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March 14, 2023 - Dennis Prager Show
01:23:22
Gratuitous Violence
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Dennis Prager here.
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Hi everybody, and welcome to the Dennis Prager Show.
Coming to you once again from Chicago, and my station here, WIND, W-I-N-D, AM 560, if I'm not mistaken.
Correct?
Yeah, 560 the answer.
Yeah, it's very low on the dial.
It's a great station, and we had sold out evening last night.
And I had a great time.
We who hold traditional, middle-class, Judeo-Christian, American, whatever term you wish to use, values, we are not alone.
I know it better than most people because I travel every week and meet so many people who are kindred spirits.
I even met a young girl who is into fountain pens.
That was a highlight, I've got to say.
If she's listening or her family, it was a real joy.
We are not alone, but there is a perception, and I said this 20 years ago, there's a civil war in this country, may it always be non-violent, but...
There is one.
There is chaos, and because the left creates chaos.
Here is a piece from Channel 4 in Los Angeles, NBC4. Watch, and as a video, street takeover flash mob swarms Los Angeles 7-Eleven.
Grand theft, looting, and vandalism are some of the crimes police say were caught on video.
When a large crowd took over a 7-Eleven.
All young people, of course, and just taking what they want.
There's no doubt in my mind, and if you differ, I'm more than happy to hear from you, that the acceptance of all the violence of 2020...
In the violent, I'm not talking peaceful, I'm talking all the violent protests that took place, burning police cars, taking over places, smashing windows.
The acceptance of it by the authorities of those cities was a turning point in American history.
It announced to a certain percentage of this country, actually it announced to the entire country, that we accept...
Looting and destruction, provided it is done by the right people and for the right cause.
But, of course, the thugs who took over, these punks, these little bored punks, who are conscienceless, who took over the 7-Eleven yesterday in Los Angeles, you should all see it.
We'll put it up at DennisPrager.com.
You should see it.
These people got the message that violence is fine.
They got the message in another way from the Democratic Party, because if you steal under $950, you essentially are not prosecuted.
That is the message that went out, that violence is okay.
Not murder.
That is not...
The message has not gone out that murder is okay, stealing is okay, smashing, stealing, even periodic punches, not yet murder.
I say yet because I don't know what the future will hold, but at least I want to give you the semi-good news.
Murder is not regarded as acceptable by the Democratic Party.
Violence is, depending again on who did it, and for what ostensible cause.
This has now become commonplace in cities, every one of which are run by Democrats.
And yet, from polling and fundraising, it appears that Democrats are doing well for the...
Coming November elections, Tucker Carlson reported on this last night, how not big fundraisers, but little folks, little funds, that there's far more going to Democrats in most cases than to Republicans.
The problem with Republican candidates, many of whom are just fine, some of whom are wonderful, Is that they run against their opponent and they don't run against the left and the Democratic Party.
If the Democrats can retain the House and the Senate with the damage that they have done to the American people and the world, the world withdrawing from Afghanistan, and giving the green light to Putin, my ass Neil Ferguson, one of the leading historians alive, Putin have attacked Ukraine if Donald Trump were president.
There wasn't even an inhale between my question and his response.
No.
I did not know what Neil Ferguson would say.
Former Harvard professor now at the Stanford institution at Stanford.
Excuse me, the Hoover institution at Stanford.
But that's what he said.
Of course he was right.
Putin and others feared Donald Trump.
I fear Joe Biden, but bad guys don't fear Joe Biden.
Good guys fear Joe Biden.
It's all inverted.
Everything is inverted.
When I spoke last night here in Chicago, I said that going from Los Angeles to Chicago is...
Is really just sitting on a plane for a few hours.
There is no difference.
We both live in semi-police states for the last two years.
We both live in woke areas.
Lori Lightfoot is their mayor.
That's quite a choice by the voters of Chicago.
There is one deep woman.
Eric Garcetti, that deep man, was the choice of Los Angelinos.
You do know that there is a recall against George Gascon, the district attorney, the prosecutor for Los Angeles County.
It received hundreds and hundreds of thousands.
I've got to get the number for you.
200,000 votes were disqualified, so there's no...
Ballot measure to recall George Gascon, another Soros, chaos-inducing prosecutor who does not believe that people should be held on high bail if they've committed a violent crime, especially if they are in a racial minority, because there are too many members of racial minorities in prison.
I couldn't agree more.
There are too many.
That means there are too many of them committing crime.
By the way, do you think that you could say in any college, with the exception of a Hillsdale-like college, what if you said in your sociology class or political science class, if the issue came up of the number of blacks in prison, and you said, well, it would seem to me...
That blacks disproportionately are committing crimes.
That's why they're disproportionately in prison.
And you would be booed and you would be hissed.
The teacher might well fail you.
You would be ostracized.
The reason is not because you said an anti-black comment.
It is not an anti-black comment.
The reason is you said the truth.
Truths may not be told on the left because they disturb the scenario that they are giving.
This amount of crime, including murder, in every one of our big cities, what we have here is the destruction, the decay of many big cities.
It's quite remarkable.
Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago.
So many of the people I spoke to here just want to leave Illinois.
Many people have.
Housing is not as expensive, they told me.
It's not gone up as high in Chicago as in most places in the country because people don't want to stay.
A once great city that is being damaged, maybe fatally, by the Democratic Party.
