Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 154 | Phil's Hocked Wedding Ring, Jase's Mystery Tube & Being Unoffendable w/ Johnny 'Joey' Jones

Episode Date: September 30, 2020

"Proud American" podcast host and Fox News contributor Johnny "Joey" Jones joins Phil, Jase, and Al for a special crossover edition of Unashamed. Joey gets to know Si in the duck blind and explains how he became a meme. Jase shares Phil's anti-establishment approach to duck calls and reveals what was inside the giant mystery tube a listener sent him. Phil tells the story of Miss Kay hocking his wedding ring. And the guys discuss fleeing foolish arguments and how to be unoffendable when we're surrounded by the perpetually offended. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So we are here in the unashamed lair with one of our good friends, Johnny Joey Jones, Triple J. So this is a joint podcast. Joey has a podcast called Proud American, and then, of course, we got Unashamed. And so we're just kind of sharing the space. Welcome. I think those two things go together pretty well.

I think they go really well. Thanks for having me. We actually went on a teal hunt. Yeah, so I haven't heard the report, so I'm sure. I'm going to tell you the report. There's a tropical depression. Another tropical depression. Right through the middle of our ducco, and we basically went out there and got wet.

You didn't even get a good sunrise. Oh, no. There's one thing not to get any teal, but at least you get a good sunrise normally. It didn't even get that. It was actually a weird morning. It was legal shooting hours, and you couldn't see. the fog was so thick the fog i think is what got us so basically we did the next next best thing to shooting tail we listened to sighs stories so i apologize for that i wanted to interrupt and

say i'm so sorry i'm so what did you think uncle sigh do it because i mean everybody everybody always wants to meet sigh you know because of the show so you actually would spend a couple hours with him what what is your take on because he's military guy you can be honest because he'll never he'll never watch he's not going to watch this I had two takeaways. One, he has ever bit the person TV said he was, which I thought was pretty awesome. Insane? Well, colorful.

And two, I've met him before. You know, I'm from North Georgia, and there's some hillbillies up there and people that you just have that same kind of personality that I grew up around that. And so I can take it in stride. I really enjoyed it. I was a little uncomfortable because I was thinking, what are you thinking? When he was talking about the Vietnamese carrying the 2,000 pound engine, across the lake.

I mean, what were you thinking at that moment? Logic. Logic says, no. Because they were stacked on the shoulders, right? That's that story when they were all under. They were stacked on the shoulders. I was wondering, what were you thinking? I was thinking that's been a long time ago.

I was thinking my brother is a lost ball in the high weeds. Well, he fits him perfectly for sure. And we also have Keith, who's just off camera, It was Joey's brother-in-law. And so the story, tell the story about the duck call, how Keith had the duck call. And I found that fascinating. Well, you know, I grew up going to dirt tracks and racing. So my family, my dad was done killing things by the time I came around.

And he was the oldest and had two younger uncles. One was the mechanic that could just build any engine. The other one was the driver that could drive anything. And so my dad being the oldest was the funder that could pay for it. And so we grew up as a dirt track racing. family. Same thing. We all live next to each other.

Nanny and Pap all lived on the hill, and we all lived around them, and we ate dinner together, vacation together, worked together, and race together. You guys were like us, yeah. Well, I mean, we were duck calls. Yeah. Apparently dirt track racing wasn't as, uh, it was redneck, you know. Like we're not. He's saying maybe it wasn't as lucrative as duck calls turned out to be for us.

But it wasn't because of the duck on just. It was borderline miraculous. And that's the thing. My dad was breaking block mason. So my youngest uncle worked for him. And it was just great. It was euphoric childhood. But I never got to hunt.

And so when I got hurt, my wife and I got together. And I'd known her from 20 years ago. We dated in high school. So I knew her brother Keith. And when he and I became friends, the first thing I did after I learned to walk on these legs was I needed something I could do. And I needed something I could do. And I need something I get out of the hospital and get away and just have fun and do.

And he took me duck hunting and, man, I got hooked. And I really learned to duck hunt because of him. He taught me how. And he told me years ago, you know, just as fans of the show and watching you guys, because we were stuck up in D.C. And y'all were the closest thing to home that we could bring in on the TV. Right. And, you know, we'd sit back and watch and enjoy it.

And he told me a story that he told me about Duck Commander when all I knew was Duck Dynasty. Yeah. And he said that he had bought a duck. call years ago and uh because he he lives on a farmhouse that his granddad had uh he was i believe he raised goats there and he a couple hundred acres and uh narrow river so it's a lot it's a great duck hunting property yeah and he said he bought a duck call from you all and filled out a card and send it in and i believe phil you gave him a call and said hey how's that thing doing or or asking about what was on the card that seems crazy it does it sounded so crazy i was like then i figured it must have been some somebody maybe it was

from the Willie era. Because it was a... But we used to be real, you know, back in the day. I mean, people sent us letters. They'd have phone number. We'd call them up. Yeah. I mean, we were really into...

