Matt Connarton Unleashed 7-12-23

0:04 It's a great song, but I don't know it. Welcome everybody, here

0:43 we go. It is that time again, Matt Connerton unleashed and we are

0:47 live from the studios of w m n HM in glorious downtown Manchester, New

0:54 Hampshire. Although it's looking like it's going to rain, it got very dark

0:58 and cloudy, but it was glorious. It's always glorious of course. Uh

1:02 here in Manchester, of course on ninety five point three FM and a comcast

1:07 ninety seven. Also if you happen to be in Manchester, and hello to

1:11 all of our online listeners across the nation and around the globe. You can

1:14 go to my website Matt Connerton dot com for all of your live streaming options,

1:18 social media links, contact info, show archives, etc. Etc.

1:23 Today is Wednesday, July twelve, twenty twenty three. By the way,

1:27 the song that I opened with that was called You Belong You See that is

1:32 from grim Rock and Joel from grim Rock is going to be joining us today

1:36 in the second hour, actually at the top of the hour, we're going

1:38 to do the world radio premiere of his brand new single don't you really looking

1:42 forward to us sharing that with you? But I wanted to open with another

1:46 one of his other songs today on the show, and and we'll probably play

1:51 a little more later too, but don't you the world radio premiere of the

1:53 new single coming up today at five pm in the Eastern time zone here on

1:57 the program, and then we'll have we'll talk with grim Rock. I'm not

2:01 sure whether to call him Joeld or Grim or I'll just ask him. We'll

2:06 see no, but really looking forward to that. So that's gonna be cool.

2:07 And by the way, for those of you watching online, he did

2:09 send me this, he sent anyone too, these great shirts, these great

2:15 grim Rock shirts fits perfectly, really really cool. And I also have a

2:17 sticker that I'm gonna put on the wall that he sent as well. So

2:22 looking forward to that. So that'll be coming up in the second hour.

2:23 In the first hour, in a few minutes, I'm gonna be joined by

2:27 Eric Pilcher, our friend from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Of course, Eric

2:30 does the classic film reviews for us on Fridays, but we also do a

2:34 segment every Wednesday. I call him my favorite conservative and he's gonna be joining

2:38 us. He's he wanted to talk about this hazing scandal at Northwestern University,

2:45 which has been a pretty big deal. You know, I'm not a sports

2:46 guy myself, but some stories obviously transcend sports, and that one certainly does.

2:53 That's been interesting to follow. And I also want to ask him about

2:55 the something we've talked about before on the show with Eric about the live golf

3:00 l I V. The Saudi Arabia trying to take over golf is how some

3:06 people are looking at it. Well, we'll talk about that too, and

3:08 I have a couple other things to ask him about too, So we'll always

3:12 have a good time with Eric. So he's gonna be joining us, and

3:14 of course I want to learn more about his how he constructed that amazing guitar

3:20 solo on the new song from Jerry and the Scumbags, that song I'm the

3:23 man, of course. Uh, it's been interesting. You know, we've

3:28 all been working remotely on that. You know, Matts, that's yours truly,

3:32 I'm credited as well, and Billy Painter, and of course Eric,

3:37 Eric Pincher as he is known by his stage name. Here we go,

3:49 Eric, is that you? Yes? It is? Oh good? It

3:52 was for some reason I was clicking in and it wasn't picking up right away.

3:54 I was like, oh, I hope, I hope we don't have

3:57 a malfunction here. You know how Skype can be. Skype can be very

4:01 Skype very finicky. Certainly, yes, yes, before we get before we

4:09 get to talk, and too, I do want to say hello to everybody

4:11 in the Facebook live chat. Scott Robinson joins us and says, this is

4:15 regarding the clip that I played to open the show. Sometimes I like to

4:18 throw in a little best of clip I played that time that the ghost of

4:21 a don Imus called us live on the air. Scott said, this sounds

4:25 like Gene Simmons from Kiss with marbles in his mouth a little inside. But

4:30 yes. Mike from Queen City Cabinetry, one of our great sponsors here at

4:33 WMNH and also one of our co hosts on Friday nights for retro Spectrum Radio,

4:38 he says, good afternoon everyone. Jenny is in there of course,

4:41 and says shalom peeps. Also Rondo Favero from California, Paul C. Says

4:46 greetings from Sonny, Bangladesh. Again, if you don't listen to Retrospectrum Radio,

4:51 you don't know what that refers to you, which is why you should

4:54 listen to Retrospectrum Radio Friday nights. Here Charmagne Davis Elliott joins us and says,

4:59 good afternoon everyone. Hello. Uh, let's see uh Eric, I

5:02 see here and there. And also I'm never sure I'm saying his name correctly,

5:05 Eric nan Rone. I'm going to assume that's what he's got a podcast

5:10 called the Nano Second Podcast. Um, so welcome, everybody. Welcome,

5:16 uh and uh Eric. Eric is with us on Skype, which means the

5:19 studio phone line is open. So if you have anything to contribute to our

5:23 conversation today, you can call us at six ZO three two five zero six

5:27 zero seven six ZO three two five zero six zoo seven. You can also

5:30 text me at six one seven nine one seven four four seven six. I'm

5:33 on social media at Matt Connerton. You can email me Matt at Matt Connerton

5:39 dot com. And of course you can interact end O Pine in the Facebook

5:43 live chat. But the best thing to do so that we can here and

5:45 enjoy your dulcet tones is give us a call at six O three two five

5:48 zero six zero seven. And uh, you know, speaking of music,

5:51 h Eric, Uh, yeah, I had no idea you were so talented,

5:56 but hearing your your your solo on that song, I'm the man,

6:00 just magnificent, sir, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Like

6:04 I said, I just picked up a guitar and it was magic. Yeah,

6:11 Matt, you cannot take away my right to rock. That's right,

6:15 nor would I ever try to. Frankly, I mean, you know I

6:18 want you. Oh. Dylan Reynolds is in the Facebook live chat and he

6:23 agrees. He says, you're great on that song. Thank you, Dylan,

6:28 I appreciate it. You know, you're always nervous when you do something

6:30 outside of your comfort zone. But you know, as many will learn in

6:38 the month of October with classic film reviews, sometimes you just gotta go out

6:43 of your comfort zone. Yes, that's right. Oh. Speaking of which,

6:48 Scott Robinson has a question for you regarding your classic film reviews. I

6:53 have not seen it. I asked him if it was good. I'm always

6:57 open to film suggestions. Yes, Scott is for listeners. Scott is asking

7:01 if you've watched the film Affliction with Nick Nolty and James Coburn. I've never

7:06 seen that movie either, but I've I've heard that it's very very good.

7:12 But uh, but I have not I have not. Well that right?

7:15 Well will that be on a Is that a possibility for a future film review?

7:20 I would have to watch it? There are, but there are.

7:26 I love suggestions, and I'm glad you brought this up. I love it

7:30 when anyone email messages me suggestions because one, it shows they listen, and

7:36 two it makes me feel good that they value my opinion. Yeah, selecting

7:43 a film is two is twofold or threefold, depending on how you view it.

7:49 One I have to watch it, and if I watch it and do

7:54 not enjoy it, I will not review it. Reason being is I do

7:59 not believe in giving a film a bad review. UM. That that happened

8:05 because my film instructor in college told me that. UM told me, don't

8:16 ever share your opinion on a film as you're leaving the movie theater. Wait

8:20 a second, though, Wait a second. Oh, okay, you know

8:24 what. I just realized. Maybe this doesn't count because it was an April

8:26 Fools joke. I was gonna say you reviewed, you did review Freddie got

8:30 fingered by Tom Green. Yes, but that was April Fools. And if

8:35 there's anyone out there that tries to tell me that's a good movie, I'm

8:39 going I'm going to ask that they get their heads examined, just out of

8:46 concern for their own well being. Yes. By the way, our friend

8:50 Ron is on the line. He might have a film review request. We'll

8:52 see hi, Ron, Hi do Hello? Hello? I did have a

8:56 film request. Couldn't get that out, and I'm bumming. I was watching

9:01 the other channel for a couple of minutes and if Eric was playing some kind

9:05 of guitar riff like Son of a Gun, I wish I would have heard

9:07 it. But on any note, I wonder if either one of you guys

9:11 have ever seen the movie. And I think it's called unthinkable or unimaginable.

9:16 It's about a US terrorist and the negotiations on how to get him to talk.

9:24 Have you ever seen either one of you seen it or heard of that.

9:26 I think it's unthinkable, isn't it. Yeah? I'm thinking that it's

9:30 a black guy. I keep thinking tends on Washington. But it's not him.

9:33 It's a Oh it might be it's Samuel Jackson. That's who it is.

9:37 What a great movie. If you haven't, Yeah, have you seen

9:39 that? Eric? I haven't seen that. I have not. No,

9:43 m Well, I might have to ask well, I would give that five

9:48 thumbs up if you have a board and you could dig it up on your

9:50 TV. It's a matter of fact. Tonight, when there's nothing going on,

9:54 I might watch it again. It'll be the fourth time I've seen it.

9:56 But it's wow. I won't even get into any details. But that

10:00 was nice. Well, that was It was Samuel Jackson, and it was

10:03 either unimaginable or unthinkable. I think it was Unthinkable's he's he negotiates, he

10:09 doesn't negotiate. He tries to get information out of the terrorists in the worst

10:13 ways, stuff that the US wouldn't consider illegal, but he doesn't anyway.

10:18 So all right, would that being said, carry on, my friends,

10:22 all right, thank you, Ron, appreciate the call. By the way,

10:26 Dylan Reynolds was suggesting a film review of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall. Total

10:33 Recall is actually you know this, Matt, and long time listeners know this

10:37 as well. I have a list of films that I want to review,

10:43 and Total Recall is on the list. The thing to keep in mind is

10:48 that Paul Verhoeven directed it, and Paul Verhoeven has a style that he trans

10:56 translates to each and every one of his films. So have just recently done

11:01 Starship Troopers, which was directed by him. I want to see it kind

11:05 of spread out, gotcha? Gotcha? Because I would love to review Robo

11:11 Cop as well, which is also directed by Beethoven. Yes. Uh,

11:16 and Eric Nanaron is asking, uh, this is probably for both of us.

