12.24.2024 -- NLS -- Pecan Pies, Presidential Pardons, and Christmas Cheer

On this episode with Neal and Julie, the conversation is a mix of holiday reflections, news commentary, and a classic recipe that's sure to delight. Neal shares his mom's pecan pie recipe, which can be yours by simply texting the word "PIE" to (208) 542-1079. The recipe skips brown sugar for a smoother, syrupy pie that avoids the usual "gelatinous" texture. Perfect for the holidays, it's easy to make and even works with a homemade crust if you prefer.

In the news, Neal and Julie discuss the recent controversies in Washington, DC, including President Biden's commutations and the Matt Gaetz report. They critique media priorities, ponder ethics in politics, and reflect on the role of government. Amidst the political talk, they also touch on lighter topics like holiday traditions, Christmas Eve memories, and Netflix's new movie Carry On.

This Christmas Eve episode balances serious topics with seasonal cheer and heartfelt messages, including Neal's holiday wishes for his kids and thanks to the community. Tune in for lively discussion, holiday recipes, and a festive spirit!

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Transcript

Hello. East Idaho, it's 807. Julian, I have the chestnuts roasting right here over the open fire. And I see Jack Frost right outside the window. He cover your noses. Unfortunately, nipping at somebody knows the better. Yes. Welcome. It's the Nielsen show, and it's good to have you with us. It is Christmas Eve, and we want to wish all of you a merry Christmas.

Julie, just tried the annual pecan pie, but said nothing after she tried. It was great. So I think she was speechless. I think it was. And that's what it was. Is that what it was? Okay. Gotcha. All right. Was it okay? It's good. I use dark brown sugar this time. I could tell, like there's actually a color difference in the pie.

Yeah. Can I make a confession? I sure it's actually a Thanksgiving confection. Confession? No pun intended. It's a confection. Confession. I don't spill the beans. Is that what you're doing? I think I need to. It's okay. Go ahead and spill the beans. It has been weighing on my shoulders since Thanksgiving. Okay, so he's literally in the Catholic confessional booth right now, you guys?

I am. And, I didn't know how to handle it at the time. I think we handled it okay, but I didn't know how to handle it, was I. And in the wise words of Bob Ross, a happy little accident. It was a happy little accident that I think turned out okay. It was because the accident actually made it possible to be okay.

Yes. Okay. So Thanksgiving I, I usually make two pies for Thanksgiving, my mom's pecan pie recipe. And then I make two pies for Christmas. Usually it didn't happen for Thanksgiving because you're out of town this year, and I didn't get the made before you left for Thanksgiving. So you didn't get a Thanksgiving pecan pie this year. That I'm just telling this because I want to delay the confession.

Like I'm adding stories here to tell it. Are you feeling happy? It's my burden to bear to unload here. So we get a lot of. I get a lot of requests if I mention my mom's pecan pie recipe. Well, it's important to remember I was gone that Wednesday. Yeah. I wasn't here with you, I was over. You were doing a whole bunch of extra stuff.

That is true. That's true. But I was getting texts from people saying, hey, what is your on your mind? Well, I don't have time to send it to every individual person. And so I thought, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to put it online, and then I'm going to attach a texting keyword to it. So people can simply text the word pie and they'll get the recipe to my mom's pecan pie, because it's typically in high demand when I talk about it.

So I had about a six minute commercial break. I thought, I can do this. So I, I went online, I listed the recipe. We are I attached the keyword. But you typed it. You're in the moment. In the moment is important. Yes, I missed the line for the brown sugar in the initial recipe. And so when I think it was later that night, I'm at home.

I'm making the pecan pies for us for Thanksgiving. And I thought, you know what? I'll just text pie and get the recipe. So I have it in front of me. So it comes back and I'm putting the ingredients in and I'm like, wait, where's the brown sugar? And it was not in the recipe. And so I panicked and I thought, what do I do?

Do I how how do I fix this? And, so I thought, well, I could text everyone who texted pie. That would be rather tedious, but it would have been possible. But then I thought, well, no, because some people haven't even made it yet. And if they go to the link now, they'll it'll be the complete recipe. So I just thought we'll just we'll just I fixed it.

So any future person looking at it was going to. And so that's what I did. I did basically I just went ahead from that point and the next morning I get in actual after Thanksgiving, I get in, people were sending pictures of their pies and saying, it turned out great. It was good. It was getting. And I'm like, nobody's complaining here.

So I have no idea what a pecan pie tastes like without brown sugar, but apparently it works well. There was something else about that. Yeah. Are you sure it was all the brown sugar was gone? That's not how I remember it. Well, no, I actually yeah, there was no brown sugar, but it takes I believe you had to decrease the amount of of of carol sirup.

Yes. The amount, yes. The amount of Karo sirup. You're supposed to have a quarter cup, but I put a half a cup because you need a half a cup of brown sugar. So I mixed up the amount. So you still had the sweetness to it? Yes. It was twice the amount of Karo sirup. It was an extra quarter cup of carrot sirup.

It's just going to make a much more sirup high versus a thicker. Yeah, because pecan pie can get kind of this is a horrible word, but it's the appropriate word like gelatinous. Yes. And the way that you wrote the recipe was just going to make it a more like a smooth, syrupy pie. Yes. Which is probably yummy, right?

In fact, I've wanted to make it like that. Yeah, because that sometimes that's how you stumble into something kind of new. Probably. Fine. And I was telling Neal, I there's a couple of really like common recipes. Like what I make my, I won't say what we call them, but no bake cookies. We have a different name for them.

But, no bake cookies. Yeah. I decrease the sugar by half. Now, I think they make better cookies so you can mess around a little bit with sugar in some nontraditional recipes. It's really hard in a, like a basic chocolate chip cookie. You can't do it as there's not is not fluidity in that. But there are other recipes that you can mess around with.

The amount of sugar. No, I was wrong. See, this is the problem. I think it's going. That's not how it went. From a cup of white carrot sirup down to half a cup. So that's what it was. The recipe is correct now. Okay. Yes. Something was. Anyway, it all turned out fine. It all turned out it was going to taste more picante because you don't have as much liquid.

Yeah, yeah. So anyway, it is correct now. So if you want my mom's pecan pie recipe and by the way this is super easy. It probably takes maybe 15 minutes to do this. And then it's about an hour of baking. It's easy. It is. It's so easy. I mean, our least intelligent listeners can do this. The raspberry Pi pie I make, which is my favorite pie that I make for myself, is far more tedious than this.

Yes. This is so easy. Yes. You just blend several ingredients and you dump it into a frozen pie shell with a cup of pecans that are scattered all across the bottom, and then the pecans float to the top. You bake it for 15 minutes at 375, and then you drop the temperature to 325 for 50 minutes and, cover the edges with foil.

And then after that, I guess hour and five minutes of baking. A you have yourself a pecan pie. So I've also added additional pecans because I like my pecan pie. Really funny. Yeah, right. Canny I'll say it both ways for you people out there who are cringing pecan pie or pecan. Yeah. But you can do that too.

So if you like a few more pecans in there, you're fine. Like, yes. This this recipe can be moved around. Yeah. And it's good. Yeah. It it is good. It is good. So all right. By the way, if you'd like to join us today, we are going to talk about the news. We're not just going to talk about, Neal's confession and the pie and all that all day.

