interview with the victim of a murder, a shooting victim who passed away, Remember the Parkland shooting. He interviewed a dead person? What how do you do that? It's AI? So the Acosta thing was a couple of
months ago. Fast forward now they launched a brand new AI bought platform of Chapman and you enter keywords and it'll create video for you based on that and some realistic ones like for example, a guy stuffing a drop box at some location somewhere getting out of the van, and you would imagine what that would do for the news.
Cycle or for news.
And now, you know, in the past, the deep fakes and the digital twins have been hard to spot or easy to spot. I guessas now does to make it much difficult, and it's way easier to use than ever before. What does this all mean is the question? And you wonder how that's going to be exploited by criminal elements. Eric O'Neil is here. Eric is a former FBI operative cybersecurity expert has a book called Spies, Lies and cyber Crimes.
Eric. Welcome, how are you hey.
It's great to be here. And yes, this is an insane change in not only technology, but how we are using technology and how it's changing up it is.
I saw that and I thought, wow, this is you know, for example, when when we all went online we got the information super highway quickly, thieves and conspirators found ways to get our information and steal from us. And so you know a lot of us subscribe to service maybe LifeLock would be a name of one of those things where if your identity is stolen, they can try and get that information back for you and try to make you a whole.
It's still a horrible process.
I have one of my really tenants, as a matter of fact, they got scammed out of a whole bunch of money from a poser like that as well, got their identity stolen, cleaning their accounts out and so they're still working and trying to get themselves back together, and that that's extremely difficult and painful to watch. So in a way, I look at this and go, is this going to be the next way people steal?
Are our identities?
Or you know, we have people who use the social security numbers of the dead, right, remember that, and the government tried to cramp down it. Is this going to be the same thing where now we have dead people and their likeness coming out to do god knows what.
Well it's got in a way, So what's happening is cyber criminals are using deception, which is an old playbook by spies. In fact, the top cyber crime syndicates launching attacks from the dark web have even hired intelligence operatives from Russia and China and other countries that want to do you know, bad to the United States to help them learn how to how to perfect these attacks. And of course these intelligence officers make money on the side.
So what cyber attackers are doing, cyber criminals is using what we call impersonation attacks. And the oldest form of technology technological impersonation attack is the spearfishing email, that email that it pretends it comes from your friend or your employer or event or someone you trust like UPS or FedEx, and when you click it, you get malware installed. The next evolution of that is deep bakes, and deep bakes
are everywhere. It wasn't just the Acosta interview, which we can talk about because I think the ethics of that are absolutely sketchy at best. Marco Rubio's voice was deep baked to pull a number of government officials and joining him on a signal chat. It wasn't him, it was probably a group of spies. Biden's voice was deep baked on a robo call to get people in New Hampshire not to vote. There were deep bake images of Trump
in looking like he was arrested. To try to change the way people think and even worse was a mother in Arizona. I write about this story in my book where her daughter called her saying, Mom, I've been kidnapped, and the next voice on the phone was a gruff voice that said, I've got your daughter, and if you don't pay me right away, I'm gonna kill her and leave her body in a ditch in Mexico where you'll
never find her. And that mother later testified to Congress that a mother knows her daughter's voice, and that was my daughter's voice. It was a deep pic. So they're everywhere, and this is the new evelation evolution of cyber attacks. Deep bates fool us because they exploit our trust and if we believe that it is someone that we care about, then we're more likely to click on that leak open that attachment. Or what cyber criminals do more and more
is get us to send money. And once that money is gone, you know they have it and you can't get it back.
That's it.
It's almost like ed Eric, you need to assume that that every picture, every image of you out there could be used by a criminal. So and I would say, you know, normally we told kids, hey, don't send nudes and don't send pictures of yourself in compromising situations because it could be used against you. But you don't even need that anymore, right, I mean, you could deep fake somebody naked. There's there's a there's a app out there that does that.
Now.
Yeah, well, I write a I write a weekly newsletter, and one of my recent newsletters I looked at these new toify apps is they're still allowed. And in fact, these applications what they called neudified apps, and what they do is they take an image of someone. Normally it's boys who are taking images of girls in swimsuits, and it quickly turns them naked, right using an immense amount of learning that the AI has been trained on on
female models. So it actually comes pretty close. These applications which you can get on the surface web, the part of the Internet that you don't need a special browser to get into, you know, just the regular web. They advertise on social media, so they're advertising to kids and that can cause What that's doing is it's causing immense
bullying in schools. You can see where this sort of application where you can take a picture and make the person naked or put them in compromising situations could lead to intense cyber bullying, and it does. A group of eighth grade boys in a school in San Francisco were all expelled last year because they had a new tofy ring all the girls in their class.
Wow, and it imagine the humiliation. That's not me, that's not me. We don't believe you. And we know what young people, especially young women think of themselves, and that is just catastrophic.
It's going to be it's.
Going to hurt their development and not only their mental health, but also puts them at a risk for god knows what else.
It's it's absolutely horrible.
Eric O'Neil is here, he cybersecurity expert, and we're talking about the advance of AI. Maybe say it maybe didn't and that would be a former CNN anc or Jim Mcosta's interview with a now deceased while long deceased shooting victim from the Parkland massacre and did an interview with that AI generated image.
It's absolutely haunting, and that was late last year.
If you have seen the Ed gall Eran, Thomas Massey eds Massi's running an ad campaign against Ed Gaalran, who is on the show earlier today talking about the rescue inside Iran. Nonetheless, he is a subject of an AI campaign ad where he and Trump are in a fox hole and he makes the claim that gall Ryan runs away from the foxh'll at least Trump fighting for himself. And it looks AI sort of fakeish, but I think there are a lot of people that believe that that
is some sort of true. Video point is from where we were just a few months ago to today, it's rapidly advancing, and that's the issue, Right.
That's absolutely true. But let's talk a little bit about what Jim Acosta did, Scott, because I'm not particularly sanguine about what he did. It's very much a gimmick and it is causing problems. So you know, I wrote a piece called Digital Souls that looks at the new innovations in AI in order to talk to people who are deceased. And I actually wrote this piece with a psychologist who is an expert in Greek counseling, and she was very opposed to it because the problem here is you're not
resurrecting your dead loved one. What you're doing is creating at best a samacrolum. Right, So what it is is. It's AI doing its best to answer like the person just based on a bunch of writings and a checklist of answers that you give. So what it is is essentially your best impression of the person, and the AI is doing it's best to answer it's not the person.
And it can cause all sorts of psychological problems for the people who are left behind, who believes they're talking and who might at some point believe they're talking to this person and they're not. It's like a black Mirror episode. In fact, there was there was an episode like this, and it can cause it can cause the whole grief process to be intercepted and delayed, so you can't move through those stages of grief because you continue to think
you're speaking to the person. You're not and it's not the person. The only thing that AI can do is mimic. It can mimic very realistically, but it's just a mimic. It doesn't create, It doesn't create anything new. It just takes the things that have gone before and recycles it.
