THE REID REVOLUTION - May 26, 2026

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:31]Will we continue to [music] embrace truth, justice, peace, and a path to prosperity? I believe that America's best days can [music] still be ahead, and I want to lead us forward. Join me now in the Read Revolution.

[00:00:49]Kind of a cloudy and rainy Tuesday in Central Virginia. Hope wherever you are watching the program, that it's a little nicer. Gosh, Memorial Day was a meaningful day in Central Virginia and in Washington, D.C. I don't know if you took a moment to watch the event that was hosted by the White House at Arlington National Cemetery last night with a musical performances. This is an effort to try to kick off the 250th anniversary year of America. And of course, when we get to July 4th, they say it's going to be the biggest fireworks show in the history of Washington, at least in D.C.

[00:01:27]And New York, not to be outdone, is going to have a big fireworks show. But Memorial Day is a little bit different, remembering the people who gave up their lives to protect America, to create the country that we live in.

[00:01:42]And I got to tell you, I think a lot of us are not living up to the obligation that that should put in our hearts and our souls these days. Is not to let the country crumble right in front of our faces in our limited time. I mean it country that's 250 years old and honestly, honestly, do you think that we will hit the 300?

[00:02:09]Or maybe it'll still be called the United States of America, but do you think it's going to look anything like the country that you and I grew up in?

[00:02:17]And I know there's some 25-year-olds who constantly harass me on media social media, whatever. It doesn't doesn't bother me.

[00:02:25]Um except for their own stupidity that they think that everything that occurred before of course they were alive is evil and wrong and horrible.

[00:02:34]Um and of course it's kind of weird.

[00:02:36]They think everything in the past was evil and wrong and horrible, but they're very disgruntled and unhappy with their society today. And that is when revolutions get started that wind up with a lot of dead people. And I am just determined uh that that shouldn't happen.

[00:02:54]At least not while I'm alive. I mean I don't want to see that happen and I think there is a if you're not seeing it you I don't I with all due respect I don't think I don't think you're paying attention. There is a growing um number of people in our midst who want to see a violent revolution. And they want you dead, they want me dead. In fact, in a little while on social media I promised that I was going to out one of the guys who is threatening to kill me.

[00:03:23]Um but you know, it's it's it's not even it's not even a one-off anymore. It's not even like somebody's drunk late at night and they're mad that they're talking to a conservative.

[00:03:32]This is a regular routine and uh it's great if your algorithm on Facebook or Twitter or um uh Instagram doesn't show you this stuff, but it but I have to stress to you the numbers are growing. The revolutionaries who want to kill are growing.

[00:03:56]They are the losers of society, many of them, but they're being egged on by people who do have money, who will be able to escape the deaths that could potentially happen.

[00:04:10]Um and I and I think we should be paying attention to that. And I think we should be pushing back on it very aggressively.

[00:04:17]Um uh with a philosophical argument, with an economic argument, with a political argument. And if push comes to shove, we're going to have to stop being so nice about this stuff. I think Trump has indicated with his behavior that he's going to take the first tier of action to to remove people from our midst who are causing problems. Those are the illegals to whom we owe nothing. We owe them nothing. They're here illegally.

[00:04:50]And the ones that he's trying to get rid of at this point at least are the violent uh criminals who are winding up in court or winding up flagged for some reason other than just being here illegally. I think the latest data indicated that 70% of the people who were being exited from the country at the moment, that's the deal with them.

[00:05:11]But um it's not going to be enough.

[00:05:13]It's not it that is not going to take care of our problem when we have urban centers run by Democrats who continue to allow uh violence and quote-unquote teen takeovers as if this is somehow like some graffiti artist who's uh spray painting some wall something. The teen takeover concept uh that's been happening for the last few months, that seems so benign compared to what it really is. It is a symbol of the lawlessness and of families that don't exist anymore and you just have a bunch of uh I mean I hate to use an animal term cuz that's not really very nice, but you know, feral uh teenagers who are just running wild who will beat the hell out of you if you cross paths with them. Add uh couple that in with the mentally ill people who we seem to be tolerating and uh I would suggest to you, especially with the trans movement, we are green lighting mental illness. We're not getting rid of the people with mental illness. We're not helping the people with mental illness.

[00:06:22]Um then you throw in the drug abuse that's everywhere. I mean, that's one of the things that Spencer Pratt is talking about in Los Angeles that I have to agree with. I don't think you've got as much a homeless problem as you have a drug abuse problem, which creates the homelessness because they can't keep a job, they can't earn a paycheck, they're not in their right mind, and for some reason we've been conditioned to believe that it is benevolent or I mean, I guess it is a freedom agenda.

[00:06:51]If you want to stick a needle in your arm, you want to be high all day, that you certainly have the the freedom to do that, but then we have to make a decision as a society what the consequences are to us for you doing that.

[00:07:08]I mean, I I'm I would be much more inclined to say, "Do whatever you want. Drug yourself up, but you own the results. I'm not paying for your rehab. I'm not paying for you to go to the hospital.

[00:07:23]You may wind up dead on the street, but the and that's on you." I mean, I I As a Christian, I don't like that. I'm not happy with that. But when it's a nation of 335 million people, what am I supposed to do? Handhold every single person when they don't want to be uh they they don't want to obey any kind of rules, they don't want to do any of the things that would put them in a position to survive society? Is that what I'm supposed to do? I mean, how how do you do that? So, at some point you have to make a decision. You're just going to let these people go, let them destroy their lives, and not I mean, I guess you feel bad about it just as a person, but as a public policy person, you write them off as a loss in society? Is that the responsible thing to do?

[00:08:09]Hard for me to accept that.

[00:08:12]Um or do you create a social welfare society where you just repeat on an endless cycle the same bad behavior, and you act like you're not really seeing the root cause of the problem?

[00:08:27]I mean, there'll always be somebody who's homeless.

[00:08:30]Let's be honest. There'll always be a drunk someplace, but do you empower that behavior to the point where it tears your society apart?

[00:08:39]I you know, I think the same question about divorce, right? Do we There was a time when divorce was really very rare in the United States. That was my childhood. I remember when people got divorced, it was like, "Oh my god, there's a divorce. That's doesn't happen." Now, nobody thinks twice about it.

[00:08:55]You could get divorced 1 month after the wedding, and nobody would think twice about it. 10 years after the wedding, nobody thinks twice about it. There are social consequences and cultural consequences to the decisions that we've made about public policy. And you know, I I don't know that we should overreact to it, but we should at least be honest with each other about what we're seeing and what the root cause of the problem is. And if we don't want to repeat it a million times over and suffer those consequences on an endless loop, maybe we should be honest with each other about what's happening here.

[00:09:31]And tweak some of the public policy decisions.

[00:09:35]So, you know, that I mean it sounds horrible, but do we tell single moms, "We're going to give you extra money every month for every kid you pop into the world?"

[00:09:47]Do we tell fathers who create those kids, "Oh, you think you will walk away? Do you think you're going to get away with uh burdening the rest of society with these children and you're just going to go off and screw 10 other women and create 10 more baby Oh, no, that's not what we're tolerating anymore." I mean, I I this is new territory in some ways because this wasn't the society that existed 50 years ago, but it is the society we live in now and I think we're not on a good trajectory.

[00:10:22]And maybe the decisions that have been made from a public policy standpoint, maybe they were made with good intentions, but I think we got a problem here. I think we got a severe problem here and it's constantly on display with the increase in homelessness, the increase in people who are addicts, who can't solve their own problems even if they wanted to because they're addicts.

[00:10:46]Uh with the teen takeovers, I you know, I know it's a great talking point for President Trump and his team to talk about how crime is down. Do you believe that? I do not believe that. I don't believe crime is down at all. I think that's total baloney.

[00:11:00]Um I don't believe it at all. I think that crime is not being reported anymore and I know what What didn't they just dismiss a number of leaders in the Washington, D.C. Police Department for rigging the numbers? I'm not making that up.

[00:11:16]I didn't go search for that. I I mean, they We We're being conned by our own government.

