Speaker 1: So thirty five states relaxing restrictions, although that varies a
Speaker 1: lot from state to state. And the problem I have
Speaker 1: so many of these states, well they're all they all
Speaker 1: vary a lot. You have urban areas and rural areas,
Speaker 1: and then some states are so diverse, like you You're
Speaker 1: you're really large states. To that to have a state
Speaker 1: order just seems crazy. I mean, it makes no sense whatsoever.
Speaker 1: So some of the hot spots in the country, Michigan,
Speaker 1: hundreds of protesters descended on Michigan's state capital yesterday, and
Speaker 1: the Republican controlled legislature ramped up its efforts to bring
Speaker 1: the Democratic Governor Whittmer's emergency powers to an end. And
Speaker 1: they're talking about suing Governor Whittmer because they believe she's
Speaker 1: acting outside of constitutional rights there in Michigan. And our
Speaker 1: gripe has been and continues to be that this is
Speaker 1: a serious suspension of constitutional rights that was based on
Speaker 1: the need to flatten the curve. Well, the curve is
Speaker 1: very very flat, and now the knee to suspend all
Speaker 1: of our constitutional rights in our businesses and ability to
Speaker 1: make a living seems to be just to prevent as
Speaker 1: many cases as possible well, I think we're all in
Speaker 1: favor of that, but should we be crushing the economy
Speaker 1: and people's health not coincidentally on that basis. Another hot
Speaker 1: spot is California, where there's a protest planned for today.
Speaker 1: The group calling itself Reopen California and the lockdown. The
Speaker 1: California Highway Patrol in California last week announced no more permits,
Speaker 1: no more gathering, no more protests. Well, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you're studied much about the First Amendment, but being
Speaker 1: able to protest your government is one of the most
Speaker 1: sacred rights we have in this country period. And uh,
Speaker 1: and them saying you can't do that is crazy. While
Speaker 1: there's a protest going on today and people are gonna,
Speaker 1: I guess, drive around the capital, although some people are
Speaker 1: planning to march, and they're gonna try to practice social
Speaker 1: distancing and whatnot. We thought we'd talked to somebody who's
Speaker 1: going to be involved in that. John Arabitt joins us.
Speaker 1: He's a small business owner. Uh coincidentally a retired California
Speaker 1: a Highway patrolman thirty years of the commander. So maybe
Speaker 1: we'll ask him about that. John, Welcome to the Armstrong
Speaker 1: and Getty Show. Hey, good morning guys, thanks for having
Speaker 1: me on What what specifically, what message are you trying
Speaker 1: to send by protesting today at the state Capitol. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I found myself in a very interesting position.
Speaker 1: After having served thirty years with the California Highway Patrol,
Speaker 1: I'm now a small business owner up here in Plaster
Speaker 1: and Nevada Counties. Um and uh, I've been hit very
Speaker 1: hard by our response to this pandemic along with our
Speaker 1: twenty employees. Have you been closed down this whole time,
Speaker 1: as in not getting any revenue? We have been closed
Speaker 1: down since March twenty and have cut off all account
Speaker 1: billion and revenue sources. So yes, So what's your message
Speaker 1: to the governor or accounty officials or whomever? I mean,
Speaker 1: if you were to put it succinctly, what's what is it? Well? Well,
Speaker 1: my first message is um. First of all, you know,
Speaker 1: if we believe that coronavirus is a real thing, and
Speaker 1: our hearts go out to you know, the families who
Speaker 1: have lost loved ones in the wake of this pandemic.
Speaker 1: You know, And I also you know, after having served
Speaker 1: in government and been in these circles for many years,
Speaker 1: I also think the government and his team are doing
Speaker 1: what they believe to be in the best interests of Californians.