But, if you want to join us, 285421279 while you're looking up what we're going to talk about. We did get a text, apparently, there's a wreck with six vehicles involved on the Yukon overpass. Okay, if you're driving, highway 20, be careful today. Oh, yeah. That's not. That's not good, is it? There are some slick spots.

Still probably bridge decks in that thing. So. Yeah. In fact, at one intersection, I slid a little bit this morning. This morning. Yeah. Because I, it almost felt like the, the pavement had a little glaze on it. It wasn't like leftover ice. It was, something unique to today. And if you haven't heard the forecast, we're saying there's a chance we'll have a white Christmas.

There could be rain and there could be snow. And hopefully overnight it turns to snow. So we we use the wise words of Bob Ross earlier. So let's use the wise words of Dumb and Dumber. So you're saying there's a chance they're saying there's, chance here. So, okay, let's see what else is going on here.

Julie, we've talked, about well, let's just go to some of the clips that we have. This is Scott Jennings, and he was asked about Matt Gates. Here's what he said. Yeah. I mean, I'll be candid with you. I don't make much of it because most of the details or most of the stories that we heard, we already knew.

I mean, a lot of this stuff was already swirling in the public domain. Anyway. Number two, Matt Gates is no longer in Congress. Number three, Matt Gates is no longer under consideration to be in Donald Trump's cabinet. As far as I'm concerned, he's a private citizen in Florida, and I'm sure he has a story to tell about this.

And if he runs for office again, he'll have to, you know, explain what's in this report and and we'll see what the voters say about this. But honestly, of all the things that happened in Washington, DC today, to me, this is a low priority when you consider what, Joe Biden did over at the white House, commuting all the sentences of these terrible people, using the power of the presidency.

He's still in office. Gates is gone. And yet there seems to be more outrage about gates over stuff that, frankly, is old news. It was fascinating to watch the video of this because you had the anchor in the middle, Scott Jennings was on the right, and then another woman who's, liberal pundit, she just sat there shaking her head, almost like you could disagree with this, that Matt Gates, the report being released on Matt Gates is more important than Joe Biden commuting these sentences of child killers and rapists and just all, all sorts of horrific, and honestly, what what is the more newsworthy story?

I think the pardon is the or the series of pardons is the big story. I think it is too. And I appreciated that Scott Jennings pointed this out, and I was actually disappointed with myself that I didn't put two and two together yesterday on air. But I did see people putting that together last night that why are we going to read about, the diminished health of Joe Biden in the Wall Street Journal, the fact that he canceled cabinet meetings, the fact that his cabinet members had to submit the questions they were going to ask in the cabinet meetings that were held.

Yeah, this was not open conversation in these cabinet meetings, Joe Biden was so diminished the the questions that his cabinet members wanted to ask had to be submitted ahead of time. Yeah. Who runs a cabinet like that? That is how diminished the health of this man is. Yet we feel like his health is vibrant enough that he can make a decision to commute these 37 people.

Well, somebody raised that issue that in contract law, if someone signs a document and they're not, their faculties are not all there. That document can be ruled null and void. So I feel like it's a long shot. Because at what point does what Joe Biden signed become null and void, the spending bill that he just signed, the CR?

I mean, what can can Donald Trump come in and say, no, he had dementia. We can't count this as bit. So I, I hesitate to go down that road. It's an interesting theory and an interesting thought. But this is not a contract. This is a presidential power being executed. Joe Biden holds that power, for better or worse. So I appreciate the the creative thought here.

I don't think any judge is going to reverse these pardons based on that, though. Oh, I don't think it has a chance in court. I but I do believe that it's a point worth making. It's a point worth making. And these left leaning journalists will run from it as far as they can. Yeah. So I mean, that's just super bothersome to me.

They're just not genuine about their their arguments here. And Scott Jennings is exactly right. Matt Gates isn't in office anymore. Yeah. This should be a this should be a no story unless unless you're a crime network or you're you're covering it as far as crime news. And then if you are doing that, darn it, you better have given Hunter the same amount of treatment as you're giving that.

Yeah. No, that's a that's a really good point. Even more so because Hunter's proximity to the president was much closer. And I think it impacts. Yeah. What about Matt Gates political future? I have no idea, because I feel like this is a really complicated case, and I don't want to defend Matt Gates. Like my gut feeling.

I don't want to do that for this man, because your behavior, Chiaki like him. But here's the reality in the world we live in. And I'm going to say some really bold things here. Many, many, many people on the left have advocated that sex work is perfectly fine and a legitimate way to make money. Yeah, in fact, there are states that are left leaning where you act.

They have actually changed the vocabulary around it and that these these women primarily are protected doing this sex work. Okay. So out of one corner of your mouth, you're saying this is a legitimate profession out of another corner of your mouth, you're mad Matt Gates participated in it. Yeah. Which is it's not genuine. Yeah. And look, I don't like any of it.

Like I said, I don't I don't want to defend Matt Gates. What? I want is for people to quit being hypocrites. You know, the way I look at Matt Gates is similar to the way that I look at, Colin Kaepernick, for instance. I believe Colin Kaepernick, probably without all of his extra baggage. The fact that he's a spectacle, it probably could have been brought back on some NFL team as a backup quarterback like he wanted to be.

But every NFL coach and team owner knows if you brought on Colin Kaepernick, whole entourage of things come with him. And and you don't want that distraction. You don't want that spectacle. I look at Matt Gates and yeah, he the guy clearly has some political skills that you would want on your team. But does the baggage and the complexity he brings make it less worth it?

And I, I feel like with Matt Gates, the answer to that is you're very close to yes to it not being necessarily worth it. He brings a lot and, and, he brings a lot of assets, but he brings a lot of liabilities, too. And I don't know how exactly that balances out. I think if we're going to look at it straight across the board, that the fact that there were no charges brought against Matt Gates should have negated this report coming out.

However, Matt Gates, by his own admission, has lived a very colorful life. Yeah. And if you're going to live a colorful life and it has ramifications for your future, you just have to accept that that's what it is. And so I, I do I think that he has a future, maybe somewhere I don't think he's ever going to be a super profitable podcaster.

I just don't think he has that much likability to him. Do I think that, you know, his buddies and the network that he's developed in Washington can set him up with some gigs that are going to make him money? Probably. You know, I wouldn't put him in a high profile position. Yeah, but he's not going to take a position that's not high profile.

Yeah. You you're you've got a lot of ego. Yeah it is. And that that's the thing with, with Matt Gates is I, I like a lot of things about him, but I'm, I'm not sure he's worth it either. And really honestly that's the sad part. There was a lot of upside to Matt Gates. It's too bad his colorful past has caught up with him.

Yeah, and it's not fair in DC either. Let's just make that clear. There's plenty of people who have the same exact past as Matt Gates, and it has not been brought to light. What? And this was pointed out, and I thought it was a great point, that the very same entity, Congress that is releasing the report about all the skeezy things that he's done, has paid $17 million in hush money to keep their sins private.

Their reputations. Yes. Cleaner. Yes, exactly. And so, I don't know it almost a congressional ethics committee sounds like an oxymoron. When you view it in that light, you just look at it and you're like, I'm not sure that these are the people that have the ethics, so to speak, to be to be doing this. Yeah. It's it's a good point.