When I first came out with a Mallor Drake call, you have to hum a base note into it. And it sounds like a bulletin. It sounds like a Mallor Drake. Well, if you're a high-pitched fellow... I came out with it. I mean, we couldn't do. I said, breathe.

I said, hum a... bass note into this call or you won't get the sound. Well, people, there was a pretty good size throng of people that called up and they said, boy, you are one slick character. You have, this piece of junk. They said, it's a sorry. They said, this doesn't sound like what it is, it's a whistle. But if you hum a bass note in it, it's a matter of day.

I said, so I would tell them, they just, the phone was ringing off the wall. That's true. Souriest people. You did work the phones. Phil single-handedly called most people. Because it sent the whole duck hunting world into disruption. I said, do you have it on you? Do you have it?

And let me hear what you're doing. I said, when you bought it, I said there's a little bit of instructions on it. It says, you must hum a base note. And they said, I look, I've been duck hunting for 40 years. I know what a matter, Jake. So they were irate. I said, well, what did you do? with it. Do you have it on you? Let me hear you blow it. And they said, nah, are you kidding? I threw the

thing in the lake. I just chunked it. I don't want to tell you that, you know, I want my money back. So I said, calm down. I said, listen carefully. You were offended that they couldn't get it. I said, listen carefully to what I'm fixed to show you. So I would take the Mallory Drake call and I would hum that base note and it would be silence. And I said, that's what it's supposed to sound. like that's what you can do with it which sounds exactly like am i exactly i said is that close to amyla drake or my dream and they said okay i threw it away give me another one so i was double dipping them every one of them i talked to instead of 20 bucks i was getting 40 bucks so i just kept it up and a lot of them said what can i say i'm an idiot i'm embarrassed you know what's crazy is then

that our competition took the inner parts out of it and basically copied it. Because Phil, really, you came up with the housing of that whistle, but you sold also the technique because if you didn't blow it right. Yeah. So maybe that during all that, because we used to call people, I remember you used to sit down, there'd be a stack of messages. You would call them every day. Because it's a skill set thing, but the bottom.

line is we were the ones that came up with most people just built mallard hen calls but we came along and not only did we build a mallard hen we built a mallard drake and then we said well let's make us a wood duck call that sounds like one jace hit it a few leagues this morning he sounded just like one yeah i couldn't tell the difference yeah he was so we built a wood duck call we built a gadwall call jace came up with that then we built a pintail whistle a whizzenk call so we just kept going with all the species and everybody was like what in the world well because back in the day everybody because you know talking about rednecks not some sometimes not real bright they would blow hen calls at different species of ducks and phil was like why don't we just

make a call and get a decoy that matches what we're calling we'll probably shoot more of them And some are, yeah. Well, it seems like the most simple thing in the world. That's why this misnomer about you can't call wood ducks. People couldn't call wood ducks because they're blowing a mallard hen call at them. Yeah. Well, what is that? And the overarching view on all this is to say one thing.

Proud American, right here, seated right there. In America, you can come along. That's right. And you can come up with an idea. And because you have a particular skill set, and someone says, what are you saying? We had the ability. We duck hunt. It's like playing a piano by ear.

We got the sounds that they make. The wood duck sounds one way. The whedging sounds one way. The pintails sound. A milder d'n. A milder d'n. So what we did was we said, we'll duplicate. We'll make a device that sounds like what we're trying to get in here.

So that's the road we went down. We didn't sign any papers. We didn't ask for any government help. Did you get a small business loan? I didn't get a small business loan. So you started, you said, so you didn't check with the authorities on how to create a business? I just nailed a board up on that old shack next to my house. And I said, I was paint.

It was a spray paint. And they were looking at it. They said, Duck Commander worldwide. And I said, I nailed it above the door. At an angle. And we started making... I hope we have a picture of that somewhere. It was the cheesiest, just junkiest looking...

Here's my point. Proud American. Trust in God. Trust in capitalism. Because that's what we're talking about here. And work hard. You say, and develop something so simple as having devices that sound like birds. You say, and you made a living at that?

It made us millionaires. So only in America, they didn't say what they want to. But I'm just saying, it seems to me we come up with an idea. In America, you can take it, you can market it, and you can receive great blessings. Well, and that's such a great point. Where else can you take your imagination, your passion, and your hard work and make an empire out of it for your family and for a lot of other people? That's right. We were talking about this morning, doing what you love to.

to do. I mean, I never thought that I would have any money. You know, rather, I just thought I would, for the rest of my life, I would live paycheck to paycheck. You had to choose between one or the other. What you love doing or what you made money. And my wife, she would get teary-eyed. Because

every time there was a possibility of making more money outside the duck hunting world, I wasn't interesting. It's like when Willie and Jay's married when they broke the news to their in-laws, future in-laws, their in-laws said, it ain't going to happen.