Speaker 1: But I emphasized the word believed, because believing you're doing
Speaker 1: the right thing doesn't always mean you are. Uh. There
Speaker 1: are three important points that are driving my decision to
Speaker 1: protest today. First of all, although well intended, I believe
Speaker 1: the governor is missing the big picture. You know, and
Speaker 1: it's been said before. You know, the means cannot be
Speaker 1: worse than the ends, or in medical terms, the cure
Speaker 1: cannot be worse than the disease. Um. The threat of
Speaker 1: this virus is going to pass very soon, you know,
Speaker 1: especially with the warmer weather here, and may have already
Speaker 1: been substantially diminished um, but the impact of our continued
Speaker 1: lockdown will last for generations. Number two, I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: out there calling Governor Knewsom out for his hypocrisy. You know,
Speaker 1: he said it himself, one size does not fit all,
Speaker 1: you know, he nor do I want President Trump dictating
Speaker 1: from Washington, d C. How California should handle our response
Speaker 1: to this pandemic. You know, it's a big country, and
Speaker 1: that authority rightfully lies with our governor, you know, to
Speaker 1: deal with our specific and unique situation. But but you know,
Speaker 1: but California is also a big state, you know, the
Speaker 1: third largest in the nation. You know, I believe counties
Speaker 1: and municipalities should be given uh strongly suggested guidelines, but
Speaker 1: allowed to loosen or tighten those recommendations based on their
Speaker 1: actual situation. We don't want to run out, We don't
Speaker 1: want to run out of time before you get tell
Speaker 1: your points and your third point is sure, um, the
Speaker 1: third point is, Look, the main reason I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: out there is I have the privilege of talking to
Speaker 1: a Holocaust survivor many years ago, and I don't bring
Speaker 1: this discussion up to to equate her situation with ours,
Speaker 1: or even insinuate that our governor's response to this is
Speaker 1: anything close to what happened in Germany at that point
Speaker 1: in history. But nevertheless, I can't help but recall Ava's
Speaker 1: words av Braun, after emotionally describing the atrocities that she
Speaker 1: and her family suffered, she uh, you know, I asked her.
Speaker 1: I said, what's the lesson that we should take from
Speaker 1: your experience? And without missing a beat, she said, never
Speaker 1: be complacent when government appears to be eroding your personal freedoms.
Speaker 1: That's very good. Sidious. Yeah, it's a very assiduous process.
Speaker 1: And if you're not careful, you know, you could lose
Speaker 1: your freedom. So obsidious is the obsidious is the perfect
Speaker 1: word for it, too. Yeah, And and it's an excellent
Speaker 1: point because emergency powers is such an old story. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, this is an emergency. We just need to
Speaker 1: take these special powers briefly and temporarily. That's always the story.
Speaker 1: And and listen to people who do that are good
Speaker 1: at their jobs. They're good at convincing you it's an
Speaker 1: emergency and you should be scared. And therefore we have
Speaker 1: grasped these powers. And listen, maybe you think it's legit,
Speaker 1: maybe you think, okay, go ahead and take those powers,
Speaker 1: but you've got to dig in your heels hard and
Speaker 1: not get dragged an inch further, and keep a firm
Speaker 1: grip on your freedom, saying yank them right back the
Speaker 1: second it's possible. And I think John, you join us
Speaker 1: in saying that's what needs to be happening right now.
Speaker 1: Absolutely all right, Hey, John Arabt, we thank you for
Speaker 1: its diamond, and you're standing up for constitutional rights and
Speaker 1: the rest of it. Go fight the good fight. Huh.
Speaker 1: Thank you. He got it. He's more charitable than I
Speaker 1: need to be about there. They're doing what they think
Speaker 1: is the right thing. That's not necessarily true. Governor Whitburn
Speaker 1: Michigan or Governor Newsom California might be doing what they
Speaker 1: think will make them more likely be a vice president
Speaker 1: or presidential candidate someday. That might be driving their decision
Speaker 1: more than any science whatsoever. Yeah, yeah, it's possible. I
Speaker 1: I feel little more charitable. I think they're just misguided.
