00:00:08
Speaker 1: The Mike Gallagher Show in the ReliefFactor.com studios.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Trisha, poor Trisha. I appreciate her calling. I love her. She's a New Yorker, and New Yorkers just, they don't get it. And I hate to say that about my, I've got family, friends, people I love in New York. That's just their mindset. It's like guns. Talk to a New Yorker about the Second Amendment. They think it's– I remember when the lady from Indiana got arrested in the Empire State Building because she accidentally had brought her concealed weapon with her to take a tour of the– you know, you go to the observatory in the Empire State Building. And she forgot that she still had her small concealed handgun in her purse, which she was legally permitted to carry in the state of Indiana. And she thought– and she saw the signs that we're a gun-free zone. We're a proud New York gun-free zone. Community. I mean, you know, forget all the bullets that are flying through the night, you know, with all the bad guys, people shooting each other up. But legal law-abiding citizens, you're not allowed to have a gun because that's the mindset of a blue city. This lady goes to the security guard at the Empire State Building. She said, look, I've made a mistake. I'm so sorry. I just want to let you know. And if you want to hold the gun, if you want to lock it up somewhere, they called the police and they locked her up. She went to jail. And New Yorkers thought that was normal. She spent that night in Rikers Island all for trying to do the right thing. Yeah, her gun was legal in Indiana, but of course it wasn't legal in New York. And obviously it was stupid of her to walk into the Empire State Building with a gun, but this is their mindset. She needed to be punished. No fine. She needed to go to the Hooskow. She had to go over there with Bertha in cell block B. And Tricia would think that's okay, because that's how New Yorkers are with guns, and that's how New Yorkers are with taxes. Here's Phil from Illinois. Mike, after your call with Tricia, wow, the disconnect from reality with her is astounding. My guess is she probably won the lottery. Maybe she's a trust fund lady. Tricia, leave us alone and let us win our lottery. Michigan writes, Mike, you're wasting your time with Tricia. She's just a New York socialist who thinks everyone else should pay for nice things. It's ridiculous. There is not even a normal argument to defend the concept of paying property taxes on a home that you already own. Why don't we pay taxes on our clothing for the rest of our lives? I got a nice suit on here today. I got a nice, this is a nice, I think it's Peter Millar brand suit. I like that brand, Peter Millar. Why don't I, charge me $ 100 a month for the rest of my life because I bought this suit the other day Why not? That's how insane the concept of property taxes are. If you're just joining us, I voted yesterday in Florida, yes, for Amendment 3, like everybody should do. You shouldn't have to pay rent on your home for the rest of your life. And poor Tricia, well, I was looking at the great things that I pay for with my property taxes. We won't have any police. Guess what? Your local government has to figure it out. And the thing is, they will. Funniest text came from Tampa just now, from Florida. I'm going to clean it up a little bit, but it's a funny cartoon showing a dopey Democrat It says, this is Dick. Dick moved out of a blue state to escape Democrat high taxes and failed policies. Dick moved to a red state, but still votes for Democrats who will raise his taxes and implement failed policies. Don't be Dick. I agree with that. And it's true. It's absolutely true. Do you realize how bad these Democrat candidates are, who they think are going to win in states like Texas or Florida. You ever heard Angie Nixon? How about Troy Jackson in Maine? He's going to be the giant killer. He's going to slay Susan Collins. I'm going to play you about a minute and a half, two minutes of CNN. Dana Bash. Now, Dana Bash is no conservative. You can see the expression on Dana Bash's face. She's sitting there realizing this man is a total imbecile.
00:05:24
Speaker 3: You said that we should just get out of Iran as quickly as possible.
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Speaker 4: How would that work?
00:05:29
Speaker 3: Would you be okay with just pulling out of Iran? And what would that mean for the Strait of Hormuz, which is still or would be certainly controlled by Iran if that happened, which would continue to keep the oil prices high?
00:05:44
Speaker 5: Well, Iran controlled it before and the oil prices weren't anywhere near.
00:05:49
Speaker 6: They didn't.
00:05:49
Speaker 1: It was open.
00:05:50
Speaker 3: Well, before the Iran war?
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Speaker 2: No, it wasn't. It was open.
00:05:54
Speaker 5: Well, Iran had the ability to do what they did before we started bombing them and things were fine. I'm sure that if we move out of Iran, things will stabilize and prices will probably go down.
00:06:06
Speaker 3: I mean, you think if the United States just leaves, Iran will say, OK, fine, we're going to pull out of the Strait of Hormuz?
00:06:13
Speaker 5: Well, it's a lot better than what we're doing right now. And I definitely think that, you know, we need to make sure that we protect our troops getting out of there, you know, in a manner that they're safe.
00:06:25
Speaker 4: But, yeah, I do.
00:06:26
Speaker 5: I think we need to get out of that war and hopefully prices will stabilize. I mean, they rose because we got into it.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The situation is challenging, no question about it.
00:06:39
Speaker 5: It wasn't before Donald Trump does it.
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Speaker 4: It wasn't.
00:06:42
Speaker 3: But now we are where we are. And there are blockades and other ways that the U.S. being there is at least letting some shifts through. And if the U.S. leaves, why would Iran just pull up stakes and say, okay, fine, we'll leave it open?
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Speaker 5: I'm sure we can negotiate something that has us leave. straighter moves without losing any more ships, going back to a situation where we used to be. I mean, President Obama negotiated a deal where they weren't enriching uranium.
00:07:18
Speaker 4: We didn't have these issues.
00:07:20
Speaker 5: Donald Trump tore it up, and now we're in the mess that we're in because he wanted to play war games. I'm sure there's a way that we can negotiate with them to get back some semblance of what it was before this and get oil prices stabilized.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: I'm going to be charitable here. That is not a smart man. How about that? How's that, Tracy? Tracy wants me to be nicer. That's not a smart man. The old Mike, the old Mike prior to my, maybe it's the heart disease. Maybe it's the new cardiovascular issues I'm facing that's making me nicer. Because prior to finding out about my blockage in my LAD over here, And I'm doing everything right. Don't worry. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be here forever.
00:08:10
Speaker 7: I hope.
00:08:11
Speaker 2: Prior to that, I'd say that man is a dumbass. But now, after the diagnosis, I would say that's not a smart man. That's all. Not a smart man. Hey, Maine voters, don't be dick. Be smart. Susan Collins, don't worry. She's a nice, moderate Republican for you Mainers. She's no conservative, but she's not that guy. She's not him. Gary's in Minnesota, 18 before the hour. How you doing, Gary?
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Speaker 3: Good.
00:08:47
Speaker 7: Say, I'd like you to imagine a town that has the tax spending that you approve of. They plow the streets. They build the streets. Maybe they have a park for the kitties. You know, they have a very low spending budget, and it's something that you approve of.
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Speaker 2: Now, that tax money— That's not making any sense. What do you mean that's something I approve of? What are you talking about?
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Speaker 7: I'm talking about a fictitious town. I'm trying to get to the concept that property tax is a reasonable way to receive monies from the people to pay for services.
00:09:23
Speaker 8: So imagine a hypothetical town that.
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Speaker 7: You live in that has a budget which you think is very reasonable— And they are going to receive money from their residents somehow.
00:09:36
Speaker 8: It's either going to be income tax, it's going to.
00:09:39
Speaker 7: Be maybe a city sales tax, or it's going to be property taxes. It's going to be some way for the people to pay for those services.
00:09:47
Speaker 8: Correct. I want to.
00:09:49
Speaker 7: Differentiate between excess taxes, which I think we've been paying for all my life, and a mechanism by which we levy taxes.