I, I certainly don't think that Matt Gates political careers. Well, it's not done at all. I, you know, I, I think you I'll be honest with you, I think a Sisley sex scandal actually can end up helping you in your political career. Yeah. It's sort of creates, a folk hero status with some people. Yeah, well, I don't view it that way, but some do.

We haven't covered this story at all, but this is actually happening in Hollywood right now. Why can't I think of the actress's name is is Blake Lively? That's who it is. Yeah. Blake Lively has turned what was looking to be a bad situation for her into PR gold. Yeah. And she has now filed a lawsuit. And she has receipts.

She has text messages, she has it all. And she's going to come out of this a hero, basically a hero out of this whole thing. So you're exactly right. If it's handled correctly, you can end up better. I, I don't I don't know what Matt Gaetz could have done to handle this better. Maybe she's just been forthright from the from the get go.

Yeah. Yeah mate. Yes. Yeah that's probably always a good good policy. It's 827 on Newstalk 179 and it's Christmas Eve. If you'd like to join us on the fall River propane Kotlin text line the numbers (208) 542-1079. 832 A Newstalk 10792085421079 is the number to call or to text? And Julie, I am pleased to see we've had quite a number of people sending in the word pi.

To get my mom's pecan pie recipe. The right one is the correct one. The one that has the brown sugar in it. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, yeah. And if you want it, you can text, and I promise you, this version that you'll get is the right one. So, yeah, I've actually never made your pecan pie, though, with not a frozen crust, because I make my own pie crust a lot.

Yeah, but your recipe calls for the frozen one, and it's so easy that I don't. I don't actually make my own when I do your pan pie, but I'm sure it would work with homemade crust, too, if you wanted to do that. Yeah. You know what? I've. I haven't ever made my own homemade crust, but I have bought those Pillsbury crusts you unroll in the deli.

I've used those. They work fine. Yeah, whatever. It's the crust. Still work? Yeah. Just fine. So, 285421079 I've never actually looked to see what the age of consent laws are, because we were talking about the Matt Gates thing. So this is an important point to make, because I ruffled somebody's feathers by saying that the left has changed the name of the sex worker and everything.

And, here's the deal. It changes state to state the age. So Neal just looked it up. It is age 16 is legal in Maryland and Virginia. So that's DC and Virginia. So and I don't know where Matt Gates allegedly, because that's what we have to say because there's no charges. Right. Allegedly had sex with a 17 year old.

It could have been Florida I don't know. But because I haven't dug that deep. But this is an important topic that everybody just needs to understand. Because just because I find it reprehensible that he had that there's a potential that he had relations with a 17 year old. The law doesn't look at it the same way.

Yeah. And I was I, was pulling from memory when Neal and I were talking about it over the break that they just passed a law about a year ago, year and a half ago in California, that if there is a ten year less than a ten year age span, a 19 year old can have relations with a 13 year old.

And that's not illegal because it doesn't span more than ten years. Yeah. So it varies from state to state to state doesn't mean I agree with it. But that's the law. Yeah, yeah. Every every state's law is a little bit different. It's not just one single metric of the age, you know, and, different laws handle age differences.

Differences or what happens if both of them are under the age of consent. Is that still considered statutory rape? In some states? It is some states it's not. So, really a, a patchwork. But anyway, again, I don't I don't think we want to spend our time talking too much about Matt Gates and, and about this, but it's just cleared up so that people understand.

And again, as much as I don't love his past, it's all alleged. And there are no charges against this man. Yes. Yeah. Somebody just sent you a text that said, thank you for reposting this recipe nail. The first one was tasty, but it was pecan stew. Okay, I and I worried about this. That the nice comments I got that might have just been polite.

So I'm I, I got it. Yeah. Anyway, this one you will find is going to be much better. Yeah. So. And send pictures. I love it when people make the pie and send the pictures back. So, let's talk about Elon Musk for just a moment. Anthony Scaramucci weighed in. I just like to say his last name.

That's all this. This clip is about a minute and a half long, which is longer than he spent as the white House press secretary. Okay, well, listen, he's got a very powerful role. He's got a $44 billion megaphone. He's got over 200 plus million followers and, well, he was instrumental in that election. And the stuff that Elon Musk did in Pennsylvania alone, I think, helped, the president win that election.

So, he has a very big voice. I think the problem for Elon Musk, though, he's got a little bit of Potomac fever. And so, you think you're going to go to Washington and change Washington? That's Potomac fever. And the weird thing about Potomac fever is the one of the symptoms is you don't know you have Potomac fever.

And, of course, I have had Potomac fever, Wolf. So I'm speaking as a former patient that's been afflicted with the disease. So he's just got to be very, very careful because he's making enemies that he doesn't realize. And the incentives in Washington are totally different than those in business. And so everybody's incentivized in a different and sometimes irrational way.

And I think the power that he's wielding right now, Washington has a great immunological system, and I think they'll find a way to rebut him. So I would I would say to Elon Musk that he would listen to me, but stick to business. You've done great. You've made a couple hundred billion dollars since the election. Lay off the gas on politics a little bit because, these people, these people could hurt you.

It's no no need for you to get hurt. You're doing so well in your life. Did this sound like a threat from Anthony Scaramucci? Like at the end? Yeah, a little bit. It almost sounded like, Those kneecaps are so pretty. I'd hate for them to get hurt, you know, like, it had sort of that tone to it.

I can totally feel that tone to it. Also, I wish that these men would understand that when they go on these shows and they do these clips where they try to appear smarter or more experienced or, just, you know, on a higher level than Elon Musk. You probably should check yourself. Yes. Well, I know I mean, Elon Musk has exceeded Anthony Scaramucci in nearly every metric.

You couldn't even last as the press secretary. Yet you're going to tell the richest man, yeah, I you you don't understand what's inflicting you right now. Elon. I oh, I think he probably does. Okay. I, I think Elon yeah I think he does. And so I don't, I don't know it's, it's, it is I, I got that two from it.

I'm like okay. But you have these pundits that they feel like they're the ones that know everything about it. Absolutely. So of course he should listen to me. Yeah. So, did you see this story about Kim Kardashian? She did a Santa baby cover that some people are calling demonic. Kim Kardashian things. Since when? I'd. Well, I don't know.

But I, I watched I watched a little bit of this. You can't get that time back in your life. No, I cannot, I and I will say it's weird. They do mock some sacred things really in it. Yeah. Like it's a, I mean, it's radio, so we can't show our, our audience here. It's it's kind of, it's very suggestive in certain areas too.

Like, it, it you wouldn't want your kids to watch this as expected with Kim Kardashian. Yeah. But I don't know if satanic would be what I would. I would label it as like, because the song is Santa baby. Now, if it was Silent Night or if it was one of the, you know, sacred Christmas kind of sexualized song, I'm sure she just took it over the top.

Yeah. Anyway, I, I don't know, I, I think sometimes people, they go a little over the top in. Yeah. In calling things demonic in that kind of thing. So I don't, I don't know if that it's just I think it was a way for Kim Kardashian to be in the news again. I'm sorry, I the only part of the story I'm hung up on is the fact that she thinks she can sing, because if she could sing, we would have seen it far before now.

Yeah, well, do you wanna hear it? Sure. All right. I.

Just. Well, actually, no, she posted the Santa baby cover. She's not singing in it. That's because I'm like, at first, there's a scantily clad woman who's crawling through this house where it's just chaos and it's weird. Chaos. And I'm like, that's not Kim Kardashian. Like, clearly it's not. So anyway, it's okay. That makes way more sense to me.