11:20 Have you seen Unbroken? I've seen that. Have you seen that,

11:22 Eric? Unbroken? I would there's a there's a few films named unbroken.

11:30 Oh uh, I think that's uh, the one with um Bruce Willis.

11:37 That's the first one that occurred to me when I saw that, when I

11:39 saw that title's directed Oh, Unbreakable. Yes, I'm sorry, that's uh

11:46 directed by M Knight Shamalan and I am not a fan of his. Okay,

11:52 yeah, that's probably so. I just I don't know why I thought.

11:54 Uh, yeah, I don't usually make that mistake, but yeah,

11:58 Unbreakable. I do like that film. So I have not seen a film

12:03 called unbroken. Apparently there's one on Netflix. Angelina Joni's Unbroken to be shown

12:09 in Japan after racism protests. Interesting. Yeah, I'd be curious to know

12:13 more about that. But yeah, but what I was saying and then we'll

12:18 get into Northwestern about suggestions is one, I have to like the film,

12:24 And because when I heard that from my instructor, when he said, never

12:30 give your opinion on a film as you're leaving the theater. And he said

12:35 that because if it's a bad one, you could ruin it for a person

12:39 near you, right, could have enjoyed the film, right. And that's

12:46 not something I ever want to do. I don't want to review a film

12:52 someone enjoys and say, oh, this was a steaming pile. You know,

12:58 That's not what classic film reviews is about. It's about maybe getting someone

13:05 to see a film they've never seen before, or get interested in a film

13:09 they weren't interested in, or remember why they loved a specific film. It's

13:13 about being positive about film. And ever since then, I've always hated when

13:20 reviewers just go on TV or what write a review that just trashes a film.

13:26 It's like, why, why waste your energy doing something so so negative.

13:33 See when I was a kid and I would watch Siskel and Ebert,

13:37 I always enjoyed it when they really hated a movie. I thought that.

13:39 I thought it was kind of fun that Some of my favorite books on film

13:45 are Roger Ebert's your movie sucks. Oh, yes, you've you've recommended that

13:50 book before. Yeah, I love because Roger Ebert takes he it's an art

13:58 form to him and bashing a film like his review of I Spit on Your

14:05 Grave a beautiful. I remember him saying that in an interview once that that

14:13 was the worst film he felt. Oh it was. It was on Donahue,

14:16 Ciscolinebert were on Donahue. I was a big film Donahue fam when I

14:18 was a kid, and he said that was the worst film ever. He

14:22 said to this about two films I Spit on Your Grave in Caligula. Oh

14:28 okay, yeah, he said, it is the biggest pile of bleep I've

14:33 ever seen in my life. And it's the only two films he's ever walked

14:37 out on. Oh wow. And yes, Dirk don and I have watched

14:43 Caligula on Blu Ray twice. So if you want to honor us for doing

14:50 that, it would be appreciated. Um. Yeah, Scott says, That's

14:56 why I want you to watch Affliction. It takes place in New Hampshire and

14:58 J. James Colburn is a force in the movie. It will not disappoint

15:03 interesting well, um, yeah, I didn't. I didn't know that.

15:07 I didn't know that it takes place in New Hampshire. That film, I

15:11 will definitely put it on my list, and with the New Hampshire tie,

15:13 it would be a good film to have on Classic Film Reviews certainly. Yes,

15:18 yes, well so we can get to uh whow. Yeah, time

15:24 is flying as it always does. Oh, by the way, something I

15:26 wanted to tell you too. On I think it was on Monday in the

15:30 chat room somebody made a very nice compliment about you because I was talking,

15:33 oh you know what, Trudy from the Hopknot was here and we were talking

15:35 about having discussions with people we disagree with politically and whatnot, and your name

15:39 came up and I mentioned how I always refer to you as my favorite conservative,

15:45 and Miriam banished in the chat room, said that you are her favorite

15:48 conservative as well. Wow that means a lot. Yes, yes, I

15:54 look, if politics is really a part to the backbone of America, and

16:02 if we can't talk about it, then to me, everyone that paid the

16:08 price for our freedom, that price is it's diminished. We should be able

16:15 to talk about politics and disagree and be peaceful about it. In amicable.

16:21 Yes, I mean, obviously it's a lot more uncommon than I would want

16:27 it to be. Well, it's awful how some people act when talking about

16:33 politics. Yes, well what I what I said Monday too is you know,

16:37 most people when they talk about politics, it's not so much about is

16:41 it's not they're not necessarily concerned with being right, but they just want to

16:45 make you think that they're right, or they want to prove that they're right,

16:48 or they want to prove that you're wrong. And if you're having a

16:51 conversation, you know, about politics with someone with whom you disagree, oftentimes

16:56 the two people end up just talking past each other because while one person is

16:59 saying something, the other isn't really listening. Rather, they're trying to think

17:02 of their next talking point that they're going to fire at the person who's talking.

17:06 And you know, and like it's a microcosm of life really in that

17:11 the way people talk about politics, it's kind of the same way that people

17:14 argue about, you know, just about anything that two people are arguing about.

17:17 You know, people when when they don't listen because they're too busy thinking

17:21 about what they're going to say next, and they often if you, if

17:25 you just pay attention to two people having in an argument, you'll realize that

17:29 they're not even necessarily arguing about the same thing. And that happens in all

17:33 all aspects of life. People end up arguing about two different things because they're

17:37 not listening to each other, and neither of them truly realizes what the other

17:42 person is saying. And of course there's a lack of empathy there and so

17:45 forth. So so yeah, it's nice to be able to Uh, I'm

17:52 laughing at something Michael Albert said in the chat room, but I won't.

17:56 I'm not going to respectfully, I'm not going to read that comment. It

18:00 made me chuckle. Yes, yes, but uh, but but it's I

18:06 wouldn't be inclined to agree with him. I like the I like the person

18:12 personally that uh, Michael Albert is referring to. I just but I but

18:17 I also understand the sentiment. Um. All right, well let's let's get

18:22 to it, Eric. So let's talk about this scandal, this hazing scandal

18:26 at Northwestern University. UM, and uh, I'll let you kind of Uh,

18:30 let's start with UM, you followed this obviously closer than I have,

18:34 although I'm aware of this story. And I was actually listening to a Pat

18:38 McAfee video earlier from his show talking about it. But uh, kind of

18:45 catch us up on this what's going on there? You have to actually go

18:51 back fifteen years ago. Yeah, um to understand the gravity of this situation.

19:00 Pat Fitzgerald is Northwestern University the now former Northwestern football coach. He was

19:07 a two time linebacker of the Year when he played for Northwestern. He was

19:12 a part of the team that put that made Northwestern successful. Northwestern had never

19:18 had a winning record in football in the Big Ten until nineteen ninety six.

19:23 They made the Rose Bowl and Pat Fitzgerald was one of the stars of that

19:29 team. After he graduated, he went through the coaching ranks. In two

19:34 thousand and six, their head coach, Randy Walker I believe was his name.

19:41 I could be wrong, died of a heart attack suddenly and very tragically.

19:45 In pet Fitzgerald took over the team. Northwestern as a football program has

19:53 six bull wins throughout their history. Pet Fitzgerald has been their head coach for

20:00 five of them. Oh wow, he must have been pretty young then when

20:03 he took over, right, Yeah, he's he just turned I believe he's

20:07 in his low fifties. Now, Oh, I was looking up online.

20:11 I think he's forty eight. Yeah, he's not even in his fifties.

20:15 Yeah. Yeah, So he's still a young man. So he must have

20:19 been so fifteen years ago. So he was bad at math. Wow,

20:23 he was still what early early to mid thirties when he took over his coach.

20:26 I assume that's I assume that's young for a college football coach, right.

20:33 Very I believe he. I believe he has the record or is very

20:37 close to it for the youngest head coach in college football history. Okay,

20:44 Um, now, Eric, Eric Nannarone, I'm going to get to your

20:48 point here in a few moments that we'll get to that. Um. What

20:53 had happened is earlier this year, the Northwestern director of compliance had gotten an

21:00 email that said hazing within the Northwestern football program. They launched launched an investigation

21:08 that concluded Friday. One of the many key points here is Northwestern did not

21:15 publicly release all the findings. They said that their understanding was end quote path,

21:25 Fitzgerald and the coaching staff did not know about it, but could have

21:30 prevented it, did not know about it, but could have prevented it.

21:36 That's interesting, very So it was announced that path Fitzgerald would be suspended for

21:42 two weeks without pay, effective immediately. So I guess it just had drilled

21:48 down on that statement a little bit because at first it sounds a little almost

21:52 self contradictory. But as I'm processing it, I realized or were they suggesting

21:56 so he didn't know about it? But maybe if if he had done things

22:00 differently from a sort of in terms of the culture of the football program there,

22:06 maybe maybe none of this would have happened. I guess that's what they're

22:08 saying, right, so lo and behold. On Sunday, an unnamed Northwestern

22:18 player spoke with the Northwestern University student newspaper. Of note here, Northwestern is

22:26 known for journalism, like if you there are so many great journalists that have

22:33 come from that school. Okay, um, and he this player spoke in

22:40 depth about it. Of note, the player left the program this past season

22:47 of a situation called running And I'm going to try to be as politically correct

22:56 as I can be when speaking of this. Okay, where the leadership team

23:00 of the football team, if a player had done something wrong or not or

23:08 made a mistake, countless mistakes whatever. They would do certain things to him

23:17 that were simulating, not stimulating, simulating sexual assault. Okay, wow that

23:30 and he said absolutely Pat Fitzgerald knew about it, and even went further to

23:36 say, Pat Fitzgerald that practice would do a specific clap above his head to

23:41 indicate to the football leadership group that this player needed to have needed to have

23:47 a run put on him. Oh my god. So that's wow. So

23:52 so in other words, so Pat's Pat Fitzgerald the coach. He not only

23:56 knew about it, but according to what this player says, he not only

24:00 knew about it, but he was actually directing it in a sense. He

24:03 was indicating, you know, do do that to this player. Wow,

24:10 that's yes, awful if it's true. And of course this is alleged,

24:12 we should be clear about that. But you're in the day. Northwestern athletic

24:18 director have stated that what we're gonna he was going to reevaluate Pat Fitzgerald's punishment

24:29 because he said, I focused more on what he didn't know than what he

24:36 knew. What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine.

