Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 04-27-26_MONDAY_7AM

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

04-27-26_MONDAY_7AM...

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 This hour of the Bill Meyer Show podcast is proudly sponsored by Klauser Drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for more than 50 years. Find out more about them at Klausurrilling.com. Now more with Bill Meyer. I'm proud to have Jared Knott back on the program. He's the author of Tiny Blunders, Big Disasters, Book 2. The many tiny mistakes that change the world forever. He's an international bestselling author of Tiny Blunders, Big Disasters,
Starting point is 00:00:27 There's 39 mistakes that change the world forever. And let me tell you, Jared, first off, welcome to the program. Good to have you back. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. I always enjoy it. Indeed. I always have a good time, too.
Starting point is 00:00:39 And the president and the policies and everything else, given what happened over the weekend at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, it even knocked the Iran war off the headlines here for a little while. But President Trump is the news cycle this morning in the country. There's absolutely, you know, no doubt. about this. And I wanted to take it back over to the Iran War and the conflict here. And I guess it's still back in the headlines now this morning. And do you think we're on the brink of conflict or witnessing a high stakes negotiation or maybe it's a little bit of both? I don't know. And like I said, you've looked at history and had great experience at how sometimes we go in with the best of intentions in some place and then, boy, it just kind of goes to poo, so to speak. What do you
Starting point is 00:01:27 thinking right now, huh? Yes, I think the president has the stronger hand by far, and the time, I think, is very much on his side. The Iranians are going to have to close down their oil wells. It only has about, they can only store two weeks worth of oil, and once that happens, they have to shut down their oil wells, which is a major project. Once they shut them down, it's a time involved, an expensive time. They're trying to get in the pumping again. And from what I understand, you actually damage the well, don't you? Quite often when you're shutting that down?
Starting point is 00:02:04 Yeah, it's a major thing. It's a real kick in the teeth, and it takes weeks or months to get it started again, plus the very expensive operation. In the meantime, the revenue is gone. Right. And it's too, of course, with the placade, that revenue is gone, and they're losing $500 billion a day, $430 to $500 billion a day in revenue. That's 90% of what they depend on when that,
Starting point is 00:02:25 And as each day passes, the situation gets more desperate. They're not paying their military. They're not paying the police. They're not paying anybody running out of money completely. It's really not paying their revolutionary proxies, their terrorists of proxies. And so each day makes it tougher and tougher on them. The United States, in the meantime, is not really losing much of anything. So his current position is going to be this.
Starting point is 00:02:49 They made one proposal kind of half a step in the right direction, which, of course, is ignored and rejected, talking about they'd open up this trade, but they want to keep their nuclear stockpile. It's completely unacceptable. But a week from now, two weeks from now, two weeks from now, you're going to get more and more desperate, having no money coming in, having no way to pay their own military, and having to close down the wells, which is going to be very damaging to their economy for a period of time.
Starting point is 00:03:16 All those things get worse and worse and worse with each day. and then that hold the issue about the military stockpile of uranium and rich uranium, that is a major critical issue. Now, I guess my question for you at this point is, is the, you know, in your book Tiny Blunder's Big Disaster, you talk a lot about how diplomatic miscalculations end up causing problems. Is it necessarily causing problems for the United States if we have any diplomatic miscalculations with Iran? Or is it more about maybe the big disaster for the rest of the world right now? Have you given that any thought? Just curious. Yes.
Starting point is 00:03:57 Our European ruins are the ones that would suffer the most along with China. Yeah. Oil coming out of China, like 73% of their oil is coming out of China. Because Venezuela, was giving China a lot of oil. That is gone. Now there's the oil coming out of Iran to China. That is gone. So China is under a lot of pressure themselves, and they'll be putting some backdoor pressure on Iran to make a deal, if at all possible.
Starting point is 00:04:26 So we've got those factors from China as well as from the United States, as well as closing down the oil wells. All these factors are in favor of the United States position and against the position of the Iranians. And against the IRGC, it's the Iranian military that is calling the shots. I think Quimini Jr. doesn't really have that much power. The foreign ministers don't really have that much power. You see them on television getting exposure, but they're not the ones making the decision. It's the hardcore military, the RGC, and their leadership that's in charge. And we've got them in a box, not to say it's going to be easy, but each day that passes,
Starting point is 00:05:04 the situation gets worse with China, with their own oil wells having to be shut down, with their economy collapsing. They're, of course, a horrible inflation with their currency. They can't even pay their own business. military each day makes it worse and worse for them. And I think that's the president's plan. So even though that in Iran, you know, the leadership there, I mean, these are true believers. These are not the people I think that can be bought off with a deal. Would you agree with me? Looking at the history of Iran, if you do that?