And it looks like, I don't know, right now, unless things change, and that will be, if it is true that the Democrats retain the House and or the Senate, then it is clear that Americans support the suicide of their country.
Not all.
We have to fight.
Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation.
People are concerned about what the future holds financially.
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AmericanFederal.com Hey, everybody.
Talking to you about the demise of American cities.
It all began with the acceptance of violence by the Democratic mayors and city councils and senators and congressmen of gratuitous violence in 2020. That's when it began.
When the authorities accept evil, evil will multiply.
That is as simple as that.
And the Democratic Party accepts evil.
If you deny that, you're lying to yourself.
It's really as simple as that.
But they are paying the price, but they don't really feel it.
That's because it doesn't bother them.
So I want to bring to you the attention here of what the Daily Mail reports on Portland and San Francisco and Cleveland.
So listen to this.
San Francisco, Cleveland, and Portland have seen activity drop by almost 50%.
As soaring crime in the Democrat-run cities forces workers, tourists, and homeowners away.
San Francisco's downtown activity was down to 31% compared to 2019. Right before the riots.
And I... Attach this news story to my earlier comments.
Will people vote Democrat as the Democrats crush this country with an open border, letting millions of people in illegally, encouraging them to come in?
Open borders is suicide for any society, even if the nicest people come in.
It's not a matter of, are these people nice?
It's a mixture of humanity like every other group.
But you just can't run a country that way.
Will Democrats win despite what they have done to big cities?
Will Democrats win despite printing three quarters of a trillion dollars during the highest inflation in 40 years?
That is about a sobering In fact, I will admit depressing a thought, as I can offer you.
San Francisco downtown activity to 31 compared to 2019. As the city contends with high crime, despite finally agreeing to shut down its controversial open-air drug market by the end of the year.
Cleveland's downtown activity was down to 30%, 36%.
Portland had the third worst downtown activity since its pre-pandemic era, down to 41%, as homeless encampments surge in the city that championed the defund the police movement.
The mayor of that city is still the mayor of that city.
Meanwhile, cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, Bakersfield, California, and Columbus, Ohio, are enjoying the fastest comeback.
Seeing their downtown activity go up by more than 110%.
My belief is this doesn't bother the Democratic Party.
It may bother some Democratic voters.
But it doesn't bother the party.
Whether they're in power or not is the only thing that bothers them.
And they may well be.
Despite what I have just read to you.
Yes.
Defund the police.
Oh, God.
The thought that this is the way anybody would think.
Let's see now.
You know I'm torn on this issue because I want to bring you good news.
There is good news.
The good news is that a lot of us are fighting back.
Look, this is a dark time in American life.
Okay?
Acknowledge it and don't despair.
That's a sin.
Life is not guaranteed to be easy in every generation.
It was spectacularly easy for most Americans since World War II. Americans got complacent.
They took America for granted.
Ingratitude, one of the ugliest traits in the human condition, predominates on the left, as I have often said.
You get a BA in ingratitude, a master's in ingratitude, and a PhD in ingratitude.
And now you know what the consequences are.
Chaos.
Flash mobs going into 7-Eleven.
Oh, might I add another reason?
The precipitous decline of religion.
A religious kid has been taught that God said, God, the creator of the universe, said, Thou shalt not steal.
The secular kid has no God who said, Thou shalt not steal.
Not all secular kids are stealing, obviously.
I know that.
And I'm not saying they do.
But I am saying that all of these young people who are stealing are irreligious.
I don't know if they heard of the Ten Commandments, and I don't know how many, if they did hear of them, they could name.
But I know this.
They don't believe God said, do not steal.
Because the intellectuals of the last century said, we don't need God for morality, conscience is enough.
That's right.
Now you know why you become stupid.
Your institution becomes stupid as it becomes secular.
The correlation is 100%.
Back in a moment.
The Dennis Prager Show.
Hey, am I on, babes?
Yep, yep.
I need to up my volume here.
Oh, I know what to do.
I'm in Chicago, everybody, just fixing little details.
Guys here at AM560 are terrific to me.
I thank you very much.
Listen to this.
The former CIA director and former NSA director under the Bush administration said two days ago that the modern GOP, the Republican Party, is the most treacherous political force he has encountered in his lifetime.
Gives you an idea of the moral depth of our intelligence community.
Alan, could you check if he was one of the signatories to the claim by the intelligence heads, 51 of them, that Hunter Biden's laptop was really Russian disinformation?
General Michael Hayden concurred with the inflammatory he was.
That was fast.
Wow.
We have crooks.
We have left-wing thugs running our intelligence world, like Michael Hayden.
If he thinks that the Republican Party, which means half this country, is the most dangerous political, treacherous political force he has ever encountered, it says nothing about Republicans.
It says everything about Michael Hayden and the intelligence community.
They hate Trump because he would clean out the house.
Edward Luce, associate editor of the Financial Times, I didn't realize how left-wing the Financial Times is, tweeted, I've covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career, have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous, and contemptible than today's Republicans.
Nothing close.
Wow.
They never specify what makes Republicans the worst, most treacherous, most nihilistic force.
The people who tell us men give birth, that America is the most systemically racist society, many of whom advocated defunding the police, Shakespeare should not be venerated because he's white.
These people are talking about nihilism?
I agree, and I was the CIA director, Hayden wrote in a quote tweet.
Wow.
Now you understand what's going on with the FBI. And the Department of Justice, if you think you're the greatest enemy in America is the Republicans, then you will do what you have to do, including use the government to suppress Republicans.