Yeah, I was hung up on her singing because there's just no way it would have to be I. She. Yeah. She's not a singer. No. Yeah. Okay. So, now again, I'll read part of this. You and you're going to be like. Of course it was demonic. The video mocked Jesus Christ. It showed Catholic nuns passed out on the floor.

It presented an oversexualized depiction of Mary, mother of Jesus, prostitution and gambling. So obviously that's wrong. But I don't know what that line is, where it becomes satanic and demonic, right? Or is this just Hollywood? Hollywood? Yeah. Right. Right. It's just a way to get some attention. Yeah. Okay. Let's, let's break away for our news break here on this Christmas Eve.

We'd love to hear from you via text. Or you can call us at (208) 542-1079 on the fall River propane Colline text line.

It's, 849 on Newstalk 107I Nielsen, along with Julie Mason. And if you'd like to reach us at (208) 542-1079, is the number to call, hearing from listeners. Julie, the car accident at the Yukon overpass southbound highway 20. It has backed up traffic for quite a while, so if you're southbound highway 20 and you're delayed, that's what this is.

And, we don't know anything about injuries or I just read a quick little news blurb about it that's been put up that says there has there are some minor injuries. It doesn't look like there's much tragedy around it. Other than multiple cars. And, yeah, a big delay in getting through on highway 20 if you're headed south.

So there's a story. Yeah. If people are looking for a good movie to watch, Julie and I would both recommend Carry On. It's a new Netflix only pg13. It's Christmas themed, and, I'm, I'm looking at a story on Daily Caller right now, and the headline is Netflix. Netflix drops a surprisingly good Christmas thriller, and it's it's all a thriller.

I think it's very clean, too, by the way. So this year we're in. Yeah. If you're looking to watch with your teenagers, this is an excellent movie. So. Yes. What? They're teenagers. Yeah it is. There's there's nothing in it that I would have been uncomfortable letting my teenagers watch. Yeah. Called Carry on. Carry on. Yeah. It's like the baggage that you take on a plane because it's all set in an airport.

So carry on. Not like Kansas. Carry on my wayward son. Not that, not that. Carry on not not the LDS him. Carry on carry on, carry on. Isn't bird roadkill called carry on to. Oh, I don't know. Yeah. Decay. Decaying flesh. Not that kind of carry on. Okay. I'm 51, almost 52. And you just taught me something now.

Oh, really? Yeah. No, no duh. Ryan, I'm not really a shamed. I didn't know that little tidbit, though, so. Yeah. Well, you know, and, it's actually elder Jerry Miller who called us, and he just texted me, said traffic is actually being diverted off of highway 20. So my hunch is they're expecting this to take a minute to clean up because multiple vehicles are involved in this one.

So, that's a rough Christmas Eve for some people. So we we send our prayers. Just wishes. We're so grateful that so far there haven't been, serious injuries and all of that. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So. Okay. It's 851 on Newstalk 1079. Julie, let's take our final break for this hour. We'll come back and continue. We'll wrap up this hour just ahead on News Shock 1279.

Okay. Julie, who sings it? I'll give you two choices. Okay. Frank Sinatra or Andy Williams? Well, I don't even know who Andy Williams is, so I'm going to say Frank Sinatra, but I bet I'm wrong. It's Andy Williams. Yes. Yeah. Who's Andy Williams? A singer. I have nothing additional to add. All right. Okay. A NASA spacecraft, they they shot it into the sun.

Oh. Did they gain data before it blew up? It's. Well, it's called. Yeah, it's called the Parker Solar Probe. Equipped with a robust heat shield, made the closest ever approach to our dynamic star, coming some 3.8 million miles from the surface, which is incredibly close to the sun. That's seven times closer than any other probe. The mission is designed to fly into the sun's corona or its outer atmosphere, which spawns many of the powerful solar storms and weather that impact Earth.

To understand our star's behavior, a craft had to go where no craft had gone before. Not now. We're ro ro ro coffee. Sure. I said that first had to be 100% right. I'm sure it was. It's really exciting, he said. An astrophysicist. Physicist. I can't even say our words, much less other words, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and project scientist for the mission told Mashable.

The sun is like a laboratory to us. Though NASA announced the craft made the historic flyby on Christmas Eve, the probe will be in position to send a beacon tone to Earth on December 27th, which will confirm its safety, to make the record breaking past the nearly ten foot long probe has made 22 orbits around the sun.

Okay, so it didn't go into the sun. It went towards the sun, and then it started orbiting it as close as it could without being destroyed. Julie, remind me, where did I find a Santa hat that actually fit my big melon? We were at a big box store together and they had sized hats. And you got an extra large.

Okay, it was on an end cap. I don't know if you can remember when we were there together. Not so much, but. Yeah. Okay. And they actually had one that fit me. Yeah. All right. Was it like an oversize one that was designed for one of those really big, you know, where the like, the barcodes are. It actually said for the largest melons right there on the barcode.

Okay. All right. It actually said melons. And it's good. Welcome back. It's our two. It's Christmas Eve Neal Larsen Julie Mason and you. And if you'd like to join us on the program, here's the number (208) 542-1079. Give us a jingle. See what I did there, I did all right. Let's should we go to the phones? Sure. Our friend Carl Julie is going to take you to task for something, and I'm sure.

All right. Carl, how are you? Merry Christmas to both of you. And to you. Merry Christmas. I cannot I Julie, I cannot believe you don't know who Addie Williams is. And my deepest and most sincere apologies, but I have no clue. I know you were not born when he was popular, but you. No. Andy Williams is Christmas. I mean, he's the one that came out with what?

It's the most wonderful time of the year. You hear that all the time, right? Okay. Yeah. Now I'm going to have to look him up. Now I'm going to have to. All right. Now, just so you'll know, Andy Williams had a TV show. I'm going to say probably in the early 60s. And he invited his guests onto his TV show, The Osmond Family.

Okay. And the Osmond family came. Yeah. And there's a picture of Marie when she was a little girl. And it's pretty cute. He actually introduced the Osmond to popularity. That's where they got their spring start from the Andy Williams show. Okay. Anyway, great. Good trivia. I'm a Donny fan. It's it's. Yeah. And it's good trivia. If you know who George Washington is, you really should know who Andy Williams is.

Okay, I'll add it in. Right. Merry Christmas, merry Christmas Karl. Thank you. 2085421079I have a feeling my dad would have known who Andy Williams. I'm. Yeah, yeah, my parents too. And, I mean, I've heard the name, but I'm not, you know, intimately familiar with his career. So Julie, I just saw because in my search for Andy Williams, I got a whole bunch of results.

And for whatever reason, because it's Christmas, I guess there were some screenshots from the stop motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer. You remember watching that as a kid? Absolutely. That brings back a lot of memories. Yeah, yeah, I have fond, fond memories of those. And sitting down on the floor in front of the TV. What is it when you're a little kid that you don't sit on the couch?

You sit on the floor and you watch. But that's what I would do. And, those and the, Charlie Brown Christmas special, oh, yeah. Good memories. Putting a puzzle together. Yeah, I just, I, I miss. Have you found too? I had this, I've had this experience quite a bit where when you're a kid, like, you love the, you know, that fun part of it, you're also excited to know what you got for Christmas.

