A Well Kept Secret, Is Still A Secret (Hour 2)

Good.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome to Matt and they're on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host and you are listening to us on the civic media radio network.

You can get in touch with us anytime you'd like.

The number is the same whether you call or text.

It's 855.

752-4842 or 855-75 Civic.

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Have a wonderful show today.

It's December the 18th.

How many days is that to Christmas?

Seven.

I hope you have your shopping at least thought about, if not completely completed, or at least as the old song says, time is on your side for a few days.

But.

We got a great show for you today at 9 35 after the half, after the bottom of the news break, where we welcoming Pat Crite low host of mornings with Pat Crite low soon to be leaving us.

If you haven't heard tomorrow is his last show here at civic media, but we're going to be having him on the show to talk about the speech from the president last night.

We'll be talking about that a little bit beforehand, but

We'll get into the nitty gritty with him on that in the 930.

We'll also be talking about the fact that Republicans are starting to break away from party ranks and some want to extend ACA tax credits for those who want to access healthcare.

Why are they doing it?

Is it because of political coverage?

Is it because they care a little bit of both columns?

I don't know, but.

We'll be talking to Pat after the 9 30 news in the 10 o'clock 10 o'clock hour, the two in the second hour, we'll be talking to Ann Sayers, who is the secretary of tourism here in Wisconsin.

And there are a lot of things going on in winter in Wisconsin and it doesn't all have to do with snow.

In fact, there are ways to enjoy Wisconsin without having to come into contact with any snow, but we'll be talking more about that with Ann Sayers in the second hour at 1006.

So you want to stick around for that.

And something we are going to keep talking about as well is sports, Wisconsin sports, local sports.

We have Paul noon and he is a writer for the Acme packing company.

He'll be stopping by 10 35.

Talk about all things that are the Packers.

We'll be talking about the bucks.

Maybe I don't know if anyone wants to talk about the bucks right now, Calvin.

I feel like bucks fans are really like angry sad.

I'm not sure, but it's a, I, I, I'm here for you if you need to talk about that.

Cause I know that the season seemed like it was going to

I don't wanna say be better, but just there was excitement and now it seems to dissipated.

There are mumblings that they might be looking to make a big move.

So we might talk to Paul about

that.

They might be moving out of Milwaukee, isn't it?

No, not that.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Sorry.

Well, don't listen to me.

I'm not a sports writer and the bucks are not my area of expertise, but we talking to him about it.

Also with him, we're gonna highlight spotlight and raise the profile.

of the Wisconsin women's volleyball team.

Cause not only are they kicking butt, they always kick butt.

They're very, very good.

And I want to talk more about that as well.

And just the fact that we need to keep our eye on those great sports that sometimes don't make all the news.

And then finally, this shouldn't be a thing rounding out the show today.

It is snake in my boot edition.

If you're a fan of a new movie called Zootopia two, I sound like a very old person saying that, but.

If you're a fan of that, this might be one for you, especially if you have young kids.

It's just a way to know what, not to get them for Christmas, but that is at the end of the show.

This shouldn't be a thing.

We have a great one for you.

We're going to open up with a story that's been developing over the past few months.

And that is having to do with something called Wisconsin.

I, if you're not familiar with Wisconsin, I essentially, it is like Wisconsin's C spam.

It is a live stream broadcast network that basically covers state government anytime.

They're in there having discussions anytime it's public can be a part of it.

They are running their programming.

We can watch them talk about issues, vote on bills, a way to just engage ourselves in local government and stay in contact, but also hold them accountable because it's all there right on the floor.

On top of them live streaming these these hearings or these events and these happenings, there's also about.

30,000 hours of state government proceedings, candidate interviews, and other programming.

It was launched in 2007.

And as of Monday, it halted its service because of that lack of funding.

And since the announcement a few weeks ago, there has been a scramble to try to make it, to save it essentially.

We're seeing a lot of cuts to various public broadcasting, public access.

And this is

has been one of the casualties.

And I think personally, and it's easy to say, well, who watches with eye?

Well, people do.

A lot of people do.

A lot of people in the news, a lot of people read it, watch it for research, looking at for whether they're researching papers or whatnot.

It's a tool of access to see our leaders doing their work.

And there have been discussions about the state government.

The legislators on restarting the services this week, they were talks to discuss what with with I and with the stoppage of coverage, how they could actually get some funding.

There is some pushback, of course, because, you know, the funding from, if you are familiar with Madison, the place where the capital is where legislators do work, not Madison lawmakers.

I was given the request to not call them Madison lawmakers.

I will say,

people who are lawmakers are representatives who work in medicine.

There is a very big, there isn't a lot of wanting to give funding essentially.

And it is easy to make the case that WISI isn't something worth funding.

And they asked the state to provide about $1 million in funding with matching requirements to cover the 2026 budget.

And they're having discussion discussions on it.

And of course we have someone who is a main dissenter and it's not who you think it's not speak.

It's not assembly speaker Robin Voss.

It's the president of the Wisconsin state Senate, David Lemahue, who says he has expressed skepticism about giving the organization state funding, telling the associated press it's important to make sure the public can view what's going on in state government, but that

Looking at the way Wisconsin I is currently run, it seems like they're really burning through money.

It's not the most effective use of taxpayer money.

So we're not going to give with with I a blank check to keep running it irresponsibly.

Well, first of all, and I want to make sure this is the title is Wisconsin I leader state government broadcaster in talks with legislators on restarting the service.

This is by Baylor Spears with the byline in the Wisconsin examiner.

Couple of things that I have a problem with this.

First of all, this is a big issue for me.

I don't know how you feel about.

Let me know what you think.

855-752-484-2855-755 Civic.

We're going to talk about this for a little bit.

And we're also going to hear from Shaly Pittman and Savannah Tome Olson here at Civic Media who did a great story on this as well.

But you're not giving them a blank check.

They've made a request a million dollars with matching requirements.

So there are some stipulations.

There is oversight.

If you don't want to give them that much,

then negotiate maybe less, but keep it on the air.

And this attitude of, well, it's not gonna be good or we can't do this, so we're just not gonna do it all.

No, you walk into a room, you have a discussion, and you come out with a deal, a compromise.

This is access to our leaders.

This is access to what they do and say.

And to, I'm gonna read the quote, nice for people to be able to stay home and be able to watch TV and see what we're doing.

It's not nice, it's important.

helpful.

It's beneficial, but to that's actually from Diane Husslebine and I actually disagree.

It's not nice.

It's helpful.

It's important.

It's required.

I think I think it's absolutely a requirement for us to be able to see.

And that's something that this government should be.

I should be absolutely compelled and have to fund.

If there are problems with how much there is, we talk about that.

We find ways to get outside funding.

That's the other problem with the cuts to public broadcasting with

So much funding and grants going away folks are getting what's called donor fatigue, which means you can only give so much money to so many groups and People regular folks like me and you who write out checks every year to charity.