24:47 So coming Tuesday Monday, Pat Fitzgerald was fired. Yeah, as Northwestern head

24:55 coach one. Here are my issues with this one. Northwestern absolutely new the

25:06 allegations and what they were. They were hoping to pull what I call a

25:12 Ray Rice where the NFL knew Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in the face and

25:21 knocked her out. They chose not to act because they hoped it would go

25:26 away. Eric, refresh, My memory is Ray Rice? Is that the

25:30 one with the elevator? Yes? Gotcha? Okay, I remember now?

25:34 Yep. I have believed and always will believe that the NFL knew the Baltimore

25:41 Ravens knew, because how do you not? Right? Um? Sorry,

25:51 got it? Took a drink now of no peptitz Gerald was working tirelessly to

26:00 secure an eight hundred million dollars new football stadium that was very close to getting

26:10 pushed across the finish line. Yeah, that's probably out the window now.

26:17 And I'm not saying that, Oh that's wrong and the no, I'm saying

26:21 that that's probably over. He is gone. This football program is going about

26:27 to be in shambles because you're going to have players transfer, go to the

26:33 transfer portal and get out of Dodge. Because what I'm gonna say is we

26:40 are moments away from the NC double a stepping in, and I do believe

26:49 Northwestern's football program should be suspended at minimum for two years, Okay, And

26:57 that's what Eric Nanarone was saying in the chat him. Yeah, if this

27:00 is true, of the football program needs to be suspended, although he was

27:03 saying for a year, you think two years. I think two years.

27:07 And I think they didn't do it to Penn State. And I agreed with

27:11 them not doing it to Penn State because in a way, you're punishing kids

27:18 that were not a part of the program when those horrible and horrendous acts occurred.

27:25 Yeah, you're punishing players that had nothing to do with it by doing

27:30 this, I would advocate that Northwestern be hit with the infamous ncuble, a

27:37 death penalty for this, which is a two year suspension. Give me a

27:45 moment, I will explain what the death penalty is. Okay. It's only

27:48 happened to one school in the history of college athletics. Southern Methodist University in

27:56 the eighties got it, okay, and it they still haven't recovered from it.

28:07 So here is what it is. Sorry, I'm trying to find what

28:23 that's Okay, in the page I clicked on, Yeah, that's all right

28:30 if you're just joining us. Our friend Eric Pilcher as well as says he

28:33 is every Wednesday, and we're talking about the situation with the Hazian scandal at

28:37 Northwestern University. Basically, what it is is the death penalty is a part

28:45 of the repeat violator's rule. Obviously, Northwestern is not a repeat violator.

28:51 I would argue they are because this is a part of the culture of the

28:55 team. And Pat Fitzgerald was there for fifteen years, so you do the

29:00 math. Basically, what it is is no no athletics for one no program

29:08 for one year, okay, no program for one year when they come back,

29:15 no television for year two okay, no televised games, no postseason,

29:23 so no bowls, and no scholarships. And this has only happened once.

29:33 It is only happened once in modern in the modern NCAA era, Why why

29:40 was it done? This was at Southern Methodist University. Southern Methodist University took

29:47 paying players to a whole nother level. They signed players to contracts. Did

29:55 we talk about this before, Yes, we have. Okay, this buyer's

30:00 contract sounding familiar, Dickerson, The joke was Eric Dickerson made more at SMU

30:07 than he did in the NFL, and Eric Dickerson has admitted yes he did.

30:14 Um is he the guy who, uh you told me about somebody before

30:21 who uh they let they let one of the schools buy him a car that's

30:26 ericson Yeah, yeah, and then he ended up and then he ended up

30:30 not going with that school, and he anybody kept the car because his attitude

30:34 was, well, what are you gonna what are you gonna do? Like

30:37 you buying me this car? Was he illegal to begin with? So what

30:41 are you gonna? So what are you gonna do about it? He kept

30:45 the gold plated trans am. A part it's it's such as a great story.

30:53 There's a part of me that thinks that's repulsive him. There's a part

30:56 of me that admires him. Um, I'm you know what, God bless

31:02 Eric Dickerson. I mean, I mean it's it's not right morally and ethically,

31:07 it's not right, and yet it's kind of like, Wow, you

31:11 kind of have to respect him. Who's actually more wrong in this? You

31:15 can't expect an eighteen year old kid to not take in nineteen eighty five and

31:22 cold plate in trans am, right, right? Because if it's it's just

31:27 it's just wild. Um. So that was that was that was that Southern

31:32 Methodist University. Yeah, okay. Actually to clarify, Texas, A and

31:37 M bought in the car. Oh okay. He's like, I don't want

31:41 to go to AMM, I want to go to a SMU. What do

31:44 I do with this car? And that was the sticking point in the SMU

31:47 boosters are like, we'll take care of that. Well, he'd probably already

31:52 registered it, and you know, can't just give it back now. I

31:56 right, the loan was in his grand mama's name. Now totally above the

32:01 board. Oh good, Yeah, living in living in a two room shack

32:07 in the slums of Texas and they gotta trans am. Wow. Yeah.

32:15 Now regarding Northwestern, Eric Nannarone says, in the chat room, they had

32:20 a white board with names of the players that we're going to get that punishment

32:23 allegedly in the Yeah, I remember I heard Pat McAfee talking about that too.

32:29 In the practice room, the locker room, they had a white board

32:31 with names of the players who are going to be hazed, which is almost

32:37 a euphemism, uh, based on that term, based on what you had

32:42 described. Uh. Yeah, and and and that's the thing is and all

32:51 of this is alleged, nothing has been proven. But let's be real here.

32:58 Northwestern is now faced with having to pay Pat Fitzgerald forty million dollars.

33:02 Oh my god. Really, yes, he just signed a contract extension in

33:08 January of twenty twenty one for ten years. Wow. There's no h there's

33:19 no clause in there that I mean, I'm sure there is some sort of

33:23 clause it says if he does something really egregious, they don't have to pay

33:28 him. But that's not what happened here because they can't they can't prove that

33:30 he knew. Here's where Northwestern is in some trouble with that one. They

33:38 already punished him. Oh, with the two week suspension. They had already

33:45 announced his punishment. Yeah, I guess. And I'm still kind of getting

33:52 caught up on this. But my understanding from what peppitz Gerald's lawyers have said

33:59 is that at Illinois state law indicates once you have punished an employee, you

34:05 can't retroactively go back and repunish them. Oh wow, no kidding. That's

34:14 my interpretation of it. I could be wrong, yea. So this is

34:19 a very bad situation because Northwestern put athletics ahead of morals and what is right.

34:29 You put an eight hundred million dollars stadium ahead of what is right.

34:35 This is disgusting and this is deplorable. This, and I'll say this,

34:42 when I was involved in football, Yes, we did hazing. I'll say

34:45 it. We did it. We did tow whipping lines. Oh that seems

34:53 almost quaint compared to some of what we've been hearing about here. I never,

35:00 and I swear on everything, I never heard of anything like this happening

35:07 or witnessed it. Yeah, um, but yeah, yeah, it really.

35:15 You sit there and you're just like wow, Wow. By the way,

35:21 what does Fitzgerald say? I assume he hasn't said anything, right,

35:23 He hasn't addressed us publicly, had a meeting with the players, um and

35:30 his staff. Otherwise, it was a pretty blanket statement that he appreciates his

35:37 time at Northwestern, he disagrees with the decision, that he knew of no

35:42 hazing. It was pretty boiler play of what you would expect. Well,

35:47 when when did when did that happen? After the suspension or after the firing?

35:52 After the firing, okay, bension. His statement was that he agrees

35:58 that he should have been more informed and paid more attention to little details.

36:07 Look, this has been my argument. Anytime there's a scandal within a college

36:12 athletic program or a specific team, your job as the head coach is to

36:20 know everything that goes on. That is your job. Just like Rick Pettina

36:28 when it Louisville, he allowed hookers to go in party with recruits in a

36:35 dormitory named after his brother in law who died in during the nine to eleven

36:39 attacks. Wow. Wow, And he's like, well, that was all

36:50 done by one of our one of our general one of our graduate assistants.

36:55 How do you not know? Yeah, you think these kids are just coming

37:01 to Louisville because you're a nice guy. I'm fascinating. I'm fascinated by the

37:08 dynamic of so after he's fired, so they let him have this meeting with

37:15 the players, and assuming if everything that's alleged is true and he knew,

37:22 then he's going and having this meeting with them, tell him, tell him

37:24 the very people with whom he colluded with on the hazing, effectively telling them,

37:30 well, I disagree with the decision because I didn't know. When they

37:34 know that he knew when when you know what I mean, when you know

37:37 he's he's got to look these kids in the face who he knows, they

37:40 know that he knew, and tell them, Well, I don't agree with

37:44 the decision because obviously I didn't know. When you know, everyone knows he

37:47 knew Northwestern in their infinite wisdom. And I say that using with sarcasm.

37:55 Yes, decided to let the players release a statement because players are upset,

38:04 and I mean it makes perfect sense to let them release an official statement.

38:09 They stood behind their coach and accused the players that have released this information of

38:16 whying. Nothing like this ever occurred. It's just someone trying to tear down

38:23 our success that could not be successful at Northwestern. Uh oh boy, Well

38:37 so what so what happens? Well, first of all, by the way,

38:40 we should shed no tears for Fitzgerald, because even even even if he

38:46 even if he really didn't know, which is hard to believe, but even

38:51 if he really didn't know, the guy's getting forty million dollars to you know,

38:55 lose his job or at the very least a chunk of that. Yeah,

39:01 this is not going to see the courts. They're gonna settle. Northwestern

39:07 wants this to go away as quickly as they can. Oh, okay,

39:10 so he won't necessarily get so they might negotiate something, right, Okay,

39:17 Right, Northwestern wants this to go away because and again I don't want anyone

39:22 to think I'm in agreeance with Northwestern here, I am not. I think

39:28 the athletic director needs to be fired. I think the president of the university

39:32 needs to be fired. I think a ton more heads need to roll down

39:37 the hill after this. But football season is a little over fifty days away.

39:45 You want this to go away, but there is no I mean,

39:52 in terms of national media, this will blow over, as all things do.