It's the first time in my life I believe that there are political prisoners in the United States.
I said to somebody, During the meet and greet here in Chicago last night, I said, any country can become the Soviet Union.
And I really liked the line, and I made sure to email it to myself, lest I forget it.
That's a very big lesson.
It certainly has affected me, the realization, any country can become the Soviet Union, including the United States.
I really did believe it was a debate in my mind when they went from the czar to the commissar, as they say, from czarism to communism, that there's something in Russian culture that lends itself towards dictatorship.
And there might be, by the way.
There might be.
Stalin is a hero to about half of Russia's citizens.
To venerate someone who murdered tens of millions of your own people is really sick.
The human condition is somewhat pathetic.
But there are a lot of great people.
Don't forget that.
You've just got to find them.
And I don't think it's that hard.
Please understand, they are around.
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You know, those of you who live in big cities, And used to go to downtown cultural events or museums.
Well, I guess that's not an event, so it's not redundant.
Or to restaurants.
Have you curtailed your shopping, your visiting, your eating downtown?
So, 1-8 Prager 776. Very interested to hear first-person experiences on that.
University of Virginia school paper, the Cavalier, serving the university community since 1890. So, of course, it's a woke left-wing rag sheet.
And they are now calling for...
Listen to this.
We reject how the university's physical environment...
One that glorifies racists, slaveholders, and eugenicists with statues and buildings named in their honor upholds an enduring culture of white supremacy.
There is a reason why Charlottesville's local Ku Klux Klan chapter hosted its inauguration ceremony at Jefferson's Monticello tomb.
There is a reason why white supremacists gathered with torches around Jefferson's statue on the north side of the rotunda.
There is a reason why they felt comfortable marching through grounds.
I guess grounds is capitalized in the area in the University of Virginia.
Our physical environment from statues to building names.
To Jefferson's overwhelming presence, exalts people who held the same beliefs as the repugnant white supremacists in attendance at the Unite the Right rally.
These buildings must be renamed and memorials removed.
Donald Trump, who told more truth in a week than the New York Times tells in a year, Including the lie that he's this great liar.
The man told big truths and little lies.
Okay?
Just for the record.
Like the number of people in attendance at his inauguration.
He said, watch what's going to happen.
They're going to tear down Washington and Jefferson and Madison.
And he was right.
He was absolutely right.
The University of Virginia would like statues of Jefferson removed and any honoring of the man who wrote, all men are created equal.
The man who founded a country to which 3 million blacks voluntarily moved.
360,000 were brought as slaves.
Needless to say, but in our sick time, people are, if they don't say it, They're presumed to be pro-evil.
Slavery is one of the great evils of human history.
Everybody knows that.
Well, not everybody.
There's still slavery in some parts of the Middle East.
But most people know that.
But truth is the enemy of the left.
360,000 blacks.
We're sent in hellhole ships to the Americas, no, not the Americas, to America, North America.
Brazil got millions.
360,000, and 3 million have moved to the United States from Africa and the Caribbean, voluntarily.
Overwhelmingly successful immigrant group, by the way.
Do you think one student at this rag sheet, what they have done to student newspapers is truly tragic?
The Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia, written and edited by foolish young people who have the arrogance to think they are better human beings than Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson...
It's a giant compared to these midgets at the University of Virginia paper.
Wow.
So this is what the Daily Editorial Board composed of the executive editor, the editor-in-chief, the two opinion editors, their senior associate, and an opinion columnist.
Wow.
There are comments, five comments.
The first is I get paid over $130 per hour working from home.
Second one is I am making real good money online from my laptop.
The third one, making every month extra dollars by doing an easy job online.
The fourth one.
I make up to $24 an hour working from my home.
The fifth one.
I find the Pam's Post making money from home more sensible than the pablum the editorial is spouting.
Those are the comments.
The fifth one from Brooks Cowan.
God, is that true?
Well...
This is really something, what is happening at our universities.
Do you think that one of the editors knows that 3 million blacks have moved to the U.S. in the last few decades?
Should they have not moved, given how racist America allegedly is?
What would these editors at the University of Virginia School papers say to that.
Would they advise them not to come?
Hey, don't be stupid.
This country hates you.
Hates blacks.
Don't come here.
Would they say that?
God, I'd love to know.
All right.
We continue.
The Dennis Prager Show.
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I even thought of having a part two I will have a part two.
I haven't been on the whole time.
What happened?
Okay, I'll start again, everybody.
Hi, this is the Happiness Hour.
You didn't even hear me singing.
I guess there was a glitch.
Was it in Dallas?
Oh, back here in Chicago?
These guys are flawless.
Well, what are you going to do?
Anyway, welcome to the Happiness Hour.
And you missed my singing, which is no big deal.
Though I had new lyrics this time.
And my opening statement is that even though we're living in a dark time, and if you don't believe it's a dark time, I'm...
I don't know what would constitute one, but in any event, you still have to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is incumbent upon us at all times.
Nobody promised that American life would remain easy.
In fact, the combination of...
All that affluence, all that ease, and secularism is, as I have said so often, the inevitable equation of chaos, what it produces.
So, that's why we have a happiness hour now.
Today's topic is completely different from any other.
Pets.
Pets is a complex question, actually.
It's not an easy question.
I believe when I read that for many people, a pet is a life prolonger and a health inducer.