We have to make hard decisions Are we giving less to this group?

Are we not giving to that group?

But that's the problem and that's in effect to what we were talking about yesterday on the show, which is

Having a positive investment from our leaders in the things that help our communities and having access to what our leaders say is important.

And it's in my opinion, it should be mandatory, but that's where the conversation is.

Don't just whisk it away and say, well, but it's, it's, it's a blank check.

And, and, and they're burning through my, look at the details.

I want to throw to this clip here really quick.

This is a story that we did here at civic media between.

Shaly Pittman and Savannah Tome Olsen, who are in our news department news director and our news directors coming through and reporting on this.

Calvin, can you play that clip really quick?

Withside Lev streams the legislature, the Supreme Court, the executive branch, the goal is to make state government accessible to everyone.

Without it, the only way to watch these things is to be at the Capitol in person.

But they're facing a budget gap of nearly $900,000 for 2026.

And after a year and a half of working to fundraise, the network paused all operations December 15th.

State Senator Mark Spreitzer and State Representative Breanne Brown, both Democrats, are introducing a bill that would create a new public

Affairs Network instead of Wisconsin Eye.

That means live streaming would be part of state government, not a nonprofit that relies on donations and sponsors.

Sprites are talking with civic media news director, Shaly Pittman.

It looks like we are going to be in a position of needing public taxpayer funding for the long term.

And if that's the case, then we should consider whether it should just be a public.

an entity that is accountable to elected officials and run for the public benefit.

It would cost about $2 million a year to provide this coverage of state government.

Currently, Wisconsin Eye owns 18 years of archives, more than 30,000 hours worth.

Spreitzer says if WSI dissolves, according to their contract, they would have to turn over that archive to the Wisconsin Historical Society for Preservation.

But for this bill to pass and for any of this to work, Spreitzer and Brown need Republicans who are in charge of the legislature on board.

I certainly hope to get support from Republicans.

I don't believe we have any Republicans signed on yet.

But this is something that I know we've heard that Republican leaders are interested in doing something.

Spreitzer hopes they can get the bill on the floor in January.

For Civic Media News, I'm Savannah Tome Olson.

And that's Savannah Tomei Olsen.

I want to make sure she is the assistant news director here at Civic Media.

I got a little tongue tied, but that's between Charlie Pittman and Savannah Tomei Olsen.

Appreciate that story.

And I think that's also a great idea.

If we can't save WSI in its current form, we create something which holds our elected leaders accountable.

That is just, I mean, Alicia on the live stream says, WSI is necessary to keep our state government accountable and transparent.

That's absolutely true.

And at time when we need transparency with our leaders,

This is very important.

And I want to keep talking about it because it's one of those stories that can easily be put under the radar.

A lot of people can say, you know, I've never heard of WSI.

Why do I want to save this?

But it's, I think it's something that we need to keep in the conversation.

And leaders who say something the effect of, well,

They're burning through cash, and we can't give them a blank check.

We're not doing that.

We've got two options here.

One from WSI, one from our Democratic leaders, and we need to find a solution.

And there can be compromise, but there needs to be some sort of solution found so the people can see.

what our leaders are talking about.

We're going to take a really quick break.

We're going to grab some snacks.

We can come back.

Jean from Eau Claire, I see you on the line.

Don't go anywhere.

I'll take you after we come back.

But we're going to keep talking about this for a moment.

And then we're going to get into a little bit about the president's speech.

If you watched it last night, call.

text.

Let us know what you thought.

I'm sure I know what you thought.

But hey, if it was your kind of speech, let me know as well.

855-752-4842-855-75 Civic.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform we still call Twitter.

Don't forget, after 935, we'll expand further on the speech with Pat Critello.

And we have a great second hour for you as well.

But don't go anywhere.

Grab some water, grab a snack.

You're listening to Matt and Aaron here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned and stay close.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host, your friend, your buddy.

And you are listening to us on the civic media radio network.

You can always get in contact with us by calling or texting.

It's the same number 8557 5248 4285575 civic.

You can also leave a comment on the live stream.

We'd love to hear you.

We are currently on Facebook, YouTube and the platform that we will always call Twitter.

And we've been talking about the case to save Wisconsin.

I

the programming, the broadcast network that takes care of covering our local leaders, our civic leaders in Madison, so we know what's happening, so they can stay accountable.

We can be transparent, and it is currently not running right now, but there are discussions, plans, you try to save it.

There's a plan from WISI, there's a plan from Democratic leaders in Madison, and either way, we need a solution.

Get in a room, talk about it, get this back up and running.

Because it's important for our people, for our communities to see this.

You may not watch it, but somebody does.

And when it goes away, we don't know what they're talking about always.

And to see them say it live...

That's the important thing, or just to do research.

That's the other thing too.

It's a great tool for research.

We have Jean Vermeau-Claire on the line.

Jean, I missed you.

I was afraid you went away too when Jane retired.

I'm like, ah, Jean's gone too, but you're here.

Thank you so much for calling.

How are you today?

Oh, I'm hanging in there, but I wouldn't miss any time with you, sir.

I think you do an outstanding job.

You and your assistant, and he's so wonderful.

Sweet

Calbee.

I hope you guys keep continuing.

I want to hear you guys every day because I look forward to it.

That is my peace of mind.

So I want to comment on this lack of accountability with these people and lack of transparency.

We've got to get these people on the floor to say that this is my opinion and I am feeling this and I want to let

My feelings out because I can't take it anymore.

I've watched that station for years.

When Walker was in office and pulling all the crap on the people over and we didn't know on my side of the state, we had no idea what was going on over here.

And I could watch that and see why.

what was going on in our government.

Now this is a habit.

The stuff that happened in the state of Wisconsin prior to Tony Evers getting elected is happening in our federal government as we speak.

I watched Walker going to the Capitol and taking part, sitting at the table with all the people around Trump taking place.

And the same thing that happened in our state is happening in our government now.

going after places we get information, places where we can look things up and find out what the devil's going on.

Word had that taken away as a big guy and we got to stop it in our state because we started to get our roads fixed.

I remember when he was running for president going after Walker saying that the roads were really bad in Wisconsin, you got to do something about it.

Well, didn't he ever do it?

Heck no.

Walker wrecked all of our different departments.

Those same people are now that we're working with Walker are in the federal government as they speak, voting against the people in the state of Wisconsin.

The Republicans that are in Wisconsin are not working for the people.

Wake up, folks.

I'm watching this.

I've been documenting this for years.

You've got to stop this, and these people need to be held accountable, and we want transparency, and we want the availability to watch our government lie so they can't lie and spread rumors.

So I'm sorry to go on this, but it's unbelievable.

Thank you for covering this.

I love you guys.

up the great

work.

We appreciate you, Jeannie.

And then just so, just so, or Jeanne's made it very, very clear many times, she is also an independent.

I know you might be like, yeah, right, but she is an independent and we've heard from her on various topics and that is very true.

