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June 18, 2024 - Doug Collins Podcast
54:31
Around The World In 80 Days
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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, you did not know what you were missing, but now you do.
We go away for three or four weeks, and you realize Friday's finest was not Friday without us.
And here we're back.
The boys are back.
The boys are back in town.
Hit the music, James.
The boys are back in town.
We're ready to go.
Chip, James, Doug, we're all here ready at it.
Got a lot of things going on today, but folks, it's been good.
I know the last few weeks have been on the road.
Thanks for the results.
We had some good positive feedback on the summer blockbusters and the movies and everything else, but we've got lots going on still that we're going to catch up on today.
We have James's trip overseas.
James, yes, in our time away, James went overseas and actually returned safely.
We did not have to invite the State Department to get him home, so we're actually excited about that.
Italy kept him for a little while and then brought him back.
So we're glad to have that.
Chip is back as well.
I'm back.
We're all good to go here.
So in just a minute after the break, we're going to kick in to our Friday's finest.
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All right, we're here.
As I've told you, we're excited back here on Friday.
A few things though for Chip and I to discuss.
We got some political on the news.
Trump went back to Capitol Hill yesterday and I have to admit, Chip, his comments were some of the most The public-facing comments, I've heard from the comments that he was sort of, you know, he did his normal kind of stuff in the, you know, talking about his problems and stuff.
But what got me was when he was at the press conferences yesterday, and I was very proud of this because I was glad to see he was sort of focused on this.
When he was at the press conference, he was talking about, we're all together.
We may have all been together, but now we're getting back together.
If we don't, we work it out.
That seemed like a different kind of, you know, sort of press conference you'd expect after that from him.
Yeah, look, first of all, it was hard for me to believe that it had been almost, well, it had been three and a half years since he had been back to the Hill, which is just, it's hard to believe that it's been that long, but it has.
And look, you know, it's, you know, we all...
We all in this business, Doug, politics is a blood sport.
We fight and we fight.
But when it comes down to a general election and you have a nominee and he's the nominee of the party, I don't want to say it's easy to say the right things, but it's easier to say the right things because you won.
You know, and so I'm happy to see that he's doing it.
I mean, look, he's, by all accounts, he's got a really good team behind him.
And it's the same team he started this race with.
And so, you know, that's different than the first time he ran, and it's different than his reelect.
And so, you know, Chris Lasaviza, Susie Wiles, and the gang seem to be doing a really good job.
Managing him to the extent that...
Or managing the campaign, really.
I mean, you can't...
It's difficult to manage Donald Trump.
He doesn't like to be managed.
He doesn't like that lingo.
But, I mean, they're doing a really good job of managing the campaign.
And Trump seems to have, you know, seems to have learned a lot.
And, by the way, what he said, you know, what he said behind closed doors about Milwaukee is 110% true.
I mean...
People don't realize, Doug, that the committees have to pick cities for the National Convention a year and a half out, right?
And so that's not something that the nominee has any input on.
And it certainly sounds like if Donald Trump had input on, we would not be going to Milwaukee.
But, you know, look, it's...
It's a Midwestern city.
It's crime-ridden, but name me a populous city in today's day and age that's not crime-ridden, and most of them are.
So, yeah, look, all indications are that it was a very successful trip for him.
It looked to be a very successful trip for the members, both on the House and the Sun side.
And, you know, I'm not surprised.
A lot of people might be.
But I'm not surprised that, you know, that he and Mitch McConnell are both saying the right things about each other.
I mean, that's a relationship that, you know, that is a forced relationship.
It's kind of an arranged marriage.
But, you know, sometimes arranged marriages work for a while.
And, you know, it worked when Trump was in his first term.
And, you know, I have no doubt that Mitch McConnell is going to do everything that he can over the next five months to make certain that Joe Biden is not president again.
I agree with that.
Well, one of the things you see also, I think yesterday, was to show how, to probably much of the chagrin of the diehard folks, and look, I've been with Trump the whole time, but look, if you're with other people, fine.
Now it's the general.
It's time to get on board.
We can't keep Joe Biden doing.
And I thought it was really impressive yesterday that social media posts Trump endorsed Laurel Lee in Florida, and Laurel Lee was the appointed Secretary of State by Ron DeSantis, and the only member of the Florida delegation who actually endorsed Ron DeSantis.
And Trump endorsed her yesterday in 2015, and they come together.
So, look, I see the Republicans pulling together, and then I see Chip, and I'm sure you maybe get these newsletters as well, like I do.
It is amazing to me, Axios, which is, you know, just Axios, If they put any good poll numbers about Trump, they always include a line such as, they'll put a reality check, and then they'll say, well, this only applies to this.
Now, if they do anything fact-checking Biden or polls to Biden, they never do a reality check.
It's just, they can't get over themselves dealing with Donald Trump.
And I was just reading, of course, probably let it go, but I was just reading just a few minutes ago, and I think it was the Politico newsletter that comes out in the afternoon.
And it had an article by either from someone from SEMA 4 or the others that they still cannot understand Donald Trump's, the African-American attraction to Donald Trump.
It is like they have tried so hard to paint him as a hardcore racist.
And the latest ad from the Biden administration shows the pictures of Charlottesville with just the racist part of it.
He says these are fine people.
They never include the entire quote.
They never include the whole thing.
But they keep going back to this racist and democracy thing.
And they don't understand it.
Is that, I mean, what's your take on that?
Because that's such an amorphous thing for an electorate.
