Brothering Big Brother 1/2/17

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The fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

This is the Glenn Beck Program.

I will make it stand,

I will raise my voice,

I will hold your hand.

Cause we are one,

I will beat my drum.

I have made my choice, we will overcome.

Cause we are one.

Well, happy new year.

Happy New Year, friends.

Mike O'Kalka coming to you live from the constitutionally protected freedom bunker in the woods of Delaware.

And 2017 has finally arrived, along with what appears to be a fast-moving cold trying to get me.

And I'm barely ahead of it.

So

I will venture forth with your assistance.

We have much to talk about today as we are in the new year, and

we have to push on past whatever 2016 tried to trip us with, tried to hit us with, tried to just beat us into the ground with.

Now, I'm not saying there weren't good things about 2016.

There were a couple.

But you would not have to take your mittens off to count them.

And

I'm happy to wave goodbye.

So, those of you who sent me nice notes over the New Year weekend, nice condolences to our family as we said goodbye to my dad this weekend.

Strangest New Year's Eve ever.

Never had a funeral on New Year's Eve.

But thank you all for caring.

Thank you for

being so gracious and lovely.

Today, the show, of course, we have news to cover.

President Obama is headed back to D.C.

He wants to make sure he preserves his legacy.

I don't know if you caught that, but he's a little worried.

They gavel in the new Congress tomorrow.

And

that list of things to get done by this new Congress includes repealing Obamacare and just a whole bunch of

those regulations

that the President put in place.

And I know Mr.

Trump, President-elect Trump, with less than three weeks to go until he takes the oath, is getting ready with his pen to wipe out some of those things that President Obama put together that are putting

their hands around the necks of the American capitalist system.

So we'll get to some of that.

We also have to look, since it is a new year, there are new laws.

We'll talk about the new laws that are going into effect.

And I want to look at some of the craziness in Washington, D.C.,

some of the stuff inside the swamp that is going to be the target of this incoming administration.

And we're going to use an expert on that topic as well.

Plus,

you know, I don't make resolutions.

I think I mentioned this briefly on Friday.

I don't do New Year's resolutions mostly because

I'm like 92% of you.

If you make a resolution, generally you break it within a week.

And so it's one of those things that it's a why bother?

So why bother, folks?

Why should we?

Now I will tell you this,

based on

the latest studies,

we are making resolutions, but they're different resolutions this year.

Brand new survey out.

And it used to be the number one resolution for the coming year was always to lose weight.

And either we've given up or we've decided that maybe weight is down below the number one or two things.

And at the top of the list this year is being a better person.

And I can endorse that.

I can get on board with that.

I thought I was doing pretty well,

but then you meet people,

you meet people who are out there doing incredible things.

There's a young man named Ernesto, who's a veteran of the United States Army, who's about to,

in an hour in Dallas,

he's about to continue his walk from Tennessee to Los Angeles in

hopes of getting attention and support of the veterans who are not getting the care and are oftentimes committing suicide.

And Ernesto, who's been on this program, is leaving from Dallas this morning.

And there are a huge group of people gathered to join him for the first 2.2 miles outside of the city as they draw attention to those 22 veterans per day who take their own lives.

So when you hear about people like Ernesto, who's not doing it for the money, he's just doing it to raise awareness for the brothers and sisters he fought alongside of in the Army,

then you say, okay, I got to be a little bit better this year.

So I'm I'm working on being a little bit better this year.

Now, losing weight and exercising more, they're still in the top five.

And making more money, still there in the top five, but so is saving and being a little smarter.

So maybe we're working on a more balanced life in 2017.

And I can get behind that.

Now,

do we get into New Year's Eve now?

Should we dive into some of the craziness that happened on TV?

I think so.

We're big fans of watching CNN on New Year's Eve because,

and this was the 10th year of the Anderson Cooper

Kathy Griffin adventure.

And I think as much fun as it is, it's become predictable.

We know Kathy's going to be...

kind of the crazy Pex bad boy bouncing off the walls and Anderson's going to giggle and say no don't do that but CNN seems to have found an entirely new bit of craziness.

And I don't know if you caught it.

It's ontheblaze.com, the story's on the blaze, talking about Don Lemon getting hammered.

I'm not a medical expert.

It appeared that he was drinking shots poured from a tequila bottle.

It appeared that he was drinking quite a few shots from a tequila bottle.

And over the course of a couple hours, his speech suddenly became a tad more relaxed.

And

even Ms.

Baldwin, Brooke Baldwin, who was the co-anchor with Lemon, said at one point, the tequila is like emitting from your pores.

I'm going to go through a little bit of this from Lemon.

Now, he first started drinking early in the night.

They had almost three hours and 15 minutes before they were supposed to count down.

And then he continued.

And less than two hours before the ball was dropping, he started pouring shots on the bar.

Well, let's sample a little bit of this.

I'm pouring.

I'm oh, oh, you want some

pour bow?

Tequila for everybody.

We'll do one for Anderson and Kathy back.

Okay, here.

What are you guys doing here?

We're here for New Orleans, yeah.

Are you guys gonna have a shot for us?

Little shot?

Brook, are you shot?

Anderson, what's your

So they're pouring tequila out of a bottle into shot glasses in a bar in New Orleans.

It's almost three full hours before midnight in New Orleans, two hours before midnight in New York, and they're just lining them up on the bar.

And you can hear Don Lemons getting a little kooky.

They're in danger.

I feel they're trying to send a signal like they're in danger.

This is you're about to be in danger with those shots.

Goodness.

This is for you.

This is for you guys.

I hope you guys are counting how many many times he's doing this.

Yes, yes.

I'm up to 13.

I'm up to 13.

Brooke, how was Vegas?

Oh, my God.

It was so great.

It was so great.

The reference to Vegas was about Brooke Baldwin and a bunch of CNN staffers went out for the wedding of another one of their colleagues.

But these two are drinking.

And talking about the drinking.

And Don Lemon looks to be getting a little loose.

His shirt is unbuttoned.

He now, a little bit later, about an hour before

the ball was to come down, he talked about getting either a pierced nipple

or piercing his ear live on television.

And he eventually did what many folks do when they get overserved.

He started talking about his personal life,

perhaps a little bit too publicly,

television live with Brooke Baldwin.

I don't really do it.

I always live my life to the very fullest.

Yes, you do.

The thing is, I need a little bit more balance in work life.

I may be open to a relationship this year.

I wasn't before.

Breaking news, Don Lemon is open to a relationship?

Yeah, well, yeah.

Yeah.

Actually, being available to be in a relationship.

I'm a bad person to date.

I'm not selfish.

I'm not selfish.

I'll give you my list.

I'm not

self-centered.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm not going to be as self-centered.

You're going to be less self-centered in 2017.

Yeah, but I don't relate to resolutions and I live my life to the fullest.

I don't care what people think about me.

I do what I want because it's my life.

So Don Lemon, apparently the tequila makes you forget you're on television

supposed to be covering the New Year's Eve event.

And he's bleeding his heart out there talking about the fact that he's ready for a relationship and he just needs to be a little bit better of a person.

And then it got weird about 20 minutes later when they came back and Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon had brought a tattoo and piercing expert into the bar.

In the bar, not in a sterilized tattoo parlor.

Almost arrived.

Okay, tell them what's going to happen.

I'm going to get something.

So we've we've invited our new friend Chris over.

This guy's got

a mask and gloves on.

And the decision all night has been:

should it be a tattoo or a piercing?

I mean, what are you thinking?

But people want to know what crazy, silly.

So Lemon starts taking off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt.

And thank God somebody had the common sense to say, no, don't do it.

Anderson Cooper was saying, no, don't do it.

Don't do it.

And the piercing guy is now holding a giant needle after swabbing Don Lemon's ear.

Don Lemon does one more big shot, and then the piercing guy steps up to the mic, and this happens on live TV.

Is this going to hurt?

It's not going to hurt me.

You'll be fine.

This is seriously about to happen.

Don't get blood on my mouth.

Yeah.

Oh,

Lord.

Is your mother watching?

This guy is

swabbing his ear, and now the needle is coming up to the earlobe.

At least it's just his ear.

You know what I'm saying?

Here we go, Brooke.

Here we go.

Oh, God.

Don't get blood in the jacket.

It has to go back.

It goes back to Burke's brothers.

Here we go.

Here's a needle.

Here's a needle.

So

CNN's New Year's Eve programming consisted of Don Lemon getting hammered.

And if you look at his eyes, you can see his eyes are almost closed now.

And he gets a needle stuck through his ear.

And it got weirder and weirder and weirder.

There were more eye rolls out of Brooke Baldwin than I think I've ever seen on a television show.

Not long after that,

Lemon talked about CNN just or 2016 being an awful year, and CNN finally cut his mic.

However, there was a moment that occurred that I don't think a lot of people caught.

There was a moment when Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin, right after they talked about him needing to get into a relationship,

they walked through the crowd and were just talking to people.

And Don Lemon

proposed.

You love my dress.

Proposal, you guys made it.

Thank you.

We We're drinking.

Let's go.

Oh,

congratulations.

This is September.

September.

Oh, wow.

Where are you guys from?

Utah.

Utah.

I was just in Zion.

As Don Lemon said, Brooke, will you marry me?