A dog and a cat, usually they are the ones that people bond with.
It is clear that people bond with their dog, some with their cat, and it can be a beautiful enhancement in one's life.
However, all blessings come with curses, and there might be a bad aspect to it.
So I'm going to pose an interesting question posed to me.
I didn't come up with this.
Is a single person living with a dog or two dogs less likely to want to get married and have children?
When this person, I don't remember who it was.
I think it was at some speech and somebody mentioned it to me while getting a photo or something.
That's a very provocative question.
The moment the person said it to me as a woman, the moment she said it to me, it somehow resonated.
Does a single person living alone with a pet want, need, yearn for a man and children as much as one Who doesn't?
Maybe not.
In other words, and there's a part two to this, the in other words part is a part two, do pets in more than a few cases replace children?
Not replace children who have left the house.
Replace having children.
The statement that this person made resonated with me.
Thank you.
I think of a woman living especially in a big city and career-oriented and has a dog or two versus a woman in the same city, same circumstances, no pet.
If you had to bet who will marry...
Who will not?
Every one of you would say that the one without the pet would be more likely to marry.
But there are two stages here, marriage and children.
Do couples with pets, are they less likely to have children?
A married couple, or a couple living together.
Do animals supplant children is the question.
And I think in many cases, certainly not all, they do.
1-8-Prager-776-877-243-776 Rick in Westchester, California.
Hello.
Morning.
I actually have people that I work with that fit both categories.
I have a 50-year-old man who's a good friend of mine who has two dogs, and until they pass, he doesn't want to disturb them with their sequence and having another person around until they go, until he finds a long-term girlfriend or spouse, which is kind of sad because he's a really great guy.
And then I also have another co-worker who says that, you know, they love horses, and they said that their horses are their pets, I mean, are their children.
Wow.
Is that a man or a woman?
Both of them are men, but obviously the one with the horses is married, so I'm sure the wife feels the same way.
So he's a married man, and the horse fills the hole that not having children.
Correct.
Alright, that's my point.
Why is it on the happiness hour?
Because I think that it is ultimately, if you have the opportunity, a fuller life to have a child than a pet.
The question on the table is, is that controversial? .
By the way, there's a reason, I think there's a reason, a big reason, for the use of pets to replace what used to be children.
Basically, except upon their death, they can't hurt you.
Very few children cause no pain in a parent.
Very few.
But the vast majority of pets cause no pain.
Plus, no matter what your mood, they will love you up.
The number of times I have heard or read, ah, my dog gives me unconditional love.
That's correct.
Your dog does give you unconditional love.
Only dogs give unconditional love.
That's the point.
Or maybe your horse or your cat.
That's fine.
I don't care.
I have been suspicious of the concept of unconditional love, as so many of you know, for quite some time.
And here is one of the reasons.
If you really want unconditional love, you probably won't.
Have a child.
And you will opt more for a dog or a cat or a horse, as the last caller pointed out.
People want more and more a pain-free life because life since World War II in America has, for the most part, relative to other periods of time, been pain-free.
It is now an expectation.
Back in a moment.
The Dennis Prager Show.
The happiness hour, and the subject is pets replacing children and even a spouse.
So we go back to Tampa.
Guy was living with a woman.
And the Siamese cat, one of the three cats she had, was jealous of him.
Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
You know, Mr. Prager, I tried everything I could.
I was even allergic to cats, but I loved her so much, I was willing to take the cat.
The first night I was there with her, she was sound asleep.
I wake up because I see three cats purring on the bed looking at me.
And I'm like, whoa!
Let's have a little fun.
Yeah, so it was like we talked about...
Wait, so what happened ultimately?
Well, ultimately, we broke up.
She moved in with a very wealthy man who had horses, and the Siamese cat hated him too.
How do you know that?
Well, she told me because we had stayed in contact.
You know, we stayed friends, which it's and that's the way it should be.
Things happen.
You go on with life and things happen.
But it was kind of funny because when the first time I was there, the tabby cat, yeah, Chester was his name, really liked me.
But the Siamese wouldn't come near me, would snarl every time.
We tried putting him out in the hallway.
All you could see is his paws coming underneath the door because he wanted to get in there so bad.
Are you married, Bill?
No, I'm not.
I'm single.
I have a girlfriend.
She does not have cats.
But that's not the premise I would go by.
I mean, if you have animals, I'm an animal person.
I've had dogs in my day.
But, yeah, it was just kind of interesting because, you know, I was in love with this girl.
I really wanted to make the move.
Actually, when I was doing radio, I would give the cat shout-outs.
Well, it really meant a lot to the cat.
There's no question.
That's a great story.
Let's see here.
We've got some very interesting...
Janine in Loma Linda, California.
Hello.
Hey, Dennis.
How are you?
I know who you are.
Yeah, I know who you are, too.
Nice to talk to you.
Thank you.
I just wanted to say I am one who actually thought about this issue very early in my single life.
I love dogs, but I knew having a dog would make me less likely to get out and have a social life.
But I wanted some kind of pet, so I got a cat.
Dogs whine and cry when you leave.
Cats, if they glance at you at all when you leave, it's like, just be home by mealtime.
Exactly.
When I did get married, I made my husband promise me my cat could sleep up by my pillow because that's where she was used to sleeping, and I loved having her there.
He obviously said yes.
Yeah, yeah.
He learned to love that cat, actually.