[00:11:24]And you know, if you're a politician and you want to try to show that you've had a positive impact, I guess you use the numbers you've got, but don't believe it. I don't I I look around at what's happening and there's no reason for me to believe unless we begin the mass incarceration of everybody who indicates that they're going to be violent that that they're going to be violent that we're seeing a drop in uh crime across the country. Don't believe it.

[00:11:50]So, I think we should be paying attention.

[00:11:53]Um I think we should really be paying attention to that. Let me play for you a soundbite from of course our favorite person, right? The commie bastard jihadist who is the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani. He's hadn't even lived in the United States his whole life, but you know, we what the stupid people of New York have put him in charge of the biggest city in the United States.

[00:12:16]And that's not an accident. That is by design to try to condition you to accept radical Islamic jihadists and communists as your leaders.

[00:12:26]You can't tolerate it. Here he is talking about raising New York City taxes. Listen Listen to how crazy this guy is.

[00:12:34]>> Your platform says you'll raise the corporate tax rate to 11 and 1/2% and you point out, just like neighboring New Jersey, that's 5B, and then tax the wealthiest 1% above basically people over a million millionaires, the flat 2% tax.

[00:12:48]>> Um >> What is 4B?

[00:12:50]>> Go ahead. 4B, okay.

[00:12:51]>> [laughter] >> And so what does that get you and what do you say to people who are concerned um that New Yorkers are already taxed enough?

[00:12:58]>> So that would get you $9 billion and then we also said that we would save an additional $1 billion through procurement reform through the following of the independent budget office's analysis of hiring more fiscal auditors and also by finally starting to collect on the fines and fees from landlords that owe the city currently about $800 million over a period of overall fines and fees of about 2 and 1/2 billion dollars. So this is our revenue plan. This would more than pay for our economic agenda.

[00:13:23]It would actually allow us to start Trump-proofing our city. And what I mean by that is we're seeing right now what the Trump agenda portends for New Yorkers. This is a man who ran a presidential campaign on the premise of cheaper groceries that is now trying to cut SNAP benefits to make it even harder to afford those same groceries. And we have to protect the New Yorkers with the least from the attacks from the man with the most power in this country. For too long as Democrats, we've thought that simply fighting back against Donald Trump is a sufficient political message.

[00:13:51]We also have to fight for something. And so at the heart of my campaign is a commitment to make buses fast and free.

[00:13:58]That would cost around $700 million.

[00:13:59]That's something that fits firmly within the question of political reality. It's just do we have the political will to deliver it? The other commitment is about universal child care. This is something that would cost around $6 billion. Something the governor is very much interested in and has been fighting for for quite some time. And I appreciate not only her endorsement, so the shared commitment on this question of affordability. You have spoken up >> Okay, enough of this.

[00:14:22]If your agenda is free child care, it's a total no for me. I'm not working for your stupid kid to have free child care. I'm not trying to take care of the things that every human being in the history of mankind has handled on their own.

[00:14:38]That is not my responsibility. I refuse to accept responsibility for you and your family and your child care.

[00:14:45]And it is insanity to suggest that someone like me should have to pay for you. I will not do it.

[00:14:52]I will not do it. You want to pay the roads in different neighborhoods that I may never go to? Sure.

[00:15:00]Absolutely. You want to make sure that there's a fire department that will put out a fire in your neighborhood, a neighborhood that I probably never go to? Totally on board with that.

[00:15:10]You want to make sure that there police who will make sure you don't get raped and robbed and murdered in your neighborhood where I don't want to go?

[00:15:17]Totally on board with it.

[00:15:20]You want me to pay for your bills, your cell phone, your groceries, your snap benefits, your child care?

[00:15:28]Oh, hell no.

[00:15:30]No, and I'm not I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I refuse to allow you to try to guilt me into it. Now, maybe if my pastor comes to me and says, "Hey John, we need a thousand dollars and collectively this congregation could help pay for the needs of people who were in uh in dire straits in the community.

[00:15:50]Can you help us with that?" Now, that I would consider. Because I'm not being forced to do it. And I think there's a religious component to it that might actually change the circumstance of the people who are in need. But what these communist always try to do is create a social welfare structure filled with bureaucrats who are sucking away money and they expect to guilt you and me into paying for it. And the only thing that stop stops it is saying, "Hell no.

[00:16:19]I don't feel bad. I'm I am not going to accept your guilt.

[00:16:24]I'm going to tell you to your face directly, these are your responsibilities and your bills. You must pay them. Do not come back to me and ask for money.

[00:16:35]And I'm going to vote against and support I'm going to vote against anyone who's promoting this kind of stuff and I'm going to actively support people who want to dismantle what has been a failure since the 1960s. With Lyndon Johnson, the Great Society program is the exact opposite of what we hoped it would be.

[00:16:57]It has not diminished poverty. It has not solved the problem. It has sucked away trillions of dollars that could have been used for projects that would uh raise the entire society.

[00:17:11]When you are taking money collectively and then handing it back out to individuals to pay for things that they should pay for themselves. You are bastardizing and corrupting the economic system and you were creating a dependent class that will never go away.

[00:17:29]And it's killing us as a society. Now, is that popular to say? It does that make me feel good to say?

[00:17:37]Uh, is that Christian to say?

[00:17:40]I actually think separating out your Christian faith and your obligations to people with then your faith is different than your obligations within government.

[00:17:49]But it doesn't make anybody feel good. I don't feel good about telling you the truth. How often on this program have I reached the conclusion, "Oh my god, nobody wants to tell the truth."?

[00:17:59]Everybody's living in a Hallmark fantasy.

[00:18:02]You know, some movie on on Lifetime channel where everything works out in the end. When are you going to wake up?

[00:18:08]It is not working out.

[00:18:10]It's killing us.

[00:18:12]It's killing us.

[00:18:14]It is depleting the resources that we should have as a society. It is impoverishing people. It is creating a never-ending cycle of poverty.

[00:18:25]It is rewarding bad behavior instead of trying to eclipse bad behavior and move people away from that. At some point someone will get through. I don't know if it's going to be me, maybe not. You know, maybe not. Maybe I will just be a total political failure and a social failure, but at some point you're going to wake up to it. It will probably be when we collapse under the $39 trillion of debt and everybody looks around and goes, "Oh my god, there there's no more food stamps?

[00:18:56]Social Security doesn't exist anymore? I We were counting on that." Yeah, no kidding you were counting on it.

[00:19:02]But there's there's no money left and you knew it 10 years ago and you didn't do anything about it. Instead you got mad at the truth tellers. You got mad at the responsible people who were telling you things you didn't want to hear, like me, and um then we're all sit there for a century in the dirt as everything declines, and maybe maybe some miracle happens, and the flame that was the capitalist economic uh prosperity of America reignites, and the concept of freedom reignites in America, and personal responsibility and independence. But I wouldn't count on that. The history of the world doesn't say that it comes back very easily.

[00:19:48]So, I you hear somebody like Mom Donny, you see somebody like Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, who apparently marched in the one of the Memorial Day parades, but didn't wear anything that was American. I mean I mean I guess I got to give her credit what for for at least pretending to care about America and supporting America.

[00:20:09]Did she I mean I don't think she had a um a Hamas uh banner or Palestinian flag. Okay, hey, points for you that you didn't ruin an American holiday with your bizarre obsession with uh the terrorists overseas, your friends, your comrades overseas.

[00:20:27]I guess. I mean I haven't seen the whole video, so perhaps I'm wrong about that. It'd be surprising if she wasn't supporting Hamas in Palestine.

[00:20:36]Um you know, at an American event since we're going to tra- tear our own society up in order to support those losers overseas who just want to kill us.

[00:20:46]And I'll just end before we go to Vicky Manning from Restoration News.

[00:20:52]Um listen, I'm watching this Iran thing very very closely, the situation with the president.

[00:20:59]Um and I'm and I'm supportive of the president. I mean I got no choice. You know, I can go with the Democrats who want to give up the entire country to the radical Islamists who want to pretend that a nuclear bomb isn't a problem, who want to pretend that the Iranians don't lie about everything, and act like, "Oh, we cut a deal where they won't build a nuclear bomb." And then guess what? You're going to find out the hard way that they built a nuclear bomb, and either they're using it as leverage, or they're going to kill a whole bunch of Americans.

[00:21:27]So, I got to go with Trump.