The lovely couple from Utah was talking about getting married in September.

You really hear it again.

CNN decided wisely to cut away to Nashville.

We never saw Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin again that night.

They never returned.

I think CNN cut out of their Central Time Zone feed just a little bit early.

And I don't think we've heard from Don Lemon yet on the aftermath of this.

Plus, there's no word from CNN.

Now, if Don Lemon has a problem with the alcohol and he needs to get help, then God bless him.

I hope he gets it done.

But it was one of the weirdest things I've witnessed on New Year's Eve on CNN.

I think it topped all of the crazy Kathy Griffin,

Anderson Cooper stuff, because that all seemed scripted.

This seemed totally unscripted.

Mike Opelka stepping away from the Glenn Beck program.

When we get back, updates on the Istanbul Club attack that killed dozens, and the gunmen still on the loose, and you'll never guess who's taking credit for it.

That's next next on the Glenn Beck program.

We are one:

the Glen Beck Program.

Mercury.

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This is the Glen Beck Program.

Micah Opelka in for Glenn Beck on the Glen Beck program.

Happy New Year.

Hope you and yours had a safe one.

We just played a little bit of the craziness from CNN with Don Lemon and his alcohol consumption.

And on my Twitter account, which is at StuntBrain, you can connect with us on the Twitter at StuntBrain.

You are already reacting,

noting, as

James in Louisiana said, nice catch on CNN there.

I wonder if Brooke Baldwin said yes to Don Lemon.

We haven't heard.

And we did post that, but we have not heard.

Now, to flip the

attitude completely,

big story out of Istanbul.

The man dressed in the Santa Claus costume opening fire in a crowded nightclub.

39 people dead.

I think 24 different countries lost someone.

There are still almost 70 people wounded and in some in grave condition.

And ISIS has taken credit for this.

ISIS has said, this is our work.

So once again, the junior varsity team doing a pretty good job, it seems.

And the shooter, this is not a guy who was going in there with a suicide vest as we've seen so often with isis they're apparently not wanting to kill themselves these days

the guy in the berlin attack managed to get out of berlin and get all the way to italy before engaging in a firefight with cops there who wanted to check his papers but this gunman is on the loose

and isis has taken the credit for it and now the concern is that he'll get out of he'll get out of turkey and get to syria and maybe wreak more havoc.

But it's not a good thing.

Turkey's had a very tough year.

They have had

several attacks killing dozens and dozens of people.

And I just can't imagine

what this country would be like if we didn't have the kind of security we had.

Look, New Year's Eve in Times Square, between a million and a half and two million people

completely secured, no problems from what we could see, other than the biggest threat to New Year's Eve was Don Lemon's tequila consumption and Mariah Carey's microphone failures.

If that's the biggest problem, then yes, we're doing it right.

So, God bless the NYPD and all the Intel that's keeping us safe.

When we get back, a new year, new laws.

Plus, a woman got in trouble for peeing on a Donald Trump golf course,

but now she's been told she can sue him.

Wait, what?

Yeah, we'll figure it out with Dr.

Wendy Patrick, an attorney.

Next,

you're listening to the Glen Beck program.

Mercury.

The Glenn Beck Program.

It is the Glen Beck Program.

Mr.

Beck returns tomorrow with a full complement

of characters usually heard on the show, Pat, Stu, Jeffy, etc.,

back from their holiday break.

Tanned, rested, and ready, as it were.

I can't be sure of that, but they are back tomorrow.

And I appreciate the opportunity to be here today.

Mike Opelka from Pure Opelka, heard here on the Blaze Radio Network five nights a week and Saturday mornings.

And if you want to join the show, too, triple eight seven two seven Beck, eight eight eight seven two seven two three two five is the phone number here.

We're kicking off the year and talking about news, obviously.

I want to get into the case.

There's a whole bunch of fake news that we will get to later.

There was fake news about

the Russians hacking a power plant.

There was fake news about Donald Trump throwing a guy off a golf course.

A big story, but we will get to that.

First, I want to bring in a guest we had on Friday,

a friend of the show who has talked with us on various levels about legal matters.

She's an attorney.

She's also an author.

Her name is Wendy Patrick, Dr.

Wendy Patrick.

WendyPatrickphd.com is her website.

And Wendy, first of all, how was your New Year's?

Oh, it was tremendous.

It was wonderful.

How about you?

It was good.

It was quiet.

We watched Don Lemon get hammered.

And, you know, that's fun.

That's always good fun.

At our age, quiet is good.

Yeah, Yeah, yeah.

And it's much better the next day,

as it were.

That's for sure.

Yeah, that's true.

Now, Wendy, Friday we talked about the privacy issue, and I want to get back to that with devices that listen in.

But there were a couple of stories

that are out there that I thought we should talk about.

And one of them was this wacky story about Donald Trump and a woman who has been allowed to sue him,

even though it was she who urinated on his golf course.

That's right.

There's more to the story, Mike.

I know the headline really is unusual.

This is a woman that relieved herself behind a sand dune in April of 2016, okay, answering a call of nature.

And when she did so, like anybody using a public restroom did not expect that she was going to be filmed.

Now, obviously, there is an enormous difference between using a public restroom and using answering a call of nature in the midst of nature, we'll say.

Nonetheless, the issue was not whether that was appropriate, but whether or not the footage of her relieving herself could be something that goes public.

And in this case, of course, it was delivered to the police, ended up being a charge.

But this is a case that, believe it or not, is going to go forward.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's ultimately going to be successful.

But the first thing we look at is can these causes of action get out of the gate?

And this one can.

Hmm.

Well, it's also in another country, too, which there are different laws in different countries.

But I wonder if in America, if you're running a business and you set up security cameras and someone does something like this lady did on this golf course, first of all, everybody should know the woman is an environmental activist, and this was kind of part of her protest.

She wanted to,

I want to say mark her territory, but she was essentially protesting and

letting the Trump course know that she wasn't happy with what had been going on.

But in America, if a security camera catches somebody

doing something like this,

are we able to, if it were like my business, would I be able to be sued because I brought the video to the police and didn't tell her she was being recorded?

Well,

you've accurately identified two of the most important issues.

First is the reasonable expectation of privacy.

Is somebody in an area where they don't believe they're being recorded?

Now, that can cut both ways in public because we all know we live in a day and age where almost everything we do is observed by someone.

but not so in the privacy of our own homes or in a public restroom.

And then the second issue you accurately bring up is, is there any kind of limitation to what an individual or the police or somebody else is able to do with this kind of footage?

Now, you say she was marking her territory and protesting.

She may have just had to go to the bathroom.

And that issue is coming up increasingly frequently.

I mean, think about an airplane when the flight attendants try to make you stay in your seats and somebody can't hold it.

There are so many occasions where this type of thing in America, which has these much different laws, might be actionable if it's a situation where, for example, you don't have control over it, and if somebody uses that footage in a way that is embarrassing or invades your privacy.

Well, I guess this is why we see those signs everywhere that say

these premises are under constant surveillance.

I guess that's.

That's an issue too, though, Mike.

Where are the signs?

There are lots of places where it's very hard to find signs that are informing the public that they're being recorded or they're being filmed or these or smile you're on camera.

Okay, we've all seen those when we go into stores.

Those are prominently displayed, no doubt, to circumvent claims that somebody believed unreasonably that those premises and whatever they did therein was private.

Well, you know, out in your part of the world, and we're talking to Dr.

Wendy Patrick, attorney, author, WendyPatrickPhD.com, and Wendy's in California.

And over the weekend, there was a prank played on the people in Hollywood as someone changed the Hollywood sign to read Hollyweed.

But I believe security cameras were

rolling the whole time.

And I think they've got some video of the perpetrators that they're looking into.

Am I wrong on that?

Well, you know, there's always video cameras.

I mean, there are satellite cameras.

There are so many different ways that law enforcement can capture your activities in a public place.

So, that is one area where it is very unusual to see somebody claiming they had no idea they might be under surveillance.

I mean, think about it.

We live in a day and age where the increased surveillance just arises,

really breeds a multitude of different kinds of invasion of privacy claims and lawsuits.

So, especially when people are committing a crime, to thereby say, okay,

I may or may not be guilty of a crime, but somehow I'm going to be able to sue you civilly, that's a hard pill to swallow for juries.

And no doubt, suits like this, should they ever get that far, are going to be viewed with suspicion.

Well, this is it's always fun for me to watch the

legal limits and the boundaries being pushed because

your profession and your brothers and sisters in the legal world seem to be very creative, more creative than you're given credit for.

Now, speaking of creativity,

new laws on the books for 2017.

Anything particular that,

again, I'm going back to California.

You guys have new, more restrictive Second Amendment laws that went into effect on the first.

And I think you also now have background checks for ammunition purchasing, which just makes me crazy.

That's right.

You know, Mike, it's a great question because every year we look at all the most interesting new laws across the nation, and most people focus on ones they don't think we need.

But what we've seen in the last couple of years, as a reaction to the increase in gun violence, or at least the increase in the news about gun violence in our social media world, we do have background checks now mandated to buy even ammunition in California.

There's a couple other restrictions in terms of magazine size.

And, you know, it's really one of the things that we'd like to say only in California.

It could set a trend for the rest of the nation.