Starting point is 00:05:31 Yes. And people ask, SBO, what in history parallels this situation. Well, I'm not sure there isn't an exact paralleling place. Eisenhower talked about how Hitler was a member of the criminally insane, and he was a fanatic that would have done whatever he would have done, given the opportunity to blown up the world, he had nuclear weapons. That's kind of a parallel, having a fanatic like that that you're dealing with. Another example that people who don't think about it, which is not the leader of a country, if you remember way back, the Branch Dividian and David Koresh down there in Waco, Texas, which has nothing to do with the leadership of nations, but he was a fanatic that was willing to die for a worthless cause. He wanted to go up in a great comfort
Starting point is 00:06:14 conflagation. He wanted to take the whole world with him if he could. He killed his own followers, so on and so forth. All Jim Jones was kind of in that category. That's the kind of people that were dealing with, we're dealing with the leadership in Iran. They're willing, they think when they died, they've got to go to heaven, it gets 40 virgins or 70 versions or whatever. They would blather nonsense. They believe that's the kind of people that were dealing with. Yeah, well, every person who ends up being martyred, of course, that's yet another person who is going on to great reward, to a certain extent. So the culture looks. at this very differently.
Starting point is 00:06:46 You know, I was wondering about this, Jared, because over the weekend I downloaded, and it's something I hadn't looked at for a number of weeks, but last year, President Trump had talked about the multi-point plan for rebuilding Gaza and, frankly, for reshaping the Middle East. And it's called the Great Trust, the Gaza Reconstruction, economic acceleration, and transformation. And I couldn't help but think that what might have been driving this was not even really squeezing China. I mean, I thought, you know, the most obvious to me was that, okay, you got to squeeze China, major world rival. But it appears that President Trump is really rolling the dice big time on remaking the Middle East. And part of that also means that you have
Starting point is 00:07:34 to get rid of the choke points. You can't have Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz any longer. You can't have mad mullahs in charge, you know, essentially, in a situation like this. And we're going to go around the world and find these choke points. And you look at what he's been doing the last few weeks, whether I've agreed or disagreed. And I've tended to disagree with some of it. But it does appear that there seems to be some plan, you know, connected with this. Some would say this is about introducing the great technocracy. Other people saying, no, this is about the great trust and opening up the trade routes.
Starting point is 00:08:07 Do you have a way of looking at this? Is this, you know, a big, you know, Marco Polo kind of historical event that we're witnessing right now, maybe? Yes, by the way, Marco Polo may never have actually gone to China. That's a whole other story. Oh, okay. We'll talk about that. I may just talk to people that went to China. Anyway, it's a whole not a story.
Starting point is 00:08:26 But getting back, it's a very perceptive question there. I think Donald Trump does have a vision, and it's that the Middle East would be in a situation where they're producing, I want to have a democracy, or if not democracy, at least to have irrational leaders. And they want to be building hospitals and schools and highways and pursue a better way of life for their people, replacing the fanatical one they have now where they're trying to destroy the world and their neighbors. They're, of course, even their neighbors. And they have this fanatical leadership. So the fanatical leadership can't be replaced.
Starting point is 00:09:01 it needs to be put into a position where it agrees to a reasonable plan for their people and for their neighbors. That's what he's pursuing. One critical, I'm kind of a big believer going down to the basics of a situation at the fundamental level. That's what kind of determines what's happening with the overall development. And the critical, pivotal situation here is Iran not being allowed to have nuclear weapons. There was an expert on it, David Albright, and he's a nuclear inspector, nuclear physicist, a leading expert in the field. He was interviewed last week there on Squawk Box.
Starting point is 00:09:37 He was talking about how before the war began, Iran was only six months away for being able to convert its nuclear stockpilots. It's a rich uranium converting it to about 10 or 11 nuclear warheads that could be put on their missiles just six months away. And if they had, they were dealing with fanatical people wanting to die for their strange cause are fanatical. So would you say that the Iranians are more fanatical, let's say, than Pakistanis, who also have nooks. We know that. Yeah. I definitely think so. I think we're dealing with, even North Korea, evil though he is, and evil though people in China, their arms are just dipped in
Starting point is 00:10:15 blood. They're evil people, but they're rational. As far as you're dealing with, the fanatics there in Iran who think they're going to go to a federal kind of reward in the next life, they're not reasonable people. They're fanatical people. And so, but they can't. If they had six months, only six months away, according to this expert and other experts, some other way, some experts were saying it was only three months, and they would have nuclear weapons just three months. If they had a war situation like we are now, they'd blow up Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv would then walk to Iran.
Starting point is 00:10:46 It could be that they would send, they would have it within their range. The missiles could go to Rome. They could go to Paris. They could go to life. Oh, it would certainly mutually assured destruction. There's no doubt about that. Yeah, they'd be willing to do that. I can't imagine a worse nightmare.
Starting point is 00:11:01 So Donald Trump was in the right position and doing the right thing to eliminate their nuclear program. That's one thing that's non-negotiable. They cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. All right. Tiny Blunder's Big Disasters, too. What's different in this book here, Jared, from the first one? Because I really enjoyed the first one. You say the second one is actually better.
