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March 25, 2023 - Doug Collins Podcast
46:08
Don’t eat the Plastic and other wisdom
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You want to listen to a podcast?
By who?
Georgia GOP Congressman Doug Collins.
How is it?
The greatest thing I have ever heard in my whole life.
I could not believe my ears.
In this house, wherever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule.
It has been said today, where is bravery?
I'll tell you where bravery is found and courage is found.
It's found in this minority who has lived through the last year of nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, questions not being answered, and this majority say, be damned with anything else.
We're going to impeach and do whatever we want to do.
Why?
Because we won an election.
I guarantee you, one day you'll be back in the minority and it ain't gonna be that fun.
Hey everybody, we made it.
Yes, it's Friday.
It's time for Friday's Finest.
In just a minute, James and I are going to discuss the many wonderful stories.
Many of you may have missed.
Some of you, I'm sure, have heard of.
But we're going to give only the take that James and I can give on Friday's Finest today.
But you know, this week started with just absolutely...
Apoplectic left going on about Donald Trump being indicted this week.
I mean, they were worse than a two-year-old on a Mountain Dew fit, okay?
It just, everyone, oh my God, he's going to be in jail.
And as the point played out and the case made more and more, I mean, Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor in Manhattan on this case, has just got to be either the most politically driven DA I've ever seen in my life, which I think he's pretty much there.
But this whole idea of leaking it out and then toward the end, you know, this week as we've come into the Friday now, he's blaming Trump for putting out false information and doing things to get people riled up.
Now this is same DA's office that is actually leaking this information about what's going on with their conversations with the police and conversations with Secret Service.
This is why people don't trust the government right now.
This is why people don't trust the justice system right now.
And this is becoming a bigger issue, I think, than most take.
Maybe later in the day, we're going to talk about this on the podcast and talk about the decline in the trust of our judicial system.
But folks, if we start tearing away the very fabric of our judicial system, our legislative system, our elective system, then we're really, frankly, headed for a chaotic situation in which nobody will win.
But, you know, again, it's just amazing to me.
We're coming to the end of the week.
Friday's finest again.
It's a great time to catch up on stuff.
But it's just, you know, I look back on this week and the just absolute knot tying of themselves that liberals had over the idea of Donald Trump getting indicted on a case that even liberals are saying is not a good case to be making.
It's just hilarious.
And it just shows how the media is so...
In bed with this prospect of trying to get at Donald Trump.
Folks, get ready.
I know next week will probably be even more, but it's just amazing.
But you know what actually helps you?
It's helping come to Friday.
And when we get me and James, our Texan by way of New Jersey, that just lays it all out for you.
Today is a great day.
You know why?
Because it's Friday's finest.
We'll get to it in just a minute.
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All right, James, we're back.
It's Friday's Finest.
And oh my God, sporting the...
Okay, fine.
You gonna sport the Portland Trailblader?
It's the one hat I had.
The Raiders have to come out.
The Raiders have to come out, baby.
Just win, baby.
I mean, who else in the NFL has a quarterback that the brothels in Nevada are willing to give free services to for life?
I mean, come on now.
I know everyone says that, just Jimmy Garoppolo, by the way, unless anyone's not paying attention.
He's so fascinating because, like, I mean, we can all stand here man to man and just say, That man was just perfectly built.
His face, his structure.
You're like, it's embarrassing for anyone else to stand next to him.
I actually believe it's the reason the Patriots won more Super Bowls.
Because Tom Brady was so terrified of him.
Not his playing time, not his skill, but how gorgeous he was.
That he had to prove to the world that he's the greatest in everything.
And won a couple more Super Bowls.
But...
And that's why they ended up trading them.
But, anyway, not the point.
Yeah, is that a Vegas Raiders hat or an Oakland Raiders hat?
Or an LA Raiders hat?
It's actually a Vegas.
Okay.
I went to the new one.
I'm still looking for some old school.
Now, like my old, let's see, where did I move it?
Uh-oh.
Yeah, it's up top.
It's on top.
But I do have, you know, if we get into it, you know, and it gets really hot and heavy.
Raider Nation towel, okay.
