WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.000 Attention. You're listening to the top Huff Radio show, America's home for a 2 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.720 conservative not bitter talk radio. Be advised. The content of this program has 3 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:12.400 been documented to prevents and even cure liberalism, and listening may cause you to 4 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:33.439 lean to the right. Here's your conservative but not Bitter host, Tod Huff. 5 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:39.719 Well, all right, my friends, I hope you had a wonderful 6 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.280 weekend. It is good to be here. I should tell you here off 7 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.640 the top a little bit of housekeeping that this will be this will be our 8 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.640 last week. Well, we'll be out next week, is what I'm saying, 9 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:56.320 back the first week of March. So I just wanted to let you 10 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:00.320 know that here off the top, we've got to line up of some special 11 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:06.280 guest hosts. Next week again, what is that the twenty sixth, the 12 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.680 February. This is a leap year, so we've got the twenty ninth of 13 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:12.760 February this year, and then of course March first, I believe his next 14 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:18.959 Friday, So twenty sixth of February through the first of March we will be 15 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:23.879 out. We'll be having Chris Dunham, who's been behind the microphone to fill 16 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:26.439 in a few times. He will be in a couple of days. We've 17 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:32.040 got Senator John Crane who's also filled in. And also for the first time, 18 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.359 we've got a friend of mine, political cartoonist Gary Varvill, who will 19 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:44.400 be filling in again next week as well. If you followed Gary, which 20 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:48.120 he has some really good, really good work, by the way, his 21 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:53.280 cartoons. All three of these guys are top notch people. And the dull 22 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:59.719 you're in good hands next week. But Gary has upset some folks in the 23 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:07.079 world of the well political cartoon world, getting himself in trouble a couple of 24 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:08.759 times. I don't know if he'll talk about that or not, but regardless, 25 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:14.840 that is what is in store for next week. For next week. 26 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:22.000 Also, also I wanted to tell you that we wrapped up our regular season. 27 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:23.520 I've filled you in a couple of times. I didn't get any texts 28 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:30.719 this weekend, but we won both of our games yesterday. We finished just 29 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:36.080 one game below five hundred, so not great, but we've gotten a whole 30 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.319 lot better, a whole lot better. So it's been a good season. 31 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:46.840 Coaching the fourth grade girls basketball team. As we play other schools around I 32 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.759 wouldn't even say Central Indiana it's around mostly central Indiana, but some of it 33 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:59.039 gets out into eastern Indiana. So anyway, it was a fun season. 34 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:00.680 Have a tournament next we can, but I don't think we can be there 35 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:05.719 because of our schedule. So the other thing I wanted to tell you is 36 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:09.879 here off the top, we are this what is it? Thursday? I 37 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:16.560 think I'm speaking to a group of students at the University of Indianapolis. And 38 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.840 in my preparations for this, and as I've thought about what I want to 39 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.960 talk about, there's just some things that have popped up in my mind that 40 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.960 I want to share with you, things that we've talked about here before. 41 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.960 But as you know, we've got new stations that were on We picked up 42 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:39.840 what was it thirteen new stations about six weeks ago, first of the year, 43 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.520 and so there's a couple of things I just want to hit on that 44 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.520 I think are important, especially as we reach new people. I don't know 45 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:53.840 if some people have even heard this sort of I don't know, articula, 46 00:03:53.800 --> 00:04:00.319 articulation of the conservative ideology, maybe a little bit about what it means to 47 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:02.879 be conservative, not bitter. Why these things matter. I want to talk 48 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:08.919 about this today because as I've been thinking about my time before the students here 49 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.479 on on Thursday. I've just I've hit some of the basics, and i 50 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.120 just think that it's an appropriate time, especially especially now that we're in an 51 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:26.399 election season. It is incredibly volidile out there politically. You have people who 52 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:30.000 are I mean, it's just a charged environment, right. People have strong 53 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.600 opinions about a lot of these individuals, and I would say in many cases 54 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:44.519 deservedly so. But sometimes those opinions, those opinions of individuals are what rule, 55 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:51.399 are what dominate the way that some people think about who they're going to 56 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:58.680 support as candidate for say, president of the United States. And there's a 57 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:03.079 reason that this is by the people that create narratives. If they can demonize 58 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:14.480 an individual and destroy or attack or malign his