[00:21:29]But, I have to I want to be completely honest with you because my credibility and my honesty is the only thing I got left with most people. I don't think it's going well.

[00:21:40]I do not think it's going well. I don't think the Strait of Hormuz is not open.

[00:21:45]We're talking about giving them money.

[00:21:47]We're talking about allowing tolls, maybe. I mean, what what is that all about? We're talking We're talking about leaving the regime in place.

[00:21:57]In the morning, and then in the evening, we're bombing the hell out of them in in southern Ira- Iran. What is going on? It does not match up. The rhetoric does not appear, assuming that we're getting factual information, does not appear to match. And then this comes out today from the Washington Times.

[00:22:17]So, it's not the Washington Post. It's not the New York Times. It's a conservative newspaper, The Washington Times. Iranian Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Motabi Khamenei, said that death to America, death to Israel would become the Islamic Republic's rallying cries.

[00:22:31]Now, is this 2 weeks ago, or is this today or yesterday?

[00:22:36]Because forgive me as a pro-Trump guy, I'm just telling you, that does not give me confidence that we've crushed the um bad guys.

[00:22:50]That says to me if I'm I'm assuming this reporting is right, and I and I guess I have to acknowledge it's possible that we're getting fed propaganda. I mean, who knows what's true anymore? But, I I I to tell you looking at it cumulatively, looking at it across a broad spectrum, these people have not been defeated.

[00:23:09]They are not giving up. They are not um sorry. They are not backing down. So, what am I supposed to do with that? I got to back Trump because I got no other choice.

[00:23:22]And I have to assume that he's sophisticated enough, especially with his criticism of Obama, that he doesn't want to create the same situation that he's been so critical of Obama for. Like, please don't give them one damn dollar.

[00:23:36]Are you kidding?

[00:23:37]No. No money for these people. No power for these people.

[00:23:42]And I continue to double and triple down. I know this is unpopular. We should be destroying any of these people that are in the leadership who are still alive should be gone.

[00:23:53]They had a big rally the other day with a whole bunch of the leaders. Why didn't we bomb the hell out of that? Are we not capable of that? Was it secret? I What are we doing?

[00:24:02]Um again, I'm on board with Trump. I got nowhere else to go. It's not my decision to make. I assume I'm not hearing the whole story. I want to be supportive of the president, but I don't think it's going well.

[00:24:14]And uh my confidence level is dropping every single day. And politics cannot be the driving motivation with this. But, Republicans are going to get wiped out if he doesn't get this under control fast and get these prices down. That's just the reality of it. Um and there's still time, but not much.

[00:24:37]And um I I surely I'm not the only person sitting here who has been observing these types of negotiations for many, many years, who's lived in the Middle East, who's been around this, who's saying this is not adding up correctly.

[00:24:56]Um I you know, I want to continue to be supportive, but come on. Let's get this under control and let's stop pretending like um everything's cool when it clearly is not. Unless I'm being lied to, which is possible, but it doesn't look to me like this is going very well. So, I would suggest stop talking to liars and negotiating with liars and deceivers and kill them while you can.

[00:25:25]God, that's awful to say. I hate to be the one to say it. I hate it.

[00:25:29]But, I don't see any other solution.

[00:25:34]Right? I don't see any other solution.

[00:25:38]They must be crushed into submission.

[00:25:41]And then when they're submitting, you have to crush them again so that they can't kill more Westerners.

[00:25:48]And that is not being made up. It's all real. We've seen it for many, many, many decades. You know, for those of you who are young, I respect you. I don't need to be disrespectful, but you don't know what you're talking about. These are evil people who want to kill you. And you're a fool if you indulge them. Do not indulge the Iranians. Do not indulge the radical Islamic Jihadist. Do not.

[00:26:13]Yeah, producer Dan says unconditional surrender. That's what Trump said he wanted. That is what he should demand and it doesn't seem to me we're even close to that.

[00:26:24]Not even a nice way. I mean, nothing near it. So, I don't know, maybe tomorrow I'll have something else that will make me feel a little bit better, but I have felt sick to my stomach all weekend watching what has been unfolding because I do understand the consequences of this uh both domestically, politically, and internationally. And as someone who has traveled around the world and and will probably be doing so again in an international business um role, I'm not happy about Iran being emboldened rather than being crushed.

[00:27:00]All right, having said that, let's take a quick break. We'll come back. Vicki Manning from Restoration News, one of the few news outlets that's actually out there hustling to break stories that apparently are too hot or too controversial for anyone else to cover.

[00:27:14]Uh in Virginia, Vicki joins us in just a moment on The Reed Revolution.

[00:27:26]>> [music] >> All right, back on this Tuesday on The Reed Revolution. I'm John Reed, very glad that you were with us. Lots of stories that Restoration News is pushing out and their lead investigative reporter in Virginia is Vicki Manning.

[00:27:59]She's back with us today. Vicki, I appreciate you joining us and I got to start, if I can, with an inquiry about uh someone who lives down your way >> [laughter] >> in Virginia. Uh the leader of the Democrats, the President Pro Tem of the State Senate, Louise Lucas, whose offices, we are told, were raided by the FBI what, 3 weeks ago? And I I haven't, you know, I I want to be fair to Senator Lucas. I don't like her. I'll never support her. I think she's a total racist con artist, if I'm just being honest, but I have to be fair.

[00:28:35]Do we know why the offices were raided and has have there been any charges filed against her or is it still murky here, in all fairness to her?

[00:28:47]>> Well, first, I think it's important to point out that she's been awfully silent on social media these days. Uh she >> F-word posts.

[00:28:54]>> Yeah, she's typically posting multiple posts a day and I haven't seen anything.

[00:28:59]I looked a little while ago, the last post was on the 20th when she was talking about the budget that they failed to pass. But, you know, we can talk about that later. Um so, in late uh in late April, um her business partner, Carl Upton, uh was indicted um on charges of of wire fraud. Three counts of wire fraud relating to allegations that he defrauded the government pertaining to some pandemic disaster loans that he applied for in 2020. Now, he applied for these loans through multiple businesses, but one called Virginia Freedom Life was one of those businesses.

[00:29:39]And I discovered that Louise Lucas was at least once a co-owner of that business with Upton. Now, that business is also listed in the State Corporation Commission documents as doing business as The Cannabis Outlet.

[00:29:59]Um the business that Louise uh touts that she owns to kind of push her um her legalization of marijuana business. Um you know, it's not marijuana, but it may as well be.

[00:30:14]And so, that's the reason that Upton was indicted. And it was just a couple of weeks later that the FBI raided Lucas's businesses.

[00:30:27]Um so, there in my opinion, there has to be a tie there. Now, I am not alleging that Senator Lucas has done anything wrong.

[00:30:36]Um we we all know that she is suit-happy, so um innocent till proven guilty here. But, uh I did go down that >> what? I would say the same thing even if she wasn't um lawsuit-prone. Uh you know, we got to be we got to be up-front and honest about things, and people can look guilty and not be guilty because they're around someone else who has done something wrong. So, in all fairness, I'm we we we need to wait and see if there is an indictment against her in particular, but the Upton connection um I don't think has been as explored uh as publicly and as thoroughly as it probably should be to to understand what the nature of her business is, what what the nature of their relationship is um and why the FBI showed up that day.

[00:31:26]>> Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I have he applied for these loans in 2020, and I've only connected Louise Lucas to the business as of 2021.

[00:31:35]>> Mhm.

[00:31:36]>> Um but I I have not been able to find the documents posted publicly uh for that business in 2020. So, as to be a good investigative journalist, you have to know where to look. And the State Corporation Commission is great resource that you can use. Also, all members of the General Assembly have to file a statement of economic interest reports, or essentially their ethics reports. And so, I looked at those, and Senator Lucas doesn't list Virginia Freedom Life on her her ethics statements until 2022, even though she told the media in 2021, I found a media report where she admits to being co-owner of the cannabis outlet with Upton in 2021.

[00:32:22]Uh that is not listed on her 2021 ethics report >> Um I mean, is it possible she filed it before the paperwork was >> is possible that she filed her ethics report before she officially became owner of the business, but I also want to point out that the name of this business has changed as far as I can tell four times.

