
and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.
Good afternoon, everybody.
I'm Todd Lawfall, along with our outstanding producer, Mr. Aaron Zomers, on the board.
It is six past the hour of 12 noon on this Wednesday, May 12th, 2025.
It is... The camel running a little late.
the day.
But it
I was on his show this morning and then he got down and in fairness I was home working on some stuff because tonight we have this great forum
That's going to be talking about the April 1st election for Supreme Court justice and the implications.
And it's being put on by Courier News Service and Up North News Radio, and they were kind enough or desperate enough to ask me to be one of the moderators for tonight.
And I'm very honored to do so.
More honored to be on the not on the panel, but a moderator with our friend and colleague, the founder of the Reconpopulation area and also.
the political editor here at Civic Media, Dan Schaefer is one of the moderators, along with the aforementioned Patrick Crichtlow.
And by the way, Pat, he's a busy guy.
He's doing a meet and greet right now with some of his fans, but he'll be in here in the studio a little while.
So that's going to be a lot of fun.
And then we expect at some point.
our old friend and ongoing contributor, Mr. Trigvie Olson, former Republican like myself, native of River Falls, a senior advisor with the Lincoln Project, and he'll check in on a Wednesday as well.
So all that coming up.
And of course, we have another edition of What's Worse coming up here today.
Your chance to call in and vote on the important issues of the day.
Not real.
This one stings a little.
Nicely done.
This one does sting a little.
So last to get you on the show.
I think we've talked about this on the show before.
You're way too young, but CBS on Saturdays used to have a show back in the days called Hee-Haw.
And it was a spoof on country life, but it was also super funny and hugely popular for CBS back in the 70s into the early 80s.
Yeah, my mom watched it.
Thanks a lot, Gilligan.
Another another show you didn't watch but which my mom also Wow, it's humbers is burning me today, but yeah, he was a great show and they had a segment on there an ongoing segment called samples sales Where and the and the and this was real actually because I watched a little
a thing last night on YouTube.
Roy Clark was one of the big stars of He-Ha, one of the co-hosts, and he was a legit musician, really, really famous musician, country music guy.
One bunch of Grammys and country music awards was a phenomenal virtuoso guitar player and guitar picker along with being the singer.
And so they interviewed Roy Clark late in his life before he passed away, of course, and
Roy Clark was telling this story about junior samples.
And he was a larger guy, always wore bib overhauls on, and they made up this fictitious car lot called sample sales.
And he played this part of this kind of country bumpkin used car sales guy.
And a lot of people would ask Roy Clark when he traveled around the country, is that real or is that just a bit?
And Roy Clark told this great story, and I'll shorten it up, that Junior Samples was a guy who grew up in rural Georgia and was making moonshine, helping make moonshine in the hills of Georgia at eight.
And by 12, Junior had his own moonshine business.
And so he got arrested so many times that the last time
that junior samples got arrested.
The judge said, junior, I'm not joking around.
We arrest you again.
We're put in the slammer and throw it away the key.
So he stopped making moonshine and just started fishing basically.
Well, he told these great stories as only a southern boy can do.
And one of them was about a big fish, a Whopper.
Well, this was recorded back in the day, probably on a cassette or something in somebody's basement.
And one of the people that was going to be on He-Haw heard this and brought it.
They said, bring this guy in.
Well, they put junior samples on TV and turned on the cameras.
And that was it.
They're like, this is what we're going for.
And so he'd come out and he'd have this sign.
Because back in the day, he had numbers and letters for a phone number.
It's a BR549.
And he'd come out.
He'd kick whatever vehicle it was in.
And he said,
This junior samples from just samples used car and he was reading it off a cue cards.
It was a terrible reader.
But it made it all the funnier, right?
Right.
And you know, this junior samples, the samples used cars.
Come on down.
I got a 1971 Chevrolet.
She is energy efficient and doesn't have any pollutants.
And then some, some girl with his assistant would say, junior, that, that, that car doesn't have an engine.
Do you say?
That's why it's a real prize.
I'll sell it to you for only a thousand dollars and for another two thousand you can drive it off the lot And people loved it you understand well, I tell that story Because samples sales has been reopened after
after all these years and yesterday on the lawn of the White House in Washington DC Donald Trump was playing the part of junior samples
And he was selling Teslas This part I am not well none of it.
