1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,480 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,719 my daily show prep with all of the links, become 6 00:00:18,719 --> 00:00:22,359 a patron, go to thepeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you 7 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,920 hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,320 to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so 9 00:00:27,399 --> 00:00:32,759 much for your support. All Right, so I got turned 10 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:37,159 onto this piece by a listener who sent me not 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,759 the link because they knew I don't open links, but 12 00:00:39,799 --> 00:00:43,679 they sent me the title of the piece at Psychology Today, 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:50,280 and the headline is the natural selection of critical Thinking 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:56,640 and the Socratic paradox. This is this is barn Burner 15 00:00:56,759 --> 00:00:59,520 type of material, like that headline, Like if I haven't 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:04,760 captured your attention with that headline. Now, this has practical 17 00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:10,200 implications and it connects to the two previous hours topics, 18 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,640 the stuff we've been covering with the doge and the budget. 19 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,519 And it is this critical thinking and I'll just refer 20 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,040 to it as the author here. Christopher Dwyer, PhD refers 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:27,640 to it as CT Critical thinking CT and he says 22 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,000 it isn't about knowing something or not knowing it. Okay, 23 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,879 because you hear all the time we should be teaching 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,200 our kids how to think. Right, we should be teaching 25 00:01:37,239 --> 00:01:39,640 not what to think, but how to think. We need 26 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,000 to teach critical thinking skills. Right. You hear that a lot. 27 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 So what does that actually mean? Because it does mean something, 28 00:01:49,319 --> 00:01:53,920 And it's not just simply knowing something or not knowing 29 00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:58,959 a thing. It's about knowing the difference between the two. 30 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,640 It's about understanding that here are the things you know. 31 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,000 Not to get all Donald Rumsfeldy in here, but there 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:14,120 are known knowns, there are known unknowns, right, and there 33 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:19,960 are unknown unknowns, things that you don't even know that 34 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:27,719 you don't know. And recognizing that there are those things 35 00:02:27,719 --> 00:02:31,719 that you don't know. That's part of critical thinking, and 36 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:37,479 that part is missing. That is missing from a lot 37 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,719 of people's analysis, in their social media posts and their 38 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:49,080 arguments online or in person. Right, there is this either 39 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,000 inability or a refusal to accept a premise that you 40 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,919 don't know everything. And I know it sounds very basic, 41 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,960 but there is no way to know everything. It's about 42 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,599 knowing the difference between what you know and that you 43 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:14,000 don't know stuff, and then applying certain thinking processes to 44 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,919 efforts towards gaining that knowledge. You have to acknowledge what 45 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,159 you don't know. I refer to this as trying to 46 00:03:22,199 --> 00:03:26,080 see all of the angles, and one of the angles 47 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:27,680 is always that I don't know. And you hear me 48 00:03:27,719 --> 00:03:29,280 say that. I will say that a lot of times. 49 00:03:29,319 --> 00:03:32,159 I don't know. I'm not aware of this. All I 50 00:03:32,199 --> 00:03:34,479 could tell you is what I'm seeing based on what 51 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,879 I'm seeing, and this is what it looks like. But 52 00:03:37,879 --> 00:03:41,199 you know, in the first hour with the topic of 53 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,520 the Ukrainian mineral rights deal that has apparently been struck 54 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:50,840 between the US and Ukraine, right, people thought they knew, 55 00:03:51,719 --> 00:03:54,199 they knew what was going on, they knew what Trump meant, 56 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,280 they knew everything about everything when it came to Trump's 57 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:04,439 efforts with Ukraine, and I don't how could I. I'm 58 00:04:04,439 --> 00:04:06,280 not at the White House, I'm not talking to Donald 59 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,159 Trump about it, I'm not in the negotiating room. I 60 00:04:08,199 --> 00:04:12,280 have no idea. So that's a huge blind spot. So 61 00:04:12,479 --> 00:04:15,800 I can just look at, you know, what's being reported 62 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:22,360 public statements, and then with today's development that there is 63 00:04:22,399 --> 00:04:26,519 some deal, right, and I just caution, give it a minute. 