The Eric Metaxas Show - Ryan Bangert: Babylon Bee vs. California court case

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Ryan Bangert from Alliance Defending Freedom breaks down the high-stakes Babylon Bee vs. California court case, a critical fight for free speech and satire in America.

Welcome to the Eric Metaxis show. Did you ever see the movie The Blobs starring Steve McQueen? The blood-curdling threat of the blob. Well, way back when, Eric had a small part in that film, but they had to cut his scene because the blob was supposed to eat them. But he kept spitting him out. Oh, the whole thing was just a disaster. Anyway, here's the guy who's not always that easy to digest.

Eric the Texas! Welcome back. folks. In a few minutes, I'm talking to one of the heads of the Alliance defending freedom. We're talking about free speech, but right now I'm talking to John Zmirak. John, I want to finish her conversation about Candace Owens and Tucker, and I want to move on to Hillary Clinton. Go ahead. I was explaining that for a long time you had people on the right who were like right-wing nationalists on Israel's behalf, but when it comes to America, we're supposed to to allow unlimited Muslim immigration and racial quotas and trash the American founders.

Basically, they are multiculturalists for America, but ethno-nationalists for Israel. And that double standard was really obnoxious, and a lot of us on the right objected to it. The proper response is to ask that Jewish conservatives have a single standard, that they be ethno-nationalist for America and ethno-nationalists for Israel. And a lot of Jews are like that. But Horowitz was like that. Yoram Hazoni, brilliant intellectual, an increasing number of American Jews are now on Trump's side, on immigration. They want to look out for the American worker.

They're consistent conservatives and they're good people, and we should have them in our coalition. But I think some on the right have a resentment, a built-up resentment over the fact that so many American Jews used to have this double standard. used to want really conservative policies for Israel and left-wing policies for America. That double standard was obnoxious, and we need more Jewish people to be consistent conservatives so that we can work with them in protecting Israel and protecting America. There is a resentment, a kind of an ugly suspicion towards Jewish people that's rising among some conservatives, and I think it's diabolical. And as Christians, we have to rebuke it.

Well, when I saw that starved hostage, I thought to myself, you know, the reason I want to stand with Israel and the Jews is because of this. When people hate Jews enough to treat them that way, I want to stand with them, period. It doesn't need to be much more complicated than that. It doesn't mean I agree with everything Netanyahu believes.

But the point is that the evil that Hamas has done is very, very clear. And we've always had this weird equivalency thing that goes on where all people ever seem to do is call the Israelis, Nazis, and say the Palestinians, you know, are the new Jews. It's really bizarre. And I don't know why people can't see it. It's not that strange. It's the same thing you see in America. when if a white guy shoots people, they immediately say, oh, it's probably a hate crime.

And when a black guy shoots people, oh, you know, he probably had a really hard background and maybe his daddy drank. It's this really awful double standard where basically only white Westerners are held to a human standard. And everybody else is treated, they're held to a lower standard.

And that's actual racism, of course. We just got a few minutes left. I want to talk to you about Hillary Clinton being implicated in this scandal, which there is nothing in American history to compare to the scandal we're talking about right now. The Obama attempted coup. They basically boils down to they manually, Hillary Clinton manufactured the Russia hoax to distract from her abuse of classified emails that should have gotten her put in prison. The FBI colluded, Obama colluded, and they created the Russia hoax first to help Hillary win the election, and then to try to nullify the results of the 2016 presidential election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. They wanted to force Trump to resign so that Mike Pence, a pliable neocon puppet, would be the useless president of the United States,

and the Republicans would continue to be doormats for everything the Democrats want. and I think Mike Pence was overtly part of it. I think he was actually directly in on it. I think he was part of the conspiracy. That's my personal opinion. I can't prove that court. And that's what General Flynn believes. Yes.

And remember, Mike Flynn was supposed to get the job that Tulsi Gabbard has currently. They cooked up a conspiracy theory. They accused him of committing crimes. They threatened to throw his innocent son in prison to try to get him to plead guilty. His own lawyers were working for the opposite team. until he hired Sydney Powell,

watch the movie Flynn, or get hold of Mike Flynn's upcoming book, Pardon of Innocence. Mike Flynn has all the receipts. The deep state tried to nullify a presidential election. Both parties were implicated.