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Speaker 2: Correct.
00:10:00
Speaker 7: Which is, in your case, you're saying property tax is just plain wrong. OK, somehow the city, the town, not the state and not the federal government is going to extract money from the residents.
00:10:14
Speaker 8: Correct.
00:10:14
Speaker 7: And so what I'm saying is if you have a large property, let's say a gas station or or a mall, you'll probably use more services in the idea of a fire department will respond with more engines and all that kind of stuff.
00:10:26
Speaker 2: Sure. I get it. Let me let me give you let me give you a fictitious. Let me let me share why you're. Your whole argument is flawed. I'll give you a fictitious place. I'll give you a state. A state where the property tax revenues have gone up nearly 100% for the hardworking, back-breaking people of that state over the last seven years. Property taxes have gone... Local governments that you're referring to, Gary, have taken in almost twice as much money in just a few short years... simply because of a 100% property tax increase. Now, let's talk about the fact that none of these local communities in this fictitious state have done a damn thing to balance their budget or reduce their budget. They just take in more revenues. While that state that I'm referring to, that mythical state that you and I are talking about since we're in hypotheticals, has reduced its budget four years in a row. Well, the thing is, Gary, it ain't Minnesota. Because that's never going to happen in your blue state. That's Florida. And that's not fictitious, Gary. It has happened. It's real world, real life stuff. Your local governments need to be responsible for providing the services that you're talking about. But I am just intrigued by your belief that the concept, I'm just talking about the 35,000 foot concept. Let me finish here and then I want to give you the floor. 35,000 feet here, Gary. What other items do you own that you think you should pay the government taxes on for the rest of your life? Your shoes? Your lawnmower? Your vehicles? I mean, go down the list. Why property tax, Gary?
00:12:17
Speaker 7: The other thing I own that I think is reasonable to be taxed on the rest of my life is my labor.
00:12:23
Speaker 8: In income tax.
00:12:24
Speaker 2: You're giving me, I just gave you a reasonable scenario. And I'm asking you why you're okay with conceptually paying rent to the government for the rest of your life on something that you've busted your fanny for to pay off. You don't own your house, even if you've got the deed and you've paid it off because your government, your greedy government's going to ask for taxes on it for the rest of your life. How do you think that's okay, Gary?
00:12:49
Speaker 7: I'm differentiating between unreasonable amount of property tax.
00:12:54
Speaker 2: Well, you're just arguing about how much we cost. That's like the Winston Churchill argument about the prostitute. We all agree who she is. We're just arguing about how much we pay her. I'm asking you about the concept of paying rent on a home that you own for the rest of your life to the government. How can you be okay with that, Gary?
00:13:19
Speaker 8: I'm okay with paying tax on my money, the labor, my wages. on a car, which I have to pay taxes every year to the license.
00:13:28
Speaker 2: You're dodging.
00:13:29
Speaker 8: You're dodging.
00:13:30
Speaker 2: You're not answering me. You're not answering my question because you can't. Because when I put it in this black and white, the way Ron DeSantis has done, and you guys would do very well to elect people like Ron DeSantis instead of Tim Waltz, your state ought to follow the lead and recognize conceptually you've worked all your life. Are you a homeowner?
00:13:50
Speaker 4: I'm a homeowner.
00:13:51
Speaker 8: I'm 67, and I'm And I've worked for everything I've had all my life.
00:13:57
Speaker 2: I love that. And I really do. I congratulate you for that. Do you own your house outright or do you still have a mortgage?
00:14:03
Speaker 3: Outright.
00:14:03
Speaker 8: I've been debt-free since I was 32 years old.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: But you're not debt-free. But you're not debt-free.
00:14:09
Speaker 8: You're not debt-free.
00:14:10
Speaker 2: You're going to owe the government on that house for the rest of your life until you're dying dead.
00:14:14
Speaker 8: And I'm going to consume water, and I'm going to pay for water.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: Go pay a water tax. Pay a tax on water.
00:14:22
Speaker 8: Pay for city services.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Pay for city services. Pay a sales tax. Pay a fee. Pay government. I'm talking about your property. I'm talking about... I'm talking about your property tax, Gary. You keep changing the subject, Tommy, and all I'm asking you to do is focus on why should you, as a wonderful, upstanding person who's debt-free, you just said you're debt-free and you're not. You're renting your house. You're renting your house.
00:14:53
Speaker 8: I have reoccurring expenses.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: Oh, is that what you want to call them?
00:14:58
Speaker 8: I do that for my income tax.
00:15:02
Speaker 2: Gary, you guys are lost causes in blue states. You're just a lost cause. It's okay. Let's just call property tax a reoccurring expense. Good for you. I mean, here we go again. And it's Minnesota. It's Long Island. It's New York. They don't get it. I mean, Gary proudly says he's debt-free without realizing he's anything but. Hey, consumption tax, sales tax, the more you spend, the more you're taxed. Everybody ought to do that. We ought to have a flat tax so that the more you spend, the more you're taxed. But people like Gary would never get that, and they'll bend over backwards to justify the absurd notion that you should be paying rent on that house. Gary... Good for you. You think you're debt-free, but you're not. You're beholden to your Minnesota government for the rest of your life over something that you shouldn't have to pay for. Sorry we disagree, sir, but I'm glad you called.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher. From the wild world of D.C. politics to America's culture clash, brace yourself for the reality check you've been waiting for.
00:16:20
Speaker 4: The one and only Mike Gallagher.
00:16:26
Speaker 2: There's something really special happening in Minnesota. You just feel it according to Minnesotans. There's a momentum. There is an excitement and exuberance that maybe, just maybe, even Minnesotans are going to get this election right. and start electing some common sense politicians. Because the people who are leading the state of Minnesota right now are so goofy, they're off the charts. The mayor of Minneapolis, remember the guy that kneeled down at George Floyd's casket and was sobbing hysterically? He put his hand on the gold casket of George Floyd and was heaving and sobbing and crying. This guy is insufferable. And he said something about the Somali community, which fascinates me. There's no doubt in my mind there are plenty of good law-abiding Somalis out But let me share with you what we know about the fraud that has taken place in Minnesota. It's pretty wild. And you can fact check this. You can go look it up and you can fact check exactly the percentage of fraud committed by Somalis. I mean, I reposted what I saw about it. It's a holy crap moment. I love that expression, holy crap, in honor of the late, great Frank Barone, played by Peter Boyle on Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the best sitcoms in the history of America. It's so crazy. Somalians make up about, I think, 2% or 3% of the population of Minnesota. 80 to 90% of the fraud has been committed by Somalis. I'm trying to get my hand on the post. This is unbelievable when you look at the percentage of fraud in Minnesota committed by the Somali community. I mean, Ilhan Omar sat down with Chris Hayes Who pathetically tried to kiss up to her over on MS Now. And he asked her if she married her brother. This is on live TV. Do you know she said, not to my knowledge. Do you know her answer to the question, did you marry your brother? Was not to my knowledge. Hmm. Okay. Now, despite, here it is. I found the statistics. Despite making up just 2% of the population of Minnesota, Somalis account for 90% of the massive fraud that has been uncovered in Minnesota. And that is a fact. That is a fact.
00:19:49
Speaker 4: It's absolute.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: Correct. So I want you to hear Jacob Fry pandering to the Somali community as Minnesota has its eyes wide open over the fraud committed by people in the Somali community of Minnesota. Check out, and this is the same guy. I'll never forget the image of him carrying on like some third-rate dinner theater actor pretending to sob and heave and cry over George Floyd's casket.