Speaker 1: I just think they're they're they're seduced by the power.
Speaker 1: They've become fixated on preventing cases to the exclusion of
Speaker 1: all other concerns, some of which are very important. I
Speaker 1: will tell you this. The loose blanket Umbrella Organization, I
Speaker 1: guess it is the term UH that's organizing a lot
Speaker 1: of the stuff around the country. Is absolutely painstakingly saying
Speaker 1: all people are required to maintain CDC guidelines for prevention,
Speaker 1: follow best practices. We all know what those are. Masks
Speaker 1: and staying apart if you're if you're sick or high risk,
Speaker 1: please stay home. No violence of any sort, no confrontation.
Speaker 1: Our message is simple, be ladies and gentlemen out there.
Speaker 1: So it's good. It's good, solid stuff. The Michigan legislature
Speaker 1: voted to give the House speaker there in Michigan the
Speaker 1: authority to file a lawsuit against the governor. This is
Speaker 1: some unprecedented territory that they're getting into there and be
Speaker 1: interesting to see how this works out in the courts
Speaker 1: or whatnot. But uh, yeah, not everybody agrees on what
Speaker 1: the right thing to do is. I just yeah, misguided.
Speaker 1: I how do you not how do you think about
Speaker 1: these business owners and think, oh my god, we can
Speaker 1: only make them stay shut if this is just the
Speaker 1: absolute worst case scenario. We're not in the worst case
Speaker 1: scenario anymore. We're clearly not right exactly. How has the
Speaker 1: primary motivation for all this changed so completely? And nobody
Speaker 1: has specifically addressed that as they continue to suspend sacred
Speaker 1: rights And it's part of what he got to at
Speaker 1: the end, which is watching, you know, things a road.
Speaker 1: Little by little. The government shutting down your business went
Speaker 1: from unthinkable to completely thinkable too. It's happening. And now
Speaker 1: that it's happened, it's just in the or in the
Speaker 1: realm of possibilities, right, Uh, it's the Overton window. It's
Speaker 1: actually what actually happened to us. We can describe what
Speaker 1: that is later if you want to. So we got
Speaker 1: a lot of texts about a segment we did earlier
Speaker 1: today for a couple of different reasons that will become evident.
Speaker 1: One great point is made here. And then if you ever,
Speaker 1: if you're of a certain bent, you'll you'll you'll recognize
Speaker 1: quickly the other point of conversation. But do you have
Speaker 1: a guy's name in front of I? I misplaced the Yeah,
Speaker 1: John Umra a Abit that's right, former HP patrolman retired
Speaker 1: now he's now a small business person. He was taking
Speaker 1: part in the big protest at the state Capitol of
Speaker 1: California Insecto, Sacramento. Yeah, and he was giving three reasons
Speaker 1: that he wanted to get involved in. A couple of
Speaker 1: the reasons were what you would expect, though well well
Speaker 1: explained beautifully put yeah, absolutely, and then he got into
Speaker 1: his third reason. I have the privilege of talking to
Speaker 1: a Holocaust survivor many years ago. I can't help but
Speaker 1: recall Ava's words, a le bron, never be complacent when
Speaker 1: government appears to be eroding your personal freedoms. That's very good,
Speaker 1: it's a very insidious process, and if you're not careful,
Speaker 1: you know, you could lose your freedom. Obsidious is the
Speaker 1: perfect word for it too, So um yeah, just on
Speaker 1: that part of it. I often think people are like
Speaker 1: kind of being practically crackpots, are a little low overreactive
Speaker 1: about governments taken away your rights, blah blah blah. How
Speaker 1: quickly can happen, But it is, It is absolutely true.
