The MeidasTouch Podcast - Defending Democracy with Fred Wellman

Episode Date: June 1, 2021

On today’s special Memorial Day podcast edition, the brothers have an incredible interview with Fred Wellman, Executive Director of the Lincoln Project who served in the U.S. Army for 22-years as an aviator and public affairs officer, including four combat tours in Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. We discuss what Memorial Day means to Fred, how Dems can use their power to influence real change and WTF is wrong with Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn. The episode also focuses on personal anecdotes of the deep ties to the Armed Forces within the Meidas family. Make sure you tune in every Tuesday and Friday for NEW episodes of The MeidasTouch Podcast! Get your Meidas Merch today at store.meidastouch.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/meidastouch/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/meidastouch/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. Ben Micellus joined by my brothers, Brett and Jordy, on this special Memorial Day edition. We have Fred Wellman, executive director of the Lincoln Project on our podcast today. Fred, in addition to leading the Lincoln Project right now, served in the United States Army for 22 years as an aviator and public affairs officer, including four combat tours over Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. After his career in the Army, Fred served in the private sector, helping service members before joining the Lincoln Project in their Veterans Affairs

Department before becoming executive director. Super excited to have Fred on the show. Brothers, how are you doing today? Doing well. Honored to have Fred on the show today. I actually went to my first vaccinated party over the weekend, which was an interesting experience for me. Actually seeing people and literally anybody who was unvaccinated or did not believe in the vaccines was not allowed to show up, which I loved. They were rejected. Fantastic. I saw photos of that party, Brett. I'll tell you the truth. I don't know if I've developed like a social phobia being at home or maybe I just don't like parties in general, but just seeing all those people

together, like at a party like that, I kind of thought to myself, I'm like, what's the point of this? By the way, I felt the same way, like going out. I was like, oh my God, I can't believe, I can't believe this. But, but I actually had a good time. I think the thing that shocked me the most about it is guys, did you know, handshakes are back and hugging is back and kissing hello is back. Like I thought, I thought those things were going to take like a very long time to make their way back. If ever, I would thought we were going for fist bumps. I thought we were going for some elbows and then just straight to it. I was like, Oh, okay. We're, we're, we're, we're doing this. I don't know, Brett works. I don't know what, I don't know what your take is on that

Jordy, but like, I'm never shaking anyone's hand ever again. Let's just be clear. Well, let me ask you this. If someone puts out their hand like, hey, it's very nice to meet you, you won't reciprocate and stick your hand. You'll do like a Howie Mandel fist bump. Howie Mandel was right.

Let's be clear. Howie Mandel was prescient. And he knew exactly what he was talking about when he had this phone. No, I'm not going to shake anyone's hand ever again for the rest of my life. I'm not hugging. I'm not kissing kissing someone on a cheek.

Wild. Let's let's that crosses many lines in this day and age. That crosses way too many boundaries. You're 100% right. If you let me fucking talk, I could give you my perspective of how I feel about this. So just give me a second, all right? Oh my gosh.

Yeah, well, I was trying to get, you'll play back the tape. I was trying to get a word in for the last 10 minutes. Could not get one in edgewise. I'm angry. And I'm also angry because I'm hiding like an enemy territory right now.

I'm hiding in Trump country in the woods in Pennsylvania right now for Memorial Day weekend. Everywhere I'm looking, man, there's Trump flags. There's like Blue Lives Matter flags. Like it's a freaky place out here, you know, and deep in the woods in Pennsylvania, I'll tell you. Talk about fist bumping and kissing. Oh yeah. Spank. Sorry. I got thrown off. Kissing. Absolutely not. That's egregious. Totally agree. I think shaking hands-

Egregious behavior. Egregious behavior. Absolutely. But look, I think at the end of the day, there's a fundamental need for human to human connection. Jordy, enough. Enough. Enough. Okay. Let's move on to the important stuff. Just joking, Jordy. You got to talk about it. Jordy, go. You're

trapped in the woods. We were just kidding. You're trapped in the woods. You're having a lot of trouble protesting. You can't protest, Jordy. Just go to the microphone and talk. Please tell your story before we move on. All I was going to say is I think there is a need for human to human contact. I think humans need that.

I think kissing crosses some boundaries and it is just a little bit gross to think about. But I think handshakes will make their way back. I'm going to say if you don't want to stand out as much, maybe lose the tie dye shirts and the glass like there's their ways of blending in while you're in Trump country is all I'm saying. Yeah. Jordy right now is wearing a tie dye shirt with a Midas touch cap. I think they're going to know, Jordy. I think I think they're going to know. But but changing gears slightly, I do want to talk, though, about Memorial Day, you know, and Memorial Day being, you know, in a very important American holiday where we remember our service members who lost their lives fighting for

our freedoms. You know, at Midas Touch, we may have talked about it before on our podcast, but for those who know Midas Touch may know some of the background here. Our grandfathers on both sides were in the military. Our grandfather on our father's side enlisted in the Air Force, and he was a psychiatrist when the Air Force was extremely short on psychiatrists, and he treated those who suffered mental illness as a result of war. And that's where the MIDAS, the MEI comes from in the MIDAS touch, our last name, Mycelis. On our mother's side, our grandfather, Murray Golden, was 16 years old, and he actually had forged a birth certificate to join the United States Air Force. He operated a tail gunner on the B-29 Superfortress bomber planes

and flew a ton of missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal for Extraordinary Achievement while participating in aerial flight. And the award came with the following letter. And this is a letter that we have and we cherish in our family, which is the individuals were combat crew members on a B-29 aircraft engaging in a major incendiary attack on the Tokyo port and urban areas, taking off 26 minutes late after overcoming last minute mechanical difficulties. They arrived over the target alone when all defense activities

were alerted and the city was already ablaze. On the bomb run, the aircraft was under intense anti-aircraft fire and searchlights. Just prior to the bombs away, while their plane was in a nose-down altitude in a 70-degree brink, a terrific thermal caused by an explosion in the target area tossed the aircraft 5,000 feet higher instantaneously. They recovered control of the plane and released their bombs on the target area. Under constant danger of enemy fighter attacks,

engine failure, and difficult navigational problems, these individuals displayed great courage and determination in overcoming all obstacles to the enemy. The superior professional ability and devotion to duty reflect great credit on themselves and the Army Air Forces. And that was by Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Officer Charles Eisenhardt, who wrote about the mission that our grandfather, Murray Golden, and that's where you get truth is golden. And fortunately, our grandparents survived war. But I remember both telling us about people they knew in war who had passed, friends and colleagues who died in war. And they always left an impression on us.

And I just think about that story, Ben. I mean, his plane was headed down on a 70 degree downward trajectory towards the ground to crash, to crash. And he had just suffered mechanical failures. And really by, I don't even know what you call it, luck. I don't know how you even describe this, but an explosion is actually what caused the aircraft to lift up and get back so that they could take control of this plane and complete their mission. I mean, the bravery, the horror of that moment, what it must have been, and the fact that had that gone the other way, I mean, think about the ripple effects that when you lose somebody at battle, the ripple effects that that happens on society, to families, to lineages.

