“The New Company Store” with Mike McCabe (Hour 2)

They know Wisconsin like they know sarcasm, dupely, and maybe too

well.

This is John and Gordy with another fantastic afternoon.

Before the snow hit, so I guess we're getting hit with

snow state wide, aren't we?

We're gonna get some, yes.

We've got a few flurries here.

They've got some snow up in Wausau.

La Crosse is reporting in with snow.

Also Wisconsin Dells and Milwaukee is just cloudy right now.

Everybody in the low 20s except Wausau is in the mid to upper teens.

And we've had a few very light flurries a little earlier.

It looks like it's kind of let up for the time being.

So we've got a little system moving on through and we'll hear in Madison, a block off the Capitol.

It's just looking kind of cloudy at the moment.

And we're 21 degrees.

It's John Peterson and Gordy Younglaw with our producer, Aaron Zommers.

And on this Wednesday, we've got a jam-packed show.

We do.

Yeah, we're going to find out the latest on

hunting

cranes.

Crane,

right.

where does that stand?

There's some legislation that's working its way.

And we'll find out more about that.

And we'll find out also what might have happened in other states and actually put hunting cranes in law.

So we'll see what they're doing and how that resulted.

Yeah, we're gonna talk to Ryan Makolesko from the International Crane Foundation about that.

And then Dan Schaefer will join us later this hour from the

Recombobulation area.

There's a big governor's debate tonight for the Democrats in Milwaukee, and he's helping to host that.

And we'll check in with Dan.

And then Mike McCabe will be in in our three o'clock hour, around 3.35.

And sub-stack blogger and author, we have him in every Wednesday.

So that's the big lineup.

How are the AI glasses working out John?

Everybody has been texting us.

They've been calling the station.

They've been sending us memos and getting on Facebook or telegrams.

We're getting faxes.

They're fantastic.

They really are.

They're just unbelievable.

Are you getting used to them?

I know.

Last time I wore them was yesterday afternoon.

Oh, you didn't wear them at all?

I didn't wear them at all.

No.

I really don't have a reason to wear them.

Not a lot of questions as I'm walking around the house alone.

But we did watch the fourth edition, the fourth movie of John Wick.

We finished them all off.

We watched them in sequence, all four of them.

And I'm ready to arm myself and go out there

and

see how I can do.

So you watched all four of them last night?

No.

Oh, okay.

Just like in the last two days.

In the last four days.

I see.

We've watched them.

And they're really incredible.

Pretty

intense.

Well, yeah, they have won how they made it, you know, and they went through step by step, you know, certain scenes, certain ways of doing it, their ideas that they had.

And, you know, it's really an interesting movie.

There's so much CGI, though.

There

is a

fork.

Well, there has to be because that's how they get the blood

to

splatter, right?

But I don't know how they get the actors who are getting shot to respond and act like they're getting shot if there is really nothing, no paintballs or something, you know.

It's acting, right?

Yeah, it's just

training, and you know.

See?

Yeah.

Behind the scenes,

special effects, and movies.

Kathy's now demonstrating how a stunt person

reacts when they get shot.

Yes, absolutely.

I was behind the scenes of movies is yeah, you

know

my favorite stuff to see John Wick especially because they are stunt movies made by stunt people They just come up with the coolest stuff.

They can possibly do

and they really do and There was a a green screen Motorcycle chase.

Oh, really which when we watched the movie we thought it was out there actually on a bridge

And it wasn't.

It was just in a green screen room.

And it was just unbelievable how they do this stuff and make it look real.

And it's hard to find flaws in any one scene in a John Wick movie.

It's really hard to see any.

This is

your high level of theater watching John Wick.

Yes.

Really?

Yes.

What about what about what about Tom Cruise?

Tom Cruise is like the man in the in the.

Mission

impossible.

Right?

From when I last checked, I believe there were other actors in Hollywood.

No one else.

You know, I could be wrong, but you know.

John Wick.

I don't think

I've seen it.

No.

I think I've seen maybe 15 minutes.

Somebody killed his wife and now he's out for revenge.

Oh, his dog.

No.

Somebody killed his dog.

Oh, his dog.

Oh,

OK.

Thank you.

Yeah, they kept nailing him for killing his dog.

You're doing all this because somebody killed your dog.

But the dog was a gift from his wife to keep him, you know.

Sane.

Sane and

yeah.

She's

gone.

You had to, you know, just to be with somebody.

And she gave it, she gifted it to him after she had passed.

And

I

don't know how that happened actually.

She was shot, I believe.

I don't know how much you can plan on, you know, giving a surprise gift to somebody when you get shot.

But maybe it was something that she could foresee.

I'm

with John Wick, something's gotta happen.

That wasn't revealed in any of the four movies that you saw, back to back?

How that happened?

Well, they didn't get into the details of how a puppy was delivered to the house as a gift.

post her death.