And yes, I mean, Jeanne said it perfectly.

It's about transparency, about accountability.

It's about making sure that the leaders who choose to be the voice of the people are actually being the voice of the people.

And in matters like this,

As I said before, you may not watch with eye, but people out there do.

It's an important tool and our leaders shouldn't just say, well, we'll see, or I'm not sure, or it's a waste of money.

Then make it not a waste of money, not to mention, and we're going to, we'll keep harping on this.

I don't know, Calvin, sweet Calbee on the boards.

By the way, I don't know if you knew this Calvin, but we have over $4 billion in a surplus in the state.

We could easily fund this like nearly in perpetuity.

Well,

This is where you're mistaken.

Oh, I'm

sorry.

We have a,

this is a new segment we call Greg is mistaken.

We don't have $4 billion in surplus.

Yeah.

Robin Voss has $4 billion in surplus.

Oh, that's right.

It's a throne of cash.

If you ever seen the movie, the, uh, like the dark night, it's like kind of like that.

It's just a pile of cash in a warehouse where you're just sitting there looking at going, that's my money.

But no, it's

This is where I make the appeal and I'm going to keep doing it until I can't do it on the air.

And then I'll just scream it on a corner, my vote.wi.gov, call your leaders, talk to them.

Even if they're leaders that you agree with, even if they're leaders that you vote for, tell them how important this is.

Tell them to speak to their Republican colleagues.

Tell them to speak to anybody in the state house who may disagree and have a conversation, find a compromise, find a way to get with eye back on the air.

have these conversations also at home on the holidays.

I don't feel like this is a conversation that will start a fight at the holiday dinner table.

Access to public media is something that is beneficial for all.

We've also talked about this topic at length this year with the cuts to public broadcasting because the closure of the corporation for public broadcasting.

This is just another symptom.

This is another casualty and we can't have it.

Wisconsin's better than this.

We've got to find a solution and we find it together.

And as to say the slogan, we move forward.

So when we come back, we're going to talk about President Trump's speech last night.

We're going to discuss some of the nuance.

I'm not sure that word's applicable, but we're going to be doing that with host of mornings with Pat Cridlow.

Mr. Pat Cridlow will be right here on the show.

Don't go anywhere.

You're listening to Matt Nair on air on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good, good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I'm your host, your buddy, your pal and we are on the civic media radio network.

You can get in touch with us anytime by calling or texting.

The number is the same 855-752-484-2855-75 civic and you can always leave a comment on the live stream.

We are currently on Facebook, YouTube and the platform that we still call Twitter.

lot coming up in the next hour.

We've got a secretary of tourism here in Wisconsin and Sayers to talk about all the things you can do over the winter break, over the winter months.

Some of them have nothing to do with snow.

And I know that's a big deal for some of you.

And then of course, Paul, noon, and after the 10 30 news, we're going to be talking sports, the bucks, maybe Packers, probably Wisconsin women's volleyball for sure.

So you don't want to miss that discussion.

And then of course,

This shouldn't be a thing today.

It is snake in my boot edition.

So don't go anywhere.

We got lots of great show ahead of us and we want you to be part of it.

And we thank you for your time.

Our next guest, our buddy here in the chat on the show is the host for now of mornings with Pat Crite low.

It is Mr. Pat Crite low.

And yes, if you all haven't heard the news,

Tomorrow is your last broadcast here at Civic Media and I am I think you use the best word on our secret show.

It's melancholy

Yes, limited time offer

tune

in one more time from six to nine That's a little bittersweet more sweet than bitter.

Yeah,

I mean the thing is is that you are by no means quitting like Jane Matton there am I right?

But I am not retiring.

I have been, I have been bridging to, I've been basically working two jobs and it's, it's time for the one that where I am actually employed.

It gets more of my time in 2026 is what it is.

And we're going to talk more about that in a little bit.

Cause I don't think people understand quite that, you know, it's a, it's kind of a sports thing where it's like we, we've, we have you on, on loan for the team.

If you've watched, if you've watched Ted Lasso season one, you understand.

what, you know, you know, we've got, we've got the player on loan and the original team is now calling you back.

But that's just my way of saying, watch Ted Lasso, it'll make you feel so good.

Maybe the opposite of that right now.

And I don't want to get, I don't want to dredge too deep into that sort of, of Tom Fulery, but the president did make an address to the nation last night at nine PM, well, eight PMR time, nine PM Eastern.

And it went on all the networks.

And it was, there was a lot of, there was a lot of speculation because I guess there were pictures of Marco Rubio, who's the secretary of state walking around the Oval's office and we were like, are we going to war?

Well, not really.

Before we get into it, Calvin, I want to, I want you to play for me that clip of the president speech from last night, please.

Good evening, America.

11 months ago, I inherited a mess.

And I'm fixing it.

And that's the president talking for about the next 19 minutes.

And I really don't want to play more than more than that.

I think that the New York Times published an article with six, a great article that gave us six takeaways from it.

And I was speaking with a friend and she was saying that she watched the whole thing live.

And I said, I can't do that.

I need multiple walk around and snack breaks when I do, when I listen to him speak.

But I think the, you know, the

the biggest takeaway and the number one takeaway, Pat, is that he was combative as usual, standing at the podium with the seal.

What were your thoughts when you watched or listened to his speech?

I can only plagiarize Joseph Ecke, who an hour ago on our program quoted Billy Madison and said in so many words, Mr. President,

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard.

At no point in your rambling incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought.

Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.

I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

And that would be the kindest thing that could have been said about that quote unquote speech last night.

And that's the thing is it brought up real concern beforehand because there's a lot going on in the world that is

in the news that's happening, you know, whether we're talking about blowing up ships or seizing Venezuelan oil tankers or just wanting to really pick a fight with Venezuela.

A war for oil?

I'm not familiar with that.

Well, hey, Pat, you know, cassette tapes and CDs are back.

So is war for oil, I guess.

I mean, we got to always play the greatest hits.

When we're trying to create distractions from things like the Epstein files and still this big, this big bill for billionaires that's not going away, it's going to

hurt us really hard next year because as we'll talk about later, they don't want to give a tax credits to people who just want good healthcare.

But the point is, is that the speech he made, I mean, it is, he's always been combative.

He's always had a fight, fight, fight to him.

And that is the Roy Cohn School of Public Relations.

But now it's become even more, it's become almost caricature.

But he's a man who's in the oval office.

I mean, no, no greater example can be given than this new hall of presidents, those placards that are everywhere.

And it is, it's, it's shameful.

It's juvenile and it's shameful.

And I hate saying that because I want to have the conversation.

I want to say to people like, what about this makes you say, yeah, what do you, I mean, that's, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm bereft of words, even though I'm still talking Pat.

it's because we have a tough time conveying the sense of embarrassment because history will judge this country very harshly during this period and a whole lot of people will say I didn't vote for him

who probably did vote for him, but they're not going to want to acknowledge it later on that somebody first off so unqualified.