Starting point is 00:11:21 And so, hey, the sequel's better than the original, and the original was damn good. What's up? Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much. It's done very, very well. I'm happy to say it's song number 38. Now it's about 39,000 copies,
Starting point is 00:11:32 which is extremely, I'm blessed to say extremely successful, won seven awards. Book two is my 10,000-hour book. I think it's even better than book number one. I'll give you one quick example from that book, two. What outrageous character
Starting point is 00:11:46 bought stolen horses from the Comanchee Indians using counterfeit money? What could possibly go wrong? Could you share that? Could you share that story? Give us a little taste of it because I don't know this story. I want to know this story. Tell me more. Yes, it has to do with Quanta Parker. And by the way, John Wayne later played this outrageous character at the core of the story.
Starting point is 00:12:12 And a movie made by John Ford with the help of Natalie Wood, the movie The Searchers, which is considered the best Western, one of the best Westerns ever made. But they made a tiny mistake of leaving the gates to their fortress open at Fort Parker. allowed the Comanchee to come in. That was a kind of a foolish mistake. Of course, then buying storm horses from the Comanche using counterfeit money was another tiny blunder or major blunder. And that was James Parker, an outrageous character accused of being a serial murderer, a counterfeiter, a drunk, and all these things. And that was the character John Wayne played in the movie, the searchers, and he plays them off the top. And the real character was, in fact, indeed,
Starting point is 00:12:54 over the top. Very interesting story and book number two. The great thing about history, Jared, is that, you know, when you're writing about it, I'm sure you figured it out, that it's not boring at all. Somehow, for some reason, many of us were treated to history classes that weren't really all that good. But when you really look into what happens, I mean, there is nothing more outrageous or interesting than what happens in real life and the real history of the human experience, wouldn't you say? Honestly, can you look at it? Yes.
Starting point is 00:13:29 History class, they tend to teach you big dates into big wars, big treaties, that sort of thing. The thing is interesting when you kind of turn it sideways, and by the way, look at all the tiny mistakes that were involved in these big events, and also look at the personalities and the interaction between the personalities. That's where it gets very interesting. History has given us some fascinating individuals with all kinds of quirks and all kinds of mistakes, all kind of things going on. Some of them very good. Some of them may have. By the way, Woodrow Wilson, until not too long ago, was considered a very heroic, noble figure.
Starting point is 00:14:01 His reputation, I think, deservedly, has really gone through the mud. He was an extreme racist, and he made some terrible mistakes there at the Treaty of Versailles. if we're going to detail a little longer story. But China could very well be a democracy today, except for mistakes made by Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles back in 19. So those, Woodrow Wilson kind of an interesting personality, not necessarily an appealing personality in spite of his earlier reputation. But there's all kinds of soap opera type personality things going on behind the scenes in real history. I think it'll be really interesting to see what future his story.
Starting point is 00:14:40 historians are able to make of the Trump administration, don't you? You know, if they were to do a similar type of treatment, the way you tend to look at history, I think it'll be, you know, quite interesting, because of the personalities involved for sure. By the way, speaking of the Treaty of Versailles, always what did they ask you? I mean, essentially didn't the Allies in World War I plant the seeds of World War II by the way Germany was treated at that time? Yes. Now, one of the best generals we ever produced in the United States was General Pershing. And some people say, if it had not been for Pershing, we might very well have lost World War I. You know, Persian was saying that we should have insisted on unconditional surrender in World War I.
Starting point is 00:15:25 It would have been expensive in terms of the lives of men lost. But it would have saved a lot of lives because if we had an unconditional surrender, we would have been able to prevent World War II from happening. The person said, we don't get unconditional surrender. They're just going to lick their wounds and come after us again, which is exactly what happened. Well, the part I was thinking about was how the French just demanded that we had to punish, we had to punish the Germans for the war. And you end up destroying a people or demoralizing a people or you, in other words, tie unpayable debts around anybody,
Starting point is 00:16:01 even if they were your enemy, that sort of thing. all it does is just breed resentment and look what happened you get the rise of a hitler later on i'm going to fix it right yes they didn't by the way ever pay very much of the reparations they were supposed to pay but of course it created a lot of resentment there but we left a situation there there was a fertile ground for a phenomenon like out of hilder to come to power we should have actually been far more generous to them or you might even argue far more harsh in terms of reorganized in their entire society. But the price of the war was so high, and the allies were so weary. They just said they took a surrender, but it was not a complete surrender. So there was fertile ground for horrible things to happen.
Starting point is 00:16:43 Yeah. And what I was getting at there is that, you know, I think we learned our lesson after World War II with Marshall Plan, a very much helping hand rather than, hey, we're just going to screw you into the ground, you know, into the ground, you know, kind of approach. I think that works. Yes. We rebuilt Germany, gave a huge amounts of aid, built a democracy, and, of course, they've been a forishing country ever since, so we did them a lot of good. Europe has a whole big, should be, but Europe is not doing as nearly as well as the United States. The socialism is kind of crippling on this whole big another discussion with the United States. 16 years ago, the United States had about the same size economies. Now, the United States has doubled in that last 16 years because of the technology.