She slept with him a lot when I was working because I work night shift, and she's gone now.
We haven't gotten other pets because we travel a lot.
But we've agreed we will probably get a dog at some point because we both do love dogs.
Did you end up having children?
It's a long story, but I got married too late to have children.
It wasn't because of the cat.
Right.
No, no, that's fair.
But you had thought about it.
That's impressive.
That she knew there was a danger that this would substitute for a man slash children.
And I salute her.
I know her.
She's a very deep person.
All right.
Let's see.
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Pete, hello.
How are you doing, Dennis?
Good.
It's a real honor to be on your show.
Thank you.
I've had people in the past claim family members and friends that they love their pets as much as I love my children.
Yes, that's an interesting call.
They obviously don't have children.
No.
And when they eventually did have children, at that point, they didn't comment anymore.
Very interesting.
Okay, I appreciate that call.
You know, I have asked people for 40 years, young people, would you save your dog or a stranger first if both were drowning?
And two-thirds, well, one-third say they would save the dog, one-third the stranger, one-third doesn't know.
And a woman called me once and said, look, my dog is a member of the family.
Well, the subject of the Happiness Hour this week is, do pets replace the subject of the Happiness Hour this week is, do pets replace children and even And I understand the love of a pet, and I do worry that for more than a few people they are a replacement.
By the way, my wife reminds me of who it was who said that a...
That a woman, or a man for that matter, presumably, who is single and living with dogs or cats is less likely to want to get married.
I thought it was a fascinating observation.
Anne McElhaney, who is a remarkable woman.
Some of you may know her.
Many of you might.
They made the Gosnell film, She and Her Husband Phelan.
P-H-E-L-I-M. They have a great podcast, by the way.
I'm very happy to just tell you about it.
The Ann and Phelan Scoop and Serial Killer.
Check that out.
Ann and Phelan Scoop and Serial Killer.
That's where I got that idea.
And...
There's somebody who wants to tell me about an ad.
I guess they hung up.
I was very curious about what the ad...
Oh yeah, no, no, what the ad was.
All right, let's see.
Valley Stream, Long Island.
Mara, hello.
Hey, good afternoon, Dennis.
We spoke a few months ago when I told you my husband was studying engineering.
I thought he was going to be a conductor on the railroad, you may recall.
Today I have a 40-year-old son who is in a relationship now for a year.
He's a staunch conservative, and so is she.
And one of your last listeners mentioned it's very hard to find someone in Southern California, and I want to say that she found him, and she's an only child, and she's fantastic, and she comes with a horse.
And I don't know how my son does it, but he photographs her and the horse smiling.
So I just wanted to reach out and say it's a possibility and not to give up hope.
So this is your son and are they married now?
They're in a relationship.
I hope he's going to put a ring on it.
I hope.
Right.
Okay, alright.
I hear you, and I hope so too, therefore.
So, she came with a horse, and so your next point was that when he photographs her, it's usually with the horse?
Sometimes, sometimes.
And when he does photograph her with him, they're both smiling.
Yeah, that's adorable.
And my son is just thrilled.
He's just thrilled.
Anyway...
Well, I'm very happy for you.
Okay, gotta let you go.
I... I gotta say, the line, she comes with a horse, she came with a horse, that's really precious.
You know, it reminds me, there are many ways to lead...
A happy life.
I want you to know I know that.
By the way, on the dog being a member of the family, my wife immediately IM'd me that our dogs are members of the family.
I should not in any way belittle that comment.
I wasn't belittling it.
Because I had to stop at the break, I really didn't complete the thought.
She said she would save, this was a woman with children.
And she said she would save her dog before a stranger.
And she said, just as I would save my child before a stranger, the dog is a member of the family.
For the record, it would be incredibly painful, but my wife would save the stranger first.
The point of values is that you live by them even when it's painful.
Otherwise, they're not values.
They're just reinforcers of what you want to believe anyway.
Yes.
My stepson is dating a girl who is very much into horses, and he's gotten into horses as a result.
By the way, the doorbell rang one day at my home.
I opened the door, and I was face to face with a horse.
And...
They got a good picture of me the second I reacted.
I admit that I expected a human, but I'm proud of the fact that I was pretty even-keeled in my reaction.
They're big animals, let me tell you.
All right, let's see.
Colorado Springs, John, hello.
Hello, Dennis.
I want to thank you so much for being a bulwark against the left.
We have needed your voice and continue to more each day.
Thank you.
Unfortunately, I believe that.
I'm not happy about it, but it's true.
Okay, go ahead.
Well, I wanted to, of course, I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase, correlation is not causation.
Correct.
While many people have substituted pets for children or other relationships, it kind of implies that if they got rid of the pets, then they could enter into those healthy relationships.
And I don't think that that's necessarily the case.
I think there are other things going on, like the desire to evade responsibility of a more committed relationship than they have to have with their pet.
I also know a couple who are not physically capable of having children or caring for them, but they have three dogs.
And then I would finally say that my wife and I of 46 years have observed that those that have maintained an obedient dog usually make the best parents.
Interesting.
All of your points are interesting.
I would say to a single woman, be careful that it might delay your desire for children.
This is perfect.
This is perfect.
That's right, it's the happiness hour of making you happy.
It's about dogs replacing children and or a husband or a wife.
God, I'd love to know who made that.
That is very funny.
The Beatles sung by dogs.
Let me see here.