I everything I've said is true But I'm not making this up And so there you have the president of the United States and look Joe Biden did this before for Jeep like when Jeep had an electric vehicle The difference is Biden had just like he would get in the car and drive it around the the White House I think Obama did this once when Jerry Seinfeld had his comedians and cars getting coffee and of course famously
When Ford rolled out their electric vehicle, Biden went to like the Arizona track, whatever, and got it up to like 100 miles an hour, and everybody loved it.
The difference is yesterday that Trump is there with Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, and they have a variety of cars, and Elon sells, quote unquote, sells Trump a car.
Trump gets in, has no idea how to run it, no idea, and the press is like, are you gonna drive it like Biden did?
And Trump says, you're the only one that saw that.
And Trump could drive it.
And he got out and then went through all the prices and how you order one and aren't they great?
Well, then last night, if people thought it was kind of funny but odd, then last night on Anderson Cooper, the great reporter, Maggie Haberman from the New York Times did great investigative work, turns out Elon Musk paid Donald Trump
a hundred million dollars.
And unlike his 200, almost 300 million that he put into Donald Trump's campaign apparatus, this $100 million, according to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, is going to specific Trump controlled operations of which he can write checks for quote unquote expenses to himself or anybody else in the family.
So if you want a new Tesla.
Come on down to Trump's sample sales, and it'll only cost you about $100 million.
Joining us via StreamYard right now, our friend, our colleague, native of River Falls, great hockey player.
And I don't believe a guy who ever bought a used car from Junior Samples, the one, the only senior advisor to the Lincoln Project, Trigvie Olson.
Trigvie, how are you?
I never bought
Pardon me that This was more than just a commercial because Tesla by the way for those that don't know Elon Musk company That's where he was made most of his wealth and by the way, he didn't create it He just took it over after it was already kind of booming But that's where he gets most of his money and I believe I saw this morning where Elon Musk lost like 44 billion dollars in the last month Because Tesla is crashing.
He's still worth, you know, whatever 200 some billion but
Elon Musk's company is crashing.
And so he's worried about this.
And so Trump is propping him up.
But the real, in my opinion, Trigvie, the real audacity of it is the fact now, according to this reporting at the New York Times, that Elon Musk paid Trump another 100 million.
And you know, you understand these things better than I, because you've had to deal with it.
People working against you in politics.
Some of these quote unquote political committees, it's pretty darn easy to write yourself a check for quote unquote expenses.
And some of this money just ends up back in the candidate or the people who are running the campaign and there's not a lot of traceability and appears that's what's happened here between Musk and Trump yet again.
Certainly control within the Republican Party because you put a hundred million dollars into the Trump super PACs, which is an astronomical amount of money.
And that, you know, thereby creates a threat on.
Republican House members, you'll be primaried and we'll spend that money taking you out, right?
So it's, you know, that becomes, it does end up serving Trump's interests.
How they'll apply that, you know, it's a big stick for him to have.
And I'm sure some of it will find its way into affiliated entities, but, you know, I don't know that.
But certainly, it is a huge stick.
I think the bigger question, though, is there was some research that came out in the last couple of days that suggests 85% of Tesla shareholders believe that Elon Musk
Activities in politics are having a negative or very negative impact on the company's economic situation.
My friend, honest is a day of long samples here.
Folks, I don't mind telling you I made a bundle pushing you's car.
And starting this weekend, I'm passing my profits on you.
Come on down to the lot and ask one of our salesmen out of on parole to work out some time for you.
That's BR549 and hold down the collect hold.
I'm no rocket-feller, you know.
back
to the Todd Allball Show on the Civic Media Radio Network as 21 past the hour of 12 noon on Wednesday, March 12th.
Sobbers on the board, Trigby Olson, senior advisor to the Lincoln Project on the old StreamYard.
That was the one and only, the incomparable junior samples from He-Haw back in the day, the great CBS show that was spoofing rural life.
And again, that accent, the whole thing, that was the real deal.
Junior was right off the farm down there in rural Georgia, and they just put cue cards in front of him and let him go.
I like the line, hold the collect calls, I'm no Rockefeller, you know.