Lindsay Graham and John McCain were part of the conspiracy. Lindsay Graham urged John McCain to bring the phony Russia dossier to the FBI as a U.S. Senator and request an official investigation. So this isn't just about Obama. This isn't just about Hillary.

This is about the rhinos and the swamp Republicans. They were part of the conspiracy, too. It's worse than Watergate. It's up there with Benedict Arnold trying to sell West Point to the British. I mean, worse than Watergate. You shouldn't even say it's worse than Watergate because it's a hundred times worse than Watergate.

It's not 50% worse or 30% worse. It's a hundred times worse than Watergate. It's a new... You're the closest we ever came to something like this. Henry Wallace was Franklin Roosevelt's vice president right up until 1944. And he was basically a communist. He was so close to the Communist Party. He would have given all of Europe to Stalin.

If Franklin Roosevelt had not replaced Henry Wallace with Harry Truman, Henry Wallace would have become president in 1945 and all of Europe would have been given to Stalin. That's the closest analogy we have in American history. Well, and that's not that close because it's just, honestly, I don't think people are prepared for what lies ahead. I mean, if Donald Trump pushes this, which he must, it's going to be ugly. I mean, Hillary Clinton, for her to face the music on what she has done, that's going to be, that's going to be in some ways wonderful and in some ways tough to watch.

But really, the criminal stuff is James Comey and Brennan and Clapper. They were working for the government doing the conspiracy, using FBI resources to fake crimes and accuse Donald Trump of them. They were lying and saying that Russia had hacked the 2016 election. The people are going to be in orange jumpsuits are going to be the people who worked for Obama in 2016 and the transition in 2017. those are the people, the people around Obama, we're going to have to see Obama's staffers going to prison. Hillary Clinton should be thoroughly disgraced for this, but the crimes, the real crimes that are being exposed now

were on the part of our deep state. You don't believe Hillary Clinton committed crimes of the nature that she should be going to prison? Her abuse of the emails, assuming that statute of limitations hasn't expired, she should be prosecuted for those. But the crimes that are being exposed right now were crimes committed by Obama's CIA and FBI on Hillary's behalf to help her. And then after the election, they tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power.

They tried to destroy Donald Trump before he even came into office. Those are the crimes that have to be prosecuted now in mind. We have less than a minute, but you report at the stream that, that Marty McCarrie, somebody who's been a friend of mine over the years, haven't been in touch with him, but he is the new head of the FDA. And he has said that the NIH funded COVID. That's big news. Well, we all knew that COVID was created by a bioweapons lab run by Anthony Fauci,

who was hired by Dick Cheney to do it, who outsourced it to China, and that's where COVID came from. We've all known this, but it's been almost illegal to say it. Correct. Martin McCarrick would have been a script of his medical license for saying this two years ago. Right. That's how bad the cover of this. This is big news.

John, I'm sorry we're out of time. It's always a joy to have you. Folks, you can read all this stuff at the stream. Stream.org. Do not forget we need you to go to metaxistococon.com. We have an emergency in Texas. Please go to metastastot.com. Click on the banner.

Thank you. folks, just to remind you, the flooding in central Texas has taken over 100 lives. Many people still missing. We on this program are asking you to join us in Food for the Poor as we rush. Emergency relief to devastated families, please call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 5155 to give right now, or you can click on the banner, metaxis talk.com. Thank you. Mike Lindell and MyPillow employees want to thank you, my listeners, for all your continued support. Mike has a passion to help everyone get the best sleep of their life. He didn't stop by creating the best pillow.

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Call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 51555 to send emergency supplies or visit Metaxistalk.com. Click on the banner. Metaxistalk.com. Thank you. Folks, welcome back. It is now my joy to speak with the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Special Counsel to the President at the Alliance Defending Freedom. Ryan Bangert, welcome back.

Eric, it's always good to be back with you. Thank you for having me on again. That's a big title. But I'll just call you Ryan. And you're with the Alliance Defending Freedom. You guys are doing God's work. It's just amazing to me what you've been involved in. So I want to talk to you about a couple of the cases that you're dealing with right now.