39:58 But if you're if you're there, especially if you're there as part of

40:02 that community or have any connection to the college whatsoever, this isn't going This

40:07 isn't going away for a long time. I mean, people aren't going to

40:12 forget about this, right. And my cousin Joe brought up something and I

40:16 agreed with I agree with him. In essence, he said people have already

40:23 forgotten about Penn State. Well, that's kind of a blanket statement. I

40:30 don't think people have forgotten, right, I don't think you ever forget.

40:35 I mean I will remember where I was the day, the very minute it

40:42 was announced Joe Paterno was fired. Yeah. Oh, I remember. I

40:46 was in the cafeteria of my at my at the university I was attending,

40:52 and I remember a majority of them got up and rammed in the TV and

40:59 esp End was on, and you literally just stood there frozen. Well listen,

41:05 I mean I can. I can prove your point too, because you

41:07 mentioned Penn State to me. I'm not a sports guy, as you know,

41:13 but as soon as you say Penn State, I remember Joe Paterno and

41:15 Sandusky and everything you know. So no, of course people haven't forgotten a

41:20 guy like me who doesn't follow sports. But I did. I did follow

41:23 that story because that's one of those stories like this, one that transcends sports.

41:29 Oh god, I remember vividly. I remember because I was also the

41:34 sports editor of my university student newspaper. Yeah, and like I literally went

41:42 right into the newspaper office and it's like, you know, we gotta do

41:46 something about this. We have like how do we cover this at a Catholic

41:52 university? Yeah, and how do we do this in a way that we

41:59 can talk to our school and not be negative? So it was a tough

42:06 situation. So I will always remember Penn State and just because if for nothing

42:14 else, Penn State was a national power for so many years and they still

42:21 haven't recovered well, And again I was, I'm not gonna I mean,

42:25 they've had successes, they've been to a couple of Rose Bulls, but not

42:30 they haven't competed for national titles like they did. They haven't had like the

42:37 primetime games they've had have been in essence because of who they were playing,

42:42 not because of Penn State. Yeah. So yeah, it's it's I do.

42:51 What really hurts for Northwestern is Northwestern has this image is the Harvard of

42:57 the Midwest, and this kills that um in so many ways. And it

43:06 was already hard for Northwestern to get recruits because of their academic standards. It's

43:12 going to be that much harder. Now. How do you, as a

43:15 parent, advocate for your kid to go to Northwestern right on a football scholarship?

43:22 Yeah, I mean, yes, Pat Pitzgerald's gone, But who's to

43:27 say that some of the kids that committed, that allegedly committed these acts aren't

43:30 still there? Right exactly exactly, Well, hopefully this this will have if

43:38 they are still there. Hopefully this will have put some fear into them and

43:42 nothing like this will will continue to happen. Wow. Well, so so

43:47 there's still more. There's still more to this story coming right in terms of

43:52 you know, we'll find out in the weeks to come, what what happens

43:55 that were that the NC double A is going to get involved here? Yeah?

44:00 I mean I don't see how they can't. Did they? Did they

44:06 get directly involved with Penn State? Yes, they're the one gave them the

44:10 two year bull band. Okay, the NC double A is the only one

44:16 that can issue that punishment. Schools can do what's called self sanctioning, where

44:22 to try to soften the blow of NC double A punishment, they can say,

44:28 Okay, we're gonna sit out the postseason for this year. Yeah,

44:31 we're going to reduce our in home scholar our in home recruiting visits, We're

44:36 going to reduce scholarships. Um. In some in in most cases, the

44:43 NC double as like, oh that's good enough. We're lazy old white men,

44:45 we don't want to do anything. Um, so they let it go.

44:52 I don't see how this one gets let go right right? This one,

45:00 this one is, this is, this is Penn State level. This

45:05 in a way it's it's more I don't want to say more disturbing because it's

45:15 not. But in a way it's it's a part of the culture. Like

45:21 there were actually young men that brought into this is being a good thing.

45:29 Yeah, that's what's that. That's what disgusts me as a sports fan,

45:36 because you this is a this had to be a part of the culture,

45:40 right, and that there were young men that brought bought into this and thinking

45:46 this was okay. The Penn State was just one awful, disgusting, wretched,

45:53 vile human being that calls himself a man. And and I'm not saying

46:02 this to offend or started debate. We will never know what Joe Paterno knew,

46:09 What Joe Paterno didn't know, what the president in the ad knew,

46:15 what they didn't know. We need to give up on that. We'll never

46:19 know the full truth there. Yeah, Paterno's dead for anyone who doesn't know.

46:22 Yeah, yes, and well but even before then we would have never

46:27 known. Right. Um do I think Penn State did scapegoa? Did Joe

46:32 Paterno very much? So? Um? Do I think he deserved to be

46:37 fired? Yes, do I think we could have done more? Absolutely?

46:42 But do I think that there was a great deal of scapegoatism that Penn State

46:46 put on him? Yes? Um. To me, what makes this situation

46:54 more like, like not worse than I'm trying to put it into words,

47:00 but and I know I'm not doing a good job. But what makes it

47:06 more disturbing is that it was a culture right and that these young men that

47:13 this happened to, we're forced to believe that it was their fault that it

47:19 was happening to them. Yeah, No, it's it's it's uh pretty pretty

47:23 disgusting. Um, well, Eric, we are we are already approaching the

47:28 top of the hour. It goes so fast, my friend, so we

47:30 will have to leave it there. Yes, sorry, oh no, no

47:34 not at all. No, great, great discussion, and um I learned

47:37 some things too. Um. But before we let you go, because we

47:42 got to get to a break and then we've got a world radio premiere of

47:45 the new grim Rock song. But before you go, can you give a

47:49 quick plug for a Friday's Classic film review? Yes, I'm writing the script

47:52 tonight. It's This week's classic film review is National Lampoon's Vacation with Chevy Chase

48:00 and Beverly DeAngelo and a bit part by a very young John Candy. Oh,

48:07 I forgot that he was in that. I haven't seen that in so

48:12 long. Yes, we look forward to that, and of course I'm very

48:15 appropriate for the time of year. So yes, assuming that's why I chose

48:21 it. And uh you, we've already discussed this. There are some I

48:25 like to think big things happening in the fall. Yes, absolutely classic film

48:31 reviews that I think a lot of people will be a fan of. October.

48:37 We are going to be looking at one of the most controversial and scariest

48:43 films ever made. And some of you might know what that is, but

48:51 if you don't, you'll just have to wait till October because it's going to

48:54 be amazing. Yes, Yes, Melanie will be very happy. I see

48:58 her. I know, Malanie, you'll be happy. I'm actually shocked.

49:01 I haven't gotten a message from her yet about it. Yeah, very good,

49:07 All right, Eric, Well we gotta let you go. Thank you

49:08 so much, my friend, and we look forward to the film review on

49:12 Friday. Yes, it's a pleasure as always, Matt, thanks for having

49:15 me. All right, you gotta take care, Bye bye bye all right,

49:19 very nice. That was our friend Eric Pilcher. Of course we look

49:22 forward to his classic film reviews every Friday, and this Friday is National Lampoon's

49:27 Vacation, the first one, the first vacation movie. Melanie says, sorry,

49:31 I wasn't listening. What are we talking about? I don't worry about

49:35 it, don't worry about it. But we need to get to a quick

49:37 break, show some love to our amazing sponsors, and then we're gonna go

49:40 from that right to the world radio premiere of the new single from grim Rock.

49:46 It's called don't You Really Really Good Stuff? And then we're going to

49:50 have grim Rock on the line with us via Skype, and we're gonna we're

49:54 gonna talk and I'm really looking forward to that. So and if you're just

49:59 tuning in, if you happened to be watching online, you can see I've

50:00 got this wonderful shirt that was sent to me. But so we're gonna do

50:05 that first, first a break and then the world radio premiere of don't You

50:08 brand new single from grim Rock Don't Go Away. Plenty more to come w

50:14 M N h RIP, the novel show Gold run Away, going to My

51:38 Tell Me Something? Who I think you'll mind out my mind gold running Away

51:59 when you go when you were running by by running want to go running away

52:30 away Back, time to go running black Time. I love it. That

53:13 is the world radio premiere the brand new single Don't You from Grim Rock and

53:16 Uh I think we have Grim on the on the skype with us. Hello.

53:20 Are you there? Yes? I am. Can you hear them?

53:22 Okay? Yeah? You sound great? You sound great? What should I

53:24 call you? Should I call you Grim? Should I call you Joel?

53:28 What should I call you? Everybody calls me Grim? All right? Nickname

53:32 name came together? KNA Yeah, yeah, very cool. Yeah. I

53:36 love the track that is uh, don't You? And I played at the

53:39 top of the show, I played what did I play? Oh you belong

53:43 you see? And I'll play something else too at the end of our conversation.

53:46 But great stuff. You are in Pennsylvania? Is that correct? Yes,

53:52 I'm in Pittsburgh. Oh okay, yeah we were. Actually Pennsylvania came

53:55 up in the previous hour. Eric Pilter and I we talked a little bit

53:59 about penn State. Completely different subject but geographically relevant, I suppose. But

54:05 so tell us about tell us about Grim Rock? Is it? Is it?

54:07 Just you. Is this a solo project or do you collaborate with other

54:12 people? I saw a YouTube video that you put up of your recording and

54:15 it looks like you were doing everything yourself. Yeah, it's actually a solo

54:20 project. I have all my own instruments, my own home studio and stuff.