Starting point is 00:17:29 We've been developing here in the United States. Well, Europe doesn't have any high-tech companies at all. They strangle any kind of new businesses trying to get established. And so they're socialists. It's kind of a hurt. That's a whole other big subject. But yes, we did do a great deal of good for Germany and Japan, both. And we're building them along Democratic lines.
Starting point is 00:17:50 Jared Knott. And he's the author of both versions of Tiny Blunders Big Disasters. Tiny Blunders, Big Disasters.com. There's the second book that Jared says it's even better. I got to get a copy of that. I love the first one so much. Tiny blunders, big disasters.com. Find out more about that.
Starting point is 00:18:07 Jared, always a good talk. Thanks, for having you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Have a good day. All right. You too. It is 730 at KMED and 993 KBXG.
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Starting point is 00:19:20 We've all done it. You approach your vehicle and see a scratch or a ding, grimace, and think, that's new. When did that happen? Well, that's likely to always remain a mystery, but there's no question. Lithia Body and Paint is the place to make it go away. Lithia Body and Paint knows having your vehicle in perfect condition is important to you. So if your eye is often drawn to that blemish, bring it to us. Often, minor dents and scratches are easy and affordable to fix. Service, speed, accuracy. That's Lithia Body and Paint on Bullock Road in Medford. This is Bill Meyer, and if you want to save money on your cell phone plan like Linda and I did,
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Starting point is 00:20:54 KMED. I'm glad you're here. I always am, though. 733. Gosh, I am so glad we were just talking about you the other day, crazy gene. How you doing, Crazy Gene? People were wondering, you know, we haven't heard from Crazy Gene for a while. I want to make sure that he's okay.
Starting point is 00:21:10 And I didn't have your number handy. I'm glad you called. What's going on with you, sir? Well, no problem. And probably I'll call a time or two more before it's over. Oh, okay. Well, that's good to know. You feeling okay?
Starting point is 00:21:22 You're doing okay? Doing all right? Well, that's good as could be expected. Okay, well, good. There we go. Now we know because more than one person has said, whatever happened to Jane. It's like, all right, glad you're here.
Starting point is 00:21:33 So what's on your mind, huh? Yeah, I've seen something on YouTube that was talking about these major deserts that we have. Underneath them, there seems to be tailings from old mining operations. Huh. I've not heard anything like that. So underneath deserts? Yeah, underneath the deserts. And they put the sand on it just to cover up the air.
Starting point is 00:21:53 evidence is all they did. We didn't know, but using deep penetrating radar, they're finding a contours, big, around pit that looked just like open minds. Well, I'll tell you what, Gene, send me the link to that. I'd love to watch that one, okay? Because, you know, the certification usually comes through different processes. I've never heard about any evidence that indicates that we see as a desert is just there to cover evidence.
Starting point is 00:22:19 But, hey, I'm always willing to have an open mind, okay? Yeah, well, it's just like an ashtray. How do you get rid of the butt? Four sand on them. Gene, email that to me, okay? We'll talk to a little later. Good to hear for you. I'm glad you're doing well, all right?
Starting point is 00:22:35 Really, yeah. I'm still here. Sorry for you. Oh, let's, don't say that. Don't tell you that. You know, I love even my mentally ill people. It's all right. It's all right.
Starting point is 00:22:45 Okay. All right. See you, Gene. It's 734. Don't Portland, Southern Oregon. What works for Portland politicians doesn't work here, and I won't let them force it on us. I'm Duane Yunker, your Oregon State Representative Josephine County in Grants Pass. In Salem, Southern Oregon is a minority, and that's why my most important job I have isn't passing more mandates.
Starting point is 00:23:10 It's being a strong voice, pumping the brakes on bad legislation. I help lead the fight to protect your right to vote on the gas tax, because politicians shouldn't raise your cost of living without your consent. That fight is saving the average Southern Oregon family about $500 a year. Next term, my job is clear to protect taxpayers, hold Salem accountable, and keep more of your money in your pocket. I'm Dwayne Yonker, and I always stand up for Josephine County at home and in Salem. I'd be honored to earn your vote. Paid for Yonker for State Representative Pack ID 23071. News brought to you by Millette Construction, specializing in founding.
Starting point is 00:23:52 repair and replacement. Get on solid ground. Visit millet construction.com. KMED News, here's what's going on. It's going to be one big work zone on Highway 99 between South Medford and Phoenix. The $20 million paving project started yesterday. Army Times reporting it's a single lane northbound from Northridge Terrace to Glenwood Road. They'll switch to paving the southbound lanes later this week with a single lane of traffic open in each direction during the night time. crashes and fatalities in those work zones are rising. Oregon Department of Transportation says it's been a consistent hike and crashes each year. 400 in 2020, rising to 621 crashes in the year 2024. Most were avoidable, usually speeding and distracted drivers. So slow down and pay closer attention.