[00:32:42]Uh it started out as Virginia Freedom Freedom Life doing business as The Cannabis Outlet. And then um it was called The Cannabis Outlet. And then it was called Lucas Hospitality.

[00:32:55]And And now it looks like it may be called The Herbal Outlet. There was a filing in late 2025 um for Louise Lucas's business address listing that as an entity. Now, that's not listed on her ethics report and her name is not on it, but her business address is on it.

[00:33:15]Um so that's all interesting to me.

[00:33:18]Um and >> The Upton charges, the indictment against Mr. Upton, where does that stand in in the legal uh timeline or process?

[00:33:30]>> From what I can tell is they're still waiting for a court hearing.

[00:33:34]>> An initial court hearing.

[00:33:35]>> An initial court hearing, yes. Yeah.

[00:33:37]So, um yeah, that's that's all I've been able to find out on on the Upton indictment. Um and A- Another interesting part is if you look at the SEC, every business has to register with the State Corporation Commission and file a fee annually.

[00:33:57]Well, Senator Lucas hasn't been doing that properly with her any of her businesses.

[00:34:02]I mean, she's missing registration. She One One of her businesses, Lucas Hospitality, was canceled due to a lack of registration fee payment in 2024.

[00:34:12]Um so it's really hard to get all of those accurate records when she's not filing the proper paperwork um as required by law.

[00:34:19]So, so that's what I found as far as her connection to Upton. Now, what's also interesting is I found out that over approximately the last 7 years, she's uh accepted $17 million in Medicaid payments through her organization Lucas Lodge. She owns eight residential homes for people with intellectual disabilities in Portsmouth.

[00:34:46]And >> $17 million? Hmm.

[00:34:49]>> $17 million she's received through intellectual disability Medicaid waivers. So, that's Medicaid funding that comes through this the state entity I think it's called the Department of Behavioral Services, which she also sits on the oversight body of that organization.

[00:35:12]And so >> So, that's another issue, Vicky.

[00:35:16]And I I don't know the answer to this, what the recusal obligations are for sitting members of the Virginia General Assembly if they are casting a vote or influencing legislation that directly impacts their income or entities that they have some sort of interest in. Do you know the answer to that? I don't know.

[00:35:40]>> I mean, you certainly can't benefit financially from your votes. And >> Under the law or ethically? Cuz those are two different things.

[00:35:49]>> Under the conflict of interest act you can't. I mean, I was subject to that act when I was on the school board. And the members of the General Assembly are subject to the same law I was subject to.

[00:35:59]And so >> you if you had a pizza company and you were on the school board and you said, "Hey, let's serve the kids pizza every day. By the way, my company can provide the pizza to all 25 schools and it's a $1 million deal every year, you probably should either sell your interest in that company or not have anything to do with voting on it before the school board."

[00:36:22]>> Absolutely. Yeah, I would I would be locked up if I did that.

[00:36:26]So, so there's clear conflict of interest act laws that the General Assembly have to follow.

[00:36:33]Um, and so, you know, perhaps that's something that is being looked into. I don't know. Um, >> And I should follow up, Vicki. Forgive me for interrupting you like this. Do, you know, again, in the interest of being fair to Senator Lucas, do we know whether she did ever step back and not vote on certain issues? Or, I mean, I guess you wouldn't expect her to leave the committee necessarily, but do we know from her voting record whether she said, "Hey, this is a conflict of interest, so I'm not going to vote on this?"

[00:37:06]>> as far as I can tell, she never recused herself. I did look into that, and she never stepped down from the committee.

[00:37:12]Um, and she, uh, led led the, um, Appropriations Committee, and uh, which, you know, appropriates the money and decides who gets it. Um, and her daughter, Lisa Lucas, um, was on the Portsmouth City Council. So, the money from the state that goes to these Medicaid waivers has to go through the City Council as as well to be appropriated. And Lisa Lucas-Burke, who is Senator Lucas's daughter, sat on the City Council. I also looked at her voting record. She never recused herself from any of those votes. And she is, uh, the executive director of the Lucas Lodge.

[00:37:54]So, I I detail all of this, uh, in my article along with linking the documents. Um, where people can go and look for themselves and explore um, what's going on, you know, there, the Medicaid fraud has obviously been in the news, um, and, you know, I'm not alleging that Senator Lucas has been a part of Medicaid fraud here, but um, it certainly doesn't look good when you are one of the top leaders of the state that seems to be benefiting financially from decisions being made in the General Assembly.

[00:38:28]>> So, we know about the FBI raid. Is there any action being taken within state government that of course unfortunately Democrats now run lock, stock, and barrel? Is there anybody saying, "Hey, we should either make an allegation or let's clear this because nothing wrong is happening."

[00:38:48]Anybody doing that?

[00:38:50]>> I've not heard of anyone at the state level doing anything on this.

[00:38:54]And and I should point out that this investigation began under the Biden administration.

[00:39:03]>> Mhm.

[00:39:03]>> So, it's it's been in the works for a while.

[00:39:08]>> Now, was it true that it started under Biden and then it was pulled?

[00:39:14]>> I hadn't heard that.

[00:39:15]>> Okay, I'm I'm trying to get clarity cuz I've heard I've heard from people who said, "Yeah, it started and then they kind of slow walked it and made it disappear." I don't know if that's correct or not. I mean obviously here we are what two year and a half into the Trump administration post Biden and it's started again.

[00:39:35]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:36]>> On on some level.

[00:39:38]>> Yeah, that's possible.

[00:39:41]>> Is there anybody else in state government that we should be asking questions of?

[00:39:47]>> Um you know, not that I've looked into right now. You know, I think one concern that many Virginians have right now is what's what's happening with the budget.

[00:39:56]I read an article earlier today by the put out by the Jefferson Forum that talked about you know, we have a balanced budget amendment in Virginia.

[00:40:07]The the state will shut down if if they can't pass a budget.

[00:40:12]And this could be the first time in history that that happens. And uh it it's it's amazing since the Democrats have full control of the General Assembly and the Governor's Mansion and they can't get a budget passed. And you know, Senator Lucas is one of those that's holding this up. It's my understanding that she's not happy with subsidies received by the data centers, which is something that she agreed to in legislation years ago and now she wants to backtrack on that. Um and you know, I find it a little bit interesting the in-fighting that's happening in the Democrat Party right now in Virginia.

[00:40:55]>> Well, they're beating the heck out of each other and I think they're bound to know that if they get to July 1st and we don't have a budget that I I mean they got a practical problem on their hands, but they got a public relations debacle as well. And when it comes to the data centers, man, I heard from everybody.

[00:41:16]Um I mean it was very unpopular in a lot of neighborhoods that I went to from Northern Virginia all the way to Southwest Virginia about the data centers. The problem, of course, is when you make a promise through legislation and you lure business into your state but then you have second thoughts about it and you take away the benefits that caused them to pick your state, even if it's something you no longer want, you send a message to business leaders, uh those Virginia people, you can't count on them. They will double-cross you. I already feel that way about a lot of the covenants related to statues and monuments and you know, things that in the grand scheme of things are important, but not that important economically where they've sent a signal you you can make a deal, but in 25 years if a different mindset and a different administration comes in, they will tear up that deal and say it didn't exist and that they have the right to um redo it, which isn't the nature of these these agreements. And it maybe it's petty on some in some people's minds if it's about the Lee Monument on Monument Avenue, but it has a really practical negative impact on our ability to bring business to Virginia if um if they start doing this with the data centers and other um projects.

[00:42:42]>> Absolutely. And you can't renege on a deal or no one's going to trust you. And if they don't pass a budget, something that people don't realize is this is impacting localities right now.

[00:42:54]Um you know, city city governments are trying to create their budgets for next year and they rely on the state approved budget to know how much they can spend and how uh how to plan. You know, on the school board we were always waiting for the state budget to come down so that we could finish our appropriations for the next uh upcoming year.

[00:43:14]>> Mhm.

[00:43:15]>> And um if if they're waiting um this long, it's going to it's going to really negatively impact localities as well.

[00:43:23]>> Do you know in the past what the latest date is that we've gotten a budget under any administration, Republican or Democrat? Do you know?

[00:43:31]>> I read this morning it was mid-June.