I mean, there would be no us. Our parents wouldn't be here if things went the other way. And I think it just shows you the great sacrifices that our troops are putting their lives in front of every single day. And that's why I think it's important to take this day and honor everybody who devotes their life to service and who risks their life for this country and for democracy. And it's why I feel so motivated every single day to fight for democracy and to keep these values that our ancestors fought for going, because it's so important and it's really what our country was founded on. It's what we need to keep up. Yeah. Look, at the end of the day, we are lucky that our fight is we're on a podcast, you know, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, we're on YouTube.

We make, we get to make incredible videos. We get to get our messages out on billboards and we get to fight the way we do. I mean, but we have to understand that the world is a very dangerous place and the threats posed by people like Trump and the GQP are existential. was a time where our grandparents were fighting fascists overseas. And now we, as shocking as it sounds, have to fight fascists within our own borders. And I think about, as we tell that story about our grandpa who was in the Air Force, I think about another Air Force veteran. I think about Brian Sicknick, who was an Air Force veteran and a Capitol police officer who was killed defending the United States Capitol. And I think about the terrorist attack on January 6th, the most obvious and most dastardly manifestation of an out-of-control fascist Trump strain in our country that wants to attack and overthrow democracy that our loved ones and our ancestors fought to preserve, you know, our great constitution. And I think about all of

the state legislatures that want to pass voter suppression laws, that want to take away the right of people to vote and to try to turn our country into a fascist state. I think about the failure of GQP members to show any sense of integrity and by not allowing the most basic of basic things, an investigation into what happened on January 6th insurrection. If they can't even agree to the threshold of let's investigate the terrorist attack on the United States Capitol building, if they can't agree to that, there's no conversation that you can have with these people. There's no conversation you can have with the people. Imagine sitting down at a dinner table with people you meet for the first time, right? And the very first thing they say to you when you sit down is, fuck you, I hate you, you piece of shit. And then you sit down with them.

Are you going to think you're going to have a good conversation with these people? Do you think that you can literally interact with these human beings ever again? The manifestation of what the GQP said is we hate you, government. We hate the United States. And then you have people like Manchin and Sinema and others saying, well, let's talk to these people. Let's, let's hear about, let's, let's go back to dinner with those people and let's see what they want to

say. Maybe they were just having a bad. Are you, are you saying mansion and cinema or a BDSM Democrats there, Ben? Well, you know, I don't want to offend the BDSM community.

I think you learned. I think you learned your lesson last time. I learned my lesson last time. I tried to warn you. You're king-shamed. You can't king-shame. The BDSM community is a strong and proud community. And I got many DMs. And it was an important point, though, when I make mistakes.

Because BDSM is always, when practiced appropriately, consensual. And what the BDSM community pointed out to me, to be honest, guys, what they pointed out to me is that the fascism and the hate that's being thrown on our democracy by the GQP is non-consensual. And so I just want to make that clear. Man, this show has some range. I got to say, guys, we cover it all. I mean, I think you just learned a lot about our country and about BDSMs, all in one Midas Touch podcast episode. It's pretty impressive. But I think what you're also getting at, though, is you're the company. What are we getting at? I'm trying to get us away from BDSM. So, I mean, you are the company you keep at the end of the day. And I'm not talking about BDSM, but I'm talking about these Republicans. are people like Michael Flynn, who is a disgraced former national security advisor who had to be pardoned by former President Trump, who is now going out there and is saying we need a Myanmar

style coup in America, a military coup in America. When you have these people looking up to the Sidney Powells of the world, when you have these people looking up to the Ashley Babbitt's of the world, who is somebody who was brainwashed by QAnon to storm the Capitol and try to kill our representatives. And she got killed while the Secret Service was defending the building and the Capitol Police was defending the building. When you have people who look up to people like Kyle Rittenhouse, who drove across state lines and murdered protesters, it's not something that you could really look at and solve and negotiate with. And so when you have the people like Manchin and Sinema, who think that they're going to be able to reason with these people. They are so misguided. And to me, they seem so nuts to me. I mean, the commission to investigate the insurrection lost by a final

vote of 54 to 35. Let's get that straight. 35 Republican votes in this country beat out 54 votes. Beat it out. 35 is more than 54 in the system we have. And Joe Manchin's like, oh, well, the filibuster is an institution that we need to retain. And then he acts so upset after the fact. Well, I'm upset that my Republican colleagues didn't take this seriously. It's like, dude, this is what we have been telling you. Like, I don't want your fake outrage. We need to adjust the system. We need to get rid of the filibuster because right now what we're dealing with is an existential crisis between democracy and fascism. And at least Manchin, though, showed up and at least showed some gumption that he needed to be there. But Kyrsten Sinema and the Democrats didn't even show up. She didn't even vote. She didn't even vote. She didn't even go. And she had the audacity

to call out Republicans for their vote. She didn't even show up. And I don't know what the hell is going on with Kyrsten Sinema, but I'm tired of politicians acting like they're Democrats, getting elected by that D next to their name and then not living up to their oaths. Also, if they're not genuinely don't know what's going on with cinema, though, like what is happening with this woman? And I mean, cinema and mansion. It's really it's really bizarre. I mean, and at the end of the day, though, I mean, mansions in West Virginia. And so he's not going to get primaried cinemas in Arizona, like cinemas going to get

primaried. And I would fully support someone primarying her because if she wants to go in there and if she wants to, you know, you know, vote or stand up for what she's going to do, do it. Like, I just don't understand. I genuinely don't know what she believes or doesn't believe. Like there are sometimes I think I'm like, OK, cinema is like, you know, here's here's where her value set is. And then she comes back and then does something like not showing up for a vote on the January 6th insurrection. And I'm like, who is she trying to appease in this one? Well, I think my take on it is I genuinely think the Republicans just posing as Democrats. Pineapple. I mean, she's an infiltrator.

Pineapple. They're in these red states. Pineapple. You know, but Mark Kelly ran on Mark Kelly, the other senator who ran in Arizona and won. What does pineapple mean? Does that mean I was saying something dumb and you wanted me to stop saying it? That's a safe word for you, Jordy. When you say something.

Pineapple is Jordy's safe word. I'm glad we made that clear. I picked up on it, but I wanted to make sure the audience understood why you shouted. That's Ditch Jordy's BDSM safe word is pineapple. But Jordy, you got to realize in Arizona, Senator Mark Kelly won.

That's what I want to correct. Jordy's going to go somewhere that I think is a little outside of pineapple. Here's what you want to correct. If Jordy's going to go somewhere that I think it's a little it's a little outside of. Here's what you guys just did, which you don't understand. My next three days of Twitter life are just people going to be

tweeting pineapple at me and sending me pineapple. And by the way, you just you just made it worse and made it a self-fulfilling prophecy. So so way to go. But my point being is Senator Mark Kelly won

on a very progressive platform, on a on a very pro-democracy, pro-Big D Democrat platform as well. And so I don't know what Kyrsten Sinema's – I don't know what her calculation is here because, first off, Republicans have not been winning in Arizona. Despite all the craziness, despite the cyber ninjas, despite this just psychotic Republican Party in Arizona, they've lost like every race that they've done in recent history. And Democrats are winning. And I think she needs to really reconsider why she's in the Senate. And I, too, support a primary challenger against against Sinema because because I'm just disgusted by it. I mean, I guess it's a good thing she didn't show up in curtsy and give a thumbs down to the insurrection vote. I guess that's I guess that's better than that.

