Cleared Hot - Powered By BRCC - Full Auto Friday - Round 28

Episode Date: November 20, 2020

Rapid Fire Q and A to finish off the week strong.  Five-minute time cap per answer (sometimes), all questions submitted by listeners.  1. Maybe those with COVID should just make their peace with God 2. The role of "influencers" in reconciliation and improved communication 3. Thanksgiving restrictions 4. What can average, law-abiding, working-class citizens do to prevent civil unrest and preserve respectful discourse Enjoy

Okay, got the red smoke. Ladies and gentlemen, north and south, west of the smoke, west of the smoke. Okay, copy, west of the smoke. I'm looking at danger close now. I'm all winning, then. Ladies and gentlemen, full auto Friday, round number 28, welcome to the show. Let us dive immediately in. Four questions today.

The first one, we're starting off with a doozy. This comes from John. And he writes. Subject line, trust me, it's real and you don't want it. The message reads, hi, Andy. I love the podcast, but I have to inject some sanity into the conversation and controversy over COVID. Please just use my first name. If used on air online.

I am a 13-year Navy vet, started in aviation, then went to medical school and finished as an 04 Navy flight surgeon. That's awesome. sounds like an amazing career. I went on to become a radiologist, and I have to tell you that on this day, 1116, 2020, I just finished the biggest shit show readout session of the previous night's studies. I live in the Midwest, and COVID is rampant,

all capital letters, in the state. But we read studies statewide. I get the whole free to be me and do what I want argument. After listening to Greg Anderson yesterday, it got me thinking. Police fire first responders, doctors, nurses. We will all do what we're trained to do because it's what we do. However, much like Greg dealing with junkies in Seattle, where you doing hostage rescue for an American who's traveling in a high-risk environment, when do we get to the point where we just say you're on your own? You didn't believe the science

and health professionals who told you to protect yourself and others around you, and now you're coming to my hospital gasping to breathe. And now all of the sudden, you want the medical science to bail you out after you've been stupid. Maybe you should curl up on the couch and get right with Jesus instead of taking another bed in the ICU. And don't give me the it'll never happen to me bullshit. I've buried lots of people who always knew all the answers, and I'm sure you and Greg have as well. On my last nerve, John in the Midwest. Postal script. Don't ever mention Big Mountain on the air again unless you talk about how shitty it is.

I love that place and don't want it to get fucked up by idiots. John, thank you for the question. I appreciate you taking the time reaching out. And it sounds to me like you might be a touch frustrated. The first thing that I am going to say to you is it might be time for you to take a knee and take a break and take a different look at what it is. you wrote to me about. I think you might be a little bit burned out. I have no doubt that right now the medical community is feeling a burden that they maybe have never felt in your time in medical practice. But this is also the time where the American people need you the most. And if you don't

feel like you can do your job anymore, you need to take some time off until you can come back and reevaluate with a critical eye and mind what's going on in the United States. States of America. And actually, I guess it would say in this case worldwide. Let's dig into your email here a little bit. And let's talk a little bit about the job of police, fire first responders, doctors, and nurses. And even more than that specifically, hostage rescue for an American who's traveling in a high-risk environment. I would like for you and anybody listening to take a guess at the number of times when a hostage rescue mission is presented to whatever military unit is tasked with conducting that hostage rescue. Take a guess as to how many times we talked about

the motivations behind that person being in the area and how that played into our mission planning. Do you think it mattered if the individual was on a vacation or they were there for the Red Cross or fill in the blank with perhaps whatever the most ridiculous circumstance may be? How much of that do you think played into our decision as to whether or not we executed that mission. Now the answer, I'm assuming most people can intuitively come to, is zero. Zero percent. When a hostage rescue mission is presented to you and it is your job or part of your job to execute said hostage rescue mission, guess what you do? You do your job every single time that it meets execute criteria for that mission. We would look at it in regards of risk versus reward or risk