64 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:28,639 That's what I was saying in the first hour, just 65 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:34,279 with all things in Trump world. Just relax, have some patience, 66 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:40,319 let's see what happens, because that really has been I 67 00:04:40,319 --> 00:04:45,360 think the lynchpin problem in trying to assess what is 68 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:50,399 happening in a Trump administration is that Trump says something 69 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,560 or does something, or one of his people says something 70 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,800 or does something, there is this immediate, you know, flood, 71 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:02,600 the zone of overreaction. There is on wide spread ascribing 72 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,319 of motive to Trump, right, he's Putin's puppet and all 73 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,759 of that, and not just him but everybody around him. 74 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,639 So there is a projection onto people about what is 75 00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:20,360 motivating them to do these things? Why? Because you don't know, 76 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,959 you don't know why they did that, So you're going 77 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,480 to assume that you know, or if you're a reporter, 78 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,720 you're going to go to somebody and ask them what 79 00:05:29,879 --> 00:05:32,480 they are assuming is the motivation, and then you'll print that. 80 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,759 But that doesn't make it true either. You have to 81 00:05:36,879 --> 00:05:44,360 acknowledge what you don't know. Unfortunately, that's not very common. 82 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:49,319 People don't like to acknowledge that they don't know something 83 00:05:49,519 --> 00:05:53,439 or a specific thing. I don't know why Donald Trump 84 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:58,120 is doing that. And I know I frustrate people when 85 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,879 I encounter them, you know, out out and about. I'm 86 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,480 at some event or you know, go to a restaurant, 87 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,480 run into people or whatever, and they ask, you know, oh, 88 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,199 what's going on with this? Why are they doing that? 89 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,759 And they are dissatisfied with my response, which is, I 90 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:16,560 don't know, unless like I do know, But most of 91 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,639 the times I don't know why somebody is doing what 92 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:22,040 they're doing because I'm not in their head and I 93 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,000 haven't talked to them. All I can tell you is 94 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,279 that this is what they did. So what do you 95 00:06:26,439 --> 00:06:31,399 think it means? This is Dunning Kruger, by the way, 96 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:39,000 the Dunning Kruger effect, by the researchers Kruger and Dunning. 97 00:06:39,519 --> 00:06:41,839 That's why it's called the Dunning Kruger effect. I think 98 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:47,040 it's alphabetical. But this was a research project that they 99 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,240 did where they put a whole bunch of I think 100 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:51,240 they were students. They were like college students. They ran 101 00:06:51,319 --> 00:06:54,639 him through a test and they tested everybody and then 102 00:06:55,319 --> 00:06:58,360 they asked them at the end, how do you think 103 00:06:58,399 --> 00:07:01,120 you did? And that was the real expct PM. It 104 00:07:01,199 --> 00:07:05,600 wasn't the exam questions, it was what did the students 105 00:07:06,319 --> 00:07:09,879 say when they were asked to give their prediction on 106 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,360 how well they did? And what they found was that 107 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,839 the kids who did the best on the tests thought 108 00:07:16,839 --> 00:07:19,199 they did the worst. So when you asked them afterwards, 109 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,759 how do you think you did? Those kids that tested 110 00:07:21,759 --> 00:07:25,279 the best, they always said, or virtually always said, I 111 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:28,199 don't think I did very well. And the kids who 112 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,319 scored poorly the worst, they were like, oh, I think 113 00:07:32,319 --> 00:07:33,920 I did all right, I did pretty good. Oh I 114 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,759 feel confident. They had a higher expectation of how well 115 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,000 they did than the ones who actually did well. Why 116 00:07:42,199 --> 00:07:45,560 because the kids who knew more of the material knew 117 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:50,040 that they didn't know stuff, and the kids who didn't 118 00:07:50,079 --> 00:07:53,360 know the material they had no idea what they didn't know. 119 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,519 That's Donning Krueger. There are more people, sorry, there are 120 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,120 people who apply critical things thinking right. There are people 121 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,480 out there that do it, and there are some who 122 00:08:04,519 --> 00:08:08,759 don't do it at all. And this guy, doctor Christopher Dwyer, 123 00:08:08,839 --> 00:08:10,879 says that used to frustrate him that some people don't 124 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:12,519 do it at all, and so he made it sort 125 00:08:12,519 --> 00:08:15,040 of his mission to, you know, get people to think 126 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,079 critically in all of this, and he's now come to 127 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,439 a place, a better place. He's just like, not everybody's 128 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,040 going to do it. Not everybody's equipped to do it, 129 00:08:23,519 --> 00:08:27,399 and people don't want to do it. And that brings 130 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:33,080 us to so Crates aka Socrates and a thing that 131 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:39,200 he calls or it's called the Socratic paradox. And Dwyer says, 132 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,639 I always thought Socrates was a bit of a badass. 