54:24 I play all my own instruments. I do my own vocals. I

54:28 have done collaborations like with Trench Gun and Al Warren and some other people,

54:32 and have had lyrics you know, from other people like Mark Kushack and Matt

54:37 Oyster and Jason Klem and put him into music. So I mean I've had

54:42 other input and had done collaborations, but it's it's mostly just me, a

54:45 solo project all my stuff. Is that how you've always worked or have you

54:51 been in bands or or do you have you always done solo material. I've

54:57 been in bands before. I played with people with people, I played with

55:00 just me and a guitar player and a drum machine. I played all kind

55:04 of different ways, and yeah, it just happened to be that the original

55:07 music is what I wanted to do, and I couldn't really get anybody in

55:09 my immediate area that really wanted to do what I'm trying to do, and

55:14 so I'm just kind of here my own you know. Yeah, I mean

55:17 I would imagine obviously it's a lot of work doing everything yourself, and it's

55:22 a lot of responsibility. But at the same time, I would also guess

55:24 that it's probably very liberating. Right, you don't have to you don't have

55:29 to check with anybody else. Hey, what do you think of what do

55:31 you think of these lyrics? Or you know, or you know, what

55:36 do you think of this baseline? You can just do it all I mean

55:38 is that do you find that it's liberating or do you ever find that it's

55:43 more work than maybe you'd like, maybe you miss collaborating, or how do

55:45 you feel about that it's low both. I mean, it is liberating just

55:50 to stay here and do it and be like, wow, I like this

55:52 because maybe somebody else wouldn't, you know what I mean. Yeah, But

55:55 in a way it's kind of lonely sometimes because you're always like, well,

55:58 wish somebody else had an input it, because sometimes I do get stuck with

56:00 you know, things, and I got a bunch of tracks sitting on my

56:04 desktop that I'm just sitting there waiting to put together one day when I get

56:07 inspired and can get something with it, you know, right right? Um,

56:12 how much music have you put out doing doing this project to grim Rock

56:16 where it's just you doing everything. I got probably about twenty tracks on Spotify.

56:22 I got some more going up, yeah, and then I have Don't

56:25 You and I have some other songs gonna be for the g R five album

56:29 that's going to come out. Cool. Cool is what does g R five

56:32 mean? I mean, it's says grim It's grim Rock five. It's actually

56:36 gonna be technically my fifth release, even though I've released singles and things.

56:40 It's technically my fifth release. Okay. The other ones were EPs, and

56:44 I had one single that I kind of is released because I didn't have the

56:47 tracks that I wanted to put with it. I couldn't complete in time,

56:51 and it's completely different from the rest of the stuff, so I couldn't really

56:53 add it to anything else. Yeah. Yeah. Um. By the way,

56:57 so I wanted to ask you too kind of interesting, so um,

57:00 looking at your website, uh, and and some of your social media and

57:05 so forth, there's a certain aesthetic that makes it look like it's like it's

57:10 kind of a metal you know, almost like almost like a King Diamond kind

57:15 of kind of vibe. But then the music isn't really that. It's it's

57:20 more just, I don't know how you describe it. It's kind of it's

57:22 almost got like a like a nineties alternative vibe to some of it. Maybe

57:28 that's more of a production thing. The production is kind of raw, which

57:31 I like. I love the way the guitar sound. Nobody records guitars like

57:35 that anymore, um, the way that you do, and I think it's

57:37 really cool. But um, is that is that intentional? Or am I

57:42 misconstruing something when I see that, because it looks like visually it's kind of

57:45 one thing, but the music is something else to me, at least that's

57:50 my perception. But I'm kind of fascinated by that. No, You're absolutely

57:54 correct. Originally, when I wanted to do this project, you know,

57:59 i'd had the face makeup kind of thing ready to go, and I initially

58:04 wanted to do way heavier music than I did. Oh and it just didn't

58:07 happen that way, and and I just went from there. And you are

58:13 right, you know, as far as it's really hard to label, you

58:15 know, I've had a lot of different people ask me, what do you

58:17 consider it. I kind of house it under an all tarted rock because I

58:21 really don't know what the label it as. Yeah, because it's varies,

58:23 you know, And as far as the way I record that is intentional.

58:28 I love the raw kind of like the like the sixties garage rock kind of

58:32 sound. Yeah, I mean the raw sound to it. Oh yeah,

58:37 yeah, very um even with and it's cool that you're able to get that

58:40 even with Because the drums, do you play a drum set or is that

58:45 all programmed? No? I actually play a drum set. It is machine.

58:49 It is an Elas's command Mesh drum machine, but it is a full

58:53 kit. Okay, yeah, because it sounds like I mean, even that,

58:58 even the drums sound raw and sound acoustics, So that's that's impressive.

59:01 Although it's funny. Um yeah, I've seen examples where some of these new

59:07 uh electronic drum kits. It's remarkable how how acoustic you can actually make them

59:13 sound and how far the technology has come with that. But um, yeah,

59:17 it does have garage you said garage rock. Yeah, it does have

59:21 that vibe and uh yeah, very cool. And I mean and the guitars

59:25 too, um Like I said, there's a rawness there it. Some of

59:30 it reminds me of um almost like Neil Young kind of style where it's uh,

59:37 just not not super slick and produced. I have a particular and this

59:42 is kind of the audio engineer and producer inside of me coming out a little

59:45 bit, but I have had for a long time kind of a frustration with

59:51 the way that the way that electric guitars tend to sound. Now because um

59:55 uh, somewhere along the line, I think it happens somewhere in the tooth

1:00:00 thousands. I don't know, everybody just kind of decided that guitars should sound

1:00:05 like kazoos. Almost not really, but but you know, I mean,

1:00:09 I'm speaking hyperbolically, it's my frustration with it. But even even really heavy

1:00:15 bands, the guitars sound small, and I don't know why that happened.

1:00:22 I'm finally noticing some pushback on that from some of these bands who seem to

1:00:27 be getting back to having guitars that actually sound loud. But um, but

1:00:31 it's refreshing to hear the kind of guitar sound that you get. Is that

1:00:37 is that kind of the same tone that you've always used, or is that

1:00:39 something that's evolved. It's kind of evolved. It's it's a little more gritty

1:00:45 than what I used to use. Yeah, and I play really unconventional things

1:00:49 together. Put unconventional things together. Like I have a Jackson Rhodes guitar.

1:00:53 I love it to death, but it's through an older vox amp and that's

1:00:57 how I get my sound. Man, I tweak at samp and then that's

1:01:00 how it comes out. But those pickups are hot on a guitar, but

1:01:04 gleb be coming through that vlox amp, it just it makes a whole different

1:01:07 sound. It's not the same. It's coming through a marshal you know,

1:01:09 or any other kind of big scale amp, you know what I mean?

1:01:13 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, So you do all the mixering and

1:01:17 mastering and everything yourself, or the mixing I do the mastering. I kind

1:01:22 of cheat sometimes I use online sometimes sometimes I have a couple of guys that

1:01:24 help me once in a while. Yeah you know, don't you, friend

1:01:28 Trench Gunny help me with mastering that one? Okay, okay, yeah,

1:01:31 yeah, no, it sounds great. And then so now what about playing

1:01:35 live? Do you um? Because obviously it's it's just you do. Do

1:01:38 you get out and play shows or how does that work? Yes? I

1:01:42 do, actually, and what I do with that is I have backing tracks

1:01:45 on a tab would believe it or not? Yeah, and I run my

1:01:49 tablet through you know, a system, so that changes the line level noise,

1:01:52 you know, a line level winto a mixable item and it's everything but

1:01:57 the guitar and the vocals. Okay. And when I play my live shows,

1:02:00 I don't leave backing guitars or backing vocals in it. So it forces

1:02:05 me to have to do all the things and try to mix up a little

1:02:07 bit that that way, it keeps each show that I do, I can

1:02:10 do something a little fresh one way or another. It doesn't sound the same

1:02:15 right right, which it is the same, you know right now. So

1:02:19 now when you play out in terms of esthetically, do you do the face

1:02:22 paint and everything? Yes, I do. I didn't the last time I

1:02:27 was out because it was an open mic and it was a really different crowd

1:02:30 that probably I don't know, I might have got arrested then. But generally,

1:02:36 yes, I do. I put the face paint on. I get

1:02:37 all made up for that. That's my persona. So and what kind of

1:02:43 reactions do you get when because obviously again you know, as we talked about,

1:02:45 and I just think it's I think I think it's pretty cool to you

1:02:47 know, throw people a curve. Um, What are the reactions like when

1:02:52 people see you in the face paint and then they hear you play and it's

1:02:57 not you know, because they see you in the face paint, they're expecting

1:02:59 that, you know, and then it's and then then it's not. It's

1:03:01 these really melodic songs. Um. Do do you get some interesting reactions with

1:03:07 that? Yeah? I do. I get it from every which direction too.

1:03:10 It's not even just getting up there on stage. You know. I'll

1:03:13 stop at stores like it's on the way the gigs and stuff, and and

1:03:15 people are you just scaring lights out of them? Or they're all like I

1:03:19 have a picture with you, you know, and it's it's like it's not

1:03:21 Halloween. I'm like, yeah, I know, but it's kind of cool,

1:03:23 you know kind of thing. Yeah, you know. So yeah,

1:03:27 But then when you get up on stage, are people surprised when they hear

1:03:30 the music? I think so. I think so because I think they're really

1:03:32 looking for that split and odish song, you know, Sila, and it's

1:03:36 not happening. But I mean, I don't get I don't get anything negative

1:03:39 thrown at me, you know, as far as that, you know what

1:03:42 I mean. It's just I've had a lot of people talk about that,

1:03:45 you know, just the image doesn't match the music. But I'm all right

1:03:47 with that too, you know. Yeah, No, I think that's cool.

1:03:50 I think that that makes it very intriguing. Um. I I enjoyed

1:03:55 being surprised when I saw your picture and then I heard the music. I

1:03:59 enjoyed being surprised. There's something just cool about that, so um, you

1:04:04 know. And I not that I would have minded if it were super heavier,

1:04:08 you know, because I love that stuff too. I love all kinds

1:04:10 of music. But um, but it was. But I remember, in

1:04:15 fact, I think Jenny and I had a conversation about it. I think

1:04:16 I said her I was like, oh wow, I didn't expect I didn't

1:04:18 expect this to be the sound. But it's pretty cool. And I can't

1:04:23 think of anyone contemporary who really sounds like you. You know, it is

1:04:27 kind of an old school garage band vibe. And do you find, uh,

1:04:33 is there anybody in your area who's who's doing kind of what you're doing,

1:04:36 because if you're out in the scene playing shows, I would assume there's

1:04:40 other musicians who you're opening for, they're opening for you and you're kind of

1:04:44 teaming up with or or maybe not. Are there other musicians in your area

1:04:49 who kind of fit in with what you're doing, who you can play shows

1:04:53 with it and it seems to work. Uh, it kind of depends.

1:04:59 I played a show in Meansburg last November and it seemed like it fit there

1:05:01 with the with the selection of people that they had and I opened up for

1:05:04 there was four bands including myself. Yeah, and it's something to fit there.