tolerance or operational risk management in the terms of the military. And if it was feasible and at a risk level to the forces going in to conduct that hostage rescue, regardless of the motivations of the individual that needed the help, we went. Because that is our job. And if you're not willing to do your job, you need to take a knee and take a break until you are. There is no circumstance that I can think of where you should tell anybody coming to your job. You're not willing to do your job. You need to take a knee and take a break until you are. There is no circumstance that I can think of where you should tell anybody coming to your hospital that they need to get right with God versus providing them the best medical treatment that you possibly can. In the military, every single person serving with me and every single person serving right now

at a unit that would be tasked with a hostage rescue is a volunteer. They wanted to be there. They knew what the job entailed. They have accepted multiple times throughout their career the inherent risk of just training for that job overseas, and then the risk associated with going overseas to afford location, a different country, and executing the roles and responsibilities of their job. You experienced that when you were in the military, both on the aviation side and then as a flight surgeon, and unless somebody put a gun to your head and forced you into the medical practice, you are there because you choose to be there, not because you are forced to be there. be there. And you need to remember that. Now, let's talk a little bit about the, you're coming to my hospital gasping to breath, and now all of a sudden you want medical science to bail you out after you've been stupid. Heart disease, arguably the number one killer in the United States of America,

but let's go to one that's even more based around choices. How about cancer due to smoking? Do you tell cancer patients that you are potentially looking at images on that they should go get right with God, or do you try to give them the best medical treatment you possibly can? How about a type 2 diabetic, John? How do you treat people who have eaten their way into diabetes? And the number one thing that they suffer for is an inability to keep their fucking hand off of food and shove it into their face and the medical conditions that come from doing that. How do you treat those people? My suspicion is that you provide for them the best medical treatment possible. Both of those things come from, in part at least, people ignoring medical

science and sound advice. Now, perhaps right now the medical community, or even in the aggregate, and normally the medical community doesn't feel the burden because that happens at a lower rate. But I can tell you right now, when we look back on the COVID time period, how long it actually takes for us to work our way through this, the number of people who die from smoking in diabetes alone, let alone heart disease and all the conditions that the choices that people make, again, absent or against good advice and medical science that lead to those things, COVID is going to end up killing a fraction of those people. But yet I don't feel you voicing your opinion that those people need to get right with Jesus or the fact that they have been

stupid. So let's take a step back, all right, and look at what it is that you are actually tasked with doing with your job. the best medical treatment that you can possibly provide. And I think, like I've said, right now, you sound a little bit burned out. Do something about that before this overwhelming pressure that I'm sure that you are possibly feeling right now boils over and you say or do something that you might regret. Because regardless of the person who had the, what did you describe it as, I'm going to do whatever I want to attitude. or it's never going to happen to me bullshit, regardless of what they think, it doesn't matter.

Your job is to treat them to the best of your ability. And I don't know if I've buried a lot of people who always knew that they had the right answer. And I think for people who do think that they have the right answer, it's ego getting in the way, perhaps hubris getting in the way, or it's probably a way for a human being to try to exert more control on the world around them

and feel less minuscule or microscopic or less out of control than we all actually are because we all can't control that much. But the one thing we can always control is ourself, right? So let's all take a breath. Let's all take a break. And what I really want you to do, John, is just look at this email that you sent me with a critical eye. I understand the frustration.

I can understand and be very empathetic to the stress that you guys are feeling right now. But if you can't tolerate it, take a break. on the side of Big Mountain. Do you not ever mention Big Mountain on the air again unless you talk about how shitty is. I love this place and don't want it to get fucked up by idiots. I'm going to talk about Big Mountain however I want to, as often as I want to. I like it as well.

But I don't like people acting as if they own some type of geography or topography that belongs to us all in this country. So I'm going to say what I want, when I want to. And if you have an issue with that, the next time you come visit Whitefish or Big Mountain, let's link up. And we'll solve it on the mats. That's my open invitation to you. Winner gets to talk about Big Mountain in Whitefish, the number three resort in the U.S. last year, and whatever terms and terminology that they want to.

