02-13-25 FULL SHOW - Veterans Non-Profits Doing Good Work In Colorado

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For me, it's a Friday, but for you it's a Thursday. So it's a Thursday that feels like Friday, but only for me. More on that in a moment, because it is the Mandy Connell Show, and I am Mandy Connell. Crazy how that thing went together like that. I'm joined, of course by Anthony Rodriguez.

We just call him a Rogers for.

And we will take you right through till three pm today. And a couple things just happened, and well, I'm gonna I'm gonna do this and we'll take care of it and do the blog that is.

And then we got to get to a.

Couple stories right out of there, just a big story out of Jefferson County that is appalling, So let's do it.

Mandy'sblog dot com. Mandy'sblog dot com. Then just look for the headline.

It says two thirteen to twenty five blog veterans nonprofits doing good work in Colorado.

Click on that and here are the headlines you will find within.

Anyone in office half of American all with ships and clipments, and say that's ConA press.

Pledge today on the blog Happy Early Valentine's Day, Rob Williams is my own personal Veterans Affairs office. Colorado Dems want to vote for Trump. Thank goodness. A horrible thing happened to a legislator.

Do we really need to be.

Spending federal money on these things? Stop dead naming the Gulf of America a devastating bit of collateral damage. Banning Jerks was the beginning of the end. A super sad story about why you need your affairs in order?

Can we leave Lauren Bobert's personal life alone?

Is Colorado ready for nuclear Do bike lanes really safety? It's time to make your park reservations for this summer. That Denver Zoo is updating its water main. One Denver restaurant made the Yelp top top one hundred. Matt Tybee lights up the USAID nonsense? What did jen X drink the eight most affordable and reliable car brands? What Ukrainian peace might look like? Hamas is going to honor the agreement. Men are room more romantic than women. The truth about alcohol.

I have a very talented doppelganger.

A penguin hops into a boat leave it reminds the press of their place. Late addition, oh wait a minute, the F one fifty is dethroned, and late audition Jeff Goo's Schools helps.

The kid commit a crime and then covers it up.

Those are the headlines on the blog at mandy'sblog dot com.

So here's what we got going on right now.

What we have going on right now is that we're going to start at the very bottom of the blog, which we normally don't do.

And oh boy, there's some good stuff on the blog.

My friend Rob Williams of the Day, Rob coming in today because he's got all kinds of stuff about veterans nonprofits. We're going to talk about good stuff happening out there for veterans. But in the meantime, we have to talk about this story that was done on CBS four. This is appalling and I'm just going to start the show by playing the audio of this story. Done by CBS

She is just let me just let this play, Okay, here we go to get her.

Sean Boyden covered documents the show's school officials helped an underage student declare herself homeless so she could move in with a teacher.

Sean Boyd joined us now to talk more honest than Sean. She was not homeless, no, and the.

School district admits that those involved knew that. Yet they helped a student fill out a federal form that said she was homeless, then hid it from her parents so she could move in with a teacher.

And that's just the beginning.

There's like this icky feeling that something's wrong, and then as it progressed, it only got worse.

Heather McCormick says there were red flags at Columbine High School, long before the school district hired investigators who found teacher Leanne Karney had been grooming a female student. McCormick is friends with that student's mother, and.

There wasn't one person who stood up and was like, something doesn't seem right and reached.

Out to the parents instead.

School emails obtained through an open records request show counselors purposefully kept the parents in the dark while they helped their daughter fill out a federal form declaring herself homeless so she could move in with a teacher.

Now, I'm going to say something here that Sean Boyd is not going to say because she's a journalist and she doesn't have to worry about such things. But how is it not a crime to help a child lie on a federal form? And by the way, this federal form is attached to federal dollars in the form of FAFTSA and financial aid their forums specifically for that, So that means that's fraud.

So the Jefferson County.

Public schools helped a teenager commit federal fraud, so ther her female tea.

Oh, I'll I'll just let I'm so fired up, y'all. Let me just let me, let Sean tell you the rest of the story.

Here we go.

I think it's really scary that we can take teenagers or children of any age and just say whatever you say is truth. We're not going to investigate it. We're going to take big steps to declare you homeless without notifying your family.

Investigators say Principal Scott Christy also knew about the girl's plans and didn't tell her parents. McCormick says the mom stumbled upon the homeless document while cleaning her daughter's room and later found a letter describing her daughter kissing Carney, along with thousands of calls and texts between the two.

So let me just translate that into normal person talk. Because again, Shan Boyd, incredible journalist, cannot say things the way that they need to be said. The Jefferson County Public Schools supports this lesbian teacher in grooming young girls at school.

That's what I just heard.

I mean, isn't exactly what it said, But I mean, isn't that what you heard? I'll let Sean finish the story.

You think the school would have reacted differently had Carney been a male teacher.

Oh?

Absolutely, Carney quit, but it would take two years and pressure from the mom before she lost her teaching license. McCormick says her friend lost far more when her daughter turned eighteen, she moved out of state with the teacher.

It's really scary to think that there are schools and teachers and administrations that are working behind your back, not in the best interest of your child.

Jeffco's school district sent me a statement saying, obviously the student did not meet the criteria to be considered homeless, and the staff involved in this isolated incident were addressed as part of the investigation as the proper channels in place were not followed. While we have taken every step to remove this former employee from jeff Co and prevent her working in another educational set, we recognize this is

Now we deeply regret how profoundly this violation has affected their family. Is that in any way, shape or form an apology for the role that jeff Co employees played in helping air commit federal fraud before allowing her to be groomed by a teacher who lied to the government in order to allow this girl to come live with her so she could then take her out of status as soon as she turned eighteen. You better believe if this was a man, this would be a much different situation.

It's not okay.

And for jeff Co's schools to be so blase as to apologize for the feelings of the family instead of apologizing for creating a culture in jeff Co schools where parents have been marginalized and the school district has decided that they will be the arbiters of what is right for your child. Oh, your child decides they want to become another gender and they want to be addressed by

Groom your child. And even after showing being shown.

Evidence that there was a sexual relationship going on, we're still going to blow it off. What the blank is going on at jeff Coo. I mean, this should be the biggest scandal in the country right now. This is beyond crazy. I'm sure there's way worse stuff somewhere else in some other school district, but I can't find one in my cursory. You know, Look, Mandy isolated incident. Is this a peek into a wider culture at jeff co or perhaps elsewhere? This is jeff COO's schools under Superintendent

They don't want parents input.

God forbid that parents should say, you know, maybe our kids should be back in school. I know the Teachers' union is telling, you know, but maybe the science is there to say they should be not in Jeff Coo, they didn't care.

Nope, they do not care.

It is outrageous and I truly don't understand parents that are just sitting by and letting it happen. If this was happening in Douglas County, I would be like right there at every school board meeting demanding that this superintendent be fired, because if you don't think this can happen to your kid, I mean, come on, you know we like to think that her kids are smart and we have a good relationship with them. But they're in a

Because I'm not.

She's a teenager. She doesn't want to spend eight hours a day with me. The fact that they are so let me just read that to you again. Let me read their statement again. They're a nonpology. I coined the phrase non apology years ago when I wasn't being forced to give an apology to someone I did not I ow an apology to. I was asked to give an apology to someone, and I simply said, I'm terribly sorry that what I set upset you, which is in no

I mean, guys, this has gotta stop.

This is this is so incredibly important, especially now. If Trump succeeds in eliminating the Department of Education, and please, please, for the love of God, let that happen, then every school district will be free of every asinine edict from a Department of Education that has done nothing but oversee a complete malaise and decline in education in the United States of America.

It's it's inception. So I'm ready for that. But boys, these school.

Boards they matter. They're gonna matter more than ever. And right now in Jefferson County schools, we have idiots running the ship.

We truly do idiots.

Who one more time, if you're just joining me, what I'm going on about is a story by CBS for as Seawan Boyd about the fact that jeff Co Public Schools certain members of the school district who, by the way, I'm assuming, have not been disciplined or fired for any

Jeffco's schools just glossed over it. I mean, it's what a nightmare. What a nightmare? Who are the adults in Jefferson County Public Schools? Mandy?