Raider Nation, the terrible towel.
And I actually do have a beanie that goes along with it.
You know, the Raiders are actually moving more toward the crossed swords as part of their logo in the Vegas era.
Okay.
There's a lot of things going on in the Vegas era, like Mark Davis' new haircut, which is really disappointing because...
There's nothing better than every Sunday you'd see the Oakland Raiders and you'd see Mark Davis' bowl cut or whatever the hell that was.
Well, he was.
He kind of reminded me of some folks that's been on TV recently, but he's got it cut now.
We'll see what happens.
Again, though, this is the time, James, we're in.
How's life in Texas?
Are you getting started on spring already?
Yeah, yesterday was 85 degrees.
I was making fun of everybody at home.
Well, I guess New Jersey's not so bad right now, but...
People are like, yeah, no, it's been really nice lately.
I'm like, okay, yeah, yesterday was 85 degrees.
I went for a nice walk, nice hike.
Took the dog out.
He's somewhere over there sleeping because that's all they do all day.
And yeah, no, it's perfect here today.
It's like 70 degrees.
Tomorrow's going to be 75. It's the one plus of living in Texas outside of New Jersey and not spending $8,000 on an apartment that's six square feet would be the weather for sure.
It is.
Well, we're getting ready to...
I mean, Georgia's...
I mean, we're in bloom everywhere.
Dogwoods are getting ready.
They're just dark blossoming.
We've had a lot of rain.
I mean, we have had tons of rain recently, but all coming together.
Before we get started, though, on some of the other breaking news of Friday Finest, we have a Dallas Zoo update.
A Dallas Zoo update.
I mean, we have...
This is a positive Dallas Zoo update.
It's a positive Dallas Zoo update.
Let me make sure I have it correct here.
We're going to have to get somebody from the Dallas Zoo on the podcast.
We really do.
We really are.
Nothing was stolen.
Nothing was taken.
There's a new addition to the zoo.
His name is Takiti, and he is a little warthog.
Some positive news out of the Dallas Zoo.
And they've been able to keep him for a few days, so that's encouraging.
Yeah, no, he's still there, thank God.
I'm sure in the next few weeks we'll hear about how all the Wardogs are missing, including young Takiti over here.
That is just so crazy.
Every time I see this, I'm like, every time I see the Dallas Zoo come up, I'm like, oh, what did they do today?
But it's a positive thing today.
Well, okay, let's start off Friday's finest and understand something.
We got a lot of craziness out there, but on the week of crazy, of Trump and everything else, we have a Dallas Zoo story in which they didn't lose anything, they didn't get robbed, and they've got all their animals, and they gained one.
So, hey, we're looking at a positive.
And they gained one.
Can I say something about the...
There was one...
I guess it depends on how you look at it, but I feel like through all the negative stuff going on, the thing that made me laugh, and I saw it yesterday...
Was the viral AI photos of Donald Trump getting arrested?
Now I know that we're not supposed to laugh at this.
But there's one of him running away from the cops that I swear I've never laughed so hard in my life.
Because you're just thinking of this man who's not...
Here's the thing.
He's not going to run.
He's not going to do anything.
He's either going to turn himself in or go, okay, let's do this.
And I guess the thought of him running through the New York streets being chased by like 30 police officers is the funniest thing in the world to me.
I can't...
And people believe them, by the way.
Just...
And James, I'm glad you brought that up because that's really one of the things that really disturbs me is this deep fake is what they're calling it.
But they had a Melania as well.
They had Melania being arrested.
And I saw one today with Hillary.
You can't have one without the other, right?
Exactly.
But the question comes here, and this will lead into our story here in a minute about TikTok and the stuff that is going on yesterday with the hearings on Capitol Hill.
But James, when we look, and this is a great conversation, This is one of the things that, I guess, if I had a hidden concern about the internet, especially as a very public person, okay?
As someone who's been out there, who has plenty of video of me out there, there's pictures, there's my voice, I mean, it's there, along with most any congressional person, popular figure, anybody else.
This idea of the deepfake video, the deepfake picture, Which, again, as you said, those pictures, and I've seen the same deep fakes that you talk about, about Trump being arrested and all these other things.