Starting point is 00:24:38 Remember that guy firing a shotgun at passing cars on I-5 near Ashton last summer? Well, he's headed to prison for five years. The Jackson County District Attorney's Office says Devante Bell, Maiter pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the shootings. Mater told authorities he wasn't trying to hurt people, but that they thought they were trying to hurt him. But apparently, it was the severe intoxication doing the talking. No one was hurt in the incidents, but vehicles were damaged. And tonight there's a candidates form for Josephine County Commissioner, Position 1, and the State House Representative candidates. It's happening 530 to 830 this evening at City
Starting point is 00:25:14 Council Chambers at 101 Northwest A Street. If you can't be there in person, you'll find it streamed live on the Grants Pass in Josephine County Chamber of Commerce YouTube page. Bill Meyer, KMED News. This hour of the Bill Meyer show is sponsored by Glacier Heating and Air, making sense of the heating and air business. Along with pleasant spring weather, you know there's a long, hot Rogue Valley summer coming up that can stretch your cooling system. Glacier heating and air, your local independent train dealer, remind you the best time to have your AC system inspected and maintained is before it breaks down. Glacier services and repairs all brands and installs new train cooling systems too. Nothing stops a train.
Starting point is 00:25:54 Be prepared for warmer days. Call 664-0-942. At Glacier, we're making sense of the heating and air business. Visit glacier hacac.com. Jackson County, your vote counts. This May 19th primary election process will be exactly the same as prior years. There have been no changes to how we conduct elections in Oregon. If you are not registered with a major political party, you will receive a back.
Starting point is 00:26:17 with nonpartisan candidates and measures. Know when your ballot arrives at your mailbox by signing up at informed delivery.usps.com. Postmark or deposit your ballot in an official ballot dropbox no later than 8 p.m. on May 19th, but recommended that you mail by May 12th. Track your ballot as it leaves your hand when you mail or deposit in an official ballot dropbox at Oregonvotes.gov slash my vote. Postage is not needed to mail. and don't forget to sign your ballot return envelope.
Starting point is 00:26:49 Hello, I'm Chris Walker, your Jackson County Clerk. For more information, visit Jackson County OR.gov slash elections. Your county clerk's office, making sure your vote counts. Hi, I'm Megan McPherson with the McPherson Insurance Agency, and I'm on KMED. Mike Wienel is vice president of Legal Affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm in Leesburg, Virginia. How you doing this morning, Mike? Great to have you back, as always.
Starting point is 00:27:19 I'm great, Bill. Good to be with you. All right. This morning has been a very White House-Trump-centric morning just because of the news cycle, what ended up happening, the Iran War and all the rest of it. And I'm going to you right now for a take on where we could be going on birthright citizenship because you put a piece in Red State the other day, on the Red State website,
Starting point is 00:27:38 that seems to intimate that you're thinking that President Trump will lose the birthright citizenship case, and what is your case to make there? Yeah, I think listening to oral arguments, I just don't think it's the votes are there. I think that you had enough of the justices. Obviously, you've got the three liberal, quote-unquote liberal justices that are most likely, I mean, I'd say 95%, 99% are going to rule against the executive order. So you've got three justices there, and that means they only need to swing two of the other justices in determining that it was an improper executive order.
Starting point is 00:28:13 Now, that means either Kavanaugh, ACB, or Roberts, any two of those justices, Gorsets, even to a lesser extent. So, excuse me. So if you look at the betting markets, and again, we talk about this, there's betting markets out there. I think they put the odds that are about six or seven percent, single digits for successful upholding the executive order. Now, the question, of course, becomes, is what is the substance of the court's ruling
Starting point is 00:28:36 here? How bad does Donald Trump lose, in other words, if assuming he loses? Now, let me be really clear at the outset here. I don't think that it's any fault of the Solicitor General's office or the arguments that was proffered by the Solicitor General or arguments. I think he gave just a fantastic case of why you should interpret the provisions of the 14th Amendment, the Citizenship Clause, the subject to the jurisdiction thereof, portion of the citizenship clause in a manner consistent with the President's Executive Order, in other words,
Starting point is 00:29:04 just because you're born in the United States doesn't mean you're automatically a citizen. And I think he presented a lot of great arguments for the court to go on to. I just don't think that they were convinced. I don't think that they're moving on it. I think they're a little bit nervous about the fact that this was done by executive order as opposed to a law. So it's not that I don't think that Donald Trump had great arguments, and I don't think that there is. And quite frankly, I agree with his presentation with their argument. I'm just skeptical about whether the votes are there.