integrity, question his personality, 59 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:17.720 whatever, and you can drive people to hate them, then it's awfully hard 60 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:21.839 for a lot of people to see past that, even if their ideas and 61 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:28.360 policies and so forth are clearly better, which is absolutely what's the case here 62 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:36.480 today with President briberies, policies and so forth. The way that he's been 63 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.759 running things since he walked into the White House in January of twenty one have 64 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:46.800 been markedly worse than what we've seen from President Trump. But if you can 65 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:54.920 stir people into a frenzy, if you can make them just so fearful of 66 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:59.959 the name, or just make it about the politics of personality, that cold 67 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:09.160 personality, the coolness factor. Right, what Hollywood says is the acceptable term 68 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.959 or political party belief of the day. A lot of people fall victim to 69 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:16.639 that. Now I don't think free thinkers fall victim to that, but a 70 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:20.600 lot of people fall victim to that. And I understand that to a point, 71 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.120 and I just want to talk about it because I've just been thinking about 72 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.480 these things a little bit, especially as I again prepare to go speak at 73 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:33.639 you Indy this week, and just as we approach the political campaign. Well 74 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:38.319 we're in the political campaign, but as we continue to move more to the 75 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:44.639 well the peak of this campaign, it's important that we talk about these things. 76 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.360 So I want to talk about why I'm a conservative today, why that 77 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:56.399 matters, what's really at stake, what the real fight is over in our 78 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.519 country today, and I want to go through through that. So let me 79 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:08.279 start by saying a fundamental thing that I think all Americans need to accept for 80 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:13.399 what I would consider obvious reasons, though I will explain them. Our rights, 81 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:20.160 my friend, come from our creator. Now, I know that not 82 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:28.720 everybody that I'm speaking with in this audience today is a believer in God, 83 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:36.079 not even specifically just the Christian, the Biblical God, the one that I 84 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:40.279 believe is the one true God. We're not even talking, you know, 85 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:44.800 one God versus another. Where some people simply don't believe that there is a 86 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:50.480 God at all, and so that concept may seem may seem a little hard 87 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:57.879 to accept, hard to get behind, because of course, if there's no 88 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:03.639 creator, then our rights could not come from said creator. And I understand 89 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.160 that I do. But here's the problem. Now, I would say to 90 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.399 you, even if you're an atheist, an agnostic, whatever, it is 91 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:18.920 important to understand that our rights come from something natural. Now I would say 92 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.480 that's specifically a creator. I think that that is logically the only explanation for 93 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.759 this. But if you need some other way to think about it, then 94 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.559 that's okay. But it's dangerous. It is truly dangerous if you don't say 95 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:43.240 that these rights come from something that is greater than greater than our government. 96 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:48.399 Because if our rights come from our government. Then of course, if they 97 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:54.440 grant certain rights, they can take those rights, take those rights away, 98 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:00.600 and that is a dangerous precedent, that is a dangerous way to live. 99 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.399 What we are saying when we say our rights come from our creator, we're 100 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:11.440 saying we have a certain we have certain powers, certain well, the rights, 101 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:16.919 but just a certain and it's not even just it's not privileges. We 102 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:24.799 have autonomy. We have personal authority over our lives that no other person, 103 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:31.519 even if he or she goes along and forms a large group of people, 104 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:37.279 even a majority of people, and they get together and say we have asserted 105 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:43.320 ourselves as the ruling authority overall people, we still do not have to be 106 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:52.320 subjected to that, because, my friends, we have a creator who has 107 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:58.799 given us the rights, and among those, as our founders so eloquently wrote 108 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:01.000 about all these years ago, among those are life, liberty and the pursuit 109 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.559 of happiness. And so we have to come to grips with this first and 110 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:13.720 foremost, because again, if we don't and we agree that our rights come 111 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:16.000 from another human being, which, by the way, why would they, 112 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:22.080 Where's the logic in that? Where is the logic that says what I can 113 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:28.879 do with my life is predicated upon what someone else thinks I should be able 114 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:33.000 to do with my life. Now, I understand that my freedom to swing 115 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:41.919 my arm ends where your metaphor knows begins. I understand that someone should not 116 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:52.120 be allowed to exercise exercise liberty to directly harm, legitimately and literally harm another 117 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:56.879 person. That's not a true exercise of liberty, that is actually infringing upon 118 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:01.519 someone else's liberty to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And so 119 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.080 there is a balance there that must be struck. But this idea that rights 120 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:13.639 come from God is paramount. Once we establish that, and once we begin 121 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:18.320 to understand what those rights are, it's not just enough, although it's a 122 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.519 great start to say, to recognize that our rights come from a creator. 