I don't know how that happened.

But I don't care.

It motivated him.

It gave him purpose in life.

And that was one of the things.

And he burned down his house.

Oh, well, that's

not good.

So that's not good either.

That would

make

me mad.

Okay.

So anyway, yes, John Wick, fantastic series of movies.

You should see it if you're a little squeamish, you know.

Don't see them.

I have a problem.

I've mentioned this a

few times,

but I have a problem with every one of the people John Wick kills because they have families, their brothers, their sisters, they may be dads.

For all I know.

Yeah, they just keep

watching the movies

anyway.

All they have is a security job and they have to fight John Wick.

Man, that's not fair.

So each one of them gets killed.

You know it's a movie, right?

Well, they could injure a few people, right?

And then leave and get their

job done,

I don't

know.

Phone lines are open, 855-752-4842.

That's 855-75CIVIC.

Or you can text us on the Civic Media app.

The other thing too is to make

these movies...

I guess the action packed with a lot of people getting shot is that they have certain, they have suits that they wear that are bulletproof.

So you wear a suit, you get shot, but you don't get killed because it's bulletproof.

And that's how they get away with shooting a lot of people a whole bunch of times all at once.

They don't fall over.

They continue to fight you.

Which uh, that's not really how bulletproof vests work in real life.

It's still gonna knock you down.

You're gonna break a rib, but it's not a vest

You know, it's a sport jacket.

It's a white shirt It's

pants.

I guess I just don't know how that works.

I don't either I don't either but it it's part of the whole idea the mystique of John Wick.

Okay While we were talking Donald Trump offered that we now have a framework of a future deal on Greenland

And he had dropped the idea of tariffs and he dropped the idea of any violence occurring.

He said no force will be used.

Anybody believe him?

Is there

anyone who believes this guy?

He's over there

on Davos or wherever they are.

It depends on if he's on some kind of sedative or not.

He's

talking to the press here somewhere at the World Economic Forum.

And it's just, you know, he's live right now and

he's rambling on.

The only reason he's doing this is because he wants people to listen to him.

Well, yes.

He's been a maniac and each one of those people that are in attendance have said really bad things about him.

And they've also said bad things about the United States and how they're disconnecting from the United States in trade.

So there's a whole bunch of a lot of things going on here.

But

apparently, you know, we have a framework of a future deal.

He's got a

framework for the deal.

No one else knows what that is and no one's going to sign on to it.

No, there isn't a deal.

No one's giving Greenland away.

Oh my God, what kind of deal could there be?

The thing is, he can go there.

He can do anything he wants.

He can bring troops.

He can protect everybody.

Sure.

If they wanted to, but he wants to own it, he feels better.

He feels better if he owns

it.

Of

course he

does.

My God.

We got a text here from your wife, John, and Voss Peterson says John Wick's wife died of cancer.

Oh.

So just so you know.

Well, I thought she fell over.

They were on a beach.

Well, what the hell was I watching?

I don't just follow.

Let's go to

the phones from Appleton.

Cindy is starting us off this afternoon.

Hi, Cindy.

Well, I called this morning into the midday show.

Talked about this, how about how the idiot in was not in charges over in Sweden now, making an absolute idiot out of himself and bear seeing the crap out of us.

And apparently that's what he's doing.

Yeah.

Well, well, he's going to continue to do that as well.

I have a recording of a whole bunch of world leaders trashing him and the United States.

And we're going to get to that in just a few months.

We don't have a lot of time here before our first guest.

But yeah,

we'll be doing

that.

We'll get to that.

I bet my wife is just climbing the walls hearing that his wife was shot.

And I don't know how she managed to.

I, you know, I just don't.

He don't recall.

I just don't understand.

Cindy, thank you

for that call.

We appreciate it.

eight, five, five, seven,

five, two, four, eight, four, two,

kind of bouncing back and forth here.

So, well, between

John Wick, this is what you get with a guy with attention deficit.

I

guess so.

Yeah.

Oh, I could ask my glasses.

Yeah, I ask your

AI glasses how John Wick's wife died.

And I have to shut up because I can't talk while you're listening for your glasses.

I'm waiting for an

answer for my glasses.

Are you what you can't turn them on?

You don't have the magic ring, do you?

Oh, you do have

the magic ring.

I do have the magic ring,

but, uh... Please stand by.

No,

no, just keep... What?

Is it working or not?

No, it's really not working.

All right, so let's move on from my glasses.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah, but, uh...

We've got

a couple of minutes

here.

Okay, well, no, you know, we're going to get to some mediocrity.

We're going to talk about the robot healthcare doctors that the administration wants to put in place.

Robot

doctors.

We might play a little part of a Jesse Wells song, Join Ice, which he performed on the Colbert extravaganza.

Okay.

And we'll also hear a few things from Minnesota.

A police chief of Brooklyn Park came out and made a fantastic, unbelievable statement, actually.