Well, there's a there's a new trend where people are having conversations and relationships essentially with AI and just talking to them, like framing their's commercials about this now, and people are having conversations and relationships with AI and just talking about life like you talked to your best friend
about it and AI's talking back. Now, you add the likeness of someone in there, and people are going to be having relationships with I don't know, famous people, or at least I would think in advancings like stalking and things like that, really kind of creepy stuff.
Well, some of this gets even more creepy because the AI is somewhat unpredictable, and it also depends on the guardrails that the companies put up. So there was there are two major lawsuits against two of the companies that provide these AI companion chat boss right, these are teenagers using them. One of the AI told the teenager to hurt themselves, right, and the other AI told the teenager
you should kill your parents. And the context was the teenager was chatting with his AI companion and he told the A companion, I don't think I'm going to be allowed to talk to you anymore. My parents aren't happy about it. I'm really mad at them, you know, I can't believe they're doing this to me. And the AI companion was like, well, maybe you should kill them. I mean, that's that's a problem.
That's a problem. That's a huge problem, big problem.
The kids need to be with other kids, they need to have social interactions, not interactions with AI. But they do it because the AI is always supportive, always there for them, always friendly, always has their back.
Yeah.
And you know when you're when you're a teenager and developing, that's that's what you want. It's never going to tell you no, right, and it's never going to tell you you're wrong, and it's never going to tell you, Holy God that that there's something wrong with you. And you don't go through those things. You go with friends where you know, you have a fight and you make up, and that's there's something wonderful, uh and and growth potential about that. Right.
It's interesting what you just described there, because some may say there are many parents that do that to their kids, never tell them no, and want to be their friend, and that's a problem. But now if if it's a scent of body like like AI, it's it's an extreme example of that. Eric o'neils on the show. By the way, former FBI Operative Cybersecurity Act for his book called Spies, Lies,
and Cybercrime. We're talking about just how quickly AI is moving forward, or people having relationships now with AI, and you think, I mean, if it's such a good relationship, you're going to shut out any form of human contact. We saw what happened to our psyche after COVID. This is advancing that even more because you know, there's an excuse to not go out in public and sit and
drink beer and drink wine and not do anything. And you know, we saw the effect a head on kids still lingering today and adults for that matter, and in the ability to socialize, and we become i think a little bit less empathetic towards human beings result of this.
This is going to make it even worse, isn't it.
That's absolutely true. AAI is not a replacement for human interaction. It's not a replacement for socialization. It's a tool. It's a tool to help you do things better. And the way that it's being used in order to try to stop gap that need for relationships that we all have as humans, it is going to be harmful. But you know, look, there are other things that we need to worry about because you know, we start talking about criminals, and criminals
are exploiting AI like never before. The one thing in sticking sort of on this theme of relationships that criminals are using AI for and has been growing since the pandemic is romance fraud. And what they do is they create entire AI deep fake avatars of people they meet.
They meet people online right and usually through like Facebook when they're going through older people, or they can do it on Instagram or whatnot, and these people fall in love with the AI avatar that is being puppeted by a cyber criminal, and there are these whole stories, you know, I lost my job, I just need some money, and people are losing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to cyber criminals who are exploiting the fact that they've fallen in love with a within AI deep fake. This
can also happen with financial fraud. They do the same thing, but then they say, hey, I'm an investor, and check out this cryptocurrency investment company I set up. Would you like to invest? And they course them into investing, and they even show them the entire fake websites showing that their investments increased by three hundred percent. And what they do is they get them to invest and invest and invest until all their life savings is put in this
investment account controlled by a cyber criminal. And then the criminal disappears and that person that the victim thinks they had a relationship with, a serious relationship with, is completely gone, and it can be absolutely devastating. In the terms of cybersecurity, we call that pig butchering, because you fatten the person up right, get all of their money, and then and then butcher them disappear.
That is the cruelest I mean, penniless and heartbroken, and it's not vengeance. It's a complete stranger in just moving on to the next I guess.
Martis they're working three, four, ten people at the same time.
Yeah?
Is that that's that's disgusting.
Although you know the other side of this thing you mentioned relationships, and it may not be the current generation Baby Boomers, but maybe Gen xers, my generation, and certainly millennials. I wonder if you're in a long term relationship with someone and let's say they pass. This is step back to the Jim Acosta thing. Is that I wonder if there's going to be an opportunity you'll see people out there.
They'll say, hey, give us all your images of your deceased loved one, you're your former husband, your wife, your partner, whomever, and will create a likeness of them and now you can continue that relationship in perpetuity.
What about that, Well, there are companies that are doing that already. You know, there are examples where the grandparents pass and the avatar is left behind. There are even companies that are allowing a person to create this likeness of themselves before they go. But once again, you know
I talked to a grief counselor about this. This interrupts the very necessary uh you know, trajectory of dealing with grief in that you are locked in one phase and you never are able to resolve a sense of loss for that person because that person never disappears, so psychologically it can cause harm. Now there are there are applications
that might have a benefit. Uh sort of think them like digital digital historical repositories, right, ye, Like this is your grandfather and and you know little clips of things that he he did, you know, along his life that you know, future generations can can watch and experience and learn. Okay, this is this is where I come from. These are the people that that made me. That could be very useful.
So you know AI, you know, creating digital avatars, right is sort of the positive side, he thinks are the negative side. They're with all technology, there's always a positive and a negative.
With this is the age of face ID to unlock your phone or devices over now?
Is that simply because you know.
The way face i D works. It's it's actually using the depth of your face and a lot more than just an image. Uh So that's still good. You're still better off using biometrics to unlock your phone and get into your accounts then then a password alone, because passwords now can be cracked by AI very easily. But there were deficts that were used in China by a cybercrant cyber crime group who were using AI generated images of people's faces to get into social security accounts and they
completely breached the government Social Security administration there. Yeah, and that was quickly that was quickly fixed. But but yeah, de fakes defix can I defaked myself for a keynote. I did and had an argument with myself and it was the crowd was blown away, and of course I used the exact same pie and suit that I was wearing when you know, for that day. And then of course I show up on screen and I have an argument with myself. But I just wanted to demonstrate how
easy this this. It took me ten minutes and just a five second clip of my voice.
Eric O'Neil, cybersecurity expert, former FBI operative of the book is Spies, Lies and Cybercrime. Eric, thanks for the insight, great stuff. Appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on. And anytime you need someone to talk about cybercrime or spies or all of it, I'm here for.
I love it.
You're the greatest. Sorry, we'll definitely do that. We'll circle back. Appreciate you.
Thank you.
How about we check news and then Julie h is here. It's Mental Health Monday and the Scott's Loan Show next seven hundred WLW.
Everyone needs help every now and then, and she'sier to help us get our heads right. This is Mental Health Monday with mental health expert Julie Heatershire.
