The following is a transcript from the Pro America Report.
Welcome, welcome. Welcome, Ed Martin here on the Pro America Report, great to be with you today. We have another great show today. I’m gonna do something a little uncommon for me, I sometimes reuse a segment in the past because I get stuck in some kind of meeting or something. Today I’m doing it intentionally.
Thomas Baker was on our program about a month ago, was on this show ahead of everyone else, of course. He’s written a book about how the FBI has failed. And he was testifying this week before the Special Committee of the Judiciary Committee on the weaponization of DOJ. Thomas Baker. He did an extraordinary job. It’s not a surprise, in a way. He’s he’s in his probably his 70s. He looks like he’s in his 60s, he’s in his 70s and I think, and he’s an old fashioned pro. And so he testified with all the seriousness and appropriateness and the leadership of a pro, a professional in the tradition of the FBI and basically described how broken it was. It’s phenomenal. So our interview with him from from about a month ago about his book, we’re gonna replay that later and it’s great and it’s great and he’s great and I’m glad he’s getting more of a platform. You know, you can go back in time. You will find that I have on this program some of the most important people whose voices later become really loud. Now you could say well, is it Ed that gets him on his program and then they end up getting good. I think so, but maybe not. Maybe it’s just luck, but I, you know, Julie Kelly was on this show many times before she sort of hit it big with her book. Selena Zito. Of course, she was a nationally known writer. But in terms of her profile, it went shooting up and she was on this program because I was talking about what she tapped into in terms of understanding the Trump phenomenon. There’s lots of examples like that of people and Thomas Baker’s another one. Thomas Baker is another one. So, very cool, and I’m excited to play that again.
We’ll also hear from Dr. John Rosemond. Dr. John Rosemond is at parentguru.com is his website. He’s a, for about 50 years he has been a well, he’s a PhD in psychology and he’s been what I would call a conservative counselor, Conservative psychologist out there. Being sane about the family, being sane about parenting. And he wrote a post on Facebook about a week ago, two weeks ago and one of you saw it and sent it to me. One of the listeners of the Pro America Report sent it to me. And so I then reached out to him. He’s coming on the show. He’s written 30 some odd books. He writes a a column that’s nationally syndicated on parenting. And basically what he says is give yourself a break. Don’t be so hard on yourself. And by the way, stop reading all those parenting guide books. They’re full of gobbledygook. Use your gut. Use your instinct. Use common sense. Use what you’ve learned from your parents. It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool. So we’ll talk with John Rosemond. I’m looking forward to that. Alright, but before we get to that what you need to know today.
I’m really excited about this. I’m really excited. Josh Hawley, the senator from Missouri who’s, I consider a friend of mine. He’s a very talented guy, he’s very smart. He went to, I guess, Yale undergrad and Stanford Law School. I think I got that right could have that backwards. But he is US Senator. He was attorney general. He clerked for the US Supreme Court for Chief Justice Roberts. He’s just a very smart guy, married to a very smart woman, Erin, his wife, Erin Hawley. She’s written a book or two in the last couple of years. Very accomplished lawyer herself. But Josh also, to me, has his finger on the pulse of America right now. Whether it’s in China, whether it’s on standing up for working people generally, he’s just really got his finger on the pulse. I I think it’s because he comes from small town America. His his hometown is in the Central Missouri, about an hour from Kansas City. It’s just regular people there and and I think he’s got a a feel for this. He’s also a dad now. He’s got three young children. I think that helps him have a perspective. But he did an interview with NBC. I’m so excited that he brought this up. And it’s getting national headlines. It will get more headlines because his kind of leadership on other issues, he talks about it first and then the then the the leaders come along with him. And in this case, what he’s talking about is something we’ve talked about on this program before, which is an age, a legal age. Under which you cannot be on social media.
In other words, if we say we don’t want our kids to drive a car until they’re 16 or whatever age, you know, why would we allow them to be in social media? It’s it’s clearly a tool that is very dangerous. It’s clearly a tool that you’re if you’re under formed, if you’re not yet fully formed in your brain, you can be abused or malformed. Better say malformed and so why not have rules? Now, you could say well, there used to be people that got mad, they would say. You’re, you know, don’t don’t do a driver’s license for me. My family runs a farm, and if you’re 12 or 13, you should be able to drive a tractor and a car or whatever. I you know, there’s always exceptions to the rule, but when it came to widespread use. Of a vehicle. Car you can’t have 12 year olds driving cars on the highways you have some Rules.
When it comes to social media. It’s so common now you have to have some rules. I I’m. I’m not for banning social media for all adults. I’m not. I think we should be able to free that you. Can be free. To stupify yourself any way you want. By the way, I am for taking it away from prisoners. I am for taking it away from convicts. I am for limiting the access to people that may have mental health Issues if we have to.
But I’m certainly for rules about kids. And you say, well, parents should decide it’s a parental choice. Sometimes parents can’t make the right choice. So in this case this is always a balance. And in this case, I think we should consider it. Even the conversation will be helpful. I’m sure you know, I’m sure you probably listeners know someone, maybe you don’t, but if you don’t, I’m gonna tell you this. They will say to you, . parent? They’ll say it it’s just not worth the trouble. I I can’t tell. You know, I just let them use the the the social media, because otherwise they’re just on me and they’re just talking. It’s easier this way.
Well, I know it’s true that my parents when I was asking to watch more TV when I was a little boy, probably we’re saying, oh, you know, sometimes it’s better just to let him watch more. At that time, we would watch the TV Guide for, you know, a baseball game that would be on one of the channels, usually channel 11, where I grew up and you could watch a baseball game, maybe, like, let him watch it. Or on Saturday mornings, let him watch cartoons. I I mean, I know that. So I know I’m sounding like a grumpy old man on the on the sitting on my porch, yelling about get off my yard, get off my lawn.
But I’m actually talking about more sophisticated aspects of this, and Senator Hawley tapped into that in this interview and in his assessment. It’s not just about data, it’s not just about access to personal data, and that Chinese, the Communist regime, would know all about us. To be honest, I think they already do. I think there’s already such access and such hacking into our data. I’m actually I’m talking much more about social media as a tool that malforms our brain. So when I say ban TikTok, it’s not just about media. I say ban TikTok because I don’t want the communist regime to have access to our our country. All of us. But in the case of kids? We have to have some rules and they have to be the law, I think, and I at least think we have to have a more serious conversation about this than we’ve had so far.
And Josh Hawley is, again, leading by talking about this. You know, you cannot be afraid to get to the point of politically incorrect, probably unpopular. There’s probably lots of voters who say don’t tell us what to do. I don’t want my kids Off social media, I don’t know, maybe not. But he’s recognizing that it’s a real problem, a real problem facing we the people. It’s a real problem. That our nation. Frankly, it’s threatened by. Because, again, while we would if 13 years old, where 13 year olds were driving cars, some of them might kill themselves or others, that’s one thing. But in this case, if you’ve got 13 year olds on social media, their brains are being malformed and you can’t say that the people on social media are altruistic. Some are, but not all.
So good for Josh Hawley for bringing up something very specific, somewhat controversial, getting a ton of attention, but frankly, he’s leading us in the right direction for the conversation. That is the best, not just for the kids, but for our nation. And for our future. It’s another example, Senator Josh Hawley is constantly leading constantly leading in so many great ways. So I’m glad he did that. It’s great and we’ll follow it and see where it goes.
Alright, we’ll take a break. We’ll come back and today again, Dr. John Rosemond as well as a replay of Thomas Baker. The great FBI guy. Be right back. Ed Martin here on the Pro America Report, back in a moment.