133 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,080 He didn't care what people thought about him. He stood 134 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,960 by his intellectual integrity, and he was killed for it. Ironically, 135 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,960 perhaps it's because of what people thought about him that 136 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:58,759 he didn't care. Simply they didn't know anything. Socrates thought 137 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:03,000 at length about knowledge and the knowledge of others. He 138 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,720 knew that he didn't know anything, but neither did anybody else, 139 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,559 according to this take on the Socratic paradox, when engaged 140 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,519 with the oracle of Delphi, who told Socrates that he 141 00:09:14,879 --> 00:09:19,840 was the wisest person in Athens, Socrates believed the oracle. 142 00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:23,519 But how could a man who knows nothing says he 143 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:29,440 knows nothing be the wisest man. Socrates concluded that if 144 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,679 he knew nothing and was wiser than everybody else, then 145 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,480 it must be due to him being the only person 146 00:09:36,519 --> 00:09:43,279 in Athens who recognized their own ignorance. Right. That's the 147 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,559 key is to be humble enough to recognize I don't know, 148 00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:52,759 and this takes us to a thing called the narrative fallacy. 149 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,080 You know, stories are powerful. They help us make sense 150 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,480 of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the 151 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,679 people of our past while transcending generations. They help us 152 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,759 process the meaning of life, and our stories are told 153 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,960 through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video 154 00:10:10,159 --> 00:10:13,240 started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, North Carolina. It 155 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,840 was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, 156 00:10:17,039 --> 00:10:21,080 photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos 157 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,759 and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative 158 00:10:24,799 --> 00:10:26,879 Video will go over all of the details with you 159 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,840 to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off 160 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,559 in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a 161 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,559 week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos 162 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:40,440 for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or 163 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:44,320 just your family stories all told through images. That's what 164 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,840 your photos and videos are. They are your life told 165 00:10:47,879 --> 00:10:50,399 through the eyes of everyone around you and all who 166 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,639 came before you, and they will tell others to come 167 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,519 who you are. Visit Creative video dot Com over at 168 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:03,600 Psychology Today, Peace by doctor Christopher Dwyer talks about He 169 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:08,039 mentioned the Socratic paradox, where you know, Socrates goes to 170 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:12,320 the oracle of Delphi and the oracle says you're the 171 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,799 wisest person in Athens. But Socrates is like, yeah, but 172 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,799 I don't know anything, and so therefore I believe the oracle. 173 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:25,159 Why is that it's a paradox, right, No, because he's 174 00:11:25,159 --> 00:11:28,320 the only one that recognizes he doesn't know everything that 175 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,399 makes him wise, that makes him the wisest. Then there 176 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,960 is a thing called the narrative fallacy. Daniel Cannaman the 177 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:45,080 late Daniel Caneman. He wrote of the comforting conviction that 178 00:11:45,159 --> 00:11:50,440 the world makes sense, and it rests on a secure 179 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:55,759 foundation our almost unlimited ability to ignore our own ignorance. 