I know there's a hearing coming up. It may already have aired by the time. I mean, it may already have happened by the time we air this or maybe today. But concerning the Babylon B. Now, that is the Babylon B is something that if you talked to me 10 years ago, I wouldn't believe that it could ever exist. It is just one of the most spectacular humor, satire sites ever. It's just beyond belief almost that it exists and that it does its job so brilliantly well.

So why is there a hearing concerning the Babylon B? Who's involved in that? Sure, Eric. So as you said, the Babylon B is a fantastic website, a Christian humor and parody site. and they have a hearing set for tomorrow, which is August 5th for your listeners, if this airs a little bit later, but August 5th in California. And the hearing involves a statute that was passed by the California legislature signed by Governor Newsom. And this law came out of an incident that happened last year, 2024, during the election season, when an online parody handle called Mr. Reagan USA posted a video, a parody video of Kamala Harris. it was digitally altered using AI and using various editing tools so that she was announcing her candidacy

in a very humorous way, sort of a derogatory way. So it was clearly something she didn't say, she didn't do, it was meant to mock her. And Governor Newsom said, this is unacceptable, we need to stop this at its route. So it passes the California legislature passed two statutes signed both by Governor Newsom. And what these statutes did was they prohibited the posting and dissemination of what's called materially deceptive content, content that would be digitally altered or digitally changed so that the object of the content would be saying or doing something that he or she never said or did, just like the Mr. Reagan ad. And it was interesting because content was deemed to be deceptive if it had a negative impact on a political candidate's candidacy. So it was

directed specifically at political speech. So you can see why the Babylon B, would be concerned about this because a lot of the content they post is satire and parody mocking candidates for political office, saying or doing things that they otherwise wouldn't say or do in a humorous way. So this squarely targeted websites like the Babylon B and would have made their content either prohibited or force them to post disclaimers on the content in a font that would be almost laughably large saying this is parody, this is satire, which in the words of Seth Dillon at Babylon B, nothing ruins a good satire more than telling everyone in giant fun, this is satire and this is parody. Now, just in case anybody needs to know how it's possible that Governor Gavin Newsom in California

could do something like this, I just want to make clear he has no values or principles. So if you get that, then you understand how he's capable of doing something like this. Because it makes no human sense. It really makes no sense. Even if you believe, let's put it this way. Even if you hate Kamala Harris, even if you love Kamala Harris, you understand there's a role for parity in America. But particularly, this is the key, particularly with. political candidates. These are public figures. This is not something you're not making fun of your

neighbor who says, I don't want, I don't want to be on the internet. Why are you making fun of me? That's mean. We're talking about public figures. So if there's anything that we have the right to comment on, to mock, it seems to me public figures, especially political figures. So in all seriousness, how in the world does somebody like Gavin Newsom get to this place? Is it simply a case, of he can so he does it, and then he's going to wait for the court pushback, knowing that there's going to be a time where he can get away with this nonsense before he has to reverse engines? Well, you know, most charitably, it's just a tremendous distrust of the American public. The American public can tell the difference between satire and between knowing falsehoods.

And quite frankly, that's why the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment, protects as one of its core objects, political speech. Political speech is one of the most highly protected forms of speech under the U.S. Constitution. Even beyond that, in United States v. Alvarez, a case that was decided by the court several years ago, it was a case involving a statute called the Stolen Valorat, which prohibited people about lying about receiving the Medal of Honor and other military decorations. The court said you can't prohibit people simply from lying. And why is that? Because one person's lives, one person's exaggeration. It injects a tremendous amount of subjectivity into the analysis. Now, certainly there are types of speech that are false that are prohibited, defamation,

commercial fraud, but they're very narrowly circumscribed. This statute simply said, hey, if you're making fun of a political candidate and you're doing it in a way that we think is dishonest, well, you can't do that anymore. And that's a tremendous, that exhibits a tremendous distrust of the American people, a tremendous distrust. A tremendous distrust. trust of voters. It's a heavy-handed approach that says, if we don't like the speech, we think it's somehow misleading or false, we think the average voter can't figure it out. We're just going to banish it from the public discourse entirely. That is completely the opposite approach that our founders took in the First Amendment. Well, this is, I guess, the point is that