[00:43:34]>> Okay. So, we're still flirting with that worst of Monica, but we're not there yet.

[00:43:40]>> Right. Right.

[00:43:41]>> Good.

[00:43:42]Um I I have to uh compliment you on taking on some of these stories as you alluded to uh and it shouldn't be this way, but um some people in the General Assembly have effectively silenced anybody who will investigate their behavior with lawsuits. I know uh in Richmond there are several reporters who've been told by their bosses, you will not touch anything to do with these people or this person because our corporate decision is we're not we're not putting out money for legal defense.

[00:44:20]And um you know, I guess from a corporate standpoint that's a legitimate decision to make that you're not going to uh risk huge legal bills, but it has a chilling effect on free speech and on what I think the media is there to do, which is to hold politicians and others accountable for how they conduct themselves and whether or not they're stealing from the from the government and from the taxpayers and whether they're being straight up and honest with people. And it's been interesting to watch the last several years when I will bring up certain people's names how reporters say, "I'm not talking about that. I'm not I can't talk about that. We're not we're not doing any stories on that." Really? Really?

[00:45:08]So the intimidation seems to work on some level.

[00:45:13]>> And not with Restoration News. We're going to report the facts and we're going to back back it up and we're going to stand firm on that.

[00:45:20]Um you know, we have a team of very experienced and professional um investigative journalists and we we back up everything that we say.

[00:45:30]>> Wow.

[00:45:31]>> You'll You'll notice a lot of You'll notice a lot of links in our uh You'll notice a lot of links in our stories um for a reason. We want people to uh see the proof for themselves and you know, we don't we don't just uh make statements, we back them up.

[00:45:48]>> Well, that is important because I think people have every reason to be skeptical of what they're reading, not necessarily from you all, but from the media writ large and documenting almost like a uh term paper where you have the footnotes. I can show you where I got this and you can decide for yourself whether it's credible is really important.

[00:46:10]>> Exactly. And you know, I learned that when I was on the school board, when I was in the minority of viewpoint and had to back up everything that I said. It was really hard for the opposition to argue with me when I was showing them the facts in front of them. So >> Let me ask you about before we go, one of the other stories that I know that you or series of stories that you've been working pretty diligently on, which is to showcase that there really are bad people in our midst, violent criminal people in our midst who are illegal aliens. And one of the narratives that the left has been effective just because of the complicity of the news media and spreading is that that's a rarity and that immigrants don't commit crime. Oh my god, they're so much less likely to commit a crime than a white person and the native population, which I think is totally bogus. I don't think that's true at all, but because so many urban centers have refused to allow the police to document immigration status, the data is completely corrupt.

[00:47:16]So you can't reach a factual conclusion.

[00:47:20]You've gone and pulled out story after story after story of individuals who have committed atrocious crimes, who do happen to be illegal.

[00:47:29]>> Illegalaliencrimes.com is where we're documenting all of this.

[00:47:33]I spent all of all of 24 creating this website and we're actually repopulating it right now with what's going on in 2025 and 2026.

[00:47:46]One thing that I discovered recently is a report of over half of the murders that took place in Fairfax County this year were by illegal aliens. Um, so, you know, it it's our map that we have on our website, you can click by your state and your locality and see what's going on in your backyard. Um, so, it's not just happening in blue states over red states, it's happening everywhere. It just so happens that red states are cooperating with ICE and getting the bad guys out of their neighborhood, whereas you have sanctuary districts like Fairfax, um, who are harboring those those illegal aliens. And one thing that I wrote a story on about a year ago that people, uh, aren't reporting is how this is impacting our housing markets. Um, the affordability of housing, when you have tens you some some figures say up to 20 million people have crossed our border illegally, they've got to live somewhere. Where are they living?

[00:48:48]And I do believe that this has impacted, um, our housing market, uh, nation wide, including here in Virginia.

[00:48:56]>> Yeah. If you clear Let's Let's say there five or 10 million illegals. I mean, some people say that's a gross underestimate.

[00:49:06]But, I mean, it's millions of people. I don't think that can be denied, especially in Texas, in Florida, in California, in places that are at the border where it's easy to get across and, uh, and live.

[00:49:21]Those units, housing units, if you just want to look at the data wise, they are taken up.

[00:49:27]And, uh, usually by people who are paying under market value or they're kind of corrupt property owners who want government money. I mean, this goes back to these government welfare programs where it's a lot easier just to collect a government check than to chase down working people who, you know, ride the highs and lows of their careers and whether you know their income um, is steady or not. I mean I've known people like I hate Section 8 housing, but the check clears. So, hey, that's what we're doing. And I think that is artificial it's it's like everything else it's artificially inflating the prices for the working American citizen. And if if you're somebody who's a working person who thinks the Democrats have your back, they do not have your back because you're paying more and you're losing out on opportunities because they refuse to enforce the law and they're bastardizing our economy where you're the loser for getting up every morning and putting in a 10 12-hour day. And there's just no way around it.

[00:50:35]>> Absolutely. And we're updating our site right now illegalaliencrimes.com to include the crimes committed more recently in 25 and 26. So, I think the website's under maintenance right now, but it should be back tomorrow.

[00:50:51]>> Okay. Vicky Manning with Restoration News. I appreciate every chance we get to talk to you. You've always got a new raft of information that seems to be pretty well documented. So, please stay in touch.

[00:51:04]>> Thanks, John. Take care.

[00:51:05]>> Thanks very much, Vicky. All right.

[00:51:07]Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. Producer Dan will rejoin us and you know, one of the thing I'll just tell you real quick. One of the things that I was kind of criticized for I didn't I didn't think I dressed poorly.

[00:51:20]I mean I used to be a TV news anchorman, you know?

[00:51:23]So, I didn't think I dressed poorly, but during the campaign, boy, everybody's got a comment about your hair, about the wrinkles in your face, about whether you've got a you know, bags under your eyes, whether your clothes are too tight or too loose or too bad. I mean it is unbelievable the kind of nasty scrutiny. So, one of the things when I was criticized about not dressing um I don't know, uh dressing up enough that I started to try to do is wear French cuffs and I was wearing a little um I don't know, what do you call this? Uh handkerchief.

[00:51:59]And um to try to just look a little dressier because everybody was being so nasty and mean to me. So, one of the things I thought I would do is show you when I have a new pair of cufflinks, a new pair of cufflinks. Cuz did you know that cufflinks, you can get cufflinks with anything on them? I mean, it is really amazing and some of them are antique and they're really ornate and uh kind of beautiful little works of art. I don't know. I thought that might be interesting, so I'll share the ones that I've got today uh >> [snorts] >> with you when we return the light moment of the show. When we return on the Reed Revolution.

[00:52:44]>> [music] [music] >> Back on this Tuesday, the Reed Revolution producer Dan is back with us.

[00:53:08]Did I ever tell you I mean, this is years ago, what, the '90s and early 2000s when I was a TV news anchor.

[00:53:17]>> Yeah.

[00:53:17]>> I was younger, hair was darker.

[00:53:19]>> Yeah.

[00:53:20]>> [laughter] >> Weren't we all?

[00:53:23]>> I was decent looking, whatever.

[00:53:25]This total jerk who lives here in Richmond hated me for some reason. I never know why. I don't know whether I mean, I don't know why you'd be jelly. The guy The guy was a multi-multi-millionaire.

[00:53:36]Probably 10 or 15 years older than I was at the time. Still alive, still causing trouble.

[00:53:43]I'd steer clear of him these days.

[00:53:45]Um We were at a an event, I think it was at the Jefferson Hotel.

[00:53:52]And um I had been invited. I showed up a little late. Kind of stood in the back of a little collection of people at this cocktail party. And he made a point of saying, "Oh, look who just showed up. It's John Reed. Uh I was watching you on TV this morning, John."

[00:54:10]And I was "Oh, well, thank you very much. I appreciate it." And he had, "You know, you really need to get Botox because you look like hell." In front of like 20 or 30 people. I mean, it was so insulting and offensive.

[00:54:24]>> Oh my gosh.

[00:54:25]>> Oh, the guy's a total, you know what. Um and it was one of the few moments in my life where I was quick enough to say, "Well, who does your Botox?"

