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seven minutes past the hour it's cloudy we've got some rain moving through at the moment and it's Earth Day high today about 65 degrees by the way there is a there's an Earth Day Parade 350 Wisconsin and other environmental organizations are sponsoring a parade today at 3 p.m.
you can meet at the Capitol at the Lady Forward statue march around the Capitol listen to speakers take part in art
Artivism projects to protect Wisconsin's land, water, and air on this Earth Day.
And we'll be checking in on the weather for it today with Brittany Merlot.
In just a moment, do we want to recap our first hour here?
Do we have a music bed for the AI summation?
The title of it is From Puppet Shows to Putin's Pipeline.
Broadcasting chaos ensues as John and Gordy juggle puppet shows, weather roulette, and fire alarms.
They reminisce about Earth Day's origins, ponder America's obsession with jelly beans, and debate the best Girl Scout cookies revealing a soft spot for trefoils.
As hilarity unfolds, a sinister plot thickens.
Elon Musk's AI is allegedly spying on federal employees and with potential Russian data breaches via Starlink.
The hosts lament political absurdity from Trump's egg price faux pas to Dr. Oz's health hacks.
And it's the comedic banter.
Is that what we
boys in there with your shenanigans and falder all what's the matter with you?
Never ends
Let's get to the the two teenagers to German teenagers students class trip.
I think yeah, it was their own
class trip that they took and they're globetrotting.
Essentially that's what they're doing.
All right.
They got kicked out of Hawaii.
How do you get kicked out of Hawaii?
What you do?
Here's the question.
Why haven't we heard stories like this before?
Okay.
I mean, that's that's my question We we haven't heard about people getting kicked out of Hawaii or any place for that matter until now So I think there's something going on now that's making something like this possible, right?
And and I'm gonna pull this from another web wisdom here.
This is Aaron Parness one and he has the story for us.
Let's listen
We have some big news right now and if you're traveling to the United States, listen up.
Two German teenagers travel to Hawaii as one of the last stops on their world tour, essentially, without a hotel booked.
And while ICE officials thought that they were going to stay for a long time and illegally work there, detain them.
put them in green jumpsuits, and next thing they knew, they were deported.
This is
according
to a local Hawaiian newspaper.
After hours of questioning at Honolulu Airport, they said they were placed in handcuffs, loaded into a transport vehicle, and brought to what they later determined was a deportation detention facility.
They were subjected to full body scans, strip searches, and issued green prison uniforms.
They were held in a holding cell overnight with individuals accused of serious crimes.
Folks, this is a warning if you are trying
traveling to the United States and you don't have hotels booked or any accommodations booked, you may be subject to this same fate, especially if you are not a U.S.
citizen.
Boy.
so it's not looking good for tourists.
So these
yeah.
So they're going to be okay.
There's a positive.
They've got a crazy story to tell their kids now.
Yes, they
I think that newspaper, local newspaper in Hawaii was the beat of Hawaii travel news.
And they also had this, travelers should expect to
clearly explain their travel plans, show proof of accommodations for their entire stay there, and provide evidence of onward or return travel.
Visitors must also
have proof of sufficient funds to support themselves while in Hawaii and be ready to answer detailed questions from U.S.
border officials.
A vague or incomplete explanation of travel plans could lead to delays, further questioning, or again, deportation.
Now, I'm unfamiliar with ever hearing stories about this.
You're
Not like
Well, in the old days, you could hitchhike around the country.
Remember those days?
Yeah, those are gone now.
Boy, that's way gone.
When I lived in Boston, a couple of friends of mine hitchhiked from Chicago.
Yeah.
Out to Boston just for the weekend.
Just to come out, hang out for a couple of days and hitchhike back.
That's right.
No problem.
Kids in the early 70s.
I
still happens.
I've picked up a hitchhiker once.
Not to go somewhere.
The car broke down and I drove into a gas station, but still.
It's nice of you.
to do it.
Too
with
right.
Anyway, that's
It
And it's big news and it shouldn't be happening anywhere at all.
All right.
Now let's get to the gold cherubs.
OK.
This is having to do with authoritarianism.
And it was a bit on the Daily Show.
And they were talking about the aesthetic.