Do you know what they're doing in Douglas County. The Department of Justice is investigating Douglas County.

You know, I do know.

I know everything that they're looking at right now, and I've said before, when that investigation is done, I am going to expect Douglas County to address any issues that are found to have merate. So we'll wait and see what happens when the investigation is done. Mandy, please explain

Maybe it's their secretary.

And they proceed to ingratiate themselves with gifts and compliments, and pretty soon.

It advances to, oh, let's just have a little.

Peck on the cheek, and pretty soon it's full blown sexual relationship. And that's what this teacher did with this girl, to the extent that she got her to lie and commit fraud so that she could move in with a teacher. And now there's a big question for me in all of this, like where were her parents? That's a big question I have. I mean, how do you allow someone to move in with it? I don't understand that. I really don't.

Mandy.

You certainly started your show today getting your audience salty. Yes, yes, indeed, Mandy, if the Doge goes away and Colorado runs their own schools, situations like Jeff co would continue in Colorado. My hope would be that we would have more people who would which just rational thought processes. What we have now a lack of doodle ideologist who care more about making sure that kids think they can be another gender just by

Oh, but they're animated, so it's not it. Oh, it's fine.

I mean, how are students doing. Jeff Co is a very good school district. It has been for a long time.

That is it now?

I don't know.

I haven't looked at their recent scores.

What they're doing is is using their power to indoctrinate an entire generation of children to the insane beliefs that they themselves have.

And where are the parents and jeff Co saying that's not okay? It's not okay.

Again, People in positions of trust gone, Yes, what school was this? I don't uh, Columbine Columbine High School. Yeah, a lot of you are weighing in, Oh for the person who just sent Mandy, Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on? I'm on the side of kids and parents in Jefferson County who are being underserved by their current school board representatives and superintendent. That's whose side I'm on.

But that was a good one. That was a good one.

Texter Mandy, you know that Columbine thing was okay because they were lesbians.

If did it have been a male teacher, things would have been quite different. Exactly.

Wow, three children all graduated from Columbine. This textas says that sure doesn't sound like the Scott Christie I knew.

Unreal. This is why we moved to Florida after my last graduator from Columbine, we had to leave.

I gotta say, I hope that the superintendentism is suitably shamed by this story and then he has the decency to feel bad about it. That's the part I don't get because in my experience, and I have a lot of friends who are teachers, and I mean a lot, and to a person, most of the teachers that I've

Here's one.

The Jefferson County superintendent is just asked for a pay raise although they're in over their heads financially, currently making over three hundred K. I don't know why any of this is okay Jefferson County residents. I don't know how many listeners we have in jeff Co. And I mean, I'll be perfectly honest, like we have a pretty good idea.

Of stuff like that.

But I mean Jefferson County is reliably Democrat at this stage. I mean, you look at the political politics as you have Republicans that come out of Jefferson County, but it's pretty democratic. But at the same time, why would this story be okay with Democrats?

That's what I'd like to know.

Why would this story be okay with any parent, regardless of their political affiliation. And why would inserting a school in between parents and kids who are gender confused be okay either? And yet Jefferson County does both of these and they seem to do it with impunity.

So I don't know. I really don't know, Mandy.

Yes, they get jaded when the Union gets their hooks in, I guess so.

I guess so, Mandy. I'd really like to know more about how.

The Department of Education dismantling by DOGE is actually going to change the states and how they're going to be run. I still feel like it'll be the same wackos in charge. To a certain extent, it will be, But you guys have to understand how much time schools deal with federal edicts that come from the Department of Education that have done nothing to improve the quality of education. You know, people talk about administrative bloat, how the administration and education

Of that nature.

But the reality is is that if we got rid of the Department of Education, you would have states that will continue to perform at a very high level, like Massachusetts, who, by the way, fun fact, Massachusetts does so well because they actually did something other states are afraid to do. They raised the standards for their kids. And you know what happened the kids method Huh. It's like a miracle

I think you could make the case there. Man a just went to El Poyo Loco to.

Get lunch and dinner day it dang you same reason democrats like slave wage.

I don't know what that's in response to.

Is it Columbine the high school where two high school kids who were neglected by their parents committed mass murder?

Yeah, but I don't think that has anything to do with his.

Same Jeffco that has the little girls share a bed with a boy on a school trip. Correct same jeffco whose third in command of the district was under investigation for possessing child pornography before he committed suicide in December.

I mean, one of.

These things is bad enough. You put those things together, you now have a clear pattern of behavior. I don't know who behavior, but there's obviously something about this district some what's the word I'm thinking of culture in the district that either attracts people who have these ill intentions or turns a blind eye when things start.

To look weird and sketchy. That's certainly what happened in here.

In the story that we were talking about, if you are just joining us, Sean Boyd covered a story from Jeff Coo Schools about how school district employees helped a young woman, a girl teenager, lie on federal forms to declare herself homeless so she could move in with her lesbian teacher who was grooming her. And we know she was grooming her because as soon as she turned eighteen, teacher and girl moved out of the state. Yeah, nothing

Yeah, they finally fired the teacher finally, but I think no, actually I think she quit. That's what I heard. She quit. They didn't even fire her. Jeffco parent here.

I worked two jobs in the wife part time so my elementary kids can go to private school. We have an elementary school in our neighborhood. You know that is so incredibly sad.

But good on you.

Good for you for not accepting your fate and you know, not going quietly, Mandy, Just to put the lighter side on you today, best commercial super Bowl with Harrison Ford selling Jeeps. Yes, that was one of my favorites as well.

Mandy.

I'm a retired teacher, also a Republican. I was always in the minority. It's crazy liberal culture. Oh no, I was always in the majority, says this person.

I don't know if she was wrong. I don't know. That doesn't make sense, Mandy.

When I moved to Colorado in nineteen ninety nine, Jefferson County was a prelude to Douglas County and was a conservative stronghold no more. All the Denver Libs moved north of C four seventy and ruin that area. Republicans moved to Douglas and Olpaso.

Counties for a better life. Yes, maybe, Mandy.

I'm a dad, put three daughters through Jeff co I'm a coach, so I could be in the schools, so I could do more than just complain.

I have a full time job outside of the schools.

I don't have a lot of interaction with teachers. But the district is admin top heavy. They are also running scared because of the administrator who was accused of inappropriate conduct and then committed suicide. We are being told we can only communicate with our athletes and parents via the jeffco email system because that sounds like a way to control what's being sent and heard.

Right.

Nothing says we deserve your trust more than monitoring your communications.

But Jeff Coo is getting some.

Awful this this pr advice absolutely awful because they're just making it look worse and worse and worse and worse. As a survivor of the shooting at that school, it's zero surprise that the corrupted regime continues to allow the faculty to keep operating without ethics. They operate like a spoiled toddler that keep pushing the limits, so blanking glad they have a highly funded football program, so they can

I just want to make that clear.

And by the way, I don't necessarily know if they're wrong. Certainly don't want to make it seem like I'm defending the undefensible. But when you hear stuff when it's a text message, I want you to be clear as I read a text message that is not an endor, because I have no way of knowing if any of that is true. May I find it interesting that now that the student is an adult and has moved out of state, that this story sees the daylight.

When did the student arrive at the school.

How long did it take for management to question the motivations of the teacher I'm hoping.

I mean, wouldn't you have already sued the Jefferson County School District? I would have. I would have been in court the day that I found out that someone had helped my daughter commit fraud.

Because be clear, when you fill in a form for the federal government and lie about it, that is fraud. Now we learn from Hunter Biden that you can totally get away with it, but I doubt she would. They facilitated a crime, and the response when it was brought to their attention was like, eh, well, you know, eh, it's fine, Mandy. My children went to home school in charter schools in jeff Coo. My youngest is twenty eight. This so we tried fixing our jeff Coo school board.

