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These are the times that try men's souls.
In the course of our nation's history, the people have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened.
Today, a new crisis has arisen.
Citizens, hear me out.
This could happen to you.
Okay, I want a damn concerted effort.
This is a goddamn damn time.
I want somebody to use this fucking brain.
This is a job for John Peterson.
You're from the 60s.
It's a show about nothing.
I don't have
Ponderous.
Ponderous.
At times it is.
Ponderous.
WMDX.
John and Gordy in the morning.
I hope your morning is going as well as our...
No, that wouldn't be right.
We're going real well here.
And all you have to do is check us out, by the way, on the Civic Media app, Bluetooth us into your car stereo as you're on your way to work.
And you can also watch us on YouTube at the same time.
Right.
You know, it's really.
It's easy.
It's easy to do
and
You don't really have to look up.
The car pretty much drives itself anyway.
Pretty much now, you know, the space car that I have.
Yes.
Drives itself.
pretty much it bought.
I mean, it is just so easy to just handle.
It stays within the lines all by itself.
I don't even know how to handle
All
It's eight minutes past the hour.
Sunshine today, high near 80, still an air quality alert till noon.
but it does look a little brighter this morning.
So maybe some of that haze is getting out of here.
Some of that smoke from Canada.
This portion of the show brought to you by Virlo Mattress.
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They are locally owned and operated.
They
have
and it was really
All the states
to
So they don't want to be a part of this anymore.
But the Democratic Governors Association just coincidentally last week met here in Wisconsin with Governor Evers.
And they urged all their colleagues to get tough in countering the Republican backed efforts to gerrymander Texas and other states as well.
The chair is
Governor Laura Kelly and she said it's incumbent upon Democratic governors if they have the opportunity to respond in kind.
So I put this clip together and I just want to mention who you're going to be hearing from in order.
It's going to be Governor Kelly of Kansas.
It's going
to
Governor Evers using whatever words he chooses to use at the time Which I always find fascinating this is a little little on the longer side But what they're saying is very important and I think it matches the interest that the entire nation has on this
very big problem that we have right now.
Let's listen to this.
Okay.
On the first question on the Texas redistricting, uh, first of all, I think it's going to be ruled unconstitutional.
You know, it clearly will go to court.
So, uh, we'll see.
But in the meantime, I think it's incumbent upon, uh, Democrat governors, uh, you know, if they have the opportunity to respond in kind, you know, I, I'm, I'm not a big believer in unilateral disarmament.
I love bipartisanship.
That's
is how my entire career in the state Senate and now as governor has operated.
And I do everything I possibly can to bring the parties together to come to consensus.
This is clearly a situation where they're not asking for input.
And so I think we need to respond in kind, which I think we do to protect the American people.
If they are allowed to succeed,
Uh, you know, we know what will happen, you know, and things are bad enough in Washington right now.
Uh, what it would look like if there's even a greater majority, uh, that this president controls, uh, you know, that helped the United States of America.
So I think it's incumbent upon us, uh, to respond.
Yep.
I not being asked, but I'm from Rhode Island and I'll kind of weigh in here a little bit.
Look, this is part of the chaos that is coming from Washington.
I talk to people every day in my state.
They're very unsettled.
They don't have a lot of confidence on what's coming out of Washington right now.
And this is just more of the chaos with this redistricting strategy.
So they're just going to keep on piling on and piling on.
And what happens, you ask, how this is going to impact health, education, or economy, when you undermine the confidence of the people who live in our states,
collectively in the country.
And this by this is not just blue states and red states.
This chaos is causing a great deal of unsettling in the minds of the people who live in the state in the country and clearly in the state of Rhode Island.
This
It's again breaking the system.
It's again meant to game the system.
I want to stress again, Democratic governors, whether 23 of us represent the majority of the public.
and a large majority of the economy.
And in many cases, by gerrymandering and moving things around, it's an unfair representation.