But then as it turns out, so hostile and antithetical to American values, managed to not only win the election, but then, you know, take a wrecking ball to the economy and then take a wrecking ball quite literally to the White House.

uh history is going to look back on this and go what were you all thinking and we're we're just kind of conveying that in little drips and drabs on a daily basis when you hear a speech that is so untethered from the reality of the the harm or the the rough times that americans are going through and that his only thing is to reach back and

blame Joe Biden when he has been president Donald Trump for 11 months now and he took, you know, the best post pandemic recovery wasn't perfect, but the best post pandemic recovery of all the developed nations and took a wrecking ball to it and it's helping him.

He's made, he's made billions of dollars

this year.

His buddies have made literally billions of dollars this year.

And he figures if he just demonizes enough people and distracts enough, you all forget that they got those billions by putting his hand in your pockets.

And that's the pockets of all people, people who voted for him or not.

And that's the thing that, you know, I always try to make that clear as like,

They're not taking my money because I voted for Kamala Harris.

I'll say it out loud.

I voted for her.

Shocking, I know.

But they're taking money from everyone.

And in a sense, they're taking money from your children and your grandchildren because this is generational harm that's being done.

One of the other takeaways that this New York Times article made, and really quick, I want to do this because I always like to give credit because I didn't write this.

Actually, oh yes, David E. Sanger has the byline.

Abelacost Trump points fingers in defending his record on the economy, which, side note too, it's really not normal for a president to do a nationwide primetime speech, which I guess preempted two season finales of two very popular shows.

It's not usual for them to make a speech just on this when you're doing a primetime speech of nowhere There's something happening and this was his way of just saying hey, I'm amazing and it's 19 minutes of His words that were written by I'm sure by a lot of people and one thing that they said here is he risked repeating a by-the-mistake of arguing with voters about how they feel and I think there's a lot of validity to that because last year it was hard to Discuss the economy

And this is a mistake that I've admitted to last year.

I kept on relying on the economic indicators, the stock market, jobs reports, inflation.

And that doesn't translate to folks who are like, my groceries are too high.

My kids' school bills are going up.

We're one slip and fall away from bankruptcy.

And that's a mistake I personally made.

And I think the Trump campaign capitalized on that as you should.

because they weren't connecting with the voters.

Now he's doing the same thing and his people on the Sunday morning shows are saying things like, you don't understand.

It's great.

It's wonderful.

You don't get it.

The voters, the vote, you don't understand why it's so good, but it's so good.

And that's what they're doing now 11 months later.

Sure, but things things actually are much much worse now than they were 11 months ago, whereas at the time what you had was a Republican Party and candidates rooting for the economy to fail, talking down the recovery that did exist, and getting people to think incorrectly, I will hasten to add that

Getting rid of inflation means that prices go all the way back to where they were pre pandemic.

No, that was never going to happen.

And you shouldn't want it to happen.

You don't want your paycheck to be rolled back 10 years.

So don't expect that of prices as well.

But it's so much easier to, you know, rip on something than it is to build something.

The Biden administration was building things.

There is nothing being built by this administration, even literally a ballroom at this point.

There's nothing

being built, there's nothing but the manufacture of these, you know, talking points that blame everybody else, but still has not even concepts of a plan for actual economic recovery.

And I think you bring up a fantastic point there as well, because I feel like there, you know, six months ago, the version of the Trump White House and the MAGA movement was pretty secure.

And now we're seeing people start to fall away, dissent, Marjorie Taylor Green.

Did anyone have it on their bingo card that she would be walking away?

And I think, and tell me as a, as a person who served in public service, I feel like a certain subset of the GOP rooted for the destruction of the economy because they knew that it would make them look good.

But do you think they thought it would go this far?

And now they see that it's not good.

Therefore, some of them are dissenting.

they knew that it might they knew this was a risk they were willing to take this was this was a very calculated gamble that they wanted to get first and foremost the 2017 tax cuts that overwhelmingly favored the very wealthy they wanted to get those re-upped and they did mission accomplished on that front

But to do so, rather than just increasing the deficit by something like $6 trillion, they did $2 trillion in very painful cuts to Americans and then added $4 trillion in debt over that.

And they probably did not think the math was going to work quite that way, that it was going to so easily

and readily harmed their own constituents, which is now they're in such a bind when it comes to something like the cost to have health insurance for your family.

Pat Crite low is our guest right now.

He is the host of mornings with Pat Crite low.

We're talking about the president's speech from last night and about 19 minutes long.

I made a lot of claims.

A lot of them can be debunked.

He wants to get declared himself the peacemaker.

And now it is now it is now eight wars in 10 months, which I think somewhere, I mean, is a very much a record.

I don't know.

I mean,

even as he's got like one

and a half wars going on now he's got the the thing where he's bombing you know boats without due process and then the thing where he's got a partial blockade going with Venezuela again just itching for some kind of a conflict where he can look like the tough guy and again

We won't then be talking about the Epstein files.

We won't be talking about the consumer price index.

But enough of us have been to that rodeo within the past 25 years that no, as George W. Bush would say, not going to get fooled again.

Not going to do it.

We're going to keep the conversation going on the other side of this break here.

We're going to grab a snack, grab some water.

It's important to stay hydrated, folks.

Always drink your water.

But we're going to keep talking to Pat Critello from Mornings with Pat Critello for now.

And when we come back, Brian, I see you on the line.

We're going to discuss that.

that and some other things happening in the GOP, some dissension in the ranks as we mentioned, but don't go anywhere.

We're talking to you on matinee on air here on the civic media radio network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good, good morning.

Welcome back to matinee on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host here on the civic media radio network and you can call or text anytime 855-752-484-2855-75 civic.

You can also catch us on the live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube and the platform that we still call Twitter.

We're talking right now with Pat Crite low, who is the host of mornings with Pat Crite low until tomorrow on the civic media radio network.

But hey, there's still one amazing show left.

He's got one show.

Yeah.

Bet Midler.

He's got George Clooney.

He has got the popes, all of the popes, every single, all the whole set of Gregory's and the Pisces too.

But yeah, we're going to be, we'll be, I'll be on the show tomorrow, having a little set down chat and we'll, it'll be great, but catch that show tomorrow, 6am to 9am on the civic media radio network.

We've been talking about.

Donald Trump's speech last night that was on prime time and our takeaways, including the takeaways of a New York times article that will be in the show notes.

Brian from Grafton has been very, very patient.

Brian, what?

Oh, and he, Brian just hung up, I guess.

Apparently Brian did disagree with us and I was about to give him a platform and he said, no, so I guess we'll move on to something else.

And we'll,

I think it's pretty clear where we stand on it and what the speech was like.

It was textbook Trump, although I think peppered with age, with what happens with age, and he's getting more combative, more aggressive, and needs so much to have.

