Dennis Prager Show - This Southern California Restaurant Owner is Taking a Stand
Aired: 2020-12-07
Duration: 07:17


=== A Stand for Courage (07:17) ===

[00:00:00]  And I have a fighter.
[00:00:02]  You all know my love of courage.
[00:00:05]  Without it, there is no chance for good to prevail on Earth.
[00:00:08]  Tony Roman is the man.
[00:00:09]  He's the owner of Basilico's...
[00:00:11]  So let's see.
[00:00:13]  Pasta e vino.
[00:00:15]  We were even giving you The Godfather.
[00:00:18]  I mean...
[00:00:19]  By the way, is there something like wrong about that Italian guy comes on the show and we play The Godfather theme?
[00:00:28]  You know, it's almost like the Italian national anthem these days.
[00:00:34]  I'll tell you one thing, we're with you on Columbus.
[00:00:37]  Oh, okay.
[00:00:38]  Well, you know, that's another stand that we took.
[00:00:39]  When they tore down the statues, I put up a drink on our menu, saying raising our own statue to an Italian hero.
[00:00:48]  And again, people's heads exploded, and I enjoy doing it.
[00:00:53]  So he has kept his restaurant open, which is all...
[00:00:57]  I've asked restaurants to do.
[00:00:59]  Why are you listening?
[00:01:02]  It shows you the power of fear.
[00:01:04]  I mean, it's not...
[00:01:06]  When Tony Roman is not here, because I don't want to take his time, I want to reflect with you some very, very, very big conclusions that I've drawn about humans as a result of what I've seen in America the last six months.
[00:01:24]  Maybe next hour.
[00:01:26]  And applying it to the terrible situations in Russia and Germany in the mid-20th century.
[00:01:34]  All right, anyway, back to Tony Roman.
[00:01:36]  So let's see.
[00:01:37]  So no masks.
[00:01:39]  And this is meant seriously.
[00:01:42]  Has anybody that you know gotten seriously ill as a result of their experience in your restaurant?
[00:01:49]  There's been nothing traced back to the Basilico.
[00:01:53]  There's no contact tracing of anything.
[00:01:56]  And your workers have been showing up every day?
[00:01:58]  This has actually been one of our healthiest years that we've ever had.
[00:02:01]  Right.
[00:02:02]  You know, we've had years in the past where an employee would get a flu and we'd make him stay home.
[00:02:05]  You know, we would do that anyway, right?
[00:02:07]  So, but yeah, when we took our stand against the masks, that's when the left really went.
[00:02:13]  It went insane.
[00:02:14]  And the supporters of the tiny dictator, you know, here in our state, especially on the celebrity side, we got hit from everywhere, you know, the shamers.
[00:02:25]  And, you know, based on that, we started to receive death threats, people calling to threaten, you know, basically to burn the restaurant down.
[00:02:36]  They want to follow me to my car, put a bullet in the back of my head and everything else.
[00:02:40]  Yeah, that's the tolerant left that we always talk about.
[00:02:44]  Right.
[00:02:44]  There's no such thing as tolerant left.
[00:02:46]  If you're a tolerant left, you're a liberal.
[00:02:47]  That's it.
[00:02:48]  So, this has been a success for you?
[00:02:53]  Have people...
[00:02:54]  Flocked to your restaurant?
[00:02:55]  You know at first when I took the stand it wasn't a business thing like I said I didn't think about the business at all and I tell people who considers taking a stand you are blessed to be in a position to have a platform of a business to be on the front lines of this and take a stand not for your business but for for America, right?
[00:03:15]  And so when I took our stand, even my young staff, they thought it was nuts.
[00:03:20]  They said, Tony, this is going to be bad for business.
[00:03:22]  I didn't care.
[00:03:22]  I didn't care at all.
[00:03:24]  If my space was a plot of dirt, I'd do the same exact thing that I'm doing now.
[00:03:30]  And initially, a lot of people didn't show up.
[00:03:33]  We were empty.
[00:03:34]  People would come pick up to-go food and delivery, and that was it.
[00:03:38]  But over time, they started showing up.
[00:03:40]  But when the hate started coming towards us and that was publicized, the supporters started to come from everywhere.
[00:03:45]  I mean, we have people driving from Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Utah, Oregon, Washington, LA all the time.
[00:03:53]  Ventura, Sherman Oaks, they're coming from everywhere.
[00:03:56]  And it's because at the restaurant, it's not...