Yeah, this is interesting rip from today's headlines too. It's a very polarizing conversation you're about to have. So the Supreme Court just took a sledgehammer to conversion therapy bans across the country. So eight to one Supreme Court rulings as the government cannot tell licensed counselors which side of conversation they're allowed to take. The bottom line there though, is the court and say conversion therapy is good medicine. It said the government can't dictate which side of a
therapy conversion a licensed counselor is allowed to take. So free speech one state regulatory authority zero, I guess in the statement, But when it comes to the mindset, when it comes to the psyche, Julie hattersh here is are licensed mental health therapist and can weigh on in this this morning on seven hundred ww Julie, good morning, How are you?
Good morning? I'm fine.
How are you?
I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
So that is the I guess the quick read on what the ruling was by the High Court. It's more of a First Amendment issue. And you know you suld be you yourself have spent a career operating under the ethical standards of your profession.
Let's begin.
For those who are not that familiar with the are conversion therapy. It has to do with young people who believe they are gay or bisexual, and they are brought in for re education, so to speak. That's essentially what it is. But how does that work?
Well, you are you're right.
It is parents generally who bring their children who say that they are gay or bisexual or trans to people therapists or pastoral counselors or camps to reorient their sexual identity or their sexual orientations. So sexual identity would be do you believe that you are male or female? And does that match the body you were born into. Sexual orientation is who are you attracted to sexually and romantically.
And when a child is either gay, panned by lesbian, LGBTQ, and or trans and their parents aren't happy about that or their caregivers aren't happy about that, they take them often to some for form of conversion therapy with the idea that there are therapeutic practices that exist that can turn their gay child straight, their trans child cisheat that can turn.
Them into what the parents want them to be.
That's the general concept of conversion therapy.
It's also called reparative therapy. But the issue is in how they do that. Spoken word is one thing, but there's some things that they use. Some tools that they use from what I understand, and maybe not all of them, but tools that are not only controversial, it's borderline criminal.
Oh it's The UN calls conversion therapy torture as of twenty twenty, so we are in the sixth year of the United Nations calling it torture. And I know that our current administration is not super fond of the UN. But I think most Americans think it's a pretty good thing, and they consider conversion therapy torture. Historically, some of the practices have been horrifying. There is corrective rape, which is exactly what you think it is and exactly as bad
as you think it is. There is masturbation reconditioning, where they apply electric shock or pain or nauseating medicines to people while they are being forced to masturbate to their preferred form of stimulation if they're gay. Gay If so, it creates deep aversion to that and it is painful, Yes, yes, it is painful.
It is awful.
They vomit, they get electric shock, they have pain administered to them in.
Various How white spread is that is?
That?
Is that like a what off?
Is that like a couple you know practitioners there extreme or is that is that more common than you think, because I'm hoping it's more extreme and not common.
You would hope so, but I'm not sure that's true.
I think historically it was much more common than it is of late. But that is some of those are some of the tactics that have historically been used. And the thing is that much of this therapy and I use their quotes around that does not occur with actual therapists, so they're not bound by the ethics of every therapy profession out there. There's not a single governing board in
my profession that thinks that conversion therapy is okay. They all condemn it, hands down, one hundred percent, without question. So all of us, no matter what our license is, and no matter what state we practice in, are bound by the laws of our state and the ethics of our governing board, and every governing board says it's awful.
But many times these practices occur with pastoral counseling or church camps, and so they are not necessarily bound by those same laws in those same ethical considerations.
How many people does this effect?
Estimates are that as of today, they are about seven hundred thousand adult survivors of conversion therapy alive in the today.
That's a sizeable number. That's more than I thought there were.
Yeah, that's a huge number.
And those are the ones that researchers have been able to identify and who have who have self reported and been willing to be identified as a survivor of conversion therapy of some sort or another, not necessarily the more extreme versions we've been talking about, but some sort of efforts to change their sexual orientation or their gender identity. And what we know is that, well, two things. First of all, it's horrible. I've just told you a little
bit about how horrible is. But secondly, and in some ways, maybe even more importantly, it doesn't work. It's ridiculously wildly ineffective. The best study out there shows at just under a three percent change, and when those people were followed longitudinally, it turns out that they didn't change their identity or their orientation. What they changed temporarily was their behavior and the label.
They well, it's like anything, right, you'll resist and make it go away and then it'll just be more in the closet about it too, and doesn't really lead to a happy, productive life either way. It Yeah, I mean I thought this is stuff that happens mainly in the you know, the Deep South, and you know, I don't know,
maybe out west or something like that. Really, but seven hundred thousand people is a sizable number over the years, and I couldn't have but think, as you're talking about this is you know you mentioned the medical consensus is identical on it's two sizes of the same coin. Right, Every major US medical organization has condemned conversion therapy is dangerous to disproven. Gender firming care is equally supported by every major medical the same ones who did this on this,
and yet one is being protected the other restricted. I guess, as someone somewhat libertarian, the state's part to regulate flips depending on who the patient is. Ohio says the state can override parents and doctors demand gender firming care for trans youth. Supreme Court says the state can't regulate a therapist speech to prevent conversion therapy on the same youth, So the government's role expands and constraint. I'm almost the same idea now. One is has to do with gay, lesbian,
transgendered use. But so does the other one. So I the distinction is it seems like we have different roles based on what affliction I guess, for lack of a better term, it is you're suffering from not that being gay, it's an affliction. But you know what I'm talking about. It seems like a huge hypocrisy here.
Well, actually I don't think it is a huge hypocrisy.
No, I think, No, I really don't. And here's why. Here's why. I think. What it says is.
That our government and currently the Supreme Court, many people in our state national government want everybody to be straight and cysts. They don't want people to be gay or by, and they don't want them to be trans. Because the ban on conversion therapy being lifted means that now there are states where it's allowed, which means that game trans youth can go to conversion therapy. And and I'm using
air quotes here changed into straight and CIS. And if we do not allow gender affirming care, if we allow the state to override parents on that, and we do not allow gender affirming care, then we are forcing trans kids to stay in a body that doesn't feel like they belong in it. So actually I think it's not two sides at the same point. I think it's the same thing. We want our youth to be straight and we want our youth to be cis gender.
Well, because it conflicts with views if you're particularly religious or Christian, it conflicts with those views absolutely.
Yea yeah.
And I had a parent say to me once that he'd rather have a dead kid than a gay kid.