Boer Park, California.
Connie, hello.
Hi, Dennis.
Yep.
My college-age kids have told me that the new thing is plants are the new pets, and pets are the new children.
Is that right?
That's fascinating.
I'm very glad you called.
I'm glad I raised this subject.
I believe that.
I believe that that is, a lot of young people are thinking that way.
I never heard the plants part, though.
Plants are the new pets, and pets are the new children.
Holy crow.
Right.
And my kids are, you know, they were raised in a very family-oriented home.
We have a very close-knit family, four kids, very close-knit extended family.
I can hardly believe that my children are thinking this, but they are.
Oh, oh, so they're not just reporting on their peers.
They think this.
Well, they do all have plans, and...
Well, I mean, have you asked...
Is this more than one of your children that has told you this?
Two.
Two of them have told me this.
So these two, do they want children?
Well, my oldest daughter is in a gay relationship.
Well, right.
Okay.
Well, of course, many gays still have children.
But in any event, okay.
And the other one?
And the other one, I think she does want to get married, but she's not really talking about children.
I think that she probably will.
I think my other...
Kids probably will eventually have children.
It's still fascinating that she's not talking about it.
This is all new.
This is all new.
Girls talked about getting married.
Girls fantasize their wedding and having a family.
They don't fantasize that nearly as much.
Fantasize a great career.
Man, there are so many good calls here.
Maybe I'll do this just another time.
So thank you, Marty, Corey, Deborah, Angelina, Raphael, Gina, and Joy.
Yeah, it's painful.
And listen, folks, please help me help the country.
Please donate to PragerU.
It's fundraising month.
PragerU.com, 833-PRAGER-U.
And now, call in on any subject under the sun.
Let Dennis be Dennis.
.
That's right.
My parents learned that when I was 14, and it was happiness from then to today.
Hi, everybody.
This is the hour you set to each other.
Whatever's on your mind about you, about me, about life, about death, and, of course, about fountain pens, classical music, audio equipment, photography equipment, and cigars.
I got it, Sean.
Rare.
Enjoy the music, everybody.
This is a great moment.
Last night here in Chicago, did I even say my name?
Oh.
Do I have to?
How many people are listening not knowing who they're hearing?
Whom they're hearing?
Well, anyway, if you're new, Dennis Prager, hi.
Spoke last night here in Chicago.
4 a.m.
560 The Answer.
Wind.
Great station.
And late at night I went to do work and relax at a cigar lounge that was open until 1 a.m.
I do believe I've been to more cigar lounges in America than anyone else except people in the cigar industry.
And...
And I don't know how many of you are impressed by that fact.
I'll ask someone.
Sean, I have a question for you.
Are you impressed by the fact that I might have been in more cigar lounges than anyone in America outside the cigar industry?
Mildly.
So on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being pointless, 10 being overwhelmed.
What?
You're kidding me.
I thought you'd say 3. 1 and a half.
Oh, man.
And a young man was there.
This was very moving to me.
As I walked in, he came out of his car.
And he was really, really deeply touched to see me.
Bought me a cigar.
I protested, but at a given point, it would have been wrong to have continued to say, don't buy me one.
I love seeing young guys at cigar places.
It is actually a hopeful sign.
Yeah, I have the opposite view of cigar smoking than the elite.
They think it's awful.
I think it's wonderful.
That's the opposite.
Just as a note for you.
I know I need to form a group.
Pulmonologists for cigar smoking.
That's what I need.
If you know a pulmonologist who smokes cigars, send me his or her name.
That would drive the establishment nuts.
Any dissent from what is considered the science, which is usually the bias, is not tolerable.
All right, everybody.
Oh, I made a suggestion last night to the audience here in Chicago.
And I would like to repeat it now regularly on my show.
A lot of parents would take their kids out of the awful, destructive school that they now attend, but the thought of homeschooling is daunting, most particularly financially.
They think that they will have to give up one parent's income in order to do it, and they feel that they cannot afford that.
I have great sympathy for that.
So I have a suggestion.
Every one of you who is a grandparent, the greatest thing you could do for your child and grandchildren is to make an offer to your child.
I will pay for my grandchild's, your child's education in homeschooling.
I will replace...
The income that you lose by doing that.
A lot of grandparents could afford that.
And let me tell you something.
You'll wish you had done it later on if your kid announces at five years of age that he is a she or she is a he.
Ah, talking about that, we go to Cleveland and Tom.
Hello, Tom.
Hello, Dennis.
Thanks for taking the call.
I just want to let you know that I'm a concerned bystander.
I have a friend of mine that called me up yesterday.
His kid is going in the Medina School systems, which is just about 40 miles south of Cleveland.
And it's the Buckeye School system.
And his ninth grade teacher gave out a questionnaire.
And in that questionnaire, the question was what pronouns they would refer to.
To be referred to.
That was in the questionnaire.
And so my friend had let me know about this, and I'm working on some area groups that could maybe combat this.
And any input on that and how we could stand up to this other than taking your kid out of school?
So how old is your child?
Is this your child?
It's not my child.
A friend of mine, a freshman, so he's about 15, 14, 15 years old.
Yeah, and that's the school, and this is in Medina?
Correct.
Is Medina generally considered more conservative than Cleveland?
It is.
It's farm country.
Right, it's what I thought, because I remember when I spoke there.
So, I want people to understand it's universal.
I got a story out of North Dakota.