00:20:29
Speaker 9: One of the reasons that they were coming after you is they saw the kind of economy and entrepreneurship that you're helping to build. They saw suddenly that the CEOs of the future are not all going to look like me. The CEOs of the future are going to be from a thousand different backgrounds. And so suddenly, you all are creeping up in brilliant fashion. You're not just the CEOs and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, but of right now.
00:21:04
Speaker 4: You are showing that.
00:21:07
Speaker 2: There you go. That's what these Democrats do. They pander. They lie. They cheat. They steal. How about the big polling company that just revealed they were making it up? All the polls that showed the Democrats were going to barely win on November the 3rd, they made it all up. It was a social experiment, they said. All fake polls. New York Times ran with it. Other media outlets ran with it because they're so excited to show polls that will demoralize voters. You show up, we win. I voted yesterday. Look at my sticker. If you're watching on Salem News Channel, I got my little I voted sticker on. It was busy at the polling place. In Florida, unlike New York or California or other blue states, they take the driver's license photo ID quite seriously. I always joke that they treat the voting process in Florida with your driver's license like an episode of Forensic Files. That lady, she looked at my driver's license. She looked at the front. She looked at the back. She looked at my picture. She looked at my face. She put it in a scanning machine. I mean, I loved it. I loved it because that's the way it's supposed to be done all over America. I'm going to be very confident in the integrity of the outcome of the election in Florida. I will not be confident in the outcome of an election in a state that doesn't care if you produce any form of ID to show that you are who you are when you vote. Just flood the polls. Show up. We win. Bring 10 people with you. We win. Don't be sidelined. Be engaged. Because it's all on the line. 800-655-MIKE. Welcome in. Happy Thursday. We're in the Relief Factor studios.
00:23:00
Speaker 1: 800-655-6453.
00:23:00
Speaker 2: Text from Minneapolis. The mayor, this pathetic Jacob Fry, is not able to keep his position as mayor without the illegal Somali votes. That's quite a statistic, isn't it? Despite making up 2% of Minnesota's population, Somalis account for about 90% of these big, high-profile welfare Medicaid fraud cases and schemes that have been uncovered. Look, I, again, I'm sure there are law-abiding Somalis in Minnesota and all over the country. There just happen to be a lot of crooked ones in the state of Minnesota. And there's Jacob Fry sucking up to the Somali community. Pathetic. Pathetic.
00:24:08
Speaker 1: The Mike Gallagher Show in the ReliefFactor.com studios.
00:24:13
Speaker 2: You know, there's been a lot of hysteria over the Vivek Ramaswamy ad. Now the governor of Ohio is weighing in, urging Ramaswamy to take down the ad. But he's not going to change his endorsement. He said, and the Republican ticket in Ohio said they're good people and public servants. But CNN's now hysterically... reporting that Mike DeWine is joining in on the pile on. You know, President Trump was asked about it yesterday and said he didn't know anything much about it. He said he understands that the mother went kind of rogue. Look, you cannot shake the inescapable fact that a major political candidate's mother has a desire to tell people that her daughter isn't trustworthy and shouldn't be elected. We're all uncomfortable and everybody decent feels terrible for any victim of sexual abuse. Despite the fact that no one was ever convicted of sexual abuse in the case of Amy Acton, who says that she was abused when she was a child. And of course, As has been reported, I guess the stepfather fled the state to try to escape the charges. So looks guilty, seems guilty, wasn't found guilty, and now is dead. And his then wife is now doing an ad saying, my daughter, I love her. She's not trustworthy. She lies. She needs help. And it's a very ugly ad, period. No way around that. How in the world would you say, I'm going to vote for somebody who would be terrible for Ohio because of a campaign ad? In other words, what does an ad have to do with any of the policies represented by Amy Acton or Vivek Ramaswamy? So, you know, again, I took the ad down. I'm not comfortable being around it because it's just family and it's messy and it's nasty and it's ugly. But the hysterical condemnation, and I mean real hysteria levels from conservatives and Republicans and even people right of center, the condemnation of Vivek's campaign is is peculiar to me. I mean, I think I've got a normal reaction. Yeah, it's an ugly ad. That's nasty business for a mother to be on a campaign commercial a couple weeks before an election. Okay, but what does Vivek Ramaswamy represent to the voters of Ohio? What does Amy Acton represent for the voters of Ohio? You're going to tell me that one ad is disqualifying? Well, of course it's not. Anybody who says that is pretending. There's good ads. There's bad ads. There's cringy ads. I mean, there's wonderful ads. If a campaign ad determines the outcome of an election, well, then that Republican that we interviewed yesterday, Tad Jude, for Secretary of State, he wins in a landslide. You think one ad is going to get him elected? I mean, it could. It could. But probably not. So this is where we are, and we're going to see what the voters of Ohio decide. We're 12 days away. Ignore the noise. Show up and vote, and we win.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: Breaking now on the Mike Gallagher Show.
00:28:19
Speaker 2: Well, here's another big Democrat facing prosecution, Virginia State Senator Lily Louise Lucas. was arrested today. He's got eight counts, including drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and firearms charges. The attorney general from the DOJ, Todd Blanch, announced in a statement, Louise Lucas has served in a position of public trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over three decades. The charges alleged to the indictment reveal the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve. Our federal prosecutors will continue to be guided by the facts and evidence that led a grand jury to indict Ms. Lucas and her alleged co-conspirators. She's 82 years old. She led the Lucas Enterprise with a very close-knit group of friends and family, according to Fox News. They orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise. So she has been arrested on drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, firearms charges. So, look, the left is going to desperately try to throw a bunch of stuff at the White House. right now. Oh, Lindsey Graham took a bribe! He arranged a meeting and got some money! Uh-huh, yeah, now do all the Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi. Yeah, because politicians never, ever arrange for donations or and financial support in exchange for sitting down and having a dinner at a steakhouse. They're just going to throw a whole lot at that they can. And look, to be fair, that I guess is what the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign is doing too. Ignore the news, show up, and vote. Ignore the polls, some of whom are fake, show up, and vote.
00:30:40
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher.
00:30:42
Speaker 2: I love a great movie, and this story, the behind-the-scenes intrigue about these exploding pagers with the Hezbollah terrorists, fascinating, fascinating story. We're about to be joined by the director and the producer here in just a moment. This breaking news out of Virginia, the now-indicted Virginia state senator, Louise Lucas, according to the AP, on a phone call that was wiretapped by the FBI, she said... To her family, as she was, you know, apparently scheming, allegedly, and plotting, she said, this is our last chance at generational wealth. I'm not too old not to be greedy. Well, that's the message of the Democrat Party, right? Not too old not to be. You're never too old to be greedy. Come on. Let's be greedy. Look, I'm greedy about a good night's sleep, and I'm getting it with all the MyPillow products. Mark Davis is now joining the family. We're going to have MyPillow on the podcast. MyPillow is a great American company. When you buy a premium MyPillow, because MyPillow is back, they want to thank you for supporting MyPillow over the years. The best night's sleep with this pillow that never goes flat, stays nice and cool all through the night. You can put it in the washer and the dryer as much as you want. For a limited time, buy one premium MyPillow. Get the second premium MyPillow absolutely free. And these Giza Dream bed sheets, they're worthy of any five-star luxury hotel. They're smooth. They're luxurious. They're silky, durable, and you can order them for as low as $ 29. 98. The key for all the great MyPillow products is to enter the promo code MikeG. Free shipping on your entire order. They've never done that before. Free shipping on everything. Mattresses, mattress toppers, pillows, loungewear. Don't wait. Order now. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. MyPillow. After beginning his career in Hollywood, Justin Folk wanted to focus on documentaries with cultural impact. I love, love, love. a great documentary, and I sure appreciated Paging Hezbollah. Let's welcome the producer and director of Paging Hezbollah, Justin Folk. Justin, nice to have you on the program. If you guys can have half the success of this movie about the Theranos lady that everybody's been buzzing about, you guys will be in good shape, right?