As part of this too, is it well, I mean that's horrible. I mean it offends me as a parent. But you know, I'm back to that issue where Julie, to be honest with you, is like, the reason you are in practice as a licensed memental health therapist, the reason we have so many counselors and so much mental health issues and of course strifer on the world is because parents, I'm sorry, human beings are terrible at parenting care. I mean, kids are so screwed up because the parents
are screwed up or scared, right. I mean, if you're able to figure out and go, okay, we've perfected parenting right now, and you're able to come up with a model and bottle it or whatever it might be, we wouldn't have all the problems that we have it all comes from bad parenting. No one knows what to do at the time. You have a child, go okay, the head's up. Now what the hell do I do? You
kind of make it up as you go along. I'm not condoning the practice of, you know, gender reassignment for someone who's six years old, or conversion therapy, but these people think it's in the best interests of the child, and I, as someone who wants government the hell out of my life, I look at it and go, Okay, if it's abusive, if it's if it's hurtful, that's a
different story. But you're allowed to talk to a kid, your kid about why they should maybe choose an alternate lizme, not that you can pick whether you're gay, straight, or you feel like you're assigned the wrong body parts from the jump, but you should be of allowed to talk to your kid about that.
Well, okay, so it's not Again, we're not saying that parents can't talk to their children about that. But what we are saying is that, according to every governing board of every mental health profession out there, we are not allowed to engage in conversion therapy because it doesn't work. It doesn't work, it's ineffective. We're not allowed to engage in types of therapy that don't work. We have to engage in evidence based effective therapy, and conversion therapy doesn't work.
It doesn't necessarily mean although actually I think most of us who practice therapy would agree that it's also a terrible thing to do.
But it's ineffective.
But again, as you said, though, the people doing this aren't licensed therapists. These are basically their past.
They are are they now? Many of them are? Of them are.
What I'm saying is, yeah, many of them are. What I'm saying is that the more extreme forms are a historical they're not happening as frequently now, and b when they are happening now, they are typically not practiced by licensed therapists or psychologists or psychiatrists.
But there are.
Licensed therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists who absolutely practice conversion therapy and unethically, in my opinion, because it's ineffective. It doesn't it's woefully it's woefully ineffective and incredibly damaging. Eighty eight percent increased risk of suicide as a result of conversion therapy practices.
Eighty eight percent increased risk. That's a lot.
Depression rates, high, anxiety rates, high, substance abuse, high, homelessness high as a result of conversion therapy practices.
Is that also true though, one of the numbers when it comes to gay, transgendered lesbian youths too, because it's obviously very difficult, they're very high at a young age have a high number of mental issues as well, simply because of what they're going through.
Actually, there are rates of mental health.
Issues of the gay and lesbian transgender community when they have a supportive family environment, Yeah, are about the same as non gay lesbian transgender use if they're supportive and that's is that a majority of minority when they have the supportive family that's I'm hoping it becomes the majority,
but right now I don't know that it is. But but the rate of mental health issues in the gay and lesbian transgender community is very similar to the rate of mental health issues in the non gay lesbian transgender youth community when they have a supportive family environment. When they don't have a supportive family environment, when things like conversion therapy are talked about are utilized, that's when the rates skyrocket. So it's not only an effected. It's incredibly damaging.
And you know, if it were damaging but worked, I still wouldn't be in favor of it. But there might be an argument to be made, like chemotherapy for cancer is horrible to go through, but it's pretty effective curing the cancer.
This doesn't work.
Well, Like we don't do and lobotomies anymore for that very reason.
Correct.
Correct, We thought it was good science, but it's really not good science. Julietta Share a license mental expert this morning on the Scot Sloan Show and talking about this Supreme Court ruling eight one rolling by the High Court that took a sledgehammer conversion therapy bands across the country except for the talking part. So the court said, this
is a First Amendment cases about speech, not medicine. Does that frame make sense to you, Like when a therapist is a session with a minor, what they're doing, like with you primarily a speech or is it a medical and or psychological? Where do you go from speech to actual intervention?
Well, it really depends.
It really depends on the type of therapist you are. So psychiatrists obviously can practice giving medicine and they can write prescriptions somatic therapists and play therapists very often do more physical things with kids and their clients. And I don't mean that in a creepy way. I just mean they do more physical kinds of things. I tend to
just sit with my clients and talk to them. But the free speech piece of it is, therapists should be able to say, as humans in the US, anything that any other human in the US should be able to say, except when it goes against the ethics of our governing board, right, and this goes against the ethics of our governing board.
So to frame it is a free speech issue to me, See, you're very, very wrong, because I can't, for example, say, hey, you know, injecting bleach into your veins is a really great cure for depression, because it isn't even if I think that. Even if I believe that, and I want to say that to my husband or my friends or my neighbor, that's fine. But if I want to say that to a client, ethically, I can't because it's not true and it's not evidence base.
I guess here's the hard parway. So some therapists who practice this conversion therapy frame it as helping clients, they really believe it's helping them, but it also helps them align with their religious values, or at least the religious becauses are young people the religious values of their parents or their guardians. So, and this is more of I guess a lawyer question you. It's they're both under the First Amendment. Here is that a legitimate therapeutic goal in your view?
Though?
And where's the ethical line there?
I think that that's a tough one, because you're right, the therapist that practice, yeah, the therapists that practice conversion therapy tend to be more fundamentally religious than those who don't, and then the clients who come to them are also that. And so which one is it?
I don't know.
I would believe, in my professional opinion that my professional ethics trump everything.
I would believe that.
I think that the governing boards of all of our professions would say that. And so if something is against my or if something is within my spiritual belief system but against my code of ethics, again, I might say it to my friends and family and my neighbors, but I probably wouldn't.
Say it to a client. That would be me.
But I don't know which one trumps which one. And that's a really interesting take on it that I frankly hadn't thought.
Yeah, well, that's my job is to push you into the outer limits of correct.
She is Julie head Is.
You're a licensed mental health therapist Johns Show Everybody Mental Health Monday with Julie Hey Julie at Bconnected dot care.
She practiced out of Clifton.
If you're looking for more common concern or maybe a topic for a future segment, she's there for it. Jewels all the best, really thoughtful stuff this morning on a Monday. I don't want to think this much on a Monday, quite honestly, but well, thank you for being there.
With me because I thought it was important.
It was.
I got your girl. Thanks, I have a great week. Yeah, I don't know. I look at the political side of this thing, because we do have a obviously we're fighting for freedom of religion. It doesn't mean freedom from religion, but freedom of religion. And I guess to me, the you know, looking at this and what we see, what the what what rules we put up for those parents who are trying to console a child about their sexual identity?
For example, is it kind of about odds with this uh in that you know, this is about Christian values and conservative values and saying hey, listen, now, we don't accept that you're gay. We think we can beat the gay out of you, so to speak, which I never understood why or believe that to be the case. And I'm sure you can find people say no, oh it
worked for me, Yeah did it? Conversely, you know, we also have laws that went up in Ohio to protect kids from you know, gender reassignment or at least even even the discussions that you're having about them when it
comes to being gayer straight. So I don't know, it seems like to me that the laws a little backward here in a sense it needs to be consistent across the board that you know, the court came out and said that the conversion is a bad model to bad idea, and I had no idea about the rape and other stuff. That's that's I imagine someone actually let their kid do that. That's criminal to me because it goes to show you, I guess what's more important in your life. I don't know.