But but extremely disappointed with her for not showing up. I think as a Democrat, you have a duty to show up and do your job and vote for democracy and vote for investigations into attacks on our country, not take your day off before the holiday weekend to get an extra day. I think that's disgusting. What do you make of this GQP kind of feigned outrage over Kamala Harris tweeting, enjoy your long weekend? So Kamala Harris tweeted, enjoy your long weekend. And then everyone in the GQP was like, how dare she say, enjoy your long weekend. What the, you know, what a horrible thing to say. Fox news tweeted out disgusting disrespect. Vice president Kamala Harris ignites outrage over misfire Memorial day tweet. And then 22 minutes later, Fox News tweets out, cheers, Memorial Weekend 2021 cocktail trends with photos of alcoholic beverages.

I think that pretty much just sums up your kind of GQP performative nonsense. Look, I want to be the first to say this. I think that Kamala Harris's tweet was a bit odd. I mean, she has a lot of staff behind her and a lot of people. And so you would think that they'd be like, you know what, let's maybe focus the language a little bit on acknowledging those who lost their lives as the first tweet out. But that said, it wasn't, you know, this weekend, she's not playing golf like Trump did. Literally Trump. Yeah. She's actually out with the troops this weekend and spending time not just on Twitter, but by the way, I could guarantee you all these people who feigned outrage over it. I could guarantee you the last thing they said

before they left their offices to all their employees was enjoy the long weekend. I could almost guarantee you that that's the exact wording they used to everybody because it's just how it's how people speak. I mean, you have a long weekend. It's a holiday weekend. It means a lot of things to different people. I don't think Kamala Harris was in the wrong at all. And I think the feigned outrage is just that it's feigned outrage. And I don't take any sort of outrage about patriotism or about the meaning of this holiday from people who attack our military every single day, from Ted Cruz, who literally posted Russian propaganda against our military last week, from all these people who supported an insurrection against our government, then voted to cover it up.

I don't support any of that. And especially the party that now just pledges fealty to a man, a Florida blogger who does everything he can to tear down this country, including the statement he made yesterday on his blog, which was far worse than Kamala Harris's statement. And I wouldn't normally read his statements, but I think we should just to show a contrast in the feigned outrage here, because I didn't see any think pieces from Politico about Donald Trump's statement here. He said, with Memorial Deacon coming up tomorrow, people start driving in the biggest automobile days of the year. So that's right there. This is what Trump says the holiday is about, the biggest automobile day of the year. I'm sorry to say the gasoline prices you'll be confronted with are far higher than they

were just a short couple months ago when we had gasoline under $2 a gallon. Remember, as you're watching the meter tick as your dollars pile up, how great of a job Donald Trump did as president. Soon Russia, the Middle East will be making a fortune on oil, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. Other than that, have a great Memorial Day weekend. That was Trump's statement yesterday. So you tell me what's more offensive. I can't. It's the referring to himself in third person that always gets me. I mean, that's just a banana land statement.

Pineapple. Pineapple. Definitely. You were expecting that I was going to bail you out with a pineapple. I don't know, man. Am I so in your head right now? Yeah, I'm completely. This is some brother mind jujitsu. You're totally just deconstructed.

Should we go to Fred Wellman? I think we should go to Fred. All right. So Fred Wellman is standing by on the Midas Touch podcast. As we mentioned before, Fred is the executive director of the Lincoln Project, all around great guy and veteran who served in the United States Air Force for over two decades. Fred Wellman will be joining Midas Touch podcast right after these messages. What's up, Midas Mighty? Thank you for making the Midas Touch merch store one of the, if not

the most popular destination for pro-democracy merch from t-shirts to mugs and, of course, the best-selling vaxxed wristbands. I can't wait to be out in town getting coffee, getting dinner, whatever it is, and seeing people rocking their wristbands. These wristbands are amazing because it's an easy way to let people know that you've been vaxxed and are following CDC guidelines. They say Midas Touch right there on them. You know what we like to call them? The perfect GQP repellent. That's exactly what they are, Brett, because it lets people know, to your point, that one, you're vaxxed, you're making a safe community for the folks around you. And two, maybe even more importantly, right up there, you're not a Fox News watcher.

That's what these wristbands let people know. And let's be real. It's just a matter of respect, right? We're all going out. A lot of people are going to be kind of uneasy being around other people after being locked in for a while. And it's an easy way to just let your neighbors know, let your friends know, let your overworked barista know that, hey, I followed the guidelines.

I'm vaxxed. You don't have to worry about me. We're all in this together. And so you could get your vaxxed wristbands at store.midastouch.com. If you're still masking up, you can get your vaxxed and relaxed masks at midastouch.com. We got all vaxxed and relaxed gears. We got koozies, which are going to be great for summer. I'm excited for summer right now with the Midas Touch merch. And I've seen people showing us photos that they're receiving their tank tops and everything. So go check out store.midastouch.com. Get your

pro-democracy gear today. That's store.midastouch.com. Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. We are joined by none other than Fred Wellman, Executive Director of the Lincoln Project, who served in the U.S. Army for 22 years. So it's a privilege and honor to have you, especially here on our Memorial Day episode. You were an aviator and public affairs officer, including four combat tours in Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Fred, overall friend of Midas Touch and great guy. Welcome to the podcast. It's great to be here, guys.

Thanks. Great to be on the show today. I appreciate it. I really sound old when you read that bio. It's like, holy cow. Do we cuss on here? No, of course. Unfiltered. Get that shit out.

No, you can definitely cuss on here. Fred, one person's age is another person's accomplished but i'll just give you a random story right now so i went to the dodger game thanks to you know the efforts of a competent government that people can be vaccinated i you know i had been to really a sports event in forever you know i'm talking about feeling old when i saw the players birthdates and I saw these players in front of me. It reminded me when I like went to like when I was in college and I started

looking at middle schoolers and I'm like, yo, I'm old. Like when I was at this game, I was like, oh my God, these are like little children. I feel like there are all these markers throughout your life where that happens. Like once, once celebrities start becoming younger than you and and then you realize oh my god this per like lady gaga's 27 are you kidding me like once once you start making these connections you're like oh my god i've done nothing

next you know but i'll tell you this that this here's another good marker though for everybody out there they're listening so and i don't even know why I'm going on this tangent, but Obama graduated from law school when he was 32 years old. By the 12 years later or 13 years later, he was president of the United States. So anybody can accomplish anything in any period of time. So I'll leave you with that positive thought. So Fred, going back to the podcast, and I think you're very accomplished, not very old, but tell us on Memorial Day, specifically Memorial Day 2021, what does this day mean to you specifically in the context of the fight that you and Lincoln Project, you know, did and where we are today?