Question number two. Coming from Phantom Opera, I've never received an email with this title, so of course I clicked on it. Dear Andy, first off, renewed congratulations on the quality of your podcast. Today's episode was so powerful that I had to watch it in installments to make sure I did not miss anything. My question for you today is,

given the current climate in the U.S., what role do you think influencers such as yourself, and then in parentheses, yes, sorry, you do qualify as an influencer, consider it, close parentheses, may play in moving towards a reconciliation or at least improved communication among citizens with different political ideas.

From the comments in your social media, a significant part of your followers sit comfortably on the right side of the political spectrum, but respect you and your advice enormously. You and some others with similar backgrounds. Tough spot. Thanks again for your content. Cheers.

And this is signed off with the letter N. I have thought a little bit about this in the recent past because a few people have hit me up either directly, people that I know or people that I know peripherally on social media. And they have asked me something similar to this. You know, well, why aren't you saying something about fill in the blank topic? You have a social media falling that is, you know, big in some people's eyes and microscopic and others. And you need to use the platform to address this, that, or the other. And oftentimes, what I find is that I am not educated on topics enough to say a damn thing about them. So instead

of spending time on social media trying to influence anybody, generally what I'm doing is spending my time trying to educate myself and actually impact the world around me. myself personally, I do not consider myself to be an influencer. I don't know if people believe me when I say that I am exceptionally average. And for people who know me in real life, they will tell you that that is exactly the case. I am 100% as flawed as the next person. I have so many deficiencies in places in my life where I fall short. And to even in my mind associate the term influencer, to me, it just, I'm not saying that other people don't look at me like that. I am saying that I don't look at myself like that. Having said that, I do realize that people will, absent really knowing much about anybody, take the advice of what people will say on social media, especially if they have a large or a powerful following. And to me, that's worrisome.

Because I'm less interested in the size of somebody's following and more interesting in the quality of their ideas and their thoughts and the way that they can express them. Perhaps a lot of people or some people don't share that, but that's how I think about it. And I think the best thing that I can do, although, again, I do not consider myself an influencer, but I do realize that I do have a platform to a degree. I think the best thing that I can do is to be honest about my feelings, to be honest about my shortcomings. as a human being, to be honest when my opinions or beliefs change due to enhanced information, to be willing and able to accept when I am wrong, and I am wrong often, and to present myself to the best of my ability as to who I really am, as opposed to what I potentially would want to appear to be on the internet. I'm not an expert on anything. I think I might have gotten close,

to having an expert level of knowledge in some things on the military side of the house and maybe one or two disciplines on the skydiving side of the house. But you are particularly referencing the political spectrum. I'm not qualified to say anything at a level, even approaching an expert on the political spectrum. So I choose often, if not almost always, not to. And it's not because I don't care and it's not because I'm not seeking that information. I don't feel comfortable enough in my own knowledge and station in life to make grand sweeping statements about things like politics or constitutional law or law in general. So I spend that time trying to better educate and refine myself. The comments in the social media, I don't know if a significant part of

my followers sit comfortably on the right side of the political spectrum. And I say that because I don't sit on the right. I truly, for me, it's not a matter of what political party I identify with more. I take each and every issue at, I don't want to say fate value. I take him individually. So on some issues, I'm probably left of center. On other issues, I'm right of center. When it comes to people's ability to do what they want to do, I'm more libertarian. I don't want people to be told what to do. I want to have the ability to do what I want to do. Fiscally, I largely fall on the conservative side of the house. Socially, I'm probably more on the liberal side of the house. And I'm, and I try, again, as I've been talking about, to be very open and

honest with who I am. I think that's the best thing that I can possibly do or anybody can do with a platform. Instead of trying to sway people, I think you can present who you are and how you feel. And I try to do that openly and honestly. So I don't think that a lot of the followers that I have are on the right. I would like to think that it's an equal mix of both because I as a person oftentimes feel like an equal mix of both. On that issue of, you know, the people who do listen, they respect me and my advice enormously. I am aware of that. And I try to not give people.