To a person who may not look at it and process it, they look real.
To those who...
Okay.
There are some very gullible people on this planet.
And a lot of them are on the internet.
Let's be honest.
And I know that sounds...
I can't even say this old phrase on the internet.
But...
People will see and believe almost anything, right?
And in this case, yes.
I think a majority of us knew it was a joke, but there were some people out there that got angry so quickly about it that they posted it and they were like, can you believe he's running for the cop?
And you gotta think to yourself, like, buddy.
Google it.
It'll be in the news.
But some people don't know those things.
And you're right.
It is absolutely terrifying.
And the idea that someone could just, from this video, take my face and change my words and put me on a different body.
It is crazy.
I think we're all kind of learning to evolve with it a bit.
But it is strange and it is weird.
And I don't know who...
Nobody's really safe from it, I guess, right?
No.
Well, I mean, think about it now.
The more easily the technology to do them well, okay, which is out there, is going to get cheaper and better for, you know, kids in the basement to do, so to speak, against each other.
But think about this, you know, as you look at it, and what you just said is so true, but also, you know, taking these...
I go back and look at something, and I think, you know, we've talked about this before, is that if you ever got rid of the court jesters, we're in real trouble.
And when you start shutting down comics, and we're not going to get into the Chappelle's and the Rocks and all, but when you start, the left starts canceling what they don't want to hear or laugh at.
When satire becomes a problem, you've got a real problem.
The other issue is, and I bring this out in jest, but also in truth, is Most people, I remember right after 9-11, most people said, I would have never thought about ramming a plane or using a plane as a torpedo, basically, to hit the Capitol or to hit anywhere else.
And I almost immediately, I said, wait, wait, wait, Tom Clancy did that three years ago.
Tom Clancy, in one of his books, I think it was the China or the Bear Dragon, I can't remember which one, actually, that was the whole scenario, that the plane actually crashed into the Capitol.
A couple of books ago, Clancy's dead, but the writers of that Clancy series, and I'm 99% sure of this, and if not, go to the DougCollinsPodcast.com, hit the email button, tell me how bad I am and how wrong I am.
But there was a book, one of the books from a few years ago, actually had this scenario of Ryan, the president, And they did a deepfake, and they did in the Middle East, and they thought this was, you know, and this was used against them.
So, I mean, this is something that's building, this whole, and it just sets us up.
Yeah, I mean, look, it's, I think the thing is that it's easy to consider it a tool for warfare, right?
Or whatever you want to use for it.
I know that seems like an extreme.
But, It can construe what you're doing and what you're saying and whatever.
But I think it's kind of like the thing where it's like, if they're going to use it against me, then if they're going to use it against me, we'll use it against them, so on and so forth.
So it just kind of seems anybody can get their hands on it.
I'm not saying you or I could just do it right now, but it's not impossible.
And so I think, again, the majority of people will understand I mean, they did it with...
I think I saw it on Instagram where they were doing it with like the presidents are playing Call of Duty together.
Have you seen those pictures on Twitter where they redo the presidents as superheroes, as villains?
Oh yeah, they did.
I saw one where they all had mullets.
Oh my god, those were...
It's cool.
It's fun and it's cool and it's interesting.
And I'm sure we're going to do a TikTok.
The good and bad of everything, right?
It's as simple as that.
I think it's great that people can use TikTok to find out how much money they could make from just dancing in a mirror.
But also there's the downside of it.
And whether you believe people are taking your data or whatever the case is, We can get into it if you want, but there's a good and bad of everything, and I think the AI and the deepfake stuff, there's going to be a good and bad of everything, and we'll just learn to live with it.
Well, speaking of bad on the internet, I have one more thing before we get into the TikTok hearing, and I don't know if you've seen this, and I'm hoping this is a deepfake.
I don't think it is.
Have you seen the Twitter of what's out there on Madonna in the last 24 hours?
What did she do now?
She's...
Sort of fake singing.
And she's in this black dress.
And she's...
It just doesn't look like Madonna.
And it's...
Frankly, she's 64. It's sort of sickening.
And...
But this is out there.
And...