I think they're struggling because they don't have anything else, but I mean- Well, that's, I mean, over the last decade, right?
I mean, that's just democratic rhetoric 101. I mean, anytime you don't want to have a conversation about policy or you don't want to have a realistic conversation about where things are politically, just call a Republican a racist.
Then the conversation ends or goes in a different direction.
When I was growing up, the term racist was meant for somebody who had a disdain for another race.
Now, it's a term that's used far too often to throw at somebody who disagrees at you politically, and that's not racism.
If you look historically at African-American voter performance behavior numbers, before Donald Trump, Republicans got an average of about 10% of the Black vote.
So if Donald Trump gets 14% to 60% of the Black vote, that's 4% to 6% more of the Black vote Then George W. Bush got.
Then John McCain got.
Then Mitt Romney got.
Then, you know, I mean, you just go down the list.
And so, yeah, it drives them absolutely crazy because, you know, there's very little that they could do about it.
And look, Donald Trump, he's not going to win the black vote, but he's not going to give up.
He's not going to give up on any segment of the electorate and say, he's not going to discount any segment of the electorate and not try to squeeze out as high of a percentage as he can, even if he might lose that voter block.
And, you know, Joe Biden can't do that.
I mean, look at him just yesterday on the world stage.
I mean, you know, the Prime Minister of Italy had to turn him around because he was looking in the complete opposite direction that everything else was going.
I mean, he was staring into space and it was 3 a.m.
in the afternoon and it was a sunny day.
I mean, it's, you know, this is getting worse.
It's not getting better.
He's getting older.
I mean, Doug, I'm, you know, I'm 50, you know, 51 years old and I'm certainly not as sharp as I was 10 years ago.
And I can't imagine, you know, the decline and the deterioration of Joe Biden.
I mean, where is he going to be five months from now?
Look where he's at now.
It's laughable.
Oh, it's bad.
It's bad.
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that gets me, though, is the latest polling.
And you and I both have a good friend, John McLaughlin, who's been on the show just a few weeks ago.
We were talking about this because I was questioning him about some of the numbers.
And McLaughlin, and I hadn't had a chance to talk to you about this, McLaughlin says, Doug, he said, right now, and again, the good part about John is most of the time he'll admit, you know, it is what it is at the time.
He said, but Doug, right now, he said, we're seeing...
That those numbers in the African-American votes, some of those higher numbers, those 20%, 21%, he said, they're true for now.
And he said, I said, well, John, how can that be?
And he said, it's immigration and crime.
He said, these two are actually playing.
He said, because when you go into the cross tabs even further, you're seeing the direct correlation, especially on immigration and especially with some of the big city crime issues and Trump being in that particular.
But the New York, what was it, last week, the New York Times, I apologize, but the New York State poll had, Trump was getting, was only down in single digits, and he was getting 18% of the African American vote.
If Donald Trump gets 18% of the African American vote across the board, this is a runaway.
This race is not close.
Yeah, no question.
And, you know, I've seen polling too that has a share of the African American vote as high as 20%.
And yes, that'll come down.
And polls have, you know, margin of errors in it.
But, I mean, he could get, you know, I don't want to say he could get half of that, but he could get, I mean, you know, Insert name here is going to get 8 to 10%.
Right now he's polling at 20%.
So he can get, you know, if you just split that nexus between 8 and 20 in half, you know, he's getting 14, 15%.
That's enough for him to beat Joe Biden.
I mean, it might be enough for him to be Joe Biden if he gets 12%, possibly, depending on, you know, what the breakdown is geographically.
But, yeah, look, I mean, you know, Kamala Harris is in Atlanta today, you know, and, you know, this close to an election, you know, after the primaries are settled and you're the incumbent, you know, you generally want to come and do events that aren't what we call base events.
They're events that, you know, might attract some swing voters.
They're not there.
And they haven't been doing that and I don't know that they'll ever get there.
You know, with what's going on in Israel and with Hamas and the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party, which is, you know, very prevalent, very young, too.
You know, they're in a pickle right now with their base.
Now, you know, the flip side to that is, you know, the base normally, you know, comes home to roost as you get closer to the election.
And that might be the case, but he's got a long way to go.
If the election were held today, Donald Trump would beat him.
Oh yeah, this ideological divide, it's not just simply, you know, Blacks, African Americans being disenfranchised.
It's not a matter of Hispanics, you know, which you see sometimes, we wish they would do better.
You're seeing an ideological break, but this ideological break that he has with the Arab Community in Michigan and these other places is, I mean, they continually are saying we're not voting for him, period.
I mean, and that's almost like an abortion issue in the South.
I mean, it's like, no, I'm not going to vote for you because you did X. Anyway, also you made mention of Kamala Harris being in Atlanta.
She's also going to be in Atlanta again next week.
So again, yeah, they're playing this base card a whole lot as we go forward, looking into it.
So a lot going on politically.
It's, you know, again, we're getting to the fun season here for the next few weeks.
We got the conventions will be next month and the month after.
A lot more to talk about.
But Chip, you know, we're going to have to bring him in now.
The man, the world traveler, the myth behind all of the myths, James is back from Italy.
There he is.
Is that right?
I had no idea.
He came back.
He's still traveling.
I mean, he's still all over the country.
He's still technically traveling.
He's still there.
James, are you a changed man?
I renamed my truck Cash because it's all black and it's traveling everywhere.
That's going to be...
But it did not go to Italy and that's where I was for two weeks.