123 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.720 Now we have begin to begin to identify what those are. And the Founders 124 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:33.360 did that to a certain degree when they wrote the Bill of Rights. Now, 125 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.120 the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the US Constitution were 126 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:45.320 not intended to be an exclusive list of what rights we have as human beings. 127 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.120 It was really kind of an example, a series of examples, a 128 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:56.240 series of maybe important or critical rights perspective, here, of course plays a 129 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:01.080 role, but it's really saying. These are some of the examples. For 130 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:07.000 example, in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, Congress shall make no 131 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:15.559 law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. So Congress 132 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.360 cannot say, we are going to make a law that says everyone must live 133 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:26.080 their lives according to a certain denomination a certain religion. And likewise, Congress 134 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:33.919 cannot make a law that restricts the free exercise of a religion. Again unless 135 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:41.799 there is direct, direct harm caused by the religion, and then, of 136 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:50.320 course Congress has a role and a responsibility to make laws to protect the life, 137 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.720 liberty, and property of other people. You go on down the freedom 138 00:12:54.759 --> 00:13:00.759 of speech, the freedom of press, the freedom of assembly, the freedom 139 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:09.000 to you know, to protest, basically to protest and to tell your government 140 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:13.159 you do not appreciate, you do not agree with something that they that they 141 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:16.399 are doing, the right of association. These are the sorts of things that 142 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:22.600 are respected or enumerated specifically in the First Amendment. The second Amendment, of 143 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:26.039 course, we know, is the right of the people to keep and bear 144 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:31.720 arms right, and so the list of the ten the first ten amendments is 145 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:37.120 not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it is beginning to paint the 146 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:41.639 picture that says, I as a human being, You, as a human 147 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:48.039 being, have the right to live your life according to your own conscience, 148 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:50.759 to your own preferences. You can have your own goals, ambitions, dreams, 149 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.720 desires. You can have all these things. You can pursue them. 150 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.120 It doesn't guarantee that you're going to have them, nor does it say someone 151 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:03.159 else has to fund them, nor does it say someone else has to listen 152 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.840 to you or make your goals and objectives of priority. It simply says you 153 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:11.759 have the right to live your life. I mean, I'm parafraid, but 154 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.080 that the concept is here, right, the concept is here. You can 155 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.440 believe what you want to believe. You can say what you want to say, 156 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.840 you can think what you want to think. You can live your life. 157 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:28.799 You have liberty, You have freedom. You have choice up to the 158 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:33.679 point where, of course, your freedom to swing your arm ends where some 159 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:41.399 other person knows begins, and then you can no longer exercise that because you 160 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.919 are causing direct and I'm talking director, and I'm talking about some sort of 161 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:50.000 symbolic harm. I'm not talking about some sort of an emotional harm. I'm 162 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:54.840 talking about legitimate harm. This is why, for example, someone like me 163 00:14:56.200 --> 00:15:05.320 cannot believe that people really think that the idea of having the right, so 164 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:09.159 called the right to choose to have an abortion is talked about as though it's 165 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:18.720 some true choice when it is directly directly impacting another person's life, it ends 166 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:26.799 another person's life. In fact, that is why someone like me opposes this 167 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:37.080 concept of abortion. And so the concept again why I'm a conservative. First, 168 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:41.200 our rights come from God, not from government. Secondly, we've enumerated 169 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:45.600 what some of those rights are. Number Three, we have to understand that 170 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.200 it is the nature of all things. The nature of all things is to 171 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:54.279 grow. This is the nature. This is human nature. And you can 172 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.360 