Now, that being said, we go back to the unilateral disarmament, that Democrats are expected to have the decorum.
We're expected to protect the institutions.
We're expected to follow the rules on this.
We're not playing with a normal administration.
We're playing one that is throwing all the rules out of there.
And if the courts that he has packed
aren't going to do that, then I think it is incumbent upon states that have the capacity or the ability to make sure that we are responding in kind.
It is a terrible spot we're in as a country, but not responding is going to make it even worse.
So I agree with Governor Kelly.
It's rigging elections.
When you come up against you're up against the wall You have to do whatever you can to stop it now Yes, I we're not changing our maps here in the state of Wisconsin We worked hard to get fair maps and we're going to continue to do so because of those fair maps that we had we were able to pass a relatively bipartisan Budget and it was a good budget and so in my heart of hearts.
This is where we have to be
But when you're up again, you have a gun against your head.
You got to do something.
And so collectively, I think it has to be examined so that the president can rethink his stupid option.
throwing
And everybody has been, you know, throwing their comments out there.
And I think it's it's it's it's great that the media is also focusing on this issue.
And they're wondering now, what about those independent redistricting commissions that the Democrats took that high road?
Right.
Yeah.
Well, let's listen to cut 30 here.
And this is Governor Huckle from New York.
tired of this you know last decade we did we redid redistricting hard to say Do you think given this situation where we've had these court battles?
Everything that in this 2027 amendment that you may put forward that the independent redistricting Commission should be disbanded or changed in some way so that you don't have to go through that again in 32 Yes, wow, I'm
tired of fighting this fight
with my hand tied behind my back, with all due respect to the good government groups.
Politics is a political process.
And to think that we're gonna do this with a purity test and make sure it's completely fair to everybody involved, the reason we are able to draw the lines, because we're Democrats, because the majority of people in this state selected us, elected us to be leaders.
And when we say that we cannot use that power to its fullest,
that we're abdicating the responsibility that we all have.
Republicans take over the legislature, they can have at it.
But until then, we're in charge and we're sick and tired of being pushed around when other states don't have the same aspirations that we always have had.
And I hold those dear.
But I cannot ignore that this, the playing field has changed dramatically.
And shame on us if we ignore that fact and cling
tight to the vestiges of the past.
That era is over.
Donald Trump eliminated that forever.
Pretty specific, you know, a lot of the Republicans in the Megas are saying, well, you guys have your gerrymandered states.
But the point is that the Democrats do have gerrymandered states, but they want these independent commissions put in place.
And as soon as they get a chance to do it, they do it.
And that's the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.
We have our general mandate states, but we want to get rid of them.
We want independent commissions making those decisions about redistricting.
And the Republicans and Maggis do not want to do that.
And so that was Governor Huckle, right?
It was Governor Huckle from New York.
That's right.
I'm asking everybody to remember that quorum break is a tool that the founding fathers of Texas put in place when the minority party knows that the majority has gone off the rails and is doing something against the interest and will of the voter.
Thousands of you have come out.
to say you do not want your seats stolen by Trump.
The big ugly bill passed by one vote, one vote, and he is afraid of you going to the polls in November of 2026.
He has asked Governor Abbott to break the rules and get him five new Republican seats.
You all spoke up in Austin.
They pushed it.
They put it on the floor.
And so please know.
that this extraordinary step of our core break is so that your voices can be heard.
If they're not going to be heard here in Texas, then we are breaking for them to go to the nation and say, this is it.
You must stop, stop, take over.
Yeah.
He wants to arrest them too.
Yeah.
Governor Abbott.
Okay, 19 minutes past the hour.
When we return, we're going to talk to our chief meteorologist, Brittany Merlot.
Find out when we're going to get rid of this air quality alert jazz.
Coming up on John and Gordy in the morning, WMDX Madison.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
Good morning.
How are you guys doing?
Doing great.