00:33:05
Speaker 4: I agree with that. Nathan Fielder is a brilliant guy.
00:33:07
Speaker 6: He's a very talented guy. And the stuff he produces is really one of a kind. But listen, we have a one of a kind story, too. And this thing is an incredible spy thriller. And I'm really excited about the American audience watching this film because it does impact us as Americans. It's important to know what's going on. on the other side of the world with our greatest ally. And the story of the Pager operation simply is one of the greatest spy intelligence thrillers of all time.
00:33:37
Speaker 4: And we're excited to have it out there for the American public.
00:33:39
Speaker 2: It is fascinating. And the movie is riveting because, you know, you're right. It's almost like it's one of those out there stories. We kind of knew about it. We read about it. We saw it in the news. We talked about it. Oh, Israel used pagers. So tell us what, give us the genesis of how you became involved with this project. and what drew you to the project. And for people who forget, remind us what the actual Israel action was.
00:34:10
Speaker 6: Yeah, listen, October 7th, 2023, was one of the greatest intelligence failures in the history of Israel. Less than a year later, they had one of the most incredible intelligence victories with the Pager operation, which set off a domino effect, which actually remade the Middle East in significant ways. When I heard about the pager operation, I don't know about you, Mike, but I got the notification on my phone and I couldn't believe it. And I just thought to myself, I actually sent this to myself. I'm jealous of the people that get to make this movie. And fortunately, our team was able to do that. We were able to be the team to go out and make this film. And it really is the inside story told by the people that did the operation, including all the way up to the prime minister who was in the movie, the head of Mossad, the director of Mossad is.
00:34:59
Speaker 4: In the movie, and the people that actually carried out the operation itself. It's sort of.
00:35:04
Speaker 6: Unprecedented that way that, you know, Mossad is not in the business of making movies, Mike. But somehow we are able to convince them to tell us the story, this incredible story, which really is at its core a great spy thriller. But it actually does allow the audience to understand the full conflict and the players involved in Hezbollah and how Hezbollah has been funded by Iran through the years and how Hezbollah got their start killing Americans.
00:35:32
Speaker 2: So was that tough to convince participation in the movie? How did you convince Mossad? Because I thought the same thing. I thought, look, this is the notoriously secretive entity. How in the world did you get anybody to participate in telling the story of the exploding pagers?
00:35:52
Speaker 4: Well, listen, times have changed.
00:35:54
Speaker 6: And I think Israel knows Israel's very, very good at fighting kinetic wars because they've had to throughout their whole existence for to stay to survive. But they haven't been great at telling their story. And the Western media, of course, has been complicit in just lies and lies.
00:36:13
Speaker 4: And smears.
00:36:14
Speaker 6: And so I think I think in Israel, they're starting to realize that they need to do a better job of telling their story. So we went to the prime minister and we said, hey, this is an incredible story and you need to tell it yourself. And if you don't tell it, somebody else will tell it for you. And you won't like that very much. We told the story to the prime minister about a movie in 1942 called Mrs.
00:36:35
Speaker 4: Miniver.
00:36:36
Speaker 6: It's a UK, it's a British film that came out in 1942.
00:36:39
Speaker 4: It's about a story of a family during the Blitz.
00:36:43
Speaker 6: And Winston Churchill remarked that this one movie was more effective and more important to the war effort than 100 divisions of soldiers or 10 battleships. And we told that story that Winston Churchill said about that movie. We told that to Netanyahu. And I think it convinced him to be like, okay, yeah, we need to tell this story.
00:37:03
Speaker 4: People need to know.
00:37:04
Speaker 6: The world needs to know what happened here and really ultimately what's happened in the last couple of years with the conflict at large.
00:37:12
Speaker 2: Justin Folk is our guest. He's a producer, director. This movie is fascinating, Paging Hezbollah. If you want to see it in your local theater, you can go to PagingHezbollah.com. And if the movie isn't playing where you live, call the local theater and tell them you want to see Paging Hezbollah. You want it in your local movie theater. And, Justin, you've just done incredible work. I mean, I remember how much I loved No Safe Spaces with my colleague and friend, Dennis Prager and, of course, Adam Carolla, I Am Racist, that movie earned more than $ 12 million in theaters. And this real-life spy thriller, Paging Hezbollah, again, the way it unfolded and what they did, it kind of is mind-boggling. And I hope everybody gets to see it. I do want to ask you before you go about the success. And I am I'm a big fan of you and the documentaries, the documentary genre. It seems to me that this hugely successful documentary that came out about about this what this woman, Elizabeth, whatever her name is, you can see everything. It's going to change the genre, isn't it? Because the one takeaway, I mean, I I was riveted. I couldn't I loved it. And I wonder if it is going to change your path as you continue to pursue documentaries. Because it's simple to say, in a nutshell... This movie, you can see everything, is shot, it's a documentary, but it's not the traditional kind of herky-jerky Blair Witch Project way of using cameras and jump cuts and all of that. It was shot like a sort of a normal cinematography, big epic movie. And I think that's what is, so it's pretty groundbreaking, isn't it? And will it impact the future of documentaries, do you think?
00:39:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it will.
00:39:03
Speaker 6: It's very groundbreaking. And like I said earlier, Nathan Fielder is a genius. He's a great storyteller. The line between documentary and narrative is being blurred. And people are expecting more from documentaries. They want it to be much more of a cinematic experience. They want their stories to be told in a much more narrative fashion, more than.
00:39:22
Speaker 4: Just a couple talking heads talking about a subject. And the good news is Paging Hezbollah is exactly that. We went out and made a film that's very cinematic. We have a lot of recreations.
00:39:33
Speaker 6: And we basically wanted to make a movie that people would want to buy tickets to see in the movie theater. And so when you go to the movie theater to see aging Hezbollah, it's going to be a different experience with the sound. I mean, obviously it's a very explosive movie. So, uh, and the sound of the experience of literally, and we.
00:39:51
Speaker 4: Wanted to make that kind of movie, a cinematic movie.
00:39:53
Speaker 6: The bar has been raised in terms of the jockey, the documentary genre, uh, over the years, people have been doing incredible, incredible work, including Nathan Fielder, who you mentioned.
00:40:04
Speaker 4: And, uh, we, we try to do that of.
00:40:05
Speaker 6: Course, with am I racist as well, but this, uh, Paging Hezbollah, I highly encourage people to go to the movie theaters on October 30th and see it on the big screen because we've put the work in to make it a cinematic experience.
00:40:18
Speaker 2: You have. And I had a chance to see it the other day and I just loved every second of it. It was fascinating. And again, it's right up my alley and I know it's up this audience's alley as well. Again, PagingHezbollah.com, PagingHezbollah.com. And if the film after October 30th isn't in your theater, you call the local theater, talk to the manager, and say you want Paging Hezbollah. Justin Folk, great work. Congratulations on the movie, and I'm glad you could spend some time with us here on The Mike Gallagher Show.
00:40:44
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much.
00:40:45
Speaker 6: And tickets are on sale today. So go to that website and see if it's in your local theater. Thank you so much.
00:40:51
Speaker 2: Paging Hezbollah.com. Justin Folk, the film's producer and director.
00:40:56
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher.