It didn't go well.

Okay, then find better candidates, start giving them money, start having fundraisers. Now, I'm telling you, guys, this is the battle ground where the rest of our history is going to be fought because these young people, especially this and this is no offense to Generation Z or even you know, the millennials really started getting it hard. But they really don't understand many of them, many of them do.

They really don't.

Understand why the United States of America is special and we're not perfect. I mean, I'm not an idiot, but we're not like other places, and we're not like them in some of the worst ways, but also in the absolute best ways. And they're being taught that we're founded on hatred and violence and slavery and the very worst of our country. Absolutely, that's a part of our country's history, but so is the war that we fought to end those atrocities against ourselves.

But the kids aren't getting that part.

They're not getting the celebration that we did something about the horror that we allowed to go on far too long. And we're raising kids in the United States of America that think socialism and communism sound like a good idea. Where do you think that's coming from. It's coming from the educational system as it stands now. If conservatives don't start getting serious, and I don't mean we're going to get in here and bring the Bible back into the classroom,

It's a remarkable story. And if we don't make sure that crazy people who would rather protect a predator so she could pray on her prey, then teach kids that, you know what, the United States of America, we have not always lived up to our ideals, but those ideals are worth striving for. We don't need to throw them away.

So it's there's support jeff co kids first, please so many Texterter just said, Lindsay dak Co has been exposing this for months.

Support jeff co kids first.

Join jeff Co kids first, talk to their people, find out what they're about.

Don't listen to what other.

People say about them, because they're the ones that are They're absolutely at the forefront of this and this is worth fighting for. If you believe the American Experiment is worth fighting for, stop writing on Facebook they were headed for civil war and start engaging on education.

That's what we need to be doing. I'm mad about that story and I don't want to talk about it anymore, not.

Right this second anyway. Okay, here's a funny story. This is not funny, ha ha, but I found it funny. So remember, a few years ago, went against my better wishes, the people of Colorado decided that we were going to be part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, this bit of dumb assery. And I still believe it's clearly unconstitutional. It's just disenfranchise. Oh, anyway, we'll talk about that.

What it is.

What it does.

Is if we get enough states to make two hundred and seventy electoral college votes, and Colorado is signed on to this compact. Right, they're currently they are sixty one votes short of the two seventy needed. But if they reach that two seventy threshold, then all of the states that have signed on to this dumb ass compact agree that they are going to give their electoral votes to

You know, it's that it's so stupid.

So a couple of Republicans are like, hello, three Republicans, to be clear, decided to try and repeal the twenty nineteen law, and they brought this bill up that would have taken them out of this compact, and the Democrats took it to a committee and killed it eight to two. They're gonna indefinitely postpone the Dell's.

That's basically like, you're dead. Nothing will ever come of this.

Nothing would have made me happier in this last election cycle than if we had been part of the National Popular Vote Compact and it had been in effect, and the leadership of the Democratic Party would have had to give their electoral College votes to Donald J.

Trump. It would could you even imagine? Could you imagine?

Okay, you guys have all seen the meme of the guy standing in a puffy vest and he looks like he's in a basketball game and he's just standing staring. He has dark hair. He's just standing staring with kind of a scolded look on his face.

I love that meme. It's one of my favorites because his look just says it all. It would be all of the Electoral.

College voters on the left just standing there looking like that as they gave their vote to Donald J.

Trump. The National Popular Vote Compact is just it's idiotic. It is absolutely idiotic.

It essentially said to the people of Colorado, Hey, yeah, we know you guys all came out and voted, but we're gonna let all these people in these other states decide.

Where we're gonna give our votes.

I mean, in what world would that be acceptable except by Democrats who think they're going to have a permanent win on the national popular vote.

I also saw some.

Very interesting polling data in the last couple of days, and honestly, right now I'm trying to remember where I saw it so I can find it again. But African American men their view of Donald Trump right now forty nine percent approval rating with African American men.

That is huge and terrible news for Democrats. I mean absolutely terrible news for Democrats. If the Democrats don't change significantly and move away from their identity politics where everybody's racing to be the bottom of the victim pyramid. I don't know what men will want to be associated with the Democratic.

Party before too long. They're wildly anti mail in a lot of ways. If you look at the leadership of the party and you look at the people who are at these rallies, it's all like middle aged white women, you know, they angry looking. It's like, at what point do men just go? You know what, I don't think they like me? So yeah, I don't want to give him any of more money, and I'm not going to

For Rolling Stone.

He now writes on his own stuff and his own substack. Great journalist, very interesting dude, and he actually testified before a House subcommittee and he let fly with an absolute scorcher of an opening statement. And I'm gonna play as much of it as I can. I might just play it, and I'll just don't if I have to dump. But I don't think he curses because it is in Congress and he did have some respect for that, even though they didn't have any respect for him. We'll do that

I can make that argument.

And for gen xers, you guys, I have a story that hit my gen x heart so hard. And it's also a story of warning for those of us at a certain age, have your affairs laid out well before you need it.

We'll get into all that in the next hour.

The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock, accident and injury lawyers.

Well, no, it's Mandy Connell on KLAMA.

Got the study and the nicety through train Bandyconnell keeping you sad thing.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the second hour of the show. And I have so much stuff to talk to you about.

Thank you to the Texter who sent me an article about the National voter trend poll that I was talking about. And let me just give you more of the takeaways for this. Black men love Trump. Forty two percent of black men approve of the job Trunt's doing. Four in ten have a favorable opinion of him. Top issues now inflation and the economy. You know why, because we all

A lab Will Duh and Vibe Jeck.

People are way more optimistic in just a month since their latest national voter trends.

Who say the country is.

On the wrong track have plummeted fourteen percent since last month.

So there you go. Here are other areas where Trump has had a big win in this polling.

Two thirds sixty four percent believe government should hire based on merit and experience instead of racial and gender identity. That also included fifty percent of Hispanics and forty one percent of Democrats. So fifty six percent Trump support Trump's executive order to declassify files relating to the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations.

What in the world is the other forty four percent doing here? What in the world? What in what world?

Is no?

Keep it a secret the better answer?

Come on.

Fifty three percent support Trump's actions on stopping illegal immigration and bolstering border security. Fifty five percent of post sanctuary cities and forty six percent of folks support Elon Musk's efforts to reduce government bloat and spending, including forty four percent of swing voters and forty one percent of independence So there you go, and there you have it. Oh

And the worst possible.

Outcome for all those Middle Eastern countries is to have Donald Trump take over Gaza and rebuild it and make it into something fabulous while displacing all of the Palestinians at the same time.

That's the worst possible outcome. So we just lays it out there, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do this thing that's gonna be absolutely awful for you, And all of a sudden, they're like, oh crap, we don't want the awful thing. Should probably do something, and they do it. It's amazing.

By the way, he had another press conference in the White House today. I believe that this and I'm not even kidding When I say this, I believe that at this point in his administration, he has done more back and forth exchanges with the press than Joe Biden did in his entire four years. And I'm not even being sarcastic. And he's sitting behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office and reporters are firing questions at him about Taiwan.

Nope, you all know this. I voted for Nicky Haley in the primary, even though Trump had already.

Locked it up by the time I got to Colorado because I just didn't want him back.

In the Oval Office. And I am here to tell you I am so glad I'm wrong.

Now.

That doesn't mean I agree with everything he's doing. I think some of the stuff he's doing is work, and some of it's not gonna get done. But there's zero chance, zero chance that any other Republican, including Republicans that I really like would have gotten the kind of action that Donald Trump has gotten internationally.

I mean, we're at a point.

Oh the other thing, by the way, I alse to have this on the blog today, Gaza little turn of events in Gaza, because remember a couple of days ago, Hamas says, Israel isn't living up to their terms of the of the agreement and so we're not releasing any more hostages. And Donald Trump, in one of his press conferences in the Oval Office, said, you know, if it were me and they didn't release all the hostages by noon on Saturday, we'd.