Of all places, that is speaking about this.
It doesn't matter where you are now, folks.
You don't have to be in a metropolitan area, which is what your call is to a large extent about.
This has come everywhere.
So you're asking, what should the parents do with regard to the preferred pronoun process going on at the school?
Yes.
How could you approach the teacher?
I mean, I think it would start with the teacher and then maybe the school board and, you know, maybe beyond, maybe making other parents aware.
But this kind of thing, I think, is very intrusive to the child, especially at that age, at any age.
No, it's disgusting, actually.
It's sick.
It's not to help transgender.
It's absurd.
Anyway, who is it benefiting?
It's to sow chaos.
That's really all it is.
It's to sow chaos.
I agree.
Look, I would obviously like you to fight that in the school, with the school board and so on.
But in any event, I don't know what else you can do other than take them out.
Sean, I don't have the screen up here properly.
Something has gone awry, so please...
Get rid of that call.
Thank you, folks.
A lot of times when you're on the road, things don't work well.
And that is happening.
And this is a first, Sean.
I can't explain why this is happening.
I can take calls, but I can't put them on hold.
So you'll just have to deal patiently with me here.
Let's go to...
Oh, yes.
Adrian in Phoenix.
I had told you to call back during the week.
Yes.
Hello.
Hi.
Thank you for having me again, Dennis.
Yes.
So I just wanted to remind you that Amala will be the keynote speaker at our Arizona Women of Action Summit on August 30th, and we would love to have you.
So if you're in town, we'd love to have you.
Well, look, Amala is phenomenal.
She's literally a phenomenon.
Yeah.
And by the way, if you see her, have her show you her BLM tattoo.
I will, and I will ask her, yes.
She'll probably show our whole audience.
No, she would.
She's an amazing human being, and you'll have a great time with her.
So go ahead.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
So one of Arizona Women of Action's goals is to help inform the public through our call-to-action emails and our social media.
And right now we're focusing on exposing what's going on at Phoenix Children's Hospital.
They have a gender support program.
And Dennis, as you know, we're in crisis.
This is child abuse.
They boast that they're the only comprehensive gender support clinic in Arizona.
If you look at their job description, they're hiring a social worker or looking to hire a social worker that will take an affirmation approach consistent with WPATH, which WPATH is an organization that is a worldwide organization.
Yep, I'm well aware.
All right, listen, I've got to put you on hold here.
So, Sean, thank you.
And this is now...
I wonder how many children's hospitals are doing what the Boston Children's Hospital is doing, and now Phoenix.
It's a very dark period in this regard.
All right, anyway, listen, Adrian, thank you.
Stay in touch with me.
Send me an email or whatever, and God bless you.
What is happening in the children's hospitals is a disgrace.
This whole affirmation, affirmation, you are affirming a five-year-old's statement that I am the other sex?
These are doctors?
Folks, there is no reason on earth doctors would have better values than any other group in the society.
There is not one reason.
Doctors have the same number of bad people and good people and fools and wise people.
As bus drivers, chiropractors, well, they're a doctor.
Just not an MD. There may be more wise chiropractors.
I don't know.
It's an interesting question.
Anyway, you got my point.
This is the giveaway.
This issue.
Affirming that a child is the other sex.
Affirming it.
The loving thing to do if your five-year-old says he's a she is to say, no, you're a he.
This is the way God made you.
Not, oh, you think you're a she?
Of course you are.
But let me help you get the hormones that you need to make that possible.
Okay, let's see now.
We usually have something about the Bible.
Oh, we don't.
That's rare.
All right, fine.
Dog Days of Summer.
Oh, yeah, that's a call on that.
That's interesting.
All right.
Say it again.
Yes, we got a Dog Days explanation.
All right, we'll do that.
Oh, here's a Bible one.
I like those.
Rob, or no, sorry, Bob in Galena, Ohio.
Hello, Bob.
Hi, Dennis.
Thank you for taking my call.
Yes, sir.
So, I was listening to the Dennis and Julie podcast recently, and you were talking about the divinity of the number 40, but you seem to be struggling for why.
Well, I... Did I get that correct?
Almost.
I don't...
This is my position.
40 is not the number between 39 and 41. 40 means a divinely ordained period of time.
So the 40 days of the flood, the 40 days and nights Moses is on Mount Sinai, the 40 years of the Israelites in the wilderness.
I don't believe, because numbers are not the same in the Bible necessarily as our numbers, in the sense that...
Correct.
Yes.
Okay, so that's my position.
So I don't know...
Okay, go on.
So I had insight into this.
I've done a lot to study Hebrew.
I do not speak it.
I've just tried to understand it.
And the Bible for many years, and this is a topic I've spent a great deal of time trying to understand, because I believe, as you do, it is not specifically a number.
But it has the deeper meaning, as many things do in Hebrew.
And what occurred to me is there is one thing in humanity that transcends all of humanity, that is shared by everyone, that the number 40 brings about great and life-changing, just life-changing event.
And that is the pregnancy of a human.
the birth of a human comes 40 weeks after conception.
And it's a period of time that is of great change, and your life will never be the same after those 40 weeks.
And so I thought perhaps that might have been the importance.
It's just a theory, of course.
Yeah, no, look, it's a fascinating theory.
You know, I don't know if that's what was intended, but I find it provocative, and I thank you for it.