Speaker 1: The Mike Gallagher Show in the ReliefFactor.com studios.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Trisha, poor Trisha. I appreciate her calling. I love her. She's a New Yorker, and New Yorkers just, they don't get it. And I hate to say that about my, I've got family, friends, people I love in New York. That's just their mindset. It's like guns. Talk to a New Yorker about the Second Amendment. They think it's– I remember when the lady from Indiana got arrested in the Empire State Building because she accidentally had brought her concealed weapon with her to take a tour of the– you know, you go to the observatory in the Empire State Building. And she forgot that she still had her small concealed handgun in her purse, which she was legally permitted to carry in the state of Indiana. And she thought– and she saw the signs that we're a gun-free zone. We're a proud New York gun-free zone. Community. I mean, you know, forget all the bullets that are flying through the night, you know, with all the bad guys, people shooting each other up. But legal law-abiding citizens, you're not allowed to have a gun because that's the mindset of a blue city. This lady goes to the security guard at the Empire State Building. She said, look, I've made a mistake. I'm so sorry. I just want to let you know. And if you want to hold the gun, if you want to lock it up somewhere, they called the police and they locked her up. She went to jail. And New Yorkers thought that was normal. She spent that night in Rikers Island all for trying to do the right thing. Yeah, her gun was legal in Indiana, but of course it wasn't legal in New York. And obviously it was stupid of her to walk into the Empire State Building with a gun, but this is their mindset. She needed to be punished. No fine. She needed to go to the Hooskow. She had to go over there with Bertha in cell block B. And Tricia would think that's okay, because that's how New Yorkers are with guns, and that's how New Yorkers are with taxes. Here's Phil from Illinois. Mike, after your call with Tricia, wow, the disconnect from reality with her is astounding. My guess is she probably won the lottery. Maybe she's a trust fund lady. Tricia, leave us alone and let us win our lottery. Michigan writes, Mike, you're wasting your time with Tricia. She's just a New York socialist who thinks everyone else should pay for nice things. It's ridiculous. There is not even a normal argument to defend the concept of paying property taxes on a home that you already own. Why don't we pay taxes on our clothing for the rest of our lives? I got a nice suit on here today. I got a nice, this is a nice, I think it's Peter Millar brand suit. I like that brand, Peter Millar. Why don't I, charge me $ 100 a month for the rest of my life because I bought this suit the other day Why not? That's how insane the concept of property taxes are. If you're just joining us, I voted yesterday in Florida, yes, for Amendment 3, like everybody should do. You shouldn't have to pay rent on your home for the rest of your life. And poor Tricia, well, I was looking at the great things that I pay for with my property taxes. We won't have any police. Guess what? Your local government has to figure it out. And the thing is, they will. Funniest text came from Tampa just now, from Florida. I'm going to clean it up a little bit, but it's a funny cartoon showing a dopey Democrat It says, this is Dick. Dick moved out of a blue state to escape Democrat high taxes and failed policies. Dick moved to a red state, but still votes for Democrats who will raise his taxes and implement failed policies. Don't be Dick. I agree with that. And it's true. It's absolutely true. Do you realize how bad these Democrat candidates are, who they think are going to win in states like Texas or Florida. You ever heard Angie Nixon? How about Troy Jackson in Maine? He's going to be the giant killer. He's going to slay Susan Collins. I'm going to play you about a minute and a half, two minutes of CNN. Dana Bash. Now, Dana Bash is no conservative. You can see the expression on Dana Bash's face. She's sitting there realizing this man is a total imbecile.
00:05:24
Speaker 3: You said that we should just get out of Iran as quickly as possible.
00:05:28
Speaker 4: How would that work?
00:05:29
Speaker 3: Would you be okay with just pulling out of Iran? And what would that mean for the Strait of Hormuz, which is still or would be certainly controlled by Iran if that happened, which would continue to keep the oil prices high?
00:05:44
Speaker 5: Well, Iran controlled it before and the oil prices weren't anywhere near.
00:05:49
Speaker 6: They didn't.
00:05:49
Speaker 1: It was open.
00:05:50
Speaker 3: Well, before the Iran war?
00:05:52
Speaker 2: No, it wasn't. It was open.
00:05:54
Speaker 5: Well, Iran had the ability to do what they did before we started bombing them and things were fine. I'm sure that if we move out of Iran, things will stabilize and prices will probably go down.
00:06:06
Speaker 3: I mean, you think if the United States just leaves, Iran will say, OK, fine, we're going to pull out of the Strait of Hormuz?
00:06:13
Speaker 5: Well, it's a lot better than what we're doing right now. And I definitely think that, you know, we need to make sure that we protect our troops getting out of there, you know, in a manner that they're safe.
00:06:25
Speaker 4: But, yeah, I do.
00:06:26
Speaker 5: I think we need to get out of that war and hopefully prices will stabilize. I mean, they rose because we got into it.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The situation is challenging, no question about it.
00:06:39
Speaker 5: It wasn't before Donald Trump does it.
00:06:41
Speaker 4: It wasn't.
00:06:42
Speaker 3: But now we are where we are. And there are blockades and other ways that the U.S. being there is at least letting some shifts through. And if the U.S. leaves, why would Iran just pull up stakes and say, okay, fine, we'll leave it open?
00:07:01
Speaker 5: I'm sure we can negotiate something that has us leave. straighter moves without losing any more ships, going back to a situation where we used to be. I mean, President Obama negotiated a deal where they weren't enriching uranium.
00:07:18
Speaker 4: We didn't have these issues.
00:07:20
Speaker 5: Donald Trump tore it up, and now we're in the mess that we're in because he wanted to play war games. I'm sure there's a way that we can negotiate with them to get back some semblance of what it was before this and get oil prices stabilized.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: I'm going to be charitable here. That is not a smart man. How about that? How's that, Tracy? Tracy wants me to be nicer. That's not a smart man. The old Mike, the old Mike prior to my, maybe it's the heart disease. Maybe it's the new cardiovascular issues I'm facing that's making me nicer. Because prior to finding out about my blockage in my LAD over here, And I'm doing everything right. Don't worry. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be here forever.
00:08:10
Speaker 7: I hope.
00:08:11
Speaker 2: Prior to that, I'd say that man is a dumbass. But now, after the diagnosis, I would say that's not a smart man. That's all. Not a smart man. Hey, Maine voters, don't be dick. Be smart. Susan Collins, don't worry. She's a nice, moderate Republican for you Mainers. She's no conservative, but she's not that guy. She's not him. Gary's in Minnesota, 18 before the hour. How you doing, Gary?
00:08:46
Speaker 3: Good.
00:08:47
Speaker 7: Say, I'd like you to imagine a town that has the tax spending that you approve of. They plow the streets. They build the streets. Maybe they have a park for the kitties. You know, they have a very low spending budget, and it's something that you approve of.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Now, that tax money— That's not making any sense. What do you mean that's something I approve of? What are you talking about?
00:09:11
Speaker 7: I'm talking about a fictitious town. I'm trying to get to the concept that property tax is a reasonable way to receive monies from the people to pay for services.
00:09:23
Speaker 8: So imagine a hypothetical town that.
00:09:25
Speaker 7: You live in that has a budget which you think is very reasonable— And they are going to receive money from their residents somehow.
00:09:36
Speaker 8: It's either going to be income tax, it's going to.
00:09:39
Speaker 7: Be maybe a city sales tax, or it's going to be property taxes. It's going to be some way for the people to pay for those services.
00:09:47
Speaker 8: Correct. I want to.
00:09:49
Speaker 7: Differentiate between excess taxes, which I think we've been paying for all my life, and a mechanism by which we levy taxes.