Well, it's always, you know, Memorial Day is funny. It's a weird, I think I expounded on it a little bit online. It's a weird day. I lost my first, I lost two men in a storm way back in 1991. And, you know, when I was young. And so it really kind of shapes your career when you lose men. You know, I was 25 years old. And so you kind of carry that with you. And then, you know, as you go through life and you, and you keep up the different fights and we've gotten, I got one to war four

more times, three more times after that. So Memorial day tends to really be sort of a solemn time. I go into Memorial day. I think I imagine I kind of clear my calendar out and just sort of prepare myself to just kind of spend some time thinking, but it really is, with the fight we've been in, I joined the Lincoln Project as the Veterans Affairs Advisor back in August of last year, and as we were really ramping up the campaign and getting in there. And it really was just like carrying on my service. I see this as a fight for our country and a fight against authoritarianism,

no different than taking down Saddam and the authoritarianism governor. And it's always been very weird for me. I think I tell the story often is, you know, I had a weird experience, even though I was an aviator during the first OAF1, I ended up doing civil affairs and working with Iraqi villagers. I built schools, we built clinics, and I visited something like 22 villages and ate lunch and you know helped them grow and it was such an interesting experience to sit there but what was really

unique about it what carried me through a lot of this last year in this fight with link a project the fight continued against authoritarianism and the march the creepy march for terrorism in the united states is i remember specifically you know asking i was talking to dr muhammad it was the sheikh i worked with, and we were just starting to get the IEDs going off in our sector. And I said to Dr. Muhammad, I said, I don't get it. I mean, these bombs are going in in broad daylight, a lot of them. They're digging these holes next to the highway right in broad daylight. How does anybody, why aren't they seeing it? Why aren't they reporting it to us so we know we're saving lives. And he said, he says, Major Wellman, you must understand something

that in Iraq for 35 years of the dictator, you learned not to see things. You know, you did not see the men coming in at night and taking away your neighbors. You didn't see the men, you know, who, you know, where the family disappeared. And so now we do not see the bombs going in. And that's how you stay alive in a, you know, in a dictatorship. And I've always taken that to heart. And I think one of the battles we are fighting, I think that we're collaborators in this fight is, is that that creeping complacency, right? That we can't be complacent in the face of authoritarianism, we can't be complacent. You know, it's just, it's like we say today, it's, oh, Trump is gone.

Is he? Because we all seem to be very comfortable and look at the Texas legislature. How did they stop the voting law in Texas last night? Democrats walked out. You know, it was the only way they could stop the creeping authoritarianism. So I spent a lot of my time telling people,

you know, and this fight's not over. I lost an uncle in Korea in 1951 and during the chinese invasion and he uh i liken it a lot china right you fight and you take a hill and so we had this fight we took the hill in november and we're staying on top of the hill and and our allies a lot of the democratic party members a lot of other people in america especially a lot of voters, like, yeah, we took the hill. You know, it's done. Victory.

Look at it. This is nice. Let's put in a nice house. Let's build a nice place. And I feel like I'm on top of the fucking hill going, but y'all see the Chinese, right? Like, no, no, it's cool, man. Like, but there's a giant fucking whore, like, right there.

No, no, dude. I mean, they're going to be here soon. Do you see them? And everybody's like no we're good dude let's pass some legislation like you know i feel like i feel like i'm i feel like a fool i'm up here screaming you know on the top of the hill like i don't know what you guys are but i see all these bad guys come in and that literally is what we're seeing right now right and that's why we continue to fight it's why for me on memorial day i'm just i'm working right it's

like this fight's not over um just because trump's off Twitter doesn't mean he's gone. So that was a long answer to a short question. But and going to this creeping fascism, we are also basically a year to the day where, you know, Trump went to Lafayette Square, you know, in that authoritarianism, you know, press, you know, you know, press move. And, you know, it it really was, Fred, the fight, you know, we're used to thinking about these, you's, you know, and and looking around. But like, I still don't think people truly understand that. Had this gone the other way, had Lincoln Project not done the fight, had other groups not fought the way they fought like America as we know it was probably wouldn't it would never be the same. It would probably be a fascist, crazy spot. I started to think and what's really scary scary the one i talk about a lot and especially the lafayette park and other things we've seen is how the the institutions are

institutions are so unprepared for this moment you guys you get it right it's like that the lafayette square is a perfect example we're talking about it was it was it was not trump or trumpist who were beating those beat reporters from australia that that vicious swipe with a riot shield on a reporter that it's been burned into our consciousness. That was a park policeman. Okay. That was, these were government employees who took the orders and execute the orders through tear gas at peaceful protesters, beat reporters that night. One of the most horrifying things that I still think about,

because as you guys know, I'm an old Hunter first airborne aviator and, and, um, which is my ridiculously gaudy Hunter first patch, which is those helicopters buzzing the streets that night where they use, they actually used two air ambulances, a UH 60 and another one to buzz the crowds, to break up the crowd. That's kind of thing we did in Iraq, uh, you know, to break up crowds crowd. That's the kind of thing we did in Iraq, you know, to break up crowds. And American National Guard pilots did that against people just mowing the streets. I mean, the bending of our institutions is what surely really terrifies me, you know?

And if Trump could do that in four years, imagine what he could have done with eight and where our institutions would be, you know, in four years. I mean, we used to joke a lot about it you know we gathered in park city utah the team for the election and one of our running jokes in the lead of the election was like if this thing goes wrong you know who are we going to bunk with in guantanamo because i don't want to you snore like shit man you know

my son's like god i don't want to live with you i lived with you before like nah dude we're bunking up bro but i you know you know we're arguing which bunker again guantanamo but you know i don't know man it could have been you know it's like you know my wife had the bag packed on election night sorry to interrupt my wife literally had a suitcase packed because she was so terrified as to what would happen if trump won the election given all the work that we did. It feels like hyperbole. I made the stupidest mistake. So I during the election. So I think I'm like, all right, I got to get out of I was living in downtown L.A. So I'm like, yo, I got to get into the mountains and just be away from all of this. I go to Big Bear, California

to kind of just hide out and like the whole Big Bears, like Trump country. And I didn't realize. And so I'm literally like... You didn't think that through, did you? Hey, look at Idaho. It'll be fine.