Well, my love for news. He said, you've not married my daughter. Well, it ended up, look. So Willie marries her anyway, and now that guy works for Willie. Well, and then my father-in-law, you know, I was doing an event this last. What did Larry and Peggy say when you said, I'm going to marry your daughter? What did they say, it ain't going to happen, right? He went, absolutely not.

And he kind of laughed. And I thought, well, what's funny about that? I mean, I thought this was a formality. You know, I don't know what that says about my in-laws, because I was laying there with no legs and a funny look on my face, and they brought all of her clothes and said, well, she's your problem now. You had a completely different thing. She's your responsibility now.

Well, he actually asked me what I was going to do for a living, and I was too embarrassed to say, I'm going to build duck whistles. So I said, well, I'm actually an air traffic controller. Oh, wow. And he just said, really? I never said any different. He's never said a word about it. He didn't dunks flying through the air.

Yeah, that's what I meant. But I thought, I wonder at what point. I said, I wonder at what point did he say, oh, I get it. Yeah. Because he never has. But what I was going to say is. You never got to say the punchline. Yeah, I did an event a couple weeks ago.

because now I go around, you know, and speak, and I know you do too. And it was the first time, because it was during duck season, and it was a six-hour drive, and I needed a driver. And my assistant, which is my wife's aunt, she's like, I got you a driver lined up. Well, I was thinking a driver, you know, the little black car with the guy. Well, it was my in-laws. I got all things she told me on purpose. We really got to know each other for 12 hours.

but they had never heard me speak at an event and I told the story because I normally do about saying that I'm an air traffic controller but I was a little nervous about it because I thought you're coming clean yeah but what was so funny because I tell the story that Phil just told because most people look at us and they say how did this happen and they see the TV show they think how did that happen you know the duck calls a TV show then they see our wives and they're like no seriously how did that yeah how did that happened. Hang on, Jess. Let's take a break. Yeah, I just got that question in North Dakota. Well, and so... From a TSA, because, you know, they were like, what's up with the beautiful wives?

So I said, well, Lisa, you explained it. Well, in my speech, it's basically, because I'm not, you know, a professional speaker, but I just, I'm real. And I basically what Phil outlined, you know, when Phil was introduced to the Lord, it was life-changing experience, that led to a series of events, even moving out. here to basically escape his past life and make a new break and forget the master's degree. I'm going to love God, be a better family man, and I'm just going to do what I love, you know, hunting fish. And fund it by fishing. All right. Commercial fish is how we made our money.

Oh, wow. Yeah, in the early days. Yeah, that was how this all got started. But, you know, in back to the duck calls, what I think is interesting, and I say it in the speech, is back in the duck call day when he decided to build the duck call basically, and I bring my duck calls and I go through it.

Because to build duck calls, you had to win the world champion duck calling contest. They do it every year in Steguard. So all the duck call makers, are most of them, were people who had won the world champion duck call.

That's the credential you need? That's the credential. So here's what's funny. When my dad got to general, Genesis 9, he was like, in the Bible, it basically is the birthplace of hunting after Noah. Yeah. And the, God said, hey, anything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims, you can kill it and eat it. Birds of the air.

So what's funny, I'll blow the duck call. You know, I'll get up there. Because a lot of people who've won the championship who make duck calls, they said, well, the only reason that you are building calls, they call. They call them meat calls that sound like ducks is because you can't win it. So I got this because you would do it. So we would blow the championship call, which it basically is a routine. You know, they'll...

They carry it for like 40 notes. In my speech, I do it louder until I'm literally getting dizzy. And then I stop. Way beyond what a duck is capable of doing. Well, right. And then I say, which is always funny, ducks do not do that.

That's right. So we have a system. That would say, have you ever heard a duck do that? No. That was your funny. And so we, I did that through the speech to them, but it was basically based. But that's how the competition goes. That's right.

So we were kind of the anti, that was like the anti-establishment. You know what I'm saying? He was like the counterculture. He was the Donald Trump of the duck cutting world. I've never thought about that, but you're exactly. But it was based on a spiritual decision because basically you read Genesis 9 and he's like, well, I'm going to build duck calls that sound like duck calls. that sound like ducks, so you can put more ducks on your grill.

I'm not worried about this air control, this demonstration of air control. And it's not that we can't do it because we know how to do that, but why would you want to? And so it just, it's a weird thing on how it happened, where it was mainly you're trusting God, you're trying to live off the land, but you actually got an idea that produced the greatest selling duck call in the history of the world. It's like, because then all the different decoys would come up because they're like, well, we got different ducks. The sounds, we match them with the deco. Because back then, I don't even know if they sold other kinds of duck decoys, did they? Not many.

Not many. Now they have everything. Yeah. And so, and you had all these deceitful things that were happening like in the wood duck world where people didn't have wood duck decoys. They didn't have a wood duck call. And so they just passed out of them. Yeah. But, you know, we, you saw this morning, wood duck, wood duck.