And he was speaking for all the other police chiefs that were standing behind him, and we'll get to that.

Plus, you know, the among US citizen that was dragged out of his house, that became a big deal.

And that blew up yesterday.

I mean, it happened prior to that.

But the story really unfolded as soon as they started interviewing him and finding out his story in regards.

to that.

The right wing is essentially saying that he lived with pedophiles.

Oh,

really?

And for some reason, they just weren't at his home.

OK, so.

Because they check.

They got there and they.

They check.

Yeah.

They weren't there.

So maybe they were never there.

You know, the right wing likes to latch on to certain things, rumors, innuendo.

Yeah.

All right, just get started on a Wednesday afternoon inviting your phone calls at 855-752-4842.

Back with more of John and Gordy in just a moment.

We can now ask AI.

Okay.

While we were in the break, I asked my AI glasses, how did John Wick's wife die?

Helen is her name and she died from a terminal illness, which I guess I believe is cancer at this point.

I do remember that she fell over and he caught her and they were sadly, you know.

out on the beach.

I

have no idea what I've

seen.

The moral of the story is,

your wife is right.

Yeah, your wife is correct.

She texted and she's right.

You're wrong.

She's right.

What movie was that in?

Which of the John Wick movies did she die?

Well, that was the first one.

It was the first one.

That kind of set everything up.

Yeah,

that set everything up.

He got the gift of a dog and they killed the dog right away, almost.

And then he got another dog at a shelter and had that for a long period of time.

I don't think that was ever killed.

But there were a lot of dogs in the John Wick movies.

We could go on and on about this all afternoon, apparently.

You know what?

We're

not.

OK?

Let's

move on.

I'm calling the

shots here.

Well, good.

Why don't we take a phone call from Wisco Paul, who's

been

patiently waiting on the line here.

Hi, Paul, go ahead.

Hey, good afternoon, gentlemen.

Well, I'm really happy I woke up this morning and found out we're not going to war with Greenland.

That's a great relief.

Jesus.

And then I guess it's Tackle Trump because he

He canceled the tariff.

At least that's my understanding.

But I got one last thing.

There was an article in money this morning that said the American people have paid 96% of the tariff money.

So I guess that's a new way to tax.

You can't deduct it or anything like that.

But hey, at least he's found a new way to get tax money.

It's just an amazing thing here.

I don't know what's going to happen next, but you guys' shows should be interesting for the next three years.

Oh, thank you.

Yes.

You guys have a great day.

You too, Paul.

Thank

you.

I'm in a hard time keeping up with all the stuff that's going on.

And here's the thing, and we're not talking about it yet because it's new.

I mean, he did.

go back on the tariffs and invading Greenland, right?

But here's the thing, he did that because he got pushback from the entire globe.

Right, yeah, all of NATO.

No, we're not doing

that.

And we're gonna play a cut from that in just a few moments, but I wanna get to something first.

It's robots taking care of us, HHS, Health and Human Services, after one year is so bad,

So bad yeah, how bad are they?

Well, let's find out this cut to 90

if you can get to it.

If

you can get to it.

We got the

best healthcare if you can get to it.

That's also

not true that nobody leaves America for healthcare.

That really isn't.

Medical tourism is a thing.

Yep, it is.

Yeah, a lot of people go to Canada or Mexico or elsewhere around the world.

They

go everywhere

and

spend a little time and get some great work.

Now here's a response to that.

So cool.

Let's let robots do prostate exams first to work out the kinks.

Oh, instead of the ultrasound.

It sounds like a good idea.

Yeah.

You know, I'm just thinking now that maybe the next thing will be doctors wearing AI glasses in order to perform a surgical operation

of

some sort.

Maybe, maybe they're already doing that.

I hope they're faster than yours.

I mean, they have because they might need answers pretty quick.

They do have robot assisted surgeries now.

Do they have robot assisted surgeries

right now?

Oh, you're asking.

Got to shut up.

Oh, it's not.

Try it again.

You know, I thought just kind of slipping that in like that.

It would work, right?

But it didn't.

It didn't work.

So do

you have its attention right now?

No, I'm not

going to do it.

Let's

move on to the rest of the program here.

I just wanted to say this.

Maybe Trump changes mind because thousands rallied in Greenland.

recently at their capital city, thousands.

Greenland is not for sale.

And and the report, I guess this is one of the biggest protests they've ever seen in Greenland.

Oh, well.

Okay, so I bet they haven't protested very much.

I was going to say the other time they protested maybe a cancellation of a TV show they're watching.

I mean there's only about 56,000 people in the whole right in all of Greenland and they kind of scattered in.

a few towns and villages here and there.

So kind of hard to get anybody together, but that's good.

They did.

They did.

Yes.

They got together and this is a

huge.

Oh, I was huge.

I

mean, the

video was just fantastic.