180 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,799 The comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on 181 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:10,840 a foundation that we ignore our own ignorance. Dwyer wrote 182 00:12:10,919 --> 00:12:14,519 about humanity's desire, in the midst of their information processing, 183 00:12:15,039 --> 00:12:20,320 to try to tie things into nice, neat little packages. 184 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,759 This stance is well reflected in what we know about 185 00:12:23,879 --> 00:12:28,279 narrative fallacy. When events occur in the world, we often 186 00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:32,440 think in terms of a narrative chain to make sense 187 00:12:32,519 --> 00:12:38,919 of it. Why, because we dislike uncertainty, We want closure, 188 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,799 we want explanations for things, and so we fill in 189 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:49,080 the gaps. Narratives provide a cause and effect story for 190 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,399 what happened. And I've said this many times. Stories are 191 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:58,679 very powerful things. They have been passed down the entire 192 00:12:58,879 --> 00:13:04,120 human existence from person to person. We still know stories 193 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,759 that were told thousands of years ago because they are 194 00:13:07,799 --> 00:13:12,159 so powerful. So narratives give us a cause and effect 195 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:18,919 tale for what happened, A linear sequential means of processing 196 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:24,279 of information that helps us to remember it, to understand things, 197 00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:30,120 or some other application. But it's a nice, neat little story. Unfortunately, 198 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,840 most of these stories are fictionalized accounts of what might 199 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,279 have been a real event. If it's not just straight 200 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:43,519 up a fictional story, right Aesop's Fables and such. But 201 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,279 if it's a story that is based on a real event, 202 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:53,440 the story the account gets fictionalized, and then we implicitly 203 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,080 fill in the gaps with our own thoughts, our own feelings, 204 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,279 our own attitudes when the information is missing. So then 205 00:13:59,279 --> 00:14:03,039 we start drawing links that may not exist, and this 206 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:09,879 tendency creates a barrier to understanding. Sometimes random events are 207 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:16,080 simply that they are random. This actually gets to a 208 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,840 lot of conspiracy theories. This is not to say conspiracies 209 00:14:20,919 --> 00:14:23,679 do not exist. I'm not making that argument. I would 210 00:14:23,759 --> 00:14:25,879 not make that argument. I don't believe that to be true. 211 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:31,919 They do exist. However, I've said this for a very 212 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:36,000 long time too, which is that when people are presented 213 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:42,240 with the truly frightening reality that sometimes a few people 214 00:14:42,279 --> 00:14:45,799 can do very bad things and impact many many others. 215 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:47,759 Nine to eleven is a very good example of it, 216 00:14:48,799 --> 00:14:51,039 people do not want to believe, still do not want 217 00:14:51,039 --> 00:14:54,960 to believe that nineteen guys with box cutters could murder 218 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,759 that many people, that they could do something like that. Right, 219 00:14:58,559 --> 00:15:03,759 So people fill in gaps. This is the narrative fallacy, 220 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:08,399 because that's the way our brains work. We want a neat, 221 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,279 nice little story from point A to point B. Tells 222 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,240 me the story, and if there are gaps, I'll fill 223 00:15:15,279 --> 00:15:18,799 them in, And by filling them in, it makes me 224 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,080 believe that I know what actually happened. And you see 225 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,840 it right now with so much of what is occurring 226 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,759 with Trump and the Trump Derangement syndrome sufferers, they are 227 00:15:35,799 --> 00:15:40,799 filling in gaps, right, They don't know something, so they're 228 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,759 going to fill in the gap that coincidentally, you know, 229 00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:48,399 abides by their biases and now they know and that's 230 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,240 comforting to them. All Right. If you're listening to this show, 231 00:15:51,279 --> 00:15:52,840 you know I try to keep up with all sorts 232 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:54,879 of current events, and I know you do too. And 233 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,360 you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. 234 00:15:58,879 --> 00:16:02,159 Why well, because it's how you detect media bias, which 235 00:16:02,159 --> 00:16:05,080 is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's 236 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,600 an app and it's a website and it combines news 237 00:16:08,639 --> 00:16:10,600 from around the world in one place so you can 238 00:16:10,639 --> 00:16:13,960 compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out 239 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,600 at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. I put 240 00:16:18,639 --> 00:16:21,600 the link in the podcast description too. I started using 241 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,519 ground News a few months ago and more recently chose 242 00:16:24,559 --> 00:16:26,519 to work with them as an affiliate because it lets 243 00:16:26,519 --> 00:16:30,120 me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. 