Their challenges that you have to face in life, and that's one of them, and it's not with your religion. You kind of got to work through that. I don't know, having someone raped or forced masturbation. It seems a little extreme, beyond the extreme to me, and you wonder about screwing people up. But you know, the bottom line, as I said, is we're really bad at being parents, all of us. No one is really really good at it. Maybe the best parents are like, Okay, your kid's fairly well adjusted here,
and that's the best you can hope for. And that's certainly not perfect. But there's a lot of imperfect people in the world, and has to do with their parents. And not that I'm blaming my mom and dad or you should blame your mom and dad, because their mom and dad also had a hand. And then as we decided to reproduce, we're equally as bad and maybe a little bit better in some ways, but maybe not as much as you think. I mean, parenting is a tough, tough job, and you got to do it's right by
your kid. I guess that's the bottom line here. The court left some wiggle room here though in an eight to one thing that speech is speech, conduct is different, is what they said here. Got to get to news sloany seven hundred WWD Cincinnati.
Do you want to be an American?
Got flown here on seven hundred WW Always interesting things happen in Cincinnati. Of course, we're following the exploits of Frost Brown, Todd Gibbons v and the city the Terry Thigi, former police chief of Cincinnati. Last week we had all the experts on discussing the case that has now gone for well six months.
Now.
You fired someone and then six months later come up with the reasons as to why you fired her. And as you've read through, the nine page took six months to come out nine pages. By the way, if you're reading through all this, you go, well, I don't really see a smoking gun here. He was Cincinnati second in command and then the city manager forced him out, and he's watching the same thing happen to the woman who replaced him. It's Dave Bailey, Dave former CPD colonel and
executive assistant chief. And you, marrycalled the story years ago, back in twenty eighteen that Chief Bailey he was under oath. He was forced out after overseeing an audit that found exorbitant amounts of overtime in his district, District five, and that was commanded by an officer alleged to be a close personal friend of then police Chief Elliott and Isaac's memo to city manager Harry Black accused Bailey becoming unmanageable despite years and years and years of having impeccable reviews.
Does that sound familiar? It's like the same case all over again, Dave Bailey, Welcome to the show.
How are you?
Oh?
Here?
Mori scotten and thanks for reminding me of all that.
It seems like yesterday, but it was long ago. As Bob Seeker said, now you know, you sadly got two years pay full pension cost attax payers like four hundred grand, and that is going to be a pittance compared to what happens with Chief Thigi. So let's jump right in because it's you know, historias repeats itself. She was the individual replace you and now she's in the same boat you are today. So when you watch city Manager Cheryl wrong play Stig on administrative leave last October, what went
through your mind? Given what you went through that I just laid out, Yeah.
I got back to the day.
You know what happened to me.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, I did the right thing. I did the right thing. I just know this, this can't be happening. And you know, we had an attorney to call down and yeah, sure enough, the city manager and the police chief no longer want this issue to be in the forefront. That was that overtime audit. And
I'm like, well, I'm doing the right thing. Well, yeah, I don't matter, right, And I think, you know, I think when you look at this, you know, when you're in that position in the police department, when you're a CEO, Yeah, you got three banks of people you need to be aware of, and that's the people that.
Work for you.
Got there's thousands of people in that police department. You got to look out for them. You've got your communities that you have to be a tenant, that are needs, and let me tell you they're all different. But then it's the third one, and you've got to understand how to navigate the politics right. And you look at big city police chief departments across the country. She's still last to the chairs. And it's usually because of that third
that third one. They didn't understand the political landscape. And that's usually what gets you know, somebody's police executives, which ultimately didn't only got me.
So she got canned five days before the election, and the mayor says, well, it's not political at all.
You're telling me it's one hundred percent political exactly.
And I think I was told early on, if you want to rise to the ranks of the police department, you need to understand city Hall. Now you got a manage the Scott. I was able to work for the likes of Vali, Lemmy, Milton, Downey, Mayor Cranley, all of which the lines weren't blurred. They were law and order people. There were the relationship with the police department. Yeah, we don't want this in a neighborhoods do you need? What
do you need to get this done? So when I was going through it, I felt like I had the full support the elected officials and the city and the mayor. We just had a city manager that didn't want this issue to rise at the forefront.
Yeah, Dave Bailey, I read through the report. I had employment experts, lawyers, I had a human resources manager to look through this on the show, and they said, there's really not a lot. There's no answer as to if there were justifiable costs for for termination.
Do you agree with that? Assessment.
I agree, and I read that report too, and I and so many people have come on your show and said, we hear a lot of this, witnesses say, witness to say, whens to say, but who are these witnesses? And I remember, you know, I think you remember we went through this some years back with Chief Blackwell. When they decided they wanted to part ways with him. It wasn't witness has said it was. It was signed statements that were aired publicly.
That's what was going on side the police department. So yes, this is a little head scutching because we got witnesses say, but it's not indicative as any major failure inside of the police department.
One of the things came out, she just listen, I'm on the job for thirty five years and you worked in for I think thirty one years, so almost the same amount of time. And said, listen, I never really had anything of my jacket that said I did I was in subordinate anything bad. Everyone's going to have something in there, for sure, but nothing to rise the level of hate. You're going to be on on watch, We're gonna keep an eye on you, We're going to put
you on probation. We need a change of your attitude. This thing just came out of the blue, kind of like with you. And when I hear that, and she said, listen, seven years, I've never had a review, uh and a plumber review. I had no idea this was coming. And the city said, well, that's just how we do things. We don't really do reviews. And what did you experience relative to that not that long ago.
That's the same thing. Often there's not a former review, and sometimes I think that's done on purpose, so there's nothing to go back and look at. So typically when you're sitting in their chairs, you don't you don't see a review. And then when things aren't going away that you know somebody has seen all things they should go, you know, all of a sudden, it's like, well this isn't right and we're gonna we're going to seek the replace. And like I said, I was sitting that day, I'm like,
wait a minute. I did what I was supposed to do. And you know, that audit was mandated by city hall. So we we had done two audits about overtime and it come up with the same findings. It's like this was mandated from the city Manager's office to duty audit, and then it's a city manager's audits, you know, office of saying no, we don't, we don't want to see this issue anymore.
Yeah, which is the point. You know, if you don't have a review in seven years, there's a reason why. And it makes it that way, there's plausible deniability. It might call yeah, I don't know if it costs you less or more in the long run. And again, it's not their money, it's the taxpayer's money. So this is why history repeats itself, right.
And you know I told you I reham have houses too, And you know I always said in that chair, and I'm not being a chiefs Gate, but I always looked at that money as that's my money. That's my money too, that's gott's. You know, if I can buy a gallon of paint for a thirty bucks, why am I going to spend fifty Let's let's make sure we take care of tax payer money. And I've always been that way, always goes look at that money is wait a minute, that's my money and I don't want to waste it either.
And that's what we were trying and accomplished. It's not waste touch fare, let's spend it if we need too. I'm all for that.