Be back at it. And today Hamas was like, oh wait, look, we checked our watches. We are going to be able to release three hostages on Saturday as we originally had scheduled. So you're gonna get three back on Saturday. I mean, this is this is upset so much stuff. The diplomacy. Apple cart has been kicked over and all the apples have been squashed onto the ground. But it's been effective, and I think eventually it's going to have it's going

The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government had another meeting. Now, if you don't know what the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is, well, they are ones that have looked into all kinds of malfeasance. And they had invited a guy named Matt Tybee to speak to them at one of their prior meetings, and they invited him to come back. Now, Matt used to be a reporter for Rolling Stone. I've liked his writing

If your recolaest we find mis pitch your microphone, hit your microphone him. Thank you, mister Chairman.

Is on.

Two years ago, when Michael and I first testified before your Weaponization of Government Subcommittee, Democratic members called us so called journalists, suggested we were bought off scribes, and questioned our ethics and our loyalties. When we tried to answer, we were told to shut up, take our take off our tuninfoil hats, and remember two things. One there is no digital censorship, and two, if there is digital censorship, it's for our own good.

I was shocked.

I thought the whole thing had to be a mistake. There was no way the party that I gave votes to, my whole life was.

Now pro censorship.

Then last year I listened to John Kerry, whom I voted for, talked to the World Economic Forum speaking about disinformation. He said, quote our First Amendment stands as a major block to our ability to quote hammered out of existence. He complained that it's really hard to govern because people self select where they go for their news, which makes

He was essentially.

Complaining that the peasants are self selecting their own sources of media.

What's next letting.

Them make up their own minds. Lastly, building consensus may be a politicians' job, but it's not mine as a citizen or as a journalist. In fact, making it hard to govern is exactly the media's job. The failure to understand this is why we have a censorship problem. This is an Alamo moment for the First Amendment. Most of America's closest allies, as both Rippa and Michael have pointed out,

This again is Matt Tybee, journalist speaking to the House Committee on the censorship industrial Complex, and I'll let him finish.

She's almost done again.

If you don't know the fastest way to a road trust in media is by having government sponsor exclusion lists. You shouldn't be getting a dollar in taxpayer money lit alone four hundred and seventy six million of it, and USAID is just a tiny piece of the censorship machine. Michael and I saw across that long list of agencies. Collectively, they've bought up every part of the news production line, sources, think tanks, research, fact checking, anti disinformation, commercial media scoring,

Thank you.

So that is him talking about the basically the government conspiring via usaid aid, two trained.

Journalists who are more likely going to the party line and that's terrible.

I mean, this is the kind of this feels very kind of Soviet style. And I love the fact that he called out John Kerrey, the French looking John Kerry.

Still he is too, isn't he?

Although as he gets older his jaw keeps getting bigger. It's just pretty soon it's just gonna be just one giant jaw. So, Matt Tybee, who's in this every day? You should read the follow up post. I can't read the follow up post in its entirety, but I will share this part of you, or this part with you.

The beginning.

He made notes while he was at the House hearing today and it starts out like this. Hours into my latest turn as a witness in Jim Jordan's House Judiciary Committee, I tried to pass the time by playing a game. Every time a Democratic member described digital censorship as a joke or a non issue, I scratched a notation.

By the end of it. By the end, I had a notebook full of entries.

And he writes down bs distractions, wasting time, induces insomnia, dumb, a waste of time, and then he goes on to talk about how badly the Democrats are swinging and missing on this issue. He said the Democrats on the committee had three themes, Musk, Trump, and the price of eggs. I think it is absolutely hilarious that Democrats, who just discovered that X costs a lot of money are now rushing to pint it on the guy who's been in office one month.

One month. And if you think that anyone has the.

Ability to shift the in a whole new direction in one month, then perhaps you shouldn't vote in the next election because you're just not bright.

Enough the economy. Think of the economy as an.

Aircraft carrier, and we'll see how fast they can turn the aircraft.

Carrier on a dime. I will say this. I saw a tweet by Elon Musk the other day, and I don't think I retweeted it.

He specifically talked about bringing down the yield on the bond rate, which is what I've been talking about.

So they just got a high inflation.

Number, but they're going aggressively after bringing the yield on the bond rate now, and that requires cutting spending. That's why we're hearing about everything that Doge is doing. Oh I have a story about that. Listen to this, you guys. This is why Americans are like, we spent money on what what? Why Americans are getting hip to the fact that doge is not just necessary. It is like doge in government right now is like if all of us

So all that incredibly important research is going to just fall by the way It's not falling by the wayside. But let me tell you what is So the bulk of Colorado.

Programs who's funding, according to local officials, remain inaccessible as a few days ago, deal with energy, climate resilience, and electric vehicle infrastructure. Let me tell you what the dollars are that are frozen right now in Colorado, And I just want to You can text me your response at five.

Sixty six nine zero. Which of these things must be saved?

Okay, one hundred and fifty six million dollars for expanding solar energy.

Where what does that even mean? Who gets that money?

Oh?

But there's more.

We have twenty five point six million dollars and I'm just gonna round these numbers up to make it simple. Grid Resilience formula funding from the US Department of Energy. That's twenty five point six million dollars. Seventy point two million dollars for home energy efficiency rebate programs, two point eight million dollars for a state Energy program formula funding formula State Energy program formula funding.

I don't even know what that is. That can go State Energy Program.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from the US Department of Energy six point nine million dollars unless the Energy Department is building new roads, that money can go. Home Electrification and Application Rebate Program from the US Department of Energy. That's seventy million dollars that can go ARECI Advancing Building Performance Standards from the US Department of Energy. Two point five million

Oh, I'm sorry, another fifty million for that.

So a total of like seventy two seventy three million for weatherization assistance programs. Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund from the Department of Energy, one point six Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block grant, two millionaire Training for Residential Energy Contractors, two point five million solar for all from the EPA, one hundred and fifty six million Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grant, one hundred and twenty nine million IRA codes competitive a

Us that this is a crisis and it's absolutely terrible. Now, don't get me wrong, I do think there's.

An issue when you've already got people working on projects that have already invested because they thought they were getting paid for those projects. That may fall into a different camp for me. But how much of this stuff is any of the business of the federal government.

None of it.

Absolutely nothing on this list should have ever come out of the federal government's coffers in the first place, not one single thing. This is what dogs doing. And the more people see this stuff, they're like, wait a minute, what T hack Man? And I do think the American people grasp that inflation is a government spending problem, not anything else. There may be mitigating factors, but every period of high inflation has been preceded by a level of

People. And yes, I know I mixed my metaphors. I did it on purpose because I think it's funny.

When we get back, gen X, I got a story for you, and I gotta tell you, like, very rarely do I see a story that kind of ooh, kind of gives me a gut check. This one gave me a gut check for so many reasons. And if you were a fan of MTVS one hundred and twenty minutes like I was, you're gonna want to hear this one. But I want to share this one because I think it's probably a point.

A lot of people feel.

Hi, Mandy, I agree with finding the fraud and corruption, but don't you think the correct way to go about it is through the House and the Senate, not the executive branch. Aren't they setting a president in the next political party that wins the White House? That is, if Trump leaves after his term. Okay, Trump's gonna leave after

Now.

Don't get me wrong.

As I've said a million times, every single executive order is like a pie cress promise, easily made, easily broken. So they have a lifespan. Right, So yeah, Congress is gonna have to do something. But I think what Donald Trump is doing now with DOGE is forcing the issue in a way no one in the executive branch has ever forced the issue ever.

Nobody's ever said, you know what, I'm just gonna go ahead and cut the stuff that I'm in charge of.

Nobody's ever said that, because nobody ever really wants government to get smaller.

They just don't.

All right, I've got this story I got to share with you as a gen xer. This one's kind of like.

Hit me today.

Family members of veteran radio and TV personality Matt Penfield have filed an opposition to a conservatorship request from his daughter. Penfield suffered a stroke in early January, which was followed by his daughter Jessica seeking a conservative ship, claiming her father was instable but poor physical health and incapable of

For young people. It wasn't made for old fuddy dadies.