00:09:59
Speaker 2: Correct.
00:10:00
Speaker 7: Which is, in your case, you're saying property tax is just plain wrong. OK, somehow the city, the town, not the state and not the federal government is going to extract money from the residents.
00:10:14
Speaker 8: Correct.
00:10:14
Speaker 7: And so what I'm saying is if you have a large property, let's say a gas station or or a mall, you'll probably use more services in the idea of a fire department will respond with more engines and all that kind of stuff.
00:10:26
Speaker 2: Sure. I get it. Let me let me give you let me give you a fictitious. Let me let me share why you're. Your whole argument is flawed. I'll give you a fictitious place. I'll give you a state. A state where the property tax revenues have gone up nearly 100% for the hardworking, back-breaking people of that state over the last seven years. Property taxes have gone... Local governments that you're referring to, Gary, have taken in almost twice as much money in just a few short years... simply because of a 100% property tax increase. Now, let's talk about the fact that none of these local communities in this fictitious state have done a damn thing to balance their budget or reduce their budget. They just take in more revenues. While that state that I'm referring to, that mythical state that you and I are talking about since we're in hypotheticals, has reduced its budget four years in a row. Well, the thing is, Gary, it ain't Minnesota. Because that's never going to happen in your blue state. That's Florida. And that's not fictitious, Gary. It has happened. It's real world, real life stuff. Your local governments need to be responsible for providing the services that you're talking about. But I am just intrigued by your belief that the concept, I'm just talking about the 35,000 foot concept. Let me finish here and then I want to give you the floor. 35,000 feet here, Gary. What other items do you own that you think you should pay the government taxes on for the rest of your life? Your shoes? Your lawnmower? Your vehicles? I mean, go down the list. Why property tax, Gary?
00:12:17
Speaker 7: The other thing I own that I think is reasonable to be taxed on the rest of my life is my labor.
00:12:23
Speaker 8: In income tax.
00:12:24
Speaker 2: You're giving me, I just gave you a reasonable scenario. And I'm asking you why you're okay with conceptually paying rent to the government for the rest of your life on something that you've busted your fanny for to pay off. You don't own your house, even if you've got the deed and you've paid it off because your government, your greedy government's going to ask for taxes on it for the rest of your life. How do you think that's okay, Gary?
00:12:49
Speaker 7: I'm differentiating between unreasonable amount of property tax.
00:12:54
Speaker 2: Well, you're just arguing about how much we cost. That's like the Winston Churchill argument about the prostitute. We all agree who she is. We're just arguing about how much we pay her. I'm asking you about the concept of paying rent on a home that you own for the rest of your life to the government. How can you be okay with that, Gary?
00:13:19
Speaker 8: I'm okay with paying tax on my money, the labor, my wages. on a car, which I have to pay taxes every year to the license.
00:13:28
Speaker 2: You're dodging.
00:13:29
Speaker 8: You're dodging.
00:13:30
Speaker 2: You're not answering me. You're not answering my question because you can't. Because when I put it in this black and white, the way Ron DeSantis has done, and you guys would do very well to elect people like Ron DeSantis instead of Tim Waltz, your state ought to follow the lead and recognize conceptually you've worked all your life. Are you a homeowner?
00:13:50
Speaker 4: I'm a homeowner.
00:13:51
Speaker 8: I'm 67, and I'm And I've worked for everything I've had all my life.
00:13:57
Speaker 2: I love that. And I really do. I congratulate you for that. Do you own your house outright or do you still have a mortgage?
00:14:03
Speaker 3: Outright.
00:14:03
Speaker 8: I've been debt-free since I was 32 years old.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: But you're not debt-free. But you're not debt-free.
00:14:09
Speaker 8: You're not debt-free.
00:14:10
Speaker 2: You're going to owe the government on that house for the rest of your life until you're dying dead.
00:14:14
Speaker 8: And I'm going to consume water, and I'm going to pay for water.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: Go pay a water tax. Pay a tax on water.
00:14:22
Speaker 8: Pay for city services.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Pay for city services. Pay a sales tax. Pay a fee. Pay government. I'm talking about your property. I'm talking about... I'm talking about your property tax, Gary. You keep changing the subject, Tommy, and all I'm asking you to do is focus on why should you, as a wonderful, upstanding person who's debt-free, you just said you're debt-free and you're not. You're renting your house. You're renting your house.
00:14:53
Speaker 8: I have reoccurring expenses.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: Oh, is that what you want to call them?
00:14:58
Speaker 8: I do that for my income tax.
00:15:02
Speaker 2: Gary, you guys are lost causes in blue states. You're just a lost cause. It's okay. Let's just call property tax a reoccurring expense. Good for you. I mean, here we go again. And it's Minnesota. It's Long Island. It's New York. They don't get it. I mean, Gary proudly says he's debt-free without realizing he's anything but. Hey, consumption tax, sales tax, the more you spend, the more you're taxed. Everybody ought to do that. We ought to have a flat tax so that the more you spend, the more you're taxed. But people like Gary would never get that, and they'll bend over backwards to justify the absurd notion that you should be paying rent on that house. Gary... Good for you. You think you're debt-free, but you're not. You're beholden to your Minnesota government for the rest of your life over something that you shouldn't have to pay for. Sorry we disagree, sir, but I'm glad you called.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher. From the wild world of D.C. politics to America's culture clash, brace yourself for the reality check you've been waiting for.
00:16:20
Speaker 4: The one and only Mike Gallagher.
00:16:26
Speaker 2: There's something really special happening in Minnesota. You just feel it according to Minnesotans. There's a momentum. There is an excitement and exuberance that maybe, just maybe, even Minnesotans are going to get this election right. and start electing some common sense politicians. Because the people who are leading the state of Minnesota right now are so goofy, they're off the charts. The mayor of Minneapolis, remember the guy that kneeled down at George Floyd's casket and was sobbing hysterically? He put his hand on the gold casket of George Floyd and was heaving and sobbing and crying. This guy is insufferable. And he said something about the Somali community, which fascinates me. There's no doubt in my mind there are plenty of good law-abiding Somalis out But let me share with you what we know about the fraud that has taken place in Minnesota. It's pretty wild. And you can fact check this. You can go look it up and you can fact check exactly the percentage of fraud committed by Somalis. I mean, I reposted what I saw about it. It's a holy crap moment. I love that expression, holy crap, in honor of the late, great Frank Barone, played by Peter Boyle on Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the best sitcoms in the history of America. It's so crazy. Somalians make up about, I think, 2% or 3% of the population of Minnesota. 80 to 90% of the fraud has been committed by Somalis. I'm trying to get my hand on the post. This is unbelievable when you look at the percentage of fraud in Minnesota committed by the Somali community. I mean, Ilhan Omar sat down with Chris Hayes Who pathetically tried to kiss up to her over on MS Now. And he asked her if she married her brother. This is on live TV. Do you know she said, not to my knowledge. Do you know her answer to the question, did you marry your brother? Was not to my knowledge. Hmm. Okay. Now, despite, here it is. I found the statistics. Despite making up just 2% of the population of Minnesota, Somalis account for 90% of the massive fraud that has been uncovered in Minnesota. And that is a fact. That is a fact.
00:19:49
Speaker 4: It's absolute.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: Correct. So I want you to hear Jacob Fry pandering to the Somali community as Minnesota has its eyes wide open over the fraud committed by people in the Somali community of Minnesota. Check out, and this is the same guy. I'll never forget the image of him carrying on like some third-rate dinner theater actor pretending to sob and heave and cry over George Floyd's casket.