We'll light in the decoys. Yeah. We did it. No, that was pretty. That was real pretty. And where you're from is a lot of wood duck hunting anyway. Yeah, so key. Georgia has a lot of wood duck.

Oh, yeah. And so key, that's what he has on his property. That's the only thing. I've hunted wood duck more than anything. I shot my first mallard last year. Actually, January of this year up in Nebraska. But I'd shot at a bunch of wood ducks. Because they move pretty good.

Well, you know what they say. If you're from Georgia and you want to kill other ducks, you know what you got to do. What's that? Move west. go somewhere else. They're not there. That's exactly right. That's a pretty good advice.

I like that. Which is funny. So, so, Joe, so, you know, it's interesting because the,

dad, you know, we talk a lot on the podcast about the problems with the internet and social media, you know, because dad's kind of anti-that as well.

He's not kind of anti-phone. He's, he's poorly anti. So, but it's funny because Joe and I met by that medium. Yeah. I'm glad.

other people have them. Yeah. Because we reached them via the cell phone. Right. But I'm just saying, no, you're right. Overall, children and all of what you see, from what they tell me, they say that's just a lot of things that just not healthy.

It's too easy. There are a few things that are bad in and of themselves, and we can talk about guns. We can talk about a lot of things that can be used for good and used for evil, right? And so we're the common denominator, human beings. And social media, that way. I wouldn't have a career without social media. I am a North Georgia brick

Mason's son, and I'm not running for office so this isn't one of those, but who joined the Marine Corps, because that was the best opportunity out of town, did well in the Marine Corps, got hurt severely, and now I talk and hunt for a living. Just like you were saying. And why is that? It's because there was a medium

provided I could reach people, and they liked what I had to say, and I listened to them. And so social media is that. I wouldn't have that career. I was going to say it wouldn't have met you and you guys without that. But all good things in moderation, right? And all good things with the right intent in mind. And we have to keep ourselves accountable there because it's easy to let how you see yourself

and value yourself be, you know, tinted or skewed by strangers on social media. And how you follow me. You know how I handle it. I handle it with a little bit of grace and a lot of sarcasm. It just seems a little. Which is why I like you. It just seems. from what I've, I'm just watching others with them, it just seems a little too much,

it's too hectic for me to say, I just don't want to dive over into all that. No. No, I can't see you even doing it. I think you read. The good news is if somebody is cursing me or bad mouth of me via the social media, here's a news flash for all of you. I'm not hearing it. You're not reading it.

But they are hearing what you have to say. And that's the platform you've created by being who you are and having the friends and family you have. So you're on there. And why don't we try loving God and loving each other for a while just to see if it worked? So you're on there, Dad, because those of us around you, Zach and I and others, are engaging people through you. So the platform is there. And like you said, it's a good thing. So the first time that I saw Joey on Gutfell show, which is,

one of my favorite shows on Fox because it's one of the few lighthearted things on there, you know, and he's like when you showed them your legs, you should check this out. It's my, remember that? It's my one parlor trick. I'm kind of proud of it.

You're going to have to make me what? I'm going to have to watch the news now. I was in the dark about this area. I laughed. I said, well, that dude, he has really has a good attitude about having his legs.

Well, he does a lot of self-deprecating humor, which I like that too. I mean, that's what I like about you, Joe. You make these funny jokes about not having legs, which most people would be like, oh, my goodness. Well, you know, there's this meme, I guess, that me, me, me, meme, the picture with words on it that says a profound statement that makes this way around Facebook. And it's a picture of me and people have used different pictures. I didn't make it.

Somebody else did. But it's a quote from me where I said, you know, people look at me and they go, I don't know how you stay so positive after you lost your legs. And I just look back and say, I don't see how you ever get negative. You have yours. and pretty good point now that needs to be on a t-shirt exactly right the point there is you can let something to find you or you can keep pushing and let it just be a part of who you are

and so my legs are not a big enough deal to not enjoy every moment of life in matter of fact they're a pretty good reminder to do just that yeah but you know I'll say this because I hadn't met you before this morning and when we was out there stomping around four daylight and getting into this blind was tricky. And I thought, now, how are we going to do this? But what stood out is I thought, man, this guy sure does have a good attitude. I mean, I didn't know that about you, but in some of the things you said,

I was like, man, it just made me realize good grief. There's a lot of things I complained about because it was a challenge to get in there, but you pulled it off. Keith over there, I'll tell you, it's not 100% of the time. It's not something that you come by easy. You know, the difference between modesty and humility, right? Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. And so, you know, when I show up to go duck hunting with you guys, that's such an amazing

opportunity. Any obstacle between me and doing that is not enough to slow me down or put me in a bad mood. But it takes a lot of work. Yeah, that's okay. Let's take another break. Yeah. And that's what I, that's what I love. love about your overall attitude in me so i started following you on twitter once i saw you on there