incredibly specific advice. If I do give advice, I try to give one or two or even three options. I'll try to give people things to consider before I will give them actions to take. Because that for me as an individual is information that I have received that I took individual growth from. Instead of being told, hey, you should do this. When I am told, why don't you consider these things and make the decision or choice that best suits where you are in life and where you want to be, I grow as a person. So I try to pay that forward. A role in reconciliation. What role do we play or influencers do I play in moving towards reconciliation or least improved communication? I think being open and honest to ideas that are different from my own,

having and maintaining the ability to hold a conversation, and being steadfast in my belief that the way to defeat bad ideas is with good ideas or better ideas. And that comes from an economy of ideas, an economy of thoughts, an ecosystem where they can exist and the cream rises to the top. I think being that person, both in real life and on your social media, fake life, whatever you'd want to call it, I think being the same person on both of those is the key and staying open and most importantly, honest. And that's how I feel. And hopefully, I feel like it just rambled for minutes, but hopefully that answered your question. Moving on to number three, final two here. We only have four for this Friday. This comes from Trey. Trey says, hello, Andy. I hope that you are getting

ready for a nice holiday season with your family. I am, Trey. Thank you for saying that, and I hope that you are as well. I'm from New Jersey where the governor, the marvelous Miss Murphy, is coming out with crazy restrictions for Thanksgiving. There is to be no hugging, no more than 10 people per household. You must remain six feet apart and wear masks, even if outside. And these restrictions are similar to other Democratic-run states. Do you see these restrictions as the start of a power grab to see how much the Democrats are able to control people? Also, do you know of any law enforcement officials that would go around to try to police these laws? And is it constitutional if they do? Love the show. Keep up the good work.

Trey, I'm going to tie this answer directly into what I just said about being an influencer and how I view myself and why I don't try to give people super targeted advice and why I try to be completely open and honest about areas that I fall short knowledge-wise. I'm going to go backwards on your question. I'm not a constitutional scholar. So I do not know, nor am I the person to ask, if these laws or restrictions, I'd say they're more. more restrictions than laws are constitutional. I don't have the answer to that. When it comes to police being willing to go around and enforce these potential restrictions, I would say that that probably depends on the human being behind the shield. There is a comfort level in my, well, that may be in a comfort level. There is a level of awareness in my old job. There is a level of awareness in my old job.

that I think is it exists in every job to a degree. But I think there's probably more parallels between law enforcement and my old job in the seal world. Then there are, it's probably less linked or associated with others. My point being, there are people that are absolute true believers and they will do what they are told because they believe if it comes from the top down, that it is legitimate, that is their lawful duty to do so. and they must do so to be a good fill in the blank, seal police officer. And then there are people who spend a lot more time questioning their own belief structure and perhaps the legality or righteousness of information, rules, and restrictions that come from above. And then, of course, there's everywhere in between.

And that's why I can't give you an answer on whether or not law enforcement officials are going to go around and try to police these things. do I think somebody's going to show up and knock on your house door for Thanksgiving to check how many people you have and whether or not there's been a hug in the last hour? I don't think so. And I say that because one, from a logistical perspective, my understanding of how many officers are actually on shift in comparison to the citizens that they are serving is pretty askew. There's one officer for oftentimes 1,000 people. So for them to actually go around and do what you're talking about, they would, be able to do that and only that and they would be unsuccessful in canvassing the entire area in an entire shift. So logistically, I don't think it's possible. Two, I think they're going to be

busy either dealing with emergencies or crimes. So it would make it even more taxing to that force. And three, even if they were asked to do so, I think that it would grate upon the morality. or ethical code of that individual that wears the badge. And even if they were told to do so, I think the vast majority would refuse to do so. And they would focus on doing what it is that the law enforcement role actually exists to do, which is to enforce the laws of city, state, country, obviously, federal level at a country. Do I think that these restrictions are a power grab to see how much Democrats are able to control people? I've heard people talk about this, and the most honest answer I can give you is I have absolutely no idea.