Look, I'm gonna say something that's very unpopular.

When I see him on the television or I see him anywhere, there is always about 2% of me that feels desperately sad and sorry for him, because this is a young man who was brought up by monsters and was never loved correctly.

And I think if he had parents who were somewhat normal, he'd have at least a different perspective, but he didn't.

So he doesn't.

And this is what we got.

Right.

And he's been able to tap into that whole notion of grievance.

There are so many people.

I'm just going to pick on the white guys, but there's others.

There's so many white guys who are victims.

Oh, we're victims because they're not able to do anything and everything that they want anymore and that it must be somebody else's fault.

And it just gets old after a while, which is what leads other.

you know middle-aged angry white guys like me to get on the radio and say stop it knock it off you're not a victim we're all in this together and don't be listening to this guy promising you the moon and stars when he's never given the moon and stars to any buddy

yeah if you are if you are a

a white dude with complaints like that.

I want to see your paycheck.

If it's above a certain amount, you're fine.

You're not affected by this.

If it's below a certain amount, you're totally affected and you need to get on board and get with us because they're taking all of our money.

It doesn't matter who you are.

We're all victims to a certain extent.

Really quick, you brought something up.

I want to bring the conversation back to Wisconsin Eye.

We were talking earlier about plans, ideas, concepts of plans to save with eye and make sure that we have access to our leaders.

Speaking on the floor transparency.

Tell me tell the listeners and the viewers what you just said in our chat

Oh, I just said, you know that there are I favor the idea that you know, there should be some role in state funding to play they've proven themselves to be a very credible independent entity free of political interference and should not rely on the whims of rich people Having said that I would earmark, you know certain state funds and say okay now.

Where's that state funding going to come from?

for starters.

And some of the people who use WSI most and benefit from it most are in the lobbying core.

And these are, I'm not, I'm not disparaging them as a legislator.

There are many great lobbyists who educated me on many issues.

There, there, there's a lot of good folks in there.

I'm just saying they make money.

And

so it would not take much that when they have to register every year, they have to be licensed through the, the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

They can pony up.

a little additional fee to pay back some of the ways that they benefit from being able to monitor things without having to go to every committee hearing, without having to sit in the gallery for every session.

They can now sit in their comfortable offices and monitor these things.

And for that, they're able to raise a good amount from some of their very large clients.

So that's where I would start.

I'm not saying it's all should be on them.

I'm just saying part of the solution needs to be the people who benefit from it who are in a position to pony up a little.

Yep.

And I think that goes back to what we were discussing as far as the conversation.

You know, someone like Devin Lemon, he was like, well, we don't know.

It's kind of, it seems like that's a waste of time and money.

Well, oh, that's just,

that's a mad lib.

He, it didn't matter if you put wissai in there.

You could put anything in there.

And he would have said the exact same comment because that's all he knows to say.

Yeah.

Really quick before we get out of here.

Let's just talk about this really quick.

So.

We discussed it earlier.

Now you are an employee of courier news.

That is the per those that's group who, who signs the paycheck for you.

But as we've said before, like a sports team, maybe overseas more, look, you were on loan to us from courier news.

That comes to an end as of tomorrow.

Tomorrow is your last show on, on civic media, but what are you are not retiring that you don't know how to do that.

But as you said, one job is great.

Let's just have one job.

What are you doing going forward?

What are your plans?

to put it most selfishly the whole point of doing the radio show well the main thing was to draw attention to up north news the wisconsin outlet for courier newsroom these are the things we do these are newsletters website social media posts prior to the radio show i was doing more videos for them more explainer videos about the news more social media posts more website articles and the bosses at courier said hey pat this has been a great three-year run we'd really like you to focus just solely on what you were doing before explain

the issues in the 2026 campaign.

Give us more website articles, do more with the Sunday morning newsletter, which you can sign up for it up north news wi.com.

And I said, I understand I love I'm a radio rat first and foremost.

It is something I could not wait to do again.

I love that civic media gave me this opportunity for myself as well as for up north news.

But it is time to focus just on the up north news parts of things.

So keep monitoring up north news, social media website.

People are asking, will there be a podcast?

I don't know.

I

kind of like it, but maybe it'll just be the videos.

We're going to get through the holidays.

We're going to figure it out.

So keep listening to Civic Media.

Keep following us on Up North News.

There's plenty of room for you to get all this information that helps you understand Wisconsin News.

And with that, we say thank you to Pat Critello for being here.

Tomorrow, the last show of Mornings with Pat Critello, 6 a.m.

to 9 a.m.

I'll be there in the first hour, having fun, having fun with my friend.

And we, and I thank you so much for being a part of this for so long and being a part of this show and having great conversations.

What a good friend I got.

We'll be speaking to Ann Sayers, who is the Wisconsin Secretary of Tourism here on Matt and air on air.

Don't go anywhere.

You're listening to the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to mountain air on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host and your bud and your friend.

You're listening to us on the civic media radio network.

You can get in touch with us anytime, call or text.

The number is the same 855-752-484-2855-75 civic.

You can always leave a comment on the live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube and the platform.

We still call Twitter.

Lots of great show still ahead of us.

after the 10 30 break, we are going to be talking sports with Paul, new union from the Acme packing company.

We'll be, we might get into the bucks.

I'm not sure.

I don't know if anyone wants to at this point.

It feels kind of like, uh, it feels like people are really sad about the bucks, but we'll be talking sports and we're going to be talking a lot about the Wisconsin women's volleyball team.

They are crushing it as usual.

And that is something we should always be talking about.

And then of course, this shouldn't be a thing at the end of the show.

We were wrapped things up.

This time it is the snake in my boot edition.

So don't go anywhere.

We get a great hour of programming ahead of you and we appreciate you being here.

As you said, drop a comment, make a call, let us know what's going on.

And I want to hear from people about this actually too, because we're going to switch gears a little bit.

because we are talking to our next guest, and they are the Secretary of Tourism here in Wisconsin and, oops, there we go.

Sorry, live stream problems.

Ann Sayers is our guest, and thank you so much for being here.

We really appreciate your time.

How are you this morning?

Right.

I'm so excited to be with you and talking about winter activities.

Indeed.

And it's going to be, I mean, I mean, I know it's getting a little bit warmer, but we have some winter to celebrate right now, which is very unusual in Wisconsin.

I never thought in my childhood I'd say that, but it's true.

Now you've been in the post since 2020.

Tell me what your job is and the department and what is your goal in tourism for the state?

Yeah, well, you know, tourism is an incredibly important part of Wisconsin's economic overall picture.

We're a $25.7 billion industry.

So that means visitors come to our state, they spend their time and their money with us, they generate tax based, and then decision makers can determine how to provide goods and services back to the residents of our state.

So we're here to help raise that revenue.

But the way we do that is by celebrating all the amazing parts of our state.

the natural resources, the culinary heritage, the arts and culture.

And of course, just putting our hospitality front and center.