said who is this guy you know and so then i said oh he's from georgia no wonder i like he's a he's a bulldog fan oh we've already had that conversation i mean other than that he's a great i saw the license plate that was our first conversation i said oh y'all from georgian he's like i know you you you love ls you there's nothing to worry about it we're not threatening you guys any time since i'm like okay well said even when we have a good year you guys tend to beat us so that's just we've had a good run for georgia but you know all things come circle how when your national champions it everything's good that's right at least for a couple years so so joe at my house whenever i have a tradition that started back in in 2004 so because i

had a les u.su decorations on my trees i've been kind of collecting them through the years and so that christmas well they won that championship that year and so i told my wife i was like the tree stays up all year because it's Christmas every day when you're a nice champion right so I did it again in 08 and it's still up at my house now and I told her I said if they don't play this year it stays up two years there you go because it's just not going to stop it's a Christmas that never is you know I didn't even tell you this Al but they there there was a tube that sent to duck commander with my name on it and they said they've been staring at it a week they had sent me a message and I forgot because everybody was like what is it and so when I got there I mean I was like well how

I'm going to haul it? I mean, it was a big, long tube. And I figured out how to get it to my house, and it took me 20 minutes to de-tape it. And I was thinking, I mean, what could it be? And so when I finally got it, and I was like, it looks like a fishing rod. And it was a handmade, LSU-themed croppy rod. And it has a, I'll bring it. Yeah, we can fit it in here somewhere.

That's pretty cool. But, and it was a guy who said he was, you know, he's never been a believer. And somehow another, because of Duck Dynasty, he stumbled up on our podcast. And he said, I was raised, kind of like what we're talking about in the hunting, the fishing world. And he's like, you know, I got the list of the thing. And it just made sense. And he said, I don't, you know, do a whole lot or have a lot of skills. He said, but I make really good handmade crappie rides.

I wanted to send you one. And I figured I'd do it with the LSU thing. But, so I got that yesterday, and I was like, now this is the gift that keeps on giving. So tell Joe about the rings that whole deal, his audience. Well, and whoever does championship rings, whoever these people are, they were the same thing. They were listening to our show, and they sent us replicas of LSU's National Championship rings. Oh, wow.

Before they even got them. Because this was a pretty good while back, yeah. And it was like... They had sent it to somewhere... They said to your plantation. Yeah, I don't even know where they got that address, but it sat out there for weeks. And it was the girl that works out there,

it was like real heavy. And she said, I'm so curious of what's in that little box. And it was like eight rings. Six or eight, yeah. Oh, wow. One for each of you all? Yeah. Yeah.

And I mean, and look, it had her name on it. It was like Robertson, number one fan on the side. I mean, like, they went to the trouble of really making it personal. But everything weighs like three pounds. So the people that made the ring sent them? Yeah. Well, they were replicas. Yeah, I haven't heard that story.

Well, I thought I brought them one day. We did it on the podcast. I never owned a ring. Or a watch. You know what? Well, you had a wedding ring here. Yours didn't make it in them. Miss Kaye hawked it for some groceries.

We fell on hard time. Seriously? She took the wedding man. She said she got 40 bucks for it or whatever. And, and her house. Hamburgers. I remember she bought hamburger meat with it. I said, hey, good trade. How am I just now hearing this story? I knew the story. I remember the story. You hawked your wedding ring? No, he did. Mom's it. This is like Jacob and Esau.

Sall selling his birthright for a bowl of soup. I mean, you hawked your wedding ring for some burgers? Yeah. True story. I'm so sorry. We went down this road. Well, Jay, you were raised in the day. Duck called, so you've never followed on times when you didn't know where your next meal was coming from. I went through that. Yeah, you've been living the high last, son. Yeah, boy, we had it.

Well, we were, as I was walking down the road, we went through the four year of one vehicle, which I know things could have been worse. But I did walk a few times to my destination. Because now when you see people walking, pushing their little cart, well, that was me for a couple of years. You know what I mean? But I didn't think anything about it. Were you talking to yourself, too? No, but people would pull up and they'd say you need some help. I'm like, no.

I'd be in an airport walking behind dad and Jace or somebody in the family. And they'd walk past and somebody be looking at one little kids said, look at those poor men. Like they just wandered in, you know. First time I went to my hometown, which I love my hometown. I talk about Dalton, Georgia all the time. How big a town is that, Joy? The county, probably 40,000 people, but in.

in the area that we're from, nowhere near as densely populated. In Dalton, Georgia is where all the carpet in the world is made. And that's not an overstatement. Well, you're not really. And so it's a cool little town. And so you either make carpet, you make places that make carpet. If you're real adventurous, you take carpet other places. Oh, wow.

And that's the job. The carpet capital of the world. The carpet industry. But one of the first times I went home, you know, the local news had done a report on me. And I rolled my wheelchair into a restaurant and we passed this, this older couple and she goes, look, hun,

it's that little cripple boy from the TV. And so that's my... Now, how can you not get, you know, offended? Oh, that was perfect. That was perfect.