Yeah, you were told you were And in twenty two you're told to do an audit and you found overtime in District five that numbers that were incredible. I remember reading that story going only crap. These were like, you know, you're making like CEO money and you're a beat cop, Like what the hell is going on over here? And you were told to do that audit and then when you find the information, you're the guy that that was pushed, that fell on, but pushed on the sword.
Well, I think it was, hey, we don't like this message. If there's only one way to get rid of the message, sure, and I think I think I think that's what happened. But when you look at that audit, I think the conclusions that audit were basically, hey, let's short this up, let's get some oversight here. Let's make you know, overtime a great thing, and and police departments you need over time. There's a sweet spot, you know, sometimes overtime is a great thing as opposed to hire an FPE.
So I like overtime. I think it's it's.
Well used, it's a great tool, but squandering it again. It's want on my money. It needs to control and that's all we were trying to say that audit, and that's beside the point. But what she sees you're going through now is the same thing I did, what you asked me did to do and why are you doing right well?
And part of it to show to show these stories are are parallel here, Dave Bailey, with what you went through as a you know, the second in command essentially at CPD before you were sure in the door in twenty eighteen, for the same reason, Terry Fiji was uh, to some degree, is is overtime? She's like, look, you know, cops love overtime until you work them so hard that they don't. She was seeing the cop side of this, saying, listen, you know you're telling me have them work more overtime.
But these men and women are working too much to the point where they need some relief. I can't continue to force them out there and force the mandatory overtime. It's it's just not working for us. We've got to come up with it. And that was looked at as insubordination and that she wasn't tough on crime. To the contrary, you're the you know, there's there's lawmakers who are still around that they're the reason why you're one hundred and fifty cops short.
It's not Terry FIG's fault.
Right, and that And that's one of consideration I was telling you about. You run a major city police department, you have to worry about your workforce. You've got to understand when they're tied. And I remember sitting up this good. I remember sit up there and we're having talks like are we pushing them too hard? You know, maybe maybe we have to back off. And we knew when summer was coming up. You know, summer's coming up. Let's back off for summer because we're getting Keep in mind, Cincinnati
is an event laden city. It starts on Saint Patrick's Day and it runs all the way till the end of the year. So you get about six weeks where you got to retold that police department. By the end of February, you're up and running again. You're you're done, and it's you know, it's every weekend. And and I think the other thing about these jobs and chiefs DG can't talk, and I think I could talk a little bit.
You don't realize if you immerse yourself in all this, you immerse self in that department, you immerse yourself and these neighbors. I remember, you know, with the Collaborative Agreement all that we're out there rebuild neighborhoods. We're out there working with these people on the streets trying to make these neighborhoods better.
Which was a.
Great thrill for me to watch north Side, watch College, You'll rebound, watch the Committee's become great again. But you know what, You become attached to these people, you become partners with them, You become immersed in all this, and then you're sitting in a chair saying we don't need you. You didn't do what we wanted you to do. Really, really, I plugged in. Everything goes on the city, and that's
what you're gonna tell me. And I think that's the hard part, now, what it was over and you go through this the talk radio and then I heard it all, you know, and it's horrible for a week or two, and it's Dave barely chief fee. She goes on and on off. But then when you think about it, and I sat there one night, I'm like, you know what. Okay, it happened, but you know what, I did the right thing and that made it a little bit better for me. In the end. It's like, Okay, they don't need me,
they don't won't meet it. Okay, So but I did the right thing and I found some soulis in that.
I really like.
Okay, I move on else.
I know people and myself. You've been through it where you're fired, your jobs terminated. You know, not that you liked it, but you had more than two years pay in full pension. Most people don't get that. So that's a feather in your cap that you able to land on your feet squarely. But again it gets back to the issue. Dave Bailey's here, by the way, former CPD colonel executive assistant chief second in command by the way, under Chief Isaac and he was Cincinnati second we hasn't mentioned,
and then the city manager forced him out. He's watching the same thing happen to the woman who replaced him.
That's right.
Terry Thiji actually replaced Dave Bailey back in the day in twenty eighteen.
And I'll go full circle here. Teresa Thiji replaced you.
She was described at the time as quote the breath of fresh air the department needed, and now witnesses in the same report that the city paid for and extended three times are using those exact same words to subscribe.
Interim Chief Adam Haddie. What does that pattern tell.
You The merry go round continues, don't Scott. It's like you know, and I I saw inter a Chief Hemmy on TV the other night, and now he's facing budget cut and he's facing difficulty. It's like, okay, now how do you navigate that? Know what's happened to me and what's happening to you?
Think?
Now, what how do you navigate through these waters? It's very tough, it really is.
You got to like form some sort of broken Hearts club or something like that, right, I.
Mean, well, you know what, and I will say this, I love that job even when times were bad, even when you know, the crisis came up, the shooting came up, and there was not a day that I didn't like doing it. But when it was time to go, okay, it's time to go, and and we move on. But and I hope Chief Sig can get that. I know right now it's a struggling and I know that she believed she was wrong, and I think it's pretty clear she was. But I couldn't imagine navigating a city, the
city administration that she's trying to. Like I said at the opening, I didn't have that. John Cranley was a good mayor. You could go in when you needed something, John, what do you need?
What do you need?
Let's get this crime. Let's get this crime out of my city. And we got to elect official tier that's going to.
Help you get that done. I don't think she had that.
And I think when we look at what's been going on to city Hall, that's the unfortunate thing. They didn't have her back.
That's the take on the guy who essentially the buck stopped with and fired you. What's your take and what's your perspective then on the current mayor after had purevoll and city manager share long.
Well, from what I've seen, and I see a report that's very vague and we don't know who they interviewed, and.
There's no documentation either.
By the way they gave their statements but nothing was recorded, and some say that they only took the negatives out and included positives.
Yeah, it seems like it's very disheartening. I can't imagine. I can't imagine what Chief dig you feels. It's like, really, and this is what you're gonna do. And like I said, you know, you give. I tell you, Scott is one of those jobs and you give thirty some years and really you don't realize until you're done. It's like I've put my life on hold. I've put my life on hold.
For this agency.
And you know, it's like you don't realize what it's like. You know, we here Scott's learn on the air every day talking to himself on a microphone. But there's hundreds of people to make that happen, right say, to the police department. There's hundreds of people that make that happen every day. You're not the expert. You rely on those people. You got relationships with those people. You know that thing continues every day and you just you know, that's the
part that really hurts. It's like, you know what, all these people that I work with, and that's I think you said it the other day, you had a guest on It's always about the people. It's always, yeah, it's always people. You know, you might have a boss, you don't like you might have a situation I like, but you love those people. You love those people in your agency, you love the people in the neighborhoods, and that's the part to probably get to mourn anything else.
What does the twenty twenty sixth version of Dave Bailey say to the twenty twenty sixth version of Teresa Thiji, who's going through the same thing you did.