We're so good at that.

So it's a fun job to get to invite people come to our state and enjoy it.

I imagine that's got to be very cool because, you know, when we talk about government and there's always politics and I'm not, I'm not getting into politics.

I promise you that.

But we hear secretary of state, we hear secretary of defense and those all seem like very, but secretary of tourism is like, I get to come.

to my job and talk about how great is Wisconsin.

And I want you to come here and experience it.

And one thing that for me, uh, I work with a lot of people out of state and out of the country.

And I feel like.

I always hear from them and the tone varies where they think it's a compliment to their sheer unbridled excitement is I had no idea Wisconsin dot dot dot and that is where they insert their experience and sometimes it comes off saying like I had no idea you had this I'm like we have running water too but Wisconsin is just absolutely

has an abundance of things to do.

And it's not just, it's not just outdoors.

It's not just hunting or fishing or whatever.

There are so many things to do.

And before we get in this wonderful list, I just want to ask you really quick, because you talked to way more people than I do.

What are some of the biggest realizations from folks who come here when they visit Wisconsin, any place in the state where, what do you hear from people saying, I, this is amazing.

What is their, what are their tales?

It's so funny you say that because I hear it all the time too.

I had no idea what's in this or

that

and we always say well-kept secrets are what we're out to fight

against here in Tours.

We want to make sure people know that we do have all these things, but I mean I hear it all from you.

We have the third most skills in the country.

What?

People might, right?

People know that we have cheese, sure, but they don't know that we have the only master cheese program.

in the country and that we have more award-winning than any other state or country when it comes to our cheese, the quality.

The arts and culture, the depth of that, just the sheer natural resources, we're more than 50% forested.

We have two great lakes.

We have more than 15,000 inland lakes.

There's 11 national trails in the country.

We have two of them.

in wisconsin all of these things people are just like why am i not spending more time there and we agree they really should i

want i want to back up right there really quick uh and and just you said we have over 15 000 inland lakes

that's correct

that means we have more than 10 000 lakes

That's correct.

Take that Minnesota.

Okay.

Sorry.

That's just, you know, I don't know why I've developed this combative nature with Minnesota, but I have.

I'm bored with Illinois.

I've moved on to Minnesota.

But yeah, I mean, that's the, that, I think that there is always this, there's a mis, I mean, and this is prevalent throughout the Midwest.

There's a misconception about all of our states.

who we are as people, how we're portrayed in the media, in movies and television.

I personally don't know anyone who talks like this, Dairy.

I mean, they might be up north, but nobody in Kenosha speaks like that.

But I think that's the, I think that is, while your job is going to be incredibly fun, there is a task and that is educating the people that Wisconsin is not just milk, cheese, sausage and the Packers.

It is, but it's so much more than that.

Exactly.

And

Yeah, we're up against some perceptions.

We're really proud of our cold weather when we have it, but we're not cold all of the time.

So

we have

to talk about how stunning.

I mean, if you know, you know,

it was

constant summer, nothing like it in the whole world, but we need to make sure people know about that.

But also that winter is fun and we are good at winter.

We want to make sure people understand all of that.

Same with the sports, like you're saying, it's a big part of who we are, we're an enthusiastic people.

Um, but the legacy that is attached to a brand or an enterprise like the Packers is so special.

No matter who you're rooting for on game day, you're still going to want to experience Lambo at some point.

I

want to make sure people know that they're invited to do that and you're going to have a great experience.

We're very, very nice.

We, we are very, oh my gosh, we are incredibly nice and very, very nice people.

And I say this all the time too.

I understand football tickets are expensive.

I'm not saying to blow your paycheck on one, but if you have the opportunity to go, whether you are a Packers fan or not, or even a football fan or not, going to a game at Lambeau is an experience.

It's not just going to see football.

It is viewing people in a state of pure joy and excitement, as you said, rooted in a history that goes back over 100 years and

I mean, you will, someone will put a bowl of chili in your hand.

You don't know who it is.

And I, trust me, you can eat it.

It's fine.

But that's how it is.

Like a trip to Lambo.

I think that a trip to Lambo, a trip to Fenway Park is the same way.

It's a community and it just soaks up the atmosphere and you are just welcomed whether you like football or not.

And even non-packer fans say,

Lambo is one of the greatest places ever.

So I mean, I think that you're absolutely right.

But you said to yourself, winter is amazing, Wisconsin.

Let's talk about winter activities here in Wisconsin, what people can do, whether you're from here or you're visiting.

And let's start with a cherry pie Christmas.

Yes.

So we are so proud of this.

Anyone, no matter where you are in the country or the world right now, you can be checking in on this new cozy little Christmas movie we had made in Door County.

It's called a cherry pie Christmas.

It follows the story of a professional pastry chef as she's attempting to save her family's orchard and rekindle her love along the way.

So in the spirit of so many of these holiday movies, we now have one set right in Door County.

But what's so fun about it is that you can see all of these iconic landmarks that you know and love from Door County.

And if you haven't yet experienced them, what a great introduction.

But it has a really authentic feel.

Sometimes in these movies, you're like, that's fake snow.

Not the case here.

We have real snow and real places featured.

So the coffee shop, the orchard itself, the bookstore where they meet, all of those are real places in Wisconsin.

It's so cute because Destination Door County actually created a trail.

So now you can go and visit all of these places.

You can get your passport stamped along the way, earn prizes if you make it through all of them at the end.

I was just doing it this weekend.

I have to tell you, there are so many people participating.

Over 2,600 people have downloaded this passport.

It's just so fun to go where the stars were.

There's a special cheese at Renard's Cheese that was featured prominently

in the

film.

You can buy that same cheese.

You can buy your curry pie.

ornament to remember this special year.

So anyway, what a fun way to get out and experience Door County, which is always so

lovely.

Oh, yes.

Yes.

That is a place when you, people say Door County, I always see people going, Oh, where'd you go?

Cause it's so ubiquitous here.

And out of the state, my sister and her husband come up here every year and go to Door County.

They have their, they have their little, their, their, their hotel, a small hotel.

They have their places they go and then explore.

And yeah, I mean, and you bring up an interesting point, Anne, as far as movies that are quote,

Taking place in Wisconsin and you say oh, that's a really good

drone shot of that place and then nothing looks like it whatsoever.

And no one's talking like us and no one's saying anything about Wisconsin.

It's just, this movie takes place in Milwaukee.

I'm like, Oh, you have a shot of downtown.

Okay.

The rest is in Vancouver, but fine.

I love that.

And as a side note too, and we've talked about this, the fact that we are establishing the ability for artists to get tax breaks to make films here, hopefully we'll be even, we'll see even more in the future because that's very important as well.

Let's move it on to holiday markets.

I think that's something that's very, very popular throughout the country, but Wisconsin, we got holiday markets.

Tell me more about where and what.

Yeah, we have a really strong tradition of these European style markets that you would find in Europe this time of year, but they're right here in Wisconsin.