You'd think growing up in an Italian household, you'd know anything about Italy, but I didn't know anything.
He went back to his roots, Chip.
Here we go.
All right, so I'll give you a quick background.
My grandfather is from Naples, and he was there during World War II. They blew his house up, part of it.
When he was 12, he became a baker's apprentice and went to Rome.
And he got up to all sorts of no good.
All right?
We don't talk about that part.
Except for the fact that he bragged about dating Sophia Loren, which definitely isn't true, but I don't care.
I'm going to say it anyway.
But anyway, so we went to his old stomping grounds for a minute.
Naples, part of Naples is pretty run down at this point, but where he was, it was pretty cool to see.
I got trapped on a mountain in Sorrento.
And let's see, I almost drowned in the beach.
Almost got hit by a couple cars because my mom is a terrible driver and she shouldn't have been driving in Italy in the first place.
Oh, man.
I hate museums, I found out.
Which, by the way, Italy is the worst place to find out you have a one museum maximum.
Because, for some reason, they think that I want to see one more statue of one more person that looks vaguely like Jude Law for some reason.
I don't know.
I've got to show you this video, this picture.
It literally looks like Jude...
You know what?
I'm going to show this now.
It looks like Jude Law and I'm standing by this.
But, anyways...
It was a really fun trip.
Tell me this isn't Jude Law.
Tell me that's not Jude Law.
Yeah, you can make a good point.
That's not Jude Law.
Exactly.
That's the only response I got.
Anyway, but no, it was a lot of fun.
Well, James, did you make it to the Vatican?
I did.
That's where I saw that nonsense.
So I made it to the Vatican.
It was, honestly, I will say, like, it is pretty powerful when you're there.
You kind of, like, soak it all in and realize, like, My brother jokes about it.
He's like, when you were rich back then, you just built a place and put all the stuff you stole in it.
I was like, yeah, that's what you did when you were rich back then.
You just built a palace and put all the stuff you stole in it.
But yeah, it is genuinely incredible.
I think we're all very lucky that I wasn't there when I was in my early 20s because I would have never come back.
Rome is...
Let me give you one little quick story.
No, my mom's not going to like this one.
When I was younger, I used to smoke cigarettes, and occasionally I still have that nicotine addiction.
So Italy's not the place to revamp the addiction.
It's everywhere, right?
So I'm now with my cousins.
We're partying.
We're at this bar.
Got a few too many drinks in me.
And I was craving a cigarette.
Couldn't find one.
Didn't want to bother people.
So me, my brother, and another person went out at 1 a.m.
after the bar and started searching.
So we got lost in the middle of Rome around 1, 1.30 a.m.
in a crowd of people.
We all kind of got separated.
I ended up walking for almost an hour and a half until I found a cigarette vending machine, guys.
That was barred up, and you have to use your license to get in.
Now again, I said there were a few drinks in me, so I wasn't few.
So this thing wasn't taking my license.
At 2.30 a.m.
on the streets of Rome, I am yelling at a cigarette vending machine because I couldn't understand why I wouldn't take my American license.
I was like, it says English!
I can do it!
I mean, I'm screaming.
My brother is like, you ever see the movie where they try to hold someone back from fighting?
I am fighting a cigarette vending machine at 2.30am in the middle of Rome.
Finally, my brother convinced me.
He's like, let's just go home.
We'll figure this out.
So we finally make it back.
Wake my poor mother up at 3 a.m.
because she's got the keys to the apartment.
So we finally make it back.
I wake up and I get a text from my cousins.
And the third person that was with us, who said he was going to go back to the hotel, did not go back to the hotel.
Uh-oh.
He woke up.
He stayed up till 5 a.m.
eating a...
He was found at a lasagna spot.
That's all night.
They just found him eating lasagna with random people.
He said that he had about three and a half trays worth of lasagna.
So anyway...
Don't trust us drinking, ever.
Never trust me and the boys drinking.
But anyway, if I was in Rome when I was 20, 22, 23, I would have been gone.
I would have disappeared.
I would have learned the language you'd never hear from me again.
It's my favorite place on the planet, and I'm going back as soon as possible.
Yeah, that sounds like a great place.
It was.
I just hope that there was no video of me screaming at a vending machine somewhere on the internet.
There was video.
Nobody has it yet.
But I'm sure there was.
Yeah.
And also, there's video.
You can't go anywhere today.
That's true.
Scotty Scheffler.
Scotty Scheffler's not in jail because of that.
That's right.
But wait, real quick.
Can I just say that the Coliseum tours are nonsense?
Yeah, they are.
I like the idea of the tour.
But we got to move at a different pace than one mile an hour.
Probably.
And I want to see the things I want to see.
We didn't even go into the pit where the lions were, which pissed me off because that's the whole reason I did that.
I thought I wanted to be entertained or whatever Russell Crowe was doing.
Anyway, Italy's a good time.
I do recommend everybody go if you can scrounge up the money.
So on my way home from Italy, I upgraded...
To a higher class than the poor people in the back.
Just kidding, I'm one of those poor people.
But anyway, boosted up my seat.
Ended up sitting next to the chief technology officer of the PGA. So, on the train?
No, no.
On the plane home.
And what was he doing in Italy?
That's what I was saying.
I was like, what did you hear about the Scotty Scheffler news?
Turns out that if you're the chief technology officer of the PGA, that stuff doesn't matter to you.
Because he was like, oh, yeah, what happened?