Some states are continually very permissive in their gun rules and regulations, and others, no doubt, will look at what California has done with respect to the background check for even buying ammunition.

And I wouldn't be surprised in 2018 we see more states do the same kinds of things.

Especially, Mike, if the trend of gun violence continues, and we have no reason, you know, I'm an eternal optimist, but there's no evidence to suggest there's going to be a dramatic decrease in gun violence in 2017.

Well, Chicago is screwing up the curve.

It's like that one kid in science class who always got an A on everything.

And, you know,

we couldn't get graded on a curve because he always got a hundred.

And we were.

I was like, it was you, Mike.

No, no.

I was the one making a fist at him.

And

is there are there any other laws that that stick out?

For example,

I had heard there was one in Nebraska that said they they had put out a notice that everybody driving in the mountains needs to be careful driving near the edge of the road in mountainous areas.

Nebraska is pretty darn flat.

You could roll a marble from the east side of Nebraska to the west side of the entire state and not have a problem.

What others are out there that are driving you crazy?

Well,

I hate to come back to California, but because you brought up the background check for ammunition, okay, that's becoming more more restrictive.

There are also what some have described as a loosening of restrictions, but not really if you look at it more carefully.

And I'll give you one example.

Beer at the barbershop, wine at the beauty salon.

We are now in California

able to serve alcohol in barbershops and beauty salons.

But Mike, here is why it may not be as increasingly permissive as it sounds.

First of all, that practice has already been done in many types of businesses, not just hair salons.

But what this now does is regulate the practice, because, unlike the comedy club where there's a three-drink minimum, now there's a one-drink maximum, and it even regulates the size of that drink, 12 ounces of beer or 6 ounces of wine.

And last call, 10 p.m.

So, California is instituting regulations in some circumstances like this to where it's not actually more permissive, but actually more regulating a practice that's already been in existence.

We did the same thing last year with allowing pets on restaurants with patios.

Again, legalizing and regulating something that had already been done.

It makes my head just start to explode.

I'm also, I'm looking at a list here that someone else sent me too as well that said, now, thank God, Iowa has made it a felony if you steal more than $1,000 worth of grease.

Well, you know,

theft laws have always criminalized as felonies stealing anything over a certain amount of money.

So I know some laws are making headlines by adding different substances and materials to that list, but again, it's simply a reframing of what has already been a law.

But along those lines, let me give you something that is new, because a lot of people quote laws that they maybe didn't know is in existence.

And, you know, the reason we need to know about new laws is ignorance of the law is no excuse.

In other words, laws change so frequently, especially gun laws, as you mentioned.

We can't just violate the law and say, oh my gosh, I didn't realize realize it changed January 2017, particularly in a social media savvy world where it's too easy to keep up to date.

So, along those lines, let me give you one more that's going into effect.

That's the driving hands-free.

It means exactly that.

Now, California passed that.

Obviously, there was no DWTs allowed, no driving while texting.

But now, all devices have to be mounted on the dash and they cannot even be manipulated at all except to turn it on and off.

So, you've got to learn how to use your voice voice activation to avoid getting a ticket in California.

I have no doubt, Mike, that this is the kind of law that will spread like wildfire to the other states.

Well, now, Wendy, I'm going to have to ask you: can you hang on?

Because I want to talk about that voice activation.

And we talked about it briefly on Friday, but I want to see where we are in this because now you've got a state mandating you basically have to use voice-activated software if you're going to use your car, your phone in your car.

And I wonder what the implications are to privacy.

And for me, it comes down to just

almost six of the first ten amendments.

The entire Bill of Rights is up against this one.

Can you hang out over the break?

Sure.

All right.

We'll be back with Dr.

Wendy Patrick, attorney, author, and friend of this show.

This show, however, today is the Glenn Beck program.

This is

the Glenn Beck Program,

Mercury.

The Glen Beck Program.

Mike Opelka filling in for my buddy Glenn Beck, who returns tomorrow.

In fact, the entire Glenn Beck program.

Back tomorrow, brand new year, kicking off some very exciting things.

If you follow Glenn on Twitter, he teased a book that he said you should download and at least read chapter 11 of that book.

I did that this morning.

It was amazing.

Dr.

Wendy Patrick is with us.

Doctor, we've got about

a minute and a half to discuss this case that's ongoing with the listening devices and the privacy.

Is our privacy at risk because technology is always listening to us?

Oh, absolutely.

But, Mike, what's interesting about the case you mentioned, which deals with this Amazon virtual assistant, Alexa, kind of a Siri-like character that you invite into your home, there is a catch with some of these cases.

There is no compulsion that states have to go out and buy devices designed to record us and then, of course, provide back data.

What's the weather like?

What are the days' headlines?

What time is it?

But the problem is when people buy these devices, now law enforcement or anybody else that has standing to claim that they need the information has a vehicle to get it.

That's why we keep seeing these cases in the news, like the one you're talking about, where a virtual assistant may have witnessed a murder.

It's very scary to me, especially if it is your own voice that has been recorded and could be turned against you.

It just seems like it smacks right of the Fifth Amendment.

Who knows?

Who knows what's going to happen?

Well, we'll keep an eye on it, Wendy, but I appreciate it.

Now, remember, Wendy, when driving in Nebraska on the mountain roads, stay away from the edge of the roads, my friend.

That was one of my favorite new laws.

You might think.

Have a great rest of the week.

When we get back, the headlines, the news, and why Obama isn't after North Korea.

This is the Glenn Beck Program.

Mercury.

I will make you stand,

I will raise my voice,

I will hold your hand.

Cause we have won.

I will beat my drum.

I have made my choice.

We will overcome.

Cause we are one.

The fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

This is the Glenn Beck program.

Happy New Year, Michael Pelta, sitting in for my friend Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck program.

Glenn will be back tomorrow.

Glenn, Pat, Stu, Jeffy,

the whole crew back tomorrow.

Before I get into North Korea and the situation there that's very troubling to me, I want to say good morning to Ben in California.

Good morning, Ben.

How are you, sir?

Did we lose Ben?

I can't hear Ben.

Hello, Ben.

This is Jeff.

You look at Jeff from California?

I'll take Jeff from California.

I guess Ben's on hold somewhere else.

I'm sorry, Jeff.

How are you, sir?

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year's to you, Mr.

Pelka.

I was calling in today because your story last week about a police officer in California arresting somebody for being under the influence of caffeine.

It was not a police officer.

It was a member of

the

I think it's like the alcohol and tobacco.

It was not a, say, a uniformed police department member from a municipality, but it was from an agency.

Gotcha.

I have a suspicion that that gentleman had his own suspicions about the driver ingesting marijuana, and that is why he couldn't do a field sobriety test and tried to do a blood test.

And once it failed negative on that, then he had to come up with some other reason, such as caffeine.

We can only speculate, Jeff.

But what happened in this case, the agent witnessed this guy driving erratically, pulled him over, breathalyzed him.

He had a 0.0 on the breathalyzer, still thought there was some impairment, brought him in, got the blood test.

The person was arrested, spent the night in jail, and it turned out the only thing in the blood was caffeine.

There were no illegal or legal substances that could have been being abused.

But it's an interesting case that the guy was still charged with driving under the influence.

So I take it you're a pro-marijuana person.

Yes, absolutely.

I'm actually a commercial cannabis farmer in California.

Oh, wow.

How's business?

It is doing very well.

2017 is a breakthrough year for here in California.

Well, you know, I'm a guy who is a proponent of the medical marijuana.

I'm a guy who's seen it do wonderful things for people who need that help.

I get nervous when we think about putting it everywhere where it can be used by people who might be driving and not be using it for medical purposes.

But I'm open to talking about it, Jeff.

You know, I think that's that's we have to be willing to have that discussion, especially when we look at some of the other chemicals that are being thrown about.

Absolutely.

Those are all big concerns and very relevant.

Those are the reasons why legalization has to have regulations.

And once those regulations are actually fully in place, then I think it will be a lot more conducive to society and their expectations.

Well, let's talk about regulation.

As a marijuana farmer, as a commercial marijuana farmer, how heavily regulated are you?

This is California in a new business.

What do you think?

Not only that,

the laws here are written extremely backwards as far as the original tent of the U.S.

Constitution.

The state law is written so that the counties can supersede the state laws and inject their own interpretation of the new law.

Really?

Yes.

So basically,

a lot of the counties have essentially banned all the new Proposition 64 that just went through.

So the people spoke, and now it's pretty much banned everywhere.

So there's going to be a two-year-length process of litigation that's going to go on, and eventually it will become back to legal.

But that's the case here in California.

For those of us that don't know what Proposition 64 is, what are you referring to?

Proposition 64 is a new law that just passed in California that allows the cannabis to be taxed and also allows personal use in up to six plants for personal use.

Okay.

so that's so that was allowed by referendum and then overturned or negated by many local communities.

That's exactly right.

And I think the local communities are scared to get sued.

So they're kind of going in, banning it, and then letting somebody lead the way, such as Humble County or some of the original folks that were in the scene.

And once all that gets settled, you know, I think 2019 is the projected date for a lot of this stuff to be finalized.

Interesting.

One more quick question, Jeff, before we let you go.

Where do you you stand on California breaking up and splitting off?

If you're talking about the state of Jefferson, I like it.