I was looking.
Right.
I'm saying your AQI is at a 56 right now.
You're sitting yellow, nice and pretty, thin or smoke.
I mean, I'm in the orange farther up north in Dorn County.
We're still in the red.
Yeah.
But
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's not one thing.
It's the other, right?
I
of
smoke.
We are hoping a majority of it has moved off to the east.
It's really sitting over actually New York right now.
So was the high pressure system.
But we're still getting a little leftover smoke still stuck here and it could linger through tomorrow morning.
So just a heads up that maybe it'll get extended or that alert might come back on.
But right now not too bad.
Hopefully it'll stay this way through the rest of the day.
It's all on those winds.
Right?
So you want them to get a little breezy.
You want them to mix that wildfire smoke out of here.
So fingers crossed for stronger winds.
Otherwise, we're still comfortable today.
Nice summer day.
Highs at about 82 degrees.
Honestly, not bad.
Still tomorrow, 85 degrees.
Then it starts to get sticky Thursday.
Oh,
are going up.
Oh, no, a two point alert.
We need that.
Just when we go to the 70s, just a two-point alert.
We really do, don't
Why
Yeah, those look like the worst days when we're pushing about 90 degrees probably feeling closer to triple digits again So that'll be Friday Saturday will be the highest heat But then it starts to get stormy too we could see some of that rain start to move in as soon as Wednesday night So tomorrow night possibly but a lot of it wants to hold off until Saturday when another front really pushes through and sparks those storms so Yeah, the summer weather right around the corner and with all of that the wildfire smoke will be gone.
thank you, Brittany.
We appreciate that.
Thank
Thanks, Brittany.
That's Brittany Merlot, our chief meteorologist.
Okay.
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us an awful long
of
people say that we lost the election because we tried to protect the status quo, and people were tired of the status quo, and that's why they took a chance with Trump to stir things up a little bit.
But, you know, the status quo...
We can change the status quo without destroying the entire government.
Right.
You
It
Okay.
Got it.
You know one of the things everybody's kind of waiting for This one shoe to drop and that is the inflation
Numbers to increase and it hasn't been happening now, you know for like two decades from what I remember We were we have been waiting for that inflation thing to happen for two decades even though, you know, we had gone up and down Everything has taken place with the administration changes and Trump in there for the first term Nothing happened.
We have a very stable economy
but it's now taking effect.
We are seeing a little inflation and we're seeing a lot of job losses because of the tariffs.
So we'll see what
How you
I'm doing good.
Good morning, guys.
Yeah.
So you're doing this slightly cooler weather.
Yeah.
A little
and I
it gets
for sure.
Yeah, I mean, a lot of people, you know, they'll kind of be calling us up in there, and especially when it comes to the dogs, those shedding dogs, you know, your golden retrievers, your Bernese Mountain dogs, your Huskies, and, you know, one, they're saying, hey, the hair's all over the house, but also my dog's so hot.
And we do get a lot of people that are like, do we cut the hair?
Because you think, well, if you cut the hair, shorter hair should be cooler, right?
Yes.
But it's actually the opposite.
How
It doesn't make sense.
So you kind of got to think of it as in like, so in the winter time, they grow a thicker coat, and it's almost like you wear in a wool sweater.
You're going to wear thicker clothes in the winter because it's going to keep you warmer.
So then in the summer time, they shed that undercoat.
They have like a soft undercoat, and then they have a harsher top coat.
So what you want to do is actually get them bathed, get them blown out, get them get a good de-shed.
All sorts of special products that professionals have.
get that undercoat out and then you can get a little airflow on the skin.
So it's actually going to cool them off.
But if you cut that, it actually can do the opposite.
So it's actually going to make it, the undercoat grows faster and then they're just nothing but undercoat.
They don't have that top coat to give them that barrier against the sun, the elements and that airflow at the skin.
So.
Wow.
OK.