Starting point is 00:29:31 Okay. So you're thinking this is most likely. Well, you know, it's interesting how those prediction markets are more accurate than one might think. People putting their money on it, not that you want to talk. take that to the bank, so to speak, you know, but still, it's surprising how often they get that right here. Right. But what you write about, though, is that let's just go under the preconceived notion that
Starting point is 00:29:54 Trump is probably going to lose this one. And maybe a rabbit comes out of the Supreme Court hat. You know, you never know. But you're saying it doesn't have to be a loss, really. And where are you going on this particular essay? Well, yeah, it's a little complicated, but I'll unpack it. And it is a loss. Let's be very clear. If the executive order is struck down, then it's a loss for the Trump administration.
Starting point is 00:30:16 And quite frankly, I think a loss for the American people because I think that there's obviously this provision of the amendment has been taken advantage of. But let's be clear here. There's two separate issues at play here. There's the constitutionality of the executive order. Whether the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution conveys automatic birthright citizenship via your territorial presence, right? That's the constitutional issue. There's also a legal issue here. And what do I mean by a legal issue? Well, Congress passed a law in 1940 and then again in 1952 with the language that virtually mirrors the language of the 14th Amendment. Now, when you think about how the way our laws work, right, you have the Constitution is the highest law in the land. So that if a law violates the Constitution, the Constitution takes precedent over the law. The next order is you have a law, which is enacted by Congress in the United States Code. It's something that Congress passes the president's signed. into order. That has a very, that of course has a lot of powerful effects, right? It's a federal law. And at the lowest tier of this is an executive order. Well, if you have an executive order that conflicts with a law, then the law trumps the executive order. So it's, pun intended. So if a law is, the court can limit its decision to simply concluding that the executive order that, that
Starting point is 00:31:34 President Trump regarding passed are signed regarding birthright citizenship violates the law. And they can do something known as the canon of constitutional avoidance. And it's something that the court is used in the past and not get to the constitutional question and simply make a ruling that this is an illegal executive order. And so they're going to throw out the executive order. But what does that do? The court refrain from sending out an opinion that conveys an automatic right. In other words, saying that there is a right to birthright citizenship by your territorial presence.
Starting point is 00:32:07 It refrains from doing that. That means that Congress continues to have a role here. That means if Congress wants to pass a lot outlawing, for example, birth tourism, you know, you think of the Chinese billionaire who comes in here and has 100 surrogates, et cetera. And point, doesn't that just irritate you to your core when you read about those kind of stories? It's just so. Yeah, and I think you have like 90% of Americans who probably agree with that that practice should be outlawed. Despite the fact whether there's an automatic right to birthright citizenship, I think Congress
Starting point is 00:32:35 should be able to weigh in here and say, look, 90% of the practice. of Americans think that birth birth tourism is wrong, then we're going to pass a law making it illegal. Now, if Congress only, if the Supreme Court refrains from getting into the substantive constitutional issue, then there's no automatic, then it hasn't, it hasn't affirmed that there's an automatic right there. It's only said that this is an illegal act. So that means Congress could pass a law. If Congress, if the Supreme Court suddenly, or that suddenly, if the court says you have a right to automatic birthright citizenship simply because you're here. then that forces Congress out of the equation.
Starting point is 00:33:13 In other words, Congress doesn't have the power to act in any law. Yeah, but you're not thinking, though, that the court's going to act that way. Is this very similar in some ways to the Trump loss on tariffs in which the Supreme Court didn't really weigh in. It was really about what weighing in on the legality of his executive order using a law. Wasn't that the case? Yeah, exactly, exactly. Now, Congress could pass a law in authorizing the president to do exactly what he did in the tariffs case. They could say that they could simply say that the president has a lot more power than the particular law at issue of the terrorist case did.
Starting point is 00:33:50 And that's what the court does. Look, they go to the text of the law and they look at it and they say, hey, does the law authorize? In other words, has Congress authorized the president to take the action he's taking? And that's what they could do here. That's what they did in the terrorist decision. And they can simply say, well, wait a minute, the 8 U.S.C. 1401 prohibits this sort of executive order. Again, the birthright citizenship's executive order. He doesn't have the power to do it under the law.
Starting point is 00:34:15 That means we're going to say he can't do it. We're going to throw out the executive order as being illegal. And we're going to hold back. We're not going to say whether it's constitutional or not. Because, again, we don't want to go down that road. Because if we go down that road, then it freezes out Congress. So that's the last thing. So you're predicting they're just going to strike down the order and only striking down the order.
Starting point is 00:34:33 That's going to be good. They're going to strike down the order and why are they going to strike down the order. They're going to strike it down because it's illegal, not unconstitutional. Okay, big difference. There's an important distinction. I know it's a nuanced distinction, but it's an important distinction on the last. All right. Hey, Mike, I really appreciate that.