But if you're talking about seceding from the nation, absolutely not.

It's ridiculous.

So you'd be all for the separate state of Jefferson, which I think has a more libertarian base to it from what I've heard, but not breaking up into five separate properties or just breaking off into your own country.

Yeah, that would spell disaster.

I'm sure a lot of your listeners there know California and their politics.

I don't see how that could work.

Well, we don't know Jefferson, however,

they're much more conservative based.

You know, if California, you're in L.A., San Diego, or San Francisco, you're very liberal.

And if you're in any of the outskirts, you don't get really a say in Sacramento anymore.

So that's what the state of Jefferson is all about, is trying to give a voice back to the rural communities and still being part of the United States.

Well, I don't know how some of my libertarian and conservatarian brothers and sisters do it out in California, but I salute you.

Jeff, thanks for joining the show.

I appreciate you.

Take care, my friend.

Wow, up early in California.

You are welcome to join the conversation as well.

Triple 8, 727, B-E-C-K, 727-2325 is the phone number.

I was talking earlier about the news out of North Korea.

Now, let's...

Oh, boy, this guy, Kim Jong-un.

We know that

last year alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, and they have been looking at creating rockets that are big enough to launch satellites.

But at the same time, that technology will allow North Korea to create a rocket that can hold a nuclear warhead that can travel up to 5,000 kilometers or 3,000-plus miles.

Not a good thing.

Not a good thing.

And Kim Jong-un seems to rattle his little saber whenever we get a new president.

It seems to be his wicked custom.

So

while our intelligence isn't showing us that they're moving a rocket towards a launch pad that the government in Pyongyang

is not imminently preparing to launch,

the leader, the latest dear leader,

is

saying that his country will continue to strengthen its ability based on a nuclear nuclear might

to mount a preemptive attack.

Now, very carefully worded.

This was his New Year half-hour speech.

By the way,

same guy who last month

made it illegal to worship Christmas.

Well, it's been illegal to worship Christmas, but you can worship

his grandmother, who they claim was born on Christmas Day.

So, North Korea, once again, preparing, telling us they're going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, a missile capable of traveling from one continent to another and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and we know they've tested him.

And what is President Obama doing?

Nothing.

He's doing nothing.

He is returning from his final vacation.

the $100 million worth of vacations that we've paid for over the eight years.

He's returning from Hawaii in order to do two things.

He's going to meet with Democrats in Congress tomorrow and start plotting on how they are going to obstruct Donald Trump.

Ultimately, he's

hoping to get something done to prevent

the total destruction of Obamacare because he knows that's his legacy.

But I don't know why President Obama wouldn't see this.

Well, I do know why.

I don't know why President Obama would not take action or get John Kerry involved in this to say, look,

bigger problem than getting mad at Israel, bigger problem than what's going on with

Netanyahu and how you've destroyed a relationship with a trusted ally.

Shouldn't you be instead of pushing through the agenda-driven UN resolution,

shouldn't we jump on North Korea and at least rally some sort of coalition instead of waiting these last 19 days, 18 days,

and letting it talk about kicking the can down the road.

So many times during the 2008 campaign, we heard Barack Obama say

the Republicans kicked the can down the road.

They just

didn't want to deal with it.

Nobody wanted to solve a problem.

They left it for the next administration.

Well, guess what's happening here?

You have an imminent threat not only to the United States, but definitely to the region.

A guy who says he's going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, who has tested nuclear warheads, and instead of dealing with that, you are worried about making sure your legacy is not destroyed because your socialist medical health insurance program is set to be taken apart.

It's the most maddening thing in the news today for me that we are totally blind to North Korea.

We have enabled this guy.

With what we did in Iran,

we have enabled this guy.

We basically said, it's okay.

You can take care of business, do whatever you want to do, sir.

And now that we have people finally escaping,

getting out of North Korea and telling us they intend to have those missiles and the warheads ready sometime in 2017.

And what are we doing for the last three weeks?

Well, I'll tell you what President Obama is doing.

He's flying back to Washington.

As I said, he's meeting with all of the big Whigs in the party.

They are now officially the party of Noah, as we learned from Chuck Schumer.

I'll tell you about it next break.

But he's also saying,

I've got to work on my final speech.

And President Obama has just announced that on January 10th, a week and a day from tomorrow, he'll So next Wednesday, not the coming Wednesday, next Wednesday, he will be in Chicago to deliver his farewell speech.

Chicago.

The city that had more gun murders last year

than New York and Los Angeles combined.

Is there a greater example of the failure of Democratic leadership than my former hometown.

I don't think so.

So I do think it's fitting that President Obama is absolutely doing nothing, apparently publicly, about the North Korea announcement that they're going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.

And he's going to visit with Congress to try and save his legacy and then fly to Chicago.

to have a big farewell speech because he needs to be in the city, the third largest city in the country that had more murders by gunshot than the first and the second largest city in the country combined.

It doesn't make any sense.

Thanks, President Obama.

Thanks a lot.

Stepping aside for a minute, when we get back,

I know we love our pets, but I have a story that just really bothers me about

how much money these people spent to keep a a puppy

alive.

And am I a bad person?

How much would you spend to keep a puppy alive?

We'll talk about that next on the Glenbeck program.

Glenbeck Program.

Mercury.

This is the Glenn Beck program.

New from Disney and Pixar, in association with the producers of Where's Waldo, comes a major motion picture for our time, ripped from the headlines, especially if the only headlines you see are on HLN.

She's lost and all alone in a great big world.

Flushed from the headlines.

Trying to make it back home.

Is she in the woods?

Is she out of the woods?

Is she in a coffee house?

Is she being hacked by the KGB?

Or in the secluded underwater prison, a captive of the evil trump fish?

Finding Hillary.

Just keep voting, just keep voting, just keep voting.

The latest post-apocalyptic post-election animated classic featuring a two-dimensional candidate in a three-dimensional political world.

Finding Hillary.

Opening Friday.

Ready to gee, whiz, will you get over it?

Thank you, Doug.

Thank you, Doc Thompson and the Morning Blaze crew for sending that over.

I hope that movie gets made.

I think it's very clever.

I love when the little Hillary fish is saying, just keep voting, just keep voting.

Mike Opelka is sitting in for Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck program.

If you are a regular

to my program, Pure Opelka, heard weeknights, 7 to 10 p.m.

live on the Blaze Radio Network.

Thank you.

That's Eastern Time.

If not, check us out.

We are

a little different.

Yes, we do the politics, but we also do a little bit different in terms of strange stories.

But, you know, Beck does too, so I shouldn't say it's all that bizarre or all that different.

But

I mentioned earlier that Ernesto, my buddy, is leaving from Dallas.

Right now, they're on their way walking from Dallas towards Arlington 20 miles today, walking all the way from Tennessee to California to Los Angeles to draw attention to the plight of veterans.

And so I'll send out a link to my Twitter account to follow Ernesto at nerdnesto but

he's he's an amazing guy and he's doing things for the vets and so I asked some of my my friends this weekend if we're going to talk about doing things things for the vets what what's out there I'm looking for

some new kind of helpful charity type things that we can do and a really good friend of mine from my college life said freedom service dogs

freedom service dogs is a charity that takes unwanted shelter dogs, in other words, the ones that nobody wanted to adopt, and they train them to be service dogs to disabled vets and then also

hand them to other people.

So once all the disabled vets have been helped out with a service dog, they pass them on to other people.

How good is this charity?

My friend Carol Ann said that Robin Williams' daughter selected Freedom Service Dogs as

the recipient of her inheritance, saying that her dad, Robin Williams, would have loved what they stand for.

And she's been a supporter.

We're going to reach out to them, see if we can get them

on the phone.

And I say that

because I read a story that both made me say, oh my gosh.

and then made me scratch my head and say,

I don't know how I feel about this.

And you can tell me if I'm wrong.

There's a story in the New York Post about

a French bulldog named Jones.

And first of all, French bulldogs, adorable dogs.

They're adorable.

But this little guy has a lot of problems.

Now, I'm a dog lover, a dog rescuer.

worked on a rescue.

Our family, my wife and I worked on a rescue that brought hundreds of dogs a month from the south to the north because they were abandoned.

We were part of the Underhound Railroad.

So I have a very warm spot in my heart for our four-footed friends.

But a couple in Brooklyn has spent $155,000 on vet bills for a puppy.

A tiny puppy.

this dog has a lot of problems and i know they're cute

but i just wonder

and and am i a bad guy i wonder how many service dogs we could have given to our vets for that 155 000

i know little jones the french bulldog is adorable

but i think we got to think people first sometimes Michael Pelka, in for Glen Beck.

When we get back, we'll talk to my buddy Pete Kasperowitz from the Washington Examiner about the swamp.

The Glen Beck program.

The Glen Beck Program.

888-727-Beck.

Mike Opelka in for Glenn Beck and the Glenn Beck Program.

The full show returns tomorrow.

Glenn, Pat, Stu,

and yes, Jeffy as the Beaver.

They are back from their holiday vacation.

I am here, but I'll also be in at nights.

We're working on a new studio set up, so I think it might be Wednesday night or Thursday night back live on Pure O Pelka on the Blaze Radio Network.

Follow me on Twitter.

I will keep you posted.