I'm like, what do you mean, what happened?
Wow.
And then he was like, no, I primarily deal with this and this.
And he started asking me about the podcast space and everything.
So I was like, I need your information because we need to talk because I want you on this show.
But anyway, point is that it was a weird trip.
It was a fun trip.
I'm glad I made it home.
And then a couple of days later, I drove 12 hours to Denver through just cows and boring ass planes.
And there's just nothing.
It was just the longest drive of my life.
And now I'm here alive in Denver.
Denver.
You drove from Dallas to Denver to fly to Europe?
No, no, no, no.
I'm in Denver now.
When I got back, I drove to Denver.
For what?
Starting the road trip, baby.
So are you on the road trip now?
I'm here until July.
I'm on it now.
I'm on it right now.
You know who doesn't know about it?
My job.
But that's fine.
They'll figure it out.
Salem don't keep that in touch with me anyway, so they'll never know the difference.
Yeah, they don't even know that I exist right now.
But yeah, I drove to Denver, and now I'm here in this really cool...
I'm in an Airbnb right now.
I'm like 20 minutes outside the downtown.
I went down, I think it's called Lower...
Downtown Denver.
It's just bachelorette parties.
On Saturday, I was just alone and I was just surrounded by bachelorette parties.
It was not great.
I'm going to be honest.
I was a little pissed off.
Trying to drink, have a conversation with some randos.
Just bachelorette party after bachelorette party after bachelorette party.
I mean, that kind of sounds like some fun.
No, no, because it's not, it's never that, guys, and you know this.
Because, no, because that's not it.
That should be fun.
But what happens is, I'm not, hear me out.
I talk to one of them.
I'm talking to one of the girls at the bar, and then one of her, one of her friends walks over and is like, we gotta go.
I'm like, you don't have to go anywhere.
I'll bring her where you gotta go.
It's a one, it's one street.
It's just a straight shot.
No, no, we gotta go.
We gotta get on this stupid pedal bike.
I'm sick of it.
It happened five, I was in two bars, it happened 15 times.
There must have been a hundred people in and out of that place and I got to have a conversation with four of them because every time I had a conversation, no, we got to do shots and leads.
I don't want to hear it.
I want to spend time with, it doesn't matter.
The point is that I got a little frustrated and again, few too many drinks in me to where I ended up at, I don't even know, I think I walked like four miles and just ended up at the end of something and was like, I got to go home.
Couldn't figure out how to get back.
Just started walking.
Eventually found my car.
Took a nap outside the car because this guy's not getting a DUI. Woke up and then drove home.
Jim, I mean, how far is your Airbnb outside of downtown Denver?
20 minutes.
Okay.
Yeah, no, it's not bad.
It's a good spot.
Yeah, Denver, I mean, Denver's a great place.
I was in Denver in October.
I haven't explored enough yet, so this weekend we're going to see what happens.
I'll give you guys an update again on next Friday.
Are you soloing this trip, or are you with your brother?
Oh yeah, it's just me.
Well, downtown Denver...
Yeah, someone said you'll never understand how to lose your mind until you go on a solo road trip, so I'm kind of trying to figure that out.
Okay, well, go downtown Denver.
It's got a lot of nice roads.
And you know that Elway has his restaurants there.
Oh, I can pop in and be like, congratulations on Terrell Davis giving you two.
Not Terrell Davis.
Yeah, gave him two rings.
Yeah, he's the one who gave you two rings.
John Elway didn't do anything.
Yeah, he actually has a high-end steak restaurant.
I think he has two of them out there.
You guys footing the bill?
Because I'm not doing that.
Salem will.
Yeah.
They don't even know I'm here, Chip.
If they found out I was here, they'd have to change my taxes.
And let me tell you something.
Those Dallas taxes are staying the way they are.
So since we're already outed you as a suburbanite of Denver for a while, how long are we in Denver for?
We're here until July 5th and then on to the remote area of Butte, Montana.
Nice.
Where I'm just gonna go in and out on weekends to do hiking and stuff like that.
I'm literally, guys, did I tell you I'm gonna be living in a church?
No.
Oh, boys.
That's not an Airbnb, is it?
It is.
So I booked a room.
Shouldn't have booked a room, but the name made me laugh, so I booked it.
It's called the Orphan Room.
That should have given me all the paws I needed.
But anyway, so I booked it.
And then like two months, three months later after I booked, she goes, hey, I got to switch your room.
I hope you don't mind.
She's like, it's still the same.
It's still my property, but it's like a couple blocks down.
I said, yeah, sure.
Where is it?
She goes, it's a church.
And I said, are you renovating the church?
She goes, no.
It's just a church with a big bedroom in it.
I have the whole church to myself for a month.
It's got pews, stained glass.
Guys, Okay, you're going to have to bring pictures.
I'm going to get seated in this place at some point.
No, no, no.
You need to join us on Friday's finest, like, from the church.
From the altar?
Yeah, from the church.
Is that sacrilegious to be on the altar doing a podcast?
It has to be.
I don't know.
Let me ask you this.
Well, hold on.
Before we answer that, is it an active church?
No, it's not an active church.
Well, then it's not sacrilegious.
There.
See?
That's all I needed to hear.
Doug, I do need to hear from you, though, since you were a pastor.
Those are the rules.
Yeah, it sounds like they changed his title.
Look, the one thing, though, James, I would not recommend, if you see on Airbnb coming through the South, and they're recommending you stay at a church, I'm not sure I would do that.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That is pretty wild.