But let's go with a hypothesis here, or not a hypothesis. Let's make a fabricated situation and say that, you know what? What this actually is is a test or a power grab to see how much the Democrats are able to control people. If that were the case, and I'm not saying that's what it is, it would end up biting them in the ass because they are going to push people into a And by they, I mean anybody who would try to control people in this manner. Political side of the aisle is irrelevant if you're trying to have this level of control. You are going to push people into a place where they are going to revolt against you. So if this is a power grab, in the long term, you better stand by because most people are actually probably very willing to abide by the

rules, regulations, and laws of our society. We need those things and most people willingly, even absent law enforcement being there, I believe, would comply because it makes our society better. But if you keep pushing and you keep grabbing and tugging and forcing people into a corner at some point, regardless of whatever else it is you ask them to do, you are going to get the middle finger and a rock thrown right back at your face. Maybe not necessarily in that order or not exactly those things. But if the Democrats, to use your example, not my own, are actually trying to do this, it will be a long-term failure.

They might have some short-term success, but it will come back to roost. And these seeds that they are sowing will grow into the forest that they don't want it to be. And then that forest is going to crush them. So if this is happening in more democratic areas than conservative areas or Republican areas via leadership, I don't know why that is. I don't think that power grabbing or control is something that exists more on the left than on the right. I think that human beings probably are equally when they comes to the ability to grab power or control. I would say it probably, again, spans both political spectrums.

But I don't know for sure. That is my hypothesis or assumption. As far as the rules themselves, no hugging, no more than 10 people per household. And you must remain six feet apart and wear masks even if you're outside. I'm not an epidemiologist. I'm not a virologist. I'm not an expert in transmissible disease. But what I will say is this. What I'm going to do in the comfort of my own home, I believe in individual accountability and responsibility. I'm not going to be having a large gathering of people over to my house for Thanksgiving, not because I don't want to, but logistically this year, it's going to be smaller and I'm going to enjoy that. And in years past, I have gone over to other people's houses. So let me flip this. I'll say if I had

been invited over to somebody's house. And these were the rules, the external rules that were trying to be pushed into place on top of me. First off, if I felt uncomfortable at all, or I felt at risk at all, either of transmitting or having COVID transmitted to me, I was in a high-risk category and I didn't feel comfortable, I wouldn't put myself in this situation in the first place. Because for me, individual and accountability, individual accountability and responsibility is the foundation and bedrock of who I am as a person. So I'm going to look at myself. first and to decide whether absent these requirements, whether I am comfortable in the environment, the health conditions that I am in going and being with a larger group of people.

If I am comfortable, and let's say I'm invited over and there's going to be 12 or 13 or 14 people, I am comfortable going over there. I, as an individual, am accepting the risk of my behavior. And if I'm going to go over there and celebrate and somebody who is not part of my friend's circle or family or loved ones is telling me that I am not allowed to hug my friend or family or loved one. And I have to limit the number of people that I can spend time with. I am going to make my own choices in the comfort of my own home or the comfort of the home of one of my friends, family, or loved ones. And people may disagree with that. And that's okay. You have the right

to disagree with that. And you also have the right to quarantine or put yourself in a in any situation that you feel comfortable. You need to do the best that you can, given the circumstances and environment that you are in. I do not want anybody to get COVID-19. I don't want to get it myself, and I certainly don't want to transmit it to other people. I am taking every precaution that I can, but there is a limit to how much I am going to restrict my ability as a human being in an environment or a property that I own around close friends and family. And that's regardless of the restrictions that are being put on top of me. So if the governor here in Montana told me that I could not hug my friends and family,

I would not take their advice unless, of course, I felt at risk or at risk of passing on somebody else. 10 people per household. To be honest with you, this one has never been a big deal for me because I don't really think I've ever been to a Thanksgiving dinner with more than 10 people. I'm not a very social butterfly. Six feet apart and wear masks even if you're outside. Again, individual accountability and responsibility. Are you high risk?

Have you had an exposure? Are you feeling sick? I feel like you need to make those decisions for yourself. And having said that, again, I am not an expert in any of these things, but you asked me what I would do and what I think of the restrictions. that is what I would do and that is what I think of the restrictions and people are free to judge me as they see fit. Last question.