00:20:29
Speaker 9: One of the reasons that they were coming after you is they saw the kind of economy and entrepreneurship that you're helping to build. They saw suddenly that the CEOs of the future are not all going to look like me. The CEOs of the future are going to be from a thousand different backgrounds. And so suddenly, you all are creeping up in brilliant fashion. You're not just the CEOs and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, but of right now.
00:21:04
Speaker 4: You are showing that.
00:21:07
Speaker 2: There you go. That's what these Democrats do. They pander. They lie. They cheat. They steal. How about the big polling company that just revealed they were making it up? All the polls that showed the Democrats were going to barely win on November the 3rd, they made it all up. It was a social experiment, they said. All fake polls. New York Times ran with it. Other media outlets ran with it because they're so excited to show polls that will demoralize voters. You show up, we win. I voted yesterday. Look at my sticker. If you're watching on Salem News Channel, I got my little I voted sticker on. It was busy at the polling place. In Florida, unlike New York or California or other blue states, they take the driver's license photo ID quite seriously. I always joke that they treat the voting process in Florida with your driver's license like an episode of Forensic Files. That lady, she looked at my driver's license. She looked at the front. She looked at the back. She looked at my picture. She looked at my face. She put it in a scanning machine. I mean, I loved it. I loved it because that's the way it's supposed to be done all over America. I'm going to be very confident in the integrity of the outcome of the election in Florida. I will not be confident in the outcome of an election in a state that doesn't care if you produce any form of ID to show that you are who you are when you vote. Just flood the polls. Show up. We win. Bring 10 people with you. We win. Don't be sidelined. Be engaged. Because it's all on the line. 800-655-MIKE. Welcome in. Happy Thursday. We're in the Relief Factor studios.
00:23:00
Speaker 1: 800-655-6453.
00:23:00
Speaker 2: Text from Minneapolis. The mayor, this pathetic Jacob Fry, is not able to keep his position as mayor without the illegal Somali votes. That's quite a statistic, isn't it? Despite making up 2% of Minnesota's population, Somalis account for about 90% of these big, high-profile welfare Medicaid fraud cases and schemes that have been uncovered. Look, I, again, I'm sure there are law-abiding Somalis in Minnesota and all over the country. There just happen to be a lot of crooked ones in the state of Minnesota. And there's Jacob Fry sucking up to the Somali community. Pathetic. Pathetic.
00:24:08
Speaker 1: The Mike Gallagher Show in the ReliefFactor.com studios.
00:24:13
Speaker 2: You know, there's been a lot of hysteria over the Vivek Ramaswamy ad. Now the governor of Ohio is weighing in, urging Ramaswamy to take down the ad. But he's not going to change his endorsement. He said, and the Republican ticket in Ohio said they're good people and public servants. But CNN's now hysterically... reporting that Mike DeWine is joining in on the pile on. You know, President Trump was asked about it yesterday and said he didn't know anything much about it. He said he understands that the mother went kind of rogue. Look, you cannot shake the inescapable fact that a major political candidate's mother has a desire to tell people that her daughter isn't trustworthy and shouldn't be elected. We're all uncomfortable and everybody decent feels terrible for any victim of sexual abuse. Despite the fact that no one was ever convicted of sexual abuse in the case of Amy Acton, who says that she was abused when she was a child. And of course, As has been reported, I guess the stepfather fled the state to try to escape the charges. So looks guilty, seems guilty, wasn't found guilty, and now is dead. And his then wife is now doing an ad saying, my daughter, I love her. She's not trustworthy. She lies. She needs help. And it's a very ugly ad, period. No way around that. How in the world would you say, I'm going to vote for somebody who would be terrible for Ohio because of a campaign ad? In other words, what does an ad have to do with any of the policies represented by Amy Acton or Vivek Ramaswamy? So, you know, again, I took the ad down. I'm not comfortable being around it because it's just family and it's messy and it's nasty and it's ugly. But the hysterical condemnation, and I mean real hysteria levels from conservatives and Republicans and even people right of center, the condemnation of Vivek's campaign is is peculiar to me. I mean, I think I've got a normal reaction. Yeah, it's an ugly ad. That's nasty business for a mother to be on a campaign commercial a couple weeks before an election. Okay, but what does Vivek Ramaswamy represent to the voters of Ohio? What does Amy Acton represent for the voters of Ohio? You're going to tell me that one ad is disqualifying? Well, of course it's not. Anybody who says that is pretending. There's good ads. There's bad ads. There's cringy ads. I mean, there's wonderful ads. If a campaign ad determines the outcome of an election, well, then that Republican that we interviewed yesterday, Tad Jude, for Secretary of State, he wins in a landslide. You think one ad is going to get him elected? I mean, it could. It could. But probably not. So this is where we are, and we're going to see what the voters of Ohio decide. We're 12 days away. Ignore the noise. Show up and vote, and we win.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: Breaking now on the Mike Gallagher Show.
00:28:19
Speaker 2: Well, here's another big Democrat facing prosecution, Virginia State Senator Lily Louise Lucas. was arrested today. He's got eight counts, including drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and firearms charges. The attorney general from the DOJ, Todd Blanch, announced in a statement, Louise Lucas has served in a position of public trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over three decades. The charges alleged to the indictment reveal the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve. Our federal prosecutors will continue to be guided by the facts and evidence that led a grand jury to indict Ms. Lucas and her alleged co-conspirators. She's 82 years old. She led the Lucas Enterprise with a very close-knit group of friends and family, according to Fox News. They orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise. So she has been arrested on drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, firearms charges. So, look, the left is going to desperately try to throw a bunch of stuff at the White House. right now. Oh, Lindsey Graham took a bribe! He arranged a meeting and got some money! Uh-huh, yeah, now do all the Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi. Yeah, because politicians never, ever arrange for donations or and financial support in exchange for sitting down and having a dinner at a steakhouse. They're just going to throw a whole lot at that they can. And look, to be fair, that I guess is what the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign is doing too. Ignore the news, show up, and vote. Ignore the polls, some of whom are fake, show up, and vote.
00:30:40
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher.
00:30:42
Speaker 2: I love a great movie, and this story, the behind-the-scenes intrigue about these exploding pagers with the Hezbollah terrorists, fascinating, fascinating story. We're about to be joined by the director and the producer here in just a moment. This breaking news out of Virginia, the now-indicted Virginia state senator, Louise Lucas, according to the AP, on a phone call that was wiretapped by the FBI, she said... To her family, as she was, you know, apparently scheming, allegedly, and plotting, she said, this is our last chance at generational wealth. I'm not too old not to be greedy. Well, that's the message of the Democrat Party, right? Not too old not to be. You're never too old to be greedy. Come on. Let's be greedy. Look, I'm greedy about a good night's sleep, and I'm getting it with all the MyPillow products. Mark Davis is now joining the family. We're going to have MyPillow on the podcast. MyPillow is a great American company. When you buy a premium MyPillow, because MyPillow is back, they want to thank you for supporting MyPillow over the years. The best night's sleep with this pillow that never goes flat, stays nice and cool all through the night. You can put it in the washer and the dryer as much as you want. For a limited time, buy one premium MyPillow. Get the second premium MyPillow absolutely free. And these Giza Dream bed sheets, they're worthy of any five-star luxury hotel. They're smooth. They're luxurious. They're silky, durable, and you can order them for as low as $ 29. 98. The key for all the great MyPillow products is to enter the promo code MikeG. Free shipping on your entire order. They've never done that before. Free shipping on everything. Mattresses, mattress toppers, pillows, loungewear. Don't wait. Order now. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. MyPillow. After beginning his career in Hollywood, Justin Folk wanted to focus on documentaries with cultural impact. I love, love, love. a great documentary, and I sure appreciated Paging Hezbollah. Let's welcome the producer and director of Paging Hezbollah, Justin Folk. Justin, nice to have you on the program. If you guys can have half the success of this movie about the Theranos lady that everybody's been buzzing about, you guys will be in good shape, right?