Oh, yeah. I am. I kind of am that little cripple boy from TV, isn't it? I like it that you're, you've made a decision,

which I had to do being in ministry, to be pretty much unoffendable. Oh, that's what I always said. You know what I'm saying? I mean,

just, and it is a mindset. What's kind of moving me, though, this conversation is that it feels like our country has become so offendable yeah everybody gets offended at everything now i mean and i don't know if it's just i'm just now noticing it or maybe it has evolved to that but so it's it's a breath of fresh air well it's kind of like you would treasure honey you don't know what's around the corner and people are the same way and uh you know i don't know what that person

has in mind when they say that little cripple boy from the t-year-old you know you know what that person has in mind when they say that little cripple boy from the TV, the least I can do is take the time to find out. You know, they're not inside my head and I'm not inside theirs. You know, I had someone on Twitter one day called me paperclip legs. And I'm like, that's kind of funny when you start to visualize it. You know, they were mad at me because I had choice words for Colin Kaepernick years ago. And so I just started writing back and kind of giving it back to them in a funny way. I'm like, you know, just making fun of their bad joke.

And you'd be surprised at the dozens of... if not hundreds of people that might not say it on Twitter, but into my inbox would say, hey, I'm really sorry for that. Thanks so much for not being mean about it, and I'm sorry, and I'm going to pay attention to what you have to say. And that goes way further than just to getting a jab back at them. I don't get anything from that.

That's good. Good point. Let's take enough break. So here's what I find interesting. So on Fox News, you've got you, your contributor, Hags Heath, and then a bunch of retired gentlemen. They're scraping the bottom of the barrel. My point is, I understand the retired generals because, you know, they're general.

So, but how does that happen? Because, you know, you're a Marine. Obviously, you know about the military. Obviously, you had this thing happen to you. But how did you have the communication skills? Not everybody that's in the military winds up on Fox News. I mean, I found that pretty fascinating. Well, I can't speak for Pete.

He's got skill sets I probably don't have. He's done really good. He's got a lot of kids, too. He does. He's got a tribe. Yeah, he does. a full-blown, you know, he should have been a farmer. But, uh, um, I'm giving myself a trouble here.

Why is that funny? It is the, but he's got like eight kids. Well, you know, farmers, every time he buy land, you have another kid to work it in. That's right. Yeah. But, uh, no, for me, it was never a conscientious decision. I, um, if you want to know how I learned to talk, try to be in the other six-foot, brown-headed white guy in a military town trying to get a date.

Like, you got to find a way. to be unique, you know. You've got to develop some personality, right? And then also just being an EOD tech, a bond tech, you do a lot of presentations and teaching other Marines and soldiers how to do what they need to do. And so those skills came maybe. But for me, when I got hurt, I recovered really quickly.

And I wanted something to do. I did not want to be a professional patient. That was the worst thing that could have happened. Which how long was the process? I was injured August. 2006, 2010. I started college, October 2010. I was still in a go-go gadget chair.

I had to talk my notes into my microphone, but I knew I was not going to take bombs apart for living anymore. I had to put food on table. So I got injured in August, started school in October, started walking in February 2011, and started working full-time at the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in June 2011, 10 months later. And I literally, not lied,

but I finagled my way into that position, Congress thought I was retired, and I was still stationed at Walter Reed to recover, but I'd finished my recovery. I was good. But the military, the paperwork hadn't called up to me. So all the military asked of me was to go in and do therapy every day. So I would go in at 7 in the morning, do therapy till 9, change over, leave the hospital at 9. It'd take sometimes two hours to get there.

I'd be at Capitol Hill between 10 and 12. I'd work on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and then about 4 or 5, I'd leave and go to college Park, Maryland, and go to school at night, six to ten. Wow. I did that Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then Tuesday, Thursday was just therapy and work. And that kept me busy, kept me going. And then just a lot of things happened that only God could have made happen. I volunteered for nonprofits, and I ended up working in NASCAR for a year.

And just making connections and never looking at someone like an opportunity, but just an interesting person I could be friends with. and so I worked on Capitol Hill during a very volatile time. My experience in the military being in the EOD tech, having those clearances and connections, had a lot of friends in the Pentagon. But the pinnacle moment to make this shorter, if I can. It's all right.

It's a podcast. It's long for them. You get to tell us. I met a lady that was a producer and had worked at Fox and had become a independent filmmaker. And a nonprofit I was working with, the lady in charge of it hired this producer lady to do a reality show pilot. And so I met this lady, Jen Williams, that way.

A few years later, I was working on Capitol Hill, and this guy Kyle Carpenter came in after me. And in the position I created, and with his visibility there, Kyle's award was bumped up to Medal of Honor, which he earned. Wow. And Jen had gone back to Fox and was producing Gresh and Carlson's 2 p.m. show, which is when they do all their press briefs. So she called me one day and she said, hey, would you like to come on and talk about Kyle Carpenter? And I'd been miced up before but never live. And I said, sure, do this one time.