Well done, Mr. Zimmer, it's appreciated.
Welcome back, we're talking about this used car sales deal.
Not really, but kind of sort of.
Donald Trump selling cars, Teslas, on the White House lawn, along with the owner of the company, Elon Musk.
Trump claims he bought one, got in, couldn't drive it, didn't want to drive it.
Unlike Joe Biden and Barack Obama and George W. Bush, which all drove vehicles while they were president.
And afterwards, I might add.
And then the reporting comes out by...
Maggie Haberman of New York Times last night that Elon Musk has paid Donald Trump another hundred million dollars to his, I'm going to call them personal campaign funds.
That's not exactly right.
But the difference is when Musk put in the 200 plus million during the campaign, that went to Trump's Make America Great Again PAC political action committee.
And the reporting that the New York Times did last night is, these are smaller packs that are more directly controlled by Trump and his family, making it easier for them to divvy out money to themselves under the auspices of quote, unquote, expenses.
855-752-4842-855-752-4842.
Let's go to John, listening on WAUK in Milwaukee.
John, thanks for calling in.
What do you have?
Well, your comment on spectacle on the White House grounds made me think of something I wanted to share.
Years ago, probably about 2010, somewhere in that area.
Senator Ron Johnson was invited to our holiday meeting to speak and Had no idea how to read a rule and if he used Feckless to describe President Obama he must have used it 30 40 times and not understanding that there's as many or Obama as maybe against and the same thing here with this with this Tesla Yeah, he's gonna go to his face, but
maybe not have that kind of finances for that car and Likewise, he's going to turn off an equal number of people and Tesla's sliding right now That's just it's not going to help it
my opinion.
Yeah, no, I mentioned what one last quick thing.
Yeah, go ahead I Have problems and I've written our people we only have three national people in the Democratic Party, which is Tammy Baldwin
when more and Marco can and they're doing a good job but they should be doing town halls across the straight state excuse me the three of them together forget about the Republicans we can't affect their change but they could be holding and getting people to express their concerns
Just make sure you know before we let you go, Congressman Pocan actually has already done that.
He was on MSNBC last night and alluded to he might do another one this weekend.
What he's done, what he did last week is he went to one of the small towns I know very well in far Southwest Wisconsin in Lafayette County called Belmont.
My old professor, Jack O'Neill used to call it the corners, the crossroads of the nation.
because geographically it's the middle of the country.
Anyway, Belmont, the first state capital of Wisconsin, by the way, and Congress from Polkhead held a town hall there.
It's about 10 miles from Platteville, which is actually in Van Orton's district and the third district.
And the room was packed and lots of people came.
And I think he's going to continue to do similar things like that.
855-752-4842.
Mark, in prayer to sack.
Mark, thanks for calling.
What say
you?
I can't help but think that this little commercial that Trump did, it's pretty dangerously close to a constitutional violation, because the only thing the president is supposed to get while he's in office is actually his salary.
I mean, this is a little technique, while we can put it in his presidential campaign or like this, when he just doles that out to family members or anything like this.
It's pretty offensive to me just on a constitutional basis.
Maybe I'm correct if I'm wrong.
But I mean, I think the only thing that president is actually supposed to get, according to the Constitution, is his salary.
And to profitize off of that is just kind of a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, if not the Constitution itself.
Again, Trigby, I'll defer to you a little bit there, because you've had a lot more experience in DC than me.
But while a person is President of the United States, they get a, actually, I don't know, I should say a modest salary.
What is it?
$300,000, $400,000 now, technically.
But yeah, I mean, there are rules in all of politics.
It doesn't matter whether you're president or U.S.
senator or congressman, right?
I mean, you can't you can't directly profit or do a quid pro quo and take donations for legislation or anything else.
Theoretically, you're not supposed to just create
You know, the administration's not supposed to create agencies that give a bunch of people who aren't even government, who are temporary government employees, the right to go rummaging through all our data and put AI on it all across the, across the entire federal government either, but.
Technically.
Theoretically, technically you're supposed to, if a court rules that you're supposed to do something, you're supposed to do it.
Technically.
There seem- I'm not- Congress, technically the Constitution suggests that Congress makes spending decisions, but- I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but
When we come back, I want your perspective.