Wow.
I mean...
How far do you have to fall?
I mean...
How far do you have to fall to actually do...
Because you've seen her...
I mean, I've seen her on some other stuff recently.
It's just like, huh?
I think...
Because I guess I think of it like this.
I can't imagine being where Madonna was at one point.
And then being able to let...
And some people are kind of comfortable with letting that go.
And I think for her, it's just something where she's like...
I think she just...
And this is not a negative thing about her.
She just craves the spotlight.
It's literally what made her who she is.
So I don't think she ever plans on stopping that.
And whether we agree with it or not doesn't matter to her whatsoever.
Because she is...
I mean, she's Madonna.
She's one word.
She is.
I remember her from 85 and 86. I just sent it to you, so you take a look at it.
It's pretty disturbing as we go into this.
But, again, craving the spotlight, you're willing to do whatever in the spotlight.
This is just bad.
Anyway.
All right.
Moving along.
Yesterday in Congress, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing on TikTok.
The CEO of TikTok came in.
I think I'm going to speak real quickly to things that you never do.
For most of you, you'll never have to worry about this.
But if you were ever called to speak in front of a congressional committee, let me let you out on a couple of things.
Number one, do not be arrogant when you go.
Number one.
Number two.
Don't think just because you're popular that the members of Congress will really give two rats.
Okay?
They don't.
Number three, have some answers that make sense.
I mean, somebody needs to prep you beforehand.
And then number four, read the room.
Nobody in that room was defending you.
And you kept saying, oh, well, we're not controlled by China.
Bull crap.
Every one of these companies have Chinese influence.
He had to admit to Walberg, Representative Walberg, a good friend of mine from Michigan, he had to admit that he couldn't guarantee that Chinese engineers didn't have access to some of the data.
He had to admit that.
Folks, you can see all this news-wise, but I want the Doug and James take to be on this is how...
In a social media platform, Get to the point.
Now, again, with China, if you were China wanting to basically have unlimited surveillance on the U.S., could you think of a better way to do it than TikTok?
No.
Well, they kind of did for a little while, but yes, TikTok is the number one.
Don't forget when, and again, I don't know, I don't remember how 100%, I don't know if I'm 100% correct on this.
But remember when everyone was getting the image of what they'd look like if they were old?
There was like a filter that you could put on Instagram or probably TikTok and Snapchat or whatever.
And it was you and you're 90 or 80 or whatever.
And apparently they were taking that photo and the photo of your original face and...
And, like, apparently that was going to, like, you know, the wrong...
It was ending up in the wrong hands, whether it was China or whoever it is.
And I just...
I guess what I'm thinking is, like, at this point, like...
And, Doug, this is going to sound awful because this is the millennial talking.
But at this point, like, what's the difference?
They have all their information already.
I'm not trying to sound conspiracy theorist.
They do.
Whoever it is, whether it's China or your own government, or just Kohl's, for example.
Me and my brother were talking about ordering something from Kohl's, and then I turn on my phone, open up Instagram, and there's just a list of stuff from Kohl's.
Like, it...
All your information is everywhere anyway.
And I know, again, this is the 30-year-old talking.
That's not too young, I guess.
They have it already.
There's nothing I can do about it.
And I don't see any reason for me to fight it.
I'll just use less social media.
Well, you just hit the very problem that I've talked about with my kids.
You've met one of my sons.
You met mother in their mid-20s.
And very deaf...
And this is the part that bothers me, that at what point in time, America, you know, security, your Fourth Amendment rights, your rights for privacy, those kind of things, that...
We now willingly give away.
I remember being in a credit card, I'm just going to leave it generic, a company, a big, huge, one of the multi-billion, you know, one of the ones that everybody knows, okay?
And they were just, one of their bill, I was in their New York offices and we were going through and they had one of those banners, like you see at a trade show, and it had I'm a younger person saying, I love this because it automatically thinks of what I want to purchase, basically.
And I'm sitting here saying, I'm sitting here as my 50-year-old body saying, I don't want you in my, you know, uh-uh, get away, you know.
But here's my problem, okay?