how far have we drifted that somebody like Gavin Newsom could even think that this is acceptable? I mean, it's stunning to me. It's stunning to me because I think that, you know, if we have a nation of idiots that we'll put up with this, then, you know, it's the end of America. We all ought to know as Americans, we have free speech. We can say these things. If you don't know that, then you open the door for tyrants like Gavin Newsome to begin determining what you can say, how you can say it. So I guess my question is, what is the pushback now? Because, I mean, when I heard this, most people who have any sense of our liberties as Americans, the concept of free speech, most of us know that's wrong and he can't get away with it. But of course, he tried nonetheless to get away with it. So what is the pushback? There's a hearing. What is the gist of the pushback or how do you see this proceeding legally?

Well, I think we have a very good chance of succeeding on the merits of the case. X, the platform X, and also the company Rumble, as well as a podcast for Kelly Reichert, are also involved in the case now. And a few months back, the California District Court entered a temporary order that stopped application of one of these laws. And what the court said was very simple. The court said, this law targets protected speech. and it targets in a way that is vastly overbroad. It's not narrowly tailored to the problem California is concerned about. And it sweeps in all sorts of speech that is clearly protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

So the court's already given a preliminary preview of where it might be headed in this case with that order from several months ago. But now we have this law fully briefed, ready for decision by the court. And we're hopeful that the court applies that same reason. here and says the U.S. Constitution does not allow for vastly overbroad statutes like the California laws at issue in this case that sweep in huge amounts of protected speech that do it in an indiscriminate way. And quite frankly, I think the court was right when it said the best elixir for false speech is counter speech, is true speech. Let the public debate play out. That's not what the California laws do here. They stop the debate in its tracks. And the First Amendment protects

political debate. It doesn't squelch it. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was John Milton in the middle of the 17th century writing Aereopagitica, who said basically what you just said. And I kind of thought, I thought everyone knew this, you know, for the last 400 years, most people understood this. But obviously, Gavin Newsom. doesn't see it that way. And a lot of Americans are ignorant of their rights. So it is astonishing to me that a governor could be either so ignorant or so cynical or a combination of the two that he would enact a law like this. I mean, because, you know, when you heard about it, when I heard about it, you know instantly that's unconstitutional. You know instantly. But now it

has to work its way through the legal process. So he's able to get away with it for a season. For a season. But I'll tell you something, Eric, I was shocked, but I wasn't surprised by what Gavin Newsom did. And here's why, because this impulse to censor goes far beyond Governor Newsom in California. He's simply a symptom of the bigger problem. If you look at the technological environment that we're living in right now, the rise of artificial intelligence, mass communication through digital platforms like X, Rumble, Instagram, places where a tens of millions of people gather to converse and have political conversations. Those are just enticing targets for budding authoritarians who want to control the discourse. Hang on, folks.

We're going to a break. We'll be right back talking to Ryan Bangert with the Alliance defending freedom. Back on I'm talking to Ryan Bangert, who is with the Alliance defending freedom. And we've seen a lot of this in recent years. And I keep bringing up the ignorance of many Americans. In other words, if you don't have enough Americans ignorant of what the Constitution says, of what our actual liberties are, you can get away with tyranny. You can get away with this kind of stuff. And we have had a lot of, you know, especially in the last few years, a lot of these mini tyrants, you know, Governor Whitmer, a lot of these. a lot of these blue state governors really, really taking advantage of the civic ignorance that is out there and enacting laws, quote unquote, laws and so on and so forth.

And I'm really grateful to Elon Musk and X. I'm really grateful to Seth Dillon. God bless him. He's an American hero with the Babylon B for understanding how central these things are. They are really central. So let me ask you, since the Babylon B is bringing this case, they understood that this was something so important that they felt the need to step up, because this was not necessarily affecting them yet. Is that right? It was actually in position to affect them right away, because when the law goes into effect, their posts on large platforms could have been affected dramatically. But the interesting thing about the Babylon B, they're willing to speak out when their voice is threatened. But it's not just California that is posing the problem.