Little known facts.
their
just good
So it's a little bit of both.
So obviously, like super short hairs like that pit bull type that's really just only like that short single coat.
Yeah.
You know, not much you can do with them other than, you know, cool them off a little bit.
Water hose outside feels great, right?
But even like the labs do have like a denser undercoat that we can get a lot out of for those medium.
coded dogs for sure.
a summer cut.
Yeah, yeah.
So a lot of people, they'll come in and they'll ask for it because it makes sense to you, right?
Yeah.
Cut it shorter, make it cooler.
But it actually, it does not help at all.
It actually can hinder it because it does.
When it grows back, basically when you think of it the technical, the most like easy technical way of saying it is there's like three undercoat hairs to every one top coat hair.
when you cut it, the undercoat actually grows faster.
So then you have all this undercoat in no top coat, so nothing to cool them off and everything, they grow that wool sweater back fast.
It kind of disrupts their natural cycle.
So you want to do, the dog is built to keep itself cool.
We get all crazy and start cutting hair off and changing what they're naturally built to do.
So yeah.
It really depends on the dog.
I usually save every four to six weeks.
It keeps the coat in good rotation.
Most dogs, it's like a three to four week rotation for skin and coat growth.
It's about a 21 day.
Again, technical with it.
You're saving
four to six weeks is gonna keep the shedding down your house, save you some vacuuming time, and keep the hair at the salon.
Keep the hair at the grooming salon.
You don't need that in your bathtub.
Like clogging the drains.
Yes, we do.
that?
So that's off Junction Road, so it's down in that kind of little area towards Middleton, not quite Middleton.
We call it Middleton to make it easier on people to understand which locations which, because we have our west on Odana Road, so it's not super far from the other one, but it's far enough that it's a lot easier for some of our far out Verona and Middleton people, and they can...
cross planes and they can get over to us pretty easy, it's right off the belt line.
And the east side location?
East side, yeah, that one's off American Parkway, it's on East Park, so yeah, yeah, very much so.
Well, I mean, I've always got back from a show.
You're
the
you're all over the
Yes, yeah, I'm currently number two, I believe, in the country, so.
Wow.
Yeah, I ranked number two.
Are you the number one
I do.
She lives in New York, so I mean.
You run into each other all the time.
Is there a little rivalry there going on?
Yeah, it's pretty friendly.
See, we tend to like compete in different classes.
So like we don't actually beat each other very often because she's in like these two cat classes and I'm in like this one.
So, but I'm number two and I'm only competing like in one class and she's competing in three.
So, the odds are in, you know, her favor, but I'm only a few points behind.
So, we're doing all right.
So we're feeling pretty good this year.
But yeah, I'm getting ready to drive out to Vegas next week.
Oh, you're gonna drive?
I'm
Because there's no dogs in Vegas that I can borrow.
So I have to bring my dogs and drive them out to Las Vegas.
to a show?
Usually right now I'm only taking one or two.
I'm taking two out to Vegas.
So yeah, so I gotta spend a week in Vegas.
It's okay.
They hook us up.
They give us a good pool party.
Yeah.
It's fun.
Very cool.
Yeah, you
I am driving it is like 24 hours
That is crazy.
It is crazy.
Well, I have done it for the last three years
Yes, the worst is this is my kryptonite show that I don't usually win at.
And I always try to
drive out
there
and then I don't win.
So I gotta keep
going until I win it.
But I have to get home and then turn around and there's a show in Chicago the next weekend.
Oh my gosh.
And then two weeks later there's one in Pennsylvania in Hershey.
So yeah, the year is cranking up.
So how many
year?
14 or 15 total like sanctions shows that you can get points at and I try I probably do at least Seven to ten of them depending on the year and what my goals are
So we're trying to make the this is a year to try to make the team.
So next year, we'll compete at Worlds.
So we're.
And where's
It was in Belgium last year.
We haven't decided yet.