244 00:16:30,399 --> 00:16:33,360 The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored 245 00:16:33,399 --> 00:16:36,320 by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check 246 00:16:36,399 --> 00:16:40,879 dot ground dot news slash Pete, subscribe through that link 247 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,840 and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use 248 00:16:43,879 --> 00:16:47,000 the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. 249 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,960 Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it 250 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,159 also supports ground News as they make the media landscape 251 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,279 more transparent. Alan with a tweet. It's a pet tweet, 252 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,039 Alan says, are you are you saying, Pete that you 253 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,920 don't know what's in Donald Trump's head? Did you not 254 00:17:05,039 --> 00:17:08,279 have the forethought to bug the Resolute desk? How short 255 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:12,640 sighted are you? Apparently there that's a thing now, So Alan, 256 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:19,200 this is actually I saw this story. So people on 257 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,440 the left have been criticizing Elon Musk for bringing his 258 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,440 son to the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago 259 00:17:29,279 --> 00:17:33,880 for that that press availability with Donald Trump, and Trump 260 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,319 is sitting at the Resolute desk and Elon Musk's kid 261 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,799 is there with Elon, and you know, he's kind of 262 00:17:41,799 --> 00:17:44,640 walking around and he's being a what is he like 263 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,319 three years old or something? He's a toddler, okay, and 264 00:17:48,599 --> 00:17:51,799 so he's obviously, you know, he actually was very well 265 00:17:51,799 --> 00:17:57,000 behaved for his age. And at one point he starts 266 00:17:57,039 --> 00:18:01,200 picking his nose and they're like the left and the media. 267 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,559 But I repeat myself there, they're all like, oh, he 268 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,279 wiped his nose on the on the on the Resolute desk. 269 00:18:07,279 --> 00:18:09,440 They had to send it out to clean the desk 270 00:18:09,519 --> 00:18:13,200 and all of this. Now, I don't know if that's true. 271 00:18:13,279 --> 00:18:16,119 See there it is again. I recognize. I don't know 272 00:18:16,319 --> 00:18:21,079 why they had to do this, but apparently the report 273 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:25,759 is that they sent the Resolute desk out for a cleaning, 274 00:18:27,599 --> 00:18:32,359 and the narrative that people filled in was because Elon 275 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:42,640 Musk's kid besmirched it. So let's say, Okay, However, there 276 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,079 is another theory that I have seen out there as well. 277 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:54,480 I saw this yesterday. They keep sweeping the premises for bugs, 278 00:18:54,519 --> 00:19:01,839 not insects, listening devices. They're they're trying to make sure 279 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,960 that the Intel community is not spying on them, and 280 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:14,559 that's why they sent the desk out. Imagine that along 281 00:19:14,599 --> 00:19:17,519 those lines. Oh, I know that could never happen, right, No, No, 282 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,920 I would never do such a thing. Yeah, of course 283 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:26,799 they would. Nick Arama over at RedState dot Com. The 284 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,400 FBI has now reportedly opened an investigation because now it's 285 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,440 under new management, right cash Battel along with the soon 286 00:19:34,519 --> 00:19:39,480 to be Deputy Director Dan Bongino. The FBI has reportedly 287 00:19:39,519 --> 00:19:45,680 opened an investigation into a honeypot operation. This is a 288 00:19:45,759 --> 00:19:51,240 honeypot operation. Is These are operations. They are, you know, 289 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:57,039 plans to try to entrap Winnie the Pooh aka Jijenpingg 290 00:19:57,079 --> 00:20:02,440 of China. That's what a honeypot is. No, No, I'm 291 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,359 just kidding. Now. It's where you use an attractive person, 292 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:11,359 usually a female, to seduce or at least you know, 293 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:17,119 flirt with, in order to lead on a target, usually 294 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,279 a dude. And you get the dude to say stuff 295 00:20:20,319 --> 00:20:23,880 and do stuff and compromise him, and then you use 296 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,119 that against him, right, you use that to turn him 297 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:29,000 if he's an agent or something, and you make him 298 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,200 a spy or get him to wear a wire whatever. 