That's okay to do in Butte, Montana, but you don't want to do that in the South.
No, no, no, no.
Butte, Montana's fine because this lady's super nice.
We already talked it out.
She's giving me a little discount for changing.
I'm good.
I'm happy.
But I am a little concerned.
You'll be fine.
You'll be fine.
All right.
Well, speaking of which, did you get an audience with the Pope, by the way?
We were meaning to ask that.
Since the Pope went to the G7, we figured you probably had to prep him a couple weeks before.
Oh, you mean when I was in Italy?
Did I talk to the Pope?
- Yeah, no, we're good friends now. - I'll tell you one thing though about it, And Chip, have you been to Italy, Chip?
No, I want to go.
I almost went a few years ago, but I've not been.
I want to go.
It's a good trip.
We'll get with Lisa.
You can get the trip back.
But anyway, we went to Italy about six years ago, I guess, well, seven years ago, and went to Rome.
We've been to Venice a couple of times, but went to Rome.
And Rome, it was really nice.
Food was good.
You walk everywhere.
I mean, you walk.
Don't worry about your 20,000 steps.
You'll get the steps in.
Tell me about it.
But it's also just, it's really differently set up.
I mean, you think of Rome as this ancient city and it sort of is, and then all of a sudden you go from sort of mid-modern buildings to these ancient ruins to a modern building, and then you get over to the Vatican.
And if you've ever watched, what was the Da Vinci Code movie?
The second one.
Yeah.
Demons and dragons or whatever anyway.
You see that big outside plaza where they have the fountain in the middle and everything.
It's pretty cool.
It is beautiful.
In Rome, we made it to the Spanish Steps.
Let me tell you something.
That is worth going.
I know it's just a set of stairs, but there's just something about that whole area.
It feels a little New York City-ish, but still very old and cool.
It is worth going.
Did you get up to northern Italy for your family?
We were in Umbria.
I stayed at a place with chickens and A lot of construction.
I'm going to be honest.
I was shocked at waking up.
But there was also a church there.
And every day at 7am and 7pm, it rang a bell.
It was four feet from my house that I was staying in.
I was not ready to wake up.
So, James, I understand Denver.
It makes a lot of sense.
Denver in June, I imagine, is a really beautiful place to be.
And I'm sure Butte, Montana is as well.
But how did Butte, Montana make the list?
I'll tell you how it made the list.
I don't have any money.
And when I was planning this trip, I was like, all right, you want to do one place that's completely remote from everything.
So you can just cut the power off and only just work and that's it.
And I saw what Bozeman costs, and I saw what other parts of Montana cost, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna look up Butte.
And I watched the Anthony Bourdain episode about Butte, Montana, and how it was this old mining town.
They have, for some reason, the world's oldest Chinese, America's oldest Chinese restaurant, which is hilarious.
But it's very, like, a gritty town.
They have, like, local bars, and that's it.
And I was like, you know what?
The price looks good.
I can drive an hour, two hours on the weekends to all the big hiking spots that I want to go to.
And I don't know anybody there, so I'm going to make...
It's a small town, so I'm going to make the best of it.
And that's how Butte happened.
Nice.
Okay, that makes sense.
Because, yeah, Bozeman is pricey.
Yeah, that's what I was looking at.
I was like, okay, I'm not going to spend $2,000 when I can spend $1,000 for everything.
That's my internet.
I was like, that's perfect.
Plus, it'll help me spend because I'm going to Seattle after that, so I had to bump up the price a tiny bit.
Yeah, see, don't go in downtown Seattle.
No, no, no.
I got a friend in Seattle.
We're good.
And then I'm going to Portland where I can't even tell you where I'm staying because I'm pretty sure it's the weirdest place on the planet.
And then I'll be in Oregon for a little while.
Then California, I'll be in San Diego for two months.
And then I'll be in Phoenix, Dallas for two weeks, Dallas for Christmas, New Orleans for a month.
And then I've got to decide where I'm going after that.
It's either going to be Georgia or it's going to be Tennessee, and I'll pick one.
So you guys let me know.
Should I go to Georgia in February or March?
March is much better than February.
In March it is.
It's been decided.
I'll do Tennessee first, and then we're doing Georgia.
You guys said I could stay with you, right?
I think that was something along the lines.
Absolutely.
You guys got a camper I can live in?
A camper?
No, you guys are going to teach me to hunt while I'm down there because I don't know how.
Yeah, we got a church.
You got a church I could stay?
I mean, this is...
I mean, your travels...
By the way, get up to Great Falls.
Get up to Shelby.
You got the Indian Reservations up there.
You've also got the Glacier National.
I'm hitting that on the...
Yeah, I'm definitely hitting that on the weekend before I leave, for sure.
I did a couple of weeks up in Shelby, Montana.
I did a revival at a church at a Bible school.
We actually took about, I think, like 35 teenagers And adults drove them across country while we're on this travel episode here.
Drove them across country with three vehicles from Georgia to Shelby, Montana and did a Bible school up there.
What?
Wow.
What kind of, what was that, like a 25-hour drive?
It took us, it was two nights over.
So we drove to Nebraska.
We saw tornadoes on the planes.
I mean, we went through, it was wild.
Listen, that's the part, like, I love the idea of being on the road.
Like, no planes.
I don't have to, I can leave when I'm ready.
Well, they're going to kick me out of the Airbnb eventually.
But, you know, you get to leave when you're ready to go.