My Twitter handle at StuntBrain, all one word, S-T-U-N-T-B-R-A-I-N.

And if you go to theblaze.com, you can click on the button that says channels, and you can follow my channel, and little stories will pop up in your feed.

Before we went away, I was telling you about the story of the Brooklyn couple that have a dog, a puppy who's not really well,

little Jonesy, the French bulldog, who has required $155,000 in vet bills just to keep alive.

Takes nine pills a day.

The people have to give them nine pills a day: antibiotics, steroids, allergy vaccines, anxiety medicine.

This dog is adorable, but really, what are we doing here?

Am I a bad person?

Now, a lot of it's covered by pet insurance, but I'm also wondering what we're doing here.

And I'll share more on this story.

I'll share a link.

I'm also reaching out to the people who

give service dogs to our vets, Freedom Service Dogs of America, and hopefully we'll hear from them later in the day.

But right now, my buddy from the Washington Examiner, the guy who is,

I don't know if he's in the swamp that they're hoping to drain, but I think he has seen the plug that they want to pull to drain the swamp.

Pete Kasperowitz is his name, Pete.

Happy New Year to you, my friend.

Happy New Year to you.

Where are you going to move to?

What country are you going to move to?

You can't be talking about dogs like that you're going to be run out of the whole country no no no no i'm a dog rescuer

i'm a dog rescuer pete but i just have to question the sanity

you're putting a price on love man you you're gone you're done in this country

all right well it's over thanks for your laughter thanks for the happy news my mom's going to call you at least and say you're putting a price on love it's you're a horrible man michael falka

well this to me this is like an over-medicated person.

This dog's got to be a zombie.

He's on antidepression medicine.

He's got antibiotics, allergy vaccines.

All that stuff is stuff you're saying.

You better start looking at a country to live in.

All right, I've already picked it out.

Are you familiar with the Free Republic of Liberland?

It is four square miles on the Danube River between Croatia and Yugoslavia, and I happen to know the president.

I have him on speed dial.

Is that right?

Well, then you have an inn.

You're going to need it.

I'm telling you, my mom's going to call you right now.

You're a horrible man, Michael Pelka.

You've made a big mistake early in the year.

I'm just questioning.

The sanity is.

You got between a family's love for their dog, and it's just.

There's no coming back from that.

You're done.

You're done.

Everyone give Michael Pelka a great big hand.

He had a great run.

Don't you remember these stories, though, where people, like, you can't say a thing about a dog like that.

People will flip out.

You must be getting tweets endlessly right now.

No, no, I'm not getting it.

Because I also said I would rather see that money spent on taking dogs out of shelters and training them to be service dogs for our veterans.

It's the toughest thing an adult has to do.

And I became an adult, and probably all of us did, when you take your kids to the vet and you have to decide to end the life of your pet.

It's horrible.

May 11th of this last year, I did that.

It's horrible.

May 11th, I had to say goodbye.

And I also understand

that somewhere between

that heart and your brain, there has to be a reasonable discussion.

Well, that's what I mean.

And obviously, I'm just joking.

You have to make these calls.

It's the roughest thing.

The vets are better at it now, I think, though.

They kind of tell you, yeah, you know, I I think everyone must ask the vet, if this were your pet, what would you do?

And they'll tell you, and they'll say

well, I think it's the only s I mean, how else do you know how to judge it?

It it's it's impossible.

And you sort of hope the vet says the right thing.

And and a lot of times when the pet's in really bad shape, they'll just say, Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't save this one.

It's so it's so horrible.

It's horrible.

It's like um yeah it's it's you become a dad when you do that with a kid in the room, you know?

That's when you really become an adult,'cause someone has to take charge there and it has to be you.

It's brutal.

Now we've totally bummed each other out and I can't wait to hear from your mother.

We always do this to each other.

I get like with you all the time.

Anyway, let's start over.

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year.

Time to drain the swamp.

Have you seen the plug though, Pete?

Have you seen the plug in the swamp that Trump is going to tie a giant chain to and yank it out?

God,

I mean, if it were that easy, someone well, maybe no one would have done it, but

I mean, he's making I think the plug is all the guys he's bringing in, all the people he's bringing in to do it.

It's quite a bunch of people.

And I was noting, you know, even as we sort of say goodbye to the Clintons, we sort of said goodbye to a lot of the Republicans who might have come here, too.

It's like anyone who is old news is basically out, you know.

Gingrich not in and Giuliani not in and Chris Christie not in.

You have all these guys who look like they're a bunch of sort of can-do business people, and it's the big question of the year, what will they do?

You know,

will they cut spending?

Will they end Obamacare?

Will they deregulate everything?

Will they have a new strategy for ISIS?

I mean, all these possible things they could do,

you know, we don't really know.

But we have a sense that to me, it looks like it's shaping up to be very dramatic and very different and get ready for the press to howl about it.

Well,

it certainly looks like, judging from what Chuck Schumer has been saying, that the Democrats have embraced the term that they coined for the Republicans years ago, the party of No!

That they are going to make these confirmation hearings as difficult as possible, and they are going to really try and put the squeeze on

the incoming administration.

And maybe I think only one of Trump's announced cabinet nominees

should get an easy pass, and I think that's Mattis.

But the rest of them look like they're in for a really tough, tough run.

Well, you know what, though, I disagree with that.

And I think that's the line the Dems are trying to sell.

And if you remember, what Harry Reid did before he left is he gave the minority no voice in the Senate.

I mean they can do little things on the edges and demand more hearing time and ask all you know, like it boils down to tough questions at a hearing, I think, because in the end, if Republicans agree, these guys are in.

Yeah, but they can't lose anybody, though.

They have to keep, you know, if you lose three,

then the Democrats could make it difficult, correct?

Yeah, true, of course.

Of course.

But let's see where it goes.

It's too hard to see around that corner, I think, right now.

I think most of these guys probably get through pretty easily.

Um,

and and the Dems are doing the best they can to pretend that the Senate is a place where the minority matters, and it just doesn't matter anymore, thanks to Harry Reid.

I I noticed when he started making his first cabinet picks, I I sort of laughed at that because a lot of Democrats came out with press releases and said, I just can't support this nominee.

And every time I saw that, I would laugh and say, Remember when that mattered?

You know, remember when you would need

you know, remember when you had to get eight Democrats

to get a nominee on board or eight members of the minority?

It just doesn't matter anymore.

You know, like, go find the three Republicans saying no first, and then let's go, then we can talk about a difficult confirmation.

But until then, I'm just sort of

laughing at these press releases.

We're talking to Pete Kasperowitz of the Washington Examiner.

And, Pete, you're referring, of course, to the fact that Harry Reid took out the filibuster for appointments, and

that all this stuff goes through pretty much without any question.

And I remember, Pete, in I think it was 2009, I was in the Senate Progressive Press Conference that they had,

and somebody asked the question, somebody from Move On or Air America asked the question, what happens when you're not in power?

Aren't you worried this is going to turn on you?

And I remember Harry Reid chuckling as if we're never leaving.

And here we are.

And it is coming.

But he's gone.

I guess that was the conventional wisdom.

People used to write stories even six months ago, writing stuff like, can Republicans ever win again?

And

is this the end?

And I think what Trump did was he broke that storyline of

the sort of immigrant vote, hopefully the legal immigrant vote is going to just keep sending Democrats up to Washington.

And obviously that's at least not true this time.

And so, yeah, I talk about seeing around corners.

I don't think Democrats saw this coming.

I think they just saw this.

And at least for this past election, they thought the Senate was pretty much in their hands again.

So,

yeah,

it just goes to show you play nice with others, right, all the time, because you never know how the worm's going to turn on you.

Yeah, it was an amazing twist for me.

And now,

I'm looking at a story you wrote yesterday about Sean Spicer and talking about the fact that he was asked by John Carl, you know, will Trump keep tweeting?

And he said, absolutely, he'll keep tweeting.

And Pete, I felt when I was watching that interview with John Carl that

Spicer was telling the mainstream media, you can fight all you want for your jobs, but this is the new fireside chat.

Twitter is the new way the president will bypass the press and get out what he wants to get out.

Did you feel the same thing?

Yeah, and I think we can all see what's coming, right?

This is really the democratization of media now.

Like, we don't need you guys.

And, you know, and Trump's team has also made another subtle point, which is, and in case anyone who's ever watched a White House press briefing knows it to be true, that a lot of the press availability is pretty boring anyway.

You know, we've had Josh Earners for the last few years just not really answering questions, but just kind of

repeating the line, the line you know already.

It's not really newsy.

It's another day and maybe another slight variation of what they say and you hope to make a news story.

I have to edit this stuff.

I know how hard it is.

It's not all needed, and it's almost never news.

So

here we have a guy who I would have thought under Obama or Clinton, the press would be really celebrating it, a direct line to the president.

But now the media is going to make it a problem.

And I think this will be the story of the year.

It'll be Trump doing what he wants.

It'll be him communicating how he wants.

And the press sort of left on the sideline, howling and screaming, and saying, this isn't right.

These issues are subtle.

You're doing it wrong.

And I don't know if anyone's going to care anymore.

I just don't see.

You know, and last night, a couple nights ago, did you watch that New Year's stuff?

I don't watch this garbage, but

Don Lemon got drunk or something.