Really?

It was hard to imagine that many people there in Greenland.

Maybe they brought in some all at once outside agitators.

Hey, maybe that's it.

Could be.

All right.

Just a reminder.

Yeah, who is actually against the police who wants to defund them?

Yeah,

again, it's really good to remind ourselves who said this this is Local and state police have been ordered to stand down and surrender That is Stephen Miller.

I just want to keep reminding everybody that

he

actually said that yes local and state police have been ordered to stand down and Surrender to the administration in Minnesota.

Yeah, right

Mm-hmm.

Well, they haven't done that yet.

I don't expect they're

going

why they are not going to do that.

No

So we'll see what happens with that.

I hope the governor does something.

And I know that the mayor, you know, they've been very soft on this.

It seems like they've been holding back,

right?

Don't do anything, be peaceful.

But they did that because now they're not actually gonna get arrested for anything.

We're sued by the administration for saying

anything.

Well, we'll have more on that situation.

But coming up next after we check in with the Midwest Farm Report, we'll talk to Ryan Michalisco.

Communications and Advocacy Specialists from the International Crane Foundation.

It's coming up on John and Gordy.

I'm sure this is what the song was talking about.

Sandil Cranes.

Sandil Cranes, yeah.

I think so,

huh?

It's

Johnny Gordy

in the

afternoon.

And we're welcoming in our guest, Ryan Michalesco.

He's a communications and advocacy specialist at the International Crane Foundation up between Baraboo and the Dells.

And Ryan, thanks for coming in.

Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys.

International Crane Foundation, how long has it been there forever?

I

mean,

since the late 70s, I think?

Maybe early 70s, actually.

So the cool thing about ICF is it really is a Wisconsin story.

It was founded and established right here in Wisconsin near Baraboo in 1973, the same year that the Endangered Species Act was passed into law.

So

wonderful place.

And I know you do lots of tours there and have school groups there.

And really field trips.

If you've never been there, we encourage you to check

it out.

You said they've made a number of improvements since COVID.

What did you change?

Yeah, our crane discovery center in Baraboo is the only place in the world where you can see all 15 species of cranes, 10 of which are endangered or threatened from all around the world.

And we have a really beautiful site with a couple of miles of nature trails, educational opportunities, tours daily.

We're open May through October every year.

All right.

Kind of zip line through and see all the different trains.

Yeah, it's a fantastic place.

It's a great place to spend an afternoon.

It's a peaceful place if you want to come and spend some quiet time to yourself.

It's great.

So let's talk about this legislation that's been working its way through the assembly and through the legislature about sandhill cranes and what to do with

farmers that want to protect their fields and start us out with this issue.

This has been kicking around for a couple of years, right?

Yeah, this is actually the third or fourth time in a decade that this issue has come up.

And for a long time, it's always been tied to this issue of crop damage.

So for those of you that don't know, sandhill cranes are really a true conservation success story.

We almost lost them less than 100 years ago.

Same thing with the endangered whooping crane, which is still endangered today.

But sandhill cranes

or a success story and with their population coming back, we've also faced some new and growing threats.

You know, they're historic, you know, thinking pre-European settlement, but their historic habitats of grasslands and wetlands are now wetlands right next to a lot of corn fields.

And grains need something to eat when they're up here on their nest for the spring.

So that can cause some crop damage for farmers.

It can be quite significant for certain areas.

And we're really trying to work hard to find a solution for that.

However,

These issues have been tied to a hunting season for a long time.

The idea that a hunting season is going to solve this problem of crop damage for farmers.

And there's just so much evidence that says that's not the case.

But we keep hearing this time and time again.

And now we have a new piece of legislation that's working its way through the legislature here in Madison that would establish a hunting season and really not do anything for farmers.

Yeah, it

seems like you're just maybe getting a few.

you know, sandhill cranes out of the way, but there's still a whole bunch more.

So you really can't eliminate the problem.

It's still going to continue,

right?

Well, the interesting thing is, is the hunting season would occur in the fall.

Crop damage occurs in the spring.

So you're not going to have that.

manual deterrent, so to speak.

And then through all of the legislative process that this has gone through, we've heard time and time again, whether it be from the DNR, past DNR experts, the Fish and Wildlife Service, is that a hunting season is not to reduce the population of sandhill cranes.

That would be a bad thing if we're hunting them to the point where their population is in decline.

So we're also not removing birds from the population that would be causing this crop damage.

So it really isn't a solution.

I think it's

something that a hunting season was tied to a long time ago since there's no other biological reason to have a hunting season.

So where do you think the legislation is going to go from here?

What's the next step here?

It's

really hard to say.

Where does it

stand now and where does it go?

Yeah, so about two years ago, the legislature, they do this thing, which is really a cool process, but it's called a legislative study committee.