I don't know.
I like the idea of just being solo and meeting weird people.
Yeah.
Well, seeing how it's also Friday and we're in the middle of the U.S. Open, let's turn our attention away from travels.
We'll pick up some more here later.
Pinehurst is killing people this week.
Well, I mean, look, most greens are not what they call turtleback greens or domed greens.
I mean, you know, 99% of golf courses, if a green has what we call a false front, that means it kind of domes like that.
Every green Ed Pinehurst is like a turtle back dome green.
So, I mean, these guys look like me, you know, around the greens.
It's just, it's just, it is a true test of skill this week.
It's fun to watch.
Speaking of which, I believe it wasn't you and a member guest a couple weeks ago.
How did that turn out?
Last week, Scottie Paradise and I played the member guest.
We finished second in our flight of six teams.
We unfortunately ran into the team out of 15 that scored the most points.
And candidly, he should have been in a higher flight.
He was a father-son combo.
The father said he was an 18 handicap.
He was probably more like a 12 or a 13. The son said he was a 12 or a 13. He was more like an 8 or a 9. And so, you know, we ran into a buzzsaw with them, but we beat him.
The time we played them, but the problem is they got seven points against everybody else.
And when we beat them, we had to play our best golf, and then we faded a little bit at the end.
So we finished a strong second, but as they say in Hollywood, the trophy for second place is in the ladies' room.
We didn't make it to the shootout.
But, you know, 27 holes on Friday, 18 on Saturday, you know, for an old man like myself, Doug, that's a lot of golf.
So we had a good...
Yeah, that was out there.
Well, it looks like Sheffler's not going to make the cut today.
Woods is not going to make the cut today.
It doesn't look like it'll be- Where is Sheffler?
I don't even see him on the list.
I think Sheffler will make the cut.
You think five will make it, huh?
I think five is in.
Yeah, right now it's still three.
So as of taking- Yeah, I think it's going to move to five because the cut will continue to go up.
I could be wrong, but I think it's going to be five on the number.
All right.
Also, I've got a travel experience this past week.
We went to, and Chip was a part of it.
James, we talked about it.
I went to Gulf Stream Park in Florida, which, by the way, is underwater right now.
Yes, it is.
Yeah, that's got to be bad.
I mean, I looked at pictures.
We were there a week ago, a little less than a week ago.
We were there Sunday.
And the pictures this week in Hallandale Beach, where it's actually located, I mean, it's flooded.
So I can't imagine what that course looks like.
I mean, what the horse looks like.
The horse track, it was amazing.
I can see how you can go spend an afternoon there.
And James and I talked about this earlier in the week, Chip, but it was just, you know, it's just fun.
I mean, you know, to watch the horses and to see and to learn, you know, the claims race, the maiden race, you know, whatever all those things were.
Well, I tell you, we go down every January at the end of January.
They have the Pegasus World Cup there at the end of January.
And this past year, when we went down, we took off from Atlanta, and it was 44 degrees and raining.
And we landed in Fort Lauderdale, and it was 78 degrees and sunning.
There you go.
Doug, you see what a beautiful track it is.
They do a great job with it.
It's one of, I think, two horse tracks in the country that has three different surfaces.
They have what they call torpedo, which is a synthetic track.
They have dirt, and then they have turf, which is grass.
Santa Anita has that, and I think Gulfstream's the only other one that does.
Keeneland might, but no, I think Keeneland just has to start anyway.
But yeah, you saw it in June, and it was still pretty.
Imagine going down there in January.
When everything else in the country is below freezing, and it's just 75 and sunny in Highlandale Beach, Florida.
It's a glorious thing.
And then, unfortunately, you have to get on a plane on Sunday and come back, and when you land, it's 30 degrees cooler because you took off.
Yeah, well, speaking of coming back into Atlanta, and right now in Atlanta, the Fulton County Courthouse, and the Fulton, you know, we're talking about Friday Finals, but we're just talking about stupidity at this point.
Everybody is getting focused on, and James, and we've all talked about this, the Fannie Willis saga.
By the way, how many of you call it the Nathan Wade?
This is why you pay attorneys and press people to be with you in interviews.
James, did you see this?
No, I'm just Googling it right now.
What did I miss?
Oh my God, Chip.
Kalen Collins?
Chip, can you imagine that?
No.
No, he was getting ready to confirm his perjury on the stand.
Do not under any, you know, and by the way, Nathan Wade is an attorney and he's a good attorney, but you could tell when you watch the hearing, when you watch the hearing in the courtroom, neither Nathan Wade nor Fannie Willis wanted to talk about The first time they got together, right?
I mean, it was, you know, it was, oh, I mean, it might have been.
I mean, I didn't really think the relations started then, but maybe it was Paul here.
You know, he got to ask that question by Caitlin Collins, and they had to stop the interview, and then they went into the corner and kind of talked to themselves.
And, Doug, you know, the comms guy was going under no circumstances.
Yeah.
You tell her the first time you banged Fonnie Willis.
Oh my God.
It was- Because the Court of Appeals is going to use it again.
Oh my God.
Because Judge McAfee will call you back into the stand tomorrow for this.
I mean, it's like, oh my God.
What is he doing touring anyway?
Well, and not only that, Doug.
Not only that, but...
I mean, that...
Did he not expect to get asked that question?
Did he not have...
I mean, if you're preparing Nathan Wade for any interview, that's the one question you have to ask.
That's the first question.
You know, it's funny.
We talk.