When my generation, and I actually like some of the Instagram stuff on this, you see on social media, the difference, my generation is the last one to No, a rotary dial phone.
Mine is the last generation to actually not have a computer, an internet.
We're the last generation that didn't have these things.
We grew into them.
So in many ways, we're not digital natives, but we're not also digitally unaware either.
We can speak language that others...
It's part of the workforce, and you guys are still part of the workforce, so it is what it is.
Exactly.
When we leave, the question is, is my grandchildren, which I don't have any grandchildren yet, but my grandchildren will have the same sort of thought, except in a more sense of what you just said, and that it doesn't matter.
They know where we're at.
You know, we can't hide anything.
And that at a certain point in time, my concern, and again, you, I mean, and I'm glad to hear a difference here.
That is when you get the real thought of a totalitarian system that then can take over using stuff we've already talked about, deepfakes, media, because they don't actually learn anything.
No.
Yeah.
Are you actually talking about, like, learning as in, like, education?
Yeah, well, they don't think about it.
That is a little bit of a...
If it's on my phone, it must be true.
No.
Okay, yes.
I think we should be very clear about certain things, like the fact that the internet is a...
How do I put this?
The internet can give you an answer.
It does not mean it's the correct answer.
The internet is an answer machine, not a learning tool.
Because you can Google, and again, I hate making fun of people, but when the people are talking about Tom Hanks eating little kids and stuff, people can Google that and they'll find the answer they're looking for.
Let's be honest about it.
I'm not worried about the outrageous.
I am concerned on...
A platform such as Instagram, a platform such as TikTok, a platform such as Twitter, probably not as much Twitter anymore, but Snapchat, others, in which all of a sudden...
As we get more and more into this, and believe me, as someone who's seen the inside of the belly of the beast, at least to a point of the federal government, all of a sudden you get somebody in there who has no desire, they have an agenda to push, and they begin sending out messages based on some algorithms saying, you know, kids, if your parents are talking about MAGA or talking about this, they're Let us know.
This kind of thing.
And again, it's not the big stuff.
It's the small stuff.
The old saying is, Satan is not ever going to appear with a pitchfork and a tail in a red suit.
He never does that.
He appears in the, you know, so to speak, the small, subtle things that you don't realize.
And that's where I guess I'm concerned looking at.
And I hope everybody who listens to this podcast, send me information.
Send me what you think.
Because I was just on an interview, James, in which people were asked, do we need to...
Do they believe that the social media platform such as TikTok is bad for...
Younger people.
That's why the question was worried.
72% said yes.
On the second question after that, they were asked, do you want to ban it?
And it was basically middle picture across the board.
No clear answer.
So that's where I'm looking at this at.
I'm with you.
Should we ban TikTok?
Maybe.
I don't know.
It's kind of like, it is a massive revenue stream for people.
So that's where I understand people not wanting to do it.
But this to me is just a simple issue of parents watching their kids streaming time.
That's it.
It's as simple as that.
Like, when you're an adult, if you want to make bad decisions and you want to do what you want to do, that is up to you.
That is fine.
If you're concerned that someone is taking your data, don't do it.
If you think that's the only way I can get through the day, then do it.
Whatever.
It's fine.
But should your kid be on TikTok 24-7?
Probably not.
I don't know.
We don't know the exact effects.
It's like finding out we don't know the effects of vaping, but we're pretty sure kids shouldn't be doing it and no one else should either.
You know, we found out.
I mean, at one point, doctors recommended brands of cigarettes.
That time is over, right?
So I'm just saying, like, we don't know the outcome yet.
But we should take warning from something like cigarettes and go, okay, maybe this isn't great for us.
We should slow down on it at the very least.
I agree with that.
I got a question though.
Would we even be having this conversation, James, if TikTok was born in Silicon Valley?
Would we even be having this conversation?
No, we wouldn't.
Because it's the national security emphasis that is really the only thing that's driving this at this point.
But I want to go back to something.
I know.
I know we can bring China up.
I guess what I'm saying is like, I just, again, this is coming from, again, someone, a millennial who's kind of grown up perfectly in the time of still being able to go outside a little bit and having the best video games and internet possible.