Like, the stuff is important when you're a kid. Is the stuff important to you at all? I know the answer to this now. No. Like for me, it's because I have the gadgets I want. I have the tools I want, I have, you know, all the things. And so stuff is just not a a drawer anymore. Yeah, I, we could get all psychologically deep here, but gift giving and gift receiving is my bottom of my love languages.

It. Yeah, it's enjoyable and it's wonderful. And I so appreciate people who do it for me like I am. I don't scoff at people, but it's it's just not. I would so much rather spend time with people and yeah, have connection. We had a, little family Christmas party that we had on Sunday evening. I mean, our living room was just it was full.

It was our kids, all of our grandkids. My mom was there, and it there was a scene where it was just chaos. And it was mostly the little kids opening their gifts very unceremoniously, like they were just ripping them open. And I thought, This is Christmas right here for me. That's what that's my gift that like, that's what sort of gets me excited now.

And I guess that's good. I, you know, I, I it's just the natural transition I think, I just think that's where we are at in our lives. Yeah. And Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm good. It is good friends and family, you know, the important things. 208542 179 if you'd like to join us on the program this morning.

I mean, not to not to make it awkward or anything, but this is the last hour that we're going to spend with you all before Christmas. So we, hope that you'd want to talk to us because we want to talk to you. So. 205 40 somebody said, we've been sipping too much eggnog. No, we're just it's, it's holiday, intoxication.

It's not eggnog intoxication. Do we seem intoxicated? Oh, I don't know. Maybe I because I couldn't pronounce words earlier, so. Yeah. So, anyway, yeah, there's, what's your favorite childhood Christmas candy? Oh. I'm not a candy person. So, you know, when you were a kid, were you a kid? Not really. My mom would buy me the Reese's either peanut butter cups or then they started making, you know, like, the trees in them.

Yeah, that's what I, I had, I didn't that was about the end of. Yeah, just the end of the candy for me. But the cinnamon rolls my mom made every, every Christmas Eve better believe I expected those to happen in. Yeah. That's. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's that's good. Someone brought us a plate and it had on it the little.

It was the white nugget that has the little fruity. Yeah. Yeah. Pieces in it like gumdrops or whatever. I had not had that in years anyway. So yeah, it was good. I don't have any other candy. Really. Well, my mom made peanut clusters every holiday, so I guess we can count that as candy. That could be candy. Yeah, we could count that.

Sure. Yeah. So, yeah, I remember since we're walking down memory lane here, and for those people who live in, have lived for many, many years in the region, I remember the search for Spanish peanuts so my mom could make her peanut clusters and going to. But trees because they always had the best ones. And that switch where she wanted to get them.

But trees. I forgot about that tree. I was a little tyke. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Again, we want to remind people a multi-vehicle crash on highway 20 in the Yukon area. We understand they are. Now they are diverting traffic from the area, and we're not sure at what stage this is in. Right now, but multiple vehicles were involved.

That occurred in the. Technically, it's westbound, but it feels southbound, the way it's situated. The first crash was reported at 7:47 a.m.. Nobody was injured, according to Idaho State Police. The second happened ten minutes later, and there was one person who sustained some minor injuries. So traffic in the area was delayed and rerouted as emergency responders responded to the situation.

Again, use caution if you're in that area. The things may have changed. Maybe they're getting it cleared up and in traffic. That's a lot of vehicles. We've heard six, we've heard seven. That's a lot of vehicles. So, yes it is. It'll be slow recovery. I'm going to check really quick and see what, other road conditions look like, this morning and, right now it actually looks pretty good.

We have, a few little slick spots as you're headed, mostly north. If you are going south down around Montpelier, Preston. So to that whole area. Oh, Preston's not bad. But, when you go over those mountain passes, like between Millard and Preston and, into Montpelier, you might get some slick spots, but the valley roads are pretty good.

I-15 looks good until you get north of about Roberts and, headed south to Utah. Until you get south of Downey. As you you're headed toward Malad Pass. You might have some less than than ideal conditions, but, just be careful on highway 20. For some reason, highway 20 is very, very slick. So. And very heavily traveled.

Yeah, yeah. All right. So let's go to the phones. (208) 542-1079 Caller go ahead. How are you today? Is that me? It's you. Yes. Okay. So I just wanted to say I drove past that, crashed head in the opposite direction on highway 20 about five, ten minutes ago. Looked like they had all the vehicles cleaned up.

They still had both lanes blocked by some traffic. But you guys and, traffic was back to where the County Line road. Okay, so Yukon to county line is. It's backed up. Okay. All right, well, we appreciate, the eyewitness report there from one of our listeners. Yeah. 285421079. And we wish him a merry Christmas. Yeah. Be safe out there.

Yeah. Bill Clinton was hospitalized. Still is, I think. I don't think they've sent him home yet. Yeah, they're trying to get him home before Christmas, but, Yeah. Is it? And it's. He's just got a fever, right? Yeah. I think it was mostly precautionary. So he's older. If you if you saw him stumping for Kamala, it was a little jarring to actually see him because that's not the Bill Clinton everyone remembers.

Well, watching his hands, I think he he had some shaking, some trembling going on. Said he was admitted to a hospital yesterday afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever. President Clinton was admitted to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever. He remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he's receiving.

Fox News said he didn't have much additional information at the moment regarding admittance, or when they expected the hospital to discharge, Clinton. So. Okay, that the, hand trembling. Yeah. There were some videos of Tom Hanks circulating. Yeah. Did you see that? So he was on Saturday Night Live, and as part of the skit, he had, like, alcoholic drinks in his hand, and he was supposed to hand one to the person that he was doing the skit with the SNL in person, and his hand was shaking so bad like some liquid came out of the glass.

That's how much the tremor was. Yeah, in his hand. So that caused some concern for people who adore Tom Hanks. I don't adore Tom Hanks, but for people who do, that was very concerning. Yeah. You don't like Tom Hanks? I don't really he's got a sketchy past that I that concerns me about Hollywood in general. I think he might have been involved in all of that.

So six months ago, did you like Tom Hanks. Okay. I'm going to be really. He was never my my favorite actor. You know that game that we talked about the start bench cut. Yeah. Tom Hanks is probably gonna always be cut for me even before you're. Yeah yeah yeah. He was never truly my favorite favorite. But there's been a lot of rumors that he he knew a lot about what was going on in Hollywood and just either participated or let it slide.

Well, okay. I don't know, just rumors. If I'm going to give Matt Gates the benefit of the doubt, I have to give Tom Hanks the benefit of the doubt. So I actually watched a Tom Hanks movie because I've, you know, not felt well. So I'll be on Netflix. Okay, I'll watch this. And it's called The Terminal. Have you seen that movie now?

It came out like ten years ago, but Tom Hanks plays this guy who is is coming to America briefly, and he's part of this fictional country called Hozier. Anyway, when he lands at JFK. Precocious sounds like a skin disorder that there's some new pharmaceutical drugs for. Yes. So anyway, Lynn's JFK, and when he lands, they find out that Kirk was yet there's been a coup there.

So there's no country to go back to. But he's not he can't go into New York City either, because they can't approve him. So he actually has to live in the airport in the terminal anyway. So it's it's mostly a feel good movie. Was it good? It was okay. I mean, I watched it to the end, which, you know, I mean, how difficult was the plot line?