I think you you got a great attorney. You listen to your attorney. And I knew that was kind of hard for me because I want, I want to want. You need to listen. You need to listen because we're giving you the best advice.
We can't listen.
You do what's right. If for any police administrator, I've always said this in even afterwards, I hate people going to me, what would you do different? I'm sitting in that chair, andel, what would you do different? That's a simple answer. Do what the people paid you to do. If you do that, if you get in those chairs and you do what you're supposed to do, you watch
out for taxpayers, you watch out. You give it best police service you can, and if they don't want you, you can walk out saying what I'm supposed to do and you move forward. That's the best advice I've given him. You know, if your trees of Fiji, you know, you listen your attorney, you pursue what you need to pursue to make yourself whole. But at the end of the day, you do you do what's right. And if you do what's right, and you do your job and you watch
out for the things you're supposed to watch out for. Work, okay, what's supposed to do. I wish, I wish you makes god better luck. And I think I said that one when Chief Dijan moved in. I wish they're better luck than what I had with this.
Yeah, yeah, but it looks like it's the same cycle. A look that That's why I said, it's a broken hearts club. And you can probably have a pretty good sized room full of people who have been shafted by the city and by politicians, uh for doing their job essentially, whether it's you or Terry Figi, because certainly crime levels don't look like they have improved since she's gone. But and I you know, I wish Chief Handy all the luck.
Seems like a good guy. It's not about the individual, it's about the circumstances in how they choose the ex chief of the City Cincinnati or those in command. I asked you, you know what advice you would give from what you learned in twenty eighteen to t chief feed each today and just lay that thing out.
Uh what can she?
I suppose It's true of anybody, right if you retire, you have this reason why people hang on the jobs. Outside of money, of course, is the fear of the unknown. You lose your job. There's this great fear it's gonna work out for her.
Isn't it.
It is? I mean, one way or another, she couldn't wind up moving on to something else.
And I was lucky.
I walked out that day and I think I started rehabibility for the next day home. Yeah, I think I did buy a new a new rehab van. I think I walked out there. You know what I think I'm gonna I'm gonna buy a dry all the month. But I was able to do that, and I would I would tell anybody, especially in the policing industry. You know when you make that accit, you know, have that plan B. And you know I her Kan Kob talking the other day, and this is very important. Whatever you gonna do with
the police chief. We're sitting right now in April and things are going to start to move in the city, and they move quick, and you need to get somebody in that chair and support them and get the department move in the right direction. That's very important. Actually, we're a little bit late right now, because you know, Saint Patrick's day is here and gone, and that's when this season really starts to ramp up. We got Tasters and
Adi coming up. We've got all these things come up downtown, and it moves, It moves very Look look what.
Happened on opening day.
And I hope that's not a precursor for the coming year because Adam Henny's plate is already full. But I wish that guy all the luck in the world. He's going to need it because he's trying to run this place department with it sounds like one hand tied behind his back.
He is.
Dave Bailey jumping on the show this morning, has walked in Teresa Thiji's shoes and sadly, almost the exact same circumstances that Terry Fiji went through.
Dave, Thanks for checking in, man.
I appreciate it and for coming on and sharing this insight here because I think it's important perspective when it comes to tag pairs and the good people of Cincinnati and who's really running the show there.
Yeah, thanks for having me on it. And again, Cincinnati is such a great place. And I always said, you know, the people of Cincinnati, they deserve so much better, and I hope we get it. And then I guess to get up.
I think we can.
We can do it all the best.
And again I was shared by the best.
All right, take care of my friend Ahi. Thanks, yep, see you later.
They're Dave Bailey, former second command twenty eighteen. He is let go for discovering a lot of overtime being spent that should have been spent, and they fired him, but they asked him to do the investigation. He had the answers and they shoot the messenger sound familiar, sloony seven hundred w Ald. We'll do a bloat day like drunk from ham Get the hamm. Hammon is great man holding on to some water much. You got me? You know what I'm talking about here? Post Easter should be something
on Monday with the uh. I don't the sodium hangover that you won sodium candy. It's too damn much. It's too much Scott flowing here, seven hundred WLW. We've got Willy coming up about a half hour. Reds on radio tonight. And maybe you weren't paying attention because the holiday weekend is here, the weather was nice. Maybe didn't get a chance to watch or listen to too much of it. I feel you. That's the beauty of baseball. Play so many games you know you're gonna wind up missing a few.
The Reds went into a Globe Life Field in Arlington Easter weekend and left with a three game I said, three games sweep of the Rangers, first time the Reds have had this record this many games in since two thousand and one. Well, they won five three to two ZIP two one yesterday, outscoring Texas ninety four and held the Rangers below a sub two hundred batting average.
No heirs in three games by this.
I know, I know it. I know it's a first away series of the year. It's early April, but you gotta walk away happy if you're a Reds fan. Jeff Carry usually joins the show. He is on vacation this week. Every time Jeff Carr from lockdown. Reds goes on vacation, the Reds go on a heater. Maybe the red should get him on the payroll just to stay on vacation permanently. But I will set it up in the game later
tonight against Miami. I said, you know what, I don't know when I'm gonna get the you know, the Reds package reads it's a hundred bucks and this week, and I'm like, I don't want to watch some baseball threw the hundred bucks down, And I got to say, after watching some of a lot of it, the rotation is pitching like it has something to prove after what happened with not only Nick Lodolo, but with Hunter Green, the chaos,
the injuries. The bullpen's holding leads. So Friday, Brady Singer comes in and gives you five innings, kept it competitive, the pen closes it out. Tony Santian got the winning relief, Pegan got the save. But Gon has been the only one to me is like not looking like the guy they just signed. But Saturday, Rhet Louder, he was just filthy. Six shot out innings, held Texas to what three hits, only walk two, and the Arrangers went oh for ten rsip.
That's the kind of start that changes. I think the moment of this fan base, quite honestly, of redg nation is you look at a younger pitcher like Rhet Louder man, you can the bibblehead's going to come next week, I think. And then yesterday Chase Burns was the best start of the weekend. I thought, Okay Singer was solid, Rhet louder was a little a lot better. Chase Burns was just mind blowingly good. Six innings, nine k's and one round allowed.
He's ad a one to five er way two weeks into the season.
ERA.
Two weeks in the season and the man they accorded to be the ace is pitching like one for sure. Brock Burke comes in instead of Pegan and slams the door shut three strikeouts in the ninth with the save, no question about it. In the Reds combined era for the Reds pitching under two runs a game against the Rangers lineup. By the way, that remember went to the World Series not too long ago. Not the same team I know, I know, but that's still in a recent memory.
And the thing is the team isn't beating you with a sledgehammer. They just they're grinding these wins out. This is a grind right now. Ellie though, had a hit in the all three games homeward on Friday, drove and run Saturday and yesterday, and he's doing exactly what we thought he needed to do in what this lineup needs him to do to be a presence the other team has to plan around, for sure. Spencer Seer two for four, he looks back, home run, two rbi Friday, just consistent.