[00:54:34]You know? [laughter] Which I mean, it's not the greatest zinger of all time, but at least it was some kind of push back to this jerk for trying to embarrass me. Um but it's weird, you know, you have any of these and I'm a guy. Imagine what the women go through.

[00:54:49]>> Yeah, it's Yeah, no, I mean, I I I told you when we started this thing, I I was not accustomed to being on camera uh through the through this process and yeah, very quickly very quickly uh yeah, my >> People are [laughter] mean.

[00:55:06]>> Woo, yeah. I was I was kind of shocked.

[00:55:08]I was like, "Wow, okay." Um but yeah, it was it took some getting used to. I was like, "Okay, I guess I I I won't be reading as many of the comments uh as I used to."

[00:55:19]>> Yeah, if you're looking to be loved don't go into media or politics. Be a singer maybe or >> Yeah.

[00:55:26]>> maybe an actor or something, I don't know.

[00:55:28]>> I think even even with those I I just man, I think my my rule of thumb is just to avoid I hate to say it, but unless it's a known entity. the >> Yeah, just it's just you're better you're better off psychologically just avoiding it. It's and that's sad that but most people are are more like I don't know. I'm trying to think Joan Rivers maybe than than Fred Rogers in terms of what they have to say about >> Oh, they're mean and nasty.

[00:55:53]>> It's it's really something. Um >> And you know what it does?

[00:55:57]It in politics certainly and maybe maybe to a certain extent in media probably in media, too.

[00:56:04]The only people who can survive are the narcissist crazies. Hopefully us excluded. I pray.

[00:56:13]Um I mean you get you got to have some sort of tendencies to do this job in this business I suppose. But um think about it. I mean I think I think back to the Bill Clinton days.

[00:56:28]Uh Bill Clinton is a great politician.

[00:56:30]Bill Clinton is a maniac when it comes to memorizing things and policy. I think he really is a smart guy.

[00:56:40]But there are a lot of smart people who care about policy.

[00:56:44]If if you and look at Trump. If you Bill Clinton, Trump, to a lesser extent George W. Bush, if you're constantly um you and your family are constantly dragged through this on a regular basis.

[00:56:59]The normal people leave.

[00:57:01]I mean I think that's why normal people don't run for statewide office.

[00:57:05]>> You can barely get normal people to run for House of Delegates or Board of Supervisors anymore. I mean normal people just can't endure this type of nasty mean scrutiny.

[00:57:16]And with social media it's a thousand times worse than it ever was. So Anyway, oh so before we go this is >> The cufflinks.

[00:57:26]>> I I told you I was going to do this. Um >> Yeah.

[00:57:29]>> All right. So that is the Liberty Bell.

[00:57:31]>> Oh, look at that. Okay, yeah. I can I can definitely see it. Yeah, wow.

[00:57:37]That's neat.

[00:57:38]>> Um I didn't know because in my family no one wore cufflinks. I guess my grandfather did.

[00:57:46]70 years ago, 80 years ago.

[00:57:47]>> Cracked when a fellow alumnus of William & Mary Law School died, you know.

[00:57:51]>> John Marshall, yeah.

[00:57:52]>> Yeah.

[00:57:52]>> When when the Liberty Bell was tolling for John Marshall's death, yeah. That's when the crack happened. People don't know that connection to Virginia. That's it.

[00:58:00]>> Well, now now they now they learned something if they're watching our podcast.

[00:58:02]>> I am [laughter] and it's got If you look right here, I don't think you can see it on air. It's got the >> Does it have the crack in it? Yeah, I can.

[00:58:08]>> have been collecting in the last month or so um different cufflinks that are Americana.

[00:58:17]You know, one of them is from 1976. One pair is from 1976, the logo for the Bicentennial.

[00:58:24]>> Bicentennial.

[00:58:25]>> And so I'm at some point I'll wear those. I'm kind of excited about it. I try not to spend more than $20.

[00:58:32]Um because I'm just telling you, man, some of these cufflinks that are on sale on eBay and elsewhere, $3,000.

[00:58:40]>> Wow.

[00:58:40]>> Three They I mean, they're gold. They're real gold. They've got real jewels. I can't afford anything like that. So, I try to cap it at about 20 maybe $25.

[00:58:51]And I still I get a bunch of antique stuff that you know, probably some old man died and then the kids are just selling it on eBay. So, um it's interesting. But I have really enjoyed They're like they're little works of art.

[00:59:04]It's interesting. I never knew that.

[00:59:06]>> Somewhere I have cufflinks that if I if I have the story right, my great-grandfather received when he became a member of the Senate, the US Senate.

[00:59:15]And I I have them somewhere. I don't know if that's anything that they still do. I don't know if George Allen got cufflinks when he when he became a senator, but >> They're Senate They're Senate cufflinks.

[00:59:24]They're to kind you get in the gift shop, which are nice. Um I I used to give them to friends uh who would come visit me in the Senate. They weren't crazy They're like $20 also, but they look really nice.

[00:59:36]They're impressive.

[00:59:37]>> And it's got the American eagle, the you know, the eagle and the >> Yes. Yes. It had Yeah, this Yeah, had an eagle on it. Absolutely.

[00:59:42]>> some of them um I know governors and I know Jason Miyares did it when he was attorney general. Um and I don't know whether Winsome did or I don't You know what I mean?

[00:59:54]>> That's right.

[00:59:54]>> maybe a woman wouldn't hand out cufflinks. I don't know.

[00:59:57]>> For staff. Yeah.

[00:59:58]>> Um for staff and they often have a version of the state seal with your name either on the front or the back. And so it's kind of a gift that says thank you for helping me get elected or thank you for supporting whatever initiative. I mean, it's not a >> [laughter] >> quid pro quo type of thing, but >> Two bullets on the current AG's Yeah, right. [laughter] Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[01:00:23]>> Seriously?

[01:00:24]>> [laughter] >> You know, I was going to buy some cufflinks. They were about $20. This is when I first started collecting them a few months ago.

[01:00:33]Um that were they were bullets.

[01:00:37]But then I thought, "Uh, you know, I just don't know. People might misunderstand. I just I mean, I got so many things that people are mad at me about. I just why indulge something that people are going to be angry about." I've got George Washington cufflinks. I'm trying to find some Thomas Jefferson cufflinks. I think that would be kind of cool to wear this year with the 250th.

[01:00:57]>> On the subject of Thomas Jefferson, I saw something on your page you posted about somebody coming to speak at Virginia commencement who's going to trash Thomas Jefferson or something like that.

[01:01:06]>> He knows on the staff. He's He's on the staff. Go to the John Reed um um Reed Revolution page and you will see that Tom Neale, who used to be the head of the Jefferson Council. I think you remember we've had had Jefferson Council on several times.

[01:01:22]Tom is outraged and a lot of UVA alums are outraged that this person who is in the administration of the University of Virginia took the opportunity to say uh well, I should get the quote right. I don't want to be unfair to this person.

[01:01:38]Um and and I wasn't there, so I'm dependent on sound bites and analysis from people who I assume are shooting straight, but you know, really demeaned Thomas Jefferson as I I don't know about you, Dan. I think Thomas Jefferson's probably one of the geniuses of American history.

[01:01:59]And >> Yeah.

[01:02:00]>> Um you know, I'm not looking for people who are perfect today or in the past or in the future. I just can't you know, I'll be looking forever if I'm looking for somebody who is perfect, certainly by today's standards.

[01:02:15]Um and God knows I hope people are more generous with their assessment of us in a hundred years than we are apparently willing to be for people who've been dead for a hundred hundred fifty years.

[01:02:25]But he impugned Jefferson at Jefferson's school for God's sake. I mean, what is up with these leftist liberals who come into an institution and then what, feel it's okay to trash the people who started just like at the Valentine Museum. They constantly trash Mr. Valentine.

[01:02:43]Uh Hey, if you don't want to work for the Valentine Museum with this man's past as a Confederate then don't work there.

[01:02:52]>> do it. Yeah.

[01:02:53]>> You don't need to I mean I would come up out of the grave. If there's such a thing as a haunting you will find it out if I die and people people decide to take what I created whatever that's going to be by the time I'm dead and then use it to trash me. I swear to God I'll come up and strangle the hell out of you.