It was made for young people, and they were doing things, and they were making videos, and it was like all of these little artistic movies.

All day long.

And then you'd have these shows on MTV that were more niche and niche however.

You want to say it.

And Matt Penfield was the host of one hundred and twenty Minutes along with a bunch of other stuff. He did so many shows on MTV. Matt Penfield was one of those like walking encyclopedias of knowledge when it.

Comes to music. And when I read dude had a stroke.

Now, let me just tell you about my day today, okay, And if you're of a certain age like I am, you're gonna absolutely.

Understand what is about to happen here.

So normally I get up, I get right to work, I jump into my works on the computer. But then at some point I'll go up and I'll make myself breakfast, and while I eat breakfast, I will then take that moment to Peru's Facebook for a few minutes my personal Facebook. This morning, on my personal Facebook page, which is inhabited by a lot of people. I went to high school with a lot of friends who are my age. So we're talking about, you know, anywhere in your fifties kind of, that's where my most of.

My people are.

And I'm scrolling down and one of my friends has posted a picture of him in recovery.

He just got a hip replacement.

And I was like, oh, hope you you know, send a little prayer for speedy healing, because that's what I do. And then I'm scrolling a little further lo and behold a second friend of mine had a hip replacement yesterday as well, and I was.

Like, well, what are the chances of that? Keep on scrolling saying, oh the little prayer brather. I keep on scrolling.

And then and then a third, a third of my friends had a hip replacement, and I was like, my god, how old am I?

What is happening? Did I get fastwarded in an old age?

No one asked me, no one asked my permission, And all of a sudden, all my friends are having hip replacements. And then I see Matt Pinfield had a stroke, and I'm like.

Oh my god, I'm ready to just pack it in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

MTV now has reruns a Big Bang Theory in France. I understand it's the person who said MTV was always garbage, shut your mouth.

Much like the Kendrick Lamar.

Entire halftime show was meant for a different generation, so was MTV when it started, and now it's trash.

So uh yeah, uh, I just felt really old today, so be kind.

But the other reason that I'm bringing this story up is because if you have not figured out end of life stuff, you need to sit down and make it happen. This doesn't require a lot of effort. You can go to Trustinwills dot com and do it there. If you can't afford an attorney, that's fine. You don't have to spend a million dollars. You just have to make sure

It on paper. I'm not saying that's why my dad.

Died after his stroke, but the person making his medical decisions was not me or my sister, and we would have made much different medical decisions. And Matt Pinfield is not even that old. He should have already had this stuff locked up. And now you've created chaos and havoc between the girlfriend and the daughter. He needs ongoing get it was just a complete mess, a mess that can be avoided by having a really uncomfortable conversation with your

I have lived through that, and I do not recommend it.

Nothing like a good lawsuit among family members to really really destroy what's left. And I've been through it, and so I saw this, and first of all, I was the gut check because here's somebody that you know, I don't think if Matt Penfield as being old. He's one of those people that for me, will always be young and one hundred and twenty minutes. And at the secondary, they've got a tale of woe, you've got a complete

Like you have no choice.

You have no choice but to think about this and understand this and make sure that everybody is on the same page before we have to try and figure it out. When someone is ill, everyone is emotional, that's the worst time to sort this stuff out. So please please use Matt Penfield as a stern warning and don't put yourself and your family in that position. Get your estate stuff taken care of because it's trust me, Trust me on this man, Trust me. What generation was Apple music targeting?

So.

Yeah, Mandy, you may feel old, but you don't look at because your podcast picture is years behind Illinois farm Boy. You know, what Illinois farmer, You figure out how to change that picture, because I can't, and I hate it that that picture is still there and it's so old. I hate it because it's just false advertising. Right, somebody meets me, like, Lord, she looks terrible in real life. They just went for that picture to now, you know, the drum beat of time marches on, et cetera, et cetera,

It was a couple of days ago on Facebook, just one of those cheesy paragraphs of people right, And this cheezy paragraph was essentially saying, look, you know, everybody can do the grand gesture, but in a long term, long haul relationship, it's all the small gestures that mean so much. And it's so true.

This is one of the things where when I have had friends that have been going through a rough patch in their marriage, and you know what, everybody has gone through rough patches in their marriage.

Chuck and I've had times.

When things have not always been smooth sailing, but we're both very committed to our commitment, so we worked through it. You know, I drive him crazy, he drives me crazy, et cetera, et cetera.

Repeat, you know, but in those.

Little moments of kindness, those are the things that can help you get through those hard times. And one of the things I always say to friends who are having a just a challenging time. And I'm not talking about, you know, serious issues like addiction or betrayal. I'm just talking about those times when the person that you love is driving you crazy. And everybody has those times. I don't care who you are. Maybe they're short for you,

That that can get you through a really rough patch.

And I have to say, this is an area where I think my husband and I both do a really good job. It's just appreciating thing like yesterday, I'm down in the basement, he's upstairs. The toilet paper is in the basement where I am, and he calls me downstairs, and he says, hey, when you come upstairs, can you just bring some toilet paper? Sure, no problem, no skin off my nose, right, So I forget when I go upstairs.

It was just like a nice exchange. Those are the kind of things that I think matter.

A lot in a long term relationship. And I think it's the little things that people do. And I got this email from someone.

Who obviously read the blog as he should and let me wit. Let me find his email here it's nope, hang on, one second, where is it?

Oh?

Here we go.

This is from Dennis. He said, Hi, Mandy pers your request on today's blog. My wife and I will be married forty years this March. We show each other love. We gave up the traditional Valentine's Day decades ago as we don't need a specific day to demonstrate our ever growing affection for one another. So here's just a few things we do. Her makes me delicious meals almost every night. Holds boards when I'm making long cuts on the table,

Person is critically important.

I will say that as one who married a wonderful person who was the wrong person initially, only to find out later that I finally found my person, and that's what I have now. I've got a lot of text messages five six, six nine zero coming in.

I love this stuff, love it so much, Mandy.

I've been married to my wife for thirty four years. I never give my wife flowers on the customary holidays, but throughout the year, when she least expects it. She's commented to me many times that this small sign of affection means more than any other card or gift. Still hot and heavy after thirty four years, Mandy, After twenty years, I still open the doors for my wife, cook dinner when I have time, and warm up the car and shovel the snow off her car.

Enjoy your weekend.

You're getting it right.

This is interesting, going back to our conversation from just a minute ago, Mandy, Amazon has a.

Knock box next of kin.

The kit contains file folders, envelopes, and directions how to organize all the important information needed by family when you become incapacitated. There's also an organization death cafe, where people can come together, usually in coffee shops or libraries and just talk about death.

Yes, that subject we don't.

Want to talk about, but it's going to happen to all of us. I don't mind talking about death, because I know this isn't the end. I think this is just one tiny little speck in a brand adventure. We only get to know parts about it at a time. When we get back, I'm going to read some more of these. Feel free to text me your things that you do to show your spouse that you love them that aren't necessarily grand romantic gestures.

We'll do those when we get back.

The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock Accident and injury lawyers.

No, it's Mandy Connell.

Mandy Conall got way you want to say?

Can the noise.

Ray?

Andy Connell keeping? Who is sad Babe?

Welcome Local, Welcome to the third hour of the show. Aaron, can we have a breaking news sounder?

Please? Can we get a breaking new We've got some breaking news from the Mandy Carnle Show.

Yeah, I know, I know.

This is you guys. If you're standing, please be seated. If you're driving, you.

May want to pull off on the side of the road because I know you thought it was forever. But Kanye West and his naked wife Bianca sen Story have gone their separate ways. It is expected that they will file for divorce shortly, where she is expected to get a predetermined five.

Million dollar payoff for their short marriage.

Wait, Kim, look like will he target next? I? I?

You you know what if he immediately finds another woman to date him.