I assume that they have all my stuff already.
Right.
And that's it.
Yeah, I guess it's a what am I going to do about a situation.
But we should look at, it should be monitored a little heavier, at the very least.
Yeah.
Well, and again, because some of the things that came up in this hearing was the kid who committed suicide.
I mean, there's just so many ways.
I mean, growing up's hard anyway.
I don't care who you are.
It's hard enough it is.
I mean, I can't imagine my life if I had to, back in the 80s when I was in high school, you know, having to go.
I mean, the worst thing I had to do was who was starting a rumor about me or who passed a note in class about, you know, Doug Collins.
I didn't have to go to a picture.
Cyberbullying is real, Doug, and it's awful.
It is.
Here's how bad in the hearing.
This shows you, remember, I gave you my four quick rules of going into a hearing.
Somebody forgot to tell the chairman this, and I don't pronounce the name, I'm just going to say his CEO. He was asked whether parent company ByteDance has spied on Americans at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.
Here's his answer.
I don't think spying is the right way to describe it.
And you're sitting in front of 50 and 60 year olds and 70 year olds in Congress?
Yeah, I think his battle is the battle of how do I explain this to people who may not understand it, but in the most simplistic terms, yeah, it's probably being spied on.
Right?
Yeah, exactly.
But yeah, I mean, we could talk about this all day, but it's just, it is, it's such a strange phenomenon because it's how everyone lives their life and how people are getting their information.
And at the same time, it could be super dangerous.
I will have to say, and I got two things to end.
We're going to get out on this.
And here it is.
And for those of you who may want to write in and say, Doug, you don't know what you're talking about.
You know, do you ever use TikTok?
Yes, I will have to say.
I've had a TikTok account, okay?
Not one that is basically one that I watched, you know, and would go through and get videos.
What really was bothersome to me on TikTok, as opposed to Instagram, Facebook even, or Twitter, was Depending on what you clicked on or what you stayed on on TikTok, it would begin to lead you down a path.
And I can see this.
And I deleted, by the way, about a month and a half ago, two months ago, I deleted my TikTok account.
I just said, it's not even worth me watching.
Because one, it is addicting to sit there and do it.
But number two is, it's like I said, You do a baseball TikTok, and then you do a fight TikTok, and the next thing you know, you're getting fights in classroom, you're getting fights on the beach, or you're going back to...
Oh, yeah.
A real rabbit hole.
Their algorithm is dangerously...
If you want to call it that.
Here's the problem I have.
In China, their algorithm to younger people send them towards science, math, and basically educational stuff, whereas in the U.S., here's the part that we'll be talking about forever.
Are they trying to destroy youth from the inside here?
Is this not necessarily a spying game, but it's saying, hey, let's just numb these youth In sending them down these rabbit holes of anything from sports to transgender to porn to everything else, let's send them down that rabbit hole.
Why in our own country, we don't allow that.
China doesn't allow a lot of things, right?
But yes, you're right.
It's an easy tool.
If you're gonna...
I mean, it's the easiest tool because parents need a break and their kids can sit on an iPad and go on TikTok for four hours.
Next thing you do, parents done the laundry, cooked dinner, everything's all straight.
Next thing you know, the kids down a rabbit hole, his mom probably picks up the iPad and goes, Oh my God, have you been watching this?
Yeah, it is.
It's pretty wild.
Hey, well, the last thing before we go out of this is there's a story out about TikTok, sort of appropriate this week.
And this goes out to all of our listeners who were the ones who, you know, needed to have the warning label on Preparation H that said, only external use only.
There is fruit roll-ups are having to fight what was put on TikTok saying that the plastic piece on the fruit roll-up is not edible.
Some idiot put on TikTok that you could eat the plastic on the fruit roll-up.
Now look, I don't blame TikTok for this.
I blame just stupid people.
Because honestly, if you have to put on preparation dates for external use only, or you have to say, you know, don't drink the shampoo, I mean, we got a problem here, folks.
But this, I mean...
Listen, a woman won a court case saying this coffee is hot.
Yeah, the coffee is hot.
So, you know...
Listen.
Man, the amount of people that...