00:33:05
Speaker 4: I agree with that. Nathan Fielder is a brilliant guy.
00:33:07
Speaker 6: He's a very talented guy. And the stuff he produces is really one of a kind. But listen, we have a one of a kind story, too. And this thing is an incredible spy thriller. And I'm really excited about the American audience watching this film because it does impact us as Americans. It's important to know what's going on. on the other side of the world with our greatest ally. And the story of the Pager operation simply is one of the greatest spy intelligence thrillers of all time.
00:33:37
Speaker 4: And we're excited to have it out there for the American public.
00:33:39
Speaker 2: It is fascinating. And the movie is riveting because, you know, you're right. It's almost like it's one of those out there stories. We kind of knew about it. We read about it. We saw it in the news. We talked about it. Oh, Israel used pagers. So tell us what, give us the genesis of how you became involved with this project. and what drew you to the project. And for people who forget, remind us what the actual Israel action was.
00:34:10
Speaker 6: Yeah, listen, October 7th, 2023, was one of the greatest intelligence failures in the history of Israel. Less than a year later, they had one of the most incredible intelligence victories with the Pager operation, which set off a domino effect, which actually remade the Middle East in significant ways. When I heard about the pager operation, I don't know about you, Mike, but I got the notification on my phone and I couldn't believe it. And I just thought to myself, I actually sent this to myself. I'm jealous of the people that get to make this movie. And fortunately, our team was able to do that. We were able to be the team to go out and make this film. And it really is the inside story told by the people that did the operation, including all the way up to the prime minister who was in the movie, the head of Mossad, the director of Mossad is.
00:34:59
Speaker 4: In the movie, and the people that actually carried out the operation itself. It's sort of.
00:35:04
Speaker 6: Unprecedented that way that, you know, Mossad is not in the business of making movies, Mike. But somehow we are able to convince them to tell us the story, this incredible story, which really is at its core a great spy thriller. But it actually does allow the audience to understand the full conflict and the players involved in Hezbollah and how Hezbollah has been funded by Iran through the years and how Hezbollah got their start killing Americans.
00:35:32
Speaker 2: So was that tough to convince participation in the movie? How did you convince Mossad? Because I thought the same thing. I thought, look, this is the notoriously secretive entity. How in the world did you get anybody to participate in telling the story of the exploding pagers?
00:35:52
Speaker 4: Well, listen, times have changed.
00:35:54
Speaker 6: And I think Israel knows Israel's very, very good at fighting kinetic wars because they've had to throughout their whole existence for to stay to survive. But they haven't been great at telling their story. And the Western media, of course, has been complicit in just lies and lies.
00:36:13
Speaker 4: And smears.
00:36:14
Speaker 6: And so I think I think in Israel, they're starting to realize that they need to do a better job of telling their story. So we went to the prime minister and we said, hey, this is an incredible story and you need to tell it yourself. And if you don't tell it, somebody else will tell it for you. And you won't like that very much. We told the story to the prime minister about a movie in 1942 called Mrs.
00:36:35
Speaker 4: Miniver.
00:36:36
Speaker 6: It's a UK, it's a British film that came out in 1942.
00:36:39
Speaker 4: It's about a story of a family during the Blitz.
00:36:43
Speaker 6: And Winston Churchill remarked that this one movie was more effective and more important to the war effort than 100 divisions of soldiers or 10 battleships. And we told that story that Winston Churchill said about that movie. We told that to Netanyahu. And I think it convinced him to be like, okay, yeah, we need to tell this story.
00:37:03
Speaker 4: People need to know.
00:37:04
Speaker 6: The world needs to know what happened here and really ultimately what's happened in the last couple of years with the conflict at large.
00:37:12
Speaker 2: Justin Folk is our guest. He's a producer, director. This movie is fascinating, Paging Hezbollah. If you want to see it in your local theater, you can go to PagingHezbollah.com. And if the movie isn't playing where you live, call the local theater and tell them you want to see Paging Hezbollah. You want it in your local movie theater. And, Justin, you've just done incredible work. I mean, I remember how much I loved No Safe Spaces with my colleague and friend, Dennis Prager and, of course, Adam Carolla, I Am Racist, that movie earned more than $ 12 million in theaters. And this real-life spy thriller, Paging Hezbollah, again, the way it unfolded and what they did, it kind of is mind-boggling. And I hope everybody gets to see it. I do want to ask you before you go about the success. And I am I'm a big fan of you and the documentaries, the documentary genre. It seems to me that this hugely successful documentary that came out about about this what this woman, Elizabeth, whatever her name is, you can see everything. It's going to change the genre, isn't it? Because the one takeaway, I mean, I I was riveted. I couldn't I loved it. And I wonder if it is going to change your path as you continue to pursue documentaries. Because it's simple to say, in a nutshell... This movie, you can see everything, is shot, it's a documentary, but it's not the traditional kind of herky-jerky Blair Witch Project way of using cameras and jump cuts and all of that. It was shot like a sort of a normal cinematography, big epic movie. And I think that's what is, so it's pretty groundbreaking, isn't it? And will it impact the future of documentaries, do you think?
00:39:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it will.
00:39:03
Speaker 6: It's very groundbreaking. And like I said earlier, Nathan Fielder is a genius. He's a great storyteller. The line between documentary and narrative is being blurred. And people are expecting more from documentaries. They want it to be much more of a cinematic experience. They want their stories to be told in a much more narrative fashion, more than.
00:39:22
Speaker 4: Just a couple talking heads talking about a subject. And the good news is Paging Hezbollah is exactly that. We went out and made a film that's very cinematic. We have a lot of recreations.
00:39:33
Speaker 6: And we basically wanted to make a movie that people would want to buy tickets to see in the movie theater. And so when you go to the movie theater to see aging Hezbollah, it's going to be a different experience with the sound. I mean, obviously it's a very explosive movie. So, uh, and the sound of the experience of literally, and we.
00:39:51
Speaker 4: Wanted to make that kind of movie, a cinematic movie.
00:39:53
Speaker 6: The bar has been raised in terms of the jockey, the documentary genre, uh, over the years, people have been doing incredible, incredible work, including Nathan Fielder, who you mentioned.
00:40:04
Speaker 4: And, uh, we, we try to do that of.
00:40:05
Speaker 6: Course, with am I racist as well, but this, uh, Paging Hezbollah, I highly encourage people to go to the movie theaters on October 30th and see it on the big screen because we've put the work in to make it a cinematic experience.
00:40:18
Speaker 2: You have. And I had a chance to see it the other day and I just loved every second of it. It was fascinating. And again, it's right up my alley and I know it's up this audience's alley as well. Again, PagingHezbollah.com, PagingHezbollah.com. And if the film after October 30th isn't in your theater, you call the local theater, talk to the manager, and say you want Paging Hezbollah. Justin Folk, great work. Congratulations on the movie, and I'm glad you could spend some time with us here on The Mike Gallagher Show.
00:40:44
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much.
00:40:45
Speaker 6: And tickets are on sale today. So go to that website and see if it's in your local theater. Thank you so much.
00:40:51
Speaker 2: Paging Hezbollah.com. Justin Folk, the film's producer and director.
00:40:56
Speaker 1: Mike Gallagher.