1:05:08 But I've had I've been other places where it just it was just outstanding

1:05:12 compared to everything else because it was just so different, you know what I

1:05:15 mean. Yeah, No, that's cool though. That's um you know,

1:05:18 it helps you stand out, and I think that's um probably a helpful thing.

1:05:24 You know. Sometimes musicians will you know, I talk to them and

1:05:27 they're kind of like, well, I don't know. Sometimes I worry that

1:05:30 what I'm doing sounds too different. It's like, but yeah, that's how

1:05:32 you stand out. If you sound like whatever's currently trendy or whatever you think

1:05:36 you're supposed to sound like rather than what you want to sound like. Then

1:05:40 you know, you just kind of end up being one in the pack.

1:05:43 But if you can if you can stand out and be unique, um,

1:05:46 that's what helps get people interested in what you're doing. Um. I always

1:05:50 use the example of what if What if Kurt Cobain had had told Dave Grohl

1:05:57 and Chris nova Selik, you know, I think we should. You know,

1:06:00 the hair bands are are pretty successful right now. I think Nirvana should

1:06:03 sound like them. You know what would have happened exactly, you know,

1:06:09 but he did what he wanted, and they did what they wanted to together

1:06:12 and ended up being one of the biggest bands of all time. So,

1:06:15 um, so I did what you're doing. So, um, when does

1:06:20 g R five come out? Do you have an ETA on that when the

1:06:24 full album comes out? I keep changing it. It keeps getting pushed back

1:06:27 and pushed back. Yeah, I'm hoping now by the end of September,

1:06:31 you know. Yeah, so I still gotta bob. I have two other

1:06:34 tracks that are finished. I gotta finish up like mixing and everything. Then

1:06:38 I have four other tracks that I'm working on, So let's just take them

1:06:41 a long time with everything going on, to get these things done and done

1:06:44 the way I want to have him done, you know. So yeah,

1:06:45 yeah, and everything everything that you've released so far, it's all available on

1:06:50 Spotify for people who want to check it out. Yes, everywhere excellent,

1:06:55 excellent. By the way, when the album is h is ready, is

1:06:59 there any kind of a a theme to it or any anything that because this

1:07:02 will be your first full length, right the others have been singles and EPs?

1:07:06 Yes, is do you have any kind of Is there any kind of

1:07:10 a theme with the album, because it seems like with what you're doing,

1:07:13 I could imagine you having a theme to it. Um, there is a

1:07:19 theme and there's not a theme. It's not really something I can say,

1:07:21 well it's is you know, a venture in outer space or some kind of

1:07:25 physical theme like that. It's just more like I want to I'm trying to

1:07:30 break into a segment, a little different segment with what I'm doing. You

1:07:34 know, it's not much different from what I was doing before, but it's

1:07:38 still a little different. It's enough to I think it's going to do,

1:07:41 you know, I hopefully do better, you know, than the last releases.

1:07:45 But there's really I mean a physical set a theme down. I can't

1:07:47 really place one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was just curious,

1:07:51 by the way, for people watching online, that was Peter White. I

1:07:55 was just waving at who was in the room momentarily Peter White from the Morning

1:07:58 Show. He always he'll come in and he'll go like do the shust sound,

1:08:01 So I don't acknowledge that he's here, but wow, all right,

1:08:05 that's Peter White. Um right, that's right, all right? Uh well,

1:08:11 Grim, what should people know? Um? What do you want to

1:08:13 make sure that our listeners know? Who want to keep up with what you're

1:08:15 doing online? How to get your music, how to uh you know,

1:08:18 we might have people in your area who want to catch a show. Um,

1:08:21 just fill us in on what people should know about social media and anything

1:08:26 else, or how they can get one of these school shirts. Thank you

1:08:28 again for the shirt. I absolutely love it, and the sticker and the

1:08:31 stick yeah yeah, yeah, the shirts. I did have a web store

1:08:35 up and I didn't do very well with it, so I took it down.

1:08:39 Oh okay, honestly, I mean I just you know, yeah,

1:08:41 but I'll send anybody decals though, you know what I mean. So if

1:08:45 anybody wants to send me a d M an address, I'll mailma deco.

1:08:48 Oh very nice, very nice. But to keep up with things, I

1:08:51 mean just Grim rock and roll dot com. You know, I do have

1:08:55 a big website. It's really filled up with things. Um, and they

1:08:59 can catch me if they put at Grim rock and roll and spell it all

1:09:02 out in one word, they can find me anywhere. So yeah, yeah,

1:09:06 outstanding. I'm gonna um, I'm gonna close out the segment with this

1:09:11 track Haunted, one of the ones you sent us that I really like a

1:09:14 lot. I like all of them, but and I think I think Don't

1:09:16 You is my favorite. It's just so catchy. But I really like the

1:09:18 song Haunted. So we'll we'll we'll play that in just a moment. But

1:09:24 m Grim, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been

1:09:26 wonderful, really nice to talk to you. I really like the music.

1:09:29 And when the album comes out, we'll definitely have to have you back.

1:09:32 Absolutely, and I appreciate you having me on. I appreciate your opportunity.

1:09:35 Oh great, absolutely, my friend. Absolutely all right, it is wonderful

1:09:41 to speak with you. I'm gonna hit this track and uh, but we

1:09:44 will we will talk to you very soon. I'm sure all right, thank

1:09:47 you, I hope so all right, you got a man, take care?

1:09:49 Bye bye, all right. That was wonderful. That was grim from

1:09:54 grim Rock, And we're gonna play this, uh, this track Haunted.

1:09:59 If you missed it, we did the world radio premiere of the new single

1:10:01 don't You. But I have a feeling you'll be uh, you'll be hearing

1:10:04 that again on the show in the future. That might be one of our

1:10:09 one of our songs that we play now and then, because I really like

1:10:12 it a lot. But I like this one too, So let's give this

1:10:15 a listen. This is grim Rock. This is called Haunted. We're gonna

1:10:18 give this a spin and then we'll come back and get into some more stuff

1:10:23 on the show today. This is Matt Connerton unleashed. We are live from

1:10:27 the studios of Whin three FM, and here it is. This is Haunted

1:10:30 by grim Rock. To the Cree recalls people playing nether Side that day from

1:11:26 in Ri from the bla in your mind, yes say winness now wid coming

1:12:05 coming my right, I leave in your mind. Why you riding your mind

1:13:05 in your right eye, while in your mind your bi in your man.

1:14:41 Welcome back, everybody, as we cruise in our final segment today of Matt

1:14:45 Connerton Unleashed, and we are live from the studios of w m n H

1:14:50 ninety five point three FM in glorious downtown Manchester, New Hampshire. Also on

1:14:56 Comcast ninety seven if you're in Manchester and hello to alv our online listeners a

1:15:00 usination and around the globe. You can go to my website Matt Connerton dot

1:15:02 com for all your live streaming options, social media links, contact info,

1:15:06 show archives, etcetera, etcetera. Today is Wednesday, July twelve, two

1:15:13 thousand twenty three. So nice have you all with me. Thank you again

1:15:15 to grim Rock for joining us or Grimm from grim Rock. We did the

1:15:19 world radio premiere of the new single at Don't You So If you miss that,

1:15:24 of course you can check the archive of the show after the show is

1:15:28 done at WMNH Radio dot org and of course my website Matt Connerton dot com.

1:15:32 We also in the first hour we were joined by our friend Eric Pilcher,

1:15:36 my favorite conservative all the way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We had

1:15:40 a great discussion. But as we a cruise into our final segment today,

1:15:44 the phone line is open if you would like to join us if you have

1:15:45 something on your mind. Six zo three two five six Z seven six zo

1:15:49 three two five h six Z seven is the studio line. You can also

1:15:54 text me at six one seven nine one seven four four seven six. I'm

1:15:58 on social media at Matt Connerton. You can email me Matt at Matt Connerton

1:16:02 dot com, and of course you can interact endo Pine in the Facebook live

1:16:05 chat. But the best thing to do so that we can hear and enjoy

1:16:09 your dulcet tones is give us a call at six three two five six seven

1:16:15 six three two five six seven. I do want to probably save it for

1:16:23 tomorrow. I don't think I've got any guests booked tomorrow, so I do

1:16:29 want to at some point, as I've been teasing and teasing, I want

1:16:32 to get into the recent Supreme Court decisions and kind of analyze those. But

1:16:36 that's a big discussion that's going to take more time than we have left today,

1:16:42 So probably gonna shoot for tomorrow on that Friday's show. Very excited about.

1:16:47 So of course, on Friday, not only do we have Eric Pilcher's

1:16:49 classic film review, and this week the subject is the film Vacation National Lampoon's

1:16:57 vacation to be more precise. But also my friend Dave Wally is going to

1:17:00 be joining us in the second hour and we're gonna feature some tracks from Satellite

1:17:05 Union, his band, and Dave is I went to high school with Dave,

1:17:09 a very talented musician. And also I'd booked at least one or maybe

1:17:14 more events for a band that he was in after high school called October Suns.

1:17:18 But Dave does a lot of great stuff. Very talented guy and really

1:17:24 looking forward to Friday's show. Let's see. So we've got a lot coming

1:17:29 up. But I think right now, oh by the way, the reason

1:17:33 Peter White was here too because I did reference it, he's gonna be doing

1:17:36 the He's gonna be at the I think he's running at the movies at the

1:17:42 park up the street, Victory Park. I think it is tonight. The

1:17:45 film is Goonies, So if you'd like to see Goonies, I just hope

1:17:48 it doesn't rain. It did cloud up out there, but that will be

1:17:53 there and you can go there and say hello to Peter White of The Morning

1:17:56 Show with Peter White, which of course airs weekdays from seven to nine am

1:18:00 here on WMNH with a replay from two to four pm right before this show.

