The Josh Innes Show - I Think I'm Growing/Maturing

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

I think I've finally learned to stop fighting with idiots on social media. That has to be some sort of growth for me, right? Let me offer a few examples. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And by the way, if you were someone that's been, people have attempted to cancel multiple times, you'd probably hate those fucking people too. It kind of goes back to that argument that I've made before about cancel culture. It's like if you haven't lived it, or it's like this, here's a good example. Back when my mom's husband, Don was alive. Don was a cop. And what did I tell you guys on the pod before? that I cannot respect these people who just openly and just and throw a blanket over cops and say all cops are terrible. Cops are fascist, cops are racist, because my mom's now dearly departed husband Don who is a wonderful individual, wonderful man.

Once you're calling all cops racist because it's easy to do and it gets you cloud on social media with a bunch of fucking communist lunatics, I can't respect you. If your viewpoint is that all cops are racist, I can't respect you. And that comes from spending over a decade of my life with my mom being married to a guy who was a wonderful police officer. But people can't operate in that world. People have to operate in a world where everything is absolute. Everything is a fact. Everything is a blanket being thrown over things. There is no middle ground.

And again, I am a middle ground person. We discuss this all the time on this pod. There are certain things that you're going to say, wow, this guy's super right-wing wacko. And then there are other things where you're going to say whatever. Like there was some guy challenging me, and I didn't respond. to it because it's stupid and it's fruitless. What I'm starting to learn, at least you guys, hey, you guys may appreciate this. One thing that's happening with me right now is I am learning to just say fuck it and not engage

with people on social media because it's truly pointless. And then the second you start engaging with them, like I run out of steam. Like they have all day to sit around and just be like, fuck you, let's go. Like a let's dance, partner. And they'll just sit there. And they can't be reasoned with. people who've already made up their mind about something cannot be reasoned with. And it doesn't have to just be political shit either.

Like yesterday, Eli Manning didn't make it to the Hall of Fame. And maybe we'll talk about that in another pod. Maybe it's not worthy of a whole pod. But Eli Manning didn't make it. And I retweeted someone who's like, how was Eli Manning not a Hall of Famer? To which I said, Eli Manning had two wonderful plays happen on his behalf that if they wouldn't have happened, he doesn't win two Super Bowls and he's just a guy that was just

kind of blah. Was a 500 quarterback, all this? And then of course, you see someone come back at you and the argument they'll make it was 11th all time in passing yards, blah, blah, blah. And then you go click on their profile to see how legitimate they are and there's a person like with Eli Manning is their fucking picture and like Giants fan number one.

You're like, okay, I'm not going to argue with you because there's nothing I can say. That is one of the great things you can learn. One of the great things you can learn. One of the great things you can learn as someone in life is you have to be able to learn when you cannot win, when someone is not going to budge and just get the fuck out. And it's something that I'm finally starting to learn because I just don't feel like dealing with the headache of fighting with people whose opinions will not be changed. You know whose opinion you're not going to change about Eli Manning? Like, you know, go blue 12 Eli fan for life.

Like you're not going to, you will not win. And when I'm learning more and more is you will never win with these people. Even if they're not a psychotic with Eli Manning's pictures, their profile. You will not get these people to budge. People are set in their ways. People believe what they believe. And there's no point in arguing with them. And that's what I'm starting to learn.

And that's what I'm starting to appreciate a little bit more is that you're not going to change their fucking mind. So why try? Especially when you go look at someone's profile on their fucking pictures, Eli Manning. And they're trying to tell you that you're wrong about Eli Manning. Well, I'm a truly casual, not a casual observer, but an unbiased observer. I don't give a shit about Eli Manning one way or the other. In fact, I love watching him on the Manning cast. I'm a big Manning cast guy.

But I'm not going to win that fight with Eli Manning fan 12 on social media. Their opinion will not be changed by Josh Ennis arguing with them. And all I'm going to do is have to argue with them. And any point I bring up, they're going to say is invalid. So what's the fucking point? And that's like, that's kind of the, again, that's kind of growth, that's human growth, I guess, right? Like there's an element of growth that comes with that.

There's an element of maturity, which I guess could be considered growth, just another name for growth. You're just like, you know, who give it? Like, what's the fucking point? How maybe that's what this podcast should have been called. What's the fucking point? Or what's the point? WTP, what's the point? Why fight with someone who you're not going to change anyway?

And that's something that I've gradually learned. And now it's just like, fuck it. I'll retweet a bunch of people and make fun of their tweets. But I'm not going to engage with you because what's the point? And that's kind of how it is when you deal with these political fucking zealots. So then you get political zealots. And their whole standpoint is the mag of people are in a cult. What are you, Ann?