[01:03:15]You know, I mean, no.

[01:03:17]And these people don't think twice about it.

[01:03:19]>> Jefferson is is not my favorite founder and he and I have more respect for Jefferson at 32 than I do at probably 60. I I Well, I mean, George Washington is in a class all by himself, but if we exclude George Washington, I'd probably say James Madison.

[01:03:33]>> Yeah.

[01:03:34]>> I'd probably I think Madison combined the best of Hamilton and Jefferson into one intellectually. I think he just was probably the the the the brightest light intellectually of the of the the founding generation. Um just a just and and kind of underrated.

[01:03:50]He kind of even as the father of the Constitution, don't hear as much about Madison. I don't know if it's just because he was a he was a man of short stature, just didn't was not someone who towered uh above people the way that a Washington or a Jefferson did. Uh didn't have the maybe the dynamism of a of a Ben Franklin or or or a Hamilton in terms of his >> Well, Washington was number one.

[01:04:14]>> Washington's one.

[01:04:15]>> Jefferson was number three and Madison was >> Uh in terms of the presidents? Uh oh, he was fourth. He was right after Jefferson. So, four four of the first five presidents. And James Monroe, very underrated. You know, I'm I'm pleased to say this as a native Fredericksburger.

[01:04:31]You know, we've had two unanimously elected by the Electoral College, two unanimously elected presidents in in our nation's history and they're both from Fredericksburg.

[01:04:40]George Washington and James Monroe.

[01:04:43]>> Fascinating. Okay. Yeah, the Monroe.

[01:04:45]>> Monroe was the last person to run unopposed as president of the United States.

[01:04:49]>> Well, should I mention that we have our 100th episode of this podcast one week from today, next Tuesday, right? The 2nd of June.

[01:05:00]>> Yes.

[01:05:00]>> So, we're going to do something about that. I'm not sure what it's going to be.

[01:05:03]Uh you know, I don't have 10 grand to throw around to have some huge party.

[01:05:07]Although, I wish I did. I don't have 10 I don't have 10 grand to do that. And it doesn't seem like anybody's going to give me 10 grand to have a big party and that'd be a waste of money anyway. But, we're going to do something to mark this 100th episode um next Tuesday.

[01:05:23]And then when that's over, Dan, um I have been working with a couple of people to put together the Reed Revolution Tour of Virginia in the middle of June to the middle of August.

[01:05:36]>> Okay.

[01:05:37]>> If you have ever thought, "Wow, you know, that'd be fun to go see" I mean, everybody knows the top-tier sites, which we may include in the tour.

[01:05:44]Monticello, Mount Vernon, William Colonial Williamsburg, um Jamestown, Yorktown. I mean, there are five or six things that if you really wanted to understand Virginia history and how it connects to and and created American history, you would put on the list. But, I'm interested if we get uh 10 12 spots that we're going to visit over the course of the summer while we're celebrating America 250, what are the other places that we might visit? And we'll announce that and you can sign up and join us on the tour uh right after we get through the 100th episode celebration next week. So, that's something to look forward to.

[01:06:24]>> Well, you know you know my my favorite below-the-radar spot and I don't know that you uh had as good an experience as I had when you went there. I think you hadn't been there before just this past spring, but uh George Washington's birthplace.

[01:06:37]>> Oh, yeah.

[01:06:38]>> And Westmoreland, I think I think down Route 3, if I'm not mistaken.

[01:06:42]>> It was fun.

[01:06:42]>> Just you Yeah.

[01:06:44]Um but, I I I I just thought, "Wow, this is this is what a to be at the at the the place where the person who would basically lead the way toward American Revolution independence and and liberty uh was was born." I think this is this is this is this is >> it's got a nice little museum. It's got a nice little movie.

[01:07:08]Um you can see the outline of the house and then there's a new house that's been built that has >> outline outline of the house because the original house burned down at some point. Yeah. Um and it's right on the banks of the Rappahannock.

[01:07:18]>> If you're there, it's a beautiful site and on a uh you know, if you want to get up one morning and take a little drive, which isn't too far from Richmond, >> about an hour. An hour drive, yeah.

[01:07:29]>> Yeah, or wherever you are in Virginia, go and see it. I think it's worth I think it's worth checking that box. I had never done it before and you know, I'm a native Virginian who's spent most of my life here. I had never seen it before. So, Jim Herring and I went.

[01:07:40]>> Right.

[01:07:41]>> And we stopped there and then we went to the boyhood home in Fredericksburg.

[01:07:45]>> Ferry Farm, yeah.

[01:07:46]>> And his mother's house. I didn't get to go in the house. Jim had done that before, so we didn't go in and I'll go back and go in and tour the house. But you can see where um uh George Washington's mother is buried. I thought that was It's got an obelisk.

[01:08:02]It's very interesting. There's a lot of stuff to see. So, we're going to put together this tour >> Yeah.

[01:08:06]>> and um I I I think people will want to use it. That'll be in uh conjunction with my friends and colleagues at the Virginia Council um with with their help try to put this together this tour and I hope even if you can't join me when I'm doing the show live near these locations, um I hope you'll use it as kind of a checklist for you and your family this summer into the fall. Like, all right, this this would be pretty cool to go and see these places. And what I'm going to try to do is have each one be a visit to the historic site, a place that you can have lunch that might be interesting.

[01:08:42]Um I don't know. You go to Monticello, do you go to Michie Tavern or you go to the Trump Winery to have lunch, right? Or or maybe both. Maybe you go have lunch at Michie Tavern and >> Neither one is far.

[01:08:54]>> And then go to go have some drinks at the Trump Winery. See, now [laughter] even the adults enjoy it, you know, the people who aren't interested in history.

[01:09:01]Um uh but I'm going to try to curate each location with a couple of things you can do so that if you make the effort to go, you feel like, "Okay, this was kind of cool to be able to do."

[01:09:12]>> Yeah. It's Well, that's that sounds like a neat plan. I'm That's exciting.

[01:09:16]>> Yes, wait till you see it. Let's get through the 100th episode, God willing, next week. Can you believe it's been 100 episodes almost?

[01:09:25]>> I It makes sense. I mean, it's we've we've been doing this pretty much every weekday since January.

[01:09:29]>> I know. People said, "Don't do it."

[01:09:32]All the podcast people said, "Don't don't do it daily."

[01:09:35]>> Don't do a daily. Yeah, it's too much of a challenge.

[01:09:38]>> I kind of get it. I do think you know, es- especially if you're not I mean, if you're not Sean Hannity or Brian Kilmeade making two or three 10 million dollars a year or more, then okay. Um, yeah, that that would make it a lot more palatable to devote this time to [laughter] this effort. But, I still think it's interesting. So, hopefully hopefully the money will arrive.

[01:10:04]>> Yes. Yes. Knock on wood. That's right.

[01:10:06]>> arrive. All right, before we run out of time, what did you want to hit us with?

[01:10:10]>> Oh, gosh. Let's see here. Well, we aren't right about Something quick. You know what? I Well, I'll Let's Let's go I've been wanting to play this this celebs on capitalism video for for a few days or so.

[01:10:22]>> Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:10:23]>> Let me play this cuz I just These These dunces.

[01:10:26]>> [laughter] >> Yeah, we started with celebs.

[01:10:29]>> The only people that are noisy the most about capitalism >> The only people that really benefit are the top 0.003%.

[01:10:37]>> greed. It's very simple. It's just way too imbalanced.

[01:10:41]>> Capitalism is a system of evil.

[01:10:46]>> the unfairness of the entire system.

[01:10:50]>> that you think that >> Putting other people down is the only way that you can win.

[01:10:55]>> Wow.

[01:10:56]>> I mean, it's just crazy.

[01:10:58]>> are people I mean, I don't understand >> I don't understand why the entertainers, I mean, really, I got to I got to tell you, you want to tax uh the CEOs of these companies? I'm against it, but if you're going to do that, then let's have an entertainment tax. Let's pay the entertainers what um three only three times what the food concessionaires make at the movie theater or at the arena. Like, you're the big star, but you don't believe in capitalism, so I'm sorry, you can't take home uh $750,000 for every performance at every arena.