One of them, I love it's in Sparta.

It's the Sparta, Chris Kindle Market.

So this is Southwest Wisconsin.

It has one of the best outdoor Christmas markets.

in the state.

It replicates one of those traditional German style markets.

Dozens of vendors, all kinds of local artisans, crafters, producers, one-of-a-kind goods.

And then you're also going to get to try things like glue vine, you know, which is that traditional mold wine.

Yeah, I

mean, you probably still have some items on your shopping list.

What a fun way to do it.

You can have some fun.

It's happening Friday, December 19th and Saturday, December 20th.

And that's it.

So get out there to Sparta.

Another one that we have to mention is in Pepin County.

if you haven't seen, I'm like, just Google it quick.

It is so beautiful.

It looks like it's straight out of Europe.

They actually have a piazza and you can get out and, you know, shop the vendors there.

And it puts you on the Great River Road, which is another gem of Wisconsin, the rolling hills and bluffs of the Mississippi River, just a stunning way to spend some time.

I always find, and I don't know about you, but whenever someone hands me wine at a shopping area, I always walk out with way more than I expected because everything looks way more attractive in my wallet becomes heavier by some matter.

I have no idea.

It just happens when wine is involved, but, you know, it's, uh, we are talking to Ann Sayers, who

is-

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Someone understands my pain and my bank is upset with me, but that's not the point.

The point is we're talking to Ann Sayers, who is the secretary of tourism here in Wisconsin.

She's been our secretary of tourism since 2020.

And we're going to keep talking about things that people can do.

But I want to impress upon those listening and watching, what are you going to be doing this holiday season?

Will there be places you're traveling to?

Are there places that we should know about?

You know, you want to share.

I know sometimes their secrets are like, this is where my family goes.

We want to tell you.

And I don't want to show up at your family's doorstep, but there's always great to know about wonderful things here in Wisconsin.

Feel free to call it in, to text it in, leave a comment on the live stream.

What is your holiday tradition?

Are you traveling up north?

Are you doing something that's really fun?

And what I want to come back with when we come back from the break is talk about things to do for folks who may be not a fan of the snow and or cold, because even though it's snowy and cold here in Wisconsin right now, there are still things to do, but we're going to keep that calm.

conversation going with our guest and Sayers from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

She is our secretary.

You bow and say, Madam Secretary, but get up, get on, get online, get on board.

She doesn't like when I say she's very, very humble, like a Wisconsinite, but we're going to keep the conversation going on the other side of the break.

Get a snack, get some water.

You are amazing.

Come on back.

We are, we are on matinee on air here on the civic media radio network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host, your buddy, your pal.

And you were listening to us on the civic media radio network.

You can always get in touch with us.

The phone number is the same for the texting 8557524842 8557 85575 civic.

Sometimes Calvin, I can't remember everything.

That's Calvin on the boards.

By the way, he's sweet Calbee, the board lord, Calvinator, all the other nicknames.

We're gonna be getting new nicknames for him in 2026 might retire a few, but we want some new

some new fresh ideas from you friends, friends.

And another friend here on the show, our guest, the secretary of tourism and Sayers is here talking about all the things to do in Wisconsin in a wonderful winter wonderland.

But we got to be honest, there are folks out there, I to a certain extent am included.

If you give me a cabin with a beautiful winter view, I'm going to be like,

on board buddy.

If you say let's go snowshoeing, I'm like, who are you and when did you replace my friend with a robot?

Because there are people out there who want to get away, but they don't want to exactly put themselves in a cold wintery situation.

And that's where things like our water parks, there are people, there are things that can be taken advantage of that have nothing to do with the cold.

Tell us about that.

Okay.

The Celtic is right up your alley because it can be up to 80 degrees in there.

So warm and cozy.

And you can experience some water parks.

You know, the Dells are actually where the indoor water park was pioneered.

Of course, now the Dells are known as the butter park capital of the

world.

So you have lots of options if you're headed in that direction.

You got the Kalahari, you got the wilderness, you got Mount Olympus.

Another one to check out.

This is outdoors, but I think it's going to be worth it for you, Greg.

It's the Aqua Via Lumina.

That sounds too fancy for me, ma'am.

Too

fancy.

So pretty and enchanted.

It's a illuminated multimedia walk through the woods.

Just magical winter wonderland.

Kids love it.

That's my DF for you.

I'll take a trail park.

I'll take a walk through a winter wonderland.

There's a great place in Kenosha called Hawthorne Hollow that has great events as well.

And it's wonderful in the winter.

So yeah, absolutely.

I'll take a walk.

But I'm not going to, let's just put it this way.

I'm not going to exert myself in winter sports.

I won't exert myself in any sports.

But yeah, where I have to bundle up.

But yeah, I love a nice winter wonderland walk.

And we support your choices.

Thank you.

Secretary, that's so nice of you.

We

got you.

We got

ideas for you.

How about Blue Harbor Resort up in Sheboygan?

This

is, you know, Sheboygan is known, another one where people are like, I can't believe we have surfing in Wisconsin.

So a lot of folks enjoy that on Lake Michigan in the summer and winter, but you can actually do it indoors.

at Blue Harbour's Resort, they have an indoor surf simulator.

So that's something to try out.

We also have Chaos Indoor Water Park.

That's up in Eau Claire.

And they have a waterslide, lazy river, activity pool, hot tub, aquatic playground, and they even in that same resort have an arcade and trampoline park.

So if kids are home for the winter break and they're

getting a little antsy.

This would be a place to think about where they can get their wiggles out.

And that's a great thing you just brought up here, especially for the folks who have kids.

What are some of the kid-friendly options in Wisconsin during the winter time that they can do that?

Might not be a water park or that, but it's something they can visit or take part in.

Another one people said had no idea Wisconsin has the most children's museums per capita in the country.

So you could check out one of those.

Maybe Appleton has a really neat, it's called Building for Kids Children's Museum.

It's a wonderland of exploration.

They make the Pierce fire truck there in the area, so kids can actually climb through the cab of one of those.

There's an art studio.

There's even an area where they can learn more about the Menominee tribe's language and culture through an interactive exhibit.

Blassa has a beautiful children's imaginarium.

They opened up in 2023.

It's rooted in STEM, so educational play for kids.

Another one, Manitowoc.

This one's really popular.

State of the art, agricultural education.

If you're lucky, you can even see a calf being born on site in what they call the birthing barn.

Really, really special experience.

So on and on, EAA, if you're interested in aviation, right?

That's an Oshkosh discovery world in Milwaukee, science and technology opportunities for kid led exploration.

And then another one is the food and farm exploration center.

This is in Clover.

And they're really putting an emphasis on food production in a way that's really interesting to kids.

That's wonderful.

And I'm just going to put it out here as a kid at heart.

Discovery World ain't just for kids.

You want hands-on science experience, you can be an adult and have fun there as well.