Yeah, I did not think through this. I think there's layers to that though, B. I think you're hiding in plain sight. I think that's a very strategic move. Yeah, when I went to Big Bear and i got my little cabin i looked around i was like oh shit this may have been this may have been a bad idea but but but one of the things too about art was our institutions ready or were institutions ready you know i i'm a big fan of the broadway play hamilton but i think think Hamilton almost needs to be redone because in Federalist Paper No. 64, Alexander Hamilton stated, the president so chosen will always be

someone whose reputation of integrity inspires and merits confidence. So I don't know if we need to do a new Hamilton song about how wrong Alexander Hamilton was because not that way. We talk about the vision. We never, I don't, you know, none of these guys, you know, these guys, especially these are, you know, the Republicans are very obsessed with the founding fathers

and they just didn't see it. They just didn't believe that a person like Trump could come in. And I think there was a belief that, you know, the old checks and balances, how often did you hear the checks and balances argument in 2016? Nah, it's fine because the courts will control them or don't worry, Congress isn't going to put up with being

stepped on. And they turned into lapdogs and welcome Matt and just got walked all over and willing accomplices because they saw the power. And let's be honest, you see the money. I mean, when you got Marjorie Greene raising $2 million, I mean, as wacky as she is, there's a money train to be had. I mean, it always goes back to money and power it's funny it was the other thing dr muhammad told me i'll let you know jesus i learned a lot in iraq i i think i actually say my twitter bio is i actually was educated in iraq and uh i i used to tell him it's like you know why these men doing this i don't i don't understand that he goes us money and women like wow just like america you know okay well i'm not gonna okay that's weird um

but do you think it's it's money and empower um just to stay in and when you start digging you find money uh you know they want to stay in power they want us to you know we joke about a lot mitch mccoll didn't have a dime to scrape the guarantee took it took office now he's 34 million dollars yeah and sometimes it's occam's razor right sometimes it's the simplest explanation is the ultimate explanation one thing that you you had commented on this uh it was a statement by andy astroy which i thought was so apt especially today he says only in today's highly diseased republican party by the way i think that is probably an understatement to call it a disease. But only in today's highly diseased Republican Party could a decorated war hero like Michael Flynn, who has called for an outright coup against the American government.

What do you know? I knew we were in trouble. I knew we were in trouble in 2015. That day when he said a religious conference, by the way, everybody forgets I was actually a religious values conference when he said that, that he didn't think John McCain was a hero. He doesn't like people who were captured. And that, that should have been the death of his campaign. I mean, we should have seen, you know, all the veteran service organizations I work with as a professional in the, in the sector for 10 years. I ran, you know, I think you guys, you didn't mention, I ran a, I ran a company that was specializing in veterans and military family causes for 10 years. And so I was a professional veterans advocate and I thought, oh, this is it.

They're all going to put out statements and their members are going to turn. I mean, the idea of crapping on a decorated hero who spent all those years in the Hanoi Hilton. I mean, my God. And he didn't just shit on John McCain. He shit on everyone. Literally, I like people that weren't captured. So every POW ever doesn't count to Donald Trump. And not only did that not happen, they kept supporting him.

I mean, what I saw instead of my Twitter feed, I saw in messages from my veteran service organization colleagues was, well, you know, McCain is, you know, yeah, sure. He was a POW, but his politics is shit. It's like, Holy shit. I knew we'd, that is literally, I'm telling you guys, that's literally the week. I knew we'd stepped into the looking glass. I knew we were in a wholly different place politically in america that terrified made my blood run cold and i knew i

couldn't be republican wars that was literally i mean that's the moment for me as a veteran um as a son of that my family has served we literally have had people served my moments have served in the military in the united states before there was united states literally the french nending war you know when the british marched through my the village of the United States before there was United States, literally the French Nini war, you know, when, when the British marched through the village of the fields of Lynn, Lynn, Lynn, Massachusetts, they picked up one of my grant, my grants ancestors took him with them. And then we had a minute man fight from the Mansfield militia in

Massachusetts and marched at a Lexington alarm and participate all the way through Trenton for seven years. I mean, we, we have been fighting for America since before there was America. I served, my sons served, son-in-law. So I'm looking at this and saying, my God, this is a guy who just shit on every public, you know, POW history. And our systems that should have turned on him didn't.

And, you know, getting elected as commander in chief of the armed forces. It's just, that's when I knew we were really in trouble that this, this country and this, the institutions that we relied on and every sector of our country simply weren't prepared for a man like Donald Trump. And we see today, nothing's changed. You know what I mean? I, I, you know, the fact that Marjorie's still in Congress, you know, I mean,

it's gotten worse. You know what I mean? Right. I mean, it's like, holy shit. I mean, how, how are we unprepared for something like that? You know, I've noticed in speaking with, you know, leaders of the of the Lincoln Project, you know, some have come on the podcast, you know, some some who are friends and also from people who, you know, previously identified as republican or conservative i want to kind of tie all these conversations together fred because it seems like there's nobody anymore who says nobody literally i mean there was some i'm not even saying lincoln project before some saying well i still think there's a shot there's nobody who's saying we're republican and and mostly we spoke to charlie sykes charlie sykes says conservatism is dead. You know, conservatism, as I knew it in the past, is no longer even a thing. And he goes,

I have to reflect on my career. This was a clip that we posted on Twitter that's gotten close to half a million views. And he goes, I have to reflect on it and go, conservatism was this thin facade that was over this gigantic avalanche and boulder of crazy fascism. He goes, I have to admit that. And so now it seems that where we're all united together is we're really the same, pro-democracy. We support our institutions of government. We support the military. We support law enforcement. We support America. And the other side doesn't. Is that a

fair assessment or am I overstretching it? Well, that's it. And I think what it, what's really unique too, is the way, one of the things I said after January 6th a lot, you know, Brian Sicknick died, you know, he was an air force veteran, but Ashley Babbitt died and she was an air force veteran. And both of those veterans thought they're on the right side. Right. Ashley Babbitt was convinced that she was supporting independent constitution by invading Congress.

OK, think about that for a second. You know, she, you know, Ashley Babbitt was, you know, there convinced that you saw the tape she did before she went up, that she was convinced that she was there, you know, for the right reasons. So it's not black and white anymore. Right. I i mean i took an oath to support and defend a constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and so we're really in this weird that's how twisted the republican party this authoritarianism this these institutions become that we've convinced people who are conducting violence against the government that they're on the right side of the you know i'm saying and so so it really makes you think it's like fuck you know i always i always go back to that meme in one of the movies the two nazis talking are we the baddies

and and so how twisted have we become that's not it's such an easy answer of course you're the bad guy you you freaking kicked down the doors of congress you you brought you brought a freaking hangman's noose you brought gallows uh bear spray you attack police and and we've got people we've got congressmen you know just the other day the you know gozer was saying that ashley babb was a martyr who was murdered it's like holy shit man i mean she was climbing the window of the congress of the chamber the chamber of the Congress, of the chamber, the chamber of the House of Representatives when she got shot. How is that the good guy? And so that's what I think is scary

and why I think we're struggling. I think all of us still struggle with it. It should be such an easy answer that these behaviors, one sticks with the obvious addition and now I can't believe we're having a conversation, but we literally have Congress has walked away somehow voting 35 to 54,

35 votes beats 54, but what a great system we have. Makes sense. You know, and so again, the institutions just simply aren't there. It's terrifying to me. Again, I gave my entire adult life from the ages. I got to West Point at 17. I was in the army until I was 40 fucking something.

You know, and 44, geez, I'm old. And that whole, I was so clear, black and white. My services, my nation, I uphold and defend the Constitution. Thing, easy. And now in the last five years, we've seen black and white isn't black and white anymore in the country. What is it with our institutions, do you think? Do you think they're too bound by the idea of norms, quote unquote, in order to handle this fascist movement? What's going on? Yeah, yeah. Well, everyone wants to go back to, everyone just can't believe, it's again, it's the denial, it's again, I think it's just like what I was saying earlier about not seeing things.