And the gold obsessed Trump has that gold aesthetic down He's trying to be dr. Goldfoot and the bikini machine he really is so let's hear this cut from John Stuart on the Daily Show
Authoritarianism isn't just policies.
It's an aesthetic.
The opulence of medieval kings.
The excesses of Middle Eastern autocrats.
It's a Pinterest vibe that speaks to the power of one's position.
The riches that are the privilege of the office.
Does Trump measure up?
Does he have the lack of available wall space?
They visited me in the night and asked me to change my ways.
So I held them down and dipped them in gold.
I drowned them in gold, liquid gold.
Have you ever heard an angel scream, it is just... It
is erotic.
By the way, if any of you are wondering if the cherubs that are now in the Oval Office are real gold, then I know many of you are wondering that.
It is real gold.
And there's a very good reason for that.
I don't mind them cancelling pediatric cancer research, but I hope by the end of the term, we can come up with a good gold paint substitute.
know, the
don't get what people's obsession with gold is.
To me, it's like one of the ugliest colors.
I hate it.
yeah, Mr. Mr. King Trump.
The Russian and American presidents are now speaking the same words.
They are telling the same lies.
We are watching the collapse of the international order in real time, and this is just the start.
Coos are like concrete.
When they stop moving, they set.
It is already later than we think.
This image, some of you in this room might know these people.
I call it tech grows in hostage situations.
It's a message to you.
This is Putin's playbook.
He allows a business elite to make untold riches in exchange for absolute loyalty.
Some people are calling this oligarchy, but it is actually bigger than that.
These are global platforms.
It's broligarchy.
And it has to start with naming it.
it's a
a coup.
And she also wrote the first wave of tech disruption of democracy.
It took place 2016 to 24.
And that's all over.
That's the tech, tech disruption.
What starts now is something much, much worse, the age of information chaos.
And it's her prediction anyway.
And who was that again?
That is Carol Kedwalder.
Okay.
Yeah.
And
I don't call it information chaos.
We call it the fire hose of lies.
That's more accurate.
18 minutes past the hour.
We're going to check in with Brittany Merlot in a moment.
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WMDX 92.7
Good morning, guys.
Day.
I love the dancing.
right.
Yeah, what's wrong with you, John?
If I look at somebody out on the dance floor, they're all alone, but they're having the time of their life that I'm like, good for them.
They're happy.
They're having fun.
great.
On the dance floor, out in the rain.
I don't care.
I love to dance.
Well,
there's people like John just sitting in the wall all the time.
Yeah,
Yeah, I can see your point there.
Okay, you got a point.
I
What is that?
Did you go interview someone on the street this morning?
thought he stopped by.
I think it's going to be done by about 10, 11 o'clock this morning.
So ease up.
You'll start to see a little spots of sunshine later on this afternoon.
And then there's some storms that want to fire up this evening, but they look to stay south into Illinois.
So I really don't think that they're going to be bugging you guys at all.
And high temperatures today, a little bit warmer, making it to the mid sixties.
Plus, I mean, it's Earth Day.
So why not give the Earth the rain it needs?
So.
think?
Oh, you bet.
It's gonna be pretty nice down there.
70 degrees tomorrow, 70 on Thursday.
We fall a little bit cooler on Friday to about 60 degrees.
And then for the weekend, into those upper 60s to low 70s.
Did you say out?
Oh, that's funny.
Um,
actually don't get jealous.
I've got clear skies and a lot of sunshine up
there.
Oh, a little bit.
Just for now.
Just for now.
We're going to get showers a little bit later.
But yeah, it's draft week and go figure.
We've got this big system that wants to hit the entire
Thursday night
Friday
A decent soaker.
It's going to be raining.
So
from other teams are going to have to go into our pro shop and grab the Green Bay ponchos and rock it and bring it home with them.
I
You know, they've genericized everything.
They're going by what the south wants to buy.
Because they don't have the snow down there.
They don't have the rain down there.
We've got it all up here and we wear this stuff outdoors and they don't make it and it's not at the pro shop.
If somebody finds one.
Yeah, send a link here.
You
me angry.
Calm down
Maybe after this event and all the rain going on, they're going to wake up and realize that they need more gear.
That's what I'm
you for
saw that there was a new one.