find this in the Bible. You can find this in your day to day 173 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.759 life. And I will tell you that most times, growth is a good 174 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:08.840 thing. If you get married and you want to start a family, you 175 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:15.240 grow your family. That is a good thing. If you start a business 176 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:22.039 and you invest in that business and you try to serve more people, try 177 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:26.600 to deliver more people your product or service. You find ways to maybe drive 178 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:33.639 down the cost of certain things that didn't even in some cases even exist prior 179 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:40.159 to your product or your service. That is a good thing. Right, 180 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:47.039 These are good things if you want to If you start a church and the 181 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:52.120 purposes to tell people about Jesus, and more people are coming and hearing about 182 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:56.039 Jesus. No, I'm not talking about as you know, to the degree 183 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:00.120 that you know, some churches as they grow might water it down. I'm 184 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.440 not saying that they all do, but some might. I'm not saying that. 185 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:08.359 I'm just saying the concept of growing to serve more people is generally a 186 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:12.680 good thing. Right, These are good things. The problem is when we 187 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:18.160 talk about growing the government, and this is the nature of government. It's 188 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:22.160 just like anything else. When we grow the government, there is a direct 189 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:30.160 correlation to how much liberty you have. More government means less liberty, and 190 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:37.799 so in order for us to manage that properly, to manage the proper relationship 191 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.559 that we have with our government, we have to get out the pruning shares 192 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:48.759 and we have to proactively reduce and cut back the size and scope of government 193 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:52.000 because it is going to grow by nature. But the more that it grows 194 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:56.319 by nature, we have to proactively say no, This is not where you're 195 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:00.200 supposed to be. This is not what you're supposed to be doing. This 196 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.359 is way much, way too much money. Why are you concerning yourself with 197 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.359 X, Y, and Z. These are not your areas of operation. 198 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:14.119 You have gotten outside of your lane when you start to tell us what the 199 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.720 sea levels are going to be in one hundred years and that you can take 200 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:22.440 care of that and save us from worldwide catastrophe if we only give you more 201 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.680 of our liberty, give you more power, give you more of our hard 202 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:32.440 earned dollars. That, my friends, is an indication that government has gotten 203 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:37.799 too big for its bruches, as my family, as my family would say. 204 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.240 But anyway, more things to say about this. But the nature of 205 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.559 government is to grow. That's where I want to pause this. That's where 206 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.319 I want to pause this. I think these are important things to understand. 207 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.000 And as I said, I've been thinking about this prior to going to you, 208 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.240 Indy. I've been thinking about this as we're in an election year. 209 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:59.240 Some folks that are new listening to this program. I just want to explain 210 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.319 this because I don't know how often this sort of thing is even explained. 211 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.480 Oftentimes it's explained in terms of I like Trump, I hate Biden, whatever 212 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:12.480 the case may be. But sometimes these core important principles are not understood because 213 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:17.359 they're not being properly articulated. Time outs in order a little bit long in 214 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:32.119 this segment, my friends, sit tight back here in just a minute. 215 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.279 Welcome back, my friends. So where we left off last segment was that 216 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:45.359 we talked about the role the role of government, and we talk specifically about 217 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:48.759 the nature of government. The nature of government is to grow. If you're 218 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.359 just nowt joining us, we're kind of laying out some of the reasons in 219 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:57.720 rationale why I am a conservative. You know, a lot of people look 220 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:06.559 at look at politics as kind of like the preference of being a New York 221 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:11.240 Yankees or a Boston Red Sox fan. That's not at all the way that 222 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:17.279 I look at in fact, in fact, it's hard to like particular players 223 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:23.559 on the team, sometimes on the Republican side of the aisle, and I 224 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:27.720 mean the Democrats as well. But the point is this is about ideas, 225 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.799 and we're laying out those ideas. I'm explaining these ideas why it matters. 