Travel Wisconsin has a great resource for planning trips.

Tell me more about if people want to actually just put together a plan, what are they going to do to get some ideas?

Where can they go to get help on that for making their winter trip a little easier as far as the scheduling?

Well, I'm so glad you asked.

You could always visit travelwisconsin.com to get some travel inspiration.

But right now, I really would recommend an extremely popular resource that we host is the snow report.

So travelwisconsin.com slash snow report.

And what it's going to tell you is where the snow is.

If you're interested in tubing, downhill, cross country.

Snowmobile is going to tell you the conditions and then also give you some ideas, some nearby lodging, some nearby food, some nearby attractions.

You can start your itinerary planning by visiting that report.

I got some vacation time coming up in the next few weeks I think it might be time to get in the car with my wife and our dog and just go somewhere maybe go for one of those nice walks through the winter Wisconsin parks because I think that's I think that brings I mean that's some of that is also free fun too like going for a walk in a nice big park and just having a chance to get away from you know the big city of Kenosha I think that's those are all great ideas and I really appreciate you stopping by and informing us because I think even as Wisconsinites we don't know everything and I think

We are always shocked to find out those hidden gems and those statistics about like children's museums about how great Wisconsin is.

I learned something every day and I've been doing this job for a minute now and it's an incredibly special state and we're so lucky that it's ours.

Absolutely.

And we thank you for being here.

Please come back to the show.

We'd love to talk to you again about me, what's going on in spring.

If you're ever in the neighborhood, if you're in Racine, stop by a radio park.

We'd love to have you and talk to you about that.

But we have been speaking with the secretary of tourism and Sayers.

If you want to find out more, we will put links in the show notes.

You want to make a plan for a vacation, get away for a couple of days.

Please do that.

Support local economies, support Wisconsin.

We are fantastic.

And tell your friends, a best kept secret is still a secret no matter what.

Secretary, Sarah, we appreciate you.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Take care.

Thank you, you

too.

All right.

Don't go anywhere.

We are going to be talking sports coming up next on Matt and Air on Air on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

He will say, I am married with...

When people who are not from Chicago think of Chicago, they exclusively think.

Of the Sears Tower, Navy, Pierce, Science and Industry, and top of the Hancock, where they grab a fancy drink, feel museum planetarium.

Good, good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to Matt and There on Air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host.

I, Calvin, seriously keep wanting to say sitting in for Jane Matt and There, who is currently away from her desk.

She's

I don't want to say permanently away from the desk, but she's just not here right now.

Will she be coming back in some capacity?

I don't know.

You'll just have to tune in, but I'm not going to break that news right now.

Point is, you're listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.

We're happy to have you here this morning.

Still a lot of great show ahead of us.

closing out at all with this shouldn't be a thing to date is the snake in my boot edition.

Don't go anywhere because this is definitely a holiday gift list story.

I we're very, very excited to have him on the show.

He's back.

He's better than ever.

He's always great.

Our friend Paul Newton, who is a writer for the Acme packing company is going to talk to us.

Of course, if you know our show about sports, you can always chime in your thoughts on Wisconsin sports.

I know people have opinions on it.

It's eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five, seven.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

Leave a kind comment because if you leave something weird and creepy, I'm going to ban you because you're weird and creepy.

But the point is get in touch.

We'd love to hear from you.

Paul, good morning.

How are you, my friend?

What's going on?

How are you guys doing?

I'm doing great.

I'm feeling good.

Cal, how are you doing?

I'm not going to speak for Calvin.

Oh, I'm living the dream, Greg.

Boy, that's amazing.

I don't speak for the youth.

I don't talk for the kids.

They don't want that of this young Gen Z here.

There's a lot going on in sports as always.

Let's, let's kick it off.

Fun with the Packers.

What's, what's, we're, we're rounding the end of the season.

We're almost done with regular season play and tell me, this is a two part question.

One.

Tell me about the upcoming game against Chicago.

I feel like we can say, all right, cool.

It's a Chicago game.

We have nothing to worry about.

But also in terms of the fact that this has been at best a very inconsistent season, not a disappointing one, but inconsistent.

So let's deal with the bears first.

Yes.

Second of all, there's a lot to worry about with this game because the Packers are in very rough shape.

The, the fully healthy.

Fully loaded Green Bay Packers are a much better team than the Chicago Bears are but that is not what we're getting at all here So first of all last weekend Micah Parsons suffered a an ACL tear.

He is out for the year He is probably not back until at the earliest September of next year But ACLs are hard to project because they do take so long to recover from The only good news there is that he is young a 30 year old past rusher

can have his career end via this.

He is not that old.

He's a young, very athletic guy.

He'll probably recover fine and 2026 will be fine.

But they're without their best defensive player by a lot for the rest of the year.

And without Micah Parsons, they frankly don't have a very good pass rush.

They have to go back to last year's blueprint of lots and lots of blitzing, which is

It can be effective, but it's risky because it exposes your secondary to a lot of big plays.

And the Packers secondary is already not good at preventing big plays.

So they're going to have to probably win shootouts the rest of the year.

And the Bears, while flawed, are better than they have been recently and not stupid.

Their head coach, Ben Johnson, is a very good head coach.

He will instantly realize what's going to happen in this game, which is the Packers will come after Caleb Williams with.

Blitz packages they haven't had to use all year.

And if he can actually hit some players down the field, the Packers will be in some trouble in this game.

Now, last week was bad on not just the Parsons front, but Christian Watson hurt his shoulder.

It looked like he was going to be out for the year when it happened.

He's actually been practicing this week and he'll be, I think, a game time decision.

But they also kind of need him in this game because the Bears defense

It's kind of like what the Packers defense is going to be.

It blitzes a lot as well.

Dennis Allen, their defensive coordinator, is a big blitzer.

The Packers just toasted them last time they played on big plays against the Blitz, but they need Watson to do that.

The rest of the Packers receiving core isn't great at beating people deep at all.

And so those two guys are huge.

If Watson can go, the Packers have a great chance in this game.

It'll probably be high scoring, but they should be able to move the ball score points.

If he cannot go,

They're going to have to pull some magic out of their hat to actually win this game against Chicago So there's that Chicago is probably their favorite in this game and they should be favored in this game They're a little beat up to Roma dunes a their best receiver Hurt his foot playing warming up against Cleveland last week when it was like negative eight degrees here Don't have your hurt guys play a negative eight degree weather and their second they're

They're good rookie receiver Luther Burton showed up on the injury report too.

As did their best running back Deandre Swift, or at least their best scat back.

So they're beat up a little bit too, but they're doing better depth wise.

And so this is like a 50-50 game for the Packers.

You should not expect them to walk in and beat this Barus team.

This is going to be a tough game, and there's a very good chance they do not win it.

I know that.

Okay.

So you're, you are the expert.

That's why we talk to you.

I am, I am sports expert adjacent.

I feel like, and this isn't just the Packers.