This is actually a national problem. This is actually a global problem. And here's what I mean by that. If you look at the national landscape, before President Trump was elected last fall, a executive order was put in place by President Biden. It was called Executive Order 14110, relating to the safe and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence. And it required, it was really a regulate first approach, but it required AI to be developed in a way that would have, and I'm quoting directly from the order, allow Americans to trust AI to advance civil rights, civil liberties, equity, and justice for all. Who knows what that means?

Uh-oh. The word of equity worries me. That's like a code word. Equity, that's a code word. Exactly. That's been repealed by President Trump, and he recently, just this last month in July, released his national AI plan, which has some very different language in it. It says in the AI plan that he released that the government will only contract with frontier large language model providers

who, quote, ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias. So slightly different wording there. But why is that important? Because look across the ocean, look at Europe. There's a law that's been in place called the Digital Services Act. And it was recently expanded on July 1st by a code of conduct. And this law allows the European Commission to censor speech all across the European Union that it deems as being illegal and dangerous.

And illegal and danger, illegal conduct includes things that, quote, have negative effects on civil discourse, electoral processes, and public security, whatever that means. And if a platform violates this law, it could be fined up to 6% of its global revenue. We're talking, think about the revenue that X brings in all across the world. Now, 6% of that is a very large number. This is a law in place right now in the European Union that President Biden's executive order, which has since been repealed, was echoing and trying to bring him. here into the United States. So there is a global contest happening right now at a very high level

over who is going to control the way that these large AI systems are developed, the rules that are put in place to dictate how speech is protected or not on those platforms, and who will decide. So this is a global contest that's happening right now. The California lawsuit is just a microcosmic example of this broader contest that we're seeing play out. in real time. I'm particularly fascinated by this conversation because I'm writing a book on the American Revolution right now. And when you look at how, I mean, I feel like what you're talking about is ripped, or I should

say is ripped right out of the history book. I mean, the battles that we were having in the 1760s in the United States, before it was the United States, the 13 colonies, talking about our rights, our liberties. And it's kind of interesting because, you know, you have the British Constitution. Ostensibly they bought into this in the 1680s, but they drifted and drifted by the time you get to King George III. Not so much. They drifted away from it. So you have the Americans calling them back to what their Constitution says about liberty given from God.

I mean, it's so fascinating to me that this goes back and forth through the decades, through the centuries. And here we are again, where we in America. America, at least those of us who are conservative, understand this issue, but many Americans don't understand it. And our friends in Western Europe definitely don't get this. Kier Starrmer, the prime minister in the UK, and many other leaders in Europe, they're with King George the third on this. They're not with, you know, Sam Adams and John Adams and the founders of the American Republic. They are really still stuck in this idea that, you know, we don't really, really, really believe in free speech. And they're enacting it where you're talking about right now. When we come back,

I want to talk more about it. But it's the EU's Digital Services Act. This is important, folks. This is very important. By the way, Ryan, you've written an article on this. Folks, you can read the article at lawliberty.org. Go to law, law, liberty. org and you can get all of this there lawliberty.org we'll be right back. Picture show second balcony was the place we'd meet second seat go Dutch street you were sweet dark ashamed of we used to laugh we used to cry Welcome back. I'm talking to Ryan Bangert is with the Alliance defending freedom.

And we're talking about free speech. And I was just saying, Ryan, that I'm amazed how really only Americans get this. This is what amazes me. Or at least, I shouldn't put it that way. There are many in Europe who get this, but their leaders don't get it. So the idea that in Germany or in the UK, you could be fined or imprisoned for speaking your mind. To most Americans, we just say, wait a minute, that's fundamentally wrong. But many Americans have gotten confused.