[01:11:39]You can only make three times what the popcorn sales guy makes. Doesn't that seem fair in your mind if you're going to dump on everybody else?

[01:11:49]>> Yeah, and and even without any mandate to that effect, where where are these folks giving away >> Oh, yeah, that's the next question.

[01:11:57]>> of Yeah, okay, you know, you think this is so bad, well, then let's you know, what is what is the average person Yeah, what is the average person live on?

[01:12:04]Okay, well, give the rest of your wealth away then if if that's how you really feel.

[01:12:08]>> Let's say you make 600 grand uh a year and somehow you've amassed 7 and 1/2 million dollars like that last dingbat.

[01:12:17]>> Yeah.

[01:12:17]>> How much of that 600 grand, outside of your taxes, taxes don't count, what are you doing to change the world, make the world a better place? Uh the answer is nothing.

[01:12:28]You show up and do some photos at charity events and pretend that you're actually moving the needle while you complain about everybody else. I I love it. I'm so glad that you found that. And I'm glad they added the data point behind [laughter] it.

[01:12:45]>> It's just the Yeah, these folks, they they have no idea what they're talking about. And I mean, and to and to describe capitalism as anything other than a win-win proposition, I mean everybody is is better off over time because of because of capitalism and because of free trade. I mean >> And you know, the the key thing is being able to walk out if you hate the job. If you hate your boss, you hate the company, you don't think you're getting paid, I've done it.

[01:13:12]I've I've I've worked in a couple of places where I'm like, "Screw this. You won't give me a pay raise, I'm out." And I know I'm making money for you and you won't share that with me at a rate that is even close to what I think I should get. And trust me, I wasn't asking for a Sean Hannity salary, you know. I was just asking for a cost of living adjustment and I was told no. To hell with that. I walked out. It's It's had consequences, but I don't regret it.

[01:13:38]>> it, I mean I I have a I have a a television downstairs that's quite luxurious.

[01:13:43]I have I have one of these in my hands.

[01:13:45]I got two computers staring in front of me. I am not wealthy.

[01:13:49]And this is more technology than John D.

[01:13:52]Rockefeller or Andrew Carnegie could have dreamed of possessing when they lived.

[01:13:57]>> Well, that's true, but they had 100-room mansions, too.

[01:14:00]>> Well, well, well, sure, but the point is is that is that it is the it is the nature of of capitalism to to get to where we can all possess something that that the richest of the rich couldn't have even dreamed of owning. Couldn't have even dreamed of having 100 years ago.

[01:14:18]And I mean that that is that is a that is a testament to how great capitalism is and I mean if if people knew how brutish and awful life was before freer enterprise and freer trade came about in this world, they >> [laughter] >> Heck, all these folks It's In In a sense, it's too bad that that that a place like the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore for these folks to go visit and understand that they're just full of nonsense.

[01:14:48]>> they can go to Cuba.

[01:14:49]>> They can go to Cuba, they can go to China, they yeah.

[01:14:51]>> Yeah, I mean you can you can go to Cuba, you can go to China. I'm still trying to work out a deal to go visit uh some of the big cities in China uh with the Chinese.

[01:15:03]You know, they know that I'm not a huge fan, but I would to tell you there's some spectacular stuff happening in China and we should be paying attention to it.

[01:15:13]We should be paying attention to it.

[01:15:15]>> Carl Carl robots >> My bud Carl has has a good idea. Yeah, send him to North Korea. Yeah, no kidding. They might >> Right, good point.

[01:15:22]>> Like that Virginia student, they might not come home. But uh but yeah, it's yeah, it's but yeah, they just they they these folks don't know what they're what they're talking about. They absolutely have no idea. And it's it's a it's it's a shame cuz it's a bad reflection.

[01:15:37]>> Dan, they're bringing us down.

[01:15:39]>> Yes, that's exactly what I was about to say.

[01:15:41]>> us down cuz dummies are listening to dummies and they're bringing us down.

[01:15:44]I'm not saying everything's perfect.

[01:15:45]God, I wish I had $700 million in the back. I wish I had I did. I mean, you know, hadn't worked out that way for me. I don't know that it's going to. I'm still hopeful. Maybe I'm crazy. I'm still hopeful, but >> It does kind of burn you that people who are this obtuse end up having this kind of money at their disposal. [laughter] >> And then BASH LIKE SHUT UP. You just you hit the jackpot. Stop screaming about how much you hate the lottery when you hit the jackpot.

[01:16:12]>> won, yeah.

[01:16:13]>> No kidding. While everybody else is still working their butt off trying to trying to be successful. So.

[01:16:20]All right, well, I'm so glad to see you.

[01:16:22]>> Likewise, yeah.

[01:16:23]>> a Memorial Day weekend or do you >> I I I did. I did. I It was It was I I didn't mind the rain, but so much I wish it would kind of make its way out of here now, but but I I I did not I will not complain about high temperatures in the in the 70s when it gets to late May.

[01:16:39]So, I was I was I was happy that it was kind of a mild weekend.

[01:16:43]>> Good.

[01:16:44]>> Um so yeah. But How about you? Good good weekend?

[01:16:47]>> It was a good weekend. We went up and had um >> That's right. You went to Maryland.

[01:16:51]>> We went to Maryland to see Alonza's family and we had um a wonderful dinner with his sister and his mom and his aunts and his uncles and um you know, they're always so very nice to me, which was not a guarantee. I was kind of you know, years ago when I first met them, I was kind of like, uh One of these things is not like the other. They're going to be okay with me.

[01:17:11]They've been super wonderful to me. Even even the members of his family who don't really share my politics, I don't think they're crazy. I don't think any of them are crazy, but um they've all been super super welcoming and and wonderful to me, which I'm very appreciative of and >> And I got to meet a number of them during the campaign last year and you know, they were they were quite quite quite kind to me as well. So I I I certainly appreciate getting to meet them. And Alonza was a swell guy. You know, Alonza is is one of the nicest people around. So yeah, it makes sense that his family would That's right.

[01:17:44]>> [laughter] >> That's right. I promise not to.

[01:17:47]>> You should see. You should see There's one total you know what blank blank blank online who keeps attacking Alonza and I said to him, I said, you know, can you just let it go? And he's like, no, I cannot let it go. I said, all right, fine. Tear the guy up cuz you don't want to Alonza's quiet.

[01:18:05]For people who've met my partner Alonza, he doesn't talk a lot.

[01:18:09]Um doesn't mean he's not thinking a lot cuz he is, but if you if you cross him there's hell to pay.

[01:18:17]>> I I I appreciate that. I can appreciate that. World's world's nicest guy to people who offer just the bare minimum of respect to this dude. If you're out to get If you're out to get me, I yeah. It's a different story. Watch out.

[01:18:31]>> And on that happy note >> Very quickly, by the way, I just I was at the Short Pump AT&T store uh for phone issues that have now fortunately all been resolved. I'm going back a couple months here now, but the they said they said while I was there they said, "Oh, is I told them what I did and what it was like, "Oh, well, you know, the guy from TV comes in here all the time, you [clears throat] know." And I said, "I think I do." They were talking about the your your your social media nemesis.

[01:18:58]>> Oh, [snorts] yeah, I'm sure.

[01:19:00]>> [laughter] >> Whatever.

[01:19:01]>> So then so then yeah, I know that I KNOW HIM.

[01:19:05]>> [laughter] >> FANTASTIC. FANTASTIC.

[01:19:08]>> I was like, "Yeah, don't tell him don't tell him I was here."

[01:19:11]>> [laughter] >> Yeah, no need to bring that up.

[01:19:14]All right, we will plan on starting again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be right on time. We had a couple of connection issues at the beginning today, but we'll try to be right on time tomorrow. Shoot you a note at [email protected].

[01:19:27]I would really appreciate it if you would go on Facebook especially and like both of the pages and if you could give me a good review cuz the you know what's, the jerks, have been trashing the hell out of me and it would just be helpful to kind of balance that a little bit. If you like the show and like this perspective and hopefully the candor that we're bringing to you.

[01:19:47]The reviews on YouTube and on Facebook would be very much appreciated. The [email protected] and on all of those locations. We'll see you back here tomorrow on the read revolution.

[01:20:04]>> [music]