We're going to take a little break for Pam Yankee, the amazing, fabulous farm babe for some agricultural updates, news and sports.
And when we come back, I want to ask Trigby and his experience, particularly in Eastern Europe, fighting autocracies and dictators.
What can we take of the United States now arresting a citizen or a permanent resident with a green card?
and taking that away because of their political views.
Come on back at the Town Hall Ball Show on the Civic Media Ready
Network.
Flying from
On the hockey rinks of America, Trig V. Olsen joins us once again for directly from our nation's capital, former Republican like myself, a native of River Falls.
He always keeps his skates sharp.
And now a senior advisor at Lincoln Project, Trig V. Olsen, I really want to see you.
I've never seen you play hockey.
I want to see you play
Dude, you didn't do a very good job with that one.
He always keeps his skates like his wit Very sharp.
Well, it's it's I'm a little it's the daylight saving time Trigby not well not well played time.
All right, fine credit Everybody's a critic everybody.
You know what?
I you know what?
I bought myself for Christmas.
Why a very own home skate sharpener
I kind of like I'm not so sharp.
I use that
an inch and an eighth grind, which is not sharp.
You're no dorthy animal.
My wit is sharp.
Yes, it is.
I can attest to that.
My taste in 80s hair metal is outstanding, as we just heard.
I like to rock by April Wine.
Now, what are the odds?
You know how awesome our listeners are?
What are their odds that we could play Sister Christian?
I ask a question about it and immediately the first caller knows the answer of what makes that song unique.
We're optimistic.
And you said it at the top of the show and you're right.
There's a there's a lot of bad news out there.
Let's just be honest about that.
A lot of stuff to to get us down.
But I think it's important that we kind of dissect this and put it in perspective and hang on, Trigby.
because I have a positive, happy story from Wisconsin that I think will put a smile on your face.
So
stand by for
But first, they're not still happy news because there's some breaking news on this.
I've been wanting to get to this for a couple of days.
And with the firehose of information, we just have not gotten to to do it.
This comes to us from the Associated Press.
Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student.
who played a prominent role in last spring's anti-Israel protests at Columbia University according to his attorney.
Muhammad Khalil was inside his university-owned residence.
Say that again.
Inside his university-owned residence on Saturday night near Columbia's Manhattan campus when several immigration and customs enforcement agents entered the building and took him into custody according to his attorney.
Greer, the attorney, said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil's student visa.
When informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States legally as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said,
They were going to revoke that too.
Update here, just moments ago, by the way, from CBS News, Judge Jesse Furman said he would grant a request by Khalil's attorney allowing them to have privileged phone calls with Khalil at least twice a day today and tomorrow after being arrested, but they were going to keep him in custody.
Khalil's attorney said they have been unable to have privileged communication with him since the arrest.
They said the detention facility holding Khalil would not allow the type of call until March 20th.
Trigby, you, for those that are not regular listeners, have spent a great deal of time in Eastern Europe fighting against autocracies and dictators and for democracy.
And I want to set aside, because I have feelings on the Palestinian protests, I want to set that aside for a moment.
We're talking about, regardless of a person's political views, whether I agree with them or not, they are a legal permanent resident with a green card.
And for those who don't know, they used to be green, so that's why it's called that.
It gives them the legal right to work.
Being a permanent resident is one step away
from a naturalized citizen.
When you're a permanent resident, you can come and go as you want in the country.
You can work anywhere like any naturalized American citizen can.
You have the only thing you can't do is vote, basically, when you're when you're a permanent resident.
And here we have someone that, according to the attorneys, the U.S.
State Department ordered that this guy be arrested.
His green card revoked.
Not for a legend not for any sort of damages as far as we can tell but rather because and Trump called him out yesterday in this Deal with with musk and you can they keep using this word trig v instigator What do
You know what I'm with Ann Coulter on this one.
How so?
Well, Ann Coulter said and I quote there's almost no one I want to deport
But unless they've committed a crime, oh, there's almost no one I don't want to deport.
But unless they've committed a crime, isn't this a violation of the First Amendment?
When
When you have to gloss Ann Coulter, right.
But what you have to understand is, I mean, Trump has even suggested that naturalized citizens should have their citizenship revoked.