I didn't see who
Where do we
I will tell you just because it is too much and and I as you folks know in addition to this wonderful broadcast, I spend some time on civic media on Saturday mornings and it's not just the cutting room floor.
It is just every single minute trying to figure out what is the most important thing to talk about.
And so to listeners, wide and far, if you're overwhelmed, join all of us who are trying to keep track of it.
It is just too much.
It's a lot.
And you know, the big case that came down was the late night decision to prevent people from being deported.
I mean, these buses were on their way.
The Venezuelans.
Yeah, and they had to go back.
and prevent the deportation of these individuals.
And this was a big court win for those who are trying to protect due process.
You know, this is a very strange thing.
We've got to protect due process.
You know, I thought this is just a normal, everyday thing you assume is in the Constitution in some way, shape, or form.
Is that correct?
It's there.
Right.
It's not only there in language, but it's there in spirit and an impact.
And a stunning thing about this is you literally have lawyers as the buses are being loaded and they're taking about 50 more Venezuelans to the airport.
This is coming out of a detention center in Texas.
They're literally running to the courts and saying, stop that from happening right now before they get on those planes.
And they jump into all kinds of different courts.
The Supreme Court, again, stunningly, seven to
two, you can guess who the two are, say, no, no, you've got to stop this.
And that comes in the wake of the other important thing that they've done recently, as they have said, to a good point, John, they have said, you have to afford people due process.
And if you're still not doing this, we're going to stop you from doing what your attempt to do.
You have to file these habeas corpus petitions.
You have to petition the court in a district court where the bodies are, where the people are being held.
But it is an affirmation that maybe, just maybe, John Roberts and at least the majority of the Supreme Court are saying, Donald, you don't get to do whatever you want to do.
just because he reelected president five months ago.
They're literally running into, everybody's running into all kinds of courts, obviously, but again, seeking to have, again, another district judge basically overrule the Supreme Court.
We're pulling out all the stops.
And that's the larger issue, right, putting aside that kind of frivolity when it comes to litigation.
This is an administration, as the two and three of you have said so often and so compellingly.
This is the larger issue.
They don't care.
And they're saying no.
And I'm here to tell you this morning, if you have any doubt about it, constitutional crisis, that is now in the rear view mirror.
We are there.
We are there.
And the question is now, what do you want to do to preserve
what is left here.
What are you going to do to stop this executive branch?
What was he thinking?
I mean, doesn't he know there's due process?
I mean, he thinks that maybe the president has all of these powers now, but that doesn't get rid of what the Constitution basically guarantees everyone in this country, everyone in the country, citizen or non-citizen alike.
What was his
Yes.
And of course, it's joined by Clarence Thomas.
Yeah, the two we've seen that that before.
But he says that the majority decision again, the seven of the post the two, he says that that was not necessary, not necessary.
Think about that to support the Constitution or even worse, appropriate, appropriate.
Those are the headline words, of course, are falling all over the the the newspaper.
He says in some literally in the middle of the night,
Yes, because that's when this is going on, he says.
The court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule.
We've seen this play before, right?
You run into the lower courts, they'll schedule a hearing next Tuesday afternoon, right?
Or even if they do get to immediately, that's the point.
That's the point of injunctive relief.
He knows better than that.
And within eight hours, received the application.
Do be a factual support without providing explanation for its order.
Yes, because the bridge is burning, the town is flooding.
You need to stop something bad from happening right now, Justice Alito, since we had no good reason to think that under the circumstances, issuing an order at midnight was necessary or appropriate.
Well, if you hadn't, there would be 50 more people now sitting in that Seacot prison in El Salvador.
It is a, and he knows better, he knows better.
This is intellectual dishonesty at its highest level.
And his colleague, of course, again, hooking back to last summer, we talked about this as well.
Oh, it just happened to be Clarence Thomas said, maybe, maybe we should revisit Brown versus Board of Education.
There's been way too much enforcement of that.
And we need to think back to 1954 and kind of revisit that issue as well.
In addition to all kinds of privacy rights, both of them need to go off and write their books and
attorney.
And there's another case here that you
want to highlight here, Jim, and mentioned to us here, there's a really big case, an appeals court case, and this apparently has, is kind of a summary of everything that has to do with checks and balances and telling Donald Trump and his administration what they're obliged to do as president.
Can you tell us more about this one?