226 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.960 Again, I said that I'm going to be speaking at a with a group 227 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:41.759 of students at the University of Indianapolis sometime later this week. That's got me 228 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.160 thinking about this, And as I've just thought about it, I've also thought, 229 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.240 you know, we haven't done this in a while. We've got new 230 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.759 listeners. This is an electioneer, maybe this is an important thing to do. 231 00:20:53.359 --> 00:21:00.480 So I'm just going through some of the rationale of being a being a 232 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:03.440 conservative, and I guess I should pause there. I should pause there because 233 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:08.160 when I say conservative, what I mean is someone who believes what we've talked 234 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:15.319 about thus far, someone who believes that rights come from God. Government has 235 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:25.440 a role. We have given government certain powers and authority, but that is 236 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:32.599 not a limitless list of powers and so forth. It's a very defined group 237 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.759 of powers that have been set forth in the United States Constitution. Of course, 238 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.880 no one really cares about that. You and I do, But the 239 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:44.680 government wants to trample on that all the time. Because again, the nature 240 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:48.640 of government, just as the nature of everything else, is to grow, 241 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:52.880 just as it's the nature of people when they start a business, to grow 242 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:57.400 the business when they started, when they get them married, to start a 243 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:02.160 family. For those that decide to have family, they want to expand the 244 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.960 family. For those who maybe start a church or some other organization. I 245 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:14.720 mentioned a little bit about my experience coaching this fourth grade girls basketball team. 246 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:18.000 It's I mean, you know these things. If you start these things, 247 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:22.000 you want to grow. You want to develop the program, you want to 248 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:25.480 make your team better, you want to get I mean all these things. 249 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:29.240 Or if you if you own or manage the league, you want to make 250 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:30.559 it. You want to get more teams, you want to make it more 251 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.920 competitive, all these sorts of things. That's the nature of things I mentioned 252 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:41.799 earlier. It's it's it's even a biblical thing. I mean, we are 253 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:48.400 created to do things. That's not the only reason. We're to love our 254 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:51.480 neighbor and take care of people. But still to do things. Those those 255 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:57.079 things imply some level of doing, not just sitting back and just taking it 256 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:03.319 all in and not participating or being as the Bible or as Christians would say, 257 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:06.839 the hands and feet of the of the body of Christ. But the 258 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:15.400 point is is that we have to actively we as the citizenry, we have 259 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:22.599 an obligation to actively keep the size and scope of government down. It is 260 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.799 going to grow, that is the default. Think of it like weeds going 261 00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:33.240 in and taking over your flower garden, or when we get to springtime here 262 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.160 in a couple of months and you maybe plant some tomatoes and beans in a 263 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.200 garden or whatever you plant, you think about what happens. You've got to 264 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:47.279 you've got a weed, You've got to protect the plant. You might have 265 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:51.960 to fertilize, you might have to water, you have to protect that which 266 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.440 is good, and you have to continually pull out by the roots, I 267 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:03.559 might add, those things that are not supposed to be there. And that 268 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:11.200 is the nature of government. And so we have fallen asleep in that department. 269 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.079 I would say, we have been so prosperous for so long. You 270 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:18.119 know, when you look at the grand scheme of things, when you look 271 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:23.839 at humanity as a whole, the history of humanity, and you look at 272 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:30.160 I'm talking materialistically, I'm even talking a little bit just from a freedom and 273 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:34.640 opportunity perspective, But when you look at this United States of America and the 274 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:40.119 history that we've had, I mean, folks, the vast majority of people 275 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:48.319 who have walked this planet would have been absolutely thrilled to have the things that 276 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:52.480 we have. Now that again, I always say this, this is not 277 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:56.599 you may be personally going through tragedy right now, difficulty. Right You may 278 00:24:56.599 --> 00:25:00.519 be going through the loss of a loved one. You might be dealing with 279 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.880 an illness, a sickness, a disease yourself or someone near and dear to 280 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:11.960 you. You might be dealing with divorce or bankruptcy, or financial problems or 281 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:17.799 problems with your children or whatever. I'm not talking about those things. Those 282 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:22.400 things are the condition that humanity finds itself in since the Fall. I'm talking 283 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:30.559 about just the type of system or the type of society that we have because 284 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.640 of how this nation has been structured and built, because of the people that 285 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:45.240 went before us to defend these things, to advance these ideas, to stand 286 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:52.039 on the side of liberty. Even when people were exercising their liberty in ways 287 00:25:52.119 --> 00:25:57.799 that the people defending it may have personally disagreed with, they still defended the 288 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:04.319 concept of liberty. Because when people are allowed to live as God created them 289 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:10.240 to live, and to be free, and to have choices and to be 290 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:14.720 able to set priorities, have their own dreams and ambitions, good things happen. 