After his disgusting and vile rants and anti Semitic stuff, and some other woman steps in, it proves exactly what Donald Trump said when he said, when you're rich, you can walk up to women and grab them in that you.

Know what and they'll let you. That's what that proves.

Anyway, moving on to better things, because a lot of you and our audience have sent the sweetest things ever. When I ask long term couples, what are the little ways that you show someone else how much you love them? Are you ready for this one? Because I'm not ready for this one. My husband and I says this Texter were married fifty four years before he passed away in twenty twenty. There were so many small things that I didn't realize we did for each other, and that would

One would say, I'm so glad you're home. I miss that.

I never realized how many times at night one of us would just roll over and just touch the other. Now the bed is empty and cold. Almost every day something else comes up and I yell, Ernie, I need you, things like changing a light bulb, which I'm too short to do and get on ladders anymore, or changing the batteries and something like the chirping alarm in my house. I never realized how good I had it for those fifty four years.

Do come on, bro, God have.

The rest of the work we need to get through without a broken heart.

Man The clem damn.

Mandy kind of different.

But my wife of forty one years loves a certain eatery that I basically can't stand. Yet I often take her there on my own accord because I know how much she likes it and it means to her. That's just one way after forty one years. There are too many to enumerate here. I got it, I got it before you go.

I gotta get mine.

In so all the mannerisms we have, I think that's one of the stronger things, just because we have so many little phrases, little pet names, little like fun like verbal have your shared language share that that's kind of what starts everything for us. But yeah, it's the little things. It's always the pleas and the thank yous, even though we know we don't really have to, we want to. It's kind, it's kind general, just constant love, always like calling when we'ren Way's home.

It's just those are the little things that come to mind.

It's the little things that fill in all the little gaps of all the big things that you do for each other.

Yep, yep, yep.

B Rod and c Rod'd been married almost thirty nine years. It's nice to have your person that from a Rod's parents Mandy married fifty eight years. I tell her daily that I love her very much and that my friends, I mean it.

I don't.

I'm trying to think of how to say this without sounding judging, and I'm not meaning to sound judge.

At all, because every relationship is different.

But when I'm around people who never express that they love each other like I, I mean, maybe they do privately, and maybe I'm just our privy to it, but it's just I don't know. It's it's strange to me because we have a lot of love in our family. Her Skimp on the I love yous in our family.

I'm gonna give you some personal here, and it's gonna make your heart mouth a little bit. Every single morning we get up together to go work out, she will not get up unless I give her up ups and buy up ups. I mean, I like uncover, take her out of bed and give her some love, give her a big old hug, give her a kiss. The morning doesn't begin, she says, unless she gets her up ups.

Oh that's fantastic.

Yep, you're all love it. You're welcome, this one says.

I bring home flowers for my wife almost every month on Valentine's I go a little bit extra and get her a nice arrangement. I like Valentine's Day because it's a holiday that gives us a reason to express our love and celebrate our love, even though we do things year round on trips, go on dates, squad to dinner. I like Valentine's Day and I always celebrate it every year with my wife. Don't make excuses. Why not celebrate

So I yeah, a lot of people.

And here's the thing, If that works for you and your wife loves it, that's great. I'm super happy, but I'm terrible membering holidays and anniversaries. And Chuck is far more romantic than I am. And I actually had an article yesterday yesterday or today yesterday that said men are more romantic than women. But I do think there is a bit for some men of that. Well, I've conquered her now she is my wife, so I don't require

So don't be that person. Thirty eight years here says this text.

Or my husband is working on Valentine's Day so we can both go to our grandson's birthday on Sunday. It's not about a single day exactly. This person said I'll marry him for five million, talking about Kanye, And that's what I'm talking about.

Mine.

Practicing practice sat our nephews, Oh Captain America, so very nice, practicing for kids we're.

Doing, Mandy.

I write love notes and hide them in different spots for my wife to find. Often always start warmer car in the winter. A lot of you guys talk about that, and I got to tell you I thought about this the other day.

I've had my car now for let's see my car. I've had my car for six years. Four years. I've had my car for four years. I could not tell you how to put washer fluid into my car, no clue. I have no idea.

I don't know.

I know what size win Schall wipers. I have no idea.

They just magically get changed every so often. I don't know anything about.

The operation of my vehicle that I should know because I don't have to do it because.

My husband is like, I got that. I gotta thank you for part of my operation. As a as some love language. I take the snow Joe you got me, and I clean off both cars.

There you go, There you go, Mandy. I say you a talk back about an hour ago. We got a talk pack. Check it out. I've been married twenty two years in counting, and remind my wife frequently that it seems longer than that. And you know what, sometimes I say that to my husband as well. Sometimes I do. It's the little things like when I forced her to wear a sea through dress and a major awards ceremony signed Kanye that's a good one, Jake. Mandy Hap and

Absolutely.

Ditto for the lady who's husband passed away that was married fifty four years. My exact experience right now, after my husband and I were married forty six years and he passed in twenty one.

You know, I've been thinking.

About this because, statistically speaking, chances are chucks to die before I am. First of all, he's a man. Second of all, he's five years older than me already. So I actually, in an effort to buffer my impending grief, I think about the things that I would like to do that I don't do now because I'm married to Chuck, like how I would decorate my house, or what kind of car I would drive, or any of these other things where I've made a little concession to him.

You know it.

Don't get me wrong.

It's not like my life sucks because I've made all these concessions. But when you're married, you have to make concessions. That's part of the deal. Well, let me just change that. If you're happily married, you have to make concessions. If you don't make concessions, you will not remain happily married for very long.

I'm just letting you know that.

Mandy.

We just celebrated our thirtieth in January.

He turns down the bed and lights multiple candles every night and gets up extra early to make us breakfast, which is extra important right now because we're on week six of soda. Congratulations of week six of soda, and you got.

To keep her there. Mandy has been passed away at fifty six. Not expected.

It was a week before our thirty fifth anniversary. I Am not trying to be sad or anything, but you never know what you miss until they're gone.

He was my best friend. I'm telling you we're.

Gonna make marriage great again. We're gonna show these kids who somehow think that marriage is a ball in chain.

Or an anchor or a social construct that they don't need, that they're wrong.

A strong society is built on the backs of families, and great families are based on marriage.

I firmly believe that, because I've.

Just seen I'm now old enough to have seen what happens when you do it another way, and it's never as good.

It just isn't.

All right.

We'll be back in a second. I got so many other stories that I wanted to get to. Let's see, we got Matt Penfield story on there, got to make park reservations for your stuff this summer?

We got Matt Tybee. Should we talk about Ooh, you know what I'm gonna do next.

We're gonna dip our toe into a Twitter thread that a Rod sent me.

The reality of alcohol and it's not pretty, not at all.

Now.

A Rod sent me this very interesting thread about alcohol, and I want to a Ron. I want to bring you into this because is this information new to you at this moment.

At the level of that of what it is. Yeah, yeah, that level of it is relatively new.

Yes, and it's a long thread and I don't even know the guy who put it up here, but it is about alcohol. And he starts it by saying, the biggest scam in the world alcohol and alcohol is is very can be incredibly, incredibly damaging and dangerous, but it can also be a social outlet for some people who are not comfortable being out and about without it. So I just from my point of view, you've got to

That's where we are.

But alcohol is incredibly damaging. Does this change your viewpoint?

Because I know you like to go out with your friends and get your drink on or have every people over. Does it change your attitude or thinking about alcohol in any meaningful way knowing that it can be really, really bad for you, especially long.

Term, long term alcohol abuse does horrible things to your brain, to your body. It's really hard to recover from the answers.

No, it doesn't change anything for one reason because I'm already very rare, very responsible and aware that, yeah, too much of it is absolutely not good.

To that level, I did not know.

But it doesn't change anything for me, just because I already have those restrictions for myself to never really go too crazy. Yeah, it's only typically a few and it's usually only in like social settings.

Do you know what's going to be interesting for you?