Did you snooze on and off and still be able to get to stay with the plot like. Yes, okay. And you could see you could see it all coming to like it was very formulaic and and it was feel good, but, All right, well, I got to take a break, because I, I have to ask Julie what she's heard about Tom Hanks.

So we'll be back after this. It's Christmas Eve here on Newstalk 179. Back up to this. It's another movie that's totally clean. Like, you could your kids could. Yeah. Watch it. But, this is an interesting point brought up by Robert. He said on January 20th, we're going to have five former presidents alive again. And he's predicting that President Trump will attend three of those presidents funerals.

Oh, do you think at all, Robert, do you think it's going to happen while he's President Trump in the next four years? Obviously Carter. Yeah, Carter's going to happen. Klain very quickly, does he think Bush is going to die now? I think he probably thinks Biden. Well, three though, who's the third? Carter? Clinton and Biden, I think is who he's thinking.

Okay. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's true. Oh yeah, I can see. Yeah, yeah. That sorry if I'm if I'm wrong, Robert Ben let me know. But I think that's who he's thinking. Yeah. Oh. Hold on. Okay. Tell us about Tom Hanks. Well, I can tell you what he. What you just asked me because people are probably like, why did they do that?

So we were talking about cookies when Neal was talking about his, recipe mistake that he sent out. Yeah. And I was saying that I make no bake cookies differently than what any traditional recipe is, but we don't call them no bake cookies in my house when I was 13 and 14 and 15, and my best friend Betsy and I would make cookies together, we would call them no bake cookies, gorilla grunts.

And so I have never called them. No, because they're just gorilla grunts. They're gorilla grunts. Is that gorilla poop? Is that like a nice way of saying they look like gorilla poop? That's funny. Yeah. So yeah, that's that's what that is. Tom Hanks. So there's a lot of talk that he, he is deeply embedded with Jeffrey Epstein. Lots of rumors about that.

Oh really? And that he was kind of the I don't know if you call him the kingpin, but that the Hollywood portion of that, you know, how you have like some people think Bill Clinton was the quote unquote, kingpin of the political portion of it. Yeah, that Tom Hanks knew everyone who was there. Like, he's got a lot of knowledge.

Yeah, about what was going on. And very well could have been involved in it again. Who knows? Yeah. Could be all rumor. But it's funny. Lisa's said she knew them when they, would come to their house in Ketchum, and she said her interactions with him, he seemed pretty decent, but his wife was another story.

Rita. What's her name? Rita. Wilson. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Question. Someone said the accent will take a minute to clean up. Not sure what that means. Did you see that text? Yeah. I don't, it's just a phrase that we use. I'm not. I was a little confused by that text, too, I don't know, yeah. Jerry, we could call him Sasquatch droppings.

Speaking of Sasquatch, that's a little bit of foreshadowing. You'll have to hang out until the show is over and we're on the show. It's funny, when I get together with my friends. So my best friend Betsy was with me when we went to Whitefish. When I took a, I only took that I take and we took one day off to do that trip back on hold.

All right, so we're back. (208) 542-1079 Neal Larson, Julie Mason and you, if you'd like to join us on the fall River propane, call and text line (208) 542-1079. In artfully navigating the fact that it's Christmas Eve and the lamest news cycle we've seen in years, I program, this is so accurate. I sent Neal a text last night after I had searched for more than an hour, and sometimes when I search for an hour, how many how many links and audio clips do you think I send you?

25? 27 I can some days there's that many. I think I had four in the queue. I think I have four in the queue that I sent him. After an hour of searching I finally sent him a text and said, I'm so, so sorry, but I got nothing else. No, it's it's it's the nature of it, you know, it's weird.

The week you were gone for Thanksgiving, and, you wanted me to take the whole week. I did, I wanted you to take a break. Anyway, that was actually a decent news cycle. Like there was a lot going on. Yeah, yeah. So you had that. But. But you're right about the news cycle, right? It's crazy. Which is okay, if we look at the silver lining, it means we have a much wider latitude than peaceful.

Yeah, we can talk about things maybe we don't traditionally talk about here. (208) 542-1079 we had some, Other people texting in about the pies. I just saw another one. Anyway, did you see that one? The one where they said they hate you? No, I didn't see that one. There was one that said you ruined my Thanksgiving.

Yeah. Larson. Yeah, that. They were just kidding you a hard time. Oh, okay. They were. Yeah. Okay. Good. It people. Now, I'm finding out from a couple of texts they were just being polite the first time around. So those are good friends, right? Those are good friends. Yes, they are, they are. And I feel like most of our audience is really, good, good friends.

Yeah. If you don't know what we're talking about. I had to make a confession at the beginning of the show today that in the rush of getting my mom's pecan pie recipe online to share with my listeners, I failed to add the brown sugar to the recipe, and I put the wrong amount for the Karo sirup to the rest.

Anyway, it's correct now. Well, so you know, what's so funny is that it's really obvious that brown sugar, whether dark or light, needs to be in this, right? Yes, it does. The politeness made me think, okay, it still turned out okay, but I'm not sure that it that it did so. But I can assure you the rest of the recipe is correct now.

It is correct now. And so you can text the word pie. Yes to (208) 542-1079 and you'll get the correct recipe. Yeah. So we were saying we could, we could mention the whole Tom Hanks thing. Your hesitation with him. Oh, sure. There's just a lot of talk that he was. If there was, a person who was in the know from the Hollywood side of things with Jeffrey Epstein on the island, it seems that Tom Hanks is the guy who was in the know and, didn't put a stop to any of it and possibly participated in it.

Oh, yeah. Tell rumor you hope it's not true. Yeah, it's all rumor. Let's go to the phones. Hi, caller. Welcome to the Neal Larson Show. Good morning. You guys have a merry, Merry Christmas. You too. I made it to 91 Saturday. So, happy birthday. Go. Happy birthday. And I just had another great, great granddaughter just about three weeks ago.

Wow. And I have four great great granddaughters and two more on the way. Fantastic. That is great, I love that. I think it's great. And now if you just melt the snow for me so I can go back up to the campground, I'll be great. Go. Yeah. Look, I don't think you're going to get Julie's help with that.

She wants the snow. I don't I will not I will dispatch Michael Coats to help you out, however. Okay, I appreciate that. Yes. Okay. You guys have a great day. Thank you. I would help her melt the snow if Julie's not looking. She's looking the other way. 91. And she is so spry and she. There were four great greats.

Yes. Those are five generate take pictures because that's five generations. That's awesome. We have one five generation picture. I don't I don't know of a five generation picture in my family that's cherished. Yeah. Yeah. It's my Grandma Williams on the upper end and my nephew Scott on the lower end. And so yeah kind of cool.

It is a cool picture. Yeah. Look at it. You're like, wow. Only in Mormon families. Prolific. Should I take a break before I say something I regret? I'm probably okay. (208) 542-1079 It's Christmas Eve here on The Neal Larson Show, and we'd love to hear from you. (208) 542-1079 so, I've never seen castaway. Oh, really? When he paints, when he puts his handprint on Wilton and makes it a face.

Yeah. What is the liquid that he paints it with? It's been too long, I don't remember. Why are you asking? Like, what's the. Because that's part of the, the rumor mill of, Okay. Tom Hanks. Is that there's something that happens when you're. I don't I want to say this very kindly, brutally, brutally harming a child. Yeah, in a sexual manner that it's like, a rite of passage to put the blood all over the hand.