299 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,960 That's a honeypot. It's a trap. Right, Oh, look at 300 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,640 this honey and then you wander into it. And now 301 00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:39,160 now we got you, you know, all right, So the 302 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,160 FBI is looking into a honeypot operation that was launched 303 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:53,240 by the FBI against Donald Trump in twenty fifteen. According 304 00:20:53,319 --> 00:20:57,319 to The Washington Times, a whistleblower has revealed to the 305 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:02,160 House Judiciary Committee in a detected disclosure that this was 306 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,839 an quote off the book's action run by anybody, want 307 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:16,079 to guess James Comy, then FBI director James Comy off 308 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:24,079 the books. And this goes to something that I have 309 00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:27,680 long been perplexed by. Do you ever watch a show 310 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,880 like the example I always give on this, but there 311 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,000 are many, many examples, but the one I always use 312 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:37,799 is Blacklist with James Spader, Right, And you know, these 313 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:42,200 these types of shows, it's usually uh, you know, it's 314 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,079 like some intelligence group or whatever inside the FBI or 315 00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:49,440 uh you know, inside a police department or something. It's 316 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,759 like some highly specialized unit, you know, and the show 317 00:21:54,839 --> 00:21:57,480 is all about this one unit, and they are the 318 00:21:57,519 --> 00:22:02,519 ones that are always involved in every single high profile case, right. 319 00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:05,920 And Blacklist was notorious for this because like they were 320 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:11,079 dealing with the most uh you know, I don't know, 321 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,799 threatening and you know, international global terrorist kind of thing 322 00:22:14,839 --> 00:22:18,079 and attacks on the leadership of America and all this 323 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,200 other stuff, the worst criminals in the world, dealing with 324 00:22:22,279 --> 00:22:24,400 the you know, the biggest operations and all this stuff. 325 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,799 And the unit is like four people, right, which is 326 00:22:26,799 --> 00:22:29,359 weird to me because, like I see all these other 327 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,880 people working at computer stations in the background, but they're 328 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,880 never brought into any operation. It's always these four, four 329 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,440 or five of them, right, And like whether it's you know, 330 00:22:37,599 --> 00:22:40,559 going undercover to try to get somebody or it's kicking 331 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,480 in the door on a raid, they're always at the 332 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,880 front of the swat team, even though like they're the 333 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,039 least protected. They got like one vest on and they're 334 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,240 running point through the door. And it's it's like I 335 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,519 get it from a TV perspective, but it's it's it's 336 00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:59,079 not realistic, except of course, with the leadership of the 337 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,119 FBI apparently in DC, where there was like four people 338 00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:06,599 and they ran all of the high profile investigations. Is 339 00:23:06,599 --> 00:23:10,319 that a coincidence? Is that weird? Like why is you know, 340 00:23:10,519 --> 00:23:15,880 struck Page, McCabe comy, this one group and they're always 341 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,720 the ones that are running point on the investigations into 342 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:25,200 Hillary Clinton servers, right, and Donald Trump's sex or the 343 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,160 p tape or whatever. Right, they're always involved in these cases. 344 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,640 It always comes back to them. And here's another one. So, 345 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:39,519 according to the whistleblower, two female undercover employees infiltrated mister 346 00:23:39,559 --> 00:23:44,319 Trump's twenty sixteen campaign at high levels and were directed 347 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,200 to act as honey pots while traveling with mister Trump 348 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,880 and his campaign staff. The Trump campaign, I will tell 349 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:58,119 you knows who these people are. There is zero doubt 350 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,640 in my mind they know who these two women are 351 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,440 zeroed out because they are now the FBI is now 352 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:11,279 looking for these two undercover operatives. This was not a 353 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,599 part of Crossfire Hurricane. That was a different operation. Okay, 354 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:23,039 This whistleblower, this agent quote personally knew that Comy ordered 355 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:29,000 an FBI investigation into Trump, and that Comy personally directed it. 356 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,240 The investigation did not appear to target any specific crime, 357 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,599 but was more of what agents would describe as a 358 00:24:37,839 --> 00:24:42,000 fishing expedition to try to find anything incriminating that could 359 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,279 be used against mister Trump. The whistleblower said, according to 360 00:24:46,279 --> 00:24:51,160 The Washington Times, that the undercover operation was obscured from 361 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:57,960 the Justice Department's own Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, which might 362 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,880 be why he never knew about it, which once again 363 00:25:02,039 --> 00:25:04,359 raises the question, what the hell are we even doing 364 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,000 with all of these inspectors general in all of the 365 00:25:07,039 --> 00:25:11,559 agencies when they never find this kind of thing. Quote. 