Starting point is 00:34:47 Now, another point of law, do you mind if I pick your legal brain on this one? And by the way, this is a great article that Mike O'Neill from Landmark has. It's called A Loss for Trump in the Birth Right Citizenship Case doesn't have to be a loss for America. And he explains this more. And it's more in the weeds than probably we have time for on a talk radio. discussion about it. But what I do find interesting is, you know, we're now up to, we're about more than eight weeks into two weeks to flatten the Iranians, right? That's where we are, you know, right now. And what is the clock on when President Trump has to go to Congress then and ask
Starting point is 00:35:22 for permission when it comes to warp the War Powers Act? Do you know I'm not really knowledgeable? Yeah, well, you can make the argument that this pause has reset the clock. I think that's the argument you would make. Oh, really? and cessation of hostilities, and so the clock has been reset. I think when you think about this how strategically, again, this is just, I am not a geopolitical military experts. So let me just, with that proviso, let me just weigh in just touch on this briefly. I think that that too, I think the pause that you've seen, the cessation of hostilities has served, you know, multiple geostrategic and military goals, right? Number one, it gives the president a plausible case
Starting point is 00:35:58 that he, that you can reset that under the War Powers Act. It's like we've stopped hostilities, and so the 60-day deadline then resets. Okay. I think that's, again, maybe an argument he would make. I hadn't considered that, though, but thank you. Thank you for bringing it up. I hadn't thought about that. Yeah, there's also the point that, you know, it allows our forces to retool, reconfigure. Again, it drives some of the Iranian leadership out of their holes so that we can, again, assume the surveillance that's necessary to deal with it.
Starting point is 00:36:29 So I think there was a lot of, a lot of reasons behind this pause that really kind of looks smart in retrospect, right? He's not, he's in no rush. And I think that's a really important thing. He says that repeatedly. I'm in no rush here. I've got the streets barricaded or embargoed. It's the Iranians that are sweating, not the Americans. Well, frankly, it's the European Union, too, sweating. I think they only have a couple, two or three weeks left of jet fuels, so they're hoping that sooner rather than later. They can buy it from America, right? I mean, just the American markets are open, aren't they? Yeah, I suppose. But then, of course, our prices will continue to soar. We can't help but avoid that.
Starting point is 00:37:01 You can't avoid that, unfortunately. It's just the way it goes. All right, hey, Mike, I appreciate that. I hadn't considered that the pause ends up resetting the clocks. I did not know that, all right? Joining me right now is Mike O'Neill, and I don't know. Someone has a question on the phone here. I'll just go to you live without a net. Who's this?
Starting point is 00:37:18 Good morning. Hey, it's deplorable Patrick, Bill, and on this thing about birthright. Yeah, yeah, you have a question for Mike O'Neill? Go ahead, please. I do. And handing out birthright citizenship, does that not constitute handing out reward for the commission of a crime. And does that argument actually have any strength anywhere? It's an interesting question, Mike. What do you think?
Starting point is 00:37:41 Well, unfortunately, how it's been, of course, you are incentivizing illegal conduct. And that's exact. I think that's your point of the caller is that, you've seen this, right? You see this over and over again. And I think even if, I think a good point to make here is even if this case goes against the president, there is a solution here. And one of the solution, and I think you're seeing that play out is just enforce our laws and not let people into the country illegally. And strengthen our, strengthen the enforcement of our existing laws to ensure that individuals don't have the opportunity who are not here presently legally to come in here and give birth and then have the anchor baby. So I think you're right. It has functioned as an incentive.
Starting point is 00:38:23 It is kind of rewarding a bad act and incentivizing a rewarding a bad act. And that is, of course, coming into the United States illegally. But rewarding a bad act is not. not necessarily unconstitutional, I guess, right? No, right. Because, again, we've had the Constitution, as currently interpreted since, you know, the early, the late 1800s in that Wong Kim Mark case is that the 14th Amendment conveys automatic birthright citizenship. Again, this goes back to my hierarchy here, right? The constitutional right, trumps whether something's illegal or not. So if somebody comes in here, it's a bad, it's a bad incentive, right? But I think that's necessitated the interpretation that the president put forth in this executive order. But again, there is,
Starting point is 00:39:06 that other solution. And I think they're doing this, right? The virtually illegal immigration is really halted to basically a very small trickle now. So you are probably in all reality, you're having very few people coming into this country and giving birth. That being said, I think that the Congress can weigh in on it if the court goes in this specific direction. You know, again, let me just also reiterate the fact that I do support the executive order, and I think it's necessary. I'm just trying to read the tea leaves here. and get out what the court could possibly be. And that's all we were asking you for.
Starting point is 00:39:36 Yeah, I understood that you supported it, and I would support it too, but we're talking about the way it actually plays out in whether, what do you think it's going to be like a five-four against him? Is that what you're thinking right now? It might be a fractured decision. You know, it might be one of those things where you have a controlling plurality, where you have, I think most likely you're going to have Alito and Thomas, who would be weighing out on the constitutionality
Starting point is 00:39:57 and siding with the interpretation of the president, and then maybe Gorsuch joining in that, But then again, you've got this three, quote, quote, middling justices who might say, who might join with the other, with the liberal justices and finding the executive order improper, but finding it illegal. So you have to kind of suss out what the controlling opinion is. And you'd have a plurality of, you know, maybe five or six controlling justices saying illegality rather than unconstitutionality, whereas I think you're going to have Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson, all ruling bad constitution, bad legal. So they're going to pick it apart in different ways. Yeah, exactly. All right, got it. That's again, I guess. This is just for what it's worth, no telling what this could.