It's just important to understand, and I make this clear in my commentary on the Bible, the rational Bible, that when people critique the Bible, they, like the number of Israelites who left would be in the millions if we take the numbers literally.
And so we can't take this text literally.
We can't take it seriously, even, as some people will say.
But as I point out in my forthcoming volume, Deuteronomy, the latest research, and I believe it completely, shows that some numbers were inflated by a factor of 10 in order to intimidate enemies.
And I believe that therefore it was more likely 60,000 than 600,000 men in the census.
And it would make perfect sense.
I know this would disturb some traditional believers, but there's no reason it should.
Not one reason at all.
On the contrary, it makes the text even more reliable.
Okay, let's see here.
Monrovia, California.
Mike, hello.
Thanks, Mr. Prager.
I really want your opinion.
On the three Ks of Imperial Germany and later adopted by Nazi Germany.
Do you want me to be specific?
I'm sure you know what that means.
Yeah, I do recall.
Kinder, Kirche, and Küche.
Correct?
Yes, sir.
And if you would elaborate on...
So that's children, church, and...
Wait, children, church, and kitchen.
Yes, sir.
And, you know, do you think that was a net positive?
And also, would you elaborate?
Finally, a quick footnote here.
I believe we're in the Weimar phase in the United States equivalent to what I'm going to call the Weimar phase right now.
Yeah, well, you have a very pessimistic view.
I don't engage in pessimism or optimism.
I don't blame you at all for that view.
As long as you fight.
I don't care if a person's an optimist, pessimist, or like me neither.
Just as long as you fight.
So, the fact that the Nazis adopted the slogan doesn't make the slogan all that bad.
Church, children, and kitchen, they're pretty significant in life.
I think it's even better than CEO. In the sales department.
I'm going to be talking now with a mom in North Carolina, Beth.
So first of all, welcome to the...
Good, I'm great.
Thank you very much, and thanks for coming on.
So in a nutshell, tell us the story of what you decided to do with your children.
Absolutely.
So if everybody remembers the two weeks to flatten the curve, I knew at that time something felt odd.
It felt, you know, I was willing to go along.
You know, we didn't know what we were in.
But I knew that if things didn't go back to normal the following August, I was definitely going to homeschool.
We had been happy for the most part with public school, but something was off.
And so I made that decision that summer of 2020 to go ahead and homeschool.
And we've never looked back.
But throughout that time, we'd already been using PragerU as resources for summertime, you know, just to kind of, you know, historical resources and things like that to keep the kids engaged and keep them from getting forgetful.
But when we started homeschooling, that's when we kind of relied on them also for resources like that.
But one of the things when PragerU kids came along, that was wonderful.
I've got two little boys, 11 and 14 now.
But we were able to use PragerU kids as how they would earn their video game time.
So they would have to watch, let's say, the older one would use TBH history.
And just to ensure that he was watching and retaining the information, for every, I think we said like four or five questions he would write, he had to write kind of quiz-type questions based on what he watched.
So it was like the French Revolution.
So if he came up with...
You know, 10 questions, he would earn two hours of video game time.
And so, but PragerUKids was very instrumental in being able to do that.
And so, the younger one, we would use things like, you know, the Craftery or Layla and Leo videos to kind of for him to earn some screen time also.
So it's just, I can't be more grateful for just the resources you provided and how we've used them in our family.
Well, you made my day.
That's what we're trying to do.
A question.
Did your switching over to homeschooling hurt your income?
The family income?
No, only because we've been very, very lucky.
I have been able to manage to balance my homeschooling while I was still able to work, so I didn't stop working.
But there was definitely a concern that I discussed with my husband as far as...
What are we going to do?
And so it was kind of like, if we need to, this is important.
That's what we'll do.
We'll dip into savings or find other streams of income.
But I was very lucky that I was able to kind of balance my work and homeschooling.
What would you say to families worried about an income hit?
That you have to really balance risk and benefit or risk and reward.
The thing I would say is there is nothing more important than the hearts and minds of your children.
And so when we were looking at would this hurt our bottom line, the most important thing would be if they got impacted by the culture in a negative way.
I mean, how heartbreaking it is to spend all your time and effort raising your children and lose them to the culture.
And so there's nothing more costly than that.
And so I would say...
You know, you drive down to one car, that's what we were looking at.
You take fewer vacations, or if any vacations, you know, you find ways to cut costs, but nothing's more valuable than the hearts and minds of your children.
I think every parent who is thinking about the damage the school is doing to their child should speak to parents whose children have...
Really gone to the dark side of life and asked them, would you be willing to have gotten one family car and had a happy, healthy kid as a result?
Yeah.
That's what people need to ask.
Listen, the fact that you use all this PragerU material is so heartening to us.
We knew we had to get to younger ages than we were even getting at.
And I love your idea.
You rewarded them for watching or reading our stuff with video time.
And look, I believe in bribing kids.
I don't know how to raise kids without that.
I have no issue.
Outright money.
You know, watch a preview video.
Write a two-page summary of what you heard.
And here's ten bucks.
I have no...
Yep.
Yeah, I was just going to say, you know, one of the things that I'm just, you know, you don't want to be proud, but I'm awfully pleased with my children is that I do feel like they can have nice, you know, intellectual conversations with adults about, you know, important topics.
That's right.
That's right.
Hold on.
I got a couple more questions.
Please help us.
All of our stuff is free.
Please help us.
PragerU.com, 833-PRAGER-U. Dennis Prager here.
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