366 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:16,079 The case had no predicated foundation. Sokomy personally directed the 367 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:23,839 investigation without creating an official case file in the FBI's system, 368 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,240 so you wouldn't know. According to the Times, one media 369 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,640 outlet actually had a picture of one of the women, 370 00:25:32,599 --> 00:25:35,039 but the FBI told them, oh, no, no, no, that's an 371 00:25:35,039 --> 00:25:39,759 informant and if you publish the picture, it'll it'll get 372 00:25:39,839 --> 00:25:46,559 or killed. So don't publish the picture. And after that 373 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,160 story or after that that conversation about, you know, the 374 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,880 publication of that of the photo, the operation, the honeypot 375 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,759 operation got shut down. According to this report, one of 376 00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:03,359 the people is at now the CIA, and the other 377 00:26:03,759 --> 00:26:07,359 got a promotion and is now a quote high level 378 00:26:07,759 --> 00:26:15,559 FBI executive in a major field office. Like I said, 379 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,799 the Trump campaign's got to know who these two women are. 380 00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:21,039 Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to 381 00:26:21,079 --> 00:26:24,559 a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. 382 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,839 Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of 383 00:26:26,839 --> 00:26:31,240 Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, 384 00:26:31,279 --> 00:26:33,519 maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get 385 00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:36,440 family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins 386 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,200 of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you 387 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,839 can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that 388 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,640 truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres 389 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:49,039 of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene 390 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,839 escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally 391 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,359 located between Ashville and the entrance of the Great Smoky 392 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,240 Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and 393 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,640 proximity to all the law attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, 394 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,839 air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables and 395 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,240 your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, 396 00:27:11,319 --> 00:27:15,279 two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. 397 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,640 Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for 398 00:27:18,759 --> 00:27:22,480 any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or 399 00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:25,920 text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight 400 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:28,359 or check out all there is to offer at Cabins 401 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:31,920 of Aashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. 402 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:38,240 So here's a pete tweet from rh This is just 403 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,720 a whole bunch of letters taxing the wealthy, right, Oh, 404 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,680 this was about the proposal to increase the tax on 405 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,720 the endowments for colleges going from like one and a 406 00:27:47,759 --> 00:27:50,920 half percent up to twenty one percent, taxing the wealthy right, 407 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,279 isn't that what the Democrats want? Pay their fair share 408 00:27:54,319 --> 00:27:59,559 in all? I would think so, Karen says, I think 409 00:27:59,599 --> 00:28:02,880 it says a lot more about these women were unsuccessful 410 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,079 at compromising the people in the high levels of Trump's 411 00:28:06,079 --> 00:28:09,319 staff or Trump himself. I only say that because no 412 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,880 information that would have been available was leaked. I don't 413 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,119 actually know if they were successful or not. There's no 414 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:21,279 indication either way on that. I have no idea what 415 00:28:21,279 --> 00:28:24,519 what info they may have gleaned or if it didn't, 416 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,920 you know, stuff didn't work. I don't know, but they had. 417 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,319 They had obviously infiltrated the campaign to some degree. I 418 00:28:31,319 --> 00:28:37,480 don't know to what extent. Eric says the media is 419 00:28:37,559 --> 00:28:41,880 complicit until they start burning sources that are caught lying. 