1:18:03 But some breaking media news And I did want to ask Eric about this

1:18:10 because we do discuss media quite a bit on the during our discussions during our

1:18:14 segment on Wednesdays, but we just didn't have time. But this news has

1:18:18 broken actually right before I got on the air today. I think Fox News

1:18:25 has another lawsuit on their hands. They're being sued for defamation by Trump supporter

1:18:30 Ray Apps over January six conspiracy claims. Now, if the name Ray Apps

1:18:35 is familiar to you, but you're not quite sure how you know it,

1:18:39 he was the gentleman who was at the January six insurrection, as I like

1:18:45 to call it. Not everyone agrees that that is an appropriate term, but

1:18:47 I stand by it. Insurrection, of course, being defined as a by

1:18:51 Webster's I believe is a violent uprising against a government or authority. So I

1:18:57 don't know how it's not an insurrection, So that is my editorial choice to

1:19:00 use that term. Um. But anyway, Ray Epps was there. But

1:19:08 one of the one of the things that insurrection apologists will try to use to

1:19:15 uh downplay the event is they'll they'll say it you know, it was the

1:19:18 FBI's fault, and they'll of course, Chris Ray today did testify before Congress,

1:19:25 Chris Ray ahead of the FBI. We might might get to that tomorrow

1:19:28 as well. I don't think we'll get to it today. But um,

1:19:32 Tucker Carlson was putting forth the story some kind of an alarm outside. Tucker

1:19:41 Carlson was claiming that ray Epps was actually an undercover FBI agent, or or

1:19:45 maybe it was just that he was an FBI informant or something, but ray

1:19:49 Epps was working with the FBI, and that and that that that being evidence

1:19:54 that it was all the FBI's fault. January sixth Um, and this is

1:20:00 not true. Yes, actually it says right here. Yes, he was

1:20:04 accused of being an undercover FBI agent, which is not true. Ray Epps

1:20:09 actually was sincere in his Maga hood, his marauding Maga hood that day or

1:20:16 maganests and he was not working as an undercover FBI agent. But Tucker Carlson

1:20:24 would go on his show and say this even though you know, because you

1:20:29 don't need any evidence to believe in this nonsense. And now he is being

1:20:33 sued or I'm sorry, Fox News is being sued for defamation, and we

1:20:38 still don't know exactly, by the way, what went into Tucker Carlson's ouster

1:20:42 from Fox News. But one of the many theories, and I think this

1:20:45 has actually become a pretty prevalent theory, is that he was ousted because of

1:20:50 this lawsuit that was inevitably going to come. But there's other theories as well,

1:20:58 or it might have been a combination of things, and probably was.

1:21:03 This is from CNBC dot Com some key points. Fox News was sued for

1:21:10 defamation by Ray Epps four spreading falsehoods quote unquote that Epps was an undercover FBI

1:21:15 agent who was responsible for encouraging the mob of Trump backers that invaded the US

1:21:20 capital on January six, twenty twenty one. Epps's lawsuit in Delaware accused as

1:21:26 recently ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson of being the major proponent of that false

1:21:30 smear against the Arizona man. The suit comes months after Fox News's corporate parent

1:21:36 agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems seven hundred eighty seven point five million dollars to

1:21:43 settle that company's own defamation lawsuit against Foxcorp. Of making false claims about the

1:21:49 outcome of the twenty twenty presidential election. By the way, one of the

1:22:00 consequences seat you can really you can really ruin somebody's life by making false claims,

1:22:08 you know, like Ruby Freeman and uh is it Georgia? You know,

1:22:15 Uh? Trump claimed that Ruby Freeman was a what did he call her?

1:22:19 A notorious vote hustler in that call, you know, that quote unquote

1:22:25 perfect call he had with Brad Raffinsburger, and that went out publicly and then

1:22:30 next thing you know, Ruby Freeman is looking over her shoulder everywhere she goes

1:22:32 because you know, without any evidence or whatever. You know, Trump just

1:22:36 said that. I just bring that example up to say that, you know,

1:22:43 making a false accusation about somebody based on nothing can really ruin somebody's life.

1:22:47 Ray Apps is effectively at his life ruined because imagine, imagine if you're

1:22:57 say, for example, you know, you've got some militia buddy who you

1:23:00 know, think you're one of them, and then they're watching Tucker Carlson at

1:23:03 night, and Tucker Carlson is telling them that that you're actually an undercover FBI

1:23:10 agent and you're not really one of them, one of these militia. Dudes,

1:23:14 Well, guess who's gonna come knocking at your door pretty soon in a

1:23:17 rage when they've just learned from Tucker Carlson falsely, but they don't know that

1:23:21 they've just learned from Tucker Carlson that you're you've this whole time, you've been

1:23:25 an undercover FBI agent, even though it's not true. You know what's gonna

1:23:30 happen to you, what's gonna happen to your family, and that's situation,

1:23:32 right, So he basically had to go into hiding. So he had his

1:23:36 life ruined, Ray Apps. He had his life ruined by Tucker Carlson going

1:23:41 on Fox News and saying this based on nothing. It says here some details

1:23:51 from the article. Again, this is from CNBC dot Com. Fox News

1:23:55 was sued for defamation today. This was this just happened today? Self described

1:24:00 Donald Trump supporter Ray Epps for spreading falsehoods that Epps was an undercover FBI agent

1:24:05 who was responsible for encouraging a mob of Trump backers that invaded the US capital

1:24:11 on January six, twenty twenty one. Yes, and an agent provocateur is

1:24:15 a term you'll often hear us. You know that this claim that there were

1:24:17 FBI agents there, who who were you know, trying to trying to get

1:24:23 everybody to act up, you know, as if, first of all,

1:24:27 I just find the notion of an absurd on its face. But also even

1:24:32 if that is true, that's still no excuse. In other words, if

1:24:36 you commit a crime because somebody encourages you to commit a crime, you've still

1:24:43 committed a crime. You don't just get to say, well, well,

1:24:46 somebody provoked me into doing this, so I just, you know, so

1:24:49 you can't hold me accountable. Somebody said, yeah, somebody, somebody tried

1:24:54 to get me to do something. Somebody told me, yeah, you should

1:24:56 go commit that crime, and I said, do Okay, I guess I

1:24:59 will. Can't hold me accountable. Doesn't work that way. The suit by

1:25:04 the Arizona resident Epps was filed nearly three months after Fox News's corporate parent agreed

1:25:11 to pay Dominion Voting Systems seven hundred eighty seven and a half million dollars to

1:25:15 settle that company's defamation lawsuit against Foxcorp. By making false claims about the outcome

1:25:19 of the twenty twenty presidential election. The suit by Epps, a former US

1:25:24 marine, yeah by the way that this is a veteran. This has been

1:25:27 done too, not that it should be done to anybody, but this is

1:25:30 someone who served his country, who had his life ruined by Tucker Carlson.

1:25:41 The suit by Epps, a former US Marine, said that as Fox recently

1:25:45 learned in the dominion case quote, its lies have consequences unquote. The suit

1:25:51 accuses former Fox News host Sucker Carlson, who has fired on the heels of

1:25:56 the dominion settlement, of being the primary promoter of the false conspiracy theory about

1:26:00 Epps. He was among the throng of supporters of then President Trump who gathered

1:26:05 outside the capital on jan six, And by the way, I believe he

1:26:11 was the primary promoter of that conspiracy theory on Fox. I don't know if

1:26:15 anyone else on Fox. I don't remember seen or hearing specific examples of anyone

1:26:21 else on Fox saying this. I think this was mainly coming from Tucker Carlson.

1:26:30 Epps and other Trump backers believed false claims by Trump and his allies that

1:26:34 the twenty twenty presidential election had been rigged in favor of President Joe Biden.

1:26:40 A joint session of Congress was set to confirm Biden's victory that day, and

1:26:43 we all know that. Quote. In the aftermath of the events of January

1:26:48 six, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or

1:26:55 the Republican Party unquote, said Epps's complaint filed in these aimed Delaware Superior Court,

1:27:00 where Dominions sued. Quote. Eventually they turned on one of their own,

1:27:05 telling a fantastical story in which Ray Epps, who was a Trump supporter

1:27:11 that participated in the protests on January sixth, was an undercover FBI agent and

1:27:15 was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol and interfered with the

1:27:20 peaceful transition of power for the first time in this country's history. Unquote.

1:27:26 Again, that's from the lawsuit Epps and his complaints said Fox News. Fox

1:27:32 News's quote lies have destroyed unquote his and his wife, Robbin's lives. The

1:27:39 suit also said that in May, the US Department of Justice notified Epps quote

1:27:44 that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January six, twenty

1:27:47 twenty one, two and a half years later. Unquote. The complaints said,

1:27:57 quote, the relentless attacks by Fox and mister Carl's and the resulting political

1:28:00 pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges, Although it is difficult to believe that

1:28:05 the Department of Justice would have pursued this matter if Fox had not focused its

1:28:10 lies on Epps. Ultimately, the criminal charges conclusively demonstrate the falsehood of the

1:28:15 story that mister Carlson and Fox told about Epps. Epps was not a federal

1:28:20 agent. He was a loyal Fox viewer and Trump's supporter. Unquote. Fox

1:28:27 News Today sought to have Epps's lawsuit transferred to US District Court in Delaware.

1:28:34 A Fox spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

1:28:45 So we kind of knew this was coming, this particular development, and it

1:28:50 is. It is here. It has arrived. But we'll move on from

1:28:57 that. Something else that is very very important, and we only have a

1:29:00 little bit of time left. But it appears that Ukraine is on its way

1:29:11 to becoming a member of NATO, but not yet. So there is a

1:29:16 path. You know, you often hear seems like usually in politics when you

1:29:21 hear the word path, you're a path to citizenship when we're talking about immigration,

1:29:27 but no, a path to being a member of NATO. For Ukraine.

1:29:31 Zolenski had been a very unhappy you know, he almost he almost didn't

1:29:46 go to h He almost didn't go to this meeting. He was threatening to

1:29:51 not show up at the G seven meeting for the NATO summit. But uh,

1:30:00 you know, and I thought he was probably pushing a little harder than

1:30:04 he should have. But today it was announced and Biden gave a speech in

1:30:11 Lithuania which was actually about broader issues about NATO. But but that was part

1:30:17 of it. Of course, this is from CNN assurances that Ukraine's future is

1:30:20 in NATO and new security guarantees Kam Morris at final day of summit. So

1:30:27 Zolenski what he had been pushing for was he wanted INTNATO now. But obviously

1:30:33 that you can't do that because if we were to if NATO were to make

1:30:38 Ukraine it's thirty third member as they're now finalizing by the way, Sweden,

1:30:44 Turkey, Urdawan of Turkey has said that because in order to bring new members

1:30:51 in TONATO, it has to be a unanimous vote, so you have to

1:30:55 have everybody the thirty plus countries that are already in NATO have to vote yay

1:31:01 to allow a new country in and Turkey. While when Finland and Sweden were

1:31:08 initially seems like a year ago now, maybe it was when they were initially

1:31:15 considered and wanted to join NATO. Finland got in relatively quickly, I believe,

1:31:20 but Sweden has been held up by Urduwan in Turkey. Turkey I always

1:31:26 say, probably the least helpful member of NATO, but they are, they

1:31:30 are a member of NATO, They're part of the family. And Urduwan finally

1:31:33 agreed to let Sweden in. So Sweden is in. There's um a theory

1:31:40 that part of that might have to do with the f sixteens that Turkey is

1:31:44 now getting from the United States. Obviously, Biden had to give Turkey something

1:31:47 to talk Urduwan into agreeing to allow Sweden to get in. But Sweden's getting

1:31:53 in, so Ukraine is next, it looks like. But it can't happen

1:31:56 right away because it can't happen as long as Ukraine is still war with Russia.