It'd be fun. It's 2013. And so I've miced up. I was sitting there. And we get ready to talk about Kyle, who's getting Mel of Honor tomorrow. And President Obama gets on the mic and he gives his first address saying that we're going to go to war against ISIS. And she goes, hey, while you're sitting here, do you mind to just talk about this? And I'm like, absolutely.

Let me call the Pentagon real quick and get some information. I kind of took my experiences and my knowledge, text a few people, and everybody had tuned into Fox by that point because the president was talking. And when it cut from Obama, there's my face. And so I had a chance to do that. Were you nervous at all? No, I mean, it wasn't a bomb. Yeah.

That's what he used to do. That's right. Okay. Well, I'm learning a lot about perspective. Exactly. But, no, it was fun and exciting. I didn't have enough time to process to be nervous or would have. And there's millions of people or the moment was bigger than normal.

And other producers on other shows saw me. I continued to really become passionate about policy and things that affected my life. And other soldiers. Yeah, exactly. Which was powerful. And so the way I like to say is I don't let my perhaps unique ability to form a sentence outrun my knowledge and experience. So if something comes up that I don't know about, it's okay to say I don't know about it. Oh, yeah.

And that's what's important to me when I'd go on Fox or... Well, that's unusual in the newsmen, because they come across as they know everything. That's exactly. Tap into our wisdom. And if you don't know it, act like you do. Give us some bull crap. In politics, that's unfortunate part of it that I really hate the most. And my colleagues are exceptional.

I'm the bottom of the totem pole, and I don't mind holding it up. But for me, you know, I know who I am in a... people I come from and in my mind that's who I'm talking to not other people on TV and I think sometimes the pundits especially are almost talking to other people on TV it's almost a battle of ten dollar words and I don't have that that kind of a vocabulary to begin with so I can't go there and I'm not going to try that's a good thing yeah I'm staying your lane bro that's it let's take one last break so one of the things I was asked about was the I was looking on some of your stuff you're going to be on the podcast.

And I noticed the boot up thing. Are you guys still doing that with the... Yeah. Tell us about that. Tell our listeners about it. Part of my journey was I was the chief operating officer of a Texas-based nonprofit called Boot Campaign. Okay.

And their premise back in 2011, when social media first took off, was to get celebrities to wear combat boots and do a picture and publicize it to show they supported the military. And we worked with people in Hollywood, Nashville, and all over. I think we did something. I think you did too. Yeah. I think you did too.

We did. I don't think. We did. And it was great. Well, they worked with Marcus LaTrell and, you know, how Texas is. Like, when you're in, you're in. Everybody's going to support it. Right.

And so I still support that nonprofit. And I'm actually wearing a shirt right now that says, you matter. And with all the things that people argue about mattering, it's pretty easy to say you matter. And so I still help them out as much as I can. And I really, they basically fund treatment for veterans that can't get what they need through the VA and stuff like that. Because I know your wife was involved. She works there.

Yeah. Yeah. She still works there. I saw a picture of the internet. So I ordered a hat to wear it today. I was going to wear the hat today, but I waited too late. So I want to wear it on a future podcast. That'll work.

And talk about it. So folks can remember that. One of the things I wanted to mention is to your audience is Dad's new book, Jesus, Politics, which you can get on Amazon or wherever you get books. And this is the audio version, which there's a professional. actor dad that oh i was fixed that if you did that i just said tell about when you did your first book i just i just told them get somebody else i did that too that that was a crazy experience to sit there in a booth for three days wow and it's very difficult i've done several books it sounded easy but i don't know

it kind of i mean there's no room for any stutters mistakes mispronunciations it's no i should have just I just said, I don't want to do that. What is the... I didn't know they had an actor to do it. Yeah, they did. What's the definitive statement of the book, Jesus' politics? Basically, here's a good place to go. I was going to mention this this morning.

Because of your stubbornness and your unrepent heart, you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed. here's a lifestyle that I tried to put forth in that book a lifestyle kingdom Jesus being the king we're members of the kingdom holy nation priesthood God give to each person according to what is done so it's required of us to do something as members of the kingdom of God inside a democratic constitutional republic those who by persistence in doing good, you're like, that's it. Those who do that, seek good, doing good,

seek glory on an immortality, he'll give eternal life, just seek doing good. But for those who are self-seeking and reject the truth, Jesus died, was buried, raised from the dead, and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good. First for the Jew, then for the Gentile, for God does not show favoritism. Well, if you look at that, you say, well, what do you say in your book?

Just get up and do good. Today we got up. I've heard no verbal outbursts, profanity, immorality. No, we're all in the duck blind and it's raining on us. We're waiting on a duck to fly by. You say, there's no mischief there. There's no... Now, yesterday, SOTS.

There's no division and... Yesterday, Sigh was right up to the line of verbal during the argument. Did that argument reprised today? I was curious because I told Joe it's probably going to come up again. You see these things are retread for a couple of days. We had the evidence of the bunch. For some of you who don't know, we had an argument. On our last podcast, y'all talked about it.