And the legislators can pick issues that they think are important to the state and set up a committee, bring in members of the public, bring in experts, bring in professors, whoever, that they'd like to sit on these committees.

And there was a legislative study committee on Sand Hill Cranes.

That committee met for six months.

and was composed of legislators, ICF had a seat at the table, and others.

And that committee, along party lines, put forward a bill that tied, again, crop damage to a hunting season.

But that bill had a lot of great things in it for farmers.

That bill was assigned to committee, the sporting heritage committees in both the assembly and Senate.

And when it got to the committee, they amended the bill, which basically removed all of those great programs and stripped it down right to a hunt.

So not much left in that bill.

That bill did along a hard party lines past both of the committees.

And now it's just waiting to see if it would get scheduled for a floor vote.

Now, there are a number of other states that have Sand Hill Crane.

Hunting seasons, is that correct?

Yeah, you're absolutely right.

There's 17 states that have a hunting season.

And how has it gone there?

Well, the important consideration here is that 14 of those 17 states are in the central flyaway, which is over a million individual birds.

Whereas our eastern population here that migrates through Wisconsin is only about 100,000 birds can take.

And really, that's that's a strong estimate that could be plus or minus 30 percent.

It's hard to say exactly how many we have here in the population.

So has it become more of a sport then for them, the other states, than actually solving the problem, which you're saying and you're making sense with?

it really can't solve the problem unless you've got rid of sandhill cranes again.

Yeah, and you know, just given the timing of the migrations and where they're breeding and spending their winters, the other states don't really contend with this issue that we have in Wisconsin.

Minnesota, Michigan, they also deal with it, but to a lesser extent than us.

But we're a special place for cranes, and that's one of the important things about this is that we're breeding grounds.

When you have a bird, cranes are not ducks.

They're not geese.

They don't lay 10, 15 eggs every year.

They lay maybe one or two.

And they live a long time and they take

a long time to pair up and breed.

When you have a hunting season that could remove some of those mature breeding birds from the population, we're not sure how it could affect the population, which is already not that large here.

We're talking with Ryan Michaelesco.

He is with the International Crane Foundation.

If you'd like to ask him a question, you can call us 855-752-4842.

Michael, I have a pair of sandhill cranes that live in back

of my apartment complex.

I heard this out here.

Okay.

Well, yeah.

Well, it's a real swampy area.

It's

like a wildlife area behind me.

Not a huge one, but enough that there's a pair of them out there.

And I'm wondering, aren't they supposed to fly south?

We're in the winter.

What are they doing

here?

You know, it's interesting, but we're really, really fortunate here in Wisconsin, just by way of our geography that most times of the year, you know, spring through fall, you can walk out your back door and live.

and hear the cranes and sunrise and sunset.

It's a beautiful thing, but you know, it really depends on the weather.

Last year we had, are they still there?

They're still

there.

I mean,

while they were there as of like four or five days ago.

We'll see after this.

I see it

almost every day.

Cold weather warning we're in, but you know, it depends.

They...

kind of depend on the weather when they need to migrate.

So last year we had some that stayed around until that really cold snap that we had in January.

This one today and tomorrow might push them out, but they used to migrate much further and now it seems like they're maybe only migrating as far as they need to, which is just to get out of the

cold.

So they travel in pairs, right?

I mean, they kind of pair up.

Yeah, they are, we tend to say with some exceptions that cranes mate for life.

So there's kind of two groups, the younger juvenile birds and then the older mated breeding pairs.

And during the breeding season, they come here and they find the spot that they want to lay their nest.

In many cases, that's the same place year after year after year.

And a pair, two of those birds would defend that area, lay their nest, raise their young, and then move on when it's time to migrate.

But they can also flock up and join and create pretty large congregations.

So we're also really fortunate that every year in November, we have

a staging on the Wisconsin River, actually near the Aldo Leopold Foundation for folks who vote for them.

But the staging occurs on the river and that's them all getting ready and they're big flock to say, OK, it's almost time to migrate.

And it's really a beautiful thing.

But for those interested in that, we also host the Great Midwest Crane Fest every November, actually.

I'm sporting the t-shirt today.

OK, November.

But November.

So check out greatmidwestcranefest.org.

And

how old do they live too?

You know, we have some birds in human care that have lived to be over 30.

Really?

Yeah, it's really fascinating.

But that sets them apart from birds like ducks and geese.

They have completely different biology.

Interesting.

If people want to find out more, your website is what?

Savingcranes.org.

OK.

Well, Michael, thanks for coming in.

Yeah.

And keep us informed on what's happening with this legislation.

Ryan Michaelesco.

Yes.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

It's all good.

I've gotten a lot through my life.

At least I

didn't call you Michael Angelo like

somebody else

did.

Ryan, thanks for coming in.

Yes, of

course.

Thank you so much.

All right.

All right.

Okay.

Very good.

Boy, you have this debate all the time and say it goes off the rails and it doesn't happen.