1:32:00 Obviously, now, the way that Zolanski was pushing for this was he

1:32:06 was suggesting that he wanted Ukraine and NATO now, and he wants NATO to

1:32:12 help, but we can't, as I say all the time on the show,

1:32:16 and we discuss this, you know, there's always people, there's always

1:32:23 people out there who would say, oh, we gotta do more, and

1:32:24 we gotta you know, NATO, it's time for NATO to directly confront Russia.

1:32:28 Can't happen. It simply can't happen. It's much too dangerous if we

1:32:33 go to war with Russia directly. I mean, you know, we're effectively

1:32:38 fighting a proxy war in a sense already, but if we directly engage Russia

1:32:42 militarily, that would likely escalate very quickly into well, a nuclear exchange,

1:32:48 which we can't allow to happen. So Ukraine cannot be a part of NATO

1:32:56 until until Russia withdraws from Ukraine. So that could be a while. Now.

1:33:00 Biden seem to indicate that he thought it might be a couple of months.

1:33:06 I think this war might very well drag on for years, much like

1:33:14 you know, I mean, hey, the Russians are used to something like

1:33:17 that. How long were they in Afghanistan? Not as long as we were,

1:33:21 necessarily, But I mean, I really do think that's a possibility.

1:33:28 I'm actually surprised when people say, well, you know, maybe a few

1:33:31 more months and then Russia will finally have no choice but to withdraw. I

1:33:34 think that's been very optimistic, so it might be years before Ukraine is actually

1:33:39 in NATO. But we can't allow them in in an official capacity because we

1:33:46 can't trigger Article five, which then puts all of NATO at war with Russia.

1:33:53 Now I agree with some ambivalence. I basically agree that Ukraine should be

1:34:03 allowed in to NATO, but I also agree with that being delayed until the

1:34:10 issue with Russia is resolved for obvious reasons. The other thing that has been

1:34:15 a subject of great controversy recently is the Biden administration deciding to give cluster bombs

1:34:25 to the Ukrainian military to use. And that's that's been quite controversial, and

1:34:30 I think it's something upon which reasonable people can disagree and not terribly partisan either.

1:34:35 There are some both Republicans and Democrats who have been very critical of the

1:34:39 Biden administration. There is a treaty which says that we don't use cluster bombs,

1:34:44 but the United States never actually signed on to that treaty, so we're

1:34:48 under no obligation to not use them. It's been our policy not to use

1:34:51 them, but we are going to use them or I'm sorry, we're not

1:34:56 using them. We're giving them to Ukraine to use, and those cluster bombs

1:35:00 will help, might help significantly. The Russians use them. We don't use

1:35:05 them because of them. And again this is why the objections to it are

1:35:12 not unreasonable, and I'm open to those arguments. But the reason we're not

1:35:16 supposed to use them, why using them is discouraged is because the cluster bombs,

1:35:23 it's like they've got well they're called that because they have a cluster of

1:35:27 smaller bombs inside the larger bomb. So when the cluster bomb is detonated,

1:35:32 smaller bombs or they're actually called bomblets are released and dispersed effectively, and then

1:35:41 they explode and on impact and cause all kinds of damage. But the problem

1:35:45 is not all of these bomblets necessarily detonate. So if you drop a cluster

1:35:53 bomb and the bomblets dispersed, but you have maybe one or two that don't

1:35:58 detonate on impact, now what you effectively have is minds. You have minds

1:36:04 where wherever those undetonated bomblets land. And this has been a big problem,

1:36:11 for example in Laos where they're still trying to find all the all all of

1:36:18 these where cluster bombs have been used, where they've left behind these mines where

1:36:23 you know, again you've got a child walking along, walking through a field,

1:36:29 doesn't know that that's there, touches it, steps on, it ends

1:36:33 up getting killed. So it's very, very dangerous. The reason I agree,

1:36:41 though, the rationale for why these cluster bombs are being given to Ukraine

1:36:47 with our blessing to use them is because they're running out of munitions. And

1:36:53 so the calculation, and Biden himself said, you know that he had to

1:36:56 be convinced. It took a while to convince him to do this because he

1:36:59 understood its contra diversial and the potential consequences. But the thing of it is,

1:37:04 and I agree with this assessment, again with ambivalence, but I agree,

1:37:13 if Ukraine is allowed to run out of ammunition, it's over. This

1:37:15 will have all been for nothing. If Ukraine runs out of ammunition, the

1:37:21 Russians will then be able to take over. They will finally be able to

1:37:28 fulfill their mission of conquering Ukraine. So yeah, you can say all you

1:37:33 want to, well, it's not right to use these cluster bombs because of

1:37:38 the potential consequences after the war where you have these unexploded minds effectively. But

1:37:44 if it's not going to matter, if if, if you don't do this

1:37:49 and you just ultimately you're handing the Russians of victory, you know, then

1:37:56 you haven't. I guess what I'm saying is there really is no other option.

1:38:02 It's a last resort type of thing. So I agree with the decision.

1:38:08 I understand the objections, but again, if you allow them, if

1:38:14 you don't give them the cluster bombs, and you allow them to run out

1:38:15 of ammunition, then this is all this is all for not and you know

1:38:24 the Russians will win at that point. That's my view of it. So

1:38:29 so I agree with the decision, and as far as letting Ukraine and Tornato

1:38:34 again, I basically agree. I The only thing I worry about with that

1:38:39 is how will Putin respond? And I don't mean that I think I'm as

1:38:45 concerned. I'm always concerned about Putin responding to anything that we do in this

1:38:51 area in an escalatory way. But that's always a worry. But what I'm

1:38:59 also can concerned about is because Putin has been arguing he argues to his people

1:39:06 to keep them compliant and to keep them believing in him effectively, and using

1:39:12 Russian state media to do that. He puts forth the rationale that this war

1:39:19 is not Russia versus Ukraine, it's Russia versus NATO. And I'm a little

1:39:24 bit worried that now, by opening this path for Ukraine to become a part

1:39:30 of NATO, that that actually plays into Putin's hands a little bit rhetorically,

1:39:34 and that it makes it It does make it easier, I think for him

1:39:39 to make that argument, put forth that argument to the Russian people, see,

1:39:43 look what's happening now, Ukraine's being welcomed into NATO. See it really

1:39:47 is it's us versus NATO. We're not at war with Ukraine, We're at

1:39:51 war with all of NATO. I think this makes it easier for him make

1:39:59 that argument. But I also think that it's entirely possible, and again this

1:40:09 is on the pro Ukraine being given this opportunity side of the Ledger. I

1:40:14 also think it's entirely possible that Putin will see this and begin to really think,

1:40:20 Okay, I've got to find an off ramp here, because not only

1:40:27 I mean he might be thinking, unless he's just too arrogant to confront this

1:40:30 reality. If he is thinking, if he is still a rational actor,

1:40:34 as we say, I would think he might be thinking, Okay, it's

1:40:42 bad enough that not only did NATO not fall apart, but that they've hung

1:40:46 together and added two more countries in Finland and Sweden. Bad enough all of

1:40:53 that, but now on top of that, Ukraine is now going to be

1:40:57 joining NATO. I've got to find a way out of this. We'll see.

1:41:04 I'm hopeful that that is where this goes, but I don't think it's

1:41:13 going to be. And anybody who says, well, you know, we've

1:41:15 got a few more months and then you know Ukraine can be a part of

1:41:17 NATO that I think has been unrealistically optimistic. Unfortunately, I think this is

1:41:26 all going to drag on for a while, and Zelenski is going to have

1:41:30 to be a little patient. But I mean he did get I mean,

1:41:32 this is a big step though, This is a big step. This is

1:41:35 a change because prior to this it had been no, no, no,

1:41:39 Ukraine's not ready. Ukraine's not ready. Now now Ukraine probably is ready or

1:41:43 will be soon. But we can't allow that to happen. Yet Tom Blanchard

1:41:51 in the chat room says, the Russians are deliberately planting land mines. Yeah,

1:41:56 well that's what I mean, Tom, it's you know, the Russians

1:41:58 are doing this anyway, so the cluster bombs. For Ukraine to be able

1:42:01 to use these cluster bombs, I don't think it's bad. I mean again,

1:42:08 they have to map. They have to map where they're using these because

1:42:13 if this works and it does repel Russia and they do eventually withdraw, they're

1:42:17 gonna have to go back and find all the unexploded bomblets. So they have

1:42:21 to map this, and they have to do this very carefully and accurately.

1:42:25 Chris Rose from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts joins us Hichris in the chat room.

1:42:29 But we gotta go, we are out of time. Thank you again to

1:42:30 grim from grim Rock, and thank you again, of course to our friend

1:42:34 Eric Pilcher, everybody in the chatroom, everyone who call it today, and

1:42:38 if you miss any partner today's show it we'll be up in just a little

1:42:41 bit at WMH radio dot org and on my website Matt Connerton dot com.

1:42:46 Goonies in the Park tonight. If you get a chance, swing down there,

1:42:49 say hello to Peter White. And if you're listening live on Wednesday,

1:42:54 but leave a replay of Grantited. State of Mind is coming up next with

1:42:57 the Great Rob as a Veto, and I'll talk to y'all a little bit

1:43:00 later. Here's a little more grim rock to play us out today. By

1:43:02 everybody I know, is that I never doubt here I see it's all inside

1:43:26 of you, sky b