We're just in, so many of us are in a state of denial. We just want to go back to normal, right? We like our, even look at the, and I love the media. But the political media is challenging. They keep they want to go back to the norm. Of course, there's both sides. Sure, Trump did these horrible things. But Joe Biden flies on a dough every weekend. So clearly, the same, you know, I mean, it's just, that's where they want to go back to normal. They don't want to say, well, that guy was a lying shithead who skipped a little World Day ceremonies. But gosh, you know, Vice President Harris said, have a good long weekend. Like, same thing. It's this desire to go to a norm that there's no longer. So we as Americans just simply don't see it.

We don't see that so much of what we believe in is lying on this fake facade of normalcy. So let's get back to normal. Like, let's go. And that's one of the frustrations we have with our colleagues in the Denver. I have, I can't say we won't speak, but I have with our colleagues, the democratic party, the leadership, I've been very harsh last week. I'm not, I'm still a Democrat. I am a registered Democrat. I vote Democrat here in Virginia.

But I'm frustrated because they are still trying to fight the last war, right? We do this, you know, they still think, well, we'll just go back to normal and we'll do great policies and we'll have votes. It's going to be fine. It's like, no, normal's fucking gone, guys. There is no fucking normal. There was normal stopped when that giant jackass came down the escalator and his to announce his candidacy. And so all of our institutions, like these are creatures you look at and God bless them. You know,

but Chuck Schumer has been in Congress forever. Nancy Pelosi's a warrior, like no other warrior, but she's been in Congress forever. I talk about my general, even general officers in the army whom I have a lot of respect for. A lot of my former peers are general officers now because I got out fairly young. And they're not, they don't see it? They don't see that the systems that have existed are being broken and that there's the, they don't see the big holes. You know, I've been doing our budget. I'll get it, it's a pretty good,

so I'm the executive director of the Naked Project, so I've got the budget, it's awesome, right? Yeah, it's a good deal, right? So I've been doing the budget and you look at your, it's like when I had with my former corporate, when my corporation I ran, I did the budget, and you discover it's like, why are we losing money? Or why are we, I can't account for this dollar and you look at your budget like it's all

there but then you realize there's these gaping holes right and you have to dig in you have to dig in and you dig and if on you get a very detailed chart of accounts you're like oh okay now i see where every dollar is going it's like any budget right you do it at home like why am i spending so much money well i wasn't counting you know and mcdonald's hits right yeah everybody does this at home right why are we broke well fuck dude you spent a thousand dollars mcdonald's and also why you're fat but you know it's the same thing i think that's the same thing our institutions and these people who are so used to a process and a system that they've been growing up through they don't even see the holes they're looking right at it and don't see the truck that is donald trump leaning over the wheel driving his fucking semi truck through a

hole in our systems and our systems are you know that's the theory and i think trump has so muddied the water right going out there and saying every day lock her up lock her up you know saying all these things pushing criminality on people who were following the law. And now that his administration actually engaged in so much criminal conduct, and now there is this creeping authoritarianism, there's a hesitancy of the media to want to call it out because they don't want to be like, oh, well, we're sounding like him. If we say Michael Flynn should be prosecuted for sedition. And I saw this whole analysis, too, of ads.

And it reminded me of what both you and we do and it said that the democratic ads were so focused on republicans are great let's reach across the aisle and work with republicans and they're so they're so good to work with and meanwhile the republican ads at the house were communist socialists, you know, like over the head. And they were saying that was a big contributor to the loss or not, not the loss of the house, but to the reason why we didn't gain any seats, why we actually lost some seats last cycle. So, I mean, where do you think the messaging needs to be in that respect? Do you need it? Do you think we need to be saying every single day, these are traitors, these are fascists,

these are every, every ad should have one six in it. Every ad should have Lauren Boebert tweeting out the location of the speaker. Every ad should have MGT. Every ad should have Paul Gosar saying that the, the, the, the address were right. You know, again, every, every look at this guy's, this guy's running an Arizona. We're all getting, he's getting a lot of love from us right now.

Cause he's right. He's using his uniform to run for one of my pet peeves is reservists and national guards and military use their uniform in their ads i spent like i railed on doug collins through the campaign because he did it so there's a young man who's running in arizona i won't make his name because it doesn't need felicity but so we've been doing that and it's it's this guy is like using his uniform in his ads and he's running against aoc i'm going to take out aoc okay dude he's running in Arizona. Okay. AOC represents a portion of New York. She's one of 10 congressmen from New York city. Okay. So if everybody's not running against MGT, you know, margin to RMTG, they're not running against Boebert. They're not running against Gates. And then why not? You know, and the

seditionist, I mean, this is a party that decided that overthrowing the government was an option. AOC has got a lot of power. unfortunately, if you remember, Texas blamed her for their outages. Yeah, of course. For someone who runs a district, who's a congressperson in a district in New York, she's got a huge power. And it works. It works. And it is. It is manipulation. But it's working like a champ. And so how do we fight that? Well, we paint them the same way.

We have to fight hard. The thing about you guys and think about us, I think, that makes us different. And I saw – you see all this – I love all the ads. Like, oh, you guys were in effect. I'm like, oh, I'm saying we're pretty good. I mean somebody is paying for all these hate mails against – I mean somebody spent millions of dollars on hate mail about us after the election. So we pissed off somebody with a lot of money jerky by the way i'm not gonna name names but all those studies names we don't we don't you know but all those studies were written by your competitors

also right right so that we can we can say the thing and i'm happy to do that we're you know it's weird for me to get up and be the guy who's gonna i'm i'm actually a big cuddly pussycat really i swear to god i'm a grandpa you knowuddly pussycat, really, I swear to God. I'm a grandpa. I've got little grandkids. But we're willing to – we've got to be willing to fight. We've got to be willing to say the harsh things like, look, this was an insurrection, that this was supported by the Republican Party. Now they're covering it up.

They are seditionists. They are traitors to their country. The fact they don't want an investigation, it just shows that they've got something to hide. What are they hiding? And I think we've got to hang that around their neck every damn day until the next election. So actually the next two, because the fact is these are the people who actually participate in an effort to overthrow our government. And that's it make you feel, Fred, when you yourself spent 22 years in the service, when your family, a long line of Wellmans, served this country, and then those people turn around and go, we're the patriots. I'm woke. Really? Yeah, good one. It is disheartening. And they've riven our community. The veteran community at least used to be fairly united in the last five, six years. And really, to be candid, it started with Obama even. There was this growing.

You guys will probably remember because you didn't follow it. During Obama, a reserve, I think it was a National Guard reserve officer, doctor, I believe, refused to deploy to Iraq because he would not accept orders from a guy who wasn't born in America, wasn't eligible to be president. His argument was that Obama shouldn't be president. And so this has been going on for a while. And Trump has been masterly grabbing those people and using them against us. I think we, you guys and us, I mean, we have to fight back the same way. You've seen our ads. We keep asking Trump, why is the Mitch McConnell's making so much money off your name? And that's horrible.