420 00:28:42,039 --> 00:28:46,279 I agree. Russ says, I kind of feel like the winners, 421 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,440 or sorry, the whiners who are not on board with 422 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,400 the Doge mission, who have been sandbagging and leaking to 423 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,920 the media that leaving isn't going to be isn't going 424 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,319 to bog down the Musketeers the way they think it will. 425 00:28:59,359 --> 00:29:02,960 I mean, this was their job before Elon was there, 426 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,240 and look how much they accomplished versus the new guy. Okay, yeah, 427 00:29:06,279 --> 00:29:14,079 well not so much. Let me see here. I had 428 00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:17,440 a message also from Chris. He says, in keeping with 429 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,880 the FBI director's tradition, I wager three to one odds 430 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,279 that James Comy wears dresses. All right, Well, too soon, Chris, 431 00:29:24,359 --> 00:29:30,640 Too soon, Bob says. We engineers think in terms of contingencies, 432 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:36,079 which often result in critical over design specifications. I count 433 00:29:36,119 --> 00:29:39,759 my training in both engineering and contract law as great 434 00:29:39,799 --> 00:29:45,680 bases for critical thinking. Most students find these disciplines too hard, 435 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,279 thereby resulting in their not even suspecting what they do 436 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:57,039 not know, aka a life filled with blind side setbacks. Right, 437 00:29:57,519 --> 00:30:00,400 this is I will tell you, Like in out side 438 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:07,440 of the office, here, I participate in well, let's just 439 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:09,599 say it's a it's sort of it's a board. I'm 440 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:14,279 on a board, okay, And and in talking with people 441 00:30:14,319 --> 00:30:19,519 on the board, I have to keep reiterating to my 442 00:30:19,599 --> 00:30:24,559 fellow volunteers that, like, just because I am identifying a 443 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:30,640 potential thing, a criticism or a concern, because like they'll like, 444 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,640 some proposal will come forward and They're like, this is fantastic. 445 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,680 I don't know why anybody would be against it, And 446 00:30:36,759 --> 00:30:40,880 so what I try to do is like, well, I 447 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,160 could think of a reason why somebody might be against it, 448 00:30:43,599 --> 00:30:45,640 and here's the reason. And then they start arguing with 449 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,000 me as if I'm taking the position, and I'm like 450 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,799 I said, I'm and I've had to say this, like 451 00:30:51,839 --> 00:30:56,759 repeatedly over the years, like I am not arguing for 452 00:30:56,799 --> 00:31:00,480 the position. I am simply pointing out that there are 453 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:05,039 potential other views out there that we have to kind 454 00:31:05,079 --> 00:31:07,640 of keep in our heads. That there might be some 455 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:12,079 legitimate concerns that people could raise. You could disagree with those, 456 00:31:12,359 --> 00:31:15,799 that's fine. But to say that there's no opposition or 457 00:31:15,839 --> 00:31:17,720 that everybody would agree with you because this is a 458 00:31:17,759 --> 00:31:24,119 fantastic idea or something like that, that's not true. There's 459 00:31:24,319 --> 00:31:27,200 probably somebody with a differing opinion, and so we should 460 00:31:27,359 --> 00:31:29,559 maybe try to consider that, or you know, try to 461 00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:32,400 get more people into the mix to help us ascertain that. 462 00:31:33,839 --> 00:31:35,319 I don't know, I just I mean, that just seems 463 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,880 obvious to me. And again that's not me taking a position, 464 00:31:40,039 --> 00:31:43,240 that's me simply saying that there might be other people 465 00:31:43,279 --> 00:31:47,480 with other positions that we don't know, we couldn't possibly 466 00:31:47,599 --> 00:31:50,799 know all there is to know where we have to 467 00:31:50,839 --> 00:31:54,400 recognize that our own knowledge base is limited, and in 468 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:59,680 my case, severely so on most things. But I appreciate 469 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:05,519 you listening anyway. All right, that'll do it for this episode. 470 00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:07,599 Thank you so much for listening. I could not do 471 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:09,799 the show without your support and the support of the 472 00:32:09,839 --> 00:32:12,880 businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, 473 00:32:13,039 --> 00:32:15,119 please support them too and tell them you heard it here. 474 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,759 You can also become a patron at my Patreon page 475 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,480 or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so 476 00:32:21,559 --> 00:32:27,119 much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.