This is the one involving one of those 238 fucked up
and sent to that prison back on March 15th.
His name is Abrego Garcia.
Everyone's seen his picture.
He's the Maryland man.
He is not a citizen, doesn't make a difference.
His wife and children are.
He's plucked up.
There was a finding that he is properly here.
And the administration goes into court and says, oops, we made a mistake.
He shouldn't have been there.
The Solicitor General says that to the United States Supreme Court.
You've got people like Stephen Miller, who again recently says, no, no, we didn't make a mistake.
All of that to one side.
What happens is Judge Zinnis, X-I-N-I-S, Paula is her first name.
She's in Maryland, like the judge in the District of Columbia.
Her hair is on fire appropriately.
And I mean that supportingly because she is at her wit's end with this government saying, bring him back.
Tell me what you're doing.
And you know, the Supreme Court has already directed that that's supposed to happen.
And it still hasn't happened.
The administration appeals Judge Zinnis to the four circuits, basically the the Mid-Atlantic States, it's North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.
And that's where we get, Gordy, to what exactly you just said.
It's easy and is accessible reading.
It's a whopping six pages long.
It's not steeped in legalese.
And if listeners have an opportunity later this morning, pull it up.
It is this articulation, so well done, of the powers of the branches, saying we've all got our places in this, and then saying, we cling to the hope.
This is the last portion written to Donald Trump.
We cling to the hope, the court says.
Let me go back.
It's all too possible in this case to see it as an incipient crisis, but it may present an opportunity as well.
That's what the court says.
We yet cling to the hope.
that it is not naive to believe that our good brethren in the executive branch, that's Donald Trump, perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.
This case presents their unique chance, their chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.
that is just those are two of the just compelling senses that make you as you're wiping your eye Gordy.
Yes.
Do make you cry.
They make you cry and
they
But what it's worth, again, unfortunately, we do this today in America.
He, again, was appointed by Ronald Reagan.
widely admired across the board, and George W. Bush considered naming him to the Supreme Court.
He wrote that, okay?
And he's joined by two others, one appointed by Clinton, one appointed by Obama, all three of them endorsed this statement.
It's a new declaration of maybe that independence, but a new constitutional codification.
Wow, it's just amazing.
I mean, if the Trump administration just shrugs their shoulders and say, you know,
Well, we'll send some lawyers and look at this whole thing again and da-da-da-da-da.
I mean, they just keep, you know, pushing this stuff off and not, not dealing with it.
Yeah.
Not responding, really.
We're going to have a,
Working every evening here.
Yes.
Yeah.
As well, they should, because again, going back to our previous conversations,
i'm not saying donald trump would have done all this on his own but remember july 1 2024 another historic day in american history when the supreme court said uh the presidency not only immune from criminal prosecution but also needs to be nimble can't be feeble needs to be strong and active and reactive quickly you can't have a weak executive that's what we established that's what john roberts wrote and he takes an awful lots at his feet
an awful lot of the authority here again that Donald Trump is using at least codified then it will to your good question be fascinating to see now as the Fourth Circuit opinion other things come up to him were you serious about that John maybe maybe it didn't envision this happening but now let's look at your language and it seems to endorse frankly everything that Donald Trump has done in the past 90 days.
If you feel good about that John and are you going to backtrack on that?
That's the next question, at least in the courts.
Beyond that, again, your broader question is, again, beyond the console crisis, we are there right now.
What do you do?
You go into the streets like the South Koreans did, like the Israelis did.
and say no we're not and it's happening beginning to happen in america
is good news from the court believe it or not the majority of the supreme court appeared inclined on monday they had arguments on monday to reject a conservative challenge to obama care
leaving in place the federal government's authority to require insurers to cover everything from depression screenings to HIV prevention drugs and colonoscopies, the whole thing.
There's a businessman I believe in Texas or someplace he doesn't want to pay for other people getting free screenings.
That's most incredible.
I can't even believe this is even a case in front of the Supreme Court.
But apparently they're not buying it, that the government can actually require coverage of these free screenings that people should be able to get.
And that's where this comes from.
You're absolutely right.
The issue is a little bit wonkier than that, believe it or not, but it's okay because if they get to the right results, these are these task forces that basically review what kinds of health care insurance companies have to provide.