Because I think everybody, And my friend Rob's coming in here in just a minute, we'll ask him. I think everybody, after you hit a certain age, you have had that friend that never got it under control. And at this point, I probably have a handful of people that I've watched go through full blown alcohol addiction. A couple of them have pulled it out, one of them has not, and two of them died in detox. Yeah, because detox is brutal on your body. I'm not saying don't do it.

It's rough.

I mean it's really rough.

So watching this kind of stuff, it's just it's interesting how normalized alcohol consumption is in our society, as if there are no downsides at all other than drunk driving. We all know drunk driving is the worst thing ever, should not do it. We should absolutely make that not a thing. But nobody talks about should you be going out to a bar and having fourteen drinks in one night.

That seems like maybe we should be having more of those conversations.

I do think the pendulum on alcohol consumption has shifted quite a bit, but I think that it's only because people perceive pot to be safer in a way. I think a lot of people say, well, you know, I don't drink anymore, but I'm, you know, smoking a joint to go to bed at night or whatever it is. So we sort of shifted one mind altering substance for another. And I don't think that's uncommon. But as far as damage to yourself, your body, your community, your relationships, alcohol

As bad as alcohol. And yet one is normalized and one is not.

I have a friend who is a wonderful human being but loves and enjoys a glass of bourbon at night. It just maybe even two, maybe even three on occasion, But boy howdy does he look down on people who smoke weed?

And I was like, you know, not for nothing.

Nobody's judging you for drinking a bourbon at night. Don't be so judging about people have chosen another, you know, kind of mind altering substance than you did.

So okay, when we get back my friend Rob, I call.

Him my own personal veterans Affair office because.

When any of you send me emails that.

Are about a veteran in crisis, and you would not believe how many times that actually happens.

But when you send me an email, I need this, I need help, any.

Whatever, the first person I call is Rob because he knows more than anybody else about veterans causes.

We're going to talk about that next. Keep it right here on KOA.

Rob Williams is my guest, and you guys may remember him from his long stint as of the Day Rob, where he came in for a daily beating. Well he had a job that allowed him to do such. Now he has like a real job, and they're like, you got to go to the office and you got to do work and stuff.

How are you going to talk trash on the blog about how you're going to stop me into a mudutle today?

No, I just might have mentioned that you will be playing of the Day as well today and because you're out of practice, it should be a massacre.

Really, just letting you know.

I love that you placed that gigantic TV directly behind you to distract me.

Too, So you know what, that was not my idea.

Okay, so I can't help the giant TV in the lobby that you can't control yourself and not look at it.

You're like a moth to the flame of the TV. Look at that. It's like there's boobs on there or something.

It's Billie Eilish's jumping up and down, and now I have to look out the windows.

Roup is actually my veterans resource and he is connected and supports all of these different veterans nonprofits, and I thought it would be fun to have him in because one of the things we have in Colorado, I feel like and correct me if I'm wrong. There is a nonprofit veterans organization for every situation.

There very much.

So across the nation there are forty four thousand veteran based nonprofits aimed at the veteran community. It's kind of insane, actually, if you ask me about it, that it.

Would best maybe we can get some that have a similar mission to join forces, you.

Know what I mean.

And that's exactly so.

Because of you, we were able to establish about face Radio, which has now become about Face Media, all because of you and your huge support.

Yeah, for exactly that reason, and because of you, it morphed.

We started off with just a simple radio station and you know, it became you know, sixteen to twenty DJs. Well that has morphed and now they've we've started they started doing documentaries, writing books, all kinds of crazy stuff.

So we had to change the name.

Yes, it's more than just a radio station now and now it's it's become just such a beast.

It's incredible the things that people are creating in producers.

All of these content creators are veterans, yep, every single one of them.

Yeah.

As people are exiting the military or exiting their job as a first responder, we hand them a laptop and a microphone and say hey, tell your story, and it's become an incredibly.

And beautiful thing.

And yeah, and again, like we talked about, there are forty four thousand veteran based nonprofits across the nation, which is just incredible to me that and yet veterans suicide continues to rise, which just blows my mind. So Seth and I sat down at the beginning of the year and kind of talked it through, and clearly, what we as a veteran community are doing, it's not fixing the problem. We're not doing it right. We're failing in our mission.

I have done.

I just pushed the ball down the hill.

Just push the ball down the hill, and you guys have just kept pushing and now you're miles away from where you started.

But let me ask you a question.

Because you're a veteran, you work with a lot of veterans and some of them have struggled mightily through, you know, through various issues in their lives. What do you think is not connecting with the message that we have forty four thousand veteran nonprofits that literally cover every interest you could possibly have, that many of them their sole stated purpose is to reduce veterans' suicide.

Why are we not.

Getting through to these men and women that they matter, that they're important, that they were put here by God because God, that they were important. Why is that message somehow not getting to people because we talk about it all the time, and yet to your point, veterans suicides are still rising.

We're not even cap the number yet. What what do you speculate?

That's a it's a it's an amazing question. I wish I could I had a good solid answer for you. And you know, we've lost more service members now to suicide back home than we have to combat.

And it's just a catastrophic thing.

And we've done everything we can as far as engaging veterans by way of outdoor activities, from fly fishing to hiking to skydiving, motorcycle riding with a motorcycle relief project, everything you can possibly think of, and we're still losing our peers. It's a it's a loss of identity because if you think it through, when a lot of service members join the military, they you know, for just myself for example, you know, I drop out a high school.

What am I now? Where do I go with my life now?

And a lot of service members struggle when they exit the military. They don't know where to go next?

What am I now?

And so that's why they you know, they use their GI bill and they go and get a degree or something to that extent. And most service members, you know, they get their first job and they leave their first job because they think it's going to be the perfect thing and they find out it's not the fit that they hope that it was.

Combine that with, you know, they struggle.

On their marriages because now that that loss of identity, they don't know where to go with that.

It creates tension in their marriages. They've lost camaraderie.

Camaraderie is the number one thing you lose those that those friendships.

It's a very, very very real struggle.

And it's sad to me that that all of these members of the military still must feel wildly alone when they're all having probably a very shared experience.

And exactly right, and and.

We're not built to sit on foldable chairs around cold coffee and have group therapy and kind of hash it out together in the in a circle and talk it through.

That's just not how we're built. We're built for.

We coalesce around group suffering, around group, you know, doing things together. You bond with your squad and your peers and your teammates around pt around you know, mutual suffering.

When it sucks the most, that's.

When your team comes together, right and and and that's you have or rediscover that in soil.

I'm gonna start.

I'm going to start a nonprofit called when it Sucks the Most. I mean, it's a great No, I'm not gonna start enough.

I've already been down that road.

And when you're a talk show host, people try to accuse you of less than kind.

Intentions the most.

I think you just named show. There you go.

But I mean, if we could just get the word out that when it sucks the most, there's so.

Much help out there and support for you.

I'd love to find the right answer. I mean, look what the cat trag did.

Look at what's happening over here.

It's a lot everybody been all right, Nick Ferguson, And I'm gonna let you introduce yourself, young man.

Smith.

I love his voice, That's why I wanted him to do it on mine.

Yeah, get up right here with the MICAO real quick, Rob. I don't know how familiar you are with the Heroes thank You promotion that we run here. This is the seventeenth doing it, my sixth year doing it, and it means a lot to me as a veteran and you as as a veteran. Normally, around this time we give a check to to somebody who needs it or needs some money, veteran who needs someone around the that This

I might have written this myself.

Rob spends so much of his life helping other veterans by volunteering his time at numerous veteran organizations, starting an internet radio station programmed by veterans, and attending pretty much every veteran fundraiser and event in town. I have no doubt he will donate any money you give him to a veteran cause, though I'm hoping he uses it to expand the internet radio station. When I need to connect a veteran with a specific service, he is the first

He is the veterans who never stop serving his brothers and sisters in uniform and is a fantastic human being to boot he truly deserves to be recognized.