It's not about being right, folks. It's not about is what he is saying right or wrong. No, no, that's not the issue. The issue is, does he have the right to say it? Does he have the right to? Do you have the right to say something which somebody else would say, well, that's just absolutely wrong? maybe it's objectively wrong, but you have the right to say it. And what is the context for that? And so that's kind of the issue. And I really think that as we, you know, proceed in the country,

trying to take the country back from the woke lunatics who've kidnapped it, we have to recatechize the culture and help Americans understand what does free speech mean. There is nothing more important. And so I'm fascinated with what you're talking about with regard to the EU that, because I know that Trump, President Trump, has recently said some things. I think he said it to Kier Sturmer when they were together, but that the European elites do not have the right, particularly to tell Americans what we can and cannot say on social media. That's exactly right.

In fact, J.D. Vance, when he spoke at the Munich Security Conference back in February, directly took the European leaders to task for their lack of commitment to the abiding principles of freedom of speech. And I think that you said it very well, Eric, that we have to recatechize the American public and the concepts and doctrines of freedom of speech. And that's exactly what we, at Alliance Defending Freedom, believe we need to do right now. And that's why we brought the lawsuit like the one on behalf of the Babylon, B, challenging this law in California, which again is just a symptom of the broader problem. That's why we represented Pivey Rassanen in Finland when she was prosecuted criminally for simply putting up a post on X containing scripture. That's why we represented people like Adam Smith-Connor in the UK who was arrested on the sidewalk because he was praying silently near an abortion clinic. These are the types of things.

They seem like very small moments, but these small moments add up to a pattern of disrespect for the First Amendment for freedom of speech, not just here in the U.S., but globally. And we need to recatechatechize the people of the West in the value and the promise of freedom of speech and free discourse in the combat of ideas. Like you just said, it's simply, it's not about whether or not you agree with another person's speech. And famously, we've always talked about the old saying, you know, I may disagree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it. and that kind of attitude and that kind of disposition toward freedom of speech is necessary. Because as you've pointed out, Europe has gone far, far, much further than the U.S. has in terms of disrespecting and clamping down on speech through laws like the Digital Services Act. And we need to make a strong statement here in the U.S. that we're not going to allow that kind of regulatory regime to come across the Atlantic Ocean and take root here in the United States. And that's why cases like the Babylon B case are so important.

Well, I just want to say it again, Seth Dillon is a hero, the folks of the Babylon B, they're heroes, folks. They're fighting for us. The lines defending freedom is fighting for us. This is important. This is very, very important. It affects every single one of us. And I guess, you know, Ryan, what it really boils down to is having principles. I was saying earlier that Gavin Newsom, he doesn't seem to have any principles.

He doesn't seem to be able to think cogently about what is constitutional. That doesn't trouble him. He just wants to get away with what he can get away with so he can empower. But in America, we have to have principles. We have to understand what is free speech exactly? What are the limits of free speech? Why can't I yell fire in a crowded theater? That is a legal limit of free speech.

It's like, no, you don't have the right to scream fire in a crowded theater because a lot of people will run and hurt them. themselves and whatever, there are limits to free speech. What are those limits? Americans need to get that. And I really think that we've been a healthy nation because mostly we have understood this. Europe really never understood this very well. And I'm just fascinated that because America has so much power in the globe, on the global stage, I should say, that we have the ability by God's grace to push back against Europe. And I really do think it was wonderful when J.D. Vance in Munich a few months ago says to these European elites, like, hey,

you know, you want us to stand with you to be a part of NATO. Well, we used to share some values. But what I see, your abrogation of free speech in your countries, you don't share those values. And if we don't share those values with you, why should we be united with you in NATO? You have to think this through. And the fact that he was willing to push them on that, and that Donald Trump is willing to push them on that and say, listen, you can do what you want. It's your country. But you want us to ally with you. You want us to stand with you.

You want us to say that we are allies and we stand for the same things. Do we stand for the same things? In many ways, we have not stood for the same things. And unless you stand for those things, you know, we're going to look at you through jaundiced eyes. We can't take you seriously if you're imprisoning your own citizens for saying things simply because you disagree with those things. It's an extraordinary moment in world history right now. It is. We're calling them back to first principles, just like you said, Eric.