And so you would think visual evidence. It's the same reason people have cameras as security. Because once you see it, you say, oh, well, we got proof. Let me guess. So he claimed one of your ducks. So is that what happened? Well, he claimed them all. But the deal, how to be good in the midst of a lot of evil,

how to be good, Joey, in the midst of a law and an evil world, that basically is the thrust of it. Yeah. It's kind of the idea about getting further upstream from politics and looking at this thing from a higher view before you get into that. So that's kind of the thrust though, because dad laid out in theft of America's soul, which is last book,

here's the problem. This is the problem with America. Here's what I see is, and it's all about the evil one. He controlled all these institutions, all these different things. So this book is like, if we live like this,

we'd probably have a better society and a better culture. I don't see the downside and loving God and loving your neighbor, living a quiet life, mind your own business, work with your hands, so you won't be dependent on anybody.

That's Bible verses. It looks like to me. I think we're all to you. try it or go back to it however you want to phrase it you know what i'm saying it's rare that the solution to complex problems isn't pretty simple it's just it's scary it's it takes a lot of faith and people run short of faith these days and i don't know why you know it's funny that we talked about today on the podcast from two perspectives joey so you look at us in the description of how we started you heard hard work faith you know it took a process a long time

of learning that. And when you were describing what you did to go from being a bomb tech to wind up doing what you do today, when I look around and I see these folks that basically a lot of them, they live at their parents' house still. They go out and it's just mischief and mayhem and all these different things. And the one thing you're lacking is that idea about what do we do to better ourselves and build up our society. Everything is just about burn it down, They're not. Literally, right. Literally, literally, which is a shame. They're mad, but I don't think they know why they're mad. That's exactly right. This is absolutely right. You know, they just, there's no hope, there's no faith, there's no good.

And you're trying to share the recipe with them. It's like, you know, Kay is, I think, one of the greatest cooks on the earth. I mean, we'll all agree with that. The last person we had as a guest ate that banana, you were telling me, ate the banana pudding, and it was just like, stop. And it's like, that's the greatest thing I've ever, ever read. Which, by the way, we're having today. We are. That's exciting. Jambalai and banana pudding. Yes, what's accurate.

We got jambole on banana pudding waiting on us while we run on our mat. Well, we're still not finished it. I may be on several more of these podcasts because I don't know if you're getting rid of me. This is the better part of the Skype. To finish that thought, if to achieve that greatness, you need the recipe. and you know Miss Kay's kind of particular about handing that out but I think from a country

a lot of people you know the reason Phil writes a book like that because a lot of people are like yeah they're fed up they're like well how do we achieve greatness so I'm glad you infuse Jesus in the political world because you know I usually just look at that as a hopeless situation and stay out of it but

well and the thing about politics is if we would just pull back the method and talk about the motivation, why do you care? Yeah, yeah. And that's when the political will goes full spectrum. And you can find a lot of grace in that. And so, you know, I don't have a lot of, I don't have a lot of arguments anymore because I don't have time for that and it doesn't go anywhere. But I'll have a conversation with anyone about anything. And I go into every conversation with the humility to learn. I mean, I don't have my mind changed, but I'm either going to learn where they're coming from and why

or I'm going to learn more about why I have the perspective I have. There's nothing bad can come from that. But we don't live in a society that wants to talk and have grace right now. You're referring, it sounds like 2nd, Timothy 24. Lord's servant must not quarrel, flee from foolish and stupid arguments. That's what he said before then. He said, don't argue. You know, be able to teach, kind to everyone.

Just point them to Jesus, hope and God. out again with penance. Well, that's what I, you know, I followed Joey on Twitter, and you're very engaging to the people that follow you, and your tone is good, because Twitter can be, you know, the Wow, Wild West, as we both know. So check him out on Twitter. A proud American, for Unashamed listeners, check it out. It's a great podcast.

Also, your show on Fox Nation, which is Fox Nation outdoors, as we said. I am a professional novice hunter. I professionally learned to hunt The one I saw that Who was it, Couture? Somebody ran you across You were on their back He was going across the

What's the river in the? The North Platte River And that's what an invitation to me Looks like, hey, would you like to come hunting And then you get there and it's like And carry me across the river So tomorrow he's heading up to South Dakota To hunt with the governor

Yes Which is really excited A gnome Yes, you're going from hunting in a tropical storm. There was a tropical storm today. Now let's go to South Florida. And you talk about beers to beauty.

I mean, you know, she's an attractive lady and a great governor, and so you're going from this motley crew to that. That ought to be an interesting transition. It's quite the transition. Next time you're on the podcast, you'll tell us how that worked. I'll love to. Hopefully it would be fruitful, but today was fruitful, in my opinion. Good.

Well, we appreciate you being here. We're going to eat some jambalai and some banana pudding. Yes, sir. And so we're going to go enjoy some of that. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes.

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