That must really piss you out. Yeah. Yeah. We do. We run ads at Bedminster. No shit. You know, because, you know, you really should know that, you know, Josh Holmes and Mitch McConnell make a ton of money using his name at fundraising.

And that must really make you mad, Donald. And so they need to hash that out. And whoever picks the pieces is fine with me. But, yeah, we have to fight back. And for me, as a family of real patriots, I mean, it sickens me that name can't be used. I was just up there with my girlfriend in Massachusetts, in Boston, and we went and visited the cemetery in Linfield, Massachusetts. And right there at the city square is three Wellmans, all Minutemen. And there's a special cemetery just for the Minutemen.

And they're highlighted. They have flags on them all the time because they're three Minutemen. Those are patriots, you know, and some cosplaying jackass, you know, throwing on Chinese body armor and, and, and, and knock off a gear, call himself a patriot, defend the country by invading our Congress is not a patriot. And we need to take it back from these guys. We need, we need to show who they are. They need to go to jail.

So you guys tell you what, trying to invade Congress is not keeping your oath. Absolutely. Hey, Fred, to that point, Sidney Powell, what the fuck? I think that says it all. By all accounts, right? She's she's an incredibly well-educated person. Look, she graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She got a B.A. there, her J.D. there. She was accepted into their law program at 19, a former federal prosecutor. And yet she goes around the country spewing these QAnon lunacies, telling people that, hey, just hang in there. Trump's going to reclaim the presidency in a few months. Just stay with me.

My question is, hey, does she believe this or is she just trying to profit off of this MAGA movement? My personal belief, though, at the end of the day is if you're a 30 plus year lawyer, I don't think you need the money. I don't think you wake up one day, though, and you say, hey, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to call my buddy Michael Flynn. And I'm going to say, hey, can we maybe run this weird Ponzi scheme where we go around the country trying to take people's monies and maybe overthrow democracy along the way? That's my personal take on it. But what do you think? Is she doing this strictly for

profit? And of course, Flynn. There are birds of a feather. You mentioned Flynn. They're both the same. I mean, they're on the same stage this weekend. I think, honestly, I wish I had a great answer. I don't have an answer to that. I do believe there's money to be made. I do believe there's power. She enjoys the spotlight. Then she says offhand, well, I know you would believe me what I'm saying. I was watching the video from yesterday. It doesn't seem like even her heart said it anymore. Oh, yeah, it's totally

going to happen. Anyway, let me get my check. It's just bizarre. I'll tell you what. I do believe in my heart, and this is going to get us in trouble, but Flynn's done it for the money. Flynn, if you guys understand the way the military works, these guys, they serve, they make general, once you make three-star general, you're a made man.

You're going to come out of the military, you're going to get a bunch of board seats and defense industry boards. It's a great deal. And most of them overwhelmingly earned that. I have no problem with it. But Flynn got fired from DIA by Obama because of his bizarre

his bizarre behavior as the director of the defense intelligence agency we did dictating what women could wear you know you know obsessed with islam islamic terrorism and not paying attention anything else it he ended up getting fired for a reason and it took him it ruined all that because no defense contractor is going to hire a guy for their board if the president united states fired him right and so he's just been and ever since then he's been bitter because he thought he was going to be a made man and he's not now he's selling freaking t-shirts the guy sells q anon t-shirts on his website okay you know and and there's another institution i and i've had very robust discussions with mark hurling who i have great respect for the town general mark hurling retired

mark and i kind of get it if you follow us on twitter we kind of we duke it on twitter regular basis and then we're friends but you know we disagree i i've been saying no the system didn't work the fact that he made it that far and now the system is silent while he spits on everything we served for every every oath we took you know this lieutenant general uses his rank and all this stuff is his freaking handle on twitter is general flynn it's um again another example of completely nobody knows what to do it's like this nobody nobody saw this coming um and now this creeping authoritarianism he's hundred and something plus generals and flag officers and admirals that signed that letter uh condemning the biden administration it's like my

god it's just you know again another institution is just bleeding its reputation. And you're seeing it now, guys, I don't know if you guys know, if you follow it, but the military has had the highest reputation of any government institution, actually any institution for a decade or longer, 7% approval, just ridiculous numbers. And for the first time in my memory, that's dropping. In the last year, the military's reputation with American people has dropped, has gone down. That's a direct reflection of this, I think. I think it's a direct reflection of the politicization and the way that these administrations, the private administration, dragged the military into their political fights. Having General Milley walk across Lafayette Square with them in uniform, it's just shocking. So again, I think the theme of this conversation ended up being, are our institutions prepared? And they're not. And it's showing. And now it's starting to show, actually, reputationally. And I fear for the nation as far as it's showing in our actual ability

to do our jobs. Fred, that's what led to the creation of Lincoln Project. It wasn't like, hey, we're all going to get together and create the Lincoln Project. It's the same, hey, we're all going to get together and create, you know, the Lincoln Project. Same thing like with us, like we're not political people. I never thought I'd somehow even be involved in politics in any way, but I just couldn't, we couldn't sit on our couches as we saw, you know, what was going on with the country. So maybe we take this interview, you know, and we leave our listeners with some good news, though, which is we did we did take the hill, you know, but though. But and we've learned a lot of valuable lessons together, collectively, individually from those wins. immediate concern and rightfully so. How are we going to keep the House in 2022 for the pro

democracy Democrats and not let the fascist Republicans take the House? Well, we're moving forward. The Lincoln Project is as you know, we're still here. We're still fighting. We are we're putting together a playbook for 2022. We've actually selected a number of races that we're going to focus on. It's not what you might expect. In the end, our mission is simple. It's just like one of the things I always say that drives me crazy about some political campaigns and non-vote parties is, and the Democrats have been accused a lot of this, is the only thing that matters is winning the election, right? The only thing that matters is holding the House. The only thing that matters is holding the Senate. So while I want to spend all my money throwing myself at races that we may not win,

it's not right for my win, it's not, it's not right for my donors and it's not right for the nation. Our mission in the end is to keep the house. And so that's been a big focus for the Lincoln Pudge. So we're going to go after races that may seem odd, like California. I don't know. I don't know about you guys, but I'm confused why there's any Republicans representing California at all at this point, right? Why are there any, why is Elise Stefanik in Congress in upstate New York, right? So there's these races where these folks, these Trumpists won by two or three points that are very winnable, that if we invest wisely and we win those races, look, I don't want, and I'm already agreeing in Congress,

I don't want Matt Gaetz in Congress. But when Matt Gaetz is in an R plus 30 district or whatever it is, you know, we can kill ourselves all we want. But what I do want to exactly the candidates I was thinking when you were right. I want to I want to. But I want to keep I want to keep I want to keep him the minority at least. Right. So we're a little bit pragmatic about these things, you know. And so we're going at we're going after this 2022 set pragmatically. We're going after the open seats. We're going after the seats that were only won by two or three points to ensure that if nothing else, when the dust does settle, when the bombs do stop falling,

we rise victorious with the Republicans still in the minority on both houses and the White House is able to continue doing its job. And so we're in the fight. We'll go after these guys because we have to fight back. It isn't Lauren Rootin' tootin' Bobert. But in the end, the only mission that matters is keeping the House and keeping the Senate. And I hope the Democrats approach it that way, too. And look, Fred, I think, you know, after the election,

because of the success of Lincoln Project, and we saw this, too, to some degree with the success of Midas Touch and fulfilling our mission, you know, that we had to deal with all of these haters and frankly, losers, you know, with the loser mindset, which led to Trump, you know, and Trumpism, you know, that it's that loser mentality that enabled that. But look, I think Lincoln Project is stronger than ever. You know, and I think, you know, you are, you know, with with your able leadership, you know, a force for 2022 and for the future. And we're proud to call ourselves, you know, partners with you in this battle to save our country. And we appreciate your friendship and your support. Likewise, I was great. We partnered, you know, it was great meeting.