You are going to vote for Trump. And he's a fascist and a racist and a xenophobe and all this shit. Okay, cool. Then why were you lying to people and telling them that Joe Biden was a functioning human with a functioning brain when he's clearly not? So you lied for somebody and you covered for someone and you misled people and convinced yourself that somebody was capable of something because he's the leader of your group. you allowed for someone who'd never been elected into office, elected to any position, or even got the nomination, I should say, didn't even get the nomination to be your candidate for president. And you did that just because you hate the other side so much. What does that make you? You're not willing to see anything on the other person's side. What does that make you? You're in a cult too. But why fight with people on that? It's stupid. It's pointless. It's fruitless. Why would we do that? So then what you get is you get these.

celebrity people. Now, celebrity people are the biggest stooges. The only people that are bigger stooges than celebrities are the people who admire the celebrities and believe that their view on anything is both legitimate, which it's not. It's performative. And it's the same people who, like, will read something the celebrity says and believe that these people have your best interest at heart. The ultimate is this, and I'll play this audio from Molly Rainwell, bless her heart, Like who would give a fuck what the what 16 candles has to say about any fucking thing. But like Molly Ringwald. I'm watching this video of Molly Ringwald.

Molly Ringwald is sitting in her bedroom, I guess. She's on a bed. It would seem or a couch or a futon. I don't know. Looking all despondent and sad because the world is ending and everybody's a fascist and we're all going to hell and America sucks and all this shit. And I'll play the audio in a second. But it's like, we are now in a world where I can no longer be silent. So great. Congratulations to Miss Molly Ringwald, who is on social media no longer being silent, while people who are out on the streets doing her bidding are getting shot.

Like if you want to prove something to me, Molly Ringwald, going to social media from, I'm not going to assume she lives in a mansion by any means, but I'm sure she lives in a nice place. I'm sure she's got a couple of bucks. I'm going to guess she's not super broke. She probably did well with her money. Whatever, right? So you want me to believe that Molly Ringwald, who's sitting maybe in a gated community, community, maybe not, probably at least doing well enough to be comfortable, not someone who's having to work nine to fivers or double shifts or two jobs to make ends meet, that this person whose bravest thing they could do is speak up. Like, I'm letting my voice be heard. How is that person heroic? Like, look, I don't view this dude that got shot as a hero, just like I don't view Charlie Kirk as a hero or any of these people as heroes. I don't believe in making people martyrs because they got shot. And it's like, well, this person's a hero and they died for, you know, cause. Like, I don't believe in that.

If you want to say that someone died doing what they believed in, fine. But we throw around the term hero, just like the right wing wackos are like, Charlie Kirk's a fucking hero and say his name and say her name, say her name. And then on the flip side, the other group's like, say this name, say this name. It's the great, you know, battle of 2026 with these say her names. But I'm watching these people, and I refuse to call any of these people heroes. Like, I don't believe the guy that got shot in Minnesota is a hero. It's like, the guy shouldn't be dead, but he's not a hero.

Right. But anyway, I digress. So you watch these people, and you're Molly Ringwall, and you're sitting your pasty ass back at your house in your bedroom, letting people know that you can no longer be silent. Well, if you'd like to be someone who's a real hero, Why aren't you the one that's out there in the street kicking in the tail lights of the cars and going face to face with ice? Isn't that kind of like putting your money where your mouth is? And that's what you see with a lot of these celebrities.

Basically, all they do is sit behind gates and walls and security and mansions where they all have millionaires. All millionaires, mind you. 30, 40, 50, 60 million dollars in the bank. All want to tell you how the government's communist. All want to tell you how the world is ending. all want to tell you that we're fucking our poor people. Oh, well, they are set for life and they will never have to worry about anything and they will live in mansions and their life is fine. I would respect these people more.

Like, I wouldn't mock Molly Ringwald if Molly Ringwald said, I'm tired of this shit and I'm going out to protest. I think by and large, protests are fucking stupid on anything because whatever. But like, let's say you go out and protest and put your money where your mouth is and maybe put yourself in harm's way because maybe that could be you that's face to face with the ICE officer. If you hate these ice people so much and you're so willing to go out there and tell the world how terrible all these ice people are, pretty and pink, why don't you go out there and stand face to face with them and tell them that they're scumbags and terrible and that they're fascist and that they're racist and that they're Nazis and that they're actually, if you're Stephen Colbert, they're worse than the Nazis. Why don't you do that? Why doesn't Stephen Colbert do that? Why doesn't Bruce Springsteen go do that instead of writing a fucking song about Minneapolis? That's my problem with celebrity people who don't put their money where they're not.

their mouth is. That's my biggest issue with these people. If you're truly appalled by it and it's not just performative and it's not just you putting on a show for people and it's not you doing what you think you're supposed to do to get the reactions that you need out of people so people know that you're an ally and they don't want to cancel you. If all of that's the way this works, then why don't you go out there and go to one fucking protest?

Why don't you take whatever money you have from the secret life of the American teenager, Molly Ringwald, get on a plane and fly to Minneapolis. Hell, at least Ashley Judd during like the vagina hat era of the I am a nasty woman. At least Ashley Judd got her ass out there. Ashley Jud was at the protest. Ashley Judd had the megaphones. Ashley Jud was out there doing the fucking job. What are you doing?