I'm glad it has not taken hold yet, but we'll see how it goes this time around.

That's for sure.

Okay.

All right.

We'll open up the phone lines again for other questions here, 855-752-4842, or if you have something on your mind you want to jump in.

You can also text us on the Civic Media app.

And again, we thank Ryan Michaelesco for coming in today.

All right, now let's get to, well, we have something from Cam here.

He was talking about Lance Redick, who was in the John Wick movies.

He passed away.

But sadly, in the last movie, he was also killed in the movie.

What?

So that, I completely forgot that happened.

You know, it's good to see these movies all over again, you know?

Now

it's great to see.

You see things you didn't see before.

Okay.

Yeah, it's kind of wild, but...

Uh, let's get to something here.

This is, um, this is something my mega friend in Milwaukee sent me and I'm, uh, you know, it just, it's just outrageous.

You know, Mad King Don proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr.

Day late on Monday night after being criticized by civil rights activists raking from tradition by failing to recognize the holiday.

All right.

So, um, how does the red hat

cult deal with Martin Luther King Jr.

Day.

How do they do that?

Well, they come up with some kind of AI slop.

Really?

That's what they come up with.

So let's try 291.

Cut 291 here.

I have a dream

that one

day Democrats will stop letting criminals into our country just so they can steal elections with their ballots.

They finally realize they're only two genders.

and that men can never get pregnant.

That they stop letting mentally ill perverts into women's bathrooms.

And

little

girls lock a room.

I have a dream that Democrats stop believing in that green new scam and defund the police nonsense.

That they finally stop

Chilling our beautiful unborn babies That they quit trying to censor In his speech they don't like because it makes them look stupid

that they never get an idea that these AI generated slop videos that they put out there This is what they preoccupied themselves with this is what they look at they they watch this stuff

I

mean, it's just fantasy stuff for them.

I mean it may turn them on.

I don't know what

It is about stuff like this that they need reassuring with, but I am sure that this is certainly helping them deal with the process of doing away with woke.

Finally, once and for all seems to be the

mission.

It's outrageous.

Yeah.

When we come back from this short break, we're going to talk to Dan Shaper from the recombobulation area about tonight's debate between the Democratic candidates for governor.

It's coming up on John and Gordy.

It's John and Gordy in the afternoon.

And the phone number, if you'd like to get in on the action, 855-752-4842, 855-75

Civic.

And on the line right now, we have our political editor for Civic Media from the recombobulation area.

It's Dan Shafer.

Good afternoon, Dan.

Good to have you with us.

Good afternoon, fellas.

Thanks for having me.

Sure.

So big night tonight in Milwaukee.

Set the stage for us.

A bunch of Democratic candidates running for governor and seven of them.

You're going to be there.

And Civic Media is going to carry that streaming at civicmedia.us.

So what can we expect this evening?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So a very exciting event.

Really been looking forward to this one.

The first major event of the 2026 gubernatorial election.

We'll have seven of the top Democrats running for governor who will be on stage together at the Cooperage in Milwaukee at 6 p.m.

Tonight.

And as you mentioned, civic media will be carrying it live.

Livestream on civic media's YouTube channel.

You can find more information about that in a couple posts we put out today at the Reconbibulation area and civic media today.

But, you know, I didn't.

This event is being hosted by Main Street Action, and so we are going to be talking about so many of the issues that they work in.

They have focus on small business, on the Main Street economy, and so we're going to be talking about issues like childcare, healthcare, access to capital, tax policy, paid leave and paid medical and family leave.

So a bunch of these

policies that are relevant to the state of Wisconsin, because this really is a small business state.

More than 99% of businesses operating in the state of Wisconsin are small businesses.

About half of all employees in Wisconsin work at a small business.

And I think these are the types of issues that can connect across the state, whether you're in the rural Northwoods or here in the largest city in the state here in Milwaukee.

These are issues that impact small businesses across the state.

So I'm really looking forward to a robust discussion with the seven candidates that will be there tonight.

about so many of these pressing issues?

Well, a lot of topics to talk about, especially health care, when the other side of the aisle did all they can to prevent us from having health care, or at least the tax credits for the ACA.

Those individuals certainly don't care about Medicaid very much either, and feeding children with SNAP.

So it's going to be an easy one.

Those will be the questions that will be easier for the Democrats to answer.

assume.

Yeah, you know, I think this will be, you know, there will be some opportunities to talk about that.

But I'm interested to see how some of these candidates differentiate themselves to, you know, with these types of questions.

I think

there's a lot of nuance to these, to these debates, you know, Medicaid expansion, you know, how to prioritize something like that, you know, expanding access to childcare, do we prioritize paid family and medical leave?

So I think there's a lot of nuance in this discussion too.

And so we're going to be fielding questions from a number of the Main Street Action members and small business owners who will be asking the questions and then we'll be fielding some audience questions as well.