291 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.079 Yes, there are people that will fail along the way, but there 292 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.640 are people who will succeed immensely. Things that have happened, that have improved 293 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:30.759 the quality of life for untold millions of people have happened because we have the 294 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:40.440 freedom to pursue those dreams, implement those ideas, and there's an association of 295 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.599 reward. If you're successful, you will reap benefits of that, and that 296 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:51.279 motivates and encourages people to do that. And we live in that society. 297 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:56.799 And I hear people criticizing this system. And look, as I've said before, 298 00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:59.000 William F. Buckley once said, and I'm going to take a break 299 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:04.000 here way M. F. Buckley said, the great conservative thinker from decades 300 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:11.400 ago, said that, look, the problem with capitalism is capitalists, individual 301 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:17.240 capitalists. The problem with socialism is socialism itself, meaning that the problem with 302 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:22.519 the ideology of socialism was in the very ideas of the ideology of socialism itself. 303 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:29.000 The problems that we have in capitalism are not with the ideas of capitalism. 304 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:37.240 It comes from the abuse of the freedoms that come along with free market 305 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:42.279 capitalism. So it's individual freedom. Are individual people exercising their freedom in ways 306 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:48.920 that can be very harmful at times because they directly don't care. They don't 307 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.240 care. They directly again individual capitalists. I'm not saying all capitalists because that 308 00:27:52.519 --> 00:28:00.960 it's not necessarily these things are. They don't go hand in hand, right, 309 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.880 You don't have to just because you're a capitalist. You can be a 310 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:08.519 capitalist who acts with integrity and character. But even if you're a socialist who 311 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.000 acts with character and integrity, your ideas are broken. To begin with. 312 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:18.880 The system is unsustainable, untenable, It cannot survive, It cannot produce the 313 00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:25.319 things that we have seen produced by free market capitalism. So another timeouts in 314 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:32.200 order, going through here the reasons that I am a conservative because I think 315 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:36.200 it matters. It matters as I prepare to talk to students that you endy. 316 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:42.119 It also matters as we embark upon a very important election. So that 317 00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:45.319 being said, I'm taking a time out, my friends, sit tight back 318 00:28:45.400 --> 00:29:02.599 in just a minute, my friends, just going through the reasons, and 319 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:07.079 I think these are important, the reasons that I am a conservative, and 320 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.759 candidly the reasons I think that you should be too. Notice I haven't talked 321 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:21.039 about a single issue yet. These are all philosophical, fundamental, foundational components 322 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:25.000 of what it means to be a conservative. So what it means to be 323 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:30.279 someone who adheres and respects the Constitution and the thinking that went behind that document. 324 00:29:32.680 --> 00:29:34.000 But before we do that, I want to tell you a little bit 325 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:41.400 about my friend Eric Wilson at I Sell Health. Eric has been serving clients 326 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:47.480 throughout this great nation, throughout the whole United States, Folks, just about 327 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:51.640 any state Eric can help me. There's a couple of states that he's that 328 00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:57.039 well because of laws, candidly some difficulties with insurance law and so forth, 329 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:00.839 he's not able to help. But the vast, vast majority of states he 330 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:06.200 can help you in. And that's if you need help in the areas of 331 00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:14.079 individual health, group health, or even Medicare. He's also Eric Wilson is 332 00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:18.359 an expert in the Affordable Care Act, and he's here to help navigate that 333 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:22.720 complex issue. He's here to help you. As I've said before, twenty 334 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.440 twenty four is supposed to show to be a year that has five to eight 335 00:30:27.559 --> 00:30:33.359 percent increase in health care costs, the most I think I read the most 336 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:37.519 in a decade. Don't hold me to that. It's been the biggest single 337 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.319 year jump in quite some time. And so Eric's here to help you navigate 338 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:47.000 that. I've known Eric, he's been a supporter of this program for several 339 00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:51.319 years. He's been invited on as an expert as a guest to talk about 340 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:59.319 health insurance and so forth, especially when Obamacare or other government regulated healthcare sort 341 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:03.720 of stuff pops up and is being debated in a presidential election year or whatever. 