Oh, yeah.

He got drunk.

He got his ear pierced, and he actually proposed to Brooke Baldwin.

Oh, did he?

Yeah.

No one's talking about that, Pete.

I'm the only one who posted.

I posted it on my Twitter.

I pulled the video.

He proposed to Brooke Baldwin.

She stayed silent.

Oh, so that's a to-be-determined answer, I guess.

Oh, yeah.

But also, Kathy Griffin is yelling and screaming, and the media still thinks we're all entertained by this.

I mean, I think most people these days are kind of going to bed and not caring about

these Uber celebrities that are up late.

They're supposed to be shepherding us through every event, right?

The new year and a terrorist attack and inauguration day, they'll be doing it.

I don't think people need to filter anymore.

I think people can just run out and do what they want, and they can, if they want to know what the President's doing, they'll be able to read his tweets, and you can get the stuff direct.

So I think think this is going to be the massive story of the next few years of watching the media sort of cope with that reality.

Wow.

It'll be fun to watch.

And as two guys that are also part of the media, I just think we've got to keep pressing on and pointing out all those problems because then people will come to us and say, well, what do you think is going to happen to the media next?

Yeah, well, I guess

we'll be reduced to covering ourselves and how we shrink and die, I suppose.

It's not that bad.

But in terms of that messaging thing, the media still has a job to do, and there's plenty of open spaces for it, which is to cover what happens.

I mean, right now they're opining, you know, we're fact-checking every tweet from Trump and every little statement, and you can't make an off-the-cuff statement in public without getting fact-checked.

I mean, I think those are the functions of the media that go away.

But the functions that say, you know, that report to you what's going on, those are still needed.

I don't think we ditch those, and hopefully they can sort of come back and become the main chorus as it used to be.

Well, I appreciate your perspective on it, Pete.

Pete Kasperowicz from the Washington Examiner.

Thank you, my friend.

Give your mother my home phone number.

She can call me and tell me I'm a despicable person as well.

No, she's going to call the radio line.

She'll be on in a few minutes, I'm sure.

She'll muscle her way through.

Fantastic.

Her and millions of others.

Thank you, Pete.

This is the Glenbeck program.

This is the Glen Beck Program.

You're listening to the Glen Beck program.

Micah Opelka in for Glenbeck today.

Glenn and the crew be back tomorrow.

Glenn, Pat, Stu,

and Jeffy.

I am happy to be here.

Thrilled to be here, as a matter of fact, and hearing from so many of you on Twitter at StuntBrain or on the request, on the request lines.

What is this?

Pop radio, Mike?

On the call-in lines, triple eight seven two seven back, seven two seven BECK2325.

So much to get over to cover today.

I want to talk about

I have to talk about Donald Trump and the briefing coming up.

Also, in terms of, we covered some of the new state laws and the law that warns people in Nebraska not to drive too close to the edge of the mountain roads.

Yeah, the mountains in Nebraska.

But I have to talk about the minimum wage.

19 states added to their minimum wage, increased minimum wages.

It looks like a 10th Amendment thing is taking place, doesn't it?

That maybe states are realizing we don't need a national minimum wage.

We need to let the Constitution do its job

and let states decide what the minimum wage should be.

Because let's face it, it's a lot different to have a job and live and work in New York than it is to live and work in Nebraska,

for example.

The Glenn Beck Program.

Mercury.

Mercury

I will make you stand.

I will raise my voice.

I will hold your hand.

Cause we have won.

I will beat my drum.

I have made my choice.

We will overcome.

Cause we are one.

Fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

This is the Glen Beck

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Just one more day.

Glenn Beck and the crew will return here on the Glenn Beck program.

Michael Pelka sitting in for my friend Glenn Beck.

Happy New Year.

I was earlier speaking about New Year's resolutions and I don't make them, but I have wishes for the New Year's.

I wish companies

would stop sending endless requests for

surveys after you've used their service.

You're going to to hear, it was fine until everything went wrong, and then you'll hear from me.

That's kind of the way I'd like to look at things.

And as a company,

maybe these companies could understand that.

I'm talking about one particular travel company that sells discounted fares and packages who wants to know, they ask you one question,

and when you click on the question to say, yes, I had a good trip,

or no, I didn't,

then you're taken into a rabbit hole, and you swirl down this rabbit hole where they ask you 45 other questions.

Or, if you're going to take my time, at least offer me something.

If you want to know my opinion, my detailed opinion, give me how about a little something, you know, for the effort.

Anyway,

I'm not talking about travelocity, although I am talking about travelocity, because they just keep sending me so many

surveys.

When it's bad, you hear.

That's generally the rule.

And

I have to tell you, I think we were talking earlier on the show with Pete Kasperowitz from the Washington Examiner, and Pete and I were talking about Donald Trump and how he, Sean Spicer, has said that Mr.

Trump does not intend to totally put down the Twitter.

He's going to be tweeting a whole lot more.

And I likened it to the fireside chats from FDR because I think it's Trump's way of getting around

the press interpreting what he says.

They'll eventually spin his tweets anyway.

And so, as we saw with New Year's Eve, and he said his little greeting to his enemies, which I thought was pretty bizarre, but there it is.

But Sean Spicer was on with John Carl this weekend.

And in the course of the interview, the subject came up about Trump's tweeting.

And it got interesting.

I think you'll hear what I was talking about in terms of Trump and Spicer basically telling the mainstream media, it's not going to be like it was.

You know, with all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media, that he can have a direct direct conversation.

He doesn't have to have it funneled through the media.

This is going to be a business as usual is over, as I've said before.

There's a new sheriff in town.

He's going to do things first and foremost for the American people.

So we're still going to see a lot of Twitter at the same time.

Absolutely.

You're going to see Twitter watching.

Well, he had said on 60 minutes that he was going to cut back.

You know what?

The fact of the matter is that when he tweets, he gets results.

So whether it's Twitter, holding a news conference, picking up the phone, having a meeting,

he is going to make sure that he continues to fight for the American people every single day.

A bottom line, are you going to have regular White House press briefings?

Absolutely.

Some way.

Some of them will be on camera, some of them will be off.

But absolutely, we understand the importance of the pressure.

No more daily televised press briefings.

No decisions have been made, but we are looking at every single facet of government and figuring out: can we do it better?

We'll sit down with the White House Correspondence Center,

Correspondence Association, I've already had reporters reach out and say, hey, we've got some ideas.

This is about, we understand that we have a message to get out and successes that we want the American people to understand.

So we'll use every tool possible.

And absolutely, we'll sit down and make sure that on a daily basis the press is informed.

and regular presidential press conferences.

Absolutely.

That said a whole lot, Sean Spicer and John Carl, talking about Donald Trump and what he intends to do.

I think this is something to watch in the future.

Trump is the guy who showed the Democrats and the Republicans how to use social media to your advantage.

He's got 45 million plus followers who will be hearing from him.

Interesting.

We'll get back to that, and I want to talk more about what's going on.

A few folks are calling in and

accusing me of some very interesting things.

Rachel in Ohio.

Rachel, you said I'm a what?

A socialist.

How do you figure I'm a socialist?

Because socialists all spend their money the same way.

They're only allowed to do certain things with them.

It has nothing to do with the dog.

No,

I didn't tell them they couldn't spend that money.

But see, for you to judge them

that they're not sane because they've spent this money, it's their money.

Sure.

I just pointed out

it's two Teslas.

And if it were in my wallet, I would say, let's put the dog out of its misery because it's obviously not a healthy dog.

Let's get another dog.

Let's go rescue a dog and buy two Teslas.

They're a free country.

They can

spend their money, however.

I'm not a socialist.

I can't judge them.

Yeah, that's called being human.

Are we not allowed to have opinions?

The First Amendment allows me to have an opinion and allows you to disagree with it.

And the Bible says, judge not lest you be judged.

You're judging me.

You just judged me.

You judged me to be a socialist.

And I will be forgiven because I will ask for it.

I will be too.

But let them spend their money, however.

Well, now it's interesting.

The majority of that money came from an insurance policy.

And I wonder.

That's the way it's set up.

I don't agree with insurance.

In fact, you know, our quote-unquote Obamacare insurance is an insurance now because all it is is paying off the government.

That's true.

All we do is, you know, because we are up to $6,500 out of pocket.

Well, if you don't have a catastrophic issue,

you're not going to spend $6,500 a year.

So that means your insurance, quote-unquote, is never going to cover what you're paying for your health care.

You're absolutely right.

Thank you, Rachel.

And say hi to your governor.

He's an interesting cat.

No?

Kasich?

Oh, we're going.

Okay, Jan in Canada, you work with an animal rescue.

Good for you.

I appreciate that, Jan.

Yes, I do.

And I have a couple in my home at the moment that are

mostly, well, actually, one who's very elderly, and I know that it's going to be coming very, very close that I'm going to have to make a decision about this gal.

We're kind of like a lot of small rescues.

We run on a very, very short budget.

We have to raise funds.

We have to account for the money that we take.

We have to report and show how the money is spent.

As I'm sure you know that from your own experience.

I can understand what you're saying about about the fact that, well, you know, you could get a a a healthier animal and you could perhaps give a home to a dog or a cat even if

that wouldn't have a good home.

But on the other hand, I agree with Rachel.