It could be in France, could be Italy, could be Spain, could be Belgium.
Wow.
Again.
So yeah, we'll compete against usually about 20 to 30 other countries.
They bring a four person team and we compete.
Yeah.
So I'm striving to be on the team right now.
Yeah.
Well,
Do you
Oh, yeah.
Do you really?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
No, we got uniforms and the pictures.
No kidding.
We wave the flag.
We do like the whole... Good for you.
Like opening ceremonies.
It's like little groomer Olympics.
Yeah.
That
sounds
three locations.
People want to find
go?
Website's best, so it's super easy.
It's serenitypetspaMadison.com.
Excellent.
Yeah, you can find us online.
And you can book online super easy right there, but yeah.
I'll be here.
I mean, we're pretty good with that type.
We're pretty good.
Yeah, we're pretty good.
Winning them over.
Oh my God.
You know, you just have to, you got to just focus them on the right thing.
Yeah.
And so it's like, it's going to be all about teaching her hey.
Like, you're a good girl if you do this, and she'll be like, ooh, a new job.
That's all Border Collie wants.
They just want a new job.
New job.
Just give them a new job.
And her new job can be getting pretty.
And then she gets treats and feels pretty afterwards.
So it's like a win-win all around.
You should take her and book her in for an appointment.
Come
and make a video out of it.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
She would love it.
You'd be surprised how much like they have you wrapped around their little finger.
Yes.
And then you go to like us and we're like, you're fine.
And she's like, yeah, you're right.
I just do this for my dad.
Yeah, exactly.
They're manipulators, these dogs.
You know the psychology.
Oh, they're very
She is
Very good.
All right.
Well, Liz, again, thanks for coming in.
See you next time.
Thanks, guys.
Very good.
Good.
All right.
Well, I want to get to something so crazy and so ridiculous that it's hard to even imagine.
But Senator Josh Hawley says he has new legislation that he wants to propose that will send a $600 tariff rebate check
to every American that deserves it.
Oh, that deserves it.
Yes.
Not the Biden voters.
Only the Trump blue collar voters.
That's how this works.
Supposedly.
And if if we could queue up cut 29, that would be a huge benefit to the program, to me and to our listeners.
Cut 20.
You know, I see Dominer just kind of checking out, you know, but you know, it doesn't run on sound here.
Sorry about that.
Let's listen to Josh Hawley explain what he wants in that $600 tariff rebate check.
Okay.
So this is not going to the hedge fund managers or all the Biden voters.
This is not going to the Wall Street kingpins.
They don't need anything.
This is going to the Trump blue collar voters.
The people who Joe Biden
crush, the people who didn't get a raise under Joe Biden for four long years, the people who cannot afford their gas because Joe Biden shut down our energy, who can't afford their groceries because Joe Biden drove up the price of everything.
And it is a message from us to them, from Trump to these folks that he is here to deliver for them.
You know, I got the idea from the president.
I mean, the president said, maybe we ought to do a little rebate.
Great.
idea.
It tells our people, the working people that we are here for you and these policies are going to benefit them.
And we're in it for the long haul.
These Trump policies are here to stay.
All right, that is, that's, that's, that's Josh Hawley, you know, he's, he's out there, you know, working, working real hard for the American worker rebate act of 2025 or refundable tax credit.
for Trump voters.
$600 per adult.
And remember, we played that cut yesterday where a person has a blue card and another person has a red card.
Yes.
And they reap the benefits of their party.
So this might be one of those instances where this would come in handy, I guess.
Now, here's the qualification.
How's that ever
It phases out for incomes exceeding $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for joint filers.
And according to more on this, our working class blue collar voters who've powered the Trump Revolution, who got this president into office multiple times and who are the backbone of this nation will get that rebate.
Wow, they are the backbone.
I had no idea that in all the blue states that are basically funding the red states were the backbone, but maybe I was wrong.