So I think the first, you know, kind of portion of the event will feature some of those questions from small business owners.

from the members of Main Street Action, and then we'll hit on a broader range of topics when we get to some of the audience questions that

we'll

be directing to the candidates

as well.

Now, Dan, you mentioned this is at the Cooperage in Milwaukee, which is at 822 Southwater Street, Milwaukee, and are tickets still available for this?

Is it a free event?

Can you talk about that a little bit?

Yeah, so there has been a lot of interest in this been working with the folks at Main Street action and from what I understand now it is at capacity So if you have not already registered, I think we're gonna have you know a few hundred people who are gonna be in attendance for this I think it's just a indicator of how high the interest is

Yes

in this race in hearing from these candidates and I think seeing them together and how they interact with one another up on stage two

I think it's one of the aspects of this that I'm going to be certainly watching as well.

Well, I'd like to hear the question about DEI, the constitutional amendment that the Republicans want to put in place.

I want to see what their reaction is to something like that, which is an incredibly weird topic.

to talk about anyway.

Yeah, I'd like to actually check it out.

Where again can we hear and watch and see this debate tonight?

Yeah, so Civic Media will be the exclusive live streaming

live streamer for this event this evening.

It will be at the Civic Media YouTube channel.

It's free to tune in.

We have the video already set up on our YouTube channel, so you can go check that out.

Right now I have a link at the Reconbibulation area and the newsletter I sent that went out just a couple hours ago.

So we should be able to have this on all of the relevant Civic Media streaming channels.

And it begins promptly at 6 p.m.

So, you know,

Obviously, if you're not going to be at the app capacity event tonight, you can stay home and stay warm and settle in for a nice evening of some political talk for in Wisconsin.

Now it's going to be on our civic media app, is that correct?

On the

Civic Media YouTube channel.

Yeah, the YouTube channel.

YouTube channel.

Yeah,

there you go.

It starts straight up six o'clock and goes till 7.30.

Dan, thanks for being with us.

And it should be a very interesting debate tonight.

And good luck.

Have some fun with it, too.

Yeah.

Thanks so much.

Thanks for having me,

guys.

All right.

That's Dan Schaefer, our political editor for Civic Media.

Again, you can get more information at the RecombobulationArea.News and, of course, on our civic media sites as well.

Well, I

was lucky I finished off the series, the John Wick series, because

now I have a free night

here.

There you go.

I can watch it.

Absolutely.

I will do that.

Check it out.

All right, much more ahead coming up in our next hour.

Mike McCabe will join us.

News is next, and we're back with more of John and Gordy.

We're

not backing down John and Gordy in the afternoon here and that's right We will we'll have your backs.

We'll do whatever we can to get the information out there.

That's right.

We'll hold your hand

We go along here.

I'm even wearing a high glasses just to help everybody out I took them off momentarily here because give them a rest.

I'm going blind Their prescription and I think they work, but I'm not quite sure I can wear them all day Well, you have to break them in a little bit.

That's that's what I'm thinking too.

So I'm taking a little rest here.

It's a medical

okay Coming up in about a half hour Mike McCabe will join us as he does on every Wednesday from

Substack blog and it's got a great book called Miracles Along County Q and Mike will join us at about 335.

All right.

Last hour I played some AI slop is what they call it junk junk stuff they made up from AI and fantasy stuff.

Yeah fantasy stuff and it was Martin Luther King Jr's speech and it

Placates it allows the red hats the the mag is out there to Stay energized you know to keep them going

keep them actually distracted.

So they'll listen to that.

They won't pay attention to the actual news or what's going on or how the rest of the world is moving on, moving on beyond the US at this point.

And I don't know if we're going to be able to stop that just because all of a sudden the orange one has said we're not going to invade Greenland.

I don't know if that's going to change anything at all.

And he's got a plan, but no one knows what it is.

That's just ridiculous stuff.

This

guy's

hallucinating.

He's a very stable genius.

Yes, I can't forget about that.

But anyway, I played this AI slop from Martin Luther King Jr.

We have Charles on the line and I think Charles, you want to talk about that?

Hey, good afternoon guys.

Yes, that is just nuts.

And the first one, the first thing they talked about was criminal.

The criminal is the one

That sits at the Oval Office on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, right?

I I don't understand the where I'm lost at is just the pure hatred Of this party that claims to be a read all about religion and Christianity But they seem to be very faithful.

They hate people of color They hate liberal women.

They hate gay people

They hate trans people.

How many trans athletes are there really in girls' sports?

If they have to count it up, or if they can find these athletes, how many of them are really out there?

I'm lost at the just pure hatred.

I wish these people could step out of their bodies for a week, erase their memories, and let them see

the two different parties, and see who's the party that acts like they're just no home training, no nothing.

I mean, you have a party that cares about people.