342 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:07.599 He's been on this program as well. He knows a lot about the 343 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:11.279 subject. He knows a lot about the subject, and he's here to help 344 00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:18.200 you with a free, no cost consultation. You can call Eric at eight 345 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:23.720 one five three seven two thirteen sixty three again eight one five three seven two 346 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:32.079 thirteen sixty three, or just visit his website online at isellhealth dot com. 347 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:37.799 That's the letter iisell health dot com Eric Wilson. He will take good care 348 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:42.319 of you, my friends. So again, what we're talking about here today, 349 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:48.200 and I'm gonna take a break here in just a moment, but we 350 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:55.319 are talking about just the importance of understanding the reason, the reason that the 351 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:00.640 conservative ideology matters, why we should all be, why we should all be 352 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:09.160 conservatives, and basically why the ultimate reason is that we have rights from God 353 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:17.640 and growing government takes those rights away, so we should be very territorial when 354 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:23.440 it comes to the infringement of our liberties, and we should be willing and 355 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:27.480 able. My friends, I know that this is actually what I'm about to 356 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:32.279 say maybe the most unpopular thing amongst people in twenty twenty four. But this 357 00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:37.960 used to be the test when I was in school, when I was in 358 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:43.039 college talking about these sorts of issues. The test as to whether or not 359 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:49.640 you are a person that believed in liberty basically was do you defend Do you 360 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:55.720 stand by the person who wants to use their liberty to do something that you 361 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:01.400 disagree with, even vehemently? So do you defend their rights to do that? 362 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:07.920 And so if you can't do that, then there's a problem, because, 363 00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:13.200 my friends, you've heard the whole that the stories or the analogies. 364 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:15.759 You know, at first they came for this group of people, Then they 365 00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:21.599 came for this group of people. This is why divide and conquerors so effective, 366 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:23.559 and it's why it's so dangerous. That's why I hate, well, 367 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:29.599 one of the many reasons why I hate identity politics. Pitting one group of 368 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:31.920 people against another group of people. That's not how I look at it, 369 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:37.079 and I don't think that's how the vast majority of you look at it either. 370 00:33:37.079 --> 00:33:39.079 In fact, I don't think that's how anybody should look at it. 371 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:44.119 We are human beings first and foremost created in the image of God. Secondly, 372 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:50.039 we are Americans who had better find a way to hang together. Was 373 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:53.480 it Benjamin Franklin? Was he the one that said we? Is he the 374 00:33:53.480 --> 00:34:00.000 one that said that we better hang together? If not, we'll hang separately? 375 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:04.680 Right? I mean, of course the British, the British monarchy was 376 00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:07.960 coming for these guys, and he was saying, look, we better stick 377 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.280 together and fight this out collectively, because if we try to separate and go 378 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:15.679 our own ways and don't fight this battle shoulder to shoulder, they are going 379 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:20.000 to they're going to eventually run us all down and take us all out. 380 00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:23.679 Not metaphorically, of course. Heck, in their case it was quite literal 381 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:29.840 in the sense that they had signed their death warrant whenever they signed the Declaration 382 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:34.519 of independence, And so it's critically important that we stand beside one another, 383 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:37.039 even people. This is why, you know, when I think about people 384 00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:47.039 who have different worldview and I don't know religion, worldview, ideology preferences, 385 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:52.360 they want to live their lives anesthetically to how I live mine. There still 386 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:55.920 should be common ground that says, look, I don't agree with that personally. 387 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.679 I might try to persuade you as an individual can tell me to go 388 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.519 fly a kite, and that's your prerogative, and maybe you would never listen 389 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:09.039 to me, but I'm still going to defend your right to have your own 390 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:15.840 to live your life in accordance with your conscience. And these things matter because 391 00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:20.840 again, the bigger government gets. Bigger government means less freedom, and this 392 00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:25.039 comes in the form of some sort of mandate, some sort of executive action, 393 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:30.559 some sort of a law that infringes upon the true freedom of an individual 394 00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:34.679 to live his or her life as he or she wants to live it, 395 00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:38.760 and we have examples of this. Of course, they act like Trump is 396 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:44.559 the one who is taking away or attacking the rights of people and so forth. 