I don't want to sound rude here, but wow, is that person an idiot.
I guess...
When I was a kid, we had a fun game of unroll the fruit roll-up, take the top part of it, and try to see if you can roll it up all the way without your hand.
Yeah.
You know what we didn't eat?
The paper.
The paper.
The plastic.
Yeah.
I don't...
Look, an adult saying you can eat the paper...
It angers me so much because he knows he can't eat the paper.
Or if he thinks he can't eat the paper and that guy is procreating, we should watch out for him.
Remember, this is the same area.
TikTok has produced some interesting things in his short little time of being around.
From hitting at teachers and encouraging TikTok stunts.
But also, these are the same brilliant folks that gave you the let's eat the Tide Pods.
Those stupid, stupid college kids.
Listen, some people's parents don't pay attention to them, so they've got to eat Tide Pods and roll-up wrappers.
And that stinks.
And I hope that kid gets better and more help.
I'm sure there's a benefit.
Well, they just leave the emergency rooms open for more.
All right, moving along, I'm sure we'll have this discussion more and more as we go forward.
Speaking also of stupid, and we'll only touch this one lightly, California is banning what would lead to a law that would ban the sale of candies like Skittle, Pez, and just...
I mean, I'm sort of, because it says it's possibly cancer-causing, but Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Pez, Jelly Beans, even Trident Sugar-Free Gum, some breads, Campbell's Soup.
I mean, California is the reason if you buy something and you get it shipped to you from even furniture, it says some of these chemicals may cause cancer per Proposition 16 in California.
I mean, is it just me or does just this kind of stupid just keep coming out of California?
It probably does.
California has some...
We could spend all day bashing California.
Here's the thing.
I just need to see the numbers for how many people are dying from Skittles each year.
Because whatever they're banning, I'm sure it's not great.
And if, you know, Skittles has been hiding it from us, that's one thing.
But they're not.
It's very clearly on there.
And look, again, I guess we should be a little like, okay, if it's that harmful, let's talk about it.
But like, people want to make their own bad choices.
People want to make their own good choices.
Oh, yeah.
But you know what?
People love Skittles.
People love whatever...
What was the other one you said?
Sour Patch Kids.
You're not taking Sour Patch Kids away from me.
I will slap the person who tries to take a Sour Patch bag out of my way.
Those are good.
I agree.
I have definitive proof of something, James.
I have definitive proof.
Did you know that living leads to dying?
That is a fact.
It's a pretty interesting fact.
I'm pretty glad we brought that up today.
I'm hoping some of our listeners will remember that.
It's like the warning labels.
Anyway, California trying to save the world one skill.
Pez.
I mean, poor Pez.
I mean, really?
You're going to pick on Pez dispensers?
Don't kick Pez while they're down.
They haven't had a good run since Seinfeld popped one into, or was that the junior mid?
No, the Seinfeld episode where they're at the piano side.
They haven't had a run like that.
They haven't had a run since then.
So let's not kick Pez while they're down.
Well, speaking of also kicking them while they're...
I don't know if this is kicking them while they're down or just...
I don't really have a good clue to what's going on here.
But lately, Pat Sajak, for those of you who may not watch the evenings for the last 40-plus years, is the host of Wheel of Fortune.
Over the last...
This week is...
And over the last couple months has not been the best Pat Sajak month.
And you get this.
This week, he tackled...
I kid you not.
He tackled a contestant who was a professional wrestler, supposedly.
He yelled at a contestant...
Who didn't answer.
By the way, from Peachtree City, Georgia.
Oh my God.
I said, oh, I'm going to solve the puzzle.
And Sajak said, please solve the darn puzzle.
Because she was basically getting more points because she knew what it was.
And he was just brutal.
I've had a theory about Sajak.
As my parents get older, they watch that stuff.
So if I'm there, I inevitably watch it with them.
I genuinely believe he hates his job.
I think he's hated it for the last 15 to 20 years.
I really believe.
Have you seen the way he talks to people?
I know that's kind of part of his charm.
But he comes off, like, as soon as the cameras turn off, he doesn't look at the guests, he doesn't thank them, he walks into his dressing room, he takes his jacket off, lights up a cigarette, and just takes a break.