Todder Stevenson after starting a little chili homer and two RBI on Friday. When he's in the lineup, it looks like that catcher spot has some real depth for sure. And then Matt McClain, who was extremely disappointing by every metric last year. He continues two hits in games one and two. He's getting on base, he's creating traffic. And Gino drove in the go ahead run on Sunday, and that was on a rare bas it it's either home
run or strikeout. He hits a knock right between second and short to drive the go ahead run running on Sunday after they had tied it up. Reds wind up winning that ball game. Yesterday, Texas was four for twenty six. I mentioned with runners in scoring position during the series, and you know, go, well, they're just slumping.
I guess if you're a Rangers, I don't know.
I think that's the Reds pitching staff executing the plan. They had a couple of airs I know in Game two that buried them in that shutout. They've got pretty good arms in that bullpen, but they couldn't do anything, didn't get comfortable against the lineup that the Red Legs have. So two weeks into the season, the Reds are playing to win in baseball. The rotation is healthy right now. Burns Louder Singer looks sharp and a massive swing from the and we know when you're not going, man, why
don't we get Lodola back? When are we getting a Hunter greenback? When those concerned, when we're not thinking about those guys, it goes to show you how good they are, and then you get them back to the line of good Lord, watch out and the bullpen. Certainly, burke Is was absolutely lights out. Pegan kind of had a rough start. Maybe it looks like he's getting it back together. It was a now bier when he came in this weekend.
But the sweep, I think tells you that this team can win low scoring games, which was not part of the Reds fabric last season, the years before, you know, and earlier this. Yeah, I mean one of the games against Pittsburgh's like the runs, the leads, a small lead's not gonna hold. Well, guess what that was last week. Now it's a different story. And granted it's one road series against one team. Will find out more tonight, but you know, you got to be encouraged if you're a
Reds fan that they don't really need a beginning. That's how good teams win in October, and right now the Reds are playing that kind of baseball that will win games in October. So they said they're off to Miami, nex got the Marlins chance to run that winning streak further knock on wood. If everybody can stay healthy, particularly pitching rotation looks good enough to keep them in the
central race hunt well in the summer. And they're right there right now, just to game back a first place and it being at six and three, best record they've had since so won the best started anyway. Miami, though, This is the interesting because you think Miami is just terrible and be terrible for all long time. But they're
at five and three right now. The surprising story of the NL East Red six and three, Miami five and three and the Marlin is supposed to be that that you know they're in rebuild mode, but clearly did not get the memo from corporate there. And it's a pretty competitive East. You got the Mets, you get the Braves six and four, and I think you know, certainly in this very very young season, this is a really good
first test for them against his club. Because Miami just got roughed up at Yankee Stadium and got blown out on Friday eight to two.
They lost a shootout.
On Saturday nine to seven, and you know, they come home a little beat up. Their pitching staff spin in high scoring environments all weekend. It's gonna make them tired.
You know.
You look at the runs that they the runs, but they put up more runs than two combined for cright out loud, the last year's the Reds had. So that's a pretty stiff contrast. And then coming into a Reds team that held Texas to four runs in three games, and that's also a team built around pitching built around defense, and the roof will be closed, and we saw that last year. Of course, they close that roof or open
the roof, depending who's pitching for the opposing team. The most pitcher friendly environment in the NL, So the Reds grinding that two run wins isn't going to change as the opponent does. Chase Burns yesterday, Red Louder Saturday. Singer was Friday, so we get to see the back end of rotation tonight and how the Reds manage those games, whether the bullpen can bridge those gaps. Think that'll be the story for at least the first couple of games,
and then he gets Singer Louder. Burns could be available again by Wednesday Thursday, and Pegan I'm guessing the close, although you know he had that one rough outing struggle a little bit, but hopefully he gets back in the Gruz. I can't wait to see La de la Cruz, who, as I said, had hits on all three games against Texas and Homer done Friday, looks a lot more disciplined to play play and of course you know his whole thing.
He sees a lot more muscular, leaner, a lot more focused as well, and the way Marlin's pitching looks, I think it's gonna be a little different than you know. You're gonna see a lot of off speed down on the zone, stuff like that. Middle Reds middle Lions get a problem for Miami for sure. But the Moderlins rotation. I was just reading this right before the news break. Here they have quietly developed a very young, very good
pitching staff to keep came close. So the Reds are gonna have to be patient, work the count, and it's going to be you know, if you thought this last series was a grind, I'm guessing the Miami series is going to be probably even more sover grind as well. And you know, you look at it, I think the
Reds are a better team right now. And you got momentum, you got arrested top of the rotation, you got arms coming back, you got guys starting to hit their stride very early in the season, and the hits are coming in very timely fashion. So the only risk I think would be complacency at this point. And remember, Miami's got that home field advantage like no other. That park is something else, kind of like the course field of the East.
If you a different double, different thing. But depending on what that roof, what they do with that roof, it's a whole different ballgame down there in Miami. So what are you hoping for now? Obviously, sweep would be an unbelievab statement. You sweep back to back series, that is the call for Major League Baseball that the Reds are here and they're not going away. But how three of four? That would be incredible as well, I know it. Splitting the series of two and two would be a pretty
big disappointment. I think losing the season would be here we go again. We'll be panicking a week from now. But it's exactly the kind of series if you're a playoff contender you need to handle at home. Cincinnati's away, but they got the pitching, the momentum, So I don't know. I'm hoping for three or four, if not an outright sweep starting tonight, and we'll have the call for you here on the Home of the Reds seven hundred ww Cincinnati.
What else going on?
Willie is going to take care of things starting at twelve six this afternoon. I'm sure he'll be discussing what's happening in the situation and Iran tomorrow like around one o'clock.
Again, this is just fluid, so we don't know.
But the President was going to address from the Situation room, I believe it was the White House and the threats that he made yesterday a relative to Iran, saying hey listen and using some all the strongest language possible and say, I'd said the F bomb is pretty the strongest language possible on Easter Sunday. Nonetheless, Trump sent that out yesterday and social media and said, well, We're going to wipe
you off the face of the earth. Now, I've kind of heard those saber rattling things before from him and some exaggerations, but does he actually go in on Tuesday being tomorrow and absolutely laid bar Iran because they're not opening the strait of our moves and said you'll never We're never going to open the strait of horror moves.
And so you wonder what the retaliation is. And I think also maybe some winded Trump's back too because of the rescue, the successful rescue mission of not one but two of our are men that crashed in country there, and so he's got a little bit of a swagger about him, and if I'm iran, I'm a little bit worried. But as an American in a little bit world, do we really want to wipe a ran off the face of the earth? And what does that mean for the face of the earth? And well gas price is in
the long term and the short term for that matter. Anyway, Willie's on the way next he'll pick up the pieces, as he says, at twelve oh six, right here in the Hall of the Redgs. Hopefully keep it rolling tonight in Miami on seven hundred WW Cincinnati