Starting point is 00:40:40 I'll be happy to jump in probably in late June or early July with an analysis of what the actual opinion is. But reading the tea leaves in April here, about three and a half four weeks out of the decision, that's kind of where I think it might be going. All right. Well, I'll tell you what, let's all hope that you're wrong, and I bet you hope you're wrong on this one too, okay? But anyway. I hope I'm wrong in a good way. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It gets so complicated, so complicated, so quick.
Starting point is 00:41:04 All right, Mike O'Neill, vice president of legal affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation, public interest law firm in Virginia and Missouri, too, for that matter. Mike, great talk as always. Thank you very much. Always. I'll take care. Bye-bye. Landmarklegal.org. This is the Bill Meyer show. Every month, it feels like your money doesn't go as far as... On 1063, KMED.
Starting point is 00:41:25 756. Dr. Dennis Powers will join me, retired professor of business law at Southern Oregon University. I've got to talk about some local history. It's history about the giants. All right. And something else I wanted to do right now. This is just going to be a little bit of fun. All right.
Starting point is 00:41:41 And this is something because every Tuesday at 8 o'clock, you know how KMVU Fox 26 is now my sister station? KMVU Fox 26, of course, the great Fox lineup, Fox television lineup, is 8 o'clock on Tuesday nights. It is Farmer. Yeah, it's Farmer once a wife. I was going to say Needs Wife. It's farmer wants a wife in which we have good-looking farmer guys
Starting point is 00:42:01 and then a bunch of great-looking, well, potential farmer wives. And then, of course, fun and frivolity. You know, it's, you know, unscripted reality TV show about that. Then it's all sorts of challenges and various other things in fun and frivolity. And, of course, conflict ensues. But that's 8 o'clock on Sunday nights. And they gave us a number of these farmer wants a wife, misters. They're plant misters.
Starting point is 00:42:27 Now, I think that these would actually work really well as official City of Ashland lawn watering cans. All right, this is all they want you to do. Just go out there, fill it with water and go, okay, that's all it would take, right? But I'll tell you what, I'm going to take the next three callers. All I want you to tell me is that who do you think needs spraying? In the United States of America right now,
Starting point is 00:42:52 who do you think should be sprayed? Now, it doesn't have to be with water, but, you know, use your imagination. We're just having a little bit of fun right now. Who do you think needs sprayed? 7705-633, 770 KMED, and I will give you a farmer, once-a-wife, official mister, from KMVU, Fox 26 TV, and of course, KMED, 7705-633.
Starting point is 00:43:18 Well, let's see. No, I don't know. I don't think this is food safe. No, you can't spray olive oil on it, so that'd be fine in the kitchen. I think it's just a standard sprayer, but I take it apart here. But all right, just tell me who is in desperate need of being sprayed hard. All right.
Starting point is 00:43:34 This is the Bill Myers Show. One of each K4 VIN 235-722 MSRP, 24-185, telluride, VIN, 0-08-36-com. All right, let me get things going here. We're having a little bit of fun this Monday morning after all the seriousness of the news cycle. Oh, no, I lost Phil. No, I'm just ready to give away these farmer, wants a wife sprayers, these little misters. These are official Ashland Watt. This is the perfect size for watering your lawn in Ashland because they're already
Starting point is 00:44:03 coming out with orders saying that we don't want you to water the lawn too much. Anyway, hi, KBD. Good morning. Who's this? Welcome. Morning, Bill. Yeah, I think we need sprayed as our majority leader, Mr. Thune, because we got the majority in the House and the Senate and they can't get anything passed. Okay, so you're thinking that Senator John Thune needs sprayed, right? That's, uh, okay, so he's going to, he's going to get the misting treatment. All right.
Starting point is 00:44:34 All right. All right. So, Phil, I'm going to give you your very own official farmer wants a wife, Fox 26, Tuesday night at 8 o'clock, misting can. All right. So Phil. And what's your last name, Phil? Never asked you.
Starting point is 00:44:48 Miller. Miller. Phil Miller. See, that's a real American name. I appreciate that, Phil. All right. Come on down at the state. We'll give you your very own misting can then, and then anytime you want, all right?
Starting point is 00:44:59 See you. Yes, sir. Okay. So that's how it works. So he's saying Thune. Thune gets the spray. He gets the spray right now. We'll give away a couple more of those.
Starting point is 00:45:08 It is your official KMVU Fox 26 Farmer wants a wife, misting can. Perfect. Over at, well, watering your lawn, at least in the city of Ashland. Okay. All right. This is KMEDE, KMEDE HD1, Eagle Point Medford. KBXG grants pass, translator K290. 0AF Road River K-294A-S.
Starting point is 00:45:28 We'll catch up now.

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