And they're basically seeming to support them has to do with their appointment and the president's power.
Interestingly, in this case, good news, as you said, the Obama, I'm sorry, the Trump administration.
in court supporting Obamacare yesterday.
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We're back with attorney Jim Santel.
Got a couple of more minutes here.
John, you had something to bring up.
Yeah, I'd like to get
We're trying to get a handle on the gun problem and shootings.
And states are putting
Restrictions in, age restrictions in, for people who want to have guns.
And the Supreme Court came out and said that Minnesota's law is no longer in force because it banned anyone under the age of 21 from carrying a handgun in public.
And the Supreme Court says no way, you can't do it.
that's restricting the rights of those people who are 18, 19, and 20 years old from carrying a firearm.
It's like eight steps back now.
They've got this history which we've talked about.
This again comes out of
this case that Clarence Thomas authored a couple of terms back called Bruin.
Remember this one which they said, the only basis upon which you can support gun restrictions in America 2024, 2025 is if you can find, remember this in history and tradition.
So maybe if we go back two or 300 years and try to figure out if indeed automatic weapons would have been banned back then and it's a ridiculous notion, right?
It's looking to the past
and figuring out there's some antecedent, some predicate for doing it.
This is more of that.
You got it just right on Monday.
Even on Tuesday they do something not so bad here.
On Monday, they also reject this appeal.
You've got Minnesota that basically the state is appealing a lower court ruling that itself
band 18 to 20 year olds from plying for permits.
And again, it's another blow.
They didn't issue a formal ruling in the case.
This again, a part of this very expedited process here.
But it sure sends a signal, as you just said, John, that we are still at this point when we are just completely committed to the notion that somehow the Second Amendment gives everybody, including young people, the capacity of the right
the constitutional right to carry firearms in America.
The Minnesota law was created in 2013.
Thirty states in the District of Columbia have similar measures.
A federal law requires people to be 21 if they buy a handgun from a licensed dealer.
All kinds of things out there that, again, should be appropriate, right?
It's just ridiculous to pick 18, 19, and 20-year-olds.
I mean, we can go, you know, much younger if we want it, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17-year-olds.
Why not, right?
It's restricts their right to carry a firearm in public.
You know, there's nothing in the Constitution that says anything about this.
And if I remember correctly, who was the justice that passed away?
uh, that, uh, who basically, who basically said, even though, uh, you, it applies to everybody who can now have guns, that there can be laws that we can still have restrictions in place.
We can still do this.
Yep.
And it's great language.
And once again, we're signing a lot of reading to your listeners as to go back and look at what Antonin Scalia said, nothing.
about our ruling.
That was in a case called Heller, remember that one out of the District of Columbia.
So there's nothing that should prevent us from passing rational, reasonable restrictions, conditions, limitations on this.
And he said, nothing about this, establishing a personal right to gun ownership keeps you from doing this.
Boy, it certainly seems that with Bruin and these kinds of things, Supreme Court
is not honoring Justice Anton Scalia as he is no longer a part of our court.
I presume that, again, the secretaries on the cabinet level still have security, presumably she was there.
If you happen to have, again, $3,000 is curious.
Nothing wrong with that, nonetheless.
But she's got her security access to the agency.
She's got her passport, other things, and some, presumably, as at her left or right hand there.
And
or
Christie's got to explain to us what is going on here.
And again, I will tell you, if I had done that kind of thing, even assistant US Attorney, lost credentials, lost access to those things, an investigation, certainly, certainly disciplined of some kind, maybe not termination, but it is a very serious matter.
And it's silly because it's in a burger joint and she
Presumably somebody else will let her into the office today because she no longer has her key card.
But still, it is a head scratcher in the midst of an administration that is in so many ways incompetent.
got another secretary who's asking his staff to produce hot cookies, right?
We'll have you back soon.
Thank you.
We'll look forward to that.
Jim Santel, you can check out Amicus, a law review Jim's show on Civic Media Radio Network Saturdays at 9 AM.
That's going to do
But for us tomorrow, Mike McCabe, our sub-stack blogger and author will join us.
John, have a great day.
All right, I'll try.
Enjoy the rain.
After all of this, I'm not quite sure.
Stephanie Miller is next.
We'll talk to you in 22 hours, so
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