Andy, when I look back on dark spots in history, I find myself often saying something along the lines of why didn't the citizens stand up against the oppressors slash rebels? I currently see much of our social fabric and family structures fall. Stanley, let me reverse. That was bad English. I currently see much of our social fabric and family structure, standards falling and I am starting to feel like a hypocrite for holding past generations and civilizations to standards I am not currently holding myself too. My question, what can the average

law-abiding working-class citizen do today more than just voting to prevent the continued civil unrest and breakdown of respectful discourse? Thank you for producing enjoyable, interesting, and authentic content. Kelly. My first question, Kelly, and I wish we could have a two-way on this is I would ask you what standard do you feel like you're falling short of? I certainly would agree that the nuclear family structure, which would probably be considered much more traditional in the United States, I don't know if it's under attack, but it certainly seems like it's crumbling. And I don't know if that's good or bad. Perhaps as a society we need to evolve, or perhaps as a society on certain issues, we need to hold fast. I'm not an expert

on that one either way. But I like the tail end of your question. But I like the tail end of your question. What can the average law-abiding working-class citizen do today? What you just described is me. And when I think you just described is the vast majority of the citizens in the United States. Voting, you mentioned that one, awesome. You know, you could take it a step beyond voting. If you had an interest to get involved in the political system, you could do that at a very local level. Maybe that just starts at your school board.

I mean, honestly, for some people that could start at the school board. their homeowners association organization. But you know, you could go school board. You could go local government. You could go state government. You could go federal government. So there's some options for those who feel the purpose, drive, and desire to integrate at a deeper level. And that's not for everybody, for sure. But I think it starts with how we conduct ourselves. average law-abiding working-class citizen. That's me. The biggest impact I think I can make when it comes to preventing civil unrest and breakdown and maintaining respectful discourse is to avoid any type of civil unrest to do everything I can to write wrongs that physically happen in my presence.

I am not going to go online and try to be a keyboard warrior and fix the issues of the world. I've actually found that almost nothing that I do online actually matters. things that I do at a local level in my own personal life, in my day-to-day life, they have an impact, but it's much more like a ripple than it is a tidal wave. The goal being to drop in the bucket after drop in the bucket, drop in the bucket, and that ripple grows. And then other people are influenced by your actions and your integrity and the way that you have and maintain respectful discourse, right? If somebody yells at you, do you need to yell back at them? No, you do not. You cannot control somebody else, but you can control yourself. And it may feel futile

at times, but I've had it happen time and time and time again. The ability to de-escalate an emotional argument or anything other than a respectful and civil discourse by not becoming emotionally involved. And then actually having a conversation face-to-face, changing somebody's mind and allowing them to drop a ripple in their bucket, which joins with mine, which is even more powerful. So I think the best thing that we can do is try to impact the world that is actually around us. Yes, we live in a massive planet spinning through space flying around the sun. But individually, we cannot control that. I can't control the state of Montana. I can't control the city of Calispell. The only thing I really have an impact on is that people that I interact with every day. And the best thing that I can do

is to be the highest quality human being that I possibly can, the highest quality citizen of the city, state and country that I live in and try to set an example for people that they can follow. For me, I try to sit down and have conversations with people that maybe I don't inherently agree with or explore their ideas and perhaps more importantly, explore my own ideas. And the discourse will remain respectful regardless of what it is, the topic that we are discussing or the beliefs of the individuals in that topic. The civil unrest, I don't have a good answer for that one. I personally believe that state and federal government are faithful.

failing citizens by not quelling that civil unrest. Specifically, I'm talking about the rioting. I completely support everybody's ability and right to protest. But there is a line in the sand, and once that is crossed, it needs to be stopped. Because if it's not, that drop in the bucket, that ripple continues to grow. Focus on yourself. Circle of influence. Circle of concern.

My circle of concern is about the size of the table I'm sitting at right now. My actual circle of influence is about the size of the circular knot in the table. It is one 10,000th the size of the table itself. But that is where I'm actually going to have impact on the world around me. And it may seem like the most futile at times, but I'm telling you right now it is not. And I think a lot of the issues we have are going to be fixed generationally, not overnight. What do people need as they are growing and maturing and enhancing as human beings? They need an example.

the best thing that we can all do is to be the example. Be the example and be the change that you want to see. And that's all I've got for this Friday.