And if we're going to revoke naturalized citizens for violating the First Amendment, well, then it kind of gets to the point that I don't think they care much about the Constitution, right?
The right to free speech is guaranteed to all of us, whether you're a naturalized or a born citizen.
The irony in all of this is he's doing his worst used car salesman shtick.
and he doesn't even drive at the White House with Elon Musk, who, slippery slope here, very likely lied, although he denies this, very likely lied on his citizenship application because at one point he was here, what?
Illegally.
Which, I guess, at some point, if he wanted to, they could decide that Elon Musk needs to be.
no longer naturalized.
And that actually is a real violation.
You can't lie on that.
My wife went through the naturalization process.
Listen, at the end of the day, all autocrats and autocratic actors, whether it's Putin, Lukashenko, or these guys, operate in the same way.
They try and make people afraid to demonstrate they're inevitable and invincible.
And that's how they try and keep and maintain power.
They want to have something they can hold over everyone, which is, you know, they can arrest you.
They can deport you.
They can do whatever.
I mean, that's what life in an autocracy is like.
And people assume, well, they're not going to come from me.
I haven't done anything.
Eventually everybody becomes exposed.
That's what they're trying to do.
And other nations in in Europe join with American allies in France and and Germany in the UK Calling Trump out over the last few days on on what he has been doing in Ukraine and now there is word this morning that Volodymyr Zelensky the president of Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire if Russia will as well There seems to be Marco Rubio seems to be making some sort of repair in the damages there
But again, Trigby is someone who's well,
What did the Russians do after Zelensky called for the ceasefire?
They it was one of the worst nights of bombing bombing last night that Ukraine is faced in in a year over a year.
Right.
That the reality is, I mean, having dealt around the edges with Putin and and his people.
You're banned from Russia by Putin himself.
That's more than dealing with the edges.
People in the United States are so lucky that they have never had to encounter people that are that zero sum and that neanderthalic.
And I've said it over and over again.
If Vladimir Putin could be doing and his people, his troops to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, or Baraboo, Wisconsin, or Superior, or Madison,
or Green Bay, they would be doing it.
And their troops would be raping young girls and they would be destroying leveling cities.
That is what they are doing.
And this idea that Zelinsky made the choice where it's Biden's fault, the person who made the choice is Vladimir Putin to invade his neighbor.
The person who is making the choice
For God's sakes, man, we're in Wisconsin.
If you're at a college across Wisconsin, you have to know a bunch of Canadians because they'll come down here to play hockey and study.
Look at what he's done.
I mean, the Canadians, how do you make the Canadians angry at us?
How do you do that?
You start threatening them.
And Donald Trump is making that choice.
Vladimir Putin made that choice.
And the idea that he doesn't get it is just so antithetical to what Republicans are supposed to be, what we as Americans are supposed to be.
It's just, it's sad.
And
Well, Trivia, I want to talk a little bit more, jumping off on you had moved to Canada, and I wanted to talk on that.
Earlier in the hour show, you, honest to God, you had this sadness and this weariness in your voice, speaking about our Constitution and where we are.
And really, in the sense of just, you know, technically the Constitution says this, but it appears to not be in force.
So I think we are in different times.
We are, uh, we are not in the same place we used to be.
And one of the ways that, and you just expressed it is this animosity being pushed toward Canada.
And it's really more than animosity.
It seems to me that Trump has been fed a line, a phony baloney line by Putin, which is, Hey, listen, you got Alaska up there, take over Canada, 51st state, just an exit.
And you will, and in Greenland too, and you're going to have this nice swath of country that's going to be all your.
The thing that fascinates me is that people are starting to talk about this like it's going to happen and like there's going to be, you know, voting in Canada to talk about this.
What fascinates me about this is that my understanding of annexation, and you probably have a better sense of this with your work that you have done, is that that is a result
after a military takeover of a country.
You don't just vote to be annexed, maybe if you're in the county level, but not on the country level that doesn't happen.
So what we are committing ourselves to with this kind of language is threatening a hostile military takeover of our neighbor to the north.
And what amazes me about that is the geopolitical shakeout that could come from something like this.