I think if it's your money,

I think people are getting really tired about how they should be spending their money.

If they're not taking food out of the mouths of I don't know if they have children, I don't know their situation, and if they're able to pay their rent and their bills and everything like that, then I definitely think they should be allowed to spend their money any way they choose even if it seems frivolous to some people you're absolutely right I'm just saying that for my in my opinion this seemed a little out there you know I I'm I'm one of those guys who's saying no you have to make a rational decision and and Pete Kasparowitz was calling me out saying you know you're that's that's love you're getting in the way of and I said well the head and the heart need to work together sometimes I absolutely agree with with you.

I don't think you were wrong, and I don't think he was wrong.

And like I said, Rachel has said the same thing about if it's their money.

Now, if you're going to put yourself into debt, if you're going to have to start taking money from the government, which nobody wants to do if they can possibly avoid it, then yes, then you're really going down the wrong track.

If you're well able to afford it and nobody else is going to be,

you're not going to be able to

look after your family or your children,

It's a little kooky, but

we have a lot we we're all supposed to be about free choice now.

Yep.

So

I think possibly these people, their hearts in the right place,

it's a good chance that this poor little dog isn't going to survive anyway.

And if they do, I hope they feel that the money was well spent, at least in the attempt to save it.

But you're absolutely right.

There are so many animals out there that do need good homes.

Healthy animals.

We hear them in the background with you.

I have this wobble-white giggle ball, and they are just having fun.

Well,

you're doing great work, Jen, and we appreciate you.

Canada is America's favorite suburb, I've always said.

I said we could always, Alberta and the States could possibly join together.

I'm not opposed to it.

I like the weather and the skiing, so thank you very much.

We've got a barmy minus 20 at the moment with sunshine so if you're a skier if you like the outdoors then come aboard you got it thanks so much jan have a great day chris in michigan

thank you chris in michigan has a comment on the uh puppy story chris you know uh well go go ahead am i a horrible person in your mind too

No, no.

In fact, I need to see if I can get asylum.

What is this country you're moving to?

That you know the president?

Oh, Liberland.

Liberland.

I need asylum because I'm with you, man.

This is, you know, it's so funny because just two weeks ago,

probably a week ago, right before Christmas, somebody, one of my friends on Facebook put a GoFundMe page because their dog was very, very old and was terminal.

And

instead of doing

what I think is the responsibility of a pet owner,

you made that pet your pet, not my pet.

You made that pet your pet, and now you're deferring your financial costs to everybody else

right before Christmas.

And I'm sure they raised a few thousand dollars.

And I do agree with the two ladies that it's their money.

You could spend it on whatever you want.

But we need to put this stuff in context.

This is a pet.

There isn't any dog.

We just put a newpie down this last year, and it broke our heart.

But she had bone cancer, and there was nothing we could do about it.

And

we waited

until we didn't think that the pain could be managed anymore, and we just had to put her down.

And it breaks our heart.

My daughter's still crying.

I can tell you where I was on May 11th when I had to make the call to say goodbye to our little Gracie after

17 years.

So

I understand it.

It tears your heart out, but you also have to understand that, as you said, we have to,

I think there's got to be a balance between the brain and the heart.

And sometimes,

sometimes it's just not that easy to do.

It's just not that easy to do, Chris.

Well, Chris,

April 13th is the second anniversary of the founding of Liberland.

It's Jefferson's birthday.

That's why they're doing it.

And they're because it's a Jeffersonian-based republic.

And there will be.

It's a real place.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Liberland.

L-I-B-E-R-L-A-N-D.

It's a liberal.

It's a carpenter's there.

They might.

It's a libertarian

state that is emerging, and I have talked about it endlessly, and

we'll talk more about it.

But I thank you for your call, Chris, and thank you for listening to the show today.

Now, Gene, in Pennsylvania, I will get to you because I want to talk about

I want to talk about minimum wage after the break.

And Matt in Virginia about no-kill shelters.

I've got a minute, Matt, in Virginia.

I'm a huge fan of the no-kill shelters.

We work to get rid of the gas chamber in several states, and I know some states still have it.

So I'm with you on this.

At least I hope

you're a guy who doesn't.

Oh, no, you're not going to like my call, Ben.

Oh, boy.

I think you talk about irrational.

I think it's irrational.

I live, the city I live in, there are feral cats in different businesses around town behind the dollar general, nursing homes, all kinds of things.

And if you try to get rid of those feral cats, the no-kill shelters will tell you: trap them, bring them in, we'll neuter and spade them, and then you have to re-release them where you caught them.

They take feral cats who are never going to be tamed and just spread disease that kills birds that cause all kinds of problems, just hanging around dumpsters and will not put them down.

Well, you've opened up a whole

you've opened up a whole additional can of worms here, sir.

And

I'm not in disagreement with

no-kill shelters.

It's full of cats, and 70% of the dogs are pit bulls or pit bull mix.

Yeah, but a lot of those, a lot of the, I'm a believer in rehabbing those dogs, and we're going to do more on the group out in Colorado that does help those dogs.

Pay attention for that one.

I tweeted out a link to

their webpage.

I'm up against a wall.

I want to come back and talk about minimum wage, and I got to talk to Gene and PA.

That's next on the Glen Beck program.

The Glen Beck Program.

Stream the show live on iHeartRadio or listen later on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music.

Mercury.

888727 back.

This is the Glenn Beck program.

Mike Opelka from Pure Opelka on the Blaze Radio Networks weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m., sitting in for Glenn Beck and the Glen Beck program, the entire crew back tomorrow.

We were talking about

a few things, including the couple in Brooklyn with $155,000 in vet bills for a sick puppy.

But I also mentioned that 19 states in America, 19 different states, raised their minimum wage effective yesterday.

For example,

fast food workers in New York will see a minimum wage go to $11

in New York City, $10 in the downstate suburbs,

$9.70,000 elsewhere.

Small businesses around the city will

increase their minimum wage to 1050 for city employees.

But there are states all across the country who raise their minimum wage.

I think this is a local,

local deal, not a national deal.

And I don't know where she stands on it or

if it's something we agree on.

But Gene in Pennsylvania has a thought on this.

And, Gene, welcome to the Glenn Beck program.

Good morning.

Oh, Jean, a fellow.

Excuse me, Gene.

That's okay.

The minimum wage was originally created

because employers were abusing

employees back in the 50s and 60s when it came around.

And it was something that was designed for starter jobs.

This is where we lose sight of things.

And of course, our government hasn't helped because they've put more people in a position where they have to take starter jobs to try to exist

than should.

It was meant to be the pay for the first time job hunter.

And what you're going to find is you're going to find businesses such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and the rest of them are going to automate their drive-through by putting a touch screen terminal, most likely, outside.

You'll select what you want.

When you get up to the window, they're going to put the pay machine such as you have as Home Depot and Lowe's and others that use the self-checkouts.

And you'll drive up to the window, and then you may have a human being hand you your order.

The same thing is going to go inside.

This is typical of government.

I've had hanging in my office for at least the last 35 years a sign that says politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.

Gene, you are spot on.

I'm up against a hard wall.

Just want to make a quick correction.

The minimum wage that, from the federal point of view, came into effect in 1938, it was 25 cents an hour.

If we adjusted for inflation, it would be $4.13

an hour today.

And yet, our minimum wage wage is nearly double that on the federal level.

So, think about it.

I see it as a state's rights issue.

States should be the ones to set it.

Michael Pelka for Glenn Beck on the Glen Beck Program.

This is the Glen Beck Program.

Mercury.

This is the Glen Beck Program.

Mike Opelka is my name.

I am here for the remainder of this show, and then Glenn will be back tomorrow.

The Glenn Beck program in the 2017 edition returns, and Glenn has

promised a lot of new things.

And he gave you a little hint this morning.

I don't know if you followed him on Twitter, but he talked about a book and suggested you download it and read at least the 11th chapter.

I will tell you, I did that at five o'clock this morning, and I'm happy I did.

Now I'm going back to read the rest of the book.

It was a book that was written a long time ago and discovered just a few years ago by the son of the man who wrote it.

And there are some fascinating parallels to today.

Earlier, we were talking about

my questioning

of a Brooklyn couple who have spent

not all of their money, but they've spent tens of thousands of dollars keeping a young puppy dog, Jones, the French bulldog, alive.

And

I question the wisdom.

Not going to be shy about it.

I'm a guy who works with dogs, rescues dogs, has rescued dogs in the past, and will rescue dogs in the future.

And some people question my wisdom.

Marilyn's in South Dakota.

She's calling in on the puppy.

I don't know which side of the argument you're on, Marilyn, but welcome to the Glenn Beck program.

Hi, I totally agree with you.

And I love dogs.

I grew up with German shepherds and cocker spaniels, and we had cats, and we've had to put dogs and cats down, and it's heartbreaking.

And pets, though, you know, I believe they're God's gifts.

I mean, I call them God's gestures, and they're...

They are there for a reason, and we need to be good stewards and take care of them.

It doesn't mean we leave them freezing out in the cold, which we see some things like that in South Dakota.

But I guess my problem with all this is that money.

And yeah, the lady said people can spend their money how they like, but I'll guarantee you the same people who have that excuse will

criticize

the rich corporations or whatever.