And that that was Tom Hanks in the movie, signaling I'm the one who is in charge of this. Everyone saying it's blood. Blood? It is. Okay. Yeah. This is, Tom Hanks character. Witness ChatGPT Chuck Noland uses his own blood to create the face on Wilson. After injuring his hand, he impulsively smears his bloody handprint on the ball.

He later adds details to turn the handprint into a face, which becomes his makeshift companion during his time on the deserted island. So, okay, that's part of the rumor mill that that was, wink and a nod to what actually happens in the interactions. Yeah. James asks, can we text the words premade pie and just pick it up from Neal Larson?

I just said hot. No. So. Oh. Uri. Oh it. Stephanie could totally be made up. Here's the grossness about Hollywood is it could be totally made up and it could be 100% true because during the commercial break I watch that Kim Kardashian video that Neal was talking about these people are whack. They're weird. They all whacked.

They're weird. Okay, I saw a video. Speaking of this, we got plenty of it, but it could have been I. Okay, I the deepfakes are getting really good now, so I don't know what to believe, but it showed a video of Lady Gaga kind of breaking down emotionally because she was forced to have sex with pretty. Have you heard anything about that?

No. Okay, so the video could be fake. I b I don't know what's fake anymore. So. So, Yeah, I just googled it and there's a fact check site, which I don't even know if I believe those anymore. Video does not show Lady Gaga describe being trauma at Diddy's freak off party. There were also a lot of people that were like, we can smear Matt Gates and release his entire report about his issues, but we can't get the obscene list.

Yeah. So you get to pick and choose who you point out as a sexual predator. Yeah. Okay, so here's the real story. Actually, this makes more sense. Lady Gaga, when she was 19, suffered sexual abuse from an unnamed producer. But they couched it like like Lady Gaga speaks up about these freak offs. So it's an out of context clip.

Got it. Okay. I saw another video about, do you remember Kim Porter? I don't really remember her, no, but the she's the former wife of Eddy. Yeah. Right. Right. And a performer too, right? Yeah. She was a muse that, you know, a musician, a singer. I don't know what she would want to be called. She was an artist anyway.

Is these two guys talking and making all the links about who fits in to where, and Jamie Fox and usher and and I, I can't follow it like I'm. I'm watching it. But if even a small portion of it is true, it's going to be crazy. A lot of people believe that the Jamie Fox issue came from daddy.

Yeah. His health crisis. Yeah. 938 on Newstalk 10792085421079. And we'd love to hear from you today too. And, if you have, favorite Christmas memory or you want to send a Christmas greeting to someone, whatever it is, we'd love for you to to join us today. We've got. Oh, Brian, what, 20 ish minutes left. So. All right.

And Julie and I are exchanging gifts on Facebook Live after the show. We are. So you need to join us for that. You can just text the word live to (208) 542-1079 if you want to be on the Facebook Live, if we're going to throw out Christmas greetings, a big special I love you and Merry Christmas to my kids who aren't with me this Christmas.

I have a son, and a daughter in law and a grandson and a grandson to be growing in her tummy that are spending Christmas in Arizona. So love them. And I hope they have a merry Christmas. And then I have a daughter and a son in law in Utah spending Christmas with her in-laws. And Merry Christmas to them as well.

Okay, I hope you'll be spending lots of time on FaceTime with them. Yeah we will. Yeah yeah yeah it'll be it'll be good. Feel some connection there. That's, we had our big family party on Sunday, and my daughter actually has to work on Christmas, so it's going to be a really quiet Christmas at the Larsons this year.

They. His daughter works at a movie theater. Christmas is a big day at the theater. It's a busy, busy. Yes it is. It's, Yeah, she said it's a very big day. Yeah. So anyway, that's how it goes. It is? Yeah. Okay. That's all we have. No, not really. But it is. It is a very, very slight day.

I don't know if we're just. Are we just trying to find stuff? No, I, I like there's stories that I want to talk, but we were talking during the commercial break about the whole P Diddy scandal. And so my mind has things to go to, but I'm like, It's Christmas Eve. I don't want to talk. Yeah, because I have a really interesting crime story to tell everybody that kind of mirrors Lori and Chad Daybell, but it's Christmas Eve, so I don't know if I want to tell everybody that.

You know what, let's take this phone call. Okay. And caller go ahead. How are you today? Good. How are you guys? We're doing it. We're doing well. Good. Hey, first of all, just wish you guys Merry Christmas and likewise. Thank you. Thank you so much. Secondly, just want to, I don't want to get political, but I think there is a new day, rising, which I'm very happy about.

Yes. We agree. You don't even have to speak in code. We're all excited when Trump gets inaugurated in a month here. Yeah, it's going to be great. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think, I feel it. I feel it with other people. I feel that confidence. Kind of just driving around auto falls now and just kind of with my pups and kind of looking around going, you know what?

Life is good. God. Family, country, should come first. And I think, I think the nation as a whole has, in a sense, open their natural and spiritual eyes, and I'm grateful for that. I want to thank you guys also for what you do for as far as what happened here locally with, the propositions and stuff like that, I think, Neal, you, rather you think so or not made a big impact.

And I appreciate you for that. Well thank you. I really, truly appreciate that. Thank you. Yep. I think it, I think it would have changed. Thanks for not so good, but, you know what I mean? And I really appreciate, your thoughts and what you did for that. But other than that, I think, truly, God had a hand in this, in this election.

And I think, I think I think God is, is truly concerned about this country and, I think that, he's he's he's making his will known if, if I could say something like that. So, I appreciate you guys. I just want to, chime in and and wish everybody a merry Christmas and, and put family first, or put God first and put family second and and then let let's look out for a country.

So appreciate you again I love those thoughts. Thank you. And thank you again and and again Merry Christmas to you. That's quite a great call as well. Deserve praise that documentary was widely circulated throughout the state. It did make it, an impact on that election. And I agree with the caller. I, I don't think God's given up on this nation.

And I think we're seeing that God hasn't given up on this nation. Yeah, yeah, I it I had the same thought that there's still things to be done. And, you know, here we are as a country were a quarter of a millennium in and, it has life left. And that was, Yeah, I will say there has just been this sense of optimism that we haven't felt in a while from.

So just it's just a general atmosphere. It is wonderful. You know, I don't I want to be really careful. This will feel like a prediction. I guess it kind of is a prediction, but I feel like maybe it's more of an observation. I, I feel like there's going to be the loyal opposition to Trump, but it's going to feel more like the loyal opposition to George W Bush or to, you know, whatever Republican president less severe.

I mean, it was all hands on deck and I, I feel like we've broken the other side, at least that nefarious, horrifically evil part of the other side. I don't I feel like there's going to be more of a spirit of we need to oppose Trump just from a left right Democrat Republican perspective. But I don't know if if we're going to see the level of the deep state that we saw during his first presidency and and since 2020, I would agree with that.

And I don't think that Republicans are tolerating it like they used to. And we can't let off on that. Yeah. Got to lean in. Yeah. Let's go to our next caller. Welcome to the show. How are you? Hey. Good. Thank you. I keep reading articles, and the last caller even suggested this hopefulness in that things are changing and are really going to be different, but I just can't picture it.

Ramaswamy. And and, mosque are going to go in there for 18 months and they're going to propose some radical things, and the Congress will pass a couple of them, and most of them not probably. And then the, the, the big flash in the pan is going to be over with. And we're going to go back to business as usual with no accountability.