That's my friend, rob Well, rob On behalf of our partners here with common Spirit, Rod Smith, Nick Ferguson, former Broncos, and myself. We want to present you with this check for twenty five hundred dollars and if you don't mind the fellows I think they'd like to say a few words here.

Dude, you get a giant cardboard check. How cool is that?

Always wanted a.

Cardboard check as an individual who my family has a long standing tradition of being in the military. It is great to be about part of this campaign and I'm thankful for what it is that you do and what you provide to the community, because veterans are people too.

And they need an outlet. So thank you for providing that outlet. Sincerely, thank you.

Yeah, no, I'm just looking at you. I'm looking at you. And he completely called him off guard and you can tell what he does. He does it from his heart, yep. And that's all that really matters. Every word I was going to say, I'm changing it, I ain't gonna say

Sincerely thank you well as a better of myself the service that you provide for for us, you know, and you know how as we come back, you're looking for purpose, you're looking for things to do, and you provide people with incentive and with reasons to wake up every.

Day and do the next thing, spread that and put along.

And so I'm thankful that this year, not just are we giving it to people in need, but we're giving it to people who deserve it, who can put this money toward helping other.

People in need. So thank you.

You really set up a lot of veterans for success with that. Thank you, sincerely, yep, very sincerely.

I HA gotcha you.

We're gonna have a word.

To totally.

We will give you a real check.

Please don't try to go to the bank with so. I'll tell everybody, of course we all want that one, but no, they'll give you a real check.

I've always wanted a big cardboard check.

I don't know why, just like one for like thirty bucks would be great, Just a big cardboard check.

No, I mean Rob, here's the thing. I brought Rob in here.

Rod.

It was easy because I said, hey, you want to come on the show on Thursday and talk about veteran stuff. Literally that was my invite. And guess who's here to talk about veteran stuff. And that's exactly why I nominated him. Because his heart is bigger than his brain sometimes, but it's.

Definitely bigger than his wallet. So this is going to be a big help to do something big and wonderful. And do we need to think our sponsors?

Sincerely? Wow? Yeah? Absolutely.

First of all, Common Spirit Health eighty and eight Heating and air Conditioning at Credit Union They've been great this year in helping us to continue this promotion and honestly my favorite thing we get to do here at this radio station.

So wow, you guys, I can't thank you enough.

You've really Yeah, so what do you want to talk about now?

Rob?

Now there's not enough tissues in this freaking up desk.

You guys get this amazing revamp and there's no tissues in the air.

Really, I mean, we're.

Pretty macho station. I don't know if you know about this.

Yeah, I understand you may put some of that back into the but you are under orders to go at yourself.

Gift you stake dinner with some of that money.

You know what, you just you do deserve to treat yourself because sometimes when you you know, you have that thankless work because some people they can't thank you enough, so they don't say anything, but just do something for you. Do please do a little something for you and that'll refuew you to continue to do the stuff that you're doing.

We just appreciate it.

Like I said, Nick and I we've been doing the last couple of years with him, and I was doing it like two years before that. We would go to people's houses and surprise them at their home. And it was easy getting you here.

It sure beats the worry of having the police get called as a bunch of us creep through the neighborhood trying to bring us check to somebody's Doorstones you need, you.

Need the publisher's clearinghouse, balloons.

They think that that's after they figure out the word yeah.

They think it's.

You know, yeah, Wow, guys, thank you so much for coming in let me doing this on the show. It is a Broncos Country Tonight promotion and they do such a great job every year with this, so I'm just happy I could glom on and thank you for a warning, Rob, because I truly mean it. I meet so many people and I'm I'm so blessed to meet a lot of veterans, and a lot of them do something to give back,

Well, now I'm gonna.

Whoop you out of the day. Anybody else want to jump in for up the Day's like, no, I'm going Dan, you always do well on of the day. So yeah, they're gonna take.

Some pictures of you getting the big check over here, and I will I will remind you guys of a couple of things that happened on the show today. If you missed the very beginning, you may want to go check out the podcast because there was a there's a terrible story out of Jefferson County Public Schools that I covered in the first hour, especially if you live in

And I'm not gonna be here tomorrow. Take it along four day.

Weekend, so don't mess up Valentine's Day, Okay, kids, don't mess up Valentine's Day.

And you don't need reservations at Black Eyed Peace for Valentine's Day. I'm just letting you know that.

Oh it's not time yet. You gotta wait till Arod goes back in the studio over there. Yeah, Arod's got a participate, are you in Benham? Well, that's how I get my best competitors is through shaming them at the at the outset. Because now it's time for the most exciting segment on the radio of It's kind Rob in the World of the Day, all right, you just don't put your back into it.

The world of the Day.

I'm of the day and I am not emotionally prepared.

You should probably listen to the show.

Don't even give my down prepared.

So don't even give me that I'm too emotionally unprepared for this.

No, I'm gonna whoop you anyway, and I want it to be a square deal win anyway.

All right, what is our our dad joke of the day? Please?

Did you hear about the archaeologist that got fired? Kay Al, I just got fired. No, Well, whether you heard of him or not, his career is now in ruins. Word of the day is an interjection, Oh, will go.

W I l c O will go?

Is pull signer? Will comply?

That's what I was gonna say. But is there a different it's.

Also a band.

Is there a different other than will come time?

Is there?

I don't know.

I thought it was will comply.

No, there is not.

Inkay, it's that a message just received, will be complied with.

Okay, there we go.

All right?

Why do chefs hats have pleats so you can hide your mouse? Why do chefs have I don't know, I mean joke because I'm cassidy to give it a little stand up.

I don't know. I have no idea.

Oh oh, well, this is fancy.

The story goes that the polats originated as a way to signify a chef's experience.

The more polats than the hat, the more experienced the shif.

Well that's like the habachi. The higher the hat, the more rate.

Yeah, yes, we need to have a show habi, like we should go have the habachi one night.

On air in here for a mobile unit.

Can they do that? No, just fill the studio with smoke. We can't do that.

All right?

What is our Jeopardy category? By the way, I'm getting absolutely killed on Tournament of Champions repeats these days not good, not good at all.

Need to do our own Tournament of the of the day here, okay, category today. That's some strong language and they swear words are not the answer. Please, don't get some strong language. Adjective for a great sized oak or morphine power rangers.

What is mighty?

That is correct?

It can describe the powerful effect of a drug, or for us, certain potables and potent Oh has that been to?

Okay? Strong and yurdy? Or a dark brew made from roasted mandy?

What is stout? Correct?

Rob?

Yeah, Rob's just going on. It's it's fine. He's gotta get.

Cardboard checks, so it's still winning.

Right, Let's play Detective Boys. It means strong enough to endure.

Corrects love the hardy boys.

It is three for Mandy, one for Ben, zero for Rob. The donuts for robnuts.

Adjective for a muscular young man can also mean rob.

What is rob?

That's them?

What is trapping?

Scrapping scrapping young man? All right, okay, we got that going for us. What are you guys doing on Broncos Country tonight?

I don't know, grants fille and infamated. That I'm on the Sportshow here with the fellows.

The Sports Show.

What they tell me to do.

You're just the You're just what are you the arm can of the show.

I'm there to make jokes, you know, be the face. This was the A Team, I would be the face man. Oh uh huh, probably okay.

I like our confidence, Ben, I'm probably if we're being I like your confidence and being face on the A team there. Anyway, On that note, I will leave you guys.

Jimmy Singingberger is gonna fill in tomorrow, so you're gonna be in really good hands. Don't forget Valentine's Day is tomorrow, okay, bo Asage skincare and spawfree commercial, because really that's all you have to get. Just get a gift certificate, call it today. Don't stress. Pick up some flowers at Kings Soupers in the morning because they'll all be gone at the night. You know, if you didn't get a card, get it today, they'll all be gone tomorrow. I'm just

The show, When Things Suck the Most?

It is now?

Yeah?

There you go, Rob, Good to see you, my friend. I know, I'm so excited we pulled that off. That makes me very very happy. Stick around k O Sports coming up next. Keep it right here on ko A