And the thing that really bothers me is that how many of these pet owners, any pet owner, I mean, even if we spend $50 a month on our pets, how many of us actually give to human needs the same amount of money?

Charities.

There are a lot of people that I know who call their pets children, which I don't agree with.

They're kids.

They're not those.

And anyway, why would they go do a GoFundMe about something like this and not pay for human starving babies?

So I think it's a perverse form of love if it's love.

Well, you know, it is.

You bring up a great point when people talk about their pets as their kids.

And we have for years, decades, seen humans distancing themselves from other humans.

And I think that's where a lot of this started.

It's easier to communicate with a pet than it is with a person.

A pet will give you undying love, and they typically do.

And of course, there's a little maintenance, and there's a little work to be required to make sure they're fed and healthy, etc.

But it's different with other people.

There's a lot more work dealing with people, but I also think we need to teach people there's a lot more reward

on pushing for human contact.

So

I'm a big fan of that, and I certainly appreciate you weighing in.

It's a tough one.

Again, Marilyn, I'm a guy who, May 11th, I know the time, the place, the date, I had to say goodbye to our little Gracie.

And I had to make the call.

And it's not a call I ever want to have to make again, but probably will.

Because that's what life is about, and it was the right thing to do.

But thank you so much, and I hope you have a great new year, my friend.

Well, you know,

I'm watching in the corner of the studio here in the free speech bunker, the constitutionally protected free speech bunker in Delaware.

I'm watching President Obama arrive back from his vacation

and

the final vacation, the hundred millionth dollar spent on President Obama's vacations.

I know a president deserves vacations.

I just want to know why all of them seem to avoid Camp David.

And if we don't want Camp David, then let's get rid of it.

Remember, Mar-a-Lago used to be the Southern White House until Jimmy Carter gave it back.

And look who's in there now.

A little bit of irony there.

But as I'm watching Obama, I'm reminded that Valerie Jarrett said something this weekend that made me scratch my head.

Valerie Jarrett on President Obama.

The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn't had a scandal and that he hasn't done anything to embarrass himself.

But that's not because he's being someone other than who he is.

That's because that's who he is.

That's who they are.

And I think that's what really resonates with the American people.

Hmm.

No scandals.

No No scandals in this administration.

Benghazi?

I think how Benghazi happened and was handled, a little bit of a scandal.

How about the story that we broke nationally on theblaze.com, the IRS targeting of conservative organizations?

Lois Lerner directed the IRS's exempt organizations unit and admitted that the Tea Party organizations were targeted by them.

Hmm.

Not a scandal, I guess.

How about the DOJ, Obama's DOJ, seizing the Associated Press phone records, as well as phone and email records from James Rosen at Fox?

How about that?

Was that a scandal?

How about the NSA just grabbing all the data they could?

Was that a scandal?

How about Hillary's email servers?

I know she worked in the State Department, but guess who she worked for?

Remember that river in Colorado that had that massive poisoning of it?

That's Obama's EPA.

Is that not a scandal?

They mistakenly let that happen.

Oh, and let's not forget Fast and Furious.

Was that not a scandal of this administration?

And

as much as I love them, the Secret Service had a little bit of a scandal during this administration.

So, for Valerie Jarrett to say that

this is a scandal-free administration, eight years that the Obama administration was in office without a scandal, is about as

honest as if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, which we all know was declared the lie of the year.

So, Valerie Jarrett, no, you don't get to say that.

And just because you say it and the mainstream media repeats it doesn't mean it's true.

Now, tomorrow, as I mentioned earlier,

tomorrow we have Congress gaveling into session, and we expect to see a whole lot of pomp and circumstance tomorrow, but then the real work will get started after January 20th when the President is sworn in.

Hopefully, I'll be there in the crowd.

I think I got press credentials, but we'll find out.

Maybe we'll do a live Puro Pelka from the inauguration.

But Mr.

Trump is also telling us Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be busy days for him.

Yesterday, he was, not yesterday, but New Year's Eve, he was out in front of Mar-a-Lago and held an impromptu press conference and talked a little bit about the hacking and about when he's going to be talking about the hacking and his briefing from the intelligence community.

Well, I just want them to be sure because it's a pretty serious charge.

And I want them to be sure.

And if you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong.

And so, I want them to be sure.

I think it's unfair if they don't know.

And I know a lot about hacking, and hacking is a very hard thing to prove, so it could be somebody else.

And I also know things that other people don't know,

and so they cannot be sure of this situation.

You'll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.

So, Mr.

Trump was talking about the hacking, and I thought that was a pretty smart move to say, let's not forget the weapons of mass destruction and how everybody was damn sure that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

And then we all know what a disaster that turned out to be in terms of the cost of precious human lives, American lives, and as well as the cost to run that war.

So I think that was a pretty smart move.

But I always get nervous when Mr.

Trump says stuff like, well, I know things people don't know.

Well,

that makes me think two things.

Do you think you're the smartest guy in the room because we've had that for eight years and it didn't work out really well?

Or did somebody give you some classified intelligence that you shouldn't be talking about?

Because if that's the case, you got to, Mr.

Trump, you got to put that back in the bottle, put the cork in it, and sit it down.

It's just not smart.

But we'll, apparently, Tuesday and Wednesday, we're going to hear from the president-elect, and I hope he talks more on this because

this is the main thing that the snowflakes have been chanting about for the last two weeks: the hacking, the hacking, the hacking, the hacking.

And I always say it's not a hack when somebody like Podesta responds to a phishing email and gives up his password and his ID.

That's just called keeping grandpa away from the computer.

It's a smart idea.

Michael Pelka and for Glenn Beck, when we get back, we will wrap up today's show.

I got a couple of final thoughts here for you.

No, not Tommy Laron's final thoughts, my own final thoughts.

And

have you got a snowflake in your life?

who needs something special to help them get through the inauguration?

I've got an answer for you, and we'll share it with you next on the Glen Beck program.

This is the Glenn Beck Program.

Mercury.

The Glenn Beck Program.

Mike Opelka is my name wrapping up my two-day stint sitting in on the Glenn Beck program.

Thank you, Glenn.

Thank you, Dom.

Thank you, everybody in Dallas, for supporting me and making this happen.

I appreciate it.

If you like what you heard, tune in weeknights, 7 to 10 p.m.

on the Blaze Radio Network, and follow me on Twitter at StuntBrain or follow me on The Blaze.

You just click on channels and my little channels down there, and you can get all kinds of fun stuff.

I got a couple of things I need to make you aware of.

We are going to be aggressively in 2017 watching for fake news.

For example, over the weekend, a lot of the mainstream media was spinning and screaming with its hair on fire, saying, Oh my god, the Russians hacked into our power grid through a Vermont electric company.

Well, no,

no, they didn't.

There was a laptop that got hit by a hacker attempt, a laptop that wasn't connected to the power grid.

So, no, that wasn't a story.

And also, the story about the guy that wrote the book about Trump 20 plus years ago that made Trump angry was playing golf at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.

and there was an initial story saying Trump had him thrown off the course and had his entire foresome thrown off the course by his security detail, and the forsom included billionaire David Koch.

Well, David Koch said, hold on, no, that's fake news.

That didn't happen that way.

They asked the author to leave because he and Trump had some tension.

And Koch said, we came here as a foresome.

We'll leave as a foursome, which I think is pretty cool.

That's good loyalty.

But no, fake news again.

Let's try and pull the drama back and highlight the facts going forward in 2017.

And speaking of the facts,

I think there's a young lady on the phone.

It's not Joan.

Is it Martha from New York?

Carol from New York is on with us.

Carol, I've only got like a minute and a half left.

How are you?

Welcome to the Glen Beck Show.

Thank you.

I was thinking about the age of the dog.

If the dog was a little puppy puppy and these

expenses were coming up, you might want to have it put to sleep.

But also, if it was an older dog that you've been attached to for some years,

it's kind of hard to.

But

I also wonder how much money these people have, and maybe they do invest it in other programs with animals and people also.

Hopefully, they do.

They can spend that kind on an animal.

That's all good points.

Now, most of the lion's share of the $155,000 to keep this puppy alive came from an insurance policy, but tens of thousands came from their own pockets.

They did have to dip into their savings.

It's a horrible tragedy when you have to look at a suffering animal and try and make that decision whether or not you want to keep them or whether or not you want to have them put down.

I know because we made that decision last May.

It's very personal.

And I do, I'm not telling these people how to spend their money.

I just question the wisdom because, and someone's going to tell me I'm cold and calloused, but there's a lot of dogs available for adoption.

And that $155,000 could have put two Teslas in the driveway and taken a lot of carbon pollution out of the air.

I'm just saying, people.

I'm just saying.

Mike Opelka is my name.

You can catch me weeknights, Monday through Friday, 7 p.m.

to 10 p.m.

on the Blaze Radio Network, and Saturday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m.

Plus the other stuff you'll hear me doing in and around the Blaze.

Today starts my sixth year with the Blaze.

Actually, wraps up my sixth year, starts my seventh.

Bad at math.

Mike Opelka saying thank you again.

Glenn Beck, Pat, Stu,

and Jeffy as the Beaver will be here tomorrow.

Testudo, my friends.

Testudo.

This is the Glenn Beck Program,

Mercury.