I just I wish I could share the hopefulness, but I can't. There's just too much machinery against it that's going to fight the change. And, so I'm expecting a little, little flash in the pan and more of the same. But, you think it's just too steep a climb for it to actually stick for, for too long?

That and then just the whole 18 months saying that, you know, that, the Department of, government efficiency, it needs to be a permanent fixture there, that every single Congress session needs to be looking for, you know, how do we cut this just monster back? Yeah, yeah. I yeah. And and I think it's probably psychologically smart to manage your expectations about it.

Thank you. And, we wish you a merry Christmas. Yeah, same to you. I'll take care. All right. You know, the hope is, is that that muscular and Ramaswamy will come in, do their thing. And then actual Republicans who are elected to serve pick it up. So Rand Paul puts out a Festivus report. And it it it's this report that he, releases at the end of the year.

So around Christmas, which is why he calls it the Festivus report, and it lists all of the waste that he has uncovered in his position. I bet are a lot of listeners who had no idea Rand Paul even does this. You know, so hopefully the the notoriety, the spotlight, everything that Doge accomplishes that Republicans can then pick that up and carry it forward and do the work Rand Paul has been doing, but now there's a bigger spotlight on it.

That's my hope, because yeah, it is kind of discouraging that it's supposed to only last a couple of years and then be over with. Yeah. And and I see that I, I think, I think this fight against government inefficiency is like laundry. It's a, it's a never ending battle because you have bureaucrats. I've always felt government is, is problematic because it attracts people who think government is the solution and therefore they think we need more solutions.

So therefore we need more government. And and in reality they make more problems. Yes. Right. Exactly. And and they they're naturally inclination is to turn to the government to solve problems, which is the opposite of the kind of people we want in government. And so it's it's kind of a rigged game in, in a way. And that that happens on a school level, school board level.

It happens on a city council level. It happens on a state level where it if you don't think the government is the solution, why do you want to be part of the government? You know, it's almost it is self excluding dynamic. So it's just populated with people who and I know there are exceptions to this. There are people that go into government knowing it's you have to really work hard to fight the tendency of bureaucrats and elected leaders to just want more money so they can expand government so they can continue to be relevant in people's lives and quote unquote, solve their problems.

And so this is just a battle just irregardless of Trump and Elon and, that is it's just going to be an ongoing battle. And, and I think we have to accept that, that even a they'll, they'll, they'll make some gains here. I think we might get rid of the Department of Education. I think that we might see some of those things happen.

But but the battle is going to be there anyway. So, yeah. And the the enticement of learning how to cheat once you're in Washington is. Oh, just. Oh, yeah. So flavorful. Yeah. It's like a little kid to candy. It it is it it is tough. And we have learned time and time and time again that human beings are terrible with political power.

Yeah. They can't just can't say no, no. All right, let's go back to the phones. Hi, caller. How are you today morning. And Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas to you. So I want to add to the optimism of the previous caller and and say, you know, we need to work as a groundswell, you know, the individual voter and work, you know, start with our local politicians.

You know, I'm in being county and there's a lot of work to do here and then work on up and continue on with the, the work that Trump's going to do. And, you know, one of the things I expect Trump to work on with those is regulatory reform. And there is so much low hanging fruit.

You know, the EPA, you said the Department of Education, there's so much we can do to, jump in the area of regulatory reform that'll make this economy much, so much more efficient. So I'm very optimistic. Yeah. Well, good. And, I, I, I think there actually, you can find reasons to be optimistic and reasons not to be, you know, so I'm, I'm hopeful I don't think we're going to get everything that we want.

I don't think that four years from now we're going to have this super lean and efficient federal government, even though I wish that were to happen. But I do think there is an opportunity to make some significant, progress in, in downsizing government. And I hope for that. I think we got to keep up the pressure. Yes. Agreed.

Merry Christmas to you. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Thanks. All right. (208) 542-1078. Okay. All right. I did I mean, it's it's Christmas Eve. Let's take a break. And I don't want to spend the last 4 or 5 minutes of the show talking about government. Okay. Is that okay? I'm fine. Okay. We'll be back after this. Well, then, on a Christmas note, when we return on Newstalk 179.

Okay. Someone's frustrated with you, and I think more like, you know, like, Neal Hayes. You said irregardless. Did I say irregardless? I work hard to not say irregardless. It's a hard habit. It's not even a habit of mine. I don't say that word. I really fight to say literally like don't say it.

Only use the word literally in its exact definition because yes, that word's overused. So what else. What are some fun Christmas traditions you, you Facebook listeners are doing? Somebody sent in pi with an exclamation mark. It doesn't. Oh, I didn't even check those to see. I just sent there might be more. Look in here. Craig. Is your birthday on Christmas?

Happy birthday. If it is December, birthdays are hard. They really are. I feel bad for people born right around because it's hard. My son Jason's birthday is on December 27th, and we've worked really hard to make sure it's separate. Like, well, Merry or Merry birthday. Happy birthday Craig. Well, we won't be here, so I hope it's good for you.

I hope it's a great Christmas and a great birthday for. Okay, let me get rid of these last three PSA. Since we're not going to be here, let's do another quick chat. Chat. Grand peaks. Primates. Why? They say chat. Jeep. Jeep. That's why. Okay. 955 on Newstalk 179. Want to say thanks and Merry Christmas to our good friends over at Grand Peaks Primates.

Julie has her post. She's got to go pick up. But we have had so much from them. Whether it is the pre-cooked pre crockpot meals or brought. I had brought snot to long ago. We had that for dinner, ribs for the family party, which was spectacular. They just have all sorts of different cuts of meat and they're all super high quality, very good and affordable too.

Per my son in law's request, I made meatloaf yesterday with yes, Grand Peak's ground beef. It was fantastic. It's just high quality cuts of beef and pork and yeah, and nearly the same price as what you pay at the big box store. So why not get the good stuff? GG Prime meats.com. Couple of minutes left. We have a caller on the line.

Go ahead caller how are you today? Hi how are you guys? We're doing pretty well I want good. I want to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas. I want to thank you for all the work you've done this year. As I listen to you guys every day, and Julie, you told me up Rollins to thank my grandson for his service.

For his service? Yeah. He said he said to tell you thank you. And they got the 24 pound box of goodies, and they consumed one of the boxes, the could cookies in one day. Great. Oh, that's so awesome. And I'm so thank you for telling him because I truly when you and I say thank you to those who are currently serving or to veterans, we really mean it from the bottom of our heart.

So thank you for sharing that with him okay. And thank you for everything. Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Merry Christmas to you. Thank you so much. That was a fun day was so fun. Wonderful hour at at problems for the Miracle Box. Julie thank you. And Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to you. We're going to exchange gifts here in just a moment on Facebook Live.

If you want to join us for that you can text the word live to (208) 542-1079. And, we want to wish all of you a safe Christmas and a merry Christmas. And please, if you are traveling plenty of time, take your time, enjoy your holiday. And, we'll probably be back here Thursday morning late 7:00 start. Probably.

And, we'll see what the news cycle looks like at that point. Yeah, maybe it'll be a little more enticing. Hey, remember, the most important gift you can give this Christmas is love to each other. Yes. So let's try to do that. We love you all. We'll see you on the other side of Christmas.