Tariffs pass much of the increased costs onto the American consumers through higher prices on their goods.
So here's the analysis side.
It's okay because these tariffs pass much of the increased costs onto the American consumers through higher prices on goods so that the rebate check would likely be swallowed up.
by the price of the increased price of the product.
Boy, okay.
So the rebate is probably just, you know, paying for already what you've already paid.
Right,
WMDX.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
I want to start out by saying this.
He was caught cheating on video on the golf course.
He cheated on his taxes.
He cheated on his business loans.
on his wives.
and he tried to cheat in the 2020 election.
He cheated on the business contractors that he stiffed through 40 years of business.
Now he's trying to cheat and win this 2026 midterm election because he knows he can't win.
To me, House Republicans, in this case, are like a bunch of buzzards on the fence.
waiting to swoop down on the dying carcass of democracy.
In other words, I mean in a philosophical way, not a sexual way, that he's asking every one of the Republican representatives in this room to be one of his prostitutes.
He was caught cheating on video on the golf course.
Wow.
It says
Good stuff, man.
I love that.
I do love
Oh, you got it.
It's Mike Flood.
Oh, Republican Mike Flood at the town hall.
Didn't go well.
Did you not get it?
I didn't get an email with anything, no.
Hang on a second.
Oh, there it is.
There it is.
Just came in.
The lights must be busy.
What's the smoke and the haze?
Oh, wait.
No, that's clearing up according to some
I thought this was interesting.
Please remind people that Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, jumped out of a second story window to prevent a quorum.
He did.
Democrats use the tool of preventing a quorum to defend democracies.
So there you go.
And according to Mark out in the sack, he says, Josh Hawley can kiss his ass.
So there you go.
And I think that sums it up for everybody listening to this program this morning.
OK.
All right.
Can you play that cut here?
This is a person in the audience asking a very interesting, long question.
But I love it.
Listen to this.
All right.
My question is fiscal with 450 million FEMA dollars being reallocated to open alligator Alcatraz and 600 million taxpayer FEMA dollars being used to now open more concentration camps and ice burning through 8.4 million dollars a day to illegally detain people.
How much does it cost for fascism?
How much do the taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?
Wow!
Nailed it!
Yeah!
Come on!
Nailed it!
Okay, that's all there is.
Isn't that great
yeah.
Yeah, these town halls,
I
over her to make
out.
OK.
Well, hopefully she won't.
But odds are that that is what's going to happen once everyone does eventually have to come home, whether that is tomorrow or it's in December and they can hide out that long.
And.
This isn't about populations coming in and out of blue states.
It's about the fact that JV Pritzker can afford to do this.
And when they went to DC a few years ago, they ran out of money.
JV Pritzker is never running out of money and he's got a bunch of hide hotels and they can each have a suite and they can hang out there for as long as they need to.
But the idea that people are watching this happen or at least people who vote like I do or have similar values.
to me are seeing this just as people running away from their job is ludicrous.
What they are seeing is the fact that Donald Trump called up Greg Abbott and redistricting is supposed to happen once every 10 years.
That's when the census happens.
He's saying I want a mid-cycle redistrict because I only have a three seat majority and I need a bigger cushion.
So get me five more seats.
So Greg Abbott calls a special session not about the flooding not about what happened in Camp Mystic but so that he can steal seats from Democrats so that Jazzy won't be able
to have her seat any longer.
It's important to remind people that in 2021, there was a bill before the People Act, HR1.
And it would have banned all gerrymandering.
And every single Democrat voted for it.
And every single Republican voted against it.
Republicans want it this way.
They want to use this to their advantage.
And of course, there are some states if.
If you can do it, why wouldn't you get as many seats as possible?
But the way in which Abbott is going about this has made people, even like Eric Holder, who runs an organization that is fundamentally against this, change his tune because the California proposal, and Newsom has been out of front on this as well, only has this happened for a few years.
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