In fact, the House Judiciary Committee released a report, a staff report on July 25th, calling out the EU for its draconian speech regulations in the Digital Services Act. And here's a question I think that we all need to be thinking about, which is, is the EU going to look more like the United States, where freedom of speech is enshrined and protected in the First Amendment, or is it going to look more like China, where we know what's happening, where social credit systems are being used to dictate and govern people's every inch, square inch of their lives, where speech clearly is not protected, where the Chinese Communist Party has a stranglehold on what people can think and speak. In fact, I was just listening to a TED Talk podcast over the weekend. Children in school now have these EEG hats attached to their heads as they're studying so they can monitor teachers can monitor the level of attention they're paying in class. I mean, that level of control over people's minds is astonishing. What will the West look like as we enter the AI age, as we enter the digital age where AI is now integrated into everything we do?

Are our principles of freedom of speech, free discourse and free debate going to control? the day or are we going to go the way of China? That is the question that faces. Wow, that is the question. Folks, I've been talking to Ryan Banger with the Alliance Defending Freedom. Ryan, thank you so much. Absolutely. Thank you for having us on. So much going on in the news. I never know where to begin, but one of the things that I find interesting, as the news gallops along, we forget stuff. And most of us have already moved way past the nightmare of the floods in Texas. it's horrible, but then something else happens, then something else happens and something else happens,

and we forget about it. Well, the folks in Texas are suffering right now, and they need our help. And so they put the word out. This is an emergency disaster relief situation, and our friends at Food for the Poor asked us to ask you to help. So I just want to say, let's not forget our friends in Texas. You know, you know, do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

If you have lost your home or your business and you're living in a tent someplace with your family right now waiting to get back to who knows. I mean, this is the stories go on and on and on. I want to thank those of you who've already given, but I know most of you haven't yet been able to do that. So the relief operations are underway. We're continuing our efforts with food for the poor. They are there rushing emergency relief kits. this is what your money is doing, rushing emergency relief kits to people throughout the flooded area. Texas Governor Greg Abbott had the privilege to meet him and speak with him.

He says that the lives lost in this tragedy are still being tallied. Actually, we've got a clip from him. Let's play that. The numbers that I have of those who have lost their lives statewide in this flooding episode in the month of July. is now 135. Those who have lost their lives in the Currville area because of the floods is now 116. We will continue the search for everybody in every single region that was affected by these devastating floods. All right, that's Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

So a gift of $50 rushes an emergency relief kit to a hurting family displaced by these floods, $100 gets a kit packed with supplies to two families. Whatever you can donate will make a powerful impact for the men, women, and children who are suffering right now in central Texas. So I want to remind you to the top of our website, there's a banner. Metaxistalkysotococon.com, there's a banner. The relief kits contain hygiene items, diapers, emergency medical supplies, essentials needed to ease the crisis facing these flooded out residents. and to remind you, Food for the Poor is working with a trusted partner in San Antonio delivering shipments of emergency relief supplies. So if you can help, this is a big deal. Now, some of you listening,

I know, can give a lot. If you can, I don't know, you've heard enough about these floods. Let me give you a phone number as well. It is 844-863-4673, 8473, 844-863-48-6-7-3, 8467, 844-8-6-3-6-6-7, or you can simply text metaxus to 51555. Text metaxis to 5155.5. We really need your help. Before we go today, I want to remind you of our friends at the Herzog Foundation. If anybody listening to this program today is interested in homeschooling or you've thought about it, you don't know whether you can do it.

You're interested in getting your kids out of public schools because you understand that what they're learning there is not what you would. want to teach them. Maybe you're interested in Christ-centered K-12 education. Our friends at the Herzog Foundation are there to help you. They're not asking for anything from you. They want to help you. Herzog Foundation.com is their website.

Hertzog is H-E-R-Z-O-G. Hurtzog. Hurtzog Foundation.com. And I've said this, and I will always say it, education is everything, folks. If these kids, you know, that are, getting this Marxist indoctrination in public schools. If they get the truth, this sets them up for life and this is our future. And I keep meeting kids that have been homeschooled. And I'm amazed at their

wisdom, at their knowledge. They are the hope for the future to use a cliche. So go to Herdsog Foundation.com. HerdsogFoundation.com. And then to remind you finally, metaxis talk.com, help Texas at the top of the page.