He hates that job.
He has been snarky to people for the last 20 years.
This is factual.
Google it.
I'm just kidding.
Please don't Google it and say that it's factual.
But I really think Pat Sajak absolutely hates his job.
But every time he goes, I want to quit, they go, here's another $10 million.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And now it seems like...
I would do it for that money.
Don't question.
Look, for the last 40 years of my life, I would sit there and spin the wheel every night, too, for millions of dollars.
Lately, he's gotten in trouble, though.
Have you heard also his daughter, who works on the show, has filled in for Vanna White.
And there's a lot of discussion.
She's trying to be groomed to take over Vanna's job.
And, boy, you thought the poo-poo hit the fan on that one.
Don't you dare take Vanna's job.
Listen, it's easy to defend the people you love.
No, that's funny.
That's weird, though.
You don't want that.
It is amazing.
But that's what Friday's Finest are for, folks, is you get to...
For bashing California and Pat Sajak.
California, Sajak, and Skittles.
So, you know, we get to do that.
All right, though, but before we go on a Friday, we're getting at the tour...
James, the tour has kicked off.
The era's tour.
Taylor Swift is on the road.
She's something else, isn't she?
You look so excited.
I remember when she first came out.
I guess I was probably a sophomore in high school, maybe?
Freshman?
She's one of those people...
That will never have a bad run.
She will go down.
She will be 95 years old.
She will be selling out arenas.
She is this era's Rolling Stones.
She will always sell out.
I mean, Beyonce's in that category.
Drake is probably in that category, too.
I'll probably get hate mail on this one, but I don't get the appeal of Beyonce.
How dare you?
We're playing Beyonce music on this way out.
No way.
Listen, no, you're not only going to get hate, but the Beyonce beehive will come after you.
They are very real and they are very scary.
Hide your Twitter.
Taylor Swift, she can say, I'm going to sing one song and half the world will buy those tickets.
She's incredible.
And I'm not even the biggest fan of hers, but I know when I hear her songs, I'm like, that's a banger.
That's a hit.
It's 100%.
Well, she's also an incredibly smart businesswoman.
She's incredibly smart.
I mean, I don't take anything away from her.
Talk about it.
She's earned every bit of what she does.
She's also helped more people understand copyright and mechanical rights and everything with music than anybody in the world could ever help for people to understand it.
So it's just pretty amazing.
But, yeah, the tour is off 40.
I mean, she's doing a Bruce Springsteen set, 42 songs in like three hours.
I mean, it's pretty amazing.
We're going to get up close to detail.
Maybe next Friday's finest we're going to have my oldest Copeland son drop in because him and his fiancee, Holly, are going to see Swift this weekend.
So we may have a drop-in guest on how the Taylor Swift show went.
Did you say 42 songs in three hours?
Yes.
And she's doing that everywhere?
Yes.
Well, all right.
That's...
Beyonce's out.
If you can't do 42 songs in three hours, that's the new bar.
That's the bar.
You cannot...
43 songs in three hours?
I don't...
I don't think I can listen to 43 songs in three hours.
42 songs in three hours.
No.
She dances and she has a full production and yeah.
That's crazy.
I mean, on Target, there was a report came out today, on Target...
The most lucrative tour ever.
Ever.
Yeah, it's because Ticketmaster's got prices of back row seats in the 3000s.
We can talk about Ticketmaster all day too if we want, right?
$600 or $700 million tour.
Almost a billion dollar tour.
Yeah, it's just amazing.
So folks...
Must be nice.
Yeah, it must be nice.
But look, I take nothing away from Swift.
If you remember Bart Harbison, who's been on this show before from National Songwriters, remembers when she was a fresh teenager, brought down with her dad to sing songs and to try and get a songwriter recording contract.
He said she's one of the hardest workers he's ever seen.
Bart's, like I said, been on this show before.
We talked about it.
But folks, I can't think of a better way to end on a note.
But James, you're going to play a little Swift music for us going out.
Let people have a little Swift and have a good weekend.
And we will see you next week on the Friday's Finest.
Say goodbye, James.
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