Speaker 1: It happens little by little, and you think, well, it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a little bit. We're a country
Speaker 1: where we got a strong democracy will be but the
Speaker 1: government has shut down businesses and now it's threatening to
Speaker 1: find people who arrest people who try to open them
Speaker 1: back up. That is unheard of in my lifetime. And
Speaker 1: now it's happening and a lot of people are accepting it,
Speaker 1: and and it's insidious. Insidious is the perfect word for it. Now.
Speaker 1: The problem that the reason we got so many texts
Speaker 1: about that was and I'll bet you caught it well
Speaker 1: if if you're a World War two history fan, the
Speaker 1: fact that he had a Holocaust survivor friend with the
Speaker 1: same name as Hitler's girlfriend soon to be wife, Eva Braun,
Speaker 1: just just kind of caught the year and was a
Speaker 1: bit of a distraction. Obviously, leave out the last name.
Speaker 1: Did she have a nickname? Did you call her by
Speaker 1: a missy? If she happens to have the same name,
Speaker 1: she's of the World War two generation, and she has
Speaker 1: the same name as Hitler's wife. I mean, Eva Rava
Speaker 1: is an incredibly common name in Germany, and brawn is
Speaker 1: an incredibly common last would be like name being named
Speaker 1: Amy Brown? Right? Absolutely? Um, Nonetheless, it was funny. Both
Speaker 1: Jack and I thought, wait a minute, this has been
Speaker 1: a great interview. Love this guy. Is he about to
Speaker 1: drop a Howard Stern's penis? Yeah, I thought, I thought,
Speaker 1: he's he's he's he's waiting to see if we just
Speaker 1: roll with it like a stupid Anderson Cooper or something
Speaker 1: like that during an interview, And we got a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of text and he just say Braun was his
Speaker 1: neighbor a ninety three year old, so she's the right
Speaker 1: age obviously if she's a Holocaust survivor. Right, And me
Speaker 1: like if I said, yeah, I got this buddy. I
Speaker 1: lift weights with this guy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he says
Speaker 1: you should keep your feet at shoulder like the part
Speaker 1: and Arnold says quite a second year a weightlifting friend
Speaker 1: his named Arnold Schwartzenegger. Different guy though, yes, yeah, yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: that was so people noticed that, did they? My guitar instructor,
Speaker 1: um Eric Clapton. He shows me I'm talking and Eric Clapton. No, no,
Speaker 1: he's like a twenty seven year old guy. Just but
Speaker 1: you realize when you say Eric Clapton, he's your tard instructor,
Speaker 1: people are gonna think, what do you mean, hold on
Speaker 1: before you go on something up real quick. You can't
Speaker 1: talk about Holocaust survivors, World War two era A V. Braun.
Speaker 1: It's just yeah, well anyway, it's a wonderful story, though
Speaker 1: powerful message which I listened to and paid attention to. Serious.
Speaker 1: But I'll bet av Broun would say, do we have
Speaker 1: to get married a bunker? Um? I bet? I bet
Speaker 1: his friend av Braun would say, yeah. I didn't think
Speaker 1: when they took a little bit of power, a little
Speaker 1: bit more power, took away a few more rights. I
Speaker 1: didn't think it would end up where it ended up either,
Speaker 1: because if you know the history, the most interesting history
Speaker 1: of Hitler and everything like that is what happens in
Speaker 1: the early thirties when it was he won a bunch
Speaker 1: of elections. He this stuff got voted in, right, And
Speaker 1: and the one thing I would point out is a
Speaker 1: guy who studied this sort of thing my entire life,
Speaker 1: is that the rationale for taking emergency powers is always
Speaker 1: brilliantly constructed. They don't say they don't wear, you know,
Speaker 1: the the mask of of good governance, and you can
Speaker 1: hear them chuckling evily behind the scenes. No, they construct
Speaker 1: their arguments very very well, and sometimes they're sincere that, look,
Speaker 1: we just need to keep you safe. This is temporary,
Speaker 1: this is very important. We're just trying to save lives here.
Speaker 1: That's always the rationale.