397 00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:50.360 But the reality is, the reality is is that this government we have 398 00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:53.079 been asleep at the wheel for a long time. People are waking up. 399 00:35:53.159 --> 00:35:57.960 Many of you have been awake the whole time, probably screaming at the top 400 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.920 of your lungs to get people to pay attention to what's going on. But 401 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:07.719 we've lived in relative comfort, right, We've eaten, we've drank, we've 402 00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:13.679 been merry, and we've let these jokers and clowns run them up in Washington, 403 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:17.559 d C. And our state capitals and our seats of county, the 404 00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:22.440 county seat, right, We've allowed this to happen. We have allowed this 405 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:27.599 to happen. And I do think, I do think one of the good 406 00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:32.280 byproducts of all this turmoil and controversy and tension is that it forces people to 407 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:39.199 see that we only have these liberties if we are the ones again I mentioned 408 00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:44.280 earlier, like holding the pruning shares. I don't know if you've ever pruned 409 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:47.559 a tree before, my friends, a fruit tree, but sometimes I mean, 410 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:52.159 you have to cut way more back. You have to cut the branches, 411 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:58.639 much further back than you ever dreamed necessary. My mother, my mom 412 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:02.960 has a a butterfly bush that every year she trims back, I say trims 413 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.519 back. She cuts this thing down basically to the ground, and this thing 414 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:13.320 grows. I don't know how tall it is, but I'm guessing six I 415 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:15.719 don't know, six maybe more than that, six maybe seven feet from the 416 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:21.880 ground, and it grows up and out and it's a beautiful it's a beautiful 417 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:27.920 bush in the summertime butterfly bush. But when you prune this thing back, 418 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.440 you think, my goodness, that thing's not going to be able to survive. 419 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:37.800 We, my friends, have to prune back the government. We have 420 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:43.960 to prune back where their tentacles go, because it's going in all sorts of 421 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:47.440 directions. They've grown the government, the administrative state, the bureaucratic state, 422 00:37:47.559 --> 00:37:52.440 the swamp, whatever you want to call it. They've grown it to levels 423 00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:57.960 that are so far beyond, so far beyond what we would call a legitimate, 424 00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:02.960 limited sized government, and it's dangerous. It's dangerous to liberty. Now, 425 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:07.360 of course, it's appealing to people because it sounds so good. Oh, 426 00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:12.559 they're gonna promise me this. They're gonna promise me that, they're gonna 427 00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:16.360 promise me more prosperity. They're gonna promise to give me some sort of an 428 00:38:16.519 --> 00:38:21.320 entitlement. But my friends, there's no such thing as a freebie. Someone 429 00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:24.239 has to pay for it. It always costs more than the governing officials tell 430 00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:30.960 us. And it's never quite as good. Sometimes it's not even remotely as 431 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:37.679 good as their utopian promises guarantee us. When they're selling us this bill of 432 00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:42.280 goods, so timeouts in order a little bit long this segment, still just 433 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:45.400 going through these things because I think it's important. Quick time out back in 434 00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:55.719 just a minute, Welcome back to my friends. Excuse me, I am 435 00:38:55.719 --> 00:39:01.239 not gonna be able to continue this right now because we have really just out 436 00:39:01.239 --> 00:39:04.800 of time here, so but I do want to tell you that we are 437 00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:10.519 going to We're going to continue this at least part of this on tomorrow's program 438 00:39:10.599 --> 00:39:15.360 because I think it's important. I think it's important that we understand the reasons 439 00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:22.440 that we are conservative, why it matters, and why our approach matters, 440 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:27.519 which might lend a little bit to the discussion on conservative not bitter. But 441 00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:31.760 unfortunately I miss out of time here, a little bit long on previous segments. 442 00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:36.119 My friends, sit tight, come back and wrap up here in just 443 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:47.760 a minute, and welcome back to my friends. You know, when we 444 00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:58.559 think about discussing these things, these issues, the worldview, ideology and so 445 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:04.039 forth, to people, I think fall into the trap of going through issue 446 00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:12.159 by issue, and when you have a position on an issue without articulating, 447 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:15.519 or let's just say someone you're talking with has a position on an issue without 448 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:21.360 thinking it through. I can't tell you the number of people that I've spoken 449 00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:24.599 with, and you probably have had this too, that actually, when you 450 00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:30.199 explain the rationale behind your belief or position on an issue, it makes it 451 00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:35.440 stronger. Too many people just have an opinion based upon nothing, just a 452 00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:43.480 personal preference. It needs to be rooted in understanding of the Constitution of liberty 453 00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:46.800 of well, I would say, the conservative ideology. So this is important 454 00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:51.719 stuff, and I want to get to a little bit more of this tomorrow 455 00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:53.719 as well, but I'm simply out of time today. Folks. Thank you 456 00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:55.840 so much for listening. Have a wonderful day. SDG.