We actually maybe now we partnered in Georgia when I just like, I think I texted one of you guys, Hey dudes, let's, let's party. We can't thank you enough for that. Yeah. And we, we got to work together in Georgia and we're working together now because it is, we're on the same mission. It's the mission is preserve our nation. You know, like a product, you guys know, I can't sit here and say there hasn't been scandals and challenges in the

last four months. I took this job, you know, in the midst when it all started. I knew that when I came in. Like, this is an organization and mission that matters. I know for a fact that many things we're accused of were wrong, and we've proven that since, and we'll continue to prove that. We're wrapping up some very key pieces of that part of our mission. But we're stronger for it. Again, the thing about a crisis, the thing about these kind of things is it's like forge. You know, we talk about a lot when you forge steel right what do you do when you forge steel

you melt it and you hammer it you melt it and you hammer it and and when you make a sword you melt it you hammer it and it makes it stronger the strongest steel has been put through the fire and i do believe that organizations your organization too as you've been through some stuff as well we are forging fire and and so now we're ready and what we survived with all the stuff that's been thrown at us with all the hate that I get in my DMs. It's great that keep those up. I really appreciate the DMs, everybody. And I do screenshot them to send them to police. So go for it. You know, it's it is we're stronger for it. I've got a I've got a great team.

I've got people in the pirate ship that want to be in the pirate ship now are there for the right reasons to fight. They're dedicated. They're they're well taken care of employees and others and professionals and leadership. So in the end, all this did, I think, was make us stronger. And for the next phase of this fight, now you've got an organization that's been through some hell and we're ready for more. Fred Wellman, thank you for your service to this country and thank you for joining Minus Touch Podcast this Memorial Day. Appreciate it, guys. Thanks. We'll be right back after these messages. What's up?

Midas mighty Ben, my cell is here joined by my younger brothers, Brett and Jordy. My cell is, have you got your Midas merch gear? If you haven't gotten your Midas merch gear, I don't know what's taking you so long. I got my gear. Most of the Midas mighty got their gear. If you haven't gotten your Midas merch gear, I don't know what's taking you so long. I got my gear. Most of the Midas Mighty got their gear. We have some incredible stuff. Isn't that

right, Brett? That's right. And with the new CDC guidelines that say you no longer have to wear masks indoors or outdoors if you've been vaccinated, a lot of people have been asking us, how do you let people know you've been vaccinated? How do you know if you're around other vaccinated people? A lot of people are concerned. But, you know, we already thought about this, guys. We got our Vaxxed and Relaxed merch line. You could get it now if you still want to wear masks, if you still feel comfortable wearing masks around indoors or outdoors. We got the masks.

We got the tees. We got the shirts. We got it all. And we got more on the way. So let people know you've been vaccinated. Shop at store.midastouch.com to get yours. And that's not all we have. We got the all and we got more on the way. So let people know you've been vaccinated. Shop at store.midastouch.com to get yours. And that's not all we have. We got the Club Democracy gear.

We got the shout out to the Midas Mighty gear. We got it all. Go check it out at store.midastouch.com. Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. Great to have Fred Wellman join us on the podcast. And one of the things that stood out to me in that interview was that he can't call, he struggles to use the word patriots, even though he's such a patriot. His whole family is a family of patriots. You know, John McCain such a patriot. His whole family is a family of patriots.

You know, John McCain is a patriot. These are true patriots. And as he said, these people who are buying knockoff riot gear and knockoff military gear who've never served before, who charge the Capitol building or who wear, you know, barbarian outfits like those people are using the name patriots. It's disgusting. And, you know, I noticed for a second, like you could visibly see when you were talking to Fred that like he was legitimately sad as he was, you know, and he had a good sense of humor throughout

the interview. But there was a moment, I'm not sure if you caught it, where it was like, yo, he was really sad as he was reflecting on that point. Well, think about it. I mean, he spent his whole life in the service. His entire his family has spent like their entire lives. I didn't know that. That was a wild like before America even began like serving the country. So I mean, and then imagine now you have just these weirdo cosplayers putting on like fake uniforms, storming the Capitol and acting like they're real patriots. It's got to be really upsetting as someone who's actually fought for this country, who's someone who's actually risked their lives for this country. And I think there are probably so many other people who have served and who are serving like Fred, who feel the same way. And I feel like these people are muddying the word, have ruined the word patriot and are really destroying this country at the end of the day and everything they fought for. I mean, can you imagine going overseas and kind of no matter what your thoughts are on many of the wars that we fight, often the stated purpose of what we do is we're trying to preserve democracy around the globe from external threats. And then you come back home after dedicating your life to that mission, and democracy is under threat right here in America, and you have to confront authoritarianism right here in America. I think that's got to be so and everybody who listens to the show needs to stay engaged how you can, because just remember how hard everyone else has sacrificed for your ability to tweet, to text, to make phone calls, for us to get our billboards up, for us to get our TV ads up, and for us to be taking the fight the way that we do before we get to that point of no

return, which we got to be fighting every day to ensure that we never get to. Jordy, closing thoughts. Hey, this is a great podcast. Fred Wellman is an unbelievable guest to have today. I'm so grateful to have him on the show. Great being with you guys. Just thankful, thankful to be with you. Thankful for all the listeners out there. Please follow us on all socials when you can. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, always at Midas Touch. It's funny. I think some people don't quite realize that we're on all these other platforms also. I had somebody say, oh my God, I didn't realize you guys have this huge Instagram thing going on. And yeah, we're on Instagram at Midas Touch. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. I thought I had the closing thought.

Yeah, but you weren't emphasizing it enough, so I just had to emphasize it for you because you blew right past it. We're on Instagram at MidasTouch. We're on TikTok at MidasTouch. We're on Facebook at MidasTouch. We're on everywhere.

We're on Twitter, so follow us wherever you are. Let's keep fighting. Jordy, Kona Sugarloaf, Parnambuco, Smooth Cayenne, Red Spanish, Queen are all different types of? Safe words. Pineapple? Pineapple. Shout out to the Midas Mighty!