It's weird.
Okay, so that...
It feels like court lately, and I know people have been talking about this a lot, but it feels like all these major cases are just, like, giant jokes.
It feels like you have this case where he was about to say something very dumb, and it was just in an interview with CNN. But then, Chip, we talked about this last week with the Hunter Biden case, the fact that, like, Somebody, his own words from a voice recording from a book were going to get him in trouble.
That's the funniest.
I can't get it out of my head that they had like an old school recorder.
And so the prosecutor just walked up and clicked that big button and all of a sudden you just hear Biden saying exactly when he was on crack.
Like that to me is the funniest thing.
And then...
You have the Young Thug case, which is just a massive waste of time at this point.
Two years of money just being thrown in the trash because the judge was like, I had a secret meeting.
Sorry, the Young Thug's attorney was like, they have a secret meeting, and all of a sudden he's like, where'd you get that information?
I can't tell you.
You know what?
You're going to jail.
That's literally what happened.
Well, in the DA office, Fannie's office is one of the, her senior district assistant district attorney is leading that case.
And she was sitting in the ex parte meeting with the judge and they have been completely silent.
She needs to be disbarred.
The judge needs to be sanctioned and removed from the bench and the trial is going to mistrial.
I mean, there's just no way around it.
But the funny thing, if y'all watch the testimony of this guy that they keep going back and forth, oh my God, he is hilarious.
I mean, he said, I'll tell them anything they want to know to get the pressure off me.
I tell them that her shoes is whatever color they want me to tell them.
I mean, it is amazing to see this and for a judge to ruin his career over this.
To show you, though, how everything is so intertwined in politics and Fulton County courtroom.
So Brian Steele, who is the criminal defense attorney, who's a well-known criminal defense attorney in Atlanta.
And very good.
But he does not represent anybody in the election interference case.
But when he got sanctioned by the judge, The attorney that came to represent him in that sanctioning is Ashley Merchant, who represents Michael Roman.
And Ashley Merchant is the one that came forward with the goods of the relationship between Fonnie Willis and Nathan Wade.
I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
It is amazing.
And Ashley, look, another good attorney, Ashley Merchant, she come in and she's there on the next day after this when they filed the appeal, which by the way, the Supreme Court took this appeal away from the Court of Appeals before it had even been docketed at the Court of Appeals and basically told the Court of Appeals, when you docket this case, you send it straight to us.
You don't even hear it.
You go straight to us because this is so stupid.
But Ashley, and they were going back and forth, this judge is so far out of his element That he was, he kept saying, and for those of you wonky out there, you can look this up, criminal contempt, civil contempt, there's differences here.
And he kept saying, you know, they kept saying, you've got to set a bond, you've got to do this, you can't do it this way.
He's due every due process right.
And he said, well, if he would just tell me who it was, I would purge the contempt, which means get rid of the contempt.
And Ashley and the other attorney sitting there said, but you're getting civil and criminal contempt confused.
She was telling the judge, you don't understand what you're doing.
So you have that.
You have the witness who's talking about, you know, he can't see.
He stood up in the courtroom and they said, is this person here?
And he starts looking around for like 30 seconds.
He's just looking around.
I think that's him back there.
I can't see close up.
I mean...
It's a joke.
And to think, with all these crimes going on, all this horrible stuff, the biggest crime is in Jacksonville, Florida, where they paid somebody $55 million a year who hasn't done anything.
Oh, now we're getting into the Trevor Lawrence.
Sorry, I just...
The George Floyd.
It just popped up on my phone while I was trying to read the Finding Willis stuff, and it was on the lower bar, and I just...
It's all over, player.
55 million a year.
Look, I have to admit I was a little surprised by that as well.
But, I mean, look what Atlanta's paying Kurt Cousins.
Right.
That's what I'm saying.
But at least Kurt Cousins, and I hate saying this, he hasn't accomplished technically anything.
But he's been reliable for four years.
He's been reliable.
Either one.
And look, in today's market, in today's quarterback market, if you're reliable and if you're top 12, top 13, top 14, you're going to get that money.
He's Trevor Lawrence top 14. I'm honestly asking that question right now.
Is he better than Baker Mayfield?
I've got to think his ceiling is higher than Baker Mayfield.
Yeah, I would say his ceiling may be higher.
His ceiling is higher than Baker Mayfield, but $55 million?
I'm not sure he's better than Baker Mayfield.
I know this shouldn't upset me because I want everyone to get their money.
I just...
This is the last year though, I think we got to, you got to get, I think we'd agree with this.
And I think even Chan would agree and Chan's a fan of Mayfield.
But I think this year is the make or break for Mayfield.
If he, if he, he's another year in the system in Tampa.
Well, he just signed a 33 mil a year deal.
He's the only person who's got a middle of the road deal.
Yeah.
Which makes sense.
I think they've got to work it, but we'll see how that acts.
But look, and I go back to my saying, at least Trevor Lawrence has at least a playoff appearance and some other stuff, which some others that we're all talking about haven't done anything.
So, Richardson, Caleb Williams.
Okay, Richardson played four games.
He hasn't gotten paid yet.
You've got to relax.
Caleb Williams is going to be a star, and I hate saying that out loud.
The real thing is, though, Will the J.J. to J.J. connection be everything I hope it is the moment Sam Darnold busts his leg or is just so awful?
How long do you give it in Minnesota?
How long do y'all give it in Minnesota before J.J. McCarthy becomes the starter?