[00:04:00]  Yeah, sure, you come down, you have great food.
[00:04:02]  It's Italian home-cooked style food.
[00:04:03]  It's my mother's food.
[00:04:04]  She created all the recipes.
[00:04:06]  But it is a movement now, and people want to be part of the battle.
[00:04:10]  People come down there, and you should see the energy.
[00:04:13]  It's incredible.
[00:04:14]  Patriots everywhere.
[00:04:15]  They're swarming the place.
[00:04:17]  And I'm meeting great people.
[00:04:19]  I'm definitely coming.
[00:04:20]  I mean, I just got to finish my book.
[00:04:22]  And as I told you, I publicly announce the day I hand in the book, January 31, where the next day we're coming to you for a celebration.
[00:04:34]  And a living martyr is coming, which is a very big deal.
[00:04:37]  I appreciate that.
[00:04:38]  Because he's somewhat of a hermit.
[00:04:39]  That would be amazing.
[00:04:40]  And I want to say something else.
[00:04:41]  That was a joke.
[00:04:42]  He's not a hermit.
[00:04:43]  No, no, he's not a hermit.
[00:04:45]  He looks like a hermit.
[00:04:46]  He's not a hermit.
[00:04:48]  He's been a gentleman.
[00:04:49]  He's been very helpful.
[00:04:50]  No kidding.
[00:04:51]  He's awesome.
[00:04:52]  But I want to say, too, that when business owners feel fear about taking a stand, first of all, if you're going to take the stand, do it fully.
[00:05:02]  Do it fully.
[00:05:03]  Don't do half measures.
[00:05:04]  No restrictions, right?
[00:05:06]  None.
[00:05:06]  Go back to pre-margin.
[00:05:07]  So here's the question.
[00:05:09]  Everybody listening is waiting for this question, including me.
[00:05:12]  So here it goes.
[00:05:14]  Why are you almost alone among restaurant owners?
[00:05:18]  That's what I was going to get to next.
[00:05:19]  Because the fear people feel, right?
[00:05:22]  And I tell them, when you feel that fear...
[00:05:25]  Think about the real heroes.
[00:05:27]  Think about the founders of this country who sacrificed everything to gift you the precious freedoms and liberties that you have.
[00:05:36]  And think of the soldiers who have fought and died, who have taken real shrapnel and bullets, right?
[00:05:43]  In defense of those things.
[00:05:45]  And you're going to surrender all of that over a mask mandate and a pandemic of fear?
[00:05:51]  No.
[00:05:51]  You have to...
[00:05:52]  When you're afraid of losing a liquor license or a business license or receiving a citation or a fine, think about them and honor them.
[00:06:02]  Because if you surrender those things, you are dishonoring them.
[00:06:07]  And I think if people have that in mind, they will feel the courage that I feel.
[00:06:13]  And it's as simple as that.
[00:06:15]  God, we are such kindred spirits.
[00:06:17]  I've always said how Normandy has affected my life.
[00:06:20]  Going to Normandy Beach.
[00:06:22]  Seeing thousands of guys lying dead at the age of 20. There's nowhere I'd rather go than there.
[00:06:29]  I cannot wait to make that trip.
[00:06:31]  I said, wait a minute.
[00:06:32]  So I'm going to be scared of Gavin Newsom?
[00:06:35]  These guys attacked Nazi machine guns?
[00:06:37]  And I'm going to be frightened of Fauci and Newsom and Pelosi?
[00:06:43]  You've got to be kidding.
[00:06:44]  Or Garcetti?
[00:06:45]  These are nothings.
[00:06:47]  And think about this.
[00:06:48]  The lockdown started today.
[00:06:49]  The new lockdown, right?
[00:06:51]  What is today?
[00:06:52]  The anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
[00:06:54]  That's right.
[00:06:54]  Well said.
[00:06:55]  Right?
[00:06:56]  Think about that.
[00:06:56]  I do think about that.
[00:06:58]  That's why you're here.
[00:06:59]  Thank you.
[00:07:00]  Appreciate that.
[00:07:00]  I want the line.
[00:07:02]  People should call for reservations, you think?
[00:07:04]  Well, we only reserve one table in the restaurant.
[00:07:07]  It's like the Godfather table.
[00:07:09]  Six or more.
[00:07:10]  It's first come, first serve?
[00:07:11]  It's first come, first serve.
[00:07:12]  But people have a great time waiting outside.
[00:07:15]  Basilico's Restaurant, Orange County, California.