They're saying, wait, you shouldn't be breaking people's car windows and dragging them out.

You shouldn't be breaking down people's doors to drag out a man who is an American citizen who they thought was a pedophile, but they were at the wrong house.

They were at the wrong house when they and then you walk them out in the cold weather in shorts Yeah, and no shirt in a rope.

How would you feel if that was your your granddad or your dad or your uncle?

That they did that too.

I don't understand the pure hatred of this party Yeah, and that's what they're all about hate.

I I've never seen them Try to say hey, we shall work together on anything and we're hated around the world

CJ and anybody else thinks that we're the almighty, powerful people around the world hate the United States.

And when this man is dead and gone, I don't know if they will change their sentiment at how they feel about us because they're looking at it that we allow this man to run amok.

Not only in the United States, but around the world.

Well the entire world turned against him and I've got a clip that I'll be playing from world leaders including the Canadian Prime Minister himself really laying it on the line so we'll be getting to that in just a few moments but you're right and you know that Martin Luther King Jr.

speech that was used with AI to create

their agenda essentially is just a reinforcement of their agenda.

This is why they really can't speak about anything new that crops up in the news or something that we want to talk about or new topic that we need to at least address with this administration because they're still listening to that Martin Luther King Jr.

speech that AI created and they think that is the only agenda, the exclusive agenda in this country which it is not.

Charles, thanks for that.

Yeah.

Thanks a lot, Charles.

Let's go to Mark and pray to sack.

Good afternoon, Mark.

What do you got for us today?

A bit of levity to start.

I mean, I can imagine a ZZ top parody song for your AI glasses there.

Sun glasses, dog.

I'll take a, take a swat at that tonight.

The only heartening thing about the whole Minneapolis thing where they called the guy out in his robe.

That what I heard this morning is apparently his neighbors were working to repair his door that I said had battered down It is just a yeah, you know that kind of you know Bought a tug at my heart strings to hear something like that people are actually his neighbor I actually care about this man and It says something about the people in Minneapolis, you know that they want to step up like that But I mean it is just disgusting that they got the wrong house and they couldn't even

father to let the guy actually get dressed.

I mean, make sure you know, text his ID and make sure they had the right house.

No, they won't have their little, their little, their little show that they want to put on show how big and tough they are.

I mean, it is just it.

Now we got Kyle Rittenhouse trying to profit off of this.

I mean, he's talking what he wants to go to Minneapolis and show up with a, with a mini, you know, mini Mac or whatever, military weapon and and that little function.

It's just these guys are profiting off of death.

I mean the guy that murdered Renee Renee good is going to be a millionaire when this is all done and Probably gig pulling gig on Fox News or be a right wing influencer now the rest of his Damned life.

I mean it is just disgusting that these people are able to profit off at death Yeah, we just embraces them and that it is just I

put

the number of you know they

Love it throws out the figure over there and illegals killed 4,000 Americans.

I looked it up for in 20 and 2025 apparently there was you could document 15 cases of an undocumented person Allegedly to have killed an American.

Yeah,

and why they're able to inflate those figures like that and get away with it.

I mean she just Blah you know plows on through and it doesn't matter to me cuz she jailed through these

False facts all this you know right and left in and that Yeah, by the time you look it up.

He's already moved on to some other you know some other fresh lie

Right they bring up so many topics all at once that it's hard to keep up with at least correcting some of the things that they do say and Every once in a while it happens here on this program too.

We're talking to somebody that bring up something We can't correct them because they moved on to the next topic or at least the topic that we were talking about Yeah, it's it's tough stuff and you know these people they do want this one particular agenda and they want to drive it into the ground and they aren't

ever, and I think this is part of what we're seeing from the entire administration.

It's one of the three things that Trump believes in most, and that is to never, what does it never deny?

Always deny.

Always deny, and... We'll have to find

that

cut.

Yeah, we gotta find that cut.

Because there are three things that it was in

the, uh, it's in the movie, the, uh, the apprentice, the apprentice.

Yeah.

It was a very good movie.

And there's three things that he learned from Roy Cohen.

Yeah.

And it's Roy Cohen's actual three things and he adopted them.

And, uh, do we have

that?

Did you find it?

No, we're still searching.

We'll get to it.

Uh, in the meantime, let's move on on the phone calls

here.

Let's move on to Matt.

Matt in Middleton.

What's on your mind, Matt?

Hey guys Yeah, it's really quite insane Why would anyone in Europe or Denmark?

Want to come be part of this mess called America that can't can't even give it people jobs or health care We are technically a failed state and a third world country

And this is why they want to get rid of Europe, because it's an example of a democracy that we were supposed to be, but never have been yet.

One that works, one that provides for the people, one where the people actually can vote.

And I don't know if you guys agree, but I think their parliamentary system might be a little better than ours, because these parties are both corrupt.

But yeah, it is quite amazing and a lot of these maga.