Not until next year.
Four games?
Next year.
Sam Darnold's doing comeback player of the year this year.
I think it's six games in.
You can only see my face right now.
Alright.
Week four or week five?
Okay, this is what I genuinely believe.
I believe if the Vikings are on a trajectory of eight and nine, they won't play J.J. McCarthy.
But if they lose the first five, six games, or they're one and four, two and five, whatever, then yeah, they're going to put J.J. in for sure.
If they're on 8-9, I think they're looking at 8-9.
He comes in, definitely like we said, about week 7, week 6. See, but I don't think that's the case.
I think if they're 8-9, it's the possibility of squeezing into the playoffs somehow, so they'll just keep it running.
Yeah, I don't think they'll make the playoffs.
No, they're not gonna.
I'm saying if that's their trajectory.
But if they're really bad, I think they'll put McCarthy in a...
Oh, I don't even want to see him in a uniform.
I don't even want to see him in a uniform.
I want to see him red shirt this year so badly because I'm literally picturing what happened to Sam Darnold and what happened to what's-his-name with the Jets also.
Here's my...
Okay, let's sort of wrap it up.
We've had a great show today.
This has been fun.
We've got to get back.
We're back into it regularly now.
We're going to have some friends.
By the way, folks, we're going to have Matt Whitaker's going to join us on Friday's Finest in a week coming up.
We're going to have Shan Gailey coming back on.
We've got OTA's got in the finishing up, but also we're going to hopefully have Michelle Tafoya possibly joining us on Friday's Finest as well to discuss some football and some other things in the sports world as we go through.
There's a lot going on, but look, to wrap us up today on this Friday's Finest edition, As you look at this, let's say, who is your, out of all these quarterbacks we talk about, and especially since there was such a large crop of new ones coming in, pick your breakout, and not other players, but who's your rookie of the year in the quarterback position coming into the NFL? James?
Jaden Daniels.
Jaden Daniels.
Chip?
You know, I want it to be Bo Nix from Denver, but I think it's probably going to be Jaden Daniels.
If Bo Nix is successful, I am going to punch a hole in one.
Hey, hold on, guys.
Hold on.
It will not be Michael Penix.
Good call.
And it will not be Caleb Williams.
Oh, Doug.
And comeback of the year will not be Richardson out of Indiana.
It's going to be Bo Nix.
I like it.
I think he's in the perfect position with Peyton, with Denver.
What is wrong with you guys?
Sean Peyton is a bad person and he deserves nothing but bad stuff coming his way.
Go watch the movie of his life.
Are you trying to tell me the one with, what's his name, Kevin James?
Yes.
No, that's not going to make it better.
That makes it worse.
Have you ever heard that Kevin James is a bad person?
Remember where you are right now.
You're probably no more than 15 minutes away from Mile Hong.
The guy running the Airbnb is a huge Denver fan.
We've talked.
I don't like Sean Payton.
I'll say it as loud as I possibly can.
Oh, we tried to trick Minnesota into taking J.J. McCarthy.
What are you talking about?
We were never taking Bo Nix.
It was never going to happen.
Did we trade up for whatever?
Sure.
But that's not the point.
You didn't do anything to us, and I hope Sean Payton...
And I know this is just me being angry that Brett Favre threw an interception when he could have walked out of bounds 10 years ago, but...
I just...
I can't.
I can't deal with this nonsense.
Chip, I think this is some displacement over his anxiety over Minnesota.
I think this is really being...
Guys, the Nets are in trouble.
The Mets are just awful.
And the Vikings aren't going to be good in my life.
The problem...
The problem is you asked that question right after he had to hope for Sam Darnold playing all year.
First of all, Sam Darnold, when he wins Comeback Player of the Year and you guys are eating your words...
You know what?
Honestly, you know what?
If he's on the list, I'll bet on that right now.
Aaron Rodgers is the comeback player of the year.
Aaron Rodgers is going to snap his other ankle.
Where is he?
Has he not talked where he is yet?
I saw somebody say that he was hiding under Pat McAfee's couch, and that made me laugh for about 20 minutes.
That is pretty funny.
He makes himself worse every time I hear him speak, and now that I hear him speak, I hate him even more.
Well, he got better, and then he just went off talking all the time.
He stopped going on the McAfee show because he went a little too far, and then all of a sudden...
He's like, all right, now I'm good.
I'm rehabbed.
I'm going to be here for the team.
We can't have any distractions.
And then he's an immediate distraction during mandatory minicamp.
Yeah, I agree.
I agree.
All right, folks, that's Friday's Finest.
We've got a lot to discuss.
James is...
I mean, we're going to also just rename this part of these segments the Door Explorer segment with James as he finds his way around Denver.
If you're a bachelorette party in Denver, beware.
James is there.
If he wants to talk, hey, he's harmless.
Just let him talk.
But, you know, if you find all these bachelorette parties, James, you know, we're really, you know, Chip and I are two old guys who have been married 36 and 20-plus years.
I mean, it's like, really...
He probably will not find many in Butte, Montana.
I'm not going to find anything in Butte, Montana.
The only person I'm going to see on a dating app is a cow out there, and that's fine.
We'll probably need to warn you about stuff that we don't need you to fall for in Butte, but we'll work on that later as we get on there.
Folks, y'all go out and have a great weekend.
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.
It's a great weekend.
And you've got the US Open golf tournament, so it's going to be good stuff.
Y'all all have a great one.
We'll see you again on Monday.
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