People will say, oh, the American forces will just roll over them and they'll, you know, that's that.
Tell me that that's ever happened in a country where you're going to be losing yourself, your sovereignty, and your identity, and you just give up.
I think that what's going on in Ukraine, where it was presumed that Moscow would roll over into Kiev and have that done in three days, has certainly proved to not be true.
So I'm interested in your threads looking at this from NATO.
You know, here's a NATO member going after another NATO organization.
Would NATO just change their stripes and have a different name?
Would they just kick out America and start over with a new
Organization and how would it play?
I think people seem to forget this that Canada is not alone.
It is part of the British.
I guess the word is it's not the Commonwealth before comic is common.
Well
Yeah, I mean it is
Yeah, let me ask you a question and
take
did take your
Exactly.
All right, come on back.
Thank you, Joe.
I always appreciate your call as our friend Matt Flynn likes to say, once again, Joe nailed it.
We'll get more trivia response the other side.
And Pat Critello is wrapping up his meet and greet with autographs.
He'll join us after this.
It's the title ball show, the Civic Media Ready Network.
He's putting his snowmobile away for the season and breaking out the convertible and making his way down to the capital city, the one, the only host of Up North News Radio, Mr. Pat Kratlow.
He's writing something on my head.
You were actually one of my first thoughts for a panelist for our, you know, protecting justice for all Supreme Court election forum tonight, where we're going to have three great panels.
talking about the impact of this election on April 1st in reproductive health care rights on the economy and on education.
And that's where you come in moderating a great group of experts and lawmakers.
talking about whether it's the voucher program that is quickly becoming a $1 billion monster or Act 10.
The challenge is to that.
You will be talking to some great panelists.
Three different panels, about 25 minutes each.
I'll moderate the one on reproductive health care rights and Dan Schaefer, Civic Media Political Editor and creator of the Recombobulation Area.
We'll be the moderator for a panel on jobs and the economy.
Again, something that the state Supreme Court can go wildly one way or the other, either on behalf of workers and consumers and natural resources or a court that is once again in the pockets of Wisconsin manufacturers and commerce and other assorted.
Nefarious
and you can hear it all very well starting at five o'clock right here on this civic media-ready network and be broadcast We could see the place right across the street to the overture center So that makes it real easy and Pat I'm not sure if you knew this or not while you are on your latest world tour And you are so kind of asked me to fill in for a day
Trigvie did weasel his way into Up North News Radio because he was so kind enough to bring along his friend, a person you know well, Mike Johnson, the superintendent of public schools in Eau Claire.
So we talked to them.
That Mike Johnson.
Yes.
Not little Mike, not little Mike Johnson, but it's people like that.
And Mike Johnson, who are just they're working their tails off along with teachers and educators and staff and parents to make these public schools run and how the, how they're able to do their job.
People.
realize this could be determined by rulings on the Supreme
Yes, it does.
People will say, well, what does a Supreme Court have to do with that?
And as we've discussed, a lot of folks will not necessarily connect the dots.
An event like this will help people see.
Another example that I'd use, and Dan Schaefer might get into on the economy, is a court that tells the Department of Natural Resources that either, yes, we have defined what hazardous chemicals are, and so you can continue to seek out.
remediate the sites, pursue damages from those responsible, or one that says, well, actually, DNR, you have to write a separate rule for every one of the chemicals that might get cleaned up.
Even if there are 2000 different PFAS chemicals, you've got to go through all these hoops before you can go after the corporate polluters.
A state Supreme Court can do one or the other, and this one election can make the difference for a long time to come.
Lots of great information again starting tonight.
Once the 12 pack is gone, open bar closes.
All right, here's some good news for you.
UW Madison, the curling team is on a dynastic run, taking home its second straight title on Sunday afternoon, Wisconsin knocked off Michigan Tech five to three to claim the crown.
The Badgers finished with 66 points, which in curling.
I guess is good.
Did you ever play curling up there at River Falls?
Do you ever curl?
I never
You've got like the figure skaters, right?
I'll look good the hockey players look good the downhill skiers the Speed skaters man those guys they look like Eric Haydn, right?
They got thighs like like oak trees and then you got the curlers They look like radio people just came out.
Uh, they look like they just came out a raised bar Clare They did